: , , , , - 28 . Optimization Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should? Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools. Havana, May 30, 2017 (SPS) - The Minister of Education, Mohamed Moulud Mohamed Fadel, was received Monday in Havana by his Cuban counterpart, Ana Elsa. The meeting, attended by the ambassador in Cuba, Malainin Atgana and the director of foreign relations and cooperation in the Cuban Ministry of Education, constitutes an opportunity to evaluate the high relations between the two countries in the field of education. Along the same lines, the two sides evaluated the success of the Simon Bolivar National School, and the measures necessary for its sustainability. It should be remembered that the pedagogical aspect of this center is managed by a mission of Cuban teachers specialized in the subject. At the meeting, the parties discussed how to promote relations in the field of education, the exchange of experiences and the indicators that allow the achievement of human development goals in education, established by the UN 2030 agenda. The Saharawi minister of education expressed his gratitude for the fraternal reception given by the Cuban minister of education, which, according to him, reflects the high level of cooperation that unites the two ministries. Mohamed Moulud Mohamed Fadel, took the opportunity to convey the gratitude and appreciation of the Saharawi people for the solidarity and support given by the Cuban people and their institutions in all areas. to be noted that the meeting comes as part of the official visit of the Saharawi presidential delegation to Cuba. SPS 125/090/TRA This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Car enthusiasts are revving up for car show season, which runs mid-April through October. From antiques to muscle cars to luxury high-performance cars, energy efficient vehicles and motorcycles, southwestern Connecticut is a hot spot to check out some shows, thanks to the dedicated groups of car buffs who put on annual events. Click through the slideshow to see some of the local car shows scheduled this season. Mark Milosky formed the Connecticut Seaport Car Club in 2009 with some friends. The goal: to bring people together, have a good time and raise money for charity. Milosky, who drives a 1931 Ford Model A Roadster, said his interest in cars is due, in part, to nostalgia. "When I was young they made really cool cars, and as I got older every car started to look the same," he said. "I thought the styling of cars form the 1950s and 1960s was just fabulous." Todd Brown, a co-organizer of Caffeine and Carburetors in New Canaan (which will not return for 2017), agrees. "One of the great things about old cars is that they are mechanical, they're not these high tech, electrical cars," he said. "Everything now is based on technology whereas before you could look at an old Porsche and you could see that someone built every little piece of that car, it wasn't formed in a mold." The Connecticut Seaport Car Club now has 125 members from Fairfield County, elsewhere in Connecticut and a few people from out of state. They hold monthly meetings in Westport. Some of the group's most popular events are monthly cruise nights held at Dragone Classic Motorcars in Westport and Port 5 Naval Veterans Hall in Bridgeport. On August 5, the club will host the third annual Antique and Classic Car Show Fairfield University to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. Aside from the good the shows do for charity, Milosky said it's just good fun. "Everybody loves old cars," Milosky said. "Families bring their children and their eyes light up. When I drive my Model A everyone smiles." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD The nearly year-long drought is gone its raining again. But, with summer unofficially under way, the area still is vulnerable to water shortages, and conservation must be the order of the warm days ahead. Even though we have been receiving rain, it is just normal rainfall, said Peter Fazekas, director of public relations for Aquarion Water Co. People see it and think were getting a large amount. But we are just getting back to normal. Stamford reservoirs are 92.5 percent full, Fazekas said, but they should be at 100 percent this time of year. I dont see it going much higher from where it is, because this is when demand starts to increase, Fazekas said. Many of the restrictions of last summer have been lifted. You can wash your car now, for example, and you can hand-water your flowers or vegetables. But mandatory restrictions remain on the use that consumes the most water lawn sprinklers. That applies to all sprinklers, from high-tech underground systems to the little plastic shooter you attach to a hose and stick in the middle of your lawn. Residents of Stamford, Greenwich, Darien and New Canaan are asked to adopt a twice-a-week watering schedule. People with an address ending in an even number may turn on their sprinklers on Sundays and Wednesdays. Those with an address ending in an odd number may water their lawns on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Watering hours are before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Its by far the biggest use of water outdoors, Fazekas said. Usage charts on Aquarions website, for example, show that for portions of last summer, Greenwich which has half the population of Stamford used just as much water. The majority of it was due to irrigation, Fazekas said. The companys website includes a form to anonymously report homeowners or businesses that violate the twice-weekly rule. These restrictions will help ensure adequate supply throughout the summer, Fazekas said. The problem began to surface this time last year, when the U.S. Drought Monitor indicated that more than half of Connecticut was abnormally dry. By the end of 2016, it showed four-fifths of the state was in severe to extreme drought. Now one section of northwestern Connecticut is listed as abnormally dry, but the rest of the state is normal. Despite the improvement, the Connecticut Interagency Drought Workgroup has issued a statewide advisory, the first of four stages of drought. After analyzing precipitation, groundwater levels, stream flows, reservoir status, soil moisture and other factors, the group determined the state is still vulnerable. Like the water company, the group urges people to curtail lawn irrigation, which can consume more water than all other uses combined. The water shortage became so severe in the Stamford area that in November Aquarion installed a temporary 18-inch above-ground pipe that ran along the Merritt Parkway and Davenport Ridge Lane, onto Lakeside Drive to the North Stamford Reservoir. The pipe delivered 4 million gallons of treated water a day from Aquarions reservoir system in the Bridgeport area. It was more than a third of the water used daily in Stamford, where reservoir levels then were the lowest in 35 years. The big above-ground pipe now is removed, and last week Aquarion began repairing the damage left behind. On Davenport Ridge Lane, there are muddy trenches, missing driveway aprons, piles of dirt and scars in the lawns. Small plastic piping, twisted and bent, protrudes from a couple of front yards underground sprinkler systems that were broken when the big pipe was installed or removed. We will be repairing those, Fazekas said. The same for road edges along Lakeside Drive, where tall orange cones, some strung with yellow caution tape, mark damaged areas. Aquarion now is adding water mains from its Bridgeport reservoir system to the towns served by it. Work wont begin in the Stamford area until the end of the five-year project, Fazekas said. But Stamford will benefit before then, he said. Every water main that we add as part of this project will continue to increase the amount of water we will be able to move into Stamford, Fazekas said. Even with that, water customers must adopt a habit of conservation, he said. Look at last year. Things were a little drier than normal in June but, a month later, Aquarion asked for voluntary restrictions. By November, it was quickly installing the above-ground pipe. Can it happen again in 2017? In Stamford, there is a 10 percent chance of hitting a drought trigger this year, Fazekas said. That will change, of course, depending on rainfall. acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296; stamfordadvocate.com/angelacarella. I am not yet brave enough to predict a win for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn next week but it could be close. That is not quite what the polls say, but polling is difficult at the best of times and in the UKs present febrile political climate, where old alliances are breaking down, it becomes harder still. They still suggest on balance a Conservative victory. But they also show a narrowing of the gap between the two big parties. Polling must have been made all the harder, too, because no one knows what this election is about. In calling it, the Prime Minister said its purpose was to give her a majority which she claimed would give her a stronger bargaining hand in the forthcoming EU negotiations. She has, however, failed to make that resonate with the public, who either do not see what difference it would make, or are deeply alarmed at what else they might get were the Conservatives to return with a much larger majority. The strong and stable soundbite linked to the Brexit pitch has also struggled to catch on possibly because it was so corny given she had been photographed holding hands with Donald Trump. Voters instinctively suspect that leaders who feel they need to say how strong they are, tend to be anything but. Meanwhile, stability is not the impression given by the muddled thinking and her U-turn on the so called dementia tax. But the bigger issue is that even now most voters do not care enough about the EU. It is the defining issue for a significant minority be they for or against but it is not enough to galvanise the majority, and particularly not enough for the bulk of people outside the big metropolitan areas. For them, this election will be the same as all the others. In the words of Bill Clinton: Its the economy, stupid. This is where it gets interesting because the message from both Labour and the Conservatives is that the economy is not working for ordinary people, so it becomes a matter of which set of proposals has the most appeal. Theresa Mays solution has been to put bankers, overpaid bosses and tax-avoiding multinational companies in the firing line which is uncomfortable for them because they absorbed with their mothers milk the belief that the Conservatives are the party of business. It comes as a shock to find a Tory prime minister who clearly sees them as part of the problem rather than the solution. Hers is a vision of business which is firmly rooted in a cosy nostalgia for the local firm of the Fifties. In this rose-tinted world, bosses knew their employees, banked with the local bank, invested for the long term and understood their responsibilities to the local community. This was a Britain open to business but closed to foreigners. In her view, and those of her close advisers who so effectively screen her from almost all contact with todays business leaders, this is not the agenda of the globalised giants that dominate business today. However, the question, with an election looming, is whether voters share that vision and think it will solve their problems, or whether they buy the alternative vision of Corbyn. Corbyns great advantage is that having been a rebel all his life he does not appear to be part of that political establishment the public are reacting against. Indeed the more he is attacked by the Conservative-supporting media, the easier it is for him to position himself as the outsider. In this way his campaign is in many respects similar to Trumps but where Trump went for bombast and vulgarity, Corbyns pitch is to be reasonable, unfailingly polite and not at all scary. But notice how he presses all the same buttons for those who feel left behind: more for the NHS; more for the police; more cheaper homes for everyone; an end to university tuition fees; a renationalising programme for railways and power companies. And again, all this will be painlessly financed: with Trump it is the Mexicans paying for the wall; with Corbyn it is taxes on the rich and corporations. Economists and opposing politicians claim that the sums manifestly do not add up, but that is to miss the point. Trumps policies did not add up either. The key to this election, indeed any election, will be which of the leaders strikes the better emotional bond with the voter. Tony Blair was brilliant at it; Gordon Brown was not. David Cameron aped Blair and was consistently more popular than his party. John Major, witty and engaging in private, never appeared like that on television. Theresa May, whatever she may be like in private and there are not many who seem to know has not yet made that emotional link with the mass of voters. In fairness, Corbyn has not either, but of the two of them he seems the likelier to crack it. And if he does in this last week of the campaign, that could add significantly to Theresa Mays difficulties. Obviously it is too early to say which vision of the future will resonate best with the electorate, but if the economy is what gets people out to vote and if they genuinely want changes in the way the economy is run then Corbyn seems to promise that more than the Prime Minster. She started this campaign with the polls saying a majority of 100-plus, bigger even than anything Thatcher delivered. Most of her supporters today would settle for around 50. If, however, she limps over the finishing line with just 20 or 30 a result which would be worse than John Major managed when he pulled off his triumph in 1992 they may take a different view. Such a result could easily be a pyrrhic victory which, in fact, makes her weaker rather than stronger. F aberge owner Gemfields today branded the 211 million takeover offer from its majority shareholder derisory. Pallinghurst Resources, a Johannesburg-listed investment fund run by Brian Gilbertson who oversaw the merger of BHP and Billiton, stunned the market earlier this month with plans to buy the other half of the AIM-listed gemstone company. Along with co-investors, who include the South African owner of Poundland, Christo Wiese, Pallinghurst controls 73% of Gemfields. There was no premium on offer, which has sparked outrage among small investors and chairman Graham Mascall said: The unsolicited offer from Pallinghurst is derisory and clearly undervalues the company. He added that merging with Pallinghursts other mining investments could dilute Gemfields shareholders with inferior assets that offer exposure to more volatile commodities and with less attractive prospects. Pallinghurst sold the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia to Gemfields in 2008 in return for a stake in the business. A decision to debut in the rental flats market last year has paid off for Telford Homes, the housebuilder said earlier, as it revealed record sales and profits. Boss Jon Di-Stefano said that, since early 2016, the company has secured a pipeline of 500 London rented homes to construct. This is anticipated to increase by around 2000 over the next three years. Rental demand is robust in London, and institutional investors are not worried about the upcoming election. They see that long-term returns in the private-rented sector are strong, he added. AIM-listed Telford Homes also said demand from housebuyers had held up since the Brexit vote. Revenue jumped 19% to 291.9 million in the year to March 31. Pre-tax profits rose 6% to 34.1 million. A note from Peel Hunt said Telford Homes' sector leading forward order book gives us plenty of confidence in more growth over the next few years. U ber has dismissed Anthony Levandowski, a star engineer brought in to lead the ride-hailing apps self-driving car efforts, after he failed to assist with a legal dispute. The technology whiz joined Uber last year after several years at Googles autonomous driving project, now called Waymo. But in February, Alphabet subsidiary Waymo sued Uber, alleging that Levandowski stole trade secrets and patents from Waymo for the development of self-driving technology, and brought them to Uber. Uber denies receiving or using any of the secrets allegedly accessed. Levandowski has declined to co-operate, citing his right to avoid self-incrimination. He could not be reached for comment earlier today. The taxi company maintains its technology is different to Waymos and that there is no evidence the files are on its servers. But its search did not include Levandowskis computer. Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing the case in San Francisco, had ordered Uber to return the files in question by the end of the month. Uber said the latest termination came after Levandowski failed to meet the deadline that would allow it to co-operate with the order. It is the latest controversy to hit the firm. Earlier this year boss Travis Kalanick was seen on video berating an Uber driver. D avid Hockneys Tate Britain show has become the gallerys most popular exhibition ever with nearly 480,000 visitors coming through the doors over four months. The lavish look at the countrys most famous living artist featured hundreds of works drawn from museums and private collections all over the world and traced his career from art school sketches to drawings created on his iPad last year. The 478,082 visitors beat the previous holder of the record at the Pimlico institution, a 1996 Cezanne exhibition which received 406,688 visitors. The most popular show across all the Tate galleries remains 2014s Matisse: The Cut Outs which was seen by 562,622 people at Tate Modern. Hockneys retrospective was already the fastest selling exhibition in the gallerys history before it opened with more than 35,000 advance tickets sold and the building had to be kept open late to meet demand. Hockney, who described the show as like spending time with old friends, helped select the works which included images of his native Yorkshire along with pictures of his adopted home in the Hollywood Hills and portraits of his family and friends including film director Billy Wilder and fashion designer Ossie Clark. David Hockney at Tate Britain 1 /15 David Hockney at Tate Britain David Hockney at Tate Britain Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) 1972 Acrylic paint on canvas 2140 x 3048 mm Lewis Collection David Hockney, photo by Art Gallery of New South Wales / Jenni Carter David Hockney at Tate Britain Woldgate Woods, 6 & 9 November 2006 2006 Oil paint on six canvases 914 x 1219 mm David Hockney Inc. (Los Angeles, USA) David Hockney, photo by Richard Schmidt David Hockney at Tate Britain 9 Canvas Study of the Grand Canyon 1998 Oil paint on nine canvases 1003 x 1689 mm Richard and Carolyn Dewey David Hockney, photo by Richard Schmidt David Hockney at Tate Britain Red Pots in the Garden 2000 Oil paint on canvas 1524 x 1930 mm David Hockney, photo by Richard Schmidt David Hockney at Tate Britain Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool 1966 Acrylic paint on canvas 1520 x 1520 mm National Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery. Presented by Sir John Moores 1968 David Hockney, photo by Richard Schmidt David Hockney at Tate Britain Ossie Wearing a Fairisle Sweater 1970 Coloured pencil and crayon on paper 430 x 355 mm Private collection, London David Hockney David Hockney at Tate Britain Model with Unfinished Self Portrait 1977 Oil paint on canvas 1524 x 1524 mm Private collection c/o Eykyn Maclean David Hockney David Hockney at Tate Britain Hollywood Hills House 1980 Oil paint, charcoal and paper on canvas 1524 x 3048 mm Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Gift of Penny and Mike Winton, 1983 David Hockney David Hockney at Tate Britain Going Up Garrowby Hill 2000 Oil paint on canvas 2133.6 x 1524 mm Private collection, Topanga, California David Hockney, Photo by Jeff McLane David Hockney at Tate Britain Garden with Blue Terrace 2015 Acrylic paint on canvas 1219 x 1828 mm Private collection David Hockney David Hockney at Tate Britain Garden 2015 Acrylic paint on canvas 1219 x 1828 mm Collection of the artist David Hockney, photo by Richard Schmidt David Hockney at Tate Britain Domestic Scene, Los Angeles 1963 Oil paint on canvas 1530 x 1530 mm Private collection David Hockney David Hockney at Tate Britain Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy 1968 Acrylic paint on canvas 2120 x 3035 mm Private collection David Lambert, Rod Tidnam/Tate David Hockney at Tate Britain Billy + Audrey Wilder Los Angeles April 1982 1982 Composite Polaroid 1117 x 1168 mm David Hockney Inc. (Los Angeles, USA) David Hockney, photo by Richard Schmidt David Hockney at Tate Britain A Lawn Being Sprinkled 1967 Acrylic paint on canvas 1530 x 1530 mm Lear Family Collection David Hockney, photo by Richard Schmidt Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson said the gallery was the home of British art and the perfect place to showcase one of our greatest living artists. He said: The response to this retrospective the first in 29 years has been incredible. It is wonderful that so many people have had the chance to see it, and that they found the exhibition so exciting, thought-provoking and moving. We look forward to many more people seeing the exhibition when it travels to Paris and New York. H undreds of culinary stars celebrated the food revolution that has made the capital the envy of the world at a party to mark the start of the first London Food Month. A roll-call of Londons most famous chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and gourmands last night toasted the transformation of the capitals reputation at the event in the City ahead of Britains biggest ever food festival. The co-curators of London Food Month, writers Grace Dent and Tom Parker Bowles, welcomed Michelin star-winning chefs such as Fergus Henderson, Angela Hartnett, Claude Bosi and Cherish Finden, as well as food writers the Hemsley sisters, soprano Camilla Kerslake and comedian Jack Whitehall. Evening Standard editor George Osborne hailed London as a city of global influence with a restaurant scene that punches above its weight. He said: I love this city, I love this newspaper and I love my food. We have a wonderful food festival coming up. When I grew up in this city in the Seventies, if you had said that you were going to hold a food festival to celebrate the restaurants of London, everyone would have thought you were telling a rather bad joke. But a newspaper at the time, the Evening Standard, started a food revolution here in this capital. That began a change in food and the way it was appreciated in this capital. And that revolution brings us a few decades later to this London Food Month. It is going to be a brilliant event and will celebrate what this city is about. It is a city of global influence and real diversity with a restaurant scene that really punches above its weight. Parker Bowles said: Food brings us together. Its unifying power is immense. In London, this great and glorious monument to immigration, we have all the world in one place. Immigration makes London great and it also makes it the best place in the world to eat. Dent, ES Magazines food critic, said: London is the greatest place to eat on Earth, because of our energy and our diversity and our willingness to learn from each other. In an unsteady world, food is a good news story. Food at the event at Banking Hall on Cornhill was served by the likes of Holborn Dining Rooms led by chef Calum Franklin The Barbary, Santo Remedio and Mamas Jerk. Hotel Cafe Royals pastry chef Sarah Barber made dessert. Drinks were served from the World Class Bar and the Ketel One Vodka station and Cobra beer. Later, Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw took to the decks. Other guests included Gizzi Erskine, who said: I cant wait to try what London has to offer during this month. Henderson, the London Food Month Icon who is hosting a lunch at his nose-to-tail restaurant St John on June 3, said he was excited to be marking the start of the festival. He said: Im very grateful to be involved. I ts provenance that doesnt get much better. 1963 Lightweight Jaguar E-type Competition Coupe? Check. Raced by iconic American operation Team Cunningham? Check. Actually raced at Le Mans? Big fat tick. Is it any wonder auctioneers Bonhams expect it to make more than $10 million when it goes under the hammer at Monterey in August? Itll be quite the highlight for the auctioneers 20th anniversary sale, as this E-type is one of just 12 Lightweight Jags. They were built for racing and, impressively, Team Cunningham manged to enter 25 percent of the run into the 1963 Le Mans event; this one, alas, only managed eight laps. More success was found in later events; it was entered into the Road America 500 and Bridgehampton 500, before team boss Briggs Cunningham nabbed it for his own private collection. For years, it was shown at the super-exclusive Cunningham Museum. Once he sold it, the Lightweight E-type was passed around a veritable whos who of car collectors, including Lord Bamford, Paul Vestey and Campbell McLaren. As author Richard Holt said, there are rare, interesting cars, and there are cars that have belonged to rare, interesting people the Briggs Cunningham Lightweight E-type scores so heavily on both counts that its difficult to decide which is more of a star. You could make a good argument either way: the ultra-rare racing thoroughbred versus the all-American hero and entrepreneur. But the truth is that thinking about one without the other makes no sense because the Lightweight E-Type would probably never have existed if it hadnt been for Briggs Swift Cunningham II. Thats a reference to Briggs allegiance to Jaguar, and his enthusiastic racing of early E-types he actually raced it at Le Mans even before its official launch, although it soon became clear the regular car could not match the all-conquering Ferraris. Hence Jaguars decision to create the aluminium-bodied lightweights and the rest is history. All that probably makes this Jaguar E-type Lightweight one of the most authentic and coveted of a very select group of machines indeed. No wonder the estimate is so high: just how much more than the $10 million price tag could it make when it goes to auction in sunny California this August? We cant wait to find out. T wo brothers have been jailed for a terrifying raid in which a pensioner was slashed with a Stanley knife and tied up in his home in Upton Park. In February 2016, the 69-year-old victim answered the front door to a woman dressed as a courier, who claimed to be delivering a parcel. While the pensioner spoke on his doorstep to Ioana Ruxandra Costache, 28, her husband Mohammed Auckburally, 43, forced his way in and attacked the man with a Stanley knife. Once inside, Auckburally hit the victim over his head. He bound the pensioner's hands, legs and mouth with tape. Mohammed Auckburally's wife, Ioana Ruxandra Costache, of Ripple Road, Barking was found guilty of conspiracy to rob / Met Police Auckburally's brother Abdool Auckburally, 26, came in to help tie up the victim. They put a towel over his head and put him on the floor. Jailed: Abdool Auckburally of Drake Avenue, Great Yarmouth The final man to enter was Rajdeo Aubeelock, 35, who searched the house. They stole jewellery and cash before making off. Police recovered 2,000 in cash from Costache's address and 10,000 from Aubeelock's, believed by investigators to have been stolen in the raid. Detective Constable Chloe Wilson, of Newham CID, said: "Whilst the victim suffered relatively minor physical injuries as a result of the incident, it is the mental scars that still remain. "Much of the money and jewellery stolen has still not been recovered, but I hope the victim will take some comfort in knowing this violent quartet have been caught and brought to justice." Auckburally pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to rob. He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday to eight years in prison. Guilty: Rajdeo Aubeelock of Hampton Road, Ilford, Abdool Auckburally, 26, and Rajdeo Aubeelock, 35, were also found guilty of conspiracy to rob and sentenced to nine and seven years respectively. Ms Costache, who has also been convicted of the crime, was due to appear in court, but did not attend and will be sentenced later. T wo people including a teenage boy were stabbed during a large brawl in north London. Emergency services descended on the scene of the incident in Muswell Hill Road at about 10pm on Tuesday. An eyewitness told the Standard he saw what looked like a victim with wounds on his back sitting on a bench with emergency services in the aftermath of the attack. A local resident, 34, who gave his name as Rob M, said he saw four or five emergency vehicles, a young man in handcuffs, and up to ten emergency staff at the scene. Its a local area, quite quiet, with lots of people with young kids, said the media analyst, who noted that had been several other disturbances in the past week including broken windows. The scene of the incident on Tuesday night So were obviously concerned about a rise in violent crime in the area, he said. A Met Police spokesman said police were called at 9.57pm on Tuesday to reports of an assault in Muswell Hill Road. Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended and found a 47-year-old man and a 16-year-old male with stab injuries," said the spokesman. Both were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Both of the injured men were arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, as were a 28-year-old man and another 16-year-old boy. A fifth person, a 38-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of GBH on Wednesday. A pervert has been jailed and banned from travelling on the Tube during rush hour after a string of attacks on women. Emanuil Boros, 29, crept up on commuters and groped them from behind as they waited for trains or passed through ticket barriers. The north London man who even preyed on the same passenger twice in nine days - was caught in the act after police began patrolling one of the stations where he carried out the assaults. Dressed in plain clothes, officers snared the groper at Balham Tube station after seeing him touch a woman as she passed through the barriers in December last year. Boros, from Wellspring Crescent in Wembley, admitted four counts of sexual assault and was jailed for 12 weeks at Blackfriars Crown Court earlier this month. When he leaves prison he will also be banned from going into any Underground station or boarding any Tube train on weekdays between 6.30am and 9.30am and 4pm to 7pm. The sex offender targeted commuters during rush hour at Balham station. / TfL Boros is also barred from going to Balham or Finchley stations, where he carried out his spate of assaults, for the next five years. PC Mark Luker, from British Transport Police, called Boros a predatory sex offender who specifically targeted women as they commuted around the capital in November and December last year. He would then flee from the scene. He showed little regard for his victims, leaving them in shock and deeply upset, PC Luker said. I would like to commend their bravery in coming forward and reporting these offences to us, which should give others the confidence to speak out. We are satisfied with the sentence handed to Boros, that he will be placed on the Sex Offender Register and has been banned from using the underground at peak times. But PC Luker added: It is possible there are other women out there who Boros may have preyed on but, for whatever reason, have chosen not to report what happened. Our message to anyone who is a victim of unwanted sexual behaviour is that reporting it can help us to stop it: no incident or detail is too small or trivial. As this case shows, we will always take you seriously and treat you with respect. A police officer has been jailed for lying to protect his brother after a car crash in east London. PC Miladur Khan, 30, of the East Area Command Unit, was sentenced to six months imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice. After the brothers were involved in a minor collision in Burdett Road, Poplar, last June, PC Khan was asked several times to confirm that he was driving at the time. He said he was, but local authority CCTV disproved his claims. Mr Khan then admitted he wasnt the driver, but was protecting his uninsured brother Mured Khan. He has been suspended from duty and, now that criminal proceedings are complete, a special misconduct hearing is planned. Mured Khan, 26, of Stepney Way, pleaded guilty to driving without insurance at Thames Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, April 12. He was disqualified from driving for six months and fined 200. He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 30 and court costs of 85. A senior Scotland Yard officer has backed the use of stop and search to combat knife crime, saying it can improve relations between police and communities. Chief Superintendent John Sutherland said that if officers treat suspects with respect then it can lead to a positive rather than negative outcome. Mr Sutherland, a former borough commander in Camden and Southwark, said: There is an assumption that a negative stop and search [one that does not find anything] is by definition a negative thing. "If someone stops someone with reasonable grounds and does not find anything, it does not mean they have got it wrong. In fact, it can turn out to be a positive thing. His comments came after a recent spike in knife crime in London which saw 14 people killed in four weeks. The Met is also battling a 24 per cent rise in overall knife crime offences. Scotland Yard has launched an 80-strong squad to tackle outbreaks of violence and stepped up stop and search in boroughs with high levels of knife crime. Mr Sutherland, who has written a book about life in policing called Blue, said in his experience most people supported the use of stop and search provided it was done professionally, responsibly and even-handedly. He said: In the short term, the undeniable experience of my professional life is that stop and search saves lives. It is the most significant tactic or option we have to have an impact on the carrying of knives, but it is not the long-term solution. The Met scaled back the use of stop and search after Theresa May, then home secretary, called for more intelligence-led use of the power. Mr Sutherland, who joined the Met in 1992, writes that young people want police to use the power to keep them safe. He told the Standard that people who argued about whether officers found a weapon or not were missing the point, saying there was a bigger question of who is in charge out there. He said: It is not about us being overly assertive, just about saying when you walk down Acacia Avenue, is there a sense of safety or is there a sense of danger? A lot of that is to do with responsible adults, such as the police, fulfilling their responsibilities. He added: We dont get stop and search right all of the time, sometimes we get it wrong. But I think we need to have a more mature conversation with the police acknowledging that we have to do it right but explaining that, by heaven, we have got to do it. But only as part of a bigger plan, because stop and search wont stop knife crime, it is a finger in the dyke. In the book, Mr Sutherland also recounts his battles with depression and how he had a breakdown while in post as a commander in Southwark in 2013. Mr Sutherland, who now works in HR, believes the wear and tear of policing, and repeated exposure to extreme trauma, contributed to his illness. A restaurant worker for global food brand Giovanni Rana has been jailed for a year for stealing 57,000 to fund his gambling addiction. Jamie Richbell, 42, was employed at the firms restaurant in Regents Place when he began pocketing the takings instead of putting them in the bank. The thefts only emerged when, racked with guilt, he confessed to his boss. At Blackfriars crown court, Judge Deva Pillay sentenced Richbell to 12 months in jail. The court heard he was hired by Giovanni Rana, which is famous for its pasta and sauces, in 2015, and had the task of banking restaurant takings. He started stealing last May, creating false accounts to cover up the thefts. In January he phoned UK managing director Scott Ellison to confess. Richbell, of South Woodford, admitted one charge of theft by employee. His sobbing fiancee watched from the public gallery as he was led to the cells, and the court heard he will now have to put his wedding plans on hold. O ne of Londons oldest intact Banksy murals is to become the centrepiece of a new luxury development thought to be the first to use graffiti as a key selling point. The work in Notting Hill, known as The Painter, The Graffiti Artist or Velazquez, shows an artist with easel and brush painting the Banksy tag. It first appeared on the side of a building on Portobello Road in 2008 and is now protected by glass. The new owner of the three-storey property has won planning permission to turn it into high-end apartments and restaurants in a 6.5 million scheme called Sartoria House. Developer Enstar Capital plans to relocate the 7ft by 14ft mural to a first-floor position illuminated at night and visible to shoppers in Portobello market and drivers on the A40 flyover. The building also housed the first showroom of fashion designer Ozwald Boateng and its foyer will display a specially commissioned collection of suits from the Savile Row tailor. The two flats will be available for rent at an estimated 1,000 per week, a new high for the area. Enstar Capital chief executive Simon Lyons said: This is Londons first new development designed around graffiti artwork with menswear-inspired interiors that celebrate the work of Ozwald Boateng. The completed development will be adjacent to the Westway Regeneration Project site, and these two schemes will kick-start the long-awaited regeneration of the Portobello Road and still reflect its street art and market-trading origins. The mid-Victorian building was for many years the site of a local chemist, which won notoriety when it emerged that the 10 Rillington Place serial killer John Christie bought the drugs he used to incapacitate his victims there. In 2008 artists posing as builders erected scaffolding and a screen on the Acklam Road side of the building and left the mural. Bidding for the artwork reached 1 million in an eBay auction in 2008 but its estimated value is now 2.3 million. The plan has angered campaigners who have fought attempts to gentrify the north end of Portobello Road market in what was once one of Londons most deprived areas. Local activist Huey Walker said: Who puts the value on street art? Its a bit weird its going to be used as a feature to sell really expensive housing. We need housing for ordinary people. Another campaigner said: Its appalling, theyre turning Banksy into a marketing tool. Work on the development is expected to start this autumn and be finished by late 2018. S cores of people were evacuated from a busy leisure centre after a dramatic fire broke out in south London. Plumes of smoke billowed from a hair salon in Station Road, Brixton, after the blaze started shortly after 10am on Wednesday. Almost 50 people were forced to flee from Brixton Recreation Centre, which is located above the salon, as six fire engines were called to the scene. Dramatic pictures posted on social media showed the charred contents of the shop dumped on the street outside. Some 35 firefighters were called to the inferno and the shops basement and part of the ground floor were damaged, a spokeswoman for the London Fire Brigade said. She added: The Brigade was called at 9.51am and the fire was under control at 10.36am. Fire crews from Brixton, Clapham, Peckham and Lambeth fire stations attended the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. L ondons top restaurants say they are facing a shortage of high-quality chefs as Brexit puts Europes Michelin-starred staff off moving to London. The Ned, the City venue with nine restaurants and a hotel that was opened last month by the Soho House group, said it had to send scouting parties to Spain and Italy to lure top talent here. It even offered nearly a months free accommodation in central London as an incentive. A Ned spokesman said: All hospitality businesses in London need clarity. We need to be able to assure Europeans they will be able to come over here and stay after Brexit. The owner of another top London restaurant group said an Italian chef had just turned down a senior role at his new London venue. He just decided it was too risky to uproot his family to London, invest in a new home when we couldnt guarantee hed be able to stay here in two years time. Relying on European workers: The Ned founder Nick Jones, with wife Kirsty Young / Dave Benett The Soho House group had to hire 250 staff for the Ned just as Londons fast-growing restaurant scene is struggling for new talent. It sent recruiters to Rome, Milan and Barcelona. We want diversity in our business but as Brexit gets closer it becomes more and more of an issue, said the spokesman. He said the firm did not want to damage other London restaurants by poaching their chefs at a time good staff are so hard to come by. Recruiters point out Europeans concerns about coming to the UK are creating shortages as Londons restaurant scene grows at its quickest. According to restaurant bible Hardens, a record 200 newcomers opened their doors in the capital in the past year. Bruce Poole, of Michelin-starred Chez Bruce, spoke for most top restaurateurs telling an audience recently: Without Europeans, were f***ed. Soho House founder Nick Jones said: We have very loyal staff from all over Europe working with us, and we believe theyre the reason behind the success of Londons diverse food scene. "We certainly wouldnt be where we are without them. They deserve and need to know what lies ahead for them. Others said the problem is not just about hiring senior staff from Europe. While younger, junior kitchen workers lack families to relocate so are more mobile, they are still being put off coming to London by the weak pound, which makes their wages worth less when they send money back home. Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, said Britain faced a shortage of more than 11,000 chefs by 2020 as visa restrictions keep away chefs from Europe, but also India and China. She added: A quarter of all chefs are from the EU and owners have had to delay or abandon plans for new restaurants due to uncertainty on EU citizens future. This level of uncertainty is putting off skilled workers and now impacting investment decisions. A Londoner has blasted British Airways after a global IT crash ruined his dream trip to the United States, saying the airline "couldn't care less" about its passengers. Terry Page, 28, arrived at Heathrow Airport at the weekend to chaotic scenes as flights were grounded worldwide, with numerous passengers left stranded in the capital. But Mr Page was able to fly out to Texas, only to find his bags were missing when he arrived at his destination. Speaking on Wednesday, he said the airline had told him to pick up his bags from the airport only to find, after hours of waiting, that they were not there. Londoner Terry Page / PA He claimed the airline had "essentially just left me to deal with it all myself". He said:"I called the main head office and the person on the phone said that the bag had arrived at Dallas airport at 9am that morning. "We waited for it to be delivered but nothing happened. So, we went to the airport late afternoon. "There was no-one from BA there until the evening, we finally found someone, they checked their systems and said that the bag wasn't at Dallas and looked like it was still at Heathrow. Passengers queue for check-in at Heathrow Airport amid disruption caused by a British Airways IT failure / Getty Images "I'm having to keep an eye on all of the flights arriving from the UK and try to ring around to see if my bag has arrived after every flight lands." Mr Page added that he received an apology email sent to affected customers from BA chief executive officer Alex Cruz, to which he replied asking "for help in tracking down my bag" and for reimbursement for the cost of "toiletries and new clothing". He added: "I'm finding that I'm wasting most of my spending money on replacements. A day later Mr Page said he phoned the airline only to find that they had assigned the bag to be sent to an incorrect home address despite him asking for it to be sent to the US. Mr Cruz has apologised for the problems caused by the IT outage - which also led to numerous flight cancellations and several days of travel disruption. The airline has said a "significant" number of passengers have still not been reunited with their luggage and those left without it can claim money back for essential items. In an update on Wednesday, the company said: "We are continuing to make good progress in reuniting bags with customers around the world who were affected by the major IT systems failure on Saturday. "All of the delayed bags have now been processed at Heathrow and are on their way to customers around the world. "However, given the nature of global travel, it may take some time to complete the process of reuniting bags with their owners around the world, especially those on complex multi-cities travels or those at destinations which are not served every day." F ormer London Mayor Boris Johnson has launched a scathing attack on Sadiq Khan, saying he is running a spineless administration at City Hall. The foreign secretary blasted the Labour politician while on the campaign trail today in a heated outburst, in which he said the "apathy and gelatinous, glutinous, uselessness of City Hall was damaging the capital. He referenced the growing frustration around the Crossrail 2 project, which was cast into doubt after being left out of the Conservative manifesto. Earlier this month, Mr Khan said warned the capital desperately needs the proposed north-south link. Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned about the impact of Conservative win in the General Election / NIGEL HOWARD Speaking to ITV News, he said: Its up to him frankly to put police out on the beat he has got the powers to do it. Its up to him to get proper financing for TfL. Its up to him to get Crossrail 2 done. Where is he? What on earth is going on with Crossrail 2? Ive never seen such a spineless performance frankly from City Hall on Crossrail 2. Absolutely hopeless. There are great projects that are London deserves and needs that are going by the board because of the apathy and gelatinous, glutinous, uselessness of the current administration in City Hall. Thats the first time really Ive bashed the poor guy. The Railway Industry Association has warned London could be left behind without the Crossrail project, expressing concern both the Tories and Labour will concentrate on improving rail links in Northern cities before committing to funding for the capital. Mr Khan, who was elected as Mr Johnsons replacement last year, has also warned of police station closures in London if the Tories win the General Election. He told ITV News: This is a downright lie by Boris Johnson. TfL gave Government the Crossrail 2 business case months ago, but the Tories have dithered and delayed and even refused to put Crossrail 2 in their manifesto. T ulip Siddiq is naturally upbeat but the Labour candidate cannot disguise her concern. For the past quarter of a century, Hampstead and Kilburn has been held by her party. The Tories are confident they can finally turn it blue. Knocking on doors, Ms Siddiq claims that strong and stable doesnt work here and insists she has every chance. She won the seat with a majority of 1,138 in 2015. The key will be the 1,532 voters who supported Ukip, which isnt fielding a candidate. The Greens, who took 2,387 votes, are running. The fate of the Lib-Dem vote, 3,039 in 2015, is unclear. Brexit is a crucial issue; 75 per cent of people here voted Remain. As Ms Siddiq canvasses at La Diva cafe off Kilburn high street, she emphasises she rebelled against the moving of Article 50. William Smith, a Labour voter, says: It helps that Tulip voted against Brexit. But the message has been a bit mixed from the top. Its obvious May is going to win. Ms Siddiq agrees. Jeremy Corbyn is not going to be Prime Minister. But do we really want a PM to have such a big majority that theres no accountability? she asks. Conservative candidate Claire-Louise Leyland canvassing in Hampstead / Lucy Young She criticises her partys tax hike plans, calling for a London weighting to help with the cost of living, and cites her history of opposing welfare reform and HS2. Her concerns are about such staples as the NHS, school funding and welfare cuts. Mary Cepele, a single parent with two children who lives on the Rowley Way estate, says: I work three jobs. There are so many funding cuts under the Tories. How am I going to survive? How can I spend time with my kids? Tulip always tries to help. The next day in Hampstead Village, Claire-Louise Leyland, the Tory candidate, stands leafleting outside the Tube in the drizzle. The art therapist very much hopes to take the seat. Pre-2015, Glenda Jackson had a majority here of 42. Sarah Kelly (left) and Alison Thomas (centre), who both work at Kilburn Grange School talk with Labour candidate Ms Siddiq / Lucy Young [Voters] understand that when they go into the polling booth they can really make a difference, she says. But she laughs off rumours that she did a deal with the Ukip candidate not to stand. Ive never even spoken to him, she insists. Ms Leyland campaigned for Stronger In and admits she was very disappointed with the Brexit result. But the Camden Tory leader believes that Theresa May is an asset in EU talks. Anri Meaden, a banker, agrees: Brexit doesnt change anything for me personally. Theresa May is absolutely the person for me to take us forward. Ms Leyland canvassing outside Hampstead Tube station / Lucy Young Ms Leyland defends cuts with the caveat that it would be quite hard for boroughs like Camden to absorb any more. She gets a warm reception in Hampstead, with several voters pledging their vote. But this seat has always liked its MPs independent-minded. Ms Siddiq characterises her rival as a Theresa May lackey. In her response, Ms Leyland vows to go to ministers directly to influence Brexit rather than shouting from the sidelines. It is no surprise that she seems buoyant. The numbers stack up in her favour. She even has a smile for a woman who strolls past with a copy of the Morning Star. W hen we ask people whether they believe Theresa May shares their views, she achieves a positive score only on law and order not even on Brexit. Her magical touch with the voters may have been exaggerated from the start. Jeremy Corbyn achieves positive scores on the NHS, schools and education, pensions, human rights and even, by a whisker, taxation. In fact, the Labour leader beats May by 36 per cent to 30 per cent on shares my values. Sir Lynton Crosby, the Conservative campaign leader, believes one must always focus on the ballot box question, the question that is to be answered by the voters X on the ballot paper. At the start of this campaign, the ballot box question was: Who is the best leader for the Brexit negotiations? The answer to that is still simple. Not only is May seen as by far the more reliable leader, but 40 per cent of people believe they share views on Brexit, with only 26 per cent for Corbyn. But there isnt much to say about Brexit, and in any case voters dont focus long on abstract issues. Blasting Conservative cuts: Jeremy Corbyn / Getty Images So when your manifesto promises to take money from your core supporters, its unlikely their attention will stay on negotiations in Brussels rather than the guaranteed removal of pounds from their pockets. General Election polls and projections: May 31 The brand damage to the Tories and to May could be huge: only 20 per cent say they share Mays views on pensions versus 55 per cent who dont, a net negative of 35 per cent, while Corbyn scores net positive 14 per cent. Recent YouGov voting models have shown a significant move towards Labour to something near 2015 levels. That isnt so surprising as the ballot box question shifted from leadership issues to public services and personal security. The Conservatives campaign is working harder now to bring attention back to their preferred agenda of Corbyns weaknesses. A few weeks ago I predicted that 2015 Labour supporters who were sceptical of Corbyn might, believing he wouldnt win, hold their noses and vote Labour to avoid a Conservative landslide. With Corbyn standing higher in the polls and likely to receive post-election SNP support, that trend could unravel and give May the bigger mandate she hopes for. Stephan Shakespeare is the chief executive and founder of YouGov. J eremy Corbyn was hit by a backlash today after saying London and the South-East get far too much investment for transport projects. Business chiefs warned the Labour leader against setting the North against the South on new infrastructure and starving the capital of funding for schemes seen as vital to avoid worsening rail and Tube overcrowding. Mr Corbyn argued that there is a huge imbalance of investment across the country. Far too much goes to London and the South-East in transport infrastructure. Far too little goes to the North-East, North-West and Yorkshire, he told the BBCs Andrew Neil. The comments increased fears that Labour could siphon off funds earmarked for transport schemes in the capital. Will Higham, director of campaigns and communications at business group London First, said: It is a false choice to set the North against the South on infrastructure, we need action on both to get ready for 2019 and Brexit. On the campaign trail: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn / REUTERS London can fund a large part of the costs of projects like Crossrail 2 itself and new transport links promise to unlock areas for housing, something Londoners urgently need. Many of the transport projects are vital to deliver links to housing developments. Crossrail 2 is expected to support regeneration including 200,000 new homes. Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: By investing in transport infrastructure in London and the South-East the whole country benefits. Of course we support stronger transport links in the rest of the country, but for the interest of the whole of the UK London desperately needs major projects such as Crossrail 2 and expansion at Heathrow and beyond. General Election 2017: What you need to know The Standard put a list of projects to Labour to ask which Mr Corbyn would axe to shift funding to other regions, or which schemes should not have gone ahead. The list included Crossrail, Crossrail 2, Tube upgrades, the Northern line extension to Battersea, Bakerloo line extension to Lewisham, DLR extension to Thamesmead from Gallions Reach, and station upgrades such as London Bridge and Waterloo. The Labour leaders office was also asked if Mr Corbyn would cut subsidies in London to free up money for Northern regions, and if he thought London bus and Tube fares were too low in relation to ticket prices in the North. Mr Corbyns spokesman said: Jeremy was talking in relative terms about lack of infrastructure investment outside London and the South-East. Labour will maintain investment levels in London and the South-East and has explicitly committed to Crossrail 2 in our manifesto, unlike the Conservatives. The aim would be to complete Crossrail 2 by 2033. Mr Corbyn, in March 2016, backed confirmation of a rail link between Liverpool and Hull before Crossrail 2. Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram, his former Commons aide, wants political leaders to focus on a Crossrail for the North linking the west and east coasts. A spokesman for Mayor Sadiq Khan said: Labour has said it will invest in Londons infrastructure with a clear commitment to Crossrail 2. J eremy Corbyn sprang a surprise today by announcing he will take part in a live BBC televised election debate tonight. He threw down the gauntlet to Theresa May to follow him when seven party leaders take to the stage: Theres a debate in Cambridge tonight. I invite her to go to Cambridge to debate her record... and let the public make up their mind. During his speech in Reading he appeared to forget to mention he would be attending however, during applause at the end, he added: Im going to Cambridge to get ready for the debate. Labour sources confirmed his attendance. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will take part in BBC general election leaders' debate / Peter Nicholls/Reuters It leaves Mrs May the only major party leader refusing to take part in the clash on BBC1, which starts at 7.30pm. Mr Corbyn will join Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, UKIP's Paul Nuttall, SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson, Green co-leader Caroline Lucas and Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood for the debate. The PM has refused to take part in any TV debates and Home Secretary Amber Rudd will be representing the Conservatives instead. The Labour leader had previously ruled out attending if Mrs May refused to take part. He said: "It's very odd that we have an election campaign where we go out and talk to people all the time and the Prime Minister seems to have difficulties in meeting anyone or having a debate. Home Secretary Amber Rudd will fill in for Theresa May in the BBC debate / Getty Images "There is a debate in Cambridge tonight. I don't know what she is doing this evening, but it's not far from London. "I invite her to go to Cambridge and debate her policies, debate their record, debate their plans, debate their proposals and let the public make up their mind." Mr Corbyn had hinted he would take part in the debate when he was speaking at a campaign event in Westminster on Wednesday morning. People watch as Mr Corbyn speaks at a campaign event in Reading / REUTERS He said: "As for the debate, I simply say this, there is something very odd about going down to Sky the other night, me being brought in front of the audience - very happy to do so - and answer questions from the audience, sat in front of Jeremy Paxman, an utter pleasure it was too to be having a chat with Jeremy Paxman for a while, there is no finer way to spend a Monday evening. "And then the Prime Minister is hiding away in a room upstairs to come down and do exactly the same, how ridiculous is that? "Come on Prime Minister, come and have a chat." General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures 1 /57 General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures Jeremy Corbyn joins leaders for the BBC's Election Debate Stefan Rousseau/PA Prime Minister Theresa May samples cheese at the Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet Leon Neal/Pool/Reuters First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the launch of the SNP General Election manifesto at Perth Concert Hall Jane Barlow/PA Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the launch in central London of a Liberal Democrats campaign poster attacking the Conservatives' school meals policy Victoria Jones/PA Jeremy Corbyn appears on The One Show BBC Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and the party's local candidate Sir Simon Hughes are given a baking lesson at Comptoir Gourmand, an artisan bakery in Bermondsey, London Gareth Fuller/PA Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions from the studio audience during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme recorded at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is interviewed by Jeremy Paxman during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme 'May v Corbyn Live: The Battle for Number 10' at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool/Getty Images Home Secretary Amber Rudd (left) and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, The Andrew Marr Show. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday May 28, 2017. Abbott has said she no longer opposed the security services as she insisted her time as a graduate civil servant would prepare her for becoming home secretary Jeff Overs/BBC/PA A new poster by the Green Party featuring pictures of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary either side US Preseident Donald J Trump Green Party/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott during General Election campaigning in Hull Chris Radburn/PA A man is arrested after protesting against fox hunting as Theresa May arrives at the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Green Party co-leaders Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley launch the Green Party's 'Green Guarantee' of key priorities for the party at a general election campaign event in London AFP/Getty Images Julie Etchingham presents the ITV Leaders' Debate, a live two-hour debate with Caroline Lucas, Tim Farron, Leanne Wood, Paul Nuttall, Nicola Sturgeon ITV/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during her party's general election manifesto launch in Halifax Danny Lawson/PA Demonstrations take place before the arrival of Prime Minister Theresa May as she launches the Conservative Party Election Manifesto in Halifax Getty Images Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond listens as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during an election campaign event in east London Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's manifesto at the University of Bradford, in Bradford Nigel Roddis/EPA Prime Minister Theresa May meets Cathy Mohan at Abingdon market in Oxfordshire during an General Election campaign visit Stefan Rousseau/PA Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron leaves the Royal College of Nursing conference at Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre following a General Election campaign visit Gareth Fuller/PA Screengrab taken from Facebook Live broadcast, hosted by ITV News of Prime Minister Theresa May answering questions sent in by users of the social media website, with presenter Robert Peston ITV News Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking about national security and foreign policy at Chatham House in Londo David Mirzeoff/PA Jeremy Corbyn the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party holds one year old Angelo during a campaign event in Harlow, Essex Neil Hall/Reuters Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reads with children as he visits Brentry Children Centre in Bristol on 21 April 2017 during Labour's election campaign. Steve Parsons/PA Jeremy Corbyn looks around as he arrives at Savoy Place. His vehicle hit BBC Cameraman Giles Wooltorton on the way into the garage entrance Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images British Trade Union leader Len McCluskey falls on the steps outside the Clause 5 Labour meeting to finalise the Labour manifesto in Londo Andy Rain/EPA Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller breaks down after receiving an ovation from the crowd during her speech at the Convention on Brexit in central London Andy Rain/EPA The Liberal Democrat party campaign bus is unveiled at an event at the Harts Boatyard on 01 May 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Co-Leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, speaks during the launch of the Green Party Brexit policy at the Space Studio in London Stefan Rousseau/PA The Liberal Democrat party leader Tim Farron listens to a speech during an event at the Harts Boatyard on May 1, 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Anti-racism protesters speak to the media after being removed ahead of UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall's speech Jack Taylor/Getty Images UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall gestures as he makes a speech as the party launch their general election campaign at the Marriott County Hall Hotel on 28 April 2017 in London Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's opposition Labour party Leader Jeremy Corbyn walks past a bus shelter with Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton, and local councillor Satvir Kaur (right), before meeting local residents Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott Diane leaving Four Millbank in Westminster, London, following her stumbling explanation of how the party would fund its plans for 10,000 extra police in an interview that left her struggling to do the sums live on air. Victoria Jones/PA Philip Hammond and David Davis at a General Election campaign event in Central London Jeremy Selwyn Pensioner Malcolm Baker confronts Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron while he was the election campaign trail in Kidlington, near Oxford Sam Lister/PA Prime Minister Theresa May eats chips as she meets with residents in Mevagissey, south-west England Dylan Martinez/AFP/Getty Images Conservative party handout of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a new poster, warning that families face a tax and debt bombshell under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership Conservative Party/PA Nick Clegg delivers a campaign speech on the European Union at the National Liberal Club in London Stefan Rousseau/PA Ukip leader Paul Nuttall (left) eats grapes during a walkabout in Dudley town centre in the West Midlands, with Ukip West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge (right) and Phil Durnell, West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Richard Vernalls/PA Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband retweeted a photo of him mowing a lawn whilst canvassing in his Doncaster North constituency Jane Nightingale Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on 18 April calling for a general election Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Answering questions during a visit to a factory in Bath, Mrs May denied she was "frightened" of taking on her rivals head-to-head. She said: "I've been very clear from the start that the sort of campaign I want to do is about meeting people and taking questions. "I've not been off the television screens, I've been doing things on the television, but predominantly taking questions from voters and listening to voters. "I think debates where the politicians are squabbling amongst themselves doesn't do anything for the process of electioneering. "I think it's actually about getting out and about, meeting voters and hearing directly from voters." Broadcaster Mishal Husain will moderate the debate which will be shown on BBC One from 7.30pm until 9pm. Each panellist will make an opening statement before taking questions from the audience. L abour heavyweight David Lammy has told how his children are frightened by the horrific racist abuse he is bombarded with online. The staunch Remain campaigner, who is standing to be re-elected in the Tottenham constituency, received a barrage of vile abuse on Twitter after calling on Parliament to block Brexit last June. Mr Lammy, who has been Tottenhams MP for 17 years, called in police after receiving a torrent of hatred on social media and via email including messages which read: Hang N***** and Go Back to Africa. The Labour candidate told the Standard that he was determined to stand up against the backwards vision represented by those behind the abusive messages which upset his three young children. He told the Standard: I grew up in an era where black people were ridiculed, it was routine to be called a w** or a p*** in the playground and I was. Remain campaigner: David Lammy / Nigel Howard I am horrified that a country that fought fascism in the Second World War has allowed elements of that to creep back into our rhetoric. Im not afraid to say some of that rhetoric exists within Ukip and our mainstream Conservative Party is seeking to win the election by effectively swallowing up the Ukip tradition within its own ranks. His comments came after new research revealed that more than 180,000 abusive tweets were sent to MPs over a three month period in 2016. The day of the EU referendum in June last year saw the highest number of abusive tweets sent to politicians with a mammoth 7,000 sent to MPs in just 24 hours, according to the analysis from independent think tank Demos and BCS Chartered Institute for IT. Asked if the abuse he received had put him off being an MP, Mr Lammy said: Only to the extent that I have young children at home and it worries and frightens them. When we had the attack in Westminster a few weeks ago and we were locked into the House of Commons, all I could think about was trying to get to my wife, to get to the kids because I knew that their friends would say, it was towards the end of the school day, this has happened and they would be absolutely panicked as a consequence. General Election 2017: What you need to know In a wide-ranging interview with the Standard, Mr Lammy also discussed the impact Brexit could have on the capital, divisions within the Labour Party and Londons knife crime epidemic. Mr Lammy has campaigned hard for Britain to remain in the EU and called on the Government to reverse the Brexit vote after the referendum in June last year. He has since criticised his own party's position on Brexit, voted against the triggering of Article 50 and joined a group of Labour candidates, led by Chuka Umunna, demanding full membership of the EU single market. Mr Lammy said: "Theres nothing in this [Brexit] for the city of London. General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures 1 /57 General Election 2017 Campaign - In pictures Jeremy Corbyn joins leaders for the BBC's Election Debate Stefan Rousseau/PA Prime Minister Theresa May samples cheese at the Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet Leon Neal/Pool/Reuters First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during the launch of the SNP General Election manifesto at Perth Concert Hall Jane Barlow/PA Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the launch in central London of a Liberal Democrats campaign poster attacking the Conservatives' school meals policy Victoria Jones/PA Jeremy Corbyn appears on The One Show BBC Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and the party's local candidate Sir Simon Hughes are given a baking lesson at Comptoir Gourmand, an artisan bakery in Bermondsey, London Gareth Fuller/PA Prime Minister Theresa May answers questions from the studio audience during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme recorded at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is interviewed by Jeremy Paxman during a joint Channel 4 and Sky News general election programme 'May v Corbyn Live: The Battle for Number 10' at Sky studios Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool/Getty Images Home Secretary Amber Rudd (left) and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, The Andrew Marr Show. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday May 28, 2017. Abbott has said she no longer opposed the security services as she insisted her time as a graduate civil servant would prepare her for becoming home secretary Jeff Overs/BBC/PA A new poster by the Green Party featuring pictures of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary either side US Preseident Donald J Trump Green Party/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott during General Election campaigning in Hull Chris Radburn/PA A man is arrested after protesting against fox hunting as Theresa May arrives at the Welsh Conservative manifesto launch at Gresford Memorial Hall, Gresford, Wrexham Stefan Rousseau/PA Green Party co-leaders Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley launch the Green Party's 'Green Guarantee' of key priorities for the party at a general election campaign event in London AFP/Getty Images Julie Etchingham presents the ITV Leaders' Debate, a live two-hour debate with Caroline Lucas, Tim Farron, Leanne Wood, Paul Nuttall, Nicola Sturgeon ITV/PA Conservative party leader Theresa May during her party's general election manifesto launch in Halifax Danny Lawson/PA Demonstrations take place before the arrival of Prime Minister Theresa May as she launches the Conservative Party Election Manifesto in Halifax Getty Images Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond listens as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during an election campaign event in east London Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's manifesto at the University of Bradford, in Bradford Nigel Roddis/EPA Prime Minister Theresa May meets Cathy Mohan at Abingdon market in Oxfordshire during an General Election campaign visit Stefan Rousseau/PA Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron leaves the Royal College of Nursing conference at Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre following a General Election campaign visit Gareth Fuller/PA Screengrab taken from Facebook Live broadcast, hosted by ITV News of Prime Minister Theresa May answering questions sent in by users of the social media website, with presenter Robert Peston ITV News Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking about national security and foreign policy at Chatham House in Londo David Mirzeoff/PA Jeremy Corbyn the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party holds one year old Angelo during a campaign event in Harlow, Essex Neil Hall/Reuters Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reads with children as he visits Brentry Children Centre in Bristol on 21 April 2017 during Labour's election campaign. Steve Parsons/PA Jeremy Corbyn looks around as he arrives at Savoy Place. His vehicle hit BBC Cameraman Giles Wooltorton on the way into the garage entrance Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images British Trade Union leader Len McCluskey falls on the steps outside the Clause 5 Labour meeting to finalise the Labour manifesto in Londo Andy Rain/EPA Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller breaks down after receiving an ovation from the crowd during her speech at the Convention on Brexit in central London Andy Rain/EPA The Liberal Democrat party campaign bus is unveiled at an event at the Harts Boatyard on 01 May 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Co-Leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, speaks during the launch of the Green Party Brexit policy at the Space Studio in London Stefan Rousseau/PA The Liberal Democrat party leader Tim Farron listens to a speech during an event at the Harts Boatyard on May 1, 2017 in Surbiton Leon Neal/Getty Images Anti-racism protesters speak to the media after being removed ahead of UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall's speech Jack Taylor/Getty Images UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall gestures as he makes a speech as the party launch their general election campaign at the Marriott County Hall Hotel on 28 April 2017 in London Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's opposition Labour party Leader Jeremy Corbyn walks past a bus shelter with Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton, and local councillor Satvir Kaur (right), before meeting local residents Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott Diane leaving Four Millbank in Westminster, London, following her stumbling explanation of how the party would fund its plans for 10,000 extra police in an interview that left her struggling to do the sums live on air. Victoria Jones/PA Philip Hammond and David Davis at a General Election campaign event in Central London Jeremy Selwyn Pensioner Malcolm Baker confronts Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron while he was the election campaign trail in Kidlington, near Oxford Sam Lister/PA Prime Minister Theresa May eats chips as she meets with residents in Mevagissey, south-west England Dylan Martinez/AFP/Getty Images Conservative party handout of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a new poster, warning that families face a tax and debt bombshell under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership Conservative Party/PA Nick Clegg delivers a campaign speech on the European Union at the National Liberal Club in London Stefan Rousseau/PA Ukip leader Paul Nuttall (left) eats grapes during a walkabout in Dudley town centre in the West Midlands, with Ukip West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge (right) and Phil Durnell, West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Richard Vernalls/PA Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband retweeted a photo of him mowing a lawn whilst canvassing in his Doncaster North constituency Jane Nightingale Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on 18 April calling for a general election Dan Kitwood/Getty Images "I have probably been one of the most zealot campaigners for Remain, my argument is Nigel Farage wouldnt have given up, so Im certainly not giving up. He went on: "I remain clear about my own position and I think that Im very much up for speaking out for the interests of my constituents and for the interests of London." Mr Lammy admitted that the Labour Party was still divided on Brexit and had been over the leadership. "We have been a divided party, too divided, the emphasis on leadership is slightly overblown, there have been mistakes, there have been mistakes under Jeremy Corbyn but there have been mistakes under other leaders," he said. Mr Lammy added: "This is not just a personality contest, its a contest of policy and direction and my one regret is that some of the policy announcements we have made in the last few days are not policies that the British public have had long enough to absorb." He said Labour's manifesto pledges on changes to taxation would find the funds to help tackle some of the biggest issues facing London including knife crime. "Weve got a knife crime epidemic across London and schools are doing a lot actually but if theyre going to teach those anti-violence messages then all of that needs resourcing, Mr Lammy added. "What were seeing in London with this increase in knife crime is that you cant solely rely on policing, it takes wellbeing, mental health services, schools, social work, it takes youth work, youth clubs. "All of that across the city has been absolutely cut to the bone. Surprise, surprise, what it leaves out there a solely enforcement approach. "We are seeing knife crime and gang activity spiralling out of control." T he three major political parties are not being honest with voters about the full implications of Brexit, a new report has warned. The report by a group of independent experts based at King's College London said the Brexit deal will affect everything from trade to foreign policy and its impact has been underplayed by all the major party manifestos. The Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos all operate on the assumption that - aside from the negotiations themselves - it will be "business as usual" for government, said the report by the think tank UK in a Changing Europe. Ambitious plans for state intervention included in both Tory and Labour programmes would require a huge investment of effort from Whitehall at a time when officials will be tied up transferring thousands of pieces of EU law onto the British statute book, developing new regulatory structures to replace European rules and sorting out new divisions of power between Westminster and the devolved executives. "None of this is impossible," said the think tank's director Anand Menon, of King's College London. General Election 2017: What you need to know But it will require careful planning and the commitment of considerable resources. "And it is frankly hard to see how much else can be accomplished whilst all this is being done. "Can we really expect ambitious plans for schools, or the NHS, or anything else for that matter to be rolled out during the next few years? I certainly do not. "But none of the manifestos takes such diminished capacity into account." Far from reining in their ambitions, Theresa May's Tories have offered "arguably the most statist and interventionist (manifesto) produced by a governing party in living memory", while Jeremy Corbyn's Labour proposes "a massive expansion of state control of the economy, direct and indirect, including the reversal of several of the major Thatcher-era privatisations", he said. "Immediately after the referendum, much criticism was levelled at the government of David Cameron for failing to consider the implications of a vote to leave the European Union," said Prof Menon. "Almost a year on, much the same could be said of the party manifestos ahead of the General Election. He added: What a shame that the parties haven't properly factored it in to their plans." The report - entitled Red, Yellow and Blue Brexit - notes that "almost all" economists predict short-term economic costs from Brexit as the UK adjusts, with recent research suggesting that falling back on World Trade Organisation rules would reduce annual GDP by around 3 per cent. And it points out that the Office of Budget Responsibility has estimated the bill for reducing net migration to 185,000 at about 6 billion a year, and suggests that hitting the 100,000 target set by Tories may cost a similar sum. Labour's hopes of maintaining the benefits of the single market while ending free movement are "fatally flawed", while its rejection of withdrawal without a deal may be undeliverable because of the Article 50 deadline under which the UK must leave on March 29 2019, whether or not agreement is reached, said the report. And Lib Dems, who promise a second referendum on any deal, would be "caught between negotiating a very close relationship with the EU and arguing such a relationship would not be preferable to remaining". Prof Menon said: "What is striking, is that while all three parties view Brexit as a major event, the manifestos treat it largely in isolation from other aspects of policy, rather than the defining issue of the next parliament." Additional reporting by Press Association. T he grown-ups must be brought in to help Theresa May with Brexit, Rachel Johnson said today. The journalist and broadcaster, who is backing the Liberal Democrats, said she wants to see Nick Clegg, Ken Clarke and Tony Blair involved in Brexit discussions as well as her brother, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Campaigning in the Lib Dem target seat of Vauxhall with candidate George Turner, she told the Standard: What Theresa May is saying is we could go off a cliff, but were still going to do this because the people have decided this. Dont we want some grown-ups in the room just saying can we have a pause and actually decide calmly, without having the far-right of the Tories harrying us, and calmly decide whats best for the country? Ms Johnsons decision to join the Lib Dems is a political split from her familys Conservative heritage. Her father Stanley was a Tory MEP and brother Jo is universities minister. She said Mrs Mays only conviction is to stay Prime Minister, and she has not given out a strong message on Brexit, adding: The reason we are having this election is so she can close down any dissent within the Tory Party... her opacity on Brexit is a problem because I dont think either Leavers or Remainers have any sense of where her real instinct is on this question, because she was a shy Remainer. Ms Johnson described Croatia-born candidate Mr Turner as an example of multi-cultural London. He said it would not be fair for pro-Brexit Labour candidate Kate Hoey to represent the area, which had the highest Remain result. T heresa May has been slammed online for failing to appear on the BBCs General Election leaders' debate, with voters mockingly asking where is Theresa? on social media. The Prime Minister was the only leader of a major political party not to take part in Wednesday nights debate, after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn surprisingly announced he would be attending hours before it started. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron started his opening statement by suggesting the Tory leader might be outside someones house sizing it up to pay for social care - prompting laughs from the audience. The hashtag #whereisTheresa soon started trending on Twitter, as users began sharing memes and pictures mocking the Prime Minister. Mr Farron said: Where do you think Theresa May is tonight? Take a look out your window? She might be out there sizing up your house to pay for your social care. And why do you think she called this election? She wants five years as Prime Minister and she thinks youll give to her no questions asked literally. Mrs May was openly criticised by rival leaders during the debate, with Home Secretary Amber Rudd taking to the podium to represent the Conservatives. Jeremy Corbyn told audiences members tonight I am here as he launched a savage attack on the Conservative Partys policies on social care and taxation. He had announced in a speech in Reading earlier on Wednesday: Theres a debate in Cambridge tonight. I invite her to go to Cambridge to debate her record... and let the public make up their mind. The Labour leader had previously ruled out attending if Mrs May refused to take part. Mr Corbyn was joined by Mr Farron, Ms Rudd, UKIP's Paul Nuttall, SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson, Green co-leader Caroline Lucas and Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood for the debate. The leaders battled it out over the Brexit negotiations, cuts to public services and immigration as voters prepare to take to the polls next week. Earlier on Wednesday, the Prime Minister denied she was frightened of taking on her rivals in a head-to-head debate. While on the campaign trail in Bath, Mrs May said: I think debates where the politicians are squabbling amongst themselves doesn't do anything for the process of electioneering. Ahead of the broadcast Mr Corbyn said the PM's refusal to take part was a "sign of weakness" but Mrs May said she wanted to speak directly to voters and answer their questions rather than squabbling with other party leaders. The Conservative leader was largely mocked for her performance during a Channel 4/Sky News election special on Monday night. C ommuters could soon be able to make and receive calls and surf the internet while on the Tube, under new plans from the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. The London Underground, which has long been a mobile reception-free zone, could become fully connected, with a major contract up for grabs to provide the service to the hundreds of thousands of people who use the Tube each day. Telecoms companies will be invited to bid for the contract after next weeks election, according to the Financial Times. Many Tube stations currently offer WiFi on platforms but not while travelling on trains. London falls behind Paris, New York, Berlin and Tokyo which all allow passengers to use mobile phones in the same way as if they are above ground. Mobile phone coverage on the Tube will mean more passengers can use their phones 24/7 / Shutterstock But Tanya Goodin, who founded organisation Time To Log Off which promotes digital detoxing, criticised the plans which will see another public realm lost to technology. I just think we are running out of places where we can escape from our phones and from work, she told the Standard. It used to be planes were a refuge from work and now they are introducing WiFi. And if the Tube does as well where are the places where people can switch off. Ms Goodin, who founded the company two years ago and now runs retreats to help prevent digital dependency, added: Its a shame really. On our commute its a really good idea to de-stress and detox and prepare yourself for work. The move to improve mobile phone reception on the Tube comes as part of Sadiq Khans plans to boost the growth of digital connectivity across the capital. Earlier this year he advertised to recruit Londons first ever chief digital officer in a bid to digitally transform public services to the next level. A source from the Mayor's office said introducing mobile phone coverage onto the Tube is certainly the Mayor's ambition and more details are set to be released soon. Transport for London said: We are keen to offer full mobile phone coverage for our customers. The introduction of this would need to be commercially viable and would follow engagement with staff and customers. Previous talks between TfL and telecoms companies have broken down without an agreement, the Financial Times reported. Among the companies who have been suggested as likely to bid for the contract include BAI Communications and Wireless Infrastructure Group. T he boss of British Airways has explained what went wrong in the catastrophic IT meltdown which caused chaos for thousands of passengers. Technology website The Register has pieced together statements by the BA chief to build a picture of what was to blame for the messaging system shutdown over the Bank Holiday weekend. According to statements given to various media outlets, the IT problems were caused by a power surge on Saturday morning at around 9.30am. BA CEO Alex Cruz said the surge had a catastrophic effect on some communication hardware which affected messaging across the airlines system. Public's furious response to BA chief executive's video statement He said tens of millions of messages every day are shared across the BA network's 200 systems and all systems were affected. The BA chief then said the airline was then unable to restore and use some of those backup systems because they themselves could not trust the messaging that had to take place amongst them. He said neither an outsourcing of jobs or a cyber attack were the source of the problem and everyone working with this particular hardware were "locally hired". Chaos: British Airways passengers wait at the baggage drop at Heathrow Airport / EPA Mr Cruz has not said who he believes was responsible for the failure or whether BA employees were involved. On Tuesday experts questioned the BA chief's statement about a power surge with some electricity companies reporting no issues on their network. BA flights were brought to a standstill at Heathrow and Gatwick on Saturday with 75,000 people affected by three days of disruption - the worst to hit the airline for seven years. The GMB union had claimed the airline could have prevented the failure if they had not cut hundreds of IT jobs, but BA denied this was the case. Experts suggest BAs huge compensation costs could top 100 million in the IT failure and shares in International Airlines Group slumped. BA apologised "profusely" for the problems. M inisters were back in the dock today over the failure to tackle Britains toxic air scandal. Only weeks after Theresa May published her plans to clean up filthy air: Environmental lawyers ClientEarth launched a third court action over the proposals, which they still deem deeply flawed. An exclusive poll showed an overwhelming margin of voters say the Government is being too weak on the dirty air crisis. Campaigners warned the death toll from tiny particulate pollution in London so far this year will go above 1,000 tomorrow. Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom was recently forced to publish a draft air quality plan after the High Court rejected government claims that general election purdah rules meant it should be delayed. ClientEarth today dismissed a consultation on the proposals as flawed, arguing it does not promote measures which the Governments own technical data shows are more effective at dealing with toxic air, such as clean air zones with charges for polluting vehicles. Its chief executive James Thornton said: The law requires the final plan to bring air pollution down to legal levels in the shortest time possible. These flaws seriously jeopardise that timetable. Separately, a survey by Opinium Research found 50 per cent of adults believe the Government has not done enough to cut air pollution, while only 14 per cent think it has. London Pollution - In pictures 1 /20 London Pollution - In pictures PA Sunrise: Pollution lingered over London on Tuesday morning Jeremy Selwyn A cyclist wearing a face mask rides between taxis taking part in a protest to highlight congestion and air pollution Getty Images A smog filled traffic rush hour in the East End of London Jeremy Selwyn Pollution detector App 'Blue Air' near the Houses of Parliament Blue air Thick smog hangs over London's Docklands PA Traffic pollution in North London Jeremy Selwyn Air pollution surrounds The Shard in London Jeremy Selwyn Getty Images Sunrise over a misty polluted London from Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn St. Paul's Cathedral is seen among the skyline through the smog AFP via Getty Images A thick layer of smog was visible above London William Smith/@williamsmithorg A cold layer of air can be seen trapping pollution close to the ground and across the London skyline Pete Buckney This image taken near the Royal Observatory in Greenwich shows a thick layer of fog hanging over London Anna Rolls The City of London covered in smog seen from Hampstead Heath Getty Images Eight per cent believe ministers have gone too far, while 28 per cent dont know or are not sure. In London, 61 per cent say the Government is not taking adequate steps. The draft plan outlined a scrappage scheme which could take 9,000 diesel and 6,000 petrol cars off the road by offering motorists up to 8,000 to upgrade to a cleaner model. But more than six out of 10 adults believe it would have little or no impact, while 22 per cent said it would have a huge or considerable effect. The plan also put the spotlight on councils, and City Hall in London, to combat dirty air. However, just over half believe the focus should be on the Government, with 22 per cent of them accusing it of trying to pass the buck. More than a third say local authorities should be taking the lead. James Crouch, of Opinium Research, said: Voters clearly want something done to improve air pollution, with eyes looking to the Government to solve the problem. Environment minister Therese Coffey said motorists were encouraged to buy diesel cars, largely blamed for nitrogen dioxide pollution, in the early 2000s as part of moves to tackle global warming. Conservatives will further improve air quality while making sure ordinary working families are not penalised for Labours mistakes, she added. Public Health England figures show the mortality rate for man-made PM2.5 particulate pollution is falling. But an analysis by the Clean Air in London group still put the capitals death toll from it so far this year as rising above 1,000 by tomorrow. The death toll is a complex calculation of premature deaths, rather than individual fatalities, using the World Health Organisations recommended mortality rate. Thousands more deaths are attributed to nitrogen dioxide. Clean Air founder Simon Birkett said: Air pollution is falling far too slowly given it is still twice World Health Organisation guideline levels near Londons busiest roads. The poll also showed nearly six out of ten adult Londoners support a 10-a-day charge on the most polluting vehicles driving into city centres, as proposed by Mayor Sadiq Khan. Some 23 per cent back cleaning up taxi and bus fleets, 14 per cent support a scrappage scheme and nine per cent want to ban diesel vehicles from entering city centres.@nicholascecil A t least 80 people have been killed by a huge car bomb near to the British embassy in Kabul. More than 350 were injured by the blast which ripped through the Afghan capital's diplomatic centre on Wednesday. The French and German embassies were said to have been damaged by the explosion, which some reports claimed was detonated by a suicide bomber in a lorry packed with explosives. The UK Foreign Office said it was "monitoring the situation" as it remained unclear whether there were any British casualties. At least 80 people died in the huge explosion / EPA Clouds of black smoke were sent spiralling over the centre of the city by the powerful blast, detonated in a square packed with commuters during rush hour. The area is also home to the Afghan presidential palace and government offices. Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said: "It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is." The explosion was so powerful it destroyed more than 50 nearby vehicles. The Afghan public health ministry said most of the casualties were civilians and said it "condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack" A statement added: "These heinous acts go against the values of humanity as well values of peaceful Afghans." A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: "Were just monitoring the situation at the moment and getting information coming in from colleagues in Kabul." German security services said it was unclear if any of the embassy's staff were injured in the 8.30am explosion. The French embassy in Kabul was damaged by the bomb, said minister Marielle de Sarnez, who added there were no signs at this stage of any French victims. The blast is believed to have been detonated by a suicide bomber with a lorry full of explosives / EPA The area when the explosion went off is considered one of the safest in the city, with foreign embassies and government offices shielded by dozens of 10ft-high blast walls and guarded by police and national security forces. The Canadian, Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies and Afghanistan's foreign ministry are also in the area of the blast. The attack is one of the most serious seen in the Afghan capital for several months. Crowds trying to identify victims gathered around ambulances carrying the dead and wounded to hospitals, according to witnesses. Houses hundreds of metres away from the blast were damaged with windows and doors blown off their hinges. A Belgian university has been forced to apologise after students at its medical faculty received an email advising women to wear low-cut necklines to their graduation. The Brussels Free University said in a post on social media that the advice, which had been circulated online by angry students, did not reflect the daily values of the university. It came to light after the offending email was posted to the students Facebook group ULB Confessions with a caption calling it a scandal. The instructions said students should try to be on time, and that from an aesthetic point of view, it is preferable that young women wear a dress or a skirt as well as a nice low neckline. Male students were advised to wear a suit. The post attracted more than 600 comments, many written by incensed students. Its sad when even the people who are supposed to be smart are stupid, said one. Another wrote: Is this a joke? "They are graduates of medicine and were asking them to show their chest? The university said on Twitter that the email "came from the organisers of the graduation" and apologised for the content. It said: "It goes without saying that the instructions related to the clothing of young graduates are contrary to the values of the ULB and this faculty." D onald Trump is risking becoming a target of foreign surveillance by sharing his mobile phone number with world leaders and asking them to give him a call. The extraordinary break with protocol could mean that the US Presidents conversations are being listened to, warned security experts. Mr Trump has allegedly given his number to leaders from France, Mexico and Canada. Only Canadas prime minister Justin Trudeau has used the unofficial hotline so far. Its unclear whether Mr Trump gave his number to Theresa May. What is covfefe? Donald Trump tweet causes social media frenzy Given his Twitter feud with Angela Merkel, it is unlikely he shared his number with the German chancellor. Donald Trump talks with Germany's Angela Merkel and Canada's Justin Trudeau. / AP US presidents are usually expected to get in touch with their opposites from other countries through the secure phone lines in the White House. If you are speaking on an open line, then its an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so, Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official, told the Associated Press. A president doesnt carry with him a secure phone. If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything youre saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it, he added. Mr Trump, who lambasted Hillary Clintons use of a private email server during the presidential campaign, also uses his mobile to send out his regular stream of tweets. One he may wish he hadnt sent was mercilessly mocked online today for its jumbled spelling. Despite the constant negative press covfefe, he tweeted. The word covfefe quickly became the top trending topic in the US as thousands of memes mocked the bizarre tweet. Earlier yesterday, Mr Trump escalated his spat with Berlin, surprising the Germans by tweeting: We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change. One of Mr Trumps closest confidants, his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, has now become embroiled in the investigation into possible Russian collusion in the US election. But he has reportedly snubbed a request from investigators to provide information and testimony about any contact he may have had with Russian government officials, saying the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered. P ippa Middleton and her husband have landed in Sydney for the next leg of their honeymoon. After a holiday in French Polynesia Pippa and James Matthews were probably surprised by the cold snap which hit Sydney Harbour as they strolled along the foreshore. The city is having its coldest winter days in almost 20 years, with lows of around 11C. Pippa wore an above-the-knee black and white dress with a black cardigan but her husband was more prepared, in a blue sweater and jeans and carrying a parka. Pippa waves for the cameras on honeymoon in Sydney / EPA The pair, who are believed to be staying at a five-star hotel near Sydney Harbour Bridge, boarded a water taxi to cross the harbour. There is speculation the couple might head to New Zealand next. A BBC driver was among at least 80 killed in a suicide bombing near Kabul's diplomatic centre, the broadcaster has said. Four journalists were also wounded when a sewage tanker packed with explosives was detonated in a rush-hour terror attack on Wednesday morning. The blast injured more than 350 people, shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of metres away. The BBC confirmed "with great sadness" its driver Mohammed Nazir had been killed as he drove journalist colleagues to their office. Francesca Unsworth, BBC World Service director, described him as a "popular colleague" who had worked for the broadcaster's Afghan service for four years. She added: "He was in his late thirties and leaves a young family. "This is a devastating loss to the BBC and Mohammed Nazir's friends and family. We are doing all we can to support them and the rest of the team in Kabul." The four wounded journalists were taken to hospital for treatment to injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening. The blast was powerful enough to destroy more than 50 vehicles / EPA The bomb, one of the deadliest in Kabul and coming at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, exploded close to the fortified entrance to the German embassy, killing a security guard and wounding some staff. Afghan police said explosives were hidden in a sewage tanker that was stopped from entering the heavily protected green zone that houses houses many foreign embassies, including Britain's, suggesting it may not have reached its intended target. "There are several other important compounds and offices near there too," said a spokesman. The French, Turkish, German and Chinese embassies were among those damaged the explosion, which sent clouds of black smoke into the sky near the presidential palace. The blast went off near several foreign embassies / Reuters Video shot at the scene showed burning debris, crumbled walls and buildings and destroyed cars, many with dead or injured people inside. At the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital a few blocks away, there were scenes of chaos as ambulances brought in wounded and frantic relatives scanned casualty lists and questioned hospital staff for news. "It felt like an earthquake," said 21-year-old Mohammad Hassan, describing the moment the blast struck the bank where he was working. His head wound had been bandaged but blood still soaked his white dress shirt. The Taliban denied responsibility and said they condemned attacks that had no legitimate target and killed civilians. Islamic State, the other main militant group active in Afghanistan, has carried out high-profile attacks in Kabul, including an attack on a military hospital in March that killed more than 50 people. A Malaysian Airlines plane has been forced to make an emergency U-turn back to Australia after a passenger tried to enter the cockpit. The flight, headed for Kuala Lumpur, returned to Melbourne due to a "disruptive passenger", the airline said. Pictures have emerged on social media of armed officers having boarded the plane, as well as passengers on the tarmac in Australia. In a statement, the airline said the captain turned the plane around after being made aware of a "passenger attempting to enter the cockpit". Flight MH128 touched down back in Australia shortly before midnight local time (3pm UK time) less than an hour after taking off. The plane has now returned safely to the ground. No-one is believed to have been injured. Passengers were taken off the plane after it landed / Mr Khoo (Twitter) The Malaysia Airlines statement said: "Flight MH128 of 31 May from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was forced to turn back to Melbourne due to a disruptive passenger. A man being held down by officers on the plane / Mr Khoo (Twitter) "MH128 departed Melbourne Airport at 11.11pm and was to arrive Kuala Lumpur at 5.28am on 1 June made a turn back to Melbourne after the operating captain was alerted by a cabin crew of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit. "Safety and security are of Malaysia Airlines' utmost priority. "MH128 safely landed in Melbourne Airport at 11.41pm. "The aircraft is currently on the remote bay and waiting for security assistance to arrive at the aircraft." Planes into Melbourne Airport on Wednesday evening were reportedly being diverted to different airports while police carried out an operation. U S comedian Kathy Griffin has apologised for being pictured holding up a bloodied head resembling Donald Trump. The comic wrote alongside a video posted to Instagram: "I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong." She said: "I beg for your forgiveness." The gruesome photos were taken in a shoot with celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, who is known for work depicting violence. In 2010, Shields photographed Lindsay Lohan brandishing a gun. Ms Griffin said that since she is a comedian, "I cross the line. I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it." The president's son, Donald Trump Jr, was swift to condemn the images. "Disgusting but not surprising," he wrote on Twitter. "This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?" He wrote three further tweets asking CNN if Ms Griffin would continue to co-host the network's annual New Year's coverage. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Mr Trump's former rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, branded the photos "vile and wrong", writing on Twitter that it is "never funny to joke about killing a president". R ussell Brand has endorsed Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister, saying he is committed to serving the people of Britain. The comedian and actor, who backed Ed Miliband in the last General Election, has shared a blog post announcing that he will be backing Labour again. A Labour government wont be perfect, it will be operating within a system that opposes its new, manifest agenda to serve the people it will be elected to govern, he wrote on Huffington Post. Jeremy Corbyn wont be perfect, he is a human being. We have a chance to elect a politician who is committed to serving the people of Britain. To supporting the NHS, public services and educating the young people to whom the future belongs. Russell Brand: in pictures 1 /12 Russell Brand: in pictures The Trews with Ed Miliband With Laura Gallacher With Jemima Khan Brand and Jonathan Ross In The Bill in 1994 With ex-wife Katy Perry With his mum Maya Wild Maya Wild Urging people not to vote for Theresa May, Brand said that a vote for the Conservatives would be a vote for discarding the opportunity for change. Electing the Tories for another five years, to throw the opportunity for change into the distant indeterminate wasteland of 2022 would be an act of collective self-loathing bordering on mass sadomasochism, he said. Russell Brand refuses to 'force a gender' on to his newborn daughter Mabel We must have some faith in humanity, some faith in one another, some hope that we can build a better society together, rather than burrowing downward from the gutter to whatever circle may be propping up hell. Referencing Corbyns connections to the IRA, the Radio X DJ said that the allegations didnt meet up to scrutiny. Funny General Election Campaign Pictures 2017 1 /48 Funny General Election Campaign Pictures 2017 When the chips are down? Prime Minister Theresa May eats chips as she meets with residents in Mevagissey PA You looking at me? Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn is startled by Cody the Dachshund during a campaign event outside the James Paget Hospital Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Falling down British Trade Union leader Len McCluskey falls on the steps outside the Clause 5 Labour meeting to finalise the Labour manifesto in Londo Andy Rain/EPA Not complete pants First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is presented with a pair of stained-glass pants, which Ms Sturgeon designed for the Prostate Cancer UK charity Jane Barlow/PA Sign him up! Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn saves a penalty kick from a child during a visit to Hackney Marshes Football Pitches, to highlight Labour's manifesto commitment to ensure 5% of the Premier League's television rights income is diverted to the grassroots game PA Cutting edge Ed Miliband mows a lawn whilst canvassing in his Doncasater North constituentcy Jane Nightingale Play time with Corbyn Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meets staff and children at Marsham Street Community Nursery in Westminster, London Stefan Rousseau/PA Leap of faith Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron leaps off the stage after taking part in the BBC Election Debate Stefan Rousseau/PA Tongue-tied Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaking at a policy launch event in Gt George Street Victoria Jones/PA Crazy like a fox Former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott gives a stump speech during General Election campaigning outside The Junction in Goole, Yorkshire Chris Radburn/PA Back to school Prime Minister Theresa May meets the Nishkam Trust leadership team and pupils of Nishkam Primary School in Birmingham Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Raising the bar First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during a visit to the Inveralmond Brewery in Perth David Cheskin/PA Running for election Conservative party leader Theresa May and Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson during the Scottish Conservatives manifesto launch at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre PA The wheels on the bus Alex Shimmin takes control of the Lib Dem battlebus, after Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron launched the party's Welsh campaign in Cardiff Bay, Wales Gareth Fuller/PA Photo bomb Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has a selfie taken with supporters after he launched Labour's education plans during a visit to Leeds City College Danny Lawson/PA Top Gear First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon sits in the driving seat of a Midge car during a visit to Moffat on the General Election campaign trail PA Into the light Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after speaking in Morley, Leeds Danny Lawson/PA Rolling with it SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon holds a rolling pin as she and the party's local candidate John Nicolson (left) make haggis pies with Table 13 Express co-owner Iain Murphy on a campaign visit to the cafe in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire Andrew Milligan/PA It's a dog's life ... A dog wears a placard as Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Labour Party campaigns outside Leamington Spa Town Hall Darren Staples/Reuters My goal! Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron plays a game on table football during a visit to charity Gloustershire Action for Refugess and Asylum Seekers in Gloucester. Gareth Fuller/PA Jamming with it Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with Busker Dan Hettfield during his general election campaign stop in Aston Under Lyme Peter Byrne/PA Bake off SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon savours the aroma of a haggis pie featuring the party's logo that she helped to make on a campaign visit to Table 13 Express in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire Andrew Milligan/PA Got a lotta bottle tops Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie (second left) and party candidate Jo Swinson examine bottle tops during a tour of the Guala Closures factory, at Guala Closures UK Ltd in Kirkintilloch, Scotland Yui Mok/PA Stamble and fall Tim Farron takes a stumble on his battle bus during a Sky News broadcast Sky News Just like that Theresa May visits the Dhamecha Lohana Centre in Harrow North London Jeremy Selwyn Top dog? Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron meets a dog in St Albans Philip Toscano/PA Down with the kid's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reads with children as he visits Brentry Children Centre in Bristol, during Labour's election campaign Steve Parsons/PA There's no smoke without fire Pensioner Malcolm Baker confronts Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron while he was the election campaign trail in Kidlington, near Oxford Sam Lister/PA Look who's talking Jeremy Corbyn the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party holds one year old Angelo during a campaign event in Harlow, Essex Neil Hall/Reuters Flower power Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (R) smells a red rose alongside Mohammed Yasin (L) the Labour Party general election candidate for Bedford and Kempston while on the campaign trail in Bedford, north of London, Britain Andy Rain/EPA This Bud's for you Britain's opposition Labour party Leader Jeremy Corbyn (C) walks past a bus shelter with Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton, and local councillor Satvir Kaur (R), before meeting local residents Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Wenger Out!? Students hold up a Wenger Out banner behind Labour leader and Arsenal fan Jeremy Corbyn as he speaks to supporters outside the Town Hall in Leamington Spa Arj Singh/PA Swing vote Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Labour Party, watches local candidate Anneliese Dodds' children play on the swings in a playground during a campaign stop in Oxford Darren Staples /Reuters Watch the birdie A demonstrator, speaks to police officers outside a British Conservative Party campaign event in London Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA Grape expectation Ukip leader Paul Nuttall (left) eats grapes during a walkabout in Dudley town centre in the West Midlands, with Ukip West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge (right) and Phil Durnell, West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Richard Vernalls/PA Bad hair day Prime Minister Theresa May makes her statement to the nation and calls General Election Getty Images Even the more controversial stuff in his search history doesnt hold up to scrutiny meeting with the IRA; he wasnt at a barn dance in Londonderry downing Guinness in a balaclava, he was perspicaciously acknowledging the necessity for negotiation in pursuit of a peaceful solution, he said. Which is what happened, years later. You could say that he was ahead of his time. Or a leader. Brand, who has previously urged fans not to vote at all, famously interviewed Miliband two years ago ahead of the General Election. I TV has announced it will be moving the Britains Got Talent final to ensure that it doesnt clash with Ariana Grandes benefit concert for victims of the terror attack in Manchester. An ITV spokesperson said the broadcaster had no desire to distract from the concert, which will air live on BBC One on Sunday June 4 from 6-9pm. A statement read: Ariana Grande's 'One Love Manchester' benefit concert is bringing artists and the public together, and will raise funds for the Red Cross's Manchester Emergency Fund. ITV and Britain's Got Talent have no desire to distract from this important cause, so we have taken the decision to move the Britain's Got Talent Final from Sunday night. Stars who performed with Ariana Grande at Manchester Benefit Concert 1 /14 Stars who performed with Ariana Grande at Manchester Benefit Concert Ariana Grande Getty Images Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj Getty Images Miley Cyrus Getty Images Niall Horan Getty Images Katy Perry Getty Images Justin Bieber Getty Images Usher Getty Images Chris Martin of Coldplay Getty Images Take That Getty Images Pharrell Williams Getty Images Ariana Grande Getty Images The BGT final will now air on ITV on Saturday June 3rd at 7.30pm, while the British Soap Awards, which were originally scheduled to air on Saturday night, have been moved to Tuesday June 6 at 8pm. It was announced yesterday that Grande was planning a concert at the Emirates Old Trafford Ground to pay tribute and raise money for those affected by the suicide bombing that took place at her concert on May 22. Twenty-two people were killed and dozens injured when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated an explosive in the foyer of Manchesters MEN Arena. Grande said she had been left broken by the devastating attack, but promised fans she would return to the incredibly brave city for a concert in honour of and to raise funds for the victims and their families. Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Coldplay and Miley Cyrus are among the stars who will perform at the fundraising event. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close SCOTTSBLUFF The Scottsbluff City Council voted 3 to 0 Tuesday evening to forward a negative recommendation to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission for a Scottsbluff business owners liquor license application. Council members cited concerns with past compliance violations and the timing with which the application was submitted. Carol Singh, prospective owner of Cheemas Gas and Liquor and John Sorenson, attorney, appeared before the council during a roughly 30-minute public hearing to discuss the license application. Singh had applied for a Class D liquor license. Sorenson told the council Singh has worked at Cheemas Gas and Liquor since 1999, and has had similar experience in liquor sales since 1994. In 23 years, Carol has never had a liquor license violation personally, Sorenson said. Sorenson said the council should consider that Carol Singh met the requirements in the state statutes regarding qualifications for liquor license applicants. What I dont think should be considered is the public pressure, Sorenson said. The reason Carol Singh is applying for the license, Sorenson said, is that she is a shareholder along with Kuldip Singh in the current license holder, Cheema Capital LLC. Sorenson said she is purchasing the license out of the company in an attempt to separate the business interests they both share. Sorenson also said that since the last violation, the store has purchased and installed a software reader that scans drivers licenses to help alert clerks in the event a minor attempts to purchase alcohol. I share the same concerns as some of the people here, Carol Singh said. My kids are in high school, and I dont want them to have any issues with alcohol, but I run a very different business than Kuldip does. I dont allow a lot of things ... I tell the employees that if they sell (to minors) they are done. They are fired on the spot. Carol Singh stressed that all of the clerks have received training and a card made available from the liquor control commission. Scottsbluff Police Chief Kevin Spencer testified about the background checks he performed on Carol Singh as part of the application process. When I do this, Im looking for very narrow legal look. Im looking for reasons to disqualify, Spencer said. There are none for Carol. I next look at character and reputation, and try and find reasons that shes unfit to have a liquor license and again, that information isnt there. However, Spencer said, there are three compliance check violations at Cheemas he felt the council should be aware of that occurred in November 2015, April 2016 and March 2017. A third-offense carries a five-day closure where the store cant sell alcohol, and a 20day suspension, which can be bought out at $100 a day, or $2,000 for the whole period. Since Carol is part of the corporation, the three convictions will follow her, Spencer said. If there is a compliance failure in the future while the liquor license is under her name, it will be a fourth violation. Spencer said on the fourth violation, the city can request the liquor commission cancel the license and ask the applicant to re-apply. I think thats good news that the violations will follow them, Spencer said. Council member Scott Shaver said the installation of the drivers license reader was positive, but he still had reservations because of the past violations. Since the last violation, that was put in. That speaks that theres change at least, Shaver said. But I share the concerns with the previous violations. Spencer said the liquor commission has not yet heard the third violation, and no action will be taken with Carol Singhs application until after the hearing, regardless of what sort of recommendation the council gave. Among the opponents who testified was Lanette Richards of Monument Prevention Coalition, who expressed her concerns about underage and excessive alcohol use, highlighting the coalitions belief that those violations unacceptable. The violation was on March 4 of 2017, and (Carol Singh) filed the application on March 23, 2017, Richards said. My concern is that since she was part of the business at the time of the past violations, I tend to be skeptical of how it will change this businesss practices. Richards also expressed concerns that Kuldip Singh wont be removed from influence over future business operations. Retired Methodist Pastor Rev. Lauren Ekdahl said his opposition was due to public safety concerns and alleged the application was an attempt to dodge the previous violations. It seems to me that theres a good deal of smoke and mirrors here in terms of whos going to be in charge, Ekdahl said. Im sure she (Carol Singh) has every intention doing what she can make happen right, but I think the prior violations have to weigh heavily upon the decision thats made for the good of the community. Council member Jordan Colwell said the council had a difficult decision to make. It concerns me that all of the sudden you guys got your violation in March, and then you try to do your application a couple of weeks afterwards, Colwell said. We try to look at the law as the law, but we also have to think about the past violations. Council member Mark McCarthy said he wasnt convinced there would be any changes made before making the motion for a negative recommendation. Its basically just the change of the name of the license, McCarthy said. The history carries through, the location carries through and all the violations carry through. Mayor Randy Meininger and councilman Raymond Gonzales were not present at the meeting. Now 29 years old, the Sugar Valley Rally continues to grow as drivers pass along their enthusiasm to others, including family members. Larry Sibal of Gering said he grew up around antique cars and picked up the interest from his father, who restored several of them. But this is the first year he decided to take part in the rally. Its something that I've always been interested in, he said. It was my brother BJ who convinced me to give it a try. Hes driven in several of the events. He added that growing up in the area, it always seemed like a fun challenge to test his driving skills while getting the old cars out and rolling. I enjoy being around car people and learning about their vehicles, Larry said. This is something we need to keep around as part of our history. Its amazing how cars were made back then with such limited technology. Larry will be running two cars in his first rally. Hell be driving a 1929 Ford Model A Roadster. Friends will drive a 1931 Ford Model A two-door Sedan. Dad restored the Roadster in 1964, Larry said. I inherited it after he passed away. The two-door Sedan I tracked down a few months ago. With some research, Larry discovered the car had been sold to a collector in New Mexico. After making a deal for it, he traveled south to bring the car back home. Larrys brother BJ will take to the road in more modern vehicles. His two entries are a 1948 Ford Coupe and a 1947 Ford Two-Door Sedan. BJ, who has been in every rally but one since 2011, said its the people he most enjoys about the event, so its not about winning or losing. If the car makes it, Ive won. An essential part of any rally team is the navigator. For BJ, his navigator is his 16-year-old son Conrad. Watching the clock for Larry will be Joe Sams. BJ said a good navigator has to know the driving habits of the person behind the wheel. That includes knowing how long it takes to slow down, speed up and stop. When the computer calculates the official time, its an instant stop and go, BJ said. The navigator has to figure that out, along with figuring time lost for road construction, passing trains and mechanical errors. A lot of math figures into it, so a good navigator is a big asset. BJ added that one of the most fun times he had was when several drivers got lost on the backroads between Bayard and Minatare. There was a sign warning of road construction, but it was small so everyone missed it, he said. It took us some time to get back on schedule, but it was still a lot of fun. For BJ, the rally also serves as a family remembrance. This is part of my Dads memory because he restored all four of the cars were driving this year. So in a way, hes still driving with us. Their father, Bernie Sibal, was director of buildings and grounds for Scotts Bluff County before his death in 2006. Larry will now be joining the drive in memory of their father. After years of coaxing, and finally coming to the rally breakfast last year, he made the decision to make the drive himself. I replaced the engine in the Roadster this past winter, Larry said. That gave me the confidence I could do this. A 37-year-old woman faces charges after she allegedly assaulted her daughter Sunday. Scottsbluff Police arrested Stephanie Quicke, 37, and she faces a charge of cruelty toward a child, according to Scotts Bluff County Court documents. Quicke is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday. In an arrest affidavit, a Scottsbluff Police officer reported police were called to the Capri Motel in reference to two people fighting outside. An officer observed two females on the ground. They were identified as Quicke and her 15-year-old daughter. The girl told police that her mother had assaulted her. She alleged her mother put her into a choke hold and began choking her. She said she almost lost consciousness. The officer observed red marks around the girls neck and a red mark near her left eye. A witness told police that he observed Quicke choking, punching and pulling the girls hair. In other activity over the Memorial Day weekend: Alexander Santiago Porras,34, was arrested on charges of theft by shoplifting, criminal impersonation and obstruction. Police were called to Walmart Saturday regarding a man who had allegedly shoplifted from the store and fled on foot. Staff at Walmart reported the man had stolen goods amounting to over $118 by removing price tags from other items and scanning the price tags for more expensive items, including speakers, a pair of shorts, swimming suit and socks. Police made contact with the man at a restaurant on Avenue I where two men said they had given him a ride. The man provided a false name and he was arrested. Later, the man provided his real name. Richard J. Strain III, 40, faces charges of third-degree domestic assault, terroristic threats and strangulation as the result of an arrest on Friday. Police responded to Strains home in the 1100 block of Avenue R Friday evening. His wife alleged that he had strangled her and that she had difficulty breathing as Strain choked her. She said her husband had also threatened to shoot her if she left him. Police found the man in the bathroom, showering, and ordered him to get dressed before placing him into custody. Strain denied the allegations. Growing Nebraska is our vision for our state. Whether its new jobs, educational opportunities, or regulatory reform, every initiative from my administration is focused on growth. The work we do at the state supports the work of the job creators in the private sector. We work to create a business-friendly climate that supports the job creators who are the economic engine of Nebraska. The numbers show that Nebraska is growing. The latest U.S. Census report in December showed that Nebraskas population exceeded 1.9 million residents for the first time. Nebraska is growing at a faster pace than 32 other states nationally, including our neighboring states Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Wyoming. Those people are also attracting new investments. Recently, Nebraska won the Governors Cup for national economic development success for 101 new capital investment projects. This was the most per capita of any state in 2016. This year, Nebraska continues to see signs of growth. In March, Nebraska notched our thirteenth consecutive month of one million non-farm jobs. Nebraska ranks sixth best in the nation for our low unemployment rate, and sixth highest in the nation for our workforce participation rate. Over the past few months, Nebraska has seen significant new investments from several companies. Here are a few examples: In April, we welcomed Facebook to Silicon Prairie with the announcement of their Papillion campus. Last fall, I traveled to Menlo Park, California to their headquarters to pitch them on building their next data center in Nebraska. Kawasaki announced its first aerostructures production line in the United States with a $12.5 million investment at its Lincoln plant. This investment follows a 2015 trade mission I led to Japan where I visited Kawasaki to thank them for their investment in Nebraska. Novozymes unveiled a new $36 Million investment in their Blair plant following a trade mission I led to Denmark in 2015 where I encouraged them to consider making additional investment in Nebraska and our growing biofuels industry. Becton Dickinson announced a $100 million investment in their Holdrege facility to expand manufacturing capacity and a $60 million investment in Columbus. Cargill invested $111 Million to convert its Columbus plant to a cooked meats operation, which is doubling the employment and size of their plant. Another great development occurred recently for Nebraska beef, our states number one industry. Over the past two years, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and I have been supporting efforts to reopen the Chinese beef market to Nebraska beef, which has been closed for years. In 2016, we led a trade mission to China to share the story of beef from Nebraska with potential customers in anticipation of the market re-opening. In 2015, we visited Beijing to urge the Chinese government to reopen the Chinese market to American beef. Last year, I visited with then candidate Donald J. Trump about the importance of the Chinese beef market to our state, and he pledged to make it a priority as president. This month, American and Chinese officials struck a deal that will allow American beef into China for the first time since 2003. Reopening the China market was a team effort not only involving state officials, but numerous commodity organizations, U.S. embassy staff, federal trade representatives, and a host of other partners. Trade has been such an essential part of growing Nebraska, and thats why I continue to lead trade missions around the world. This fall, I will be returning to Japan for my second trade mission. Japan is Nebraskas third largest trading partner and largest direct foreign investor. The trade mission delegation will be attending the 49th Annual U.S. Midwest-Japan Association Conference in Tokyo as well as traveling to Shizuoka, Osaka, and Kobe to meet with potential investors and to promote Nebraskas ag commodities. If youre interested in joining the trade mission, please visit http://nediplomats.com/2017-trade-mission/ for more information. These are just a few of the many announcements and investments that are helping to grow our state. Im excited about our opportunities and will continue to do everything I can to promote and grow Nebraska. If you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can help better grow our communities, I hope youll contact my office by emailing pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or calling 402-471-2244. We look forward to hearing from you! JUNEAU A 44-year-old Beaver Dam woman made her initial appearance in court on Tuesday after being charged with her sixth offense of OWI after admitting to an officer that she had been using heroin. Sue Tiedt is charged with a felony count of operating while intoxicated sixth offense and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Tiedt could face up to 10 years and 30 days in jail and $25,500 in fines if convicted of both charges. According to the criminal complaint a Beaver Dam police officer was informed Tuesday that another man was getting a ride from Tiedt to purchase heroin. Tiedt has a suspended license and her vehicle was located on Kellom Road entering North Hills Trailer Park. Officers conducted a traffic stop on Tiedts vehicle at 12:40 a.m. Tuesday. K-9 Yeti was called in and conducted an open air sniff and had a positive indication that drugs were in the vehicle. A syringe and crack pipe were found on a person in the vehicle and Tiedt admitted to using heroin while she was in the trailer park. Tiedt said she and her passenger both shot up while the vehicle was parked in the lot. According to the criminal complaint, Tiedt said she did not know her passenger was going to buy heroin. She told officers that marijuana is her drug of choice, but she also smokes crack and did so two days earlier. Tiedt was convicted of OWI in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2008. Tiedt appeared before Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Steven Bauer who found probable cause and placed her under a $5,000 bond. Tiedt must maintain absolute sobriety. She may not go upon the premises of any establishment whose primary business activity involves the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages. He shall not use or possess any controlled substances without a valid prescription or drug paraphernalia, or be in the presence of anyone who does. She may not operate a motor vehicle without permission from the court. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for June 8. By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Westover and Smith roads, on the far western edge of the county, will get paving priority for 2023. Country commissioners and Scott Schmieder, county road and bridge foreman, decided at last Thursdays commission meeting to go ahead and seal up that corner of the county. That way, graders will not have Moran Township Board Considers Concept of Green Burials for Gros Cap Cemetery The Moran Township Board of Trustees took a look at a proposal to allow green burials at the Western Cemetery in Brevort sometime in the... New Preserve on Marquette Island Remembers Nature Lover Kathy Bricker A new nature preserve on Marquette Island not only protects the land, plants, and animals there, but also recognizes the memory and legacy of Kathy... Prince Charles visited on Wednesday three medieval churches in Brasov County: Drauseni, Homorod and Mercheasa, all built around the year 1200 in Romanesque style and expanded in 1500. At the fortified church in Drauseni, the Prince of Wales was greeted by 78-year-old Ella Kosa, the only member left here of a once thriving Saxon community. At present, the Drauseni place of worship is abandoned and no one has entered since long the building of high historical significance. Only Ella Kosa holds the keys to the gate of the building. Baptized and married in the Drauseni church, she sadly told the Prince how the building had been at the center of the community's life in the past. Especially for the Prince's visit she brought a book with the history of the church. "This book shows the way our church was. Now, it's over. My soul aches. The Saxons left and nothing was done," Ella Kosa said, adding that the items inside the church were dismantled long ago and the building abandoned and left to dereliction. "Back in the '70 they came and carried the items away. The organ is in Rupea, the altar is in Prejmer," Ella Kosa said. The local Saxon community was once 178-strong. "In '45 they all left and we were 14 families to return, but then everybody left again," Ella Kosa shared her story, telling the Prince that her children also left 25 years ago. Prince Charles, accompanied by the Prince of Wales Foundation Executive Director Aura Woodward, walked around the church on the freshly mown grass, visited the abandoned church and listened to the story of the building as told by Ella Kosa. The "Prince of Wales Romania" Foundation is working with the Fortified Churches Foundation and the Romanian authorities on a new development model for the abandoned medieval churches, with the Drauseni church serving as pilot in this endeavor. The organization has developed a plan that includes the renovation of the church, the construction of a cafe and of accommodation facilities in adjacent buildings and traditional workshops. All employees will be locals and the place will be included in tourist circuits as an art and crafts sightseeing place. If the pilot project proves successful, the model could be expanded to other similar monuments in the region. The three medieval churches visited by Prince Charles on Wednesday were built around the year 1200 by the Transylvanian Saxon community and were subsequently surrounded by fortifications in the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1990 there were some 250,000 Saxons living in Transylvania but currently there are less than 15,000 left. In southern Transylvania there are about 250 endangered churches and medieval villages, many of them fortified and built some 400 to 600 years ago. "Regeneration Through Heritage" is a successful concept of the Prince of Wales Foundation, which supports both heritage conservation and economic stimulation. Agerpres. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited on Wednesday the headquarters of his namesake foundation in the Transylvanian village of Viscri, where he met forestry experts and small farmers with whom he discussed the future of Romanian forests. The focus of Prince Charles' visit was a meeting with representatives of the "Pro Silva" Association. The Prince also spoke to local producers who presented him cheeses, meat products and local honey. The heir to the British crown inquired about how they work and market their produce. At the Foundation, Prince Charles was welcomed with a menu created especially for him by local chef Robert Birtalan, who cooked for the first time for His Royal Highness. Robert Birtalan shared his story on how he got to be Prince Charles'cook for one day - following an e-mail he sent the British Royal House. His message ended at Aura Woodward, the Executive Director of The Prince of Wales Foundation, who said she was impressed by how Birtalan signed his bid - "Robert, always hungry!" The Prince of Wales Foundation is based in Viscri - Brasov County, a locality listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Agerpres... A La Crosse County judge Tuesday rejected an Onalaska mans demand that criminal charges be against the citys mayor. Greg Luce asked Circuit Court Judge Todd Bjerke to invoke a state law that allows judges to permit a criminal complaint to be filed when a district attorney refuses or is unavailable to, but only after a judge finds probable cause to believe a party committed a crime. Luce argued that Mayor Joe Chilsen committed election fraud, a felony, when he signed a nomination paper circulated by his wife and friend in 2016, according to the complaint. The nomination paper containing those three signatures was disqualified because it failed to include Chilsens required mailing address. During the mayoral campaign, a ruling by the Government Accountability Board eliminated Chilsen from the spring 2016 ballot because deficient papers left him eight signature shy of the required 200. He won a second four-year term on April 6, 2016, as a write-in candidate. District Attorney Tim Gruenke reviewed Luces case and declined to pursue criminal charges after finding the three signers were not tricked into supporting a candidate they did not know or support, and the nomination paper bearing their signatures was disqualified and did not influence the election. The statute indicates we should construe these potential election violations while considering the will of the electors, Gruenke stated. In this case, the violations were of no consequence and were not the result of any intentional fraud or deceit. During Tuesdays hearing, Bjerke told Luce his complaint didnt meet the burden for probable cause, then pressed him for merits of his case against the mayor. If someone signs the certification fraudulently its a felony. Thats what the legislature put on the books, Luce said. How did he get to fraudulently? There has to be a knowing act, Bjerke said. I think we have to base it on what any reasonable person would understand, Luce said. Its only a four-line statement hes signing to and I think we can assume a two-term mayor can understand those four lines. I hope you understand what happens when the courts make assumptions, Bjerke said. Thats not the way to do business here. The two continued the exchange during the 15-minute hearing. Theres just nothing here to show that he willfully falsely signed this document, Bjerke said, or even if what youre alleging here is true. So if I cant find probable cause on each of the elements, I cant accept your complaint, and I cant make the district attorneys office pursue something that more likely than not, even at a lower standard, would not raise to the level of beyond a reasonable doubt if it went to trial. OK, are we done? Luce said. I guess so, Bjerke said. Updated with closing prices NEW YORK Coal stocks continued to underperform the broader U.S. market on Wednesday and renewable energy stocks also fell after media reported the United States will withdraw from a global pact to fight climate change. President Donald Trump will follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters. Trump did not confirm the decision in a post on Twitter. Solar energy shares got hit, with First Solar Inc. closing down 2.5 percent and SunPower Corp. down 3.4 percent. Peabody Energy, the largest publicly-traded U.S. coal company, fell 2.2 percent. Arch Coal, however, rose 0.5 percent. Peabody is based in St. Louis; Arch, in Creve Coeur. The United States is set to join Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the Paris Climate Agreement. A U.S. decision to withdraw from the accord could further alienate American allies in Europe already wary of Trump and call into question U.S. leadership and trustworthiness on one of the world's leading issues. Traders, so far, are not betting on a market change-of-heart. Shares of Tesla Inc., which recently acquired SolarCity, were up nearly 1.8 percent at $341.01. Several big coal companies had urged Trump to stay in the Paris deal in order to protect the coal industry's interests overseas, including by ensuring continued financing for foreign coal-burning power plant projects. Lions Choice, the Town and Country-based roast beef restaurant chain, has named Mike Kupstas the companys new chief executive officer, effective immediately. Kupstas is a 35-year veteran of the restaurant industry. Prior to joining Lions Choice, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, he held senior executive and marketing positions at Panera Bread, Long John Silvers and Red Lobster. Kupstas will be responsible for the daily management of the company and future expansion of the 25-unit restaurant chain. He reports to Bob Millstone, chairman of the board of Lions Choice. He knows how to build a brand with a soul and recognizes the importance our loyal co-workers play while putting the customer first in all that we do, said Becky Fine, Lions Choice COO. In 1996, Kupstas joined Panera Bread as vice president of operations and later became senior vice president, chief franchise officer. During his time with the company, the brand grew from 52 to 1,600 bakery-cafes across the United States. Under his leadership, Kupstas was responsible for franchise membership, administration and operations as well as a variety of marketing and brand communications. Kupstas left Panera in 2012 to become the founder of Forks in the Air, a farm-to-table restaurant in Rangeley, Maine, and a partner with Katie and Ted Collier in Katies Pizza and Pasta Osteria, an artisan Italian restaurant in Rock Hill. Kupstas serves as the chairman of Operation Food Search, a St. Louis-based nonprofit food bank and nutrition education organization. A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday against a proposed Trempealeau County frac sand operation, finding that counties have the right to regulate conditional uses. The case was brought by AllEnergy Corp. and its subsidiary, AllEnergy Silica, Arcadia, which had sought to operate a 265-acre frac sand mine and processing plant in the town of Arcadia. In 2013, the Trempealeau County Environment and Land Use Committee voted 5-3 to deny the permit, saying AllEnergys application was rushed and incomplete; the proposed mine raised environmental concerns and would have adverse effects on the landscape, wildlife and recreation and posed risks to health, culture and social conditions. AllEnergy challenged the decision in court, but La Crosse County Circuit Judge Elliott Levine found that evidence supported the committees decision. An appeals court later agreed, saying the court could not substitute its view for the committees and that the company has no intrinsic right to operate a frac sand mine since that is a conditional use subject to local government approval. AllEnergy asked the Supreme Court to review, arguing its application met the legal requirements and that the committee didnt have the authority to judge its completeness. They were answering the question should we have mines? said Gary Van Cleve, the attorney representing AllEnergy. That should be addressed to the board. The zoning committee doesnt have legislative authority. The company also argued that the committee essentially approved the permit when it previously adopted 37 potential conditions before ultimately voting to deny the permit months after the county enacted a one-year moratorium on new frac mines. The county denied the CUP for legislative reasons based on the public health, safety and welfare, and for reasons of public opposition that amounted to nothing more than uncorroborated hearsay, according to AllEnergys brief. In short, the CUP was denied because it sought approval of a sand mine and the people of the county wanted no more sand mines. In a decision released Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the county acted within its jurisdiction and that there is evidence to support its denial of the permit. The court denied what it called the new legal doctrine urged by AllEnergy, namely that an applicant for a conditional-use permit is entitled to the permit for a conditional use when it meets the specific conditions set forth in the ordinance and any additional conditions set forth, and that an applicant cannot be required to meet other conditions and standards in the ordinance. Justices Daniel Kelly, Michael Gableman and Rebecca Bradley disagreed, saying the committee acted arbitrarily. The Committee exceeded its jurisdiction when it took upon itself the task of determining whether a sand mine, as a general proposition, is an appropriate use of the AllEnergy Property. This is a determination already answered by the Trempealeau County Board, and the Committee had no authority to second-guess the wisdom of its decision, Kelly wrote in the dissent. While concurring with the decision, Justice Annette Ziegler and Chief Justice Patience Roggensack said the court improperly waded into the constitutionality of Trempealeau County ordinances, making the decision potentially more far-reaching in effect than it should be. Groups representing Wisconsin county and town governments, as well as the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Builders Association, argued in support of the countys right to limit land use. CSI Sands Ltd., which operates several mining companies including Superior Silica Sands, argued that a ruling in favor of AllEnergy would promote regulatory consistency. Van Cleve said the decision was disappointing, in part because the justices differing opinions failed to establish a precedent. The county issued a written statement praising the court for leaving such decisions in the hands of local bodies and recognizing the importance of giving a voice to local citizens who provide well-founded concerns instead of adopting AllEnergys argument which would have largely silenced the local citizens which zoning is meant to protect. County Corporation Counsel Rian Radtke declined to answer questions, citing a separate pending civil rights lawsuit in which AllEnergy is seeking damages from the county for alleged due process violations. La Crosse County Circuit Judge Scott Horne has yet to rule on the countys effort to have that 2014 case thrown out. AllEnergy is also seeking to open a 750-acre mine and processing facility in Jackson County, where some neighbors have sought to block the $130 million project on the grounds that the dust, noise, lights and blasting will create a nuisance. Horne is expected to decide this summer whether that case can proceed to trial. Tom Lister, an attorney representing the Jackson County plaintiffs, said he didnt think the decision would have any bearing on his case. Im just glad the Supreme Court is recognizing local control, Lister said. TROY, Ill. Former U.S. Attorney Stephen Wigginton was arrested by police here last week and charged with DUI and leaving the scene of a crash, officials said Wednesday. Wigginton also faces charges of failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and improper lighting, Troy Police Chief Brad Parsons said. Parsons said that Wigginton was exiting Interstate 55 onto U.S. Route 40 on May 23 when he went off the exit ramp to the right and struck four sections of Illinois Department of Transportation fencing. Officers working another accident got a report of Wiggintons crash, and then saw him drive by with headlight damage, Parsons said. They followed, and pulled Wigginton over, he said. The citations say Wigginton was stopped just before 10 p.m. in a 2009 Black Cadillac sedan. A spokeswoman said IDOT did not yet have an estimate of the damage. A spokeswoman for Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons said that the office would be requesting for a special prosecutor to handle the case. Wigginton, now 54, resigned effective December 2015 to join the Armstrong Teasdale law firm. Wigginton was nominated by then-President Barack Obama and was sworn in on Aug. 27, 2010. Parsons said that Wigginton is also a former Troy city attorney. Wigginton did not respond to requests for comment. ST. LOUIS The University of Missouri System began a major round of layoffs at its Columbia headquarters Wednesday in a cost-cutting move that appears to at least initially be affecting its lobbying and public-relations operations. As of Wednesday afternoon, several sources confirmed numerous employees had been let go in the university relations department. However, the extent of the job losses at the headquarters was not clear. The 18-person university relations department houses federal and state lobbyists, the custodian of records and nine communications employees. The layoffs precede a big announcement expected Friday from system president Mun Choi on the final decisions about budget cuts at the system and all four campuses: Columbia, Rolla, St. Louis and Kansas City. A representative for the university system declined to comment Wednesday but said that layoffs would be part of Fridays announcement. Earlier this year, Choi instructed all campuses to propose cuts of 8 percent to 12 percent of their budgets, be it program elimination, layoffs or any other means. Campus proposals became public in May so leaders could collect input from faculty, staff and students. But there was never a public proposal about cuts or changes to the university system. The entire budget process wraps up Friday with Chois anticipated announcement on Mizzous campus. Choi came to the system in March from the University of Connecticut. The system and particularly the flagship campus, Mizzou, have battled a politically charged climate after protests centered on issues of race rocked the leadership and led to the resignation of former system president Timothy M. Wolfe, after which then-Mizzou chancellor R. Bowen Loftin stepped down. The Legislature has battled internally about funding for the university since then. Higher education across the board saw cuts after this past legislative session. That, coupled with an anticipated drop in enrollment and tuition revenue at least the Columbia campus, have increased budget pressures on the system. Choi has expressed multiple times that these cuts arent intended to meet the current budget constraints, but to go beyond that so the system and campuses can make strategic decisions in funding and hiring moving forward. Ben Carson, secretary of housing and urban development, has a bizarre understanding of poverty and social mobility. Its all just a state of mind, he says. If you think the right way, you wont be poor. You take somebody that has the right mind-set, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while theyll be right back up there, he recently told an interviewer. For those with the wrong mind-set, You can give them everything in the world; theyll work their way right back down to the bottom. Carsons perspective ignores a gigantic chunk of American history clearly demonstrating that, for African-Americans in particular, poverty and downward social mobility were imposed by whites, sometimes at gunpoint. Carson should know better than to try to recycle an absurd notion of poverty psychology as a justification for cutbacks in aid to the poor. Consider, for example, the policy imposed by the Federal Housing Administration from 1934 to 1968 that enforced housing segregation with government-backed loans available to white home buyers but denied to blacks. Deed covenants stated that houses purchased with FHA loans could not be sold to blacks. The policy ensured that minority residents would remain isolated in lower-value neighborhoods while whites profited from property purchases in neighborhoods with steadily increasing values. No state of mind was at play among those forced onto the lower economic rung. One hundred years ago last Sunday, East St. Louis became a national symbol of racial economic disparity when whites rampaged through black neighborhoods to drive out prospective job-seekers. The tepid response by authorities, including minimal efforts to prosecute the white labor activists who started the riot, fueled a subsequent rampage that ranks among the worst cases of racial violence in American history. As the United States entered the first World War, factory jobs were growing rapidly in St. Louis. Blacks from across the South, consigned mainly to low-paying farm labor jobs, began migrating northward to seek better opportunities. In just a few weeks, 6,000 to 8,000 arrived in East St. Louis. White labor unions organized a violent and deadly response. On the night of May 28, 1917, about 3,000 white men marched through black neighborhoods of East St. Louis, beating residents and destroying property. At least two blacks were killed. The police response was to arrest and disarm blacks caught carrying weapons. White marauders were sent home. On July 2, 1917, white rampagers returned, burning an estimated 7,000 blacks out of their homes and shooting down residents as they tried to escape the flames. All this because people in poverty aspired for better jobs, improved housing and higher pay. Perhaps the victims just hadnt adequately adjusted their state of mind. Despite what they say, Republican actions in the Legislature prove that they are not the party of law and order. And Republicans most certainly do not Back the Blue. A 33-year-old Madison man died Tuesday after he was shot during a home invasion on Madisons North Side, Madison police said. Authorities had not released the name of the victim. The shooting happened on the 500 block of Northport Drive around 4 p.m. in the Ridgecrest Apartments complex, police said. Police Chief Mike Koval said three or four assailants were involved in the home invasion. Koval said the shooting did not appear to be random. No one was in custody Tuesday night. Police will canvass the area and review security camera footage, Koval said. Were looking at fixed camera portals, both privately owned and as well as the publicly maintained ones by the city, he said. Were obviously doing a lot of analytics, looking at comings and goings of vehicles and people and all that sort of movement of traffic, Koval said. The Police Departments Violent Crimes, Gang and Community Policing units are assisting in the investigation, he said. Koval said it was too early to tell if the homicide was connected to other recent incidents of gun violence. We routinely use our gang resources whenever we have a lot of gun violence, because a lot of the players that are toting guns and posturing with guns, they sometimes may be on the peripheral if not actively involved in some of these investigations, he said. Three people were in the residence at the time of the shooting, Koval said. He said he believes two of the three lived in the apartment complex. One other person received minor injuries after being punched, Koval said. The man who was shot had been taken to UW Hospital, according to the 911 Center. While Old Ripy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey may have been recently released, its actually an old name in the bourbon industry. According to parent company Campari (also the maker of Wild Turkey), Old Ripy was created by Irish immigrant James Ripy in 1868 in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and continued to be made there until 1950. The Ripy family distillery, which was for a while called the Ripy Bros. Distillery, would become the favorite source for Austin Nichols, owner of Wild Turkey, who eventually bought the distillery in 1971. Wild Turkey remains the owner of the distillery today, which is where the new Old Ripy iteration is distilled. Old Ripy is one of two released bourbons that are part of Camparis Whiskey Barons collection. Also released earlier this year is Bond & Lillard, a reference to William F. Bond and his brother-in-law, Christopher C. Lillard, who formed a bourbon partnership in 1869. Both Whiskey Barons offerings come in 375 ml. bottles, each with a suggested price of $50. The price is high, but I do appreciate the smaller bottles for limited release products; the strategy allows more bottles to be available and makes makes buying a whole bottle before youve tried one more palatable. Old Ripy is 104-proof (52% alcohol by volume) and a combination of 8-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon with 12-year-old and younger whiskies. Its a weird way to describe the blend ages, though perhaps an effort to differentiate from Wild Turkey Rare Breed, which is a combination of 6, 8, and 12-year-old bourbon. It pours a medium amber color and features a nose with intense oak, vanilla, and spice. On the palate, it shows a complex combination of soft cinnamon spice, chewy roasted nut, ripe bananas, caramel, and leather. The finish is oaky and fruity with toasted biscuits. This is a very nice bourbon, with well-integrated tannic flavors and plenty of oak and spice. My only hesitancy in heartily recommending it is the price. Still, Wild Turkey fans (of which I consider myself one) who enjoy Rare Breed and Russels Reserve ought to try Old Ripy, whether in a bar or from your bottle shop. The bourbons oakiness pairs well with a full-bodied cigar. Connecticut Broadleaf-wrapped cigars like Umbagog or Henry Clay fit the bill. So do Nicaraguan puros like Flor de las Antillas and Illusione. Patrick S photo credit: Stogie Guys Warwickshire College students with the bench at Compton Verney. (Submitted photo) CARPENTRY students have designed and created a new bench in the grounds of Compton Verney. The group from Warwickshire College were commissioned to design and build a contemplation bench for their reflection area in the wooded grounds of the Georgian mansion house which is home to the award-winning gallery and museum. The bench looks out onto a new labyrinth maze and is also near the base for Forest School where young people access outdoor learning and educational trips. Student Archie Pearcey, aged 18, who came up with the design, said: Im pleased it looks so good. Pick up a copy of Thursday's Herald for your FREE June Focus magazine with a feature telling the story of Compton Verney, from family home to international art gallery and park. OmniVirt Opens Monetization Platform to All Virtual Reality Apps SAN FRANCISCO, CA( ) Today, OmniVirt is expanding its platform to provide a monetization solution for Virtual Reality Inventory. While previous announcements and case studies from OmniVirt have called out work with The New York Times, Time Inc, AOL, and many other traditional publishers to power 360 Video advertising for web inventory, with this announcement OmniVirts platform can be used to monetize a publishers Virtual Reality inventory as well. While publishers have invested into VR, the industry has lacked technology to connect web and VR inventory together, creating limited scale and monetization for VR providers. Now, both traditional publishers and VR developers can monetize their VR inventory and deliver campaigns that scale for brands. See our demos below: For publishers, OmniVirt supports ad serving into VR apps: Intro Video, Demo For developers, OmniVirt provides monetization for VR apps: Intro Video To date, OmniVirt has delivered over 500M 360 VR ad impressions, supporting high profile campaigns for clients like Toyota, Infiniti, Samsung, Netflix, Chevron, Universal Pictures and Johnnie Walker. Now these campaigns can scale into VR inventory as well. OmniVirts mission is to make it easy for publishers and advertisers to launch and monetize their VR experiences and campaigns. Now, with one platform both traditional publishers with a VR app and emerging VR developers looking to monetize their experience with native VR formats can get started with 3 simple steps: Sign Up for an OmniVirt Account at www.omnivirt.com Integrate the OmniVirt SDK Set Ad Campaigns Live If interested in learning more about OmniVirt and recent updates to its Monetization Platform, please reach out at contact@omnivirt.com About OmniVirt OmniVirt is 360 Video and Virtual Reality advertising platform founded by former Google and YouTube employees. The company has received funding from top venture capitalists including Andreessen Horowitz, Greycroft, BDMI, Horizon Media, First Round Capital and many others. OmniVirts technology distributes 360 VR across top publisher websites like The New York Times, AOL, Time Inc, Gannet, Wall Street Journal, Vice Media and more. These experiences are customizable and interactive, with detailed performance reporting showcasing where audiences are engaging in the immersive experience. The company has powered multiple high profile campaigns for clients like Toyota, Infiniti, Samsung, Chevron, Universal Pictures and Johnnie Walker. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Sometimes it seems like the impassioned people who want to preserve Confederate monuments across the South are reading a different history book than the rest of the nation. In fact, they are. A decades-old booklet called the "Confederate Catechism" lays out core beliefs of Southern heritage groups including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which sells the book and has defended rebel monuments in New Orleans and elsewhere. Some of those monuments were erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which has programs to educate children on its version of Southern history. Here is a look at Confederate catechisms what they teach, how they developed and how they are used today: WHAT WAS THE CIVIL WAR ABOUT? Certainly not slavery, according to the most popular version of "A Confederate Catechism," which is promoted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans on its website. "Both from the standpoint of the Constitution and sound statesmanship, it was not slavery, but the vindictive, intemperate anti-slavery movement that was at the bottom of all the troubles," states the 12-page text, written in question-and-answer form. Such claims don't square with much of today's scholarship. To critics, they seem at odds with the secession documents issued by Southern states, some of which specifically mentioned slavery as a reason for the dispute that led to formation of the Confederate States of America in 1861. Mississippi's declaration said the state's position was "thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery." The "anything but slavery" narrative is popular among Confederate sympathizers who maintain the war was about something other than maintaining the ability of white Southerners to own black people. SO WHAT CAUSED THE WAR? The catechism lays the blame on Abraham Lincoln. The 16th president of the United States brought on four years of bloodshed by rejecting the legal right of the 11 states of the Confederacy to leave the Union and sending troops into the South, it claims. For emphasis, it states in all capital letters that the South: "... FOUGHT TO REPEL INVASION AND FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT, JUST AS THE FATHERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION HAD DONE." The guide even denies that the war began when Southern forces fired on Fort Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. Lincoln started the whole thing earlier by secretly attempting to land troops at Fort Pickens near Pensacola Beach, Florida, it says. Official histories published by the National Park Service disagree. Carl Jones, chief of heritage operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the catechism is important but it's almost too simplistic in explaining causes of the war, which he said included constitutional questions, religion and multiple other factors. WHO CAME UP WITH THE CATECHISM? The son of a U.S. president, oddly enough. Lyon Gardiner Tyler, whose father was President John Tyler, is credited with writing the 1929 catechism promoted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Lyon Tyler, who spent much of his life in Virginia, was a prominent defender of the Confederate cause at a time when Southerners were pushing back against Northern histories of the conflict. While Tyler's claims seem outside the accepted norm of modern historical scholarship to many, he served as president of the College of William and Mary before his death in 1935. IS ANYONE STILL PAYING ATTENTION TO THESE IDEAS? Yes. The United Daughters of the Confederacy has an arm called The Children of the Confederacy, with young members who are "encouraged to recite basic beliefs and elements of Confederate history," according to the group's website, which also touts Confederate catechisms. The organization even has officers whose duties include spreading the Southern gospel. Many of the people who gathered to wave Confederate battle flags in New Orleans as monuments were being removed likely haven't heard of the catechisms. But the Sons of Confederate Veterans will sell them a reproduction of Tyler's version for $5: It's available on the group's website. "(Tyler) wrote this pamphlet to help correct the propaganda about the South, and his father, by Northern writers and publishers. It is short, concise and should be read by every student, not only in the South, but in the United States," the sales site states. Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif never sought immunity despite having the right and presented himself for accountability. Addressing a news conference along with MNA Daniyal Aziz in Islamabad on Tuesday, she said Prime Minister himself had suggested the formation of Joint Investigation Team. The Minister of State said Anti Terrorism Court and Election Commission of Pakistan summoned Imran Khan in two different cases today as accused. She said PTI Chief consistently levelling false allegations against Prime Minister and his family. She further said those who could not provide record of ten years money trail are demanding money trail and record of thirty years from Sharif family. The Minister of State said Supreme Court has been provided all relevant information and full cooperation is extended to JIT. Speaking on the occasion, MNA Daniyal Aziz said Prime Minister has always cooperated with the court and submitted himself to law of the land. He said objections raised by Hussain Nawaz on two members of JIT is being politicized by political opponents. Daniyal Aziz said Hussain Nawaz appeared before JIT and testified at scheduled time. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Nehal Hashmi has Wednesday triggered a political storm by threatening the members of the joint investigation team (JIT) and Supreme Court judges of dire consequences after their retirement for probing Sharif family in connection with Panama Papers case. Nehal Hashmi, warning those who are conducting accountability of Sharif family, said in a public rally, We will make this land (Pakistan) narrow for you and your children. You are now in service, but will retire one day. We will not leave you then. Hashmi also threatened Imran Khan and said, The nation will also make this land narrow for those who live in Bani Gala. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) strongly reacted to statements given by PML-N senator, and said it will not let any conspiracy of government successful against the judiciary or Panama JIT. PTI mentioned Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar in its tweet and asked whether he will take any action against Hashmi or not? PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry held a media talk outside Election Commission of Pakistan and said Supreme Court should take notice of the speech of Nehal Hashmi, and made it clear that people of Pakistan will not tolerate any behavior of such kind. PMLN feeling the heat; A #PMLN senator making open threats to the judiciary,will the so called Dabang Int Minister Ch Nisar take any action? pic.twitter.com/86vOLrpkZ3 PTI (@PTIofficial) May 31, 2017 Fawad Chaudhry said government is trying to hinder the investigations, and to make scandals of judges. He said the chief justice should take strict notice of this matter. He told that Imran Khan has summoned the party meeting on emergency basis to discuss the matter of pressurizing Panama JIT and judiciary. The coming weeks are very significant for Pakistans politics, remarked Chaudhry. On the other hand, sources have revealed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken notice of Nehal Hashmis statement. Senator belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nehal Hashmi has relinquished his seat in the House after Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif took notice of his threatening speech against officials of Panama Leaks Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and the judiciary. Hashmi was summoned to the Prime Minister House following his attacking speech and reportedly, Special Assistant to PM on Political Affairs, Asif Kirmani convened a meeting with the senior member of the party to convey premiers reservations. PML-Ns senator was served show-cause notice for the speech and according to state minister for information and broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, the PM had sought a senatorial resignation off him. We will make this land (Pakistan) narrow for you and your children. You are now in service, but will retire one day. We will not leave you then, the senator had warned in his speech that the party leadership has taken objection to. Hashmi also threatened Imran Khan and said: The nation will also make this land narrow for those who live in Bani Gala. Aggressive speech of the senator came in after Hussain Nawaz, premiers son was summoned by the JIT for two consecutive days. Nawaz had left the JIT headquarters on Tuesday after spending at least 05:30 hours during which he recorded statement over familys assets and answered committee s questions over alleged stashed wealth. Hashmis speech today has received him flak from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the party had sought action against him by interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. On the other hand, Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has served Hashmi a notice for contempt of court and formed a three-member bench to hear the case. The bench headed by Justice Ijaz Afzal will hear the case at 01:00pm on Thursday. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah congratulated the people Sindh and said this is the first major power project along with its transmission line in the province. He said the Sindh government has taken several initiatives to eliminate load shedding, and the initiative will help eliminate load shedding in Karachi to improve ndustries, employment and well-being of the residents of the city. He added that besides major investment in the development of Thar Coalfield Block II, the Sindh government has provided major support to develop two 50 MW gas-fired power plants at Nooriabad on public-private partnership mode. It may be noted that Nooriabad is about 85 km from the port city of Karachi and is connected by a major highway. The chief minister said that 95 Km special purpose transmission line has also funded by Sindh government through Sindh Transmission & Dispatch Company (STDC) at a cost of Rs. 2 Billion. Syed Murad Ali Shah said the gas is being allocated the power projects through a decision by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet. He added that the gas quantity is 20 MMSCFD of pipeline quality capable of producing 100 MW, and that 50 acres of land has been acquired by the project companies. Ownership Structure Speaking about the ownership of the project, CM Sindh said that the project has been established through two Special Purpose Companies (SPC) Sindh Nooriabad Power Company (SNPC) and Sindh Nooriabad Power Company Phase II (SNPC-II). He added that Sindh government has assumed 49 percent of the equity and the private sector contractor Technomen Kinetics has subscribed to 51 percent of the equity. Financing Structure Giving detail of financing structure, CM Sindh said that the project is funded through 80 percent debt and 20 percent equity. He added that the debt is being provided by National Bank of Pakistan, Sindh Bank and Sindh Government Employees Pension Fund. The Project cost is estimated at USD 130 Million. The chief minister said the commission of the power projects will be able to reduce load shedding significantly and would provide cheap electricity to the citizens of Karachi. The transatlantic diplomatic rift widened on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump responded to criticism from Chancellor Angela Merkel with a new attack on German trade tactics and defense spending. Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer insisted that the leaders "get on very well" but -- as is often the case -- his warm words from the White House podium were overshadowed by the president's intemperate tweets. When Trump returned over the weekend from the first foreign trip of his presidency, his aides hailed the tour as a success and a sign of renewed and bolder US leadership on the world stage. But, while Trump received a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia and Israel, he left behind a bitter taste in Europe after the NATO summit in Brussels and the G7 get-together of the world's richest powers in Sicily. European leaders were especially dismayed by Trump's refusal to reaffirm US support for last year's Paris climate change accord and his failure to publicly endorse NATO's mutual defense pledge. Germany, until recently Washington's closest partner in Europe, was particularly discomfited, and Merkel wasted no time in warning German voters that the United States can no longer be relied upon as before. Trump's response came in the early hours of Tuesday when he took to Twitter to once again demand that Germany renegotiate the terms of transatlantic trade and boost its defense spending. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military," Trump wrote, in his flamboyantly undiplomatic style. "Very bad for US. This will change." - 'Trump was not aggressive' - German officials have repeatedly insisted that, as a member of the European Union, they cannot conduct bilateral trade talks with the US and that they are not ready to dramatically increase military spending. In January, the White House accused Germany of exploiting an undervalued euro to boost its trade advantage, despite Berlin's long opposition to the European Central Bank's loose monetary policy. And, even after he held a frosty meeting with Merkel in Washington in March and heard her explain Germany has no independent, non-EU trade policy, Trump continues to complain about Germany's surplus. According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, Trump told European officials in Brussels last week that "the Germans are bad, very bad." Spicer gamely tried to deny the report, insisting that European Commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker had confirmed that "Trump was not aggressive on German trade surplus." But after Merkel and other senior German officials, who are campaigning ahead of September national elections in their own country, spent the weekend attacking Trump, the US leader returned to the theme. 'Weakening the West' Not only does the spat continue but Merkel has seized upon it as an opportunity -- in the wake of the election of Emmanuel Macron as a pro-Europe French president -- to rally Europe around her leadership. She warned German voters that her experience in dealing with Trump at NATO and the G7 had convinced her that the times when Europe could rely on Washington and London "are coming to an end." "Transatlantic ties are of paramount importance to us... but the current situation gives more reasons for... us to take our destiny in our own hands," she said Tuesday. "Europe must become a player active in international affairs." German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was even more blunt on Monday, slamming the US president's "short-sighted" policies that have "weakened the West" and hurt European interests. "The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union," he warned, judging that "the West has become smaller, at least it has become weaker." Speaking just days after Trump promised to sell Saudi Arabia $110 billion worth of arms in order to deter Iran, Gabriel accused Washington of fuelling religious conflict. And he warned against "accelerating climate change by weakening environmental protection." British anti-EU politician Nigel Farage, who has built a bond with Trump, accused Merkel and Juncker of triggering a row with Washington deliberately to further the "anti-democratic" goal of a German-led European state. "Believe me, I know Trump and I know the people around him. He is not going to kick NATO into touch provided people pay their way," Farage claimed. "Merkel and Juncker actually want to see the Americans leaving Europe. And I regard that, far from being good for peace, actually as being very dangerous." Trump said he will give his verdict on the Paris accord later this week and has warned that Washington may pull out of a pact that European leaders see as the last best hope to slow global warming. Two people have been killed by a "disgruntled employee" who opened fire at a private school in Saudi Arabia. The US mission said there were no children present during the attack on the Kingdom School in Riyadh. Government-linked Saudi newspaper Okaz reported that the shooter was an Iraqi teacher who had been fired from the school. Local reports that the victims were the school's principal and a teacher had been killed could not immediately be confirmed. Talal al-Maiman, the chairman of Kingdom Schools, described the shooting as a case of a disgruntled employee". It is with regret that the administration building of Kingdom Schools witnessed this morning a shooting incident by an Arab national who was dismissed from the school four years ago on the basis of anger issues and an unstable personality, he told Reuters. The victims were a Saudi national and a Palestinian national, he said, while a third person was injured in the rampage. The security situation at the school has been contained. A spokesperson for the Saudi interior ministry said the attack was being treated as a criminal case, rather than a terror investigation. Saudi Arabian schools are currently closed for the summer holidays, which started before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. On its website, the Kingdom School says it operates separate facilities for boys and girls at elementary, intermediate and secondary levels, incorporating international programmes. The complex sits in the upmarket al-Shemal district of Riyadh, which houses international bodies, hospitals and restaurants. The school, opened in 2000, is operated by a company owned by billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talaal. 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. Two men from Wisconsin were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for child pornography in separate cases, heard before a federal judge in Madison. On May 24, Charles Raimondi Sr., 74, of Park Falls, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Peterson to 10 years in federal prison, for possessing child pornography. He will also be on supervised release for the rest of his life after serving time in prison. Raimondi pled guilty to charges in March. A search warrant executed at his home in Park Falls in October turned up numerous sexually explicit images of a juvenile identified as KV #1, and other children. Peterson, in sentencing Raimondi, said he turned KV #1 into a sex object, and further victimized her by sending pictures of her to other people. The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Superior Police Department, Iron County Sheriff's Office and the Queensland, Australia Police Service. On May 30, Benjamin McHugh, 36, of St. Germaine, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Conley to 12 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography. He will be on supervised release for the rest of his life after serving time in prison. McHugh pled guilty in March. FBI agents executed a search warrant in September at the home of Seth Foerster in Grafton, finding sexually explicit photos of a minor female on a computer. Foerster said McHugh took the pictures and uploaded them to his computer, and Foerster also took pictures of a different juvenile and made them available to McHugh. Agents then searched McHugh's home and interviewed him, with McHugh admitting he took pictures of the minor girl and uploaded them to Foerster's computer. The McHugh investigation was conducted by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force and the Vilas County Sheriff's Department. Ian Upton is heading south as he takes his peace hikoi from Tauranga to Rotorua today. Ian arrived in Tauranga Tuesday afternoon before heading south today towards Rotorua, Taupo and Taranaki. Hes in the process of walking the length of the North Island to bring attention to a petition asking the government to switch defence force spending to the planned Ministry for Vulnerable Children. While applauding the plan for a Ministry for Vulnerable Children we are aware that it has, at present no new funding. Yet $20 billion has been voted for defence spending over the next 15 years. We believe that once the funding disparity between the intended new Ministry and the magnitude of funding for Ministry of Defence is made apparent to ordinary New Zealanders, others will be keen to join our cause. A Quaker, Ian believes its a moral duty to use government funding in a way that makes the peace and wellbeing of the country a priority. Ian previously walked the length and breadth of the North and South Islands in the 1990s promoting the cause of MMP. The current Hikoi is planned to finish in Wellington on June 22 when the petition will be received. He left Cape Reinga on May 5. The peace hikoi can be contacted on Facebook Now that relationship has been taken to a new level with the design of a luxury submarine that can be housed on-board a superyacht and features an interior borrowed directly from the private jet industry. The product of eight years of research and development, the 19-metre Neyk Submarine is the brainchild of Dutch company Ocean Submarine and benefits from the giant strides made in building bespoke private jets over the last couple of decades. Built in a modular construction, the highly spacious interior can be customised with furniture, ceiling panels and different types of paint. It will have large panoramic viewports on top and three acrylic viewports on either side, as well as comfortable seats, a bar, a library and a complete galley. The hull diameter is exactly the same as private jets and the contents can be installed in a similar way in its interior, including systems such as air conditioning and all the facilities normally associated with private aircrafts. It will offer speeds of up to 15 knots and can carry as many as 20 passengers to depths of 150 metres. Other customisation options include fitting landing gear so that the sub can come to rest on a beach, adding a dedicated diver lockout chamber, and transforming the nose area into a 270-degree underwater observation room. My experiences convinced me that we could develop a unique new submarine in partnership with experts from every branch of aviation and underwater vessels, says Martin van Eijk, founder of Ocean Submarine. The project began in 2009 based on a hull that would be suitable for the Navy and coastguard services as well as the luxury market. Having built up considerable expertise in aircraft, spaceships and underwater vessels, my goal was to combine this with the wealth of know how available in the world today. The result is a new generation of submarines featuring a single multipurpose hull, offering a unique level of luxury and experience in a submarine. Ocean Submarine also worked with experts from renowned global brands including Rolls Royce, MTU and Bosch to create the Neyk Submarine. Pricing has yet to be announced. Project Days Part of an all-new explorer range of ICE Yachts, M/Y Days is under construction in the AES facilities in Turkey with the view of delivery to her owner in Spring 2018. As the project progresses, Burgess will be continuing their overview of the project while preparing to bring the explorer to the Monaco Yacht Show in 2018 for its world debut. Its exterior design is a solid, rugged and stripped-back take on the contemporary explorer; hinting at unparalleled capability across the world with an immediate first impression of space throughout. M/Y Days features an impressive volume of more than 1,800 GRT, with deck heights spanning over 2.70-metres and an incredible focus on owner privacy, with private access to sky-lounge and meeting room for an Owner looking to use Days for both business and pleasure. Her huge beach club is another example of the unbridled space on board with a helipad on the foredeck to cater for any form of adventure, from the tropics to the arctic. Future Projects Furthermore to the marketing and management of the ICE Explorer 'Days', Burgess will also be bringing superyachts between 70 - 75 metres to the market from CCN Yachting and AES Yachts. These projects are the conceptualisation of Italian designers Hot Lab, bringing a stylish exterior and interior design to a brand new project set to be unveiled at the 2017 Monaco Yacht Show. The family of a man who was fatally shot Tuesday on Madisons North Side was described by his family members as a hard worker and a beloved man. He was a great man and a great father to his kids, Jessica Marias said of her fiance, whom the family would identify only as Mike. He was so loving and caring ... Well miss him so much. Authorities had not released the name of the victim. At a press conference at the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County headquarters on the South Side, Marias comforted the victims 3-year-old son, Jamichael, as family members spoke about the 33-year-old Madison man who worked as a cook at a local Italian restaurant and had five children. He has always been around me, hes always supporting me, the victims mother, Raychelle Scott, said. I just want to say he did not deserve this. Scott, of Chicago, said she will stay in town until she finds out what happened to her son. She and Marias asked anyone who has information about the homicide to contact the Madison Police Department. Michael was always well-dressed, even when he was young he always had the nicest things, she said. Somebody didnt like his get-up, and thats wrong. I know thats what it is, because Mike had never been in a gang. As Madison police search for the three or four assailants, residents on the citys North Side are anxious about the rise in gun violence and what it portends for the summer, said Michael Johnson, president of the Boys & Girls Club. People are worried, Johnson said. I hope (Madison Police Chief) Mike Koval gets the support he needs and can come up with the resources to respond to these issues. As of Wednesday night, no arrests had been made in the shooting, police said. Police said they had little information to go on but were poring through surveillance video at the apartment complex to see if they could identify the assailants. DeSpain also said officers were talking to lots of people and had a number of leads. The Dane County Medical Examiners Office will release the victims name, DeSpain said. Mike died at UW Hospital after being shot in his residence at Ridgewood Apartments on Northport Drive. At least one of his children was in the apartment at the time, Johnson said. Johnson, who met with the family Tuesday night, called the homicide ugly and unfortunate. I prayed with the family and the neighbors, both inside and outside of their homes, Johnson said. At a news conference Wednesday led by members of the nonprofit Focused Interruption Coalition, Pastor Larry Jackson, from True Worshipper Community Church in Fitchburg, accompanied the family and pleaded for justice for the family. We have to stop the senseless killing, Jackson said. Now its getting to the point where people are doing it in broad daylight, and its unacceptable. Scott remembered the last time she saw her son, on Mothers Day. Mikes father, Frank, who also declined to give his last name, wept as he said his son will not be alive for Fathers Day. He came and surprised me on Mothers Day and thats the last time I saw him, Scott said. Who wouldve ever thought that the last time you see your child would be Mothers Day. And he will not make it for Fathers Day. Virginia Highlands Community College signed an agreement to provide Bristol Regional Medical Center with more students. The challenge of finding a sufficient supply of nurses is a nationwide topic, said Greg Neal, president and CEO of BRMC. The current shortfall of nurses is projected to be at 800,000 by 2020 and rural areas are having a hard time as well. Twenty additional students will be admitted starting with the 2017-18 academic year, according to Dr. Kathy Mitchell, dean of nursing and allied health. We had meetings with hospital staff to talk about how we could increase enrollment so there would be more graduates for the hospital to hire, Mitchell said during a news conference last week at BRMC. We talked and in order to do that, we have to be able to have more adjunct faculty and more clinical space as well. To accomplish that goal, Mitchell said VHCC will provide faculty for curriculum instruction, while BRMC will be responsible for much of the clinical instruction students receive. Wellmont will also fund another part-time faculty member at VHCC who will assist with skills and assessment courses as well as help in the simulation lab at the college. The educational institutions that we have in the region are excellent providers of nursing education, but are limited in their capacity to train new graduates, Neal said. This investment ensures that we are going to be able to provide 20 nurses per class coming out of the college. Students enrolled in the nursing program at VHCC will take classes and perform 500 hours of clinical training with an instructor at BRMC before graduating with an associates degree. VHCCs nursing program has provided nursing education to students for more than four decades and is one of three partners in the Virginia Appalachian Tricollege Nursing Program. This new agreement is going to be noticed in the community rather than in the program, Mitchell said. Its great to have our program grow, but its so much better to see that we have health care providers for our community and that these students will have jobs available, too. Students who earned degrees and worked for a Wellmont hospital have been assets in creating an environment of care rooted in excellence, according to Tim Anderson, BRMCs vice president of patient care services, who said they have been impressed with VHCC graduates. We are pleased to work with the college on this newest initiative, Anderson said. Working with VHCC, we will make further inroads in building our staff. OSWEGO, N.Y. -- Investigators are still working to figure out what caused a huge fire in Oswego over the weekend that left a two-story brick building filled with apartments and businesses collapsed on the ground. A two-story brick building in Oswego collapsed May 27, 2017, during a fire. Six families living in apartments on the second floor were displaced, but no one was seriously injured. They believe it happened in one of the apartments above Paura's Discount Liquore Store on the corner of West Third and West Bridge streets, said Randy Griffin, chief of the Oswego Fire Department. Six families and 16 people were displaced due to the damage, according to the American Red Cross. Firefighters from about 15 different departments responded to a fire call at a building at 126 West Third St. at about 9 a.m. Saturday. Some were on scene fighting the blaze, while others fielded incoming calls for other departments in the area. Smoke was showing from outside with heavy fire already starting inside the building when firefighters arrived, Griffin said. Several residents were already outside, but firefighters went through the building making sure everyone was evacuated, Griffin said. The fire began spreading to the structure's attic and then throughout the rest of the building. Eventually the flames became too strong, so firefighters pulled out and worked the fire from outside. Griffin said the situation was too close to a fatal incident years ago. "We've already lost firefighters in Oswego. That wasn't going to happen again," he said. Firefighter Edward A. Maxon was killed in the line of duty in 1956 when a building fell on top of him in Oswego while he and two others were dealing with a fire, syracuse.com archives show. Griffin said rescuers were able to save the other two firefighters, but Maxon died in the incident. The brick building on fire Saturday also collapsed at about 11 a.m., Griffin said. This time no one was injured. Griffin said investigators are still working to interview residents and passersby to figure out what caused the fire. The amount of damage the building sustained is expected to slow the process, Griffin said. VA seal cropped.JPG SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- An Oneida County woman told federal investigators she stole her dead mother's VA benefits just to pay bills so she could survive. But the woman, Michelle Gulla, didn't disclose that she'd used a chunk of the stolen money to gamble at casinos in Central New York and Las Vegas. U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin sentenced Gulla, 54, to five years' probation today. Gulla admitted stealing $22,344 that the Department of Veterans Affairs sent to her mother for 19 months after the mother's death in 2014. Before the sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Eurenius asked Scullin to send Gulla to jail, citing her failure to disclose that she'd made 44 ATM withdrawals of the money at Turning Stone Casino in Verona and at three casinos in Las Vegas. Before investigators discovered those withdrawals, Gulla told them she'd used the stolen money "to pay the bills at the house" and claimed she was "just trying to survive," court papers said. Gulla, of Marcy, withdrew $4,130 at the casinos, according to court records. The stolen money "represents money due to veterans who actually earned this money," Eurenius said. "This kind of fraud is endemic." After she was indicted, Gulla continued to steal her mother's money, Eurenius said. She drained $4,000 from her mother's bank account that she wasn't entitled to, he said. Gulla's lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Randi Bianco, cited the defendant's lack of a criminal record and the fact that she was the longtime caretaker of her ill mother and brother. "This was completely out of character," Bianco told the judge. "She's not the type who will repeat." Gulla sobbed at her lawyer's side in court. Bianco asked Scullin not to send Gulla to jail. "I just want to apologize for everything and for any problems I caused," Gulla said. "I'm so sorry." Scullin ordered her to repay the money to the VA. He ordered her to undergo mental health counseling, and not to gamble or go to places of gambling. chevelle_tm_photo.jpg Chevelle will bring rock-hard music to the New York State Fair on Thursday, Aug. 24. (Provided photo) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Family band Chevelle will bring hard rock music to the Chevy Court stage at the New York State Fair. The free show will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24. The Chicago-based trio formed in 1995. Brothers Pete and Sam Loeffler and brother-in-law Dean Bernardini are touring behind the group's eighth album, "The North Corridor." Bernardini replaced brother Joe Loeffler on bass in 2005. All Chevelle's major-label albums have hit the top 20 on the Billboard albums chart and three hit #1 on the hard rock albums chart. The new album marks a return to the heavier, harder sound of Chevelle's early work. The show will mark the band's debut appearance at the fair. The show takes place on the first of two Three Dollar Thursdays, when fair admission drops to $3. All Chevy Court concerts are free with admission. Other free concerts announced for the 2017 Chevy Court lineup include: Robert Randolph 3 Doors Down Chevelle, 8 p.m., Aug. 24 The Fabulous Thunderbirds The Beach Boys Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone Kansas Marshall Tucker Band Taylor Dayne LeAnn Rimes Spin Doctors The 2017 fair runs from Aug. 23 to Sept. 4, 2017. Katrina Tulloch writes music and culture stories for Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Contact her: Email | Twitter | Facebook 2015-10-20-tsk-Frechette1.JPG Tom Frechette pictured in 2015 while recuperating in a converted first-floor office at his home in the town of Onondaga, following a traumatic accident in September. Frechette's bicycle was struck by an unmarked Syracuse police car when the driver, Sgt. Denis Regin, was blinded by glare from the afternoon sun. (Submitted photo) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The City of Syracuse has offered a $2.25 million settlement to a bicyclist who was badly injured after being struck by a police car. The Common Council will vote Monday on the payment to Thomas Frechette. The Council will discuss the settlement in an executive session, closed to the public, prior to the vote. Frechette sued the city in 2015. The original claim was $5 million, according to documents from the city attorney's office. Joseph Barry, first assistant corporation counsel for the city, said the case went to mediation and the city reached the tentative agreement with Frechette's attorney for $2.25 million. Frechette was riding his bike along Split Rock Road in the Town of Onondaga on Sept. 16, 2015 when he was hit by an unmarked police car driven by Sgt. Dennis Regin. Regin was off-duty and on his way home in a take-home police vehicle. Since the city owns the vehicle, it bears liability for the accident. Regin told state police he was blinded by a glare on his windshield as he made a turn and did not see Frechette. Regin was not ticketed in the accident. Frechette spent three weeks in the hospital recovering from several broken vertebrae, 15 broken ribs, a broken collar bone, a torn artery, a collapsed lung and a concussion. At the time, Frechette's attorney, Michael Bottar, said it was uncertain whether he would be able to return to his job as a control room operator for National Grid. He called Frechette's injuries "catastrophic." Bottar could not be reached Wednesday. Blog_cayugaplant_photo1.JPG Owners of the coal-fired Cayuga power plant near Ithaca plan to build Upstate New York's biggest solar farm next to the plant. (Finger Lakes Action Network) The owner of a coal-fired power plant in Tompkins County plans to build Upstate New York's largest solar farm by covering roughly 75 acres next to the coal plant with photovoltaic panels. Riesling Power, owner of the 300-megawatt Cayuga coal plant in the town of Lansing, today announced plans to build a $25 million solar power facility on site. The solar farm would produce up to 18 megawatts, enough power for about 3,100 households, company officials said. That would make the Cayuga solar farm the largest in Upstate New York, second only to a 32-megawatt facility on Long Island. But Cayuga probably would not hold that distinction for long. Thanks to renewable power subsidies adopted last year by state regulators, the Cayuga solar farm is one of roughly three dozen large solar installations around the state that have sought permission to tie into the power grid. Some of the proposed solar farms would be as much as 10 times the size of the Cayuga facility. Officials at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority are expected to release a request of proposals soon that will determine how much of a subsidy renewable power suppliers can earn. Under the New York's clean energy standard, state officials are committed to sourcing 50 percent of New York's power from renewable energy by 2030. Suppliers will earn subsidies paid for by utility ratepayers in addition to selling their power wholesale. Before construction can start, the Cayuga solar farm will need permits from the town of Lansing and permission from the New York Independent System Operator to connect to the grid. Company officials hope to be operational by the spring of 2019, said Jerry Goodenough, vice president of development at the Cayuga plant. In the future, Riesling Power hopes to convert its coal-fired generating station to burn natural gas, a cleaner and cheaper fuel, Goodenough said. State regulators last year rejected a request by the coal plant's former owner to have utility ratepayers from New York State Electric & Gas subsidize the conversion to natural gas. But Riesling Power officials are weighing the benefits of paying the full cost to switch, Goodenough said. For now, the Cayuga plant runs on coal. Kraft Heinz.JPG A worker leaves the Kraft Heinz Foods Co. cheese plant in Campbell, New York, in November 2015. The company has postponed the closing of the plant until Aug. 23, 2017, while it looks for a buyer for the facility. (Google Maps screenshot) Campbell, N.Y. -- Kraft Heinz Foods Co. has postponed the closing of its cheese plant in Campbell for a few weeks, providing a least a temporary reprieve for 380 workers. The company said in February it would close the Steuben County facility at the end of July if it could not find a buyer for it by then. But in recent days, it filed a notice with the state under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, saying it has delayed the closing until Aug. 23. Polly-O string cheese is among the products made at the Kraft Heinz plant in Campbell. A Kraft Heinz executive said the delay will give Kraft Heinz more time to reach a deal with prospective buyers who would keep the plant open, WXXI reported. The executive said the company was optimistic a sale agreement could be reached by the end of the summer, according to the radio station. H.J. Heinz Co bought Kraft Foods Group Inc. in 2015, creating the third largest food and beverage company in North America. Soon after, it announced it would close Kraft's Campbell plant in late 2015, but it later agreed to postpone the shutdown for one to two years while it, along with state officials, looked for a buyer. The plant 52 miles southwest of Ithaca produces Polly-O'String cheese, mozzarella cheese and other Italian cheese varieties. Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148 People living or traveling in Wisconsin could carry a concealed weapon without a license or training under a new bill Republican lawmakers Wednesday urged a legislative committee to advance. In addition, the bill would let license holders carry guns on school grounds for the first time. But at a packed hearing, Democrats and other critics said the move could lead to irresponsible people bringing firearms to public places, including schools where guns are currently banned by law. The bill, authored by Rep. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma, and Sen. David Craig, R-Big Bend, would eliminate state-mandated training and registration fees to carry hidden weapons and allow Wisconsin residents with a license to carry a concealed weapon to bring firearms into schools unless school officials post signs prohibiting them. The proposal would also repeal the states gun-free school zone law and reduce the penalties for violating school rules banning guns on school grounds including students from a felony offense to a misdemeanor or fine. Craig and Felzkowski told the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety that the legislation strengthens Wisconsin residents constitutional right to keep firearms, especially for self-defense, by eliminating barriers from doing so. Current law allows residents to carry firearms openly so long as the guns are visible or in a concealed manner with a license. Felzkowski said the bill would allow people who can carry weapons openly to now throw a sweater on over the gun theyre wearing. Right now I can go to Gander Mountain and buy (a handgun) and strap it to my hip what I cannot legally do is throw a sweater on, Felzkowski said. Thats what we change. Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, supported the 2011 law that first allowed residents to carry hidden firearms. On Wednesday she said she could not support eliminating state-mandated training. I voted for concealed carry because I believe people have a right to carry but I believe that some levels of restriction are appropriate for other peoples interest to be very candid because we dont live in the world alone, Taylor said. The GOP lawmakers defended the bill against criticism from Taylor and Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, who also pressed the two on why training should not be legally enforced in order to better ensure those carrying weapons are responsible. Craig said he supports training for people carrying concealed weapons but did not think it was lawmakers place to require it. Im not worried about the responsible people, Im worried about the irresponsible people, Risser said. Risser also proposed amending the legislation to require safety locks for guns to avoid accidents involving children. There are irresponsible people in this world and youre giving irresponsible people the right to carry guns so maybe we should put safety locks on those guns, Risser said. Craig said that while hes not opposed to putting safety locks on guns, we dont need government restricting further accessibility to what might be a timely need to defend yourself. Guns in schools Allowing residents with a license to carry concealed weapons to bring the firearms on school grounds would let parents and grandparents avoid legal penalties, supporters said. But school district officials largely oppose the measure. The majority of my members believe that guns and children are not a good mix, Wisconsin Association of School Boards lobbyist Dan Rossmiller testified. I think there are ways to address many of the concerns of law-abiding citizens without completely repealing the states gun-free zone law. National Rifle Association lobbyist Scott Meyer also said that training costs typically under $100 can prevent some people who cant afford it from obtaining licenses to carry hidden weapons. To illustrate his point, Meyer said that after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, firearm ownership was a great equalizer for the blacks. Taylor, who is black, said the characterization didnt promote cultural diversity. Dont say the blacks dont say that, she said. Michael Stewart, a firearms dealer and president of the Wisconsin Firearms Owners, Ranges, Clubs, Educators group, said he is certain that people wishing to carry concealed weapons will seek training, even if its not required by the state. But Risser said lawmakers purpose is to pass legislation to protect people from those who dont always make good choices, like getting training before shooting a gun. Attorney General Brad Schimel in a statement expressed support for the legislation, saying it represented a reasonable policy decision by the legislature. Schimel pledged that if the bill was passed, the Department would continue operating the current permitting process. It would further develop and implement the additional license tier (for schools). I ensure we will do so in a manner as we have previously: accurately, legally and without delay. Baraboo School Board member Doug Mering opposed the bill because it created an unfunded mandate for school districts that must produce signs to ban guns if they wish to do so. And Madison School Board member Nicki Vander Meulen said, You are taking one of the few safe places we have and turning it into a war zone. Craig said 12 states have adopted similar laws and 20 more are considering proposals. According to the Department of Justice, 328,820 Wisconsin residents have concealed carry licenses and since the 2011 law was enacted, 356,660 license applications have been approved. The department has denied 12,403 license applications, according to DOJ spokesman Johnny Koremenos. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Essential, a company founded by Andy Rubin, the father of Android, on Tuesday pulled off the wraps on a new high-end smartphone. The Essential Phone, priced at US$699, includes radios for connecting to all major U.S. carriers. The unit has an almost edge-to-edge display (theres a bit of bezel at the bottom of its screen) that wraps around the 8-MP selfie camera at the front. Built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, the Essential Phone comes with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. For durability, the phone has a titanium and ceramic body, which allows it to survive drops with nary a blemish, according to the company. Magnetic Accessories Accessories can be added to the phone via a magnetic connector on its backside. Two accessories are included with the unit a 360-degree camera and a charging dock. Also on the phones back is 13-MP dual sensor camera. Unlike other phones with dual-sensor cameras, which use the second sensor to take telephoto pictures or create bokeh effects, Essential uses its second sensor to boost low-light performance. Like some other high-end phone models, the Essential mobile doesnt have a headphone jack. In addition to its smartphone, Essential announced Home, a smart home hub. It runs on Ambient OS, an operating system that Essential hopes will become the Android of the IoT world. Home is designed to tie together all the disparate protocols now in the space SmartThings, HomeKit, Nest and others as well as the various digital assistants Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant into a seamless user experience. I like that Rubin announced both the new phone and the home hub, said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy. It reinforces that the company isnt just a point player, and that matters to distribution channels, he told TechNewsWorld. Tough Road Ahead Despite the quality of its build and some intriguing features, the Essential Phone likely faces a tough road ahead. I have some doubts about the impact it can have without a big brand behind it, said Bob ODonnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research. Itll appeal to tech folks who want the coolest and latest and greatest, but I dont see it becoming a mainstream product, so I think it will be challenged, he told TechNewsWorld. The audience for the Essential Phone may be limited, said Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research. It seems to appeal to people who are suspicious of Googles use of their data, he told TechNewsWorld. Its also going to appeal to the tech elite who want something a little different. From a hardware perspective, the Essential Phone looks very good, Krewell said. The edge-to-edge screen is impressive and the materials are top notch but the difference is the ecosystem and distribution channels the big companies have, he pointed out. Im skeptical that it can make a significant impact. While the tech community is interested in it because its Andy Rubin, the larger market will not know who Andy Rubin is. Pushing Innovation There are those who have a more sanguine view of Essentials prospects, however. If the new phone delivers on everything it promises, I believe it can compete, Moorhead said. Its vital, though, that theres a very long road map of modules to connect, he added. The going will be tough for Essential, when you consider the money and marketing muscle that Apple, Samsung and Google have, Moorhead acknowledged. Then again, Rubin has considerable resources of his own and a reputation that overshadows at least some of the competition. If any entrepreneur could pull this off, Rubin can, he said. Essentials assumption that theres room for true innovation at the top of the smartphone market is appealing, said Charles King, the principal analyst at Pund-IT. The vendors in that space, particularly Apple, have been content to become providers of incremental improvements rather than forward-looking visionaries, he told TechNewsWorld. If Rubin forces competitors to dig deeper, King said, so much the better for consumers and the industry. MariaDB last week announced the availability of MariaDB TX 2.0, a fully functional open source transactional database solution for modern application development and enterprise use cases. MariaDB TX offers a comprehensive package of technology and services, including feature-rich new releases of MariaDB Server and MariaDB MaxScale, which close the functional gap between open source and proprietary offerings. It is part of a MariaDBs larger effort to offer complete solutions to support specific workload needs, whether transactional, analytical or developer-focused. The TX 2.0 release meets business technology needs for increased agility, scalability and security. It provides developers with an open and extensible database solution that lets them develop many different types of applications easily. This release introduces JSON support and the MyRocks storage engine (alpha). It also offers data masking to protect sensitive data, and result set limiting for denial-of-service protection, noted MariaDB spokesperson Shane Johnson. This ensures queries that would return too much data and impact database service/availability are blocked, he told LinuxInsider. Multiple Options MariaDB is one of several companies targeting business customers database requirements for online transaction processing and data analytics. The question of suitability mainly relates to whether an organization prefers open source to proprietary solutions like Oracle DB, IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQ, observed Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Server or open source alternatives, including MariaDB, Postgres and MySQL, all have their strong and weak points, he told LinuxInsider, but MariaDB appears to be attracting more developers and growing more quickly than other open source DB projects. That success is due in part to the strength of MariaDBs core features, as well as the companys development of complementary enterprise solutions like MariaDB MaxScale and MariaDB ColumnStore, King added. Key Ingredients The JSON support and the addition of Data Masking and Result Set Limiting for enhanced security are the two essential improvements that make MariaDB TX 2.0 worth considering, according to the company. They encompass the broadest range of new and existing use cases. JSON is the emerging standard for developers building Web, mobile and IoT applications. However, NoSQL databases built to support JSON are too functionally limited to support the majority of enterprise use cases, MariaDB said. Relational databases tend to be too slow to provide complete JSON support, the company noted. MariaDB TX 2.0 adds a comprehensive set of 24 JSON functions to take advantage of the increased flexibility and speed JSON provides. It combines the reliability and security that comes with using a relational database. The proliferation of ever-more-sophisticated cyberthreats demands ongoing investment in database security, but open source vendors have fallen short of delivering solutions that provide robust, enterprise-grade security, according to MariaDB. MariaDB TX 2.0 adds new security enhancements that previously were available only in proprietary offerings. For example, MariaDB data masking hides sensitive data before returning query results. This protects data that is classified as personally identifiable, personally sensitive or commercially sensitive common requirements for HIPAA/PCI compliance. The result set limiting feature prevents denial-of-service attacks. It specifies a maximum number or rows or data that can be returned in a query, prepared statement or stored procedure to prevent service interruptions. Performance Boost Another developer-centered feature is the introduction of beta support for Facebooks MyRocks technology. MyRocks is a transactional storage engine optimized for flash storage. Applications built on MariaDB TX 2.0 can utilize MyRocks for better compression, faster replication and data loading. SQL Compatibility with Common Table Expressions and Window Functions enhance query functionality. These include common table expressions and window functions. Common table expressions make complex queries easier to read and easier to maintain by breaking queries down into simpler building blocks. Window functions eliminate expensive subqueries and self-joins. This makes queries easier to read and improves overall query performance. A gap has existed between the high-cost functionality of proprietary databases and the affordable, modern architectures of open source databases, said Roger Bodamer, chief product officer at MariaDB. MariaDB TX 2.0 eliminates this tradeoff by delivering an open source, extensible database that is built on top of decades of engineering investment. With its many new features, including support for MyRocks, JSON and data masking, MariaDB is now the most functionally rich open source database solution available, he maintained. Transactional Differences MariaDB TX is a general-purpose database solution for transactional or operational workloads in the traditional sense. In other words, it processes many queries accessing a little bit of the data, noted MariaDBs Johnson. Unlike NoSQL databases, it supports multi-statement transactions and full ACID guarantees. However, while it is a relational database, MariaDB supports JSON via SQL functions, and different storage engines support different data models, he said. For example, MariaDB AX, our data warehouse/analytical database, extends MariaDB TX with ColumnStore, a distributed columnar storage engine engineered for analytical workloads fewer queries accessing a lot of the data. Users can deploy the database on bare-metal servers, virtual machines, containers, and public or private cloud infrastructure. It is available in AWS and Microsoft Azure, and is the most widely deployed database on OpenStack, he said, citing a recent survey. Pricing Structure MariaDB is well suited to cloud infrastructure, both in terms of technology and in pricing, according to Johnson. The enterprise subscription for MariaDB TX includes licensing and support. It is priced per database instance or node, and is available with or without clustering support. Driving Factors I think the popularity of MariaDB comes from our commitment to both community members and enterprise customers. We believe in open source and in collaborating with the community, and together, we are able to innovate much faster than traditional vendors, Johnson said. MariaDBs feature set is geared toward enterprise customers. In the first quarter of this year, OutboundEngine issued more than 600,000 social posts for its SMB customers. As our business continues to grow, MariaDB provides us with the high availability and scalability needed to manage an increasing amount of data, said Darin Sleyster, senior database administrator at OutboundEngine. We are excited about new features like Result Set Limiting and Dynamic Server Configuration that can help prevent production outages and keep our business running smoothly. Winning Path The MariaDB project is an interesting example of what can happen when the wrong people take over an open source project, said PundITs King. In this case, Oracles 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsoft put MySQL (along with Suns other SW assets) into the pocket of the worlds biggest commercial DB vendor. That caused more than a little strife among MySQL developers and supporters, many of whom began considering alternatives. That included the founders of MySQL, who eventually launched MariaDB, he said. The company leveraged its deep experience in database technologies and open source community-building. The result has been considerable success in attracting supporters, noted King. Among them are the European Investment Bank, which earlier this month announced 25million euros in funding for MariaDB. The Legislatures budget committee approved raises for prosecutors, public defenders and judges Wednesday, though not at levels requested by those groups. The Joint Finance Committee also rejected Gov. Scott Walkers proposal to eliminate the Parole Commission, instead cutting the commission from eight to four members and reducing staff positions from nine to six. To address a prosecutor shortage, the budget committee created an 11-member state prosecutor board, similar to an existing public defender board. The board would submit budget requests and advise the Legislature on allocating resources for the states 72 district attorney offices. It would cost $225,000 a year, but be mostly paid for by transferring funding from the State Prosecutors Office housed within the Department of Administration. District attorneys had asked for pay raises and 96 additional prosecutor positions at a cost of $14 million over two years to keep up with large caseloads and increasingly complex cases. Attorney General Brad Schimel voiced support for the additional positions. Walkers proposal included no additional positions, but added about $3.7 million for a 6.2 percent average annual salary increase for assistant district attorneys and a 1.3 percent annual salary increase for assistant public defenders. The committee modified the proposal to give state public defenders a 1.83 percent increase. State Public Defender Kelli Thompson raised concerns that the disparity in raises will make it harder to attract and keep public defenders. Meanwhile, a coalition of lawyers called on the state to raise the reimbursement rate for private-sector public defenders from $40 per hour the lowest in the nation to $100 per hour. Democrats on the budget committee proposed increasing state public defender pay by a similar amount to district attorneys, using $3.6 million in undesignated funds from the Attorney Generals budget. Republicans rejected the proposal. Judicial salary boost Republican lawmakers rejected Walkers proposal to increase judicial salaries and to create a new process for approving future pay increases, similar to how state employee raises are approved. Instead, the committee approved a 2 percent salary increase in September 2018 and another 2 percent increase in May 2019, similar to raises for other state employees. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack asked for a 16 percent salary increase for judges and justices over two years. Current annual wages for Wisconsin judges are $131,187 for circuit court, $139,059 for the appellate court and $147,403 for the Supreme Court, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The state ranks 38th in Supreme Court and circuit court pay and 33rd in appellate court pay among the states when adjusted for cost of living, according to the National Center for State Courts. Wednesdays meeting is the only one scheduled this week for the 16-member budget committee, sandwiched between Memorial Day weekend and the state Democratic Party convention that begins Friday. The committee has yet to take up some of the most contentious issues, including transportation, K-12 education and taxes. Republicans remain divided on how to pay for roads. Two years ago the budget committee wrapped up its work in the first week of July. In the previous two budgets it finished in early June. The governor and Legislature must adopt a balanced biennial budget by July 1. If if does not, spending will continue at current levels. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Wednesday the committee could wrap up its work over the next two weeks. Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said Fitzgerald might be a little optimistic, but well see. Except for those folks living under rocks (sounds uncomfortable), everyone knows about or at least has heard of bitcoin. However, not everyone understands the technology of bitcoin, which extends well beyond Internet-based currency. For the rock people, bitcoin is an Internet-based currency that allows for transparency with respect to each transfer of the currency through the use of a distributed database. Each transaction is locked in a block, and blocks are connected to form a blockchain. What Is Blockchain? Blockchain is an open source technology that facilitates creating each block, locking each block, and connecting the resulting string of blocks. Because it is a write-only database that never can be edited or deleted, the blockchain gives integrity to the complete history of the transaction. For example, if we purchase a new tablet online using bitcoin, the seller wants certainty that the purchaser actually owns the bitcoins used to purchase the tablet. Also, the seller wants to be certain that the bitcoins have not already been spent by the purchaser for other goods. The blockchain shows the ownership history of the bitcoins used before the purchase of the tablet. As a result, blockchain makes it difficult for a dishonest person to break the law by stealing some elses data. We are now entering a time when blockchain is expanding to wider, nonmonetary activities at least since earlier this year, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signed an agreement with IBM to explore Watson, famous from Jeopardy!, and blockchain to protect electronic health records. As a matter of fact, the use of Watsons artificial intelligence recently has expanded beyond the FDA deal to other important areas. For instance, IBM earlier this year began offering Watson/Blockchain as a Service, so we likely will see even more AI interfacing with blockchain. Where Are We With AI? AI is hardly new it has been a part of the IT world for about 50 years. However, it was not until 2011 when Watson became a public success in on Jeopardy! that most people began to understand AI as more than just something from a science fiction novel. Today, one only has to acknowledge the recent and extensive media coverage of driverless cars to realize just how ubiquitous AI has become. Back in 1955, James McCarthy of Dartmouth College and a team of researchers defined AI as follows: the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it. An attempt will be made to find how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves.The process of self-improving computers, AI, or machine learning has an inherent legal risk if the process violates a law in one or more countries. For example, if an AI system learns that it is acceptable to alter true facts (for the rock people, we are referring to lying), what is to stop it from altering something like a financial report made to the SEC to make a company look profitable, when in fact it is not, or a contract for the sale of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York as being executed by the true owner of the property? Follow the Data Trail Combining AI with blockchain allows for the secure, transparent review of data that is changed or moved over time, giving both the buyer and seller confidence in the validity, title and transfer of that bridge in Brooklyn. The Federal Trade Commission last year issued report entitled Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? The report focuses on privacy for citizens, since many companies rely on big data for AI to provide help with strategic business decisions without understanding the validity of the data. The use of big data has distinct concerns for electronic medical records. The Federal Trade Commission earlier this year held its third FinTech Forum, which included a discussion about blockchain payment systems and smart contracts to ensure consumer protection. Blockchain and Electronic Medical Records The FDA agreement with IBM/Watson will explore the exchange of owner-mediated data from several sources, such as electronic medical records, clinical trials, genomic data, and health data from mobile devices, wearables and the Internet of Things. Initially, the project will explore the use of blockchain to share oncology-related patient data for research. As the use of EMRs has expanded, the quantity of data has exploded. The mass of medical data tied to an individual gives medial researchers and professionals a complete view of the individual. The data, though, must be accurate and complete. Blockchain technologies keep an unalterable audit trail of all the medical data. As the use of blockchain expands, it is reasonable to see its use not only in medical research, but in real and intellectual property transactions, contracting and auditable file storage. Arizona Adopts Blockchain Laws! Arizona recently recognized blockchain as legal, when the governor signed HB2417 into law. Among its provisions: A signature that is secured through blockchain technology is considered to be in an electronic form and to be an electronic signature. A record or contract that is secured through blockchain technology is considered to be in an electronic form and to be an electronic record. Smart contracts may exist in commerce. A contract relating to a transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely because that contract contains a smart contract term. As more states adopt laws recognizing the legality of blockchain, more lawyers will need a full understanding of this disruptive technology. Nokia 6 (Price Guesstimate: Php 13,000 to Php 16,000) Nokia 6 Key Specs Nokia 5 (Price Guesstimate: Php 10,000 to Php 11,000) Nokia 5 Key Specs Nokia 3 (Price Guesstimate: Php 7,500 to Php 8,500) Nokia 3 Key Specs Great news for mobile consumers in the Philippines who've long been waiting for the official release of theas well as HMD Global's all-newin our country!I've just received an invitation from our friends at- which calls itself- and their local PR agency for the PH media launch of the above-mentioned handsets.The event will be held in an exclusive venue within NCR on Thursday, the 8th of June 2017.The invite that I got didn't include the exact Nokia Android smartphone models that HMD Global will be showcasing at the event. However, based on the company's releases in other key territories around the world, I'm personally expecting them to launch, andFor those who are interested, you can watch these exclusive hands-in and demo videos to know more about these 2017 midrange releases:5.5-inch Full HD IPS, Gorilla Glass 316 MegaPixels, PDAF, f/2.0 aperture, Dual Tone LED Flash8 MegaPixels selfie cam, f/2.0Full HD Video RecorderQuad Core ARM Cortex A53 based Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 chipsetAdreno 505 GPU3GB RAM (4GB RAM option)32GB ROM (64GB ROM option)Hybrid secondary nanoSIM slot supports microSD card memory expansionAndroid 7.1.1 NougatDual SIM Dual Standby4G LTE Cat4Non-removable Li-Ion 3,000 mAh battery5.2-inch Full HD IPS, Gorilla Glass13 MegaPixels, PDAF, f/2.0 aperture, Dual Tone LED Flash8 MegaPixels selfie cam, f/2.0Full HD Video Recorder1.4 GHz Quad Core ARM Cortex A53 based Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 chipsetAdreno 505 GPU2GB RAM16GB ROMHybrid secondary nanoSIM slot supports microSD card memory expansionAndroid 7.1.1 NougatDual SIM Dual Standby4G LTE Cat4Non-removable Li-Ion 3,000 mAh battery5-inch HD IPS, Gorilla Glass8 MegaPixels, autofocus, f/2.0 aperture, Dual Tone LED Flash8 MegaPixels selfie cam, f/2.0Full HD Video Recorder1.4 GHz Quad Core ARM Cortex A53 based Mediatek MT6737 chipsetMali-T720MP2 GPU2GB RAM16GB ROMHybrid secondary nanoSIM slot supports microSD card memory expansionAndroid 7.1.1 NougatDual SIM Dual Standby4G LTE Cat4Non-removable Li-Ion 2,650 mAh battery Anthony Levandowski, Uber's vice president of technology, has been fired. According to an internal email obtained by the New York Times, Levandowski has been terminated "effective immediately" for his part in the ongoing legal feud between Uber and Waymo. Google alleges that Levandowski, head of engineering for Uber's autonomous vehicle division took approximately 14,000 documents relating to Google's research on LiDAR and other self-driving technologies when he left the firm in January 2016. Uber has stood behind Anthony up until now, insisting all research into the auto-navigating systems has been its own. However, when the court recently called Levandowski to testify and produce evidence, he chose to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights at the advice of council. Uber urged him to defend himself and thereby the company, but he refused, forcing Uber to distance itself from any possible criminal actions involved with the VP and his research. "Anthony Levandowski had voluntarily recused himself late last month." Angela Padilla, Uber's associate general counsel for employment and litigation, drafted the internal email announcing Levandowski's dismissal and explained the company's position on the matter. "Over the last few months Uber has provided significant evidence to the court to demonstrate that our self-driving technology has been built independently. Over that same period, Uber has urged Anthony to fully cooperate in helping the court get to the facts and ultimately helping to prove our case." The chief engineer had already stepped down from his position as head of the department at the end of last month. According to Engadget, Levandowski recused himself of his duties after the court barred him from continuing to work on the technology while the legal proceedings were still being conducted. It is unclear how the rest of Waymo v. Uber will play out. Ultimately it is going to be up to Google to prove that Levandowski stole documents. With him not willing to cooperate, Google may have to file separate criminal charges, which would put a resolution to the matter years down the road. North Korea apparently loves Apple products because they have copied the California-based mobile magnate once again. According to Business Insider, the state-controlled tech industry of the country has previously produced iMac and iPhone knock-offs. Also, the state's official operating system, Red Star OS, is a version of Linux that looks a lot like macOS. It had originally copied the Windows 7 UI but gave it a Mac-like look a few years ago. While imitation may be akin to flattery, the regime's latest knock-off is blatant trademark infringement. Myohyang IT has just unveiled its newest tablet called the "iPad." Well, officially it is the Ryonghung iPad, but still, "i" + "Pad" = Apple trademark. While it may share the name, the tablet is anything but an ineffectual attempt to mimic Apple's brand and the specs prove it. Here are the tablet's specifications compared to the latest version of the Apple iPad in parenthesis: 1 GHz CPU (1.8 GHz) 512 MB RAM (2 GB) 8 GB internal memory (32/64 GB) 16 GB external memory (N/A; actually, up to whatever capacity you can AirDrop to) 8-inch display; resolution unknown (9.7-inch, 2048x1536) The only category that the Ryonghung iPad beats its namesake is in weight. At 250 grams, the Korean copycat weighs about half that of a real thing (478g). Ironically, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un praised his country's IT manufacturers for their "creative ingenuity" when they duplicated an iPhone in 2014. So far, Apple has not commented on this glaring infringement. Being that trade embargoes cut North Korea off from the rest of the world, it is not likely that the device will even escape the country. Other than as a novelty, it does not seem to pose any threat to Apple. So legal actions, if even possible or enforceable over there, are probably not worth the effort. Ryonghung iPad image by NK News Australia's Great Barrier Reef can no longer be saved in its present form, experts have said citing the extraordinary rapidity of climate change. Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan The Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan was released in 2015 to protect the natural beauty and extraordinary wildlife of the reef as an internationally recognized World Heritage Site. Its objective is to improve the "universal values" of the world's largest coral reef up to 2050. In a meeting of the Reef 2050 advisory committee, which provides advice on the implementation of the plan, two experts said that improving the reef's natural heritage value is no longer possible. Recommendations now involve taking action to maintain the ecological function of the World Heritage Site amid declining ecological health. Maintaining ecological function refers to getting the ecosystem as a whole to persist, but in a different form as structure and composition may be different from what is now seen. Experts advised that the plan needs to be revised to aim for something that is more doable and suggested that the new plan could go for maintaining the ecological function of the reef while accepting that its overall health will certainly decline. Inevitable Damage Due To Climate Change Global warming has caused unprecedented bleaching in 2016 and 2017 and killed almost half of the corals. Given the likelihood of these events getting worse in the coming years, the loss of coral cover and biodiversity is expected. "The amount of coral that died from bleaching in 2016 is up from our original estimates and ... it's expected we'll also see an overall further coral cover decline by the end of 2017," Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chairman Russell Reichelt said. Committed To Reef 2050 Plan Despite the advice, Queensland environment minister Steven Miles expressed commitment to the aims of Reef 2050 plan. Miles said that the aim of the Reef 2050 plan was to improve the Great Barrier Reef's health and resilience even amid climate change. Nonetheless, he criticized Australia's lack of action on climate change citing that the country does not have a much needed policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many environmentalists agree. "Until Australia gets serious about playing its part in limiting emissions to 1.5C temperature rise, we are not taking saving the reef seriously," said World Wildlife Fund campaigner Richard Leck. Not Yet Dead Although the Great Barrier Reef is in trouble, experts said it is not yet dead. Coral reef expert Kim Cobb, from Georgia Tech, has said he is convinced that a portion of the Great Barrier reef will stay beyond 2050 amid news of the second year of massive coral bleaching and concerns over the survival of many species. The coral reefs are still alive and some scientists think they can adapt to a warming world. Scientists have discovered that some corals change algal partners and through this, can acquire algae that are more tolerant to heat. It is evident though that the declining health of the coral reef will have huge impact on tourism, marine life, people's livelihood, and food security. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The World Health Organization has just announced Indias three cases of Zika virus, recorded from February 2016 to January this year. The cases of the virus, which had been linked to severe birth defects including microcephaly, were confirmed by the countrys health ministry to have occurred in the city of Ahmedabad in western Gujarat. Is The Government Lying? Some public health experts, however, were puzzled as to why the public wasnt informed immediately after the Zika cases were detected, BBC News reported. Professor Rajib Dasgupta from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi called it disturbing and a source of a lot of ethical issues. This is unprecedented in Indias public health history You have to take the community into confidence. You can do it without spreading panic. That is the job of a sound public health policy, Dasgupta said in the report. According to critics, the junior health minister said on March 17 in response to an inquiry in the parliament that so far, there has only been one case of lab-positive Zika detected as part of routine lab surveillance in January. The third and final case were found in the same month. In defense, an Indian health official said there was only one confirmed case detected while the said minister was talking to the parliament. India is deemed fairly strong in its public health response to issues such as dengue and chikungunya, giving the public regular updates on the diseases. Zika, coming from the same mosquito transmitting the two conditions widespread around the nation, can also be sexually transmitted. The first Indian case of Zika virus was detected during routine lab surveillance, from the sample of a 64-year-old male who had been sick for eight days. The second case, on the other hand, came months later in November after a woman gave birth to a healthy baby. Most recently, the third case came out of a clinic testing where one sample from a 22-year-old woman turned out positive. She was 37 weeks pregnant back then. India And The Threat Of Zika Some local media noted that the government likely delayed announcing the confirmed Zika cases because the state was hosting a major international business summit back in January to get investments. This has been denied by representatives from the local government. At present, national guidelines have been disseminated across Indian states to prevent a Zika outbreak. An inter-ministerial task force has also been formed to track emerging cases and to review the global situation. When Zika virus cases were reported last year in some countries, we had then issued directions to our civil surgeons to remain alert and focus on prevention and control of mosquitoes, said Dr. Gagandeep Singh Grover, nodal officer of Punjabs Integrated Disease Surveillance Program, in an Indian Express report. We will again issue fresh directions now. WHO continues to keep watch of the situation in India, advising people in high-risk places and travelers to take the necessary precautions. These steps include using insect repellents, long pants, and long-sleeved shirts. No trade or travel restrictions have been placed on India yet. In the United States, different states have been ramping up their efforts to fight the virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses as warm weather approaches. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A weird-looking fish which appears to have no face and has not been seen for over a century has been found by scientists exploring the deep waters off Australia's east coast. Tim O'Hara, senior curator of marine invertebrates at Museums Victoria, and colleagues from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation or CSIRO of Australia, rediscovered the faceless deep-sea fish measuring 40 centimeters (16 inches) last weekend. Last Seen In 1873 O'Hara said that it was the first time that the fish has been seen again since 1873 when one of these creatures was scooped up from the waters near Papua New Guinea by the crews of the British ship HMS Challenger. Most Unexplored Environment On Earth O'Hara and colleagues are onboard RV Investigator on a month-long journey off Australia's eastern seaboard to survey marine life that thrive in the dark and cold abyss 4 kilometers (13,123 feet) below the surface using sonar and deep-sea cameras as well as nets. O'Hara described the area as the most unexplored environment on Earth. "The abyss is the largest habitat on the planet, covering half the world's oceans and one-third of Australia's marine territory, but we know very little about it," O'Hara said. "Abyssal animals have been around for at least 40 million years, but until recently only a handful of samples has been collected from Australia's abyss." The abyss has depths of 4,000 meters to 6,000 meters, which is a hundred times deeper than a deep scuba dive. The depth is also 20 times deeper than what World War II submarines were able to descend and eight times deeper than what can be withstood by an American nuclear submarine. Faceless Fish The faceless fish was found at a depth of 4,000 meters. At this depth, many animals do not have eyes or they produce their own light through bioluminescence. Scientists said that the creature does not seem to have any eyes and has an interestingly odd appearance. "This little fish looks amazing because the mouth is actually situated at the bottom of the animal so, when you look side-on, you can't see any eyes, you can't see any nose or gills or mouth," O'Hara said. "It looks like two rear-ends on a fish, really." Strange Creatures Found Several other creatures have been found in the deep-sea waters such as gigantic sea spiders the size of a dinner plate, bright red spiky rock crabs and bioluminescent sea stars. Di Bray, from Museums Victoria, however, said that the unusual faceless fish was kind of a highlight for the investigators surveying the Commonwealth marine reserves from northern Tasmania to central Queensland. While other creatures were not as spectacular as the faceless fish, the researchers said that there are many that are totally new and have not yet been seen before. The research survey will conclude on June 16. Data gathered from the survey will allow scientists to collect baseline data about the biodiversity of the area and would be helpful in measuring the impacts of climate change in the future. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Amazon and Jeff Bezos has had a long road to its current success, growing from an online bookstore in 1994 to one of the largest tech companies in the world in 2017. That success was reflected in the stock market with Amazon's shares reaching a big milestone. Hitting The Mark Not long after the markets opened on May 30, Amazon's stock price hit $1,000 a share for the first time in the company's history. That didn't last long as the share prices dropped back down shortly after. Given how most stocks dropped after Memorial Day Weekend, this further exemplifies the success the company has attained since its humble beginnings in Seattle. What's shocking about Amazon hitting the $1,000 mark is how short it took to hit it. Stocks started taking off for the company when it emerged as a dominant player in the online retail space. While on a steady incline, it really exploded in the last 3 or 4 years with shares shooting up in pretty quickly. This was buoyed by Amazon turning a profit for eight straight quarters, which has been one of the longest periods of sustained success Amazon has seen. Hitting this mark puts Amazon in elite company, with only 14 companies hitting this mark beforehand. The only other tech company that is in this club is Priceline Group, which trades for over $1800 a share. That said, Amazon's value is four times higher than the 14 other companies combined. This also gives Amazon bragging rights as it had been in a close race with Alphabet, Google's parent company, to hit $1,000 a share. Alphabet is likely to hit that very soon, though, with shares sitting around $995. Long Road To $1,000 Despite how quickly Amazon's stock surged to that price, it was a bit of a long road for the Seattle-based company. Jeff Bezos founded it back in 1994 to jump on the internet boom that was happening and went live in 1995. Bezos would then take the company public in 1997 despite any clarity regarding its future. That was reflected in the stock shares which would sit around or below $100 for over a decade after. Things started to change in the late 2000s and Amazon started experiencing consistent growth and expansion thanks to the growing online retailing space. Part of this was because of Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud-computing business. The other half of this success was Amazon Prime, which started out as a premium shipping service that promised two-day shipping for orders in select countries. Amazon Prime is also a good representation of its growth as a company with it now including Amazon Music, Amazon Video, and Amazon Now. In recent years, Amazon has also managed to successfully branch into electronics. This started en-mass with the Amazon Kindle, one of the first e-books on the market that allowed users to download and read books on a tablet device instead of buying physical books. Most recently, Amazon Echo and Alexa by Amazon have clearly established another future for the company as it works to grow its place in people's home with the voice assistant. With all these ventures, things are looking good for Amazon's efforts to take over the world. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Product shortages occur because of this simple equation: there's too much demand and not enough supply. That's certainly what appears to be happening with the Switch, Nintendo's newest hybrid machine that's selling like hotcakes. Unfortunately, Switch shortages could continue well throughout the year, according to reports. If that happens, blame Apple. How Apple Affects Switch Production Apple might be directly affecting Switch production, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday, May 30. The article looked into the increasing pressure companies are putting on NAND flash memory suppliers and other makers of smartphone components. Citing people familiar with the industry, the report states that smartphone manufacturers along with their ballooning demand for device components will affect the Switch's supply chain. To be more specific, the Switch suffers insufficient supply of components such as flash memory chips, LCDs, and the special motors used to power its HD Rumble mechanism. Flash memory chips depend mainly on Toshiba's struggling NAND chip unit, according to reports. That unit is presently up for sale amid legal troubles plaguing the company. There are rumors that Apple is looking into purchasing a huge stake in Toshiba's NAND chip unit. What's more, with the iPhone 8 believed to be unveiled this fall, surely Apple has begun manufacturing the flagship by now, if not earlier. iPhone 8 production, in turn, is reportedly affecting the Switch supply chain. Demand for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, too, might be adding to Nintendo's supply chain problems. For perspective, both the iPhone 7 and the Switch uses LCDs and various flash memory configurations. Nintendo Switch Target Sales Nintendo hopes to produce 20 million units of its new hardware by March 2018, the report adds. But because of the supply chain constraints, the actual target is only half of that figure. But if it can make more of them fast enough, the Switch stands to sell extremely well. During its first month, Nintendo managed to push 2.74 million Switch units, far ahead of its 2 million goal. That figure is even more impressive if one considers that March isn't a significant month for new console releases. Nintendo Switch Shortages To Be Expected Nintendo is set to release Super Mario Odyssey in the holiday season, the first true 3D Mario title for the console. Mario is Nintendo's biggest AAA title, and there's no doubt it'll cause problematic shortages upon release if Nintendo fails to fix its supply chain constraints. To add insult to injury, Capcom recently announced that a port of Monster Hunter XX is heading to the Switch, an enormously popular series in Japan. Needless to say, the title could affect shortages even further. In fact, a special Monster Hunter XX Switch bundle sold out immediately upon availability. At the end of the day, Nintendo must be enjoying the success of the Switch. Facing supply shortages is certainly a better problem than having low demand, like the Wii U, its now-discontinued console, previously suffered. Thoughts about the Nintendo Switch? How do you feel about potential Switch shortages throughout the year? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below! 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Sony released a firmware update for its PlayStation 4 console on Tuesday, May 30. However, soon after installing the update, users complained of a host of problems. The latest PS4 update 4.70 appears to have some kind of compatibility issue with the console as owners reported locked up PS4s, which were stuck on the main menu screen. PS4 Update 4.70 Issues The bug does not seem to be specific to any one device, as owners of both the PS4 and PS4 Pro reported facing these issues. However, some owners of the Sony console were able to install the update without any complications. Several users took to Reddit to voice their thoughts and the issues they were encountering post updating their PS4 Pro or PS4 to update 4.70. "The past two updates have caused havoc with my ps4. The first time I've turned it on with an update available has sent it into spasm crashing, freezing and generally not being able to turn the system off or on properly," a user noted on Reddit. Some also complained in Sony's support forum regarding the "error code SU-30625-6" to bring the matter to the company's attention. "So I just got on my ps4 this morning and I knew something was immediately off when I turned on my ps4. It wasn't going to the main menu, it wasn't loading my game, it was doing nothing. I couldn't do anything on my ps4 either, my controller wouldn't work and I could tell it to restart. Then I decided to hold the power button to turn it off but when I held it for 30 seconds it wouldn't do anything," a PS4 owner complained. Sony is yet to face the issue plaguing the consoles post the firmware update and offer a solution to the problem. However, users can try some fixes which seem to have worked for other PS4 owners after installing the new update. PS4 Update 4.70: How To Fix The Problem? The first step to try and resolve the issue is to shut down the console if it freezes by holding down the power mode. While starting it up, users will need to hold it down until they hear two beeps. This will open the PS4's safe mode. From there, users should restore storage, restart, boot back to safe mode, and then install the update. If the first step does not work, users can reboot the console in safe mode and then disconnect the internet connection LAN or Wi-Fi from the console. Users should then Rebuild Database and reconnect to the internet. It should be safe to update after following these steps. Users who still cannot fix the bugs from the update can disconnect the external hard drive from the console. Next, reboot the PS4 and go to the Main Menu then reconnect the external hard disk. After this repair, the memory and the PS4 will automatically restart. The PS4 update 4.70 does not bring major changes to the console and only improves the overall performance of the device. However, many Sony fans are disappointed by the poorly optimized firmware update the company released. It remains to be seen if Sony will release a fix for the issue or will offer users an effective workaround to the problem. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Scientists are looking forward to scientific opportunities they will have as the continental United States gets to witness a total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. It will not be the first time that researchers will be taking advantage of this rare celestial phenomenon. A groundbreaking experiment during an earlier total eclipse that occurred nearly 100 years ago, in fact, helped confirm Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein's Theory Of General Relativity Versus Isaac Newton's Model Of Classical Mechanics Four years before the May 29, 1919 total solar eclipse, Einstein published four papers introducing the theory of general relativity. The theoretical physicist, however, was hardly known at the time. Einstein's work faced skepticism as Isaac Newton's model of classical mechanics, which was formulated in 1687, dominated scientific understanding. Einstein's theory, which predicted that space and time were relative and form a four-dimensional continuum called space-time, was not consistent with Newton's views. Einstein proposed that gravity is a manifestation of the curvature of space-time. Objects travel through this space-time fabric, which can be warped, bent and twisted by the motions and masses of objects within space-time. 1919 Total Solar Eclipse Tested Einstein's General Theory Of Relativity All masses cause a curvature of space-time but the effect is very subtle, and testing Einstein's theory would call for very massive objects like stars. The opportunity came with the 1919 total solar eclipse, when Arthur Eddington performed the first experimental test on the general theory of relativity. The eclipse would happen just as the sun was crossing a bright star cluster. Astronomers realized that the starlight would have to pass through the gravitational field of the sun on its way to Earth and could be seen because of the darkness of the eclipse. This would make it possible for astronomers to make accurate measurements of the gravity-shifted positions of the stars in the sky. Eddington first measured the initial positions of the stars in January and February 1919. By May, he went to a remote island of Principe to measure the positions of the stars during the eclipse. Other astronomers also took measurements from another location in Brazil. The two locations were fortunate to have clear skies during the eclipse allowing the astronomers to take several pictures of the six-minute total eclipse. The data later confirmed Einstein's predictions. While the warped space-time only deflected the light so slightly and could not be seen by the naked eye, the observations were found to agree with Einstein's predictions. It was proven that the warping of space-time by the mass of the sun was real. The findings were announced in November 1919 and made Einstein a celebrity. "A key result of Einstein's theory is that matter warps space-time, and thus a massive object can cause an observable bending of light from a background object. The first success of the theory was the observation, during a solar eclipse, that light from a distant background star was deflected by the predicted amount as it passed near the sun," NASA said. Gravitational Lensing The bending of light around massive objects is now called gravitational lensing, which has since become an important tool used by astrophysicists. Scientists also use gravitational lensing to study dark matter and the expansion of the universe. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Nokia 9 Spotted On GeekBench | TechTree.com The comeback of Nokia has been pretty well received by the smartphone users even though the company is yet to unveil a flagship standard premium device. However, a Nokia smartphone being called as Nokia 9 is making rounds on the Internet for quite some time now, alleged to be the company's flagship device. Now, it has been spotted on GeekBench giving us a few information on what we may expect from the alleged flagship device. The latest GeekBench website lists a new Nokia device codenamed as 'Unknown Heart' with pretty much premium technical specifications. Accordingly, it would be coming with the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box while the latest Snapdragon 835 processor powers up the device from under the hood. The listing also mentions that the smartphone would be sporting a whopping 8 GB RAM, thus proving that the earlier reports suggesting a 4 GB RAM variant are nothing but rumours. Other specifications include a 5.3 Inch QHD display, 64 GB internal storage, dual 13 MP rear camera setup, and Quick Charge 4.0 support. Also, according to some previous reports, the Nokia 9 smartphone has been predicted to be priced around EUR 750 which may translate to around Rs 54,100. via TAGS: Nokia Micromax Yu To Launch Yureka Black Tomorrow | TechTree.com After taking a short break, Micromaxs subsidiary Yu Televentures seems to be all set to launch a new smartphone dubbed as the Yureka Black. The company has yesterday posted a teaser video on its official Twitter account stating, Not for the superstitious, Black is for the one who challenges. Yureka Black 2 Days to go! The company has also added a registration link in the tweet thus allowing interested users to register their interest in the phone. Well, in-fact, its not just that. Yu has been teasing the phone for quite some time now, and today, the company has also posted an image of actor Ranveer Singh wearing a complete black attire. The company has been teasing the phone with the words Black Aint For All. While we know no much information about the upcoming phone, we recommend you to wait until tomorrow, i.e., Thursday for the official launch as confirmed by the company. The smartphone would be available for purchase exclusively on Flipkart. However, the companys recent teasers do hint at a couple of things - metal body, slight bump for the rear camera, and black matte finish. TAGS: Micromax The Legislatures budget committee on Wednesday voted to reduce the popular Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine to four issues a year but didnt go along with Gov. Scott Walkers plan to end publication. Leaders of the Joint Finance Committee said the panels Republican majority would accept Walkers controversial proposal to eliminate the forestry tax and his plan to allow another round of higher state park fees. The committee began meeting at mid-afternoon to vote on a raft of Walkers budget proposals, including several related to the Department of Natural Resources. Committee leaders Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, and Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, told reporters before the session started that their caucus would reject Walkers plan to end the popular, subscriber-supported magazine. In a party-line vote with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats against, the magazine was reduced by two issues per year and the DNR communications director was designated as magazine editor. Democratic members pointed out that the director was a political appointee of the governor, and they suggested the magazines content could become tinged by politics. Democrats noted that a former magazine editor reported being pressured to soften coverage related to climate change and endangered species after Walker took office in 2011. Its too bad this magazine got in the crossfire between science and certain politicians, said Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton. Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, said reducing the number of issues would help DNR employees who sometimes write for the magazine to focus on more important matters. We dont want the magazines publication to be a distraction from the core mission of the DNR, Loudenbeck said. Subscriptions increased after Walkers proposal was announced and lawmakers from both parties have said they have heard opposition from their constituents. The magazine currently publishes six times a year. It operates without direct tax funding or advertising. Its revenue comes from about 85,000 subscribers and occasional paid informational inserts from state DNR programs. Parks fees would rise The committee majority voted to cut 10 parks positions, allow DNR to increase nightly camping fees by $10 and daily parks admissions by $5 while maintaining current annual fee levels. The nightly fee for electrical hookup in a campsite would increase to $15 from the current $10 at five popular parks. Walker proposed allowing the DNR to set higher state parks admission and camping fees for the most popular parks. Walkers plan called for up to $10 more for admission and $10 per night. The increase would come on top of 2015 admissions increases of $5 at some parks and camping fee increases as high as $10 per night at popular sites with electrical service. Two years ago, Walker and the Legislature withdrew tax support and raised fees, leaving a $1.4 million annual budget hole. DNR officials said last year parks revenue exceeded spending as attendance rose. Democrats warned that low gas prices and good weather contributed to recent high attendance, but if those factors change the park system could be in trouble, especially in its efforts to renovate and repair aging buildings, trails and equipment. Continued fee increases could eventually price families out and undermine a park system that helps drive the states tourism industry, Democratic committee members said. The committee voted to raise the statutory cap on electrified campsites in the park system. Currently, 30 percent are allowed to have electricity. Under the committee plan the proportion would reach 35 percent. Forestry tax cut The panel postponed a vote on Walkers controversial plan to eliminate the forestry tax Wednesday but Nygren and Darling said Republicans would approve the governors proposal despite complaints from conservationists and forestry interests. The committee plans to consider several tax issues together at a later date, Nygren said. Democrats said they would oppose the plan to eliminate the portion of state property tax that pays to preserve forests. The tax nets about 17 cents per $1,000 of property value for about $83 million in state revenue annually, which helps acquire and preserve state forestland. Walker wants to simplify property tax bills and fund state forestry programs with general fund tax dollars. Conservative groups such as Americans for Prosperity have been mobilizing public support for eliminating the tax, but opponents worry that it would mean forestry programs would need to compete against schools, roads and other budget areas funded by general purpose tax revenue. Conservationists and lumber industry representatives appointed by the governor to the state Council on Forestry issued a statement last week opposing the move. Wisconsins Managed Forest Law Program is the envy of landowners and forest product consumers throughout the nation, the council said. This funding gives Wisconsin the opportunity to support forestry without creating a shortfall elsewhere in the budget. The forestry tax would cost the owner of a $160,000 median-valued home $55 over the next two years. The Republican Party of Wisconsin applauded the decision. Governor Walker and Republican leaders in the Legislature are fighting to put taxpayers first and let hard-working Wisconsin families keep more of their own money, said party executive director Mark Morgan said in a statement. In other action the committee voted 12-4 to transfer responsibility for cleaning up dead deer along highways from the DNR to the Department of Transportation. The DNR contracted for about $550,000 to remove about 18,000 carcasses in 2016. The Joint Finance Committee will send its revised version of Walkers budget bill to the Assembly and Senate. The spending and taxation plan covers the two-year period that begins July 1. So far, 6,891 children under two years old have been sent to emergency care wards. | Read More The cost of publishing the final four editions of the states popular, subscriber-supported Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine -- and of then shutting it down -- is estimated at nearly $780,000, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau told lawmakers as they prepared to vote on Gov. Scott Walkers plan. The $778,600 price tag includes about $370,000 in refunds to subscribers and an unspecified amount of money to pay a consultant to help close the magazine, the fiscal bureau said. There would be another $240,000 in publication costs that would have occurred anyway, and an additional unspecified amount for employee salaries related to preparing the final four issues and shutting down the magazine, according to the estimate. In February the DNR estimated that it would cost about $300,000 to refund subscriptions. The Legislatures budget committee was scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to eliminate the bimonthly magazine which doesnt receive tax dollars in the budget it sends to the Assembly and Senate. After Walker released his proposal in February, the magazine gained more than 1,000 subscribers, and lawmakers from both parties said they had heard strong complaints from constituents about the plan. The governors office said the state shouldnt duplicate privately owned periodicals, but several magazine publishers told the Wisconsin State Journal they didnt ask for the DNR publication to be cut, and they dont see it as competition. The magazine, which traces its origins back nearly 100 years, explains the science behind DNR conservation programs, including those that have been rolled back by budget cuts enacted by Walker and the Legislature. Former magazine editors and others say the publication has been a crucial tool in recruiting volunteers for conservation efforts, and plans to eliminate it fit a pattern under Walker of undercutting climate science and environmental education. The DNR and another state agency recently removed climate change information from their websites, while a third banned employees from discussing the topic in 2015, the same year the Legislature approved Walker budget cuts targeting DNR educators and scientists. The federally funded scientists were considered nonessential because they had examined ways the state could prepare for climate change and compiled studies on the pollution potential of mining. Spokesmen for Walker and the DNR have denied that shuttering the magazine was part of an anti-science agenda. In March, DNR secretary Cathy Stepp told the Legislatures Joint Finance Committee her agency can educate the public through online avenues such as social media. Stepp also said publication costs are higher than believed, and a private party could absolutely fill any void left by the magazines demise. However, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo cited DNR survey data indicating online media might not reach as many readers with as much information. And the memo stated the DNR didnt have data backing up Stepps statement to JFC that department personnel spend significant time writing articles. Walkers budget would leave $408,600 in the magazine budget for 2017-18 to cover staff and consultant costs of the shutdown and publication of four more editions, and nothing after that. The fiscal bureau noted that another roughly $370,000 would be reimbursed to about 85,000 subscribers. The magazine would have a closing balance of about $184,000 after its last issue was printed early next year, the fiscal bureau said. The money would go to the DNR conservation fund. The state budget allowed three permanent, full-time employees until 2015 when one was cut. But the DNR left those positions vacant. The magazine until recently operated with one temporary employee. Another was added in March. The fiscal bureau memo lists three options for the Joint Finance Committee: accept Walkers plan, continue the magazine with two full-time employees or with one full-timer and some temporary help. Editor's note: This story and headline have been corrected to make clear that the $778,600 Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimate includes $240,000 and an unspecified amount in employee salaries to publish the final four editions of the DNR magazine. New insights into the ancestors of all complex life Bristol, UK (SPX) May 30, 2017 A team of scientists led by the University of Bristol has provided new insights into the origins of the Archaea, the group of simple cellular organisms that are the ancestors of all complex life. The Archaea are one of the Earth's most genetically and ecologically diverse groups of micro-organisms. They thrive in a bewildering variety of habitats, from the familiar - soils and oceans - to the inhospitable and bizarre, such as the boiling acid pools of Yellowstone National Park. The research provid ... read more 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. GONZALES U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy scheduled a Tuesday morning town hall meeting in Ascension Parish to discuss flood relief, but residents had other things on their minds health care being at the top of the list. Residents wanted to know whether a health care proposal co-authored by Cassidy and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is getting any traction. The proposed Patient Freedom Act would serve as an alternative to the Affordable Care Act. The Cassidy-Collins plan would let states choose from three options: continue with the Affordable Care Act; auto-enroll uninsured residents in newly created plans or opt out of an insurance program entirely, losing some federal funds. "Are you getting any interest?" one woman in the standing-room-only town hall meeting asked Cassidy of the Cassidy-Collins plan in the Senate. "Yes, ma'am. The ideas are percolating through," he said. "Why not start with the aspects everyone agrees with keeping children on their parents' insurance until they're 26, (insuring) pre-existing conditions" and eliminating mandates, Cassidy said. His plan, he said, "Would let states do what they want to do. Alaska has 700,000 people; Washington, D.C. has 700,000 people. To say we should have the same plan for Alaska as Washington, D.C. is crazy." "We've got to make insurance companies compete for your business. We've got to lower premiums," Cassidy said. Dr. Terry Rehn, a cardiologist in Baton Rouge who lives in Ascension Parish asked how the Patient Freedom Act would lower the cost of health care. One answer, Cassidy said, would be the auto-enrollment feature of his plan for those without insurance those insured could also choose to drop the coverage that would bring young people in good health into the premium pool. For example, those in the 22-year-old age group, like Cassidy's son who's "in very good health" probably spend only $500 to $800 a year on doctor visits or medicine, Cassidy said. "If you put them in the (insurance) pool, they're going to subsidize those who are older and sicker," the senator said. John Phillips of St. Amant told Cassidy about a young family member with severe health issues and asked, "What's going to happen to her?" Cassidy said someone in her situation would be able to stay on her parents' health insurance or, if that wasn't available, to be covered by Medicaid or the Louisiana Children's Health Insurance Program (LaCHIP) Phillips said the programs Cassidy mentions are being destroyed under President Donald Trump's budget proposal. "Presidents put forward a budget and Congress always tears up those presidents' budgets," Cassidy answered. "In fact, they are never passed." When asked, though, by an audience member how he would vote if the final health care legislation didn't look like the Cassidy-Collins plan, Cassidy said, "I'm committed to Trump's mandate to lower premiums, eliminate mandates and insure pre-existing conditions." Several people who attended the Tuesday town hall were interested in knowing what the senator had to say about flood relief. They asked about efforts to prevent future flooding, with one such question turned in on a card, pointing out the rainy weather that's expected most days this week. "President Trump wants a trillion dollar infrastructure project" which should include flood prevention efforts, Cassidy said, adding that the amount for the infrastructure work may not finally be at a trillion dollars. "The president likes to talk hyperbole," Cassidy said. Also, Cassidy said, he has co-authored a bill to reauthorize the national flood insurance program, which must be periodically renewed, for at least 10 years. Cassidy said the program was last reauthorized in 2012 for five years and is coming up for reauthorization again. A Honduran national accused of abducting, raping and trying to kill a woman by slitting her throat and leaving her for dead was indicted Wednesday by an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury. Manuel Mejia, 40, 1122 Epperson Drive, Baker, made contact with the victim Jan. 19 on Harry Drive in Baton Rouge as the two agreed to engage in sexual intercourse for a fee, Baton Rouge police have said. The woman, in her late 30s, voluntarily got into a car with Mejia, who drove her to his Baker home where he hit her in the head with a handgun, tied her arms and legs, and raped her, according to police. Mejia then drove her back to a Baton Rouge parking lot near where he had picked her up, and while she was still bound he cut her throat and left her there, police said. A passer-by discovered her and called police. The grand jury charged Mejia with first-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping and attempted second-degree murder. The case has been assigned to state District Judge Lou Daniel. Mejia and his nephew, Carlos Mejia, 21, 12543 Robbie Ave., also a Honduran national, already face armed robbery charges stemming from the Jan. 2 robbery of the Tortilleria convenience store on Florida Boulevard. Those charges were filed by the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office. Neither man had permission to live in the United States, authorities have said. Two weeks after a veteran prosecutor collapsed during jury selection and was hospitalized, a judge set a Sept. 25 trial date Wednesday for a Baton Rouge man accused of robbing several people, kidnapping and raping two women, and shooting a man in the stomach during a 3 1/2-hour span in July 2014. Andre Young, 23, is charged with 10 counts of armed robbery, a half-dozen counts of attempted armed robbery, and two counts each of second-degree kidnapping, aggravated rape, attempted second-degree murder and simple burglary. He was 19 at the time of the alleged crimes. Young went on trial the week of May 15, but during the second day of jury selection, East Baton Rouge Parish First Assistant District Attorney Tracey Barbera collapsed and was taken from the courthouse by emergency medical personnel. She spent one night in the hospital. +2 EBR prosecutor falls ill during jury selection, trial to be continued A top East Baton Rouge Parish prosecutor was released from a hospital late Wednesday afterno Inside state District Judge Richard Anderson's courtroom Wednesday, Barbera said the compassion, care and concern she has received the past two weeks has been overwhelming. Outside the courtroom, the prosecutor pledged to remain on Young's case. "I have every intention of handling this case until its conclusion," she said. Baton Rouge police have given the following account of Young's alleged crimes on July 27, 2014: Young and two accomplices robbed a woman on McClelland Drive at 4:30 a.m., then robbed a group of people in a nearby parking lot on Greenwell Street. The accomplices fled when Young forced two women they had robbed into one of the victims' cars. He drove them to a nearby BREC park on Evangeline Street and raped them. The accomplices were not caught. Young then used the same car, drove to Ontario Street and robbed a man at 6 a.m. Another man came out of his house during the robbery and shouted at Young, who walked across the street and shot the man in the stomach. He survived the shooting. Young drove off in the Lexus belonging to the man he robbed on Ontario. Young was spotted by police shortly after 8 a.m. They chased him and eventually found him hiding under a house on Shelley Street, the street where Young lived. An aggravated rape conviction would subject Young to a mandatory sentence of life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. An Iowa resident died in a car crash after his vehicle fell into a washed-out part of the road in Freeman Tuesday morning, the Crawford County Sheriff's Office said. James Walleser, 59, of Lansing, Iowa, was driving a 2000 Jeep east across a bridge on Highway 82 on his way to work when it fell into a part of the road that had been eroded by high water from the Mississippi River, Crawford County Sheriff Dale McCullick said. The crash occurred about a half-mile west of Highway 35. Highway 82 between Highway 35 and Lansing, Iowa will be closed until further notice. The Crawford County Highway Department started repairing the road Tuesday, McCullick said. Walleser's vehicle was completely submerged in the river and had extensive front-end damage, according to the sheriff's office. He died at the scene. The La Crosse County Dive Team and a towing service removed Walleser's vehicle from the river, the sheriff's office said. An autopsy will be performed Tuesday in Madison, according to the sheriff's office. Louisiana legislators created a task force last year to issue a blueprint to reform the states tax system this year. State Rep. Barry Ivey took his colleagues at their word that they wanted change. Ivey, R-Central, set aside his contracting business for months to become well enough versed in tax policy to turn those recommendations into law. He introduced a series of bills that he said would make Louisianas tax system more predictable and stable and would raise money to help address the looming $1.3 billion budget deficit, known as the fiscal cliff. No other legislator tried harder to address the tax systems problems. On Tuesday, Ivey admitted defeat after the House failed to approve one of his key bills. It would have replaced the current graduated corporate income tax rate with a flat rate, coupled with corporations losing their right to deduct their federal tax payments on their state tax returns. It was a major task force recommendation. Even before the vote, Ivey vented his frustration as he stood before his colleagues. Were not actually focused on trying to solve our fiscal cliff or our tax reform problems, Ivey said, anticipating that his House Bill 360 would not win passage. If youre not interested in solving problems, this bill will fall. The vote on HB360 was 58-31. It needed a super-majority of at least 70 votes. Afterward, Ivey further expressed his disappointment in an interview. Theres been a lack of leadership on the 4th floor and the first floor to come together to get the comprehensive reform we need, Ivey said, referring to the location of the governors office and the legislative chambers in the State Capitol. The governor hasnt led. No one in this chamber has led in trying to get bipartisan reform. Edwards embraced the task forces recommendations. But shortly before the legislative session began, he introduced a new tax plan that caught everyone by surprise. Called the commercial activity tax, it would have replaced the states corporate and franchise income taxes with a tax on corporate profits. It would have raised about $880 million per year and replaced the revenue lost if a 1-cent increase in the state sales tax expires in mid-2018 as planned. The governors commercial activity tax faced immediate opposition from business groups and couldnt win support among Democrats or Republicans. The plan died without a vote before the Ways and Means Committee. Since then, Ways and Means and the full House have provided only partial support for the task forces overall recommendations. Louisiana task force says end tax exemptions, lower rates; legislators say not so fast A profusion of tax breaks and giveaways in Louisianas tax code means tax rates are too high Failure to address the fiscal cliff during the regular session that ends on June 8, House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, acknowledged last week means that the governor will have to call legislators into a special session sometime within a year to solve the fiscal cliff. State Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, voted for Iveys bill but said it was a tough sell because Ivey could not say exactly how much more money it would raise and amended his bill shortly before the vote. Those are things that give legislators pause, Talbot said in an interview. The Louisiana Senate on Tuesday agreed to extend the state's domestic violence protections to same-sex couples, after rejecting the proposal last week. Louisiana currently is one of only two states that exclude same-sex couples from domestic abuse laws. A week ago, the Senate voted 17-14 against extending the law to same-sex couples in House Bill 27, but it passed 25-13 in Tuesday's re-vote. Lawmaker: Louisiana domestic abuse laws risk nullification A Louisiana lawmaker fears women and children could lose crucial domestic violence protectio The Associated Press reported that members of the Louisiana Bar Association and the Jefferson Parish district attorney's office had planned to lobby senators to change their votes. The legislation already won approval in the House. It now goes to Gov. John Bel Edwards. Much has been written about U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy's views on health care, and much more will be written, including by me. So despite the preponderance of questions on the subjects at the GOP senator's town hall meeting in Covington Wednesday morning, I'm going to focus on another topic on which Cassidy's answers were pretty revealing: President Donald Trump. The two are connected, of course. Cassidy, a former doctor in the Charity system, has emerged as an unexpectedly sharp critic of the American Health Care Act, the controversial bill that the House passed under pressure from the Trump administration. Now that the ball is in the Senate's court, Cassidy has stepped up his efforts to promote a very different, and far less austere, proposal that he authored with fellow Republican and well-known moderate Susan Collins of Maine. The interesting part is that he's using Trump's own words to argue against the Trump-backed legislation. Cassidy told the ideologically mixed crowd Wednesday that the House bill, which passed after supporters made major concessions to far-right Freedom Caucus members who had helped kill the first draft, falls short of Trump's campaign promise to expand coverage, protect people with pre-existing conditions, lower costs and eliminate mandates (his proposal seeks to replicate the existing mandate's goal of bringing young and healthy patients into the mix by offering automatic enrollment with an opt-out provision). When a doctor in the audience reminded him that they'd both taken the Hippocratic Oath to "do no harm," Cassidy shot back that the Cassidy/Collins bill fulfills the president's promises, while the AHCA does not. That wasn't all he had to say about the president. When a Trump supporter asked Cassidy to go on television and defend the president, the senator responded with less then glowing praise. He said he backs Trump's "vow" on health care and his still-vague plan for big infrastructure investment, arguing that both are worthy goals even though Trump's "personality is off-putting so some are not going to like him." He dismissed a different questioner's concern that the administration's proposed budget, which includes drastic cuts to many areas, targets the Peace Corps. President Barack Obama's budgets didn't become law, he said, and neither will Trump's. Cassidy also leaned on Trump's words to justify another controversial position, his stance on the environment. Arguing that it makes no sense for the United States to abide by stringent Obama-era regulations when China is a bigger polluter, Cassidy said a better plan is to do what Trump promises, bring more manufacturing jobs back to U.S. "I actually think that is something we can all get behind," he said, to a mix of applause and groans. And on two other Trump-related questions, he basically punted. Asked about the White House's reported plan to pull out of the international Paris climate agreement, Cassidy declared himself "neutral." And asked his take on allegations that the president's team had colluded with Russia, he deferred to the Intelligence Committee and the special prosecutor, and said he has other big things on his plate. But what if the president is a traitor, the questioner asked? Cassidy didn't use the word "neutral" this time, but he could have. That's not established, he said, adding that "there's a process that proceeding." As she approached the newly unveiled bronze statues of Australian diggers on Canberra's Anzac Parade, Diane Melloy was moved to tears. "That's my pop," Ms Melloy said. Sculptor Louis Laumen's work had conjured up memories of Ms Melloy's late grandfather, Boer War veteran Corporal Joseph Lock of the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen. Crowds gather around a new memorial on Anzac Parade commemorating Australia's involvement in the Boer War from 1899 to 1902. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong In tears, Ms Melloy and her mother, Mr Lock's daughter Valma Hunter remembered him as a quiet, wiry bushman from Charleville, Queensland with a love for the Australian outback "He taught me the love of family, the bush, the outback [...] all these basically beautiful things," Ms Melloy said. They might play on opposite sides in politics but when it comes to netball and great causes, Nicole Lawder and Michael Pettersson are on the same team. Ms Lawder, the Canberra Liberals deputy leader and MLA for Brindabella, and Mr Pettersson, the Canberra Labor backbencher from Yerrabi, have joined the attempt by the Tuggeranong Netball Association to bring he Guinness World Record for the most number of players in an exhibition match to the ACT and raise money for charity. Michael Pettersson, left, and Nicole Lawder, right, received netball skills training at the Calwell netball courts as part of their preparation for TNA Turns Pink 3 charity event on June 17 , from Tuggeranong Netball's head coach, Matt Hills, centre, watched on by Nicole's grand-daughter, Annabelle Adcock, who plays for the Rebels Netball Club and represents Tuggeranong in junior representative netball. Credit:David Sibley TNA are calling on all netball players, past and present, veteran or complete novices, to help beat England Netball's current record of 1322 players, set in March, 2016. The two MLAs have started training for the TNA Turns Pink event, to be held on Saturday, June 17 at the Tuggeranong Netball Centre in Calwell, which will run for 10 hours from 8am to 6pm and also raise funds for charities breast cancer support group Bosom Buddies and Red Nose (formerly SIDS and Kids ACT). Three Badger State students are set to take their spelling abilities to the national stage. Preliminary spelling rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee kick off Wednesday where Madison seventh-grader Martius Bautista, Kenosha seventh-grader Hanna Ghouse and West Salem sixth-grader Kieran Mc- Kinney will compete against 288 students from across the country to become this years top speller. The trio, sponsored by the Wisconsin State Journal, traveled to National Harbor, Maryland, for the competition. On Tuesday, students took written spelling and grammar tests that will help determine what competitors move on to the final rounds Thursday. Bautista attends Edgewood Campus School in Madison. After claiming first place at the Badger State Spelling Bee in March, 13-year-old Bautista returns to the national forum for his third time. Ghouse, 13, goes to the Kenosha School of Technology Enhanced Curriculum, while McKinney, 12, attends Coulee Christian School in West Salem. Ghouse and McKinney will take part in the first preliminary round starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday and will advance to the second preliminary round starting at 12:15 p.m. if they spell all their words correctly in the first round. For Bautistia, his first preliminary round starts at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday. He will move on to his second round at 2:45 p.m. if he makes it past the first oral spelling round. Any competitor who misspells a word during the preliminary oral rounds Wednesday will automatically be eliminated, while the results of the written tests will factor into the at most 50 spellers who move on to the final rounds Thursday. The only Wisconsin student to win the national title, Joanne Lagatta, then of Clintonville, took the top spot in 1991. Politicians looking sick on television, premonitions telling psychics who is ill and wanting help to change a DVD. These are some amusing reasons Canberrans have requested an ambulance in recent years, as recalled from one emergency call taker. ACT Ambulance Service emergency despatcher Ian Roebuck talks about the most bizarre reasons Canberrans have called 000. Credit:Karleen Minney Ian Roebuck has a stressful but rewarding job as an emergency dispatcher for ACT Ambulance Service. And sometimes, when the situations are far from life threatening, it is also quite bizarre. Such was the case when someone dialled 000 while watching question time on TV, worried Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce looked very sick. Teen drinking, smoking, and drug use rates have fallen and young Australians are waiting even longer before first trying alcohol and cigarettes. But, its a different story for Generation X, with illicit drug use rising among Australians aged over 40 - an age-bracket most resistant to the long-term overall decline in daily smoking rates. The number of Australians drinking alcohol daily and weekly is falling. Credit:Chris Brignell The National Drug Strategy Household Survey, conducted every three years, includes information on nearly 24,000 Australian's use of, and attitudes toward, tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs. The number of Australians using illicit drugs and misusing prescription drugs has been rising gradually, climbing from 13.4 per cent in 2007 to 15.6 per cent or 3.1 million people in 2016. You would think Adani would have gone away by now. The giant Indian conglomerate can't get a loan for its proposed $22 billion Queensland coal mine from an Australian bank, it can't seem to get one from an Indian bank, the mine would be so big it would depress the world coal price, and the Indian government plans to phase out coal imports altogether. In documents released to Fairfax Media under freedom of information laws, the Queensland Treasury as good as described the project as "unbankable''. What is being proposed is breathtaking: a series of coal mines 60 kilometres long. If scrunched together they would be 40 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide an area bigger than Paris, much bigger than Sydney Harbour. Planning Minister Anthony Roberts claims the independent hearing on assessment panels are successfully working in some local government areas, ensuring we have the best planning approval regime possible (Councils to be stripped of planning powers", May 30). Looking at the ubiquitous units built in Lane Cove, where these buildings are stacked against each other, with very little outdoor space between, it seems Lane Cove plus many other areas, such as Epping, must have been overlooked by this "valuable probity and integrity measure". Or is this rampant over-development really the "best planning regime possible"? Wendy Crew Lane Cove What we need and need now, is a planning ombudsman. This ombudsman or tribunal, like the Rental Bond Board, could be appealed to by home owners, for development applications of less than, say, $200,000 and only for works to their own dwellings, which they had to have lived in for more than three years. It is unfair and unjust that an individual home owner seeking $100,000 of work to his/her own home has to pay for the same lawyers, consultant town planners (who don't want such small jobs) and the fees of the Land and Environment Court as Mr Mirvac with his billion-dollar developments. Of course, he may choose to donate to both political parties generously. This is not an option open to the average home owner. Give us little people an ombudsman now! Carole Knight Glebe If the state government strips local councils of their DA powers and runs local planning like WestConnex, we have nothing to worry about, do we? Christo Curtis Beaconsfield 'Clean' coal just a dirty ploy by industry lobbyists Love of coal a notorious characteristic of the Turnbull government, well demonstrated when its ministers took to stroking lumps of it on the floor of Parliament reaches new extremes with the announcement by Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg that the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) would have its mandate expanded so that it could fund coal-fired power plants ("Government push for clean coal funding", May 31). This 19th century-mentality government is willing to waste millions of taxpayer dollars on more coalmines and the fiction of clean coal, with apparently no plans to address the existential risk of climate change. This latest proposal has all the hallmarks of being conceived by coal lobbyists in Canberra, where it remains unclear as to where government ends and the fossil fuel industry begins. David Nash Manly This government cannot expect to be taken seriously on climate change policy while it persists with the euphemism, "clean coal". What they are talking about is "slightly less dirty coal", and it has no place in serious conversations about pollution reduction. New investment in coal production is solely for the financial gain of those involved, including government. No amount of double-talk by vested interest groups will turn coal into Snow White.Mr Frydenberg claims to have a technology-neutral, non-ideological approach to energy policy. That sounds like a euphemism for BS to me. Coal is still a dirty word. Graham Lum North Rocks Once again, we are being led into war How annoying it is to see us being softened up again to accept further demands by the United States to participate in another of their military adventures ("US Congress pushes for joint action on N Korea", May 31). And how frustrating it is to see our leaders so eager to comply. No doubt plans have already been drawn up. Howard Spicer Bondi Beach Stop patients suffering needlessly Dr Prue Egan (Letters, May 31) dream on. We don't have "more palliative care teams" and we never will as we don't live in a perfect world. The doctor also ignores the fact that even the best palliative care does not work in all cases. Please for the sake of those terminal patients in real distress (and their loved ones) who do not have access to palliative care or for whom it does not achieve the desired outcome can we get on with passing the new laws. Until that happens too many are suffering needlessly because they fall between the cracks. John Lees Castlecrags I respect your opinion and your preference for palliative care, Dr Egan. However, not all deaths are peaceful or pain-free despite medication. A slow demise with nothing but mental anguish and physical deterioration is living death far from peaceful or dignified. All I ask Dr Egan is that you respect my opinion and desire for the legislated human right to exercise choice. It doesn't have to be your choice. Robyn Stinson Randwick A callous response to Uluru Neville Lindsay and Jeremy Parsons (Letters, May 31) are obviously endeavouring to make fun of the Uluru statement. It is callous and cruel to ridicule more than 200 years of Australian Aboriginal dispossession, untold deaths from European diseases, shooting, deliberately poisoned food and waterholes, stolen children, etc. It might be convenient for some to forget about the numerous massacres that white history books are only recently beginning to admit. Lindsay and Parson are sadly reluctant to accept that white Australians enjoy the unique benefits from this land at the callous expense of far too many Aboriginal lives and lands. Racism in all its forms must be rejected. Bruce Spence Balmain Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: let me introduce you all to Hon Barnaby Joyce, our federal minister for agriculture and deputy prime minister. Mr Joyce has just unilaterally appointed himself as our first-ever Minister for White Supremacy and deserves our sincerest congratulations. Brian Pymont Frenchs Forest As an Englishman, Jeremy Parsons, you should know that the Normans of 1066 fame were not in fact French. They were Normans, descendants of Viking raiders who were given Normandy (they took it anyway) by the Franks who themselves only controlled parts of modern day Northern France around Paris. Your claim then for compensation may indeed have to be directed in an entirely different direction. John Kingsmill Fairlight What alternatives to alternative facts? Concentration of media ownership may be a "commercial imperative" and against the "public interest", as the Greens suggest ("Hinch brings media reform closer", May 31). But, in time, the debate over proposed changes to media ownership laws is likely to become a storm in a teacup. This is because newspapers, TV and radio broadcasts are becoming obsolete, as people increasingly rely on streamed news channels and social media for their news. So, with an increasingly open market, there will be many more "alternative facts" out there for people to ponder. Given the bad choices that ill-informed voters made with Brexit and Trump, the federal government should not concern itself with obsolete media laws. Instead the federal government should come up with strategies that will help the public to make informed choices about what they should believe as true, and what they should discount as untrue. Geoff Black Caves Beach Warn other countries of paedophile risk Rather than simply cancel the passports of paedophiles who want to travel overseas, to prevent any chance of Australian paedophiles abuse of foreign children, wouldn't it be better to simply advise the overseas countries the paedophiles were going to of this criminal activity, and identify the person responsible? ("Paedophiles to lose travel rights", May 31). It removes the responsibility of Australia being blamed for the paedophile committing a offence overseas, and surely that is all we want? Geoff Cass Tewantin, Qld Cancelling convicted Australian paedophiles' passports, nobly protects overseas children, but arguably makes children in Australia more vulnerable. Rod Matthews Fairfield, Melbourne Taxing times Nassim Khadem, ("Troubles can't be swept under carpet", May 31) states the Australian Taxation problems can't be swept under the carpet. Public authorities like the ATO work under government legislation and unfortunately there are always loopholes in law that allow clever people to circumvent their responsibilities. Surely Ms Khadem would not like our taxation system to be outsourced. We are almost saturated by outsourcing much to our pain. Frank Tweedie Morpeth So Paul Hogan's arrangement with the ATO was really a Dundeel. Rob Phillips North Epping Wielding influence without a seat Thanks Ross Gittins for clarifying where politicians go after retirement ("Ugly side of politics we rarely hear about", May 31). While pulling a substantial pension from the public purse, they continue to influence government to pave the way for their cronies for a fee or favour, of course. And all the time I thought it was only the Labor Party that was influenced by outsiders all those powerful, pesky unions. Patricia Farrar Concord Tests of faith in court of public opinion Here's an easy way that Christians can demonstrate that their opposition to marriage equality is from the word of God and not from raw prejudice. Have a few community-spirited stonings of people who work on the Sabbath. It's a pretty clearly stated expectation in the Bible that Margaret Court and her ilk never seem to get very hell-fired up about. George Dodd Earlwood Australia has lost its way when sections of the media and other Australians are prepared to ridicule Margaret Court, one of our finest sportswomen, because she believes that marriage is defined as the union between one man and one woman. If Donald Bradman were alive today and supported the biblical view of marriage, would those who oppose Margaret Court demand 'Bradman Oval' also be renamed? Nan Howard Camden Deja vu The French claim, that the Russians had meddled in their recent presidential election, certainly has a ring of deja vu about it. It's been branded Trump Derangement Syndrome, an automatic overreaction to the buffoonish antics of the US President, with the assumption his behaviour will result in lasting and damaging consequences. The term is actually a trap, a cute rhetorical ploy that attempts to delegitimise any and all criticism of Donald Trump by implying the mental health of his opponents is suspect. Still, while the idea of a syndrome afflicting Trump opponents gains currency, see it as a useful reminder of the need to maintain a fair perspective, and judge Mr Trump by his actions, not merely his words. Donald Trump is welcomed to Saudi Arabia on May 20. Credit:AP Mr Trump has pledged a revolution of a kind, a new brand of politics to address the "carnage" of the establishment and govern for those he calls the "forgotten men and women of our country". Yet far from storming the barricades, he has so far presided over a shambolic administration, where his main intention appears to be to transform the presidency into a soapbox to further his personal celebrity. Mr Trump's plans have been almost entirely negative. He has sought to tear up the healthcare system of Barack Obama, impose a ban on people from certain Muslim countries entering the US, and build a gigantic wall of indeterminate cost along the border with Mexico. He would spend billions on the military, yet withdraw support for American allies. He threatened to prosecute Hillary Clinton, only to abandon the pledge; he declared NATO to be obsolete, only to then say it was not. This World No Tobacco Day, Australia should look back on the past decades and be proud of the tobacco control successes it has achieved. In NSW, for example, smoking rates are now 15 per cent for current smokers (daily and occasional). But days like today are also a good opportunity to reflect on where we need to head next in tobacco control. The two most burning problems in NSW tobacco control that we should highlight today are the widespread availability of tobacco, as well as unregulated marketing practices that the tobacco industry employs to maximise their sales through NSW retailers. Cigarettes are more readily available than milk and bread in NSW Credit:Sasha Woolley Let's look at the first, underlying issue first the availability of tobacco. Tobacco is available anywhere, anytime. More importantly, supply is grossly out of proportion to demand. While smoking rates in NSW have gone down steeply in the last few decades, retail outlets have not experienced a similar decline. NSW still has almost 10,000 retail outlets selling cigarettes they are more readily available than milk and bread, and there are five times more tobacco retailers than pharmacies. Reducing the retail availability of tobacco is therefore a priority to further reduce smoking rates in NSW it is reassuring to see how far we've come, but tobacco availability is restricting the other measures in working to their full potential. No Australian jurisdiction has implemented specific strategies to reduce the retail availability of tobacco products, so NSW has an opportunity to lead the way here. In a rare media appearance on Wednesday morning, Mr Lewis said the key point was that "the refugee program is not the source of terrorism in Australia". Last week, Duncan Lewis, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, told a Senate hearing there was "absolutely no evidence" of a connection , rebuffing questions from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. Australia's domestic spy chief has been forced to expand on comments he made rejecting a link between refugees and terrorism, after days of intense pressure. "We have had tens of thousands of refugees come to Australia over the last decade or so and a very few of them have become subjects of interest for ASIO and have been involved in terrorist planning," he told ABC radio. ASIO chief Duncan Lewis. Credit:Andrew Meares "I'm not denying that. I've not said that there are no terrorists who have not been refugees or who have not been the sons and daughters of refugees born in this country. "But the context is very important. The reason they are terrorists is not because they are refugees but because of the violent, extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam that they have adopted." Following his responses to Senator Hanson last week, the senior public servant was criticised by One Nation, conservative commentators and former prime minister Tony Abbott, who suggested ASIO was "tiptoeing around this subject". Question time often has a classroom vibe, courtesy of MPs' undisguised boredom and the Speaker's frequent pleas for shoosh. Proceedings certainly have a mental age of about eight at the moment as Parliament squirms and fidgets over the Coalition's plan to put an extra $19 billion into schools and Labor arguing this means a $22 billion cut. With the funding changes passing the lower house on Monday and awaiting a Senate response, the government and Labor cases can best be summed up as: "We give a Gonski" and "No, we give a Gonskier." Maybe eight is being generous. Diplomats will lose long-standing allowances for cable television, financial advice and outfits in a crackdown on entitlements expected to save the government $37 million. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials told senators on Wednesday the agency would shoulder more than half the savings burden for the Coalition's measure to bring allowances in line with "community expectations". Diplomats will lose an allowance for cable and satellite TV under a crackdown on entitlements. Credit:Viki Lascaris Payments to be chopped covered household maintenance, cable and satellite TV, and outfits, while a child reunion supplement for diplomats will also cease. The government will cut an allowance for diplomats to receive financial advice before moving overseas on foreign postings, DFAT secretary Frances Adamson said at a Senate estimate hearing. "I feel we have a responsibility to staff to encourage them to be financially responsible, and there are complexities, but henceforth those arrangements at least for private financial advice will need to be undertaken as a personal matter," she said. The crackdown, which will channel more funds towards the budget bottom line, comes after the government reviewed overseas staff expenses following controversy when it spent more than $200,000 sending 22 officials to Paris for a conference on how to save money. Cuts to DFAT staff allowances will raise $21 million of the savings, while the removal of entitlements at the Defence Department will provide $13.5 million and Immigration another $5.3 million. Diplomats serving in less dangerous cities will also lose a hardship allowance graded by the liveability of their location, while the government will apply limits to a cost of posting allowance expected to provide a bulk of the savings. Loading A massive blaze at a Keilor East factory which took 60 firefighters three hours to bring under control is being treated as suspicious. Fire crews were called about 4am when a fire broke out at Metro Drains in Thor Court, sending large plumes of smoke across the Western Ring Road and into the Melbourne Airport flight path. A dozen trucks and excavators were destroyed in the suspicious blaze in Keilor East. Credit:Channel Nine The damage bill is believed to be more than $5 million. Issues with accessing water meant crews had to pump water from more than 500 metres away, losing crucial pressure to help extinguish the blaze. Assistant and deputy district attorneys across Wisconsin deserve a raise, and their offices need more staff. The Legislatures Joint Finance Committee, set to take up the issue today, should approve the governors request for $4.8 million in salary increases over the next two years to help keep and attract talented crime fighters. The Legislatures budget committee also should look for ways to add positions, while at the same time providing greater incentives for public defenders to stay on the job. Rapidly growing Dane County has 28 prosecutors about the same as it had in 1985. And relatively low pay combined with large workloads and increasingly complicated cases have led to high turnover. The Dane County District Attorneys office lost more than a third of its prosecutors in little more than a year. Elsewhere, in Marinette County, District Attorney Allen Brey just announced hes resigning because of an unmanageable workload and lack of resources. District attorneys across Wisconsin had sought $7.9 million for pay raises and an additional $16.2 million to create 113 more prosecutor positions. The governor failed to add more positions in his state budget proposal, but he did include funding for raises of 6.2 percent in each of the next two years. The jump in pay is justified because starting pay for entry-level prosecutors is just $49,254 a lot less than lawyers can earn in the private sector. Moreover, many law school graduates still owe tens of thousands of dollars in student debt. The higher pay would be distributed at least in part on merit, allowing local district attorneys to keep more of their most promising people. The pay scale now for assistant and deputy attorney generals tops out around $120,000, with average pay of $67,800, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Critics of investing more state money in prosecutors worry the result will be more people heading to jails and prisons, some of which are already crowded. Thats possible. But failing to hold dangerous people accountable for their crimes is worse. And the more likely result is that local district attorneys will do a better job of handling cases expeditiously and professionally. That could actually save some money if fewer people are sitting in jail for long periods of time waiting for their cases to advance. Brey, Marinette Countys exiting DA, warned that innocent crime victims suffer from stalled cases. If youre a crime victim in this county, you can expect if your case is not immediately filed you will have to wait about two years before it will be, he said. Thats unacceptable. The governors proposal on DA pay deserves bipartisan support. A man has been charged following an alleged one-punch assault at Box Hill Hospital on Tuesday that left a surgeon fighting for his life. The 22-year-old Mill Park man was charged with intentionally causing serious injury following an attack on heart and lung surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann. Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann, a father of two, is fighting for his life after being punched in the head at Box Hill Hospital. Credit:Epworth Health The man will likely front the Melbourne Magistrates Court later on Thursday. It is believed that Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann was on his way home after finishing his shift when he saw people smoking near a doorway at the Box Hill Hospital foyer. It is believed he went over to talk to them and was punched in the face. What do you get for the $2 service fee paid to withdraw cash from another bank's ATM? A former university finance lecturer who pursued Westpac for $1000 in compensation after the bank's ATM ate his credit card believes he has the answer: nothing. Not happy: Dr Andrew Leung took action against Westpac arguing that it should compensate him for a lost ATM card. Credit:Jason South Dr Andrew Leung, 64, launched proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after a Westpac ATM in Abbotsford retained his credit card when he tried to withdraw $500 on Melbourne Cup Day in 2015. "Essentially the machine shut down, it froze, went blank and then switched off," he told Fairfax Media. Media shy former Premier Colin Barnett has broken his silence after ringing a Perth radio station to defend the state's handling of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Nulsen Disability Services chief executive Gordon Trewern was talking on Radio 6PR on Wednesday morning criticising the slow statewide rollout of the NDIS. Colin Barnett. Credit:Trevor Collens In December, the WA Liberals struck a deal with the Turnbull government to run its own model of the NDIS. But when Mr Barnett rang Radio 6PR to say "it's Colin from Cottesloe" the producers couldn't believe their ears. The site of one of the deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad on Monday. Credit:AP "She told my son before she left, she said 'I am scared of the bombs' and we said it is OK," Ms AlSaabary said. Several children were among the dead, and graphic footage from the scene showed scenes of devastation, with body parts strewn across the ground. Community members gathered at Melbourne's Imam Ali Islamic Centre for a memorial service on Wednesday afternoon. Speaking outside the service, relative Ahmed AlSaabary, 51, told Fairfax Media two of Zynab's uncles had also been injured in the blast, but survived. "She is a lovely girl, always spending time with my daughters," he said of Zynab. "She loved education. She was always working here in this centre to help the families. Always volunteering. They are a very popular family." Mr AlSaabary said Zynab, a year 7 student at Sirius College in Broadmeadows in Melbourne's north, travelled to Iraq with her mother, father and extended family about two weeks ago to visit her sick grandfather. Her parents arrived in Australia as refugees in 1997. "She went to Iraq to see her grandfather. He got sick. All the kids, they love him," Mr AlSaabary said. "It's very hard for my kids, they grow up together." It's understood Zynab, from Thomastown in Melbourne, went to the ice-cream parlour with uncles about midnight as they ended their day of fasting for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, people refrain from eating between sunrise and sundown, often coming together to eat at night. Ahmad Al-Yasery, 18, a close family friend, said Zynab and her uncles had just walked into the store when the blast went off. "Her uncles are alright now, they're in hospital with burns," he said. "She's a really hard working girl. She was born in Australia. She's always got a smile on her face." Kiralee Mladenis, Zynab's English teacher, said she was much-loved by her classmates. She had joined the school about three months ago. "She was extremely dedicated, the biggest issue that I had with her was her talking in class. She was loved by all of her friends," Ms Mladenis said. "Before she went overseas she actually asked me for extra homework. She really cared about her studies and was extremely excited to go overseas. "Everyone's in a state of shock. We're all just trying to be there for each other, as much as we can." Esra Alver, the school's year seven coordinator, said Zynab's peers were being offered counselling, and had prayed for her on Wednesday morning. The school was trying to help them come to terms with the tragedy occurring during such a sacred time of year for Muslims. "It's a very very sad event, especially happening during these blessed days," she said. "It is sad, very upset with what's happened. It's not part of Islam, it's not part of our culture, so we definitely condemn this." Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as a separate car bomb attack on the same night near the Shuhada Bridge, about six kilometres away from the ice-cream parlour. The second bomb detonated outside an office where people collected their government pensions. It killed 14 and wounded at least 37, police said. The death toll from the two attacks was the highest over a 24-hour period in Baghdad for several months. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said the ice-cream parlour attack underscored "the brutality of this terrorist organisation that shows no respect for religion, nationality, sovereignty, borders, no respect for humanity". She said DFAT officials in Baghdad were providing consular assistance to Zynab's family. A funeral service is expected to be held on Wednesday in Melbourne for Zynab, who was due to turn 13 next month. Kabul: A massive blast tore through the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital on Wednesday morning, killing at least 90 people and wounding more than 450, officials said. The devastation left Kabul in shock and underlined the country's security struggles as it confronts a sustained wave of insurgent and terrorist attacks. Interior Ministry officials said a huge quantity of explosives, hidden in a water tanker, detonated at 8.30am during rush hour on a busy boulevard in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, which houses embassies, banks, supermarkets and government ministries. An entire city block was ravaged, with office buildings left in rubble and charred vehicles strewn across the road in one of the deadliest single attacks in Kabul. The scenes of human horror were appalling, even for a country accustomed to war and violence. At Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, a steady stream of ambulances and police trucks delivered burned and mangled bodies, many streaming blood. Medical aides struggled to zip them quickly into body bags as distraught people crowded around, looking for missing relatives. Pink slime defamation trial set to start in South Dakota: James Nord of The Associated Press has this report. And in local coverage, Nick Hytrek of The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal reports that BPI defamation case vs. ABC set for trial. Supreme Court rules statutory rape does not automatically trigger deportation: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report. And Kate Irby of McClatchyDC has an article headlined He had sex with his 16-year-old girlfriend and was almost deported. Now he can stay. How Trump Gave the Supreme Court a Second Chance on Japanese Internment: The presidents travel ban gives Anthony Kennedy an opening to right a historical wrong. Law professor Richard Primus has this essay online at Politico Magazine. He was a victim of circumstances: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that Supreme Court suspends wrong lawyer over mistaken identity. According to the article, this does not mark the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has initiated attorney disciplinary proceedings against the wrong person. Esquivel-Quintana and Chevron Avoidance: Asher Steinberg has this post at his blog, The Narrowest Grounds. 15 years of How Appealing reader mail: Todays email is from attorney Elaine Mittleman: You must realize how much your blog is used and appreciated based on the many emails you have received congratulating you on the 15th anniversary of the blog. I rely on your blog for a thorough and efficient source of information and articles about important legal issues and decisions. One aspect of the blog I particularly appreciate is that I can be sure that your blog is not pushing an agenda or perspective, but is designed to inform and present a variety of perspectives. The scope of its coverage is remarkable. An unmatched achievement is the 20 Questions series. I think that this series has provided a unique and irreplaceable perspective about important judges. The 20 Questions with Judge Richard S. Arnold includes such a meaningful discussion. I relied on the 20 Questions when I wrote about Judge Arnold. Thank you for your continued energy and dedication in writing How Appealing. Elaine, thanks so very much for your wonderful email and for being a faithful reader of the blog for so many years. Because tomorrow will be the last day of May the month in which this blog celebrates its birthday I will be posting the final reader email in this blogs 15th birthday commemoration series tomorrow. The Next Ginsburg and Scalia? Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Samuel Alito look like theyre becoming the best of frenemies. Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate. Recalibrating Judicial Renominations in the Trump Administration: Law professor Carl Tobias has this article at the Washington and Lee Law Review Online. Hyderabad: Veteran film director and former Union Minister of State Dasari Narayana Rao was cremated with state honours near here on Wednesday.Leading film personalities, politicians and fans besides family members, relatives and friends bid a tearful adieu to Rao, who breathed his last on Tuesday in a private hospital after prolonged illness. He was 75.The last rites were performed at Rao's farm house at Moinabad, about 60 km from Hyderabad.Rao's eldest son Harihara Prabhu lit the funeral pyre as a police contingent presented gun salute. The funeral was performed adjacent to the 'samadhi' of Rao's wife. Rao, who holds Limca World Record for directing the most films and directed generations of film stars -- from thespian N.T. Rama Rao to Nagarjuna, died at a private hospital here on Tuesday following prolonged illness. He was 75.Earlier, he was shifted from his Jubliee Hills residence to the office of the Film Chamber to enable people to pay their last respectsAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited Film Chamber office and described Rao's demise as a great loss to Telugu film industry. "Telugu film industry has lost a pillar. He was institution in himself," said Naidu. He recalled that from a modest background, Rao become director, writer, actor and later politician and worked hard for the welfare of weaker sections.Celebrities like Pawan Kalyan, Junior NTR, Daggubati Venkatesh, Allu Arjun, Narayana Murthy, Naga Babu, Vijayachander, Raghvendra Rao, Dil Raju, Mohan Babu, Krishna, Nassar and filmmaker Trivikram paid their last respects. Actor Mohan Babu, whose career was launched by Rao, broke down."He was like a father to me. My entire family forever is indebted to him," Babu said.Actress-filmmaker Vijaya Nirmala said she was "shaken" and that he always treated her like a sister.Having directed 151 films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi, Rao produced 53 films and worked in more than 250 as a dialogue writer and lyricist.Some of his famous films include "Premabhishekam", "Megha Sandesham", "Osey Ramulamma" and "Tata Manavadu". He planned to make a biopic on late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.A multi-faceted personality, he served as Union Minister of State for Coal in United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. It was during his tenure that the scandal over coal blocks allocation rocked the nation. HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is on a three-day visit to Vietnam this week as a part of her role as the United Nations Secretary Generals Special Advocate for Financial Inclusion. Heres a look at some of the accessories she brought along on the trip. STR/AFP/Getty Images During a discussion about agribusiness on Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City, Maxima wore a pair of golden leaf earrings with her saffron-colored ensemble. STR/AFP/Getty Images On her left wrist, she wore a large, lacy golden cuff bracelet very formal Wonder Woman. STR/AFP/Getty Images And on her right wrist, she continued her recent trend of stacking numerous bracelets together. The man sitting to her left appears to be as skeptical about this as many of us have been lately STR/AFP/Getty Images Heres a closer look. Along with her watch, we can pick out a few of her usual bracelets: her diamond wedding bracelet, the diamond family initial bracelet, the cabochon gemstone bracelet, and the golden family name bracelet. HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images On Wednesday, the bracelet stack came along for Maximas meeting with President Tran Dai Quang at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images She wore her diamond and tanzanite earrings with her navy blue dress HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images and at least six bracelets on her right wrist. Weve got a golden bangle, the diamond initial bracelet, an evil eye bangle, the gold bracelet with her daughters names, her diamond wedding bracelet, and the cabochon gemstone bracelet. Her wedding and engagement rings are also visible here. DALLASMen and women held by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement are on pace to die at double the rate of those who died in ICE custody last year, a Daily Beast review of ICE records found. And most will die in privately run facilities. Eight people have died in ICE custody in the 2017 fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2016. Thats almost as many as the 10 who died in the entire 2016 fiscal year. All but one of the deaths this year, and all but two last year, occurred in privately run prisons. Nine of the 18 deaths occurred at facilities run by GEO Group, the nations second-largest private prison company. Jean Jimenez-Joseph hanged himself two weeks ago at a CoreCivic-run facility in Georgia after 19 consecutive days in solitary confinement, according to immigrant advocates in the state. Days earlier at a GEO-run facility in Texas, an Afghan mother seeking asylum from the Taliban tried to hang herself but lived. Atulkumar Babubhai Patel died of congestive heart failure in Georgias Atlanta City Detention Center that same week. The uptick in deaths have come after a spike in arrests of immigrants thanks to executive orders signed by President Trump. In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, ICE said it arrested more than 41,000 peoplean increase of 37 percent over the same period last year. On any given day, 35,000 men, women, and children are held inside more than 200 immigrant detention facilities, according to ICEs 2017 budget. Attorneys and advocates are concerned that the arrests are overcrowding facilities already criticized by watchdogs over understaffing, poor medical care, and violence. Youre guess is as good as mine, said Matthew Kolken, a Buffalo-based immigration attorney, when asked if overcrowding and worsening conditions could be resulting in more deaths. But if I were in one of these facilities, I wouldnt want to bet my life on the staff and conditions there. Just before 1 a.m. on May 15, Jimenez-Joseph was found unconscious in his cell at Stewart, run by CoreCivic. The 27-year-old had hanged himself, ICE said, adding that he was taken to a hospital located 35 miles away, where he was pronounced dead. CoreCivic directed The Daily Beast's questions to ICE. In a statement, ICE said Jimenez-Joseph had been placed in solitary confinement for fighting with another detainee, and his stay in solitary was extended after allegedly exposing himself to a female employee of the facility. He was scheduled to be released from solitary the week he hanged himself, ICE spokesperson Bryan Cox said. Two days prior to hanging himself, Cox said, Jimenez-Josephs mother and father visited him at Stewart. The next day, members of an advocacy group were denied a meeting with Jimenez-Joseph by CoreCivic employees, according to Cox. A CoreCivic spokesman did not immediately say why members of the group were not allowed to see Jimenez-Joseph. Other times at Stewart, solitary confinement has been used to punish detainees who went on hunger strike to protest conditions, according to a study conducted by immigrant-advocacy group Project South and PennState Laws Center for Immigrants Rights Clinic. What weve seen is that solitary is used as punishment for a variety of things, but especially for protesting conditions, Azadeh Shahshahani of Project South said. Theyre far away from their homes and families, they dont have access to an attorney, so, really, putting their bodies on the line [in hunger strikes, for example] is often their only form of protest. Samira Hakimi would have been another suicide death, had she succeeded in her attempt in the Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes City, Texas, on May 12, according to advocates. Hakimi, her husband, and their two daughters arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in December and turned themselves into authorities. The family was seeking asylum after being threatened by the Taliban for running Western-style schools near their home in Afghanistan. After being taken into custody, Hakimi was separated from her husband and taken to Karnes, a facility that holds immigrant mothers and their children, according to Amy Fischer of RAICES, an immigrant advocacy group. Hakimi and her sister-in-lawwho was also separated from her husband at the borderpassed a credible fear interview, the first step toward being granted asylum in the U.S., according to Fischer. But the mothers were denied release by ICE. The agency has not said why Hakimi and her family have not been released. She has watched other people pass their credible fear interviews and be released, and I think thats part of the difficulty for Samira, Fischer said. She and her kids are constantly seeing people leaving in short periods of time but her, her sister-in-law, and her sister-in-laws child are still stuck there. RAICES has asked ICE to release Hakimi and her family, but she said those requests have been denied. ICE has not given a reason for continuing to hold Hakimi and her family, something that is common for release denials, Fischer said. Lisa Graybill of the Southern Poverty Law Center is among those who have seen releases become less common under the Trump administration. But even before Trump took office, releases were used sparingly under former President Obama. At Stewart, were working with an incredibly low percentage of detainees being granted release after passing credible fear interviews, Graybill told The Daily Beast. CoreCivic and GEO Group have seen their stocks rise thanks to the Trump administrations cancellation of a Justice Department order to phase out the use of private prisons for American citizens. The decree was seen by criminal justice reform advocates as a hopeful sign that private prison companies might soon be out of the business of running immigration detention facilities as well. GEO runs the two facilities with the most amount of deaths in the last two years, The Daily Beast found. Four have died at the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana, since October 2016. Three have died at the Adelanto Detention Center in Adelanto, California, during that same time. Despite the deaths and rampant complaints of poor conditions in its facilities, GEO has been the recipient of at least three large contracts since Trump took office. In December, the company opened an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, that was funded partly by $116 million in taxpayer money. At the time, the company said in a press release the facility will result in $21 million in annual revenue. In April, the company announced it will build a $110 million facility near Houston to hold immigrantsthe first new immigrant prison of the Trump administration. That facility is expected to bring in $44 million in annual revenue, the company said. Last week, the company announced it was awarded contracts with the Bureau of Prisons worth $664 million for two Texas facilities that hold illegal immigrants with criminal records. Correction, May 30, 9:45 a.m.: Azadeh Shahshahani was misquoted saying Jean Jimenez-Joseph was placed in solitary confinement for protesting conditions in the facility. We regret the error. Wall Streets Fearless Girl statue has been humped by a strange man, appropriated by Trump supporters who placed a Make America Great Again hat atop her head and Pepe Le Frog posters at her feet, andnowpeed on by a papier-mache dog. Around 9:00 AM on Memorial Day, artist Alex Gardega erected his Pissing Pug beside Kristen Visbals Fearless Girl to protest the statue, which was installed the night before International Womens Day outside the New York Stock Exchange, where she faces down the famous Charging Bull bronze sculpture. Commissioned by the State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), a gargantuan asset management firm, Visbals Fearless Girl was meant to promote womens leadership roles in corporate boardroomsand became a feminist symbol overnight. Speaking to The Daily Beast on Tuesday, Gardega derided the statue as McFeminism, an empty-calorie happy meal that represents fake corporate feminism and fake corporate art designed in a boardroom. Fearless Girl is there to promote an index fund, said the 48-year-old artist, who has repeatedly defended himself and his his papier-mache Pissing Pug as pro-feminist against passersby who insisted it was disrespectful of womenthe final indignity in a series of indignities for Fearless Girl. But Gardega insists the statue is a feminist and artistic fraud. Its meant to look like some street artist stuck it there in the middle of the night, but its not that at all, he said of Fearless Girl, adding that he created Pissing Pug in a display of solidarity with Arturo DiModica, the artist who erected his Charging Bull statue in the middle of the night after the 1987 stock-market crash. DiModica has since sued SSGA for copyright and trademark infringement by incorporating his statue into their Fearless Girl installation without his permission. I dont think they should have appropriated his space for their own advertising project, said Gardega, stressing that DiModica put his own money and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that installation. Its a piece of artistic integrity. Im a complete feminist. Im just pissed off by this fake McDonalds art, said Gardega. If SSGA can encroach on DiModicas work with Fearless Female, Gardega argued, then he can encroach on theirs with his Pissing Pug. The dog has not stood up to scrutiny as well as Fearless Girl. Gardega removed his papier-mache masterpiece from Wall Street at noon on Monday, he said, because people were kicking it. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has stood steadfastly by Fearless Girl in the face of requests from DiModica and his attorney to remove the statue. Men who dont like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl, he tweeted, underscoring the statues political significance in what has occasionally seemed like a misguided effort to boost his own flagging popularity. He has vowed that Fearless Girl will remain on view through February 2018. Gardega said he spends most of his time in his studio in Locust Valley, New York (Im a loner), but emerges to make some trouble from time to time. He was classically trained in the early 1990s at the School of Visual Arts in New York but hated it because it was full of losers, so he dropped out in the early when several gallerists expressed interest in my work, he said. The Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum is his favorite living artist. When hes not maintaining his blog or holing up in his Locust Valley studio, Gardega is unabashedly promoting himself and his work, most recently in the Palm Beach Daily News after painting a series of murals in the resort town last year. Asked about his ambitions to paint the official White House portrait, as he confided to the Palm Beach Daily News of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, Gardega told The Daily Beast hes not a Trump guy but would be honored to paint the presidentand is confident hes up for the task. I painted the Sistine Chapel on my own ceiling just to see what it looked like, he said, referencing a project that landed him an interview with the New York Daily News in 2012. Hes also made headlines with his Bernie Madoff-inspired hot sauce, Bernie in Hell. Hes also been asked to create a painting that will be featured in a scene in a really big Hollywood movie called Winners and Losers, he said, and has decided to incorporate Pissing Pug in the painting somehow, though he declined to disclose further details about the film or the painting. Its not the first time Gardega has worked with celebrities: Matt Dillon, Art Garfunkel, and Steve Buscemi own the artists drawings and paintings, he said. Among Gardegas other talents is a kind of prescience, as he described ita tendency to predict the future through his art, like the New York City Trading Cards he made several years ago featuring Donald Trump and other faces and places associated with the city. I like promoting my work because I dont have a day job, and Im obsessed with the media, said Gardega. I think media is an art form. Indeed, he hopes to ride the wave of publicity around his Pissing Pug with a follow-up guerilla art project that wilsee dozens of papier-mache puppies placed around the city as early as Wednesday morning. Theyll be painted gold this time, so theyll look more expensive said Gardega. I love the idea of making something by hand that looks mass produced. He struggled to further articulate the puppies significance beyond railing against the greed in the art world and the corrupted contemporary art market. Half of my art is Renaissance-inspired, classical art and then the other half is stuff like this gold papier-mache dog, said Gardega. So I cant say I havent been influenced by modernism, but Im not big on someone sticking a wig in a lobster trap and attaching meaning to it. Gardega has decided to let Fearless Girl be for now, out of respect for the artist behind Charging Bull. I heard that Arturo doesnt want any more commotion around his piece so Im going to respect that and leave it alone, he said, adding that his Pissing Pug is nursing a broken leg in his Upper West Side apartment but is doing just fine. Shes going to have babies soon. At 4 p.m. on Dec. 11, 1974, rookie Police Officer Angel Poggi set off from the 23rd Precinct in East Harlem for his very first time on patrol. His training officer, Detective Ray Flynn, was on the seat beside him as Poggi took the wheel of the radio car. Poggi dutifully recorded each call in his memo book as they went from one job to another. A gun run a psycho domestic abuse a burglary, Poggi recalled to The Daily Beast on Saturday. Interesting. He added simply, Thats what I wanted to do. They were nearing midnight and the end of the tour and Poggi was about to head back to the stationhouse when the radio crackled again. We received a call of a possible dead body, he remembered. Moments later, the cops pulled up to an abandoned tenement at 336 E. 110th St., the address given by a woman who had telephoned the report anonymously to the police. Flynn headed for an exterior doorway leading into the deep darkness of the cellar. He told me to go up the stoop, Poggi would recall. Poggi ascended the steps to a big set of double doors, sticking into his overcoat pocket the one radio that squad cars carried in those days. He tried to open the door on the left first, but it barely budged. He thought that perhaps a body was blocking it and he used his flashlight to peer inside. He saw that part of the foyer wall had fallen on that side. He tried the door on the right and as it began to open he saw something delicate and almost imperceptible. What looked like one strand of a spider web, he would remember. In the next instant, there was an explosion and he was blown backward 20 feet. The strand had been a tripwire rigged so that the motion caused it to pull a bit of insulation from a clothespin whose ends had been wrapped in metal foil. The ends touched, completing an electrical circuit and setting off a bomb packed with nails that the Puerto Rican nationalist group known as the FALN had planted so it would explode in a responding officers face. Poggi now lay stunned and bleeding on the sidewalk. Flynn ran over. Hes asking me about the radio, Wheres the radio! Poggi would remember. I was like, Uh uh what? Flynn found the radio and put out a call for help. One of the first cops to respond was a sergeant who helped get Poggi in the back of a radio car and cradled him in his arms. I closed my eyes once in the car, Poggi would recall. He was still conscious when he reached Metropolitan hospital. Doctors determined that Poggi had injuries to his right eye, neck, and chest. He would need exploratory surgery to remove the shrapnel. At a certain point, they knocked me out, Poggi remembered. I awoke two days later, maybe three days. The doctors informed him that his right eye had been injured beyond repair. They told me they had to take that one, Poggi would remember. I said, Can I drive? They said, Yes. I said, OK, I can deal with it. His father is extremely quiet and had said little when Poggi joined the NYPD. His mother had made her misgivings known. My mother says what she feels, Poggi would note. She told me from the beginning she didnt like it, but I had to do what I had to do. She and his father now visited him at the hospital. His father was as stoic and reserved as ever. He said, How are you? Poggi would recall. His mother was manifestly as upset as any loving mother would have been. I told my mother, I had 20 years of nothing happening to me and this is just the way life happened to me, he would recall. When recounting this moment to The Daily Beast more than four decades later, he added, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. He did not say that random chance had proved particularly cruel when the first victim of an FALN bomb in New York was a Puerto Rican-born cop on his very first tour. He had been asked by a newspaper reporter back in 1974 how he felt about the bombers and he had tapped his head and said there must be something wrong with them. He had declined to say anything more because, I dont want to give these people any publicity. Poggi was similarly restrained when asked by The Daily Beast on Saturday for his thoughts regarding this years Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 11 in New York, which plans to honor former FALN leader Oscar Lopez Rivera as its first National Freedom Hero. How can they praise him after he had a part in the FALN and people dying? Poggi replied, his voice as quiet as his father would have been, but suffused with the emotion his mother would have expressed. Rivera was never convicted of actually taking part in any of the groups 143 bombings that killed five people and maimed four cops, but physical evidence conclusively tied to him to explosives and other bomb-making materials as well as FALN communiques. He was convicted of federal charges of sedition, transporting explosives, and transporting firearms. He served 35 years of a 55-year sentence before being granted clemency in the final days of the Obama administration. He remained under house arrest in Puerto Rico until earlier this month. Rivera was welcomed upon his release by New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who had somehow seen nothing inappropriate in taking along her NYPD security detail when she flew down. A senior NYPD official says that she asked her detail to give Lopez a ride, but they refused. Mark-Viverito has been quoted by the website NYPD Confidential saying this never happened. Of Rivera, she has told the press, We have to look at the widespread and disproportionate sentence to an individual who was not linked to any act of violence that hurt or killed anyone. The same senior NPYD official would suggest this was like saying that Osama bin Laden was not responsible for 9/11 because he did not fly one of the planes. Those who have pulled out of the parade include NYPD Commissioner James ONeill, the NYPD Hispanic Society, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as a host of corporate sponsors, among them the New York Yankees and Goya Foods. At last report, Mayor Bill de Blasio still intends to march. He told reporters, The parade committee made a choice this year on someone to honor. That does not change the basic nature of the parade. Whether you agree with that choice or not, its still the Puerto Rican parade and my point is, I will be there to honor the Puerto Rican people. I intend on marching. Its as simple as that. De Blasio may find it is not so simple the next time his mayoral duties require him to go to an emergency room to visit a shot cop. What is simple is the logic Poggi offered on Saturday. If he was part of the FALN, he has to take responsibility for what the FALN did, Poggi said. Poggi continued to sound like a mix of his father and his mother, quietly passionate. He is too modest and unassuming to ever suggest it, but he would be exactly the right person for the parade to honor. Here was someone whose primary concern when then-Police Commissioner Michael Codd visited him at the hospital back in 1974 was to remain on the job. First things first, Codd told him. Codd was heartsick to inform Poggi that because of an ongoing fiscal crisis, he was one of the last hired, first fired rookies the city had slated to be laid off the following month. I really dont see the purpose of being forced off, Poggi told Codd. I really want to stay. Codd reached out to City Councilman Howard Golden, who introduced a bill. Poggi had a white patch over his right eye when he testified at a hearing held by the same legislative body now headed by Mark-Viverito. The bill quickly passed and became a law that, as Poggi later put it, You cant lay off any police officer who had been disabled in the line of duty. Poggi remained on the job and was assigned to what is known as the 124 Room at the 23rd Precinct, the clerical office where crime complaints are received and filed. He would take information from citizens who came in to make a report, but his time of responding to calls on the street had ended after just under eight hours. I cant go out on patrol any more, he would tell The Daily Beast. My first day was also my last day. His one opportunity to venture out came when a lieutenant had an urgent need for a Spanish speaker. Poggi went with him and served as an interpreter. But the precincts union delegate registered an objection when they returned. He said, You cant use him outside, Poggi would recall. Thats because of my sight. As the doctors had said, he was able to drive, but some other things were surprisingly difficult in the days after he left the hospital. He initially experienced trouble with depth perception in situations such as when he went to step off a curb while walking. Even stepping off a sidewalk you have to get used to, he told The Daily Beast. Meanwhile, the FALN had struck again, this time on Jan. 24, 1975, at Fraunces Tavern in downtown Manhattan, where George Washington had bid farewell to his officers back in 1783. The bombing nearly two centuries later targeted business executives at their lunch hour. Four people were killed and more than 50 injured. X-rays of the victims showed they had been penetrated by knives and forks and shards of plates turned to deadly projectiles by the force of the blast. On Aug. 3, 1977, a FALN bomb apparently planted inside an umbrella left in the Mobil employment office on East 42nd Street in Manhattan exploded. A 26-year-old executive was killed. Poggi continued working in the 124 Room, which became the first in the city to get a computer. So I had to learn that a little bit, Poggi said. Poggi was later sent to various commands to teach others how to use computers. He was then asked if he wanted to be assigned to the main computer center at police headquarters. I said, Sure, what do I have to lose? he would remember. Poggi was on duty at headquarters on New Years Eve in 1982, when Police Officer Rocco Pascarella was among the cops sent to conduct a perimeter search outside after a bomb attached to a timer planted by the FALN went off outside the nearby federal building. Pascarella now came upon a Kentucky Fried Chicken container and nudged it with his foot. And there went his foot, Poggi later said. The explosion tore off Pascarellas right leg below the knee. He subsequently would undergo six surgeries on his other leg and his face and ears. He lost much of his hearing and so much of his eyesight that his driving days were over. The cops who responded to that bombing included Detective Salvatore Pastorella and Detective Anthony Senft of the bomb squad. A civilian couple pointed out two other suspicious packages outside the U.S. attorneys office just across St. Andrews Plaza from headquarters. Senft had brought an explosives detection dog, which alerted on both packages. The detectives set a bomb blanket over one package and Pascarella set to examining the second. As the dog handler, Senft could have withdrawn behind cover, but he did not want to leave Pascarella by himself. Senft was still there when Pascarella set to disarming the package. The device detonated. Pastorella was blinded and lost all the fingers on his right hand and most of his teeth. Senft lost an eye and suffered severe injuries to his face and body. All three cops injured that night were kept on the job by the bill that had originally been passed on Poggis behalf. Poggi himself continued working at headquarters until he retired in April of 1982. He was at Citibank for a time and then moved to Florida, where he worked for the state department of transportation at truck-weighing stations. He still has his NYPD memo book such as cops are required to keep on patrol. I figured why throw it out, Poggi said. The book records that first and only night. A gun run. A psycho. Domestic abuse. A burglary. And report of a possible dead body. Interesting, but short lived, Poggi said. He will turn 65 on June 23, a dozen days after the Puerto Rican Parade. His words about his life since the bombing further prove him to be an example of quiet strength and perseverance such as people of all backgrounds should honor. I accepted what happened to me and took it from there, Poggi said. Tuesday nights edition of the CBS Evening News led, ironically, with what substitute anchor Jeff Glor called a shakeup at the White Housea reference to the resignation of President Donald Trumps communications director. Left unmentioned on the newscast was an even sexier shakeup storythe forced removal of the programs permanent anchor, Scott Pelley. The 59-year-old Pelley, whose name remained in the newscasts title and whose image appeared in the opening graphics, is leaving the broadcast after years of friction with news division President David Rhodes to work full time for 60 Minutes, according to CBS News insiders who confirmed a report Tuesday night in the New York Posts Page Six column. The Daily Beast also confirmed a report by CNN that the contents of Pelleys Evening News office at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street were being packed up in boxes and moved across the street to the 60 Minutes headquarters, at his request, while hes out of the country on assignment for the top-rated Sunday magazine show. Although Pelleys departure has been in the works at least since late last year, the Page Six leak apparently came as a surprise, and, in a highly unusual and awkward circumstance, no successor for Pelley was announced. Before the leak defined him as a lame-duck anchor, Pelley was expected to resume helming the newscast when he returned to New York next week. CBS News veteran Anthony Mason was said to be a possible temporary replacement pending a decision on the newscasts next permanent anchor. A CBS spokesperson declined to comment late Tuesday night. Pelley, who has been helming the networks signature newscast since 2011, had at least three strikes against him, according to network insiders who asked for anonymity in order to speak freely. First, his newscasts Nielsens have consistently lagged behind those of his rivals at ABC and NBC, including in the latest May sweeps. Its a situation that Rhodeswho came to CBS from Bloomberg Television, where he worked for current NBC News Chairman Andy Lack, and before that, the Fox News Channel, where he worked for the late Roger Aileshas regarded with increasing impatience, especially when broadcasts such as CBS This Morning and Face the Nation have been enjoying robust ratings. Second, Pelley was the choice of Rhodes predecessor, former CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager, to replace Katie Couric in June 2011, and Fager was essentially Pelleys corporate rabbi. Rhodeswho sources said has an occasionally acrimonious relationship with his former boss, Fagerhad no particular psychic investment in keeping Pelley in the anchor position once Fager left as the news divisions top dog in January 2015 to executive-produce 60 Minutes full time, a job he had continued to do part-time after being named CBS News chairman in early 2011. Third, and perhaps most troublesome, Rhodes is said to have been irked when Pelley hired sharp-elbowed Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel three years ago to aggressively negotiate a massive raise from the $5 million a year he was reported to be earning in 2014. In Pelleys defense, he was among the more productive journalists at 60 Minutes while holding down his evening gigand his compensation was a fraction of that of his peers at the other networks. A fellow Texan and disciple of 24-year CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, who left the network in a blaze of controversy after a retracted 2004 report questioning President George W. Bushs National Guard service, Pelley is known around the news division as dogged and hard-working, a straight shooter who conspicuously cherishes the so-called Tiffany Networks history and traditions. He also favors British tailoring, and his manner with colleagues can be a tad humorless and elaborately formal. Ironically, his award-winning broadcast had been winning critical acclaim of late for his no-nonsense coverage of the Trump administration. Soft-spoken yet direct, anchor Scott Pelley is emerging as a blunt evaluator of President Donald Trump on his CBS Evening News broadcast, Associated Press television reporter David Bauder wrote in March. After Trumps claim of underreported terrorist attacks last month, Pelley said on his newscast that it has been a busy day for presidential statements divorced from reality. Tuesday, meanwhile, was a busy day, for different reasons, at CBS News. Whisky created as testament to Shackleton Whyte and Mackay has launched Shackleton blended Scotch malt whisky, inspired by one of the 20th centuries most charismatic leaders a whisky for those who arent afraid to go their own way. Shackleton will launched globally by Whyte and MacKay, the Emperador Inc owned whisky brand, initially in global travel retail then on-trade and specialist retail in the UK and France in May, the US in September, as well as key Asian markets. Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), British Eexplorer, led the very first expedition to set foot on the South Polar Plateau; the man whose team conquered the Antarctics most active volcano Mount Erebus; the man who broke records, reaching the furthest south of any expedition before famously turning back, when just 97 miles from the South Pole in order to save the lives of his men a charismatic leader who set his own course. Shackleton set sail in 1907; his small ship, the Nimrod was stocked with rations including 25 cases of Mackinlays Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky. In 2007, nearly a century later, three cases of the perfectly preserved whisky were uncovered, frozen into the ice beneath Shackletons base camp. Worldrenowned master blender, Richard Paterson, carried out painstaking analysis to re-create the antique whisky, and has used this as the foundation to create Shackleton - a new premium Scotch whisky that embodies the legendary explorers spirit for today. The multi-textured packaging is both striking and premium. It celebrates the expeditions of one of the greatest Antarctic leaders and champions the authentic link the whisky has with the story. The polar charts of the early 1900s inspire the distinctive colour, Antarctic Blue, which is used on both the presentation pack and the label while Shackletons navigational achievements are honoured with finer details including an intricate compass logo, and use of the Shackleton family moto By Endurance we Conquer. An inspirational quote from the man himself also appears embossed on the bespoke ice blue glass bottle, which is based on the original MacKinlays whisky bottle found under the ice beneath Shackletons Antarctic base camp at Cape Royds. This momentous launch for Whyte & Mackay represents an exciting, emerging direction for Scotch whisky, said Stuart Bertram, head of whisky development brands at Whyte & Mackay. With the accessibility of a blend and the craft credentials of a malt, this unique, storied brand is set to bring modern spirits drinkers into Scotch as well as providing a new, premium alternative for the blended whisky occasion for those existing Scotch whisky fans. In a personal and deeply felt project during his 50th year in the industry, Paterson has created something truly unique in Scotch whisky - a master class in the fine art of whisky blending. He has expertly built upon the original Mackinlays Rare Old Highland Malt, using a handpicked selection of the best Highland Malt whiskies, allowing them to marry over a long period to create a contemporary and enigmatic blended malt which is rich, robust, with whisper of smoke. Paterson says: It has been a great honour to create this whisky as a testament to Sir Ernest Shackleton. His character and his story remain a true inspiration, and I wanted to capture the essence of Sir Ernest within this whisky. Like the man himself, who made his mark on the world, this whisky certainly makes a mark on the palate. The boldness and complexity to its rich character is drawn from the Highland region and echoes Sir Ernests dogged determination and fighting spirit for success. A gentle bite of peat smoke reminds us of the unforgiving place he and his men found themselves in. And, in the same way a successful crew needs time to forge a bond, I allowed my creation time to marry and come together. Tim Jarvis, the British explorer and environmentalist, will act as Global Brand Ambassador. In 2013, Tim led the first authentic retracing of Shackletons double - sailing a replica James Caird boat 1500kms across the Southern Ocean from Elephant Island, Antarctica to South Georgia and climbing over South Georgias mountainous interior using the same rudimentary equipment, period clothing and technology as Shackleton did in 1916. Tim Jarvis shares the polar explorers pioneering, optimistic and outcome-focused approach to his expeditions and sustainability projects. Focusing on understanding the scale of the task ahead and prevailing through a combination of outcome-focused goal-setting, adaptability, resilience and teamwork. Tim is a global brand ambassador for Shackleton Blended Malt Whisky. He will have a varied role, which will include lectures, providing content and helping to network the brand with like-minded individuals who share Shackletons values today. A contribution from all sales of Shackleton whisky will be made to the Antarctic Heritage Trust (NZ). This will go towards the ongoing preservation of Shackletons 1907 basecamp on Antarctica and supporting projects that build on the legacy of Shackleton and his men. Antarctic Heritage Trusts executive director Nigel Watson says that finding Shackletons whisky has been one of the highlights for the Trust and that through sharing the story worldwide it has connected a new generation of people with Shackleton and his incredible journey: We congratulate Whyte and MacKay for continuing the story with their new whisky and honouring Shackletons legacy and the spirit of exploration. 31 May 2017 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, Editor in Chief According to Chief Deputy Jim Stewart, authorities are searching for Matthew Ryan Brown, 28, as part of the investigation into the death of 53-year-old Larry Goodman. Goodman was found in the driveway of a home on Wilcox Lane just after 5 a.m. The sheriffs office said dispatchers received a call reporting an unknown problem, and Goodmans body was found when deputies arrived. A Buick authorities believe belongs to Brown was found Tuesday on Texas 21. Authorities say Brown was probably picked up by someone. Brown is likely armed, and anyone who sees him is urged to call authorities but not to confront him. He is fleeing, and people do desperate things when theyre fleeing, Stewart said. No official cause of death was released, but Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk said the case was being investigated as a homicide. Wilcox Lane, which is between Tabor Road and F.M. 2776 northeast of Bryan, was closed until Tuesday afternoon as officials investigated. Goodmans body will be transported for an autopsy. The investigation into his death is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriffs Office at 361-4900. The Brazos Interfaith Immigration Network, more commonly known as BIIN, will have the first of its 10-week English and citizenship summer classes Saturday. Jim Kracht, parish liaison for Bryan's St. Andrews Episcopal Church, said the classes, which will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., will be "content-heavy" and focus on the "value system of Americans." "The class gives folks a really strong basic idea of the kind of government our Constitution provides," Kracht said. To participate, students must be legal permanent residents, meaning they possess green cards and "are lawfully authorized to live permanently within the United States," according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website. There are a number of ways to become a legal permanent resident -- including through employment or becoming a "treaty investor," which requires applicants to invest a large sum in an American business -- but the most common way is through family-based sponsorship, in which family members with legal permanent residency sponsor those who want to apply for a green card. The application process can take years. "Most of our folks are local. They've been here a while," Kracht said. The citizenship classes are free and prepare students for the civics portion of the citizenship test, a difficult examination that requires hopeful Americans to answer six of 10 questions correctly -- from a list of 100 -- before they can earn their citizenship. BIIN's citizenship class is not a prerequisite for the test, but Mary Campbell, the English citizenship class instructor, said the 10-week course gives students "practice with the interview," helping to calm anxious nerves, and arms students with "little tricks" to remember test answers. The citizenship classes run from Saturday through Aug. 5. English citizenship classes are from 10 a.m. to noon, while Spanish classes are from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Kracht and Campbell said some students will take the classes in English and Spanish, to both make sure they don't miss anything and practice reciting answers in English. "These are committed individuals," said Kracht. Nancy Plankey-Videla, the instructor for the Spanish citizenship class, said in a text message that many of her students are in their 60s and working full time; those who wish to take the citizenship test in Spanish must be at least 50 years old and have been legal permanent residents for 20 years, so there are many students in the Spanish citizenship class who are older legal permanent residents who hold low-wage jobs, said Plankey-Videla. For those who don't speak English, BIIN will have English conversation classes on Saturdays from 1 to 3 p.m. during the same time frame as the citizenship courses. Kracht said the classes are centered on interactions people have on a day-to-day basis, like how to complete a retail transaction or talk to police and school officials. BIIN is still looking for volunteer one-on-one conversational partners to talk with students taking the English class. Kracht said the volunteers don't have to speak Spanish or dedicate "a great deal of time," but that these conversational partners "really work wonders." Campbell said she isn't sure how many are currently registered for her citizenship class, but her most recent class had around 40 students. "That's a lot, in my experience," said Campbell, who has been teaching citizenship classes at BIIN for two years. "I think the election spurred a lot of interest," Campbell added. A lot of her students told her they'd taken the class to become citizens to vote in the presidential election, or for peace of mind, giving them an added layer of legal protection as U.S. citizens. All the classes will be at 107 Williamson Drive, on the St. Michael's Episcopal School campus. Campbell said the classes are open during the entire 10 weeks, and that students can register during BIIN's regular office hours, from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays. She encouraged all to attend -- including non-Spanish-speaking permanent residents seeking help in their citizenship test studies -- even if students cannot attend all 10 of the classes. "We want everybody," she said, adding that if more people come than expected, "we'll just bring in more chairs." According to the Brazos County District Attorney's Office, Bill Garcia, 30, approached a man outside a convenience store in the 4400 block of College Main in Bryan on Dec. 10, 2014. Garcia tried to open the door to the man's truck but couldn't. He then fired two shots into the vehicle, striking the man. At that point, officials say the man opened the door to the truck and got out, and Garcia climbed in and drove away. The truck was found the next day with its stereo and several other items missing. Garcia was arrested Jan. 11, 2015, in San Antonio. The victim was not seriously injured. Texas Avenue near Southwest Parkway was closed for several hours Tuesday morning after a motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a truck. Authorities have not released the name of the 22-year-old Bryan man killed in the accident. The truck's driver -- Andrew Guedea, 36, of College Station -- was charged with driving while intoxicated. According to College Station police, the accident happened around 3 a.m. in the 2500 block of Texas Avenue. Police say the motorcyclist was driving south on Texas Avenue when a truck leaving the Days Inn pulled out in front of him. The motorcycle struck the left side of the truck, and the rider -- who was wearing a helmet -- was thrown several feet. The northbound lanes of Texas Avenue were reopened by 6:45 a.m., but the southbound lanes were closed until about 10 a.m. Officers say evidence indicates the motorcyclist was speeding at the time of the accident. Guedea is being held in the Brazos County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and driving while intoxicated -- second offense, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Former Bryan Superintendent Tommy Wallis gave a principal in his new district an ultimatum about an hour before the popular administrator was found dead in the school parking lot, according to a police report. Authorities said they believe Kirbyville High School Principal Dennis Reeves fatally shot himself with a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol inside his truck May 23. Results from a gunpowder test were pending one week after the incident, delaying a final ruling. It appears that within an hour or two of Reeves' secretary telling Wallis and another district official that she had an affair with her boss, the administrators drove to the high school, where they confronted the 45-year-old married father of two, according to statements released by police Tuesday. Reeves told them several times that the allegation was not true and he did not know why the woman made such a claim, the report states. In Wallis' statement, which was delivered to police three days after the shooting and released to the media Tuesday, he said the employee told them Reeves previously had threatened to kill himself if their affair was discovered. The report doesn't specify whether she was being questioned about the possible relationship or had raised the allegation on her own. The employee -- who was not named in documents released by the chief -- was left behind at the district's central office to write down what she told the administrators, while Wallis and Assistant Superintendent Georgia Sayers went just after 4 p.m. to the high school to talk to Reeves, according to the statements they gave to police. When Reeves said the accusation wasn't true, Wallis said he "informed Mr. Reeves that considering the allegation from the female employee, he would be placed on administrative leave pending a district investigation." He then asked Reeves for his school keys and computer, while Sayers asked for his school phone. Wallis, who was forced to resign from the Bryan school district in September, said he told Reeves he'd be terminated if an investigation determined they had an affair and he lied about it. "But if the affair had taken place, he could resign without any investigation," Wallis said in his statement. "He immediately stated he was resigning in lieu of the investigation. Mr. Reeves turned to his computer and typed his resignation letter." Sayers statement also says Wallis twice told Reeves he'd be fired if it was discovered he was lying. She wrote in her statement signed the day after the incident that Wallis told Reeves "if he was honest and admitted to the affair, Dennis would be allowed to resign," and then outlined what the consequences would be if he were lying. After the second threat of being fired, Reeves said he would resign, Sayers said. Kirbyville police chief Paul Brister released the 31-word resignation letter Tuesday in which Reeves said he would resign effective immediately to "pursue other job opportunities. I am thankful for my time and wish nothing but the best for this district." "When signing the resignation, he was visibly shaken," Wallis later told police. About five minutes after Wallis and Sayers escorted him out of the building where he worked for three years, he returned with tools belonging to the welding shop that he retrieved from his truck. As he began walking off, Reeves told Sayers "I am not good," twice, to which Sayers responded: "I know, Dennis." The district's maintenance director arrived about 10 minutes later to change the locks to Reeves' office. Wallis said as he, Sayers and the maintenance director were leaving, they saw Reeves' truck still parked with Reeves inside, so he asked the worker to take Sayers back to the central office where the secretary had been left to write her statement. It wasn't known if the woman remained employed or was placed on leave pending an inquiry. Wallis called school board president Chad George to apprise him of the situation. George then called his father, Kirbyville Mayor Frank George, who called the police chief at his home, authorities said. Wallis apparently went back inside the building and waited for police, who showed up at about 5 p.m. and soon after informed him that Reeves had shot himself and the gun was found in his hand. The truck, police said, was in reverse with Reeves' foot on the brake. The Evadale resident was buried in Silsbee on Friday, two days after a pair of prayer services were organized in Kirbyville, a town of less than 2,200. Earlier in his career, Reeves served as a juvenile probation officer. Trustees and Kirbyville campus administrators directed questions from The Eagle to Wallis. Wallis declined to comment but sent a brief statement to the media saying he and district officials have cooperated with police. "We pray for the Reeves family and hope they find comfort and peace," he wrote. Last week, Wallis told Beaumont television station KFDM that nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Reeves gave his resignation, though he declined to say why Reeves quit. "We called the meeting to visit with him about a couple of things -- summer school, staffing patterns, several things to discuss," he said to KFDM. In September, Wallis abruptly resigned his superintendent post in Bryan without giving a public reason. Documents released under the Texas Open Records Act show he was forced to resign; not all the requested documents have been released. Bryan trustees agreed to giving Wallis $83,049 and a letter of reference just three months after giving him a raise. The agreement, signed by Wallis and by the board, stipulated that trustees and other top school officials were barred from discussing details, facts and allegations associated with the agreement. Wallis was hired as superintendent in April by Kirbyville, which is paying him $130,000 -- roughly $108,000 less than he was making in Bryan. Kirbyville school officials said board members met with Bryan officials before deciding to hire Wallis, according to a story published by The Eagle in April. Few documents requested under the Texas Open Records Act related to Wallis' departure have been made public. The Texas Attorney General's office said much of what the media is asking for is open record, but Wallis is fighting the disclosure of the records. In January, a judge granted a temporary injunction to halt the release of those documents until a hearing, which is set for Oct. 2 in Austin. Spaniards had come for gold but stayed for silver. Twenty years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, Mexican silver began to flow to Spain by the shipload. The greatest silver deposits lay in the north, along the Sierra Madre, a region that pre-historic volcanic activity had filled with precious metal deposits. During the 16th century, the Camino Real de la Plata (the Royal Silver Highway), the supply and transportation route to and from mines that stretched from Mexico City to New Mexico, was established. The silver trade paid for the military garrisons and the soldiers needed to defend the mining towns and roads against armed resistance. The silver economy - founded on indigenous slavery Silver also funded the construction of the early missions that 'concentrated' domesticated Indians to be used as slave labor in the mines. To ensure a sufficient source of labor for the early silver mines, the colonial government declared that 4% of adult males of all Indian towns be shipped to the mines. This labor force was soon insufficient, for which hundreds of thousands of Africans were kidnapped and transported halfway around the world to dig silver out from the earth in Mexico. Fifty years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, silver accounted for 80% of New Spain's exports. From mid-16th century to the end of colonialism, Spanish colonies in the Americas yielded a hundred thousand tons of silver, and from the 16th to the last quarter of the 19th century Mexican silver was used widely as currency throughout Europe and Asia. Being that it was their colony, everything to be found within the earth in Mexico belonged to the Spanish Crown. After Independence, underground deposits became property of the landowners, both Mexican and foreign. After the Revolution, the earth's precious metals were declared exclusive property of Mexico and its people. To avoid conflicts with Europe and the United States, however, the terms of the Constitution that referred to mining were amended and it was established that there would be no retroactive nationalization of the foreign mines. The Mining Law of 1961 futhered the social goals of the Revolution, favoring major Mexican capitalists over foreign companies, giving them greater control over the minerals extracted from the earth and allowing them to purchase massive extensions of previously Federally-owned land. In 1990, however, legislative changes were made to open up the industry, eliminating many of the obligations and procedures previously required and allowing foreign companies 100% ownership of mines. Mexican laws treat mining companies as 'public utilities', allowing them to access underground water sources free of charge; confiscate land; and run communities from the area as necessary. They are also rewarded with easily renewable 50-year concessions. After the signing of the North American Free Trade Association, investment in Mexico's mining industry skyrocketed and mining became the second biggest industry in Mexico. Silver prices began to rise sharply in 2002, reaching an all-time high in 2011, further fueling the expansion of the mining industry. Mexico is now the world's largest silver producer, providing 19% of world production. Eleven states in Mexico have sold off more than 20% of the land to mining companies (five of these states over 30% and one over 40%). Canadian companies control 70% of the exploration, development and production of precious metals in Mexico. In 2009, First Majestic Silver Corp., a Canadian mining company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, paid a mere $3 million to the Mexican government for 22 mining concessions covering 6,327 hectares around Real de Catorce, including the Santa Ana mine. And despite the 2013 setback which stopped them from exploiting their concessions, the company has clearly not abandoned its plans to mine the area. The page on its website describing its 4,977 hectare 'La Luz' project in Real de Catorce municipality does not even mention the court ruling, instead stating: "The property holds the potential for the discovery of silver mineralization of similar character and grade as that exploited in the past, even after two centuries of mining and recovery of 230 million ounces of silver from the district." The real wealth lives on the surface of the ground Wirikuta's economic wealth comes from silver, which is an inorganic substance, inedible and hard, hidden deep within the mountainsides. The region's spiritual wealth, on the other hand, comes from peyote, which is organic, edible and juicy, and spread out on the surface of the desert. These two substances, silver and peyote, have existed side by side in Wirikuta for thousands of years, though often in a troubled relationship that illustrates the deepest conflicts of Mexican society. Indigenous nomadic nations located in and around Wirikuta chose the path of armed resistance rather than allow the Spaniards to take their land to dig for silver. Even with the military campaigns launched to defend the silver mines in the northern territories, many of the local indigenous cultures were never defeated, although evangelization and intermarriage with domesticated Indians eventually defused their struggle for independence. Indigenous communities that refused to be integrated into the Mexican nation, such as the Tarahumaras, Coras and Huicholes, were pushed into remoter regions and further up into the mountains, increasingly isolated as ties between communities were severed. Of all the native cultures in Mexico, the Huicholes (also known as the Wixaritari) have best managed to conserve their traditional culture, language, ancestral beliefs and rituals. The five main Huichol communities live within the Sierra Madre Occidental, mostly in the state of Jalisco, though also in Nayarit, Durango and Zacatecas. Even though they have managed to remain more autonomous than other indigenous communities, things aren't necessarily going well for them. With few jobs and high poverty rates, 40% of the Huichol population works as migrant workers on garlic and tobacco plantations in Sinaloa, and their land is constantly threatened by giant government projects such as hydroelectric dams and highways. The Huichol's most sacred sites, the destination of yearly pilgrimagres, are located in Wirikuta. Wirikuta is designated by the state of San Luis Potosi as a Nature Reserve, a Protected Area and a Natural Sacred Site, and forms part of the World Network of Natural Sacred Sites of the UNESCO. Although the whole region of Wirikuta, every cactus, rock, manatial and mountain, has great spiritual value for the Huicholes, it is the existence of a single plant that makes this area such a unique place. Five centuries of cultural repression For the indigenous cultures in the north, jikuri (peyote) has always been their most precious, sacred possession. The ceremonial use of peyote is calculated to be over 10,000 years old, and the yearly pilgrimage of Huicholes in search of peyote in Wirikuta has been dated back to 200 AD. As the myth goes, the first Huichol hunters tracked a deer all the way from the western coast to Wirikuta where the dear's heart was transformed into peyote. To reaffirm their cultural ties to their ancestors, a select group of Huicholes are chosen each year to travel to Wirikuta, the place where they believe life was created. The long, hard journey is an initiation, a return to the culture's origins in order to be reborn and to 'see the light'. The peyote rituals in Wirikuta serve to inspire new visions for Huichol marakame (shamans) and artists (peyote buttons are featured in almost all Huichol artworks) and thus keep the culture from stagnating. In addition to its artistic and spiritual properties, peyote sates hunger, provides energy and serves as a general tonic. The Huicholes use peyote to treat snakebite, wounds, burns, fractures, constipation, fevers, asthma, and it functions as an analgesic, anti-rheumatic and an antibiotic (effective against 18 kinds of bacteria, many of them resistant to penicillin). Peyote also effectively treats mental illnesses such as depression, hysteria and neuroasthenia, and has been used to cure drug and alchohol addictions. All of these properties have made peyote an important substance to help the Huicholes deal with the intense stress produced by the constant threats to their existence. When the Mexican military was unable to subjugate the Huichol and other indigenous groups resisting colonization, the Catholic Church began its battle against the native's spiritual defenses, accusing peyote of being a pagan tool of the Devil that instigated sexual and violent behavior among the natives. Peyote ceremonies were officially banned in Mexico by the Spanish Inquisition in 1638 and the authorities implemented increasingly severe punishments throughout the colonial period. In 1928 the Mexican health authorities declared that peyote was neither a narcotic nor an intoxicant and that is had special pharmacological properties. Pressure from the United States, however, eventually coerced Mexico into classifying peyote as an illegal substance as per The International Convention on Psycotropic Substances of 1971. According to the Mexican General Health Law of 1984, still in effect, peyote is a psychoactive substance "that has little or no therapeutic value and constitutes an especially serious problem for public health." Even though there are no legal exceptions, the Mexican government tends to tolerate peyote collection and use by certain indigenous groups, although harrasment of these groups in Wirikuta has risen recently. The use of peyote by the rest of the population in Mexico is punishable by law with up to ten-year prison sentences. Ironically, in Wirikuta peyote possession and consumption is strictly policed by army and law enforcement officers not because of the harmful effects of the drug but ostensibly to keep people from harming the plant, which is said to be on the verge of extinction. And now, the curse of mining hits Real de Catorce Real de Catorce was recently designated a 'Pueblo Magico' (Magic Town), a government-sponsored program designed to increase tourism and boost the local economy. Although the government wasn't promoting the 'magic' associated with the psychoactive properties of peyote, tourists tend to visit the Huichol sacred sites and to eat peyote in the desert, often in organized tours on horseback or in jeeps from Real de Catorce, depleting the existence of the plant. The biggest threat to peyote, however, is the mining industry. Even after ex-President Felipe Calderon publicly swore to protect the area, the government granted 22 concessions to First Majestic, 70% of the area located within Wirikuta. Now that the government has recently put into law the privatization of the energy industries in Mexico, mining companies are expected to greatly increase their activity all across the country. Precious metals have always been more of a curse than a blessing in Real de Catorce. The accumulation of wealth extracted from the earth over the centuries has left behind it only misery and ruins. The vast woods in the area were razed during the early phase of the mines, when charcoal was used to fuel the furnaces, and only bald mountains and eroded soil remain. Like the trees, human population also suffered. When silver prices dropped and mining stagnated, the local population in Real de Catorce dropped from 14,000 inhabitants in 1905 to 2,700 in 1910, while smaller towns, such as La Luz, where the Santa Ana mine is located, were converted into ghost towns. Although the original mines are opened whenever technological innovation and rising silver prices makes mining profitable, magnificent colonial cities are no longer built and the profits from the precious metals no longer give rise to baroque churches and stately government buildings. In fact, like all monocultures (such as agro-industry, tourism and narcotrafico), the profits from silver mines aren't reinvested into technology or productive industries and workers aren't taught skills that will help them find jobs when the mines close. Except for a few local government officials who line their pockets with silver, the precious metals extracted from the earth are shipped out of the country leaving behind only heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cyanide. Silver will never assuage the quest for profit. But maybe peyote could ... The payment (above and under the table) the Mexican government received from foreign-owned mining companies won't cover the longterm health costs caused by the mines nor the damage to the natural environment in Wirikuta. More so than any silver sculpture in any archeology museum in Mexico, the Huichol culture and their sacred land represent the real wealth of the nation and should be protected at all costs. Mexico would profit much more by letting the 'excrement of the Moon' remain buried, at least where it conflicts with the spiritual pursuits of indigenous communities, and instead take advantage of the natural medical and therapeutic wealth of peyote to help cure modern man of his 'sickness of the heart'. Kurt Hollander is a journalist, author and photographer based in Mexico City and Cali, Colombia. His articles have been published in The Guardian, Vice, LensCulture, Dangerous Minds, L'Oeil de la Photografie, Domus, Uncube, Bomb, Morbid Anatomy, Colors, the Los Angeles Times and Huffington Post. His website is at kurthollander.com and he tweets @kurthollander. Ecuador has struck another blow against the power of big business, ripping up 16 trade deals with countries including the US and UK. President Correa cited the notorious 'corporate court' system as the key reason for ending the deals. Officially known as Investor State Dispute Settlement, these 'corporate courts' allow foreign investors to sue governments for taking action they believe to be unfair. Such courts have been used to challenge government's attempts to prohibit smoking, raise minimum wages and renationalise parts of the health system. And they do so in secret, and without the right of the country concerned to appeal. This blatantly undemocratic system was at the heart of the protests around TTIP, the US-EU trade deal, which was defeated last year following opposition from millions of European citizens and hundreds of local authorities. President Correa of Ecuador has railed against the damage which international finance and trade has done to his country throughout his tenure. Early in his first term he set up a debt audit, which declared large portions of Ecuador's debt illegitimate and saw his government wiping out billions of dollars of payments. With Correa's term due to end this week, he seems determined to go out fighting. 'Trade deals' cost Ecuador $21 billion, but failed to attract investment Ecuador's latest move is the result of a second commission, created in 2013, to look into the damage and benefits brought to Ecuador by trade and investment deals. The commission found that so-called bilateral investment deals had failed in their central purpose of encouraging foreign investment into the country. In fact, most of Ecuador's investment was from countries which don't have such deals. What the deals had achieved was to undermine Ecuador's development, preventing the state from fulfilling its constitutional duty to regulate investment so that it works in the interest of Ecuador's people. Again, this mirrors concerns around TTIP, namely that such deals inhibit governments regulating in the public interest, in case their actions are judged unfair' to big business. Ecuador has faced 26 corporate court cases, and lost the majority, owing a whopping total of $21 billion dollars. One infamous case, brought by Chevron, has been used to try to evade justice on the part of the oil company. When Texaco, Chevron's predecessor company, dug for oil in Ecuador, it dumped billions of gallons of toxic water into the Amazon, poisoning the land of thousands of Amazon residents. It is one of the world's biggest environmental disasters. But Chevron claimed the government's attempt to seek compensation was unfair, and succeeded in getting a 'corporate court' - consisting as usual of three arbitrators - to overturn the ruling. 'We hope other governments will learn from Ecuador's example' Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy The Coca-Cola Trail: People and Places in the History of Coca-Cola has just been published. Written by Larry Jorgensen of Mansura, Louisiana, the book contains photos and the history of Rocky Mounts bottling plant. It has been converted to the Bootleggers Cafe. What seems like a couple of years ago turns out to be longer or shorter than when something actually occurred. So for that reason Ill just say some time back an author called me asking questions about Rocky Mounts original Coca-Cola plant and what had become of it. The writer was Larry Jorgensen of GL Management. He told me he was working on a book about all the old Coca-Cola bottling plants he could locate in the United States. The name of it was to be The Coca-Cola Trail with a subtitle of People and Places in the History of Coca-Cola. The first Coca-Cola bottling company was in Vicksburg, Mississippi, opening in 1894. Randy Mayo, a fourth generation family member, wrote the forward to the book. He points out that many of the bottlers have museums about Coca-Cola as well as historical information. Mayo points out that Larry Jorgensens book could be a history book and a travel guide all rolled into one. Along the way, Jorgensen learned about Linda Stanley and the Franklin County Historical Societys collection of memorabilia, not to mention the groups long association with the Menefee brothers who opened the Rocky Mount business. I worked with Larry on the project off and on while he was working on the book. I would get a call from him saying he needed a photo or maybe some additional information. Finally a couple of weeks ago, Larry called again with the announcement, Its published! He then said he wanted to send copies to me, Linda Stanley and Bryan Hochstein, owner of Bootleggers Cafe. He paid the price but I received my copy in two days. The book contains 30 chapters that cover 200 pages of great photographs and interesting facts and stories. Its obvious Larry spent a lit of time on this book. The front and back covers contain interesting old photographs of bottling plants, old vehicles and even a horse-drawn wagon. According to the book and conversations with Larry, there are many people in the United States who are avid collectors of Coke memorabilia. And the local historical society has items from the Rocky Mount plant on display and for sale, usually Christmas ornaments. Rocky Mounts building, which is featured in Chapter 14, contains two old photographs including one of the original building and one of the delivery men standing beside their truck. There is a larger photo of the building as it now appears after the front was repainted with the original signs and in the Coca-Cola colors. Another photograph shows Hochstein sitting at the bar inside the Bootleggers Cafe, and there is one of Doris Eames, museum secretary, holding a selection of old Coke Christmas ornaments. Two more pictures are devoted to the museums Coca-Cola displays. For Coca-Cola buffs interested in obtaining a copy of the book, it can be ordered from Jorgensen at P.O. B006x 633, Mansura, LA 71350. The cost is $22 and he will cover the shipping. It also is available on ebay and Amazon. Blindness strikes A couple of weeks ago, in the middle of the night I sensed something was wrong and sat up in bed. I looked in the direction of the electric clock on the bedside table but I couldnt see it. Then I looked for the reliable little night light. But it had apparently burned out. It suddenly dawned on me I couldnt see anything. Everything in the bedroom was pitch black. My heart fluttered. I rubbed my eyes and opened them again. For some reason, I thought I had suddenly gone blind in my sleep since I was not dreaming. I felt my way along the bed and to the outside wall containing two widows. I felt for the blinds and raised one of them looking out toward Danny Perdues Ferrum Minute Market. He and Ferrum College, have back-up generators when the area loses its power. I could see nothing. I couldnt even make out the shape or outline of the windows. I blinked my eyes several times as I tried to see various areas of the bedroom. Somehow I was blind. Looking out the window again, I saw a faint light. It appeared to be coming from behind the college and at a higher elevation than the facility. Thank God I wasnt blind, I thought as I tried to focus in on the faint light. Still I couldnt see a thing. I had an emergency light but it was on the telephone table at the other end of the house. I also had a tiny light on the bedside table. I felt all over the top but couldnt find it. So I felt my way to the living room and found the bright LED light. It worked perfectly. Then I found a battery-powered clock and discovered it was about 2:45 a.m. After lighting a couple of well-placed, old-timey oil lamps, I had plenty of light and finally convinced Mr. Victor things were okay now and he could go back to bed, where I was heading. Ive had some medical problems lately but now Im thankful blindness hasnt been added to the list. She didnt know she was dead Charles (Red) Huff was my late wife Hazels first son-in-law. Hes married to Debra. And Red has a sister Barbara, who is married to Randy Worrell. The other day Barbara received a notice in the mail from the Franklin County voter registrar informing her that since she had passed away, her name had been officially removed from the voters list. It was a pure and simple notice. And the last sentence said something like if you think you have received this notice by error, please notify the registrar. Of course, Barbara works daily at Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital where she has been for what seems like forever. Barbara called sister-in-law Debra to give her the bad news. This resulted in the two laughing until they couldnt catch their breaths. Barbara and Reds mother Mary Huff recently passed away and, of course, her siblings took care of the arrangements. Now this is where Barbara seems to think what appears to be the first of several mistakes was made. She did some reasonable guessing. Her Social Security number was on the death notice she received. However, her reasonable guessing is she gave her Social Security number to the funeral home or some businesses connected with her Social Security number. Thats the only time recently she used her SS number. From that point, she cant come up with any connection since Barbara and Marys last names dont match. But shes spent a lot of time getting everyone officially informed that she has not passed away and all of her friends and co-workers did not miss the funeral service. Its not a funny matter for Barbara but worth a good belly laugh to everyone else. 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 ... During the concluding days of the current legislative session, the Democrat majority voted to make state income taxpayers pay 33 percent more than they do now. But they also successfully passed out of the House and Senate some of the nation's most socially-radical public policy bills, including the following: SPRINGFIELD - As the session concludes, it just doesn't get much better than being a Leftist Democrat lawmaker in the state of Illinois. Making every publicly-funded school, pre-school, nursing home and medical facility places for criminals in America illegally to avoid deportation and seek protection from law enforcement; Forcing every business in Illinois to raise their employees' minimum wage to $15; Automatically registering persons to vote that apply for drivers' licenses; Expanding taxpayer health care coverage (such as for Medicaid recipients and state workers) unrestricted abortion coverage. Governor Bruce Rauner will decide whether those proposals are enacted into law. Leftist Chicago media columnists are providing support for the Democrats' positions and join them in pointing to Rauner as the blame for yet another possible year without a balanced state budget. Rauner's plate is full as the legislative session deadline nears - but that plate has been purposely loaded up by House Speaker Mike Madigan (also chairman of the Illinois Democrat Party) and his Democrat Senate colleague President John Cullerton. Will Rauner sign into law measures that will make it tougher and less profitable to keep businesses in Illinois? Will he be comfortable with betraying his party's base of pro-lifers? Will he embrace making the state of Illinois an effectively sanctuary state while surrounding states enforce federal immigration laws? Rauner took on one of the most difficult tasks ever asked of an Illinois leader when he was elected in 2013 to reform Illinois' broken pension system, its corrupt cronyism and its financially desperate condition. His dream of turning around Illinois is not one that has come to pass without resistance. He likely underestimated how deeply embedded the system was, how manipulative Mike Madigan is and how adamantly he and his minions demand loyalty and obedience. It's up to the people of Illinois to decide who they want to direct the state's future out of this mess - and who they expect to suffer the most during the process. Time to choose sides, folks - jump onto the Democrats' Left-sagging, broken wagon moving downhill, or get behind and help push the reform bandwagon. It's pretty clear that doing nothing means a downhill path that will simply speed up the further it travels. Which route will you pick? Democrats have continually indicated there is such a possibility, and although after months of investigations, not a shred of proof has been provided. Yet, leading Democrats continue to demand there be further investigations into the matter. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack, searching for something that is either exceedingly small or possibly non-existent. Democrats have implied and worked hard to prove their supposition of Russian influence in our election; specifically whether anyone on the Trump team had engaged in inappropriate and/or illegal interaction with the Russians. It is becoming obvious we are witnessing stalling tactics, tools to slow down progress, all for political purposes. This borders on treason in that it intentionally diverts our leaders and the public from that which is far more important to our people and Country. The tired and worn out issue of Russias interference has been continually pushed forward by Democrats, and their loyal Liberal media friends assisted by demanding an investigation. U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, immediately and wisely recused himself from leading this investigation, due to his role as a prominent figure of the Party in power. He did not want anyone to doubt the integrity of the investigation based on what could be perceived as a conflict of interest. Due to Session's decision, as well as public and Congressional pressure, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel on May 17, 2017, to oversee the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, including potential collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign associates and Russian officials. He seemed the least controversial and certainly had experience with the FBI. In a brief statement, Mueller said, "I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability." George Washington University of Law Professor, Jonathan Turley, in offering his opinion about the naming of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel in theTrump-Russia probe, called it a "healthy dose of Tylenol" for the country. Turley further believes an investigation will "bring this fever down. It has not done so to date. At the same time, Turley cautioned that the investigation will "prolong the sickness" by potentially taking years to reach a conclusion. Turley also claimed that until Mueller was named, President Trump could not fully clear his name in the face of ongoing leaks and allegations and that the appointment of a special counsel was almost inevitable when the Comey memo hit. Memo prompting naming of special counsel How did this mess start? The unclassified memo raising questions about Trump's obstruction of justice was first reported by the New York Times on May 16, 2017. Neither NBC nor The Times have even seen the memo, but The Times said an associate of Comey's read parts of it to a reporter in which Trump is alleged to have asked Comey to halt the General Investigation of Flynns alleged discussions with Russian officials. According to NBC News, Comey who is widely known for keeping meticulous records wrote a memo on Feb.14, the day after Flynn resigned, that indicated Comey did take such notes. Anonymous sources have questioned the timing of this suspected note taking, suggesting there is no valid way to determine when a memo was written. Could it have been written after Comey was terminated from his position? Comey enjoyed an excellent reputation until he chose not to prosecute Hillary for known offenses that would have ordered anyone else to be looking through bars for quite some time. There are many ways to examine this issue, but unfortunately the politics of it all has muddied the water. President Trump made this statement on May 17, 2017, after hearing about the appointment of a special counsel: "As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know -- there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country." In defending President Trump, Rep. Duncan Hunter noted how Trump's comments to Comey, as revealed in what is described as a "leaked partial memo to the NYT," could not possibly be construed as an obstruction that merited grounds for impeachment. However, what many state as a rare bipartisan moment, both parties embraced Robert Mueller as Special Counsel on May 17. The Washington Post reported how key Washington players are reacting. Most were full of praise for Mueller. However, some have raised questions as to whether the close friendship of Comey and Mueller might influence Mueller's judgement. Politics have a way of blinding people and leaving them without a clear remembrance of facts. Everyone at least agrees this important investigation must be conducted without a shred of doubt as to the integrity of those in charge of it. Can that be said at this point? Could Robert Mueller be a thorn in the side for Trump? At first blush, Muellers appointment might seem like a good idea, but since the House and Senate are likewise conducting similar investigations into possible collusion between Trump and Russia, yet another investigation has the look of an overkill to many; some officials have described it as an orchestrated witch-hunt. That Mueller and Comey have been described as law enforcement twins and "brothers in arms is problematic. Can one really assume the man can possibly remain neutral? The two mens working relationship can be traced back to at least December of 2003 when Comey joined Mueller in Washington after he became John Ashcrofts Deputy Attorney General where they spent many hours together developing a close partnership. This relationship was made stronger during an incident in 2004. At the time the Los Angeles Times reported that Comey, Mueller, and a number of other law enforcement officials were on the verge of resigning in opposition to a Bush administration plan to reauthorize a domestic surveillance program that was launched after the terror attacks of 9/11. President Bush eventually agreed to modify the secret program after both men jointly intervened an experience that is suspected to have drawn them even closer and obviously provided an awareness that their judgement could take precedent over that of a President. At least it could when personal politics were not part of the equation. Carl M. Cannon, executive editor and Washington Bureau chief of RealClearPolitics, in an opinion piece on May 22, 2017 in the Orange County Register, explained why he didn't experience the same rhapsody as others of his capital compatriots when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Bob Mueller as special prosecutor. He listed these three reasons: Striegel steps down as football coach at Mount Pleasant after 10 years Shawn Striegel will remain as throws coach for Mount Pleasant track and field teams, but his tenure as the head football coach has come to an end. NORWALK Environmentalists hoping to see the Flock Process Dam removed from the Norwalk River might have to wait a bit longer. They and officials had hoped to see the roughly 160-year-old structure, which is an impediment to fish migration, removed this summer. But plan revisions and the need to create a secure staging area may delay that timetable, according to Alexis Cherichetti, Norwalks senior environmental officer. To get down to the dam is in extensive project in itself because of the steep slope and grade, so at this point we are looking at installing the site access way this summer, Cherichetti said. There is still a chance that we could remove (the dam) this summer. Alternatively, were looking at installing our access and getting all of our preparatory work done and then going in July 1st of 2018. Cherichetti said access will be from 363 Main Ave. under agreement with the property owner. Creation of the access way will require grading and building retaining walls, she added. At the same time, Cherichetti said the city is revising the dam removal plan to accommodate the removal of roughly 1,200 cubic yards of sediment that will be released from the riverbed once the dam is breached. The original plan called for moving the dislocated sediment to an easement area at the Merritt View office building property at 383 Main Ave. We are in the process of revising the plans and removing any work on our site plan that involved work on the Merritt View property, Cherichetti said. So the scope of the project is being decreased. Under the revised plan, the project contractor would be responsible for removing the sediment to an off-site location, according to Cherichetti. The 22-foot dam was built in the 1850s to generate power. Flock was the term for a tuft of wool or cotton fiber used to stuff mattresses, according to the Norwalk River Watershed Association, which supports its removal. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection considers the dam to be an impediment to the runs of migratory fish along the river. The dam removal is in accordance with the Norwalk River Watershed Action Plan (1998). Habitat restoration is behind the removal of the Flock Process, Cannondale and Merwin Meadows dams. All three dams are run-of-river dams, which do not offer any flood control or protection in the watershed. Likewise, all three dams are abandoned and no longer serve industry or agriculture, according to the DEEP. John Jacobson, an environmentalist who lives near Washington, D.C., and has family in the Norwalk area, has monitored the project. He said the city made the right choice in deciding to remove the dam and restore the river to a more natural state. Now is the time to follow through on the plan, he added. While the dam no longer serves its original, or really any purpose, until it's removed, it will continue to block the migration of anadramous fish on the river, Jacobson wrote in an email. Once the dam is removed, the entire stretch of river above the dam site can once again become functioning habitat for fish and wildlife that flourish in contiguous river and riparian habitats. Anadramous fish migrate from saltwater upriver to spawn. In October 2013, Norwalks legislative delegation in Washington, D.C., announced that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had awarded Norwalk a $970,000 grant to remove the dam from the river. The school year may have ended only five days ago, but Grand Island Public Schools employees are already looking forward for ways to improve in 2017-2018. When students are away, you plan for their return, GIPS Superintendent Tawana Grover said. At the GIPS academic summit on Tuesday, representatives from every GIPS school met to prepare for fall with five questions: -- Where are we now? -- How did we get to where we are? -- Where do we want to be? -- How are we going to get to where we want to be? -- Is what we are doing making a difference? The summit showed school leaders how data could hold the answers to those five questions. GIPS chief academic officer Josh McDowell said the importance of data lies in its ability to inform and impact instruction. Our goal is to remove barriers to teaching and learning, McDowell said. And data helps us learn where those barriers are. Data from the Nebraska State Accountability, Measures of Academic Progress and School Improvement Progress programs help school administrators identify the strengths a school possesses and the challenges it faces. The strengths and challenges can be aggregated into demographics by race, gender, ethnicity and age. Grover said data is particularly important for the districts diverse student population. The district serves students from many races, ethnicities and income levels, and Grover said this generates a chart of varying needs. Data will allow us to address and hone in on those needs, Grover said. West Lawn Elementary utilized data when school leaders identified 16 third-grade students with the lowest reading progress scores. Through the data they realized 14 of those students were newcomers to the school. If we want to close these gaps, we have to know the gaps, McDowell said. Tuesdays summit was the second part of the data discussion. The school leaders met at the end of the first semester to discuss the role of data in instruction, and on Tuesday they learned the process of applying data connections. The model was outlined by Victoria L. Bernhardt, in her book, Data Analysis for Continuous Improvement. The book is recommended by the Nebraska Department of Education, and McDowell said its model is notable for its sweeping applicability. The summit was attended by principals from preschool programs, elementary, middle and high schools, and McDowell said the model could be implemented equally at each institution. McDowell said he expected data-informed developments to take place as soon as the 2017-2018 school year. Many schools brought their school improvement teams; McDowell said the summit would educate the teams conversation and work over the summer and drive progress into the school year. McDowell said the improvements will look beyond the big picture: past test scores and enrollment rates to focus on individual students. Were diving deeper than the overview, he said. And were seeing things at the student level. Grover said she had heard fantastic conversation at the school tables, and was excited for what the new year would bring. A system is designed to get the results it gets, Grover said. And were designing our system to get the results we want. What Hall County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Pam Lancaster called probably the best-kept secret the Hero Flight has had in a very long time was revealed during the county board meeting Tuesday morning. The secret was how much money was raised for the Hero Flight program during Supervisor Gary Quandts Courthouse Challenge, in conjunction with Gov. Pete Ricketts Nebraska 150 Challenge. The amount raised was $15,243.58. A match by Steve and Jill Hornady doubled the amount to $30,487.16. The Hornadys presented a check to the Hero Flight program on Tuesday morning. I saw an article in the paper that Gary was going to be up there on the courthouse, Steve Hornady said. I asked him, What would happen if we matched this and got some more attention to it? So I go down there on the top level of the parking garage and see him wandering around (on the courthouse roof). I yelled at him and got his cellphone number to ask how to go about doing this, and we made it happen. Lancaster said the funds raised for the Hero Flight will raise the smiles on so many veterans and will make it possible for more veterans to go on the Hero Flight sooner than anticipated. Three state senators representing portions of Hall County Curt Friesen, Steve Halloran and Dan Quick also were on hand for the presentation. They commended Quandt and residents of Hall County for their commitment to the Hero Flight program and to honoring veterans. I would like to thank Gary for all his work, Quick said. I really admire him for all the effort he has put in. I thank Jill and Steve Hornady for their financial (support). I thank the veterans, especially, for their service, dedication and sacrifices, Quick added. Halloran echoed Quicks comments and said supporting veterans is what local communities do. When we are in Lincoln, we think we are the most important people in the world, he said. That is not the case. We are here to honor the veterans. Jerad Reimers, a community liaison with U.S. Rep. Adrian Smiths office, read a statement from Smith that also commended Hall Countys dedication to honoring veterans and supporting the Hero Flight program. Because communities like Grand Island as well as Hall County remain dedicated in expressing their gratitude to our nations veterans and their efforts to assure our freedoms, we will never forget to honor their sacrifices, Smiths statement said. City Administrator Marlan Ferguson, who is a Vietnam War veteran who went on the most recent Hero Flight to Washington, D.C., said the communitys support for its veterans is what he loves about the community. While he stressed the importance of honoring veterans, Ferguson added it is also important to honor their spouses. I dont think we realize what our spouses went through when we were there, he said. I knew what I was doing, but she didnt know what to do. I was taking care of myself and she was worrying. Tuesdays meeting also recognized the Hall County Airport Authority for its role in the Hero Flight homecomings. Central Nebraska Regional Airport Executive Director Mike Olson and Operations Manager Doug Brown were on hand for the recognition. Lancaster and Quandt presented Olson and Brown with an award that consisted of an eagle and flag statue on top and a plaque at the bottom. I want to thank the veterans that are here today. I sure enjoy my freedoms and thank you for making that possible, Olson said. When we were asked to host the first Hero Flight, it wasnt a matter of how we can do it; it was lets just do it. Ive got a wonderful staff, so it wasnt a matter of when they did it. They just did it and got it done. He added that he looks forward to hosting more Hero Flights in the future. In other action, the county board: Heard an update from Hall County Attorney Jack Zitterkopf on sanctuary cities and counties. It was discussed as new and unfinished business during the Board of Corrections meeting. Heard a presentation from Mark Wilcox of Wellness Partners and voted 6-0 to approve a wellness plan for Hall County employees. Supervisor Karen Bredthauer was absent from Tuesdays meeting. Voted 6-0 to approve the budget for Midland Area Agency on Aging for $30,005 from Hall County. Of that amount, the agency is requesting a membership fee of $10,800 and $19,125 to support the Senior Citizens Industries service programs. President Donald Trump may find Washington a hostile home lurking with political foes who want payback for his harsh rhetoric on the campaign trail. Funny thing, though: On his first foreign trip as president, the one-time isolationist found forgiveness and bonhomie from leaders and nations he trolled during the 2016 campaign. In Saudi Arabia, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Salman rolled out a red carpet for Trump and hosted meetings with Muslim and Arab leaders. In Israel, Trump had positive talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Vatican described Trumps audience with Pope Francis as cordial. In the world of politics, leaders often have to share a stage and a smile with former opponents: Thats the nature of the beast. Partisans have policy differences; then they find common cause. But in 2016, Trump went beyond standard campaign rhetoric when he criticized foreign leaders. He accused the Saudis of blowing up the World Trade Center. He supported a total and complete shutdown on allowing Muslims to enter the United States. Abbas and the Saudi royal family are Muslims. As a candidate, Trump tweeted that the pontiff was disgraceful for questioning his faith. In Washington, theres no getting over 2016. Democrats in Congress are loath to appear publicly with Trump. Party leaders dont want to be seen working with his administration. After spending the last eight years denouncing Republican obstructionism, theyve come up with a new word resistance for the same behavior, which they now find laudable. They cant and wont get over 2016, while the Saudi King, Palestinian leader and Catholic Pope can. Then again, Saudi Arabia and Israel were pretty peeved at President Barack Obamas role in passing the nuclear deal with Iran. Middle Eastern leaders did not appreciate Barack Obamas role in easing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak out of power. They appreciate that Trumps America First rhetoric means not pushing Middle Eastern leaders to the breaking point. As Trump put it when he spoke to Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh, We are not here to lecture. We are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership based on shared interests and values to pursue a better future for us all. The pope had the least to lose from taking on Trump and the least to win from reaching out to the president. The pontiff sees immigration as a moral issue, and he was not afraid to say so last year. I honestly dont think Francis gives a hoot about the benefit of a visit, observed Austin Ruse, Catholic author and president of C-Fam, a family research institute, as well as a member of Trumps council of Catholic advisers. Trumps audience with the pope was cordial, Ruse believes, because the president charmed the pope. Trump certainly didnt charm NATO leaders in Brussels. At a dedication for a memorial of 9/11 and NATOs Article 5, which guarantees mutual defense, Trump hectored member nations for failing to contribute their fair share of NATOs defense. That lecture at least could not be considered a surprise. Yet then, after fanning expectations that he would endorse Article 5 explicitly, Trump failed to do so. For some reason, Trump chose to treat NATO like a freeloader, even though the alliance is sending NATO troops to Iraq and likely will increase troop levels in Afghanistan. It is instructive to consider the reaction of NATO leaders. They didnt return his criticism with cute sound bites a la House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. After the mini-summit, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Trump strongly stated his commitment to NATO and its not possible to be committed to NATO without being committed to Article 5. On Saturday, national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters that of course Trump supports the key NATO provision, for what that is worth. The takeaway from Trumps trip is that America is the superpower. With Obama and his magical thinking gone, and a president willing to flex some muscle in his place, Europe is responding. Trumps refusal to join the rest of the G7 on climate change Saturday was met with willingness to keep trying to bring him on board. Before the trip, foreign-policy graybeard Robert Gates, secretary of defense under President George W. Bush and Obama, said on Face the Nation that American foreign policy needs disruption. As Trump arrives back in his home in Washington, he can tell his critics the world agrees. Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Almost two years after New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu called for the removal of four Confederate statues from public spaces around the city, the process started in the dark of night in late May of this year. Monuments and memorials to Confederate leaders are ubiquitous throughout the South and can be found in other states as well. Most of these commemorations were erected in the late 19th and early 20th century as the Reconstruction period ended and Southern states gained greater autonomy to manage their own state and local affairs. Management of their affairs often meant white supremacy and states rights. These monuments represent vastly different things to people who live in the Old South and government efforts to remove them and/or relocate them are very controversial. The argument can certainly be made that removing and/or relocating them is rewriting history. After Reconstruction the South chose to glorify their efforts in the Civil War as well as reinstate white supremacy in Southern states. Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan were part of that history. Most of the more than 700 monuments in the Old South came during the period of lost cause glorification. The argument can also be made that these monuments glorify an effort to preserve slavery, certainly a morally bankrupt institution, and an effort to destroy the United States as we know it. These same men whose statues adorn public places throughout the South could be considered traitors and enemies of the country and were fortunate that they were not hanged at the end of the war. The argument also needs to be seen in the eyes of African-Americans who still struggle to have equal rights and opportunity in this country. It took the civil rights movement and the work of black leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s to undo the overt Jim Crow laws of the South that required African-Americans to use separate drinking fountains, bathrooms and sit in the back of the bus. They can rightfully ask where are the 700 monuments to those who have fought oppression for the last 150 years? The murder of nine African-American parishioners by white supremacist Dylann Roof in Charleston, S.C., in June 2015 focused the argument on the role of those historical monuments and whether they promote white supremacy and violence. South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from its statehouse grounds in the wake of the massacre, which suggests there is support in the South to move on to some agreement which might result in better race relations. There is a time and place for historical monuments. To expect African-American children to attend schools named after Civil War heroes or even to travel to those schools on roads and streets named after those men seems unreasonable. To expect African-Americans to do business at courthouses named after Civil War generals also seems unreasonable and demeaning. Public places should not be reminders of a system that required black people to be second class citizens. We need to rethink the role of historical monuments that divide Americans and provoke violence. Preserve the historical artifacts but start the process to locate them in more appropriate places. How we experience our history should help us understand our past and allow us to build a better future. It should not divide us. Bucks Democrats expect to have majority in state House Democrats expect to gain one more seat in state Senate, but still be in minority there. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 08:19 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a329d77 4 Editorial #Editorial,Pancasila-Day,Pancasila,Diversity,Islam,democracy Free To the delight of many we have yet another holiday Pancasila Day, affirming June 1 as the birthday of the state ideology. The famed speech of founding father and first president Sukarno introducing Pancasila was made on June 1, 1945, and President Joko Jokowi Widodo made the date into a national holiday through a presidential decree last year. Jokowis latest video blog called on citizens to embrace Pancasila values essentially belief in one God, humanity, unity, consensus and social justice. Pancasila, Jokowi said, is in every drop of our blood and every beat of our heart. [It is] the cement of our national unity. I am Jokowi. I am Pancasila. People are encouraged to share testimonies with the hashtag #SayaPancasila (I am Pancasila). But didnt Indonesians have enough indoctrination during more than 30 years of Soehartos rule, when every student had to memorize 36 items of Pancasila norms and values? We sure did which is precisely why the embracing of official commemorations, although through more fun methods than those of old come with a condition. The condition is that those in power must never again make themselves the sole authority to interpret and virtually sanctify the ideology and to brand its traitors fit to be arrested, locked up and tortured. The constitutional freedom of expression means we have a safe space to debate the ideology. Calls for intensified teaching of Pancasila values have long come from worried citizens. The calls followed increasing intolerance, mainly against minorities. Activists said embedding Pancasila values in citizens would guarantee respect for Indonesias highly plural society. Making the birthday of Pancasila a national holiday signaled Jokowis commitment to safeguarding its teachings. It would be truly cynical if Jokowi, elected to office on a human rights campaign, reverted to New Order-style brutal reaction to claimed attacks on state symbols, including Pancasila. Today, however, citizens voices are loud and diverse. Among them are people traumatized by past alienation of Islamic political aspirations; hence celebrations beyond this Pancasila Week must avoid worsening the mistake of suppressing Islamists. Jokowi is riding high on his popularity among citizens who are wary of what to expect following the series of defend Islam rallies. The rallies succeeded in pressuring the court trying outgoing Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who was sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy. He had earlier lost the Jakarta gubernatorial election, a defeat partly blamed on the whipped-up sentiments against his identity as a Christian of Chinese descent, despite wide praise for his no-nonsense attitude in ruling the capital. True, many couldnt care less that the government is moving to ban the Hizbuth Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an Islamic mass organization calling for a caliphate, as it is said to violate Pancasila, which HTI denies. However a highly creative campaign, with the governments efforts to ensure inclusiveness by reducing the social economic gap, is a much better way to convince Indonesians why Pancasila should remain the cement binding the archipelago. A holiday for all sounds like a good start. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Thu, June 1, 2017 Batam Industrial Development Authority (BP Batam), for the first time, obtained an unqualified (WTP) opinion from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) for its 2016 financial statement. The official statement was handed over by BPK member Isma Yatun to BP Batam chief Hatanto Reksodipoetro as witnessed by Interior Minister Tjahjo Kumolo and Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin during the expose of BP Batams 206 financial statement at the BPK Building in Jakarta on May 29, 2017. "We thank God. The award is the fruit of the strong commitment of all elements in BP Batam to foster transparency and accountability in performance," said Hatanto. An unqualified opinion is a professional statement from an assessor regarding the fairness of information disclosed in a financial statement on the execution of state budget based on four criteria. They are in compliance with government accounting standards, adequacy of disclosure, prevailing laws and regulations and effectiveness of the internal control system. "This achievement comes from our hard work in reforming our financial management system, one of which is the implementation of e-rekonsiliasi to create a single database," explained Hatanto. He added that BP Batam also scored another achievement in managing non-tax revenue (PNBP) for the Batam free zone. For that, the agency is committed to executing development programs it has set out to implement. This means building stronger synergy with businesses and related agencies to accelerate the development of industries in the city of Batam. -(-/-) BPKs Member 5, Isma Yatun, said the opinion shows the governments appreciation toward ministries and state agencies (K/L) that can present well-written financial reports. Financial statements should stress the utilization of assets, records of earnings and expenses, properties and obligations of an agency. "When we assess and evaluate a financial statement, we dont only look at how K/L achieve their targets; we want to see their performance in managing the resources they have at their disposal," she stated. She hoped that K/L, especially BP Batam, after receiving an unqualified opinion for their financial statement, would maintain their commitment to developing quality apparatus with the support of financial management and quality assurance through rigid internal control. At the same event, BPK RI also handed out an unqualified opinion for the 2016 financial reports of several other K/L. They are the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Surabaya-Madura Regional Development Agency, Sabang Industrial Authority, Ummah Endowment Fund Governing Body and Hajj Pilgrimage Governing Body. The results of the assessment of 87 financial reports of ministries/state agencies (LKLL) and one financial report of the state treasury (LK BUN) show that 74 LKKL-LKBUN, or 84 percent, received an unqualified opinion, including BP Batam. Eight LKKL, or 9 percent, received a qualified opinion. They are the Defense Ministry, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), General Elections Commission (KPU), Geospatial Information Agency, Institute for the Policy of State Procurement of Goods/Services and Public Broadcasting Institution (LPP) RRI. Six percent of LKKL, or 7 percent, got a disclaimer of opinion. They are the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, National Committee of Human Rights, LPP TVRI, Marine Security Agency and Creative Economy Agency. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anirban Nag (Bloomberg) Wed, May 31, 2017 08:10 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a3299eb 2 Science & Tech Japan,Germany,robot,demography Free Japan and Germany may be sitting on a ticking demographic time bomb where aging populations begin to drag down economic growth. Good thing theyre also prime candidates for robot revolutions. Increased automation and more use of robotic technology in these manufacturing powerhouses could help cushion the impact, according to Moodys Investors Service. To the extent that robots can undertake activity that require labor, they will compensate for the negative impact that a slower growth in labor force would have otherwise had on growth, Moodys analysts wrote in the report this month. Dependency ratios -- the share of those older than 65 years of the total population -- are projected to soar in both Germany and Japan. But these countries have two things going for them. Manufacturing exports in Germany, Europes largest economy, already make up more than a third of gross domestic product; in Japan that stands at 12 percent. Theyre also both early robot adopters. Read also: Europe's first eTree puts down roots in central France About three-quarters of total global sales of industrial robotics machinery are concentrated in five countries: China, Japan, the United States, South Korea and Germany, with adoption concentrated in the automotive and electronics sectors. Among these, the three Asian countries bought abound half of global industrial robots since 2013, led by China, Moodys says. At a time when some politicians are playing up concerns that globalization is killing domestic employment, robotics could lead to the return of some jobs that were outsourced to lower labor-cost destinations. Still, the number of jobs that will return would be less compared to the livelihoods lost earlier, Moodys says in the report. Emerging market countries could be the losers. Countries like Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia where exports of high-tech manufacturing goods account for more than 50 percent of GDP -- 16 percent to 20 percent of which go to Germany alone -- could be at risk. Low-wage countries like India and Indonesia would also face challenging times. In addition, manufacturing processes could also move to other production centers that are better equipped to absorb the new technology and can compete in the supply of high-tech products, the report says. "In either case, some emerging market economies may lose export-market share because the new technology could change modes of production and trade patterns." Topics : Japan Germany robot demography Workaholic Japan is known for long office hours and stressed out employees, but one company claims to have a cure: Cats. A total of nine fluffy felines eat, sleep and walk freely in the small office of IT firm Ferray in Tokyo. Hidenobu Fukuda, who heads the firm, introduced an office cat policy in 2000 upon request from one of his employees, allowing staffers to bring their moggies to work. I also give 5,000 (RM193) a month to those who rescue a cat, he said of his charges. Only problem with cats is they think they rule! (AFP/File) Other Japanese companies are also allowing animals in the office to help reduce stress and anxiety. At Oracle Japan, an Old English Sheepdog named Candy works as a greeting and healing ambassador, according to the company website. The company said it has had an office dog since 1991, and Candy, the fourth one, now has Twitter and Instagram accounts. Read also: Filters of light cigarettes may give you a specific type of cancer Meanwhile, Pasona Group hired two goats in 2011 and two alpacas in 2013 as full-time employees, partly for healing purposes. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Brussels, Belgium Wed, May 31, 2017 15:00 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a3432c9 2 Science & Tech EU,Internet,wifi Free The EU will contribute 120 million euros ($134 million) to help install wifi in hard to reach hospitals, villages, and parks across Europe. The deal was struck late Monday by negotiators from the European Parliament, the EU's 28 member states and the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. The plan is to help local authorities fund equipment for public free wifi services in 6,000 to 8,000 municipalities in all 28 member states in the bloc. Read also: Google Music offers extra free month "The funding will be allocated in a geographically balanced manner across the EU countries and, in principle, on a first-come, first-served basis," the European council said in a statement. The goal is to have the scheme in place by the end of 2017, it said. Andrus Ansip, Commission vice-president in charge of the Digital Single Market, said the deal was a "welcome first step", but insisted that "much more needs to be done to achieve high-speed connectivity across the whole EU territory." The scheme is part of the EU's ambition for an EU wide digital single market one of the top priorities of European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker. Topics : EU Internet wifi Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 14:13 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a33e58a 1 Art & Culture Vivid-Sydney,the-unnoticed,gleam-collective,Australia Free The annual Vivid Sydney is an event that highlights light, music and ideas. It features many activities, including large light installations and projections, music performances and discussions. This year, the events ninth installment is being held for 23 days until June 17 in several locations in Sydney. Among them are the Sydney Opera House and The Rocks, which is recognized as the birthplace of modern Sydney. One of the installations featured by the event is "The Unnoticed", which is located in a hidden alleyway at the heart of The Rocks. Initiated by the GLEAM Collective, "The Unnoticed" is an interactive lighting installation that has a sensor that causes the installation to change color depending on the visitors who pass through the alleyway. The process of making "The Unnoticed" interactive lighting installation.(GLEAM Collective/File) So if there are a lot of people moving past the alleyway, the lighting will keep changing colors, Kristina Grasiella, one of the Indonesian members of the GLEAM Collective, told The Jakarta Post prior to the event. The team chose the location because it suited their goals. We want to transform something small that is rarely noticed by people into something beautiful, she stated. Its because we want to express an idea that everyone can be bright and beneficial to their surroundings. A post shared by Jenny Wong (@jenny_wtm) on May 26, 2017 at 1:21am PDT Read also: Reusable Tasini bag seeks to protect oceans from plastics The GLEAM Collective was formed for Vivid Sydney 2017. It consists of six Sydney-based emerging designers and engineers from Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia: Marsha Levina, Jenny Wong, Kristina Grasiella, Eduardus Andrew, James Sulaiman and Anthony Zeater. (GLEAM Collective/File) Kristina explained that the projects difficulty lies in its mechanism and technical aspects. This is our first experience participating in Vivid Sydney and designing something that requires knowledge and technical, mechanical and electrical abilities, she added. The GLEAM Collective was formed for Vivid Sydney 2017. It consists of six Sydney-based emerging designers and engineers from Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia: Marsha Levina, Jenny Wong, Kristina Grasiella, Eduardus Andrew, James Sulaiman and Anthony Zeater. Their initial idea came from two of its members, Marsha and Eduardus as alumni of Architectural Design at the University of Technology Sydney. Marsha herself often passes through the alleyway at The Rocks. We thought that we could make something in the small alley that is infrequently regarded by other people, [so that the alley] will become something beautiful, Kristina said. Therefore, we named it The Unnoticed. We hope the visitors can enjoy our installation by interacting with it, such as by taking photos or playing with its interactive feature, she added. Those who want to visit the lighting installation can go from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. The admission is free. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jacqueline Arias (Inquirer.net/Asia News Network) Wed, May 31, 2017 15:38 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a344dce 2 People Prince-William,duke-of-cambridge,british-GQ Free Prince William opens up about the death of his mother Princess Diana of Wales in light of her 20th death anniversary. In an exclusive interview with GQ Magazine UK, the Duke of Cambridge admitted that it took him two decades to feel okay to speak about his mothers passing. I am in a better place about it than I have been for a long time, where I can talk about her more openly, talk about her more honestly, and I can remember her better, and publicly talk about her better, he said. William also reflected on how Dianas presence would make a difference right now, especially now that he has a family of his own. I would like to have had her advice. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up. It makes me sad that she wont, that they will never know her. Read also: Royals seek 1.5 mn euros in damages over topless Kate pics Meanwhile, its also clear how William looks up to Diana in leading a healthy family life, inside and outside the royal palace. Stability at home is so important to me. I want to bring up my children in a happy, stable, secure world and that is so important to both of us as parents, he said. I want George to grow up in a real, living environment, I dont want him growing up behind palace walls, he has to be out there. The media make it harder but I will fight for them to have a normal life. Earlier this year, Williams younger brother Prince Harry also shared how he dealt with Dianas death. He also opened up about having mental health issues due to the tragedy. 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 (Agence France-Presse) Washington Wed, May 31, 2017 18:22 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a34c1db 2 Lifestyle Donald-Trump,#DonaldTrump,Twitter,#Twitter Free Not for the first time, a Donald Trump tweet has lit up the internet. But this time, users the world over have been left scratching their heads over "covfefe": a bizarre word apparently created by the president. "Despite the constant negative press covfefe," read the US leader's short tweet sent early Wednesday. Trump deleted his #covfefe Tweet.Too late, now the whole world is laughing at you. Thanks for the laughter, and keep the #covfefe coming. pic.twitter.com/6Tw8Y9AeAL Voice of Reason (@raggapegs) May 31, 2017 Was it an acronym? A secret message? Or just a typo? Wags around the world weighed in with biting sarcasm, and #covfefe quickly became the top trending item on Twitter. Comments included a mock Google translation of "covfefe" from Russian into English as "I resign," and comments like "Drain the covfefe" -- a play on Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" in Washington. "'Covfefe is a great word, period! - Sean Spicer tomorrow," read one tweet, mentioning the president's spokesman. Read also: Michael Moore filming new documentary on Donald Trump To avoid confusion, the Regent's English Language Center in London wrote: "To all of our English language students, we can confirm that 'covfefe' is not an English word. Yet." To all of our English language students, we can confirm that "covfefe" is not an English word. Yet. #Covfefe Regent's English (@regentslingo) May 31, 2017 More than five hours later the tweet had been neither corrected nor deleted, nor was there any hint of what Trump was trying to say. At 0910 GMT Trump's "covfefe" tweet had more than 120,000 retweets and had been shared 39,000 times, according to Twitter figures. Then, around 0945 GMT, the mysterious tweet was deleted. There was no explanation. Since entering office, Trump has used Twitter to issue declarations on everything from Arnold Schwarzenegger's TV performance to an alleged "MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Juliana Harsianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 09:29 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a32c49a 4 Parents parental-leave,gender-equality,parents,newborn,Sweden Free Parental leave has always been a major issue to deal with in a lot of countries. Debates on whether fathers also deserve to take leave to take care of their children, or whether mothers are the only ones who are required to do so have been ongoing in the labor movement around the globe. A book called Swedish Dads by Johan Bavman tries to bring up the theme and introduce how parental leave for both fathers and mothers is implemented in Sweden. Swedish Dads is a photography book that features images of fathers in Sweden taking care of their children during their parental leaves. One of the fathers featured in the book is Johan Ekengard and he recently spoke during an event at the Swedish Embassy in Jakarta to share his experiences taking leave as a father to help his wife take care of their children. Read also: What you need to know about newborn photography Sweden has had a long and progressive history as a pioneer of providing working parents with the rights to take paid leave in order to take care of their children. It started in the early 1970s when the country introduced a six-month paid leave for working women and in 1974 the Swedish government extended this maternity leave policy to become parental leave by including fathers as well. The Swedish government devised the policy based on research showing that children who are raised by both parents have better mental and cognitive development in the long run. The policy was also considered an important step in creating gender equality in workplaces. Ekengard explained that when the Swedish government implemented maternity leave only, many companies were reluctant to recruit women. However, when the parental leave policy was introduced, companies no longer had any reason to prioritize male applicants. The amount of parental leave in total is 480 days. Parents are eligible to receive 80 percent of their salaries in their first 390 days. Read also: Five things to consider when visiting a newborn Economy, however, remains an issue in the implementation of fair and balanced parental leave in Sweden, Ekengard said. Despite Swedens progressiveness in implementing the parental leave policy, the income disparity between male and female workers remains prevalent with the former having the advantage. Therefore, mothers remain the largest segment in utilizing the parental leave facility. Swedens parental leave policy, which also includes fathers, might sound like an unfamiliar or odd concept for Indonesians who live in a very heavily patriarchal society that demands men work outside the home. However, a few businesses have begun to incorporate a parental leave policy for fathers and one of them is Opal Communication. Opal Communication chief executive officer and founder Kokok Dirgantoro praised what the Swedish government had done and he hoped Indonesia could also adopt similar, if not better, policies. I think that a three-month maternity leave policy [currently implemented in Indonesia] is not enough, said Koko, who was inspired to provide parental leave for his male employees after seeing his wifes struggles in taking care of his children. Kokok said that he personally implemented in his company a parental leave policy that would give female and male employees six months and one month of paid leave respectively. They also receive their full salaries and benefits. Read also: On having a(nother) child The one-month leave for male employees is important because Kokok said it is the most crucial period for women who have just given birth. He wants his male employees to be with their wives during this crucial period. In the first month after giving birth, women are exhausted both physically and mentally, Kokok said. To make sure that the male employees do not misuse their paid leave, Kokok regularly conducts monitoring. I like to come to their houses to see if they are really helping their wives, he said. Kokok also requests the wives of his male employees to contact him directly if their husbands utilize the paid leave to do other activities. Kokoks decision has received both praise and criticism. Other businessmen tell me that I am acting like a freak they wonder why I provide my employees with more leave days when most of them think that giving female workers a three-month leave period has already given them too much of a loss to deal with, he said. Kokok added that his fellow businessmen were worried that if his policy became more popular, then the Indonesian government might adopt it as a nation-wide regulation. This consideration, however, might be a bit premature. Ekengard said that even in Sweden, which has been implementing a paid leave policy for both parents for decades, the idea of having fathers help with domestic jobs remained a somewhat strange concept. Grandparents from the previous generation still find it hard to see men doing the dishes and changing diapers at home with their wives, according to Ekengard. When the grandparents are not the problem, the lack of confidence from the men makes it difficult for them to fairly and equally share the task of taking care of the children. Ekengard, who lives in Malmo in southern Sweden, said that he often got confused about what to do when his wife left him alone with the children. Therefore, Ekengard said that it was very important for men to maximize their parental leave and network with each other so that they could support one another. In response to Kokok and Ekengard, Wawan Suwandi, an activist from the Aliansi Laki-laki Baru (New Men Alliance), said that a shift in the societys mindset was important to invite more men to be involved in the development of the children. As long as there is this view that deems domestic jobs are not masculine, then it will be difficult for men to take more active roles in household activities and business, Wawan said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 07:00 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a327a94 4 National Rizieq-Shihab,FPI Free The grand imam of Jakartas Istiqlal Mosque, a progressive Muslim thinker named Nasaruddin Umar, is urging the leader of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), Rizieq Shihab, to set a good example as an ulema and return home to Indonesia to face his legal case. He is an ulema. As an ulema, he should set a good example, he said at the State Palace on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com. It will be elegant to face something with resignation. I believe he will not lose his followers. Especially, he said, by returning home to undergo his legal process, Rizieq would also show that he was a good citizen. Nasaruddin also called for Rizieqs followers to remain calm in responding to the case implicating the firebrand cleric in scandal. The Jakarta Police had named Rizieq a suspect on Monday in a pornography case related to an allegedly steamy chat with Firza Husein, who had earlier been named a suspect in the same case. Rizieq had not yet undergone police questioning in his previous capacity as a witness as he had twice failed to answer police summonses in April and May. Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono argued that investigators had gathered evidence to name Rizieq a suspect. He would be charged under the 2008 Pornography Law. Rizieq is currently staying in Saudi Arabia to perform his second umrah (minor haj) in as many weeks. It is not publicly known when he will return to Indonesia. Besides the pornography case, Rizieq had also been named a suspect by the West Java Police for allegedly insulting the state ideology Pancasila. (rin) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 11:59 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a334fb4 1 National hacking,AGO,Press-Council Free The official websites of the Attorney General's Office and Press Council were hacked on Wednesday morning. A day before Pancasila Day, hackers defaced www.kejaksaan.go.id and www.dewanpers.co.id. Visitors of the websites were greeted with messages on the national motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity). On the AGO website was a picture of Harley Quinn with the message, "We were all Indonesian until... Race disconnected us. Religion separated us. Politics divided us." AGO spokesperson Muhammad Rum confirmed that the websites were hacked. We are trying to fix it, Rum said on Wednesday morning, as quoted by kompas.com. On the Press Council's website, visitors were welcomed with "Gugur Bunga," a national song honoring deceased heroes. Yes, the website was hacked [and] defaced with certain messages. We are fixing it, Press Council member Nezar Patria said on Wednesday. (hol) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang, Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, and Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31 2017 President Joko Jokowi Widodos recent statement in support of a larger counterterrorism role for the Indonesian Military (TNI) has sparked a fresh wave of debate, mainly centering on the ideal extent of the militarys role in counterterror operations, which have so far been spearheaded by the National Police. While acknowledging that Jokowis statement on Monday could have various interpretations, many activists and scholars have asserted that the militarys role should be limited and the polices leading role retained. They argue that terrorism is a crime and hence enforcement should be handled within the countrys criminal justice system. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto made the governments stance clearer when he met leaders of the House of Representatives and the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing deliberation of the amendment of the 2003 Terrorism Law. 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 Wed, May 31, 2017 20:05 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a3508b4 1 National army,Islamic-State,IS,Marawi,terrorism,counterterrorism,terror-attack,TerrorAttacks Free The Army confirmed on Wednesday that it had prepared various steps to anticipate the infiltration and expansion of the Islamic State (IS) network into Indonesia. We always keep a guard against any activities that enable the presence of terrorists in the country, Army spokesperson Col. Alfret Denny Tuejeh said as quoted by kompas.com at the Army Media Center in Central Jakarta on Wednesday. He added that the Army had also anticipated the potential expansion of IS attacks in Indonesia following its recent strike against Marawi in the Philippines. Alfret said Indonesian authorities had beefed up territorial defense in Ambon, Maluku, and North Sulawesi as media outlets reported IS fighters had attempted to occupy Marawi. Shortly after the incident, the commanders of the Merdeka Military Area Command [Kodam] in Manado and the Kodam Pattimura in Ambon straightaway texted me, informing me what had happened in Marawi. They later made statements in the media that we had to anticipate the possible infiltration of IS jihadists into Indonesia via Maluku and North Sumatra, said Alfret. He refused to give details on measures the Army had prepared except for saying that it had coordinated with military commands in areas across Indonesia while at the same time it paid close attention to developments in the Philippines. You [journalists] and the public might think that the Army doesnt care about the current situation, but, that is wrong, Alfret said. He hoped no IS fighters would enter Indonesia as they were the enemy of the nation. (hol/ebf) Workers assemble box girders as part of the construction of a Light Rapid Transit (LRT) in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on Tuesday. The Rp 23.5 trillion (US$1.77 billion) transportation project will connect Cibubur in East Jakarta to downtown Jakarta. The project is expected to be completed in 2018 as it is planned to be used to transport athletes and spectators during the 2018 Asian Games.(JP/Seto Wardhana)(LRT) in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on Tuesday. The Rp 23.5 trillion (US$1.77 billion) transportation project will connect Cibubur in East Jakarta to downtown Jakarta. The project is expected to be completed in 2018 as it is planned to be used to transport athletes and spectators during the 2018 Asian Games.(JP/Seto Wardhana) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 09:15 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a32bdd8 1 Business garlic,imports,kppu,China Free The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) will work with the Chinese authorities that deal with anti-business monopolies to address a problem in garlic trading that had sparked a sharp price increase for the commodity. "We are suspicious that the garlic trade problem started in China. Therefore, we have to coordinate with China's competition authority," said KPPU chairman Syarkawi Rauf during a press briefing in his office in Jakarta on Tuesday. Based on an investigation by the commission, the six business groups that have dominated garlic trading imported the commodity from China, while, in China, the trade in garlic was dominated by only two big traders, he added. The KPPU and other Asian competition authorities were connected under the East Asia Top Level Officials' Meeting on Competition Policy (EATOP). Previously the KPPU had been working with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in dealing with a beef cartel in that country. "We will focus on investigating the motives of the players in the garlic supply chains that have caused the price surge," he said. Police arrested three alleged smugglers and hoarders of garlic in Marunda, North Jakarta, recently. Hundreds of tons of garlic were seized by the Jakarta Police during a raid. The commodity, which was suspected of having been smuggled into Indonesia from China and India, was stockpiled at the North Jakarta warehouse.The price of garlic in Jakarta has surged to Rp 70,000 (US$5.26) per kilogram in the last few days, up from Rp 40,000 per kilogram in January, hargapangan.id shows. (bbn) Topics : garlic imports kppu China Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 16:30 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a34813e 1 City street-musician,business Free Fifty street musicians will perform in front of businesspeople in Greater Jakarta next week after they passed auditions for the Support Performance Card (Supercard) program that will give them the opportunity to perform at various establishments. They will show off their musical skills in front of entrepreneurs who run malls, cafes, restaurants and hotels in Greater Jakarta next Monday in an event held by the card's initiator Street Music Institute (IMJ) in conjunction with the Education and Culture Ministry. IMJ founder Andi Malewa said that after next Monday's event, the businesspeople and the ministry would "team up to give space for expression by the street musicians," according to a report by wartakota.tribunnews.com on Wednesday. Previously, the street musicians joined an audition to obtain the card, as well as taking part in a workshop by prominent drummer Gilang Ramadhan. Through such assistance it is expected that the musicians will not go back to the streets to earn a living. (agn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 10:23 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a3317e5 1 Business CCB-Indonesia Free Publicly listed lender China Construction Bank Indonesia (CCB Indonesia) will conduct rights issues periodically in 2017 and 2018 to raise additional capital as an effort to achieve a higher capital status. The bank hopes to put itself among the lenders with a minimum capital of Rp 5 trillion (US$374.92 million), also known as BUKU III banks. With that status, CCB will be allowed to conduct a wider range of banking activities. CCB Indonesia director Adri Triwitjahjo told reporters on Tuesday that his bank still needed about Rp 2.5 trillion to achieve the BUKU III category and expected to realize the plan in the next three years. We will adjust [the plan] with our business development because we dont want our CAR [capital adequacy ratio] to be too high. Injection of capital will be in line with our needs, he said after the bank held its annual general shareholders meeting. As part of the effort, the shareholders approved the allocation of more than 97 percent of the bank's 2016 net profits as retained profits to strengthen its capital structure. CCB booked Rp 22.18 billion in profits last year, a 67 percent fall year-on-year. As of December, CCB Indonesia was 60 percent owned by the China Construction Bank Corporation, 25.6 percent by Indonesian businessman Johnny Wiraatmadja, 0.9 percent by PT Blue Cross Indonesia and 13.5 percent by the public. (yon/tas) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 19:16 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a35025b 1 City Jakarta-council,Djarot-Saiful-Hidayat,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,ahok Free Jakarta City Council officially filed a recommendation to the Home Ministry on Wednesday to install acting Jakarta governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat to the official position. The recommendation was announced during a plenary meeting on the resignation of the city's non-active governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, currently in prison for blasphemy. "Based on a letter to the Home Ministry, we would like to recommend [the ministry] appoint Djarot Saiful Hidayat as Jakarta governor for the remaining working period of the 2012 to 2017 term," said the council secretary, Muhammad Yuliadi during the meeting as quoted by kompas.com. The meeting also confirmed the election of Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno as Jakartas new governor and deputy governor as stipulated by the Jakarta Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) in a letter received by city council. Yuliadi said the councilors also requested Djarot's current official position as deputy governor be dropped. The recommendation letter will be sent to the Home Ministry before ministry officials forward it to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Once the President accepts it, Djarot will be the city's governor until October. (agn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 11:08 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a333ade 1 National house-of-representatives,politics,elections-bill,#ElectionBill Free The central government and the House of Representatives agreed during a deliberation of the Election Bill on Tuesday to add 15 more seats to the legislative body after the 2019 election. The decision will bring the total number of lawmakers sitting at the House to 575, representing the countrys 34 provinces. Three of the additional seats will go to North Kalimantan as a new province. The rest will likely go to Riau, West Kalimantan, Papua and Lampung. No province will have its existing number of seats reduced, according to National Awakening Party (PKB) lawmaker Lukman Edy, who chairs the Election Bill Special Committee. Previously, the House insisted on adding 19 more seats for the sake of equity and proportionality, because many regions have reported an increasing population, thus requiring more representative seats. However, the Home Ministry rejected the figure, agreeing to settle for an additional 10 to 15 seats. We know that this all is for equity and proportionality, but adding 15 more seats is still possible and effective, said Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo. The ministry previously said that too many seats at the House would burden the State Budget. (foy) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Damar Harsanto (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 16:13 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a34746d 1 World bombings,Kabul,Indonesian-Embassy Free Indonesia has condemned the bomb attack on diplomatic premises in Kabul that reportedly killed 90 people and injured 380 others on Wednesday. The Indonesian government extends heartfelt sympathy to the families of victims and prays for the speedy recovery of those injured, a statement from the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. The bomb went off only 2 kilometers away from the Indonesian Embassy. As of this time no Indonesian casualties are reported according the embassy report, it said, adding that the ministry through the embassy in Kabul continued to coordinate with the local authorities to get the latest updates. The Indonesian Embassy in Kabul said 26 Indonesians were currently staying in the city. The explosion also resulted in minor damage to the Indonesian Embassys windows. The embassy is continuing to update Indonesians on the current situation and calls on them to keep a watchful eye and to stay away from areas prone to similar attacks. The embassy has provided hotline for Indonesians in Kabul on + 93797333444 and +93202201066. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 13:02 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a337d0a 1 City ramadhan,Idul-Fitri,meat Free City-owned company PD Dharma Jaya plans to accommodate an anticipated increase in demand for meat during Ramadhan and Idul Fitri by preparing over 500 tons of beef and delivery vehicles for the distribution process. Dharma Jaya president director Marina Ratna Dwi Kusumajati said that by maintaining a supply of meat, the city administration could stabilize meat prices in the market. She said that in addition to preparing 550 tons of meat, the company would also receive 900 cows. Dharma Jaya also made plans to deploy 50 extra motorcycles to deliver meat ordered through its online system, she said. Currently we have 11 motorcycles. We will add 50 more and they will be deployed throughout the city, Marina said as quoted by beritajakarta.id. Public response to the online transaction system, she said, was positive as five motorcycles could deliver meat to more than 50 locations in one day. (idb) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 15:32 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a344bfe 1 City Jessica-Kumala-Wongso,Wayan-Mirna-Salihin,murder-case Free Despite a recent assignment of Artidjo Alkostar, a Supreme Court judge known for his tendency to heighten prison terms, as a judge in the Supreme Court appeal process for murder convict Jessica Kumala Wongso, the defendant has remained hopeful for an acquittal. Jessica's defense counsel, Otto Hasibuan, said they were still certain that the district court had delivered a wrongful conviction when they handed down a sentence of 20 years' imprisonment to Jessica for murdering her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin, a case that drew public controversy. The high court had also made a similar mistake when they affirmed his clients prison sentence, he said. We give the Supreme Court judges our full confidence. We hope that God will help Jessica, said Otto, adding that he was not concerned that Artidjo would be one of the judges for the cassation process. On Oct. 27 last year, the Central Jakarta District Courts judge panel declared Jessica guilty of murdering Mirna. The ruling was controversial because of a lack of evidence from eyewitnesses that could prove Jessica put cyanide into Mirnas coffee when they shared a table at the Olivier Cafe in Central Jakarta on Jan. 6. Judge Partahi Tulus Hutapea said the judges decision to use circumstantial evidence to come to a verdict was legitimate because Jessica had ordered the Vietnamese iced coffee and was the only one who had access to the coffee before Mirna drank it. (idb) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 15:06 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a344288 1 National Komnas,Komnas-HAM,TNI,terrorism,counterterrorism,Terrorism-Law,terrorism-law-amandment,#KomnasHAM Free National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Nur Kholis has said the Indonesian Military (TNI) can be involved in the fight against terrorism, but only as a last resort. Possible military involvement in counterterrorism operations was regulated in Article 7 of Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI, he said. It is part of the TNIs main task to carry out military operations other than war and it can be conducted only based on political decisions of the state, said Nur Kholis as quoted by kompas.com in a written statement in Jakarta on Wednesday. Despite such a legal basis, he said, it would be better if law enforcement against terrorism used legal approaches as what had been taken by the police all this time. The police should still handle the legal process of terrorism perpetrators by continuing to guarantee the protection of rights for terror victims and their families as well as terrorist suspects and defendants and their families, said Nur Kholis. The state must protect the rights of its people to live and to feel safe, including to get protection from criminal punishment," he added. President Joko Jokowi Widodo wanted the involvement of TNI in counterterrorism to be included in the revision of Law No.15/2003 on Terrorism. Give authority to TNI to take part in counterterrorism operations in this draft law. Of course, it should be based on reasons that, I think, the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister [Wiranto] has prepared, said Jokowi during a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace on Monday. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 14:06 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a33cfea 1 Business energy-and-mineral-resources-ministry,ignasius-jonan,ministry-budget Free The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has launched on Wednesday two online platforms, which are expected to help increase information accessibility of the sector and monitor the ministrys budget. The first is an online platform called ESDM One Map Indonesia that offers information on geological potentials, working fields, upstream oil and gas data and power infrastructure. While the platform will be accessible to the general public, including investors, only those working within the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry or other related ministries and institutions can modify the information. (Read also: Energy ministry to develop 16 wind power plants) The second platform is a budget realization monitoring application called AMORA that records data on transactions made using the ministrys budget. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said it created the platforms to boost transparency and increase the efficiency of services offered by the ministry. He called on those responsible for inputting information in the platforms to continue improving not only the data, but also the platforms security to prevent tampering by outsiders. False information cannot be inserted [into the systems]. Garbage going in will result in more garbage coming out. I have already reported [the systems] to the President, he said. It must also be useful for the people and must improve our governance. In other countries, seismic information is readily accessible, however it is not here. There must be more transparency as it is fairer that way. (tas) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 14:48 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a34049d 1 Business cash,bri,bank-mandiri,Idul-Fitri-2017,cash-withdrawal Free An increased use of electronic banking services has led state-owned lenders Bank Mandiri and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) to prepare lesser amounts of cash ahead of Idul Fitri celebrations, compared to last year. Demand for cash usually soars during the holy month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitriwhich falls at the end of Juneas people seek to return to their hometowns or travel elsewhere. However, BRI president director Suprajarto said his bank would only prepare around Rp 23 trillion (US$1.72 billion) in cash for the period, lower than Rp 30 trillion prepared last year. (Read also: BCA enables customers to withdraw cash at ATMs without card) "With a big number of bank agents and electronic channels, we hope society will go more cashless," he said on the sidelines of an event at the Attorney General's Office on Wednesday. "We have prepared all of our e-channel equipment." Going cashless, he added, was also safer during the festivities and more convenient for customers. Meanwhile, Bank Mandiri will prepare Rp 23.5 trillion in cash during the period, lower than Rp 25.4 trillion made available last year. "The lower amount is due to an increase in non-cash transactions by customers," Bank Mandiri retail banking director Tardi said during a buka puasa (breaking of the fast) event on Tuesday. The lender said it will ensure its 24-hour electronic banking services and 17,694 ATMs nationwide operate smoothly during the period. (tas) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 16:50 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a3485f0 1 City Rizieq-Shihab,wanted-list Free The Jakarta Police have officially put the name of Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader and firebrand cleric Rizieq Shihab on their wanted list. Rizieq is currently being hunted by the police after he was named a suspect in a pornography case after a steamy WhatsApp chat, allegedly with Firza Husein, who has also been named a suspect. "The development of Rizieq's case is that the police have issued a wanted list with his name," said the police's spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday. He further explained that the measure was taken after the police delivered a letter of arrest to Rizieq's house and coordinated with the Immigration Office regarding the suspect's current whereabouts, he is reportedly in Saudi Arabia. "Apparently, on May 26, he was still abroad and has yet to return to Indonesia," said Argo. "Based on that, the investigators have added him to the wanted list." Rizieq was named a suspect without having undergone police questioning under his previous capacity as a witness as he failed to answer police summonses twice in April and May. (agn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 31, 2017 13:20 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a338878 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Tourism-Ministry,halal-tourism-destination,halal-tourism,tourism,#tourism Free The Tourism Ministry is set to host the second Halal Tourism Business Meeting on June 10 at the Balairung Hotel in East Jakarta. Held in collaboration with Halal Travel Konsorsium (HTK) and the Indonesian Halal Travel Association (ATHIN), the event was previously held in 2016 and managed to gather up to 120 international and local family-friendly tourism business practitioners. Read also: Jakpost guide to iftar: Menteng This years meeting will invite international delegates from Turkey and Japan, among other countries. The meeting will also host halal tourism vendors and resellers from Indonesia and abroad, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, China, Korea, Australia and Europe. Up to 300 participants are expected to attend the event that will also celebrate the first anniversary of the HTK and ATHIN forum. Read also: Halal soy sauce being developed with help of Muslim students The economic transactions of family-friendly tourism in Indonesia and globally are increasing. As the advancement of digital marketing becomes a challenge faced by all tourism practitioners, I hope this business meeting will bring more progress to family-friendly tourism in Indonesia, said ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti. This year, among the 130 countries evaluated by the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2017, Indonesia takes the third spot with a score of 72.6, up one spot from last year. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington Wed, May 31, 2017 10:24 1989 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a332bf5 2 News #airlines,aviation,#AviationIndustry,#AviationSafety,united-states,#laptop,#LaptopBan,laptop,laptop-ban,travel,#travel,traveling,#traveling,flight,#flights,flights,Airlines Free US aviation security officials stepped back Tuesday from imposing a ban on carry-on computers on flights coming from Europe, which had been proposed to guard against possible bomb-laden electronics from the Islamic State group. But the Department of Homeland Security said a ban, already in place for US-bound flights from the Middle East, could still be implemented for Europe if the threat level worsens. In a phone discussion with European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc Tuesday, DHS Secretary John Kelly "made it clear" a ban on passengers carrying tablet and computer-sized electronics on board flights to the United States "is still on the table," DHS said in a statement. "Secretary Kelly affirmed he will implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft flying to the United States - including prohibiting large electronic devices from the passenger cabin - if the intelligence and threat level warrant it." A European Commission spokesperson confirmed the discussion, saying that no decision had been made on the laptop ban, but that the two sides "agreed to intensify talks" on tightening aviation security. On March 21, Washington announced a ban on carry-on laptops and other electronics larger than cellphone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa. Read also: US weighs banning laptop computers on international flights The move came after intelligence officials learned of efforts by the Islamic State group to fashion a bomb into consumer electronics. From any of those airports, US-bound passengers were forced to keep their electronics in checked baggage. One day later Britain announced a similar ban for flights originating from six countries, and by early May DHS was threatening to impose a similar restriction for flights from Europe to the United States. That would have a huge effect on the coming high travel season, with more than 3,250 flights a week scheduled to leave EU airports for the US this summer. But after weeks of discussions, no decision was made. EU officials acknowledge that the decision is in the hands of US authorities. DHS spokesman David Lapan said that European officials would be given ample warning ahead of any ban. (Opinion) Lois Weiss rails against the crackdown on oversized Soho stores, saying local residents, forget how much these stores contribute to the city coffers. [New York Post] Morton Williams backs out of plans to open a Stuy Town store after Trader Joes announces its own 14th Street grocery. [Town & Village] Heres an item far removed from the Lower East Side, but relevant to anyone following the recently announced infill plan on a parking lot of the LaGuardia Houses. U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney led a rally to protest NYCHAs development plans on the Upper East Side, and shes talking about federal legislation to block mixed-income projects on NYCHA property. [Daily News] A show at the Carriage Trade gallery, which recently relocated to 277 Grand St., explores Americas disturbing psyche in the era of Trump. [Architects Newspaper] The team behind Harts in Bed Stuy will be opening Cervos, a seafood-focused Portuguese restaurant on Canal Street in the next week or two. [Grub Street] Pete Wells reviews two high profile and relatively new dumpling spots on Fourth Avenue and on Prince Street. [New York Times] Checking out skater-inspired fashion at the of the moment hangout, Oliver Coffee in Chinatown. [New York Times] Two academics, Gail Crowther and Peter K Steinberg, have discovered new poems written early in Sylvia Plaths career. Both poems have lain undiscovered on a duplicating sheet for nearly 50 years and were found alongside unpublished work by her husband, Ted Hughes, detailing their tumultuous relationship. The first of Plaths new poems, 'To a Refectory Santa Claus', is set in Spain and sees the speaker wishing to escape the English weather - a feeling expereinced by Plath on her honeymoon in Benidorm. In contrast, the second poem, 'Megrims', tells the story of a paranoid patient telling their doctor about a range of peculiar incidents incluidng a spider in a coffee cup. Although both academics agree that the poetry, as part of her early work, is less developed than the poems she produced later, they nevertheless agree that the imagery is spectacular, especially that of the wet, bleak climate of English winters which forms a recurring theme. Crowther also adds that both poems provide a rare insight into Plath's early life when she was still "grappling with personal issues". In addition to these two new poems, there is also the possiblity that there is at least one, if not more, additional undiscovered poems. Indeed, Steinberg admits that although the chance of such discovery "requires hope and faith, possible delusion" he still has a feeling that "there are caches of paper still to find the light of day. In April, reports came to light of Chechen men suspected of homosexuality being tortured in concentration-style camps. Since then the matter has rarely left headlines, and has now come to particular attention after French prime minister Emmanuel Macrons meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. What originally happened? (Thomas Hornall/PA) Two months ago the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that hundreds of men, believed to be homosexual and bisexual, were being held in secret detention centres in Chechnya, which is a federal subject of Russia. The report from the respected campaigning newspaper claimed that Chechen authorities were attempting a complete cleansing of homosexuals. Since then, there have been demonstrations around the world and increasing pressure on Chechnya to confirm reports and end these alleged abuses of LGBTQ rights. What do human rights groups say? A new report by Human Rights Watch came out last Friday saying that high-level officials in Chechnya humiliated inmates during visits to detention facilities where gay people were allegedly held and tortured. The Chechen men remain at great risk of being hounded by Chechen authorities or their own relatives as long as they remain in Russia, Human Rights Watch said. What did Macron say to Putin? Macron said he spoke to Putin around LGBT rights in Chechnya, vowing to be vigilant on such issues. Earlier this week, human rights activists protesting near the Eiffel Tower displayed a banner that said Stop homophobia in Chechnya. Has anyone escaped from Chechnya? So brilliant to hear that France has started taking in gay refugees from Chechnya. May should start following in Macron's shoes. Dean Eastmond (@deanvictorr) May 29, 2017 LGBT activists have helped about 40 gay men who fled Chechnya to other Russian regions. Many are seeking asylum abroad. Lithuanias foreign minister also said the Baltic nation had given refuge to two gay men from Chechnya. France has reportedly just started taking in gay refugees. LGBTQ Nation reports that Joel Deumier, the president of LGBTQ rights group SOS Homophobie, told radio station FranceInfo: So France has started to welcome Chechen refugees. This is going to continue. What happens next? (Thomas Hornall/PA) The leader of Russias Chechnya has invited Macron and the German chancellor Angela Merkel to visit his region and check for themselves the reports about gay people being killed and tortured there. Last month the Associated Press spoke to two victims of the crackdown who supported the claims of torture and murder in Chechnya. Chechen officials have denied the reports, but federal investigators have still been dispatched to conduct an investigation. Earlier this month Putin assured the countrys human rights ombudswoman that he would speak with law enforcement officials about the reported torture of gay men. Radio stations - including Capital - have been accused of refusing to play an anti-Theresa May song, which has shot up the UK itunes charts and is currently positioned at number two. The song Liar, Liar is performed and produced by Captain Ska and takes a highly critical and damning view of the Prime Minister. It features soundbytes from Mays various speeches alongside the chorus "shes a liar liar, you can't trust her, no, no, no, and has lines such as: when theres nurses going hungry and schools in decline I dont recognise this broken country of mine. The Big Top 40 chart show on Heart and Capital FM referenced the song's position, but skipped the track altogether. A version of Liar, Liar, which focused on George Osborne and David Cameron, was released in 2010. The new edition has been recorded especially for the 2017 General Election. Speaking to HuffPost, a member of Ska said: The 2010 release has kind of been around for a while and I ended up getting so many messages to remix it I thought Id do it. Its overwhelming to be at number two now, were all freelance session musicians in London, so were totally amazed by it. Original music, and especially political music, doesnt have traction any more. Everyone is totally over the moon with it. There are laws governing impartiality during General Elections and it is believed that this may be why some stations have refused to play the song. Captain Ska have announced that all proceeds made from the song between May 26th and June 8th will be shared between food banks and The People's Assembly Against Austerity. Upon stepping foot onto his old college campus, Balliol College at Oxford University, where he studied classics from 1983 to 1987, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was heckled by a number of protesting students. Balliol College did not give a reason for Johnsons visit other than telling student paper Cherwell that it was for a private party that Johnson would be attending as an alumnus. However, no other alumni were present, according to a report. Perhaps the crudest poster held by students read Racist Boris. What dead animals have you f****d? Other students shouted verbal attacks at Johnson, including calling him a Tory T*sser, saying that he should be ashamed of himself because a quarter of kids grow up in poverty and youre taking away their free school meals, and asking these three pointed questions: Why dont you go back to the Bullingdon club? You want to smash a restaurant? Burn 50 in front of a homeless person? Johnson did not stop to respond to any protestors before entering the car that was waiting to take him away from the college. The Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwoods cult classic novel The Handmaids Tale aired its first episode in the UK on Sunday, and in the whole awful dystopia filled with uniforms and sex-slavery and brutal capital punishment, the most difficult thing to believe was that Moira isnt treated any differently from June due to her race. The source material is undeniably dated rooted in the fears of America in 1985. One of the talking points surrounding the show has been how terrifying it is that Margaret Atwoods speculative fiction doesnt seem so distant to audiences in 2017. The visceral horror comes from seeing aspects of our own society woven seamlessly into Gileads extremist Christian theocracy. Atwood has often explained how she built the regime of Gilead ensuring that every aspect of it had historical precedent. The horror of it is, very intentionally, how close it could be to coming true. The novel does not deal with race in a perfect way at all, but it is not entirely ignored. Chapter 14 discusses how the Children of Ham (a biblical term often used to justify slavery) have been shipped back to the Homelands, allowing Gilead to become the white supremacist nation that the leaders want. The exception to this rule are the black-coded Marthas who remain as domestic slaves. Eugenics are the driving force behind this society, and that attitude, tied in with the extreme puritanical Christian beliefs of the regime, would undoubtedly involve racial segregation. This is not a comfortable topic of course, but neither is the violent subjugation of women. The whole point of the novel is to evoke horror by carrying existing prejudices to their most extreme manifestation, yet the show shies away from race entirely. It would be remiss to ignore the problems in the way that the novel handles race. Most prominently, the subjugation and enslavement of the women is explicitly correlated with real historical black slavery in the US. Offred struggles to remember the words to Amazing Grace, and the rebellions escape routes are termed The Underground Femaleroad both appropriations of real black suffering. This highlights a problem that has been pointed out with both the book and the show that The Handmaids Tale is a horror story for white women specifically. Black people have already suffered these horrors in reality, but give their story to a white, college educated woman, and suddenly its a nightmarish dystopia. Audiences of colour certainly had hopes when this adaptation, coming over 30 years after the book was published, announced its casting of black lesbian actress Samira Wiley in the role of Moira. There was an opportunity there for the gender politics of the story to become intersectional as is expected of all politics in 2017. Moiras sexuality is an important part of her character, and the intersection of gender and sexuality is discussed in the novel and the show. Unfortunately, there is absolutely zero engagement with how race intersects with these other aspects of her identity. It makes total sense when you hear what executive producer and writer Bruce Miller has to say on the matter: Once you have decided its going to be a diverse world, it doesnt change the story. His attitude towards the issue is completely flawed. Its a perfect example of colourblind casting that does more harm than good. Specifically in a story like this, which intends to shine a spotlight on the vitally important social issues in our own society. To say that race makes no difference is disrespectful and insulting. It sends the message that the oppression and prejudice faced by women is somehow more important and worthy of discussion than those faced by people of colour. Worse, it damagingly simplifies the issue by implying that those two things are separate and have no bearing on one another, when in fact by making Moira a black woman, they prove the two inseparable. By casting a black actress, the show committed to representing the struggles of black women, and then proceeded to totally drop the ball on that. Miller also said: Whats the difference between making a television show about racists and making a racist television show? I dont know that there is any apparent difference when youre watching. The decision to cast a black actress therefore seems to be motivated by not wanting to appear racist by having an entirely white cast. Indeed, if the show had been made with an entirely white cast, Id still be writing this article about how the show has not engaged with race at all. What might come as a shock to Mr Miller, is that he hasnt avoided this problem. The show has cast a black woman in the role, but has refused to adapt the role to represent black struggle. Its still a white character, facing white problems, discriminated against for her gender and sexuality, but not her race. The first episode also revealed that Junes husband Luke is black, and their daughter is biracial. Here is another opportunity to explore how race relations in the US today would affect and change the dystopia imagined in 1985. Instead we are treated to the only black man in the show being shot off screen to protect a white character. There was such potential for race to be examined in this show, and given the same respect and depth of analysis that gender is granted. Instead, the result of colourblind casting is that our protagonist is a blonde haired, blue eyed victim whose struggles are elevated above those of the three people she cares about most (Luke, Hannah, Moira) all of whom are black, but only incidentally. This ambivalence and refusal to engage with the reality of political movement in 2017 falls in line with some other weird controversy surrounding the show. The cast have repeatedly avoided or denied labelling the show feminist, instead emphasising it as a human story. This lines up with Atwoods own seeming reluctance to align herself with the term. In a recent New York Times piece regarding whether the novel should be deemed feminist, she said: "If you mean an ideological tract in which all women are angels and/or so victimized they are incapable of moral choice, no. If you mean a novel in which women are human beings with all the variety of character and behavior that implies and are also interesting and important, and what happens to them is crucial to the theme, structure and plot of the book, then yes." The omission of Offreds caricature-ish second-wave feminist mother from the show also works to de-fang the politics. Ultimately, this adaptation of the novel is cowardly. It de-politicises and distances itself from the vital issues that it could and should tackle. Though money of course is a huge factor in creating media, I would argue that creators have a social responsibility too. A balance has to be struck, of course, it wouldn't do to alienate half your viewers by pushing a radical feminist message unpalatable to male audiences, right? But whats so frustrating, as a woman of colour who really wanted to enjoy this show, is that it alienates non-white audiences, and the creators dont seem to care. Even if money was their motive, they could tap into a huge audience of people of colour by engaging with issues pertinent to them. Watching this show requires me to cut myself up, portion out my own identity. I can relate to Offred as a woman, but not as a woman of colour. I can relate to Moira as a queer woman, because that is the part of her identity which defines her in the story. Worst of all (and Ill be vague here because I dont want to spoil anything for UK viewers who are watching on Channel 4 rather than Hulu), is the fates of these two women. Heres a link to a spoiler-filled blog post from one viewer, which sums it up perfectly. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth too. All in all, its simply unrealistic to imagine that this extreme Christian right-wing theocracy, which doesnt tolerate women outside very limited parameters, and which literally kills LGBTQ* people and people from other religions, would ignore race entirely. It does a disservice to the struggles of all people of colour - especially black Americans whose history has been appropriated and applied to white women - for the show not to address it. One of the most quoted lines from the book is this, in the words of the Commander, justifying the horrors of the regime: Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some. Thats ironically applicable here. 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Port aux Basques woman feels as though her 'future is in somebody else's hands' as she waits for answers on Fiona compensation Patty Munden has faced her share of loss and frustration over the past seven, almost eight, weeks, but the Port aux Basques woman is not letting it get her down. She has found an outlet to express her feelings about whats been happening, or not ... Kolkata, May 31 (IBNS): Ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meet in early June, state finance minister Amit Mitra, not only expressed the West Bengal government's objections to some of the provisions of the GST on Wednesday, but also urged other states to lend support to them, according to media reports. Mitra heads the committee of representatives from different states which was created for the GST bill. Like Tuesday, Mitra today also highlighted certain tax rates as the sole reason behind the objections brought by the state government and wondered whether all the states are actually ready for the roll out of the bill in their assemblies. The GST is expected to roll out from July 1. Mitra confirmed that he will take up the matter during his meet with the union finance minister Arun Jaitley and also asked other states to join. The state government of West Bengal emphasised the tax levied on shoes and cinema as the some of the main areas of disapproval. "They had said that rubber and plastic shoes would be taxed at 12 percent. We have proposed that shoes costing up to Rs 500 should be tax-free. Why should slippers worn by poor people be taxed?" Mitra said. Speaking about the rates proposed for cinema by the central government, the state finance minister said: "Now the Centre is thinking of imposing a 28 per cent tax. We will fight this. If regional films are taxed at 28 per cent, won't they be finished? Single screens in the district will shut down, people will lose jobs." Each state needs to roll out the state-GST in their respective assemblies to enforce it. 22 of the total states have already rolled out the state-GST in their assemblies. Mitra, at a press conference yesterday. highlighted the proposals of the Centre to levy GST on items like wigs, shoes and vernacular films as the sole reason for the opposition. Organisation: WeFarm Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Reports to: Head of Business & Partnerships, London About US: WeFarm is a unique social enterprise providing a vital service for the worlds 500 million smallholder farmers who live and work without internet access. This pioneering, peer-to- peer platform enables farmers to access crowd-sourced information by SMS, creating social impact on a ground-breaking scale and generating game-changing data in the process. In just two years, WeFarm has acquired more than 185,000 farmers across Kenya, Uganda and Peru, has facilitated over 20 million interactions and featured in the FT, Forbes and Wired.co.uk, as well as winning awards from Google, The Venture and the European Commissions Ideas From Europe. Would you like to change the world and create social impact on a global scale? Are you passionate, ambitious, and driven? Then apply to join Ugandas most exciting tech start- up today. Job Summary: The Business Development Manager will be tasked with bringing new partners to the business. The Business Development Manager Uganda will try to aid Wefarm in achieving its ambitious goal to reach one-million farmers by the end of December 2017. This is a relationship-driven role and youll need to excel at networking, meeting potential partners and managing existing partnerships and relationships. 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Attending conferences, events and trade shows to maximise opportunities, seek new leads and develop a strong network of contacts. Reviewing leads, tracking success of proposals and reporting on progress. Maintaining a network of partners and prospects. Supporting growth and retention of existing partnerships. Tasked with liaising and collaborating with farmer on-boarding and marketing team to ensure successful delivery of contracts. Tasked with collecting and sharing market intelligence. div style=line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;> Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal candidate should three to five years experience in a similar role Good track record of successful selling to major accounts and business development experience. Strong commercial acumen and strategic approach. Passion for the social mission of WeFarm. Experience working across international markets preferred. Knowledge of supply chain and food industry ideal. Knowledge of the smallholder farmer ecosystem ideal. Excellent communication skills Ability to lead and motivate others Possess organisational skills Highly competitive Self-driven and ability to generate own leads. Job Terms and Benefits: Salary commensurate with experience in the start-up environment Chance to work in amazing social enterprise start-up environment and help change the world! Chance to work with international teams and across countries opportunity for travel. How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested candidates should apply by sending and updated CV and a (short) cover letter that answers the following question: We are looking to reach one million farmers in the next 8 months. Please list 3 businesses (1 local, 1 national and 1 global) that you think would be a great fit to help us reach this goal and draft an introductory email to convince them we are awesome! Please send your applications to jobUGBD1@wefarm.org Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple here on his first visit to the town after taking charge. The visit assumes significance as it comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. The UP chief minister, who arrived here this morning, spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex. He later offered payers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed yesterday along with the other BJP leaders. A special CBI court in Lucknow had yesterday framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19. All six were yesterday granted bail by CBI special judge S K Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each after rejecting the CBI's opposition to their bail plea. The apex court had while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of two cases relating to the demolition. The court had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. The CBI had charge-sheeted 21 people in the case. Many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the VHP's Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidhynath, have since died. At a time when the country is witnessing large-scale protests and debates over a notification issued by the Centre banning sale of cattle for slaughter in the animal market, the Rajsthan High Court on Wednesday recommended that cow be made the national animal of India. The high court also asked the government to increase the punishment to life imprisonment for those who kill cow. The court made these observations while hearing a public interest litigation over the death of over a hundred cows at a government-run cow rehabilitation shelter at Hingonia, near Jaipur. A single-judge bench of justice Mahesh Chand Sharma also directed the Rajasthan forest department to plant 5,000 plants in and around the cowshed every year. "Nepal is a Hindu nation and has declared cow as national animal. India is a predominant agriculture country based in animal rearing. As per Article 48 and 51A (g) it is expected from the state government that they should take action to get a legal entity for cow in this country," he said in his order. The bench also granted liberty to any person or class of persons to approach court with a plea in a PIL to declare cow as a national animal. The Rajasthan High Court's comments came a day after the Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed the Centre's notification for four weeks. Protests erupted in several parts of the country after the Narendra Modi government issued the order last week, with various parties accusing the Centre of denying people their right to choose their food. Kerala, the largest beef consumer in the country, witnessed several beef festival conducted by various Left outfits. Faizan Ahmed Bhat, the boy who was killed along with Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat on May 27 at Saimoh, Tral in Pulwama, could be the youngest militant killed in an encounter with the security forces in Kashmir. He was only 16. Faizan had joined the Hizbul ranks after snatching a rifle on March 4. Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat, his father, was stunned to learn about his son as Faizan had never showed signs that betrayed that he might join the militancy. I tried my best to search for my son but failed, Muzaffar told Kashmir Reader, a Srinagar-based English daily. I have no complaints if my sons blood brings freedom to Kashmir; otherwise, I pray to God to please bring me my son back. On Saturday, when Muzaffar received Faizans body, he said it was amanat (a thing that belongs to someone else) of Almighty Allah, and He took it back. But he is still trying to fathom the reason why his son joined militancy. Faizan was very obedient and studious, he said. He (Faizan) would regularly attend classes to learn and memorise the Quran, Muzaffar said. He never talked or discussed Kashmir freedom movement or politics. That is why I couldnt believe he had snatched a rifle and joined militancy. Muzaffar, who is a member of Tableeghi Jamaat, a religious party deemed moderate, said his son wanted to join Tableeghi Jamaat, but he told him to clear his class X exams first. After Faizans killing, Muzaffar quit his job in a hotel to look after his family. Neighbours remember Faizan as a shy but courageous young boy. He would wish everyone including little kids," a neighbour said. In 2015, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the Hizbul commander who was killed along with two of his associates at Bamdooru, Kokernag in Anantnag last year, had refused to accept a teenager, Shakir, then 16, into Hizbul Mujahideen. He had advised him to focus on his studies. But after Sabzar told Burhan that he would form a separate group with Shakir if he doesnt accept him, Burhan let Shakir join the group, a close relative of Shakir had told THE WEEK. That year, an Army officer had visited Shakirs home at Rathsuna on Eid with a box of sweets. Family sources said Burhan never exposed Shakir to risks nor has Shakir uploaded his photo or any video on Facebook. Sabzar and Shakir had joined Hizbul a day after participating in the funeral of Khalid Muzaffar Wani, Burhans older brother who was killed after he had gone to meet Burhan in the forest of Tral along with two of his friends. Burhan had joined militancy in 2010 when he was a class X student to avenge the humiliation by security forces. After joining the militancy, the boy from Shariefabad in Tral had glamorised militancy through social media. In a strongly worded message against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the bomb blast in Kabul and underlined the need for defeating forces supporting terrorism. Modi, who is in Spain on a visit, said India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all forms of terrorism. "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured," he tweeted. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 In another tweet, he said, "Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated." India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 The prime minister's message came after a powerful truck bomb killed at least forty nine people and wounded around 300 in the Afghanistan capital's diplomatic quarter today morning. Meanwhile, earlier today, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed all staff at the Indian Embassy were safe and not affected by the huge blast in Kabul's diplomatic enclave. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast," Swaraj said in a tweet. By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 India's ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra said, "Massive VBIED (Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) not too far from our Embassy. Buildings, including ours, suffered considerable breakages, but all our staff are safe." The blast was close to the German embassy. Many foreign embassies are located in the area, including the American and Canadian missions. The Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) has deployed its team in the area for rescue and counter-insurgency operations. A person has been arrested and one (juvenile) has been apprehended in connection with the E-rickshaw driver murder case. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Monday announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs. one lakh to the next of the kin of e-rickshaw driver beaten to death for espousing the social cause of Swachha Bharat. Prime Minister Modi who is on a four nation tour has sanctioned Rs. 1 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief fund to the next of kin of the e-rickshaw driver Ravindra Kumar who was beaten to death for stopping two people from urinating in the public in New Delhi. The Prime Minister condemned the incident and directed the authorities to bring to book and punish the culprits for committing such inhuman act. Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had earlier visited the family of the e-rickshaw driver at GTB Nagar in New Delhi. He also handed over a cheque of Rs. 50,000 from his salary to the family. Terming the act as condemnable, Naidu said that the culprits must be punished. On Saturday, 32-year-old e-rickshaw driver Ravinder was beaten to death allegedly by a dozen men after he objected to a few of them urinating outside the GTB Nagar metro station. He was later beaten to death with iron knuckles and stones wrapped in towels by the duo and their friends. Shabbir Hussain Hussain Miya Sheikh's shayari touches the heart. A convict serving life sentence for murder, he has been into shayari since he was young, says his son Wasim Sheikh. Shabbir, 61, a class 11 dropout, has been part of all activites at the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad. The talents of people like Shabbir and Manish Parmar from Saurashtra (region), another convict serving life sentence, have been showcased in a literary magazine, SaadThe Voice of Prisoners. The Navajivan Trust, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1929, is printing and distributing the Gujarati magazine for free. It has short poems, photographs, details of activities in the jail, crossword puzzles and stories. Tapping the talent of prisoners was the idea of former jail superintendent Sunil Joshi. We plan to make the magazine a quarterly. To begin with, the prisoners from Sabarmati Jail will contribute, and thereafter inmates of other jails in Gujarat will join in, says freelance journalist Prashant Dayal, who helped the Trust in the project. Normally, people are unaware about what is happening in a jail. The magazine will change that to some extent. The magazine While students of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, helped design the magazine, the prisoners did the editing, coordination and proof reading. Each person was given a responsibility based on his talent. Parmar, a painter, is excited about the project. Such an attempt, he says, would inspire other inmates to come forward and contribute. There are many inmates who go into depression and do not participate in functions. This is natural as they do not accept the sentence, says Parmar. According to Ahmedabad jail superintendent Premvir Singh, the onus would be on the authorities to ensure that the magazine comes out every quarter. People have different talents and they should be given opportunity and this is all the more necessary when they are behind the bars, he says. T.S. Bisht, inspector general of prisons, Gujarat, lauded Navajivan Trust for its role in bringing out the magazine. He added that Sabarmati Jail is where freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak were lodged. Prisoners get influenced by Gandhiji's philosophy, he says. Says Vivek Desai, managing trustee of the Trust: This is the first time that jail inmates have done everything but the printing. Their voices get vent and once they become regular there is a possibility that the magazine can be put up at stalls. Guwahati, May 31 (IBNS): The students from villages and small towns of Assam showed brilliant success in the Class 10 examination result conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), announced on Wednesday. According the results declared by the SEB, the private educational institutions outshone government-run educational institutions in this year High School and High Madrasa exam. This years pass percentage has been dipped by 14.85 per cent over last year results. The pass percentage in High School was recorded 47.94 per cent, while 52.17 per cent recorded in High Madrasa exam. According to the reports, a total of 3,72,640 students had appeared in this year High School examination. Out of this, 1,78,656 students secured pass marks, including 54,955 passed first division, 80,179 in second division and 43522 in third division. According to the results, 4312 students scored 510 and above marks out of 600 and 11312 scoring 450 and above marks. Parthapratim Bhuyan of Jatiya Vidyalaya, Tihu in lower Assams Nalbari district topped in High School exam by scoring 589 out of 600. Image courtesy: ahsec.nic.in Partha said he loved Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal as a politician. On the other hand, Tannayoee Hazarika of BVFC Model High School, Rajanya Kashyap Gogoi of salt Brook School in Dibrugarh and Nurul Hoque Ali of Raghunath Choudhury HS School in Nalbari district had secured second position by scoring 588 marks each. A total of 29 students including 17 boys secured their positions in top 10 in the High School. Interestingly, students from Assams capital city and educational hub city Guwahati based educational institutions had failed to secure position in top 10. Nalbari district topped among the districts with highest pass percentage of 65.86 per cent. In High Madrasa, Taibur Rahman Khan of Ambari Kartimari High Madrasa in Goalpara district topped by scoring 537 out of 600. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times The following thought is a synopsis of Rav Yerucham Olshin in the new Kuntrus Yareach LaMoadim section II #3. The Gemorah in Psachim 68b tells us: Rabbi Elazar says, All admit that on atzeres we require lachem it should be for you as a holiday. What is the reason? Because it is the day that the Torah was given. The Meforshim explain that this Gemorah means we should be happier on this yom tov than on others. Indeed, Rav Yechiel Yehoshuah Rabbinowitz, the Biala Rav, in his Seder HaYom writes this explicitly. The yesod veshoresh haAvodah (Shaar HaTzon 10) develops this idea explaining that it is because we received this remarkable treasure of the Torah. The Shla HaKadosh (Meseches Shvuos Ner Mitzvah 18) adds another level of insight. He writes that it is the day we merited the Crown of Torah. He cites the Gemorah in Psachi where Rav Yoseph states that were it not for this day, he would be just another Joe in the marketplace. It is not just the fact that we received the Torah that makes us happy it is the fact that we merited its crown. To understand this thought, the Rambam tells us (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:13), Even though it is a Mitzvah to learn Torah day and night, a person only learns the majority of his Torah at night. Therefore, someone who wishes to merit the crown of Torah should be careful to study it each night not missing even one of them in sleeping, eating, drinking, conversation etc. He should only engage in Talmud Torah and Divrei Chochma. This is called the Rina of Torah. The Av Beis Din of Ponovech explained (cited in Zichron Shmuel p. 574) that there are two aspects of studying Torah. There is the aspect of studying it in fulfillment of the Mitzvah of Limud HaTorah. There is also an aspect of learning it as HaShira HaZos. In other words it is the song of the life of the person. In it he delights and takes pleasure. He does not delay in sticking to it on any account. Any difficult situation he engages in it and he sleeps in the depth of its halacha. Even when he is tired he studies it. This is the fundamental idea of the Crown of Torah. We can now better understand the Shlas explanation of Shavuos. The custom of Klal Yisroel learning all night is now also understood better. It is not just to make up for the fact that we slept then. No, the essence of the problem in that we slept was that we were not yet at the state where it was the song of our life. We are thus correcting this flaw in who we were or are as a nation. We should take greater pleasure and joy in this Yom Tov because it symbolizes the song of our lives. The author can be reached at [email protected] BA boss Alex Cruz speaks to BBC news about the Bank Holiday fiasco British Airways' bearded el capitano Alex Cruz is ridiculed by Jack Straw over his disappearing act during the airline's bank holiday meltdown. Writing to the Times, the former foreign secretary says that, during a ministerial crisis, 'rule one is to face the music'. Might plucky Jack be touting for a spot of corporate advisory work? Due to an unfortunate 'cash for access' scandal in 2011, his post-political career path has hardly been paved with corporate gold a la Blair, Mandelson and Campbell. Beard alert: Disgraced ex-Barclays chief Bob Diamond has been spotted around the City fashioning greying, goatee-style chin fluff. He looks absurd, but when did oily Bob, 65, ever do dignity? Re BA's woeful response to the IT crisis, the forthright verdict of brooding Ulsterman David Burnside, 65, head of the airline's public relations during Lord King's 1980s heyday: 'An unmitigated disaster. During any crisis, senior management need to be on the ground, rallying staff. The chief executive wasn't visible for three days. Wrong, wrong, wrong' Ed Balls's revelation that Gordon Brown was flummoxed by the fancy cuisine during his fateful meeting with Tony Blair at Granita restaurant ('What's polenta?') reminds a City acquaintance of a dinner he arranged for Brown during the International Monetary Fund conference, unwisely held in a trendy Washington restaurant. He recalls: 'Gordon refused to eat anything on the menu. The chef had to knock him up steak and chips.' Everything's a 'Jenga tower?' nowadays, isn't it? Dusty Lloyds chairman Lord Blackwell insists there'll be no 'Jenga tower' collapse of the City after Brexit. Blackwell's HSBC counterpart Douglas Flint used the same analogy to describe job losses back in January. The popular game Jenga was launched in 1983 by former marketing consultant, now multi-millionaire, Leslie Scott, with the help of a 30,000 loan. Secured from Lloyds, as it goes. As the chief executive of British Airways (now International Airlines Group) since 2005, Willie Walsh is one of the few FTSE 100 bosses recognisable to swathes of the travelling public. Indeed, over the years Walsh has faced down the trade unions and dealt with major crises such as the bungled inauguration of operations at Terminal 5. The public has become used to him leading from the front. So it was shocking to find him missing from check-in areas at Heathrow or the television screens at the weekend. Absent: BA boss Willie Walsh missing from check-in areas at Heathrow or the television screens at the weekend As the boss of the holding company IAG, Walsh deliberately kept himself in the background. In my chat with Walsh yesterday he made it clear that he deliberately held back. He did not want to step on the toes of BA's own chief executive, Alex Cruz, who is new to the job. In the recent past Walsh has also faded in the background when there have been problems at other airlines in a group which now includes Iberia and Aer Lingus. If that explains Walsh's absence from communicating with customers, it doesn't account for the late appearance of Cruz who did not emerge before the cameras until Monday. Sure it is understandable that Cruz was up to his neck with electrical engineers and systems experts as BA fought to get planes back in the skies, the booking system up and running again and sort out the growing baggage mountain. But one might have thought he would find time out to do some personal grovelling. Walsh is at pains to shift the blame away from Cruz and is firmly resistant to any notion of resignation. He argues that Cruz was doing what he is paid to do in such circumstances which is to work flat out with the engineers to get the systems back up. The initial failure, caused by an electrical fault or surge, was compounded, Walsh says, when the 'uninterruptable' power system was restarted and caused havoc, taking out not just the main system but back-up computers powered by diesel and battery. Walsh totally rejects the notion that it was cost cutting of IT and the outsourcing of jobs which was at the core. One big lesson for Walsh from this is that if BA.com is not working then the group needs the capability to connect to customers using social media sites. This did happen over the weekend but it was more serendipity than strategy. The terrible frustration for passengers at the start of a half-term holiday is understandable. Many of us know personally the heartbreak of losing luggage and the tensions of travelling with young people, the elderly and infirm. If it is any comfort to BA passengers, what happened was not the worst such incident. When US carrier Delta's systems went down in August 2016, plum in the middle of the American holiday season, some 2,300 flights were lost, against 600 or so at BA. IAG shares, after an early steep fall, bounced back in later trading. There will be revenue and profits impact and the need for expensive investment in more robust back-up systems. The reputational damage will linger and Cruz's leadership will hang by a gossamer thread. Planes may be back in the skies but the confidence of customers in BA has been shattered. Gold fix Peter Hambro rightly is frustrated by the efforts of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, aided by M&G's Debt Opportunities Fund and others, to eject him from the board of gold miner Petropavlovsk, which he founded. He fears that using their holding of 30 per cent of its shares, the Russian-backed group is seeking to achieve a backdoor takeover. Hambro and three non-executives would be removed. And the founder and the company's army of small investors would miss out on a bid premium. Hambro says that accounting rules mean that the underlying income and value of the enterprise is far greater than recognised in the current share price. Time for the Takeover Panel to ripple its muscles. Marxist chic What does Goldman Sachs know which no one else does? The Wall Street Journal reports it has invested a chunky $2.8billion (2.2billion) in bonds issued by the Marxist regime in Venezuela's basket case economy. The bonds currently trade at a 31 per cent discount. Goldman must be rubbing its hands at the prospect of a Corbyn government and all those bonds in newly nationalised industries. Thousands of family holidays were ruined by a massive British Airways IT failure at the weekend and now the battle for compensation begins. Whether you were caught up in the chaos or you are worried about your next trip, here is everything you need to know to win redress. Compensation battle: Thousands of family holidays were ruined by a massive British Airways IT failure at the weekend KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IF YOUR TRIP IS DELAYED Under EU law you are entitled to compensation if your flight is delayed or cancelled. How much you get depends on how late you arrived at your destination, and how far you had to travel. The only caveat is that the reason for the delay must be within the airline's control. Lawyers are concerned that BA may try to dodge paying out by claiming the delays were caused by an 'extraordinary circumstance'. No one yet knows exactly what caused the computer failure and how much of the blame lies with BA. For example, if it had been hit by a cyber attack it might refuse to pay out, but if it was a routine technical fault it might have no option but to compensate travellers. However, British Airways has told Money Mail it will not try to wriggle out of compensation claims. GET YOUR CLAIM IN AS SOON AS YOU CAN Speed is of the essence if you were delayed over the Bank Holiday. BA is going to be inundated with thousands of requests for compensation over the next few months, so you should get yours in before the backlog builds. To be eligible for flight delay compensation you must have arrived at your destination at least three hours late, and have either been travelling from an EU airport or returning to the EU with a British or European airline. If you were travelling on a short-haul flight of less than 1,500km from London to Madrid, for example you can claim 250 (217). Between 1,500km and 3,000km flights such as London to Athens it's 400 (347). If you were travelling more than 3,500km London to New York, for instance it's 300 (260) for delays up to four hours and 600 (520) for more than four hours. If your flight was delayed for five hours or more and you decided not to travel, you can demand a full refund for the flight on top of this compensation. Long waits: Thousands of passengers faced travel misery at Heathrow (pictured) and around the world after BA's computer system went down The same applies if your flight is cancelled but just to confuse matters the compensation amounts may be different. If BA didn't provide you with a replacement flight, you will get the same compensation as if you were delayed (see above). However, if you were offered another flight the amounts vary. As all of BA's flights were cancelled within seven days of the departure date the compensation is as follows. If travelling fewer than 1,500km and your replacement flight arrives at its destination more than two hours later than your original flight, you are entitled to 250 (217). Between 1,500km and 3,500km it's 200 (173) if you arrive between two and three hours late, and 400 (347) if you're more than three hours late. More than 3,500km, and arriving up to four hours late it's 300 (260) and over four hours it's 600 (520). If the chaos caused you to miss a connecting flight, BA should refund you the price of the whole journey. You will also be entitled to compensation as usual under EU regulations. However, if you booked the connecting flight separately to your original flight you will likely only be able to claim for the first leg though it is still worth complaining and explaining why you are holding BA responsible. To claim, write to BA at British Airways Customer Relations, EU Compensation Claims, PO Box 1126, Uxbridge, UB8 9XS and request compensation under EU regulation 261/2004. You can also apply online at britishairways.com. Act fast: BA is going to be inundated with thousands of requests for compensation over the next few months, so you should get yours in before the backlog builds Include your flight number, the date and time of travel, how long and why you were delayed and all passenger names. Enclose your boarding pass but keep copies. If your claim is rejected, you can take your complaint to the Ombudsman. British Airways is signed up to independent adjudicators the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). Call 020 7536 6099 or complain online at cedr.com/aviation. If you lose your claim there is a 25 fee. For a full list of which Ombudsman services airlines are signed up to visit the Civil Aviation Authority website. MAKE THE AIRLINE BOOK A NEW FLIGHT GET YOUR BAGGAGE BACK Thousands of holidaymakers are still waiting for their suitcases to turn up following the weekend of chaos. BA says sorting out the problems may take several days. Under EU regulation 889/2002 your airline is liable if your hold luggage is lost, delayed or damaged. Report missing bags online at ba.com or call 03444 930 787. BA says missing bags on flights back to the UK will be delivered for free. If you are overseas, the airline is advising customers to buy essential items and keep the receipts so you can file for compensation when you return. Around 500 is a reasonable amount to claim for clothes and toiletries per person per week, according to Frank Brehany, consumer director of HolidayTravelWatch. You have 21 days to submit a claim from when your luggage goes missing. You may be able to claim on your insurance for costs not covered by the airline. Usually if your flight is cancelled and you still want to travel, your airline should arrange to get you on another flight. BA told passengers to try to re-book via the airline's website or by calling its customer services number 03444 930 787. Those who booked through a third party were told to contact their travel agent. However, many travellers couldn't get a replacement flight for days and didn't want to travel as a result. If you decided to postpone your trip you have until the end of November to book another BA flight. If you were due to fly on Monday, May 29 or Tuesday, May 30, you also have the option of rebooking if you didn't want to travel during the chaos. When disruption is severe, airlines may advise you to make your own travel arrangements and offer to reimburse the cost. If you booked flights to your destination through another airline, BA says you should submit the receipts when you claim. However, in the midst of the confusion and having had very little guidance from BA, some passengers may have made bookings for which they won't be repaid. If you called a travel agent for help you might not be covered. And if you had to book a higher cabin class because there were no other seats available BA has not confirmed if it will pay the difference. ASK YOUR TRAVEL AGENT TO HELP If your flights were part of a package holiday your contract is with your travel agent, rather than the airline themselves. This means the agent is responsible for arranging alternative travel to get you to your destination. Under the Package Travel Regulations 1992 they must offer you a similar trip or refund you the cost of the holiday if this isn't possible. The alternative doesn't have to be an exact match you may be offered a different hotel or even a slightly different destination. If you're not happy with the solution they offer, you can demand a refund instead. Regulations: If your flights were part of a package holiday your contract is with your travel agent, rather than the airline themselves If you missed the first few days of your holiday as a result of the delays you can ask for a partial refund from your agent, at their discretion. However, if you booked the flights through a third-party website or travel agent and the hotel separately, you should claim your refund directly from BA as usual. DON'T CLAIM FOR LAVISH SPENDING Under EU regulation 261/2004 your airline must pay for care and assistance during delays of more than two hours. For short-haul flights (to Europe), after two hours you should be given food, drinks and, if you are delayed overnight, accommodation. If you are flying further afield on medium-haul flights of around four hours you have to wait three hours before qualifying for help. For long-haul flights it's four hours. BA says it gave out vouchers for passengers to use at shops and restaurants in the terminal. But because systems were down many travellers had to buy their own food and drink. You should be able to claim the money back if you have all the receipts. BA says it gave out vouchers for passengers to use at shops and restaurants in the terminal. But because systems were down many travellers had to buy their own food and drink But be reasonable BA will not reimburse you for a three-course meal and a bottle of wine. Fliers given out by the airline suggest a figure of 25 per person per day to be a reasonable amount to claim. Thousands of holidaymakers also had to arrange their own overnight accommodation. In response, hotels near Gatwick and Heathrow hiked their prices to as much as 1,000 per night or more over the weekend. BA wouldn't say how much passengers could claim for hotel costs, but forms handed out at the airport suggested around 200 a day. It will help your case if you can provide them with a screenshot of the hotel website showing that there were no cheaper rooms available when you booked. If you had to travel home and then back to the airport when your flight was cancelled you can claim for petrol, train fares and the cost of calling to arrange lifts. You will need to provide the receipts and you must, again, be reasonable. BA will not reimburse you for a 200 taxi ride if there were trains running. Some travel insurance policies will cover extra costs but not all of them (see below). BEWARE TRAVEL COVER LOOPHOLES If you booked your accommodation as part of a package holiday your travel agent is responsible for reorganising your whole trip, including car hire or any excursions booked through them. If you arranged your accommodation separately and the booking is non-refundable your airline is not obliged to cover the cost under EU law. So your best option is to try to claim on your travel insurance for the days you missed. Many holidaymakers will also have paid for car hire and day trips in advance. Your travel insurer may cover these costs, too. Some holiday policies will pay out on what is known as 'consequential loss' as a result of flight delays or cancellations. James Daley, of Fairer Finance says: 'Most travel policies have a provision for things such as missed excursions or choosing to abandon your holiday due to a lengthy delay. 'But the devil's always in the small print, and many travel policies are riddled with exclusions.' Direct Line says it will cover affected BA passengers up to 5,000 per person for costs such as accommodation, missed excursions, unused car hire, parking charges and extended kennel and cattery costs for pets while their owners are away. You must pay the first 75 of any claim per person for a single trip policy or 50 per person if you bought annual cover. However, if you chose the cheapest, no-frills cover you may struggle to recoup all your losses And you can't claim double compensation. So if the airline payout covers all your costs your travel insurer will not compensate you on top of that. If your insurer won't pay, then you should contact the hotel or car hire company and explain the situation to them. They may allow you to re-book. A spokesman for BA says: 'We are providing customers with information on how to apply for EU compensation and to claim for reasonable expenses. We will fully honour our obligations.' v.bischoff@dailymail.co.uk Traditional Indian music fills a two-room yoga studio. Dozens of colored mats rest on the floor, facing a shrine. On the wall is a framed picture of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, the father of modern yoga, near a statue of the Hindu god Ganesh. In USAs Midwestern town of Columbia, Missouri, the teacher at AlleyCat Yoga calls out positions tree pose, child pose, warrior pose as students bend their bodies in rhythmic motions to quiet their frazzled minds.Class ends with a final unison, Namaste. More than 8,000 miles away, a handful of men and women roll out mats inside the Mystic Yoga Cafe in Kolkata, India. Here, the room resembles a dance studio, with simple decor and full-length mirrors covering the front wall. There is no music, no special chanting. Stifling temperatures above 100 degrees dont deter participants, who attend mostly for fitness or weight loss. Melinda Oliver, of St. Louis, USA, practices yoga at Lake Stephens Park in Columbia, MO. Oliver in a senior at the University of Missouri and has been practicing yoga for two years. Oliver teaches community classes in Columbia, Missouri. She also began a program teaching yoga to 9th-grade girls to promote self-awareness, self-esteem and mental health.These disparate scenes may be the opposite of what many expect. While yogis in the United States are increasingly reconnecting with yogas spiritual roots, many in India are influenced by Americas commercialized approach to the practice and are becoming more consumer-focused themselves. Yoga reflects a reality of globalization the exchange of ideas that shapes cultures across our connected world, now more than ever. Such exchanges help drive a booming yoga industry. More than 36 million U.S. practitioners spent $2.5 billion on yoga classes in 2016, according to the Yoga in America Study conducted by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance. In the St. Louis metro area alone, there are nearly 50 yoga studios offering classes of all kinds. In India, the number of yoga practitioners soared 30 percent last year, prompting a 35 percent increase in demand for yoga trainers catering to Westernized natives and international tourists, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India. A group of Indian men and women strike yoga poses while being led during a class at Mystic Yoga Cafe in Kolkata.East meets West The historical origins of yoga are steeped in ancient Indian philosophy designed to cultivate greater self-awareness, higher levels of consciousness and inner peace. Yoga gained popularity in America in the 1960s, when the Beatles used traditional Indian instruments on their album Help! stoking interest in Eastern culture among Westerners. Over the next several decades, yoga spread across the United States, gaining an American flavor along the way. By the 1980s and 90s, the practice was more consumer-focused than traditional Indian yoga. Americans increasingly used it as an exercise to stay healthy and active, according to the Yoga in America Study. In 2016, the study reported that Americans spent $16 billion on yoga classes, clothing and accessories. Businesses profited from consumers interest in yoga perhaps none more so than yoga retail giant Lululemon, which charges up to $128 for a pair of yoga pants. A group of Indian men and women strike yoga poses while being led during a class at Mystic Yoga Cafe in Kolkata.Some yoga instructors say this consumerism can be a good thing. Do I like looking cute in my yoga pants? You bet. Do we capitalize on that? Yes, we live in America, said Kathy Kessler, a yoga teacher at Halcyon Spa & Salon in Augusta. But because its become commercialized, so many people were exposed to it that werent before. If someone comes to the mat, theyre going to evolve and and understand the therapeutic benefits of it. Yearning for meaning Yet many U.S. yoga practitioners are looking to the past to recapture that centuries-old spirituality at the core of the practice. One huge aspect of yoga is breathing and meditating, and I do that as much as possible throughout my week, said University of Missouri senior Lucille Sherman, who has been practicing yoga since childhood. Yoga helps me center myself. I'm a better person when I practice. It reminds me to sit still and take in life as it is, just for a moment. A group of Indian men and women strike yoga poses while being led during a class at Mystic Yoga Cafe in Kolkata.Types of yoga that reconnect Americans with the deeper side of practice are gaining momentum. These include Kundalini, which blends physical and spiritual practices like dynamic breathing and mantra chantingto awaken the conscious. Kessler offers Kundalini, as well as gong healing and other more spiritual classes. (Kundalini) is much more spiritual than what has happened to yoga as its been mainstreamed, said SiriAtmaKaur, a Kundalini teacher at Urban Breath Yoga in St. Louis. Its 16 times as powerful as other forms of yoga in getting into upper states of consciousness and achieving balance. The formulas are so powerful, you radiate. You look different. Instead of trendy yoga pants embellished with bright colors and bold patterns, Kaur said Kundalini practitioners opt for plain white clothing made of cotton, wool or silk to brighten their aura and prevent static electricity from altering their personal electric charges. The attire is topped with a headscarf to keep the Kundalini energy, awakened during yoga, from escaping through the top of the head. Thanks to pop star practitioners like Katy Perrys ex-husband, Russell Brand, Kundalini communities are active on the U.S. coasts. Recruiting members in St. Louis is tougher, but any American looking to reconnect with yogas traditional roots can find several tools in Kundalini practice, Kaur said. One such tool is the ringing of the disharmonious gong, which helps students reset and balance their minds. Another is the Japji, or the Song of the Soul recited by the ancient sikhs that allows yogis to explore the depths of their souls. The poses themselves are tools to explore the inner self. You can just do the yoga, but most of the time, people catch Kundalini, and they want to go all the way because it makes such a difference, Kaur said. Its not a religion, but a lifestyle, a technology, a sacred science. West meets East Sudeshna Sen, a 24-year-old student at St. Xavieras College in Maidan, Kolkata, practices yoga in front of the Victoria Memorial. Sen has been practicing yoga for three years and attends weekend classes at Power Yoga in Kolkata.While spirituality takes hold in the United States, Indias yoga scene is shifting to accommodate American consumer needs. More stressed-out Americans are traveling to India on yoga retreats, helping the Asian giant become one of the fastest-growing wellness tourism destinations in the booming $439 billion worldwideindustry, according to the Global Wellness Institute. Missouri resident Dustin Thomas, who suffers from a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, made the pilgrimage to Pune, India, for rest, relaxation and a chance to learn how to become a yoga trainer at his business,Yoga Studio 72, in Springfield. I live basically pain free now, Thomas said. Yoga is the only thing Ive found that can manage the pain or get rid of it. The Indian government is capitalizing on yogas popularity by supporting global events like the United Nations International Day of Yoga that make the practice even more susceptible to global and commercial forces. Such events boost Indias international profile and help the country export other parts of its culture, such as films, food and fashion. I am in touch with a friend in France, and I must say, she does yoga way better than any Indian trainer, said 40-year-old GauravPandey, who attends classes at Mystic Yoga Cafe. I practice yoga as it is a great way to keep myself healthy and fit without using any equipment. It is more of an exercise for me. But not everyone is happy with yogas changing profile in India. Pandering to commercial interests has caused tension among traditional yoga teachers, who believe globalization has inadvertently corrupted yogas original purpose. Sudeshna Sen, a 24-year-old student at St. Xavieras College in Maidan, Kolkata, practices yoga in front of the Victoria Memorial. Sen has been practicing yoga for three years and attends weekend classes at Power Yoga in Kolkata.Indians have more knowledge about yoga as it originated in India, so it is our duty to see that yoga is practiced in its purest form, said Sudhir Maheshwari, a yoga trainer at Mystic Yoga Cafe in the eastern city of Kolkata. In India, the practice of yoga must be kept traditional. Once the Western influences creep in, the original form of yoga is not practiced in its sacred form. Though globalization has produced profound changes in yoga, some practitioners say its spiritual essence is its greatest gift to the world and the reason its spreading, as Maheshwari said, like wildfire. I feel if anything is mystical, it will be practiced and adopted by people, the trainer said. When people feel and see the change, they will automatically adopt it. (Images by Avishek Mitra in India and Emma Beyer in USA) Savers handed shares when Halifax Building Society became a bank two decades ago are nursing a 92 per cent loss. Halifax floated on the stock market 20 years ago this Friday, on June 2, 1997. Customers with at least 100 in a Halifax account at the end of 1996 were given a minimum of 200 shares worth 1,469 when the society demutualised. Thousands of so-called 'carpetbaggers' cynical investors who opened accounts for the free shares flocked to Halifax for a slice of the 20billion windfall. Handout: Customers with at least 100 in a Halifax account at the end of 1996 were given a minimum of 200 shares worth 1,469 when the society demutualised The value of the basic 200-share handout peaked at more than 2,300 in 2007. But it crashed when the bank had to be taken over by Lloyds and bailed out by the taxpayer at the height of the credit crunch. As a result, that 1,469 windfall would be worth just 121 today, according to an analysis by investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown. On the plus side, you would have received 1,539 in regular dividend payouts over the years. So, should you hold on to your old Halifax shares, or is it time to get rid? Analysts say parent company Lloyds is still a good bet for investors who want an income but don't expect to recover those losses. Ian Gordon, banking expert at Investec asset managers, says: 'I don't see the share price rising much, but Lloyds remains attractive because of the dividend it pays, which I think will grow. 'If you're looking for a strong and sustainable income, then Lloyds meets that description better than any other major bank.' Halifax, established 164 years ago in the Yorkshire town of the same name, was one of Britain's best-loved building societies, with more than eight million members. Until the mid-Eighties, the mutual mainly offered savings accounts and mortgages. But after regulations were relaxed in the 'Big Bang' in 1986, many building societies started offering current accounts, stockbroking, insurance and estate agency services. In 1997, mutuals such as Halifax, Woolwich, Alliance & Leicester and Northern Rock became banks by floating on the London Stock Exchange. The idea was that private ownership would help them grow faster. Most societies offered customers free shares as a sweetener. That resulted in thousands of bargain-hunters depositing money. The nickname 'carpetbagger' originated from the American Civil War, when opportunistic travellers carried bags made of carpet material. When Halifax put the proposals to float on the stock market to its members, 97 per cent voted in favour. The float created 7.5 million shareholders, who each received an average of 333 shares, worth 2,446. Halifax merged with Bank of Scotland in 2001 to become HBOS in a 28 billion deal that created Britain's fifth largest bank. By then, the value of the minimum 200-share handout had risen to about 1,500. But the financial crisis turned HBOS's loans toxic and it had to be rescued by Lloyds. The deal, brokered by Gordon Brown in January 2009, saw the state put up 20 billion to own 43 pc of an enlarged Lloyds. Halifax customers retained shares in Lloyds. At the takeover, their original holding was worth 147 a tenth of the value a year earlier. Lloyds is finally back in private hands again after the Government sold the last of its shares this month. The share price now sits at 71p, up from 45p after the takeover in 2009. And after a decade in the doldrums, banking analysts are more optimistic. Neil Woodford, Britain's best-known fund manager, who sold most of his bank stocks in 2003, earlier this month bought 200 million of Lloyds shares. Lloyds doubled its profits to 1.3 billion in the first three months of 2017, despite paying 350 million for mis-sold payment protection insurance. The PPI scandal has cost the bank more than 17 billion, but payouts are starting to ease off. Mr Gordon expects profits to grow as cost-cutting measures kick in. Under CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio, Lloyds has announced 24,000 job losses and 400 branch closures, and figures show it now spends just 47p to bring in each 1 of revenue the least of any large UK bank. Mr Gordon believes the Lloyds dividend will rise from 3.05p last year to 5.5p in 2019. That means someone with their original 200 Halifax shares would earn 9.13 a year, up from around 5 today. Nicholas Hyatt, of broker Hargreaves Lansdown, says that's not to be sniffed at. If you invested 121 in the FTSE 100's highest dividend-paying firm, Shell, you earn nearer 8.60 a year. He says: 'Lloyds has become a boring, low-risk bank, but it is generating plenty of cash and is willing to give it to shareholders.' p.thomas@dailymail.co.uk Boost: Ryanair said it had experienced a 'surge in bookings' over the weekend The computer meltdown that marooned thousands of British Airways passengers has given budget rival Ryanair a boost. The airline said that it had experienced a 'surge in bookings' over the weekend as desperate passengers tried to find empty seats. BA came under fire on Saturday after a system failure caused mass cancellations and brought misery to 300,000 passengers. Ryanair took to Twitter over the weekend to mock BA, using the hashtag 'shouldhaveflown ryanair'. Chief operating officer David O'Brien yesterday said: 'It was a disaster for BA. We had a bit of fun on social media but we do take it very seriously. 'A lot of people tried to book with us last minute to get to weddings.' Shares in BA owner IAG yesterday fell 1.4m per cent, or 8.5p, to 605.5p. Ryanair, which initially slumped during early trading in Dublin, finished up 2.4 per cent. Ryanair said it did not expect to see any significant benefit in the long term as BA customers would likely remain loyal to the brand. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire has reported its first profit since 2012 thanks to opening new eateries overseas. The 50-year-old said the last financial year had been 'pivotal' for the group, which reported an after-tax profit of 739,000 for the year to August 2016, up from a 2million loss the year before. Revenues rose 3 per cent to 51.9million, helped by creating new steak restaurants Maze Grill Park Walk and Maze Grill Royal Hospital Road in London. Ramsay, a father of four, said: 'Our strategy of creating and incubating exciting new restaurants in London and launching them across the world has been highly successful.' The change was driven by a 24 per cent jump in overseas revenues which are run under licence by partners up to 3.6million. Gordon Ramsay Group has signed deals to open six restaurants in the US and Canada, including a Hell's Kitchen in Las Vegas and Gordon Ramsay Steak in Baltimore. It already has 31 restaurants, with its 14 British outlets concentrated in London and one at Heathrow Airport. Permanent role: Allied Minds's Jill Smith NEW CHIEF Inventions business Allied Minds has appointed Jill Smith as permanent chief executive. She was made interim boss at the company in March, after co-founder Chris Silva quit shortly before a 114million write down. MERGER COMPLETES Asset manager Henderson Group has completed its merger with US firm Janus Capital, creating an investment titan with around 257billion in assets under management. STAMP DEAL Stamp and coin specialist Stanley Gibbons has sold its 25 per cent holding in art group Masterpiece back to the firm for 1.4million. PROTEIN GEL Nutrition brand Science In Sport has secured a patent for its WHEY20 protein gel. HEAVY LOSSES No-frills airline Fastjet took more heavy losses after boss Nico Bezuidenhout cut ambitious expansion plans after taking over in August. PROPERTY PLAY Property investment company CLS Holdings has agreed to buy a property in Dortmund for 30.1million. The office space currently generates rents of 2.4million. REMORTGAGE RISE The mortgage market was propped up in April by homeowners seeking a new deal, according to conveyancer LMS. The business said 38,475 transactions were made in April, an 8 per cent rise on 35,500 deals made in March. FACTORY FUND A British manufacturing fund should be set up by the Government to offset Brussels trade barriers, think tank Civitas has said. HACK ATTACK Data protection breaches could cost businesses 118million in fines this year, research by law firm EMW suggests. FAST DRUGS Scientists at the Universities of Manchester and York have discovered an enzyme that will make drugs used to treat Parkinsons cheaper and quicker to make. SELL OFF Troubled outsourcing group Capita is in advanced talks to sell its recruitment division as it seeks to reshape itself under a new leadership team. BANK COUP Banking scion Peter Hambro, 72, is battling an attempted boardroom coup at his gold mining company. Petropavlovsk shareholders Renova, Sothic and M&G want to replace Hambro and three non-executive directors, criticising corporate governance. Shares in big data firm Fusionex International crashed to an all-time low yesterday after a row broke out over plans to remove the company from the UK stock market. Fusionex lost around 10.1million of its value in the first day of trading since it revealed plans to go private after the markets had closed on Friday. The firm, which provides data processing software to clients such as Ford and RBS, has since seen its joint broker Peel Hunt and its public relations firm Buchanan walk out the door. Both were noticeably absent from Friday's market announcement, which has also led non-executive chairman John Croft to announce his resignation. Nightmare start: Fusionex lost around 10.1m of its value in the first day of trading since it revealed plans to go private after the markets had closed on Friday In a statement, Peel Hunt said: 'Responsible brokers resign when there are major disagreements over points of principle, and this was the case here. We cannot comment further on the specifics.' Fusionex, which is more than 40 per cent owned by Malaysian founder Ivan Teh, said it has been undervalued by markets and would rather spend the cost of listing on developing its business. It said going private will be in the best interests of investors, despite warning they may struggle to sell shares and could lose money if they do. A vote on the plans will take place in Malaysia on June 15, just on the cusp of the 20 days minimum notice required for investors. With the approval of just 75 per cent of attendees needed, Teh's large stake in the firm, along with a low expected turnout at the meeting, the plans are likely to go through. Shares sank 64.1 per cent, or 82.75p, to 46.25p. The FTSE 100 started the week by falling off the record highs it hit on Friday. It finished down 0.3pc, or 21.12 points, at 7526.51. The fall came despite JP Morgan arguing that UK stocks are likely to claw back their recent underperformance. STOCK WATCH - PROPHOTONIX Tech designer ProPhotonix shot up after sailing through an important sales milestone for one of its laser products. The company creates a range of multi-purpose LED lights and lasers which are used in the technology of major firms such as Panasonic and Sony. Yesterday, ProPhotonix said it has sold more than 100,000 of a particular type of laser which is used to develop object detection systems in robots. Shares rose 6.2 per cent, or 0.88p, to 15p. Analysts in particular recommended the blue chip dividend-paying UK exporters, which make up a large portion of the FTSE 100. In a note, the firm said: 'The UK is a defensive market with a high-dividend yield. It should perform better in the backdrop of potential softening in activity indicators.' Shopping centre investor Intu Properties became one of the index's winners after announcing a joint venture which will see it partly own the Madrid Xanadu shopping centre in Spain. Shares rose 0.2 per cent, or 0.5p, to 270.2p. Security and outsourcing giant G4S is among those tipped to return to the blue-chip index in a reshuffle today. The firm was demoted from the index in December 2015 after a series of botched contracts and a perceived failure to supply adequate security at the London Olympics in 2012. But a turnaround under boss Ashley Almanza has seen shares surge 74.4 per cent over the past year, with revenues rising 9 per cent in the first quarter alone. Shares fell 0.6 per cent, or 2p, to 326p. The chief operations officer of Wizz Air cashed in on a recent spike in the airline's share price. Its shares took off last week after the firm announced a record 28 per cent rise in full-year profits. It also said it had seen no signs of demand for flights weakening since Brexit. Its shares were still in flight yesterday, rising 2.5 per cent, or 58p, to 2343p. Wealth management firm Brewin Dolphin enjoyed a strong day of trading after analysts at Peel Hunt upgraded it to 'buy' from 'add'. The broker praised the firm's interim results, released earlier this month, which saw it post profits of 28.4million, up 32.1 per cent on the year. Yesterday its shares rose 1.6 per cent, or 5.3p, to 337p. Craft beer producer BrewDog has revealed it booked an annual turnover of 72million in 2016. The brewer grew its annual turnover by 60 per cent, making it one of the fastest growing drinks companies in the word. It is growing faster than many of the US craft breweries, including Lagunitas, Ballast Point and Stone Brewing. BrewDog's UK sales jumped by an even bigger 97 per cent over the same period. Popular: Punk IPA remains the most sold craft beer in UK This is the first time the company has disclosed results publicly. During last year BrewDog shipped just under 131,000 barrels of beer. Additionally 65 million bottles of beer were shipped worldwide. Punk IPA which is the company's flagship beer remained the most sold craft beer in the UK last year with sales increasing by 130 per cent. BrewDogs Dead Pony Club also grew by 157 per cent to become the third most purchased craft beer in the UK. The company's growth has been rapid since it was founded by Martin Dickie and James Watt in 2007. Ten years later, it now has more than 500 employees and 32 branded BrewDog bars in the UK and overseas. The startup raised money through a series of 'crowdfunding' offers that give subscribers an equity stake, and a host of beer-based perks, in exchange for the money. Cheers: BrewDog directors James Watt (left) and Martin Dickie (right) The BrewDog team has recently unveiled a new brewing site, adjacent to its brewery in Ellon, Scotland. As part of its growth, BrewDog opened 8 new bars, including Norwich, Southampton and Berlin. In April 2017 BrewDog was valued at 1 billion following a 213 million investment from TSG Consumer Partners, and it plans to expand its brewery and bars network even further this year. Today, Money Mail reveals how insurers can give savers back the cash they invested in annuities. More than five million pensioners are currently blocked from cashing in their pots because they were sold lifetime contracts. Last week, we disclosed that major insurers, including Prudential, Scottish Widows and Legal & General, were investigating ways to let pensioners exchange their small monthly annuity incomes for one-off cash lump sums. However, their bosses warned it would be difficult to unpick these lifetime deals and some even ruled it out. Annuities grief: More than five million pensioners are currently blocked from cashing in their pots because they were sold lifetime contracts Yet proof exists that it is possible because one insurer has already paid out to large numbers of customers. As part of Money Mail's Unlock Our Annuities campaign, we have obtained the details behind a scheme run in 2013 by Phoenix Life to let several thousand customers cash in tiny annuities. It is the first time the story behind the scheme has been told and, crucially, it provides a blueprint that Phoenix says all insurers could copy. To pay out, Phoenix used the government's so-called small pots rules, written in 2012, to allow savers to cash in two pension pots worth up to 2,000 each. These rules still exist and, today, let you cash in up to three pots, worth up to 10,000 each. The giant insurer wrote to 7,000 customers, asking if they would like a lump sum instead of their monthly incomes. 'We're voting Labour over pension U-turn' Tory supporters have vowed to vote Labour in next week's election over the Government's annuity betrayal. They have switched allegiance after the Treasury axed plans to let people turn their paltry monthly pension incomes into a lump sum. Money Mail reader Lionel Kaye described it as a 'terrible U-turn without any consultation with voters'. Steve Vince wrote: 'I was expecting to be able to pay off my mortgage. Now, it looks like I will have to keep working for another five years. The Conservatives have lost my vote.' Graham Newman echoed this, adding: 'My wife and I decided not to vote Tory because of their U-turn on annuities.' Letters detailed how much savers would get and stressed the offer was optional. Recipients had all bought annuities worth less than 2,000 and some were receiving as little as a few hundred pounds a year. Phoenix realised that, to some, a lump sum would be more useful for things such as paying debts and home repairs. Customers were given six weeks to decide and 65 per cent asked to cash in. The payouts were subject to income tax like other earnings. Phoenix explained to customers that they were giving up guaranteed lifetime incomes, which, even if small, might be important for covering bills. The offer was made to people aged between 60 and 85. This age limit was set over concerns that very elderly people might be less able to make an informed choice about a big financial decision. Other insurers could adopt this approach to allay executives' concerns. To work out the amount to hand back, Phoenix calculated how much the company had set aside on its balance sheet to pay a customer an income for the rest of their life. This was done using average life expectancies. Phoenix did not take into account individual circumstances and health because the annuities it was paying out were standard contracts, not enhanced deals tailored to the customer. Some insurance bosses have claimed they would have to conduct health checks on customers to work out payouts but Phoenix says this is not necessary. The majority of pensioners had standard annuities before pension freedoms were introduced in 2015, so most firms could use the same methods as Phoenix to calculate fair payouts, says the company. Phoenix included the cost of administration and set a final figure for each customer, factoring in their age and how long they had been taking an annuity income. Scheme: Phoenix used the government's so-called small pots rules, written in 2012, to allow savers to cash in two pension pots worth up to 2,000 each Crucially, the annuity pay-out scheme helped reduce Phoenix's costs not increase them. This should encourage the chief executives of insurance firms, some of whom have complained that paying annuities would be too expensive. Phoenix says it was able to save money because it no longer had to administer as many small monthly payouts. Danny Dowd, head of retirement propositions at Phoenix, says: 'The big driver behind the offer was that this could benefit our customers, giving them more options in retirement. 'We saved a small amount of money, but that wasn't the main motivation. 'The numbers speak for themselves in terms of how much customers appreciated the offer. We made it clear that it was optional, and more than six in ten still took the deal. 'It was a positive thing to do and was well received by our customers.' Phoenix is considering repeating its scheme. 'We are still thinking about whether we could do this again, but we don't want customers to cash in annuities that are offering them good value in retirement,' adds Mr Dowd. It took Phoenix three months to devise the plan in 2013, and Mr Dowd says pension rules are now more complicated. One wrinkle is that customers are now allowed to cash in 10,000 by law if their company allows it, up from 2,000. With more money involved, 'more consumer protections' need to be put in place, says Mr Dowd. These could include more prominent warnings spelling out that savers could face tax bills, lose state benefits and valuable income streams a spouse may have inherited. Mr Dowd says: 'I believe other insurers may be able to do something like we did, but they will need to protect their customers' interests.' d.hyde@dailymail.co.uk A major investigation into inheritance payouts has been launched after a bank discovered it was sitting on almost 130,000 belonging to a Holocaust survivor who died 12 years ago. Santander is trawling through databases after realising it failed to contact the man's solicitor about two of his five accounts. The bank admits to poor record-keeping and fears it may have left other families or executors of wills in the dark. A spokesman refused to say how many could be affected, but Money Mail understands other banks may have made similar errors. In some cases, bereaved families could receive thousands of pounds in interest to cover the delays. Inheritance denied: Santander discovered it was sitting on almost 130,000 belonging to a Holocaust survivor who died 12 years ago The heart-rending story of Karl Lenobel, who spent much of his childhood in Nazi concentration camps, is one of the first to emerge. Karl was captured as a teenager in Vienna with his parents and moved from camp to camp until the war ended in 1945. He survived, but his parents perished at the hands of the Nazis. The last thing he remembered his mother saying before she died was to look after his older sister, Katherine, who'd escaped to Britain before war broke out. So, when Katherine's husband died in the Nineties, Karl, who had emigrated to America to work as a sea merchant, moved to London. He stayed there until he died, aged 84, in October 2004. Because neither he nor Katherine, who'd passed away six months earlier, had children of their own, Karl left most of his savings to three children's charities. He told his solicitor, Geoffrey Greenhouse, that because he hadn't had a childhood, he wanted to help make sure others didn't miss out. Karl had been a prudent saver and invested the money he'd accumulated over the years in the stock market. His sister had left him her life savings to pass on to the charities, too. Mr Greenhouse acted on Karl's wishes to the letter, closing the three Santander accounts in his will and distributing the money. Yet, inexplicably, the bank failed to inform Karl's solicitor about two other accounts in his name. Mr Greenhouse had no idea these accounts even existed until last November, when he received a letter from Santander stating that there was 127,338 in two Instant Saver accounts belonging to Karl. HOW TO HUNT DOWN CASH Look out for a letter from a bank informing you of any accounts that are still open in a late relative's name. Don't throw away post from a bank you don't recognise without opening it. If you receive a letter, fill in the forms included and send a copy of your ID in the prepaid envelope provided. You should be paid interest at 8 pc on top of the balance. You can also claim expenses for any costs you incur seeking tax or legal advice. This is important as the extra money could mean you owe inheritance tax. If you don't receive a letter, check old paperwork in case there are any documents you've missed. If you are in any doubt, call the bank and ask it to run a search for the person's name, looking for accounts with and without their middle name and in their maiden name. The bank had made a note on the accounts that Karl had died, but had failed to contact Mr Greenhouse even though it had his details on file. Santander says the problems first came to light around 18 months ago, when it began investigating ways to improve its treatment of bereaved customers, prompted by Money Mail's Looking After Your Legacy campaign, which highlighted the difficulties grieving families face dealing with departed loved ones' finances. The bank discovered dormant accounts with what are known as 'deceased indicators' on them. This meant it knew the customers had died, but nothing had been done to distribute the money in the accounts. Now, the bank is working to get those funds to the right people by tracing relatives and the solicitors in charge of the estates and urging them to get in touch. The letter sent to Mr Green-house in November says: 'We write to inform you that the accounts of the late Mr Karl Lenobel are still open. We realise this is a very sensitive matter and we're sorry for any distress this letter may cause, however we'd like to understand what you want us to do with the accounts.' The bank requested that Mr Greenhouse complete the enclosed probate form and return it in a prepaid envelope, along with a copy of his ID. When Mr Greenhouse questioned why the bank had not notified him sooner, Santander wrote: 'Following an in-depth review of a number of accounts, we found that some customers who are now deceased had money held in their accounts which was not paid out to their next of kin or estate after their death. Please accept my sincere apologies for any distress this may have caused.' The bank is adding interest of 8 per cent a year and says it will pay any reasonable expenses, such as for tax advice. In Karl's case, the interest has boosted his total balance to 219,941 after tax. Mr Greenhouse, of Greenhouse Stirton & Co Solicitors in London, began his career specialising in reuniting Holocaust survivors and their families with money in German and Swiss bank accounts. He says: 'I was worried they thought I hadn't done my job properly, but the bank knew he had died I'd closed three other accounts there. These charities should have had this money years ago. Karl also left some of his estate to the children of a man who had survived the camps with him, so they will get a small share, too.' Santander is trawling through databases after realising it failed to contact the man's solicitor about two of his five accounts Sue Willis, director simplification for Santander UK, says: 'We recognise that the service we provided the late Mr Lenobel's estate was not good enough. We are sorry for this. 'It was a review of our probate and bereavement processes, in part triggered by the campaign run by Money Mail, that led us to identify that two of Mr Lenobel's accounts were still open. 'Losing a loved one is, of course, a distressing time. We have redefined our service focusing on what the bereaved customer needs at this time. Changes we have now put in place mean that the mistakes we made in managing Mr Lenobel's estate after his death cannot be repeated.' Santander has had problems with missing accounts before. In 2012, Money Mail revealed that savers were being fobbed off when they tried to withdraw cash from old passbook accounts. The bank accused customers of withdrawing funds years earlier but, in many cases, later discovered the savings did still exist. Many customers had passbooks from Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, which Santander took over in 2004 and 2008, respectively. In the case of the dormant accounts belonging to deceased customers, Santander will continue to send letters chasing the next of kin to take action. If it receives no response after several attempts at contact, the money will go to the Government. Claims can still be made if relatives were to come forward at a later date. For more information, call Santander's dedicated line for bereaved customers on 0800 587 5870, or write to: Bereavement Centre, PO Box 524, Bradford BD1 5ZH. v.bischoff@dailymail.co.uk Kolkata, May 31 (IBNS): In today's competitive world, the success of a book is not dependent on an author's writing skills alone but also on efficient promotion of the book, which is why popular Indian book-publisher, Power Publishers, is offering book launch services as a part of its package for authors. There are several steps to promote a book effectively. One of the most popular ways being arranging a formal book release event and inviting the media to attend it. It creates a lot of buzz about the book in print, electronic and online news platforms, generating the necessary curiosity among potential readers. There is also a recall value of such promotions. When a potential reader is searching on online sites, such as Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal, it is possible that he or she would search for the book and order it. However, authors, who are very creative people, are not necessarily the best organizers or are equipped with the necessary skill to promote their book. Publishers sometimes invest in book release events for popular authors. However, new or not so popular authors, or authors writing on a niche subject, may find it difficult to promote their book except on social media platforms. Not anymore, say Power Publishers, who has recently started book launch service for authors. Power Publishers said that it will organize everything for the event -- from venue booking to food and beverage, from media invitation to arranging celebrity chief guests, etc. Usually Power Publishers arranges two to three book release events every month. Some of its recent bool launch events include 'A Tenant of The World at Oxford Bookstore, The Pindari Lover at Press Club, Transformation at Oxford Bookstore, Millennium Memories at Story, Foxy Lady at Oxford Bookstore, etc. Power Publishers said that each of these events have been highly successful, attended by an average of 70 people, including 20 to 30 media journalists. The list of celebrity chief guests who have agreed to attend Power Publishers' book launches have been rather impressive -- actor Aabir Chaterjee, Aryan and Sujoy Prasad; director Riingo Banerjee, Aniket Chattopadhyay, Subhrajit Mitra and Subhabrata Chatterjee; West Bengal minister Bratya Basu; authors Indranil Sanyal, Binod Ghosal, Smaranjit Chakraborty, Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Sourav Mukhopadhyay, Binayak Bandyopadhyay, Himadrikishore Dasgupta, Abhijit Sukul; journalists Boria Majumder, Rittwik Mukherjee, Sujay Dhar, and many more. A Power Publishers' book launch or book release event organizing package includes venue cost, media coverage and PR, inviting chief guests, seating arrangements for up to 70 guests, refreshments (snacks and beverage) for guests and audience, photographer, projector for displaying a video book trailer, invitation cards, gifts for guests, arranging an anchor for the event, venue decoration and car pick and drop services for the guests. The book launch event package is priced Rs 60,000. You need not be published by Power Publishers to avail the service. Authors who have used the service say it works. Some of the books, such as Millennium Memories by Arindam Basu or A Tenant of the World by Madhura Banerjee went on to become bestsellers (Reporting by Pinaki Ghosh and Liza Gomes) The Security Forces (SFs) killed eight terrorists, including Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's (HM) incumbent 'Kashmir Commander' Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on May 27, 2017. In the first encounter, SFs killed six terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rampur sector of Baramulla District. In another encounter the same day, SFs eliminated Sabzar Ahmad Bhat along with another HM terrorist in the Tral Area of Pulwama District. Further, on May 28, Army shot dead a militant along the LoC in Poonch District. Earlier, on May 26, 2017, the Army foiled a Pakistan Army Border Action Team (BAT) attack along the LoC in the Uri sector of Baramulla District, killing two BAT personnel. According to reports, the BAT team had penetrated 400 metres beyond the LoC. During the course of the week, between May 20 and May 27, 2017, the SFs eliminated at least 13 terrorists in J&K. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 60 terrorists have already been killed during the first four months and 28 days of the current year (data till May 28, 2017). During the corresponding period of the previous year, SFs had eliminated 53 terrorists. Significantly, this is the highest number of terrorists killed in this period (the first four months and 28 days of the year) since 2010, when at least 115 terrorists were killed in this interregnum. SFs have upped the ante against the terrorists after suffering increasing losses through 2016, more so in the second half of the year, as well as in the current year. The 88 SF fatalities recorded in 2016 were the highest in this category, on year on year basis, since 2009, when 90 personnel were killed. SFs have already lost 25 personnel in the current year, thus far. During the corresponding period of 2016, fatalities in this category stood at 15. It was way back in 2010 that the SFs had lost a higher number of personnel, 37, during the same period (the first four months and 28 days of the year). The increased engagement between SFs and terrorists on the ground is indicative of the deteriorating situation in the State in evidence since the second half of 2016. J&K has already recorded 25 fatalities among civilians, the highest number during this period since 2008, at 26. It is pertinent, however, that despite the surge in overall fatalities, as compared to 2015, 2016 recorded the lowest number of civilian fatalities, 14, since the insurgency began in 1998. Nine of 14 civilian fatalities recorded in 2016 were in the second half of the year, as were 58 of the total 88 SF fatalities. The killing of the HM 'commander' Burhan Wani in an encounter on July 8, 2016, and the subsequent orchestration of street violence - backed by Pakistan-based terrorist formations and covert Pakistani support - has had a cascading effect on the State. Flawed policies and the abject failure of the state in controlling the spiraling violence have created ample opportunities for inimical forces to broaden radical and extremist mobilization and violence. According the State Police Crime Branch data, 3,404 cases of rioting were recorded in 2016, as compared to 1,157 such cases in 2015, an increase of 194.2 per cent. As SAIR has highlighted earlier, such 'uprisings' have had direct Pakistani support in the past, and similar connections and connotations are in evidence in the present cycle of mobilization. Indeed, according to a release dated May 19, 2017, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a preliminary inquiry into the Pakistani role, noting: National Investigation Agency has registered a PE (Preliminary Enquiry) into the funding of Hurriyat leaders, namely Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Naeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Gazi Javed Baba and others in J&K by Hafiz Muhammed Saeed and other Pakistan based terrorists and agencies to carry out subversive activities in Kashmir and for damaging public property, stone pelting on the security forces, burning of schools and other Government establishments. The NIA has also taken cognizance of the news item related to the recording of conversations between the reporter and leaders of the separatist groups operating in Kashmir valley, by India Today TV, on 16.05.2017 in this regard. According to a March 29, 2017, report, some fugitive stone pelters identified as Zakir Ahmad Bhat, Farooq Ahmad Lone, Wasim Ahmed Khan, Mushtaq Veeri and Ibrahim Khan made some startling confessions - from being on the payroll of their underground masters to carry out deadly attacks on security forces, public servants and property in the troubled region - in their conversations with India Today TV's'undercover' reporters. "It's Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 (a month) and clothes. Sometimes shoes as well," Bhat said in the sting tapes, when asked whether he was paid to pelt stones at SF personnel. He, however, did not disclose the identity of his financers: "We will die but won't reveal their names. It's the question of our bread and butter." Terror funding from Pakistan has also been highlighted on numerous occasions in the past. Most recently, for instance, a Government of India release stated, The Central Government had received information about illegal transfer of funds from Pakistan to India through import of California Almonds via cross-LOC mechanisms through Trade Facilitation Centers (TFC) in Jammu and Kashmir. Keeping in view the gravity of the matter the Central Government directed the NIA to take up investigation of this case. The NIA has registered the case as RC-17/2016/NIA/DLI on 16.12.2016. Meanwhile, according to data provided by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), at least 88 local youth joined terrorism in 2016, mostly after the Burhan Wani killing. According to media reports, another 16 local youth have joined terrorism in the current year. Wani was the man responsible for reversing the declining trend of local recruitment in the Valley. According to UMHA data, the number of locals joining militancy had declined from 54 in 2010 to 23 in 2011 further down to 21 in 2012 and just 16 in 2013. In 2014, the number of locals joining militancy increased to 53 and reached at 66 in 2015. Having succeeded to an extent in fuelling fire in the State with the support of its cohorts within India, Islamabad simultaneously increased its activities along the LoC and International Border (IB). According to UMHA data, there were at least 371 infiltration attempts by the terrorists trained by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) from across the border in 2016, as against 121 such attempts through 2015, a more than threefold increase. Such attempts had declined sharply in 2015, in comparison to 2014, when there were 222. There have been 47 such attempts in 2017, thus far. The number of terrorists who were forced to return to the Pakistani side rose to 217 in 2016, as against 41 in 2015. More worryingly, there were at least 119 estimated net (successful) infiltrations recorded through 2016, as against 33 in 2015. These infiltration attempts most often occur under cover firing by Pakistan Rangers or Army personnel. UMHA data also indicates a continuing increase in the number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan, at 449 in 2016, as against 405 in 2015. Not surprisingly, the estimated number of active terrorists in the State has increased. According to varying media reports, there are presently an estimated 500-plus active terrorists in the State - 320 locals and 180 foreigners; as against about 179 - 143 locals and 36 foreigners - prior to Wani's killing in July 2016. Despite the deterioration consequent upon these various factors, there are some early signs of improvement in the law and order situation in the State. According to the Month-wise details of Law & Order incidents since July 8, 2016, provided by UMHA, the number of such incidents has declined considerably. According to partial data compiled by the SATP, the number of such incidents declined further to 22 in April 2017, though May registered a spike, at 41. Nevertheless, the situation appears to be coming under reasonable control in comparison to earlier months. For the time being SFs have done their bit in restoring the law and order in the State, as expected, despite tremendous odds - both at the operational and at the political leadership level. Sustaining such improvement, however, lies entirely in the hands of the political class, both at the Centre and in the State. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of the necessary political sagacity needed to bring J&K out of its orchestrated turbulence and restore it on the trajectory to the greater stabilizationthat was visible in before the present cycle of disturbances. MBABANE Put on your dancing shoes as the weekend is about to be crazy! Regardless of the fact that most of fun lovers will still be hung over from the MTN Bushfire Festival weekend, most of them are looking forward to next weekend as they always find a reason and means to have a good time. Celebrated South Africas Spirit Motion and Solanis Shisanyama will be hosting South African celebrated artists, Miss P, Nokwazi, Terry Texture, Brenden of Idols fame and the ever so talented Black Motion who will be making their way into the country this coming weekend, June 3. These South African artists will be supported by local acts including LFA, The Scientists, Virgotonik, Supa CDQ, Mac Breezy, and Twins of a Kind, Culolam, Katz, Rhythmic Soul, Meugie, Dope Deep, Loma soul and Young Black. Purchase Fun lovers are urged to purchase tickets as early as possible because there is a possibility that they might run out. Early bird tickets are sold for E100 and E200 for VIP while tickets will be selling at E150 general and E250 VIP at the door. They are available at Computickit, Shoprite (Swazi Plaza), Shoprite Ezulwini) and Shoprite Manzini. The show will start at 3pm and it is expected to last up until the following morning. Mumbai, May 31 (IBNS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Wednesday, raided the house of Maharashtra Congress leader, Baba Siddique, according to media reports. While some media reports claim the raid was related to the rupees four hundred crore Slum Rehabilitation Authority scam, others claim that it was related to money laundering case. However, according to reports, ED raided five locations on Wednesday, including the Congress leader's house. More details awaited. Image: Wikimedia Commons Bridgewater looks to become a regional nightlife hub in western PA Bridgewater bars offer patrons a nightlife experience that is unique from any other in western Pennsylvania Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, May 31 (IBNS) : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday offered prayers makeshift Ram temple at the disputed Ram Jnmbhoomi-Babri Masjid site fuelling speculations, NDTV reported. Huge crowds shouted slogans of "Jai Sri Ram" to greet the Chief Minister in Ayodhya. This is the 46-year-old Chief Minister's first Ayodhya visit since he took oath in March. The event came a a day after senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and union Minister Uma Bharti were charged by a Lucknow court with conspiracy to demolish the 16th century Babri mosque in 1992. In recent years, the BJP kept on back burner the Ram Janmbhoomi issue to gain what political observers feel, a greater acceptability to a wider section of people. However, the timing of the UP CM offering prayers at the disputed place, particularly when the BJP-ruled Centre's cow slaughter stricture tends to stir up fresh religious sentiments, divisions, leaves questions to be answered. On Tuesday Yogi Adityanath was waiting with flowers to greet Advani and other BJP leaders as they arrived at a Lucknow guest house and held a meeting with them before they left to appear in court. Apart from the visit to the temples, the Chief Minister has in a packed morning also inspected the condition of Saryu river and performed aarti there, NDTV said. The Chief Minister is expected to address BJP workers and attend a law and order meeting before returning to Lucknow later on Wednesday evening. ALBANY A virtual driver is coming to city streets this June that is, a driver in the technological, not human, sense of the word. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration said Wednesday that Audi has been approved to perform the first driverless car test in the state, which will take place on June 13 near the state Capitol. Audi was the first company to apply for the rights to demonstrate autonomous vehicle technology under a one-year program that was approved in April as part of the state budget. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany chef wins Remy Martin prize Jermaine Wright, who owns a catering company in Albany and competed last year on the Food Network series "All-Star Academy," was named the Remy Martin Circle of Centaurs winner for this year. The Centaurs contest, which pairs celebrities with younger talent, includes mentoring sessions for Wright with celebrity chef and Food Network star Marc Forgione and a cash prize. Wright served his winning dish at a party at Forgione's Manhattan restaurant in May Wright owns 8 Count Kitchen, a catering company and personal-chef service, and produces a web series of cooking videos. Wright, who is also a dancer, works locally as marketing and promotions manager for Vent Fitness. June promotions at Fish at 30 Lake Fish at 30 Lake, a Mazzone Hospitality restaurant in the Spa City, will celebrate its first anniversary June 12 to 18 with food and drink specials and a scratch-off with each check that includes a discount of 10 to 50 percent. In other news from the restaurant, it will host a class in making summer cocktails from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 23, taught by Kyle Cerutti of sibling restaurant Angelo's 677 Prime in Albany. The class, being held on the roof deck of the adjoining Pavilion Grand hotel, will cover the creation of pisco sour, mojito, strawberry lemonade, mint juleps, sangria, Pimm's cup, rum punch and more. The price is $85 per person.Fish at 30 Lake is located at the eponymous street address. It opens at 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 3 p.m. Friday to Sunday. Call 539-3474. Brown's starting riverfront concert series Brown's Brewing in Troy will host Summer Sessions, a concert series and celebration of craft beer, on its riverside stage on six Thursdays: June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and July 13. Shows start at 5 p.m. The lineups for the shows are as follows: Thursday: Mondo Cozmo, Rechordoroys, One Red Martian June 8: Ron Gallo, Joe Mansman and the Midnight Revival Band, the Late Shift June 15: Sir Sly, Trapdoor Social, Good Fiction June 22: Rustic Overtones, Angels on the Fourth, Candy Ambulance June 29: Eastbound Jesus, Black Mountain Symphony July 13: Bleeker, Northern Faces, Stellar Young Food from Bootlegger's Bar & Grill, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Slidin' Dirty and Wolff's Biergarten and beer from Brown's will be available. The shows will be held rain or shine. The series is co-produced with radio station WEQX. Brown's is located at 417 River St. BackBar in Hudson gets Esquire nod BackBar, the rambunctious, Asian-influenced sibling of chef-owner Zak Pelaccio's flagship Fish & Game, both in Hudson, is included in Esquire magazine's round-up of the 24 best bars in America. The citation says, in part: "It's a place where you might burn off a lazy Sunday afternoon discussing politics with a local law-enforcement officer who also happens to be a drag queen (true story) while you order round after round of Southeast Asian food from the chefs Zakary Pelaccio and Kevin Pomplun so that your third Where There's Smoke, There's Fire doesn't put you into a daze too fast." One of the Esquire list's co-writers is Jeff Gordinier, a food journalist who in the past has devoted loving ink to Pelaccio, Fish & Game and BackBar, often in The New York Times. Compiled by Steve Barnes. Items to be considered must be submitted to sbarnes@timesunion.com. Albany Using an ordinary iPod Touch, Chris Paul will eventually be able to zap his own brain. Paul, a 69-year-old Dutchess County resident with Parkinson's disease, is the first patient at Albany Medical Center Hospital to receive a deep brain stimulation implant that uses a wireless software platform allowing doctors and patients to program or adjust the system using an Apple device. Paul so far has one of two implants that he will receive, on the left side of his brain, regulating muscle movements on the right side of his body. He's not ready to take the controls yet, said his neurosurgeon, Dr. Julie Pilitsis. But he's already happy with the early results. "It has given me my life back," Paul said Wednesday, during an appointment at Albany Med. Deep brain stimulation is not new. Pilitsis has implanted devices in more than 500 patients at Albany Med, placing electrical leads into specific areas of the brain. A neurostimulator device connected to these leads then sends signals to the brain to regulate abnormal impulses, as a way to limit tremor and loss of coordination. The device that Paul has received, the St. Jude Medical Infinity DBS system, goes a step further than previous models in allowing doctors to more narrowly aim the electrical signals, so they stimulate only the part of the brain desired. This results in fewer side effects, Pilitsis said, such as the accidental pull of a facial muscle or some other unwanted movement caused by stimulating the wrong area. In theory, it should also result in a reduced use of energy and fewer replacements of the battery, implanted in the patient's chest like a pacemaker. The wireless aspect of the device the implant connects to an iPad or iPod via Bluetooth technology also eliminates some awkwardness in programming. Pilitsis had to re-program previous devices in other patients by pressing another device right up against the patient's chest, over the skin where the battery was implanted. Deep brain stimulation isn't for everyone with Parkinson's disease. For some, medications work fairly well. But about a quarter of Parkinson's patients find they need a different remedy, Pilitsis said. Despite taking medicine every three or four hours, however, Paul had been known to freeze up. That's not uncommon for people with Parkinson's. But for him, it could be as abrupt as being unable to move a food-filled fork that was already halfway to his mouth. He was always at risk of falling. When his time to take the next dose of medication approached, he called it "falling off the cliff" because he had so little control of his movements. His condition, which he was diagnosed with in 2008, had progressed to making him completely dependent on others for care. So Paul was willing to try something else. Pilitsis implanted the first of his two devices in March. The neurosurgeon determined through an MRI before the procedure where her 5mm target was, a lens-shaped part of the brain called the subthalamic nucleus. During surgery, she woke Paul up to move his arm, setting off a signal that told her she'd gotten the electrode in the right spot. Paul had to wait a few weeks for the device to be programmed. The delay allows the brain to heal after swelling during surgery, Pilitsis explained. What she implanted was a thin tube, the lead, with four electrodes, which can be programmed as needed. Physician assistant Meghan Wilock showed the Times Union an image of the lead in Paul's brain from a tablet device, as Paul sat nearby with the iPod. The lead is directional, meaning Pilitsis is able to aim the neurostimulator's signals more precisely at the parts of the brain she wants to control. For now, Paul remains on his medication, but the goal will be to cut down on the drugs significantly once the second implant is placed, on the right side of the brain. Most people can reduce their medications by 30 to 50 percent when fitted with DBS devices, Pilitsis said. "It's like being on the right dose of medication all the time," she said of deep brain stimulation. On Wednesday, Paul lifted and lowered his right arm consciously and steadily as a way of demonstrating his renewed control. He did a bit of the same with the left arm, saying he'd already felt some carryover effect from the first device. He has regained some of his independence, he said. Without the constant fear of falling, he's back to showering and using the bathroom on his own. He and his medical staff will experiment with the current for optimal effect as he continues to adjust to the first and then the second device. Once it's calibrated, Pilitsis said she can let Paul give himself a little more or a little less juice through his iPod app if he needs it. Three others have received the implants at Albany Med since Paul got his. The device is also appropriate for some patients with other movement disorders or obsessive compulsive disorder, Pilitsis said. Paul's implant and procedure was paid for through Medicare and the Veterans Health Administration, because his Parkinson's disease is connected to Agent Orange exposure in 1969, when he served in Vietnam. The cost and device vary widely depending on insurance coverage, Pilitsis said, but Albany Med consults with patients' insurers before starting the procedure. Paul and his 38-year-old son, Matt, have found the whole process a relative breeze compared to dealing with Parkinson's disease. "The hotel bed we stayed in the night before the surgery was probably the most uncomfortable part of this ordeal," Matt Paul said. chughes@timesunion.com 518-454-5417 @hughesclaire This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ALBANY Albany police announced parking restrictions and road closures for Saturday's Freihofer's Run for Women. Parking restrictions: No parking from 8 a.m. Wednesday through 6 p.m. Sunday on the south side of State Street east five spaces. No parking from noon to 8 a.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Saturday: State Street, north side from Executive Mansior driveway at state Capitol east to Eagle Street. No parking from 8 a.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday on Lancaster Street's north side from Lark Street and west eight spaces. And no parking during that time on North Hawk Street's east side from Washington Avenue to Elk Street. No parking from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday on both sides of Washington Avenue from Eagle Street to South Swan Street; both sides of Park Street from Lancaster Street to State Street; and on North Hawk Street's west side from Elk Street to Washington Avenue. No parking from 12:01 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on all roads in Washington Park from midnight to 2 p.m. Saturday. Parking will not be allowed on the following roads between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday: Washington Avenue from South Swan Street to Lexington Avenue, Western Avenue from Washington Avenue to Robin Street, Sprague Place from Western Avenue to State Street, Eagle Street from Corning Place to Columbia Street, State Street from South Swan Street east to Eagle Street, and S. Swan Street from Washington Avenue north six spaces on each side. Road closures: From 7 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday, Washington Avenue will be closed to traffic between Eagle and South Swan Street, eastbound at Lark Street and eastbound at Dove Street; North Hawk Street will also be closed between Elk Street and Washington Avenue during that time. From 12:01 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, All Washington Park access roads will be closed, including Henry Johnson Boulevard between State Street and Madison Avenue. The following roads will be closed from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday: Washington Avenue from South Swan Street to Lexington Avenue, Western Avenue from Washington Avenue to Lake Avenue, Robin Street from Washington Avenue to Western Avenue, Sprague Place from Washington Avenue to State Street, Henry Johnson Boulevard from Central Avenue to Madison Avenue, Lark Street from Elk Street to State Street, Dove Street from Elk Street to State Street, South Swan Street from State Street to Elk Street, Eagle Street from State Street to Pine Street, Corning Place from Lodge Street to Eagle Street, Willett Street from Madison Avenue to State Street, Lancaster Street from Lark Street to Willett Street, and Hudson Avenue from Lark Street to Willett Street. For details, click here. Guilderland The Guilderland Industrial Development Agency will vote next week on proposed tax breaks for a hotel at Crossgates Mall. Pyramid Companies, the real estate company that owns and operates the mall, is requesting $2.4 million in property, sales and mortgage tax exemptions for a $31 million, 192-room hotel in Guilderland that the company estimates would create 50 full-time and 55 temporary construction jobs. Last month the Town Board approved a rezoning for the hotel, which town officials said aligned with Guilderland's economic development strategy, and the town IDA, which acts independently from town officials, will decide whether to grant a tax exemption agreement May 31. In general, the project has been met with almost no opposition, but IDA officials have said it's highly unlikely that they'll agree to Pyramid's request in full. Some have said they don't support any tax breaks for Pyramid, which has received more than $700 million in tax exemptions in New York since 2000, according to Good Jobs First, a group that tracks corporate subsidies. Last month Albany County Legislator Mark Grimm questioned the return Guilderland would get on the tax breaks. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "This is big money. ... This is wrong and it shouldn't be passed," Grimm said. "Crossgates is asking us to help build a hotel but they don't want to share the profits." He also questioned the economic impact of the jobs at the hotel, many of which are low-skill, low-wage positions. "Could you think of a worse case of corporate welfare?" he asked. "They're not creating high-tech jobs." The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Guilderland Town Hall. New Delhi, May 31 (IBNS): Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday condemned the terrorist attack in Afghanistan which killed at least 80 people. Pranab Mukherjee has written to President Mohd. Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan to condemn the attack. The Indian President called the act as cowardly. "#PresidentMukherjee writes to President Mohd. Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan conveying condolences on the loss of lives in an attack in Kabul," the official Twitter page of the Indian President posted. "India strongly condemns the cowardly act & stands in solidarity with people of Afghanistan during these difficult hours #PresidentMukherjee," it said. "This is yet another instance of senseless violence that cannot be justified under any circumstances #PresidentMukherjee," another tweet said. The death toll in a massive suicide car bomb blast that ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter Wednesday has climbed to at least 80 while 320 people, including women and children, were left injured, reports said. The blast took place at around 08 30 am on Wazir Akbar Khan road close to the Zanbaq square- Kabul's high security diplomatic area where the Indian embassy and several other diplomatic missions are located. Al Jazeera quoted police and health official sources as saying that least 80 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the attack. The death toll was expected to rise. Other media reports also quoted Afghanistan health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh as saying that the toll is 80, though the state-run Khaama Press put the number of dead at 64. Calpol knows that the teething period can be painful for baby (and parents!), and that it is not always the most enjoyable time. To celebrate the fun side of teething and its milestones, Calpol has launched a nationwide search for a little teething character! To enter, log onto www.littlecharacterscompetition.ie and upload a picture of the very rst tooth, the epic dribbling, or a satisfying chomp on the perfect teething toy to be in with a chance of winning a professional family photoshoot, a family pass for a leading Irish attraction, and a chance to feature as Calpols Facebook star for 2017!* *No purchase necessary. Teeth usually begin to appear between 6 and 9 months, and during this time, babies try to chew on anything in sight! Teething symptoms to look out for include sore red gums where a tooth is coming through, and flushed cheeks. Some babies may be slightly more irritable than usual and dribble a lot more. As this can be a rather uncomfortable process for your little one, Calpol has put together some top teething tips to help soothe the pain: Cool babys teething ring in the fridge, if suitable Cool drinks or soft foods such as yogurt Play with baby to distract them from the pain of their gums Try an infant liquid paracetamol based medicine. Calpol Infant Suspension can be used for most babies from 2 months.* Despite the ups and downs of the teething period, there are precious moments to capture and look forward to as well cute gappy grins, crazy faces, or the times youve caught them chewing away happily in their own little world! To enter your baby into Calpols Little Characters competition, visit www.littlecharacterscompetition.ie to upload photos and details. The top three silly faces and teething dribble superstars will win a professional family photoshoot, a family pass for a selected Irish attraction and the chance to be the face of Calpols 2017 Facebook page. The closing date is 18th June 2017. *Weighing over 4Kg and not premature. CALPOL Infant suspension contains paracetamol. ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. GARDAI have now arrested three men in relation to an aggravated burglary in Roscrea late in the evening on May 7. During the incident, Jimmy Campion, 94, and his Maura, 87, were assaulted by two men who broke into their house on the old Dublin Road through a side window. A quantity of cash was stolen. Mr Campion was taken to the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise by ambulance after suffering head injuries. It is beleived he was struck over the head by his walking stick. Mrs Campion was not injured in the attack, which caused outrage in the town and Tipperary. A 28-year-old man was arrested in Dublin this Monday and is being held in a Tipperary Garda station under Section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939. He was detained by Gardai following a raid on a property in Sallynoggin on Dublin's southside. Two others a 17-year-old boy and a 34-year-old man were arrested this Tuesday following a raid on a halting site near Dun Laoughaire in south County Dublin and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. They were also brought to Tipperary for questioning. The three are suspected of being part of a major organised gang who have been targeting pensioners across the country, according to Garda sources, but it is thought that these three members normally concentrate on old people in the Dublin area and had never moved into the Tipperary area until the incident in Roscrea. The Gardai believe they may be part of a gang responsible for up to 28 burglaries a week. A 1.6m investment, which offers visitors the opportunity to discover the rich culture and heritage of the Fethard area was officially opened last night by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Minister with responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe. Lord Lloyd Webber, a 'native' of the area spoke of his great affection for his adopted home and how he had been enchanted with the area over twenty five years ago when he had attended a wedding in the local Church. The Fethard Horse Country Experience museum, which is housed at The Tholsel on Main Street, will, it is maintained, position the town as a key destination in Ireland's Ancient East. The interactive exhibition brings to life the local history and evolution of Irelands world-class bloodstock industry. The museum is a community-led project, working in conjunction with the Fethard Business and Tourism Group, to create a tourist attraction that will drive an increase in visitor numbers to the town. Fethard is well known for its links with thoroughbred horse racing, with nearby Coolmore Stud producing some of the finest horses in the world. Amongst the museums many exhibits will be the skeleton of the legendary Coolmore sire Sadlers Wells, one of the most successful stallions of all time, ranking as Great Britain and Irelands leading sire a record 14 times. The high-spec museum was developed by Event Communications, the designers responsible for The Titanic Belfast, EPIC at the CHQ building and The Guinness Storehouse. The project is supported by Failte Ireland, and received 198k in funding in one of the largest grants made available in the New Ideas in Ancient Spaces Capital Grants Scheme for attractions within the Irelands Ancient East initiative. In addition to Failte Ireland, the project received funding from Tipperary County Council, Leader Programme, the Magnier family and private donors. The trustees of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation awarded a one off grant towards the employment of a Museum Curator to manage the contents of the Fethard Horse Country Experience and the venue as a visitor attraction to ensure the continued celebration of Fethards heritage, helping future generations to understand its history. Jimmy OSullivan, Chairman, Fethard Business and Tourism Group said We are absolutely delighted to officially open the Fethard Horse Country Experience here today. The museum is the culmination of a number of years of hard work from both the local community and our supporters and funders, for which we are extremely grateful. Fethard is the most important medieval small walled town in Ireland and this state-of-the-art visitor attraction enhances Fethards wonderful tapestry, making it an unmissable stop on Irelands Ancient East. Lord Lloyd Webber said the museum "is an extremely welcome addition to Fethard. The town hall has been lovingly restored and it is the perfect canvas to showcase Fethards rich history. Through Kiltinan Castle Stud, my wife and I feel a close affinity to the horse culture which is an intrinsic part of this area and we hope that the museum will play a key role in attracting more people to this beautiful and historically-rich part of Ireland. Minister Kehoe said the new museum will be a fantastic addition to Fethard and should attract significant numbers of visitors to the Tipperary town. Fethards unique equine history will be brought to life in the newly restored Tholsel building and I am sure it will have a very broad appeal, given the huge interest in the bloodstock industry. I would like to warmly congratulate Fethard Business and Tourism Group who have championed this project from the start and have now made it a reality for the benefit of locals, businesses and visitors in Fethard and the wider region. Jenny De Saulles, Head of Irelands Ancient East, Failte Ireland stated that Failte Ireland is delighted to have provided funding of almost 200k to the Fethard Horse Country Experience, through our New Ideas in Ancient Spaces capital grants scheme for attractions within Irelands Ancient East. Fethard and the Fethard Horse Country Experience have a great story to tell and the funding will make sure this story is told to visitors to Irelands Ancient East in a unique and compelling way. With the funding transforming the Tholsel building into a state-of-the-art visitor centre, it will provide a platform to promote Fethard as a significant visitor destination focussing on Medieval Fethard, its long and continued tradition with the horse, and its place in the centre of Irelands horse country. The Fethard Horse Country Experience is open Wednesday to Sunday inclusive from 10:00am to 16:00pm. A special introductory entry cost of 5.00 will run until August 31st 2017, and thereafter entry will cost 7.50, with group and senior citizen discounts available and entry for children under the age of 6 free. For further information on the Fethard Horse Country Experience, please visit http://fhcexperience.ie/ Kabul, May 31 (IBNS): The Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mmaata Banerjee condemned the militant attack in Afghanistan which has claimed 80 lives on Wednesday. Banerjee tweeted: "Saddened at the loss of innocent lives in Afghanistan. Prayers and thoughts with the families #kabulblast." The Congress also condemned the attack. The party said: "We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in #Kabul. Our heart is with everyone in Kabul. Terror will never break the spirit of humanity." At least 80 people were killed in the massive attack that hit Kabul city on Wednesday. The blast took place at around 08 30 am on Wazir Akbar Khan road close to the Zanbaq square- Kabul's high security diplomatic area where the Indian embassy and several other diplomatic missions are located. Al Jazeera quoted police and health official sources as saying that least 80 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the attack. The death toll was expected to rise. A man with strong Thurles links has revealed the true history of the famed song It's a Long Way to Tipperary. Niall O'Dowd, whose family lived in the Cathedral Town for a number of years, tells the history of the song on the Irish Central website. He says "It's perhaps the most famous Irish song of all, though most regard it as a British song, but new evidence shows it is part of both cultures. "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" is universally known, so much so, that German soldiers even used to sing it in translation during the First World War. It sold 6 million copies worldwide at its height. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVM-tFAdADg? But where did the song come from about a British soldier longing for his sweetheart in Tipperary? The song was composed by Englishman Jack Judge in January 1912, two years before the First World War broke out. Judge was a former fishmonger turned producer and he claimed to have written the song overnight. An article in Monday's Financial Times, however, seriously disputes that and proves otherwise. Judge had co-written a song previously called "It's a Long Way to Connemara" about a young Irish lad missing his Connemara sweetheart with a man called Harry Williams, who was confined to a wheelchair after a boyhood accident and who was described by his great niece Meg Pybus as a "sensitive and sickly man." Judge swapped Connemara for Tipperary, where his own grandmother actually came from and sold the publishing rights to Bert Feldman, who created an upbeat marching tune for it. Feldman listed Judge and Williams as co-writers. The song went viral. It sold three million copies in the UK and six million worldwide. Its fame peaked when Count John McCormack, the Pavarotti of his day, recorded it. In 1915 alone the two co-writers earned more than $750,000 in royalties, a fortune for the period. Incredibly, even today the song brings in about $40,000 for the writer's family as the copyright has not run out. The first public mention of the song's immense popularity was when Daily Mail journalist George Curnock reported that a battalion of Connacht Rangers got off the boat in France singing it. The Mail published the words and the rest was history. Young men marching off to war sang it in tandem with another air "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your old Kitbag." www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0wycVPR_nI Judge fell on hard times and sold his half to Williams. Williams donated a large sum to help the wounded from the war. It even became a Snoopy meme as the Peanuts character fancied himself a World War One flying ace. In one cartoon Snoopy is walking so long a distance to Tipperary that he lies down exhausted and notes, "They're right, it is a long way to Tipperary." On a different occasion, Snoopy walks along and begins to sing the song, only to meet a sign that reads, "Tipperary: One Block. The song's most famous appearance is in the best selling play and later powerful anti-war film "Oh What a Lovely War." Meanwhile, Tipperary itself is now known internationally for the Tipperary Peace Prize awarded annually to an international peacemaker. It's a long way from the old Tipperary" says Niall O'Dowd. Tipperary FF TD Jackie Cahill is hosting a public meeting in the Horse and Jockey tomorrow night on the future of Post Offices, and you are invited. Tipperary Fianna Fail TD, Jackie Cahill is calling on those who want to want to protect the future of the countys post office network to attend his public meeting, on Thursday, 1st June at 8pm in the Horse and Jockey Hotel. Joining me on the night will be my partys spokesperson on communications, Timmy Dooley TD and a representative from the Irish Postmasters Union. Additionally, Senator Marc Daly, Fianna Fail Seanad Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs will discuss the challenges rural counties, such as Tipperary, will face as a result of the decision of the UK to leave the European Union. In recent weeks, we have heard that the Government are considering closing up to 300 post offices, some of which could be in Tipperary and Kilkenny. Postmasters feel betrayed that the Bobby Kerr proposals have not been delivered. Many promises were made by the Government to them on how they would support a vibrant post office network. Additional services such as delivering Motor Tax and basic banking services need to be rolled out to ensure that the current model remains sustainable. Post Offices in Tipperary should be used as community hubs with the ability to provide transport, tourism and training services to local people. The Government wants to take the easy option of closing post offices rather than being creative about their future. Increasing the number of services that they have to offer is the key to seeing the network thrive. Fianna Fail recognises that the local post office is the fabric of many communities. The closure of post offices will only add to hardship that rural communities in our county have suffered problem in recent years and must be resisted. Speaking about the challenge of Brexit for rural counties, Deputy Cahill added: Within eight weeks of the decision last week, we saw the closure of the McDonald's mushroom factory, with the loss of 70 jobs, as a result of severe fluctuations in sterling against the Euro. A hard Brexit, as is being planned by the UK Conservative government, will threaten the agri-food industry in Tipperary. A major proportion of our food exports head straight to Britain, or up north. Any attempt to apply tariffs on these products will cripple farmers, and destroy their profit margins. I want to hear the opinions of the people of Tipperary on what they want to see from the Government in terms of enhancing the post office network and protecting Irish jobs potentially affected by Brexit. I would urge everyone with an interest in having their voice heard to attend the meeting on Thursday, June 1st, concluded Cahill. Tipperary student Ella Heeran has been named the winner of the Munster Provincial Bee 2017. The student from Grange National School, Clonmel, fought off stiff competition from several other spelling enthusiasts and will now move forward to compete in the All-Ireland Eason Spelling Bee final in Croke Park on June 20th. The 12-year-old came up trumps in the highly anticipated final, held in the Strand Hotel, Limerick, against contestants from Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare and Limerick. Speaking about her win, the 6th class student said she; is really happy to have won and is looking forward to the All-Ireland final in June. The nationwide competition is part of an overall Eason literacy and reading initiative to encourage and inspire children to develop their spelling and pronunciation skills. Over the years the competition has helped school children gain a greater appreciation of words in a fun and educational way. Brendan Corbett, Group Head of Marketing at Eason, said; Now in its seventh year, weve seen the Spelling Bee record of 1,100 school participants grow from strength to strength over the past number of years and we would encourage everyone to get out there and support their local bees. Were really looking forward to the final and the support from families, classmates and teachers has been fantastic so far. Ella will be joined by other provincial winners from Ulster, Connacht and Leinster to compete for a goodie package full of books worth 500 and the prestigious title of the 2017 Eason Spelling Bee champion. The All-Ireland winning school will also receive a mountain of books for their library to the value of 7,500. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Perhaps it was entirely appropriate that Eileesh Quirke should be called home by her Maker on the weekend of the Padre Pio devotions in Holycross Abbey - her second home. In her 90th year, Eileesh was known throughout mid Tipperary and much further afield for her work in Holycross Abbey and on solemn days of devotion such as last Sunday - a few hours after she had passed to her eternal reward - she would be as busy as a nailer in the Abbey Shop ensuring that Mass cards were ready for those who came, and helping out in any other way she could. Holycross Abbey where Eileesh was part of the furniture. Sunday in Holycross Abbey was indeed a lonelier place and though the multitudes still came to pray and reflect in keeping with tradition, there was a special lady in their thoughts when word became known of her passing. Eileesh, nee Skelly, lived her life in Holycross and that she was laid to rest neath the sod of her native soil on Tuesday is fitting. Indeed, she rests now only a short stones throw from the home she shared so lovingly with her late husband John and her daughter Carmel. In that home, there was always a warm greeting, a beaming smile and a 'cupan tae' in the best Irish tradition, for the casual visitor. There too, you would find great conversation, stories and a deep knowledge of the locality which was as informative as it was interesting. Eileesh was deeply involved in the local community and spent many hours volunteering her varied skills and talents to organisations such as Holycross Drama Group and many others. She was highly talented in the whole area of secretarial work and had organisational skills which were second to none. Perhaps those skills and talents were recognised and honed in the offices of The Tipperary Star, where Eileesh worked for so many years. Indeed, it was while working with this newspaper in Friar Street, that Eileesh came to know so many people who ventured to settle an account, place an ad or indeed arrived in the offices to purchase a copy of the paper. She was efficient, popular, friendly and discreet - the kind of person who was an employer's dream. Eileesh was indeed a great loss to the business when she married John Quirke and when they were blessed with the arrival of their beloved Carmel to whom they were totally devoted. She was overjoyed and though she left The Tipperary Star offices, she never really left the Tipperary Star family. Indeed, she was to take up the pen and act as the Holycross correspondant for many decades afterwards, ensuring that all the parochial highlights made it into print week after week. What a huge contribution she made, right up to the time of her passing. It was a role she took very seriously, one she really enjoyed and, naturally, one at which she excelled. She believed in the importance of the local newspaper, especially at a time when modern technology threatens to overtake the medium completely. Though in failing health for a short time, Eileesh's passing came as a great shock to her neighbours in Holycross and her many friends. It was thought that she would go on forever and the sense of sadness which greeted the news ensured that there was a black cloud over the historic village. Eileesh enjoyed a long, fruitful and fulfilling life; a life full of friendship, devotion and service; a life of happiness, sadness, but with great perspective on both. She trusted totally the God she believed in and did her utmost each day to live his commandments. Eileesh, as she was, when she worked in The Tipperary Star. It was Ascension weekend when Eileesh breathed her last - the weekend which marks the Lord's Ascention into Heaven and the presentation of humanity amongst the Saints. How fitting therefore that she should be called to the gates of Heaven to be welcomed home on such a celebrated time for believers - the pathway had been laid and Eileesh followed The Way. Testimony to the esteem in which Eileesh, Carmel, her late husband John, her brothers Liam, Sean and Thomas, sisters Noreen (McGrath) and Sr Maureen (Presentation Sisters), her brother in law John (McGrath), sisters-in-law Josie (Quirke), Kathleen (Quirke), Peggy (Skelly) and Josephine (Skelly), nephews, nieces and relatives are held, was the huge outpouring of sympathy over the funeral period. They came from far and wide to offer support, sympathy and to pay respects to a lady of substance who wa smuch loved and highly respected.. Sympathy is tendered to Carmel and all the bereaved at this difficult time. The Matriarch of the family has departed, but her influence and memory will live long in the hearts of those who knew and loved her. Another chapter of the story of Holycross people has been completed- a chapter to be celebrated and feted. May Heaven's blanket enshroud her kind and gentle soul and bestow restful peace on a good and faithful servant - Matthew 25:23. Suppliers to Nenagh-bsaed Arrabawn Co-op received some good news this week with the co-op announcing it could be looking at further investment in its plant. CEO Conor Ryan announced at its agm that it had hit its 2020 milk supply targets three years early and embarked on a capacity review with the likelihood of further investment as a resul. Arrabawn employs several hundred at its Nenagh plant, which has under capacity, and, so, any expansion is likely to be good news on the jobs front for Nenagh. After an unprecedented round of investment that has seen capacity grow over 45 per cent in the past four years, the post-quota increase in milk supply has been such that the co-op is now recalibrating its capacity plans to cater for greater supplies again. Addressing the agm in the Abbey Court Hotel last week, Mr Ryan said that milk supply had increased more than was anticipated and that the co-op will have to adjust its capacity plans accordingly. Weve reached our 2020 target capacity in 2017. As we stand at the moment, we have an immediate plan that would give us another 10 per cent headroom but the longer term plan for 2020 needs to be reviewed and we need to ensure we have increased capacity, he said. Mr Ryan said that previously, Arrabawn had expected supply to increase slightly this year but it was increasing faster than anticipated. We need to come up with a concrete plan over the next few months to deal with this. Our Kilconnell site has capacity but our Nenagh site is the one that will need capacity adjustment, he said. The Arrabawn CEO said that it had been a strong start to 2017, in particular on feed, with fertiliser also strong initially and the outlook on both feed and fertiliser prices positive. With regard to milk, year to date we are up 6.4 per cent on milk and running now at 7 per cent plus week on week, he said. The CEO said that the outlook was positive. Overall, EU prices have stabilised, though butter is probably driving it on longer than we expected. Overall with milk prices we would be reasonably confident that current price levels are sustainable over the next few months. Referencing the Bord Bia Sustainability Scheme, the CEO said that 97.7 per cent of Arrbawn suppliers were participating, up from 53 per cent of our suppliers just one year ago. Theres a lot of money involved for the good of the Irish farmer so this scheme is at a critical juncture. The next six months will determine whether its a success and it would be a terrible pity for the sake of 1 per cent not being committed or involved that the other 99 per cent would suffer, he added. [May 31, 2017] Global Menopausal Hot Flashes Market: Top Drivers and Forecasts by Technavio Technavio market research analysts forecast the global menopausal hot flashes market to grow at a CAGR of close to 3% during the forecast period, according to their latest report. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006242/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global menopausal hot flashes market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) The market study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global menopause hot flash market for 2017-2021. The widely-offered treatments include selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), HRT, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free. Technavio analysts highlight the following three market drivers that are contributing to the growth of the global menopausal hot flashes market: Change in lifestyle Rise in disposable income Growing awareness about hygiene Change in lifestyle In recent years, there has been a significant change in the lifestyles of people characterized by unhealthy food habits, consumption of alcohol, and smoking. Smoking has antiestrogen effects in women that can contribute to early menopause. Several studies suggest that women who smoke may start menopause a year or two earlier than women who do not smoke. Women who lead a sedentary life seem to suffer more from hot flashes. "Increasing stress levels may lead to a hormonal imbalance in women. A decline in the hormonal levels can lea to early menopause. Thus, with an increase in the number of menopausal symptoms due to lifestyle changes globally, the demand for menopausal solutions in the market will increase," says Amber Chourasia, a lead analyst at Technavio for health and wellness research. Rise in disposable income The disposable income is increasing globally, especially at a fast rate in some countries on the Pacific Rim, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In 2015, more than 57% of the women were working in the US, creating a financial boost in the overall household income. This enables consumers to spend more on women's health solutions. Furthermore, financial opportunities for women in urban areas have resulted in the shift from rural to urban areas. This significantly brings in a change in lifestyle with an increase in spending on menopausal solutions bought through online and retail outlets. Therefore, an increase in awareness among people about the availability of solutions for vasomotor symptoms in the market along with a rise in disposable income leads to growth in the sales of menopausal products, which can boost the opportunities for manufacturers during the forecast period. Growing awareness about hygiene There is a notable rise in awareness about health and hygiene among women compared with the last decade. Due to increasing globalization and awareness of healthy living, the women's health segment has witnessed substantial growth globally. The increase in awareness can be attributed to several factors such as an increase in education among the female population along with a rise in the number of working women that has led to increased awareness of women's health products and treatments, such as HRT. In South America, the demand for hot flashes solutions has been observed across Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru. The trend can be attributed to an ever-increasing number of working women population and the growing preference for hygiene and convenience products, which are fueling the demand for menopausal symptoms solutions in South America. "Factors such as an increase in the educated female population and the increase in the working female population have led to increased awareness of the benefits of menopausal solutions," says Amber. Browse Related Reports: Global Physiotherapy Market 2017-2021 Aesthetic Market in US 2017-2021 Global Sports Supplement Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like outdoor gear, lab equipment, and agricultural equipment. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006242/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 30, 2017] James Stein, MD, MSc, FACS, FAAP, Named Children's Hospital Los Angeles' Inaugural Chief Medical Officer Following a nationwide search, Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has named James Stein, MD, MSc, FACS, FAAP as the hospital's inaugural senior vice president and chief medical officer, beginning July 1, 2017. Dr. Stein will be responsible for developing care delivery systems that set the bar in all metrics including quality, outcomes and institutional operational and financial performance. He will oversee the Department of Quality and Safety, the Office of Medical Staff and regulatory compliance activities. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006360/en/ James Stein, MD (Photo: Business Wire) "Dr. Stein is an internationally renowned pediatric surgeon and a leader esteemed for championing initiatives that support the delivery of the highest quality patient care across the institution," says Paul S. Viviano, president and chief executive officer of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "His commitment to providing groundbreaking, life-saving care, combined with his extensive management experience, will ensure CHLA continues to be one of the finest pediatric academic medical centers in the country." Since joining CHLA in 1996, Dr. Stein, associate professor of Clinical Surgery at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, has held a variety of leadership roles. He was named vice chair for CHLA's department of Surgery ahead of the institution's successful move into the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion in 2011. Between 2004 and 2005, he served as the interim chief of the division of Pediatric Surgery. Additionally, he led the Division of Pediatric Surgery's efforts to offer outpatient care for families in locatins that are closer to home, particularly in the San Gabriel Valley. Dr. Stein is at home in complex environments. He has served as a lead surgeon in no less than six conjoined twin separation surgeries-of which he led four-procedures that require intense multidisciplinary planning and coordination and meticulous execution. He was part of a CHLA and Keck Medicine of USC team trip to Haiti to separate that nation's first set of conjoined twins with an abdominal fusion, which received international attention. Board-certified in surgery and pediatric surgery, Dr. Stein obtained a bachelor's degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, where he also fulfilled his internship and residency, and ultimately went on to serve as chief surgical resident. He completed three fellowships: a research fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital; a pediatric surgery fellowship at The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia; and a pediatric surgery fellowship at Babies and Children's Hospital in New York. Dr. Stein also obtained a master's degree in health care management from Harvard School of Public Health. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Surgeons and the American Pediatric Surgical Association, and is on the California Children's Hospital Association Quality Leaders. He is a member of the Children's Hospital Association Quality Leaders, and an inaugural board member for the California Hospital Patient Safety Organization and the Hospital Quality Institute. Recently, Dr. Stein was selected to the Quality and Patient Safety Board of the California Children's Hospital Association. He is a past Morris and Mary Press Humanism Award nominee and has been named a Top Doctor by The Hollywood Reporter, Best Doctors in America, U.S. News & World Report magazine, Castle Connolly America's Top Doctors, Pasadena Magazine and Southern California Super Doctors. About Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children's hospital in California and among the top 10 in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children's Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. For more information, visit CHLA.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram, or visit the institution's child health blog (www.WeTreatKidsBetter.org) or its research blog (www.ResearCHLABlog.org). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006360/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Ohio Sues Purdue Pharma over OxyContin's Deadly Impact Supporters of the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act today applauded a lawsuit filed by Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine seeking to hold drug companies accountable for helping create the state's devastating opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of thousands of Ohio residents. But Relief Act supporters also urged Ohioans to "keep their eye on the main prize." "This lawsuit is a step in the right direction but a lot more is needed to curb the drug industry's reckless greed," said Relief Act spokesman Ged Kenslea. "No matter how much these companies get sued, not one executive is going to jail. Big court fines and penalties don't really hurt the drug companies - they just pay them off by raising our drug prices." "The main prize in the fight against these corporate bad citizens is the Relief Act," Kenslea said. "This ballot issue gives Ohio voters the opportunity to finally put the brakes on shameless drug industry price-gouging that is stealing money from Ohio taxpayers, consumers and families. This is a reform that is reasonable and has a track-record of working." The Relief Act, placed on the Nov. 7, 2017 Ohio ballot with the support of nearly 200,000 Ohio residents, is modeled after the federal program that governs the prices the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs pays for drugs. That federal program, in effect since the early 1990s, has uccessfully lowered the drug prices the VA pays. The Act will empower Ohio government agencies that purchase drugs for nearly 4 million residents to get the same discounted prices that the VA gets. Max Cleland, former head of the Veterans Administration and a severely wounded Vietnam veteran, this week endorsed the Relief Act. Cleland is featured in TV ads now running statewide in which the triple amputee talks about the sacrifices military veterans have made for their country while the drug companies only look out for their bottom-line. "The AG's lawsuit underlines what we've been saying - that the drug industry will do anything - including hook our residents on addictive drugs - to make a buck," said Kenslea. "This industry needs to be taught a lesson that Ohio voters won't take any more of this abuse. The Relief Act will do just that." The Columbus Dispatch reported that in 2014 Ohio led all states with 2,106 opioid-related overdoses - accounting for 7.4 percent of the 28,647 deaths reported nationwide that year. You can learn more by visiting ohio4lowerdrugprices.com or the Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices Facebook page. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006412/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Guwahati, May 31 (IBNS): Security forces apprehended a hardcore militant of NSCN (IM) from Assamas Tinsukia district on Tuesday night. Kohima based Defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that based on intelligence input, the Assam Rifles troops under the aegis of DAO division conducted an operation at Ledo town on Tuesday night and nabbed a NSCN (IM) militant identified as Timsay Pongner. The battalions swiftly launched an joint operation and apprehended the militant. Post spot interrogation he admitted allegiance to NSCN(IM), further divulging that he has been associated with the outfit since April 2016 and has been actively supporting the outfit in its activities by carrying out extortion and providing Logistic support. He further informed about his involvement in getting treatment done of a NSCN(IM) cadre who got injured in IFC between NSCN(IM) and NSCN(K) in April 2016 at Phinbero, the Defence PRO said. Security Forces has been carrying out aggressive operations in the South Arunachal Pradesh and this apprehension has struck a blow to the extortion activities being carried out by the underground cadres of the group in the area. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) SynteractHCR Executives Emphasize Clinical Research Expertise by Presenting and Attending June Conferences SynteractHCR, a full-service, international contract research organization (CRO), will attend and exhibit at various biotech and pharma conferences around the globe in June. The conferences include The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2017 Annual Meeting on June 2-6, the Pharmaceutical Contract Management Group (PCMG) Annual Conference 2017 on June 7-9, the Drug Information Association (DIA) 2017 53rd Annual Meeting on June 18-22, the BIO 2017 International Convention on June 19-22, The Development of Medicines: Comparing Research on Young and Older People on June 26, and Outsourcing in Clinical Trials (OCT) U.K & Ireland on June 28-29. ASCO 2017 brings together more than 30,000 oncology professionals from around the world to discuss the latest technologies and therapies in the field of cancer. SynteractHCR's Vice President, Strategic Development Etienne Drouet will be attending the five-day event in Chicago to discuss the latest treatments and the company's experience in oncology and immunotherapy drug development. The SynteractHCR team will then head to Denmark to attend the PCMG Annual Conference, the premier event for clinical development outsourcing professionals. At DIA 2017 in Chicago, SynteractHCR will exhibit in booth #2022. As the longest running event in the life sciences industry, DIA 2017 hosts more than 8,000 professionals in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device communities. SynteractHCR operational leadership and recruitment specialists will be available to discuss the capabilities the CRO brings to the industry and global career opportunities within the company. Mathew Lampshere, senior director of contract services, will present "Best Practice Indemnification Provisions" on Monday, June 19, at 2:30 p.m. at the BIO 2017 International Convention in San Diego. More than 16,000 biotech and pharma professionals are expected to attend the convention, organized by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Dr. Martine Dehlinger-Kremer, global vice president of medical and regulatory affairs, will co-chair the opening session of The Development of Medicines: Comparing Research on Young and Older People on "Ethical & Regulatory Considerations" on Monday, June 26, at 9:05 a.m. The day-long workshop, organized by European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) Children's Medicines & Geriatric Medicines Working Parties, will be held at University College London. SynteractHCR will wrap up its June conference schedule at OCT U.K & Ireland in London. On Wednesday, June 28, at 9:45 a.m., SynteractHCR Director Regulatory Affairs Dr. Ludwig Baumann will present "The New EU Clinical Trials Regulation: As it Becomes the Law in 2018, Are You Prepared for its Impact to Drug Development in the EU?" He will discuss the advantages of the new EU clinical trial regulation and the impact that this will have on sponsors. SynteractHCR will also exhibit during the conference at booth #19. Attendees interested in meeting with the SynteractHCR team at these events may contact Chief Commercial Officer Matt Smith at 760-268-8200 or [email protected]. Visit SynteractHCR's full schedule of events and follow its social channels on LinkedIn and Twitter for live updates during all conferences. About SynteractHCR SynteractHCR is a full-service contract research organization with a successful two-decade track record supporting biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical companies in all phases of clinical development. SynteractHCR has conducted Phase I-IV studies on six continents and 60 countries, offering expertise across multiple therapeutic areas, with notable depth in oncology, immunotherapy, CNS, infectious disease, endocrinology, cardiovascular and respiratory, among other indications. With its "Shared Work - Shared Vision" philosophy, SynteractHCR provides customized services collaboratively and cost effectively, ensuring on-time delivery of quality data to help bring tomorrow's treatments to patients. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005574/en/ [May 30, 2017] Eubiotics Market expected to reach USD 9.4 billion by 2025 NEW YORK, May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlights The global eubiotics market is expected to reach USD 9.4 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing meat consumption coupled with rising awareness regarding meat quality is expected to drive global eubiotics market growth. Fodder and water shortage, decreasing grazing lands has put pressure on livestock farmers to optimize feed utilization. The global eubiotics market worth is expected to be 9.4 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2017 to 2025 Solid form dominated the form segment and was valued at USD 2.9 billion in 2016. Liquid form is expected to grow at an anticipated CAGR of 8.0% over the next eight years The U.S. market worth for eubiotics used in poultry end use was USD 264.6 million in 2016. Rising demand for poultry meat and eggs, demand for high quality meat and concerns over antibiotics have resulted in an increased preference for usage in poulty The global eubiotics market is expected to reach USD 9.4 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing meat consumption coupled with rising awareness regarding meat qality is expected to drive global eubiotics market growth. iotics influence the gut microflora and confer health benefits on the host. They maintain a correct balance of the microbial activity in the gastrointestinal tract of animals. This results in benefits such as enhanced nutrient absorption, better immunity and increase in overall performance. Such advantages are expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period. Probiotics emerged as the largest product segment in 2016 and was valued at USD 2.5 billion in 2016. Broad product portfolio, rising awareness and efficacy in animal feed usage are the major attributed reasons for this scenario Gut health dominated the application segment in 2016 and is expected to grow at an anticipated CAGR of 8.2% from 2017 to 2025. Eubiotics efficiency in treating gut related disorders and search for viable alternative to antibiotics are expected to drive market growth. Immunity is expected to observe the fastest growth among applications. Fodder and water shortage, decreasing grazing lands has put pressure on livestock farmers to optimize feed utilization. Eubiotics cater to this demand by enhancing feed utilization, and increasing yield in comparatively less feed. Such trends are expected to fuel market growth over the next eight years. Further key findings from the report suggest: The global eubiotics market worth is expected to be 9.4 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2017 to 2025 Solid form dominated the form segment and was valued at USD 2.9 billion in 2016. Liquid form is expected to grow at an anticipated CAGR of 8.0% over the next eight years The U.S. market worth for eubiotics used in poultry end use was USD 264.6 million in 2016. Rising demand for poultry meat and eggs, demand for high quality meat and concerns over antibiotics have resulted in an increased preference for usage in poultry end use. Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth rate over the next eight years. Strong demand from countries such as China and India , growing meat consumption in the region and rising concerns over antibiotics usage is expected to fuel market growth About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eubiotics-market-expected-to-reach-usd-94-billion-by-2025-300465880.html SOURCE Reportlinker [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 30, 2017] 9 States Fight Distracted Driving Epidemic with Tougher Laws in 2017 As auto accidents and fatalities increase on America's roads, 9 states enacted laws and three states have legislation on the governor's desk to combat distracted driving by strengthening enforcement, increasing penalties and fines, and focusing on education and awareness efforts - particularly for teens, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI (News - Alert)). This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006417/en/ 2017 Legislation: Distracted Driving "Even though most states have put in place laws that restrict texting while driving, more action is needed to address distracted driving and the sharp spike in crashes and traffic fatalities that have occurred over the past few years," said Robert Passmore, PCI assistant vice president for personal lines policy. "While there is no single answer to addressing the problem of distracted driving, the new laws passed in 2017 are important because finding the solution to this epidemic involves enacting stronger laws, increasing enforcement, raising public awareness and creating a culture of personal responsibility. This is the roadmap to safer roads and fewer distracted driving accidents, injuries, and deaths." The states enacting laws in 2017 against distracted driving are taking a variety of approaches to the problem. Iowa and Washington have enacted two of the strongest laws against distracted driving in 2017. Iowa's law moves from secondary to primary enforcement of the state's texting ban law. Now police won't need to wait to witness another driving infraction before they can pull over a teting driver. "Laws in Washington and Arkansas broke new ground by expanding the definition of distracted driving to include many more dangerous behaviors that drivers engage in such as using Facebook (News - Alert), Instagram, YouTube and even Netflix," said Passmore. "We need to make sure our laws are keeping up with the new behaviors that are making our roads deadlier." Texas was one of a handful of states without a ban on texting, but the Legislature recently sent a bill to Governor Abbot that would establish a statewide texting ban with primary enforcement. The bill would make the offense a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $99 for a first time offense or $200 for repeat offenders. If the Texas bill is signed 43 states and the District of Columbia will have primary enforcement of texting bans leaving only Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota with either secondary enforcement or no texting law. Arkansas, District of Columbia, North Dakota and Washington are cracking down by increasing fines for distracted driving. In Arkansas fines for texting will now be up to $250 for a first-time offender and $500 for a repeat offender. Additionally, fines will double if a driver involved in a crash is texting. Colorado also has legislation on the governor's desk that increases penalties for texting while driving from $50 to $300. These fines reflect the seriousness of the violation. Protecting teen drivers was the focus of legislation approved in Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Vermont. Arizona banned teenagers with a learner's permit from driving while using a wireless communication device, Oklahoma mandated all driver education courses to include education regarding the dangers of texting while driving while Tennessee and Vermont passed laws to prohibit the use of handheld devices in school zones. The Vermont legislation is awaiting the governor's signature. Virginia also took action to further the educational activities of DRIVE SMART Virginia. Drivers will be able to make contributions to DRIVE SMART Virginia Education Fund through their EZ Pass electronic toll collection account. The funds will be used to educate the public on issues related to safe driving, distracted road users, and other issues. "The 14 percent increase in traffic fatalities over the past two years - the largest two year increase in more than 50 years - highlights the importance of motorists, policymakers, and insurers working together to avoid unsafe driving behaviors and strengthen distracted driving laws," said Passmore. "The tougher laws and awareness efforts passed this year are part of that effort to curb distracted driving and reverse the disturbing and dangerous trends on our highways and neighborhood streets." Click here to learn about the new distracted driving laws approved and enacted in 2017. PCI is composed of nearly 1,000 member companies, representing the broadest cross section of insurers of any national trade association. PCI members write more than $183 billion in annual premium, 35 percent of the nation's property casualty insurance. Member companies write 42 percent of the U.S. automobile insurance market, 27 percent of the homeowners market, 32 percent of the commercial property and liability market and 34 percent of the private workers compensation market. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006417/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 30, 2017] London Tech Week: Europe's Largest Festival of Technology to Showcase Very Best of Tech in London LONDON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor of London Sadiq Khan declares London Is Open to global tech The latest innovations in drones, artificial Intelligence, and robots will feature as part of a packed events programme for London Tech Week 2017, which will take place across London next month (12th-16th June). (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517433/London_Tech_Week.jpg ) Attendees will have the opportunity to attend a host of events including a concert with the award winning composer Hans Zimmer, the Drone Racing League (DRL) Season Finale and The Europas, which will welcome 1,000 European start-ups to the capital. A short film has been created, spreading the message that London is Open to technology talent, investment and innovation. The film shows London is at the forefront of innovation, featuring scenes including a driverless 'POD', Robots in the workplace and even The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, taking the first roboselfie. The video is available here: The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan commented "London is Europe's leading technology hub. Our talent, diversity, entrepreneurial spirit and global connections put us at the heart of digital technology. London Tech Week will be a fantastic opportunity to show that London is open to collaboration, innovation and ideas that could hange the way that all Londoners live and experience the city." London is home to over 46,000 technology businesses, contributing 240,000 jobs for the city's economy[1]. Since the EU referendum, London-based tech companies have received over 1billion in venture capital investment[2]. Zoe Osmond, Festival Director for London Tech Week said: "With a wide range of events to appeal to different audiences, London Tech Week will bring together investors, entrepreneurs, policy makers and business leaders to experience London's strengths in innovation and creativity." Throughout the week, over 40,000 visitors will hear from tech, business and political leaders including the Rt. Hon Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO WPP and Nicola Mendelsohn, VP EMEA at Facebook. Some events to look out for include: Festival Concert with Hans Zimmer : Hans Zimmer , world-renowned film composer, will play at SSE Wembley Arena. Hans has produced many classics, including the Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Gladiator, Inception and The Dark Knight. Buy tickets here. , world-renowned film composer, will play at SSE Wembley Arena. Hans has produced many classics, including the Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Gladiator, Inception and The Dark Knight. Buy tickets here. Drone Racing League Season Finale : The Allianz 2017 World Championship Race will be the UK's first professional drone race, taking place at Alexandra Palace. Buy tickets here. : The Allianz 2017 World Championship Race will be the UK's first professional drone race, taking place at Alexandra Palace. Buy tickets here. Rise of the Robots, organised by Worldpay : Daren Pickering from Worldpay's Technology Innovation team will talk about the impact robots are having on fintech and how AI is shaping our future. Read more here. : from Worldpay's Technology Innovation team will talk about the impact robots are having on fintech and how AI is shaping our future. Read more here. The Tech Off: Soundclash 2017!: A rogue's gallery of 8 music-tech artists, entrepreneurs and innovators will go head to head in a battle of ideas. The winner will take away The Soundclash Belt Of Music Tech Glory. Read more here. A rogue's gallery of 8 music-tech artists, entrepreneurs and innovators will go head to head in a battle of ideas. The winner will take away The Soundclash Belt Of Music Tech Glory. Read more here. LeadersIn Tech Summit: Ronan Harris (MD Google UK & Ireland ), Sir Martin Sorrell (CEO WPP), Kristo Kaarman (CEO TransferWise), and Nicholas Cary (Co-Founder Blockchain.com), will discuss the opportunities of London's tech ecosystem. Read more here. (MD Google UK & ), Sir (CEO WPP), Kristo Kaarman (CEO TransferWise), and (Co-Founder Blockchain.com), will discuss the opportunities of tech ecosystem. Read more here. Can you code like a 3 year old? Organised by EdTech company Primo Toys, this event will test your tech skills with fun programming challenges with Cubetto, the coding toy for kids. Read more here. Organised by EdTech company Primo Toys, this event will test your tech skills with fun programming challenges with Cubetto, the coding toy for kids. Read more here. The Europas in association with London Tech Week: 1,000 of Europe's key influencers in tech are attending the conference and awards ceremony. Read more here. Notes to editors References [1] Oxford Economics research. October 2016. [2] PitchBook Data. Sourced by London & Partners. March 2016 Video The Smart London is Open video can be viewed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3uZsXt4BgI&feature=youtu.be [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 30, 2017] ZOOMPASS INVESTOR ALERT: Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses Exceeding $50,000 Investing In Zoompass Holdings, Inc. To Contact The Firm Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential securities fraud at Zoompass Holdings, Inc. ("Zoompass" or the "Company") (OTC:ZPAS). The investigation focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by engaging in a potentially illegal stock promoting scheme. Specifically, on May 25, 2017, an article published on Seeking Alpha made reference to a Company's press release published on May 9, 2017, to allege that the Company is currently engaging in a pump-and-dump scheme. The Seeking Alpha article claims that the Company's stock price increased exponentially for no apparent reason until May 9, 2017 during which Company allegedly paid $2 million Sargon Finance SA in order to promote he stock. On this news, Zoompass's share price fell from $3.64 per share on May 9, 2017 to a closing price of $1.97 on May 12, 2017-a $1.67 or a 45.9% drop. If you invested in Zoompass stock or options and would like to discuss your legal rights, click here: www.faruqilaw.com/ZPAS. There is no cost or obligation to you. You can also contact us by calling Richard Gonnello toll free at 877-247-4292 or at 212-983-9330 or by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006419/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 30, 2017] SpaceX Confirms Falcon 9 First-Stage Landing Attempt on Land during Upcoming CRS-11 Mission; Central Florida Residents May Experience Sonic Boom Today, SpaceX (News - Alert) confirmed that the company is targeting the launch of CRS-11 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The instantaneous launch window is on Thursday, June 1, at 5:55 p.m. EDT. If needed, a backup instantaneous launch window is on Saturday, June 3, at 5:07 p.m. EDT. In addition to the primary mission of delivering critical supplies and payloads to the International Space Station, SpaceX is attempting the secondary mission of landing the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on land at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Landing Zone 1. SpaceX has landed a first stage booster at Landing Zone 1 four times prior to this mission. SpaceX has successfully recovered Falcon 9 first stages from six missions at sea using the company's Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships. Landing Zone 1 is built on the former site of Space Launch Complex 13, a U.S. Air Force rocket and missile testing range. As with the return of the first stage from the CRS-10 mission, there is the possiility that residents of Brevard, Orange (News - Alert), Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing attempt. Residents of Brevard County are most likely to hear a sonic boom, although what residents' experience will depend on weather conditions and other factors. A sonic boom is a brief thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other vehicle flies overhead faster than the speed of sound. Residents may wish to follow the company's launch webcast for real time information concerning Thursday's launch. The webcast will be available at SpaceX.com/webcast beginning at approximately 5:35 p.m. EDT on June 1. About SpaceX SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches the world's most advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to revolutionize space transportation, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Today, SpaceX is advancing the boundaries of space technology through its Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX is a private company owned by management and employees, with minority investments from Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Valor Equity Partners, Google (News - Alert) and Fidelity. The company has more than 5,000 employees in California, Texas, Washington, D.C., Washington State and Florida. For more information, visit www.spacex.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006439/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 30, 2017] Fireswirl announces 2017 Q1 financial results VANCOUVER, May 30, 2017 /CNW/ - Fireswirl Technologies Inc. (TSXV: FSW), "the Company", today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. All figures are quoted in Canadian dollars. Financial statements and accompanying MD&A are available on SEDAR. Financial Highlights for Q1: On February 3, 2017 , the Company entered into a share purchase agreement, pursuant to which the Company has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 60% equity interest in AMZON (HK) Limited ("AMZON") for a total of HK$7.2 million (approximately $1.2 million ) in three payment dates. The closing date is each of the first, second and third payment date. On March 16, 2017 , the Company completed the first payment in the amount of HK$4.8 million (approximately $823,560 ) and acquired 40% of the equity interest in AMZON (the "First Payment Date"). , the Company entered into a share purchase agreement, pursuant to which the Company has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 60% equity interest in AMZON (HK) Limited ("AMZON") for a total of (approximately ) in three payment dates. The closing date is each of the first, second and third payment date. On , the Company completed the first payment in the amount of (approximately ) and acquired 40% of the equity interest in AMZON (the "First Payment Date"). For the three months ended March 31, 2017 ("Q1 2017"), total operating revenue from continuing operations was $16,018 compared to $70,271 for the same period in 2016 ("Q1 2016"). ("Q1 2017"), total operating revenue from continuing operations was compared to for the same period in 2016 ("Q1 2016"). Net loss from continuing operations was $496,281 in Q1 2017 compared to a net loss of $389,106 for the same period in 2016. The Company had a total loss attributable to common shareholders of the Company of $2,301,578 compared to a net loss of $768,581 for the same period in 2016. "The management team is very excited about the future direction as we build on the success of AMZON." Stated Lawrence Ng, CEO, "We will look towards expansion in new markets in Asia and North America." About Fireswirl and AMZON Fireswirl Technologies Inc. (TSXV: FSW) is focused on creating transactional revenue by engineering electronic and mobile commerce solutions for content providers. The Company's technology has broad applications for solutions requiring multiple payment interfaces, multicurrency and multi-language capabilities. Our solutions can be adapted to any industry seeking high volume or micro-payment solutions involving a wide base of users through internet or wireless applications. AMZON is one of the leading multimedia solution providers in Hong Kong. With its strong technological base, we have established long term business relationships with multi-billion enterprises such as Mass Transit Railway Corporation ("MTRC"), New World Development Company Limited ("New World Group") and China Overseas Holding Ltd. ("COHL"). AMZON has been deploying creative multimedia solutions for clients in sales & marketing as well as corporate and brand communication. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release. This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Fireswirl Technologies Inc. with respect to its performance, business and future events. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, those relating to changes in the market, potential downturns in economic conditions, foreign exchange fluctuations, general demand, competition and our ability to implement our business plans and strategies in a timely manner or at all. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Fireswirl Technologies Inc. does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements. SOURCE Fireswirl Technologies Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] TUV Rheinland acquires 2MC, strengthening its GRC Consulting capabilities and global leadership position helping customers manage their cyber-business risk The 2MC acquisition builds on TUV Rheinland's strong heritage addressing challenges at the intersection between man, technology, and the environment. COLOGNE, Germany, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TUV Rheinland today announced it has acquired 2MC, a recognized leader in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) consulting with operations in the UK, Middle East, and Africa, including in-depth RSA Archer Suite technology expertise. The acquisition expands TUV Rheinland's capabilities to enable organizations to master risk and compliance as they undergo Digital Transformation, and reinforces its position as global leader in RSA Archer professional services. TUV Rheinland customers will benefit from 2MC's expertise in cyber risk management, threat management, vulnerability management, incident management, business continuity management, compliance management, and GRC automation. 2MC customers will gain access to TUV Rheinland expertise in Digital Transformation and the deep portfolio of Mastering Risk & Compliance, Advanced Cyber Defenses and Secure Cloud Adoption services. "We are thrilled to welcome the 2MC team to the TUV Rheinland family," said Frank Luzsicza, Executive Vice President, ICT & Business Solutions, TUV Rheinland Group. "This acquisition unifies two organizations whose culture and value put the customer first to provide the highest quality advice and support to safely and securely make the transition to digital. In this time of disruptive technology change, and the increasing sophistication of cybercrime, it also highlights our continued commitment to building a team of the best talent in the industry." "2MC has been on a tremendous journey, and we're proud of the company we've built. This is unquestionably the right time for us to join TUV Rheinland and accelerate our success. We share very similar values in providing high-quality GRC consulting services, as well as increasing the international scope of the business to meet the needs of our global customers. We're looking forward to this exciting new chapter for both companies," said Mark Winchcomb, who will continue as CEO and lead 2MC's UK, Middle East, and Africa operations. About TUV Rheinland TUV Rheinland is a global leader in independent inspection services, founded more than 140 years ago. The group maintains a worldwide presence with 19,600 employees; annual turnover is nearly EUR 2.0 billion. About the business stream ICT & Business Solutions For more than 15 years, TUV Rheinland has been supporting the private and public sector with comprehensive consulting and solution expertise in IT, cyber security and telecommunications through digital transformation processes. Core business areas include IT services and cyber security, telecommunications solutions and HR services, management consulting, data center services and R&D management. With more than 600 specialists around the world, TUV Rheinland provides strategic consulting, design and process optimization through to implementation, operation, and certification of systems. A high level of technological expertise, comprehensive experience in key industries and strategic partnerships with market leaders enable them to create innovative and future-proof ICT solutions. TUV Rheinland is currently the largest independent service provider that combines ICT competency with comprehensive expertise regarding the industry and mobility, and whose core business has been to provide technical security to people and the environment around the world for more than 140 years. More information is available online at www.tuv.com/informationsecurity SOURCE TUV Rheinland Singapore Pte Ltd [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Snapask announces US$5M Pre-A Series to Fund Business Expansion into SEA HONG KONG, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Snapask, a Hong Kong based edtech startup has raised US$5M (HK$39M) in Pre-Series A venture funding to expand its mobile education business into Southeast Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom. By applying artificial intelligence techniques to its on demand education services, Snapask has doubled its user base since Q4 of 2016, reaching 300,000 users across Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Snapask aims to become the first global edtech company by 2020. Kejora Ventures, backed by the Charoen Pokphand Family, Mr. Cai Wensheng, Chariman of Meitu, and Welight Capital, founded by former Tencent executives, participated in this funding round. This brings total funding at Snapask to US$8M, including seed funding from Singapore Press Holdings and Plug & Play. "Currently we are focusing on expanding into Southeast Asian markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. We hope to provide our service to the 4,000,000 student population in the SEA region within Q2, and to that of Australia and the United Kingdom in Q3. When developing a new market, we insist on recruiting a local team as they understand their local market best. The fresh capital will therefore be used primarily on local talent acquisition," explained Timothy Yu, Founder and CEO of Snapask. The 3 parties represent spport from China's startup sector, technology sector and SEA business sector respectively. Their confidence in Snapask's Southeast Asia markets stems from the combined population of 645 million and a strong demand for education support. Kejora Ventures Founding Partner Sebastian Togelang explained that beyond providing funding and mentorship, Kejora will offer local, on-the-ground market entry expertise. Mr. Wu Xiaoguang, co-founder of Welight Capital, former SVP at Tencent, expressed that the passion and spirit of the Snapask team was a strong reason for investment. He believes that Snapask's ability to adapt and create is key to success in a competitive market, and looks forward to a new era of digital learning at Snapask with the application of machine learning techniques. Snapask Founded in 2015, Snapask is an education technology company that applies artificial intelligence, and cloud services to make education more effective, personalized, and accessible to everyone. Snapask started out initially with our flagship "Question & Answer" (Q&A) platform, which allows students to obtain instant homework help from our tutors. Our range of products have since expanded to include the "Quizzes" feature, a platform that digitizes academic content, which our students can access for free. Currently, there are over 17,000 qualified tutors on Snapask, seeking to help close to 300,000 students across Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Vision and Mission: http://snapa.sk/2rCNSeL Kejora Ventures Kejora invests and guides passionate founders in building successful and high-growth tech companies. Providing entrepreneurs with the right network of strategic partners and resources, Kejora, focusing on Pre-A series funding, enables startups to scale in a rapid pace throughout Southeast Asia. Mr. Cai Wensheng Mr. Cai Wensheng, Chairman of Meitu Inc., is an entrepreneur and renowned investor in the Internet and technology industry in China. He established 265.com Inc. (sold to Google in 2007) in August 2004. Mr. Cai has invested in over 19 technology start-ups to date, including Meitu Inc., 58.com Inc., and Feiyu Technology International. Welight Capital Co-Founded by Chief Technology Officer Mr. Tony Zhang and the former senior vice president and chief executive of e-commerce for Tencent Mr. Wu Xiaoguang in 2015. The VC currently focuses on angel investing and has supported 30 start-ups, 4 of which come from Hong Kong, including travel booking platform Klook. Press Enquiries: Ingrid Chung Phone: +852 6287 3287 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Snapask [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] PEA Starts Rolling Thailand Lighting Fair 2017 Road Show in Indonesia BANGKOK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand's Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), Messe Frankfurt and The Exhibiz Co. Ltd. kicked off the 1st International Road show and panel discussion on Smart Technology for Smart City Safe City in Indonesia. The road show is one of the activities to promote Thailand Lighting Fair 2017, the third consecutive trade fair that will take place on 16-18 November 2017 at BITEC, Thailand. In addition to its flagship lighting technology, the 2017 edition will incorporate a building technology zone to follow Messe Frankfurt's world-class Light+Building series and run concurrently with Secutech Thailand 2017 under the main theme "Smart City Safe City." Siribhusaya Ungphakorn, Minister Counsellor (Commercial) at the office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy, inaugurated the panel discussion saying that the Royal Thai Government has earmarked 27.9 billion baht of investment for 2017-21 in four digital areas: commerce, entrepreneurship, innovation and content and has announced plans to move Thailand towards a new economy model under "Thailand 4.0", which focuses primarily on ten business sectors. "The Indonesia road show is designed to open the gate for economic ties and collaboration between Thailand and Indonesia and generate interest in the new opportunities that will arise through Thailand's exhibition platform," Siribhusaya said. Payomsarit Sripattananon, Deputy Director of Alternative Energy Encouragement and Efficiency Department of the PEA said that ASEAN energy trends are all pointing towards the smart city ideal. PEA have developed series of technology infrastructures that provide a solid foundation for smart city development, for example, the PEA smart grid seamlessly connects the electricity system with the information technology and the communications systems, while the PEA smart meters will optimise the power system operation to be more efficient, safe and reliable. Pakwan Jiamjiroj, General Manager of The Exhibiz Co Ltd, said the event is expected to have 700 exhibitors and over 15,000 visitors from over 40 countries. The road show begins in Indonesia and will then proceed to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, all of which have demonstrated strong economic growth and rising demands for new technology. Running alongside the shows are ASEAN Smart City Conference 2017 and ASEAN Architecture & Lighting Design Conference 2017, together with a series of international conferences, seminars, workshops and certificate courses by industry speakers from Thailand and overseas. For more information and free registration, please visit www.thailandlightingfair.com or contact Mr. Kittithat Chanasabaeng (Lex), The Exhibiz Co Ltd at Tel: +662 664 6499 ext. 200 and 212 Fax: +662-664-6477 email: [email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170531/1864334-1 SOURCE The Exhibiz Co. Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Kolkata, May 31 (IBNS): Pushing for the the reforms in the fees structure of private schools, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern over the exorbitant amount of money claimed as donation and fees, in a meeting with the respective authorities, according to media reports on Wednesday. Banerjee, who met the authorities of private hospitals some time back, on Wednesday called upon administrators of several private schools to discuss regarding the complaints received by her government. Banerjee expressed clear dissatisfaction over the huge sum of money claimed by the schools as donations or fees, though acknowledged the kind of education provided by them. Apart from the fees structure, the WB CM expressed her dissatisfaction over telecasting the political lectures of politicians and also favoured the mandatory study of Bengali as any of three languages. The West Bengal government earlier announced that any school of the state across all boards will have to teach Bengali and students would have to opt for Bengali as on one of the three languages. Banerjee even formed a self regulating body where representatives from the government will also be present to keep an eye on the fees structure of the schools and modify it. Formerly, the CM met the authorities of the private hospitals and lashed at them for the huge medical cost imposed by them on the patient's family. [May 31, 2017] WISeKey Launches New IIoT Chip with Embedded Cryptographic RoT and Machine Learning Capabilities WISeKey International Holding Ltd ("WISeKey") (SIX:WIHN) announced today the launch of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) chip embedded with cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) and problem-solving Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions as part of its Vertical Platform. WISeKey's IoT cybersecurity Vertical Platform allows IoT devices to organize themselves into trusted networks based on mutual authentication, identity and integrity. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006301/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) This new technology enables IoT connected devices which can provide a recognized identity and a valid integrity report to communicate with peer devices within the community. This new capability will enable authenticated sensor data. Currently, most IoT devices are not built with embedded secure systems, which makes these devices vulnerable to exploits. By integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the IoT hardware and platform, objects connected to the Vertical Platform can develop their own cybersecurity behavior and make smarter and safer decisions. Objects secured with these IIoT chips produce a huge amount of Big Data that when analyzed with AI can help industrial applications to predict the failure of their equipment before it happens. The WISeKey platform allows the IoT device equipped with these chips to send authenticated data to the cloud using a dual factor authentication at the device level. Imagine a smartcard sending authenticated data of each component of the car to predict when these parts will require maintenance and to digitally sign all the logs required to prove that service was provided. This platform which can be used in different industrial applications allows optimized productivity across industries through predictive maintenance on equipment and machinery, creates truly smart homes with connected appliances and provides critical communication between devices including self-driving cars and smart homes. The possibilities that IoT brings to the table are endless. WISeKey's technology creates a platform that helps connected devices to become intelligent devices that can learn from attacks, defend themselves, and transfer this intelligence to other evices in the network. Additionally, WISeKey's technology provides smaller IoT manufacturers that do not have the resources or expertise to perform thorough security analysis of their products will the ability to adopt this platform, reducing the number of unprotected products that are released to consumers. Carlos Moreira, founder and chief executive of WISeKey, said: "This new platform opens up many possibilities for improving the overall security functionalities and creating new business processes by taking advantage of the world of digital identification at the object level, which once combined with Big Data allows us to gather and process all available information and generate actionable insights." Mr. Moreira added, "We call this new technology Trust of a Chip (ToC), which offers a full integration of several key security elements on the chip instead of installing and testing these security elements separately on the device. This integration reduces the size of the chip, lowers the cost and increases the level of security as no one can externally access and manipulate the integrity of these chips. "The ability to authenticate and remotely manage millions of networked, automated devices and equipment is becoming pervasive - from factory floors, to hospital operating rooms, to residential homes - including billions of objects and devices from refrigerators, watches, wearables to wine bottles - everything that can connect and communicate via the Internet." The IoT security market is expected to grow from $6.89 billion in 2015 to nearly $29 billion by 2020 according to a report published by Markets and Markets, thus growing at an annual rate of 35%. These massively deployed connected objects are facing regular attacks hence generating a large need for trusted end-to-end cybersecurity solutions. This problem is affecting billions of people and IoT devices worldwide, and manufactures of these devices could be forced or incentivized to spend money to make their devices secure, as regulators might impose liabilities on them. About WISeKey WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems with a patented process. WISeKey's Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust ("RoT") provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com. To receive WISeKey's latest news, subscribe to our Newsletter or visit the WISeKey Investors Corner. Disclaimer: This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006301/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Vivo's New Flagship Smartphone V5s Enables Perfect Selfies in Low-Light Environments SHENZHEN, China, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading smartphone manufacturer Vivo will launch its latest flagship mobile smartphone, the V5s, a new member of the V series of devices today. The V5s continues Vivo's record of delivering phones that provide users with "Perfect Selfies" with an advanced 20MP front camera and optimized Selfie Softlight feature as well as 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM. "Our focus group shows that users tend to take selfies in their everyday life," explained Alex Feng, Global Vice President at Vivo. "The V5s is a ground-breaking smartphone that aids users' pursuit of the perfect selfie in low-light environments and fulfills their desire to beautify portraits with natural effects." - High-quality images with 20MP front camera The V5s uses a 20MP front camera to take selfie technology to the next level with exquisite clarity and vivid, natural colors. The new selfie function also supports bokeh effects to deliver crystal-clear portrait focus and artistic background blurring. - Smooth photgraphy experience with advanced hardware configuration The V5s is powered by an octa-core CPU, with 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM (expandable to 256GB with a microSD card). This powerful hardware configuration, together with the updated Funtouch OS 3.0 operating system (based on Android 6.0), guarantees a smoother selfie and photography experience. - Perfect selfies under low ambient light with Selfie Softlight The optimized Selfie Softlight creates lighting effects that are comparable to professional photography studios. The function captures radiant complexions even in low-light conditions. In addition, Vivo's Face Beauty 6.0 function allows users to beautify selfies with one click. - Creative Group Selfie and 52MP Ultra HD photos Dedicated to cutting-edge smart phone photography technology, V5s also introduces the Group Selfie feature to capture every smile in a group shot without squeezing in or missing anyone. Meanwhile, the 52MP Ultra HD photo feature shoots multiple frames in quick succession and creates remarkable 52MP photos with more detail and less noise. Other features of the V5s include: 0.2s fingerprint unlocking speed Sleek unibody design AK4376 Hi-Fi audio chip "By launching the brand new V5s, Vivo heralds a new era of photography in the mobile phone industry," noted Feng. "It continues to offer users gorgeous selfies and an enjoyable user experience by upgrading our photography technologies as well as introducing new features." For more information about the Vivo V5s, please visit: www.vivo.com The V5s will be available in matte black, crown gold and rose gold. It will land in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines in May. About Vivo A young global smartphone brand focusing on introducing perfect sound quality and ultimate photography with cutting-edge technology, Vivo develops dynamic and stylish products for passionate young people. The company ranks among the top 5 smartphone brands worldwide according to IDC's Q4 2016 report. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170531/1836341-6 SOURCE Vivo [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] KamaGames Marks the 7th Anniversary of its Flagship Title Pokerist With Continued Strong Global Growth DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global developers and publishers of social casino games for mobile platforms the KamaGames Group, today announced another very successful year as they begin the company's 7th Anniversary celebrations. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517630/KamaGames_Anniversary.jpg ) In a year that has seen overall growth across the industry, as well as new entrants into the space, KamaGames has continued to grow through a combination of strategic partnerships, a strong recruitment drive, the launch of several new products and the expansion into a number of emerging markets. Daniel Kashti, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer at KamaGames said "It's been a great year in a very competitive landscape and to see 40%+ growth in revenue year on year is great testament to the quality of our portfolio and everyone's hard work on daily basis. Pokerist, which is now marking its 7th anniversary, continues to show growth and is performing extremely well in terms of keeping existing and new players engaged and excited through its constant evolution. We are very proud of what we have achieved this year but we wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of our partners and of course our millions of players around the world. As we look to the next 12 months, we are going to continue to provide the most ealistic, exciting and fairest gaming experience through boosting our gaming offering by deepening the playing experience of our current games as well as introducing new games and new gaming experiences on new and emerging technology platforms. We are positive that players are going to be as passionate about our new titles being launched later this year as they are with Pokerist, Blackjackist, Roulettist and Baccarist". 2016/17 also saw the announcement of a number of key partnerships for KamaGames such as Viber, the expansion of existing partnerships such as with Tango Messaging Service, and the relaunch of the existing titles on the Amazon and Samsung Smart TV platforms. As well as strong economic growth across the KamaGames group, the company's portfolio of titles have also seen considerable growth over the past 12 months. An increase in the number of new players joining the KamaGames tables has contributed to the number of chips played doubling from last year. There was also an increase of over 740 million additional hands of poker be played compared to 2016. The number of average concurrent players also grew by an impressive 30% helped largely be the introduction of 2 new titles, Baccarist and Omaha, and the addition of a host of new features across the portfolio including Pro Tables, Leader boards, unlockable achievements and the hugely popular tournaments that now sees around 500,000 players taking part every month. Looking to the next 12 months, KamaGames will begin its next phase of global growth which will see a focus on growing the existing install base in Asia via establishing a stronger presence in the region and forging partnerships with key distributors in South East Asia and India. As well as a significant portfolio wide update coming in the next few weeks, several new titles are expected to launch before the end of the year as well as further details being announced on new platform technology such as VR, AR and HTML 5. To learn more about KamaGames and its portfolio of titles visit http://www.KamaGames.com, like us on Facebook (/kamagames) or follow us on Twitter (/kamagames). To try Pokerist for free, click on this link: http://pokerist.com/b88 To try Roulettist for free, click on this link: http://pokerist.com/5a9 To try Blackjackist for free, click on this link: http://pokerist.com/cb7 To try Baccarist for free, click on this link: http://pokerist.com/c50 SOURCE KamaGames [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] 2017 SyScan360 Information Security Conference Held in Seattle SEATTLE, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The article written by a reporter from Guangming Online is as follows: The 2017 SyScan360 Information Security Conference was hosted by Qihoo 360, China's largest Internet security company, in Seattle, the US, from May 30 to 31. Representatives from global tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Intel, McAfee and Pangoo participated in the conference and delivered speeches covering several fields of security including vulnerabilities research. Many impressive research achievements were made public for the first time. SyScan (The Symposium on Security for Asia Networks) has been one of the most prestigious Internet information security events since first inaugurated in 2004. It has been presented as SyScan360 since SyScan has joined Qihoo360, China's largest Internet security company. This was the first time for the event to be held in the US. The conference,which represents the highest level in global security vulnerability research, attracted high attention from global industry insiders. Though tickets of the event were expensive, people from 18 famous institutions like MIT, Boeing, HP, NVIDIA and GE bought the tickets, and researchers from five countries including India and Japan bought training courses at an average price of $6,000 per person. This change reflects the fact that Chinese Internet security researchers have made remarkable progress and even surpassed foreign researchers in some vertical fields in recent years. Chinese Internet security companies like Qihoo 360 are already able to keep pace with top foreign companies. Twenty speakers from Microsoft, Google, McAfee and Qihoo 360 shared their latest, industry-leading research achievements, covering Microsoft Office vulnerabilities, the Internet of Things, internal system security, monitoring via breaking subtitles vulnerabilities, iOS vulnerabilities, Android vulnerabilities attack, QEMU, breaking vulnerabilities through math, Google vulnerabilities, Machine learning and breaking vulnerabilities via symbols. This SyScan360 conference was a grand get-together for leading Internet security experts to compare notes and share experiences. It's not difficult to find out that Chinese technicians assumed a leading role through demonstrating their professional skills at training sessions, keynote speeches as well as experience sharing at the conference. They are showcasing China power in Internet security. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2017-syscan360-information-security-conference-held-in-seattle-300466032.html SOURCE PRNEWSWIRE/PRNA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Global Gesture Recognition for Mobile Devices Market Projected to Showcase a CAGR of 61% Through 2021: Technavio Technavio analysts forecast the global gesture recognition for mobile devices market to grow to USD 6,647.46 million by 2021, at a CAGR of more than 61% over the forecast period, according to their latest report. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006181/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global gesture recognition for mobile devices market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) The research study by Technavio on the global gesture recognition for mobile devices market for 2017-2021 provides a detailed industry analysis based on the technology (2D gesture recognition and 3D gesture recognition), product (smartphones, portable PCs, and tablets), and geography (APAC, the Americas, and EMEA). Gesture recognition involves the generation and capture of an individual's gesture using a camera. This technology has reduced the effort required for interaction with devices and has increased the user experience of smartphones, remotes, and other electronic devices. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free. Technavio analysts highlight the following three factors that are contributing to the growth of the global gesture recognition for mobile devices market: Processor (News - Alert) manufacturers incorporating gesture recognition Growth in the consumer electronics market Emergence of gestures as new medium of communication with machines Processor manufacturers incorporating gesture recognition Leading processor manufacturers such as Qualcomm (News - Alert), Microchip, and Texas Instruments have been focusing on the development of new processors that support gesture recognition technology. Processor manufacturers are also engaging in collaborations with gesture recognition companies to facilitate the smoother integration of gesture recognition technology in their processors. "With the advent of technologies such as Intel's (News - Alert) RealSense, gesture recognition is likely to penetrate into smartphones, tablets, and other devices during the forecast period," says Chetan Mohan, a lead analyst at Technavio for human-machine interface research. Growth in the consumer electronics market The growing demand for devices such as smartphones, tablets, and gaming consoles is paving the way for numerous technological advances, increased functionalities, and decreased prices. Smartphones are witnessing impressive growth rates despite market saturation. There is a huge potential for smartphone sales in India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, and other emerging economies. Tablets and laptops also have a substantial share in the market due to the rising tech requirements of consumers. The consumers often opt for devices which are integrated with advanced technologies such as gesture recognition, thereby boosting the market growth. Emergence of gestures as new medium of communication with machines "Innovative technologies in PCs is very attractive to the users, and gesture recognition is one of those technologies that has gained acceptance not only in PCs but also in mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and portable PCs," says Chetan. When combined with augmented reality (AR), gesture recognition technology proves to be highly useful for graphic designers, artists, engineers, and other parties that are involved in designing. The combination of AR and gesture recognition not only facilitates better 3D visualization of designs but also eases the interaction between 3D computer designs and designers. Browse Related Reports: Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like lighting, semiconductor equipment, and sensors. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, resellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006181/en/ [May 31, 2017] Frontier Services Group Updates on Its Security Division; Acquires Stake in Beijing's International Security and Defense College HONG KONG, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontier Services Group Limited ("FSG" or the "Company") (SEHK: 00500), a leading security, insurance and logistics services company, today updates clients and shareholders on developments within its market-leading Safety & Security division. This includes an outline of FSG's security strategy, as well as announcing that the Company has reached an agreement to acquire 25% of the International Security and Defense College (ISDC) in Beijing. The ISDC will be the largest private security training school in China. World-Class Security Solutions FSG's Safety & Security division supports clients operating in frontier markets. The Company provides world class security solutions to the highest international standards, compliant with all local laws and regulations. FSG has put together an elite multi-national global risk mitigation and rapid emergency response team, which offers a full suite of services, including: Conducting advance on-site risk assessments that include facility security planning and routine on-site security audit reviews Vetting, management and integration of local accredited and certified guard forces Establishing security governance, standards and procedures, and emergency plans Training courses covering Risk Assessments, Security Management, Self-defense, Cultural Awareness, Health and Safety, Crisis Management and Kdnap Awareness and Avoidance Communications, medical and life support facilities Mobile and convoy security Close protection operations FSG understands that in frontier markets companies need integrated solutions that protect every element of their business. Combining security, logistics and insurance under one offering enables FSG to deliver comprehensive tailored solutions ensuring the success of client projects. ISDC Acquisition FSG will utilize the ISDC facility to provide world-class training courses at the highest international standards. Training will incorporate lessons learned from our own experiences in the field and realistic scenarios to fully prepare clients for situations they may encounter. Courses will be tailored to the client's needs and the geography of their projects overseas. Some of these customized courses will include: Crisis Management Planning, Security Management; Achieving Process Safety, Security Risk Assessments; Basic Close Protection Officers Course, Personal Protection Specialist Certification, Medical Training for Non-medical Personnel, First Responders Tactical Medical Training, Defensive Driving / Counter Carjacking and Cultural Awareness. All courses have been developed by professionals who have experience applying their skills to real-world situations and the facility will offer participants practical applications for their training. The center will be the most complete private security training school in China. ISDC was established in 2011 and its training base covers an area of land of 233,450 square meters. Commenting on the investment, Erik Prince, FSG Executive Chairman, said, "For many in the region this is the first time that they are being faced with the unique challenges posed by operating in frontier markets. It is therefore vital that there is a local facility that can help companies better prepare their workforce for operating across One Belt One Road Regions in Asia and Africa. FSG's mission is to provide the best possible logistics and security services to ensure that our clients can operate safely in hostile terrains." About Frontier Services Group Frontier Services Group Limited ("FSG") (SEHK: 00500) is a publicly listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with its headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Dubai, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. FSG supports businesses operating in frontier markets overcome complex security, logistics and operational challenges. From Asia to Africa, FSG helps transport and protect your people, goods and equipment across air, sea and ground. SOURCE Frontier Services Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Electronic Contract Manufacturing and Design Services Market Worth $639.9 Billion By 2025: Grand View Research, Inc. SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global electronic contract manufacturing and design services market is expected to reach USD 639.9 Billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The competitive nature of the electronics industry, increasing complexity of electronic products, increased pressure on original equipment manufacturers for reducing costs, and decreased product lifecycles have increased the demand for better manufacturing capabilities and their related services. To achieve the same, OEMs are seeking support from contract manufacturers. (Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371361LOGO ) OEMs subcontract EMS companies and benefit from their expertise in design, manufacturing, and supply chain management. Outsourced manufacturing model enables OEMs to leverage resources, reduce costs, access the leading manufacturing technologies, reduce investments in fixed capital, and adapt to the market demand. Additionally, it also aids in retaining the overall control responsibilities and in-house activities such as customer service, integration of network solutions, product cost management, customer interactions, quality assurance, order management, and new product introduction. All the above mentioned factors are expected to drive the electronic contract manufacturing services market over the forecast period. Electronic contract manufacturing services market is projected to witness high growth across non-technical segments, such as medical, aerospace & defense, and automotive, over the forecast period, owing to low penetration rates and high growth opportunities (over the next few years) in these sectors. The surging need for optimizing resources is the primary reason that is expected to drive the growth of the electronic contract manufacturing services market over the next nine years. Browse full research report with TOC on "Electronic Contract Manufacturing and Design Services Market Analysis By Service (Designing, Assembly, Manufacturing), By End-use (Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace, Telecom), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2015 - 2025" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/the-global-electronic-contract-manufacturing-services-market Further key findings from the report suggest: The global electronic contract manufacturing services and design market is expected to witness a CAGR exceeding 7% from 2017 to 2025, owing to the rising need for resource optimization Electronics manufacturing services accounted for the highest market share in 2016; however, electronics design & engineering services are projected to witness high growth over the forecast period Electronic contract manufacturing services in the IT & telecom segment held the highest revenue in 2016. However, non-technical segments, such as healthcare, automotive, and aerospace & defense, are expected to witness noteworthy growth over the forecast period, owing to the rising outsourcing trends in these industries The Asia Pacific region accounted over 40% of the overall revenue share in 2016 and is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period region accounted over 40% of the overall revenue share in 2016 and is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period Foxconn, FLEX, Jabil Circuit., Sanmina-SCI, Venture Corporation, Benchmark, among others were a few key players that captured a significant market share in 2016 Browse related reports by Grand View Research: Video Streaming Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/video-streaming-market Video Conferencing Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/video-conferencing-market Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/wireless-mesh-network-wmn-market 3D Animation Software Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/3d-animation-software-market Grand View Research has segmented the global electronic contract manufacturing and design services market based on services, end-uses, and regions: Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2015 - 2025) Electronic design & engineering Electronics assembly Electronic manufacturing Others End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2015 - 2025) Healthcare Automotive Industrial Aerospace & defense IT & Telecom Power & Energy Consumer Electronics Others Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2015 - 2025) North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK Asia Pacific China India Japan South America Brazil Middle East & Africa Read Our Blog: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/technology About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Anexinet Unveils New Mobile Customer Self-Service Platform; Mobile Apps Developed to Substantially Increase Customer Lifetime Value PHILADELPHIA, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anexinet Corporation, a leading provider of digital, analytics and hybrid IT solutions, today announced its Mobile Customer Self-Service (MCSS) development platform. The new offering gives organizations the ability to become more customer-centric through a feature-rich mobile app tailored to enhance their customers experiences. The Anexinet-developed apps provide high-value, self-service functions on mobile devices, proven to increase customer loyalty and acquisition while reducing retention costs. For more MCSS information, please view our podcast: http://bit.ly/2qtEoB5 Anexinet Customer Experience Platform A photo accompanying this announcement is available at //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9611c52d-2818-4bf5-9de2-aaf0db2416fd Key benefits of Anexinets MCSS development platform include: Increased customer lifetime value (CLTV) by supporting simple repeat buying, reducing Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), and automating frequent customer service issue resolution. Increased customer loyalty as measured by key influencers such as Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Scores. Anexinet understands that mobile app development can be challenging for many organizations, due to a lack of internal mobile expertise as well as concerns about the costs and timeline of custom development. The company helps alleviate these concerns by leveraging their unique Customer Experience Platform (CXP) as a foundation within the MCSS development. The CXP leverages a variety of components such as feature templates, authentication, secure offline data, device feature access, embedded analytics and cognitive services. The net result is a more intelligent and engaging mobile app with content and features that differentiate any business. Mobile customer experiences are table stakes in todays ultra-competitive business landscape. The key to differentiation is providing a superior design and feature set that empowers customers to help themselves, said Steve Tranchida, VP Digital Solutions. Anexinets Mobile Customer Self-Service solutions are transformative because we start with our Customer Experience Platform (CXP) as a foundation. This enables more compelling features in a shorter timeframe, which can be specifically tailored to financial, healthcare, professional services or any other customer-served mobile app need. Common interaction through Anexinets mobile applications include service or order history, intelligent notifications, account and billing status checks, digital payment, customer support, and preferences management among many other functions. For more details on the new Mobile Customer Self-Service offering, please contact Brian Zeiger at [email protected] or 484-534-3669. About Anexinet Anexinet (www.anexinet.com) specializes in digital business transformation. We empower our clients to grow their customer base and improve workforce efficiency by envisioning, developing, and operating next generation technology solutions. Our core expertise is in digital applications, analytics, and hybrid IT, enabling businesses to rapidly transform. Partner with Anexinet to support the full lifecycle of your next generation digital business. For more information, contact: Betsey Rogers Public Relations BridgeView Marketing 603-886-7087 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] EventTracker CEO to Present 'Honeynets - A Great Tool in Your Arsenal' at Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference COLUMBIA, Md., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EventTracker, a leader in security information and event management (SIEM), today announced that CEO A. N. Ananth will present on the importance of honeynet deception technology in protecting credit unions against the modern cyberthreat landscape at the Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference, June 14-16, San Diego. Like many businesses, credit unions incur steep losses in reestablishing member safety following a data breach, whether online or otherwise. On average, credit unions in 2014 spent $136,000 on data security measures and $226,000 in costs associated with merchant data breaches, according to the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions. A honeynet is a collection of honeypots - virtualized decoys that mimic desktops, servers, printers and other network technology set up to invite attack to study threat actors behavior. These decoy networks can help defray this cost and number of data breachesby providing valuable intelligence about malicious activity being brought against a credit unions network. Given the thousands of cyberattacks on computer networks worldwide every year, this capability has become an ever more salient weapon in defending against threats. In 2016 alone, networks experienced 1,935 breaches and 42,068 security incidents, according to the 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. Ananths presentation, Honeynets A Great Tool in Your Arsenal, will explore how honeynets work and best practices for implementing them to protect networks from attacks. The session will also highlight many security experts belief that properly deployed honeynets deliver eormous value for a small amount of up-front effort. Ananth will join fellow information security experts and credit union decision makers at this boutique conference for two days of insightful industry conversation on protecting credit union assetsand their valued members data. See the full details on his session below. Who: A. N. Ananth As the co-founder and CEO of EventTracker, Ananth was one of the architects of the EventTracker SIEM solution. With an extensive background in product development and operations for telecom network management, he has consulted for many companies on their compliance strategy, audit policy and automated reporting processes. Ananth is a leading expert in IT compliance with 25+ years of experience in IT control and operations and speaks frequently on these topics. What: Honeynets A Great Tool in Your Arsenal session, Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference When: Wednesday, June 14, 2017, 2-2:30 p.m. PT Where: Coast Ballroom, The Wyndham Bayside San Diego, 1355 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, California Conference website: https://cuseccon.com/ Tweet This: EventTracker (@LogTalk) CEO to talk #honeynet deception tech for #creditunions at @CUSecCon http://bit.ly/2rAKAbK Resources About EventTracker HoneyNet EventTracker YouTube EventTracker Case Studies About EventTracker EventTrackers advanced security solutions protect enterprises and small businesses from data breaches and insider fraud, and streamline regulatory compliance. The companys EventTracker platform comprises SIEM, vulnerability scanning, intrusion detection, behavior analytics, a honeynet deception network and other defense in-depth capabilities within a single management platform. The company complements its state-of-the-art technology with 24x7 managed services from its global security operations center (SOC) to ensure its customers achieve desired outcomessafer networks, better endpoint security, earlier detection of intrusion, and relevant and specific threat intelligence. The company serves the retail, hospitality, healthcare, legal, banking and financial services, utilities and government sectors. EventTracker is a division of Netsurion, a leader in remotely-managed IT security services that protect multi-location businesses information, payment systems and on-premise public and private Wi-Fi networks. www.eventtracker.com. Twitter: @LogTalk. CONTACT: EventTracker Deb Montner, Montner Tech PR (203) 226-9290 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] KaloBios CEO to Present at Two Upcoming Investor Conferences BRISBANE, Calif., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC:KBIO), a biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing medicines for patients with neglected and rare diseases, announced today that Cameron Durrant, MD, chairman and CEO, will present a company overview at two investor conferences in early June. Details of the presentations follow: Primary Capital, The Investor Conference Date: Sunday, June 4, 2017 Location: The Resort at Pelican Hill, Newport Beach, Calif. 7th Annual LD Micro Invitational In addition, senior management will hold one-on-one meetings at the conferences. To schedule a meeting, contact MZ Group at [email protected]. About KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC:KBIO) is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing medicines for patients with neglected and rare diseases through innovative and responsible business models. Lead compounds in the KaloBios portfolio are benznidazole for the potential treatment of Chagas disease in the U.S., and the proprietary monoclonal antibodies, lenzilumab and ifabotuzumab. Lenzilumab has potential for treatment of various rare diseases, including hematologic cancers such as chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) and potentially juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). For more information, visit www.kalobios.com. On May 21, 2017, seven cadres of the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), were killed in an exchange of fire between two of its own factions in the Keredari area of Hazaribagh District. Three of the slain cadres were identified as TPC 'zonal commander' Sagar Ganzu, 'area commander' Manish Mahato and 'commander' Jhonson. One severed head recovered from the spot is yet to be identified. The remaining three bodies were taken away by the rebels. The Police team recovered some empty cartridges, Naxal [Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)] uniforms, a blood-stained carpet and other items from the spot. Bhimsen Tuti, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), North Chhotanagpur Division, disclosed that the group fought following a dispute on the sharing of money extorted from construction companies. On April 17, 2017, a villager, Shiv Nath Yadav (55), and his son, Guddu Yadav (28), were killed by over 20 armed CPI-Maoist cadres at village Kulheya under Harihurganj Police Station in Palamu District. The two were suspected by CPI-Maoist cadres to be TPC supporters. On March 24, 2017, three TPC cadres were killed in an internecine clash at Seeta Chuan under the Mohammadganj Police Station in Palamau District. One of the dead was identified as 'zonal commander' Ajay Yadav, carried a reward of INR 500,000 on his head. The other two were identified as 'area commanders' Krishna Kharwar and Ravindra Mahto. Police recovered one AK-47 rifle, one INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifle, one semi automatic rifle, one .303 rifle, along with 630 live bullets, 23 magazines, 11 cell phones, several Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), 50 meters of Codex wire, and six back packs. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), out of a total of 15 LWEs killed during the current year, at least 13 were killed in fratricidal incidents (data till May 28, 2017). During the corresponding period of 2016, out of a total of 14 LWEs killed, at least six deaths occurred in such incidents. Through 2016, fratricidal incidents were responsible for 18 out of a total of 40 LWE cadre deaths. Indeed, since 2010 in Jharkhand fratricidal killings have been a major trend. Out of a total of 309 LWE fatalities, at least 133 were killed in such incidents, a staggering 43.04 per cent. More worryingly, the number of such killings witnessed a surge in 2016, even as the overall percentage also increased - accounting for 29.72 per cent in 2015, 45.0 per cent in 2016, and 86.66 per cent in 2017 (data till May 28). These internecine clashes have also affected the overall LWE situation in the State. According to the SATP database, there were a total of 35 deaths [18 civilians, two Security Force (SF) personnel, and 15 LWEs] in LWE-violence related deaths in the current year, as compared to 33 (nine civilians, seven SF personnel, and 17 LWEs) during the corresponding period of the previous year. Overall fatalities in such violence stood at 81 (31 civilians, 10 SF personnel, and 40 LWEs) through 2016, as compared to 58 (16 civilians, five SF personnel, and 37 LWEs) in 2015, an increase of 39.65 per cent. Significantly, civilian fatalities, which had declined considerably from 48 in 2014 to an all time low of 16 in 2015, almost doubled and at 31 in 2016. During the first four months and 26 days of the current year, the State has already recorded 18 civilian deaths in such violence. Significantly, splinter groups of the CPI-Maoist have been responsible for the larger proportion of this increase, rather than the parent formation. While all 16 civilians' fatalities were inflicted by CPI-Maoist cadres in 2015, splinter groups were responsible for 18 of 31 civilian deaths recorded in 2016, while 13 were killed by CPI-Maoist cadres. In the current year, splinter groups have already killed five of the 18 civilian victims of such violence. Moreover, out of 18 major incidents (each involving three or more killings) of civilian killings recorded in the State since 2010, splinter groups have been responsible for at least seven. The most prominent among those included: September 26, 2016: Three persons were killed and four were injured when People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI, a CPI-Maoist splinter) cadres, opened random fire at a gathering in a village in Khunti District. March 17, 2016: At least four persons working on a road construction site were killed allegedly by PLFI cadres in a village under the Basia Police Station limits of Gumla District. November 3, 2014: Suspected PLFI cadres gunned down seven persons, reportedly members of Shanti Sena, a local outfit formed to maintain peace and brotherhood in Gumla District. May 16, 2011: Four persons of a family were killed by PLFI cadres at Dakeya village in Okba panchayat (village level local self government institution) under Basia Police Station in Gumla District. The PLFI cadres tied their hands and took them to Karisokra Forest where their throats were slit. There are around 19 LWE groups operating in the State, including CPI-Maoist, PLFI, TPC, Tritiya Prastuti Committee-1 (TPC-1), a breakaway group of TPC, Jharkhand Janmukti Parishad (JJMP), Jharkhand Sangharsh Jan Mukti Morcha (JSJMM), and Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC). PLFI is among the largest splinter groups of CPI-Maoist in Jharkhand. A group of dissidents claimed that the Maoists were unfair to cadres, and had parted ways to form the PLFI in 2006. Likewise, TPC was formed in 2002 after a number of CPI-Maoist cadres had walked out of their parent outfit complaining of the domination of the Yadav caste in the decision-making process of CPI-Maoist. Among all these splinter groups PLFI is the biggest threat. Indeed, subsequent to the encounter on November 29, 2016, in which the founder and chief of PLFI, Dinesh Gope, was injured on Pangur-Bintuka road in Simdega District, Superintendent of Police (SP), Rajiv Ranjan Singh, on December 1, 2016, observed, "PLFI is one among the last LWE groups active in the region and theTuesday (November 29, 2016) encounter comes as a huge blow to their morale here (in Simdega)." At a time when LWE violence in the State is witnessing a surge, with the major group, CPI-Maoist, also escalating activities, the menace of splinter groups and the resultant turf-war are alarming. Meanwhile, in a major blow to the CPI-Maoist, on May 14, 2017, the group's Jharkhand 'regional committee secretary', Kundan Pahan, surrendered before the Police in Ranchi District. Pahan carried a reward of INR 1.5 million on his head and was facing a total of 128 cases. State Chief Minister Raghubar Das called for more sharing of intelligence among LWE-affected States at the meeting between the Centre and the States affected by Left-Wing Extremism in New Delhi on May 8, 2017. Detailing the challenges before Jharkhand, Das further noted that the Government had mounted pressure on the Maoists and their splinter proliferating splinters. This is an objective that must be sustained with continuous operational pressures to ensure that Jharkhand, for along among the worst LWE afflicted States, does not see a resurgence of Maoist violence and the vicious trend of extortion and criminality by proliferating splinter formations. [May 31, 2017] Teq Announces Second Ed Tech in Focus After Highly Successful New Jersey SMART Board and Chromebook PD Event Huntington Station, NY, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teq (http://www.teq.com) will hold a second Ed Tech in Focus, a free event where New Jersey educators will learn strategies for pairing SMART Boards and Chromebooks to enable student success. Following the success of the first Ed Tech in Focus on May 5th, Teq will once again pair with Fortune 500 company CDW-G and the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey (ESCNJ). The PD event is hosted by Gloucester Township Public Schools, and all New Jersey public and private schools are invited to attend. The event will be held on June 22nd at the Ann A. Mullen Middle School in Sicklerville, NJ, and is expected to host over 80 teachers and administrators from New Jersey schools. Attendees will participate in five unique professional development (PD) sessions exploring hw to leverage Chromebooks in the classroom by combining them with SMART software including SMART amp, SMART Notebook, SMART lab, and SMART iQ Technology, as well as introduce attendees new STEAM solutions, and Teq Online and Onsite PD. Sessions will be hosted by Teq's team of PD Specialists, all of whom are state-certified educators. On hand again will be former Superintendent and Teq Chief Learning Officer, Robert-Wayne Harris. "After the tremendous success of our first Ed Tech Conference in Piscataway, NJ, we believe that this is a great way for school district administrators and decision makers to preview our state-of-the-art classroom technology," said Robert. "Here, they can discuss the benefits the technology has on teaching and learning, and have their questions and concerns addressed in real time by Teq Professional Development Specialists who can speak directly to the integration of our hardware and software in the classroom. Space at the Ed Tech in Focus event is limited. To see how SMART and Chromebooks work together to create new levels of engagement, collaboration, and teamwork, register for Ed Tech in Focus at http://www.teq.com/eventsignup/. About Teq Teq supports outcomes by evaluating and delivering products and services for the educational environment. To learn more about Teq, visit www.teq.com. Nina Sclafani Marketing Communications Specialist Teq [email protected] 877-455-9369 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator Launches Energize California with $5 Million Grant from the California Energy Commission The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) today announced the launch of Energize California, a new initiative to strengthen the region's clean energy economy by supporting the industry ecosystem and helping entrepreneurs access the business and technical services necessary to successfully bring new technologies to market. Funded through a six-year, $5 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC), Energize California is part of the CEC's statewide initiative to meet increasing demand for innovation in the energy sector as more renewable resources are deployed. Energize California will serve as the central coordinating organization for the clean energy sector in the region and will convene industry leaders to support new technologies and entrepreneurs in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange (News - Alert) Counties. "You never know where the next great clean energy idea will come from," said Energy Commission Chair Robert Weisenmiller, "but having a centralized program like Energize California, where innovators can easily network with academia, industry, business and professional development resources, greatly enhances the chances of that happening here in Southern California." The Energize California Innovators program will help qualified clean energy entrepreneurs accelerate product commercialization and market entry by providing access to mentors, pilot programs, testing and prototyping facilities, as well as opportunities to connect with industry thought-leaders, funding sources and strategic partners. "Southern California has long been a center of innovation, but entrepreneurs in the energy industry have struggled to locate and connect with the resources and networks neeed to commercialize their products," said Amanda Sabicer, LACI Vice President of Energize California. "Now, for the first time through the Energize California Innovators program, an entrepreneur in Santa Barbara can access a technology pilot, a networking meeting, or a mentor relationship in Irvine and vice versa." Energize California has partnered with government, regulators, private industry, researchers, energy customers, utilities, investors, nonprofits, and community organizations to identify regional energy needs and help funnel early-stage energy technology solutions into the local region, especially into disadvantaged communities. In addition to the CEC and LACI, Energize California's partners include: the County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, Southern California Edison, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Sustain OC, the Community Environmental Council, the California State University System, the LA Business Technology Center, Cleantech Open, FLoW, and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. To apply for the Energize California Innovators program or to connect with Southern California's energy community, please visit the Energize California website at www.energize-ca.org or email [email protected]. About Energize California Energize California is the hub for energy innovation in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties. Launched in 2017 as an initiative of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) with funding from the California Energy Commission (News - Alert), Energize California accelerates clean energy development by convening and connecting the energy industry, and by supporting energy entrepreneurs and startups through its Innovators program. Energize California's goal is to create a regional ecosystem that supports new, clean energy innovation in order to improve the grid system, encourage an inclusive energy economy, and ultimately benefit all energy users in California. To learn more, visit www.energize-ca.org and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at @EnergizeCal. About LACI The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) is a non-profit, public-private partnership that helps promising companies deliver market-ready cleantech solutions and the jobs that come with them. LACI combines capital, universities, research, government support, entrepreneurs, corporate partners, and business leaders in order to drive innovation throughout the regional, state, and global economy. Recognized as one of the most innovative business incubators in the world by UBI, in just five years LACI has helped 65+ companies raise $130M+ in funding, create 1,500 jobs, and deliver more than $335M in long-term economic value. For additional information, please visit: http://www.laci.org Follow LACI on Twitter @LACIncubator Follow LACI on Facebook (News - Alert) at www.facebook.com/LACIncubator Follow LACI on LinkedIn (News - Alert) at www.linkedin.com/company/los-angeles-cleantech-incubator View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005384/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] New Pain Reliever Alternative to Opioids and Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Available in Pacific Herbs' Corydalis Natural Pain Relief Pacific Herbs, an Oregon wellness company, intends to stem the opioid addiction crisis and our reliance upon unhealthy over-the-counter pain relievers like Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen with its Chinese-herb product Corydalis Natural Pain Relief, which just received a coveted AMA code. Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist Cathy Margolin developed a comprehensive line of health products from Chinese herbs that treat everything from anxiety and sleep challenges to women's issues. Her formulation based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and specifically designed for pain is Corydalis Natural Pain Relief, which is a mixture of corydalis root and other TCM herbs, including turmeric. The synergistic combination of these herbs is especially beneficial when pain is mixed with inflammation, such as back pain or chronic or acute orthopedic pain, as it blocks pain receptors in the brain. Margolin says, "I'm concerned about our opioid crisis that just prompted the United States Senate to introduce SB 1079, Protecting Americans From Dangerous Opioids Act. SB 1079 lists findings that opioids killed over 33,000 people in the United States in 2015. We need safer alternatives for managing pain." Additionally, there is growing evidence that non-prescription medications like Advil and Tylenol, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), have serious side effects. Long-term use of acetaminophen can cause liver damage and this drug is one of few over-the-counter products with a black box warning. Corydalis Natural Pain Relief can be helpful for many types of pain and can be safely consumed long-term without creating other harmful side effects. Studies from the University of California, Irvine have confirmed that this plant root can be effective in managing low to moderate chronic pain, as it has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine. Turmeric, one of the herbs in Corydalis Natural Pain Relief, is cited as a welcome alternative to traditional drugs for its anti-inflammatory properties. The formulation of this product is granular which allows quick absorption in the body. In addition to its healing properties, Pacific Herbs' Corydalis Natural Pain Relief is recently distinguished by its American Medical Association (AMA)-approved billing code, rendering it an insurable item for many individuals, which is extremely rare for a nutraceutical product. For additional information on pharmacies that carry the product or to order it online, go to www.pacherbs.com. About Pacific Herbs: Cathy Margolin is a Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist, a Diplomate of Oriental Medicine and founder of Pacific Herbs, an herbal wellness company based in Bend, Oregon. She has dedicated her life to bringing the benefits of Chinese herbs and Traditional Chinese Medicine to Western audiences. Margolin may be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 877-818-9990. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005570/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Median Technologies to Attend the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, June 2-6, 2017, McCormick Place of Chicago, IL, USA Regulatory News: Median Technologies (Paris:ALMDT), the Imaging Phenomics Company, announced today that it will be exhibiting at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, June 2-6 at the McCormick Place, Chicago, IL, USA (exhibition dates: June 3-6). Median Technologies will share and showcase its offering for imaging solutions and services in clinical trials, featuring both its iBiopsy [1] platform and its Lesion Management Solution (LMS) imaging platform, at booth #7113. For the first time at an oncology conference, Median will present its iBiopsy platform. iBiopsy, or Imaging Biomarker Phenotyping System, is a groundbreaking imaging platform that combines non-invasive image biomarkers with phenomics. This unique combination of science and technology is at the very core of precision medicine because it can provide insights into development of novel therapies and individualized treatment strategies. Remarkably, iBiopsy can measure disease and treatment response without an invasive and costly biopsy. The ASCO Annual Meeting is the world's premier oncology conference, organized by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the largest oncology society in the world. Each year, the ASCO conference brings together more than35,000 oncologists from all around the globe, and is attended by all medical, educational and industrial stakeholders involved in the field of oncology worldwide. More about the ASCO Annual Meeting: https://am.asco.org/ About Median Technologies: Median Technologies provides innovative imaging solutions and services to advance healthcare for everyone. We leverage the power of Imaging Phenomics to provide insights into novel therapies and treatment strategies. Our unique solutions, LMS for lesion management and iBiopsy for imaging phenotyping, together with our global team of experts, are advancing the development of new drugs and diagnostic tools to monitor disease and assess response to therapy. Median Technologies supports biopharmaceutical sponsors and healthcare professionals around the world to quickly and precisely bring new treatments to patients in need, with an eye on reducing overall care costs. This is how we are helping to create a healthier world. Founded in 2002, based in Sophia-Antipolis, France, with a US subsidiary in Boston, Median has received the label "Innovative company" by the BPI and is listed on Euronext Paris' Alternext market (ISIN: FR0011049824, ticker: ALMDT). The company is eligible for the PEA-PME SME equity savings plan setup and has received the label Pass French Tech Promotion 2016-2017. Median Technologies has been awarded the 2017 Tech 40 Label and has joined the EnterNext Tech 40 Index. Median is a member of the Bpifrance Excellence Network. More information: www.mediantechnologies.com 1 iBiopsy is an Investigation Device; Limited to United States law to investigational use. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005887/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Jack Welch Management Institute Hosts Second Annual Graduation Ceremony The Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI) hosted its second annual graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 20, 2017. Over 850 people gathered to celebrate 175 graduates and alumni. Since becoming part of Strayer University in 2012, JWMI has quickly grown, graduating over 700 working professionals. The school currently has over 1,500 students enrolled. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006085/en/ "Our student-centered educational model celebrates each and every individual success. We are here to win and to improve the lives of those we lead. The students graduating today are charged with that mission." said Jack Welch, Founder and Executive Chairman of JWMI while addressing graduates, alumni and their families. "We are thrilled to see our graduates filled with more self-confidence and energy to take on just about any challenge. They carry a healthy optimism about the future and their role in it." Welch personally shook hands with every student as they crossed the stage. In addition to recognizing JWMI graduates, Welch awarded president and CEO of Discovery Communications, David Zaslav, with an honorary MBA for his commitment to growing leaders in business and media. "David represents all we teach every day in our school: setting a mission, defining where you want to go, putting principles like candor into place and getting the job done," said Welch. On stage with Welch, Zaslav remarked that "Life is about mentors, they define you. Learning from others, personal connections, and a powerful idea is all it takes to spark an ember." "It is amazing to see the excitement and confidence in each one of you," Welch added. Welch's advice to the graduates: "I challenge you to make work fun." Recentl named one of the Top 25 Online MBA Programs for 2017 by the Princeton Review and the number one most influential education brand on LinkedIn (News - Alert), the Jack Welch Management Institute offers an online MBA program that is specifically designed to help solve today's leadership skills crisis in the workforce. The school's most recent Net Promoter Score is 81, on par with the best customer service organizations in the world. To learn more about the Jack Welch Management Institute, visit http://www.jwmi.com or follow @JackWelchMBA on Twitter. ***MEDIA NOTE: To speak with Jack Welch, please contact Rachel Richelieu (202) 557-4920 [email protected] About The Jack Welch Management Institute The core mission of the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University is to transform the lives of students by providing them with the tools they need to become better leaders, build great teams, and help their organizations win. For more information, please visit http://www.jwmi.com. About Strayer University Strayer University has been in operation since 1892, and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (267-284-5000). The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The University offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration, accounting, economics, information systems, information technology, human resource management, education, health services administration, public administration, management and criminal justice to working adult students. The University includes [email protected], which serves corporate clients by delivering the next generation of performance improvement and workforce development. Strayer University also offers an executive MBA online through its Jack Welch Management Institute. For more information, visit www.strayer.edu or call 1-888-4-STRAYER (888-478-7293). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006085/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] LeanIX introduces new product version with Facebook GraphQL technology exclusively at the Gartner Summit in the USA The start-up company based in Bonn, Germany, has based their new product version "Pathfinder" on graph technologies created by Facebook (News - Alert) to set a new standard in the modern management of IT architectures. The new version is being exclusively presented at the industry's leading US event, the Gartner (News - Alert) Enterprise Architecture & Technology Innovation Summit in Orlando from May 31 to June 1. LeanIX is used worldwide by more than 80 customers from a wide range of industries including well-known companies such as Adidas, DHL, Merck, Vodafone (News - Alert) and Haworth. Customer feedback over the last 24 months has been incorporated into the development of LeanIX 4.0 "Pathfinder". This product release brings three key enhancements: Easier usability for processing large amounts of data, full customization of the data model, and significant performance improvements. "We have seen enterprise architecture emerge from the shadows to become a cornerstone of digital transformation. We have invested heavily to give our customers a tool that will help them to successfully move forward in digitization," says founder and Co-CEO Andre Christ. "You can't build your IT architecture today with yesterday's tools and stay in business tomorrow," is the motto at LeanIX. While numerous tools in the EAM market allow for a high degree of data model adaptation, this adaptability often compromises the usability and the integration potential. The new version 4.0 enables the complete customization of the data model and, at the same time, developers will find it easy to integrate into existing IT landscapes thanks to the strongly typed API. "With GraphQL, a technology developed by Facebook and now used by GitHub, among others, we have found the ideal technology to provide our customers with high-performance, graph-based access to their data," says Andre Christ. LeanIX is also committed to continuity in all of their innovations: The familiar, modern LeanIX user interface is significantly faster in the new version,although its look and feel remains almost unchanged. This makes migration to the new version extremely quick and easy, and all existing customers will benefit from this free of charge over the coming months thanks to Software as a Service. With the new product features, LeanIX perfectly supports this year's motto of the Gartner Summit: "Mastering Digital Business Platform Complexity". LeanIX 4.0 "Pathfinder" makes it quick and easy to analyze greater amounts of information about your company's IT architecture. This is particularly relevant to the management of microservice architectures. For many organizations, the move away from a monolithic to a microservice architecture promises significant improvements in the speed and agility of IT. While over 70% of the respondents to a LeanIX study[1] are planning this step in 2017, LeanIX has already completed this transformation with its own product, which makes the company an ideal sparring partner for customers on their way to a modern IT architecture. About LeanIX LeanIX helps companies become digital champions in their industry. With the SaaS (News - Alert)-based information hub, companies make better and faster decisions on how to constantly reinvent their IT architecture. LeanIX establishes the 360-degree transparency needed to reduce IT complexity in the IT landscape, ensures compliance and enables growth through adopting state-of-the-art technology. At the core of the Enterprise Architecture Management solution is an intelligent IT inventory that makes up-to-date information of the IT landscape easily accessible for all relevant staff. More than 80 leading brands such as Adidas, Merck or Zalando trust LeanIX and its innovative solution. LeanIX was founded in 2012 by Jorg G. Beyer and Andre Christ. The company headquarters is in Bonn, Germany with a subsidiary in the USA. A wide network of partners provides support in Europe, Australia and America. For further information, please visit: www.leanix.net. About the Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology Innovation Summit Gartner Enterprise Architecture & Technology Innovation Summit discusses the major technology trends influencing enterprise architecture (EA) and digital innovation. Digital is transforming every part of an organization and EA is no exception. Digital business platforms are emerging as the approach to digital innovation combining five interdependent elements: ecosystem, customers, things, IT systems, and intelligence. EA and technology innovation leaders are at the forefront of these efforts, providing the skills and competencies needed to support innovation and master the complexities of new digital business platforms. [1] Microservices Study "Beyond Agile (News - Alert): Is it time to adopt microservices?" https://www.leanix.net/en/download/Microservices-Study View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006097/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] CANARIE Announces Launch of Canada's First Global Exchange Point for Research and Education New exchange in Montreal will strengthen the critical global communications network serving research and education TNC17, LINZ, Austria, May 31, 2017 /CNW/ - CANARIE, a vital component of Canada's digital infrastructure supporting research, education and innovation, today announced the launch of Canada's first Global Exchange Point for research and education (R&E): MOXY. Located in Montreal, and operationally supported by NORDUnet, MOXY provides ultra-high-speed connectivity for the R&E community in Canada and internationally. The exchange enables researchers to collaborate with their peers around the world by facilitating the interconnection of global research and education networks and content providers. Made possible through CANARIE's close partnership with National Research and Education Networks in Europe and the United States, MOXY connects directly to Europe, augmenting existing exchanges that connect Europe to New York and Washington, DC. Benefits to Researchers and Research Institutions As researchers around the world increasingly collaborate on advancing global initiatives, their ability to share and analyze research data becomes more critical. As the size of these datasets grows, so does the need for global ultra-high-speed network connectivity. The launch of MOXY in Montreal provides an additional North American interconnection point where research and education networks may openly meet to exchange connectivity, improving the resiliency and redundancy of global R&E networks. Additionally, MOXY benefits researchers by providing: A direct connection from Canada to worldwide research and education networks and their connected institutions, research facilities, researchers and collaborators; to worldwide research and education networks and their connected institutions, research facilities, researchers and collaborators; Added control over jurisdiction of research data: research institutions now benefit from increased flexibility for interconnections through North America . "Canada continues to collaborate on global initiatives in support of the research and education community," said Jim Ghadbane,CANARIE's President and CEO. "Not only will MOXY boost the resilience of global R&E networks, it will provide further flexibility for how researchers collaborate and share their data with their peers." "NORDUnet is thrilled that CANARIE is now opening the first Research and Education Global Exchange Point in Canada bringing the Canadian, Nordic and the global R&E community closer together," said Rene Buch, CEO of NORDUnet. "This is an important step in achieving the vision of a Global Network Architecture serving researchers, scientists, and students on a global scale and NORDUnet is happy to support this initiative." A Collaborative Transatlantic Alliance To help accelerate innovative discoveries around the world, national and regional R&E networks have joined forces to meet the needs of the research community for world-class infrastructure. CANARIE is part of the Advanced North Atlantic (ANA) Collaboration. Started in 2013, the ANA consists of six leading R&E networks: CANARIE (Canada), ESnet (USA), GEANT (Europe), Internet2 (USA), NORDUnet (European Nordics), and SURFnet (The Netherlands). Via the ANA Collaboration, MOXY offers dedicated 100Gbps connectivity to both the NetherLight exchange in Amsterdam and MAN LAN in New York. "The start of MOXY in Montreal is a great step forward in diversity of connectivity between North America and Europe," said Erik Huizer, SURFnet's CTO. "It provides a broader range of options to serve the Research and Education community worldwide and also strengthens our long-term relationship with CANARIE." Steve Cotter, the CEO of GEANT added, "CANARIE is a close strategic partner for GEANT and we welcome this news. Research and education is truly global and to support this fully, national and regional research and education networking organisations need to work together to deliver a global research and education infrastructure that helps to accelerate research and enrich education. GEANT will continue to collaborate with CANARIE and all our international partners to achieve this." "CANARIE has made a significant contribution to the capacity, resiliency and capabilities of the global research fabric with the development of MOXY in Montreal," said Rob Vietzke, Vice President for Network Services at Internet2. "This new optical exchange will enable new research workflows not only for our Canadian partners, but also for all of the Americas as we collaborate with our global partners." Evolution to Align with Global Network Architecture To ensure that global research and education networks evolve to support future science initiatives, a group of network specialists from R&E networking organizations from around the world collaborate under the Global Network Architecture (GNA) Technical Working Group. The GNA aims to define a reference architecture by developing a set of global principles and technical guidelines for collaborating, sharing costs and aligning investments. The design and delivery of MOXY aligns with GNA principles. Connecting to MOXY MOXY exclusively serves the Canadian and international R&E community. MOXY connections are available to: Global R&E institutions (through their National Research and Education Networks) and/or Commercial entities who directly support or offer mission critical services to the global R&E community. About CANARIE CANARIE strengthens Canadian leadership in science and technology by delivering digital infrastructure to support world-class research that directly benefits all Canadians. Twelve provincial and territorial network partners, together with CANARIE, collectively form Canada's National Research and Education Network (NREN). Canadians at universities, colleges, research institutes, hospitals, and government laboratories rely on this ultra high-speed network to collaborate in data-intensive, cutting-edge research and innovation within Canada and with colleagues in over 100 countries. Beyond the network, CANARIE funds and promotes reusable research software tools to accelerate scientific discovery. CANARIE also supports Research Data Canada as it leads national research data management initiatives, and through the Canadian Access Federation, provides identity management services that enable secure, ubiquitous connectivity and content access to the academic community. To boost commercialization in Canada's technology sector, CANARIE offers cloud resources to startups through its DAIR service, and links a powerful community of public and private sector partners in the Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (CENGN). Established in 1993, CANARIE is a non-profit corporation, with the majority of its funding provided by the Government of Canada. For more information, please visit: www.canarie.ca. SOURCE CANARIE Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Brandmuscle's LocationBuilder Transforms the Way National Brands Activate and Optimize Local Websites and Landing Pages CHICAGO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brandmuscle announced today the official launch of LocationBuilder, a significant addition to the company's BrandBuilder platform that dramatically improves the way multi-location brands engage consumers by activating and optimizing their local digital presence. Using LocationBuilder, national brands can now empower their local business partners (i.e. dealers, agents, retailers, distributors and franchisees) with an easy tool to create and publish websites and landing pages that complement the national brand and perform exceptionally better in local search results and media campaigns. Brandmuscle's multi-million dollar investment in LocationBuilder was spurred, in part, by the company's State of Local Marketing Research, which surveys thousands of local business partners each year to identify emerging trends and challenges in local marketing. While websites consistently rank as one of the most effective marketing tactics, local businesses cite extreme difficulty in managing their sites. Brandmuscle has discovered the issue extends even further. "After analyzing hundreds of thousands of local websites, we found that most multi-location businesses are often missing out on more than half of their potential website traffic due to issues with the way their local sites are built," said Paul Elliott, Brandmuscle's Chief Digital Officer. "They are simply unable to take advantage of the benefits of search engine optimization (SEO) because most currnt industry solutions fail to address some of the fundamentals of local search performance like unique content, citation accuracy, mobile accessibility and page speed. We built LocationBuilder from the ground up to address these and many other local marketing success factors." Brandmuscle recruited top digital marketing experts from across the country to design LocationBuilder, a solution that overcomes current voids in the brand-to-local web content management process. LocationBuilder takes the heavy lifting off, while empowering the local business partner. Additionally, it allows corporate marketers to monitor, approve and even schedule content updates across hundreds or thousands of their business partners' location pages. Brandmuscle's proprietary technology enhances the consumer user experience and dramatically elevates search engine results while providing real-time visibility into local site performance. Brandmuscle clients that use LocationBuilder experience significant improvements in their local search rankings, site traffic, conversion rates, lead generation and sales within just a few weeks. Furthermore, they are seeing additional marketing impact from the use of landing pages when dynamically paired with paid media campaigns. One recently on-boarded Fortune 500 client with more than 4,000 local dealers experienced a 250% increase in organic search traffic, skyrocketing their dealers' lead generation efforts. "In the past five years, the number of search queries containing phrases like 'near me' has exploded. Seeking to align with this trend and enhance relevancy, the major search engines continue to localize their search results, meaning national brands with multi-locations need to take action or risk losing out to the local competition," said Elliott. "LocationBuilder solves these challenges and is a win-win for the corporate brand and their local business partners." To learn more about LocationBuilder or to request a consultation, visit http://www.brandmuscle.com/distributed-marketing/location-builder.aspx About Brandmuscle Brandmuscle is the leading provider of distributed local marketing solutions in North America. We deliver industry-leading technology and local marketing expertise to help brands with distributed marketing networks (franchisees, dealers, agents, channel partners, sales reps and retailers) ignite sales at the local level. Headquartered in Chicago, with major offices in Austin, Cleveland, Kansas City and New Jersey, Brandmuscle helps more than 275 of the world's leading brands "own local". For more information about Brandmuscle call (866) 464-4342 or visit www.brandmuscle.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brandmuscles-locationbuilder-transforms-the-way-national-brands-activate-and-optimize-local-websites-and-landing-pages-300466450.html SOURCE Brandmuscle [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Commences Investigation on Behalf of General Motors Company Investors Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of General Motors (News - Alert) Company ("GM" or the "Company") (NYSE: GM) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. To obtain information or aid in the investigation, please visit the GM investigation page on our website at www.glancylaw.com/case/general-motors-company. On May 25, 2017, news agencies reported that a consumer lawsuit was filed against GM for allegedly installing defective devices on over 700,000 Duramax diesel trucks. According to the consumer lawsuit, GM's Duramax diesel trucks emit between two-to-five times the legal limit of nitrogen-oxide pollutants. On this news, GM's share price fell nearly $0.60 on May 25, 2017, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased GM securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006278/en/ [May 31, 2017] Sci-Tech Daresbury and IBM Research Collaborative Campus at Hartree Centre Receives Royal Seal of Approval HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has officially opened the new Hartree Centre building at Sci-Tech Daresbury during a visit to the world-leading campus. DARESBURY, England, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sci-Tech Daresbury and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the opening of a new building for the collaborative research facility at The Hartree Centre in Daresbury. The building, opened by the Duke of York, is the latest evolution of the long-running collaboration between Sci-Tech Daresbury and IBM. The Hartree Centre is a high performance computing and data analytics research facility founded by the UK government in collaboration with IBM. The new building brings together under one roof staff from the Hartree Centre, IBM, the University of Liverpool's Virtual Engineering Centre and Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Scientific Computing Division, and will firmly enhance the capabilities and close collaborations that are at the heart of the centre. As part of the STFC, the Hartree Centre's mission is to transform the competitiveness of UK industry through high performance computing, big data and cognitive technologies, built on an ethos of collaboration and partner working. The new campus will be focused on research in high performance computing and data centric Cognitive computing with goal of developing technology to encourage economic improvement with companies in the UK. His Royal Highness, who is patron of Sci-Tech Daresbury, devotes much of his time to promoting the awareness of British science, technology and engineering expertise. The Hartree Centre works with academic researchers and companies in a wide range of industries. One notable collaboration between IBM and Alder Hey Children's Hospital is creating the UK's first 'cognitive hospital', using the IBM Watson cognitive computing platform to improve the patient journey and experience. John Downes, group managing director of Langtree and chairman of the Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture company, sad: "The Hartree Centre is at the heart of our ambition, helping to facilitate collaboration to maximise the impact of our research base to enable business innovation and ultimately societal transformation. Over recent years the Hartree Centre has achieved many successes and enabled many projects and as it moves into phase three it will increase the momentum to ensure science, innovation and industrial strength are intrinsically linked. The new building, and this new phase in the collaborative relationship with IBM is a big step forward. Co-locating researchers and technical teams from both organisations and others means the Hartree Centre's capabilities to innovate and help UK businesses take advantage of home-grown technical advances are further secured. The Duke of York's visit is a reflection of his commitment to the sector and to the collaborative efforts at the Hartree Centre. We are delighted that he has taken so much time to understand how regional SMEs are working successfully with universities and big corporations to advance their ideas and enhance the innovation culture." "IBM greatly values the close partnership and collaboration with the teams at Sci-Tech Daresbury and the Government's Science and Technology Facilities Council," said Bill Kelleher, Chief Executive of IBM UK & Ireland. "The opening of this centre, where IBM research staff will work alongside researchers from other organisations to develop tools for companies to use as part of a push towards technological leadership, is evidence of the quality of work that has already come out of this partnership. Working with our colleagues at Sci-Tech Daresbury, we will find ways for UK businesses to take advantage of cognitive data centric computing techniques, new OpenPOWER based systems, advanced modelling and simulation, open innovation approaches and data analysis tools to enable growth and leadership on a global scale." During the visit the His Royal Highness heard from Hartree Centre users and observed demonstrations of the centre's projects and capabilities. Sci-Tech Daresbury is a private-public joint-venture partnership between developer Langtree, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Halton Borough Council. Photos are available here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1Epf7Q For further information: IBM: Lucy Linthwaite External Relations Leader IBM UK and Ireland +44 (0) 20 7021 8911 [email protected] Notes to Editors: Sci-Tech Daresbury is a world class location for high-tech business and leading edge science based in Cheshire. It provides a unique environment for innovation and business growth, with knowledge sharing, collaboration and networking. Home to the ground-breaking STFC Daresbury Laboratory as well as over 100 high-tech companies, the site was originally established in 2006. In December 2010, a new private-public joint-venture partnership was created to spearhead the longer-term development of the campus. Partners in the private-public joint-venture partnership are developers, Langtree, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and Halton Borough Council. The campus was granted Enterprise Zone status in April 2012. Enterprise Zone status allows business rates to be reinvested in the campus, potentially creating up to 15,000 skilled jobs and providing funding for new specialist office, laboratory and technical space. Enterprise Zone status will also allow the campus to leverage more than 150 million in private sector investment. For more information visit: http://www.sci-techdaresbury.com The Hartree Centre was formed in 2012 and awarded government funding to strengthen UK competitiveness in areas including big data and energy efficient computing. The Hartree Centre is home to some of the most technically advanced high performance computing, data analytics, machine learning technologies and experts in the UK. From early stage SMEs to international corporations, it works with industry and the research community to address real life challenges and accelerate the adoption of high performance technologies, delivering transformative gains in performance, productivity and time to market. The Hartree Centre is part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) one of seven UK Research Councils and one of Europe's largest multi-disciplinary research organisations. https://www.hartree.stfc.ac.uk Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/95470/ibm_logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Kolkata, May 31 (IBNS): India's low cost airline Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons, has said on digital media platforms --such as Twitter and Facebook -- that it is not suspending all flights taking off from Kolkata. It tweeted an official statement on Tuesday in response to what Vistara calls 'false information circulating on Whatsapp and email'. The same statement is also available on the company's Facebook page. In its statement, Vistara said, "There is a whatsapp message circulating that contains fabricated statements regarding Vistara and its operations in Kolkata." It said, "We unequivocally state that Vistara has no plans whatsoever to withdraw from the Kolkata market. It is discontinuing the Bengaluru-Kolkata-Guwahati route next month for purely commercial reasons. Flights to Delhi, Port Blair, and the recently introduced Pune route will continue as before, and additional flights and frequencies are expected to be added to Kolkata as the airline grows its fleet. All other claims in the message are completely false." [May 31, 2017] Audi First to Be Awarded New York Automated Vehicle Testing License New York has approved Audi of America's application to be the first company authorized to perform autonomous vehicle testing in the state. Audi intends to demonstrate and test vehicles in New York with Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) Level 3 automation. It will conduct the first autonomous vehicle demonstration in state history, beginning in Albany, near the state capitol, in mid-June. SAE's Level 3 means a vehicle is capable of automated driving at posted highway speeds when specific conditions are met. In New York, two trained engineers will be in the vehicle to monitor the system and ensure safety, one in the front seat and one in the back. Audi's demonstration vehicle has already safely logged thousands of miles on limited access highways across the U.S. Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York was accepting applications from companies interested in testing or demonstrating autonomous vehicles on public roads. "We have been leading the way in the development of piloted driving technology for more than a decade now, and testing in real-world envronments is a key step in our pursuit of safer roads," said Scott Keogh, president of Audi of America (News - Alert). "We applaud Governor Cuomo for his leadership and stand ready to assist in defining how this future will unfold in the Empire State now and for years to come." New legislation included in New York's FY 2018 budget allows for testing autonomous technology through a year-long pilot program. Audi's vehicle routing information for the Albany demonstration has been pre-approved by the New York State Police and its application was approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles. State Police review the route to be taken, and are required to supervise the demonstration. "New York State is a nationwide leader in innovative highway safety programs and the potential for autonomous vehicles to save lives on our roadways is immeasurable," Governor Cuomo said. ABOUT AUDI OF AMERICA Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. The Audi Group is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. In 2016, AUDI AG delivered about 1.871 million Audi automobiles and broke all-time company sales records for the seventh straight year in the U.S. Visit www.audiusa.com or media.audiusa.com for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006334/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] HPE Reports Fiscal 2017 Second Quarter Results Combined net revenue of $9.9 billion includes $7.4 billion from continuing operations (Enterprise Group, HPE Financial Services and Software) and $2.5 billion associated with discontinued operations (two months of Enterprise Services) Future HPE (excludes Enterprise Services and Software) revenue was up 1% year-over-year, excluding Tier-1 server sales and when adjusted for divestitures and currency Second quarter GAAP diluted net loss per share of ($0.37), below the previously provided outlook of ($0.07) to ($0.03) per share, due to spin-merger related, non-cash tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes Second quarter non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share of $0.35, within the previously provided outlook of $0.33 to $0.37 per share Fiscal 2017 GAAP diluted net EPS outlook updated to ($0.03) to $0.07 Fiscal 2017 non-GAAP diluted net EPS outlook remains $1.46 to $1.56 PALO ALTO, Calif., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) today announced financial results for its fiscal 2017 second quarter, ended April 30, 2017, which have been recast to reflect the spin-merger of its Enterprise Services business as discontinued operations. Second quarter net revenue from continuing operations of $7.4 billion was down 13% from the prior-year period and down 5% when adjusted for divestitures and currency. Second quarter GAAP diluted net loss per share from continuing operations was ($0.29), down from a GAAP diluted net earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of $0.18 in the prior-year period. Second quarter non-GAAP diluted net EPS from continuing operations was $0.25, down from $0.33 in the prior-year period. Second quarter non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted net EPS from continuing operations exclude after-tax costs of $903 million and $0.54 per diluted share, respectively, related to valuation allowances and divestiture taxes, separation costs, restructuring charges, amortization of intangible assets, acquisition and other related charges, tax indemnification adjustments, defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement benefit, and an adjustment to earnings from equity interests. Despite some current headwinds, we delivered Q2 non-GAAP EPS in line with our outlook, said Meg Whitman, President and CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. We saw strength in major components of our growth strategy, including high-performance compute, Aruba, all-flash storage and Technology Services. While we still have much more work to do, HPEs Q2 results give me confidence that our efforts are delivering for customers and partners. HPE fiscal 2017 second quarter continuing operations financial performance Q2 FY17 Q2 FY16 Y/Y GAAP net revenue ($B) $7.4 $8.5 (13%) GAAP operating margin 2.4 % 5.3 % (2.9 pts.) GAAP net (loss) earnings ($B) ($0.5 ) $0.3 (251%) GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share ($0.29 ) $0.18 (261%) Non-GAAP operating margin 7.8 % 9.1 % (1.3 pts.) Non-GAAP net earnings ($B) $0.4 $0.6 (29%) Non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share $0.25 $0.33 (24%) Cash flow from operations ($B) $0.6 $1.1 ($0.5) Information about HPEs use of non-GAAP financial information is provided under Use of non-GAAP financial information below. Outlook For the fiscal 2017 third quarter, Hewlett Packard Enterprise estimates GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of ($0.02) to $0.02 and non-GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.24 to $0.28. Fiscal 2017 third quarter non-GAAP diluted net EPS from continuing operations estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.26 per diluted share, related primarily to separation costs, restructuring charges and the amortization of intangible assets. For fiscal 2017, Hewlett Packard Enterprise estimates GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of ($0.03) to $0.07 and non-GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $1.46 to $1.56. Fiscal 2017 non-GAAP diluted net EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $1.49 per diluted share, related primarily to valuation allowances and divestiture taxes, separation costs, restructuring charges, amortization of intangible assets, tax indemnification adjustments, defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement benefit, and an adjustment to earnings from equity interests. While we faced margin pressure in Q2, we expect improvement through the remainder of the year as we mitigate commodities cost pressure and eliminate costs associated with spin-mergers and acquisitions, said Tim Stonesifer, CFO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The completion of the spin-merger of our Enterprise Services business gives us the opportunity to further optimize the cost structure of the future HPE. We are now focused on driving an incremental $200-300 million in cost savings in just the second half of this year. We maintain our FY17 EPS outlook. Fiscal 2017 second quarter segment results Enterprise Group revenue was $6.2 billion, down 13% year over year, down 7% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, with an 8.8% operating margin. Servers revenue was down 14%, down 14% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Storage revenue was down 13%, down 13% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Networking revenue was down 30%, up 14% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, and Technology Services revenue was down 2%, up 3% when adjusted for divestitures and currency. revenue was $6.2 billion, down 13% year over year, down 7% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, with an 8.8% operating margin. Servers revenue was down 14%, down 14% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Storage revenue was down 13%, down 13% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Networking revenue was down 30%, up 14% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, and Technology Services revenue was down 2%, up 3% when adjusted for divestitures and currency. Software revenue was $685 million, down 11% year over year, down 9% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, with a 26.4% operating margin. License revenue was down 29%, down 28% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Support revenue was down 4%, flat when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Professional Services revenue was down 17%, down 16% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, and Software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue was up 3%, up 4% when adjusted for divestitures and currency. revenue was $685 million, down 11% year over year, down 9% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, with a 26.4% operating margin. License revenue was down 29%, down 28% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Support revenue was down 4%, flat when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Professional Services revenue was down 17%, down 16% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, and Software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue was up 3%, up 4% when adjusted for divestitures and currency. Financial Services revenue was $872 million, up 11% year over year, net portfolio assets were down 1%, and financing volume was down 7%. The business delivered an operating margin of 8.9%. Revenue from continuing operations adjusted for divestitures and currency excludes revenue resulting from businesses divestitures in fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015 and also assumes no change in the foreign exchange rate from the prior-year period. A reconciliation of GAAP revenue to revenue adjusted for divestitures and currency is provided in the earnings presentation at investors.hpe.com. About Hewlett Packard Enterprise Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is an industry leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industrys most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure. Use of non-GAAP financial information To supplement Hewlett Packard Enterprises condensed and consolidated financial statement information presented on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, Hewlett Packard Enterprise provides revenue on a constant currency basis, revenue adjusted for divestitures and currency, as well as non-GAAP operating expense, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP income tax rate, non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations, non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations, non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations, gross cash, free cash flow, normalized free cash flow, net capital expenditures, net debt, net cash, operating company net debt and operating company net cash financial measures. Hewlett Packard Enterprise also provides forecasts of non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share and free cash flow. A reconciliation of adjustments to GAAP financial measures for this quarter and prior periods is included in the tables below or elsewhere in the materials accompanying this news release. In addition, an explanation of the ways in which Hewlett Packard Enterprises management uses these non-GAAP measures to evaluate its business, the substance behind Hewlett Packard Enterprises decision to use these non-GAAP measures, the material limitations associated with the use of these non-GAAP measures, the manner in which Hewlett Packard Enterprises management compensates for those limitations, and the substantive reasons why Hewlett Packard Enterprises management believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information to investors is included under Use of non-GAAP financial measures further below. This additional non-GAAP financial information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for revenue, operating profit, operating margin, net (loss) earnings from continuing operations, net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, diluted net (loss) earnings per share from continuing operations, diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations, cash and cash equivalents, cash flow from operations, investments in property, plant and equipment, or total company debt prepared in accordance with GAAP. Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If the risks or uncertainties ever materialize or the assumptions prove incorrect, the results of Hewlett Packard Enterprise may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to any projections of revenue, margins, expenses, effective tax rates, net earnings, net earnings per share, cash flows, benefit plan funding, share repurchases, currency exchange rates or other financial items; any projections of the amount, timing or impact of cost savings or restructuring charges; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations, including the pending divestiture transaction, the execution of restructuring plans and any resulting cost savings or revenue or profitability improvements; any statements concerning the expected development, performance, market share or competitive performance relating to products or services; any statements regarding current or future macroeconomic trends or events and the impact of those trends and events on Hewlett Packard Enterprise and its financial performance; any statements regarding pending investigations, claims or disputes; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements or assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the need to address the many challenges facing Hewlett Packard Enterprises businesses; the competitive pressures faced by Hewlett Packard Enterprises businesses; risks associated with executing Hewlett Packard Enterprises strategy; the impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the need to manage third-party suppliers and the distribution of Hewlett Packard Enterprises products and the delivery of Hewlett Packard Enterprises services effectively; the protection of Hewlett Packard Enterprises intellectual property assets, including intellectual property licensed from third parties; risks associated with Hewlett Packard Enterprises international operations; the development and transition of new products and services and the enhancement of existing products and services to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and its suppliers, customers and partners; the hiring and retention of key employees; integration and other risks associated with business combination and investment transactions; the results of the divestiture transactions or restructuring plans, including estimates and assumptions related to the cost (including any possible disruption of Hewlett Packard Enterprises business) and the anticipated benefits of the transactions or of implementing the restructuring plans; the resolution of pending investigations, claims and disputes; and other risks that are described in Hewlett Packard Enterprises Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. As in prior periods, the financial information set forth in this press release, including tax-related items, reflects estimates based on information available at this time. While Hewlett Packard Enterprise believes these estimates to be reasonable, these amounts could differ materially from reported amounts in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2017. Hewlett Packard Enterprise assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS (Unaudited) (In millions, except per share amounts) Three months ended April 30, 2017 January 31, 2017 April 30, 2016 Net revenue $ 7,445 $ 7,556 $ 8,509 Costs and expenses: Cost of sales 4,927 4,824 5,467 Research and development 486 481 621 Selling, general and administrative 1,449 1,454 1,648 Amortization of intangible assets 107 101 101 Restructuring charges 118 116 87 Acquisition and other related charges 51 44 43 Separation costs 141 85 91 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (16 ) (5 ) Total costs and expenses 7,263 7,100 8,058 Earnings from continuing operations 182 456 451 Interest and other, net (85 ) (78 ) (52 ) Tax indemnification adjustments 7 (18 ) (69 ) Loss from equity interests(b) (3 ) (22 ) Earnings from continuing operations before taxes 101 338 330 Tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes(c) (593 ) Benefit (provision) for taxes 5 (83 ) (8 ) Net (loss) earnings from continuing operations (487 ) 255 322 Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations (125 ) 12 (2 ) Net (loss) earnings $ (612 ) $ 267 $ 320 Net (loss) earnings per share: Basic Continuing operations $ (0.29 ) $ 0.15 $ 0.19 Discontinued operations (0.08 ) 0.01 Total basic net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.37 ) $ 0.16 $ 0.19 Diluted Continuing operations $ (0.29 ) $ 0.15 $ 0.18 Discontinued operations (0.08 ) 0.01 Total diluted net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.37 ) $ 0.16 $ 0.18 Cash dividends declared per share $ 0.065 $ 0.130 $ 0.055 Weighted-average shares used to compute net (loss) earnings per share: Basic 1,658 1,669 1,725 Diluted 1,658 1,700 1,751 (a) Represents adjustment to net periodic pension cost resulting from remeasurements of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise pension plans in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation. (b) Primarily represents the Companys ownership interest in the net earnings of H3C, which it records as an equity method investment. (c) Represents $593 million of income tax expense from valuation allowances on certain U.S. deferred tax assets and other divestiture related taxes in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS (Unaudited) (In millions, except per share amounts) Six Months Ended April 30, 2017 2016 Net revenue $ 15,001 $ 17,041 Costs and expenses: Cost of sales 9,751 10,868 Research and development 967 1,203 Selling, general and administrative 2,903 3,324 Amortization of intangible assets 208 220 Restructuring charges 234 253 Acquisition and other related charges 95 80 Separation costs 226 170 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (21 ) Total costs and expenses 14,363 16,118 Earnings from continuing operations 638 923 Interest and other, net (163 ) (126 ) Tax indemnification adjustments (11 ) (54 ) Loss from equity interests(b) (25 ) Earnings from continuing operations before taxes 439 743 Tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes(c) (593 ) Provision for taxes (78 ) (59 ) Net (loss) earnings from continuing operations (232 ) 684 Net loss from discontinued operations (113 ) (97 ) Net (loss) earnings $ (345 ) $ 587 Net (loss) earnings per share: Basic Continuing operations $ (0.14 ) $ 0.39 Discontinued operations (0.07 ) (0.06 ) Total basic net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.21 ) $ 0.33 Diluted Continuing operations $ (0.14 ) $ 0.39 Discontinued operations (0.07 ) (0.06 ) Total diluted net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.21 ) $ 0.33 Cash dividends declared per share $ 0.195 $ 0.165 Weighted-average shares used to compute net (loss) earnings per share: Basic 1,664 1,743 Diluted 1,664 1,765 (a) Represents adjustment to net periodic pension cost resulting from remeasurements of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise pension plans in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation. (b) Primarily represents the Companys ownership interest in the net earnings of H3C, which it records as an equity method investment. (c) Represents $593 million of income tax expense from valuation allowances on certain U.S. deferred tax assets and other divestiture related taxes in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES ADJUSTMENTS TO GAAP NET EARNINGS, EARNINGS FROM OPERATIONS, OPERATING MARGIN AND DILUTED NET EARNINGS PER SHARE (Unaudited) (In millions, except percentages and per share amounts) Three months ended April 30, 2017 Diluted net (loss) earnings per share Three months ended January 31, 2017 Diluted net earnings per share Three months ended April 30, 2016 Diluted net earnings per share GAAP net (loss) earnings from continuing operations $ (487 ) $ (0.29 ) $ 255 $ 0.15 $ 322 $ 0.18 Non-GAAP adjustments: Amortization of intangible assets 107 0.06 101 0.06 101 0.06 Restructuring charges 118 0.07 116 0.07 87 0.05 Acquisition and other related charges 51 0.03 44 0.03 43 0.02 Separation costs 141 0.09 85 0.05 91 0.05 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (16 ) (0.01 ) (5 ) Tax indemnification adjustments (7 ) 18 0.01 69 0.04 Loss from equity interests(b) 38 0.02 35 0.02 Adjustments for taxes (122 ) (0.08 ) (68 ) (0.05 ) (127 ) (0.07 ) Tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes(c) 593 0.36 Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations $ 416 $ 0.25 $ 581 $ 0.34 $ 586 $ 0.33 GAAP earnings from continuing operations 182 456 451 Non-GAAP adjustments related to continuing operations: Amortization of intangible assets 107 101 101 Restructuring charges 118 116 87 Acquisition and other related charges 51 44 43 Separation costs 141 85 91 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (16 ) (5 ) Non-GAAP earnings from continuing operations $ 583 $ 797 $ 773 GAAP operating margin from continuing operations 2 % 6 % 5 % Non-GAAP adjustments from continuing operations 6 % 5 % 4 % Non-GAAP operating margin from continuing operations 8 % 11 % 9 % GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations $ (125 ) $ (0.08 ) $ 12 $ 0.01 $ (2 ) $ Non-GAAP adjustments related to discontinued operations: Amortization of intangible assets 100 0.06 Restructuring charges 98 0.06 61 0.04 74 0.04 Acquisition and other related charges 10 0.01 Separation costs 337 0.20 191 0.11 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (1 ) (1 ) Adjustments for taxes (120 ) (0.07 ) (72 ) (0.05 ) (37 ) (0.02 ) Tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes(c) (18 ) (0.01 ) Non-GAAP net earnings from discontinued operations $ 171 $ 0.10 $ 191 $ 0.11 $ 145 $ 0.09 Total GAAP net (loss) earnings $ (612 ) $ (0.37 ) $ 267 $ 0.16 $ 320 $ 0.18 Total Non-GAAP net earnings $ 587 $ 0.35 $ 772 $ 0.45 $ 731 $ 0.42 (a) Represents adjustment to net periodic pension cost resulting from remeasurements of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise pension plans in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation. (b) Represents the amortization of the basis difference adjustments related to the H3C divestiture. (c) Represents $593 million of income tax expense from valuation allowances on certain U.S. deferred tax assets and other divestiture related taxes in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES ADJUSTMENTS TO GAAP NET EARNINGS, EARNINGS FROM OPERATIONS, OPERATING MARGIN AND DILUTED NET EARNINGS PER SHARE (Unaudited) (In millions, except percentages and per share amounts) Six Months Ended April 30, 2017 Diluted net (loss) earnings per share Six Months Ended April 30, 2016 Diluted net (loss) earnings per share GAAP net (loss) earnings from continuing operations $ (232 ) $ (0.14 ) $ 684 $ 0.39 Non-GAAP adjustments: Amortization of intangible assets 208 0.13 220 0.12 Restructuring charges 234 0.14 253 0.14 Acquisition and other related charges 95 0.06 80 0.05 Separation costs 226 0.14 170 0.10 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (21 ) (0.01 ) Tax indemnification adjustments 11 0.01 54 0.03 Loss from equity interests(b) 73 0.04 Adjustments for taxes (190 ) (0.13 ) (255 ) (0.15 ) Tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes(c) 593 0.35 Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations $ 997 $ 0.59 $ 1,206 $ 0.68 GAAP earnings from continuing operations $ 638 $ 923 Non-GAAP adjustments related to continuing operations: Amortization of intangible assets 208 220 Restructuring charges 234 253 Acquisition and other related charges 95 80 Separation costs 226 170 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (21 ) Non-GAAP earnings from continuing operations $ 1,380 $ 1,646 GAAP operating margin from continuing operations 4 % 5 % Non-GAAP adjustments from continuing operations 5 % 5 % Non-GAAP operating margin from continuing operations 9 % 10 % GAAP net loss from discontinued operations $ (113 ) $ (0.07 ) $ (97 ) $ (0.06 ) Non-GAAP adjustments related to discontinued operations: Amortization of intangible assets $ $ 199 0.11 Restructuring charges 159 0.10 219 0.12 Acquisition and other related charges 10 0.01 Separation costs 528 0.32 Defined benefit plan settlement charges and remeasurement (benefit)(a) (2 ) Adjustments for taxes (192 ) (0.13 ) (75 ) (0.03 ) Tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes(c) (18 ) (0.01 ) Non-GAAP net earnings from discontinued operations $ 362 $ 0.21 $ 256 $ 0.15 Total GAAP net (loss) earnings $ (345 ) $ (0.21 ) $ 587 $ 0.33 Total Non-GAAP net earnings $ 1,359 $ 0.80 $ 1,462 $ 0.83 (a) Represents adjustment to net periodic pension cost resulting from remeasurements of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise pension plans in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation. (b) Represents the amortization of the basis difference adjustments related to the H3C divestiture. (c) Represents $593 million of income tax expense from valuation allowances on certain U.S. deferred tax assets and other divestiture related taxes in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (In millions, except par value) As of April 30, 2017 October 31, 2016 ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 8,101 $ 12,987 Accounts receivable 3,810 3,816 Financing receivables 3,229 3,360 Inventory 2,041 1,740 Other current assets 3,092 2,771 Current assets of discontinued operations 4,243 Total current assets 20,273 28,917 Property, plant and equipment 6,692 6,304 Long-term financing receivables and other assets(a) 10,847 11,575 Investments in equity interests 2,620 2,648 Goodwill and intangible assets 27,038 25,262 Non-current assets of discontinued operations 4,923 Total assets $ 67,470 $ 79,629 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY Current liabilities: Notes payable and short-term borrowings(a) $ 2,010 $ 3,527 Accounts payable 5,194 5,010 Employee compensation and benefits 1,189 1,526 Taxes on earnings 755 365 Deferred revenue 3,829 3,761 Accrued restructuring 228 301 Other accrued liabilities 4,373 3,857 Current liabilities of discontinued operations 4,182 Total current liabilities 17,578 22,529 Long-term debt(a) 11,904 12,168 Other non-current liabilities 8,941 9,401 Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations 4,013 Stockholders equity HPE stockholders equity: Preferred stock, $0.01 par value (300 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding at April 30, 2017) Common stock, $0.01 par value (9,600 shares authorized; 1,646 and 1,666 shares issued and outstanding at April 30, 2017 and October 31, 2016, respectively) 16 17 Additional paid-in capital 34,406 35,248 Retained earnings (1,867 ) 2,782 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (3,544 ) (6,599 ) Total HPE stockholders equity 29,011 31,448 Non-controlling interests of continuing operations 36 40 Non-controlling interests of discontinued operations 30 Total stockholders equity 29,047 31,518 Total liabilities and stockholders equity $ 67,470 $ 79,629 (a) During the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company adopted on a retrospective basis the guidance on the presentation of debt issuance cost as a direct deduction from the related debt liability. As such, prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited) (In millions) Three months ended April 30, 2017 Six months ended April 30, 2017 Cash flows from operating activities: Net loss $ (612 ) $ (345 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 792 1,632 Stock-based compensation expense 107 252 Provision for doubtful accounts and inventory 32 39 Restructuring charges 216 393 Deferred taxes on earnings 631 506 Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation (24 ) (98 ) Loss from equity interests 3 25 Other, net 185 310 Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions: Accounts receivable (165 ) 301 Financing receivables (6 ) 120 Inventory (78 ) (210 ) Accounts payable 360 129 Taxes on earnings (364 ) (386 ) Restructuring (219 ) (545 ) Other assets and liabilities(a) (222 ) (2,951 ) Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 636 (828 ) Cash flows from investing activities: Investment in property, plant and equipment (758 ) (1,681 ) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 58 142 Purchases of available-for-sale securities and other investments (19 ) (26 ) Maturities and sales of available-for-sale securities and other investments 1 2 Financial collateral posted (226 ) (226 ) Financial collateral returned 49 49 Payments made in connection with business acquisitions, net of cash acquired (1,758 ) (2,050 ) Payments from business divestitures, net(b) (20 ) Net cash used in investing activities (2,653 ) (3,810 ) Cash flows from financing activities: Short-term borrowings with original maturities less than 90 days, net 4 28 Proceeds from debt, net of issuance costs 293 541 Payment of debt (1,840 ) (2,102 ) Issuance of common stock under employee stock plans 107 265 Repurchase of common stock (670 ) (1,311 ) Cash dividend from Everett(c) 3,008 3,008 Net transfer of cash and cash equivalents to Everett (559 ) (559 ) Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation 24 98 Cash dividends paid (107 ) (216 ) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 260 (248 ) Decrease in cash and cash equivalents (1,757 ) (4,886 ) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 9,858 12,987 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 8,101 $ 8,101 Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing and financing activities: Net assets transferred to Everett $ 322 $ (a) Includes $1.9 billion of funding payments made in the six months ended April 30, 2017 related to pension liabilities in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation. (b) Primarily relates to a H3C working capital adjustment payment in the six months ended April 30, 2017. (c) Represents a $3.0 billion cash dividend payment from Everett SpinCo, Inc. to HPE, the proceeds of which were funded from the issuance of $3.5 billion of aggregate debt by Everett SpinCo, Inc. The obligations under the debt issuance were retained by Everett SpinCo, Inc. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES SEGMENT INFORMATION (Unaudited) (In millions) Three months ended April 30, 2017 January 31, 2017 April 30, 2016 Net revenue:(a) Enterprise Group $ 6,243 $ 6,325 $ 7,159 Software 685 721 774 Financial Services 872 823 788 Corporate Investments 172 Total segment net revenue 7,800 7,869 8,893 Elimination of intersegment net revenue and other (355 ) (313 ) (384 ) Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise consolidated net revenue $ 7,445 $ 7,556 $ 8,509 Earnings from continuing operations before taxes:(a) Enterprise Group $ 548 $ 802 $ 847 Software 181 154 192 Financial Services 78 78 73 Corporate Investments (38 ) (43 ) (59 ) Total segment earnings from operations 769 991 1,053 Corporate and unallocated costs and eliminations (90 ) (71 ) (177 ) Stock-based compensation expense (96 ) (123 ) (103 ) Amortization of intangible assets (107 ) (101 ) (101 ) Restructuring charges (118 ) (116 ) (87 ) Acquisition and other related charges (51 ) (44 ) (43 ) Separation costs (141 ) (85 ) (91 ) Defined benefit plan settlement and remeasurement charges(b) 16 5 Interest and other, net (85 ) (78 ) (52 ) Tax indemnification adjustments 7 (18 ) (69 ) Loss from equity interests(c) (3 ) (22 ) Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise consolidated earnings from continuing operations before taxes $ 101 $ 338 $ 330 (a) As of April 1, 2017, with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company reclassified the historical net (loss) earnings from the former enterprise services segment ("former ES segment"), to Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations in its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. Effective at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company implemented organizational changes to align its segment financial reporting more closely with its current business structure. These organizational changes resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. The Company reflected these changes to its segment information retrospectively to the earliest period presented, which resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of net revenue from the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of net revenue from the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of net revenue, related eliminations of intersegment revenues and operating profit from the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. Effective at the beginning of the second quarter of fiscal 2017 and prior to the completion of the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company transferred historical net revenue and operating profit from the previously divested MphasiS product group which was reported within the former ES segment to the Corporate Investments segment. The changes within the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprises previously reported Enterprise Group segment net revenue and earnings from operations. The change between former ES segment and the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprise's previously reported consolidated net revenue, earnings from continuing operations, net earnings from continuing operations or net earnings per share from continuing operations. (b) Represents adjustment to net periodic pension cost resulting from remeasurements of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise pension plans in connection with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation. (c) Represents the Companys ownership interest in the net earnings of equity method investments, primarily H3C. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES SEGMENT INFORMATION (Unaudited) (In millions) Six Months Ended April 30, 2017 2016 Net revenue:(a) Enterprise Group $ 12,568 $ 14,341 Software 1,406 1,554 Financial Services 1,695 1,564 Corporate Investments 348 Total segment net revenue 15,669 17,807 Elimination of intersegment net revenue and other (668 ) (766 ) Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise consolidated net revenue $ 15,001 $ 17,041 Earnings from continuing operations before taxes:(a) Enterprise Group $ 1,350 $ 1,811 Software 335 328 Financial Services 156 173 Corporate Investments (81 ) (135 ) Total segment earnings from operations 1,760 2,177 Corporate and unallocated costs and eliminations (161 ) (301 ) Stock-based compensation expense (219 ) (230 ) Amortization of intangible assets (208 ) (220 ) Restructuring charges (234 ) (253 ) Acquisition and other related charges (95 ) (80 ) Separation costs (226 ) (170 ) Defined benefit plan settlement and remeasurement charges(b) 21 Interest and other, net (163 ) (126 ) Tax indemnification adjustments (11 ) (54 ) Loss from equity interests(c) (25 ) Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise consolidated earnings from continuing operations before taxes $ 439 $ 743 (a) As of April 1, 2017, with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company reclassified the historical net (loss) earnings from the former enterprise services segment ("former ES segment"), to Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations in its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. Effective at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company implemented organizational changes to align its segment financial reporting more closely with its current business structure. These organizational changes resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. The Company reflected these changes to its segment information retrospectively to the earliest period presented, which resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of net revenue from the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of net revenue from the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of net revenue, related eliminations of intersegment revenues and operating profit from the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. Effective at the beginning of the second quarter of fiscal 2017 and prior to the completion of the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company transferred historical net revenue and operating profit from the previously divested MphasiS product group which was reported within the former ES segment to the Corporate Investments segment. The changes within the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprises previously reported Enterprise Group segment net revenue and earnings from operations. The change between former ES segment and the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprise's previously reported consolidated net revenue, earnings from continuing operations, net earnings from continuing operations or net earnings per share from continuing operations. (b) Represents adjustment to net periodic pension cost resulting from remeasurements of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise pension plans in anticipation of the spin-off and merger of Everett Spinco, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation. (c) Represents the Companys ownership interest in the net earnings of equity method investments, primarily H3C. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES SEGMENT/BUSINESS UNIT INFORMATION (Unaudited) (In millions, except percentages) Three months ended Change (%) April 30, 2017 January 31, 2017 April 30, 2016 Q/Q Y/Y Net revenue:(a) Enterprise Group Servers $ 2,991 $ 3,103 $ 3,498 (4 %) (14 %) Technology Services 1,971 1,943 2,019 1 % (2 %) Storage 699 730 808 (4 %) (13 %) Networking 582 549 834 6 % (30 %) Total Enterprise Group 6,243 6,325 7,159 (1 %) (13 %) Software 685 721 774 (5 %) (11 %) Financial Services 872 823 788 6 % 11 % Corporate Investments 172 (100 %) Total segment net revenue 7,800 7,869 8,893 (1 %) (12 %) Elimination of intersegment net revenue and other (355 ) (313 ) (384 ) 13 % (8 %) Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise consolidated net revenue $ 7,445 $ 7,556 $ 8,509 (1 %) (13 %) (a) As of April 1, 2017, with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company reclassified the historical net (loss) earnings from the former enterprise services segment ("former ES segment"), to Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations in its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. Effective at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company implemented organizational changes to align its segment financial reporting more closely with its current business structure. These organizational changes resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. The Company reflected these changes to its segment information retrospectively to the earliest period presented, which resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of net revenue from the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of net revenue from the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of net revenue, related eliminations of intersegment revenues and operating profit from the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. Effective at the beginning of the second quarter of fiscal 2017 and prior to the completion of the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company transferred historical net revenue and operating profit from the previously divested MphasiS product group which was reported within the former ES segment to the Corporate Investments segment. The changes within the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprises previously reported Enterprise Group segment net revenue and earnings from operations. The change between former ES segment and the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprise's previously reported consolidated net revenue, earnings from continuing operations, net earnings from continuing operations or net earnings per share from continuing operations. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES SEGMENT/BUSINESS UNIT INFORMATION (Unaudited) (In millions, except percentages) Six Months Ended April 30, Change (%) 2017 2016 Y/Y Net revenue:(a) Enterprise Group Servers $ 6,094 $ 7,034 (13 %) Technology Services 3,914 4,004 (2 %) Storage 1,429 1,645 (13 %) Networking 1,131 1,658 (32 %) Total Enterprise Group 12,568 14,341 (12 %) Software 1,406 1,554 (10 %) Financial Services 1,695 1,564 8 % Corporate Investments 348 (100 %) Total segment net revenue 15,669 17,807 (12 %) Elimination of intersegment net revenue and other (668 ) (766 ) (13 %) Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise consolidated net revenue $ 15,001 $ 17,041 (12 %) (a) As of April 1, 2017, with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company reclassified the historical net (loss) earnings from the former enterprise services segment ("former ES segment"), to Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations in its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. Effective at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company implemented organizational changes to align its segment financial reporting more closely with its current business structure. These organizational changes resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. The Company reflected these changes to its segment information retrospectively to the earliest period presented, which resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of net revenue from the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of net revenue from the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of net revenue, related eliminations of intersegment revenues and operating profit from the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. Effective at the beginning of the second quarter of fiscal 2017 and prior to the completion of the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company transferred historical net revenue and operating profit from the previously divested MphasiS product group which was reported within the former ES segment to the Corporate Investments segment. The changes within the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprises previously reported Enterprise Group segment net revenue and earnings from operations. The change between former ES segment and the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprise's previously reported consolidated net revenue, earnings from continuing operations, net earnings from continuing operations or net earnings per share from continuing operations. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES SEGMENT OPERATING MARGIN SUMMARY DATA (Unaudited) Three months ended Change in Operating Margin (pts) April 30, 2017 Q/Q Y/Y Segment operating margin:(a) Enterprise Group 8.8 % (3.9) pts (3.0) pts Software 26.4 % 5.0 pts 1.6 pts Financial Services 8.9 % (0.6) pts (0.4) pts Corporate Investments(b) NM NM NM Total segment operating margin 9.9 % (2.7) pts (1.9) pts (a) As of April 1, 2017, with the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company reclassified the historical net (loss) earnings from the former enterprise services segment ("former ES segment"), to Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations in its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. Effective at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company implemented organizational changes to align its segment financial reporting more closely with its current business structure. These organizational changes resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. The Company reflected these changes to its segment information retrospectively to the earliest period presented, which resulted in: (i) within the Enterprise Group segment, primarily, the transfer of net revenue from the big data storage product group previously reported within the Servers business unit to the Storage business unit; the transfer of net revenue from the Aruba services capabilities previously reported within the Networking business unit to the Technology Services business unit; and (ii) the transfer of net revenue, related eliminations of intersegment revenues and operating profit from the CMS product group previously reported within the former ES segment to the Technology Services business unit within the Enterprise Group segment. Effective at the beginning of the second quarter of fiscal 2017 and prior to the completion of the spinoff of the enterprise services business, Everett SpinCo, Inc., and the merger of Everett SpinCo, Inc. with Computer Sciences Corporation, the Company transferred historical net revenue and operating profit from the previously divested MphasiS product group which was reported within the former ES segment to the Corporate Investments segment. The changes within the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprises previously reported Enterprise Group segment net revenue and earnings from operations. The change between former ES segment and the Enterprise Group segment had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprise's previously reported consolidated net revenue, earnings from continuing operations, net earnings from continuing operations or net earnings per share from continuing operations. (b) NM represents not meaningful. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES CALCULATION OF DILUTED NET (LOSS) EARNINGS PER SHARE (Unaudited) (In millions, except per share amounts) Three months ended April 30, 2017 January 31, 2017 April 30, 2016 Numerator: GAAP net (loss) earnings from continuing operations $ (487 ) $ 255 $ 322 GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations $ (125 ) $ 12 $ (2 ) Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations $ 416 $ 581 $ 586 Non-GAAP net earnings from discontinued operations $ 171 $ 191 $ 145 Denominator: Weighted-average shares used to compute basic net (loss) earnings per share and diluted net (loss) per share 1,658 1,669 1,725 Dilutive effect of employee stock plans(a) 27 31 26 Weighted-average shares used to compute diluted net earnings per share 1,685 1,700 1,751 GAAP net (loss) earnings per share from continuing operations Basic $ (0.29 ) $ 0.15 $ 0.19 Diluted(a) $ (0.29 ) $ 0.15 $ 0.18 GAAP net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations Basic $ (0.08 ) $ 0.01 $ Diluted(a) $ (0.08 ) $ 0.01 $ Non-GAAP net earnings per share from continuing operations Basic $ 0.25 $ 0.35 $ 0.34 Diluted(b) $ 0.25 $ 0.34 $ 0.33 Non-GAAP net earnings per share from discontinued operations Basic $ 0.10 $ 0.11 $ 0.08 Diluted(b) $ 0.10 $ 0.11 $ 0.09 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise GAAP basic net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.37 ) $ 0.16 $ 0.19 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.37 ) $ 0.16 $ 0.18 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise Non-GAAP basic net earnings per share $ 0.35 $ 0.46 $ 0.42 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise Non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share $ 0.35 $ 0.45 $ 0.42 (a) GAAP diluted net earnings per share reflects any dilutive effect of restricted stock awards, stock options and performance-based awards, but the effect is excluded when calculating GAAP diluted net (loss) per share because it would be anti-dilutive. (b) Non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share reflects any dilutive effect of restricted stock awards, stock options and performance-based awards. HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES CALCULATION OF DILUTED NET (LOSS) EARNINGS PER SHARE (Unaudited) (In millions, except per share amounts) Six Months Ended April 30, 2017 2016 Numerator: GAAP net (loss) earnings from continuing operations $ (232 ) $ 684 GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations $ (113 ) $ (97 ) Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations $ 997 $ 1,206 Non-GAAP net earnings from discontinued operations $ 362 $ 256 Denominator: Weighted-average shares used to compute basic net (loss) earnings per share and diluted net (loss) per share 1,664 1,743 Dilutive effect of employee stock plans(a) 28 22 Weighted-average shares used to compute diluted net earnings per share 1,692 1,765 GAAP net (loss) earnings per share from continuing operations Basic $ (0.14 ) $ 0.39 Diluted(a) $ (0.14 ) $ 0.39 GAAP net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations Basic $ (0.07 ) $ (0.06 ) Diluted(a) $ (0.07 ) $ (0.06 ) Non-GAAP net earnings per share from continuing operations Basic $ 0.60 $ 0.69 Diluted(b) $ 0.59 $ 0.68 Non-GAAP net earnings per share from discontinued operations Basic $ 0.22 $ 0.15 Diluted(b) $ 0.21 $ 0.15 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise GAAP basic net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.21 ) $ 0.33 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share $ (0.21 ) $ 0.33 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise Non-GAAP basic net earnings per share $ 0.82 $ 0.84 Total Hewlett Packard Enterprise Non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share $ 0.80 $ 0.83 (a) GAAP diluted net earnings per share reflects any dilutive effect of restricted stock awards, stock options and performance-based awards, but the effect is excluded when calculating GAAP diluted net (loss) per share because it would be anti-dilutive. (b) Non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share reflects any dilutive effect of restricted stock awards, stock options and performance-based awards. Use of non-GAAP financial measures To supplement Hewlett Packard Enterprises condensed and consolidated financial statement information presented on a GAAP basis, Hewlett Packard Enterprise provides revenue on a constant currency basis, revenue adjusted for divestitures and currency, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP income tax rate, non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations, non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations, non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations, gross cash, free cash flow, normalized free cash flow, net capital expenditures, net debt, net cash, operating company net debt and operating company net cash financial measures. Hewlett Packard Enterprise also provides forecasts of non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share and free cash flow. These non-GAAP financial measures are not computed in accordance with, or as an alternative to, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to revenue on a constant currency basis is revenue. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to revenue adjusted for divestitures and currency is revenue. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP operating expense is total costs and expenses. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP operating profit is earnings from operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP operating margin is operating margin. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP income tax rate is income tax rate. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations is net (loss) earnings from continuing operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations is net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations is diluted net (loss) earnings per share from continuing operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations is diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to gross cash is cash and cash equivalents. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to free cash flow is cash flow from operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to normalized free cash flow is cash flow from operations. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to net capital expenditures is investment in property, plant and equipment. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to net debt and operating company net debt is total company debt. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to each of net cash and operating company net cash is cash and cash equivalents. Reconciliations of each of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP information are included in the tables above or elsewhere in the materials accompanying this news release. Use and economic substance of non-GAAP financial measures used by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Revenue on a constant currency basis assumes no change in the foreign exchange rate from the prior-year period. Revenue from continuing operations adjusted for divestitures and currency excludes revenue resulting from businesses divestitures in fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015 and also assumes no change in the foreign exchange rate from the prior-year period. Non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, and non-GAAP operating margin are defined to exclude the effects of a gain on the MphasiS and H3C divestitures and any charges relating to the amortization of intangible assets, restructuring charges, charges relating to the separation and divestiture transactions, acquisition and other related charges and defined benefit plan settlement and remeasurement charges. Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations consist of net (loss) earnings or diluted net (loss) earnings per share excluding those same charges and tax valuation allowances and divestiture taxes, adjustments to loss from equity interest, tax indemnification adjustments and tax settlements. Non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations and non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations consist of net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations or diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations excluding those same charges, as applicable to discontinued operations. In addition, non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations, non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations are adjusted by the amount of additional taxes or tax benefits associated with each non-GAAP item. Hewlett Packard Enterprises management uses these non-GAAP financial measures for purposes of evaluating Hewlett Packard Enterprises historical and prospective financial performance, as well as Hewlett Packard Enterprises performance relative to its competitors. Hewlett Packard Enterprises management also uses these non-GAAP measures to further its own understanding of Hewlett Packard Enterprises segment operating performance. Hewlett Packard Enterprise believes that excluding the items mentioned above from these non-GAAP financial measures allows Hewlett Packard Enterprises management to better understand Hewlett Packard Enterprises consolidated financial performance in relation to the operating results of Hewlett Packard Enterprises segments, as Hewlett Packard Enterprises management does not believe that the excluded items are reflective of ongoing operating results. More specifically, Hewlett Packard Enterprises management excludes each of those items mentioned above for the following reasons: Hewlett Packard Enterprise recorded a gain on the sale of its assets and liabilities identified as part of the H3C and MphasiS transactions during fiscal 2016. Hewlett Packard Enterprise excludes these gains for purposes of calculating these non-GAAP measures because it believes that these one-time gains do not reflect the Companys ongoing operational performance, thereby facilitating a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Hewlett Packard Enterprise incurs charges relating to the amortization of intangible assets. Those charges are included in Hewlett Packard Enterprises GAAP earnings from operations, operating margin, net (loss) earnings and diluted net (loss) earnings per share. Such charges are significantly impacted by the timing and magnitude of Hewlett Packard Enterprises acquisitions and any related impairment charges. Consequently, Hewlett Packard Enterprise excludes these charges for purposes of calculating these non-GAAP measures to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Restructuring charges are costs associated with a formal restructuring plan and are primarily related to (i) employee termination costs and benefits (ii) costs to vacate duplicative facilities and (iii) an accelerated employee stock compensation program. Hewlett Packard Enterprise excludes these restructuring costs (and any reversals of charges recorded in prior periods) for purposes of calculating these non-GAAP measures because it believes that these historical costs do not reflect expected future operating expenses and do not contribute to a meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance or comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Separation costs are expenses associated with HPIs (formerly known as Hewlett-Packard Company or HP Co.) separation into two independent publicly-traded companies and the spin-off and merger transactions of the Enterprise Services business with CSC ("Everett Transaction") and the Software business with Micro Focus. The charges are primarily related to third-party consulting, contractor fees, early debt settlement costs, marketing and branding related expenses, and other incremental costs incurred to complete the transactions. Hewlett Packard Enterprise excludes these separation costs for purposes of calculating these non-GAAP measures to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Hewlett Packard Enterprise incurs cost related to its acquisitions and divestitures, most of which are treated as non-cash or non-capitalized expenses. The charges are direct expenses such as professional fees and retention costs, as well as non-cash adjustments to the fair value of certain acquired assets such as inventory. Because non-cash or non-capitalized acquisition-related expenses are inconsistent in amount and frequency and are significantly impacted by the timing and nature of Hewlett Packard Enterprises acquisitions and divestitures, Hewlett Packard Enterprise believes that eliminating such expenses for purposes of calculating these non-GAAP measures facilitates a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises past operating performance. Adjustments to loss from equity interests includes purchase accounting adjustments and the amortization of the basis difference in relation to the H3C divestiture and the resulting equity method investment in H3C. Hewlett Packard Enterprise believes that eliminating these amounts for purposes of calculating non-GAAP operating profit facilitates a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Hewlett Packard Enterprise incurs defined benefit plan settlement and remeasurement charges relating to its defined pension plans. The charges are associated with the net settlement resulting from voluntary lump sum payments offered to certain terminated vested participants and remeasurement of plan assets in connection with the Everett Transaction, resulting in a decrease to the net periodic pension expense. Hewlett Packard Enterprise excludes these charges for the purpose of calculating these non-GAAP measures to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Tax indemnification adjustments are related to changes in the indemnification positions between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HPI that are recorded by the Company as pre-tax income or expense and not considered tax expense. Hewlett Packard Enterprise excludes these charges for the purpose of calculating these non-GAAP measures to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Tax settlements represent settlements of certain pre-separation Hewlett-Packard Company income tax liabilities shared with HP Inc. through the Tax Matters Agreement. The Company excluded this charge for the purpose of calculation non-GAAP measures to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. As a result of the Everett Transaction, a full valuation allowance was recorded on U.S. state deferred tax assets, which resulted from the removal of Everett entities. As a result, the Company has a 3 year cumulative loss position and insufficient future earnings to be able to realize these deferred tax assets. There are additional taxes related to the Everett Transaction that was recorded upon the spinoff. Since these charges do not represent ongoing expenses, Hewlett Packard Enterprise excludes these charges for the purpose of calculating these non-GAAP measures to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of Hewlett Packard Enterprises current operating performance and comparisons to Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance in other periods. Material limitations associated with use of non-GAAP financial measures These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools, and these measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of Hewlett Packard Enterprises results as reported under GAAP. Some of the limitations in relying on these non-GAAP financial measures are: Items such as amortization of intangible assets, though not directly affecting Hewlett Packard Enterprises cash position, represent the loss in value of intangible assets over time. The expense associated with this loss in value is not included in non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations, non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations, and therefore does not reflect the full economic effect of the loss in value of those intangible assets. Items such as restructuring charges and separation costs that are excluded from non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations, non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations can have a material impact on the equivalent GAAP earnings measure and cash flows. Hewlett Packard Enterprise may not be able to immediately liquidate the short-term and long-term investments included in gross cash, which may limit the usefulness of gross cash as a liquidity measure. Other companies may calculate revenue on a constant currency basis, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations, non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations differently than Hewlett Packard Enterprise does, limiting the usefulness of those measures for comparative purposes. Compensation for limitations associated with use of non-GAAP financial measures Hewlett Packard Enterprise compensates for the limitations on its use of non-GAAP financial measures by relying primarily on its GAAP results and using non-GAAP financial measures only as supplement. Hewlett Packard Enterprise also provides a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP measure within this news release and in other written materials that include these non-GAAP financial measures, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise encourages investors to review carefully those reconciliations. Usefulness of non-GAAP financial measures to investors Hewlett Packard Enterprise believes that providing revenue on a constant currency basis, revenue adjusted for divestitures and currency, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP income tax rate, non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations, non-GAAP net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations, non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations and non-GAAP diluted net (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operations, gross cash, free cash flow, normalized free cash flow, net capital expenditures, net debt, net cash, operating company net debt and operating company net cash financial measures to investors in addition to the related GAAP measures provides investors with greater transparency to the information used by Hewlett Packard Enterprises management in its financial and operational decision making and allows investors to see Hewlett Packard Enterprises results through the eyes of management. Hewlett Packard Enterprise further believes that providing this information better enables Hewlett Packard Enterprises investors to understand Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance and to evaluate the efficacy of the methodology and information used by Hewlett Packard Enterprises management to evaluate and measure such performance. Disclosure of these non-GAAP financial measures also facilitates comparisons of Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating performance with the performance of other companies in Hewlett Packard Enterprises industry that supplement their GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures that may be calculated in a similar manner. Editorial contact Kate Holderness, Hewlett Packard Enterprise [email protected] HPE Investor Relations [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Calix Announces Appointment of Interim Chief Financial Officer PETALUMA, Calif., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calix, Inc. (NYSE:CALX), the world leader in Subscriber Driven Intelligent Access, today announced the appointment of Cory J. Sindelar as Interim Chief Financial Officer following the previously announced departure of the Companys former Chief Financial Officer. Sindelar brings extensive financial executive experience with technology companies, most recently as Chief Financial Officer at Violin Memory, Inc., and earlier as CFO of Kilopass Technology and Ikanos Communications. Sindelar also previously served as vice president, corporate controller, and principal accounting officer at Legato Systems until its acquisition by EMC, following which he continued in various senior financial positions with EMC. We are fortunate to have anexperienced technology company finance executive such as Cory to support our team, said Carl Russo, Calix President and CEO. Cory brings valuable prior experience as a public company chief financial officer to lead our finance organization as we continue our search for a permanent CFO. About Calix Calix, Inc. (NYSE:CALX) pioneered Software Defined Access and cloud products focused on access networks and the subscriber. Its portfolio of Intelligent Access systems and software combines AXOS, the revolutionary platform for access, with Calix Cloud, innovative cloud products for network data analytics and subscriber experience assurance. Together, they enable communications service providers to transform their businesses and be the winning service providers of tomorrow. For more information, visit the Calix website at www.calix.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based upon management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this release, and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from current expectations based on risks and uncertainties affecting Calixs business. The reader is cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix's results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov. Investor Inquiries: Thomas J. Dinges, CFA 408-474-0080 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] New RapidFire Tools Data Breach Liability Report Quantifies Financial Risk of Personal Data on the Network ATLANTA, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RapidFire Tools, Inc. has added new reporting capabilities to its Network Detective Security Module that spotlights an often-overlooked area of network vulnerability: personal identifiable information (PII). The Data Breach Liability Report allows MSPs to search a clients network and report specific instances of PII including credit card information, birthdays, social security numbers, and drivers license numbers which could result in significant PCI violation fines or other liabilities. The clear-cut and detailed reporting provides MSPs with the potential financial impact of PII exposure, based on industry sources. MSPs who have used the tool and run the report say that it has detected tens of thousandseven hundreds of thousandsof dollars of potential liability among their client base, enough to astonish end-customers. In a recent survey of MSPs utilizing the new tool, one MSP stated that the report revealed $500,000 in calculated liability due to PII. Other MSPs identified more than $56,000, $61,000, and $79,000 worth of liability for their clients, respectively, all based on PCI compliance fees that could be levied should that information be compromised. Clients do not understand the impact that a data breach will have on their organization. Theyve been shocked when presented with the numbers, said Matthew Minikel of River Run, a RapidFire Tools MSP in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The tool allowed us to identify those PII data locations and gave us theinsight needed for clients to change their workflows before its too late. The Data Breach Liability Report tool goes further than detecting critical data vulnerabilities. It also produces a granular Risk Summary listing individual instances of PII, card-by-credit card. The report examines the security of computers in question and quantifies the breach probability of detected PII so MSPs can correct client processes, secure data, and avoid liability. It also lists significant details regarding the amount and type of PII stored on the clients business network. The level of information generated by the Data Breach Liability tool provides a bottom-line look at network security that a financial-minded client will take to heart, said Doug Hoffman of CTC Networks, a managed service provider in Franklin, Tennessee. Hoffmans company was able to sign a new client by leveraging the Network Detective Data Breach Liability Report. Were all coming to grips with the fact that many data breaches are initiated internally, making businesses that utilize personal data particularly vulnerable, especially those working with PCI- or healthcare-related information, said Michael Mittel, CEO of RapidFire Tools. Executives are often stunned to see the depth of their network vulnerability, not to mention the potential financial implications resulting from such a breach. Our report outlines the specific data that needs to be addressed in order to alleviate risk, and that creates a very persuasive argument for mediation. To learn more about the new RapidFire Tools Data Breach Liability Report tool, MSP can download this white paper, which includes a detailed sample report and Risk Summary. About RapidFire Tools and Network Detective Network Detective is the #1 non-invasive IT assessment tool used by thousands of service providers around the world. It acquires a vast amount of network dataincluding assets, users, configurations, and vulnerabilitiesand generates a wide array of professionally designed, completely brandable reports. Take your company to the next level with IT assessments, IT compliance modules, and software appliances from RapidFire Tools. To learn more, visit www.rapidfiretools.com, or call 678-323-1300, ext. 2. Contact: Bob Vogel RapidFire Tools, Inc. tel:+1-267-639-9213 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Ecolab Schedules Webcast of Industry Conference for June 8 Jill Wyant, Ecolab Inc. executive vice president and president, Food & Beverage, Healthcare and Life Sciences, will address financial analysts at the Deutsche Bank Global Industrials and Materials Summit on Thursday, June 8 in Chicago. Ecolab will offer a live webcast of Ms. Wyant's presentation. Details for the webcast are as follows: TIME: 10:20 a.m. Eastern Time DATE: Thursday, June 8, 2017 DURATION: Approximately 35 minutes LOCATION: www.ecolab.com/investor ARCHIVE: A replay of the webcast will be available through June 20, 2017. To access the webcast, visit the News and Events section of Ecolab's Investor website at www.ecolab.com/investor and click on the webcast details. Internet access and Windows Media Player or other compatible streaming media player is needed to listen to the webcast. About Ecolab A trusted partner at more than one million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources. With 2016 sales of $13 billion and 48,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe food, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use and improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare, energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com. (ECL-C) View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006390/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] BETA Risk Management Authority Announces Dividends to Liability Members Totaling $13 million BETA Risk Management Authority (BETARMA) will return two dividends to its liability members as a part of the July 1, 2017 renewals. Eligible members will receive a special dividend totaling $6.5 million and a renewal dividend of $6.5 million. The special dividend will be paid out in quarterly installments beginning in August 2017 and the renewal dividend will be credited against the renewal premiums of eligible liability members. "BETA Risk Management Authority continues to stay true to its mission of returning excess premiums to its current members," said Tom Wander, BETA Healthcare Group's (BETA) CEO. "This year marks the 25th consecutive year that BETARMA has returned dividends to its members, which underscores the long-term advantages of buying coverage through our member-governed liability program. While commercial insurers have shareholders to satisfy, BETARMA is focused on the satisfaction of its members." In the year ending December 31, 2016, BETA increased member premiums slightly to $81.5 million with net income from operations totaling $14 million. These outstanding results allowed BETARMA to continue to fund its robust member dividend program in 2017. With the addition of the 2017 dividends of $13 million, BETARMA will have returned over $160 million to members over the past 25 years - an amount unsurpassed by any hospital professional liability insurer doing business on the West Coast. About BETA Healthcare Group BETA Healthcare Group (BETA) is the largest professional liability insurer of hospitals on the West Coast, providing coverage to more than 250 hospitals and healthcare facilities. In addition, BETA provides workers' compensation coverage for over 40,000 healthcare workers in California. BETA also has a long-established and growing commitment to physicians, providing medical professional liability coverage to over 6,000 physicians and more than 50 medical groups. Beyond primary liability and workers' compensation coverage, BETA provides an entire suite of alternative risk and insurance services, including excess healthcare professional liability coverage, excess workers' compensation coverage, third-party claims administration services, risk management consulting services and claims management consulting services. Whether with hospitals, medical groups, clinics or hospices, BETA has earned a reputation for financial strength, rate stability, quality service and breadth of coverage that is unparalleled in the industry. For more information, please visit www.betahg.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006414/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Top 3 Trends Impacting the Global Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures Market Through 2021: Technavio Technavio's latest market research report on the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market provides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006341/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) Amber Chourasia, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on health and wellness sector, says, "The global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market is growing at a steady rate, due to the rising demand for appearance enhancement and the shift in consumer preference for minimally and non-invasive procedures." This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free. The top three emerging market trends driving the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market according to Technavio research analysts are: Growing importance of aesthetics Growth of medical tourism Growing number of men opting for cosmetic treatment Growing importance of aesthetics "Aesthetic medicine uses minimally invasive cosmetic procedures to improve the appearance ofpeople. In 2015, more than 20 million aesthetic procedures were performed globally. The demand for minimally invasive cosmetic procedures has led to an increase in the growth of cosmetic products. Among baby boomers, especially in developing countries, aesthetic medicine is a growing trend as people consider it as a part of a normal health treatment due to their desire to maintain a natural and healthy appearance. Patients not only want to be fit and healthy but also want to minimize the effects of aging. "There has been an increase in the number of skilled medical professionals that perform aesthetic procedures. Various marketing strategies implemented by clinics and vendors also played a key role in driving the demand for aesthetic treatments," says Amber. Growth of medical tourism In developing countries, the cost of high-quality treatment is lower when compared with developed countries, which drives people to these countries for treatment. It is estimated that around 34% of medical tourists travel for cosmetic surgery. People from the US prefer traveling to Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama for cosmetic surgery. People also travel from other countries in Europe to Hungary, Mexico, India, and Malaysia for cosmetic procedures, which results in savings of approximately 55%-70% of the treatment expense. Improvements in healthcare infrastructure and the availability of high-quality medical services in developing countries will propel market growth for medical tourism, thus benefitting the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market. Growing number of men opting for cosmetic treatment In the past, women were the most common consumers of cosmetic products. However, these days, men have also adopted surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The desire to improve their appearance is driving men in developed countries such as the US to undergo cosmetic procedures. The higher penetration of laser treatments such as hair removal is also contributing to the total number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures adopted by men. There is an increase in the number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures when compared with surgical cosmetic procedures due to the limited side-effects and lower risk of post-surgery complications associated with non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The adoption of BOTOX has increased due to an increase in the number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Browse Related Reports: Global Topical Contraceptive Market 2017-2021 Global Mouth Ulcer Market 2017-2021 Global Menopausal Hot Flashes Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like lab equipment, outdoor gear, and agricultural equipment. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading-edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006341/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Destinations Career Academy of Colorado Students Gather for In-Person Graduation Destinations Career Academy of Colorado (CODCA), an accredited, full-time online public school program, will celebrate the Class of 2017 with an in-person graduation ceremony on Friday, June 2 at 5 p.m. on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Forty-six high school seniors will graduate from CODCA, the only online Colorado Department of Education-approved Career Technical Education (CTE) program in the state. CODCA offers CTE courses in the fields of health sciences, business, marketing, agriculture, programming, STEM, and web design, offering students the opportunity to explore career fields both in and out of the classroom. CODCA is the first online school in the state to receive the top level of approval from the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE) for the business, marketing, health sciences and programming pathways. Students statewide in grades 6-12 prepare to earn technical credentials and may earn college credits and gain workplace experience while still in high school. Other learning opportunities include interview preparation, team collaboration and effective communication. Graduates from CODCA are well prepared to enter a two- or four-year college or the work force. "Graduating from CODCA sets students up for future success," said Teri Cady, head of school at Destinations Career Academy of Colorado. "Our students are graduating high school with real-world technical skills they can put to immediate use after high school, and we can't ait to see where their futures take them." With a 4.16 grade-point average, Casey Jones is the Class of 2017 valedictorian, while Sarah Kilsch is the salutatorian. Ann Marie Andrews, a CODCA health sciences teacher, and Angela William, District 33 Colorado senator, will deliver remarks to the graduating class, and CODCA teachers and staff will be in attendance to recognize the students' achievements. The Class of 2017 has been offered nearly $40,000 in college scholarships. The graduates report that they have been accepted to a number of colleges and universities, including Colorado State University, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, University of Northern Colorado, University of Lethbridge, Full Sail University, Aurora Community College, Pueblo Community College, Front Range Community College, Arapahoe Community College, Frank Phillips College and Aims Community College. In addition, one student plans to enlist in the United States Army and another in the U.S. Air Force. Media are welcome at this event. Details are as follows: Destinations Career Academy of Colorado Graduation Ceremony Friday, June 2, 2017 - 5 p.m. University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Education Building 2 13001 E. 17th Place Aurora, CO 80045 About Destinations Career Academy of Colorado Destinations Career Academy of Colorado (CODCA) is an accredited, full-time online public school program that serves Colorado students in grades 6-12. As part of the Colorado public school system, CODCA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about CODCA, visit http://codca.k12.com. About K12 Inc. K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN) is driving innovation and advancing the quality of education by delivering state-of-the-art, digital learning platforms and technology to students and school districts across the globe. K12's curriculum serves over 2,000 schools and school districts and has delivered more than four million courses over the past decade. K12 is a company consisting of thousands of online school educators providing instruction, academic services, and learning solutions to public schools and districts, traditional classrooms, blended school programs, and directly to families. The K12 program is offered through K12 partner public schools in 33 states and the District of Columbia, and through private schools serving students in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. More information can be found at K12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006475/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 31, 2017] Pikes Peak Online School to Celebrate Second Graduating Class Pikes Peak Online School (PPOS), an accredited, full-time online public school, will celebrate its second graduating class with an in-person commencement ceremony on Friday, June 2, at 2 p.m. at the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver. Sixty-eight students will graduate from PPOS, whose comprehensive education approach focuses on providing struggling students statewide in grades 9-12 with the academic, social and emotional support needed to reach graduation. In the event that a student is deficient in course credit, the school's extensive credit recovery courses allow a student to get back on track for a successful graduation. Students and teachers work together to develop an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP), which often expands beyond academic objectives to include post-secondary goals for college or a career. In addition, the online curriculum is bolstered by a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) program, as well as a family support team to help students achieve success both academically and personally. "Our students have worked so hard to reach this significant milestone," said Nicole Tiley, head of school at Pikes Peak Online School. "We strive to help students get back on track toward their high school diploma, and this year's graduates prove that with hard work and support, you can reach your full potential." The PPOS Class of 2017 valedictorian is Trason Kubatka, and the salutatorian is Gareth Nott. Kubatka wil address his fellow graduates, along with Lorenzo Eirhart and Patricia Louise Malit, who will share their stories of what they have overcome to get to graduation. PPOS counselor Renee Breur will also deliver remarks to the graduating class, and PPOS teachers and staff will be in attendance to recognize the students' achievements. Media are welcome at this event. Details are as follows: Pikes Peak Online School Graduation Ceremony Friday, June 2, 2017 - 2 p.m. Auraria Higher Education Center Kenneth King Academic & Performing Arts Center Concert Hall Room 145 855 Lawrence Way Denver, CO 80204 About Pikes Peak Online School Pikes Peak Online School (PPOS) is an accredited, full-time online public school that serves Colorado students in grades 9-12. As part of the Colorado public school system, PPOS is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the curriculum provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about PPOS, visit http://ppos.k12.com. About K12 Inc. K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN) is driving innovation and advancing the quality of education by delivering state-of-the-art, digital learning platforms and technology to students and school districts across the globe. K12's curriculum serves over 2,000 schools and school districts and has delivered more than four million courses over the past decade. K12 is a company consisting of thousands of online school educators providing instruction, academic services, and learning solutions to public schools and districts, traditional classrooms, blended school programs, and directly to families. The K12 program is offered through K12 partner public schools in 33 states and the District of Columbia, and through private schools serving students in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. More information can be found at K12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006481/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] November 2022 is Subscriber Appreciation Month We're launching a full month of surprises to say thank you to our most loyal subscribers! New York, May 31(Just Earth News): Shigeatsu Hatakeyamaas oyster farm was completely destroyed by the deadly tsunami that hit north-east Japan in March 2011. I thought to myself my business was over, says 74-year-old Hatakeyama, who is known as Grandpa Oyster, a nickname given by the schoolchildren in his environmental education programme. To his surprise, however, the conditions conducive to oyster farming in Kesennuma Bay came back quickly. He believes the recovery can be attributed to the tree-planting movement he and his fishing community initiated decades ago in the upstream of Okawa River that flows into the Bay. Hatakeyama is the president of the non-profit organization Mori wa Umi no Koibito (The forest is longing for the sea, the sea is longing for the forest), whose activities focus on reforestation and environmental education. He was also one of the recipients of the UN Forest Hero Award in 2012. Ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference, Hatakeyama spoke with UN News and explained how the forest environment is interlinked to marine production. UN News: What led you to start the reforestation movement The forest is longing for the sea, the sea is longing for the forest? Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: The movement started in 1989. Oysters grow in areas of brackish waters where a river meets the sea. You cannot grow oysters just with salt water. Fresh water is necessary. For instance, Hiroshima, a well-known oyster production site, has brackish water areas at the mouth of the Ota River. Okawa flows into Kesennuma Bay, where our oyster farm is situated. Nutrients from upstream forests that a river carries raise phytoplankton, which oysters feed on. About 40 years ago, a red tide occurred in the bay. Red tide is caused by human activities on the land side. It does not come from offshore. A shell of oyster inhales 200 litres of water a day. The body of oysters turned red and they were called blood oysters, which were not sellable in markets and had to all be disposed of. This incident was the starting point for our fishing community to launch a campaign to regain the blue sea. I also had a first-hand experience that deepened my understanding of the link between forests, rivers and the ocean I also had a first-hand experience that deepened my understanding of the link between forests, rivers and the ocean. One day, a French scholar visited a research facility in the Kesennuma area. At her invitation, I visited France, a country known for oyster farming. I was very impressed with a variety of seafood produced in the estuary of Loire. There was a huge forest of deciduous broad-leaved trees along the river. I rediscovered the link among forests, rivers and the ocean. A good forest raises a good ocean. The academic world is vertically divided. Forest, river and sea are placed in different academic fields. There were few scholars who can elucidate the relationship between forest, rivers and the ocean in a holistic manner. American scholar John Martin discovered that plankton does not grow in some waters that lack iron. The sea becomes anaemic if iron is not provided. I found that Hokkaido University professor Katsuhiko Matsunaga was also saying that forests grow a rich ocean. His research gave scientific justification for our movement of planting trees upstream of rivers. Dams stop the flow of iron into the ocean. Farmers usually do not take the ocean into account when they grow crops. If inhabitants in the river basin do not think about the seas, oyster production sites will vanish. UN News: What impact did the East Japan Great Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 have on your oyster business? Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: It was beyond an impact. A 20-metre-high tsunami brought complete destruction and I lost everything, from boats, aquaculture rafts and other equipment like refrigerators. Honestly, I thought to myself my business is over. All living creatures disappeared. But by May (about two months after the disaster), living beings started to re-emerge. When a Kyoto University research team came, I was eager to know the status of plankton in the bay as there was speculation that the sea was dead. A member of the research mission said: Hatakeyama, please rest assured. There are more plankton than oysters can eat. Hearing that, I was convinced that I could revive my oyster farming business. The researcher attributed the quick comeback of the seas condition to the forests upstream. This experience proved the legitimacy of our reforestation movement. In the following year, I received the UN Forest Hero Award. UN News: As a recipient of the UN Forest Hero Award, what kind of outcome do you expect from the UN Ocean Conference to be held in June? Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: Research on the relationship between the ocean and forest is progressing. As you know, waters off Japans Sanriku Coast form one of the worlds top three fishing grounds. In fishery high school, I was taught that the condition for the fertile waters was created by the collision of Black and Parental currents. But new studies suggest that the forests five times larger than Japans land around the Amur River, which runs along the border of eastern Russia and northern China, produce iron that does not oxidize. The Amur carries this type of iron into the Sea of Okhotsk, and iron flows via the Bussol Strait of the Kuril Islands into the northern Pacific Ocean, where the Sanriku fishing ground is situated. It has become clear now that the source of iron in the waters off Japans Sanriku Coast is the forests in the Russian-Chinese border. Many fishery and ocean experts are expected to participate in the UN Ocean Conference. But it is meaningless to hold the meeting if they forget to discuss the link between the forest and the ocean. It is important to teach children how forests, rivers and the ocean are connected UN News: Please share your thoughts about the importance of human resource development and youth education. Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: If you dont share the values with people living in the river basin, the sea will get contaminated. This is not a matter of natural science but a problem created by humans. It is important to teach children how forests, rivers and the ocean are connected. We started educating children one year after our reforestation movement began. We planted trees not only in the mountains, but also in the minds of boys and girls. We have educated more than 10,000 children. UN News: How do you feel about being nicknamed Grandpa Oyster? Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: I could not use water for two months after the 2011 tsunami. My beard grew unkempt and I probably looked like Colonel Sanders, the founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food chain. Elementary school children enrolled in our on-site environmental education programme started calling me Grandpa Oyster. Now at 74, I feel I have reached an appropriate age to be called a grandpa. UN News: What kind of contributions does your movement make to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals? Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: Because I am just a fisherman, I cannot say big things. But I say this. The four major civilizations in the world originated in river basins. Civilization will perish if you destroy the river basin environment. In Japan, 35,000 rivers are flowing into the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. However, many river basins are sick. This is not sustainable. We need to restore the original condition. When the ocean gets better, you can reap more fish for sushi. Then, sushi prices will go down. So, its good for food security and for the economy of the local communities. UN News: What is your dream? Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: My father started our familys oyster business. My three sons are now running it. If my grandson, who is in high school now, succeeds, our business will have lasted 100 years. This is sustainability to the letter, isnt it? If the river basin environment is preserved, a sustainable life will continue even in remote seaside areas. I hope to prove that and continue communicating these linkages through my real-life example. Photo/Mori wa Umi no Koibit Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, May 31(Just Earth News): To contain the latest outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations Childrenas Fund (UNICEF) provided technical support to 145 volunteers of the Congolese Red Cross and community health workers to deliver lifesaving information to local populations in remote areas along the Central African Republic border. Working in close collaboration with health workers and communities was the best way to inform the public quickly about protection measures against Ebola, and to prevent propagation of the disease, said Christophe Boulierac, UNICEF spokesperson, during a regular briefing in Geneva. Under the coordination of national health authorities, and in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF trained on how to chlorinate water and disinfect homes to avoid the spread of the disease, as well as on the importance of hand washing and ways to adapt local burial practices to reduce contamination risks. Encouraging people to visit their local health centre in case of illness during the epidemic, the DRC Government decided to make the health services available free of charge in the affected health zone of Likati. In addition, a European Union-funded flight helped UNICEF send supplies and medicines to health facilities in the Likati area. It was a very hard-to-reach area and teams could only access it by motorcycle and on foot. This limited propagation of the disease, but also presented an additional challenge for bringing in medical supplies, Boulierac elaborated. As of 29 May, there were 19 Ebola cases, out of which two were laboratory-confirmed, four were probable and 13 suspected, said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. Out of those 19 cases, there were four deaths, out of which only one was laboratory-confirmed and one was probable. He also stated that as of that same time, there were still 294 contacts under follow-up, and as many cases had already been dismissed, it was important to look into various other options. A number of diseases could be responsible, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis E, yellow fever, shigella, typhoid, dengue, and salmonella. Individual cases in the different villages could have different pathogens, he explained. Asked about vaccination, Lindmeier said the protocol for the possible ring vaccination had been formally approved by the national regulatory authorities and the DRC Government with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) along with WHO support. He added that other partners were working on detailed readiness planning for experimental vaccine use, to deploy as soon as possible, if needed. The international vaccine deployment and cold chain shipment to DRC was not advised at this point, as there were only two confirmed Ebola cases and no new cases had been seen for a while now, he pointed out. There is no automatic trigger point for the ring vaccination, but the moment there would be a new case it would be looked at very carefully, he said. The authorities, MSF and WHO and partners were in constant contact on this. Photo: WHO African Region Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, May 31(Just Earth News): The United Nations envoy for Yemen on Tuesday stressed an urgent need for a peace agreement by the warring sides in the country, but confessed that awe are not closea to such an accord due to the failure of the key parties to compromise. The reluctance of the key parties to embrace the concessions needed for peace, or even discuss them, remains extremely troubling, said Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Yemen, at a Security Council briefing on the situation in the country. Yemenis are paying a price for their needless delay. The envoy updated the Council on his recent efforts to broker an agreement that would avert a possible attack by the pro-Government forces on the critical port city of Hodeidah, controlled by the rebel Houthis. Ould Cheikh Ahmed warned that the spread of fighting to the city would lead to a devastating loss of civilian life and infrastructure, and threaten the flow of food and medical supplies through the port and bring further suffering to the Yemeni people. So far, we managed to avert military action in Al Hodeidah, he said, but expressed regret that the Ansarallah General Peoples Congress delegation in the capital, Sanaa, did not meet him to discuss the framework for such an agreement. Civil societys calls for peace falling on deaf ears I very much regret to inform this Council that the call for peace from Yemeni women and civil society and the international community is still falling on deaf ears, he said. He said he has proposed an agreement which avoid military clashes in Hodeida that should be negotiated in parallel with an agreement to ensure the resumption of salary payments nationally to all civil servants. An agreement on Hodeida and salaries should be just a first step towards a national cessation of hostilities and renewed discussion of a comprehensive agreement. Yet even serious negotiations of these first steps have been slow to start, he said. The envoy said that pro-Government forces are attempting to make progress on the western coastline of Taiz governorate from Al-Dhubab and Al-Mokha towards Al-Hodeidah port and inland towards Taiz city. An assessment mission carried out by humanitarian agencies in early April found that Al-Dhubab was largely empty due to widespread destruction of infrastructure and contamination by unexploded ordnance and landmines. In Al-Mokha, an estimated 40 per cent of houses and infrastructure have been damaged by the fighting. Violence has also continued in Hajjah governorate and the border area between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The persistent military action is leading to an increased militarization of the Yemeni population, extensive proliferation of weapons, and widespread use of deadly landmines, the envoy warned. On the humanitarian front, he said seven million Yemenis are at risk of famine, and half of Yemens population lacks access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene services. The latest outbreak of cholera has led to more than 500 deaths and over 60,000 suspected cases in 19 governorates. Less than 45 per cent of medical facilities are functioning and medicines for diabetes, hypertension, cancer and other chronic diseases are in short supply. I urge the Council to strongly convey to the parties that they need to engage immediately with the United Nations to agree on steps to avoid further bloodshed, to halt the slide towards famine and to re-commit to a peaceful end to the war, he said. Situation in Yemen a result of international communitys inaction Also speaking at the Council meeting on Tuesday was Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen OBrien, who said that the people of Yemen are being subjected to deprivation, disease and death as the world watches. He stressed that this is not an unforeseen or coincidental result of forces beyond our control but rather it is a direct consequence of actions of the parties and supporters of the conflict and sadly, a result of inaction whether due to inability or indifference by the international community. In just the last month, twice as many people were suffering from suspected cholera cases compared to those in the last six months combined. According to estimates, 150,000 cases are projected for the next six months, in addition to the broadly 60,000 current suspected cases since late April, with 500 associated deaths. The UN and partners urgently scaled up assistance, quadrupling the number of diarrhoea treatment centres in the last month and established 136 oral rehydration corners, he said, also noting that synchronised efforts in water, sanitation and health are in place to ensure a comprehensive and holistic response, including a nationwide awareness campaign. On Hudaydah Port, OBrien said it is a lifeline for Yemen, being the primary point of entry for commercial and humanitarian imports into the country, which historically is 80 to 90 per cent dependent on imported food staples. It is also the only port in Yemen that can handle fuel, and bulk and containerized cargo at scale, he said, appealing to Member States to ensure that all efforts are made to keep the port open and operating. An attack on Hudaydah is not in the interest of any party, as it will directly and irrevocably drive the Yemeni population further into starvation and famine, he said. UN Photo/Manuel Elias Source: www.justearthnews.com In April, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard released six songs from their forthcoming album Murder Of The Universe album, which wont be out until June 23. Now the band have released the next six-track installment, titled The Lord Of Lightning Vs Balrog, which features a trippy music video involving magic, a freaky woodland ritual, and more madness than you can point a micro-tonal sitar at. Were living in dystopian times that are pretty scary and its hard not to reflect that in our music, explains front man Stu Mackenzie of the bands latest album. Its almost unavoidable. Some scientists predict that the downfall of humanity is just as likely to come at the hands of Artificial Intelligence, as it is war or viruses or climate change. But these are fascinating times too. Human beings are visual creatures vision is our primary instinct, and this is very much a visual, descriptive, bleak record. While the tone is definitely apocalyptic, it is not necessarily purely a mirror of the current state of humanity. Its about new non-linear narratives. Check out the six tunes below. A call came into dispatch about a carjacking. A man said his car, a black 2003 Toyota RAV4, had been stolen at gunpoint near the 7-Eleven convenience store at 1701 Independence Avenue, in northeast Kansas City. The suspect was a black man, around 30, possibly wearing a black hoodie. "Mary Williams discusses issues arising from the way state election officials are implementing the new Missouri voter ID law, which goes into effect June 1. This assembly on the south steps of the Saline County courthouse in Marshall Wednesday, May 31, was part of an effort across the state of Missouri to speak out against the new law." This one impacts Kansas City in terms of already low voter turnout. Take a look . . .The response . . .Jefferson City, Mo. Today, a group opposed to Missouri's voter-approved photo voter ID law launched a misinformation campaign and held press events across Missouri to intentionally mislead and confuse voters about Missouri's new voter ID law. In their statement, the group said the new law would make it "harder" and "more confusing" to vote. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft issued the following statement:"I am shocked and appalled by the misinformation campaign being run by these opponents of Missouri's voter ID law," Ashcroft said. "Their efforts are deplorable and intentionally designed to confuse and mislead Missourians just as we are beginning a statewide public education campaign. Missouri's voter ID law will not disenfranchise a single voter. Bottom line, if you're registered to vote, you can vote -- despite the misinformation that was shared today."Ashcroft is set to announce a statewide public education campaign tomorrow, June 1, as the law takes effect. The effort will include a statewide media campaign with informational events across the state.30You decide . . . BURNS & MAC RUNS THE KANSAS CITY NEW AIRPORT BIDDING STILL SEEMS KINDA RIGGED!!! The "open" bidding still gives this local company FIRST place in the process and a right to match any offer. Kansas City New Airport Terminal Circus While opening up bids is a good start . . .Here's a bit of a reality check . . .Still, the illusion of fairness is still important as this thing marches forward.And now . . . Here's a bit of background on the process and a look into the sketchy setup that will most likely run aproject.Congratulations to the KCMO Council members who had the fortitude to stand their ground when the James/Schulte/Justus/Burns and McDonnell steamroller was aiming directly in their path. At least it's a start. We still have questions outstanding., where the presentation begins from David Frantze (Stinson Leonard Street attorney, representing Burns and McDonnell) and Mike Talboy, director of government affairs for Burns and McDonnell.Specifically, we'll be focusing here on the opening presentation of Mike Talboy, and making a determination on whether he's speaking truthfully."the city that we all love and call home""Kansas City is home.we are your friends and neighbors""we want the wages to stay right here in Kansas City as well"We think Mr. Talboy is at best stretching the definition of Kansas City Missouri to include the entire metro on both sides of the state line, or he is deliberately misspeaking before the KCMO Council while attempting to pull the wool over their eyes. Mr. Talboy may have been taking a cue from his CEO, Ray Kowalik, who stated at the May 12 news conference announcing the Burns and McDonnell terminal proposal, that "I grew up in Kansas City." Funny, he neglected to mention that he actually grew up in Blue Springs, and lives in Lee's Summit,Let's take a quick look at who is leading the charge, and who stands to benefit the most from hoodwinking the KCMO Council into approving a billion-dollar no-bid secretly-negotiated single-terminal airport proposal.Michael H. Talboy, director of governmental affairs for Burns and McDonnell, lives in Shawnee Kansas.David W. Frantze, Stinson Leonard Street attorney representing Burns and McDonnell, lives in Leawood Kansas.Mr. Frantze leads us to believe that Terminal Developer LLC is jointly owned by separate legal affiliates of Americo Life Insurance Co. (SkyStar LLC) and Burns and McDonnell Engineering Co. (Burns and McDonnell Project Investments Inc.). Let's take a look at the leadership team behind these two companies, and see if they're indeed our Kansas City neighbors, as described by Shawnee resident Mike Talboy, addressing the KCMO Council.Raymond J. Kowalik, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, lives in Lee's Summit Missouri.Greg Graves, recently retired CEO, lives in Stilwell Kansas.David G. Yeamans, Director and President of Aviation & Facilities Division, lives in Leawood Kansas.John E. Nobles, Director and President of Process & Industrial Division, lives in Leawood Kansas.Paul D. Fischer, Vice President and Director, lives in Overland Park Kansas.John E. Olander, Vice President and Director, lives in Leawood Kansas.Dave G. Ruf Jr., Chairman Emeritus, lives in Overland Park Kansas.AMERICO LIFE INSURANCE CO. LEADERSHIPPhilip K. Polkinghorn, President, lives in Mission Hills Kansas.Mark K. Fallon, Vice President, lives in Leawood Kansas.Gary L. Muller, Director, lives in Mission Hills Kansas.Michael A. Merriman, Director, lives in Mission Hills Kansas.Timothy S. Sotos, Director, lives in Mission Hills Kansas.All 13 members of the KCMO Council reside within Kansas City Missouri and have sworn to represent the best interests of some 475,000 Kansas City Missouri residents. Their focus should not be on granting exclusive deals to non-residents who feed off the KCMO largesse.The Memorandum Of Understanding that is pending before the KCMO Council lists Terminal Developer LLC as "Developer" and Burns and McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. as "Contractor" for this legal document. What's not understood, and hasn't been properly disclosed by the parties, is the fact that Terminal Developer LLC only came into existence on April 27, 2017, when attorney Frantze legally created it on behalf of Burns and McDonnell.We checked with the Missouri Secretary of State's office and learned that SkyStar LLC (Charter LC001539299) was organized on 5-12-17 by an attorney of 2345 Grand Blvd, Suite 2200, KCMO 64108.Like many LLC's with non-identifying names, the owner/members remain shielded and anonymous. Other than Mr. Frantze's disclosure that SkyStar LLC is owned by an affiliate of Americo Life Insurance Company, we have no way to verify that claim. SkyStar LLC, party to Terminal Developer LLC, is a ghost legal entity, less than a month old, seeking a billion dollar contract approval from the KCMO Council.Why is the KCMO Council being rushed to approve a billion-dollar contract with a corporation that's barely one month old? Why isn't Burns and McDonnell Engineering (the parent, or primary holding company for all of their affiliates) acting as the developer on this project? Was Terminal Developer LLC created to legally protect Burns and McDonnell in the event of project problems, enabling them to walk away in a worse-case scenario? Where's the protection for KCMO?########## An opening to the city, the new Athens and Epidaurus Festivals institution, could be described as a festival within the Festival, since it encompasses a wide range of events, such as initiatives in non-theatrical settings, as well as activist interventions not only in the city of Athens but also in areas of Piraeus and Elefsina. This multifaceted venture addresses the introversion, which tends to overwhelm the public sphere, as well as the fear of difference, and its resulting racist attitudes. An opening to the city takes place with the support of the Municipality of Athens and the Athens Culture Net. It is structured in four separate sections. The first, City: Myth and History, includes site specific plays, performances and other interventions, focusing getting to know the urban landscape through wandering in it. The second section, Poetic and musical passions, includes poetic and musical performances, inviting audiences to discover Athens in a new light, away from the everyday hustle and bustle. The third section, Athens: Places of Memory, takes place in cooperation with the Network of Associations and Citizens, and the Greek Environmental Society, and includes guided tours, walks, music and theater. Performances outside the walls is the fourth unit, which includes performances taking place in non-theatrical settings, emphasizing lived experience and diversity. Through An opening to the City, the Festival becomes what it can and truly must be: A festival for its city, a pillar of innovative creation, artistically motivating citizens themselves. For more information on the initiatives performances, please visit the Athens and Epidaurus Festival website. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Bahrain Bourse (BHB) has authorised the appointment of BDO Consulting as a specialised advisory firm (sponsor) operating within the Bahrain Investment Market (BIM), an equity market for growing business ventures in Bahrain and the wider Mena region. The agreement was signed by the Bahrain Bourse chief executive Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and BDO chairman Jawad Habib in the presence of BDO Bahrain CEO Ali Jawad and Partner Arshad Gadit. Bahrain Investment Market (BIM), which was officially launched in March 2017 by the Bahrain Bourse, features relaxed admission requirements and reduced financial disclosure rules, access to global investors, guidance services through specialized advisory firms, and many other benefits. The agreement with BDO Consulting has added one more key partner to the cornerstone of support that BIM offers businesses and enterprise investors looking to establish and grow their presence in the region. In addition to access to capital, listed companies will benefit from specialised advisory services in multiple sectors and the implementation of globally accepted standards for financial auditing and reporting statements as mandated by the BIM, said a statement. Specialised advisory firms play an advisory role to all new clients helping to ensure all pre-listing requirements and post-listing documentation and disclosures are continuously met. Established in 1980, BDO Consulting is a member of BDO International Limited and forms part of the international BDO network. BDO's global network extends across 158 countries, with over 67,000 people working out of more than 1,400 offices. BDO Consulting is led by 7 partners with a multi-sector focus. Bahrain Investment Markets partnership with BDO Consulting follows similar tie-ups earlier this year with well-known specialised advisory firms, KPMG and Keypoint. Shaikh Khalifa noted: A diverse and supportive ecosystem is not only essential for driving private sector growth, but also an important determining factor for foreign investors when considering where to invest. The partnership with BDO Consulting provides additional multi-sector support and advisory services that will encourage and enable investment opportunities for companies and investors from around the world. Jawad Habib said: As one of the world's largest accounting and consulting networks, with a team that is drawn from a variety of multi-disciplinary backgrounds, BDO has helped a diverse clientele with a range of needs. We are looking forward to using our international expertise and network with our local presence to provide support and key advisory services for companies wishing to be listed within the BIM. With our capabilities, we offer distinctively different relationships and show results regardless of any challenges within the economic environment. TradeArabia News Service Clifford Chance has advised National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) on the establishment of its $3 billion Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) programme and its inaugural Rule 144A/Regulation S international debt capital markets issuance thereunder. The debut offering comprises $750 million 2.75% notes due 2022, issued on May 30, 2017 and admitted to trading on the Irish Stock Exchange. The offering constitutes the first bonds to be offered and sold to qualified institutional buyers in the United States in reliance on Rule 144A and Regulation S from a GCC financial institution since 2009, said a statement. NBK's programme establishment and debut issuance is the latest in a series of Rule 144A compliant offerings from issuers in the State of Kuwait, coming shortly after the inaugural sovereign offering and the earlier debut issuance by petrochemical corporate, Equate, transactions on which Clifford Chance also advised. The NBK transaction continues the recent trend of Kuwaiti entities seeking to diversity funding sources through access to the international debt capital markets and, in particular, the deep liquidity offered by onshore US institutional investors, it said. The transaction attracted strong demand from a geographically diverse range of accounts, with US institutional investors (at 57%) dominating the final $2.2 billion order book, which represented a 2.9 times oversubscription for the transaction. Partner Stuart Ure, who led the team, observed: "With the establishment of NBK's GMTN programme and its debut 144A issuance thereunder, Clifford Chance continues to build on our track record in Kuwaiti capital markets transactions. We are delighted with the success of NBK's inaugural offering which is testament to the efforts of the entire NBK management and transaction team." The team was led on English law matters by Stuart Ure, supported by senior associates Brian O'Leary and Alekhya Prakash, and on US law matters by partner John Connolly, supported by senior associate Catherine Martinez. International Counsel Bureau advised NBK on Kuwaiti law matters. Citigroup, HSBC, JP Morgan and NBK Capital acted as the arrangers and joint lead managers and First Abu Dhabi Bank and Standard Chartered Bank acted as dealers and joint lead managers. - TradeArabia News Service Royal Boskalis Westminster, a Netherland-based dredging and maritime infrastructure services provider, is set to start work within a month on the planned $513-million liquid terminal at Duqm port in the Al Wusta region of Oman, said a report. The construction work will take 32 to 33 months for completion, reported Times of Oman, citing a top official. Presently, Royal Boskalis is working on a detailed engineering design and mobilising equipment and materials for construction work, said Lee Chee Khian, the chief executive officer of the Special Economic Zone in Duqm (Sezad). An initial front-end engineering design (Feed) was carried out by our consultant Worley Parsons at the time of the tender, Khian stated. According to him, the scope of work includes engineering, design, procurement and construction of a liquid berth terminal. The liquid berth will be operational sometime in 2020, he added. Various dredging and civil activities will be executed by Boskalis, which include the deepening of the port basin to a depth of 18 m, reclamation of land, construction of a 1-km-long quay wall, a double berth jetty island and a stone revetment. The dredging scope will be executed by the new mega cutter Helios, which will be taken into service in mid-2017, and a jumbo hopper and medium-sized trailer suction hopper dredger, he stated. The liquid terminal, which is linked to the ambitious development of the mega 230,000-barrels-per-day capacity-greenfield refinery project is currently under development near the port, will be large enough to handle the import and export requirements of the refinery. Duqm Refinery, the $7 billion-joint venture between the state-owned Oman Oil Company and Kuwait Petroleum International, is also expected to start operations in 2020. Both companies had signed a joint venture agreement last month for building the refinery. An engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the main processing plant of the refinery is expected to be awarded soon. New York, May 31(Just Earth News): Nuclear science and technology are essential in helping countries address the twin challenges of ensuring reliable energy supplies while curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the United Nations atomic agency told some 1200 participants at the opening of an international conference on Tuesday in Vienna. The Conference on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme, which runs from 30 May to 1 June in the Austrian capital, will highlight the Agencys role in providing development assistance, discuss future partnership opportunities and examine the way forward on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After welcoming member States and other partners, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said: Science and technology are critical for development. Transferring nuclear technology to developing countries is core IAEA business. Partnerships are an essential element of our work. The technical cooperation programme has improved the health and prosperity of millions of people, Amano said. I have seen for myself in visits to developing countries all over the world that technical cooperation projects deliver huge benefits to individuals, families and entire communities. Partnerships key to sharing nuclear science and technology In 2016 alone, the IAEA technical cooperation programme delivered support to 146 countries and territories, including 37 least developed countries. Highlighting two key partnerships which help the IAEA to deliver assistance, he said: Together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the IAEA deploys nuclear techniques to help increase food production, manage pollution, reverse land degradation and restore soils. We work with the World Health Organization (WHO) to help improve the availability of radiotherapy and nuclear medicine. Nuclear technology contributing to development Lifting people out of poverty to support sustainable development was also the central topic in the opening speech of the conference. Energy is indispensable for development, he told the audience, stressing that huge increases in energy supply will be required in the coming decades to support economic development and lift some 2.6 billion people out of energy poverty. He went on to say that many member States believe nuclear power can help them to address the twin challenges of ensuring reliable energy supplies, while curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear power is one of the lowest-carbon technologies available to generate electricity Amano pointed out. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during their operation, and only very low emissions over their entire life cycle. The use of nuclear power can also help member States to alleviate concerns about volatile fuel prices and security of supply, he said. He stated that some 30 countries are already using nuclear power and another 30 are considering building their first nuclear power plants, or have started doing so. UN Photo/Evan Schneider Source: www.justearthnews.com The Switch, a Yaskawa company - is a pioneer in advanced drive train technology, has delivered its first ever DC-Hub to Wightlink in the UK for installation into its flagship new build diesel electric hybrid ferry. The Finland-headquartered business, part of the 3.3 billion ($3.6 billion) turnover Yaskawa Electric Corporation, says the revolutionary technology will deliver significant benefits related to fuel, cost and environmental compatibility, making it a preferred solution for future-focused ship-owners. Yaskawa Electric Corporation is a world-leading provider of core technologies focused on motion control, robotics automation, and systems engineering. In November last year, The Switch purchased Wartsila Drives in Norway, further strengthening its marine ambitions by acquiring technology, and a team, with a proven record of market success. Developed on the foundation of the firms established Power Drive solution, the new DC-Hub is a landmark for the business, according to Asbjrn Halsebakke, general manager, The Switch Marine Drives Norway. We believe this is the future of shipping, Halsebakke notes. The DC-Hub is simple, reliable, robust and very cost effective. It allows vessel generators to run at optimal efficiency, with batteries taking the strain of any necessary load changes. This significantly reduces fuel consumption and therefore operational cost and environmental impact. The DC nature of the system also allows batteries to be utilized as standby power sources, meaning generators can be turned off entirely. Less running time means less maintenance, as well as less fuel consumption, he added. Also any potential power source such as wind generators, fuel cells or solar panels can be easily connected to DC. So by eliminating the need for AC switchboards, we create a simpler, tailor-made system for more compliant, cost-effective and environmentally friendly operation, today and tomorrow, Halsebakke concluded. The current delivery will be installed by Wartsila on the 90 m new build vessel at the Cemre shipyard in Yalova, Turkey. The craft boasts a capacity for 178 cars and more than 1,200 passengers. It is part of Wightlinks GBP45 million ($57.5 million) Investing for the Future programme, which is scheduled to begin operation in the Solent strait in the summer of 2018. Halsebakke further noted that the project effectively fires the starting gun on a new wave of development for his Stord, Norway-based operation. Our company has publicly stated that its targeting growth of 200 per cent within the marine segment in the next five years, and well be a key part of that, he said. We now have two new DC-Hub deliveries in the pipeline and see a huge potential for growth. This is especially true within the ferry segment, where there are increasing environmental demands from authorities, particularly here in Norway, and for offshore, where existing vessels can transform their energy efficiency with DC. In a sector that faces real challenges, this is a much more cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution than fleet renewal, he added. Halsebakke stated: From our perspective, well be taking on five new people over the next month to prepare for increased market demand. We see this first delivery as an exciting step forward on our growth path. The Switch originally made its name in the wind farm sector before moving into marine almost five years ago. In wind, it is a preferred industry supplier, providing permanent magnet generators and full-power converters to wind turbines worldwide. In total, the firm boasts an installed capacity in excess of 13 GW. The Switch, which has already received over 30 marine orders for its revolutionary permanent magnet shaft generator technology, believes its solutions can provide the same transformational benefits for shipping as they have for the wind industry, it stated.- TradeArabia News Service Ericsson in Market Area Middle East and Africa has announced the appointment of Mathias Johansson as head of Global Customer Unit (GCU) STC and head of Ericsson Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Johansson is now a member of the market areas leadership team and his new appointment is effective May 16, 2017. Ericsson is a leading networking and telecommunications equipment and services company. Johansson will be based in Saudi Arabia and he will be responsible for driving the companys business in Egypt and Saudi Arabia markets in addition to driving the companys business for STC Group within Ericsson. Ericsson Middle East and Africa President Rafiah Ibrahim said: "The new leadership team is set to enable our customers current and future success with the ambition of becoming more responsive to their needs. Our focus remains to be our customers trusted partner of choice across the Middle East and Africa market and with this new team, I am confident that we will be able to achieve our wanted position." Prior to assuming his current role, Johansson held a number of senior positions, spanning various markets, within Ericsson including Sweden, Taiwan and Ethiopia. His most recent appointment in the company was head of Ericsson East Africa where he was responsible for running Ericssons business within Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. Johansson holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from The Institute of Technology at Linkoping University in Sweden. -TradeArabia News Service Batelco, Bahrains leading digital solutions provider, has launched a new Service Management Centre (SMC) and ICT Lab, the first and only one of its kind in the kingdom. The new SMC and ICT Lab, located at Batelco Headquarters in Hamala, was officially opened by Batelco Bahrain CEO Eng Muna Al Hashemi at a ceremony attended by Batelco senior executives, and SMC and ICT Lab staff. Batelcos SMC is a state-of-the-art facility designed and developed around the needs of enterprise customers. The centre handles end-to-end support for business customers from design and delivery of services and solutions to efficient fault handling, centred around the remote team working closely with the NOC (Network Operations Centre). All services are monitored around the clock, ensuring immediate action on customer interruptions. Batelcos Business Solutions Portfolio is unmatched in Bahrain and with this latest enhancement which brings together Batelcos fault handling, network operations overview and the addition of an inhouse ICT Lab, Batelco is confirmed as the leader in the enterprise communications arena in Bahrain and among the top in the region, said a statement from the company. The new ICT Lab, the only one of its kind in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has been created to build and test communications solutions ahead of their roll-out to customers, further enhancing the strength of the fully integrated services for Batelcos enterprise customers. Business customers are welcome to visit the new SMC and ICT Lab where experienced engineers are on hand to answer any questions and provide businesses with advice on the best solutions for their requirements, it said. Eng Al Hashemi said Batelco has invested heavily to bring its vision for a fully integrated service centre and development lab to reality. We are really delighted with the outcome; the centre is a huge success and any of our business customers who have visited already have been really amazed with the level of expertise and support that is dedicated to their needs, she said. Having end-to-end delivery and support under one roof with the added benefit of having a huge team of skilled Batelco personnel on-site meets our strategic needs and surpasses the demands of our enterprise customers, Eng. Al Hashemi added. Batelcos new facility will further enhance Batelcos position in the market as an ICT Solutions provider and demonstrate the Companys capability in delivering customised integrated solutions to meet customers demands. - TradeArabia News Service Colt Offers New Low-Latency Route Between Tokyo and Chicago Exchanges Colt Technology Services has announced newly optimised low-latency network routes linking stock exchanges in Tokyo and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which will be available from May 23, 2017. Connectivity will be provided through the companys private Ethernet-based Colt IQ Network*1. Latency between Tokyo and Chicago will reach a speed of 121.07ms between each endpoint after network optimisation*2. In addition, the company has also commenced optimisation of other key routes in the Asia-Pacific region. The new optimisations will benefit traders in Chicago who require fast connectivity to Tokyo, or exchange venues in Tokyo that require low-latency connectivity to Chicago. Exchange venues across the globe will be able to take advantage Colts ultra-low-latency network that links financial markets in Japan and America and is both scalable and offers high speeds made possible by the companys secure leased line Ethernet. Enterprises in other industries that require leased bandwidth, advanced security, and low-latency Ethernet services will also benefit from these optimisations. These efforts will be backed by Colts support team with the multilingual capabilities to handle global demand. Colts Kenji Hioki, Asia CCO and Regional Executive, stated, Global high-frequency trading environments are evolving rapidly due to the increasing demand for reliable, low-latency, high-bandwidth connections between exchanges. Colt provides the fastest routes in the industry to satisfy this demand in capital markets. Our robust Colt IQ Network is the platform that supports mission-critical applications connecting exchange venues between Tokyo and Chicago, and provides added value with specialised usability features and support. Bandwidth is selectable from a range of 1Mbps to 10Gbps, and offers optional protection/redundancy. Colts network is configured to be fully redundant, from the infrastructure and backbone to the local loop. Point-to-Point, Point-to-Multipoint, and Multipoint-to-Multipoint topology options are available. Colts services are based on MEF9 and MEF14, and come with industry-leading SLAs covering performance and delivery. *1 100 Gbps-capable network optimised for SDN, NFV and cloud services, connecting commercial sites and data centres *2 figures provided by Colt accurate as of April 2017 For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: ON THE MOVE: SEC, CAT and ISDA Hire Pros; Noll and Smith Depart The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Peter Uhlmann has been named the managing executive in the Office of Chairman Jay Clayton. Uhlmann will advise Chairman Clayton in matters relating to agency administration, operations, and management, and will serve as the Chairman's primary liaison to divisions and offices on these matters. He has served in a variety of senior leadership positions during his tenure at the SEC. Most recently, Uhlmann served as managing executive for then-Acting Chairman Michael S. Piwowar. Prior to that, he was managing executive of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, where he oversaw the internal business operations that support the division's personnel. Prominent HFT professional and president of Quantlab, Cameron Smith, has decided to call it quits after 10 years. In a statement, confirmed by the firm, reported that Smith left to pursue other fun out there." The statement also appeared on his personal Twitter feed. Smith joined Texas-based Quantlab in 2007, having spent a year as general counsel at the agency broker Instinet. Before that he was general counsel at the storied electronic trading platform The Island ECN, one of the first electronic share-trading platforms established in the US, which was acquired by Instinet in 2002. Smith was also a contributor at Traders Magazine. If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at jdantona@marketsmedia.com The chief executive officer of Convergex, Eric Noll, is leaving the firm. Traders Magazine confirmed with the New York-based agency brokerage and technology company that Noll, who had overseen the acquisition of his firm to Cowen & Co, will be leaving the firm when the deal closes, which could be as soon as this week. He will remain a member and participant of the Securities and Exchange Commissions Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee. Noll began his career on Wall Street back in 1993 as an Assistant Vice President on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange in strategic planning. He then moved to the buy-side at Susquehanna International in 1994 as a Managing Director. He spent 15 years at SIG. The former global head of equity sales at Barclays is set to join Credit Suisse as head of equities EMEA, according to an internal memo seen by The TRADE. Mike Di Iorio will join Credit Suisse in London at the end of August and will report to head of equities, Mike Stewart. At Barclays, Di Iorio was head of equities for APAC for three years before covering the derivatives, equity finance and cash markets as global head of equity sales. He has also held several positions with Lehman and Nomura where he managed flow equity derivatives, Delta1, cash trading and quantitative prop trading. 1 2 3 next For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Romania Selects Bloomberg's E-Bond System to Monitor Market-Makers Bloomberg and the Ministry of Public Finance of Romania announce that the Bloomberg E-Bond trading system, a new electronic trading system for Romanian local currency government bonds and bills is the official platform used by the Ministry of Public Finance to assess the market-making performance of the primary dealers. The system commenced operation in May, 2015 and became the Ministry of Public Finances official market platform on January 1st, 2017. The Bloomberg E-Bond system provides electronic trading functionality for participants in the Romanian government bonds and bills market, and provides market surveillance tools to the Ministry of Public Finance. The system is the primary execution system for local currency government bonds and bills trading in Romanias inter-dealer market. The Ministry of Public Finance said: By implementing the E-Bond platform, the Ministry of Public Finance has achieved its goals to boost transparency in pricing government securities on the secondary market, to improve liquidity. It is an optimized tool at Ministry of Finance level to assess the primary dealers performance related to the minimum market-making requirements. We are delighted to bring the Bloomberg E-Bond system to Romania in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Public Finance, and contribute to increasing the transparency, liquidity and efficiency of the Romanian government bond and bills market, said Nicholas Bean, Bloombergs Global Head of Fixed Income Trading. We look forward to working with the Romanian local market maker community to provide technical infrastructure and solutions to improve the functioning of capital markets in Central Eastern Europe. The Bloomberg E-Bond system provides a complete, consolidated marketplace for Romanian governments bonds and bills, offering market participants a robust and flexible set of tools supporting the full trade workflow. This includes pre-trade price discovery and analytics, the ability to handle multi-dealer RFQ and order trading, downstream integration with banks middle and back office systems, and integrated trade capture and reporting tools. In addition, market oversight entities and regulators can use the system to grade their market maker performance based on system-provided reporting and analytics. Available to subscribers of the Bloomberg Professional service at EBND, the trading system is fully integrated with Bloombergs data, news, analytics and communications tools to provide clients active in the Romanian debt market with a single, comprehensive solution. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Residents near the Mar-A Lago Resort noticed a sinkhole that appeared in front of the property. Many claim that it was heaven sent to give an omen of future events encompassing Trump's term as president. Some even connected the time it appeared with the time the Trump Tower owner visited the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Donald Trump owns the Mar-A-Lago Resort, a luxurious resort in Florida that caters to the affluent and the Trump close supporters. It was formerly donated to the U.S. government to become the "Winter White House." However, it was purchased by Trump in 1985 and converted it into a high-end resort. The 45th president of America has spent his early days as the head of state in the resort spending millions of taxpayers' money for his travels to his property. The huge traveling expense has caused anti-Trump Americans to condemn the state expenditure as compared to the much lesser amount spent by former president Barack Obama for his travels. Twitter user named @Rschooley tweeted, "Can we get a time stamp on this and the sinkhole opening at Mar-A-Lago?" The tweet has a photo of the president praying at the Western Wall. The message implies that something divine happened while Trump is in the holy city. Another user named @ChloeAngyal wrote, "Breaking: God sends really obvious sign" along with a published report about the sinkhole. A geologist named Christian Rathkopf explained in the IFL Science report comment section about the occurrence of sinkholes and said that they are inevitable and frequently happens in Florida. He also wrote, "Flooding or unusually high levels of ground moisture can cause sudden collapses of topsoil into sinkholes, but the actual formation of the void is caused by naturally-occurring amounts of carbonic acid in rainwater dissolving limestone bedrock." According to Time, the sinkhole is 4-by-4 feet seen to be near a newly-installed water main. In view of the sinkhole, the town of Palm Beach issued a travel alert as the West Palm Beach Utilities will be examining the sinkhole for a day. A part of the lane has been closed to traffic. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 New York, June 1(Just Earth News): The President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) told the bodyas special meeting on Wednesday that infrastructure, industrialization and innovation are essential in global efforts to eradicate poverty as they enable growth and sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets recognizes the importance of infrastructure, industrialization and innovation for eradicating poverty and expanding opportunities for people, especially the poorest, said ECOSOC President Frederick Shava, citing the 15-year development framework adopted by 193 UN Member States in 2015. Addressing the Councils special meeting on Innovations for Infrastructure Development and Promoting Sustainable Industrialization, Shava said that the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 9 on infrastructure, industrialization and innovation will need to be prioritized in national, regional and global policy making. The one-day meeting aims, among others, to highlight the challenges to building, maintaining and upgrading infrastructure and promoting industrialization, and related innovations, in developing countries, particularly in Africa and the countries in special situations; and to share knowledge, experiences and innovative approaches for the promotion and development of infrastructure and industrialization in all countries. Making progress on SDG 9 will have positive ripple effects on other SDGs, such as SDG 1 to end poverty; SDG 2 on zero hunger; SDG 3 on health, SDG 4 on education, SDG 6 on water and sanitation, SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy, SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth; and SDG 11 for sustainable cities and communities, among others, he said. As someone who hails from Africa, Shava said he knows the potential the continent holds and the challenges it faces. Citing an estimate by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), he said that about $93 billion is needed to bring the continents infrastructure up to speed over the next three years. Also addressing the special meeting was Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, who highlighted a catalytic and cross-cutting role of infrastructure development and sustainable industrialization to implement the 2030 Agenda. Access to infrastructure and the promotion of sustainable industrialization is essential for inclusiveness. It is essential so that no one is left behind and that there truly is sustainable development for all, he said. Wu went on to underscore some critical challenges, including the global infrastructure gap. The infrastructure financing gap in developing countries is estimated to be between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion annually. A second challenge is urbanization, he said, noting that the number of people living in cities in emerging markets is expected to double by 2030, adding another two billion people to urban areas. And a third challenge is the importance of building and applying effective technology for resilient infrastructure and industrialization in rural areas, he said. The international community has committed to supporting efforts to ensure infrastructure development and sustainable industrialization. Now is the time to take action, he said, citing four particular areas: integrated policy advice; capacity building; partnerships; and information and data on infrastructure for follow-up and review. Photo: World Bank/John Hogg Source: www.justearthnews.com Giving the best gift for someone who travels a lot or even for yourself is oftentimes a difficult decision to make. A friend or family member who travels for work or for leisure will appreciate a gift that can be carried around every time. Here are five of the most practical gifts that you can give that will surely bring a smile of gratefulness: Cambiami Interchangeable T-Strap Sandals. This gift suggestion came from the manufacturer of the sandals, Diane Licht. She came up with the idea of producing sandals that comes with interchangeable straps. According to Travel & Leisure, instead of bringing different footwear of your various dresses, a set of Cambiani sandals with interchangeable straps will do. This is not only practical but also allows your recipient to carry a much lighter suitcase. The straps are made up of different colors and designs.This brand can be purchased for $78 from Amazon. Radden Luggage. For your traveler friend who stylish but practical, the Radden luggage is a 22-inch modern carry-on luggage as it's lightweight, durable and comes with two built-in charging USB ports. Your friend will no longer look for a place to charge because it is right at his luggage. It costs $295 at bloomingdales.com. Huzi Design Infinity Pillow. This super comfy travel pillow are for those who are always in transit. It can be molded in any shape that is comfortable for the user. This travel pillow can also be spread out and shared with your seat mate or can be used by parents with babies. Amazon sells it for $39. Handcrafted Passport Wallet. Make the journey of your traveler friend extra special by giving a new custom home for their passports. From leather, waterproof material and weaved fabric, there's an array of customized passport holders online to suit every personality -- all you neer to do is search. Kammok Camping Hammock. Thoughtfulness is fused in this camping hammock that can be carried anywhere, according to My Statesman. It's super-lightweight and durable -- a travel gift that any traveler can appreciate as it provides a sleeping space in crowded cottages. This outdoor gear that will also assures relaxation anywhere. Kammok is a Texan company that donates funds for malaria treatments to sick children in Africa. Amazon sells it for $99. Any one of these gift items will surely be appreciated by your trendsetting friends. Because they are available online, you can work out that they be delivered to your recipient's home address. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 There are lots of exciting small towns all over the world that remained unexplored. But these towns' historic past continue to shape the people that inhabit them. They may be small in area and population, but they boast of breathtaking sceneries and exciting activities. Smithsonian described each town and truly, they must be included in the must-visit travel destinations this year. Here are five of them: 1. Bell Buckle, Tennessee - This town has a population 512 where antiquing is a popular activity. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The town started as a railroad town in 1852. Although the trains are no longer running in Bell Buckle, the town is deeply known as a destination for road trippers. The Bedford County town has been a tourist destination decades ago until today. Bell Buckle is famous for its RC and MoonPie Festival because the town serves the largest MoonPie in the world. The pie weighs over 50 pounds. It started in 1917 when a Kentucky coal miner asked for a "treat as big as the moon." Later, the MoonPie was born which is made of graham, marshmallow, and chocolate concoction. It has been 100 years since the sweet treat started. 2. Talkeetna, Alaska - This small town has only 876 closely-knitted people. The town, nestled near Mount Denali is famous for its art and music. Tourists flock to Talkeetna during the summer months. The town that has no mayor because it was unincorporated boasts of its establishments like the Latitude 62 and the Talkeetna Roadhouse. Its Hurricane Turn Train can transport tourists to a scenic bridge above the Hurricane Creek. There is a zip line, a museum, and the Denali State Park. 3. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia - This town is inhabited by 293 people. In 1783, Thomas Jefferson visited the town and said that it was "perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature." The town is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah and Potomac River valleys. Most of the town is considered part of the National Park Service which is called the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. The historic town of Harpers Ferry is where the Storer Normal School is located. It is the first school in West Virginia and one of the pioneer schools in the world to take in students regardless of color, creed, or race. Later, it has become as the site for the Niagara Movement, the precursor of the NAACP. 4. Kent, Connecticut - This town will host this year's Gilmore Girls Fan Fest. Fans of the Netflix drama will surely troop to the town with 2,962 residents. The Gingerbread Festival during winter and the fall festival of the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association are two of the celebrations that tourists attend every year. 5. Makanda, Illinois - The Shawnee National Forest and the Giant City State Park are two tourist attractions located near Makanda. Blue Sky Vineyard is what makes the town with 547 inhabitants famous. It is a winery established in 2,000 where visitors can enjoy wines. This year, the town is expected to be filled with people to have a view of the Great American eclipse which will happen at around 1:21 p.m. on August 21. It is a solar eclipse that will stretch from coast to coast in the U.S. Makanda will be in the way of another solar eclipse that will happen in 2024. Marking the calendars for these towns will make one's traveling experience not only enjoyable but educational. Visiting historic spots in these towns will enrich one's knowledge of history and at the same time keep memories of the small towns' scenic beauties. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 New York, May 31(Just Earth News): According to Sri Lankaas Disaster Management Centre (DMC), the South Asian country is combating floods and mudslides in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Mora, while the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) on Tuesday deployed three rapid assessment teams to the most affected districts, where some 177 people have died and 109 remain missing. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned by the devastating impact caused by Cyclone Mora on Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, adding that the UN stood ready to scale up its support to the government-led response efforts in both countries. Since heavy rains on Friday, most of the deaths were caused by landslides. In a press statement, IOM maintained that while its teams travel to the four worst-hit districts of Ratnapura, Galle, Matara and Kalutara in the south and centre of the country the Government indicated that over 768 houses have been destroyed and 5,869 partially damaged while 80,409 people were temporarily displaced to 361 safe locations. More than half the displaced are located in Rathnapura district, where more rain is forecast on Tuesday. Sri Lankas National Building Research Organization also issued warnings of further landslides in a number of districts, including Kegalle and Ratnapura, where IOM provided shelter assistance to flood and landslide-affected communities last year. In recent weeks, over half a million people in 15 districts of the countrys south and central regions have been affected by abnormally heavy monsoon rains. The flooding is believed to be the worst since May 2003, when a similarly powerful monsoon from the southwest destroyed 10,000 homes and killed 250 people, according to IOM. When the rain has eased on Sunday and Monday, rescue workers used the break in the weather to deliver much-needed aid to the worst-hit areas. But many villages remain inundated and cut off from basic services, said the UNs migration agency. Rescue operations led by the Sri Lankan military are continuing and the DMC has already identified an urgent need for drinking water and non-food relief items, including shelter. Sri Lankas Health Ministry is also deploying mobile health units and will introduce vector control measures to combat expected outbreaks of mosquito-borne dengue fever, which often follows flooding. Displaced people living in emergency shelters are particularly vulnerable. The Sri Lankan Government has appealed for international assistance and, according to media reports, three Indian naval ships carrying relief supplies arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday and Sunday. China, the United States and Pakistan have also provided assistance. Photo: UN Source: www.justearthnews.com Recognized as a Leader in Romance Vacation Niche, Selected for Exclusive Event (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - May 30th, 2017 - Boston, MA May 30, 2017) Romance Travel Forum, an exclusive hosted program catering to top performing travel sellers focused on destination weddings, honeymoons and other romantic occasions celebrated with travel, has hand-selected DAWN NICKSON of WHAT A WAY TO TRAVEL AGENCY, IRVING, TX for one of its coveted hosted travel agent positions during the 2017 edition, set to take place at the Paradisus Palma Real in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from June 19 23. The event, which receives well over 600 applications from interested travel sellers each year, limits participation to 175 travel sellers from the U.S. and Canada, all hand-selected based on a rigorous qualification process. Collectively, travel sellers represent annual sales volume that exceeds $175 Million. The Romance Travel Forum has a proven track record in recognizing and selecting the most passionate and adaptable travel sellers in the romance vacation market. These are just some of the traits that make them the best of the best, and it is an absolute privilege for this event to be the conduit that supports their business growth goals and overall longevity as authorities in the romance field., said Jennifer Fernandez, Vice President Events & Content, Specialty Travel Forums, producers of the Romance Travel Forum. I am thrilled to be recognized and selected to be a part of the exclusive Romance Travel Forum. Participation at the Forum will provide me the chance to forge important relationships with fellow leading experts and suppliers, strengthening my position as a romance travel authority, in offering personal service to my clients., said Dawn Nickson, What A Way To Travel Agency. The Romance Travel Forum is the industrys most respected niche event, offering participating travel sellers many unique value propositions. Delegates take part in a plethora of educational offerings, such as peer-to-peer small group idea exchanges; breakout sessions; and Certified Romance product and destination presentations. The event moves to a different destination each year, allowing travel sellers to get a first-hand sales experience with exposure to distinctive host destination activities, site inspections and experiential evening events. At the core of the event, is the Showcase where travel sellers meet one-to-one with the most relevant suppliers in the romance arena, to learn about the latest offerings for their romance vacation clients. Supplier types include all-inclusive resort chains; luxury boutique hotels; destinations on a global basis; wholesalers; destination management companies (DMCs); and resources for the romance travel seller. The Showcase floor will be open on both Tuesday, June 20 and Wednesday, June 21 with nearly 4,500 one-to-one mutual-interest meetings conducted between suppliers and travel sellers. ABOUT SPECIALTY TRAVEL FORUMS Romance Travel Forum is produced by Specialty Travel Forums, a division of Travel Show Marketing Group (TravelSMG), an independent event organizer who caters exclusively to the North American travel agent community. The Specialty Travel Forums division offers innovative programming and content to support the professional growth of travel agents eager to cultivate their business and expertise through specialization. Comprised of a series of exclusive independent programs in key destinations, each is focused on individual niche markets providing in-depth training, brand certification, intimate networking, supplier relations, product knowledge and more. These exclusive programs offer limited space, allowing delegates to gain focused niche training while experiencing a full familiarization of the host destination to increase the breadth of their specialty offerings. The TravelSMG team has a proven track record in producing some of the most acclaimed leisure travel trade shows and events, working collaboratively with the industrys leading organizations and experts, to provide top-notch education, networking and supplier engagement. For more information on TravelSMG visit www.TravelSMG.com ### While many people flock to the beaches of southern Europe for a summer holiday, fans of the outdoors head to the Dolomites. This impressive mountain range stretches across northeastern Italy, but used to be part of Austria until the first World War. As a result, the area is a fantastic mix of cultures presided over by incredible mountains. The best way to see the Dolomites is by hiking them, and there are hundreds of trails to choose. Popular choices include the foothills around Lake Iseo, the Croda Rossa mountain and, of course, the Alta Via Dolomiti. This series of high-altitude paths links the peaks of the mountain range, and can be hiked in around two weeks. The scenery is spectacular, and the culture is fascinating. Instead of holidaying on crowded beaches, take in the fresh mountain air in this forgotten corner of Europe. Youll most likely be sharing the trails with Italians escaping the scorching summers in Rome and the south, or the few others that are in on the secret. Flights to the area are most convenient through Bergamo Airport, although Venice, Udine and Verona are all within easy reach. You can spend your holiday hiking, or split your time between the mountains and some of the fascinating ancient cities of the region. Kabul, May 31 (IBNS) : The death toll in a massive suicide car bomb blast that ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter Wednesday has climbed to at least 80 while 320 people, including women and children, were left injured, reports said. The blast took place at around 08 30 am on Wazir Akbar Khan road close to the Zanbaq square- Kabul's high security diplomatic area where the Indian embassy and several other diplomatic missions are located. Al Jazeera quoted police and health official sources as saying that least 80 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the attack. The death toll was expected to rise. Other media reports also quoted Afghanistan health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh as saying that the toll is 80, though the state-run Khaama Press put the number of dead at 64. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condemned the bomb blast in Kabul and underlined the need for defeating forces supporting terrorism. The PM, who is in Spain on a visit, said India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all forms of terrorism. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured, Modi tweeted on Wednesday. The powerful blast damaged windows and doors of the Indian embassy but External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that all officials are safe. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive blast," Swaraj tweeted. Most of the victims are reported to be civilians. Local TV channels showed the damaged buildings and cars on the blast site with a huge plumage of smoke hanging in the air. Similar incidents have taken place in Afghanistan in the past few months. Earlier this month, at least eight people were killed after militants targeted a NATO convoy while it was passing the US embassy. No group has claimed responsibility so far. Kabul, May 31 (IBNS): The Afghan Taliban has denied its involvement in the Kabul attack which killed 80 people on Wednesday. "The Afghan Taliban denied any connection to the massive suicide bombing near the German Embassy in Kabul, and condemned it on the grounds that it harmed civilians and had no 'legitimate target'," SITE Intel Group website said. At least 80 people were killed in the massive attack that hit Kabul city on Wednesday. The blast took place at around 08 30 am on Wazir Akbar Khan road close to the Zanbaq square- Kabul's high security diplomatic area where the Indian embassy and several other diplomatic missions are located. Al Jazeera quoted police and health official sources as saying that least 80 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the attack. The death toll was expected to rise. Other media reports also quoted Afghanistan health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh as saying that the toll is 80, though the state-run Khaama Press put the number of dead at 64. Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service Bathinda, May 30 Retail and wholesale chemists of Bathinda observed a one-day strike today as part of the nation-wide protest against the stringent regulations on the sale of medicines. The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) gave a call for the strike as several communications to the government, opposing the regulations, went unheard. We have been asked to upload information pertaining to the sale of medicines on a portal, which is not possible with the existing resources and infrastructure, said a chemist. The organisation is also opposing the mushrooming business of online pharmacy, which chemists said, posed a threat to the offline business. Members of the organisation blamed the government for allowing growth of online pharmacies. They said, The online pharmacies are encouraging irrational usage of medicines and sale of spurious drugs since there is no real time check on the stock or source of these pharmacies, members of the AIOCD, local unit, said. President of the Wholesale Chemists Association, Bathinda, Darshan Singh Jaura and district president Jasvir Singh said the chemists didnt agree to the new rules and regulations laid down by the government. The Central government must first make arrangements for giving chemists training in computer to make them able to upload details of sale and purchase of medicines on the online government portal. The chemists working in rural areas are not well-versed with computers. It is unfair on the part of the government to make it compulsory for all chemists to upload record of their stock on the online portal, they said. Patients at the receiving end Owing to the strike of the chemists and others related to the pharmaceutical trade, patients and their attendants had a harrowing time today as they ran from one pharmacy to another to buy medicines only to return empty handed. The Red Cross medical store located on the premises of the Civil Hospital witnessed a huge rush of customers as it was one of the very few pharmacies which were open today. Sandeep Kaur, a resident of Talwandi Sabo, who had come all the way to the city to get her mother Balvir Kaur examined for her knee pain. I was not aware that the chemists were on strike today. I have been standing in queue for long and now the storekeeper told me that some of the medicines that I needed are out of stock, Sandeep said. Sukhpreet Kaur a resident of Amarpura Kothe, reached the Civil Hospital with her husband Jasveer Singh to buy medicines. As all other chemist stores in the city are closed, we had to come to the Civil Hospital to buy medicines, they said. New Delhi The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the governments response on Vodafones plea against TRAIs recommendation to impose a Rs 1,050-crore penalty on it for not providing interconnectivity to Reliance Jio. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva also issued notice to TRAI and sought its reply to Vodafones plea alleging that despite the DoT asking it to reconsider its recommendation, it did not do so. PTI New Delhi Link Aadhaar with PAN, says I-T Dept The Income Tax Department on Wednesday urged taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their Permanent Account Number (PAN), using an SMS-based facility. People can also visit the official e-filing website of the department to link the two identities. PTI New Delhi Date for filing SFT by banks extended The I-T Department on Wednesday extended the date for filing the Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT) report by banks, mutual funds and financial institutions by a month to June 30. The CBDT received representations for extension of the date on account of the teething problems and the volume of data to be compiled, the Finance Ministry said. TNS Bengaluru IKEA acquires 1st land parcel in Bengaluru Swedish home furnishings company IKEA Group on Wednesday announced the acquisition of its first land parcel in the city, to build its third IKEA India store. This will be IKEAs third such acquisition in India after Hyderabad and Mumbai, the company said. PTI Chandigarh Markfed launches Sohna pulses Markfed Chairman Amarjit Singh Samra on Wednesday launched Sohna pulses. These included black channa, dal channa, masur, dal moongi, mah sabot, rajmah chitra and kabuli channa. These will be available at Markfed Bazaars in Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Amritsar, and also at all Markfed retail counters in Chandigarh and Punjab. TNS New Delhi Gold plunges Rs 250 on global cues Gold prices tumbled by Rs 250 to Rs 29,100 per 10 gram at the bullion market on Wednesday, tracking a weak trend overseas and muted demand from local jewellers. Traders said a weak trend overseas and fading demand from local jewellers at the domestic spot markets mainly pulled down gold prices. PTI Chandigarh CPI-IW increases by 2 points to 277 in April The All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) increased by two points from 275 to 277 in the month of April. TNS Jupinderjit Singh Walls and wide roads don't make a city, people do, stresses Ranbir Kaur Talib, one of the first residents of Chandigarh. She arrived here when the city was like a baby struggling to stand on its feet. A conversation with her takes you back to the time when bushes greeted visitors in most of the sectors, but the breeze was pure and light, the Sukhna Lake was deep and full of water all months of the year and people were courteous to each other. Hun saah nahi aunda (It is difficult to breathe comfortably)," she says. There are too many people in the city now and too many houses and vehicles. It used to be so open and wide earlier. Originally a resident of Kolkata, she came here in 1955-56 when her father (a former associate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and a transporter by profession, who later became the Minister) was invited by the Punjab government to live in the city. Such is the quirk of fate. Earlier, the Administration was inviting people and now people scurry for any available space in the city, she says. We were the first to start building a house in Sector 2. On the first visit, we could locate the 2-kanal plot with much difficulty as the small pillars denoting the number of the plot were covered with wild growth, she recalls. At that time, only parts of Sectors 22 and 23 had come up, The Sector 17 market had developed. We even used to walk to that place. I miss those walks. The city had a web of 'pagdandis' (unpaved trails) through the sectors. Even though wild growth was rampant, women could go alone or in small groups. Now, snatchers and eve-teasers are on every street, Ranbir Kaur rues. But, her love for the city remains intact. "What I like is that it is still far better than others. The green cover and the sense of duty towards the city among the senior citizens, the original inhabitants, is what keeps me going," she says. A member of several social organisations, Ranbir Kaur talks about help groups which are trying to keep the spirit of Chandigarh alive. The city has got crowded in the last 10 years or so, she says. It used to have a soul. Everyone would think they were part of construction of the most beautiful city in the country. They felt a sense of ownership. Now, people are ruining it. They do not consider themselves to be stakeholders. Living in a city like Chandigarh calls for a certain sense and notion of citizenship. No one is teaching them that. The Administration has turned a blind eye to crime and safety of women. Parks are not being maintained properly. The city had a culture of a clean, suave and stable life. It seems all gone. Ranbir Kaur Talib also has a question for the administration: why have the roundabouts been removed? The rotaries were beauty spots. Now they are talking about bringing the Metro. It will run in the same place. And cause more chaos and noise. I miss the quietness of the place . Not far from where Ranbir Kaur Talib lives is the residence of Opinder Kaur Sekhon. The Sector 3 resident had come to the city as a student in 1982. She made the place her home . The politics over its ownership between Punjab and Haryana was at its peak. Notwithstanding the controversy over its ownership, I loved the open spaces the city offered. It widens your horizon, thinking. At that time, pathways were more used. Now, you rarely see anyone choosing to walk to a destination. Now, my heart races just at the thought of finding space to park the vehicle, she says. The entire city was a geri route unlike the one popular among youngsters now. People were constructive, talked of nation-building, not of passing time in an educational institution or just loitering around. Sekhon still finds Chandigarh a city which offers a lot. You can do what you want. You can pursue your field of interest, your hobbies and passion here. The city is getting congested but still it gives you a feeling that you are living in a place unlike any other.And that feeling, she says, should be the trigger for all residents and officials to get their act together. The officials managing the city should become more pro-active in maintaining its beauty. What is the point of holding meetings in the peak of summer for revival of the lake? The planning to ensure supply of water from Bhakra canal or other places should start in February or March itself. Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 31 A 2008-batch Punjab-cadre IPS officer, Jagdale Nilambari Vijay, will be the first woman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Chandigarh as the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has approved her name. The Administration had recommended her name for the post to the ministry after it was approved by VP Singh Badnore, Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator, from a panel of three officers received from the Punjab Government last month. The city SSPs post has been lying vacant after Sukhchain Singh Gill, a 2003-batch IPS officer, was repatriated to Punjab in December last year. Sources said her final order might take some time. As per the practice, the final appointment takes place after the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. While the city has many women IAS officers at the senior level of the Administration, that is not the case with the police. Kiran Bedi was appointed the IGP of the city long time ago. Since then, no women officer has been appointed on a top post in the Police Department The ministry has also approved Shashank Anands name for the post of Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Chandigarh. His name was recommended by the Administration. The post of the SSP (Traffic) has been lying vacant since the term of Maneesh Chaudhary, a 2005-batch IPS officer of the Haryana cadre, ended on May 7, 2016. Lobbying may further delay appointment of FS Intense lobbying may further delay the appointment of the new Finance Secretary of Chandigarh. Sources said while the Administration had recommended the name of AK Sinha for the post of Finance Secretary, other contenders for the post are also trying hard in Delhi. The post of the Finance Secretary has been lying vacant after the Administration relived Finance Secretary Sarvjit Singh in February. Sinhas name was included in the second panel sent by the Government of Punjab. The other officers in the panel included Vikas Partap Rahul Tiwari and Anurag Verma. The Administration is already facing a shortage of officers as it is yet to get the replacement for Addapa Karthik and Bhavna Garg. The transfer of the three IAS officers, including Dr SB Deepak Kumar, has further deepened the crisis of officers in the Administration. MP Singh, Sandhu to continue at Raj Bhawan While MP Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, and Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu, ADC, have offered to leave their postings at the Raj Bhawan, VP Singh Badnore, Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator, has asked both of them to continue till their replacement is found. Sources said Badnore had conveyed to Punajb that ADC Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu and ACS MP Singh would continue to serve till the new appointments were made. He had earlier rejected the name of Ashish Kapoor for the post of the ADC. The sources said Badnore had asked Punjab to send a panel of IPS officers for the ADCs post and IAS officers names for the post of Principal Secretary. Tribune News Service Panchkula, May 30 Chemist shops in Panchkula district did not took part in the nationwide strike today to protest against the stringent regulations on the sale of medicines. The shops in Panchkula remained open today. According to the All-India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), the one-day strike was called as several of their representations to the government, opposing the regulations on the sale of medicines, went unheeded. Sanjeev Goyal, District Chemists Association, Panchkula, said: There are around 280 chemist shops in Panchkula and a majority of them remained open. The reason for our not having participated in todays strike called by the AIOCD was that the long-pending demands of the retailers had until now gone unheeded by the parent body i.e. AIOCD. Thus, the grievances of the retailers were required to be resolved by the parent body immediately before expecting us to participate in the strike call or any big move initiated by the AIOCD. BB Singhal, patron of the Panchkula association, said in the GST, tax difference on closing stocks had been given to the stockist level and not up to retail level by the companies. Thus, again the concern of the retailers had totally been ignored, which was prejudicial to their interests. Mohinder Kakkar, president of the association, said the issue of requiring the services of a qualified pharmacist is in consonance and spirit of the provisions of the Drug Acts and Rules made thereunder and cannot be done away with so as to substitute the demand that one having experience of 3-4 years regarding sale of medicines can also fill in the requirement of such pharmacist. Pharmaceutical companies have increased the strip pack by making the strip of 30-45 tab pack instead of 10 tab pack, which is not consumer-friendly. Such move is against the paying capacity of customers and has the direct bearing over the interests of the retailers. The move of pharmaceutical companies giving special rates for big chemists and ignoring retailers had seriously affected the interests of the retailers and small time chemists, he said. Though we are against the move of the government regarding the requirement of the e-portal, we support the AIOCD on this issue, he clarified. Sucha Singh Gill ALL societies pass through the process of transition to systemic transformation in a certain phase of their history. Karl Pollanyi called it "Great Transformation". This involves change in dominance of labour and nature in production to dominance of capital. The regulation of the social system, though interdependence via reciprocity of help and community support, is replaced by self-regulatory markets in the service of profits of capitalists. This undermines social reciprocity and communities' self-support system. It is not only change in the transformation of economy but also in the whole range of social relations, culture and psychology of the people. This change demands from ordinary people especially workers, farmers and small business people to face periodic fluctuations in their daily circumstances without the support of any coping mechanism. They are required for a period of five to 10 years, or more, a prolonged spell, to survive on half or less than what they earned previously. All this is done in the name of nationalism and nation building. This contributes to disastrous effects on their social cohesion and becomes a contributing factor to a rising level of violence. The violence becomes prevalent within and outside the families. The power-driven politicians divert this violence by creating scapegoats based on religion, caste, ethnic minorities, race etc. This is happening in the US, Europe, Western Asia, India and Pakistan. India has experienced a fast rate of economic growth for more than three-and-a-half decades in the era of liberalisation. This has led to a fast rate of social and economic transformation of the society. There is a fall of proportion of the workforce in agriculture from 63 per cent in 1993-94 to 49.8 per cent in 2011-12. A vast majority (93 per cent) of the workforce continues to work in the unorganised sector, where minimum wages regulations or old-age benefits are not applicable. In search of work and livelihood, they are moving to towns and cities. Urban economists are now talking of an urban avalanche due to the shift / displacement of population from the rural areas. Agriculture for small, marginal and lower middle farmers is fast becoming unviable. Mechanisation of agriculture and new innovative practice have eaten into jobs of agriculture labourers and rendered them unemployed. The automation in sunrise industries like automobiles, software, telecommunication, banking and insurance has led to virtual jobless growth in the modern organised sector. Now there is the fear of shrinking jobs and lay-offs in the air for the urban middle class. When the country needed serious thinking and planning for coping with the great transformation, our rulers dispensed with the Planning Commission. It was replaced by the Niti Aayog with a mandate to replace planning by strategic thinking. In this process, advisors are being replaced by consultants for specific projects or activities. Consultants have a very narrow mandate to work on specific issues without medium or long-term involvement and are not bothered about the outcomes of their advice to the society. Their sole objective is charging consultancy fee for profit. Most consultants are operating on the basis of global tendering and alongwith consulting agencies are like parachutes landing from above. They belong to international agencies or foundations based in the advanced countries with sub-offices in cities like New Delhi. They lack local knowledge, commitment and compassion for the local common people but are committed to the neoliberal package of recommendations. In the case of state governments, they land from the national capital or abroad. Some of them are former bureaucrats whose commitment is more to capital than to the people. The new government of Punjab also seems to have fallen for these consultants. The advice by these consultants to the political leadership is for quick solutions, generally the fit-all approach. These parachute consultants are very articulate and computer-savvy and make impressive power-point presentations to the powers that be. Being well-connected and articulate, they are able to convince governments that there is no need for regular advisers backed by research staff or research institutes for continuous assessment, course correction and advice because this makes governments oversized. Consultants can be employed for specific project-based advice and are very economical in terms of cost. It is often overlooked that they do not have historical or continuous perspective for the region or country of their work. The 2015-16 Budget announced a commitment to double the income of farmers in India. At the grass-roots level, farmers' suicides continue. Consultants suggest that this information need not be made public because it creates a bad image. But suicides of farmers and agricultural labourers continue. The same is the case with the misadventure of notebandi. Neither the Centre nor the RBI are ready to share any data on this issue, including its impact on the unorganised sector. No safety nets for the poor are being discussed, what to talk of putting them in place. The consequences of great transformation which is characterised by dispossession and displacement are grave. Modern projects like widening of highways, railways, airports, ports, modern urban colonies, power plants, industrial and commercial enterprises, shopping malls displace population and create an uneducated and unskilled workforce. The workforce needed in modern activities has to be educated and skilled. Thus, the fast rate of development will produce joblessness for those displaced poor. They will also remain homeless in new locations where urban housing is very costly. The jobless and homeless population has no options but to live the life of poverty, squalor, illiteracy and illness. In order to tackle the issues of common people, an alternative to the neoliberal corporate market regulatory model is required. This is beyond the comprehension of parachute consultants who remain glued to the top-down approach and quick-fix solutions within the framework of the neoliberal market system. The alternative has to be developed by the mass movement, with the support of pro-people intellectuals and mass participation with a bottom-up approach. The governments will have to build an internal intellectual pool supported by regular data-collection agencies to provide information for policy making and knowing the outcomes of policies. This pool would not function properly if there is no network of strong research institutes and universities in the country. In absence of this, Indian society seems to pass through a long spell of conflicts, poverty, and unemployment, violence under the guidance of consultants championing the market-regulatory approach to economy, society and culture. The writer is on the faculty of CRRID, Chandigarh Washington, May 31 (IBNS): A US interceptor rocket successfully took down a mock intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday afternoon over the Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon said. The test was conducted in order to check if the US interceptor rockets are ready to do a similar thing if North Korea decides to attack the former. Happy with the results, Vice Adm. James D. Syring said that the test "demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat." He also hailed the test as a "critical milestone for this program. So far the North Korea hasn't conducted a test on missile that could reach the US. However, the reclusive nation has made umpteen threats of taking down America. North Korea's activities have also kept China, Japan and South Korea on its toes. Image: Screengrab from YouTube G Parthasarathy CHINA has got accustomed to violating Indias territorial integrity in J&K and Arunachal Pradesh. It transgresses international norms by supplying Pakistan with knowhow and designs of nuclear weapons and missiles. Its provocative behaviour includes protests over visits by Indian dignitaries to Arunachal Pradesh. China, meanwhile, welcomes political figures from POK and Gilgit-Baltistan on official visits. Beijing also seeks to undermine Indias relations with South Asian neighbours like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bangladesh, backing politicians and political parties known to be less than friendly to India. New Delhi is, however, now reacting in a more measured manner to Chinas policy of strategic containment. Ignoring warnings from China, India reinforced its claims to Arunachal Pradesh by encouraging a high-profile visit to the state by the Dalai Lama, who acknowledges it is an integral part of India. The Dalai Lama pointedly visited Tawang, which has special spiritual significance for Tibetans. But the proverbial last straw on the Indian camels back is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), involving an investment of around $51 billion. CPEC challenges Indian sovereignty by traversing through Gilgit-Baltistan, as part of Beijings larger Eurasian OBOR project. India cannot ignore the security threat that this project poses as an integral part of a China-Pakistan axis to contain India across the Indian Ocean region. Accompanying this project, has been the laying of a fibre-optic cable connecting Chinas PLA in Kashgar in its Xinjiang province and the Pakistan armys GHQ in Rawalpindi. CPEC enhances the communications between the armies of China and Pakistan. It provides Beijing the road link to the Port of Gwadar, which has been handed over to it by Pakistan. China has also agreed to provide Pakistan with a large number of frigates and submarines. Gwadar is significantly located alongside the maritime routes for oil supplies to India from the Persian Gulf. Chinas Maritime Silk Route, which complements OBOR, traverses across Indias shores in the Indian Ocean from the Straits of Malacca to the Gulf of Aden. China is evidently seeking to surround India with a string of pearls comprising base facilities at Kyaukpyu in Myanmar, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Gwadar in Pakistan, Mombasa in Kenya and Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden. The Chinese modus operandi is clear from what transpired in Sri Lanka. China undertook financially unviable projects in President Rajapakses constituency and pushed Sri Lanka into a debt trap. Unable to repay the debt, Sri Lanka was compelled to hand over both the port and neighbouring industrial area to China in a debt/equity swap. Despite this having triggered protest riots in Sri Lanka, China sought to berth a submarine in Colombo when Mr Modi was visiting the island. After carefully graduating its response to CPEC, India finally came out publicly with a statement which objected to not just the fact that CPEC violates our territorial integrity, but also appears to be a project whose exploitative terms would render the recipients bankrupt. The External Affairs Ministrys spokesman suggested, just prior to the OBOR Summit in Beijing, that the project was not based on universally recognised international norms, adding that it appeared to violate international norms of openness, transparency and equality. The statement also suggested that the project does not meet principles of financial responsibility which require avoidance of creating unsustainable debt in recipient countries. India noted that connectivity projects should involve transfer of skills and technology and respect sovereignty and territorial integrity. Like its decision on taking the Kulbhushan Jadhav case to the ICJ, the governments decision to not attend the OBOR Summit in Beijing was predictably criticised by the same critics. Ominous warnings were voiced that India would now find itself isolated by taking on an all-powerful China. What transpired was somewhat different. Only 20 countries, mostly from South and Southeast Asia and Africa, attended the conference at the summit level. Given his dependence on China, President Putin was the only major world leader present. This, despite the fact that Russian academics and others had expressed serious reservations on the OBOR traversing through the Eurasian belt, major portions of which have historically been regarded by the Russians as their backyard. Chinese pettiness and petulance was evident when they expressed their displeasure by not inviting the respected PM of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, who had the courage to say that territorial disputes in the South China Sea should be settled according to international law. The navies of India and Singapore held joint exercises in the South China Sea shortly thereafter. Moreover, within the OBOR conference, the Europeans and some others were quite vociferous. The EU has strongly criticised Chinas international trade and economic assistance policies. Senior EU leaders have made it cleat that they believe that the OBOR project lacks a formal structure and that China has shown lack of transparency. The EU is skeptical about Chinas motivations and its terms of trade and economic cooperation. EU functionaries feel Chinese policies are mercantilist. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific has, meanwhile, warned of high financial risks in several OBOR projects. There are now voices even in Pakistan, warning that CPEC is going to result in Pakistan being confronted with an unsustainable debt burden, with apprehensions that it will be forced to go the Sri Lanka way. More importantly, there is growing realisation internationally that China is not a 21st century Santa Claus and that the OBOR project is predominantly an effort by China to rebalance its economy and provide jobs for the vast labour and construction industry that it has developed which are now running out of opportunities and business within the country. It is now time for India to work with Japan, the US and the EU to coordinate their efforts to actively promote alternatives to Chinese economic exploitation in Asia and Africa. Moreover, Russia needs to be coopted bilaterally and through funding by institutions like the BRICS Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, for constructing transport corridors through Iran to Afghanistan, the Caspian and Central Asia. The US has renewed its proposal for a New Silk Route across Asia, which India had welcomed. Finally, India and Japan should jointly build a transportation and industrial corridor to the shores of East Africa, where Mr Modis visits have set the stage for expanding economic, industrial and energy cooperation across the Indian Ocean. China will have to learn that true economic development comes from transparent multilateral cooperation and not bilateral economic exploitation. IN good old days peoples elected representatives kept their visits to religious places scarce and private; not being adequately secular was considered a political embarrassment. Now live media coverage is encouraged, and even organised, for such visits. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanaths Lucknow/Ayodhya visit was not just meant to boost the morale of LK Advani and other BJP leaders facing the Babri conspiracy trial. It was calculated to bring to the national centre stage the Ram temple issue which had faded out of public memory due to the unending litigation in the apex court. The Babri conspiracy case trial in Lucknow with a day-to-day hearing for two years provides the BJP an opportunity to keep it alive until 2019 when it again faces the electorate. As the 2014 and recent UP elections showed, communal divide plays a role in BJP victories. BJP spokespersons may shrug off accusations of the party pushing a communal agenda, but deshbhakts at the ground level know their job. The routine attacks in the name of cow and beef are not spontaneous reactions. A larger plan is at work. Faced with constraints to maintain order and await the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister need not say or do anything that can be held against them. But an eco-system is being created in which lynch mobs emerge to attack select targets. The Yogi visit, the first by a chief minister to the Ram Lalla temple since 2002, has sufficiently enthused the believers. MP Sakshi Maharaj is among the first to react: No power on earth will be able to stop the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. The UP outcome has distorted the BJPs thinking. The party shed its inhibitions and its secular pretensions and chose as Chief Minister a man with a known streak for communal belligerence. The choice is seen as part of the preparations for 2019. The Advani trial happened or was planned to happen as an additional benefit. To its credit, the BJP leadership is quick to seize opportunities, unlike its sleepy rivals. Parveen Arora Tribune News Service Karnal, May 31 Firing inside the courtroom of Additional District and Sessions Judge yesterday despite the presence of police officials has raised a question mark over security arrangements inside the judicial complex, which witnesses a rush of thousands of people daily. With this incident, chinks in security are back in focus. The ground floor offers free access with many entrances and low boundary wall of the judicial complex, giving easy passage to criminals wanting to breach security cover. Nothing has changed since October 29, 2011, when Surinder Sharma tried to shoot at a judge, but the pistol did not fire in three attempts. The next year, a proposal was sent to the security committee for district courts for foolproof security ring, security wall and separating the court complex from the Mini-Secretariat. Even after five years, the project has remained on paper. A door-frame metal detector was installed at the entry to the courts and hand-held metal detectors given to police personnel deployed. Despite the passage of time, the equipment remain unused. Advocates Bhupinder Jindal, Sukhbir Tyagi, Harish Arya, Saurav Kadiyan and others raised questions on security. They said it was a serious issue and the police should ensure security for judges and lawyers. I had reviewed security arrangements earlier and recommended to the security committee an eight-foot-high security wall with fencing, said Jashandeep Singh Randhawa, Superintendent of Police. A proposal to construct the wall and separate the judicial complex and Mini-Secretariat was sent to the security committee in 2012. Reminders have been sent in this regard ever since, he asserted. I reviewed security arrangements again after yesterdays incident. Ten police personnel and a six-member quick response team were deployed in the court complex earlier. But now, I have increased the number of police personnel to intensify vigil, said the SP. Since the project of a security wall is in the pipeline, we have temporarily barricaded the judicial premises with ropes to keep a check on criminals, he stated. Police personnel had been asked to check every person at the door-frame metal detector, he added. Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service Kurukshetra, May 31 The police in seven districts of the state have confirmed the recovery of more than 900 unclaimed bodies in the last five years. The bodies were mostly found in canals, railway tracks and roadside. According to information secured by Raj Kumar Goyal, a Jind resident, under the Right to Information (RTI), the police authorities furnished they were able to establish identities of only 26 persons. Goyal has written to all districts for details related to the recovery and identification of the bodies. So far, the police administrations of Kurukshetra, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Palwal, Jind, Kaithal and Bhiwani have provided information. Details are being sent by police stations concerned of various districts to the applicant. The highest recovery of 323 bodies is made in Faridabad district followed by Bhiwani (181) and Jind (141) in the last five years. Similarly, the police found 117 bodies in Kurukshetra, 100 in Palwal and 90 in Fatehabad. Total 44 bodies were found in Kaithal district. Goyal, who is associated with various social organisations, claimed there was a little space for the police to contact affected families for identification in a little time fame. Bodies are kept for 72 hours and thereafter last rites were performed as unclaimed corpse. Meanwhile, police sources said identification of bodies was a tough job. However, DNA sampling of bodies is a standard protocol to match it with the claimant families, said police officials. A police source said road accidents involving poor migrants and bodies dumped after murder in far-off places is also a challenge in confirming identity of the deceased. In numerous cases, bodies were found floating in canals. Water flows in from various districts of different states and establishing identity of the recovered remains a challenge. In most cases, bodies found in canals get decomposed beyond recognition, said a senior police functionary. Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, May 31 Even as the CPM has named 11 candidates for the June 16 municipal polls, the Congress seemed to have kept it free-for-all for its workers as the party is neither showing any seriousness, nor is willing to name its candidates.The elections are fought without any party symbol. Mayor Sanjay Chauhan and Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar said the CPM had named 11 candidates for 11 wards and they would fight rest of the wards with the help of a joint front of eminent citizens and social activists. From day one, we have raised the issue that the elections should be held directly for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor on the party symbols and each voter should be enrolled in the voters list in which the Congress government has failed, they claimed. While the BJP has been daring the Congress to hold MC elections on party symbols, the Congress seemed to have kept it free for all as the party is yet to come out from the Virbhadra-Sukhu tussle on the issue of the PCC leadership The Congress is in no serious mood to announce its candidates as a part of its strategy while the BJP wants to wrest the MC from the Congress and the CPM, revealed Congress insiders. State spokesperson Naresh Chauhan said the party and the government would decide the matter in day or two. Arun Joshi Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 31 When dialogue is demonised as a sell-out, it becomes an ugly word. The Centre has complicated matters by treating dialogue as an evil that grants justification to violence in Kashmir. The PDP-BJP coalition governments Agenda of Alliance states it clearly that the coalition will initiate talks with the internal stakeholders, including the Hurriyat Conference. The PDP is all out for a dialogue with separatists, while the BJP now refuses to acknowledge this crucial commitment. The point 21 of the Agenda of Alliance recalls former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees initiative of talking to the Hurriyat Conference and the next point goes on to reiterate: Following the same principles, the coalition government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections. Against this backdrop, the BJPs U-turn is incomprehensible. The party has arguments that it cannot fall into the blackmail of violence. The failure of the 1975 Sheikh Abdullah-Indira Gandhi accord to decimate secessionism is evidenced in the National Conference bid to rediscover its secession-oriented Plebiscite Front days (1954 to 1975). With the Simla Accord of July 1972, India displayed magnanimity by returning Pakistani territory and over 90,000 prisoners of war but this was reciprocated with terrorism by Rawalpindi. Pakistan has proved its untrustworthiness. However, the real issue is that Indias stakes are highest in Kashmir. The argument that no deal is better than a bad deal doesnt hold ground here. Kashmir is baffled. The Agenda of Alliance promised a dialogue without any pre-conditions. So why make stone-throwing an excuse now for not holding talks? The reduction of the geographical area of conflict to three and a half districts of south Kashmir is a fallacy. The three districts of central Kashmir Budgam, Ganderbal and Srinagar made a dismal history with 7 per cent voting in the parliamentary bypoll on April 9. The violence was widespread all across the constituency. In 2010, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah saw the problem of stone-throwing confined to areas under Srinagar citys four-five police stations. Later, it was found all across Kashmir. Delhi believes it should not be seen holding talks amidst unrest following the killing of militants like Burhan Wani. But the basic requirement of resolving the conflict should be adhered to. The turnaround in political commitments will complicate matters, Kashmiris feel. The military power is one part, but is that the only way India can address the Kashmir issue? It may give a macho impression of an unbending Centre, but dialogue is a democratic means of searching for answers to grave questions. Even if there is no need for a dialogue, it will have to be invented for the sake of a smooth relationship between the state and the rest of the country. India has so much at stake in Jammu and Kashmir that it cannot afford to look the other way round. The danger is that the internal dimension may become purely an external one, with the international community disturbed by the happenings in the Valley. Now, besides Pakistan, China, too is staking claim its troops are lined up along the Indian territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, which legally belongs to India. Kashmir is baffled. The Agenda of Alliance promised a dialogue without any pre-conditions. So why make stone-throwing an excuse now for not holding talks? The military power is one part, but is that the only way India can address the Kashmir issue? It may give a macho impression of an unbending Centre, but dialogue is a democratic means of searching for answers to grave questions. Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 31 Four policemen were injured when militants carried out a grenade attack against a group of police personnel on Wednesday afternoon in north Kashmirs Sopore town. A senior police official said the militants lobbed a grenade at a police party deployed near a bank in the main chowk at Sopore town around 4:10 pm. Four personnel were injured in the explosion, the official said. The injured policemen were immediately shifted to hospitals, where they were treated for wounds and are reported to be in a stable condition. In a separate incident, unidentified burglars late Tuesday night dug out an ATM machine and fled with it from the Achabal Adda area of south Kashmirs Anantnag district. The machine contained nearly Rs 21 lakh. The looted ATM belonged to the State Bank of India (SBI). The police have registered a case under Section 458 of the RPC, and an investigation has been initiated. It will be early to point fingers. Let us initiate the investigation, only then we will be able to say who has done this, said a senior police officer. This is third such burglary involving ATMs in Anantnag district this year apart from several bank robberies across the south Kashmir region carried out by unidentified gunmen. Jammu, May 31 The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened for a few hours on Wednesday morning, allowing the movement of stranded vehicles, a traffic police officer said. Over 750 vehicles had left Jammu for Kashmir Valley till 11 am on Wednesday, the officer said. No vehicle was allowed to move to Srinagar after that, he said. The highway was closed in view of apprehensions of trouble after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Bhat was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral on Saturday. The fears were compounded by Kashmir separatists leaders call for a march on Tuesday to Tral in Pulwama, close to the highway, to pay homage to Bhat. Over 2000 vehicles were stranded on the highway from Lakhanpur towards Kashmir during the past two days after parts of the route were closed to traffic as a precautionary measure in view of the rising tension in the valley. Traffic has also not been allowed on Mughal Road, which passes through Shopian and is an alternative fair-weather roadway connecting Jammu to the Valley. It has been closed from Bafliaz towards Srinagar. Over 100 vehicles, mostly oil tankers and trucks, which reached Jammu overnight, passed through areas where protesters threw stones at passing traffic, an office-bearer of All Jammu and Kashmir Oil Tanker Drivers and Cleaners Association said. Over 30 trucks were damaged in the incidents of stone-pelting, the office-bearer said. PTI New Delhi, May 31 Priyanka Chopra is currently busy in promoting her debut Hollywood film Baywatch' in Berlin and she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi there. Priyanka's meeting with Prime Minister Modi in Berlin received criticism on social media as Twitter thought that the actress 'wasn't properly dressed to meet the leader. These are the comments on @priyankachopra's pic. Will we see same outrage as we saw on M. Shami's wife's picture ? pic.twitter.com/pqcIh98G3L Saif (@isaifpatel) May 30, 2017 However, the Bajirao Mastani' star seemed unfazed by the trolling and posted a photo of her flashing some more legs and roped in her mom, Madhu Chopra for the pic. She captioned the snap, Legs for days... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin. In the photo, Priyanka wore a denim dress and velvet heels, while her mom was in a black crop top and metallic grey miniskirt with ankle boots. Yesterday, Priyanka met the Prime Minister and shared a message on social media, Was such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin???? at the same time as the Prime Minister. Thank you Narendra Modi Sir for taking the time from your packed schedule to meet me this morning. ANI Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 31 The district Health Department observed World No Tobacco Day by taking out a rally here today. Employees and officials took pledge not to consume tobacco and tobacco products. May 31 is observed as World No Tobacco Day and the theme this year is Tobacco threatens us all. Both smoking and smokeless tobacco use cause cancer leading to early, painful deaths of users in their productive years. TII Centre comes up at Christian Dental College The department of oral medicine and radiology started with Tobacco Intervention Initiative (TII) Centre, the first approved tobacco cessation centre in the region, where patients with chronic smoking, gutkha, zarda chewing habit would be guided. Dr Shekhar Kapoor is a certified TII specialist and will treat patients affected by tobacco consumption habit. Around 300 patients also benefited at the free dental check-up camp conducted at the hospital. Patients were educated about the harmful effects of tobacco on body and especially oral cavity. Trends in smoking discussed at Fortis Hospital Dr Hemant Chopra, principal consultant, ENT, Fortis Hospital, spoke about trends in smoking. He said cigarettes were replacing bidis among younger and illiterate men. Among upper classes, cigarettes were being replaced by cigars, which have a high concentration of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) that are most potent cancer-causing substances. Ill-effects of tobacco use highlighted at GADVASU The National Service Scheme (NSS) wing of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) observed World No Tobacco Day on its campus today. Participants highlighted the ill-effects of tobacco use and suggested ways to stay away from the menace of smoking. Director Students Welfare Dr Satyavan Rampal said young minds carry and spread such messages more effectively and aggressively thus bringing about tangible impacts in the society. He urged students not to limit such activities on a particular day but to keep contributing to social causes throughout the year. Winner of extempore speech Gargi Saini, a B Tech first year student at College of Dairy Science said every six seconds a person dies due to tobacco consumption and the youth must join hands to save fellow citizens from this preventable cause of death. NIMA holds anti-tobacco awareness march The National Integrate Medical Association (NIMA) organised an anti-tobacco awareness march in Gandhi Nagar Hosiery Market to motivate public against tobacco use. Tobacco causes deposit formation in blood vessel walls of our body and these narrowed vessels fail to supply sufficient oxygen and nutrition to each and every body cell. So consumption of tobacco has to be stopped to make a healthy society because India cannot afford such a big financial burden of tobacco generated cancer, heart attack, blindness and stroke, said Dr Surinder Gupta. Dr Hemant Chopra also highlighted some hazards about smoking tobacco. Residents take oath to make Ahmedgarh tobacco-free Mandi Ahmedgarh: Members of various organisations and educational institutes vowed to make the region tobacco-free and save humanity from the deleterious effects of active and passive smoking. The oath was taken in response to a call by office-bearers and activists of social and medical organizations, led by Rotary Club president Bimal Sharma, at an event to mark World No Tobacco Day here today. Oncologist Dr Raman Arora was the keynote speaker. Speakers said masses should be educated about various Sections of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003 (COPTA). What's riskier? Smokeless tobacco products are less deadly than cigarettes. On an average, they kill fewer people than cigarettes. Smokeless products are often promoted as a less harmful alternative to smoking, but they are still linked with cancers, especially oral and are deadly. And they have not been proven to help users quit. The hazards Tobacco smoke is made up of thousands of chemicals, including at least 70 known to cause cancer. These cancer-causing chemicals are referred to as carcinogens. Some of the chemicals found in tobacco smoke include hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, lead, arsenic, benzene, ammonia and radioactive elements Many of these cause cancer and some can cause heart disease, lung disease, or other serious health problems, too. Most of the substances come from burning tobacco leaves themselves, not from additives included in cigarettes (or other tobacco products) Nicotine, the addictive drug that is the key stimulant people are looking for, is one of the harshest chemicals in tobacco smoke E-cigarettes and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Jaipur, May 31 The Rajasthan High Court today asked the state government to accord cow a legal entity and declare it a national animal by representing the case before the Centre. On a writ petition of Jago Janta Society pending since 2010, the single-Judge Bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma, in his 139-page ruling, directed the government to take up all essential steps to declare the cow as national animal after according it legal entity status. Describing himself as Shiv bhakt, the Judge, on the eve of his retirement, appointed the state Chief Secretary and Advocate General as persons in loco parentis (custodian) to ensure the conservation and breeding of cows. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Both will approach the Centre and make a proper representation at every level of all concerned departments, the order read. It should also be kept in mind that that Hindus have got great faith in the cow and Nepal, which is a Hindu nation, has declared cow a national animal, Justice Sharma said. Jago Janta Societys convener Poonam Chand Bhandari had in 2010 filed a writ petition against the mismanagement and irregularities in Jaipurs Hingonia Gaushala where thousands of cows were reported to have died last year. Subsequently, the state government had to hand over the gaushala to Akshya Patra Foundation for maintenance and breeding. The Judge directed the state government to include the provision of life imprisonment under The Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibiton of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export), Act 1995. It ordered the state government to release funds for the Hingonia Gaushala every fortnight without any delay. The Bench said anyone was free to approach the court with a plea to declare the cow as national animal. Calls peacock brahmachari On why the cow should be declared the national animal, Justice MC Sharma, talking to mediapersons outside the court, said the peacock had been made the national bird because it is a brahmachari. Peacock has pious qualities like the cow peahen doesnt need to have sex to get pregnant, it just swallows tears of the peacock. Ayodhya, May 31 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday that the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute should be resolved through bilateral talks. After a visit to a makeshift temple at the disputed site, Adityanath said: "This problem must be sorted out through bilateral talks between both the communities". The chief minister was addressing at a public meeting called to mark the birthday of VHP leader Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, president of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas Trust, an organisation formed to promote the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site. The Supreme Court had suggested in March that the dispute should be amicably resolved by parties involved. Das was among the 12 people against whom a CBI court ordered charges to be framed for demolishing the Babri Masjid in 1992. The others in the case are BJP veterans LK Advani, MM Joshi and Union Minister Uma Bharti demolition case. This was Adityanath's first visit to Ayodhya after he took over as Uttar Pradesh chief minister. Dharam Das, another suspect in the case, accompanied him. A special CBI court in Lucknow framed charges against BJP veterans LK Advani, MM Joshi, Union Mminister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 case on Tuesday. On April 19, the Supreme Court ordered the agency to revive conspiracy charges against them. New Delhi/Kabul, May 31 The Afghan government's media centre has raised the death toll from the massive suicide truck bombing in Kabul to 90 killed. The centre also says that 400 people are now reported to have been wounded in the attack today morning. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing that hit in a highly secure diplomatic area of the Afghan capital. The media center quoted a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the country's top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law, as giving the new casualty tolls. The council strongly condemned the attack, saying that "carrying out such attacks in the holy month of Ramadan is completely against humanity". (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The blast smashed windows of the buildings nearby and a huge plume of smoke could be seen spiralling over the area near the presidential palace and other foreign embassies in the Afghan capital. Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety, with men and woman struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones. A car bomb exploded at 8:25 am, Najib Danish, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said. A public health official said at least 80 persons had been killed and more than 350 injured. The victims appear mainly to have been Afghan civilians and there were no immediate reports of casualties among foreign embassy staff. Authorities warned the toll could yet rise. "They are still bringing bodies and wounded people to hospitals," senior Health Ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi said. The Interior Ministry was calling on Kabul residents to donate blood, saying hospitals were in "dire need". By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that Indian embassy staffers were safe. Official sources at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, however, said some damage to the windows of the embassy building has been reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured." We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 The French and Chinese embassies were among those damaged, the two countries said, adding there were no immediate signs of injuries among diplomats. The explosion shattered windows at the Japanese embassy. "Two Japanese embassy staffers were mildly injured, suffering cuts", a foreign ministry official in Tokyo said. It was not immediately clear what the target was. But the attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where a military beset by soaring casualties and desertions is struggling to beat back the insurgents. Over a third of the country is outside government control. More than an hour after the explosion, ambulances were still taking the wounded to hospital as firefighters struggled to control blazes in several buildings. An eyewitness told the local Pajwok news agency that the blast took place close to the German embassy and foreign forces camp. It cited anoter source as saying the explosion happened in front of the office of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan's primary intelligence agency. Houses hundreds of metres away from the blast site were damaged and windows and doors blown off their hinges. Bodies and injured people were seen in the area. Some women were seen screaming for the lost relatives at the site of explosion. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual spring offensive. The Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. Todays attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where Afghan forces beset by soaring casualties and desertions are struggling to beat back the insurgents. More than one third of the country is outside government control. Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to the country to break the deadlocked fight against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who also mainly serve in an advisory capacitya far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of another tough year for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan. The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in Kabul. The province surrounding the capital had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 thanks to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Agencies Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, May 30 The Lucknow CBI Special Court today found sufficient evidence on record to frame charges of criminal conspiracy against senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 25-year-old Babri Masjid demolition case. In the presence of the accused, Justice SK Yadav passed the order, noting that the ...accused Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Vishnu Hari Dalmia, Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara were being charged under Section 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), IPC. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) For the other accused, including Dr Ramvilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam and Satish Pradhan, the criminal conspiracy charges are to be read along with Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offences committed in prosecution of common object), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc and indulging in acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intented to outrage religious feelings) and 505 (creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes and offences committed at place of worship). The special CBI judge had earlier rejected the discharge applications filed by the accused. The BJP leaders lawyers submitted bail applications and the accused were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each. The court, that is hearing two separate cases related to the Babri Masjid demolition, also framed charges against Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Dr Ram Vilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Dharma Das and Satish Pradhan in the second matter. Defence counsel Prashant Atal said his clients may file a plea against the court decision to turn down their discharge petition. The conspiracy charge against Advani and others was dropped by the special CBI Court in 2001 as it sought to distinguish between the main demolition case and the case related to the hate speeches. The decision was endorsed by the Allahabad High Court in 2010. But on April 19 this year, the SC ordered the prosecution of Advani, Joshi Bharti, and other accused for a criminal conspiracy. The court ordered the two cases of demolition and criminal conspiracy be combined, that the case then be heard on a daily basis in the CBI court in Lucknow and the verdict delivered in two years. What they said "Union Cabinet Minister Uma Bharti, having been charge-sheeted, must resign. The PM must uphold the rule of law and the Constitution" Randeep Surjewala, Cong "It is a legal process and let it happen. We are sure that they (the BJP leaders) are innocent and will come out unscathed" Venkaiah Naidu, union minister Tribune News Service Lucknow, May 31 Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today declared that many Muslim organisations had recently approached him to convey their willingness to hand over the disputed site for building a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. During his first visit to the holy city after becoming the Chief Minister, Yogi recalled that even the Supreme Court had recommended a settlement of the protracted Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi dispute through dialogue. Yogi spent the day visiting various temples in Ayodhya, including the makeshift Ram temple at the disputed site, promising better development of the temple town with an investment of Rs 300 crore. This would include better civic facilities for tourist, added attractions like aarti on the ghats of the Saryu on lines of the Ganga aarti at Varanasi, elevation of Ayodhya-Faizabad to the status of Nagar Nigams or municipal corporation, among othersfor all this he gave credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Whenever one visits Ayodhya Dham, one cant stop oneself from chanting Rams name, he said at the function to celebrate the birthday of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas. Incidentally, the Mahant was chargesheeted for criminal conspiracy to demolish the Babri Masjid by the special CBI court in Lucknow yesterday. He heads the trust formed to promote and oversee the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. CM Yogi began his visit to Ayodhya by offering prayers at Hanumangarhi. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, another accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case against whom conspiracy charges were framed yesterday. Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 31 Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Wednesday said the first of the six indigenous submarines, being built in collaboration with DCNS of France, would be commissioned in July or August this year. The first submarine, the Kalvari, is going through the final trials. It had fired an indigenous torpedo last week. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) On being asked if India influenced the decision of Sri Lanka in not allowing a Chinese submarine from docking at Colombo last week, Admiral Lanba said, We were not in touch with them (Sri Lanka) on the issue; they did it on their own. He said that after the announcement of the strategic partnership, that is allowing private Indian industry to tie-up with foreign partners, the two projects--the making of additional submarines and fighter jets for operations from sea-going aircraft carriers--are top priority. On being asked about the indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, Admiral Lanba said it would start trials in 2019 and would be with the navy in 2020. Earlier while inaugurating the seminar, Building Indias Future Navy Technology Imperatives organised by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Admiral Lanba called on the industry to take advantage of the offers and help in Make in India. Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 31 Eighteen years after an action plan was announced for having 24 modern submarines by 2030, the Navy would finally get its first indigenous sub within a month or two. Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba today said first of the six indigenous submarines would be commissioned in July or August. The subs have been named Kalvari (meaning deep sea tiger shark) after the first-ever Indian submarine that was commissioned in 1967 and decommissioned in 1996. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar, Building Indias Future Navy Technology Imperatives, organised by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Admiral Lanba said, Kalvari, which fired an indigenous torpedo last week, is going through final trials. Being built by MDL (a Ministry of Defence-owned company) in collaboration with Frances DCNS, Kalvari runs on a mix of diesel-electric power. It is a stealth sub referred to as conventionally powered in security circles. The six submarines would be equipped with anti-ship missiles and long-range guided torpedoes along with a modern sensor suite. For Naval planners, the worrisome part, however, is that Chinas submarine fleetof nuclear and conventionally poweredis four times that of Indias. The Indian battle-ready under-sea fleet of diesel electric vessels is at present down to 14: nine Kilo-class (EKMs), four German-designed HDWs (SSKs) and one Akula class nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) on a 10-year lease from Russia (since 2012). The Navy plans to have 22 submarines by 2021-22 and is looking at building more of these under the newly announced strategic partnership, which allows foreign companies to partner with Indian firms under the Make in India initiative. Making submarines here is one of the four targeted sectors, the other three being fighter jets, helicopters and tanks. In comparison, China is rapidly expanding its submarine fleet. The US Department of Defence, in its annual report to the US Congress, has spelled out the rise of Chinas submarine fleet. The report, Military and security developments involving the Peoples Republic of China 2016, says: The Peoples Liberation Army Navy places a high priority on the modernisation of its submarine force and presently possesses 61 vessels. By 2020, this force will likely grow to between 69 and 78 submarines. Admiral Lanba also said the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant Admiral would begin trials in 2019 and be with us by 2020. Yash Goyal Jaipur, May 31 The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to make cow a legal entity and get it declared as National Animal by representing the case at the Central government level for its better conservation and breeding on the lines of Nepal. On a writ petition of Jago Janata Society vs State of Rajasthan pending since 2010, the single-judge bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma in his 139-page judgment directed the state government to take up all essential steps to get the cow declared as National Animal after according it the legal entity status. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The HC judge, on the day of his retirement, also appointed the state Chief Secretary and Advocate General as persons in Loco Parentis to ensure cows conservation and breeding, and asked them to take all legal measures to get it declared National Animal. Both the CS and Advocate General will approach the Central government and make a proper representation at every level, he said. Society convener Poonam Chand Bhandari filed the writ petition in 2010 against the mismanagement and irregularities in Jaipurs Hingonia Gaushala where thousands of bovines used to die every month. Last year, the untimely deaths echoed nationwide, and the state government had to hand over the Hingonia Gaushala to Akshya Patra Foundation for maintenance and breeding. The High Court directed the state government to include a provision of life imprisonment under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export), Act, 1995. Nepal is a Hindu nation and has declared cow as National Animal. India is an agricultural country that undertakes animal rearing. According to Articles 48 and 51A (g), it is expected from the state government that they should take action to get a legal entity status for cow in this country. It is expected from the government that it should also declare cow National Animal, the judgment said. The HC also told the state government to release funds to the Hingonia Gaushala every fortnight without any delay. All top officials concerned of the JDA, JMC and Gau Palan ministry should visit the gaushala every month to monitor the progress of the works underway for betterment of cows protection and breeding, it was said. The Bench also granted liberty to any person or class of persons to approach the court with a plea in a PIL to declare cow as National Animal. 'Peacock does not indulge in sex' Talking to reporters outside the court after passing the order, Justice Sharma also presented a unique theory on the mating of peacocks, the national bird. In reference to his verdict, he said "peacock too has his qualities. He is a life-long celibate. He does not indulge in sex with peahen. The peahen gives birth after it gets impregnated with the tears of the peacock. A peacock or a peahen is then born... Lord Krishna used peacock's feather for celibacy of the bird." With PTI inputs Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 Prime Minister Narendra Modi met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today and both initiated a slew of steps towards strengthening bilateral ties. The issues discussed varied from terrorism, EU-India Free Trade Agreement, Afghanistan to concerns on Chinas One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) After a ceremonial welcome, the PM and Merkel met for the fourth round of the inter-governmental dialogue following which both sides signed 12 agreements. Modi, at a press conference after the meeting, said of the bilateral relationship that we are made for each other. The PM said both countries were looking at outcome-oriented momentum in ties and a quantum jump, especially on the economic front. At a business forum later attended by the duo, Merkel said Germany would push India for the free trade agreement and also warned of the growing protectionist tendencies worldwide. Its important we progress on the German-Indian, or rather EU-Indian Free Trade Agreement, she said. India thanked Germany for supporting its bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group and both sides reaffirmed their backing for a permanent seat in a reformed United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Both nations have been at the forefront of seeking reforms in the UNSC. The leaders discussed the threat of terrorism, and also the situation in Afghanistan. On both the issues, there was convergence between the two sides. The joint statement said both nations supported a comprehensive and inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. The threat of terrorism, especially in the light of the Manchester attacks, was another priority subject. They agreed on the need to take strong measures against all those who encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide safe havens that sustain and support terrorist groups, said the statement. Chinas ambitious OBOR project was also discussed. While India had skipped the recently held OBOR Summit in Beijing, Germany had sent a representative. Indias Ambassador to Germany Mukta Tomar, while briefing the media, said OBOR was discussed and the Chancellor explained German participation while India reiterated its stand against the initiative. The PM ended the German leg of his four-nation tour of Europe with a courtesy call on German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier before departing for Spain. After Spain, the PM would head to Russia and France where he would meet newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron for the first time. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi today landed in Madrid, on the second leg of his four-nation tour of Europe, after wrapping a successful visit to Germany. The PM held talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy in the morning and seven agreements were later signed between the two countries. The joint statement issued at the end of the PMs visit highlighted many of the areas where both nations shared common views. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The emphasis was on fighting terrorism, particularly in light of the recent attacks in Manchester. The two leaders called on the international community to end selective or partial approaches to combating terrorism and jointly called for early finalisation and adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism by the UNGA, said the statement. The PM thanked the Spanish President for his countrys support for Indias membership of the MTCR. President Rajoy expressed Spains continued support for Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group. For PM Modi, the Europe tour offers an excellent opportunity to discuss and seek support for Indias membership bid to the elite NSG. The next plenary session of the NSG would be held in June in Bern where Indias case for membership would come up for discussions again. In an interview to Spanish newspaper Expansion, the PM urged Spanish firms to come and invest in India as the country was witnessing strong economic growth. Spanish firms enjoy a worldwide reputation in various fields, such as infrastructure, defence, tourism and energy. These sectors have also been identified by my government as priority sectors, Modi said. Five MoUs were signed between the two nations on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between Indias Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Pacts on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for diplomatic passport holders were also signed. Modi heads to Russia; Afghan crisis on agenda Islamabad, May 31 Pakistans Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali will lead a team to the International Court of Justice at The Hague on June 8 for a meeting of agents from India and Pakistan with the courts president to discuss the future proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The decision to send the attorney general was taken at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday to discuss Pakistans strategy in the case, Dawn reported. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired the meeting. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) During the meeting of agents, the dates for subsequent hearings and submission of documents related to the case India had brought against Pakistan over the death sentence given to Indian national Jadhav following a secret trial would be discussed, the report said. Pakistan is also likely to indicate its intention to nominate an ad hoc judge for the case. The ICJ statutes provide for a state party to a case, which does not have a judge of its nationality on the bench, to choose a person to sit as an ad hoc judge in that case. The parliamentary committee took up the issue after India was granted provisional measures by the ICJ on May 18restraining Pakistan from executing Jadhav, 46, who had been convicted of espionage and sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court. India approached the ICJ citing that it had been repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav in violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention. The attorney general also briefed the participants of the meeting about the Pakistan governments strategy for the case. The committee members were reportedly not satisfied by the explanations given by the governments legal team about the case at the last meeting. The National Assembly speaker told the media that he was satisfied with the briefing by the attorney general on Tuesday. Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, however, disputed Speaker Sadiq, saying that everything that was shared with the parliamentary committee members was open source information and the replies were unsatisfactory. They have committed a lot of mistakes, Rehman said. Tuesdays meeting was the second time the committee had met on Jadhav case. It will meet again on June 15. PTI New Delhi, May 31 A number of AAP legislators on Wednesday pushed and punched sacked minister Kapil Mishra inside the Delhi Assembly, before he was dragged out of the House by marshalls. The AAP MLAs lunged at Mishra, hit him and pushed him down after he unfurled a banner with allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and demanded a special session of the Assembly to be held at Ramlila Maidan to discuss the matter. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel criticised the MLAs involved in heckling Mishra, saying the incident was deeply disturbing, one that should have been avoided while the opposition BJP slammed AAP for such unprecedented act of goondaism. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The incident happened around 20 minutes into the proceedings of the House, convened to clear the state GST Bill, as Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta moved a calling attention motion to discuss an alleged scam in procurement of medicines for government hospitals, an issue also raised by Mishra recently. When Goel rejected Guptas proposal, Mishra stood up and held out a banner levelling allegations of graft against Kejriwal and minister Satyendar Jain and attempted to walk towards the Well. A few AAP MLAs, including Madan Lal, Jarnail Singh, Jagdeep Singh and Amanatullah Khan, were seen pushing, shoving and hitting Mishra, which the sacked minister said was orchestrated by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj rejected the allegations saying that Mishra was rather stopped from indulging in violence as he could have attacked AAP MLAs. Mishra alleged that Kasturba Nagar MLA Madanlal allegedly strangulated him, while Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh and Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan hit him on his ribs and chest. Some more MLAs joined them and continued to attack me till the marshals intervened and took me out of the House. The MLAs were also threatening me to keep my mouth shut. I also saw Manish Sisodia instructing Jarnail Singh to move towards me and during the entire thing (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal was giggling, Mishra said. Kejriwal did not react when journalists sought his response on the matter outside the Assembly. Gupta, who was present in the House when the ruckus broke out, said the entire episode where a member of the House was assaulted by ruling party MLAs was unprecedented. We (BJP) will approach the Lt Governor over the issue, he said. #WATCH Kapil Mishra marshalled out of Delhi Assembly after a scuffle broke between him and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs pic.twitter.com/fCprHosxhr ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 The Speaker said he would look into the matter. Whatever happened today inside the Delhi Assembly is unfortunate. I am deeply disturbed with the incident. Whatever they (AAP MLAs) did was wrong. The MLAs should not have left their seats, he told reporters. While ruckus and chaos are routinely seen in legislatures across the country, including in Delhi, MLAs coming to blows or ganging up to assault a member is highly unusual and certainly a first in the AAP governments two-year tenure. Mishra, who held the portfolios of water and tourism in the Delhi Government, was first removed from the Cabinet over non-performance and then suspended from the party after he alleged that Kejriwal accepted Rs 2 crore in cash from Jain. Since then, he has been levelling a series of charges, mostly related to alleged financial irregularities in the AAP government, and had also gone on an indefinite fast seeking details of foreign trips made by some top leaders of the party. PTI Madurai, May 30 The Madras High Court today stayed for four weeks the Centres notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter, and sought its response to public interest litigations which contended the rules should have been approved by Parliament first. A Madurai Bench, comprising Justices MV Muralidharan and CV Karthikeyan, issued the interim order on two pleas that said the rules should be quashed as they were against the Constitution, breached the principle of federalism and were contrary to the parent legislation Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Referring to the contention of the petitioners that the notification was related to food and hence ought to have been approved by Parliament, the Judges asked the Centre to respond to the point also in its counter to be filed in four weeks. The order has come amid a raging row on the ban, with non-BJP parties and state governments of Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry opposing the Centres recent notification. Several places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been witnessing protests over the past few days against the ban. Protesters have alleged it infringes upon the food habits of people. The PILs sought quashing of the provisions of Rule 22(b) (III) and Rule 22(e) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulations of Live stock Markets) Rules 2017 on the grounds that they were contrary to the parent act of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and the countrys Constitution. The petitioners contended that the provisions breached the cardinal principle of federalism as it amounted to legislation in the fields earmarked for state legislature. The new rules ban the sale or purchase of bulls, cows, camels for slaughter houses or for sacrifice for religious purpose. PTI Govt re-examining The Centre on Tuesday refuted charges by some non-BJP ruled states that the BJP-ruled government was trying to change food habits of the people. Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the Ministry of Environment and Forests had received representations on the recent notification and was in the process of examining these. He refused to comment on whether some objectionable provisions could be removed or changed. Madrid, May 31 India and Spain should strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism as both our countries have faced the security challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Spanish President Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Modi met Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace this morning in the first engagement during his stay in the Spanish capital today. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship. Modi called for boosting bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as both our countries have faced the security challenge. Spain, the summer holiday destination of Europe, in a recent government report said that the Islamic State group has been publishing in Spanish, which means an increase in the risk of its influence on radicals living in our country. In todays global context, Modi said, the focus of his discussion in Spain will be on the international developments. The Prime Minister praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoys leadership the country has undergone economic reforms which is also the biggest priority of my government. He said railways, smart cities and infrastructure sectors were the priority areas for India and Spain has enough skills and mastery to contribute to Indias requirements. Modi said he is confident that his visit to Spain - the first by an Indian prime minister since 1988 - will give a new momentum to bilateral ties. Later today, Modi, who is on a four-nation tour, will call on King Felipe VI of Spain and would also have a round-table interaction with Spanish business leaders to attract investment into the country. From Spain, Modi will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The Prime Minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. PTI Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 30 Aided by Cyclone Mora, southwest monsoon arrived simultaneously today over Kerala and some parts of northeastern states, including Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. The arrival over Kerala has been two days ahead of the normal onset date of June 1and earliest since 2011. The Met department said over the past 48 hours, 78 per cent monitoring stations in the state reported widespread rain, which is a prerequisite for announcing the monsoons arrival. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Meteorologists say though it was too early to predict when the monsoon would hit the North, it was expected to land in the Delhi-Haryana-Punjab region around June 26-27. The region, in the meantime, could expect the western disturbances to keep it cool. The mercury is already well below normal at most places in Uttarakhand and some places in western Uttar Pradesh as well as in Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi. D Sivananda Pai, IMDs lead monsoon forecaster, said as Mora weakens, seasonal rains would become subdued and the progress over the Southern Peninsula slower. But the current would again get re-organised with the help of Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), a disturbance in equatorial Indian Ocean, he said. Depending on its position, a MJO can either depress or activate the rains. Also, unlike the stationary pattern observed in the El Nino Southern Oscillation, MJO is a travelling pattern. Conditions are favourable for its further advance over the next three-four days into the remaining parts of south Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep and Kerala, some parts of south interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bay of Bengal. Chandigarh, May 31 Punjab Police have arrested three young men in Pathankot district on the basis of suspicion, the police said on Wednesday. All three belong to Assam, sources said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The arrests were being linked to the Monday recovery of an abandoned bag containing three Army uniforms. The bag was left on the Defence Road near Pathankot late on Sunday night. A massive search operation was launched in the district following the seizure. Punjab Police, Army and other security agencies carried out searches in the area, especially near the Indian Air Force base, as well as the Armys Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot. A Jammu flour mills name was printed on the bag, police officials said. The security agencies remained on alert in the border districts following the terror attacks on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January 2016 and in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district in July 2015. Both Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts lie along Indias International Border with Pakistan and are also close to Jammu and Kashmir. IANS Chandigarh, May 31 Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for facilitating the return of a 55-year-old woman from Jalandhar, who was sold and tortured in Saudi Arabia. He also promised a time-bound action plan by his government to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from duping innocent people. Swaraj had yesterday apprised Singh of the situation. The chief minister had deputed the Additional District Commissioner, Amritsar, to receive Sukhwant Kaur as she landed at Guru Ram Dass International Airport in Amritsar today. With the External Affairs Ministrys intervention, Kaur, who was forced to work in Saudi Arabia as a slave and was also tortured, finally reunited with her family this afternoon, said a spokesperson of the Chief Ministers Office. He added that Singh was highly appreciative of Swarajs efforts in ensuring Kaurs safe return. The chief minister urged the external affairs minister to use all the political and diplomatic channels to put an end to the illegal practice of travel agents, who fraudulently send innocent people abroad, where they are victimised in various ways. Talking to reporters at the Amritsar airport, Kaur revealed that after having worked in Saudi Arabia as a domestic help for a month, when she asked her employer about her wages, she was informed that she was sold to the family by the Delhi-based travel agent who had taken Rs 40,000 from her to send her to that country. Kaur thanked Swaraj and others who made her return to India possible. Kaurs relatives as well as the residents of her native village of Ajtani, near Nurmahal in Jalandhar district, were also present at the airport to receive her. PTI Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 31 After a five-month-long ordeal in Saudi Arabia, where she was treated like a slave, Sukhwant Kaur (46) was reunited with her family here today. Sukhwant, a resident of Ajtani village in Nurmahal division of the district, was allegedly sold by a New Delhi-based travel agent in January to a Saudi Arabian family. Finally back home, Sukhwant broke down while recounting how she was tortured and kept in confinement. She said Puja alias Satish Kumari, a Lambra-based travel agent, had promised her a maids job at a monthly salary of Rs 22,000 with a family in the Gulf country. Puja also procured a three-month tourist visa for Sukhwant. I boarded a flight on January 20 and landed in Dubai (UAE). I was confined to a room along with two women and fifteen men, she said. She arrived in Saudi Arabia on January 24. The family comprised three women Madriya, Faziha and Amira. They claimed that they bought me from my travel agent, Shakir Khan, for Rs 3.5 lakh. They used to beat me with sticks and iron rods whenever I demanded salary. They locked me inside my room from 11 pm to 2 pm on a daily basis as the trio would go to work in a school in the morning, she added. Sukhwant said the women also refused to provide her medication when she fell ill. One day, they pricked my finger and said my blood sugar was normal, so my blood pressure would also be under control, she recalled. When her health deteriorated, she was admitted to a hospital in Hail, a city in north-western Saudi Arabia. Recently, she met a Kerala-based nurse. The latter helped her speak to her husband, Kuldeep Singh, on the phone. Kuldeep approached Union Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, following which Indian embassy officials rescued Sukhwant and brought her back to India today. Thanking Swaraj, former Cabinet minister Manoranjan Kalia, who received Sukhwant at the Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, said many women were still languishing in Saudi Arabia. I have urged Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter with the Saudi Government so as to ensure the release of all such women, said Kalia, who was accompanied by Anil Joshi, former Local Bodies Minister. Joshi appreciated the NDA governments efforts to safely bring back Sukhwant. Meanwhile, Pooja, the travel agent from Lambra (Jalandhar), was arrested by the Mumbai police at the international airport there today when she tried to meet Sukhwant after the latters arrival in India. The Jalandhar police have approached their Delhi counterparts to trace Shakir Khan, who had allegedly sold Sukhwant to the Saudi family. Debt forced me to take up job When asked why she had taken up a job in Saudi Arabia, Sukhwant Kaur said, My family was facing a financial crisis. We had taken a loan of over Rs 2 lakh to send my son to Kuwait. As my husband is elderly, the agent refused to send him abroad. However, he agreed to send me as a maid at a salary of Rs 22,000 per month, said Sukhwant, mother of two sons and a daughter. Her husband, a daily-wager, earns just Rs 250 every day. She advised people not to send women abroad for work. CM vows crackdown on fraudsters Chandigarh: Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for facilitating the return of Sukhwant Kaur, even as he promised that the Congress government would come up with a time-bound action plan to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from duping gullible people. TNS With inputs from Charanjit Teja, Amritsar Tribune News Service Moga, May 31 Canadas Ontario Court of Justice has declined to issue summons or arrest warrants against retired CRPF Inspector General (IG) Tejinder Singh Dhillon, saying that his presence in Canada has not been proved by the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a human rights panel. The SFJ had filed the case against Dhillon, accusing him of extra-judicial torture of Sikh youths during militancy in Punjab. The Canadian High Commission in New Delhi had initially refused visa to him, but after the Indian Governments protest, the former not only granted visa but also offered a complimentary ticket to the ex-Inspector General to visit Canada. Attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal adviser to the SFJ, said, Its a travesty of justice that we were asked to prove Dhillons presence in the country even though he was brought back to Toronto by the Trudeau government on Canadas expense after issuing a public apology. We are filing an application under the Access to Information Act to get the records of Dhillons entry and exit in Canada from the authorities concerned, he said. Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 31 The Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) has rejected the Congress governments proposal to nominate 125-year-old Khalsa College for inclusion on the World Heritage Site list. A UNESCO representative along with officials of the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board today visited the college. The KCGC did not show any interest and responded coldly to the visiting team. No other official, barring principal of Khalsa College for B.Ed Jaswinder Singh Dhillon, was present. Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, KCGC honorary secretary, said the council did not seek heritage status for the college. He said the government sent the team without any prior intimation. As per UNESCO, the administrative agency of the said monument must apply for the nomination by filing a proposal, duly approved by its house. He said they did not carry out any such exercise and the visit was surprising. After his visit to Khalsa College, UNESCOs Delhi-based section chief and programme specialist Moe Chiba said it was an architectural marvel. A proposal must reach UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris. It will then be vetted by experts of International Council of Monument and Sites and subsequently by World Heritage Committee, she said. Declaring a monument UNESCOs World Heritage Site will make the state government to commit to the international community that the site will be protected forever, she said. Navjotpal Singh Randhawa, Director, Tourism, said on the invitation of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Moe Chiba was visiting the states historic sites. He said only those sites raised by Sikh architectural genius Bhai Ram Singh were being shown to the UNESCO official. State to preserve buildings designed by Ram Singh Chandigarh: Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday said the historical buildings designed by architect Ram Singh would be preserved. These include Darbar Hall, Sangrur and Kapurthala and Khalsa College, Amritsar. Ram Singh also has to his credit various other architectural masterpieces like Queen Victoria summer home in London, Governor House in Shimla and Lahore Museum, said Sidhu. TNS Melbourne An estimated 170 million pieces of space junk may put satellites such as the International Space Station at the risk of being destroyed, which could have disastrous consequences for the world economy, scientists warned on Wednesday. Accumulating debris from old rockets and defunct satellites orbit the Earth at very high speeds, and may soon render the upper reaches of the atmosphere unusable, according to experts. Over 3,000 active satellites currently in orbit are essential for everything from observing the effects of climate change to monitoring for defence purposes. The satellites in orbit at any given time are worth over AUD 700 billion, and generate about AUD 2 trillion in business every year. Any damage to them could have disastrous consequences, for our economies and our lives. "There is so much debris that it is colliding with itself, and creating more debris. A catastrophic avalanche of collisions which could quickly destroy all orbiting satellites is now possible," said Ben Greene, CEO of Space Environment Research Centre in Australia. Only 22,000 of the estimated 170 million pieces of space debris in orbit are currently being tracked. Researchers from across the globe met at a conference in Canberra, Australia to tackle the threat and develop a model to manage space traffic, 'ABC News' reported. The threat is growing as it has become easier for companies to launch objects into orbit, said Moribah Jah, from the University of Texas in the US. Without action, a catastrophic collision is inevitable, Jah said. PTI THE question of affiliation of the Sanatan Dharam College, Lahore, formed the principal subject for consideration at the meeting of the Senate of the Punjab University held on Wednesday. The Syndicate had recommend that the College be allowed to open III and IV year classes, but that affiliation to the B.A. standard should not be given until the College Society was able to report by December 1917 that a sum of Rs. 2 lakhs had been placed in the bank and that the building operations had been started. Sir P.C. Chatterji, a former Vice-Chancellor and President of the Sanatan Dharam College Society, moved an amendment that the College be granted affiliation immediately. Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 31 National womens Congress president Sobha Oza today said the Centre had failed on all fronts, including diplomacy vis-a-vis China and Pakistan. Addressing a press conference here today she said it was for the first time that intelligence officials of Pakistan were invited to India by the Centre to probe Pathankot terror attack. She said that terror attacks had increased manifold ever since the BJP government came to power at the Centre. A total of 172 terror attacks had taken place in the country during the past three years in which 578 Army personnel and 877 civilians lost their lives, she said. She said the Centre had forgotten its poll promises on bringing black money back to the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to provide Rs 15 lakh to every family as part of his anti-black money drive. But the amount has not arrived as yet, she quipped. Oza said the government had ignored the interest of the farmers. While loans of corporate houses are being waived off, farmers are struggling to pay their debts, she said. She expressed concern over recent incidents of mob lynching in the name of Gau Raksha and Anti-Romeo Squads. She said it was wrong to perceive that the Congress was losing everywhere in the country. Yes we have lost Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand but have won Punjab. Even in Goa and Manipur we got the mandate though BJP forcibly formed its government in these two states, she observed. Uttarakhand Congress president Pritam Singh and state congress spokesman Mathurdutt Joshi were also present at the press conference. Accusing the Modi government of trying to shield prominent people involved in the multi-crore NH-74 scam, Oza said her party would raise this issue both inside and out of Parliament. Referring to Union minister Nitin Gadkaris letter to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat reportedly saying a probe against the NHAI officials in connection with the alleged scam will adversely affect their morale, she said it suggests there is definitely something fishy about the matter. Whenever a big scam is detected, the BJP removes names of scamsters from the FIR. We will strongly raise the issue in Parliament, Oza said at a press conference here. Irregularities running into Rs 240 crore in the acquisition of land for NH-74 in Udham Singh Nagar district were detected in a report submitted by the Kumaon Commissioner earlier this year. Taking cognisance of the report, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had suspended several SDM-level officials suspected of having played a role in the scam and recommended a CBI probe into it. However, even after more than two months, the Centre is yet to order the CBI to investigate the case, which took place between 2011 and 2016. (With PTI inputs) Shanghai, May 31 A man has been arrested and two are missing in China after conducting an investigation into a Chinese company making Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, China Labor Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, said on Wednesday. Labour activist Hua Haifeng was arrested in Jiangxi province on suspicion of illegally using eavesdropping equipment, according to Li Qiang, executive director of the group China Labor Watch. The three men had been investigating labour conditions at factories that produce shoes for Ivanka Trump, the daughter of US President Donald Trump, and other Western brands, he said in an email. We appeal to President Trump, Ivanka Trump herself, and to her related brand company to advocate and press for the release our activists, China Labor Watch said in the email to Reuters. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment while the White House and Ivanka Trumps lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Calls to provincial police in Jiangxi and Ganzhou city police were not answered. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did know anything about the situation and declined further comment. The reported arrest and disappearances come at a time of sustained pressure on labour activists in China amid a crackdown on civil society under President Xi Jinping. In recent years, many labour rights activists have reported being intimidated and harassed, temporarily detained, or restricted in their movement. Li said in 17 years of activism, including investigations of hundreds of factories in China, his group had never had anyone arrested on suspicion of having committed a crime. This is the first time weve come across this kind of situation, he said, adding the accusation against Hua had no factual basis. Protection not prosecution Rights group Amnesty International called for the release of the three if they were held only for investigating possible labour abuses at the factories. Activists exposing potential human rights abuses deserve protection not persecution, said William Nee, the groups China researcher. The trio appear to be the latest to fall foul of the Chinese authorities aggressive campaign against human rights activists who have any ties to overseas organizations, using the pretence of national security. China routinely rejects foreign criticism of its rights record and says it is a country ruled by law. China Labor Watchs Li said Hua and another investigator, Li Zhao, had worked covertly at a shoe factory in the city of Dongguan, in Guangdong province, that was owned by the Huajian Group. The third investigator, Su Heng, had worked at a related factory in the city of Ganzhou in Jiangxi but went incommunicado after May 27. Both factories produced Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, Li Qiang said. The investigators had discovered evidence that workers rights had been violated, Li said. Hua had been investigating a vocational school in Jiangxi affiliated with Huajian Group when he was arrested. A woman surnamed Mu who said she was in charge of recruitment at Huajian said she had not heard about the case. A switchboard operator at Huajians headquarters declined to transfer Reuters to company officials in a position to address questions about the situation. Hua and Li Zhao had been warned by authorities weeks ago that they were suspected of having broken the law, and were barred from crossing the border into Hong Kong in April and May, Li Qiang said. Reuters Beijing, May 31 China has approved a plan to build an underwater observation network across the disputed East and South China seas, in yet another provocative move that will anger Beijings neighbours. China will invest two billion yuan ($292 million) to build the network, which will be capable of all-weather and real time HD multi-interface observation from seabed to surface, state run Global Times quoted a report by the official China Central Television (CCTV) as saying. While China claims its sovereignty over the Senkaku islands held by Japan, it also has claims over all of South China Sea (SCS). Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the seas. Beijing claims almost all of the South China Seaparts of which are also claimed by five other countriesand has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas were stated to be rich minerals, oil and other natural resources. The underwater observation network will serve as a scientific research platform which can provide long-term and continuous data to research on the marine environment under the two seas, the CCTV report said. The planned physical platform can help us understand the complicated submarine world and provide a technical basis and the physical conditions for exploration and application of resources under the ocean, Li Jie, a Beijing-based navy expert, told state run Global Times. A data centre will be built in Shanghai near the coast to monitor the observation network and to store and manage the data captured. It can promote frontier research in fields such as earth systems and climate change and meet the countrys comprehensive demand to monitor the marine environment, prevent disasters and protect national security and interests, the report said. However, some foreign countries will link the underwater system with a military facility and exaggerate its military usage given its geographical location, Li said. Military use is only one part of the planned use of the system, but civilian uses will have a much wider and diversified scope in the future, Liu Jiangping, another military analyst said. However, if foreign submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles enter Chinese waters, China is obligated to use data gathered from the underwater network to identify, detect or even drive away those vehicles to protect the security of Chinas territorial waters, exclusive economic zones and the countrys sovereignty, Liu said. The project is slated to be completed within five years. Given Chinas capability in drilling oil and gas in deep water and the recent progress of the manned submersible Jiaolong, China is technically ready and has the material and financial resources to achieve that goal within five years, Li said. The Jiaolong descended to 6,544 meters in its third dive this year in the Mariana Trench on Saturday. The dives are to collect seawater, rocks and samples of marine life and conduct observation and HD photography near the seabed, Chinese official media reported. PTI London, May 31 British Prime Minister Theresa Mays narrowing lead in opinion polls ahead of the June 8 election has raised questions over whether she will win the landslide predicted just a month ago. The vote will decide whether May or her Labour Party rival Jeremy Corbyn takes control of Britains exit from the European Union a two-year negotiation which will plot a new course for the $2.6 trillion economy. While May is still expected to win, analysts are now looking at a bigger range of outcomes. Sterling rallied in April when May called the vote as investors bet her then large poll lead would translate into a big majority, reducing uncertainty over whether she would have the mandate required to negotiate on Britains behalf and then drive the deal through parliament. The snap election pushes back the date of the next planned national election from 2020 just after Britain is due to have quit the EU to 2022, giving May more time to put the exit deal in place and potentially reducing political risk over how the deal is implemented. Whilst still broadly predicting May will improve on the 12-seat victory her predecessor David Cameron won in 2015, the narrowing polls suggest a majority that might fall well-short of a 100-seat or more landslide. Bank analysts said that would not undermine the central scenarios which have helped the pound in the past month but might still see it weaken from current levels. If May does not handsomely beat the 12-seat majority Cameron won in 2015, her electoral gamble will have failed, her ability to drive Brexit reform through Parliament will be diminished. If neither main party wins a clear majority, markets will have to deal with considerable uncertainty over who will form the next government and what compromises the eventual PM will have to make to get the support of other parties. The Conservatives positioning on Brexit and, to a lesser extent other domestic issues like austerity, makes it unlikely that it could find a willing coalition partner, making a Labour-led government the most likely outcome from a hung parliament. A clear win for Corbyn, whose less than two-year leadership has been marked by poor ratings, divisions among his party and a failed coup attempt, would force many investors to redraw their assumptions on both Brexit and the fiscal outlook. Longer term, analysts from a number of banks highlight the potential for both more borrowing to fund economic stimulus and the increased likelihood that Corbyn will negotiate a closer trading relationship with the EU than May would have done. Reuters British PM could lose majority in June 8 poll Dhaka/New Delhi, May 31 The Indian Navy has rescued 33 people from choppy seas off Bangladesh which was today assessing the extent of loss after Cyclone Mora wreaked havoc and killed at least nine persons and left over 50,000 families homeless. Indian Navy ship Sumitra rescued 33 persons who were found adrift in the Bay of Bengal, about 160 km from Chittagong. The Eastern Naval Command is deploying P-81 aircraft as part of its rescue operation in Bangladesh. The cyclone has affected over a quarter million people in the country, the Disaster Management Ministry said. As many as 2,86,000 persons in 16 coastal districts were affected by the storm. Around 54,500 families have lost properties in the storm as nearly 60,000 houses have been damaged along with 1,592 acres of farmlands, he said. Coxs Bazar, the longest unbroken sea beach in the world, bore the brunt of the cyclone, with five persons dead, over 20,000 houses destroyed and hundreds of trees uprooted. Prime Minister Hasina today said two Navy ships had reached Kutubdia and Teknaf, which are the worst affected areas, to carry out relief operations while helicopters were kept ready to operate in the areas if needed. Mora, packing winds of up to 150 km per hour, made landfall in the country yesterday, tearing through the southwest districts including low-lying areas. The cyclone formed after heavy rains in Sri Lanka caused floods and landslides killing over 200 people. PTI United Nations, May 31 US Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has accused the United Nations of anti-Israel bias, will travel to Israel next week and deliver an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Haley will be the first US ambassador to address the rights council, speaking at a session on June 6 that will be followed by a speech on the US role at the council, the US mission yesterday said. The former governor of South Carolina has criticized the UN rights body as corrupt and the US administration has been weighing a withdrawal from the council. We havent made a decision yet, Haley told reporters when asked if the United States would quit the council. Haley said she would discuss possible reforms at the council and then we will make a decision after that. From June 7 to 9, Haley will hold meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during her visit to Israel and visit a UN peacekeeping mission in the region. Haley said she was hoping to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, but that these meetings had yet to be confirmed. The US ambassador has won applause from the Israeli government for pledging to stand up to what she has termed Israel-bashing at the United Nations. She has condemned a Security Council resolution demanding that Israel halt the expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land as a terrible mistake. The resolution was adopted after the former US administration refused to use its veto to block the measure and instead abstained. Countries with questionable human rights records such as China and Saudi Arabia have seats on the UN body. In Geneva, Haley will also discuss the human rights crisis in Venezuela. It will be her second visit abroad as US ambassador. Last week, she visited Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey. AFP Image: Whitehouse.gov The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on May 26 that Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen will serve as DOTs Regulatory Reform Officer and chairman of the departments Regulatory Reform Task Force. RRTF was formed earlier this year in accordance with President Trumps Executive Order 13777, which directs each federal agency to establish such a task force to make recommendations to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens. According to DOT, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao has directed the RRTF to consider ways to accomplish DOTs primary safety objectives in less burdensome ways and to further review midnight rules that were issued at the end of the last administration. DOT has provided no details as to which rules might fall under that description or even which subordinate agencies, such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, might be home to such rules. It should be noted that while the text of Executive Order 13777 indicates the president seeks reforms regarding offsetting the number and cost of new regulations, the directive also plainly states that, Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency In other words, it would appear that the work of the Regulatory Reform Task Force is not to be directed at regulations that have been mandated by Act of Congress. Contacted by HDT about which if any rules might be in line for review by the task force, an FMCSA spokesman declined to comment. Asked to comment on the RRTF marching orders, Lane Kidd, managing director of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, a trucking-safety lobby backed by a group of major carriers, told HDT that he is not aware of any so-called midnight rules that FMCSA adopted before the Trump administration took office. Congress required that all interstate trucks install electronic logging devices later this year and Congress also required the creation of the drug and alcohol clearinghouse and guidance regarding hair test regulations, so all those should move forward, he continued. Kidd added that there are some proposed rules FMCSA has suspended but none that were adopted at the last minute and since the agencys sole mission is to decrease large truck accidents, I doubt this task force will be inclined to suspend any of these rules at FMCSA. In 1642, a reincarnation of one of Buddha Shakyamunis disciples was born the son of a very poor herdsman in Mongolia. Gifted and recognized as a khuvilgaan or tulku at the young age of three, Luvsanperenlei would breeze through his local monastic education and later moved to Lhasa, Tibet to attend Drepung Monastery where he would receive his novice ordination from His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama, who would also later recognize him as an incarnation of Zaya Pandita. During his 19 years of study and practice in Tibet, he would also travel to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery to learn the great classics and where he met His Holiness the 4th Panchen Lama. Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei was also a key disciple of Drepung Monasterys Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and is said to have mentioned in his Collected Works several of the prophesies of his teacher. Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsens biography (rnam thar) was also preserved in Mongolian in Zaya Panditas works. Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen was murdered in 1656 at a time when Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei would have been in Lhasa if not in Drepung Monastery itself. By karmic connection, it would be Zaya Pandita, the reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamunis disciple, pandita extraordinaire, one highly respected by the 5th Dalai Lama and Khalkha Jetsundampa Zanabazar, who would carry out the role as disciple, biographer and preserver of Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsens teachings and lineage. Son of a Destitute Herdsman Zaya Pandita Luvsanperenlei was born in 1642, in the Water Male Horse Year of the 11th Rabjung according to the Tibetan Calendar, at a place called Mukhar Khujirt in what is now Arkhangai Province in Mongolia. According to local legend, he was the son of a very poor herdsman. Some written accounts give the name of his parents as Suntar (or Suntor) and Orkhidai and note that he was the second of five children. Other historical accounts maintain that he was the son of Tsesjav Khondlon, himself the son of the nobleman Tumenkhen Sain Noyon. If this is the case he would have been, according to the written sources, a member of the so-called Altan Urag (Golden Clan) of Chinggis Khan. A Reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamunis Disciple According to tradition, Luvsanperenlei was a disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni in one of his previous incarnations. After this life as the Buddhas disciple, four more incarnations appeared in India, then three in Tibet. Meeting His First Guru, Zanabazar Luvsanperenlei was an extremely gifted child. According to legend, local lamas recognized him at the age of three as a khuvilgaan or reincarnation. Also at three, he received his preliminary ordination from a lama known as Lodoijamts Khutagt who had studied in Tibet. By the age of five, Luvsanperenlei was learning to read and write Tibetan and Mongolian and was also trying his hand at poetry, painting and sculpture. In 1653, at the young age of 11, he met Zanabazar, the 16th Jebtsundampa Khutuktu and the 1st Bogd Gegeen or supreme spiritual authority of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, at Erdene Zuu Monastery. Zanabazar was then hosting a convocation of Mongolian nobility. It was then that Zanabazar accepted this gifted 11-year-old boy as his student and disciple. Villagers from Luvsanperenleis birthplace say that he initially went to Tibet with Zanabazar on the latters first trip there in 1649 but this cannot be verified. There are some indications though that Luvsanperenlei stayed on in Tibet after Zanabazar returned to Mongolia in 1651. According to a legend related by local monks in Mongolia, he studied at a monastery in Tibet attended by other Mongolian lamas, assumed to be Gomang College at Drepung Monastery near Lhasa. However he did not spend much time studying the required sutras nor did he get along well with the other young monks. Because of this, a Mongolian ger was eventually set up near the monastery and the young Luvsanperenlei went there to live and study alone. According to legend, one day a Tibetan lama came to the ger to check how Luvsanperenlei was doing in his studies. Instead, he found Luvsanperenlei playing a childrens game known as Sheep and Wolves with small figurines of sheep and wolves molded from dough. When the lama scolded Luvsanperenlei for wasting his time, the figures suddenly sprang to life and began chasing each other around the table. The utterly amazed Tibetan lama pronounced, You are truly the Mongolian Zaya Pandita. It is not necessary for you to study sutras, since it is clear you already know everything. Studying in Tibet for 19 Years In 1660, when he was 18 years old, it is recorded that Luvsanperenlei did go to Tibet, where he would stay for the next 19 years. He received his getsul (novice) ordination from His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama in Lhasa and later traveled to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse to study the great classics and met with His Holiness the 4th Panchen Lama. He also studied medicine and science and was known to be an excellent painter and poet. Luvsanperenlei was also one of the key disciples of Drepung Monasterys Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen and is said to have mentioned in his Collected Works several of the prophecies of his teacher Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen. Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsens biography (rnam thar) was also preserved in Mongolian in Zaya Panditas works. In 1673, he and Zanabazars brother Chakhundorj received tantric teachings from lamas in Tibet. When Chakhundorj returned to Mongolia, he constructed the Dalai Lama Temple at Erdene Zuu to commemorate his trip. In 1678, the 5th Dalai Lama recognized him as an incarnation of Zaya Pandita and conferred upon him the title. He was instructed to return to Mongolia and to spread the Dharma in the North. Upon his return to Mongolia, Luvsanperenlei, now Zaya Pandita, was enthroned as the head of Zayain Khuree Monastery, which by that time had five temples and 200 monks in attendance. According to one account, he lived in Mongolia practicing Yamantaka, Dukkar and Guhyasamaja. His Works Zaya Pandita wrote six important books (non medical) and had his own large library with works in Mongol, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Manchurian and Chinese. He translated many texts into the Mongolian language. In his homeland, he also founded a monastery and four colleges. He also founded the first Medical College of Mongolia and was himself a major doctor. His work had a great influence on Mongolian medicine. He oversaw the construction of many temples and introduced many of the practices he had learned at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Tibet. Zaya Pandita was a prolific writer. At the age of 17, he had composed a book called Bogdiin Zalbiral (Prayer of the Bogd) and he wrote another book while in Tibet. He went on to write numerous other works, including incense offering texts and prayers to the local deities of several prominent mountains, including Otgontenger in present day Zavkhan Aimag. A famous work of Zaya Pandita is the Clear Mirror. He reportedly began the Clear Mirror in 1682 while living at Zayain Khuree. He continued to work on it during his exile in Doloonnuur and didnt finish it until 1702, after he had returned to Zayain Khuree. He originally wrote it in Tibetan, but during his lifetime his student Vro Rabjamba Gungaajamts translated it into Mongolian and transcribed it using Mongolian vertical script. Zaya Pandita also wrote a biography of the First Khalkha Jetsundampa Zanabazar. Fleeing to Inner Mongolia In 1688, the Oirat chieftain Galdan Bolshigt invaded Khalkh Mongolia. Zanabazar, other important lamas, and much of the Khalkh nobility along with many of their followers were forced to flee to Inner Mongolia. The record is unclear, but apparently Zaya Pandita left his monastery and accompanied this mass migration. While Erdene Zuu, Khogno Tarnyn Khiid, and many other monasteries were destroyed by the invading forces, Galdan Bolshigt spared Zayain Khuree Monastery. This was apparently because Galdan knew Zaya Pandita personally and thought of him as his guru. Although there is no historical record of it, Galdan Bolshigt and Zaya Pandita are known to have met each other in Tibet. Galdan himself, before becoming the Zungarian Khan and warlord, had been a monk and had studied in Lhasa at about the same time that Zaya Pandita had been there. Not only did Galdan refrain from destroying Zayain Khuree Monastery, he ordered that a new temple be built on a high knoll between the monastery and Altan Bulgan Uul. It was named the Galdan Zuu Temple, and reportedly Galdan installed in it a large statue of Maitreya. By the 1920s, Zayain Khuree Monastery became one of the largest and most influential monasteries in Mongolia, with over 2000 monks attached to eight different colleges. The monastery was also famous for its cham dances, the last of which was held in July 1932. Zaya Pandita was with Zanabazar at Doloonnuur in Inner Mongolia in 1691 when Zanabazar met with the Qing Emperor Kangxi, and he took part in the discussions which led to the Khalkh Mongols accepting the suzerainty of the Qing Dynasty. Zanabazar eventually moved to Beijing, where he waited on the Qing Emperor Kangxi. Zaya Panditas movements at this time are uncertain, but apparently he stayed at monasteries in Doloonnuur for the next several years. After the defeat of the Oirat Mongols in 1696, the Khalkh Mongols who had fled to Inner Mongolia returned to their native land. According to one account, Zaya Pandita was back at Zayain Khuree Monastery by 1696. Soon after his return, he began construction of the Guden Sum, which would eventually become his personal residence. Local monks insist that the Guden Sum was built in the early 1680s. If this is the case, the temple may have just been enlarged or remodeled in 1696. In 1699, Zaya Pandita traveled to Khokhkhot (Hohhot) in Inner Mongolia and established a temple known as Buyaniig Iltgegch. He soon returned and resumed his role as leader of Zayain Khuree Monastery, a position he held until his death in 1715. His mummified remains, sitting in the lotus position, were entombed in a stupa which can still be seen in the Guden Sum. Another source shows a picture of the mummified holy bodies of the 1st and 4th Zaya Pandita or Zayain Gegeen in Tsetserleg temple, Arkhangai Province, Mongolia. The temple is located next to the Zayain Gegeen Khuree museum. Addendum This published thesis discusses the contents of a text known as thob yig in Tibetan, the word literally means records of teachings received and relates to teachings received by the Mongolian master Jaya Pandita Lobsang Trinley. Aside from the obvious topics discussed within the text as evidenced by its title, there are a number of cursory mentions of both Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and of Dorje Shugden. Those who know Tibetan religious history will already know that Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen was the preceding incarnation of Dorje Shugden. Please take note that names are spelt according to the Wylie transliteration system. Therefore, Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen is spelt Sprul-sku Grags-pa rgyal-mtshan, Panchen Sonam Drakpa is Panchen Bsod-nams grags-pa and Dorje Shugden is Rdo-rje shugs-ldan. Sources: Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 13 of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, allowance is made for fair dealing for purposes such as non-profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events. The Operator and author(s) of TsemRinpoche.com, a not-for-profit blog, do not claim ownership on the intellectual property rights of the contents, images and/or videos reproduced in this article. Any subsisting intellectual property rights shall belong to the legal owner of the contents, images and/or videos. Several residents of the Town of Okay were honored by community leaders recently for their various contributions to important local projects. Certificates of Appreciation were presented at a special town council meeting to members of the Okay Family Career and Community Leaders Association (FCCLA) chapter for raising funds to purchase bullet proof vests for Wagoner County deputies. Okay City Councilman Johnny Walker said in all, 23 vests were presented to Sheriff Chris Elliott and several staff members. Because of the FCCLAs efforts to purchase these vests, the company where they ordered them from matched the funds and added more so that all officers could have one, Walker said proudly. They (FCCLA) could have chosen any other cause, but chose this one. The councilman further applauded chapter members and Advisor Kathy Dunham for their help in the community throughout the year. They participate in and help with every volunteer thing thats going on in town, no matter what it is, he noted. In addition, members of the Okay Preservation Committee were honored for their continuous efforts to support their town. Walker said the committee organizes regular community work days and has purchased welcome signs for the City of Okay. Committee members also support various school functions through fundraising efforts. Perhaps the committees biggest endeavor over the past year has been to raise funds to purchase what Walker calls an amazing veterans monument bearing the names of 195 Okay veterans. Also recognized were members of the Okay Helping Hands organization. These individuals volunteer throughout the community by helping individuals with needs in crisis situations, Walker noted. They help with the community food bank and senior citizens center and also assist the Okay Preservation Committee with fundraising. Walker said town leaders are extremely proud of their students and community volunteers. As an Okay city councilman, I cant express how grateful the community is for these volunteer organizations, he said. In addition to the certificates of appreciation, each honored individual received a Citation of Recognition from State Rep. Kevin McDugle. McDugle was still in session with the State Legislature in Oklahoma City, therefore Monica Medley with the Wagoner County Republicans presented the citations on his behalf. Former Tulsa Police Officer Shannon Kepler remains on track for his third murder trial after a brief court appearance Tuesday in which a judge announced a change in the jury-selection process from Keplers November and February trials. Kepler, 57, is scheduled to go on trial June 26. It will be the third such proceeding in seven months on a first-degree murder charge in the Aug. 5, 2014, shooting death of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake. District Judge Sharon Holmes told attorneys on Tuesday that she will not give a questionnaire to the 60 prospective jurors assigned to Keplers case despite having done so in his previous trials due to pretrial publicity. I think it was counterproductive, especially the second time around, Holmes said, telling prosecutors and the defense that the case would instead have a run-of-the-mill voir dire. Holmes ordered two mistrials after jurors said both times that they could not unanimously agree on a verdict. Eleven jurors in the November trial thought Kepler was guilty of murder, while 10 in the February trial felt the same. The lack of a questionnaire means any prospective juror who admits having pretrial knowledge of the allegations likely will be questioned individually. Defense attorney Richard OCarrroll said after the hearing that in his view, Holmes decision could slow down the proceedings. Prosecutors did not comment. It took 3 days to select a jury in November, and a jury in the February trial wasnt seated until the fifth day. I also think its an effort for the judge to get (the trial) done before July 4, which is going to make for greater due-process issues, in my opinion, OCarroll said of the change. Its going to be tedious, too. Real tedious. Also at Tuesdays hearing, OCarroll said he is still in need of documentation from the state relating to a law enforcement witness who testified in both previous trials. He said the witness testimony indicated that he retired from the Tulsa Police Department, but OCarroll said he has since learned that the witness may have been forced out. Holmes told the state to provide the records to OCarroll by June 5 but did not schedule another hearing before the trial date. OCarroll said that is only one of many issues he has had with how the case has proceeded. He expressed frustration over Holmes previous decisions that bar him from mentioning that police found a gun in a trash can of a police interview room on the day after the shooting. In pretrial hearings, OCarroll has suggested that a witness to Lakes death placed the weapon which Kepler alleges belonged to Lake there out of the view of surveillance cameras. However, police have said DNA testing of the gun turned up no evidence that could associate it with Keplers case. No gun was found on Lake or at the scene of the slaying. Were still in the position that were not getting a fair trial, and we have to scratch and claw to get anything even close to even, OCarroll said. Kepler is accused of fatally shooting Lake outside the teens aunts home in the 200 block of North Maybelle Avenue on the night of Aug. 5, 2014, after seeing Lake walking in the area with Keplers daughter, Lisa Kepler, who had just begun dating Lake. Prosecutors allege that Shannon Kepler used Police Department resources to look up information about Lake after seeing on Facebook that Lake was dating his daughter and that he subsequently went to Lakes aunts home to try to get her to return home with him. Shannon Kepler was found guilty Nov. 11 of two misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct with a firearm on claims that he shot at Lisa Kepler and Lakes younger brother, Michael Hamilton, who have testified for the prosecution in both trials. The second jury recommended that Shannon Kepler spend a year in prison on those convictions, but Kepler remains free on $100,000 bond pending an appeal with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. That appeal bond is in addition to the $750,000 he posted Aug. 22, 2014, on the murder charge. Police seek motorcyclist in road-rage gunfire CLAREMORE A motorcycle rider fired shots at another vehicle during an apparent incident of road rage on Memorial Day in Claremore, police said. The rider shot at a vehicle near Oklahoma 66 and Country Club Road, according to Deputy Police Chief Steve Cox. The vehicle was struck several times, but no one was injured. The shooter, on a black motorcycle, fled east on Country Club Road Tulsan charged with abusing three children A 34-year-old Tulsa man was charged Tuesday with several counts alleging that he physically or sexually abused three young children one of them over a five-year span. Anthony Bruce Henson Sr. is charged with six counts of sexual abuse of a child younger than 12. Prosecutors allege that he sexually abused a child from the age of 1 to 6 over a span from March 2012 through May 2017. Henson also is charged with two counts of child abuse by injury alleging that he used unreasonable force in striking a 6-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy with a belt in May. He was arrested May 23; bail is set at $300,000. Tulsa man charged with indecent exposure A Tulsa man was charged Tuesday with indecent exposure for allegedly revealing his genitals to a woman and her child in east Tulsa earlier this month. Antonio Murillo, 26 remains without bond in the Tulsa Jail in connection with a hold for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Murillo is accused of walking within 10 feet of the woman and her child while masturbating on May 14 in the 1800 block of South 123rd East Avenue, near Cooper Elementary School. Police said Murillo told detectives he had stopped to urinate next to his vehicle. Police to crack down in construction zones The Tulsa Police Departments Riverside Traffic Unit will emphasize enforcement of traffic violations in construction zones throughout June, the TPD says. The traffic unit will be randomly monitoring construction zones for traffic violations, according to a news release. The unit will focus on construction zones south of 11th Street and west of Sheridan Road. Citations for construction zone violations can cost up to $500 and time in jail. Traffic enforcement officers will issue tickets not warnings, according to the release. The goal is to reduce the frequency and severity of serious injury and fatality collisions. From staff reports A man was arrested Tuesday after witnesses told police he was trying to run over people in an SUV and later physically assaulted them, according to a Tulsa Police news release. Dispatchers received several 911 calls from the Casa Linda Apartments, 1300 block of East 62nd Street. Those callers told police a man in a white SUV was attempting to run over people, ramming the SUV into a parked car and then a concrete wall. Witnesses reported the man then exited the SUV and began assaulting people, police said. Officers arrived and detained the man, arresting him without further incident, police said. A man and a woman were injured by the man. The woman was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Police didn't release the identity of the man. He was arrested on complaints of assault and battery and leaving the scene of an accident. Accounts vary as to who or what actually ignited the riot that began outside the Tulsa County Courthouse 96 years ago Wednesday evening. The one reported and apparently generally accepted at the time involved a law officer, a black man and a gun. The law officer, E.S. MacQueen, had been an unsuccessful candidate for sheriff in 1920. Having secured a constables commission from a justice of the peace, MacQueen seems to have arrived at the courthouse the evening of May 31, 1921, intent on proving voters had made a mistake electing Uncle Bill McCullough instead of him. McCullough had decided that trying to disarm anyone in the crowd of several thousand surrounding the courthouse would likely lead to bloodshed. So he, some deputies and a few civilians were trying to persuade everyone to go home. MacQueen took it upon himself to show who was boss. He approached one of the black men standing near the courthouse, then at Sixth Street and Boulder Avenue, and demanded his revolver. The black man, whose name one source gives as Johnny Cole, refused. The two men struggled over the weapon, it discharged, and the riot was on. By noon the next day, a large swath of the northeast section of town was a smoldering ruin, thousands were homeless, hundreds were injured and dozens were dead or dying. Testimony indicates that, rightly or wrongly, Johnny Cole and his companions believed the justice system would not protect a young man named Dick Rowland, who was being held in the Tulsa County jail on the top floor of the courthouse. So Cole and the others came to the courthouse armed and ready to do it themselves. The depth of black Tulsans mistrust of the legal system is revealed in an exchange between white police detective Ike Wilkerson and black Sheriffs Deputy John Smitherman shortly before the first shots were fired. Wilkerson and two other officers were trying to get some armed black men at Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue to go home. Smitherman exhorted them to continue to the courthouse. According to Wilkerson, when he asked why Smitherman was working against him, Smitherman replied, Damn you! Youre one of them! In other words, not even the law officers trusted each other. In 1921, the black men who went to the county courthouse to defend Rowland were labeled bootleggers, dope addicts and all-around bad Negroes, and were blamed by many white Tulsans for the fury unleashed on the citys black neighborhoods. In retrospect, marching through the streets of downtown Tulsa with rifles, shotguns and pistols on display might not have been prudent. But it wasnt as if the mens concerns werent justified, either. Men especially black men had been lynched for less than bumping into a white woman on an elevator, which was the accusation against Rowland. E.S. MacQueen, who had acted on his own and outside the purview of McCullough and Police Chief John Gustafson, was not charged in 1921. When a jury removed Gustafson from office seven weeks after the riot, it was because he had not been more confrontational to the black men at the courthouse. Ninety-six years later, Tulsa still grapples with issues involving guns, black men and law officers and perceptions of the legal system. Many Tulsans were upset two weeks ago when a jury found white police officer Betty Shelby not guilty in the shooting of a black man Terence Crutcher. The verdict, they said, reinforced their belief that the law is not applied equally. Many other Tulsans believed Shelby should never have been charged. Crutchers death may have been unfortunate, they said, but his erratic behavior and apparently drug-dazed failure to follow Shelbys orders justified his shooting. These are difficult days in Tulsa and in our nation, said Julius Pegues, chairman of the John Hope Franklin Center, in advance of this years riot anniversary and the reconciliation walk scheduled for Wednesday evening. The days ahead will not be easy, just as the work of reconciliation is not easy. It begins with our willingness to listen and our active engagement in dialogue. It is only then that we can begin to forge our path forward. Formula One legend Michael Schumacher won the 2003 World Championship in Ferrari F2003-GA, Chassis 229, which has been sold for more than $13 million at an auction. The bidder did not reveal his identity and whole process was done on phone. What's so special about this car? US comedian Kathy Griffin has apologised after coming under fire for posing with a decapitated, bloody, fake head resembling Donald Trump for a photo shoot. TMZ has published the photo taken photographer Tyler Shields, whos known for edgy, shocking pics. During the photo shoot, Kathy joked that she and Tyler would need to move to Mexico once the pics got released, for fear theyd be thrown in prison. Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS? Chelsea Clinton also tweeted, This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president. After a backlash Griffin took to social media to beg forgiveness. I sincerely apologise. Im just now seeing the reaction of these images. Im a comic, I cross the line. I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far, she said. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasnt funny. I get it. Ive made a lot of mistakes in my career; I will continue. I ask your forgiveness. (Im) taking down the image. (Im) going to ask the photographer to take down the image and I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong. https://twitter.com/kathygriffin/status/869703678550171648 Source: Variety Two shows are returning to SBS VICELAND next week, Season 3 of boisterous chef Matty Matheson in Dead Set on Life and Season 2 of skateboarding series King of the Road. Dead Set on Life 8.05pm Monday, 5 June Chef Matty Mathesons back for another season of Dead Set on Life. This time hes travelling to Australia, New Zealand, Las Vegas, the Everglades, Iceland and California to meet with a wild cast of friends and celebrate their mutual love of food. King of the Road Three teams go on the skate trip of a lifetime, shedding blood and dignity to be crowned the Kings of the Road. Features Australian skaters Jake Hayes and Jackson Pilz. Update: King of the Road is now out. The mother of Rebel Wilson told the Supreme Court of Victoria her actress daughter grew up in the north-western Sydney suburb of Castle Hill. Yes, I accept Im a bogan. I live in the western suburbs of Sydney, teacher and dog breeder Sue Bownds said. Wilsons mother told the court her daughter had been a fantastic scholar at the private Tara Anglican School for Girls in Parramatta and was focused on getting a tertiary entrance score above 99. She said she had initially wanted to name her daughter Rebel after a former student who had sung at her wedding. Why was the name not included (on the birth certificate papers)? asked lawyer Matthew Collins QC. Because my husband and my parents believed it wasnt a suitable name and I bent to the pressure, she said. Wilsons sister Annaleise, 25, also gave evidence on Wednesday, claiming she was often referred to as Annarchi. She described her family as being of lower middle class. Wilson, in her seventh day in the witness box, hit out at Bauer Media saying they had continued to bully and harass her in the lead up to the trial. They know Im not a liar its shameful, I cant believe they sit here and try and fight this case, and fight me. They bully and intimidate me. I cant describe how hurtful it is. I cant put it into exact words. They know I havent made up stories, they know Im an authentic candid person. Thats why Im popular in America. I didnt have to invent anything. Earlier this week Wilson said she asked Fairfax Media boss Greg Hywood to remove an online article so she could sustain the mystery surrounding her age. Hywood had offered assistance after meeting Wilson who was an ambassador for Fairfax / Nine-owned Stan. She emailled him to say: I have a small issue that I was hoping you can help me with and was alerted to it by my US publicity team. Wilson said she was advised by her agents and publicists when she moved to Los Angeles not to tell journalists her age. The trial continues. Source: The Guardian, Herald Sun, Fairfax, The Australian A Delhi court will today continue hearing on Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking prosecution of Ratan Tata, lobbyist Nira Radia and others in 2G spectrum allocation scam. By Asian News International: A Delhi court will continue its hearing on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking prosecution of Tata Sons interim Chairman Ratan Tata, lobbyist Nira Radia and others in 2G spectrum allocation scam. In the previous hearing, the special court had rejected Swamy's request seeking directions to the CBI to file a status report in the ongoing probe in the matter, asking him to produce more material in support of his complaint. advertisement Swamy has claimed that the CBI had confirmed that further probe into Tata's involvement in the 2G case was underway. The BJP MP earlier in December last year filed a complaint against Tata, Radia, former Telecom Minister A. Raja and senior Unitech officials for allegedly laundering money to Unitech companies to obtain 2G spectrum license. SWAMY'S ALLEGATIONS Swamy, who filed the complaint in the Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court, also named unidentified CBI officials for protecting Tata in the 2G spectrum case. Swamy alleged that various Tata Group companies were used to route the money to the various companies of Unitech Group and finally managed to a launder a sum of Rs. 1,700 crore for their illegal purpose during the period of March 2007 to March 2008. Swamy said that the movement was facilitated by eight companies of Unitech Wireless. Swamy submitted various documents, including from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' serious fraud investigation office (SFIO). He has requested court to initiate proceedings against the accused under various charges dealing with cheating, fraud, forgery, criminal conspiracy and under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Swamy has also requested court to direct the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to conduct further investigation to unearth the deep-rooted conspiracy. FROM THE MAGAZINE: IAS officer's conviction for corruption sends shockwaves through bureaucracy, threatens to paralyse government 2G scam: Aircel-Maxis spectrum to be seized if accused don't appear in person, says Supreme Court --- ENDS --- UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency is working with the Bangladesh authorities and partners on the ground to deliver emergency supplies to Rohingya refugees and their host communities in the wake of Cyclone Mora. On Tuesday morning, winds of up to 117 km/hr hit south-eastern Bangladesh, damaging thousands of homes as trees fell and roofs were ripped off houses. In addition to the local population, many of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees hosted in camps, makeshift sites and local villages in the area were affected by the natural disaster. More than 20 refugees who were injured in Kutupalong and Nayapara camps have received treatment, said Shinji Kubo, UNHCRs Representative in Bangladesh who was there when the cyclone made landfall. We managed to avoid any major human casualties in camps by coordinating with the local authorities and preparing the refugees before the cyclone. UNHCR had pre-positioned staff prior to the cyclone, preparing schools and community facilities so that anyone who needed evacuation could be accommodated in these structurally-stronger facilities. Additional assistance was arranged particularly for vulnerable refugees such as pregnant women and sick people. Post-cyclone, initial assessments have found that most of the refugees homes were damaged to varying degrees. About 20 percent were completely destroyed. Some of the refugees have started to repair their homes. UNHCR is distributing plastic sheets to provide shelter in the meantime. Refugees with specific needs, including children, pregnant women, the elderly and the disabled, have been moved to safer structures temporarily. We are also repairing community structures and schools so that families that are sleeping in the open can move inside until their sheds can be repaired, said John McKissick, who heads UNHCRs sub-office in Coxs Bazar. Many refugees have also lost their food rations, fuel and cooking tools. The World Food Programme is distributing high-energy biscuits to help them cope in the short term. Among other challenges, electricity lines are down, potentially causing problems for refugees trying to access water and latrines after dark. Refugees living in makeshift sites are facing similar challenges. Aid agencies authorised to work in those areas are conducting rapid assessments and distributing relief supplies as soon as possible. Further needs are expected to emerge as more assessments are done in and outside the refugee camps. Summing up UNHCRs emergency response, Kubo said, We are joining forces with the government and our partners, and working to contribute to the entire humanitarian response efforts to provide immediate assistance to those affected in Coxs Bazar." For more information: Bangladesh, Joseph Tripura mobile: +88 01713 090 375 [email protected] Bangkok, Vivian Tan mobile +66 818 270 280 [email protected] Displaced Syrian father Muhammed Thaer stands with three of his four children in Jayrud, Syria. He lives with his family in Mosques's basement where conditions are very bad. UNHCR/Vivian Tou'meh JAYRUD, Syria Muhammed Thaers four children play outside in the late spring sunshine, after a winter spent alongside seven other displaced families in the unheated basement of a mosque in Jayrud, a farm town some 50 kilometres northeast of Damascus. Muhammed, 45, escaped fighting near his hometown in rural Damascus in 2012 and moved his family to Jayrud, an agricultural area straddling the ancient merchant route between Syrias capital and Palmyra, in search of safety. But once there, however, they found themselves surrounded by combatants and unable to move. They have spent the last five years cut off from the world, living in the mosque and struggling to get by. We hadnt received aid since June last year and we had nothing." Without work, Muhammed relies on assistance from aid organizations and the local host community to feed himself and his family. But until last week, when UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with other UN and NGO partners delivered food and other essentials to Jayrud and neighbouring villages, he had gone without for months. We hadnt received aid since June last year and we had nothing. There was no rice, bulgur wheat or oil to cook for our children, Muhammed told visiting UNHCR staff. Food prices are high, and there are no job opportunities for us to make ends meet. Now in its seventh year, the bloody civil war in Syria has driven more than 4.8 million to seek safety in neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, some 6.3 million people like Muhammed and his family have become internally displaced by the conflict, which has left 13.5 million in need of humanitarian aid inside Syria. An inter-agency convoy on its way to Jayrud, Atna and Nasriyeh in rural-Damascus. UNHCR/Vivian Tou'meh The recent aid convoy consisted of 41 trucks loaded with food, medical supplies, household items and school books, which were distributed to 44,000 people living in Jayrud, as well as the villages of Atna and Nasrieyeh which previously had not received any humanitarian assistance since the start of the conflict. During the operation, field teams from UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies met with local communities and organizations to assess the conditions inside the city. During this mission, we wanted to meet teachers, to assess the operating clinics and meet women and children, talk to them, and listen to their needs, said Jolanda Van Dijk, a UNHCR field officer who visited the once flourishing town. Most residents desperately need primary health care and livelihood support. Most residents desperately need primary health care and livelihood support. They found that many of the displaced inside Jayrud are living in unfinished buildings or on farms. They face severe water and electricity shortages and a lack of employment opportunities to provide even a basic income. While the recent assistance has provided a lifeline to Muhammed and other families in the area, he said only a lasting solution to the conflict would allow his children to reclaim what is left of their childhood. I hope that peace can flourish in my country again, and my kids can continue their lives like any other children in the world. It is pricey to get around London. There are also a lot of bikes going rusty in garages or sadly stored on balconies. For refugees and asylum-seekers who struggle to meet the cost of a London travel card, a bike is a passport that opens up the city. The Bike Project a team of bike lovers and volunteers based in South London refurbish second-hand bikes and give them to refugees and asylum-seekers, helping them attend crucial interviews and appointments. They also run workshops to train refugees and volunteers in essential bike maintenance. Jem Stein, the founder of The Bike Project, was inspired while a student at the London School of Economics. He was shocked to learn that Adam, a refugee from Darfur whom he was mentoring, lived on GBP36 (US$47) a week while he was seeking asylum. With a bike provided by The Bike Project, Adam could get to doctors appointments, to school and to essential appointments for his asylum application. Asylum-seekers come to this country with nothing: many have faced persecution and torture in their country of origin," says Jem. "When they get here, they are prevented from finding employment, and forced to live on around GBP36 a week in asylum support. London is a city that is rich in opportunities. A bike can help these people reach the many resources that London has to offer: charities that can feed them, lawyers to aid their application process, Home Office appointments, healthcare, education and much more." During his visit, Shah is expected to meet party workers, intellectuals and also interact with the media in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram By Rohini Swamy: Amidst the raging beef controversy across the country, BJP's national president Amit shah is expected to visit Kerala for three days beginning June 2. The beef row in Kerala is expected to dominate Amit Shah's visit to the state. As of now, the CPM-led LDF has been up in arms against the NDA's new rule on sale of animals for slaughter. advertisement Several beef fests were held in Kerala to protest against the BJP's decision on beef. PRESENCE OF BJP During his visit, Shah is expected to meet party workers, intellectuals and also interact with the media in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The effort is not just to increase the enrollment to the BJP at the booth level, but also try and become an alternative to the Congress in Kerala. Amit Shah may face the heat from those opposing the beef ban but the BJP is trying everything to widen its presence in the state. Also read: BJP planning early election in Maharashtra? Amit Shah sounds warning bell for alliance partner Shiv Sena Also read: Encouraged by PM Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah all set for another 3-day visit to Odisha --- ENDS --- After Apple rolled out the iOS 10.3.2 beta version, iOS jailbreak fanatics are now waiting patiently for the next move of popular iOS jailbreak makers like Luca Todesco, TaiG and Pangu. Nonetheless, iOS 10.3.1 jailbreak tool is said to be available soon, and reports are claiming that the iOS 10.3.1 jailbreak tool will prevent the tech giant from plugging the security holes. Wherein, Pangu reportedly demonstrated a working jailbreak app for iOS 10.3.1. Tech experts are anticipating that the Cupertino based tech company is using the Pangu hacking team to get the iOS device users into upgrading to iOS 10.3.1, but this move of the tech giant is said to prevent the iOS hackers to roll out their own iOS 10.3.1 jailbreak tool. However, as one of the members of the Pangu team demonstrated a working jailbreak app for iOS 10.3.1, it is believed that the iOS 10.3.1 jailbreak tool will roll out soon, I4U reported. One of Pangu's members demonstrated the jailbreak app at a tech conference in Shanghai. An image of the conference showcased how the Pangu member demonstrated a vulnerability in iOS 10.3.1. The Pangu app was running on Apple's iPhone 7, this new jailbreak app will support Apple devices with 64-bit and powered by iOS 10.3.1. Nonetheless, the PanGu iOS 10.3.1 jailbreak tool is said to be compatible with iPhone 7, 7 Plus, iPhone 6, 6 Plus, iPad Mini 3 and iPad Air among others. On the contrary, it has been over a week since Apple unleashed the iOS 10.3.2, and jailbreak tool makers have not released their jailbreaking tool. It appears that the 10.3.1 jailbreak tool will end up as a disappointment for those who are looking forward to PanGu's jailbreak tool, Mobi Picker reported. Several security experts made it known that the iOS 10 has many exploits. Security experts have revealed that the iOS 10 exploits are not something that can be utilized for jailbreaking. Since there is no jailbreak tool available, it seems that the tech giant has triumphed over jailbreak makers. Meanwhile, Watch The Video Here: Arvind Kejriwal led AAP had formed the Central Procurement Agency for centralised medicine procurement, which is now in shambles. The Chief Minister had expressed displeasure on the unavailability of medicines after a surprise visit to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. By Priyanka Sharma: The AAP government's ambitious project for centralised medicine procurement - known as the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) - seems to be in shambles, forcing officers in the health department to brainstorm on its existence. The CPA was formed in 2015 for centralised procurement of medicines and equipment at all Delhi government hospitals. "Currently, there are lot of issues in the functioning of CPA. But instead of scrapping it down, the government has planned to strengthen it," a senior medical superintendent of a government hospital told Mail Today. advertisement Last week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had expressed displeasure on the unavailability of medicines after he paid a surprise visit to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Mongolpuri. The Delhi government appointed a new medical superintendent at the hospital after Kejriwal found that it had failed to comply with his orders to provide free medicines and diagnostic test facilities under CPA. KEJRIWAL'S PET PROJECT A FAILURE? Even senior doctors of government hospitals confirmed Mail Today that CPA has totally failed. The pharmacies at these hospitals don't have enough stock of medicines, they say. To resolve the crisis of unavailability of medicines, Kejriwal has once again empowered medical superintendents to purchase medicines and medical equipment on their own, a source from health department told Mail Today. On Tuesday, in a high-level meeting chaired by Kejriwal, it was discussed to raise the power of medical directors to make purchases. The meeting was attended by health minister, chief secretary, health secretary and all medical superintendants. However, health minister Satyendra Jain's office said CPA will not be scrapped but will be modified and strengthened. Kejriwal, who earlier curtailed the purchasing power of MS, has now allowed them to make procurement of medicine and equipment worth `50 lakh. "Earlier, we were toothless tiger. The CM has now empowered medical superintendants. Now, we can make purchases till Rs50 lakh for medicines and equipment. Earlier, we were able to make the purchases till Rs10 lakh. Now, we can even do the tendering process of medical tools in advance," said a medical superintendent of a government hospital. Sources said during the discussion, the topic of shutting the central procurement body was raised. According to senior government officials, Kejriwal has said his government will act against officials who are responsible for not paying bills of suppliers, which has led to medicine crisis. He has, in a letter, instructed Delhi's top bureaucrat Chief Secretary M M Kutty to respond by Wednesday on why bills have not been paid. Currently, the CPA does the tendering part on behalf of all hospitals to decide different supplies of medicines.Also Read AAP's damage-control measure: As monsoon approaches, Kejriwal steps up health department's functioning Arvind Kejriwal promised free water in Delhi, DJB sends inflated bill of Rs 8,642 to this family --- ENDS --- advertisement The agency recently filed an ECIR against 9 entities, including Baba Siddiqui, Rafique Maqbool Qureshi and Najmuddin Mithi Borwala of the Pyramid Developers and 3 firms, allegedly involved in irregularities worth Rs 500 crore in a slum rehabilitation project in Bandra. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids on former Congress MLA Baba Siddique's residence and his companies at several locations in Mumbai. A few days ago, the agency had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against 9 entities, including Baba Siddiqui, Rafique Maqbool Qureshi and Najmuddin Mithi Borwala of the Pyramid Developers and three companies, allegedly involved in irregularities worth Rs 500 crore in a slum rehabilitation project at the Bandra Reclamation location. advertisement ED had started working on the case after the FIR was filed against all these names by Mumbai Police following directions given by the metropolitan magistrate court. The court had asked the police to investigate the case and file a report. COMPLAINT FILED IN 2012 In 2012, a complaint had been filed by a local activist about the irregularities. According to the complaint, several slum dwellers of the Jamaat-e-Jamooria slum in Bandra had forged their ration cards to secure more than one room for their families in the seven SRA (slum rehabilitation authority) buildings that came up after the demolition of that slum. Super luxury residential building of Baba Siddique, which is facing ED probe. These irregularities were carried out in the SRA buildings by the Pyramid Developers, which is owned by Baba Siddique. BUILDINGS NOT APPROVED BY MHADA Allegations were these buildings were not approved by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority. Despite that, these buildings had an FSI (floor space index) of 1.87, while it should have been 1.5. Incidentally that time, Baba was the chairman of MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority), the body that cleared this project. Sources from ED have confirmed, "Baba sold these SRA flats, with a size of 2,700 square feet, with three parkings to many big names including few filmstars. Our investigation is under progress." Also read | Enforcement Directorate records Javed Akhtar's statement in IPRS money laundering case Also read | Enforcement Directorate seeks CBI probe into share transactions of firm linked to Karti Chidambaram --- ENDS --- Recent UW Pre-Vet Grad Gains Experience in Thailand Recent UW graduate McKayla Peterson works with a young ostrich during her three-month experience in Thailand this spring. (Loop Abroad Photo) A recent University of Wyoming graduate spent three months in Thailand this spring, helping animals and learning what its like to be a veterinarian. McKayla Peterson, 22, of Gillette, graduated after the fall 2016 semester with a bachelor's degree in animal science and pre-veterinary studies. Traveling on the selective Veterinary Semester Abroad hosted by study-abroad organization Loop Abroad, Peterson was part of a small team that learned alongside veterinarians from around the globe while volunteering with elephants, sea turtles and other marine life, zoo animals and shelter dogs. Living in Thailand for over three months was such an incredible experience, she says. I am honored to have made an impact on so many animals' lives, and the knowledge I have gained about the culture and veterinary world is truly irreplaceable. The Veterinary Semester Abroad program brings together undergraduate students from across the U.S. and Canada to move their studies to Thailand for a semester so that they can work in small groups with veterinarians who specialize in different fields. Students are based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but travel through the country to see different shelters and sanctuaries; learn from local vets and scientists; and volunteer with a variety of species in need. While they learned about veterinary medicine, conservation and Thailand, Peterson and her team also helped by volunteering their time and skills. From hauling elephant food to monitoring anesthesia in dog surgeries, they helped support and care for the animals of Thailand -- while improving their own skills, so that they can help more animals in the future. Some of Petersons most interesting projects were volunteering at an elephant sanctuary and helping provide medical care for elephants; creating enrichment projects for zoo animals; and living on the island of Koh Tao for three weeks studying marine biology and helping restore coral reefs and protect sea turtles. She also participated in an externship at a small animal hospital and helped care for dogs and cats at an animal shelter and clinic outside of Chiang Mai. Peterson and her team also participated in a spay-and-neuter clinic for dogs in the rural villages in the mountains of northern Thailand. Admission to the Veterinary Semester Abroad is competitive and requires a demonstrated interest in animals; a solid academic transcript; an essay; academic references; and completion of college-level biology. Peterson was one of seven students chosen to participate. Loop Abroad has study-abroad programs for students and young adults age 14 to 30, and offers financial aid and fundraising assistance. The pre-veterinary programs in Asia and Africa support ethical animal treatment while helping students learn in an in-depth and hands-on way. Interested participants can inquire or apply at www.LoopAbroad.com. UW Students Perry, Julian Win Communicating About Water Essay Contest Tyler Julian, a recent UW graduate from Sheridan, won the undergraduate essay portion of the Communicating About Water in Wyoming writing contest. His essay is titled Sans Water, Sans Life. (Emily Julian Photo) In Wyoming, water has long been a precious resource. Two University of Wyoming students were able to write eloquently on the topic of water and help themselves a little financially in the process. Cody Perry and Tyler Julian were recently named winners in the Communicating About Water in Wyoming writing contest, which is part of the Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics (WyCEHG) Communicating About Water program. Perry, who recently finished his Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in the College of Education, won the graduate essay contest with his work, titled Oasis Among the Clouds, which describes a challenging mountain hike he took with his wife. Perry is originally from Otis, Colo. Julian, a recent UW graduate from Sheridan who majored in global and area studies, and Spanish, won the undergraduate essay contest with his work, titled Sans Water, Sans Life. His essay stresses how everyone -- from ranchers to legislators -- relies heavily on spring snowstorms and snowmelt to provide water to the state. The contest, with a theme of Carving Out a Sense of Place this year, awarded $500 prizes to the undergraduate and graduate student winners. The two winning essays each stuck to the writing prompt, which ultimately led to their awards, says Emily Stewart Vercoe, education, outreach and diversity coordinator for Wyomings Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). In addition, essays were rated for idea development, voice, word choice and sensory detail. To obtain his Ph.D., Perry says his courses were very writer-intensive. For a break and change of pace, he wanted to write something for pleasure that was nonacademic in nature. The story that I chose to tell is one I often tell in person to family and friends, and thought it would make a great fit for the contest, Perry says. Additionally, it was a story of perseverance and overcoming difficulty and obstacles, which is an important part of many people's struggles in life. I wanted to convey the resilience of nature and how life and growth continue even in the face of monumental destruction. These diverse stories were a rollercoaster of a read. Some were more pensive, while others grabbed the reader by the arm and took them along for a ride, Stewart Vercoe says. That was what captivated many of us about Codys piece. We were on the hike he described, whether in the shoes of the narrator or his wife. There were nods around the table of agreement or empathy with each of the characters. Cody Perry, a recent UW Ph.D. graduate student from Otis, Colo., was the graduate winner of the Communicating About Water in Wyoming writing contest. His essay is titled Oasis Among the Clouds. (Annette Perry Photo) Perry says he will probably use some of the money to take a short weekend trip with his wife, and the remainder will be saved for when he moves to a new location, as yet unknown, this fall to start a job as an assistant professor. Julian wanted to enter last years contest but missed the deadline. This year, he waited until the last minute to write his essay but had been reflecting upon it for some time. I loved the idea of this years theme: that water carves out an identity, Julian says. This is unbelievably true for Westerners, and it's a fact often lost on our Eastern cousins, as my grandpa would call those Americans who live east of the Mississippi. That's what I wanted to convey in my piece -- just how reliant we are on water out here. Tylers piece stood out in a creative manner. It wove together poetry and prose, all with a very Wyoming feel, Stewart Vercoe says. While a tie to the state was not written into the prompt, many pieces referenced it. Tylers did a nice job painting a picture beyond words. Julian says he will use the money to help with a few rent checks and grocery bills this summer. WyCEHG and the UW MFA in Creative Writing program partnered to sponsor the contest. WyCEHG is funded through an award from the National Science Foundation to Wyoming EPSCoR. Any UW or Wyoming community college student was eligible to submit a nonfiction essay. The undergraduate category essays were to be 350-600 words. The graduate categorys essays were to be 600-1,000 words. Including the two winners, there were 20 essays submitted, Stewart Vercoe says. Unlike prior years, an anthology hard copy will not be published. Instead, she says a digital version will be published mid-summer and be posted on the EPSCoR site. RBI deputy governor SS Mundra has proposed the idea of bank account portability, saying banks must start preparing for the move. By India Today Web Desk: If the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has its way, you could soon be able to port your bank account number just like the mobile number portability facility. This essentially means that customers will get to hop banks while retaining the same account number. RBI deputy governor SS Mundra has proposed the idea of bank account portability, saying banks must start preparing for the move. advertisement "The prospect of an aggrieved customer silently moving her account to another bank in the near future has become very real," Mundra said at a banking event organized by Banking Codes and Standard Board of India (BCSBI). The RBI further pointed out that with increase in Aadhaar enrollment and technology advancements, banks must start preparing for account number portability, a move which will help account holders. A similar facility in the telecom sector, Mobile Number Portability, which allows subscribers to change telecom operators without losing the mobile number in use has been of much relief for customers across the country. INTRA-BANK PORTABILITY In April, the RBI had asked banks to allow intra-bank account portability in cases where full KYC (know your customer) details of the concerned account have been ascertained. The top central bank said that the facility would enable the customers to shift their account to any of the desired branch any number of times, without any change in the account number. "Banks are advised that KYC once done by one branch of the bank should be valid for transfer of the account within the bank as long as full KYC has been done for the concerned account," the RBI had said in a notification. ALSO READ: SBI will penalise you for keeping low balance in account; ATM charges revised What digital bank accounts offer All NRI bank accounts not linked to Aadhaar card may be blocked Aadhaar data of 130 millions, bank account details leaked from govt websites: Report WATCH: Soon you can keep your account number while switching banks --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: CBSE results New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) The BJP today accused the AAP of indulging in "jugglery" of numbers in projecting that the Delhi government-runs schools have outperformed private schools in the CBSE 12th grade results. Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta made the allegation during the session of the Delhi Assembly, which saw AAP MLAs lauding Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for the "achievement". advertisement "The pass percentage being shared by the government is pure jugglery of numbers. Instead, the quality of education in Delhi government schools is deteriorating. Around 30,000 posts of teachers are lying vacant and over 1 lakh students failed to clear 9th grade last year," Gupta said. Sisodia retorted saying unlike the BJP, the AAP did not indulge in jugglery of figures or "jumlas". "We (AAP) believe in an educated nationalism and not their (BJP) fake nationalism. If students from poor background start getting educated in large numbers, their fake nationalism will vanish in thin air," he said. The Delhi government schools pass percentage was 88.27 per cent this year as against 79.27 per cent of the private schools, according to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). PTI SBR/BUN SMN --- ENDS --- The Congress has hit out against BMC for not completing road repair and desilting work on time, now that monsoon is about to hit Mumbai. By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Congress has hit out at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for not completing road repair works countering BMC's claims that they have completed 85 per cent of the work already. The Congress also added that the municipal body is lacking on its desilting deadlines as well. Congress termed this desilting as a scam of contractors along with Shiv Sena-BJP. advertisement This time also BMC is behind the deadline of monsoon preparedness work. "I visited few spots in city and suburban area and we found that desilting work has not been done properly. Though BMC claims that they done 85 per cent work but this time also Mumbaikars have to suffer again and for this Shiv Sena - BJP and BMC officials should be held responsible," said Congress leader Ravi Raja. WE ARE PREPARED: BMC But the BMC is confident that this time round the people of Mumbai will not have to suffer during Monsoon as 99 per cent desilting work in city and 75.84 per cent in eastern suburbs has been completed. "We have taken adequate majors in our pre-monsoon preparedness drive so that Mumbaikars won't have to face hard time during monsoon. To tackle the issue of potholes this time we have got cold-mix material from Israel and Austria. Which will fill-up the potholes instantly," said Sanjay Deshmukh Assistant Muncipal Commissioner, BMC. Ruling Shiv Sena is also supporting BMC officials over monsoon preparedness. "We are keeping tab on these works. At some locations the pace is slow but we are sure that it will be completed on time", added Yashwant Jadhav, Shiv Sena leader in BMC. This year BMC has spent over Rs 70 lakh on new materials acquired from Austria and Isreal that will be used to fill potholes. --- ENDS --- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart will together lay the foundation of the project during the latter's visit to India in September, said Mohd Jamshed, member traffic, Railway Board. By Rakesh Ranjan: The long wait for construction of country's first bullet train project will be over by September this year, when actual work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor will begin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart will together lay the foundation of the project during the latter's visit to India in September, said Mohd Jamshed, member traffic, Railway Board. advertisement Speaking at the 3rd Mail Today Tourism Summit in the national Capital, Jamshed said the construction work would continue for another five years and mentioned that the government was committed to complete the project by the end of 2022. He asserted that India's bullet train, at the speed of 320 km per hour, will match the speed of the leading highspeed train systems across the world. This, he said, would prove to be a big leap for Indian Railways which is also the backbone of the tourism sector in India with its vast network of over 66,000 km, catering to 24 million passengers everyday. Jamshed noted that railways also catered to nearly 9 million foreign tourists per year. 508-KM STRETCH OF PROJECT TO BE ELEVATED He added that a 508-km stretch of the project will be entirely elevated that will save railways' hassles of legal and environmental delays, owing to land acquisition. Apart from the bullet, the average speed of trains will increase with railways opening sections of the eastern and western dedicated freight corridors. This will increase the speed of trains on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah route by up to 160 kmph. Jamshed mentioned that for the first time after 2006, the Railway ministry is coming up with a dedicated and a liberalised tourism policy that will take care of the entire transportation and catering needs of tourists from every section of the society in India. Also Read Tiger would be a great poster boy for Indian heritage: Randeep Hooda Coming up with more airports to ease pressure: Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju ALSO WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- Afghan officials said at least 64 people have been killed or wounded by a suicide car bombing, according to AFP. A huge plume of smoke could be seen rising from the area but it was not clear what the target was and there was no immediate confirmation of any casualties. Witnesses said dozens of cars were blocking roads and some wounded people could be seen. FRENCH AND GERMAN EMBASSIES DAMAGED The French and German embassy in Kabul were also damaged in Wednesday's car bomb attack, said French minister Marielle de Sarnez, who added there were no signs at this stage of any French victims. "There has been some material damage in the French embassy, as well as in the Germany embassy," de Sarnez, who is France's European affairs minister, told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday. She added she had no information on any possible casualties at the two missions. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual "spring offensive". The Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of "another tough year" for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan, where more than one third of the country is outside of government control. The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in the Afghan capital. Kabul province had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 thanks to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. British Airways has suffered previous IT glitches, with passengers hit by severe delays in July and September in 2016. (Photo: AFP/Adrian Dennis) Some 75,000 passengers were affected by the computer system outage that caused chaotic scenes over a holiday weekend at London Gatwick and Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport. "We are continuing to make good progress in reuniting bags with customers around the world who were affected by the major IT systems failure on Saturday," the airline said in a statement. "We know there are still significant numbers of customers who are yet to receive their luggage. We are very sorry for the frustration this situation is causing at a very busy time of year," it said. Speaking to Sky News television, BA chief executive Alex Cruz said "a power surge ... had a catastrophic effect over some communications hardware which eventually affected all the messaging across our systems". Some travellers slept at airports on Saturday and the disruption continued into Sunday with long queues at both Heathrow and Gatwick, while some short-haul flights from Heathrow were affected on Monday. The computer crash had a knock-on effect on BA services around the world. The GMB trade union blamed it on outsourcing of computer jobs to India last year. But BA denied that this was the reason. The company faces a compensation bill for accommodation and food of up to 100 million (115 million, US$128 million). On the London Stock Exchange, shares in the parent company of British Airways dropped 4.23 per cent at the start of trading. The EU-funded project Viet Nams Supporting Industries to Europe has helped enterprises in supporting industries increase their sales.-Photo vtown.vn During a seminar held in Ha Noi on Monday to review the project, Director of the Supporting Industry Enterprises Development Centre (SIDEC) Truong Thi Chi Binh said out of more than 200 participating enterprises, 98 per cent have increased sales, while 38 per cent have recorded higher export earnings. The project has connected spare parts manufacturers with buyers worldwide, particularly those in the European market, and assisted in building relevant policies. Thanks to the projects support, the Viet Nam Association for Support Industries (VASI) was launched in March 2017 which links together businesses, organisations and individuals working in the field. Up to 30 training courses in manufacturing-trade have benefited 1,500 people while 67 stalls were organised for businesses in eight international fairs in Europe. Do Thi Thuy Huong from the Viet Nam Electronics Industries Association said the project has made it easier for Vietnamese firms to supply products to Samsung. Participants suggested that ministries and agencies concerned offer support in training, connectivity and joining international fairs. According to Binh, Viet Nam is strong in products requiring both machinery and hand assembly, such as electronic circuits, which sell well at international fairs. The Government was urged to offer incentives to businesses regarding loans, technology and training in order to facilitate Viet Nam-European Union (EU) trade. The VASI also needs to improve its consultancy capacity and training for manufacturing firms. The Viet Nams Supporting Industries to Europe project was funded by the EU with a total cost of more than 412,000 euros. Carried out from June 2014 June 2017, it aims to improve the capacity of Viet Nams small and medium-sized enterprises in the support industry, particularly in engineering, electricity-electronics, plastics and rubber. Oil giant ExxonMobil is facing increasing pressure from shareholders to account for the cost of climate change policy, and invest more in renewable energy. (AFP/SPENCER PLATT) The US oil giant has successfully beaten back shareholder proposals on climate change for years, but the measures have been picking up momentum and a number of leading institutional investors that supported Exxon previously, have signaled they may break ranks this time. The proposal, submitted by the New York State Common Retirement Fund, seeks an annual assessment of Exxon's asset portfolio under different policy scenarios, including those that limit temperature increases to under two degrees Celsius and are consistent with the 2015 Paris climate accord. Environmentalists have argued that Exxon's petroleum-dominated portfolio of assets could become uneconomic under tougher climate policies, and the company has not thoroughly analyzed this risk. They call on Exxon to invest more in renewable energy and less in oil. Exxon has pointed to its research collaborations with leading universities on alternative energy, while maintaining that oil will remain "the world's primary fuel through 2040," according to its proxy statement. The oil giant said it already conducts its own stress tests under various scenarios and its current processes "sufficiently test the portfolio to ensure long-term shareholder value." A similar shareholder proposal failed last year, but garnered 38.2 per cent of the vote, surprisingly strong support for a measure opposed by management. Leading institutional investors, including BlackRock and Vanguard Group, have signaled they may support environmentalists this year, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The Exxon vote comes after shareholders of midsized US oil company Occidental Petroleum on May 12 voted overwhelmingly (67 per cent) in favour of a similar proposal. Chevron, the number two US oil company, also faces a vote on a climate policy assessment at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. Exxon has long been a lightning rod over its stance on climate change, which included publicly challenging climate science at a time when most scientists and some leading oil companies called for action. The company is now facing an investigation by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on whether it knowingly downplayed the risk of climate change. Exxon in recent years has shifted its stance, recognizing climate change as a risk that needs to be mitigated and even calling on President Donald Trump to honour the Paris agreement. But that has done little to appease environmentalists, who say management should be doing more. Former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson now serves as Trump's secretary of state. Deepening cooperation with Vietnam The landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed to co-develop 1,500MW new gas power plants and other agreements valued at over $3.58 billion for the new CFM International aircraft engine production and maintenance support. Together, the agreements constitute the largest combined set of transactions for GE in Vietnam to date. PetroVietnam's CEO Nguyen Vu Truong Son and GE Power's president and CEO Steve Bolze sign the MOU to co-develop 1,500MW new gas-fired power plants in Central Vietnam Specifically, GE and Vietnam National Oil & Gas Group (PetroVietnam) signed an MoU to cooperate on the development of two 750MW combined cycle gas turbine power plantsMien Trung I & IIusing the Blue Whale gas field, which is the biggest gas project in Vietnams history, with an estimated 150 billion cubic meters of reserves (equivalent to 5.4 trillion cubic feet). Mien Trung I Plant is expected to begin operation in 2023 and Mien Trung II in 2024. GE, with its global power development expertise, will work with PetroVietnam to identify the latest technology solutions to provide higher efficiency, lower fuel consumption, and lower emissions rates. GE has been active in Vietnam for 24 years and provides more than 30 per cent of the countrys installed base power generation capacity. The MoU with PetroVietnam, a flagship domestic economic group, once again strengthens GEs footprint in Vietnams energy infrastructure development. Meanwhile, CFM International signed two new agreements with VietJet Air, including a 12-year maintenance support contract for the airlines 215 LEAP-1B engines ordered in 2016. Under the terms of the agreement, valued at $3 billion at list price, CFM guarantees maintenance costs for all of VietJet Airs LEAP-1B engines that will power its fleet of 100 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes on a dollar-per-engine flight hour basis. In addition, the airline expanded its CFM-powered A321 fleet with an order for 20 CFM56-5B engines to power 10 new aircrafts. This agreement, which also includes a long-term maintenance agreement, is valued at $580 million at list price. Speaking about the deals, Gael Meheust, CFM president and CEO, said, We appreciate the high level of confidence these agreements show in CFM and in our ability to support VietJet over the long term. It has been an honour to be a part of the very dynamic and exciting team for the last six years. It is a privilege to know that this very special relationship will continue for many more years to come. Through a strong local presence, we have built long-term partnerships with our customers in Vietnam to meet the countrys unique needs, said Wouter Van Wersch, president and CEO of GE ASEAN. Our most recent deals, which will support our US and global manufacturing operations, further reinforce the important economic, trade, and investment partnership between Vietnam and the US. Shaping a sustainable energy future GE, global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power, and local Vietnamese partner Phu Cuong Group has formalised a $2-billion joint development agreement to develop, build, and operate the 800-megawatt Phu Cuong wind farm in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. The agreement marks the next phase of the collaboration project with Phu Cuong Group announced in November 2016. The project is in support of the 1-gigawatt initiative that GE and the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade signed in May 2016. The wind farm is expected to be the largest in Vietnam and will be completed in two phases, with the first approximately 200MW phase expected to reach financial closure in 2018. GE Renewable Energy has been earmarked as the equipment provider for both phases. According to Mainstreams chief operating officer Andy Kinsella, starting the construction of the first phase is a significant step forward in supporting Vietnam to deliver 1GW of renewable energy by 2020. Todays agreement is central to Mainstreams strategic focus of bringing large-scale, low-cost renewable energy to high-growth markets across Asia, Africa as well as South and Central America. We look forward to working closely with our partners in bringing this project to fruition, said Kinsella. This agreement marks Mainstreams first large-scale investment in Asia and Vietnam, following the establishment of gigawatt-scale portfolios in South America and Africa. Producing electricity from wind energy is a new market in Vietnam. As one of the pioneers, Phu Cuong Group wants to work with strong partners with a capacity to ensure the quality of the project. GE and Mainstream are the best partners in this area. We are confident that this collaboration will bring success to the project, contributing to the development of green power to the people of Vietnam, said deputy general manager of Phu Cuong Group Pham Quoc Anh. Vietnam has set the goal of producing more than 10 per cent of its power from renewable energy by 2030. GE Renewable Energy has deep roots in Vietnam. The companys manufacturing plant in the seaport city of Haiphong, which employs 500 workers, can produce multiple products, including the 1.X and 2.X wind turbine generator models and electrical control system components as well as fabrication components. A corner of the Bac Lieu wind farm developed by Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Co., Ltd. with turbines supplied by GE Taking the next step in the project further strengthens the collaboration between our three companies and reinforces our shared commitment to using innovative technology solutions to support Vietnams renewable energy goals. We look forward to developing more wind power projects in accordance with the 1GW initiative signed with the Ministry of Industry and Trade last year, said Wersch. Wind power holds key to a sustainable energy future Investing in renewable energy sources, particularly wind power, is key to address Vietnams growing electricity demand and to ensure the nations energy security as well as green growth strategy. The successful path towards this ultimate goal now depend on what policies and technologies Vietnam will take on to make the nations fully untapped potential a reality. Hai Tram reports. GE commits to develop wind power On May 23, on the occasion of US President Barack Obamas visit to Vietnam, GE and the Ministry of Industry and Trade signed an agreement to develop new wind farms with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts by 2025. Jerome Pecresse, president and CEO of GE Renewable Energy, talked to VIRs Hoang Anh about how GEs co-operation with the ministry is going to help Vietnam utilise its substantial wind resources to meet the nations energy demand. GE leaps forward with two key deals US-based global industrial giant General Electric has secured a firmer foothold in Vietnam through the signing of two game-changing agreements during US President Barack Obamas first official visit to the country last week. Local authorities considered the projects with great care, selecting only competent investors with advanced technology. Three projects in the field have been approved, according to the provincial Department of Planning and Investment. They include a 70-hectare plant in Cam Thinh Dong commune, Cam Ranh city with capacity of 60MW. It is invested by the Song Giang Hydropower SJC at a total cost of more than VND2 trillion (US$88 million). Another project of similar size will be located in Thuy Ba and Tan An hamlets, Cam An Bac commune, Cam Lan district. The 50MW project, covering 70 hectares, will break ground at the end of 2017 and be operational by the end of next year. The last is a 10 MW solar energy project in Cam Thinh Tay commune, Cam Ranh city that has total investment of more than VND400 billion (US$17.6 million). It is expected to be capable of producing about 14.5 million KWh per year. Khanh Hoa is also considering building a 100MW KN Van Ninh Solar Power Plant in Van Ninh district with a total investment of VND2.4 trillion (US$105.6 million). If the project is approved by provincial authorities in principle, it will be assessed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade before submission to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Also, Hong Kong-based firm Jinko Solar has proposed a US$75 million solar project in Cam An Bac and Cam An Nam communes. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet planes are parked at an airport in Vietnam. Domestic airlines are planning to launch new routes and operate additional flights to meet growing summer demand. Vietnam Airlines last week announced it would add more than 4,700 domestic flights by August 20. The national flag carrier will increase flights on its busy routes connecting Hanoi with Danang, Chu Lai, Pleiku, Nha Trang, HCMC, and Phu Quoc, and those connecting HCMC with Danang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. These extra flights will increase the airlines seats to over 4.6 million in the period, up 13.5% compared to normal days and 14% over the same period last year. Especially, the carrier will have an additional 47 flights on peak travel days from June 28 to August 6, taking the total to more than 400 a day. Meanwhile, low-cost carrier Vietjet plans to start new daily services between Danang and South Korean capital Seoul on Wednesday, between Hanoi and Dong Hoi City on Thursday, and between Hanoi and Myanmar city Yangon on August 31. Another low-cost airline, Jetstar Pacific, will open a new link between Dong Hoi and Chiang Mai, Thailand on June 16 with two weekly flights. Earlier, the carrier began operating a domestic route linking Hanoi and Buon Ma Thuot City in the Central Highlands province of Daklak, and an international service between Hanoi and Australias Sydney with three weekly flights each. International airlines will also run more flights to Vietnam in the summer. For instance, AirAsia will launch direct service between Danang and Bangkok on June 9, and Air New Zealand will operate Auckland-HCMC service twice a week between June and October. Despite consecutive losses, Nosco hopes to break even in the future Piling up losses In 2016, Nosco earned a revenue of nearly VND131 billion ($5.76 million), which accounted for 92.4 per cent of its initial plan. However, it still suffered a loss of VND340 billion ($14.96 million). The technical analysis of Nosco revealed that the main reason for this loss is the VND117 billion ($5.15 million) depreciation of fixed assets and interest expenses of VND170.7 billion ($7.5 million). Besides, the company had to spend handsomely on provisions, exchange rate differences, and accounting for the costs incurred. According to Trinh Huu Luong, chairman cum general director of Nosco, said that the loss did not derive from business activities but from a huge investment in purchasing ships. As a result, these ships depreciation are putting a burden on Nosco. For example, previously, Nosco Victory ship was purchased at VND1.2 trillion ($52.8 million) but is only worth VND50 billion now. Similarly, Nosco Glory was purchased for VND1.8 trillion ($79.2 million) and is now worth about VND30 billion ($1.32 million). If such an investment were made at present, Nosco could earn profit, Luong said. According to the 2017 plan, Nosco expects to generate a revenue of VND87.5 billion ($3.85 million), an equivalent of 56 per cent of the 2016 revenue. One of the reasons for its declining revenue is that in 2017 the company cut down three ships compared to 2016. Now Nosco operates four ships, however, since the beginning of 2017 two of them that had to be repaired. Attractive land bank Despite its business situation, gloomy future, and negative owners equity, Nosco attracts numerous investors. Three investors contacted the company asking to purchase it. Nevertheless, Luong said that they are real estate investors, therefore, what they really want to buy is Noscos land bank. Some of Noscos lands include its headquarter at 278 Ton Duc Thang Street, Hanoi (1,637 square metres), the shipbuilding and repair factory in Lien Mac ward, North Tu Liem District, Hanoi (2,087sq.m), the office at 102 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Haiphong (91sq.m), and the office at 92 Le Thanh Tong Street, Halong city, Quang Ninh province (36sq.m). Meanwhile, according to the Nosco leadership, despite current difficulties, the companys future is not completely gloomy. Noscos losses have been decreasing gradually, so the firm expects to reach the breakeven point soon. In 2015, Nosco suffered a loss of VND578 billion ($25.4 million), and in 2016 its loss was VND340 billion ($14.96 million) only. In 2017, Nosco expects to lose a bit over VND200 billion ($8.8 million). As of the first quarter of 2017, although Nosco suffered losses, its business prospects are getting brighter. Its loss in this quarter was about VND57 billion ($2.5 million), a significant decrease compared to the VND94.7 billion ($4.17 million) in the same period of 2016. Also, in this period, its net cash flow from operating activities was nearly VND3.5 billion ($154,000). If Nosco can maintain these results, it could be feasible for the company to reach the target of reducing losses to VND200 billion ($8.8 million) in 2017. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) The All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) today accused the Centre of "misleading" the country by claiming that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had died in an air crash in 1945. Condemning the governments position on the issue, the AIFB, which was founded by Bose, asked the leaders of the ruling BJP to come clean on it and warned them of staging protests across the country. advertisement "The Union government, led by the BJP, is misleading the country regarding the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose," the AIFB said in a statement. It also referred to the report of the Justice MK Mukherjee Commission, the last judicial panel to have inquired into Boses disappearance, which claimed that he had not died in the plane crash in Taihoku in modern day Taiwan. "If this was the conclusion the last inquiry commission had arrived at, how could the government say that Netaji had died in the 1945 plane crash?" the Left party wondered. The Centre today said Bose had died in the plane crash, in a bid to put an end to a controversy that refuses to die down about the freedom fighter surviving the accident. The Ministry of Home Affairs, in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application from a Kolkata resident, said the government had come to this conclusion after considering the reports of various committees that probed the disappearance of Bose. PTI ENM RC --- ENDS --- Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman (Photo: Warner Bros) LOS ANGELES: Gal Gadot is proving herself to be the perfect Wonder Woman for this generation. When Channel NewsAsia posed the highly debatable question on whether it should be obligatory for women to serve National Service in countries such as Singapore, where only men are required to serve, the 32-year-old told Channel NewsAsia: Im Israeli, and in Israel, it is mandatory for everyone, women and men ... but me personally? I hope that no country will ever need an army. "I hope that we wont be fighting each other. And that we can all live together, in coexistence and peace. The mother-of-two acknowledged that it was hard to give up ones freedom for two years of service in the military but emphasised that theres something beautiful about giving back to the community and to the country. The former model and beauty queen (she was Miss Universe Israel in 2004) was a combat trainer during her service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Like Singapore, all eligible Israelis are enlisted at the age of 18. Looking back, did her time in the IDF, including an intensive physical boot camp, prep her to play one of the most powerful female characters of all time? You want my honest opinion? No, she replied with a laugh. In fact, the training to become Wonder Woman was more intensive than being in the army, she said. It was full-blown every day, six or seven hours a day for six months, she said. It was tiring! According to Gadot, being a dancer for 12 years did help when learning the fight choreography for the film. She also thought she would really enjoy horse riding because it looked like it would be easy but it turned out to be exactly the opposite. All that, including gym work and martial arts training, added 7.7kg of muscle to her lean frame. This is the biggest, and perhaps the most important, role to date for the actress who was previously best known for playing Gisele in three instalments of The Fast And The Furious franchise. She had beat out many other well-known contenders to play Wonder Woman. The highly anticipated film, which tells the coming-of-age story of Diana Prince and how she became Wonder Woman, is expected to lift the DC universe out of it doldrums. There are not many female superheroes, said Gadot. And thats why I feel so privileged and lucky to be the one who is going to bring her back to life and tell her story. Vietnam Airlines is the only carrier in the country that can operate direct flights to the US Looking for the necessary conditions At the end of the second quarter of 2017, the delegation of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the US Department of Transportation will start working with CAAV. The delegation will support CAAV in reviewing the overall safety supervision capabilities of the Vietnamese state management agency in accordance with the regulations of the Aviation Safety Inspectorate of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). We are ready for this technical evaluation. The review results will be an important foundation for the international aviation safety assessment (IASA) of FAA before granting Category 1 rating (CAT 1) in line with IASA standards to CAAV, said Lai Xuan Thanh, head of CAAV. By reaching CAT 1 with the aviation safety supervision system, VNA will be entitled to start direct flights to the US. Previously, with an aim to support this IASAa prerequisite for VNA to open direct flights to the USCAAV set up a project to strengthen the aviation safety supervision capacity with the financial aid of $0.56 million from the US Trade and Development Agency. The project, which was completed in March 2016, aims to focus on perfecting CAAVs vocational training on supervision and updating related regulations and legal documents as well as supporting the professional training of inspectors of Vietnamese regulatory agencies in accordance with FAA-standard safety supervision requirements, targeting to secure FAAs CAT1 approval. In preparation for the FAA review, Thanh said that the agency has made elaborate preparations over the years to improve its aviation safety monitoring capabilities. The first and most important task was completing the regulations and legal documents related to safety supervision requirements. Next came establishing an aviation safety supervisory team that ensures both quantity and quality, as required by FAA, said Thanh. FAA also required CAAV to have at least two full-time supervisors (who are also pilots). These supervisors have to fully comply with the procedures and supervision rules of the operation of aircrafts, ensuring all safety protocols, Thanh added. Vietnam Airlines preparation well underway Being the only airline in Vietnam with a fleet capable of flying directly to the US, VNA submitted a document to the US Department of Transportation requesting permission to operate direct flights in November 2016. In the five-year plan for the period 2016-2020, VNA has taken into account the opening of direct flights to the West Coast of the US, considering Los Angeles or San Francisco as potential destinations. The new generation A350 XWB and Boeing 787-9 planes will have one technical stop in Tokyo or Osaka. The aircrafts will be refueled there and take on food for passengers for about one hour, during which passengers will not need to leave the plane. However, reaching CAT 1 rating is a prerequisite for the US to consider approving the direct flights. Based on FAAs CAT1 assessment, VNA will compile a plan to tap into the US market. We expect this to start by the end of 2018, said Trinh Ngoc Thanh, executive vice president of VNA. The US is the largest aviation market in the world, prompting strong competition among various carriers to open flights here. According to statistics, there are about 24 airlines operating flights from Vietnam to the US through Noi Bai, Danang, and Tan Son Nhat airports. An aircraft of Vietnam Airline is taking off. Vietnam Airlines said its flights and check-in system in the United Kingdom were not affected by the massive global IT failure of British Airways.-VNA Photo Accordingly, all flights from Ha Noi and HCM City to London, the United Kingdom, are operating as usual. The incident caused delays and cancellations of many flights from the United Kingdoms two largest airports Heathrow and Gatwick from May 27 to 29. Around a quarter of Sundays flights set to depart from Londons major hub before 10.00pm (2100 GMT) were cancelled as the airline battled to contain the "knock-on disruption" to schedules, with aircraft and crews out of position around the world. Meanwhile, on May 29, a severe storm hit Moscow, Russia due to which there was no flight of Vietnam Airlines from/to Moscow on that day, the carrier said. Ilayaraja Arunachalam's body was found naked inside Infosys Chennai office toilet. He was rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead. By Pramod Madhav: A 32-year-old employee of Infosys was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside his office toilet in Chennai today. Reports say Ilayaraja Arunachalam's body was found in the toilet without clothes. Some of the co-workers discovered Ilayaraja, who hailed from Tiruvannamalai district, lying motionless in the bathroom and rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead. advertisement The police have registered a case of suspicious death and probing the incident. Ilayaraja's family said they suspected a few people to be behind his death but refused to divulge more details. In January, an Infosys employee was found dead in the Pune office. Rasila Raju OP, who belonged to Kozhikode in Kerala, was found dead in a conference room on the ninth floor of the Infosys building in Pune. A security guard was arrested in connection with her murder. ALSO READ: Chennai: Woman Infosys employee hacked to death at railway station, CCTV footage shows attacker After 24-year-old techie's murder, Infosys organises self defence training for female employees TCS techie rape, murder case: Driver Chandrabhan Sanap sentenced to death WATCH: 24-year-old Infosys employee murdered at Nugambakkam station in Chennai --- ENDS --- Wild life officials trapped and released two of three bear cubs spotted in the Hanover, N.H. area on Saturday, May 27, 2017. (Courtesy photo Nicole Amber Cantlin) Photo courtesy of Nicole Amber Cantlin Wild life officials trapped and released two of three bear cubs spotted in the Hanover, N.H. area on Saturday, May 27, 2017. (Courtesy photo Nicole Amber Cantlin) Photo courtesy of Nicole Amber Cantlin Related stories Hanover Three juvenile bears that were initially targeted to be destroyed after two of them forced their way into a residence and later won a reprieve from Gov. Chris Sununu have been trapped and relocated. One of the bears was captured on Saturday and two more were trapped on Sunday. All of them were captured using culvert-style bear traps set near dumpsters at Wheelock Terrace and Buck Road, according to Andrew Timmins, the state of New Hampshire Fish and Games Bear Project leader. All released together today, Timmins said in an email on Memorial Day. They were set free at an undisclosed location in the North Country, Timmins said, adding each one was tagged to aid in future tracking. The bears mother hasnt been accompanying the juveniles in recent days, Timmins said, and as of Sunday evening she had not been captured. Fish and Game will resume efforts to trap her this week, he said. While she may be spending more time out of town during breeding season, she ultimately will return to her core area and likely have her next litter of cubs in January, Timmins said. Its been suggested the sow might leave the area if attractants, such as food and birdseed, are cleaned up, Timmins said. But hes doubtful residents in Hanover and Lebanon will comply sufficiently before more cubs are born. As much publicity as has been on this issue over the past week, I have seen very little improvement on the reduction of food attractants in the area, particularly on the Route 120 side, he said. This spring, the bear family, fresh from hibernation, became notorious for wandering through a neighborhood between downtown Hanover and Mink Brook, drawn by unsecured household trash and bird feeders left out after the winter. When two of the bears entered a Thompson Terrace home two weeks ago, Fish and Game officials announced their intent to destroy the bears, saying the animals were too accustomed to humans and were unlikely to be successfully relocated. But public outcry over plans to euthanize the animals was swift. More than 10,000 people, many from outside the state, signed an online petition within days to save the bears. Meanwhile, Ben Kilham, a bear biologist in Lyme who rescues wild bears, questioned whether killing the bears was necessary. Kilham said last week that with black bear breeding season approaching, the sow would soon chase her cubs away so she could mate. Kilham emphasized that human behavior needed to change in order to change bear behavior. Gov. Chris Sununu ultimately stepped into the fray late last week and ordered wildlife officials to relocate the bears. I am glad that we have been able to find a safe and humane option for these bears and I encourage residents to work with their local town officials to enact ordinances that could help avoid situations like this in the future, Sununu said in a prepared statement. Sununus decision was praised by many, particularly Nicole Cantlin, the Enfield resident who started the online petition to save the animals. Cantlin was present when two of the cubs were tranquilized on Sunday and posted photos of two sedated bears to her Facebook page on Monday. I did get to see them awake before these shots and they were more like dogs than a wild animal. Its sad people have made them this way, she wrote. Hoping they can make a new life up north. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Days after the latest North Korean missile test, the United States successfully conducts its own test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile. U.S. officials call the drill a critical milestone in U.S. defense. Jesusemen Oni reports. Time stands still in a former Soviet military hospital in Budapest that was abandoned when the last Russian troops left Hungary in 1991. Soldiers wounded in Afghanistan were among those treated here. Now the 70,000 square meter (17 acre) complex lies derelict its walls crumbling, its floors torn up, its windows broken. Traces of the Russian presence are everywhere. In one of the apartments where doctors and soldiers lived with their families, a copy of the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda has been left behind. It dates from Nov. 20, 1988, and the front page details a visit by Mikhail Gorbachev to India a memento of the final years of communism under the last leader of the Soviet Union. In one room, health records and empty medicine bottles lie scattered on the floor. A document reveals that a Russian soldier named Sergei G., who was born in 1962 and served as a driver, was brought to the hospital in 1983 with severe burns on his hands and neck. It is not clear whether his wounds were from the war in Afghanistan, which the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, or what eventually became of him. First opened in 1904 as a private mental institution, the Art Nouveau hospital was occupied by the Red Army as it advanced against the Nazis in 1945. New buildings, including a huge surgery department, were added later. Now they are eerily quiet, with only pigeons flying in and out. Water drips from the ceilings of the operating theaters. With the fall of communism across Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact military alliance, Moscow brought home its troops from around the region. But Laszlo Hajdu, 69, mayor of the Budapest district where the hospital is located, said that in 1991 the Hungarian government was not willing to pay the Russians compensation for what they had invested in the hospital. "They packed everything in rail carriages and left the bare walls to us," Hajdu told Reuters. "We said farewell to them in June 1991 with vodka, according to Russian customs, and they left in tears. ... I was there when we took over the buildings." That marked the start of a long saga of changing ownership rights and searches, still unresolved, to find new investors. Locals still remember the days when they lived next to the Soviet military complex. "Soldiers were treated here, there was a tall white stone wall surrounding the buildings and they peeked over the fence. ... We were not allowed into the territory of the hospital," said Margit Arkos, 63. "When they left, there was a big sale, nearly everyone living around here bought chairs, sofas," she said. "It's incredible that nearly 30 years have passed, and they have still not been able to decide what should happen to this hospital." A prominent Azeri dissident and journalist who was kidnapped near his home in the capital of Georgia has turned up in custody in Baku, Azerbaijan, less than 24 hours after he disappeared. Efqan Muxtarli has been charged with illegally crossing the border from Georgia into Azerbaijan and smuggling 10,000 euros in cash, his attorney told VOA Tuesday. Known for years as a fierce critic of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Muxtarli presumably could face other charges in his homeland related to his dissident activities. Human-rights advocates have called for immediate action to investigate Muxtarli's apparent abduction, but Georgian government officials have provided no information about the dissident, who is said to suffer from diabetes. Muxtarli telephoned his wife at about 6 p.m. Monday and said he would be home in 15 minutes, she said. He never appeared, and his cellphone was turned off. His fate was unknown until an attorney in Baku, Elchin Sadigov, said Tuesday he had met with Muxtarli in the Azeri capital. Lawyer supports dissident's story Sadigov told VOA's Azeri Service Muxtarli gave him a dramatic account of his abduction, which began when unidentified men grabbed him on a street in Tbilisi: They used force to put him in the back of a car, tied him up, put him in a sack and beat him," Sagidov said. The journey continued for some time, but the kidnappers changed cars at least twice. "The people in the last car spoke Azerbaijani," the lawyer continued, recounting his conversation with Muxtarli. "When he was taken out of the car, he found himself at the border," where he was told he faced trespassing and smuggling charges. Sadigov said the smuggled cash had been put in Muxtarli's pants pocket before he was turned over to Azeri authorities. The dissident's wife, Leyla Mustafayeva, told VOA's Georgian Service her husband clearly had been targeted for his "professional activities." She also noted how ironic it was that he was charged with illegally crossing an international border at a time when he had no passport with him. It had been left at his home in Tbilisi. Human Rights Watch fears torture A representative in the South Caucasus region for Human Rights Watch, Giorgi Gogia, told VOA that the government of Georgia must not cooperate in the extradition or repatriation of anyone who faces "an imminent risk of ill-treatment and torture in his home country." Muxtarli "was seeking safety and had to flee [Azerbaijan] as a result of a government oppression," Gogia said in a telephone interview with VOA Georgian. He called on Georgian authorities to immediately investigate the dissident's disappearance and ensure the safety of other activists who fled Azerbaijan. "It is clear that Georgia's government is under pressure from the Azeri government," Gogia said, but he added that authorities in Tbilisi were clearly obliged to take action to protect the dissident from harm, if possible. Muxtarli himself told VOA Azeri a week ago that he was concerned after learning that Georgian intelligence offices had been quietly approaching Azeri expatriates and dissidents and "recommending" that they leave Georgia and return home. Baku has denounced dissidents abroad Georgian authorities had no comment on Muxtarli's recent remarks, on Tuesday's report from Sadigov in Baku, or on Mustafayeva's complaints, but they are understood to have said that there was no legal justification for any detention or arrest of Muxtarli. Local police in Tbilisi have told Mustafayeva they are investigating the possibility that he was kidnapped. This week's developments follow a report by a pro-government website in Azerbaijan denouncing dissidents based in Tbilisi for carrying out underground anti-Azerbaijani activities. Muxtarli and Mustafayeva have lived in Georgia for three years, since Mustafayeva began graduate studies in journalism at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), an institution known for training future generations of civil servants and media professionals. They collaborated on a series of investigative reports disclosing alleged corrupt activities in their homeland, which was published by Meydan TV, a Berlin-based group founded by dissident blogger and former political prisoner Emin Mill. The husband-and-wife team focused their journalistic efforts on the family of Azerbaijan's President Aliyev, who has ruled his country since 2003 and has steadily consolidated his power, such as in February of this year, when he named his wife the country's first vice president. President Aliyev's father, Heydar Aliyev, had ruled Azerbaijan as a communist when it was a republic of the Soviet Union; he lost power for a time then returned to control after independence arrived when the USSR broke apart in 1991. The younger Aliyev, who had been in charge of the state oil company, ran for and won the presidency after his father stepped down due to ill health in 2003, several months before his death. Another arrest arouses suspicion The recent Azerbaijani accusation of "underground" activities by dissidents operating out of Tbilisi cited the arrest on May 25 of a senior official in an opposition party led by one of the Aliyev family's longtime political foes, Abulfaz Elchibey. Goze Bayramli, a deputy chairwoman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, was detained while returning from a trip to Georgia and accused of smuggling into Azerbaijan $12,000 in U.S. currency that she had not declared to customs inspectors. Muxtarli shared his fears about future developments with his friends in Tbilisi. He was worried especially after the arrest of Bayramli and an extradition case involving a Turkish citizen, said Dave Bloss, a Tbilisi-based investigative journalist who taught Mustafayeva at GIPA. Muxtarli's wife said she is deeply concerned about her husband's health and about what he might face in Baku. Journalists are killed - or in the best cases, tortured," Mustafayeva said. "Thats why we fled Baku. She told VOA she holds the governments of both Azerbaijan and Georgia responsible for her husbands abduction. Eka Maghaldadze contributed to this story, first reported by VOA's Georgian Service. A string of high-profile crackdowns on gay rights in Indonesia has the countrys LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community on edge. There were several high profile raids of saunas and "sex parties" this month, including one in Jakarta where 141 men were arrested. Last week, a gay couple was publicly caned in conservative Aceh province, in the first-ever application of a 2015 sharia statute against homosexuality. And in West Java, Indonesias most populous province, officials have announced the creation of an anti-LGBT "task force. The last two years have borne witness to unprecedented attacks on LGBT citizens in Indonesia, where gay sex is not illegal, except in Aceh. Jakarta is controlled by the central government. Last year, there was an acute gay panic where, among other things, a transgender boarding school was shut down, a former minister called on the public to kill gay people, and the Vice President personally attacked a UN program focused on LGBT rights. Those sentiments never completely died down, and this years reaction to gay rights seems even more virulent. And the issue is impossible to disentangle from the overall rise in intolerance towards minorities that was exemplified by the racially charged campaign that unseated Jakartas Chinese-Christian governor last month. Echo chamber effect Generally speaking, conservatives have found the perfect target in the LGBT community, said Dede Oetomo, a veteran gay rights activist based in East Java. The increased frequency of actions is alarming. With regards to the raids on sex clubs in Jakarta and Surabaya, Oetomo said, police usually know whats going on. The question is, why do they choose to act at a certain time? He conjectured that morality policing before the holy month of Ramadan, which started last week, was one potential factor. Last week in Bandung, the capital of West Java, provincial police chief Charliyan told reporters that LGBT people suffered a "disease of the body and soul. But a spokesman for the national police, Setyo Wasisto, said there were no plans to scale up the West Java task force on a national level. The duty of the police to enforce the rules and laws so that everyone has the same rights, said Yuli Rustinawati, chair of the LGBT activist group Arus Pelangi. Not to be moral police. A checkered history Last October, Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo gave an extremely qualified defense of LGBT rights after months of anti-gay rhetoric. He denounced discrimination against gay Indonesians after asserting that in Indonesia, beliefs [generally] do not allow [homosexuality], Islam does not allow it. Gay rights are an uncomfortable topic in Indonesian public life, said Oetomo. There is no advocacy at the highest level in Jakarta. My sense is that if the rights of governors and chief of police are willing to do something, theyll do it quietly. The spike in anti-LGBT attacks follows the rising profile of one of the most virulent anti-gay voices in Indonesia, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the hardline group that organized the rallies against Jakartas governor last year. FPI-associated vigilantes filmed the gay couple who was caned in Aceh, and FPI has promised to help Indonesian police conduct further raids like the ones in Jakarta and Surabaya. But a sexting scandal involving its leader, Habib Rizieq Shihab, degrades some of the authority by which FPI has unofficially acted as Indonesias morality police since its founding in 1998. It is not clear if his recent arrest will lead to a respite in the LGBT crackdown. An uncertain future This feels like a repeat, in a way, said Fajar Zakhri, a 25-year-old gay man who lives in Jakarta and who lived through last years LGBT crackdown. But it's a worse repeat. Because the [recent] events sort of overlapped with one another and you can just sense this overall spirit of... they want to criminalize us. It hasnt always been so in Indonesia. Transgender people, including the waria third-gender people, have long been a part of Indonesian societies. One Sulawesi group, the Bugis people, historically recognize five genders. The worst development for LGBT rights, meanwhile, is still on the table: a Constitutional Court petition banning homosexual acts between consenting adults. It was filed last May and remains an open question. In the same week that Taiwan became the first Asian country to move towards formal recognition of same-sex marriage, the proposed anti-gay ban is a sobering prospect for Indonesias LGBT community. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the decision shows India is clear about the consideration behind this behaviour. F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets and E-2D Hawkeye plane are seen on the U.S. aircraft carrier John C. Stennis during joint military exercise called Malabar, with the United States, Japan and India participating, off Japan's southernmost island of Okinawa, Japan By Ananth Krishnan: China on Wednesday indicated it welcomed India's reported move to decline requests from Australia to send ships to participate in the upcoming India-US-Japan Malabar naval exercises. "I have noticed the relevant reports of India rejecting a proposal of participating parties in joint military exercises," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in response to a question at a daily press briefing. I think India is clear about the consideration behind this behaviour," added Hua, with China in the past voicing objections to the bilateral India-US annual Malabar exercises, which now include Japan, becoming a multilateral affair. advertisement India had reportedly curtailed Japanese participation in the exercises until 2014, when in the last year of the outgoing UPA government a decision was taken to re-introduce Japan as a third partner. The Narendra Modi government has ensured Japan's presence as a permanent partner, with Japan having since participated in the annual drills. DRILLS AIMED AT CHINA The introduction of Australia as a fourth country, some Chinese experts said, would suggest the drills were being aimed at China. But other analysts have cautioned allowing China to dictate the normal military exercises of other countries, pointing out that China itself carries out multilateral exercises, for instance through a newly set up quadrilateral mechanism with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Hua on Wednesday welcomed the move. "We are happy to see parties in the military field carry out normal dialogue and exchanges," she added. "We also hope that all parties concerned fully take into account the security concerns of countries in the region and play a positive and constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability". Also read: US Senator John Mccain calls for South China Sea drill to challenge 'bully' China Also read: China's 'Uber for trucks' eyes India's market potential WATCH THE VIDEO HERE --- ENDS --- A Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur safely landed back in Melbourne, where it had taken off, after a passenger attempted to enter the cockpit late Wednesday. In air traffic control audio posted online, a male voice can be heard saying a passenger "claiming to have an explosive device, tried to enter the cockpit, has been overpowered by passengers." The disruptive passenger, a Sri Lankan national, was apparently drunk and claimed to have a bomb, but it was a powerbank charging device, Malaysia's Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told the French News Agency. The passenger was apprehended at the airport and the incident will be investigated by Australian authorities along with Malaysia Airlines, the company said, apologizing for any inconvenience. "Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft 'hijacked,'" said a statement released by the airline. The airline gave no further details of the incident. Both incoming and outgoing flights at Melbourne Airport were disrupted. White House spokesman Sean Spicer abruptly walked out of his press briefing Tuesday as journalists shouted questions after him, highlighting the increasingly adversarial relationship between the Trump administration and the reporters who cover it. After a testy 20-minute question-and-answer session, Spicer told the jam-packed White House briefing room that President Donald Trump was frustrated with the number of "fake news" stories being reported, while news about his accomplishments during his just-completed foreign tour was downplayed. "The reason the president is frustrated is that there is a perpetuation of false narratives with the use of unnamed sources over and over again about things that are happening that don't ultimately happen," Spicer said before walking away from the podium. "I think that is troubling." The incident came hours after news that White House Communications Director Mike Dubke had resigned, in what is seen as the first step in a staff shake-up that could involve Spicer himself. Reports quoting anonymous officials say Trump is increasingly dissatisfied that the story of the administration's accomplishments is getting lost as major news outlets focus on allegations of wrongdoing swirling around the White House. 'Best messenger is the president' "Ultimately, the best messenger is the president himself; he's always proven that," Spicer said, suggesting that Trump might take on a more high-profile role in controlling the White House message. In the meantime, however, Spicer will assume the job of interim communications director, according to multiple news reports. WATCH: 'Best Messenger Is the President Himself' During the abbreviated question-and-answer session, Spicer faced tough questions on several issues, including alleged ties between key administration officials and Russia. The Washington Post reported last week that Trump's son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, had discussed establishing a secret and secure communications channel with Russia, at a time when former President Barack Obama was still in office for another month. Spicer deflected a reporter's questions about the Post's article, refusing to confirm or comment on its allegations. "What your question assumes is a lot of facts that are not substantiated by anything but anonymous sources that are so far being leaked out," the spokesman said. Spicer was also asked about the president's relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was reported to have been strained during their meetings last week in Europe. "They get along very well; he has a lot of respect for her," Spicer said. "They continue to grow the bond that they had during the talks in the G-7." WATCH: Spicer Talks about Trump, Merkel Relationship New jobs for campaign staff? The resignation of communications chief Dubke and Spicer's press briefing walkout come amid reports that the president is looking to bring in fresh blood to try to turn around his embattled four-month-old presidency. Among those said to be in line for White House jobs are Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, political veterans who worked as senior officials during Trump's campaign but did not join the administration. Trump was reported to have met both men at the White House on Monday, as he seeks to form a "war room" to combat negative publicity and get his stalled legislative agenda back on track. He is also said to be putting together an outside group to handle all Russia-related inquiries. Many Washington political analysts see the resignation of Dubke, along with reports of tensions among the embattled communications team and the search for additional help, as signs of an administration in turmoil. Lara Brown, interim director of George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management, says very few of Trump's staff have the skills needed to run a complex organization like the White House. "A lot of people within the White House have very little experience with government and the process of American politics," she said. Brown says one of the Trump White House's biggest weaknesses is that the president's management style is not suited to running a vast, interconnected series of organizations. "President Trump has always run his businesses in a closely held fashion, with very few individuals who have essentially managed separate projects," Brown told VOA. "That's not how politics works. Everything is profoundly connected, so you have a lot of people [in the White House] who don't understand how to maneuver through this process." U.S. President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has agreed to hand over documents to the Senate intelligence committee in connection with its investigation into Russia's efforts to influence last year's U.S. presidential election. Flynn had previously refused a subpoena from the committee, with his lawyers asserting the request was too broad in what it was seeking. The committee filed a more narrow subpoena, and Flynn is now expected to provide some personal documents and those related to two businesses by next week. The House intelligence committee is conducting its own investigation, and on Tuesday Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, turned down a request to provide information, calling it "poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered." The U.S. Justice Department has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel in another investigation that also includes whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russia. Trump has rejected those allegations and dismissed the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at the November election with a desire to help Trump's chances of beating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News," Trump wrote Tuesday on Twitter. Later, at a White House briefing for reporters, spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump "is frustrated ... to see stories come out that are patently false, to see narratives that are wrong, to see, quote, unquote, fake news, when you see stories get perpetrated that are absolutely false, that are not based in fact." Trump's Russia comment came as news reports continued to focus on Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a White House adviser, and his reported attempt to establish a back-channel communications link to Russian officials in the weeks before Trump's inauguration in January. Some foreign affairs experts said the move, while former President Barack Obama had weeks left in his term, worried them that it could undermine U.S. security, and some opposition Democrats have suggested Kushner's security clearance should be revoked. Other experts say exploring the creation of "backchannels" is commonplace, even during presidential transitions. Spicer deflected several questions about Kushner's actions, telling one reporter his inquiry "presupposes facts that have not been confirmed." The White House also is bracing for the upcoming congressional testimony of former FBI chief James Comey. Trump fired Comey after allegedly asking him to drop the probe into Flynn and his close ties to the Kremlin. If President Donald Trump pulls the United States out of the international agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, what could that mean for the Earth? Here's a guide to what's in the Paris agreement, what's going on with global warming, and what might happen if the rest of the world keeps fighting man-made climate change and the U.S. stays partially or completely on the sidelines. What is the Paris Agreement trying to do? The 2015 agreement aims to prevent the Earth from heating up by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the industrial age. But the world has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Revolution, so this is more about preventing an additional 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit of warming. How? Each nation submitted its own goals for curbing heat-trapping emissions. Those pledges added up to preventing 117 billion tons of carbon dioxide from being put into the air by 2030, analysts calculate. The U.S. set a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 at 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels or about 1.6 billion tons of annual emissions. A study last year in the journal Nature Climate Change said America will probably only reach four-fifths of that goal. For China, the No. 1 polluter, having overtaken the United States, the goal was for emissions to peak by 2030 and then start dropping, reducing the amount of carbon pollution per person to about 60 percent of 2005 levels. Some recent signs show that Chinese carbon emissions may have already flattened out, a decade earlier than expected. China accounts for nearly one-third of the pledged reductions. The Paris accord was agreed upon by 197 countries and has been ratified by 147 parties, which includes the European Union. That put the deal in effect. The goals are voluntary. There is no climate court. All that's required is a plan and reporting on progress toward the plan. What are the U.S. options? The U.S. could stay in the agreement and work toward fulfilling its pledges. It could stay in the accord and not hit its goals. It could stay in the pact and change its target, probably by lowering it. Or it could pull out of the agreement altogether. It takes at least a year for a nation to withdraw from the pact. No matter what the U.S. does, the Paris Agreement remains in effect. The science The world is warming, with the last three years the hottest on record. This year is on track to be the second-warmest, behind 2016. Sea levels are rising. Sea ice in the Arctic is at record low levels. Glaciers worldwide are melting, as are parts of Antarctica. Plants and animals are changing in their growing and migration habits because of shorter and milder winters. Extreme weather in many places has increased. All but a very few scientists say the overwhelming majority of warming is man-made, as do dozens of scientific academies and professional societies. Scientists have known since the 19th century that burning coal, oil and gas spews carbon dioxide into the air, which then acts like a blanket to trap heat on Earth. Carbon dioxide stays in the air for 100 years, and about one-fifth of what has accumulated in the atmosphere came from the U.S., more than any other country. What will happen without U.S. cooperation? The Associated Press interviewed dozens of scientists and consulted computer simulations, and they say without the U.S. pledges, the dangerous 2-degree rise is nearly inescapable. But they also say that even with the U.S. doing its share, preventing that warming is going to be unlikely and will require even more cuts than contained in the Paris agreement. University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado said blowing past the 2-degree mark would be a potential "tipping point" that would lead to "a new and irreversible state in the climate system." One computer simulation one that many other scientists say is too much of a worst-case scenario calculates that if the U.S. increases carbon dioxide emissions and the rest of the world hits its targets, America's added carbon pollution will be responsible for about half a degree of warming (0.3 degrees Celsius). Other scientists look at market forces and see the United States still cutting emissions because the nation is already shifting toward cleaner fuels such as cheaper natural gas, solar and wind. Solar power employs more people in the U.S. than coal. "The U.S. pulling out of Paris will not stop the fight against global warming, since almost all other countries are committed to it," said German climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf. "But it could delay it and any delay could be detrimental, as stopping global warming before critical tipping points are crossed is a race against the clock." The Hungarian government said Tuesday it was seeking to engage with New York state about the status of Budapest-based Central European University, founded by billionaire George Soros. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sent letters to Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President Janos Ader advocating for CEU, saying recent changes to Hungary's higher education law "attempts to close the university for no legitimate reason." "CEU is an important collaboration between New York and Hungary," Cuomo said in the letters obtained by The Associated Press. "I hope that this important partnership will be allowed to continue with the guarantee of CEU's independence." Foreign Ministry spokesman Tamas Menczer said the ministry was working with Cuomo's office to schedule a meeting about the university. CEU, founded in 1991, is accredited in New York state, but doesn't have a campus there, one of the new rules in the amended law. CEU issues diplomas accepted in Hungary and the U.S. The legal amendments adopted in April also call for bilateral agreements between Hungary and the home countries of foreign universities operating in the country. In the case of the United States, Hungary is also seeking agreements with the schools' home states. The changes could force CEU to move, although Rector Michael Ignatieff reiterated Tuesday that the school is determined to stay in Budapest. "We hope that in the course of the next few months, this absurd effort by the government to shut us down will be taken away," Ignatieff told reporters. "Budapest is our home, we're staying here and it's business as usual." The U.S State Department, however, has said the U.S. "has no authority or intention" to negotiate about CEU or other American universities with a presence in Hungary. A Foreign Ministry official is expected to travel in about two weeks to Maryland to speak with officials there about McDaniel College, Menczer said. Established in 1867 as Western Maryland College, the college also has operated a campus in Hungary since 1993. Cuomo's office said a meeting with Hungarian officials also was tentatively scheduled for June. The conflict over CEU is part of a wider dispute between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Soros, whose idea of an "open society" is at odds with Orban's desire to turn Hungary into an "illiberal state." Lowering expectations, Iowa's two Republican senators say the long-promised repeal of "Obamacare" is unlikely, and any final agreement with the Republican-controlled House is uncertain. The comments Tuesday by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst come as the Republican-controlled Senate moves forward on its work to dismantle the 2010 health care bill while facing conflicting demands within their own party and lockstep Democratic opposition. Both senators are active players in the health care debate. "You can't repeal it in its entirety," Ernst told reporters after a joint appearance with Grassley in suburban Des Moines. Frank admission It was a frank admission from loyal conservatives representing a state Republican Donald Trump carried in November. The Senate's filibuster rule means that Republicans -- who control the Senate with 52 seats -- can't repeal the entire law. "You've got to have 60 votes and we don't have 60 votes at this point," Grassley said. Grassley, in his seventh term, is a senior member of the Finance Committee, which oversees the law's tax and Medicaid provisions. Ernst, elected in 2014, says has been part of an informal GOP health care working group's discussions. "As much as I'd love to go back and scrap the whole darn thing, we're simply unable to do that," Ernst said. Other Senate rules permit the GOP majority to repeal portions of Obamacare without Democratic support but render other parts of the law off limits. "That just allows us to tinker around the edges," Ernst earlier told Eric Borseth, an Altoona, Iowa, businessman who implored her to "get rid of that monstrosity." What Grassley and Ernst did not mention are divisions within the Republican caucus in the Senate. Getting every Republican on board is proving arduous. House measure House Republicans passed a measure May 4 axing major parts of the 2010 law, including hundreds of billions in extra Medicaid money that 31 states now receive for expanding to cover more lower-income Americans under the federal insurance program. Such provisions, as well as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's estimate that 23 million Americans would lose health insurance, make the House bill a non-starter with several Republican senators. Erasing Obama's health care law was a top promise of Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, and by congressional GOP candidates since its 2010 enactment. But writing legislation that can pass with only Republican votes has proven agonizing. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin canceled a March vote after opposition from party conservatives and moderates would have sealed its defeat, and the two wings of the GOP spent weeks blaming each other for the bill's demise. Ernst says the Senate will be able to make individual changes to Obama's law where only a simple majority vote is required. For instance, she mentioned changing mandatory health care benefits required by insurers as ripe for Senate action. Ernst stopped short of saying whether any legislation passed in the Senate would be accepted by the House. "We will be working with the House," she said. An independent Azerbaijani journalist has been abducted from Georgia, where he had been living, and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan, his lawyer said on Wednesday. A court in this former Soviet republic was due to hold a hearing later on Wednesday to arrest Afgan Mukhtarli, who is facing charges of smuggling and crossing the border illegally. Mukhtarli, who is also a civil rights activist, had been living in neighboring Georgia for two years. His lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, told The Associated Press the journalist was abducted outside his home Monday evening, beaten up and taken to the land border between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Sadigov claimed that the journalist's captors planted 10,000 euros ($11,180) on him, which led to the charges. Eldar Sultanov, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office, said the journalist was detained late on Monday "after illegally crossing the Azerbaijani border" with a large sum of money. Mukhtarli left Azerbaijan in 2015, around the time when several Azerbaijani journalists working for foreign or local independent media faced charges of tax evasion. Mukhtarli's wife, Leila Mustafayeva, told the AP she was waiting for her husband at home Monday evening but he never showed up. Mustafayeva said her husband had been investigating Georgian business ties of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's family. "Naturally, this created resentment in the presidential family," she said, insisting that her husband's disappearance is connected to his investigation. Several dozen journalists rallied in the capital, Tbilisi, demanding that Georgian authorities explain how they allowed the reported abduction to happen. Giorgi Gogia, Human Rights Watch director of South Caucasus, in a statement described Mukhtarli's disappearance as another step in the Azerbaijani government's "relentless crackdown on critics." A man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing, the arrested man's wife and an advocacy group said Tuesday. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didn't need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the family's breadwinner. China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: "They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable." China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China. For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investigated working conditions at suppliers to some of the world's best-known companies, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China's state security apparatus. "Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labor situation," Li said. "But now it has become more political." Disney decision Walt Disney Co. stopped working with a toy maker in Shenzhen last year after the group exposed labor violations. China Labor Watch has also published reports on child labor at Samsung suppliers and spent years investigating Apple Inc.'s China factories. In the past, the worst thing Li feared was having investigators kicked out of a factory or face a short police detention. That has changed. The arrest and disappearances came amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of China's ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labor unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has also taken a stern approach to activism in southern China's manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody. Another difference is the target of China Labor Watch's investigation: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trump's brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment for this story. Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter took on a White House role as presidential adviser, has said that the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to "comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions." No reply from police Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the three missing investigators on Monday but received no reply. Li added that a friend had tried to file a missing-person report on Li Zhao in Jiangxi, where the factory is located, but was told he had to do so in the man's hometown. AP was unable to reach the other investigators' families. China's Ministry of Public Security and police in Ganzhou city and Jiangxi province could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China. All three men were investigating Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co.'s factory in Jiangxi province, just north of Guangdong province. Su Heng had been working undercover at the factory since April, Li said. The parent company is known as Huajian Group. In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, told AP the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trump's brand a small fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday. "I told you I could not check until tomorrow," she said. "If your official letter contains a stamp and signature, we can confirm whether the media is real or not." Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand shoes in the factory, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit merchandise. "We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately," a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment. Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng were blocked from leaving mainland China for Hong Kong in April and May something that had never happened to his colleagues before, Li said. Hua Haifeng was stopped at the border Thursday and later questioned by police, Li said. During their final phone conversation on Saturday, Hua told Li that police had asked him to stop investigating the Huajian factory another turn of events that Li said was unprecedented. Excessive overtime, low wages Li said the men had documented excessive overtime, with working days sometimes stretching longer than 18 hours, and a base salary below minimum wage. They were working to confirm evidence suggesting that student interns, some of whom allegedly quit in protest, were putting in excessive hours on work unrelated to their field of study, in violation of Chinese law, Li said. The use of student workers in China is legal, but meant to be strictly regulated. Rights groups and journalists have documented widespread abuse of the system over the years. "It is the role of the police to prevent that kind of independent investigation," said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. "The threshold is much lower today than it was one year ago, two years ago, and if this is something that has a foreign diplomacy dimension, that would make national security personnel even more willing to stop it." Hua's wife, Deng, meanwhile, has yet to tell the couple's children, ages 3 and 7, about their father's plight. But they seem to know anyway, she said. "My son suddenly burst into tears. He said he missed Papa," Deng said by phone from her home in central China's Hubei province. "I said Papa would come home soon and buy you toys." She said the child looked at her and answered: "Papa was taken away by a monster." A massive truck bomb exploded Wednesday morning in the diplomatic section of Afghanistans capital, killing at least 90 people and wounding more than 400. The bomb ripped through the central Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul, home to foreign diplomatic missions and government offices, damaging dozens of vehicles and surrounding buildings. Afghan officials said the explosives were packed in a sewage tanker. Most of the casualties were civilians, but the dead included Afghan security guards at diplomatic sites. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The Afghan Intelligence agency, NDS, in a brief statement, has blamed the Haqqani network, which allegedly is based in neighboring Pakistan and fighting alongside the Taliban. The NDS also asserted that Pakistans spy agency, ISI, helped in planning the attack. Afghan officials have blamed Islamabad previously for facilitating insurgent attacks in their country, charges Pakistani officials deny. The Taliban denied involvement, saying the insurgent group had nothing to do with Wednesdays bombing or any attacks that target civilians. The insurgents have lately intensified attacks on Afghan security forces, killing and wounding scores of them. Islamic State has claimed attacks against high-profile Afghan targets in recent months, including a deadly suicide raid on the countrys largest military hospital in Kabul in March. Damage The bombing happened in an area not far from the German embassy. Pictures circulated on social media showed the blast turned a portion of the diplomatic mission into ruins. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said an Afghan security guard was among those killed and that a number of employees were wounded. The French, Turkish and Iranian embassies are also among missions that suffered material damage. Japans Foreign Ministry said two of its embassy employees, both Japanese nationals, were slightly injured in the Kabul bombing while minor damage was caused to the building. A U.S. State Department spokesman said 11 U.S. citizens working as contractors in Afghanistan were injured. The explosion mostly devastated a nearby building, housing the main office of Roshan, the leading telecommunications service provider in Afghanistan. Afghan security forces swiftly cordoned off the area, and international troops arrived at the site to assist in rescue efforts. In Photos: Kabul bombing Reaction Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned Wednesdays blast as an inhuman and cowardly attack against innocent civilians in the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump called Ghani to express his condolences and condemn the bombing, saying that the attack happening during Ramadan underscores the barbaric nature of the terrorists who are enemies of all civilized peoples. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the bombing as morally reprehensible and an outrage, particularly during the month of Ramadan. NATOs U.S.-led Resolute Support military mission said the attack demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people. WATCH: Raw video footage from scene of bombing Neighboring Pakistan also denounced the terrorist attack, saying it has caused damage to the residence of Pakistani diplomats and staff and inflicted minor injuries to some. The people and government of Pakistan extend their heartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to the government and the people of Afghanistan and the bereaved families, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman. The latest violence comes as President Ghani is set to host a conference of neighboring and regional countries in Kabul next week to discuss ways to end an increasingly deadly Afghan conflict. Developments in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday include President Donald Trump sending a series of early morning tweets that Russia must be laughing at the U.S. over investigations, longtime Republican Senator John McCain calling Russia a bigger challenge than Islamic State; the U.S. successfully testing a missile defense system, and the White House communications director resigns: Trump: Russians Must Be Laughing at US Probes of Moscow Election Meddling -- U.S. President Donald Trump says that Russian officials "must be laughing" at the United States with its escalating investigations into Moscow's meddling in last year's election, which he claimed was "a lame excuse" adopted by opposition Democrats to explain losing the White House. McCain: Russia, Putin 'Greatest Challenge We Have' -- U.S. Senator John McCain said Monday he views Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, as the "greatest challenge we have," even more so than that posed by the Islamic State group. Speaking during a visit to Australia, McCain told the Australian Broadcasting Company Russia has tried to "destroy the very fundamental of democracy" with efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election and others elsewhere in the world. White House Communications Chief Resigns -- The White House communications director has resigned in what could be the first of several changes in President Donald Trump's senior staff as he attempts to shape a response to investigations of his aides' links to Russia. WATCH: White House press secretary Spicer talks about Trump-Merkel relationship Trump: Germany Not Adequately Contributing to NATO -- U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated his accusation that Germany does not pay its fair share of dues in NATO, three days after a meeting with the country's leader that the White House said went well. US Successfully Tests Missile Defense System -- The Pentagon says its first-ever missile defense test involving an ICBM was a success. "The intercept of a complex threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment," Vice Admiral Jim Syring of the Missile Defense Agency said. Tuesday's test involved two separate missile launches. A simulated attack intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from a tiny island in the Pacific. A second missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. WATCH: ICBM missile test Senate Democrats Ask Trump for Answers on China Trademarks -- A group of Senate Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, requesting information about a raft of trademark approvals from China this year that they say may violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on gifts from foreign governments. Alan Garten, chief legal officer of The Trump Organization, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. He has previously said that Trump's trademark activity in China predates his election and noted that Trump has stepped away from managing his company. Overlooked and Insidious: Back-bay Flooding Plagues Millions -- Nearly five years after Superstorm Sandy delivered a wake-up call, the problem of back-bay flooding is coming into sharper focus. Studies are under way, money is starting to flow toward the problem, and the realization that destruction of wetlands for development along such shores is partly to blame is leading to discussion about building codes. ButPresident Donald Trump's budget proposal, released last week, would cut a combined $452 million from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Homeland Security department for research grants, flood mapping and analysis. Path Cleared for Congress to Consider US Arms Sale to Riyadh -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorized the State Department to notify Congress of the Trump administration's sale of precision-guided munitions for Saudi Arabia to use in its Yemen campaign, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday. The notification is one of the last steps in the arms sale process and triggers a formal 30-day review to allow members of Congress to attempt to pass legislation to stop any sale. State Dept. Defends Trump for Not Publicly Mentioning Human Rights in Saudi Arabia -- A senior State Department official has defended President Donald Trump at an on-camera briefing for not mentioning human rights during his recent speech in Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones what he would say to critics who say the president's speech on countering terrorism in Riyadh basically gave Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region a free pass on human rights abuses. "I think the fact that, you know, you can argue that by taking it out of the public debate and having those conversations directly and quietly will be more effective. At least 2.5 million people in 10 districts risk falling in the way of the severe cyclonic storm. By India Today Web Desk: Over 30 people have been rescued by the Indian Navy in the neighbouring Bangladesh which is hit hard by cyclone Mora and caused widespread destruction and rendering millions of people homeless. The Indian Navy ship Sumitra has rescued 33 fishermen, sources said. The Eastern Naval Command is deploying P-81 aircraft as part of its rescue operation in Bangladesh. advertisement Sources said search and rescue for more survivors is drastically hampered due to prevailing rough weather in the area." At least six persons were killed as cyclone Mora made landfall in Bangladesh yesterday, damaging several houses, with authorities scrambling to evacuate over half a million people from the coastal areas. All flights were suspended to and from Chittagong and the Cox's Bazar airports due to cyclone Mora. At least 2.5 million people in 10 districts risk falling in the way of the severe cyclonic storm. The districts at risk were Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barisal and Pirojpur. Yesterday, Bangladesh Meteorological Department had said the severe cyclonic storm 'Mora' moved northward over North Bay and started crossing Cox's Bazar- Chittagong coast at 6:00 AM (local time. It is likely to move in a northerly direction further, the MeT said. (Inputs from PTI) ALSO READ: Cyclone Mora abates, heads to India's north-eastern coast Cyclone Mora to intensify in next 24 hours, heavy rains expected in Odisha, northeast WATCH: Indian Navy rescues 18 after Cyclone Mora kills six in Bangladesh --- ENDS --- 1 A wounded man lies on the ground at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan. A massive truck bomb exploded in the diplomatic section of the Afghanistan capital, killing at least 90 people and wounding more than 300 others. Nigerian lawmakers passed a bill aimed at cracking down on money laundering by urging foreign countries where currency crooks are hiding to cooperate in prosecuting them, a senior official said on Tuesday. According to the bill, Nigeria may ask any country where a money launderer is hiding to help it prosecute the offender, or prosecute that person itself. In the second case, Abuja would supply the country with evidence to support a conviction. Development in the OPEC member, which has Africa's largest economy, has been stunted by endemic corruption. Most people live on less than $2 a day despite the country's vast energy wealth, much of which has been plundered by a rich elite. "This act will facilitate the needed cooperation with other states to prevent individuals from escaping prosecution by fleeing to another country," said Senate President Bukola Saraki. The bill was originally presented by President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected in May 2015 after vowing to fight corruption. The 74-year-old president is on medical leave in Britain for an unspecified ailment. He has handed over power to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, in his absence. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte denounced Chelsea Clinton in a vulgar speech Wednesday for her criticism of remarks he made last week about rape. Duterte made the rape comment in a speech aimed to show his full support for soldiers enforcing martial law in the southern Philippines. Duterte said he would take responsibility for any abuses committed by troops, even if they rape three women. In response to Duterte's remarks about rape, Clinton, daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, wrote on Twitter, "Not funny. Ever." In lashing out at Chelsea Clinton, Duterte said that he was simply being sarcastic. Using a string of expletives, he asked if Clinton had reacted in the same way when her father had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Duterte also said American forces had raped women in the Philippines and Japan. President Duterte declared martial law in the southern Philippines last week after militants laid siege to the city of Marawi, on Mindanao island. The trouble started after the militants clashed with troops who were pursuing wanted terrorist Isnilon Hapilon, the Philippine head of the Islamic State group. Duterte has vowed to take harsh measures against militants and warned that he might expand martial law nationwide. Dutertes use of martial law has raised concerns among human rights groups, who have accused him of ordering security forces to kill thousands of people as part of his crackdown on illicit drugs. The southern Philippines, particularly the resource-rich but poverty-wracked Mindanao region, has long been a hotbed of activity by fundamentalist groups. Poland has extradited an Austrian accused of killing unarmed civilians and captured troops in Ukraine. Austrian authorities will identify the suspect only as Benjamin F. He was arrested last month on a European warrant while trying to cross into Ukraine from eastern Poland. He is suspected of committing the killings last year while fighting against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has been struggling to put down a three-year-old uprising that has killed more than 10,000 people. Efforts to secure a lasting cease-fire have failed. Russia's Defense Ministry says its forces fired four cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea to hit Islamic State targets in Syria. The ministry said the missiles came from a frigate and a submarine and landed near the city of Palmyra, striking heavy weapons and Islamic State militants who had deployed there from the group's de facto capital in Raqqa. Russia said it notified the United States, Turkey and Israel before firing the missiles. It did not say exactly when the strikes took place. The Palmyra area has seen a lot of fighting during the past year, with control of the city changing between Islamic State fighters and the Syrian government several times. Syrian forces currently hold the city, but clashes continue. Russian forces have been involved in Syria since late 2015 in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Russia has been criticized by the United States and others for not focusing enough of its air campaign against Islamic State targets. A top South Sudan army official has used his position to accumulate millions of dollars through his personal business, while helping to orchestrate a conflict that has resulted in famine, according to a new report by a Washington-based human rights group. Lt. Gen. Malek Reuben Riak, the SPLAs deputy chief of defense force for operations, accumulated more than $3 million in his personal account between January 2012 and early 2016, according to the Sentry. It says Reuben made millions more than what a general in his rank earned during the 2014-2015 budget cycle about $40,000. J.R. Mailey, the Sentry's senior investigations manager, says the report uncovers conflicts of interest and potential wrongdoing by Reuben in his roles at Mak International Services, Reubens company that sells explosives to private companies operating in South Sudan, as well as Bright Star International, a mining company where Reuben sits on the board of directors, and Jubilee Bank, where Reuben holds shares. So he is involved in energy companies, mining companies, explosives sales, quite a few things in his private capacity that have not been previously disclosed to the public, Mailey told VOA's South Sudan in Focus. And some of these commercial activities really deserve a lot more scrutiny because they appear to demonstrate pretty significant conflicts of interests. The South Sudan constitution prohibits constitutional office holders from engaging in personal business outside of their professional capacity while in office. Selling explosives to Chinese companies The report by the Sentry, a rights group co-founded by American actor George Clooney and John Prendergast, founding director of the Enough Project, cites corporate records, letters from international companies doing business in South Sudan, and U.N. reports to make the case that Reuben used his senior position to strike exclusive deals for his personal interests. The report questions the legality of Reubens role in Mak International Services, a company over which he has control, which sells explosives to private companies operating in South Sudan. The Sentry alleges that Reuben exploited a conflict of interest and possibly broke the law by directing exclusive deals through his role in the military with a number of foreign companies, including China New Era and China Wu Yi. China Wu Yi responded to the Sentry and said the company required the approval of the SPLA Engineering Corps to source the explosives needed to operate a quarry. Mailey says SPLA Engineering Corps directed China Wu Yi to purchase its explosives from Mak International, which was the only option offered as the supplier of explosives. And it turns out Mak International is beneficially owned by Malek Reuben Riak. The money was going into his account from these sales, said Mailey. China Wu Yi tells the Sentry it was instructed to make payments to Reuben and that it gave Reuben six checks worth more than $116,000 payable to him, which were later deposited in his personal bank account. The report says China Wu Yi also wrote two additional cash payments to Mak International worth more than $13,000. The Sentry says Reuben is not only the prime beneficiary of profits through Mak International, but as a former employee of the SPLA Engineering Corps, he oversaw the countrys approval process of similar transactions, creating a conflict of interest and potential violation of the law. Accusations follow promotion The accusations come as Reuben was promoted to the SPLAs deputy chief of defense forces for operations, training and intelligence last week. He is someone who is being promoted and rewarded, said Mailey, not someone who is being held accountable for his involvement in suspect and pretty horrific military activities. A January 2016 U.N. panel of experts report identified Reuben as being one of the leaders who planned the offensive in famine-stricken Unity State and oversaw its execution since January 2015. In April, a panel of experts report indicated the famine in Unity state, predicted for two years, was the result of protracted conflict and the cumulative toll of repeated military operations by the government in southern Unity as early as 2014. Famine was declared in the Unity State counties of Leer and Mayendit in February. Fighting between South Sudan's government, led by President Salva Kiir, and opposition forces led by former vice president Riek Machar has displaced nearly four million people from their homes since the conflict began at the end of 2013. The Sentry says at its core, the conflict is a battle for control of state assets and South Sudan's abundant natural resources, including large oil reserves. The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday took up the latest in a series of voting rights cases, agreeing to hear Ohio's bid to revive the Republican-led state's policy of purging people from voter registration lists if they do not regularly cast ballots. Civil liberties advocates who challenged Ohio's policy said it illegally erased voters from registration rolls and unlawfully disenfranchised minorities and poor people who tend to back Democratic candidates. The justices will review a U.S. appeals court ruling that Ohio's policy ran afoul of a 1993 law called the National Voter Registration Act, which Congress passed to make it easier for Americans to register to vote. A Reuters analysis last year found that in Ohio's three largest counties, which include Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, voters were struck from the rolls in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods at roughly twice the rate as in Republican neighborhoods under the policy. Ohio officials argued that canceling registrations for voters deemed inactive for six years helped clear from voting rolls those who had moved away or died. In September 2016, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled that Ohio's policy was unlawful. Democrats have accused Republicans of taking steps at the state level, including laws imposing new requirements on voters such as presenting certain types of government-issued identification, intended to suppress the vote of minorities, the poor and others who generally favor Democratic candidates. The Supreme Court will be critical in determining whether such policies are lawful, already acting in some cases and considering taking up more. ACLU lawsuit The American Civil Liberties Union last year sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, arguing that the state was violating the 1993 law, which prohibits states from striking registered voters "by reason of the person's failure to vote." The 6th Circuit agreed. Husted called the Supreme Court's decision to hear his state's appeal encouraging. "Maintaining the integrity of the voter rolls is essential to conducting an election with efficiency and integrity," Husted said in a statement. Under Ohio's policy, if registered voters miss voting for two years, they are sent registration confirmation notices. If they do not respond and do not vote over the following four years, they are removed from the rolls. Husted has said Ohio's policy has been in place since the 1990s under both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state. Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold the 6th Circuit ruling. "Ohio's purge of eligible voters has served as a powerful mechanism of voter suppression," Levenson said in a statement. Husted said he has made maintaining accurate voter rolls a priority in order to increase election integrity and voter confidence, including removing nearly 560,000 dead people from the rolls and resolving instances of more than 1.65 million voters who were registered more than once. The suit said the policy led to the removal of tens of thousands of people from the voter rolls in 2015, including one of the lead plaintiffs, Larry Harmon, a software engineer and U.S. Navy veteran who was blocked from voting in a state marijuana initiative in 2015. Republican Donald Trump won Ohio in last November's presidential election. 'Motor voter' law The National Voter Registration Act, dubbed the "motor voter" law when it was enacted, required states to permit registration by mail or when eligible people apply for or renew a driver's license, or visiting certain government agencies or military recruiting offices. In another voting rights case, the justices on May 22 ruled that Republicans in North Carolina unlawfully took race into consideration when drawing congressional district boundaries, concentrating black voters in an improper bid to diminish their statewide political clout. The justices on May 15 rebuffed a Republican bid to revive North Carolina's strict voter identification law that a lower court found deliberately discriminated against black voters. The justices on March 1 ordered a lower court to reassess whether Virginia's Republican-led legislature unlawfully tried to dilute the power of black voters. The justices threw out the lower court's decision upholding 12 state legislature districts. The justices will hear arguments in the Ohio case in their next term, which starts in October. Two Peruvian policemen were killed in an ambush Wednesday by suspected drug traffickers in a remote Andean coca-growing region, a regional police chief said on local radio. The deaths came a week after Peru announced security forces would enter criminally controlled coca-growing areas for the first time as part of a plan to eradicate half the country's supply of the leaf used to make cocaine. The police chief said the deaths occurred in Luricocha district in a region known as the Valle de los Rios Apurimac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM), where traffickers have formed alliances with remnant bands of Shining Path rebels. About 75 percent of Peru's coca is grown there. "They were returning from a road patrol when they were ambushed by alleged drug traffickers. There were six to eight attackers," Alexis Bahamonde, head of police in the VRAEM, said on RPP radio. Peru and Andean neighbor Colombia are the world's biggest cocaine producers, according to the United Nations. Inside the sprawling Acer stall at Computex Taipei, Asias largest tech show, staff displayed a laptop computer thats ready for virtual reality play yet thinner than most PCs for gaming. At the same exhibition, the Taiwanese tech hardware maker showed how its internet cloud uses artificial intelligence to predict what customers will do when shopping and allow the shop to make decisions accordingly. VR and AI usher in a new world of technology Acer was riding two major new themes at the annual show: virtual reality, often abbreviated to VR, and artificial intelligence, or AI. Demand from gamers, a lucrative market of people willing to pay more than $10,000 for a personal computer (PC), is driving the VR side, compelling Acer and its peers to install new lines of processors that support immersive, 3D play with headgear and hand controls. You can see that the company is moving into more gaming centric, VR, new experience innovation, said Vincent Lin, senior director of Acer's global product marketing. Not all gaming notebooks or not all notebooks are VR ready. There are certain requirements needed to be VR ready. VR, certainly its a growth area. Its supposed to like grow five times or something over next 3 years. Revenue is forecast to rise quickly Silicon Valley investment advisory firm Digi-Capital forecasts a surge in global revenue from $20 billion this year to $108 billion in 2021 in virtual reality technology and a similar technology known as augmented reality. The anticipation of growth inspired 60 Computex exhibitors to show games, gear or PCs that support virtual reality. The technology that first popped into public view in the 1980s is normally aimed now at computer gamers, though scientific researchers have used VR as well as the related augmented reality to model processes they cant duplicate in real life. Near Acers stall, Computex visitors donned thick, black head-mounted goggles to race cars or fire at things, yelling in excitement through the dimly lit booths as they tested new products. PCs will be thinner, quieter and quicker to support VR Developers were excited about Nvidias newly announced graphics processors that are designed to make PCs thinner and quieter. They also noticed the seventh update of Intels Core i5 processor, which stands to make PCs faster. At one stall, Hong Kong developer Zotac showed off backpacks that can hold a gamers VR hardware system to prevent any tripping over wires which might happen to someone immersed in a 3D scenario and unable to see the real floor. Right now the way the virtual reality equipment is made, youre tethered to a system. That means you have to worry about tripping over cables, wrapping them around yourself as well, Zotac product marketer Buu Ly said. With our VR backpack, that removes those barriers so you are more free to experience VR the way it was supposed to be experienced. AI attracting much interest this year Artificial intelligence also made its way into the show, where about 1,600 exhibitors occupied 5,010 booths, this year as companies test a relatively new technology that teaches computers to make decisions based on patterns they detect through analysis of user commands. Voice-activated assistants on mobile phones use artificial intelligence by searching the phone for requested information, even sending commands across apps to get answers. Computex organizers have not tallied the number of exhibitors showing AI technology, but analysts in Taipei say a number are pursuing servers that can speed up development of AI functions allowed by the likes of Nvidias Jetson TX computer processing module. With a compound annual growth rate of 63 percent from 2016 to 2022, the artificial intelligence market should be worth $16.06 billion by 2022, according to forecasts by the research firm Markets and Markets. AI has caught much of the spotlight in various exhibitions around the world and has become one of major deployment highlights for many companies in recent years, said Ray Han, industry analyst with the Marketing Intelligence & Consulting Institute in Taipei. The next battlefield will lie on platforms or chips. Internet of things One contender is Socionext, a Japanese developer that has developed a processor partly for AI and the Internet of things, or IoT, which means using phones or PCs to control other electronic objects. Five customers are evaluating whether to install the chip, said Fumitaka Shiraishi, a Socionext business project management group member. Our chip is a processor chip, so not too specific for AI but also suitable for AI because of the low power, Shiraishi said. Artificial intelligence can help the Internet of things by picking the most relevant points from vast fields of data collected. In the future five years, I think IoT devices also need to judge some information -- not just sensing, Shiraishi said. Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump admonished Kathy Griffin Wednesday for appearing in a photograph holding a reproduction of a severed, bloody head that resembled him, the comedian has lost a lucrative television job. Cable News Network (CNN) terminated an agreement with Griffin to co-host its New Year's Eve coverage, after stating earlier in the day the image was disgusting and offensive. In an early morning tweet, Trump said the image was disturbing particularly to his children. After seeing negative online reaction, Griffin apologized Tuesday night saying she "moved the line" and then "crossed it." The image also prompted Route 66 Casino in the southwestern state of New Mexico to cancel Griffin's planned July 22 performance. Griffin also lost a recent commercial endorsement deal with Squatty Potty, a U.S. company that provides toilets and other bathroom accessories. "It was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our company stands for," said CEO Bobby Edwards. Griffin had shared the image in a tweet that has since been deleted at her request. The photo was taken by Tyler Shields, whose own biography notes he has evolved from Hollywood's "bad boy of photography." The criticism came from conservatives and liberals alike, including one of the president's sons, Donald Trump, Jr., former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the daughter of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, who called the image "vile and wrong." At least 6 people died and 61 people were injured during the Cyclone Mora in Bangladesh. By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, has said that 28,600 people of 16 coastal districts of Bangladesh have been the victims of the Cyclone Mora. Cox's Bazar-Chittagong coast was hit by a storm of more than 100 kilometers per hour in the morning, with severe cyclonic storm Mora. After about 6 hours of stormy situation at the coastal areas, it weakened at the land area. advertisement Additional Secretary Golam Mustafa, who was in charge of Disaster Management and Relief said they received news of death of 6 people during the cyclone. Of them, 4 people were from Cox's Bazar and 2 from Rangamati area. However, Mustafa did not comment over the news of the death of a one-year-old sick child lying in his mother's lap while going to the asylum center in Bhola's Manpura upazila. AFFECTED FAMILIES SUFFERING The additional secretary said 61 people were injured during the storm, while 60 of them were residents of Rangamati of Cox's Bazar. Meanwhile, thousands of Mora-hit families from the coastal areas of Cox's Bazar are staying under the open sky after losing shelter. The cyclone has left the affected people in terrible conditions and severe food crisis. The people have also complained that they have not received any government help so far. Also read: Cyclone Mora: Indian Navy rescues 33 Bangladeshi nationals Also read: Death toll from Sri Lanka's worst flood since 2003 rises to 151 --- ENDS --- U.S. President Donald Trump again assailed the congressional probes into his campaign's links to Russia on Wednesday, claiming opposition Democrats were blocking the testimony of one of his former aides looking to clear his name. "Witch Hunt!" Trump declared in one comment on his Twitter account. Trump said, without citing evidence, that Democrats on the House intelligence committee "don't want" Carter Page, a former campaign adviser whose ties to Moscow officials are under investigation, to testify. Trump said Democrats "have excoriated Page about Russia," but that he "blows away their case against him." The president said Page wanted to rebut the "the false or misleading testimony" of James Comey, former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief, and John Brennan, former Central Intelligence Agency director, about Page's connections with Russian interests. The FBI last year obtained a warrant under the country's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor Page's communications. Page, an international businessman and energy consultant, on Monday sent a letter to the House intelligence panel saying he had been told he "might not be immediately afforded the opportunity" to testify and made clear he was eager to do so at a public hearing. Page, 45, accused Comey; former President Barack Obama; Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state whom Trump defeated in the 2016 election; and the U.S. news media of making up "unrelenting lies about me." Trump's defense of Page came as his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, agreed to hand over documents to the Senate intelligence committee in connection with its investigation into Russia's efforts to influence last year's U.S. presidential election. Flynn had previously refused a subpoena from the committee, with his lawyers asserting the request was too broad in what it was seeking. The committee filed a narrower subpoena, and Flynn is now expected by next week to provide some personal documents and those related to two businesses. The House intelligence committee is conducting its own investigation, and Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, turned down a request Tuesday to provide information, calling it "poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered." There are four congressional investigations of possible Trump campaign links to Russia and Moscow's meddling in the election. In addition, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to probe whether Trump campaign aides illegally colluded with Russia during the long political campaign. Trump has rejected allegations of collusion and dismissed the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at disrupting the November election and helping Trump win. "Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News," Trump wrote Tuesday on Twitter. Clinton has said that Russian interference was partly to blame for her defeat. Later Tuesday, at a White House briefing for reporters, spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump "is frustrated ... to see stories come out that are patently false, to see narratives that are wrong, to see, quote unquote, fake news, when you see stories get perpetrated that are absolutely false, that are not based in fact." Trump's Russia comment came as news reports continued to focus on Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a White House adviser, and his reported attempt to establish a back-channel communications link to Russian officials in the weeks before Trump's inauguration in January. Some foreign affairs experts worried that the move, while Obama had weeks left in his term, could undermine U.S. security, and some opposition Democrats have suggested Kushner's security clearance should be revoked. Other experts say exploring the creation of "back channels" is commonplace, even during presidential transitions. Spicer deflected several questions about Kushner's actions, telling one reporter his inquiry "presupposes facts that have not been confirmed." The White House also is bracing for Comey's upcoming congressional testimony. Trump fired the FBI chief after allegedly asking him to drop the probe into Flynn and his ties to the Kremlin. A group of Senate Democrats has sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump requesting information about a raft of trademark approvals from China this year that they say may violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on gifts from foreign governments. "China's rapid approvals after years of court battles have raised questions as to whether the trademarks will prevent you from standing up to China on behalf of American workers and their businesses," the eight senators, led by Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow and Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal, wrote in the letter Tuesday. China's most recent nod for a Trump trademark, covering clothing, came on May 6, bringing to 40 the number of marks China has granted or provisionally granted to the president and a related company, DTTM Operations LLC, since his inauguration. If there are no objections, provisional approvals are formally registered after 90 days. China has also rejected or partially rejected nine Trump trademarks since the inauguration. Trademarks give the holder monopoly rights to a brand in a given market. In many jurisdictions, like China, they can also be filed defensively, to prevent squatters from using a name. Because trademarks are granted at the discretion of foreign governments and can be enormously valuable, they can be problematic for U.S. officials, who are barred by the emoluments clause of the constitution from accepting anything of value from foreign states without congressional approval. In their letter, the senators were particularly interested in any special efforts Trump, his Chinese lawyers, or the U.S. Embassy in China, which sometimes advocates for U.S. firms, may have made to secure approval for the president's trademarks. They cited an Associated Press report quoting one of Trump's lawyers in China, Spring Chang, who said that "government relations are an important part of trademark strategy in China." Concern about favoritism is particularly sharp in China, where the courts and bureaucracy are designed to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party. China has defended its handling of Trump's intellectual property interests, saying it followed the law in processing his applications, though some trademark lawyers viewed the pace as unusually quick and well-coordinated. In addition, China approved one trademark for Trump-branded construction services after a 10-year legal battle that turned in his favor only after he declared his candidacy. Alan Garten, chief legal officer of The Trump Organization, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. He has previously said that Trump's trademark activity in China predates his election and noted that Trump has stepped away from managing his company. However, the president retains an ownership stake in his global branding and real estate empire. In April, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, added "gratuitous Chinese trademarks" to its lawsuit against the president for alleged emoluments violations. Trump has dismissed the suit as without merit. President Donald Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chief's communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macron's victory earlier this month, according to a French official, who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeau's office responded to requests for comment. The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump who, before taking office, was long easily accessible by cellphone and viewed himself as freewheeling, impulsive dealmaker. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. "If you are speaking on an open line, then it's an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so," said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president "doesn't carry with him a secure phone," Chollet said. "If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything you're saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it." The caution is warranted even when dealing with allies. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel's learned in 2013, when a dump of American secrets leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the U.S. was monitoring her cellphone, good relations don't prevent some spycraft between friends. "If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, it's reasonable to assume that they'd hand it right over to their intel service," said Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs in the U.S. State Department. The practice opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last year's presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. Presidents' phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less-formal calls with world leaders. Trump's White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aide's alleged attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met in December with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The White House has said such back channel communications are useful and discreet. Trump has struggled more than most recent presidents to keep his conversations with world leaders private. His remarks to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats have all leaked, presumably after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials. It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff to preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. But the law contains "blind spots" namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Under Barack Obama, the first cellphone-toting president, worries about cyber intrusions particularly by foreign governments pulled the president's devices deep into the security bubble. Many of the functions on Obama's BlackBerry were blocked, and a very small handful of people had his phone number or email address, according to former aides. "`Government sometimes looks like a big bureaucracy that has stupid rules, but a lot of these things are in place for very good reasons and they've been around for a while and determine the most effective way to do business in the foreign policy sphere," said Deeks. "Sometimes it takes presidents longer to figure that out." U.S. President Donald Trump discussed trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a White House visit on Wednesday and welcomed the signing of business deals worth billions of dollars and the jobs they would bring. General Electric said earlier it had signed deals with Vietnam worth about $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines and services, its largest ever single combined sale with the country. "They just made a very large order in the United States -- and we appreciate that -- for many billions of dollars, which means jobs for the United States and great, great equipment for Vietnam," Trump told reporters at the White House. Phuc said on Tuesday he would sign deals for U.S. goods and services worth $15 billion to $17 billion during his Washington visit, mainly for high-technology products and for services. Protesters greet Phuc Hundreds of people upset by Vietnams human rights record, called dire by Human Rights Watch, protested outside the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Mai Huynh, a U.S. Navy veteran said, Im here today because I think its our responsibility to show the young generation in Vietnam that were supporting them in their fight for basic human rights, including the right to freely elect our leaders and ask them to listen to our call. Others posted comments on VOA Vietnamese: President Trump, prior to any deal with Vietnam, please make sure to prioritize human rights as a core condition, said Tien Nguyen. Lolita Mancheno-Smoak, vice-chairwoman of the Fairfax (Virginia) County Republican Committee, told VOA Vietnamese, The United States, as a nation, cant have relationship or coordination with the government that prosecute and imprison its own citizens just because theyre blogging on in the internet and sharing their opinions, or just gathering peacefully or even worshipping the God, and holding the Bible in the public. We stand in solidarity with the Vietnamese community and the people in Vietnam to fight for their freedom, Mancheno-Smoak said of a nation where the ruling Communist Party tightly controls many activities. It goes to our hearts here in America when we know that people are dying and we feel for them. From adversary to partner Communist Vietnam has gone from being a bitter adversary of the United States during the Cold War to an important partner in the Asia-Pacific, where both countries share concerns about China's rising power. Phuc told Trump the relationship had undergone "significant upheavals in history," but that the two countries were now "comprehensive partners." However, while Hanoi and Washington have stepped up security cooperation in recent years, trade has become a potential irritant, with a deficit widening steadily in Vietnam's favor, reaching $32 billion last year, compared with $7 billion a decade earlier. Trump, who has had strong words for countries with large trade surpluses with the United States, said he would be discussing trade with Phuc, as well as North Korea. Washington has been seeking support for efforts to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear and missile programs, which have become an increasing threat to the United States. Hanoi has said it shares concerns about North Korea. Analysts said that while the Trump administration welcomed new business deals with Vietnam, it wants to see moves on trade. Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said the view was that deals were "nice, but not enough." "They want Vietnam to bring some ideas about how to tackle the surplus on an ongoing basis," he said. On Tuesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed concern about the rapid growth of the deficit with Vietnam. He said it was a new challenge for the two countries and he was looking to Phuc to help address it. The deficit with Vietnam -- Washington's sixth largest -- reflects growing imports of Vietnamese semiconductors and other electronics products in addition to more traditional sectors such as footwear, apparel and furniture. Vietnamese Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh presented Lighthizer on Tuesday with suggestions to address some U.S. concerns, such as advertising on U.S. social media, electronic payment services and imports of information security and farm products, Vietnam's trade ministry said. Vietnam also urged the United States to remove an inspection program for catfish, speed import licenses for its fruit and make fair decisions on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on Vietnamese products, the ministry said. Vietnam was disappointed when Trump ditched the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, of which Hanoi was expected to be one of the main beneficiaries, and focused U.S. trade policy on reducing deficits. Phuc's meeting with Trump makes him the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House under the new administration. It reflected calls, letters, diplomatic contacts and lower-level visits that started long before Trump took office in Washington, where Vietnam retains a lobbyist at $30,000 a month. United Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus at U.N. headquarters in New York amid faltering reunification talks, officials said Wednesday. Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said that the meeting Sunday evening will aim to carry out a review of the state of play in negotiations that are now at a standstill. Aleem Siddique, a U.N. spokesman in Cyprus, said the U.N. chief looks forward to welcoming the leaders to New York. Last week, U.N. envoy Espen Barth Eide broke off mediation efforts after the island's Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Mustafa Akinci, failed to agree on how to move the peace process toward a final summit aiming for a comprehensive accord. Guterres has intervened in an apparent bid to prevent the two-year-old talks, which have made significant headway at reunifying the island as a federation, from unravelling. On Tuesday, Anastasiades warned that talks were now at risk of deadlock because of an insistence by Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots to keep Turkish troops deployed on the island even after a peace deal. Turkey has maintained 35,000 troops in the country's breakaway Turkish Cypriot north since mounting an invasion in 1974 in response to a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Greek Cypriots see the troops as a threat and want them removed as part of any peace deal. Anastasiades has proposed the deployment of an international police force to oversee security. The minority Turkish Cypriots say a peace deal must include the deployment of Turkish troops they see as their only security guarantee. Anastasiades insists on prioritizing at a final summit in Geneva an agreement on withdrawing Turkish troops before resolving all other outstanding issues. Akinci maintains that all issues should be discussed in a give-and-take process. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged the Trump administration not to leave the Paris Climate Agreement, saying the deal would have long-term benefits for the U.S. economy and even its security. Speaking to an audience of students, civil society and business leaders at New York University, Guterres delivered his subtle pitch to the U.S. administration, which has said a decision about whether to stay in the 2015 agreement will come soon. "If one country decides not to be present I'm talking about countries with an important global reach, like it is the case with United States or China if one country decides to leave a void, I can guarantee someone else will occupy it," Guterres said in response to a student's question about dealing with the Trump administration's skepticism about climate change. Guterres said he was engaging with the administration and Congress to try to convince them that it is in the United States' interest to stay in the deal, which seeks to keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius. "There are many good arguments that in my opinion should lead an administration that has a concern to put its own interests first, and the interests of its people and its country first, to invest in what is necessary to preserve the global reach of its economy and to preserve the security of its citizens," Guterres said, alluding to Trump's "America First" policy. "And so my argument today is that it is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris Agreement, and that we fulfill that duty with increased ambition," Guterres said during his prepared address. He said the science was "beyond doubt" and that the effects of global warming already were being felt around the world. Nearly every country has signed on to the Paris Agreement, and a majority have ratified it. The accord entered into force last November. In addition to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, it seeks to mitigate the effects already felt by global warming. "The sustainability train has left the station," Guterres said. "Get on board or get left behind. Those who fail to bet on the green economy will be living in a grey future." He praised China for its "massive shift to other forms of energy," saying the country had made a "very strong bet recently in greening its economy." Renewable energy The U.N. chief noted that renewable forms of energy were growing in use and decreasing in cost. "Last year, solar power grew 50 percent, with China and the United States in the lead," he said. "Around the world, over half of the new power generation capacity now comes from renewables. In Europe, the figure is more than 90 percent." He said 80 percent of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels oil, gas and coal and that would not change overnight. But it is important, he said, to engage the energy industry and governments to use those energy sources as moderately as possible while making the transition to renewable, clean ones. "I think they are working towards having an answer for that, and so we'll wait and see what that answer is," Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., told reporters earlier Tuesday when asked about the administration's plans. As the U.S.-led coalition ratchets up operations in Syria, there are concerns that it will result in a rerun of what happened in Iraq, where $1 billion in weapons supplied to local fighters is unaccounted for. Weapons, training and airstrikes by the coalition have aided ground forces in both Iraq and Syria, allowing Iraq's military, Iraqi Kurdish fighters and Syrian Kurdish fighters to retake some 55,000 square kilometers (21,235 square miles) of territory from the Islamic State extremists in the nearly three-year fight. However, many in both countries are concerned about how the forces bolstered by the coalition will leverage their influence and arms once the militants are vanquished. Numerous Iraqi groups that benefited from the training and arms have been accused of human rights violations. The Trump administration's decision to provide Syria's Kurds with more advanced weapons has raised concerns among the various players in Syria's complicated battlefield. U.S. officials have said new weapons to be supplied would include heavy machine guns, ammunition, mortars and possibly TOW anti-tank missiles. Coalition spokesman Col. John Dorrian said the weapons will not be reclaimed after the specific missions are completed but the U.S. will "carefully monitor" where and how they are used. "Every single one" of the weapons will be accounted for and the U.S. will "assure they are pointed at" IS, he said. But opposition fighters battling Syrian forces in the country's six-year civil war -- some of them backed by Turkey -- say there is simply no guarantee the weapons won't be directed against them or others. U.S.-backed Kurdish groups have often clashed with Turkey-backed groups in northern Syria, where many factions are jostling to hold various zones of influence. The coalition already has demonstrated an inability to track weapons in Iraq, a much less complex and unstable battlefield than Syria. Amnesty International released a report this month detailing a 2016 U.S. Defense Department audit stating that $1 billion in weapons provided to Iraqi forces for use in the IS fight are now unaccounted for. The coalition could have worked closer with the Iraqi government to ensure the weapons were accounted for, said Patrick Wilcken, a researcher with Amnesty and an author of the report. But in Syria, he said, it will be "almost impossible to avoid leakage and diversion of arms" provided by the coalition to fighters there. "The coalition takes all reasonable efforts to maintain accountability of equipment divested to the government of Iraq to fight" IS, coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon told The Associated Press. Since the 2016 audit referenced in the Amnesty report, he said, "all deficiencies identified in that report have been corrected." Iraqi commanders must sign for all equipment they receive and the coalition then continues to monitor them "for future vetting purposes" and on the battlefield, Dillon added. Allegations of torture, rape This month, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine detailed allegations of torture, rape and killings of IS suspects at the hands of Iraq's Emergency Response Division, an Interior Ministry unit that has played a leading role in the coalition-aided operation to retake Mosul. Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish forces and local policemen have all been accused of carrying out mass extrajudicial detentions of men and boys fleeing military operations against IS, according to reports by Human Rights Watch and the AP. Syrian Kurdish forces backed by the coalition have also been accused of abuses against Sunni Arabs, according to human rights organizations and Syrian opposition activists. Other armed groups -- notably Iraq's mostly Shiite paramilitary forces who do not receive direct U.S. assistance of any kind -- have been accused of much more widespread human rights abuses than the forces backed by the coalition. The U.S. human rights law known as the Leahy amendment prohibits the Defense Department from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights. In March 2015, the Iraqi Emergency Response Division was disqualified from receiving U.S. equipment and training, coalition spokesman Dillon said. But he said the law does not prevent the U.S. from working with the ERD to help ensure a coordinated effort among different elements of the Iraqi security forces. The coalition has shared intelligence with the unit and conducted airstrikes to facilitate their military operations. Iraq's Kurdish forces known as the peshmerga -- who have received some of the most extensive support from the coalition, including training, arms and air support -- have been accused of destroying Arab property and forcing Arab residents out of dozens of villages retaken from IS. The AP visited one village outside Kirkuk where Arab residents said Kurdish forces labeled their homes as "confiscated," seized identification documents and reduced buildings to rubble. Iraq's Kurdistan regional government denied the claims, saying IS fighters destroyed the houses as they retreated. Syrian Kurdish forces In northern Syria, rebels are concerned that Syrian Kurdish forces will mirror the actions of the peshmerga and use the fight against IS to expand the land they control, ultimately creating a separate state by pushing out ethnic Arabs. Amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, the Kurds have already created an autonomous Kurdish zone in northern Syria. An Amnesty International fact-finding mission to northern Syria in 2015 uncovered forced displacement of Arab residents carried out by Kurdish forces that the group said amounted to war crimes. The report detailed the deliberate demolishing of civilian homes as well as razing and burning whole villages previously captured by IS. The Kurds have rejected the claims. Col. Abdul-Razzak Ahmad Freiji, a Syrian army defector who is now with Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria, said news of U.S. arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters exacerbates his concerns. After the fight with the Islamic State group is over, Freiji said, "these weapons [will be directed] against us." U.S. President Donald Trump talked trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a White House visit on Wednesday and welcomed the signing of business deals worth billions of dollars and the jobs they would create. General Electric said earlier it had signed deals with Vietnam worth about $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines and services, its largest ever single combined sale with the country. Caterpillar and its dealer in Vietnam also agreed to provide generator management technology for more than 100 generators in Vietnam, the company said. "They (Vietnam) just made a very large order in the United States - and we appreciate that - for many billions of dollars, which means jobs for the United States and great, great equipment for Vietnam," Trump told reporters at the White House. Phuc told the Heritage Foundation after his meeting with Trump he had signed deals for U.S. goods and services worth $15 billion during his three-day U.S. visit, most involving the import of U.S. equipment. He said on Tuesday the deals were mainly for high-technology products and for services, but gave no details and the value of deals announced thus far by U.S. firms was lower than the figure given by Phuc. Communist Vietnam has gone from being a Cold War enemy to an important partner for the United States in the Asia-Pacific, where both countries share concerns about China's rising power. Phuc told Trump the relationship had undergone "significant upheavals in history," but that the two countries were now "comprehensive partners." Phuc's meeting with Trump makes him the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House under the new administration. Trade friction However, while Hanoi and Washington have stepped up security cooperation in recent years, trade has become a potential irritant, with a deficit widening steadily in Vietnam's favor, reaching $32 billion last year, compared with $7 billion a decade earlier. Trump, who has had strong words for countries with large trade surpluses with the United States, said he would be discussing trade with Phuc, as well as North Korea. Washington has been seeking support to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear and missile programs, which have become an increasing threat to the United States. Hanoi has said it shares concerns about North Korea. In his Heritage speech, Phuc welcomed Trump's plans to attend the November APEC summit in Hanoi. He called it a sign of U.S. commitment to the region and "an important occasion for the United States to assert its positive role." In a reference to somewhat warmer ties between Washington and Beijing under Trump - who has been courting China's support on North Korea - Phuc said Vietnam welcomed good relations between the two powers, but hoped these would serve the interest of other nations in the region too. He urged Washington and Beijing "to act with full transparency and in a responsible manner so as not to impact negatively the region and relations among other nations." Nice, but not enough Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that while the Trump administration welcomed new business deals with Vietnam, its view was they were "nice, but not enough." "They want Vietnam to bring some ideas about how to tackle the surplus on an ongoing basis," he said. On Tuesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed concern about the rapid growth of the deficit with Vietnam. He said it was a new challenge for the two countries and he was looking to Phuc to help address it. The deficit is Washington's sixth largest and reflects growing imports of Vietnamese semiconductors and other electronics products in addition to more traditional sectors such as footwear, apparel and furniture. Phuc said the two economies were "more complementary than competitive" and said U.S. exports to Vietnam had seen a rapid rise. On Tuesday his trade minister, Tran Tuan Anh, presented Lighthizer with suggestions to address some U.S. concerns, such as advertising on U.S. social media, electronic payment services and imports of information security and farm products, Vietnam's trade ministry said. Vietnam also urged the United States to remove an inspection program for catfish, speed import licenses for its fruit and make fair decisions on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on Vietnamese products, the ministry said. Vietnam was disappointed when Trump ditched the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, of which Hanoi was expected to be one of the main beneficiaries, and focused U.S. trade policy on reducing deficits. A massive truck bomb exploded Wednesday morning in the diplomatic section of Afghanistan's capital, killing at least 90 people and wounding more than 300 others. A security official speaking on condition of anonymity told VOA the casualty figures hours after the blast. Earlier, Afghan health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Majroh had put the number of deaths at 80, saying it could rise. The bomb ripped through the central Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul, home to foreign diplomatic missions and government offices, damaging dozens of vehicles and surrounding buildings. Afghan officials said the explosives were packed in a sewage tanker. Near German embassy The bombing happened in an area not far from the German embassy. Pictures circulated on social media showed the blast turned a portion of the diplomatic mission into ruins. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter an Afghan security guard was among those killed and that a number of employees were wounded. The explosion also mostly devastated a nearby building, housing the main office of Roshan, the leading telecommunications service provider in Afghanistan. Afghan security forces swiftly cordoned off the area and international troops arrived at the site to assist in rescue efforts. Afghan television showed dozens of ambulances taking wounded people to hospitals, including women. Claim of responsibility There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The Taliban has denied involvement, saying the insurgent group has nothing to do with the bombing or any attacks that target civilians. The insurgents have lately intensified attacks on Afghans security forces, killing and wounding scores of them. Islamic State has claimed attacks against high-profile Afghan targets in recent months, including a deadly suicide raid on the country's largest military hospital in Kabul in March. That attack left at least 50 people dead, including soldiers and doctors. WATCH: Raw video footage from scene of bombing Condemnation Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned Wednesday's blast as an inhuman and cowardly attack against innocent civilians in the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. NATOs U.S.-led Resolute Support military mission said the attack "demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people. Neighboring Pakistan also denounced the terrorist attack, saying it has caused damage to the residence of Pakistani diplomats and staff, and inflicted minor injuries to some. The people and government of Pakistan extend their heartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to the government and the people of Afghanistan and the bereaved families, said a foreign ministry spokesman. The latest violence comes as President Ghani is set to host a conference of neighboring and regional countries in Kabul next week to discuss ways to end an increasingly deadly Afghan conflict. Farmer Simon Kahari recently sold tobacco worth more than $6,000 at an auction in Zimbabwe, a small fortune reflecting the golden leaf's resurgence in this southern African country. Yet because of Zimbabwe's dire economic problems he ended up sleeping in an auction house toilet that night, hungry and wondering if and when he would be able to access his earnings. "I don't have any money for food or anything," Kahari said. "I came here expecting to be paid, so now I will have to borrow." Many of Zimbabwe's tobacco farmers share the same plight during the ongoing selling season of the crop, Zimbabwe's second biggest earner after gold. While exported tobacco rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars, small-time farmers feel left out of the lucrative cycle. A cash shortage that underlines the country's deepening economic woes has left farmers who travel long distances to auctions unpaid, stranded and desperate. Farmers like Kahari are not paid in cash because of the currency shortage. But they need the money because much of Zimbabwe, especially rural areas where there is little infrastructure, is a cash-based society. Instead, their earnings are deposited into accounts that they must open at bank branches at the auction houses. Then the farmers must stick around for weeks, hoping for the daily withdrawal limit of $100 but often getting no more than $50. Meanwhile, tobacco sales have jumped 30 percent from last year, earning $300 million so far, according to the country's Tobacco Industry Marketing Board. President Robert Mugabe and many in his government point to rebounding tobacco production as justification for often violent land seizures years ago. Many tobacco farmers were resettled on farms forcibly taken from whites, 20 years after Zimbabwe became independent from white minority rule in 1980. Mugabe's deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said this month that tobacco sales mean "the cake is now spread to ordinary families in the countryside," but many distressed people at a tobacco sales floor wore torn clothes. On May 4, police fired tear gas to disperse tobacco farmers protesting non-payment and hazardous living conditions at auction floors. "Relax. It has been three weeks for me and I am still here," Luckson Mutaya told fellow farmer Kahari, who appeared fidgety after waiting only several hours. He advised Kahari on a few basics, especially the need to hold a place in one of the toilets to avoid enduring the cold night in the open. "Oh, and you have to write down all the essential phone numbers. Very soon you won't be having that phone," Mutaya added, puffing a large cigarette of tobacco leaves rolled in an old newspaper. He cannot afford processed cigarettes selling for 10 cents each. Mobile phones and national identity cards are the new currency as farmers taking food on credit surrender their phones and identity cards as security to vendors. One food seller, Maria Mandebvu, complained that farmers leave without paying their bills and recalled happy years when farmers were paid cash on the spot. Then, the auction floors transformed into one huge bazaar, with traders hustling anything from cars to solar panels, beds, alcohol and sex. Dozens of traders are still camped there this year. Music blares from makeshift wooden and plastic stalls. But no one is dancing. On the auction floor, business is hectic as buyers swiftly go through rows of tobacco bales, negotiating prices. By 10 p.m. the male and female toilets are fully occupied by farmers deep in sleep. Nearby, breastfeeding mothers and children squeeze next to male strangers in the open on parched grass and tarmac. Some sleep on top of steel storage shipping containers, others on stairs and conveyor belts. "The country is making money from our tobacco, we deserve some dignity," said Lloyd Muponda, who traveled 300 kilometers (186 miles) to sell his crop two weeks ago. Joseph Made, the agriculture minister, said his office is negotiating with the finance ministry to ease the farmers' plight. It may be too late for 78-year-old Agnes Hanja, who badly needs cash to pay off debts and laborers back home. "I will not grow tobacco again," Hanja said. "This is dehumanizing." The protesters shouted slogans against the government seeking uninterrupted water supply in Sangam Vihar, Tughlakabad and adjoining areas. By Abhishek Anand: Hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers today staged a protest against Delhi government over the crisis of water in areas of south Delhi. South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri led the group of agitators at the Delhi Jal Board office in Greater Kailash-1 and burned effigy of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The protesters shouted slogans against the government seeking uninterrupted water supply in Sangam Vihar, Tughlakabad and adjoining areas. advertisement "The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is working on behest of the AAP MLAs and middlemen are involved in distribution of water tankers," alleged Bidhuri. WATER SCARCITY Many areas of Delhi are reeling under severe scarcity of water and residents are dependent on water tankers of the DJB but there are none. The BJP MP also threatened the DJB officials in presence of police officials accusing them of not listening to the demands of public. "If the junior engineer of the area doesn't ensure unbiased distribution of water tankers, I will teach him a lesson. I am declaring this in front of the police. I will not tolerate this," said Bidhuri. The protesters broke the first police barricade and tried to jump the final barricade also. The cops had to push the protestors off from the final barricade. The agitators were pacified after assurance from the DJB officials. Also read: Ground report: Tribal villages near Mumbai face water crisis Also read: Arvind Kejriwal sacked Kapil Mishra over water scarcity in Delhi. Ground Report presents different picture --- ENDS --- The Ministry for Heritage has announced that three new interpretation panels have been placed within our Old Town in order to provide information on our Medieval History, namely our Islamic and Spanish Periods. Photo: DC Comics Princess. Ambassador. Warrior. Paragon of peace and truth. There are many sides to Wonder Woman, also known as Diana of Themyscira, yet director Patty Jenkinss upcoming adaptation marks the first appearance of Wonder Woman in live action on the big screen. That Wonder Woman hasnt been afforded the same opportunities as Batman and Superman despite being one the longest running and undoubtedly most iconic female characters in comic-book history is appalling. If you ask comic fans why it took 75 years for Wonder Woman to make her film debut, youll likely hear the same old excuses: Her origin is too tricky, her background is too weird, or most infuriatingly, that she doesnt have iconic stories. Its time to set the record straight: Wonder Woman is a bold character with enough outstanding comics in her arsenal that its hard to recommend just seven. I was initially tempted to add Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiangs first collection from their three-year run on the character, since it seems to be a touchstone for the Gal Gadot film, but I thought it would be best to recommend works that exemplify Wonder Woman at her best a skilled warrior who is nearly unparalleled in a fight, but prefers to extend a helping hand before the end of her sword. If youre looking to understand the character before the films June 2 premiere, these comics are the perfect place to start. Wonder Woman by George Perez Omnibus by George Perez, Len Wein, Greg Potter, Bruce Patterson, John Costanza, and Tatjana Wood Yes, I am recommending George Perezs entire run on Wonder Woman. Why? Perezs work as a writer and artist is the gold standard for Wonder Woman in the modern age. The men and women involved in bringing this bold new take on Wonder Woman to fruition used the opportunity of Crisis on Infinite Earths (which rebooted the DC Universe) to shape the character in fascinating ways while remaining true to her core ethos. There are a few factors essential to the character ever since William Moulton Marston created her in 1941 as a beacon of feminist values: She was born on an all-woman island of warriors known as Themyscira (earlier referred to as Paradise Island); she was raised by the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta; and after Steve Trevor crashes on the island, a contest to determines who will visit the outside world precipitates Dianas transformation into the hero we know her to be. Perez and his collaborators build upon these essential aspects in moving ways: The Greek mythology is heightened, the Amazons are given new backstory that puts the feminist politics center stage, and Wonder Woman becomes immensely more powerful than she had been before (gaining the ability to fly, among others powers shes granted by patron goddesses like Artemis and Aphrodite). Perez is also responsible for injecting much needed diversity within the mythos, thanks to characters like Philippus, who plays an integral role in raising Diana. Perezs Wonder Woman offers something no other major comic-book character does with such a depth of emotion and beauty: Its a coming-of-age story rooted in an essentially female power fantasy. The Hiketeia by Greg Rucka, J.G. Jones, Wade von Grawbadger, Dave Stewart Whenever I hear someone deride Wonder Woman for not having any iconic stories, I point them in the direction of this 2002 comic, which can be found in the first volume of Greg Ruckas amazing run on the character. My love for this blistering and powerful story begins with its amazing cover by artist J.G. Jones, which presents an immediately tantalizing image of Wonder Womans signature red-and-white boots grinding on Batmans wincing face. What more could you ask for? The Hiketeia distills the political and loyal nature of Wonder Woman as shes tasked with protecting a young woman who went on a revenge murder spree in Gotham, but Batman isnt the only antagonist Wonder Woman finds herself facing. Both the Furies and her own status as an ambassador puts immense pressure on her. Come to see Wonder Woman put Batman in his place, stay for the complex rendition of her commitment to the Amazonian ethos and the nature of justice among superheroes. JLA: A League of One by Christopher Moeller In Justice League comics, Wonder Woman often gets relegated to minor roles to provide space for the richer narratives granted to Superman and Batman, or shes forced to act as a bloodthirsty warrior woman even though it directly contradicts what her character represents. But Christopher Moeller who wrote and painted this story had different plans for the Amazonian princess. Moellers gorgeous writing and art leans into the mythic nature of Wonder Woman. JLA: A League of One is a fable that sees Wonder Woman make difficult choices in to save her Justice League comrades from a prophecy that proclaims their death. She also battles a dragon, which is pretty cool. Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman Vol. 2 by Various Writers and Artists One of the most intriguing aspects of Wonder Woman is her mutability. Sensation Comics takes advantage of this by giving a host of writers and artists a chance to put their own spin on the heroine. This collection of short comics vault between young-adult simplicity, heavy science fiction, space opera, and moving stories about mother-daughter relationships. The art is at times buoyant, other times surreal. If youve never read Wonder Woman before, Id recommend this collection, since there is something for everyone. Wonder World, written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Noelle Stevenson, is a sweet coming-of-age story in which a young Diana escapes Themyscira to explore Mans World, finding fun, companionship, and ice cream with girls her age. Venus Rising, written by Alex De Campi with art by Neil Googe, is a pure space-opera epic, offering sharp commentary on Wonder Womans place in the Justice League and how she deals with the scrutiny of social media. Its work like this collection that shows the humanity in Wonder Womans character. She isnt unerringly perfect, but a woman with foibles and struggles that can actually be relatable. Wonder Woman #170: A Day in the Life by Phil Jimenez, Joe Kelly, Andy Lanning This issue, which is a part of the Paradise Lost collection set to be rereleased on June 6 and currently available on its own digitally, is undoubtedly one of the most emotionally and morally complex stories from Wonder Womans 75-year history. Its premise is deceptively simple: Wonder Woman is mired in the fallout from a Themysciran civil war that left her stripped of her title as princess and unable to return to the place she calls home. Enter Lois Lane, who spends an entire day with Wonder Woman as she jets from dive bars to refugee camps to the White House to visit President Lex Luthor. In just a few pages, Jimenez evocatively depicts the breadth of Wonder Womans character the pressure shes under, the many lives shes lived, and the politics she adheres to. A Day in the Life also sees Wonder Woman reckon with the privilege that comes with being a goddess-blessed, royal superhero who fits a revered beauty ideal. The Circle by Gail Simone, Terry Dodson, Bernard Chang, Rachel Dodson, Alex Sinclair, et. al. Youve probably noticed there are far too few women creators on this list, given that Wonder Woman is a character intrinsically tied to feminism. Consider it a byproduct of a terribly male-dominated industry. Of course, Simones work on Wonder Woman which is at its best in this first volume gets a mention not because of her gender. The Circle is a poignant rendition of Wonder Womans origins and the compassion at the heart of her character. Simone adds a wrinkle to Wonder Womans origins that addresses the reactions to her birth by other Amazons who are unable to have children. After forming Wonder Woman out of clay granted life by Aphrodite, a sharp division within Queen Hippolytas personal guard threatens to rip Themyscira apart. Wonder Woman eventually inspires hope, but the seed of fear planted within these fearsome warriors ends up having devastating consequences on the characters past, present, and future. The collection is worth the cover price alone for how artists Terry and Rachel Dodson conceive of Wonder Woman. Shes never been more beautiful and imposing. Wonder Woman Vol 1: The Lies and Wonder Woman Vol 2: Year One by writer Greg Rucka and artists Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott Okay, this is a cheat, but its hard for me to separate these two collections. The Lies and Year One have been running at the same time, each presenting complex, evocative portraits of Wonder Woman at different points in her life. One of the best things DC Comics has done recently is its Rebirth revamp, which once again rebooted the characters only a few years after a similar but less successful effort with the New 52. Perhaps the smartest Rebirth decision was bringing back Greg Rucka to pen Wonder Woman, considering he had done what I consider the best run on the character in the early 2000s. The Lies reckons with the many changes to Wonder Womans origin in a meta way that may be a bit overwhelming for newcomers, but it is a brutal and intense story aided by Liam Sharps great art that fleshes out her major relationships with Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and her friend turned foe Barbara Ann Minerva, a.k.a. Cheetah. By comparison, Year One is more approachable. The title says it all: Its about Dianas journey from the naive Amazon princess to the superhero who brings a message of peace to Mans World. The art by Nicola Scott is vibrant in ways the character hasnt been depicted in years. What draws me to both stories, along with Greg Ruckas work with the character in general, is that it exemplifies what makes Wonder Woman such a fascinating superhero: Shes a trenchant refutation of the typical, toxic masculine power fantasies of her peers. House of Cards Chapter 59 Season 5 Episode 7 Editors Rating 3 stars * * * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Patricia Clarkson as Jane Davis. Photo: David Giesbrecht / Netflix As you may have anticipated in the previous episode, Claire and Frank are not adjusting well to their current situation. Claire is the acting president, but Frank sees her strictly as a placeholder for him. He wants everyone to defer to his judgment, even though those kids at the White House tend to take protocol pretty seriously (present real-life administration excluded). But as far as everyone but Frank is concerned, Claire is the president, no asterisk, no nothing, until whoever comes along next takes the oath of office. Claire, like many a brilliant and hyper-capable woman before her, has to constantly cater to Franks massive ego even though she should just be able to do her thing, because shes the president and he is not. Can you imagine if their roles were reversed? Would Claire be interrupting Frank in every meeting, talking over him in the Situation Room, answering questions that were obviously directed at him? Please. And if she did, would Frank react with the cool grace Claire deploys here? Okay, end of thought experiment, on with the recap. We see the Underwoods with their backs to each other, readying themselves for the day and arguing hard. We get a GROW UP! and a You are pathetically mistaken, and a Wake up, Claire. WAKE UP! all before breakfast. This fight is about the fact that Claire agreed to accept the nominee Mark (who, in order to make this show unnecessarily confusing, they suddenly refer to by his last name, Usher) picks for the vacant SCOTUS seat. In other words, Frank is being a baby about how he isnt in control of this, and everything else, everywhere and forevermore. The tension is plain in the Situation Room where Frank, though still seated to Claires right, is firmly on his side of the table. He undercuts her and questions her judgment in public, because he is a viciously insecure man who cant watch his wife live in her power for 30 seconds without feeling threatened. This baddie with ICO connections has been spotted and the question is, take him out now or watch him in the hopes of getting a bunch of ICO contacts too? In a shocking twist, Frank wants to do the thing that makes the biggest boom and he wants it now. Though some generals advise the alternate route of eyeing him for intelligence, Claire agrees with Frank. As this happens, Doug and LeAnn get their hands on a juicy recording of Brockhart uttering this treasonous tidbit: If Underwood puts soldiers on those borders, Ill be the first to tell them not to listen. If the president of the United States gives orders like that, you put him out of his misery. Ruh-roh. Also inspiring some ruh-roh feelings: the increasingly flirtatious banter between Doug and LeAnn. Literally no attractive brunettes are safe around Doug. Jane Davis (Patricia Clarkson, hi!) appears as a deputy secretary whose official job title doesnt seem as important as her off-the-record contacts in the Middle East who have done business with ICO and can help nail down this at-large baddie. For a very, very brief moment, she, Claire, and Cathy are all in the Oval together. It ends in a hot second, but I just have to say: It looked so good, seeing the Oval Office with only women in it. Guess itll be a while until we see that again. This striking visual shatters almost as quickly as its assembled, because Claire and the gang are getting evacuated. A truck carrying radioactive material has gone missing. How do you lose a truck that is loaded with barrels of the stuff that turned Alex Mack into a glowy, meltable superhero? Claires first reaction is to ask Frank if its real. Theyve been behind so many false alarms in the past, they doubt the veracity of everything. Maybe they even invented ICO! (I dont really think they invented ICO.) Frank is edgy about everything, mostly his lack of real authority. I love when Nora, rogue staffer, yells at Frank for acting like hes in charge. (Thank goodness Claire did not accept her resignation. I get why Nora had to apologize, but I also wish she hadnt.) Frank is in such denial about his status. Claire knows where she belongs, though: Shes wearing an army-green top with small gold buttons connected by delicate chains, fashion that mirrors military decorations. Also, her hair looks perfect. Jane Davis is all skittish about being locked in this massive safe underground Honestly, I was thinking about how far down we are and how its not my favorite thing which is also how I would react to this scenario. No one knows exactly how she has the level of security clearance that got her into this very exclusive bunker, but by the end of the episode, Claire determines that Jane can be quite useful. Claire also has a little nuzzle session with Tom, assuring him that she was worried about him all day, but I rejoice in the awareness that Claire didnt think Tom was important enough to be protected from death by radioactive explosion. Frank angry-shouts his way out of the bunker so he can find out if this is a real terrorist threat or some play by the Brockhart-Conway team to get the Underwoods to evacuate D.C., causing mass panic and dipping Frank and Claires approval ratings. When he returns to the White House proper, he passes a portrait of Bill Clinton. Interesting choice, not just because of the obvious parallels House of Cards wants to make between these two power couples. No one ever mentions Bill or Hillary in this show; youd think, if Bill were president in the world of HoC, then Hillary would also be a factor, and she would have at least come up in all of these conversations about running for office. (Veep avoids this altogether by not mentioning anybody after Reagan.) Anyway, Frank visits his old seat behind the Resolute Desk. He looks very small back there. The above-ground general who meets with Frank all but tells him the threat isnt real, pointing out that General Braeger the dude in the bunker with the mustache whom Frank does not like is very close with General Brockhart. You know, what you people protect best is each other, Frank says to her, and then he flips out about how this was an attempted coup and its like: FRANCIS, YOU WERE PRESIDENT BECAUSE OF YOUR COUP. Isnt there a political equivalent of game recognizing game? At least be like, Wow, great idea for a coup. I also love a good coup. Dont act so scandalized. We know your whole deal. General Braeger, now found out, resigns but refuses to implicate anyone else in this ill-advised endeavor. You dont deserve to be in the White House, he snarls at Claire. Neither you nor your husband. Unlike Frank, who would have ruined the moment with an endless, bombastic monologue about greatness and nothing, Claires farewell is calm, brief, and all the more powerful for it. Later on, as Frank putzes around with his toy soldiers, he admits Claire was right about the need to sit down with Mark for this whole SCOTUS thing. She eyes his battlefield. I know its obvious, but it always strikes me no women. Well you know my position, Frank says. Im all for women in combat. Frank has photos of Tom having sex with the tour guide, and Im not really sure what to do with that because its not like Tom and Claire are exclusive. Does Frank think Claire will be appalled at this desecration of a room dedicated to our free press? Claire summons Mark to the Oval, where Frank is also waiting. She chastises him for this pesky little fake terror threat No more October surprises and I write in my notes, Wait, isnt anyone doing the thing where they actually run the country? Or has this place just been spinning out for months while these guys try to outmaneuver each other with terrorism that isnt happening and threats that arent real? Then Frank plays the Brockhart recording. We close out on Claire, looking like the boss she was destined to be. Meanwhile, our friends at the Herald are making some headway: Tom is looking into the day Doug Stamper was carjacked and manages to connect it, through both timing and geography, to Rachels last known address. He hunts down the landlord of Rachel and Lisas apartment, then confirms that this guy recognizes Doug as the person who paid the rent. (Before all this, he makes a cameo on CNN and talks in such a huge pile of awful reporter cliches the silence is deafening, ugh, come on Tom that he should be sent to journalism jail. Sean sniffs around the transplant widow, not knowing that shes fooling around with Doug. When she tells Doug that a reporter from the Herald came by to do a story on the foundation she started for her husband, Dougs eyes flood with terror. Sean also tells Seth that he wants to be considered for a comms job at the White House. What do we think: Is he going deep undercover or crossing over to the dark side? House of Cards Chapter 60 Season 5 Episode 8 Editors Rating 3 stars * * * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood. Photo: David Giesbrecht/Netflix A field of men in red hooded capes gather around an intensely creepy statue in what appears to be some kind of Burning Man for the Uber-influential. The statue is the Crow of Elysium, because, sure, if I were going to pick a bird to render in a larger-than-life size for trippy ritual worship, thats the one Id pick. The whole scene reminds me of that fraternity party where Buffy and Cordelia were going to be sacrificed to some giant snake-god so the brothers could stay wealthy and keep the keggers rolling. Turns out this crow prefers its sacrifice to be what appears to be a very slender Storm Trooper made of papier mache. Who turns around and whips off his golden mask at this soiree but Frank Underwood, who finally gained admittance into a club that both wants all the most powerful, influential, important men to be there but also bans women and all presidents. (Wait, what? I feel like thats just what they told Frank as a way of getting out of inviting him last year. Yeah bro, I know it sounds strange, but thats because its a law written by the Crow from before the time of man. Otherwise, wed for sure include you.) Although no one explicitly says that the gathering bans black people, there are only two men of color in attendance that I could spot, and neither of them were called upon to do or say much of anything. This little glamping trip for the one percent is held in some off-the-grid woodsy spot called Elysian Fields, a totally unpretentious reference to the paradise in Greek mythology where the gods would confer immortality upon humanitys worthiest heroes. Frank makes some grandiose statement to us about how only he, a mastermind among sloth brains, could manage to reduce a national election down to one state. Shh, nobody tell him that our national elections typically come down to a just a few states without the interference of any Underwoods, Ohio often numbering among them, and aspiring presidents tend to strategize accordingly. Anyway, in spite of all the bizarre nonsense on display here like, really, Im supposed to believe Conways campaign manager and his running mate and Frank would just abscond to the reception-free wilderness with days to go before the Ohio election? And no one in the press tries to find out where they are? I was excited about this bananas setup and the crazy possibilities it afforded the episode. Would Frank, by the cover of night and in the name of the Crow, kill somebody with his bare hands deep in the woods of Elysium? Id be into that! But unfortunately, what we got was Raymond Tusk. NOOOOOOO. I audibly groaned at the sight of this man, a mind-bogglingly boring and infuriating character whose contributions to House of Cards include several episodes about bird-watching. This IRL bro huddle has one ground rule, and of course it is phrased as some annoying metaphor about bees, but basically you cant talk about business or politics except everyone keeps sneaking around to talk about business and politics. Also in attendance at this Jamboree of Mansplaining (though if there are no women to whom a man can mansplain, is it still mansplaining?): Mark, the Conway campaign manager whose whole look is what if Anderson Cooper were a ghoul who never wanted to fully expose his neck to daylight?; Brockhart, the general who everyone insists is a good man until they get to know him and realize hes a dirtbag like all the rest; and Benjamin from Pollyhop, the young tech entrepreneur who was working with Conway and is apparently helping Raymond Tusk cryogenically freeze his personality so he can continue to bore us from beyond the grave. Everyone in this field is the most insufferable person youve ever met, until you meet the person standing next to him. As Frank launches into yet another monologue about the nature of power and victory, I can actually feel myself aging in real time. We get it, Frank: No one understands anything or is capable of anything or can do or say or think or become anything, except for you, for you are the most amazing, and power is like a bumblebee that buzzes through Gaffney, eating peaches and circling that water tower that looks like a butt even though its supposed to be a peach. Also, power is a different bee that doesnt like peaches but exists only to sting your enemies, and the bee whichever bee successfully stings the other bee in this double-bee metaphor is a fickle mistress you can only tame through relentless pursuit and also the occasional homicide. Also, elections are decided not by the will of the people, but the schemes of a handful of the douchiest men you know from that one poli-sci seminar you took just to fulfill a graduation requirement. Pollyhop Ben gives an off-brand TED talk about how Tusks facial likeness can be preserved in a data storage center in the desert for the rest of eternity, so we all have that to look forward to. Frank and Brockhart talk like spoken-word poets from your nightmares. Here is a real thing Frank says: I like dirt and rocks and facts. Here is a real thing that Brockhart says in reply: Im a patriot. I serve. Its not really clear to me how one could crown Frank the winner of anything at this Overgrown Boy Scout Camp, but Mark is impressed, I guess? Frank is certainly convinced that his speech went over well. Just as Frank is leaving, Pollyhop Ben who is drunk, as a person must be to tolerate this intolerable weekend just hands over the recording of Conway being a psycho on the plane. So the plan is for Mark and Brockhart to blackmail Conway into letting them run everything. Not sure when in real life this scene was written and shot, but knowing what we now know about the non-impact of an objectively damning and disqualifying recording of a presidential candidate, this seems like a less than bulletproof plan. Oh well! Frank is ready to leak the tape and, as far as hes concerned, destroy Conways chances. He and Claire summon Mark to the Oval and lure him to their side of the fight. While Frank is busy with this lost weekend, Acting president Claire finally gets the chance to act like a president. Doug is so distraught without Frank around and always suggests they call Frank to get his opinion, but Frank after working Doug into a tizzy about Tusk, but then insisting Doug actually do nothing with the intel is unavailable. Doug is the kid who would tell the substitute teacher that you had a homework assignment due that day. So this Russian research vessel is sinking into some very icy waters, and Petrov doesnt want the U.S. to see whats on board. Hmm. Petrovs beard looks great, in my opinion. Claire disagrees, but I think we all know Claires taste in men is her greatest flaw. Claire tries to make the play to trade the crew for Aidan, but Petrov isnt having it. He says that if Claire does send a rescue team, he will leak everything Aidan knows. Complicating things further is the news that theres an American on the boat. The U.S. is also sorting out some trade deal with China, and China is oh-so graciously offering to assist with the rescue. Jane says this is just for humanitarian reasons, but then reveals its actually tied up in the negotiation: No rescue and the tariff deal wont go through. What is Claire to do? Also, how is Jane suddenly such a major player in the administration? We didnt even know her before the last episode! Claire says she doesnt believe theres an American onboard and insists on proof that, as Cathy points out, will be virtually impossible to obtain. Then she forces China to up the tariff as punishment for collaborating with Petrov and has China take all the credit for the rescue even though America was in on it. She lets the boat sink. Based on Janes ominous sign-off the American was the technology I think we are supposed to believe the American guy died on the boat and sank to the seafloor, frozen, just as Raymond Tusk hopes to be after death. In other Claire updates: Tom loves Claire. Claire thinks she loves Tom, too. The woman Tom was seeing in New York was his theology teacher turned wife because of course she was. She probably read all his horrendous first drafts and told him that he was the most insightful, brilliant student shed ever had, which explains everything. At the Herald, I ask: COULD THIS PLOT PROGRESS AT A SLOWER PACE? I swear on the tracks of the Cathedral Heights Metro, is this portion of our fair program designed to drive all of us as insane as Lucas Goodwins manifesto sounds? Tom spends a few minutes flipping through disturbing photos of corpses (they are all beautiful young women, as they must be) and Angela gets the chills looking at Zoes old press pass, and thats it. At this rate, Im sure Tom will crack the case right around the time Doug falls in love with a blonde. The Underwoods win Ohio and America is theirs! Mazel tov? I was very intrigued by the possibility of a Conway presidency with Claire as VP and all the double-crossing and unexpected ally-creating that would have led to, but instead Frank is the president and Claire is the vice-president and all is right in the Underwoods universe, if nowhere else. Conway can barely keep it together when he needs to concede, and naturally is offended by the non-offer of Transportation secretary which, as he says, is what you give to Congressmen from nowhere. Well, Conway, what do you give to guys who are never going to be president of the United States? Hannah tells her husband she cant stand by his side during his concession speech. Good for you, Hannah! Claire and Frank take a moment in the Oval to bask in their victory, although Frank isnt doing much basking. Everything gets easier from now on, Claire assures him, which Im pretty sure is not at all accurate! Its not like how the hardest part of Harvard is getting in and once you do that they just give you As until you graduate. The hardest part of the presidency is the part where you have to be the president. The cabinet resigns and then is immediately reinstated we see great theatrical tearing-up of the resignation letters, a nice touch and Frank starts talking about everyones favorite meaningless demarcation in the land: the first 100 days. Franks vision is ostensibly to unite our deeply divided nation, though who knows if that matters to him at all. I do wonder: Now that he has the presidency, what does he want to do with it? Does he have a real idea of how the country should be run, what problems need addressing? He seems more like the power-for-powers-sake type. Dougs whisper-growling has reached a comically low, hushed volume. I am amazed that no one has addressed it to his face. Can everyone really hear him just fine? Its not even a Batvoice; its how I sound when I have a hangover on a Sunday and the existential dread of the impending work week seeps into my vocal cords. Anyway, hes one of a handful of lackeys in the Underwood inner circle who are discovering that this brave new order might jeopardize their status. Doug is feeling all edgy about the inclusion of Mark Usher and Alex Romero, especially since the former gets the coveted title of special assistant to the president. No one else gets to be special to the president except for Doug! (Not sure what Claire was getting at when she asked him why he wasnt in the room for Jim Millers beheading, but I think/hope well find out soon.) Meanwhile, LeAnn is on the outs it has to look real, but also, it is real because of how everything went down with Aidan. Poor Aidan is a special guest in Russia much in the way Kimmy Schmidt was a special guest in Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Waynes bunker. She manages to be part of getting him out of Russia and to the Jordanian embassy in Paris, but by the end of the episode, his future is still uncertain. Frank wants him back in the States, but Jane says its better for this whatever this is to not happen on American soil. Plus, we dont know how many of his secrets are known by Petrov. Jane has found herself with the VPs ear, and how she climbed so high so fast is still a question mark. She does get two of my favorite lines of the episode, though: She declines Claires invitation to the inauguration by saying, Oh no, I cant. Something terrible always happens when I go to a party. I should start RSVP-ing to inconvenient bridal showers that way. She also says, Tom Yates has quite a reputation in a salacious way that I enjoyed very much. Frank knows about Toms little briefing-room tryst, by the way, and he is not pleased. No one is allowed to cheat on Claire except for Frank, who in a plot twist literally all of us saw coming, hooks up with Eric the personal trainer. (Yet another plotline lifted from Veep.) But more on that in a minute. Kate Baldwin a reporter who, you may recall, was sleeping with Tom in season three goes to Russia for an attempted but ultimately aborted interview with Aidan. Before she takes off, she meets up with Tom and they gaze at each other in front of a fireplace and she tells him that he looks tired in a not-sexy way. If these recaps came with sound effects, you would have heard a very loud Are you fucking kidding me with this Tom shit?! when that Kate and Tom scene ended and a Claire and Tom scene began. NO ONE CARES ABOUT TOM OR HIS DAINTY-BIRD ROMANTIC AND LUSTY FEELINGS. ALL OF THIS TIME COULD BE USED TO SOLVE THE 6 TRILLION MURDERS THAT WOULD KNOCK DOWN THE PROVERBIAL HOUSE OF CARDS AROUND WHICH THIS ENTIRE SERIES IS CONSTRUCTED, JESUS, MARY, AND ZOE BARNES. Anyway, Tom wants to retire as Claires speechwriter, and Claire is all, Youll need to have a reason to be here, so I figure theyll make him her special assistant or some such thing. Inauguration Day arrives, and with it a one-two punch of impeccably tailored and tough-yet-elegant all-white outfits on Claire. Her hair is also impeccable, of course. In the midst of his swearing in, Frank reminds us that, lo those many episodes ago, all he wanted was to be secretary of State. This is Americas fault. Though Frank promised Alex Romero (and, sort of by extension, Mark) that he would accommodate his request to mention boosting Medicaid early in the speech, he does just the opposite. He references AmWorks (ugh, remember how terrible AmWorks was?) and says hell be cutting back on programs like that: We have to learn to live without entitlements because we are not an entitled people. I apologize for repeating myself, but I cant let a line like that pass by without stating again, for the record, that this show should have just made Frank a Republican because he is so obviously not a Democrat and theres no reason to pretend otherwise. There is no neutrality, Frank explains to Mark. I expect total loyalty or you are an enemy. Is that supposed to be news to anyone? Thats like Cookie Monster having a real talk with Elmo and saying, You may not know this, but me love cookies. Me no want vegetables. Also, me monster. Frank takes Eric to his secret spiral staircase, where Eric boldly goes in for some erotic neck-sniffing, to which Frank responds with some erotic asphyxiation okay, I take that back, its really just regular asphyxiation. At this point, I wondered if maybe he would just kill Eric, because why not? But then they make out. Congratulations, Mr. President. Post-tryst, Frank goes to that painting behind which, Im fairly certain, is Meechums hand turkey. Franks hand hovers above the canvas for a second, and then he joins Claire. Really the only thing Frank has to worry about is that Romero, who is NOT happy with how the inauguration went down, is going to reopen the declaration of war committee, which means digging into Franks alleged crimes. Over at the slowest investigative operation in the history of mystery solving, Tom has security footage from the Cathedral Heights Metro from the night of Zoes death. Angela correctly states that the dude on the screen looks like just another white guy waiting for the train, even though Tom thinks its Doug. During one of what must be a ton of follow-up calls from Tom, Zoes dad says he just cant handle these calls anymore and I think, Oh God, I will die a withering, ancient soul before Tom gets his paws on a clue that helps solve at least one of these freaking homicides. But Mr. Barnes has a change of heart. He shows up at Toms office with one of those prepaid flip phones, which he found in Zoes things. He also talks about how Fathers Day was the last day he talked to her uh, yeah man, we all remember that. The episode ends with a gorgeous shot of Frank and Claire leaning on the Resolute desk together. They look at each other and then at us. And theres a lot of space between them. The Delhi Police today held two, including a minor in the case of an e-rickshaw driver beaten to death on Saturday by some men after he objected to them urinating in public. By India Today Web Desk: The Delhi Police today arrested a student and apprehended a minor for beating an e-rickshaw driver to death after he stopped them from urinating in public. The lynching of the man took place around 8 pm on Saturday near GTB metro station. According to police, deceased Ravinder was having his meal near GTB metro station when he saw two men urinating in public. Delhi: 2 people, including one juvenile, apprehended by Police in connection with lynching of an E-rickshaw driver. pic.twitter.com/AGlZi91HjJ- ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 advertisement WHAT HAPPENED Ravinder rebuked and asked them not to do so, police said. The two youths left only to come back in the evening searching for Ravinder. They were believed to be in inebriated condition. The two youths returned to the metro station around 8pm on Saturday along with around 20 more people. Ravinder was then attacked and thrashed brutally with sticks and was repeatedly hit with stones. Another e-rickshaw driver, who tried to intervene, was also assaulted. Ravinder was rushed to hospital soon after they left but was declared brought dead. It is suspected that the accused had come to Delhi to appear in a competitive examination. Also read: PM Modi condemns killing of e-rickshaw driver, announces ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to family Also read: Delhi e-rickshaw driver killed: Top DU college students detained, Venkaiah Naidu meets bereaved family Also watch: Delhi: DU students who beat e-rickshaw driver to death detained --- ENDS --- Teresa Palmer in Berlin Syndrome. Photo: Sarah Enticknap Memorial Day weekend at the movies provided plenty of standard blockbuster fodder, with both Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Baywatch giving audiences fresh new installments of intellectual property theyd previously loved, or at least heard of. But as astute theater patrons know, summertime has also become a great time for finding horror treasures amidst the massive muscles and massive budgets typically on offer. This years first sneaky summer entry is Berlin Syndrome, which stars Teresa Palmer as a young woman on holiday in Germany who is taken prisoner by a handsome local after they share a passionate tryst. Still, since horror tends to lather-rinse-repeat when it comes to thrills, theres a lot of chaff to sort through to find the wheat. So Vulture is here to be your guide, letting you know how scary Berlin Syndrome is, and assessing whether or not that brand of scary is something you want to take a chance on. First of all, what kind of scary is this movie? I cant do that torture stuff. Thats an interesting question! Berlin Syndrome isnt torture porn in the Saw and Hostel sense, but it is most certainly a feature-length exercise in psychological torture. Palmers character, Clare, is taken captive early on and kept in almost complete isolation in a derelict apartment building. (Before things turn sinister, Andi assures Clare no one can hear her when theyre having sex; we can assume that shes not the first woman hes kept under lock and key.) The apartment becomes a prison in which Clare is made to play house with a man who sees her as a possession. Theres not a lot of brutal violence in Berlin Syndrome, but the emotional wear and tear is heavy. Should I recognize anyone in this? Yes! Teresa Palmer is coming off a small turn in the Oscar contender Hacksaw Ridge, but she made her biggest impression in last summers horror surprise, Lights Out. Fortunately for horror fans, Palmer seems to deliver her best work under extreme duress. Her character here lets her burrow into the psychology of the victim-hero in a way Lights didnt, and Palmer works the gray areas of the Stockholm syndrome narrative. And you might not have heard of director Cate Shortland yet, but the Australian is definitely one to watch, having made Syndrome with a pair of critically acclaimed dramas, Lore and Somersault, already under her belt. It sounds like this movie will make me really uncomfortable, but is it scary? Yes, this movie will probably make you dreadfully uncomfortable down to your core. Berlin delivers the terror of watching a women being physically dominated by a man, before we watch her sense of self disappear a different, slower form of horror. Locked in captivity, Clare must act out to assert any semblance of autonomy, and balance self-defense with submission to stay alive. Shortland moves the story gradually; instead of going from one trauma to the next, were instead forced to see her live with and grow attached to her warden. The toxic blend of fear and dependency between Clare and Andi makes for perverse moments of comfort, and even inexplicable jealousy. Theres near-constant anxiety in wondering what he might possibly do to her next. All right Im into it. Is there anything else youd recommend based on the movie? If you want a straight-up thriller about a woman being trapped in a house, last years Hush is an excellent cat-and-mouse entrapment movie that ups the tension by featuring a deaf protagonist. If you want another movie that gets into the mind-warp of being the prisoner of a hypercontrolling male captor, Pedro Almodovars The Skin I Live In from 2011 is worth checking out. It stars Antonio Banderas as a lonely plastic surgeon keeping a beautiful young woman captive in his home, providing her with every creature comfort, but also turning her into a living doll that he performs constant procedures on. Kathy Griffin. Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images After initially defending a picture from her photo shoot with controversial celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, Kathy Griffin has issued a public apology for the image. The photo, which was originally published by TMZ, depicted the comedian with a stoic face holding a bloody head resembling President Trump. It was a piece of shock performance art that many on social media including fans, celebrities, and politicians on both sides of the aisle were decidedly not laughing at. Kathy Griffin Beheads Donald Trump in Shocking Photo Shoot (PHOTO) https://t.co/UM9GHRrFf5 TMZ (@TMZ) May 30, 2017 I sincerely apologize, Griffin said in a video posted on Twitter. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people, it wasnt funny, I get it. She added that she was taking down her posts of the image and that she was asking Shields to do the same. I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong. pic.twitter.com/LBKvqf9xFB Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 30, 2017 Earlier in the afternoon, Griffin shared the picture on her own social-media account and offered the caption There was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his wherever, a reference to Trumps comments about Megyn Kelly during campaign season. She also praised Shields, a photographer who previously incited controversy with his celebrity photo shoots, including one with Glees Heather Morris that seemed to glamorize domestic violence and another of Lindsay Lohan with a gun in her mouth. Update May 31: Trump has weighed in on the image, telling Griffin she should be ashamed of herself. Tim Pigott-Smith as future Charles. Photo: PBS Unless youre religiously tuning into Masterpiece on PBS for Downton Abbey or Victoria reruns, we wouldnt blame you if the latest British import to make its way Stateside, King Charles III, wasnt on your radar this past month. But for all of the Anglophiles out there, thats a huge mistake you need to watch the hell out of this royal drama, and you need to do it fast. You see, its a future-history film about the ascension of Charles, Prince of Wales, to the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and lets just say its an unflattering portrayal that doesnt shy away from depicting the heir apparent as a model of incompetence and indecisiveness. Reactions to the narrative have understandably been mixed since debuting in the U.K., although the Shakespearean usage of blank verse, as well as the marvelous production quality, gives the film an undisputed aura of sophistication despite its tabloid-y roots. Because nobody can resist some faux behind-palace-doors drama, we broke down everything you need to know. For starters, is it based on anything? It is indeed. Its adapted from the 2014 stage play written by Mike Bartlett, which had a relatively prosperous run in Londons West End before transferring to Broadway for a few months in late 2015; it even netted six Olivier Awards nominations, winning one for Best New Play. It was very popular during its U.S. stint at the Music Box Theatre as well it received five Tony nominations after its run. How bad does it actually make Prince Charles look? From the very first scene of the film which takes place at Queen Elizabeths funeral things are shifted into high gear almost immediately by the new monarch, whos portrayed with deadpan delight by the recently deceased Tim Pigott-Smith. At last, he says in a Frank Underwood-ian monologue as he breaks the fourth wall to address the camera. My life has been a lingering for the throne. Sometimes I must confess I imagined if my mother had to die before her time, like a helicopter crash or a rare disease, so at an early age Id be in charge, before me years of constant, stable rule. When Kate Middletons character solemnly says at the funeral that she never thought Id see her pass away, Charles quips, I felt the same. Okay, thats not great. But hes depicted as a strong leader, right? This is where things get a little weird. The primary source of drama stems from Charles in order to establish himself as a politically involved ruler who wont simply be a figurehead defying the prime minister when he refuses to sign a controversial bill into law that would limit the freedom of the press. Realistically, this is a pretty respectable (and dare we say the absolutely correct) move, especially since his late wife, Princess Diana, was killed after paparazzi chased down her car in Paris. So if anyone has a reason to limit the press, it would certainly be him. But his defiance soon sets off a series of events that quickly tarnish the goodwill he initially generated when its made clear that the prime minister wont change the bill to fit his demands, Charles marches into the Palace of Westminster in full regalia to announce hes going to dissolve Parliament and call a fresh election, which causes a full-blown national crisis and violent rioting. And then he puts some tanks in front of Buckingham Palace, because hes suddenly scared of the people hes supposed to represent. Its all downhill from there, and a family crisis is birthed out of a constitutional one, too. How bad does it get? Well, his family forces him to abdicate and give the throne to William going so far as to threaten to abandon him for the rest of his life if he doesnt so we guess it gets pretty damn bad. Is he the only person whos portrayed scathingly? None of the Windsors will be thrilled with their portrayals, minus George and Charlotte. (Cute kids!) Camilla seemingly has nothing to do in her life except hang around Buckingham Palace to rag on Kate; Prince Harry is a forlorn bachelor who may or may not disavow his royal title to be with a commoner (hmm); and Kate is a cigarette-loving, Lady Macbethesque figure who wants nothing more than to have a queenly title and a throne for herself. Even William, the most levelheaded of the bunch, is portrayed as a bit of a bumbling fool whos dominated by his wife despite his good intentions. Oh, and the ghost of Diana pops up every now and then in the drawing room, looking fabulous. What did viewers in the U.K. have to say about it? Depending on news outlets you read, King Charles III has been described as everything from ingenious to downright treasonous. The Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, and the Daily Express all expressed admiration for the film, while the nicest thing the Daily Mail could muster in its zero-star review was that it was shameful, vile, pathetic tosh. Reactions on social-media outlets were similarly mixed. Sell it to me in one sentence? It has the palace intrigue of The Crown, the family drama of Downton Abbey, and the frothiness of Ladies of London. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes. It was quite the debut. Photo: Chris Williamson/Getty Images Ever one with a flair for the dramatic, Liam Gallagher kicked off his solo career Tuesday night in Manchester with a benefit concert for the victims of the terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert which doubled as his first-ever solo show in grand, fan-baiting fashion. It was a career-spanning set that included multiple Oasis gems (Wonderwall not included, sorry) and the debut of the solo music hes spent months talking up (his album, As You Were, is out in October). According to NME and fan reports from inside the show, Gallagher played in front of 22 burning candles representing the 22 people killed in the attack, and led with two Oasis songs, Rock n Roll Song and Morning Glory. He then spent a large chunk of the middle of his set playing his solo work for the first time, including his debut solo single Wall of Glass (which will be properly released today) and reportedly six other new tracks. But despite rumors that the night might see an Oasis reunion given the hometown circumstances, after Gallagher sent his rare well wishes to brother Noel on his 50th birthday, it didnt quite pan out that way. Instead, Liam threw fans a crumb and brought out his former Oasis bandmate Paul Bonehead Arthurs for a performance of Be Here Now. He closed his show with an a cappella version of Live Forever in a tribute to the victims, which concertgoers reportedly continued even after Gallagher exited the stage by once again breaking out into a singalong of Dont Look Back in Anger just as a crowd in Manchester had done at a memorial gathering in the city after the attack and Stop Crying Your Heart Out. Paul Beatty. Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images Author Paul Beatty participated in a very uncomfortable interview at the Sydney Writers Festival in Australia recently while discussing his book The Sellout. The staging of the conversation so obviously lent itself to catastrophe, in fact, that it would feel like a satire if it wasnt so unfortunately true. So picture this: A well-meaning, smart white guy tries to have a candid, provocative conversation with a black man about race by asking him questions like, Do you think that people become black? Do they have to learn what it means to be black? The person asking, in this case, was Radio National host Michael Cathcart, and according to a report by The Guardian, Beatty, who is the first African-American to win the Man Booker Prize, was more bemused than frustrated when he turned the question back on Cathcart. Ask yourself the fucking question, man just think about it for a fucking second. Did you learn to be white? Cathcarts response then managed to meet, if not surpass, the tone-deafness of his original question: I didnt know anyone who was anything other than white. But I believe that in my life I have learned to be white in different ways, and that Ive become less interested in the notion of being white. So I think of myself just as a person. I think I have learned not to be white. Cathcart also cited passages of Beattys book back to him that contained the N-word, and praised Australias progressive social journey. There is good will in the majority of Australians as they search for a way of being neither black nor white, but of sharing a common humanity, he said. I believe that we are an example to the world of what is possible. This comment actually prompted a lawyer of Gamilaroi descent in the audience to stand up and take Cathcart to task, shouting, Look at yourself! and I want white Australia to look at themselves! Mind you, this interview took place on National Sorry Day, Australias annual official apology to the nations indigenous peoples for the decades-long practice of white people trying to social engineer them out of existence. The post-white Cathcart later admitted his question about learning to be black was obviously a miscalculation, but largely stood by his approach to the interview, telling The Guardian, [The Sellout] is a novel which I think sets out to offend and unsettle and amuse us all at once, and talking about it in a candid and probing way was never going to be plain sailing. Photo-Illustration: Vulture and Photos by NBC/Getty Images All week long, Vulture is taking a close look at Saturday Night Lives biggest season in years. Saturday Night Live is a show of eras casts that come together and peak around the same time. Every era has good years and bad years sometimes they take a while to gel; sometimes they come quick and fizzle out but ultimately they leave a sense of who they were. This ranking aims to capture which era left the best overall impression. A note on how the eras were defined: The show could be sliced up many different ways, but what we landed on felt like the clearest lines to draw based on cast arrivals, departures, and head writer tenures. Which era is the best likely depends on the age of the person you ask, subjective to their comedic taste, how they watch the show, and when you ask them to account for that, we asked a panel of comedians and journalists to weigh in and rank the eras individually. After taking into account everyones opinions, we came away with our ranking below. Like the show itself, it will likely change with time, but in 2017, this is where it stands. A big thank you to our panel, which included: Jen Chaney, Dave Schilling, Matthew Love, Jesse David Fox, Yael Kohen, Wayne Federman, David Sims, Mike Ryan, Mike Sacks, Meghan OKeefe, Sean L. McCarthy, Dan Pasternack, Josh Wolk, Elise Czajkowski, Bill Sheft, John Sellers, Scott Rogowsky, Katla McGlynn, Alex Edelman, and a number of voters who requested to remain anonymous. 9. 1980-1984 Head Writers: Mason Williams, Jeremy Stevens, Tom Moore, Michael ODonoghue, Bob Tischler, Andrew Smith From left: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Daria, Robert Blake, Eddie Murphy as Buckwheat, Joe Piscopo as Froggy during the monologue on November 13, 1982. Photo: NBC/NBC via Getty Images When Lorne Michaels and the entire original cast hightailed it out of 30 Rock, NBC seemed insane to try continuing SNL under a new producer (Jean Doumanian) and a new cast with no-names like Tony Rosato, Ann Risley, and Gilbert Gottfried. When SNL 80 ended up being an unmitigated disaster, the first iteration of the Saturday Night Dead critics declared victory. Still, NBC persisted and brought on SNLs absentee father co-creator Dick Ebersol to save the day. The smartest thing Ebersol did was keep an underused Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo when he turned over the cast. Murphy was the biggest star the show ever produced and dominated like few cast members ever have. However, SNL is meant to be a variety show, and that means showcasing a variety of comedic talents. So, yes, SNL wouldnt still be around today if it werent for Murphy, but its hard to argue the show as a whole ever captured the same special something he did on his own. 8. 2013-Present Head Writers: Colin Jost, Rob Klein, Bryan Tucker, Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Kent Sublette Photo: 2017 NBCUniversal Media, LLC It feels a little unfair to judge this era while its still shaping its identity. Not to mention, it doesnt have the benefit that older casts have where the bad fades from memory and only the classics linger. Still, it has been four seasons since the last major cast departures, which is plenty of time to establish itself. More than anything, this eras problems stem from inconsistencies in the head writer slot, which has been in constant flux since Seth Meyers left. This season, however, seemed primed to be a breakout for this era and it was, just not in the way that showcased its cast members. While this past season earned the show its biggest ratings in 20 years, it is as much a reaction to the roller-coaster ride of politics as it is any original contributions from the players and crew. Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy, and the administration theyve parodied were the focus, not Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and the rest. The cast, in particular the women, are very talented, and though its a baby step, its also the most diverse in the shows history; the population at large just hasnt seen what they all can do. Fortunately, its not over yet. 7. 1984-1985 Head Writer: Bob Tischler Back, from left: Jim Belushi, Christopher Guest, Mary Gross, Brad Hall. Front, from left: Gary Kroeger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Harry Shearer, Pamela Stephenson, Billy Crystal, Martin Short. Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images In his last season as Saturday Night Live overseer, Ebersol bucked the SNL tradition of cultivating fresh talent and recruited established names to join the cast: Billy Crystal, Martin Short, and Spinal Taps Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. The result was a season in which the comedy was not wildly edgy, but nevertheless produced some funny, memorable characters and sketches: Shorts SCTV-originated Ed Grimley, who became even more famous on SNL; the synchronized swimming documentary that feels, understandably, like it was ripped from a Christopher Guest movie; and Fernandos Hideaway, the Crystal-hosted talk show that turned You look mahvelous into a national catchphrase and a minor hit song. (Its true. Look it up.) This year is also just as famous for the talent that was underused, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus in her third and final season, and writer Larry David, who barely got a sketch on the air but created a lot of material he would later incorporate into another NBC comedy starring Louis-Dreyfus: Seinfeld. Ultimately, what makes SNL SNL is the players being not ready for prime time. Its the audience figuring out the cast members, and the cast members figuring themselves out. This season was funny, but it didnt capture that spirit. 6. 1995-2000 Head Writers: Steve Higgins, Fred Wolf, Tim Herlihy, Adam McKay, Tina Fey From left: Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Jim Carrey. Photo: 2012 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. As the story goes, Lorne Michaels responded to low ratings and critical opinion by cleaning house and bringing on a new, particularly improviser-heavy cast. Among those new hires was a young Groundlings veteran who would go on to easily become one of the shows top five cast members ever: Will Ferrell. Ferrell didnt dominate the show as decisively as Murphy did he was a giving performer and great at working with a partner, like the Spartan Cheerleaders with Cheri Oteri, Celebrity Jeopardy with Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery, the Night at the Roxbury guys with Chris Kattan, mash-up artists Marty and Bobbi Mulhan-Culp with Ana Gasteyer, and the Dog Show with Molly Shannon. Also, the other cast members were much stronger than they were in the early 80s, especially the women. Maybe because there wasnt a consistent head writer through the era with Steve Higgins and Tim Herlihy giving way to Adam McKay and Tim Herlihy, to McKay alone, to a year of Tina Fey but these years as a whole dont feel quite as stellar as some earlier or later incarnations. The home audience, much like Christopher Walkens famous Blue Oyster Cult producer character, was waiting on a bit more cowbell. 5. 1985-1990 Head Writer: Jim Downey Front, from left: Nora Dunn, Danitra Vance, Anthony Michael Hall, Terry Sweeney, Jon Lovitz. Back, from left: Randy Quaid, Robert Downey Jr., Joan Cusack. Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images After five years away, Lorne Michael was back! But that didnt mean he hit the ground running. The 198586 season went down as one of strangest in the shows history, with cast that included Randy Quaid (?), Anthony Michael Hall (??), Joan Cusack (???), and Robert Downey Jr. (????). Also, Terry Sweeney and Damon Wayans two very talented performer whom Michaels could not figure out what to do with. It was a mess that almost led to the shows cancellation, but Michaels begged and promised to find a cast better suited for the show. And boy did he! Building around the lone holdovers Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, and Nora Dunn Michaels inarguably nailed it, bringing on Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, Kevin Nealon, and Victoria Jackson as well. Paired with a talented writing staff that included Jim Downey as head writer, Al Franken and Tom Davis, Jack Handy, Bob Odenkirk, Robert Smigel, and a bunch of future Simpsons guys, including Conan OBrien and Greg Daniels, the show fully recovered after a long stretch of uncertainty. 4. 2006-2013 Head Writers: Seth Meyers, Paula Pell, Andrew Steele, Colin Jost From left: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Photo: Dana Edelson/NBC via Getty Images As a head writer, Seth Meyers was less of an ideologue than some in the past. He didnt want every sketch to feel like Seth Meyers so much as he wanted the show to be the best it could be. And he oversaw a cast incredibly good at what they did. You had Kristen Wiig, one of Lornes top three or four cast members ever; Jason Sudeikis, one of the shows best Everyman; Bill Hader, a Hartman like glue guy; Will Forte at his weirdest; Fred Armisen doing at least one very Fred Armisen sketch a week; Kenan Thompson coming into his own as a multitalent; and, of course, Andy Samberg and Lonely Island, which literally changed comedy. The period also included one of the most memorable, impactful, and funny political runs, with Meyers penning Tina Feys iconic Sarah Palin sketches. Not for nothing, the show was operating at a incredibly high level while also being, by all accounts, a really nice place to work. 3. 1990-1995 Head Writer: Jim Downey Back, from left: Dana Carvey, Julia Sweeney, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Dennis Miller, A. Whitney Brown. Front, from left: Victoria Jackson, Chris Rock, Kevin Nealon, Mike Myers. Photo: NBC/NBC via Getty Images Due to this eras tumultuous end low ratings, the shows potential cancellation, the near firing of Lorne Michaels, the sad exit of players including the disgruntled Janeane Garofalo it gets a bad rap, but at its peak its hard to argue the show was ever better. It sort of defined a dynamic the show has had success with ever since, where you have veterans in their prime taking up most of the room and a crop of upstarts filling in the blanks and bringing a new energy. Dana Carvey was crushing it, earning five Emmy nominations in a row, including a win in 1993. Mike Myers was a revelation. And Phil Hartman was bringing the whole thing together. At the same time, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, David Spade, and Rob Schneider carved out a place for themselves in the mainstream and for every whimsical man-child following in their footsteps. Add in a year of Jan Hooks, underrated runs by Julia Sweeney, Melanie Hutsell, and Ellen Cleghorne, and many of the writers from the late 80s who were growing ever more confident, and you had a show that (at least on-camera) felt really in sync. Also, if your main criteria for a good SNL cast is post-show success, its hard to argue with the combined box-office totals of Sandler and Myers, plus the greatest stand-up of the last 30 years, Rock. 2. 2000- 2006 Head Writers: Tina Fey, Dennis McNicholas, Andrew Steele, Seth Meyers From left: Chris Parnell, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Kattan, Darrell Hammond, Rachel Dratch, Tracy Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Dean Edwards, and Will Ferrell. Photo: Norman Ng/NBC via Getty Images Tina Fey, beyond being the shows first female head writer, represented a real shift at SNL. It became sharper, more pop-culture savvy, and incredibly flexible. Every era of SNL is defined by its talent this one just had more of it: Jimmy Fallon, Tracy Morgan, Maya Rudolph, Horatio Sanz, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen, Darrell Hammond, and Will Forte. It also had a writing staff that was able to use everyone to the best of their ability. Will Ferrell gave them two good years, if not his two best years. SNL had always been political, but Ferrells George W. Bush still ranks as one of the most pointed critiques of a sitting president in comedy history. He had the unique task of both playing Bush as an affable dullard, while also carrying the role through the Bush versus Gore recount, 9/11, Afghanistan, and the cultural scars that came with those massive events. All together, it represents maybe the most consistent run in the shows history. 1. 1975-1980 Head Writers: Lorne Michaels, Michael ODonoghue, Herb Sargent From left: Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and Laraine Newman. Photo: Marty Lederhandler/ASSOCIATED PRESS Yes, its predictable to say that the first five years of Saturday Night Live stand as its best and most important era. Its also true. (Though almost every era in the top five got at least one first place vote.) The original Not Ready for Prime Time Players are the Bo Diddley, Elvis, Beatles, and Bob Dylan of Saturday Night Live. Each of them looms so large that their first names John, Dan, Chevy, Gilda, Jane, Laraine, Garrett, Bill dont require last name follow-up. You know who they are, and you know what they did in those early days, when they, their leader Lorne Michaels, and a cast of recurring players cracked open the 11:30 time slot and filled it with Coneheads and Blues Brothers, Roseanne Roseannadanna and Father Guido Sarducci, two wild and crazy guys and a version of President Ford prone to pratfalls. Not every sketch was a winner far from it but this was a time when Saturday Night Live was at its most inventive and dangerous, in large part because it was still a kid, testing its boundaries. Conceptually, as well as from moment to moment, SNL in the late 70s was making itself up as it went along, which is what live sketch comedy is fundamentally supposed to do. It was also creating a template for news satire, a space for experimental short films, and a launchpad for comedic talent that would make it one of the chief influencers on American humor for decades to come, even though its key architect, Michaels, was technically Canadian. This will always be the era that every cast member, writer, and maybe even Michaels himself holds up as the greatest of all time, because it created the standard to which every subsequent phase of Saturday Night Live would be compared. Vanessa Hudgens Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Though a great singing voice and acting skills are certainly important for a career in musicals, Vanessa Hudgens is calling on her experience as a triple threat to judge the contestants in So You Think You Can Dance. The High School Musical star has been tapped to join the judging panel alongside Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy for the long-running reality competitions 14th season. In addition to her rise to fame in the aforementioned Disney franchise, Hudgens recently showed off her dancing skills as Rizzo in Grease: Live and in her 2015 Broadway debut in Gigi. So You Think You Can Dance returns June 12. Johnny Depp. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture For a movie star, Johnny Depps always been a bit weird. And in this case, I dont even mean the whole getting-his-lines-through-an-earpiece rumor, or the outlandish money problems, or his messy and allegedly abusive marriage and divorce from Amber Heard, or the, uh, $5 million that he spent to shoot Hunter Thompsons ashes out of a cannon. I mean that Depps been able to stay in demand despite onscreen choices that have been as weird as his life offscreen, a fact thats only grown with the massive international success of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, which had the 12th-largest overseas opening of all time with $208 million, even if its domestic take of $77 million for the long weekend is a little more pedestrian. Aside from the Pirates franchise, Depps never been the kind of actor who rattled off hit after hit. In fact, he only really has two other unqualified smashes on his resume, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland, both part of his long partnership with director Tim Burton. And yet Depps still booking plum roles, and his career shows no signs of slowing down, bad press and recent flops like Transcendence and Mortdecai notwithstanding. Hes got Kenneth Branaghs Murder on the Orient Express coming out later this year; hell be a major piece of both the Harry Potter and Universal Monsters cinematic universes; and hes set to take the tantalizing part of John McAfee in a biopic of the bizarre software magnate. So how has Depp weathered what shouldve been a category-five hurricane of career killers, leading him to the brink of what could be a new stage in his career? The first thing to talk about when talking about Depps career is Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates holds two contradictory positions of honor for Depp. On one hand, its by far the most lucrative thing hes ever been a part of, having grossed $3.7 billion worldwide through its first four installments, with the newest likely to add another billion and change to that number. On the other, the role of Jack Sparrow also, unbelievably, garnered Depp his first Oscar nomination in 2003, a nod that paved the way for two more in the coming years one for the similarly fanciful Sweeney Todd, and one for the more subdued Finding Neverland. Depp may have been a star pre-Pirates, having come up in what now appears to be our last generation of non-superhero leading men, a group that includes Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio. But before that franchise, his filmography mostly alternated between critically acclaimed, modestly successful movies like Donnie Brasco, Chocolat, and Blow; weirder, more auteur-driven work like Jim Jarmuschs Dead Man, Terry Gilliams Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Roman Polanskis The Ninth Gate; and his Burton collaborations, which included both hits like Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow, and well-regarded flops like Ed Wood. Depp didnt have a megahit like DiCaprio did with Titanic, though Sleepy Hollow did crack the $100 million barrier, and his movies didnt consistently perform as well as Pitts. (Cruise, meanwhile, was on a planet of his own, box-office-wise and otherwise.) But Pirates instantly transformed Depp into an international star the kind of rarefied actor who could carry the burden of a worldwide hit, in a part that was inseparable from himself. To put it simply, there arent many of these actors in Hollywood, and they certainly arent sprouting up like they used to. As overseas markets have developed, Hollywood has gone after foreign dollars by investing in spectacle and familiar IP more than new faces. The new stars these days are men (and its almost always men) who occupy the lead roles in Marvel and The Fast and the Furious movies. Guys like Depp, Cruise, and DiCaprio stars who are recognizable in their own right, no matter the costume are far rarer, and their high profile actually makes them more valuable in terms of the overseas market than they are domestically. Consider Matt Damons The Great Wall and Tom Hankss Inferno, two films that flopped domestically but pulled in around 85 percent of their worldwide gross overseas. Yes, the Chrises are massive thanks to their superhero work, but try putting any one of them in The Revenant, The Wolf of Wall Street, or The Great Gatsby and see if they can push those films past $200 million overseas a feat DiCaprio managed with all three. As long as Depp has Pirates, hes one of those stars even if the rest of his filmography might tell a more complicated story. The massive success of Alice in Wonderland (another Tim Burton collaboration) in 2010, which made a strong $334 million domestically but an outstanding $691 million worldwide, seemed to cement Depp as an international sensation. Last years sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, burst that bubble, seeing those numbers drop to $77 million and $222 million, respectively, though its hard to blame that gap solely on Depp. The six years between movies, the sequels lower quality, and its insufficient reason to exist, to put it mildly, had far more to do with its disappointing numbers. But Alice also hints at one of the major reasons why Depp keeps getting cast. There is a certain kind of audacious, campy, over-the-top character that Depp has a monopoly on; in fact, hes pretty much punted on any movies that dont require him to go to such hyperbolic lengths. And while there are parts that could conceivably be played by either DiCaprio or Pitt, Cruise or Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon or Ben Affleck or, for that matter, any of the Chrises its hard to imagine any other middle-aged star competing with Depp for, say, the Mad Hatter. And as Jack Sparrow, Depp is the rare leading man whos essentially immune to the threat of recasting. No other franchise is as dependent on one actor: Depp simply is the Pirates series. He can be as much of a diva as he wants, but as long as Disney wants to keep making Pirates movies and judging by this weekends box-office returns, they do they need him to come to work, no matter how late he is. Combined with his overseas appeal, this makes Depp an alluring prospect, even as he continues to rack up yachtloads of bad press. If you have a certain type of eccentric, larger-than-life character, and you need to make him work within the constraints of a blockbuster that will play as well in China as it does Ohio in other words, a character whos weird, but not weird enough to be played by Joaquin Phoenix Depp is probably your guy. And even as his movies seem to bomb more and more often, with Dark Shadows, The Lone Ranger, Transcendence, Mortdecai, and Alice Through the Looking Glass all underperforming since the last Pirates movie, its just as easy to blame their failures on the weakness of the specific material as it is to pin it on Depp. As long as Pirates still feels relevant, Depp will remain a valuable commodity, and if any of his upcoming projects manage to make an impact, it could be enough to erase the bad memories of the past five years. Earpiece or no earpiece. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Photo: Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Lebanese fans of the Wonder Woman comics will miss out on seeing Gal Gadot take on Diana, princess of the Amazons in theaters. About two hours before the movie was set to premiere in Lebanon, the government officially banned it, according to Variety. The ban, which was rumored in the days leading up to the films release, was enacted under pressure from a group called the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon; the group encouraged the government to block the movie because its lead actress Gal Gadot is Israeli, and Lebanon is officially at war with Israel. On Wednesday, Lebanese theater chain Grand Cinemas tweeted confirmation of the ban: Though the ban falls in line with Lebanons anti-Israel policies the country has a law encouraging boycotts of Israeli products the ban is surprising given that the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon failed to gain approval from Lebanons Ministry of Economy to ban Batman v Superman, in which Gadots Wonder Woman is also featured, from theaters. Variety also notes that other films that star Gadot, including Fast and Furious 6 and Fast and Furious 7, played in Lebanon and were box-office hits there. Christopher Plummer and Lily James in The Exception. Photo: Courtesy of A24 As he proves yet again as the aged Kaiser Wilhelm II in The Exception, Christopher Plummer can put more shading into fewer syllables than any actor alive. He began his career as a brilliant show-off in the Olivier mode, fell into decadence (boozing, womanizing, taking dull parts in duller epics), and, after age 60, climbed back to respectability, tackling the greatest roles onstage and beginning with his peerlessly egotistical Mike Wallace in The Insider achieving a new level of subtlety onscreen. Plummer hasnt fully shed his cunning or his histrionics (really: Would we want him to?), but he has moved steadily inward, illuminating an interior he once left purposefully opaque. The new movie is one part history to one part fanciful melodrama. Its set in 1940 in rural Holland, to which Wilhelm was exiled following Germanys defeat in World War I. In the film as in life, the ex-kaiser mostly chops wood, plays host to illustrious guests, babbles incoherently about Bismarck, and maintains that the war wasnt his idea. As The Exception begins, the Reich is invading the Netherlands and has assigned an S.S. lieutenant named Brandt (Jai Courtney) to take up residence and keep Wilhelm safe. Although Wilhelm hates Hitlers brutality (the kaiser disliked Jews but not enough to kill them), he does admire the Fuhrers military acumen, and he nurses the hope that his countrymen will come to their senses and bring him home. His younger wife, Hermine, a.k.a. Hermo (Janet McTeer), is even more delighted by the prospect of renewed royalty. Courtneys Brandt is actually the films title character, embarking on an affair with a maid named Mieke (Lily James), who might well be a spy or at least have her own agenda. They have barely spoken a word when he tells her to take off her clothes. Its a mark of her spunkiness that the next time they meet, she demands the same of him. Gradually we learn that Brandt isnt such a bad fellow. He signed on for a proper war of army against army, not the slaughter of women and children. Hes a patriot but not a monster. Gradually, too, we see that beneath the kaisers anti-Semitism, delusional pride, and foolishness is a fundamentally honorable man. The premise was a stretch in Alan Judds novel (originally titled The Kaisers Last Kiss) and is less plausible in Simon Burkes screenplay, which adds a kiss-kiss-bang-bang climax. But its always nice to be reminded that, even among the worst people on earth, there are gradations of badness though its a mighty steep curve that lets an S.S. officer and the kaiser off the hook. Compounding the nuttiness, Nietzsches Beyond Good and Evil is used as a signifier of hope. It must be said that there is offensive ahistorical melodrama and rattlingly good ahistorical melodrama and that The Exception belongs firmly in the latter category. The superb English stage director David Leveaux keeps the pacing taut while creating space for his actors to work their magic. Courtney and James make a credibly riven pair of lovers headlong, wary, and headlong again. McTeer wrings every drop of complexity from a woman who could be viewed as a dull-witted climber. Eddie Marsans frigid Himmler will haunt your dreams. And then there is Plummer, who is smart enough to show the kaisers ennoblement side by side with his regret that it took him so long. *This article appears in the May 29, 2017, issue of New York Magazine. After putting up a 'united' show in Delhi during Congress president Sonia Gandhi's lunch on May 26, the Opposition plans another show of strength in Chennai during another lunch session on June 3. By Supriya Bhardwaj: After putting up a 'united' show in Delhi during Congress president Sonia Gandhi's lunch on May 26, the Opposition plans another show of strength in Chennai during another lunch session on June 3. A 'power-packed' lunch will be hosted by DMK for all visiting leaders from the Opposition camp at Hotel Leela Palace in Chennai. According to sources, leaders of opposition parties will resume discussions on various issues in Chennai, from where they left during the lunch in the national capital. advertisement The topics likely to be discussed include presidential election, Kashmir issue, escalation of tensions at the border with Pakistan, strategy for the upcoming Monsoon Session, Dalit atrocities, political situation in Tamil Nadu with respect to the infighting in AIADMK and BJP's surge in the state and the overall current political situation in the country.PUBLIC MEETING AFTER LUNCH IN CHENNAI This will be followed by a massive public meeting, which will be held at the YMCA grounds in Chennai. During this meeting, Opposition leaders will not just talk about DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, but also discuss their strategy to counter the BJP's surge in southern states. The leaders from 17 Opposition parties, which include heavyweights like Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Omar Abdullah, after this 'Chennai mein Charcha' will leave for Andhra Pradesh. A public meeting is being organised by the Congress in Guntur to seek special status for Andhra Pradesh on June 4. Also read | To counter BJP's outreach in south India, Rahul Gandhi to visit Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh this week Also read | Sonia Gandhi hosts 17 Opposition leaders for lunch on Modi govt's 3rd anniversary ALSO WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- The relationship between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is "fairly unbelievable", the White House has said. By Indo-Asian News Service: The relationship between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is "fairly unbelievable", the White House has said. Despite the lack of confidence expressed by Berlin in the new administration in Washington and the US President's criticism of German trade policy, the White House said on Tuesday that Trump and Merkel get along well, Efe news reported. advertisement "I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel he would describe as fairly unbelievable," said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer at his daily press briefing. Trump and Merkel "get along very well," Spicer said. "He has a lot of respect for her. They continue to grow the bond that they had during their talks in the G7, and he views not just Germany but the rest of Europe as an important American ally." THE TWITTER WAR Trump had tweeted earlier on Tuesday that Germany's trade and military policies are very bad for his country and warned that something will be done about it. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for US This will change," Trump said on his Twitter account. Trump's tweet came after Merkel told a meeting last Sunday that "the times in which (Germany) could fully rely on others are partly over," a reference to the US and UK. Merkel said she reached that conclusion after the G7 and NATO Summits, in which Trump took part and during which the differences between the policies of the new US administration and its allies in Europe and elsewhere became patently obvious. "We Europeans really have to take our destiny into our own hands," the chancellor said, just two days after Trump slammed Germans as "bad, very bad," in a meeting with leaders of the European Union, though according to one of his advisers, those words referred exclusively to matters of trade, not to Germany as a nation. Also Read PM Modi backs Angela Merkel's EU leadership even as Donald Trump scolds Germany Donald Trump's anti-Germany tweets escalate tense relations between two countries --- ENDS --- Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carters family confirmed the singers death Saturday. They did not provide any immediate further comment. A sheriff's official says deputies responding to reports of a medical emergency found a person deceased at the home in Lancaster. Aaron Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brothers boy band, and appeared on the familys reality series, House of Carters. McLennan Community College will kick off its River Sounds concert series with a free concert by Marcia Ball at 8 p.m. Thursday at MCCs Bosque River Stage. Attendees are welcome to bring blankets, lawn chairs, food and drinks. For more information, visit www.mclennan.edu/brs. Bridal dress exhibit The History of West Museum, 112 E. Oak St. in West, will have a temporary exhibit, Century of Bridal Dresses, on display from Thursday through July 8. A special opening celebration will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. For more information, call 755-6562. Road closure Because of water system repairs, University Parks Drive will be temporarily closed to through traffic and detoured at Colcord Avenue and Jefferson Avenue. Utility work should be completed and the road reopened by June 9. For more information, call 299-2489. DRT indoor picnic The Daughters of The Republic of Texas, Sterling C. Robertson Chapter, will have an indoor picnic when it meets at 1 p.m. Thursday at the West Waco Library, 5301 Bosque Blvd. District V Representative Sue Cobb will be on hand to install the chapters new officers. For more information, email susieperkins06@gmail.com or call 749-2342. ACS style show The American Cancer Society will have its 12th annual Cattle Barons Couture for Cancer Style Show from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Waco Convention Center, 100 Washington Ave. Tickets cost $65. Tables for 10 are $600. For tickets, visit http://bit.ly/2rapVLE or call 753-0807. Legal advice clinic Greater Waco Legal Services will have a free legal advice clinic for low-income residents from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Dewey Community Center, 925 N. Ninth St. Participants receive a free 20- to 30-minute consultation with a lawyer. To schedule an appointment, call 733-2828 or email greaterwacolegalservices@gmail.com. Kosse Greyhound 5K In conjunction with the 2017 Kosse Homecoming, a Kosse Greyhound 5K Run will start at 7:30 a.m. June 10 at Kosse City Park, 101 Adams St. Entry fee for the chip-timed event is $25 in advance or $30 on race day. For more information, call 275-1046 or visit www.kossetexas.com. A faith-based nonprofit group is organizing in McLennan County to help fill a void in services for teens who age out of the state foster care system. Refuge Waco Ministries will be seeking donations and grants to help fund a transitional living center that will be designed to house 15 to 20 young women in an effort to keep them from falling through cracks in social services networks as they leave state foster care. Three founding members of Refuge Waco Ministries were joined by 74th State District Judge Gary Coley Jr., Waco City Councilman Dillon Meek and attorney Robert Callahan to announce the groups mission Tuesday at a press conference at the McLennan County Courthouse. Coley, the countys juvenile court judge, said Refuge Waco has identified a significant gap in state services and can play an important role in breaking tragic cycles of abuse and neglect. Over almost 25 years, I cant tell you how many kids I have seen who have gone through the system, who I see several years later as parents in the system, Coley said. Unfortunately, I am now seeing some of those parents becoming grandparents of children in the system, and the truth is, as they age out and they become adults, there is the tendency to believe they should be able to do those kinds of things because they are adults. They should know how to go out and get a job and raise a family. But the reality is, we removed those kids because they were being abused and neglected when they were younger. We took them out of their homes, we put them someplace else, and then we assumed that just because they are chronologically a certain age, that they are going to be able to magically support a family, have a job and know how to do those things to be a productive, essential member of our community. Scouting for location Refuge Waco founders Kara Malone, Kendall Goodwin and Kara Wagstaff said the group is scouting the downtown area for a location for a transition home and is working with churches, social service agencies, private foundations and other nonprofit groups to develop funding. They hope the center can be up and running within 18 months. Goodwin and her husband are foster parents and have adopted three children under age 4 who came from the foster care system. They also are in the process of adopting two more foster children, also under the age of 4. We have so many women coming out of care, and when that happens, they are basically left at 17 or 18 years old with no place to go, she said. Literally, they age out and overnight have no stable home. Unless they have a friend or are able to couch surf, about 50 percent of them become homeless within a year of aging out. Of that 50 percent, many of them get roped into things like sex work, human trafficking, things like that. Malone said from 1,100 to 1,500 teens age out of the foster care program in Texas each year. In McLennan County, 172 children entered the foster care system in March, and 47 kids statewide enter the system daily, she said. While children in the foster care system are provided four years of free college tuition, only 54 percent earn a high school diploma and just 2 percent will go on to get a college degree, she said. Counseling, training Besides providing a stable place to live, officials at the Refuge Waco facility also will provide counseling in life skills, job training, health care and other areas that could help break the cycle, the founders said. They need someone to tell them, I love you and I am not going anywhere. We are here for you and we are going to make this journey with you. I feel like this is something many of these kids and women have never been told, Malone said. Meek said he is grateful for groups like Refuge Waco that identify a pressing need in the community and then step in to fill that gap. For more information, visit www.refugewaco.com. McLennan County authorities raided a Waco massage business Tuesday afternoon in connection to a yearlong undercover human trafficking investigation, Sheriff Parnell McNamara said. Detectives with the McLennan County Sheriff's Office executed at least two search warrants at Twin Oriental Massage Therapy, 1537 Wooded Acres Drive, at about 2 p.m., and at a local apartment, McNamara said. Through an undercover investigation that has spanned more than a year, detectives were able to uncover evidence of human trafficking at the local massage business, he said. Two women were detained at the business while authorities executed the second search warrant at a Waco residence. McNamara said neither woman speaks English, and officers worked with translators and believe the women are victims, not perpetrators. UnBound Waco, a local nonprofit, is working to provide the women with resources. Authorities also seized cash from the business. "Some of these women are trying to live the American Dream, but they are put into some of these massage parlors and are basically trafficked for sex," McNamara said. "The investigation is still ongoing, and it is a little too early to say much more." Last year, local and federal authorities raided two Waco-area massage parlors in connection to an ongoing human trafficking investigation. A 44-year-old man was later arrested in that investigation, accused of harboring four women at the local businesses and using them in a sex-trafficking operation. McNamara said it is too early to determine if Tuesday's raid is connected to last year's investigation. Clyde Willis BlackMay 30, 1935 - May 28, 2017Clyde Willis Black, 81, passed away Sunday May 28, 2017. Funeral services will be 10 a.m., Thursday, June 1, 2017, at Greater Waco Baptist Church, 912 Loop 340, Waco, with Pastor Gerald McKelroy officiating with burial to follow at Riesel Cemetery. The family will receive visitors 5 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 31, at Pecan Grove Funeral Home, 3124 Robinson Dr., Waco.Clyde Willis Black was born in Littlefield, Texas on May 30, 1935 to parents, Dolphus Manard Black and Louise Augusta Lueck Black. He served in the National Guard. He married the love of his life, Colleen, June 17, 1955 in McLennan County, Texas. Clyde worked at his contract farming operation until his retirement. He was a longtime member of the Greater Waco Baptist Church.He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Doyle Alan; and sister, Helen Josephine HowellClyde is survived by his wife, Edna Colleen Puryear Black of Axtell; sister, Joyce Marie Black Watson of Morgan; many nieces and nephews, several cousins, two sisters-in law, and two brothers-in- law.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Shriners Hospitals For Children, 2900 Rocky Point Dr., Tampa, FL, 33607Online guestbook at www.pecangrovefuneral.com.Sign the Guest Book at www.wacotrib.com John Howard PhelpsJan. 17, 1936 - May 27, 2017John Howard Phelps was born on the 17th of January 1936 in the country, outside of Kosse, Texas to Quint E. Phelps and Nona Truett Phelps. He passed peacefully from this life at his home on Saturday, May 27, 2017.John grew up in Kosse, the son of a peanut farmer. He graduated from Kosse High School and continued his education at Sam Houston University. During that time he married his high school sweetheart Wynell Williams. John graduated from Sam Houston with a degree in agriculture and then entered the US Navy. After serving his country, John came home to his family and taught school in Channelview and Pasadena. John joined State Farm Insurance as an agent in 1962 and opened his office in the one car garage of his Pasadena home. He built that agency into one of the largest State Farm agencies in the United States. John often said he could not have made it without Wynell.John served his community as a Pasadena City Councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem as well as President of Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, President of YMCA and Chairman of Southeast Economic Development Association. He was involved in many successful partnerships which included funeral homes, real estate and other ventures. He actively supported South Avenue Baptist Church where they were longtime members. He loved his community and reached out in service. That involvement in the community brought him many honors which included Pasadena Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, Pasadena's Hall of Fame, Optimist Citizen of the Year, The Paul Harris Rotary Award, Rotarian of the Year, Pasadena Business of the Year, Pasadena ISD Distinguished Citizen of the Year and Optimist Citizen of the Year. Harris County Commissioners honored him by naming a courthouse annex after him. He was a good neighbor and friend to all.John was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Douglas Ray Phelps; and his father and mother-in-law, William Lester Williams and Juanita Gillihan Williams.He is survived by Wynell Williams Phelps, his beloved wife of 63 years; son, Steve Phelps and wife, Jana; son, Ken Phelps and wife, Alicia; grandchildren, Becky Phelps Carlisle and husband, Chris, Johnny Phelps, Bethany Phelps and Q Phelps; great-grandchildren, Easton Elliott, Will Phelps, and Harper Carlisle. John is also survived by his brother, Lyndon Phelps and wife, Peggy; brothers-in-law, Weldon Williams and wife, Peggie, Eudean Williams, and Darrell Williams and wife, Kitty; nieces, nephews, friends, and his extended family his policyholders.Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Thursday, June 1, with the service following at 11:00 a.m., held at First Baptist Church Pasadena, 7500 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena, TX 77505.In lieu of flowers, if friends desire, contributions may be made either to Ebenezer Cemetery, P.O. Box 112, Kosse, TX 76653, Pasadena Community Ministries, P.O. Box 4954, Pasadena, TX 77502-4954, or the charity of your choosing.Niday-Fairmont Funeral Home6777 Fairmont Pkwy.Pasadena, TX 77505(281) 991-0575Sign the Guest Book at www.wacotrib.com In his first foreign trip, President Trump addressed the Muslim world in a speech covering a range of issues Iran, Islamic violence, Islam and the Middle East. Yet Muslims still remember then-candidate Trumps harsh, campaign-trail rhetoric about Islam: I think Islam hates us. The irony: Muslims are now perplexed hearing the president suddenly say Islam is one of the worlds great faiths. Consequently, the presidents speech was met with everything from skepticism to outright disbelief throughout the Muslim world, given his ebbing credibility, garbled message and stunning inconsistencies. In my opinion, it simply lacks cohesiveness and jumps from one topic to another. Yet one things certain: The presidents speech in Riyadh was not really about the Muslim world. It was about Iran, Saudi Arabias arch-enemy and easy scapegoat for the uninformed observer. Saudi Arabia played its political card well, using Trump to deliver what is essentially the kingdoms own message to Iran. What Mr. Trump failed to highlight is the importance of democracy and the rule of law. He failed to stir the Muslim world from stagnation and its chaotic state of affairs. And he failed to encourage meaningful engagement with the world. One must wonder: Are Muslims so naive as to think conflicts and more chaos will resolve in such a way as to better their lives? The Muslim community needs to wake up to the reality of how the rest of the world perceives it. Imams and religious clerics who deliver fiery sermons pretending to be victims while using the stage to instill seething hatred for others mainly Jews and Christians must reconsider their understanding and interpretation of Islam. Many Muslims ask why President Trump overlooks the Saudis need to rein in Wahhabism and its extremist interpretation of Islam. One need look no further than former intelligence agent Claude Moniquet of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center in Belgium. He and many others argue that fanatical Wahhabist ideology plays a pivotal role in forming and funding jihadi groups. President Trump also missed the opportunity to discuss the need for the Muslim world to allow freedom of expression. He failed to share his thoughts on how to build better societies. Consider the detention of Raif Badawi, 33, a Saudi activist imprisoned in the desert kingdom since 2012, serving a 10-year sentence for creating a blog/forum dubbed Free Saudi Liberals Network. He also was sentenced to 1,000 lashes. I understand that we cannot and should not dictate to other countries how to conduct their internal affairs. But turning a blind eye to the continuing assault on basic democratic values such as freedom of expression sends the wrong message to the rest of the world. It says that, as an ally, we will continue to ignore the atrocities you commit and pretend that its business as usual. What surprises me, beyond Mr. Trumps naivete, is his lashing out at Shia-dominant Iran on behalf of the Sunni desert kingdom. At least Iran, despite its spotty record on democracy, recently ran fair elections and re-elected its moderate president, Hassan Rouhani. Mark my words: the Saudis will never demonstrate democracy to that extent. It would have been useful for President Trump to address the core issues and grievances that the Muslim world is dealing with a lack of opportunities, high unemployment, almost nonexistent democratic infrastructure, the need to modernize the education system, etc. But he did not. As for the $110 billion arms sale to the kingdom that President Trump signed, this could not come at a worse time as Iranians expressed through the ballot box their desire to join the international community through moderate leadership. In light of the arms deal, Iran is now almost certain to purchase weapons from the likes of Russia and China to defend itself against the weapons being stockpiled by its Sunni enemies. Bravo, President Trump, for igniting an arms race in the Middle East! It will be interesting to see if Trump delivers on something else the Saudis are pushing: repeal of a contentious 2016 law that allows relatives of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in their deaths. Fifteen of the 19 9/11 terrorists plus Osama bin Laden were Saudi firm evidence, some claim, of official complicity. The Republican-led Congress was all for this legal right for Americans when Barack Obama was in the White House, to the degree they overrode his veto. Now Saudis are pressing Trump to rescind this law. As I argue in my forthcoming book, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The Hidden Truth, when carefully considering all the problems in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia looks politically vulnerable. Despite the hype from Trumps visit there, the kingdoms dependence on the United States for its survival the past 70 years seems near an end. Whatever else, the United States is no longer in a position to play its traditional role as sole guarantor of Middle East stability. America needs to make hard choices namely, whether to continue its support for Saudi Arabia, long the worlds largest exporter of oil, place of Islams holiest sites and country equally bountiful in advanced U.S. weaponry and extremist Wahhabi Sunni Muslims. President Trumps visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of his first foreign trip is as historically significant as President Richard Nixons February 1972 visit to China and mission to Moscow two months later to sign the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. Nixons visit opened diplomatic doors and made the Vietnam War an anachronism in the continuing Cold War confrontation with China and Russia, facilitating a more graceful (if still shameful) U.S. exit from Vietnam. Unfortunately, many in the American media ignored or downplayed Trumps trip as an arms sales expedition rather than seeing it as a bold attempt to establish a triumphant vision for attaining peace and security in the Middle East. In Riyadh, Trump spoke to Islamic leaders from around the world. In his refreshingly frank way, he identified the threat of global Islamist-inspired terrorism to Muslims, Jews and Christians coupled with Iranian regional hegemonic ambitions. Both pose enormous threats. Furthermore, Trump declared Americas commitment to working with Muslim nations to defeat global Islamist terrorism and with Middle East countries to deter Iran. He stressed the need to work with these nations with being the operative term and did so leaving no doubt that America was through with the Obama practice of leading from behind. Meanwhile, political critics wallowing in their hangovers from Hillary Clintons November loss criticized Trump for not raising human-rights issues. (He also ignored global warming, a subject obscured by the normal 110-degree May heat of Riyadh.) Trump instead focused on destroying al-Qaida and ISIS. To do this, he understands Muslim political leaders must convince clerics across the globe to drop the radicalizing, jihadist rhetoric essential to recruiting fanatical terrorists. While Trump left no doubt that dead terrorist losers are necessary, he also understands it is impossible for the civilized world to kill enough terrorists to defeat a global Islamist jihad. Culturally, its highly significant that King Salman personally welcomed the entire American entourage, including President Trumps Jewish son-in-law and adviser Jerad Kushner and his Jewish-convert wife, Ivanka, President Trumps daughter. Furthermore, Americas elegant and graceful first lady Melania Trump figured prominently in all social events, suitably dressed but never scarfed. And no Americans bowed submissively to anyone. Finally, the presidential flight from Riyadh to Israel symbolizes what might be possible. Envision an alliance built on the already-established relationships between Israel, Jordan and Egypt, extended to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This could be a first step to a more comprehensive Middle East Treaty Organization (METO) that includes other Sunni-Muslim countries. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), led by Sheikh Kalifa bin Zayed Al Nayan, also is inclined toward economic entrepreneurship. Israelis have been doing business with Saudi Arabian and Emirate interests for a while, especially in high-tech fields. Though circumspect, intelligence and military cooperation between Israel, Egypt, and Jordan has been extended to include Saudi Arabia and the UAE. If Riyadh and the Emirates extended their already extant recognition of the reality of Israel to include formal diplomatic relations, those contacts might expand exponentially to include a formal military alliance. A Middle East Treaty Organization aimed at defeating terrorism and countering Iranian hegemony could establish regional stability. This also might reduce the need for a large U.S. presence in the Arabian Gulf. Furthermore, should Tehran attain nuclear weapons, METO nations would be covered by Israels nuclear deterrent. Otherwise, nuclear proliferation to Arab states with centuries of tribal animosities is likely and far more likely to render the Arabian Peninsula a glass parking lot. In Jerusalem, Trump emphasized the unshakable bond between Israel and the United States. The gleeful expression of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, We are happy to see that America is back, largely sums up the positive tone of the visit. To be sure, reaching an accommodation between Israel and the Palestinians will test Trumps considerable deal-making skills and will be complicated by the usual chorus of determined never Trumpers at home, but it can be done if both sides finally have had enough of bloodshed. Due to Trumps bold trip, American workers will benefit from the hundreds of billions of dollars in manufacturing jobs. High-paying jobs also mean increased tax revenues needed to lower the budget deficit. Increased weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates likely will entail increased arms deliveries to Israel, with whom the U.S. partners in anti-missile defense. Certainly a METO extended to include nations like Kuwait and Bahrain would benefit American workers and also lower the costs of high-ticket items like the advanced F-35 fighter plane and other badly needed next-generation air, sea, and land systems. The Middle East bound in an alliance to confront and deter Iran has the best chance for stabilizing the region. By extension, this benefits everyone on the planet by lessening the potential for a future Armageddon resulting from ancient and, hopefully outdated, cultural and religious animosities. White House official says Donal Trump expected to withdraw US from Paris climate accord. By Reuters: US President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Axios news outlet reported on Wednesday, citing two unidentified sources with direct knowledge of the decision. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. He then tweeted that he would make an announcement this week. advertisement Fox News also cited an unidentified source confirming the pullout. The decision will put the United States in league with Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the Paris Climate Agreement. It could have sweeping implications for the deal, which relies heavily on the commitment of big polluter nations to reduce emissions of gases scientists blame for sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. 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 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Axios said details of the pullout are being worked out by a team that includes EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The choice is between a formal withdrawal that could take three years or leaving the U.N. treaty that the accord is based on, which would be quicker but more extreme, according to Axios. LETTER FROM 22 REPUBLICAN US SENATORS The decision to withdraw from the climate accord was influenced by a letter from 22 Republican US senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for an exit, Axios reported. Former President Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord, praised the accord during a trip to Europe this month. The United States is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a US exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Canada, the European Union, and China have said they will honor their commitments to the pact even if the United States withdraws. A source told Reuters that India had also indicated it would stick by the deal. Trump had vowed during his campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president, as part of an effort to bolster US oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his skepticism of global efforts to police US carbon emissions. After taking office, however, Trump faced pressure to stay in the deal from investors, international powers and business leaders, including some in the coal industry. He also had to navigate a split among his advisers on the issue. --- ENDS --- advertisement No hot dogs, please With Memorial Day weekend marking the start of summer, American Humane, the countrys first national humane organization, reminds pet owners that hot dogs belong on the grill not in parked cars. Even when its a comfortable 70 degrees outside, the temperature inside a parked car can climb to 90 degrees in just 10 minutes and up to 110 degrees in less than hour, exposing our furry friends to serious risks, including discomfort, severe illness and even death. Responsible animal lovers should also remember to do their part to help save other pets from danger: If you see a distressed dog inside a parked car on a warm day, immediately call local animal control or law enforcement for help. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO, American Humane, Washington, D.C. 20036 Democrats, reconsider! A new bill introduced last week would raise the federal minimum wage by 107 percent to $15 an hour. Economists agree that its a terrible idea. A 2015 University of New Hampshire survey found that nearly three-quarters of surveyed U.S. labor economists were opposed to a broad $15 minimum wage. The vast majority of these economists responded that a $15 minimum wage would have negative effects on youth employment levels, adult employment levels and the number of jobs available. Even former members of the Obama and Clinton administrations have spoken out against this policy, describing it as extremely risky. Democrats should take a hint from the economist experts in their own party and remember that a new wage mandate doesnt mean much if employees cant find jobs. Michael Saltsman, managing director, Employment Policies Institute, Washington, D.C. China Spring traffic I lived in China Spring for more than 20 years, and two of my older children graduated out there. Fortunately, I moved before the nightmare of ensnared traffic gripped this area. China Spring is like a funnel, one road in and one road out. The building boom has saturated this funnel. I still have a son living out there, and its almost impossible during the day to get onto the roadway. I casually counted more than 30 cars and trucks go by before I could get onto Wortham Bend Road. Many years ago, there were plans to bridge the Brazos and initial steps were made to do so. A beautiful four-lane road T intersected running east toward the Brazos, but after about two or three miles the roadway dropped to two lanes and finally to a winding country road. As the crow flies, I live less than 10 miles from my son but, with no way to cross the river, it seems more than 25 miles. A study long since should have been made to complete this bridge across the Brazos. Much of this terrible traffic snarl would be alleviated. Dan Dayton, West ASHLAND In front of a packed house, the Ashland Planning Commission recommended approval of the preliminary plat for Whitetail Run, but failed to do the same regarding annexation of the proposed subdivision during the monthly meeting. The planning commission is a recommending agency for the Ashland City Council. The body provides recommendations to approve or deny issues relating to development, construction, zoning, etc. to the city council. However, the city council is not required to follow the recommendations made by the planning commission. Two public hearings were held during the planning commission meeting on May 25. The first dealt with the preliminary plat presented by Ashland Investment Company, developers of the Whitetail Run subdivision located southeast of the intersection of Highway 6 and 66. Developers are planning to build homes in the $250,000 range, including the $45,000 lot cost. The first homes could be started by summer 2018. The planning commissions role regarding the preliminary plat is to determine whether the proposed subdivision meshes with the citys zoning regulations and future land use map, according to City Building/Zoning Official Lenora Isom, who oversees the planning commission meetings. Brian Chaffin with Ashland Investment Company said the plat is a revision from the original plat presented in 2008, when the subdivision was first proposed. The original plans included more than 200 homes and a larger commercial component. The plat was revised in 2010 when the developers asked to include acreages in the subdivision. The city council capped the number at five, saying acreages do not fit into the plans for the area as determined by the citys comprehensive plan. The current revised plat has been divided up in phases, with the first phase the focus of the current plat presented to the city. The first phase has 50 homes and no commercial development, although the developers are in talks concerning future commercial development, Chaffin said. The developers also increased the lot sizes based on input from the city council and changes in market conditions, he added. Changes in the market are also one of the reasons the developers are moving forward with the development after basically sitting idle for so long. Theres a lot of interest from folks looking to buy and build, Chaffin said. Some in the audience were concerned that the preliminary plat was too vague. Dave Lutton, one of the developers of the Sabre Heights subdivision on the outskirts of Ashland, said the preliminary plat does not have enough information, especially regarding infrastructure. Chaffin said a preliminary plat is a living document that undergoes changes as it moves its way through the development process. Later, they will be back in front of the council for approval of the final plat, redevelopment agreements, and such. What we have here is a start, he said. The city council has multiple opportunities to approve or deny the developers plans during the process. Isom said the citys engineer will look over the final plat before the council will vote. A former city council member, Sue Brauckumller, added that a lot of issues are addressed before the final approval. Chaffin said they are designing the subdivision to the citys standards, like other developers, and cited the developers commitment to the project. Id like to think you dont have a bunch of fly-by-night guys in front of you for the last 12 years, he said. Planning Commission Chairman Dean Curtis expressed personal concerns about other subdivisions in Ashland that have run into issues, as well as the pace at which the Whitetail Run process is moving. I think the train is on the track and its moving too fast, he said. The planning commission was scheduled to approve the preliminary and final plat at the same time, which has been done in the past with other subdivisions. However, Chaffin said the developers were not ready to present the final plat. So the motion to recommend approval was revised to include just the preliminary plat. The planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the preliminary plat. After the preliminary plat was discussed, the agenda turned to annexation of Whitetail Run. The planning commission did not provide any recommendation regarding annexation of the Whitetail Run subdivision. The item died for lack of a motion after several people spoke about annexation and tax increment financing (TIF). TIF is a program that allows developers to pay for public infrastructure needed to improve a property for commercial or residential development by diverting a portion of the taxes. The taxes are frozen at the pre-improvement rate. As the property is improved, the tax that would have been paid on the increased valuation is diverted to the developer to be used to finance infrastructure. After a period of time agreed upon by the municipality and the developer (not to exceed 15 years according to Nebraska law), the property is taxed at the full improved value. Property owners request TIF, and then have to meet criteria to be approved, including the but/for test, Isom said. The project wouldnt happen but/for the use of TIF, she explained. Annexation is required in order for a development to qualify for TIF. Ashland Investment Company has asked the city for TIF for public infrastructure costs in the first phase of the development. The developers estimate it will cost $2 million to bring water and sewer lines to the outer edge of the development, add turn lanes to the highway for access into the subdivision, as well as raise and pave a portion of Dennis Dean Road. The city council approved the petition for annexation in April and the first of three readings of the annexation ordinance on May 18. The planning commission and city council are holding public hearings on the annexation even though they are not required to do so, according to City Administrator Jessica Quady. Quady said city officials scheduled the public hearings to satisfy the public. We chose to hold public hearings because we understand people have issues with it and we want to make sure were being transparent, she said. Another public hearing will be held during the city council meeting on June 1. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and is held at city hall. Local businessman Bob Luebbe, who lives outside of Ashland city limits but in the Ashland-Greenwood school district, read a lengthy prepared statement stating his concerns with annexation and TIF. Luebbe said the planning commission and the city council should not approve annexation if they do not agree with TIF for this project or dont fully understand the funding mechanism. Since there are no homes in that area, I believe there is no pressing reason to annex that portion of Whitetail unless you are in favor of the TIF financing plan, he said. Luebbes concerns also focused on shortfalls the city, school district and county could see regarding taxes, and the impact on other subdivisions in the Ashland area. The city has never undertaken a TIF project before, he said. It seems to me that TIF projects essentially rob Peter to pay Paul. Lutton, who is a local attorney, said the TIF contract with Ashland Investment Company should be in place before annexation takes place. The problem I see is that again we are premature, he said. Lutton also said the Whitetail Run TIF project would hold back annexation of Sabre Heights and Iron Horse, another subdivision in Ashland that used the Sanitary Improvements District method of financing. We need people already in these subdivisions to be a part of our city, he said. Thats why theyre there. Ashland-Greenwood Superintendent Jason Libal said the lack of information creates issues for the school district. Theres not a lot of information to glean from on how this will impact our district, he said. Local banker and area resident Rod Reisen said Ashland would benefit from the annexation and TIF for Whitetail Run. There are a lot of good reasons to consider this viable, he said. Those reasons include the point that bringing infrastructure to the area will spur development up and down the Highway 6 corridor and that added water/sewer users will help spread the debt service for the wastewater treatment plant among more users. Planning Commission Member Susan Cerny asked the audience if they were opposed to TIF or the Whitetail Run development itself. Many assured her it was TIF that caused there concerns. Im all for their development if they do an SID, Lutton said. Chaffin spoke up, saying the developers have stayed quiet on many issues, but have now decided to speak out against things that are being said that are not true. For example, many claim the developers are getting free money, Chaffin said. It is a lie to say we dont have our own money in it, he said. Earlier in the meeting, Chaffin noted that the developers had made changes to the plat in response to input from the public. For instance, to satisfy the local acreage owners they increased lots sizes near the acreages and agreed to develop that phase last. Also, the developers are looking at ways to add green space in response to concerns from the public that there would be no parks in the first phase of Whitetail Run. We made some changes to try and be a good neighbor, Chaffin said. WAVERLY The Eighth Annual Dare to Share Car Show will be held Sunday, June 4. This year, the car show is back to its original location: the Waverly High School parking lot. Last year, due to the construction at the high school, we had to move the show to the intermediate school parking lot, said organizer Lisa French. We wonder if it would hurt us, but we had 170 cars entered. This year, due to construction at the intermediate school, the car show is back to where it started. We are back at the high school, French said. And everything is pretty much the same. French said they welcome all cars, vehicles, motorcycles and antique tractors to line up in the schools parking lot. Registration will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. with the show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A raffle/auction will be held at 2:45 p.m. Awards will be presented at 3 p.m. There are more than 30 classes under the stock, modified, truck, tractor, motorcycle and other categories. Trophies will be awarded for first, second, and third place. Seven best of show and Mayors Choice trophies will also be awarded. Owners can register the morning of the show. There is no admission to come and view vehicles she said. We have a bounce house for the kids to enjoy, she said. And the Band Boosters will have concessions. Money raised from the day will be used for School District 145s backpack program. That program sends food home with students who qualify on Fridays during the school year so they will have something to eat over the weekend. The car show raises enough money each year to finance the program for the entire school year. We welcome the community to come up and walk around the cars on Sunday, she said. The high school is located at 134501 Amberly Road. LINCOLN A long-running Waverly business changed hands this week when B&R Stores of Lincoln purchased Lovegroves Grocery. The Pracht family purchased the store in 1991, when it was known as Jack and Jill, said Lovegroves owner Dona Pracht. The name has changed from that to Superfoods to Lovegroves over the years, but the business has always made serving the community their priority. She said not only did the family receive a good deal, but the town did, too. Its a good deal for Waverly as well, she said. Terms were not disclosed. The transaction was expected to close by the end of May, with B&R taking over June 1. The name will change to Russs Market Express, a new smaller Russs Market concept. The Lovegroves Grocery Store has served Waverly shoppers for over 25 years, and its legacy as a family-owned business continues on, said Pat Raybould, president of B&R Stores, in a press release. Were excited about the potential of the neighborhood store too, as its already a fundamentally strong business. We look forward to being a part of the Waverly community. The decision to move into Waverly came after the company made plans to further extend their reach in the area. We want to continue to grow and we feel there are opportunities in other smaller towns in Nebraska, Raybould said. He said a new warehouse in Norfolk will make shipping to Nebraska stores easier and less expensive. Raybould praised Lovegroves for how well the store operated and said B&R plans to follow in its foot-steps. In dealing with Dan, Doug and Dona, theyve been very nice and pleasant, he said. Theyve done a good job over the years. Made some good, smart business practices, so were going to be replicating some of that and putting our own twist on the store. The smaller format will be a new experience for Russs. Were going to start out slowly with some changes and learn as we go, because this will really be a new format for our company, Raybould said. Hours for the store will change, Raybould said. The location will now open at 7 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. most nights. An expanded meat department may also be in the works. The store will also carry B&Rs Best Choice private label and will honor the weekly Russs Market advertisements. But the smaller size means not everything can be stocked. We just cant pack everything into that size of store that a full Russs would carry, Raybould said. Products left behind at the end of the month from the Our Family private label and some national brands were expected to be donated to the Waverly Food Pantry. Shoppers can also expect the low prices Russs is known for, Raybould said. There should also be plenty of variety in the store. Raybould also wants to make sure the store continues to offer exceptional service. We hope to carry on the good customer-friendly service tradition that Lovegroves has always had, he said. The company is interviewing all of the Lovegroves staff, and Raybould said its likely most will stay with the store. Were interviewing all of them and our past track record is we retain pretty much the vast majority of associates, he said. There are some very good people in the Waverly store. Additional staff may also be needed, Raybould said. The company is eager to see what the future brings. Were excited, Raybould said. I think its going to b e a win for the community and B&R Stores. Its going to be fun being a part of Waverly. Pracht said she and the other owners will miss the store and looked back fondly on the relationships they forged with the community. The family will remain in Waverly. Oh absolutely well miss the daily interaction with community members, she said. But we wont be gone. Well still be here. As for the future, she did not say exactly what was in mind. Weve all been pursuing other things, she said. I guess time will tell. Weve always been busy. President Donald Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far. By AP: President Donald Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chief's communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. advertisement Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macron's victory earlier this month, according to a French official, who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeau's office responded to requests for comment. BREACH OF PROTOCOL The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump - who, before taking office, was long easily accessible by cellphone and viewed himself as freewheeling, impulsive dealmaker. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. "If you are speaking on an open line, then it's an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so," said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president "doesn't carry with him a secure phone," Chollet said. "If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything you're saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it." The caution is warranted even when dealing with allies. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel's learned in 2013, when a dump of American secrets leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the U.S. was monitoring her cellphone, good relations don't prevent some spycraft between friends. "If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, it's reasonable to assume that they'd hand it right over to their intel service," said Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs in the U.S. State Department. advertisement The practice opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last year's presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. Presidents' phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group - sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less-formal calls with world leaders. Trump's White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. BACK CHANNEL TALKS DISCREET: WHITE HOUSE advertisement The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aide's attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met in December with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The White House has said such back channel communications are useful and discreet. Trump has struggled more than most recent presidents to keep his conversations with world leaders private. His remarks to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats have all leaked, presumably after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials. It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. advertisement But the law contains "blind spots" - namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Under Barack Obama, the first cellphone-toting president, worries about cyber intrusions - particularly by foreign governments - pulled the president's devices deep into the security bubble. Many of the functions on Obama's BlackBerry were blocked, and a very small handful of people had his phone number or email address, according to former aides. "Government sometimes looks like a big bureaucracy that has stupid rules, but a lot of these things are in place for very good reasons and they've been around for a while and determine the most effective way to do business in the foreign policy sphere," said Deeks. "Sometimes it takes presidents longer to figure that out." Also Read: Donald Trump dismisses leaks from White House as 'fake news' following Jared Kushner reports Relation between President Trump, Chancellor Merkel 'fairly unbelievable': White House Donald Trump's anti-Germany tweets escalate tense relations between two countries Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner sought back channel with Putin to bypass diplomats: Sources Also Watch: Donald Trump's Saudi trip ends, urges Muslim leaders to fight extremism --- ENDS --- DESPITE the pressing need to do so, over half of all Irish people say they could not afford an average cost of 56,000 to... WHILE there is no guarantee of sunshine on the Sunny South East as we move into the autumn/winter season, revellers will nonetheless be thrilled... Seven jobs at a Waterford charity look set to be lost after it was announced that it is to be wound down. The U-Casadh... WATERFORD is the most sunny city in Ireland and the county is second in the sunshine league, being pipped to first place by our... THE average rent in Waterford has now soared to 1,148, up 102% from its lowest point. The increase in rents around the country reflects an... A late-night Malaysia Airlines flight was turned back to Melbourne Airport shortly after take-off following a security incident involving a "disruptive" and "threatening" passenger who tried to enter the plane's cockpit while carrying an unidentified black object, the airline and local police say. One fellow passenger described seeing the man behaving erratically and threatening to "blow the plane up" before he was eventually pinned to the floor and subdued by others on the plane. A Malaysian government official later told local media the man had been holding a power bank, or mobile charger, not an explosive device. Dramatic photographs taken by other passengers on board the flight showed heavily armed security personnel boarding the plane after its return to Melbourne. The aircraft landed safely about 30 minutes after take-off and the passenger was apprehended by airport security. Flight MH128, which left Melbourne for Kuala Lumpur at 11.11pm, was turned back "after the operating captain was alerted by a cabin crew of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit", the airline said in a statement. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed an ECIR against Congress leader Baba Siddique and eight other for laundering money for a SRA project. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed an ECIR against Congress leader Baba Siddique along with eight others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), suspecting foul play in a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project. Few years back, Satra Group announced an initial investment of Rs 1000 crore for developing a real-estate in Mumbai. The group launched its ultra-luxurious residential project called 'Limited Edition 88' near Bandra-Worli Sea link, involving an investment to the tune of Rs 250 crore. advertisement The company's press release stated that LE 88 would be a 26-storey super-luxurious building comprising of 4 BHK apartments ranging from 4,116 square feet to 4,364 square feet. "The project is being developed as a joint venture with Pyramid Developers. It has the potential to generate revenue of about Rs 550 crore over a period of 2-3 years of consolidation basis", the release said. ABOUT LE 88 Amenities such as; modern club house, gymnasium, Jacuzzi, a swimming pool with landscaped jogging track and modern security concepts like biometric access and central monitoring system along would be offered. The project is designed by acclaimed HBA, Singapore and sample flats conceptualized and designed by Gauri Khan, wife of actor Shah Rukh Khan. With a view of Arabian Sea and Bandra-Worli Sea Link, each flat is priced at Rs 25 crore. Sources tell India Today that till now celebrities like Sonu Sood, Shah Rukh Khan, Harbhajan Singh and few others have visited the site. "To the best of our knowledge, probably only one of such personality has booked the flat in the project", the spokesperson of Satra Group confirmed to India Today on conditions of anonymity. WHAT IS THE SCAM? LE 88 is getting constructed on the land of Jamaat-e-Jamoori, a SRA colony located at Bandra West near reclamation. The colony consists of seven SRA buildings which were constructed for slum-dwellers who were staying in slums till 2007. In 2012, Abdul Salaam, an activist filed a case against several slum-dwellers for forging their ration cards in order to secure more than one room for their families in those seven SRA buildings. According to the rules, one family is entitled to one room flat only. Salaam's another allegation was that in 2006, local MLA claimed that these SRA buildings had been approved under CRZ norms. But later, the RTI information revealed that authorities had applied for a CRZ clearance only in 2011, so that the FSI could be increased in next few years. The FSI was increased from 1.5 to 1.87 for these buildings. "It happened because with the help of forged documents over 19 project-affected persons were shown in the original document which were submitted before the authorities", Salaam complained. advertisement Allegations were aimed at Baba Siddique of being the mastermind behind the scam as he was in partnership with Pyramid Developers, who were managing Jammat-e-Jamoori SRA colony. CONSPIRACY AGAINST ME: SIDDIQUE It was in February 21, 2014, that the metropolitan magistrate court passed an order directing Bandra police to initiate investigation against Baba Siddique and others, for their alleged role in irregularities in a slum rehabilitation project under section 153 (3) of CrPC. While talking exclusively to Indiatoday.in from London, Baba Siddique said, "I am in London. I am not in Mumbai. This is all conspiracy against me". Even Sachin Sawant, spokesperson of Congress party tweeted criticising the agency saying, "Clearly vendetta politics. A pattern can be seen in which Opposition is being harassed through ED or CBI. Government trying to damage image and suppress voice of Opposition". --- ENDS --- A convicted child sex offender who has lived in WA most of his life will likely be deported back to New Zealand after losing an appeal to have his visa cancellation overturned in the Federal Court of Australia on Monday. Paul Rex Hooton has been detained in an immigration centre since mid-2015 after serving a 20 month jail sentence for possessing child pornography. A convicted sex offender who has lived in WA most of his life will likely be deported back to New Zealand. The 36-year-old former Swan View man, who moved to Australia when he was 17 years old, is one of 336 people in WA who have had their Australian visas revoked based on character grounds since 2015. He had been fighting to remain in Perth with his family. "Most major cities don't feel the impact of a resources cycle. We are heavily dependent on both that and agricultural cycles. Commodity prices and droughts are major changes that affect us, but so does any flux in major industries such as wool, industry, timber. "Did the boom allow us to get to a position of maturity, and not go through another real bust period? Is there enough underlying economic activity to make it a profitable and interesting place to live?" She said each researcher that contributed to the book looked at different dimensions of the boom and how WA could stabilise things for the future, covering the connections Perth had developed as an international resource hub, who got what economic benefits from the boom, the formation of new businesses, the role of indigenous people, the meaning of suburbia and changes to the 'Great Australian Dream', and how Perth was progressing overall in its plans for transport, infrastructure, water and sustainability. We are young "We aren't aging as fast as other Australian cities," Dr Davies said. "We talk about ageing populations a lot and Perth's is still ageing, but is actually quite low on the spectrum. We attracted a lot of people in their 20s and 30s to Perth, both in terms of international and interstate migrants .... during the boom. The impact has been a lower rate of ageing. "It means we aren't facing those same issues of ageing as quickly as, say, south east Queensland. We have a lower 'dependency ratio', meaning the number of people who can work compared to the number of people who can't. People in Perth have plenty of years left in their work life that can contribute to growing the city. That young workforce can be thought of as capital, as a resource." The couple successfully lobbied for the penalty for 'coward punches' to be doubled to a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail. "The dangers is it kills," Mr Goodwin said. "It's not the punch. It's when they hit the ground and smash their head open." There's been at least nine deadly one-punch attacks in WA in the past decade, and Mr Goodwin said there needed to be stiffer penalties for those who inflicted them. "Until there's some real discouragement I don't know how you're going to stop people doing this unless they know there is something serious at the other end of it for them," he said. The dream, now close to reality, is to build a centre so allied health workers and clinicians can work together to treat patients efficiently. Credit:iStock The past 20 years of research had revealed five different sub-types. Even patients with the same sub-types could respond to treatments differently, indicating further undiscovered subtleties. There were now variations on the traditional treatments of chemotherapy and hormonal drugs, as well as newer "biological drugs"; tailoring these to patients not only increased survival rates, but made treatments safer and side effects less severe. The centre would allow a breast nurse to guide patients seamlessly through each discipline. Credit:Getty Images Professor Chan's research has also led to worldwide improvements into the control of nausea, the protection of patients' immune systems from the battering of chemotherapy, and easing the standard streaming eyes and nose that were once a miserable, if relatively minor, side effect. Professor Chan is also looking into reducing toxicity rates and reducing fatigue in patients with advanced cancers. She said all her results worked together to improve a patient's lot. "I see women every day and I see what it is about the diagnosis and the treatment that matters. Yes, they want survival and cure but it is also so important to protect their quality of life," she said. "There are so many facets to breast cancer. "Through the generosity of the WA community that donates I am able to do these novel, niche trials that many others lack the capacity or the interest for. "I have always loved a discipline in medicine that stretches my brain, but I also love taking care of patients. I don't just know the woman, but their partners, families. I treat them beginning to end. Even those who don't survive, I am privileged to take them and their families through terminal care and bereavement." Professor Chan said she worked with the best in Australia and the world; brilliant surgeons, the best radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons, nurses, geneticists, psychologists, radiologists; but they were limited in the lack of a one-stop shop. Upon cancer diagnosis, cases had to be discussed by numerous different disciplines, with a lot of legwork to be done to move someone through the complex machinery of surgery and treatment, as not everyone needed to undergo the same steps with the same disciplines. Her dream, now close to reality, is to build a centre so these allied health workers and clinicians can work together to do it efficiently. "When a person is diagnosed it is devastating. Delays are so distressing. You are diagnosed but you wait weeks, days to see the next person," she said. "Patients also find it so distressing to repeat their stories over and over to different doctors." She said the centre would allow a breast nurse to guide patients seamlessly through each discipline. "An expedited process, lowering the level of distress, answering the questions, all the backup there to hand if more information is requested ... no need for Dr Google," Professor Chan said. "Even after treatment that person has to adjust back to life, to ongoing follow-up, to the consequences of their treatment. They will have a team of people helping with their survivorship. The same people, those they now trust, will take them through." Despite Professor Chan's expertise and international reputation the centre receives no government support and is limited by access to funding. "Almost every major cancer centre of note has been able to thrive through philanthropic generosity," Professor Chan said. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched court action against a national car wash franchisor accused of lying to prospective franchisees about its business model, potential income and business sources. Geowash based in Victoria - has eight franchisees in Perth in locations such as Osborne Park, Joondalup, Westminster, Wanneroo and Midvale. The ACCC has commenced legal action against the owners of Geowash for allegedly misleading franchisors. Credit:Google Maps ACCC deputy chair Michael Schaper alleged the company's director Sanam Ali and national franchising manager Charles Cameron knowingly engaged in misleading potential franchisees. "The ACCC investigated Geowash's conduct following complaints from franchisees alleging that they had been misled about their establishment costs, and ultimately had not been provided with an operating car wash franchise," he said. The decision will put the United States in league with Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the Paris Climate Agreement. It could have sweeping implications for the deal, which relies heavily on the commitment of big polluter nations to reduce emissions of gases scientists blame for sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. Under the pact, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2025. Ivanka Trump reportedly lobbied her father to remain in the climate deal. Credit:AP Mr Trump has said the accord would cost the US economy trillions of dollars without tangible benefit. "The president will make an announcement when he's made a final decision," one senior official said. Mr Trump has changed his mind on large decisions before, even after previously signalling a move in the opposite direction. News outlet Axios, which first reported the withdrawal, said details of the pullout are being worked out by a team that includes Mr Pruitt. The choice is between a formal withdrawal that could take three years or leaving the UN treaty that the accord is based on, which would be quicker but more extreme, according to the Axios report. CBS News confirmed the report, saying Trump had told allies he would be pulling out of the deal. Fox News also cited an unidentified source confirming the withdrawal. A US decision to withdraw from the accord could further alienate American allies in Europe already wary of Mr Trump and call into question US leadership and trustworthiness on one of the world's leading issues. A pullout also would be one more step by the Republican president to erase the legacy of his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord and praised it during a trip to Europe this month. The decision to withdraw from the climate accord was influenced by a letter from 22 Republican US senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for an exit, Axios reported. The United States is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a US exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Canada, the European Union, and China have said they will honour their commitments to the pact even if the United States withdraws. A source told Reuters that India had also indicated it would stick by the deal. Environmental groups criticised the planned withdrawal. The Sierra Club said a US withdrawal from the Paris deal would be a "historic mistake." Friends of the Earth said it would make America the world's "foremost climate villain." Mr Trump had vowed during his campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president, as part of an effort to bolster US oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his skepticism of global efforts to police US carbon emissions. After taking office, however, Mr Trump faced pressure to stay in the deal from investors, international powers and business leaders, including some in the coal industry. He also had to navigate a split among his advisers on the issue. Trump aides including Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, lawyer Don McGahn and Peter Navarro, along with Mr Pruitt, argued hard for leaving the accord. They said the deal would require the US government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, which would hurt business. Mr Trump's administration has already begun the process of killing Obama-era climate regulations. The "stay-in" camp, which included Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, had argued the United States could reduce its voluntary emission-cuts targets while still keeping a voice within the accord. Oil majors Shell and Exxon Mobil have also supported the Paris pact, along with a number of Republican lawmakers. Several big coal companies, including Cloud Peak Energy, had publicly urged Mr Trump to stay in the deal as a way to help protect the industry's mining interests overseas, though others asked Mr Trump to exit the accord to help ease regulatory pressures on domestic miners. Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change, at times calling it a hoax designed to weaken US industry. An overwhelming majority of scientists, however, say climate change is driven by human use of fossil fuels. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk threatened on Wednesday to resign his position as an adviser to President Donald Trump if the United States withdraws from the Paris climate deal, a remark that highlights Trump's precarious position in a high-stakes international standoff. Trump could decide as early as this week whether the United States will remain in the historic Paris Agreement, which reflects a voluntary commitment by the world's governments to reduce their carbon emissions. Musk said on Twitter that he had done all he could to advise the White House on the deal that was signed in 2016 by 195 countries. Asked by another Twitter user what would happen if Trump withdraws in spite of Musk's advice, the entrepreneur said he would have "no choice" in the matter. By Press Trust of India: of gear (EDS: Adds more details) Chennai, May 31 (PTI) A huge fire gutted a leading textile showroom in downtown T Nagar today, affecting normalcy in the key commercial area, even as the blaze continued to rage 13 hours after it broke out. None was injured and 12 persons were rescued from the seven storied building, which houses Chennai Silks, a leading textile showroom on the busy Usman Road. advertisement The mishap affected normalcy in the citys key commercial neighbourhood, which came under thick clouds of smoke and soot. The incident hit movement of traffic and led to closure of commercial establishments and retail outlets in the vicinity. Also, some residents living close to the showroom were requested to stay off by authorities. Top officials told PTI that more than 100 tankers had so far supplied water to douse the fire and 150 firemen were still on the job to put out the blaze. A PTI correspondent who visited the spot this evening found almost nil visibility due to thick smoke, which had spread upto two to three kilometres. Road users, including two-wheeler riders and pedestrians, were put to acute discomfort. Officials from multiple state agencies, including fire and rescue, city police, Chennai Corporation and revenue department are on the spot coordinating to douse the fire. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained though it is suspected to be due to short-circuit. "Our priority now is to put out the fire and extinguish smoke. We will look into the cause later," an official said. The blaze was noticed at about 4 AM and several fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot. However, accessing the building and spraying water inside proved challenging in the centrally air-conditioned showroom. "We had to demolish a portion of the front exterior of the building so that water could be let deep inside," a Fire officer said. Fire fighters battled hard to get into the showroom from the ground floor even as the sound of things coming crashing down heavily from within was quite audible from outside. Firemen surrounded the building and sprayed water from high-pressure valves to try and douse the blaze. Even after more than 10 hours of fire fighting efforts, flames were still seen smoldering inside parts of the building on several floors. Joint Police Commissioner T S Anbu and other officials told Revenue Minister R B Udhaya Kumar who inspected the spot that they were considering breaking open "some more spots in the building so it becomes easier to put out fire and smoke." advertisement Though some cracks could be seen in the building, officials declined to state if it was due to fire and whether it would affect the structural stability of the structure. "We will check everything...we will see if there were any violations later and consider appropriate options, if warranted," a senior official said. The mishap is expected to cause loss worth crores due to the gutting of commercial stock and the building. "By using skylift, we rescued 12 people. None was injured... smoke is emanating from the basement and it is being extinguished," a Fire official told reporters, adding that an electric short-circuit might have caused the fire. As many as 21 fire tenders besides three skylift trucks were involved in the operations. Officials said to ensure safety, the showroom and the area around it had been declared out of bounds for the public. PTI VGN APR SRY --- ENDS --- Five law enforcement agencies are still investigating a fatal shooting that happened at a high school graduation party in Axton. Law enforcement from Pittsylvania County, Henry County, Danville, Martinsville and Virginia State Police met Tuesday morning to discuss all possible leads. People at the high school party tell investigators that the party was being held for high school seniors from Henry County, Magna Vista and Bassett. Officials say the motive of the shooting has not been determined. The official cause of 17-year-old Tion Burtons death has not been received by investigators from the Medical Examiners Office. The report should come out this week. Investigators ask if you have any information about the shooting to call the Pittsylvania County Sheriffs Office at 434-432-7800 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-791-0044. By Press Trust of India: Berlin, May 31 (PTI) A fungal infection in grapes known as bunch rot improves the aroma of wine, providing it increased levels of fruity and vanilla notes, scientists say. On the other hand, another fungal infection known as powdery mildew can negatively affect the taste and aroma of wine, according to the study. Researchers, including those from Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging in Germany, studied the effects of fungal infection on wine produced from the grape varieties White Riesling, Red Riesling and Gewurztraminer, and the effect of powdery mildew on wine made from the unsprayed hybrid grape type Gm 8622-3. advertisement They found that while bunch rot actually led to more positive aroma ratings, mildew infected wine was rated as less interesting by a test panel. The team performed a series of tests, including comparative Aroma Extract Dilution Analysis (AEDA) as well as sensory evaluation by a panel of 10 participants who had received extensive training in identifying different wine odourants. They found that both bunch rot and powdery mildew caused nuanced changes in the composition of aroma substances, changing the odour of the wines to the point where the wines aroma quality was significantly affected. However, these changes were not linked to changes in any key chemical compound, but rather "a result of an interplay of subtler changes in multiple aroma active substances in each wine", said Andrea Buettner, from Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Chemistry, found that bunch rot infection increased the fruity, floral and toasty aroma notes in all of the affected wine samples, leading the panel to rate its odour as more pleasant than wine made from healthy grapes. The floral notes increased much more in the White Riesling sample than in the other wines. Buettner said that "the observed differences between bunch rot-affected and healthy samples could be partially related to the higher sugar content reported in the infected grapes." Powdery mildew, on the contrary, resulted in a decrease of vanilla-like notes, due to a variety of quite subtle chemical changes. Wine samples affected by powdery mildew received consistently lower aroma ratings from the panel than the healthy control samples. "This negative rating was, however, not related to any specific off-note but was rather due to a lack of positive aromatic notes; in fact, the wine was described as being rather flat," said Buettner. These findings are of importance to wine lovers and wine producers alike. "Fungal infections pose a real economic threat for viticulture," said Buettner. "Botrytis cinerea and Erysiphe necator are among the most relevant fungi in viticulture and have a world-wide impact on the wine industrial production," he said. advertisement "Infections can lead to both yield losses and reduced grape quality. Recent climate change may have created more favourable conditions for fungi to grow, and at the same time the usage of fungicides is becoming increasingly restricted," he added. PTI MHN SAR MHN --- ENDS --- The buzz about Shankersinh Vaghela, former chief minister and current leader of the Congress in the Gujarat assembly, is that he is on his way out of the party. He's keeping them guessing. But the buzz about Shankersinh Vaghela, former chief minister and current leader of the Congress in the Gujarat assembly, is that he's on his way out of the party. It is also being said that he's looking to resettle his son, Mahendrasinh, currently a Congress MLA, in the BJP-Vaghela's original political home. The man, of course, is known to exercise his political options. In September 1995, Vaghela revolted against chief minister Keshubhai Patel and a year later split the Gujarat BJP to become CM with Congress support. Eventually joining the Congress, he held top posts, including that of Union textiles minister in UPA-I. advertisement Vaghela's latest machinations began this month with the 'un-following' of 30 senior Congress leaders, including party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, on Twitter. He also deleted a number of his own tweets that were critical of BJP leaders before mysteriously going AWOL. Significantly, his curious conduct began after Ashok Gehlot, former Rajasthan CM and Congress in-charge of Gujarat, attempted to broker peace between Vaghela and incumbent state president Bharatsinh Solanki (son of former CM Madhavsinh Solanki). At a party meeting on May 10, Gehlot reportedly worked on both leaders, asking them not to stoop to demanding that they be named as candidates for the post of CM in the upcoming December assembly polls. Speculation over Vaghela's "imminent exit" has also been fuelled by two other factors: BJP chief Amit Shah has made no bones about his willingness to poach leaders from rival parties, especially ahead of crucial elections, and with polls to three Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat due in July, many believe that Vaghela could be part of the BJP's strategy to wrest all three seats. Cross-voting by just 11 Congress MLAs could bring BJP the seat. Vaghela, sources say, enjoys the "unshakable loyalty" of at least eight legislators. Analysts believe the BJP also wants Vaghela because of his popularity among OBC Kshatriyas, a constituency that has so far supported the Congress. Vaghela has himself rejected suggestions that he was looking to return to the BJP: "Kisne hawa chalaayi? Maine kaha? Amit Shah saamne milne aaye the?" the politician was quoted as saying a day before dropping out of sight. Congress insiders, however, talk about Vaghela's strained relations with Solanki and Patel. But many party leaders also suggest that Vaghela is only indulging in pressure tactics to get his way. --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, May 30 (PTI) India will provide a 46 million Nepali Rupees as financial assistance for the construction of a five storey cold storage facility in Western Nepals Dang district, the fifth development project funded by the Indian government in the area. The farmers in the area are largely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and have been facing problems in proper handling and storage of their perishable agricultural products, the Indian embassy here said yesterday. advertisement The new cold storage facility would enable farmers to store their produce and get better prices. It will enhance their income levels and contribute in raising the standard of living for their families, it said in a statement. An agreement was signed between Indian embassy in Kathmandu and concerned organisations for the grant, it added. Meanwhile, construction of the four projects in Dang district has been completed with the support from the Indian government, the embassy statement said. The Government of India has provided 13 ambulances and 2 buses to Dang district in the past, recognising the need of the people there. Under the India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme, the Government of India has been providing financial assistance for various large and small development projects in different parts of Nepal. The development projects, mainly in the sectors of education, health and infrastructure development, have been undertaken in response to local needs and in partnership with the Government of Nepal, the statement said. PTI SBP MRJ AKJ MRJ --- ENDS --- 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. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 31, 2017 | 10:26 AM | MAYFIELD, KY A Graves County man faces attempted murder charges after he allegedly pulled a gun on deputies Tuesday night. Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon said deputies went to 42-year-old John Hoback's home in Mayfield Tuesday night to serve a burglary warrant but Hoback wouldn't come to the door. When deputies entered the home through the front door, Hoback grabbed his wife and ran into a bathroom. Deputies chased him into the bathroom, where Hoback reportedly met them with a loaded .38 Special at arms length. Deputies disarmed Hoback but he resisted arrest. He was eventually placed under arrest and taken to Jackson Purchase Medical Center for treatment of injuries sustained in the scuffle with deputies. Hoback was lodged in the Graves County Jail on two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, wanton endangerment, unlawful imprisonment, resisting arrest and fleeing police on foot. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 31, 2017 | EDDYVILLE, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 31, 2017 | 10:48 AM | EDDYVILLE, KY Kentucky State Police have charged a Princeton man with murder, following the discovery of a body inside a home in Lyon County. Troopers say they got a call at around 7:00 pm, Monday, about a dead body at a home on Oak Drive. When they got there, they found 51-year-old Lisa Pace, of Eddyville, inside her home with multiple gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner. As troopers were investigating, information was received indicating a man had been arrested in Paces vehicle in Hopkins County. The Madisonville Police Department had arrested 19-year-old Ernest Atwood Jr., of Princeton, on Tuesday for DUI and license to be in possession. Atwood was lodged in to the Hopkins County Jail. Police said Atwood Jr. and Pace are distant relatives. At approximately 2:00 am, Wednesday, troopers charged Atwood Jr. with murder in the death of Pace. He remains in the Hopkins County Jail. An autopsy was completed at the Medical Examiners Office in Madisonville on Wednesday. State police said the preliminary results confirm Pace died as a result of injuries sustained from multiple gunshot wounds. The investigation is continuing. Little sign of relief expected in October US inflation data Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 31, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 31, 2017 | 12:21 PM | PADUCAH, KY A materials supplier who plead guilty in January to wire fraud charges related to work done at the Fulton County Detention Center has been sentenced. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky, 80-year-old Michael Homra was sentenced Wednesday to serve two years of probation and pay $32,500 in restitution. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Homra plead guilty January 20 to three counts of wire fraud related to his role in a conspiracy to defraud Fulton County citizens during the 2015-2016 expansion of their detention center. Court records show that Homra, the owner of The Leader Store in Fulton, allowed former Fulton County Jailer Ricky Parnell to use his business as a middleman, inflating prices for building supplies ordered during the project and paying Parnell half of the profits. Homra was indicted in November 2016 with co-defendants Parnell, Ronald Armstrong, Jimmy Boyd, and Daniel Larcom. Parnell, Armstrong, and Larcom have entered guilty pleas and await sentencing. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 30, 2017 | MADISONVILLE, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 30, 2017 | 04:46 PM | MADISONVILLE, KY Two people were arrested Sunday as part of an ongoing investigation into a western Kentucky drug trafficking network. Kentucky State Police say their Drug Enforcement/Special Investigations Unit executed a search warrant along with the FBI and several other agencies. They went to a home on Frostburg Road in Madisonville, and reportedly seized crystal methamphetamine valued over $16,000 during the search. Police arrested 52-year-old Jackie "Fat Jack" Fryar of Madisonville and 53-year-old Rene Michele Carter of Pittsburg, California. They are charged with trafficking in more than 2 grams of a controlled substance 1st degree. Troopers say Fryar is currently on pre-sentencing release from a 2015 indictment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Police say through controlled purchases and search warrants during a three-year investigation, they have siezed over five pounds of meth from Fryar and his organization. State Police say the investigation is ongoing and involves multiple co-conspirators who have not yet been charged. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 31, 2017 | 10:48 AM | GRAVES COUNTY, KY A wreck Monday night in Graves County left a woman injured and facing a DUI charge. According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, the crash happened around 8:15 pm in the 400 block of Wingo Road. Deputies said a car driven by 21-year-old Mary Harding of Wingo was traveling north at a high rate of speed when it topped a hill and went airborne. Harding's car landed and overturned several times, coming to rest on the side of the road. Harding told deputies she had been drinking an alcoholic beverage earlier. Harding was transported to Jackson Purchase Medical Center for treatment of her injuries. She is charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. By The Associated Press May. 31, 2017 | 05:05 AM | FRANKFORT, KY Kentucky State Police will offer vehicles and other surplus items for sale at an auction next month. State police say in a news release that the auction will be held June 9 at its supply branch in Frankfort. All types of cars, trucks and SUVs will be up for bid, along with numerous kitchen items. Bidders can view the vehicles on the day of the auction or by visiting the supply branch during regular business hours on June 8. Bidders must register at no cost. By Press Trust of India: By Anisur Rahman Dhaka/New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) The Indian Navy has rescued 33 people from choppy seas off Bangladesh which was today assessing the extent of loss after Cyclone Mora wreaked havoc and killed at least nine persons and left over 50,000 families homeless. Indian Navy ship Sumitra rescued 33 people who were found adrift in the Bay of Bengal, about 160 kms from Chittagong. advertisement The Eastern Naval Command is deploying P-81 aircraft as part of its rescue operation in Bangladesh. The cyclone has affected over a quarter million people in the country, the disaster management ministry said. As many as 286,000 people in 16 coastal districts were affected by the storm, Additional Secretary Golam Mostafa was quoted as saying by bdnews24. Around 54,500 families have lost properties in the storm as nearly 60,000 houses have been damaged along with 1,592 acres of farmlands, he said. Coxs Bazar, the longest unbroken sea beach in the world, bore the brunt of the cyclone, with five people dead, over 20,000 houses destroyed and hundreds of trees uprooted, blocking roads all over the district. In Bhola district, an infant died while in Rangamati, a woman and a girl were crushed to death when trees fell on their houses. In Bandarban, a man was killed. At least 10 people were injured. Prime Minister Hasina today appreciated her government, saying a quick response mechanism averted severe casualties and damages. "We are well capable of managing fallout from disasters. Cyclones and calamities will come. Our job is to take measures to avoid human losses. "We are lucky as well since the storm hit the land during the ebb tide and as a result the storm surge did not become deadly," she said in the Parliament. Hasina said a number of houses and establishments were damaged as well as countless trees were uprooted. She said: "We are preparing a list of affected people who had lost their houses" to extend hands in rebuilding their houses and establishments damaged by the cyclone. She also said that two Navy ships have reached Kutubdia and Teknaf which are the worst affected areas to carry out relief operations while helicopters were kept ready to operate in the areas if needed. Mora, packing winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour, made landfall in the country yesterday, tearing through the southwest districts including low-lying areas. Authorities spearheaded a massive evacuation campaign as the meteorological department had issued the "great danger signal no 10" in a scale of 10 as the tropical cyclone, brewed in the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal, proceeded towards the countrys coastlines. advertisement Despite low casualty figure, the storm left behind a trail of destruction as thousands of people lost their houses. Thousands of Rohingya refugees hunkered down in the ruins of their camps waiting for help after a night in the rain with official saying the storm severely ravaged their makeshift shelters in Coxs Bazar which borders Myanamr. Authorities in Coxs Bazar and neighbouring Chittagong district evacuated some 350,000 people from low-lying areas before the storm struck when most Rohingyas remained in their flimsy shelters in the camps. Officials estimated that about 350,000 Rohingyas took refuge in Bangladesh following a new influx last October, when the Myanmar army launched an offensive in response to insurgent attacks. The meteorological department yesterday said that the severe cyclonic storm Mora moved northward over North Bay and started crossing Coxs Bazar-Chittagong coast. It was likely to move in a northerly direction further, it said. All flights were suspended to and from Chittagong international airport and the Coxs Bazar airports yesterday. As many as 300,000 people had been taken to shelters in more than 10 districts most vulnerable to the cyclone. advertisement The districts affected with the storm include Coxs Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barisal and Pirojpur. By late last night, the cyclone began losing strength. Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader has said that the government has disbursed cash assistance of 18.7 million taka for the affected areas. Bangladesh is often hit by bad storms between April and December that cause deaths and widespread destruction. Cyclone Roanu hit the southern coast of Bangladesh last year, leaving 20 people dead and forcing half a million to flee their homes. The Mora cyclone formed after heavy rains in Sri Lanka caused floods and landslides killing over 200 people. PTI AR/MPB BUN RCJ CPS AKJ CPS --- ENDS --- Wexford photographer Declan Roche is back among the best with stunning shot of hare on Curracloe Beach After topping the Bundesliga goalscoring charts and winning the DFB Pokal with Borussia Dortmund this season, it looks like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may be on the cusp of returning to France. According to Yahoo France, things are burning between PSG and Dortmund with the two clubs agreeing a deal over the transfer of Aubameyang, the fee involved said to be approximately 70million. There is only one discussion remaining. between the player and PSG. The discussions revolve around an annual salary of 10million and a signing bonus of about 6million. A few details remain to be finalised in order to finalise this dossier. Yahoo also claim that Alexis Sanchez was PSGs top priority, but the acquisition of Aubameyang still represents a great catch as the Ligue 1 side seek to improve their attacking options. With 113 goals in 177 appearances for Dortmund over the course of four seasons, its hard to argue. FUN FACT (via @Squawka): Aubameyang has scored 72 goals for Dortmund in the Bundesliga and not one came from outside the 18-yard box. A true penalty box predator if ever there were. While the big signing of the day for Arsenal is Arsene Wenger, the Gunners are also reported to be close to sealing a 6.8m deal for Nigerian attacker Henry Onyekuru. The 19-year-old was the Belgian Jupiler Leagues joint top-scorer this season, with 22 goals for Eupen, although the club ended the campaign in 13th spot out of 16 teams. A number of European clubs were reported to be eyeing Onyekuru, with Swansea, West Ham and Brighton joining the likes of Anderlecht, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid in monitoring the goal-scoring winger. However, it looks as though the forward will become Arsenals second signing ahead of the new season, joining Bosnian full-back Sead Kolasinac, who will formally join on a free transfer from Schalke this summer. Onyekuru is yet to agree personal terms, although being an Arsenal fan, a move to north London will surely appeal to the teen star. With Alexis Sanchez likely to leave the north Londoners this season and Mesut Ozils future at the Emirates still uncertain, Gooners will no doubt be hoping for a few marquee signings to follow the low-price arrival of Onyekuru. Otherwise, Arsenal Fan TV will be a sight to be behold (as usual). A teary-eyed 55-year-old Sukhwant Kaur thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for extending help and making her return from Saudi Arabia possible. She was sold for Rs 3.5 lakh as a domestic servant to a family and tortured for three months. By Press Trust of India: A 55-year-old woman who was allegedly sold and tortured in Saudi Arabia has returned to India. Sukhwant Kaur, who hails from Jalandhar, arrived at the international airport where she was received by her family members, including her husband, and former Punjab ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Anil Joshi. She had paid Rs 40,000 to an agent to get a job in Saudi Arabia but when she went there on a tourist visa, Sukhwant was sold for Rs 3.5 lakh as a domestic servant to a family. advertisement Also read: Woman gets Sushma Swaraj's attention on Twitter by asking if she should commit suicide She thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for extending help and bringing her back. Thanks for bringing this to my notice. Sukhwant Kaur is returning home on 31 May 2017 at 0415 hrs by Flt G9406. https://t.co/jOSFcmFJA8- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 30, 2017 "It is a new birth as I have come back home safely from a death trap. It was next to impossible to return from there. If the external affairs minister had not intervened, I couldn't have dreamt of joining my family in India," Kaur said. She said she was tortured and maltreated for three months after reaching there in January. She had to be taken to a hospital after she fainted. Also read: Sushma Swaraj's husband's witty reply to a tweet proves he's just as cool as her Sukhwant Kaur was also forced to eat meat despite she being a vegetarian. "It was my good luck I returned to India alive. No one could have thought of coming back in the circumstances which I faced there," she said. Her husband, Kulwant Singh, told reporters that his wife was in contact with him over phone for a week after she landed there but after a few days her phone was switched off and even the Delhi-based agent stopped taking calls. Also read: Bring Insiya back: Dutch mother seeks Sushma Swaraj's help after Indian kidnapped her daughter Singh said that on May 7, with the help of Kerala-based nurse, his wife called him up from a hospital in Saudi Arabia. "She said the travel agent had sold her to a local resident and she was forced to work as a slave in his house and was being badly treated and even tortured," Singh told PTI. The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia assured all help to the family after Kulwant made an appeal to Swaraj on Twitter. advertisement Also watch: --- ENDS --- Polska Press sp. z.o.o informuje, ze wszystkie tresci ukazujace sie w serwisie naszemiasto.pl podlegaja ochronie. Dowiedz sie wiecej. Jestes zainteresowany kupnem tresci? Dowiedz sie wiecej. By Press Trust of India: Banihal (J&K), May 31 (PTI) Police today said it seized five trucks carrying 79 bovines on Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Ramban district of the state. During checking, the police intercepted the trucks carrying bovines at Batote in the district late last night, a police officer said. The trucks were seized and bovines rescued, he said, adding the drivers of the vehicles managed to escape from the spot. advertisement A case has been registered and a manhunt launched to nab the culprits, he added. PTI CORR AB DK AQS --- ENDS --- Saying that the challenge is that China is acting more like a bully in the Asia-Pacific region, McCain who was the Republican Party nominee in the 2008 US Presidential Election, pressed on the need for the US and Australia to work together when dealing with economic and strategic issues involving China. By Santosh Chaubey: US senator John McCain has called China a bully nation. McCain who is in Australia said "he believed China had been throwing its weight around too much thanks to its development as an economic powerhouse," a report in The Australian said. Saying that "the challenge is that China is acting more like a bully" in the Asia-Pacific region, McCain who was the Republican Party nominee in the 2008 US Presidential Election, pressed on the need for the US and Australia to work together "when dealing with economic and strategic issues involving China", The Australian further wrote. McCain, who is the chairman of the important US Senate Armed Services Committee, is in Australia for security talks and his remarks on China was part of a speech he delivered yesterday. Australia responded to McCain calls saying it would continue to follow "freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight" in accordance with the international laws. advertisement McCain slammed China for its stand on the South China dispute. According to another report in the ABC News, he "called for naval exercises in the South China Sea to challenge Beijing". McCain said that nations could come together for a multilateral exercise under the US leadership to resist Chinese advances in the disputed territory. "If the Chinese are able to stop us exercising freedom of navigation then that has severe consequences for the whole region", the report quoted him saying. Territorial dispute in the South China Sea involves seven countries, i.e., China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. A busy trade route passes through it and all other countries except China are in favour of keeping its status as free, international waters. China wants to control it as it imports most of its oil through this trade route and has built artificial islands in the sea. Doing so would enable China to establish hegemony in East and Southeast Asia that no other country involved in the dispute is capable of. Also, it would keep foreign military forces like the US away from the region. The US Navy has a sizeable presence in the South China Sea and it routinely carries out patrols in the area to deter the Chinese efforts maintaining that the South China Sea waters remain free for international navigation. China doesn't recognize these claims including the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) that has invalidated the Chinese claims on the South China Sea and says China exercises control over these areas since ancient times and if there is any dispute it should be resolved by the countries directly concerned through bilateral discussions. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has compared Chinese acts in the South China Sea to the Russian aggression in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. On May 24, China saw the first direct challenge to its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea by the Trump Administration when USS Dewey, a US Navy destroyer, sailed close to an artificial island built by China. China reacted furiously saying it "warned and dispelled" the US Navy destroyer. With this US act, it has become clear that there has been no change in the US policy of "performing freedom of navigation operations" in the South China Sea as opposed to the claims that Trump Administration was deliberately going soft on China's claims over the South China Sea to bargain trade deals with China and to get Chinese help in controlling North Korea. advertisement Also Read: In a first under Donald Trump, US warship challenges Beijing's claims in South China Sea China says India-Singapore South China Sea drills 'should not hurt interests of other countries' Philippines hails India's South China Sea support as Modi heads to China India asserts itself on South China Sea issue China installs rocket launchers on disputed South China Sea island, says report --- ENDS --- The explosion in Kabul today was so powerful that it scooped out a four-meter deep crater at the blast site. The four-meter deep crater at the blast site. Source: Battle Analytics/ Twitter By India Today Web Desk: The massive bomb blast that rocked Kabul earlier this morning, taking at least 86 lives, has left visible destruction across the streets of the Afghan capital. The explosion near the German embassy and the Afghan presidential palace was so powerful that it scooped out a four-meter deep crater at the blast site. "The blast was so huge that it dug a big crater as deep as four meters," an NYT report quotes Kabul's police chief, General Hassan Shah Frogh. #Afghanistan Crater at site of #Kabul bombing shows intensity of the bombing, Staff of BBC Afghan Service, TOLO News are also among killed. pic.twitter.com/nTdUCkEIsg- Battle Analytics (@BattleAnalytics) May 31, 2017 advertisement A staff member of BBC Afghan Service was killed in the Kabul explosion today, which has also severely injured four of their journalists. The deceased, Mohammed Nazir, had been an employee of the BBC for more than four years. Kabul's BBC Bureau Manager Karim Haidari announced Nazir's demise with a tweet earlier today. The BBC lost a member of staff in today's explosion in Kabul pic.twitter.com/H9xJARhVtB- Karim Haidari (@FkHaidari) May 31, 2017 --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Good manners and common sense will take you far, says Manitobas outgoing chief of protocol but you need a sense of humour, too. It can be a lifesaver for times such as when the water taxi ferrying the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh across the Red River stalled on a cold October day in 2002, leaving Her Majesty adrift in the world media spotlight. You need a sense of humour for that, believe me, Dwight MacAulay said Tuesday, adding all these years later, people still kid him about that day. I wasnt driving the boat, he said with a laugh. There were two boats. I was in the other I never heard her say anything (negative) about it. Im sure shed be too polite to say much It was a memorable event, for me and for her. I spoke to her many years after and it left an impression, he said during an afternoon interview in his office at the Manitoba Legislative Building. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dwight MacAulay, chief protocol officer for the province, is retiring his last day is today. MacAulay says its time to turn the page and looks forward to spending time with his grandchildren. It will be his office for just one more day as MacAulay will officially retire Wednesday after 19 years as the provinces point man on international protocol practices, legislative ceremonies and visits by Canadian and foreign dignitaries, and more than 36 years as a civil servant. Nail holes and empty spaces dot the walls where frames commemorating events he has worked on were hung. One of those remaining is a reminder of a visit by then-president of Iceland Vigdis Finnbogadottir so add good pronunciation to the list of necessary things. (You try to do your best but always check beforehand, MacAulay said.) On a shelf, in a plastic dust cover, rests a 1977 album: The Sound of Pageantry: Music for a Royal Occasion, by the Band of the Grenadier Guards. Im going to be 65 later this year and I think its just time to turn the page and see what else life has to offer, MacAulay said of his decision to retire, adding he is looking forward to spending more time with his grandchildren. He is uncertain who will fill the protocol role in the near future, but Im sure someone will take over. Theres always events that need to be planned. We have the Order of Manitoba coming up, and we have Lord Selkirk coming to Manitoba, the (2017) Canada Games there is lots of big events coming up It feels like theres always a big event around the corner, he said. MacAulays first major event as protocol chief was the 1999 Pan American Games (It was a huge event. Princess Anne was coming to give a speech); a 2016 visit to Winnipeg by Prince Edward and the swearing-in of the Pallister government are more recently in the public spotlight. In the years in-between, there have been countless major and minor events, military ceremonies and trade missions. Theres never a shortage of things to do, said MacAulay, who described his job as a facilitator or conduit for the government and high-ranking visitors to Manitoba. Theres diplomats here virtually all the time: consuls general, ambassadors, high commissioners and the like. However, even after some 12 royal visits (Manitoba has had a long, great history with the royal family. Weve always had great crowds come out, MacAulay said), numerous international trade and travel missions and an uncountable number of introductions and handshakes in his 36 years in government, a question remains. Marc Gallant / Winnipeg Free Press Files The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh depart Forks by water taxi Oct. 8, 2002. The water taxi broke down and a second boat was used to travel to Tache Quay in Winnipeg. Thats probably the toughest question Ive ever been asked, and Ive been asked it a lot: what do you do, exactly?' he said. The answer: Its help the government look good and put its best foot forward The main mandate of the position (is met if) the events come off looking good, visits come off looking good which, in essence, makes the government look good. For diplomatic visits, you want it not just to look good, but to be productive. Entering the civil service as a radio co-ordinator with a background in media, having worked for CKX-TV in Brandon I kind of obtained this position through osmosis, in many respects. Whenever there was a major event like a royal visit, there would be a media relations or communications aspect attached, so I was always involved. Sterling Lyon was premier when MacAulay started at the legislature, followed by Howard Pawley, Gary Filmon, Gary Doer, Greg Selinger and Brian Pallister. But no matter who was in the buildings big office, political ideology never crossed into the protocol departments work, MacAulay said. All the premiers Ive been lucky enough to work with have been extremely intelligent regardless of stripe, theyve been fantastic people. Ive always felt Ive had the best job in the province, and its been an absolute blast, he said. This building gets a hold of people its such a magnificent, beautiful structure and the people in this building are not just co-workers, they become like family. I consider myself very lucky, and Im going to miss it. scott.emmerson@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. After years of preparation, Candace House has found a location for its long-planned victim-support refuge in downtown Winnipeg. A safe space for victims families and survivors of violent crime is expected to open this fall in a comfort suite at 183 Kennedy St. a two-minute walk from the Law Courts building. The close proximity is key to the non-profit organizations mission to provide a place for families to relax while they participate in the court process on behalf of their deceased family members. The focus will be on supporting families who have lost a loved one, through homicide or a driving-related offence, but well definitely be working with other victims services organizations and agencies to ensure that our space is used to the max that we can, said Candace House executive director Cecilly Hildebrand, who is set to formally unveil the new location today, coinciding with Victims and Survivors of Crime Week. The need is definitely very large. I mean, Winnipeg and Manitoba unfortunately continue to have some of the highest rates of violent crime, and so I think being able to offer a place like this is really important WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cecilly Hildebrand at 183 Kennedy St., home to Candace House. The place for survivors of crime and victims families was created in memory of Candace Derksen. This year alone, there were 590 court days set aside for 40 homicide cases in Winnipeg, including murder, manslaughter, impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence, according to court statistics provided by Candace House. The need is definitely very large. I mean, Winnipeg and Manitoba unfortunately continue to have some of the highest rates of violent crime, and so I think being able to offer a place like this is really important. And its the first of its kind theres nothing like this at all in Canada, Hildebrand added, so being able to offer service in a space like this is something were definitely very excited about. The suite will be furnished with comfy chairs, pillows and blankets, as well as a dining area and fridge and stove-equipped kitchen for meal preparation during lunchtime court breaks. There will be a private washroom with toiletries where guests can freshen up. Theyre also working toward ensuring the ventilation systems can allow for traditional smudging ceremonies. Candace House got the keys to the new location at the beginning of the month and, after a round of renovations, the doors are expected to open in the fall. Once that happens, Hildebrand said Candace House will look to offer workshops on topics affecting victims, such as how to deal with reporters, how to access the justice system and where to go for support. Candace House consulted with Manitoba Justice in 2014 to determine what programs and services it should provide, a Justice spokeswoman said in a statement. The department gave $40,000 for program development, consultations and startup costs. Many of the organizations that already work to help victims through the court process dont necessarily have a spot to meet with families, Hildebrand said. A small room in the courthouse has been the only existing space for families to decompress and meet with supporters between court sessions, but its not ideal especially considering the volume of court cases that pass through the criminal-justice system, each with their own set of victims, families and survivors. The need for Candace House is evident in the impact of crime in terms of the physical and mental health problems, as well as spiritual and relationship concerns, and economic and financial struggles all often triggered again following interactions with the court process, Hildebrand said. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Plans for the future home of Candace House in Suite 1B at 183 Kennedy Street. This existing space will be completely renovated. Candace House is bringing to life the legacy of Candace Derksen, the 13-year-old who went missing on her way home from school in November 1984 and was found dead, frozen and bound, in a lumber yard shed less than two months later. Her accused killer, Mark Edward Grant, has just completed his second trial for second-degree murder in her death. He was convicted after an initial trial in 2011, but that conviction was later overturned on appeal, and a new trial was ordered. Now, more than 32 years after Candaces death, the Derksen family awaits a judges verdict for the second time. As they wait, Candace House is coming alive. The timing isnt lost on Hildebrand. The timing in this is particularly interesting given that closing arguments for the Mark Edward Grant case just took place, the verdict is pending, its Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, she said. You can make of it what you will, but it is interesting how things have come together. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cecilly Hildebrand, executive director with plans of the future home of Candace House. Congress said it will fight the Karnataka Assembly election under the leadership of Siddaramaiah. A few days ago, the BJP had announced that its Karnataka party chief B S Yeddyurappa will be the party's CM face. It will be a faceoff between Siddaramaiah and B S Yeddyurappa in Karnataka Assembly election. Photos: PTI. By Supriya Bhardwaj: The Congress today cleared its stand that the party will fight the upcoming Karnataka Assembly election under the leadership of Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah. The announcement comes days after the BJP declared its Karnataka party chief B S Yeddyurappa as its CM face. With this, it is an all-out fight between two veteran leaders--B S Yeddyurappa and K Siddaramaiah--in the Karnataka Assembly election. advertisement PCC CHIEF TO CONTINUE Announcing the changes approved by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in the Karnataka unit, the statement issued by the party said that Dr G Parameshwara will continue to be the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President. "But to devote his full time and energy in discharging responsibilities of party President, Parmeshwara will resign from the state cabinet immediately," the statement added. D K Shivakumar, who is the energy minister in the Siddaramaiah government, has been made the chairman of campaign committee while K H Muniyappa, an MP from Kolar constituency, has been included in the Congress Working Committee as a 'special invitee'. RAHUL'S MEET WITH KARNATAKA UNIT Rahul Gandhi had met Karnataka chief minister, general secretary in-charge of the state, MPs and MLAs from Karnataka in New Delhi on Monday. During the meet with the Karnataka unit, Rahul Gandhi is believed to have given a clear message to the party cadre and members that discipline and unity have to be maintained in the state. According to sources, Rahul Gandhi has gone a step ahead and said that if any grievance is made public, strict action would be taken against those party members and leaders. The Congress is leaving no stone unturned to retain the state. Rahul Gandhi will launch Congress's campaign for Assembly election in July by addressing 80,000 booth-level workers. ALSO READ: Rahul to launch Congress election campaign in poll-bound Karnataka in July BJP working towards Congress-mukt Karnataka: Yeddyurappa BJP's BS Yeddyurappa stands behind Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Kambala ALSO WATCH: Karnataka: Lokayukta files case against CM Siddaramaiah, 27 ministers over transfer of cops --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Bear Clan is starting street patrols in Selkirk. Local organizers posted a notice on Facebook announcing the initiative and naming members of its organizing committee, the Ikwe Oodena Womens Council. Incorporated under the name Bear Clan Inc., Selkirk chapter, the councils function is to get the clans signature street patrols up and running, recruiting volunteers and garnering community support. The Bear Clan is starting street patrols in Selkirk. (Joe Bryksa / Winnipeg Free Press files) Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson applauded the effort Wednesday. Im very very excited the Bear Clan is opening a chapter in Selkirk. I love the concept. The more visibility we have in our city, the more eyes open, the more boots on the street is good. It could lead to a reduction in crime, and theyre great with (searches) for missing persons, the mayor said. Led by a volunteer executive of four women, Ikwe Oodena is holding a meet and greet session Tuesday, June 6 at 7:15 p.m. at the Lord Selkirk Comprehensive High School. Bear Clan chapters have been springing up as volunteer street-safety and community development initiatives in various cities across Canada since Winnipeg revived its Bear Clan in the wake of Tina Fontaines 2014 murder. The Selkirk chapters Facebook site has drawn positive messages online. One man said a local student had carved a Bear Clan logo out of wood for the group to hang up as a sign. Another commentator expressed an interest in joining the patrols. Details on the groups walking routes and schedules have yet to be announced. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/05/2017 (1990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. There is no doubt the global economy depends on an increasingly robust broadband network, and George Cope, the CEO of Bell Canada, said his company is fully committed to making its Canadian network one of the fastest in the world. In a speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Cope said Bell will spend $4 billion this year and $20 billion over the next five years on enhancing Bells wireless network and upgrading its broadband network by building fibre to the homes and businesses across the country. He said that is what is needed to provide the capacity for the massive growth in Internet usage about 442 per cent over the past four years. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS George Cope, president and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE speaks at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday in the Delta Hotel. Of that $20 billion over five years, $1 billion is going to be spent in Manitoba as part of the commitment made in Bells $3.9-billion acquisition of MTS that was finalized in March. He said about 90 per cent of the work to upgrade the wireless LTE network in Manitoba to LTE-Advanced will be completed by the end of this year, which will double the speed of wireless downloads. A further enhancement to the network called carrier aggregation technology will be completed by the end of 2018, creating even faster speeds. Its a broadband economy, Cope said. We are the largest broadband provider in the country by a significant margin. We want to grow our market share and are prepared to make the investments required. Cope could not put a date on the schedule for construction of the fibre-to-the home that is planned for Manitoba, but he was definitive that it would happen. Its first major upgrade, in Innovation Alley in the west Exchange District, is scheduled to go live in the next couple of days. We have to come back and work with municipalities to put together the capital project, he said of the rest of the fibre-to-the home project. There will be more to come in the coming months. It is going to happen. Its purchase of MTS took more than eight months to clear all the regulatory hurdles and required the company to sell off about 100,000 wireless subscribers to Telus and another 25,000 to Xplornet. Cope said Bells major investment in the Manitoba market will lead to additional investments by its competitors. Telus has already made it clear it intends to make significant technology investments in Manitoba. In his first public appearance since the MTS acquisition, Cope announced the name change of the MTS Centre to Bell MTS Place, and a $500,000 contribution to the University of Mantiobas capital campaign to fund a project to develop Internet of Things applications in agriculture and food services. Dan McKeen, now the senior executive at Bell MTS, said the transition from MTS to Bell ownership has gone better than was anticipated. We expected some negative reaction, but the business community in Manitoba has been very welcoming, he said. People are saying they knew something needed to change and that more investment was needed, and having Bell MTS probably makes it more likely for that (to) happen than might have been the case with MTS. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. What with being a typical guy of my particular gender, I am overly competitive when it comes to meaningless activities. Thats just the way most guys roll. For instance, if two middle-aged guys are tying their shoes at the same time, it automatically becomes a race wherein the winner laughs a cruel little laugh and questions the parentage of the loser. I was reminded of this innate masculine competitiveness over the weekend, when I bravely waddled through the rain at Assiniboine Park to report for my volunteer shift at the 31st annual Teddy Bears Picnic in support of the Childrens Hospital Foundation of Manitoba. SUPPLIED Celebrity server Doug Speirs with barely enough wrapping for a single hotdog. Theyd invited me to be a celebrity server in the Rotary Club Food Tent, but when I showed up they decided it wouldnt be a great idea to have a 6-4, 300-pound soaking wet newspaper columnist terrifying innocent children who were simply looking for something to eat. So instead they decided to park me in a remote corner of the huge tent over one of three blast-furnace-style griddles and turn me into a celebrity pancake maker, which I thought was a swell idea because I have a long and glorious history with flapjacks. When my kids were little, every other day they insisted I make them pancake towers, wherein the bottom flapjack was the size of a manhole cover and each successive pancake was marginally smaller, until you got to the tippy top of the tower, which was crowned with an eensy beensy pancake roughly the size of a 25-cent piece. Anyway, before they let me make pancakes, I had to receive a few helpful tips from the previous flapjack master. He just happened to be Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman, who, thanks to some defective circuitry in my brain, I always insist on calling Bruce. For some reason, it did my heart good to know I live in a city where the (bad word) mayor is willing to get up at the crack of dawn and show up to spend a couple of hours churning out hundreds of pancakes for a good cause and to flash a big toothy smile the entire time, even while leaning over a griddle the size of a battleship that was arguably hotter than the sun. A few minutes later, armed with some helpful advice from the mayor, there I was, sporting a nifty chef-style apron and a pair of surgical rubber gloves, flipping out enough pancakes to feed a growing river of stuffed-animal-toting children and their extremely waterlogged parents. Slaving over the griddle next to me was a Rotary Club member named Ron Miller, who was easily one of the nicest human beings I have ever met. But that is not the point. The point is, because Ron and I were performing the exact same task, it instantly became a competitive situation, which meant that even though Ron was a truly wonderful guy, I had to begin spouting trash talk as though the two of us were going head-to-head for the Stanley Cup of Pancakes. Wow! I would chirp, waggling my spatula at Rons griddle, Are your pancakes supposed to look like black lumps of charcoal? If we were attacked by packs of wild bears we could probably defend ourselves by throwing your pancakes at them. Which is when Ron would counter-attack by smiling and laughing because, as I may have mentioned earlier, he was a super-nice guy. In terms of sheer quantity, my griddle rival made way more pancakes than I did, whereas mine boasted a more attractive golden-brown hue, which is a good quality for pancakes to possess. Once we had built up an impressive pile of pancakes, we switched tasks and joined the crew assigned to wrapping hamburgers and hotdogs in little squares of wax paper and tin foil. The volunteer wrapping team consisted of roughly eight extremely determined volunteer women, and a couple of guys including myself. As much as I hate making sweeping generalities that will offend right-minded readers, I think its fair to say that women are far more gifted in the wrapping department than men. For instance, my wife, who happens to be a woman, is capable of wrapping gifts the size of recreational vehicles using only a single piece of tissue that is no larger than a stick of gum. In contrast, a standard guy such as myself could attempt to wrap a single grape with several metres of wrapping paper and an unlimited amount of sticky tape and ribbons and still manage to leave half of the grape exposed. Thats exactly the way it was when I attempted to keep pace with the other competitive hotdog and hamburger wrappers at the Teddy Bears Picnic. I would spend several minutes trying to cover up a lone hotdog with multiple pieces of foil, only to have the grilled weenie somehow wriggle out of its covering the instant I plopped it down on a plate. After successfully wrapping a single dog, I looked up and was about to make some gloating remarks, which is when I noticed that all the women working quietly beside me had already filled up several large containers with about a thousand hotdogs that appeared to have been professionally wrapped by a crackerjack team of Santas elves. So, after completing my celebrity volunteer shift, I decided the best course of action was to peel off my surgical gloves, hang up my apron and slink back out into the rain to make my way home. When I got home, I explained to my wife how hard it is to make that many pancakes and wrap that many hotdogs and hamburgers, then I flopped down on the couch and had a three-hour power nap. For the record, Ill bet I snored louder than any of the other volunteers, because thats just what we competitive guys like to do. doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. You can see a steady stream of disasters from around the world thanks to the Internet and 24-hour cable news. But if the unthinkable happens in your community a tornado, wildfire or terror attack are you sure its prepared? Today in Winnipeg, a three-day disaster management conference begins, with experts who have survived and learned from emergencies sharing their know-how. The Swissair crash in Nova Scotia, the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida and the largest and costliest wildfire in recent Canadian history last years blaze in Fort McMurray will all be examined at the Manitoba Disaster Management Conference. Brian J. Gavriloff / Edmonton Journal Files A storm in Camrose, Alta. caused the Big Valley Jamboree stage to collapse in August 2009. The aim is to raise the level of emergency preparedness in the province, said Randy Hull, the conferences volunteer chairman. If we can share our life lessons from all these events, even a little town like Melita can hear what another community did and know, Thats what I need to do to prepare, said Hull, who recently retired as emergency preparedness co-ordinator for the City of Winnipeg. The conference at Canad Inns Polo Park is a chance for first responders and those tasked with disaster planning to learn and join a network sharing ideas and best practices. Its really about sharing real experiences, Hull said. While most Manitobans look forward to fairs, festivals and events such as the Canada Summer Games, organizers need to be prepared in case something bad happens at them, said emergency manager Nicki Albus. Were going to events making the assumption that all the bad stuff has been thought about, said Albus, whose presentation is on planning for emergencies at mass-spectator events. David Goldman / The Associated Press Files Jennifer, right, and Mary Ware light candles during a vigil downtown for the victims of a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in June 2016. Shes using the 2009 Big Valley Jamboree as an example to show how good planning can mitigate the impact of an emergency and how the lack of it can escalate the situation. One person died and more than a dozen were injured when a powerful windstorm caused the main stage to collapse at the music festival, which is held near Camrose, Alta. They said they had a severe weather plan, but it was not revised till they had that death in 2009, Albus said. Have a procedure to stop the show in event of severe weather or whatever is the trigger. Make sure there is a scripted message and a plan ready to go. So when you look up and see dark clouds and get a report theres a tornado, youre ready to act. Long Plain First Nation Chief Dennis Meeches knows first-hand the need for a community emergency response plan. In July 2016, an F-1 tornado tore through the community. Jason Franson / The Canadian Press Files Police officers direct traffic under a cloud of smoke from a wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta., in May 2016. He and Canadian Red Cross officials will show drone footage taken at first light after the twister touched down. They will go over the timeline of activities including the transition from recovery to relief efforts. Meeches will explain how and when to declare a state of emergency and access disaster funding. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A former Manitoba Health auditor has been found guilty of accessing a patients health information without consent. The former employee, whom the Free Press is not naming to protect the identity of the victim, was charged under the Personal Health Information Act with unlawfully accessing the personal health information of his estranged adult daughter. Provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine convicted the man Wednesday after a one-day trial that featured testimony from the accuseds daughter and his former supervisor in the health departments drug management policy unit. Court heard the accused improperly searched databases that showed the medical claims history for patients databases kept by Manitoba Health in order to monitor the billing practices of physicians and pharmacies for inconsistencies or fraud. The accused searched for his daughters health records in April 2014 and subsequently sent an email sharing some of the details he gleaned to her and several of his extended family members, some of whom she testified she did not know. The accuseds email included details of a hospital stay the victim said was one of my closest-guarded secrets. I was shocked, very embarrassed that people knew things about me that my closest friends didnt know strangers were privy to that information, she testified. I was very angry, overwhelmed and confused. I felt very violated. Manitoba Health notified the victim of the breach of her personal health information in November 2014, about two weeks before the accused sent the email. The victim launched a complaint with the Manitoba Ombudsman, which resulted in the formal charge. The accuseds former supervisor testified the employee searched the database even though he had no job-related reason to do so, and as a provincial government employee he was bound by a policy that prohibited him from searching for information for personal use. Even in cases where employees have consent to access certain health information, those access requests must be documented in writing and are subject to approval. If a search is conducted, court heard, approval from management is necessary before any information can be disseminated. The breach came to light after the mans employer became aware of a separate email he had sent during the course of his duties without prior approval that contained inaccurate information. At that point, Manitoba Health looked into the mans search history. The accused resigned from his position with the department in June 2014. He is set to be sentenced at a later date. The maximum penalty for the offence is a $50,000 fine. In an email sent to members of the accuseds family and provided to the Free Press in April 2016, the man said, I do not have much of an excuse, other than you are my kids and I care. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/05/2017 (1990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The doors are still open at the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre of Winnipeg thanks to proceeds from community bingo three times a week, but the clock is ticking. A pair of critical meetings over the next couple of weeks will likely decide whether provincial funding is restored or cut off for good. Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres president Muriel Parker said Tuesday its board is meeting June 3 to June 4 to decide its future involvement with the Winnipeg centre, which could close the doors on a friendship centre history thats among the oldest in Canada. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Files Police respond to the friendship centre after an incident earlier this month. We will be making a decision then as to what we will do, to help or not help the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre of Winnipeg, she said. We will either cut our ties with them or we third-party manage, but that decision will be made this weekend. If the association decides to keep its ties with the friendship centre, Parker said the third-party option would likely involve the associations board taking over operations from the current staff until the Winnipeg centre can elect a new board. That election follows the associations decisive meeting. After electing an interim board in April in an effort to keep going, the centre scheduled its formal annual general meeting for June 12 to June 13. The election of a permanent board is the main agenda item. The North End community centre has weathered a rocky 18 months of internal turmoil, just as it should be preparing to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Set up to provide services for indigenous people, the Winnipeg centre has long held the title as the first friendship centre in Canada to be officially incorporated. Keeping the doors open this winter has been a pitched battle. Federal and provincial funding totalling $369,740 was frozen in December. In February, the Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres threatened to boot the friendship centre out of the 11-member provincial organization. Earlier this month, police were called in to keep the peace after internal squabbling developed into a physical confrontation at the building on 45 Robinson St. Police ordered everyone out of the building. Eventually, a barricaded (and suspended) staff worker unlocked his office door and left. Interim executive director Garrett Courchene said Tuesday the worker hasnt been back since. Both he and Parker expressed hope the centre can turn over a new leaf in the next few weeks, and they confirmed theyve discussed how to do that. Theyre an independent friendship centre. We dont allow them to do anything. They chose to do what they chose to do. Im glad theyre open. Every friendship centre should be open. Theres a need for friendship centres to be open, especially one in the city of Winnipeg, Parker said by phone. At the same time, rumours keep surfacing some of the interim board members and staff may have criminal records, rattling the centre to its core. Courchene said he filed his own criminal records check even though its not a job requirement, just in case. Hes also a foster parent and is now waiting for his child-registry check to come through so he can file that, too. Rumours hit another boiling point this month when it was reported only two of the nine interim elected board members were able to pass criminal records checks, required within 30 days of being elected. Parker said the 30-day deadline is a requirement of the friendship centre and probably should be changed. Every centre in the country has to have criminal records and child-registry checks. But in all fairness, those checks take more than 30 days, Parker said. I would suggest to the IMFC powers that be that they amend their constitution, their bylaws and give people enough time. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. After a lengthy legal battle, a Manitoba residential school survivor who was molested by a nun has had his compensation claim denied by the provinces top court. The Manitoba Court of Appeal ruled against the now-elderly man, identified as J.W., in a decision that makes plain the limited powers the courts have when dealing with residential-school claims. In its Tuesday decision, the appeal court decided the Court of Queens Bench judge who heard J.W.s case didnt have the authority to order his claim be reopened and sent back to a residential-school claims adjudicator. The decision means judges have a very narrow ability to reconsider residential school compensation claims that have been denied. Residential school students who have had their claims denied by an adjudicator can take their cases to court, but judges dont have jurisdiction to interfere with the interpretation of compensation rules other than to ensure the adjudicator placed the claim in the appropriate compensation category as set out in the settlement agreement, the appeal court decided. John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press Files Manitoba Court of Appeals. J.W.s lawyer, Martin Kramer, said hell be speaking to his client about the possibility of trying to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, something he said he believes is warranted. In our view, this Court of Appeal decision now closes the door to many of the claimants who would have otherwise had access to the courts, he said. It doesnt matter how badly the adjudicators misinterpret the compensation rules. As long as they purport to be applying them, the claimants have no access to the courts to have their decisions looked at again. The case began in 2014 when J.W.s claim for compensation was heard by an adjudicator who was tasked with carrying out the rules of Canadas residential schools settlement agreement. J.W. had been molested by a nun as a child attending residential school in Manitoba, and he was seeking modest compensation, according to a range of compensation that is based on the severity of the abuse suffered. J.W. testified a nun called him over while he was waiting in line to use the shower and grabbed his penis. When he pushed her hand away, she took him by his left ear and tried to slam his head against the wall, he testified. The adjudicator said she believed J.W. She didnt doubt the incident embarrassed him and caused certain harms, but she denied compensation because she was not satisfied on a balance of probabilities that there was a sexual purpose associated with (the nuns) conduct. J.W. appealed the decision twice and was denied both times. He, through his lawyer, took the case to a supervising judge on the Manitoba Court of Queens Bench. There, Justice James Edmond ruled in J.W.s favour. Edmond found J.W.s initial adjudicator and those who upheld her decision after two separate reviews had wrongly required the former student to try to prove there was a sexual motivation in the mind of his abuser an even higher standard of proof than is needed to prove a sexual assault case under the Criminal Code. The judge found the adjudicator had misinterpreted the rules of the settlement agreement. He ordered J.W.s case be reopened after finding the same sexual-motivation requirement for settling residential school claims had been used in at least two other cases where the claimants asked for a review after being denied compensation. As a result, J.W.s reopened claim was heard by a different adjudicator who ultimately awarded him compensation, but that adjudicators ruling was put on hold while the federal government appealed Edmonds ruling. The Manitoba Court of Appeals decision overturned Edmonds ruling, meaning J.W. will not receive any compensation. The case had prompted the Assembly of First Nations to call on the federal government to conduct a wider review of residential-school compensation claims that may have been wrongfully denied. A spokesman for the AFN said the organization is still reviewing the appeal courts decision. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay "The one thing I learned was that UPSC tests the basic level of knowledge and how to bring about innovations in our day to day life," the topper said. By Rohini Swamy: Hailing from a quaint little town called Kolar in Karnataka; Nandini K R has topped the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination 2016. In an interview with Rohini Swamy of India Today, a proud Nandini spoke on her efforts and how she moved from a civil engineering job to appearing for the IAS exam. As of now, she is serving in Faridabad after clearing her IRS examination. How did you react when you first heard that you have topped the UPSC exam? advertisement Nandini K R: I was very happy and surprised as well. I have worked hard and given my 100 percent for the examination. Being a civil engineer for two years at the Karnataka Bhavan, what made you take up the IRS and UPSC exam? Nandini K R: I always wanted to be an IAS officer so put out my best. Message to other UPSC aspirants: Nandini K R: The one thing I learnt was that UPSC tests the basic level of knowledge and how to bring about innovations in our day to day life. It also helps mould our personality. If you can master the art of working hard and dedicate your time to understanding what the target of the exam is, you can achieve anything," she told Indian Today. Anybody in your family who also has been in the IAS/ICS/IRS cadre: Nandini K R: Nobody in my family has ever been an IAS/ICS/IRS. I am the first one. Who inspired you? Nandini K R: My father Ramesh K V who is a high school teacher in Kolar and my mother Vimala KV has been my inspiration. Both my parents and brother have stood by me like a rock. Was it your first attempt at the civil services exam? Nandini K R: One thing I can definitely say to all is that success may be delayed, but definitely not denied. I had attempted the UPSC exam thrice before. I ranked 642 in last year's UPSC exam. Are you looking at any special posting or which state cadre would you like to join? Nandini K R: I am happy to serve anywhere. I will give my best anywhere I am placed. Moreover, Nandini had cleared the 2014 civil services examination but secured 849 rank. It was then that she ended up with the Indian Revenue Service. In 2015, Delhi's Tina Dabi had topped the exam. Watch her interview here: Selected candidates: As many as 1,099 candidates have been recommended for various government services while there are 220 other candidates in the waiting list. Service-wise vacancy details: IAS: 180 advertisement IFS: 45 IPS: 150 Other central group A and B services: 834 (Read: UPSC Civil Services Results 2016: Meet the top 3 rank holders ) Meet the toppers: Second: Anmol Sher Singh Bedi Third: Gopalkrishna Ronanki The Union Public Service Commission from March to May conducted the Personality Test at its office on New Delhi. For any query related to results, all the candidates are advised to check the official website of UPSC. Read: CBSE Class 12 Marks Moderation Policy Debate: UP to follow board's decision For more updates, follow India Today Education or you can write to us at education.intoday@gmail.com --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Manitoba Liberals are demanding the province call an inquiry into the 2008 death of a man who was working in the Vale Thompson mine. Critical information has only come forward in the last four weeks. The information we have is that hed been exposed to a number of gases in the days leading up (to his death), MLA Jon Gerrard told reporters Wednesday. David Fifis widow, Lila Fifi, said the 52-year-olds death was attributed to a heart attack, but she alleges the former provincial NDP government kept key documents and reports under wraps. David Fifi died in 2008 while working in the Vale Thompson mine. (Trevor Hagan / Winnipeg Free Press files) Four weeks ago, Premier Brian Pallister released those reports after she appealed to him, Fifi said. These are damning reports, she said. In the house, Gerrard said two other people died at the mine in 2008. Fifis co-workers have said a group all became sick, and said in the now-released reports they were exposed to toxic gases at least three times a day for six days. He demanded the government launch an investigation into the deaths and determine why the evidence was hidden for so long. Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen told Gerrard the province takes workplace safety very seriously and a review of the system is underway. I was not aware of the specifics of this case. I will follow up, said Cullen, who did not give a specific answer on an inquiry. The documents include witness statements from people who worked alongside David Fifi cleaning the smelter stacks and information about the chemicals and gases they were believed to have been exposed over at least six days, Lila Fifi said. Find out what happened. We want justice, she said. The NDP would not put forward any member of caucus who was part of its former government in 2008, but issued a statement through press secretary Rachel Morgan: We understand the grief of the family of Mr. David Fifi. The relevant authorities, including Workplace Health and Safety and the Chief Medical Examiner of Manitoba, are the appropriate bodies to speak to the specific circumstances of this case. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Did you really believe them when they said it would be revenue-neutral? Earlier this month, the Trudeau government unveiled a technical paper on its proposed federal carbon tax which suggests it will mimic Albertas carbon tax plan, quashing the optimism of those who believed the federal government when they said their carbon tax would be revenue-neutral. The federal government had long insisted its plan would be revenue-neutral for the federal government, with any revenue generated staying in the province where the tax is imposed. Last October, Saskatchewan-based federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said publicly of the planned federal carbon tax that every single penny remains in Saskatchewan and under Saskatchewans control. The Saskatchewan government was highly skeptical as it turns out, for good reason. ADRAIN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said when it comes to the planned federal carbon tax, every single penny remains in Saskatchewan and under Saskatchewans control. When Albertas government announced its own multibillion-dollar carbon tax, Premier Rachel Notley and other ministers tried to spin the tax as revenue-neutral. In all previous uses of this term, it meant that every dollar raised by the government would be returned to taxpayers. The Alberta governments new definition was that every dollar taken from Albertans would be spent by the Alberta government. By that definition, every tax in Canadian history would be considered revenue-neutral. Albertas carbon tax takes billions from taxpayers and the government plans to spend that money, at least partially, on corporate welfare to big emitters such as oil companies and green-energy corporations. A smaller portion of the revenue is dished out in rebates to some Albertans. Additionally, the small business tax was cut by one percentage point. Albertas carbon tax has been criticized for making the necessities of life cost more, taxing rural and suburban residents disproportionately, indirectly raising other taxes and contributing to corporate welfare all without making a dent in global climate change. The government spent $9 million on advertisements during a biting cold snap, repeating over and over to Albertans that a tax that makes heating and gas more expensive is great. It was a desperate attempt to sell the carbon tax to a population that doesnt support it. Carbon tax proponents have slammed the Alberta carbon tax for not being revenue-neutral, being confusing and lacking transparency. Even the so-called gold standard of carbon taxes in Canada, British Columbias revenue-neutral model, was revealed by the Fraser Institute not to be revenue-neutral. The government had been playing accounting tricks, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions. The idea of a revenue-neutral carbon tax, even if it fits the accepted definition, involves such incredible faith in government that its difficult for persistently misled taxpayers to swallow. But the federal governments suggestion that its carbon tax would be revenue-neutral is even more disingenuous. Even the original suggestion of revenue neutrality (that money was recycled back to provincial governments) was misleading it came with no guarantee that provincial governments would give that revenue back to taxpayers. And of course, it glazes over the reality that collecting taxes and redistributing revenue involve administrative costs. And what about any additional HST or GST raised as a result of higher prices and tax-on-tax? If the federal plan is to take money from taxpayers and dish it back to businesses they choose in the form of corporate welfare and select people they choose in the form of rebates, it will not be revenue-neutral. Its bad enough our prime minister is pushing the idea that provinces are free to do whatever they want as long as they do exactly what he wants them to do. But reusing the absurd revenue-neutral spin quickly abandoned by the Alberta government, just because they like the way those words sound, will not instil faith in jaded taxpayers that carbon taxes are anything more than another tax-and-spend scheme. Aaron Wudrick is the federal director and Paige MacPherson is the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Skippy peanut butter and Dads chocolate chip cookies are gone from the Canadian marketplace. If you feel sad about seeing these iconic brands go, brace yourselves. Its just the beginning. Within days, two major U.S.-based food multinationals pulled well-known brands from the Canadian market. Mondelez International discontinued the iconic Dads cookies and Hormel Foods pulled Skippy peanut butter from the Canadian market. National brands are losing ground to private labels and fresh products. Grocery retailers revamp stores to expand the perimeters where produce, bakery, deli, meat and seafood occupy space. This means companies such as Sara Lee, Kraft Heinz, Hormel, Mondelez and Kelloggs are losing ground. DANIEL ACKER / BLOOMBERG NEWS Hormel's Skippy peanut butter no longer has a home on Canadian store shelves. Consumers spend about 74 per cent of their time in a stores perimeter, where all the fresh products are displayed. This trend is increasing as more consumers look for fresh, unprocessed food. The middle of the store now sees less traffic and thats clearly affecting sales for most grocery products. Grocers are desperate to generate more business in the centre of stores. Theyre innovating and launching new product categories, some through their own brands. But managing a food store is a merchandising nightmare compared with 30 years ago. The number of food items in a typical store has increased by more than 600 per cent over the past few decades. Consumers are bombarded with choices. Recent food retailing miracles such as coffee pods and gluten-free products have garnered some fascinating results. But such items can go only so far and both show signs theyve reached their full potential. Short of changing store design, whats at stake is shelf space. Real estate in store aisles can be expensive for national brand owners. In addition to listing costs, companies pay a premium to effectively display their brands. Meanwhile, grocers try to promote their private labels since margins are much higher. Major food processors have had to pay more to get consumers attention. Higher input costs and the will to build economies of scale have led to greater consolidation in global food processing, with more to come. Several Canadian grocers are pressuring multinationals by asking them to reduce wholesale prices. Some of these requests have even been shared with media. They made the requests to reduce prices simply because they can. Unlike in the United States, just a few players dominate Canadian food retailing. That means the main grocers dictate pricing across the system. Still, profit margins remain modest due to higher-than-average logistical costs and demographic issues. So this vendor-grocer tug of war will likely continue. The Canadian market is tricky for major processors. With barely 37 million consumers in one of the largest countries by area in the world, logistical costs can be prohibitive. Companies need a comprehensive portfolio of brands and only large operations such as Nestle and PepsiCo can afford to continue products in Canada while selling the same products elsewhere. Smaller processors are becoming more strategic about what and where to sell. And a more targeted approach even has more merit for the big players. Many multinationals, such as food-service giant McDonalds, have learned that the hard way. Seeing major national brands leave the marketplace isnt necessarily undesirable. In fact, it could lead to greater opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs. Canadian-based food processors could fill the void with local food products. If we can just embrace food innovation, make more venture capital available to entrepreneurs, get more skilled labour and improve market access, domestically and internationally, we should see more domestic food processors succeed. This wont happen overnight we have a lot of work to do. A strong food processing sector increases the chance for any nation to gain control of its food destiny. This is certainly worth pursuing. Sylvain Charlebois is senior fellow with the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, dean of the faculty of management and a professor in the faculty of agriculture at Dalhousie University and author of Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking. Troy Media Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/05/2017 (1990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It has long been an unduly harsh punishment to designate someone a convict because they got caught with marijuana. People convicted of a criminal offence, even as minor as marijuana possession, have a record that haunts them the rest of their lives. Convicts are automatically disqualified from many good jobs. Convicts cant volunteer on some boards, charity organizations and youth groups. Convicts are barred from crossing some international borders. The announcement in April by Health Minister Jane Philpott and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale that the government will legalize marijuana use by July 1, 2018, undoubtedly came as a relief to the tens of thousands of Canadians who were previously convicted of marijuana possession and are now tarred as convicts. They had reason to hope a government legalizing marijuana would also issue blanket pardons. After all, whats the sense in keeping convictions after the crime is no longer on the books? But the Trudeau government has stopped short of promising pardons for marijuana possession, even though a majority of Canadians think its a good idea. Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press Minister of Health Jane Philpott. According to a poll last week by The Globe and Mail / Nanos Research, 62 per cent of Canadians support or somewhat support pardoning people with a criminal record for marijuana possession. Only 35 per cent of respondents say they oppose or somewhat oppose the move. The many groups lobbying for amnesty include the C.D. Howe Institute, which issued a report last year that describes the hardships faced by people with a marijuana conviction: If you have a criminal conviction, it automatically disqualifies you from a number of positions. Thats just economic waste. You have people on social assistance who could otherwise be employed and contribute to the economy. Its true that pardons are already possible for marijuana convicts. That process currently involves approaching the Parole Board of Canada for a record suspension, which partly seals a criminal record but is disregarded by officials including United States border services, which require a U.S. Entry Waiver, a separate process that is also complicated and expensive. As it currently stands, the pardon process for marijuana possession requires a high level of determination and skill at navigating bureaucracy or the financial resources to hire a lawyer. It doesnt have to be that way. The law is ever evolving, swayed by numerous factors including the public opinion of the citizens who submit to the rule of law. The support for legal sales of marijuana seems be shifting, according to a Hill+Knowlton Strategies survey released last weekend, showing approval has dropped to 43 per cent from polling done this time last year, which found 60 per cent of Canadians support pot sales. The survey found 41 per cent of Canadians feel Ottawa is rushing legalization, while 53 per cent said they feel the federal government is underestimating the overall impact it will have on society. This weeks survey indicates a growing realization that impending legalization of a recreational drug is a significant event, and citizens want the government to do it right. This includes declaring a blanket amnesty for citizens previously convicted of marijuana possession. Admittedly, it wont be as easy as waving a magic wand and instantly making the convictions disappear. It will be a big administrative task for justice officials to search the record of every Canadian convicted for possession of marijuana, and then expunge that conviction. But the alternative is to continue to inflict travel and employment barriers on citizens because they were caught with a drug that the government now intends to legalize. Its clear a criminal record is more harmful than marijuana. To leave those convictions intact is a form of reefer madness. Just a handful of cities in Minnesota have a Poet Laureate. Jim Armstrong was appointed as our first Poet Laureate in 2007. I followed, and then Emilio DeGrazia. Recently I was pressed back into service for another term. Jim set the bar high and we have done our best to follow suit. One innovation that Jim and Doug Scholz-Carlson introduced was our annual sonnet contest. This started out small and has evolved into a national contest with cash prizes and over 900 submissions last year. Ted Haaland is now the sponsor and face of the competition he named after his late wife, the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest. Ted is ably assisted by David Marshall, who handles correspondence and organizes the entries for the judges no small task. When I was appointed for another term I suggested to the Fine Arts Commission that we have an Associate Poet Laureate. Nicholle Ramsey, a Spoken Word poet, was selected for this position. We wanted to make sure that younger writers are included in our activities. Nicholle will be our ambassador in this respect she is an outstanding Spoken Word poet and a dynamic and charismatic person. Emilio instituted a series called The Laureate Writers Series that meets on the first Tuesday of every month, and brings in writers, many of whom have substantial national reputations, while others are local and are showcasing their first books. After our guest reader presents, we have an open mic at which local writers share their work. Often, new writers are emboldened to take the mic; hence, the ripples of the writing community continue to spread. Now and then someone will preface what they read by saying that this is the first time theyve shared their work in public. Its a safe and nourishing environment, and the series is thriving and constantly evolving. I personally am a pretty private person, but Ive been asked as Poet Laureate to write and read poems for public occasions, such as the Winona-Dakota Unity Gathering, the opening of the new wing of the Winona County History Center and for the opening of the new bridge. Given the fact that I would be speaking to a cross-section of the community, I had to tailor my poems accordingly. I myself feel that this has been a gift to me in that Ive had to think more consciously about this community and my contribution to it. In the last few generations, poetry has drifted away from the concerns of our citizens in general. Its our challenge as Poet and Associate Poet Laureate to work toward bringing poetry to a more diverse audience and to a more engaged place in our culture, irrespective of age, religion, race, occupation, ethnicity or gender preference. By the way, our next visiting poet, Roberta Hill, will read at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 6, at the Blue Heron Coffee House. She was born into the Oneida Nation, is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, and is a powerful presence. You are invited and please consider bringing something of your own to read. And start thinking about how you can use a visiting poet in your classroom, workplace, church or organization. We are waiting to hear from you. People like to give Wisconsin a hard time about its drinking habit, but in our defense wed like to point out the hard cider apple doesnt fall far from the tree. Yes, last weeks report from 24/7 Wall St. claimed seven of the 10 drunkest cities in America lie in Wisconsin. Yes, Princeton Review named the University of Wisconsin-Madison the no. 1 party school in the nation earlier this year. And no, we dont remember where we left our credit card last night, how we got home or why theres lime Jell-O in our hair. We know we arent supposed to be proud of such distinctions. Were supposed to want to get a grip. But its easier to blame everything on our ancestors. You see, many who settled Wisconsin came from Germany, and bringing with them an appetite for fun and a thirst for fermented beverages. Generations later, Cheeseheads still know how to dance a polka, grill bratwurst and put away brew. After all, it was Germans who introduced the use of hops in the 13th century. It was there that the first purity laws governing the brewing process were passed. And even now, our distant kin back in the Fatherland continue to develop innovations promoting beer consumption. Have you heard the news from Wacken, Germany? Demand for beer during that citys annual heavy metal music festival was so great, vendors got tired of hauling kegs across fields. Theyre building an underground pipeline that will, by the time the open-air festival opens in August, deliver 105,000 gallons of beer to the grounds. Remember, a keg of beer weighs 160 unwieldy pounds. Its one thing to dig heavy metal: Its quite another to lug it. Instead of lugging, Germans will be chugging. The 4-mile pipeline will provide enough pressure and product to pour six beers in 6 seconds. That should be enough for the 75,000 rock fans who attend the three-day festival and drink on average more than a gallon of beer each. We wont know whether that would satisfy the good and buzzed people of Appleton, Wisconsin no. 1 among Americas drunkest cities until they build a pipeline from Miller Brewing Co. to the Fox River Valley. Wackens pipeline was necessary because in past years vendors couldnt keep up with demand for brewskis. Teetotalers might call the pipeline a cry for help. Festival organizers call it a lasting investment in the infrastructure of Wacken. Like a skilled bartender pushing a mug down the bar, they know how to put the right spin on things. Theres more to this project than the promotion of binge drinking. Underground tunnels buried deep enough so that plows wont disturb them when farming the fields the rest of the year are home not only to the beer pipeline, but fiber optic cables and pipes for fresh water and waste water. (Thats sewage, not Milwaukees Best.) When the tiny town sees its population surge from 1,800 to more than 75,000 this summer, one element will be missing from all the traffic. No longer will trucks traverse the fields full of beer barrels. And no longer will thirsty head-bangers have to wait for a fresh keg to be tapped. Call them drunks if you like, but Germans would no doubt prefer to be seen as innovators. Wisconsinites, their happy cousins across the pond, know what its like to be judged as boozers when we should be celebrated as leaders. According to multiple national rankings, were no. 1. In that spirit, let Wisconsin tip its cap to the ingenuity of Germany. But we must put our cap back on immediately, because our hair is slathered in lime Jell-O. The militants hurled a grenade at a police party near Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Sopore. By India Today Web Desk: Terrorists attacked a police team in Arampora area of Sopore in Kashmir leaving four police personnel injured. The militants hurled a grenade at a police party near Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Sopore under Baramulla district in the evening. Security forces have rushed to the scene and started investigation into the attack. J&K: Terrorists hurled grenade at a Police party near J&K Bank in Sopore. 4 Police personnel injured. pic.twitter.com/no6X5Ty7qP; ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 --- ENDS --- advertisement Legislative critics say a controversial campus free speech bill advanced by an Assembly committee Tuesday intrudes on the University of Wisconsin Systems authority to run its campuses. The committee endorsed the bill after it was amended to diminish the UW Systems latitude on the punishment of students found to have interfered with the expressive rights of others. An amendment offered by the bills author, Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, prescribes specific punishments, notably expulsion on a third strike. An earlier version of the bill outlined a range of possible punishments. The revised bill also requires UW System campuses to launch investigations and hold hearings the second time a student is alleged to have interfered with the expressive rights of others, a provision that its Democratic critics say makes it possible for any two people to force a student into disciplinary proceedings. The hearings and their outcomes would be reported annually to a newly formed Council on Free Expression. The bill, AB 299, passed the Committee on Colleges and Universities on an 8-6 vote along party lines following vigorous debate. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who testified in favor of the bill in front of the committee and called it one of the most important pieces of legislation of the session, is expected to bring it to the Assembly floor for a vote soon. Advocacy groups, meanwhile, joined legislative critics in warning that the bill would squelch expression not encourage it despite its statement that anyone on campus lawfully may protest or demonstrate there. One Wisconsin Now said the amendment made a bad bill worse. Allowing any two people to trigger an investigation into a student's protest activities will exacerbate an existing chilling atmosphere on free expression for students of color, said Savion Castro, a UW-Madison student and research assistant at the nonprofit organization. The bill's authors have no clue what it is like to walk into a lecture hall of 200 people and be the only person of color. This amendment would intimidate students of color from speaking out against injustice for fear of making white people uncomfortable, Castro said in a press release. PROFS, the advocacy organization of the UW-Madison Faculty Senate, went on record against the bill Tuesday, saying its ambiguous language could result in a "chilling effect" on speech on campus. Rep. Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, said that if made law, the bill will introduce a constant kerfuffle on UW campuses. It invites considerable turmoil, Wachs said. The functional reality will likely lead to people of one political persuasion reporting people of another political persuasion with a mandatory investigation to follow. Wachs said he did not understand why the legislature would make such an incursion into the UWs sphere of authority. The law would not only take power away from the university, said Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, but also may violate students privacy rights under federal law. The proposed legislation finds that in recent years, UW institutions have abdicated their responsibility to uphold free speech principles, something that critics challenged. Rep. Jill Billings, D-LaCrosse, said the bill was a solution in search of a problem. I feel free speech issues are being handled well on campus. Rep. Don Vruwink, D-Milton, told committee members he recently spoke with graduating high school seniors about the bill and the students liberal and conservative alike said it was government meddling. I believe it is overreach and it will cause more problems than it will solve, Vruwink said. Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg, likened the bill to a cancer that will metastasize into lawsuit after lawsuit over the intrusion on free speech rights of the student body. Students choosing to protest against offensive speech will have their lives completely upended for having exercised their free speech rights, he said. Kremer said the bill was a lawful tool to protect constitutional rights. "We have a duty to make sure our freedom and liberty are protected, he said. (University officials) have not done a good job of it. The bill as revised requires: A minimum one-semester suspension for students twice found responsible for interfering with the expressive rights of others; Expulsion of students found responsible three times for interfering with the expressive rights of others. An earlier version of the bill on which the committee hosted a public hearing on May 11 required a punishment ranging from a one-semester suspension to expulsion for a student twice found to have interfered with others free speech rights. The amended bill also simplifies language describing the kind of behavior that could lead to disciplinary action to: violent or other disorderly conduct that materially and substantially disrupts the free expression of others. The bill approved at committee also calls for a smaller Council on Free Expression to oversee enforcement of the laws requirements than outline in earlier versions. The council to be created by the Board of Regents now would have nine members instead of a minimum of 15. Added are three members of the public, and a member of the Board of Regents. Representation of UW System campuses would be: one from a university with doctorate programs; one from a university without doctorate programs; one from the UW Colleges or Extension. The chairpersons of the Assembly and Senate committees overseeing higher education appointed by the majority political party would also have membership on the committee. Eleven soldiers were killed and seven others injured in what the Philippines government has described as a "friendly fire incident" in Marawi, on the southern island of Mindanao. Government forces are battling ISIS-linked militants for control of the city, displacing at least 70,000 residents and leaving 140 people dead. According to CNN Philippines, on Wednesday two jets were conducting strikes against members of the Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS, when one struck members of the 55th Infantry Battalion. "The first plane dropped the ordnance accurately, but the second one missed. It hit our troops ... there must be some mistake there," said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. Air strikes will not be halted over the incident, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Thursday, adding they were needed to neutralize Maute snipers. Also speaking Thursday, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said those behind the violence in Marawi were "purely ISIS." He added that Isnilon Hapilon, the designated ISIS emir for Southeast Asia, was a "student of history" and had planned the latest rebellion for a long time. No end in sight Martial law has been declared for the entire island of Mindanao, where fighting is ongoing. Earlier this week, officials said government forces were in near complete control of Marawi, but rooting out the last pockets of resistance seems to be taking longer than first expected. "Recalcitrant remnants of the Maute-ISIS refuse to heed the call of government to give up their arms and continued their resistance while holed in fortified buildings and structures," the AFP's Padilla said. "They are employing hostile sniper fires and IEDs (improvised explosive device) against everyone -- from government security forces, to relief and rescue workers, to civilians -- who get in the way of their fanatical desire to dismember Marawi from the Philippines and establish it as an ISIS province in this part of Asia." CNN Philippines reported Thursday that 100 militants had been killed since the fighting broke out on May 23. As of Wednesday, 19 civilians and 21 security forces had died, according to state media. At least 5,000 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) -- a separatist militant organization that has signed a peace treaty with Manila -- are positioned around Marawi ready to assist government forces, CNN Philippines reported Wednesday. Duterte suggested last week he would be open to tapping the former rebel group, along with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for support against ISIS. "If this martial law lasts and you want to help us fight for the republic ... I will use you as soldiers, with the same pay, privileges, and I will build houses for you," he said. Child fighters The Philippines Justice Department has issued warrants for more than 100 members of the Maute group and the Abu Sayyaf terrorist organization, both of which are believed to be involved in the fighting in Marawi. Militants entered the city after a failed government operation to arrest Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf leader who has succeeded in uniting several disparate Islamist groups in the region under the ISIS banner. Philippines officials said he was likely still in the city, pointing to the ferocity of ongoing resistance from the Maute fighters. According to CNN Philippines, some of those fighters are boys as young as 16 or 14. Refugees from Marawi have spoken of seeing child soldiers, and previous ISIS propaganda about the region showed children and young teenagers wearing black bandanas and taking part in training exercises. There are also foreign fighters in the city, Defense Secretary Lorenzana said Thursday that eight foreigners had been identified among militants killed by government forces. "There were two from Saudi Arabia, two from Malaysia, two from Indonesia, one from Yemen and one from Chechnya," he said. "We don't have any record of them coming through the proper channel, through the airports. There's only one way, maybe coming from Indonesia or from Malaysia." ISIS-linked groups are known to be operational in the semi-lawless border areas between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. CNN's Steve George contributed to this report. 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 Items are listed under the day of the event only, running as space permits prior to the event. To submit items, call 745-3511, email jcutsforth@wiscnews.com or visit www.portagedailyregister.com. Include name and phone number. TODAY Biking: 6:30 p.m. Portage Pedalers Wednesday night ride, meet at Pat and Dougs house, W7956 Douglas Center Road (East of Briggsville on Highway 23 North via 3rd Avenue). Wear a helmet, bring water bottle and bikers under 18 must ride with a parent. Monthly ride leaders: May Kim Andruss; June Dennis Crass; July Roger Kyburz (meet at R19&26); August Jon Steidinger/Gordon Dunn (meet at MacKenzie Environmental Center); September Doug Cook (meet at 6 p.m. at Pat and Dougs house. Bingo: 5:30 p.m. Old Chicago, 147 N. Main St., Pardeeville. Bingo will be played every Wednesday, except the first one of the month. Cambria Farmers Market: 4 to 7 p.m. Tarrant Park, East Edgewater Street, Cambria. Runs Wednesdays through October. Clinic: 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door No. 4. Bring childs immunization record. Visit www.co.columbia.wi.us for more information. Endeavor Sharing Supper: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Elementary School, 414 Church St., Endeavor. Enjoy a free meal with your neighbors and learn about your community. All are welcome and there is no cost. Portage High School Jazz Choral group will perform at 5:30 p.m. Informational booths including ADRC and UW Extension. This months supper is sponsored by Brakebush Brothers and the meal is being prepared by The Broken Egg, Endeavor. Free blood pressure screenings: 1 to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. No appointment necessary. Call 745-6405 for more information. Do not eat, smoke, drink caffeine or exercise for 30 minutes prior. Historic Indian Agency House: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, 1490 Agency House Road, Portage. Open through Oct. 15. School tours are welcome by appointment, please call 608-742-6362. For more information, visit www.agencyhouse.org. Portage Womens Civic League Board Meeting: 10 a.m. Clubhouse, West Edgewater Street, Portage. Lunch to follow meeting. St. Vincent de Paul free medical clinic: 9 a.m. to noon. Wilz Drugs lower level, 140 E. Cook St., Portage. No appointments needed. Information needed is name, date of birth and a contact number. A foot clinic is available every week. The clinic can do exams and prescribe medications. Physical therapist available. Discounted medications are available at Wilz and Walmart. Call Bonny Oestreich, RN, at 608-234-0159 for information. Zumba/Zumba Toning: 5 p.m. Montello. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Zumba: 5:30 p.m. 1208 Northport Road (the former Freedom Carpeting building). This is a $5 drop-in class. For more information, contact Deb at DJMACK00001@yahoo.com or Rena at 697-6713. THURSDAY, JUNE 1 Bingo: 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Lions Club Bingo, Endeavor-Moundville Fire Department, Endeavor. Brats and burgers sale: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Elks Lodge veranda, West Conant Street, Portage. Runs every Thursday during the Portage Farmers Market. Griefshare support group: 5 to 7 p.m. Portage United Methodist Church, 1804 New Pinery Road, Portage. For individuals suffering from the loss of loved one(s). Meetings held weekly from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 24. Call Laurie at 608-450-1081 or visit www.griefshare.org for more information. Making A Difference Study Group: 1 to 2 p.m. Portage Public Library, Bidwell Room, 253 W. Edgewater St. Portage. Making a Difference is a group that is meeting to turn concerns into action. Open to the public. What are your concerns? Museum: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage. Free tours for veterans every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2 1/2 hours. For information, call 608-697-3690. Portage Family Skate Park public meeting: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. All interested people are welcome to attend. Meetings will be held on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Cancellations will be announced on our Facebook page. Call 608-742-4959 for more information. Portage Farmers Market: noon to 6 p.m. Commerce Plaza, downtown Portage. The market is hosted every Thursday through October and features homegrown produce items, homemade items and handcrafted items. Summer Library Program registration: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. The summer reading activities are free and programming is available for children birth to age 12. Registration must be done in person this year and can be done at the Childrens Desk. Once a child is registered they will receive reading slips to track their reading progress and earn various incentives. For more information call 742-4959, ext. 211. Registration will be ongoing; the Summer Library Program runs from June 1 through July 27 with various programs for children and their families. Summer Library Program Kick-Off event: 6:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Mark Hayward, nationally recognized Yo-Yo guy, juggles and tells jokes. This family-friendly program is free. The Yo-Yo Guy will sell yo-yos after his performance. For more information, call 742-4959, ext. 211 or visit the Childrens Department Facebook page. TOPS weight loss group: 1 p.m. Grace Bible Church, county Highway CX, Portage. For information, call Patricia Figueroa at 608-742-4853. FRIDAY, JUNE 2 Art exhibit: Portage Center for the Arts Drury Gallery presents Art That Blooms: Art, Poetry and Florals, Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m. The gallery is open from 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call 742-5655 for more information. Euchre card party: Portage Presbyterian Church, 120 W. Pleasant St., Portage. Luncheon at 6 p.m. and cards at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $5 for food, cards and prizes. This event is a benefit to support the Yakutat Presbyterian Church in Yakutat, Alaska. A donation to the food pantry would be appreciated. Fish fry: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Knights of Columbus fish fry, Knights of Columbus Hall, 918 Silver Lake Drive, Portage. Cocktails at 4 p.m. Public invited. Cost is $10.75. Hope House support group: 1 to 2 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Has domestic violence touched your life in some way? Find connections with supportive individuals who have similar life experiences as you at Hope Houses newest support group. All are welcome. Held on the first and third Friday of the month. For more information, contact Katie Fluger, outreach advocate, at 608-356-9123. Lodi Valley Farmers Market: 2 to 6 p.m. 902 N. Main St., Lodi.Seniors Bowling Social: 1 p.m. Fireball Lanes, 817 E. Wisconsin St., Portage. Cost is $6 and includes three games of bowling and shoe rental. Unique Singles: 5 p.m. Suzies Steak and Seafood Restaurant, county Highway CX, Portage. All single men and women older than age 50 welcome. The group is strictly social with no dues or officers. SATURDAY, JUNE 3 Ice Age Trail Alliance Lodi Valley Chapter Mammoth Fun Run and Hike, part of the National Trails Day celebration: Registration at 8 a.m. at Doctors Park, 218 S. Main St., Lodi. Buses will shuttle participants to the trailhead on the Lodi Marsh segment for a 9 a.m. walk/run start time. This family event (dogs allowed on a leash) will feature a 6K run (untimed) and a 6K hike. This event is free, though donations are appreciated and those who donate $25 or more will receive an Ice Age Trail bandana. Homemade treats will be provided, along with trail prizes. For more information, call Carla at 608-577-9845. Museum at the Portage: 804 MacFarlane Road, Portage. Open from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in April and May; and 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in June, July and August. Admission is free. Portage High School Class of 1952 65th class reunion: noon to 4 p.m. Dinos Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Road, Portage. For more information, call Mary Stevens at 920-745-2115. Poynette Area Farmers Market: 8 to 11 a.m. Pauquette Park, Main Street, Poynette. Unique Singles Monthly Breakfast: 8:30 a.m. Dinos Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Road, Portage. All single men and women older than age 50 welcome. The group is strictly social with no dues or officers. SUNDAY, JUNE 4 Bingo: 5 to 7 p.m. VFW Hall, 215 W. Collins St., Portage. Doors open at 4:15 p.m. Hard cards are $1 and chips are available. All are welcome. Runs the first and third Sunday of each month. Portage Elks Lodge No. 675 annual Kids Fisheree: Pauquette Park, Portage. Fishing is open to all children age 12 and younger. There will be raffles and prizes for all registered children. Sign in will be at 9:30 a.m. and fishing runs from 10 a.m. to noon. Zumba: 5:30 p.m. Rusch Elementary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. MONDAY, JUNE 5 Biking: 6:30 p.m. Portage Pedalers Monday night ride, meet at Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Wear a helmet, bring water bottle and bikers under 18 must ride with a parent. Monthly ride leaders: May Eric Soderlund/Jim Essex/Harry A.; June Kim Andruss; July Larry Schmies/Jim Essex (meet at parking across from Hill Auto); August Kim Andruss/Will Vail/Jon s. (meet behind Crawford Oil on Highway 33); September Hans Jensen (meet at 6 p.m. at Portage Public Library). Blood drive: Poynette Red Cross blood drive, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Poynette High School, 108 N. Cleveland St., Poynette. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767 to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required. Euchre card party: 6:30 p.m. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, W8267 Highway 33 East, Portage. Public welcome. Contact: Cloe, 429-2363. Knights of Columbus meeting: 7 p.m. Knights of Columbus Hall, 918 Silver Lake Drive, Portage. Cocktails at 4 p.m. Monday Movie Day: 10 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. The Library will show newly released movies with free admission and popcorn. For a list of whats playing, visit the librarys website at w .Zumba/Zumba Toning: 6 p.m. Harrisville. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or . TUESDAY, JUNE 6 All Stop Car Cruise and Music Night: 6 p.m. All Stop Travel Plaza, Highway 60/I 90/94, Lodi. Featuring Karen Wickham, Buck and Don. Free concert and car show, food and door prizes. Knitting and crocheting group: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgwater St., Portage. Bring your projects and share your progress with friends. We will also be doing knit-alongs where we work on a project together. A free pattern will be provided. Feel free to bring your lunch along with your knitting. Photography Interest Group: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Northwoods Inc., Highway 51 South, Portage. Meet with fellow photographers to share photos and tips, explore new ideas and inspire creativity for upcoming events. Call Fred Baewer with questions at 608-742-4691. Zumba Toning and Pound: 4:30 p.m. Woodridge Primary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Portages Canal Days celebration is a blend of old and new, in more ways than one. On the one hand, Canal Days is a celebration of Portages rich history, which is why it includes historic re-enactment encampments, a walking tour of some of the citys beautiful old homes and a 100th-birthday celebration for Divine Savior Healthcare. On the other hand, this years Canal Days which runs from Friday through Sunday includes several never-before-offered events, including: A craft and antiques fair, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Commerce Plaza parking lot. A fly-by air show at 10 a.m. Saturday, over the Wisconsin River near West Conant Street, featuring all kinds of aircraft, and on the water, hovercrafts and the famous Tommy Bartlett ski show. A Kids Corner, featuring face-painting, bouncy houses, visiting reptiles and other activities for younger Canal Days visitors, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Commerce Plaza. The Canal Days Jam, starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, in which a $10 ticket will buy a person admission to all four live music venues in downtown taverns: the Corner Pocket, the Ball Room, Tall Pauls, Big Dogs and Pohlks Pub. Musical genres range from country to hard rock. The centerpiece event, of course, is the parade, which steps off at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pauquette Park, and proceeds down West Conant Street, Wisconsin Street and Cook Street before ending near Market Square. Parade planner Fiorella Neira said 33 units have signed up to be in the parade a bigger turnout than that of last Novembers Holiday Parade, which follows the same route. Participants had the option of participating in the parade alone, offering an activity for the Kids Corner, or both, Neira said. The Kids Corner was added, she said, because we want something nice, something for kids to do downtown. We want to bring families downtown together. Downtown is where many but not all Canal Days activities take place. Canal Days kicks off from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, with historical re-enactments at both the Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters and the Historic Indian Agency House. Tour fees may apply. The historical re-enactors will be back from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at both venues, to close out Canal Days. For those who revel in Portages history, Canal Days offers many opportunities, including Museum at the Portage tours starting at 1 p.m. Saturday; free canoe rides on the Portage Canal from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday (meet behind the drive-through of US Bank on West Edgewater Street), a downtown walking tour at 10 a.m. Saturday and a walking tour of Society Hill starting at Commerce Plaza at 1 p.m. Sunday. Divine Savior Healthcare is planning a pair of events on its campus, but with a birthday twist. The hospital celebrated its centennial May 17, and that spirit of celebration will be reflected in the annual run-walk at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Divine Savior spokeswoman Haley Gilman said participants in the event are invited to wear your sparkliest attire for the 1-mile run, 1-mile walk, 5K run, 5K walk and 10K run. At about 10 a.m., the skies around Divine Savior will be alive with kites, for the annual Kite Flying Festival. There will be free shuttle service during Canal Days to Commerce Plaza, the Historic Indian Agency House, the Surgeons Quarters and the Museum at the Portage. Kashmiri Pandits families who were affected by militancy in the Valley in early 90's gathered outside the NIA headquarters in the national capital demanding strict action against Bitta Karate. By Ilma Hasan: Kashmiri Pandits staged a protest outside the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters where Kashmiri separatist leaders Bitta Karate, Ghazi Baba and Naeem Khan are being grilled for the third consecutive day today. Kashmiri Pandits families who were affected by militancy in the Valley in early 90's gathered outside the NIA headquarters in the national capital demanding strict action against the accused. advertisement Ranvider Pandita, a Kashmiri Pandit forced to leave the Valley said, "The NIA is grilling them over Pakistan funding them to spread unrest, we hope they also grill Karate and others for the murder of our families." Another said, "This government has done nothing to help us. They watched them butcher our families, and now they roam scot-free. How can they let this happen." The protest came on the third day of the questioning of these Hurriyat members who were caught on camera admitting to taking money from Pakistan to spread terror. A protestor said, "After this questioning, there is a new sense of hope in us. We want justice for our families, we want to go back home." Also Read: Hurriyat leaders Bitta Karate, Ghazi Baba to appear before NIA in Delhi tomorrow India Today impact: NIA moves Hurriyat leaders Bitta Karate, Ghazi Baba to unknown location for interrogation India Today impact: NIA launches probe after sting exposes Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders took money from Pakistan WATCH | India Today's Hurriyat tapes decoded in 3 minutes: How Pakistan funds villains of Kashmir NIA summons Kashmiri separatist leaders Bitta Karate, Ghazi Baba to Delhi NIA to file FIR in Pakistan funding of terror attacks, stone pelting in Kashmir through Hurriyat leaders --- ENDS --- Kerala High Court Chief Justice Navniti Prasad said there is there is no constitutional violation in the order. By India Today Web Desk: A day after the Madras High Court ordered a month-long stay on the Centre's ban on cattle sale for slaughter, the Kerala High Court today said there is no need for it to interfere with the new rules as it doesn't violate the Constitution. Kerala High Court Chief Justice Navniti Prasad said this while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) which sought quashing of notification on ban on cattle sale for slaughter. advertisement The court said there is no constitutional violation in the order issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change which has created an uproar in some states including Kerala. The Kerala High Court observed that there was nothing in the new central law on cattle trade and slaughter that takes away the rights of people with regard to eating beef. "If anyone reads it properly, the present law prevailing in the country along with the new order that came out none will not have come to this sort of conclusion. There is no ban on slaughter or sale of beef. What has been said in the new order is that mass sale of cattle for slaughter through the cattle market is banned," observed the Chief Justice. DIFFERENCE WITH MADRAS HIGH COURT When Advocate General CP Sudhakara Prasad pointed out the ruling of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had stayed the new order, the Chief Justice expressed surprise. Youth Congress activist Sunil, who filed the PIL, withdrew it after the hearing. The Madurai bench of Madras High Court had yesterday ordered a month's stay on the central government's notification on animal slaughter. Hearing a PIL, the court directed the state and central government to reply in four weeks. THE CONTROVERSY Various bodies and political parties have reacted sharply to the government's decision, saying it is an "ill-advised" move which will widen the "terrorism" by cow vigilantes. It has also been criticised that the order imposes an indirect ban on beef. The notification had created an uproar in many states including protests by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. In Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, a group of students conducted a beef festival, showing their agitation against the Centre's order. Against this backdrop, union minister Venkaiah Naidu has said the Centre is examining the issues. It was also reported earlier that the government may exempt buffalo from the list. THE NEW RULES The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had last week notified new rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which bans sale of cattle for slaughter in open markets across the country. advertisement A gazette notification, titled Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 by the ministry had stated that no one can bring cattle to an animal market unless he or she has furnished a written declaration that the cattle will not be sold for the purpose of slaughter. Further, upon sale of cattle, the animal market committee will take an "undertaking" that the animals are for agricultural purposes and not for slaughter. Also read: Make cow national animal, give life imprisonment for slaughter: Rajasthan High Court tells Centre Ban on cattle sale for slaughter: Madras High Court stays government's order for a month Government bans sale of cows for slaughter at cattle markets, restricts trade --- ENDS --- Wits Research Director amongst southern Africas best Dr Robin Drennan, Director of Research Development at Wits, has been awarded by his southern African peers for his contribution to research management. The Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) gave Drennan the Distinguished Contribution to Research Management Profession Award at the SARIMA 2017 Annual Conference held in Windhoek, Namibia from 22-25 May 2017. It is a privilege to work as a research manager at Wits and to contribute to the development of the profession in South Africa. My work involves stewarding research, which often means spending time talking with a range of wonderful academic researchers who do the most amazing things. Their insight and drive to seek out the truth is inspirational and makes it an absolute pleasure to provide them with support and encouragement, says Drennan. The award includes a trophy and R30 000 to cover the costs of an international trip to a suitable research management conference. I will probably use the prize money to attend the International Network of Research Management Societies Conference [INORMS] in Edinburgh, Scotland from 4-7 June 2018, says Drennan. The SARIMA award acknowledges Drennans role in the profession of research management. He developed an information and technology communication (ITC) system at Wits for the collection, submission and verification of research publications. This new system enabled collection of 16 percent more publications than its predecessor, thus earning the University R160m. Drennan is actively involved in the Consortium for the Advancement of Research Training in Africa (CARTA) and has facilitated a dozen international research management training workshops. He has served on the SARIMA committee for six years and delivered two presentations at the 2017 conference: Does research thrive in a framework of thrusts, or does this throttle growth and impact? and Do research and innovation managers constitute a happy marriage? Drennans contribution to research development is evident in his management and mentorship of 22 members of Wits staff, his support of 50 research managers at Wits, and his mentorship of three peers in other research institutions. Drennan himself holds a PhD in Chemistry from Rhodes University. I dedicate this award to the almost 100 people at Wits who also carry out research and innovation management. It is these people and their often hidden contributions that help to grow the Universitys research intensity, he says. Kerala Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnanhas says the new liquor policy will definitely look at the concerns of the tourism sector, which has suffered significantly due to the UDF government's policy and after Supreme Court order banning sale of alcohol on highways. By Rohini Swamy: Kerala's new liquor policy is likely to be announced by the end of June. Kerala Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnanhas has said that the new policy will definitely look at the concerns of the tourism sector, which has suffered significantly due to the liquor policy passed by the previous UDF government. "We are for temperance, not prohibition", the minister said. advertisement The ruling LDF government will hold a meeting on June 8 to discuss the new liquor policy. The new policy may even look at an amendment of the Akbari Act, which keeping in mind the Supreme Court order, bans the sale of liquor on highways. HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IN 10 POINTS Sources in the government say that the new policy will look at relaxing norms for tourist destinations and for international conferences. The CPM believes that the liquor policy needs to be amended from the previous government's stand as the tourism sector, which takes care of a sizeable income for the state, has suffered huge losses due to the shutting down of bars. The UDF government, under the leadership of Oommen Chandy, had ordered the closure of 700 bars below the four-star category. The sale of only beer and wine was allowed. The Chandy government had also levied a 5 per cent cess on liquor. All Sundays were declared 'dry days'. This did bring a lot of flak to the previous government. Kerala tourism has been running into losses since the shutting down of bars, which witnessed a slump in tourist arrivals, according to a report by the Kerala Tourism Statistics of 2015. The count of foreign tourists visiting God's Own Country dropped to 6 per cent in 2015 from 7.6 per cent in 2014 and 18.9 per cent in 2010. Domestic tourist arrivals also went down to 6.6 per cent in 2015 from 8.6 per cent in 2010. With the implementation of complete prohibition, Kerala has grappled with an estimated loss of more than Rs 7,000 crore annually. The state was expected to generate Rs 3,208 crore in 2014-15. However, its earnings were restricted to Rs 1,977 crore. Prior to the liquor ban, Kerala had the country's highest per capita consumption of liquor at 8.3 litres a year. Liquor was a major source of revenue, earning about Rs 12,000 crore for the state exchequer. This dip in the state government's revenue due to the liquor ban has prompted the LDF government to reopen bars with certain restrictions. This dip in the state government's revenue due to the liquor ban has prompted the LDF government to reopen bars with certain restrictions. Also read | As women in UP protest against liquor outlets, CM Yogi Adityanath's minister inaugurates beer bar Also read | Bihar's biggest liquor consignment worth Rs 1.25 crore destroyed by road roller in Patna Also read | Tamil Nadu: Over 50 arrested after ransacking liquor store ALSO WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- By Shreya Goswami: You know Bengalis have a sweet tooth, and you know that they have created some of the best desserts you can imagine. Their history boasts of sweets made traditionally during festivals and special occasions--from nolen gurer sondesh to stuffed pithas--as well as sweets that were invented out of sheer accidents. It's no wonder then that a trip to Kolkata, even today, means you have to go on a dessert pilgrimage throughout the city--tasting sweets from Hedua Park in the north to Bhowanipur in the south. Here are our favourite sweet shops across the city of Kolkata. advertisement 1. Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick One of the oldest sweet shops in Kolkata, Balaram Mullick and Radharam Mullick is located in Bhowanipur's Paddapukur Road. They don't just serve oldies and goldies like nolen gurer sondesh, chhana sondesh and saffron rosogollas, but actually have a whole menu of chocolate-mishtis. They've also mastered the art of nailing very creative 9and very delicious) dishes like jaggery souffles! Of all the sweet shops across Kolkata, this one is definitely our favourite. Picture courtesy: Instagram/bubblegumgod Also Read: A non-Bengali foodie's journey through Kolkata's delicacies 2. Girish Chandra Dey and Nakur Chandra Nandy Girish Chandra Dey and Nakur Chandra Nandy is another one of the oldest sweet shops in Kolkata, and has been serving the city's sweet-lovers with everything from the traditional nolen gurer sondesh and mishti doi to kalakand and rasmalai. Located near Hedua Park in the northern part of the city, this sweet shop is all about the old-world charm of Kolkata. Picture courtesy: Instagram/blueskybeyond_ 3. K C Das If you love rosogollas, this sweet shop located in Esplanade is your heaven! They serve some of the best varieties of rosogollas in the city--whether you want them plain or stuffed with jaggery or saffron. That apart, you can get a taste of some delicious lyangchas (elongated gulab jamuns) and nolen gur rolls. This place is so popular that you'll find that most Calcuttans have visited it (or its many branches) more than once. Picture courtesy: Instagram/khaanapeenaetc 4. Mouchak Mouchak might be relatively new, but it serves all the traditional Bengali sweets you've ever heard (or even not heard) of. We're sure you'll head to Gariahat for a shopping spree, but your trip to this Kolkata destination will be incomplete without a binge session at this sweet shop. While their savoury snacks are simply yummy, you just have to try the many sondesh varieties. Picture courtesy: topyaps.com Also Read: 10 lip-smacking street foods of Kolkata that you'll regret missing out on 5. Bhim Chandra Nag Dilkhush, Monohora, Paradise, Abar Khabo--you might not have known about these innovative mithai varieties, but they sound amazing, right? That's just what Bhim Chandra Nag in Jorasanko serves. Being one of the oldest sweet shops in the city means that they also serve the traditional desserts Bengali cuisine is famed for. If nostalgia and taste wasn't enough, this shop also serves some of the best sondesh in town. Picture courtesy: Instagram Picture courtesy: Instagram advertisement These sweet shops are quite the destinations themselves, so much so that you'll know just where to get a snack while you're on that sight-seeing trip. Your next trip to Kolkata would be incomplete if you don't grab a bite of some gur-stuffed desserts at these five amazing places. --- ENDS --- 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 By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating toll) Colombo, May 31 (PTI) The death toll in Sri Lankas floods today rose to 203 with 94 people still missing in the countrys worst torrential rains since 2003 that displaced nearly half a million people. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said at least 629,742 people of 163,701 families had been affected by the bad weather. advertisement The DMC said 1,505 houses had been fully damaged while 7,617 houses were partially damaged due to the floods and landslides. Around DMC 77, 432 people have been displaced. "There was a good news on the receding water levels in rivers during the past 24 hours due to the low rainfall that ended at 3.30 pm," the Irrigation Department said. Director (Hydrology) P Hettiarachchi said the water levels in the Kalu Ganga and the Gin Ganga was decreasing. Indian naval divers and medical teams have joined rescue efforts in Lankas flood-hit regions. The Indian contingent of more than 300 navy personnel was assisting in the relief, with divers searching the brackish waters and medical teams seeing patients in makeshift tents set up at shelters. INS Shardul has nearly 200 personnel on board, including specialised rescue, diving and medical teams, as well as a large amount of relief material and Gemini inflatable boats. INS Kirch was carrying 125 personnel. It had diving teams, relief supplies, inflatable gemini boats and a mobile medical teams. A third Indian naval ship arrived today, bringing relief supplies including rice, lentils, sugar, milk and blankets for the displaced. The weather has begun to clear, and many of the more than 100,000 people, evacuated over the weekend, had returned home to clear debris and mud from their waterlogged homes. More than 80,000 others remained in relief camps as their homes were either destroyed or wiped out. The two rivers overflowing was the main reason for severe flooding more particularly in the southern Galle and Kalutara districts. The government has initiated efforts to purify wells and other potable water sources which have been contaminated by the floods as tens of thousands of affected people are left without safe drinking water. Mudslides have become common during Sri Lankas summer monsoon season as forests across the tropical Indian Ocean island nation have been cleared for export crops such as tea and rubber. A massive landslide a year ago killed more than 100 people in central Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had sought international assistance, with India sending three naval ships laden with supplies in the last a couple of days. advertisement Following Indias lead in sending out emergency relief to Sri Lanka, more countries started pledging assistance to provide relief to the flood victims. Australia has said it would provide 500,000 dollars. A Pakistani relief ship arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday. At least three Chinese ships will come a day after tomorrow. PTI CORR KJ AKJ MRJ --- ENDS --- IAEA marks 60 years of technical cooperation 31 May 2017 Share The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) Technical Cooperation program has made "a valuable contribution to development", the agency's director-general Yukiya Amano yesterday told a conference to mark the program's 60th anniversary. All IAEA member states are eligible for support, although in practice technical cooperation activities tend to focus on the needs and priorities of less developed countries. The Technical Cooperation program provides support in the following areas: health and nutrition, food and agriculture, water and the environment, energy planning and nuclear power, industrial applications and radiation technology, safety, and nuclear knowledge development and management. Support is delivered through fellowships and scientific visits, training courses, workshops and seminars, expert assistance, and the provision of equipment and materials. Speaking at the opening of the three-day International Conference on the IAEA Technical Cooperation Program: Sixty Years and Beyond in Vienna, Amano said science and technology are critical for development. "Transferring nuclear technology to developing countries is core IAEA business and one of the most important areas of our work," he said. "The IAEA Technical Cooperation program is central to delivery of our Atoms for Peace and Development mandate. It has improved the health and prosperity of millions of people." Amano said the IAEA has been striving to make nuclear technology available in areas where it has unique value or has added value. The program now helps countries achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in energy, food and agriculture, industry and water management, as well as in health. "We have helped to save countless lives in developing countries by improving access to nuclear medicine and radiotherapy for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other major diseases. Nuclear techniques made available by the Agency are being used to manage water resources, reduce soil erosion, develop new varieties of rice and wheat that grow in difficult conditions, eradicate insect pests such as tsetse fly, and monitor pollution in the sea," Amano said. Central to the IAEA's approach is the belief that developing countries should determine their own priorities. "They decide in what areas they wish to benefit from nuclear science and technology. We then do our best to provide the support they seek," Amano said, adding that the IAEA focuses transferring knowledge and expertise by providing high-quality technical training that enables developing countries to then build their own expertise. The IAEA Statute entered into force in July 1957 and the first IAEA fellowships were awarded the following year. More than 48,000 scientists and engineers have since held fellowships and scientific visitor positions through the Technical Cooperation program. "Many of these scientists and engineers went on to play a key role in building capacity in nuclear science in their countries," Amano noted. The IAEA Technical Cooperation program is a shared responsibility of all member states, he said. It is made possible by the "sustained commitment of all" to the Technical Cooperation Fund, and supplemented by further contributions by donor countries. In 2016, the program delivered support to 146 countries and territories. Amano noted that energy is "indispensable for development". He said many countries believe nuclear power can help them address "the twin challenges of ensuring reliable energy supplies, while curbing greenhouse gas emissions". In addition, it can help alleviate concerns about volatile fuel prices and security of supply. The IAEA does not try to influence countries' decisions on whether or not to include nuclear energy in their energy mix. However, should they decide to do so, the IAEA is there to provide assistance and information "so they can use nuclear power safely, securely and sustainably". Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Chichen Itza is an archeological site located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and is the location of ancient ruins of the Mayan city, Chichen Itza. During the peak of Mayan civilization in the 9th century, Chichen Itza was one of the biggest cities. The site offers some of the best-preserved architectural work of the ancient Mayans, and it is the second-most popular archeological site in Mexico, attracting over one million visitors each year. Some of the most notable features include El Castillo, the Great Ball Court, the Tzompantli, Cenote Sagrado, El Mercado, El Caracol, and the Osario. Chichen Itzas Highlights El Castillo El Castillo is an iconic Mayan temple. Image credit: e X p o s e/Shutterstock Also called the Pyramid of Kukulkan, El Castillo is a huge step pyramid located in the North Platform of Chichen Itza, built sometime between the years 700 and 1300, in the Classic or Post-Classic Mayan period. The 98-foot tall (29 m) pyramid served as a temple dedicated to the Mayan deity, Kukulkan and the Feathered Serpent deity. Each of the four sides of the ancient temple feature square terraces with 91 steps to the top of the temple. El Castillo has its fair share of surprises. It is arguably the most iconic Mayan pyramid, but it is not the tallest. A curious fact about it, only recently discovered, is that this structure was actually built on top of an older, smaller pyramid. And if you find yourself at its base, around its north stairs specifically, and you see people around you clapping, do not be surprised. They are testing out the acoustics: a clap will be answered by a sound similar to a birds chirp reverberating off the structure. Some experts debate whether this was intentional, but regardless, it is pretty fascinating. Cenote Sagrado Cenote Sagrado. Image credit: Jess Kraft/Shutterstock Chichen Itza has several sinkholes due to the dissolving of the limestone bedrock which reveals the water that was below the surface. The ancient Mayans revered these sinkholes, using them to offer sacrifices to the deities. Cenote Sagrado is the most impressive of all sinkholes located in Chichen Itza and was used as a site to offer sacrifices to Chaac, the rain god. In the early 20th century, Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado and discovered human remains among other artifacts at the bottom of the cenote, implying human sacrifice was carried out at the Cenote Sagrado. However, though it has been established that the Mayans did perform human sacrifice, dont get caught up in the frenzy: the prevalence of these types of rituals has been played up by tour guides, and evidence shows that animal sacrifice was more common. El Caracol El Caracol. Image credit: blue-sea.cz/Shutterstock El Caracol is an observatory building located in Chichen Itza that dates back to the 10th century, during the late Classic Mayan period. Historians believe that the building was constructed to offer Mayans a platform to observe the sky as the surrounding area was full of vegetation and lacked a natural pedestal. The El Caracol is a testament to the advanced astronomical skills possessed by the ancient Mayans and was used to view Venus, among other findings. Venus was very important to the Mayans and was considered to be a war god and the suns nighttime twin. The towers positioning actually corresponds to Venus trajectory in the sky. The Mayans had a very advanced calendar that they refined by examining the stars in the sky. However, one misconception is that they were the sole inventors of this calendar. While they developed it significantly, it is actually based on a calendar that was widely used by many cultures in that area as early as the 5th century BCE, long before the Mayans came along. History The early Mayans settled in Chichen Itza in the early Classic period, around 600 AD, and began developing it into a town. However, it was during the late Classic period and the early Terminal Classic period that the Chichen Itza rose to prominence as an important city in the Mayan Kingdom, around 900 to 1200. It quickly became the regions political, economic, and socio-cultural capital. During its peak, the city is alleged to have caused the decline of surrounding cities, including Yaxuna and Coba. In the 13th century, the city began to decline with its elite activities being relocated to other cities. However, the city continued to have a significant population until it was abandoned to the jungle in the 1400s. Tourism Chichen Itza is one of the most popular tourist spots in Mexico, attracting 1.4 million visitors per year. The archeological site was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 due to its cultural significance in Mayan history. Until recently, visitors had the privilege to ascend the steps on the monuments and enter inside the chambers. However, public access to the majority of the monuments has been restricted and visitors are only allowed to walk around the monuments. Chichen Itza needs to be seen to be truly believed as the splendor that it is. It is one of those human marvels for which a photo simply does not do it justice! Sanctions and embargoes are the prohibition or ban of certain activities by a specific body with the aim of encouraging or discouraging a particular behavior. Sanctions may be related to trade, military, political, legal, or science while embargoes are mainly partial or total restrictions on economic activities between various countries or regions. The US has imposed sanctions on several countries through executive orders which are signed by the president through the Office of Foreign Asset Controls in the US Department of Treasury. Such sanctions and embargoes include bans on the export of arms, withdrawal of financial aid, and restrictions on economic assistance. Countries the United States Has Sanctions and Embargoes Against Iran The US issued sanctions and embargoes against Iran in 1979 after a group of radical students attacked the US embassy in Tehran. The incident led to the freezing of most of Irans assets, with stricter sanctions being imposed in later years. After Iran's invasion of Iraq in 1984, there was a ban on weapon sale to Iran and prohibition of economic assistance to Iran. Other sanctions include the 1996 ban on Iran-US oil trade, the ban on exportation of aviation equipment, the 2004 ban on the publishing of scientific manuscripts from Iran, and bans for direct relations between Iranian and US banks. These sanctions have resulted in increased prices of basic goods. North Korea The US and North Korea have non-existent diplomatic relations that were worsened by the Cold War and the Korean War. The invasion of the North Korean forces in South Korea on June 25, 1950 triggered the US government to impose a severe economic ban against North Korea. Subsequent years have seen more sanctions imposed on the country, especially due to its involvement in nuclear weapons and threats of bombing the US. The US issued the latest ban in March 2016 following a North Korean cyber-attack on Sony Pictures. Syria Relations between the US and Syria were officially suspended in 2012. Before that, the relations were strained due to numerous sanctions issued against Syria since 1986 for involvement in terrorist activities. Syria has denied any support in terrorist activities, issuing passive support for legitimate resistance movements. Numerous sanctions and executive orders have been issued against Syrian citizens and companies for engagement in terrorism, public corruption, and involvement in Lebanese and Iraq activities. US persons are prohibited from engaging in the Syrian petroleum trade as well as investing in Syria. Sudan Relations between Sudan and the US became strained after Sudans recurrent association and support for terrorist groups including the Palestinian and Libyan terrorists. Sudan was declared a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993, therefore attracting trade, financial, and economic sanctions from the US government. The sanctions were introduced following Sudans support for the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, involvement in the Pan-Arab Islamic Conference, and providing homes to international terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden, Carlos the Jackal, and Abu Nidal. After the Darfur violence, the sanctions were toughened. Relations between the two are likely to improve following the resumption of US-Sudan military ties and the establishment of a CIA office in Khartoum. Cuba The US first issued sanctions against Cuba in 1960 during the Cold War and Cubas alliance with the USSR. The sanctions were triggered by the gradual take-over of the private sector industries majorly consisting of Americans. Although the two still maintain diplomatic relations, the commercial and economic bans restricting business between Cuba and US corporations are still in place, making it hard for Cuba to do business with the US. Following secret negotiations between Cuba and President Barack Obama, some of the travel restrictions were eased as well as restrictions for associations with Cuban banks. Cuba was also removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Improving diplomatic relations The US has made several attempts with some of the listed countries to improve diplomatic relations. Although most of these efforts have not produced significant results, they are a step towards the right direction as far as diplomatic relations go. Lebanon might just ban Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot, from getting released in the country. By India Today Web Desk: The new DC film, Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot, might just not release in Lebanon as the country's ministry of economy seeks to ban the film since its lead actor, Gal Gadot, is an Israeli. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and has a law in place which boycotts Israeli products from entering the country. In addition to that, the law prevents Lebanese citizens from travelling to Israel or maintaining relations/contact with Israeli citizens. advertisement According to The Daily Star, a Lebanese newspaper, the ministry is going to "take the necessary measures" to ensure that Wonder Woman is not screened in the country. The ban on Wonder Woman has, however, not been enforced yet. A representative of a Lebanese cinema chain said that a Wonder Woman premiere is being planned in the country. The Associated Press (AP) also reported that posters and billboards of Wonder Woman have been spotted all over Beirut, the capital city. The ministry's decision has received backing and support from the group Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon which launched an initiative to boycott Wonder Woman because Gal Gadot served the Israeli army for two years and also expressed support for the Israeli forces as the country was militarily engaged against Gaza. "I am sending my love and prayers to (...) all the boys and girls who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas, who are hiding like cowards behind women and children... We shall overcome!!! Shabbat Shalom!" Gal Gadot had written in 2014. Wonder Woman is releasing in the United States on June 2. ALSO READ: Is Wonder Woman bisexual? Gal Gadot says she can be ALSO READ: War Machine Movie Review ALSO READ: Alien Covenant Movie Review WATCH: Brangelina no more, our generation's greatest love story is over --- ENDS --- There have been some deadly wars fought on large scale throughout history, resulting in the deaths of millions whose fatalities have been caused by either indirect or direct effects of war. Death caused by such wars includes mass executions, genocides, or annihilation under the rule of ruthless dictators. World War II is often considered to be the deadliest war of all time, with an ultimate death toll estimated at around 85 million people. Below is a list of the most gruesome wars the world has ever seen in order of death toll. 10. Chinese Civil War, 1927-1949 (8 million deaths) The Chinese Civil War began in 1927, and was fought between the loyal forces to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the loyal forces to the Kuomintang (KMT), a major political party in the Republic of China. There were 8 million fatalities The war was about the struggle for control of China. The Civil War can be divided into two phases from 1927 to 1937 and from 1946 to 1950 when major hostilities ceased. The war resulted in a significant historical turning point for the country following the establishment of the People's Republic of China. 9. Timurid Conquests, 1370-1405 (8 million deaths) The Timurid Empire was established when regions conquered by the empire came together around 1370. The empire was comprised of modern day Afghanistan, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Iran, parts of Turkey, Pakistan, Syria and much of Central Asia. The empire was established by a Turco-Mongol warlord known as Timur. During the reign of the Timurid Empire about 8 million people died. 8. Hui Minorities War, 1862-1877 (12 million deaths) The Hui Minorities War is also known as Tongzhi Hui Revolt, or Dungan Revolt was a religious and ethnic war fought between 1867 and 1877, during the rulership of Tongzhi the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The war involved Hui Muslims and other Muslim ethnic groups from the provinces of Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Gansu in China. The Tongzhi Hui Revolt started over a pricing squabble when a Hui did not receive some bamboo poles he had purchased from a Han merchant. The war resulted in 12 million deaths. 7. Tang-Yan Wars, 755-763 CE (13 million deaths) The Tang-Yan Wars, also known as the An Lushan Rebellion, was a calamitous rebellion against China's Tang dynasty. The rebellion started when general An Lushan proclaimed himself emperor of Northern China on December 16th, 755. An Lushan established a rival dynasty known as the Yan Dynasty, which collapsed on February 17th, 763. The rebellion ended with a death toll of 13 million people. 6. World War 1, 1914-1918 (18.4 million deaths) Also known as the Great War or First World War, World War I was a global war which originated in Europe on July 28, 1914, lasting up to November 11, 1918. World War I was among the largest wars in history with over 70 million military personnel which included 60 million Europeans. About 18.4 million people died as a result of the war. World War I was one of the deadliest conflicts in history. 5. Chinese Civil War, 1850-1864 (25 million deaths) The Chinese Civil War of 1850 to 1864 also known as Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Rebellion was fought between the Qing Dynasty and Heavenly Kingdom of Peace movement. The war started when local officials from the Guangxi province of Southern China began persecuting the God Worship Society which was a millenarian sect. The sect was headed by Hong Xiuquan, a self-proclaimed young brother of Jesus. Death estimates of the war were about 25 million. 4. Qing Conquests, 17th Century (25 million deaths) Also known as the Qing Conquest of the Ming, the Manchu Conquest of China or the Ming , the Qing transition was a period of conflict during the 17th century between the Qing dynasty of northeastern China and the Ming dynasty of southern China. The war resulted in the collapse of the Ming dynasty and approximately 25 million deaths. 3. War of Three Kingdoms, 2nd & 3rd Centuries CE (38 million deaths) The Three Kingdoms, which existed between the 2nd and 3rd Centuries CE, was a tripartite apportionment of China between the Wu, Shu, and Wei states, preceding the Jin Dynasty and following the Han dynasty. The period in which the three Kingdoms ruled is marked as one of the bloodiest in the history of China. The wars resulted in about 38 million deaths. 2. Mongol Invasions, 13th & 14th Centuries (55 million deaths) The Mongol Conquest and Invasions took place during the entire 13th century leading to the establishment of the Mongol Empire. By 1300, the empire had already extended to Eastern Europe and much of Asia. With a death toll of about approximately 55 million, historians regard the Mongol invasion as one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. 1. World War 2 & Sino-Chinese War, 1939-1945 (85 million deaths) The Second World War was a global war fought between 1939 and 1945. However, related conflicts had already begun prior to the war. The Second World War involved a vast majority of countries in the world, becoming history's most widespread war involving over 100 million people from more than 30 countries. The war was marked by the mass killings of civilians, notably with the Holocaust being responsible for 11 million deaths. Another example of mass killings was the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. World War II resulted in about 85 million deaths. The Ethiopian Wolf is a small canid animal native to the Ethiopian mountains in East Africa. The Ethiopian Wolf is the most endangered carnivore in Africa and is among the rarest canids in the world with only 500 remaining in the wild comprised of about 250 breeding individuals. 4. Physical Description The Ethiopian Wolf has a small build, long, slender legs and a thick fur coat suited for the cold habitats where it is located. The coat is usually reddish-brown with a whitish-ginger underfur which extends to the chin. However, juvenile wolves have a charcoal-grey coat which gradually changes to bright tawny red. The coat on females changes to become more yellowish during the breeding season. The Ethiopian Wolf has a large black bushy tail. The Ethiopian Wolf is a coyote-sized canid with the body length in adults ranging between 33.1 inches and 39.8 inches. Sexual dimorphism is present in the Ethiopian Wolf where males are relatively larger than females with the weight in males ranging between 31 pounds and 43 pounds while the weight in females range between 24.7 pounds and 31.2 pounds. The wolf has a small, elongated skull and widely-spaced teeth featuring 14-millimeter canine teeth. 3. Diet Rodents are the bulk prey items of the Ethiopian Wolf. The preferred prey is the big-headed mole-rats which are endemic in the wolfs habitat range. Other prey items include Highland hare, grass rats, vlei rats, yellow-spotted brush-furred rats, and black-clawed brush-furred rats. However, the Ethiopian Wolf has been documented taking down mountain nyala calves and rock hyraxes. While the wolf is primarily a predator, it has been known to scavenge on carcasses. The wolf also ingests sedge leaves which are believed to be used for parasite control or as a source of roughage. 2. Habitat and Range As its name denotes, the Ethiopian Wolf is only found in high altitude regions of Ethiopia. The wolf prefers mountainous regions above the tree line on heathlands and the afro-alpine grasslands due to the abundance of its main prey item the afro-alpine rodents. The wolfs range has been shrinking due to increased human activities in the mountains with the existing population of wolves being restricted to the high peaks. The Bale Mountains and the Simien Mountains have the largest population of the wolves with over 50% of the total population. 1. Behavior The wolf is a social animal and lives in packs which can have up to 20 individuals. The average amount of wolves in a pack is six. Each pack is hierarchal, with a single breeding male and female and other females being reproductively suppressed. In the event of the death of the dominant female, her place is taken over by a daughter. Each pack is entitled to a territory which covers an average of 2.3 square miles and members of the pack conduct border patrols and leave scent markings. The mating season takes place between August and November and involves the breeding male and female involving courtship where the breeding male regularly follows the breeding female. The gestation period in Ethiopian wolves is about two months, after which a litter of two to six pups is born between October and December. The majority of the female wolves disperse from the group after they attain the age of two to avoid inbreeding. How Many Refugees Does the US Take In? The US has a refugee resettlement program for victims of war or those fleeing persecution. In 1948, Congress enacted the program as legislation providing admission for more than 400,000 European refugees. Over the years, refugees from the USSR, those fleeing communism, Cubans, and those from Southeast Asia were resettled to the US through the help of religious and humanitarian organizations. The resettlement program has been expanded to include the provision of education and funding of vulnerable persons such as victims of gender-based violence and helping refugees resettle in their home countries. Every year, the US president consults the Congress and other relevant agencies to determine the number of nationalities and processing priorities for refuges. Refugee Admission in 2016 The US recorded the highest number of refugee admission in the 2016 fiscal year with a total of 84,995 refugees. The Obama administration had a target of admitting 85,000 refugees within the 2016 fiscal year ending September 30th, 2016 both for temporary and permanent residence. Partnerships and cooperation between resettlement agencies, US Customs and Border Protection, UNHCR, the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, contributed to a large number of refugees in 2016. Refugee Statistics in 2016 The US took in a total of 84,995 refugees in 2016 compared to 69,993 in 2015. DRC had the highest number at 16,370 refugees followed by Syria with 12,857, Iraq with 9,880, Somalia with 9,020, Bhutan with 5,817, Iran with 3,750, Afghanistan with 2,737, Ukraine with 2,543 and Eritrea with 1,914. There were also 7,995 people resettled from other countries. Muslims were the majority at 38,901 from countries such as Syria (12,486), Somalia (9,012), Iraq (7,853), Burma (3,141), Afghanistan (2,664), and 3,741 Muslims from other countries. Christian refugees were the second majority at 37,521 persons. There were also more than 3,000 Buddhists, 2,000 Hindus, and 449 atheists. Refugee Vetting and Screening Process Before refugees resettle into the US, individuals must be screened and have their applications approved by various departments. Screening is necessary to avoid compromising the security of Americans by allowing in criminals. First, the resettlement agencies such as the UNHCR have to approve an application before sending it for adjudication by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Multiple biometric and biographic checks are done against US security databases after which the application is either rejected or approved. Persons with communicable diseases are not allowed into the country. For fear of terrorism, the US vetting system has become more vigorous. Resettlement Most states resettled more refugees in 2016 than in 2015. Nebraska had the highest number of refugees per 100,000 refugees at 76, followed by Dakota at 71, Idaho at 69, Vermont at 62, Arizona at 60, Kentucky at 54, South Dakota at 50, Minnesota at 48, Maine at 46, and Washington at 45. Though most states resettled more refugees in 2016 than in 2015, Colorado, South Dakota, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Mississippi resettled a lower number. After resettlement, refugees go through an orientation period and are guided through job searching. After a year, the refugees are expected to be fully self-reliant. Kurt Josef Waldheim was an Austrian-born lawyer, soldier, politician, and envoy who served as the 4th Secretary-General of the UN and the 9th President of Austria. His intelligence regarding work in Greece during World War II raised more questions than answers. Waldheim was a member of the Austrian Peoples Party, a World War II Veteran and is survived by his three children. 5. Early Life Waldheim was born on December 21, 1918, in Sankt Andra-Wordern near Vienna. His father worked as a Roman Catholic School Inspector with ancestral roots in the Czech Republic. Waldheim served the army between 1936 and 1937 after which he joined the Vienna Consular Academy and graduated in 1939. During his early years, Waldheim was unaffiliated, but his father was an active member of the Christian Social Party. In 1938, three weeks after Germany annexed Austria, Waldheim expressed interest in being a member of the Nazi Party the National Socialist German Students' League (NSDStB), which was a division of the Nazi party. Waldheim married Elizabeth Ritschel on August 19, 1944, in Vienna and had their firstborn Lieselotte in 1945. 4. Career In 1941 during the World War II, Waldheim served in the Wehrmacht as squad leader at the Eastern Front. Waldheim said he served until 1944, but other sources claim he served until 1945. Depending on the source, Waldheim or his critics, his army duties may differ. While he argued that he was only a clerk and an interpreter, other sources believe he served as an interpreter and liaison officer, 3rd Assistant Adjutant, 2nd Assistant Adjutant, 1st Assistant Adjutant, General Staff Quartermaster, General Staff Chief of Operations, General Staff Chief Intelligence Officer, and as an aide-de-camp. Waldheim was the First Secretary of the Legation in Paris between 1948 and 1951 when he joined the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 1956. He then served as the High Commission to Canada between 1956 and 1960 before going back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1964, Waldheim served as the Austrias UN Permanent Representative. He shortly served again in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for two years before going back to the UN in his previous capacity. He was defeated in his first shot at the Austrian Presidency in 1971. In the same year, he became the UN Secretary-General and was re-elected in 1976. Waldheim ran and got elected as Austrian president in 1986 and served till 1992. Waldheim did not seek re-election. 3. Major Contributions Waldheim undertook several peace missions as UN Secretary-General. He calmed tensions between Greeks and Turks in Cyprus in 1972 and led peaceful negotiations and reconciliation between 1973 and 1974. Waldheim made significant contributions in Vietnam, Yemen, India, and Pakistan, and organized the UN Emergency forces that acted as a buffer between Israel and Egyptian forces in 1973 in the long-standing Israel-Arab conflicts. Waldheim established a new international economic order at the UN by enacting policies that would reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. He negotiated the release of American Hostages from Tehran although he later became persona non grata in the US. Waldheim made several contributions for his country as president and diplomat. 2. Challenges Waldheims time with the Nazis would come to haunt his career years later. While he stated that he left the service in 1944 having served as an interpreter and clerk, different sources from the CIA, Jewish Interest groups, and journalists presented contrary evidence. The sources claimed that his service ended in 1945 and served at senior ranks and was always close to where war crimes were taking place. He is accused of reviewing and approving anti-Jewish propaganda leaflets. His accusers believed he had played a bigger role in the Nazi system that oppressed the Jews. Waldheim and his supporters successfully defended his service in the military. These accusations were later known as the Waldheim Affair. Analysts believe that the accusations were because of Austria refusing to address its role in the Holocaust, refusing to compensate Nazi victims and refusing to investigate its citizens who were Nazis. Many Nazi leaders, Hitler included, had Austrian roots. He also received annoying telegrams from President Amin applauding the massacre of the Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich. Amin said Germany was appropriate place for the massacre because it was the place Hitler burned more than 6 million Jews. 1. Death and Legacy Kurt Josef Waldheim died on June 14, 2007 from heart failure and was buried on June 23 at the Presidential Vault. His name appears on Wehrmacht 's list of honors for successful military actions. The Independent State of Croatia also awarded him the Medal of the Crown of King Zvonimir. He has been awarded one of the highest presidential awards in Yugoslavia. Pope John Paul awarded Waldheim a knighthood in the Order of Pius IX. Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy with a multi-party system, and therefore the country's head of government is the Prime Minister. Luxembourg's executive power is exercised under the 1868 Constitution by the Council of Government also known as the cabinet, the Grand Duke, and the government. The Council of Government comprises of a prime minister together with some ministers where the prime minister is the leader of the coalition of parties or political party which has the majority seats in parliament. While the legislative power is vested in both the parliament and government, the country's judiciary is independent of both the legislature and the executive. The Executive Branch Of The Government Of Luxembourg With a constitutional monarchy, the country consists of a parliamentary form of government that operates according to equal primogeniture. The 1868 constitution bestows executive powers on the Grand Duke or Grand Duchess and the cabinet. The country's monarchy is hereditary within the ruling dynasty which is the Luxembourg-Nassau. The Grand Duke has the power to dissolve and reinstate a new legislature, but as from 1919, sovereignty has resided with the nation. The monarch appoints both the prime minister and vice prime minister after popular elections to the Chamber of Deputies. At present, the government of Luxembourg is a coalition of the LSAP, Green Party, and DP. The Legislative Branch Of The Government Of Luxembourg Legislative power in Luxembourg is vested in the Chamber of Deputies which has 60 members who are directly elected to serve a term of five years through proportional representation in four constituencies that are multi-seat. An advisory body of the Council of State which is proposed by the cabinet is also appointed by the Grand Duke. The advisory body is made up of 21 citizens often comprising of senior public servants with good political connections or politicians. Traditionally, the heir to the Luxembourg throne is a member of the advisory body whose main responsibility is to advise the Chamber of Deputies when drafting the legislation. A member of the Council of State can step down following a discontinuous or continuous period of 15 years or if they reach the age of 72. Besides, the regular duties, the responsibilities bestowed on the members of the Council of State are independent of what they do professionally. The Judicial Branch Of The Government Of Luxembourg With plenty of modifications, modernizations, and updates, the law in Luxembourg is based upon Code Napoleon. The Superior Court of Justice in Luxembourg is the pinnacle of the judicial system, and its judges are appointed for life by the Grand Duke and the same rules apply to the Administrative Court. The judiciary branch in Luxembourg works as an independent entity away from the legislative and the executive branches. Political Parties And Elections In Luxembourg Elections in the country are held on a regular basis to determine the political composition of the Grand Duchy's representative institutions: elections are considered to be fair and free. Luxembourg holds separate elections to vote in representatives at the European, national and communal levels. The country's political arena has been dominated by three political parties which are the Luxembourg Socialist Workers Party (LSAP), the Democratic Party (DP) and the Christian Social People's Party (CSV). However, the total percentage of the three parties has been on a decline paving the way for two additional parties which are The Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) and, the Greens Party. Since time immemorial, CSV has always been the biggest political party within the legislative. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) The Delhi Police has seized over 500 cartons of liquor near Chhatarpur, which were allegedly being smuggled to Bihar, where prohibition is in force, by two persons who pretended to be transporting vegetables. The Crime Branch of the police has arrested the accused, Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma said. advertisement According to Verma, the liquor cartons were being transported to Patna from Gurgaon via a "specially designed truck". Police laid a trap near Chhatarpur in south Delhi and apprehended the accused. "When stopped, the driver of the truck said that he was carrying vegetables to be delivered to Noida. The truck was then thoroughly checked and around 520 cartons of liquor were seized," he said. Police claimed the accused have told them that the consignment of a Gurgaon-based liquor supplier was to be off- loaded in Patna. The accused claimed that they had transported such consignments earlier too, the DCP said. PTI SBR SLB KIS --- ENDS --- Chancellor Of The Exchequer Visits Caia This article is old - Published: Wednesday, May 31st, 2017 The Chancellor of the Exchequer was in Wrexham this morning with visits to Caia and a firm on the Industrial Estate. Philip Hammond was welcomed to Wrexham this morning by the Wrexham Conservative candidate Andrew Atkinson. Mr Atkinson and the Chancellor toured TCB (Tension Controlled Bolts) a local business on the Wrexham Industrial Estate. The Chancellor and Mr Atkinson met with managing director, Tim Stokes to learn more about what the business produces and hear about their success as a world leader. Mr Atkinson said of the visit: We have some incredible businesses on our industrial estate, it was a pleasure to tour the business and to hear about how TCB is trading all over the world from its Wrexham base. Im keen to attract more businesses to Wrexham, to do this we need to improve our infrastructure, our road and rail links, as well as broadband, mobile signal and more. Im also very keen to strengthen the links between our university and colleges with businesses in the area to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for Wrexham people as we grow the economy locally. To discuss this with the Chancellor in Wrexham was a great opportunity. Following the visit the Chancellor joined Mr Atkinson and his team knocking doors and meeting voters in Caia Park, as pictured at the top.. Mr Atkinson added: I was pleased to introduce Mr Hammond to residents of Caia Park so that we could discuss their priorities for Wrexham. Mr Hammond should be no stranger to Wrexham, with his involvement with Castlemead Group, a Wrexham-based property development and building business. Steve Coogan Visits Wrexham Town Centre (Yes People Shouted DAN!) This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 Comedian Steve Coogan was in Wrexham town centre with Labours Ian Lucas this afternoon as part the campaign trail for the general election. The Alan Partridge and Hollywood star began his visit in Wrexham with a trip to King Street Coffee with Ian Lucas (and a brief chat with Wrexham.com!), before making his way to Hope Street to address to crowds. Wrexham is seen as a target seat for the Conservative Party, with 1,800 votes between the party and Labour in the 2015 general election. A-ha! Plesure to welcome Steve Coogan in for a coffee and cake by @zanetaSB earlier pic.twitter.com/betl2REKK0 King Street Coffee (@Kingstcoffee) May 30, 2017 However in an impassioned speech, Steve Coogan urged people to vote Labour and to encourage their family and friends to also turnout to vote on Thursday June 8th. He also offered his personal support to Mr Lucas for his work on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee and his speaking out against phone hacking. Steve said: Ian is a fantastic constituency MP, I dont think he has anything to prove in that regard, his record speaks for him. I got to know him through some of the work he did on the Parliamentary Committee which looked into the behaviour of the press. At that time he, along with a few other people put their heads above the parapet in a move that isnt necessarily going to enamour you to the press because it was about the press being held to account, and still is, by independent oversight and individual accountability. But for some sections of the press they have almost tried to characterise that as being a very negative thing. People who are on the side of the victims of press abuse, people like the Dowlers, the McCanns, Liverpool fans really press accountability is about defending people who dont have the money or resources to be able to take action when they have been wronged and Ian was really standing up for those people. Sometimes thats a thankless task as you can get it in the neck from certain sections of the right wing tabloid press and he did it despite that. Sixteen people, including five locally, have been arrested as result of the state's latest child predator sting. According to a Department of Justice news release, Operation New Hope, a week-long operation focused on child exploitation and online crimes in Wisconsin. "I've been part of these undercover operations, undercover online operations where we've used a house and we've had offenders coming into that house so rapidly that we hadn't towed away the car of the last offender before the next one was arriving," explained Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel. Charges against those arrested included: possession of child pornography; exposing a child to harmful material; child enticement; use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime; attempted sexual assault of a child; causing a child to view sexual activity; and trafficking of a child. Thirty federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies along with advocacy groups helped in the week-long operation, including Detective Dana Williams of the Stevens Point Police Department. She helped serve a warrant in Kronenwetter. "Even if it's not a hands-on offense, looking at the children-- whether they are images online or just having communications with them, those children are all victims, she explained of the seriousness of child exploitation. Law enforcement officers made sixteen arrests in the following counties: Brown, Clark, Columbia, Dane, Eau Claire, Marquette, Outagamie, Rock, Shawano, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, and Winnebago. Jerome George, remains in custody in Clark County. James Stevens, Jeff Vadnais-Speck, Brandon Stewart and Scott Lecker were all arrested in Shawano County. By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Demanding loan waive, farmers in major parts of Maharashtra have decided to go on a indefinite strike. Apart from loan waiver, the farmers are also demanding the scrapping of ban on sale of animals for slaughter. The farmers have decided to break their protest into two phases. In the first phase of this indefinite agitation from June 1 to 7, farmers will not sell their produce in markets unless farm loans are waived off and a Minimum Support Price (MSP) is guaranteed. Seeing the response, they will intensify their agitation in the second phase. advertisement Shetkari Sanghatana led by noted farmer leader Raghunath dada Patil is spearheading the protests. CM Devendra Fadnavis's attempts to persuade farmers have failed. CM himself met farmers' leaders earlier this week, but it did not yield results. "We will be peacefully appealing to farmers to not sell their produce. We have also got positive feedback from Transporters who will be supporting our agitation. Let the people in other parts of the state and the govt in particular learn what difficulties we are facing" said Kalidas Apet, Executive President of the Shetkari Sanghatana. As part of the protests, huge morchas will organised in Beed, Latur, Parbhani, Marathwada region, Amarawati, Buldhana in Vidarbha, Daund, Sangli, Kolhapur, Nagar in western Maharashtra, Nasik in Northern Maharashtra among other parts of Maharashtra. With the farmers going on strike, cities like Mumbai and Pune are likely to face a shortage of vegetables, milk and fruits. Growing farmers protests are becoming a big challenge for the ruling BJP in Maharashtra. Earlier this week, an ally of the ruling NDA, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS) too had organised a long march to Mumbai demanding loan waiver. SSS president Raju Shetty had called this "a self Tribulation"(aatm-klesh) march against a wrong decision to support the BJP that is now turning to be an anti-farmer party. BJP's ally Shivsena too has been going hammers and tongs against the Fadnavis govt over loan waiver. --- ENDS --- Speaking at the 3rd Mail Today Tourism Summit on Tuesday, Dr Mahesh Sharma said that his ministry is doing well under PM Modi and the next big thing for India is Health and wellness tourism. By Mail Today Bureau: Health and wellness tourism are the next big things in India, said Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Union minister for culture and tourism at the 3rd Mail Today Tourism Summit on Tuesday. Sharma, who leads the famous Kailash Group of Hospitals in Noida, said, "The tourism sector alone has seen a growth of 23-25 per cent last year. In UK, if you go for a bypass surgery, it will cost you not less than Rs18 lakh. In India, a hospital will charge you Rs3 lakh." advertisement India is already popular among patients from the Middle-east - mainly countries like Iraq and Iran - besides African nations and Pakistan, for various procedures such as liver and kidney transplant. Various political leaders have also raised the potential of yoga, ayurveda and India's various ashrams in healing and therapy tourism. The Lok Sabha MP from UP's Gautam Budh Nagar also said that if Indian medical professionals working in UK and Australia are to withdraw and return to India, their system would collapse in seven days. "That is how capable we are," he added.NEW TRAVEL DESTINATIONS Speaking on the other aspects of tourism, he said, "I have asked my officers to begin exploring new travel destinations. We already know that Himalayas and Kashmir are gorgeous, that the Northeast has its own charm, and south India has various temples. But we are sure there is more to India than what we already know." He highlighted that his ministry has identified 13 'pilgrimage/destination circuits' which are now going to be promoted aggressively both in India and abroad. These are Northeast India, Buddhist, Himalayan, coastal, Krishna, desert, tribal, eco, wildlife, rural, spiritual, Ramayana and heritage circuits. Close to Rs1,513 crore have been sanctioned for the mega project. These are together called 'Swadesh Darshan' and PRASAD (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) schemes. "Out of the eight places of remembrance of Buddha, seven are in India and one in Nepal. We should capitalise on our immense heritage potential. For vacations, Indians talk about going to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, but how many people have gone to Andaman and Nicobar islands? You will find the cleanest and most pristine beaches there," he said. On growth in the tourism sector, Sharma said his ministry is making rapid strides under the vision of PM Narendra Modi, who has laid additional emphasis on it. "India has jumped 12 places to rank 40 globally in the travel and tourism competitiveness list by the World Economic Forum (WEF). India has seen continued growth in international arrivals over the past 15 years, reaching the 8 million mark in 2015, according to WEF, which also said that the country's vast cultural and natural resour-ces, and its price competitiveness advantage also attracted international tourists." Sharma said even countries like US and Japan have not been able to make such strides. Some factors that he said helped India climb the ladder are implementing visa on arrival and e-visas, improvements in ground transport infrastructure and raising FDI in the sector to 100 per cent. advertisement Also Read Tourism, Culture ministries make Aadhaar mandatory for beneficiaries --- ENDS --- In a long interview that appeared May 20 in the feuilleton of the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Humboldt University Professor Jorg Baberowski explains his far-right agenda. The interview makes clear why Baberowski insists on his statement that Hitler was not vicious, which he first made three years ago in Der Spiegel and repeated recently in the journal Forschung und Lehre (Research & Teaching). His aim is to break the cultural hegemony of the left, as he calls it, in order to build up the right. According to him, the trivialization of Nazi crimes and the advocacy of war, racism and nationalism should no longer be morally discredited and considered a taboo. The first half of the interview consists of fierce attacks on the alleged hegemony of the left. The left has struggled and imposed cultural hegemony as defined by Antonio Gramsci, Baberowski declares, and then complains of the absence of conservatives such as Franz Josef Strauss (a Bavarian reactionary), who proudly said he was a conservative and a right-winger. Who dares to say today he is a right-winger? Baberowski asks. A right-winger, well, thats someone like a pedophile or a child molester. The concept serves primarily as a verbal means of defamation, in order to exclude those who think differently from the democratic consensus. This shift of coordinates could succeed only because the left has gained the upper hand in public discourse and is the only force to determine who is left and who is right. Both liberals and conservatives were subject to these rules. In civil institutions, in the media, education, the universities, the cultural hegemony of the left is structurally secured in such a way that resistance is futile, the professor continues. Particularly in the bourgeois milieu, most people speak the same standardized language and strive not to violate the requirements of the diktat of the virtuous And when finally everyone speaks the same language, then thinking is subjected to Gleichschaltung (enforced conformity). The world of business has also adapted itself to the hegemonic discourse in a way inconceivable some decades ago. Economic liberals and leftist romantics who believe in improving the world applaud for various reasons the opening up of borders to everyone. Some seek boundless profit, others dream of a world society. Baberowski is here defending the classic themes of the extreme right. Again and again he emphasizes that one must reckon with being excluded from public discourse when one expresses an opinion on questions of immigration, Muslims or Trump that conflicts with the hegemony of the politically correct and the diktat of the virtuous. At one point he says: Anyone who judges racism, colonialism, war and peace or the relationship of the sexes differently than hegemonic discourse allows is morally discredited. Baberowskis objections to a hegemonic discourse that rejects racism, colonialism and war can be interpreted only as support for them. The same passage of the interview reveals why Baberowski so obstinately trivialises the person of Hitler. He accuses the sixty-eight generationwho in 1968 protested against the silence of their parents and took up the issue of Nazi crimesof laying the foundations for moralizing politics by deciding what could be said about the past and how it could be said. The following sentence clearly expresses the far-right core of Baberowskis position: Since then, resistance to a dead dictator is sufficient ground to assume the moral high ground over other people. Resistance to a dead dictator, i.e., rejection of Hitler, has for decades been part of the basic political consensus in post-World War II Germany. Baberowski wants to change that. The views of a Nazi apologist, such as the leading member of the far-right Alternative for Germany, Bjorn Hocke, would then be an equally legitimate part of public discourse as the views of Hitlers opponents. Indeed, such views are preferable since they do not bow to the interpretive authority of the left and the Gleichschaltung of thought. It is no wonder that the AfD has prominently publicised Baberowskis Neue Zurcher Zeitung interview on Twitter. In February 2014, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) addressed an Open Letter to the administration of Humboldt University pointing out that Baberowski is utilizing his position at the university to advance the notorious right-wing conceptions of Ernst Nolte, who for three decades has been associated with writings that seek to relativize and diminish the significance of Nazi crimes. The letter referred to an article in Der Spiegel in which Baberwoski claimed that Nolte was historically right. He also declared, Hitler was no psychopath and he wasnt vicious. Ever since, Baberowski has sought to portray himself as the victim of a campaign of character assassination, responding to his critics with vile slanders and, in the case of the Bremen student association, Asta, with a court case. He does the same in the Neue Zurcher Zeitung interview. He denounces the IYSSE, a Trotskyist youth organization, as a Stalinist sect that uses the instruments of hegemonic discourse to draw attention to itself. One could laugh at such pronouncements from a professor who has access to the entire media landscape, if the issues at stake were not so serious. In its open letter to the Humboldt University administration in 2014, the IYSSE also wrote: The revival of German militarism requires a new interpretation of history that downplays the crimes of the Nazi era. This has since been confirmed. It is increasingly clear that Germany cannot return to great power politics and militarism without rehabilitating Hitler. Timur Vermes recent novel Look Whos Back and the film based on the book are proving to be highly current. This is why Baberowski is defended by almost the entire media and by the university administration, despite the fact that his far-right positions are unmistakable and were recently confirmed by a court ruling. Students and workers, however, reject such views with horror and disgust. Last month, the New York Times announced that it had hired Bret Stephens, the former Wall Street Journal columnist. During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Stephens, whose position at the Journal was deputy editor supervising international relations, emerged as one of the most prominent critics within the Republican right of Donald Trump. Stephens declared in several columns in the lead-up to the election that he would be voting for Hillary Clinton. Clinton, for her part, actively courted opponents of Trump from the Republican right and her campaign sent out press releases circulating endorsements of her from these quarters. Stephens opposition to Trump stood in marked contrast to the generally favorable reporting he received from the Wall Street Journal as a whole (although the newspaper declined to make an official endorsement of him). While there is no evidence that Stephens himself was forced out at the newspaper, the Atlantic news magazine published a report in February, based on anonymous sources, that the newspapers op-ed editor Mark Lasswell was quietly phased out for his critical columns on Trump. Stephens first joined the Wall Street Journal in 1998 as an op-ed editor and columnist. After a brief stint away from the newspaper in which he served as editor in chief of the right-wing Jerusalem Post in Israel from 2002 to 2004, Stephens returned to the Journal as a columnist specializing in international affairs, eventually becoming deputy editor in 2009. The New York Times has long functioned as a journalistic mouthpiece for the military/intelligence apparatus. In recent months, it has given voice to the bitter factional struggle by layers within the American state against the Trump administration. The opposition to Trump within the editorial pages of the Times, the organ of what passes for American liberalism, is without any democratic or progressive content. It is centered primarily on questions of foreign policy, particularly demands for a more confrontational stance towards Russia and for direct military intervention in the Syrian civil war, where US-backed Islamist militias have suffered serious strategic reversals. The Democrats and the Times have waged this campaign in a de facto alliance with right-wing, neoconservative factions of the Republican Party, including Stephens himself, who oppose the Trump administration on essentially the same pro-war, anti-Russia basis. This is why the Times made the decision to hire him. The basic theme that runs through Stephens editorials is his endorsement of imperialist violence in defense of the United States position as world hegemon. He was an ardent supporter of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and has called for an escalation of the US-backed civil war in Syria through direct US intervention. A Journal editorial from September 2016, The Only Syrian Solution, called the US-led bombing of the Balkans in the 1990s a model for Syria. In 2014, Stephens authored a book, America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder, which denounced the supposed reluctance of the Obama administration to use military force (in fact, Obama was the first American president to spend two full terms at war) and called for the continuation and expansion of Americas role as world policeman. No great power can treat foreign policy as a spectator sport and hope to remain a great power, Stephens wrote. A world in which the leading liberal-democratic nation does not assume its role as the world policeman will become a world in which dictatorships contend, or unite, to fill the breach. Stephens is also a staunch defender of Israel. In a Times editorial last week reviewing Trumps state visit to the Middle East, Stephens, while generally positive, singled out for criticism Trumps delaying of his highly inflammatory pledge to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israel and Palestinians as their capital. His opinion pieces on Israel also often reveal an anti-Arab bigotry. Last year he published an editorial about an incident at the Olympics in Brazil between an Egyptian and Israeli athlete that spurred outrage for referring to the disease of the Arab mind. None of these stances would appear out of place in the columns written by the Times other opinion writers. The Times op-ed writers, who specialize in providing democratic and human rights justifications for Americas imperialist adventures, have supported every war launched by the United States since the end of the Cold War, and are among the most vocal supporters of direct US intervention in Syria and confrontation with Russia. The Times columnists share close connections to the military-intelligence apparatus. This is exemplified by the newspapers opinion editor James Bennet, whose father is a former diplomat and head of USAID, the CIA front group implicated in regime-change operations worldwide, and whose brother is the senior senator from Colorado. In recent months, Times editorial pages have played host to numerous columns appealing to the American military and the cabal of ex-generals and corporate executives in Trumps cabinet to intervene against Trump and, if necessary, remove him from power. Earlier this month, columnist Nicholas Kristof penned an op-ed approvingly citing plans by former president Richard Nixons secretary of states secret plans to deploy the military to the streets of Washington during the Watergate crisis. In March, Thomas Friedman wrote an open letter to the three generals in Trumps cabinet, the CIA director and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that floated a proposal for a palace coup. The papers news section has long served as a clearinghouse for unsubstantiated and politically motivated claims by anonymous government officials, from its uncritical reporting as fact of Bush administration claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to the present campaign over alleged Russian hacking to influence the US election. While they publish as fact any claim against an official adversary, the newspapers editors routinely withhold or downplay stories about crimes committed by the US government itself. This was immortalized in a statement by former executive editor Bill Keller, who declared in 2008, Freedom of the press includes freedom not to publish, and that is a freedom we exercise with some regularity. The hiring of Stephens is not the first rapprochement with the Republican right by the New York Times. In 2008, the paper hired William Kristol, the founder of the conservative news magazine Weekly Standard and son of the father of American neoconservatism Irving Kristol, as a columnist. The arrangement lasted only one year, however, after backlash from readers and colleagues. Stephens provoked similar outrage with his first column for the New York Times, an attack on the academic consensus behind climate change. Public editor Liz Spayd wrote a defensive response to the public indignation, accusing readers and critics of intolerance and of [rummaging] through his columns for proof that Stephens is a right-wing ideologue. Stephens hiring further clarifies the right-wing character of the newspaper and the liberal Democratic Party milieu for which it speaks. It demonstrates the closeness of the Democrats foreign policy to that of the neocon Republican right, and illustrates the thoroughly right-wing content of their opposition to Trump. Monday evenings Battle for Number 10 televised questioning of Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was an exercise in opinion forming on behalf of Britains ruling elite. The broadcast by Sky News and Channel 4 was stage-managed to the nth degree. May and Corbyn were questioned separately for just 20 minutes by a hand-picked audience. Both were then interviewed, also separately, for just 18 minutes each by BBC journalist Jeremy Paxman. The elaborate pantomime was made necessary because May, like her Tory predecessor David Cameron, refuses to take part in any political debate with her opponents. Sky declared that the studio audience has been selected for balance, with one-third Conservative, one-third Labour and one-third undecided. But the questions fielded to the two contenders were hardly balanced, and Paxman made sure that Corbyn was given a far more hostile grilling than was afforded May. Corbyn took a question from a person who described himself as from a traditional Labour voting family who had salt of the earth parents. But it turned out that he was a small businessman who said he could not vote for Corbyn as he was opposed to his ruthless short-sighted policies of an increase in Corporation Tax to 26 percent, an end to zero-hour contracts, the introduction of a 10 an hour minimum wage. Corbyn was for the most part hauled over the coals on the basis that he was for a retreat from Britains aggressive foreign policy, for being soft on terrorism and a danger to national security. The first pre-selected question from the audience to Corbyn was why, in the light of last Mondays Manchester bombing, was he prepared to soften our foreign policy in the Middle East. The same questioner followed up by asking, Are you prepared to look the other way if there is any military intervention that is needed in that area to support the coalition that are fighting Islamic State? Paxman continued the theme with a series of questions portraying him as a closet communist that was standing on a manifesto he did not believe in. Among the questions put to Corbyn by Paxman was how he could be trusted on the issue of national security and funding the intelligence agencies when his Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell had once called for the disbanding of MI5. He launched a deranged attack demanding to know if Corbyn would authorise a drone strike against an individual, with 20 minutes notice, on becoming prime minister. Corbyn was chastised for replying, I would want to know the circumstances. Paxmans treatment of May was deferential in comparison. Most striking was the fact that whereas Corbyn was accused of being a friend of terror groups such as the Irish Republican Army in the 1980s and of Hamas, not a single question was put by Paxman relating to Mays responsibility for last weeks suicide bombing in Manchester. May was the Home Secretary for six years, during which Salman Abedis family worked with Britains security services in their 2011 regime change operation to depose Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Within hours of Abedi slaughtering 22 people at Manchester Arena, it was revealed that he was well known to British intelligence and had been allowed to travel freely to Libya and Syria to receive weapons training. The only reference to the Manchester bombing put to May was from a serving police officer in the audience, who said the event showed the need for more police on the streets and asked May to explain how many more she would recruit and how this would be funded. May, the favoured candidate of the ruling elite and the military, is being built up after suffering significant damageabove all due to her manifesto pledge to force pensioners to sell their homes to pay for elderly care. Pre-election polls had found the Tories up to 25 points ahead. By the day of the bombing, this had declined to between 15 percent and a single-digit lead. However, to the extent that Paxman was able to score hits on Corbyn, it was by pointing out how often he had repudiated positions he once professed to be issues of principle. Paxman did so to embarrass Corbyn, but Corbyns answers, evasive as they often were, underscored just how far he has travelled in his capitulation to his partys right-wing since becoming leader. Paxman was able to point out, In 2013 you said the banks should be in public ownership. That is not in the manifesto? Corbyn stressed that what he and McDonnell may have said in the past is well and truly behind them. Corbyn was asked by host Faisal Islam whether on becoming prime minister he would write those letters of last resort to the Trident (nuclear weapons) submarine commanders with instructions on what they should do in the event of Britain being subject to a nuclear strike. He responded, I will write the appropriate letter to our commanders who are obviously very responsible, very loyal, naval officers. In reply to the audience members question accusing him of softening UK foreign policy, he took pains to stress that his only aim was to have a foreign policy that doesnt leave large areas without any effective governmentsuch as in Libya at the present timewhich can become a breeding ground for enormous danger for all of us, after which he pledged to provide 10,000 more police on our streets. He said Labour, post-Brexit, would manage immigration and it would probably be no higher than at present and would likely be reduced, as Labour would employ more British workers. In a cringe-worthy moment, Corbyn responded to a question on why Labours manifesto did not call for the abolition of the monarchy. Corbyn replied candidly, Look, theres nothing in there as were not going to do it... Its not on anybodys agenda, its certainly not on my agenda and, do you know what, I had a very nice chat with the queen. Despite every capitulation he has made, the ruling elite in their majority is viciously opposed to a Corbyn-led government lest it serves to inflame, in a deeply socially polarised country, anti-war and anti-austerity sentiment. Indeed so nakedly biased have events such as the Battle for Number 10 become that sections of the establishment are concerned that this will only fuel support for Corbyn. The day after the broadcast, the BBCs David Dimbleby spoke out about Corbyns treatment. Dimbleby is to host a similar May/Corbyn event Friday for his show Question Time. In an interview with the Radio Times, Dimbleby said, I dont think anyone could say that Corbyn has had a fair deal at the hands of the press, in a way that the Labour party did when it was more to the centre, but then we generally have a right-wing press. He noted, The interesting thing is that a lot of Labour supporters really like and believe in the messages that Jeremy Corbyn is bringing across. He added of the Labour rights opposition to Corbyn,Its not his MPs in the House of Commons necessarily, but there is a lot of support in the country. As many as 9,000 workers are continuing strike action at the Grasberg copper and gold mine, operated by the Indonesian arm of Freeport McMoran in the province of West Papua. The stoppage was called at the beginning of May, against furloughs imposed by the US-based company in response to a contractual dispute with the Indonesian government. The strike has been extended for another month, with reports that 2,000 strikers have been laid off. The strike reflects mounting social unrest among Indonesian workers, spurred by widening inequality, along with ongoing anger in West Papua over widespread poverty and the corporate exploitation of the regions resources. The trigger for the dispute was the introduction of new mining laws by the Indonesian government of President Joko Widodo in January. The changes meant Freeport could no longer operate the mine on the basis of previous contracts, but would require a special mining permit. The current contract was signed in 1991 and was set to expire in 2021. Freeport was seeking an extension. Under the new permit, the company would have to pay taxes and royalties from which it had been exempt, divest 51 percent of stock in its Indonesian unit to the government, and build a second smelter at the mine. The legislation was a result of intense pressure on the government from sections of the Indonesian business elite, pushing for a turn toward economic nationalist measures, amid a slump in commodity prices, upon which the Indonesian economy is heavily reliant. The Widodo administration has repeatedly granted concessions to foreign exporters. However it is locked in a political conflict with 2014 presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and other figures, who have advocated increased taxes on foreign corporations and greater government intervention in the economy. Grasberg is the worlds second largest copper mine, and among the most profitable. Some $3.1 billion worth of copper and gold was extracted from the mine in 2015 alone. According to critics of the company, it currently pays around $600 million in taxes and royalties per year. Widodos move was also an attempt to head off growing social unrest. Mass discontent found distorted expression in the participation of tens of thousands of people in demonstrations called by right-wing Islamist organisations in the lead-up to last months Jakarta elections for governor, based on a chauvinist campaign against the incumbent, and vague populist appeals. Those who led the demonstrations are opponents of Widodo. There have also been protests across the country calling for Freeport Indonesia to be nationalised. Freeport McMoran responded with unalloyed hostility to the changes, which put a halt to immediate exports of copper concentrate. In February, it served notice it would attempt to force international arbitration if no deal were reached within 120 days. In a signal of the companys clout, US Vice President Mike Pence reportedly raised the dispute in talks with Widodo last month. That followed a government decision to allow a resumption of the mines new copper concentrate exports. The Jakarta Post said at the time there was no legal basis for the move, and the company was receiving red-carpet treatment, again. Carl Icahn, the third-largest shareholder in Freeport internationally, has close ties to the US administration of Donald Trump. In mid-April, the company introduced a furlough policy, effectively laying off 2,000 workers with little notice, for an extended period and cutting back production. The workers faced the prospect of losing benefits, along with accommodation. Around two-thirds of the 30,000 workers at Grasberg are on contracts. The Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers Union (CEMWU) called the strike at the beginning of the month, initiating it with a May Day demonstration. Workers demanded an end to the furlough policy, and the abrogation of their conditions. Freeport responded by declaring that the strikers voluntarily resigned. Over the past two weeks, around 2,000 workers have received letters terminating their employment. The potential for the dispute to provoke explosive struggles was underscored by the police shooting of workers near the mine on April 20. A group of miners had staged a protest outside the Timika district court, in opposition to the prosecution of one of their colleagues on embezzlement charges. Six miners were reportedly injured after police opened fire. The authorities claim they are investigating the incident. Commentators in the Indonesian and international press have voiced fears that the strike could intersect with unrest and discontent among Papuans, who are subjected to discriminatory policies by the Indonesian government. Some 634 of the fired workers are reportedly Papuan. The CEMWU has made clear it is willing to strike a sell-out agreement with the company and the government. The union denounced Freeport management for bypassing the companys Special Arbitration Panel, on which members of the CEMWU sit, when introducing the furloughs. CEMWU leaders said they would have preferred not to have taken strike action. Underscoring its right-wing, pro-business character, the union engaged in backroom discussions with US embassy officials on May 24, and talks with Indonesias Manpower ministry. Freeport mines have been at the centre of major industrial struggles for a number of years. The company began operations in Indonesia in 1967, signing a sweetheart deal with newly-installed military dictator Suharto. In October 2011, workers at the Grasberg mine went on strike for three months over a wages dispute. The company responded by shutting the mine. Police opened fire on protesting strikers, killing at least one worker. Clashes during the dispute resulted in a total of nine deaths. Former President Susilo Yudhoyonos government collaborated closely in the attempts to break the strike. In December 2011, the CEMWU signed an agreement ending the industrial action. The deal provided for a pay increase of just 37 percent over two years. The miners, who were paid as little as $1.50 an hour, were demanding a 300 percent rise. The latest dispute underscores that the union-company agreement did not resolve any of the issues confronting miners. As it did in 2011, the union is seeking to isolate the strikers at Grasberg from the struggles of miners around the world. In March, 1,300 workers at Freeports Cerro Verde mine in Peru went on strike, demanding a greater share of the mines profits, improved healthcare and involvement in the investigation of work-related accidents. In February, workers at BHP-Billitons Escondida mine in Chile, the largest copper mine in the world, took industrial action over wages and conditions. In each instance, the trade unions have sought to prevent the development of an international movement of miners, who operate a strategic sector of the global economy, in opposition to the relentless assault on jobs, wages and conditions prosecuted by the transnational mining behemoths. The centerpiece of the Green Partys campaign for the June 8 general elections is its decision to stand aside for pro-European Union (EU) candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and other parties. The Green Partys role as an instrument of the most pro-EU factions of the British ruling class could not be more exposed. In 39 of 42 seats where local progressive alliance agreements have been reached, the Greens have stood aside for pro-EU candidates deemed most likely to win. However, the Greens gesture has been largely ignored by the parties it has sought to woo. The Liberal Democrats have stood down in just two seats to assist the Greens and Labour in none at all. Caroline Lucas, the partys leader and its only MP, told the Financial Times that attempts to build a pro-EU, anti-Tory alliance have been very disappointing. After contesting a record 573 seats in 2015, the Greens are standing candidates in 457 seats in England and Wales this time around. However, they anticipate winning just two of those at best. The party won over 1 million votes in 2015up by more than 300 percent on their 2010 vote. This was the Greens high-water mark, as the party won support from those opposed to the Tory-lite pro-austerity program advanced by Labour leader Ed Miliband. Much of the Greens support, especially among young people, has since been captured by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Indeed, large chunks of Labours election manifesto recycle policies previously advanced by the Greens, including the abolition of student tuition fees and renationalisation of the railways. The Greens expect their vote to fall sharply. Given that we have stood down in a number of seats because we are the one party that has put narrow tribalism to one side and put the greater good of the country ahead, we dont expect to do as well as 2015, Lucas told the International Business Times last week. During the referendum on British membership of the EU, the Greens called for a remain vote, along with the majority of the British ruling elite. Such is the crisis and division in ruling circles caused by last Junes unexpected leave victory, that the Greens are now effectively throwing themselves on the fire in support of the EU, backing more prominent pro-EU candidates at their own expense. Like the Liberal Democrats, the Greens central election policy is its call for a second referendum to vote on the final terms of the Brexit deal, including an option to stay in the EU. The Greens claim EU membership makes our future more hopeful and secure, concealing the reality of brutal austerity, authoritarianism and war that constitutes Fortress Europe. The class interests promoted by the Greens are shown by Gina Millers bankrolling of Lucas in Brighton. A prominent businesswoman in the City of London who led last years High Court challenge to Brexit, Miller has backed Lucas along with 15 other pro-Remain candidates nationally, including former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. The Greens are a bourgeois party. Founded by former Conservatives as the PEOPLE party in 1973 and subsequently renamed the Ecology Party, the group was based on disaffected sections of the privileged middle class who promoted half-baked Malthusian policies, blaming technology, overpopulation and consumerism for societys ills. Adopting its current party name in 1985, it attracted pseudo-lefts, pacifists, environmentalists and former Stalinists cut adrift by the collapse of the old national-reformist parties. Lucas was formerly an activist with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and an Oxfam researcher. Co-leader Jonathan Bartley was at one time a researcher for Conservative Prime Minister John Major and is the founder of religious think tank Ekklesia, which promotes non-conformist styles of Christianity. In its modern guise, the party has emphasised green capitalism and supposedly environmentally friendly lifestyles, along with mild social reformist demands. The Greens current election manifesto, The Green Guarantee, has a token character, running to a mere 3,000 words. It has clearly been written with a coalition with the Labour Party in mind. Labour proposes an economy that works for all, while the Greens suggest an economy that works for everyone. Where Labour claims, the creation of wealth is a collective endeavour between workers, entrepreneurs, investors and government, the Greens promote a similar defence of the profit system by insisting, the economy is all of us: our work, our creativity, what we buy, how we spend our time. Like Labour, the Greens propose more public sector jobs and some minimal restrictions on the most egregious excesses of the filthy rich, including a crackdown on tax dodging and a wealth tax on the top 1 percent of earners. The document contains promises the Greens will never keep: to bring utilities such as the water supply into public ownership, to redress pensions and benefits injustice, support renters and build more houses. The most detailed proposals are aimed at the Green Partys social base in the upper middle class. For example, the party proposes quotas for women in public and private sector company boards, peoples banks to invest in local businesses and co-operatives, community investment, as well as a range of limited environmental controls. The manifesto calls for proportional representation for parliamentary elections along with job sharing for MPs. Their attitude to the working class is markedly different. An indicator of what the Greens deem adequate is their minimum wage proposal of 10 an hour, the same as that of Labour25 percent above the current rock-bottom 7.50 but still far below the level needed to support a family. The Greens also float a Basic Income scheme for all, with no indication of at what level this would be pitched. The section A Safer World deals with British imperialisms role in international affairs. Avoiding any assessment of the escalating global war danger, the Greens suggest a confident Britain should use its influence wisely to build peace and protect the environment and tackle terrorism. Trident will be cancelled and an ethical foreign policy based on conflict resolution implemented. There is no mention of the partys stated policy of taking the UK out of NATO in the long term. All this means is that the Greens seek a foreign policy that is better camouflaged by humanitarian and environmental cover stories. This is in line with the Greens stated demand to uphold the EU power bloc in alliance with the Trident-supporting and warmongering Labour Party. Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, Greens defence spokesperson and former Greenham Common peace camper Dr. Rebecca Johnson elaborated on the same theme. She called for defence resources to be focused on real threats and realistic security threat assessments and defence diversification for tackling climate, cyber and terrorist threats. Johnson is seeking the ear of a section of the military establishment, who consider Trident wasteful and want the cash spent instead on more conventional arms to be used in current and future wars. She heads a nuclear disarmament think tank, the Acronym Institute, which includes two retired generals on its board. In their close relations with sections of the military and leading bourgeois parties, the Greens in Britain emulate their co-thinkers in Europe. In Germany, the Green Party has played a lead role pushing forward military rearmament. Earlier this year, former Green Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer called for Europeans to grow up and reinforce their geopolitical power and position and resolutely invest in the EU and NATO as a counterweight to the United States. In Ireland, following the 2008 financial crisis, the Green Party pushed through 65 billion of cuts on behalf of the EU-led troika. In Britain, the Scottish Greens support an independent capitalist Scotland, propping up the minority pro-EU Scottish National Party government, a NATO supporter. Amid high tensions with North Korea, the US military yesterday conducted the first successful test interception of a dummy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) high over the Pacific. The exercise is a demonstration to North Korea and also China that the US can launch a nuclear attack and counter any attempt to retaliate. The Pentagon has released few details of the test. The target, launched from the US test range on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, was destroyed by an interceptor missile fired from an underground silo at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A kill vehicle launched by the interceptor destroyed the ICBM target through a direct collision rather than an explosion. Director of the US Missile Defence Agency, Vice Admiral Jim Syring, hailed the successful test as an incredible accomplishment for the GMD [Ground-based Midcourse Defence system] and a critical milestone for this program. Without referring explicitly to North Korea, he added that this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. While the US routinely describes its anti-ballistic missile systems as defensive, the opposite is the case. Nominally directed against North Korea, their real purpose forms part of Pentagon planning for a nuclear war with China or Russia in which a first strike by the US failed to destroy the enemys nuclear arsenal entirely. The anti-missile systems seek to knock out any surviving missiles launched in retaliation. The existing GMD system is not designed to counter a large wave of nuclear missiles. At this stage, it has only 36 interceptors in place32 in Alaska and four in Californiawith plans to increase the total to 44 by the end of the year. The $36 billion GMD system has been plagued by the technical difficulties associated with detecting, tracking and intercepting an ICBM vehicle travelling in space at very high velocities. While the Pentagon declared the anti-missile system ready for combat in 2004, only four of the previous nine intercept tests were unequivocally successful in destroying the target, including the last one in June 2014. The GMD system is just one aspect of the US anti-ballistic missile systems, together with land-based Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) weapons and the navy-based Aegis system, designed to destroy shorter-range targets at lower altitudes. These are part of a highly-integrated network that includes the controversial stationing of THAAD launchers in South Korea and powerful X-band radar installations in Japan. Newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday ordered an investigation into why the countrys defence ministry failed to inform him that the US had added four THAAD launchers to its battery in South Korea. During the May 9 presidential election, Moon postured as a critic of the THAAD installation but stopped short of pledging to remove it. The THAAD system provoked widespread opposition in South Korea. Its installation incorporates the country further into US preparations for war with North Korea or China. Beijing has repeatedly condemned the deployment of the THAAD battery and its associated X-band radar, which allows the US to peer deep inside Chinese territory. In the event of war, the radar system would add crucial minutes to the detection of Chinese missile launches and thus the US militarys ability to counter them. China has already retaliated with economic boycotts of South Korean goods. The failure of the US or South Korean militaries to inform President Moon of the new THAAD deployments underscores the degree to which the country is fully integrated into Washingtons military planning. In the event of a war with North Korea, the Pentagon would automatically assume operational command of the South Korean military, which, including reserves, numbers over three million personnel, backed by sophisticated air, naval, missile and artillery systems. The Pentagons determination to press ahead with the full deployment of the THAAD system in South Korea, alongside the GMD test, is part of the continuing US military build-up for war with North Korea. The US navy announced last week that the USS Nimitz was leaving to join two other nuclear aircraft carriers and their strike groups already engaged in exercises off the Korean Peninsula. North Korea yesterday denounced a joint exercise on Monday during which two American B-1B strategic bombers, accompanied by South Korean fighters, flew close to the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas. While Pyongyang described it as a nuclear bomb dropping drill, the B-1B bombers are said to be configured currently for carrying massive loads of conventional bombs. The exercise was apparently in response to the latest North Korea short-range missile test on Monday, which the US and its allies condemned. While constantly inflating the so-called threat posed by North Koreas tiny nuclear arsenal, the US and international media are uncritical of the ongoing modernisation and testing of American nuclear weapons systems, such as yesterdays GMD test and the test firing of a Minuteman III ICBM over the Pacific earlier this month. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain very high as the Trump administration applies pressure on China to force its ally North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Trump officials have warned time is short and, if China fails, the US will deal with North Korea, by implication through military means. Speaking on PBS yesterday, James Clapper, director of national intelligence under the Obama administration, offered a bleak assessment of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Asked if there was a realistic chance that North Korea would end its nuclear programs, he said: I think its unlikely, and I certainly think its not realistic for us to expect the North Koreans to give up their nuclear weapons. That is their ticket to survival. Asked what he thought was the best approach, Clapper declared: Well, I think dialogue. And I know theres a long history here of dialogue which hasnt turned out so well with the North Koreans But I think thats a far better option than a military confrontation, which I think would be a disaster. Yet it is precisely dialogue that the Trump administration has ruled out, insisting that North Korea take steps to denuclearise before talks can even begin. With no sign that China has been able to bring North Korea to heel, the US is recklessly embarking on a confrontational course that could trigger a disastrous war. The secretary of the school said that reading out from newspapers is held from time to time as part of the curriculum. By Romita Datta, Indrajit Kundu: In what could be a veiled reference to prime minister Narendra Modi's "Mann Ki Baat" radio broadcast, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday pulled up a private school in Kolkata for allegedly making students listen to the PM's speech. "Why do you make students listen to other leaders speech in classes?," Banerjee asked Shri Shikshayatan school authorities, her alma-mater during a meeting with private educational institutions in Kolkata. advertisement "Children are being made to listen to speeches by political leaders on LED screens. Young students of class five, six, ten are being made to listen to all this. We have come to know of it. This is very bad. This is not right. I would be unhappy even if my speeches were played in class," the chief minister told the school's representative at the meeting. The authorities denied knowledge of such a happening. The secretary of the school said that reading out from newspapers is held from time to time as part of the curriculum as it helps students to be informative about the world. The principal of the school is alleged to have some links with the RSS. At a meeting with the principals of various private schools today, Mamata Banerjee made the authorities commit that they will not take donation. She asked them to publish the fee structure in advance on the website so that there is transparency in the whole process. "I have heard that schools often keep revising the tuition fee structure in the name of distributing shoes, uniform and other infrastructure development. Make sure to publish everything including the break up," she added. She asked the schools to expand and have more units. She was livid when Adamas University principal said that the fee structure is deliberately on a higher end because he has to get faculty from Bangalore and Pune. The chief minister, who keeps boasting of the talent pool in the state, refused to believe that there aren't good teachers in Bengal. Ironically, while Banerjee raised the red flag alleging political influence on educational institutions, the Bengal government has recently included an elaborate chapter on her Singur agitation in state history textbooks. The new textbook prepared by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education for class eight students not just mentions the role of Mamata Banerjee in the "historic" agitation but also names more than a dozen Trinamool Congress leaders like Partha Chatterjee, Mukul Roy, Purnendu Basu, Ashima Patra, Dola Sen, Bratya Basu, Arpita Ghosh, Sovan Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Sovandeb Chatterjee, Subrata Buxi, Rabindranath Bhattacharjee and Becharam Manna among others. Interestingly, when the chief minister came down heavily on private hospitals, many of the doctors serving those hospitals went on leave and were scared to treat patients. The pathological tests were not deliberately avoided so that no questions could be raised. --- ENDS --- advertisement Manuel Noriega, the former military strongman of Panama and longtime asset of the US Central Intelligence Agency, died Monday night following brain surgery in a Panamanian hospital. He had ruled Panama as a de facto head of state following the suspicious death of the countrys former military ruler, Gen. Omar Torrijos, who had come to power in a 1968 coup. Torrijos had initiated social assistance programs for the poor and pressed for the US to cede sovereignty over the Panama Canal to Panama, which was negotiated with the Carter administration in a 1977 treaty that was bitterly opposed by the Republican Party. The cause of Torrijoss death was widely believed to have been a bomb supplied by the CIA and planted with the collaboration of Noriega. Noriega was toppled in a December 1989 US invasion that Washington dubbed Operation Just Cause. He was to spend the last 27 years of his life in prison, first in the US, then in France and finally in Panama itself, on charges relating to drug trafficking, racketeering and repression. The death of the former Panamanian ruler received scant attention in the US corporate media. With the passage of nearly three decades, the issues surrounding Washingtons intervention to overthrow him have faded in public memory. The events surrounding Operation Just Cause, however, deserve to be reviewed, as they in many ways set a pattern that would be repeated in a series of steadily escalating US wars and military interventions around the globe. At the time, the invasion of Panama was by far the largest operation launched by the US military since the end of the Vietnam War. Some 26,000 US troops participated in the invasion. More than half of them were already in place in the US-occupied Panama Canal Zone, and they outnumbered the entire Panamanian military by five to one. Thousands of Panamanian civilians were killed or wounded in this early incarnation of shock and awe, which was unleashed in large measure against the shantytown district of El Chorrillo, which surrounded the Panamanian military headquarters. The administration of President George H.W. Bush claimed that the invasion was launched to protect American lives after a US soldier was killed when the car in which he was riding sped through a Panamanian military roadblock without stopping. In reality, this incident was merely the pretext Washington sought for an operation it had been planning for months. Two days after the onset of the Panama invasion, the Political Committee of the Workers League, the predecessor organization of the Socialist Equality Party in the US, issued a statement denouncing the US intervention as an act of imperialist aggression. The statement noted, The attack on Panama shows the increasing resort of US imperialism to military force. It continued: Far from a sign of strength, the resort to military force is an expression of the weakness and crisis of American capitalism. With its financial system in a shambles, facing escalating trade and budget deficits, and hammered by the competition of more efficient imperialist rivals, especially Japan and West Germany, US imperialism is seeking to assert by force what it no longer has the economic resources to sustainits domination of the nations of Latin America. Noting the increasing influence of European and Japanese investment in a region Washington had long regarded as its own backyard, the statement continued: The US is thus flexing its muscles not merely to chase out Noriega, but to send a warning to its principal economic rivals in Europe and Asia that while in decline economically, the United States still possesses decisive military advantages. The combination of economic weakness and military power is an explosive mixture. But in the long run, the first factor is far more decisive, and the increasing recklessness in the use of American military power means that inevitably, US imperialism is headed for a monumental debacle. The Panama invasion came barely one month after the fall of the Berlin Wall and little more than a year before the first Gulf War, in which US imperialism subjected Iraq to the most intensive bombardment in military history. Washington was determined to seize upon the opportunities opened up by the Moscow Stalinist bureaucracys drive to restore capitalism to assert US global dominance by means of military aggression. The US ruling establishment was also intent on kicking the Vietnam syndrome, as George W. Bush later put it, erasing the legacy of US imperialist defeat under conditions of mass opposition and social struggles at home. Military intervention in Panama, and the inevitable victory of US forces, was meant to reverse a series of international debacles, from the bloody US-backed wars in Central America to the expulsion of US Marines from Lebanon. It also served to distract from domestic economic and social crises, including 1987s Black Monday, the largest one-day market crash in history. The one-sided war in Panama was, to a large degree, launched as a dress rehearsal for US imperialisms first major war in the oil-rich Middle East. It provided the Pentagon with the means of testing out its weapons and command-and-control systems, as well as bloodying its troops, even if only in limited combat. The attack on Panama created a template for the various US military interventions that were to follow in the way it was sold to the American public, based on the demonization of Noriega as the incarnation of evil. There is no doubt that the Panamanian general headed up a corrupt and repressive regime. But the crimes of Noriega paled beside those of the other regimes in Central America that Washington backed with military aid and advisors. The victims of the death squad dictatorships in Guatemala and El Salvador numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Moreover, Noriegas alleged crimes were carried out in close collaboration with the CIA. As William Casey, the CIA director who died two years before the intervention, said of the Panamanian ruler, Hes my boy. Noriega had collaborated with US intelligence since his high school years, informing on fellow students. He steadily advanced to become the highest paid CIA asset in Latin America, reportedly given $200,000 a year. He used his perch atop Panamanian military intelligence and then as the countrys strongman to aid US imperialisms counterrevolutionary wars in Central America and provide a conduit to the Castro government in Cuba, as well as to the powerful drug cartels in Colombia. When he was flown back to the US and tried on drug trafficking and racketeering charges in Miami, Noriega attempted to introduce in his defense documents proving that he had carried out his alleged crimes in close collaboration with the CIA. The court sided with the governments argument that allowing such documents into evidence would compromise US national security and confuse the jury. In fact, the US intelligence agencies and the White House utilized Noriegas drug connections in the so-called Iran-Contra affair, with the White House and the CIA overseeing the smuggling of Colombian cocaine to provide a covert means of financing and arming the contra mercenaries attacking Nicaragua. For then-president George H.W. Bush to vilify Noriega as a drug lord and murderer was the height of hypocrisy. As CIA director in the 1970s, he had flown to Panama to meet with Noriega and was ultimately responsible for approving his paychecks. The propaganda campaign waged against Noriega would be replicated in one war after another, from the demonization of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid, to the labeling of Serbias Slobodan Milosevic and Iraqs Saddam Hussein as modern-day Hitlers, to the vilification of Libyas Muammar Gaddafi and Syrias Bashar al-Assad as war criminals. Like Noriega, all of them had previously been courted by and collaborated with Washington. Panama also set a pattern in terms of the complete absence of any democratic debate over the question of war or any critical coverage by the corporate-controlled media. There was no prior notification to the American people before US troops were sent in, and no debate in Congress, much less a vote to declare war. US reporters tipped off about the impending invasion kept it to themselves, remaining loyally embedded with the Pentagon throughout the operation. Finally, the record of the war on Panama gives the lie to the justification that Washington has given for the acts of military aggression it has carried out for the past 16 years: the so-called war on terror. All of the tactics and methods employed by American militarism were already present in 1989, well before any act attributed to Islamist terrorists. Utilized then to subjugate an oppressed Central American semi-colony, they have been repeated over and over again in the drive by US imperialism to assert its global hegemony by means of war and aggression. The internecine political warfare that has dominated Washington for months intensified Tuesday with the report that the House and Senate intelligence committees have asked President Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to provide information and testimony about any contacts he had with Russian officials. The request letters sent to Cohen, whose association with Trump predates the 2016 election campaign, were the same as those sent to former Trump aides Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Roger Stone. Flynn refused last week to comply with a subpoena issued by the Senate committee and rejected a request for information from the House. Cohen told ABC News that he had likewise refused to cooperate with the investigations into alleged Russian interference in the election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign. The Senate committee responded by voting to give its leaders, Republican Chairman Richard Burr and ranking Democrat Mark Warner, the power to issue subpoenas whenever they think it necessary. On Tuesday, Flynn informed the committee that he was willing to release some but not all of the information it requested. Cohen said in an email, I declined the invitation to participate as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered. He called the investigation a rush to judgment and denounced the request for information as a total fishing expedition. He added, They have yet to produce one single piece of credible evidence that would corroborate the Russia narrative. The refusal of Cohen and Flynn to comply with the committees requests sets up a potential legal confrontation that could include congressional contempt citations, court rulings and the charge of obstruction of justice on the part of Trump, an impeachable offense. The inclusion of Cohen in the congressional investigations, which parallel an FBI probe headed by former FBI director and recently appointed special counsel Robert Mueller, expands the involvement of figures in Trumps direct political and personal periphery. Last week the focus of the campaign against Trumps supposed softness toward Russia shifted to Jared Kushner, his closest White House adviser and son-in-law. The Democratic Party and much of the media are portraying meetings Kushner held with Russian officials in December, during the transition period, as illegitimate if not treasonous. Reports that Kushner proposed to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak the establishment of a backchannel line of communication to discuss cooperation in regard to the Syrian war and other questions are being cited as evidence of an extraordinary and sinister breach of diplomatic and political norms. The backchannel was never established. The Democratic National Committee last week demanded that Trump immediately fire Kushner and called for a criminal investigation. It demanded to know whether the request for a secret communications channel with Moscow had been authorized by Trump. The furor over this question is a complete red herring. There is nothing extraordinary about such confidential channels being set up with foreign governments, not only by US administrations, but also by incoming presidents and even by presidential campaigns prior to elections. The real source of the conflict within the ruling class is the fact that the Trump administration favors a policy of improved relations with Russia to focus US imperialist aggression on China. This, however, cuts across the ferociously anti-Russian policy adopted by the Obama administration and supported by large sections of the intelligence and foreign policy establishment. The Democratic Party has completely aligned itself with the most rabidly anti-Russian factions of the state and chosen to make this question of imperialist policy the basis of its opposition to Trump. It is saying next to nothing about Trumps savage attacks on democratic rights and plans to destroy social programs upon which tens of millions of working people rely for health care, nutrition, housing assistance and other basic needs, or his frontal assault on public education. On these issues, as well as further windfalls for the rich, there is little that separates the two big-business parties. The concocted character of the scandal over back channels with Russia is of a piece with the fabricated nature of the entire anti-Russian narrative. No substantive evidence has been provided either by the intelligence agencies, the Democratic Party or the media to back up the claims of Russian hacking and leaking of Democratic Party emails as part of an effort to tip the election from Hillary Clinton to Trump. New media reports containing generally vague and unsubstantiated allegations continue to emerge almost on an hourly basis. One example is a Tuesday report by CNN of intercepted conversations among unnamed Russians, concerning unspecified derogatory information about Trump associates that might be used to put pressure on the Trump government. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has been making the rounds of news programs to stoke up suspicions about Trump administration dealings with Moscow. On Tuesday morning, he told CNNs Chris Cuomo that there was overwhelming evidence of Russian interference in the US election, but when pressed by Cuomo, refused to actually provide any. He suggested that Kushners discussions with Russian officials might violate the time-honored principle of one president at a time. Interviewed later on the PBS NewsHour program, he said there might be a benign explanation for Kushners proposal for a backchannel with Russia, but added, One wonders if there might be something more nefarious. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a Democrat who commanded NATO forces in the 1999 US-led war on Serbia, connected the Trump-Russia investigation to the presidents much criticized performance at last weeks NATO and G7 summits. Interviewed Tuesday morning on CNN, he said, People in Europe are asking why this administration is trying to make Putin happy. In fact, the response of the European powers to the Trump visit was to shift further from the anti-Russia policy of the US, exemplified in Putins visit with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. However, the Democrats are seeking to utilize Trumps European trip, which is seen as disastrous among significant sections of the ruling elite, to add fuel to their own foreign policy conflicts with the Trump administration. There are mounting indications of crisis and disarray within the administration. On Tuesday, the White House announced Mike Dubkes resignation as communications director. This comes amid persistent reports of an imminent shakeup in the White House staff, including the possible firing or demotion of White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Spicer held a press briefing on Tuesday, the first in two weeks, at which he refused to answer questions about the inquiry into Kushner and, in scripted remarks, hailed Trumps foreign tour as a triumph of the administrations America First foreign policy. In response to a question about German Chancellor Angela Merkels sharp rebuke to Trump and call for an independent European policy, he said the relationship between Trump and the German leader was fairly unbelievable and insisted that they got along very well. The author also recommends: New eruption of political warfare in Washington focuses on Jared Kushners meetings with Russians [29 May 2017] Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Spanish capital today to boost bilateral ties. He is the first Indian prime minister to visit the country since 1988. By Press Trust of India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Spanish capital today on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour aimed at boosting bilateral economic engagement with them and inviting more investment for India's transformation. "Landed in Spain, marking the start of a very important visit aimed at improving economic and cultural relations with Spain," Modi tweeted in English and Spanish after landing. advertisement FIRST INDIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT SPAIN Modi's visit to Spain will be first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988. "Hola Espana! Prime Minister Modi arrives in Madrid, first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades, is received by Spanish FM in a special gesture," said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs in a tweet. ON MODI'S AGENDA Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on ways to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. Modi will also call on King Felipe VI of Spain. #WATCH: PM Narendra Modi meets people outside the hotel in Madrid(Spain) pic.twitter.com/JpGpq54AIQ- ANI (@ANI_news) May 30, 2017 "He (Modi) would also have a round-table interaction with leading Spanish business leaders who are keen to invest in India. Prime Ministers visit to Spain will add further strength to the existing warm and friendly India-Spain bilateral ties," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement. From Spain, he will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. Earlier in the day, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the fourth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) during which the two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and the two sides inked 12 agreements/Memorandum of Understandings (MoU). Also read Priyanka Chopra meets PM Modi in Berlin, some Indians find her attire not sanskari enough, posture disrespectful Germany, India made for each other: PM Narendra Modi after meeting Angela Merkel in Berlin --- ENDS --- COLQUITT COUNTY, Ga (WTXL) -- The man accused of shooting five people and setting a house on fire has pleaded not guilty. Jeffrey Peacock was back in court on the morning of Tuesday, May 30. He faces 14 charges including arson, animal cruelty and malice murder. Officials say in May of last year he reported a house fire on Rossman Dairy Road. When officers arrived they found the victims dead. Peacock is accused of shooting them in the head and then setting the house on fire to cover up the crime. Emotions ran high for family and friends of the five victims: Jonathon Edwards, Alicia Norman, Reid Williams, Jones Pidcock, and Jordan Croft. Peacock remained silent as he entered and exited the courtroom. The defense is planning to file a motion to challenge the grand jury. The next hearing, is September 18 and it's expected to last for a few days. QUINCY, Fla. (WTXL) -- Tuesday evening, the Gadsden County School Board approved several decisions regarding the new consolidated high school, which will start in the fall. The board was unanimous in choosing the name "Gadsden County High School" and keeping the "Jaguars" mascot. Superintendent Roger Milton said despite other options on the table, maintaining "Jaguars" was the most "economical" choice -- with minimal financial impact in adjusting uniforms going forward. After some resistance to approving school colors, the board decided to include navy blue, Carolina blue, maroon, black and silver -- in essence combining the school colors of both East and West Gadsden. Board member Audrey Lewis will serve as the school board representative in a committee to determine how the school colors will be used. Milton said all of the colors will not be on a single uniform, but the colors will provide options for different situations. The decision was met with some resistance at the special school board meeting. East Gadsden High School teacher Chavien Lockwood addressed the board, explaining that rebranding the high school should involve a more substantial change. The new principal of Gadsden County High School will be Juliette Jackson, a former principal at West Gadsden High School. Sonya Jackson, the current principal at East Gadsden High School, will transfer to the new West Gadsden Middle School in the same role. In other news, Milton made several more announcements: - A list of proposed school start times will be issued soon. Milton said the times would be staggered to allow enough time for transportation issues for students and bus drivers. Milton promised that no school would start any earlier than before. - Milton indicated a renewed interest in bringing the IB program to Gadsden County High School, hoping to provide a more competitive academic curriculum to students in the county. - According to Milton, the TCC Foundation will be making an announcement on June 8 about a new scholarship program designed specifically for Gadsden County graduating high school seniors. Wednesday marks the official end to the school year, which will also indicate the end of Gretna Elementary School and St. John Elementary School. Both are scheduled to close as part of the district's approved reconfiguration plan. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -- We have new details on the future of the educators who will lose their jobs due to the Imagine School at Evening Rose shutting down. Rhonda Cagle, the Chief Communications Officer for Imagine Charter Schools says the school is working to support the teachers during the transition. Officials say several teachers have applied and been accepted to work at alternate Imagine Schools in Florida. Leon County decided the charter school will be closing due to financial problems. The school will close on Friday, June 30. By Press Trust of India: Madrid, May 31 (PTI) India and Spain should strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism as "both our countries" have faced the security challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Spanish President Mariano Rajoy today. Modi met Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace this morning in the first engagement during his stay in the Spanish capital today. advertisement External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a "fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship". Modi called for boosting bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as "both our countries have faced the security challenge." Spain, the summer holiday destination of Europe, in a recent government report said that the Islamic State group "has been publishing in Spanish, which means an increase in the risk of its influence on radicals living in our country". In "todays global context", Modi said, the focus of his discussion in Spain will be on the international developments. The prime minister praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoys leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." He said railways, smart cities and infrastructure sectors were the priority areas for India and Spain has "enough skills and mastery" to contribute to Indias requirements. Modi said he is confident that his visit to Spain - the first by an Indian prime minister since 1988 - will give a new momentum to bilateral ties. Later today, Modi will call on King Felipe VI of Spain and would also have a round-table interaction with Spanish business leaders to attract investment into the country. PTI ABH AKJ ABH --- ENDS --- Vili Fualaau, 33, filed for legal separation from Mary Kay Letourneau, 55, earlier this month, according to court documents. The couple have been married since 2005. If you are sending a Letter To the Editor, please be sure to follow these rules: Letters have a firm 200-word limit and will be edited for grammar, clarity and accuracy. The person who signs the letter must be the author. Anonymous letters will not be considered. Letters must address the editor, not a third party. We will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poetry, open letters, letters espousing religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Yakima Herald-Republic cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month. Being around the youth of any country is often a window into where that culture is headed. My time in Israel has given me the opportunity to be around both Arab and Jewish youth, going to high schools in a variety of communities that reflect the socio-economic, cultural and ethnic diversity of this small country. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter I have been coming here since 1991 and observed the divisions amongst peoples in Israel grow, with the gaps filled by more distrust and prejudice, but being with high school kids revealed an almost separate universe, where none of those feelings were shown. These youth are the bright spots, while the politicians continue to cast clouds over a seemingly intractable political solution. I accepted the invitation to return to Israel to conduct these workshops with a bit of anticipation and an open mind. I normally come to this land to follow stories of a geopolitical nature, serious, tough and often depressing. It was with pleasure I hoped to experience a different aspect. Im also much more interested now in finding the areas of hope and positivity, not the continued dirge of desperation and violence. Photo workshop in Jisser A-Zarka (Photo: Naama Kleiman) For me photography is engagement. With the world, people, issues, events, life itself. Being a photojournalist serves my desires to tell stories, reveal issues, make the world a slightly better place. By changing one person's mind, my work is a success. Illuminating, whether by casting light on an issue unknown, or by shedding new light on something we think we know, this is my challenge. From an early age I wanted to tell stories. I also grew up during a politicized time in America, where culture, politics, social action and concern melded into one. My work has become a personal exploration and expression of those dynamics. Living the life of a photojournalist has also brought me into contact with places, peoples, cultures and ideas that have enriched my life. My photographs serve as a testament to this way of living, by a humble individual who cares about our world and its people, and who is passionately curious and carries an open heart and open mind into the void of life. The language of photography is more powerful and pervasive today then at any time in human history. With social media we can now reach people across the globe to share both personal and profession stories through photography. The opportunity to spend time with Israeli high school students from a variety of backgrounds was a chance to share some of my knowledge and experience, but also to learn from them. My first stop was in Jisser A-Zarka, a Muslim conservative community, the poorest Arab town in all of Israel and the last Arab village along the Mediterranean coast. In some ways its a place out of time, cut off physically from the rest of the country and hemmed in so unable to grow. The kids there were fantastic, with beautiful faces that reflected the different hues of Arab identity. Many of the girls wore the hijab but their spirit and enthusiasm was infectious. The boys were mainly well behaved and overall I sensed a desire to learn and connect. When I showed work from other parts of the world, they were bursting with questions and curiosity. Photo workshop in Jisser A-Zarka (Photo: Naama Kleiman) When one of my assistants, an Israeli college photo student, arrived late to our workshop in Jisser A-Zarka, she was upset. Apparently the taxi driver did not want to drive into the town to drop her off. He was concerned about driving into this Arab town and as she said, hes a racist. Then, this liberal and open-minded looking young woman said, so am I in a way. This anecdote represents my sense of how things have changed in Israel. 20 or 30 years ago, a young, liberal minded woman would have not felt nor believed such thoughts. Its a reflection of the hardening on both sides, from decades of conflict, occupation and war. In the beautiful, ancient seaside city of Acre, my workshop took place at the American Cornera cultural center supported by the Embassy and located in the beautiful Old City of Acre. There I engaged with mostly Muslim and some Christian Arab youth that represented another socio-economic class. They were all dressed in designer jeans, nice clothes, the boys had stylish haircuts and the girls were modern and reminded me of young women I would meet in my own town in New Jersey. At first, when I showed them work they seemed bored and utterly uninterested in other parts of the world, or for that matter photography. But once we went out to photograph around their town and then returned to review their work, there was this blossoming of spirit and opening of attitude. It was wonderful to see this transformation. I also started to see beyond what I took as their jaded attitudes and eyes, to see their innocence and warmth. Its also fascinating to observe in yourself how first impressions can be so utterly wrong, and when you take some time with people, especially youth, to listen and give them attention, their minds and spirits can open up in the bright and inspiring ways. The next day I visited a Kiryat Gat school, a Jewish technical and science high school in what would be considered a middle-to-lower-class community in southern Israel. The kids were very engaged, albeit more self conscious and even pushy in their desire to look good and perform well. The boys and girls were from diverse backgrounds and origins, including Russian speakers, Ethiopian, Arab, secular and religious traditions. At first they appeared disinterested and jaded, but by the end of our session they were bubbling with questions, excited about the work they had created and reflecting the warmth and good nature of bright youth. Photo workshop in Kiryat Gat (Photo: Naama Kleiman) In Kfar Saba, I worked with only Jewish girls, members of the Young Womens Parliament, a youth leadership program. These girls were confident and smart, open to learning and eager to photograph. There was no spoilt or entitled behavior, which was refreshing to see. As we drove to this town, the conversation in the car turned to the situation in Israel and Palestine, and what was decided on was that its complicated. Yes it is complicated, and given the trend of the past 10-15 years, the situation is growing every more surreal in my mind. We were there for an annual cultural holiday, with kids dancing to Elvis Presley songs, a jazz band playing in one area, classical music in another. Clowns, Philippine caregivers with their elderly charges, beautiful families, people of all ages out enjoying their community with the gentle, cool breezes of spring creating a dusk of peace and tranquility. This idyllic, modern community is maybe 7 miles from the West Bank, yet a million miles away in terms of the socio-economic conditions and quality of life; besides the fact its not under military occupation. These alternate realities continue to rob me from completely appreciating the excellence of what Israel has achieved in a place like this. Rahat is a conservative Muslim community in the southern district of Israels Negev Desert. Rahat is a predominantly Bedouin city with a population of 62,000, which makes it the largest Bedouin settlement in the world, and the only one in Israel to have city status. Photo workshop in Rahat (Photo: Naama Kleiman) Once again the students were mainly female and full of enthusiasm and unbridled energy, but the cultural differences in this town were immediately drawn into sharp relief once we headed out to make pictures. The restrictions on the girls made it hard to photograph very much. We stumbled upon a bakery, with young men working, but once the girls started to photograph, the men got upset and refused to allow girls to photograph them. Once we intervened, things smoothed out, but at every turn it was clear that this was not normal for women to go around their community taking pictures. The youth Ive met on this trip are full of life and ambition and a clear desire to learn and cooperate with one another. If we can change only a few minds and bring people closer by using photography and visual storytelling, then this is success. Efforts like this by the International Photography Festival based in Tel Aviv, Israel should be commended for their efforts to staunch the cynicism and fear through the language of photography. Ed Kashi is a photojournalist, filmmaker, speaker, and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times. US Ambassador Nikki Haley will travel to Geneva next week to address the UN Human Rights Council, whose funding is under threat by the Trump administration, and then fly to Israel to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The US Mission to the United Nations said Tuesday that Haley's address to the Human Rights Council on June 6 will be the first by a US ambassador. It will be followed by a speech at the Graduate Institute Geneva laying out the US position on future involvement with the council that will address its benefits and failings. US envoy Nikki Haley (Photo: MCT) Haley has also complained about anti-Israel bias at the Human Rights Council and said in March that she planned to visit Geneva to talk to members about what the US thinks an effective council should look like. Speaking with Tuesday, she said, "We'll be talking with the Human Rights Council about what we think they do well, what we think is not productive, and if there is some reform that could happen out of that." Haley said in March that If Washington sees changes it likes, it will remain a member and if not "we'll put out." While in Geneva, the mission said, Haley will also participate in an event highlighting Venezuela's human rights crisis. The mission said Haley's visit to Israel on June 7-9 will also include visits to UN operations in the region. Haley said she will also be following up in Israel on her visit to the Human Rights Council. In 2016, the number of Palestinians killed in security incidents has decreased though the number of Palestinians whose homes and shops were demolished by the Israeli authorities has increased, according to the annual report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territory (OCHA). Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to the report, in 2016, the number of Palestinians inside and outside the Green Line killed by conflict-related violence declined by 37% compared to the same figures in 2015. At the same time there was a 48% drop in the number of Israeli fatalities in incidents with Palestinians, consistent with the gradual decline in the security escalation that began a year earlier. (Photo: Ohad Zwingenberg) However, the report also noted that the number of Palestinians in the West Bank who lost their homes in 2016 due to the demolition of houses and structures by the Israeli authorities was the largest in comparison to all the years in which the UN has been documenting the demolitions (since 2009). The report also included 29 houses that the security forces sealed as punishment for the families of terrorists who carried out attacks against Israelis. The report stated that thousands of Palestinians living in Area C in the West Bank and east Jerusalem are facing the risk of being uprooted due to Israeli policy. In the Gaza Strip, in 2016, some 9,000 families remained 'homeless' as a result of Operation Protective Edge. (Photo: Ohad Zwingenberg) The report also referred to the restrictions on the movement of people from the Gaza Strip, including access to basic and humanitarian services, but also noted that the volume of goods exported from the Gaza Strip has significantly increased. The report also accused Egypt of increasing isolation on the Gaza Strip as a result of the ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing. It also said that Israel tightened restrictions on the entry and exit of aid workers from the Gaza Strip. 31% of the requests submitted by these parties were refused. This may be related to cases in which the Shin Bet arrested activists of such organizations who assisted Hamas and its military wing, while exploiting their role and status. "The crisis in the Palestinian territory stems mainly from the lack of protection of Palestinian civiliansfrom violence, loss of shelter, restrictions on access to services and livelihoods and other violations of their rights," said David Carden, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "This crisis affects the weakest and most vulnerable, especially children. Trends may vary from one year to another, but what remains constant is the widespread lack of protection and exhaustion of law for violations of international law." The Lebanese army commander, Joseph Aoun, said that "an Israeli war against Lebanon will not take place and is highly unlikely, unless there is some error in calculations." This was reported in Asharq Al-awsat, according to sources close to Aoun. According to the report, he added that the information coming from outside on the issue is very reassuring and stresses that "Lebanon is immune to an internal security shock and protected from any external war that Israel may launch against it." It was also reported that Aoun said that during his visit to the United States after taking office, he felt "great interest from American officials in the security of Lebanon, its stability and its immunity from any internal danger, infiltration from the border with Syria or confrontation with Israel." A powerful bomb in a sewage tanker exploded in the center of Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people and wounding around 350, sending clouds of black smoke into the sky above the presidential palace and foreign embassies, officials said. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for Kabul police, said several people were killed and wounded in the blast near the fortified entrance to the German embassy. Kabul terrorist attack (: ) X "It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is," Mujahid said. "There are also injured people in the German embassy but they are mostly lightly injured," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in Berlin. "Among the fatalities are most likely Afghan security personnel who were employed at the German embassy." French embassy in Kabul has been damaged in the attack, but there were no signs yet of any French victims, according to French Minister Marielle De Sarnez. Turkish embassy building damaged as well, personnel unharmed. Japan's Foreign Ministry said two of its embassy employees, both Japanese nationals, were slightly injured in the bombing. The explosion shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of meters (yards) away. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. A spokesman for Taliban insurgents said he was gathering information. Violence around Afghanistan has been rising throughout the year, as the Taliban push to defeat the US-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster in a Washington-backed invasion. Since most international troops withdrew at the end of 2014, the Taliban have gained ground and now control or contest about 40 percent of the country, according to US estimates, though President Ashraf Ghani's government holds all provincial centers. US President Donald Trump is due to decide soon on a recommendation to send 3,000 to 5,000 more troops to bolster the small NATO training force and US counter-terrorism mission now totaling just over 10,000. The commander of US forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, told a congressional hearing earlier this year that he needed several thousand more troops to help Afghan forces break a "stalemate" with the Taliban. Two of the businessmen questioned on Monday in the Aryeh Deri affair are Mikhael Mirilashvili and his son Yitzhak (Viatcheslav), the controlling shareholder of Channel 20. Among the suspicions examined are large sums of money being transferred to the association of Minister Deri's wife, Yaffa. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Mikhael Mirilashvili was born in 1960 in Kulashi, Georgia. He immigrated to Israel in 1995 and has lived intermittently in Herzliya and St. Petersburg. Mirilashvili was certified as a pediatrician in the Soviet Union, but after receiving his license, which occurred at the same time as the fall of the Communist regime, he switched to business. Mirilashvili and son with Deri (Photo: Yaacov Cohen, Kol Hazman Website) Mirilashvili has dealt extensively in real estate and hi-tech, including development centers, social networking and VKontakte (VK), one of the largest social media networks in the world. In addition, he is involved in the gas, diamonds, petrochemicals industries, casinos and shopping malls. He is also considered a major contributor to Jewish communities in the CIS and serves as president of Maccabi Russia, President of the Center for Torah and Chesed for immigrants from Georgia and Vice President of the Jewish Congress of Russia and the Commonwealth of Nations. Mirilashvili's father was kidnapped on a highway in 2000 while driving his Lexus car by a group posing as traffic police. The kidnappers apparently did not know who they kidnapped, and did not notice the logo of the family casino company on the license plate. Two days later, the father, Moshe Mikhael, was safely returned. Two weeks later, the bodies of two of those responsible for the kidnapping were found dead, along with their girlfriends and driver. Russian authorities arrested Mikhael Mirilashvili and accused him of involvement in the kidnapping. In 2003, he was sent to eight years in prison. Mirilashvili constantly claimed that the central testimony was motivated by revenge and six years after his arrest he was released from Russian prison. In 2013, Mirilashvili's fortune was estimated at over $2 billion. (Photo: Yaacov Cohen, Kol Hazman website) His son, Yitzhak Mirilashvili, 33, is already rapidly approaching the same net worth. Last year, Mirilashvili was ranked 85th in the Forbes list of richest Russians and his fortune was estimated at $950 million. Mirilashvili Jr., the controlling shareholder of Channel 20, made most of his fortune from the social network VK and is sometimes referred to as the Russian Mark Zuckerberg. Mirilashvili, who is also head of real estate company Rothstein, made headlines in 2013 when he sold his stake in VK shares for $1.12 billion, which made him one of the wealthiest Russian Jews at the age of 28. Others questioned in the Deri affair is Moshe Haba, 66, a well-to-do businessman, former deputy head of the Finance Ministry's budget department, who served in senior public positions, including as a member of Bezeq's board of directors and chairman, chairman of Pelephone and chairman of Bezeq International. He is affiliated with the ultra-Orthodox party Shas and was a member of the Gronau Committee, which examined the conditions of competition in the communications market. In the last few years, he has been investing in real estate, and acquired, among other things, five percent of the Jerusalem Economic Real Estate Company and the old post office building in Jerusalem. Another suspect, Erez Malul, a young Jerusalem lawyer affiliated with Shas, is close to the Shas spiritual leader, Rabbi David Yosef (son of the late spiritual leader of the movement, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef). After the last elections, he began working in the Ministry of Religious Servicesfirst as the Minister's Advisor on Legislative Affairs and today, as the CEO's chief of staff. On Monday, the names of two other suspects were released: Jerusalem City Councilman Moshe Lion, who ran for mayor, and Ariel Mishal, director general of the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee. After Deri and his wife were questioned on Monday for 11 hours at the offices of the National Fraud Investigation Unit in Lod, the police published the charges of money laundering, fraud and breach of trust, tax evasions and false reports about income and assets. Russians warships in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles at the Islamic State group's positions in Syria, the Russian defense ministry said on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Russian warships attacking ISIS positions in Syria (: ) X The ministry said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at ISIS targets in the area of the ancient city of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched. Russian cruise missiles (Photo: AP) Russia, a staunch Damascus ally, has been providing air cover to Syrian President Bashar Assad's offensive on the ISIS since 2015. Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured Palmyra in March last year and Moscow even flew in one of its best classical musicians to play a triumphant concert at Palmyra's ancient theater. ISIS forces, however, recaptured Palmyra eight months later before Syrian government troops drove them out again in March this year. Fighting around Palmyra continues. Russia's defense ministry said in its Wednesday statement that the strikes successfully hit ISIS heavy weapons and fighters whom the group had deployed and moved to Palmyra from the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Sunni militant group and its self-proclaimed caliphate. Palmyra (Photo: AP) Moscow said it had notified the US, Turkish and Israeli militaries beforehand of the upcoming strike. It added that the Russian strike was promptly executed following the order, a testimony to the navy's high readiness and capabilities. Russia has been busy mediating between Assad and Turkey and the West who seek his removal. Earlier this month Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish safe zones in Syria, signing on to a Russian plan under which Assad's air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country. Russia said maps delineating the zones should be ready by June 4. Modi arrived at St St Petersburg in Russia for an annual summit with Putin during which the two sides will sign a host of agreements. By Press Trust of India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here tonight for an annual summit with President Vladimir Putin during which the two sides will sign a host of agreements, with all eyes on a deal to build with Russia's help the last two units of India's largest nuclear power plant. On his arrival here, Modi tweeted, "Reached the historic city of St Petersburg. Looking forward to a fruitful visit aimed at cementing India-Russia relations." advertisement With hours to go before the summit, Indian officials told PTI that last-minute talks are taking place to iron out details and language of the agreement on a line of credit for building Unit 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. "The agreement remains work in progress," the source said. The reactors are being built by India's Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russia's Atom stroy export company, a subsidiary of Ros atom, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex. The two sides are expected to ink 12 agreements in wide ranging sectors, including in science and technology, railways, cultural exchanges and other business areas between private parties also, in addition to a "vision statement" that the two leaders will release. The nuclear deal, if signed, would be the centerpiece of the summit, the second time in eight months after their last bilateral in Goa in October 2016. If signed, the two units of the plant, with capacity to produce 1000 MW of electricity each, will significantly boost the country's nuclear power generation. The current nuclear power generation capacity of all 22 nuclear power reactors is 6780 MW. In October 2015, a joint statement between Modi and Putin promised the signing of a General Framework Agreement on the nuclear units by December 2016. After an inter-ministerial group cleared the project, it was sent to the Prime Minister's Office for approval. But, sources said, the Credit Protocol, or a line of credit that Russia was to provide, proved to be a hurdle. "There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years," Pankaj Saran, India's ambassador to Russia," told PTI. At the summit tomorrow, "the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future," he said. India's traditional ties with Russia dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscow's growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. However, Saran said India's relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan. "Our relations with Russia is on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests," he said, hours before Modi was to arrive from Spain. advertisement Modi arrived in stormy weather in St. Petersburg, the former capital of imperial Russia that was founded by Czar Peter the Great in 1703, and was also known as Petrograd and Leningrad. The prime minister will begin his three-day Russia sojourn with a visit tomorrow to the Piskariovskoe cemetery, a memorial for some 500,000 Russians who were killed in the siege of Leningrad in World War II, which the Russians call the Great Patriotic War. Modi will then be received by Putin at the Konstantin Palace, a sprawling regal complex that is also the Russian president?s official residence where he hosts world leaders. After the summit, Putin will host Modi at a private dinner without any aides. On Friday, Modi will be the guest of honor at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being attended by a host of political and business leaders from around the world. It's the first time that an Indian prime minister is attending the economic and business summit. advertisement Some 60 Indian CEOs are attending the summit, and India has also set up a Make in India pavilion in addition to hosting round-tables and an exclusive India-Eurasia economic and business breakfast. Trade between the two nations stands at USD 7.8 billion, down from USD 10 billion in 2014. The two nations are targeting to raise the trade to USD 30 billion in the next five years. ALSO READ | Germany, India made for each other: PM Narendra Modi after meeting Angela Merkel in Berlin ALSO READ | Germany a key partner for India, says PM Modi as he meets Angela Merkel in Berlin ALSO WATCH | Germany key trade partner for India, says Modi after meeting Angela Merkel in Berlin --- ENDS --- WASHINGTONUS President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Axios news outlet reported on Wednesday, citing two unidentified sources with direct knowledge of the decision. Trump refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. He then tweeted that he would make an announcement this week. PARISFrance's new government has issued a thinly-veiled warning that its citizens who become fighters for the Islamic State group could be killed. Asked Wednesday about a report that French forces are involved in targeted killings of French ISIS militants in Iraq, government spokesman Christophe Castaner neither confirmed nor denied The Wall Street Journal's findings. He simply replied: "I say to all fighters who join the Islamic State group and then go abroad to wage war: waging war brings risks, and they must assume those risks." President Emmanuel Macron, elected May 7, says crushing ISIS is a top priority. Citing Iraqi officers and current and former French officials, the Journal said French special forces have enlisted Iraqi soldiers to hunt and kill French nationals who have joined ISIS' senior ranks. US President Donald Trump is expected to sign a standing waiver suspending the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. US government officials told CNN on Wednesday. Trump's statements regarding the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem led to heavy pressure on him by the Arab states to avoid the move. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter During his election campaign, Trump promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem, which the Israeli government has warmly encouraged. According to a senior US administration official, Trump still supports the move but believes that now that there is a chance for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, it is best not to arouse anger among the Palestinians. Last month, Russia broke with its own londstanding policy and recognized west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump during his latest trip to Jerusalem (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) In 1995, the US Congress approved the Embassy Act in Jerusalem, which recognizes the city as the capital of Israel and determines that the embassy should be transferred to it until 1999. Since 1999, though, all US presidentsnamely Clinton, Bush and Obamahave used their authority to delay implementation of the law, citing reasons of national security. Each president signed a waiver to postpone the move for six months, which is the same waiver that Trump is said to be about to sign. At present, the Trump administration has not made an official decision on the subject, though Trump has presented position papers on discussing leaving the embassy in Tel Aviv, alongside the possibility of transferring it to Jerusalem. Transferring the embassy to Jerusalem is still "something the President supports, something he supported during the campaign, something he still supports," one source said. "If he signs the wavier this week, that will not be indicative of him reversing his opinion, it will just be a question of timing. It will be when, not if." CAIRO -- Egypt's military says that three officers and one soldier were killed when a suicide belt went off as forces were sweeping a militant hub in the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt's western desert. Military spokesperson Tamer el-Refaie said on his Facebook page Wednesday that the incident took place during ongoing military operations in the western desert bordering Libya. ANKARA -- Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) said on Wednesday that the U.S. government's decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Syria was "not befitting of an alliance". "It has been stressed that the policy of supporting the PKK/PYD-YPG terrorist organisation, acting under the guise of the Syrian Democratic Forces, by disregarding Turkey's expectation is not befitting of a friendship and alliance," the MGK said in a statement. Lebanese authorities banned the new Wonder Woman movie Wednesday hours before it was due to premiere in the capital and following a campaign against its lead actress, Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli army, a security official and activists said. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Cinemas in Beirut began removing the movie posters and cinema executives said the movie will not be shown because of the ban. Wonder Woman billboard in Beirut (Photo: Reuters) Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and the two countries have been through a number of wars. A particularly devastating 2006 war battered Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds of civilians killed. The ban is in accordance with a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. The official says the ban issued by the minister of interior Wednesday has been relayed to the distribution company, which in turn have to inform the theaters planning to show the movie. A premiere later Wednesday in Beirut was canceled. An executive at the Grand Cinema chain said the company was planning to show the movie in 16 out of its 18 theaters around the country, but it would now be removed. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman The security official said violators of the ban will have to face legal consequences, though he did not specify further. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been published. A campaigner against the movie, Rania Masri, hailed the decision to ban Wonder Woman, saying it signaled respect for the law. She said there was much anticipation as the decision was last minute, just before the official launch of the movie. "Still, it was a joyous moment the minute the law was implemented," Masri, of the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon, told the Associated Press. Photo: AP A similar campaign against another movie where Gadot played the role of Wonder Woman last year, "Batman v Superman," never turned into an outright ban. Masri said it was "different" this time because of a major media campaign against the movie that has helped push for the ban. On its front page Wednesday, the leading al-Akhbar newspaper had a column titled: "The Israeli soldier. She has no place in Lebanon." The column featured a picture of Gadot carrying her Wonder Woman shield. Warner Bros., which has released the film, declined comment. Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar: 'Israeli soldier: no place in Lebanon!' Economy Ministry official Alia Abbas told the AP that her department, which is responsible for enforcing the boycott of Israel, had delivered a request to ban "Batman v Superman" last year. But the ban didn't come together. This time they presented their petition to the security agencies on Monday, she said. Tensions have been rising between Israel and Hezbollah, with Israel reportedly bombing several Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent months. Israel has signaled that the targets were smuggling sophisticated weapons to Lebanon. Hezbollah officials said recently that they are not seeking war but are ready for it. On her Facebook page, Gadot had praised Israel's military during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, sending prayers to soldiers "who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas." Photo: Reuters Masri said the campaign to boycott is about "self-respect" and "resisting" normalizing relations with a state that is at war with Lebanon and occupies Palestinian land. "First and foremost she is Israeli. We don't distinguish between a good Israeli and a bad Israeli," Masri said of the boycott campaign. The movie, based on the DC Comics character, has earned acclaim for Gadot for landing the first leading role for a woman in a super hero movie Gal Gadot: 'It is foolish to ban a movie because of an actress in it' (Photo: AP) Even though Lebanon enjoys greater freedom of expression than other Arab and Muslim countries in the region, prior censorship remains in place, particularly regarding material relating to Israel, religion and homosexuality. Some in Lebanon criticized the call for the ban, but their voices were faint compared to the boycott campaign that featured in primetime television in Lebanon. Wonder woman poster in Beirut (Photo: AP) "We sold many tickets and we had to cancel now," said Isaac Fahed, sales and distribution manager for Grand Cinemas, the company which had the movie scheduled for 16 of its 18 movie houses. He said his company would abide by the law, despite the losses it would suffer. "We have to respect that, but we have a few questions." Fahed said previous movies with Gadot were shown in Lebanese theaters and her new film will be viewed online and sold on DVD. "The end result will only ... affect the cinemas," Fahed said. (Translated & edited by Lior Mor) A US Air Force veteran convicted of terrorism charges for trying to join the Islamic State group and die a martyr was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison by a judge who called it a "very sad thing" that a onetime soldier would want to join a group seeking to destroy America. The March 2016 conviction of Tairod Pugh, 49, of Neptune, New Jersey, was the first verdict from more than 70 cases the government brought against Americans accused of trying to support the militant group. "This isn't about whether you're a Muslim or a Christian or Jewish," US District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis told Pugh. "This is about whether you're going to stand up for your country." The Brooklyn judge called Pugh's military service "a long time ago" commendable, but said the defendant squandered his training as an airplane mechanic and all the good things the United States did for him with a decision to betray his country. YORK If property owners want to file valuation protests, they can start on June 1, according to York County Assessor Ann Charlton. Property owners have until the end of June to do so. If a valuation protest is filed, the matter will go before the county board members sitting as a board of equalization. Property owners have the right to request hearings if they feel their valuations are incorrect. They must prove that to be the case, in order for the valuations to be altered. If the county board upholds the original value set by the assessors office, the property owner still has the option of appeal with the Nebraska Tax Equalization Review Commission (TERC). As far as the official filings, there are several things to keep in mind. All submissions must include certain things: name, address, legal description of the property in question, the current valuation figure, the figure the property owner believes it should be, the reason they believe the figure should be changed, the date and their signature. All components of the forms must be filled out or the protest will be automatically dismissed. Charlton says she wants property owners to remember they can call her office or physically visit with her and staffers if they have questions. Many times, discrepancies can be worked out, without having an actual hearing, she said, noting sometimes its a simple issue of the property owner clarifying information or pointing out a correction. If a hearing is needed, it will be scheduled and protestors will be given a time to verbally present their arguments before the board, which will later make a ruling. The hearings will be held in July. During investigation, it was found that the passengers had acted as carriers for smuggling the seized goods for monetary consideration. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: On Tuesday night, the Mumbai Customs arrested two Indian women for smuggling 1.3 kg gold valued at about Rs 40 lakh at the CSI Airport. In the first case, Mumbai-based resident Tabassum Arif Shaikh (31) arrived from Dubai by Jet Airlines flight carrying assorted gold jewellery which collectively weighing 402 grams valued at Rs 12 lakh, concealed in the bra worn by her. advertisement On the same night, another lady passenger named Mohana James (32) arrived from Dubai by Emirates flight with eight gold bars of 10 tolas, weighing 928 grams valued at Rs 27.3 lakh concealed by her inside the rectum. Further examination revealed that she was working as a caretaker for the playing children in one play school at Perambur in Tamil Nadu. GOLD SEIZED FROM KENYAN NATIONAL In another incident, a Kenyan national Fatma Hasan was detained with assorted gold jewellery weighing 610 grams valued Rs 18 lakh hidden in her baggage. In her statement to the Custom officials, she admitted that she is running a shop of ready made garments in Mumbassa (Kenya). In the fourth case, one Karnataka resident Abdul Jailani (53) coming from Riyadh via Bahrain was arrested for smuggling 3 gold bars of 10 tola, each totally weighing 349 grams valued at Rs 10.3 lakh. "He had concealed these gold bars in specially made hidden pocket of skull cap worn by him. Even Abdul works as a salesman in a readymade garments shop in Riyadh," an official said. In another case, Juleka Usman Mansuri (47), a resident of Dongri, Mumbai who had to depart to Dubai was arrested with $ 18000 - equivalent to Rs 11,44,800. She had concealed these between the pages of some books carried by her in her baggage. During investigation, it was found that all the passengers had acted as carriers for smuggling the seized goods for monetary consideration. Also read: Mumbai: Smuggled gold recovered from stomach and rectum of Sri Lankan man Also read: Delhi: DRI busts smuggling racket, seizes 44 kg of gold --- ENDS --- The Labor Oppositions proposal, Affordable Homes in Sydney, contains some constructive ideas; yet adding taxes to development is the wrong move, according to the Property Council of Australia. We all agree that something urgently needs to be done about housing affordability in NSW, and [the] industry stands prepared to deliver the homes the state needs, said Cheryl Thomas, Property Council of Australias deputy executive director for NSW. While Thomas commended Labors commitment to helping vulnerable residents secure affordable housing, she strongly criticised the new taxes. We cannot have a generation missing out on the opportunity to own their own home, yet placing additional mandates, a clever word for taxes, on the development of homes is not the way to go about it, she said. Labor wants a quarter of new homes on government land reserved for low- and middle-income earners. Opposition Leader Luke Foley said he plans to take the proposal to the next election. Labor also wants property developers to reserve 15% of new homes on rezoned private land for affordable housing. Families and those on moderate incomes struggling to get a roof over their heads will now have a chance [to live] closer to work, Foley said. The proposal could worsen housing affordability in NSW We agree the government should be looking at utilising their own land for affordable housing, yet the suggestion of a 15 per cent affordable housing tax on privately owned land fails to take into account the myriad of levies, taxes and costs placed on development at a federal, state and local government level, Thomas said. Without taking into account these additional costs, there is the real chance that prices will go up under this proposal, worsening the problem. She pointed out that local councils are sitting on about a billion dollars in unspent infrastructure levies. The state government isnt exactly cash-strapped either, as its sitting on $8bn in stamp duty revenue. Its time we saw a proposal to use some of this money for local infrastructure and for tax relief, she said. Any affordable housing model needs to incentivise investment rather than act as a disincentive. Height and floor space bonuses as well as tax incentives must be part of any model, as they have been in other parts of the world facing similar challenges. The Property Council recommended an audit of all the publicly owned land available for development, as this would give policymakers a better idea of what can be accommodated on such land. [The audit] should be extended [to accommodate] development capacity mapping across local government areas to ensure the current zoning and planning approaches can accommodate the housing Sydney needs, Thomas said. Related stories: Sydneysiders Blame Foreigners For Rise In House Prices Investment Activity In Sydney Down By 20% Zabka, Warszawa, 166 m2 Lokal znajduje sie w budynku apartamentowym Unimax Development w inwestycji Viva Vitolin, przy ul. Grochowskiej 87 w Warszawie. Bedzie dostepny w 4Q 2023 roku (podpisanie umow przeniesienia wasnosci). By Press Trust of India: By Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, May 31 (PTI) India today said all sections of people in Nepal should take part in the countrys transition and transformation through strengthening of democracy. Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjiv Singh Puri underlined the need to "firmly establish Nepals transition and transformation through strengthening democracy", at a function organised to felicitate him by Nepal-India Friendship Society. advertisement The "entire sections of the country should take part" in this process, he said here. Nepal and India should cooperate in the areas of connectivity between the two countries, as it would help in promoting business and generating employment opportunities, Puri said. Nepal should focus on economic growth of the country as it would create space for all people and India is ready to extend help in this regard, the envoy said. The function was chaired by president of the society Prem Lashkery. Nepal is holding local-level elections for the first time in 20 years, a major step in Nepals difficult transition to democracy. PTI SBP CPS --- ENDS --- Washington: The US military on Tuesday cheered a successful, first-ever missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a programme meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat. The US military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters just south of Alaska. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Experts compare the job to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the enormous distances involved. The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co , and hailed it as an "incredible accomplishment." "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement. A successful test was by no means guaranteed and the Pentagon sought to manage expectations earlier in the day, noting that the United States had multiple ways to try to shoot down a missile from North Korea. "This is one element of a broader missile defence strategy that we can use to employ against potential threats," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. Prior to Tuesday`s launch, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014. North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the U.S. mainland. The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther. Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, described the test as "vital" prior to launch. "We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today," Ellison said. Failure could have deepened concern about a programme that according to one estimate has so far cost more than USD 40 billion. Its success could translate into calls by Congress to speed development. In the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sent to Congress last week, the Pentagon requested USD 7.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, including about $1.5 billion for the GMD programme. A 2016 assessment released by the Pentagon`s weapons testing office in January said that US ground-based interceptors meant to knock out any incoming ICBM still had low reliability, giving the system a limited capability of shielding the United States. Guwahati:The Board of Secondary Education, Assam declared the SEBA HSLC Class 10 Result 2017, Assam Class 10 Results 2017 on Wednesday. The Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA) will release the Assam Board SEBA Examination Results 2017, SEBA HSLC Exam Results 2017, Assam Board SEBA Class 10th Examination Results 2017 on official website: resultsassam.nic.in or sebaonline.org Assam Board HSLC Results 2017, Assam Class 10 Results 2017, Assam HSLC Result 2017 will be out at 11 am. The SEBA Class 10/HSLC Exams 2017 were conducted from 17 February to 10 March, 2017. Around 3,80,665 students appeared for the Assam HSLC Class 10 Examination. How to check Assam SEBA HSLC Result 2017: - Log on to any of the official websites. - Click on HSLC/AHM RESULTS - 2017 link - Fill in the required details like roll number and submit. - Your result will be displayed on the screen. Take a printout or download your results for future reference. About Board of Secondary Education, Assam The Assam Secondary Education Act, 1961 (Assam Act, XXV of 1961) was passed to provide for the establishment of a Board of Secondary Education to regulate, supervise and develop Secondary Education in the State of Assam. The Board of Secondary Education, Assam commonly known as SEBA was established in the year 1962 with an objective to improve the quality of the Secondary Education of the people of entire North East in general and Assam in particular. The Board is governed by the Assam Secondary Education Act, 1961. Anjali Rathore, who worked for LAVA mobile company in Sector 63, was tailed by the attacker inside the basement of her building and shot. By India Today Web Desk: A trainee software engineer working for a top mobile manufacturing company was shot dead inside her apartment in Noida Sector 62 today. The attack on 23-year-old Anjali Rathore was caught on CCTV installed in the parking area of Shatabdi Vihar. Anjali, who worked for LAVA mobile company in Sector 63, was tailed by the attacker inside the basement of her building and shot. CCTV images showed Anjali, who belonged to Yamunanagar in Haryana, ducking for cover as a man fires at her. advertisement She was rushed to the Fortis Hospital nearby where doctors declared her brought dead. According to police, Anjali shared her flat with six other girls, who told them that she received a call from her boyfriend in the morning. After the call, Anjali went to the basement where she was shot. Police said they have registered a case and probing it from every possible angle. ALSO READ: Noida: Man shoots dead business partner's wife, son, tries to kill self UP: Man killed, women gangraped as gang attacks family on Bulandshahr-Jewar highway Watch Video: Should Yogi Adityanath be given a chance to prove himself? --- ENDS --- Chandigarh: The Punjab Police has arrested three young men in Pathankot district on the basis of suspicion, police said on Wednesday. All three belong to Assam, sources said. The arrests were being linked to the Monday recovery of an abandoned bag containing three Army uniforms. The bag was left on Defence Road near Pathankot late on Sunday night. A massive search operation was launched in the district following the seizure. Punjab Police, Army and other security agencies carried searches in the area, especially near the Indian Air Force base as well as the army`s Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot. A Jammu flour mill`s name was printed on the bag, police officials said. The security agencies remained on alert in the border districts following the terror attacks on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January 2016 and in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district in July 2015. Both Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts lie along India`s international border with Pakistan and are also close to Jammu and Kashmir. Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan, who has a history of suffering injuries while shooting for films, luckily escaped a dangerous accident on the sets of Aanand L Rais next. The superstar was unharmed but two crew members suffered minor injuries. According to a report in Bollywoodlife.com originally attributed to Mumbai Mirror, a large part of the ceiling collapsed at a spot right opposite the place where SRK was seated. A prop ladder fell on the makeshift ceiling. The injured crew members were discharged immediately since the injuries were minor. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief that SRK was seated on another side of the set and was unharmed. Shooting was stalled for two days and will resume later this week, Mumbai Mirror quoted a source as saying. SRK is unharmed and fans of the actor can heave a sigh of relief. And as far as the film is concerned, it also stars Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. For the uninitiated, SRK will play a dwarf while Anushka will essay the role of a mentally disabled girl and Katrina will portray herself in the film. This will be the second film to feature the trio after Yash Chopras Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Dhanora: An encounter, which was underway between security forces and Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur since Wednesday morning, ended without any casualties. Teams from the Special Task Force (STF) and the District Reserve Group (DRG) are sweeping the area for any untoward elements. The encounter was on since 5 am today. Narayanpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Santosh Singh confirmed the entire incident and said, "The encounter has ended and no casualty has been reported." The encounter took place at the same place where Naxals torched passenger bus yesterday. Following yesterday's bus-torch incident, the security personnel had reached the spot in order to repair the damage. The forces were busy filling the hole dug in the road in order to ease the vehicular movement, when the Naxals started indiscriminate firing at them. However, the forces retaliated with strong hand, and sensing their dominance, the Naxals fled from the spot. A group of Naxals yesterday burnt an empty private bus, travelling from Chhattisgarh's Dhanora area to Orchha area, four kilometers away from a police station, in opposition against construction of roads in Narayanpur district. Speaking to ANI here, Narayanpur SP Santosh Singh said, the incident occurred yesterday late night, as the bus was burnt down after the passengers were forced to step down from the vehicle by the militants. The road construction is taking place on a brisk pace under the security cover provided by the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and district police. So far, 45 kilometers of a total 66 kilometers have been completed. New Delhi: CK Birla Group firm Orient Cement Ltd on Wednesday said it would acquire two entities, Bhilai Jaypee Cement and Nigrie Cement Grinding Unit, from Jaypee group firms for a total consideration of Rs 1,946 crore. Orient Cement Ltd (OCL) has signed "definitive agreement" with the Jaypee group firms for all cash deals, which are expected to be completed before March 31, 2018, the company said in a BSE filing. It would acquire 74 percent share of Bhilai Jaypee Cement (BJCL) from Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) and its nominee for a total enterprise value of Rs 1,450 crore. Besides, it would also acquire Nigrie Cement Grinding Unit as going concern from Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JPVL) for a total consideration of Rs 496 crore. BJCL has a cement manufacturing capacity of 2.20 million tonnes (MT) and 1.10 MT of clinker. In 2015-16, it had a turnover of Rs 399.27 crore. This would be "subject to adjustment on account of working capital and net debt of BJCL, which shall then be pro-rated to the shareholding of HAL in BJCL," OCL informed. "BJCL is in the same line of business as that of the company and the purpose of acquisition is to expand the business of the company to other parts of the company." While, Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh-based Nigrie Cement Grinding Unit has a production capacity of 2 MT. It had a turnover of Rs 90.70 crore in 2015-16. However, the company requires "approval of the government of Madhya Pradesh for transfer of land," the CK Birla Group firm said. JPVL is a power generation company with a capacity of 2,220 MW comprising one hydro and two thermal power plant. Shares of Orient Cement Ltd were trading at Rs 145 on BSE, down 1.43 percent from previous close. New Delhi: Delhi Police has arrested a Delhi University student and detained his juvenile accomplice for lynching an e-rickshaw driver after he objected to them urinating at GTB Metro Station in north Delhi, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. Police said the accused student Shekhar Kapasia, 19, and his juvenile friend were captured in a CCTV footage which helped them to identify them. They were arrested from their hideouts in Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday night. Kapasia, a B.Com Second year of Sri Aurobindo College in Malviya Nagar, is a resident of Sant Nagar. His juvenile accomplice, 17, is studying at a south Delhi school, and is a resident of Malviya Nagar. Both of them are natives of Muzaffarnagar, police said. "We have identified five other youths. We are interrogating Kapasia and the juvenile to ascertain the hideouts of their associates involved in killing e-rickshaw driver Ravinder Kumar on Saturday. Seven police teams and a team of Crime Branch are conducting a manhunt to trace their hideouts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana," Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Mahadeo Dumbere told IANS. "Kapasia and his juvenile accomplice told investigators that the verbal altercation with Kumar turned abusive and they took it personally. They planned to take revenge and later returned with their friends. One of them tied up stones in a cotton towel and attacked Kumar multiple times," Dumbere said. The police teams had looked for suspects from around 300 students of the School Of Open Learning (SOL) of Delhi University, whose examination centre was located in Kirori Mal College, on the day of the incident. Records of some students from Sri Aurobindo College were also checked. Kapasia and the juvenile were identified later as they were caught in a CCTV footage enquiring about Kumar's whereabouts from other e-rickshaw drivers near GTB Nagar Metro Station, police said. They had a verbal altercation with Kumar after he objected to them having alcohol and urinating near the GTB metro station. Kumar was later declared brought dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. St Petersburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Wednesday night for an annual summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which the two sides will sign a host of agreements. However, all eyes are on a deal to build with Russia's help the last two units of India's largest nuclear power plant. The reactors are being built by India's Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russia's Atomstroyexport company, a subsidiary of Rosatom, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex. The two sides are expected to ink 12 agreements in wide- ranging sectors, including in science and technology, railways, cultural exchanges and other business areas between private parties also, in addition to a "vision statement" that the two leaders will release. The nuclear deal, if signed, would be the centerpiece of the summit, the second time in eight months after their last bilateral in Goa in October 2016. If signed, the two units of the plant, with capacity to produce 1000 MW of electricity each, will significantly boost the country's nuclear power generation. The current nuclear power generation capacity of all 22 nuclear power reactors is 6780 MW. On reaching Russia from Spain on his four-nation six-day tour, PM he tweeted: Reached the historic city of St. Petersburg. Looking forward to a fruitful visit aimed at cementing India-Russia relations. pic.twitter.com/0vZTiS0euh Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 Meanwhile, ahead of his visit to Russia, PM Modi had said that India is not only committed to accord the highest priority to the bilateral relations but also committed to taking them forward to newer heights. "In India, the policy of building strong relations with Russia enjoys crosscutting national consensus. Every government in India since 1947 has accorded the highest priority to developing close relations with the government and people of Russia," PM Modi had said in an article published in Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazetta on the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Russia. "My government is not only committed to following this policy, but taking our relations to newer heights," he had added, as per IANS. Noting that the two countries signed a declaration on strategic Partnership in 2010 and elevated it to the level of a special and privileged strategic partnership, he had said, "These documents are more than just words. They contain an ambitious blueprint for our cooperation. "The symbols of our contemporary partnership today include Indian investments in Sakhalin 1, and now the Vankor and Taas-Yuryakh oil fields, the nuclear power plant at Kudankulam and the Brahmos Joint Venture Project," PM Modi had said. He had also said that both the countries cannot and should not be satisfied with the achievements and must strive to open new vistas. "We should fully exploit our mutual complementarities based on our large markets, resource endowments and industrial and technological base. We are focusing on increasing our bilateral trade which is considerably below our potential. We are opening new areas of cooperation in the energy sector, telecommunications and science and technology. We have set up funds to facilitate investment in high technologies," he had said. PM Modi had further said that the "natural" Indian-Russian partnership's significance goes beyond the bilateral sphere. "This is natural and has always been so. Our partnership has contributed to global peace and security. We have supported each other's key interests. We are important stakeholders in upholding the stability of the international political, security, economic and financial order. We cooperate closely in forums such as the United Nations, BRICS, G-20, East Asia Summit, RIC and the IAEA. India looks forward to becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that became possible with wholehearted Russian support," he had said. Before Russia, PM was in Spain where he paid a courtesy call to Spanish King Felipe VI and held wide-ranging talks with President Mariano Rajoy. "I thank the government and people of Spain for their remarkable hospitality during my visit, during which significant ground was covered," Prime Minister Modi had tweeted. "India-Spain ties are all set to grow and this will benefit the people of both our nations" he had said in another tweet. India-Spain ties are all set to grow and this will benefit the people of both our nations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 I thank the Government & people of Spain for their remarkable hospitality during my visit, during which significant ground was covered. pic.twitter.com/Q70MQZf0iU May 31, 2017 During his stay here, India and Spain signed seven agreements, including those on cyber security and technical cooperation in civil aviation. The agreements were signed after PM Modi held wide-ranging talks with Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital, as per PTI. The two sides agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. PM Modi was the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Spain since Narashima Rao's trip to the country in 1992. He will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron. (With Agency inputs) No one was hurt, but the terrifying situation created confusion and uncertainty as travelers posted video and photos online showing police at the airport with their weapons drawn. By AP: An armed man at the Orlando International Airport was today taken into custody after a nearly three-hour standoff with police, authorities said. No one was hurt, but the terrifying situation created confusion and uncertainty as travelers posted video and photos online showing police at the airport with their weapons drawn. "Gunman is in custody. Everyone is safe," Orlando police tweeted shortly after 10 p.m. Our crisis negotiators did a phenomenal job. Suspect is Michael W Pettigrew, 26. pic.twitter.com/XAUJKecPLu Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) 31 May 2017 advertisement Glorializ Col n Plaza, 20, told the Orlando Sentinel she was just getting off work from Virgin Atlantic airlines when she saw everyone hiding. She got off the elevator and saw the man on the floor near the rental car area. He was screaming, and cops had surrounded him. "I couldn't make out the words, but he was screaming really loud," she said. "Everyone there told me right before this happened a man said to everyone: 'You're going to need mental therapy after this,' then he pulled out a gun and everyone ran." Plaza said she didn't hear any gunshots or see anyone injured. "I saw all the cops with the long rifles and started shaking," she said. "It didn't seem real." The suspect pointed the gun at officers and said "shoot me, shoot me!" said @ChiefJohnMina. This is the gun he pointed at police. pic.twitter.com/nFFmi6sDXp Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) 31 May 2017 Earlier this year, authorities say an Alaska man killed five people inside a baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The incident at the Orlando airport was first reported about 7:24 p.m. Officers responded and cleared the first floor of Terminal A, airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell told the Sentinel. The entire terminal was eventually closed. Images posted on social media showed a heavy police presence in the area and passengers were worried about missing flights. The Florida Highway Patrol tweeted earlier that all roads to the airport were shut down, with "zero exceptions." Orlando police later tweeted that entrances were open but congested. Also Read: Orlando Airport under lockdown after reports of shots being fired --- ENDS --- New Delhi: The Congress party, which has been asked by the Election Commission (EC) to complete its organisational polls by the end of this year, is likely to postpone the elections in some poll-bound states. The party has received requests from its units in poll-bound states like Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Mizoram to postpone organisational elections. "The postponement will be done as per the ground situation. If they can to hold elections, they will hold, and if they are not able to hold, then they will be given some time," said a senior party leader. There was a meeting with Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on this issue. Members of party's Central Election Authority (CEA) were also present in the meeting. There will be another meeting of CEA members on Thursday. The Congress had earlier drawn up schedule of its delayed organisational polls keeping in mind the election of party chief, which is likely to be completed by October 15. According to the schedule, election to the post of party President will be held between September 16 and October 15. It had also told to the party units to complete the membership drive by May 15. The Congress has been seeking extension of time to hold organisational elections ever since the present term of party chief Sonia Gandhi ended in 2015. Moscow: Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran on Tuesday said that Moscow and New Delhi share a similar approach and perspective to addressing international terrorism and are plagued with cross-border issues. While elaborating on India-Russia cooperation on terrorism, Indian Ambassador said that "two-day official talks will result in agreements and statements that will showcase how both the countries are together in a fight against global terrorism". "Russia and India have its own problems. There is a lot of scope for combating terrorism and this topic will come up during the discussion when the two leaders meet as we both have been the victims of terrorism from our neighbourhood." PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to St Petersburg in Russia beginning May 31 to June 02. On the first day, the Prime Minister will be having his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin where both the leaders will discuss ways to enhance ties in trade, defence, nuclear sector and fight against terrorism. Under the `Strategic Partnership`, PM Modi will invite foreign firms to share technology with local players relating to defence equipment to be manufactured in India. PM Modi is likely to raise India`s concerns over the China`s One Belt One Road initiative with Putin. On the second day, the Prime Minister and the Indian delegation will be participating in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will be attended by thousands of business leaders from across the globe. The strategic partnership established in the year 2000 was raised to the level of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in the year 2010. Ever since, Russia is the only country with which India have annual summits. Moscow and New Delhi are in talks over finalization of the general framework agreement for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant in Tamil Nadu. Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry`s Eurasia division G V Srinivas said "the work is in progress" and added "I do not want to steal the thunder of the meeting." New Delhi: In a reply to a Right To Information (RTI) query, the government has said that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in a plane crash on August, 18 1945, a report said on Wednesday. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) admitted of Netaji dying in the plane crash while replying to a RTI query filed by Sayak Sen. The Centre in its reply said, "After considering the reports of Shahnawaz Committee, Justice GD Khosla Commission and Justice Mukherjee Commission of Enquiry, the Government has come to the conclusion that Netaji has died in plane crash in 1945.'' The report was published by The Indian Express. The great freedom fighter's family expressed displeasure over Centre's claim. Netaji's grand nephew Chandra Kumar Bose, who is also Bengal BJP vice president, called the reply highly objectionable and said he would raise the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his RTI application Sen also enquired about Gumnami Baba or Bhagwanji. To thsi teh MHA replied: "Some information about Gumnami Baba and Bhagwanji is available in the Mukherjee Commission report on pg-114-122. This report is available at mha.nic.in. Mukherjee Commission had come to the conclusion that Gumnami Baba/Bhagwanji was not Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose". In October 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met the family members of Netaji and announced that the government would declassify the files relating to the leader whose disappearance 70 years ago remains a mystery. Last year, on Netaji's 119th birth anniversary on January 23, as many as 100 secret files were made public by PM Modi. While two commissions of inquiry had concluded that Netaji had died in a plane crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945, a third probe panel, headed by Justice M K Mukherjee, had contested it and suggested that Bose was alive. Thiruvananthapuram: As the nation continues to witness political slugfest over Centre's new rules on cattle slaughter, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday made an interesting observation, saying that nothing has been banned by the government as is being spoken about now. While hearing a PIL filed by Sunil, a Youth Congress activist, Chief Justice Navniti Prasad observed that there was nothing in the new central law on cattle trade and slaughter that takes away the rights of people with regard to eating beef. "If anyone reads it properly, the present law prevailing in the country along with the new order that came out none will not have come to this sort of conclusion. There is no ban on slaughter or sale of beef. What has been said in the new order is that mass sale of cattle for slaughter through the cattle market is banned," the Chief Justice said. The Kerala HC Chief Justice also expressed surprsie over Madras High Court's order of temporarily putting on hold the Centre's notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter. With the Chief Justice taking a strong stand, the petitioner pointed out that he is withdrawing the petition and the court also agreed. The government has banned the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, a move that is expected to hit export and trade of meat and leather. It also prohibited practices that are cruel to animals including painting of horns and putting ornaments or decorative materials on them. Also Read: Declare cow as national animal, make slaughter punishable by life term: Rajasthan High Court The environment ministry has notified the stringent 'Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017' under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said the new rules are very "specific" and aim to regulate animal markets and sale of cattle. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed strong disapproval of the Centre's move and sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by attacking the BJP-led government at the Cntre and the RSS, saying "there was no need for the people of his state to draw lessons from New Delhi or Nagpur on their food habits." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also spoken against the law, describing the Centre's notification on cattle slaughter as a "deliberate attempt to encroach upon the state's powers" and said her government will not accept it. (With agencies inputs) New Delhi: Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma of Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday set the social media on fire after he asserted that India's national bird peacock are brahmachari (celibrate) and don't have sex to reproduce. "Peacock was made the national bird of India because it is Brahmachari. Cow is pious like peacock. Peahen doesn't need to have sex to get pregnant. It just swallows tears of the peacock," Sharma said. Sharing his baffling view on the bird peacock, Sharma said the peahen gets pregnant drinking the tears of the peacock. After suggesting the Centre to make cow national animal, Justice Sharma defended his stance saying 'the cow helps us in every possible way and its milk has always been used to cure various diseases'. While addressing the life imprisonment for cow slaughter, the Rajasthan High Court judge earlier in the day stated that cows deserve respect similar to that of parents. "This issue is related to sympathy, conviction and faith that why protecting and respecting the cow is an important factor. We should come up in protest to this, only then we can safeguard our animals. The way we respect our parents we should respect cows," Rajasthan High Court Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma told ANI. Earlier in the day, during the hearing over the Hingonia Gaushala matter, Justice Sharma matter recommended the Centre that cow be made the national animal, adding that the punishment for cow slaughter should be escalated to life imprisonment. Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Additional director general (ADG) of police has been ordered to prepare report every three months on cowshed and the court has also directed Urban Development & Housing (UDH) Secretary and municipal commissioner to visit once every month.ACB) and Additional director general (ADG) of police has been ordered to prepare report every three months on cowshed and the court has also directed Urban Development & Housing (UDH) Secretary and municipal commissioner to visit once every month. Sharma has also instructed the forest department to plant 5,000 plants in the cowshed every year. The judgment comes in the wake of the Centre's order on ban on sale of cattle for slaughter, which is facing a strong opposition by the state governments of Kerala, Karnataka and Tripura. Earlier last year, following the death of over a hundred cows in the past few weeks at a government-run cowshed in Jaipur, the Rajasthan Government had sought a report on the matter and vowed to improve the situation in Hingonia Gaushala. Reports said the death of cows was due to alleged lapse in maintenance of cowshed. "The Chief Minister has asked for report on Hingonia Gaushala. We are drafting a road map and action plan to improve situation there," said Rajasthan Minister Rajendra Rathore. According to reports, the authorities initially said the cows which died were already unwell and suffering from malnutrition. There are over 8,000 cows at the Hingonia Gaushala which are taken care of by a team of 14 veterinarians, 24 livestock assistants, and about 200 other staff. Watch Justice Sharma sharing his views on peacocks : Jaipur/Thiruvananthapuram/Chennai: The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to coordinate with the Centre and take necessary steps to declare cow as a national animal. In a direction that could further fuel the deeply divisive debate over beef consumption and vigilantism in the name of cow protection, Justice Mahesh Chand Sharma said the state's chief secretary and advocate general will be the legal custodians of cow. "Nepal is a Hindu nation (sic) and has declared cow as national animal. India is a predominantly agricultural country based on animal rearing. As per Article 48 and 51A (g) (of the Constitution) it is expected from the state government that they would take action to get a legal entity for cow in this country," the judge said in the order passed on his last day in office. He suggested that it was expected of the state government that it would amend the Rajasthan Bovine Animals Act 1995 to enhance punishment for cow slaughter from three years in jail to life imprisonment. Later, Justice Sharma told a TV news channel that his directions were recommendatory in nature and not binding. "It (action against those who kill cows) is the voice of my soul, your soul, everybody's soul. Law has stemmed from 'dharma' (religion) and not vice-versa," he said, as per PTI. When the reporter asked him for the rationale behind declaring cow slaughter a heinous crime, he said,"There cannot be a more heinous crime than this. Cow is like mother. She saves people from different diseases." The directions were issued while the court was hearing a matter related to a government-run cow shelter where hundreds of animals had perished in Jaipur last year due to alleged neglect. Justice Sharma's suggestions came amid a firestorm of protests raging in several parts of the country, particularly the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu against a new notification issued by the Centre banning sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter. On the other hand, the Kerala High Court today declined to entertain a PIL seeking quashing of the Centre's notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter, observing that there was no constitutional violation in the rules. A division bench headed by Chief Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh observed that its interference in the Centre's notification was not warranted. The bench said it could not see any prohibition in selling and consumption of beef in the notification, following which the PIL was withdrawn by petitioner AG Sunil. Meanwhile, a single bench of the court directed the Centre to file its counter affidavit with regard to the impact of the notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter. Considering a batch of petitions challenging rule 22 of the notification imposing restrictions on the sale of cattle, Justice P B Suresh Kumar said the court will consider the application for the stay of the notification after seeing the Centre's counter. The division bench headed by the Chief Justice, while declining to entertain Sunil's petition, observed that it could not find any illegality in the rules as apprehended by the petitioner. The petitioner had contended that the notification violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Art 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution and that it should be quashed. There was no constitutional violation in the notification as alleged by the petitioner, it said. The high court's observation came a day after the Madras High Court's Madurai bench stayed for four weeks the Centre's contentious notification on two PILs. The petitioners in the Madras High Court have contended that the rules should have been approved by Parliament first. A Madurai bench, comprising justices MV Muralidharan and CV Karthikeyan had yesterday issued the interim order on the two pleas which said that the rules should be quashed as they were against the Constitution, breached the principle of federalism and were contrary to the parent legislation - Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: Results of civil services examination 2016 was declared on Wednesday by the UPSC with as many as many as 1,099 candidates being recommended for various government services. There are 220 other candidates in the waiting list. Nandini KR, who hails from Karnataka, has topped the prestigious exams. Anmol Sher Singh Bedi and G Ronanki have secured second and third positions, respectively. The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages - preliminary, main and interview - to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. Steps to download results: - Go to the official website upsc.gov.in. - Click on civil service results. - Enter details in the fields provided. - Download the results. Frankfurt Am Main: Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, said on Wednesday it would support three billion dollars' worth of development projects in partnership with China Development Bank (CDB). "CDB and Deutsche Bank agreed to work together over the next five years with an aim of supporting projects worth USD 3.0 billion," the group said in a statement, published as Chinese premier Li Keqiang visits Berlin. The two banks signed a memorandum of understanding expressing "interest in promoting the renminbi's internationalisation and in financing economic cooperation between China, Germany and other Belt and Road Initiative countries," the statement read. Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the "Belt and Road" project in 2013 aiming to reinforce infrastructure linking Asia with Europe and Africa, echoing the Silk Road across central Asia plied centuries ago by caravans. "CDB and Deutsche Bank will finance projects that are beneficial to clients of both banks, including through joint lending and project finance," the two banks said. San Francisco: Global cab-hailing service Uber has fired Anthony Levandowski, who earlier headed its self-driving car project, for allegedly stealing some 14,000 documents from Google`s Waymo. Waymo is an autonomous car development company spun out of Google`s parent company Alphabet. Levandowski was part of Waymo before he joined Uber. According to a report in the Vegre on Tuesday, Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber earlier in 2017, alleging that the stolen information became the technological basis for Uber`s self-driving cars. According to the lawsuit, six weeks before Levandowski left Google, he downloaded around 14,000 files from his company-issued computer containing trade secrets related to Waymo`s LIDAR technology, circuit board designs, and testing documentation. The company also alleged that Levandowski tried to remove traces of those actions by reformating his laptop. Levandowski joined Uber after his stint at Google, where he shepherded that company`s own self-driving car programme. Uber had moved Levandowski to an operational role earlier to keep him away from running Uber`s self-driving car project. Uber has denied the allegations against Levandowski, and defended him by trying to prove in court that it had developed its own self-driving technology independently. However, Levandowski`s refusal to cooperate with those efforts was the reason for his firing, according to his termination letter. According to an Uber executive familiar with the matter, the company gave Levandowski a timeline for complying with the company`s own internal investigation into the matter, and his position was terminated after he missed that deadline. Srinagar: The shutdown which was imposed in Kashmir, following the killing of Hijbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Sabzar Bhat who was killed by forces during encounter at Tral, has finall been lifted after three days of restrictions. The separatist leadership had given the three days of shutdown call against this killing and the authorities imposed strict restrictions at vital places in Kashmir Valley to stop protests. The traffic played normally on all routes and all the shops and business establishments functioned normally after the three days of restrictions and shutdowns. The government offices, educational institutions, banks, courts and markets also resumed to normal work today. Unrest stirred again in the Valley after Bhat`s killing, as locals took to the streets and clashed with the security forces to express their anger over the killings. The curfew was announced in parts of Srinagar falling under the jurisdiction of eight police stations including Kralkhud, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safa kadal, Maharaj Gunj, Maisuma, Batamaloo and Nowhatta. The authorities also ordered closure of schools and colleges in Srinagar district in the wake of protests and clashes witnessed in various city schools and colleges. The death of Sabazar Bhat, who succeeded Burhan Wani has triggered protests, shutdown and curfew like situation. The Tral operation was a coordinated effort of the Rashtriya Rifles (RR), the JKP, Special Operation Group (SOG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). An armed man at Orlando International Airport prompted a massive law-enforcement response that closed Terminal A on Tuesday night, according to media reports. By India Today Web Desk: Orlando Airport was put under lockdown on Tuesday night after reports of shorts being fired. However, Orlando Police have denied reports of shots being fired. "There is no active shooter. No shots fired. The man is not in custody but is "contained," Orlando police said. Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said an armed man was on the first floor of the airport in the rental-car area following which the first floor had to be cleared. Terminal A is shut down, and traffic entering the airport was at a standstill. advertisement All roads leading to the airport were shut down after the incident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Orlando international airport police presence pic.twitter.com/kNKH4EsJFH- Noodles (@iiznoodles) May 31, 2017 (With inputs from ANI, Twitter) --- ENDS --- New Delhi: The Congress party on Wednesday announced here that it will contest the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka under the leadership of Chief Minister K. Siddaramaiah. The party also retained G. Parameshwara as the Karnataka unit President and asked him to resign from the state cabinet immediately. "He (Parameshwara) will continue to be the PCC President...to devote his full time and energy in discharging responsibilities of the party president, he will resign from the state cabinet immediately," said an AICC statement released by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi. The statement said that K.H. Muniyappa, MP and former union minister, had been included in the Congress Working Committee as a special invitee. Satish Jarkiholi has been appointed a Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). According to the statement, S.R. Patil will be the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working President, along with present working President Dinesh Gundurao. "Gundurao will look after the party affairs of southern Karnataka and S.R. Patil of northern Karnataka," it added. D.K. Shivakumar, a minister in the present state cabinet, will be the Chairman of the campaign committee for the coming assembly election. Jabalpur: Youth workers of the Congress and the BJP clashed in Baldevbagh locality on Wednesday when the saffron activists tried to storm the Youth Congress' office with a portrait of cow in protest against the slaughtering of a calf in Kerala recently. Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of BJP, had announced that they will worship a cow at the YC office in the area this evening, sources said. As a group of BJYM workers, led by its city president Sonu Bajawani, broke the barricades put up by police at Aga Chowk, the activists of Youth Congress and NSUI (National Students' Union of India) also arrived at the spot, following which a fight broke out between them, a police official said. He said the activists from both sides attacked each other with stones and sticks. He said police used mild cane charge to disperse the activists. No one was injured in the clash, the official said, adding that no case has been registered so far as nobody has approached police. In a controversial move, the Central government recently notified rules to ban sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter at animal markets, triggering a massive political storm with the chief ministers of West Bengal and Kerala opposing the move. Amid protests in the Left-ruled Kerala, a calf was slaughtered on May 28 allegedly by workers of the youth wing of the party. A creator of the Android software powering smartphones around the world steps into the hardware market with a handset that promises to tackle the clutter, complexity and rapid obsolescence of current devices. Andy Rubin said in an online post that he is issuing a high-quality phone called Essential that includes accessories such as a 360-camera that can be attached magnetically. "For all the good Android has done to help bring technology to nearly everyone, it has also helped create this weird new world where people are forced to fight with the very technology that was supposed to simplify their lives," he said. The Essential smartphones will first be released in the United States, where they can be reserved at the website www.essential.com for $699. The 360-camera can be ordered for an additional $50. Rubin expects Essential phones, which are powered by Android software, to begin shipping in about 30 days. Rubin said he created the company behind Essential to use "21st-century methods to build products for the way people want to live in the 21st century." That mission includes letting people decide what features they want on phones, keeping products simple, using premium materials and enabling devices to evolve so they don`t "become outdated every year." Google`s abandoned Project Ara dabbled with the idea that smartphones users could customize their devices with modular components. Motorola however recently began to sell its own Android-powered modular smartphone. Rubin was a co-founder of Android, which Google bought in 2005. Google makes Android software -- which powers most of the world`s smartphones -- available free to device makers. But Rubin left the company about three years ago to launch a fund devoted to cultivating hardware technology startups. The Essential will have to compete in a crowded field. "Andy Rubin has quite a reputation and anything he launches will be accorded a fair measure of respect," Jackdaw Research analyst Jan Dawson said. "But the pitch here feels so much like almost every other new entrant in the market," he added. "I`m extremely skeptical that this phone will do any better than any other recent attempt to change the smartphone market."Rubin showed off the Essential phone during an on-stage interview at a Code Conference in California late Tuesday. He said that his company is also working on a digital assistant device along the lines of Google Home or Amazon Echo. Essential is creating a new "Ambient" operating system to power the home assistant. Rubin said the goal is to make it capable of interacting with the broad array of smart appliances or household gadgets no matter which company makes them. "Building bridges is the way we are thinking about this home device." The Essential home assistant will have a touch screen as well as voice-command capabilities. Rubin wants the device to be able to synch with digital assistant software made by Amazon, Apple, Google and others. "I want to be inclusive," Rubin said at Code. "The premise is that consumers don`t want just one company`s products in the living room. We have to inter-operate." Rubin is chief executive of Essential, which is the first company spun out of a design studio at the venture fund he founded after leaving Google. Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches at the premises of Congress leader Baba Siddique and few others in the Maharashtra capital over the Slum Rehabilitation scam. News agency PTI has quoted officials as saying that raids are being carried out in at least six locations in Mumbai, including that of builder Rafique Maqbul Qureshi. Maqbul is believed to be a close associate of Siddiqui. They added that the ED has registered a criminal case against Siddique and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of a local police FIR in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of a slum area in suburban Bandra. The agency also suspects usage of shell companies in committing the alleged irregularities and hence the raids are being conducted to gather more evidence, they said. The scam amounts to approximately Rs 100 crore. As per rules, whenever a plot is developed in the slum area, a portion of it is devoted to the slum-dwellers. However, it has been alleged that the fraud was done with the help of false documents. During the raids, documents showing money being sent to Siddiqui's company have been found from Qureshi's place. Siddique has been a Congress MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly and also served as a Municipal Corporator. (With Agency inputs) Thane: A Thane court sentenced a man to 10-years rigorous imprisonment under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for possessing hashish. District judge Hemant Patwardhan last week sentenced Amit Brijmohan (33), a resident of Nand Nagri in New Delhi, to 10-years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh in the 2011 case. According to the prosecution, three persons, including Amit, were arrested from Kashimira bus stand in Bhayander here for possessing 18 kg hashish on February 5, 2011. They had brought the contraband here for selling it. The two other accused in the case -- Mohammed Hameed and Mohammed Iqbal Abdul -- are absconding. The judge observed that the evidence brought before court is consistent, reliable and is sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. "I therefore, do not hesitate to record my findings against point in affirmative," he said. The judge also accepted the plea submitted by Amit, requesting that he be transferred to a Delhi jail since his family lives there and can meet him. The court said, "Jailer is directed to consider transfer of the accused to Central Jail at Delhi, if rules in respect thereof permit." Kolkata: Actor Vikram Chatterjee, who was previously accused of rash and negligent driving, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death of city model Sonika Chauhan in a car accident, police on Tuesday. "Chatterjee has been charged under Section 304 of the IPC on Tuesday after police received a forensic report that shows the speed of the car was between 95 to 115 km per hour a few seconds before the accident," said Kolkata police's Joint Commissioner, Crime, Vishal Garg. The actor was previously charged with rash driving (Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code) and causing death by negligence (Section 304A) after the accident, police said. During the previous interrogation, he confessed to having consumed alcohol on the night of the accident, but claimed that he was not drunk and the car was not speeding. Chatterjee was on the wheels of his car while his partner Sonika was on the front seat when the accident happened on a south Kolkata street on their way back from a party on April 29. Sonika was rushed to a city hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The actor himself sustained head injury in the accident and was hospitalised. Hyderabad: The last rites of veteran film director and former Union Minister Dasari Narayana Rao, who died on Tuesday, will be performed near here with state honours today, a Telangana minister said Cinematography Minister T Srinivas Yadav announced that Rao will be cremated at his farm house at Chevella near here. Yadav visited Rao's residence in Jubliee Hills to pay his last tributes. He later told reporters that on the direction of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the last rites would be performed with state honours. The body will be kept at his house from 6 a.m. to enable people to pay their last respects. Family members said the body will be later shifted to the office of Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce where film industry will bid him adieu. Later, the body will be taken to Chevella for last rites. Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan said he is not in a position to comment on actress Priyanka Chopra's online trolling over her dress during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Priyanka had met Modi yesterday in Berlin and she shared a picture on her social media account. However, the actress faced criticism from some sections, who objected to her short dress and slammed her for not being appropriately dressed in front of the prime minister. When asked about the criticism that Priyanka faced, Bachchan told reporters, "I am neither PM, nor Priyanka Chopra. How can I answer then?" The 74-year-old actor was speaking at the launch of a single "Phir Se", which has been sung by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis' wife, Amruta Fadnavis. The song features both Amruta and Bachchan and has been directed by Ahmed Khan. The T-series single has been composed by Jeet Gangulii, arranged by Abhijit Vaghani and written by Rashmi Virag. Rajasthan High Court recommended life imprisonment for cow slaughter and urged the Centre to make cow India's national animal. Justice Sharma, while speaking to media, said cow is pious like peacock as the national bird does not have sex to reproduce. We find out the truth. By India Today Web Desk: Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma of Rajasthan High Court has set social media on fire saying peacock is India's national bird because the bird does not have sex to reproduce. Justice Sharma said that the peahen gets pregnant drinking the tears of the peacock. We know cow is a holy animal in India. Slaughtering cows hurt religious sentiments of many Hindus. Cows have also become an excuse for extreme Hindutva organisations to thrash Muslims mercilessly, and to even kill them in the name of 'gau raksha'. advertisement Tiger is the national animal of India. But as cow is becoming the single most important source of controversies in the nation, of course other than assault on women, many people feel cow should be India's national animal. The Rajasthan High Court judge Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma thinks so too. This morning, the Rajasthan High Court recommended life imprisonment for cow slaughter. Justice Sharma also urged the Centre to declare cow India's national animal. Keeping in mind Articles 48 and 51A(g) of the Constitution and to provide legal entity for their proper protection and conservation of cow, it is expected from the government that cow is declared a national animal," Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma said in his 145-page order after hearing the Hingonia Gaushala case. It was Justice Sharma's last day at work today. Interacting with the media post giving the verdict, Justice Sharma said, "Peacock is a bramhachari and it does not have sex with a female peacock. The peahen gets pregnant drinking the tears of the peacock. Even lord Krishna carried the feather of a peacock on his head." HOW DO PEACOCKS MATE? Peacocks mate how other birds mate. Female peacocks do not impregnate themselves by gulping down make peacock's tears. That happens only in mythology. Male peacock usually spread its tail feathers, strut about shaking the feathers and attract the attention of the female peacock. The female peacocks, often picky, mates with the male peacock who has the largest and most colourful feathers. Male peacocks even dances before the female peacock to impress and to get an indication of consent unlike many human beings. Once female peacock consents, the male peacocks jumps on the female peacock's back, align its sexual organ known as cloacas and have intercourse. Here's a video to prove peacocks do not swallow tear drops to satisfy their bodily needs: Unlike human beings, peacocks are polygamous and are open about it. Male peacocks often part ways with the female peacocks after mating, and in search of new mates. The female peacocks do not expect male peacocks to help it to raise the young ones either. advertisement HOW DO MYTHOLOGICAL PEACOCKS MATE? As per Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna is adorned with peacock feather as a sign of purity. Peacock feather is considered pure because the myth has it that peacocks and peahens do not mate to reproduce, but that the peahen gets impregnated by swallowing peacock's tears. INTERNET TRUMPS JUSTICE SHARMA Since internet is internet, it doesn't disappoint. There have been many discussions on Quora about the piousness of peacock even before Justice Sharma triggered a conversation about how peacocks mate, and people have been sensible enough to understand that impregnation through the intake of tear drops is nothing but a myth. This is one of the answers on Quora. There are versions supporting what Justice Sharma says too. Because, internet. Also read: Make cow national animal, give life imprisonment for slaughter: Rajasthan High Court tells Centre Beef fest at IIT-Madras: Student groups hold protests against attack on PhD scholar Kerala calf slaughter row: How ban on cattle sale turned into a full blown political controversy advertisement IIT PhD scholar thrashed for organising 'beef fest' in Chennai Watch Video: Judge who said peacocks don't have sex shares another gem: Science and law originated from religion --- ENDS --- New Delhi: Bollywood's Badshah Shah Rukh Khan is currently shooting for his next with director Aanand L Rai in Mumbai and this morning reports of an accident hit the headlines. It is being said that SRK escaped unhurt in a fatal accident which took place on the film sets. However, now it is reported that it was a rumour. According to Miss Kyra.com, an insider source on the set denied the news and said that nothing like this happened on the sets of the film and all the stories floating around are rumours. The report has been originally attributed to Mumbai Mirror. It was reported that a portion of a ceiling collapsed, hurting two crew members. The injured members were rushed to a hospital in Andheri. And SRK was seated on another side of the set and was unharmed. Aanand L Rai's film titled 'Katrina Meri Jaan' will see SRK playing a dwarf for the first time with Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif as the leading ladies. This will be the trio's second film together after YRF's 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan'. New Delhi: Priyanka Chopra has earned good recognition in the West with her TV series 'Quantico' and her recent release 'Baywatch'. PeeCee who is now a global icon has always managed to impress her fans with her work and energy. Recently while promoting her movie 'Baywatch' in Berlin, Priyanka happened to meet the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. She took to share the pictures of her meeting with the Indian PM and called it a 'lovely coincidence'. Not long after that, people started trolling and shaming Priyanka for 'showing too much legs' in front of the prime minister and thought of it to be disrespectful. PiggyChops felt the need to take down her Instagram post with Narendra Modi and to respond to the trolls, uploaded a picture that gives a fitting reply to all the people who shamed her. Priyanka Chopra is showing you how to quietly shut down trolls. Check out what PeeCee posted: More power to you, Priyanka. New Delhi: GST Network has used 'best in class' security solutions to ensure that the IT backbone for the new indirect tax regime is protected from cyber attacks, its CEO Prakash Kumar said on Wednesday. The comment assumes significance as the country is gearing up for an overhaul of its indirect tax regime and thousands of businesses will upload their purchase-sale invoices on the GST Network (GSTN) on a daily basis. GSTN is a company that provides technology backbone for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which is expected to be rolled out from July 1. "We are ready for July 1 and we have put the best-in- class security solution and the best methodology while developing software codes," Kumar told PTI. The GSTN system has been functional since November 2016 and over 60.5 lakh existing excise, service tax and VAT assessees have already migrated to the GSTN portal. Reports of cyber attacks have been hogging headlines this month with nearly 100 countries, including India, being hit by massive ransomware that infected over 2 lakh systems that were running on old version of Microsoft softwares like Windows XP. But GSTN did not face any issues as its system operates on Linux software. Kumar said that the security features are embedded into the GSTN software at the code level itself and the data is encrypted. "The access is role based and the network has firewalls and adequate safety and security features to protect from cyber attack," he said. Kumar said multiple layers of security have been put in place at the data centre level where the entire information will be stored. Billed as the single biggest tax reform since independence, the GST will unify 16 different taxes and will transform India into a single market. Companies will now have to rejig their IT strategy to comply with the tax filing, refund and return norms under the GST regime. In all, there are 11 different types of tax return forms under the GST regime and the entire information will be stored in the GSTN database. These information include a trader's outward and inward supplies of taxable goods and/or services, monthly and quarterly returns and return for non-resident foreign taxable person as well as details of supplies channelised through e- commerce operators. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is allegedly not serving breakfast and lunch to the non-Muslim students during the ongoing month-long fasting fest of Ramazan. As per the students, the university mess is only serving them sehri (food before dawn at around 3:00 a.m.) and dinner. "As the university is closed, we are only serving Sehri and Dinner. We are not serving breakfast and dinner during Ramazan," said Samash Uddin, AMU dining hall in-charge. After the student's ire, the university administration has now promised to provide food thrice a day. AMU PRO Umar Salim Pirzada said it is the custom of the University which is being followed from quite a long time and now they are making arrangements to provide lunch on demands of the students. Meanwhile, former AMU student and National leader Amir Rashid said that he received complaint from few students after which action was taken on the same. "We wrote a letter to the RSS and BJP based on the complaint filed by the students after which the University administration agreed to make changes in their 97 year old tradition," he said. On the other hand, after the news went viral on social media, the Central University in an official statement said the hostels are serving food for students who are not observing the Ramadan fast. It also clarified that the university hostels and residential halls have a tradition of serving food who are not observing the fast. "Dining Halls of various residential halls and hostels in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) are serving food in the lunch hours during the holy month of Ramadan to students, who are not observing the fast", said the statement from the university. The university statement also said, "AMU has a tradition of serving lunch to students, who do not fast during Ramadan. The lunch has always been served to students on their demand." On May 29, in a tweet, Prashant Patel Umrao, an advocate alleged that the hostels at the university are not serving lunch and breakfast to Hindu students due to Ramadan. Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said his government seeks a harmonious solution to the Ramjanmbhoomi dispute within the ambit of law through talks, after he visited Ayodhya and offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple here. Adityanath's visit was the first by an Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to the site in 15 years, and it was also his first to the town after taking charge. Speaking at a public meeting here, Adityanath said that while other governments always did politics on the dispute and ignored development of the holy city, his government is concerned about its all-round development. "We will try for an amicable solution to the Ayodhya Ramjanmbhoomi dispute, within the ambit of law. The dispute should be resolved by dialogue," Yogi Adityanath said. The Chief Minister said he is happy to see that many Muslim groups from Lucknow have come forward in recent days with a proposal to handover the Ramjanmbhoomi to Hindus. "I hope that a harmonious solution is found. Especially now since the Supreme Court has also expressed its willingness in that direction," he said. Adityanath also held a meeting with the administration for two and half hours and participated in the birthday celebrations of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chief priest and head of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyaas, which led the Ram temple movement in the 1990s. He also offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi temple and Sarayu ghat. The Chief Minister announced development fund of Rs 350 crore for fixing the drainage system, renovation of ghats of Sarayu river, staging of 'never ending' Ramlila for the pilgrims and beautification of the temple town. Adityanath also instructed to start daily Sarayu Arti on the lines of Ganga Arti in Varanasi. "Earlier governments neglected Ayodhya and felt ashamed of working for its development. They even tried to restrict the Churasi Kosi Parikrama... We will begin all these...We will change everything now and provide all facilities to pilgrims visiting Ayodhya," the Chief Minister said. He said his government is coming up with similar schemes for Mathura, Varanasi and other places of religious importance. "I went to Hanuman Garhi, Ram Janmbhoomi and Sarayu ghat, and suggested that we improve the ghats and beautify the Ram ki Pedi area... We'll also see to it that the city drains do not pollute Saryu river, and for that we will build a Sewage Treatment Plant," he said. Adityanath is the first Chief Minister from the state to pray at the Ram Janmabhoomi since 2002. Adityanath's visit comes a day after a CBI special court in Lucknow ordered framing of criminal conspiracy charges against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veterans L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Minister Uma Bharti along with nine others in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case. Officials, however, told IANS that there was no link between the court proceedings and Adityanath's visit to Ayodhya and said that it was pre-scheduled. On Tuesday, the BJP Chief Minister had called on BJP veterans Advani, Joshi and Bharti, ahead of their court appearance. Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple here, a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. In his first visit to Ayodhya after taking charge, Adityanath went to the makeshift temple in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex and spent nearly 30 minutes there. He stressed on the need for resolution of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute through talks between both the communities. "I want the dispute to be resolved through discussion. The Uttar Pradesh government will extend full cooperation in this regard," he said. Adityanath also claimed that some Muslim organisations he met in Lucknow are also in favour of a Ram Mandir. He said this while addressing a public meeting on the occasion of the birthday celebrations of VHP leader Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, president of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas Trust and one of the 12 people against whom the CBI court yesterday framed charges. According to Adityanath, "Ayodhya dham was always neglected. All possible attempts were made that no work is done here. Any work was stopped before completion or it was ensured that work do not start." Adityanath reached Faizabad in the morning and prayed at the famous Hanumangarhi Temple, accompanied among others by Dharam Das, another person against whom conspiracy charges were framed yesterday. He also offered payers on the banks of the Saryu river here. Yesterday, a special CBI court in Lucknow had framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19. Adityanath had yesterday gone to the VVIP guest house in Lucknow to meet Advani, who had come to appear before the court. Today Adityanath held a meeting with BJP MLAs, MPs and senior officials of the Faizabad area and reviewed the law and order situation as well as development issues. He also inaugurated a Passport Sewa Kendra at the head post office in Faizabad. Shanghai: A man has been arrested and two are missing in China after conducting an investigation into a Chinese company making Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, China Labor Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, said on Wednesday. Labour activist Hua Haifeng was arrested in Jiangxi province on suspicion of illegally using eavesdropping equipment, according to Li Qiang, executive director of the group China Labor Watch. The three men had been investigating factories that produce shoes for Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, and other Western brands, he said in an e-mail. "We appeal to President Trump, Ivanka Trump herself, and to her related brand company to advocate and press for the release our activists," China Labor Watch said in the e-mail to Reuters. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment. The White House and Ivanka Trump`s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Calls to provincial police in Jiangxi and Ganzhou city police were not answered. The reported arrest and disappearances come at a time of sustained pressure on labour activists in China amid a crackdown on civil society under President Xi Jinping. In recent years, many labour rights activists have reported being intimidated and harassed, temporarily detained, or restricted in their movement. Li said in 17 years of activism, including investigations of hundreds of factories in China, his group had never had anyone arrested on suspicion of having committed a crime. "This is the first time we`ve come across this kind of situation," he said, adding the accusation against Hua had "no factual basis". Li said Hua and another investigator, Li Zhao, had worked covertly at a shoe factory in the city of Dongguan, in Guangdong province, that was owned by the Huajian Group. A third, Su Heng, had worked at a related factory in the city of Ganzhou in Jiangxi but went incommunicado after May 27. Both factories produced Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, Li Qiang said. Hua had been investigating a vocational school in Jiangxi affiliated with the parent company of the factories when he was arrested. The investigators had discovered evidence that workers` rights had been violated, Li said. A woman surnamed Mu who said she was in charge of recruitment at Huajian said she had not heard about the case. A switchboard operator at Huajian`s headquarters declined to transfer Reuters to company officials in a position to address questions about the situation. Hua and Li Zhao had been warned by authorities weeks ago that they were suspected of having broken the law, Li Qiang said. Dharamsala: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has offered prayers for the victims of floods in Sri Lanka and financial assistance for the relief and rescue work there, a statement said on Wednesday. In a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Dalai Lama expressed sympathy for the loss of life and damage to the property. "I offer my condolences," he wrote, "and prayers for all the families who have lost loved ones or have been affected by this devastating natural disaster. As a token of my sympathy and concern, I have asked the Dalai Lama Trust to make a donation to the relief and rescue work." The UN said based on previous emergencies, drinking water, and non-food items were identified as immediate needs by the National Disaster Relief Services Centre in the island-nation. It was the worst flooding in Sri Lanka since 2003 that claimed more than 180 lives. A total of 545,243 people were affected by the disaster. Washington: US President Donald Trump is likely to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate change agreement which was a major foreign policy legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama, media reports said on Wednesday. In a tweet, Trump said he would be announcing his decision on the 2015 Paris climate deal in the next few days. "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. Make America great again!," Trump said. Two major news outlets Axis and CBS News reported that the US President had made a decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change and the administration has been informing world leaders about it. "Details on just how exactly the US will be withdrawing are still being worked out by a team that includes EPA administrator Scott Pruitt," CBS News reported. "A full, formal withdrawal could take up to three years to execute, unravelling one of former President Barack Obama's major achievements in office to reduce the impacts of climate change," it added. The Pruitt team is deciding on whether to initiate a full, formal withdrawal which could take three years or exit the underlying United Nations climate change treaty, which would be faster but more extreme, Axis reported. "Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could do to unravel Obama's climate legacy. It sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritise climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal," it said. According to 'The Hill' newspaper, the move marks a dramatic departure from the Obama administration, which was instrumental in crafting the deal. "It also makes the US an outlier among the world's nations, nearly all of whom support the climate change accord," it said. A day earlier, Trump on return from his maiden overseas trip met with Pruitt. "One of the topics that they discussed, of course, was the President's upcoming decision on the Paris Climate Accords," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference. This is the subject that the President is spending a great deal of time on, and one that he spoke to the G7 members about during their meetings, he said. "Ultimately, he wants a fair deal for the American people and he will have an announcement coming on that shortly," Spicer said. Meanwhile, influential Republican Senator Ted Cruz yesterday urged the US President to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change. Earlier, a group of 22 Republican Senators including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a letter urged Trump to withdraw from the agreement. By Press Trust of India: Madrid, May 31 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid a courtesy call to Spanish King Felipe VI at Palacio de la Zarzuela palace on the outskirts of Madrid. "A royal greeting! PM @narendramodi calls on His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain at Palacio de la Zarzuela," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with photographs of the two leaders. advertisement Earlier, Prime Minister Modi met Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace this morning. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1988, praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoys leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." From Spain, Modi will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. PTI ZH AKJ ZH --- ENDS --- Brussels: The European Union and China will give their unconditional backing to the Paris climate accord at a bilateral summit in Brussels on Friday, whether or not the US leaves the pact, an EU official said Wednesday. "We will issue a joint statement on climate change that will stress that China and the EU... will implement the agreement," the senior EU official told reporters on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity. "The Paris Agreement will continue with full force of implementation even if the US pulls out," he added. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in Brussels late Thursday for talks with EU president Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, with climate change at the top of the agenda. The Brussels talks follow a tense international tour by US President Donald Trump in which he spurned pleas by his European counterparts to adhere to the 2015 Paris climate accord. US media reported Wednesday that Trump had decided to pull the United States out of the Paris accord. In a tweet, Trump said an announcement would come in the "next few days", ratcheting up the tension over what could be one of the biggest decisions of his presidency. A pullout by Washington would deal a devastating blow to global efforts to combat climate change less than 18 months after the historic 196-party pact was signed in Paris. But European officials insisted that the deal would remain on track. "I understand that if they decide to pull out it will be disappointing but I really don`t think this will change the course of mankind," European Commission vice president for energy, Maros Sefcovic, said at a briefing. "Despite this possible rollback of the US administration, Europe is ready for the leadership (on climate change) and we will definitely provide it," he added. Jerusalem: The Arab-Israeli Six-Day War erupted early on Monday, June 5, 1967, a morning that saw heavy Israeli bombing of Egyptian air bases near Cairo and in the Suez desert. Within a few hours almost all Egyptian aircraft had been grounded. Israel essentially won the war on the first day by ensuring it had control of the skies.At 7:24 am local time, a news flash from Tel Aviv says that Egyptian planes and tanks have attacked Israel. A few minutes later, an official statement speaks of heavy fighting in the south between Israeli and Egyptian forces following an invasion by the Egyptians and an Israeli counter-attack. Air raid sirens sound in Tel Aviv and alerts are triggered in other Israeli cities. Most historians now believe that in fact, the Israeli air force opened the hostilities in crushing the Egyptian air bases. At 8:12 am, Egyptian radio interrupts its programme to declare that "Israeli forces launched an assault on us this morning. They staged air raids on Cairo and our aircraft went after the enemy planes." Initially muffled explosions grow louder and sirens blare in the Egyptian capital.Israeli army reservists are called up and trucks are commandeered, while armoured vehicles move south, breaking through Egyptian lines, deep into the Sinai Peninsula. Civilian airports are shut down near Cairo and a nationwide state of emergency is then declared. Civil defence units are mobilised in Syria as Radio Damascus interrupts its broadcast to announce that Israel has attacked Egypt.Shortly after 10:00 am, Syria says its planes have begun to bomb Israeli positions. Jordan declares martial law and places its armed forces under Egyptian command before declaring war on Israel a few hours later. Iraq, Kuwait and Sudan follow suit, as do Algeria and Yemen, to be joined later by Saudi Arabia. In Jerusalem, street battles break out between the Israeli and Jordanian sectors, and fighting quickly spreads to Israel`s borders with Jordan and Syria. Heavy fighting is reported early in the day on the Israeli-Jordanian front. Syrian planes hit the coastal towns of Haifa, while the Israelis target the Damascus airport with waves of attacks.Both Egypt and Israel are sure of victory and in many Arab countries the mood is upbeat. Official statements never mention defeat. Elsewhere, global leaders are dismayed. Pope Paul VI asks that Jerusalem be declared an open city. The UN Security Council meets in emergency session and US president Lyndon B. Johnson asks all sides to help him reach a ceasefire.Israeli troops capture the Gaza border town of Khan Yunis and all the Egyptian and Palestinian forces in the sector, an AFP special correspondent reports late in the day. That protects Israel`s western flank and its forces engaged with a large part of Egypt`s army to the south, the report says.That night, Israeli prime minister Levi Eshkol tells the Knesset that all fighting is taking place in Egypt and on the Sinai Peninsula. He says serious damage has been done to the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian air forces. That is what determines the outcome of the Six-Day War. At midnight, Israel says it has decimated the Egyptian air force. Some 400 aircraft, including 300 Egyptian and 50 Syrian, were shot down from the first day. Madhyamanchal: Nepal on Wednesday postponed local elections for a third time after its tiny Muslim community expressed concerns about the polls clashing with the holy month of Ramadan. The elections -- the first at local level in 20 years and a key step in Nepal`s drawn-out peace process that ended a civil war in 2006 -- have been beset by delays. They were originally supposed to be held on one day but were split into two phases upon objections from the Madhesi, a minority group living along the border with India. The first phase went ahead in mid-May but the second was delayed earlier this week in an attempt by the government to appease Madhesi parties threatening to boycott the process. The government has now been forced to push back the date a third time to avoid a clash with the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. "The government has decided to postpone the polls to June 28 upon the request of the Muslim community, because June 23 was a major event of the Ramadan festival," Kumar Khadka, a government minister, told AFP. Muslims make up little more than four percent of the population in Hindu-majority Nepal. The new date puts the polls at the height of the monsoon season, raising further concerns that voters in remote areas could struggle to reach polling stations. The monsoon in Nepal lasts for nearly three months from early June to late August, and travel is frequently disrupted. Chronic underinvestment and poor maintenance has left the impoverished Himalayan nation with a limited network of paved roads. Many remote villages are served only by trails, which are often impassable during the monsoon when landslides are common. The government acknowledged the threat posed by poor weather but assured voters that long-term forecasts had been consulted ahead of the decision. "The only challenge to delaying the polls is the monsoon. But according to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal the department of meteorology informed him that the monsoon will not be strong until June 28 this year," Khadka said. Moscow: A Russian frigate and a submarine in the eastern Mediterranean fired four missiles at Islamic State targets near Palmyra in Syria, the Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday. Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying in a statement that Russia informed the US, Turkish and Israeli military forces of the strike in advance. YEREVAN, 31 MAY, ARMENPRESS. On the sidelines of the official visit to Cyprus, Armenias defense minister Vigen Sargsyan laid a wreath at the Filakizmena mnimata ( ) monument on May 30. The monument is dedicated to the Cypriot heroes who were sentenced to death by the British leadership on the island during the 1955-1959 national-liberation struggle. The monument is located in the territory of Nicosias central prison, where the fallen heroes are buried. Minister Vigen Sargsyan paid tribute to the memory of the fallen fighters and left a note in the honorary guest book, the defense ministry told ARMENPRESS. On May 30, the Armenian defense minister also laid a wreath at the monument in Nicosias military pantheon, which is dedicated to the memory of the fallen Cypriot soldiers who died during the subsequent military operations as the Turkish army invaded Cyprus in 1974. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan on May 30 met with Archbishop of All Cyprus Chrysostomos II, the Ministry told Armenpress. During the meeting Archbishop Chrysostomos II thanked the Armenian Defense Minister for visiting the spiritual center of Cyprus, warmly talked about the centuries-old friendship between the two peoples, the church commonalities, commitment to similar universal values. Chrysostomos II specifically highlighted the role of Armenian community in maintaining the Armenian-Cypriot friendship. Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan thanked for warm reception, highlighting the necessity of developing dialogue between the Christian churches, as well as facing the contemporary challenges through preservation of national identity, cultural and spiritual values. He emphasized the churchs historically unique role for the Armenian people. Vigen Sargsyan also presented the key role of Armenian Apostolic church in army-building works, in the face of spiritual service. The sides agreed that the firm ties between the two churches contribute to strengthening the inter-state ties and deepening the relations. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the visit of German lawmakers to Incirlik Air Base is not possible, Anadolu reports. Commenting on German Chancellor Angela Merkels statement where she said they will try for the last time to reach agreement with Turkey, and then will make a decision to stay in or leave Incirlik, Cavusoglu said: Germany has negative stances on Turkey, and we voice about this very often. We see how Germany supports everything which is against Turkey. Speaking at a news conference with his Gabonese counterpart Pacome Moubelet Boubeya, the Turkish FM blamed the German side on supporting the Gulenists and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as well as on exerting pressure on people in Germany who were in favor of the Turkish constitutional referendum. He said in such circumstances it is not possible to allow the German lawmakers to visit the Air Base. Cavusoglu emphasized that if German takes some positive steps, they might reconsider their decision. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Several people were killed and dozens were taken to hospitals after a powerful explosion rocked the Afghan capital near the German and Iranian embassies, according to Kabul police, doctors and local journalists, RT reports. The precise target of the attack, believed to be a car bomb, was not immediately clear, with many embassies and government buildings located in the same area. The blast struck at around 8:30am local time Wednesday. Pajhwok Afghan News reports that dozens of people were killed in the blast and more than 100 injured. Earlier, the agency cited the Health Ministry as saying that at least 60 people were hospitalized. "It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is," a police spokesman said, as cited by Reuters. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The United States is now supplying Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces with heavy machine guns, small arms and ammunition to battle Islamic State terrorists near their stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, RT reports. Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told RT that this move represents the "early steps to prepare for the eventual liberation of Raqqa," which the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has declared the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate. Amid reports of US delivering arms to the Kurdish-controlled northern Syrian city of Hasakah in recent weeks, Turkish President Recep Erdogan called the US decision a mistake and urged US authorities to reverse it immediately. By Press Trust of India: Panaji, May 31 (PTI) Bringing a much needed respite from prickly heat, pre-monsoon showers today lashed Goa, causing water-logging in many low-lying areas and flooding of streets in the state capital and other locations. As per a prediction made by the Met department, the rains will continue for the next 48 hours. "The current rainfall is due to a offshore turf that is developed away from the west coast in the deep sea. The turf is running from South Maharashtra to Kerala coast, resulting in the rains in this area," M C Sahu, Director, India Meteorological Observatory in Goa told PTI. advertisement He said the showers will continue for the next 48 hours and heavy rains are expected at isolated places while moderate rains in rest of the state. "The rainfall will be reduced after 48 hours and will be scattered," Sahu said, adding that the south west monsoon is expected to arrive in Goa around June 6, with a delay of a day or two. Meanwhile, the Met department has rubbished a rumour attributing todays downpour to cyclone Mora in the Bay of Bengal. "Rains in Goa have nothing to do with Mora cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone has already weakened and it has no impact on Goa," Sahu said. He said there is no prediction of gusty winds in the state. "The winds are not very strong. They are travelling at the speed of 10 kms per hour," Sahu said. The Met department has installed a Doppler radar at its Goa facility which has became operational and giving good results, according to the director. The sudden rains today, however, caught people unaware and also severely affected the normal life in the state. With low-lying areas in Panaji and other locations getting inundated due to rains, the traffic moved at a snails pace, causing a huge inconvenience to people. State Fire and Emergency Services reported several instances of falling of trees. "There were eight calls received from Panaji city itself. All were about falling of trees which were attended to immediately," a senior official said. PTI RPS NSK --- ENDS --- YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine have fired four Kalibr missiles at the facilities of the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia) located near the city of Palmyra, the Russian Defense Ministry said, TASS reports. The the submarine fired missiles from underwater. The attack targeted terrorist shelters east of Palmyra, where militants armed with heavy weapons had moved from Raqqa, the Defense Ministry added. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Council of Europe launched investigation over the corruption scandal at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) involving Azerbaijan, BBC reports. Some PACE members are accused of doing favours for Azerbaijan. In particular, there are suspicions that Azerbaijan influenced PACEs rejection of 2013 report: during that time PACE rejected a report by German Social Democrat MP Christoph Strasser, which deplored human rights abuses in Azerbaijan and urged the authorities there to release political prisoners. According to some reports, Azerbaijan offered bribe worth more than 2.5 million USD to one of PACE members Luca Volonte for the report to be rejected. Three top international human rights lawyers - Sir Nicholas Bratza from the UK, a former president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Jean-Louis Bruguiere, a top anti-terrorism judge from France and Elisabet Fura, a Swedish former judge at the ECHR, will investigate the PACE corruption allegations and will report their findings by the end of 2017. Azerbaijan denied all charges. The European Stability Initiative (ESI) published a report in December 2016 according to which some parliamentarians in PACE had engaged in political lobbying for Azerbaijan. There were claims that some received Azerbaijani payments. In March Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland wrote to PACE President Pedro Agramunt, urging him to establish an independent external investigation body without any further delay. Many PACE MPs supported this demand who stated that the PACE integrity was threatened by serous and credible allegations of grave misconduct. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Armenias minister of economic development and investments Suren Karayan visited the Amulsar project site and the nearby communities to review Lydian Armenias economic and social development programs, the ministry told ARMENPRESS. The minister discussed the process, volume and schedule of the investment program with the companys executives. CEO of Lydian Armenia Hayk Aloyan briefed the minister and his delegation on the overall characteristics of the Amulsar projects investment and economic impact. According to the CEO, Amulsar is currently the largest international investment in Armenia. Capital investments in the research and exploration phase amounted nearly 90 million dollars, while investments expenditures for acquisition of equipment and construction works for preparing the mine until completion will amount an additional 370 million dollars. Currently over 570 employees are involved in the works, 280 being from nearby communities. More than 1300 people will be employed during construction works. 700 permanent jobs will be created during the further 10 years of mining. Aloyan mentioned that the first gold extraction will be carried out in spring 2018. We have committed to create an exemplary program and international investors are following this project. The investment reputation also depends on Lydians success. When the program succeeds, international investors will follow our example and will invest in Armenia, Aloyan said. The minister was also briefed on the details of Amulsar projects nature preservation management. Armen Stepanyan, senior manager of sustainable development, mentioned that Amulsar is the first mining project in Armenia to be carried out in line with the Nature Preservation and Social Impact Assessment IFC and EBRD standards ensuring Amulsars design through modern nature preservation technologies and requirements. Stepanyan said nature preservation and social impact assessment regarding Amulsar project has been carried out in accordance to all international standards. All risk have been assessed, including those which are voiced by the nature preservation community and relevant actions were designed in a way that all residual effects are either non-existent or within acceptable limits. The minister also reviwed the new business programs in the nearby communities, which were initiated due to the projects, namely the Gndevaz sewing plant, and then Jermuks renovated arts school. The Lydian Armenia executives said that nearly 3 million dollars were invested since the launch of the project for social-economic development programs of nearby communities. In his speech, the minister reaffirmed the governments readiness to assist international investments, at the same time attaching importance for these investments to bring not only economic benefits, but also the best international experience, namely the best mining experience by increasing the requirements for mining industry and introducing a new culture of corporate responsibility. In case of realization of the Amulsar investment project, its impact on Armenias economy will be significant: nearly 2% annual GDP growth. Lydian Armenias SME development programs in communities are also very important, for example the success story of the sewing plant in Gndevaz, the minister said. The minister will once again visit the Amulsar site after two months. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The extraordinary session convened by the Government began in the Parliament on May 31, reports Armenpress. 88 MPs were registered. The lawmakers will discuss and vote 5 issues of the agenda at the second reading. During the May 30 session, the lawmakers discussed and voted 5 legislative initiatives of the agenda at first reading. 87 MPs voted in favor of the legislative initiative to make changes and amendments in the Law on TV and Radio and making changes in the Law on State Fee. No one abstained and voted against. 89 MPs voted in favor of the draft law on making changes and amendments in the Law on International Agreements. The draft law on making change in the Law on Judicial Acts was unanimously adopted, with 89 votes in favor. 58 MPs voted in favor of the draft law on making change in the Law on Structure of Government and the related draft laws, with 11 MPs against ad 19 abstained. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The 14 year old child who fell into an elevator shaft in Vanadzor, Lori, is in serious condition, Anna Chobanyan head of the intensive care unit of the Saint Mary hospital told ARMENPRESS. Chobanyan said the child has sustained numerous fractures. A surgery is planned for today or tomorrow, we are waiting for stability in the childs health condition. Currently I can say that the child is conscious, she said. In the evening of May 30, rescue services were notified that a child has fallen down the elevator shaft of the building in Vanadzor city, Lori Province, Armenia. Rescuers and ambulances were dispatched to the scene. Prior to first responders reaching the address, the 14 year old had already been taken out from the shaft, while another child, again 14, was taken out of the elevator. Both children were hospitalized. One of the children was treated for minor injuries and discharged from the hospital, while the other 14 year old was in serious condition. A technical safety expert of the local authorities was at the scene, according to the ministry of emergency situation. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The United Nation's top humanitarian co-ordinator Stephen O'Brien has said Yemen is facing total social, economic and institutional collapse, BBC reported. Speaking at the UN Security Council session, O'Brien said Yemen is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, with almost 7 million people on the brink of famine, and now urgent action is needed. "Crisis is not coming, it is not looming, it is here today - on our watch," he said as quoted by BBC. Moreover, Yemen is also facing cholera crisis which killed 500 people, and the UN expects 150,000 cases in the next six months. According to UN estimations, more than 8000 people were killed and over 45 injured in the past two years as a result of the ongoing conflict in Yemen. Over 19 million people need humanitarian assistance. For the past two years, the country has been embroiled in fighting between forces loyal to the internationally recognised president, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and Shia Houthi rebels. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Republic of Artsakh denies reports on opening fire towards Azerbaijani settlements by the Armenian forces. Artsakhs Defense Army has never targeted civilian objects, Davit Babayan, spokesman of the President of Artsakh, told Armenpress. Azerbaijan runs cunning policy, it always deploys various divisions, artillery near the settlements firing shots towards our posts. The Armenian side never targets any civilian object. If those military objects are very close to hospitals or other civilians objects, we do not fire towards that direction. Azerbaijans such policy proves that it wants to carry out any terror attack and to show that Artsakh carries out such actions, and to try to somehow justify itself. I repeat, we have never targeted any civilian object, compared to them, Davit Babayan said. He said if Azerbaijan is not the one which violates the ceasefire regime, in that case why it doesnt agree on increasing the number of observers in the border. Meanwhile, the Armenian side has repeatedly stated that it supports increasing the number of observers. YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will lift visa requirements for citizens of Qatar, with the relevant bill included in the Cabinet meetings June 1 agenda. The decision comes as the multilateral cooperation and ties between Armenia and Qatar are progressing yearly. The number of both tourists and business travelers from the region is increasing. Currently, Qatar Airways is operating flights to Yerevan, and increasing the number of flights is being mulled. The significant growth of Qatari tourist visits to Armenia is also seen. The main visits are tourism oriented, however interest exists for real estate, agriculture and healthcare investments also. The Cabinets decision will enable citizens of Qatar to visit and stay in Armenia for a maximum of 180 days within one year without entry visa. This agreement was reached between Armenia and Qatar during Armenian President Serzh Sargsyans visit to Qatar in May. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Iranian envoy to Afghanistan was wounded in the May 31 deadly car bomb attack in Kabuls diplomatic district, where the German and Iranian embassies, as well the presidential palace are located, according to Erem News media portal and local newspapers. Irans Ambassador Mohammad Reda Barkhami was wounded, the embassy building was damaged, Erem News reported citing Iatimad newspaper. Reports say the buildings of IRNA Irans state news agency, and Irans radio and TV have been damaged. According to latest data, the death toll reached 90, with more than 350 people wounded. Preliminary reports of Afghan authorities state a truck bomb was used in the attack. Witnesses said the majority of the victims are civilians. According to Japanese media, two embassy staff were wounded. Fances foreign minister, Marielle de Sarnez, said the French embassy in Kabul has been damaged, but there are no signs at this stage indicating that there were victims among the employees. The Indian Embassy reported damage to its facilities but no casualties, RT reported. The German Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that a local security officer guarding the embassy premises has been killed in the blast. Though several embassy workers were injured, all employees are now safe. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the insurgent movement had no involvement in the attack, according to Reuters. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. First Deputy Minister of Defense of Armenia Artak Zakaryan on May 31 hosted Estonian Parliaments (Riigikogu) representatives led by Chairman of National Defense Committee Hannes Hanso and Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson, the Ministry told Armenpress. During the meeting issues related to intensifying the Armenian-Estonian cooperation in defense field, the process of defense reforms, Armenia-NATO cooperation, international peacekeeping missions and regional security were discussed. Both sides attached importance to deepening parliamentary ties which can serve as a good base for intensifying and developing the bilateral relations in the defense sector. By the request of guests, Artak Zakaryan talked about certain issues. In particular, speaking about the EU-Armenia new framework agreement which will be signed soon, the First Deputy Minister said the European Union remains one of Armenias key partners, and the cooperation with EU is based on common value system. As for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Zakaryan first of all reaffirmed Armenias stance on settling the conflict through peaceful means. He stated that the Armenian Defense policy firstly aims at ensuring stable and peaceful developments in the region. By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, May 31 (PTI) A Mumbai-bound private jet carrying actress Sunny Leone and her husband from Latur in Maharashtra was today diverted to Aurangabad airport because of bad weather. The pilot of the five-seater Beechcraft King Air C-90 plane, owned by Surat-based air charter firm Kiaan Airways, later decided not to fly further anticipating deterioration in weather conditions, sources said. advertisement The actress, however, claimed that her plane "almost crashed". "Thank the lord we are all alive! Our private plane almost crashed through bad weather. Counting our stars and driving home! Thank you God," Sunny posted on Twitter. The "Ragini MMS 2" star also shared a video in which she assured fans that everyone on board escaped unhurt. "Hey guys, our plane almost just crashed, and now we are in some remote place in Maharashtra. Now we are driving home. Everybody was freaking out on the aircraft. Thank God we are alive, and we are going home!" The private jet, which was ferrying Sunny Leone, her husband Daniel Weber and a few friends, took off from Latur for Mumbai earlier today. However, in mid-air the flight captain anticipated worsening of weather and decided to take some extra fuel in the eventuality of a go-around and diverted the aircraft to Aurangabad, a source said. But the pilot decided not to proceed with the remaining part of the journey as the weather was not conducive, the source added. The actress also thanked the pilots for ensuring everyones safety. "Our pilots were so amazing. Our lives were in their hands and they saved us," Leone tweeted. PTI JCH KKP IAS JC SMN --- ENDS --- YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Armenias national security service agents have identified the man who made a false bomb threat call on May 29. Sargis Saribekyan, 29, called the police emergency number in the early morning of May 29 and said that there is a bomb in Yerevans Hrazdan stadium. Bomb squads and officers were dispatched to the scene. In a statement, the national security service said We remind that a false terror report is a crime under article 259 of the Criminal Code. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Spiritual leader of Turkeys Armenian Catholic community Archbishop Levon Zekiyan received a congratulatory letter from Pope Francis on the golden jubilee - 50th anniversary of the priestly ordination, Istanbuls Armenian Zhamanak newspaper reports. Although such congratulatory letters are usually sent by cardinals of relevant departments, in Zekiyans case the letter was sent personally from Pope Francis with his signature. In the letter Pope Francis said they pray for divine consolation to comfort Archbishop Zekiyan and reward his personal virtues. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. During NATO Parliamentary Assemblys spring sitting the Azerbaijani delegates raised an issue over acquisition of Iskander missile system by the Armenian side, head of the Armenian delegation to NATO PA Koryun Nahapetyan told reporters on May 31, reports Armenpress. I want to state that the Azerbaijani delegates were very concerned over this issue. This was realized while they were addressing their question, Nahapetyan said. He added that the Armenian delegates clarified what is Armenias defense policy and the priorities ensuring security. We have clearly stated that acquiring this missile system aims at restoring balance of powers in South Caucasus, the MP said. The Azerbaijani delegates also raised the issue of Armenias acquisition of arms from Russia for free, but the Armenian delegates made counter response stating that Azerbaijan in recent years spends millions of dollars for purchase of arms for offensive purposes. We have clearly highlighted that we do not welcome the arms race in the region, but on the other hand, all our actions will be directed towards strengthening our defense capacities and ensuring military balance in the region, Koryun Nahapetyan said. The Armenian delegates also said Azerbaijan has become one of the largest arms importing countries in Europe, which is a serious threat and challenge not only for the region, but also for international community. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan, a consultative meeting on the reform of Sevan National Park was held at Government on May 31. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia, the meeting specifically focused on the draft concept of Sevan National Park reform and development. Acting Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan noted that the concept is meant to achieve investment-driven increase in economic activity and tourism in the region based on the right balance of economic and environmental benefits. To achieve these objectives, steps will have to be taken to conserve the Lake as a freshwater basin of national and regional importance, restore and improve the ecosystems ecological balance, expand the recreational zone and develop an investment-conducive legal (fiscal) framework that may help address problems related to economic management, environmental protection, urban planning, land use etc. The meeting discussed the stakeholders recommendations on Sevan National Parks management system, lakeside area development vision for 2018-2030 and the proposed investment projects. The Prime Minister was reported progress in the implementation of his previous instructions concerning the activities of Sevan National Park. Appreciating the solutions and approaches set out in the concept, the Premier stressed the importance of clear definition of rules for business operations and issued appropriate recommendations. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Georgia-based Azerbaijani opposition reporter and activist Afghan Mukhtarli, who went missing in Tbilisi yesterday, has been kidnapped and secretly taken to Baku, Azerbaijani media reported. Afghan called and said that he is in the central department of the state border guard service. I am currently on my way there, the reporters attorney told Turan news agency, branding the kidnapping and secret transportation of his client as violation of international norms. According to him, Georgian authorities shouldnt have handed him over, because according to international norms, if a person is threatened with incarceration in his homeland, then he isnt subject to being handed over. Earlier the Azerbaijani opposition media outlet Meydan TV said that reporter Afghan Mukhtarli went missing in Tbilisi. According to the reporters wife, her husband went missing and didnt return calls. The reporters wife contacted Georgian police, and the interior ministry replied that a nationwide search is underway over the mans disappearance. Mukhtarli is known for criticizing the policies of Azerbaijani leadership. Since 2015, he was forced to settle in Tbilisi. Opposition media reported that an article was published yesterday in a state-run website of Azerbaijan, which included also names of Azerbaijani oppositionists in Tbilisi. The list included surgeon Farman Jeyranov, Gezal Bayramli deputy chairman of Azerbaijans Peoples Front party, and reporter Afghan Mukhtarli. The surgeon and the reporter were arrested recently. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. President Serzh Sargsyan on May 31 held a meeting with the representatives of the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), including the founders and the members of board of trustees, representatives of consulting council and the funds Executive Director, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress. Executive Director, architect of innovative ecosystems Armen Orujyan introduced the funds formation process, the members of board of trustees and consulting council which include leading Armenian scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs throughout the world, as well as the funds activity goals and the programs aimed at reaching those goals. Speaking about the funds objectives, the Executive Director said they are aimed at coordinating and promoting the activity of Armenian scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs of the world with the purpose to create and develop harmonious atmosphere for technological innovations in Armenia, as well as to mobilize scientific, technological and financial opportunities of Armenian and international scientific communities. The meeting participants exchanged views on issues relating to effective organization of the funds activity and discussed the necessary conditions, mechanisms and opportunities to implement the expected objectives, listened to the Presidents views and proposals in that regard. President Sargsyan said he is happy that this idea eventually turned into a reality, by forming a council, finding an executive director with the relevant experience and ability to unite potential. Serzh Sargsyan wished good luck to the fund and expressed readiness to assist implementation of this idea that is a part of common vision of Armenias development. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The terrorist attack in Afghanistans capital Kabul has claimed the lives of 90 people, and nearly 400 were wounded, the countrys healthcare ministry said. The car bomb attack struck Kabuls diplomatic quarter. Medical personnel say the death toll might rise, many of the wounded are in critical condition, including women and children. The Islamic State terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomb exploded at 08:30 local time on May 31 in the Vazir Akbar Khan district, near the German embassy. Embassies of several other countries, including Iran, India and Japan are also stationed here. Mohammed Idris Sarvari the security chief for the German embassy, said two Afghan guards were killed, and two others are missing. Employees of diplomatic representations were injured, as well as five employees of BBC. Kabul Police Chief Shah Hussein Faruk confirmed that the bomb was placed in a tanker vehicle. Witnesses said a 15 meter depth crater has appeared in the explosion site. Nearby buildings are either partially or completely destroyed. According to local media, more than 50 vehicles have been partially or completely destroyed. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani condemned the terror attack in a statement. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Armenia plans to increase the number of its peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon, Koryun Nahapetyan Republican faction MP and chairman of the standing committee on defense and security affairs of the Armenian parliament told a press conference on May 31. Indeed, such approach and idea exists for us to increase the number of our peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon. Recently Ive had the chance to participate in the event on the 25th anniversary of establishing Armenian-Italian diplomatic ties in Italys Senate, where I talked about the Armenian peacekeeping mission under the Italian command in Lebanon with my Italian colleagues. The Italian side highly appreciates our activities in Southern Lebanon. In the event when the government will present a relevant document for debate to the parliament, we will give our political assessment, Nahapetyan said. Presenting his political evaluation, Nahapetyan stressed that he welcomes the increase of Armenian peacekeepers number within the framework of the mission in Lebanon because it is very effective and targeted. With this, we show the international community that Armenia is a country which provides international security, which is extremely important. Especially in NATOs various platforms, the Armenian participation is being highly praised, he said. He mentioned that the issue will be comprehensively debated in the Parliament. From now on, military and military-political issues, which are defined under any international agreement, will be debated in the defense and security affairs committee of the parliament as a core committee, he said. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Kazakh SCAT airlines Boeing-737 aircraft operated the first Astana-Yerevan direct flight on May 31, reports Armenpress. Kazakhstans Ambassador to Armenia H.E. Timur Urazayev congratulated all for implementing this initiative and said Astana Expo 2017 will be opened on June 9 in Astana, and SCAT airline provides unique chance to Armenias citizens to attend that interesting event where 115 countries will be represented. Despite difficulties SCAT airline continues staying in the market. Anna Chobanyan, head of Air Transportation Regulation Department at the General Department of Civil Aviation, said SCAT airline operates flights in Armenia for many years. This flight is very important both in terms of development of tourism and economic ties, as well as in terms of our two peoples being closer. I wish the airline productive and safe flights, she said. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Astana-Yerevan direct flight will enable to develop tourism between the two countries. Zarmine Zeytuntsyan chairman of the state tourism committee of the ministry of economic development and investments, told a press conference that soon it is planned to declare an Armenian Tourism Year in Kazakhstan. This flight is the new beginning of the mutual cooperation of our two countries. Although our diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan started in 1992, seemingly there was no rather active cooperation in tourism. In 2016, 5524 tourists from Kazakhstan arrived in Armenia, compared to the 5000 in 2014, she said. According to her, Armenia and Kazakhstan share both cultural and historical past. We are located on the Silk Road and we can both act as a known destination for the Silk Road, she said. By Piya Hingorani: When Priyanka Chopra met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin on Tuesday, little did she know that a "lovely coincidence" would become a nightmare. Ever since her meeting, Priyanka, who was in Berlin to promote her Hollywood debut Baywatch, is being trolled on social media. The 34-year-old actor is being slut-shamed for wearing a knee length dress and 'showing her legs' in front of the PM. advertisement However, Priyanka Chopra isn't one to take any of this lying down. The leggy lass gave a befitting reply to the haters by putting up a picture with her mother, Madhu Chopra, where they can be seen flaunting their long legs. She captioned the post, "Legs for days..." Speaking to India Today Television, actor Varun Dhawan came to Priyanka Chopra's defence. "She is someone we all should be proud of in our country, she is making our country proud abroad. All this is very stupid and social media trolling is not something that needs to become a national issue," he said. Meanwhile, Baywatch might have not been well received by audiences in the US, but the Quantico star has bagged yet another Hollywood project. Buzz is that Priyanka is in negotiations to join the indie drama, A Kid Like Jake, starring Jim Parsons and Claire Danes, which will go on floors this June. That's not all, industry grapevine suggests that the actor is also in talks to board the New Line comedy Isn't It Romantic opposite Rebel Wilson, which she will begin filming in July before returning to the third season of Quantico in fall. ALSO READ | Priyanka Chopra getting trolled for her dress: Why India doesn't deserve the global icon ALSO READ | Priyanka Chopra meets PM Modi in Berlin, some Indians find her attire disrespectful ALSO WATCH | I wanted to be seen as a modern actor, says Priyanka Chopra --- ENDS --- YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Executive Director of the Development Foundation of Armenia (DFA) Armen Avak Avakian and President of Iran Trade Promotion Organization, First Vice Minister in Charge of Trade Mojtaba Khosrowtaj discussed practical steps aimed at boosting investments, trade turnover, as well as the existing problems in the two countries, DFA told Armenpress. After Armenia Expo held in Tehran in October, 2016, 18 companies operating in food, construction, jewelry, tourism, textile fields and banks hold talks on exporting the Armenian goods and services to Iran. DFA Executive Director raised the issue of eliminating the procedural barriers emerging during the export of Armenian products to Iran. Last year while participating in the expo the Armenian companies faced a number of procedural problems when transporting their products to Iran, in connection with additional permissions system which is quite complex and long-term process. It is necessary to simplify those procedures, Armen A. Avakian said. DFA Director on Export Hayk Mirzoyan presented the list of Armenian companies which reached agreements for export and faced difficulties: those companies mainly operate in food industry, textile, and jewelry fields. Now I am here and ready to meet with the representatives of the abovementioned companies. I think state agencies must create infrastructures for the businessmen of both countries to make investments in Iran and Armenia and increase trade volumes, Mojtaba Khosrowtaj said. DFA Executive Director presented Armenias sectors with export and investment prospects, such as IT, tourism, agricultural products processing, textile, jewelry. By the proposal of the Iranian side the DFA will assist organizing expo of Iranian products in Armenia. At the end of the meeting Armen A. Avakian and Mojtaba Khosrowtaj signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at intensifying the bilateral cooperation. The sides agreed to assist businessmen of both states on carrying out activities in Armenia and Iran. Mojtaba Khosrowtaj invited Armen A. Avakian to visit Iran, which was approved by DFA Executive Director. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Armen Papikyan held a meeting with Chairman of Estonian Parliaments (Riigikogu) Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson and Chairman of National Defense Committee Hannes Hanso, the Ministry told Armenpress. The Deputy FM said Armenia is interested in developing mutually beneficial relations with Estonia. The sides attached importance to intensifying the political dialogue between both countries, active cooperation between parliamentarians, as well as deepening trade-economic ties. Deputy Minister Papikyan presented to the guests the Armenia-EU cooperations recent developments. The sides exchanged views on cooperation prospects with the EU member states, in particular with Estonia. At the meeting the sides also talked about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process. In addition to other issues, the situation in Middle East was also discussed, and importance was attached to ensuring peace and stability in the region. The officials also exchanged views on a number of international and regional affairs. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Georgian ministry of interior launched an investigation into the disappearance and transportation to Baku of Tbilisi based Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli, Gruziya Online newspaper reported. In a statement, the Georgian interior ministry said it maintains contact with the Azerbaijani side. Georgias Ombudsman Ucha Nanuashvili urged law enforcement agencies to immediately respond to the kidnapping on Mukhtarli to Baku. Georgias Ombudsman learned that in the evening of May 29, Tbilisi based Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli was kidnapped. According to his family, his journalistic activities were aimed at revealing the actions of Azerbaijans leadership. They are saying that recently unknown individuals had been following the journalist, while his family has already filed a report to police regarding his disappearance, the Ombudsman said in a statement. Georgias Ombudsman emphasized that the Georgian government must fully ensure the protection of rights of all individuals residing in their territory. The ongoing processes in neighboring countries shouldnt impact Georgias stance regarding human rights. There should be even the slightest doubt that Georgias government is turning a blind eye on this crime, the Ombudsman said. Amnesty International has also responded regarding the case, mentioning that this is a development which predicts a rather bad consequence in a country which is infamous for long term persecutions of human rights activities and reporters. Afghan Mukhtarli must be immediately released and refrained from torture and abuse. He is a prisoner of conscience, who has been arrested solely for his journalistic activities, Levan Asatiani Amnesty International representative for South Caucasus said. He mentioned that perhaps the Georgian authorities are accomplices in kidnapping the reporter to Azerbaijan. His family told Amnesty that he was often followed by Azerbaijan speaking individuals in the streets of Tbilisi. Georgia must investigate this case unbiased and demand accountability from all involved people in this terrifying case, he said. Afghan Mukhtarli is a known critic of the Azerbaijani authorities policies. Since 2015, he was forced to settle in Tbilisi. He disappeared two days ago, and later appeared in Baku and was jailed. He said that he was kidnapped from downtown Tbilisi by unknown people wearing civilian clothing, who were speaking Georgian. He was forced into a car and taken out of Georgia, heavily battered, blindfolded and taken to another vehicle. He was then forced to a third vehicle, already on the Azerbaijani border, where he heard the kidnappers talk in Azerbaijani. The kidnappers framed him by putting a large amount of cash in his pocket, and now he is charged with smuggling and illegal border crossing. His attorney has already met him, and said that his client has bruises on his face. Afghan told his attorney that he has severe pain in the chest area, presumably fractured ribs. YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Georgian journalists and NGOs are going to gather outside the countrys government building to demand an explanation from authorities regarding the kidnapping of Tbilisi based Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli, Georgia Online reported. The protestors urged everyone who is concerned to join them, saying Join us and express your protest regarding the disappearance of our Azerbaijani colleague who has been living in Georgia for the past two years. Join us and express your support to him by demanding explanations from the Georgian government. Afghan Mukhtarli is a known critic of the Azerbaijani authorities policies. Since 2015, he was forced to settle in Tbilisi. He disappeared two days ago, and later appeared in Baku and was jailed. He said that he was kidnapped from downtown Tbilisi by unknown people wearing civilian clothing, who were speaking Georgian. He was forced into a car and taken out of Georgia, heavily battered, blindfolded and taken to another vehicle. He was then forced to a third vehicle, already on the Azerbaijani border, where he heard the kidnappers talk in Azerbaijani. The kidnappers framed him by putting a large amount of cash in his pocket, and now he is charged with smuggling and illegal border crossing. His attorney has already met him, and said that his client has bruised on his face. Afghan told his attorney that he has severe pain in the chest area, presumably fractured ribs. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Colonel Aram Asaturyan of the military medical service, head of the Central Military Hospital, has been dismissed from his post, Colonel Kamavor Khachatryan head of the military-medical department of the Armenian Armed Forces told a press conference. According to him, Asaturyan has been discharged to the reserve on May 12. A new head hasnt yet been appointed. We have several candidates, they are still being discussed. We will choose the best from the candidates, Khachatryan said. According to him, Asaturyans dismissal was an internal necessity. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Over the past 5 years Armenias Embassy took practical steps on implementing the idea of launching Astana-Yerevan direct flight, Ambassador Ara Sahakyan told reporters, Armenpress reports. I hope the flight will be permanent, he said. Ambassador Sahakyan invited Kazakh people to visit Armenia and get acquainted with the countrys tourism opportunities. On May 31 SCAT airline launched the first direct flight to Yerevan. This will positively affect the bilateral ties, mainly from the perspective of development of tourism, mutual visits, trade-economic ties. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Armenian law enforcement agencies are carrying out a large scale investigation to uncover the motive, identity of the person or persons who hired the would-be murderers, and other probable accomplices of the murder plot, which was recently prevented. The investigation produced sufficient evidence on an accessory to the murder plot, who was declared a fugitive on May 27 and later apprehended on May 30 in Tavush province. The ethnic Armenian man, 28, has been charged for being an accomplice to a murder plot. He has been remanded in custody. The suspect has been wanted since 2007 for another charge avoiding mandatory military service. Earlier three people were charged for plotting murder and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Detectives also identified another man, who provided the hitmen with money for acquiring a vehicle. The gunmen used foreign mobile numbers to communicate with one another. Investigation continues. Law enforcement agencies are taking all necessary actions to determine the identity of the hiring side. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan received a delegation of special envoys from the foreign ministries of EU-Member States - Latvia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia and Sweden, headed by Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Ambassador Dusan Dakho, Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of cooperation with the European Union. At the envoys' request, Karen Karapetyan introduced his governments priorities, reforms and programs. Highlighting the need to improve the business environment to attract investment, the Premier noted that the legal, tax and customs administration and other reforms will be kept in focus by the Government of Armenia. In this regard, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of exchange of experience. The meeting touched upon the ongoing EU-Armenia cooperation, the joint efforts undertaken in the framework the Eastern Partnership program and other issues of mutual interest. YEREVAN, 31 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 31 May, USD exchange rate up by 0.30 drams to 482.00 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.49 drams to 539.36 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 8.50 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.35 drams to 617.78 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 24.22 drams to 19567.63 drams. Silver price down by 0.14 drams to 267.63 drams. Platinum price down by 300.66 drams to 14582.36 drams. YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Chair of Armenias National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan and the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Defence and Security Koryun Nahapetyan received the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson and the Chair of the National Defence Committee of the Parliament of Estonia Hannes Hanso. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia, welcoming the guests, Armen Ashotyan and Koryun Nahapetyan highlighted the enlivening of the relations between the parliaments of the two countries and in this context underlined the importance of cooperation activation between the relevant Committees and taking joint initiatives on the international parliamentary platforms. Touching upon Armenias external policy agenda and, particularly, the Armenia-EU relations, Armen Ashotyan emphasized the initialing of the new Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement in Yerevan on March 21, as well as the signing of the Agreement within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in November 2017. In this context the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations expressed hope that Armenia-EU relations will go on in the constructive and effective atmosphere during the Presidency of Estonia in the EU. In the context of the development of the relations with the European structures the Armenian side also touched upon the issue of closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, noting that the exercise of the right to the veto within the OSCE framework by Azerbaijan related to the issue once again documents about the unconstructive policy of Azerbaijan. Regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Armen Ashotyan underlined the role and significance of the OSCE Minsk Group as the only effective tool for the conflict solution and maintenance of stability. In this context, the Committee Chair talked about the May 18 first targeted statement of the OSCE Co-Chairs related to the tension of the situation on the line of contact on May 15-17. Touching upon the issue of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Armen Ashotyan expressed hope that in the near future the Parliament of Estonia will launch the Armenian Genocide recognition process, stating that the recognition of the Genocide is an important step in the prevention of the new crimes against mankind. The Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Defence and Security Koryun Nahapetyan thoroughly touched upon Armenias security policy, presented Armenias involvement in the collective security systems. In this context, Mr Nahapetyan talked about the involvement of the Armenian sub-units in the NATO peace-keeping missions and Armenias membership to the CSTO. During the meeting, the sides also discussed issues concerning the regional and international policy. Marko Mihkelson and Hannes Hanso expressed readiness for further effective cooperation with the Armenian counterparts on the European platforms. At the end of the meeting, the parties also discussed the issues connected with the necessity of activation of bilateral visits. After the backlash that Priyanka Chopra received for the dress she was wearing while meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India truly does not deserve an actor and entertainer of her calibre. By Devarsi Ghosh: In more ways than one, it is a good thing that Priyanka Chopra has stepped aside from the world of Bollywood to concentrate on her international career. In a country that is increasingly getting more and more regressive and nativist with each passing day, a working, independent woman who has the world in her hands like Priyanka Chopra has no reason to keep entertaining us Indians. Especially, after how Indians made a sorry spectacle out of themselves yesterday when a photograph emerged of Priyanka Chopra meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the actor was seen wearing an allegedly un-sanskaari dress. Was such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin???? at the same time as the Prime Minister. Thank you @narendramodi Sir for taking the time from your packed schedule to meet me this morning. ???? A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 1:04am PDT advertisement There are few female actors in Bollywood who are as self-made as Priyanka Chopra is. There are few who have risen to the top as Priyanka Chopra has, without a godfather. There are few women in the Indian film industry, like Priyanka Chopra, who are investing in multiple regional-language films, one of which won three National Awards this year. And yet, when Priyanka Chopra wore a knee-length dress - as she is completely free to, in case you did not know - while meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, millions of Indians began outraging, "Arre, why is wearing such a short dress in front of the PM?" Among other things, Priyanka Chopra got criticised for sitting cross-legged in front of Narendra Modi as it is apparently disrespectful. Indian Facebook users advised Priyanka Chopra to cover her legs, maybe wear a salwar kameez or, perhaps, a saree and thus, be respectful to the Prime Minister. Have a look at the respectful comments that Priyanka Chopra received for her dress yesterday. What is this? Is it the 19th century? You outrage about a woman being disrespected by Triple Talaq. You outrage when a woman's modesty is attacked and so, you bat for anti-Romeo squads. And here, you bring her down for wearing a dress that is perfectly, perfectly normal except for those who think a woman should cover herself just in case the man in front of her gets, who knows, distracted? Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 4:23pm PDT However, the fighter that Priyanka Chopra is, the actor sent a direct slap to her critics today when she uploaded a picture both her and her mother Dr Madhu Chopra wearing knee-length dresses because guess what!? A. A woman can wear whatever she wants to, and B. A dress like the one which Priyanka was seen in in Berlin while meeting Modi is just perfect for the occasion. Maybe, get your heads and hearts out of the puritanical hellhole that you hide yourselves in, calling it 'Indian kulcha', from where, every now and then, you rise to shame and patronise those who don't fit into your worldview. advertisement (The writer tweets as @devarsighosh.) ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra meets PM Modi in Berlin, some Indians find her attire disrespectful WATCH: I wanted to be seen as a modern actor, says Priyanka Chopra --- ENDS --- YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The disappearance of a person is serious challenge for Georgia, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said, commenting on the abduction of Azerbaijani journalist and activist Afgan Mukhtarli. The announcement of the lawyer of the journalist is rather grievous from a number of perspectives. First of all, we have to understand that Georgia is the regional leader of freedom of speech and protection of human rights. The preservation of this criterion is a matter of retaining our statehood. A person has disappeared from the territory of Georgia, be it by land, sea or air. This is a serious challenge for the sovereignty of our state. The state must protect its reputation and the rights of the citizens since both are very important, Armenpress reports Margvelashvili was quoted by aliq.ge. Afghan Mukhtarli is a known critic of the Azerbaijani authorities policies. Since 2015, he was forced to settle in Tbilisi. He disappeared two days ago, and later appeared in Baku and was jailed. He said that he was kidnapped from downtown Tbilisi by unknown people wearing civilian clothing, who were speaking Georgian. He was forced into a car and taken out of Georgia, heavily battered, blindfolded and taken to another vehicle. He was then forced to a third vehicle, already on the Azerbaijani border, where he heard the kidnappers talk in Azerbaijani. The kidnappers framed him by putting a large amount of cash in his pocket, and now he is charged with smuggling and illegal border crossing. His attorney has already met him, and said that his client has bruised on his face. Afghan told his attorney that he has severe pain in the chest area, presumably fractured ribs. SAN FRANCISCONudist (aka "Body Freedom Activist") Gypsy Taub and co-plaintiff George Davis have suffered a defeat in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in their lawsuit to have public nudity in San Francisco declared lawful. In an opinion released on May 25, they ruled that the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech don't apply to taking off one's clothes. At issue is the city's Police Code Article 2, Sec. 154, which claims that "a persons public exposure of his or her private parts invades the privacy of members of the public who are unwillingly or unexpectedly exposed to such conduct ... creates a public safety hazard by creating distractions, obstructions, and crowds ... [and] discourages members of the public from visiting or living in areas where such conduct occurs." Taub and Davis first challenged the law more than three years ago, with the Ninth Circuit issuing its ruling only last week. "Public nudity is not inherently expressive, but it may in some circumstances constitute expressive conduct protected under the First Amendment," the Circuit's three-judge panel, one of whom was a visiting judge from the Northern District of Ohio, held. "Even if Plaintiffs public nudity at political rallies was entitled to First Amendment protection, however, we hold that the challenged ordinance is a valid, content-neutral regulation as applied to Plaintiffs expressive conduct under United States v. OBrien (1968). OBrien is the applicable test here because the ordinance is aimed at 'the conduct itself, rather than at the message conveyed by that conduct.'" Of course, one might argue that taking one's clothes off in public is a message in itself and inextricable from the "conduct" of taking off one's clothes in publicand in a sense, at least some of the O'Brien factors cited by the Ninth Circuit judges would seem to support that argument. For example, the opinion claims that, "[T]he ordinance furthers San Franciscos important and substantial interests in protecting individuals 'who are unwillingly or unexpectedly exposed' to public nudity and preventing 'distractions, obstructions, and crowds that interfere with the safety and free flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.'" But considering that everyone is born nude and most spend a substantial portion of their lives nude, the only reason they would need to be "protected" from seeing nudity in public has more to do with pseudo-religious values than any need to prevent "distractions" or "obstructions" or "crowds." Clearly, if there were more public nudity and passersby became used to seeing it, such objections would no longer be applicable, and only the court's circular reasoning prevents this from happening. Indeed, the ordinance only applies to exposure of the "genitals, perineum [or as most people call it these days, the "taint"], or anal region," meaning that toplessnesswomen's or men'sdoesn't trigger a violation of the law, so in that sense, the law is discriminatory in that it criminalizes some alleged "distractions" and not others equally likely to engender "obstructions" and/or "crowds." Equally specious is the court's claim that, "San Franciscos interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression, because the ordinance regulates public nudity whether or not it is expressive." But if the objective of the nudity is to comment on public mores regarding nudity or other body issues, then certainly that type of "free expression" should be protected. However, the opinion directly challenges that argument, holding that, "Plaintiffs request leave to amend the Second Amended Complaint in order to plead additional facts relating to the expressiveness of their nude rallies and demonstrations [but] because we conclude that San Franciscos public nudity ordinance is a valid regulation under the OBrien test, even if we assume that more of Plaintiffs conduct was likely to communicate a message to those who saw it, Plaintiffs complaint would not be saved through further amendment." Sadly, that means that the plaintiffs' only legal remedy at this point would be with the U.S. Supreme Court, though the plaintiffs' attorney, D. Gill Sperlein, might not want to risk that step, considering the current religio-conservative bent of the federal government and particularly the high court. "We knew this would be an uphill battle," Sperlein told AVN. "Even so, we believe the 9th Circuit missed some key issues. My clients will continue to fight to destigmatize nudity through education, legislation, and when appropriate, through litigation." LINCOLN, Neb.First was New Hampshire, followed by California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Michigan, and now the state of Nebraska has decided that starting in January 2018, its prisoners should be deprived of whatever sexual release they may get by looking at pornography. The ban is apparently the "brain"child of Scott Frakes, director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS), who announced in early May that as of January 8, 2018, the prisoners would no longer have access to pornographic images or texts, defined as "depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement," including materials showing "nudity and/or graphic depictions of sexual behaviors/acts." According to Frakes, porn is "exploitative" and somehow "create[s] a hostile work environment for (prison) staff members. ... These materials do not promote a positive culture and distract inmates and staff from focusing on the [department's] vision of safe prisons, transformed lives and safe communities." And to think: All the inmates want is something they can use to jack off in peace. Perhaps no one should be surprised at the NDSC's move. After all, prison ministry leader Father Thomas MacLean has stated that, "Nobody has a right to view our sisters in Christ in a way that exploits them," and has called on prisoners to destroy whatever porn they may already possess, claiming that they'd be "doing God's will." And Frakes is hardly the first director to call for a porn ban. Former warden Gene Atherton stated, "I have no First Amendment sympathies for inmates who think they have a right to their pornography," claiming that the reason several states have adopted bans on porn was "to curtail sexual misconduct by inmates and protect staff, particularly women, from seeing such materials or becoming the object of sexual fantasies." Several states already ban porn depicting violence or children engaging in sexual activity, but the Nebraska ban is an example of the recent hysteria that brands porn as a "public health crisis"and the ban has already garnered support from the religio-conservative Nebraska Family Alliance. "Research shows that pornography fuels sex trafficking, child sexual abuse and sexual violence," stated Karen Bowling, the Nebraska Family Alliance's executive director. "Getting pornography out of prisons will ensure better rehabilitation for inmates and a safer environment for staff in our state prisons." In a word, horseshitand at least one inmate agrees: "I think its irresponsible to take something away that is a stress reliever," said Jose Rodriguez. "And how do you draw the line between pornography and artwork?" And this from a guy who says he doesn't even use porn! Sadly, inmates have yet to win any of the lawsuits they've filed to overturn other states' porn bans, and even the ACLU has counseled inmates that they don't have nearly the breadth of First Amendment rights that non-inmates do, and that prison officials can impose "significant" restrictions on what they can read and possess, sexually speakingso those Nebraska inmates who current have subscriptions to even mildly sexy magazines should hope they can get their money back for their remaining issues once that porn ban kicks in come January. SAN FRANCISCONakedSword Originals received top honors at the 2017 Grabby Awards held over Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. NakedSword Original's Secrets and Lies won both Best Movie and Best Actor for Rocco Steele's performance in the film. NakedSword's Scared Stiff took home three awards including Best Screenplay (written by Jackie Beat) and Best Supporting Actor for Seth Santoro's role as the hot nerd and Hottest Rimming went to Tom Faulk, Jack Hunter, Colby Keller, Ryan Rose, Seth Santoro & Wesley Woods for their group scene. NakedSword founder Tim Valenti was inducted into the 'Wall of Fame' for his work in the industry during the past 15 years and was on hand to accept the award. Valenti says, "Thank you so much to the Mark and Stacy at the Grabbys for recognizing NakedSword Original movies this year and for putting me into your 'Wall of Fame'. This industry has been great to me and I'm continually inspired by the dynamic group of people that make up the gay adult industry." NakedSword Originals' director mr. Pam says, "A big thanks to the Grabbys for all the recognition this year! This was one of the best years for NakedSword Originals and I'm proud to have been apart of the two amazing NakedSword Original films that were acknowledged at this years show!" A medieval masterpiece has been created by Rose Dummer of Rosie Cake Diva and Cakebomb for the opening of a new furniture store. The cake was commissioned by Oak Furniture Land, to form part of the celebrations to mark the opening of its Wednesbury store in the West Midlands, and celebrate the release of new Guy Ritchie film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Made from chocolate sponge with chocolate ganache, the cake is big enough to feed 200. It contains more than four kilograms of chocolate and is coated in more than eight kilograms of icing sugar. It took five days to complete and has been airbrushed in edible paint. The cake has now been donated to The Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery, so that children can see it over the half-term holidays. Growth in overseas sales of bread and cakes have contributed to UK food and drink exports rising to record levels. Exports of all UK food and drink rose 8.3% year on year in the first quarter of 2017 to 4.9bn. This is the largest first-quarter exports value on record, according to the Food & Drink Federation (FDF). Although the overall cereals and bakery exports sector declined 15% year on year to 560m, this drop was driven by a fall in exports of wheat and barley. Exports in branded and value-added bakery goods maintained the strong growth seen in 2016, reported the FDF. Exports of bread, pastry and cakes increased 10.9% to 106.1m, while exports of sweet biscuits were up 7.4% to 68.4m. In contrast, overall trade in cereal commodities fell 58.8%, with a 70.9% fall in exports of wheat to 37.7m, and a 59.8% fall in exports of barley to 34.2m. This was the result of an improved harvest in Spain, which had been Britains biggest market for wheat and barley exports in 2016. Wheat and barley exports to Belgium grew over the period, however. In terms of total food and drink exports, the UKs top three products remain whisky, salmon and chocolate, while Ireland, France and the US are the top three destinations for UK food and drink. The export markets with the greatest percentage growth were South Korea (+40.3%), Belgium (+37.3%), and South Africa (+31.2%). The FDF said the fall in the value of sterling had helped boost UK exports, but had also led to an increase in the cost of imported ingredients and raw materials. This resulted in the UKs food and drink trade deficit increasing by 19% to -6.2bn in Q1. The growth of food and alcoholic drink exports weve seen in Q1 is very encouraging news for our industry, said FDF director general Ian Wright. We want to work with government to take advantage of increased demand for UK products overseas and the opportunities that leaving the EU is expected to create. We would encourage the new government to look to Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) as an inspiration in creating an organisation to help turbocharge sales of UK food and drink globally. 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 so called "Democracy" does exists. The Enforcement Directorate is zeroing in on the transactions made using the bank accounts owned by some shady bidders during the sand mine auctions. By Manjeet Sehgal: While the Congress government in Punjab is busy placing the sand mine auctions under wraps, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has turned its lens on the transactions which took place after the three-month-old Congress government in Punjab decided to conduct online auctions to save the mines from 'sand mafias', earlier this month. Sources close to the ED's Jalandhar office told India Today that its officials were zeroing in on the transactions which were made using the bank accounts owned by some shady bidders. advertisement "We have received a complaint and are looking into the FEMA and PMLA Act violations, if any made by the bidders," an ED official citing the complaint filed by Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocate HC Arora said. SHADY BIDS UNDER SCANNER Sources also said that besides the ED, the Income Tax Department is also scanning the ITRs of some suspicious bidders, like Amit Bahadur, who allegedly worked as minister's cook and hails from Nepal. It has been alleged that Bahadur on May 7 had a bank balance of Rs 4,800 but on May 19 received a transfer of funds worth Rs 13 crore after he has won a bid worth Rs 26.51 crore. The ED and I-T is also verifying the account of Balraj Singh, also a former employee of Gurjit's company, who bagged the bid for a whopping Rs 9.11 crore in SBS Nagar district. The bid worth Rs 9.21 crore won by Kulwinder Paul Singh, also a former employee of the minister is also under ED scanner. Scanning of auction documents has also led to the discovery of Avtar Singh Gill and Ajitpal Singh (father and son). While Avtar Singh owns a small cloth shop in Kot Fatuhi in Hoshiarpur district, his son Ajitpal Singh is an employee of Captain (Retd) J S Randhawa, a close aide of Rana Gurjit Singh, who has also been referred to as 'partner' by minister's cook Amit Bahadur and Kulwinder Paul Singh. Interestingly, while the father won a bid worth Rs 51.20 crore, the son bagged a mine worth Rs 23.41 crore. However, the father backed out after the controversy and did not deposit the money. Ajitpal Singh Gill has deposited the bid price. In the centre of controversy, Captain J S Randhawa denied the allegations and said the bidders were genuine and were working partners which was a norm of liquor and sand mine business as the same is done by a group of people. "Amit Bahadur is not a cook. This is irresponsible journalism. There is a set norm to do the liquor and mining business. It is done by a group of people who put their money jointly. A mining expert is made the working partner of the business. Besides the salary, he also gets profit sharing. We have made Amit (Bahadur) as our working partner. We made this agreement in the first week of April and the bids were called in May. 90 per cent of mine bids in Punjab were completed like this. AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira is targetting us as the AAP has no issue to raise. I am surprised why media did not raise the issue during the last 10 years when there was a huge revenue loss," J S Randhawa said. advertisement PUNJAB GOVERNMENT BUSY IN HUSHING UP CONTROVERSY The Congress government in Punjab, which Congress vice-president Rahul Gadhi was trying to showcase at the national level, is in the throes of a controversy due to the alleged hijacking of state's mines by Rana Gurjit Singh and his men. Though the minister has denied any stake in the mining bids but the records clearly speak that there is something wrong in the whole process. For instance Balraj Singh, who claimed that he is a former employee of Raja Gurjit Singh, owned a sugar mill, and in his affidavit has stated that he is a resident of Rana Sugar Limited Colony, Buttar Sivaia in Amritsar. Three bidders who were former employees of minister's company used single mobile number 8968591029 and same domain name while declaring their email IDs. Amit Bahadur, Kulwinder Pal Singh and Balraj Singh (all former employees of Raja Gurjit Singh) besides Avtar Singh Gill and Ajitpal Singh Gill used the same email IDs which has the same domain name. advertisement Amit Bahadur, Kulwinder Pal Singh, Balraj Singh and Avtar Singh used same mobile number in their contact details. Interestingly, while Amit Bahadur and Balraj Singh besides others publicly claimed that they were not working with the minister anymore, records show that Amit and Balraj were directors of 3 companies owned by Gurjit Singh, including Flawless Traders Private Limited, Century Agros Private Limited and RJ Texfab Private Limited. DOCUMENTS ALTERED "The Congress which termed 3 years of Modi government as a failure is tight lipped about the wrongdoings of its 3-month-old government, which is busy camouflaging the mining bid controversy. It is a clear use of power as the bid documents were altered after the controversy came to the limelight. First they said the names of bidders will be made public and later removed the clause saying that the names will be secret. It is a clear case of money laundering and we fear the hawala money may also have been used to win the bids. We demand a CBI probe as the one ordered by the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is just an eyewash," Secretary, Punjab BJP, Vineet Joshi said. advertisement The state government's decision to appoint one-man judicial commission has also backfired as the Opposition Aam Aadmi Party has claimed the son of Justice JS Narang, Amitjeet Singh Narang has worked as a counsel for Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh's family. Also read: Punjab sand mine auction: AAP calls judicial probe an eyewash, wants Justice JS Narang to recuse from case Also read: 3 months after losing Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal woos upset AAP leaders, workers --- ENDS --- Catherine Tedford is curator of the Street Art Graphics collection, an open access collection of 2,700+ political stickers from the 1910s to today. In this essay for Artstor, Tedford describes the archive's inception and philosophy, and the ways that others are using the collection in their own scholarship and exhibitions. I first noticed stickers by chance on a trip to Berlin, Germany, in 2003, and since that time have collected over 12,000 original stickers from over 20 countries around the world, including Canada, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Indonesia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States. While the stickers I first gathered were peeled off various surfaces of city streets (windows, electrical boxes, signs, etc.), I am now expanding my collection more strategically by acquiring original, unused stickers. At least half of the stickers in my collection come from Germany during trips I have made to Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich. Oliver Baudach, founder and director of the Berlin-based Hatch Kingdom Sticker Museum, has been my most generous supporter and has given me well over 1,000 original, unused stickers. Other stickers come from artists, collectors, alternative and anarchist book fairs, zine fests, infoshops, squats, May Day gatherings, and political rallies. At St. Lawrence University, I have been actively building a Street Art Graphics digital archive of stickers since 2004. The original digital archive, created in ContentDM, features over 2,700 stickers cataloged on an item-by-item basis using professional best practices and controlled vocabularies. In 2015, the archive project was one of 42 across the country to receive a four-year grant from the U.S. Council of Independent Colleges to participate in its Consortium of Digital Resources for Teaching and Research. The Street Art Graphics digital archive is being published in Shared Shelf Commons for much wider public access. Items in the archive also feed automatically into the Digital Public Library of America, a process made possible through Artstor. Sticky art: the Street Art Graphics collection [Catherine Tedford/Artstor] (Thanks, Giovanni!) In 1824 the viceroy of Egypt sent a unique gift to the new king of France: a two-month-old giraffe that had just been captured in the highlands of Sudan. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the 4,000-mile journey of Zarafa, the royal giraffe, from her African homeland to the king's menagerie in Paris. We'll also visit Queen Victoria's coronation and puzzle over a child's surprising recovery. Show notes Please support us on Patreon! Voice of Baceprot is a hard-driving heavy metal band made up of three hijab-wearing Muslim teenaged women who met at school in West Java, Indonesia, and whose rocking out is designed to "combat the stereotype of Muslim women as submissive or voiceless." Metal has been targeted for crackdowns in Malaysia, but that was a decade ago, and now the country appears to be going through a renaissance. VoB is a welcome return to Malaysian metal dominance! Wearing a hijab, or Islamic headscarf, should not be a barrier to the group's pursuit of its dream of being heavy metal stars, says Firdda Kurnia, 16, who plays guitar and sings. "I think gender equality should be supported, because I feel I am still exploring my creativity, while at the same time, not diminishing my obligations as a Muslim woman," she adds. Invited to perform at a recent graduation ceremony at another school, the trio quickly had fans dancing and headbanging at the front of the stage. Indonesia's hijab-wearing Muslim heavy metal group VoB smashes stereotypes [Reuters] (via Naked Capitalism) Richmond councillor wants NDP to take new direction on proposed bridge to replace Massey Tunnel With all of the uncertainty in B.C. provincial politics, Delta Mayor Lois Jackson fears the controversial bridge to replace the Massey tunnel may not move forward. "I'm very concerned about its continued construction," Jackson told CBC News Tuesday. "It has been 5 or more years in the actual planning phase and construction is imminent." The B.C. Liberals had planned to replace the George Massey Tunnel with a $3.5 billion bridge. Now, with the NDP and the B.C. Green party working together in the province's first minority government in decades, the future of projects like the bridge is unclear. During the campaign, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver said it would be a better idea to twin the current tunnel instead of building a bridge, while the B.C. NDP said it would defer to Metro Vancouver mayors on the decision. Many Metro Vancouver mayors spoke out against the project last summer, saying the bridge was "car-oriented" and diverting money from public transit and other transportation priorities. Jackson who supports the bridge plan is now worried the project will be scrapped. "As far as its future is concerned it's everybody's guess as to what will occur." New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote said he hopes the next government will focus on the priorities outlined by the Mayors' Council including improvements to the Pattullo Bridge. "Our concern has been watching the Massey Tunnel leapfrog the Pattullo Bridge even though we all know that bridge has reached its life expectancy and needs to be taken care of immediately," he said. "We think the priority is working on that particular piece of infrastructure while continuing to have those discussions about Massey." Jackson hopes the political uncertainty dissipates so Metro mayors can move forward with transit planning. "You can't move ahead with a plan of any type if you have relied on provincial funding or provincial approval for funding," she said. "Only time will tell how that will unfold. These are very interesting times. Minority governments are very difficult times to move ahead with any projects." By Thomas Escritt and Matthias Sobolewski BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump called Germany's trade and spending policies "very bad" on Tuesday, intensifying a row between the longtime allies and immediately earning himself the moniker "destroyer of Western values" from a leading German politician. As the war of words threatened to spin out of control, Merkel and other senior German politicians stressed the importance of Germany's Atlantic ties, with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel suggesting the spat was just a rough patch. Trump took to Twitter early in the day in the United States to attack Germany, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel ramped up her doubts about the reliability of Washington as an ally. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change," Trump tweeted. The tit-for-tat dispute escalated rapidly after Trump, at back-to-back summits last week, criticized major NATO allies over their military spending and refused to endorse a global climate change accord. On Sunday, Merkel showed the gravity of her concern about Washington's dependability under Trump when she warned, at an election campaign event in a packed Bavarian beer tent - that the times when Europe could fully rely on others were "over to a certain extent". Those comments, which caused shock in Washington, vented Europe's frustration with Trump on climate policy in particular. And while German politicians sided with Merkel, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel signaled that it was time for cooler heads to prevail. TIT-FOR-TAT, FROM TENT TO TWITTER "The United States are older and bigger than the current conflict," he said, adding that relations would improve. "It is inappropriate that we are now communicating with each other between a beer tent and Twitter," he said in Berlin. Merkel had already begun finessing her message on Monday, stressing that she was a "convinced trans-Atlanticist", a message she repeated after a meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin. But Martin Schulz, leader of Gabriel's center-left Social Democrats, was less emollient earlier in the day when he told reporters Trump was "the destroyer of all Western values". He added that the U.S. president was undermining the peaceful cooperation of nations based on mutual respect and tolerance. In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said he agreed with Merkel that Europe needed to forge its own path. "This takes nothing away from the importance of our trans-Atlantic ties and our alliance with the United States. But the importance we put on these ties cannot mean that we abandon fundamental principles such as our commitment to fight climate change and in favor of open societies and free trade," he said. (Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Rome; writing by Paul Carrel; editing by Michael Nienaber/Mark Heinrich) WEDNESDAY, May 31, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Modern Egyptians have more DNA from sub-Saharan Africa than mummies entombed in their country, according to the first genome data on mummies. The findings are helping researchers gauge the impact of history on Egyptians' genetics. The international team of researchers analyzed DNA from 151 mummies from the archaeological site of Abusir el-Meleq. The site is along the Nile River in Middle Egypt. The mummies date from about 1400 B.C. to 400 A.D. Genetic studies of ancient Egyptian mummies are rare due to a number of issues. "The hot Egyptian climate, the high humidity levels in many tombs and some of the chemicals used in mummification techniques contribute to DNA degradation and are thought to make the long-term survival of DNA in Egyptian mummies unlikely," said study senior author Johannes Krause. He is director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. This team's success in extracting and analyzing nuclear DNA from mummies is a breakthrough that opens the door to further direct study of mummified remains in order to get a better understanding of Egypt's population history, the study authors explained in an institute news release. The researchers' goal was to find out if ancient Egyptian populations were affected at the genetic level by foreign conquest and domination during the time period in the study. According to study co-lead author Verena Schuenemann, of the University of Tuebingen, Germany, the research team "wanted to test if the conquest of Alexander the Great and other foreign powers has left a genetic imprint on the ancient Egyptian population." Wolfgang Haak, group leader at the Max Planck Institute, said, "The genetics of the Abusir el-Meleq community did not undergo any major shifts during the 1,300-year timespan we studied, suggesting that the population remained genetically relatively unaffected by foreign conquest and rule." Modern Egyptians share about 8 percent more ancestry on the nuclear level with sub-Saharan African populations than with ancient Egyptians, the investigators found. Stephan Schiffels, also at the Max Planck Institute, concluded that the finding "suggests that an increase in sub-Saharan African gene flow into Egypt occurred within the last 1,500 years." The study was published May 30 in the journal Nature Communications. More information The Smithsonian has more on Egyptian mummies. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, May 30, 2017The deaths of two journalists and the serious injury of two others in the Yemeni city of Taiz late last week are a grim reminder of the risks journalists face reporting on the two-year-old conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Cameramen Takieddin al-Hudhaifi and Wael al-Absi were killed on May 26 while covering fighting between Gulf-monarchy-backed forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and forces loyal to the Houthi militia and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh on the eastern outskirts of the central Yemeni city of Taiz, according to local officials, news reports, and the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate. Cameraman Salahuddin al-Wahbanis hand was injured, and Walid al-Qadasi suffered a more serious injury to his leg that ultimately required amputation, according to media reports. The deaths of cameramen Takieddin al-Hudhaifi and Wael al-Absi testify to the bravery journalists show every day covering the conflict in Yemen, CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said. We call on all parties to the fighting in Yemen to take all steps possible to ensure the safety of journalists and other civilians, and to fully and credibly investigate the circumstances of their deaths. Mohammed al-Hudhaifi, Takieddins father, told CPJ that witnesses had told him that the journalists were filming near the frontline in eastern Taiz when they came under fire and took cover in a nearby building. According to another journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity because he travels between areas controlled by the rival parties to the conflict, a group of Houthi fighters fired a shell at the building where the journalists were hiding, killing al-Hudhaifi and al-Absi and wounding al-Wahbani and al-Qadasi. It was unclear whether the building was hit because the journalists were inside. Al-Hudhaifis father said witnesses told him it was. The same journalist, who knew al-Hudhaifi and al-Absi, added that both had also been injured while covering fighting last year. The news website Elmaam.net reported that al-Hudhaifi was covering the fighting in Taiz for the Saudi government news channel Al-Akhbariya when he was killed, but worked as a freelance cameraman for many news outlets, including the news website Maareb Press, where his father works as a correspondent. Al-Akhbariya did not return CPJs request for comment. Al-Absi worked for Yemens official satellite TV channel. Both were students at Taiz University: Al-Hudhaifi studied business administration and al-Absi studied mass communication. In a May 26 statement to the press, the media office of Taizs governor, Ali Al-Moamari, claimed Al-Houthi forces targeted the journalists, without elaborating. In a May 26 statement, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate cast the journalists killing as part of a consistent effort by the Houthis to target journalists. Houthi and allied fighters surround Taiz. At least 16 civilians have been killed in shelling since last week, according to media reports. After a recent meeting in Washington between top U.S. and Mexican officials, both sides emphasized the need for a shared strategy to work together in the fight against transnational organized crime, particularly related to drug trafficking. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stressed that the United States must own up to the fact that we are the market. There is no other market for these activitiesBut for us, Mexico wouldnt have the trans-criminal organized crime problem and the violence that theyre suffering. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the most important thing the United States can do is reduce the drug demand. He praised the bravery of the Mexican military and police, many of whom have died in the fight against the drug cartels. He noted the cartels incredible brutality: If you wont take their bribe, theyll kill your daughter and make their point that way. Secretary of State Tillerson said that in their meeting with Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Luis Vidgaray Caso and Mexican Secretary of Government Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, the delegations identified fresh strategies to attack the business model of these multi-billion dollar criminal organizations, including targeting their means of production, their cross-border distribution networks, their cash flow and their weapons procurement. The two sides also discussed improving information-sharing among law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border, and the best ways for both countries to recognize organizational connections in the criminal drug enterprises, as well the most effective means to bring the guilty to justice. Homeland Security Secretary Kelly spoke of the positive benefits of a physical barrier and the use of technology on the border between the two countries, as well. He added, however, that its all about the people that patrol, talk to each other, police actions on both sides of the border. So theres no one single solution to this. Its a multifaceted problem and it needs multifaceted solutions. As Mexican Government Secretary Osorio Chong said, the discussions between the U.S. and Mexican officials offered a good path to finding such solutions in the fight against drug trafficking. From time to time, the United States identifies certain individuals as crucial to the operation of terrorist organizations. In all cases, these are people who have committed, or are deemed to pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism. When such an individual is identified, the U.S. government places that person's name on the Specially Designated Nationals List. His assets within U.S. reach are immediately frozen, and he is locked out of the global financial network. No U.S. citizen or company may conduct business with a designated individual. On May 19th, Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi were named as Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the U.S. Department of State, under Executive Order 13224. Concurrently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia designated Safieddine under its Law of Terrorism Crimes and Financing, and Royal Decree A/44. Hashem Safieddine is a top leader of Hezbollah, an Iran-supported Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity that has been responsible for dozens of major terror attacks over the past four decades. Saffieddine is a key member of Hezbollahs executive council, which oversees Hezbollahs political, organizational, social, and educational activities. Muhammad al-Isawi is a leader of the Sinai affiliate of ISIS. Better known as Abu Usama al-Masri, he was this terrorist groups media spokesman and assumed the leadership position after the August 2016 death of Abu Dua al-Ansari. The group he leads today, once known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, was designated as a foreign terrorist group in 2014. This designation was updated a year later, to reflect the groups affiliation with ISIS. The designations of Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi serve to notify the U.S. public, as well as the international community, that these two men pose a serious risk of committing acts of terrorism. At the same time, the action against Safieddine is the latest example of the strong partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia in combatting the financing of terrorism. The Safieddine designation is also consistent with the U.S. governments ongoing effort to expose and apply pressure against the actions of Hezbollah, which is supported by the foremost state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. Akhilesh has hinted that he is willing to enter into an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati. By India Today Web Desk: The bitter loss in Uttar Pradesh Assembly election may compel Samajwadi Party chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to join hands with arch-rival Mayawati to jointly tackle the challenge posed by a common rival - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Akhilesh gave enough indications today that he is willing to enter into an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati. advertisement Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has called a rally in Patna on August 27 to bring all non-BJP parties on a single platform ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha election. Speculations are rife that Mayawati may too attend the rally and shed hostility with bitter rival Akhilesh Yadav to fight a greater enemy. BJP's spectacular rise in Uttar Pradesh is forcing the Opposition to explore all channels. Akhilesh said he will attend Lalu's rally and claimed that Mayawati will also be present. "I will be present at Lalu Prasadji's Bihar rally on Aug 27 and Mayawati will also be there. If there is any announcement (regarding future alliance) it will me made there," Akhilesh said at a function in Mainpuri when asked about the possibility of SP and BSP coming together again. MAYAWATI SILENT The big question however remains whether Mayawati will attend the event. Her party has so far not said a word on it. When asked about his proposed rally in Patna and his bid to exhibit opposition unity, Lalu had said: "I have invited top leaders of all non-BJP parties for my rally in August. All of them will attend it." Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is close to Lalu, is also likely to attend the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) rally. Rahul Gandhi's friendship with Akhilesh Yadav is already well-known. The SP chief has said they will remain allies despite the electoral drubbing. Congress and Samajwadi Party had entered into a pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh and tried their best to woo voters with the campaign - "UP ko yeh saath pasand hai" - but the electorate thought otherwise. Together they could win only 54 out of 403. Mayawati's BSP too could garner only 19 seats. The coming together of BSP-SP-Congress may spell new headache for BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Also read: Coming up: Lalu Prasad's Bihar-like 'grand alliance' card in Delhi ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha election Brothers in arms Also watch: Panchayat Aaj Tak: Decoding the Yogi Adityanath and Akhilesh Yadav interviews --- ENDS --- advertisement Lisbon, Portugal (30 May 2017)--The Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc) in the Netherlands, the Instituto de Medicina Molecular Lisboa (iMM Lisboa) in Portugal, and PATH in Seattle, Washington announced today that they will collaborate to test a new approach to malaria vaccine development in humans for the first time. The concept being tested is similar to that used by Edward Jenner to develop a vaccine against smallpox, the only disease affecting humans that has ever been eradicated. Jenner used cowpox--a similar but much less dangerous bovine version of the disease--to inoculate people against smallpox. In this clinical trial, based on data from earlier animal studies conducted by iMM Lisboa, the researchers will use a rodent version of the malaria-causing parasite (known as Plasmodium berghei) to determine if it can induce protection against infection by Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest version of the parasite that infects humans. In the study, a specific gene from P. falciparum known as the circumsporozoite protein (CS), will be inserted into the rodent parasite, resulting in a genetically modified version known as Pb(PfCS@UIS4). By inserting the gene for CS, the researchers hope to improve the potential of the modified rodent parasite to induce a protective response in healthy human volunteers. "Bringing together the concept underlying the first vaccine ever developed, when Edward Jenner used the cowpox virus to immunize people against smallpox, with modern genetic manipulation tools, has resulted in a truly innovative approach to malaria vaccination," said Miguel Prudencio, who is leading the research team at iMM Lisboa. The trial will be conducted in two phases at Radboudumc in the Netherlands. In the first phase, 18 healthy adult volunteers will be recruited into three groups and exposed to varying, but carefully controlled number of bites from mosquitoes infected with the genetically modified P. berghei parasite. The researchers will closely monitor volunteers for signs of infection to make sure they are treated if they become ill. If all goes well in the Phase 1 study, volunteers from the highest dose group will enter the second phase of the study which is designed to assess protective efficacy of the approach. "This is the first time we have tested a genetically modified malaria vaccine approach in Europe using this rodent parasite," said Robert Sauerwein, principal investigator and professor of medical parasitology at Radboudumc. "Along with our partners in the Netherlands, the Havenziekenhuis and Erasmus MC, we're looking forward to investigating whether this novel concept might one day contribute to the elimination and eradication of this terrible disease." Malaria is a disease that killed more than 429,000 people in 2015, most of them young African children. Although the most advanced vaccine in development globally is slated for pilot implementation in parts of Africa beginning in 2018--an incredible accomplishment and critically important step--researchers are still on the hunt for a malaria vaccine that can confer higher levels of durable efficacy. The long-term goal of the malaria vaccine community, as outlined in the World Health Organization's Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap, is to develop vaccines with protective efficacy of at least 75 percent against clinical malaria, and vaccines that reduce transmission of the parasite in order to lower the incidence of malaria infection. "Although much progress has been made to drive down the malaria burden with currently-available interventions, a highly effective vaccine would be an important new tool for malaria elimination," said Ashley Birkett, director of PATH's Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI). "We are pleased to collaborate with Radboudumc and iMM Lisboa on testing this novel approach." With nearly two decades of experience in developing, managing, and overseeing human malaria challenge studies for vaccines against P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria, MVI, part of PATH's Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, will provide financial support for the project, input into trial design, and oversight for the clinical studies. MVI also supported previous toxicology studies. Radboudumc, a leader in controlled human malaria infection with P. falciparum, will lead, implement, and conduct the study in the Netherlands. iMM Lisboa, a nonprofit research institute devoted to biomedical research, will collaborate with Radboudumc on the conduct of the clinical trial and will provide the vaccine candidate, Pb(PfCS@UIS4), for use. ### PATH is the leader in global health innovation. An international nonprofit organization, PATH saves lives and improves health, especially among women and children. PATH accelerates innovation across five platforms--vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices, and system and service strategies and tools. By mobilizing partners around the world, PATH takes innovation to scale, working alongside countries primarily in Africa and Asia to tackle their greatest health needs. Learn more at http://www.path.org. PATH's Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) accelerates malaria vaccine development and catalyzes timely access in endemic countries, toward a world free from malaria. Standing at the intersection of malaria and immunization, MVI is part of PATH's Center for Malaria Control and Elimination and PATH's Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access. Learn more at http://www.malariavaccine.org. Radboud University Medical Center is a leading academic center for patient care, education and research, with the mission 'to have a significant impact on healthcare'. Our activities help to improve healthcare and consequently the health of individuals and of society. We believe we can achieve that by providing excellent quality, participatory and personalized healthcare, operational excellence and by working together in sustainable networks. Learn more at https://www.radboudumc.nl/EN/Pages/default.aspx. The iMM Lisboa - Instituto de Medicina Molecular is a leading Portuguese private non-profit research institute that offers a vibrant scientific environment, aiming to nurture innovative ideias in basic, clinical and translational biomedical research. Created in 2002, iMM Lisboa has established itself as a major national and internationally competitive biomedical institute. Its strategy has been defined by promotion of excellence, leveraged by high-quality human resources, increasing expenditure in infrastructures and knowledge transfer to the society. iMM Lisboa is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits. Learn more at: https://imm.medicina.ulisboa.pt/en/ For more information, please contact: Katy Lenard at klenard@burness.com or +1 301 280 5719 Pieter Lomans, Radboudumc, at nieuws@radboudumc.nl or +31 6 3197 0558 or +31 6 5129 1446 (outside office hours) Ana de Barros, iMM Lisboa, at imm-communication@medicina.ulisboa.pt or +351 217 999 411 x47335 'The Russians are laughing' as tensions rise between the US and Germany Germany 's Angela Merkel has directly and publicly questioned the United States ' commitment to Europe and in all likelihood that very much pleases Russia 's Vladimir Putin . At a series of diplomatic meetings last week, President Donald Trump disappointed European allies on issues related to defense, Russia and climate change. Merkel, typically a careful speaker seen as a key defender of a united Europe, then said at a campaign event Sunday that the "times in which we could rely fully on others" are "somewhat over." Trump has repeatedly expressed apparent animosity toward the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, institutions that have checked Russian influence in the region for decades. His decision not to explicitly endorse the NATO commitment to defend allies if they're attacked raised particular alarm among former diplomats, especially since his failure to do so comes just as Russia has become more militarily assertive. 'Probably very pleased' Putin, Russia's president, sees opportunity in a weakened trans-Atlantic alliance. Russia including the Soviet Union before it has found itself set against a united West since at least 1949. The Americans, Western Europeans and Canadians militarily blocked the Soviet Union up to 1991, and have economically dwarfed it ever since. Moscow also has long resented European and American criticism of its human rights record. A divided West is easier to confront than a united one, and the United States and Germany are the two biggest economies in the Western alliance. Speaking to MSNBC on Tuesday, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said, "I think the Russians are laughing" in the wake of Trump's meetings last week with European leaders from NATO and the Group of Seven major industrial nations. "They're laughing at how easy it is and how our president, unfortunately, is helping with their agenda," McFaul said. "Let's just be clear that NATO and G-7, those are our clubs ... that we set up to advance our national security interests, to advance our prosperity, and the result of this trip has been discord in both of those groups." Story continues On Sunday, Trump tweeted that the trip to Europe was "a great success for America." Press secretary Sean Spicer added Tuesday that Trump and Merkel "get along very well" and said her call for Europe to take care of itself is what Trump wanted. "More countries are stepping up their burden sharing. That's a good thing for them, that's a good thing for NATO, that's a good thing for America," Spicer said. But leaders like Merkel and newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron have shown that fracturing Europe could prove tough regardless of whether Trump is involved, according to Frances Burwell, a fellow at the Atlantic Council who focuses on EU-U.S. relations. "I do think that President Putin was probably very pleased to see the way the meetings went this past weekend. But it's far more important to note that his [anti-EU] candidate" Marine LePen, who is believed to have received assistance from the Kremlin "lost the French election," she said. "For the moment," Burwell said, "I think what's going to matter is that Europeans stay together." The Russian embassy press office in Washington did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. Trump, who won the White House with an anti-global message, has repeatedly bashed NATO and the European Union, which have formed the basis of U.S.-Europe cooperation for decades. While the White House says that the president is committed to alliances, he appeared to irk NATO members by publicly reprimanding them for not meeting their defense spending targets. Merkel has shifted recently by pushing for Continental self-reliance in the face of anti-EU movements within Europe, including the United Kingdom's vote to leave the union, Burwell said. Still, it is important to note that Merkel expressed her doubts about U.S. support at a campaign event in Germany, where anti-Trump rhetoric plays very well generally. Trump on Tuesday again attacked Germany for not meeting defense spending targets mandated by NATO and for its trade relationship with the U.S., contending without any explanation that "this will change." Putin is likely hoping that, if U.S. support wanes, "Europe will begin to falter," Burwell said. But she added that "Europe is becoming more united than we expected it to be," especially after Macron's win over far-right candidate Le Pen. Macron aimed to show that when he met Putin in France on Monday. The French president pressed his Russian counterpart on LGBT rights, Moscow's support for the Assad regime in Syria and alleged misinformation spread by Russia-funded media outlets in the French presidential campaign, according to The Associated Press. More From CNBC Rajasthan High Court's recommendation comes amid a massive outrage across the country over a controversial notification issued by the Centre over the sale and slaughter of cattle. By Sharat Kumar, Dev Ankur Wadhawan: The Rajasthan High Court today recommended life imprisonment for cow slaughter while also calling to make the bovine, considered holy by many Hindus, as India's national animal. The state High Court was hearing the Hingonia Gaushala case, in which over 8,000 cows had died between January 1 and July 31 last year due to ill health and accidental injuries in what is considered one of "Asia's best" cow shelters. advertisement "Keeping in mind Articles 48 and 51A(g) of the Constitution and to provide legal entity for their proper protection and conservation of cow, it is expected from the government that cow is declared a national animal," Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma said in a 145-page order. Sharma, on the day of his retirement, directed the state government to approach the Centre with his recommendations on declaring cow as the national animal. Justice Sharma also recommended making cow slaughter punishable with life imprisonment. JUSTICE'S RETIREMENT RECOMMENDATION "I have recommended for life imprisonment so that this offence is not repeated and people involved in cow slaughtering the cows should fear the punishment," Justice Sharma told India Today. The court said India was a predominantly agriculture-based country where animal husbandry played an important role. The judge appointed the Chief Secretary and the Advocate General of Rajasthan in loco parentis (custodians) for the protection and conservation of cows. These officials will work for the protection and conservation of cows and to declare cow a national animal, the ruling said. BEEF BAN OUTRAGE ACROSS INDIA The court's recommendation to the central government comes amid a massive outrage across the country over a controversial notification issued by the Centre on the sale and slaughter of cattle. The Environment Ministry last week notified the stringent Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, banning the sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for the purpose of slaughter. The Centre's rules defined cattle as a bovine animal, including bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers and calves and camels. The decision drew flak from various Opposition parties as well as organisations who claimed it would hit the export and trade of meat and leather. Following protests by various states and business community, the government on Tuesday said it could reconsider the notification regulating the sale of cattle and may exclude buffaloes from it. The Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed the central order and issued notice to both the Union Government and the state government seeking their reply. advertisement Also read: Beef fest at IIT-Madras: Student groups hold protests against attack on PhD scholar Kerala calf slaughter row: How ban on cattle sale turned into a full blown political controversy IIT PhD scholar thrashed for organising 'beef fest' in Chennai IIT Madras beef fest: Students protest against Centre's cattle slaughter ban Kerala cow slaughter: Youth Congress workers suspended from party after Rahul Gandhi condemns incident WATCH: Rajasthan High Court seeks life imprisonment for cow slaughter --- ENDS --- On May 18, we issued an updated research report on Industrial goods manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Plc IR. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Ingersoll designs, manufactures, sells and services a diverse portfolio of industrial and commercial products across the globe. From enhancing the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings to transporting and protecting food and perishables, the product portfolio of the company secures homes and commercial properties, and increases industrial productivity and efficiency. Ingersoll has a solid foundation of global brands and a leading market share in all major product lines. The geographic and industrial diversity coupled with a large installed product base provides ample growth opportunities within service, spare parts and replacement revenue streams. Additionally, the companys complementary portfolio of products and services is likely to assist it in strengthening market position and achieving high productivity. With a diligent execution of operational plans, Ingersoll has outperformed the Zacks categorized Machinery-General Industrial industry in the last three months with an average return of 8.3% compared with a 5.6% gain for the latter. Ingersoll is currently focusing on improving the efficiencies and capabilities of products and services within its core businesses after the divesture of the commercial and residential security businesses. On the other hand, strategic acquisitions served as growth drivers, supplementing the organic growth of the company. Ingersoll is likely to achieve steady improvements in operating profitability with new product developments, investments in IT platform and enhancement of channel services footprint and product management capabilities. For full-year 2017, management also reaffirmed its earlier bullish guidance. The company anticipates organic revenues to improve 3%, while reported revenues are expected to be up 2% year over year. Ingersoll expects adjusted earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $4.30 to $4.50 per share. Cash from operating activities is anticipated to be about $1.4 billion, while free cash flow is expected to be within $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion. Such bullish outlook portrays favorable growth dynamics and gives confidence to investors. We remain impressed with the inherent growth potential of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. Other top stocks in the industry include Altra Industrial Motion Corp. AIMC, Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. AIT and Graco Inc. GGG, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Altra Industrial topped estimates in each of the trailing four quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 15.9%. Applied Industrial has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 12%. It surpassed estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 9.8%. Graco has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 10.3%. It surpassed estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 13.9%. Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars? Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge. With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research. It's not the one you think. See This Ticker Free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (AIT): Free Stock Analysis Report Graco Inc. (GGG): Free Stock Analysis Report Ingersoll-Rand PLC (Ireland) (IR): Free Stock Analysis Report Altra Industrial Motion Corp. (AIMC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research us special forces raqqa syria In April, Syrian rebel fighters and their US special-forces trainers repulsed an ISIS attack in an hours-long battle marked by suicide bombers and coalition airstrikes. The battle took place at al Tanf near the Syria-Iraq border, and the camp there is still used by US and UK personnel to train Western-backed fighters. But with ISIS' territorial presence in Syria continuing to erode, al Tanf and the area around it near the intersection of the Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian borders looks to be the site of a potential clash between the US-led coalition, its local partners, and the Assad regime and its partners, backed by Iran. With US-backed forces gearing up to liberate ISIS' self-proclaimed capital in Raqqa and ISIS losing ground elsewhere in the Syria, combatants in the country are reportedly trying to position themselves to assume control of territory vacated by terrorist group. Recent events in Syria indicate that the Assad "regime and its allies [are] racing to establish an east-west 'Shiite axis' from Iran to Lebanon and the United States [is] seemingly looking to cement a north-south 'Sunni axis' from the Gulf states and Jordan to Turkey," Fabrice Balanche, a French expert on Syria and a visiting fellow at The Washington institute for Near East Policy, wrote recently. "What's left of Islamic State territory is the key part of Iran's plan to connect Iran to Lebanon," Firas Abi-Ali, senior Middle East analyst at IHS Country Risk in London, told Bloomberg. Kataib Imam Ali Forces (Iraqi militia in Syria) announced that they are preparing for Al #Tanf battle. See https://t.co/iyhjOPHsAY pic.twitter.com/ZLo5elflN5 Balanche (@FabriceBalanche) May 30, 2017 Though the battle for Raqqa in northeast Syria, and the balance of power it will create, is far from settled, control there looks set to devolve to Kurdish forces who are allied with the US and have said they're willing to negotiate with Assad, and by extension Iran, for autonomy. Story continues That could make it more possible for the al Tanf area in southeastern Syria to become a flashpoint in the geopolitical struggle between Iran and its partners, largely Shiite but also including Russia, and the US and its partners in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states, largely Sunni. According to Balanche, from al Tanf in southern Syria to Sinjar in Iraq where Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries recently recaptured ISIS-held territory "the area is now being contested by various belligerents on behalf of their regional sponsors." Clashes between the US-led coalition and Syrian forces have already occurred in southeast Syria. Russia and Iran have deployed forces to Syria to back up leader Bashar al-Assad while the US and many of its regional and Western allies have called for the strongman to leave power. On May 18, coalition airstrikes hit pro-regime forces "that were advancing well inside an established de-confliction zone" northeast of al Tanf, US Central Command said in a release. "This action was taken after apparent Russian attempts to dissuade Syrian pro-regime movement south towards At Tanf were unsuccessful," the release said. The strike was a limited engagement and not part of a new strategy, US Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon told Bloomberg. Intelligence sources have told Reuters that the coalition's presence near al Tanf is meant to keep Iranian-backed forces from securing an overland route between Syria and Iraq. More recently, Western-backed Syrian rebels said Russian jets had bombed them to stop their push to capture a checkpoint on the Damascus-Baghdad highway near the Syrian borders with Iraq and Jordan. While the Syrian regime and its associates may not have the capabilities to take on US forces and partners at al Tanf, their goal may be to surround the position and render it useless, Balanche told Military Times. Washington's long-term strategy for the region, and how it would deal with a potential conflict between its partners and Iranian-backed forces, remains unclear. US-made armoured vehicles bearing markings of the US Marine Corps on a road north of Raqa in northern Syria as clashes region in the area between US-backed forces and Islamic State group jihadists While US officials have said the US focus continues to be on defeating ISIS, airstrikes on Syrian forces launched earlier this year President Donald Trump were a more direct challenge to Assad than that taken by Obama. Trump's recent exhortations to Gulf Arab states to "stand united" against Iran, as well as his past bellicosity toward Tehran, suggest that his administration could pursue a more aggressive Middle East policy going forward. However, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, possibly emboldened by Trump's rhetoric, have released public broadsides against Gulf Cooperation Council partner Qatar, opening a rift that could shake up the anti-Iran front the GCC has thus far presented. "The GCC could harm it own interests in this fight and is at risk of becoming more vulnerable to Iranian encroachment," a Western diplomat based in Doha told Reuters. Turmoil in the Gulf notwithstanding, US willingness or ability to check Iranian regional ambitions is far from certain. "Theres not much the US can do about Iran in Syria," Cliff Kupchan, chairman of New York-based risk-consultant Eurasia Group, told Bloomberg. "Iran is closer, and cares more." NOW WATCH: Watch the King of Jordan participate in a military exercise with his armed forces More From Business Insider Ocean View, Delaware, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Hydropower Market is poised to reach 1,300 GW by 2024, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Rising electricity demand coupled with increasing investment towards sustainable energy will stimulate the global hydropower market size. As per International Energy Agency (IEA), hydroelectric accounted for over 80% of the total renewable energy mix. North America and Europe have introduced plans to upgrade, renovate, and modernize the existing stations to ensure more efficient operations. For instance, in March 2015, Latvenergo announced to invest USD 222.26 million towards reconstruction of Riga, Plavinas and Kegums hydroelectric power stations in Latvia by 2022. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1602 U.S. hydropower market size is projected to grow over 2% owing to its large untapped hydro potential reserves. Growing measures to minimize carbon footprints may further stimulate the business landscape. In 2015, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Non-Powered Dams (NPDs) estimated 12,000 MW capacity of existing untapped reserves. Reliable, high operating life cycle coupled with low maintenance costs are some of the key indicators which will stimulate the hydropower market share. Flood control, irrigation, tourism, aquaculture and recreation in remote areas are some of the salient benefits, which will complement the industry outlook. In Europe and North America, the authorities have introduced bond funds to raise investment for hydroelectric projects. These funds are particularly aimed at acquiring present assets over the new build. Low generation cost along with ability to produce high electric output will foster the hydropower market share. In 2016, Department of Energy (DOE) projected Levelized Energy Costs (LEC) of USD 56.2/MWh from hydroelectric when compared with USD 191/MWh from solar thermal. Large capacity segment in 2016 accounted for over 80% of global hydropower market share. Rising demand for continuous and reliable electricity along with upgradation of existing generating stations will stimulate the business landscape. In 2013, Agder Energi awarded a contract worth USD 24.4 million to Alstom, towards upgradation of the Iveland II hydroelectric plant in Norway, which has a generating capacity of approximately 150-GWh and 50 MW on annual basis. In 2016, Andritz installed three hydroelectric stations in Nicaragua and Brazil with an aggregate value of over USD 75 million with an aim to provide constant and reliable electricity. Low ecological impact coupled with cost competitiveness are some of the key parameters which will embellish the mini hydropower market size. The University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH), Vietnam in February 2016 installed 60 MW of mini capacity grid connected power station in 48 different locations with capacity range between 100 kW to 7500 kW. Measures towards carbon emission coupled with low civil refurbishment cost will drive micro and pico hydropower market. In 2016, Philippines announced its ambitious plan to construct over 150 micro plants with an increasing electricity generating capacity approximately by 50 MW. Major participants in hydropower market are ANDRITZ HYDRO, Voith, General Electric, Alfa Laval, China Three Gorges Corporation, China Yangtze Power, Metso, Hydro-Quebec, RusHydro, Duke Energy, Agder Energi, Georgia Power, StatKraft, Ontario Power Generation, Engie, ABB, EDF and Tata Power. Browse key industry insights spread across 120 pages with 108 market data tables & 8 figures & charts from this 2017 report Hydropower Market in detail along with the table of contents at: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/hydropower-market Growing demand for decentralize power generation along with measures to reduce carbon footprints will fuel the China solar PV Mounting systems market. In 2016, Government of China issued a document 625 on renewable energy, which makes it obligatory for grid connected companies to purchase certain amount of electricity from renewable generators up to an allocated hour. Notable players in solar PV mounting systems market include, UNIRAC, Quick Mount PV, K2 SYSTEMS, Landpower Solar, RBI Solar, Schletter, Mounting Systems, DPW Solar, SolarWorld, Versolsolar, Xiamen Grace Solar Technology, Clenergy, SNS Corporation, Suyash Metatech. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1602 Browse Related Reports: Hydropower Turbine Market Size 2016 2023 Hydropower turbine market size is expected to witness substantial growth from 2016 to 2023. Growing demand for renewable energy sources along with rising environmental security concerns is anticipated to drive the industry growth over the forecast period. The overall turbine market size is expected to be over USD 190 billion by 2023. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/hydropower-turbine-market Small Hydropower Market Size 2016 2024 Small Hydropower Market size on installation base was over 110 GW in 2015.The industry expects gains at over 2.5% CAGR up to 2024. Growing environmental consciousness and reducing dependency on conventional resources are projected to foster global small hydropower market size growth. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/small-hydropower-market About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com Web: https://www.gminsights.com Blog: https://www.gminsights.com/blogs Connect with us: Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter Latvian English The Company was established in 1900 as the Riga`a first state alcohol warehouse and operates under the current name since 1970. Due to SPI Group internal reorganization the major shareholder of Latvijas balzams AS from October 2014 is Amber Beverage Group SIA, which owns 89.99% of the Companys equity capital. Nowadays Latvijas balzams operates two alcohol production facilities in Riga production plant for strong alcohol beverages and a production plant for sparkling wines and light alcohol beverages. We use ingredients from around the world and have retained our traditional beverage production technologies. The recipes for some of our signature products date back hundreds of years, for example the the recipe o Riga Black Balsam is rooteted back in 1752, but our renown Moskovskaya Vodka dates back to the end of the 19th century. The company keeps the leading presence in all key spirits segments, as well as in sparkling wines, ciders, and RTDs, in the Baltic region. The newest generation of spirits, including Riga Black Vodka and Amber Gold Vodka, are produced using innovative filtration technologies that results in particular character profiles for beverage connoisseurs. We are proud for our ability to produce high quality liquids consistently, and develop new products driven by consumer insights. On the same time we are able to maintain high-quality international standards required by SPI Group, so that sales of Stolichnaya are possible around the world, including sales to Japan. Latvijas balzams AS is the largest producer of alcoholic beverages in the Baltic States with a range of more than 100 different brands. Our products are exported to more than 170 export markets as mediated by SPI Group, and to 42 markets via the Company`s direct export route. The Company`s Activity in the first quarter of 2017 The unaudited turnover of the Company in the first quarter of 2017 reached 17.7 million euro, which is 5% more than in the first quarter of 2016. The positive results are achieved mainly due to increased level of warehouse and logistics services provided to both 3rd part and Group companies. In addition to mentioned, increase in turnover was effected by higher orders of Lithuanian distributor before the planned rise of excise tax, unfortunately, it will negatively effects orders in 2nd quarter. From beginning of 2016, the Company is providing a number of warehouse and logistics services, mostly to beverage companies like transit assurance services, bonded warehouse services, 3-rd party logistic services, value added services, picking, etc. Actions taken, has allowed to use available resources and assets in more efficient way. Latvijas balzams AS has been performing as European hub for group distributed brands in Europe, including Scandinavia and Russia (KAH, Bayou, Arinzano, Achaval Ferrer). In the reporting period we have continued investing in our manufacturing base, with a continuous focus on improvement of efficiency and new product development: - Following the latest trends of beverage industry and based on order of Stoli Group, we have produced new product for the USA market that will be introduced in retail chains across USA in May vodka with natural juice; - The Company has performed export product filling lines layout change with partial upgrade to rise the competiveness and quality standard of beverages. The Company continues to implement LEAN in order to higher efficiency and productivity in all core processes. The unaudited profit for the reporting period reached 1.18 million euro that represents 2% decrease versus the first quarter of 2016, mainly due to product mix, based on changes in consumer preferences. Future prospects In 2017 the Company will keep focusing on investment opportunities in existing and new export markets with strong growth potential and accelerating sales. Well keep the strong focus on our core brands - Riga Black Balsam and Cosmopolitan Diva - investing into international recognition, brand equity and increasing market share. The Company will also continue to improve the efficiency of production with focus on purchasing, planning and infrastructure improvements to support our goal - to deliver quality products with a competitive cost advantage. Also Company has developed large-scale plant modernization and reconstruction project with aim to merge both production plants into one territory. Project will allow to improve company`s competitive positions among the region producers by decreasing labour, logistics and production costs. Total costs of project are estimated at amount of 23 million euro. Application for project CIT discount has been submitted to Ministry of Economics and technical project works are currently going on. After finalizing those two phases shareholders will be introduced to Project in details to obtain their final approval on investment. Latvijas balsams AS is an active member of Latvian Alcohol Industry Association and cooperates with core non-governmental organizations, representing the interests of industry in any dialogue with legislators and law enforcement institutions. The Company supports development of well - considered industry policy in Latvia and promotes responsible consumption and public education on these issues, as well as continues to combat the illegal production and distribution of non-commercial alcohol. Application and LORs* due Applicant-initiated interview complete Admissions Decision Early Action Round November Round January Round April Round 1st Round Consortium*** 2nd Round Consortium*** Essay 1: Tuck educates wise leaders who better the world of business. What are your short- and long-term goals? How will a Tuck MBA enable you to become a wise leader with global impact? (500-700 words words) Essay 2: As a diverse and global community, our students arrive at the same place from many different paths. Tell us about an experience in which you have had to live, learn and/or work with other people very different from yourself. What challenges and/or opportunities did you experience, how did you respond, and what did you learn about yourself as a result? (500 words) Situation: Explain the situation and the people involved in it. What was your challenge or conflict? Explain the situation and the people involved in it. What was your challenge or conflict? Action : How did you deal with the challenges? : How did you deal with the challenges? Result : What happened in the end? What did you learn about yourself and others? : What happened in the end? What did you learn about yourself and others? Significance: Why do you think this experience is meaningful to you? Optional Essay: Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application. (500 words) Re-applicant Essay: How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally. (500 words) Essays :Like last year, applicants will response to two required essays. However, Tuck has recently made changes to their first required goals essay that focuses on global approach. Also, the second required essay, the longstanding essay about a meaningful leadership experience has been replaced with more of a focus on diversity.Key Application Dates:10/5/1610/31/1612/16/1611/2/1611/11/162/10/171/4/171/31/173/10/174/5/174/5/175/12/1710/15/1610/31/1612/16/161/5/171/31/173/10/17Here is Advice from Tuck Admissions Blog:Tuck has long provided its graduates with the knowledge and inspiration to do well and do good to become the difference in the world of business and beyond. As the global economy continues to become more dynamic and diverse, the call for broad, values-driven leadership will continue to grow louder. With this in mind, weve made some changes to this year's essay questions, so please read carefully.Remember, the essays are your opportunity to share with us who you are beyond the numbers and the resume, so reflect, take your time, and be genuine. Think carefully about your content as well as delivery. Communicate clearly and in your voice, not who you think we want you to be; and most importantly, answer the question you are asked.Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay questions. There are no right or wrong answers. We encourage applicants to limit the length of their responses to 500 to 700 words for Essay #1 and 500 words for Essay #2. Please double-space your responses.Lets take a closer look at the essays.This year Tuck has provided 200 extra words for its goals essay . In addition, it has added a statement about global impact in the world of business. Addressing members of the AIGAC , (Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants) during their visit to the Tuck campus this summer, Dean Matthew mentioned that Tuck strives to develop wise leaders to better the world of business. This mission statement highlights the interaction between business and society. The term wise leaders focuses on confident, empathetic, and humble people who are also good decision-makers, and the to better the world of business focuses on enhancing traditions, creating opportunities, and giving hopeIn view of this change, you may start the essay with your overall vision for bettering the world of business. After that introduction, you may continue with the discussion of your short term goals and long term goal. Provide specific info about the position you are aiming for post MBA and also the organizations /companies you are interested in. Also, explain how you see yourself progressing from your short term goal to your longer term vision. After discussing your goals, comment on why you believe that an MBA is the next logical step in your career path and how an MBA will fill the gaps in your career and bring you closer to the fulfillment of your goals? Please note that this gap can best be established with a brief career summary to show the skills you have acquired in your six years experience in the banking industry.To address the second part of the question, explain how an MBA from Tuck is your best bet at this time and how it will help you achieve your goals. It is important to connect your goals to specific resources/ offerings of Tuck e.g. courses, faculty, student community, clubs, organizations. A through research and understanding of Tuck culture and offerings is key to answering this part of the question. Demonstrating your fit with the unique culture of Tuck is the key here. You should connect with Tucks alumni and /or current students and share insights you have gained from your interactions. By reaching out to current students and alumni you can learn more about the experiences and classes that would help you develop as a global leader. Conclude your essay with a comment on how you will contribute to the close knit community of Tuck in Hanover and establish your fit with the schools culture.Tuck has changed its second essay from most meaningful leadership experience to the one focused on diversity and the applicants ability to grow and learn in a diverse setting. To answer this question well, you will need to do significant amount of introspection to come up with a story/ experience when you had interacted with someone or some people who was entirely different from you in terms of language, accent, nationality, values, beliefs etc. Think about a time when you were truly challenged by a person or group of people different from yourself, and how you resolved the experience. Make sure your story not only shows your respect for other cultures and value systems but also your adaptability in cross -cultural settings and the resulting growth.You use the following 4 point structure to organize this essay:A compelling narrative will demonstrate learning and growing through interacting with others.An optional essay is an opportunity for you to give the Ad Com relevant information that you could not provide in other essays or other parts of your application essays, recommendation letters, and resume. This question is also meant to shine a spotlight on an experience or side of your personality that has not been revealed in the other parts of your application.To provide context for a weakness in your profile, such as low GPA or GMAT or a gap in your job history, make sure your reason is genuine to convince them that your low grades occurred due to unforeseen circumstances beyond your control.Also, keep in mind that your story should not only explain that particular weakness in your profile, but also bring out your other strong personality traits. That means your response should be positive, straightforward, and fact-focused and should not sound like you are making excuses for a weakness in your profile.Through this question Tuck Ad Com would like to know that your need of Tuck is as strong as it was last time. Hence you should demonstrate your continued interest in Tuck by mentioning any meetings you have had with alumni/ professors/ad com, or any information session you have attended. Tuck wants its applicants to tell them how they have enhanced their application since they applied last time. You may answer this by focusing on the areas you have improved upon since you applied last. Whether you have taken extra classes, received a promotion, led a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on a personal challenge, the key here is to demonstrate that you are now a better and stronger candidate. Your conscious efforts to strengthen your profile and to work on your weak areas will prove how determined you are about your Tuck MBA.Lastly, and most importantly, you should use the feedback you received from the school on your previous application and focus specifically on those areas e.g. clarity of goals and improved essays with clarity of message.For more MBA articles, visit myEssayReview blog. For questions, email me at .com">poonam@ .com Quote: A. Targeted toward the crucial 18-49 demographic, each of the television networks new scripted dramas feature attractive, bankable stars both from the music and modeling industries, known more for their good looks than for their acting abilities. Quote: B. Targeted at the crucial 18-49 demographic, each of the television networks new scripted dramas features attractive, bankable stars from both the music and modeling industries, known more for their good looks than for their acting abilities. Quote: C. Targeted at the crucial 18-49 demographic, each of the television networks new scripted dramas features attractive, bankable stars both from the music and modeling industries, known more for their good looks than for their abilities as actors. Quote: D. Targeted to the crucial 18-49 demographic, each of the television networks new scripted dramas feature attractive, bankable stars from both the music and modeling industries, known more for their good looks than for their abilities as actors. Quote: E. Targeted to the crucial 18-49 demographic, each of the television networks new scripted dramas features attractive, bankable stars both from the music and modeling industries, known more for their good looks than for their acting abilities. I dont think this is a particularly difficult question, and if youre doing it the right way, its a really quick and painless question. But there are some speedbumps here if youre not focused on the right issues.The semi-trap in this question: if youre distracted by the idiom, youre missing the point. In real life, I dont know anybody including any of my friends who are native English speakers and/or professional editors who knows or cares whether the correct idiom is targeted toward, targeted to, targeted at, or targeted on. Its a dumb thing for the GMAT to test, in my opinion. But the GMAT doesn't care what I think.More importantly: if you see an idiom split and youre not 100% sure what the right idiom is, look for other stuff. Sure, sometimes theres no way to escape the idiom. But if they give you an opportunity to work around the idiom, please take it. (More on idioms -- and why they might not be worth studying -- in this article .)And theres another potential distraction here: the word their looks ambiguous, since it could refer to industries or stars and since industries is the most recent plural noun, the pronoun doesnt look ideal. But pronoun ambiguity isnt ALWAYS wrong on the GMAT: click here for an old thread on this topic, click here for an official example of acceptable pronoun ambiguity -- and we also covered this issue in a YouTube video And in this situation, the pronoun is irrelevant, anyway: their appears in all five answer choices, in exactly the same place.Bottom line: if you didnt get sidetracked by the pronouns or idiom, you win.Each is singular, so each feature is wrong. Plus, both from and modeling is not parallel. We dont even need to think about the idiom or the pronouns. Eliminate (A).Both the parallelism and subject-verb agreement look good here. Lets keep (B).Subject-verb is fine here, but the parallelism error is the same as in (A). We can still ignore the idiom and the pronouns. Eliminate (C).The parallelism is acceptable here, but each feature doesnt work. And we still have no reason to worry about the idiom. (D) is gone.Parallelism error again, so (E) is gone, and (B) is our winner._________________ God will decide, Rajinikanth says, when he will join politics. "He wants me to be an actor now. If he wants me to be something else, I will play that part as well," he adds. But the 66-year-old Tamil superstar was clearly hedging, not prepared to spell out his plans just yet. He dropped many hints while interacting with crowds of doting fans over five days - May 15 to 19 - in Chennai. "I'm a pachai Tamizhan (true Tamilian)," Rajinikanth grandly declared on the concluding day, while exhorting followers to brace for a battle to usher in change. After four hugely successful decades as an actor, he's now evidently gearing up to follow actor-politicians like M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa into politics. advertisement Many believe now would be a great moment for Rajinikanth to take the plunge. Things are looking uncertain in both the mainstream Dravidian parties-the AIADMK afflicted by intense factionalism in the wake of Jayalalithaa's demise, and growing concerns in the DMK given the failing health of party patriarch M. Karunanidhi. The actor told fans that he's looking for systemic change. "We have good leaders like (M.K.) Stalin, Anbumani (Ramadoss) and Seeman, but what do we do when the system is bad? When democracy has deteriorated?" Rajini asked while carefully avoiding any negative personal references. "I have my profession, my job. I have some responsibilities and you have your jobs. Go back to your places and do your job. Let's meet when it's time for battle," he said to them. That Rajinikanth is looking to activate his extensive and highly committed fan club is obvious. Analysts believe he could go with either of two options - launch a new political party like N.T. Rama Rao did with the Telugu Desam Party in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in 1982, or join hands with the BJP, which wants to establish more than just a presence in Tamil Nadu. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue and Thuglak editor S. Gurumurthy says, "The fact that Rajini said he will keep out the wrong people if he forms a party means he has specific intentions in mind." State BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan, too, has lauded Rajinikanth's statements. Of course, the BJP knows the superstar's backing would give the party's prospects a massive boost. Rajini's iconic status could bring in a big chunk of young and women voters to their fold. But Tamil Nadu Congress president Su. Thirunavukkarasar, who's known the actor for 35 years, says Rajini is unlikely to join any party. "He'll start one of his own," says the Congress leader. Mainstream politicians in the state are clearly wary of Rajinikanth's arrival on the political scene. PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss says, "Tamil Nadu doesn't need another actor-leader; we need an educated leader." Others even accused Rajinikanth of periodically using politics to promote his films. Whichever way he decides to go, it's eminently clear that Thalaiva ('leader', as fans address Rajini) will have the last laugh. --- ENDS --- Legit.ng came across photos of a popular radio show host, Tekena Iyalla, who took to the streets to protest the ever increasing rate of kidnapping in Rivers state. Port Harcourt-based On-Air-Personality (OAP), Tekena Iyalla, took to the streets to protest against the rate of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state's capital. Tekena who hosts a comedy show, Funky 4+1, on one of the radio stations, complained about the steady kidnapping and armed robbery attacks at the Ada George road. The man stripped down to his underwear and plastered handwritten placards on his chest and back, in protest. He then went straight to the office of the Rivers state commissioner of police to ask them to step up their game in terms of providing security for the people of the state. Tekena, a radio show host, took his protest over the rate of armed robbery and kidnapping, to the police station in Rivers state PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App See more pictures below: Tekena took his cry for help to a police station Tekena protested over the steady spate of kidnapping at the Ada George road Tekena got the River state police commissioner to comment on the matter Meanwhile, see this video of farmers protesting the kidnap of one of their members: Source: Legit.ng Legit.ng gathered that a midwife was caught after successfully switching a newborn baby with a dead one at an undisclosed hospital in Ifo, Ogun state. What extra care is a new mother expected to take after birthing her baby to avoid losing the child to schemers like the lady below? According to a post shared on social media by an Instagram user identified as @abolorelore_sexymama_beautybar, a midwife stole her family friend's healthy newborn baby and swapped the child with a dead one. The midwife is being suspected of taking the baby for ritual purposes as she had a room full of money of different currencies and denominations. The midwife confessed that the newborn baby she stole was actually alive and well READ ALSO: Fake prophet caught putting juju inside bus to cause accident Sharing the story on Instagram, she wrote: "My family friend delivered her baby around 5pm and the mother-in-law was asked to go home to get clothes. When she returned with her son, the doctor/midwife had left the hospital immediately after her delivery as informed them by the two nurses on ground. The nurses wouldn't account for the whereabout of the newly born. The husband alerted the community chairman and elders with the youth and they went to Ifo police, visited the place of delivery and only found the placenta and only one of the rooms was locked. The midwife was spoken with around 10pm after several calls and she admitted the baby was fine and alive. The search team left the place around 11.30pm after waiting for the midwife who didn't show up. PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App The next morning 28th, they went back to the police station, that was when i was contacted. Then the woman was around there. We all went back to the hospital and in one of the rooms already searched, a dead baby was found which she claimed had been in the building all through 27th of May. She said the baby was dead at birth. The locked room was opened and money of different denominations were found, she also has the building construction going on behind the clinic. The elders within her community claimed she came back to the clinic by 1am and showed them the dead baby. The DCO Ifo said while he and his team searched the clinic, no baby was found. The dead body has been taken to the mortuary for autopsy, the wicked must not go unpunished." See the video of the midwife confessing below: Na wa o! Meanwhile, see this video of a woman who lost four of her children in one day: Source: Legit.ng - Newly wed bride sets her husband and herself on fire - The woman allegedly accused her husband of infidelity before she set herself and her husband on fire - Her husband who did not die on the spot was immediately rushed to the hospital where he later died A newly wed bride has set herself and her husband on fire over alleged infidelity in Kano state. Legit.ng gathered that the tragic incident happened on Tuesday, May 30, around 12:00am in Middle Road residence, Sabon Gari area of Kano state. It was gathered that the woman allegedly accused her husband of infidelity after she overheard a phone conversation between her husband and an unidentified lady. Newly wed bride sets herself and husband ablaze in Kano state According to The Punch, the woman who was furious with her husband reportedly set fire on a keg of petrol that immediately exploded and burnt their home. It was reported that the woman who was burnt beyond recognition died on the spot while her husband was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he later died after suffering severe burns. READ ALSO: Lady rescues newborn baby dumped under Coker Bridge in Lagos (photos) An eyewitness, Emmanuel Okorie, explained that the woman who had been pregnant got married to her husband five weeks ago. The newly wed bride set fire on a petrol keg which exploded and burnt the whole house According to Okorie, the husband who he simply identified as, Emeka, revealed to him that his wife was forced on him by his mother. However, Okorie could not confirm if it was the alleged phone conversation that led to the tragic incident. PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App The Kano state police spokesperson, Musa Magaji Majiya, disclosed that the police command has launched an investigation into the cause of the incident. Meanwhile, Legit.ng TV went to the streets to ask Nigerians if it is proper for your partner to check your phone and read your messages. Source: Legit.ng Legit.ng gathered that a young woman was found dead in her office two weeks after she had been declared missing by her family members. 29-year-old Lucia Thembisile Yende had been reported missing two weeks before she was found in her office at Springs power station, South Africa. The deceased who was last seen on May 17, was found dead on May 29. She had been dead for about 13 days, and nobody noticed she had been inside the office. According to reports, her car was also found in the parking lot, where it had been since the day she went missing. Lucia Yende had been dead for about 13 days before she was found READ ALSO: Wicked midwife steals woman's newborn, swaps with a dead baby A spokesperson from her office identified as Khulu Phasiwe, said: "On the day she was reported missing, police came and searched the offices. They even had police dogs there but could not pick up any smell." A police spokesperson, Kay Makhubele, said: "We know that the woman was found in her office but I dont know what was the cause of death. According to reports, Yende's death remains suspicious as the CCTV cameras at her office had stopped recording right after she was last seen walking into the office. Members of her family had tried to check out footage from that day, but were told the CCTV had been switched off that day. A spokesperson from Lucia's family identified as Mboneni Yende, said: The sad part is that on Thursday we went there there were three workers that were inside the station working. On that day it had been 10 days since she had been missing. Are you telling me that if someone has been dead for 10 days then you cant smell anything? That is highly impossible. The people who were there knew what they were doing?" READ ALSO: Fake prophet caught putting juju inside bus to cause accident Lourens Smit, who was the lead investigator for the search and rescue team, also confirmed that Yende's death appeared suspicious. He said: "When she was reported missing the whole office and its surroundings were checked by SAPS and the K9 unit. The family and community members also searched. Her body was definitely not at the office. On day 13 [13 days after she went missing] her body is found locked in her office. That definitely suggests foul play." According to her cousin who went to the Eskom office the cameras were not working on the day that she went missing. Why the cameras were not working I dont know but there is definitely more to the disappearance. Yende's family had declared her missing after she failed to come home after leaving for work READ ALSO: OAP takes to the street to protest constant kidnapping and robbery in Rivers state Phasiwe, the spokesperson from the deceased's office, said they are waiting for the autopsy report that will throw some light on how she died. He said: All we know is that she was reported missing for two weeks. She was found in a sub station. Circumstances surrounding her death will be uncovered by the police investigation. The police spokesperson, Makhubele, said: It is alleged that the woman was last seen when she went to her workplace at Eskom in Springs. Late in the evening the family went to the police station to report her missing after seeing that she was not coming back home and not answering her phone. Since then the police have been searching for the whereabouts of the woman. Yesterday [Monday] the police were called at Eskom where they pointed out one office which was not in use and had a funny smell. The police had to break the door because it was locked only to discover the body of the missing woman. The deceased's car was found in the parking lot where it appeared to have been since she was declared missing PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App Makhubele also said police await the result of the autopsy, as they are yet to know what led to her death. The police are appealing to anyone who might have information to come forward by contacting the nearest police station or alternatively call our Crime Line 08600 10111 or SMS 32211. RIP to her! Meanwhile, see this video of a 63-year-old woman whose son was killed by cultists: Source: Legit.ng A 34-year-old woman, Oyinyen Chuks, was on Tuesday, May 30, charged to Ikeja Chief Magistrates Court in Lagos state. Vanguard reports that the trader was charged for locking up her 14-year-old housemaid in a toilet for 20 days. The prosecutor, Sgt. Raphael Donny, told the court that the offences were committed between May 2 and May 22 at the residence of the accused, 19, Ojo street, Shasha, in Lagos. Donny said that the accused alleged that the housemaid stole her money and beat her mercilessly. PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App The accused locked the girl inside her toilet, fed her once and didnt allow her to take a bath or change her clothes for those weeks in bondage. It was one of the neighbours who could not bear the torment anymore that informed the police, he said. The prosecutor said that following the report, the police visited the house and found the girl in the condition. Hence, the accused was arrested while the girl was taken to the hospital for treatment, Donny said. The offences, he said, contravened Sections 171, 207, 245 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. However, Chuks pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against her. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Davies Abegunde, granted the accused N1million bail with two sureties in like sum. Abegunde ordered the accused to pay N200,000 into the Court Registrar s account as part of the bail conditions. She adjourned the case until June 21 for mention. In another related development, a 63-year old woman has given details of how she watched some cultists who have been terrorizing their community, Midim Atan in Akwa Ibom state cut her 16-year old son into pieces and burnt his remains. See the exclusive video below: Source: Legit.ng - A suspected car thief has been freed in Lagos after he was caught stealing a bus - He was nabbed while trying to steal a bus in Computer Village Lagos residents have freed a suspected car thief after he was allegedly caught stealing in Computer Village, Ikeja area of the state. Legit.ng gathered that the thief was caught by a woman who owns a shop opposite where the bus was parked. The woman immediately alerted the owner of the bus as soon as she noticed someone was trying to steal the car. Suspected car thief freed after he was caught red-handed READ ALSO: Newly wed bride sets herself and husband ablaze in Kano state (photos) The eyewitness expressed disbelief at the audacity of the thief in trying to steal a car in broad day light. He revealed that the car thief was caught while he was trying to start the ignition of the car. Meanwhile, the owner of the car who was shocked, said that he had locked the bus. He was nabbed after a shop owner saw him trying to start the bus He said the residents were ready to beat the thief to stupor until an officer of the law advised them to let the thief go because he does not look normal. PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App It is good to see that some Nigerians are willing to put a stop to jungle justice rather than take the laws into their hands. However, some Nigerians are not opened to the idea of reporting thieves to the law enforcement agencies. Legit.ng reported a story a few days ago about a newspaper thief that was beaten to stupor. Meanwhile, Man says he would steal if the federal government wants him to steal Source: Legit.ng 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 By Siraj Qureshi: Following a brief hiatus from national politics, BJP MP from Agra, Ram Shankar Katheria, who had been removed from the post of Union MoS for HRD by PM Narendra Modi in the previous Cabinet reshuffle, has again surged into limelight by getting nominated as the Chairman of the National SC/ST Commission. The post has been lying vacant since the retirement of the previous chairman PL Poonia last year. advertisement Katheria's removal from the ministerial portfolio had come as a surprise for the people of Agra who had been seeking a more centralised role for the dynamic young MP in the Union government. However, after UP BJP President Keshav Prasad Maurya assumed charge as the state's Deputy Chief Minister, it raised hopes that Katheria might be given the charge of UP BJP unit. CONGRESS ATTACKS KATHERIA With his nomination as the Chairman of National SC/ST Commission, Katheria is likely to rise high on the national political scene, although his nomination is being criticised by the Congress. The Congress claims that Katheria has many charges of academic fraud pending against him, including tampering with his own graduate and post-graduate mark sheets to obtain a teaching job in the Dr BR Ambedkar University. Also read: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's minister in trouble for filing 'false' caste certificate to Election Commission Also read: Facing flak for vacancies in National Commission for Minorities, Centre finally appoints 5 members --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: 20 years ago, Salman Khan entertained the audiences with his dual avatar in David Dhawan's hit film Judwaa. And after two decades, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor plans to do exactly the same but with a twist. It is a known fact that David Dhawan has begun shooting for Judwaa 2 with son Varun Dhawan, and if reports are to be believed, Salman too will be seen in the film. advertisement According to Mid-Day, Salman will yet again pull off a double role in Judwaa 2. A source was quoted as telling the daily, "Salman will appear as both, Raja and Prem, his twin characters from the film who have aged by 20 years. His judwaa will come face-to-face with Varun's double role, possibly bantering in the climax scene." There was speculation that Salman might make a special appearance in one of the two chartbusters from the first instalment - Oonchi Hai Building or Tan Tana Tan, but nothing has been confirmed as of now. The final leg of shooting of Judwaa 2 will begin in June. "The team recently wrapped up the London schedule. They will begin the final leg of shoot in Mumbai next month with Salman joining them for a few hours," the source added. ALSO READ: Varun Dhawan as a dapper Prem or a tapori Raja in Judwaa 2. Who's your pick? ALSO READ: Varun Dhawan and Taapsee Pannu recreate Oonchi Hai Building for Judwaa 2 ALSO WATCH: Varun Dhawan dances to Saturday Saturday, talks about female fans --- ENDS --- A bombing in Afghanistans capital killed at least 90 people and injured hundreds more Wednesday morning. The bomb was hidden in a truck designed to carry sewage. It exploded in the center of Kabul, near a number of foreign embassies. The Reuters news agency said it was one of the worst bombings in a city where terrorism is an ongoing threat. Afghan government officials reported the number of casualties Wednesday night -- more than 12 hours after the explosion. Officials warned that the number of deaths might grow because of the large number of injuries. Alef Ahmadzai drives vehicles equipped for taking the injured to medical centers. He told the Associated Press I have been to many attacks, taken wounded people out of many blast sites, but I can say I have never seen such a horrible attack as I saw this morning. Most of the victims appeared to be civilians, Reuters reported. Victims included women and children, said a spokesman of the public health ministry. But the dead also included Afghan security guards, including nine guards working at the United States Embassy. The U.S. State Department said 11 American contract workers were wounded in the attack. Felt like an earthquake Mohammed Hassan, 21, was attending training at a bank close to the area where the truck exploded. It felt like an earthquake, he told Reuters. Hassan had a bandage covering his head wound. But blood covered his white dress shirt. The bomb hit the diplomatic area of Kabul, damaging many embassy buildings and vehicles. There were no early claims of responsibility. The Afghan Taliban denied responsibility. The group criticized all attacks on civilians. Warnings of attacks Security agencies in Afghanistan had been warning that militants were planning attacks on major targets for the start of Ramadan. The Muslim holy month began last week. Horia Mosadiq is a researcher for the human rights group Amnesty International. She said, The bombing in Kabul is a horrific act of violence and a heartbreaking reminder of the toll that Afghan civilians continue to pay in a conflict where armed groups deliberately target them and the government fails to protect them. Mosadiq said the explosion shows that the long war in Afghanistan is far from over and appears to be widening. Some Afghans went on social media to question if foreigners care about the continued violence they face. Bombings in Afghanistan and the world is silent like usual, tweeted a woman known as Afghan Meezus. People wonder why we're prideful people. Because we suffer in silence and alone. A man in Iraq, where there have also been recent bombings, wrote back to her. Iraq feels your pain & we standwith Afghanistan till the end! The bombing took place near the entrance to the German embassy in Kabul. It injured several embassy workers, according to German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Pictures showed the embassy building with its windows wrecked by the explosion. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called the explosion an inhuman and cowardly attack against innocent civilians during Ramadan. In Washington, a State Department official said the attacks "once again show the terrorists' complete disregard for human life." Im Jonathan Evans. Ayaz Gul reported on this story for VOANews.com. Bruce Alpert adapted this story for Learning English, with additional reporting from the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow 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 blast - n. an explosion bandage - n. a covering (such as a strip of cloth) that protects or supports part of the body that has been hurt reminder - n. something that causes you to remember or to think about something toll - n. the number of people who are killed or injured in an accident, disaster, or attack deliberately - adv. in a way that is meant, intended, or planned cowardly - adv. afraid in a way that makes you unable to do what is right or expected disregard - n. to ignore something or the causes of your action casualty n. someone lost through death, wounds or injury sewage n. refuse liquids or waste This is Whats Trending Today. Donald Trump sent out one of his most popular tweets as president just after midnight on Wednesday. It was not about jobs or fake news. It was about constant negative press covfefe. It was retweeted and liked hundreds of thousands of times before he deleted it around 6:00 in the morning. Suddenly, social media was filled with people wondering how to pronounce the word. And others tried to figure out what it meant. Some people thought President Trump was in the middle of writing a message and sent it by accident. Later on Wednesday morning, Trump wrote: Who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe??? Enjoy! The dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster has been known to correct Trumps misspellings and mis-use of words on Twitter. With this latest covfefe, someone who writes tweets for the dictionary publisher wrote: Wakes up. Checks Twitter UhRegrets checking Twitter. Goes back to bed. Based on the context, many thought it should have been coverage, instead of covfefe. But that did not stop people from teasing Trump about the tweet. The New York Times opinion writer Charles M. Blow wrote: And just before you serve it, you hit it with a dash of #Covfefe. Blow included a video that appears to show Trump adding a dash of salt to food. Other people thought covfefe might be a good replacement for product names. One person wrote Dont talk to me before my morning covfefe. Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel, a comedian who writes jokes for a living, was sad about covfefe. He wrote: Ill never write anything funnier than #covfefe. Some people replaced words from famous songs with the new word covfefe. Others created new Twitter profiles with the word covfefe, including those of a fictional wizard and warrior. The two got into a Twitter battle with each other, each saying they were the ones summoned by Trumps tweet. And thats Whats Trending Today. Im Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. What do you think covfefe means? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story figure out v. to understand or find (something, such as a reason or a solution) by thinking context n. the words that are used with a certain word or phrase and that help to explain its meaning dash n. a small amount of something that is added to something else usually singular comedian n. a person who performs in front of an audience and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting in a way that is funny : an actor who plays roles that make people laugh summon v. to order (someone) to come to a place The United States Defense Department says it has successfully tested a defense system against an intercontinental ballistic missile. The test involved two separate missile launches. The military launched an intercontinental ballistic missile or ICBM from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It also launched a missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to intercept the ICBM. Defense officials say the test was a success. They said the second missile struck and destroyed the ICBM over the Pacific Ocean. The intercept of a complex threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment, said Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Cedric Leighton is a crisis management expert and a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer. He told VOA that the test both sends a message and shows technological gains. From a diplomatic standpoint, its a tremendous message, and from a technical standpoint it shows that there are possibilities of actually mounting a type of defense that will knock at least some inter-continental ballistic missiles out of the sky before they reach their intended targets. He added that, historically, the tests have been about 50 to 55 percent effective. The system tested Wednesday was designed to stop ICBMs at great distances long before they reach the U.S. The U.S. test took place after North Korea tested a short-range missile on Monday. North Korea said the test was a success. The test angered Japan which said the missile landed in its exclusive economic zone. U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Twitter about the North Korean action. North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile, he tweeted. However, China has called for North Korea to return to talks over its disputed nuclear weapons and missile programs. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the U.S. will continue to pressure China on the issue of North Korea. Haley said the Trump administration believes that China is using back-channel communications with North Korea to persuade it to stop nuclear weapons testing. She said that China and the U.S. are considering increasing restrictions against the country. Im Mario Ritter. Chris Hannas and Kenneth Schwartz reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. Margaret Besheer reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story intercontinental ballistic missile n. a large missile able to travel many thousands of kilometers to deliver a warhead intercept v. to prevent something from reaching the place it is intended to go tremendous adj. very great type n. kind, sort intended adj. something that is the purpose or goal short-range adj. over a relatively short distance exclusive adj. available only to one country or one person back-channel adj. secret, unofficial, or informal We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Disclosure: Some links on this page are monetized by the Skimlinks, Amazon, Rakuten Advertising, and eBay, affiliate programs. All prices are subject to change, and this article only reflects the prices available at time of publication. Looking for a cheap convertible laptop? Microsoft is selling a Dell Inspiron 11 with 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and Windows 10 for just $209 but it has a pretty sluggish processor, so Id only recommend it for light computing. Meanwhile, Newegg is offering an even better price for a Lenovo ThinkPad 11e with a somewhat more capable CPU but its a Chromebook. So if you want Windows and an Intel Kaby Lake CPU, well Ive got one of those for you too. Best Buy is selling a 13.3 inch HP Pavilion x360 convertible with a Core i3 chip, 6GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive for $400. Its not the cheapest or smallest convertible around. But thats a pretty good price for a computer with those specs. Here are some of the days best deals. Computers Networking Audio Other You can find more bargains in our daily deals section. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is the first smartphone capable of shooting video at up to 960 frames per second. But thats not the only reason Sony isnt kidding when it calls the phone premium. Other features include a 5.5 inch, 3840 x 2160 pixel HDR IPS display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and a waterproof design. Sony first introduced the phone in February, and now the company has announced the US launch date and price. It goes up for pre-order June 12th for $800 and begins shipping on June 19th. Sonys new high-end phone has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, a microSD card slot with support for up to 256GB of removable storage, and a 3,230 mAh battery. It features a USB 3.1 Type-C port, dual SIM support, and support for Sonys PlayStation 4 Remote Play tech. On the back of the phone theres a 19MP camera with 5-axis video stabilization and that super-slow-motion 960 fps option. The front camera is a 13Mp Sony Exmor RS model. Sonys new mid-range Xperia XA1 Ultra smartphone will also be available in June, as will the Sony Xperia Touch projector/computer/thing which will sell for $1700 in the US. via Android Central Diagram of the brain of a person with Alzheimer's Disease. Credit: Wikipedia/public domain. Long before symptoms of Alzheimer's disease become apparent to patients and their families, biological changes are occurring within the brain. Amyloid plaques, which are clusters of protein fragments, along with tangles of protein known as tau, form in the brain and grow in number, eventually getting in the way of the brain's ability to function. These biological changes can be detected early in the course of Alzheimer's disease through positron emission tomography (PET) scan or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Now, a new study led by Keck Medicine of USC neuropsychologist Duke Han, PhD, associate professor of family medicine (clinical scholar) at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California suggests that cognitive tests are also able to detect early Alzheimer's in people without symptoms. "In the last decade or so, there has been a lot of work on biomarkers for early Alzheimer's disease," Han says. "There are new imaging methods that can identify neuropathological brain changes that happen early on in the course of the disease. The problem is that they are not widely available, can be invasive and are incredibly expensive. I wanted to see whether the cognitive tests I regularly use as a neuropsychologist relate to these biomarkers." Putting neuropsychological measures to the test Han and his colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 61 studies to explore whether neuropsychological tests can identify early Alzheimer's disease in adults over 50 with normal cognition. The study, which was published in Neuropsychology Review, found that people who had amyloid plaques performed worse on neuropsychological tests of global cognitive function, memory, language, visuospatial ability, processing speed and attention/working memory/executive function than people who did not have amyloid plaques. The study also found that people with tau pathology or neurodegeneration performed worse on memory tests than people with amyloid plaques. Amyloid plaques and tau pathology were confirmed by PET scan or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. "The presumption has been that there would be no perceivable difference in how people with preclinical Alzheimer's disease perform on cognitive tests. This study contradicts that presumption," Han says. Routine cognitive screenings: A new normal? Han believes that the study results provide a solid argument for incorporating cognitive testing into routine, annual checkups for older people. "Having a baseline measure of cognition before noticing any kind of cognitive change or decline could be incredibly helpful because it's hard to diagnose early Alzheimer's disease if you don't have a frame of reference to compare to," Han said. "If people would consider getting a baseline evaluation by a qualified neuropsychologist at age 50 or 60, then it could be used as a way to track whether someone is experiencing a true decline in cognition in the future." Early detection could be a powerful tool to manage Alzheimer's, Han says, giving people precious time to try different medications or interventions that may slow the progression of the disease early on. "While there's no cure for Alzheimer's disease, the earlier you know that you're at risk for developing it, the more you can potentially do to help stave off that diagnosis in the future," Han says. "For example, exercise, cognitive activity and social activity have been shown to improve brain health." An estimated 5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's, and that number could reach 16 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer's Association. More information: S. Duke Han et al, Detectable Neuropsychological Differences in Early Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease: A Meta-Analysis, Neuropsychology Review (2017). S. Duke Han et al, Detectable Neuropsychological Differences in Early Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease: A Meta-Analysis,(2017). DOI: 10.1007/s11065-017-9345-5 Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers A new study of Muslim women in the U.S. found a significant association between heightened vigilance, as a measure of internalized stigma, and increased risk for depression. The study, which also examined the link between depression and the women's experiences with physical and sexual abuse, is published in Journal of Women's Health. Henna Budhwani, PhD, MPH and Kristine Hearld, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham, report that the study participants experienced physical abuse (30.3%) and sexual abuse (15.5%) at rates similar to those of American women in general. In the article entitled "Muslim Women's Experiences with Stigma, Abuse, and Depression: Results of a Sample Study Conducted in the United States," the researchers state, "With such a high rate of foreign-born persons in this sample, we expected that negative consequences of internalized stigma would be mitigated by the healthy migrant effect." However, this was not the case and, as they concluded, "Being foreign-born was not protective against depression." The accompanying Editorial entitled "Anti-Muslim Racism and Women's Health," by Dena Hassouneh, Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, is a call to action to meet the health needs of American Muslim women. The author points out that nearly one-third of Muslims have reported some type of discrimination in healthcare settings. Gender can play an important role, making it difficult for American Muslim women to disclose intimate partner violence to their healthcare provider. "The internalized stigma the Muslim women in this study feel can be compounded by the stigma our society places on mental illness and depression, creating additional obstacles for them to receive the health care services they need," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health. More information: Henna Budhwani et al, Muslim Women's Experiences with Stigma, Abuse, and Depression: Results of a Sample Study Conducted in the United States, Journal of Women's Health (2017). Journal information: Journal of Women's Health Henna Budhwani et al, Muslim Women's Experiences with Stigma, Abuse, and Depression: Results of a Sample Study Conducted in the United States,(2017). DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2016.5886 The shooting was "a case of a disgruntled employee," said Talal al-Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding and chairman of Kingdom Schools, which operated the school. By Reuters: Two people were killed and another injured when a man opened fire inside a private school's administration building in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday, but no students were present, the head of the school told Reuters. The shooting was "a case of a disgruntled employee," said Talal al-Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding and chairman of Kingdom Schools, which operated the school. advertisement "It is with regret that the administration building of Kingdom Schools witnessed this morning a shooting incident by an Arab national who was dismissed from the school four years ago on the basis of anger issues and an unstable personality," he told Reuters. The victims were a Saudi national and a Palestinian national, he said, and the situation at the school was contained as of mid-afternoon. The school had been closed about a week before the Ramadan holiday, in line with a royal decree. The holiday began on Saturday. Police cars could be seen at the school campus, but the scene was otherwise quiet. An Interior Ministry spokesman said it was a "criminal case" and that Riyadh Police would issue a statement with further details. Kingdom Schools is owned and operated by Kingdom Holdings, a company of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. It is situated in northern Riyadh. Maiman said the school's private security guards followed established procedures until the case was handed over to government authorities. --- ENDS --- By adding an experimental drug to a standard chemotherapy regimen, a subset of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer had a significantly longer period before the cancer progressed as compared with those who received the standard treatment, according to a Phase 2 clinical trial led by Dr. Sunil Hingorani, an investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The randomized, controlled trial found that when the experimental therapy was given to participants whose tumors had a lot of the drug's target molecule, they had four months more of progression-free survival than participants in the control group who only had the chemo. Credit: Robert Hood / Fred Hutch News Service By adding an experimental drug to a standard chemotherapy regimen, a subset of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer had a significantly longer period before the cancer progressed as compared with those who received the standard treatment, according to a Phase 2 clinical trial led by an investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The randomized, controlled trial found that when the experimental therapy was given to participants whose tumors had a lot of the drug's target molecule, they had four months more of progression-free survival than participants in the control group who only had the chemo. For anyone not familiar with the rapid deadliness of pancreatic cancer, it may be hard to see the significance of the few additional months before disease progression. But time is precious for patients with this cancer: Only about 8 percent of all pancreatic cancer patients survive five years after diagnosis. Dr. Sunil Hingorani, the faculty member at Fred Hutch who led the trial, is scheduled to present the findings at 10:24 a.m., June 4, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. ASCO abstract number 4008. Hingorani said that the results reassure him that it was the right move to advance the drug, called PEGPH20, into the worldwide Phase 3 trial that opened last year. "We still haven't fully proven anything yet, strictly speaking, but I think [this strategy] is very rational," he said. "Let me put it this way: I think it would be irresponsible not to finish the global Phase 3 trial as the most rigorous test of this hypothesis. I think we're obligated now to answer the question." Hingorani consults for Halozyme, the PEGPH20 drugmaker and the sponsor of these trials. The company began this year to provide funding through Fred Hutch to support Hingorani's research on the drug. Hingorani's earlier research led him to the drug because he believed it could address a challenge posed by many pancreatic cancers: The tumors have very high internal pressures that collapse local blood vessels and prevent cancer-killing drugs from getting in. PEGPH20 reduces those pressures so chemotherapies circulating in the blood can penetrate tumors. The experimental drug, which was created from the blueprint of a naturally occurring enzyme, breaks down a molecule called hyaluronic acid that is produced in bulk by many pancreatic cancers. Hyaluronic acid, or HA, is naturally found in the human body; it readily binds water to create a gel fluid, making it an excellent shock-absorber in your knees, for example. But in pancreatic tumors, it spells trouble. As the gel fluid builds up, it raises the tumor's internal pressure, squeezing local blood vessels shut. Patients whose tumors have a lot of HA also tend to have a poor prognosis. Hingorani and his team first conducted studies in mice that showed how PEGPH20, in combination with chemo, permanently reduced the amount of pressure-boosting HA inside the mouse tumors. It caused the tumors to shrink and increased the mice's survival time. In the Phase 2 trial, patients with late-stage pancreatic cancer were randomly assigned to receive a standard-of-care, first-line combination chemotherapy either with or without PEGPH20. When the results of all 234 evaluable patients on Halo 202 were grouped together, the apparent benefit of PEGPH20 was smalla matter of just a couple extra weeks of progression-free survival. "If this was all the potential that this strategy represented, I wouldn't pursue this [research further]," Hingorani said. "That's not enough for me." But a stark difference emerged when the results were divided up by how much of the drug's target, HA, patients' tumors contained: In the subset of 80 patients whose tumors had high levels of HA, adding PEGPH20 to chemo resulted in an average of 9.2 months before disease progression; with chemo alone, this timespan was just 5.2 months. Hingorani also reported that the unexpected, elevated risk of blood clots associated with PEGPH20which resulted in a temporary halt of the trial in 2014equalized between the patients receiving PEGPH20 and those in the control group, and dropped overall, after the study was restarted, due to the addition of a blood thinner to all patients' regimens. "These are the real take-home messages to me, namely, the progression-free survival in target-rich [high-HA] patients and the ability to give the enzyme safely," Hingorani said. Because the Phase 2 trial results suggest that the benefit of the experimental drug is restricted to the patients with high levels of HA in their tumors, only patients with such tumors qualify for the new Phase 3 trial. And the Phase 3 trial is designed to offer a more stringent test of the benefits of the new drug than its predecessor: Aimed at advancing the drug toward potential FDA approval, the trial's goal is to determine whether PEGPH20 actually increases participants' lifespans, not just their time to disease progression. (It's possible a treatment could achieve the latter without impacting the former.) The investigators' exploratory analysis of the Phase 2 trial data suggested that the experimental drug boosted the lifespans of patients with high-HA tumors to an average of nearly a year after diagnosiswhich, if shown definitively in the Phase 3 trial, could be a new benchmark for this cancer, Hingorani said. Hingorani launched the Phase 3 trial before handing off its leadership to two other colleagues in the field, Dr. Margaret Tempero of the University of California, San Francisco and Dr. Eric Van Cutsem at the University of Leuven in Belgium. As he steps back from his leadership role on this project, Hingorani is satisfied by the solid scientific foundation the investigators have lain to justify moving forward with the development of this drug. In light of the grim timelines associated with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, he said, patients have no time to waste on anything less. "Patients get one shot on goal, if that, with this cancer," he said. "No cancer is more daunting than pancreas cancer." Treatment-related adverse events for trial participants included peripheral edema (63 percent of those receiving PEGPH20 vs. 26 percent for the control group), muscle spasms (56 percent vs 3 percent), neutropenia (34 percent vs 19 percent), and myalgia (26 percent vs. 7 percent). Vole pair. Credit: Emory University A team of neuroscientists from Emory University's Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition has discovered a key connection between areas of the adult female prairie vole's brain reward system that promotes the emergence of pair bonds. Results from this study, available now at Nature.com, could help efforts to improve social abilities in human disorders with impaired social function, such as autism. In addition to the online posting, the study is expected to be in the June 8 printed edition of Nature. This Conte Center study is the first to find the strength of communication between parts of a corticostriatal circuit in the brain predicts how quickly each female prairie vole becomes affiliative with her partner; prairie voles are socially monogamous and form lifelong bonds with their partners. Additionally, when researchers boosted the communication by using light pulses, the females increased their affiliation toward males, thus further demonstrating the importance of this circuit's activity to pair bonding in prairie voles. "Prairie voles were critical to our team's findings because studying pair bonding in humans has been traditionally difficult," says Dr. Elizabeth Amadei, a co-lead author on the research. "As humans, we know the feelings we get when we view images of our romantic partners, but, until now, we haven't known how the brain's reward system works to lead to those feelings and to the voles' pair bonding." Building upon previous work in prairie voles that demonstrated brain chemicals, such as oxytocin and dopamine, act within the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens to establish a pair bond, the team set out to address finding the precise neural activity leading to a pair bond. The researchers used probes to listen to neural communication between these two brain regions and then analyzed activity from individual female prairie voles as they spent hours socializing with a male - a cohabitation period that normally leads to a pair bond. Video of two voles huddling. Credit: Damon Meharg The team discovered that during pair bond formation, the prefrontal cortex, an area involved in decision-making, helps control the rhythmic oscillations of neurons within the nucleus accumbens, the central hub of the brain's reward system. This suggests a functional connection from the cortex shapes neurons activity in the nucleus accumbens. The team then noticed individual voles varied in the strength of this functional connectivity. Importantly, each subject with stronger connectivity showed more rapid affiliative behavior with her partner, measured as side-by-side huddling contact. Furthermore, the pair's first mating, a behavior that accelerates bonding in voles, strengthened this functional connection, and the amount of strengthening correlated with how quickly the animals subsequently huddled. According to Larry Young, PhD, co-author and director of the Conte Center, "It is remarkable there are neural signatures of a predisposition to begin huddling with the partner. Similar variation in corticostriatal communication could underlie individual differences in social competencies in psychiatric disorders in humans, and enhancing that communication could improve social function in disorders such as autism." Young is also chief of the Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. A mother and father vole huddle together over a nest of vole pups. Credit: Todd Ahern The study results led the team to ask more questions, including whether communication between the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens not only correlates with huddling but also causally facilitates it. To answer this, the researchers used optogenetics, a technique that allowed them to enhance communication between the brain areas using light, and enhanced communication between the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of female voles during a brief cohabitation without mating, which is not conducive to pair bonding. The team discovered optogenetically stimulated animals showed greater preference toward partners compared to a stranger male when given a choice the following day. "It is amazing to think we could influence social bonding by stimulating this brain circuit with a remotely controlled light implanted into the brain," says Zack Johnson, PhD, co-lead author. The study results identify an important reward circuit in the brain that is activated during social interactions to facilitate bond formation in voles. "Now, we want to know if oxytocin regulates functional connectivity and how circuit activity changes the way the brain processes social information about a partner," says senior author Robert Liu, PhD, associate professor in Emory's Department of Biology. "Our team's work is an example of a larger effort in neuroscience to better quantify how brain circuits function during natural social behaviors. Our goal is to promote better neural communication to boost social cognition in disorders such as autism, in which social functioning can be impaired," Liu continues. More information: Dynamic corticostriatal activity biases social bonding in monogamous female prairie voles, Nature (2017). Journal information: Nature Dynamic corticostriatal activity biases social bonding in monogamous female prairie voles,(2017). nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature22381 (HealthDay)Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) interferes with sleep and daily activity, impairing work productivity, and patients frequently report angioedema, according to a study published online May 19 in Allergy. Marcus Maurer, M.D., from the Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, and colleagues conducted an international observational study involving a cohort of 673 adult patients with CSU whose symptoms persisted for at least 12 months despite treatment. The authors collected data on demographics, disease characteristics, and health care resources in the previous 12 months. The researchers found that nearly half of the patients had moderate-to-severe disease activity, as reported by the Urticaria Activity Score. The mean Dermatology Life Quality Index score was 9.1 and the mean Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire score was 33.6. There was a marked interference for CSU with sleep and daily activities. Sixty-six percent of enrolled patients reported angioedema in the previous 12 months, which significantly affected health-related quality of life (HRQoL). One or more hour per week of missed work was reported by more than 20 percent of patients, with productivity impairment of 27 percent. There was an increase in these effects with greater disease activity. CSU treatment incurred significant health care resources and costs. "CSU has considerable humanistic and economic impacts," the authors write. "Patients with greater disease activity and with angioedema experience greater HRQoL impairments." The research was performed under a contract between RTI Health Solutions and Novartis Pharma; Novartis funded the study. Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Anesthesiologists routinely give surgery patients low doses of the drug ketamine to blunt postoperative pain and reduce the need for opioid drugs. Recent research even has suggested ketamine might protect older patients from postsurgical delirium and confusion. But an international, multicenter trial has found that ketamine does neither. Credit: Robert Boston Ketamine was first introduced into clinical practice by investigators at the University of Michigan in the mid-1960s as a general anesthetic that could offer advantages, such a preserving breathing, not afforded by other anesthetic drugs at the time. Since then, doctors have used the medication for other purposes. "It's an anesthetic, but more recently has been found to have antidepressant and analgesic properties at lower doses," says George A. Mashour, M.D., Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology, director of the Center for Consciousness Science and associate dean for clinical and translational research at the University of Michigan Medical School. Mashour is the senior author of a new study published today, with an accompanying editorial, in The Lancet that sought to discover what effect ketamine has on delirium and paintwo serious postoperative complications. Although the therapeutic connection has been affirmed before, analyses were limited in scope. "Previous studies found evidence that ketamine could prevent delirium and reduce pain after surgery," Mashour says. "However, these studies were often in small cohorts. We felt it was beneficial to test the effects of ketamine on delirium and pain in a multicenter, international study of older patients at risk who were undergoing major surgery." The new study also is driven by current medical practices. Mashour acknowledges that ketamine administration during surgery is increasing. Which is why he and his close collaborator, Michael Avidan, MBBCh, professor of anesthesiology and cardiothoracic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, sought to examine the drug's supposed benefits more closely. "Physicians have been increasingly using the drug because of previous claims that it reduces pain after surgery," Mashour says. "We wanted to test this in a larger cohort along with the outcome of delirium in patients at high risk. The two adverse outcomes are linkedpain can cause delirium, but opioids, the usual treatment for pain, can also cause delirium. We reasoned that if ketamine could reduce pain and delirium, it would be an important advance." Avidan, lead author of the study, adds, "When patients become delirious after surgery, they tend to spend more time in the intensive care unit, have longer hospital stays and have a greater chance of dying. Overall, patients who develop delirium have worse outcomes and are at higher risk for long-term cognitive decline. It's really important to try to prevent it if we can." Analyzing patient data Mashour, Avidan and colleagues assessed 1,360 patients in their prospective clinical trial. All were age 60 or older and undergoing major cardiac or noncardiac surgery under general anesthesia between February 2014 and June 2016. Of the 1360 total patients assessed, 672 were eligible and randomized to three different armswith 222 in the placebo group, 227 in the low-dose ketamine group and 223 in the high-dose ketamine group. "The drug was administered to the patients following the onset of general anesthesia, but prior to any surgical incision," Mashour says. "We ensured that none of the study participants, their clinicians or investigators were aware of what group the participant had been assigned to." Participants were assessed twice a day for the three days following surgery for delirium and pain. The researchers also recorded each patient's postoperative opioid use, hallucinations and nightmares. Surprising findings Results contradicted prior studies as well as widespread notions about the drug. "We found no difference in delirium incidence between the combined ketamine groups and the group that received the placebo," Mashour says. "Ketamine doesn't reduce delirium, which was not all that unexpected, but it also doesn't increase it." Then came the surprising finding. Adds Mashour: "We then assessed the pain data, fully expecting ketamine would reduce pain and use of opioids. Lo and behold, it didn't have any effect on pain or opioid consumption." The research group noted that there were no significant differences among any of the three groups in terms of maximum pain scores or median opioid consumption over time. "This was a big surprise for our team," says co-investigator and Michigan Medicine site lead, Phillip Vlisides, M.D., assistant professor of anesthesiology. "However, our study was four-fold larger than any studies that had come before it with respect to pain, and was rigorous in its methodology." In addition, researchers found that giving higher doses of ketamine appeared to increase negative consequences of the drug. "Unfortunately, we also found that some of the known negative effects of ketamine, such as hallucinations and nightmares, were increased in dose-dependent ways," Mashour says. Moving forward Mashour hopes the study yields useful information for his fellow providers. "It's a noteworthy study in terms of current practice," Mashour says. "The administration of ketamine during surgery is becoming widespread. We've identified this trend here at our institution and others across the country." Meanwhile, the contradictory findings on ketamine use underscore the need for more research, he adds. "Ketamine didn't show evidence in older adults of reducing delirium, pain or opioid consumption after surgery," Mashour says. "And, perhaps more concerning, it seemed to increase negative experiences for older adults. We recommend further research on the drug to ensure we are not administering something that isn't working to benefit our patients." More information: Avidan, MS, et al on behalf of the Prevention of Delirium and Complications Associated with Surgical Treatment (PODCAST) Research Group. Intraoperative ketamine does not affect postoperative delirium or pain after major surgery in older adults: an international, multicentre, double-blind, randomised clinical trial. The Lancet. Published online May 30, 2017. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31467-8 Journal information: The Lancet Avidan, MS, et al on behalf of the Prevention of Delirium and Complications Associated with Surgical Treatment (PODCAST) Research Group. Intraoperative ketamine does not affect postoperative delirium or pain after major surgery in older adults: an international, multicentre, double-blind, randomised clinical trial.. Published online May 30, 2017. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31467-8 Provided by University of Michigan Figures released today by the AIDS Epidemiology Group at the University of Otago show that in 2016, 244 people were diagnosed with HIV in New Zealand the highest number ever diagnosed in any one year since monitoring of the epidemic began in 1985. Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) were the group most affected. Of the 244 people diagnosed, 159 (65 per cent) were MSM, and 42 (17 per cent) were heterosexually infected (similar number of men and women). For most of the remainder, the means of infection was not reported, with only one person infected through injecting drug use, five people infected through either sex with another man or injecting drug use, and there were no children infected around the time they were born. Dr Sue McAllister, who leads the AIDS Epidemiology Group, says it is concerning that the increase in MSM diagnosed who were infected in New Zealand has increased since 2013, and the number in 2016 (98) was the highest ever. "The increase in the number diagnosed will be affected by the levels of HIV testing of those at risk. However, we also found almost half of MSM infected in New Zealand had a relatively high CD4 cell count, which suggests that they have been infected relatively recently. The persisting increase of recent infections over the last three years, along with the increase in total diagnoses, suggests a true rise in incidence in recent years. "While now treatable, HIV infection remains a lifelong condition with significant implications for individuals and financial cost to the health service. It is clear we must tackle this increase in incidence now in order to reverse the trend. "All of the prevention tools available need to be utilised, such as increasing promotion of condom use, timely testing for HIV after potential exposure, early access to HIV treatment, and screening and treatment for other sexually transmitted infections. Internationally, there is increasing interest in, and use of, new prevention options including giving HIV medication to uninfected people at highest risk of HIV infection, which has also been shown to be effective at preventing infections." Dr McAllister adds that "it is also important that efforts are made to combat the stigma about HIV and the groups most affected, as when this exists testing could be discouraged, and people are less receptive to health promotion messages." While there were only a small number of HIV diagnoses among heterosexually infected men and women in 2016, it is important for anyone who considers they have been at risk to have an HIV test, she says. Ask Elizabeth Bowen about the intersection of homelessness and HIV/AIDS in the United States and she'll respond without hesitation, "Housing equals health." That conclusion seemed clear to Bowen, assistant professor in the University at Buffalo School of Social Work, during the four years she worked in a supportive housing program in Chicago, Illinois. Now as a UB researcher she has published a study that empirically supports what she experienced on the ground. "Supportive housing, a program of rental assistance and support services, is associated with improvements in the health outcomes of previously homeless people living with HIV/AIDS," she says. "Without stable housing it's hard to achieve these good health outcomes." The study, which appears in the journal AIDS Care, relied on biometric data that predicts how effectively the body combats the virus. Prior to publishing their journal article, the team presented their preliminary findings at the 2016 International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. Bowen and her coauthors examined two indicators of health: CD4 count, sometimes called T-cells, which show how well the immune system is working, and viral load, an indicator of the amount of virus particles in a person's blood. A person with a very low viral load may be described as having achieved viral suppression. "The percentage of participants in our study with a healthy CD4 count and viral suppression improved significantly during their time in the program," says Bowen. "The positive relationship between length of program stay and viral suppression suggests that housing stability is key to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in supportive housing maintaining or improving their health." Homelessness and HIV/AIDS overlap often in the United States, according to Bowen. Approximately one in 12 PLWHA has an unmet need for housing. And although thousands of formerly homeless or unstably housed HIV-positive people live in supportive housing, little research has examined biometric changes in their HIV health outcomes after they become housed. Bowen says a few previous studies have reported positive health outcomes for PLWHA in supportive housing, but those studies relied on small samples. A larger recent study in San Francisco reported promising findings from a single-site supportive housing program with on-site nursing care. Bowen's research analyzed a scattered-site program, where participants receive rental assistance while living in apartments of their choosing in a given community. "We're about 35 years into the HIV epidemic in the U.S. and we've reached a point medically where this is no longer a fatal diagnosis - but only if PLWHA have access to health care and housing," says Bowen, an expert in health and homelessness and the study's lead author. Homeless people, due in part to certain risk behaviors, are more likely to become HIV positive than those with stable housing. In turn, those with HIV/AIDS, with its associated impact on health, employment and relationships, are more likely to become homeless than the general population. The study grew out of an opportune meeting between Bowen and representatives of Caracole, a social service agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, whose programs include a HUD-funded supportive housing model called Shelter Plus Care. Part of the challenge in studying the relationship between housing and health is how researchers can gather the required data. In this case, Caracole had the data on their program participants, who voluntarily provided reports from their medical providers at periodic intervals. That data was part of Caracole's own program evaluation process, but the agency didn't have the resources to determine the larger story that unfolded within the numbers. "I was excited about this partnership because this is exactly the kind of social work I did before becoming a researcher," says Bowen. "This study speaks to the power of these collaborations when agencies collect the information that researchers want to analyze." Causes of major birth defects remain largely unknown, say US researchers in The BMJ today, who were able to establish a definite cause in only one in every five infants they studied. They say their findings "underscore the gaps in our knowledge regarding the causes of birth defects." And they warn that, "unless progress is made in identifying and preventing the root causes of birth defects, these conditions will continue to have draining effects on the survival and health of individuals, families, and countries." Major birth defects are common, costly, and critical. Collectively, they occur in one in 33 births, which in 2006 translated into an estimated 7.9 million babies worldwide. In the US alone, the cost of care during a single year (2004) was estimated at $2.6bn (2bn, 2.4bn), not accounting for the considerable indirect and lifelong personal and societal costs. In the US, birth defects are also the leading cause of infant mortality and in 2013 were associated with 4,778 deaths, one in every five deaths in the first year of life. While studies have shown associations between risk factors (such as maternal diabetes, smoking and obesity) and birth defects, translating these associations to actual causes has been difficult. So a team of researchers based at the University of Utah School of Medicine set out to establish causes (etiology) of major birth defects in children born from 2005 to 2009 using Utah's population based surveillance system. They identified 5,504 cases among 270,878 births (a prevalence of 2%). Definite cause was assigned in 20.2% (1,114) of these cases: chromosomal or genetic conditions accounted for 94.4% (1,052), environmental (teratogenic) exposure for 4.1%, and conditions associated with twins for 1.4% The 79.8% (4,391) remaining were classified as unknown etiology; of these 88.2% (3,875) were isolated birth defects. Family history (similarly affected first degree relative) was documented in 4.8% (266). These findings underscore the gaps in our knowledge regarding the causes of birth defects, say the authors. For the causes that are known, such as smoking or diabetes, assigning causation in individual cases remains challenging. Nevertheless, they say the ongoing impact of these exposures on fetal development "highlights the urgency and benefits of population based preventive interventions." For the causes that are still unknown, they say better strategies are needed, such as greater collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and epidemiologists; and better ways to objectively measure fetal exposures. More information: Etiology and clinical presentation of birth defects: population based study, The BMJ, www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j2249 Etiology and clinical presentation of birth defects: population based study, (HealthDay)Multidrug-resistant bacteria, such as E. coli, can be found in more than one-quarter of people living in nursing homes, a research review finds. Reviewing eight prior studies, researchers reported rates ranged from 11 percent of residents to an alarming 59 percent, with 27 percent the average. "Nursing home residents are at higher risk to become colonized with these bacteria," said study author Sainfer Aliyu, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University School of Nursing in New York City. But just because nursing home residents are colonized with the bacteria doesn't mean they have an illness. "Someone who is colonized has the bacteria on them, but may not know it. They may not show any symptoms. But they can spread the germ to others, and they have the potential to become sick themselves," Aliyu said. As the nation's "superbug" list grows, health officials are particularly concerned about infections resistant to carbapenemspowerful antibiotics used as a last resort, the study authors noted. People in nursing homes often have health conditions that can weaken their immune system, and they're often on prolonged antibiotic use, which contributes to antibiotic-resistance. Plus, nursing home residents share many spaces and interact with each other, giving the germs a chance to move from person to person, Aliyu said. The study looked specifically for bacteria known as multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB). Infections with these types of bacteria are common in nursing homes, according to the study authors. And treatment options are limited. The researchers looked through the medical literature for studies on MDR-GNB and nursing home residents. Eight studies done between 2005 and 2016 were included in the analysis. Aliyu said the study shows the need to "further educate staff on infection prevention," as well as come up with "policies for infection prevention that are more nursing-home specific." An infectious-disease specialist praised the new research. "This was a well-done study that quantifies the degree of colonization in long-term care facilities," said Linda Greene. She's president-elect of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc., in Rochester, N.Y. Greene said it's hard to know just how high colonization rates are in the general community, and the rates seen in nursing homes are likely higher than in hospitals. "It stands to reason that colonization rates may be higher because the nursing home is people's residences. And this is where the challenges occur, because how do we curtail this? There's so much interaction between nursing home residents. But we don't want people confined to their rooms," she said. One simple way to prevent infection is hand-washing, said Greene. "Hand hygiene is one of the number one ways to prevent infection," she said. Dr. David Gifford is senior vice president of quality and regulatory affairs for the American Health Care Association, a trade group representing long-term care facilities. He agreed that hand-washing is crucial for preventing infection. And he said people should always ask health care providerswhether in the doctor's office, hospital or long-term care facilityif they've washed their hands before examining you. "Health care providers shouldn't be offended by this question," he said. As for the current study, Gifford said it's very tough to know where people became colonized with these difficult-to-treat bugs. "Everyone likes to point fingers, but we really don't know where the bacteria came from. Some probably originated in the nursing homes, some in hospitals and some in the community. Ninety percent of admissions to nursing homes come from a hospital," he said. "What we need to do is collectively work together to address this problem," Gifford said. "The findings from this study reflect the fact thatin the U.S. in particularwe administer antibiotics much more frequently than is necessary. As you give out more and more antibiotics, you're going to develop more antibiotic resistance," he explained. Gifford called the overprescribing of antibiotics "a real and serious threat in the U.S." And overprescribing isn't just an issue in nursing homes, he added. It's also when children or adults get antibiotics for a virus. "Changing antibiotic prescribing is as important as infection controls," he said. Greene agreed that hospitals and long-term care facilities need to work together to combat the problem. She said communication between facilities needs to improve, especially when someone is transferred while taking antibiotics to ensure that they finish their full course of antibiotics. Findings from the study were published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. More information: Sainfer Aliyu, M.S.Ed., R.N., Ph.D. candidate, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar, and UnitedHealth Group Foundation Scholar, Columbia University School of Nursing, New York City; Linda Greene, R.N., M.P.S., president-elect, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc., Rochester, N.Y.; David Gifford, M.D., senior vice president, quality and regulatory affairs, American Health Care Association; May 2017, American Journal of Infection Control Sainfer Aliyu, M.S.Ed., R.N., Ph.D. candidate, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar, and UnitedHealth Group Foundation Scholar, Columbia University School of Nursing, New York City; Linda Greene, R.N., M.P.S., president-elect, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc., Rochester, N.Y.; David Gifford, M.D., senior vice president, quality and regulatory affairs, American Health Care Association; May 2017, Learn more about preventing infections from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Journal information: American Journal of Infection Control Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. A minimal change in the TREM2 gene results in a marked reduction in the phagocytic activity of microglial cells in the brain of mutant mice (green, on the right) relative to the control (yellow and red, on the left). Source: Haass Lab. Credit: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The role of microglial cells in neurodegenerative disease is not fully understood. But new results from researchers in Munich and Basel suggest that stimulation of this arm of the immune system might well delay the onset of such disorders. The precise impact of the microglia in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's remains unclear. In the brain, microglial cells migrate to sites of neural damage in response to neuro-inflammatory signals, and dispose of dying cells and insoluble cell debris by engulfing and enzymatically digesting them. The microglia therefore perform essentially the same role as that carried out by the immune cells known as macrophages in other tissues. However, neuro-inflammatory responses may also contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration, as microglia are known to be activated in virtually all types of dementia. This may simply relate to their role as phagocytic cells in the degradation of the extracellular protein deposits (amyloid plaques) that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's. But it is also possible that activated microglia promote disease progression by secreting molecular signals that exacerbate inflammatory responses which are ultimately deleterious to healthy nerve cells. The new study was carried out by an interdisciplinary German-Swiss team of cell biologists, radiologists and neuropathologists led by Professor Christian Haass, who holds the Chair of Metabolic Biochemistry at LMU and is Speaker of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Munich. To clarify whether the microglia are the good guys or the bad guys, the researchers focused on the function of the gene TREM2. In the brain, this gene is expressed predominantly in microglia. Furthermore, mutations that impair its expression or the function of its protein product are associated with increased risk for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). With the aid of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system, Haass and his colleagues altered a single subunit (base-pair) in the coding sequence of the TREM2 gene of mice, which directs the synthesis of the TREM2 protein. In humans, this same mutation is associated with increased risk for a form of FTD. In earlier studies, it had been demonstrated that the normal TREM2 protein is transported to the cell membrane in order to perform its biological function. The mutation introduced by the CRISPR system disrupts this process, such that very little of the protein is expressed on the surface of microglial cells. In mice, this genetic alteration leads to a drastic impairment of microglial function, as evidenced by a variety of tests. For example, the mutant strain no longer activates its microglial cells in response to neuronal loss in the brain. As a result, the cells fail to migrate to sites of cell damage and dead cells, insoluble debris and plaques cannot be disposed of. In addition, the mutation has catastrophic consequences for energy metabolism. The normal brain is totally dependent on glucose as an energy source, but loss of the TREM2 function leads to a significant fall in glucose consumption in the mutant brain. Moreover, the blood supply to the brain in a whole is markedly curtailed. Similar phenomena are observed in patients who carry loss-of-function mutations in the TREM2 gene. Taken together, these observations argue that microglial activation is indispensable for normal brain function. Christian Haass summarizes the wider implications of the study as follows: "Our findings underline the significance of microglia for homeostasis in the brain, and they imply that these cells have an immunoprotective function, at least in the early stages of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. We believe that our data provide the rationale for a new approach to the development of effective therapies, based on boosting the defense response of the microglia. If we succeed in enhancing this function, either by pharmacological or other means, it might be possible to delay the onset of dementias." More information: Gernot Kleinberger et al. The FTDlike syndrome causing TREM2 T66M mutation impairs microglia function, brain perfusion, and glucose metabolism, The EMBO Journal (2017). Journal information: EMBO Journal Gernot Kleinberger et al. The FTDlike syndrome causing TREM2 T66M mutation impairs microglia function, brain perfusion, and glucose metabolism,(2017). DOI: 10.15252/embj.201796516 Repeated exposure to a common anesthesia drug early in life results in visual recognition memory impairment, which emerges after the first year of life and may persist long-term, according to a study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online May 31 in the British Journal of Anaesthesia. Each year, approximately a million children under the age of four undergo surgery with general anesthesia, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Experimental studies in animals have shown that exposure to general anesthesia in infancy can cause loss of cells in the central nervous system and long-term impairments in neurocognitive function. Some human epidemiological studies have shown that children who undergo more than one operation under general anesthesia before they are four years old are at a greater risk of learning disability and other cognitive impairments. The Mount Sinai study is among the first to address the question of whether repeated postnatal anesthesia exposure, in and of itself, results in memory impairment in a highly translationally relevant rhesus monkey model. Rhesus monkeys at birth are at a stage of neurodevelopment that is more similar to that of human infants than are neonatal rodents; with respect to brain growth, a six-week-old rhesus monkey corresponds to a human 6 to 12 months of age. Because these kinds of controlled studies cannot be carried out in humans, it is essential to use a comparable animal model to discover if anesthesia is affecting the brain. Unlike previous research, the study was conducted in the absence of a surgical procedure, co-morbidities that may necessitate surgical intervention, or the psychological stress associated with illness. "The major strength of this study is its ability to separate anesthesia exposure from surgical procedures, which is a potential complication in the studies conducted in children," says Mark Baxter, PhD, professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Anesthesiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Our results confirm that multiple anesthesia exposures alone result in memory impairment in a highly translational animal model. Interestingly, the anesthesia-exposed group had normal visual memory at six months of age. Visual memory impairment didn't emerge until the second year of life, corresponding roughly to the age of three to six years old in humans." Specifically, the study team exposed 10 non-human primate subjects to a common pediatric anesthetic called sevoflurane for four hours, the length of time required for a significant surgical procedure in humans. They were exposed to the anesthetic at postnatal day 7 and then again two and four weeks later, because human data indicate that repeated anesthesia results in a greater risk of cognitive disability relative to a single anesthetic exposure. Researchers evaluated the visual recognition memory of exposed subjects compared with that of healthy controls at 6-10 months of age, 12-18 months of age and again at 24-30 months of age using the visual paired comparison test, which measures memory by assessing preference for looking at a new image over a previously viewed one. They found the anesthesia-exposed infants displayed no memory impairment when tested at 6-10 months, but demonstrated significant memory impairment (reduced time looking at the novel image) after the first year of life compared with the control group. "Our findings are consistent with epidemiological studies that show increased risk of long-term cognitive impairments after repeated exposure to anesthesia in infancy and early childhood, but perhaps most interestingly, we found that these deficits may emerge at later developmental stages, even when memory performance is unaffected earlier in development," says Dr. Baxter. "Our goal is to continue this work to test possible interventions that can prevent long-term cognitive impairments after early anesthesia exposure." These findings are part of a larger longitudinal study, and researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center will continue to follow these study subjects behaviorally to fully characterize the length of time that cognitive and emotional changes persist and whether they resolve over time. In December 2016, the FDA placed a warning on common anesthetic/sedative drugs, including sevoflurane, for children under three years of age receiving prolonged (more than three hours) or repeated anesthesia, saying that this may cause a risk of cognitive impairment. This primate model may be used be researchers for future studies to develop a new anesthetic agent or prophylactic treatment to counteract the impact of anesthesia on behavior in children. The findings also suggest that additional work is required to identify the mechanisms by which anesthetics may cause long-term changes in central nervous system function that impact behavior. Students in Bihar gathered outside the Council office to protest against the poor pass percentage in the class 12 examination result. A total of 64 per cent students have failed in the exam. By Press Trust of India: A day after the results of Bihar's class 12 examination were announced, in which 64 per cent of students failed, agitated students protested outside the Council office against poor pass percentage. A large number of students gathered outside the Inter Council office to protest against unsatisfactory results. A few of them also tried to climb the main gate but were prevented by police. advertisement Hundreds of youth workers of Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav joined the protestors. Members of ABVP, student wing of RSS and AISF and Left wing students' organisation sat on dharna at Kargil chowk in support of the examinees. They pelted stones at the council office following which police lathi-charged them. Also read: Bihar toppers scam: Examination forms to be linked with Aadhar to curb forgery About half-a-dozen students were detained by police for indulging in violent protest against "irrational" marking. Even state's topper in science stream Khushboo Kumari complained of getting low percentage of 86.2 while she was expecting around 95 per cent. Many others complained they have appeared in JEE Mains exam but due to the marking they could lose one entire year. Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary appealed to the students not to indulge in violence and apply for compartmental examination which would be held soon. Also read: Bihar topper scam impact: Examination sheets to be evaluated digitally in the state "The intention of the state government is to conduct cheating-free exam, we want that merit should come ahead, we just cannot pass undeserving students," he said. Choudhary said he would talk to the officials for holding compartmental examination soon so that the affected students do not lose next academic session. Tightening conduct of state's class 12 exam this year in the backdrop of infamous toppers scam in 2016 has resulted in 64 per cent examinees failing in the examination. Also read: Bihar topper scam: Ruby Rai fails re-examination, arrested While 30.11 per cent of students passed the test in the Science stream, the pass percentage in the Commerce stream was 73.76. The Arts stream too saw a meager pass percentage of 37. Nearly 13 lakh students had appeared for the class 12 examination and the pass percentage in all the three streams witnessed a sharp decline as compared to results last year and those held prior to it. advertisement In 2016, the state saw a shameful topper's scam. Also read: Bihar fake topper's latest: I asked dad to just help me pass, he made me a topper A video of Arts topper Ruby Roy describing Political Science as "Prodikal science" in a TV interview, which she said was related to cooking, went viral last year. Also watch : --- ENDS --- Credit: Indiana University Analyzing millions of internet searches tied to major societal events offers a new way to understand public reaction to those events, according to new research from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. In what's believed to be the first study to examine the issue, the IUPUI researchers focused on the public's reaction to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, to test their approach. Nir Menachemi, a professor and the department chair of health policy and management in the School of Public Health, and researchers Saurabh Rahurkar and Mandar Rahurkar analyzed 5.6 million firearm-related search queries from the Yahoo search engine that occurred two weeks before and two weeks after the shootings. "We wanted to understand how firearm-related information-seeking, such as looking up relevant laws and learning about advocacy, and web-based behavior, such as visits to firearm retailers, changed immediately after the event," Menachemi said. Given the amount of data involved, this approach was unimaginable in the past. The researchers went through the 5.6 million firearm-related searches several times to get to the queries used in the study. "This data is a hidden gem to be added to the arsenal of public health," Menachemi said. One of the key findings of the analysis was that firearm-related searches more than doubled immediately after the Sandy Hook shooting incident. Overall, retail websites were the most visited sites, followed by searches for gun types and ammunition. Gun type and ammunition searches had a two- to threefold increase after the shooting incident. The researchers discovered that most people were getting information from entities that advocateeither pro-gun or pro-gun controlrather than from more neutral entities like government or educational websites. Understanding firearm-related search trends to gain insight into how Americans responded to the Sandy Hook incident can enhance societal debates and inform policy development related to firearms, Menachemi said. "Now that we have this information, the question is, what can we do with it?" he said. In the Sandy Hook study, queries can be matched with particular states or smaller geographic areas to see whether searches from politically conservative, or "red," states differ from searches from "blue" states. "That creates an opportunity to better understand what might be influencing behavior, allowing advocates to intervene with appropriate education content or be better able to react to what information people need," Menachemi said. Menachemi noted that there are many different areas in which this type of information may improve public health and public health education. "When we had fears around Ebola, understanding what people worried about could have been extremely helpful to a public health response," Menachemi said. "More recently with Zika, this type of data would give valuable information about what doctors, nurses and front-line clinical staffand policymakerscould do or use to improve their responses to what people are experiencing." The study, "Using Web-Based Search Data to Study the Public's Reactions to Societal Events: The Case of the Sandy Hook Shooting," was published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance. European Council President Michel calls on EU member states to jointly purchase gas to reduce fuel prices Greece accuses Turkey of profiting from the suffering of other countries under sanctions USAID official says she personally saw how democracy, economic development are progressing in Armenia (VIDEO) Spain court sentences civilian to prison for spreading fakes Armenian Embassy in Russia issues statement on Azerbaijan's actions Indian company to supply 155mm self-propelled artillery guns worth $155mln to Armenia Japanese minister caught in scandal for talking about death penalty France changes its ambassador to Azerbaijan UN General Assembly draft resolution requires Russia to pay reparations to Ukraine Belarusian State Border Committee: Poland creates tense situation on border Joint meeting of Armenian National Assembly and Russian State Duma Committee takes place Iranian President says attempt to destabilize country fails Deputy: Russian side is informed about importance of withdrawal of Azerbaijani units from the territory of Armenia State Duma deputy: We can't imagine Russia without Armenia Georgian PM and Armenian Ambassador discuss cooperation issues Bali is short of armored limousines for G20 summit participants FLYONE ARMENIA to start flights between Yerevan, Dubai Kyodo: Emperor of Japan revealed to have prostate hyperplasia Iranian intelligence urges Saudi Arabia not to test Tehran's strategic patience Kazakhstan intends to ship 1.5 mln tons of oil via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline Former Ombudsman: 2,700 ha of Kapan community of Armenia's Syunik Province are under occupation by Baku Armenia to ratify cooperation agreement with China Japan and the US begin major joint exercise Armenia soldier sustains gunshot wound from Azerbaijan shooting Armenia legislature speaker receives deputy chair of Russia State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration PM: If anyone thinks peace agenda is peaceful annihilation of Armenia or Karabakh Armenians, they are sorely mistaken Armenia Premier: We have 16 missing persons since September 13 military aggression by Azerbaijan Bitcoin is trading just above $16,000 Armenias Pashinyan: Spreading of fake news by Azerbaijan becomes prelude to new aggression Armenia PM: Azerbaijan, with its practices, reminds of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which discredit Islam PM: Armenia, Karabakh propose Azerbaijan to create demilitarized zone Pashinyan: There is no Armenia army in Karabakh All 10 fallen soldiers transferred on October 27 by Azerbaijan to Armenia are identified, buried Pashinyan: Armenia is going to present new proposal to Azerbaijan $25M allocated to Armenia MOD Biden says he will discuss Ukraine conflict at G20 summit Pashinyan: Armenia has no obligation to construct new roads Pashinyan: Aliyev not only threatens but is already preparing genocide of Karabakh Armenians Armenias Pashinyan: Azerbaijan president is attempting to create invented grounds for closing Lachin Corridor Erdogan tells what relations between Turkey and Armenia depend on Iran says it has developed first hypersonic ballistic missile Armenias Pashinyan: Russia peacekeepers are deployed in Karabakh indefinitely FM Lavrov to head Russia delegation at G20 summit Erdogan: Ankara continues mediation efforts to resolve Ukrainian crisis Armenia to get 100mn loan to fund budget deficit IAEA head: Talks on Iran's nuclear program ended inconclusively Armenia PM: Aliyev grossly violated tripartite written agreement of Sochi This year 320 people seek asylum in Armenia, 213 are from Ukraine Erdogan speaks on trusting relationship with Putin Gold prices remain stable Ombudsperson in Brussels, reflects on top Azerbaijan leaderships policy of Armenophobia Indonesian authorities: Putin won't come to G20 summit in Bali World oil prices falling Washington demands part of Israeli Arrow 3 for sale to Germany, be produced in the U.S. Armenia Security Council chief meets with Lithuania officials Armenia FM heading for Paris Egypt launches Tax Free system for foreign tourists Washington, Brussels don't approve German plan to resume transatlantic trade talks Newspaper: Armenias Mirzoyan makes it clear to Blinken that wording Artsakh should be included Newspaper: Armenia parliamentary opposition decides to return to legislative body Polar and brown bear hybrids may appear in Yakutia due to climate change Volkswagen releases office chair with electric motor and klaxon Israel reveals Pulcinella secret, admitting that it used drones not only for surveillance Chinese woman makes dresses for her daughter out of trash bags Poland and Slovakia will increase defense spending Audi presents new crossovers Q8 e-tron Benny Gantz: Israel has an opportunity to strike Iran's nuclear facilities France National Assembly speaker reaffirms solidarity with Armenia, Armenians Samvel Babayan: Russia will withdraw peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh Hungarian government sets price ceiling on eggs and potatoes Benny Gantz: Israel does not have the production capacity to supply Ukraine with air defense systems Germany must adopt energy-saving measures in face of skyrocketing inflation Beglaryan: Azerbaijan continues and will continue its policy of genocide and hatred against the Armenian people Kiev believes it is too early to talk about withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson Raisi: Relations between Tehran and Moscow have a bright future Taliban virtue representative kills minor for refusing to marry Meeting held at Ministry of Defense Kaljurand: A fair peace agreement, that will guarantee the rights and security of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, is needed ATMs closed at night in Germany because of increasing number of break-ins Moldova to request 450 million from EU amid fears of stopping Russian gas supplies Kazakhstan plans to make knowledge of Kazakh obligatory for obtaining citizenship Vladimir Putin to visit Armenia Ayoob Kara: Israel and Azerbaijan must act together against Iran Macron: France ends its military mission in Africa Military forces of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey take part in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline protection exercise Shoigu orders withdrawal of troops across Dnieper River Swedish parliament will vote to change constitution for NATO membership on November 16 Reactor at nuclear power plant in southern Sweden stops unexpectedly due to turbine malfunction Margaret Thatcher's dressing table case sells for $145 Zakharova comments on Azerbaijani attacks on Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh Israel may reconsider its position on military aid to Ukraine because of threat from Iran Tehran expresses readiness to play role in resolving conflict between Russia and Ukraine Zakharova: Russia closely coordinates with Armenia and Azerbaijan on preparation of peace treaty U.S. cut its oil production forecast in 2023 Gen. of Justice: Armenia is already going to abyss MFA says Russia promotes comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations Australia to ban former military pilots from working in China Ministry: 1,034 participants of 44-day Karabakh war declared disabled Russian Security Council Secretary accuses Western intelligence services of organizing unrest in Iran Niagara Falls is illuminated in colors of Azerbaijani flag through efforts of Azerbaijani Embassy to U.S. Several NATO member states led by Germany, France, the Netherlands and Denmark are categorically against holding NATO 2018 summit in Istanbul, TASS reported quoting Die Welt. As the newspaper noted, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested during the NATO 2016 summit in Warsaw to hold the next two summits in Istanbul. And although the official decision on this issue was not made, it was assumed that the invitation would be accepted. Now, however, according to Die Welt, a sharp change of stance is expected. A diplomatic source familiar with the situation noted that they do not want an impression to be created as if NATO supports the domestic policy of the Turkish government. The aforementioned countries suggested to hold the meeting in Brussels, Belgium expressed its readiness to host such a summit. The official decision will presumably be made during the upcoming NATO defense ministerial meeting in July. Days after the wreckage of Indian Air Force's Sukhoi-30 aircraft was found, a report confirms the death of two pilots onboard. The Indian Air Force has confirmed the death of two pilots onboard the missing Sukhoi-30 that went off radar on May 23. By Manjeet Negi: The two pilots on board an Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 aircraft that went missing near China border on May 23, sustained fatal injuries says a report. The wreckage of the aircraft which crashed around 60km from Tezpur airbase in Assam was found on May 26 after a massive search operation. Analysis of the Flight Data Recorder of the aircraft and of other articles recovered from the crash site reveal that the pilots- Squadron Leader D Pankaj and Flight Lieutenant S Achudev were unable to eject before the crash. advertisement The Su-30 aircraft took off around 1030 hrs on May 23 and had gone off the radar around 1110 hrs, when it was around 60kms from Tezpur. The aircraft was on a routine training mission as part of a two aircraft formation. The aircraft was declared overdue and rescue operations were launched to locate the aircraft and the pilots. Help from civil administration and military authorities was also sought to locate the aircraft. Aerial search was commenced based on the last known position of the Su-30 MKI. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident, according to Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee. Also read: China says no information on missing Sukhoi, warns India on 'disturbing peace' Also read: IAF's Sukhoi-30 aircraft missing near China border after taking off from Tezpur --- ENDS --- YEREVAN. The European Union and Armenia held the eighth round of the annual Human Rights Dialogue in Brussels on 29 May 2017. The European Union and Armenia welcomed the continued progress on human rights in Armenia. The EU concurred with the Venice Commission that the new Constitution represented a positive development and underlined the importance of its prompt and effective implementation. The EU took note of the ODIHR Electoral Observation Missions report on the April 2017 parliamentary elections and stressed the need for a proper investigation and follow-up of all alleged (pre-)electoral violations, and to ensure a level playing field for all candidates. The Dialogue highlighted the importance of a free and pluralistic media environment, and political pluralism as a prerequisite for the conduct of democratic elections. The EU encouraged Armenia to increase participation of women and national minority representatives in politics. The EU called on Armenia to adopt a standalone law against domestic violence and to operate a multi-referral mechanism to support victims (in line with UN CEDAW Concluding Observations) as well as a standalone law against discrimination; stressing its commitment to the universality of human rights for all. The parties will continue to cooperate to improve national institutional capacities in support of equality between men and women. The EU encouraged Armenia to sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The EU noted the progress in legislation made by Armenia in preventing torture and ill-treatment, and stressed the need for it to be further consolidated, in particular the need to implement the UN CAT Concluding Observations, including an independent and impartial mechanism for effective investigation and prosecution of certain crimes against human rights and freedoms committed by representative of law enforcement agencies. The dialogue allowed for an open, constructive exchange on the human rights situation in Armenia. In line with its policy, the EU had prior to the dialogue met and consulted representatives of Armenian and international civil society. The EU delegation was led by Mr Dirk Schuebel, Head of Division in the European External Action Service (EEAS), while the Armenian delegation was headed by Mr Garen Nazarian, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Armenia's Human Rights Defender, Mr Arman Tatoyan and Ms Mara Marinaki, the Principal Advisor for gender issues and UNSCR 1325 at the EEAS, also took part in the Dialogue. By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha Washington, May 31 (PTI) The maiden foreign visit of US President Donald Trump to the Middle East and Europe was an incredibly "historic" trip during which he interacted with a record 100 leaders, the White House has said. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the nine- day trip that took Trump to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Vatican, Belgium and Italy set the stage for a much more safe and prosperous America and a more peaceful world for all. advertisement "This was an extraordinarily successful and historic nine-day trip the President took.He accomplished the return of a strong America to international affairs, rallied civilised nations of the world against terrorism, took real steps towards peace in the Middle East, and renewed our alliances on the basis of both shared interest and shared burdens," he said on Trumps meeting with nearly 100 foreign leaders. Spicer claimed the visit showed how quickly and decisively the President acted to strengthen alliances, to form new partnerships, and to rebuild Americas standing in the world. "Weve never seen before at this point in a presidency such sweeping reassurance of American interest, and the inauguration of a foreign policy strategy designed to bring back the world from growing dangers and perpetual disasters brought on by years of failed leadership," Spicer said. Trump began his trip from Saudi Arabia, a nation that is the custodian to two of the holiest sites in Islam. "The President was greeted on the tarmac by the King of Saudi Arabia and received with incredible graciousness by the Kingdom and its leaders throughout his stay," Spicer said. He said Trumps address to the leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations was a turning point that people will talk about for many years to come. Spicer said Trump did exactly as he promised in his inaugural address by uniting the civilised world in the fight against terrorism and extremism. "The President was very direct in calling on the leaders of the region to drive out the terrorists and the extremists from their midst, and to isolate the Iranian regime that supports so much of this violence," Spicer said yesterday. "He let American allies know exactly what they can expect from us going forward - what he called a principled realism, rooted in common values and shared interests," he said, adding that the president laid out the case in persuasive detail for why the Muslim world must take the lead in combating radicalisation. advertisement The visit also included historic economic development deals for the United States, totalling well over half a trillion dollars and the creation of tens of thousands of American jobs, Spicer said. These deals included an immediate USD 110 billion investment, which will grow to USD 350 billion over the next 10 years, in defence cooperation from Saudi Arabia that will enable Muslim troops to take on a greater role in further fighting terrorism, he added. Spicer said Trump also participated in the launch of a new task force to block terror funding in the Gulf, the opening of a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, and more than 30 commercial deals that will result in an additional USD 270 billion of Saudi investment in American businesses and American jobs. Trump went to Israel, where he was received with incredible warmth, he said. "He strengthened Americas unbreakable bonds with Israel, made the first-ever visit by a sitting American President to the Western Wall, and gave a highly praised address at the Israel Museum as part of a continuing effort to rally nations together in the fight against terrorism and common enemies," he said. In his meetings with the Israeli and Palestine leaders, Trump advocated for a renewed push for peace - which they both agreed they were prepared to work towards. advertisement "He also discussed with both leaders how to increase cooperation against terrorism," he said. "Prime Minister Netanyahu said for the first time in my life I see a real hope for change," he said, adding that a leading Israeli publications wrote that "in the short space of three days, Trump carried out a semi-revolution". In Vatican, Trump had a very productive conversation about combating ISIS and other terrorist groups, protecting religious liberty, and numerous other issues with the Pope. "Hardworking Americans saw a leader representing them and their security on the international stage," he said. In his NATO meetings, Trump also urged NATO to adapt the alliance to more effectively combat terrorism, he said. Finally, Trump travelled to the G7 Summit in Sicily, where he and other leaders discussed how to better promote prosperity and security for each of their countries, he said. "Those meetings were marked by outstanding success that we see reflected in the communique that was issued. They include a strong statement that G7 nations will stand against unfair trade practices, and a commitment to fostering a true level playing field," Spicer said. advertisement "The G7 leaders also endorsed the right of sovereign nations to control their borders, and endorsed in that communique the policy outlined by President Trump to seek resettlement of refugees as close as possible to their home countries so that they can be part of their eventual rebuilding.This language on migration and refugees was a major shift in policy toward the position of the President," he said. Trump also met with Prime Minister Shinjo Abe of Japan wherein the two agreed on the need for enhanced sanctions against North Korea. PTI LKJ MRJ AKJ MRJ --- ENDS --- An AS 532 Cougar-type helicopter carrying 13 personnel took off from a military command in Senoba, Sirnak crashed in Turkey's Sirnak Province leaving all dead. Wreckage of a helicopter is seen after it crashed in Istanbul, Turkey on March 10, 2017. (Photo: Reuters) By Indo-Asian News Service: At least 13 military personnel were killed in a helicopter crash in Turkey's Sirnak Province, the Turkish Armed Forces said. According to the Turkish Armed Forces statement, an AS 532 Cougar-type helicopter carrying 13 personnel took off from a military command in Senoba, Sirnak on Wednesday. Shortly afterward, the helicopter hit a high voltage line and crashed, Xinhua news agency reported. advertisement Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik headed to Sirnak following the accident. The accident happened in Senoba district near the Turkey-Iraq border, according to local media. The investigation teams have been dispatched to the site of accident. ALSO READ | Helicopter carrying CoBRA commandos crash-lands in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, 5 injured --- ENDS --- Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks urged Georgia to carry out an effective, rapid and independent investigation into incident with Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli. I am appalled by what happened to Afgan Mukhtarli, an Azerbaijani journalist and activist, who has reportedly been abducted in Georgia and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan, where he is now facing prosecution for illegal crossing of the border and smuggling. Mr. Mukhtarli had been living in Georgia since 2015, when he left Azerbaijan to escape the governments repression of critical voices, he said in a statement. According to his lawyer, Mr Mukhtarli affirms that money was put in his pocket by his abductors and alleges that they also ill-treated him. These are very serious allegations that require the utmost attention and urgent reaction by the Georgian authorities, which should carry out an effective, rapid and independent investigation into the events and take the necessary measures to act upon the results of the enquiry. In the meantime, Azerbaijans authorities must release Mr Mukhtarli without delay and ensure that he fully enjoys his human rights, including the protection from torture and ill-treatment. By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: Growing up with two legendary Kuchipudi dancers as parents, Yamini Reddy never felt the weight of fame inside their house. For Reddy, and her sister Bhavana, the entire atmosphere at home was 'normal'. Although they never felt like they were living with two iconic personalities - Raja Radha Reddy - of the dance world, it wasn't an ordinary home either. advertisement "Whenever we left for school, we would see them practising in a room, and when we came back we would still find them dancing. We enjoyed growing up in such an atmosphere. Even then, we knew we wanted to be like them - we wanted to be dancers," says Yamini Reddy. And that's exactly what Reddy (as well as her sister) did. The three-time National awardee dedicated her life entirely to Kuchipudi. She toured the world - United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, UAE, South East Asia - and received numerous prizes. Currently, she heads the Hyderabad branch of NatyaTarangini Raja Radha Reddy - Institute of Kuchipudi Dance. There, she trains students of various age groups in the art of Kuchipudi. Also Read: Kuchipudi dancers make India proud by setting a new Guinness record While Reddy knew, since her childhood, that she wanted to pursue Kuchipudi in the future such is not the case with quite a few children who are sent to dance classes by their parents. Their weekly pilgrimage to the dance studios almost seems reluctant. Here is where, Reddy believes, the importance of a good teacher comes in. Having taught many children at her dance institute in Hyderabad, Reddy has been privy to many thoughts and hopes of aspiring dancers. She knows that for a "modern" generation, the "ancient" form of Kuchipudi might not be that enticing. Yamini Reddy in her Kuchipudi attire. Photo: Inni Singh Yamini Reddy in her Kuchipudi attire. Photo: Inni Singh "It's the job of the teacher to make the students understand the depth of this ancient artform," she says. "We have to nurture them, and make them realise the depth of dance. The responsibility of the teacher is to inculcate an interest, thereafter what happens is in the hands of the student." As involved as she is in dance right now, there was a time when she was considering opting for an entirely different career path. Also Read: This male belly dancer is demanding just one thing from his audience: respect "I was inclined towards becoming a doctor. I even got an offer at a medical institute but I knew that if I became a doctor I would never have the time for dance," she says, adding, "In an alternate life, I could have been a writer. I love to write - poems, short articles and stories - but I don't think I am proficient enough to publish any of it." advertisement For now, it seems, we will have to be content with watching Yamini Reddy showcase her talent on the stage itself. And there are plenty of opportunities to do so this year. Those in the Capital will be able to see her perform in June itself. She is set to be on stage at the Stein Auditorium in India Habitat Centre on June 9; 7 pm onwards. "I am working on concerts to celebrate ten years of NatyaTarangini. Also, I am working on a production with my father. Hopefully, by the end of this year, both projects will fall into place," she concludes. --- ENDS --- DOT Announces Regulatory Reform Task Force Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen will serve as the Regulatory Reform Officer and Chairman of the Regulatory Task Force. The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen will be the Departments Regulatory Reform Officer and Chairman of the Regulatory Reform Task Force (RRTF). The RRTF was created in response to President Donald J. Trump's Executive Order 13777, which is attempting to alleviate regulatory constraints at federal agencies. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao has directed the new agency to also review rules that were issued at the end of the previous administration. WHO Says Tobacco Causes Major Harm to the Environment The UN agency has called for the tobacco industry to compensate for its products that are harmful. A new World Health Organization statement calls on the tobacco industry to compensate for its products that contribute to greenhouse gases; it says the industry causes "massive harm" to the environment. WHO says the life cycle of tobacco is to blame, not just the act of smoking. "Tobacco growing, the manufacture of tobacco products, and their delivery to retailers all have severe environmental consequences, including deforestation, the use of fossil fuels, and the dumping or leaking of waste products into the natural environment," Oleg Chestnov, WHO's assistant director-general, said in the report to mark World No Tobacco Day on Wednesday. The report mentions that some of the chemicals used to maintain the plants are harmful to the environment, as well as the health of the farmers. "Tobacco threatens us all," said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. "Tobacco exacerbates poverty, reduces economic productivity, contributes to poor household food choices, and pollutes indoor air. But by taking robust tobacco control measures, governments can safeguard their countries' futures by protecting tobacco users and non-users from these deadly products, generating revenues to fund health and other social services, and saving their environments from the ravages tobacco causes." Ever had Lao-style barbecue? It's a rarity in Milwaukee, where Laotian fare like larb, green papaya salad sai oua (Lao sausage) often take a backseat to popular Thai dishes at area restaurants. But, that's something Alex Hanesakda is trying to change. A first generation Lao American, Hanesakda was just three years old when he arrived in the U.S. It was 1982, and his family had spent the last two years years in a refugee camp in Thailand before making their journey to America as part of the first wave of Laotian refugees. Sponsored by a Milwaukee family, they lived in the area for about a year before moving to Burlington, Wisconsin to be closer to the rest of their family. "I grew up cooking with my family," Hanesakda says. "And growing up in a refugee household, the whole family chips in. And there were things that set us apart. Instead of buying them from the grocery store, we our own chickens. It definitely made an impression on me. And one of the strongest ties to Lao culture that I developed was centered on food." He says it inspired him to find a way to get word out about Lao cuisine. Delicious delicious In 2010, he debuted his mothers recipe for egg rolls at the first annual egg roll competition at Milwaukees Asian Fest. The recipe got first place, spawning a catering and vending business called Mammas Eggrolls. In 2016, after Hanesakda took a job working with Chef and owner John Hudoc at Hometown Sausage Kitchen in East Troy, he took things a step further. He introduced Sap-Sap (meaning "delicious-delicious"), a retail food company specializing in Lao and Southeastern Asian inspired products. Their first product was smoked beef snack sticks incorporating Laotian ingredients including garlic, chives, bhut jalokia peppers and native Lao kaffir lime leaves. "Its not traditional," notes Hanesakda. "But, everyone likes snack sticks. And no one had ever really come out with one that showcased Lao flavorings." The snack sticks are currently available at retail establishments including Hometown Sausage, Hyvee stores in Madison and select stores in Burlington and Racine. Restaurants, including Sujeo in Madison, have also picked them up. In fact, Hanesakda says that Chef Tory Miller currently uses the sticks as a component in an eggroll on his menu. Theyve also debuted sai oua (fresh Lao sausages), which are currently being offered as a wholesale product. Hanesakda says hes currently working on additional products to add to his retail line, including two sauces: a sweet and sour sauce and a Lao marinade for barbeque. Community through pho & barbecue As hes worked to launch the Sap-Sap brand, Hanesakda has also begun hosting a variety of events showcasing the flavors of Southeast Asian cuisine. Among the first was Pho on the Farm, an event at Yuppie Hill Farm featuring pho (noodle soup), eggrolls, fried rice and other dishes. The response, Hanesakda says, has been overwhelming. "It really took me by surprise how excited people were," says Hanesakda. "Pho is one of those dishes that didnt originate in Laos; but, it is eaten in a variety of countries. And its been exciting to share my take. These events have drawn such a diverse crowd. And people are booking events months ahead." Pho on the Farm, now hosted the last Saturday of each month at the Yuppie Hill Farm, is currently sold out through September. However, beginning this summer, Hanesakda also launched a series of special Lao inspired barbecue dinners at Hometown Sausage Kitchen in East Troy, Wisconsin. Lao barbeque, Hanesakda notes, is distinguished by two factors. One is the presence of khao niaw (sticky rice). The other is the flavor profile, which is a combination of sweet, citrusy and spicy flavors from ingredients like kaffir lime, lemongrass, shallots and garlic. The dinners feature traditional southeast Asian dishes including papaya salad, eggrolls, barbecued skirt steak, ribs and chicken along with accompaniments like sticky rice and roasted tomato jeow. Both the events and the dishes served, Hanesakda says, are born from love, not only for his family's recipes, but also for nourishing and connecting friends and neighbors. And the sense of community it builds nourished by cultural sharing and communal eating is a more-than-pleasant side effect. If youre interested in attending the next Lao Barbeque at Hometown Sausage Kitchen on Aug. 12 at 4 p.m., reservations can be made by messaging Sap-Sap on Facebook. Include your name as well as the number of guests in your party. The dinner is $40 plus gratuity, which can be paid on site at the event. For additional information, including updates on future pho and barbecue events, follow Sap-Sap on Facebook. Phuket, 31 May 2017 La Gritta Restaurant presents five new rustic menus called Dalla Campagna and that hail from many regions in Italy. Chef Patrizia has picked some popular dishes, including soup, melanzane, pasta, stewed beef and risotto, and would like our guests to experience Italian village food, which is new in Phuket and should not be missed out on. Available only in June 2017, the five dishes are: Pasta e Fagioli, priced at 450 THB++ A typical dish that is very popular in southern Italy offers the best taste when served warm. This gentle soup is mixed with many ingredients, such as Borlotti beans, pancetta or Italian bacon, onion, garlic, carrots, vegetable stock and light tomato sauce. Blend all ingredients together before the last step of adding spaghetti noodles. Leave for a while until warm, then add black pepper on top. Melanzane alla Parmigiana, priced at 380 THB++ A popular dish in summer, this is available as an appetiser or a main course. An aubergine, tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese are the main ingredients. The cooking method is baking to have all ingredients mixed into one big piece. Bucatini alla Gricia, priced at 450 THB++ Bucatini pasta is an original dish from Amatrice, a small village in the middle of Italy. The shape of Bucatini is similar to that of spaghetti, but is thicker with a hole running through the centre. Bucatini offers a very good taste when cooked with Gricia sauce, which is mixed with bacon, red wine, onions, dry chilli and Pecorino cheese. Spezzatino di Manzo e Patate, priced at 680 THB++ A beef cube stewed slowly until soft, offering the aroma and full flavour of Italian herbs mixed with red wine, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, vegetable stock and potato. It is good to serve this tender beef stew when the ingredients become creamy. Risotto al Radicchio e Taleggio, priced at 580 THB++ A creamy risotto with radicchio and Taleggio cheese. This is a typical dish from the north of Italy. The risotto uses Carnaroli rice, which is the best kind of rice for risotto imported from Italy. One of the main ingredients, the radicchio is cut thin and stewed with the rice and cheese until creamy. The presentation looks outstanding with the garnishing of fresh radicchio leaves on top. All prices are subject to a 10% service charge and 7% VAT. Terms and conditions apply. For more information and reservations, please contact +66 (0) 7634 0112, email lagritta@amari.com, or visit www.lagritta.com and https://www.facebook.com/LaGrittaPhuket. Address: Amari Phuket, 2 Muen-ngern Road, Patong Beach, Kathu, Phuket 83150, Thailand Photo of the Colle Gnifetti glacier on the Swiss-Italian border where the ice core used in the study was taken. In the bottom right corner the coring site can be seen (white dome). Credit: Nicole Spaulding, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine. When the Black Death swept across Europe in the 14th century, it not only killed millions, it also brought lead smelting, among many other commercial activities, to a halt. That cessation is reflected in a new analysis of historical and ice core data, which researchers say provides evidence that the natural level of lead in the air is essentially zero, contrary to common assumptions. "These new data show that human activity has polluted European air almost uninterruptedly for the last [about] 2,000 years," the study's authors say. "Only a devastating collapse in population and economic activity caused by pandemic disease reduced atmospheric pollution to what can now more accurately be termed background or natural levels." The work, an interdisciplinary collaboration led by historians at Harvard University and climate scientists at the University of Maine, matched new high-resolution measurements of ice core lead taken from a glacier in the Swiss-Italian Alps with highly detailed historical records showing that lead mining and smelting plummeted to nearly zero during the plague years of 1349 to 1353. The study, which also involved collaborators from Heidelberg University and the University of Nottingham, shows that lead levels declined precipitously in a section of the ice core corresponding to that four-year window, a drop unique in the past two millennia of European history, according to Alexander More, a postdoctoral fellow in Harvard's History Department and the Initiative for the Science of the Human Past. More is first author of the research paper, to be published this week in the American Geophysical Union journal GeoHealth. The authors challenge assumptions that widespread environmental pollution began with the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s and 1800s, and that lead detected before that era represents natural or background levels. The new research shows that lead from mining and smeltingwhich has occurred for thousands of yearswas detectable well before the Industrial Revolution, and that only when those activities were essentially halted by the plague did lead pollution decline to natural levels. "When we saw the extent of the decline in lead levels, and only saw it once, during the years of the pandemic, we were intrigued," More said. "In different parts of Europe, the Black Death wiped out as much as half of the population. It radically changed society in multiple ways. In terms of the labor force, the mining of lead essentially stopped in major areas of production. You see this reflected in the ice core in a large drop in atmospheric lead levels, and you see it in historical records for an extended period of time." The ice core from the Colle Gnifetti glacier within the drill as its being extracted. Credit: Nicole Spaulding, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine. The research, backed by the Arcadia Fund of London, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the National Science Foundation, was enabled in part by the development of a cutting-edge laser facility to analyze ultrathin layers of ice. Designed and operated at the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute, the facility can analyze layers thin enough to coincide with sub-annual time periods, even in highly compressed ice. Institute researchers Nicole Spaulding and Pascal Bohleber, among other co-authors, produced and analyzed millions of data points from the ice core. "This research represents the convergence of two very different disciplines, history and ice core glaciology, that together provide the perspective needed to understand how a toxic substance like lead has varied in the atmosphere and, more importantly, to understand that the true natural level is in fact very close to zero," said Paul Mayewski, a co-author of the new study and director of the Climate Change Institute. "Using the ultrahigh resolution ice core sampling offered through our W.M. Keck Laser Ice Facility, we expect to be able to offer new insights, previously unattainable with lower-resolution sampling, into the links between climate change and the course of civilization." The researchers focused on lead not only because it is a hazardous pollutant, More said, but also because it serves as a proxy for economic activity, ramping up when the economy is growing and tapering when it declines. This graph shows lead concentrations in the atmosphere taken by measurements from the Colle Gnifetti ice core used in the study. The graph covers the period of circa 1 2007 C.E. The Black Death drop marks the years 1349-1353 C.E. Credit: Alexander More/AGU/GeoHealth. "Lead is one of the most dangerous pollutants in the air, and one we've mined for a very, very long time," he said. "It was ubiquitous in the preindustrial world, widely used in construction, pipes, currency, and everyday utensils." Michael McCormick, Harvard's Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History and chair of the Initiative for the Science of the Human Past, and Christopher Loveluck of the University of Nottingham, a former visiting professor at Harvard, also contributed to the research, providing archaeological and historical expertise. McCormick said that undergraduates played a role in the work by building a database of historical climate records. The research highlighted other, lesser drops in ice core lead accumulation, including one in 1460 that also may have been due to an epidemic-related downturn, and another in the 1970s as abatement policies phased out leaded gasoline and other sources of air pollution. Philip Landrigan, dean of global health for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, who has studied the epidemiology of lead poisoning in children, said that the work highlights today's good news-bad news situation regarding environmental lead. Some of the historical records the study authors consulted to create a historical database of climate reports published with the article. They contain legal, tax and commercial evidence documenting climate changes through eyewitness reports. These records provide evidence of the arrival of the Black Death in Europe as well as evidence of the decline of mining because of it. Credit: Alexander More, Harvard University and Climate Change Institute, University of Maine. While widespread contamination due to leaded gasoline, lead paint, lead solder, and other common modern-era applications has been curbed by government regulation, the recent crisis of tainted water in Flint, Mich., shows that lead continues to poison children in America and elsewhere. One recent estimate, said Landrigan, who did not participate in the new findings, holds that some 535,000 American children under age 6 have elevated blood lead levels. Both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that no level of lead can be considered safe for children. "Lead is toxic to the brain at extremely low levels," said Landrigan, who, while working with the CDC in the 1970s, investigated lead poisoning in children near a Texas lead smelting plant. "It's clear that lead has lasting effects on children's lives." More said the ice core, taken by a University of Maine team from the Colle Gnifetti glacier high in the Alps, remains rich with data, accessible due to the precision of the Climate Change Institute's next-generation laser facility. Combining that data with historical sources and established methodologies, More said, could lead to new discoveries in climate science, human and planetary health, and economic history. More information: Alexander F. More et al, Next generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: insights from the Black Death, GeoHealth (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2017GH000064 , onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10 017GH000064/abstract This story is published courtesy of the Harvard Gazette, Harvard University's official newspaper. For additional university news, visit Harvard.edu. Biochar is being applied to disturbed, mine-affected south facing slopes. Credit: Andrew Harley Soil scientist Jim Ippolito believes in local solutions to local problems. The problem he's working on is contaminated soils near abandoned mines. In the western United States 160,000 abandoned mines contaminate soils in the region. Ippolito, associate professor of soil science at Colorado State University, hopes to solve this problem with biochar, a charcoal-like substance that can reduce the toxic consequences of mining for metals. Biochar is made by burning plant material in a low-oxygen kiln. Ippolito proposes using western states plant materials such as dead lodge pole pine trees or pesky, nuisance treeslike the invasive tamariskas fodder for the kiln. "I thought, why don't we just use this stuff to make biochar?" said Ippolito. "It's using local materials to solve a local problem." Abandoned mine sites are common in western states. Over the years, extracting precious metals like gold or silver left a legacy of high acidity in mining-affected soils. "When you dig holes in the ground via mining and pull out rock that hasn't seen the atmosphere in millions of years, the materials undergo a change," said Ippolito. "These materials can start to acidify." When certain rock minerals are exposed to the atmosphere, they can form sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid spreads like an infection, breaking down rocks around it. Some of these rocks contain heavy metals, like lead or copper, and most of the time the metals are harmless. The heavy metals turn into a problem when they become bioavailableor when plants are able absorb them. Sulfuric acid makes metals more bioavailable to plants by releasing metals from rocks. Biochar totes are in the foreground with biochar application in the background. Biochar is being applied to a slope on the right. Credit: Andrew Harley "A good analogy would be that the process sort of works just like the way our stomach acid works to break down food into components that are bioavailable to us," said Ippolito. The bioavailable heavy metals can pass into plant cell membranes and poison the plant. "You'll find places near abandoned mines that are completely void of vegetation because of elevated bioavailable metals," said Ippolito. Most people cleaning up old mine sites mix lime into the soil to reduce acidity. Less acidity in the soil means less opportunity for plants to absorb heavy metals, because the metals change form from more to less bioavailable in the presence of lime. Instead of lime, Ippolito wants to use biochar to reduce soil acidity. Biochar is typically produced by heating plant material in a sealed environment. "Basically you take wood, put it into a drum, seal it, and start a fire underneath it," said Ippolito. "The material that's left in the drum looks like charcoal." The research on the uses of biochar is extensive: it's been tested as a water purifier, a fertilizer, a carbon sink and more. Ippolito's biochar is special because it's made from local trees that pose problems in western states. One of the trees is the lodge pole pine. Mountain pine beetles have decimated millions of acres of the lodge pole pine in western states and Canada. Rows and rows of trees lay like matchsticks. In dry regions, felled pines are a tinderbox for forest fires. Ippolito said making something useful from flammable, wasted trees can only be a good thing. He's also proposing using tamarisk as a biochar feedstock. Tamarisk is an invasive species in western states. It clogs watersheds, robbing nutrients and water from native species. The researchers made biochar from both trees and mixed it into four different soils from abandoned mine sites in Colorado and Idaho. They analyzed the bioavailability of the metals present in the soil. Both biochar types decreased soil acidity in all four soils. The biochar successfully interrupted the toxic combination of acidified soils and heavy metals, converting those metals to less bioavailable forms. Ippolito's next step is to take his locally-sourced biochar into the field. He said he's ready to put it to use. "I've spent at least a decade testing biochars in the lab and greenhouse," he said. "It's finally time to apply the biochar to some mine sites." Ippolito is working with the USDA Agricultural Research Service to test the biochar on a western U.S. mine site as well as in Missouri. Ippolito collaborated with a team of scientists from the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, the University of Idaho, and two private entities in Colorado (Confluence Energy in Kremmling, CO and Ascension Soil Co. in Evergreen, CO). Their work is published in the Journal of Environmental Quality. More information: J. A. Ippolito et al, Biochars Reduce Mine Land Soil Bioavailable Metals, Journal of Environment Quality (2017). DOI: 10.2134/jeq2016.10.0388 Journal information: Journal of Environmental Quality Yogi Adityanath's Ayodhya visit comes a day after a special court charged veteran BJP leaders LK Advani, MM Joshi with criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case. By India Today Web Desk: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is in Ayodhya today offering puja at the makeshift Ram temple situated at the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site. Adityanath's visit to Ayodhya comes a day after a special CBI court in Lucknow charged top BJP leaders, including veterans LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister Uma Bharti, with criminal conspiracy in the Babri demolition case. advertisement This is the first visit of any state chief minister to Ayodhya in the last 15 years. Rajnath Singh was the first chief minister who offered prayers at the controversial site in 2002. Yogi Adityanath's Ayodhya visit is being seen by many as an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bring back the Ram Temple agenda to the fore to prepare ground for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Yogi Adityanath inside Hanumangarhi temple. (Photo: Kanhaiya Sharma) The issue which has largely been sidelined by the party since long is back in the news with LK Advani, MM Joshi and 11 others being charged with criminal conspiracy in the 25-year-old Babri case. The Uttar Pradesh CM will also attend birth celebrations of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, who is also an accused in the Babri case. The Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas was established to look after the construction of a grand Ram temple at the disputed site on the banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya. Apart from offering puja at the makeshift Ram Temple, Yogi Adityanth also visited Hanuman Garhi temple. He will address a gathering of party workers before returning to Lucknow later in the evening. ALSO READ: Babri Masjid demolition case: LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti, others charged with criminal conspiracy The Babri Masjid case timeline: What happened and when Supreme Court suggests out-of-court settlement of Ayodhya dispute, calls Ram Mandir matter of sentiment WATCH: Yogi Adityanath to visit Ayodhya, a day after ruling against BJP leaders in Babri case --- ENDS --- Permafrost peatbog border. Storflaket, Abisko, Sweden. Credit: Dentren/Wikipedia (Phys.org)A team of researchers from Sweden, Denmark and Finland has conducted field experiments that offering evidence that suggests permafrost melting in the Arctic could release major amounts of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their experiments and explain why they believe nitrous oxide emissions could have a bigger than thought impact on the speed at which the planet is heating up. Scientists know that nitrous oxide is also a greenhouse gas, but because far less of it is emitted into the atmosphere, it has not generated the same degree of interest as carbon dioxide. But that might have to change, as the researchers suggest that the impact of melting permafrost might lead to the release of massive amounts of the gas. This could be a problem because nitrous oxide causes more blanketing in the atmosphere than carbon dioxideprior research has shown it to be 300 times as heat retaining. It also has an atmospheric lifetime of 110 years and when it does finally break down it takes some atmospheric ozone with it. Currently, the largest natural source of nitrous oxide are rainforests, the researchers note, but that could change, they contend, as global warming causes permafrost to melt. The researchers came to this conclusion by conducting tests on 16 peatland "mecocosms" in Finnish Lapland they designated. Each was a plot of land over permafrost, approximately 80 by 10 centimeters. Some were covered in plants, others lichen, while others were bare. Each plot was subjected to different conditions that caused the permafrost to melt over the course of 33 weeks while the researchers took core samples and used sensors to measure the amount of nitrous oxide released. The group reports that the plots covered in plants or water did not release much of the gas, but the bare plots released as much of the gas as a similar plot in the rainforest, which was five times as much as normal. This, they contend, becomes more important in light of prior research finding that approximately one-fourth of the Arctic landmass area is bare peat and that warming in the area is expected to cause relatively dry melting. More information: Carolina Voigt et al. Increased nitrous oxide emissions from Arctic peatlands after permafrost thaw, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1702902114 Abstract Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing, exposing large carbon and nitrogen stocks for decomposition. Gaseous carbon release from Arctic soils due to permafrost thawing is known to be substantial, but growing evidence suggests that Arctic soils may also be relevant sources of nitrous oxide (N2O). Here we show that N2O emissions from subarctic peatlands increase as the permafrost thaws. In our study, the highest postthaw emissions occurred from bare peat surfaces, a typical landform in permafrost peatlands, where permafrost thaw caused a fivefold increase in emissions (0.56 0.11 vs. 2.81 0.6 mg N2O m2 d1). These emission rates match those from tropical forest soils, the world's largest natural terrestrial N2O source. The presence of vegetation, known to limit N2O emissions in tundra, did decrease (by 90%) but did not prevent thaw-induced N2O release, whereas waterlogged conditions suppressed the emissions. We show that regions with high probability for N2O emissions cover one-fourth of the Arctic. Our results imply that the Arctic N2O budget will depend strongly on moisture changes, and that a gradual deepening of the active layer will create a strong noncarbon climate change feedback. Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2017 Phys.org Credit: CC0 Public Domain Imagine being a scuba diver and leaving your oxygen tank behind you on a dive. Or a mountain climber and abandoning your ropes. Or a skydiver and shedding your parachute. That's essentially what humans are doing as we expand our footprint on the planet without paying adequate attention to impacts on other living things, according to researchers from the University of Minnesota and McGill University. Because we depend on plants and animals for food, shelter, clean air and water and more, anything we do that makes life harder for them eventually comes around to make life harder for us as well. But, reporting with colleagues from around the world in this week's special biodiversity issue of the scientific journal Nature, the researchers also note that all is not lost, and offer specific strategies for turning that tide before it's too late. Forest Isbell, of University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, McGill biologist Andrew Gonzalez and coauthors from eight countries on four continents provided an overview of what we know and still need to learn about the impacts of habitat destruction, overhunting, the introduction of nonnative species, and other human activities on biodiversity. In addition, they summarized previous research on how biodiversity loss affects nature and the benefits nature providesfor example, a recent study showing that reduced diversity in tree species in forests is linked to reduced wood production. Synthesizing findings of other studies, they estimated that the value humans derive from biodiversity is 10 times what every country in the world put together spends on conservation todaysuggesting that additional investments in protecting species would not only reduce biodiversity loss but provide economic benefit, too. "Human activities are driving the sixth mass extinction in the history of life on Earth, despite the fact that diversity of life enhances many benefits people reap from nature, such as wood from forests, livestock forage from grasslands, and fish from oceans and streams," said Isbell, who served as lead author the paper. "It would be wise to invest much more in conserving biodiversity." "Biodiversity plays a big role in the UN Sustainable Development Goals that aim to ensure human wellbeing in the long-term" said Gonzalez. "Attaining the UN SDGs will require action to conserve and restore biodiversity from local to global scales". In a separate review article, Regents Professor David Tilman and colleagues from the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa took a look at how threats to biodiversity are expected to grow as human population and GDP increases around the world. With an additional 3.2 billion people expected by 2060, most in sub-Saharan Africa, and standard of living expected to rise at the same time, demand on natural resources and extinction threats to land mammals and birds will both become more severe. However, based on reviews of multiple studies, the team concluded that by boosting crop yield, reducing the amount of animal-based protein in our diets, strategically using the most productive land for food production, and preventing overhunting and poaching, we can dramatically reduce the increase in extinction rates the world faces as a result. "The policies and actions that we adopt now will be instrumental in determining which, and how many, species will survive the present era of environmental change," Tilman and colleagues wrote. "With forethought and timely action, these goals can be achieved." More information: Forest Isbell et al. Linking the influence and dependence of people on biodiversity across scales, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22899 Journal information: Nature Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) sloughing. Credit: Jasmine Vink What happens to a cane toad's internal chemistry when it has to shed its skin to replace worn out skin cells? A new University of Queensland study has revealed that these tough and poisonous amphibians have developed a secret technique to protect their vital internal balances of salt and water when they are moulting. PhD student in UQ's School of Biological Sciences' ECO-Lab, Nicholas Wu said frogs and toads were able to exchange gas, water and salt through their permeable (porous) skins. "Our study showed that the skin becomes slightly leaky during the shedding process, allowing salts to leak out of the skin and water to flow in. "To make sure their internal salt level is balanced, toads increase their active re-uptake of salts through the skin, and increase the number of transport proteins responsible for the uptake of the salts." The Cane toad (Rhinella marina) is a native of South and Central America introduced to Australia in 1935 to control the cane beetle. However, the toads have since multiplied rapidly, and with a current estimated population of 200 million, have caused large environmental detriment, including the death of quolls, snakes and lizards. Mr Wu said over time the cane toad's skin wore out, so to maintain its health and functionality, it was regularly removed, and replenished. The process of removing the superficial dead skin layer occurred in all animals and was known as shedding, moulting or sloughing. Physiological changes of the skin function had been observed during sloughing. However, the role of sloughing on these changes in association with regulating the animals' salt and water balances had been little studied. The research team, including co-authors UQ researchers Professor Craig Franklin and Dr Rebecca Cramp, examined cane toads from the University's St Lucia campus and measured salt loss across their skin and how the salt-transporting properties of the skin changed when the toad replaced old skin with new. The study also considered the role of the deadly skin-attacking chytrid fungus, which is affecting amphibian populations world-wide. The researchers said that other skin-sloughing amphibians might suffer if they begin sloughing their skins more frequently while trying to rid themselves of such infections. The research is published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Like chimpanzees, humans may console their threatened peers out of empathy, according to a study published May 31, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard from the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), The Netherlands, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues. Consolation is generally defined as an uninvolved bystander initiating friendly contact with a victim of aggression. Previous research has suggested that children and chimpanzees console their peers, but there is little research on consolation in human adults. The authors of the present study analyzed real life CCTV footage of 249 individuals who were present in the immediate aftermath of 22 commercial robberies. They investigated whether the social closeness (for example, age similarity or being employees of the same business) and gender of the victim and the bystander affected the likelihood of physical consolation behaviour, such as a touch on the arm or a hug. The researchers found that social closeness, rather than physical proximity, was important in determining if a bystander would console a victim, which is consistent with the theory that bystanders console victims when they empathize with them. While females were more likely to console a victim, both male and female victims were equally likely to be consoled. Finally, a victim in a more threatening situation was more likely to receive consolation. The authors suggest that these patterns resemble previously observed post-aggression consolation behaviors in chimpanzees, indicating that both humans and chimpanzees may be motivated to console their peers out of empathy. The authors emphasize that comparative research across different species can provide insight into the mental lives of animals, and should have implications for practices in behavioral science and animal research. "Unique surveillance camera observations from contexts of real-life violent crimes show that human adults provide victims with consolation in ways similar to what is observed among chimpanzees," says Lindegaard. More information: Lindegaard MR, Liebst LS, Bernasco W, Heinskou MB, Philpot R, Levine M, et al. (2017) Consolation in the aftermath of robberies resembles post-aggression consolation in chimpanzees. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0177725. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177725 Journal information: PLoS ONE Researchers from Concordia's Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering (BCEE) in collaboration with Bio-Terre Systems Inc. are taking the fight against global warming to colder climes. Their weapon of choice? Cold-loving bacteria. In a study published in Process Safety and Environmental Protection, authors Rajinikanth Rajagopal, David Bellavance and Mohammad Saifur Rahaman demonstrate the viability of using anaerobic digestion in a low-temperature (20C) environment to convert solid food waste into renewable energy and organic fertilizer. They employed psychrophilic bacteriawhich thrive in relatively low temperaturesto break down food waste in a specially designed bioreactor. In doing so, they produced a specific methane yield comparable to that of more energy-intensive anaerobic digestion processes. "There is enormous potential here to reduce the amount of fuel that we use for solid waste treatment," Rahaman explains. "Managing and treating food waste is a global challenge, particularly for cold countries like Canada where the temperature often falls below -20C and energy demands related to heating are high." He adds that the most commonly used forms of anaerobic digestion require large amounts of energy to heat the bioreactors and maintain temperatures for the bacteria's optimal performance. "What we've learned is that we can now use adapted psychrophilic bacteria to produce a level of methane comparable to those more common forms, while using less energy." 'A promising new research direction' Globally, more than 1.3 billion tonnes of municipal waste are created each year, and that number is expected to increase to 2.2 billion by 2025. Most of it ends up in landfills where it biodegrades over time, producing biogas, a powerful greenhouse gas largely composed of carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen sulfide. Left alone, this methane-rich biogas poses a significant climate threat, as methane carries a global warming potential that is 21 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. But, according to the researchers, engineered anaerobic digestion techniques can also be adapted to capture such gases and transform them into renewable energy. By employing devices such as biogas storage domes, biofilters or combined heat and power co-generation systems, for instance, methane can be collected, cleaned and converted into heat or electricity that can then be substituted for most fossil fuels. At an agronomic level, the process also contributes leftover nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich digestate material that can be subsequently recovered and used as plant fertilizer. The process for feeding the bioreactor is unique. It involves a semi-continuously fed constant volume overflow approach: the amount of food waste fed into the bottom opening necessitates the removal of an equal amount of treated effluent from the top. The researchers performed various tests on the extracted material to determine its physicochemical characteristics as well as to monitor the biogas quality and quantity. "There aren't many studies that look into developing new applications for treating food waste," Rajagopal says. "We hope that this study will mark the beginning of a promising new research direction." More information: Rajinikanth Rajagopal et al, Psychrophilic anaerobic digestion of semi-dry mixed municipal food waste: For North American context, Process Safety and Environmental Protection (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.psep.2016.10.014 Purdue University and Microsoft Corp. have signed a five-year agreement to develop a useable quantum computer. Purdue is one of four international universities in the collaboration. Michael Manfra, Purdue University's Bill and Dee O'Brien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, professor of materials engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering, will lead the effort at Purdue to build a robust and scalable quantum computer by producing what scientists call a "topological qubit." Credit: Purdue University photo/Rebecca Wilcox "If this project is successful it will cause a revolution in computing." That's the forecast of Michael Manfra, Purdue University's Bill and Dee O'Brien Chair Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Professor of Materials Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, on a new long-term enhanced collaboration between Purdue and Microsoft Corp. to build a robust and scalable quantum computer by producing what scientists call a "topological qubit." Purdue President Mitch Daniels noted that Purdue was home to the first computer science department in the United States, and says this partnership and Manfra's work places the university at the forefront of quantum computing. "Someday quantum computing will move from the laboratory to actual daily use, and when it does, it will signal another explosion of computing power like that brought about by the silicon chip," Daniels says. "It's thrilling to imagine Purdue at the center of this next leap forward." In the computers that we currently use every day, information is encoded in an either/or binary system of bits, what are commonly thought of as 1s and 0s. These computers are based on silicon transistors, which, like a light switch, can only be in either an on or off position. With quantum computers, information is encoded in qubits, which are quantum units of information. With a qubit, however, this physical state isn't just 0 or 1, but can also be a linear combination of 0 and 1. Because of a strange phenomenon of quantum mechanics called "superposition," a qubit can be in both states at the same time. This characteristic is essential to quantum computation's potential power, allowing for solutions to problems that are intractable using classical architectures. Advocates of quantum computing believe this never-before-seen technology will create a new global "quantum economy." The team assembled by Microsoft will work on a type of quantum computer that is expected to be especially robust against interference from its surroundings, a situation known in quantum computing as "decoherence." The "scalable topological quantum computer" is theoretically more stable and less error-prone. "One of the challenges in quantum computing is that the qubits interact with their environment and lose their quantum information before computations can be completed," Manfra says. "Topological quantum computing utilizes qubits that store information "non-locally" and the outside noise sources have less effect on the qubit, so we expect it to be more robust." Manfra says that the most exciting challenge associated with building a topological quantum computer is that the Microsoft team must simultaneously solve problems of materials science, condensed matter physics, electrical engineering and computer architecture. "This is why Microsoft has assembled such a diverse set of talented people to tackle this large-scale problem," Manfra says. "No one person or group can be expert in all aspects." Purdue and Microsoft entered into an agreement in April 2016 that extends their collaboration on quantum computing research, effectively establishing "Station Q Purdue," one of the "Station Q" experimental research sites that work closely with two "Station Q" theory sites. The new, multi-year agreement extends that collaboration, and includes Microsoft employees being embedded in Manfra's research team at Purdue. Manfra's group at Station Q Purdue will collaborate with Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft team members, as well as a global experimental group established by Microsoft including experimental groups at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, TU Delft in the Netherlands, and the University of Sydney, Australia. They are also coupled to the theorists at Microsoft Station Q in Santa Barbara. All groups are working together to solve quantum computing's biggest challenges. "What's exciting is that we're doing the science and engineering hand-in-hand, at the same time," Manfra says. "We are lucky to be part of this truly amazing global team." Mathematician and Fields Medal recipient Michael Freedman leads Microsoft's Station Q in Santa Barbara working on quantum computing. "There is another computing planet out there, and we, collectively, are going to land on it. It really is like the old days of physical exploration and much more interesting than locking oneself in a bottle and traveling through space. We will find an amazing unseen world once we have general purpose programmable quantum computers," Freedman says. "Michael Manfra and Purdue University will be a key collaborator on this journey. I'm not interested in factoring numbers, but solving chemistry and materials science problems, and most ambitiously machine intelligence. Curiously, we need great materials science and transport physics Mike Manfra's work to build the systems we will use to do quantum computing and, thus, to usher in the next era of materials science." Purdue's role in the project will be to grow and study ultra-pure semiconductors and hybrid systems of semiconductors and superconductors that may form the physical platform upon which a quantum computer is built. Manfra's group has expertise in a technique called molecular beam epitaxy, and this technique will be used to build low-dimensional electron systems that form the basis for quantum bits, or qubits. The work at Purdue will be done in the Birck Nanotechnology Center in the university's Discovery Park, as well as in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The Birck facility houses the multi-chamber molecular beam epitaxy system, in which three fabrication chambers are connected under ultra-high vacuum. It also contains clean-room fabrication and necessary materials characterization tools. Laboratories for low-temperature measurement of the materials electronic properties will be conducted in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Suresh Garimella, executive vice president for research and partnerships, and Purdue's Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, says the tools and laboratories found in Discovery Park have enabled Purdue to become a world leader in several areas. "Combining these world-leading facilities with our incredibly talented and knowledgeable faculty, such as Professor Manfra, has placed Purdue at the forefront of research and development of nanotechnology, nanoelectronics, next-generation silicon transistor-based electronics, and quantum computing. To have Purdue contribute to the construction of the world's first quantum computer is be a dream come true for us," he says. A new study sheds light on the habitat preferences of threatened Bachman's sparrows. Credit: J. Winiarski Theory says that birds should choose nest sites that minimize their risk of predation, but studies often fail to show a connection between nest site selection and nest survival. Understanding these relationships can be key for managing declining species, and a new study from The Condor: Ornithological Applications explores the nest site preferences of Bachman's Sparrow, a vulnerable songbird dependent on regularly burned longleaf pine forests in the southeastern U.S. Jason Winiarski of North Carolina State University and his colleagues monitored a total of 132 Bachman's Sparrow nests in two regions of North Carolina, the Coastal Plain and the Sandhills, measuring a variety of vegetation characteristics. They found several differences between the two regions in what sparrows looked for in a nest sitein the Coastal Plain, they favored low grass density and greater woody vegetation density, while birds in the Sandhills selected intermediate grass density and greater tree basal area. However, none of these features turned out to be related to nest survival. According to the researchers, the differences between the two regions are likely due to differences in the available plant communities. Bachman's Sparrows also could be selecting nest sites that allow easy access to nests or maximize the survival of fledglings once they leave, and these aspects may warrant further investigation. Regardless, Winiarski and his colleagues believe their results show the importance of management that mimics historical fire regimes in longleaf pine ecosystems, in order to maintain the diverse groundcover types used by the birds. Bachman's sparrows depend on longleaf pine habitat maintained by regular fires. Credit: J. Carpenter The most challenging part of the study was locating sparrow nests to monitor. "Bachman's Sparrows are notoriously secretive and don't easily give up the location of their well-hidden nests," says Winiarski. "Eventually, we stumbled upon a technique of patiently watching adult sparrows at a distance that allowed the birds to behave normally, while being close enough for us to just barely see where they landed with food or nest material. That let us narrow down where the nest site was to within a few meters, and luck and thorough searching led us the rest of the way." "It is really remarkable that the authors were able to track the large number of Bachman's Sparrow nests that they were able to find. As someone who has searched and searched for nests of this species, it is really hard," according to Purdue University's John Dunning, an expert on Bachman's Sparrow ecology who was not involved with the research. "The study shows how consistent management of vegetation structure through the use of prescribed fire remains the most important management and conservation strategy to support breeding populations of Bachman's Sparrow." More information: "Nest-site selection and nest survival of Bachman's Sparrows in two longleaf pine communities" americanornithologypubs.org/do 1650/CONDOR-16-220.1 Jiqiang Lu with the GPGPU used to crack the A5/1 cipher. Credit: A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research Every day we store and transfer sensitive digital data, post personal information on social media, and provide valuable details to companies when we use their services. Keeping secure the 2.5 quintillion (2.5 million billion) bytes of data created every day from outside attack is a mammoth task. The potential for breaching security is vast, due to a plethora of available services and the many weak links that appear in the chain whenever data is moved. A further consideration is who should have access to data, taking the issue beyond technology into the social and political realm. These challenges demand a huge global effort from computer technicians and researchers across the world. Research groups at A*STAR are using their technical expertise to monitor online services, identify vulnerable areas of data management, and develop software and hardware that keep data secure. Their work is not only defending data against attack, but also maintaining easy access to it for authorized users. Managing mobiles Arguably, the first line of defense against data misuse should be implemented in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the world's most widely-used wireless telephony technology. With a 90 per cent share of the market, around 4.5 billion customers rely on the security of GSM to protect their communications. "GSM was first deployed 25 years ago and has become the global standard for mobile communications," says Jiqiang Lu at the A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R). The A5/1 stream cipher, the encryption scheme that GSM uses to protect data, has been successfully attacked before to test its security, but almost all the attacks were hypothetical in the sense of their impact on the real-world security of GSMthey either required a large amount of complex data or had a long attack time, meaning they could be mitigated and blocked by existing GSM security protocols. Lu and co-workers decided to investigate whether a detailed and fast-acting attack on the GSM A5/1 cipher could reveal fundamental weaknesses in the system. Using a computer setup costing just US$15,000 in 2013, the researchers employed a powerful algorithm to explore the A5/1 cryptosystem, and obtained 984 gigabytes of information about the system structure over 55 days. They used this information to launch attacks that pulled data from the GSM in just 9 secondsusually too quick for interception by security protocolsand illustrated that A5/1 would be vulnerable if it were to be attacked by sufficiently skilled hackers. "The GSM should immediately upgrade its encryption algorithm to a stronger one," says Lu. Containing the cloud While Lu's team continue to protect our data as it flies around the global mobile network, another group at I2R which includes Jia Xu is examining the cloud storage providers that have revolutionized how we archive and share data. By entrusting large organizations to store multiple copies of our data on cloud servers around the world, we are freed from worrying about our phone, laptop or USB drive being lost, stolen or broken. But how can we be sure that these organizations will keep our data secure? Xu and co-workers have designed cryptographic algorithms for cloud storage that not only protect the integrity of data, but also control who can access it. "The core challenge in cloud storage is to balance three factors: efficiency, security, and usability," says Xu. "Cloud providers would like their services to be almost as efficient and low-cost as when no security features are implemented, while customers want the user interface to be as simple to use as possible." The research community is attempting to identify security vulnerabilities in existing cloud services, and to design new hardware and software solutions to resolve them. Some security weaknesses arise from so-called deduplication techniques, which identify and remove duplicated copies of the same file, allowing cloud providers such as Dropbox to save server storage space and network bandwidth. Xu and co-workers identified severe security vulnerabilities in certain types of deduplication that could be exploited using attacking software. Dropbox disabled cross-user deduplication in 2012. However, the new algorithms developed by Xu and the team will allow deduplication to be used alongside robust encryption, thereby improving efficiency while protecting data stored in the cloud. The value of our data Most of us have made large amounts of information available to organizations through shopping online and posting on social media. These activities have created extremely large datasets, known as Big Data, which can be analyzed to reveal human behavior patterns and trends. This valuable information is often sold to other organizations. "Companies are hungry for more data, to enable them to better understand and profile users," says Lux Anantharaman who heads the Business Analytics Translation center in I2R. "They know the power of Big Data to provide targeted ads, known as personalized marketing, but profiling can also lead to price discrimination called personalized pricing, which most users are not aware of. For example, some airline websites price tickets differently based on the user's device operating systemMac OS users get charged more." Anantharaman is concerned that most users are not aware of the value of their data, or the fact that when they use 'free' online services they are actually 'paying' for them with their data. Companies then explore the data with analytical computing tools and use the information, along with the latest insights on human behavior from social scientists and economists, to shape the choices offered to their customers. "The 'big' keep accumulating more and more data about the 'small'," says Anantharaman. "We, the small, are slowly becoming aware of this fact, but generally we feel helpless and resigned about it. Moreover, government regulations haven't kept pace with technology, and often take the side of big organizations, doing a disservice to the users. For example, recent US government measures allow internet service providers to access a user's browsing history without the user's permission." Anantharaman is adamant that the best way to overcome these difficulties is by educating users and improving government regulation. "This might sound odd from a technology person, but Big Data is not just about technology, it is about how data are used, which is a legal and social issue," he says. "For this reason, our research focuses not just on technological mechanisms, but also explores how regulations and education can help users better understand the power and pitfalls of Big Data privacy." Quantum complications While we grapple with data safety in the computing systems that we already use, other scientists are developing technology that could completely transform the field of data security for the devices of tomorrow. In contrast to ordinary computers whose logical 'bits' can only take values of 0 or 1, quantum computers use 'qubits' that can have values of 0, 1 or a combination of both values. This capability opens up an entirely new domain of logic and mathematics, allowing quantum computers to solve complex problems in a fraction of the time it would take a conventional machine. This revolution will arrive with great benefits, but will bring its own problems, as Leonid Krivitsky at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute explains: "Many cryptography systems rely on hard problems such as prime factorizationthe fact that it is very difficult to figure out the prime factors of a given number. However, theoretical work has shown that the factorization problem could be solved very quickly using a quantum computer. So, once a universal quantum computer is built, it could hack ciphers which were previously thought to be unbreakable." This might seem alarming, but there is no reason to panic. Functional quantum computers are still a long way off, and to counteract the potential threats, many groups around the world are contributing to the growing field of quantum cryptography, which will redefine our protocols of secure communication. In fact, the new cryptography algorithms made available by quantum computers could provide ultra-high data security long before any risks become a concern. "I foresee the use of a quantum communication channel as a backup resource for highly sensitive transactions, where security is more important than the transmission speed," says Krivitsky. For now, though, the challenge is to physically build a stable quantum computer. Krivitsky and co-workers are exploring the possibility of using tiny defects in synthetic diamonds to act as nodes which process and store quantum information. "We place several diamonds on a single chip and communicate with optical links, similar to those which form the background of the internet," says Krivitsky. "Our innovations will enable transmission of quantum information over long distances and contribute to the development of a worldwide quantum network." Safeguarding the future The task of keeping our data secure is clearly a complicated and interdisciplinary challenge. A*STAR researchers are not only developing new technical initiatives, but also working at the forefront of global efforts to raise awareness of data security. By looking for chinks in the armor of global systems like GSM and cloud storage, educating the public about the commercial value of their data, and planning for the future paradigm shift that might be brought about by quantum computers, it is reassuring to know that the brightest minds at A*STAR are focused on keeping our data safe. Roots of a corn plant infected by endoparasitic nematodes (in red). The plant is being treated with a pesticide (purple sphere) encapsulated into Tobacco mild green mosaic virus (grey rods). The virus enhances the diffusion of the pesticide to the root level of the plant, where the nematode resides, thus increasing treatment efficacy. Credit: Case Western Reserve University Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are applying drug-delivery technology to agriculture to control parasitic roundworms more effectively and safely. The tiny roundworms, or nematodes, cause $157 billion in crop failures worldwide each year, other researchers estimate, largely because they're beyond the reach of pesticides. The chemicals disperse poorly into soil, while the parasites feed at plant roots well below the surface. As a result, farmers apply large amounts of pesticides, which can increase the chemical concentrations in food or run off and damage other parts of the environment, all of which have costs. But biomedical engineering researchers at Case Western Reserve may have found an effective solution. "We use biological nanoparticlesa plant virusto deliver a pesticide," said Paul Chariou, a PhD student in biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve and author of a study on the process published in the journal ACS Nano. "Use of the nanoparticle increases soil diffusion while decreasing the risk of leaching and runoff, reducing the amount of chemical in food crops and reducing the cost to treat crops." Chariou worked with Nicole Steinmetz, the George J. Picha Professor in Biomaterials appointed by the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. Parasitic nematodes feed on a wide range of crops, including corn, wheat, coffee, soybeans, potatoes and a host of fruit trees. Damage they cause at the roots impairs the plants' ability to absorb water and nutrients, which can kill young plants and reduce yields in mature plants. To try to deliver more pesticide to the roots, the researchers used tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV). The virus is used in Florida as a pesticide to control an invasive weed, but is benign to nematodes. TMGMV can infect tomatoes, eggplant and other solenaceous plants, but is not a threat to nearly 3,000 other plant species that suffer nematode infections. The virus self-assembles into a tube-like structure, 300 nanometers long by 18 nanometers wide, with a hollow channel 4 nanometers wide. As a proof of concept for this study, the researchers tested the plant virus-derived nanoparticles with a nematicide called crystal violet, which has been used to kill nematodes on skin but not in agriculture. The researchers capitalized on surface chemistry to load the positively charged crystal violet molecules into the negatively charged channel of the virus-nanoparticle. Each virus particle carried about 1,500 crystal violet molecules. In lab experiments with conditions mimicking crop soils with a pH of 5, the nematicide remained attached as the virus particles were applied to and diffused through the soil. "At the root level, the nematicide diffuses out of the virus over time," Chariou said. Warmer and more acidic soils caused the chemical to be released faster. In testing with the nematode Caenorhabdiis elegans, in a liquid culture, the scientists confirmed that nematodes were paralyzed and killed by treatment with the drug-infused virus-nanoparticle this is because the drug diffuses out of its carrier over time allowing it to interact with the nematodes. As a secondary killing mechanism, the researcher also noted that the roundworms were eating the nanoparticles. The crystal violet was released in the animals' stomachs, paralyzing and killing them. Most importantly, nematicide-carrying virus particles dispersed better when applied to the soil surface and made more molecules available to kill nematodes at the root level. Chariou and Steinmetz are now testing the delivery system using chemical pesticides approved for crops and developing a computer model to better understand and, ultimately, optimize the nanoparticle's ability to diffuse through soil. More information: Paul L. Chariou et al. Delivery of Pesticides to Plant Parasitic Nematodes Using Tobacco Mild Green Mosaic Virus as a Nanocarrier, ACS Nano (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b00823 Journal information: ACS Nano Upland cotton (right) evolved from the hybridization of two ancestral species, one similar to G. raimondii (left) and one similar to G. arboreum (middle). Selection and domestication yielded longer, higher quality fibers than either ancestor. Credit: Chen Laboratory/Univ. of Texas at Austin With prices down and weather patterns unpredictable, these are tough times for America's cotton farmers, but new research led by Z. Jeffrey Chen at The University of Texas at Austin might offer a break for the industry. He and a team have taken the first step toward a new way of breeding heartier, more productive cotton through a process called epigenetic modification. In recent decades, scientists have discovered that many traits in living things are controlled not just by their geneticswhat's written in the code of their DNAbut also by processes outside their DNA that determine whether, when and how much the genes are expressed, known as epigenetics. This opens up the possibility of entirely new ways to breed plants and animals. By selectively turning gene expression on and off, breeders could create new varieties without altering the genes. In this latest study, the researchers identified more than 500 genes that are epigenetically modified between wild cotton varieties and domesticated cotton, some of which are known to relate to agronomic and domestication traits. This information could aid selection for the kinds of traits that breeders want to alter, like fiber yield or resistance to drought, heat or pests. For example, varieties of wild cotton might harbor genes that help them respond better to drought, but have been epigenetically silenced in domesticated cotton. "This understanding will allow us to supplement genetic breeding with epigenetic breeding," says Chen, the D. J. Sibley Centennial Professor of Plant Molecular Genetics in the Department of Molecular Biosciences. "Since we know now how epigenetic changes affect flowering and stress responses, you could reactivate stress-responsive genes in domesticated cotton." In a study published today in the journal Genome Biology, Chen and his colleagues at Texas A&M University and Nanjing Agricultural University in China report they produced a "methylome"a list of genes and genetic elements that have been switched on or off through a natural process called DNA methylation. A methylome provides important clues for biotechnology firms that want to adapt crops through epigenetic modification. This methylome covers the most widely grown form of cotton, known as Upland or American cotton; its cousin, Pima or Egyptian cotton; and their wild relatives, while showing how these plants changed over more than a million years. "Knowing how the methylome changed during evolution and domestication will help bring this technology one step closer to reality," says Chen. A partly harvested cotton field. Credit: Kimberly Vardeman Cotton is the top fiber crop grown in the world, with more than 150 countries involved in cotton export and import. Annual business revenue stimulated by cotton in the U.S. economy exceeds $100 billion, making it America's No. 1 value-added crop. The researchers discovered changes in DNA methylation occurred as wild varieties combined to form hybrids, the hybrids adapted to changes in their environment and finally, humans domesticated them. One key finding is that the change that allowed cotton to go from a plant adapted to grow only in the tropics to one that grows in many parts of the world was not a genetic change, but an epigenetic one. The researchers found that wild cotton contains a methylated gene that prevents it from flowering when daylight hours are longas they are in the summer in many places, including the United States and China. In domesticated cotton, the same gene lost this methylation, allowing the gene to be expressed, an epigenetic change that allowed cotton to go global. Chen says modern breeders can modify gene methylation with chemicals or through modified gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9. These methods could allow breeders to make targeted changes to a plant's epigenome and create new breeds with improved traits. Epigenetic breeding could be applied not just to cotton but to many other major crops such as wheat, canola, coffee, potatoes, bananas and corn. The new research builds on the most complete genetic sequence map of American (or Upland) cotton to date, which was also developed by Chen and his collaborators in 2015. Earlier research traced the origins of domesticated cotton back 1.5 million years, when two different wild species formed a hybrid that eventually gave rise to modern Upland and Pima cotton species. Chen and his team found that the DNA methylation changes in a similar hybrid made today were shared with those in wild and cultivated cottons, suggesting that these changes have persisted through evolution, selection and domestication. That's good news for breeders who want to be sure that changes they make today won't quickly fade away in future generations. More information: Qingxin Song et al, Epigenomic and functional analyses reveal roles of epialleles in the loss of photoperiod sensitivity during domestication of allotetraploid cottons, Genome Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1186/s13059-017-1229-8 Journal information: Genome Biology Horizons logo. Credit: ESA/Steinbeis Beratungszentrum/Hochschule Darmstadt, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst is returning to the International Space Station next year and today he revealed his mission name and logo: Horizons. Alexander is the first of ESA's class of 2009 astronauts who will be sent into space for a second time, launching on Soyuz MS-09 together with NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps and Russian spacecraft commander Sergei Prokopyev in May 2018. His first mission, Blue Dot, in 2014, lasted from May to November 2014. "For Blue Dot I wanted to share the change of perspective seeing our planet from space can give you, this time I want to put the accent on exploration," says Alexander. "Horizons are a symbol for the unknown and when I gaze at the horizon I cannot help but wonder what lies behind it. For this reason we run scientific experiments on the Space Station: we want to broaden our horizons as humankind." Alexander will be part of Expedition 56 and 57, taking over as commander of the Space Station for Expedition 57. The logo was designed to be timeless and shows a face gazing into the horizon above a blue band that symbolises the atmosphere, but also the Blue Dot mission. The new mission goes beyond Blue Dot and extends into infinity symbolised by the white arc. To the right of the mission name is a stylised International Space Station. ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst in Soyuz TMA-13M, the spacecraft that carried him, Roscosmos commander Maxim Suraev and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman to the International Space Station on 28 May 2014. Credit: ESA ESA's Director General Jan Woerner comments: "I am glad that Alexander Gerst will be launched on his second mission to the International Space Station soon. "His new mission name is fitting as it will open up new horizons in human and robotic spaceflight. Long-duration missions are an important basis for medical experiments that can be used on Earth as well as to prepare for human exploration beyond Earth-orbit." Natural language processing is a key part of the artificial intelligence revolution. Credit: Stefani Billings Earlier this year, Christopher Manning, a Stanford professor of computer science and of linguistics, was named the Thomas M. Siebel Professor in Machine Learning, thanks to a gift from the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation. Manning specializes in natural language processing designing computer algorithms that can understand meaning and sentiment in written and spoken language and respond intelligently. His work is closely tied to the sort of voice-activated systems found in smartphones and in online applications that translate text between human languages. He relies on an offshoot of artificial intelligence known as deep learning to design algorithms that can teach themselves to understand meaning and adapt to new or evolving uses of language. Siebel, a pioneer in numerous areas of information technology and known for his ability to see and understand emerging trends in computer science and beyond, has long held an interest in precisely this kind of work. "AI and machine learning change everything about computing. Advances in natural language processing change everything about human-computer interaction, and Professor Manning's innovative natural language processing research is making some of those advancements possible," said Siebel, CEO of C3 IoT. We spoke to Manning recently about his lifetime pursuit that is only now starting to gain wider public awareness. How do you explain your work to a complete stranger? My focus is on natural language processing, otherwise known as computational linguistics. It's getting computer systems to respond intelligently to textual material and human languages. I focus on what the words mean. If you say something to Google or Siri or Alexa, the speech recognition is incredibly good, but half the time it doesn't understand what you mean and asks, "Would you like me to do a web search for that?" What got you interested in language? When I was younger, I was totally interested in computer science and artificial intelligence but I also found human languages fascinating with their grammatical structures and complexity. I was interested in the linguistics and the study of language itself, but also in the computational side, too. That side appeals to the kind of people who are more interested in how sentences are put together to create meaning and sentiment and how metaphors arise. How has the field evolved over the years? In the early days, the field involved writing out symbolic rules of grammar subject, noun, clauses, predicates with a verb, perhaps followed by a noun phrase, perhaps followed by a prepositional phrase and so forth. People worked for years trying to replicate grammar and lexicons. It worked fine in very small contexts, but never really extended to understanding meaning. Then in the '90s the first revolution came when masses of language became available online, digitally. It was then that people started to explore statistical methods of analyzing all that data and building probabilistic models of which words are likely to appear together to create meaning and sentiment. The grammatical rules have very little to do with communication, what it means to sound natural. You could walk up to someone and say, "Good morning, how are you this morning?" It's perfectly correct, but no one says that. They say, "Hey, how's it going?" Most language is comprised of these softer decisions as to how people use the language. In natural language processing, you need the computer to understand the world. How do you do that? Well, a very good way is through the enormous amount that has already been written about the world. Every day, writers across the planet are writing about our world and how it all works. We create computational models that assign mathematical values to words and groups of words and use them to successfully read text and derive meaning. Can natural language processing adapt to new uses of language, to new words or to slang? That was one of the big limitations of early approaches. Words tend to pick up different usages and even meanings over time, often very remarkably. The world "terrific" used to have a highly negative meaning something that terrifies. Only recently has it become a positive term. That's one of the areas I've been involved in. Natural language processing, even if trained in the earlier meaning, can look at a word like "terrific" and see the positive context. It picks up on those soft changes in meaning over time. It learns by examining language as it is used in the world. Would we have to repeat this learning process for every language? We've worked a lot in machine translation. How can we translate automatically between two different human languages? What you learn is that there is a large amount of already translated text lying around that provides context from which we can build probabilistic models to translate new text. Google Translate did this around 2005 or so. It wasn't great, but it helped. You could sort of figure out what a page was about, but you certainly couldn't expect to get good grammatical sentences out of the translation. Recently, there has been a big leap in translation quality from deep learning or neural machine translation approaches, which have been explored at Stanford and also at the University of Montreal. Google, Microsoft and Baidu now all use neural machine translation systems for their translations but it is still far from a solved problem. I'm sure people will still be working on this in 20 years. How is your work being incorporated in voice-based systems like Siri, Alexa, and Google Voice? We call these dialogue agents programs that try to understand the meaning of your spoken language and to perform tasks based on what you've said. It's easy to create a chatbot that just repeats random stuff that's half-connected to what you asked about, but how do you build dialogue agents that can understand and do tasks that people are asking for? One way to get there is to build that sort of contextualization we talked about before based on data freely available from sources like Freebase and Wikidata with their structured facts. Unfortunately, the reality is that those structures must be built by hand right now. The dream is a technology that builds them automatically by reading Wikipedia or online newspapers. Using an algorithm to help set bail could keep many defendants out of jail without increasing the risk of flight to avoid trial. Credit: Stocksy/Clique Images Courts nationwide are making greater use of computer algorithms to help determine whether defendants should be released into the community while they await trial. The idea is to accurately determine whether a defendant poses a flight risk or a danger to the community, and reduce the potential for human bias. San Francisco and Chicago are among the jurisdictions actively using pretrial risk assessment algorithms, says Sharad Goel, an assistant professor of management science and engineering. Goel has studied the use of algorithms in complex decision making and examined the fairness of such tools. As co-author of a recent Harvard Business Review article, Goel argues that simple, statistically informed decision rules can dramatically improve judicial determinations. But, he cautions, algorithms are not a complete fix. "Algorithms are good at narrowly estimating risk, but they can't set policy," Goel says. "They can't tell you how many people to detain, or whether we should end money bail altogether, as some cities have done. They can't tell you how much to invest in pretrial services or what those services should be. And they can't incorporate every factor in every case, so we still need humans to make the final decision." We recently met with Goel to discuss some of the benefits and complexities of using these algorithms. Excerpts: How are algorithms used in the criminal justice system to make pretrial release decisions? Algorithms are mostly used in two ways: to estimate a defendant's flight risk, and to assess his or her threat to public safety. For example, based on a variety of factors, like age and criminal history, these algorithms rate a defendant's likelihood to re-offend, usually on a scale from 1 to 10. Judges use these risk scores to help decide which defendants to release and which to detain pending trial. Why use algorithms? Why not rely on human judges alone? Computers are good at estimating the likelihood of an event given structured information, like a defendant's criminal history. Algorithms can pick out which pieces of information matter and which should be ignored to generate accurate estimates of risk. In theory, judges try to do the same thing, but it's easy for people to focus on the wrong factors and let implicit biases creep in. And some judges are just tougher than others, so there isn't a consistent standard. If you're assigned to a strict judge rather than a lenient one, you might get different results. We've looked at over 100,000 judicial decisions. By using an algorithm, we find that you could detain half as many defendants without increasing the number who fail to appear at trial. A lot of people who pose very little risk are being needlessly detained. There's a huge social and financial cost to that. What does it mean for an algorithm to be fair? Defining fairness is a complicated and still open problem. I doubt we'll ever reach consensus, but there are a few common ways to think about it. Some say an algorithm is fair if it doesn't consider sensitive attributes, like race or gender. But even if you don't explicitly consider such attributes, that information is usually baked into other factors, like place of residence or income. Yale law professor Ian Ayres has persuasively argued that in some situations it's even unfair not to consider race when making decisions. Others say an algorithm is fair only if its impact is the same on all race groups. For example, if more blacks than whites are rated high-risk by the algorithm, people in this camp would call that unfair. Related to this idea of impact, some define fairness in terms of error rates. Algorithms seek to predict which defendants are most likely to commit new offenses, or to "recidivate." One can look back at these predictions and ask how often the algorithms were wrong: How often did the algorithm classify blacks and whites as high-risk of re-offending when in fact those defendants did not go on to commit any new crimes? If black non-recidivists are more likely to be classified as high-risk than white non-recidivists, that would be unfair by this measure. How do you define fair? My preferred definition of fairness is that equally risky defendants are treated equally, regardless of race. For example, if the available information indicates that a white defendant and a black defendant both have a 30 percent chance of committing a violent crime, both defendants are either released or both are detained. To me this definition makes intuitive sense, and we show that there are strong legal and policy arguments supporting it. The other popular definitions of fairness have significant shortcomings, which we and others have pointed out. For instance, consider an algorithm that disproportionately classifies black defendants as high-risk. I wouldn't automatically call such disparate impacts unfair. For a variety of complex social and economic reasons, black defendants on average might be riskier than whites, in which case we would expect detention rates to reflect those differences. The same is true for disparate error rates in estimating recidivism. In our paper, we look at data from Florida and find that it's objectively harder to correctly classify black defendants than white defendants. That's because a disproportionate number of black defendants have about even odds of reoffending, based on their prior criminal records. These defendants are not clearly going to commit a crime, but also are not clearly not going to commit a crime. Because it's hard to predict the behavior of such defendants, that drives up error rates for blacks as a group. As with unequal detention rates, I wouldn't call unequal error rates inherently unfair. In time, if socioeconomic disparities narrow between whites and blacks, I suspect that an algorithm which is fair by one measure will be fair by the others. But while race differences persist, these definitions are largely incompatible. That tension is at the heart of recent debates over what makes an algorithm fair. What are some misconceptions about the fairness of algorithms? Perhaps the biggest misconception is that we should worry more about decisions made by algorithms than those made by humans. Many of the fairness issues ascribed to algorithms apply equally to human judges. And some problems, like inconsistency, afflict humans more than computers. It's also common to conflate disparate impact with discrimination. We've argued that algorithms which many people, including legal experts, would consider fair necessarily lead to racial disparities. It's easy to latch onto these disparities as evidence of bias, but that misses the complexity of the problem. Another big misconception is that algorithms are inherently unfair because they are based on imperfect data. Bad data is a serious issue which we shouldn't ignore, but algorithms and humans can only use the information that's available. Fairness must be viewed in context. So should the criminal justice system be using algorithms, and if so, how and to what extent? Where is this headed in the future? Algorithms will almost certainly play an increasingly prominent role in criminal justice. In cities where pretrial risk assessment tools have been deployed, fewer defendants are detained with little to no decrease in public safety. To gain wider support and adoption, I think these algorithms need to be developed with more transparency. The leading risk assessment tools are often built under a veil of secrecy, which understandably sows misunderstanding and distrust. Algorithms have important limitations, but they can also dramatically improve the equity of decisions in our criminal justice system. Credit: Janko Ferlic As a material wood has many uses, but did you know that it can be used to make fibres for clothing and other textiles? Perhaps surprisingly, it is the raw material of some well known man-made fibres. Regenerated fibres are man-made, or synthetic, fibres created from natural polymers. These polymers are broken down by chemical processes and then reformed into fibres that can be spun and woven to produce fabric. These fibres are bio-based and fall into two categories, depending on their origin. Regenerated protein fibres originate from plant or animal proteins, such as corn, soy and milk, while regenerated cellulose fibres are made from cellulose extracted from wood. Although you may not have heard of regenerated cellulose fibres, you have probably worn clothes made of them and will have heard of some of the product and trademark names. Regenerated cellulose fibres were first developed in France in the late 1800s. In the 1920s the textile industry started calling these fibres "rayon". Other forms of rayon in use today include lyocell, modal and viscose. Cellulose is an important structural component of cell walls in green plants. It is a major component of many plant fibres that are used make clothes and textiles, such as cotton, hemp and flax. But wood isn't a soft fibre like cotton. Turning wood into soft fibres that can be woven to make fabrics is a chemically intensive process. The starting point is wood chip commonly used woods include spruce, pine and beech or bamboo pith. Chemicals are used to digest these raw materials and produce a cellulose pulp. The pulp is then further chemically processed, pressed, dried and shredded to produce a dry cellulose compound. This is dissolved to create a solution and then forced through a spinneret a device that resembles a shower head to produce strands. These strands are then drawn stretched to produce long straight fibres. After washing, these fibres are ready to be made into clothes and textiles. Although they are bio-based, regenerated cellulose fibres are not necessarily environmentally friendly, because of the chemically intensive production process. In the past the industry has been accused of damaging the health of workers making the fibres and leaking toxic chemicals into the environment. Some producers of regenerated cellulose fibres now run what is known as a "closed-loop" manufacturing process. This means that the vast majority of the chemicals are collected, recycled and reused. Through the use of such closed-loop processes, different chemicals, technological advances and more responsible disposing of chemicals that cannot be reused, manufacturers hope to reduce the environmental impact of regenerated cellulose fibre production and ensure its future. Credit: University of St Andrews An ancient sea creature, discovered off the coast of Scotland in 2011, has shed new light on how evolution formed the modern brain. An international team involving researchers at the University of St Andrews have examined the amphioxus, also known as the Lancelet, which was thought to be a brainless, faceless fish. Instead, they found it has a very complex brain which confounds previous understanding of how vertebrate brains evolved. The latest research, carried out by the Universities of St Andrews, Murcia and Barcelona and the Centre for Genomic Regulation, published in PLoS Biology, compared the amphioxus brain with current models of brain development in vertebrates, such as chicks and fish. The new research casts doubt on the current textbook idea that the complex vertebrate brain evolved from a simple three-part brain composed of forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. Rather, the new research suggests that the vertebrate brain must originally have formed from two parts. Dr Ildiko Somorjai of the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews, co-author of the study, said: "Amphioxus is an amazing creature that can tell us a lot about how we have evolved. Humans have enormous brains with a large number of anatomical subdivisions to allow processing of complex information from the environment, as well as behavioural and motor control and language. "Research in amphioxus tells us that even an outwardly simple brain may have complex regionalisation. It also strengthens the position of amphioxus as an important non-vertebrate model for understanding vertebrate evolution and development, with clear implications for biomedical research." Described as a "brainless, faceless fish", amphioxus was found off the coast of Orkney during a marine survey in 2011, and is thought to be among the first animals to have evolved a structure similar to a backbone, the notochord. Despite its appearance, amphioxus is not a fish. It has a primitive spinal cord which runs down its back, but no clearly defined face, no bones or jaws and a small brain with a single light-sensing "frontal eye". It has changed so little for hundreds of millions of years that it has been described as a "living fossil". As the best living proxy for the vertebrate ancestor, amphioxus gives important insight into what humanity's distant ancestor looked like, and how it might have behaved. More information: Beatriz Albuixech-Crespo et al. Molecular regionalization of the developing amphioxus neural tube challenges major partitions of the vertebrate brain, PLOS Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001573 Journal information: PLoS Biology Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Credit: The University of Queensland Microorganisms play a crucial role in forming beachrock, a type of rock that forms on the beach and protects low-lying reef islands from erosion, a new study involving University of Queensland research has revealed. Professor Gordon Southam of UQ's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences said the findings threw new light on an area of coastal ecology that had been little studied, but could help protect islands such as in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. "These results are of interest because beachrock could be used as a natural coastline stabilisation strategy on sand reef cays, and in turn, protect the unique habitats that reef islands support," Professor Southam said. He said of all the coastal environments that would be influenced by sea-level rise and increased cyclone intensity, sandy beaches on low elevation coral reef cays were among the most vulnerable due to their susceptibility to erosion. "Changes to reef islands will have negative implications for the existence of reef cay environments, which host vital sea turtle and bird rookery habitats," he said. "Beachrock - consolidated carbonate beach sediment in the intertidal zone - forms naturally on many tropical beaches and reduces the erosion rates of these beaches when compared to unconsolidated sand. "In spite of the critical role beachrock plays in stabilizing some reef cay shores, the mechanism of beach rock formation is still incompletely understood." Co-author Professor Gregory Webb said in this investigation beachrock was synthesised in the laboratory using beach sand and beachrock samples from Heron Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The researchers conducted aquarium experiments in which natural beach rock formation conditions were simulated, with one experiment influenced by beachrock microbes and the other, lacking these bacteria. The resulting materials were then analysed in the Australian synchrotron in Melbourne, and the analysis showed the fundamental role these bacteria play in initiating beachrock formation. Professor Southam said the results provided a better understanding of the role of microorganisms in beachrock generation, and could guide future studies examining on site beachrock formation. More information: Jenine McCutcheon et al, Building biogenic beachrock: Visualizing microbially-mediated carbonate cement precipitation using XFM and a strontium tracer, Chemical Geology (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.05.019 Journal information: Chemical Geology In the field of criminology, it is well established that men engage in more crime than women. Now, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania published in the journal Criminology, addresses the incomplete understanding of why males are more criminal than females by examining gender differences in biological functioning and behavior. It is the first study to demonstrate that men's lower resting heart rate partly explains the higher rate of criminal offending. Olivia Choy, who graduated this month with a Ph.D. from Penn's Department of Criminology in the School of Arts & Sciences and is joining Nanyang Technological University as an assistant professor in July, conducted the research in Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor Adrian Raine's lab. The study, "Explaining the Gender Gap in Crime: The Role of Heart Rate," complements traditional theoretical accounts of the gender gap and has implications for the advancement of integrative criminological theory in public health and law enforcement. Researchers examined data from a longitudinal study that measured the heart rate of participants at age 11 and found that heart rate partly explains gender differences in both violent and nonviolent crime assessed at age 23. Prior studies have shown that people with low resting heart rates seek stimulation to raise their level of arousal to a more optimal one. This stimulation-seeking theory converges with a fearlessness theory arguing that these people have a low level of fear and may be more likely to engage in antisocial behavior, which requires a degree of fearlessness. "We think cardiovascular functioning partly explains sex difference in crime," Raine said, "because low heart rate is a marker for other mechanisms like lack of fear and stimulation-seeking." Raine holds appointments in Penn's School of Arts & Sciences and Perelman School of Medicine. "One way to get that stimulation is by engaging in antisocial behavior," said Choy. "Obviously, you can engage in prosocial behavior, say, for example, like skydiving, but another major theory connects low levels of arousal to low heart rate, reflecting a low level of fear in individuals. To commit a crime, you do need a level of fearlessness, so these are two major explanations for why we see this relationship between low heart rate and antisocial behavior." To test their hypothesis that a low resting heart rate partly mediates the relationship between gender and crime, the researchers examined data from a longitudinal study of 894 participants. Resting heart rate at 11 years of age was examined alongside self-reported and official conviction records for overall criminal offending, violence, serious violence and drug-related crime at 23 years of age. A low resting heart rate partially mediated, or explained, the relationship between gender and all types of adult criminal offending, including violent and nonviolent crime. The mediation effects were significant after controlling for body mass index, race, social adversity and activity level. Resting heart rate accounted for 5 to 17 percent of the gender difference in crime. Building on the limited number of studies that have been conducted to test theories of the gender gap empirically, the researchers examined the mediation effects on different types of crime in addition to overall criminal offending. Data were obtained from a subsample of participants involved in the Mauritius Child Health Project. The original sample consisted of 1,795 children born in 1969-1970 who were recruited into the study from the island of Mauritius when they were 3 years old. When they were 11 years old, the children were given a major psychophysiological test. When they were 23 years old, assessments on their level of adult criminal offending in the past five years were made. "We assessed criminal offending through self-reports," Choy said, "and looked at criminal conviction records obtained through district courts. This allowed us to look at gender, whether that predicts heart rates at age 11 and whether heart rate is associated with crime at age 23". Choy added that the gender gap in crime is seen across time and across cultures. Differences in heart rates among male and female children are seen as early as 17 months of age: "You see it from 1 to 79 years, and even in newborn males who have lower resting heart rates than females." More information: Olivia Choy et al. Explaining the gender gap in crime: the role of heart rate, Criminology (2017). DOI: 10.1111/1745-9125.12138 In craters near the south pole of the moon, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter found some bright areas and some very cold areas. In areas that are both bright and cold, water ice may be present on the surface as frost. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio Scientists using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, have identified bright areas in craters near the moon's south pole that are cold enough to have frost present on the surface. The new evidence comes from an analysis that combined surface temperatures with information about how much light is reflected off the moon's surface. "We found that the coldest places near the moon's south pole are also the brightest placesbrighter than we would expect from soil aloneand that might indicate the presence of surface frost," said Elizabeth Fisher, the lead author of the study, published in Icarus. Fisher carried out the data analysis while doing research at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa after earning her undergraduate degree. She is now a graduate student at Brown University. The icy deposits appear to be patchy and thin, and it's possible that they are mixed in with the surface layer of soil, dust and small rocks called the regolith. The researchers say they are not seeing expanses of ice similar to a frozen pond or skating rink. Instead, they are seeing signs of surface frost. The frost was found in cold traps close to the moon's south pole. Cold traps are permanently dark areaslocated either on the floor of a deep crater or along a section of crater wall that doesn't receive direct sunlightwhere temperatures remain below minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 163 degrees Celsius). Under these conditions, water ice can persist for millions or billions of years. More than a half-century ago, scientists suggested that lunar cold traps could store water ice, but confirming that hypothesis turned out to be challenging. Observations made by NASA's Lunar Prospector orbiter in the late 1990s identified hydrogen-rich areas near the moon's poles but could not determine whether that hydrogen was bound up in water or was present in some other form. Understanding the nature of these deposits has been one of the driving goals of LRO, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. Fisher and her colleagues found evidence of lunar frost by comparing temperature readings from LRO's Diviner instrument with brightness measurements from the spacecraft's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, or LOLA. In these comparisons, the coldest areas near the south pole also were very bright, indicating the presence of ice or other highly reflective materials. The researchers looked at the peak surface temperatures, because water ice won't last if the temperature creeps above the crucial threshold. In craters near the south pole of the moon, NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter found some bright areas and some very cold areas. In areas that are both bright and cold, water ice may be present on the surface as frost. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio The findings are consistent with another team's analysis of LRO data, reported in 2015. That study compared peak temperatures with ultraviolet, or UV, data from the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project, or LAMP. Both LOLA and LAMP are able to measure surface brightness without sunlight. LOLA does so by measuring reflected laser light, and LAMP, by measuring reflected starlight and the UV skyglow of hydrogen. "These findings demonstrate once again the value of studying the moon from orbit long-term," said John Keller, the LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "All of this work begins with comprehensive data sets made up of years' worth of continuous measurements." Together, the two studies strengthen the case that there is frost in cold traps near the moon's south pole. So far, however, researchers have not seen the same signs near the moon's north pole. "What has always been intriguing about the moon is that we expect to find ice wherever the temperatures are cold enough for ice, but that's not quite what we see," said Matt Siegler, a researcher with the Planetary Science Institute in Dallas, Texas, and a co-author on the study. Water ice and other deposits also have been identified in cold traps near the north pole on Mercury. Though it is the closest planet to the sun, Mercury appears to have up to 400 times more ice than the moon does, by Siegler's estimate. Scientists are still figuring out which scenario is "more normal." Another tantalizing question is how old the moon's ice is. If the water was delivered by icy comets or asteroids, it could be as ancient as the solar system and could mark the early delivery of water to Earth and the moon. But if the water was produced by chemical reactions driven by the solar wind, it is much more recent. Or both may be true. There could be eons-old ice deposits buried below ground and newer water at the surface. In any case, Siegler said, there's enough evidence now to argue for further investigation. Not only could the moon's ice provide resources for exploration, it also might help us understand the origins of Earth's water. More information: Elizabeth A. Fisher et al, Evidence for surface water ice in the lunar polar regions using reflectance measurements from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter and temperature measurements from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, Icarus (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2017.03.023 Journal information: Icarus Apatite crystal showing electron density around atoms. Credit: University of Arkansas An international, multidisciplinary research team, including an engineering professor at the University of Arkansas, has discovered a mechanism that controls the formation and function of plate-like nanocrystals that play a critical role in bone composition. The researchers' discovery, published in the May 2017 issue of Biomaterials, advances the field of tissue engineering and could lead to the creation of a synthetically produced biomaterial to replace bones. Arun Nair, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, contributed to the project by generating computational models at the nanometer scale. A nanometer is about the width of two silicon atoms. The simulations were performed at the U of A's Arkansas High Performance Computing Center. To predict the mechanical properties, Nair relied on density functional theory, a quantum mechanical modeling method used to understand the structure of atoms, molecules and other biological processes. "This research suggests, for the first time, that a chemical substitute, in absence of protein or other organic substances, affects the crystallite morphology of bone mineral," Nair said. "These are nanometer-sized crystallites, but still, the finding provides a much better understanding of the processes that control size and shape of particles that make up bone." Bone is composed of protein collagen and mineral in the form of plate-like nanocrystals. Previous research has shown that the mineral crystallites play a critical role in proper bone function and physiology. Their nanometer size renders them nearly flawless, which contributes to bone strength. Though researchers have known that nanocrystal size and morphology are critical to the proper mechanical and physiological functioning of bone, the mechanism that controls these properties has been unclear. Mimicking biochemical processes, the researchers synthesized apatite nanocrystals with carbonate. Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals. The nanocrystals exhibited morphologies similar to those seen in natural bone mineral. Nair's atomistic models of the apatite nanocrystals helped the research team gain a better understanding of the mechanical properties of apatite crystals. More information: Alix C. Deymier et al. Protein-free formation of bone-like apatite: New insights into the key role of carbonation, Biomaterials (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.02.029 Journal information: Biomaterials Two male sticklebacks of the same age -- one from a stream (top) and one from a lake (bottom) -- are each highly adapted to their own local environment. According to Bolnick, apart from a dramatic difference in size, the fish also differ in immune traits, body shape, armor to defend against predators, and "basically anything we can think to measure." Credit: Daniel Bolnick/U. of Texas at Austin It's hard being a misfit: say, a Yankees fan in a room full of Red Sox fans or a vegetarian at a barbecue joint. Evolutionary biologists have long assumed that's pretty much how things work in nature too. Animals that wander into alien environments, surrounded by better-adapted locals, will struggle. But a team of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin was surprised to find that sometimes, misfits can thrive among their much more numerous native cousins. "One hundred years of evolutionary theory is built around the idea that immigrants from one population dropped into another population of the same species don't do well," says Daniel Bolnick, a professor of integrative biology and the primary investigator on the study published today in the journal Nature. "Such immigrants are usually rare, and we have found that sometimes their rarity provides a competitive edge." Bolnick and his team studied a small fish called a three-spined stickleback that lives in the lakes and streams of Vancouver, British Columbia. They studied two populations of the same species: one group that lives in a lake and another group in an adjacent stream. Evolutionary theory suggests that taking the fish that are adapted to the lake environment and placing them into the stream would put them at a competitive disadvantage compared with the residents. In the dog-eat-dog world of natural selection, outsiders are often poorly adapted to a new environment and less likely to survive or pass on their genes. In the case of the sticklebacks, that's because the lake-adapted fish have different physical traits from their stream-adapted cousinssuch as their overall size, immune traits, body shape and defenses against predatorsthat allow them to fare better back home but not necessarily in other environments. Yet when the researchers did a series of experiments placing varying numbers of fish from one habitat into the other habitat with local fish, they found the transplants fared surprisingly well. Monitoring the fish in underwater cages over time, the researchers observed that survival had less to do with where a fish was from, and more to do with whether they were the common or rare type within their cage. In either habitat, when stream fish were in the minority, they survived better than when they were in the majority, for instance. Bolnick and his team study a small fish called a three-spined stickleback that lives in the lakes and streams of Vancouver, British Columbia. This photo: Comida Lake and its outlet stream. Credit: Thor Veen The scientists found that immigrants could fly under the radar in the face of some threats, which helped them beat the odds. "You come in and you eat something nobody else around you eats, so you aren't competing for food," Bolnick says. "The local parasites don't know what to do with you because you have an unfamiliar immune system. So you're better off than the residents." Bolnick notes that being less adapted to the environment also has some negative effects on immigrants, just as theory predicts, but their study shows that in some instances the benefits of rarity can outweigh the drawbacks of being in an unfamiliar environment. "We found newcomers in the population pass on their genes more often than residents, and they contribute more to the next generation," Bolnick says. The team found that this effect gives migrants an outsized impact on the genetics of their adopted population. This slows the pace of evolutionary divergencethe rate at which each of the two populations might pick up new traits that make it differ more from the other. When Bolnick and his team transplanted small numbers of fish from one habitat (either lake or stream) to underwater cages in the other habitat, they found the transplants fared surprisingly well. Credit: Daniel Bolnick/U. of Texas at Austin Bolnick says this work could have implications for the protection and restoration of endangered species. For example, coral reefs are in decline around the world, but attempts to transplant corals from one location to another to restore reefs so far have met only limited success. "My advice to someone doing any restoration work is that they can't just consider how well matched immigrants are to the local habitat," Bolnick points out. "They also need to consider how the immigrants' rarity affects their survival and reproduction." In a separate paper published on May 22 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, Bolnick and his colleagues made findings that also apply to species restoration. They found that stickleback adapt more closely to their environments than previously thought. So even fish from two streams that look similar might have different traits. That's because no two streams are exactly the same. There are subtle differences in water depth, flow rates, food sources and the presence of pathogens and predators. "Just because the streams look similar to us, on the surface, doesn't mean that they are interchangeable," says Bolnick. "Every stream is ecologically unique. And so every stream population's adaptations must be similarly unique." More information: Daniel I. Bolnick et al, Frequency dependence limits divergent evolution by favouring rare immigrants over residents, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22351 Yoel E. Stuart et al. Contrasting effects of environment and genetics generate a continuum of parallel evolution, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0158 Journal information: Nature , Nature Ecology & Evolution An adult male yellow-bellied slider. Credit: David Lee Haskins Coal combustion waste is well documented as an environmental pollutant. The United States produces over 130 million tons of coal combustion residues, or CCRs, every year, with 40 percent of these wastes placed in aquatic settling basins. These basins are attractive environments for wildlife, placing them at risk of exposure to potentially toxic levels of trace elements. Now scientists at the University of Georgia have confirmed that exposure to CCRs lead to higher levels of trace elements in yellow-bellied sliders, a freshwater turtle native to the Southeastern U.S. In addition, the researchers found exposure to certain trace elements may have a beneficial effect on turtle immune system response. The study was published recently in the journal Environmental Pollution. David Haskins, a graduate student at UGA's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, took blood samples and clipped the claws of 81 yellow-bellied sliders. This non-lethal sampling allowed Haskins to measure concentrations of trace elements in the turtles, compare their immune system response and detect parasites. Haskins worked with Tracey Tuberville, an associate research scientist at SREL and Warnell, to obtain the samples from two groups of turtles captured at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. Thirty-nine turtles were captured in an area of the SRS where CCRs from a coal-burning power plant were discharged into a basin, with runoff into nearby wetlands. An additional 42 turtles were captured at SRS wetlands located a mile or more away that have not received CCRs. Haskins said trace elements can play a significant role in an individual's overall health. "It is normal for trace elements to be present at low levels, as they aid an organism to function, but they can have negative effects on development, survival and reproduction when they exist at elevated levels," he said. "Due to their long life span, turtles have the potential to be exposed to and accumulate contaminants for decades," Tuberville said. "We were very interested in studying the contaminated basin and wetland area in this study because there is a well-documented history of contamination. That meant the potential for long-term exposure exists." The study reports that levels of arsenic, copper, selenium and strontium were between116 and 2,117 percent higher in the blood samples taken from the contaminated-area turtles compared to blood samples taken from turtles in the uncontaminated area. The results from the claw samples were similar. Arsenic, cadmium, copper and selenium ranged from 216 to 6,647 percent higher in the claws of contaminated-area turtles compared to claw samples taken from turtles in the uncontaminated area. Blood and claw samples provide two different narratives, according to Haskins. "Blood and claw samples represent different time scales of exposure to an element," he said. "Trace elements in a blood sample generally indicate recent exposure, while elevated trace elements in the claw indicate long-term exposure." Contrary to the team's expectations, two turtles from the uncontaminated area had significantly higher levels of chromium in their blood than any of the turtles. Haskins believes that because the element was only elevated in the blood, indicating recent exposure, these two turtles may have taken a short journey to the area surrounding the contaminated wetlands. The team expected the contaminated-area turtles would have a weakened or compromised immune system that could not fight bacteria, but when they examined the immune system, they saw the unexpected. "When we looked at the two groups, we discovered that turtles from the contaminated area had a stronger immune system to fight off bacteria," Haskins said. "We then speculated that exposure to certain trace elements may have a beneficial effect on turtle immune system response." Haskins and Tuberville called for further exploration of the potential effects of CCR-associated contaminants on turtle immune function, including investigation of influencing factors such as age, stress, temperature, season and gender. "It may be that some health effects of contaminants only become apparent or problematic when other stressors, such as disease outbreak or drought, are present," Tuberville said. "Our first goal was to get a baseline of their health." The study results indicate there was no significant difference in the presence of parasites between the two groups, so long-term CCRs exposure did not make the turtles more vulnerable to parasites. Haskins said that although most freshwater turtles are imperiled, the eye-catching yellow-bellied slider is common. "These turtles are abundant in the region and present in almost every aquatic habitat on the SRS," he said. "Conducting research on the yellow-bellied slider allowed us to obtain the needed data without impairing species that are already at risk." More information: David L. Haskins et al. Accumulation of coal combustion residues and their immunological effects in the yellow-bellied slider ( Trachemys scripta scripta ), Environmental Pollution (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.01.048 Technicians prepare the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer payload in April 2017 ahead of its delivery to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo carrier SpaceX is poised to blast off its next delivery of food, supplies and science experiments to the astronauts living at the International Space Station on Thursday. The launch of SpaceX's 11th commercial resupply mission aboard an unmanned Dragon cargo ship is scheduled for 5:55 pm (2155 GMT) on June 1, and will be broadcast live on NASA's website. If all goes as planned, a Falcon 9 rocket will propel the Dragon into low-Earth orbit, where it will eventually connect with the space station, circling the Earth at a height of some 250 miles (400 kilometers). The cargo ship should arrive Sunday at 8:30 am (1230 GMT). It is packed with almost 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of science research, crew supplies and hardware. The supplies for special experiments include live mice to study the effects of osteoporosis and fruit flies for research on microgravity's impact on the heart. The spacecraft is also loaded with solar panels and equipment to study neutron stars. The weather forecast for Thursday's launch was 70 percent favorable, NASA said. If the launch is postponed for any reason, another opportunity opens at 5:07 pm (2107 GMT) Saturday, June 3. The launch will be the 100th from NASA's historic launch pad 39A, the starting point for the Apollo missions to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as a total of 82 shuttle flights. 2017 AFP Diversity of colours and species of Acropora discovered within a New Caledonian mangrove system. Credit: Steph Gardner Searching for corals where they shouldn't be found has become an urgent quest for marine biologist Dr Emma Camp. As the impact of climate change on the world's coral reefs grows in frequency and intensity, the options for reef management are becoming more and more limited. Scientists such as Dr Camp, a member of the Climate Change Cluster (C3) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), think hope lies in identifying "hot spots" of coral resilience. In 2016 an expedition to a remote lagoon system in New Caledonia yielded surprising results. A diverse community of reef-building corals had adapted to thrive under extreme conditions hot, acidic, low-oxygen waters associated with mangroves and showed there may be a way for corals to adapt and survive in a warming world. The discovery, a joint venture between UTS and International Research for Development, Noumea (IRD), was recently published in Scientific Reports. "The existence of corals living under this usually deadly trio of conditions, comparable and even exceeding what is predicted under climate change, gives us new hope that some corals will be able to persist into the future," Dr Camp said. "These could indeed be the super corals of the future that will help support proactive management options attempting to upgrade reef resilience." Dr Camp will now turn her attention to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, previously uncharted for mangrove systems housing corals, thanks to a grant from the National Geographic Society Waitt Foundation. She said the exploration grant provides a unique opportunity to bring together a multi-disciplinary team, using state-of-the-art technology, to discover the prevalence of mangrove habitats around the Great Barrier Reef. Dr Camp said citizen science will play a crucial role in providing local knowledge on the five-day expedition voyage from Port Douglas to Lizard Island. The expedition team will use detailed water chemistry analysis to identify the extremes to which Great Barrier Reef coral populations have adapted. National Geographic support also makes possible DNA sequencing of the corals' essential microbiome. "As a result of the expedition we will be able to collect invaluable baseline physical and molecular data to discover how corals within the Great Barrier Reef have already adapted and how they might cope in the future," Dr Camp said. "I'm excited at the prospect of being able to transfer our discoveries from other sites to our own home reefs. I could not do this without the support of National Geographic." Dr Camp is a member of the C3 future reefs research program and will be accompanied on the expedition by program leader Associate Professor David Suggett. "Quite simply, this is pioneering science," he said. "By exploring the very margins such as reef-neighbouring mangroves that are often ignored by coral surveys we're continually finding populations of super-coral that are resistant to hot, acidic and hypoxic conditions predicted under climate change. This is a game changer for how we consider coral reef resilience into the future for the Great Barrier Reef." However, the researchers are under no illusion this offers a quick fix for reefs and their ecosystems. "Although our findings are extremely positive, we must not underestimate the threat to the world's coral reefs from climate change," Associate Professor Suggett said. "We know reefs are terminally ill globally and immediate action is needed to ensure their success." More information: Emma F. Camp et al. Reef-building corals thrive within hot-acidified and deoxygenated waters, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-02383-y Journal information: Scientific Reports The best areas for tidal energy in Puget Sound are shown. Credit: Craig Hill/University of Washington Puget Sound is one of the best places in the United States to capture energy from tides. As water in the Sound rises and falls twice daily at high and low tide, strong underwater currents move swiftly in the narrow regions among islands and peninsulas. Those currents are what developers were eying when they proposed the first Pacific Northwest tidal energy pilot project in Admiralty Inlet, between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island. Though federal permits were issued, the project ultimately failed to launch in 2014 due to ballooning costs. A University of Washington paper published May 20 in the journal Energy Research & Social Science examined Washington residents' perceptions and support of tidal energy, a fledgling industry in the U.S. that is perhaps 20 years behind land-based wind energy. The study found that people who believe climate change is a problem and see economic, environmental and/or social benefits to using tidal energy are more likely to support such projects. Also, connecting pilot projects to the electricity grid is an important factor in garnering public support. This is the first U.S. study to look broadly at residents' beliefs and feelings about tidal energy and one of only a few worldwide to take a social science approach to examining this young industry that, in fact, affects people in personal ways. "We can focus on the technical and economic feasibility of tidal energy projects, but really at the early stages we also want to bring social science in because we shouldn't look at these things in a vacuum or silo," said lead author Stacia Dreyer, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW's School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and adjunct faculty at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society. "It's a holistic issue." The researchers mailed a survey to 3,000 Washington residents, split equally among people who lived within 15 miles of the Puget Sound shore and those who lived elsewhere in the state. This was to measure whether proximity to the water influenced how people felt about tidal energy. In general, survey results show that Washington residents support tidal energy, but to a greater degree if they live close to Puget Sound. Additionally, if respondents believe that climate change is a problem and see a potential benefit to tidal energy ? such as reducing carbon emissions or offering a sustainable source of energy ? they are more likely to support it. On the other hand, the larger the perceived risks of tidal energy, the less likely residents are to support such efforts. Finally, respondents were asked about their support during all phases of a hypothetical tidal energy project. Washington residents support tidal energy to a greater degree during the research and development phase in the lab, but once the turbines move outside of the lab and into the water, that support drops. Residents are much more likely to support a small-scale pilot project if the turbines are connected to the grid and benefiting the local community. "If you are going to have a pilot project, it's really important that it's grid-connected, and producing electricity and powering homes or businesses," Dreyer said. "I think people want to know that a project is effective and that it's benefiting them ? one of those ways is to supply power." Previous studies on the nascent industry have cited uncertainty about public perception as one of the reasons investors are hesitant to move forward on tidal projects. Involving social scientists at the beginning of a project to take a comprehensive read on a community is vital for success, Dreyer said. "In a perfect world, technology companies would view social scientists as one important part of a team and not just an add-on when something goes wrong," she said. The researchers will use the survey results paired with news articles about the Admiralty Inlet project to examine the opinions of various stakeholder groups, including the general public, for their next study. More information: Stacia J. Dreyer et al, Changing Tides: Acceptability, support, and perceptions of tidal energy in the United States, Energy Research & Social Science (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2017.04.013 General Electric has already pledged to reduce their carbon footprints by 20 percent by 2020 President Donald Trump may be dragging out his decision on whether to ditch the Paris climate agreement, but major American corporations have not waited for a government signal to start cutting their carbon emissions. Before Trump had even raised the possibility of scrapping US involvement in the landmark 2015 treaty, Coca-Cola and the engineering giant General Electric already had pledged to reduce their carbon footprints by 25 percent and 20 percent, respectively, by 2020. Apple meanwhile boasts of running its US operations on 100 percent renewable energy. "We believe climate change is real and the science is well accepted," GE's CEO Jeff Immelt said last month, offering a stark contrast to an administration that features prominent climate change deniers. Agribusiness giant Monsanto told AFP it was "committed" to helping "farmers adapt to and mitigate climate change." Even energy-sector heavyweightsthose who seemingly have the most to lose from tougher environmental rulesare joining the trend started by the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Oil giant Chevron "supports continuing with the Paris Agreement as it offers a first step towards a global framework," spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie said. Rival ExxonMobil recently implored the White House not to exit the climate treaty in order to respond effectively to climate "risks." General Electric has already pledged to reduce their carbon footprints by 20 percent by 2020 Shifting attitudes Just a few years ago, the US business world was using all its weight to impede climate talks, notably leading to the collapse of a 2009 summit in Copenhagen. But many companies now find their image at stake in the United States, where opinion polls indicate the public are concerned by global warming and want to remain in the Paris agreement. While growing environmental awareness has played a role, corporate America's conversion is not solely the result of do-gooder impulses. "The companies are increasing their commitments in the climate area irrespective of (Trump's) decision, because it saves them money, it reduces their risks and most importantly, it's a massive market opportunity," said Kevin Moss of the World Resources Institute. The bottom line has indeed shifted for businesses. Major investors are exiting fossil fuels and companies are facing increasing pressure to adapt their growth models to a world without carbon. "Our customers, partners and countries are demanding technology that generates power while reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency and reducing cost," said GE's Immelt. Oil prices have fallen through the floor in recent years, with a barrel of benchmark crude hovering around $50, down from more than $80 a decade ago. As a result, investing in the sector is much less profitable. As a sign of the times, Exxon shareholders on Wednesday voted to force the company to factor in tougher climate policies on emissions and disclose how they may affect company revenues. Oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron recently came out in support of the Paris Agreement, with the latter going so far as to beg the White House to not exit in order to respond to climate "risks" Structural changes Trump also has pledged to revive the coal industry but given the boom in natural gas, which produces 50 percent less carbon dioxide and is far cheaper than coal, most experts say that will be difficult to accomplish on a large scale. Still, fracking, or hydraulic fracturinga principal means of natural gas extractionalso faces stiff criticism for its environmental impacts. The costs of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, also have come down sharply, thanks in part to investment and public subsidies that have made the sector more attractive. Melissa McHenry, a spokeswoman for the major US generator American Electric Power, said her company had diversified into renewables and was investing "in renewable generation and other innovations that increase efficiency and reduce emissions." Lynn Good, head of Duke Energy, told The Wall Street Journal that "because of the competitive price of natural gas and the declining price of renewables, continuing to drive carbon out makes sense for us." There is still skepticism in certain quarters, particularly on the costs of climate policies. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry body representing 625 businesses, is wary of "government mandates that could increase energy costs," according to spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel. But Moss of the World Resources Institute said withdrawal from the Paris accord will not stop the momentum, and companies will continue down their current path "even without it, because everybody else is doing it." "The only countries we'll be in the company of if we pull out are Syria and Nicaragua," he said. 2017 AFP In August 2014, toxins from algal blooms in Lake Erie shut down the city of Toledo, Ohio's water supply, leaving half a million residents without potable water for more than two days. A new study co-authored by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, shows that a virus may have been involved in the crisis and suggests methods for more stringent monitoring of water supplies. Steven Wilhelm, Kenneth and Blaire Mossman Professor of Microbiology, along with UT graduate students Joshua Stough and Lauren Krausfeldt, worked with a team of 25 researchers to examine the physiological traits of Microcystis, the cyanobacterial organism responsible for scum-like algal blooms in Lake Erie. They found that it was consistent with algal blooms from 2012 and 2013 except for one thingthe Microcystis cells had a viral infection. Typically, toxins from algal blooms are trapped within the cell until the cell dies. But virus infections can cause cells to break open, leaking the toxin into the water and subsequently into water facility intake pipes and treatment centers. The viruses analyzed in the study infect only bacteria and do not infect humans. "The study changes the way we think about how the toxin moves around aquatic systems and gets into water supplies," said Wilhelm, who has done work on Lake Erie since 1997. "It may help us understand how these organisms persist in nature." The study was published recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Co-authors include Morgan Steffen of James Madison University, who began the work while transitioning from her microbiology doctoral studies at UT; Tim Davis of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory; Michael McKay of Bowling Green State University; and Gregory Dick of the University of Michigan. The scientists documented the viral infection by sequencing RNA from the Toledo water samples. They used computer mathematical models to simulate how the algal blooms moved through water: satellite images were used to pinpoint where the blooms were located on certain days, and computer models filled gaps in between. "The biggest thing we're learning is that there are dissolved and particulate sources of the toxin," Wilhelm said. "We historically think of a toxin as being stuck in the cell. In this study, we have identified a way for the toxin to move from particulate to the dissolved phase." "Particulate" is a term used to describe anything bigger than a cellsomething that is commonly collected on a filter. It is considered dissolved once it is able to slip through the filter. The finding justifies the need for scientists and municipalities to monitor the toxin differently than they have traditionally donelooking at the dissolved or cell-free phase rather than just the particulate stage, Wilhelm said. This would allow water management authorities to better detect the toxin before it spreads through the water supply. "There are ways to do the dissolved phase, but they are cumbersome and not typically run by most monitoring agencies," he said. "This study stresses the need to do that." Next steps include examining whether the viral infections play a role in controlling the population of toxic algae and continued studies on the nutrients these cells use to grow. The scientists already have made a novel observation in this study, confirming that cells were using urea as a nitrogen source. "It's making us re-evaluate how nutrients may shape the microbial communities," Wilhelm said. Researchers are still trying to understand why algal blooms have exploded in growth since the 1990s in bodies of water around the country and the world. "Algal blooms are growing in intensity, severity and frequency, and we're trying to understand why," Wilhelm said. "This study is another piece of the puzzle." The extremely intense X-ray flash knocks so many electrons out of the iodine atom (right) such that it pulls in the electrons of the methyl group (left) like an elecetromagnetic version of a black hole, before finally spitting them out. Credit: DESY/Science Communication Lab When scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory focused the full intensity of the world's most powerful X-ray laser on a small molecule, they got a surprise: A single laser pulse stripped all but a few electrons out of the molecule's biggest atom from the inside out, leaving a void that started pulling in electrons from the rest of the molecule, like a black hole gobbling a spiraling disk of matter. Within 30 femtoseconds - millionths of a billionth of a second - the molecule lost more than 50 electrons, far more than scientists anticipated based on earlier experiments using less intense beams, or isolated atoms. Then it blew up. The results, published today in Nature, give scientists fundamental insights they need to better plan and interpret experiments using the most intense and energetic X-ray pulses from SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser. Experiments that require these ultrahigh intensities include attempts to image individual biological objects, such as viruses and bacteria, at high resolution. They are also used to study the behavior of matter under extreme conditions, and to better understand charge dynamics in complex molecules for advanced technological applications. "For any type of experiment you do that focuses intense X-rays on a sample, you want to understand how it reacts to the X-rays," said Daniel Rolles of Kansas State University. "This paper shows that we can understand and model the radiation damage in small molecules, so now we can predict what damage we will get in other systems." Like Focusing the Sun Onto a Thumbnail The experiment, led by Rolles and Artem Rudenko of Kansas State, took place at LCLS's Coherent X-ray Imaging instrument. CXI delivers X-rays with the highest possible energies achievable at LCLS, known as hard X-rays, and records data from samples in the instant before the laser pulse destroys them. How intense are those X-ray pulses? "They are about a hundred times more intense than what you would get if you focused all the sunlight that hits the Earth's surface onto a thumbnail," said LCLS staff scientist and co-author Sebastien Boutet. X-rays Trigger Electron Cascades For this study, researchers used special mirrors to focus the X-ray beam into a spot just over 100 nanometers in diameter - about a hundredth the size of the one used in most CXI experiments, and a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair. They looked at three types of samples: individual xenon atoms, which have 54 electrons each, and two types of molecules that each contain a single iodine atom, which has 53 electrons. Heavy atoms around this size are important in biochemical reactions, and researchers sometimes add them to biological samples to enhance contrast for imaging and crystallography applications. But until now, no one had investigated how the ultra-intense CXI beam affects molecules with atoms this heavy. The team tuned the energy of the CXI pulses so they would selectively strip the innermost electrons from the xenon or iodine atoms, creating "hollow atoms." Based on earlier studies with less energetic X-rays, they thought cascades of electrons from the outer parts of the atom would drop down to fill the vacancies, only to be kicked out themselves by subsequent X-rays. That would leave just a few of the most tightly bound electrons. And, in fact, that's what happened in both the freestanding xenon atoms and the iodine atoms in the molecules. But in the molecules, the process didn't stop there. The iodine atom, which had a strong positive charge after losing most of its electrons, continued to suck in electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms, and those electrons were also ejected, one by one. Rather than losing 47 electrons, as would be the case for an isolated iodine atom, the iodine in the smaller molecule lost 54, including the ones it grabbed from its neighbors - a level of damage and disruption that's not only higher than would normally be expected, but significantly different in nature. Results Feed Into Theory to Improve Experiments "We think the effect was even more important in the larger molecule than in the smaller one, but we don't know how to quantify it yet," Rudenko said. "We estimate that more than 60 electrons were kicked out, but we don't actually know where it stopped because we could not detect all the fragments that flew off as the molecule fell apart to see how many electrons were missing. This is one of the open questions we need to study." For the data analyzed to date, the theoretical model provided excellent agreement with the observed behavior, providing confidence that more complex systems can now be studied, said LCLS director Mike Dunne. "This has important benefits for scientists wishing to achieve the highest resolution images of biological molecules (for example, to inform the development of better pharmaceuticals). These experiments also guide the development of a next-generation instrument for the LCLS-II upgrade project, which will provide a major leap in capability due to the increase in repetition rate from 120 pulses per second to 1 million." More information: Femtosecond response of polyatomic molecules to ultra-intense hard X-rays, Nature (2017). nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature22373 Journal information: Nature by Edwin Heathcote There is something a little unreal about Alberto Campo Baezas Golden House in Mexico. It looks almost like a caricature of modernism: pure, white, perfect. This is the kind of minimalism that might make you a little nervous, that might make you wonder whether this kind of architecture is actually inhabitable or whether it is more suited to an art gallery; the archetypal white cube. But, then again, it has been designed by Campo Baeza, one of Spains most underrated contemporary architects and a figure who has been developing this particular brand of purist, abstract modernism since the 1970s, way back during Francos dictatorship, when he was given few opportunities to build. His architecture is uncompromising, fiercely stripped down yet spectacular. Campo Baeza plays with volume and light, solid and mass like a sculptor. The sky is always present and his finest houses create their own horizons, framing the landscape like a painting. Amid this remarkable artifice, the pretence that architecture can be art, he also creates sublime spaces. In this house it is composed of two interlocking, double-height volumes clearly influenced by the ideas of Adolf Loos, the Viennese architect whose memory always seems deeply embedded in Campo Baezas buildings. But here Looss influence is countered by a splash of inspiration taken from Luis Barragan, a Mexican architect who used colour to bond the abstract forms of modernism to the local landscape, flora and folk traditions. Campo Baeza employs an entire wall of gold that illuminates the inside with a warm glow, leavening the cool whiteness of the interiors. Each layer of living has its terraces and its courts; the exterior spaces are conceived every bit as much as rooms as the interiors. Arguably the roof terrace with its pool and its long, framed view of the hills is the key room here, the culmination of a vertical journey. The house terminates in a room in which the ceiling is the sky and the art on the walls is a window to the horizon. This is demanding architecture. Minimalism can be a little intolerant of everyday life. But that, perhaps, is the price you pay for the sublime. Photographs: Javier Callejas Related article: Whos going to build Trumps wall? Related series: FT starchitects Related article: At $250m, this is Americas most expensive house Related article: A riverscape of super-sized paper clips in London On May 16, members of the Democratic Party elite gathered at a Four Seasons in Georgetown for the Center for American Progress Ideas Conference, which was widely seen as a cattle call for potential 2020 presidential candidates. If everyone hadnt been so distracted by the unfolding Trump-Russia scandal, it might have felt more notable that among the speakers rumored to be 2020 prospects were four women: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar. The next Democratic primary may have not just one woman but a field of them. The resistance is female, in every way, CAP President Neera Tanden told me. Advertisement It would be thrilling to see several women step forward to challenge President Donald Trump. If they do, we might end up remembering Hillary Clinton as the Barry Goldwater of feminist presidential candidates: a figure whose epochal defeat inspired a triumphant next wave. For a woman to beat Trumpor Mike Pence, if Trump were forced from officewould help heal the psychic injuries of this dystopian period of macho kakistocracy. We continue to underestimate the psychological wound of having a man become president after he said what he said about women on the Access Hollywood tape, Tanden says. For a womanmaybe even a black woman, in the case of Harristo take Trump down would be sweet revenge. Advertisement At the same time, for those who believe that sexism played a significant role in Clintons defeat, the thought of Democrats nominating another woman is a little bit terrifying. Last November, says Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, We discovered how difficult it is to elect a woman to executive office. Are we really ready to try again? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On May 2, when Clinton spoke about the role that sexism played in her defeat, many pundits reacted with contempt, disgusted that she was not accepting complete responsibility for being the worst candidate ever. Hillary Clinton adds misogynyand moreto the list of things she blames for her 2016 loss, a sneering Washington Post headline said. While no one actually thinks sexism is the only reason Clinton lost, theres an abundance of polling data suggesting that it at least contributed. According to a January PerryUndem study, a third of men who voted for Trump, as well as a quarter of women who voted for him, said that men generally make better political leaders than women. By 10 points, Republican men said they thought women are better off in America than men are. Advertisement Advertisement Last February, as Clinton and Trump battled for their parties nominations, political science professor Dan Cassino and his colleagues at Fairleigh Dickinson University undertook a study about how fears of emasculation affected mens political preferences. The researchers conducted a survey of 694 registered voters in New Jersey. Before being asked about the presidential candidates, half the respondents were reminded that, in a growing number of households, women earn more than men; the respondents were then asked if the same is true for them. We dont really care about the answer to the question, because we know everybody lies, Cassino says. Women make more than men in about a quarter of households, but in most surveys, only 10 percent of men will say thats true of their own families. The point of the survey question, according to Cassino, was to get people thinking about declining male power. Advertisement Advertisement Asked about a matchup between Clinton and Trump, men whod been queried about earning power were 8 percentage points less likely to support Clinton and 16 points more likely to support Trump, a total swing of 24 points. Support for Bernie Sanders versus Trump was unaffected by the question. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The economic trends underlying male panic arent changing anytime soon. In a follow-up national study, Cassino and his colleagues tried to measure the effect of what they call ambient gender role threat on political preferences. This time, they primed respondents with a question about whether the media treats men too harshly; it led to a seven-point shift toward Trump among men. Cassino believes that Clinton, because of her long and controversial tenure in public life, is uniquely threatening to many men but that other female candidates could easily evoke similar masculine anxieties. Its very hard to be a woman running for office who doesnt represent some sort of threat to mens roles, he says. Advertisement Whats more, the economic trends underlying male panic arent changing anytime soon. The industries that are being hurt by automation are industries that are dominated by men, Cassino says. Meanwhile, women are outstripping men in educational attainment. That personal gender role threat is much more pronounced than it has been in the past. Were seeing it affecting more men. In such an environment, Cassino believes that any woman running for president is at a disadvantage. On the national stage, there is an increasing number of men who feel theyre being discriminated against, he says. Such men are heavily prevalent in swing states such as Ohio and Michigan, former sites of the industrial jobs that used to offer middle-class wages to men without college degrees. If youre running for president and youre a woman, you are running uphill, he says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would be nice to believe that Elizabeth Warren could speak to some of these economically anxious men. Daughter of a janitor, the Massachusetts senator is a passionate economic populist; no one would accuse her of being too cozy with Wall Street. To Clintons liberal critics, Warren is Clintons opposite: steadfast where Clinton is prevaricating, authentic where Clinton is calculating. Unlike Clinton, Warren is not attached to a troublesome man whose reputation has at times overshadowed her own. She hasnt spent decades in the public eye serving as a synecdoche for unseemly female ambition. Advertisement Yet Warren is not invulnerable to some of the attacks that undermined Clinton. In April, Warren appeared on Real Time With Bill Maher to promote her book, This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save Americas Middle Class. Maher asked her to explain why so many in the white working class prefer Trump to her: Theyre still with him. Theyre not with you. Explain to me what that disconnection is. When Warren started to push back, Maher added, They dont like you, Pocahontas, using Trumps derisive nickname for her. The moment recalled the countless times Clinton has been asked to account for peoples dislike of her, a question with no good answer. It was hardly the first time Warren had been hit with the unlikeable charge. When she ran for Senate in 2012, she faced a stream of stories about how much more congenial people found her opponent, Scott Brown. People admire Warren, who has a resume chock full of impressive accomplishments, said one Washington Post piece. They want to hang outor have a beerwith Brown. The website of Bostons NPR station ran a piece about well-educated liberal women who were turned off by Warren: Demographically shes one of them, but politically shes losing them. They say they wont vote for Sen. Scott Brown, but Warren and her hectoring, know-it-all style leaves them deeply disappointed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A February Politico/Morning Consult poll found a generic Democrat easily beating Trump in 2020 but Trump beating Warren by six points. Politico interpreted this as a sign that Democrats could be in trouble if they continue their lurch to the left. But the finding could just as easily be an indication that a significant number of voters cant stand to feel lectured by a wonkish older woman. One poll found a generic Democrat easily beating Trump in 2020, but Trump beating Warren by 6 points. In politics, identifying misogyny risks reinforcing it. It can be hard to describe the dangers of running for office while female without instantiating those dangers; to speculate about what kind of slurs might be thrown at a candidate is to put those slurs out there in the first place. Feminists know this, yet layered on top of the trauma of Clintons loss is the dread of repeating it. Although a lot of people are very enthusiastic about Elizabeth Warren, I think that were she to become a real contender, all of the responses to extremely competent, forceful women would start to work against her, says feminist historian Susan Bordo, author of the recent book The Destruction of Hillary Clinton. Wed be hearing, Shes shrill. Shes schoolmarmish. Advertisement Sure enough, a recent McClatchy story describes the Republican plan to use pages from the anti-Clinton playbook against Warren in her 2018 Senate race; the long-range strategy is to inflict damage ahead of a possible presidential run. We learned from our experience with Secretary Clinton that when you start earlier, the narratives have more time to sink in and resonate with the electorate, a Republican operative said. If Democrats allow themselves to be pre-emptively spooked by possible Republican attacks, they may be falling into the rights trap. All the same, weve seen such attacks work. The double bind for female candidates is that women who contend for power are less likely than men to be seen as likeable, but likeability has outsized importance for them. The Democratic pollster Celinda Lake points to research showing that voters will support a qualified man they dislike but not an unlikeable, qualified woman. In 2016, she notes, 18 percent of the voters disliked both candidates, and these voters went for Trump by double digits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right now, we lack a template for a likeable female presidential candidate. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York senator like Clinton before her, is widely considered to be more personable and charismatic than her predecessor, but shes already been caricatured in similar ways. In her 2014 book Off the Sidelinesfor which Clinton wrote the forewordGillibrand describes how, upon entering the Senate, opponents and detractors nicknamed her Tracy Flick, after the perky, dementedly ambitious character from the movie Election. It was a put-down to me and other ambitious women, meant to keep us in our place, she writes. Theres no telling how much people will like Gillibrand after an overwhelming campaign of Republican demonization. Or consider California Sen. Kamala Harris, who seems, at least on the surface, a potential distaff analogue to Barack Obama. (Indeed, the Washington Post once ran a piece headlined, Is Kamala Harris the next Barack Obama?) Like Obama in his Senate days, shes a telegenic newcomer to the national stage with a melting-pot background (she is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India). Shes garnered buzz for her early and consistent opposition to Trump, including her sharp questioning of John Kelly, now head of the Department of Homeland Security, over how he would handle undocumented immigrants whod been brought to the U.S. as children. At 52, shes relatively young, and for several decades Democrats have done best with young candidates: John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Obama were all under 55 when they were elected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But as the legal scholar Joan Williams once said, Men are often judged on their potential, but women are judged on their achievements. Its far from clear that any woman could mimic Obamas rocket trajectory, because women have to spend more time than men do proving themselves capable. Then once theyve put in the time and paid their dues, they can easily be written off as too old. Hillary Clinton spent decades working to become overqualified for the presidency, culminating in 112 countries visited and nearly 1 million miles flown as secretary of state, and her efforts were rewarded with Trump and his supporters successfully questioning her stamina during the 2016 campaign. Given the endless ranking of Clintons flaws as a candidate both during and after the election, its easy to forget that before entering the race, she was the most popular politician in the country; at one point, the Wall Street Journal reported her favorability rating as an eye-popping 69 percent. But people perceive women differently when theyre contending for executive office than when theyre running for a collaborative body, like the Senate, or serving below a powerful man. All the ancient cliches about womenare they trustworthy, are they strong enough to be commander in chiefall those come into play, says Madeleine Kunin, the former governor of Vermont. If youre too tough, youre not feminine. If youre too feminine, youre not tough enough. Theres a very small space between those two that is safe territory. Clinton was never able to find that sweet spot. As she recently told New York magazines Rebecca Traister, Once I moved from serving someonea man, the presidentto seeking that job on my own, I was once again vulnerable to the barrage of innuendo and negativity and attacks that come with the territory of a woman who is striving to go further. If you buy Clintons analysis of the challenges she facedand I doits hard to know what to do with it. It would be a very dark irony if a feminist reading of 2016 led to the conclusion that Democrats shouldnt nominate a woman in 2020. According to Cassino, the long-term solution to male anxiety about female leadership is that you run women so often that it becomes absolutely unremarkable. Seen that way, the next primary could mark the beginning of this process. Its a coming of age, Lake says. Its not just about a woman candidate. Its that all the best candidates are women. Its easy to forget that before entering the 2016 race, Clinton was the most popular politician in the country. The shock of 2016 has certainly brought women off the sidelines. EMILYs List, an organization that works to elect pro-choice Democratic women, reports that more than 11,000 women reached out to it about running for office in the first four months of this year (compared with about 900 in all of 2016). Ezra Levin, one of the founders of the Tea Partyinspired anti-Trump Indivisible Movement, says that women lead most of the groups chapters. Remember, the Democratic Party is 59 percent female, says Lake, who adds that while Democrats first priority is beating Trump, there would be quite a bit excitement about having a woman. Still, its easy to imagine the furious female energy in the Democratic Party expressing itself as it has so often in the past: by lifting up a magnetic young man. French President Emmanuel Macrons famously aggressive handshake has shown theres power in going after Trump on his own masculine turf. An American politician who could similarly unman the president would create a lot of enthusiasm. Many American women want to break the male lock on the presidency, but they also want to save the republic, and its all too possible that those two goals are at odds. Frankly, at this point, I dont care if its a woman or a man, Kunin says. Id like to live long enough to see a woman president, but I think we all feel we have to change regimes. Opening image: Top: People watch voting results at Hillary Clintons election night event on Nov. 8 in New York City (Win McNamee/Getty Images). Bottom: People gather for the Womens March in Washington on Jan. 21 (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters). Using a sonar-equipped underwater robot, a team of scientists has discovered the debris of a missing World War II-era B-25 bomber plane off the coast of Papua New Guinea. By documenting the wreckage of the B-25 and surveying the final resting place of another aircraft, the team hopes to help the U.S. Department of Defense repatriate the remains of American service members missing in action. Historical records indicate that both planes were shot down amid fierce combat more than 70 years ago, the researchers said. One B-25 was carrying six crewmembers who have long been unaccounted for. The second bomber also had six crewmembers, five of whom survived and were taken prisoner by the Japanese, while one went down with the plane. [Photos: Underwater Robots Help Recover WWII Plane Wrecks] Twin engine B-25 bombers were among the most versatile aircraft developed by the North American Aviation company during World War II. They quickly became standard equipment for all Allied forces, and the warbirds were used to conduct nearly 10,000 missions, from bombing enemies to photo reconnaissance, submarine patrols and the historic raid over Tokyo. But the impact of hitting the ocean waves at a high speed mangled the planes, so researchers had to take a few extra steps to identify the aircraft remains. "People have this mental image of an airplane resting intact on the sea floor, but the reality is that most planes were often already damaged before crashing, or broke up upon impact," Katy O'Connell, an oceanographer at the University of Delaware who is associated with the expedition, said in a statement. "And, after soaking in the sea for decades, they are often unrecognizable to the untrained eye, often covered in corals and other sea-life." The researchers, who are part of a public-private collaboration called Project Recover, began their hunt for the planes by digging through the National Archives, old military photos and interviews with veterans and locals. Once they narrowed the location to a 3.8-square-mile area (10 square kilometers) in the Pacific Ocean, the scientists used scanning sonars, thermal cameras and freely swimming underwater robots to pinpoint the location of the B-25. Story continues A photomosaic constructed by Project Recover of an underwater wreck of a WWII-era B-25 bomber. Project Recover The discovery marked the sixth aircraft that Project Recover scientists have identified and documented since 2012. Some expeditions have also resulted in new leads. Local villagers and scuba divers are often aware of the locations of some planes, according to the researchers. But those sites, like the second B-25 plane the group surveyed in Madang Harbor, Papua New Guinea, have never been officially documented or searched for possible recovery missions.The discovery marked the sixth aircraft that Project Recover scientists have identified and documented since 2012. Once Project Recover scientists have gathered detailed information on a site, they turn the data over to the Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is tasked with repatriation efforts and contacting surviving relatives. "There are still over 73,000 U.S. service members unaccounted for from World War II, leaving families with unanswered questions about their loved ones," O'Connell said. "We hope that our global efforts can help to bring closure and honor the service of the fallen." Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations The horse-riding daughter of South Korea's "Rasputin" whose lavish lifestyle in Europe was allegedly funded by millions of dollars of bribes was arrested as she flew home, prosecutors said Wednesday. Chung Yoo-Ra, 20, is the offspring of a woman currently on trial alongside disgraced former president Park Geun-Hye in an influence-peddling scandal that has rocked the country. Prosecutors say cash to pay for her equestrian training came from electronics giant Samsung, which had handed over the money as part of an effort to curry favour with her powerful mother. Chung is the only child of Choi Soon-Sil, the close confidante of impeached ex-president Park, who was kicked out of office in March in a groundswell of public disgust over the influence of money on South Korean politics. Park and Choi, nicknamed "Rasputin" for her influence over the then-president, are on trial for allegedly accepting or seeking millions of dollars in bribes from the country's huge conglomerates, including Samsung. Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong is being tried separately while Shin Dong-Bin, the chairman of retail giant Lotte, the South's fifth-biggest conglomerate, also stands accused. The spiralling investigation has now caught up with Chung, who was also allegedly granted a place at prestigious Ewha Women's University thanks to her mother's intervention. In highly competitive South Korea, admission to one of a handful of elite universities is seen as vital to a student's future. Chung, who was arrested by Danish police in January, dropped her appeal against extradition from Denmark last week. A team of five officials from the prosecutors' office was dispatched to Europe to make the arrest as soon as she boarded a Korean Air flight, where South Korea has jurisdiction, news agency Yonhap said. Chung is expected to arrive at Incheon International Airport later Wednesday, from where she will make a short statement to the press before being taken to the Seoul Prosecutors' Office for questioning. Cosy and corrupt ties between South Korea's business and political elites have endured for decades. But the trial of Park and Choi could shed new light on the links between Park and the bosses of the family-run conglomerates that dominate Asia's fourth-biggest economy. By Sylvia Westall and Tom Finn DUBAI/DOHA (Reuters) - Just 10 days after President Donald Trump called on Muslim countries to stand united against Iran, a public feud between Qatar and some of its Gulf Arab neighbours is jolting his attempt to tip the regional balance of power against Tehran. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are incensed by Qatar's conciliatory line on Iran, their regional archrival, and its support for Islamist groups, in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, which they regard as a dangerous political enemy. The bickering among the Sunni states erupted after Trump attended a summit of Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia where he denounced Shi'ite Iran's "destablising interventions" in Arab lands, where Tehran is locked in a tussle with Riyadh for influence. The spat shows no sign of abating, raising the prospect of a long breach between Doha and its closest allies that could have repercussions around the Middle East. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday for talks with his counterpart Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah that are expected to address the rift. Kuwait, a past mediator between Gulf states, has offered to help ease tensions. But few expect an early end to what is not their first feud. Three years ago Saudi Arabia and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors from Doha for similar reasons, although they returned after less than a year. Analysts point to the unusual willingness of Qatari state-backed media on one side, and Saudi and Emirati media on the other, to trade rhetorical broadsides in public. This suggests that point-scoring is taking priority over displays of unity among some members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a Saudi-dominated club of states that presents itself as an outpost of stability in a turbulent region. In the Gulf's tightly-controlled media scene, attacks made by news outlets tend to be authorised by governments. "The GCC could harm it own interests in this fight and is at risk of becoming more vulnerable to Iranian encroachment," said a Western diplomat based in Doha. EMBOLDENED BY TRUMP The spat's immediate cause was a purported Qatari state media report that the emir had cautioned against confrontation with Iran, as well as defending the Palestinian group Hamas and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shi'ite movement allied to Tehran. Qatar denied the report, saying its news agency had been hacked, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE allowed their state-backed media to continue running it, angering Doha. The squabble revives old accusations that Qatar backs the Brotherhood, which is present across most of the Muslim world and whose political ideology challenges the principle of dynastic rule. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi also suspect Doha is complacent about Iranian expansionism. Qatar has said it is "always in favour of maintaining strong and brotherly relations with GCC countries", and denies it has ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. Some analysts speculate Riyadh and Abu Dhabi felt confident to authorise criticisms of Qatar by their deepening friendship with Trump, confident that his opposition to Iran and all Islamist armed groups reflects their views more than Qatar's. "When Trump gave fulsome support in Riyadh and said, 'let's isolate Iran' that sent a signal to the UAE and Saudi, which felt emboldened and said: let's let loose everything we have on Qatar," said Gerd Nonneman, professor of International Relations and Gulf Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar. Acknowledging the tensions, the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, wrote on Twitter on Sunday that the GCC countries "are passing through a new sharp crisis that carries within it a great danger". Gulf officials and commentators outside Qatar said it did not matter whether the remarks were fake because they reflected Qatar's sympathies anyway. "Doha's insistence in denying the issue is marginal because in reality, on the ground, Qatar confirms it adopts the policies that it is now trying to deny," an editorial in Saudi-owned newspaper Al-Hayat on Monday said. RIFTS HAVE RAMIFICATIONS A Gulf Arab official said patience had run out. "What is certain is the Gulf states led by Riyadh are not likely to tolerate such a deviation, if intentional, especially at this junction in our relationship with our hostile neighbour Iran." Al Raya, a government-owned Qatari daily, hit back at Emirati reports on Friday by publishing pictures on its front page of UAE journalists it called "mercenaries". Such animosities can have ramifications across the Middle East, where Gulf states have used their financial and political clout to influence events in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen amid upheaval caused by the Arab Spring. Nonneman said Kuwait and Oman clearly did not want a major rift. "It's not in the interests of anyone for this to grow into a clash beyond a media campaign - but sometimes these things take on a life of their own," he said. Iran, which denies Arab accusations that it is engaged in subversion of Arab countries, appears to be gloating. Kayhan, a newspaper closely associated with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Tuesday the rift reflected Saudi Arabia's inability to "form an alliance against Tehran". (Additional reporting by Katie Paul in Riyadh, Sami Aboudi and Noah Browning in Dubai, Ahmed Hagagy in Kuwait, Borzorgmehr Sharafedin in London, Editing by William Maclean and David Stamp) Yahoo Singapore file photo A holiday for a Mexican man in Singapore ended up in a jail sentence after the tourist, Jonathan Nunez Gonzalez, slapped and punched a cabby whom he believed was taking him for a ride. Gonzalez, 35, was charged on one count of voluntarily causing hurt to taxi driver Lee Eng Kuan, 51. He was sentenced to 10 days jail after pleading guilty to the charge on Tuesday (30 May). Gonzalez was working as a chief strategy officer in a company in Malaysia at the time of the offence. He has since lost his job. Investigations showed that on 15 January this year, Gonzalez and his wife, Gracia Ramirez, boarded Lees taxi along Neil Road at around 3am. Gonzalez told the cabby to bring them to Westin Hotel, but Lee misunderstood the destination for Swissotel the Stamford Hotel, which was previously known as Westin Stamford Hotel. After Lee drove the couple to the Swissotel, Ramirez used her phones map to guide Lee to the correct hotel. Frustrated, she began quarrelling with Lee. Believing that Lee was driving a longer route to get a higher fare, Gonzalez began arguing with Lee too. As they were some 50m to 100m from the hotel, Gonzalez alighted from the taxi as he felt Lee had disrespected his wife by raising his voice at her. He then opened Lees driver door and slapped Lee on his left cheek, prompting Lee to alight from the taxi. The two resumed their argument, leading to Gonzalez punching Lee on his chest. Lee ended up falling backwards on his buttocks. After Gonzalez left the taxi with his wife, Lee called for the police. Lees medical report said that he had numbness over his left cheek and a small abrasion over his left upper lip. He was given medical leave for three days due to his injuries. Gonzalezs lawyer Anand Nalachandran said his client had compensated Lee with $2,000. He said Lee had taken twice as long to drive and went to the wrong location, causing the couple to suspect that the taxi driver was exploiting their unfamiliarity with the area to inflate the fare. Story continues Nalachandran sought a fine or a short jail sentence, saying that his client suffered emotionally and financially after being unable to return to work. For voluntarily causing hurt, Gonzalez could have been jailed up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000. Other Singapore stories: Woman jailed for threatening social worker with 2 knives over child access Ex-car salesman jailed for siphoning nearly half a million dollars 62-year-old e-bike rider charged for beating red light, investigated for assault Venezuelan police have arrested nearly 3,000 people in the two months since a wave of anti-government protests erupted, a judicial campaign group said on Tuesday. President Nicolas Maduro's opponents accuse him of repressing protesters who are calling for elections to remove him from office. He accuses them of plotting a coup against him. Foro Penal (the Criminal Justice Forum) has counted 2,977 people arrested during the deadly unrest, of whom 1,351 are still in detention, director Alfredo Romero told a news conference. Of those, 197 have been jailed after being sentenced by military courts, said a lawyer working for the group, Alonso Medina. "This is a situation that occurs under dictatorial regimes," Medina said. Prosecutors say 60 people have been killed in violence linked to the protests since they broke out on April 1, many of them shot dead. Riot police have fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. Protesters have hurled Molotov cocktails and rocks. That was the picture Tuesday as well when about 2,000 demonstrators took to the streets against Maduro. Police used tear gas and flash-bang explosives to break up crowds. The crowd was unable to move out of the east end of Caracas. Most fled from the gas, but a few holdouts who were wearing helmets kept clashing with authorities on motorcycles who were hit with rocks and Molotov cocktails. "People are not getting tired of protesting; they are getting more and more tired of this government, and of going hungry," Arturo, a university student of 26, told AFP. Venezuela's government and opposition accuse each other of sending armed groups to sow violence in the demonstrations. The opposition blames Maduro for an economic crisis that has caused shortages of food and basic supplies, while the socialist president says the crisis is a US-backed conspiracy. By Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia relaunched its simple but classic 3310 phone in its home market of Finland on Wednesday, hoping a wave of nostalgia may boost the brand as it expands into newer smartphones. Once the world's dominant phonemaker, Nokia Oyj sold its handset operations to Microsoft in 2014, leaving it to focus on telecoms network equipment. But its brand has gone back on the mobile market across much of Europe and India thanks to a licensing deal with HMD Global, a new company led by former Nokia executives and backed by Chinese electronics giant Foxconn. HMD has sole use of the Nokia brand on all phones and tablets for the next decade, and it will pay royalties to Nokia Oyj. Nokia 3310, a basic talk and text phone, was the world's most popular device in 2000 and the first handset owned by many smartphone users of today. The updated version, in bright red or yellow or more modest blue or gray and featuring the classic Snake game, sells for 49 euros ($52). HMD hopes that its 22 hours of talk time and up to one month of standby time will heighten its appeal for customers looking for a break from smartphone overload or a reliable device for lively nights out. Initial demand appears to be strong. "The first delivery was fully pre-ordered and we'll probably need to wait couple of weeks before we have 3310 widely available in our stores," said Jan Virkki, head of consumer products at Finland's largest telecom operator Elisa. The nostalgic appeal was clear. "It looks like the brick, like the ones we had when we were kids," said student Oona Patomaki, walking by Elisa's store in downtown Helsinki. While operators and retailers in other countries - including Britain's Carphone Warehouse - have echoed Elisa's message, the precise level of consumer appetite is difficult to estimate as HMD did not give any sales figures. "In the UK, initial sales have been very strong, and that's a pretty good achievement because this is a very basic phone, it doesn't even have Wi-Fi on it," said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight. Three new Nokia smartphones running on Google's Android platform are due to go on sale in upcoming weeks and the hope is that the 3310 will whet appetites. "The mid-range Android smartphone space is probably the toughest of the mobile phone markets in existence... This is their challenge, and HMD needs to quickly move the market forward," said Wood. "New 3310s, at least, mean that consumers are now aware that Nokia is back." A long-lost relative of today's Komodo dragons lived in Europe as recently as 800,000 years ago. These reptilians were much smaller than the predatory Komodo dragons that live today in Indonesia. But the discovery of their fossils at a site in Greece was a surprise, because monitor lizards were thought to have vanished in Europe around 2.5 million years ago as climate conditions gradually changed. "It's a survivor, let's say," said Georgios Georgalis, a doctoral candidate in paleontology at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and the University of Torino in Italy. [In Photos: Rare Birth of 'Baby Dragons' at Slovenia Cave] Persistant lizard Monitor lizards are a big group. Scientifically, they're known as "varanids," and at least 70 species live today in Africa, Australia and Asia. The most famous species, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), can grow to nearly 10 feet (3 meters) long. A living monitor lizard (Varanus griseus) from Morocco. Monitor lizards are now found only in Africa, Asia and Australia. Marc Sassoe Monitor lizards used to roam Europe, too, but they seem to vanish from the fossil record by the time of the Pliocene (5 million to 2.6 million years ago), when the climate took a turn for the cool and dry. The new specimen from near Athens is much more recent than that, dating back less than a million years. "We [now] know that varanids survived at least until the middle Pleistocene," Georgalis told Live Science. The new monitor lizard is known from only a few pieces of skull and jaw. Fortunately, Georgalis said, these specimens are a good basis for identifying varanids, because teeth and jaws vary widely between lizard species. Miniature monitor The upper jaw, or maxilla, of a monitor lizard that lived about 800,000 years ago near what is today Athens. Previously, monitor lizards were thought to have gone extinct in Europe 2.5 million years ago. Georgios Georgalis The fossil was found almost 30 years ago at a site called Tourkobounia outside Athens, Georgalis said. He discovered it in a collection on loan to the University of Torino. "I was very, very surprised, happily surprised, when I saw this material, because it was highly distinctive," Georgalis said. The biggest piece of bone is the right maxilla, or upper jaw, at just 0.7 inches (17 millimeters) long. Attached are two pointy teeth, which are only about 0.15 inches (4 mm) long. The second portion of the fossil is a piece of the lower jaw 0.6 inches (15.7 mm) long. One other tooth was detached from the jawbones. Story continues Based on the anatomy, this monitor lizard was likely related to monitor lizards that had called Europe home in the Miocene, 23 million to 5 million years ago, when varanids were common on the continent. It was probably a relic of those old populations, Georgalis said, confined to the southeastern edge of Europe where the weather was still warm enough to support it. Perhaps for that reason, the lizard was puny compared with today's Komodo dragons much smaller than a comparable ancient European monitor lizard that measured 2 feet (60 centimeters) long, not counting its tail, Georgalis and his colleagues wrote May 12 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The lizard was also smaller than earlier European monitor lizards, Georgalis said, and the size reduction may have been an adaptation for surviving in a cooler climate. Alternatively, the fossil may simply have been a baby. Georgalis and his team are now hoping to find other varanids from Pleistocene Greece. "We're trying to understand when is their extinction date, and why they became extinct from Europe," he said. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic, who was sworn in as the country's president on Wednesday, wants to open a debate over the future of Kosovo, the breakaway province whose independence Belgrade has refused to recognise. "I will preserve Serbia's integrity but I will always accept talks with Kosovo Albanians," Vucic told lawmakers after taking his oath of office in parliament. "I want that we open an internal dialogue over Kosovo... without prejudices, while respecting our constitution" which says Kosovo is part of Serbia, he said, adding that Serbia "should get rid of a mythic approach towards Kosovo." Many Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of their country's history, religion and culture. Its independence was declared a decade after the 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian Kosovo rebels and Serbian armed forces, a conflict that claimed 13,000 lives, of which 10,000 were ethnic Albanians. The Serbian forces, led by Slobodan Milosevic, were eventually ousted from the breakaway territory after a three-month NATO bombing campaign. But 100,000 to 150,000 Serbs remained in Kosovo, mainly in the northern region of Mitrovica, under supervision of NATO-led troops. Vucic, a former hardline nationalist, won the presidential election in April with a pledge to pursue Serbia's bid for EU membership, while maintaining ties with Russia. Kosovo is also hoping to join the EU, and both sides agreed in 2011 to open talks aimed at normalising ties, under the auspices of the European Union. "There should be no doubt into the European path to which we are dedicated," Vucic said. Kosovo's independence has been recognised by over 110 countries, but not by Russia nor by five EU members: Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania. For as long as any millennial can remember, young Singaporeans have been split neatly into two major factions: Team KOI and Team Gong Cha. In an age where your milk tea drink order is more detailed than your LinkedIn page, you quietly pick a side and a sugar level, and remind yourself that those from the other team are simply incapable of enjoying the better things in life. Like an Earl Grey Milk Tea with pearl and 30% sugar. When news of Gong Chas imminent rebranding broke on Monday (May 29) morning, many loyal fans of the franchise were caught by surprise. Speaking to The Straits Times, Mr Rodney Tang, owner of the Singapore branch of the Gong Cha brand, announced that all 80 outlets here will be rebranded to LiHo by June 5. 20170529_160953 This follows the expiration of his agreement with Gong Chas parent company in Taiwan at the end of last year. The change in name is accompanied by an entirely new menu, with the homegrown brand introducing something it refers to as cheese tea. An intriguing pairing, to say the least. 18739056_1405532482867865_6413684602553730989_o When Popspoken visited Gong Cha outlets on Monday, some popular menu items, like Earl Grey Milk Tea with pearl and 30% sugar, were already unavailable. Increase my sugar level, because Im salty. Like any healthy support system, Popspoken took to Twitter to ask how youre coping with the news. Our poll results say it all. Will this rebranding affect your consumption habits? Popspoken (@popspoken) May 29, 2017 We also received a lot of impassioned cries for help. Awww man that sucks ): I want my gong cha milk alisan tea with white pearls ): https://t.co/RHGHmS1A9D (@leeohnuh) May 30, 2017 every time i see something about this another small part of me inside dies https://t.co/NGncTUOgmq rachel (@ruhchur) May 30, 2017 As @thisiswolfy_ said it really does look like Lithium Hydroxide. Not sure I want that in my drink. https://t.co/t6iPAbM5ha Jeremy Sim (@mimi_dumbright) May 29, 2017 so apparently there's cheese tea, like why. https://t.co/zMFwrOggAO (@lingbrandon) May 29, 2017 EXCUSE ME THIS IS SO RUDE https://t.co/o64JxQsavs s a r . (@littlewondersxx) May 29, 2017 Finally, a tweet by this soul from the other side. Story continues For now, we will rebuild. Time for Team Gong Cha to trudge on, milk tea in hand, and embrace our vaguely aggressive-sounding future as #TeamLiHo. == Stay updated and social with Popspoken: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram This article Singaporeans Are Not Taking The Gong Cha/LiHo Rebranding Very Well appeared first on Popspoken. Part 2 of Mark Nicolsons edit from a 2009 Death Skateboards Madrid trip is now live, with the crew making the most of the Spanish capitals spots and laying down solar powered all terrain ripping. Dan Cates, Steak, Adam Moss, Moggins, Boots and Mark Nicolson. Filmed by Jake Martinelli and edited by Mark Nicolson. Watch part one here. In 2009 we went to Madrid with filmer Jake Martinelli and a few of the Death Skateboards team as a standard sunny euro filming trip to escape the dreary British winter. Most footage ended up in a Strangenotes DVD with the rest going to scene projects or saved and used for the 2012 Death Skateboards DVD Ordinary Madness. Along for the journey is Dan Cates, Steak, Adam Moss, Moggins and Chris Johnson shooting pics for Sidewalk Magazine. 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. 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. Cardinal Health, Inc. operates as an integrated healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home. The company operates in two segments, Pharmaceutical and Medical. The Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded and generic pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and over-the-counter healthcare and consumer products. The segment also provides services to pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers for specialty pharmaceutical products; operates nuclear pharmacies and radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities; repackages generic pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter healthcare products; and offers medication therapy management and patient outcomes services to hospitals, other healthcare providers, and payers, as well as provides pharmacy management services to hospitals. The Medical segment manufactures, sources, and distributes Cardinal Health branded medical, surgical, and laboratory products and devices that include exam and surgical gloves; needles, syringe, and sharps disposals; compressions; incontinences; nutritional delivery products; wound care products; single-use surgical drapes, gowns, and apparels; fluid suction and collection systems; urology products; operating room supply products; and electrode product lines. The segment also distributes a range of national brand products, including medical, surgical, and laboratory products; provides supply chain services and solutions to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, and other healthcare providers; and assembles and sells sterile, and non-sterile procedure kits. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. VMware, Inc. provides software solutions in the areas of modern applications, cloud management and infrastructure, networking, security, and digital workspaces in the United States and internationally. It offers VMware multi-cloud solutions, including VMware vSphere, a data center infrastructure that provides the fundamental compute layer; vSAN and VxRail, which offers holistic data storage and protection options to applications running on vSphere; and vRealize Cloud Management solutions that manages hybrid and multi-cloud environments running in virtual machines and containers, as well as VMware Cloud Foundation, a cloud platform that combines its vSphere, vSAN, and NSX with vRealize Cloud Management into an integrated stack and delivers enterprise-ready cloud infrastructure for private and public clouds. The company also provides networking solutions, such as VMware NSX, NSX Distributed and Gateway Firewalls, NSX Network Detection and Response Engine, NSX Advanced Load Balancer, Tanzu Service Mesh, and VMware SASE; security solutions consisting of VMware Carbon Black Endpoint, Workload, and Container; and digital workspace solutions comprising Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management, Access, Intelligent Hub, and Horizon. In addition, it offers application modernization solutions, such as Tanzu Application and Operations Platform, Tanzu Application Service Platform, Tanzu Observability, Tanzu Community Edition, and Tanzu Labs; and cloud management solutions, including vRealize Cloud Management, vCloud Suite, and CloudHealth by VMware Suite. The company sells its products through distributors, resellers, system vendors, and systems integrators. VMware, Inc. has a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services to build and deliver an integrated hybrid solution. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; and women's and men's accessories, travel, entertaining and bar, home decor, and seasonal items under the Mark and Graham brand, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and decor industry. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. It operates 544 stores comprising 502 stores in 41states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; 20 stores in Canada; 19 stores in Australia; 3 stores in the United Kingdom; and 139 franchised stores, as well as e-commerce websites in various countries in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, and India. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Two asteroids now bear their names as part of the award. Font size: A - | A + Miriam Feretova and Samuel Smoter, both from Presov, won silver medals at the biggest scientific competition for secondary school students, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Los Angeles. The students were awarded for their idea of using natural ethereal oils as repellent for ticks. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The selected ethereal oils serve as a natural alternative to synthetic repellents. They are more effective and harmless to health and the environment, said Miriam Feretova Sr., the teacher who directed the project and the mother of one of the winners, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The students consulted their work with scientists Branislav Petko and Viktoria Majlathova of the Institute of Parasitology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Kosice. They were also able to conduct their experiments on the premises of the Research, Education and Information Centre of Bio-Energy in Kapusany, near Presov, TASR reported. Intel ISEF was attended by 1,778 students from 75 countries, competing in 17 different groups. The Presov students were the only Europeans nominated for competing in the Animal Science category. Their main rivals were from North America, South America, and Asia. In addition to their medals within Grand Awards, the students also won the first place in the Special Awards category granted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), which includes a financial reward and the opportunity to advance to the next competition in China. Central Europe has never been represented at this competition, TASR wrote. The students also have two asteroids named after them as part of their award. Richard van Rijssen, whose mission ends soon, will be replaced by current representative of the Netherlands at the UN in Geneva. Font size: A - | A + Dutch Ambassador to Slovakia Richard van Rijssen was awarded the Golden Plaque by Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak. The ambassador, whose diplomatic mission will soon end, helped encourage the good relations between Slovakia and the Netherlands, Lajcak said, as reported by the TASR newswire. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement According to a press release from the ministry, relations between the Netherlands and Slovakia became even stronger during their cooperation as part of the trio of EU Council presidencies in 2016. Read also: Read also: Back to normal, with fresh ambitions Read more Van Rijssen will be replaced by Dutch diplomat Henk van der Kwast, who currently serves as Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and Disarmament Ambassador at Large, TASR reported. State-run ZSSK announces changes to its timetable and will soon allow payments via text message at some routes. Font size: A - | A + Train travel to Kosice will have soon have faster options. InterCity trains between Bratislava and Kosice via the northern route will no longer stop in Strba, and the state-run railway passenger carrier ZSSK will reintroduce direct trains to Kosice on the southern route via Zvolen. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Both changes are part of a new timetable that will take effect on June 11, the TASR newswire reported. ZSSK decided to cancel the stop in Strba because of the small number of passengers using the station, explained Karol Martincek of ZSSK. The change will shorten the travel time between Bratislava and Kosice by 15 minutes, making the trip just under 5 hours. The carrier plans to continue shortening travel times on the main route, though the changes will depend on the reconstruction of the main line, said ZSSK head Filip Hlubocky, as reported by TASR. The state will also restore the direct train connection between Bratislava and Kosice. Currently, direct trains only run between Bratislava and Banska Bystrica, and passengers traveling to Kosice must change trains in Zvolen. Read also: Read also: Train travel to Kosice via south to return Read more Starting June 11, there will be three daily direct trains running to Kosice and four trains to Bratislava. Passengers travelling between Bratislava and Banska Bystrica may have to change trains in Zvolen at certain times, but the travel time will still be 3:24 hours, TASR reported. Another change to the timetable is the addition of a stop in Krompachy for the regional fast trains between Kosice and Poprad-Tatry. SMS tickets SMS tickets 60-minute: text "A" or blank SMS message price: 2.50 20-minute: text "B" price: 1.30 180-minute for free travelling: text "Z" price: 0.30 Bicycle/luggage: text "X" price: 1.50 Information: text "INFO" or "HELP" free Additionally, ZSSK will allow passengers to purchase tickets via text message. This will be available for local trains, but the change will not concern the trams and cog railways in the Tatras. Passengers will be able to purchase a 20-minute ticket for 1.30, 60-minute ticket for 2.50, and 180-minute ticket for free transport for 0.30. After choosing the type of the ticket and sending a message to the phone number 2255, passengers will receive a confirmation text two minutes later. They will also receive information on the tickets expiration time and the possibility to purchase an extension. The benefit for passengers is that at stations without a counter selling tickets, they can board the train with the SMS ticket without needing to search for a chief guard, said Martincek, as quoted in a ZSSK press release. Smart phone users will also be able to download the application ZSSK SMS listok for purchasing their tickets. ravellers in the High Tatras using trams and cog railways will be able to continue using SMS tickets by sending a text to the phone number 2233, a service introduced in 2014. The only central European country ranked lower than Slovakia was Hungary. Font size: A - | A + Slovakias competitiveness ranking fell significantly last year compared to other countries. It fell by 11 places to 51st position in the current World Competitiveness Ranking, issued by the IMD World Competitiveness Center. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2017 included 63 countries in its ranking. Slovakia is the second least competitive country of the central European region, ranking one place before Hungary. The list put Austria in 25th place, the Czech Republic in 28th, and Poland in 38th. Drop in three main categories In the category of Economic Performance, the country fell by eight positions to 52nd place. Though Slovakia has some of the higest growth in GDP and share of export on GDP, it remains highly dependent on one type of industry, said the F. A. Hayek Foundation, a partner organisation of the International Institute for Management Development in Slovakia, as quoted by the SITA newswire Slovakias economy is not diversified enough and has a relatively high youth unemployment, the F. A. Hayek Foundation added. In the category of Goverment Efficiency, Slovakia fell by 13 positions to 55th place. Though the state of its public finances has improved since last year, its indebtedness is still high, and the measure of its tax policy has declined, particularly regarding the increase in taxes and tax bases. Another issue listed for Slovakia is its increase in the regulation burden of the business sector and the perception of corruption, both of which impact the long-term operation of companies, the foundation said. Slovakias position in Business Efficiency also worsened as the country fell by 16 places to 54th. This factor was influenced mostly by the problems with a shortage of staffers in some sectors, the rigidness of the labour market, and the instability of the business environment, F. A. Hayek Foundation said, as quoted by SITA. The competitiveness index has been published since 1989. It compares and evaluates 346 criteria within four main categories: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. Two-thirds of data comes from objective data and statistics. The subjective data were obtained via a survey carried out among more than 6,200 top managers in all evaluated countries. Nearly 70 top managers of private Slovak companies participated in the survey, SITA reported. The much awaited verdict comes after 19 years. Font size: A - | A + The controversial amnesties granted by former prime minister Vladimir Meciar will be cancelled after 19 years. The Constitutional Court confirmed at its May 31 private session that it has rescinded the immunity from prosecution of actions linked to the 1990s abduction to Austria of the son of former president Michal Kovac. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The cancellation of the amnesties had already been approved by MPs in early April, the Sme daily reported on its website. The court has officially confirmed its decision. Eight judges supported the ruling, while two judges, Milan Lalik and Peter Brnak, opposed it. Three of the eight judges attached a concurring opinion, agreeing with the overall ruling but offering a different reason for it, the Sme daily reported on its website. We are very glad that the Constitutional Court confirmed that if a state body is suspected of committing a crime against its citizens, the culprits cannot enjoy immunity from prosecution forever, especially if they try to abuse the amnesties, Peter Wilfling of the legal think tank Via Iuris said to Sme. Although many years have passed since the crime occurred, the fact that the controversial amnesties will be scrapped and the culprits of the 1995 abduction of the then-presidents son to Austria will face the courts is an important signal for all of Slovakia, he added. Read also: Read also: Meciar amnesties scrapped Read more Scrapping the amnesties means that the proceedings concerning the abduction of Michal Kovac, Jr. may be reopened in the courts. The file containing the lawsuit has been in the archives of the district court in Bratislava, as the file could not be touched after the amnesties had been granted. In 2000, Prosecutor Michal Serbin submitted a proposal to charge 13 people, including former head of the SIS intelligence service Ivan Lexa and former SIS agents Gejza Valjent, Milan Lovich and Michal Hrbacek, as well as former police officer Lubos Kosik, Sme wrote. Kosik is currently living in Mali. Read also: Read also: Scrapping the Meciar amnesties is similar to the Watergate scandal Read more The Constitutional Court was assigned to verify whether the cancellation of amnesties is constitutional. If the court had found it unconstitutional, the amnesties would have remained indefinitely. Conversely, if the court had not issued its decision before the 60-day period expired, or if too few judges supported the ruling, then the proceeding would have stopped and the amnesties scrapped automatically, Sme reported. Read also: Read also: Despite bias, two judges to decide on Meciar amnesties anyway Read more Doubts existed as to whether the Constitutional Court would approve the scrapping, as two of the justices claimed they had biases. The court, however, did not exclude them from the case. One of the judges was Ladislav Orosz, former MP for the Party of Democratic Left (SDL), who had tried in the past to compel parliament to abolish the amnesties. The other was Brnak, who served as an MP for HZDS, the party Meciar had led, and who disagreed with the cancellation in the past. Over the past years, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to scrap the amnesties. A change came at the beginning of this year, when cinemas began screening the film Unos (The Kidnapping), which described the controversial events. A Focus pollster also published a survey that showed 63 percent of its respondents were in favor of scrapping the amnesties. Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak has become the president of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Font size: A - | A + Lajcak will take up the post on September 12 and will hold it for a period of one year, the TASR newswire learned on May 31 from the ministerial office. This is the first time that a Slovak national has been elected to such a senior position in the 193-member world body. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement In his speech immediately after the vote, Lajcak said that he feels honoured to be elected. He thanked Slovak President Andrej Kiska, the government and the public, as well as the assembly, for their support. He said that he would pay equal attention to all three pillars of the organisation peace, human rights and sustainable development. He also singled out his personal priorities as the general assemblys president conflict prevention and mediation as ways of maintaining peace in the world. Among his other goals are seeking answers to current challenges such as migration and bringing the United Nations closer to people. In response to Lajcaks election, Slovak President Andrej Kiska expressed his appreciation and delight: I perceive this decision as the recognition of the active engagement of Slovakia within the United Nations since 1993, he said, as cited by the Sme daily. I am sure that it is also a sign of appreciation of the professional qualities of minister Lajcak. Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Lajcak has confirmed his diplomatic super-class. This is excellent recognition and an honour for Slovakia. I congratulate him with all my heart, Fico said, as quoted by TASR. Former police investigator, Peter Kovarik will become the new director of the Government Office department for corruption prevention. Font size: A - | A + As of June 1, the former head of the Office for the Fight Against Corruption will take over the new department, Prime Minister Robert Fico said at a press conference on May 31. The department has been created by Fico, by transforming a former supervisory section of the Government Office into a stand-alone department that reports directly to the Prime Ministers Office. Fico expects Kovarik to significantly bolster not only the department but also the credibility of the Government Office in this sphere. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Here comes the man who has fought corruption on the frontline, the PM said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. No one can accuse us of promoting a fellow colleague on a partisanship basis. Were hiring a professional, an absolute professional, respected and trusted by all governments," said Fico, adding that Kovarik headed the Office for the Fight Against Corruption under the cabinet of Iveta Radicova (2010-2012). in 2012, he took up the post of police attache of the Slovak Republic in Washington, DC. As a police investigator, he has been involved in the fight against corruption since 2004, the SITA newswire wrote. Fico told Kovarik in front of the media that the fight against corruption represents one of his Government's priorities. Youll report directly to me. No one will bother you with any nonsense. Youll have carte blanche, so let your imagination run loose and come up with whatever plans and motions will help in the fight against corruption, Fico addressed the anti-corruption fight leader, according to TASR. Kovarik declared that he accepted the offer because the large room for improvement in this sphere calls on him to take on the challenge. The fight against corruption must reach from the top all the way down, he said, adding: Id like to communicate, Id like to listen a great deal and Im looking forward to cooperation. Kovarik also claimed that he would like to invite citizens and non-profit organisations to the dialogue as well. According to the unofficial reports, it seems that after a dispute, one man shot his opponent and then committed suicide. The site of the shooting in Ruzinov (Source: Sme - Jozef Jakubco) Font size: A - | A + A man first shot down the owner of a real-estate agency in a multi-functional building, before turning the gun against himself, the Sme daily wrote. One of the men killed was a man, aged 60, who seemed to be injured in the head and whom the rescuers tried to save, the spokesman of the Operation Centre of the Medical Rescue Service informed the TASR newswire on May 31. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The shooting took place around 12:45 in Komarnicka Street in the borough of Ruzinov, police informed. The man died of his head injuries, despite all efforts of the rescuers, Chmel said, adding that three ambulances arrived on the crime site. This site focuses on Republican politicians and conservatives that rip off their constituency. We have the Tea Party, fundamentalist churches, the corruption of ALEC and other special interests groups. But the site also supports progressive Democrats and the local Democratic Socialist of America. We must have ideas on how to replace regressive and corrupt politicians with something better. For comments steveotto2001@yahoo.com or ottozero2001@yahoo.com. To get tickets You'll recognize her immediately, even if you may not instantly recall her name:, the multi-award-winning actress who has already, at the age of 53, graced the screen (and French TV) in some 81 roles.would call her an icon of French cinema, perhapsicon because she is a better actress -- more versatile and seemingly up tochallenge -- than, sayor even, both of whose work (and beauty) I treasure. Ms Devos may not be quite as beautiful, though she can be hugely exotic and glamorous when she wishes, but she is an exceptional performer who is always in-the-moment and never indulges in a false one.In fact, the actress will be appearing in one of the films in theseries --'s(above) -- this coming week, as well as starring, along with, in's(shown below), which will open at New York City'sthe following week.So it is a particular treat that tri-state audiences have in store as thehosts an eight-week/eight-film CineSalon series titledand featuring some of Devos' finest and most varied performances -- in movies that are themselves equally worthwhile. The actress selected these eight films, and she herself will be present for an in-person Q&A following the first of the screenings () on Tuesday June 6 at its 7:30 pm showing.I have seen seven of the eight films to be shown and can verify the quality of each. Given the enormous range this actress has shown over the years, there are plenty of other good films of hers that are not included here. But the eight below beautifully demonstrate how easily Devos can move from genre to genre, role to role, comedy to dark drama without missing a beat. Here is the complete schedule below, with my brief comments on seven of the eight film included(Sur mes levres)Tuesday, June 6 at 4 & 7:30pm35mm, directed by Jacques Audiard, 2001. 115 min. Color.With Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, and Olivier Perrier. In French with English subtitles.In her breakthrough role, Emmanuelle Devos plays Carla, a lonely, hearing-impaired secretary who hires and falls for ex-convict Paul (played by the ever-electrifying Vincent Cassel). While she initially resists Pauls clumsy advances, Carla allows herself to be lured into helping him to carry out a dangerous underworld heist by using her lip-reading skills. Smoldering with erotic tension, Read My Lips is one of the most captivating thrillers by Jacques Audiard, the master of the contemporary French genre film, and the first film for which Emmanuelle Devos received a Cesar award for best actress. "A sharp, inventive mix of love story and film noir" Philadelphia Inquirer Winner of three 2002 Cesar Awards, including Best Screenplay and Best Actress,Emmanuelle Devos will appear in person after the 7:30pm screening for a Q&A Free wine & beer following each screening.Tuesday, June 13 at 4 & 7:30pm35mm, directed by Sophie Fillieres,2005. 102 min. Color.With Emmanuelle Devos, Lambert Wilson, Bruno TodeschiniIn French with English subtitles.In this delightfully zany comedy, Devos plays Fontaine Leglou, an anesthesiologist weighing a marriage proposal from her live-in boyfriend. While her life appears to be perfectly on track, Fontaine feels the itch for adventure: she provokes confrontations with strangers, considers an affair with one of her patients, and participates in a fire-eating display. Writer-director Sophie Fillieres peppers Fontaines quest for happiness with wonderfully witty dialogue composed of non-sequiturs, word-play, and unexpected confessions. Full of offbeat characters and chance encounters on the streets of Paris, Gentille is a charming paean to settling down without losing your taste for eccentricity. A breezy relationship comedy VarietySpecial guest speaker to be announced. Free wine & beer following each screening.(Rois et reine)Tuesday, June 20 at 4 & 7:30pm, 35mm, directed by Arnaud Desplechin2003. 150 min. Color.With Emmanuelle Devos, Geoffrey Carey, Thierry Bosc, Olivier Rabourdin, Mathieu AmalricIn French with English SubtitlesIn what is probably her greatest role and undoubtedly one of the high points in contemporary French cinema, Devos plays the sublimely complex Noradoting mother, manipulative partner, scared little girl, and independent woman. As Nora faces the impending loss of her father and prepares to marry a rich businessman to provide stability for her young son, writer-director Arnaud Desplechin deftly balances psychological drama and comedy to create an unforgettable portrait of Nora and the men in her orbitnotably her ex-boyfriend, the neer-do-well violinist Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) who is institutionalized at the request of an anonymous family member. "Fully alive and extraordinarily intelligent."The New YorkerWinner of the 2005 Cesar Award for Best Actor, Mathieu Amalric.Special guest speaker to be announced. Free wine & beer following each screening.(Comment je me suis dispute [ma vie sexuelle])Tuesday, June 27 at 4 & 8pm, DCP, directed by Arnaud Desplechin,1996. 178 min. Color.With Mathieu Almaric, Emmanuelle Devos, Emmanuel Salinger, Chiara Mastroianni, Denis Podalydes In French with English subtitles.In Arnaud Desplechins freewheeling and breathlessly inventive film, and what is arguably her first important role, a luminous Devos plays Esther, Paul Dedaluss longtime girlfriend. Dedalus, a neurotic, Joycean 29-year-old grad student can neither finish his thesis, nor commit to a girlfriend. Following his circle of friends and lovers into their every late-night, cigarette-fueled argument over love and philosophy, director Arnaud Desplechin revels in the chaos of being young and self-involved. A delayed coming-of-age masterpiece and one of the great French postNew Wave films Art ForumKings and QueenWinner of the 1997 Cesar Award for Most Promising Actor, Mathieu Amalric. Special guest speaker to be announced. Free wine & beer following each screening.(Le temps de laventure)Tuesday, July 11 at 4pmDCP, directed by Jerome Bonnell,2012. 104 min. Color.With Emmanuelle Devos, Gabriel Byrne, Gilles Privat.In French with English subtitlesOn a train to Paris, a seductive Englishman (Gabriel Byrne) approaches struggling actress Alix (Devos) and asks how to get to a church on the Left Bank. After a horrible audition and with only hours to spare before she has to return to the provinces, Alix decides to go to the church and finds the handsome strangerin the middle of a funeral. Wistful yet forward-looking, romantic yet real, Just a Sigh is a Brief Encounter for our times, a portrait of a restless woman on the brink of change that displays the full range of Devoss wonderfully detailed acting. Ms. Devos, a mainstay of French cinema, suggests a younger Catherine Deneuve. The New York TimesSpecial guest speaker to be announced. Free wine & beer following each screening. Presented as part of FIAFs First Tuesdays. See fiaf.org for info.(Le fils de lautre)Tuesday, July 11 at 7:30pmDCP, directed by Lorraine Levy,2011. 105 min. Color.With Emmanuelle Devos, Pascal Elbe, Jules SitrukIn French, English, and Arabic with English subtitlesThe old tale of infants switched at birth is given intense political and religious resonance in this story of a French-Israeli Jewish couple discovering that their eighteen-year-old son Joseph is actually the son of a Palestinian familyand that their own son has been raised in the West Bank. Director Lorraine Levy avoids the pitfalls of a melodramatic situation to deliver a surprisingly nuanced, closely observed vision of the life of two families on either side of the Israeli West Bank barrier. Playing the Israeli mother, Devos leads a stellar ensemble of French, Israeli, and Palestinian actors. "Propelled by a hopeful, good-hearted humanism."The New York TimesSpecial guest speaker to be announced. Free wine & beer following each screening. Presented as part of FIAFs First Tuesdays. See fiaf.org for info.(Ceux qui restent)Tuesday, July 18 at 4 & 7:30pm35mm, directed by Anne Le Ny,2007. 93 min. Color.With Vincent Lindon, Emmanuelle Devos, Yeelem JappainIn French with English subtitlesA staid professor and an ebullient graphic designer develop an unexpected friendship when they meet at the hospital where both their partners are being treated for cancer. Though they have radically different ways of coping with their difficult situations, Bertrand and Lorraine find solace in each others company. But when their relationship threatens to turn romantic, both have to reexamine their lives. This sensitive look at the struggles faced by caregivers and loved ones of people with long-term illness rises to great heights through the opposites-attract pairing of two of Frances greatest stars, Vincent Lindon and Emmanuelle Devos. [An] exquisitely observed psychological drama.The New York TimesSpecial guest speaker to be announced. Free wine & beer following each screening.Tuesday, July 25 at 4 & 7:30pmDCP, directed by Martin Provost2012. 139 min. Color.Emmanuelle Devos, Sandrine Kiberlain, Olivier GourmetIn French with English subtitles.This exquisitely crafted biopic follows novelist Violette Leducs hand-to-mouth existence in Paris from the dark days of the Occupation to the existentialist ferment of Saint-Germain-des-Pres and her eventual triumph as the author of La Batarde. Focusing on Leducs peculiar relationship with her champion and unavowed muse Simone de Beauvoir (played by the great Sandrine Kiberlain), Violette is a startlingly accurate, stark look at life on the fringes of Pariss cultural elite. Devos brings a desperate, compelling intensity to the role of this driven outsider who came to be admired by luminaries such as Sartre, Camus, and Genet. "Director Martin Provost's epic portrait of novelist Violette Leduc is so compelling, even thrilling, in its frank depictions of female sexual voracity."Los Angeles TimesSpecial guest speaker to be announced. Free wine & beer following each screening.simply click on the link to any of the individual films, above, and proceed from there. (FIAF members, of course, can view any and all the films for free!)The French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF) is New Yorks premiere French cultural and language center. FIAF's mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. Support for this program is provided by UniFrance. Special thanks to Geraldine Bryant (Le Bureau Films), Debbie Acosta, John Kochman (Cohen Media), Clemence Taillandier (Distrib Film), Elodie Dupont (Festival Agency), Mike Maggiore (Film Forum), Genevieve Villaflor, Jimmy Weaver (Film Movement), Jonathan Hertzberg (Kino Lorber), Eric Di Bernardo, Dave Franklin, Adrienne Halpern (Rialto), Adeline Monzier (UniFrance), Nadege Le Breton, Steven Martin (Why Not Productions), Olpha Ben Salah, Esther Devos, Livia van der Staay (Wild Bunch), Jean-Francois Gabard, Sophie Sarr (Zelig). CineSalon is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. CineSalon is sponsored by Air France and Delta Air Lines, BNP Paribas, Lacoste, and Renault Nissan. Wine courtesy of Vinadeis, the exclusive wine sponsor of CineSalon. Beer courtesy of Kronenbourg 1664, the exclusive beer sponsor of CineSalon. Program Sponsors: Air France and Delta Air Lines, American Society of the French Legion of Honor, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, Engie, French American Cultural Exchange (FACE), Florence Gould Foundation, Hermes Foundation within the framework of the New Settings Program, Howard Gilman Foundation, Institut francais, JCDecaux, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Office de Tourisme de Boulogne-Billancourt, and Pommery. A Malaysia Airlines flight was forced to turn back after a passenger claimed he was carrying a bomb and tried to enter the cockpit. The flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was turned back after the captain was alerted to the "disruptive" passenger by cabin crew. It landed at Melbourne Airport at 11.40pm local time and was kept in a remote bay while security services were called. The passenger was apprehended by airport security, Malaysia Airlines said. Malaysian transport minister Abdul Aziz bin Kaprawi said the man was a Sri Lankan national and the item he claimed was a "bomb" turned out to be a battery pack. Mr Kaprawi said: "It is not a hijack. One disruptive passenger tried to enter the plane's cockpit." No-one was injured in the bomb scare, he added. Images posted on social media showed armed police officers on board the plane and the suspect on the ground in plastic handcuffs. Passenger Andrew Leoncelli said the man was "screaming" and shouted "I've got a bomb and I'm going to blow the plane up". "Literally he was eyeball to eyeball with me saying he was going to blow the plane up," Mr Leoncelli told the Sydney Morning Herald. "He looked like a lunatic. For some reason he lost his nerve and he ran... and he headed towards the back of the plane. "I hadn't done anything to him except confront him." Flightradar24, an aircraft monitoring site, said that flights bound for Melbourne were diverted to other airports. The Malaysian Airlines flight landed after being airborne for just 14 minutes, it added. In a statement, the airline said: "Safety and security are of Malaysia Airlines' utmost priority. "Malaysia Airlines together with the Australian authorities will be investigating the incident." Lidl Lidl The German grocery chain Lidl is opening its first stores in the US after years of preparation. On June 15, the company will open its first nine stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Lidl released a list of the first stores on Tuesday. The chain will add another 80 stores along the East Coast by the middle of next year. Lidl (pronounced lee-dil) plans to eventually open as many as 600 stores in the US, according to a copy of a company presentation obtained by Business Insider. Lidl currently has 10,000 stores in 27 European countries. The company describes itself as a cross between Trader Joe's and Harris Teeter and promises to offer prices that are as much as 50% lower than its competition. Like Trader Joe's, Lidl places a strong emphasis on private-label brands. Here's a list of the the locations that will open this summer. The nine stores opening on June 15 are listed in bold. North Carolina 4050 W Vernon Ave., Kinston 1800 East Fire Tower Road, Greenville 3520 Raleigh Road Parkway West, Wilson 3209 NC 87 South 2, Sanford 940 N Wesleyan Blvd., Rocky Mount 3315 Sides Branch Road, Winston-Salem 547 US Hwy 70 West, Havelock 705 US 74 Business East, Rockingham 1120 South Main St., Wake Forest South Carolina 8180 Warren H Abernathy Hwy., Spartanburg 2037 Wade Hampton Blvd., Greenville Virginia 6196 Providence Road, Virginia Beach 2000 W Mercury Blvd., Hampton 15169 Brandy Road, Culpeper 4033 Portsmouth Blvd., Chesapeake 6440 N Military Hwy, Norfolk 11076 Warwick Blvd, Newport News 12151 W. Broad St, Richmond 5110 S. Laburnum Ave, Richmond 1311 Mall Drive, North Chesterfield The first 100 customers to arrive at the stores opening on June 15 will receive a wooden coin for a chance to win up to $100 in Lidl gift cards. Shoppers will also be given samples of Lidls products and get a complimentary Lidl reusable bag. NOW WATCH: The Big Bang is not the beginning of our universe its actually the end of something else entirely See Also: The UN Security Council has warned Yemen is in urgent need of a peace accord to avoid total social, economic and institutional collapse. However, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the bodys special envoy for the country says we are not close to such an agreement as key parties are unwilling to compromise. Yemen is in the throes of a humanitarian crisis following years of fighting between pro-government forces and Shia Houthi rebels. Stephen OBrien, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator added Crisis is not coming. It is not even looming. It is here today on our watch and ordinary people are paying the price. What is worse is the threat of famine is driven and exacerbated by conflict. Yemen is not facing a drought. If there was no conflict in Yemen there would be no descent into famine, misery, disease and death. It comes as a quarter of the population find themselves on the brink of famine, a cholera outbreak has killed at least 500 people and a further 150,000 fresh cases are expected by November. The UN is negotiating to stop the conflict from spreading to the port city of Hodeidah, where some 80 percent of Yemens food imports arrive. An attack there would, it claims, lead to a devastating loss of civilian life. The University of North Georgia (UNG) has been awarded a total of $2.6 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Educations Upward Bound Program to help promising low-income high school students in Hall and Gilmer counties prepare for college. UNG will partner with Gilmer County High School and Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia, to provide 120 students annually with tutoring, counseling and advising to help them succeed academically. Part of UNGs mission is to increase educational attainment across northeast Georgia and strengthen the region's economy, UNG President Bonita C. Jacobs said. Through these grants and the Upward Bound program, we will be able to provide vital support to students in our region as they prepare for higher education and future career opportunities. Johnson High is located within one mile of UNGs Gainesville Campus, and the Upward Bound partnership allows students from the school to be groomed for college success at a much earlier stage. "This funding will allow UNG to better serve students from economically disadvantaged households and increase their access to post-secondary education," said Sheila Caldwell, director for UNG's Complete College Georgia program and primary lead of the grant for Johnson High. "By serving this very high-need school, we will be able to use our resources strategically and intensely to prepare these students for college success," Gilmer County High is located in Ellijay, Georgia, a rural mountain community served by UNGs Blue Ridge Campus. "Introducing the Upward Bound program in Gilmer County has the potential to greatly increase the progression of low-income students and first-generation college students through the academic pipeline," said Sandy Ott, director of UNGs Blue Ridge Campus and primary lead of the grant for Gilmer County High. Through Upward Bound, UNG will provide mentoring, parent engagement, state assessment preparation, career exploration, cultural experiences, and college visits to each high school participant of the program. UNG chose to collaborate with the selected high schools for this program to build upon its existing partnerships with both. At UNGs Blue Ridge Campus, students from Gilmer and the surrounding communities may participate in a signature program called the Blue Ridge Scholars, which groups first-time freshmen as a cohort and provides integrated instruction and support. UNGs Gainesville Campus is a supporting partner of the Jobs for Georgia Graduates program. Working with Johnson High as one of the states pilot schools, UNG provides classroom instruction and leadership development to help reduce the dropout rate among at-risk youth. More than 62,000 high school students around the country receive services through Upward Bound, which works to inspire low-income, first-generation, and rural students to attend college. The U.S. Department of Education reports 86 percent of Upward Bound students who graduated from high school in the spring of 2014 enrolled in college that fall. The department issued $263 million in Upward Bound grants in fiscal year 2015. SHANGHAI The arrest and disappearance of three labor activists investigating a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump shoes in China prompted a call for her brand to stop working with the supplier and raised questions about whether the first familys commercial interests would muddy U.S. leadership on human rights. Ivankas brand should immediately cease its work with this supplier, and the Trump administration should reverse its current course and confront China on its human rights abuses, Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, said in a Wednesday email. Ivanka Trump must decide, she added, whether she can ignore the Chinese governments apparent attempt to silence an investigation into those worker abuses. Amnesty International called Wednesday for the release of China Labor Watch investigator Hua Haifeng, as well as his two colleagues, who are feared to have been detained. The men were working with an American nonprofit group to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and possible misuse of student labor, according to China Labor Watch executive director Li Qiang, who lost contact with the investigators over the weekend. The investigators also witnessed verbal abuse, with one manager insulting staff about poorly made shoes and making a crude reference in Chinese to female genitalia, according to Li. China Labor Watch has been exposing poor working conditions at suppliers to some of the worlds best-known companies for nearly two decades, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from Chinas state security apparatus. The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of Chinas ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labor unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has taken a stern approach to activism in southern Chinas manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody. China Labor Watchs investigation also had an unusual target: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States. Ivanka Trumps lifestyle brand imports most of its merchandise from China, trade data show. She and her father both have extensive trademark portfolios in China, though neither has managed to build up a large retail or real estate presence here. The sister of Jared Kushner, a Trump adviser and husband of Ivanka, traveled to China this past month to court investment from Chinese families for a real estate project in New Jersey. The eagerness of members of the family to do business in China while airbrushing very troubling human rights and labor rights records of the country is troubling, said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. He said it is only a matter of time before it is known to what extent business is trumping any kind of consideration of the diplomatic capital of the U.S. in promoting human rights, labor rights and democracy. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trumps brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment. Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter became a White House presidential adviser, has said the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions. China tightened control over foreign NGOs starting this year by requiring them to register with state security. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing Wednesday that she was not aware of the arrest and disappearances. She said China welcomed international NGOs to carry out research, but added, we also hope that NGOs can also observe Chinese laws and regulations and dont engage in any illegal actions or behavior. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didnt need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the familys breadwinner. The crime carries a penalty of up to two years imprisonment. Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the Deng and the two other investigators, Li Zhao and Su Heng, on Monday but received no reply. AP was unable to reach the other investigators families. Chinas Ministry of Public Security and police could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China. Calls went unanswered Wednesday morning. The men were investigating Huajian Group factories in the southern Chinese cities of Ganzhou and Dongguan. Su Heng had been working undercover at the Ganzhou factory since April, Li said. In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, told AP the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trumps brand a fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand merchandise, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit. We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately, a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email Tuesday. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment. ___ Associated Press writer Louise Watt contributed from Beijing and researcher Fu Ting contributed from Shanghai. ___ Follow Kinetz on Twitter at twitter.com/ekinetz HARTFORD, Conn. A student originally from Mexico, Eric Cruz Lopez was among the most visible immigration activists on the University of Connecticut campus up until he was charged with spray-painting expletives about President Donald Trump on the walls of school buildings. Now his arrest is hurting the push for a bill that would allow students without legal immigration status at the states public colleges and universities access to financial aid. Cruz, who had testified himself in favor of the legislation, was charged on May 7 with more than 100 counts of misdemeanor vandalism. Police said he gave a statement admitting to the vandalism and offering to discuss restitution. He did not respond to requests for comment. The case led state House leaders to postpone a planned vote last week on legislation that would open up $165 million in institutional financial aid to students without legal status at public colleges and universities. Those students are studying under an Obama-era executive order known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which grants them special visas. State Sen. Beth Bye, a West Hartford Democrat and co-chair of the legislatures Higher Education Committee, said shes still hopeful lawmakers will look past the arrest and to the bigger picture. Its frustrating to see this one persons action, in a moment in time, hurt the hopes and dreams of hundreds of Connecticut college students, putting their hopes and dreams out of reach, she said. His actions are not indicative at all of who these students are. Connecticut Students for a Dream, for which Cruz worked as an organizer, wrote to lawmakers distancing themselves from his actions. The group plans a rally at the state Capitol on Wednesday to make another push for the legislation. For four years, we have marched, rallied, and organized for these proposals, said Camila Bortolleto, a spokeswoman for the group. Weve won support from all of Connecticuts higher education institutions, dozens of community groups, labor unions, and legislators in both parties. Its resoundingly clear: Our state supports these proposals. But some conservatives, including commentator Ann Coulter, have latched on to Cruz Lopezs arrest as an example of why they say the students dont deserve support. Cruz led a protest march on campus in November following the presidential election and appeared before the Board of Trustees in December to demand the school codify protections for the students after Trump said he planned to reverse the previous administrations executive order. Cruz also has been to the Capitol several times to support the financial aid legislation. The students are currently not allowed to receive government aid, even though the money comes from a pool generated by tuition payments, to which they contribute. Cruz, who came to the United States when he was 7 and lives in Bridgeport, testified the students simply want to be allowed to compete on a level playing field. He said he took the spring semester off because he needed to earn money to continue his studies. I have been worried about paying for college since I was 10, knowing that because we had to go to a food pantry to get food, paying for my education was going to be hard, he said. The University of Connecticut and the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system both support the legislation, which has passed the Senate in each of the last two years. It was supposed to start this year in the House and may die without a vote in the lower chamber. Police have identified a woman killed in a southeast Albuquerque shooting last week, according to an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman. Officer Fred Duran said Celina Arrellanes, 27, was shot just before midnight Wednesday near Zuni and Wyoming. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but later died from her injuries. Detectives have no suspects in custody and were told the offender is possibly a male who was seen leaving the area in a vehicle, Duran said. He said police couldnt get a description of the male or vehicle and are asking for the publics help. Detectives are asking anyone who may have seen anything around this time or who may have information on this incident to contact Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP. Callers can remain anonymous and receive a reward for information leading to an arrest. SANTA FE The Santa Fe County Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to hold off decisions on imposing two separate increases in the gross receipt tax until June 27 after the Commission meets with the Santa Fe City Council for a joint session. The City Council, after seeing its own proposed tax on sugary drinks fail at the polls on May 2, passed a resolution asking the commission to delay action on raising GRT until the joint meeting on June 15 so the governing bodies could fully address the issue. In addition, commissioners were presented with something else to think about when County Attorney Greg Shaffer said hed received an opinion from the state Taxation and Revenue Department that one of the proposed increases requires approval by county voters. One of the tax proposals is a 1/8 of 1 percent so-called hold harmless increase, under authority granted by the Legislature to counties and municipalities, to make up for prior state subsidies that are being phased out. No voter approval is needed. The other proposal calls for either a 1/12 or 1/16 of 1 percent increase. Together, the increases would cost taxpayers about 20 cents at the cash register on a $100 purchase. They would generate up to $6.9 million annually to hire more fire department and sheriffs office personnel and expand behavioral health services, including building a behavioral health triage center. The commissions decision to wait until after city and county leaders have met came after more than a dozen people spoke during a public hearing. Several were from Espanola, which straddles the Santa Fe/Rio Arriba county line. Espanola City Manager Mark Trujillo told the commission that if the county raises GRT, it should make sure that people living in outlying areas see a benefit. Lets see it in Espanola, lets see it in Edgewood, he said. We need to see it in the smaller communities. Marti Griego, director of the 911 center in Espanola, said any money would help because her staff is overwhelmed. We need funding and have no place else to ask for it. A few people spoke in opposition to the taxes. The citizens of New Mexico and Santa Fe County have been taxed enough already, said Sam LeDoux of Nambe. He said the commission should help businesses increase commerce to generate more GRT, rather than raising the rate. If the Commission votes to increase GRT on June 27, the increase wouldnt go into effect until Jan. 1. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal Albuquerques Civilian Police Oversight Agency is investigating a complaint filed against two spokesmen for the police department for providing false information to the Journal about the polices involvement with Victoria Martens and her family prior to the young girls death. The complaint was filed by a former law enforcement officer, who said the reason for the spread of the misinformation should be investigated to create accountability within the department. Celina Espinoza, a police spokeswoman, has acknowledged that she incorrectly told a Journal reporter that police had investigated after the Children, Youth and Families Department told authorities that someone reported that one of Michelle Martens boyfriends had tried to kiss Victoria. Police never investigated that report. Espinoza later said it was a case of miscommunication. Espinozas explanation that the incorrect information was due to a miscommunication on her part does not provide an iota of accountability within APD for the grossly false information provided to the public, Jim Larson said in a prepared statement to the CPOA, which he provided to the Journal. My complaint is the public must be able to trust the police department to provide truthful and accurate information regarding actions taken or not taken by officers, he wrote. That trust was violated when the department provided false statements to the public regarding the actions or inactions of detectives and questions remain unanswered about who provided the fictional information and why that was provided to the public. Larson, who lives in Albuquerque, has worked in law enforcement for both the Dallas Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service. He attends many of the police oversight board meetings. I think the biggest problem I had is the accountability for the police department in what was said, he said in an interview. It seems like it could be an outright lie. Ed Harness, the executive director of the CPOA, confirmed that his agency received a complaint related to the Journal story and said an investigation is ongoing. Victoria, 10, was raped and killed in August 2016 in a crime that shocked the state. Her mother, Michelle Martens; Martens boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales; and Jessica Kelley, Gonzales cousin, have been charged with murder and other crimes in connection to the girls death. Five months before Victoria was killed, CYFD received a complaint that one of Martens boyfriends tried to kiss the child. The agency said in a summary document that CYFD couldnt investigate the allegation because the boyfriend wasnt a relative and didnt live in Victorias home, but reported the complaint to APD. Police now say they didnt follow up on the matter because police policy only calls for additional investigation if there is a report of neglect, abuse or a crime. Espinoza said an attempted kiss isnt a crime. Espinoza said last week that both she and officer Fred Duran, who is also a department spokesman, were named in the complaint. She said they will cooperate with the CPOAs investigation. In January, Duran told the Journal detectives interviewed Victoria about the complaint; Espinoza originally said APD did not follow up on the complaint but then concurred with Duran later in an interview that included both of them. Fred had communicated to me that investigators had followed up, she said in an interview last week. I took that as our investigators. In taped interviews between police and the Journal over two days in January, Duran said that after CYFD reported the attempted kiss to police, detectives met with Martens and Victoria to discuss the allegations, and that Victoria didnt report an attempted kiss. Detectives went and talked to the family and thats where we got the information that the mother had taken care of the situation by telling the boyfriend to leave and not come back, Duran said. When asked why detectives made no report about the case, he said that making such a report would violate a victims rights and amount to police surveillance. Later that day, Espinoza contradicted Durans interview, saying police did not follow up on CYFDs allegations because police policy dictates that officers only follow up on criminal allegations, and a kiss isnt a crime. When the Journal asked about the contradiction, APD set up a conference call between the reporter and both Espinoza and Duran, who said that detectives did interview the family, but they didnt make any documentation. They said they couldnt release the names of the detectives because the detectives work high-profile cases with the FBI and releasing their names could jeopardize pending cases. They assured the Journal that officers had dealt with the reported kiss. Everybody did everything that they were supposed to, Espinoza said in that interview. A Journal story published in March quoted Espinoza acknowledging that APD detectives had not followed up on the complaint after all. She said at that time that she had meant in her January interviews that CYFD had investigated not APD. But tapes of the January interviews showed Espinoza referring to our detectives as the ones who supposedly spoke with Martens and Victoria. Have you read about the Anti-Lunch Shaming bill that passed the New Mexico Legislature during the most recent general session and was signed into law by Gov. Susana Martinez? Its actual title is The Hunger-Free Students Bill of Rights Act, and it has received some local attention and significant national media coverage, including in the New York Times, and on CNN, NBC Nightly News and the Today Show. It has even been featured in several international media outlets, such as Le Monde and The Telegraph. The impetus for the bill, the first of its kind to be passed in this country, was the practice by some schools of requiring a child who could not pay for his/her lunch to either throw the food away or work to pay off the debt. This practice and a legislative solution was brought to the attention of legislators by New Mexico Appleseed, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization working for policy changes that will reduce poverty in our state. We, as members of the board of directors of New Mexico Appleseed, learned several lessons from the passage of this legislation. The more obvious fact is that New Mexicans do not condone punishing or humiliating children as a result of their parents inability or refusal to pay the lunch bill. Perhaps the more important take-away, however, is the value of working together in a non-partisan collaboration to reach the goal of making New Mexico a better place to be a child. While so many leaders here in our state and on the national level are engaged in petty wrangling and partisan one-upmanship, we believe that beneficial policy change is more likely to be achieved by working in concert with people who ascribe to different political philosophies. We hope that amid all the media attention the passage of this bill has received, the message of non-partisan collaboration is heard. We believe it is often better to come together to do whats right than to stand apart and fail to act. We are pleased that our efforts have put New Mexico No. 1 on a good list. This letter was signed by the other members of the Appleseed Board of Directors. Two Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office helicopters have been added to the 2017 National Helicopter Extraction Resource list to be available for emergency rescues and other operations in the Southwest region covering all of Arizona and New Mexico, and the western third of Texas. This Emergency Contact Checklist comes from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group and provides a quick resource guide to on-scene incident commanders and/or EMS personnel for use among federal, state, tribal and local partners, according to a news release. Emergency helicopter extraction involves inserting emergency response personnel and/or extracting critically injured persons from remote or inaccessible locations. It is an honor and privilege to serve the community as a search and rescue resource for the Southwest United States, Air Unit Sgt. Larry Koren said in a statement. The air crew is comprised of highly skilled pilots, mechanics, paramedics and tactical flight officers, Koren said. The air unit has hoist and short-haul capability to extract injured outdoor enthusiasts, wildland firefighters and emergency responders from austere wilderness environments. Sheriffs Office and Bernalillo County Fire personnel make up the flight crews. This list provides in-depth details of the individual helicopter models such as flight speed, range, response time, refueling needs and locations, night vision equipment, hoist information, medics on board, weight limits and contact information for quick matching for a specific operations. The list or document also outlines procedures for contacting the nearest resource. Two of the sheriffs office Metro Air Support Units helicopters a Bell Huey and an A-Star are now part of the 14 listed for the Southwest region, including a Pave Hawk helicopter from Kirtland Air Force Base and a Black Hawk from the New Mexico National Guard out of Santa Fe. We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com. RK Swamy BBDO Delhi has launched an engaging digital and on-ground campaign #ThatsMyDate for Ozone 1M, a brand of intimate hygiene products for women. The objective of this initiative is to create awareness among women about the importance of intimate hygiene. May 28, Menstrual Hygiene Day, which is celebrated globally to raise awareness about womens intimate hygiene and to promote menstrual hygiene management, was chosen as the perfect launchpad for an initiative like this. Ankur Suman, Creative Head, RK Swamy BBDO, Delhi, commented, We cant make women aware unless we first open them up on the topic of menstruation. And to help them open up, we needed to start with something as simple as asking them to talk about their menstrual date. Period. A few days before Menstrual Hygiene Day, several women were contacted through private messages on social media, urging them to upload their photos mentioning their next menstrual date along with #ThatsMyDate on their social profiles. It created a buzz and soon many more women pitched in, flooding the social media with these messages. The on-ground activity was launched on May 28, 2017 at an event organised by NGO Sacchi Saheli, at Inner Circle, Connaught Place in Delhi. Thousands of women from different walks of life came forward to show their support by sharing and signing their menstrual dates and uploading their photos on social media. A peppy theme song was also unveiled that added a fresh vibe to the activity. Free sampling of 1M Intimate Cream Wash was also done. Neeta Agarwal, CMO, Ozone Group, added here, As a brand, we always wanted to promote the importance of intimate hygiene among as many women as possible. Looking at the phenomenal success of #ThatsMyDate campaign, we are now planning to go to next level by taking this initiative pan-India. Qoruz, Indias leading influencer marketing intelligence platform, has announced the launch of its social campaign tracker. Focused on measuring user and influencer generated content and conversations during a brand campaign, this unique tracker helps brands monitor social media platforms for earned media content for specific keywords and hashtags. It also enables marketers discover top social influencers creating content that carries a mention of their brands, and understand the total social reach and engagement generated via these earned media content pieces. Qoruz tracker simplifies the whole process of monitoring and measuring earned media content. Brands can set up custom trackers around specific keywords and hashtags and monitor historic and real-time content posted by influencers and other audience as well. The A.I. enabled dashboard classifies and segregates influencers and normal social media audience into separate streams, that helps brands easily identify which content creators they should be focusing on in terms of nurturing and collaboration, and provides a range of important social media metrics for each influencer .Users can also track competitor keywords and benchmark how their competition is faring in terms of earned conversations. This helps them understand what content is working, which influencers are proving to be most helpful for the brand, and then act upon this information. Speaking about the launch, Prabakaran, Chief Technical Officer of Qoruz, said, The plan is to expand the capabilities of the tracker and help brand monitor its social health 24X7, 365 days a year. We plan to bring in more useful analytical features like sentiment analysis, brands influence, authority, integrated competition benchmarking and more. We will also build upon the intelligence of the platform in terms of predicting what type of content will work for the brands, based on a deep-data analysis of the successful content. The endgame is to build a holistic earned media content monitoring, analysis, and inspiring tool. Varun Tyagi, Product Manager for Qoruz, added, Various research studies have proven that peer generated brand content is much more influential when it comes to purchasing considerations than brands own content. In terms of analyzing social media performance, most brands are still focused on how well their social handles are doing, but only a few are measuring influencer-generated content and its impact, and thats where the true social influencer lies.This is where Qoruz tracker comes into play. The social media campaign tracker is available as a part of the Qoruz suite as well as a standalone tool. Subscription for the standalone version starts at INR 40,000 a month (for tracking approximately 1,00,000 conversations). 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. Acers Chromebook 11 has shown its face at Computex in Taipei this week. Its a bit of an interesting Chromebook, as it apparently has 8GB of RAM as well as a pretty powerful processor under the hood. So it definitely isnt your typical 11-inch Chromebook thats pretty cheap. There are options for Intel Core i3 and Intel Core i5 Celeron processors (7th generation), as well as options of 2GB of RAM on up to 8GB of RAM. It does have Military Grade impact resistance, as well as up to 13 hours of battery life. However, this Chromebook isnt aimed at the general market, unfortunately its going to be an Educational Chromebook. Meaning that Acer is looking to sell this to schools and school systems for use with students. And thats why it has Military Grade impact resistance. It also has a unique liquid drainage design, something that hasnt been shown on other Chromebooks in the past. But these are all features to help keep the Chromebook 11 working well, despite being in the hands of students all day long. And of course, the 13 hours of battery life is pretty much par the course for Chromebooks these days. Ports for this Chromebook include a USB-C for charging, as well as HDMI, USB 3.0, 3.5mm headphone jack, micro SD card slot, and a Kensington lock (which is a popular feature for classrooms, so that students dont walk off with these devices). This Chromebook 11 was sitting out on the show floor at Computex, obviously it wasnt supposed to be sitting out there, since it is unannounced. Theres not much to go on really about this Chromebook just yet, for example, theres no release date or any pricing available. But since it is aimed at Education customers, it likely will be fairly cheap. Hopefully this will be one of the few Chromebooks that Acer decides to offer to the general public. Since it looks pretty solid, and its something that many Chromebook users would definitely like to get their hands on, if the price is right. Acer will likely unveil it in the coming weeks, as the company is big on education Chromebooks and Chromebooks in general. Android Pay in Canada goes live today with eight banks, as Googles Canada Blog has just announced this morning that it has begun to roll out the service to users to bring mobile payments to Canada and make paying for goods and services that much easier for consumers. Participating banks that are so far supported with the start of the rollout include BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Scotiabank, Desjardins, Banque Nationale, ATB Financial, Canadian Tire Financial Services, and Presidents Choice Financial, with support coming this Summer for Tangerine as an additional bank, and support for American Express as an additional supported card. Currently the supported card types from any of these banks includes Interac, MasterCard, and Visa, as well as prepaid cards from Scotiabank and Desjardins. While today is the start of the rollout for Android Pay in the region, Google does note that the rollout will continue over the coming days, which means it may not work in all supported retail locations today or for some consumers. That said, those with a supported bank at this time will be able to give things a go simply by trying the service out at a retailer which accepts contactless payments. Google plans to roll out support for additional banks and retailers in Canada throughout the year and in the months ahead, so while the list for supported banks and retailers may not be large just yet, support will expand and given Googles track record for rapidly expanding support for the mobile payment system in the U.S. its highly likely the same could happen for Canada. Some of the already supported retailers will be Tim Hortons, Sears, Freedom Mobile, Loblaws and more, and there are even a number of applications which will support it with the start of this launch like Uber, Hotel Tonight, Ritual, lululemon and others. As with Android Pay in other regions where it;s already up and running, consumers will need a device that has NFC and is running on at least Android 4.4 KitKat to make the service work. Android Pay in Canada has been a long time coming for many consumers, s now that its here users will finally be able to checkout faster and easier. AT&T, the second largest wireless carrier in the United States, has reportedly made no headway in talks with unionized workers and the Communication Workers of America since a strike just over a week ago. There have been no comments from either side toward the media about anything moving forward, and no reports of agreements being reached. AT&T, for its part, did say that they are determined to work things out with the CWA and the AT&T employees who have associated with it. They also noted that they had reached an agreement with union workers in Indiana and Illinois, but on an unrelated topic. The CWA did not issue any sort of comment on the matter at hand. To recap, the aforementioned strike is the first large-scale one that AT&Ts wireless employees have ever taken part in, and involved somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 employees across all of AT&Ts nationwide divisions. The three day strike crippled AT&Ts operations over last weekend from mid-day Friday all the way until Monday morning. That strike came after an ultimatum that threatened a strike if no deal was reached on Friday. That ultimatum, in turn, came from the aftermath of a mass demonstration at a shareholder meeting in Texas. AT&T and the CWA have been going back and forth in this nature for a number of years. Workers cite a number of grievances, such as excessive outsourcing, poor contract terms, and a lack of profitable investment in AT&Ts core business interests, which would help to invigorate the companys reputation and funding. These issues have had strikes similar to this one organized over them in the past, but this has been the largest yet, and marks the beginning of the wireless segment, one of AT&Ts largest employee bases and profit makers, jumping into the fight in an organized fashion. Its safe to say that the 40,000 employees who ate a loss of income and risked their jobs to strike are dedicated to the cause, which means that the total number is incredibly likely to only grow as the battle rages on. This, in turn, means that AT&T has a clear motivation to end the dissidence quickly and amicably. AUKEY and other manufacturers have really started to flourish with companies offering USB-C ports and some with only USB-C ports. And that is by creating dongles for these products, or hubs if you want to be technically correct. There are many of hubs out there already, some of them look really nice and blend in with the design of certain laptops, and then there are others that offer plenty of ports. This one from AUKEY is the latter of the two. Its a great looking hub, thats made of aluminum, but it has plenty of ports available, in fact just about everything you need is here except for a SD card slot. Weve been using it for a few weeks, in our everyday workflow, so lets talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of this USB-C hub. This hub has a VGA port, HDMI, ethernet, two USB-A and a USB-C port available. Now for my workflow, Ive used it plugged into my MacBook Pro (it will work with Chromebooks like the Samsung Chromebook Pro and the Google Chromebook Pixel that have just a USB-C port), with a monitor plugged into the HDMI port, a webcam plugged into one of the USB-A ports and then the charger plugged into the USB-C port. So it has everything I need, plus a few extras, which is nice to have. Because you never know when you may need to use that second USB-A port, or the ethernet port. While most monitors dont use VGA anymore, its great that AUKEY did still include it, as not everyone has a modern monitor although most do. Advertisement As expected, theres really no setup here with this hub. You just plug things in and it works, and thats how it should be. Theres a pretty short cable that is connected to the hub, so the hub isnt just sitting attached to your computer, but its not quite long enough to hide the hub. Which for those that hate seeing cables, that might be a disadvantage for this USB-C hub. What I would like to see from AUKEY in this hub, is a way to fold the USB-C cable along the side, so that it looks more tidy when you toss it into your travel bag. Other than that, it does everything you can expect. The USB-A ports are even USB 3.0, so that you are getting high-speed data transfers when you need them, and thats always a good thing. AUKEYs USB-C Hub is a great pickup for anyone that has just bought a new laptop that has USB-C only, or very limited ports. Now, it does not have a SD card slot, which is unfortunate, and thats the only thing missing for me, with this one. But for everyone else, this is basically perfect. Laptops like the Samsung Chromebook Plus or Chromebook Pro do offer a SD card slot, so if you did pick up either of those, this will work just fine. This is universal, so it will work with Chromebooks, PCs and Macs. We did test it on a Chromebook and a Mac during the review process and it worked great on both. The price for this hub is pretty substantial. Were looking at a price of $79.99 right now on Amazon. Thats actually about the price youd see from other companies for a comparable USB-C hub, so its tough to say its too expensive. Its likely expensive because USB-C is still a new technology, and therefore costs a bit to actually add it into products. You can pick up the AUKEY USB-C Hub from Amazon using the link below, and it is eligible for Amazon Prime. Advertisement For a limited time only, AUKEY is offering up a 19% discount on this USB-C Hub (as well as other AUKEY products) when you use the promo code AUKEYBB2 that brings the price down to $65. Make sure you purchase from AUKEY Direct and not a third-party seller, or this code wont work. Verizon Wireless started pushing out the May Android Security Update to Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge units on its network, as evidenced by the wireless carriers support pages for both devices. The largest mobile service provider in the United States introduced the latest set of patches for Samsungs 2014 phablets in a relatively timely manner as the same software package only started hitting unlocked devices in select European countries earlier this week. The swift release of the new Android Security Update for the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge seemingly follows Samsungs recent promise to U.S. consumers, with the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer vowing to keep the unlocked variants of its devices in the country updated on a monthly basis going forward. The promise that was made in March didnt include carrier-locked smartphones, but the Big Red is apparently adamant to not lag behind Samsung a lot and keep its customers as protected as possible. The May security patch for the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge is being distributed as an over-the-air (OTA) update that is rolling out in stages and might take several days before its available to Verizons customers throughout the country. Samsungs devices are scanning for the update periodically and will prompt their users to download the security patch through a push notification once the new software is available for installation. Users who are keen to download the update as soon as possible can search for it manually by launching the Android Settings app, navigating to the About phone menu, and tapping the Download software updates on the following interface. Verizons Galaxy Note 4 is receiving the software version N910VVRS2CQD1, while the Galaxy Note Edge is being updated with the build number N915VVRS2CQE1, the companys official support pages reveal. Apart from fixes for a number of security vulnerabilities, the update also eliminates several bugs and ships with a new version of the Amazon Shopping app, Verizon said. The software package wont radically change the end user experience for Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge owners and is recommended to be installed over a Wi-Fi network, with the device being sufficiently charged or charging during the installation process. Googles in-house Arts & Culture division has announced that they will be teaming up with digital art preservation specialists Rhizome to help keep digital art of all sorts safe and enjoyable for years to come as closely to their original forms as possible. Rhizome has been working toward this goal for quite some time, while Google Arts & Culture has focused primarily on more traditional art forms. Digital art requires a somewhat different approach to preservation, with the main consideration being obsolescence and degradation of storage media over time. Rhizome will be lending Google their expertise as the two work together to help preserve the digital worlds many great creative works, and Google will be lending Rhizome their wallet, storage, and computing muscle. Googles Vint Cerf, the vice president of Google Arts & Culture, attended a conference last month in London where leaders in the field of art preservation, including Rhizomes Dragan Espenschied, talked over the state and future of digital media preservation. The conferencegoers spoke of various methods of distribution and preservation that would allow digital art to be kept safe and enjoyed by all long after the standard it was originally created in becomes obsolete. Google Arts & Culture mainly works on digitally preserving pieces of art, and even putting them into whole new experiences, such as VR tours through paintings and famous landmarks. Rhizome, on the other hand, has been working on the digital front since the 1990s. The company has created a wide range of tools and standards that are meant to help digital works of art to reach new audiences in forms and formats that are faithful to the originals, compatible with newer file and computing tool standards, and able to be recompiled or ported as formats change. Going forward, Google Arts & Culture will be making Rhizomes works available to the public for free, and helping to host, convert, and preserve them. The category of digital art is a wide one, including things like old videogames, user interfaces from legacy applications, and of course, traditional pixel art and digital music. All of these art forms and more will fall into Google and Rhizomes combined wheelhouse under this new initiative. Motorola will launch its new Android smartphone tomorrow, June 6, according to the Canadian branch of the Lenovo-owned company. Motorola Canada on Wednesday took to Twitter to announce that its next bold phone is scheduled to be unveiled in around 24 hours, without clarifying on the matter. Motorola Mobility recently had its entire 2017 handset lineup leaked, as one industry insider shared a photo depicting nine new devices bearing the Moto branding. Since then, the company already unveiled two of those phones, namely the Moto C and Moto C Plus. While the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is expected to launch the Moto X at some point this year, recent leaks indicate that the firm is now preparing to release another handset. The Moto E, Moto E Plus, Moto Z2, Moto Z2 Force, and the Moto Z2 Play have all been the subjects of much more leaks than another Moto X-series smartphone in recent weeks, indicating that the company is more likely to launch one of those devices in the near future. The Moto Z2 was certified by Chinese telecommunications regulator TENAA earlier this week, suggesting that the upcoming high-end smartphone may be released in the Far Eastern country in the coming weeks, though Motorola Mobility has yet to confirm that in any official capacity. The phone makers parent company Lenovo has also been rather quiet on the subject of handsets in recent times, having only said that it isnt planning to discontinue its own smartphone brand in favor of Moto devices. The Chinese tech giant has been struggling to turn a profit on handsets ever since it purchased Motorola from Google in 2014, though the company claims that its now on track to return to the black in the near future. The aforementioned leak of Motorolas 2017 lineup indicates that the OEM is now looking to adopt a product strategy thats similar to that of Samsung, i.e. shipping a wide variety of devices in an effort to compete in all price segments. While more affordable handsets have lower profit margins than flagship models, Samsung, Motorola, and many other phone makers have traditionally been willing to accept smaller earnings as long as consumers are still buying their devices at the expense of their competitors. Google has announced the Actions on Google Developer Challenge designed with a goal of encouraging developers to come up with new and unique Google Assistant actions. The challenge is open to any developer who is or might be interested in expanding their apps functionality to the Google Assistant. While the Actions on Google platform was announced last year, this challenge is a way to motivate devs to get started with building actions that will work with more devices compatible with the Google Assistant including those powered by Android and iOS. Developers interested in participating in the challenge should note that their app must get approved by Google by August 31. There are no limits on the number of times you can submit your app for approval as long as you do it within the deadline. It is also worth mentioning that yours must be a new app and you cannot enter the challenge multiple times with the same app. You can participate either as an individual or a team of up to three members, Google said. The Alphabet-owned company is also allowing each contestant to submit up to three apps as long as their submissions are sufficiently differentiated experiences. After the deadline, Google Assistant team members will start judging each valid entry on the basis of creativity, relevance, quality, and usage. The team will get in touch with all winners in the final quarter of the year and each participant is eligible to win in multiple categories. Like with many other Googles developer challenges, there are different prizes to be won. The top prize for the challenge comprises a visit to Googles headquarters in Mountain View, California, and Google I/O 2018 tickets along with $10,000 in prize money. As for the second and third spot, winners will get $7,500 and $5,000, respectively, as well as one Google Home unit each. Other prizes are spread across 13 categories including the Best app by students, Best sound effects, Best API.AI app, Best Converse.AI app, and Best voice interaction. The challenge is open to participants outside of the United States, but with some limitations. Refer to the source link beneath this writing to find out if youre eligible to participate in the new Actions on Google Developer Challenge. The Nubia Z17 is the companys upcoming flagship, and the companys PR team has just confirmed that the phone will sport 8GB of RAM, while the company hints that the device will also be water resistant. The part about 8GB of RAM does not come directly from the company, so it is not yet official, but it seems like a member of Nubias PR team spilled the beans. Now, in addition to that, Nubia shared an image on its official Weibo (Chinese social network) account, and that image hints that the phone will ship with IP6X (IP67 most probably) rating, which means that the phone will be both water and dust resistant. That being said, Nubia actually confirmed yesterday that the phone will sport a bezel-less display, and the company also suggested that the phone will launch on June 1, which means it will arrive tomorrow. Having said that, the Nubia Z17 leaked a number of times thus far, and the phone also surfaced on Geekbench quite recently. Thanks to that listing, we more or less know that the phone will be fueled by Qualcomms most powerful processor currently available, the Snapdragon 835 64-bit octa-core SoC. In addition to that, Geekbench suggested that a 6GB RAM model of the phone will also be available, and that Android 7.1.1 Nougat will come pre-installed on the device. On top of Android, however, you will get Nubias very own custom UI, of course. The Nubia Z17 will be made out of metal and glass, most probably, which means that the company will ditch the all-metal design, but nothing has been confirmed just yet, well have to wait a bit longer in order to know for sure. The Nubia Z17 will be a direct successor to the Nubia Z11 which was announced in June last year, and the phone will launch in China first, that much is certain. The Nubia Z17 will arrive in more markets later this year, though were still not sure where exactly will the phone become available, its still uncertain whether it will hit Europe and the US. In any case, stay tuned, the phone is expected to land tomorrow, and well keep you posted, as per usual. Advertisement Buy the Nubia Z11 Max The OnePlus 5 will be the thinnest flagship phone, according to the companys co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Pete Lau. Lau recently took to Chinese social media website Weibo to tout how the Shenzhen, Guangdong-based consumer electronics manufacturer managed to produce to thinnest premium handset on the market without affecting the overall user experience of the device, indicating that the OnePlus 5 wont heat up faster, drain more quickly, or be slower than its predecessor while simultaneously shipping in a significantly thinner case. Its currently unclear whether the companys top executive was comparing the upcoming device with all flagships that are presently available on the market or just those manufactured by OnePlus, but he definitely indicated that the handset will be thinner than 7.35mm, which is how thick the OnePlus 3T is. For added context, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Apple iPhone 7 are 8mm and 7.1mm thick, respectively. A thin case wont be the only selling point of the upcoming OnePlus-made device as the smartphone is said to feature a dual camera setup and recording software developed by well-known imaging company DxO Labs, in addition to shipping with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, as OnePlus recently confirmed. The Chinese original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has reportedly equipped the OnePlus 5 with as much as 8GB of RAM and will be looking to ship the device with Android 7.1.1 Nougat and its own OxygenOS. According to recent reports, the smartphone will be offered in two variants boasting 64GB and 128GB of internal flash memory, respectively, neither one of which is likely to sport a microSD card slot. There have so far been conflicting reports on whether the company will upgrade the Full HD display panel of the OnePlus 3T with its upcoming flagship and the same goes for the devices front-facing camera. According to a recent leak, the OnePlus 5 will be officially launched on June 15 and the device is scheduled to hit the market shortly after. The Chinese tech giant already started preparing for the release of its next smartphone by discontinuing the OnePlus 3T in most markets and is expected to share more teasers related to the OnePlus 5 in the coming days. Samsung Electronics is preparing a white paper on the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, South Korean media reported on Wednesday, quoting an unnamed official of the Seoul-based tech giant. The consumer electronics manufacturer is said to be working on a detailed report on the issue in an effort to inform its top executives on the matter and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. One of the companys executives told local media outlets that the white paper will be published soon but didnt provide a more specific timeframe for its release. The largest phone maker in the world already published an initial report on the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, indicating that its two battery-making divisions made separate mistakes in the manufacturing process, with the batteries themselves beeing too compressed and consequently too volatile for everyday use. Following numerous reports of Galaxy Note 7 units catching fire and exploding all over the world, the South Korean tech giant recalled the device and returned it to the market after several weeks, only for the same problems to continue. The ordeal ultimately led to the discontinuation of the phablet, with Samsung vowing to improve its quality assurance and manufacturing practices in an effort to avoid a similar scenario in the future. The upcoming white paper is likely an extension of that endeavor and is reportedly being authored by Samsung SDI, the manufacturer of batteries that went into the majority of the initial Galaxy Note 7 batch. In addition to the Samsung Group-owned battery maker, several officials from Samsungs risk management division are also said to be contributing to the project. The white paper itself will reportedly present a timeline of events that led to the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, as well as Samsungs reaction to the ordeal. Its currently unclear how detailed the final work will be, though initial reports suggest that it will present at least some individual cases that Samsung has documented between the launch and discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7. Only top executives at the company are expected to be privy to the contents of the white paper, industry sources say. The successor to the Galaxy Note 7 is expected to be released later this year while a refurbished variant of the original handset is scheduled to hit select markets in limited quantities in the coming weeks. Stahl holds Sustainability Seminars in key leather clusters Bangladesh and Pakistan Between May 23 and 25, 2017, specialty chemical manufacturer Stahl held leather seminars focussed on sustainability in the cities of Lahore, Karachi and Dhaka. Attended by over 600 professionals, the aim was to familiarise local professionals with Stahls sustainability philosophy for the industry and related sustainable solutions. The seminars started with an introduction to Stahls approach to sustainability, which is integrated into its overall corporate strategy, and was followed by the topic of chemical compliance; emphasising the historical reasons behind the recent launches of MRSLs and the change in responsibility that has occurred as a result. The differences between industry initiatives such as the ZDHC MRSL, and other compliance regulations like TSCA and REACH were also discussed. During the events, a presentation showcased the innovative chemical technologies that Stahl recently introduced to tanners in order to reduce the impact of leather manufacturing on the environment. Key solutions included Proviera - Probiotics for Leather, Stahl EasyWhite Tan and Stahl Neo. Stahls Proviera - Probiotics beamhouse range is based on a 100% degradable probiotic formulation, which ensures a reduction of chemical usage, water usage, and waste, while Stahl EasyWhite Tan enables tanners to produce chrome-free leather. The Stahl Neo portfolio consist of over 450 leather finish solutions that fully comply with the ZDHC MRSL guidelines or even exceed this standard. The seminars ended with a round-up and speech by the Directors of Stahl Pakistan Private Limited (SPPL) and the Local Manager of Stahl Bangladesh. By providing the right knowledge and education, Stahl accelerates the process of making the entire leather processing chain more sustainable. With the Sustainability Seminars, Stahl reaches out to the key leather clusters in Pakistan and Bangladesh, said Stahl in a statement. A federal suit that was filed earlier in May in the District of Columbia is requesting financial compensation for veterans that have been injured, families of the those who have been killed and Gold Star families that have been caught up in the consequences of any of 16 terrorist attacks that happened all over Iraq between November 2004 and November 2009. The suit states that Iran provided extensive assistance to numerous terrorist organisations in the Middle East. This included financial support, training, provisions, experts, arms, etc., and was supplied to groups such as Ansar al-Islam and Hezbollah. Thanks to the approval of federal legislators, new laws exist to make it easier for US citizens that have been impacted by terrorist attacks to bring their claim to court and seek restitution from countries abroad. One of the legal firms that has just joined the coalition is Levin Papantonio in Pensacola. A senior partner at the firm, Mike Papantonio, has said that the litigation is a means of fighting terrorism and a way to dry up their money. He said that it may seem strange to bring legal action to a whole country because of terrorist incidents, but explained that it is not much different than finding out a large company has been involved in fraudulent activities. Papantonio pointed out that research, documentation and forensic experts contribute to finding out where money originates from and where it goes. This means that families and lawyers can also pursue action against banks that deal with terrorists money. One of the other firms in the coalition has pointed out that there are so far nine European banks that admit to being involved in conspiracies to provide funding, illegally, to Iran and its banks. The HSBC Holdings bank has forfeited approximately $1.25 billion for its involvement. Papantonio emphasised the importance of such cases, saying that it is a crucial step in making American people understand that those who perpetrate terrorist activities will be punished and will be held accountable. He also highlighted the responsibility of the bankers who are involved in washing funds for terrorism. He slammed them for making money from activities they know will cost lives. Although financial compensation will not reverse the pain suffered by the affected families, it is an important step in holding terrorists accountable. The Iran-backed militias are making a push into the southeast of the country, in the Badia region, where tensions are rising following the deployment of government forces that are supported by Iraqi militias. Washington is currently undertaking a large effort in an attempt to stop Irans influence from spreading across the region. Earlier this month, Damascus said the priorities in its campaign to re-establish rule over the country are Badia and Deir Az Zor places that have been destroyed by six years of war and areas where hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives. The government of Syria is receiving substantial assistance from Russia and Iran. The opposition that had previously been battling with very little help, is now getting help from the West and other countries in the region that are opposed to Assad. The rebels indicate that a program known as MOC is backed by the United States CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and other countries in the region, namely Jordan and Saudi Arabia. A senior commander of Maghawir al-Thawra, a Pentagon-backed group, said that weapons were slowly but surely arriving at their base which is located near to the border of Iraq. The commander also claimed that a recruitment drive to get local fighters from Deir Az Zor has been implemented, and they are being trained at their garrison near the border with Iraq. He said: The equipment and reinforcements come and go daily but in the last few weeks they have brought in more heavy military vehicles, TOW [missiles], and armoured vehicles. Although the US-led coalition would not confirm whether there was an increase of support for Maghawir al-Thawra, it has been confirmed by Colonel Ryan Dillon that coalition forces are ready to protect themselves if pro-regime forces refuse to leave a de-confliction zone around Tanf. He said: The coalition has observed pro-regime forces patrolling in the vicinity of the established de-confliction zone around the Tanf training site in Syria Pro-regime patrols and the continued armed and hostile presence of forces inside the zone is unacceptable and threatening to coalition forces. Dentons has opened a new office in Myanmar, expanding its presence in Southeast Asia.The global law firms Yangon office is led by Mark Livingston, resident partner, who has joined with a team from Livingstons Legal. They will work closely with Dentons Rodyk in Singapore.Myanmar is a major opportunity for business growth in the next five years. Our new team in Yangon will expand our capabilities to provide in depth legal advice to clients who seek to establish and grow their businesses in Myanmar, said Philip Jeyaretnam, SC, Global Vice Chair of Dentons & Regional CEO of Dentons Rodyk.Baker McKenzie is launching a new first-of-its-kind hub for multidisciplinary collaboration based in its Toronto office.The hub will enable the firms lawyers to meet with leaders in business, government, academia and not-for-profits to address complex global challenges at the intersection of business, law and technology."Our Firm has a proud history of developing new and innovative ways to better serve our clients," Paul Rawlinson, Global Chair of Baker McKenzie said. "Our Whitespace Legal Collab is part of our Firm's wider efforts to cultivate a new type of thinking when helping our clients develop solutions to complex challenges."There was a surge in applications to practise law in New Zealand from overseas graduates in 2016.The New Zealand Council of Legal Education reports in its annual report for 2016 that there were 126 applications, the highest number since 2008 when 130 applied.Applicants from Asia made up the largest single group with applications also from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania.There was also a higher-than-expected number of completion certificate applications from New Zealand graduates 900 compared to the forecasted 800. Theres no stigma for lawyers and staff that sleep on the job in White & Cases Washington office.The elite Wall Street firm has a special room in Washington where it keeps two napping pods that anyone at the firm can use to take a power nap, according to a report from Bloomberg Law.Partners have used it. Associates have used it. Staff has used it. Ive used it, Frank Vasquez, a White & Case partner in Washington, told the publication. "When you walk into this room, it feels like a pleasant place to be. I think it turned out really well.Vasquez said that the tropical green room features a fountain, with dim lights provided by Himalayan salt rock lights that appear like glowing stones. The napping pods, separated by Japanese folding screens, feature nap cycles of 20 minutes that can be extended by the user.White & Case has 150 lawyers and 150 staff in Washington, and Vasquez said that the napping pods are used all day long. He said that while the firm isnt tracking the pods impact, he believes they are a positive morale-booster.The room and its napping pods were suggested by a committee of associate lawyers when the office was renovated two years ago, Vasquez said. As a result of the shooting on SR826 a search warrant was conducted at the subjects home where these weapons were discovered #MDPDProtecting pic.twitter.com/M6Xe6TtVJK Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) May 30, 2017 Evidently, as almost any Florida man report, a different person was the subject of the news, but his name does not matter that much regard to what he did. A 36-year-old man began shooting from his car around 1 a.m. while driving on the Palmetto Expressway.The road had to be closed in both directions to prevent any injuries or incidents, but the bullets he shot out of the Mini Draco AK 47 still managed to hit two cars and injure a person. The latter managed to drive himself to the hospital, where he received treatment for minor head injuries from debris.Fortunately, the shooter was caught by police officers before hurting others. As NY Post reports, he hit a median, drove his Toyota Corolla into oncoming traffic, and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers who approached him. Somehow, he surrendered to avoid being gunned down.Officials of the Miami-Dade Police have not discovered the reason why the man started shooting on the highway in the first place.However, law enforcement officers searched his house after arresting him, and found that he had many more weapons at home. Charges are pending, and their outcome does not look fortunate for the suspect.It is unclear why someone would decide to start shooting while driving on a highway in general, and this case does not seem to make much sense regardless how you try to comprehend what was going on.Maybe he added a new weapon to his collection, and could not wait to get to the shooting range to show off his new acquisition. Evidently, getting a new gun is no excuse to start using it on public roads, but the anonymous hero who embodied Florida Man in this episode had other things on his mind. On the handling front, a mechanical limited-slip differential should keep the keenest of driving enthusiast happy in the twisties. Next up, the design has a few things to brag about as well, starting with black exterior detailing (i.e. wheels, mirrors, roof). To make the best out of the Nitrous Blue paintwork, the Option Pack further includes a rear roof spoiler finished in matte black So it doesnt only carry more speed through the corner and puts the power down better on exit, but the Focus RS Option Pack also looks the part. On the inside, both the driver and passengers are welcomed by Recaro shell seats featuring blue leather applications. Having said these, Ford keeps its lips tightly shut about availability or discontinuation. What we do know for sure, though, is that the all-new Mk IV Focus will hit dealer lots next year.The magnum opus of the third-generation Focus, the all-wheel-driven RS boasts 2.3 liters of EcoBoost suck-squeeze-bang-blow. The same engine as found under the hood of the Mustang, the four-cylinder turbo produces 350 PS (345 hp) and 440 Nm (325 pound-feet) of torque. When overboost kicks in, the driver enjoys 15 seconds of 470 Nm (347 pound-feet) on full throttle.A hugely capable machine in the right hands, the Focus RS ships with a good old six-speed manual geared for maximum hooning. 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) arrives in merely 4.7 seconds, and the speedometers needle climbs till 266 km/h.Thats superior to the notorious and irksome 250 km/h (155 mph) German gentlemens agreement , and even full-on cars such as the BMW M2 are affected by it. On the upside, an optional package intended for Autobahn junkies raises the top speed to a Focus RS-bashing 305 km/h (190 mph). That aspect hasn't escaped Tesla, the current market leader, which has confirmed it is working on one and should be ready to reveal soon. Another good example is the Workhorse W-15 we've talked about before that is all but done, only it still needs to sort out all the production details.It seems like another player is ready to enter the stage, having materialized out of the thin air of Toronto, Canada. The new startup is called Havelaar and has unveiled the Bison E-Pickup yesterday at the EMC show in Markham, Ontario.It's still unclear what the company intends to do with the electric truck because considering what we can see so far, it looks like they are light years away from even beginning to think about any sort of production.The design appears to be slightly amateurish as well, even though the Workhorse W-15 is no work of art itself. We're curious to see what Tesla comes up with, but these two models we've seen so far are quite disappointing.Havelaar accompanied the launch with a pompous description of the Bison E-Pickup, through which we learn it has a 'bold design language," that it is "an evolutionary leap forward from traditional pickups" and a "sophisticated #nextgen pickup truck with instant connectivity, touch screen display and driver assistive technology."The interior is a mix of high-tech and ridiculously large analog controls. The instrument cluster has been replaced by a wide-screen display while the center console on the dashboard is completely covered by a vertical touchscreen display, not unlike the one in a Tesla. The Havelaar website currently has a Reserve section where you can enter your details and be placed on a "priority list" which guarantees you'll be among the first to receive pre-order information. That would suggest the company does intend to sell the electric pickup at some point, we just don't know when exactly. Actually, we doubt even Havelaar knows. This blog generally follows traditional journalistic standards. It's not about opinions, though you may read one here occasionally. It's about facts that we think will be useful to rural journalists, non-rural journalists who do rural stories, and others interested in rural issues. We don't try to be provocative, so we don't generate as many comments as most blogs with the level of traffic we have, but we certainly invite comments -- and contributions, to . REPUBLICATION We are, of course, looking at a 991.2 model, with this Targa 4 being dressed in Jet Green Metallic.The rear-engined delight was spotted while awaiting delivery at the Porsche Zentrum Paderborn in Germany and there's more to it than just its main hue.We're referring to the brown hue of the roof and the black finish of the wheels - this is quite a melange we have here, since the Targa bar and the headlight inner graphics come in Silver.Of course, this mix is an opinion splitter, but, in our book, hues go together in a way that pleases the eye.After all, Porsche 's nearly infinite color and material options are there to be used, thus giving birth to bold machines like the one we have here.While we're at it, we'll mention that the "base" Targa , such as the one we have here, is the model that benefited the most from the torque boost brought by the switch to turbocharging.And the reason behind this is simple - the mechanical wonder that is the roof of this Neunelfer derivative means we're looking at the bulkiest member of the line-up.To be more precise, a PDK model tips the scales at 3,671 lbs/1,665 kg (we used the European unladen weight EC, which includes a 90 percent full tank, a 165 lbs/ 75 kg driver, as well as 15 lbs/7kg of luggage), which means the Targa is 44 lbs (20 kg) heavier than the Cabriolet.Returning to the example we're looking at, make sure you use Instagram's swipe feature to get a better look at the Porscha. Just like its previous versions, successfully employed in Sacramento, Monterey, and San Francisco, it does not allow users to stray from their daily routes to enable carpooling, and theres a limit of two rides per day.In other words, the system has been specially planned to avoid the situation where someone would try to replace Uber/Lyft with Wazes Carpool function.Drivers can opt in for the service if they are over 21 years old, and each person who signs up to share his or her car with others will not make more than 54 cents per mile.The price was determined using the USA s federal standard mileage rate, which is also used for business trips. The choice was not an accident, as it was designed to allow others to pass those rides as expenses, while the drivers got to share the cost of gas with riders.The good part about this app is that it enables a pure form of carpooling, as many have attempted to inspire in others for decades. Unlike the traditional system for carpooling, Waze figures out the best rider and driver pair for a particular trip, and both get notifications on their smartphones.The system is supposed to work correctly as long as people wake up in time and leave their houses when the app says they should. As Tech Crunch notes, Waze plans to offer the service in other cities in the USA later this year, and other countries, like Brazil, are also a part of the project.Please note that a single rider is allowed in a car, and you cannot offer rides if you have passengers who are under 18 years old. Waze recommends people to request a ride a few hours ahead of the time they know they will need it, to ensure optimal occupation. The AVMA Council on Education has upheld its decision to deny a letter of reasonable assurance to the University of Arizonas Marley Foundation Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program. The UA succeeded with seven of the 11 accreditation standards, and will continue to work to earn the COEs designation, according to an April 27 university press release. Its been a rigorous process and weve learned a great deal about what is required to meet the COEs requirements for accreditation, and the UA remains committed to achieving that designation for our program, said Andrew Comrie, PhD, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, in the release. Accreditation should be viewed as a process, not an obstacle, and pursuing accreditation is central to our goal of providing a superior program of the highest quality. UA started the process to seek COE accreditation when the School of Veterinary Medicine conducted a feasibility study in 2013 and asked that year for a consultative site visit from the COE; the visit took place Jan. 13-15, 2014. Arizona filed a letter of application with the COE in 2014, seeking a letter of reasonable assurance of accreditation. A council site team traveled to Tucson for a comprehensive site visit Jan. 24-28, 2016. This past October, the council voted to deny a letter of reasonable assurance of accreditation. Reasonable assurance does not confer accreditation but is a first step toward earning provisional accreditation and, ultimately, accreditation. The classification means the developing college has demonstrated that it has a realistic plan for complying with COE standards. A college granted reasonable assurance must offer admission to its first class of students and matriculate them within three years. The UA appealed the COE decision this past December. The Thomas W. Keating Bioresearch Building at the University of Arizona houses basic research in agriculture, medicine, pharmacy, and engineering. It would be one of the facilities used by faculty and students at the proposed School of Veterinary Medicine. The program has met the AVMA Council on Education accreditation standard for research programs but falls short in four of the 11 accreditation standards. (Courtesy of University of Arizona) In March, the council reversed part of its earlier decision and approved the programs plans for a research program, but issues with four other standards remain (Standard 2 Finances, Standard 4 Clinical Resources, Standard 6 Students, and Standard 8 Faculty). These will be addressed in a revised submission, the release stated. The council also substantially shortened the waiting period before the UA could reapply for consideration. Although it could have required a 12-month wait after the appeal, the COE said it would allow Arizona to reapply as soon as June 14. The UA already has begun several efforts for the resubmission, according to the university press release. Those include hiring Mark Cushing, founding partner of the Animal Policy Group, as a consultant. Cushing worked with Ross University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico as they pursued, and later received, COE accreditation. He also is helping Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine in its efforts to earn accreditation; he currently serves as LMUs vice president for public affairs and as university counsel. Arizona has also opened a search for a permanent dean of veterinary sciences to lead the universitys efforts to establish a veterinary sciences faculty, create the curriculum, and establish a program for clinical training. The dean of veterinary sciences will report to Dr. Comrie, with additional reporting responsibilities to Dr. Shane Burgess, vice president for agriculture, life, and veterinary sciences and for cooperative extension. The UA also plans to appoint an interim dean of veterinary sciences to accelerate the accreditation efforts, according to the release. Dr. Burgess currently holds this position. Arizonas proposed veterinary program is composed of the preprofessional program and the professional School of Veterinary Medicine; the COE decision impacts only the professional program. For more information, visit here. The proposed UA program would be the only public veterinary medical education program in Arizona. Midwestern University, a private, not-for-profit health care university based in Glendale, Arizona, received a letter of reasonable assurance from the COE in January 2013. Its on track to receive full accreditation in 2018 at the time its first students are graduating. Related JAVMA content: An endowed professorship has been created in Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine through a gift from a former AVMA president, Dr. Roger Mahr, and his wife, Marilyn. The Dr. Roger and Marilyn Mahr Professorship in One Health will further empower Iowa State with visionary leadership to promote and help facilitate innovative, multidisciplinary collaboration that embraces the universitys land grant mission, according to a March 21 statement from the university. One health is the collaborative effort of multiple health science professions and their related disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. Dr. Mahr, a small animal practitioner from St. Charles, Illinois, served as 2006-2007 AVMA president. During his presidency, he expressed his vision for the One Health Initiative, which the AVMA established in collaboration with the American Medical Association in 2007. Dr. Roger Mahr Iowa States land grant mission, which focuses on collaborative education, research, and outreach, is truly consistent with the one-health approach, said Dr. Mahr, a 1971 Iowa State veterinary graduate. This professorship will inform all audiences, including students, faculty, and researchers, about the importance of transcending institutional and disciplinary boundaries and transform the way human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health professionals work together to improve the health of all living things and the environment worldwide. The Mahrs have long supported Iowa States One Health initiative. The College of Veterinary Medicines One Health Lectureship Series was established in 2011 in honor of Dr. Mahr as he served as the CEO of the One Health Commission, which was headquartered at Iowa State from 2011-2013. The Mahr Professorship in One Health will also coordinate Iowa States one-health courses and training opportunities, promote and illustrate the importance and value of the one-health approach, and pursue innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities for Iowa State to lead, connect, and engage in various one-health agendas. Related JAVMA content: Event: Music City Veterinary Conference, Feb. 24-26, Murfreesboro Program: The meeting drew more than 400 veterinarians, 230 veterinary technicians, 85 veterinary students, and 30 practice staff. On offer were in excess of 100 hours of continuing education. Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. D.J. Krahwinkel, Knoxville. A 1966 graduate of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Krahwinkel served as a professor of surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences from 1975-2010. He is part of the team at Veterinary Care and Specialty Group and the Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals, both in Chattanooga. A past president of the TVMA, Dr. Krahwinkel is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists, and American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. He is active with the Christian Veterinary Mission. Distinguished Service Award: Dr. Stephen Galloway, Oakland. A 1996 graduate of the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine and a diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College (Equine Dental Specialty), Dr. Galloway owns Animal Care Hospital in Oakland. He serves on the AVDC Equine Specialty Executive Committee, is a past chair of the American Association of Equine Practitioners Dentistry Committee and AAEP Scope of Practice Task Force, and is a past president of the Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and TVMA. Young Veterinarian Award: Dr. Marisa Shulman, Chattanooga. A 2009 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Shulman practices at Riverview Animal Hospital in Chattanooga. She is a past president of the Hamilton County VMA and has served as a member-at-large on the TVMA executive board representing east Tennessee. Legislator of the Year: Andy Holt, Dresden. A member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Holt was recognized for his support of the veterinary profession. He helps other legislators understand veterinary legislation and the associations position on legislation. John C. New Service Award: Amy Brown, Nashville, won this award, given in recognition of an individual who promotes the well-being of people through interaction with animals. Brown is a rescue liaison between the Woodbine community in Nashville and veterinarians, arranging transportation and funding for pets in the area to receive veterinary care, and educating people on animal husbandry and use of medication. Officials: Drs. Joe Ed Conn, Whites Creek, president; Russell Reel, Morristown, president-elect; Danny Walker, Martin, vice president; Margaret Phillips, Franklin, secretary-treasurer; Susan Moon, Memphis, immediate past president; and members-at-largeDrs. Richard Buchanan, Sweetwater, and Joanne Hibbs, Corryton (east Tennessee); Jeremy Keen, Collierville, and Bob Parker, Memphis (west Tennessee); and Doug Balthaser, Columbia, and Mandy Hagan Willis, Morrison (west Tennessee) A sequel to Top Gun, the popular movie about pilots in the U.S. Navy flight school, will begin shooting sometime in the next year, actor Tom Cruise told reporters last week. Asked about the rumors during the Australian morning show Sunrise, Cruise said, It is definitely happening. No other details were released by Cruise or the producers. The movie was first in theaters in May 1986. Some critics have called its scenes of Grumman F-14 Tomcats and Northrop F-5s (which, painted black with a red star, masquerade as MIGs) the most dramatic ever filmed of jet fighters in action, The New York Times wrote at the time. In close-ups and from afar, the roaring jets are seen diving, twisting and soaring in dazzling acrobatics that often give the illusion that moviegoers are traveling with the Navy pilots at supersonic speeds, the Times wrote. The realism derived mainly from two factors, the Times said The Navy gave the film crew virtually unlimited access to its flight operations; and, for some scenes, the work of a small team of special-effects experts created the illusion of reality. Hollywood stunt pilot Art Scholl was killed during the filming, when the biplane he was flying for a film sequence crashed off the Pacific coast. Earlier plans to start work on a sequel stalled after Tony Scott, director of the first film, died in 2012. A 3-D version was released in Imax theaters in 2013. A JetBlue Airways Airbus 320 made an emergency landing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday after a laptop computer stored in an overhead began emitting smoke. The flight landed safely with no injuries. Passengers told news outlets that the incident caused significant smoke in the cabin, although none reported signs of flames. The flight was enroute from New Yorks JFK to San Francisco when it diverted to Grand Rapids. After the aircraft was inspected, passengers continued on to San Francisco. The incident adds to a list of battery smoke or fire incidents on aircraft, according to the FAA. As of this week, 160 incidents involving smoke or fire with lithium batteries have been reported since 1991. These have involved computers, e-cigarettes, power tools and chargers. The FAA says its list doesnt necessarily cover all the incidents that have been reported or have occurred. The JetBlue incident comes as the U.S. is discussing banning laptops entirely from the cabins of U.S.-bound flight originating in Europe. Computers are already banned from 50 named cities, most of them in Africa or the Middle East. Hillary Clinton said it was "hard not to" believe Trump associates steered Russia's intervention in the 2016 election in remarks Wednesday at the Code Conference in California. Some key quotes: On Russia: "I think it's fair to ask, how did that actually influence the campaign, and how did they know what messages to deliver? Who told them? Who were they coordinating with, or colluding with?""We're getting more information about all of the contacts between Trump campaign officials and Trump associates with Russians before, during and after the election.""Yes, I'm leaning Trump. I think it's pretty hard not to. I think the marriage of the domestic fake news operation... combined with the very effective capabilities that the Russians brought..." indicate collusion.On why she lost"I take responsibility for every decision I make. But that's not why I lost.""Comey was more than happy to talk about my emails, but he wouldn't talk about the Russians.""At some point it bleeds over into misogyny.""I also think I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win."Media coverage of her emails: "They covered it like it was Pearl Harbor."On Trump"When you turn on your allies and treat them with such disdain.... you are sending a message that you don't care about history or even about the current problems that we face."He may leave the Paris deal "not even understanding one bit about what that means.""The behavior we are now seeing was always present but it was sort of subordinated to real estate interests"On why she spoke at Goldman Sachs Michael Flynn, the ousted national security advisor, will provide "some documents" in response to a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee, the AP reports. The committee is investigating ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia. Flynn had previously invoked his 5th amendment protection against self-incrimination in refusing to turn over documents to the committee. The committee then issued subpoenas for documents relating to his businesses. Per the AP, "Flynn's representatives told the committee in an email on Tuesday that they would start turning over some subpoenaed documents in time to meet a deadline set by the panel, and that more documents will be turned over later." Wait and see: We still don't know what Flynn is handing over, and whether this is a sign he will cooperate more fully with the Russia investigations. The U.S. intercepted a mock warhead Tuesday over the Pacific in a demonstration of the U.S. missile defense program, per the AP. The mock warhead was launched from a Pacific atoll, and the interceptor rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Why it matters: It's the first interception of an intercontinental range missile like the one North Korea is developing. Plus, it signals the Pentagon has fixed a system that worked in fewer than half of its previous nine tests. What's next: Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave his first big speech on climate change Tuesday. His message about the Paris Agreement, which has 147 parties signed on to reduce global carbon emissions: "My argument today is that it is absolutely essential that the world fulfill the Paris Agreement...Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable...Climate change is a menace to jobs, business, and property...If any government doubts the global needs for these accords, it is reason for the othersto unite even stronger and stay the course." The kicker: "Get on board or get left behind." Context: This is a message for Trump, who has been telling confidants, including EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, he intends to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris deal. In an off-camera briefing Wednesday, Sean Spicer announced a new White House policy on the Russia investigation: "All questions going forward on [Russia] will be referred to outside counsel Marc Kasowitz." This new policy comes the same day James Comey agreed to testify publicly before the Senate Intel Committee as early as next week. Other highlights: Spicer hedged on the Paris climate deal decision: "I think the President's comments on this that he'll be making a decision in the next few days stand." "I think the President's comments on this that he'll be making a decision in the next few days stand." On "covfefe": Asked whether Americans should be concerned about Trump's "incoherent tweet," Spicer said "the President and a small group of people know exactly what he meant" to an uproar in the briefing room. Asked whether Americans should be concerned about Trump's "incoherent tweet," Spicer said "the President and a small group of people know exactly what he meant" to an uproar in the briefing room. Up next: Trump is welcoming the Vietnamese Prime Minister to the White House this afternoon. 31 May 2017 11:21 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Armenian schools have become victim of the empty promises of the Sargsyan regime, as the terrible socio-economical conditions have long ago become the scourge of ordinary Armenians. Thousands of families, which cannot stand the poor living conditions in the country, keep leaving Armenia. This, in turn, leads to the devastation of the country, and Armenia loses its younger generation. Armenian newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak states that this years Last Bell sounded at 1,400 Armenian schools this year, and 19,618 students graduated the schools. However, last years number of graduates from Armenian schools was 22,069. This means that Armenia has lost significant number of schoolchildren during the past year. This years Last Bell did not sound in a number of Armenian schools due to lack of graduates, and this problem is acute especially in the border villages. For example, there is no graduate, or only two or three of them in several schools of Syunik and Lori provinces of the country. Given the law number of students, the Armenian government decided to merge those schools which are visited by only few students. However, this decision will probably result in protests among the Armenian population, especially teachers who will lost their jobs. Given the poor condition of roads in Armenian provinces and the weak transport infrastructure, the closure of schools in villages will mean that Armenian children will just stop learning. This, in turn, will result in an uneducated generation, which will likely lead Armenia in an even deeper swamp. The closure of schools in villages will lead to their extinction and the rapid transformation of Armenia to Yerevan alone, says Narine Dilbaryan, a professor at the Yerevan State University. The closure of schools in the border villages will result in migration of the population to regional centers, because nobody wants his child to get to the nearest school for several hours, she told Hayinfo. In the future, the flow will move from regional centers to Yerevan, and in the end, the whole Armenia will focus on Yerevan alone. In April 2017, Human Rights Watch reported that the Armenian government is not doing enough to ensure quality, inclusive education for all children. The report developed by the organization revealed that thousands of children in Armenia are needlessly separated from their parents and placed in institutions due to disability or poverty. The government of Armenia has made some bold commitments to reduce the number of children in institutions, but needs to make sure those promises are backed by serious, sustained action, said Jane Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. -- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 10:33 (UTC+04:00) Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 120 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on May 31. The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns, 82-mm mortars and 120-mm mortars. The Azerbaijani army positions located in the Qaymaqli village of the Gazakh district and Kohnegishlaq village of the Aghstafa district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on nameless heights of Armenias Noyemberyan district, as well as Paravakar village of Armenias Ijevan district. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani army positions on nameless heights of the Tovuz district were shelled from the Armenian army positions located in the Chinari village of the Berd district of Armenia. The Azerbaijani army positions on nameless heights of the Gadabay district also underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on nameless heights of the Krasnoselsk district of Armenia. Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions were shelled from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Goyarkh village of the Tartar district, Javahirli, Yusifjanli, Marzili villages of the Aghdam district, Kuropatkino village of the Khojavand district, Gorgan, Garakhanbayli, Horadiz, Ashagi Veysalli villages of the Fuzuli district and Mehdili village of the Jabrayil district, as well as from the positions located on nameless heights in the Goygol, Tartar, Khojavand, Fuzuli and Jabrayil districts of Azerbaijan. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 12:54 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Armenian historians themselves admit the lie about the so-called Armenian genocide, Chief Advisor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Professor Seyit Sertcelik said in Baku on May 30. He made the remarks while addressing presentation of the two-volume book titled The Armenian issue in the view of Russian and Armenian sources and the process of its emergence in 1678-1914. Sertcelik noted that the Armenian allegations of genocide are based not on historic facts, but on memories of people. The previous and incumbent Armenian authorities alongside the diaspora, claim that the predecessor of modern Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, carried out a "genocide" against Armenians in 1915 in Anatolia. They annually raise their voice, calling for the recognition of the 1915 events as a "genocide", inviting the international community to unanimously blame Turkey for the actions of its predecessor. Many historians, scholars and experts had announced that the hundred-year-old lie, the so-called Armenian genocide contradicts the historical facts. Moreover, there have been many accounts which actually disproof Armenia' stance. Yerevan has so far failed to command any factual proofs to make a legal and historical ground for its claims, evading from launching an investigation instead of delving into history. Ever since Armenia came out shouting genocide, no real investigation into such allegations has ever been carried out although Turkey proposed Armenia to open its military archives and investigate the issue. On the contrary, Armenians have always been the aggressors in the Turkic geography. The first Armenian aggression occurred in the 17th century, Sertcelik noted. The professor added that in 1828, the Armenians for the first time perpetrated a massacre against the unarmed people in Osmanli. Turkish Ambassador to Baku Erkan Ozoral, Chairman of the Azerbaijan-Turkey Interparliamentary friendship group Ahliman Amiraslanov, scholar Nizami Jafarov and historian Musa Gasimli also spoke at the presentation, noting the importance of conveying to the public the truth about the Armenian problem, based on the facts. Armenia's actions against Azerbaijan and Turkey are based on aggression, said Erkan Ozoral addressing the presentation. The Armenians know that Turkey and Azerbaijan are one nation with two states. Therefore, we should always support each other. The Armenians had also committed genocide of the Azerbaijanis in the beginning of the 20th century. This genocide was carried out with extreme violence in Baku, Shamakhi and Guba counties, as well as in Karabakh, Zangezur, Nakhchivan, Lankaran and other regions of Azerbaijan. Armenians killed many civilians in these areas, burned and razed to the ground villages and destroyed Azerbaijani monuments of national culture. At the end of the 20th century, Armenia broke out a lengthy Nagorno-Karabakh war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. As a result, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, killing 20,000 Azerbaijanis and expelling over 1 million Azerbaijanis from their homes. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 11:59 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Armenian militaries were shelling the Azerbaijani armys positions and settlements in the countrys Tartar, Aghdam and Fuzuli regions by using heavy weapons, including 82-mm and 120-mm mortars, starting from May 30 night until May 31 morning. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that there are no casualties among the Azerbaijani armed forces personnel and civilians living in those settlements. As a result of adequate response measures, the Azerbaijani armed forces suppressed the enemy shelling, according to the ministy. The ministry further stressed that if such provocations by the Armenian armed forces continue, the Azerbaijani armed forces will open fire at Armenian settlements by using artillery systems capable of hitting targets at longer distances.| The Armenian side constantly breaches the ceasefire and resorts to attempts of sabotage against Azerbaijan. Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces, using large-caliber machine guns and mortars, have 120 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact. Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war. Large-scale hostilities ended with a ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 16:44 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Azerbaijan destroyed a firing point of the Armenian armed forces, which was shelling the Azerbaijani positions in the Fuzuli-Khojavand direction of the front on May 31. Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported that the Armenian army suffered losses. The Armenian side constantly breaches the ceasefire and resorts to attempts of sabotage against Azerbaijan. Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces, using large-caliber machine guns and mortars, have 120 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact. For more than two decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of war following Yerevans aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia keeps under control over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions in a brutal war in the early 1990s. Despite a fragile ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, Armenia keeps violating armistice with Azerbaijan. 31 May 2017 10:11 (UTC+04:00) By Phyllis Omido The announcement of the winners of this years Goldman Environmental Prize is an opportunity to celebrate activist leaders. But it is also a moment to recognize just how much courage their efforts (and those of a great many others) can demand. When my dear friend Berta Caceres and I won the prize in 2015, Berta said in her acceptance speech, I have given my life for the service of mother earth. Not long after, Berta was assassinated in Honduras. Her story is tragic, but not unique. Indeed, just months later, Isidro Baldenegro Lopez, another Goldman Environmental Prize recipient, was shot dead. There has never been a more dangerous time to be an environmental activist. Consider the violence unleashed against the environmental defenders protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in the United States. Police were accused of using excessive force to try to disperse members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters, who argued that the project would contaminate water and damage sacred burial sites. Fortunately, no one was killed during those protests. But elsewhere, in more fragile democracies, environmental campaigners who stand up to polluters are paying with their lives. A Global Witness report documented 185 killings across 16 countries in 2015 alone. That is almost double the number of journalists killed that year. My own experience highlights the dangers facing environmental crusaders. For eight years, my community in rural Kenya, Owino Uhuru, has been exposed to toxic lead poisoning caused by the operations of a state-licensed smelter. The World Health Organizations measure of lead poisoning is five micrograms per deciliter. The highest lead level recorded in Owino Uhuru was 420 micrograms per deciliter. In the highly publicized contamination case in Flint, Michigan, the readings were 35 micrograms per deciliter. When my community found out that we were being poisoned, we fought back. We wrote letters to the government and organized peaceful protests. With the support of my community, I founded the Center for Justice, Governance, and Environmental Action (CJGEA) to hold the state and corporations accountable for ensuring a clean and healthy environment. In February 2016, the CJGEA went to court against six state agencies and two corporate entities. Nothing happened. One year later, when we published public notices in local newspapers of our intention to sue the two corporations, all hell broke loose. Despite the murders of Berta and Isidro and so many others, I did not fully recognize the danger of challenging a powerful government-backed operation. Soon, I received a chilling phone call warning me to watch over my son carefully. Environmental activists within the community were attacked, their houses surrounded by thugs wielding machetes. The son of a close ally was abducted and, fortunately, later released by unidentified men. You might expect that the state would protect its citizens from such tactics, if not from being poisoned in the first place. We broke no laws; on the contrary, we have been upholding Kenyas constitution, which guarantees citizens rights to a safe and healthy environment. But perhaps we should not be surprised by the states behavior. After all, in 2015, Kenyas government voted in the UN General Assembly, along with just 13 others, against a United Nations resolutioncalling for the protection of human-rights defenders. Nature provides enough for everyones needs, but not for everyones greed. As natural resources become scarcer, Africas lush, mineral-rich lands are becoming more lucrative for investors seeking to maximize profits. But, while governments should welcome opportunities for economic growth and job creation, they should not allow companies to damage the environment and threaten residents health and livelihoods. As stories like Bertas, Isidros, and mine demonstrate, we can no longer rely on state bodies, such as national law enforcement, to ensure this outcome, much less to investigate and prosecute crimes against the planet and those who fight for it. That is why the world needs an independent, internationally recognized legal body to which communities and activists can turn to address environmental crimes. The appointment in March 2012 of the first-ever UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment was a positive step. But we need a system with teeth. Twenty years ago, the International Criminal Court was established to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. A similar court should do the same for crimes against the environment and its defenders. Silencing the voices fighting to uphold environmental laws and regulations is self-defeating. People and the planet are dying. Those who are fighting to prevent those deaths deserve protection, not to become further casualties. Copyright: Project Syndicate: We Need an International Environmental Criminal Court --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 18:19 (UTC+04:00) By Anatole Kaletsky Britain, France, the United States which is the odd one out politically? The answer seems obvious. Last years Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the election of Donald Trump in the United States were the twin symbols of populist revolt against global elites. In Emmanuel Macron, France, by contrast, has just elected as its president the quintessential Davos Man a proudly globalist technocrat identified with his countrys most elitist financial, administrative, and educational institutions. But step back for a moment from these political cliches, as I did earlier this month when I fled the British election campaign to attend the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. The Milken conference is the US equivalent of Davos, but with a more serious business focus and the strong US government representation that Davos has never achieved. Listening there to Trumps key economic officials Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross plus a galaxy of Congressional officials and business leaders, made clear that Trumps election is only a temporary aberration. The US has taken a detour into a theme park of nationalist nostalgia, but it remains focused on the future and the benefits of globalization, not the costs. It was clear from the Milken conference that Trump will not deliver most of his domestic agenda. The Rust Belt will not enjoy a surge of infrastructure spending. US relations with Mexico or China will not change much. Trumps main tax proposals will not get through Congress. And Trumps promise to repeal and replace Obamacare immediately after taking office is almost certain to give way, under public pressure, to reform and repair. After this immersion in US pragmatism, my return to British politics was deeply depressing. Political paths that seemed parallel just a few months ago are now diverging. While the US has taken only 100 days to see through Trumps alternative reality (though perhaps not through Trump himself), almost nobody in Britain is even questioning the alternative reality of Brexit, despite the unexpected opportunity afforded by the June 8 election to avoid a self-destructive rupture from Europe. How might we explain the starkly different responses in American and British civil society to the dangerous flirtation with nationalist populism? In America, the immediate response to policies that were logically incoherent, economically dishonest, and diplomatically impossible to implement was an upsurge of opposition and debate. The Democrats showed unprecedented unity in Congress, television comedians provided even more effective opposition, millions of progressive voters took to the streets, media outlets launched relentless investigations, and the American Civil Liberties Union received $24 million within 24 hours of the administrations attempt to bar Muslims from entering the country. Most important, US businesses started lobbying immediately to block any Trump policies that threatened their economic interests. As a top Senate staffer told the Milken conference, Walmart and other retailers were extremely effective at educating our members about the political costs of any new taxes on US imports. This removed Trumps main protectionist threat and killed his hopes of financing big tax cuts with revenues from a border adjustment tax. Now compare all this US opposition to the passivity in Britain after last years referendum. Leaving the EU represents a much greater political and economic upheaval than anything proposed by the Trump administration, yet Brexit has become an immovable dogma, immune to challenge or questioning of any kind. In contrast to the aggressive business lobbying against Trumps election promises, no major British companies have tried to protect their interests by campaigning to reverse the Brexit decision. None has even publicly pointed out that the referendum gave Prime Minister Theresa May no mandate to rule out membership of the European single market and customs union after Britain leaves the EU. Worse still, the taboo against questioning Brexit has not been justified by appeals to reason, economics, or national interest. Instead the will of the people has been invoked. This chilling phrase, along with its even more sinister counterpart, enemies of the people, has become a rhetorical staple in the US as well as Britain. But there is a crucial difference: In the US, such proto-fascist language is heard on the extremist fringes; in Britain, even mainstream media and parliamentary debates routinely refer to opponents of Brexit as anti-democratic schemers and unpatriotic saboteurs. Cultural factors may partly explain the contrast between US activism in response to Trump and British passivity in the face of Brexit. Americans confronting a challenge are expected to do something, even if the odds are against them. But Britons admire a hero who can face adversity by doing nothing, while keeping a stiff upper lip. Perhaps more important, there was never any doubt about the democratic legitimacy of opposition in the US, where a clear majority of Americans voted against Trump. In fact, Trump lost the popular vote by 2% the same margin by which Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush won in 1976 and 2004, respectively. In Britain, by contrast, Brexit won a small but decisive majority of 52% to 48%. While many mature democracies would require some kind of super-majority to confirm an enormous constitutional change like Brexit, the UK has never seen the need for such checks and balances. In Britains unwritten constitution, there is only one limitation on the power of a prime minister with a parliamentary majority the right of voters to change their minds. But what happens if anyone who tries to persuade voters to change their minds is delegitimized as a denier of democracy and an enemy of the people? If encouraging voters to think again about the biggest political decision of their lifetimes continues to be treated as an affront to democracy, the UK will lose its only safeguard against permanent self-harm. And Britain will take a wrong turn onto the bumpy path of nostalgic nationalism, while the US rejoins Europe on the modern highway of multicultural globalization. Copyright: Project Syndicate: The Divergence of US and British Populism --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 10:53 (UTC+04:00) By Trend The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will cooperate with the private sector in Azerbaijan, whenever possible, to invest in infrastructure projects which meet the banks mandate, strategy and standard. A source in AIIB told Trend that mobilizing private capital is one of AIIBs priority. "AIIB is interested in financing infrastructure investment projects in Azerbaijan which are financially sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable," said the source. There are many infrastructure development areas where the bank and Azerbaijan can cooperate with each other, such as transportation, energy and power, urban development, rural development etc, according to AIIB. "Azerbaijan is a founding member of AIIB. We thank Azerbaijans strong support to the bank and believe Azerbaijan will play an important role in promoting infrastructure development and connectivity in the region," said the source. Regarding the prospects for opening AIIBs representative office in Azerbaijan, the source noted that currently, the bank doesnt have such plans. Earlier, Ruslan Rustamli, head of the department for cooperation with international organizations at Azerbaijans Economy Ministry told Trend that the ministry is ready to mull the opening of an office of AIIB in Azerbaijan after expansion of the banks activities in the country. AIIB, which was created in June 2015, is a multilateral financial institution founded to bring countries together to address the daunting infrastructure needs across Asia. Azerbaijans share in the banks capital is $254.1 million or 0.2761 percent. AIIB approved allocation of a loan worth $600 million for the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project on December 21, 2016. TANAP project envisages transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. Turkey will get gas in 2018 and after completing the construction of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 10:32 (UTC+04:00) By Trend The Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies is launching the Seeds for the Future program jointly with Huawei. The Ministry reported that the program aims at training students in information and communication technologies (ICT). Within the program, 10 students will be selected who will be given an opportunity to visit the main office of Huawei, located in China's Shenzhen city. The students will get acquainted with the latest technological advances of the company and attend ICT training courses. The goal of Huawei is to improve the skills of Azerbaijani students and implement joint training programs with local universities. Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Driven by a commitment to sound operations, ongoing innovation, and open collaboration, we have established a competitive ICT portfolio of end-toend solutions in telecom and enterprise networks, devices, and cloud technology and services. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 13:53 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Azerbaijan and Latvia voiced readiness to deepen relations, especially in trade, transport and logistics sectors, as Azerbaijani delegation, led by Parliamentary Speaker Ogtay Asadov held talks with Latvian officials during the visit to Riga. The Azerbaijani delegation was received by Prime Minister of Latvia Maris Kuchinskis on May 30, who highly appreciated the open and constructive political dialogue with Baku. He noted the need for the cooperation of the two countries in the economic sphere to reach the level of political ties. Asadov, in turn, said that 34 documents signed between the two countries serve as a solid regulatory and legal basis for establishing the cooperation. The principled position of the two countries on the primacy of such principles of international law as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states remains unchanged, Asadov stressed. Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, who received the Azerbaijani delegation on the same day, warmly welcomed the Azerbaijani delegation and congratulated on the national holiday - Republic Day. Asadov thanked the President for his high attention and hospitality, noting that there is a positive development of the political relations. The traditional reciprocal visits and high-level meetings contribute to the further deepening of bilateral relations, he added. The President of Latvia stressed that the intensity of the political dialogue between Latvia and Azerbaijan is proved by the fact that our foreign, economic, transport and defense ministers are in constant contact. Vejonis noted with satisfaction that the Azerbaijani community in Latvia, which serves as a bridge between the two states, has become an integral part of the Latvian society. He went on to say that Azerbaijan is an important partner of the EU in the energy and transit sectors and Latvia highly appreciates the role of Azerbaijan in a number of energy projects, such as TAP, TANAP and others. In turn, Asadov stressed that Milli Majlis closely cooperates with the Baltic Assembly within the framework of the GUAM PA. This cooperation contributes to the strengthening of relations between the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Latvia. The sides expressed hope that such special interest and attention will further promote the expansion and development of historical interrelations between Azerbaijan and Latvia. During the Riga visit, the Azerbaijani delegation was earlier received by Speaker Inara Murniece, who stressed that Azerbaijan is an important partner for Latvia in the South Caucasus region. She said that the two countries have an active political dialogue. Latvia sees prospects for further strengthening economic relations, she said. The heads of both parliaments agreed that it is important to make efforts to increase the volume of trade, and in this respect a lot depends on the upcoming meeting of the Latvian Azerbaijani Intergovernmental Commission in Baku. The Speaker of the Saeima attested that Latvia supports strengthening of the EU-Azerbaijan relations. We welcome the opening of negotiations on a new EUAzerbaijan comprehensive agreement. At this point, it is equally important to prepare for the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit, stressed Murniece. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said Azerbaijan`s role in Europe`s energy architecture is highly appreciated as he met with the Azerbaijani delegation. Azerbaijan plays an important role in Europe`s energy security. Latvia-Azerbaijan cooperation in energy sector is of profound significance, he said, noting that his country fully supports the EU-Azerbaijan relations. Latvia is looking forward to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev`s visit. This visit will strengthen the two countries` relations in all areas, said Rinkevics, further noting that there is a great opportunity to develop the bilateral economic ties. Asadov, in turn, hailed Azerbaijani-Latvian relations, adding that the two countries celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. Asadov further expressed Azerbaijan`s keenness to develop cultural and humanitarian relations. During the visit, the delegation led by Ogtay Asadov also met with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economics of Latvia Arvils Aseradens. Aseradens praised bilateral relations, and stressed the importance of further expansion of economic bonds. The Deputy Premier emphasized the significance of comprehensive use of current potential for deepening cooperation between the two countries. Asadov, in turn, said mutual understanding and friendship lie at the heart of the ties, mentioning that the Intergovernmental Commission plays an important role in expanding economic ties. Speaking about Azerbaijan`s economic partnership with the EU, Asadov highlighted the country`s achievements, as well as its potential and infrastructure projects. Moreover, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Riga organized a celebrative reception on the occasion of May 28 - Republic Day. The event brought together Inara Murniece, Ogtay Asadov and other top officials, public and political figures, MPs and diplomats. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 15:34 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova The Azerbaijani Parliament [Milli Majlis] adopted a law on the execution of the state budget for 2016 at a plenary meeting on May 31. The revenues of Azerbaijans state budget amounted to 17.5 billion manats [$10.3 billion] in 2016 (104.1 percent fulfilled), expenses - 17.75 billion manats [$10.4 million] (96 percent fulfilled). The deficit of the state budget amounted to 245.6 million manats [$144.3 million], which is lower than the forecast by 1.67 billion manats [$981.2 million]. Finance Minister Samir Sharifov, addressing the meeting, said that despite the difficult year, it was possible to achieve important social and economic tasks, under the leadership of the head of state. Sharifov noted that currently, important projects are being implemented with a view to reduce dependence of the national economy on oil. All this will ultimately allow us ensuring stability of the economy and neutralizing external shocks, the minister added. The minister further said that the 2017-state budget is being realized, while preparations underway to draft the state budget for next year. The Law on 2017 State Budget projects the state budget revenues for 2017 at 16.255 billion manats [$9.537billion] and expenses at 16.9 billion manats [$9.91 billion]. The upper limit of the budget deficit is expected at the level of 645 million manats (1.05% of the GDP) in 2017. The budget for 2017 predicted $40 oil, $10 less the average price in the first months of the year. In 2016, the Azerbaijani government originally based its budget on an average price of $50 oil, and later revised it given the price of oil at $25 per barrel. The minister went on to say that the Azerbaijani government is preparing a strategy for public debt management. As of January 1, 2017, the volume of Azerbaijans external public debt hit $6,913.2 million [12,241.3 million manats], which is 20.4 percent of the countrys GDP. External public debt consists mainly of credit programs and infrastructure projects of international financial institutions and valuable securities placed on international financial markets. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 16:31 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Restructuring of the external debt of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has not affected the banking sector and the interaction among other commercial banks, as well as between banks and their customers, said Zakir Nuriyev, the head of Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA) on May 31. The state has been fulfilling its obligations to the IBA from the first day, by providing the bank with sufficient liquid assets. Therefore, the processes occurring in the IBA did not affect the banking sector of the country, he told reporters. The IBA, the largest bank in the country, has earlier announced that it would halt foreign currency-denominated loan repayments in order to restructure its forex obligations and swap them for sovereign debt. It has $3.3 billion of outstanding debt, with U.S.-based food giant Cargill and Citibank amongst its largest creditors. Debt restructuring must not affect the ability of banks to attract foreign investment in the future, according to Nuriyev. It is also worth noting that the Azerbaijani banks do not see the need to attract foreign funds in large volumes, as there are now restrictions for the banks in attracting and placing them, he said. The bank has been operating since 1992 and is one of the country's two state banks. In July 2015, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the measures for rehabilitation related to the preparations for privatizing the state-owned shares of the IBA. The drawbacks in the management, investment and loan policy of the IBA, as well as financing of less efficient, risky investment projects worsened the Bank's financial state, caused increase in the share of distressed assets and reduced its liquidity. Rufat Aslanli, Chairman of the Financial Market Supervisory Body (FMSB) earlier said that in case of successful completion, the restructuring of the IBAs external debt will lead to rehabilitation of the bank, sufficient liquidity and positive cash flow. This will allow starting the process of the banks privatization and increasing its market value, he said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 11:12 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Baku will host exhibition of British artist Edward Twohig on May 31. Entitled 100 Views of Inner City, the exhibition will take place at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Trend Life reported. The event starts at 19:00. Edward Twohig was born in 1969 in Ireland. He was educated in Crawford College of Art and Design. Then he was specialized on engraving and photography in Chelsea College of Arts. Here he became a first Irish student receiving scholarship from British Council. Besides being an artist, Twohig also manages Wellington College of Arts. He is a permanent member of Royal Society of Gravers, as well as patron of Bankside Gallery. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 13:24 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidess statement on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict contradicts Cypruss obligations to the international law and the Helsinki Final Act, and encourages the policy of aggression and occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev made the remark when commenting on Kasoulidess statement, saying Nagorno-Karabakh is the historical territory of Armenians. The FM made the statement at a meeting with Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan on May 30. Hajiyev said that the thoughts voiced by Kasoulides also ruin the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs peaceful efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and bring sustainable peace to the region. These statements are also incompatible with the positions of the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, where Cyprus is a member state, the spokesman said. Hajiyev added that Kasoulides refutes himself by making such contradictory statements: While addressing the OSCE Permanent Council as chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on January 26, 2017, the Cypriot foreign minister stated that Cyprus supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and the political independence of countries. Stressing that the military cooperation between Cyprus and Armenia raises certain questions and suspicions, Hajiyev expressed hope that the issue will be considered by the EU and the OSCE. Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 14:51 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who will arrive in Baku on June 19 as part of their visit to the South Caucasus region, have repeatedly expressed readiness to continue substantive talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement, said Hikmat Hajiyev, the spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Hajiyev went on to add that absurd statements made by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian at a joint press conference with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier in Yerevan once again show that Armenias policy is to preserve the status quo based on the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands. Attempts by the Armenian foreign minister to present the occupation of Azerbaijani territories under the guise of the right of peoples to self-determination can only be compared to Nazi Germanys occupation of Sudetenland, which belonged to former Czechoslovakia, in 1938, Hajiyev said, stressing that he international community unequivocally and resolutely supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. Thus, the international community once again makes it clear for Armenia that the status quo achieved as a result of the occupation, as well as attempts to change internationally recognized borders of states through the use of force are inacceptable, he added. The earlier Armenia understands this reality and withdraws its troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories in accordance with the plans presented at the negotiating table, the earlier sustainable peace and security in the region will be restored, Hajiyev said. Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. Russia along with the U.S. and France is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 17:53 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov There is no such care about refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in any conflict area in the world as in Azerbaijan, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov said on May 30. He made the remarks while addressing the ceremony of laying the foundation for a residential complex for IDP families in Garadagh district of Baku. Hasanov recalled that Mehriban Aliyeva, after appointment as the First Vice-President, devoted her first meeting to the improvement of living conditions of 4,000 IDP families, who live in difficult conditions in unsafe buildings in Baku and Sumgait. Immediately after the meeting, we began a large-scale work in this direction. Todays ceremony of laying of the foundation for a residential complex for 1,026 IDP families is a continuation of this work, Hasanov said. He added that following the address of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, private organizations have allocated 210 apartments for IDPs, where finishing work is currently ongoing. Moreover, the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs continues the construction of four residential buildings for 260 families, and the construction will be completed in July. The official went on to say that over the past 13 years, 95 settlements were constructed for Azerbaijani IDPs, who were expelled from their historical places of residence, and 250,000 people were provided with apartments. Currently, a new settlement for 1,170 IDP families is being built in Tartar region. The Deputy Prime Minister also spoke about the ongoing work in Jojug Marjanli village, which was liberated by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces from the Armenian occupation in April 2016. After the Azerbaijani army liberated the Leletepe height during the April fighting in 2016, it became possible to restore the Jojug Marjanli of Jabrayil region, noted Hasanov, adding that President Ilham Aliyev signed orders on construction of 50 private houses, a school building, relevant infrastructure and construction of the road at the first stage. At the same time, it was instructed to construct the mosque identical to the Shusha mosque. Hasanov noted that all the construction work were completed and residents of Jojug Marjanli will return to their homes in the coming days, after the opening ceremony of the village. This is the beginning of the Great Return, and the April victory is a glorious page in the military history of the Azerbaijani army, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed. Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, characterized by violence against Azerbaijani civilians and ethnic cleansing, resulted in the injury, death, and disappearance of thousands of people, and the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. As a result, all ethnic Azerbaijanis were expelled from their native lands. Official figures show that Azerbaijan hosted more than 1 million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs from 1988 to 1993. That was a staggering figure for the small country experiencing economic and political problems, when to consider that the country's population was about 7 million people at the time. Today, with a population of over 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms. All the problems of more than 1 million of people became the subject of daily care and the number one issue for the country, and the amount of funds allocated to address the problems of refugees and IDPs has increased in dozens of times. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 15:22 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Azerbaijan is known in the world as a reliable partner producing and exporting oil and gas to markets, Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev said. He made the remarks at the opening of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference and the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition in Baku May 31. He went on to add that this already is the 24th exhibition being held in the country. The interest in the exhibition is not declining, on the contrary, it is growing, said the president. It was mentioned here that around 300 companies are participating in this exhibition. I am fully confident that this years exhibition will be successful as well. But, of course, the holding of the first exhibition played a special role in popularizing our country in the world, because at that time, Azerbaijan was not known. Azerbaijan was a young, independent country, there were a lot problems. The exhibition played an indispensible role in presenting our countrys oil and gas potential to the world, said President Aliyev. The president expressed gratitude to the organizers of the exhibition, adding that they have been cooperating with Azerbaijan for 24 years already and have been making great contributions to the countrys development. He pointed out that the first exhibition had a special meaning in presenting Azerbaijan to the world as a country with huge potential. Since then Azerbaijan has been able to build a very successful cooperation with foreign investors in the oil and gas sphere, he added. The president noted that this cooperation was built on mutual interests. Both the state and investors are reaping the benefits. An excellent format of cooperation with foreign investors has been created in Azerbaijan. Today, this format also manifests itself in other spheres, he added. President Aliyev reminded that currently Azerbaijans main priority is the development of the non-oil sector. We are now trying to apply our experience gained in the oil sector, especially our experience of cooperation with foreign investors, to the non-oil sector, and we have achieved success in this work. He noted that Azerbaijan is an oil country and oil was first extracted here in 1846. Historical documents have been revealed. A while ago I gave an instruction to once again review the documents at various libraries and museums of the world and to get more accurate information, he said. President Aliyev noted that new historical documents were revealed and those documents show that oil was extracted in the first oil well in Azerbaijan, in Bakus Bibiheybat area, in 1846. This year we set up a monument to that old oil well in that area to celebrate this landmark event and I am sure the area will be of great interest for the tourists visiting Baku, said Ilham Aliyev. He reminded that the first ever offshore extraction of oil in the world was carried out in Azerbaijan, in the Caspian Sea, in the mid-20th century. In this sense, it can be said that Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea are the motherland of the offshore oil production, added President Aliyev. Further in his speech, Ilham Aliyev said the Contract of the Century, signed in 1994, is a historic project, noting that the Contract has an exceptional place in the development of the Azerbaijani state. Successful implementation of the Contract, allowed us to direct the oil money to human capital, non-oil sector, and infrastructure projects and to develop our country, added Ilham Aliyev. He also touched upon the extension of the term of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli contract. I hope that in the near future we will reach an agreement with foreign investors on extension of this projects term, because the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field has a great potential, he said, adding the field has a quite large volume of oil that hasnt been extracted so far. He further said the investment put in Azerbaijan is kept, protected here transparently. Ilham Aliyev further touched upon the Shah Deniz project, and said the project needs to be highlighted when speaking about the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibitions importance. He reminded that the contract on the Shah Deniz project was signed in 1996 exactly during the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition. That time, Azerbaijan was known as solely an oil country. Implementation of the Shah Deniz project has turned Azerbaijan into a country producing and exporting both oil and gas, he added. Today, we cannot imagine the regional cooperation without the Shah Deniz project, because the Shah Deniz project is a project that solves exactly the energy security issues. Ilham Aliyev further said that over the past years, Azerbaijan has been able to create a many-branched oil and gas transportation network. He pointed to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines, and reminded that the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline has been operating for 10 years already. All of these are historic projects, he said. Ilham Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijans oil and gas projects are the guarantors of the regions security, stability, and development. He said the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline are Azerbaijans great wealth. The president also said the development of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 is proceeding successfully. Reminding that Azerbaijan is today implementing the Southern Gas Corridor project, the president said the project is unique on the global scale. The project holds the first place among the infrastructure projects in Europe, Ilham Aliyev said, adding $40 billion are envisaged to be invested in the project, and a great part of this figure has already been invested. The work is continuing successfully on four segments of the Southern Gas Corridor, he said, revealing the figures on implementation of the four SGC projects. The Shah Deniz 2 project has been implemented by 93 percent. The South Caucasus Pipeline has been realized by 85 percent. The TANAP project has been implemented by 72 percent and we are expecting to mark the commissioning of the TANAP project the next year. And the fourth project is the TAP, which is complete by 42 percent. These figures are demonstrative, he said, adding, They show that all the work is going on in line with the plan and we are near to completing the Southern Gas Corridor project. Ilham Aliyev also touched upon the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Councils Third Ministerial Meeting held in Baku this year, and said the resolution adopted there showed once again that Azerbaijan is the leader of the SGC project. Further during his speech, the president said the energy security issues are the issues of the countries national security, adding that Azerbaijan plays an important role in this sphere both in the region and in Europe. Our steps for energy diversification are bearing fruits, and this is very important, Ilham Aliyev said. The advantage of the Azerbaijani-implemented projects is that our routes and sources are both diverse. He said that today the European market is the main market for Azerbaijan, and for Europe the new sources are of great significance. Ilham Aliyev added that Azerbaijan is the sole new source for the European countries. President Aliyev also said the Southern Gas Corridors realization starts new projects, adding the big Absheron projects commencement is to come next. At the same time, the Umid, Babek and shallow water projects are being implemented, he said, adding that new production is expected to start in the years to come. This means we are boosting our oil and gas potential, he added. President Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijan is investing the oil money to other sectors and is seeing the excellent result of this. In the four months of this year, Azerbaijans exports rose by 41 percent, including the non-oil exports that have increased by 22 percent and the agriculture exports that have gone up by 44 percent. Our rich oil and gas fields will further provide the development of our country for many years, said President Aliyev. In conclusion the president once again greeted the event guests and wished success to the Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 10:21 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev received Minister of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Thamer bin Ali Sabhan Al Sabhan in Baku on May 30, Azertac reported. Thamer bin Ali Sabhan Al Sabhan extended the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud`s and the Crown Prince`s greetings to the head of state. On behalf of them Thamer bin Ali Sabhan Al Sabhan thanked President Ilham Aliyev for participating in the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh despite the busy schedule and the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku. The Saudi Minister expressed satisfaction with the fact that he has visited Baku a few times in the recent period. The Minister of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said relations between the two countries are steadily developing, adding the leadership of the two countries attach great importance to expanding these ties. We want our relations to develop and reach the level of strategic partnership. Thamer bin Ali Sabhan Al Sabhan stressed that they wish to increase high-level reciprocal visits as well as visits between the nations. The head of state said he was pleased to meet with Minister of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Thamer bin Ali Sabhan Al Sabhan again. President Ilham Aliyev congratulated the Saudi Minister on the successful organization of the Arab Islamic American Summit, and noted that after returning from the Summit to Baku, he said that the first official visit of US President Donald Trump to a Muslim country the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a manifestation of respect for the entire Muslim world. The head of state noted that the Summit was held successfully, adding Azerbaijan was represented at the highest level. Touching upon the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games held in Baku, President Ilham Aliyev described these Games as an important event in terms of strengthening solidarity and unity among Muslim countries. The head of state said bonds between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia are developing successfully, expressing confidence that they will grow even faster in the future. President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Crown Prince and asked Thamer bin Ali Sabhan Al Sabhan to extend his greetings to the Saudi Arabian King and Crown Prince. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 10:50 (UTC+04:00) A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on May 31. The new edition includes articles about Intl Dolma festival coming back, Azerbaijan opens first Trade House in Minsk, Lahij & mystery of the number 7, Baku conference highlights economic achievements etc. AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). The online newspaper is available at www.azernews.az. 31 May 2017 10:56 (UTC+04:00) By Trend US President Donald Trump has sent a welcome letter to the participants of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference and the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition in Baku. The US president conveyed his best wishes to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the people of the country on the occasion of this annual exhibition and conference in Baku. I value the partnership the US and Azerbaijan have built together over the last quarter of the century and look forward to its continued growth, Trump said in his letter. The US remains strongly committed to the Southern Gas Corridor [project] and welcomes the efforts of Azerbaijan and its international partners to complete it, Trump noted in the letter. I appreciate Azerbaijans important role in the global energy security including the development and exportation of energy resources from the Caspian region. I support and encourage Azerbaijans efforts to diversify its economy and look forward to exploring other areas of cooperation to the benefits of both our people, Trump added. The US is ready to work with Azerbaijan as the country continues to undertake economic and governmental reforms, he said. The US is also committed to peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the [OSCE] Minsk Group process which will help to strengthen regional security, said the letter. Americans hope for increased prosperity and stability in Azerbaijan, and the Southern Gas Corridor [project] and this conference are important for achieving those goals. 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. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. 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. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 16:52 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev received a group of participants of the Baku-hosted Subregional Workshop on Data and Statistics for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for High-Level Official Statisticians and the 57th meeting of the Council of Heads of Statistical Services of CIS member countries on May 31, Azertac reported. Senior officials from the UN Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific, CIS Interstate Statistics Committee, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries(SESRIC), and statistical agencies of Germany, Belarus, Bulgaria. Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkey are participating in the two-day subregional workshop. Entitled "Conducting a coordinated policy in the field of standardization, metrology and certification for 25 years", the 57th meeting is attended by senior officials of CIS standardization agencies as well as representatives of relevant international organizations. The three-day event focuses on a number of issues, including the expansion of trade relations between the CIS countries, elimination of technical barriers to trade, mutual recognition in the areas of technical regulation, standardization and accreditation. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 17:22 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan and Afghanistan have discussed bilateral political dialogue and practical cooperation between the two countries as Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov is on a visit to Kabul. During the visit, the Azerbaijani official was received by President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Azertac reported. Azimov conveyed sincere greetings of President Ilham Aliyev to the Afghan President, and handed the Azerbaijani leader`s invitation letter to him. President Ghani asked Azimov to extend his greetings and best wishes to President Ilham Aliyev. During the visit, Azimov also met with Salahuddin Rabbani, Foreign Minister of Afghanistan and other Afghan officials. They discussed bilateral political dialogue and practical cooperation between the two countries. The Afghan officials highly appreciated Azerbaijans support to the stability of Afghanistan and thanked for co-chairmanship of Heart of Asia Istanbul Process. During his visit, the Deputy FM co-chaired the Ambassadorial meeting of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process. The issues related to preparation of Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference to be held in Baku by the end of this year were discussed. Azerbaijan assumed the co-chairmanship of the Heart of Asia Istanbul process for 2017 in early December 2016. The Heart of Asia Conference is an intergovernmental organization founded in Istanbul, Turkey. The aim is to provide a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors. This region-led dialogue was launched to expand practical coordination between Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners in facing common threats, including counterterrorism, counternarcotics, poverty, and extremism. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 17:43 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Prospects and strengthening of Azerbaijani- Colombian ties were in focus in Bogota, as the city hosted the fourth round of the political consultations chaired by Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin. The sides talked about the importance of exchange of high level visits for enhancing the contacts at the various levels between the governments and holding a political dialogue in a regular basis, the foreign ministry reported on May 31. In this regard, the ministers particularly pointed out that establishment of diplomatic missions has served as an added impulse for dynamism of the bilateral cooperation. Mammadyarov said that there are wide ranges of opportunities for the development of cooperation in the framework of Azerbaijan-Colombia Parliamentary Friendship Groups. He mentioned that the documents adopted by the Senate of Colombia, namely resolution on Illegal occupation of the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and document on the 25th anniversary of Khojaly Genocide are highly appreciated. Briefing his counterpart about the current status of negotiation process on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov thanked the Government of Colombia for the consistent support, which based on principles of international law, namely sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders of States, to fair stance of Azerbaijan in the settlement of conflict. Furthermore, the minister mentioned that the trade turnover between the two countries doesnt meet the current potential and talked about the importance of establishment of Joint Working Group on cooperation in the trade-economy sphere. Talking about the cooperation in the humanitarian field, Mammadyarov thanked to the Colombian side for the initiative and support to Spanish language courses for the diplomats of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan. Mammadyarov went on to say that opportunities are on the table for enhancing and deepening the relations in the sphere of tourism and added that Columbias addition to the ASAN Visa system would serve to welcome in Azerbaijan more tourists from Colombia. Holguin, in turn, emphasized that the Government of Colombia attaches special attention to diversification of relations with its new partners and noted that the political consultation is held for achieving that target. Characterizing Colombia as a friend to Azerbaijan, Holguin noted that Azerbaijani companies participation is welcomed in the sphere of trade, tourism, investments, etc. Furthermore, the minister thanked Azerbaijan for supporting peace and said that Colombia would gladly cooperate with Azerbaijan in post conflict projects. The two ministers signed Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Colombia. At the meeting the book entitled Anthology of poems of Azerbaijan and Colombia was also presented. After the meeting, a Joint Press Conference of the Ministers was held. Furthermore, the foreign ministers joined the working lunch with attendance of well-known members of Colombian business community. Mammadyarov briefed about the fiscal and economic reforms, measures being taken for diversification of non-oil sector in Azerbaijan and answered the questions. Previously, Mammadyarov was received by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who said that Azerbaijan is the most powerful country of the region. They exchanged views on cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, agriculture, energy and trade. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 10:48 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Azerbaijani gas will be an important source of stability, said the European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic in his video message to participants of the 24th Caspian International Oil and Gas Exhibition, which kicked off in Baku May 31. I am striving for a common energy space, which is secure, competitive, affordable and sustainable, he said. The Energy Union rests on two important pillars internally: The EU member states working together and externally: working with our energy partners around the world, added the EU commissioner. Azerbaijan is a very important partner for Europe. It is the key enabler of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is strategic in helping the EU to further diversify its energy sources, to achieve its climate goals and to improve geopolitical balance and stability in Europe, said Sefcovic. He expressed confidence about bringing Azerbaijani gas to Europe in 2020. It will help us with our goals as I just mentioned and it will of course serve all the participating countries, both in and outside the EU, said the EU commissioner. This gas will be an important source of revenues and an important source of stability and security, which arises from a firm reliable partnership. This is a project of vast proportions, and has therefore been prominent on our agenda for a considerable time now. He recalled that in fact, the Joint Declaration on the Southern Gas Corridor was signed with Azerbaijans President Iham Aliyev already more than 6 years ago, in early 2011. When you multiply the time which has been invested in this process with the political level at which it is being promoted, you are really able to appreciate its historic importance, said Sefcovic. He pointed out that considerable progress has been achieved in the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project over the past years - on the ground, in the ground, on the water and under the water. Works are well advanced on Azerbaijans Shah Deniz II field, in expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline, and building the major Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), said the EU commissioner, adding that also the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is progressing. Due credit for this remarkable progress belongs to the companies and institutions, which are also present today at the exhibition and the conference, to the governments and their agencies, also to this atmosphere of trust and cooperation that we have established over these years of working together, he noted. Sefcovic pointed out that all these pipeline projects have received the status of 'Projects of Common EU Interest' and have been included in the Energy Union's list of critical projects. TANAP has also received financial assistance under the 'Connecting Europe Facility', he added. I am also very glad that European financial institutions are moving on with their procedures, which I strongly hope, will result in satisfactory outcomes, said the EU commissioner. In this context, Sefcovic stressed the importance of the negotiations on the new EU-Azerbaijan Comprehensive Framework Agreement. These were officially launched during President Aliyev's visit to Brussels in February this year. I am confident that the resulting agreement will further strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation between the European Union and Azerbaijan, he said. Sefcovic further noted that the cooperation of EU with Azerbaijan already serves all three objectives of Energy Union: security, competitiveness, and sustainability. There is much more we can do together especially regarding environmental and climate issues, he said. Last November, the European Commission showed how serious we are about tackling these issues. We launched a proposal to raise our energy efficiency target to 30 percent and to make it binding. Saved energy is on its way from the so-called "fifth kind of energy" to the "first kind of energy", according to Sefcovic. Clearly, advancing renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency will serve well both us and the consumers, he said. At the same time, it will serve well also our providers, who will be able to export the energy they can produce, but do not need to use. Clean energy transition is a unique opportunity to boost investment, economic growth, and create jobs, said the EU commissioner, adding that in this field, EU commitment does not stay in Europe. We are ready to provide our experience and assistance to other countries around the world. We are ready to support Azerbaijan in its transition to a low-carbon economy, said Sefcovic. We are reaffirming our commitment to the Southern Gas Corridor, which is helping us with our own transition. 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. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. 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. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 11:33 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Camal A fully-termed agreement on further development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea will be extended next month, said Gary Jones, BP regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in Baku on May 31. ACG is a super-giant field located about 100 km east of Baku. It is the biggest producing oil field in the Caspian Sea and covers an area of more than 432 square kilometers. The field lies in water depths of between 120 and 170 metres. The depth of the reservoir is 2,000-3,500 metres. Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR and BP-operated Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) signed an agreement on future development of the ACG field on December 23 2016. The agreement will cover the development of the field until 2050 and will add significant resource development potential. The document agreed the key commercial terms for the future development of the ACG field and enabled the parties to conclude negotiations and finalize fully-termed agreements in the next few months. The existing ACG PSA was signed in September 1994 for 30 years. Oil production from the field began in November 1997. BP Azerbaijan operates the development of the ACG block. The contract for development of the ACG block was signed in 1994 for a period of 30 years. Shareholders of the project are BP (35.78 percent), Chevron (11.27 percent), Inpex (10.96 percent), AzACG (11.65 percent), Statoil (8.55 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itochu (4.3 percent) and ONGC (2.72 percent). --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 12:08 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Camal The Southern Gas Corridor project is the biggest project of BP, said Joseph Murphy, BP Vice President for the Southern Gas Corridor. He announced about this at the Energy Charter Forum, titled Towards a Multilateral Framework Agreement on Transit of Energy Resources in Ashgabat. Highlighting strategic significance of the SGC project, Murphy said 11 world companies invest in this transnational Southern Gas Corridor Project, which will deliver natural Azerbaijani gas to Europe. The SGC is one of the biggest construction projects with a value of $45 billion which aims to improve the energy security of the EU and diversity its energy supply routes, and creates 30 thousands new jobs for host countries. The World Bank allocates a loan worth $400 million for construction of the Southern Gas Corridor. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. 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. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 13:13 (UTC+04:00) SOCAR Turkey Enerji plans to acquire a 7-percent share in the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) Project until late 2017, Zaur Gahramanov, the companys director general, told reporters May 31 in Baku. TANAP project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijans Shah Deniz field to the western borders of Turkey. The length of TANAP is 1,800 kilometers with the initial capacity of 16 billion cubic meters. Around six billion cubic meters of the gas will be delivered to Turkey and the remaining volume will be supplied to Europe. The gas will be delivered to Turkey in 2018 and after completion of the Trans-Adriatic Pipelines construction the gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020. TANAP shareholders are Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR (58 percent), BOTAS (30 percent) and BP (12 percent). --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 17:13 (UTC+04:00) By Gulgiz Muradova Oil and gas extraction have an extensive history in Azerbaijan, and Baku was the birthplace of mechanised oil extraction and transportation. Today, energy remains one of the main pillars of the Azerbaijani economy, due to its huge oil and gas resources, its status of a reliable and committed exporter, and its willingness to engage with its neighbors and partners in Europe in ensuring the security of transit and supply. The country has already proven to be the most reliable partner for and anchor of Western energy security, which was once again stressed at the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference that opened in Baku on May 31. President Ilham Aliyev, in his speech at the Caspian Oil and Gas 2017, stressed that Azerbaijan is known in the world as a reliable partner producing and exporting oil and gas to markets. Highlighting the fact this already is the 24th exhibition being held in the country, the president said that the interest in the exhibition is not declining, on the contrary, it is growing. I am fully confident that this years exhibition will be successful as well. But, of course, the holding of the first exhibition played a special role in popularizing our country in the world, because at that time, Azerbaijan was not known. Azerbaijan was a young, independent country, there were a lot of problems. The exhibition played an indispensible role in presenting our countrys oil and gas potential to the world, said President Aliyev. He pointed out that the first exhibition had a special meaning in presenting Azerbaijan to the world as a country with huge potential. Since then Azerbaijan has been able to build a very successful cooperation with foreign investors in the oil and gas sphere, he added. The president noted that this cooperation was built on mutual interests. Both the state and investors are reaping the benefits. An excellent format of cooperation with foreign investors has been created in Azerbaijan. Today, this format also manifests itself in other spheres, he added. Pointing to the Contract of the Century signed in 1994, Ilham Aliyev said the document is a historic project, noting that the Contract has an exceptional place in the development of the Azerbaijani state. Successful implementation of the Contract, allowed us to direct the oil money to human capital, non-oil sector, and infrastructure projects and to develop our country, added President Aliyev. He also touched upon the extension of the term of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli contract. I hope that in the near future we will reach an agreement with foreign investors on extension of this projects term, because the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field has a great potential, he said, adding the field has a quite large volume of oil that hasnt been extracted so far. Over the past two decades since the Contract of the Century, the nation was able to establish itself as a reliable partner to cooperate with international companies, attracting new technologies and innovation into the country and foreign investments into the non-oil sector as well. In late 2016, BP and Azerbaijan agreed to extend the ACG deal up to 2050, which will add significant resource development potential. By extending the 1994 agreement, Azerbaijan will be able to preserve its oil income for many years. President Aliyev further stressed that the Shah Deniz Project needs to be highlighted when speaking about the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibitions importance. He reminded that the contract on the Shah Deniz Project was signed in 1996 exactly during the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition. That time, Azerbaijan was known as solely an oil country. Implementation of the Shah Deniz Project has turned Azerbaijan into a country producing and exporting both oil and gas, he added. Today, we cannot imagine the regional cooperation without the Shah Deniz Project, because the Shah Deniz project is a project that solves exactly the energy security issues. Gas volumes in the Shah Deniz reservoirs are so vast that they will not only meet the needs of Azerbaijan and its regional neighbors, but provide significant supplies to Europe. With a five-year extension to the original PSA signed last year, Shah Deniz will produce natural gas until at least 2036. The SGC aims to provide increased energy security for Europe, bringing affordable gas supplies initially from Shah Deniz, and paving the way for future gas delivery from the wider Caspian region and, potentially, the Middle East. President Aliyev further said that over the past years, Azerbaijan has been able to create a many-branched oil and gas transportation network. He pointed to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines, and reminded that the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline has been operating for 10 years already. All of these are historic projects, he said, further adding that Azerbaijans oil and gas projects are the guarantors of the regions security, stability, and development. Reminding that Azerbaijan is today implementing the Southern Gas Corridor project, the president said the project is unique on the global scale. The project holds the first place among the infrastructure projects in Europe, Ilham Aliyev said, adding $40 billion are envisaged to be invested in the project, and a great part of this figure has already been invested. The work is continuing successfully on four segments of the Southern Gas Corridor, he said, revealing the figures on implementation of the four SGC projects. The Shah Deniz 2 project has been implemented by 93 percent. The South Caucasus Pipeline has been realized by 85 percent. The TANAP project has been implemented by 72 percent and we are expecting to mark the commissioning of the TANAP project the next year. And the fourth project is the TAP, which is complete by 42 percent. These figures are demonstrative, he said, adding, They show that all the work is going on in line with the plan and we are near to completing the Southern Gas Corridor project. President Aliyev also said the Southern Gas Corridors realization starts new projects, adding the major Absheron projects commencement is to come next. At the same time, the Umid, Babek and shallow water projects are being implemented, he said, adding that new production is expected to start in the years to come. This means we are boosting our oil and gas potential, he said, stressing that Azerbaijan is investing the oil money to other sectors and is seeing the excellent result of this. The U.S. remains strongly committed to the Southern Gas Corridor project and welcomes the efforts of Azerbaijan and its international partners to complete it, said President Donald Trump in his welcome letter to the participants of the Caspian Oil and Gas 2017. I appreciate Azerbaijans important role in the global energy security including the development and exportation of energy resources from the Caspian region, the message read. I support and encourage Azerbaijans efforts to diversify its economy and look forward to exploring other areas of cooperation to the benefits of both our people. Donald Trump stressed that the U.S. is ready to work with Azerbaijan as the country continues to undertake economic and governmental reforms. Azerbaijans gas will be an important source of stability, said Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union in his video message to participants of the event. Azerbaijan is a very important partner for Europe. It is the key enabler of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is strategic in helping the EU to further diversify its energy sources, to achieve its climate goals and to improve geopolitical balance and stability in Europe, said Sefcovic. He expressed confidence about bringing Azerbaijani gas to Europe in 2020. It will help us with our goals as I just mentioned and it will of course serve all the participating countries, both in and outside the EU, said the EU commissioner. This gas will be an important source of revenues and an important source of stability and security, which arises from a firm reliable partnership. This is a project of vast proportions, and has therefore been prominent on our agenda for a considerable time now. Sefcovic further noted that the cooperation of the EU with Azerbaijan already serves all three objectives of Energy Union: security, competitiveness, and sustainability. There is much more we can do together especially regarding environmental and climate issues, he said. Sponsored by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Energy and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference is co-organized by ITE Group and its partner Iteca Caspian. About 300 companies from more than 30 countries, including Azerbaijan, US, Belarus, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Japan are participating in the conference. Italy is participating in the exhibition with its national pavilion. The companies from the US, UK, Romania and a number of other countries are among the debutants which make up 15 per cent of the total number of participants. The conference provides suppliers with the opportunity to talk to customers and colleagues, to present technologies and services in action, to acquire useful business contacts, and to get new information and technologies, expanding the opportunities for international collaboration in the oil and gas sector. The conference will address such issues as: "Role of Azerbaijan in global energy, status of major projects and a look to future strategic growth", "Identifying key operators plans in developing onshore and offshore oilfields, expansion of international cooperation in oil and gas projects", "An overview the refining and petrochemical industries in Azerbaijan new projects development", "Diversifying supply routes from the Caspian region, Azerbaijan as transportation, logistic hub of Caspian region", "Cost optimization and improving the efficiency of upstream development with advanced technologies for exploration and production", "Improving the efficiency of exploration and production with digital technologies", "The development perspectives for alternative energy in Azerbaijan". Around 400 delegates from more than 30 countries are taking part in the conference. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 18:05 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Next meeting of a monitoring committee of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC states can be held in Russia on July 22-24, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. "We discussed with Barkindo [Secretary General of OPEC] the possibility of holding a meeting of the committee on July 22-24. I think that we will coordinate this date with all committee members," the minister said. He went on to say that Russia and OPEC are discussing the possibility of holding ministerial meetings on a permanent basis in the countries of the cartel and outside OPEC. In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. That time, OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1, while non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from Jan. 1 for six months, extendable for another six months. OPEC and non-OPEC countries held a meeting in Vienna May 25 and agreed to extend oil output cuts for nine months. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 31 May 2017 11:43 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Pakistan can gain much from Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, but actually did nothing to utilize such a huge project which has a great potential, believes Malik Ayub Sumbal, Pakistani political analyst and international relations expert. I think Pakistan incumbent government has not much interest in this project and has no plans to complete it in near future rather than there is some sort of extraordinary development comes, Sumbal told Trend by email. The expert believes Pakistan failed to construct the gas pipeline from Iran under the US pressure, as the US has strong influence on Islamabad. Meanwhile he noted that there is a huge space for Iran Pakistan pipeline to connect it with China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which envisages realization of a number of infrastructure projects throughout Pakistan. Chinese investments in these projects reached $62 billion. Sumbal went on to add that India could also be its part of this project the Iran Pakistan pipeline could be extended to its borders. However he noted that India stands against all the projects on Pakistan development and it seems that it will not abandon this approach. Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project (also called Peace pipeline) worth $7.5 billion has been discussed for years. Iran has already completed the construction of its section of the pipeline from the South Pars field to Pakistani border. Pakistani section of the pipeline is still not ready and Islamabad explains the delay by the lack of funds. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Less than a decade ago, the creative work showcased at the Cannes Lions festival seemed to be more about technology than storytelling, in the mind of Y&Rs Global CEO, David Sable. But more recently, some of the work has been spectacular as the value of good storytelling has once again eclipsed tech. During the same time period, user-generated content has taken a back seat to high-quality creative production informed by data insights that arent just focused on micro targeting audiences, Sable says in this interview with Beet.TV. He links the return of storytelling in part to the debunking of the myth that user-generated content on digital platforms would reign supreme. Its a disaster because YouTube cant monetize the cat peeing on your shoes, Sable says. Some people thought user-generated content was the greatest content in the world and maybe it got a million shares but frankly, who cares? Nobody wants to be associated with it. He describes the aspects of Cannes devoted to the creative craft astounding in the beautiful and smart work that derives from consumer insights. Youre going to see data being used not just to micro target but being used to derive insights about audience and motivation and values so the work is smarter and better, he says. Discussing the impact that social platforms have had on the process, he points out that message lengthbe it 15, 30 or 60 secondsis irrelevant. Thats part of the traditional network television construct in which advertisers paid for a certain amount of time. The beauty is you dont have to pay for the time in the same way that we did, Sable says. Do what you will. Another recent trend he sees, particularly on digital platforms, is advertisers being more up front about the messages they are delivering on their own behalf and who gets paid to deliver the messages. This extends to celebrities and other endorsers, some of whom got burned publicly by the ill-fated Fyre Festival on a Bahamas island, as Sable notes in an article on Huffington Post. If they were in a commercial, youd know they were paid and youd take it for what its worth. To me thats all fake news. Fyre was a major wakeup call for everybody in the industry for what you can and cannot do. Nonetheless, he says the advertising industry can prosper if it can only get beyond what he terms digibabble, the adoration of all things digital. Id be paying more attention to why Amazon is opening a physical store than I would to their algorithm, he says. This segment is part of the Beet.TV lead-up to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. 2017. The series is presented by Storyful. For more from the series, please visit this page. Modified On Jun 14, 2017 02:11 PM By Raunak for Jeep Compass 2017-2021 The outcome of the Rs 1800+ crore investment by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the Jeep Compass, will roll out of the Ranjangaon facility tomorrow! Update: Made-In-India Jeep Compass Rolls Out Of Ranjangaon Facility Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will roll out the first production-spec, made-in-India Jeep Compass tomorrow. The Compass will be rolled out of Fiats Ranjangaon manufacturing facility on June 1, 2017, in the presence of Maharashtras chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis. In July 2015, FCA announced that it will invest $280 million (approximately Rs 1800+ crore) in its Ranjangaon facility, which will support the production of a new Jeep vehicle (read: the Jeep Compass). The decision of fund infusion at the Pune-based facility was done in the presence of Devendra Fadnavis. Now, he will roll out the first Compass from the facility tomorrow. A little flashback of Jeeps operation in India: The American off-road maker entered the Indian market with the Grand Cherokee and the Wrangler Unlimited in August 2016. The relatively economical petrol version of the Wrangler Unlimited was launched in February 2017. The India-spec Compass was revealed to the media on April 12, 2017. The Compass is expected to be launched in coming months (most probably in July). The Compass is based on the same platform (Small Wide 4x4) as the Jeep's entry-level SUV, the Renegade. Mechanically, the India-spec Compass will come with two engine options 1.4-litre turbo MultiAir2 petrol with 7-speed DDCT (dual dry clutch transmission) automatic and 2.0-litre MultiJet diesel with a 6-speed manual. The Jeep Compass will go up against the likes of the Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V and the recently launched VW Tiguan, along with the upcoming Skoda Karoq and the fifth-gen Honda CR-V. Stay tuned to CarDekho for updates on the upcoming Compass. Must See Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments, Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. Its MS technology instruments are used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. The company offers thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer good, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research. Its products are used by life science, pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. Waters Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers workers' compensation, property, automobile, liability, umbrella, bond, marine, livestock, and reinsurance; and customized insurance products and risk management services, including professional liability, bond, surety, and specialty casualty coverages through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers. The company's Personal Lines segment provides automobile, homeowners, and personal umbrella coverages through direct-to-consumer channel and independent agents. Its Property & Casualty Other Operations segment offers coverage for asbestos and environmental exposures. The company's Group Benefits segment provides group life, disability, and other group coverages to members of employer groups, associations, and affinity groups through direct insurance policies; reinsurance to other insurance companies; employer paid and voluntary product coverages; disability underwriting, administration, and claims processing to self-funded employer plans; and a single-company leave management solution. This segment distributes its group insurance products and services through brokers, consultants, third-party administrators, trade associations, and private exchanges. Its Hartford Funds segment offers investment products for retail and retirement accounts; exchange-traded products through broker-dealer organizations, independent financial advisers, defined contribution plans, financial consultants, bank trust groups, and registered investment advisers; and investment management and administrative services, such as product design, implementation, and oversight. The company was founded in 1810 and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. 'BlessU-2' robot priest in Germany marks 500 years since the Reformation The Protestant Church in Germany has unveiled a robot priest called BlessU-2 as part of the celebrations marking 500 years since the Reformation. The robot preacher can be found in Wittenburg, Germany and was developed by the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau. BlessU-2 is also known as the 'segensroboter', meaning 'blessing robot'. It greets those who approach it and delivers blessings in up to five different languages, German, English, French, Spanish and Polish, in addition to their choice for a male or female voice. BlessU-2 then offers 31 blessings to choose from its four categories. Once a blessings has been requested, the prayer begins. The robot's head functions moving eyebrows and a digital mouth that can alternate in between severe and smiling. After raising its arm, lights embedded in the robot hands turn on, shining towards the user whilst the digital mouth recites a New Testament biblical verse. The robot then offers a print out for the person to take home. The robot pastor will not replace pastoral care, but the people behind the creation want to begin a conversation about how machines could be part of religious life. 'We wanted people to consider if it is possible to be blessed by a machine, or if a human being is needed,' said Stephan Krebs of the Protestant church in Hesse and Nassau, which developed the robot. He told the Guardian about the reactions from people both in and out of church. 'The idea is to provoke debate,' said Krebs. 'People from the street are curious, amused and interested. They are really taken with it, and are very positive. But inside the church some people think we want to replace human pastors with machines. Those that are church-oriented are more critical. 'We don't want to robotize our church work, but see if we can bring a theological perspective to a machine.' While BlessU-2 may have taken people by surprise and is the first ever robot to bless Christians, it isn't the first time that artificial intelligence from robots and religious beliefs have come together. In 2015, a Buddhist temple in Beijing developed a robot monk called the Buddhabot, who could chant mantras and explain basic tenets of faith. In 2013, a humanoid robot called Isaac helped to light a public San Francisco menorah on the seventh night of Hanukkah. Master Xiafian, a monk at Xianer;s creator, said artificial intelligence from Robots could be harnessed to spread Buddhist wisdom in China. 'Science and Buddhism are not opposing nor contradicting, and can be combined and mutually compatible,' he told Reuters. You can see BlessU-2 in action in the video below. Egypt's Christians say they are proud to die for Jesus as Islamic State continues deadly attacks Coptic Christians have said that they "take pride" in dying for their faith following the latest slaughterat the hands of Islamic State terrorists. "We take pride to die while holding on to our faith," Bishop Makarios, the top Coptic Orthodox cleric in Minya, said over the weekend, according to CBC News. Reports have emerged revealing that IS gunmen forced Christians on their way to a monastery off a bus on Friday, where they asked them to denounce their faith and convert to Islam. The Copts, including children, refused, which led to the massacre of 29 believers, one of the chaplains comforting survivors revealed. Thousands of Copts have been mourning the slain in the bus shooting, expressing their grief and rage at funerals for the victims. "With blood and soul, we will defend you, oh cross!" Copts yelled at the Church of the Sacred Family in the village of Dayr Jarnous. "We will avenge them or die like them," they said. "There is no god but God and the Messiah is God!" Survivors have been speaking out, describing how children attempted to hide under the bus seats to escape gunfire. "One survivor, a small boy who seemed to be about 6, said his mother pushed him under her seat and covered him with a bag. A young woman speaking from her hospital bed said the assailants ordered the women to surrender their jewelry and money before they opened fire, killing the men first and then some of the women," CBC described. IS has slaughtered more than 100 Christians in Egypt since December in a series of separate attacks, including twin church bombings on Palm Sunday. The Egyptian government responded to the shooting on Friday by carrying out a series of air strikes against suspected IS bases, and has launched a manhunt for the jihadists. Reuters reported that on Monday, Minya's security chief was transferred as part of disciplinary action, but Copts say the government is not doing enough to protect them from radicals, and to punish those responsible. "This is the result of only one thing: negligence, negligence from the government for not punishing these people," a man identified as Salama, an uncle of one of the victims, said. Besides a lack of protection, Copts who have fled North Sinai, where many of the attacks have occurred, and sought refuge in Port Said, have also complained that the government has not provided aid so they can resettle. "We are the families displaced from al-Arish to Port Said in February. We are living inside small rooms inside the youth camps and the aid building. We are suffering and none of the officials or the Port Said governor will listen to us," a statement by the displaced families earlier in May read. "As time passed, 28 families remained in the camps and aid buildings. Three months passed without any attention from the government or officials in Port Said. The governor then declared that there was a lack of residential houses to transfer the families to, in addition to a lack to jobs, which forced the martyr Nabil Saber to return to Arish, where he was killed a message to every Copt thinking about returning," they added, referring to another murder carried out by suspected IS militants. World leaders have condemned IS' massacre of Copts, with U.S. President Donald Trump calling the Friday attack a "merciless slaughter" that "tears at our hearts and grieves our souls." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said on Monday: "I express my condolences in connection with this attack which caused many victims." Lavrov added: "This evil should be fought jointly." This article was originally published in The Christian Post If 'the poor will always be with you' as Jesus says, why bother helping them? It's one of Jesus' many shocking sayings: 'The poor,' he declares in Mark's gospel, 'will always be with you.' So if that is the case, why put in any effort to help them? As blogger Dan Martin has written: 'I have run across this verse abused by conservative Christians, who were objecting to liberal Christians' attempts to actually fight poverty, particularly using political means. The argument seems to go something to the effect that if Jesus said we'd never get rid of the poor, it's foolish for the liberals to try.' Indeed, in 2014, Rick Perry, who is now US Secretary of Energy, was asked while Governor of Texas about the widening gap between rich and poor in his state. 'Biblically, the poor are always going to be with us in some form or fashion,' he told The Washington Post. For Perry, increasing inequality between the wealthiest and poorest Texans was simply not an issue. He declared: 'We don't grapple with that here.' However, as the saying goes, 'a text without a context is a pretext'. So we have to look at the background to these words of Jesus in Mark 14v7, which we have now reached as we continue our fortnightly pilgrimage through that gospel. In fact, a bit of basic research shows that Jesus is referring back to Old Testament teaching. And specifically, he is alluding to Deuteronomy 15v11, which says: 'For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, "You shall open wide your hand to... the needy and to the poor, in your land".' That same Old Testament section also declares: 'If there is anyone in need... do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted... Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought... Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so...' (15v7-10). So it turns out that Jesus is saying the exact opposite of what some people think. Rather than making a somewhat fatalistic pronouncement that since there will always be poor people, we might as well give up helping them, Jesus is actually referring to a Biblical command to be generous in assisting them. And there's a more immediate context, too. In Mark's gospel, the situation in which Jesus utters his words about the poor 'being always with you' is at a meal where an unnamed woman has just burst in and unexpectedly anointed Jesus with what Mark calls a 'very costly' perfume. She loves Christ and she wants to make it known. As some around the dinner table start making disapproving noises about her (in their eyes) excessive devotion, Jesus makes it clear that in fact she has done something beautiful. And so he then goes on to say: 'You always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial,' (Mark 14v7-8). It was common practice to anoint dead bodies of people before they were buried. There was only one exception if they had been executed as criminals. And that was precisely what was to happen to Jesus, who was about to be arrested on trumped up charges and then executed as a common criminal. So in the normal course of events his body would not have been anointed. Except, now, it was. And though it's doubtful the woman herself understood fully what she was doing, Jesus used what happened to point forward again to the importance of his death. And so we learn that true discipleship is costly. First of all, to show our loyalty and love for Jesus as this woman does here will involve self-sacrifice. We won't be physically pouring jars of expensive perfume over Jesus. But discipleship will cost us money and time; it may well also cost us contempt and lack of understanding from others too. Secondly, if we take the context of Jesus words about the poor seriously, discipleship will also be costly for us in helping those less well off in our society. For if the poor are always with us, there will always be a need for us to be 'liberal and ungrudging' in our help, as Deuteronomy states. That will take time, energy and money whether through impromptu acts of kindness, volunteering, charitable donation or taxation. Finally, we are reminded that the call to love Jesus and help the poor will provoke hostility from many. Even as this unnamed woman lavishly anoints Jesus, religious leaders (v1) and Judas (v10) are plotting to kill him. As Jeremy McQuoid puts it: 'Christ remains the great dividing line in history. You can utterly reject Him, or you can give your all for him. What you must not do is treat the controversial Christ half-heartedly.' David Baker is a former daily newspaper journalist now working as an Anglican minister in Sussex, England. The Rough Guide to Discipleship is a fortnightly series. Find him on Twitter @Baker_David_A Is Donald Trump about to pull out of the Paris climate change deal? Donald Trump is poised to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, according to senior officials quoted in US media. The US president vowed to back out of the pact, signed by nearly 200 countries, which aims to cut carbon emissions. Christian humanitarian charities rushed to warn against the move after Trump tweeted he would announce his decision in the coming days. I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 Christian Aid's climate lead Mohamed Adow described the 2015 agreement as the 'pinnacle' of efforts to combat the issue and warned the 'consequences of climate change are a real and present danger to America'. But he added it was better the US is isolated outside the Agreement 'rather than pulling it apart from the inside'. He said: 'The US must face the consequences of this decision and the international isolation it has brought upon itself. 'Angela Merkel was quite clear last week that America could no longer be relied upon as an international ally. Pulling out of the Paris Agreement does not make America great, it diminishes it in the eyes of the world.' Christian environmentalist charity Arocha previously described Trump's vow to quit the climate deal as a 'nightmarish scenario'. CEO Andy Atkins said it was 'critical' other countries strengthen their resolve to tackle carbon emissions. 'By far the best antidote to Donald Trump's chilling attitude is for other countries to strengthen their own resolve to tackle climate change and nature loss, and reap the benefits of going green even faster,' he said. Responding to the reports, a top EU official said the decision was 'disappointing' but Europe would continue leading the fight on climate change. 'If they decide to pull out it would be disappointing but I really do not think this would change the course of mankind,' said European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic. 'There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world from Africa, Asia and China that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that.' Andy Lester, conservation director at A Rocha, Britain's primary Christian conservation charity, said: 'I think our greatest disappointment is he has been treating it like a media hype story. He is playing with an issue that could significantly change the way the world works over the next 20 30 years. China and the European Union are firing ahead but America is struggling. If he does pull out it is a huge embarrassment for America and leaves the agreement in a far weaker place.' Jesus spoke of the importance of children. So why do they get so little international aid cash? A tiny fraction of international aid money goes towards protecting children from violence, Christian charities are claiming. Less than 50p per vulnerable child was spent tackling violence in 2016, a report from a coalition of charities warns. Ahead of a hustings focusing on international aid on Wednesday evening, the report claims just 0.6 per cent of total global aid spending was given to fight attacks on children. The UN secretary-general's representative on violence against children described the findings as 'deeply worrying'. 'Children's lives are at stake and the serious consequences of violence can last a lifetime,' Santos Pais said. 'While governments' policy priorities may have competing demands on scarce resources, the social and financial costs of inaction are too high.' The report, Counting Pennies, by World Vision, ChildFund, Save the Children and SOS Children's villages, warns violence against children costs 5.5 trillion a year worldwide and compromises children's development, health and education. World Vision spokesperson Trihadi Saptoadi, said: 'Violence against children undermines all aid and development activities. Partnerships, like the one backing this report, are vital in addressing an issue of this magnitude. 'An end to violence against children is within reach and we will see the greatest impact by working together.' The hustings in Westminister tonight is organised by Tearfund and features the Tory's leader of the Commonds David Lidington, Labour's faith envoy Stephen Timms and Lib Dem candidate Claire Mathys. Mike Pence to address John Hagee's pro-Israel annual summit Vice President Mike Pence will address Christians United for Israel the largest pro-Israel group in the US at its annual conference in July. Chaired and founded by John Hagee, a controversial megachurch pastor in Texas, CUFI has more than 3.5million members and is expecting thousands to gather for its annual summit in Washington. 'We are deeply honored that the vice president will be joining us at our Washington Summit this summer,' said Hagee. 'From the day President Trump took office, and each day since, the US-Israel relationship has grown stronger and more vibrant. We are extremely grateful for the Trump Administration's strong support of the Jewish state.' The White House has made relations with Israel a priority, hosting both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas in Washington and choosing Israel / Palestine as one destination on Trump's first visit overseas. With 81 per cent of white evangelicals backing Trump at the election a constituency who largely have a strong support for Israel the White House is keen to shore up it's pro-Israel credentials. Hagee is a long-time supporter of the Trump-Pence administration and has attracted controversy because of his remarks about Adolf Hitler, homosexuality and the Catholic Church. In 2008 John McCain was forced to officially reject Hagee's endorsement of him after a recording emerged of Hagee saying Hitler was fulfilling God's will be quickening the Jews' return to Israel. The Texas-based pastor has also described the Roman Catholic Church as the 'Antichrist', a 'false cult system', and 'The Great Whore'. Pence is due to speak at the CUFI annual conference which runs from July 17-18 in Washington. You can get blessed by a robot priest. What's not to like? Robots have been the future for a long time. Now they're the present, and they're making their presence felt in the most unlikely places. A company called Consequential Robotics has developed a bunny-shaped robot designed to care for older people. The MiRo is small and cute, and it responds to voice commands, keeps them company and reminds them to take their pills. Is nothing sacred? It's a question also raised by BlessU-2, a robot priest developed as part of the Reformation 500 celebrations in Germany. It greets those who approach it and delivers blessings in up to five different languages, in addition to their choice for a male or female voice. BlessU-2 then offers 31 blessings to choose from its four categories. Once a blessings has been requested, the prayer begins. 'We wanted people to consider if it is possible to be blessed by a machine, or if a human being is needed,' said Stephan Krebs of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, which developed the robot. Well, there's a question and oddly enough, it might have been a familiar one to Martin Luther, in whose home town of Wittenberg BlessU-2 is currently ministering. Because at the root of his Reformation was the conflict between a mechanical robotic, even view of salvation that said it was done to you, by specially qualified ministers of the Church, and a deeply personal view that placed the responsibility firmly on the individual. Luther's protest on October 31, 1517, was sparked by the preaching of a friar named Tetzel, a pushy salesman of indulgences. Tetzel sold pieces of paper guaranteeing forgiveness to gullible Christians. So effective were they, he claimed, that they would free from the fires of purgatory someone who had seduced the Virgin Mary and made her pregnant. Armed with one of these indulgences, individuals could sin as much as they liked without fear of any eternal consequences. This is an entirely mechanical view of forgiveness. Luther's gift to the Church was that he made it personal. Salvation isn't something that's done to you; it's something you choose. We are saved by grace through faith. However, that's not the only way of looking at it. There's a principle called ex opere operato at work, too. It means that sacraments like baptism or communion work independently of the attitude of the minister or the recipient; what matters is that they're done, It's Christ's righteousness that counts, not our own. Anglicans finesse this a bit; the recipient has to be worthy. But the fact that a priest might be a scoundrel doesn't invalidate a baptism or make a communion less of a communion. And that raises the intriguing possibility that a blessing delivered by a robot might not be such a terrible thing. After all, it's just spoken words, and what's the difference between that and listening to a recording, or reading them on paper? What counts isn't the source of the words whether a wicked priest or a state-of-the-art robot but the heart of the believer. So why, though it might be reasonably defensible theologically, does this feel so unsatisfactory? Here's a suggestion. I'm not a Catholic or an Anglican and I don't believe a priest's ministrations are any more effective or valid than anyone else's. But I do recognise what happens when, in Cardinal Newman's words, 'heart speaks to heart'. There's something enormously powerful and priestly in an encounter between two people, in which grace is shared. I saw this powerfully exemplified last night in the new BBC drama Broken, in which Sean Bean plays a damaged priest seeking to minister to equally damaged parishioners. It's a performance that rang absolutely true, and at the heart of it was the humanity of the minister. His prayers and blessings weren't mechanical, but real. So, BlessU-2? No, thanks. Real ministry is about encounter. It's not a formula, a system or a programme, as some churches seem to imagine: it's heart speaking to heart. And we all know what was wrong with the Tin Man: he didn't have one. Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods Audio Transcript Brian Anderson: Since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, there has been an ongoing public debate about the American criminal justice system. Critics including former President Barack Obama and his Justice Department, the activists of Black Lives Matter, and many in the elite press charge the policing is shot through with racism, specifically that young blacks, young black males in particular, are routinely being harassed, harmed, and even killed by the police with near impunity. And as a corollary that blacks are unjustly being imprisoned at rates disproportionate to their numbers. President Donald Trumps promise to restore law and order in American cities was a centerpiece of his campaign last year and many of his opponents said he was exaggerating the safety problem in the inner city and thereby race-baiting and demonizing minorities. But with an undeniable increase in homicides in shootings in cities across the county since 2014, it seems that Trump was right to raise the issue. The antipolice narrative, our guest Heather Mac Donald has argued, has led officers in high-crime areas to start to disengage from proactive policing, leading to more violent crime. That phenomenon has come to be called the Ferguson effect, a term Heather popularized with a much-discussed Wall Street Journal editorial. We will talk with Heather about the state of policing, the facts about crime, James Comey, and her recent encounters with campus protestors that put her in national headlines. Welcome back to 10 Blocks, I am your host Brian Anderson. Joining us on the show today is Heather Mac Donald. She is a longtime contributing editor of City Journal, the Thomas Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and author of the New York Timess bestseller The War on Cops, which will be out in an updated paperback edition this fall. Her latest essay, How Trump Can Help the Cops, appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of City Journal. Heather, thanks for joining me. Heather Mac Donald: Thanks for having me on, Brian. Brian Anderson: It has been nearly two years since you popularized the phrase the Ferguson effect in a Wall Street Journal article entitled The New Nationwide Crime Wave. Now critics of police dismissed the idea at the time of any crime spike as an illusion, a statistical illusion. One that could give cover, in fact, to continuing police violence against minorities. Yet the numbers are showing that violent crime has undeniably increased in many cities over the past two years and a recent FBI report on the murder of police officers suggests that your argument on the Ferguson effect was a correct one. What is the state of the policing debate now that cities like Baltimore and Chicago and other locations are seeing, really, crime levels unseen for decades? Heather Mac Donald: Well, Brian, unfortunately the activists and advocates and anticop enablers are maintaining their position, which is that the police are a racist, oppressive force in the community and they remain, with very few exceptions, in complete denial about the increasing loss of black lives. I, however, if I do say so myself, have been completely vindicated by the data that has come out since the release of The War on Cops. We finally have the final homicide numbers for 2015. It was the largest one-year increase in nearly fifty years. An additional 900 black males were killed in 2015, bringing the black homicide total up to 7,000. That is 2,000 more black homicide victims than all white and Hispanic homicide victims combined. What the recent FBI report showed is that not only are black lives being taken because officers are backing off from proactive policing under this relentless lie that they are racist for trying to bring public order to high-crime communities, but blue lives are being taken as well. There was a 53% increase in gun murders of police officers last year that the FBI analyzed and concluded it was driven overwhelmingly by an ideologically fomented hatred of cops. Brian Anderson: The activists in a place like Baltimore are getting, in a way, what they wanted. They were saying that the police were an oppressive force, now the police have backed off and you see this horrific increase in violence in that city, and now city leaders are throwing their arms up and saying what is happening, how can this crime be prevented? What explains this kind of incoherence on the part of the people involved in this debate? Heather Mac Donald: Well nobody really wants to admit that policing is the second best solution for bringing safety to urban areas. The first best solution is fathers. That is completely a taboo subject. But policing is almost as toxic to the Left. Baltimore is just an amazing situation. Homicide levels are now at the highest rate per capita in the citys history, shootings are occurring daily, and yet, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked a federal judge for time to review a completely nonsensical, self-defeating consent decree that the Obama Justice Department slapped on the Baltimore Police Department in its last week in office, when Sessions said let me look at this thing to make sure that it is in the best interest of the law-abiding residents of West Baltimore, the police chief and mayor of Baltimore raised a hue and cry and said please do not free us from a grotesquely overpriced federal monitor from ten years or so spending tens of millions of dollars a year in unnecessary compliance costs. We have no capacity to run and govern our city ourselves. The twists and turns in the elites cop narrative are just impossible to follow and, oddly, the participants in that narrative even include some big city police chiefs. Brian Anderson: How many of Americas big cities are under these kind of federal consent decrees? You have been very critical of them. Perhaps you can explain a little bit more how they work and what Trumps Attorney General Jeff Sessions plans to do about them. Heather Mac Donald: Well, the Obama administration opened more investigations into police departments for alleged patterns of unconstitutional policing than any other previous administration. I think theres probably almost two dozen decrees that are currently outstanding. The standards that the Obama Justice Department used for imposing these decrees were wholly ignorant. They would accuse the police in, say, Baltimore, or New Orleans, of a racist pattern of policing if police stops and arrests did not match population ratios. So for example if 50% of all police stops in a city had black subjects but the black population was 25%, the Obama Justice Department looked no further and said okay, thats police racism. But the relevant question is who is committing crime, and what proportion of crime is being committed in minority neighborhoods? And when you take that into account, police activity stops looking racist and starts looking data-driven, which is the reality today. These consent decrees are just grotesquely overpriced. The monitors charge several million dollars a year and they impose endless paperwork requirements on police departments who have to take cops off the beat and put them to work making copies, trying to file reports according to draconian deadlines. The Trump Justice Department under Attorney General Sessions is rightly reviewing the consent decree process. I hope that he will for once, unlike any predecessor administration, make the process transparent, say what will cause them to investigate a police department in the first place, and, after that investigation, I hope that Attorney General Sessions will say we will use crime as our benchmark for measuring police activity, not population ratios. Brian Anderson: In response to President Trumps recent firing, controversial firing, of FBI Director James Comey, you wrote a very interesting piece for City Journal taking up a side of Comeys abbreviated term that risked being lost in all of the discussion about his role in the 2016 election and its aftermath. And this side is his stance on crime and policing. Can you talk a bit more about how Comey reacted to the events you have been talking about so far today that occurred in places like Ferguson, and Baltimore, and Chicago over the past several years, and how did that set him apart from the rest of the Obama administration? Heather Mac Donald: James Comey was the lone voice of sanity when it came to policing, the lone voice of knowledge. He had direct knowledge of the fact that it is law-abiding members of high-crime areas who beg the police for protection. He described, in an absolutely groundbreaking speech at the University of Chicago Law School in October 2015 which I recommend to all our listeners, Brian, if they want to see the most eloquent defense of proactive policing ever penned. He described a drug operation in 2015 in Northwest Arkansas that took 70 dealers off the streets and the people in that community stood and cheered. They offered food and lodging to the FBI SWAT teams. The dealers were black and so were the people cheering them. Comey saw what I saw in 2015, which is that officers were backing off of proactive policing and crime was rising. And in this 2015 University of Chicago Law School speech he warned of the chill wind that was blowing through American law enforcement. He said cops tell me they dont much feel like getting out of their cars to make that necessary pedestrian stop at 1:00 a.m. at a known drug corner because as soon as they do they find themselves surrounded by hostile, jeering crowds. When Comey gave this speech, confirming what I have called the Ferguson effect, President Obama two days later slapped him down in the most insulting manner, accused him of cherry-picking data and having a political agenda. But Comey stayed firm. And the next year, when the start of 2016s crime numbers came in, he said its even worse this year, holy cow, do we have a problem. The White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest primly, again, took issue with it and blamed Comey for getting out not having a grasp of crime and policing and what the data was. This, of course, was a ludicrous explanation to think that the Obama White House Press Secretary knows more about what is happening on the streets than the FBI Director is completely absurd. So I, for one, regret that we are losing someone with such hands-on experience with crime and policing and who is willing to stand up even to his own president and tell the truth about what the Black Lives Matter movement, the havoc it was wreaking, in inner city neighborhoods. Brian Anderson: You have made your views very clear here on the folly of consent decrees, federal consent decrees. What, if any, role should the federal government be playing in helping police? Heather Mac Donald: I think the federal government has a limited role, Brian. The feds, frankly, dont know all that much about how to solve crime. The big revolutions in policing that gave us our twenty-year crime decline that is now at risk from what I have called the Ferguson effect, those were local innovations. The feds can help with federal prosecutions for gun and drug crimes. Those fell during the Obama years because of the false narrative coming out from the White House, embraced by both President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, that gun and drug prosecutions were resulting in the mass incarceration of minority men. The feds also have law enforcement agents that can work in conjunction with police, whether it is FBI or Drug Enforcement agents or Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents. But generally I think the feds should stay out of things. They can help with research, something that few law local departments have the funding to do, figure out what works in policing. I would like to see them, as well, get on the record. The thing that I have heard every single time when I go to a police community meeting in a high-crime area, which is the good people in that community begging the police to get the dealers off the corner, to get the gangs of youth hanging out, fighting, off the corner, to get the dealers out of their lobbies, that is what drives policing today. Police are responding to the community when they try to enforce low-level public order laws known as broken windows enforcement, and Ive heard that, Comey heard that. I would like the Justice Department to do some studies that make this far more real to the public at large. Brian Anderson: It is not a story that gets into the mainstream press at all. You know, which tends to elect very radical oppositional voices as the voices of the community. Heather Mac Donald: Absolutely. Brian Anderson: So it is an important story. You were recently in national headlines a few weeks ago, when protestors at Claremont McKenna College prevented you from speaking to a group on campus that had invited you about policing and policing issues, could you describe that experience for our listeners and really address the broader question, what the blazes is happening to free inquiry on college campus and what can be done about this kind of new campaign of silencing critics of, you know, the conventional university narratives? Heather Mac Donald: Well the state of model and victimology is just raging out of control at a rate beyond what even I foresaw three years ago or so. It is just stunning, the bubble of delusion, self-pity, and complete disconnect from reality that students are stewing in to the encouragement of faculty and administrators. I had been invited to give a lecture at Claremont McKenna College, which is in the suburbs of Los Angeles, in April. There was supposed to be a large group of students in the audience, I was supposed to meet with students beforehand. The day before I got a note, an email, from one of the administrators who had set this up saying they had gotten word of protest and were considering moving the event to a room with fewer plate glass windows and better means of egress. That is not the sort of thing you necessary want to hear in preparing for a talk. The day of the event, when I showed up at Claremont McKenna, I was picked up at the train station and was told that they decided to keep it in the original venue. Nevertheless, all of the prior events had been canceled. I was not going to meet with students and I was put in, basically, a safehouse for two hours where I could hear the growing mob chanting. I could not see them gathering outside of the building, but I saw protestors walk by, a girl in a Palestinian headscarf with her face masked with a bullhorn amplifier on her back, and what was going on, I learned later, was that about 250 to 300 students had surrounded the venue to prevent anybody from coming in. The protest had been organized by black students who sent out a message to shut it down, shut down the white supremacist, fascist Heather Mac Donald, and they succeeded. The college had brought in some police but they were utterly passive. They put barricades, the police had put barricades around the building to try and protect the entrances but when the students basically tore those barricades down and took control themselves, the police just stood passively by. Brian Anderson: Why do you think that is the case? Have they been instructed to go easy on the students? I imagine so. Heather Mac Donald: Well, yes. We are living now in the Black Lives Matter era of passive policing as opposed to proactive policing. And campus police and city police are terrified of having to use force, however lawfully, having that get caught on video and then that becomes the story of the night on CNN or MSNBC. And so there is a tendency to allow the lawbreakers to get the upper hand very quickly. And also, on a campus, of course, you have a reigning ethos of consumerism, which holds that, well, these are paying consumers and we dont want to make their college experience at all unpleasant. And so I think that contributes to a college presidents reluctance to impose discipline, to impose the rule of law. So I was escorted into the building via a secret passageway and gave my talk to an empty auditorium. They livestreamed it to people who had access to a computer outside the room, but the few people inside who were mostly police officers were hardly paying attention to me. They were riveted by what was happening outside the building, which was people pounding on the plate glass windows and chanting. Eventually they decided they could no longer guarantee my safety and shut down the Q&A period and escorted me out of the building, again under police protection, into a waiting police van from the Claremont Police Department and I was sped away. You know this is going on because of the ideology of victimology, which is telling students that they are at quite literal lethal assault from circumambient racism. This is a fantasy. There is no environment in human history that is more tolerant or compassionate, at least if you are not a Conservative, than a college campus. There is not a single racist faculty member and yet the faculty and administrators encourage students in this delusion. So they are shutting down speech under the pretext that it is somehow threatening their existence if it does not conform to politically correct ideology. Brian Anderson: At beautiful Claremont McKenna College, the campus of which is in one of the prettiest places you could imagine, it is really hard to wrap your head around these kids thinking of themselves as victims and speech as a form of violence. It is striking. What was the reaction of the, you know, the campus faculty and the administrators to what happened? Heather Mac Donald: I dont know of any collective response by the faculty. I engaged in one email exchange with a humanities professor who was quite testy about my writing, particularly my evisceration of a petition that came out afterwards by We, the few students of color at Pomona College and the other Claremont colleges, which includes Claremont McKenna, the president issued a denunciation after the event to the campus community taking responsibility for the lack of police response and saying that the students would be held accountable. To my knowledge nothing has happened yet. He also called me about two weeks later. I asked him whether at a previous outbreak of mass hysteria in 2015 when students demanded the firing of a student dean who subsequently resigned for a completely inoffensive, poorly phrased expression of solidarity with minority students, if President Chodosh had the courage to tell those protestors that they were simply wrong, that they were not in a racist environment, that his own faculty were not racists, he ducked the question and promised to send me materials on their local safe space but he has not done so. Brian Anderson: Well, that is a grim tale. It really is. Dont forget to check out Heathers ongoing work for City Journal on our website. We would also love to hear your comments about todays episode on Twitter, @CityJournal with the hashtag #10Blocks. Lastly, if you like this podcast and want to hear more, please leave ratings and reviews on iTunes. Thanks for listening and thank you very much, Heather, for joining us. Heather Mac Donald: Thank you, Brian. I appreciate it. Brian Anderson: You can subscribe to this and other Manhattan Institute podcasts in the iTunes store. The audio edition and transcript is available on our website, www.city-journal.org. This is City Journal editor Brian Anderson. Thanks again for listening to the 10 Blocks Podcast. Charity Futures - Sir Stephen Bubb's programme to improve charity governance and leadership - has become a separate legal entity from Acevo and will hold its first board meeting this evening. The programme was started within Acevo by Bubb when he stood down as chief executive last year, and has financial backing from Woodford Investment Management. It has now registered as a community interest company, appointed a board and moved out of Acevos offices. An announcement said: After a year of incubation, Charity Futures is ready to take off as an autonomous community interest company. A spokesman said it had chosen to constitute itself as a CIC, rather than a charity because it affords us more operational flexibility if we want to broaden activities once we are established. CICs are common model for social enterprises and a requirement is that they have an asset lock to prevent assets being taken outside of the community they serve. CICs are overseen by the CIC Regulator at Companies House. Charity Futures registered with Companies House as Third Sector Futures and filed incorporation documents on 19 April. Bubb to be chief executive Bubb has now become the chief executive of Charity Futures and will also sit on its board. Its board is chaired by Jonathan Smith, head of corporate social responsibility for Woodford Investment Management. The other board members are Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, Stepehn Barclay, co-founder of the Oxford Centre for the Study of Philanthropy, Ann Limb, chair of the Scout Association, and Othman Moqbel, chief executive of Human Appeal and an Acevo trustee. Charity Futures is now based at CAN Mezzanine, not at Acevos offices within Society Building. It has also launched a website. Its aims are to support the development of governance and leadership for charities, carry out research, convene others and improve public understanding of charities. Over the past year Charity Futures has held a number of round tables around the country, carried out a survey and submitted evidence to the House of Lords committee on charities. It plans to launch a programme of keynote lectures and publish provocation papers. More details are expected in July. I am excited about what Charity Futures can do Bubb said: "Our country needs great professional charities. Our governance and leadership is not always as good as it should be. That's just not acceptable. The Kids Company fiasco was not the only example which demonstrated the danger of failing to take this seriously. I'm excited about what Charity Futures can do. I'm delighted to have found a philanthropist who wants to support charity infrastructure. Leaving Acevo after 17 years, I remain committed to a better sector and determined to make a difference in this important new leadership role. And I'm so pleased that in taking up this role I will be working alongside such an impressive board, including my old friend Sir Stuart Etherington. Etherington said: Im pleased to see the launch of Charity Futures as a fully-fledged organisation. In a rapidly changing world, its important we think about what the future looks like so we can adapt in time. Charity Futures is an important part of helping the sector to do this. Vicky Browning, chief executive of Acevo, said: I wish Charity Futures the brightest of futures as an independent organisation. As the leader of an organisation committed to supporting and championing civil society leaders in the field I look forward to the additional future perspectives being developed by Charity Futures. karengsh wrote: And I'd like tutorID as my index with incremental value That is fine but it will not be a count of the records in the table. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH However, how do I insert into the third table? Should I use select subj_Id from subject and select tutor_id and then insert into the 3rd table ? hi everyone Are you asking why we use datareader. The following link might be a good read for you DataSet vs. DataReader[^] Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH Hi, I am trying to run an SSIS Package which is using Oracle Db as Datasource. When I am running the Package I am getting the above error: attempt to load oracle client libraries threw badimageformatexception ssis. I have downloaded the Oracle Client tools as suggested in a link upon goolging. Still I am not able to find an answer for it. Any help can be greatly helpful. As that Database is secured, I am encrypting the connection string and placing it into a variable, then assigning to ConnectionString property the Source Connection, could it be the problem? I am not understanding what am I missing here. Any help would b very helpful thanks in advance. Thanks in advance. Thanks, Abdul Aleem "There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection." -- modified 1-Jun-17 20:13pm. You'll need to check whether your package is running as 32-bit or 64-bit, and make sure you're loading the correct version of the Oracle libraries. "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer I'm using ADO.NET. Entity Framework is not an option. Suppose I have an IDataReader instance that was created from calling a stored procedure that returns 150,000 rows. If I create a DataTable , and then call DataTable.Load(IDataReader) , does it: 1. Read all available rows into the table at once? 2. Read only those rows that are necessary to return whatever rows I read from the DataTable ? 3. Some hybrid of the above two scenarios? I'm interested in implementing a solution that only reads data from the server upon demand. IOW, I don't want my form to only appear on screen after all 150,000 rows have been pulled from SQL Server. Thank you very much for your insight. The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer. DataTable.Load | Reference Source[^] Displaying 150,000 rows on screen in one hit is not a good idea. How is the poor user ever going to find the one row they're interested in? There must be some way to summarise, filter, or page the data to make it easier to consume. "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer There would never be that many rows, but in our main LOB application, some developers in the past have loaded up around 10,000 rows, making the form rather slow to open! The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH Thanks. The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH How can you limit how many rows you load, and yet still allow the user to type in a column filter string in order to find any of the PO's from any point in time? The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer. Richard Andrew x64 wrote: IOW, I don't want my form to only appear on screen after all 150,000 rows have been pulled from SQL Server. Then how? You mentioned a "form", so I'd assume WinForms with a DataGridView. In which case you don't use a datatable, but a list. You add to the list from a different thread, in batches of 50. Virtualize the DataGridView. Start the actions as soon as the form is displayed. If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell Eddy Vluggen wrote: You add to the list from a different thread, in batches of 50 Thank you. That's one of the avenues I am exploring. I have to find some way to make our application more responsive while still enabling access to thousands of rows. The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer. The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer. SQL server 2014/2016, SMO. Using SMO to backup a databse to 'D:\SQLBK\Mon\dbc.bak' on server: public int BackupDB(string serverName, string dbName, string backupFolder) { Server oServer = new Server(new ServerConnection(ServerName)); Backup oBackup = new Backup(); oBackup.Action = BackupActionType.Database; oBackup.Database = dbName; oBackup.Initialize = false; oBackup.Incremental = false; oBackup.LogTruncation = BackupTruncateLogType.Truncate; string sBackupFilename = Path.Combine(backupFolder, dbName + ".bak"); oBackup.Devices.AddDevice(sBackupFilename, DeviceType.File); oBackup.SqlBackup(oServer); return 0; } How to get original database information from backup file 'D:\SQLBK\Mon\dbc.bak' through SMO? e.g. database name. w14243 wrote: How to get original database information from backup file 'D:\SQLBK\Mon\dbc.bak' through SMO? e.g. database name. The database-name is not part of the backup. You backup the data, not meta-data on the file. If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell SQL Server 2014/2016, using SMO. Want backup database 'dbName' of server 'serverName' to server folder 'backupFolder'. 1.Backup remote database, not backup local database. 2.The 'backupFolder' is on remote server, e.g. "D:\SQLBK\Mon". public int BackupDB(string serverName, string dbName, string backupFolder) { Server oServer = new Server(new ServerConnection(ServerName)); Backup oBackup = new Backup(); oBackup.Action = BackupActionType.Database; oBackup.Database = dbName; oBackup.Initialize = false; oBackup.Incremental = false; oBackup.LogTruncation = BackupTruncateLogType.Truncate; string sBackupFilename = Path.Combine(backupFolder, dbName + ".bak"); oBackup.Devices.AddDevice(sBackupFilename, DeviceType.File); oBackup.SqlBackup(oServer); return 0; } The 'backupFolder' is folder on 'serverName', not local folder. 1.If 'backupFolder' is not exist on 'serverName', the 'SqlBackup' command will cause exception on 'folder not exist'. 2.If use 'Directory.CreateDirectory(backupFolder)', then local folder will be created, not remote folder. So I want: 1. The 'SqlBackup' command can auto create specified backup folder. How to do it? 2. If above can't be done, then how to create 'backupFolder' on 'serverName' by SMO or other method? Hi, I have a report which will produce different numbers of columns depending on the client that is selected. There may be a dozen clients and the columns might be named differently so it's all completely dynamic. I'm not quite sure how to arrange this in an SSRS report or even if it is possible. Can anybody please shed light on how I can do this? Thanks modified 25-May-17 6:21am. 05/31/2017 Photo (c) AdobeStock If you're planning a summer vacation to Europe, you may need to get a visa for each country you'll be visting. That's because the European Parliament has voted to end visa-free travel for Americans within the EU, in retaliation for the U.S. failing to live up to its agreements. The reciprocity agreement in question provides visa-free travel for citizens of all the countries within the EU and the United States. But the U.S. has failed to grant visa-free travel to citizens of five EU countries Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, and Romania. The vote urges the revocation of the agreement within two months, meaning Americans would have to apply for visas for each European country they want to visit. There are several more steps that must be taken before the agreement is revoked. The European Commission has two months to act. After that, the Parliament can go to court to force the change. Tourism promoters throughout Europe were said to be aghast at the proposal, fearing it will cut American tourism, which are already somewhat tepid because of terrorism fears. Today at STX France, MSC Cruises officially took delivery of MSC Meraviglia. During the ships flag ceremony, the ship received her official flag and blessings for good fortune. The ceremony was attended by Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic and other high-level dignitaries from the French government. MSC Cruises said it estimates that its total investment at STX France from 2003 to 2020 will amount to over 7 billion euros, effectively making the company the countrys number one foreign private investor. Following her christening ceremony, which will take place in Le Havre on June 3, MSC Meraviglia will start her inaugural season sailing the Western Mediterranean. MSC Meraviglias coming into service marks a key milestone in the history and future of our Company, said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises. She represents the first realization of our long-term vision for further significant growth, which, in its first phase, culminated with MSC Cruises becoming two years ago the number one cruise brand across all of Europe, while on its way to further global growth. Above all, we must celebrate the work of everyone: from all the workers of our partner STX France to MSC Cruises New Builds Team, each and every supplier and sub-supplier who has contributed to turning our vision into reality as well as everyone at MSC who has worked ashore and on board on this amazing project. A galvanized team of up to 3,000 workers a month and over 400 suppliers, built over the past three years the largest and most technologically advanced cruise ship ever constructed by a European ship owner. This is worth celebrating! added Vago. Delivering a ship is always a time of great emotion for the shipyard: it is the culmination of three years of intense work for our employees and those of our partners, who have spared no effort to deliver on the exact date and in the quality conditions desired by our client MSC Cruises, this first ship of the Meraviglia class, said Laurent Castaing, CEO of STX France. Benefiting from our advances in R&D from the "Ship of the Future" program supported by ADEME, this prototype is a great achievement that we can all be proud of and which allows us to look confidently at the next three ships. During todays flag ceremony, the shipyards pennant and the French flag were lowered, accompanied by the French national anthem, before Laurent Castaing, CEO of STX France, formally handed the ship over to MSC Cruises owner Gianluigi Aponte. Aponte then gave command of MSC Meraviglia to Master Raffaele Pontecorvo before the ships flag and MSC Cruises pennant were raised. The honor of cutting the ribbon fell to the ceremonys godmother, Zoe Africa Vago, daughter of MSC Cruises Executive Chairman and Alexa Aponte-Vago, MSC Groups CFO. After the traditional breaking of the bottle of champagne, three blasts from the ships siren signaled the end of the ceremony. A second credit union is suing Chipotle for damages related to the fast-casual restaurant companys recent alleged data breach. Benton, Ark.-based Alcoa Community Federal Credit Union filed a class-action suit against Chipotle on May 26 in a Colorado District Court. Similar to another class-action suit filed by Bellwether Community Credit Union on May 4, Alcoa Communitys suit said that the alleged breach compromised names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, card verification values and other information of hundreds of thousands of Chipotle customers nationwide. Alcoa Community FCU has $43 million in assets and about 5,900 members. Manchester, N.H.-based Bellwether Community Credit Union has $488 million in assets and 34,000 members. In its suit, Alcoa Community FCU also claimed the breach forced some credit unions and other financial institutions to cancel or reissue cards, close accounts, stop payments, block transactions, issue refunds, increase fraud monitoring efforts and deal with cardholder complaints and confusion. Affected credit unions and financial institutions also lost interest and transaction fees due to reduced card usage, and the cards and their corresponding account numbers became worthless, it added. Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 900 bank branches and 3,300 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates through two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Fluid Power & Flow Control. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment. It also operates fabricated rubber shops and service field crews that install, modify, and repair conveyor belts and rubber linings, as well as offer hose assemblies. In addition, the company provides equipment repair and technical support services. It distributes industrial products through a network of service centers. The company serves various industries, including agriculture and food processing, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals, fabricated metals, forest products, industrial machinery and equipment, life sciences, mining, oil and gas, primary metals, technology, transportation, and utilities, as well as government entities. The company was formerly known as Bearings, Inc. and changed its to name to Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. in 1997. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. ALLETE, Inc. operates as an energy company. The company operates through Regulated Operations, ALLETE Clean Energy, and Corporate and Other segments. It generates electricity from coal-fired, biomass co-fired / natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, and solar. The company provides regulated utility electric services in northwestern Wisconsin to approximately 15,000 electric customers, 13,000 natural gas customers, and 10,000 water customers, as well as regulated utility electric services in northeastern Minnesota to approximately 145,000 retail customers and 15 non-affiliated municipal customers. It also owns and maintains electric transmission assets in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. In addition, the company focuses on developing, acquiring, and operating clean and renewable energy projects; and owns and operates approximately 1,000 megawatts of wind energy generation facility. Further, it is involved in the coal mining operations in North Dakota; and real estate investment activities in Florida. The company owns and operates 158 substations with a total capacity of 10,066 megavolt amperes. It serves taconite mining, paper, pulp and secondary wood products, pipeline, and other industries. The company was formerly known as Minnesota Power, Inc. and changed its name to ALLETE, Inc. in May 2001. ALLETE, Inc. was incorporated in 1906 and is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota. Telematics and data provider Trakm8 announced on Wednesday that it was awarded a contract extension by frozen food retailer Iceland Foods . The AIM-traded company said the contract extension covered the provision of Trakm8's Route Monkey Optimisation software and updates its Roadsense telematics with its latest RoadHawk 600 integrated 4G video and telematics solution, with data provided via Trakm8's latest data solution Insight. It said the new contract extension would run until April 2024. Trakm8, through its Route Monkey and Roadsense solutions, said it had been providing solutions for more than 1,500 home delivery vehicles and optimising over 11 million deliveries per year. It said the next generation solutions would provide even better optimisation of those deliveries, far better insights into how the vehicles are being driven and the vehicle service requirements. The solutions would be fully integrated within the Trakm8 software and Iceland's EPOS. We have been working with Iceland Foods for over four years providing optimisation and telematics solutions, said executive chairman John Watkins. Iceland is a market leader in adopting new technology and we are delighted that it is the first significant customer for our next generation integrated products and solutions. Watkins said the extension was a validation of the acquisitions of both Route Monkey and Roadsense, as well as Trakm8's product strategy to integrate optimisation, camera and telematics technologies. This is a long term contract that provides predictable revenues for the years ahead. Crude-oil futures veered heavily lower on Wednesday as markets already underwhelmed by Opec's recent output-curb extension now quit the asset on fears of surging Libyan production. The precious black liquid has been snared in a chronic supply glut, which saw Opec introduce production pledges last year, which it last week extended out to March 2018. At 15:22 BST, Nymex-priced West Texas Intermediate crude was down 3.16% to $48.09 a barrel. Intercontinental Exchange-traded Brent fell 3.49% to $50.03 a barrel. "Another slide in crude oil prices, to three week lows, has once again shifted the focus back to the ability of Opec to meaningfully influence the mechanics surrounding reducing inventory levels," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK. "News that Libyan production is continuing to grow at levels last seen over three years ago, threatens the prospect that, with rising US output, the OPEC cuts will become almost meaningless." Libya's output was seen returning to a three-year production peak of about 800,000 barrels a day this week, as the flow from its largest oil field recovered from a technical problem. In the meantime, production in the US had risen to more than 9.3m barrels a day, which was near to leading producers Saudi Arabia and Russia. Carsten Fritsch, a commodity analyst at Commerzbank, told CNBC: "Unless some bullish news stops this, prices will fall further in particular now with Brent trading below the post-Opec low." Today's falls in oil extended those seen on Tuesday, when bears sold on doubts that cartel Opec's extended production cuts would alleviate the global glut. Meanwhile, on Comex, gold was up 0.36% to $1270.20 an ounce. Silver fell 0.53% to $17.34 an ounce, and copper fell 0.12% to 256.1 cents a pound. On London Metals Exchange, three-month industrial metals were mostly lower. Aluminum fell 1.28%, zinc lost 0.57% and copper dropped 0.03%. Tin, however, rose 0.05%. Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan has signed off on the government's sale of 25% of its stake in Allied Irish Banks . One of the largest banks in the country, AIB was nationalised at the peak of the financial crisis which brought the Celtic Tiger years crashing to the ground. The Irish state pumped over 20bn into the bank in order to keep it afloat. The shares will be floated on the London Stock Exchange as well as in the Irish stock market, potentially raising up to 3bn for the state. Noonan said on Wednesday that AIB had already paid more than 6bn in the form of fees and dividends to the government. The shares will be floated on the London Stock Exchange as well as in the Irish stock market "The Government's long-held policy is that the State should exit its banking investments in a measured and prudent manner, returning ownership to the private sector over time," Noonan said. "The strong progress made by AIB and current market conditions mean that now is the right time to commence this process and proceed with an initial sale of approximately 25% of the States shareholding in AIB." AIB returned to profit for the first time in six years in 2014 and now its chief executive Bernard Byrne says the bank is a step closer to returning the taxpayers funds it was given in the bailout. "While significant capital has been returned to date, this share listing and sale is very important as it puts in place the final mechanism that will enable the State to continue to recover its investment," Byrne said in a statement. The Conservative Party could be in line to lose 20 seats and Labour gain nearly 30 in next weeks general election, according to new modelling by one of the countrys leading pollsters. YouGovs first constituency-by-constituency estimate of the election result predicts that the Tories would fall short of an overall majority by 16 seats, leading to a hung parliament. - The Times Britains biggest bookmaker weakened rules designed to tackle money laundering and problem gamblers in order to increase profits, a whistleblower claims. A former Ladbrokes Coral employee has exposed tactics that the company used to encourage customers to increase betting on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). - The Times The Irish government has finally pushed the button on its planned 12bn (10.4bn) float of Allied Irish Banks in what could be one of the biggest initial public offerings in London in recent years. The Irish state currently owns around 99.9pc of AIB, and plans to float 25pc of its stake on the London and Irish stock exchanges. - Telegraph BT faces a strike threat after unions said they will consider industrial action if the company presses ahead with the closure of its final salary pension scheme. The firm's defined-benefits pension scheme has more than 300,000 members, and although the scheme had been closed to new entrants in 2001, existing members continue to build up benefits. - Telegraph Three former Tesco directors charged with fraud are seeking to have the case against them dismissed, arguing that no false accounting took place. Barristers for Carl Rogberg, John Scouler and Christopher Bush have indicated that they will argue that there is no case to answer and that Tesco should not have restated its profits in a move that ultimately contributed to the grocer suffering a record loss in 2014. - The Times Brussels is preparing to crack down on accountants and lawyers running tax-avoidance schemes in response to the Panama Papers scandal that showed how the rich and powerful hide their money. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, told MEPs on Tuesday that he would table a draft law before the end of June that aims to shed light on experts who help clients exploit tax laws and shift money to offshore tax havens. - Guardian British Airways was still struggling to return baggage to passengers late on Tuesday as it attempts to salvage its battered reputation and investigate the cause of a computer system outage that left 75,000 people stranded at the weekend. Cancelled holidays and chaotic scenes at Heathrow and Gatwick airports over the bank holiday weekend have been followed by reports of passengers baggage being forwarded to destinations abroad while its owners were unable to travel. - Guardian Steven Cohen, the American hedge fund boss whose firm was shut by the US government three and a half years ago, is planning to return with a record-breaking $20 billion fund after his industry ban expires next year, according to reports last night. The new fund would exceed the $16 billion that Mr Cohen once oversaw as the boss of SAC Capital, which closed in 2013 after a long-running insider trading investigation. - The Times The labour market in Japan is at its tightest in more than 43 years with employers struggling to fill gaps in the workforce and more jobs available than at the peak of the countrys bubble economy in 1990. Government data showed the ratio of job openings to applications in April hit 1.48 in Japan. That means there were 148 jobs available for every 100 applicants. - The Times One of Britains best-known luxury housebuilders has acquired its first site in Birmingham in more than a decade. Berkeley Group, a FTSE 250 company that predominantly caters to the upper end of the London housing market, is believed to have acquired a plot of two and a half acres on the site of a former factory close to Birmingham city centre. - The Times The easyJet founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has promised to give more than half of his 2bn fortune to charity after he was inspired by the worlds richest man, the Microsoft billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates. Haji-Ioannou said he had signed up to the Giving Pledge, an organisation founded by Gates and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, which asks the worlds wealthiest people to give away the majority of their money. - Guardian FRIEDRICHSHAFEN - German outdoor brand Vaude and functional textiles business Sympatex will present the "next generation of the ecological functional shoe," at Vaude's stand at OutDoor in Friedrichshafen. The shoes, to be presented as part of Vaude's spring/summer collection 2018, come with the 100 per cent recycled and climate-neutral Sympatex membrane as well as with 100 per cent recycled Sympatex lining. U.S. Conference of Mayors Vice President Mayor Steve Benjamin along with his Mayors for 100% Clean Energy co-chairs introduced a landmark resolution Wednesday to the U.S. Conference of Mayors that would formally establish support from the nations mayors for the goal of 100 percent renewable energy in cities nationwide. If approved, the measure would represent one of the strongest energy policies adopted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and could pave the way to community-wide 100 percent clean energy commitments in cities throughout the U.S. Twenty-nine cities across the country have now committed to 100 percent clean, renewable energy. The U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting, which is the largest gathering of mayors in the country, will be held from June 23-June 26 in Miami Beach, Florida. Its up to us as leaders to creatively implement clean energy solutions for our cities across the nation. Its not merely an option now; its imperative, said Mayor Benjamin. Cities and mayors can lead the transition away from fossil fuels to 100 percent clean and renewable energy. With this measure, we intend to show that we will. Its time for leadership and I urge my fellow mayors to join me in supporting this resolution. The new Mayors for 100% Clean Energy initiative launched in April is co-chaired by Mayor Philip Levine of Miami Beach, Mayor Jackie Biskupski of Salt Lake City, Mayor Kevin Faulconer of San Diego and Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina. Mayors for 100% Clean Energy aims to demonstrate bold local leadership and showcase the depth and breadth of support from city leaders for a transition to 100 percent renewable energy. As mayor of Miami Beach and this years host of the US Conference of Mayors, I encourage mayors to vote for the resolution and support a vision of 100 percent clean energy, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said. Earlier this month, I issued a proclamation stating my aim to pursue a 100% renewable energy transition in my City of Miami Beach. We hope to continue to be a model for other communities that want to address climate change and advance clean energy solutions. The Conference of Mayors is a great opportunity for cities to show that we will lead the way nationally. In addition to announcing the new U.S. Conference of Mayors measure, Mayor Benjamin also issued a new mayoral proclamation Wednesday endorsing a goal of powering Columbia entirely with clean and renewable energy. Scientists have determined that methane from a fracked well contaminated a Texas familys water supply and triggered an explosion that nearly killed four members of the family. The familys ranch in Palo Pinto County is located only a few thousand feet away from a natural gas well. Scientists have found that methane escaped from a poorly constructed natural gas well and leached into a Texas familys water well, causing it to explode. WFAA In August 2014, former oil field worker Cody Murray, his father, wife and young daughter were severely burned and hospitalized from a fireball that erupted from the familys pump house. A year later, the family filed a lawsuit against oil and gas operators EOG Resources and Fairway Resources, claiming the defendants drilling and extraction activities caused the high-level methane contamination of the Murrays water well. At the flip of the switch, Cody heard a whooshing sound, which he instantly recognized from his work in the oil and gas industry, and instinctively picked his father up and physically threw him back and away from the entryway to the pump house, the complaint states. In that instant, a giant fireball erupted from the pump house, burning Cody and [his father], who were at the entrance to the pump house, as well as Ashley and A.M., who were approximately twenty feet away. While the states oil and gas regulatorthe Texas Railroad Commissionhas yet to definitely prove what caused the blast, new scientific studies commissioned by the Murrays attorneys has directly linked the explosion to fracking operations. As the Texas Tribune detailed, the studies found that methane and drilling mud chemicals had escaped from a poorly sealed Fairway gas well and traveled through underground fractures and eventually into the Murrays water supply. The hired experts include Thomas Darrah, a geochemist at Ohio State University; Franklin Schwartz, an Ohio State University hydrologist; Zacariah Hildenbrand, chief scientific officer at Inform Environmental; and Anthony Ingraffea, a civil engineering professor at a Cornell University with expertise in fracking. The timing is undeniable, the location is undeniable, the chemistry of the gas is undeniable, Chris Hamilton, the Murrays attorney, told news station WFAA. This is not naturally occurring gas. This is gas that came from 4 to 6-thousand feet below the ground. Hamilton shared a video with WFAA that shows the bubbling, methane-saturated water that caused the 2014 explosion. What you can see in the video here is just super carbonated water that is saturated with methane gas thats bubbling out of the Murrays water, he explained. This is an explosive gas, Hamilton added. Large bubbles and pockets of this methane escaping from a water well, any sort of spark will start a fire. Groundwater contamination is one of the biggest concerns about unconventional oil and natural gas development. While the industry maintains the safety of the process, in December the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its highly anticipated final report identifying cases of impacts on drinking water at each stage in the hydraulic fracturing water cycle. https://twitter.com/SierraClub/status/810499958122151936 Incidentally, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commissiona state legislative body that reviews agencieshas been highly critical of the Texas Railroad Commissions effectiveness at regulating the oil and gas industry. As WFAA reported: Its the 3rd such report since 2010, and is critical of Railroad Commissions effectiveness and operations. The commissions lack of a strategic approach to enforcement and inability to provide information persists. The report cites: no accurate counts of major violation, no accurate measure of violations referred for legal enforcement action and (Oil and gas) operators have a reasonable expectation they will not be penalized.' Fairway Resources declined to provide a comment to WFAA due to the ongoing lawsuit. The Texas Railroad Commission also declined to comment citing their ongoing investigation. Germanys Energiewendethe countrys low-carbon energy revolutionturned another successful corner last weekend when renewable energy sources nearly stamped out coal and nuclear. Thanks to a particularly breezy and sunny Sunday, renewables such as wind and solar, along with some biomass and hydropower, peaked at a record 85 percent, or 55.2 gigawatts, and even came along with negative prices for several hours at the electricity exchange. Conversely, coal use was at an all-time minimum. According to DW, on April 30, coal-fired power stations were only operational between 3 and 4 p.m. and produced less than eight gigawatts of energy, well below the maximum output of about 50 gigawatts. Most of Germanys coal-fired power stations were not even operating on Sunday, April 30th, Patrick Graichen of Agora Energiewende told RenewEconomy. Nuclear power sources, which are planned to be completely phased out by 2022, were also severely reduced. Graichen added that days like Sunday would be completely normal by 2030 thanks to the governments continued investment in the Energiewende initiative. Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany announced in May 2011 that it plans to phase out nuclear and shut down all its nuclear power plants by 2022. That Sunday, nuclear power plants reduced their output from 7.9 to 5 gigawatts. Germanys ambitious energy transition aims for at least an 80 percent share of renewables by 2050, with intermediate targets of 35 to 40 percent share by 2025 and 55 to 60 percent by 2035. Tuesdays announcement that the Three Mile Island Unit One nuclear plant will close unless it gets massive subsidies has vastly strengthened the case for a totally renewable energy future. That future is rising in Buffalo, and comes in the form of Teslas massive job-producing solar shingle factory which will create hundreds of jobs and operate for decades to come. Three Mile Island, by contrast, joins a wave of commercially dead reactors whose owners are begging state legislatures for huge bailouts. Exelon, the nations largest nuke owner, recently got nearly $2.5 billion from the Illinois legislature to keep three uncompetitive nukes there on line. In Ohio, FirstEnergy is begging the legislature for $300 million per year for the money-losing Perry and Davis-Besse reactors, plagued with serious structural problems. That bailout faces an uphill battle in a surprisingly skeptical legislature. FirstEnergy is at the brink of bankruptcy, and says it will sell the reactors anyway. To make matters worse, Ohio lawmakers have imposed unique spacing restrictions on the states wind industry, blocking at least $1.6 billion in investments poised to build eight wind farms now waiting in the wings. Those turbine developments would go far in providing jobs to those who will inevitably lose them at FirstEnergys uncompetitive nukes. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants a staggering $7.6 billion for four uncompetitive upstate reactors. That bailout is being challenged in court by environmental groups and by industrial players angry about unfair competition and soaring rates. Their owners concede these old nukes cant compete with renewables or gas, and have wanted to shut most or all of them. Now, Three Mile Islands owners say without millions more in handouts from Pennsylvania rate payers, the reactor will close in 2019. A battle over the handout will be upcoming in the Pennsylvania legislature. Ironically, the Quad Cities plant in Illinois, which is in line for huge subsidies, could not compete with gas or renewables at a recent power auction, and may have to shut despite the handouts. Meanwhile, coming on line this year, Teslas Buffalo Billion gigafactory has the power to transform our entire national economy. Its the core of a plan to fulfill Americas direst needsa reliable supply of safe, cheap energy, and a base of good long-term employment for the nations battered working class. Costing about $750 million, it will bang out solar roofing shingles by the end of this year. It will directly create at least 500 high-paying, clean, safe jobs that will last for decades and turn our energy economy green. Another 1,440 jobs are slated to come from spin-offs. Still more will be created by lowered electric rates and increased clean energy production. The Buffalo factory joins Teslas new plant outside Sparks, Nevadahoused in the biggest building in the worldnow producing a new generation of batteries. They will bridge the green energy gap when the sun doesnt shine and the wind doesnt blow. These two job-producing powerhouses are at the core of the Solartopian revolution. Solar panels, solar shingles, wind turbines, high-efficiency LED lighting and advanced batteries are key to our global survival and prosperity. Along with the hardware needed for tidal energy, ocean thermal, geothermal, advanced conservation and other renewable industries, gigafactories producing these technologies will be the engine for the 21st century economy. If Gov. Cuomos $7.6 billion bailout ask went instead to build seven gigafactories like the Buffalo Billion, New York would gain thousands of jobs directly and thousands more through the industry powered by lower electric rates. They would be safe, secure, clean, good-paying jobs that could transform the states energy and employment situation. Cuomos bailout plan, however, would raise rates on New Yorkers far outside their upstate service area. That even includes Long Islandhundreds of miles awaywhose angry citizens rose up decades ago to kill the infamous failed $7 billion Shoreham reactor, which Cuomos father Mario helped bury when he was governor. Ferocious opposition to this bailout has arisen throughout New York. A critical court case will open on June 5. Support for this litigation can be sent to Rockland Environmental Group, LLC 75 North Middletown Road, Nanuet, NY 10954. New developments at Sempra and other major electric utilities now make it possible for renewables to sustain a central grid 100 percent of the time, without the fluctuations critics claim make a green-powered future difficult to achieve. So we can bail out Three Mile Island, Perry, Davis-Besse and a rising tide of our 99 obsolete, dangerously decayed atomic dinosaurs at a cost of untold billions? Do we want to escalate the risk of reactor disasters, create tons more radioactive wastes and temporarily preserve a few thousand dead-end jobs? Or do we want to bang out these Buffalo Billion plants and join Germany, Switzerland, India and other major nations soaring to a Solartopian future. Is there really a choice? By Richard Sadler Ambitious plans have been drawn up for a network of tidal lagoons around the UK coast that could provide up to a quarter of the countrys electricityand there is potential to roll out the technology in many parts of the world. Tidal lagoons work by using a wall to capture a body of water in the sea or a tidal estuary pushed in on the rising tide. The water drives turbines as the tide comes in and then, as the tide falls, the turbines are reversed and the energy from the falling tide is harnessed again. https://twitter.com/Tidal__Energy/status/776324062465273856 expand=1] As Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the earliest English poets put it: Time and tide wait for no man. Unlike with wind and solar, the amount of energy being produced from tides is predictable months in advance and is now being recognized as a major renewable resource. More Tidal Lagoons Planning approval has already been given for a 1.3 billion pathfinder project at Swansea Bay, South Wales, described by developers as a scalable blueprint for a new, global, low-carbon power industry. Another nine lagoons are planned around tidal hotspots in the Severn Estuary and North-West England/North Wales. These would have the potential to generate 25,000MW of electricityenough to provide 12 percent of the UKs electricity needs. The company behind the proposals, Tidal Lagoon Power, already has teams working in Northern France and India and is studying opportunities in Mexico and Canadas Atlantic coast. Further tidal lagoon markets may exist in South America, China, South-East Asia and Oceania. Tidal power is recognized by the EUs Joint Research Centre as a key contributor to the continents future energy mix. Its main attraction is that, unlike other renewable energy sources, it does not require the wind to blow or the sun to shine. An oceanographer at Southampton University, Dr. Simon Boxall, said the technology has improved to the point where tidal energy was a no-brainer, with the latest bi-directional turbines capable of generating power on both incoming and outgoing tides. He said that with sufficient investment it could provide up to a quarter of UK electricity needs within 20 years. We can always rely on tidesthey come in and they go out and they will continue doing so for thousands of years. Parts of the UK have tidal ranges in excess of 15 meters, so thats a heck of a drop of water and thats happening twice a dayor four times a day when you count the water coming in and going out, said Dr. Boxall. The other great advantage is that the tides arent the same in different locations, so if youve got a network of tidal power stations you are always generating electricity: 24 hours a day, seven days a week, added Dr. Boxall. In December a former UK energy minister, Charles Hendry, published an independent review, concluding: Power from tidal lagoons could make a strong contribution to UK energy security, as an indigenous and completely predictable form of supply. He said the UK was well-placed to take a global lead and with economies of scale and mass manufacture of turbines, turbine housing and other components costs could be substantially reduced. Cheap Electricity To be viable the new industry would require subsidies, with a guaranteed premium price for electricity generated. However, Hendry calculated that in the long term tidal lagoons will work out cheaper than wind and significantly less expensive than nuclear. And they could go on generating for 140 yearsproviding clean, subsidy-free energy long after other energy plants have been decommissioned. The technology is not without its drawbacks. Artificial lagoons can cause increased silting-up of shipping lanes. Tidal estuaries are also important for wading birds, marine mammals and migratory fish and conservation groups have warned that the ecological impacts of tidal lagoons are not well understood and that any roll-out of lagoons in the UK should be conditional on the Swansea project being tried and tested. Backers of the technology say management practices can be adapted to address such concernsand they point out that lagoons can provide environmental benefits, acting as artificial reefs for marine wildlife. The UK government is expected to announce a final decision on the Swansea Bay project within the next few months. Reposted with permission from our media associate Climate News Network. [facebook https://facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1446200265392906/ Axios reported Wednesday morning that Donald Trump is planning on exiting the Paris Agreement, and is considering both exiting the deal itself as well as pulling out of the larger UNFCCC treaty, according to two sources within the White House. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday countries must get on board or get left behind with the agreement. While he steered clear of naming Donald Trump specifically in his speech at New York Universitys Stern School of Business, Guterres told an audience member in a Q&A session that exiting the deal could have economic, social and security implications for any countries that choose to pull out. Guterres told the crowd the world is in a mess to highlight the importance of the agreement and the threat climate change brings to the world. If Trump forces the United States out of the Paris agreement as we stand on the brink of climate catastrophe, he makes himself guilty of what looks like a grave crime against humanity, the planet Earth, and future generations, said Uffe Elbk, leader of Denmarks green party The Alternative and former Danish minister of culture. It will be a betrayal of science, common sense and the historic role of the United States. In Washington, DC, White House Press Sec. Sean Spicer reported Trump met with Scott Pruitt on the accords Tuesday and is aiming for a fair deal for the American people on Paris (curiously, Spicer claims he hasnt asked whether Trump believed climate change is influenced by human activity). This latest example shows how President Trump appears to go further down the road with an outdated economic model, said Yannick Jadot, Greens/EFA MEP, vice-chair of the Committee on International Trade and member of the Energy Committee. In todays world, it is not an option to separate the fight against climate change from the economy. Governments must tackle the two issues hand in hand. Instead of throwing millions of dollars into subsidies for coal power, President Trump should take the opportunity to put climate protection in place. This would generate much bigger opportunities for job creation and the economy as a whole, he added. For a deeper dive: Exiting: Axios. Guterres: AP, BBC, FT, The Guardian, Axios, Reuters, InsideClimate News, The Hill, Mashable. Trump: New York Times, AP, CNN, Politico Pro, E&E, Bloomberg, The Hill. Global implications: FT. Commentary: Washington Post, Chris Mooney analysis, The Atlantic, Robinson Meyer analysis, Axios, Amy Harder analysis, Vox, David Roberts analysis, The Guardian, Joseph Robertson op-ed, San Francisco Chronicle editorial, ThinkProgress, Joe Romm column, WSJ, Cliff Forrest op-ed, CNN, Ted Cruz op-ed For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News. WASHINGTON, DC -- A new study combining European ice core data and historical records of the infamous Black Death pandemic of 1349-1353 shows metal mining and smelting have polluted the environment for thousands of years, challenging the widespread belief that environmental pollution began with the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s and 1800s. The new study, accepted for publication in GeoHealth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, provides evidence that the natural level of lead in the air is essentially zero, contrary to common assumptions. The research shows lead pollution from mining and smelting was detectable well before the Industrial Revolution and only when the Black Death pandemic halted those activities did lead in the air return to natural levels. "These new data show that human activity has polluted European air almost uninterruptedly for the last ca. 2000 years," the study's authors write. "Only a devastating collapse in population and economic activity caused by pandemic disease reduced atmospheric pollution to what can now more accurately be termed 'background' or natural levels." The new findings could affect the current standards for lead pollution. Current public health and environmental policy deem pre-industrial lead pollution levels to be "natural" and thus presumably "safe," but this assumption may need to be re-examined, according to the study's authors. Lead is one of the most dangerous environmental pollutants and is toxic to the brain at extremely low levels. No levels of lead can be considered safe in children, according to Philip Landrigan, Dean of Global Health for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, who was not connected to the new study. "It's clear that lead has lasting effects on children's lives," said Landrigan, who has researched lead poisoning in children and was instrumental in the implementation of abatement policies in past years. Reconstructing past lead levels In the new study, historians at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, collaborated with climate scientists at the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine in Orono. The team chose to examine past lead levels in the air because it is a dangerous pollutant and serves as a proxy for economic activity, ramping up when economies grow and tailing off when they decline. The researchers matched new, high-resolution measurements of lead in an ice core taken from a glacier in the Swiss/Italian Alps with highly detailed historical records showing that lead mining and smelting activity plummeted to nearly zero during the plague pandemic years of 1349 to 1353. The researchers found that lead levels declined suddenly in a section of the ice core corresponding to that four-year window of time. That decline is unique in the last 2,000 years of European history, according to Alexander More, a historian at Harvard and lead author of the new study. "When we saw the extent of the decline in lead levels, and only saw it once, during the years of the pandemic, we were intrigued," More said. "In different parts of Europe, the Black Death wiped out as much as half of the population. It radically changed society in multiple ways. In terms of the labor force, the mining of lead essentially stopped in major areas of production. You see this reflected in the ice core in a large drop in atmospheric lead levels, and you see it in historical records for an extended period of time." The researchers also found other, lesser, drops in lead accumulation in the ice core. One occurred in 1460, which the authors show may have also been due to an epidemic-related downturn. Other drops occurred during an economic slowdown in 1885 and most recently in the 1970s when abatement policies phased out leaded gasoline and other sources of lead air pollution. More said the ice core holds much additional data, accessible due to the precision of the Climate Change Institute's next generation laser facility and the expertise of climate scientists on the research team. Combining that data with historical sources can lead to new discoveries in the fields of climate science, the history of human and planetary health, environmental and economic history, he said. "This research represents the convergence of two very different disciplines, history and ice core glaciology, that together provide the perspective needed to understand how a toxic substance like lead has varied in the atmosphere and, more importantly, to understand that the true natural level is in fact very close to zero," said Paul Mayewski, Director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine and co-author of the new study. "Using the ultra-high resolution ice core sampling offered through our W. M. Keck Laser Ice Facility, we expect to be able to offer new insights, previously unattainable with lower-resolution sampling, into the links between climate change and the course of civilization." ### The American Geophysical Union is dedicated to advancing the Earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity through its scholarly publications, conferences, and outreach programs. AGU is a not-for-profit, professional, scientific organization representing 60,000 members in 137 countries. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and our other social media channels. Notes for Journalists This research article is open access. A PDF copy of the article can be downloaded at the following link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GH000064/pdf. Journalists and PIOs may also order a copy of the final paper by emailing a request to Lauren Lipuma at llipuma@agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number. Neither the paper nor this press release is under embargo. Title: "Next generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: insights from the Black Death" Authors: Alexander F. More: Initiative for the Science of the Human Past and Department of History, Harvard University, Cambridge, Masssachusetts, U.S.A. and Climate Change Institute, Sawyer Environmental Research Building, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, U.S.A.; Michael McCormick: Initiative for the Science of the Human Past and Department of History, Harvard University, Cambridge, Masssachusetts, U.S.A.; Nicole E. Spaulding, Michael J. Handley, Elena V. Korotkikh, Andrei V. Kurbatov, Sharon B. Sneed, Paul. A. Mayewski: Climate Change Institute, Sawyer Environmental Research Building, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, U.S.A.; Pascal Bohleber: Climate Change Institute, Sawyer Environmental Research Building, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, U.S.A. and Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; Helene Hoffmann: Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; Christopher P. Loveluck: Department of Archaeology, University Park, School of Humanities, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom. Contact information for the authors: Alexander F. More: afmore@fas.harvard.edu, +1 (617) 417-5608 Soil scientist Jim Ippolito believes in local solutions to local problems. The problem he's working on is contaminated soils near abandoned mines. In the western United States 160,000 abandoned mines contaminate soils in the region. Ippolito, associate professor of soil science at Colorado State University, hopes to solve this problem with biochar, a charcoal-like substance that can reduce the toxic consequences of mining for metals. Biochar is made by burning plant material in a low-oxygen kiln. Ippolito proposes using western states plant materials such as dead lodge pole pine trees or pesky, nuisance trees--like the invasive tamarisk--as fodder for the kiln. "I thought, why don't we just use this stuff to make biochar?" said Ippolito. "It's using local materials to solve a local problem." Abandoned mine sites are common in western states. Over the years, extracting precious metals like gold or silver left a legacy of high acidity in mining-affected soils. "When you dig holes in the ground via mining and pull out rock that hasn't seen the atmosphere in millions of years, the materials undergo a change," said Ippolito. "These materials can start to acidify." When certain rock minerals are exposed to the atmosphere, they can form sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid spreads like an infection, breaking down rocks around it. Some of these rocks contain heavy metals, like lead or copper, and most of the time the metals are harmless. The heavy metals turn into a problem when they become bioavailable--or when plants are able absorb them. Sulfuric acid makes metals more bioavailable to plants by releasing metals from rocks. "A good analogy would be that the process sort of works just like the way our stomach acid works to break down food into components that are bioavailable to us," said Ippolito. The bioavailable heavy metals can pass into plant cell membranes and poison the plant. "You'll find places near abandoned mines that are completely void of vegetation because of elevated bioavailable metals," said Ippolito. Most people cleaning up old mine sites mix lime into the soil to reduce acidity. Less acidity in the soil means less opportunity for plants to absorb heavy metals, because the metals change form from more to less bioavailable in the presence of lime. Instead of lime, Ippolito wants to use biochar to reduce soil acidity. Biochar is typically produced by heating plant material in a sealed environment. "Basically you take wood, put it into a drum, seal it, and start a fire underneath it," said Ippolito. "The material that's left in the drum looks like charcoal." The research on the uses of biochar is extensive: it's been tested as a water purifier, a fertilizer, a carbon sink and more. Ippolito's biochar is special because it's made from local trees that pose problems in western states. One of the trees is the lodge pole pine. Mountain pine beetles have decimated millions of acres of the lodge pole pine in western states and Canada. Rows and rows of trees lay like matchsticks. In dry regions, felled pines are a tinderbox for forest fires. Ippolito said making something useful from flammable, wasted trees can only be a good thing. He's also proposing using tamarisk as a biochar feedstock. Tamarisk is an invasive species in western states. It clogs watersheds, robbing nutrients and water from native species. The researchers made biochar from both trees and mixed it into four different soils from abandoned mine sites in Colorado and Idaho. They analyzed the bioavailability of the metals present in the soil. Both biochar types decreased soil acidity in all four soils. The biochar successfully interrupted the toxic combination of acidified soils and heavy metals, converting those metals to less bioavailable forms. Ippolito's next step is to take his locally-sourced biochar into the field. He said he's ready to put it to use. "I've spent at least a decade testing biochars in the lab and greenhouse," he said. "It's finally time to apply the biochar to some mine sites." Ippolito is working with the USDA Agricultural Research Service to test the biochar on a western U.S. mine site as well as in Missouri. ### Ippolito collaborated with a team of scientists from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the University of Idaho, and two private entities in Colorado (Confluence Energy in Kremmling, CO and Ascension Soil Co. in Evergreen, CO). Their work is published in the Journal of Environmental Quality. Scientists have used an ultra-bright pulse of X-ray light to turn an atom in a molecule briefly into a sort of electromagnetic black hole. Unlike a black hole in space, the X-rayed atom does not draw in matter from its surroundings through the force of gravity, but electrons with its electrical charge - causing the molecule to explode within the tiniest fraction of a second. The study provides important information for analysing biomolecules using X-ray lasers, as the scientists report in the journal Nature. The researchers used the free-electron laser LCLS at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the US to bath iodomethane (CH3I) molecules in intense X-ray light. The pulses reached intensities of 100 quadrillion kilowatts per square centimetre. The high-energy X-rays knocked 54 of the 62 electrons out of the molecule, creating a molecule carrying a positive charge 54 times the elementary charge. "As far as we are aware, this is the highest level of ionisation that has ever been achieved using light," explains the co-author Robin Santra from the research team, who is a leading DESY scientist at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL). This ionisation does not take place all at once, however. "The methyl group CH3 is in a sense blind to X-rays," says Santra, who is also a professor of physics at the University of Hamburg. "The X-ray pulse initially strips the iodine atom of five or six of its electrons. The resulting strong positive charge means that the iodine atom then sucks electrons away from the methyl group, like a sort of atomic black hole." In fact, the force exerted on the electrons is considerably larger than that occurring around a typical astrophysical black hole of ten solar masses. "The gravitational field due to a real black hole of this type would be unable to exert a similarly large force on an electron, no matter how close you brought the electron to the black hole," says Santra. The process happens so quickly that the electrons that are sucked in are then catapulted away by the same X-ray pulse. The result is a chain reaction in the course of which up to 54 of iodomethane's 62 electrons are torn away - all within less than a trillionth of a second. "This leads to an extremely high positive charge building up within the space of a ten-billionth of a metre. That rips the molecule apart," says co-author Daniel Rolles of DESY and Kansas State University. Observing this ultra-fast dynamic process is highly significant to the analysis of complex molecules in so-called X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL) such as the LCLS in California and the European XFEL, which is now going into service on the outskirts of Hamburg. These facilities produce extremely high-intensity X-rays, which can be used, among other things, to determine the spatial structure of complex molecules down to the level of individual atoms. This structural information can be used by biologists, for example, to determine the precise mechanism by which biomolecules work. Other scientists have already shown that the molecules reveal their atomic structure before exploding. However, to study the dynamics of biomolecules, during photosynthesis for example, it is important to understand how X-rays affect the electrons. In this study, iodomethane serves as a model system. "Iodomethane is a comparatively simple molecule for understanding the processes taking place when organic compounds are damaged by radiation," says co-author Artem Rudenko from Kansas State University. "If more neighbours than a single methyl group are present, even more electrons can be sucked in." Santra's group at CFEL has for the first time managed to describe these ultra-high-speed dynamics in theoretical terms, too. This was made possible by a new computer program, the first of its kind in the world. "This is not only the first time that this experiment has been successfully carried out; we even have a numerical description of the process," points out co-author Sang-Kil Son from Santra's group, who was in charge of the team that developed the computer program. "The data are highly relevant to studies using free-electron lasers, because they show in detail what happens when radiation damage is produced." Apart from DESY, Kansas State University and SLAC, Tohoku University in Japan, the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Germany, the University of Science and Technology Beijing in China, the University of Arhus in Denmark, Germany's national metrology institute Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany, the Argonne National Laboratory in the US, Sorbonne University in France, the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US, the University of Chicago in the US, Northwestern University in the US and the University of Hamburg in Germany were also involved in the study. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY is the leading German accelerator centre and one of the leading in the world. DESY is a member of the Helmholtz Association and receives its funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (90 per cent) and the German federal states of Hamburg and Brandenburg (10 per cent). At its locations in Hamburg and Zeuthen near Berlin, DESY develops, builds and operates large particle accelerators, and uses them to investigate the structure of matter. DESY's combination of photon science and particle physics is unique in Europe. ### Reference: Femtosecond response of polyatomic molecules to ultra-intense hard X-rays; A. Rudenko, L. Inhester, K. Hanasaki, X. Li, S.J. Robatjazi, B. Erk, R. Boll, K. Toyota, Y. Hao, O. Vendrell, C. Bomme, E. Savelyev, B. Rudek, L. Foucar, S.H. Southworth, C.S. Lehmann, B. Kraessig, T. Marchenko, M. Simon, K. Ueda, K.R. Ferguson, M. Bucher, T. Gorkhover, S. Carron, R. Alonso-Mori, J.E. Koglin, J. Correa, G.J. Williams, S. Boutet, L. Young, C. Bostedt, S.-K. Son, R. Santra, and D. Rolles; Nature, 2017; DOI: 10.1038/nature22373 Washington, DC - Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, announced today that Charles Perdrisat and Charles Sinclair are the recipients of the 2017 Outstanding Nuclear Physicist Prize. Award citation: The 2017 JSA Outstanding Nuclear Physicist Award is jointly awarded to Charles Perdrisat for his pioneering implementation of the polarization transfer technique to determine proton elastic form factors, and to Charles Sinclair for his crucial development of polarized electron beam technology, which made such measurements, and many others, possible. The award will be presented to Perdrisat and Sinclair during a ceremony to be held at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in Newport News, Virginia. Jefferson Lab is a world-leading nuclear physics research laboratory managed and operated by Jefferson Science Associates for the U.S. Department of Energy. JSA Board vice chairs, SURA President & CEO Jerry Draayer and PAE President Karl Williams, applauded the selection panel's choice, noting that the scientific and technical contributions made by Perdrisat and Sinclair in the field of beam polarization dynamics have been recognized by their peers and evidenced in the strong recommendations both received with their nominations. In a letter supporting Perdrisat's nomination, Stanford University/SLAC professor Stanley Brodsky said, "[Perdrisat's] leadership of the polarization transfer studies in electron-proton scattering has been a truly extraordinary achievement." Cornell University professor emeritus Maury Tigner, in support of Sinclair's nomination, said: "...as a senior scientist [at Jefferson Lab], Sinclair became involved in various accelerator sub systems including polarized injection and the high voltage injector...leading the Injector Group for many years and playing a vital role in bringing into operation the original CEBAF accelerator." Jefferson Lab Director Stuart Henderson welcomed the news saying, "This joint award is quite fitting as both recipients have made exceptional contributions to unraveling the structure of the nucleon, through pioneering measurements in the case of Prof. Perdrisat, and through the development of key technologies that was essential to enabling those measurements, in the case of Dr. Sinclair." W&M professor emeritus Charles Perdrisat holds the Doctor of Natural Science degree from the Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. Prior to joining the faculty at William & Mary in 1966, Perdrisat served as a visiting professor at the Federal Institute of Technology and the Institut de Physique Nucleaire, in Orsay, France. He has been involved with the Jefferson Lab science program since the mid-1990's. Perdrisat was named a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1992. He is the recipient of the 2017 Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics from the American Physical Society in recognition of his work on experiments at Jefferson Lab. Charles Sinclair holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University. After almost two decades at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center where he led the Spectrometer Facilities Group, Sinclair joined Jefferson Lab (then CEBAF) in 1987. At Jefferson Lab, Sinclair led the Accelerator Operations Group during the commissioning of CEBAF. He developed the first polarized electron source for the Lab with colleagues at the University of Illinois. In 2001, Sinclair left Jefferson Lab for Cornell University as their Technical Director of the Energy Recovery Linac project until his retirement in 2007. Sinclair was named a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1986. The JSA Outstanding Nuclear Physicist Award, established in 2011 and awarded biennially, recognizes individuals who have made outstanding and sustained contributions including technical achievements in experimental and/or theoretical research related to the nuclear physics program at Jefferson Lab. The award, funded through the JSA Initiatives Fund Program and managed by the JSA Programs Committee, is presented at Jefferson Lab during the annual Users Group meeting. The Users Group is comprised of scientists from the U.S. and abroad who use Jefferson Lab's facilities to conduct experiments. The panel charged with making the selection for this year's award was chaired by Robert McKeown, deputy director for Science and Technology, Jefferson Lab; and included Douglas Beck, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013 Outstanding Nuclear Physicist Honoree; John Hardy, Texas A&M University, JSA Programs Committee member; James Symons, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, JSA Science Council member; and supported by Elizabeth Lawson, SURA Chief Governance Officer/Principal JSA/JLab Liaison. ### About Jefferson Science Associates. Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, a joint venture of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc. and PAE, manages and operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, or Jefferson Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy. For more information, visit http://www.jsallc.org/index.html. About Jefferson Lab. Jefferson Lab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (science.energy.gov). 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, visit https://www.jlab.org/. About the JSA Initiatives Fund Program. JSA established the JSA Initiatives Fund to support programs, initiatives, and activities that further the scientific outreach, and promote the science, education and technology missions of Jefferson Lab in ways that complement its basic and applied research focus. Initiatives Fund awards are for those projects that benefit the Lab user community and that leverage commitments of others. The annual commitment is managed by SURA for the JSA Programs Committee. For more information, visit http://www.jsallc.org/index.html. COMPUTEX TAIPEI Exhibitor News Recap through May 30, 2017 COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2017, one of the largest ICT trade events in the world, runs May 30 - June 3 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. Listed below is the COMPUTEX 2017 exhibitor news recap through May 30, 2017. Breaking exhibitor news releases and Online Press Kits are available at http://www.tradeshownews.com/events/computex-taipei-2017/. 05/30/2017 - 04:10 PM Analogix Introduces ANX7447 Family of USB-C Single-Chip Port Controllers With Power Delivery Version 3.0 05/30/2017 - 10:34 AM COMPUTEX 2017 Holds Opening Ceremony Today 05/30/2017 - 10:12 AM COMPUTEX 2017 Welcomes Global Media; d&i Award Winners Announced 05/30/2017 - 09:00 AM Toshiba Unveils NVMe SSDs Using 64-Layer, 3D Flash Memory 05/30/2017 - 08:00 AM Renesas Electronics Delivers R9J02G012 Controller That Enables Device-to-Device Authentication in Support of Safer USB Power Delivery Ecosystem 05/29/2017 - 11:30 PM Western Digital to Deliver World's First Client Solid State Drives with 64-Layer 3D NAND Technology 05/29/2017 - 11:00 PM COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2017 Exhibitor News and Digital Media Available 05/29/2017 - 08:00 PM < rel="nofollow" href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businesswire.com%2Fnews%2Fhome%2F20170529005312%2Fen%2FEchoStreams-Delivers-World%25E2%2580%2599s-Fastest-2U-NVMe-Platform&esheet=51567089&newsitemid=20170530006404&lan=en-US&anchor=EchoStreams+Delivers+the+World%27s+Fastest+2U+NVMe+Platform+at+Computex+2017%3A+The+Ultra-High+Density%2C+Hot-Swappable+FlacheSAN+Series&index=9&md5=1c72521ec59f38ef4abf2af95174a046" rel="nofollow">EchoStreams Delivers the World's Fastest 2U NVMe Platform at Computex 2017: The Ultra-High Density, Hot-Swappable FlacheSAN Series 05/29/2017 - 05:00 AM HyperX Expands Predator DDR4 Memory Offering with Ultra-Fast High Density Kits up to 4GHz 05/29/2017 - 12:45 AM Toshiba Unveils NVMe SSDs Using 64-Layer, 3D Flash Memory 05/25/2017 - 12:39 PM Tensorcom Announces its Single-Chip WiGig System-In-Package Achieves Wi-Fi Alliance Certification; Introduces New USB 3.0 Adapter Reference Designs 05/25/2017 - 10:00 AM AVerMedia Unveils Full Range Gaming and Video Streaming Solutions at Computex 2017 05/25/2017 - 12:00 AM Kingston Introduces KC1000 NVMe PCIe SSD to Meet the Most Demanding Data Needs of SSD Enthusiasts 05/24/2017 - 08:00 PM Open Connectivity Foundation to Showcase Internet of Things Innovations at Industry Events in Asia 05/23/2017 - 08:21 AM Billion to Unveil New Home/SOHO 4G/LTE Wireless CPE Router Series at Computex 2017 05/23/2017 - 04:00 AM Reshaping Enterprise Data Centers: AccelStor Reveals the New-Generation All-Flash Array at Computex Taipei 2017 05/22/2017 - 09:00 AM Innovium to Showcase Market-Leading Solutions Based on World's Fastest TERALYNX Switches Along With Partner 200G/400G Optics Updates at Computex 2017 About Business Wire Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure. 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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006404/en/ When the X-rays blast electrons out of one atom, stripping it from the inside out, it steals more from its neighbors - a new insight that could help advance high-res imaging of whole viruses, bacteria and complex materials When scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory focused the full intensity of the world's most powerful X-ray laser on a small molecule, they got a surprise: A single laser pulse stripped all but a few electrons out of the molecule's biggest atom from the inside out, leaving a void that started pulling in electrons from the rest of the molecule, like a black hole gobbling a spiraling disk of matter. Within 30 femtoseconds - millionths of a billionth of a second - the molecule lost more than 50 electrons, far more than scientists anticipated based on earlier experiments using less intense beams or isolated atoms. Then it blew up. The results, published today in Nature, give scientists fundamental insights they need to better plan and interpret experiments using the most intense and energetic X-ray pulses from SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser. Experiments that require these ultrahigh intensities include attempts to image individual biological objects, such as viruses and bacteria, at high resolution. They are also used to study the behavior of matter under extreme conditions, and to better understand charge dynamics in complex molecules for advanced technological applications. "For any type of experiment you do that focuses intense X-rays on a sample, you want to understand how it reacts to the X-rays," said Daniel Rolles of Kansas State University. "This paper shows that we can understand and model the radiation damage in small molecules, so now we can predict what damage we will get in other systems." Like Focusing the Sun Onto a Thumbnail The experiment, led by Rolles and Artem Rudenko of Kansas State, took place at LCLS's Coherent X-ray Imaging instrument. CXI delivers X-rays with the highest possible energies achievable at LCLS, known as hard X-rays, and records data from samples in the instant before the laser pulse destroys them. How intense are those X-ray pulses? "They are about a hundred times more intense than what you would get if you focused all the sunlight that hits the Earth's surface onto a thumbnail," said LCLS staff scientist and co-author Sebastien Boutet. For this study, researchers used special mirrors to focus the X-ray beam into a spot just over 100 nanometers in diameter - about a hundredth the size of the one used in most CXI experiments, and a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair. They looked at three types of samples: individual xenon atoms, which have 54 electrons each, and two types of molecules that each contain a single iodine atom, which has 53 electrons. Heavy atoms around this size are important in biochemical reactions, and researchers sometimes add them to biological samples to enhance contrast for imaging and crystallography applications. But until now, no one had investigated how the ultra-intense CXI beam affects molecules with atoms this heavy. X-rays Trigger Electron Cascades The team tuned the energy of the CXI pulses so they would selectively strip the innermost electrons from the xenon or iodine atoms, creating "hollow atoms." Based on earlier studies with less energetic X-rays, they thought cascades of electrons from the outer parts of the atom would drop down to fill the vacancies, only to be kicked out themselves by subsequent X-rays. That would leave just a few of the most tightly bound electrons. And, in fact, that's what happened in both the freestanding xenon atoms and the iodine atoms in the molecules. But in the molecules, the process didn't stop there. The iodine atom, which had a strong positive charge after losing most of its electrons, continued to suck in electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms, and those electrons were also ejected, one by one. Rather than losing 47 electrons, as would be the case for an isolated iodine atom, the iodine in the smaller molecule lost 54, including the ones it grabbed from its neighbors - a level of damage and disruption that's not only higher than would normally be expected, but significantly different in nature. Results Feed Into Theory to Improve Experiments "We think the effect was even more important in the larger molecule than in the smaller one, but we don't know how to quantify it yet," Rudenko said. "We estimate that more than 60 electrons were kicked out, but we don't actually know where it stopped because we could not detect all the fragments that flew off as the molecule fell apart to see how many electrons were missing. This is one of the open questions we need to study." For the data analyzed to date, the theoretical model provided excellent agreement with the observed behavior, providing confidence that more complex systems can now be studied, said LCLS Director Mike Dunne. This has important benefits for scientists wishing to achieve the highest-resolution images of biological molecules to inform the development of better pharmaceuticals, for example," he said. "These experiments will also guide the development of a next-generation instrument for the LCLS-II upgrade project which will provide a major leap in capability due to the increase in repetition rate from 120 pulses per second to 1 million. ### The theory work for the study was led by Robin Santra of the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science at DESY and the University of Hamburg in Germany. Other research institutions contributing to the study were Tohoku University in Japan; Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging and the National Metrology Institute (PTB) in Germany; the University of Science and Technology in Beijing; Aarhus University in Denmark; Sorbonne University in France; the DOE's Argonne National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory; the University of Chicago; and Northwestern University. Funding for the research came from the DOE Office of Science and from the German Research Foundation (DFG). SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, California, SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. To learn more, please visit http://www.slac.stanford.edu. 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. A team of neuroscientists from Emory University's Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition has discovered a key connection between areas of the adult female prairie vole's brain reward system that promotes the emergence of pair bonds. Results from this study, available now at Nature.com, could help efforts to improve social abilities in human disorders with impaired social function, such as autism. In addition to the online posting, the study is expected to be in the June 8 printed edition of Nature. This Conte Center study is the first to find the strength of communication between parts of a corticostriatal circuit in the brain predicts how quickly each female prairie vole becomes affiliative with her partner; prairie voles are socially monogamous and form lifelong bonds with their partners. Additionally, when researchers boosted the communication by using light pulses, the females increased their affiliation toward males, thus further demonstrating the importance of this circuit's activity to pair bonding in prairie voles. "Prairie voles were critical to our team's findings because studying pair bonding in humans has been traditionally difficult," says Dr. Elizabeth Amadei, a co-lead author on the research. "As humans, we know the feelings we get when we view images of our romantic partners, but, until now, we haven't known how the brain's reward system works to lead to those feelings and to the voles' pair bonding." Building upon previous work in prairie voles that demonstrated brain chemicals, such as oxytocin and dopamine, act within the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens to establish a pair bond, the team set out to address finding the precise neural activity leading to a pair bond. The researchers used probes to listen to neural communication between these two brain regions and then analyzed activity from individual female prairie voles as they spent hours socializing with a male - a cohabitation period that normally leads to a pair bond. The team discovered that during pair bond formation, the prefrontal cortex, an area involved in decision-making, helps control the rhythmic oscillations of neurons within the nucleus accumbens, the central hub of the brain's reward system. This suggests a functional connection from the cortex shapes neurons activity in the nucleus accumbens. The team then noticed individual voles varied in the strength of this functional connectivity. Importantly, each subject with stronger connectivity showed more rapid affiliative behavior with her partner, measured as side-by-side huddling contact. Furthermore, the pair's first mating, a behavior that accelerates bonding in voles, strengthened this functional connection, and the amount of strengthening correlated with how quickly the animals subsequently huddled. According to Larry Young, PhD, co-author and director of the Conte Center, "It is remarkable there are neural signatures of a predisposition to begin huddling with the partner. Similar variation in corticostriatal communication could underlie individual differences in social competencies in psychiatric disorders in humans, and enhancing that communication could improve social function in disorders such as autism." Young is also chief of the Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. The study results led the team to ask more questions, including whether communication between the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens not only correlates with huddling but also causally facilitates it. To answer this, the researchers used optogenetics, a technique that allowed them to enhance communication between the brain areas using light, and enhanced communication between the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of female voles during a brief cohabitation without mating, which is not conducive to pair bonding. The team discovered optogenetically stimulated animals showed greater preference toward partners compared to a stranger male when given a choice the following day. "It is amazing to think we could influence social bonding by stimulating this brain circuit with a remotely controlled light implanted into the brain," says Zack Johnson, PhD, co-lead author. The study results identify an important reward circuit in the brain that is activated during social interactions to facilitate bond formation in voles. "Now, we want to know if oxytocin regulates functional connectivity and how circuit activity changes the way the brain processes social information about a partner," says senior author Robert Liu, PhD, associate professor in Emory's Department of Biology. "Our team's work is an example of a larger effort in neuroscience to better quantify how brain circuits function during natural social behaviors. Our goal is to promote better neural communication to boost social cognition in disorders such as autism, in which social functioning can be impaired," Liu continues. ### Additional Emory-based co-authors are graduate students Yong Jun Kwon and Varun Saravanan, undergraduate student Aaron Shpiner, and Wittney Mays, Steven Ryan, PhD, Hasse Walum, PhD, and Donald Rainnie, PhD. The research represents a unique collaboration among Emory University's Emory College of Arts and Sciences, School of Medicine and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. It was supported by an Emory Neuroscience Initiative grant, the Emory University Biology Graduate Student Award and National institutes of Health grants NIMH R21MH97187, NIMH P50MH100023, NINDS R90DA033462 and the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs' Primate Centers P51OD11132. The goal of the Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition is to improve human health by leading coordinated and rigorous research programs to discover the neural mechanisms by which oxytocin modulates social cognition. The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University is working to pioneer new ways to prevent and treat disease, prepare the next generation to save and improve lives, provide the highest-quality clinical care possible, and serve the community. The center's components include Emory University School of Medicine, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Rollins School of Public Health, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Winship Cancer Institute, and Emory Healthcare, the most comprehensive health system in Georgia. The Woodruff Health Sciences Center has $3.8 billion in operating expenditures, almost 25,000 employees (including 3,205 faculty), 1,274 affiliated faculty, 5,115 students and trainees, and a $7.5 billion economic impact on metro Atlanta. New study shows preschool kids who share of their own accord are happy, but not when they are obliged to do so If humans are primarily motivated by self-interest, as traditional economic theory claims, why do we sometimes perform acts of generosity that don't yield us any material benefits? Indeed, such altruistic behavior may sometimes even come at a personal cost. So, why do we like to give? Because, it turns out, sharing makes us happy. And because we feel happy, we want to share more, explaining why psychologists consistently find that people like to "give" more than they like to "have". But do we still enjoy the emotional benefits of sharing if it is not entirely voluntary, but obligated by social norms? Dr. Zhen Wu and colleagues examined this question in a group of preschool children in China, and reported their findings in Frontiers in Psychology. This study is especially intriguing since little children are often encouraged to share, but very little is known about whether they benefit emotionally from such sharing. In this study, Wu and colleagues compared positive facial expressions (as a measure of happiness) in 3- and 5-year old children who performed a sharing task, which consisted of sharing stickers with their peers. The experiment was set up such that the children were in two sharing groups: one group that shared voluntarily, and the other because they felt obligated to do so. Both 3- and 5-year olds shared more when they were obligated to share than when it was voluntary. However, such obligated sharing did not make them happy. Interestingly, both 3- and 5-year olds showed greater happiness when they gave stickers away voluntarily, than when they kept them for themselves. "So, it seems that the motivation to give does count," explains Dr. Wu, "and it also suggests that it is unrealistic to expect a very young child to share under pressure and be happy about it!" These findings provide fascinating insights into the psychology of preschool age children, and the first evidence that sharing under social norms is less emotionally rewarding than sharing voluntarily. Dr. Wu suggests that preschool teachers might use these findings to guide how they foster sharing in their students. But the study is not without its drawbacks, cautions Dr. Wu, "for instance, it is difficult to entirely rule out the influence of social norms even in the voluntary giving mode. The giver might have felt pressure to give even when told they were not obliged to." An important future direction would be to not only replicate these findings with more controls, says Dr. Wu, but also to understand how the positive feedback loop works. "We need to examine how an act of generosity leads to happiness that in turn prompts another act of giving". And that is a very fascinating question indeed. ### MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- Heavy atoms absorbing X-rays are sucking the electrons from their molecular neighbors like a black hole pulling in matter. The research is published in the June 1 issue of Nature. Principle investigators of the study, Artem Rudenko and Daniel Rolles, both assistant professors of physics at Kansas State University, successfully used short pulses of ultra-intense high-energy X-rays to produce a detailed picture of how X-ray radiation interacts with molecules. This was the first time this kind of extreme light has been used to break up molecules, and it may help scientists understand the damages from X-ray radiation when it is used to take an X-ray picture. Rudenko and Rolles shot iodomethane, CH3I, and iodobenzene, C6H5I, molecules with a powerful X-ray beam at the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University. According to Rudenko, the X-ray laser is the most powerful in the world with an intensity of 100 quadrillion kilowatts per square centimeter. "As this powerful X-ray light hits a molecule, the heaviest atom, the iodine, absorbs a few hundred times more X-rays than all the other atoms," Rudenko said. "Then, most of its electrons are stripped away, creating a large positive charge on the iodine." The positive charge that was created steadily pulls electrons from the other atoms in the molecule, which fills the created vacancies like a short-lived black hole, Rudenko said. Unlike the real black hole, the molecular version lets the electrons out again. They are stripped away in a few femtoseconds. A femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second. "The cycle repeats itself until the molecule explodes," Rolles said. "In total, 54 of iodomethane's 62 electrons were ejected in this experiment, far more than we anticipated based on earlier studies using less intense X-rays. In addition, the larger molecule, iodobenzene, loses even more electrons." Understanding the ultrafast dynamic process is important for many applications of intense X-ray lasers, including X-ray imaging of biomolecules. "Ultra-intense X-rays give us a new and efficient tool to image biological particles, such as proteins and viruses, with high resolution," Rolles said. "But they also damage and eventually destroy the object we are trying to study. If we can understand the mechanisms that cause the damage, theorists can model how the structure changes during the picture-taking process, allowing researchers to either avoid the damage or to account for its influence." The molecules Rudenko and Rolles used in this experiment are comparatively small model systems that are used to study typical damage effects induced by very intense energetic X-rays. "Based on our findings, we can predict what will happen in larger systems," Rolles said. In addition to helping scientists image and understand biological systems, the research also sheds new light on the charge and energy flow in a highly energized molecule. The research of these fundamental processes could be important for solar energy conversion and radiation-driven chemistry -- both areas of interest for the U.S. Department of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences program, which funded the research. Under Rudenko and Rolles' guidance, two doctoral students in Kansas State University's J.R. Macdonald Laboratory, Xiang Li and Javard Robatjazi, carried out elaborated data analysis for the study and worked on the interpretation of the results. ### Robin Santra and her colleagues, all at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, or DESY, in Hamburg, Germany, contributed the theoretical work for the study. Other collaborators include researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Chicago and Northwestern University in the U.S.; University of Hamburg, the Max Planck Institutes and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt national metrology institute, Germany; Tohoku University, Japan; the University of Science and Technology Beijing, China; the University of Aarhus, Denmark; and Sorbonne University, France. Novartis, the University of Georgia, Washington State University and collaborators advance therapeutic research for cryptosporidiosis Research collaboration with novel drug discovery process counters slow progress in developing new cryptosporidiosis treatments Scientists report discovery of Cryptosporidium PI(4)K inhibitor candidate KDU731 in new issue of Nature Basel, May 31, 2017 - Infectious disease scientists from Novartis, the University of Georgia and Washington State University have reported the discovery and early validation of a drug candidate for treating cryptosporidiosis, a diarrheal disease which is a major cause of child mortality in lower-income countries. Currently there are no vaccines or effective treatments. "There's a lot of uncertainty when embarking on drug discovery for a notoriously intractable parasite such as Cryptosporidium, the cause of cryptosporidiosis," said Thierry Diagana, Head of the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD). "Thanks to the commitment of our funding collaborators and urgent action of our academic colleagues, we've made an important step toward advancing a new treatment." Diarrheal diseases cause more than 800,000 deaths annually[1]. Epidemiological studies have highlighted the vital need for new treatment options against the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium, which often infects its victims from exposure to contaminated water supplies. Nitazoxanide, the only approved treatment for cryptosporidiosis, has shown poor results in vulnerable infants and immune-compromised patients[2,3]. Yet there are obstacles to finding new treatments. The parasite perishes relatively quickly in labs and scientists have lacked research tools to identify drug candidates. The team developed a novel drug discovery process using transgenic parasites and novel disease models, leading to the identification and validation of the Cryptosporidium PI(4)K inhibitor candidate KDU731. They reported the discovery and preclinical findings in a recent issue of Nature. Novartis is advancing research of cryptosporidiosis through collaborations with the global health community and its scientists at NITD, which is ramping up its research and operations in Emeryville, CA. Program funders include the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), the Wellcome Trust, and the National Institutes of Health. In addition to the Wellcome Trust, the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) supported discovery of Plasmodium PI(4)K inhibitors screened in the development process. ### Disclaimer This press release contains expressed or implied forward-looking statements, including statements that can be identified by terminology such as "commitment," "step toward," "ramping up," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Group regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. These expectations could be affected by, among other things, risks and factors referred to in the Risk Factors section of Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update it in the future. About Novartis Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis. For Novartis multimedia content, please visit http://www.novartis.com/news/media-library. For questions about the site or required registration, please contact: media.relations@novartis.com References 1. Liu, L. et al. Global, regional, and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000-15: an updated systematic analysis with implications for the Sustainable Development Goals. The Lancet. 2016. 2. Amadi, B. et al. High dose prolonged treatment with nitazoxanide is not effective for cryptosporidiosis in HIV positive Zambian children: a randomised controlled trial. BMC infectious diseases. 2009. 3. Amadi, B. et al. Effect of nitazoxanide on morbidity and mortality in Zambian children with cryptosporidiosis: a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet. 2002. Novartis Media Relations Central media line : +41 61 324 2200 Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 7999 (direct) +41 79 593 4202 (mobile) eric.althoff@novartis.com Ryan McBride Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research + 1 617 871 0318 (direct) + 1 617 599 0871 (mobile) ryan.mcbride@novartis.com e-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Novartis Investor Relations Central phone: +41 61 324 7944 North America: Samir Shah +41 61 324 7944 Richard Pulik +1 212 830 2448 Pierre-Michel Bringer +41 61 324 1065 Thomas Hungerbuehler +41 61 324 8425 Isabella Zinck +41 61 324 7188 e-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com Scientists using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, have identified bright areas in craters near the moon's south pole that are cold enough to have frost present on the surface. The new evidence comes from an analysis that combined surface temperatures with information about how much light is reflected off the moon's surface. "We found that the coldest places near the moon's south pole are also the brightest places--brighter than we would expect from soil alone--and that might indicate the presence of surface frost," said Elizabeth Fisher, the lead author of the study, published in Icarus. Fisher carried out the data analysis while doing research at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa after earning her undergraduate degree. She is now a graduate student at Brown University. The icy deposits appear to be patchy and thin, and it's possible that they are mixed in with the surface layer of soil, dust and small rocks called the regolith. The researchers say they are not seeing expanses of ice similar to a frozen pond or skating rink. Instead, they are seeing signs of surface frost. The frost was found in cold traps close to the moon's south pole. Cold traps are permanently dark areas--located either on the floor of a deep crater or along a section of crater wall that doesn't receive direct sunlight--where temperatures remain below minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 163 degrees Celsius). Under these conditions, water ice can persist for millions or billions of years. More than a half-century ago, scientists suggested that lunar cold traps could store water ice, but confirming that hypothesis turned out to be challenging. Observations made by NASA's Lunar Prospector orbiter in the late 1990s identified hydrogen-rich areas near the moon's poles but could not determine whether that hydrogen was bound up in water or was present in some other form. Understanding the nature of these deposits has been one of the driving goals of LRO, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. Fisher and her colleagues found evidence of lunar frost by comparing temperature readings from LRO's Diviner instrument with brightness measurements from the spacecraft's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, or LOLA. In these comparisons, the coldest areas near the south pole also were very bright, indicating the presence of ice or other highly reflective materials. The researchers looked at the peak surface temperatures, because water ice won't last if the temperature creeps above the crucial threshold. The findings are consistent with another team's analysis of LRO data, reported in 2015. That study compared peak temperatures with ultraviolet, or UV, data from the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project, or LAMP. Both LOLA and LAMP are able to measure surface brightness without sunlight. LOLA does so by measuring reflected laser light, and LAMP, by measuring reflected starlight and the UV skyglow of hydrogen. "These findings demonstrate once again the value of studying the moon from orbit long-term," said John Keller, the LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "All of this work begins with comprehensive data sets made up of years' worth of continuous measurements." Together, the two studies strengthen the case that there is frost in cold traps near the moon's south pole. So far, however, researchers have not seen the same signs near the moon's north pole. "What has always been intriguing about the moon is that we expect to find ice wherever the temperatures are cold enough for ice, but that's not quite what we see," said Matt Siegler, a researcher with the Planetary Science Institute in Dallas, Texas, and a co-author on the study. Water ice and other deposits also have been identified in cold traps near the north pole on Mercury. Though it is the closest planet to the sun, Mercury appears to have up to 400 times more ice than the moon does, by Siegler's estimate. Scientists are still figuring out which scenario is "more normal." Another tantalizing question is how old the moon's ice is. If the water was delivered by icy comets or asteroids, it could be as ancient as the solar system and could mark the early delivery of water to Earth and the moon. But if the water was produced by chemical reactions driven by the solar wind, it is much more recent. Or both may be true. There could be eons-old ice deposits buried below ground and newer water at the surface. In any case, Siegler said, there's enough evidence now to argue for further investigation. Not only could the moon's ice provide resources for exploration, it also might help us understand the origins of Earth's water. For more information about LRO, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/lro ### A new paper in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology revealed that pig breeds such as Tibetan pigs and Min pigs use a unique method to survive when exposed to cold environments. This has important implications for the swine industry as cold weather is a major cause of death in new-born piglets. Previous studies have shown that mice use brown fat to produce heat and maintain core body temperature without shivering. They do this using an uncoupling protein (UCP1) to convert fat to heat. Most pig breeds come from tropical habitats and so, with no need to produce heat, they lost functional UCP1 around 20 million years ago. This lack of UCP1 makes many pigs susceptible to health problems due to cold. However, several pig breeds are cold resistant. The full molecular mechanism causing cold-resistance in pigs is currently unknown but the paper shows that this resistance is not dependent on shivering, but rather on a different uncoupling protein (UCP3) and white fat. White fat is the primary energy storage organ and has been shown to develop 'brown-like' fat cells, also known as brown-in-white or beige cells, in response to various activators. The production of heat from beige fat cells still requires an uncoupling protein and, because pigs don't have UCP1, scientists didn't know how cold-resistant pigs were able to use beige fat cells in heat production. By testing three breeds all indigenous to China, the paper shows that UCP3 can be used for heat production and is present in cold resistant pigs such as Tibetan and Min breeds, but not in cold-sensitive breeds such as Bama pigs. Tibetan and Min pigs habitat mountainous Tibet and northeast China, respectively, exposing them to variable climates that drop below freezing in winter. In contrast, Bama pigs are domesticated and bred for meat production and scientific testing so are not as exposed to cold climates. The paper explains that the eight dominant pig breeds found across China can, in fact, be classified into cold-sensitive and cold-resistant breeds based on their UCP3 DNA sequence. This indicates that UCP3 has contributed to the evolution of cold resistance in the pig and overturns the idea that UCP1 is the only uncoupling protein used in heat production. The use of brown in white fat cells and UCP3 for heat regulation in pigs has important practical implications. Neonatal mortality of piglets caused by the cold stress at birth is a major concern for the swine industry in cold regions, because reduced piglet survival rates in such areas causes economic losses in pig production. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of heat regulation in cold-resistant pigs might provide a strategy for genome-editing techniques to reduce cold stress related piglet mortality. "Neonatal mortality of piglets caused by the cold stress at birth is a major concern for the swine industry in cold regions worldwide because reduced piglet survival rates in such areas cause huge economic losses in pig production," said Jianguo Zhao, one of the paper's authors. "Yet several breeds have adapted to cold environments and are well-recognized to be cold-tolerant. This provides a potential candidate target for small molecules and/or genome editing techniques to reduce cold-stress-mediated neonatal mortality in the pig industry." ### The paper "Cold adaptation in pigs depends on UCP3 in beige adipocytes" is available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjx018 Direct correspondence to: Jianguo Zhao Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China E-mail: zhaojg@ioz.ac.cn To request a copy of the study, please contact: Daniel Luzer- daniel.luzer@oup.com Sharing on social media? Find Oxford Journals online at @OxfordJournals Repeated exposure to a common anesthesia drug early in life results in visual recognition memory impairment, which emerges after the first year of life and may persist long-term, according to a study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in The British Journal of Anaesthesia. Each year, approximately a million children under the age of four undergo surgery with general anesthesia, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Experimental studies in animals have shown that exposure to general anesthesia in infancy can cause loss of cells in the central nervous system and long-term impairments in neurocognitive function. Some human epidemiological studies have shown that children who undergo more than one operation under general anesthesia before they are four years old are at a greater risk of learning disability and other cognitive impairments. The Mount Sinai study is among the first to address the question of whether repeated postnatal anesthesia exposure, in and of itself, results in memory impairment in a highly translationally relevant rhesus monkey model. Rhesus monkeys at birth are at a stage of neurodevelopment that is more similar to that of human infants than are neonatal rodents; with respect to brain growth, a six-week-old rhesus monkey corresponds to a human 6 to 12 months of age. Because these kinds of controlled studies cannot be carried out in humans, it is essential to use a comparable animal model to discover if anesthesia is affecting the brain. Unlike previous research, the study was conducted in the absence of a surgical procedure, co-morbidities that may necessitate surgical intervention, or the psychological stress associated with illness. "The major strength of this study is its ability to separate anesthesia exposure from surgical procedures, which is a potential complication in the studies conducted in children," says Mark Baxter, PhD, professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Anesthesiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Our results confirm that multiple anesthesia exposures alone result in memory impairment in a highly translational animal model. Interestingly, the anesthesia-exposed group had normal visual memory at six months of age. Visual memory impairment didn't emerge until the second year of life, corresponding roughly to the age of three to six years old in humans." Specifically, the study team exposed 10 non-human primate subjects to a common pediatric anesthetic called sevoflurane for four hours, the length of time required for a significant surgical procedure in humans. They were exposed to the anesthetic at postnatal day 7 and then again two and four weeks later, because human data indicate that repeated anesthesia results in a greater risk of cognitive disability relative to a single anesthetic exposure. Researchers evaluated the visual recognition memory of exposed subjects compared with that of healthy controls at 6-10 months of age, 12-18 months of age and again at 24-30 months of age using the visual paired comparison test, which measures memory by assessing preference for looking at a new image over a previously viewed one. They found the anesthesia-exposed infants displayed no memory impairment when tested at 6-10 months, but demonstrated significant memory impairment (reduced time looking at the novel image) after the first year of life compared with the control group. "Our findings are consistent with epidemiological studies that show increased risk of long-term cognitive impairments after repeated exposure to anesthesia in infancy and early childhood, but perhaps most interestingly, we found that these deficits may emerge at later developmental stages, even when memory performance is unaffected earlier in development," says Dr. Baxter. "Our goal is to continue this work to test possible interventions that can prevent long-term cognitive impairments after early anesthesia exposure." These findings are part of a larger longitudinal study, and researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center will continue to follow these study subjects behaviorally to fully characterize the length of time that cognitive and emotional changes persist and whether they resolve over time. In December 2016, the FDA placed a warning on common anesthetic/sedative drugs, including sevoflurane, for children under three years of age receiving prolonged (more than three hours) or repeated anesthesia, saying that this may cause a risk of cognitive impairment. This primate model may be used be researchers for future studies to develop a new anesthetic agent or prophylactic treatment to counteract the impact of anesthesia on behavior in children. The findings also suggest that additional work is required to identify the mechanisms by which anesthetics may cause long-term changes in central nervous system function that impact behavior. ### The paper "Visual recognition memory is impaired in rhesus monkeys repeatedly exposed to sevoflurane in infancy" is available at: https://academic.oup.com/bja/article/3859209/Visual-recognition-memory-is-impaired-in-rhesus Direct correspondence to: M. C. Alvarado Division of Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Centre, Emory University Atlanta, Georgia E-mail: malvara@emory.edu To request a copy of the study, please contact: Daniel Luzer- daniel.luzer@oup.com Sharing on social media? Find Oxford Journals online at @OxfordJournals Some migratory bats are attracted to artificial green light which may interfere with their flight paths, according to a study published May 31, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Christian Voigt from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and the Free University of Berlin, Germany, and colleagues. Artificial light at night is increasing worldwide, and is thought to affect bats. Some migrating birds are also known to become disorientated, particularly by red and white light, risking collisions with light sources and wasted energy from unnecessary detours. This has led to recommendations to use blue and green light for illumination, but the effect of this light on bats had not been established. The authors of the present study therefore exposed bats migrating south along Latvia's shoreline at night to brief periods of artificial green light at a wavelength of 520nm, and recorded and analyzed bats' echolocation calls during lit and unlit intervals to assess the impact of the light. The researchers found that the two most abundant migrating bat species detected, Nathusius' bats (Pipistrellus nathusii) and Soprano bats (P. pygmaeus), were attracted to the green light, with an increase of 54 percent and 47 percent respectively in the bats' calling activity near the light source when it was illuminated. It had previously been unclear whether bats were attracted to the light itself, or to their insect prey which may itself be drawn to the light. In this study, the light affected the echolocation of bats up to 23m away, too far for the bats to detect insects near the light, and the proportion of calls which were hunting-related 'feeding buzzes' did not increase in the presence of green light. Thus, the researchers suggest that these migratory bats are attracted to green light directly and not because of the insects which gather around it. This research suggests that certain migratory bats are affected by green light and that it could interfere with their flight paths and even lead to increased collisions, making this susceptibility an important consideration when designing night time illumination. ### In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177748 Citation: Voigt CC, Roeleke M, Marggraf L, Petersons G, Voigt-Heucke SL (2017) Migratory bats respond to artificial green light with positive phototaxis. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0177748. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177748 Funding: The funding was provided by Oshino GmbH with no commercial interest in the outcome of the experiment. Oshino GmbH had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors are affiliated with the commercial company, Oshino GmbH. The authors' affiliation with this company consists only of their being the recipients of funding for the present study as it was underway. There are no patents, products in development, or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors adherence to all PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. LA JOLLA--Scientists have, for the first time, characterized the molecular markers that make the brain's front lines of immune defense--cells called microglia--unique. In the process, they discovered further evidence that microglia may play roles in a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric illnesses, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases as well as schizophrenia, autism and depression. "Microglia are the immune cells of the brain, but how they function in the human brain is not well understood," says Rusty Gage, professor in Salk's Laboratory of Genetics, the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disease, and a senior author of the new work. "Our work not only provides links to diseases but offers a jumping off point to better understand the basic biology of these cells." Genes that have previously been linked to neurological diseases are turned on at higher levels in microglia compared to other brain cells, the team reported in Science on May 25, 2017. While the link between microglia and a number of disorders has been explored in the past, the new study offers a molecular basis for this connection. "These studies represent the first systematic effort to molecularly decode microglia," says Christopher Glass, a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Professor of Medicine at University of California San Diego, also senior author of the paper. "Our findings provide the foundations for understanding the underlying mechanisms that determine beneficial or pathological functions of these cells." Microglia are a type of macrophage, white blood cells found throughout the body that can destroy pathogens or other foreign materials. They're known to be highly responsive to their surroundings and respond to changes in the brain by releasing pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory signals. They also prune back the connections between neurons when cells are damaged or diseased. But microglia are notoriously hard to study. They can't be easily grown in a culture dish and quickly die outside of a living brain. Nicole Coufal, a pediatric critical care doctor at UC San Diego, who also works in the Gage lab at Salk, wanted to make microglia from stem cells. But she realized there wasn't any way to identify whether the resulting cells were truly microglia. "There was not a unique marker that differentiated microglia from circulating macrophages in the rest of the body," she says. David Gosselin and Dylan Skola in the Glass lab, together with Coufal and their collaborators, set out to characterize the molecular characteristics of microglia. They worked with neurosurgeons at UC San Diego to collect brain tissue from 19 patients, all of who were having brain surgery for epilepsy, a brain tumor or a stroke. They isolated microglia from areas of tissue that were unaffected by disease, as well as from mouse brains, and then set out to study the cells. The work was made possible by a multidisciplinary collaboration between bench scientists, bioinformaticians and clinicians. The team used a variety of molecular and biochemical tests--performed within hours of the cells being collected--to characterize which genes are turned on and off in microglia, how the DNA is marked up by regulatory molecules, and how these patterns change when the cells are cultured. Microglia, they found, have hundreds of genes that are more highly expressed than other types of macrophages, as well as distinct patterns of gene expression compared to other types of brain cells. After the cells were cultured, however, the gene patterns of the microglia began to change. Within just six hours, more than 2,000 genes had their expression turned down by at least fourfold. The results underscore how dependent microglia are on their surroundings in the brain, and why researchers have struggled to culture them. Next, the researchers analyzed whether any of the genes that were upregulated in microglia compared to other cells had been previously implicated in disease. Genes linked to a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases, they found, were highly expressed in microglia. "A really high proportion of genes linked to multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and schizophrenia are much more highly expressed in microglia than the rest of the brain," says Coufal. "That suggests there's some kind of link between microglia and the diseases." For Alzheimer's, more than half of the genes known to affect a person's risk of developing the disease were expressed more highly in microglia than other brain cells. In mice, however, many of the disease genes weren't as highly expressed in microglia. "That tells us that maybe mice aren't the best model organisms for some of these diseases," Coufal says. More work is needed to understand exactly how microglia may be altered in people with diseases, but the new molecular profile of microglia offers a way for researchers to begin trying to better culture the cells, or coax stem cells to develop into microglia for future studies. ### Other researchers on the study were Baptiste Jaeger, Carolyn O'Connor, Conor Fitzpatrick, Monique Pena, and Amy Adair of the Salk Institute; Inge Holtman, Johannes Schlachetzki, Eniko Sajti, Martina Pasillas, David Gona, and Michael Levy of the University of California San Diego; and Richard Ransohoff of Biogen. The work and the researchers involved were supported by grants from the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, University of California San Diego, Dutch MS Research Foundation, the Gemmy and Mibeth Tichelaar Foundation, the DFG, the JPB Foundation, Dolby Family Ventures, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the Engman Foundation, the Ben and Wanda Hildyard Chair in Hereditary Diseases. About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk's mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer's, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. Learn more at: salk.edu. [May 31, 2017] Lockheed Martin Offers Ultrarealistic Simulation for Training and Virtual Reality with Prepar3D v4 ORLANDO, Fla., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pilots, instructors, and enthusiasts can dive into immersive training as Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) released Prepar3D v4. Prepar3D (pronounced "Prepared") is Lockheed Martin's flagship simulation and training software solution that offers the most versatile, immersive and engaging training experiences for the next generation. "Training meets reality with Lockheed Martin's Prepar3D simulation software, and v4 provides unprecedented realism," said Sandy Samuel, vice president, Training and Simulation Solutios. "While initially the premier tool for training both commercial and military aviators, Prepar3D has grown to drive simulation for almost any vehicle in the air, at sea, underwater or even in the depths of space." Prepar3D v4 relies on 64-bit architecture to deliver unparalleled realism. This new version features major visual upgrades including enhanced virtual reality support, a new realistic lighting system, 3D weather capabilities, 40 high-detail cities and more than 24,900 airports across the globe. The new release also features improvements to performance and a fully redesigned user interface. "We are thrilled for Prepar3D v4 to be fully converted to 64-bit so users can take advantage of the full power of modern systems," says Adam Breed Prepar3D engineering project manager. "This release pushes the boundaries of what's possible in courseware training and experiences, including vast improvements to performance, graphical fidelity, and the number of entities that can be concurrently simulated in global-scale scenarios." Prepar3D v4 provides tools to simplify the process of creating courseware for self-paced training environments and instructor-led classrooms. The Lockheed Martin team partnered with both commercial and internal users to help redesign its Software Development Kit (SDK), which enables third-party development of custom add-ons, from the ground up. For more details and a complete listing of new and enhanced Prepar3D v4 features visit our website: www.prepar3d.com About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockheed-martin-offers-ultrarealistic-simulation-for-training-and-virtual-reality-with-prepar3d-v4-300466323.html SOURCE Lockheed Martin [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] JUPITER, FL - May 31, 2017 - Assistant Professor Seth Tomchik of the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has received $2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The new five-year grant funding will support the study of neurofibromatosis type I, an inherited disorder that results from genetic mutations affecting a protein called neurofibromin (Nf1). There is currently no FDA-approved treatment for neurofibromatosis 1. The disease begins in childhood with symptoms ranging from harmless spots to nerve tumors. It also predisposes individuals to a suite of behavioral symptoms, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism-like symptoms, learning disabilities and chronic pain. The prevalence of behavioral symptoms suggests that Nf1 can affect the development or function of neurons in the brain that regulate activity levels. Because neurofibromin is a large protein with multiple potential signaling roles in cells, Tomchik's research will focus on the functions of Nf1 at several levels, examining its molecular biology, genetic interactions and effects on signaling and development of neuronal circuits. "Aside from surgery to remove tumors, there are really no treatment options for those who suffer from neurofibromatosis," Tomchik said. "We intend to look at how the underlying protein regulates behavioral hyperactivity, determining how specific neuronal circuit alterations underlie its behavioral effects." ### The grant number is 1R01NS097237. About The Scripps Research Institute The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists--including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering or Medicine--work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. In October 2016, TSRI announced a strategic affiliation with the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), representing a renewed commitment to the discovery and development of new medicines to address unmet medical needs. For more information, see http://www.scripps.edu. Repeated exposure to a common anesthesia drug early in life results in visual recognition memory impairment, which emerges after the first year of life and may persist long-term, according to a study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online May 31 in the British Journal of Anaesthesia. Each year, approximately a million children under the age of four undergo surgery with general anesthesia, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Experimental studies in animals have shown that exposure to general anesthesia in infancy can cause loss of cells in the central nervous system and long-term impairments in neurocognitive function. Some human epidemiological studies have shown that children who undergo more than one operation under general anesthesia before they are four years old are at a greater risk of learning disability and other cognitive impairments. The Mount Sinai study is among the first to address the question of whether repeated postnatal anesthesia exposure, in and of itself, results in memory impairment in a highly translationally relevant rhesus monkey model. Rhesus monkeys at birth are at a stage of neurodevelopment that is more similar to that of human infants than are neonatal rodents; with respect to brain growth, a six-week-old rhesus monkey corresponds to a human 6 to 12 months of age. Because these kinds of controlled studies cannot be carried out in humans, it is essential to use a comparable animal model to discover if anesthesia is affecting the brain. Unlike previous research, the study was conducted in the absence of a surgical procedure, co-morbidities that may necessitate surgical intervention, or the psychological stress associated with illness. "The major strength of this study is its ability to separate anesthesia exposure from surgical procedures, which is a potential complication in the studies conducted in children," says Mark Baxter, PhD, professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Anesthesiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Our results confirm that multiple anesthesia exposures alone result in memory impairment in a highly translational animal model. Interestingly, the anesthesia-exposed group had normal visual memory at six months of age. Visual memory impairment didn't emerge until the second year of life, corresponding roughly to the age of three to six years old in humans." Specifically, the study team exposed 10 non-human primate subjects to a common pediatric anesthetic called sevoflurane for four hours, the length of time required for a significant surgical procedure in humans. They were exposed to the anesthetic at postnatal day 7 and then again two and four weeks later, because human data indicate that repeated anesthesia results in a greater risk of cognitive disability relative to a single anesthetic exposure. Researchers evaluated the visual recognition memory of exposed subjects compared with that of healthy controls at 6-10 months of age, 12-18 months of age and again at 24-30 months of age using the visual paired comparison test, which measures memory by assessing preference for looking at a new image over a previously viewed one. They found the anesthesia-exposed infants displayed no memory impairment when tested at 6-10 months, but demonstrated significant memory impairment (reduced time looking at the novel image) after the first year of life compared with the control group. "Our findings are consistent with epidemiological studies that show increased risk of long-term cognitive impairments after repeated exposure to anesthesia in infancy and early childhood, but perhaps most interestingly, we found that these deficits may emerge at later developmental stages, even when memory performance is unaffected earlier in development," says Dr. Baxter. "Our goal is to continue this work to test possible interventions that can prevent long-term cognitive impairments after early anesthesia exposure." These findings are part of a larger longitudinal study, and researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center will continue to follow these study subjects behaviorally to fully characterize the length of time that cognitive and emotional changes persist and whether they resolve over time. In December 2016, the FDA placed a warning on common anesthetic/sedative drugs, including sevoflurane, for children under three years of age receiving prolonged (more than three hours) or repeated anesthesia, saying that this may cause a risk of cognitive impairment. This primate model may be used be researchers for future studies to develop a new anesthetic agent or prophylactic treatment to counteract the impact of anesthesia on behavior in children. The findings also suggest that additional work is required to identify the mechanisms by which anesthetics may cause long-term changes in central nervous system function that impact behavior. ### The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institutes of Health Office of the Director supported this research. 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. ANN ARBOR--When college students feel isolated and disconnected, support from family members can keep them from harming themselves during difficult times, according to a new University of Michigan study. "Parents can serve as a first-line of defense in efforts to prevent or reduce the risk of suicide in students," said Edward Chang, the study's lead author and a professor of psychology and social work. The study consisted of 456 Hungarian college students whose ages ranged from 18 to 35. Respondents rated the frequency of feeling isolated and the extent of family support. To assess for suicide risk, respondents indicated if they felt depressed or had suicidal thoughts during the past 12 months. When lonely students had high family support, they had fewer depressive symptoms compared to those with lower family support, the study found. The same results were found for those who thought about suicide--that family support provided a small but significant improvement from following through on self-harm. The findings, the researchers said, point to strategies to reduce heightened suicide risk in college students. For instance, parents might be trained to look for and identify early signs of risks, such as social isolation. Families must also get counselors involved to create more positive environments for students that may be at risk for suicide. Chang said the key is that as children grow up and out of the house, it's important for parents to remain invested in the health of their child. "Going away to college does not mean that young emerging adults have sufficiently established a strong social support network or cultivated the sort of coping strategies to deal with their new roles as college students," he said. "Parents represent a child's foundation for support and growth." And since parents and college students often are out of daily physical interactions, both parties would likely benefit from routinely letting each other know that they remain on their minds, he said. The findings appear in the Family Journal. The study's other researchers were Olivia Chang, Tamas Martos, Viola Sallay, Jerin Lee, Kayla Stam, Casey Batterbee and Tina Yu. ### Cognitive tests can detect early Alzheimer's disease in older adults without symptoms, according to a new Keck School of Medicine of USC study LOS ANGELES - Long before symptoms of Alzheimer's disease become apparent to patients and their families, biological changes are occurring within the brain. Amyloid plaques, which are clusters of protein fragments, along with tangles of protein known as tau, form in the brain and grow in number, eventually getting in the way of the brain's ability to function. These biological changes can be detected early in the course of Alzheimer's disease through positron emission tomography (PET) scan or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Now, a new study led by Keck Medicine of USC neuropsychologist Duke Han, PhD, associate professor of family medicine (clinical scholar) at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California suggests that cognitive tests are also able to detect early Alzheimer's in people without symptoms. "In the last decade or so, there has been a lot of work on biomarkers for early Alzheimer's disease," Han says. "There are new imaging methods that can identify neuropathological brain changes that happen early on in the course of the disease. The problem is that they are not widely available, can be invasive and are incredibly expensive. I wanted to see whether the cognitive tests I regularly use as a neuropsychologist relate to these biomarkers." Putting neuropsychological measures to the test Han and his colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 61 studies to explore whether neuropsychological tests can identify early Alzheimer's disease in adults over 50 with normal cognition. The study, which was published in Neuropsychology Review, found that people who had amyloid plaques performed worse on neuropsychological tests of global cognitive function, memory, language, visuospatial ability, processing speed and attention/working memory/executive function than people who did not have amyloid plaques. The study also found that people with tau pathology or neurodegeneration performed worse on memory tests than people with amyloid plaques. Amyloid plaques and tau pathology were confirmed by PET scan or cerebrospinal fluid analysis. "The presumption has been that there would be no perceivable difference in how people with preclinical Alzheimer's disease perform on cognitive tests. This study contradicts that presumption," Han says. Routine cognitive screenings: A new normal? Han believes that the study results provide a solid argument for incorporating cognitive testing into routine, annual checkups for older people. "Having a baseline measure of cognition before noticing any kind of cognitive change or decline could be incredibly helpful because it's hard to diagnose early Alzheimer's disease if you don't have a frame of reference to compare to," Han said. "If people would consider getting a baseline evaluation by a qualified neuropsychologist at age 50 or 60, then it could be used as a way to track whether someone is experiencing a true decline in cognition in the future." Early detection could be a powerful tool to manage Alzheimer's, Han says, giving people precious time to try different medications or interventions that may slow the progression of the disease early on. "While there's no cure for Alzheimer's disease, the earlier you know that you're at risk for developing it, the more you can potentially do to help stave off that diagnosis in the future," Han says. "For example, exercise, cognitive activity and social activity have been shown to improve brain health." An estimated 5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's, and that number could reach 16 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer's Association. ### ABOUT THE KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE OF USC Founded in 1885, the Keck School of Medicine of USC is among the nation's leaders in innovative patient care, scientific discovery, education, and community service. It is part of Keck Medicine of USC, the University of Southern California's medical enterprise, one of only two university-owned academic medical centers in the Los Angeles area. This includes the Keck Medical Center of USC, composed of the Keck Hospital of USC and the USC Norris Cancer Hospital. The two world-class, USC-owned hospitals are staffed by more than 500 physicians who are faculty at the Keck School. The school today has approximately 1,650 full-time faculty members and voluntary faculty of more than 2,400 physicians. These faculty direct the education of approximately 700 medical students and 1,000 students pursuing graduate and post-graduate degrees. The school trains more than 900 resident physicians in more than 50 specialty or subspecialty programs and is the largest educator of physicians practicing in Southern California. Together, the school's faculty and residents serve more than 1.5 million patients each year at Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, as well as USC-affiliated hospitals Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center. Keck School faculty also conduct research and teach at several research centers and institutes, including the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine at USC, the USC Cardiovascular Thoracic Institute, the USC Roski Eye Institute and the USC Institute of Urology. In 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked Keck School of Medicine among the Top 40 medical schools in the country. For more information, go to keck.usc.edu. Twenty-seven percent of this projects funding ($2,000 in salary support) was funded by the National Institutes of Health under award number K23AG040625. Seventy-three percent of the projects funding ($5,495) was not federally funded. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Puget Sound is one of the best places in the United States to capture energy from tides. As water in the Sound rises and falls twice daily at high and low tide, strong underwater currents move swiftly in the narrow regions among islands and peninsulas. Those currents are what developers were eying when they proposed the first Pacific Northwest tidal energy pilot project in Admiralty Inlet, between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island. Though federal permits were issued, the project ultimately failed to launch in 2014 due to ballooning costs. A University of Washington paper published May 20 in the journal Energy Research & Social Science examined Washington residents' perceptions and support of tidal energy, a fledgling industry in the U.S. that is perhaps 20 years behind land-based wind energy. The study found that people who believe climate change is a problem and see economic, environmental and/or social benefits to using tidal energy are more likely to support such projects. Also, connecting pilot projects to the electricity grid is an important factor in garnering public support. This is the first U.S. study to look broadly at residents' beliefs and feelings about tidal energy and one of only a few worldwide to take a social science approach to examining this young industry that, in fact, affects people in personal ways. "We can focus on the technical and economic feasibility of tidal energy projects, but really at the early stages we also want to bring social science in because we shouldn't look at these things in a vacuum or silo," said lead author Stacia Dreyer, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW's School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and adjunct faculty at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society. "It's a holistic issue." The researchers mailed a survey to 3,000 Washington residents, split equally among people who lived within 15 miles of the Puget Sound shore and those who lived elsewhere in the state. This was to measure whether proximity to the water influenced how people felt about tidal energy. In general, survey results show that Washington residents support tidal energy, but to a greater degree if they live close to Puget Sound. Additionally, if respondents believe that climate change is a problem and see a potential benefit to tidal energy ? such as reducing carbon emissions or offering a sustainable source of energy ? they are more likely to support it. On the other hand, the larger the perceived risks of tidal energy, the less likely residents are to support such efforts. Finally, respondents were asked about their support during all phases of a hypothetical tidal energy project. Washington residents support tidal energy to a greater degree during the research and development phase in the lab, but once the turbines move outside of the lab and into the water, that support drops. Residents are much more likely to support a small-scale pilot project if the turbines are connected to the grid and benefiting the local community. "If you are going to have a pilot project, it's really important that it's grid-connected, and producing electricity and powering homes or businesses," Dreyer said. "I think people want to know that a project is effective and that it's benefiting them ? one of those ways is to supply power." Previous studies on the nascent industry have cited uncertainty about public perception as one of the reasons investors are hesitant to move forward on tidal projects. Involving social scientists at the beginning of a project to take a comprehensive read on a community is vital for success, Dreyer said. "In a perfect world, technology companies would view social scientists as one important part of a team and not just an add-on when something goes wrong," she said. The researchers will use the survey results paired with news articles about the Admiralty Inlet project to examine the opinions of various stakeholder groups, including the general public, for their next study. ### Other co-authors are Lekelia Jenkins, formerly with the UW and now at Arizona State University, and Hilary Polis, a recent graduate of the UW's School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation's Sustainable Energy Pathways Award. For more information, contact Dreyer at sdreyer@uw.edu. Grant number: 1230426 Scientists at the University of York have revealed that the 1976 drought is the worst extreme event to affect butterflies and moths in the 50 years since detailed records began. Scientists at the University of York have revealed that the 1976 drought is the worst extreme event to affect butterflies and moths in the 50 years since detailed records began. The summer of 1976 saw standpipes in the streets and billions of seven-spot ladybirds swarming in search of food. It was the hottest English summer since records began over 350 years ago - the mercury topped 32 C for 15 consecutive days across much of southern England, and some regions received no rain for 45 days straight. Since then, the UK has warmed by a full degree Celsius and experienced numerous bouts of extreme weather, from heavy rainfall and flooding to heatwaves and drought; yet no single year has caused so many butterfly and moth species to crash simultaneously. Measuring 50 years of butterfly and moth data against extreme weather events since 1968, scientists looked for years in which an unusual number of species responded in synchrony, with 1976 found to be the most devastating. "It was the culmination of a two-year event." said Dr Phil Platts, Postdoctoral Research Associate in York's Department of Biology and co-author of the study. "Hot and dry conditions stretched back to the spring of 1975. This was initially good for butterflies and moths, and their numbers boomed. But then extreme heat and sustained drought in the summer of 1976 tipped the balance, causing numbers to plummet across at least 50 different species." The study also looked at the impact of extreme weather on birds, determining that the cold winter of 1981-82 had the biggest effect on their numbers. A third of bird species crashed as temperatures fell as low as -26 C. Researchers concluded, however, that for many of our widespread species, occasional extreme weather events have not, to date, had a lasting impact on population trends. "This seems to be truer of short-lived species that can multiply rapidly, like butterflies and moths, than of the birds we studied." said Professor Tom Brereton, co-author and Head of Monitoring at Butterfly Conservation. "For most species, current evidence suggests long-term declines are being dominated by factors such as habitat loss and intensive farming methods." However, global warming is projected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves and drought, and it is likely that some of these will generate even greater population changes than we have seen so far. This April was the warmest on record in the UK, and the second warmest globally, beaten only by April 2016. The flip side, adds Dr Platts, is that cold extremes will become increasingly rare: "Species may be released from historical constraints, such as extreme cold, just as they may be hampered by the new extremes." Professor Chris Thomas, senior author in York's Department of Biology, said: "If we want to avoid a future super-heated drought that will put 1976 in the shade, then we need to address the root cause of climate warming - greenhouse gas emissions. Continued warming will gradually increase the chances that events that are as severe as 1976, or even more extreme, will take place over the coming century." ### The study was a collaboration between the University of York, Butterfly Conservation, Rothamsted Research, the British Trust for Ornithology, and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. DALLAS May 31, 2017 Scientists have identified more than 100 genes linked to memory, opening new avenues of research to better understand memory processing in the human brain. A study at the Peter ODonnell Jr. Brain Institute includes the results of a new strategy to identify genes that underlie specific brain processes. This strategy may eventually help scientists develop treatments for patients with memory impairments. Our results have provided a lot of new entry points into understanding human memory, said Dr. Genevieve Konopka, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience with the ODonnell Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Many of these genes were not previously linked to memory, but now any number of labs could study them and understand their basic function in the brain. Are they important for brain development; are they more important for aspects of behavior in adults? The study published in Cerebral Cortex stems from previous research by Dr. Konopka that linked specific genes to resting-state brain behavior. She wanted to use that same assessment to evaluate brain activity during active information processing. To do so, she collaborated with Dr. Bradley Lega, a neurosurgeon with the ODonnell Brain Institute conducting memory research on epilepsy patients while helping to locate the source of their seizures. Dr. Lega maps the brain waves of these patients to understand what patterns are critical for successful memory formation. Combining their techniques, the doctors found that a different group of genes is used in memory processing than the genes involved when the brain is in a resting state. A number of them had not previously been linked to any brain process, Dr. Konopka said. Dr. Lega is hopeful the findings can help scientists better understand and treat a range of conditions involving memory impairment, from epilepsy to Alzheimers disease. He also hopes the studys success in combining genetics and cognitive neuroscience will encourage more scientists to reach beyond their areas of expertise to elevate their research. This kind of collaboration is not possible unless high-quality neuroscience research and academically minded clinicians are in close physical and intellectual proximity. I dont think either of us working or thinking independently wouldve come up with this type of analysis. Ideally, the ODonnell Brain Institute will be a natural incubator for these sorts of collaborations for a number of neuroscience fields, said Dr. Lega, Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, and Psychiatry. ### The study was supported by UT Southwestern Jon Heighten Scholar in Autism Research, the National Institutes of Health, the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Initiative in Understanding Human Cognition Scholar Award, Friends of the Alzheimers Disease Center at UT Southwestern, the David M. Crowley Foundation, and a UT BRAIN Initiative Seed Grant. About UT Southwestern Medical Center UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 22 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 18 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The faculty of more than 2,700 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 100,000 hospitalized patients, 600,000 emergency room cases, and oversee approximately 2.2 million outpatient visits a year. This news release is available on our website at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom. To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email, subscribe at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews. Around 50 sheep have been stolen from rustlers on a farm in Devon, police are now appealing for witnesses. Devon police are appealing for anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the Sourton area in West Devon on or before April 29. The police are advising farmers to check their livestock and their tags. Sheep rustling has seen a worrying increase. In this month alone, criminals stole a hundred sheep from farmland in the Yorkshire Dales, stole more than 30 sheep from a field in the Isle of Skye, Scotland and stole more than 50 sheep in a raid on a north-east farm in Scotland. And in February, rustlers stole almost 100 sheep worth just under 13,000 in a farm near Falkirk. Anyone with information about the crime in Devon is asked to contact police via 101@dc.police.uk or by calling 101 quoting CR/033035/17. A city farm in Edinburgh is looking to tackle its debts by offering yoga classes and corporate days. Gorgie City Farm, which has been in the city for 38 years, had been threatened with closure due to rising costs and a large reduction in external funding last year. However, a year on, things are looking a lot brighter for the farm following a 100,000 community appeal. It is now planning to expand with everything from yoga to corporate challenge days among the ideas being put forward. And visitor numbers have soared since the fundraising appeal was launched last spring. 'Great experience' Chief executive Josiah Lockhart told the Edinburgh Evening News creating a sustainable business model would allow the farm to be enjoyed for generations to come. He said: "The appeal was really a way to help bide the farm some time to help put things in place to help it be more sustainable. "It allowed us to update our funding strategy and work closer with businesses in the community, tidy up the site. "We are talking a lot more about what's coming and our visitor numbers have increased hugely in the past year on the back of the appeal, from 160,000 to 220,000. "People are supporting us more and although we are a free site, people are often donating more when they come in." The diversification of UK farms is becoming an important issue, more so in recent years. With subsidies falling away, land prices falling, and along with other issues there is uncertainty about the future. However, many farmers across the country think one of the solutions is diversification. Landowners including the Queen could lose up to 1 million a year under plans to slash farming subsidies for wealthier farmers after Britain leaves the European Union. Farm minister George Eustice said the distribution of payments was 'unfair'. Lands operating on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk receives 700,000 a year in government funding, while farms near Windsor Castle receive 300,000. Mr Eustice told Politico: "I dont think many people could defend the notion of an area-based subsidy system staying in place for perpetuity. "Its a little bit upside down because it means the largest payments go to the largest landowners who arguably need it the least," he said. Landowners featured in the Sunday Times Rich List last year received more than 10 million between them. Smaller farms Under the current CAP, 80% of funds go to 20% of farms, as funding is determined by the amount of acreage a farm has. Mr Eustice and the Conservatives are trying to prioritise smaller farms as Britain begins negotiations to leave the EU. But Defra secretary Andrea Leadsom said it was important to commit to the same funding levels as CAP. She said: "If elected on June 8, Theresa May's Conservatives will commit to the same spending on farming and food production over the next Parliament as is now provided by the EUs Common Agriculture Policy. "As we translate the body of European law into our domestic regulations, it means that the rules around the environment, food and farming will be set in the UK." The commitment to match the same levels of spending will continue until the end of the next parliament, around 2022. Then a new system will be introduced to 'set up new frameworks for supporting food production and stewardship of the countryside.' The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have examined issues surrounding the slaughter of pregnant farmed animals in Europe. According to EFSA experts, on average 3% of dairy cows, 1.5% of beef cattle, 0.5% of pigs, 0.8% sheep and 0.2% of goats in the EU are slaughtered during the last third of gestation. Reasons may vary from farmers not being aware that animals are pregnant, to considerations linked to animal health and welfare or economic reasons. EFSAs Panel on Animal Health and Welfare first assessed whether and when livestock fetuses of different animal species experience pain. The scientists agreed that the animals dont in the first two-thirds of gestation because the relevant physical and neurological structures develop only during the last part of gestation. Inhibitory mechanisms The experts estimated the probability that fetuses experience pain during the final third of gestation. They concluded that the most probable scenario is that they dont due to the presence of a series of inhibitory mechanisms in the body of the fetus. The opinion proposes practical measures for reducing the number of pregnant animals slaughtered. There is limited information on this topic and EFSAs scientific opinion, which is based on expert judgment, offers insights that can be used by risk managers across the EU. Ultimately, this work contributes to the improvement of animal welfare. This scientific opinion follows a request from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) has released its manifesto ahead of the General Election on 8 June, saying animal medicine underpins much of what is valued in society. With Brexit in the spotlight, the manifesto highlights what is needed for the UK to secure a future as a 'global centre of excellence' for animal medicines and why the UK animal medicines industry is important to the economy. Politicians and political parties are being called to make sure the 'important role' of animal medicines is recognised and that the sectors needs are included in Brexit negotiations. They are being urged to support incentives to develop 'innovative treatments' and better diagnostics, and to ensure prescribers, farmers and pet owners retain access to a full range of animal medicines. The manifesto states that parties must ensure decisions about the animal health sector are based on evidence and science. 'Responsible use of medicines' Dawn Howard, chief executive of NOAH, said the responsible use of medicines 'underpins' so much that is valued in British society. The production of food from healthy animals on UK farms; our relationship with the pets that share 44% of British homes in everything we and our members do at NOAH, we aim to improve the lives of animals through encouraging responsible farming and pet ownership and promoting the safe and responsible use of medicines. As we leave the EU, it is so important that Government ensures that what our sector needs to continue to provide the tools to allow our sector to thrive in the UK is included in Brexit negotiations. All of our animals whether pets or farm animals have a right to the most appropriate treatment if they become sick, to reduce their suffering, to protect their health and welfare and to ensure they can continue to provide companionship or produce safe, nutritious food. Other farming manifestos In the Conservative manifesto, they pledge to bring 'sustainable growth' to farming communities, create a new agri-environment scheme and introduce mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses. Labour has also launched their manifesto. The manifesto pledges an end to the badger cull, a ban on neonicotinoids and the promotion of cruelty free farming. The Liberal Democrats has unveiled their manifesto, saying that UK farming will be in 'huge danger' of leaving EU. They propose a second referendum. Welsh political party Plaid Cymru has also released their manifesto, calling for a Brexit deal which best represents Welsh agriculture. Ukip's manifesto has called for the UK to create a Single Farm Payment (SFP) as a replacement for the CAP. The SNP are pledging to 'protect' the Scottish agri-food industry by fighting to stay as a member of the EU's single market. Numerous rural organisations have released their own manifestos, including the NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, the CLA, the Soil Association, the Tenant Farmers' Association, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the British Veterinary Association, the Farmers' Union of Wales, the Ulster Farmers' Union, the Agricultural Industries Confederation and the Countryside Alliance. UK organic milk volumes increased by 4.4% last year, in contrast to the standard milk category which fell by 1.9% during the same period. The increase is being attributed to an organic milk recovery, in spite of reducing conventional prices and increasing organic shelf premiums. According to the 2017 organic milk market report, produced by the Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative, (OMSCo), over the last year one in four households now purchase organic milk, which is an increase of 15%. "Last year the organic milk category attracted one million new householdsmore than any other milk sector in the UK," says OMSCo managing director, Richard Hampton. "This is despite it being a private label dominated category, and therefore subject to less advertising and innovation than other growth milk segments such as dairy alternatives and filtered milk, and increasing shelf premiums as conventional prices fell". "However, UK organic dairy growth is still behind other key international markets, growing at a rate of just 2.2%. "This is compared to the USA market which is growing 10% year-on-year and European markets, such as Germany and France, which are also witnessing significant growth," said Mr Hampton. 'Threats' Globally, organic dairy is in a period of strong growth and is one of the largest sectors within the organic food and drink market, worth $9.5bn in a market valued at $82bn. "For this reason, exports have become an increasingly important market for UK organic dairy products," he said. "Over the last 10 years exports have grown from zero to 20% of UK organic milk sales. "They play an important role in balancing UK market fluctuations, and therefore delivering a stable return to UK organic dairy farmers. "Export expansion has been constrained in the last couple of years by a lack of supply due to the UK market recovery and last year's poor growing season. "However, new organic milk supplies the vast majority of whom are joining OMSCo - will emerge during 2017 and 2018 to support the growth of these markets, and together with like for like expansion we are seeing from existing producers, we expect the UK to be able to cover growing UK demand and export opportunities without there being requirement for further milk at this stage." Health and wellbeing Mr Hampton adds that he attributes global growth drivers to consumer demand for products with health and wellbeing benefits as well as a solid provenance story. "Organic dairy offers consumers a host of benefits including increased levels of omega-3, and we remain confident that UK and global demand for high quality, sustainable and healthy organic dairy will remain strong." "However, there are threats, notably the emergence of 'single issue' products the benefits of which are covered by the organic standard but may not be understood by consumers, whilst on the export front Brexit poses a significant threat to export led food sectors, including organic dairy, as well as any potential downturn." Danakali Limitedand partner Eritrean National Mining Corporation has appointed Inglett and Stubbs International, as preferred power provider for its Colluli Sulphate of Potash Project, in the Eritrea region of East Africa.The mining exploration company says tender bids were received in April, and were evaluated on alignment with power generation costs in the definitive feasibility study.Danakali says the initial bid has power generation cost estimates within 1.5 per cent of the definitive feasibility study, including marginally lower development capital.The company says they will now work to further refine the proposal, aligning final requirements to front-end engineering design outcomes.Shares in Danakali Limitedare trading 2.63% higher to 78 cents. Figuring out exactly how much to save for retirement is quite a challenge. After all, you're saving for something that won't happen for years or decades. How can you possibly know how much money you'll need that far in the future? Without a crystal ball, you can't get an exact number -- but you'd better be sure you're in the ballpark. Think through your dreams Everyone has a different idea of the ideal retirement. While you can't know exactly how you'll spend your golden years, you can narrow the field a bit. Think about the kind of activities you'd most enjoy during retirement. Do you want to stay in your family home, or do you want to move to a villa in Tuscany? Will you travel everywhere from Antwerp to Zimbabwe, or mostly stay near home? Would you rather live the high life with lots of restaurants, plays, and fancy parties, or live simply and spend quiet time with loved ones? If you have a general idea of what you be doing during your retirement years, you'll also be able to get a sense of how much money you'll need to fund those activities. Do the math If your planned retirement will involve free-to-cheap activities and a low-cost housing situation, you can probably live comfortably on 70% to 80% of your current income. Most of your expenses will decrease in retirement, with the likely exception of medical expenses. If you plan to indulge in all the activities you don't have the time or money for now, budget for at least 100% of your current income (if not more). Adding up your probable retirement expenses can help you come up with a more accurate income requirement: Just compare your projected retirement expenses with your current expenses to see what percentage of current income you'll need. However you identify your retirement income requirements, the next step is to figure out how much you need to save in order to reach that level of income; luckily, a retirement calculator makes figuring this out a snap. Save regularly You've figured out how much money you'll need and consequently how much you should be saving each month to hit that goal. Compare that number to the amount you're actually setting aside for retirement. If you're saving at least that much, congratulations: You're on track for the retirement of your dreams. If not, you need to amp up your savings effort immediately. This is best done gradually to avoid shocking your budget. For example, let's say you've been saving 10% of your paycheck in your 401(k) account, and the retirement calculator tells you you need to be saving at least 15%. Instead of jumping straight from 10% to 15%, change your contribution level to 11% and hold it there for a few months so you can get used to the slight decrease in your disposable income. Then bump the contribution up to 12%, and so on until you hit the required level. If you start feeling some financial pain, you may need to take a hard look at your expenses and see if you can cut anything out. Invest wisely Once you're making retirement contributions regularly, you need to figure out what to do with that money. Leaving it in a savings account or money market account is a nonstarter: Your returns will be far too low to build a viable retirement nest egg. Early on in your career, most or all of that money should be invested in stocks inside a tax-advantaged retirement account such as a 401(k) or IRA. These retirement accounts allow your investments to grow tax-free, which can save you huge sums of money. As you approach retirement, you can allocate more of your money out of stocks and into less volatile investments like bonds. Your portfolio allocation should depend on your personal goals, but one relatively reliable method is to subtract your age from 110 and invest that percentage of your money in stocks. For example, a 40-year-old would invest 70% of their retirement savings in stocks, while the rest would go into bonds. If you're not up to the task of hand-picking investments, you can simplify things by investing in a good target-date fund that will allocate your investments for you. Do your investment checkups Annual checkups aren't just for doctors anymore. Review your retirement investments at least once a year to make sure you're getting at least the returns you plugged into the retirement calculator. If you're not getting an average return that's as high as the one you initially planned for, you'll need to either find a way to get better returns or increase your contributions to make up the difference. Quote: HoustonDave Originally Posted by and don't freak out at the sight of 'giant puddles'... a little liquid makes a huge puddle as it spreads. That big puddle from the evaporator is likely a couple tablespoons of water. I just wanted to make sure it was what I thought it was in that I most likely over filled it. It must have mostly leveled itself out after that first instance because I replaced the cap and cut the end off the tube and moved it to non split part and it no longer is leaking. I am going to install an overflow container still though because I like the idea of it regulating itself. The auto parts store by my house had multiple different styles so I took some pictures to bring back home and see what would fit best. Thanks for the replys everyone. Ferrari third driver Antonio Giovinazzi is to take part in seven FP1 sessions with Haas over the remainder of the 2017 season, the American team confirmed on Wednesday. The 23-year-old, who drove in the first two races of this season for Sauber as a replacement for the injured Pascal Werhlein, scoring a best finish of 12th in Australia, will make his first appearance for the Ferrari-powered squad at the British Grand Prix in July. Subsequent outings in Hungary, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi will follow. Haas confirmed that Kevin Magnussen will relinquish his seat to Giovinazzi for six of the sessions, with Romain Grosjean ceding his VF-17 to the Italian in Mexico alone. In a year thats already been filled with great opportunities, Im proud to have another one with Haas F1 Team, said Giovinazzi, who finished a strong second in last years GP2 Series. Haiti - Politics : Meeting between PM and Presidents of Associations of Mayors On Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant gathered the Presidents of the Associations of Mayors of the West, South, Southeast, Grand'Anse, Nippes, Center, Artibonite, North and North-West, as a prelude to the meeting on Tuesday, May 30, with the National Council for Natural Risk Management. The meeting allowed among others to the presidents of associations of mayors of South, Nippes and Grand'Anse, of exposing the situation in their regions hit hard by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. They raised many issues faced by their municipalities in particular the lack of equipment for sanitation work. Several avenues of solutions were evoked at this meeting. The Prime Minister reiterated the will of the Government to continue to provide answers to the problems of these disaster departments. He also took the opportunity to recall his personal commitment to pursue the actions already under way and promised to establish a permanent dialogue between the Prime Minister and the country's town halls. HL/ HaitiLibre Hospitality Net today Sign up to our free daily newsletter, New York, NY RobertDouglas announced today that it advised Ashford Hositality Prime, Inc in securing a $51 million non-recoursesenior mortgage to finance their acquisition of the 80-room Hotel Yountville with a national commercial bank. Located in the heart of downtown Yountville, the culinary epicenter of Napa Valley, the property is within easy walking distance to the region's most celebrated restaurants, including The French Laundry. "The low leverage financing request backed by a publicly traded institutional sponsor uniquely coupled with the management synergies of the recently acquired Bardessono Hotel and Spa located less than half a mile away attracted strong interest among lenders," noted Chris Ropko, Managing Director at RobertDouglas. "The acquisition price and resultant loan per key also compared favorably to market data points, remarked Robert Stiles, Principal and Managing Director at RobertDouglas. RobertDouglas is a real estate investment banking firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco that specializes in the sale, financing and equity capitalization of hotel, resort and gaming properties throughout North America. Founded by two of the hotel industry's preeminent finance professionals, Rob Stiles and Doug Hercher, RobertDouglas offers exceptional domestic and international institutional investor and lender relationships. RobertDouglas combines the capital markets sophistication of top-tier investment banks with detailed hotel underwriting and asset management experience, providing the firm with unique capabilities in an underserved market. For more information, contact [email protected]douglas.com or go to www.robert-douglas.com. Douglas Hercher Managing Director & Principal +1 (212) 993-7424 View source In recent events, including the highly contentious highway liquor-ban and the just declared Good & Services Tax by The Government of India, it appears that the Hospitality business has been extended the second fiddle treatment. Generating over US$ 200 Billion in revenue and providing over 40 million people a livelihood in 2016, the Travel & Tourism industry contributed almost 10% to the nations Gross Domestic Product, earning India the 7th rank in the world, according to a recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The hospitality sector provides for a critical and inherent part of this contribution. The honorable Prime Minister has repeatedly spoken about Tourism being an intrinsic part of his vision from an economic growth perspective. Measures such as the Make in India campaign and the provision for E-Visas to most of the planet were met with applause and cheer by stakeholders in the business. One almost began to believe that the Travel & Tourism industry had finally begun to receive the attention it rightfully deserved. In recent events, including the highly contentious highway liquor-ban and the just declared Goods & Services Tax announcement, it appears that while sectors such as aviation and tour operators are likely to be satisfied with the slabs extended to them, the Hospitality business has been extended the second fiddle treatment. Hotel projects tend to be highly capital intensive, necessitating laborious & tedious years from a construction standpoint, require extended gestation periods for breakeven and are frequently plagued by tribulations such as a very high cost of borrowing, relatively short repayment schedules as well as a maze of licenses, permits & approvals that are often marred with red-tapeism and bureaucracy. Hotel performances are easily and instantly impacted by altering socio-economic and political forces and the business is inherently cyclical from a performance stand-point to begin with. It would be fair to say that the brave hearts who choose to invest in this business arent necessarily signing up for an easy ride. A couple of months ago, the courts, in their wisdom, imposed a blanket ban on vending of alcohol within 500-meters of all national and state highways. While the premise and the sentiment behind the argument that right to life must take precedence over the liberty to drink was never in question and in fact makes eminent sense, the hope was that selling bottles of liquor from road-side thekas would be curbed in a bid to avoid drinking & driving accidents. The interpretation, however, has ended up impacting free standing restaurants & hotels as well, resultantly making hundreds of such establishments dry. The impact of this is not limited to loss of revenue by way of liquor sales. It has caused a ripple effect on consumer choices from a lodging standpoint the primary generator of revenue for hotels. Its a classic case of the presence of alcohol not necessarily aiding in revenue enhancement, but its absence almost certainly harming the ability to attract guests. Hotel owners now must contend with an unexpected an unforeseen environment that has made an immediate and significant impact on their ability to earn revenue and it will not be surprising to see more Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in the months ahead. The matter of GST is now slated to further add to the sectors woes. Hotels with a realized rate of Rs.5000 and above shall be required to levy 28% GST on the bill. The argument is that this level of spend points to luxury. The hotel sector was traditionally marred with a variety of taxes and these varied by state. Luxury Tax ranged from 0% in certain parts of the nation to 20% of published tariff in others. Figure 1 below provides a comparison between the existing luxury tax rates across all the states to the GST rate of 28%. If one were to put aside other costs (such as service charge, municipal tax, Cess etc.), on an apples to apples comparison, not a single state was levying such a high tax on its guests as will now be the case with this new tax regime. Figure 1 Source: HVS Research Note: *GST is computed on the actual room rate charged to the consumer **Assumptions for Effective Tax Rate: Published Tariff: INR 10,000; Discount: 25%; Actual Tariff: INR 7,500 Figure 2 provides a quick comparison to the primary tax levied by prominent cities across the globe. Again, we are slated to be the most expensive. Figure 2 Source: HVS Research Note: Add-on levies such as Municpal Tax, Cess, Service Charge etc excluded for parity. The basic premise of creating slabs for hotels (No tax below Rs.1000, 12% GST between 1001 & 2500 & 18% GST between 2501 and 5000) is flawed. India has about 120,000 organized or branded hotel rooms. Approximately 65% of this inventory averaged a realized room rate of Rs.5000 or more in 2016. Essentially, two-thirds of the branded supply in India is now left with no option but to brace itself for tough times ahead. Hotels may be forced to reduce their room rates in a bid to woo guests, who will most certainly not be keen on paying an extra 10% to 16% tax on their room rate. Besides, treating the need for a lodging accommodation (A roof on your head when you are traveling) as a luxury doesnt seem to make common sense. The governments inability to view the hotel sector as a provider of infrastructure rather a source of luxury is at the root of the issue. Over 70% of hotel accommodation is presently consumed by corporate or business travelers. Hotel rooms are thus a need and not a luxury. Decisions such as these are matters of serious concern for the stakeholders in the hospitality business and one can only hope that the powers to be shall realize that no good shall come out of breaking the camels back. In conclusion, the hospitality sector has been displaying a steady growth in demand over the past eighteen months and the next three to five years are expected to witness an overall up-cycle. However, considering recent decisions by both the Judiciary & Executive branches of the nation, it almost seems like the hospitality sector will probably grow not because of the support provided by government, but in spite it. This article originally appeared on HVS. Ramadan has just began in the Muslim world on 26th of May, 2017. 1.6 billion people, 23 percent of the worlds population will be greeting the holy month. Of these, the majority will be observing 30 days of fasting and religious practices. Muslims feature much more at work today. We work more frequently with populations in countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, and Malaysia; however, in the UK, we also have growing representation of the faith in our workplaces and offices. This year in the UK, working Muslims will be fasting from around 4am until 9pm every day; thats 17 hours of not eating or drinking every day for 30 days. Although fasting is usually the primary association with Ramadan, the month involves a lot more exertion than refraining from food and water. Eating your first meal at sunset, extra prayers, late nights and a heightened emphasis on patience and virtue are all part of experiencing the holy month. HR practitioners, line managers and other stakeholders need to be aware of the personal and religious sensitivities of their staff. Understanding their experience and accommodating their particular needs shows good management and helps ensures people perform to the best of the abilities. Implementing policies that accommodate can only lead to nurturing mutual trust and ultimately lead to higher staff retention, better morale, more effective teams and greater productivity. Muslims, as a whole have specific ... Tags : trump ofccp eeoc What is the Future of the OFCCP? On May 23, 2017, the White House released its proposed budget for the Fiscal Year of 2018. Included in the proposed budget was a proposal to merge the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) into the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and form a single organization by the end of the 2018 fiscal year. The proposed budget states that such a merger will create one agency to combat employment discrimination and that the integration of these two agencies will reduce operational redundancies, promote efficiencies, improve services to citizens and strengthen civil rights enforcement.1 The proposal provides that the EEOC and the OFCCP will work together to collectively coordinate the transition. Even before the merger would take effect, the proposed budget would reduce OFCCPs current budget by $17 million and would cut the number of full time employees from 581 in the 2016 fiscal year to 440 in the 2018 fiscal year.2 What is the Future of Affirmative Action in Employment? Currently, OFCCP enforces Executive Order 11246 (EO 11246), Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503), and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) applicable to federal contractors and subcontractors. Under these requirements, those employers doing business with the government are required to engage in affirmative action and to refrain from discrimin... About the Partnership Dear Colleague, As the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture approaches, 26 June, we write with the news that the International Bar Association (IBA) is partnering with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to advance our shared ambition for the absolute prohibition of torture. As stated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein, torture is a severe violation of human rights that can never be justified even during wartime, or when national security is under threat. On 31 May 2017, both organisations will launch web pages focused on this new partnership, our common objective to eradicate torture, and what each of us can do toward that goal. Please visit this webpage to learn about our work and see where you fit it. We think youll be inspired by the accounts of fellow legal professionals fighting impunity. We ask that you help us spread the word by downloading ready-to-share quote cards from the new web pages and sharing them widely via social media. The cards quote many renowned supporters of our work, and sharing them is an important way to contribute to the IBA-UN initiative. Also, if you are in London on 26 June 2017, please register to attend a high-profile lunchtime panel that includes Zeid Raad Al Hussein; Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, British barrister and member of the House of Lords; Juan E Mendez, former UN Special Rapporteur on torture; and Beatrice Mtetwa, Zimbabwe's top human rights lawyer, as described by the New York Times. Moderating the debate will be Dr Owen Bennett-Jones, BBC Radio journalist. At a time when the absolute prohibition of torture is being routinely challenged across the globe, the focus of the discussion will be the importance of reaffirming torture as a human rights violation. International law is very clear on protecting people in detention from torture and mistreatment, yet across the world severe pain is being inflicted on human beings to force confessions. The repercussions of such practice on the rule of law is very damaging. As legal professionals, it is our responsibility to condemn the use of torture in all jurisdictions; to promote the use of existing rules and protocols for its prevention along the chain of custody; to encourage the use and correct interpretation of international standards in court; and to strengthen institutions and national, regional and international standards to prevent and punish torture. It is in all of our interests to protect the basic rights of detainees. Through the International Bar Associations Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), much work around torture prevention has been carried out. The IBAHRI has strengthened the technical capacity of the legal profession to support victims of torture and to prosecute perpetrators in countries such as Tunisia, Mexico and Brazil. We know that when given the right tools, lawyers play a pivotal role in investigating crimes of torture and achieving justice for victims. We hope you will get involved, and start by visiting our new webpage and sharing the featured quote cards. Together we can break the cycle of impunity that nourishes the reprehensible crime of torture. Sincerely yours, Citizens of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are vowing to fight back after the tribal government reject their anti-casino petition. A group called Chahta for Better Government collected more than 1,700 signatures to put the $25 million Red Water Casino to a vote of the people. But tribal officials rejected more than 100 signatures , leaving the petition just 5 short of the amount needed to schedule a referendum. "The referendum process is far from over," the group said on Facebook on Tuesday. "Once we receive the petition certification in the mail we have 20 business days to go to court. During the court process is when we will know whose petition was thrown out and why." The 35,800 square-foot Red Water Casino will be located in Leake County in Mississippi. The site is about 30 miles from Pearl River Resort , the tribe's flagship gaming resort. The tribe also operates the the Bok Homa Casino in a satellite community about 100 miles away. Red Water will be similar in size to that facility. Read More on the Story: Choctaw petition regarding future Red Water casino fails (WTOK 5/30) Join the Conversation Related Stories A former employee of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate casino has admitted to his role in a theft scheme. Jeremy K. Brown, 42, was a blackjack dealer at the Dakota Sioux Casino in Watertown, South Dakota. He admitted he worked with two fellow employees to pay out losing bets to a patron, according to a plea agreement Lito B. Bolocon, 44, a former pit boss at the casino, and Fern F. Gill, 52, who was a blackjack dealer, also have been indicted , The Aberdeen News reported. So has Jordan A. Rondell, 29, who was the patron who allegedly received stolen funds. The incident occurred over New Year's Eve in December 2015 and New Year's Day in January 2016, the paper reported. Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy at a hearing on April 24 . He is due for sentencing on August 1, the paper said. Rondell, Bolocon and Gill have pleaded not guilty. They are scheduled to go to trial on July 24, the paper reported. Read More on the Story: Blackjack dealer admits to working with others to fleece Watertown casino (The Aberdeen News 5/30) Join the Conversation Asia British Rights Activist Andy Hall Sues Thai Authorities British rights activist Andy Hall at the Bangkok South Criminal Court in September 2016. / Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters BANGKOK A British rights activist filed lawsuits on Wednesday against Thai authorities and a major Thai fruit producer, accusing them of unlawful prosecution over a 2014 criminal defamation case against him which had been thrown out of court. Rights activist Andy Hall has been involved in high-profile legal battles since the publication in 2013 of a report he researched for Finnish group Finnwatch on the treatment of migrant workers by Natural Fruit Company, Thailands biggest producer of tinned pineapples. Last year, he was found guilty of criminal defamation over the report and given a suspended three-year jail term in a case that alarmed rights groups who feared that it could set a precedent for the use of similar charges against others. Halls lawsuits relate to a separate criminal defamation case over comments he gave to Al-Jazeera television. That case was thrown out by the supreme court last year on the grounds that he was in Burma when he gave the interview. In Halls lawsuits, he accuses Natural Fruit, nine state prosecutors, and a senior police officer of wrongful and malicious exercise of their duty. He also accuses Natural Fruit of giving false information to authorities. I must defend myself against an unlawful prosecution and judicial harassment, Hall said in a statement from Brussels. He left Thailand last year. Natural Fruits lawyer, Somsak Torugsa, who was also accused along with the firm, told Reuters he was not worried. Were all innocent. Ill fight it and Ill file a counter suit, Somsak said, without giving more details. Somnuek Siangkong, a spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General, told Reuters he could not comment as he has not seen a copy of the lawsuit. The senior police officer said he had no comment. Hall also faced civil defamation cases over both the report and the television interview. Thailand, one of the worlds key food exporters, employs an estimated 3 million migrant workers, mostly from neighboring Burma. Asia Nowhere to go for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh After Cyclone Wrecks Camps Rohingya refugees look on at the Balukhali Makeshift Refugee Camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh in April, 2017. / Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters COXS BAZAR, Bangladesh Left drenched and near destitute by a cyclone that hit Bangladesh a day earlier, thousands of Rohingya refugees hunkered down in the ruins of their camps on Wednesday, waiting for help after a night in the rain. At least seven people were killed and 50 injured by Cyclone Mora, according to Mohammad Ali Hussain, the chief administrator of Coxs Bazar district, a sliver of land in southeast Bangladesh bordering Burma. The border area that bore the brunt of the storm is home to refugee camps for Muslim Rohingyas who have fled from their homes in northwest Burma to escape communal violence and Burma army crackdowns. Initial reports suggest damage to shelter in camps sheltering Rohingya refugees, is severe, the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator for Bangladesh said. The Bangladeshi government has estimated that in all, there are about 350,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh following a new influx last October, when the Burma army launched an offensive in response to insurgent attacks. Authorities in Coxs Bazar and neighboring Chittagong district evacuated 350,000 people from low-lying areas before the storm roared in from the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday. But most Rohingyas remained in their flimsy shelters in the camps when the storm struck, with priority given to evacuating only the most vulnerable, like heavily pregnant women. Omar Farukh, a community leader in Kutupalong campone of several camps for Rohingyas in Coxs Bazardescribed the misery of those left behind. We have passed a difficult time. We had no tin or plastic sheets above our heads and almost all of us passed the night in the rain, Farukh told Reuters by telephone. We tried to save our belongings, whatever we have, with pieces of plastic sheet. A senior UN official working in Coxs Bazar said there had been no reports of deaths in the camps, only some injuries. Still Waiting The cyclone formed after monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, off Indias southern tip, killing 202 people in recent days, authorities said, adding 96 people were missing. An Indian navy boat rescued 33 Bangladeshis at sea off Chittagong, and recovered one body, the Indian mission in Dhaka said. It was not clear if the people had been on a boat that sank or were washed into the sea by a storm surge. Transport and communications were in chaos in northwest Burma, state media there said. Camps for internally displaced Rohingya in Burma suffered extensive damage, and there were pockets of damage in the broader community, but no reports of casualties, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. When the storm hit Bangladesh it brought wind gusting up to 135 kph (85 mph) and heavy rain. By daybreak on Wednesday the storm had died down with only a steady rain falling. Airports and ports reopened. Rohingya community leader Farukh said aid agency officials had visited the Kutupalong camp to see what was needed. A relief worker who had visited the Balukhali camp estimated that one in four huts there had been damaged but there were no serious injuries and people had begun repairs. Beyond the camps, officials were also assessing the damage elsewhere in Coxs Bazar. The chief administrator said 17,500 houses had been completely destroyed and 35,000 partially damaged in the district. Almost all rickety houses in the district were completely or partially destroyed by the cyclone. Not only Rohingya houses, Hussain said. The cyclone lost some of its force as it moved inland and across the eastern border into India. Strong wind and heavy rain battered houses, brought down electricity lines, and damaged telecommunication towers in Indias Mizoram state, cutting communications and power. The Meteorological Department said the weather system was very likely to continue to move north-northeast and weaken into a cyclonic storm and later into a depression. Other northeastern Indian states had received heavy to very heavy rainfall since Tuesday evening. Asia Ominous Signs of an Asian Hub for Islamic State in the Philippines A Philippine Marine fires a weapon towards the stronghold of Maute group in Marawi City in southern Philippines on May 30, 2017. / Erik De Castro / Reuters MARAWI CITY, Philippines Dozens of foreign jihadis have fought side-by-side with Islamic State sympathizers against security forces in the southern Philippines over the past week, evidence that the restive region is fast becoming an Asian hub for the ultra-radical group. A Philippines intelligence source said that of the 400-500 marauding fighters who overran Marawi City on the island of Mindanao last Tuesday, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas, including from countries in the Middle East. The source said they included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport. IS is shrinking in Iraq and Syria, and decentralizing in parts of Asia and the Middle East, said Rohan Gunaratna, a security expert at Singapores S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. One of the areas where it is expanding is Southeast Asia and the Philippines is the center of gravity. Mindanao has been roiled for decades by bandits, local insurgencies and separatist movements. But officials have long warned that the poverty, lawlessness and porous borders of Mindanaos predominantly Muslim areas mean it could become a base for radicals from Southeast Asia and beyond, especially as Islamic State fighters are driven out of Iraq and Syria. Although Islamic State and groups affiliated to the movement have claimed several attacks across Southeast Asia in the last two years, the battle in Marawi City was the first long drawn-out confrontation with security forces. On Tuesday, a week after the fighting began, the government said it was close to retaking the city. As helicopters circled, troops cleared rebel positions amid explosions and automatic gunfire, moving house by house and street by street. Last year, Southeast Asian militants fighting for Islamic State in Syria released a video urging their countrymen to join the cause in the southern Philippines or launch attacks at home rather than attempting to travel to Syria. Jakarta-based terrorism expert Sidney Jones passed to Reuters some recent messages in a chatroom of the Telegram app used by Islamic State supporters. In one, a user reported that he was in the heart of Marawi City where he could see the army run like pigs and their filthy blood mix with the dead bodies of their comrades. He asked others in the group to pass information on to the Amaq News Agency, a mouthpiece for Islamic State. Another user replied, using an Arabic word meaning pilgrimage: Hijrah to the Philippines. Door is opening. The clash in Marawi City began with an army raid to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of Abu Sayyaf, a group notorious for piracy and for kidnapping and beheading Westerners. Abu Sayyaf and a relatively new group called Maute, both of which have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, have fought alongside each other in Marawi City, torching a hospital and a cathedral, and kidnapping a Catholic priest. The urban battle prompted Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to impose martial law across the whole island of Mindanao, an area roughly the size of South Korea with a population of around 21 million. Fighters From the Middle East The head of the Malaysian police forces counter-terrorism division, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, named four Malaysians who are known to have travelled to Mindanao to join militant groups. Among them were Mahmud Ahmad, a Malaysian university lecturer who is poised to take over the leadership of Islamic State in the southern Philippines if Hapilon is killed, he said. Security expert Gunaratna said that Ahmad has played a key role in establishing Islamic States platform in the region. According to his schools research, eight of 33 militants killed in the first four days of fighting in Marawi City were foreigners. This indicates that foreign terrorist fighters form an unusually high component of the IS fighters and emerging IS demography in Southeast Asia, Gunaratna said. According to an intelligence brief seen by Reuters, authorities in Jakarta believe 38 Indonesians travelled to the southern Philippines to join Islamic State-affiliated groups and about 22 of them joined the fighting in Marawi City. However, an Indonesian law-enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the actual number of Indonesians involved in the battle could be more than 40. Indonesia officials believe some militants might have slipped into Marawi City under the cover of an annual gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat just days before the fighting erupted. The Tablighi Jamaat is a Sunni missionary movement that is non-political and encourages Muslims to become more pure. An Indonesian anti-terrorism squad source told Reuters that authorities have beefed up surveillance at the northern end of the Kalimantan and Sulawesi regions to stop would-be fighters travelling by sea to the southern Philippines and to prevent an influx of others fleeing the military offensive in Marawi City. The distance between Marawi and Indonesian territory is just five hours, the source said. It should not get to the point where they are entering our territory and carrying out such [militant] activities. Burma Burma Army Chief Discusses National Security With Turkish Ambassador Turkish ambassador Kerem Divanlioglu meets Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Tuesday / Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing / Facebook RANGOON Turkish ambassador Kerem Divanlioglu met Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Tuesday after Turkish citizen Muhammed Furkan Sokmen was detained in Rangoon International Airport last week and deported back to his home country via Bangkok. Divanlioglu told the army chief Turkey was facing terrorism in its undertakings for national defense and that outside interferences can work against national security, democratization, and development endeavors, according to a statement from the defense ministry on Wednesday. Sokmen, formerly a director of the Horizons International School in Rangoon, was forced to leave the country on May 25 after he and his family were detained at Rangoon International Airport for 24 hours. Human Rights Watch reported that he was flown to Bangkok and then the next day transferred to Istanbul in Turkey, where he is now in custody. Sokmen told The Irrawaddy that prior to his detention he had read reports online in Turkish that he was involved in illegal activities in Burma, which he said were fabricated. Since a failed coup in Turkey, the Erdogan government has called for an international crackdown on people suspected of having links to the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. More than 47,000 people have been placed in pre-trial detention since 2016, according to Human Rights Watch. Burmas recent detention and facilitation of the deportation of Furkan Sokmen back to Turkey is extremely concerning, Richard Weir, a fellow from the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, told The Irrawaddy. Mr. Sokmen is now in detention in Turkey facing a criminal investigation. Its not clear whether Burmese authorities seriously considered any of these very real risks of torture and deprivation of human rights to Mr. Sokmen before potentially committing him to the abyss of Turkish pretrial detention for unknown charges. The Turkish ambassador and Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing discussed the Burma Army and problems Turkey is facing with national security and democracy. The defense ministry cited Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing as saying anti-terrorism measures cannot be taken by a single country so cooperation between the two militaries is required in exchanging information. Weir said any cooperation between the Burmese and Turkish governments on national security initiatives, including defense and anti-terrorism information sharing, should be preceded by discussions and commitments to protect human rights in all contexts. This is especially true for anti-terrorism policies where human rights are often sacrificed at the altar of national security, he said. The Burmese militarys record of abuses is long, well-documented, and perseveres without any genuine accountability. Turkeys record is also far from perfect. Turkeys president and government are governing the country under a draconian state of emergency in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in July 2016. The scale of the crackdown tells the story, he added. A stronger military and security alliance between the two must serve to reinforce human rights, not diminish or degrade them. Burma Burma Army Investigates Kachin State Deaths Maihkawng camp for internally displaced persons in Kachin State. / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint / The Irrawaddy The Burma Army began an investigation into the murder of three Kachin men allegedly tortured and killed by army troops, according to a press release issued by the office of the militarys commander-in-chief on Tuesday. Nhkum Gam Awng, 31, Maran Brang Seng, 22, and Labya Naw Hkum, 27, from Maihkawng internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Mansi Township, Kachin State, were reportedly arrested by Battalion 319 on May 25. Their maimed bodies were found on Sunday. The men were arrested at Hka Pra Yang village, about three miles from the IDP camp, while they were collecting firewood, according to camp officials and community elders. Families and friends of the men went searching for them on Sunday, after hearing gunshots, and found their bodies buried about five miles from Hka Pra Yang village. Police investigating the crime took the bodies to a hospital in Mansi Township on Monday morning for postmortems and returned them on Monday afternoon. Locals said this was the first incident of murder in the area. The commander of Battalion 319 met camp officials and community elders twice on Monday. He met us briefly at 5 p.m. and summoned us again at 8:30 p.m. He told us to tell the truth. We did, and he said that he would take action in line with the military code of conduct, camp official Naw Mai told The Irrawaddy. He sounded like he was confessing it [the deaths], he added. According to postmortem results seen by The Irrawaddy, Maran Bran Seng sustained skull fractures, an eight-centimeter entry bullet wound in his chest and a four-centimeter exit bullet wound in his left shoulder blade. Labya Naw Hkum sustained skull fractures as well as knife wounds and had about five centimeters of his left ear cut off. Nhkum Gam Awng sustained five knife wounds in each knee, and one gunshot wound. Nann Zein La Ja, a member of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), said the legs of all three men were stabbed so that they could not stand. The bodies were buried at the cemetery in Maihkawng village on Monday, he added. There are no troops other than the Burma Army here, he said. Battalion 319 has been stationed in Maihkawng for almost a year and there were no problems between them and the local villagers before. But this time it is quite serious, and has caused panic among villagers. People from the camp dare not go outside now. The three victims were fathers, said Nann Zein La Ja, and their families along with camp officials want to prosecute those responsible in a civilian court. According to camp officials, the case had been reported to the UNHCR office in Kachin States Bhamo Township. The commander of Battalion 319 and the Burma Armys information team could not be reached for comment. Maihkawng IDP Camp currently provides shelter for more than 800 people from some 20 villages who have been displaced by clashes between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since June 2011. Burma Govt Reiterates Rejection of UN Fact-Finding Mission A Rohingya family at Pwint Phyu Chaung village in Maungdaw Township. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYIDAW Burmas government will not accept members of a UN fact-finding mission appointed on Tuesday to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Arakan, Kachin, and Shan states, confirmed government spokesperson U Zaw Htay. [The mission members] will proceed according to their resolution, we will stand according to our statement released on March 24, said U Zaw Htay, referring to Burmas rejection of the UNs resolution to form the mission at the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in March. We need the final report of Kofi Annans commission, he said, referring to the Arakan State Advisory Commission headed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan assigned by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last year, due to release a final report in August. Well cooperate when [the commission report] comes out. And we will also take actions according to the report of the commission chaired by Vice President U Myint Swe, said U Zaw Htay. The fact-finding mission is scheduled to present an update to the Human Rights Council at its 36th session in September this year and a full report at its 37th session in March 2018. Burmas State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyialso chairperson of the Central Committee for Implementation of Peace and Development in Arakan Statereiterated she would only listen to the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led commission and that recommendations from any other individual or group may further fuel tensions between communities in Arakan State. Why do they need to come? We have not released false information. This is an internal issue of a sovereign country. The UN has no reason at all to form a fact-finding mission, the administrator of Maungdaw District told The Irrawaddy. The three-member mission comprises Indira Jaising of India, Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka and Christopher Dominic Sidoti of Australia with Jaising serving as the chair. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko Burma KNU Calls for Withdrawal of Burma Army Troops A group of displaced people from Ei Htu Hta camp protest on the Salween River. / Dah Poe Local Karen National Union (KNU) leaders have called on Burma Army troops to withdraw in order to ensure a safe return for displaced villagers. Several hundred internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Pla Kho area and Ei Htu Hta camp in Papun District in northern Karen State recently held a demonstration on the Salween River, calling for the Burma Army to withdraw its units. The move came as humanitarian support dries up along the Thai-Burma border, pressuring refugees to return to their villages despite the Burma Army presence. According to a Karen activist group, the number of Burma Army bases in Papun district has increased from 65 to 81 since a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2012, making displaced people feel unsafe amid numerous ongoing allegations of abuse by Burma Army troops. A statement released by a KNU district committee supported the removal of troops in Papun District so that IDPs could return home without fear. Papun District, also known as Mutraw District, is the territory of KNU Brigade 5, considered the strongest of the KNUs seven brigades. KNU Brigade 5 leaders say they are cautious regarding the ceasefire and peace process. A displaced housewife, Naw Hsa Gay from Ei Htu Hat camp, said she dared not go home while Burma Army troops were still stationed there. I fled home because of their abuses and I dare not go back. I want Burma Army troops to move out completely from our areas and burn their bases. Only then, will we dare to return, she said. Villager Saw Rer Ker said: I want all land mines to be cleared and military bases removed from civilian areas so we can go back and stay peacefully. I hope to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government bring about this change. Villagers also called for an end to human rights abuses, an end to military offensives in ethnic areas, and the removal of landmines from civilian areas. They also pressed for a code of conduct that is properly monitored. The KNUs Mutraw District standing committee stated that the Burma Army occupation, expansion, and persecution were the root causes of decades of civilian fear. Until, and unless, the government withdraws its troops and army bases, there will be a lack of suitable land to use for livelihood, and no guarantee of a safe return for IDPs, said the KNU statement. Some IDPs in Pla Koh area and Ei Htu Hta camp in Papun District have been displaced for more than four decades. Ei Htu Hta hosts about 3,000 displaced people from KNU brigades 2 and 5 who fled military offensives in 2006. These IDPs were told that humanitarian assistance would be cut in September and that they should begin preparations for their return. Burma Mandalay Chief Minister Investigates Use of Regional Development Funds Press conference with members of the Mandalay regional government on Tuesday. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy MANDALAY The Mandalay divisional government said on Tuesday that it is now looking into the use of regional development funds handed over by the previous administration. We are thoroughly checking and investigating the funds, in accordance with the instructions of the Presidents Office, said U Zaw Myint Maung, the Chief Minister of Mandalay Division, as he outlined the regional governments work over the last year to the media. As allegations have been reported concerning the misappropriation of regional development funds by the ex-cabinets of Irrawaddy and Magwe divisions, there has been particular interest in the status of the same funds in Mandalay Division, the biggest business hub in central Burma. Mandalays ex-cabinet was widely criticized for allegations of corruption, embezzlement and for giving the go-ahead to several development and investment projects reportedly without assessing the various potential impacts of such initiatives. The chief minister noted that he is leading the governments investigative team, which includes experts and consultants, to reconsider the establishment of economic zones and development opportunities approved by the former administration. There are a number of business projects which we didnt know about. In our investigation, we found out that those projects were permitted by the ex-cabinet without any measure of their environmental or socio-economic impacts, he said. The chief minister said Myo Thar Inland port and industrial park is also under government reconsideration as the contracts between the investor and the government come up for renewal. We are looking into this in detail and reconsidering every project. We will give permission if the projects fit well with our regional development [goals] and have little to no [negative] socio-economic or environmental impact. We will make an announcement once the investigations have been completed, U Zaw Myint Maung said. During the press conference on Tuesday, the regional minister of agriculture, livestock and irrigation, the minister of electricity, transport and communication, and the minister of security and border affairs also met with the media and spoke about their work over the past year. Burma Mon States Mottama Wetlands Receive International Recognition Mottama wetlands in Mon State / Hintharnee / The Irrawaddy MOULMEIN, Mon State The Mon State government held a ceremony in Kyaikto Township on Tuesday to mark the designation of Mottama wetlands as the fourth Ramsar Site in Burma. A Ramsar site is a wetland site recognized for international importance under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO for the conservation of wetland areas worldwide. Since Burma ratified the Ramsar Convention in 2005, three sites have been designated as Ramsar sites in the countryMoe Yun Gyi Wetlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Bago Division, the Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary in Kachin State and the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in the Irrawaddy Delta. The fourth site, a 45,000-hectare wetland, is located to the mouth of the Sittaung River, stretching along the eastern shore of the estuary in the Kyaikto and Bilin townships of Mon State. Mottama is one of the worlds most important wintering areas for the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper, with half of the worlds estimated 1,000 spoon-billed sandpiper population visiting each year. The government made the bid for recognition of the Mottama wetlands as a Ramsar Site in 2014, said Mon State chief minister Dr. Aye Zan in his speech at the ceremony. The area, however, was suffering from illegal fishing and overfishing, which led to serious steep decline in fish stocks and fish production, said the chief minister. Silting and changes in direction of waterways have also resulted in bank erosion, and locals have consequently lost their farms and houses, said the chief minister. The ceremony was attended by ministers of the Mon State government, lawmakers and some 600 locals. The Mottama wetlands meet six of the nine Ramsar criteria, said Mon State minister for natural resources and environmental conservation U Min Kyi Win. Currently, there are 2,265 Ramsar sites across the world. According to a 2014 survey, there are 99 potential Ramsar sites in Burma11 in Mon State, three in Arakan State, three on the Chindwin River, and 85 in Irrawaddy Delta, said the minister. Burma Security Concerns Hamper Tackling Illegal Gold Mining Around Indawgyi Lake Indawgyi Lake in Kachin State. / Thet Zaw Win RANGOON Burmas environmental ministry said it could not effectively take action against illegal gold mining around Indawgyi Lake in Kachin States Mohnyin Township due to the proximity of clashes between government forces and ethnic armed groups. Lower House lawmaker Daw San San Ei representing Mohnyin Township raised a question in parliament on Wednesday, inquiring how the government would take action against illegal gold mining around the lake which is damaging local ecosystems. Indawgyi LakeBurmas largest and South East Asias third largest with a surface of over 100 square mileswas designated a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention last year, aiming to address concerns over wetland loss and degradation. According to research by local conservationists, Indawgyi Lake supports the livelihoods of thousands of people and is also home to a great diversity of water animals, fish and endangered migrating birds. Indawgyi Lake is located some 30 km away from the nearest army base and though there are some troops stationed near the lake, locals say the road to the lake runs through an area where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has a strong presence. Fighting has been ongoing between the KIA and the Burma Army around Mohnyin, Mogaung, Tanai, Hpakant and Mansi townships, leading to displaced residents and school closures. Responding to the lawmakers question, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Ohn Win briefly explained that neither his ministry nor the Kachin State government has given permits to anyone for gold mining in the area and that the ministry needs cooperation from locals and non-government organizations to tackle the issue. Depending on how much security the [Kachin] state government could provide for our ground inspection, we will coordinate with regional administration to take action against illegal gold mining, minister U Ohn Win said to parliament. He also added that a total of six miners had been arrested for illegal gold mining during the 2016-17 fiscal year. U Win Zaw, a deputy permanent secretary with the ministry, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that there are limitations for ministry staff to be able to do regular ground inspections of illegal mining in the Indawgyi area. Since Burma ratified the Ramsar Convention in 2005, three locations have been designated as Ramsar sites in the countryMoe Yun Gyi Wetlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Bago Division, the Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary in Kachin State and the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in the Irrawaddy Delta. Guest Column Lessons From Gettysburg The Annual Military Parade in Naypyidaw on the 72nd Armed Forces Day in March 2017. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy Earlier this month, following my program in Washington, DC, Donald and Narin Jameson, old friends of mine, drove me to State College, Pennsylvania, where Penn State University has its main campus. It was overcast with a little rain and we passed the Gettysburg battlefield, a national historical park. The Civil War is one aspect of US history that I have been studying continuously, driven by my desire to better understand the current situation in Burma. John Brandon of the Asia Foundation was kind enough to give me an in-depth tour of the main Washington monuments in between the appointments, which we attended together. At the Potomac River, he said Confederate General Robert E. Lees lands had been just across the water. After the war, they had been taken over by the US government and part of it became Arlington National Cemetery. The Confederacy had been just across the river from Washington, he said. Again, at Gettysburg, north of Washington, Robert E. Lee had mounted an ambitious left hook and brought the war to the north, threatening Washington at the same time. The bold gamble may have led to the destruction of the Union Army and could have brought the US government to seek terms. The history of the US would have been different if the outcome at Gettysburg had been otherwise, hence why it is acknowledged as the most momentous battle of the war. There are monuments marking key battle positions like Round Top, and also commemorating the various state regiments and contingents. Fifty-one thousand soldiers had been killed, wounded or missing on both sides in just three days of fightingJuly 1-3, 1863. My friend Don remarked that there had been no US Army as such at that timeonly the state contingents. But there was a unified command, and later the commander General Ulysses S. Grant, became president. As we in Burma talk about the future of armed forces, there have been some references to the US Army at the time of the Civil War. In the same senseless way that the US fought the bloodiest war in its history, Burma has had a civil war stretching more than 70 years with no definite end in sight. Why do these wars have to be fought? Together with President Lincolns Gettysburg Address and the abolition of slavery, another reminder and lesson from the American Civil War is that it had been fought over secession. Without disregarding all the various issues that have been dissected, it is really hard to imagine how two American nations could have co-existed in harmony and peace. I am not attempting to draw straight parallels between the US of the 1860s and the Burma of today. At the same time, the insights here and there cannot be avoided, particularly for a country thrashing about in a search for a resolution. One big difference is the existence and magnitude of external powers involvement in the civil wars. Everyone is talking about peace and reconciliation. It is continually repeated that the issues in the conflict require political solutions and not military ones. How simple things would be if that were actually the case. But the sad reality is that the political and the military are intertwined, with an additional geostrategic angle, increasingly becoming all too apparent. And in all three overlapping approaches, Burma is still woefully inadequate. In Burmas current ongoing peace process, just as there are many who repeat that the promises of the Panglong Agreement were not honored, there are equally those who had warned that the secession article should not have been included. In Burmas return to a freer atmosphere, both sides have the right to speak their minds. The second session of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference ended on May 29. In its final two days, the contention and deadlock was over the non-secession commitment. The ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) assert that they had never considered secession and therefore this article is unnecessary and even offensive. The government side feels that they need this assurance, since there has been bitter experience over the matter in the past. I would say both sides have reason for their positions, and furthermore need to understand the other side better. This is a situation that is subtle, nuanced, delicate, and fraught at the same time. Is it so bad that there is no one in a responsible position who understands both sides? If you look closely, there are no ethnic nationality advisers whatsoever to the government and military leadership. One is forced to ask: did they bother to identify and appoint far-sighted and trusted advisers from the ethnic nationalities? People who understands the nuances and subtleties? And I dont mean token appointments. The least the top leadership could have done is to seek people who do. One over-arching feature is the context in which federalism and secession are being discussed. Burma is a democracy now, and a multi-ethnic one at that. Decisions on the nations future cannot be made by a handful of leaders but have to be taken to the public. Yes, I do not deny that secession must be discussed, but the entire people of this country must make the final decision. Khin Zaw Win is the director of the Tampadipa Institute. Reddit Email 91 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | ISIL (ISIS, Daesh) lashed out at the civilian population in Iraq on Tuesday with three bombings and over 60 casualties. With its signature warped sadism, the organization sent a suicide bomber with a truck into a crowded square in the upscale, largely Shiite shopping district of Karrada. He detonated his payload near an ice cream shop, seeking to harm children. Another attack hit the mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhood of Karkh, while a third targeted the Sunni town of Hit in al-Anbar Province, from which it has for the most part been chased by the Iraqi army and its allies. The bombings come as Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ja`fari denied rumors that Baghdad was preparing to join the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia in an alliance against Iran. Ja`fari underlined that Iraq has its own independent foreign policy. In a major slight Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi was not invited to the 50-nation summit in Riyadh arranged for President Trump. Daesh struck at the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan, a time when families get together. If any more evidence were needed that Daesh is anti-Islamic, that should be enough. The deadly terrorist organization took over 40 percent of Iraqi territory in 2014, but it has gradually been expelled from almost all of the territory it grabbed. It is now facing an Armageddon in a West Mosul pocket as the Iraqi military closes in on it. Unlike in past such campaigns, the Iraqi military and its allies, including the US, did not begin by calling on the civilian population to exit Mosul, presumably in part to cut down on the number of fighters who could escape under cover of an evacuation of noncombatants. As they face certain defeat in the last major urban areas they hold (Mosul, Telafar, Hawija), they have fought back with the ferocity of cornered rats. The terrorism aimed at soft targets like children is in part their revenge on Iraqis for rejecting their cruel and brutal rule, which involved a resurrection of slavery. Targeting Karrada in particular, however, is also part of their longstanding strategy of creating alienation between Sunnis and Shiites, hoping that Shiites will so mistreat Sunnis in retaliation that the latter will be driven politically into the arms of Daesh. This strategy of civilizational polarization and mobilization through hate was the same one their Libyan cell deployed at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. In order to combat Daesh, we have to see what it is doing not just in Europe but in the Middle East. We are all in it together. - Related video: AFP: Baghdad blasts kill 27 as Iraq forces battle IS in Mosul Reddit Email 134 Shares By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com) | Everywhere you look, if there is trouble in the region, Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters on a mid-April visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, you find Iran. I must admit that when I stumbled across that quote it brought up uncomfortable personal memories. East Baghdad, January 25, 2007: my patrol had missed a turn and so we swung onto the next grimy avenue instead. As platoon leader, I rode shotgun in the second of our four vehicles, yakking away on the radio. The ensuing explosion rocked the senses: the sound, the blinding dust, and the smell a mix of burnt metal and, well I still cant bring myself to describe it. Our lead HMMWV, a military utility vehicle, aimlessly swerved right and came to rest beside a telephone pole. Only then did the screams begin. The cost would be two wounded and two dead: my then-unborn sons namesakes, Specialist Michael Balsley and Sergeant Alexander Fuller. These were our first, but not last, fatalities. Nothing was ever the same again. Im reminded of poet Dylan Thomass line: After the first death, there is no other. The local militia had shredded our truck with an advanced type of improvised explosive device that was then just hitting the streets of Baghdad an explosively formed projectile, or EFP. These would ultimately kill hundreds of American troops. Those EFPs and the requisite training to use them were provided to Iraqi militias by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Its a detail Im not likely to forget. Still, theres one major problem with bold, sweeping pronouncements (laced with ones own prejudices) of the sort Secretary of Defense Mattis recently offered on Iran: theyre almost always wrong. Its the essential flaw of lumping that is, of folding countless events or ideas into one grand theory. But, boy, does it sound profound! The truth is that Iran is simply not behind most of the turmoil in the Middle East, and until Washingtons policymakers change their all-Iran-all-the-time mental model, they are doomed to failure. One thing is guaranteed: they are going to misdiagnose the patient and attack the wrong disease. Look, Im emotionally invested myself. After all, I fought Iranian-trained militiamen, but a serious, workable national strategy shouldnt rely on such emotion. It demands a detached, rational calculus. With that in mind, perhaps this is the moment before the misdiagnosis sets in further to take a fresh look at the nature of Americas thorny relationship with Iran and the Islamic Republics true place in the pantheon of American problems in the Greater Middle East. Lets start this way: How many Americans even realize that there are only three countries in the world with which their country has no ongoing diplomatic relations at all? Actually, the number was four until the Obama administration began slowly normalizing bilateral ties with one longtime member of the naughty list: Cuba. How many could name the three remaining states on that roll of shame? The first and easiest to guess is surely North Korea; the most obscure is Bhutan (the Switzerland of the Himalayas). And, yes, of course, last but by no means least is the Islamic Republic of Iran. Think of all the scoundrels not on that list: Robert Mugabes Zimbabwe; our Pakistani frenemy; Vladimir Putins Russia; Equatorial Guinea with its craven, 40-year dictator, accused of cannibalism; and, until 2012, Bashar al-Assads grim Syrian regime. Throughout the Cold War, the U.S. kept an embassy in the Soviet Union and it similarly maintained formal relations with apartheid South Africa. As of 2014, the State Department officially dealt with nine-tenths of the globes most abusive regimes, according to the Human Rights Risk Atlas. So, is the secretary of defense correct? Is Iran really behind all regional trouble in the Greater Middle East? Hardly. In fact, such an assertion and the language of absolutes that goes with it is by definition problematic. In a Washington filled with Iranophobes, the demonization of that country is already a commonplace of everyday political chatter and it almost invariably rests on three inflated assumptions about Irans menacing nature: that it is on an eternal quest to develop and perhaps employ nuclear weapons (especially against Israel); that it massively supports regional terrorists and their proxies; and that it regularly exhibits an unquenchable desire to establish its regional hegemony by force of arms. All three suppositions rest on another faulty assumption: that Iran has a straightforwardly dictatorial system of fundamentalism led by irrational mad mullahs. Lets consider each of these propositions. The Iran Exaggeration Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a Middle Eastern country no, not Israel but one with a sizeable, protected Jewish community, a place where Islam is the state religion but its president regularly tweets Rosh Hashanah greetings for the Jewish New Year. Sounds like somebodys wild fantasy, but its actually Iran. In fact, the Islamic Republic sets aside one mandatory seat in its parliament for a Jew, three for Christians, and another for a Zoroastrian. It would be a mistake to conclude from such token gestures that Iran is a paragon of tolerance. But they do speak to the complexity of a diverse society full of paradox and contradiction. It certainly is a land in which hardline fundamentalists chant Death to America! Its also a country with an increasingly young, educated populace that holds remarkably positive views of Americans. In fact, whatever you might imagine, Americans tend to have significantly more negative views of Iran than vice versa. Dont be shocked, but Iranians hold more positive views of the U.S. government than do the citizens of Washingtons allies like Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. In reality, theres long been a worrying paradox in the region: an inverse relationship between the amiability of a governments relationship with Washington and the favorability ratings of this country among its people. In other words, when it comes to Iran well, its complicated. The trouble is that Americans generally dont do nuance. We like our bad guys to be foreign and unmistakably vile, even if such a preference for digestible simplicity makes for poor policy. If you want to grasp this point more fully, just think about Secretary of Defense Mattiss recent statement again. He assures us that Irans shadow hovers over every regional crisis in the Middle East, which is empirically false. Here, for instance, are just a few recent conflicts that Iran is not behind or where its role has been exaggerated: * The Arab Spring and the subsequent chaos in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Iran didnt start or significantly influence the uprisings in those countries. * Turkeys decades-long war with separatist Kurds in its southeast provinces. Again, not Iran. * The ongoing spread of al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and on the Arabian Peninsula. Iran actually abhors such groups, and certainly wasnt behind their rise. * Or, if you want, take Yemen, since supposed Iranian meddling in the Middle Easts poorest state happens to be one of the favorite drums Washingtons Iranophobic hawks like to beat. And yet a range of credible reports suggest that the much-decried collusion between Iran and the Houthi rebels, who are the focus of the Saudi war in that country, is highly exaggerated. Look, Iran is a significant, if often thwarted and embattled, regional power and a player, sometimes even a destabilizing one, in various regional conflagrations. It supports proxies, funds partner states, and sometimes intervenes in the region, even sending in its own military units (think Syria). Then again, so does Saudi Arabia (Yemen and, in funding terms, elsewhere), the United Arab Emirates (Yemen), Russia (Syria), and the United States (more or less everywhere). So whos destabilizing whom and why almost invariably turns out to be a matter of perspective. The State Department and various other government agencies regularly label Iran the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism and that couldnt sound more menacing or impressively official and authoritative. Yet to tag Iran as #1 on any terror list is misleading indeed. The questions worth asking are: Which terrorists? What constitutes terrorism? Do those terror outfits truly threaten the U.S. homeland? As a start, in 2016, the State Departments annual survey of worldwide terrorism labeled ISIS not Iran, Hezbollah, or the Houthis as the greatest [terror] threat globally. How do we square that greatest sponsor stamp with an Iran that has proven both thoroughly hostile to and deeply invested in the fight against ISIS and various al-Qaeda-linked groups in Iraq and Syria? Iran does support Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. However, lumping regionally focused nationalist organizations like Hezbollah with genuine global jihadist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda (in its proliferating forms) is deceptive, often purposely so. The Lebanon-based Hezbollah, for example, is largely fixated on Israel, but has sometimes even fought ISIS in Lebanon and Syria. In other words, Hezbollah, though it had previously attacked U.S. troops in the region, isnt sending its operatives to crash planes into American buildings. To think of it another way, more foreign ISIS volunteers hail from Belgium or the Maldives Islands than from Iran. In fact, most of the top sources of ISISs foreign recruits (Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Jordan) turn out to be friendly American partners. From 1975 to 2015, Iranian-born terrorists inflicted zero deaths in attacks on U.S. soil. In contrast, citizens of key U.S. allies Saudis, Egyptians, and Lebanese killed thousands on 9/11. In fact, since then, 85% of domestic terrorists turned out to be American citizens or permanent residents. Most were American-born. Of the 13 U.S. citizens involved in such fatal terror attacks, none were Iranian-American. As to the charge that Iran is by nature an aggressive power, there can be little question that the Islamic Republic aggressively pursues its regional interests. That, however, by no means makes its moves automatically antagonistic to Washingtons interests in the region. If anything, as a Pentagon assessment concluded in 2014, its military strategy is ultimately defensive in nature and based on a feeling of being threatened, which makes sense when you think about it. After all, when it comes to American power from the 1953 CIA-British coup that overthrew Irans elected prime minister and installed the autocratic Shah to Washingtons support for Iraqi autocrat Saddam Hussein in his war of aggression against Tehran (1980-1988) to the present administrations all-in support for the autocratic Saudis in an anti-Iranian partnership, they have legitimate reasons to feel threatened. In addition, unlikely as it may seem to most Americans, on certain issues like a Taliban-free Afghanistan, the U.S. and Iran actually have had converging, if complex, interests. Additionally, though Iran once promoted Iraqi Shiite militias that attacked and killed U.S. troops (including my soldiers, Mike Balsley and Alex Fuller), today, both countries desire a relatively stable, ISIS-free Iraq. None of this is easy to swallow (least of all by me), but prudent strategy demands a dispassionate, rational assessment of inherently emotional issues. Unfortunately, when it comes to Iran, thats hardly an American predilection at the moment. The Company We Keep In 1957, the U.S. supplied a key regional leader with his first (peaceful) nuclear reactor, as well as the necessary scientific training for those who would run it and some weapons-grade uranium to power it. Then, in the 1970s, American experts began to fear that their partner might be seeking to develop nuclear weapons on his own. A few years later, revolutionaries overthrew him and inherited that American-originated program. That leader was, of course, the man the Americans had installed as ruler of Iran in 1953, Reza Shah Pahlavi. It always struck me as odd that Iran made the cut for the very exclusive membership in George W. Bushs axis of evil. After all, unlike those 15 Saudi hijackers and perhaps even the Saudi government, it had no connection to 9/11 and was comprehensively helpful in the initial takedown of the Afghan Taliban and the arrest of fleeing al-Qaeda fighters. By contrast, consider just a few of Washingtons partners in the region: * Saudi Arabia: this monarchy enforces a strict brand of conservative Wahhabi Islam not so terribly different from the basic theology of ISIS. The Saudi government publicly executes an average of 73 people per year, including juveniles and the mentally ill. Beheading is the favored technique. (Sound familiar?) Nor are all the victims convicted murderers. According to a 2015 Amnesty International report, Non-lethal crimes including adultery, robbery, apostasy, drug-related offenses, rape, witchcraft, and sorcery are punishable by death. In addition to its citizens carrying out the 9/11 attacks, Saudi Arabia supported a branch of al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra) in the Syrian conflict. Furthermore, its ongoing U.S.-backed air strikes against Yemens Houthi rebels have been killing numerous civilians and may have helped to cause and further intensify a disastrous famine. The U.S. response: a record-breaking $110 billion arms deal for the Saudis. * Egypt: In the wake of a 2013 coup detat led by General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi against an elected government, that countrys military gunned down hundreds of demonstrators. Since then, its strongman has used mass, arbitrary arrests, tortured detainees, and conducted extrajudicial executions all in the interest of retaining power. The U.S. response: $1.4 billion in (mostly military) foreign assistance in fiscal 2017. To top it off, President Trump recently invited Sisi to the White House, lauded the dictators fantastic job in a very difficult situation, and is planning a future visit to Egypt. * Turkey: this formal ally boasts NATOs second largest military and hosts an important U.S. airbase. Unfortunately, Turkey is increasingly unstable thanks to a recent coup attempt, its ongoing war with Kurdish separatists, and an escalating intervention in Syrias civil war. Worse yet, after relaunching an internal war against Kurdish rebels, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has taken the country into distinctly autocratic terrain in the wake of a narrow victory in a referendum that does away with the office of prime minister and further centralizes executive power in his hands. Turkeys deteriorating human rights record includes the pre-trial detention of more than 40,000 coup suspects, the summary dismissal of 90,000 civil servants, the shuttering of hundreds of offices of nongovernmental organizations and media outlets, and the imposition of a 24-hour curfew in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern part of the country. The U.S. response: $3.8 million in direct (military) assistance in fiscal 2017, and promises to continue arms sales which topped $2.3 billion last year. This motley crew has one thing in common theyre no angels. Rip It Up Iran hawks live on both sides of the political aisle. In 2015, for example, Hillary Clinton told an audience at Dartmouth College that Iran represents an existential threat to Israel. Though she expressed tacit support for Obamas then-pending nuclear deal the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA she added that even if we do get such a deal, we will still have major problems [Iran is] the worlds chief sponsor of terrorism. When it comes to real rancor toward Iran, however, you have to look to the right. Senator John McCain, for instance, immediately cried foul about the JCPOA, calling it a bad deal likely to nuclearize the Middle East. More colloquially, as both a candidate and as president-elect, Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to rip it up, while former governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee accused President Obama of marching the Israelis to the door of the oven. Despite the bellicose rhetoric, intelligence and congressional testimony indicate that Iran is complying with the JCPOA. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey not exactly a dove believed that the deal reduced the risk of Iran weaponizing its nuclear power. All the appeals from the president, various pundits, neocons of every sort, and congressional hawks to withdraw from it also neglect an obvious reality: the JCPOA is a multilateral deal and none of our partners (Russia, China, Great Britain, France, and Germany) will support tearing up the agreement. Imagine the optics of a future American unilateral abrogation of an agreement Iran is complying with: the onus will be on Washington alone; its allies will continue to abide by the deal and, with genuine justification, Irans leaders will be able to depict the Americans as destabilizing cowboys. Heres the reality of the present situation: despite decades of sanctions and the military containment of Iran, the U.S. has not significantly affected its policies or stance in the region. Few in Washington display the courage to ask the crucial question: Why continue? Why not a creative new approach the gradual normalization of relations? Though you wouldnt know it, given the prominence of Iranophobes in Washington, the U.S. has little to lose. Current policy is counterproductive in so many ways, while Washingtons never-ending bellicosity and threats to rip up the nuclear agreement only undercut Irans moderates and the eminently sensible President Hassan Rouhani, who recently won a smashing electoral victory against a hardline, fundamentalist opponent in which a stunning 73% of Iranian voters cast ballots. Why not make it more, not ever less, difficult for Irans conservatives to vilify the U.S.? Forty Years of Failure Theres an uncomfortable truth that Washington needs to face: U.S. policy toward Iran hasnt achieved its goals despite almost four decades of effort since an American-installed autocrat was overthrown there in 1979. Foreign policy hawks Democrats and Republicans alike will undoubtedly fight that reality tooth-and-nail, but as with the Cuban embargo, Iranian isolation has long outworn any imagined usefulness. That ostracizing Iran remains fashionable reflects domestic political calculus or phobic thinking, not cogent strategy, and yet our new president just traveled to Saudi Arabia, a truly autocratic country, and in the wake of an Iranian election that was by all accounts resoundingly democratic, denounced that land as despotic and all but called for regime change. So heres a question that, believe it or not, is okay to ask and is not actually tantamount to treason: What exactly does Iran want and fear? It wants international legitimacy, security, and a reasonable degree of regional power (not world domination). It fears continued isolation, any coalition of hostile Sunni Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia (assisted by Israel), and U.S.-sponsored attempts at regime change. If you think that makes the Iranians sound paranoid, just check out the recent celebratory get-together in Saudi Arabia or remember how, just before the Bush administrations 2003 invasion of Iraq, Newsweek quoted a senior British official summing up the situation in Washington this way: Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran. In sum, U.S. policy in the Middle East is confused, contradictory, counterproductive, and dangerous. It could leave Washington involved in a war with Iran. (And given our recent wars in the region, imagine where thats likely to land us.) The U.S. doesnt require more enemies. Its hands are already full enough without additional faux existential threats or, as John Quincy Adams warned so long ago, eternally going abroad seeking monsters to destroy. Oddly enough, the Trump administration has a unique opportunity to normalize relations with Iran. While President Obamas modest overtures toward that country were greeted with scathing partisan scorn, President Trump might just be able to garner enough Republican support to do so much more, were he ever to try. At the moment, he clearly possesses no such plans, and yet, as only Nixon could go to China, perhaps only Trump can go to Tehran! My small bit of advice, however: dont hold your breath Major Danny Sjursen, a TomDispatch regular, is a U.S. Army strategist and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has written a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge. He lives with his wife and four sons near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. [Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author, expressed in an unofficial capacity, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.] Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Dowers The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II, as well as John Feffers dystopian novel Splinterlands, Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardts Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World. Copyright 2017 Danny Sjursen Via Tomdispatch.com TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 31, 2017) - Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX: GCM) announced today that the previously disclosed extension of a portion of its 2020 Debentures to 2024 (the "2024 Debentures") through a consent solicitation process (the "Consent Solicitation") has been completed this morning. The Company entered into a supplemental indenture with its trustee on May 12, 2017 to implement the amendments as described in the Consent Solicitation. The supplemental indenture was subsequently filed and is available on the Company's SEDAR profile and website. The 2024 Debentures will be issued to holders who elected to extend through the Consent Solicitation and the first monthly interest payment on the 2024 Debentures will be paid on June 30, 2017 based on an annual rate of 8%. The Company has received listing approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange for the listing of 2024 Debentures and it is anticipated that the 2024 Debentures will also be posted today for trading under the symbol "GCM.DB.X". The Company also announced today that it used funds available in the sinking fund for the 2020 Debentures (TSX: GCM.DB.V) to complete a block purchase earlier this month under its normal course issuer bid of US$1,036,000 aggregate principal amount of 2020 Debentures, which were subsequently cancelled. The table below summarizes the Company's capital structure following this cancellation and the issuance of the 2024 Debentures on May 31, 2017: Security Issued and Outstanding as of May 31, 2017 Common Shares (TSX: GCM) 20,450,365 2018 Debentures (TSX: GCM.DB.U) US$45,970,216 principal amount convertible at a conversion price of US$1.95 into approximately 23,574,470 common shares, representing a conversion rate of approximately 513 common shares for each US$1,000 principal amount of 2018 Debentures 2020 Debentures (TSX: GCM.DB.V) US$52,471,786 principal amount convertible at a conversion price of US$1.95 into approximately 26,908,608 common shares, representing a conversion rate of approximately 513 common shares for each US$1,000 principal amount of 2020 Debentures 2024 Debentures (TSX: GCM.DB.X) US$46,955,468 principal amount convertible at a conversion price of US$1.95 into approximately 24,079,727 common shares, representing a conversion rate of approximately 513 common shares for each US$1,000 principal amount of 2024 Debentures 2017 Warrants (Unlisted) Warrants to purchase 66,667 common shares, with each fifteen (15) warrants entitling the holder thereof to purchase one (1) whole common share, at an exercise price of $281.25 per common share expiring October 30, 2017 2019 Warrants (TSX: GCM.WT.A) Warrants to purchase 280,795 common shares, with each fifteen (15) warrants entitling the holder thereof to purchase one (1) whole common share, at an exercise price of $48.75 per common share expiring March 18, 2019 Stock Options 1,931,333 Stock Options at an exercise price of $2.55 per common share expiring in 2021 and 2022 47,000 Stock Options at an exercise price of $27.60 per common share expiring in 2019 About Gran Colombia Gold Corp. Gran Colombia is a Canadian-based gold and silver exploration, development and production company with its primary focus in Colombia. Gran Colombia is currently the largest underground gold and silver producer in Colombia with several underground mines in operation at its Segovia and Marmato Operations. Gran Colombia is continuing its expansion and modernization activities at its high-grade Segovia Operations. Additional information on Gran Colombia can be found on its website at www.grancolombiagold.com and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 30, 2017) - Orla Mining Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:OLA) ("Orla" or the "Company") announces that Charles Jeannes, George Albino and Tim Haldane have been added to the Director nominations included in the management information circular for the Company's upcoming Annual General Meeting on June 19, 2017. Messrs. Jeannes, Albino and Haldane are being nominated to help lead the next phase of corporate growth alongside the proposed slate of returning Director nominees Richard Hall, Marc Prefontaine, Jean Robitaille and Hans Smit. Upon election, Mr. Jeannes will be appointed Non-Executive Chairman. To facilitate the proposed Director changes, Troy Fierro, Alain Bureau and Aaron Wolfe will not be standing for re-election. "Troy and Aaron provided stability and leadership during the smooth transition of the Company and acquisition of the Cerro Quema development project in Panama, while Alain has been instrumental in the development of Cerro Quema to date. We are all sincerely thankful for the many important contributions these gentlemen have made," said Marc Prefontaine, President and CEO. "At the same time, we are excited by the potential of adding three pillars of the mining industry to our Board. Chuck, George and Tim bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable to Orla as we continue to advance our strategy of becoming a premier mid-tier gold producer." Mr. Charles Jeannes. Mr. Jeannes has over 30 years of experience in the mining industry, serving most recently as President and Chief Executive Officer of Goldcorp Inc. from 2009 until April 2016, and Executive Vice President, Corporate Development from 2006 until 2008. From 1999 until its acquisition by Goldcorp Inc. he was Executive Vice President, Administration, General Counsel and Secretary of Glamis Gold Ltd. Prior to joining Glamis, Mr. Jeannes worked for Placer Dome Inc. as Vice President North America. He is currently a Director of Tahoe Resources Inc. and Silver Wheaton Corporation, and serves as a University of Nevada, Reno Foundation Trustee (a non-profit Board). Dr. George Albino. Dr. Albino was a Managing Director and Mining Analyst at GMP Securities, L.P., Research Division. from 2010 until 2016. Prior to this, he was an Analyst at Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd., Research Division, focusing on North American precious metal producers and exploration companies as well as base metal, uranium and diamond companies. Dr. Albino has over 35 years of experience in mining and finance as a geologist for 18 years and as a highly-ranked sell side analyst covering mining (principally gold) stocks for 19 years. Before joining the financial services side of the business, he worked in the mining industry, academia and government as an Exploration and Research Geologist exploring for precious metals, base metals and diamonds. He is currently a Director of Eldorado Gold Corporation. Mr. Tim Haldane. Mr. Haldane served as Senior Vice-President of Operations, USA & Latin America at Agnico Eagle Mines Limited from 2014 until February 2017, and Senior Vice President of Latin America at Agnico Eagle from 2006 until 2014. Mr. Haldane previously served as Vice President of Development of Glamis Gold Ltd. Mr. Haldane previously served as Vice President of Development of Glamis Gold Ltd. Tim developed several successful mines during his 40 year mining career, including most recently El Sauzal, Pinos Altos, and La India in Mexico. About Orla Mining Ltd. Orla Mining is a mineral exploration company led by a group of seasoned mining executives with strong financial backing. The company's focus is to acquire mineral exploration opportunities where the Company's exploration and development expertise and corporate share structure could substantially enhance shareholder value. The 100% owned Cerro Quema project in Panama includes a near-term gold production scenario and significant exploration upside. Cerro Quema's 14,800 Ha concession boasts paved road access, a supportive local population and private land ownership. The Cerro Quema project is currently in the last stage of the permitting process for a proposed open pit mine and gold heap leach operation. Please refer to the Cerro Quema Project - Pre-Feasibility Study on the La Pava and Quemita Oxide Gold Deposits dated August 22, 2014, which is available on SEDAR. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 31, 2017) - Dalradian Resources Inc. (TSX:DNA)(AIM:DALR) ("Dalradian" or the "Company") announces additional results from its underground drill program at the Curraghinalt gold deposit in Northern Ireland. The Company concluded its most recent phase of drilling in May, having completed approximately 9,580 metres in 27 holes. Results are still pending for 9 holes. Preparations are underway to drill approximately 30,000 metres from surface this summer, consisting of primarily step-out holes. Highlights 2.04 m of 63.98 g/t gold from the 106-16 vein in hole 17-CT-423 1.37 m of 75.69 g/t gold from the V75 vein in hole 17-CT-418 1.98 m of 25.60 g/t gold from the 106-16 vein in hole 17-CT-419 0.95 m of 50.24 g/t gold from the Crow vein in hole 17-CT-423 0.56 m of 74.15 g/t gold from the 106-16 vein in hole 17-CT-413 0.74 m of 29.44 g/t gold from the No. 1 vein in hole 17-CT-413 Patrick F.N. Anderson, Dalradian's President and CEO, commented: "Our drilling continues to demonstrate the high-grade nature of the Curraghinalt deposit. We expect to release one more round of results from underground drilling and soon will commence a surface drill program to test the strike extensions of the deposit. I am also pleased to report that since the end of March we have raised an additional $1 million through warrant exercises." Details of underground drilling at Curraghinalt Results are being reported for 9 drill holes for a total of 3,267 metres located in the central part of the Curraghinalt deposit (see plan map and one cross section at http://www.dalradian.com/news-and-events/news-releases/news-releases-details/May-31-2017-News-Release-Figures). These holes were drilled at varying intervals targeting some of the veins included in the last mineral resource estimate (see the Company's Technical Report, as defined below, dated January 25, 2017) in zones where increased drill-hole density would likely result in conversion of resource ounces from the Inferred to the Indicated category. Some of the drill holes were designed to also yield geotechnical data for a planned update of the geotechnical model during 2017. Most drill holes were oriented generally towards the south in order to intercept the steeply north dipping vein array. All of the holes were drilled from underground. Selected Curraghinalt Drill Intersections Hole ID Azimuth/Dip (degrees) From (m) To (m) Width (m) Au g/t Vein System 17-CT-404 192/-72 76.44 76.83 0.39 39.50 106-16 17-CT-404 362.10 363.06 0.96 15.31 Crow 17-CT-412 192/-86 90.53 91.44 0.91 18.02 No.1 17-CT-412 153.07 153.43 0.36 34.80 Slap Shot 17-CT-413 192/-57 51.00 51.74 0.74 29.44 No.1 17-CT-413 107.09 107.65 0.56 74.15 106-16 17-CT-413 249.19 249.66 0.47 32.50 Bend 17-CT-414 192/-67 165.85 166.19 0.34 33.60 Slap Shot 17-CT-414 190.26 190.68 0.42 43.50 V75 17-CT-418 192/-56 177.22 178.59 1.37 75.69 V75 17-CT-418 291.39 292.58 1.19 14.62 Crow 17-CT-419 192/-67 106.37 106.98 0.61 17.03 Causeway 17-CT-419 113.78 114.92 1.14 14.87 106-16-S 17-CT-419 117.72 119.7 1.98 25.60 106-16 17-CT-419 306.61 307.21 0.60 25.38 Bend 17-CT-422 192/-60 19.50 20.88 1.38 9.93 V55 17-CT-422 53.46 53.89 0.43 35.60 No.1 17-CT-422 117.71 117.97 0.26 54.20 106-16 17-CT-422 185.57 185.83 0.26 74.90 V75 17-CT-423 192/-77 114.66 115.74 1.08 10.97 Causeway 17-CT-423 139.81 141.85 2.04 63.98 106-16 17-CT-423 235.47 235.8 0.33 70.00 V75 17-CT-423 347.24 348.19 0.95 50.24 Crow Notes True widths vary depending on the vein zone intersected but generally average 85% of the down hole interval Intercepts are calculated using samples greater than or equal to 2.0g/t Au, and contain no more than 1.0 m of internal dilution Generally, only those mineralized intercepts exceeding 10 gram-metres have been included in the table 17-CT-403 intercepted the projected veins, but no further significant mineralisation was encountered beyond that already reported in the press release of April 26, 2017 Qualified Person Eric Tremblay, P. Eng., Chief Operating Officer and Greg Hope, MSc, MAIG, Exploration and Geology Manager, are the Qualified Persons who supervised and reviewed the preparation of the technical data in this news release. Drill core was halved with samples (averaging between 0.25 m and 0.50 m in mineralized material and up to 1 m in wall rock) submitted to ALS Laboratories in the Republic of Ireland. Rigorous quality assurance and quality control procedures, including the use of blanks, standards and duplicates, identified no material issues. Core samples were analyzed by a 50 gram gold fire assay with either an atomic absorption, or a gravimetric finish for samples initially reporting over 100.0 g/t gold. ALS Laboratories is accredited by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) to undertake testing, including for Ores and Minerals (INAB P9 703), as detailed in the Schedule bearing the Registration Number 173T, in compliance with the International Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005 2nd Edition "General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories". For additional details on the Curraghinalt high-grade lode gold deposit, please refer to the Company's technical report titled "NI 43-101 Feasibility Study Technical Report on the Curraghinalt Gold Project Northern Ireland" (the "Technical Report"), dated January 25, 2017 and prepared by Garett Macdonald, P.Eng., Michael Makarenko, P.Eng., Indi Gopinathan, P.Eng. and Stacy Freudigmann, P.Eng., all of JDS Energy & Mining Inc., and Jean-Francois Couture, P.Geo., Bruce Murphy, P.Eng., Cam Scott, P.Eng., all of SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., and William Harding, C.Geol., of SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd., all of whom are independent Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101. The Technical Report is available on the Company's website and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. About Dalradian Resources Inc. Dalradian Resources Inc. is a gold exploration and development company that is focused on advancing its high-grade Curraghinalt Gold Project located in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. TORONTO and NEW YORK , Nov. 8, 2022 /CNW/ - Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPVD) (OTC: MPVDF) is pleased to release its financial and operating results for the third quarter ("Q3 2022") and nine months ended September 30, 2022 . All figures are... Read More Prosthetic devices of the future, in order to be highly functional and easy to use, will have to incorporate sensors that can relay to the user the pressure of a hand grasp and what the texture of a touched object is like. Researchers from Rice University in Texas and University of Pisa in Italy have combined their expertise to built a prototype system that provides real-time feedback about the size of an object that a powered prosthetic hand is grasping. While the technology is currently limited to measuring and relaying an objects size, other physical characteristics may one day be integrated to provide a more realistic representation of what is going on inside a prosthetic hand. At Rice, scientists have been developing their haptic technology for a while now, mostly relying on virtual in silico testing and simple grippers that dont replicate a true prosthetic. The University of Pisa team, on the other hand, was looking to integrate feedback sensors into a prosthetic hand they developed, leading to a natural collaboration between the two groups. The technology relies on an arm band that has a motorized component that brushes a piece of rubber against the skin. As the prosthetics fingers are opened and closed, the rubber is pulled along the skin to create a stretching sensation. The extent of the stretch is proportional to how open or closed the wrist is, providing the user an immediate sense of its state. The Rice and Pisa team tested their technology on eighteen healthy individuals, showing that using the sensing system let the subjects have a much better ability to discern different size wooden balls. The researchers will be presenting their findings next week at the World Haptics 2017 conference in Furstenfeldbruck, Germany. Heres a Rice video showing off the technology: Via: Rice Top image: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, May 31, 2017 The story broke on the New York Post Web site on Tuesday evening: Scott Pelley was finished as anchor of The CBS Evening News. The evidence: According to sources, his current office was being cleared of his belongings on Tuesday while he was reportedly away on an assignment for 60 Minutes. His workplace possessions -- including, presumably, the sailboat painting, the green lion bookends (what is that? Malachite?) and books including The Camera Never Blinks Twice by Dan Rather and A Reporter's Life by Walter Cronkite -- were reportedly to be moved to a new office wherever CBS houses the staff of 60 Minutes. Many years ago, when I once visited the 60 Minutes offices, they were in another building on West 57th Street, apart from the CBS Broadcast Center. advertisement advertisement Pelley will reportedly continue as a 60 Minutes correspondent. But for reasons not yet known, he is out as the anchorman and face of CBS News. The news spread quickly following the Post story, although by 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, CBS still had not commented -- an indication that the Post story took the network by surprise. There was no word by 11 a.m. about a replacement for Pelley on the network's flagship newscast either. The Post story indicated that Pelley was moved out of The Evening News because he had been clashing with CBS News President David Rhodes. That does not sound like a good reason for a network news chief to replace his anchorman. An Associated Press story subsequently cited a lack of ratings growth in the competition with ABC World News with David Muir and The NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt as the reason Pelley is being replaced. Pelley had been the newscast's anchorman since 2011. The AP story characterized The CBS Evening News as running a distant third to the other two. It's true that the CBS newscast is in third place, with roughly 1.5 million fewer viewers than the other newscasts on a nightly basis. Here are the numbers for May (specifically the May sweep): ABC World News was first with 7.55 million total viewers, followed by NBC with 7.526 million and CBS with 6.084 million. In the news demo -- adults 25-54 -- it was NBC in first with 1.714 million viewers, ABC second with 1.537 million and CBS third with 1.303 million. NBC had the best results among 18-49 viewers too 1.236 million viewers vs 1.058 million for ABC and 905,000 for CBS. So what happens now? Sometime on Wednesday, we should expect CBS to put out a statement thanking Pelley for his years of service to The Evening News and wishing him well as he takes up full-time work for 60 Minutes. The statement may or may not include the naming of Pelley's replacement. The question remains, however: What did Scott Pelley do wrong? By all appearances to those of us not privy to the process that goes into assigning an anchorman to a story away from his home base and then bringing in some work people to clear out his office while he's gone, Pelley was what you might describe as an anchormans anchorman. He was very much in the CBS mold -- buttoned-down, no-nonsense, utterly professional. He may have been a little bland, but thats a common characteristic of TV anchormen. An inch deep and a mile wide -- thats the way one anchorman once described himself and his peers in a conversation with me some years back. He didn't mean that anchormen suffered from shallow intellects. He was referring more to the need for an anchorman (or anchorwoman) to be prepared to report on the widest variety of subjects at any given time, and sound authoritative about every single one of them. Pelley seemed to fulfill this requirement in every way possible. In addition, he had worked his way up the CBS News ladder in the best way -- by achieving great things in TV journalism. A quick glance at an online bio on Wednesday morning indicates that Pelley has won every single award that it is possible to earn in TV news. As a swashbuckling, global reporter at heart, maybe hes glad to get out of the Evening News anchor chair. Or maybe hes asking himself: What's a guy gotta do to earn some respect around here? by Ray Schultz , May 30, 2017 Email ranks in the top three tactics used by marketers to drive brand experience, according to a study released today by Freeman and SSI. Of over 1,000 marketers surveyed worldwide, 58% use Web sites, 57% social media and 51% email marketing. But theyre not utilizing game-changing technologies like interactive touchscreen technology (cited by only 22%) and virtual reality (8%), the study continues. The survey covered CMOs, brand managers, event planners and marketers in both B2B and B2C, and found that companies involved in 20 or more events per year are more likely to use the newer technologies. Specifically, 20% of these firms use interactive screen technology, and 21% deploy location-mapping/beacons. In addition, 16% utilize virtual reality and 16% gamification in some form. From a geographic standpoint, Asia seems to be ahead. Of the Asian marketers polled, 42% use sensory interaction to personalize the brand experience, compared to 28% in North America and 13% in Western Europe. Plus, 31% use virtual reality, compared to 9% in North America and 7% in Western Europe. advertisement advertisement Meanwhile, companies expect to spend more on brand experience. Of the CMOs surveyed, 33% plan to allocate 21% of 50% of their budgets to the discipline. In contrast, 28% of the B2B marketers and 18% of the B2C will budget the same amounts. In Asia, 32% of marketers anticipate spending more than one-fifth of their budgets on brand experience, compared to 23%of the European firms and 27% of the North American outfits. Freeman found that a positive brand experience supports these goals: by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, May 30, 2017 Doritos, which seems to be an endless font of new flavors that play off of its For the Bold brand slogan, is launching limited-edition HeatWave varieties in the U.S. for the summer. Introduced earlier this year in the United Kingdom under a slightly different name (Heatburst), HeatWaves shtick is that it delivers two different bold flavor sensations. The consumer initially tastes one of the two flavors available, BBQ or Chipotle Cream; that is followed by a surge of heat, as mini-chili capsules burst as the chip is crunched. The initial marketing in the U.S. will include an aerial show and sample drop on May 31, to take place over Duluth, Minnesota the premise being that Duluth, which has recorded among the coldest Memorial Day temperatures (55 degrees), could use a HeatWave Drop. advertisement advertisement At noon CDT, two branded helicopters will deliver hundreds of bags of the new variety, as a professional aerial stuntman performs. A video of the event will be available on the brands Facebook page starting June 5. Doritos is also promoting a 30-second video/TV spot on a site dedicated to HeatWave. The creative from AMV BBDO and PepsiCo features a cute baby dragon character that innocently sets objects aflame in its excitement over sharing various activities with its human "parent." The message is that eating HeatWave chips is sort of like finding a baby dragon on your doorstep: At first, its all joy but soon, things are gonna heat up. Essentially the same creative, save the different name, was used in a two-month TV campaign in the U.K. The brand is also promoting a HeatWave sweepstakes on the site. Consumers may enter in any of three ways: By creating a GIF by adding Doritos-supplied dragon stickers and filters to their profiles pictures; by using their phones to scan a HeatWave bag; or by entering a code from a HeatWave bag on the site. Prizes include a Hawaiian volcano trip, and branded items such as tumblers, tee-shirts and noise-cancelling headphones. Lincoln has only two permanent workers who make less than $15 an hour, but it has more than 550 seasonal and temporary workers below that threshold. by Jess Nelson , May 30, 2017 Email volume is the primary reason why Americans unsubscribe from email marketing lists, according to a recent MarketingSherpa study. The marketing research firm, and a subsidiary of MECLABS Institute, polled 2,400 consumers on why they unsubscribe from email lists. More than a quarter of Americans confirmed that they unsubscribe because they receive too many emails in general, according to the report, while 19% of Americans unsubscribe when they receive too many promotional messages from one particular company. Furthermore, 16% of respondents simply dont have time to read all of their email. The total number of business and consumer emails sent and received per day is predicted to reach 269 billion by the end of 2017 according to the Radicati Group. Email volume is not predicted to slow down anytime soon, and the Radicati Group estimates that email volume will continue to grow at an average annual rate of 4.4% to reach 319.6 billion emails by the end of 2021. advertisement advertisement Marketers need to put the consumer first if they want any hope at standing out in an increasingly crowded inbox. Redundancy and an overall lack of personalization is hindering email engagement, according to the MarketingSherpa report. More than 20% of Americans admit to unsubscribing from emails that are not relevant to them, while 17% of Americans are unsatisfied when an emails content is repetitive or boring. An additional 13% of respondents unsubscribe from emails when they receive the same promotion in print form, such as from direct mail or via a magazine. Email design flaws also coincide with increased unsubscribes, according to the report, with 10% of respondents admitting they unsubscribe from emails that look sloppy and 7% unsubscribing from emails that do not render properly on their mobile devices. by Tobi Elkin @tobielkin, May 31, 2017 RTB House on Wednesday said its added Australia and New Zealand to its Asia-Pacific (APAC) presence. The market entry will be led by Steve McMahon, whos joining the provider of retargeting technology as country director; he previously handled sales in the region for Criteo. The move makes marks RTB Houses sixth APAC global market. Its already operating in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore. RTB House said almost two-thirds (63%) of Australias digital advertising inventory across all devices is bought through programmatic or ad network services, according to 2016 data from Pathmatics and Nielsen. by Sara Guaglione , May 31, 2017 President of music siteChris Kaskie announced Tuesday he will step down after 14 years at the media company. In a handwritten note to Pitchfork staff shared on Twitter, Kaskie said his decision to leave was wholly my own. Kaskie said he joined Pitchfork as a fresh-ish faced 23-year-old and now is a not-so-fresh-faced 37-year-old who grew up with Pitchfork. In the note, he refers to staff multiple times as family. Kaskie's last day at Pitchfork will be July 21, a week after Pitchfork wraps up its music festival in Chicago, where the media company is based. "I plan to hang around through the festival, celebrating with you the music, friends, family and relishing in the achievement. After, that's when we'll part for real," he wrote. Pitchfork was founded in 1995 as one of the first independent, online-only music publications to gain popularity. It has since expanded to include a quarterly print magazine, The Pitchfork Review. advertisement advertisement Conde Nast bought the company in 2015. A year later, Conde Nast moved Pitchfork and its staffers from Brooklyn to One World Trade Center, where the publisher lives. Separately, Megan Liberman, the editor-in-chief of Yahoo News, is also stepping down from her role this summer. She will leave the company after its merger with Verizon is completed, likely in the second quarter, which ends on June 30. A Yahoo spokesperson told CNNMoney Liberman's decision to leave the company was her own. She was named editor-in-chief of Yahoo News in 2013. She was previously an editor at The New York Times. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is also expected to leave Yahoo at the close of the Verizon deal. She has been ranked the least likable CEO in tech, according to a new survey from Owler, a business insights site. Owler compiled rankings from its business professionals community and used an algorithm to analyze over 250,000 ratings. Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving metals market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. The following companies are subsidiares of Community Health Systems: AF-CH-HH LLC, ARMC L.P., ASC JV Holdings LLC, Abilene Clinic Asset Holding Company LLC, Abilene Hospital LLC, Abilene Merger LLC, Access Center Services LLC, Affinity Cardio-Thoracic Specialists LLC, Affinity Cardiovascular Specialists LLC, Affinity Gastroenterology ASC LLC, Affinity Health Systems LLC, Affinity Hospital LLC, Affinity Orthopedic Specialists LLC, Affinity Physician Services LLC, Affinity Radiation Therapy Services LLC, Affinity Skilled Nursing LLC, Alabama HMA Physician Management LLC, Alaska Physician Services LLC, Alice Regional Hospital Community Alliance Inc., Alliance Health Partners LLC, Ambulance Services of Dyersburg Inc., Ambulance Services of McNairy Inc., Amory HMA LLC, Amory HMA Physician Management LLC, Angelo Community Healthcare Services Inc., Anniston HMA LLC, Arizona ASC Management Inc., Arizona DH LLC, Arizona Medco LLC, Arkansas HMA Regional Service Center LLC, Arkansas Medical Imaging JV LLC, BH Trans Company LLC, Bartow HMA LLC, Bartow HMA Physician Management LLC, Batesville HMA Development LLC, Batesville HMA Medical Group LLC, Bayfront Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, Bayfront HMA Convenient Care LLC, Bayfront HMA Healthcare Holdings LLC, Bayfront HMA Investments LLC, Bayfront HMA Medical Center LLC, Bayfront HMA Physician Management LLC, Bayfront HMA Real Estate Holdings LLC, Bayfront HMA Wellness Center LLC, Bayfront Health Imaging Center LLC, Beauco LLC, Beaumont Regional LLC, Biloxi H.M.A. LLC, Biloxi HMA Physician Management LLC, Biloxi Health System LLC, Birmingham Holdings II LLC, Birmingham Holdings LLC, Birmingham Home Care Services LLC, Blackwell HMA LLC, Blackwell HMPN LLC, Blackwell Home Health & Hospice LLC, Bluefield Holdings LLC, Bluffton Health System LLC, Bluffton Physician Services LLC, Brandon HMA LLC, Brandon Physician Management LLC, Brandywine Hospital Malpractice Assistance Fund Inc., Bravera Urgent Care LLC, Brazos Valley Surgical Center LLC, Brevard HMA ALF LLC, Brevard HMA APO LLC, Brevard HMA ASC LLC, Brevard HMA Diagnostic Imaging LLC, Brevard HMA HME LLC, Brevard HMA Holdings LLC, Brevard HMA Hospitals LLC, Brevard HMA Investment Properties LLC, Brevard HMA Nursing Home LLC, Brooksville HMA Physician Management LLC, Brownsville Clinic Corp., Brownsville Hospital Corporation, Brownwood Asset Holding Company LLC, Brownwood Hospital L.P., Brownwood Medical Center LLC, Bullhead City Clinic Corp., Bullhead City Hospital Corporation, Bullhead City Hospital Investment Corporation, Bullhead City Imaging Corporation, Bullhead Medical Pl, Bullhead Medical Plaza Ltd., CDI JV LLC, CHHS, CHHS Holdings LLC, CHHS Hospital Company LLC, CHS Kentucky Holdings LLC, CHS PSO LLC, CHS Pennsylvania Holdings LLC, CHS Realty Holdings I Inc., CHS Realty Holdings II Inc., CHS Realty Holdings III LLC, CHS Realty Holdings Joint Venture, CHS Receivables Funding LLC, CHS Tennessee Holdings LLC, CHS Virginia Holdings LLC, CHS Washington Holdings LLC, CHS-ASC LLC, CHS/Community Health Systems Inc., CHS/Community Health Systems Inc. Political Action Committ, CHSPSC ACO 1 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 10 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 11 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 12 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 13 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 14 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 15 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 16 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 17 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 18 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 19 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 2 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 20 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 21 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 22 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 23 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 24 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 25 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 26 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 27 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 28 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 29 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 3 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 30 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 4 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 5 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 6 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 7 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 8 LLC, CHSPSC ACO 9 LLC, CHSPSC ACO Holdings LLC, CHSPSC LLC, CHSPSC Leasing Inc., CP Hospital GP LLC, CP Premier Urgent Care JV LLC, CPLP LLC, CSMC LLC, Cadence Solutions Inc., Cahaba Orthopedics LLC, Campbell County HMA LLC, Cardiology Associates of Spokane LLC, Carlisle HMA LLC, Carlisle HMA Physician Management LLC, Carlisle HMA Surgery Center LLC, Carlisle Medical Group LLC, Carlsbad Medical Center LLC, Carolinas Holdings LLC, Carolinas JV Holdings General LLC, Carolinas JV Holdings II LLC, Carolinas JV Holdings L.P., Carolinas Medical Alliance Inc., Cedar Park Clinic Asset Holding Company LLC, Cedar Park Health System L.P., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Cedar Park Surgery Center LLC, Center for Adult Healthcare LLC, Center for Medical Interoperability Inc. 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Read More The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United states and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers workers' compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers' liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York. Charles Stephen was a connoisseur of words and ideas. A social justice leader and devoted family man. The retired Unitarian Universalist leader died Monday morning. He was 85. Deb Stephen said her father spent his life championing forward-thinking causes. He was a founder of (Lincoln) Planned Parenthood, he was a founder of the Nebraska Civil Liberties Union, he was involved in the beginning of Fresh Start, he was involved in the Malone Center. He traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Freedom Day in 1964, in support of the Civil Rights Movement, along with fellow Unitarian ministers. He practiced a theology based on science. He believed God is nature, his daughter said. He was a student of philosophy. He wrote beautiful sermons. Stephen and his wife, Pat, had five children, 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. The man who grew up in a book-loving family in Boston -- and kept the city in his voice -- once aspired to a career in newspapers. Once he got a taste of crime reporting at the Boston Globe, he changed his mind and entered the seminary. Stephen moved his family to Lincoln in 1961 and led the church at 63th and A streets for 35 years before heading into a busy retirement. He continued hosting the radio show All About Books on NET and reviewed books for the Journal Star for decades until failing health forced him to quit. Her father had a genetic condition that affected his liver and lungs, Deb Stephen said. He had been on oxygen for the last four years and was in hospice at home when he died. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren were frequent visitors. They were seeing him daily toward the end of his life, his daughter said. To us, the older generation, that was such a balm. Last weekend, his brother and nephew came to visit and share old stories. My uncle was just here and told us a story of how my dad changed the family politics from Republican to Democrat with his support of Adlai Stevenson, Deb Stephen said. He was passionate and informed, she said, a persuasive combination. He used the same method in his sermons, longtime Unitarian member Barb Francis said. We left his services full of thoughts, new interpretations and added knowledge. Stephen reached out to Francis and her husband, Chuck, after they lost their son in 1990. He sent them a note, quoting a line from a book by a man who had lost his own son: I shall look at the world through tears. Perhaps, I shall see things that dry-eyed I could not see ... That quote -- and the book that it came from -- left a lasting influence, Francis said. As did an image of Stephen and Pat at church dances in the '80s. "They always came in for the end of the evening waltz," Francis said. "They danced beautifully." Stephen's daughter Susan Stephen memorialized her father on her Facebook page this week: Man of letters; man of the Red Sox. Hiker of mountains, canoe paddler of oceans, tickler of children, crossword puzzler, lover of opera. She shared funny memories: The man who caught me with my boyfriend when he came home for lunch. And her sorrow: My grief is immeasurable. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 17 at the Unitarian Church, reception to follow. In a 2012 Journal Star profile, Stephen talked about his thirst for knowledge, modeled by his parents and fueled by his own curious mind. He started his days with a newspaper and ended them with a book, he told the reporter. Then he quoted poet and essayist Jorge Luis Borges. "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." InterXion Holding N.V. provides carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data center services in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The company enables its customers to connect to a range of telecommunications carriers, cloud platforms, Internet service providers, and other customers. Its data centers acts as content, cloud, and connectivity hubs that facilitate the processing, storage, sharing, and distribution of data between its customers. The company offers colocation services, including space and power to deploy IT infrastructure in its data centers; a range of output voltages and currents; connectivity services that enable its customers to connect their IT infrastructure to exchange traffic and access cloud platforms; and systems monitoring, systems management, engineering support, and data backup and storage services, as well as installs and manages physical connections running from its customers' equipment to the equipment of its telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers, Internet exchange customers, and other customers. It provides its services to telecom operators, Internet service providers, and content delivery networks; content and cloud providers; and enterprises through direct sales forces, as well as through tradeshows, networking events, and industry seminars. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 51 carrier and cloud neutral colocation data centers in 13 metropolitan areas in 11 countries. The company is also involved in real estate management/holding businesses. InterXion Holding N.V. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. 31.05.2017 LISTEN Ghanaian dancehall artiste Shatta Wale has released an emotional tribute to Ghana Armed Forces officer, Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama who was lynched by some locals at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region on Monday. Captain Mahama was slain by after the locals reportedly mistook him for an armed robber after spotting a pistol on him as he jogged through the town on Monday dawn. Captain Mahama's grisly murder has stunned the entire nation with many including President Akufo-Addo and former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Mahama expressing condolences to his family. Shatta is the latest to sympathise with Mahama's family in a mellow tribute song. The controversial musician also had some harsh words for Mahama's murderers saying: "I pray the Lord deals with you and you never go unpunished". Listen to the song below; https://soundcloud.com/bra-zurich/shatta-wale-maxwell-adam-mahamatribute Actor John Dumelo has some strong advice for the numerous persons who spend their time attacking and criticising him. To him, it is a total waste of time for people to dedicate their time criticising him because that won't put food on their table. The actor has, for some time now, come under heavy attacks following series of scandals and controversies. John Dumelo, following widespread condemnation, had to render an unqualified apology to Godfred Obeng Boateng, the now famous bread seller whose photo he posted on Instagram. According to the actor, he had to apologise to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) graduate after misjudging him in the post with the caption: Just saw a KNUST grad hawking in trafficWhat went wrong? He had earlier been embroiled in the attempted remodelling of a Toyota Land Cruiser V8 with registration GE 8118 16 worth $150,000. In a post on Instagram, the popular actor said people are simply wasting their time criticising and attacking him. People ask me how I deal with negative comments. I always tell them, see, God has given all of us 24 hours in a day, Im using mine to achieve my set goals and be a better businessman and citizen, so if you will waste an hour to write or talk about me, who ends up lost?. Thats whats happening these days. People just talk and talk about others as if there is a reward at the end of the year, he mentioned. Whats your business if your female friend has bought a new house? Or a car? Let that inspire you to work harder or even share ideas. Gossiping will not put food on your table. Whats your business if someone is always on a plane going somewhere or her marriage is not working out? How does that affect you? John Dumelo asked. The actor believes strongly that people only talk about others when they feel threatened. He, therefore, urged critics to use God's time wisely! -Myjoyonline Graduates from the Fashion Department of the Radford University College (RUC) last Saturday thrilled fashion lovers with their exquisite clothing line designs. The event which was held at the Kempiski Hotel in Accra attracted a large number of fashion lovers, as well students from some of the tertiary institutions in Accra. It saw graduates from the Fashion and Design Department of RUC showing their latest collections and designs. Samples of their designs were modelled to the admiration of guests who attended the event. They ranged from corporate, casual and African wear, to wedding gowns innovatively designed with colourful fabrics. Speaking at the fashion show, the Chairman of RUC, Nana Dwomoh Sarpong, stated that the annual event is aimed at showcasing to the world the creativity of their students. He explained that a vibrant fashion industry is a panacea to ending the increasing graduate unemployment in the country, adding that investment in the industry is an avenue for job opportunities and help to position Ghana on the global fashion platform. That, he said, would attract more tourists into the country and lead to an expansion of the revenue base of the economy. The annual fashion show, Nana Dwomoh Sarpong reiterated, is a way of demonstrating their talents and readiness for the job market. According to him, the Ghanaian youth have the passion for pursuing ventures in fashion but lack financial support and this has militated against their efforts to succeed in the industry. The Head of Fashion at RUC, Yvonne Ntiamoah, bemoaned the lack of support for the fashion industry in the country. She said fashion can be a foreign exchange earner for Ghana if an investment is made in the industry. Rome (AFP) - It is not an experience he's keen to repeat but Carmelo Cuzzolino is resigned to the inevitable as stretched resources mean more merchant ships get caught up in the Mediterranean migrant crisis. The veteran Italian seaman has just spent two testing days at the helm with more than 1,000 distressed African migrants crowded onto the tug boat he skippers in his role as head of security for a major oil platform in waters off troubled Libya. "I've been a captain around here for 30 years, I've seen migrants go by... But this, this was a first" the 60-year-old told AFP in a phone interview from the southern Italian island of Sicily. The Vos Thalassa, his 60-metre (200 foot) vessel, usually spends its time patrolling an oil field about 70 nautical miles off Libya. On Friday afternoon he spotted a vessel carrying about 40 migrants, who were waving a white flag signalling distress, and when he contacted the Italian Coastguard, they asked him to intervene. The coastguard said two patrol boats would soon arrive from the island of Lampedusa to recover the migrants. Instead, those boats rescued other migrants at risk of drowning, and brought them to Cuzzolino's boat before heading off for other rescue operations. "At half past midnight I had 1,042 people aboard, including about 50 women, 15 children and seven bodies that were already in sealed bags when they brought them to me," he said. He does not know how they died, but many of the migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean for Europe succumb to hypothermia or dehydration, choke on engine fumes, or are smothered on overcrowded vessels. Some 3,400 migrants were rescued in the waters off Libya last Friday alone, bringing the total for last week to more than 10,000 people. Boats filling up fast Without food or water, the migrants packed on the Vos Thalassa's broad flat deck were on edge, and many became threatening and at times aggressive toward the 14 crew members. "We barricaded ourselves inside," the captain said, letting only women and children enter to use the toilets. An Italian coastguard ship, itself loaded with migrants, was able to drop off food and water on Saturday. But Italy's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre had no more boats available, so the Vos Thalassa had no choice but to head for Sicily itself. Global leaders, however, were still gathered on the east coast of the island for their G7 summit at Taormina. So Cuzzolino was told to chart a course to Palermo, in the northwest of the island, where he was finally able to unload his passengers on Sunday afternoon. It was 3:00 am by the time all the migrants were brought off the boat, and the captain and his crew then spent several hours cleaning up. Italian media reported that police arrested a 39-year-old Moroccan wanted on suspicion of drug trafficking and a 22-year-old Nigerian accused by many on the ship of being a people trafficker. Many of those onboard said they had crossed the Sahara in the back of refrigerated freight trucks before spending months at camps in Libya, often subjected to violent abuse by their handlers, according to the reports. "Save lives at sea, bring 150 people to safety, feed and take care of them while waiting for someone to come and get them, this we can do," Cuzzolino said. "But become a storage vessel for 48 hours, that's putting everyone's lives in danger: the boat, the crew and the migrants," he said. With milder weather coming, though, encouraging even more migrants to attempt the perilous crossing, the captain knows that when the coastguard, military and NGO boats are full, the authorities will be calling again. Al Hoceima (Morocco) (AFP) - Several thousand people took to the streets in Morocco after dark on Tuesday to demand the release of the leader of months of protests in the neglected northern Rif region. The region has been shaken by social unrest since the death in October of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri, 31, who was crushed in a rubbish truck in the fishing port of Al-Hoceima as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season. Nasser Zefzafi, who has emerged as the head of the grassroots Popular Movement, was arrested on Monday after three days on the run. Demonstrators came out near the centre of Al-Hoceima for a fifth straight night at around 10 pm (2200 GMT), after the breaking of the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. The protesters shouted slogans including "We are all Zefzafi" and "End militarisation", with hundreds of them brandishing photographs of the detained leader. Anti-riot police attempted to disperse the protest, but pulled back following a tense but non-violent standoff with the demonstrators. A similar demonstration took place in the neighbouring town of Imzouren, with a strong police presence, images on social media showed. Demonstrators in Morocco's neglected northern Rif region crowd the streets of the northern city of Al-Hoceima on May 30, 2017 Smaller protests were held in the capital Rabat and the commercial capital Casablanca but were broken up by police, Moroccan media reported. Zefzafi's arrest was ordered after he allegedly interrupted a preacher at a mosque on Friday and called for further demonstrations. Prosecutors charged that he had "obstructed, in the company of a group of individuals, freedom of worship" at the mosque in Al-Hoceima. He was arrested on Monday "along with other individuals" and transferred to Casablanca, prosecutors said. As of Monday evening police had arrested 40 people in connection with the disturbances in Al-Hoceima, according to officials. Human rights groups gave higher figures. The mainly ethnically Berber Rif region has long had a tense relationship with Morocco's central authorities, and was at the heart of Arab Spring-inspired protests in 2011. Demonstrators in Morocco's neglected northern Rif region crowd the streets of the city of Al-Hoceima on May 30, 2017, gathering for a fifth straight day The protests subsided following a series of political reforms including constitutional changes that saw King Mohamed VI give up some of his wide-ranging powers. Ahmedabad, India, May 30, 2017 The African Development Bank (AfDB) and key agencies in Japan are working towards stronger cooperation in support of Africas development. The Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in the city of Ahmedabad, India, provided an important forum for the AfDB to partner with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to ensure a greater relationship with India. Speaking at the Meetings on May 24, the Japanese State Minister of Finance, Taku Otsuka, stressed the importance of close collaboration between Japan and India in order to vigorously contribute to sustainable and inclusive development in Africa. Indias Finance Minister, Ram Meghwal, stressed Indias historic economic ties with Africa and the potential role the India-Japan cooperation could play in further promoting private-sector investment in this context. AfDBs Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, Pierre Guislain, welcomed the proposed cooperation with the private sector and expressed AfDBs willingness to promote partnerships that will push and sustain the continents development. The meeting was co-organized by JBIC, JETRO and JICA, governmental organizations in charge of economic cooperation, along with the AfDB, in close cooperation with several other institutions from both India and Africa. The forum attracted hundreds of participants, from both the public and private sectors of India, Africa and Japan. There were vibrant discussions among the panelists including David Rasquinha, Acting Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of India, who has vast experience and information on the African economy along with knowledge of the policies in both India and Japan. Private-sector representatives also made presentations showcasing their activities connecting Africa with both India and Japan to promote businesses. Discussions at the event indicated that India and Japan, including the private sectors of both countries, would have more opportunities to work with each other to pursue opportunities in Africa. India is geographically closer to Africa and has traditionally taken part in dynamic exchanges of personnel and economic activities with the continent. Japan has particular experience in cooperating with many Asian developing countries through transfer of technology and human development. Expectations are that with public agencies such as the AfDB, JBIC, JETRO and JICA providing financial, institutional and technical support to the private sector, Japanese investment in Africa in collaboration with Indian corporations may be able to contribute to the improvement of the African economy while also reducing and managing the risks involved. Its come and gone, but the vetting of ministerial nominees of the new government did not merely reveal the temperament and potential competence of the nominees. It more importantly, provided opportunities to renew insight and enhance our foresight as we endeavor to develop more productive strategies for efficient governance and true national development. One such opportunity was the perspective the now deputy minister for information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, presented on the issue of attitudinal change. During the May Day ceremony at the independence square recently, the President was bold enough to address the lackadaisical attitude of public sector workers. It became the talk of the town, and the Media went frenzy for a while over it. Yet the issues His Excellency raised are at the core of the low productivity that has bedeviled our beloved Civil Service. But poor attitude towards work is not our only problem. We have a very bad attitude towards sanitation, law enforcement, morality, business and maintenance, inter alia. We seem to be laid back when it comes to high efficiency. We easily settle for mediocre results. Pastor Otabil Speaks about it, Arch Bishop Duncan Williams bemoans it, Presidents Mahama, Atta-Mills, John Agyekum Kuffuor and Jerry John Rawlings have all lamented over it in various ways. Yet, we seem to make very little head way. Do you remember the campaign on Discipline waged by the late Vice President Aliu Mahama? We have virtually accepted the label of the country with good laws but bad enforcement; the national with fine policies but faint implementation. We seem to like to be called hospitable and hollow. But we should not. Rather, we should be hospitable and capable. Capable of protecting our environment; capable of implementing our many fine policies; and capable of enforcing our laws so that we can actually achieve true development and not spend all our post-independent era in mere aspirations. When asked about his perspective on the need to raise awareness to promote attitudinal change in the way we do our things here in Ghana, Kojos response was, if measured, straight forward. He said: unfortunately, I am not one of those who believe that we can correct ill habits in this country through education on attitudinal change; I am sorry if I disappoint anybody with my views but I do not share that view. Very often people know what is right; they refuse to do it. What we need is law enforcement when it comes to attitudinal change. He was courageous to differ from the general sentiment of conducting continuous public education to motivate attitudinal change. The way to go is to enforce the law. But didnt we know this? In other places, the citizenry have developed a good attitude because the laws are effectively enforced. For example, if you jumped the traffic light, a camera will surely pick you up and you will face the law. They do this consistently until it is engrained in the psyche of the driving public. So, why dont we enforce the law? We seem to love inordinate convenience. Law enforcement has consequences, including the incarceration of family, friends and political heavy weights. But law enforcement inures for the greater good including those we sought to protect by scaling above the law. Therefore, as a people we should be open to enforcing the law. The process of proper enforcement will reveal any weaknesses that need to be corrected in the legislation to make the laws more efficient. Law enforcement agencies should be provided with the technical and professional capacity they need to carry out their work without fear or favour and they should be under the scrutiny of the public eye. It may be interesting to know if the role of the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei who also is now a member of Cabinet, includes the monitoring of law enforcement agencies. Also we need to know when the specific duties and responsibilities of all our 100-plus ministers, chief directors and other public servants will be published so that they can be monitored for efficiency and productivity. This is one way to go towards real national development in the shortest possible time. It is an issue of leadership. We are watching. We encourage our leaders to be courageous and bold to lead, with a human face of course, and with the resolve that cannot be denied transformation. Do they pledge? INTRODUCTION I have read, examined and analyzed the Report of the Special Committee To Investigate The Bribery Allegation Made Against The Chairman And Some Members Of The Appointments Committee, dated 29th March 2017 and signed by Hon. Joe Ghartey, Chairman, Special Committee, and Alhaji Ibrahim Gombilla, Clerk to the Committee. I have also followed the proceedings of Parliament of 30th March, and 7th April 2017 respectively in connection therewith, and arrived at the considered conclusion that the conduct of the Committee and Parliament in punishing the Hon. Mahama Ayariga for contempt of Parliament is unconstitutional and void. It would appear that because Parliament belittles the intelligence of the sovereign people of Ghana who voted it into office, it chose to give the ruling on such an important matter of public importance on the last day of its session before breaking for the Easter holidays so that public discussions, reactions, and exceptions to its conduct may take place while it is on recess. I have refused to take the bait and decided pursuant to my constitutional rights under Article 3 of the 1992 Constitution to publish my considered views on the unconstitutional conduct of Parliament on its resumption from the Easter recess. For the purpose of the convenience of some readers, I state first the conclusions of my examination and analysis of the Report of the Special Committee and the conduct of Parliament in purporting to punish the Hon. Mohammed Ayariga for contempt of Parliament. The detailed examination and analysis of the Committees report and the proceeding of Parliament that led me to arrive at those conclusions then follow together with a concluding epilogue. The detailed examination and analysis of the report of the Special Committee hereunder demonstrates that a casual reading and comparison of the Terms of Reference of the Special or Ad Hoc Committee of Parliament with the purported conclusions and recommendations made by the Committee against Hon. Mahama Ayariga which were accepted, approved and acted upon by Parliament to sanction him for contempt of Parliament shows that the conduct and processes beginning with the appointment of the Committee and leading up to the conviction and sentencing of Hon. Mahama Ayariga are inconsistent with and in contravention of Articles 12, 17, 19, 24, 103, 116, 121, 122 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300), and Orders 28, 30 (2), 31, 102, and 164 of the Standing Orders of Parliament. They are accordingly null, void and without effect whatsoever. Secondly it shows that the Committee and Parliament exceeded their respective jurisdiction and acted unconstitutionally when they purported to convict the Hon. Mahama Ayariga of contempt of Parliament on the strength of Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and Orders 28 and 30 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament. The Committee knew that under Order 197 of the Standing Orders it was enjoined to confine its deliberations to the matter referred to it by the House and any extensions or limitations to it made by the House (in this case the bribery allegations) but nonetheless went beyond to make findings and recommendations for contempt of Parliament. Thirdly it puts beyond doubt the fact that the Committee, and Parliament acted unconstitutionally in convicting and punishing the Hon. Ayariga because Mr. Mahama Ayariga failed to prove that indeed Hon. Boakye Agyarko gave money to Hon. Joseph Osei-Owusu to be distributed to Members of the Appointments Committee with a view to bribe them when there was no complaint or charge of contempt of Parliament under the Committees Terms of Reference against him personally pursuant to which such findings, recommendations and sanctions could even have been exacted under Articles 103 and 122 of the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament. Fourthly, it shows clearly that, the Committee and Parliament deliberately acted unconstitutionally and with impunity in disrespect of the sovereignty of the people under Article 1 of the Constitution. This is demonstrated by the fact that the Committee could not have referred to Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and Orders 28, 30 (2), and 102 (2) of the Standing Orders in its report without realizing that it was exercising powers and functions exclusively reserved for the Committee of Privileges in finding and recommending Hon. Mahama Ayariga to be convicted and sentenced for contempt of Parliament for matters that were said outside Parliament. This is why the conduct of the Committee and Parliament affronts and abuses the sovereign people of Ghana to whom it is answerable at all times by virtue of Articles 1 and 3 of the 1992 Constitution. The examination and analysis herein also shows that a comparison of the Terms of Reference with the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee demonstrate clearly that there is no express or implied complaint, allegation or charge of contempt of Parliament made in the Terms of Reference against Hon. Mahama Ayariga personally or any other person to ground any power in the Committee to make the findings and recommendations of contempt of Parliament it purported to make in its report to Parliament. It also explains why Hon. Mahama Ayariga boldly and publicly in Parliament (and was widely broadcast and reported on 30th March 2017 to have) objected to the jurisdiction of the Committee and Parliament to find him guilty of contempt of Parliament. It further explains why Hon. Mahama Ayariga rendered the type of verbal apology he made on 30th March 2017 and which he subsequently wrote at the behest of Parliament and read again on 7th April 2017. It is amazing that reasonable people can call the letter read by Hon. Mahama Ayariga on 7th April 2017 an unconditional apology simply because the word unconditional appears in the letter. The meaning and effect of that letter to any reasonable person should be clear: Parliament has found me in contempt of Parliament and demanded an unconditional apology from me consequently I unconditionally apologize to Parliament. No remorse or regret whatsoever expressed by him in the purported letter of apology. Speaking for myself and in exercise of my fundamental constitutional rights pursuant to Article 3 of the Constitution I say that Parliament still owes the Sovereign People of Ghana a fair, transparent and accountable investigation into the allegations of bribery and corruption made against the Appointments Committee of Parliament. It affronts the dignity and honour of the people under Article 1 and 3 of the 1992 Constitution to be treated to an unconstitutional process that ends up sacrificing one of its members as a scape goat for very serious allegations that affects the confidence of We The People in the working and integrity of such an important constitutional body established to guarantee to us democracy, the rule of law, separation of powers, transparency, probity and accountability in governance. The people of Ghana voted on 7th December 2016 to change an inept and corrupt Government and its majority in Parliament and to replace it with a President and his party in Parliament which promised to deal with the cancer of corruption that had consumed the body polity. No credit is done to the change voted for by the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians when one of the first allegations of bribery and corruption made against prominent members of the 7th Parliament is investigated in a manner that leaves a perception of an unconstitutional window dressing and whitewashing intended to deceive the sovereign people of Ghana. The bi-partisan manner and collaboration in Parliament to accept without debate an investigation report which is clearly unconstitutional demonstrates how far the political establishment undermines the Constitution when no voice is raised against its abuses. Parliament could not have been unaware of the fact that because prominent members from its ranks were the subject of the allegations of bribery and corruption, the most transparent and accountable way to dispose of those allegations was to use the processes provided for under Chapter Twenty-Three of the Constitution, particularly Article 278 thereof to submit a resolution to the President to appoint a Committee of Enquiry to investigate the allegations of bribery and corruption against members of the Appointments Committee. Parliament knowingly chose to constitute itself into a prosecutor, jury and judge in its own cause and act unconstitutionally to punish a scapegoat for contempt in the hope of appeasing the public perceived to be a rabble instead of sovereign and intelligent. An impartial and independent Committee of Enquiry can yet be constituted to impartially investigate the allegations of bribery and corruption in the Appointments Committee of Parliament. The President of the Republic was elected upon an anti-corruption agenda and it is expected that he will put this matter to rest by setting up a Commission of Enquiry under Article 278 of the 1992 Constitution to assuage the publics suspicion of any perception of unconstitutional cover-up or window dressing in this matter. This is a challenge to the President because his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on whose behalf he promised the fight against corruption is the majority in the Parliament against which the allegations of bribery have been made in the Appointments Committee and which also supervised the unconstitutional investigations. May the anti-corruption wishes of Ghanaians for changing the Government at the polls on 7th December 2017 not be in vain! EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL CONVICTION FOR CONTEMPT OF PARLIAMENT Introduction On 7th April 2017 Parliament completed the process of convicting and sentencing Honourable Mahama Ayariga for contempt of Parliament based solely upon the Report of an Ad Hoc or Special Committee of Parliament without the Hon. Ayariga having ever been charged personally with any offence of Contempt of Parliament or offered the opportunity to specifically defend such a charge. The Speaker on this day instructed and compelled Hon. Mahama Ayariga to read a prior agreed written apology letter by him to Parliament dated 3rd April, 2017. The Speaker of Parliament on behalf of Parliament then purported to accept Hon. Mahama Ayarigas apology and to forgive him because: In all circumstances of this case, I have come to the conclusion that the Honourable Ayariga should be shown mercy on this occasion. May he go and sin no more. He is warned never to peddle such expensive rumours in his affairs in this house. The Speaker is reported by Starr FM to have continued: I must also extend a warning to some four or five honourable members who deemed it proper to make untoward lies apparently in support of Ayariga regarding the conduct for which the Honourable Ayariga has now apologized. Parliament thus concluded the theatrics surrounding the acceptance of the investigations report of an Ad hoc Committee of Parliament into allegations of bribery made against the Chairman and other members of the Appointments Committee and a nominee whom it had vetted. The context of the proceedings of Parliament on 7th April 2017 cannot be understood without the events that took place in Parliament on 30th March 2017 using Citi FM online as my source. On 30th March 2017 I read on Citi FM online that the Report of the Ad Hoc or Special Committee purportedly appointed by Parliament to investigate the bribery allegation made against the Chairman and other members of the Appointments Committee of the 7th Parliament had been laid before, approved and accepted by Parliament. Hon. Mahama Ayariga was reported to have been found guilty of contempt of Parliament with a recommendation for him to be reprimanded by the Speaker of Parliament and to render an unqualified apology to Parliament to purge himself of contempt. When the alleged contemnor, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, was called upon to render his apology to Parliament he took objection to the jurisdiction of the Special Committee to have found him guilty of contempt of Parliament before stating that he apologizes because the Speaker and the House had asked him to do so. In consequence of the manner and nature of the apology rendered by the alleged contemnor, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings to the next day to enable him make a ruling on the matter. The matter was again adjourned the next day to enable the Speaker to make a ruling in due course; the proceedings of 7th April 2017 contains the ruling made by the Speaker on the last sitting of Parliament before the Easter break. After the proceedings of Parliament on 30th March 2017 I received several invitations and entreaties from the media for my opinion on the report of the Committee and the proceedings of Parliament in connection with it. I declined to hazard any views when I had not seen the Report of the Special Committee based on which Parliament purported to have found the contemnor guilty and exacted the punishment of an apology from him. On 5th April 2017 one of the media houses made available to me a copy of the 44 pages Report Of The Special Committee To Investigate The Bribery Allegation Made Against The Chairman And Some Members Of The Appointments Committee dated 29th March 2017 and signed by Hon. Joe Ghartey, Chairman, Special Committee and Alhaji Ibrahim Gombilla, Clerk to the Committee. As the matter was still pending before Parliament for a ruling I had to await the delivery of the ruling and conclusion of the matter by Parliament. Now that Parliament has concluded the proceedings in respect of the allegation of bribery, and transformed it into an allegation and punishment of contempt of Parliament without any findings and recommendations of the Committee of Privileges contrary to the mandatory injunctions of the Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament, the matter passes into the public domain for the judgment of We The People in whom sovereignty and the defence of the Constitution is vested under Articles 1 and 3 of the 1992 Constitution. EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS Terms of Reference of the Committee The Terms of Reference of the Committee as stated in paragraph 9 of the Report are as follows: i. Establish whether the First Deputy Speaker, Mr. Joseph Osei-Owusu took money from the Energy Minister designate, Mr. Boakye Agyarko and gave it to the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka to distribute to Members of the Appointments Committee; ii. Establish whether there were attempts to bribe Members of Appointments Committee, and iii. Look into the remit of complaints and assertions made by the First Deputy Speaker about the matter. The Terms of Reference of the Committee upon which it proceeded to enquire into and make a report to Parliament did not mandate it to make any recommendations to Parliament but simply to establish the facts based on its terms of reference. The Committees Methodology and Immunity of Witnesses in Parliament The Special Committee appears to have noticed the limitations imposed upon it by its Terms of Reference and consequently decided to spell out in clear terms the methodology upon which to execute its mandate in paragraph 13 of the Report thereof. In the Committees methodology section particularly paragraph 13 thereof the Committee stated that it decided to hold some sittings in public since the matter was of public importance. The Committee identified four key witnesses for the purpose of the public hearings, namely, Hon. Joseph Osei-Owusu, Hon. Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarack Muntaka, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, and Hon. Boakye Agyarko. In the words of the Committee: All these witnesses, were witnesses of the Committee. None of them was considered as an accused person, plaintiff or defendant. Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was later added to the list of four of the Committees public witnesses upon the specific request from his lawyers to be permitted to give evidence and to provide evidence that would assist your Committee to reach a fair and true conclusion on this substantially important matter of public interest. In spite of the clear statement by the Committee that none of the witnesses appearing before it was accused of any breaches of law or the Constitution for which a defence had to be proffered at the hearing, the Committee after reviewing the evidence of the witnesses before it decided to evaluate the evidence by some standard of proof as though it had conducted an adversarial adjudication. In this connection it reminded itself at paragraph 81 and 82 of the Committees Report of the fact that Parliament established this Special Committee to inquire into the allegation of bribery and underscored the fact that indeed Parliament itself, like Caesars wife should be above reproach. Again, in paragraph 83 of the Report the Committee repeated the fact that: the Committee is a fact-finding Committee.this Committee did not conduct a trial in the nature of a court trial. There were no accused persons before us, neither were there plaintiffs nor defendants. All the persons who appeared before the Committee or submitted Memoranda were witnesses assisting the Committee to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the allegation. Who then was to meet the alleged standard of proof which the Committee had purported to set out in the Report when the Committee had itself decreed that there was to be no accused before us, neither were there plaintiffs or defendants? None of the public witnesses! By stating in the report that there was to be no accused before us, neither were there plaintiffs or defendants the Committee had invoked Article 121 of the 1992 Constitution which gives witnesses to proceedings in Parliament the same privileges as if they were appearing before a court. One of the privileges of such a witness appearing as the courts own witness is that he cannot suddenly be treated by the court as an accused or a person complained against and convicted upon the evidence adduced before the court of which he was a mere witness of that court. This cannot be done even to a witness called by a party to the case. I believe that it is for this reason that Article 121(2) of the 1992 Constitution states that an answer by a person to a question put by Parliament is not admissible against him in any civil or criminal proceedings outside of Parliament, except proceedings for perjury brought under the criminal law. It stands to reason from Article 121 of the 1992 Constitution that the Committee bound itself by this provision of the Constitution and disabled itself by its own adopted methodology from finding and recommending any of the five public witnesses of the Committee, namely, Hon. Joseph Osei-Owusu, Hon. Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarack Muntaka, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, Hon. Boakye Agyarko, and Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for conviction and sentencing for the offence of contempt of Parliament. Evaluation and Observations by the Committee The Committee after what it called a critical evaluation of the evidence adduced before it made four observations, namely: (1) that Hon Mahama Ayariga was the person who gave credence to what was circulating on the social and other media platforms as rumour that the Appointments Committee had been bribed by the Minister of Energy Designate, Honourable Boakye Agyako; (2) Hon Ayariga failed to ascertain the veracity of the rumour prior to publishing same as a result of which trust and confidence amongst members and inter-party cohesion needed for consensus building at the Appointments Committee has broken down considerably; (3) the reputation and image of the institution of Parliament has been greatly injured by the allegation; and (4) the reputation and dignity of the Appointments Committee and that of the Minister of Energy, equally suffered considerable damage. It is important to underscore the fact there is a world of a difference between observations, and the definite findings of facts by a Committees of Enquiry. Instead of making definite findings of fact on its Terms of Reference on bribery the Committee after making its observations then stated that: the Committee came to the firm conclusion that Mr. Mahama Ayariga is in contempt of Parliament on the strength of Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and Orders 28 and 30 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament. The Committee came to this conclusion because Mr. Mahama Ayariga failed to prove that indeed Hon. Boakye Agyarko gave money to Hon. Joseph Osei-Owuwu to be distributed to Members of the Appointments Committee with a view to bribe them. But conclusions of a Committee of Enquiry cannot be a substituted for its constitutional obligations to make findings of fact based upon each of its Terms of Reference on bribery and not on contempt. Nonetheless, the Committee consequent upon purporting to come to the forgoing conclusions made two recommendations to Parliament which were approved on 30th March 2017: That the Hon. Member for Bawku Central, Mr. Mahama Ayariga, be reprimanded by the Rt. Hon. Speaker in accordance with Section 35 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300), and That Mr. Mahama Ayariga, render an unqualified apology to the House, purging himself of contempt. Unlike the powers expressly conferred upon the Committee of Privileges of Parliament one cannot find in the Terms of Reference of this Committee any power to investigate let alone to make findings and recommendations to Parliament for contempt of Parliament. And it should be obvious to anybody slightly acquainted with the mandatory duties and functions of the Committee of Privileges, and an Ad hoc or Special Committee that Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and Standing Orders 28 and 30(2) confer powers upon the Committee of Privileges in executing its Constitutional functions, and not on an Ad hoc or Special Committee to convict a person of contempt of Parliament. One may also ask why the Special Committee omitted to refer to Order 31 of the Standing Orders which makes it abundantly clear that: 31. In all cases of proceedings where complaint is made of a breach of privilege or contempt of Parliament, Mr. Speaker may direct that the matter be referred to the Committee of Privileges. Furthermore, it could not have escaped the Committee that Orders 28, 29, and 30 it referred to comes under Part Three Sub-Part Two of the Standing Orders under the heading Contempt of Parliament or Breach of Privilege and includes Order 31 which it omitted. If the omission was deliberate, it demonstrates lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the Committee; if it was inadvertent it demonstrates the sloppiness of the investigation conducted by it. The Committee, unless it did a sloppy job of its terms of reference, cannot be heard to say that it was not aware of Order 201 of the Standing Orders which empowers a Committee of Parliament to request the Attorney General to attend upon it to give such assistance in the examination of witnesses as the Chairman may direct; the mandatory requirement that a person alleged to be in contempt of Parliament may be represented in the Committee by Counsel in proceedings in the Committee of Privileges; and the fact that a witness before any other Committee may also be represented by Counsel. It cannot be doubted from the foregoing that the Committee was aware of its lack of jurisdiction to make any finding of contempt of Parliament under Articles 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and the Standing Orders 28 and 30(2) but chose to act unconstitutionally and with impunity. Establishment of Parliamentary Committees The fact that in making its findings and recommendations the Special Committee acted unconstitutionally and outside its jurisdiction is further demonstrable by a casual reading of Article 103 of the 1992 Constitution, Part Three, Sub-Part Two, and Part Twenty of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana (2000) that makes elaborate provisions for the establishment of Parliamentary Committees to facilitate the work of Parliament. Article 103 of the Constitution specifically provides that: Parliament shall appoint standing committees and other committees as may be necessary for the effective discharge of its functions. In accordance with Article 103 (2) of the Constitution the Committee of Privileges, a standing committee, of not more than thirty members was appointed for the 7th Parliament at the first meet of Parliament after the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers. Orders 151 to 190 of Part Twenty of the Standing Orders also specifically provide for several subject matter committees of Parliament assigned with specific mandates. In accordance with Article 103 of the 1992 Constitution, Order 164 of the Standing Orders specifically provides for a Committee of Privileges which shall consist of the First Deputy Speaker as Chairman and not more than thirty other members. Order 164 (2) mandatorily provides that: It shall be the duty of the Committee, by order of the House, to enquire into any complaint of contempt of Parliament or breach of privilege or any other matter of privilege which may be referred to it and to recommend to the House such action as the Committee may consider appropriate. I hasten to add that Order 164 (3) and (4) make provision for circumstances in which a member of the Committee is ineligible to participate in any Committee proceedings, and for a Member to disqualify himself from participating in any investigation of the conduct of a Member which takes care of the situation the First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Appointments Committee found himself in the present controversy. Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution provides for what constitutes Contempt of Parliament and the Privileges Committee made up of a Chairman and not more than thirty other members is the specific Committee entrusted under Article 103 of the Constitution with the duty of enquiring into complaints of Contempt of Parliament or breach of privilege and making recommendations to Parliament. Provision has also been made in the Standing Orders of Parliament for specifically dealing with contempt allegedly committed in the face of Parliament or in Parliament. Order 191 of the Standing Orders under which the five-member Special Committee was appointed to investigate the allegations of bribery is a residual provision for matters or cases of public importance for which the Standing Orders had not assigned to an existing specific subject matter Committee; that is why it is called special or ad hoc committee. A Special Committee appointed under Section 191 of the Standing Orders will thus be acting inconsistent with and in contravention of Articles 103, and 122 of the 1992 Constitution and Orders 164 and 197 of the Standing Orders in purporting to hear a complaint of contempt of Parliament. The Committee of Privileges is the only Committee with the mandate to enquire into any complaint of contempt of Parliament or breach of privilege which may be referred to it and to recommend to the House such action as the Committee may consider appropriate. Every citizen of Ghana has a settled expectation in accordance with Articles 103 and 122 of the 1992 Constitution and Orders 28, 30 31, 164, 197, and 201 (2) of the Standing Orders that he can only be convicted of the crime of contempt of Parliament outside Parliament and possibly lose his liberty by the appropriate Constitutional body established in accordance with law to enquire into any such complaint against him. Consequently, the conclusions made by the Special Committee and its recommendations to punish Hon. Mahama Ayariga for contempt of Parliament were clearly unconstitutional and an exercise of a naked power of impunity by Parliament. It only served as a smokescreen behind which to hide the very serious allegations of bribery made against the Honourable members of the Appointments Committee and is accordingly unconstitutional. Defamatory statements made outside Parliament not within Parliaments jurisdiction The Committee observed at paragraph 138 of its report that Hon Mahama Ayariga defamed both the institution of Parliament and the First Deputy Speaker, other members of the Appointments Committee and that of the Minister for Energy.... The Committee on the basis of the alleged defamatory statements outside parliament concluded that Hon. Ayariga was guilty of contempt of Parliament. In coming to this conclusion the Committee refused or failed to realize that the only occasion on which the 1992 Constitution gives Parliament the jurisdiction to punish a Member of Parliament for a statement which is prima facie defamatory of any person is when the defamatory statement is made in the face (in facie) of Parliament pursuant to Articles 115 and 116 of the Constitution thereof. On such an occasion, the person presiding shall refer the matter for inquiry to the Parliamentary committee on privileges which shall report its findings to Parliament not later than thirty days after the matter was referred to it. It follows from the foregoing that defamatory statements made outside Parliament by any person (including a Member of Parliament) against any person (including the First Deputy Speaker and other members of the Appointments Committee and that of the Minister of Energy..) is a matter subject to the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of the land and not Parliament. It is pitiful that reasonable members of Parliament were unaware that they did not need the permission of Parliament to vindicate their dignity and damaged reputation in a court of law. Unless of course, the members of the Appointments Committee allegedly defamed outside Parliament did not have any reputation to vindicate or could not in the particular circumstances vindicate one at a public court trial before the whole nation and were merely shopping for their own forum to save-face and whitewash the defamatory allegations. The specific constitutional provisions in respect of defamatory statements made in Parliament against any person and giving exclusive inquiry jurisdiction to the Committee of Privileges also demonstrates clearly the unconstitutionality of a Special Committee of five members of Parliament purporting to inquire into and recommending the punishment of any person for contempt of Parliament for a defamatory statement made outside Parliament. The Special Committee observed that: The reputation and image of the institution of Parliament has been greatly injured by the allegation contained in the defamatory statements made outside Parliament against members of the Appointments Committee as one of the reasons for concluding that Hon. Ayariga was guilty of contempt of Parliament. But if the Committee and Parliament had respected the intelligence of the sovereign people of Ghana they would not have failed to realize that by unconstitutionally assuming jurisdiction to make conclusions, recommendations, and punishing for contempt of Parliament for defamatory statements outside Parliament in which Parliament had a vested interest of vindicating its own reputation it was wittingly or unwittingly lending credence to the perception that the defamatory statements might be of such high probative credibility and truthfulness to be contested in a court of law. Honourable Mahama Ayariga the Scapegoat and Smokescreen burying allegations of bribery of grave public importance. The evidence before the Special Committee, which it accepted, showed that a number of people made and or published defamatory statements outside Parliament about money being given by Mr. Boakye Agyarko to Hon. Osei-Owusu to influence his approval by the Appointments Committee. One Ablordepey, a journalist, purporting to report from Parliament named an amount of GHC100, 000 to be the amount that had been given for the purpose of influencing the Appointments Committee. Radio Gold is also said to have been the first to broadcast the defamatory allegations on its network. Hon. Mahama Ayariga is recorded to have confirmed aspects of the defamatory allegation to Radio Gold later even though it was clear that most of his statements were hearsay, apart from the definite fact (not rumour) that he and other NDC Members on the Appointments Committee received from and later returned an amount of GHC3, 000 each to the NDC (Minority) Chief Whip who had given it to them. Joy FM, Peace FM and other media are also said to have variously published the defamatory statements of alleged bribery. The report of the Committee records the fact that the Committee accepted Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwas account denying the allegation made by the First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Appointments Committee on oath before it that he did not insist on the allegations being investigated because Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa indicated that the allegation was just created to spread the corruption and to level up the allegation against John Mahama. Prima facie Hon. Ablakwa had established that the First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Appointments Committee had lied on oath before the Committee. Lying on oath before a committee of Parliament constitutes perjury, a very serious criminal offence in civilized nations. Just imagine what the results would have been if Hon. Ablakwa had not gone to the expense of getting his lawyers to demand that he be invited to refute the perjured evidence given against him and he had also been found guilty of contempt based on the evidence of such a material witness. Having established his credibility as a truthful witness, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa further made a direct written allegation of fact (not rumour) in Appendix 3 of the Committees report against the Chairman of the Appointments Committee. He alleged that the Chairman of the Appointments Committee confirmed to him and two other members of the Appointments Committee of NDC side that the money they received from the minority Chief Whip was not our allowance as we had thought and that the envelopes containing Three Thousand Cedis (GHC3, 000) each were from Mr. Boakey Agyarko Hon. Ablakwa offered the Committee every opportunity to corroborate his allegations against the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, but the Committee side-stepped its mandate as a fact finding Committee by using technicalities as a smokescreen behind which not to summon those witnesses. Why the Committee as a fact finding body and Parliament refused to truthfully and transparently investigate such an uncontroverted piece of evidence of Hon. Ablakwa should be anybodys conjuncture! But I hope to God it was not because to do so would have greatly injured the reputation and image of the institution of Parliament and equally also damaged the reputation and dignity of the Appointments Committee as the Committee and Parliament appeared at great pains to avoid. No transparent findings made on second Term of Reference The Committees second term of reference required it to: Establish whether there were attempts to bribe Members of Appointments Committee. The evidence of Hon. Mahama Ayariga on oath and the written memorandum of Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa contained in the report of the Committee state that they were each given Three Thousand Cedis (GHC3, 000) as bribe through the Minority Chief Whip needed to be cleared, even if Mr. Boakey Agyarko and/or the Chairman of the Appointments Committee were not demonstrated to have been the source of the bribe. Ghanaians need to know why a reasonable number of the members of the minority NDC would be lying for their Chief Whip if indeed they did not receive envelopes containing Three Thousand Cedis each from him. Definite statement by members of Parliament that they each received an amount of money from their Chief Whip cannot be a rumour as the Committee and Parliament disingenuously describe it. Unfortunately, the Committee failed to discharge the responsibility demanded by the second term of reference satisfactorily and transparently. The reputation of Parliament which the Committee sought to protect and the reputation of persons affected by any such defamatory statements outside Parliament has still been left open to question and suspicion of an attempt at an unconstitutional cover up of the facts. The Terms of Reference of the Committee did not charge or lay a complaint against any particular person against whom the Committee was to establish the bribery facts of public importance. The question may therefore be asked, upon what standard did the Committee find Hon. Mahama Ayariga guilty of contempt without making any finding whatsoever in respect of Ablordepey, Radio Gold, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and others whose defamatory statements and publications were also on the evaluative reasoning of the Committee in contempt of Parliament? The conduct of the Committee and Parliament, from the foregoing, clearly violates Article 12, 17, 19, 24, 103, 121, 122 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution by acting unfairly, capriciously and in a discriminatory manner against Hon. Mahama Ayariga who had also not been charged with any offence of contempt of Parliament before the Special Committee. It also clearly exhibits naked impunity and patent disregard of the Constitution and laws by the Committee and Parliament. The unconstitutional conduct of Parliament appears to have continued even after punishing the alleged contemnor. The Speaker is reported by Starr FM to have stated in concluding the proceeding punishing for contempt of Parliament that: I must also extend a warning to some four or five honourable members who deemed it proper to make untoward lies apparently in support of Ayariga regarding the conduct for which the Honourable Ayariga has now apologized. Nobody including Hon. Ayariga was ever indicted for defamation in facie or ex facie Parliament. The unconstitutional Committee set up by the Speaker did not find any other person guilty of contempt except the unconstitutional conclusion against the scapegoat, Hon Ayariga. So why did the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament issue a warning to faceless and unknown contemnors in a case in which his First Deputy Speaker was one of the subjects of an investigation. Does this not give credence to the perception that the intention was to intimidate the sovereign public from exercising their right to free speech in making allegations of impropriety against members of Parliament in defence of the Constitution? EPILOGUE I have had the privilege of schooling and several years of public service working with many members of the 7th Parliament who have always been men of great integrity, learning, and experience. I could not believe that they would knowingly condone such unconstitutionality by Parliament. I therefore interviewed some selected Members of Parliament to assure myself that I had not misapprehended the facts. Each of the Members of Parliament I interviewed from both sides of the House agreed with my analysis of the unconstitutionality of the conduct of the Committee and Parliament. When I pressed my interviewees on why they did not call attention to the unconstitutionality of the report on the floor of the House, the reply was that the procedure adopted on 30th March 2017 did not give any of them time to read the 44 page report that had been tabled and that if I had followed the proceedings I would have realized that no debate was allowed on the matter. Each of them referred me to what happened to Hon. Ayariga when he tried to raise objection to the jurisdiction of the Committee to find him guilty of contempt of Parliament. I have no reason to doubt any of them. I do understand the pressure group dynamics can bring to bear on group members not to fall out of line with the groups goals even when they are unconstitutional. On 10th April 2017 Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was reported to have granted an interview to one Yaa Titi on Top FM in which he reiterated that the allegation was nothing but the truth. The interview reported under the title: We acted to save the image of Parliament Ablakwa vindicates the contention that the Special Committees report and the conduct of Parliament transforming it into contempt proceedings is not only unconstitutional but also constitutes an unpardonable whitewash of the bribery allegations amounting to a raw abuse of power. It was reported that: The North Tongue (sic) legislator Hon Ablakwa, said Honourable Ayariga apologized to save the image of the 7th Parliament of the country in accordance with the statement by the Rt Hon Speaker about the need for Parliament to move on, on which basis they supported Hon Ayarigas apology, because to him (Hon Ablakwa) the minority does not want to be seen as problematic in the house. According to him, if the committee wanted to find out the real truth, they shouldnt have refused to call the witnesses he mentioned in his memo that he presented to the committee for questioning. He said when he recommended the CCTV camera evidence, the committee insisted it would tarnish the image of the house and that the public would get to know how the CCTV cameras installed in the house operates, which he claims is ridiculous. If that one is not evidence enough, what about the CCTV camera footage that was recommended? He added that, if the minority telling the truth to shield the House from further embarrassment is (sic) seen as liars, they have accepted it according to the Speakers call. (See Ghanaweb 10th April 2017). The constitutional oath of the Speaker and the oath of members of Parliament, from both sides of the House, were each abused and violated, according to the above report of the interview, just to protect suspected commission of the crime of bribery and corruption in Parliament in preference to transparently maintaining the institutional integrity of the legislature. The report of the interview also underscores why an independent and impartial investigation consistent with the 1992 Constitution appears to be the only solution to restoring the dignity and reputation of Parliament in this matter as it woefully refused or failed to behave like Caesars wife, beyond reproach and above suspicion, as demonstrated in the foregoing examination and analysis. Otherwise, lets frankly admit that the fight against bribery and corruption amongst the political elite in Ghana has become a mere political slogan for winning political power and signifies nothing. God Save Ghana! AMEN! AMEN! AND, AMEN! Martin A. B. K. Amidu (Citizens Vigilance for Justice) The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) over the week presented an award to the chief executive of Youth Enterprise Support (YES), Lawyer John Kumas including some Media houses and individuals who has in enormous ways helped the Union in the execution and support of student activism. The students body handed out the awards during this years international Entrepreneurship summit held at Legon with the theme Unlocking the Genius in you; Youth in Entrepreneurship. The media houses who were duly recognised at the political science department conference room in Ghanas premier university Legon saw Kessben media picking a glassy citation together with other media houses which included Atinka TV, Top TV, Ofie FM etc On the part of individuals who happens to be illustrious sons of this nation saw Lawyer John Kuma CEO of Youth Enterprise Service (YES), Mr Henry Nana Boakye deputy director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Chief Moomen a poet and playwright and Chief Creative Officer, Mr Courage Nobi Education activist and former NUGS general secretary , Mr Seth Twum Akwaboah CEO of association of Ghana industries (AGI) and Mr Peter K Kodji Secretary General all African Students Union and former NUGS president were all honoured with citations for their humongous support to the union. By Joseph Osei Oppong Brenya The police in the Eastern Region have arrested 14 suspects in connection with Monday's attack on the Somanya Police Station in the Yilo-Krobo Municipal capital. The suspects were put before the Koforidua High Court on Tuesday and were remanded into prison custody. Angry residents of Somanya on Monday went on rampage and vandalized the police station, setting free four alleged rioters who were in cells. It took the timely intervention of a military and police reinforcement team who fired warning shots to restore law and order. Tension had been mounting at Somanya after the Sawer Electoral Area assembly man, Dendenden a supposed ring leader reported to have masterminded last Friday's demonstration was arrested and sent to the regional police headquarters. Two people were injured in the standoff between the police and the residents. The Regional Police PRO, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh, who confirmed the arrest to DAILY GUIDE, said the police were making more arrests to bring the perpetrators to book. According to him, the suspects are currently in prison custody assisting in investigations. The suspects were arrested based on a number of offenses that were perpetrated, including rioting, causing damage, aiding the escape of suspects from lawful custody and causing unlawful harm. Some of the residents, DAILY GUIDE gathered, sustained injuries, and properties belonging to the state were destroyed. The unplanned demonstration was to protest against the 'outrageously' high utility bills charged the residents by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). ASP Ebenezer Tetteh said the assembly member was being held in custody for unlawful damage and demonstrating without a permit, adding that he would be prosecuted if investigation revealed incontrovertible evidence against him. You can imagine that if the police had not taken the action, other people elsewhere would have done samewe are going to ensure that those who are planning attacks are clamped down, he assured. He claimed the troubled town was calm upon the deployment of police reinforcement from Akosombo and Koforidua, assuring that adequate security measures had been put in place to forestall further breach of the peace in the area. According to him, four suspected criminals namely, Kwesi Danso, remanded for allegedly defrauding by false pretenses; Kwesi Amoako, Nicholas Tetteh and Tetteh Damatey both of who have been charged for stealing were detained by the police but were freed by the irate youth. But the Yilo Krobo Member of Parliament, Magnus Kofi Amoatey, said the police were to blame for what happened in the area. Clearly, the police were not ready for the attack that came today [Monday], he said, adding that the law enforcers should have prepared before launching the operation. From Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua On Friday 26th of May 2017, Brixton Village became the centre of attraction and attention as its business district opens its arms and doors in welcoming local retailers, stall-holders, traders, and other business counterparts who make the Brixton economy tick and roll as far as business and trading is concerned. It was the official launch of 'Love Your Local Market Brixton 2017' an initiative that seeks to bolster the image and development of businesses within Brixton as a business district. In as much as the Brixton Improvement District is important, it is tagged along the 'Love Your Local Market' campaign, which is a national campaign that seeks to re-ignite Brixton's market culture and encourage young and aspiring entrepreneurs to work alongside Brixton's veteran traders. The event started with a 'VIP' breakfast that saw patrons coming in and out of several restaurants that abound within the market enclave. Having mine at the Express Cafe was such a blessing, as I was fabulously looked after by the chef himself Mr Jem. And in conversation with him about the state of business, he said business is good despite the fact he has to put in extra efforts of opening seven days a week. The official address of the event was delivered by the deputy Mayor of Lambeth, Cllr Guilherme Rosa who was very happy to be associated with the event. Describing his feelings about the new image and developmental projects of Brixton under his watch he said:I think it is really fantastic, I am a big fan of Brixton and always has been since I arrived in Brixton. I have seen the area growing, improving and getting better but always keeping the same essence: multi-cultural and lively. And I think it's a big approach and an important leap forward in bringing more people to create cohesion in the community of Lambeth. The occasion was also used to facilitate the access to establishing businesses that will boom the economy of Brixton to the admiration of its traders, local residents and visitors alike. Helen Hayes, the Labour candidate for Dulwich and West Norwood in the up coming general election, as an invited dignitary, used the opportunities of the day to enumerate several challenges encountering Brixton's progress as a district. Given her clear knowledge of the area and its challenges. And as to how these challenges are to be met and fixed, she said: We have some big challenges at the moment for local businesses, whether small business traders or retailers in our town centre. Because, the government has introduce a reform and revaluation of business rate, and many businesses are saying no, their bills have gone up by a really huge amount with their business rates, by sometimes three or four-folds of increase in their bills. A lot of our small businesses work on very small profits and small margins, they are individuals or families trying to make a living, and these increases, are just not fair for the unfair hit. When you come to Brixton its our small businesses that make Brixton special and its our small businesses that are the heart of our communities, and at the moment we are saying quite frankly, it is an attack on our small businesses and we have to speak up about that. We have to be saying to the government, it is not acceptable for treating our businesses this way. She seems to be very optimistic in the coming general election with some measured plans to tackle most of the challenges facing Brixton and its related communities when voted into power as a Labour candidate, saying I am hoping very very much to have the privileged to continue to represent this community in parliament. And when I get voted, the business rate campaign that I have been speaking about would be looked at, as well as the other issues such as rising rents, the way the increase in the property market is affecting businesses and residents here in the private sector in this area. And I think we need to do more about that, and the government needs to do more to regulate and protect the things that make Brixton special. And we have got some challenges around our transport connections and the over-crowding on the tubes, buses and the pollution on Brixton roads, all of these things need a strong championing in parliament and that is what I hope to do. Speaking about how the new image and re-development has increased sales for Kumasi Market Mr Matthias, the supervisor of Kumasi Market Brixton branch, an Afro-Caribbean grocery trading company said: Of course this re-development has indeed brought a lot of customers and extra income to our business. Because if you look at the development of the area, a lot of people are coming to Brixton to see what is happening and in so doing, it has increase the amount of customers that we already have, and I thank the authorities for that initiative. Mixing business with pleasure were some children from Bishop Sumner Church Of England Primary School, who really took the pleasure in playing their Steel Pans rhythmically to the joy and happiness of most participating audience. The African Union (AU) celebrated its 54th AU Day on 25 May 2017 themed Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through investments in Youth. The Centre for African Democratic Affairs (CADA) congratulates AU and all the African people and also urge every citizens on the continent to join the moving watchdog vehicles and not just see themselves as passengers, commentators and pedestrians. Over the last decade or so, AU has created a number of initiatives to consolidate its democratisation efforts on the continent whilst striving so hard in building a solid foundation for sustainable and inclusive development. Its most famous efforts, the Charter on Democracy and the innovative African Peer Review Mechanism, may not be able to prevent rogue behaviour by individual corrupt leaders, but they are helping in setting standards and opening the political space to the majority of their citizens. Unfortunately, both initiatives are currently going through rough times, with the Review Mechanism lacking a prominent champion, and the Charter still not ratified. CADA much-admired this years theme but will to stress that investments made today in the youth, who represent Africas greatest asset, will determine the development trajectory of the continent in the next 50 years and position the continent towards realizing the Africa We Want, a strong, united and influential global player and partner as envisioned in Agenda 2063. To achieve the objective of harnessing the demographic dividend through investments in African youth, CADA will like to urge leaders on the continent to intensify their efforts in address rising social and economic inequalities and ensure that no African is left behind. The annual event should undoubtedly offers an opportunity to reflect on its history, liberation struggle, economic and social development, and a celebration of its rich and diverse cultures that seek to promote good governance and development, fight corruption and embrace social protection and promote peaceful coexistence. In the opinion of CADA, one must not lose focus that high rates of unemployment, lack of political participation, gender inequalities and deep imbalances in the distribution of local level resources, accentuated by political patronage, lie at the heart of the continents failing democracies and will definitely hamper the achievement of the theme if nothing is done to address corruption on the continent. Youth and women are among the most marginalized populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Africans below the age of 35 account for 65% of Africas total population, yet their unemployment rate, at 27%, stands at twice the world average. In moving forward, CADA is of the view that it is crucial to tackle the root causes of corruption and conflict, terrorism and violent extremism, and foster peace and stability which will eventually put hopes in the faces of the African youth. CADA believes that the private sector had a key role to play in harnessing the demographic dividend through investments in youth by creating jobs, promoting innovation in technologies and services, and supporting the infrastructure transition needed to fulfil Africas sustainable development objectives. In the opinion of CADA, there is an opportunity for the continent to pursue industrialisation in a more environmentally sustainable manner through climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy and arresting deforestation by resisting the ongoing neo-colonialism including China-sation. There is no doubt that AU has created many frameworks and normative instruments to achieve an inclusive, democratic and prosperous continent yet there are more to achieve despite the many challenges ahead regarding effectively ensuring that critical norms and laws become a reality for African people. CADA believes that this cannot happen without the collaborative efforts of the governments, civil society organisations and other stakeholders including the private sector. CADA recommends that African leaders will as a matter of urgency place an emphasis and focus on the youth and the womens rights as it is their fundamental obligation and also make economic sense since at least investing in the youth and women on the continent guarantee sustainable peace, community stability and cohesion that will ensure and consolidate the continents efforts of harnessing the demographic dividend through investments in youth. There is no doubt that investing in youth will contributes to the prosperity of families, communities and the continent and also support the strive to harness the demographic dividend through investments in youth. Congratulation once again to all African people!! Thank you. .Signed Frank Adarkwah-Yiadom Executive Director, CADA Nairobi (AFP) - Four police officers were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in southeastern Kenya, a week after 14 others died in similar attacks claimed by Shabaab Islamists, a police source said Wednesday. "We have lost four officers in this attack that also killed another person. The vehicle drove on an IED (improvised explosive device)," a senior police officer in the coastal Lamu district near the Somali border, told AFP on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear if the fifth person, a civilian, was in or near the vehicle at the time. According to a police report seen by AFP, the vehicle was carrying seven officers when it drove over the device in the southeastern town of Baure. Two of the officers are missing. Last week 14 officers were killed in three separate blasts involving roadside bombs in different regions of northeastern Kenya along the border with Somalia. The Shabaab, a Somali-led jihadist group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Inspector General Joseph Boinnet of the Kenyan police warned more attacks were likely during the holy month of Ramadan. Since 2007, the Shabaab has fought to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Somalia but began attacking Kenya in 2011 after Nairobi ordered its troops into Somalia to fight the militants. Kenyan soldiers are now part of a 22,000-member African Union mission fighting there. In 2013, Shabaab gunmen raided a shopping mall in the capital Nairobi killing 67 people, and in 2015 a similar attack on a university in Garissa left 148 dead. The District Chief Executive of Upper Denkyira West has no business handling the security of the area after his unguarded comment about the murder of The Late Captain Martin Adam Mahama. At a time when the entire nation mourned the unfortunate death of the young Captain who had left his family in Accra to serve Ghana in Denkyira, the DCE was busy spewing lies about the murdered soldier to justify the brutality of the people. As someone assigned to represent the President at the District and be the head of security in the area, even if that was the case, he could have exercised a certain level of professionalism and empathy in addressing the issue. No soldier assigns himself, he follows orders. Even if he was protecting the illegal miners, the best person to have acted should have been the DCE who is the head of security in the area. President Akufo Addo campaigned on the mantra of competence and assured the people of Ghana that he was going to give us responsive and sensitive leadership along with likeminded people. In view of this, anyone whose conduct and competence contradicts the views of people about our president should have no place in his team because that is not the team he promised us and that is not what Ghanaians voted for. While President Akufo Addo was condemning the act and assuring the people of Ghana that the law will take it cause, his representative in the area was justifying the murder and trying to give us reasons that the people didnt have much choice. The Denkyira West DCE clearly lacks the competence and intelligence to lead the district and this should not be overlooked by the president Thankfully, the Minister for Defence, Hon Dominic Nitiwul rebuked him and directed him to keep mute and stop spewing the lies because he had evidence to the effect that the soldiers were there to fight galamsey. I hope it doesnt end there. Any reasonable person knows that soldiers work under command and dont move without instructions. In view of this, even if they were deployed there to protect Chinese Miners who have license but gone beyond the space of their license to do illegal mining, it was the responsibility of the DCE to call them to order or report them because legally, he is the president of that District and Head of the District Security Counsel. He cannot use that as the basis to justify the murder of the young man because his death had nothing to do with the mining We have too many talk-before-you-think people in our politics and it is high time a signal is sent that the leaders view, however daft it is cannot be taken for granted You dont grant an interview because a radio station called you, you have to think through the issue, juxtapose your view against the fact and anticipate how it can help the issues before you are agree to speak or decline the offer for another time when you have full grasp of the issue Hon Daniel Appianin who I in all honesty struggled to attach the title honourable to cant head the District Security Counsel. He must go for a wiser leader to man the place because from what is being gathered, the area has security issues and this man of all people cant be the one handed the responsibility of securing them. In leadership, wisdom is a principal thing: Daniel Appianin appears to lack that and competence and not fit for Competent Nanas government. Isaac Kyei Andoh [email protected] Our country is once again mourning the death of an illustrious son,Captain Maxwell Mahama.It's shocking!And even more shocking as captain Mahama of the 5 Battalion of infantry was a victim of a mistake of an unjustified mob justice. He was lynched by some locals of the Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region of Ghana whilst on military detachment in the area.In what can be described as inhumane enough,his body was burnt after being stoned to death by the locals who claimed they mistook him for an armed robber.What a misthinking!What kind of heart do these people have.Such heartless rapscallions! Whilst I join the rest of Ghanaians to commiserate with the family;especially,the wife and children of this hero of our time,I wish to employ all well meaning Ghanaians to join the call for the necessary justice to be served in this case.It's probably,the biggest gift we can offer as fare-thee-well to the soul of our late brother.This case should not end like any of the other cases. But come to think of it,do you really think this is the first time a mob has taken the law into their own hands and visited such untimely death on well meaning citizens of our land?In this era of rule of law(not rule of mob) and nearly strengthened institutions of state,do you really think it's necessary for a mob to take the law into their own hands and commit such acts with impunity? Today,the rather painful murder of our brother is making all the news headlines and attracting attention because of one reason-he was a dignified army officer.He was an asset to our nation.You know how we respect soldiers in Ghana! But as we still continue to mourn,have you ever wondered the number of people who have suffered similar ill-fate in the name of so-called mob justice?Maybe they are in tens,thousands and millions.I guess you didn't hear or you didn't "saw".I just guess such cases have not been witnessed in your community whilst we look on,and some times endorsed such acts.Beat him! Kill him!He is the criminal in the town!They have been albatross on our neck for so long a time...."So kill am;beat am". Probably,you didn't hear of their cases because,they didn't command respect in society.They were ordinary people like you and I.They were tagged by self acclaimed law enforcement agencies as the "usual thieves", and killed instantly.Maybe because of a goat,sheep,fowl,bicycle,motto inter alia.Maybe you didn't hear of these cases not because you didn't want to hear but because, these people were presumed as commoners in society. You deliberately forgot the common biblical proposition,"All men are created equal." But come to also think of it,....Why do you think a mob will take the law into their own hands and commit such atrocious acts with immunity? It's simple!Lack of trust in our justice system.You will often hear such people say,sending such victims to the court or police station for proper interrogation and fact funding will amount to freeing them automatically.It will amount to no punishment, although, such people may be found culpable of such crimes.This is usually the cliche. Permit me to state here that,this is where our institutions must wake-up to the realisation that they are letting society down by their actions and inactions.Anarchy and destruction with impunity would continue to be the order of the day insofar as societal perception of our institutions of law continue to sink.It's just a wake-up call to our institutions,especial of law. We don't want any startling revelations by Anas Aremeyaw Anas again.We don't want any vigilantism any longer:Invincible Forces,Delta Forces, Azorka Boy's,Bolga Bull Dogs must take a cue.Let our institutions work and win back public trust,else... Indeed,the gruesome murder of the humble servant of our land,Captain Maxwell Mahama of blessed memory has thought us a bitter lesson.Unfortunate as it is,but it has sounded the wake-up alarm for us all to begin to discourage mob justice from our society.The law must take its cause no matter the confidence so lost in same.We make the law and the law make us.Hence,the law mirrors society.Let's build the law the way we want it. Join the campaign to end mob justice now!Remember,it could be you! I pray,however,that justice is served to the family of late Captain Maxwell Mahama. May the good Lord bless us all. The writer is a teacher by profession,a freelance journalist,youth advocate,blogger/writer and a student at the University of Ghana Business School pursuing Bachelor of Science in Administration with a major in Public Administration. Read more of his works on ( ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com ). By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(AB) (The Village Writer) 0241129910/0200704844 We must always defend the position which our fathers won - civil and religious liberty, free speech, the right to combine, local democracy, parliamentary institutions, and our great legacy of exercising our franchise - we must also take the offensive. Democracy, rightly understood, is a dynamic ideas.It implies that every man ( Ghanaian) whatever his political affiliation, or creed,should be given equal opportunity of realising the best that is in him.It also implies that every man has a personal responsibility for the welfare of the community in which he lives. People laid down their lives for the actualisation of what I have proudly enumerated, journalists we incarcerated, politicians went to exile,others lost their lives all in the name of helping to restore democracy in Ghana. This morning listening to some Radio Stations, I felt very disappointed and sad I had to put off my radio to end the pain I was going through listening to my fellow Ghanaians. About 90% of people who called into the various radio shows, called for the return of the military to take over governance in the Ghana. Last week I vehemently condemned the demonstration organised by Captain Smart and his friends. I warned our politicians to stop this emerging trend before Captain and his friends who are pursuing their personal agenda, they all get consumed it. I reminded them of how the 1979 coup happened and why the masses gave that coup the massive support. President Kufour addressing npp delegates in 2007advised them to avoid the danger of voting for a leader whose attitude could bring back the military, a leader whose actions could create divisions in the NPP. When I heard the callers demanding for the return of the military, my mind immediately moved to that statement by the former President. In one of my letters to the President, I stated that - each of us ,without yielding up any conviction,must realise that the other fellow has also a right to his belief. Just after his inauguration, I advised the President that the majority must not use its power as a heedless steam roller ,but wherever possible should accommodate the minority interest and feeling, and the minority accept the majority decision. Tolerance in democracy is very important and must be protected by all the players. You cannot compete effectively against your opponent if you don't have adequate information on ( about) his history and modus operandi. The current Npp administration is exhibiting and practicing real NLM/UP traits and doing that with dexterity. Former President Rawlings made a statement at Cape Coast about how the UP tradition operates and I will respectively advise all to solemnly ponder over that statement vis-a-vis happenings in the country today. We have read enough about the terrible treatment the tradition took Nkrumah through. The Delta Force, Invisible forces, Bolga Bulldog etc operating as vigilante groups of the party is not a new phenomenon. Same vigilante groups were established during the independence struggle, after independence, more were established including the deadly "Action troppere" to fight Nkrumah and his CPP. These groups were offered special training at Tafo and their leaders were permanently stationed at Tafo where bombs were prepared and fired on CPP elements. Nehru and other high profile global icons advised Nkrumah to introduce the PDA to curb the emerging danger after independence. The NLM elements worked their way into the security agencies and started using people like E.R.T Madjitey who was the IGP who replaced Arthur Lewin Alexander. Madjitey was among the six police officers who were removed from office in connection with the assassination attempt on Nkrumah. Homes of CPP elements were barricaded by these NLM elements, Kofi Banda was shot by a gunman, Krobo Edusei's sister was murdered and many other ugly incidents. Who were the main organisers of these dastardly acts? We know of Ampofo who was lynched after attacking CPP elements at a CPP rally.Ampofo was a son of Sir Ofori-Atta and half brother of Nana's mother. He recruited fighters from Adoagyire, Sakyikrom and other places around Kyebi to attack CPP elements. I am not in anyway suggesting that there is a grand plan to reintroduce this phenomenon into our body politic, my problem is the deliberate attempt to empower these hoodlums with the kind of utterances we hear from powerful persons in the ruling party and failure on the part of the President to act beyond rhetorics. Too much talking, less practical action to curb escalation of this danger. We quote law and legal thesis and works of judges to justify what our instincts tell us are inhuman and cruel forgetting that if we allow our political egos to supersede realism,we will one day find our law books irrelevant because of kangaroo laws and decrees. This madness ( Maxwell Mahama's murder etc) began from somewhere. We emboldened these hoodlums with our words of assurance and covert supports, we watched and watching formation and operation of these vigilante groups thrive, we offer them governmental support in the name of party affiliation, a journalists will sit on radio,use his platform to organise people to demonstrate and won people they are coming to their homes to arrest them in the name of "Citizens arrest" and you see and hear people who should know better, offer support to this madness when we know and have heard how miscreants use social media and Radio to create serious crisis in other countries. My advice to the opposition is that it is better they go back and steadily, study what Nkrumah went through and strategies the CPP adopted to curb similar treatment unleashed on Ghanaians and the CPP. Allow them to use all the medical terms in the medical dictionary to describe your state of mind,whether dementia or whatever, just stay focused and know their operation techniques and how to clamp down their unconventional operations to save and protect our democracy. If the President seriously want to end this emerging canker, then he must immediately come out with a strong statement disbanding vigilantism in our body politic. Any other move without disbanding operations of these hoodlums must be deemed cosmetic, mere rhetorics to daze the masses. The people who killed the young soldier were motivated by activities of these vigilante groups,the beating of the regional security head, beating of the policeman at the flagstaff House, seizure of vehicles, chasing out of court of a judge and how these mad dogs were freed by the Court in the name of political solidarity. Scores of individuals and corporate institutions queued to donate generously to support the construction of an emergency maternity block at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi. The Head of Despite Group of Companies, Osei Kwame Despite, topped the donors' list as he donated GH200,000 to support the construction of the health facility. Top dignitaries at the function, including the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and his wife, Lady Julia, First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Second Lady Samira Bawumia were thrilled over the donations. The donors were seen in long queues as they donated cash, building materials and other equipment needed to make the construction a success. The Asantehene and the first lady expressed appreciation to all the donors for the level of patronage. Held at the Manhyia Palace, the donation for the construction of the medical facility was spearheaded by Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and it is to help raise a total of GH10 million in Accra and Kumasi. The facility will be completed in four months' time. The project which is being facilitated by the Rebecca Foundation, owned by the first lady, is code named as 'Save a Child, Save a Mother' and it is intended to stop rampant deaths of mothers and children at KATH. Other prominent donors during the Sunday's event were Special Ice, GH 150,000, and Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) chairman, GH 100,000. Others were Access Bank, GH 100,000; Tobinco Pharmaceuticals, GH 100,000; NIB, GH100,000; Angel Group of Companies, GH100,000; Kessben Group of Companies, GH 100,000; Adade Mensah, GH 20,000 and Champion Divine Clinic, GH 20,000. Mrs Akufo-Addo assured that aside the construction of the emergency maternity block, her foundation would also work assiduously to support other health facilities to boost healthcare in the country. Lady Julia Osei Tutu, wife of the Asantehene, on her part, lauded the first lady for leading a crusade to start a project that would stop the deaths of mothers and children at KATH. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The Board of Directors of uniBank, a leading indigenous bank, has appointed Dr. Kwabena Duffour II as the new Managing Director. He takes over from Felix Nyarko-Pong, whose tenure ends on 1st June, 2017 after leading the bank from 2012. By the foregoing, Dr Duffuor II's appointment takes effect from 1st June, 2017. Before his appointment to his new position, Dr Duffuor II was the Chief Operating Officer of the bank. Ever since he rejoined the bank in 2012 as an Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, he has assisted the MD to steer the affairs of management team. He has also helped the bank to attain its current enviable position within the banking industry. The affable, energetic and vibrant Dr Duffuor II comes with a new touch of zeal, and is expected to lead the bank to new heights. Kwabena Duffuor II holds a PhD in Finance, an Msc Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School, City of London, UK, and a degree in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Southampton. He has over nine years' banking experience both locally and internationally. He was formerly with the Ghana International Bank Plc, uniBank Ghana Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank and worked in various departments such as Retail Banking, Treasury Operations and Credit Risk Management. Police in the Bole District of the Northern Region have arrested four persons in connection with the killing of a money doubler at Tinga. Information available to DAILY GUIDE indicates that two of the suspects reported themselves at the police station. The two other suspects were arrested upon a tipoff from some residents in the area who saw them in town. District Police Commander ASP David Azumah who confirmed the arrest to DAILY GUIDE, said the suspects are currently in police custody. According to him, the police had decided to withhold the names of the suspect for investigation purposes and so could not give out the names. He stated that after police investigation, the suspects would be arraigned before the Bole court. Reports suggested that the money doubler lodged in a hotel at Tinga, took GH500 and a cock from a young man in the guise of performing some rituals to double money for him. After the person whose money was taken failed to get back his money in three days after several appeals, he allegedly mobilized his friends and went to the house of the money doubler, reportedly manhandled him and then reported him to a local vigilante group which had been mandated by the community to patrol Tinga, a small scale mining community noted for armed robbery and other social vices. The vigilante group, according to ASP David Azumah, forcefully sent the money doubler to the caretaker chief of the Tinga community called Alhaji Ofori and after interrogating him (doubler), chief asked that he should be freed. Later the following day, the body of the money doubler was found in the bush near Tinga. The body has been deposited at the Bole Hospital for autopsy. FROM Eric Kombat, Bole THREE TEENAGERS who allegedly used acid to injure their victims before robbing them of their valuables are firmly in police grips. The three suspects were identified by the police in Kumasi as Mohammed Sulley, 18; Abubakar Sadick, 19 and nineteen-year-old Ibrahim Issah. The suspects stormed Aputuogya near Kumasi, where they reportedly robbed some people of their valuables, after which they were nabbed by the police. Offensive weapons such as a locally manufactured pistol, two live cartridges, two knives and two tricycle ignition keys, were found on them. The police suspect that the hoodlums used the acid and the locally manufactured pistol to injure their victims before robbing them. Ashanti Regional Police Commander DCOP Ken Yeboah said the police also found 10 Tramadol tablets, two eye drops and a container, in which the acid was stored. According to him, the suspects had admitted the offence and had also been identified by some of their victims in the past. Speaking at a press conference, the police chief disclosed that the three suspects were still being investigated before eventually being arraigned before court of competent jurisdiction. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The murder of Captain Maxwell Mahama has expectedly shaken the nation. We are lost for words in expressing our shock and disappointment in the behaviour of some Ghanaians in recent times. Many persons have lost their lives under circumstances defying logic. The stupidity of lynching has never been clearer. For those who believe in the theory that the Captain was murdered because of mistaken identity, let them make do with the foregone. Although we doubt this theory, we wish to state that it is dangerous to allow lynching to become part of our culture. There have been instances when innocent persons were murdered just because somebody regarded them as robbers. Visitors arriving in a town for the first time and unable to locate their final destinations could be regarded as robbers, especially in the aftermath of a fresh robbery, and descended upon. The civilized thing to do when a person is suspected to be a robber is to manage to overcome him where possible, and hand him over to the police. In extreme circumstances such as when under an attack, the dynamics are certainly different and the reaction should vary for sure. Coming to the heartbreaking story of Captain Mahama, we can vouch that he was murdered because he was commanding a detachment of soldiers engaged in the galamsey war. President Akufo-Addo has served notice already that soldiers are going to fight this necessary war. The gruesome murder of the Captain should serve as an appropriate crossing of swords by the galamsey players with the rest of us. To be forewarned is to be forearmed and we call on civilized Ghanaians to regard all galamsey operatives and their foreign associates as enemies who should be exposed and demobilized with all the means at our disposal. Anything short of this would be shooting ourselves in the foot something we cannot afford to do now. Our environment and therefore, lives, are under threat. We are at war with these wicked and heartless persons who would kill just so they can continue to rape our environment. The murder of this young officer with lots of promise should be avenged by a ruthless attack on all galamsey sites. The best tribute that we can pay for his soul is to stamp out galamsey. Let all security agencies engaged in the galamsey war understand that they are fighting a ruthless group who would kill them if they lose their guards. All persons going on such operations should arm themselves to the teeth especially since the engagement is without clearly marked frontiers. We appreciate very much the anger and frustration of soldiers who would rather they are allowed to march on Denkyira Oboase. Even as we understand their anguish and stand with them shoulder to shoulder, we would ask that they allow the rule of law to dwarf emotions. Under such circumstances we should not lose our thinking caps as this could set a very dangerous precedence. The assemblyman has a case to answer his narration leaving lots of gaps. Having been called by a woman about a man armed with a pistol and he rushing there sounds interesting and rich. Upon arrival the deceased trained the weapon on him as he fled the scene to report to the Police. When the law enforcement agents arrived he had been lynched. Cock-and-bullish we dare say. For a small town such as the one under review, the Commander of a platoon of soldiers having been in town for three weeks should be known to the assemblyman for sure. The various corruption allegations surfacing are proof that the Mahama administration was far more corrupt than previously thought, former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof Stephen Adei has said at a Business Roundtable organised by Yamson and Associates in Accra on Wednesday, 31 May. Do you know why many people want to be politicians? Its because that is the quickest way to get rich in this country, Prof Adei said, adding: We are yet to know the facts because we are not the investigators but the types of things that are being revealed about the amount of corruption [are mind-boggling]. National Communication Authority graft So far three appointees of former President John Mahama are being investigated by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for allegedly diverting some $4million belonging to the National Communications Authority (NCA). The three appointees, according to Information Minister Mustapha Hamid, conspired with a private citizen to commit the act. The former Mahama appointees being investigated, as named by Mr Hamid in an interview with Joy FMs Kojo Yankson on Wednesday, 24 May, include Mr Eugene Baffoe-Bonney, former Board Chairman of the NCA; Mr William Tevie, former Chief Executive Officer of the NCA; and Alhaji Osman, former Deputy National Security Coordinator. Their conspirator, according to Mr Hamid is one George Oppong. Mr Hamid said they engaged in the graft in connection with a contract between the Mahama administration and an Israeli company, NSO Group Technology Limited, in which the latter was to supply eavesdropping gadgets worth $6 million. The equipment were meant to help the government of Ghana monitor the calls of suspected terrorists. In the course of the transaction, Mr Hamid said a local agent Infraloks Development Limited charged $2million as facilitation fee, bringing the total amount to $8million. According to Mr Hamid, National Security, which did not have the funds for the equipment, allowed the NCA, which supervises the use of such equipment, to fund the project. The NCA top officials, he revealed, withdrew $4 million from the NCAs kitty but gave only $1million to the Israeli firm. The surplus, according to Mr Hamid, was deposited into the personal accounts of Mr George Oppong, who fronted as an agent of Infraloks Development Ltd. He said Alhaji Osman orchestrated the entire deal. According to Mr Hamid, demands by the Israeli firm to be paid the $5 million balance after the Mahama administration lost power in the December 2016 elections prompted the new Akufo-Addo government to probe the transaction after which the graft was detected. Mr Hamid said: They took $4 million from NCA accounts and paid $1 million to the Israeli company and then deposited $3 million in the accounts of the local agent, one Mr George Oppong, and proceeded to share the $3million among themselves. Mr Hamid gave the breakdown of the share of the $3 million as follows: Mr. Eugene Baffoe-Bonney took $200,000; George Oppong took $100,000; William Tevie got $150,000, Alhaji Osman received $70,000 while one other person got $500,000. Mr Hamid revealed that Mr Oppong has refunded $1 million while Mr Baffoe-Bonney promised to refund $40,000 as of last week. He said the others have also promised to refund every cent. BNI hasnt even decided at this stage because they believe that the money must be returned. If they succeed in retrieving the money then they will decide their next action, Mr Hamid said. According to him, the transaction was a clear case of top officials colluding to plunder the state coffers. The reason why this is a classic case of 'create, loot and share' is thatit was basically Alhaji Osman, acting as Deputy National Security Coordinator, who spearheaded this deal. People cannot just go and open a state vault and take whatever that is in there, Mr Hamid lamented. Ghana Standards Authority graft Also, it was revealed recently that the former CEO of the Ghana Standards Board, Dr George Crentsil, took a bribe worth $1.2million from Lemet Construction Company, the firm that was awarded a contract to build a new training school and hostel facility for the institution under the Mahama administration. Speaking on this matter in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Tuesday May 23, PRO of GSA, Mr Kofi Amponsah Bediako said the revelation had opened a can of worms on other alleged dubious deals that were undertaken by Dr Crentsil. Mr Amponsah Bediako said Dr Crentsil and his family dipped their hands into the coffers of the Ghana Standards Authority and made away with those monies. Some of us long suspected that some dubious deals were being undertaken but we did not have any concrete evidence or basis to confirm our suspicions, so we all kept quiet. According to Prof Adei, these revelations appear to be the tip of the iceberg, which betray how endemic corruption was in the Mahama administration beyond his imagination. You know, the last six months of Mahamas regime, every month I gave a boom speech; it was not in support of NPP or anything. Why? Because I was convinced that they had reached a point whereby their continued being in office is not good for Ghana. I talked about corruption once, and now looking back, even the little tips we are hearing means that it was far more than anyone of us suspected. Never in our nation have we seen official hijacking [of the] state for private gain. And I hear that when you go and you say something is for GHS1 million, he says: Please get away with your nonsense, go and make it GHS5million. Then once those to protect the money say: Go and make it five. Hell give you GHS1 million, he will take GHS3 million and GHS1 million is for your original one, Prof Adei said. He warned the Akufo-Addo government not to go the way of the Mahama administration. I hope that you the NPP people are not going to follow suit but that you are going to do not an NPP-NDC battle, but systematic legal investigation because we must deal with the past surgically. Government's ongoing fight against illegal small-scale mining commonly called 'galamsey' has led to significant improvement in the production of potable water in the country, according to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). GWCL noted that the fight against galamsey by government and media coalition has yielded positive results in the country. According to the management of GWCL, the water situation in the country could be enhanced if all stakeholders get involved in the fight against illegal mining. Prior to that, GWCL bemoaned the negative effects of illegal mining on its production, as it was producing 40 percent below its national production capacity. The company mentioned that almost all of its major treatment plants across the country had been shutdown, explaining that their production has been hit in the Eastern and Western Regions. Our major treatment plants have been affected in almost every region. Notable among them are Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti Region, Greater Accra, Volta. The Eastern Region is worse, Western Region is terrible and Central Region is also faced with similar challenges. So almost every major treatment plant that we have in the country is somehow being affected, he said. Mr. Martey further noted that some of their plants are producing below 40 percent capacity. Averagely in the country, we are producing about 60 percent of the capacity of our treatment plants. There are some treatment plants that are producing below 40 percent, some are around 60 percent and some are slightly above 60 percent, so I will say averagely 60 percent, GWCL noted. It is not the best, it is not cost-effective, but we still have to supply water to our people so we are doing all that we can to ensure that our people have access to water. But with some of the treatment plants, it's not cost effective at all to be treating water at this time, he added. Head of Corporate Communications at the Ghana Water Company Limited, Stanley Martey yesterday pointed out that the company has seen great improvement in its water production and supply following a massive campaign against illegal mining. According to him, the recent fight against illegal small-scale mining popularly known as 'galamsey' is yielding positive results. He noted that stakeholders must not relent in their efforts to address 'galamsey' to sustain the production of quality water for Ghanaians. Head of Corporate Communications noted that the situation could further improve if the fight against galamsey is sustained. We've seen some improvement and we are happy about the campaign against 'galamsey' activities. I hope that it will all be sustainedIf it is not sustained and the galamsey activity starts again, we are going to face the same challenge. He further called for the enforcement of regulations on illegal mining to protect the country's water resources to ensure that the progress made is not reversed. Owing the sustained fight against galemsey, water treatment plants at Kyebi, Dabuasi and Odaso, which were shutdown due to pollution, have been reopened. Residents in aforementioned catchment areas would now enjoy potable water. From Vincent Kubi, Tema The embattled Medical Director of the Ridge Regional Hospital, Dr Thomas Anaba, has gone through with his word to sue the government over his dismissal. In a writ filed at the Supreme Court, Dr Anaba prayed the court to issue an order declaring that the decision of the minister of health contained in the letter dated 10th May 2017 was unlawful and therefore null and void and of no effect whatsoever. He also asked for an order reinstating the applicant to the position of medical director, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ridge in Ghana Health Service or to an equivalent position in the Ghana Health Service without a reduction in the rank and other conditions of service. Dr Anaba's appointment was supposed to last till 2020, and had the option to re-apply but has been revoked by Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang-Manu. According to the minister, Dr Anaba who was appointed by former President John Mahama is no longer useful at the facility. I transferred him because he is no longer useful for me to manage the new facility he can never refuse to leave that position, let him so try it we will take over our place. We have not employed him, he is a Lecturer at the University so he should go back to the University to lecture because they are still paying him, and if they are not in need of him, they wouldn't be still paying him, he told a local radio station. However, I have requested for explanations why they dismissed me while I'm planning to either handover if they want or I continue. Medical directors are not appointed by director generals or ministers. They are appointed by a council and we don't have a council and besides you have to be interviewed, Dr Anaba explained. I have written to my legal team and we have written to them and we are giving ourselves sometime to follow, he was quoted. By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri President Akufo-Addo says it is in the economic interest of Ghana and her enterprises for the process of West African integration to succeed, and become real as soon as possible. According to President Akufo-Addo, his programme for Ghana's social and economic transformation, spurred on by a monetary policy that will stabilise the currency and reduce significantly the cost of borrowing, the introduction of a raft of tax cuts, and the shifting of the focus of Ghana's economy from taxation to production, should make Ghanaian businesses competitive in West Africa, Africa, and beyond. As the empowered Ghanaian businesses become stronger and more successful, they will need bigger markets. West Africa has a market of 350 million, which will expand to 500 million people in 20 years. This means that a genuine regional market in West Africa should be in our economic interest, for it will present immense opportunities to bring prosperity to the peoples in our region, with hard work, creativity and enterprise. The time for West African integration is now, he said. President Akufo-Addo added that a functioning, common regional market in ECOWAS, has to be a very fundamental objective of Ghanaians, and, indeed, of all the peoples and governments of West Africa, and reiterated, once again, his commitment to do whatever I can to strengthen the ECOWAS community. The President maintained that when we think of West Africa and Africa before our individual countries, we are not just being pan-Africanists, we are being true nationalists, because what makes West Africa better will make each of our individual countries better and more prosperous. He thus urged all who believe in regional integration to give enthusiastic support to Community decisions and inspire confidence and integrity in the structural organs of ECOWAS. Our people deserve no less, and the dream of prosperity will be within our grasp. President Akufo-Addo made this known on Tuesday, 30th May, 2017, when he delivered a speech on the occasion of the 42nd Anniversary of ECOWAS Day, at an event organised by the Centre for Regional Integration Africa, at the Best Western Premier Hotel, Airport, Accra. Follow EU example Citing the processes which led to the establishment of the European Union (EU), the President noted that the EU, which has one currency and the free movement of goods, services and people across twenty-seven countries, has a nominal GDP of 16.5 trillion US dollars, making it the second largest economy by GDP in the world. The single currency, the EURO, has increased efficiency, lowered the cost of doing business and improved transparency in pricing. The overall effect has been to make Europe a much stronger economic and political player on the world stage, he added. On the other hand, ECOWAS was established in 1975 to boost inter-regional commerce and co-operation, with the clear recognition that the countries of West Africa would be a more effective economic bloc and have a stronger political voice, if they came together. Today, however, while the EU is central to the lives of Europeans, ECOWAS is somewhat peripheral to the lives of most West Africans. And it is not for the lack of plans or even rules and regulations. It is simply that the political will to make integration real has been less evident than in Europe, the President lamented. 31.05.2017 LISTEN President Akuffo-Addo has expressed disgust at the mob attack on Captain Maxwell Mahama, a military officer at Denkyira Boase, Central Region, killing him on the spot. Captain Mahama, who was with the 5th Infantry Battalion (5BN) at Burma Camp, Accra, was the head of the military detachment fighting illegal mining (galamsey) at Denkyira Boase. Captain Maxwell Mahama, who is believed to have been killed by the youth, including some women, was jogging along the main road from Diaso to Denkyira Boase, when he was apprehended by the youth, who spotted a pistol on him. The deceased, spotting a civilian attire, was undertaking his morning physical exercise Monday morning, when he was mistaken by the irate youth for an armed robber, when he had requested direction from some women. He was accused of being behind robbery activity that had taken place the previous day, as the area is known for robbery activities. Quickly, the women alerted the Assemblyman for the area who mobilised the youth in the town to grab Captain Mahama, pelted stones at him and later burnt him to death, despite his plea and identifying himself as a soldier. The charred remains of the late Captain Mahama had been deposited at the Dunkwa Government Hospital. Not too long after the news broke, yesterday, President Akuffo-Addo posted on his tweeter page: My condolences to the family of Captain Maxwell Mahama on their tragic loss. I assure them that the perpetrators of this heinous crime will be arrested and dealt with in accordance with the laws of our country. The Minority in Parliament, led by its leader Haruna Iddrisu, also expressed shock and dismay at the gruesome murder of Captain Maxwell Mahama. The Minority wondered why the officer, tasked to head the military detachment fighting galamsey at Denkyira Boase, would be lynched without any provocation. Haruna Iddrisu said: We condemn this act of barbarism in no uncertain terms and, therefore, implore government, as a matter of urgency, to explore all legal and legitimate means to bring the perpetrators to book as soon as possible. While commiserating with the Military High Command and Officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces on this sad loss, we urge them to continue to exercise restraint as the matter is being dealt with. We also wish to express our sincere and heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family, especially the wife and children. The Public Relations officer of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Colonel Aggrey Quarshie told an Accra-based radio station Tuesday morning that, a fact-finding delegation, led by the Chief of Army Staff, had been sent to the area to ascertain circumstances leading to the heinous murder of Captain Mahama. Describing Captain Mahama as a promising young officer, Colonel Quarshie assured the public that the military would not carry out any retaliatory attacks. He said: That will be the last thing that somebody will want to think of at this time. This is not the time for those things, adding, the most important thing is trying to apprehend the people who did that unfortunate thing. And so we have to do all that we can to let the law work. He said they were collaborating with the police and other security agencies to bring the perpetrators to book. He said the Armed Forces has, thus, urged its personnel to remain calm as due procedure is taken to bring the perpetrators to book. However, on Citi News yesterday, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Upper Denkyira West District, Daniel Appianin, cried that a team of military men had invaded Denkyira Boasi, alleging that the military were beating up residents in the area. According to him, the military men had taken about 80 men hostage, while women and children had been camped in a church in the town. He screamed: I was at the scenethey've arrested a lot of men. They've beaten a number of them. What happened when the robbery happened? Didn't we realize that we needed to bring security to come and protect the people? One person is dead and it is bringing the entire military to the place. This is the country we are living in. He added: I've seen it myselfat least I saw about 80 men lined up on the floor. The military people were saying that unless they get their gun, they are not living them. I spoke to their commander. I went there with my District Police Commander, BNI and other security operatives in the district. The security men are saying they will only leave when they retrieve their gun. He further lamented that the issue is causing heightened tension in the town, saying the area is almost empty. By Inusa Musah Security Analyst Dr. Kwesi Aning has described the growing lawlessness in Ghana as a serious threat to the countrys relative peace. His comment comes after the gruesome murder of a military officer at Diaso in the Denkyira West District of the Central region on Monday. His murder has sparked a massive public outrage in the country. The murder of Captain Mahama comes on the back of riots that rocked Somanya in the Eastern region leading to the burning of a Police vehicle by angry residents. Fourteen people have been arrested and remanded into prison custody. Speaking on Morning Starr Wednesday, the Head of Research of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) said lawlessness is gradually becoming the order of the day in the country. There is an almost disturbing psychological acceptance that violence has become a currency that we can use either by ourselves or use to pay people to do our dirty acts for us. When you lift up your arms against a representative of the state, particularly the security forces then that state is on the brink, Dr. Aning told host of Morning Starr Francis Abban. A Senior Law Lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Maxwell Opoku Agyeman added that the political class must be blamed for not showing leadership in these times of lawlessness. According to him, Ghana risk having a major crisis if we experience political disorder. Rule of law shouldnt just be a catch phrase. Rule of law should be something that will guide us and we will live by. We should take our time when things happen and investigate matters as wellit is time we all respect the law. Meanwhile, five people have so far been arrested and are currently being processed for court according to the Spokesperson of the Ghana armed Forces, Colonel Aggrey Quarshie. The Chief of Denkyira Boase in the Central Region is currently on the run and attempts to trace his whereabouts have failed, Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper West Denkyira has said. According to Nsowaa Gyan, the Chief and the Assemblyman for the town absconded right after the lynching of the late Maxwell Mahama ostensibly to escape military brutalities that he believed would happen in the town. I have not seen the Chief yethe left the town and attempts to trace his whereabouts have failed because his phones are switched off, the MP said on Adom FMs Morning Show, Dwaso Nsem Wednesday. Late Captain Maxwell Mahama who was said to have gone for jogging on Monday morning was lynched by a mob after they allegedly mistook him for an armed robber because he was in possession of a weapon. Pictures and videos of the brutal assault flooded social media and the actions of the residents have been condemned in no uncertain terms. Many including President Akufo-Addo has condemned it and has promised the family of the deceased the perpetrators of this heinous crime would be brought to book. Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul said the circumstance under which the officer lost his life is weird and hopes investigations will unravel the actual circumstances of his death. And the MP commenting on the saga said the chief and other opinion leaders of the town are nowhere to be found. The chief whose name was given by a former DCE as Nana Agyei Nkyeree is also said to be the acting President for Denkyira Traditional Council. Nana Agyei Nsaree, he said is not the only person who have abandoned the town in fear of their lives as according to him, abled men and women have also fled the town due to fear that soldiers would invade the town and beat up anyone found on sight. The Legislator speaking on Adom FMs Morning Show, Dwaso Nsem Wednesday entreated all Ghanaians to take a cue from what is happening in Denkyira Boase and desist from mob attacks. Parliament has ordered Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta to furnish the House with information regarding the issuance of the 2.25 billion dollars bond within a week. The order is at the behest of the Minority who have maintained the issuance of the bond is shrouded in secrecy. They have also accused the minister of conflict of interest in the deal. Invoking a half-hour motion for the first time in the history of Ghanas parliament Wednesday, minority leader Haruna Iddrisu prayed the House to summon the finance minister The Majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu seconded the motion, adding the move will help bring a finality to the never ending controversy over the bond. The Speaker subsequently ordered the minister to appear before the House within the assigned time to address the concerns of the Minority. Earlier, the Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak had said the half-hour motion would be moved to afford the House the opportunity to debate the matter and subsequently seek answers from the finance minister. Weve had a gentleman agreement to move a half hour motion to get the finance minister to answer the questions that is on our minds, what are the issues around it, how was it disbursed and procured. The half hour motion will provide all of us the opportunity to debate it in Parliament. As potable water becomes scarce in Akum-Upack, Bako Gilbert helps himself to a drink from this murky water, which is the only drinking spot in the village of over 5,000. Now the village celebrates the fact that the rain is giving them enough water for drinking and cooking. To move from one part of the village to the other, the community must cooperate and use the few boats they have been able to build or acquire. Going to the remaining farms far from the village must start with a boat. Kachimbila Multipurpose Dam signed no agreement with the communities to provide them alternative transport. Fortunately, only one case of drowning has been reported. Could have been worse if the people did not have incredible survival skills. Aurecon.com behind the design and feasibility studies of Kachimbila Multipurpose Dam, do not understand that even operating in rogue or failed States, like Nigeria and the Cameroons, they have to be guided by international jurisprudence. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, while not itself a treaty, in effect summarizes these internationally recognized rights, as they apply to indigenous peoples, setting out minimum standards which States must observe. These include the obligation of States to recognize indigenous (META) peoples rights to: - Self-determination (including self governance and self-identification) - Freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources - In no case be deprived of their own means of subsistence - Own, develop, control and use their communal lands, territories and resources, traditionally owned or otherwise occupied by them - The free enjoyment of their own culture and to maintain their traditional way of life - Give or withhold their free, prior and informed consent prior to activities proposed on their lands - Represent themselves through their own institutions - Exercise their customary law - Restitution of their lands and compensation for losses endured. It is also important to note that under international law, violation of a human right gives rise to a right of reparation for the victims... [in order] to afford justice to victims and alleviate their suffering by removing or redressing to the extent possible the consequences of the wrongful acts and by preventing and deterring violations. Measures to this end include restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non repetition. With this clear notion of the legal framework protecting these communities, we hope to have our day against both Cameroon and Nigeria in the competent regional and international jurisdictions. Hopefully, we may soon be able to get the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately open the dams and release the water which has become an international bane. Cameroon and Nigeria are not ready for another Bakassi type conflict. For now the Federal Government of Nigeria must authorize the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) to organise food relief, medicines and potable water for the affected communities of Ezong, Akum-Upack, Gayama 2, Mgbe 1, Alang, Mgbe 2, Manga, Lanke, Birama and Gayama 1 which has also started losing farms. Fon Christopher Achobang Social Commentator, Human rights activist The Cameroons IKEVE Foundation, a non - governmental organisation based in New Jersey in the United States of America, has made donation of assorted items, including clothes, cloths, footwear's, playtoys, books and pencils to the children of Jehovah Rapha orphanage home at Suhum in the Eastern Region. Other items donated included school bags, pencils, pencil sharpeners, boxes of crayons and story books among others. It again made similar donation same day to new mothers and their newly born babies at the Nsawam Government hospital to put smiles on their faces. The mothers were given baby clothing and other baby items. Making the presentation to the orphanage and the new mothers at separate functions, Mrs. Vivian Koranteng Eghan, Founder of the IKEVE Foundation, said it was her joy to put smiles on the faces of the children, especially the needy. According to her, she founded the NGO in honour of her late father, Chief Superintendent Isaac Nana Koranteng Mintah and late sister, Evelyn Koranteng Mintah Mensah to help poor families in Ghana since the two late relatives exhibited love to needy families in the society when they were alive. "The mission of the NGO is to provide assistance in our small way to help needy families in Ghana who find it extremely difficult to provide the basic necessities for their children due to poverty. "This year we chose to come and extend love to this orphanage because the children in here need our assistance most. We intend to adopt this orphanage and they will be receiving donations from us every year," she said. The Director of the Jehovah Rapha orphanage home, Mr. Jonathan Obeng, thanked the NGO for the donation and appealed to more organisations to come to their aid. Management of the Nsawam Government hospital also thanked the IKEVE Foundation for showing love to the mothers in the maternity ward. Img 20170524 121222 Img 20170524 124337 Img 20170524 125259 31.05.2017 LISTEN The call by the Editor-Publisher of the New Crusading Guide for the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Denkyira-Obuasi (or Boase) to be relieved of his post by President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is grossly misplaced, as well as grossly misguided. And here, it may be recalled that in the wake of the brutal lynching of Capt. Maxwell Adam Mahama, the Upper-West Denkyira DCE, Mr. Daniel Appianing, was widely quoted to have said that he was unaware that the slain officer was part of a military detachment dispatched to the district to fight Galamsey or illegal mining activities. Mr. Baako would have Mr. Appianing fired because as DCE, in the opinion of the veteran journalist, the Denkyira-Obuasi DCE is also the Head of Security in the area and so ought to have been better informed (See Dismiss Denkyira-Obuasi DCE Now; Kweku Baako Tells President MyJoyOnline.com 5/31/17). In an apparently auto-kneejerk reaction, Mr. Baako conveniently fails to point out the fact that Capt. Mahamas lynching was possible fundamentally because most of the military personnel in this well-known mining area are widely known to be protectors of illegal Chinese miners. This scandalous affair was recently confirmed by Mr. John Peter Amewu, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, when he personally toured several parts of the country in a bid to causing an immediate cessation of such environmentally destructive predatory activity. Indeed, it is quite possible that the late Capt. Mahama was part of the group of good soldiers who were recently exhorted by President Akufo-Addo to help lead the fight against illegal mining activities around the country. Still, Mr. Baako ought to be aware of the fact that there exists a critical mass of bad soldiers who have also been dispatched to the Denkyira-Obuasi area to protect illegal Chinese miners. Indeed, it is rather preposterous for Mr. Baako to facilely assume that the residents of Denkyira-Obuasi do not know what they are talking about, when they say that the overwhelming bulk of the soldiers in the area have been doggedly protecting illegal Chinese miners or Galamseyers. And the latter group of soldiers very likely were in business in this area long before Nana Akufo-Addo assumed the democratic reins of governance. And so rather than cavalierly call for the dismissal of Mr. Appianing, the Editor-Publisher of the New Crusading Guide ought to be sleuthing very hard to find an answer to the equally significant question of precisely who dispatched this other group of bad soldiers to protect the Chinese Galamseyers. As well, Mr. Appianing may be the Head of Security in the Denkyira-Obuasi District, but he may not necessarily be in the loop, or know, vis-a-vis the legal activities of some of the soldiers officially dispatched for tours of duty in the area. Indeed, as we have all known for eons now, the High Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, even as former Defense Minister Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor recently hinted, is not traditionally known to be a great respecter of civilian rule or civic authority. The situation may have remarkably changed, somewhat, since the beginning of our Fourth-Republican dispensation. But, of course, there may still be heavily present some vestigial carryovers from the recent past. So rather than knee-jerkily blame the Denkyira-Obuasi DCE for gross administrative irresponsibility and abject incompetence, Mr. Baako rather ought to be critically examining the present security apparatus in the country, especially how the traditionally poor relationship between our men and women in uniform and our civilian leadership and, indeed, our civilian population at large, continues to negatively impact on the security culture or praxis in the country. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs Dr Nii Kotei Dzani, Founder and President of Groupe Ideal, one of the fastest growing business groups in Ghana, will be honoured with the GUBA 2017 Black Star Influential Economist Award at the Intercontinental Hotel in London on Saturday the 3rd of June 2017. The Influential Economist Award recognises outstanding individuals with unique financial acumen who play a pivotal role in creating sustaining business models. The prestigious GUBA Black Star Award will be awarded to thirteen outstanding members of the Ghanaian, UK and African community, honouring them for their consistency, dedication to excellence and longstanding contributions to society. Born in Lolonya in the Ada District of the Greater Accra Region, Dr Dzani holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, an MBA in Corporate Governance & Finance from University of Hull, UK, and an Honorary Doctorate from Oral Roberts University, Oklahoma. He also holds an Honorary Professor in Business from the Academic Union, Oxford, UK. Dr Dzani worked with Canal Capital, a Private Equity Firm and rose to become the Head of Business Development & Consultancy. He subsequently worked with Barclays bank in Ghana. A trailblazing entrepreneur, Dr Dzani progressed to establish Ideal Finance in 2010. Ideal Finance has grown it into a credible finance house and the flagship brand of Groupe Ideal. Groupe Ideal comprises of (13) successful business subsidiaries. He is also a member of the Council of State and a renowned Philanthropist. Dr Dzanis economic contribution and financial knowledge to corporate institutions, SMEs and banking establishments is unrivalled. His path-breaking contribution to financial models and risk management in the finance sector further displays his suitability to the Influential Economist Award. Celebrate the excellence of Ghanaians and Africans in the UK at the GUBA Awards 2017 ceremony. For tickets, visit www.gubaawards.co.uk/tickets GUBA 2017 SPONSORS Title Sponsor: ECOM Ghana. Category Sponsors: uniBank Ghana, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Imperial Homes, ABN TV and Radio. CEO Dinner Sponsor: PayAngel. Media Partners: ROK TV, VOX Africa TV, Starr Radio UK, Hot Digital Online FM, Rising Africa, Afropulp Magazine, The Voice Newspaper, Glam Africa, ABN TV and Radio, GHOne TV, Starr FM, OK FM, Peace FM, Adom TV, UTV, Hot Digital Online FM, Ahomka FM, FAB Photography, AKLASS photography, SWAG of Africa, Screen Nation, Inspirational You, Premier Productions, 7 Media Photography and Ernest Simons Photography. Partners: Final Effects Studios, NAS Studios, Anita Erskine Media, Precise Marketing, E-Volution International, Plant It Events and MakeUp Ghana. Material Sponsors: Vlisco, Kente Queen. Outfit sponsors: A-COTE Collections, Jay Renkyi. Travel Sponsor: Faze 2 Services 31.05.2017 LISTEN Quarry companies that operate within the Shai Hills are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Minerals Commission to act immediately and stop construction of estates on lands designated for quarrying activities. The developers, The Chronicle observed, upon a visit to the site, are constructing buildings close to the quarry concession at Shai Hills, a development which endangers safety of inhabitants who would occupy the estates when completed. A letter sighted by The Chronicle and signed by Mr. Michael Toufic, General Manager of Cedar Quarry Ghana Limited and addressed to the EPA on 17th May, 2017, brought to the attention of the EPA, the situation at the site for action to be taken, but nothing was done about it. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Ghana Police Service-Regional Headquarters, Tema, the Shai Osudoku District Assembly, Minerals Commission, Heowe Gblaka Stool, Volta Ghana Investment, Greenhouse Estates, the company in question. The General Manager of Cedar Quarry in the letter indicated that, the constructions are very close to our current operational area approximately 100m and should we move further it would be just 50m from our operational area. We are, therefore, by this letter, requesting that you use your good offices to stop these developers from encroaching on the land designated for quarry activities. The letter further informed the EPA formally that: We shall not be liable for any damage to property or injury to any person in the vicinity of the construction site as a result of our quarrying activities. The Shai Hills quarry site harbors about 50 quarrying companies, but 5 are in contention as a result of the real estate development, which include Cedar Quarry Ghana Limited, Zina Quarry Limited just to mention a few. When The Chronicle visited the land on Monday, this week, there were indications of construction of estates, as graders, and excavators were seen filling the lands, whiles wall was being constructed around the land. A building constructed on the land accommodates Chinese people. When this reporter got there together with other journalists, a Chinese man and a woman, and a Ghanaian, Dominic Yeboah were seen outside. However, within a period of 5 minutes after stating the reason we had come, not less than five other Chinese residents also came out of the room. Interpreting one of the Chinese, Dominic Yeboah, who was with them said he (referring to the Chinese) said the boss has gone to China so he cant say anything until the boss comes back. He gave the name of the company as Greenhouse International Developers. This paper gathered that the Shai Osudoku District Assembly gave the land to Greenhouse Estates to wash fuel tanks, contrary to the real estate development. Dominic, who spoke Chinese to the people about the information, translated a statement by the Chinese by way of response that it was not true they got the land to wash fuel tanks, but was tight lipped on what actually the company was going to do there. The Chinese kept reiterating that; Our boss have traveled. We dont know what we will do here until he comes. Now what you see going on is just filling the land. Mr. Alexander Dagadu, accountant at Cedar Quarry told this paper that, his company got a verbal response to their letter from the Minerals Commission that it had cautioned Greenhouse Estates about the risk associated with their location. To confirm whether or not the land was indeed going to developed into a real estate, we contacted the company (Greenhouse Estate) to buy land and they said it will be ready in two months, Mr. Alexander said. The Minerals Commission laws frown on buildings constructed close to quarry sites. According to the law, there should be a minimum of 500 meters from the quarry activities and a maximum of 1000 meters away from the quarry zone. Meanwhile, the Green House International Developers, a Chinese company is building an estate about 100 meters from the Cedar Quarry. We assume it is a real estate development because of the layout, Alexander Dagadu indicated. Cedar Quarry Ghana Limited has operated on that concession for about 12 years and they came about 2 months ago, Mr. Alexander stated, adding that they are planning legal action should the situation persist. Mr. Zakhia Merges, Managing Director of Zina Quarry Ghana, a sister concession to Cedar, wants authorities to quickly act before things got of hand. By Maxwell Ofori 31.05.2017 LISTEN First Lady Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo has cut the sod for the construction of a new GHC 10 million Maternity Unit for the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) following fund raising events recently held in both Accra and Kumasi to provide the funds to kick-start the project. The unit, which is planned to be completed in four months' time, is part of efforts to address the problem of inadequate maternity-related facilities at KATH currently resulting in avoidable suffering and deaths of mothers and children who visit the hospital for medical care. At the ceremony, the First Lady expressed her gratitude to all donors for their quick response to the fundraising request that has made it possible for construction of the project to commence. She indicated she was particular happy because she feels confident that when completed, the project will save many lives. She noted that provision of quality healthcare should always be prioritized because a countrys best resource is its human resource and health is by far one of the most important investment we can make in them. The First Lady however, urged all not to let their generosity end with this project but always support a course towards providing quality health care. According to her, regardless of recent achievements in healthcare, a lot more needs to be done to achieve the goals and indicators as espoused in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Present at the ceremony was the Second Lady Hajia Samira Bawumia, the Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah, Deputy Minister of Health and the Mayor of Kumasi Mr Osei Assibey. 31.05.2017 LISTEN The Paramount Queenmother of Nkonya the traditional area, Nana Otubea II, has appealed to President Akufo-Addo not to impose nominees who have been rejected by the people, but rather appoint a more qualified person for the position of District Chief Executive (DCE). Madam Millicent Kabuki Karboo, who was nominated by the President for the position of DCE for the area, was rejected by the people. Nana Otubea noted that since the district was endowed with rich human resources, the appointment of a DCE should not become a problem for the President. To her, a new nomination must be made without further delay, to ensure the rapid development of the area. To Nana Otubea, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the 2012 elections, Mr. Daniel Korsinah, qualified for the position. Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle at the Biakoye District capital, Nkonya-Ahenkro, the Paramount Queenmother pointed out that Mr. Korsinah did not only market the ruling NPP over the years, but also had shown much interest in the development of the area. She described him (Mr. Korsinah) as a man of vision, and that when given the opportunity to be DCE, would do more to promote the development of the area. Nana Otubea continued that Mr. Korsinah, a personality who would be accepted by all, is noted for the promotion of peace, particularly, in the Nkonya-Alavanyo conflict among others. She said Mr. Korsinah, who comes from the Tapa traditional area, is the popular choice of the people, adding that the Biakoye District already was experiencing many problems, in terms of development, and the nomination of a DCE should not add up to the existing difficulties confronting the people. We have persons who our people would accept and vote for without any difficulty, she emphasised. The Queenmother observed that Ghana had gone far in the democratic practices, and that President Akufo-Addo should help deepen democracy by accepting the rejection of Madam Kabuki Karboo as the voice of the people. She said the era where nominees were imposed on the people against their will was over, and hoped the President, who is noted for his respect for human rights and rule of law, would definitely listen to the people and re-appoint a candidate who would generally be accepted by the people, like Mr. Korsinah. The Biakoye Constituency Organiser of the NPP, Mr. Maxwell Tawiah, who also supported the ideas of the Queenmother, reiterated that Mr. Korsinah would not be a bad c From Samuel Agbewode, Nkonya-Ahenkro The Direct Aid Program (DAP) of the Australian High Commission Ghana has awarded a grant to The Exploratory, to support a learning revolution in science and ICT in basic schools. We are pleased that with the help of our DAP funding, The Exploratory has been able to increase students interest in and engagement with STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) at schools in Accra, Pokuase Nsawam and Berekuso, while also building the capacity of their teachers, Australian High Commissioner Andrew Barnes said. With a mission to increase gender equity, the NGO primarily recruits the girl-child to its programs. Using science kits purchased with funds provided by this grant, teachers and students learn about electronics and optics through a laboratory on a desk, and participate in a design challenge led by university mentors. The grant also makes available the digital learning resource, Remote Area Computer Hotspots for Education and Learning (RACHEL-Plus), that allows access to free web-based educational content without the internet. On a recent visit to the Mateheko Roman Catholic and Abossey Okai Roman Catholic schools in the Ablekluma circuit in Accra, Second Secretary and Consul Justine Townsend and Direct Aid Program manager Vicentia Quartey sat down with the 30 or so Exploratory club members, who demonstrated to the honored guests how to construct electronic circuits with buzzers and lights, and pointed out how to troubleshoot the circuit should it not work as expected. Two members of the club also explained their design for a generator that was part of tthe #SolveforGhana Dumsor Design Challenge organized by The Exploratory the week previous, aimed at encouraging school children to find practical solutions to everyday problems using their STEM knowledge and skills. It is very impressive what you can do with all those bits and pieces [of the Science Set], how you understand the ideas behind them, and how you can make it work, said Ms. Townsend, addressing the Exploratory club members. We are most grateful for this grant, and to be one of the first STEM organizations supported by DAP in west Africa, The Exploratorys program manager Vivian Ayarick noted. The resources and training provided by this grant extend beyond The Exploratorys clubs and the duration of this project, as they are available to the rest of the schools teachers and students. This grant to The Exploratory perforates traditional boundaries to bring STEM education in Ghana into the 21st century, said Dr. Connie Chow, the organizations founder and director. The educational materials made available by this grant allows us to break down the boundary between after school clubs and the classroom; between girls and boys access to STEM resources; between static book learning and dynamic digital and hands-on resources; between learning for an exam and applying knowledge and creativity to solve authentic problems. All this help create a mindset in our youth that will benefit Ghanas development, she continued. Mr. Victor Adolfoli, a JHS teacher, noted that the current practice of having these type of resources available mostly at the senior high school (SHS) level is a misplaced priority of GES, because primary and JHS students learn best by interacting with concrete things. He therefore expressed gratitude to the Commission and The Exploratory on behalf of the basic schools that are benefitting from this program. The Exploratorys (the-exploratory.org) mission is to make STEM learning relevant, joyful, collaborative and equitable. Currently, The Exploratory has trained 65 teachers who engage 650 students in 16 schools in Pokuase, Accra, Nsawam and Berekuso in weekly STEM clubs, quarterly role model visits and annual field trips. Its website is the-exploratory.org The DAP is a flexible small grants program funded by the Australian Government and managed through the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) overseas posts. The program aims to support projects with a strong development focus that complements Australia's broader aid program which contributes to sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. Ghana is set to host the first ever Agricultural Ministers' Conference in Africa, as part of efforts aimed at pushing the continent's agricultural transformation agenda. Ghana's Food and Agricultural Minister, Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, is putting plans in place to bring together his colleagues from the rest of the continent to discuss ways of building a strong and united front to help foster collaborations amongst member countries and promote the growth and development of agricultural as the tool for job creation. The minister, who was a Special Guest at the just-ended African Development Bank (AFDB) 52nd Annual Meeting in India, believes the only way to help achieve the objectives is for African countries to collaborate effectively and adopt common homegrown agricultural policies and programmes. The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has already given thumbs up to the idea by Ghana's Agric Minister and has promised funding for its implementation. Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, whose flagship agric policy "Planting for Food and Jobs" in Ghana attracted lots of interests from participants, including multinationals, development partners, investors and other stakeholders, during the course of discussions, revealed that the conference would be held early next year. The Minister was participated in various discussions at the international conference which was under the theme "Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa". He posited that for agriculture to realize its full potentials, African countries must unite and take on the rest of the world. In a special one-on-one meeting with the President of the AFDB, Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, outlined his vision for transforming Ghana's ailing agricultural sector, stressing that the objectives must be linked up to the rest of Africa. The Minister further revealed his plans to create a commodity exchange market for cocoa between African producing countries in order to create a viable market for the product and weane it off external influence. The President of the AFDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who was full of praises for the minister, endorsed the various ideas and said he would secure funds towards their implementations. The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) says President Akufo-Addo should be blamed for the lynching of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama in the Central region last Monday. General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia who spoke on Asempa FMs Ekosii S E n programme said the gruesome murder happened "under the direct supervision of President Akufo-Addo". An officer with the 5th Infantry Battallion of the Ghana Army, Maxwell Adam Mahama was on May 29, 2017 lynched at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region. The late Captain Maxwell Mahama Some five persons have been arrested and the town has been deserted after military men stormed the community. The NDC has condemned the killing of the solider who is the nephew of the party's 2016 presidential candidate and former president, John Mahama. But escalating the condemnation further, the NDC General Secretary pointed to incidents of violence to make the case that there is a growing lawlessness under Ghana Armed Forces' new Commander-In-Chief, Nana Akufo-Addo. General Mosquito, as he is affectionately called, explained that ever since President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC handed over a peaceful Ghana to President Akufo-Addos NPP on the 7th January, 2017, the nation has known no peace. From the beating up of a serving police officer at the Flagstaff House to the beating up of a Regional Security Co-ordinator, the disruption of a court process, the burning of toll booths, and the molestation of civil servants, the lawless culture of impunity has now reached the doorstep of the Ghana Armed Forces, he charged. He said "the state has watched and sponsored its goon squads to unleash wanton mayhem on innocent Ghanaians". This is highly unacceptable Mr. President, he noted. General Mosquito is warning the NDC will sooner than later if this level of impunity persists, be compelled to engage in a legitimate social revolution to protest the inability of President Akufo-Addo to protect the good people of this country. President Akufo-Addos 'All die be die' despicable style of leadership shall not be allowed to fester, he stressed. 31.05.2017 LISTEN (Being a verbatim copy/transcript of a speech delivered by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode to the Alajobi Group- the group that wrote "the Yoruba Constitution"- on the occasion of the commemoration of June 12, as published by The News Magazine of 2 July, 2001). I must commend the vision, strength of character, and the clarity of purpose of the Alajobi Group together with that of the expanded committee on the Yoruba Constituent Assembly for coming up with this noble and innovative initiative and for drawing up this truly progressive and pristine constitution for the Yoruba people. I salute their courage, their sense of history, their excellent timing and their obvious and deep-seated concern for the fate of the Yoruba race in the 21st Century and in a wider Nigeria. These are concerns that we all, as responsible and literate Yoruba men and women, certainly share. It is for this reason that I can therefore make the following emphatic and categorical statements on the proposed constitution. Firstly, that I have read it carefully and that I have considered the legal and social implications of every word and every line of the document. Secondly, not only do I fully endorse its provisions, but I also encourage every Yoruba man and woman in Nigeria (and indeed in the diaspora), not only to get hold of a copy, but also to imbue its laudable and beautiful message of self-determination, autonomy, decency, tolerance, and the restoration of the dignity and self-respect of the Yoruba people. Again the collective objective of the proposed document is clear: It seeks to preserve and protect the culture, the heritage, the values and the sense of excellence of the Yoruba nation. It seeks to emancipate us from the shackles of unitary servitude and it seeks to give us a resounding and irresistible voice, not just over our own destiny and over our own affairs, but also a strong and respected voice in the comity of civilized nations. It seeks to reject the muffled, garbled, confused, and clearly weak echo that present-day Nigeria has bestowed upon us as a people. Though we have never been conquered, subdued or overwhelmed by any other nation on the African continent, it is sadly clear that we are not, in the Nigeria of today, the masters of our own souls or the captains of our own ship. It is sadly clear that in the Nigeria of today we are not the architects of our own destiny. And of course this regrettable state of affairs is not only unnatural but it is also completely unacceptable. You cannot muffle the Yoruba and you cannot hold back their progress in the name of one Nigeria. And that is precisely why the document that the Alajobi Group has prepared is not only timely but it is also clear that the adoption of the spirit of its provisions, is vital for the future welfare, and indeed survival, of our people. This is a duty that is incumbent on each and every one of us that are Yoruba men and women, and whether we like to admit it or not, posterity and history will judge us, kindly or unkindly, depending on which side of the divide we find ourselves in this noble quest. Today the Yoruba number at least 40 (Forty) million people in Nigeria alone. Our strength is self-evident but till now we have refused to use it. We have a historical legacy that manifests the deepest and most profound form of liberalism, dignity and grace and we have an in-built and instinctive craving for excellence, fairness, lively debate, education and progress that is second to none. We have a keen sense of justice and we have an overwhelming desire for decency in public and private affairs that cannot be matched anywhere else in this part of the world. We have a resilient soul, a fighting spirit and a courageous heart, qualities which our rich and noble history cannot but testify to in an eloquent and incontrovertible manner. We have a historical lineage that is not only more enlightened, more cosmopolitan and more sophisticated than most but in addition to this it is clear to us that we have a key role to play in the restoration of the dignity of the black man worldwide. It is for all these reasons that I can proudly proclaim with every fiber of my being and every atom of my soul that, before all else, I am first and foremost a Yoruba man. In my family, the Fani-Kayode family of south western Nigeria, we value education. We cherish it, we live by it and we are proud of it. But this is not a value that is peculiar or particular to my family alone. I am proud to say that it is a value that is intrinsic to and deeply entrenched in the very nature and culture of the Yoruba. It is a value that is deeply entrenched in the deepest recesses of our body, spirit and soul. Our quest for excellence and distinction simply knows no bounds. And of course that is precisely why policies such as free education at all levels is something that the Yoruba people are prepared to live for and, if need be, prepared to die for. They, perhaps more than any other, recognize the fact that education, in practical terms, is a liberating force: it frees the mind from the barren and provincial bondage of myopia and it frees the spirit from the insidious and pervasive prison of ignorance. They, perhaps more than any other, appreciate the fact that once you are educated the sky becomes your limit. But sadly all of this is now under threat as we have been compelled by our former colonial masters to be part of an artificial, man-made and implausible entity called Nigeria, the majority of whose ethnic groups, from at least north of the River Niger, certainly do not value education as much as we do. Not only have we been compelled to live in this artificial entity but we have also been told in clear and unequivocal terms that our brightest and our best will never be allowed to preside over the affairs of this strange and hybrid mega-nation. Sadly it does not stop there. We have also been told that we will never be able to discuss the terms under which our various nationalities should remain together in a wider Nigeria and we have been told that we will never be allowed to discuss the rules under which our unsolicited and forced union should be sustained. The powers that be and those who erroneously believe that they were "born to rule" this country in perpetuity keep telling us that they will not allow a sovereign national conference to take place. They keep telling us that they will not allow any form of restructuring. They keep telling us that they will not allow resource control. They keep telling us that they will not allow the establishment of a true federation. They keep telling us that they will not allow ethnic emancipation. As a matter of fact they keep telling us that they will not allow anything that is clean, wholesome, progressive and good to take place in our public and national affairs. And instead of anything good, they rather insist on introducing into our body politic, alien and archaic concepts and retrogressive and backward philosophies such as "political sharia" and so many other questionable contraptions that are not only barbarous and primitive in nature but also downright repugnant to what the British once described as "equity, natural Justice, and good conscience." And it is precisely because of this retrograde and abysmal attitude that there is cause for concern today about the plight of the Yoruba in a wider Nigeria. It is precisely because of this sort of thing that there is a need for the sort of proposals and constitution that the Alajobi group has come up with. That is precisely why we seek to establish a system which can at least attempt to guarantee a higher degree of separate development for the various nationalities and ethnic groups that have been compelled to live together in this extraordinary mega-nation of ethnic incompatibilities. This is precisely why every true Yoruba nationalist will be pleased with what the Alajobi group is doing. For we as a people have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. We must never shy away from our noble heritage and we must not run away from our proud history. We must not shun our obvious appointment with destiny and greatness and we must always walk with our heads help up high. For we know where we came from, we know who we are and we know where we are going. And even though the powers that be in Lord Lugard and Lord Harcourts Nigeria have cheated us, robbed us, killed us, brutalized us, divided us and made us simply powerless, we are still a strong and virile people. We are still a great race. (TO BE CONTINUED). The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) presented the Open Letter on Travel and Tourism to the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat. The Open Letter outlines tourisms value as one of the worlds largest generators of jobs and a powerful driver of socio-economic growth and sustainable development. To date, the Open Letter has been received by 89 Heads of State and Government. UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai congratulated Malta on its good tourism results and thanked the Prime Minister for placing tourism high in the agenda of the European Union during its current presidency. Malta is playing a critical role in ensuring that tourism is recognized for the value it has for the economy and employment in the EU, said Mr Rifai. The Prime Minister expressed his full support to the sector as a key economic activity for Malta, one of the main drivers of economic growth, creation of quality jobs and overall improvement of Maltas social fabrics. He said that the Maltese Government has for the last years adopted a new tourism strategy and that a firm commitment to sustainable development is currently high on the agenda. Dr. Muscat reaffirmed that tourism is much more than climate, cultural activities and historical sites, more even than new niches such as diving tourism, conferences and events, wedding tourism, cruise and luxury accommodation. It is actually one of those areas through which we believe that wealth percolates to all sections of society in a direct manner, said the Prime Minister. David Scowsill, President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said: Travel and tourism contributed 2,425.5 million euros (2,706.1 million USD) to Maltas GDP, which is 26.7% of the countrys total GDP, and supported 27.8% of total employment in the country. Our sector is a stimulator of economic growth and a creator of jobs. We commend the Maltese government for its commitment to travel and tourism, and its continuous efforts to drive growth while preserving the assets the beautiful island has to offer. Rifai also met the President of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who during the meeting reiterated her belief that the tourism sector has the ability to build peace to create prosperity. Both meetings were held coinciding with a UNWTO Masterclass on Attracting Chinese Tourism to the Mediterranean Countries and an event on Enhancing Europe's Tourism Competitiveness through New Products organized in the framework of the Maltese Presidency of the EU. On the occasion, UNWTO welcomed six Maltese companies to sign the Private Sector Commitment to the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism: Air Malta, Federation of Associations of Travel and Tourism Agents (FATTA); Gozo Tourism Association; Malta Hotels and Restaurants Associations (MHRA); Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry; and Valletta Cruise Port. By adhering to the Code, signatories commit to implementing and promoting its principles in their business strategies and operations. To date, 514 companies and associations from 68 countries have joined this Commitment. 31.05.2017 LISTEN One of the most beautiful things I appreciate about humans is the memory. I remember vividly, as a six or seven-year-old boy, my stepmother (now late) taking me to a white garment church (Cele as they are popularly known) at Iyana Ipaja, then a suburb of Lagos. The Olusho (or Pastor in charge) saw vision that I was a wizard or witch which if something was not done urgently, the witch in me would destroy the family and a lot of people. I remembered the flogging on my tiny body that day in graphic details today. Even when my father came back, he had to ban her from taking me to any church again on seeing how well the witch in me was flogged out. Till today, I am still scared of anyone who tells me s/he a white garment church. That is the power of human memory. Another thing I have come to realise about the human memory is that it selects what it wants to remember. Despite my experience with Cele people, (I dont ordinarily ask people about their religious beliefs), I have had friends whom I later knew attend white garment churches. Some have worked so intimately with me that their attending Cele doesnt seem to matter to me again. Why do I still remember an incident that happened in the late 1980s? After all, we are all victims of history! On May 30, 2017, the memory of the Nigerian Civil War came alive again, understandably, from the South-Eastern (the worst hit during the war) geo-political zone of the country. The part that we should not forget is that according to Chido Onumah, We Are All Biafrans. But rather that say we all are Biafrans, I will say we all are victims of history. But How? Why? Where? In 1953, Action Group (AG), led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo went to the London Constitutional Conference with two political demands: First, the question of whether Lagos should be part of the Western Region; and second, the question of the right of a region to secede from the Federation be included in the Nigerian Constitution. Let us forget about the first question for now. Only recently did I read Professor Kalu Ezra's classic, Constitutional Developments in Nigeria. The foremost authority on Nigerian Constitutional Developments writes: "Before the [1954] Conference got underway, the Colonial Secretary, Oliver Lyttelton, produced a cigar sent to the Conference by Sir Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Government, and said that he did not propose to smoke it unless the Conference was in trouble. Remembering the extreme and undiplomatic challenges of Chief Obafemi Awolowo to the Colonial Secretary and the latter's stern warning reply to him, it was not surprising that rumours were afloat to the effect that a British man-of-war was standing alert near the Coast of Lagos to take charge of the situation, should the Action Group rank and file be goaded into taking the law into their hands over the Lagos issue. "The Action Group delegation did not raise the question of the position of Lagos again at the Lagos Conference. But it did, however, DEMAND THAT THE RIGHT OF A REGION TO SECEDE FROM THE FEDERATION TO BE PROVIDED IN THE CONSTITUTION. But the Conference, clearly influenced by Dr. Azikiwe's scholarly exposition on the dangers of which received the strong backing of the Chairman, the Colonial Secretary, objected that any secession clause should be written into the amended Constitution." (page 189, My Emphasis). Now, had the right of any region to secede from the federation been granted in 1954, there are high possibilities that the ugly developments in the mid-1960s would never have happened. We all must accept responsibility for this! To show that we all are victims and all have blood on our hands, I recount some developments of historical significance in Nigeria. The January 15, 1966, we are told, was not an "Igbo coup" even though it was led by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu (Anioma by tribe from Delta state) but somehow, we should believe the July 29, 1966 Coup is an "Hausa coup" even though it was led by Yakubu Gowon (Angas by tribe from Plateau state). Let us not forget that another "Hausa Coup" removed Gowon exactly nine years after in 1975. We are to forget that the Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and his NCNC teamed up with "oppressors Hausa-Fulani" NPC not only in 1959, they also teamed up to send political sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to jail in 1962. The coalition to weaken the Western Region was perfected with the creation of the Mid-Western Region while at the same time the AG was calling the creation of Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR), Ilorin/Kabba and Middle Belt provinces which fell on deaf ears. Nowhere did Awo complain of "marginalisation of Yorubas" despite the hell he went through in the hands of this formidable coalition. No one recalls Yorubas calling for the head of Igbos for such shabby treatments meted out on the politician! In parenthesis, Chief Awolowo warned the actors in the coalition of the consequences of their actions especially when they declared State of Emergency in the Western Region in 1962. Little did they realise it will shape events that will come later in 1966 and 1967. The same pattern repeated itself in 1979. Let us not forget that Zik led his NPP to congratulate Alhaji Sheu Shagari (from Sokoto) after the most controversial election in Nigerian history. The party even joined the Shagari government (at least till 1981). No one called Igbos betrayers for this. Even when the Yoruba-dominated UPN was boldly rejecting fraudulent election results in Ondo and Oyo states in 1983, Hausa-Fulani dominated NPN stole Anambra (Zik's home state), yet he led his NPP once again to congratulate Shagari's NPN all to spite Awo. Again, no one called Igbos betrayers! We should also not forget that ex-Biafran hero, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, on his return to Nigeria in 1982, about two decades after the war, joined and contested for the Nigerian Senate under the Hausa-Fulani dominated NPN in 1983. He lost, and somehow, we are to forget that. In 1993, a certain Arthur Nzeribe was used by the military government to scuttle the presidential election was by Chief MKO Abiola (an Egba man from Ogun State), Igbos were never tagged by Yorubas for this unfortunate incident as betrayers or bad people. It wasn't the case of "Yoruba betrayal by Igbos". Everyone condemned only Nzeribe, not Igbos. I doubt if there was anything the National Electoral Commission (NEC) Chairman, Professor Humphrey Nwosu could have done to change that! Let's not forget the main arrowheads of the elongation of Abacha's tenure were the Iwuanyawus, Ojo Maduekes, Daniel Kanus (the YEAA man), Onyeka Onwenus and the likes were Igbos supporting a Kanuri man's ambition. Yes, there were Yorubas too, like Sunny Ade, Shina Peters, Lamidi Adedibu and business mogul, Alao Arisekola, but no one called it an Igbo or Yoruba agenda! Apart from core PDP supporters in the South West, and I mean the Fayoses, Gbenga Daniels, Alao Akalas etc, that supported the Obasanjo's infamous third term, it was vehemently rejected in the South West. But in South-South and South-East, governors were trying to outdo each other to be seen to be supporting the Obasanjo's agenda. In fact, in the heat of the debate over the constitutionality of Obasanjos ambition, Professor Joe Irukwu-led Ohaneze Ndigbo, endorsed President Obasanjos ambition to contest for a third term. We should, for the sake of history, not forget to say it was the Senate, under Senator Ken Nnamani, that save the nation from Obasanjos brigandage! My point is for people to tackle whoever offends or offended them, not his tribe or where he came from. A bad man gives his tribe a bad name even though the tribe contains a host of angels. I will end this piece with a quote from Frantz Fanon, in his book, The Wretched of the Earth, where he writes: "The collective struggle presupposes collective responsibility at the base and collegiate responsibility at the top. Yes; everybody will have to be compromised in the fight for the common good. No one has clean hands; there are no innocents and no onlookers. We all have dirty hands; we are all soiling them in the swamps of our country and in the terrifying emptiness of our brains. Every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor." On Fanons note, we are all victims of our history. So, no one is innocent or guilty! Olalekan Waheed ADIGUN is a political analyst and an independent political strategist for a range of individuals, organisations and campaigns. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria. His write-ups can be viewed on his website http://olalekanadigun.com/ Tel: +2348136502040, +2347081901080 Email: [email protected] , [email protected] Follow me on twitter @adgorwell Over three hundred (300) illegal migration operators are causing great harm through reckless illegal migration scams in Ghana. The "Direct to Home " domestic worker migration scheme has been the modus operandi for these illegal migration operators. Obviously, there are two main schemes of domestic worker labour migration . Under this circumstances, the candidates can either migrate under the safer company to company scheme or profitable but rather reckless direct to homes" schemes. The over 300 illegal agents , can only operate under the direct to home scheme, which is a dangerous but profitable. Black market which traps the candidates into slave -like conditions with no oversight . However, in order to flush-out these illegal migration agencies; and also ensure the safety of Ghanaians, the Ghana Association of Private Employment Agencies(GHAPEA) has called on the government of Ghana to issue an immediate ban on all "direct to home " worker scheme to the gulf states . Speaking at a stakeholders meeting under theme: "The Face Of Legal Migration" in Accra, the Chairman of Ghana Association of Private Employment Agencies(GHAPEA) Alhaji Saeed Shereef , stated unequivocally that their outfit is committed to sanitizing the industry and ensuring that every Ghanaian who has the intention of traveling to seek greener pastures can do so safely and successfully through their 26 Government licensed agencies. According to him, the numerous cases of stranded and duped Ghanaians could be traced to irresponsible agents who operates without offices in the country. This he said, the stakeholders meeting was aimed at interacting with the various stakeholders in the sector in order to cross-fertilize ideas on how to find a lasting solutions this illegal migration which is denting the image of the country. Adding that ,GHAPEA has set a Task Force , which is ready to combat the unscrupulous illegal migration agencies. It is obvious that, these illegal agencies operate with impunity, dragging the name of the noble business which creating numerous job opportunities for the youth into disrepute and also causing harm the country. It is very worrying to us to realize that many government authorities and stakeholders do not know or do not recognize the existence of GHAPEA. According to him, GHAPEA was established on July 15, 2015, in the corridors of the Ghana Parliament, upon the directives of the then Parliamentary Select Committee for Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises. Since then, our Association has been working assiduously to put itself in order to be able to achieve its aims and objectives. And also to surmount the problems of unemployment and illegal migration in the country. This he said, currently with 26 members out of a total 52 agencies licensed with the Ghana Labor Department, GHAPEA has many success stories. These include: Within the first six month of its established, GHAPEA successfully wrote and started implementing its own constitution and code of ethics. GHAPEA was officially inaugurated after just a year of its establishment by the then Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Hon. Haruna Idrissu, MP. GHAPEA has successfully established good relations with some of the key stakeholders of legal migration- The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations- headed by the Hon . Ignatius Baffour Awuah, MP and Minister for Employment and Labour Relations , the Ghana Labour Department, the International Organizations for Migration (IOM), the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ministry of Interior (AHTU) of the Criminal Investigations Department , Police Headquarters Accra. Members of GHAPEA have successfully secured decent jobs with lucrative remuneration for hundreds of Ghanaians who are now earning good wages. We stress again that direct to home recruitment of all Ghanaians must be banned, he stated. GHAPEA, also entreated the current government to consider the a reduction on the current Capitation fee from GH300 to GH 100 as it is driving their clients to the illegals who do not charge this fee. However, we are commending the government for introducing the Online Passports. We are asking for the implementation of the Filipino or Brazil model where Agencies are given expedited services to speeding the eradication of unemployment, he added. This he said, government should endeavour to create a National Skills Bank for easy access to unemployed Ghanaians. GHAPEA is interested in partnering with the Ministry of Employment and Labour relations for a National Skills Bank where we can easily and provide jobs to the unemployed Ghanaians. More so,there should be a comprehensive re-integration and recognition programmes for circular migration participants upon contract completion . Since Ghanaians in the diaspora have much to contribute to socio-economic development. The General Secretary of Ghana Association of Private Employment Agencies (GHAPEA) Rev. Dr. Ashie Ocansey, also seized the opportunity to advise the Ghanaians who want to travel outside the country to seek for greener pasture should pass through the legal channel by contacting GHAPEA. She further challenged the media to help educate the general public to enable them differentiate between Legal Migration which GHAPEA represents and the illegal migration represented by the illegal agents who according to research findings are now over 300 in number. We are calling on the government of Ghana to support GHAPEA by publishing the list of Government licensed agencies for the public to know the best agencies that can help them migrate legally and safely, she added. According to the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Hon . Ignatius Baffour Awuah, who graced the meeting commended GHAPEA for working assiduously with the government to wipe out these illegal migration agencies in the country. He has therefore pledged to work closely with GHAPEA to help sanitize the system completely. The Assemblyman in the Centre of the ghastly lynching and burning of Captain Maxwell Mahama in Denkyira Boase in the Central region, William Baa has reported himself to the police at Diaso, StarrFMonline.com has gathered. Sources close to the matter on the ground stated that, he is being moved to the Central regional Police Headquarters in Cape Coast to assist further investigations. Hitherto, the police dispatched a thirty-man team to fish-out Mr. Baa the chief architect in the gruesome murder of Captain Mahama on Monday. Earlier five persons had been arrested in connection with the dastardly act and are being processed for court, the Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Cephas Authur disclosed. The five are among 80 people rounded up by the military on Tuesday. Supt. Arthur added that the police had scaled up their operations in the town. Late Captain Mahama was with the 5 Infantry Battalion (5BN) at Burma Camp, Accra but on detachment duties at Denkyira Boase where he was lynched and burnt to death in an alleged case of mistaken identity. Late Captain Mahama who is the commander of the area military detachment, according to his subordinates, was seen jogging along the main road and as he stopped to ask some women for directions, the women saw a pistol on him. The women who were alarmed by the discovery of the pistol on Captain Mahama mistook him for an armed robber thereby alerting their assembly member who allegedly organised some men to lynch him and burnt him in the process. Nairobi (AFP) - Seven police officers and a civilian were killed when an armoured vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in southeastern Kenya, a week after 14 others died in similar attacks claimed by Shabaab Islamists, a police source said Wednesday. "The vehicle drove on an IED (improvised explosive device)," a senior police officer in the coastal Lamu district near the Somali border, told AFP. A police report seen by AFP noted that "seven administration police officers and one civilian died" as a result of the explosion. It was not clear whether the civilian was in or near the vehicle at the time of the explosion. Last week 14 officers were killed in three separate blasts involving roadside bombs in different regions of northeastern Kenya along the border with Somalia. The Shabaab, a Somali-led jihadist group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for those attacks. Inspector General Joseph Boinnet of the Kenyan police warned more attacks were likely during the holy month of Ramadan. Since 2007, the Shabaab has fought to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Somalia but began attacking Kenya in 2011 after Nairobi ordered its troops into Somalia to fight the militants. Kenyan soldiers are now part of a 22,000-member African Union mission fighting there. In 2013, Shabaab gunmen raided a shopping mall in the capital Nairobi killing 67 people, and in 2015 a similar attack on a university in Garissa left 148 dead. Kampala (AFP) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has ordered an investigation into possible collusion between the country's wildlife agency and two Chinese diplomats in the trafficking of ivory. Poaching has risen sharply in recent years across Africa, fuelled by rising demand in Asia for ivory and rhino horn, coveted as a traditional medicine and a status symbol. Uganda is a major transit country for the illegal trade. The Chinese embassy officials are suspected of colluding in the movement of ivory from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, using Uganda as a transit point, a government official said. Ali Munira, spokeswoman for the Inspectorate General of Government (IGG) ombudsman, did not name the Chinese diplomats but said the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) was under suspicion. The Chinese embassy could not be reached for comment. Museveni has also ordered a new probe into the theft of ivory worth more than $1-million in November 2014. "The president's directive to the IGG is to have all these accusations investigated and if there is a prima facie case, the executive director (of the UWA) should be suspended alongside other officials," said Munira. Five top officials were suspended from the UWA after the disappearance of the 1,335 kilogrammes (2,943 pounds) of ivory from supposedly secure stockpiles. The outcome of the initial investigation, which involved Interpol, was never made public, although the international police network did carry out sting operations on trafficking networks throughout East Africa in 2015. A police source involved in earlier investigations said it appeared Museveni was not pleased with the prior probe and that new intelligence showed the likely involvement of Chinese officials. More than 35,000 elephants are killed across Africa every year for their tusks. 31.05.2017 LISTEN Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says government is considering comments attributed to the District Chief Executive of Denkyira-Obuasi Daniel Appiannin following the lynching of an Army Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama. Mr. Daniel Appiannin who is the head of the district's security council said he was unaware of the presence of military officers in the area detailed to supervise a clamp down on illegal mining. Photo: Daniel Appianin (Bible in hand) after he was endorsed DCE on May 4, 2017 He told the media Tuesday morning, the Army Captain was protecting illegal Chinese miners. "...in fact, he is said to be the leader I am shocked they are not briefing you very well but rather claiming they are here to fight galamseyers. Social media has heavily condemned the comments believed to be insensitive and ignorant. Veteran journalist Abdul Kweku Baako has called on government to dismiss the DCE who has been in office barely four weeks ago. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said he has monitored comments on social media and "the very, very comments apparently made by the DCE". "We will take all of those [comments] into account" when the President returns from an ECOWAS trip, he said. The Vice President revealed this when he paid a courtesy call on the family of the deceased Wednesday at the Burma Camp in Accra. It was an emotional charged encounter. Military commanders were close to tears for the fallen soldier. Flanked by senior figures in the family, the wife of the deceased, Barbara Mahama, dressed in black with a head gear kept her composure. "It is so painful", the Vice-President said describing the death as dastardly, painful, evil and unjustifiable. The Vice-President assured the family, government will "see that he gets a befitting burial". "This is all our funeral. It is Ghana's [funeral], it is not just this family, everywhere in every village, in every town they are talking about it" He urged the family to have patience for the process initiated to bring the perpetrators to book. Captain Mahama was lynched by some residents of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region Monday morning while on his routine jogging, it has been reported. He was stoned and burnt after residents mistook him for an armed robber when they allegedly saw a weapon on him. The police in the Central Region have arrested six people including the Assembly Member alleged to have played a role in the murder. They are, William Baah (the Assemblyman of Denkyira Obuasi), Bismark Donkor, Phillip Badu, Kofi Nyame, Anthony Amoah and Kofi Badu. The police are appealing to persons who have any information about the gruesome murder to provide it to the nearest police station or call Police on 18555 ( MTN and Vodafone ), 0302-773906, 0302787373 or 191 ( all networks ). Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|Edwin Appiah|[email protected] The report on investigations into the murder of Captain Maxwell Mahama is ready and the Ghana Armed Forces has pledged to follow its recommendations to the latter. This assurance was given by the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Obed Akwa, when he, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and other officers of the Ghana Armed Forces visited the family of the deceased in Accra on Wednesday May 31. Major General Akwa also assured the bereaved family that nobody involved in Captain Mahama's death would escape justice, further urging them to disregard assertions that Captain Mahama was at Denkyira Obuasi to protect illegal mining sites. Speaking to the family, Major General Akwa said: He [Captain Maxwell Mahama] was on a sanctioned official duty. The High Command knew about it and our ministry is also aware, so I will like to disabuse the minds of the general populace that they were there undertaking or protecting illegal mining. That is the first important point I want to make. Secondly, yesterday, I dispatched the Chief of Army Staff and the GOC Southern Command, together with other officers of the Ghana Armed Forces and also our counterparts from the police service, to go and undertake some investigations on the ground. They've come up with their report which we are going to look at very carefully and help in the implementation. I also want to seize this opportunity to thank all officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces for the restraint that they have exhibited in the face of this provocation. Major General Akwa noted that a new image of the Ghana Armed Forces is being carved, adding: We don't have officers and men who will take reprisal action as perhaps was the case in the past. I like to commend all of them and to urge those who are still deployed in the operational area to live peaceably with their civilian counterparts and allow the law to take its course. As the Vice President has indicated, nobody involved in this dastardly act will escape justice, so that is the assurance I would like to give to the family. Tomorrow I'll be meeting all ranks in Burma Camp for an all ranks durbar to reiterate some of the points made by the Vice President and also what I've just said. It is our intention to also proceed to Takoradi to meet all ranks of that garrison to convey similar sentiments to them. I've sent the Chief of Army Staff to 4 Garrison where he will also undertake a similar exercise. Captain Mahama was lynched on suspicion that he was an armed robber after a group of residents from whom he asked for directions during a Monday dawn jogging session spotted a pistol on him. The death of the soldier has been widely criticised, with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former Presidents John Mahama and J.J Rawlings leading the condemnations. -AccraFm The Minority in Parliament has secured an opportunity to question Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in parliament following weeks of pressure on government over the issuance of $2.25 billion bond. The Minority National Democratic Congress say the minister has caused a GHS5 billion financial loss to the state in the raising of the $2.5billion from the open market. The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrissu told Parliament Wednesday that there are outstanding questions relating to the processes that the Finance Ministry went through in order to secure the bond. On Wednesday, May 31, the Minority Leader filed a "half hour motion" seeking to invite the Minister to answer questions on the bond issue. In an 'unexpected' move, the Majority did not oppose the motion. An approval was given to the motion as the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said the issue is one of public interest and since Members of Parliament are the representatives of the people, he, therefore, seconded the motion. A half hour motion per Standing Order 49 (1) required that on the day the motion will be moved, whatever business is being transacted on the floor, 30 minutes before the House closes the one who filed the motion will be called by the Speaker to move the motion for the whole House if they agree to question the one invited. Mr Iddrisu said he want the House to prevail upon the Finance Minster to furnish them with the full complement of documentation relating to the issuance, participants, utilisation of the funds and currency in which the bond was settled. He indicated that he wanted to know the currency in which the bond was issued although the Minority acknowledged seeing a press release by government breakdown. The Minority said the House is yet to be officially aware of the statement and want Ken Ofori-Atta in parliament. The NDC MPs are convinced the bond issue should have gone through parliament. The Minority at a news conference in Accra called for a Parliamentary probe into a local bond issued by government on April 3, 2017. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs said the bond, participated by only two investors, was shrouded in secrecy to the extent that Ghanaian investors were denied the opportunity to participate in the deal. The MPs said one of the investors who patronised the bond, Franklyn Templeton, has a link to Enterprise Group Limited of which Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is a co-founder. They said one Trevor G. Trefgarne, who is the Board Chairman of Enterprise Insurance Limited and also on the Franklyn Templeton Investment Company as a Director, might have influenced the manner in which the bond was issued. The Minority filed a complaint with the US Security and Exchange Commission alleging insider trading. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim Government is insisting nothing untoward happened in the $2.25 billion local bond issued on the Financial market in April this year. The Minority in Parliament has said the manner the bond was issued was shrouded in secrecy and amounted to a conflict of interest situation. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs said Trevor G. Trefgarne, who is the Board Chairman of Enterprise Insurance Limited and also on the Franklyn Templeton Investment Company as a Director, might have influenced the direction of the bond issued. Related Article: NDC MPs want Parliamentary probe into govt's 15-year bond Deputy Minority leader, James Avedzi Klutsey said there is a link between Franklyn Templeton Investment which won 95 percent of the bond and Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. In line with that, the Minority petitioned the United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate the matter. It was done after the Ashanti Regional NDC Youth Organiser, Brogya Gyamfi petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). Related Article: Our US $2.25bn bond petition is not vote of no confidence in CHRAJ- Ablakwa In a 17-page response to CHRAJ, government said, There is no evidence of any act or omission on the part of either the [Finance] Ministry or the Minister supporting an allegation of participation in a business transaction or activity for the benefit of friends or family. On the issue of secrecy: Government said the Minority claim that the bond was not transparent is an untruth. The transactions followed the same book building approach that had been used since 2015 to issue domestic bonds, the statement said. The opening and closing of the order books, government said did not contravene any law or regulation in the country. EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE On the initial pricing of the bond: The government said it is misleading for anyone to claim the initial pricing guidelines of the Bond were issued around 5:37 pm. This is a completely false and misleading allegation. We reject it outright and respectfully urge the Commission to reject it as well, the statement. Government explained the: (a) Initial pricing guidelines are not issued by the Ministry of Finance. Under the regulations, they are issued by the Book Runners/Transaction Advisers licensed by the Bank of Ghana - Barclays Bank Ghana, Strategic African Securities and Stanbic Bank Ghana. (b) On the occasion of the issue of the Bonds in question, the Book Runners by a public announcement on March 30, 2017 at 10.12 am, published details of the Bonds to be issued and sent invitations to all investors before the transaction opened. The initial pricing guidelines were issued on March 30, 2017, 2.04 pm. The government said it deemed Mr Gyamfis allegations very deplorable because it was aimed at tainting an otherwise highly successful financial exercise of great import. [The allegations were]anchored on blatant falsehoods and manifest unfamiliarity with the regulations and procedure for the issue of Government of Ghana Bonds. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | [email protected] | Instagram: @realbrakopowers BouakA (Ivory Coast) (AFP) - Ivory Coast armed forces chief Sekou Toure met on Wednesday with troops who had mutinied over pay, in a bid to heal deep rifts in the military. Journalists were allowed to briefly enter the barracks in the city of Bouake, the focal point of a revolt which left four people dead and nine injured, according to government figures. After the talks, which were closed to the press, Toure said his message had been that the armed forces had to end the current three-way split between the 8,400 former rebels who have been integrated into the army; regular troops loyal to ex-president Laurent Gbagbo; and those supportive of current President Alassane Ouattara. "I reminded them that in the army there are three categories; officers, sub-officers and the rank and file. These are the three categories I would like to hear about," he said. A first revolt broke out in January and flared again in May before being calmed by promises of a bonus. Many of those who mutinied were former rebels who joined the army in 2011, as peace returned after a decade-long war that had split the country in two. Ivory Coast has an army numbering around 22,000 soldiers, but falling cocoa prices have severely crimped the government's finances. Last year, the government unveiled an ambitious plan to modernise the military, part of which would involve the departure of several thousand men, particularly ex-rebels, who will not be replaced. In todays Money Morningthe obstacle presented by the Dodd-Frank Actwhy its days were always numberedthe stage is now set for the biggest boom of all timeand more EDITORS NOTE: Today is the day we are finally releasing this Phil Anderson Forecast Video Showcase . If you care about where we are in the markets now, and what a historical Grand Cycle predicts for the years ahead, youll find it riveting viewing. Anderson has predicted every major twist and turn in the markets since 2000. That includes, most recently, the stock market cool-off and subsequent rebound that occurred last year. When will the next cool-off be? And will be it a mega-crash that many predict? Or will there be yet another rebound to greater highs? All is revealed in this video ! Below, Terence Duffy of the Phil Andersons Cycles, Trends and Forecasts team looks at another forecast Phil has gotten bang onto do with Donald Trump and Dodd Frank *** As youll see if you view this free, brand-new video presentation that weve just put out a huge boom in property prices is about to hit the world. Be prepared to take advantage of it. I know that sounds silly. Given almost every headline you read tells you about a property bubble and the impending collapse. But there are so many ways for property to go higher from here. Financial deregulation is one. Less regulation allows the banks to lend out more and with less constraints, so lending standards loosen. Easier credit, in turn, allows customers to borrow more to bid up the price of real estate. Its a self-perpetuating cycle, which feeds on itself. Towards the peak, a frenzy in land speculation eventually sends property prices right over the top. The certain result is a financial meltdown, such as we saw in 2008. But theres been a problem in the way this scenario plays out. An obstacle. And that problem, that obstacle in the way, has always been Dodd Frank. Land prices cant go completely over the top with tight financial regulations in place. Without loose regulations, without loose credit, we cant get to the point where no money down becomes the order of the day, and things go right over the top. Dodd Frank was born out of the last financial crisis in 2008. Those reforms placed major constraints on the banks. Those constraints were put in place to better regulate the banks and ensure another financial panic could never happen again. Named after the sponsors of the legislation, Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank, it became law in 2010. And in all the noise, scandal and personnel changes that mark the first months of the Trump presidency, Dodd Frank is quietly being killed off. Trump told a group of chief executives last month that his administration was totally revamping this Wall Street reform and may even do away with it altogether. This shouldnt be something that comes out as a complete surprise. Dodd Franks days were always numbered. In June last year, long before Trump entered the White House, in an update emailed to subscribers, Cycles, Trends and Forecasts predicted how events might play out. We put on record then how Donald Trump significantly increased his chances of ascending to the US presidency courtesy of the US banks. We detailed how the Chairman of the US House Financial Services Committee, Jeb Hensarling, put together measures to specifically help US banks by dismantling the Dodd-Frank Act. Trump then endorsed these measures and vowed to pull apart the act. This is how history repeats. Banks fund supportive politicians to their cause, and those politicians usually end up winning. President Trump has reversed his position on a range of issues, but I guarantee Dodd Frank is one position that wont change. For the real estate cycle to repeat, Dodd Frank had to go. History shows you that events happen to make the real estate cycle turn, and not the other way around. This is why we could forecast such events well in advance. The new president has vowed to cut taxes and increase spending on infrastructure, to Make America Great Again. The gains from these measures will only send property prices higher. The mainstream press, economists and investment writers mostly fail to understand this. You have to stop reading them. But while tax cuts and infrastructure spending send real estate higher, land prices cant go completely over the top at the peak without the full cooperation of the banks. Thats why Dodd Frank was always a dead man walking. And with Dodd Frank out the way, the stage is now set for this real estate cycle to be the biggest of all time. Get a good seat, sit back and watch as this real estate cycle slowly but surely starts to build. Credit is starting to loosen; this will see the US housing market start moving steadily higher. Banks likewise will see higher profit margins from more lending and larger mortgages. Then add into that mix the massive infrastructure that is being planned here, in the US and throughout the world. Alone, Beijings trillion-dollar plans to recreate Marco Polos ancient Silk Road connecting China with 60 other countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, with high-speed rail, power plants, pipelines, ports, telecommunications and airports is of a scale weve never seen before. All this infrastructure will only send land prices soaring wherever it goes in. This cycle especially promises so many gains from technology. Its already happening now, with new fuel sources, cheaper energy, driverless cars, incredible connectivity and 3D printing. Never before have we had so much potential for wealth creation. You know now where those gains will end up. So forget about any imminent collapse reported in the mainstream press, and educate yourself on how to take advantage of the biggest boom of all time, which is still ahead of us. Dodd Frank had to go; the real estate cycle demanded it. This is history simply repeating before your eyes. This cycle is on target to dwarf all others. To find out why, and how to invest to great advantage with this cycle in mind, watch this brand-new forecast tutorial, which premieres today. Regards, Terence Duffy, Lead Researcher, Cycles, Trends and Forecasts Sacramento, CA A bill that would impact schools has passed in the California Senate in response to the rise of fake news stories circulating on the internet. Senate Bill 135 would add media literacy to the states public school curriculum. Media literacy is defined as the ability to analyze and evaluate information consumed from various media sources. Bill author, Democratic Senator Bill Dodd of Napa, says, While we have critical thinking requirements in our curriculum, they havent kept up with the digital age. By giving students the proper tools to analyze the media they consume, we can empower them to make informed decisions. Dodd also notes that the number of internet advertisements masquerading as news has increased in recent years, and cites a Stanford study that finds 82-percent of middle school students struggle distinguishing strategically placed advertisements from news stories. SB 135 now moves to the Assembly for consideration. Remember Hausa actress, Rabi Ismail, who escaped prison in 2011 after she was sentenced to death by hanging for hom*cide? Yes, the DSS have recaptured her! Daily Nigerian reports that the Intelligence Unit of the Nigerian Prisons Service in alliance with of men of the State Security Service, (SSS) made this possible. Recall that the condemned Hausa film actress escaped Hadejia Prison on December 16, 2011, after she was sentenced to death by a High Court in Kano on January 5, 2005. Popularly called Rabi Cecilia by her fans, Rabi was very ruthless. She was very popular and she's said to know top politicians. She lived at Abedi street of Sabon Gari, Kano, as a prostitute She was subsequently held in Kaduna Central Prison from where she was transferred to Hadejia Prison from where she escaped about six years ago. PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App In July 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of the lower courts that sentenced her to death by hanging for killing her boyfriend, Auwalu Ibrahim, to acquire his property. The court found her guilty for drugging and drowning Mr Ibrahim in 2002 in Kano. Before her arrest, Actress Rabi Ismaila, popularly called Rabi Cecilia by her fans, was said to be very ruthless. She was very popular and she's said to know top politicians. She lived at the alleged notorious Abedi Street of Sabon Gari, Kano, as a prostitute. The single mother of two was said to have spiritual powers so no one dared say anything bad about her. The comptroller general of prisons expressed appreciation to the assistance rendered by security agencies particularly the SSS and the police in arresting the fugitive. He urged the general public to continue giving information that will rid the society of outlaws like the Rabi Ismail. He assured that security measures have been strengthened to prevent persons in prison custody from escaping. Watch below Legit.ng's video on Whistle Blowing: Source: Legit.ng - The successful attack on the base of the Boko Haram terrorists was carried out by the Nigerian Air Force using a newly acquired helicopter gunship - The Nigerian Air Force also revealed how it carried out another successful operation in the Niger Delta region of the country Using its just acquired MI-35M helicopter gunship, the Nigerian Air Force has successfully hit at a base occupied by the Boko Haram terrorist groups in Borno state. A statement by the director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore, Olatokunbo Adesanya, and obtained by Legit.ng shows that the operation was carried out by the Air Force component of the Operation Lafiya Dole. On 21 May 2017, the Nigerian Air Force Component of Operation LAFIYA DOLE conducted an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission in Parisu, Borno state. The Nigerian Air Force said the mission was carried out successfully During the ISR mission, a large structure with solar panels and flags suspected to harbour high value Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) was discovered, alongside other similar BHT structures hidden under trees. READ ALSO: Many police officers feared dead as Naval officers attack police station in Calabar Accordingly, on 22 May 2017, 2 attack helicopters; the Mi-17 and the newly inducted day and night, all weather gunship, Mi-35M Super Hind were scrambled to conduct strikes on the location in succession, the statement said. The Nigerian Air Force added that subsequent battle damage assessment revealed that several structures in the target area were engulfed in fire as a result of the strikes while a few BHT survivors were seen scampering from the location. In another development, NAF helicopter gunships have also destroyed nine hidden barges with stolen oil products in several creeks within the Niger Delta under the framework of Operation DELTA SAFE. The destruction of the barges, according to NAF, is aimed at making the stealing of the Nations oil products futile, dangerous and unattractive. Watch the video as released by NAF: PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian military has been able to sustain its victory over insurgency due to its highest level of transparency and intelligence, a report by the Global Amnesty Watch (GAW) has shown. GAW, a non-governmental organization that monitors the conduct of military, defence and security forces in combating crimes globally made this known at the presentation on Tuesday, May 30 in Abuja. The presentation which was titled: The Mid Term Report on Nigeria's Counter-Insurgency War was an independent assessment by GAW of the Nigerian military war against terrorism. Watch this Legit.ng video of how the Nigerian Air Force has combated Boko Haram terrorists: Source: Legit.ng - A bomber was shot dead by soldiers while moving about the perimeter fencing at Giwa Barracks - A burial ceremony for five slain Boko Haram victims recently beheaded at the Konduga area, not far from the barracks, was taking place at the time - Frequent Boko Haram attacks have occurred in recent times within the area A mass tragedy was averted on Tuesday, May 30, in Maiduguri, Borno state, when a lone suicide bomber was shot dead by soldiers before he could detonate his bomb. According to an eye-witness, the suicide bomber was shot dead as he attempted to penetrate and cause mayhem at the Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri. The incident occurred just as a burial ceremony for five Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who were killed by Boko Haram, was being carried out by their colleagues. The victims were previously residents of the Balle Shuwari community, which is about 5km from Giwa Barracks. READ ALSO: Many police officers feared dead as Naval officers attack police station in Calabar The Balle Shuwari community was one of the communities ransacked by members of the Boko Haram terrorist sect in a previous attack. This led to the displacement of the escaping residents who took up shelter within the IDP camp in Konduga before they were then attacked there again, on Sunday. Their remains were found on Monday, May 29, a day after they had been beheaded by the invading terrorists. Premium Times reports that a civilian JTF leader Danbatta Bello, who provided information about the lone suicide bomber, stated that he had been shot and killed by some soldiers who spotted him at the perimeter fencing of Giwa Barracks. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He was attempting to make his way into the barracks when he was caught. According to the informant, the bomber was shot down at 2:40pm on Tuesday. Legit.ng learnt that that the three days post-burial Islamic prayers for the five victims of Sundays attack, would hold at the Polo area of Maiduguri, on Wednesday, May 31. The area around Konduga has been hit in recent times by incessant attacks from the Boko Haram terrorists; who last week attacked a dozen IDPs, hunting within the area. Four of the victims of that attack were massacred while two are still missing. Legit.ng had earlier reported that insurgents in Nigerias Northeastern state of Borno attacked the Mandarari ward in Konduga local government area of Borno killing seven people. The law enforcement agency said on Friday, May 5, 2017 that the seven people died after two female members of the terrorist group detonated explosive devices they were laced with. Malam Murtala Ibrahim of the Borno Police Command Public Relations Unit confirmed the incident in a statement he issued in Maiduguri. Watch this Legit.ng TV video of child survivors of Boko Haram terror attacks in north-east Source: Legit.ng Oil spillage in Nigeria will cost at least one hundred billion dollars and about 30 years to clean up the mess. UN reports gave these numbers to Nigeria. If the situation does not change Nigeria will end up with worse environmental issues than ever! Read this article to find out more! Oil History in Nigeria In 1956, the British Empire found oil in Nigeria. After that, British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell started producing crude oil and selling it. At the beginning of 1958 other foreign companies joined the operations in the crude oil production. In 1960, Nigeria gained independence and shortly after, stepped into the civil war. Despite the civil war, oil production did not stop. Nigerian warlords continued to use oil plants for war! Corruption in Nigeria made the situation much worse. Nigerian officials made millions thanks to the crude oil production. At the same time, the majority of the population tried to survive on 1 dollar per day. Of course, there were no official reports about oil spillage in Nigeria at that time. The first major oil spillage occurred in 1970 in the South-East of Nigeria. The most damaged region was Ogoniland. Nigerian officials reported that gallons of crude oil spilled on rivers and farmland. The Federal Government reported that there were more than 7,000 spills in the time range between 1970 and 2000. Ultimately, it led to the 26 million pounds fine for Shell. Still, that fine only occurred 30 years later! It`s not enough to fix the environmental damage of Ogoniland. Nevertheless, Shell in Nigeria refused to pay this price for Ogoniland. So non-violent opposition happened in Ogoniland in the 1990s. People protested against oil companies and the oil spillage in Nigeria. They wanted to have at least some financial benefits from oil companies. The Federal Government tried to destroy the opposition with military forces. It only made the situation worse. In 2006, armed groups started to sabotage pipelines and kidnap oil companies` staff. Nigerian army was not able to provide security for Shell pipelines. Eventually, Shell admitted to the oil spills. Shell`s oil spillage in Nigeria statistics showed that the company was responsible for 14, 000 tons of crude oil in the Niger Delta. After this, Shell paid the fine of 9.6 million pounds. Oil Companies Vs People Shell and other oil companies do not want to admit to the oil spillage in Nigeria. In 2009 the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced that Ogoniland would need about 1 billion dollars to clean itself. The UNEP reports showed that the oil spillage had polluted the 1,000 square kilometers area. It was not an ideal living conditions for those in the area. In 2012, Guardian published the results of the first large-scale investigation of the oil spillage in Nigeria. This three-year investigation found the following atrocities in Ogoniland: Shell in Nigeria failed to provide required environmental safety standards of Nigeria. Moreover, Shell Nigeria failed to meet even their own safety standards! The hydrocarbon level of water in Niger Delta is more than 1,000 times higher than the level allowed by the international drinking water standards! The studied areas have shown that the soil contamination is more than five meters deep! Community drinking water is filled with benzene and other pollutants. Niger Delta regions couldn`t provide drinking water to people! The report showed the heavy contamination of underground water courses! Oil companies did not clear the contamination spots despite warning! READ ALSO: Problems of tourism in NigeriaProblems of tourism in Nigeria Still, the official oil production is only a tip of the iceberg for the oil spillage in Nigeria. Officials of Shell companies claim that the major part of oil spills is caused by the illegal crude oil production. Mutiu Sunmonu, managing director of Shell in Nigeria, have been protecting the interests of the company for many years. According to him, most of the Oil Spillage Africa Nigeria is caused by sabotage and the illegal oil production. Nnimmo Bassey, director of Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria, reported that Shell and other oil companies are mostly responsible for the oil spillage. He suggested that the Federal Government together with oil companies should provide the strategy to clean up oil spills in the damaged regions. What are the causes of oil spillage in Nigeria? Recent international studies show that oil spills are common in Nigeria. They provide the following oil spillage sources: Pipeline and tanker incidents 50%; Sabotage 28%; Oil production operations 21%; Non-function equipment 1%. These reports also provide information about oil corrosion accounts. The pipeline network is pretty old and has not been changed since the 1980s. Therefore, corrosion can be treated as one of the main causes of the oil spillage. Another main reason is the sabotaging of activity in oil states in Nigeria. The sabotage is primarily performed by bunkering and siphoning. Niger River Delta State is the main target for oil production saboteurs. They contribute to the environmental degradation. Oil siphoning has already become a big business in Nigeria! Oil spillage in Nigeria effects Independent studies show the following consequences: More than one thousand people have been killed in the oil line explosion; The oil spillage in Nigeria is destroying the ecosystem of oil states. Some scientists constitute ecocide in the oil states; About 7,500 square kilometers of rainforest were destroyed; About 10% of mangrove ecosystems in oil states; Pollution of underground water; Violation of human rights in oil state regions, like the ability to work, health and access to clean water. Conclusion Nigeria is one of the biggest oil producers in Africa. Still, the average Nigerian mostly suffer due to oil production. All the benefits from oil come to oil companies and corrupted Nigerian officials! If the situation does not change, Nigerians will lose their oil states! READ ALSO: Insurgency in Nigeria effect on the economy Source: Legit.ng RACINE COUNTY The latest population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show the City of Racines population decreased, although the countys population as a whole increased. The city of Racines population decreased as it has in every year of the 2010s, but the dropoff was less steep than the previous two years, dropping by 120 to 77,571. The countys population rose to 195,140 from 194,917 in 2015, marking the first time the Census Bureau has estimated the countys population above 195,000 since 2010, when the population was 195,444. The data, which was released earlier this month, estimates the population of municipalities on July 1, 2016. The citys 120-person drop is less than half the size of its drop off from 2014 to 2015, when it lost 276 residents from its total. Its also the smallest population decrease for the city since the number fell by 88 from 2012 to 2013. One of the reasons that were working so hard to build residential units on our lakefront and along our river is to start rebuilding our population, Mayor John Dickert said. With population comes support from the state and federal government. City Council President Dennis Wiser, who is also the vice president of the Racine Unified School Board, agreed about the importance of growing the citys population. The more people you have in an area, the more services become available, Wiser said. If we can grow the population, we can grow our financial base as a school district and government and the people can only benefit from that. The city remains Wisconsins fifth most populous municipality. Dickert added that the decrease in average family size is another reason why the city is addressing population issues through its housing. Were trying to meet the needs of the people that are here and the people who are looking to move here, he said. By comparison, Kenoshas population fell by 48 residents to 99,631. That was also a substantially smaller decrease than from 2014 to 2015. Racine County trails only Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha and Brown counties in Wisconsin by population. Kenosha Countys population increased only slightly by comparison, adding just 15 residents to get to 168,183. Im encouraged by the Countys growth and I look forward to taking advantage of an improved economy in the foreseeable future, County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said. Around Racine County Mount Pleasant and Caledonia showed the most significant increases in population in the county, adding 110 and 90 residents, respectively. Mount Pleasant went from 26,250 to 26,360 while Caledonia grew from 24,820 to 24,910. Also among the biggest risers in the county were Union Grove, which added 32 residents to reach 4,920, and the Town of Norway, which grew by 28 residents to reach 8,091.The two county municipalities besides Racine that saw population decreases were Sturtevant and Dover. Sturtevants population fell by 19 to 6,937 while Dovers population decreased by 26 to 4,095.The City of Burlingtons population is now 10,668 after it added 25 residents between 2015 and 2016. Mayor Jeannie Hefty said the city has prioritized upgrading its downtown with a planning committee and increased investment in previously vacant storefronts.All this will keep adding to people wanting to come to the downtown, she said. Were building it into a destination point.The Town of Burlington added 17 residents to reach 6,519.Both the village and town of Waterford saw similar increases. The village added 24 residents to reach 5,378 while the town grew by 23 to total 6,449 people.The Village of Rochester and the towns of Raymond and Yorkville posted modest increases of 20, 12 and six people, respectively. Wind Points estimate increased by just one resident, while Elmwood Parks and North Bays remained the same. Overall, the state added 10,817 residents, a growth of 0.2 percent, to reach 5,778,708. Racine Countys growth represents just 2 percent of the states overall growth. - The NYSC has been condemned for continuing to run its orientation camps despite the Ramadan fast - Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI) said the decision of NYSC to admit new entrants into orientation camps during Ramadan would put Muslim faithful at a disadvantage - The Islamic body also called on the Nigerian army to immediately postpone its planned recruitment exercise until after Ramadan A foremost Islamic body in Nigeria, Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI), has condemned the decision of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to continue running its orientation camps despite the Ramadan fast. Legit.ng gathered that the body which is led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Saad, also called on the Nigerian army to immediately postpone its planned recruitment exercise until Muslims have concluded their fasting period for 2017. READ ALSO: Nigerian Senate passes bill to jail corrupt Customs officials for 5 years The decision was reached by JNI as part of many resolutions, which included fervent prayers for ailing President Muhammadu Buhari, at its recently-concluded annual central council meeting in Kaduna. The organisation said NYSC admitting new entrants into orientation camps and the Nigerian Army conducting recruitment exercise during Ramadan would put Muslim faithful, especially those observing fasting and prayers, at a disadvantage. JNI called on the NYSC to honour a previous agreement entered by the two parties for camp activities to be placed on hold during Ramadan. According to an earlier report by Legit.ng, the DaWah Coordination council of Nigeria, a coalition of Muslim groups, had threatened to force its members to boycott this years recruitment exercise by the Nigerian Army and the orientation programme of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The groups said they would boycott the exercise should the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo fail to prevail on the organisations to shift the date of the two exercises. PAY ATTENTION: Get more videos on Legit.ng TV The coalition also said that because the programmes coincided with the Muslims Ramadan fasting period it would ultimately affect their members interest. Watch a Legit.ng video on NYSC below: Source: Legit.ng - The acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, schedules a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly for the signing of the 2017 budget - The senior special assistant to the president on legislative matters, Ita Enang, informs the leadership of the national assembly that Osinbajo will sign the budget on Thursday, June 1 - Following the departure of President Muhammadu Buhari on medical vacation, there had been confusion about who would assent to the 2017 budget The acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, has invited Senate president, Bukola Saraki and speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to the Aso Rock for the signing of the 2017 budget. READ ALSO: Implement national conference report - Afenifere tells Osinbajo The meeting between Osinbajo and the leadership of the National Assembly is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 1, by 9am according to The Cable. The online newspaper, citing a National Assembly source, stated that Ita Enang, the senior special assistant to the president on legislative matters, officially informed the leadership of the national assembly that Osinbajo will sign the budget on Thursday, June 1. "Enang informed the leadership of the senate that acting president would be sign the budget tomorrow at 9am, he said So, the presiding officers are expected to be there. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Similarly, the Signal in a tweet, stated that Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara had been invited by Osinbajo to the Aso Rock for the signing of the 2017 budget. Legit.ng recalls that following the departure of President Muhammadu Buhari on medical vacation, there had been confusion about who would assent to the 2017 budget. The media on Wednesday, May 17, had reported that the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed during a post-Federal Executive Council Meeting press briefing said the federal government does not know who will sign the 2017 budget due to Buhari absence. But Lai Mohammed dismissed the report as a misrepresentation of what he said. They asked whos going to sign the budget, the President or the VP. I said that does not arise. Do they want me to say President? Then, they ask when he is coming back? So, I say when it is transmitted to the Presidency, that decision will be taken, the minister told Premium Times. According to the Mohammed, what he said was that when the budget it is transmitted to the presidency, that decision will be taken. Giving further clarification on the issue, spokesperson to the acting president, Laolu Akande, said Osinbajo will assent to the 2017 budget when he is satisfied with the content. He made the statement in reaction to reports report that Information Minister Lai Mohammed said the government was unsure of who to sign the budget. In the Legit.ng video below, acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, said Nigeria is greater together than apart. Source: Legit.ng - The Lagos state government will embark upon a total reconstruction of the international airport road from Oshodi - This was approved by Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo - The Lagos state government and the federal ministry of works were initially at loggerheads over who to repair the road The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has granted permission to the Lagos state government to embark upon a total reconstruction of the international airport road from Oshodi. In a press statement signed on Wednesday, May 31 by the secretary to the Lagos state government, Mr Tunji Bello, the state governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode who made the disclosure, commended the Osinbajo for his statesman like approach to issues and for fast tracking the process. We are very appreciative of the good gesture of His Excellency, the Acting President for acceding to our request which is not only very timely but a very heartwarming one. Posterity will never forget this genuine developmental action, the statement quoted Ambode as saying. Acting President Osinbajo gives Lagos state government the go-ahead to reconstruct the airport road READ ALSO: Osinbajo invites Saraki, Dogara to Aso Rock for signing of 2017 budget He also described the approval as a 50th birthday gift to the people of Lagos, describing it as a further demonstration of the determination of the present administration to ensure the effectiveness of the Executive Order on improving the Ease of Doing Business recently signed by the Acting President. Governor Ambode also gave kudos to President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the enabling environment to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the nation, adding that with the upgrading of the international airport road which is the gateway to the nations commercial nerve centre, the country will attract new investments. Earlier this year, the governor had raised an alarm about the present state of the road, describing it as a national disgrace that required immediate attention to salvage the nations image. He stated then that the state presently has a design for the reconstruction of the road as well as the funds to embark on the project but was yet to get the go ahead from the federal government. The governor had also also accused the ministry of works, power and housing of refusing to approve the handover of the Presidential Lodge, Marina to the state contrary to the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari. Fashola had said the Lagos state government was awaiting approval from the Federal Executive Council PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app In a swift reaction, the minister in charge of the ministry, Babatunde Fashola explained that the allegations of lack of cooperation from the state government are simply not true. The ministry has presented the memorandum conveying the request of the Lagos state government to the Federal Executive Council as was done with a similar request by the Kaduna state government in 2016, a statement by Fashola's spokesman made available to Legit.ng said. Watch the Legit.ng TV report below of Osinbajo flagging off the Lagos-Ibadan railway project in Lagos. Source: Legit.ng Editor's note: Muslims all over the world are expected to abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. Legit.ng looks at the category of Muslims exempted from fasting and how they can compensate for the missed fast. The holy month of Ramadan is when Muslims all over the world fast from dawn to dusk for 29 or 30 days. Beyond not eating and drinking during this period, Muslims also abstain from sexual activities during the day while also dedicating a large amount of time to praying and reading of the Holy Quran as a way of getting closer to Almighty Allah. READ ALSO: Ramadan Day 3: How to complete the entire Quran during Ramadan Although there are lots of religious activities associated with the month of Ramadan, the core aspect of it the abstinence from eating and drinking during the aforementioned period. Before we examine the categories of Muslims who are exempted from fasting, we need to know those who are enjoined to fast. Allah says in Surat Baqarah, (Chapter 2) verses 183 to 185: "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous "[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers excess - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew. "The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful." In clear terms, anyone who is an adult specifically at the attainment of puberty which is somewhere around the age of 11 to 14 is enjoined to fast. Who are the Muslims exempted from fasting? Children Pregnant women Breastfeeding mothers Ill people The mentally-challenged Travellers on a journey Women going through menstrual circle Old people How do you compensate for missing your fast? People who temporarily are unable to fast but can do so at a latter period re expected to pay back the fast after Ramadan, For example, someone who is ill during Ramadan can make up for it by completing the missed days after Ramadan. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app In the case of an old person who is unable to fast or someone who has a permanent sickness like AIDS, the person is expected to feed one poor person for the number of missed days. This can be done either by providing food or the monetary equivalent which is about N2000 per day. In the case of someone who deliberately misses or breaks the Ramadan fast, the person has to compensate for it by either fasting continuously for 60 days or feed 60 poor people for each broken or missed fast which is about N122,000. May Allah make this Ramadan fasting easy for us and may we reap all the rewards for engaging in it. Source: Legit.ng - Abubakar Malami said Nigeria cannot be restructured at the moment - The minister of finance said the call for restructuring should not be considered an agitation - He said the constitution needed to be amended to meet this demand Abubakar Malami who is the minister of justice and the attorney-general of the federation has said that Nigeria cannot be restructured at the moment as it would require the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to accommodate a referendum. Premium Times reports that the minister made this assertion on Tuesday, May 31, at a conference with the theme, Federalism and the Challenges of Dynamic Equilibrium in Nigeria: Towards a National Strategy, which was organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies. READ ALSO: Osinbajo invites Saraki, Dogara to Aso Rock for signing of 2017 budget In a statement by his media aide, the minister noted that there has been a call for the restructuring of the country but pointed out that it wasnt a matter of agitation. He explained it was needed for the constitution to provide for such provision. He said: Federalism is imbedded in our constitution as contained in sections 2, 3 and 5. It is not out of place to state that as far as our constitutional democracy is concerned, the idea of restructuring is not a function of advocacy or agitation. It is about constitutional accommodation and or alternative constitutional amendment. As things stand, restructuring requires amending the constitution to accommodate referendum or, in the alternative, a constitutional amendment to the 1999 constitution, which in this case must be supported by majority of legislators in 24 states of the federation as enshrined in Section 9 of the constitution. Whether that process is going to be an easy sale is a conjecture that should be left for deliberation. But one thing that is certain is the inevitable implication that abolishing states through restructuring process will certainly translate to the eventual multiplier effect of abolishing the state house of assembly and perhaps downsizing the National Assembly and probably the civil service and other related federal institution. This indeed is a tall order that cannot be achieved through advocacy, emotional outburst or provocative rhetorics and demonstrations. The beauty of democracy is in the process and legislative process is in our case the only answer. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Indeed, while federalism provides the institutional framework for managing diversity, democracy makes possible the negotiation of diverse identity claims by providing them with representation, voice and political mechanisms by which their competing claims are balanced and reconciled. We cannot wish away the particular conditions and circumstances that had produced the challenges in our federal system. We must use democratic means to find solutions to these numerous challenges. Legit.ng hits the streets to ask Nigerians if they can list a few achievements of the present administration. Watch their reactions below: Source: Legit.ng - South East Assemby has asked Abuja Court to revoke Nnamdi Kanus bail - Justice Binta Nyako of Abuja High Court had on April 25 granted Kunu bail - It maintained that Kanus struggle for Biafra does not enjoy the support of right thinking Igbo people both at home and in diaspora Barely 24 hours after the sit-at-home campaign that crippled business activities in the South East, a group, on Wednesday May 31, asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke the bail it granted to leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu. IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu granted bail by High Court in Abuja Vanguard reports that the group which is under the aegis of South East Peoples Assembly (SEPA) in a letter dated May 31 and signed by its President, Prince Chukwuemeka Okorie, urged the Chief Judge of the high court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, to as a matter of urgency, revoke Kanus bail. Legit.ng gathered that SEPA maintained that the IPOB leader has continued to conduct himself in a manner that is totally at variance with terms and conditions of his bail, among which included that he must not hold rallies, grant interviews or be in a crowd of more than 10 people. It said: Obviously, the recklessness with which he made media statements and even organised the Sit at Home and Stay Indoor protest to mark the so called BIAFRA HEROS DAY on Tuesday, 30th May, 2017 is a threat to the unity, security and peace of Nigeria as a sovereign nation. We have no iota of doubt that he is trying to push our dear country Nigeria into an unnecessary precarious situation for his personal agenda and those of his paymasters. Sir, our decision to write this demand letter to your good office at this time is to forestall another civil unrest in Nigeria, particularly around the Igbo speaking region. As you well know, the struggle by Kanu to be relevant under the guise of actualisation of Biafra does not enjoy the support of right thinking Igbo people both at home and in diaspora. That he suddenly addresses himself as the Supreme Leader of Biafra points to how arrogant and disrespectful he is to legitimately constituted authority in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The pertinent question on our minds as stakeholders is: Has Kanu been consistent in providing the court with reports on the progress of his health and treatment on a monthly basis since he was granted bail? We fear that if Kanu is not tamed by Your Lordship as a matter of urgency, the IPOB may create a situation where it becomes difficult if not impossible for genuine development to take place in the South East under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. History has taught us that the Civil War of 1967-1970 started gradually and later turned out to be something that caused our people unimaginable losses. We cannot afford to fold our arms this time and allow a stooge imported from the United Kingdom by stark enemies of Nigeria to maintain a state of belligerence against the nation and keep the name of Igbo people in the news for the wrong reasons. At the SEPA, our very mission is that we believe in the truth and can on the strength of this declare that the temporary freedom being enjoyed by Kanu has been abused. Therefore, we join the other patriotic Nigerians in urging Your Lordship to consider adopting the appropriate procedure to ensure that Kanus bail is revoked within the next 7 (Seven) working days. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app It may interest you to know that the whole world is watching how you have been faring to reposition the Federal High Court on the path of excellence and restore her lost glory, the letter read. It will be recalled trial Justice Binta Nyako had on April 25, granted Kanu bail after he spent about a year and six months in detention. Legit.ng had previously reported that Justice Binta Nyako had on April 25 said her decision to release Kanu on bail was based on health grounds. She cited an affidavit that was attached to the bail application Kanu filed through his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor. Specifically, the court held that Kanu must produce three sureties, including a highly respected and recognised jewish leader. According to the court, aside a jewish leader, Kanu must also produce a highly placed person of Igbo extraction, as well as a highly respected person who is resident and owns landed property in Abuja. Each of the sureties, among whom was Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, deposited N100 million each. Watch the first appearance of Nnamdi Kanu as he stepped out of prison recently: Source: Legit.ng - Senator Ita Enang said the date for signing of the 2017 budget has not been fixed - The presidential aide said consultation was still going on concerning - This is contrary to earlier reports credited to him Senator Ita Enang who is the special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly has said that no date has been set for the signing of the 2017 budget. The Punch reports that the presidential aide said consultation was still going on concerning the budget. READ ALSO: Confusion as South East Assembly asks Abuja Court to revoke Nnamdi Kanus bail He said: Further to several enquiries regarding action on the 2017 Appropriation Bill by the Executive, be please informed that Assent to same is not yet scheduled as consultations and engagements are ongoing. There has been controversy concerning who will sign the budget as President Muhammadu Buhari was on medical leave in London. Laolu Akande who is the senior special assistant to Professor Yemi Osinbajo had insisted his boss would sign the budget when the time comes. Just so we are clear: when the time comes, everything is set, & he is satisfied, Ag. President Yemi Osinbajo will assent to the 2017 Budget. Legit.ng had earlier reported that Osinbajo invited Senate president, Bukola Saraki and speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to the Aso Rock for the signing of the 2017 budget. The Cable, citing a National Assembly source, stated that Enang officially informed the leadership of the national assembly that Osinbajo will sign the budget on Thursday, June 1. Watch a video below of Professor Osinbajo delivering a lecture on Biafra Source: Legit.ng RACINE A former substitute teacher convicted of sexting and fondling high school girls was sentenced to a year in jail and three years of probation. But any violations of his probation or jail work release privileges, including orders that he have no unsupervised contact with minors, could result in him seeing prison time for his offenses, a local judge warned Tuesday. These are crimes for which imprisonment would very well be appropriate if you had a criminal history, Racine County Circuit Court Judge Emily Mueller told Justin Beaton, 29. I am opting now for some punishment, which is very appropriate. I am opting for intensive treatment, initially in the community, but I am leaving open the potential for substantial prison time in the event you either choose to, or are simply incapable of, following the rules. Beaton, of the 1600 block of Grange Avenue, Racine, was charged last March with two counts of child enticement, two counts of sexual assault of a student by a school staff member and exposing a child to harmful material, after he allegedly exchanged sexually explicit text messages, kissed and groped two older teen girls, and sent a photo of his genitals to a 14-year-old Case High School student over social media. He pleaded guilty on March 14 to one of the two sexual-assault charges he faced, and the charge of exposing a child to harmful material. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of bail jumping for reportedly trying to contact one of the alleged victims in the case, violating the terms of his bond. Right and wrong On Tuesday, Mueller expressed concern not only for the gravity of the crimes, but also over what she saw as Beatons failure to grasp that gravity. I think you are a low risk to re-offend when you know that something is wrong. Your problem is, you dont always know when something is wrong, Mueller said. You have indicated embarrassment and remorse, but frankly I dont believe that you have actually internalized your responsibilities here. Youre the adult. One of these girls was 14 years old. You sent her a picture of your (genitals)? Where does that come from? Mueller could have sentenced Beaton to up 10 years in prison for his crimes, but opted to heed much of the recommendation of presentence investigators with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Those investigators recommended that Beaton, who had no criminal record prior to his arrest on the sexual assault charges, be sentenced to three years of probation, with the condition that he spend one of those years in jail. That was the sentence they recommended for all four charges. Mueller instead sentenced Beaton to one year in jail for the bail jumping charges, and another three years on probation for the sexual assault and exposing a child to harmful material charges. In addition to having no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, Beaton may not teach or have any contact with elementary, middle of high schools. He must also register as a sex offender, undergo counseling, and random drug and alcohol testing. Warning Assistant District Attorney Dirk Jensen also deferred to the DOCs sentencing recommendation, but he too cautioned that Beaton would surely face prison time if he violated the terms of his probation. I want Mr. Beaton to understand clearly that if I see his name on a referral (for charges) in my office I am going to ask for that referral, and I will not be recommending he be placed on probation in the community, Jensen said. Earlier in his remarks Jensen stated that he believed Beaton had minimized his role in the offenses committed. He doesnt understand the lines that were crossed. And I think that is a somewhat of a concern to be quite honest, Jensen said. Addressing the court, Beaton said that he has been working to address faulty thinking that led him to act as he did, and assured Mueller and Jensen that they would not hear from him again. It was not okay for me to violate the rules, said Beaton. I just feel really embarrassed. I dont know what else to say. Im very sorry. My prayer is for forgiveness and restoration for everybody I know. SOMERS As the Burlington community continues to mourn the loss of the three young people killed in a fatal crash Sunday, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside campus also struggles with the loss of one of the vehicles occupants, who was a student there. One of the victims, 20-year-old Landen Brown, a 2015 Burlington High School graduate, also attended UW-Parkside and participated in the colleges a cappella group, Parkside Range. Brown was the third UW-Parkside student in six months to lose their life in car crashes. Other recent losses include 20-year old Paddock Lake resident Irmalicia Trevino, who was killed in a Dec. 20 crash, and Joseph Ahlgren, 22, of Lake Geneva who died in a Nov. 26 crash over Thanksgiving weekend. In regards to the recent losses, including that of Brown, Parkside Chancellor Debbie Ford issued the following statement: The news of Landen Browns death is devastating to the UW-Parkside learning community, the City of Burlington and families across southeastern Wisconsin. Landen is the third UW-Parkside student we have lost in a car accident in the past six months. As a smaller campus, where students and faculty know one another quite well, these tragedies are felt on a very personal basis throughout the university. Fords statement continued, Landen was known to many because of his key role in Parkside Range, the universitys contemporary a cappella group which performed at faculty and staff functions, community gatherings, student events and at our recent spring commencement. While not everyone may have known his name, those who saw and heard Landen perform were undoubtedly impressed with his rare talent and distinctive beat-box style. Ford concluded, As we mourn Landens loss, and the loss of other UW-Parkside students who have been taken from us and their families far too soon, we will hold in our hearts the joy each of them brought with their enthusiasm and energy. I have asked our students, faculty, and staff to keep the families saddened by these losses in their thoughts and prayers. Students, faculty and staff were also sent a message Tuesday offering assistance for those struggling to deal with the recent events. Students may contact the Student Health and Counseling Center at 262-595-2366, and counseling is also available for faculty and staff through UW-Parksides Employee Assistance Program. The idea here is to be realistic and try to have a proposal for how we prioritize city dollars, especially since more and more people are being arrested with no criminal histories, said Nisha Agarwal, the commissioner of Immigrant Affairs. She added, We would choose to not prioritize those folks who we have, in other cases in city policies, determined to be a public safety risk. Mr. de Blasios proposed restrictions would have excluded 19 percent of the clients served this year, Mr. Markowitz said. One of those would probably have been Cristal Morris. Ms. Morris, 30, a mother of five from Jamaica, served a six-month sentence for a first-time federal felony, for possessing drugs as she came into the country in 2014. She said she regretted her actions. Ms. Morris, who came here when she was 16, got a green card as a victim of domestic abuse by a United States citizen spouse, her lawyer said. She had given birth to twins a month before serving her criminal sentence at the Metropolitan Detention Center. Upon release, she was taken directly to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faced deportation. Her lawyer from the Brooklyn Defender Services, Leena Khandwala, secured a bond hearing for Ms. Morris, who was released from immigration detention two weeks ago; her childrens welfare and her not being a flight risk factored into her release. Without her, I dont know where I would be, Ms. Morris said about Ms. Khandwala. Ms. Morriss children range in age from 1 to 9. Its a big relief. It means I get to be home with my babies. Having a lawyer in such cases is critical, Ms. Khandwala said. If a client is detained, there is very little time and opportunity to work with a lawyer before seeing an immigration judge. Cases are usually closed in four to five months. If a client has been released, a case can extend for two to three years. The issue is not whether Ms. Morris should be represented, but whether someone like Ms. Morris should have a lawyer underwritten by taxpayer dollars, said Muzaffar Chishti, the director of the Migration Policy Institute at the New York University School of Law. The encounter between Ms. Danner and the police lasted 15 to 20 minutes, in the close quarters of her seventh-floor apartment at 630 Pugsley Avenue, officials said. It began with 911 calls from neighbors who had heard Ms. Danner being loud and disruptive in the hallway, Wanda Perez-Maldonado, an assistant district attorney, said in court. It was not the first time the police had been called to her home. Four officers and two paramedics arrived around 6 p.m. and Sergeant Barry arrived minutes later. The encounter ended with Sergeant Barry firing twice, fatally wounding Ms. Danner, who was in her bedroom. The sergeant could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge. Initially, the police said that Sergeant Barry persuaded Ms. Danner to drop a pair of scissors, but that she picked up a bat and tried to swing at him. Only Sergeant Barry was in the bedroom with Ms. Danner. Sergeant Barry testified before the grand jury last week, said Mr. Quinn, who declined to provide details. Image Deborah Danner In court, Mr. Quinn called the case an obvious instance of what is known under New York law as a justification defense. Under state law, officers can use deadly force when they reasonably believe deadly force is about to be used against them or someone else. Sergeant Barry can argue that he acted in self-defense, former prosecutors and defense lawyers said. If someone is coming at you with a bat, that is deadly physical force, said Marvyn Kornberg, a Queens defense lawyer who has handled police cases. They cannot, however, keep counting on good luck. Through Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn, a nonprofit, they learned that they qualified for a free home audit, conducted by an engineering firm and a surveying firm, and a free elevation certificate, which is necessary to get an accurate flood insurance quote. The audit program is run by the nonprofit Center for NYC Neighborhoods. The center maintains a website, FloodHelpNY.org, where city residents can check to see whether they are in a flood zone and eligible for a free audit and certificate, which might otherwise cost $1,800. Christie Peale, the executive director of the center, said, There is only so much information you can give people from publicly available data. People have to understand the technical specifics of their property in relation to the flood plain, Ms. Peale said. Are you above it? Do you have livable spaces below it? Where is the lowest part of your property that intersects with the flood plain? We really dont want folks to put their heads in the sand and pretend this isnt an issue. Financing for the $7.5 million audit program comes through the Governors Office of Storm Recovery. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wanted to give storm-impacted communities, like Canarsie, the opportunity to program federal recovery dollars to meet their unique needs, Catie Marshall, a spokeswoman for the office, said. The program is now serving hundreds of homeowners like the Fishmans, she added. On Jan. 6, the Fishmans were visited by Michael Villanueva, of the Dewberry engineering firm, and Joseph Davidson, a survey technician with Gayron de Bruin. The average survivor comes in having had five previous traumas. According to the federal Department of Justice, more than one-third of Americas victims of violent crimes have been previously victimized a toxic outgrowth of chaotic or abusive households, violent neighborhoods and other risk factors. Around here its not PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder said Dr. Alicia Boccellari, director of San Franciscos Center and a clinical professor in the University of California San Francisco Psychiatry Department. Theres nothing post about it. Yet the end goal is what Dr. Boccellari calls post-traumatic growth. Studies indicate that the approach works: After 16 weeks of treatment, roughly two-thirds of the centers clients show improved mental health, and many no longer meet the clinical criteria for PTSD or depression. More than half who entered with alcohol or substance abuse problems either cut down their consumption or quit entirely, and many were able to return to work. Filings of police reports also increased markedly, breaking a discouraging cycle in which 42 percent of victims of violent crime never report it to law enforcement, according to the Justice Department. In a survey of such victims last year, the Alliance for Safety and Justice, a nonprofit organization that focuses on public safety and criminal justice reform, found that an invisible barrier to cooperating with law enforcement is the fear of having to retell the story, said Lenore Anderson, the alliances president and a former prosecutor. The support available at trauma recovery centers makes it more likely for them to participate in the justice process without being re-traumatized, she said. Dee, who asked that her last name not be used, wears makeup below her chin to cover up a knife scar. Seven years ago, as she was taking a shortcut through an alley in Oakland to buy a lemon meringue pie, when a man jumped her, cut her with a knife and punched out all her teeth before pushing her to the ground. He savagely raped her, brutalizing her still further with a tree branch. The police tracked down the perpetrator, who was 21, through her stolen cellphone a no-no, she said, for someone who didnt want to be caught. The months that followed were unkind. Dee, a home health aide, started having panic attacks and became addicted to pain killers. After the emotional gantlet of the trial, she began drinking and developed obsessive-compulsive disorder, washing her hands 30 times a day in an effort to feel clean. For two and a half years, she bounced between shelters, safe houses and the streets of San Francisco, leaving her two children safely with her mother in Oakland so that they could continue school. She was suicidal, having scrambledness of the brain, she said. The brutality of the attack also caused serious infections that, in the years since, have required seven separate surgeries. Her precarious state, exacerbated by alcohol, led the surgeon to refer her to the Trauma Recovery Center. Many African-Americans, Dee noted, regard mental health treatment as taboo. I thought, I aint crazy, she said. I dont need no therapy. Last week, more than 100 years late, Alabama took an important step toward excising a toxic slice of white supremacy from its Constitution and restoring voting rights to perhaps thousands of people, disproportionately black, with criminal records. At the states constitutional convention in 1901, lawmakers amended the Constitution to bar from voting anyone convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. They didnt define the phrase, but they were crystal clear about its intent: to preserve white supremacy in this state and fight the menace of Negro domination at the ballot box, as the conventions president said. Authorities took advantage of the terms vagueness to apply it to offenses, even misdemeanors, that recently freed blacks were far more likely to be charged with. The crime of wife-beating alone would disqualify 60 percent of the Negroes, one lawmaker said at the time. The Supreme Court struck down the provision as racially discriminatory in 1985, but lawmakers revived it by restricting it to felonies. Its definition remained in the hands of local voting registrars, meaning that people with convictions had no idea whether they were prohibited from voting; their eligibility often depended on what county they lived in. It has continued to fall heavily on blacks nearly one in five of whom are disenfranchised statewide, more than triple the rate for whites. In all, about a quarter million Alabama residents, or 8 percent of the voting-age population, cant vote because of a criminal conviction. The tectonic plates of Europe are shifting, and President Trump is at the heart of this upheaval. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany bluntly made that point on Sunday when she said, The times in which we could rely fully on others they are somewhat over, and the result is that we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands. With that line, it became clear that the United States is no longer the reliable partner her country and the rest of Europe have long depended on. Since World War II, the United States led the way in building a new international order rooted in NATO and the European Union as well as a belief in democracy and free markets. Britain, France and Germany were central to that effort, which for 70 years kept the peace and delivered prosperity to millions of people while standing firm against the Soviet threat, helping end the Bosnian War and combating extremism in Afghanistan. This trans-Atlantic partnership is still vital. But how, and how well, it will function as American leadership recedes is unclear. So far, no one is talking about dissolving NATO; Europe still depends for its security on Americas nuclear and conventional arsenals. But Ms. Merkels remarks underscored profound divisions between Europe and the United States that have one clear beneficiary, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who has longed for the alliance, Moscows Cold War adversary, to unravel. Before Mr. Trump attended his first meetings of NATO and the Group of 7 last week, European leaders hoped they could bring him around on critical issues. That now seems like a pipe dream. Mr. Trump doubled-down on his most destructive campaign impulses by hectoring the other members at length for what he called their insufficient levels of military spending, and by refusing to reaffirm NATOs bedrock mutual defense commitment. He also broke with the allies on other issues. He offered a more conciliatory line on Russia and refused, despite their entreaties, to endorse the Paris agreement on climate change. Throughout the 2016 campaign and for months afterward Donald Trump promised that his replacement for Obamacare would provide insurance for everybody. Last weeks Congressional Budget Office report makes clear that the House Republican health care bill falls well short of that goal. But we now have a road map for how Senate Republicans can do better: by ensuring that more low-income Americans can afford coverage. First, some caution regarding the C.B.O.s numbers. The C.B.O. is chock-full of committed and talented public servants, but the agency is neither omniscient nor infallible. In 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama, the C.B.O. predicted that by 2017, 23 million Americans would be enrolled in the laws new insurance exchanges. Only about 11 million actually are. Thats because the C.B.O. failed to account for how the A.C.A.s insurance regulations would drive premiums up for relatively healthy individuals. A new study by researchers at the Department of Health and Human Services finds that for people buying coverage on their own, premiums have more than doubled in the Obamacare era. Most adversely affected have been those whose incomes while modest were not low enough to qualify for sufficient amounts of the A.C.A.s insurance subsidies. In Trumps campaign for the presidency, by contrast, the Russian romance was not only out in the open, it was a deliberate selling point, which the candidate himself consistently brought up and emphasized and touted. Any American voter who paid attention knew that Trump was a Russia dove, that he intended to seek a detente with Moscow, that he wanted to make some sort of Great Deal with Vladimir Putin and inaugurate a new era of great power cooperation. He won the Republican primary on that position. He won the Electoral College on that position. The public had every reason to understand that he was unusually pro-Russia, and in the necessary numbers they voted for him anyway. Now it may be, as many postelection commentaries have argued, that the public was underinformed about the various connections between Trumps campaign staff and Russias oligarchic-intelligence complex, and that a thorough airing of Trumpworlds ties would have made his pro-detente rhetoric seem more sinister. But the fact remains that Trump told us, over and over again, that he liked the idea of improving relations with Russia an idea, as it happens, that this man of few consistent ideas has held consistently since the armaggedon-haunted 1980s. He was forthright, not deceptive. He did not act like a man with a dark secret, a man for whom Russia was a dangerous subject to be avoided at all costs, a man with an interest in turning the publics attention away from anything related to the Kremlin. He was happy to talk about Putin, happy to wear his Russophilic intentions on his sleeve. This does not make it impossible to believe, as an increasing number of Trump critics do these days, that Trumps inner circle was actually colluding with Russian intelligence during this period or that Trump himself, for reasons financial or personal, was really a Russian asset of some sort. Our president is sufficiently undisciplined and self-sabotaging, sufficiently incapable of normal self-interested self-control, that you cannot dismiss the possibility that his public rhetoric on Russia was effectively a weird sort of advertisement for crimes or blackmail being perpetrated behind the scenes. As he prepares to run for a third term, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, ever the devotee of low-road, right-wing politicking, is hoping the Trump administration will allow his state to be the first in the nation to mandate the drug screening of childless individuals who apply for Medicaid help. It borders on immoral, Lena Taylor, a Democratic state senator, warned, accusing Mr. Walker of indulging in a meaningless contest to see how cruel and discriminatory we can be to the poor. Across the aisle, Senator Leah Vukmir defended Mr. Walkers draconian initiative as it advanced last week in the Republican-controlled Legislature. We know how to take care of our own, she declared. After failing on the national stage in the 2015-16 Republican primary jamboree, Mr. Walker has doubled down on his ideological roots back home. He is calling for drug testing of not only Medicaid applicants but also some food stamp applicants, so as to make welfare a trampoline, not a hammock. Fourteen other states have limited drug testing for some state welfare benefits. Mr. Walker, ignoring warnings that the courts are likely to find his goal unconstitutional, nevertheless wants to play the pioneer in forcing drug tests on people applying for Medicaid. The most striking aspect of last Thursdays opinion by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which rejected the Trump administrations latest effort to revive its travel ban for individuals from six predominantly Muslim countries, was its reliance on Donald Trumps own words as candidate, president-elect and president. The court leaned particularly heavily on his now-famous campaign statement that he was calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. The governments lawyers argued that those words had no bearing on the orders lawfulness, but the court disagreed. The presidents words, the court found, led to only one conclusion: The order was driven by religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination, not a genuine national-security need (as the order claimed), and was thus most likely unconstitutional. What weight, if any, should the words of a United States president have in court? Its not a question the Supreme Court has ever answered. But if the Trump administration asks the court to hear this case, and the court agrees to do so, the outcome will almost certainly turn on this issue. SEOUL, South Korea President Trumps trip to Europe was truly historic. He left our most important allies there so uncertain about Americas commitment to their security from Russia and to shared values on trade and climate change that German leader Angela Merkel was prompted to tell her countrymen that Europes days of relying on America are over to a certain extent, and therefore Germany and its European allies really must take our fate into our own hands. No U.S. president before had ever put a crack in the Atlantic alliance on his inaugural tour. Historic. Merkel is just the first major leader to say out loud what every American ally is now realizing: America is under new management. Who is America today? is the first question Ive been asked on each stop through New Zealand, Australia and South Korea. My answer: Were not the U.S.A. anymore. Were the new U.A.E.: the United American Emirate. We have an emir. His name is Donald. We have a crown prince. His name is Jared. We have a crown princess. Her name is Ivanka. We have a consultative council (Congress) that rubber-stamps whatever the emir wants. And like any good monarchy, our ruling family sees no conflict of interest between its personal businesses and those of the state. I wish I could remember more of what I saw and heard that day. I sat in the back of a midsize hospital auditorium and listened to doctors and scientists and a representative from Little People of America talk along a bank of microphones. The sound was crackly and hard to hear. There was a PowerPoint presentation and slides of neighborhoods where LPs had lived and grainy pictures of carnivals and circuses where LP families had appeared in the 1930s and 40s. They played video clips of people with achondroplasia who spoke of a strange subversive anguish: Yes, a genetic disorder was being eliminated, and that was a good thing. But at the same time, their world, their culture, was also being erased. XLH is rare enough that I was well into adulthood before I met anyone with my condition. I was contacted by an early incarnation of the XLH network. We arranged to meet in a big cavernous restaurant in a strip mall just outside Baltimore. I remember we ordered Caesar salads and large goblets of iced tea, and then someone ordered a glass of wine, and the rest of us did, too. We spoke of our lives, our careers. Some like me had chosen to have children; others had not. One woman I became quite close to, Elaine a scientist by training said she could not imagine having children because she felt she and her sister, who also had it, had suffered too much. She was a generation older than me and had not been given vitamin D2 as I had, so she stood about 4 feet 6 inches to my almost five feet. She laughed and said, Even this makes a difference, and I can tell you my fashion statement is long skirts whatever the occasion. I dont know that you could make an argument that we, as a group, have much of a culture in common, but we have had so many similar experiences. Most of us wore braces, spent our childhoods in and out of orthopedic units and had bone surgeries. We had learned that looks do matter to the world, even, or maybe especially, when people swear they dont. Yet we had also had sweet, complicated and often triumphant lives. Meeting other people with XLH, I experienced a bond that was nearly primal and hard to explain. The one and only time my family and I encountered another family with XLH outside my support group in a random encounter in a local Target store we recognized each other as fellow XLHers instantly and proudly, and left each other in a flurry of high fives. Lately, I find myself recalling when my children were small, and how XLH was so woven into our lives: dispensing their medicine many times a day, going from the small town where we lived in southern New Mexico to see the specialist in Albuquerque, and mostly the pep talks we all gave one another about how XLH would not stop us from being anything in the world we might want to be, how we knew people thought we looked weird and sometimes treated us badly because of it, but those people were wrong. On todays episode: How a piece of paper is gaining power over the American worker, turning a lifes work into a liability. Conor Dougherty, who covers economics for The Times, talks about how noncompete clauses keep workers locked in. And we speak with one such worker, Mr. Bollinger, who spent three years in a legal battle that wiped out his savings. President Trump returned to Washington with some family business to attend to. Peter Baker fills us in on the state of the White House after his trip abroad. Background reading: Mr. Doughertys story on noncompete clauses. Mr. Baker and Maggie Haberman on recent staff changes at the White House. 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. A RIVERFRONT HOUSE NEAR DOWNTOWN CALGARY $2.86 MILLION This two-story, stone-and-stucco house is in the established Elbow Park neighborhood of Calgary, the largest city in Alberta Province, Canada, with a population of 1.4 million. A short drive from downtown, it sits on more than a quarter of an acre, at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac near the scenic Elbow River. The house is nearly 4,000 square feet, with three bedrooms and three full and two partial bathrooms, as well as a finished basement and a three-car attached garage. A separate carriage house, converted from a horse barn built in the early 1900s, could be used as guest or staff quarters. There are few properties in the area that have a carriage house, said one of the listing agents, Dennis J. Plintz, of Sothebys International Realty Canada. And the lot size is two or three times larger than most other homes in the community. The house was built in 2005 in a traditional style, with a long slate walkway snaking up to a large wooden front door and stone porch. Inside, the style is more contemporary, with recessed lighting and hardwood floors throughout. Issa Arden, a member of the social media team for I.M.L., said that having Mr. Mushtaq compete this year could broaden the gay subcultures appeal to racial, ethnic and religious minorities. The more fully you see people that are different in various ways, the more you see an embrace of everything that leather can be, said Ms. Arden, one of a small group of women at I.M.L. Having someone Muslim or noticeably brown or who is well built but smaller of stature, its all of those things. But publicity has been a mixed bag. Mr. Mushtaq said that while most of the feedback he received had been positive, he also got text messages calling him an ugly, dirty Muslim and a terrorist. He has also met fellow leather folk who think that being Muslim is the antithesis of being progressive, he said. Although he calls himself a Muslim (he studied Arabic and the Quran as a child), Mr. Mushtaq says his relationship to Islam today is an ethnic identity as opposed to a fundamentalist religious identity. He adheres devoutly to some elements of the faith (he doesnt eat pork), and more casually to others (Im a very light drinker). His Islam is not the crazy people with the swords, as he put it, but professionals who consider themselves Muslim and who might approve of gay marriage. Mr. Mushtaq was born in California to Pakistani immigrant parents and came out as gay in high school in conservative Orange County at 15. But it wasnt until he attended California State University, Fullerton, that he discovered he was bored being gay. I wanted to be more edgy, the libertine that everyone gossiped about and called a slut, said Mr. Mushtaq, whose chatty, giggle-prone personality may seem at odds with the stereotype of an order-barking leatherman. After last years election, Facebook came in for a drubbing for its role in propagating misinformation or fake news, as we called it back then, before the term became a catchall designation for any news you dont like. The criticism was well placed: Facebook is the worlds most popular social network, and millions of people look to it daily for news. But the focus on Facebook let another social network off the hook. I speak of my daily addiction, Twitter. Though the 140-character network favored by President Trump is far smaller than Facebook, it is used heavily by people in media and thus exerts perhaps an even greater sway on the news business. Thats an issue because Twitter is making the news dumber. The service is insidery and clubby. It exacerbates groupthink. It prizes pundit-ready quips over substantive debate, and it tends to elevate the silly over the serious for several sleepless hours this week it was captivated by covfefe, which was essentially a brouhaha over a typo. Unsurprisingly, Spark isnt perfect. Its app can be tough to grasp without reading an instruction manual. The battery lasts only about 15 minutes, and there are some bugs in the software that could send your drone flying off erratically. Yet I wouldnt hesitate to recommend Spark for people who are curious about trying drones for taking aerial photography or for experiencing the sheer joy of flying an object. Considering how small and lightweight this drone is, Spark will also make a great stocking stuffer this holiday season. Heres what you need to know about what youre getting from a budget drone. Easy Setup, Rough Start There are a few basic components to Spark: propellers, motors, a camera and a battery. To set up the drone, slide the battery into the bottom of the device. Then install the smartphone app, scan a bar code on the carrying case to register the drone, turn on the gadget and connect to it via Wi-Fi. From there, you use the app to change settings on the drone and make it take off. Inside DJIs app for controlling Spark, there are virtual joysticks for making the drone rotate or move up, down, forward or backward. Initially, the app will be confusing to use. It took me three sessions, or 90 minutes of flight time using two batteries, to get the hang of it. The app buttons do not intuitively state what they do or how to use them. In the end, I had to flip through a 50-page instruction manual to learn how to better operate Spark. There is an option to skip using the app altogether by enabling PalmControl, a mode that lets the drone respond to your hand gestures. To enable this, hold your palm flat toward the camera, and the drone will lock in on your hand and follow it around as you move. You can hold out your thumbs and index fingers to form a frame around yourself to make the drone automatically take a selfie of you. Wave your hand at the drone and it will ascend and fly backward. It seems there is no such thing as an uneventful week for Uber. On Tuesday, the company fired embattled engineer Anthony Levandowski, who came to the ride-hailing outfit through last years acquisition of the self-driving vehicle start-up Otto. Image That Uber parted ways with Mr. Levandowski should not have been a surprise. He is at the center of a lawsuit filed against Uber by Waymo, the self-driving car division of Googles parent company, Alphabet. Waymo accused Mr. Levandowski of stealing product documents when he left the company to start Otto and that the product plans in those documents had been used in Ubers products. Uber denied the accusations and asked that Mr. Levandowski produce whatever documents he had to prove that Ubers technology and Waymos were unconnected. So far, Mr. Levandowski has refused, citing his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. For Uber, it was increasingly clear that in order to protect the company, it would have cut to ties with its star engineer. After moving to New York City nearly a decade ago, Mfoniso Udofia began to ask herself some hard questions: Who am I? and What does it mean to be both African and American? She was a recent graduate of the masters program at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, but the four to five auditions a week she was going to werent resulting in work. As the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, she found it puzzling to be repeatedly told that she wasnt African enough. I wasnt right because somebody else had a different image in their head of what an African woman is supposed to look like, or be, Ms. Udofia, 33, said, adding that this image was tied to someone skinnier. But those hard questions pushed her to write her first play: The Grove, about a Nigerian-American named Adiagha who tries to reconcile her American upbringing with her Nigerian heritage. That spawned a prequel with Adiaghas mother called Sojourners, then another play, and then another. It just started spiraling as I became more and more fascinated with the characters, Ms. Udofia said. That spiraling wound itself into The Ufot Cycle, a planned series of nine plays looking at the history of Nigerian immigration in America through the eyes of one family. Two of the plays, Sojourners and Her Portmanteau, have had their runs in repertory at New York Theater Workshop extended through June 11. (The Playwrights Realm, where Sojourners had its premiere, helped finance the run.) Its a one-two punch of storytelling, and its a feat because when Ms. Udofia began writing those stories, she didnt know if they would ever be produced. Early morning is the best time to be awake in Costa Rica. In the soft, bluish light and amid calm, cool breezes, the previous days heat and humidity are just a memory. This particular morning, though, there was a problem. I walked over to the Land Cruiser owned by my host, Edu, and joined him in considering a flat rear tire. I was scheduled to go on a tour of Corcovado National Park in 30 minutes, and Edu was supposed to take me to the pickup point. Its no problem, he said, and he pulled out a cellphone to make a call. Pura vida. Pura vida, an unofficial motto that means pure life, is rarely used in a literal sense in Costa Rica. Instead, its an all-purpose saying that can be applied to any number of situations: greetings, farewells or, in this case, dont worry about it. Ten minutes later, a distant buzzing could be heard from down the dirt path that leads up to Rio Drake Farm, a small hotel that Edu oversees with his wife, Sabrina. It was a small motorbike coughing gray smoke. He slipped the rider a few bills and told me to hop on the back. Then we were off, dipping and diving through the forest on the sputtering bike as the sun rose higher in the sky, rushing to make the boat to Corcovado. Preparing a Trip I found this stage of my mock journey the most helpful and practical. Whether you need help deciding where to go or when to go there, Google Home has ideas. One of the neater tricks is asking it about what time of year is best to visit a city. Human: O.K., Google, when is the best time to visit London? Google Home: According to Visit London, autumn is a lovely time to visit London, as the weather is mild (11 to 15 degrees Celsius) 52 to 59 Fahrenheit and you can enjoy a variety of annual events, from Total Thames Festival to Halloween celebrations. To read more, look for the link in your Google Home App. On my iPhones Google Home app, there was a link to a visitlondon.com page with more details. What I found to be the most useful feature was the finding and tracking of flights, which harnesses the power of Google Flights. This aspect gives Google Assistant an edge over its competition (Alexa has some flight-tracking and -pricing features powered by Kayak, but not as many). Just ask it how much flights are to the city of your choice and give it your dates, and youll get the current price and be asked if you want email updates when the price changes. Human: OK Google, how much are flights to Toronto? Google Home: Round trip flights from New York City to Toronto leaving in two weeks start at $181. Do you have any dates in mind? Human: May 12th to May 15th. Google Home: Round trip flights from New York City to Toronto leaving May 12th and coming back on May 15th start at $215. I can keep track of the cheapest flights for those dates. Would you like to receive emails with updates? CHARLESTON, S.C. In early January, after a series of closed-court hearings, a federal judge in Charleston allowed Dylann S. Roof to represent himself as prosecutors sought his execution for a murderous 2015 rampage at a historic African-American church. Determined to block exposure of his mental health history, the 22-year-old white supremacist sidelined his expert defense team and presented no mitigating evidence. A jury took less than three hours to dispatch him to death row. But the information that Mr. Roof worked so hard to suppress has now become public, as Judge Richard M. Gergel of Federal District Court this month finished unsealing thousands of pages of psychiatric reports and transcripts from the November and January hearings. The documents provide, for the first time, a multidimensional portrait of a withdrawn but strikingly intelligent misfit whose tastes ran to Dostoyevsky, classical music and NPR but who said his dream job would be working at an airport convenience store. He exhibited disturbingly introverted behavior from an early age playing alone, never starting conversations but received little treatment for what defense experts later concluded was autism and severe social anxiety, with precursor symptoms of psychosis. Although Mr. Roofs guilt was never in doubt, his trial left largely unanswered how an awkward adolescent had progressed from reclusive consumer of internet hate to ruthless and remorseless jihadist (his word). The evidence that went unseen affords a rare glimpse of the back story of one of the countrys most horrific hate crimes. And it raises a life-or-death question: If the 12 jurors had been allowed a full accounting, might at least one have been persuaded to spare the young mass murderer from lethal injection? Mr. Roofs former lead defense lawyer, David I. Bruck, declined to comment. But Sean OBrien, a law professor who advised him on mental health issues, questioned the trials ultimate fairness and predicted that Judge Gergels findings of competency would fuel the appeals that Mr. Roof hopes will extend his life. A thorough defense would have enabled a jury to see not only who Dylann Roof is, but who Dylann Roof might have been in the absence of these afflictions, said Mr. OBrien, who teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The jury didnt have anything to weigh all of the pain and suffering against, or even to give it context. Beautiful and pneumonia hardly go together, but they ranked as the top two words that Americans most sought how to spell in the first four months of this year, according to an analysis by Google Trends. The analysis, which covered Jan. 1 through April 30, identified in each state what word was searched most often when users typed how to spell into the companys search engine. Google Trends posted a map of the results on Twitter on Tuesday, one day before the start of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. When two Albuquerque police officers went on trial for murder last fall after the fatal shooting of a mentally ill homeless man, things did not look good for them. Police videos appeared to show the man turning away before officers fired. Their release had been preceded by a long history of police violence and followed by six days of protests. But defense lawyers thought they still had a chance if they could get the right jury. A jury was going to make that decision, said Sam Bregman, who defended one of the officers. And picking that jury was the single most important aspect of the entire trial. Modern jury selection is a dark art practiced by a cottage industry of consultants who promise to sort antagonists from sympathizers using mock trials, questionnaires, exhaustive reviews of social media profiles and even photographs of prospective jurors homes. The scrutiny is likely to be no less intense as jury selection begins this week in two highly publicized police shootings. One, the death of an unarmed black man during a traffic stop in Cincinnati, has already resulted in one hung jury. The other, in which a mans girlfriend live-streamed the moments after he was fatally wounded in a St. Paul suburb, also during a traffic stop, goes to trial for the first time. When I hear people say that it is too easy to get on disability, I wonder what system they are talking about, he said. Melissa Cooper, 57, began receiving disability benefits shortly after a bullet tore through her spine and paralyzed her while she was sitting in a car outside a store in Memphis, Tenn. For 20 years she could not work as she learned to cope with life as a paraplegic and raise three children with the help of family. Then last year, she earned a bachelors degree in English at the University of Mississippi and got a job helping others who are disabled learn to live independently at the Living Independence for Everyone Center in Jackson. Mr. Trumps possible vetting of disabled benefits both scares and disturbs her. He cannot put himself in my shoes and know the mental trauma associated with me having lost my mobility or how long it took me to get my head back on straight and to want to live, Ms. Cooper said as she shuffled in her wheelchair and began to cry. At the East Tennessee Technology Access Center, a nonprofit organization in Knoxville that helps people with disabilities learn to use technologies, there was only anxiety and gloom about the proposed changes. I keep thinking of something my grandmother used to say, about throwing the baby out with the bath water, said Joel Simmons, 55, a counselor at the center who seven years ago had his spinal cord transected in a car accident. Are we going to just have survival of the fittest? Mr. Simmonss condition is easy to see. But there are others who unquestionably need these meager benefits, he said, but whose disabilities are not as immediately clear. Whos going to decide, he said of any plan to restrict access. Youve got a lot of hidden disabilities. Whos going to make these decisions? Donald Trump? The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming. Trying to find differing perspectives worth your time is even harder. Thats why we have scoured the internet for political writing from the right and left that you might not have seen. Has this series exposed you to new ideas? Tell us how. Email us at ourpicks@nytimes.com. From the Right WASHINGTON President Trump assailed Democrats and a television comedian on Wednesday in his latest Twitter blasts since returning from an overseas trip in which he had largely abstained from the sort of combative social media postings that helped propel him to the Oval Office and have gotten him in trouble ever since. The president castigated Kathy Griffin, the celebrity comic and author, for posing for a video showing her holding what looks like the severed and bloodied head of Mr. Trump. The video touched off a storm of protests from people on all sides of the political spectrum, which forced Ms. Griffin to apologize, and CNN announced that it would fire her from the annual New Years Eve program she has co-hosted. GREER, S.C. No matter that this small Southern city sits squarely in the middle of Trump country: The president, with his criticism of German trade policy, was setting off alarm bells in the mind of Mayor Richard W. Danner. President Trump, on his recent trip to Europe, reportedly declared the Germans bad, very bad on trade; Greers City Hall sits mere miles from a BMW automobile plant that employs about 8,800 people. And so after Mr. Danner read the news here, he quickly organized a call with Chamber of Commerce officials, who on Tuesday brainstormed ways to reassure BMW executives that they in fact considered them to be good. Very good. There was a real sense of urgency that we need to be clear to BMW and to anyone else who would listen that we cant take this kind of rhetoric lightly, said Mr. Danner, who was first elected to Greers nonpartisan mayors office in 1999. For us, this isnt a political issue. This is a matter of livelihoods and of a regional economy and a lot of other things that are going on here. Mr. Trumps brewing feud with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on trade policy which included an early-morning tweet Tuesday bemoaning a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany has struck a disquieting chord in thriving Southern areas like this one. These places have opened themselves to global trade, and particularly welcomed German auto manufacturers, considering them a gold standard of prestige and economic stimulus. China views Thaad as just one element in an effort to contain its military by building a strategic architecture that would eventually connect South Korea, Japan and the United States. Stopping the deployment of Thaad is the bottom line of China, Global Times, a state-run newspaper that often reflects the thinking of the Communist Party leadership, said soon after Mr. Moons election. Seoul needs to make a choice between deploying Thaad and resuming Sino-South Korean relations. It should not hope to have it both ways. How is Mr. Moon, a lawyer, going to finesse the demands of China that Thaad disappear, and the insistence of the United States that it remain? It will be difficult, Chinese experts say. Mr. Xi will try to persuade Mr. Moon to make some unpalatable compromises, they say, ones that would not sit well with the American military. Already, Mr. Moon appears to be at loggerheads with the Pentagon. On Tuesday, he ordered a wide-ranging investigation into how four new Thaad launchers had arrived in South Korea without his knowledge. The launchers are intended to supplement the two Thaad installations already in place. But even rejecting the new equipment may not satisfy China. South Korea could make a promise to only allow one set of Thaad on its territory, said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. Mr. Cheng was referring to assessments that South Korea does not have sufficient Thaad batteries yet to protect the entire country, and will need more. SEOUL, South Korea One of the most notorious figures in the corruption scandal in South Korea that led to the impeachment and ouster of President Park Geun-hye was extradited home from Denmark on Wednesday. Chung Yoo-ra became a lightning rod for anger over social injustice after revelations that her mother, Choi Soon-sil, used her influence with Ms. Park to promote Ms. Chungs career and support her luxurious lifestyle. Ms. Chung had been in a detention center in Denmark since January, fighting South Korean prosecutors efforts to bring her home to face questioning and possible criminal charges. This week, she gave up that fight and agreed to be extradited. I have no idea what went on between my mother and the former president, she told reporters at Incheon International Airport before prosecutors whisked her away. I guess I am wrongfully accused. MARAWI, Philippines A Roman Catholic priest seized by militants loyal to the Islamic State has been shown in a video making an appeal to President Rodrigo Duterte to halt a weeklong military offensive that has devastated this southern Philippine city. The military said on Wednesday that it was analyzing the video, which was released on social media on Tuesday. It shows the priest, the Rev. Teresito Suganob, who was abducted by gunmen last week with some parishioners, appealing for the groups safety. The video does not indicate when or where it was recorded, but the background shows what appears to be a war-torn area, and bursts of gunfire can be heard. Father Suganob and the parishioners were abducted during heavy firefights around Marawi, a city of 200,000 on the island of Mindanao that has been reduced almost to a ghost town. A Malaysia Airlines plane returned to Australia on Wednesday after a disruptive passenger, who claimed to have a bomb, attempted to enter the cockpit, the authorities said. It is believed that the suspect is a Sri Lankan national, and that he was drunk, said Datuk Seri Ab Aziz Kaprawi, Malaysias deputy transport minister according to The Star, a Malaysian newspaper. Flight MH128 heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Melbourne was in the air for just 14 minutes, according to Flightradar24, an aircraft monitoring site, before turning around. Once on the ground, the plane was met by armed police officers who escorted the man off. Possibly we will see an important shift in the China-U.S.-E.U. triangular relations, with China and the E.U. moving closer while the U.S. and E.U. drift apart, said Wang Dong, assistant professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University. Premier Li and Chancellor Merkel will likely reaffirm their commitments to upholding the Paris agreements. Baohui Zhang, professor of international relations at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, sensed major changes afoot, too. Li should be seen from a different perspective now by his hosts, he said. I think Europe in general and Germany specifically are collectively experiencing a paradigm shift in their perceptions of U.S.-Europe relations. In Berlin, that view is shared by some analysts. Before the United States election, sharp tensions were visible between Europe and China, particularly over Chinese investment in strategic or military companies, said Bjorn Conrad, a leading researcher at the Mercator Institute, a Berlin think tank on China. Now, there is a shift going on. Obviously, if you feel you are losing a very important partner, you have to be on the lookout for alternatives, Mr. Conrad said. But that view is not universal, and others see a more calibrated calculation. For Berlin, the relationship with China is not a tool to achieve more influence globally, said Volker Stanzel, a former German ambassador to both China and Japan. Improvement of that relationship seems sensible in order to pursue Germanys economic interests in China better, he said, particularly at a time when China is wavering in its commitment to allow more leeway to foreign companies operating in China. Ms. Merkel, who has visited 10 Chinese provinces in 11 years in power, insisted in Beijing last summer on reciprocity for foreign companies. In February, Germany, France and Italy presented the European Commission with a request to set up screening of incoming foreign investment. On Wednesday, Mr. Corbyn shook up the race with a last-minute decision to join a televised debate in Cambridge that Mrs. May did not attend. Emboldened after a competent performance in a television event on Monday, Mr. Corbyn sought, before the debate, to portray Mrs. May as weak and evasive for not appearing. Refusing to join me in Cambridge tonight would be another sign of Theresa Mays weakness, not strength, Mr. Corbyn, who has been trying to revamp his own image as a weak-kneed pacifist, said in a statement. In explaining why she would not be participating, Mrs. May said she had been facing Mr. Corbyn week after week in the ritual prime ministers questions in Parliament, and had also been taking questions from voters directly on the campaign trail. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, represented the Conservatives in the televised debate. Just six weeks ago, Mrs. May had a lead of as much as 24 percentage points over Mr. Corbyn in some polls. Pundits were already asking if Mr. Corbyn, a gaffe-prone leftist viewed by many in his own party as unelectable, would step down if he lost the election. Theresa on the March, proclaimed the headline in The Sun, a popular tabloid. Now, though, after initially casting herself successfully as the only strong and stable leader qualified to lead Britain as it exits the European Union, Mrs. May appears to have alienated many voters through a mix of hubris and austerity policies. At the same time, Mr. Corbyn, the beneficiary of subterranean expectations, appears to have been given a lift by simply not messing up badly. When Irans scientists sent a monkey into space in 2013, the countrys president volunteered to be the first Iranian to blast aloft in a domestically built rocket, possibly as early as 2018. But the term of that president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also expired in 2013. And now, apparently, so have Irans ambitions for homegrown human spaceflight. The semiofficial ILNA news agency reported on Wednesday that the government-run space agency had canceled a project to launch a human-carrying rocket. It quoted Mohammad Homayoun Sadr, deputy head of the agency, as saying the $15 billion to $20 billion developmental costs over 15 years had been judged too expensive, according to a translation by The Associated Press. In January 2013, when Iran said it had successfully launched a monkey named Pishgam Persian for pioneer more than 70 miles into the edge of space and then retrieved the animal alive, the experiment was regarded by Iranian scientists as a prelude to human flight within five to eight years. Previously, Iran had sent a mouse, a turtle and worms aloft. American military officials have insisted for months that the weapons are needed to help the lightly armed Kurdish and Arab fighters cope with urban warfare in Raqqa against Islamic State militants who have been building fortifications for months and are equipped with car bombs and even some tanks they captured from the Syrian Army. Thousands of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters have pushed to within about two miles of the city, where American military officials and humanitarian groups are bracing for a bloody, monthslong battle similar to the fight Iraqi forces have carried out in Mosul, another Islamic State stronghold. In preparation for the assault, American and allied warplanes have intensified airstrikes against militant forces in and around Raqqa in recent weeks. At the same time, the Kurdish and Arab militias, which American Special Operations forces are advising, have been tightening a rough cordon around most of the city, capturing dozens of small towns and villages as they go. The fighters have surrounded Raqqa from the north, the west and the east. The extremists still have an exit from the south, even though the American-led coalition destroyed two southern bridges over the Euphrates River. To address Turkish concerns that the arms might be used against them after the fight for Raqqa is over, the supply of weapons and ammunition will be limited to what the Kurds and Arab fighters need to carry out specific operations, American officials said. Wherever possible, our advisers will monitor the use of the weapons and supplies we give the Kurdish elements of the S.D.F., ensuring use only against ISIS, Colonel Dillon said. Any alleged misuse or diversion of U.S. support will be taken seriously and lead to the possible curtailment of support, if verified. The United States has long worked with the Y.P.G. under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The American military has always emphasized that those forces include Arab fighters, who make up nearly half of the total force and most of the fighters near Raqqa. But the Y.P.G. is generally considered to have the most experienced and battle-hardened fighters. Concern has risen over how much India, the third-largest polluter, and other developing countries will be able to do without financial support. India, Brazil, South Africa, and China have asked that developed nations honor their commitments to give $100 billion a year. President Trump has said he will cut payments to United Nations climate programs. Stay: At least three Republican Senators Three Republican senators have publicly supported the Paris climate agreement this month. Susan Collins of Maine wrote a letter urging the Trump administration to stay in the accord. Bob Corker of Tennessee noted that the deal imposes few binding obligations on the United States, so there is little upside in leaving. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said withdrawing would send the wrong message to the world. It would be taken as a statement that climate change is not a problem, is not real. So that would be bad for the party, bad for the country. The Luck of the Irish? Taxes May Shift from Operator to Punter in Ireland Published May 30, 2017 by Brett C The gambling tax regime in Ireland may soon change, shifting the burden from operators to bettors. The Ireland Department of Finance has launched a review on taxes on bookmakers as part of a wider Tax Strategy Group process. The Betting Amendment Bill passed in 2015 called for sweeping changes to the gambling industry. On Friday, 19 May 2017, the Department of Finance in Ireland announced a review of the 2015 taxes for exchange betting operators and online bookmakers. According to the 2015 bill, local licenses were required for all Irish online betting operations. Additionally, operators were required to pay a 1% turnover tax from proceeds of Irish bettors. Betting exchanges are required to pay a hefty 15% of Irish commissions. The bookmaking industry has complained about these steep taxes, and the Department of Finance is currently reviewing the matter. Shifting the Tax Burden for Greater Equity Stakeholder input is being sought in key areas of Irish betting. Considerations are being made about different approaches to betting exchanges and the viability of the turnover tax model. More importantly the Ireland Department of Finance is seeking the most appropriate betting tax for Irish online bookmakers. To better serve the interests of the industry in a more equitable fashion, the Department has considered a shifting of the tax burden from the bookmaker to the punter. This could take 1 of 2 possible directions. Punters could pay a higher tax on their winnings, or the 1% turnover tax would be maintained but it would not be paid by the operator, rather by the punter. Stakeholders have Until June 19 to Submit Proposals The due date for submissions is Monday, June 19, 2017. History has shown that turnover taxes are unpopular with bookmakers and betting exchanges. However, the tax regime in Ireland is preferred over other countries such as Portugal or Poland were exceptionally high turnover tax rates are enforced. Approximately 70 bookmakers and betting exchanges applied for licensing in Ireland, indicating the favourable tax climate that currently exists in the country. In other European countries, it is increasingly difficult to attract outside operators, which gives rise to monopolies with just a handful of operators. The author at 37, Eugene, OR. Perhaps the only picture from the 80s extant (Image by self) Details DMCA We don't know when, or what the camel-straw will be. But he's just really shown his unfitness to be a chief executive all over Europe (bravo to Pope Francis, who did the maximum that he could do, told him not to leave the Climate agreement). He's divulged secret information to high-level Russian officials in his own office. And Jared Kushner, one of Trump's family, has shown his utter unfitness to hold his portfolio (I'm not going to believe he's actually a traitor, he hasn't got the experience or ideological axe to grind to be that), which speaks to Trump's inability to make good appointments. Generals Mattis and McMaster are exceptions, because Trump doesn't KNOW ANYTHING about Healthcare, Energy, Interior lands policy, the environment, and so forth. There's a whole steaming pile of stuff about which he hasn't a clue. He doesn't actually know anything about military matters, but he HAS to deal with those every day as crisis piles on crisis. There are almost no ambassadors STILL because Trump has no capacity to consider diplomatic qualifications. Apparently former Governor and Ambassador Jon Huntsman was nominated as Ambassador to Russia in the first days of the Presidency. click here But if I were Huntsman, I'd be keeping my head way down, as Trump and his Twitter and his son-in-law have made US-Russian ambassadorial diplomacy moot. Trump, through his incompetence, his pathological inability to consider the past-- to reflect-- to say nothing of his thin-skinnedness and confrontational nature-- is an existential threat to the national security of the US, and beyond that, of the world. Angela Merkel, probably the most important politician in the world-- not Jiping, not Putin, Merkel-- has already signaled that she and Germany are looking past Trump. He cannot, he must not serve a full year, or the Republicans will be unable to run away from him and will be slaughtered in the 2018 midterms. The cynical American might say, "Oh, well, go ahead then, bumble on, Donald, and drag the Republican Party down to utter darkness, perhaps even end the dominant duopoly political system." But the other thing that the continued presence of Donald Trump in the White House does is cheapen, demean, dumb down, make moot, the dialogue among Americans. Anti-intellectualism is clearly expressed through a number of key Trump appointees: Pruitt. Perry. Devos. Even Tillerson. Americans don't LIKE each other as much. However, the polarization is of a different nature than that which occurred over the Vietnam War. At this point, what those who voted for Trump, or who have willingly worked with him, have at stake is that they will have to admit they made a mistake, and that it must be fixed within the boundaries of democracy. That will cause a great deal of strain among people living next to each other in countless communities, who are, or should be, friends. I can only think that as the Trump phenomenon has gotten progressively more politically and socially damaging, the top GOPers have been formulating their plan for what must be done after Trump's removal. The Vietnam War could plausibly be blamed on our leaders. The actions and consequences of the Trump Presidency must be blamed on ourselves, We the People, both Trump voters and the Democratic insiders who subverted their Party's democratic process. Pakistan is reconsidering its position on the so-called 41-nation Islamic military alliance, led by Saudi Arabia, to avoid straining its relationship with neighboring Iran, according to Pakistan media reports. The military alliance was to be commanded by General Raheel Sharif, the former commander-in-chief of Pakistan army who retired from the Pak army last year. Its decision comes after statements by Saudi authorities at the Arab Islamic-US summit in Riyadh on 20-21 May suggested that the military alliance was meant primarily to counter Iran, the media report said, adding that the Riyadh summit focused on isolating Iran -- which was kept out of the summit. The officials argued that the Pakistan government in-principle agreed to be a part of the initiative if its sole purpose was to fight terrorism. It was believed that the government had joined the alliance when in April it allowed General Sharif to leave Pakistan to lead the alliance. But the officials said a final decision will be made once the terms of reference (ToRs) of the alliance are finalized. The ToRs would be finalized during a meeting of the defense ministers of the participating countries in Saudi Arabia soon. Pakistan, according to the officials, would recommend that the military alliance should have a clear objective, that is to fight terrorism. Any deviation from this goal, they added, will not only undermine the alliance but lead to more divisions in the Muslim world. "We are very clear that we will join this alliance only to fight terrorism," the officials emphasized. Defense minister Khawaja Asif on the floor of the National Assembly has said that Pakistan would withdraw from the alliance if it turns out to be sectarian in nature. Pakistani lawmakers have said that they do not want their country to be part of any sectarian alliance as it also goes against the country's constitution. Pakistan's two main opposition parties -- Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan People's Party -- have been calling for maintaining "neutrality" in the Arab-Iran rivalry. But given the longstanding strategic ties with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan is unlikely to completely withdraw from the alliance. Iran has expressed its reservations regarding the appointment of the former army chief, retired Gen Raheel Sharif, as head of the Saudi-led 41-nation so-called Islamic military alliance, saying it is not 'satisfied' with the coalition. Iran expresses concern "We are concerned about this issue... that it may impact the unity of Islamic countries," Iran's Ambassador to Pakistan, Mehdi Honardoost, was quoted as saying. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Honardoost as saying that Pakistan had contacted Iranian officials before issuing the no-objection certificate (NOC) to Gen Sharif to lead the Saudi alliance. "But that does not indicate that Iran is satisfied with this decision or it has accepted the same," the envoy said. The ambassador proposed that all important Islamic countries come together to form a "coalition of peace" in order to resolve their issues "rather [than] forming a controversial military alliance". A controversial appointment The appointment of General Sharif as the leader of the military alliance sparked debate over how the move will impact Pakistan's foreign policy, and whether it was fully sanctioned by parliament. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). I have always believed that using animals in experimentation is not only cruel but useless and unnecessary. In this day and age, I had hoped we had progressed beyond this barbarity, but it is obvious that we haven't. Recently I received an e-mail from Justin Goodman of the White Coat Waste Project. His org recently exposed the Stokes Veteran Center in Cleveland as one of only four V.A. facilities in the country to use tax dollars on painful and deadly experiments on dogs. I am not at all proud of this stat. In fact I find it reprehensible. They asked us to contact Senator Sherrod Brown to bring his voice in committee to reject this cruel funding. I believe the Senator is compassionate and will do what he can in this regard. Then today, on All Creatures, I was reminded of the bus ride in 1983 when Greater Clevelanders and others throughout the land came to protest the cruelty being perpetrated on innocent primates at the four primary centers in the U.S. Even celebrities came to lend their voices of protest to this cruelty. Sadly, to my knowledge - these terrible places of animal suffering still exist. At least I know that the University of Wisconsin-Madison does, and they even have a building named for Harry Harlow who was arguably one of the most sadistic and brutal vivisectors who ever lived. Britt Lund of PRISM People for Reason and Science wrote a review of Rick Bogle's book, "We All Operate the Same Way." In his book, Bogle exposes not only the barbarity practiced at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but he helps us to "understand the complete lack of scientific credibility, empathy, humanity, and legitimacy that defines the vivisector mindset." Lund also mentions something of which I was completely unaware of and that is that his group is working to close down the Eunice Shriver Baby Primate Lab at the University of Washington. I had previously only associated her with great regard and the Special Olympics. Sadly, this new information disappoints hugely and, worse, allies her with a cause that promotes the experiments of Harry Harlow and his cohort Harry Waisman. Understandably, Bobby and Maria Shriver protested that their mother knew nothing of what she helped to fund. However, this supposition was completely debunked in Bogle's book where he writes that both Shrivers were involved in pushing for more experimentation with tangible results. Obviously, the Shrivers should have done more to investigate where they were putting their money. Just how hard would it have been to find out that the primate experimentations of Harlow or Waisman had nothing to do with human babies? Despite their supposed ignorance, Eunice's institute continues to fund the same kind of experiments at the Eunice Shriver Baby Primate lab at the University of Washington. Obviously, Maria and Bobby Shriver either don't care or approve of this primate cruelty. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). "There are moments when I feel myself driven by a kind of feverish instinct, as if I had the presentiment of being unable to attain my goal, or of attaining it too late." ---Ernest Chausson The histories of both Art and Music are filled with many sad events, but perhaps the worst tragedy of all is when the life of someone is cut short by their premature death. Suicide is not nearly as sad as the freak accident that snuffs out the beautiful career of someone who has already achieved great and stunning works of beauty. Very recently, several devastating things happened to me simultaneously, a kind of collapse of several dreams, and art dealer that I am, I found myself turning for solace and spiritual restitution to the vast world of classical music, instead of to yet another painting. I recalled the beautiful piece by Ernest Chausson, called Poeme for Violin and Orchestra, put on the CD, and while listening to Poeme performed by Yitzhak Perlman and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, I decided to do a little research into the life of the composer, who was born in 1855 and who died in 1899 in a freak accident that in fact may have been suicide. At one of his country estates, he was riding a bicycle down a hill, on a path that he had frequently ridden on. He smashed into a brick wall, broke his skull, and died instantly. The theory of Chausson committing suicide was put forth at the time by Debussy's biographer Edward Lockspeiser, yet Chausson's own biographer completely rejected this theory in toto. Chausson was only 44 years old, and was staying at his Chateau de Mioussets, in Limay, Yvelines. Chausson was certainly prone to depression. Can this propensity for depression be heard in the pathos of his music? Most definitely! Just listen to the Poeme for Violin and Orchestra. Buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Chausson's funeral was attended by many leading figures in both worlds of music and art, all his friends and admirers, including Gabriel Faure, Isaac Albeniz, Odilon Redon, Edgar Degas, Auguste Rodin, and Claude Debussy. Chausson's music falls into 3 main periods. First, as influenced by Jules Massenet, and the second from 1866 at the outset, much more influence by all of his Parisian artist friends, and above all by Debussy. The last came after Chausson's father passed on in 1894, in which his influences were symobolist poetry and strong influences from Russian authors, like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Turgenev, the source for the first title of Poeme. I also hear a lot of influence from Camille Saint Saens, no surprise really, given that Chausson was secretary of the Socie'te' Nationale de Musique (an organization founded by Saint-Sa-ens and others to promote the performance of French instrumental music) . Chausson's relationship with Debussy was tormented and ended five years earlier, because of Chausson's disapproval of Debussy's promiscuity. In his 2012 book, Cesar Franck and his Times, Robert James Stove wrote that the idea of Chausson's suicide was completely implausible because of his deep religious Catholic faith, and because of the unpredictability of the freak accident. He quotes Chausson's own biographer Scott Glover's conclusion that "unless and until overwhelming evidence presents itself," we may rest content with the verdict of Chausson's friend, Jean Gallois, that the accident was "stupid," and who also reminds us of Chausson's stated artistic desire "to write one page that enters the heart." Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Quicklink Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them. To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here. If recent press reports are to be believed, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is the target of a secret grand jury investigation, either in the federal court of the District of Columbia or in the notorious Eastern District of Virginia, known colloquially as "the espionage court." Assange is currently holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he fled to avoid a British arrest warrant and probable extradition to Sweden on what supporters and many legal analysts called a flimsy sexual assault case. The Swedish case was dropped last week, but Assange remains in the embassy. British authorities say that he still faces a misdemeanor UK charge of jumping bail (on the moot Swedish case), but the British disingenuously won't talk about the rumors of a US case and the possibility of extradition to the US. For its part, the Justice Department isn't saying anything. Still, the Trump administration, like Obama's before it, has made it clear that it sees Assange as an arch-criminal, rather than a journalist. And CIA director Mike Pompeo went so far as to say that Wikileaks acts as a "hostile foreign intelligence service." Remember, Pompeo is the same guy who said that he'd like to see Ed Snowden "hang from a tree until he's dead." I'm not an Assange fan personally. We have some friends and acquaintances in common, and they tell me that he is a misogynist. And we can't ignore the fact that Assange's single-minded obsession with ruining Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election and publishing the embarrassing "Podesta emails," very likely played a role in giving us Donald Trump. Still, the Trump administration's position on Assange is to level serious charges and to speak bombastically. Neocon and neoliberal rhetoric aside, though, Wikileaks is a journalistic entity devoted to transparency and Julian Assange is a journalist, whether Washington muckety-mucks like his politics or not. A criminal case against him could put the CIA in a very difficult position because a trial would have to lead to invocation of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). It could also lead to a constitutional crisis over the first amendment's freedom of the press. If Wikileaks is devoted to transparency and exposing governmental waste, fraud, abuse, and illegality -- which it is -- well, that's the definition of journalism, isn't it? Even the most basic charges against Assange would merit appeals to the Circuit Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court. Does the Justice Department want to risk overturning the Espionage Act? It would be a serious gamble. CIPA, which was passed into law in 1980, allows the government to keep things secret in a national security trial that otherwise may have been made public. It reduces incidents of "graymail," where a defendant may insist on revealing classified information to defend himself. For example, if a defendant is charged with revealing that "Zorg" was a secret program that damaged Iranian widgets, and both "Zorg" and the widgets are classified, "Zorg" will be referred to in the trial as "carwash," or some such nonsense, and the widgets will be referred to as "cigars." The jury has no real idea what in the world was revealed in the first place. But, at least in the Eastern District of Virginia, they always vote "guilty" anyway. At the District Court level, then, the only way for Assange to get a fair trial would be for the court to order the declassification of CIA and FBI documents necessary for his defense. Would the intelligence community want to risk even further exposure of classified information in a trial? They would have to if they intend to prosecute. Assange is entitled to this information as discovery. But does the government want to take the risk of Assange passing the discovery on to Wikileaks, again, in the interests of transparency, CIPA be damned? Furthermore, the CIA has never said one way or the other if the documents that Wikileaks has released as attributable to the CIA are actually original and true Agency documents. They would have to do so in a trial. Policymakers at the Justice Department, the CIA, the FBI, and the White House clearly have not thought this through. It's one thing to criticize journalists who publish stories that contain "classified" information. It's an entirely different thing to try to punish those journalists under the Espionage Act. And it's unprecedented in American history. Cooler heads have to prevail in Washington. You don't have to like Julian Assange's politics to love constitutional freedoms. You don't have to like Julian Assange as a person to value what he and Wikileaks do to expose waste, fraud, abuse, and illegality (which, by the way, is the very definition of whistleblowing). Julian Assange could not get a fair trial in a federal court. He shouldn't have to have any trial in the first place. By Dave Lindorff Whatever the truth regarding Deep State and Democratic Party charges of alleged Russian "meddling" in last year's election (and I'm definitely in the camp that says there has been no hard evidence presented to show Russia hacked DNC emails), Donald Trump and his administration are now ensnared in a serious investigation by an independent prosecutor, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, into obstruction of justice and other crimes that could technically lead to indictments of Trump aides and to Trump's impeachment. But don't forget: Trump has one unassailable power as president -- the power to pardon -- and I predict he will wield it. The US Constitution gives a president the almost absolute power to pardon, including to pardon someone before he or she has been convicted of a crime or even indicted. As President Gerald Ford proved, such pardon power can even be used to pardon someone -- in his case the disgraced and resigned ex-President Richard Nixon -- before he had even been charged with a crime. The only limitation on that presidential pardon power is that it cannot be used if the president is impeached, or to interfere with the impeachment process. What this means is that as long as there has not been an impeachment of the president, or at least the launching of impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives, there is no constraint on President Trump's use of his pardon power. He can, according to many legal experts, even pardon himself, though in that case he could still be impeached and removed from office, just not prosecuted for any crimes (impeachment is not a criminal proceeding, but is simply a process for removing a person from office). I believe it is likely therefore, that Trump, for whom appearances, tradition, propriety, and the good of the country are all meaningless notions, will use his pardon power to block investigations into, and block indictments of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and his top advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and anyone else who gets caught up in the investigation into crimes committed by him and his administration, his transition team and his campaign. While such actions -- even more shocking than Nixon's abrupt firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox during the Watergate scandal -- would likely stun the public and would, by most Americans, be viewed an admission of Trump's guilt, it would effectively eliminate any chance for Mueller to prosecute or even to investigate anyone in the Trump administration. People who are pardoned cannot be pressured by fear of indictment and a promise of immunity into turning state's evidence. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Theresa May visits Al Madina Mosque (Image by UK Home Office) Details DMCA The unsayable in Britain's general election campaign is this. The causes of the Manchester atrocity, in which 22 mostly young people were murdered by a jihadist, are being suppressed to protect the secrets of British foreign policy. Critical questions -- such as why the security service MI5 maintained terrorist "assets" in Manchester and why the government did not warn the public of the threat in their midst -- remain unanswered, deflected by the promise of an internal "review". The alleged suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, was part of an extremist group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, that thrived in Manchester and was cultivated and used by MI5 for more than 20 years. The LIFG is proscribed by Britain as a terrorist organisation which seeks a "hardline Islamic state" in Libya and "is part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by al-Qaida". The "smoking gun" is that when Theresa May was Home Secretary, LIFG jihadists were allowed to travel unhindered across Europe and encouraged to engage in "battle": first to remove Mu'ammar Gadaffi in Libya, then to join al-Qaida affiliated groups in Syria. Last year, the FBI reportedly placed Abedi on a "terrorist watch list" and warned MI5 that his group was looking for a "political target" in Britain. Why wasn't he apprehended and the network around him prevented from planning and executing the atrocity on 22 May? These questions arise because of an FBI leak that demolished the "lone wolf" spin in the wake of the 22 May attack -- thus, the panicky, uncharacteristic outrage directed at Washington from London and Donald Trump's apology. The Manchester atrocity lifts the rock of British foreign policy to reveal its Faustian alliance with extreme Islam, especially the sect known as Wahhabism or Salafism, whose principal custodian and banker is the oil kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Britain's biggest weapons customer. This imperial marriage reaches back to the Second World War and the early days of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The aim of British policy was to stop pan-Arabism: Arab states developing a modern secularism, asserting their independence from the imperial west and controlling their resources. The creation of a rapacious Israel was meant to expedite this. Pan-Arabism has since been crushed; the goal now is division and conquest. When viewers originally saw Get Out in theaters early this year, many were expecting the worst toward the end of the film as a car with its red and blue lights shining pulled toward Chris and Rose. While the audience was able to breathe a sigh of relief as it turned out to be Chris friend Rod, an alternate ending included on the Blu-Ray DVD reveals that director Jordan Peele almost took the film down a much darker path, as we reported earlier this month. In a recent interview with Essence, Peele reveals that he originally wrote the gut-wrenching ending as to make a hard point and not let the audience off the hook. In this version, instead of Chris friend Rod coming to his rescue, two white police officers come to the scene and immediately arrest the films lead character. He is then seen in prison with no hope of being able to prove himself innocenthis only source of comfort being the fact that he was able to stop the family from hurting anyone else. It is painful to watch but unfortunately, it is much more realistic than the ending shown in theaters. The likelihood of a black man being able to kill an entirely white family without facing major repercussions is slim to none. As the film itself is a critique of the idea that we live in a post-racial society and was meant to play on all the different ways that racism and white supremacy manifest in this day and age, it is clear why this was Peeles original intention for the film. By the time the movie was finished and ready, it was very clear that the audience needed a little bit of an escape, he says of his reason for reshooting the last few minutes of the film. You can grab a copy of Get Out to see the alternate ending for yourself (though it has made its way to the web). Find out where the film landed on our list of the years best so far here. Will Trump give Kushner up? I mean that hypothetically at this point, of course. The Trumps usually stick close together. But it seems obvious: if the course of human events continues in this manner, then the time will come when Trump will have to choose between himself and his relations. A Times article published on Memorial Day noted that: Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, was looking for a direct line to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a search that in mid-December found him in a room with a Russian banker whose financial institution was deeply intertwined with Russian intelligence, and remains under sanction by the United States. Federal and congressional investigators are now examining what exactly Mr. Kushner and the Russian banker, Sergey N. Gorkov, wanted from each other. Constant comparisons with the Nixon White House do no favors to Trump: both were under the shadow of scandal, but Nixons Executive had a level of professionalism which this Orange Presidency can hardly wink at. Here too there are parallels. Richard Nixon never had a son, but the closest he ever got was his White House Chief of Staff, Harry Robbins Haldeman, who Nixon described as his pluperfect son of a bitch. That didnt stop Nixon from throwing him to the wolves when it was time. He fired Haldeman and another aide, Ehrlichman, in a televised Oval Office speech on April 30, 1973. Then Nixonprobably drunkcalled Bob Haldeman and said this: RMN: But let me say youre a strong man, Goddamnit, and I love you. BH: Well- RMN: And, you know, I love John and all the rest, and, by God, keep the faith. Keep the faith. Youre going to win this son of a bitch. BH: Absolutely. Nixon didnt pardon his adopted brother-son, so Haldeman, the former Lord High Executioner, went to prison for eighteen months, where he was a chemist in the sewage treatment plant in Lompoc Federal Prison. Nixon was pardoned. In a May 1, 1973 article in the Post, Stern and Johnson wrote that: The dramatic news of the dismantling of the White House command staff that served Mr. Nixon through his first four years in the presidency was the most devastating impact that the Watergate scandal has yet made on the administration. Trump has his own command staff. The President has other sons, but seems to spend special favor on his daughters husband. And so his son-in-law has come under fire for the Russia tie. According to an article in the Times: Over the past week, Mr. Kushner, who at age 36 occupies an ill-defined role somewhere between princeling and President Trumps shadow chief of staff, has seen his foothold on that invaluable real estate shrink amid revelations he is under scrutiny in a federal investigation into whether there was collusion with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. ... What is less clear is how Mr. Kushners woes will affect his hard-won influence on a mercurial father-in-law who is eager to put distance between himself and a scandal that is swamping his agenda and, he believes, threatening his family. Usually, this kind of speculation is senseless: who wants to pry in family affairs? Kushners Dad went to jail; imagine having yet another father figure thrown into the clink, and what that would do to you. In ordinary times, this would be irrelevant: who knows or cares what happens inside this one family? Its hardly our business. But the curiosity is worth indulging here, for a very simple reason: Trumps strongest bonds, such as they are, are with family. The power of the Trump Executive is wired up according to the bonds of blood. Those ties have an immediate, discernible impact on my life, your life, and the life of the nation. Therefore, Trumps relationship with his son-in-law is a subject worth publicly speculating about. Theyve made it our affair. The President runs his business and political empire in the manner of an antediluvian patriarch: assigning sub-units of his kingdom to people in the trusted bloodline, keeping outsiders at arms length, trusting nobody. There are two parallel power structures: the official one, governed by law, precept, and custom; and the unofficial one, governed by the family structure of Trump and all the people of Trumpland. These ties are not governed by ability, but by genetics and proximity to Trumps favor, like the House of Saud. There is good reason for D.C.s opposition to Kushner: he shows no sign of being worthy of the powers vested in him. What has Jared done, except be born and marry right? He deserves no blame for them, nor any credit. No wonder Congressman Schiff of California is angling to revoke Kushners various clearances. The lines of power are clear to any observer. The mojo flows from President to Aide, from Father to Son-in-Law, according to the whims of Donald Trump. And how is the President feeling about Mr. Kushner, in recent days? Here we may look, again, to the public record. The Times again: But in recent weeks, the Trump-Kushner relationship, the most stable partnership in an often unstable West Wing, is showing unmistakable signs of strain. Partially this is the fault of the Comey ouster, which Kushner argued for, and because Jared clamors for the beheading of Bannon and Spicer. There are other stingrays in the deep waters: It has been duly noted in the White House that Mr. Trump, who feels that he has been ill served by his staff, has increasingly included Mr. Kushner when he dresses down aides and officials, a rarity earlier in his administration and during the campaign. The most serious point of contention between the president and his son-in-law, two people familiar with the interactions said, was a video clip this month of Mr. Kushners sister Nicole Meyer pitching potential investors in Beijing [This violated two rules:] Politically, it undercut his immigration crackdown, and in a personal sense, it smacked of profiteering off Mr. Trump one of the sins that warrants expulsion from his orbit. The unforgivable and unthinkable is now possible: a nice motto for the age of Trump. Given Kushners talent set, this was also inevitable. Nixon, who was also paranoid and willing to save his own skin, could still pick and choose talent from the vast sea of humanity. Until the end, his shrewdness excelled his paranoia. This is a marked difference from the current Leader of the Free World. Trump has stuck to his own family in most of the important matters, regardless of their talent. Again, if this was a normal man or a slightly normal President, this speculation about family powers would be needless, baselessanother chapter in the big angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin book of unanswerable thinking. But as weve seen, these are not normal times. The Donald combines two features which rarely keep company: his circle of affection is ridiculously cloistered around his family tree, and he shows an astonishing predilection to throw others in the way of harm. Seen in this light, his family-centered staff looks less like a beloved father giving understandable preference to his own brood, and more like a man who prefers to see some version of his own face and name staring back at him from every mirror of power. Yet Trumps loyalty is famously a one-way street. So far, hes never had to put his familys loyalty against his feckless, notoriously fickle fidelity to his staff. The two loyalties have not come in conflict. As the Times story points out, Kushner is different from his father-in-law; the young heir is muted and preppy, but he shares the Presidents love for doing business according to the precepts he learned in the semi-legal twilight of the New York real estate market. This may explain why Jared Island (to use the phrase inside the West Wing) has so many vague and huge projects thrown his wayMiddle East peace and weapon sales being two of the most notable. The most likely answer is that one of them will break first. Jared will move away from the center of power, and Trump will remain. Jared is not sworn to defend the Constitution, and is not confined to a small manor in the District. Trump is. Kushner can have a life away from the maelstrom. Trump is stuck in D.C. until he leaves. Pretend you are Jared Kushner. If you were wealthy, powerful, and famous, and had to answer to the public (half of whom hated you) and to the law (who say you may be colluding with Russia) and to the press (who have publicized your name to every American), what would you do? If you were used to another kind of life, would you bear this attention for a year, two years, eight years? Even if it meant huge powers and global influence? Would it still be worth it? Kushners trajectory is not the same thing as an ordinary politician being lifted into powera Clinton, a Reagan, a Carter: people who came from (relatively) nowhere to a larger destiny. Kushner and Trump would have imperial sway even without the drafty residence on Pennsylvania Avenue. Even the most influential governor of the most influential state still has a life circumscribed in a way that a lifetime billionaire does not. A pol can be removed from power by an election or an impeachment. Except for bankruptcy, capital goes on forever. If youd had an easy life before, and then you fell into the thorn nest, and were hissed by people youd never metwould you stay there, if you didnt have to? Jared will not. In a Guardian column on May 29. Walter Shapiro argued that Kushner was inherently doomed. Too many projects, too much notoriety in a scandal-prone Presidency, and now an investigation: his life in the coming months and maybe years will be a study in misery. He will probably spend more time with his personal lawyer, Clinton justice department veteran Jamie Gorelick, than with Ivanka or his children. That is one fate. Return to New York, and youre sort of out of danger but away from power; stay in Washington, and accelerate your own doom. And as always, the family factor, the same vector which lifted Kushner to power, complicates matters beyond the dreams of Rubik. Shapiro wrote of Trump: Trapped in the trappings of a White House that he cant demolish to build something grander, Trump is surrounded by aides like Reince Priebus and HR McMaster whom he neither fully trusts nor feels comfortable with. Who can Trump trust in the end? The ties that bind are the ties worth having, but only when those ties go both ways, when both parties must abide under a code of loyalty. Donald Trumps idea of worth lives and dies under the light of his brand, which is the extension of a namea joint-stock company which he and Jared and Ivanka and all the other brood of Trumps share ownership of. How does he handle that business? What will the man do when he meets the one employee he can never fire? MET Roam Intended use: enduro / trail EPS and polycarbonate shell Flexible visor, adjustable to accommodate glasses and goggles Three sizes to fit 5262cm Seven colorways SAFE-T Orbital retention system 22 vents and internal air channeling Claimed weight: 335 grams, medium, 360 grams with Mips MSRP: 150, 170 (Mips) / $170 / $200 (Mips) USD CE - CPSC - AS/NZ certified Available: September 2017 www.met-helmets.com Intended use: enduro / trail EPS and polycarbonate shell Flexible visor, adjustable to accommodate glasses and goggles Three sizes to fit 5262cm Seven colorways SAFE-T Orbital retention system 22 vents and internal air channeling Claimed weight: 335 grams, medium, 360 grams with Mips MSRP: 150, 170 (Mips) / $170 / $200 (Mips) USD CE - CPSC - AS/NZ certified Available: September 2017 Construction and Details Here we can see the three polycarbonate shells in black, flat red, then gloss red. The Roam features an additional strap to mount cameras and lights. The visor can be raised to store goggles on the climbs. The visor also retains the goggle strap. The visor slides and clicks into three set positions. There are seven colors to choose from, including BlackRed, Mint Blue Avio, Lime Green Avio and Lipari White, Isabeau Courdurier is part of the MET/Bluegrass team and has been inputting her advice after racing the EWS series. Italian helmet brand, MET, celebrates its 30th year anniversary in 2017 and launches their latest half face lid, the Roam. This enduro racing and trail mountain bike helmet has been developed in conjunction with EWS team riders, Isabeau Courdurier, Killian Bron and Liam Moynihan. Features include an EPS foam and polycarbonate shell, goggle and glasses compatibility and MET's latest retention system. There are three sizes to choose from, seven colors, twenty-two vents and will be available to buy from September this year for 150 / $170 USD or 170 / $200 USD with Mips.The Roam is constructed with an EPS foam liner, molded together with three separate polycarbonate shells. The polycarbonate completely covers the EPS on the exterior which is aimed to help with durability. Back and side coverage is increased compared to older MET helmets.The injection molded visor is flexible and is used as an additional way to absorb shock, MET found that if the visor is too stiff it can bounce the head backward in a crash causing neck pain. Too soft can also be a problem, allowing the visor to shake and rattle in rough sections.For half lid and goggle enduro combinations, the three position visor also has a plastic flap that holds goggle straps in place. For traditional wearers of glasses, two of the vents underneath the visor are also used to retain arms of glasses.There are 22 vents for cooling, but MET says the most important factor for cooling is airflow. If the shell sits directly onto your skull, then this will stop airflow, a combination of the vents and channels that keep the helmet raised from skin allows air to circulate. There are three main airflow channels through the middle of the helmet, plus extra space at the sides of the helmet air to flow above the ears.There are three sizes too choose from, each using a differently sized shell, not just different sized pads to fit. This means that people in-between sizes don't end up with a larger, bulkier shell that is spaced out with padding. The Safe-T Orbital is MET's latest retention system works 360 around the head for a secure fit. It is flexible, and height can be adjusted into three positions at the rear.The Roam conforms to all CE, CPSC, and AS/NZ standards, and will be available to view at Eurobike in August, and to buy in September. Day 1: Day 2: Day 3: Day 4: Day 5: Day 6: Day 7: Day 8: Trip Package Includes About evo evoTrip adventure vacations are more than just an opportunity to travel to remote places in search of your next adventure, they are the most immediate way to experience the blend of sport and culture that makes the evo lifestyle all that it is. Travel with us and gain new perspective doing something you're passionate about in an extraordinary landscape with extraordinary people.This summer, come explore the best that British Columbia has to offer with an all-mountain riding adventure. We visit Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish and explore the South Chilcotins via float plane on this British Columbia mountain biking dream trip from September 10th17th, 2017.Arrive at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) by 11:00am and meet the group to transfer two hours up the Sea to Sky highway to your Whistler hotel. We'll check into the hotel, build our bikes and have a trip orientation before taking a short warm-up ride. In the evening we'll enjoy a group welcome dinner together. If you are not flying, we will make arrangements to meet up at the hotel.Ride out the hotel door for a full day on Whistlers incredible network of all-mountain trails. A swim in one of Whistlers lakes is definitely planned post-ride. In the afternoon we'll pack up and check in at a hotel in Pemberton, about 30 minutes away.Ride: 15 miles, 3,000 feet climb, descent.After breakfast the group will ride out from the hotel to some of the sweetest undiscovered trails in the region. Located on the edge of the Coastal Mountains, Pemberton is lower elevation, much drier and more open than Whistler or Squamish. After riding we'll head to our lakeside cabin in the Southern Chilcotins and enjoy a home-cooked meal together.Ride: 8.5 miles, 2230 feet climb, descent.This morning the group will fly on a float plane from Tyaughton Lake to the remote teal-blue Lorna Lake surrounded by snowy peaks and glaciers. We will pedal on historic singletrack over vast expanses of rocky alpine terrain in remote mountain passes, through meadows rich with wildflowers and wildlife to Bear Paw Camp, set deep in the heart of the mountains.Ride: 11 miles, 2,300 feet climb, 1,800 feet descent.We have a few options today, from epic to very epic! No matter what, the minimum distance that we need to pedal is 40 kilometers (or 25 miles), mostly rolling downhill on a beautiful ribbon of singletrack. Hearty riders in the group can opt for some big passes if they wish, including Deer Pass and Windy Pass. The last (massive) descent is back down to our lakeside accommodation and a meal at the lodge near our cabin.Ride: 25 miles, 1,100-foot climb, 2,500-foot descent.This morning well depart after breakfast and drive back to Whistler for lunch, then 40 minutes further to Squamish dubbed the Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada, a singletrack paradise thats achieved cult status among mountain bikers. After dropping off the gear at the hotel the group will head out for a ride.After breakfast, the group will head out for a full day exploring Squamishs endless web of singletrack. You can expect some super fun challenges today, some technical ups and downs. Well end the day and trip with a group dinner out in Squamish.Ride: 10 miles, 2,400-foot climb, descent.After breakfast we will pack up our bikes and catch our flights home. Riders can extend their Vancouver experience by pre-booking hotels downtown. Please book flights no earlier than 3:00pm from Vancouver International Airport. Guiding from an expert Big Mountain Bike Adventures guide and one evo support staff (maximum group of six). Airport transfers (day one and eight ) All transportation during the trip, including one Float Plane flight. Four nights of hotel lodging in a double room, two nights in a bunk in a rustic cabin and one night in a tented alpine camp. Three breakfasts, two lunches, and three dinners. An incredible adventure with evo and Big Mountain Bike Adventures A one-time 20% off promo code for evo.com (excludes bikes) evo is an innovative action sport and outdoor lifestyle retailer with roots in the Pacific Northwest. evos focus on community and crafting extraordinary customer experiences has propelled the company from its humble beginnings in a small Seattle apartment to one of the fastest growing lifestyle retailers in the nation. Over 15 years, evo has grown from its strong online presence to open flagship stores in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR and soon Denver, CO, that proudly showcase evos trademark blend of sport, culture, art, retail, and service. Through evoTrip, customers can experience the evo lifestyle of sport and culture through world-class adventure travel to ski, snowboard, or mountain bike remote wonders around the world. Leveraging our success to give back, evo helps underserved youth through volunteer time, donations, and other support for local and national non-profit organizations including SOS Outreach and Chill Foundation. Check Out Who the Big Winners Were at King's Casino in May May 31, 2017 Jason Glatzer Editor King's Casino, located on the border of Germany in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, hosts the largest poker room in Europe. The poker room is popular due to the plethora of cash games running around the clock and tournament festivals running each and every week. May was no different at King's Casino. In addition to the amazing cash games, the casino hosted five different tournament festivals. Here is a look at the highlights. May 4-7: Six-Way Deal in the Deutsche Poker Tour Main Event The first big tournament in May was the 159 Deutsche Poker Tour Main Event on May 4-7. Each of the 71 players out of the 554 that cashed in this 100,000 guaranteed prize pool event was awarded a little bit more value than normal thanks to the tournament featuring a bit of overlay. The top prize was slated to be 18,323. However, the final six players from four different countries agreed to a final table deal to flatten the top-heavy payout structure. Players at King's Casino are not required to use their real names when entering most tournaments and can instead use nicknames. The players to score the top three prizes chose to remain anonymous, including Germany's "Nobody" who banked 10,306, the biggest prize of the tournament. Place Name Country Prize 1 Nobody Germany 10,306* 2 Noizy Germany 10,162* 3 Garfield Czech Republic 9,136* 4 Helena Hanzlova Czech Republic 8,918* 5 Ashot Oganesian Russia 8,235* 6 Antonio Cabanas-Fernandez Belgium 7,028* 7 Vaclovas Galaune Lithuania 3,012 8 Arnost Kopecky Czech Republic 2,100 9 Patrick Wagner Germany 1,663 *Reflects six-handed deal May 11-14: Hue Tran Wins the King's Knockout Series Main Event The following week, the King's Knockout Series took place from May 11-16. The highlight of the poker festival was the 195 King's Knockout Series Main Event on May 11-14. The 55 players that cashed out of the 427 entrants in this event received extra value as for the second straight week the casino's Main Event featured overlay. Hue Tran Similar to the Deutsche Poker Tour Main Event, the King's Knockout Series Main Event also ended with the final six players agreeing to a deal. Germany's Hue Tran walked away with the biggest prize of 9,740 excluding knockouts, his biggest live tournament cash to date according to The Hendon Mob. Place Name Country Prize 1 Hue Tran Germany 9,740* 2 Unknown 7,800* 3 Jurgen Heidl Germany 7,606* 4 Benjamin Benoit Australia 7,000* 5 Marek Sukup Czech Republic 5,856* 6 Unknown 4,600* 7 Aldo Segantini Italy 2,401 8 Unknown 1,738 9 Josef Trojan Czech Republic 1,407 *Reflects six-handed deal May 18-21: Ducardo Ueberfeldt Wins the Forbes Pokerman Open Main Event The Forbes Pokerman Open Spring Edition took place from May 17-21 with the festival's 110 Main Event taking place from May 18-21. As was the case in the first two events, there was extra value with the 859 entrants falling short of the number of entries needed to meet the 100,000 posted guaranteed prize pool. Ducardo Ueberfeldt Also as was the case in the first two events in May, the tournament ended in a deal. However, in this case, it was down to the final three players before a deal was made when Germany's Ducardo Ueberfeldt, Czech Republic's Josef Balaz and Germany's David Sommer agreed to evenly split the remaining prize pool to award each player 12,277. Ueberfeldt earned his way to the win while also snagging his biggest live tournament score. Place Name Country Prize 1 Ducardo Ueberfeldt Germany 12,277* 2 Josef Balaz Czech Republic 12,277* 3 David Sommer Germany 12,277* 4 Nobody Germany 5,957 5 Robert Bendik Slovakia 4,741 6 Milivoj Kokovic Czech Republic 3,639 7 Sebastian Sternkopf Germany 2,632 8 Milan Skacel Czech Republic 1,796 9 BigKing777 Germany 1,425 *Reflects three-handed deal May 21-25: Vasileios Koromplis Wins the Bavaria Cup Main Event The Bavaria Cup Main Event began on the same day the Forbes Pokerman Open Main Event on May 21 and concluded a few days later on May 25. As has been the theme, the tournament featured overlay on its 100,000 posted guarantee with 898 entrants ponying up the 99 buy-in. Bavaria Cup Main Event Deal As has also been the theme, the tournament ended in a deal with Germany's Vasileios Koromplis, Czech Republic's Tomas Tyr and Germany's "Matze" agreeing to split the remaining funds allotted to the final three players. Koromplis walked away with the title and took home the tournament's biggest prize of 14,843. This was not only the German's first live tournament victory but his first tournament cash according to The Hendon Mob. Place Name Country Prize 1 Vasileios Koromplis Germany 14,843* 2 Tomas Tyr Czech Republic 11,942* 3 Matze Germany 10,542* 4 Robert Strbo Slovakia 6,128 5 Sebastian Kos Czech Republic 4,855 6 Gabrys Poland 3,781 7 Dirk Schneege Germany 2,755 8 Eugen Strobel Germany 1,883 9 Jan Stariat Czech Republic 1,492 *Reflects three-handed deal May 25-28: 'emMKey' Wins the German Poker Days Main Event Slovakia's "emMKey" shipped the biggest Main Event in May at King's Casino of 30,968 after he agreed to a three-way deal with Germany's Tim Jerome van der Heiden and Rasmus Sporre in the Germany Poker Days Main Event. The tournament easily surpassed its 200,000 posted guarantee with the field attracting a massive 1,828 entrants to create a huge 269,173 prize pool. Place Name Country Prize 1 eMKey Slovakia 30,968* 2 Tim Jerome van der Heiden Germany 30,005* 3 Rasmus Sporre Germany 26,095* 4 Jorg Beneke Germany 23,628* 5 Murat Karacan Germany 11,386 6 Christian Stucken Germany 8,457 7 Yury Filippov Russia 6,455 8 Michael Manfred Hoch Germany 4,592 9 Karl Wurminghausen Germany 3,553 *Reflects three-handed deal Action Gets Bigger in June June promises to be even bigger at King's Casino with the partypoker MILLION Germany hitting the poker room June 1-5. In a way, the festival has already kicked off with four of the seven opening days of the partypoker MILLION Germany Main Event already in the books. Two of the opening days of this tournament which features a mouth-watering 1 million guarantee were played live at partypoker while the remaining three will take place June 2-4 before all surviving players compete on June 4-5 until a champion is crowned. The two-day $2,200 partypoker MILLION Germany High Roller: 200K Gtd [8-Max] on June 1-2 also is a tournament to keep your eyes on. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to cover the Main Event starting on Day 1E and the High Roller from start to completion. The lineup includes Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan and more. In the aftermath of the tragic Manchester terror attack on May 22, pop star Ariana Grande has announced she will play a benefit concert on Sunday (June 4) to honor the victims and with proceeds going to a fund established by the British Red Cross and the city of Manchester. The concert, dubbed the "One Love Manchester," will also feature performances by Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Pharell Williams, Niall Horan and Usher. Tickets go on-sale this Thursday (June 1), via Ticket Master. The concert it slated to air live on BBC TV, BBC Radio and Capital Radio Networks. A streaming partner is expected to be revealed soon. In a statement, via The Hollywood Reporter, Grande stated: "We won't let this divide us. We won't let hate win. Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before. From the day I started putting the Dangerous Woman Tour together, I said that this show, more than anything else, was intended to be a safe space for my fans. A place for them to escape, to celebrate. To heal, to feel safe and to be themselves. This will not change that." The terror attack was led by Salman Abedi, a British man of Libyan decent, who, reportedly, "used government dole-outs and low-interest education loan dollars" to launch his attack, as Washington Post reports. 22 people were killed in the attack and another several dozen severely injured. 14 people have, so far, been arrested in connection to the attack. Following the tragedy, Grande took to Twitter to express her sorrow. "Broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words," she tweeted. A few days later, she then posted a lengthy, heartfelt note, in which she avowed a return to the city soon. "My heart, prayers and deepest condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones," she wrote. "There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better. However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way." "The only thing we can do now is choose how we let this affect us and how we live our lives from here on out. I have been thinking of my fans, and of you all, non stop over the past week. The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud than you'll ever now," the superstar continued. "The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that you've shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened Monday." She then aimed to rally the fans and the world, writing, "YOU are the opposite. I am sorry for the pain and fear that you must be feeling and for the trauma that you, too, must be experiencing. We will never be able to understand why events like this take place because it is not in our nature, which is why we shouldn't recoil. We will not quit or operate in fear. We won't let this divide us. We won't let hate win. I don't want to go the rest of the year without being able to see and hold and uplift my fans, the same way they continue to uplift me. Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before. Continuing, she said, "I'll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honor of and to raise money for the victims and their families. I want to thank my fellow musicians and friends for reaching out to be a part of our expression of love for Manchester." You can read the entire note below: READ MORE ABOUT MUSIC... Premiere | LZ7 are absolutely "Golden" with new track WATCH | Niall Horan pays tribute to Manchester tragedy on 'The Today Show' LISTEN | You're gonna be addicted to Skinny Days' "The One That Got Away," featuring Emilie Adams -- American Summer camp seems to have acquired a mythical status. At some indeterminate point in recent history, the logistical convenience of sending children away to supervised camp grounds transcended its evolution out of necessity, and became a cultural touchstone. Best friends, first kisses, emotional awakenings, early sexual encounters for so many, this is what Summer camp means. In Perennials, the debut novel of author Mandy Berman, this version of camp is explored in intimate detail. Through the eyes of campers, counselors, parents and managers, the reader experiences the lives of two girls, as defined by their Summer Camp experience. Rachel and Fiona grew up seeing each other every summer at Camp Marigold. Fiona is an awkward and anxietous child of modest suburban privilege, and Rachel is the more daring, city-raised daughter of a single-mother. Now they return to Marigold as counselors on the verge of their twenties. Their relationship has grown more complicated since their youth, and they have difficulty reconciling their childhood friendship with the college age women they are now. The lens of the story jumps from viewpoint to viewpoint, and slowly we see their childhood mythicizing of camp-life melting uncomfortably in to the imperfections and tragedies of adulthood. Author Mandy Berman Berman's command of prose is astounding. The more you read, the more difficult it is to believe that this is a debut novel. As she writes she appears to actively play with readers' expectations. Her work lulls you into a false sense of complacency with a conventional lexicon and linear sentence structure, only to then rip the carpet out from underneath with a phrase or paragraph so devastatingly shaped and stylized that it demands to be read again and again for its sheer emotional purity. "Perennials is a novel that simultaneously basks in the sunshine of its own glorious nostalgia and fumbles in the boat-shed with its seamier underside" What is perhaps most striking is her use of perspective. Berman writes the novel in the empathic third person, allowing us a look into the minds and lives of somewhere in the range of ten different characters. Each of them is so wonderfully detailed, realized, and full of the aches and pains of life that, on first meeting them, you spend several pages convinced that you have finally stumbled upon the author-insert character. Only then do you remember that you have felt this way about every person this book has introduced you to. It is quite astonishing. Clearly borne of real-world camp experience, Perennials is a novel that simultaneously basks in the sunshine of its own glorious nostalgia and fumbles in the boat-shed with its seamier underside. It alternately fills you with a youthful joy of life, and a wistful, all-too-present melancholy. Whether you remember your camp days, or are a stranger to the experience, this book will leave you believing that you too were once a thirteen year-old girl at Camp Marigold. Charged with hope, longing, an unexpected sensuality, and a bruised tenderness, Perennials is a book you should most definitely put near the top of your reading list. 'Perennials' will be in stores June 6th Guam police officers and other law enforcers closed off a portion of West O'Brien Drive in downtown Hagatna and checked the local courts for potential threats, following calls of a bomb threat and an active shooter which were later found unfounded yesterday morning. The Judiciary of Guam resumed normal operations after the building and the local courts' operations were placed on lockdown for an hour Wednesday morning around 10. Court Policy Planning and Community Relations Director Shawn Gumataotao said all judiciary staff were directed to "shelter in place" after the calls were made to the Guam Judicial Center. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Despite the threats, all appellate and trial court activities were uninterrupted, and court marshals and probation officers took necessary precautions to ensure the safety and security of judicial staff and court patrons, Gumataotao said. The Guam Police Department is investigating the threats. As of press time, it wasn't known if the calls had been traced and whether a suspect has been identified. PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 18:35:01 A.M. Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Bangkok Insurance Public Company Limited A.M. Best Vivian Cheung, +852 2827 3421 Senior Financial Analyst vivian.cheung@ambest.com or Christie Lee, +852 2827 3413 Director, Analytics christie.lee@ambest.com or Christopher Sharkey, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159 Manager, Public Relations christopher.sharkey@ambest.com or Jim Peavy, +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644 Director, Public Relations james.peavy@ambest.com A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of a- of Bangkok Insurance Public Company Limited (BKI) (Thailand). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect BKIs sound risk-adjusted capitalization that is supported by a conservative level of underwriting leverage, favorable operating performance and solid market position in Thailands non-life insurance market. BKI generates its premiums via a diversified distribution channel, including the distribution support from its related company, Bangkok Bank, one of Thailands largest banks. BKI continued to report favorable underwriting performance after the Thai flood losses in 2011. Investment performance is supported mainly by a stable stream of dividend income from equity investments. A.M. Best expects that BKI will continue to focus on risk selection and a prudent reinsurance arrangement to safeguard its underwriting profitability. Offsetting rating factors include BKIs significant investment concentration in listed equities, which comprised more than half of its invested portfolio and represented a sizeable proportion relative to its capital and surplus. As a result, the companys capitalization level could be impacted materially by potentially adverse equity market conditions. While positive rating actions are unlikely in the near term, negative rating pressure could result from material deterioration in BKIs risk-adjusted capitalization due to large operating losses or material adverse movement on its equity investments. Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Bests website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Bests Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Bests Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Bests Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper [..]. A.M. Best is the worlds oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright 2017 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705310061 PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 20:28:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 384 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for AurCrest Gold Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - AurCrest Gold Inc. (TSX Venture:AGO). has issued a press release with the following headline:AurCrest Golds President Speaks at the Empire Club of CanadaTo 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 AurCrest Gold 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/AurCrest Gold Inc.Source: AurCrest Gold Inc. (TSX Venture: AGO)Date: May 31, 2017Time: 2:26 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of AurCrest Gold 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: 2017-05-31 09:02:02 MINNEAPOLIS, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioSig Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB:BSGM), a medical device company developing a proprietary platform designed to address an unmet technology need for the $4+ billion electrophysiology (EP) marketplace, today announced that Ms. Natasha Russkina has joined the Company as Managing Director, Europe. Natasha Russkina is founder and director of Augeous Consulting in Geneva, Switzerland, a firm that provides various levels of business development capabilities to companies in the life science sector. Ms. Russkina has over 13 years of experience in international business development, including over 9 years at IG Group PLC, a British FTSE 250 company and a global leader in online trading. During this time, she was responsible for the Group's global business development successfully delivering a number of high level projects from opening new international branches to global rebranding, and providing all initial and ongoing business support to 12 international offices in Europe, South Africa and Australia, a business sector, which accounted for 40% of the Group's revenue. During her career, she had been appointed by the Board of Directors to open a new IT development office in Eastern Europe and was responsible for all parts of operations. During this assignment, the office grew from 14 inherited members of staff to over 135. "I'm very privileged to join BioSig Technologies during this key time of the company's business development," Natasha commented. "BioSig is an innovative company, which has human talent and technological capacities to deliver game-changing systems in modern bioelectric medicine; a company, which believes in serving the global community. Positioning ourselves in Switzerland, the country well-renowned for its outstanding healthcare system, top talent and love for innovation, provides us with a solid base for reaching the second largest EP market in the world." Kenneth Londoner, Executive Chairman of BioSig Technologies, Inc. commented, "Europe is a large market for our technology platform. Having a presence in Geneva will augment our growth strategy as we look to commercialize the PURE EP System. Natasha is an outstanding business development talent who will advance our capabilities in the region and we look forward to her leadership providing value for our shareholders and future partners." About BioSig Technologies BioSig Technologies is a medical device company developing a proprietary technology platform designed to improve the $4 billion electrophysiology (EP) marketplace (www.biosigtech.com). Led by a proven management team and a veteran, independent Board of Directors, Minneapolis-based BioSig Technologies is preparing to commercialize its PURE EP(TM) System. The technology has been developed to address an unmet need in a large and growing market. The PURE EP System is a novel cardiac signal acquisition and display system which is engineered to assist electrophysiologists in clinical decision making during procedures to diagnose and treat patients with abnormal heart rates and rhythms. BioSig's main goal is to deliver technology to improve upon catheter ablation treatments for the prevalent and deadly arrhythmias, Atrial Fibrillation and Ventricular Tachycardia. BioSig has partnered with Minnetronix on technology development and is working toward FDA 510(k) clearance and CE Mark for the PURE EP System. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Key Opinion Leader Management Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering. Bone Marrow Transplant Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 08:38:11 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 # 663 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 Bone marrow transplantation, also referred as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the process of replacing diseased or damaged bone marrow or bone marrow stem cells with healthy tissue. Bone marrow is a soft vascular tissue present in the interior of long bones, which is primarily responsible for hematopoiesis (formation of blood cells), production of lymphocytes, and storage of a fat. Bone marrow transplantation procedure is recommended to treat severe stages of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, multiple myeloma, aplastic and sickle cell anemia, thalassemia etc. In 2015, more than 75,000 bone marrow transplants were performed globally and the count is expected to increase by approximately 25% by the end of 2020. Depending on the source of bone marrow or stem cells, bone marrow transplant procedures are classified as peripheral stem cell transplant (PSCT) or conventional bone marrow transplant. The high potential of the bone marrow transplants and the ongoing researches in the field to reduce the risks and side effects of the procedure will take the market to a new high and provide better healthcare to millions of people in the world.Bone Marrow Transplant Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing worldwide prevalence of cancers and anemia is the major driver for the growth of global bone marrow transplant market. Moreover, advances in technology, improving healthcare infrastructure, emerging indications of bone marrow transplant for heart and neuronal disorders, growing investment in logistic services, increasing per capita healthcare expenditure are some other factors expected to flourish the global bone marrow transplantation market. However, tremendous cost of the treatment, scarcity of bone marrow donors and uncertainty of reimbursement in several countries are some major restraints for the growth of global bone marrow transplantation market,Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1354 Bone Marrow Transplant Market: SegmentationThe global bone marrow transplant market has been classified on the basis of transplant type, disease indication, end user and geography.Based on transplant type, the global bone marrow transplant market is divided into following:Autologous Bone Marrow TransplantAllogeneic Bone marrow TransplantBased on the disease indication, the global bone marrow transplant market is divided into following:LeukemiaLymphomaMyelomaOthers (anemia, thalassemia etc.)Based on the end user type, the global bone marrow transplant market is divided into following:HospitalsMultispecialty ClinicsAmbulatory Surgical CentersBone Marrow Transplant Market: OverviewAutologous bone marrow transplant segment of transplant type is expected to hold the major share in the global bone marrow transplant market owing to low treatment cost and high success rate. Leukemia being the most potential disease eligible for bone marrow transplant, is anticipated to contribute highest share in the global bone marrow transplant market. Hospital end user segment contributes major market share in global bone marrow transplant market owing to the requirement for advanced healthcare infrastructure for the procedure. Commercialization of stem cell therapies and expansion of them for clinical use is anticipated to cause surge in global bone marrow transplant market over the forecast period of 2016-2026.Bone Marrow Transplant Market: Region wise OverviewGeographically, global bone marrow transplant market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa.Europe will continue to lead the global bone marrow transplant market due to high density of bone marrow transplant centers and expanding bone marrow registries. Latin America is anticipated to witness rapid increase in volume of bone marrow transplant market owing to high number of potential candidates for the procedure. Increasing number of bone marrow transplant teams in North America is foreseen to boost the bone marrow transplant market in the region.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1354 Bone Marrow Transplant Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global bone marrow transplant market are Lonza Group Ltd., Merck Millipore Corporation, Sanofi-Aventis LLC., AllCells LLC., STEMCELL Technologies, ATCC Inc., Hemacare Corporation, Cellular Dynamics International, ReachBio LLC., Conversant Bio, abm Inc., PromoCell GmbH, Cruline Human biospecime PRO, Lifeline Cell Technology, Mesoblast Ltd. and others. PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 13:00:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 405 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Canadian Zeolite Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Canadian Zeolite Corp. (TSX Venture:CNZ). has issued a press release with the following headline:Canadian Zeolite Announces Non- Binding Letter of Intent to Acquire U.S. Manufacturer and Distributor of Zeolite ProductsTo 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 Canadian Zeolite 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/Canadian Zeolite Corp.Source: Canadian Zeolite Corp. (TSX Venture: CNZ, ISIN: CA1368001097, WKN: A2AEE1, OTCQB: CNZCF, FWB: ZEON)Date: May 31, 2017Time: 7:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Canadian Zeolite 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.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 08:48:52 Press Information Published by ACN Newswire +65 6304 8926 e-mail https://www.acnnewswire.com/ # 984 Words ACN Newswire+65 6304 8926 HONG KONG, May 31, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - The award presentation ceremony of Quam IR Awards 2016 (QIRA) successfully took place on 25 May, 2017 at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Business elites of the awarded listed companies received the distinction, shared their joy at the ceremony. Eminent figures from the business community and notable guests supported the event and exchanged the ideas of excellent investor relations.Stepping into its second yearQuam IR Awards recognizes excellent investor relationsSince Quam IR Awards was held for the first time last year, it aims to honor models of practice and leadership in Investor Relations (IR) among the listed companies in the Asia Pacific region. Our winners have been devoted in upholding transparent communications between companies and stakeholders throughout 2016. The Quam IR Awards serves as the well-recognized testimonials to the winners' excellence, which can help bring accreditation and prestige to the winning companies and their remarkable achievement in the area of IR among shareholders, institutional investors, equity research analysts and financial media.Awarded companies in Quam IR Awards 2016 come from various categories, ranging from Hang Seng Index Constituents, Main Board and First Year After Listing companies, representing multi-national enterprises to local companies. A total of 14 awards were presented, the winners include Bank of China Limited, CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited, China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited, China Cinda Asset Management Co., Ltd, China Everbright Limited, China LotSynergy Holdings Limited, D&G Technology Holding Company Limited, Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited, EFT Solutions Holdings Limited, The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, Kerry Logistics, Li & Fung Limited, Shui On Land Limited, and WWPKG Holdings Company Limited.Eminent figures and elites showed their supportAt the ceremony, Mr. Richard Winter, Executive Director of Quam Financial Service Group, said "This year, the awarded companies are definitely the role models in their respective industry. With excellent governance culture, their expertise in investor relations is widely recognized. They have deep understanding on sustainable development that strive them to improve investor relations, to keep their commitments with investors, and to make a more rock-solid business platform for industry peers." Quam IR was honored to invite Ms Mabel Chan, President of Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Prof Daniel M. Cheng, MH, JP, Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Mr. Louis Leung, President of Hong Kong Chinese Industry and Commerce Association; Mr. Ivan Tam, President of The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries; Mr. Stephen Wong, Adjunct Associate Professor of Institute of China Business, University of Hong Kong, SPACE; and Hon Wong Ting-kwong, SBS, JP, Legislative Councilor of HKSAR (Functional Constituency - Import and Export), as our guests of honor to witness the glorification of the listed companies demonstrated IR excellence.Ms Mabel Chan said, "This year, the winning companies not only excel in investor relations, but also set an outstanding example to other listed companies. Furthermore, they help strengthen Hong Kong's position as a leading international financial centre." Prof Daniel M. Cheng, MH, JP said the awarded companies this year have demonstrated perseverance in improving investor relations and establishing effective corporate culture, meanwhile they have successfully yielded the support from investors and shareholders. Though the business environment is ever changing, the companies are dedicated to provide information to the public with open-minded attitude.Mr. Louis Leung emphasized that different economies face vigorous competition from abroad. By enhancing both domestic and international competitiveness, the excellent investor relations of listed companies contribute to the capital market of Hong Kong and take Hong Kong to a world leading level.Mr. Ivan Tam said Quam IR Awards 2016 recognizes the winning companies for their achievements in investor relations. Their vigorous devotion has raised the standard of corporate governance and investor relations to a new level.Meanwhile, Mr. Stephen Wong, strongly believed that Quam IR Awards 2016 has provided a good way of public acknowledgement on investor relations and laid a solid foundation for developing investor relations in general. Hon Wong Ting-kwong, SBS, JP added that the awarded companies have been disclosing the most valuable information in an all-rounded and professional manner on the open platform.Unfailing support from media & sponsorsApart from the support of notable guests, the award presentation ceremony attracted numerous media and sponsors in Hong Kong and China. Our supporting media partners include Metro Daily, The Standard, eeo.com.cn caiguu.com , CEO FX, CNFOL, FXgold, FX678, OTCbeta, PEdaily, p5w, Stock Star and ysslc.com and so on. Besides, several companies supported QIRA by offering products & prize sponsorship, namely Adiren Gagnon, BU Health, Canon Hongkong Company Limited, EyeCare HK, FX Creations International Limited, Hamilton Hill International Kindergarten and YOU. C1000 and so on.Key to success of winning listed companiesCALC strives to improve investor relationsMr. Bill Hui, Financial Controller of CALC, stated that the company has been proactively working on the globalization strategy underpinned by innovative financing channels, which supports sustainable growth. Meanwhile, the company also suggests outstanding business models to provide one-stop aircraft solutions, such as new aircrafts leasing, sale-and-leaseback of old aircraft, fleet replacement package deal and aircraft disaseembly for airline companies.D&G Technology focuses on the interaction with investorsMs Glendy Choi, Executive Director and CEO of D&G Technology Holding Company Limited, said the company is very honored to be awarded with Quam IR Awards again. The Group has been keeping close relationships with investors since its listing. Through timely disclosure of the Group's latest information, investors are allowed to follow their latest development.Dah Chong Hong values investor relationsMs Kitty Fung, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited shared, "We endeavour to engage shareholders and investors through well-planned IR & ESG programs in a proactive manner. We cherish such good relationships with the investment community and will continue to raise the bar for best IR practices." To continue, please go to http://www.acnnewswire.com/press-release/english/36751/ PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 12:22:01 European market leader for virtual data rooms continues to grow its business abroad Corporate finance and M&A team subject to international expansion Drooms Continues to Expand into New Markets Press contact: Drooms Leonora Staines phone: +44 207 118 1126 email: l.staines@drooms.com or Citigate Dewe Rogerson Patrick Evans phone: 0207 282 2913 email: patrick.evans@citigatedr.co.uk or Judith Massey phone: 0207 282 2987 email: judith.massey@citigatedr.co.uk or Matt Pears phone: 0161 932 1617 email: matthew.pears@citigatedr.co.uk Drooms, the leading provider of Virtual Data Rooms in Europe, is steam rolling ahead with its plans to continue expanding. Chris Beckmann (54) and Martin Alamri (42) joined the company in spring this year, strengthening Drooms growing corporate finance and M&A team on an international basis. Beckmann, who will assume primary responsibility for the taskforce, began his career at the start of the 1990s in the US, and has since worked as a corporate consultant and independent entrepreneur in Germany. Experienced in the business of VDRs, his responsibilities have spanned multiple markets including but not limited to Germany, Poland and Scandinavia. Continual growth at international level Within the framework of its internationalisation plans, Drooms is also in the process of opening more regional offices. In March, Drooms opened a subsidiary, Drooms Cloud Espana S.L., in Spain. Business activities will be systematically expanded in Spain, where a number of large corporate finance and real estate companies already use the Drooms platform and in Portugal from the new office in Madrid. With the opening of offices in Amsterdam in April, Drooms presence in the Benelux countries is also increasing. The company has made further additions to the team in Munich too. Over 25,000 companies worldwide have carried out confidential processes using Drooms virtual data rooms the total value of these transactions amounts to over EUR 300 billion. Strong market position based on new technological developments and focus on innovation Drooms internationalisation strategy goes hand in hand with a new technology, which addresses the need for automated workflows and increased efficiency, especially when it comes to due diligence. In this regard, Drooms relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing for process optimisation and risk analysis. Over the past few years, we have continually increased sales and expanded our market share. We see a lot more potential in international markets. In using AI in data rooms and developing automated transaction processes, we are stimulating great interest among many industry experts, thereby diversifying our operations, commented Jan Hoffmeister, Co-Founder and Chairman of Drooms. In 2015 and 2016, Drooms was awarded the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award due to its strong sales growth. Drooms employs over 100 staff from 23 countries and is represented internationally by various locations in the most important European markets. In addition to the companys presence in London, the SaaS provider operates via offices in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Milan, Madrid and Zug. To find out more about Drooms NXG virtual data rooms, visit YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DroomsSoftware About Drooms Drooms (drooms.com), the leading provider of Virtual Data Rooms in Europe, allows companies controlled access to confidential corporate data across company boundaries. Confidential business processes such as commercial real estate sales, mergers and acquisitions, non-performing loans (NPL) transactions and board communications are handled securely, transparently and efficiently by Drooms. More than 25,000 companies around the world currently use Drooms including leading global real estate companies, consultancy firms, law firms and corporations such as METRO GROUP, Evonik, Morgan Stanley, JLL, JP Morgan, CBRE, Rewe and UBS. Over 10,000 complex transactions amounting to a total of over EUR 300 billion have been handled by the software specialist. For Further Information: Drooms International Limited 11-12 Tokenhouse Yard, London, EC2R 7AS Web: http://www.drooms.com/en Twitter: https://twitter.com/drooms_software YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DroomsSoftware View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705310056 Above all things On Sunday, the body of Ravi Kumar, an Indian climber, was recovered from the balcony of Mt Everest, at a height of 8,400 metres. PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 17:30:14 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 396 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Cranbrook, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture:EPL). has issued a press release with the following headline:Eagle Plains Commences Fieldwork on Orchid Gold Project, SaskatchewanTo 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 Eagle Plains Resources 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/Eagle Plains Resources Ltd.Source: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture: EPL, ISIN: CA2699062022, WKN: 588696)Date: May 31, 2017Time: 11:30 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Eagle Plains Resources 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.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 10:00:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 400 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Erin Ventures Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Victoria, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Erin Ventures Inc. (TSX Venture:EV). has issued a press release with the following headline:Erin Ventures To Issue Common Shares in Satisfaction of Interest Payment to Convertible Debenture HoldersTo 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 Erin Ventures 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/Erin Ventures Inc.Source: Erin Ventures Inc. (TSX Venture: EV, WKN: A0CAFT, ISIN: CA29570H1010)Date: May 31, 2017Time: 4:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Erin Ventures 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.) Those of the couples going to celebrate their first or second marriage anniversary will find many of anniversaries presents which are made and combined on romantic themes. The combos hand hampers are incorporating many of branded and imported gifting articles. Romantic Gifts PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 09:16:35 Press Information Gifts by Meeta Contact Information: Gifts By Meeta 10MG Road, 1st floor, New Delhi Opp. Metro Pillar No. 47, Near to Sultanpur Metro Station, New Delhi Subhash SEO Expert +91-9555695556 email https://www.giftsbymeeta.com/ Published by Subhash Yadav +91-9555695556 e-mail https://www.giftsbymeeta.com/ # 419 Words Contact Information:Gifts By Meeta10MG Road, 1st floor, New DelhiOpp. Metro Pillar No. 47,Near to Sultanpur Metro Station, New DelhiSEO Expert+91-9555695556Subhash Yadav+91-9555695556 GiftsbyMeeta, May 31, 2017, New Delhi, India: - Indias pioneering online gifting store, GiftsbyMeeta has unveiled the fresh accumulation of romantic gifts under the anniversary category on the website. There has been given special focus on listing the anniversary presents for the newly wedded couples. For instance, the designer photo frames that attaches the photo of newly married couples ( https://www.giftsbymeeta.com/anniversary-gifts-for-couple) , the hanging lamps with multiple photos, face care, travel hampers, roses and so on are that least entrants under the category, which are most preferred by the newly wedded couples. This gifting firms in the last month have overhauled the Rakshabandhan related all the gifting categories for the upcoming rakhi occasion. Now with this move, the firm is willing to maximize its stagnant orders from the anniversary category. Apart from the many of the fresh combo and hampers based on the romantic themes, many existing products have been listed again with slashed prices.The media spokesperson at GiftsbyMeeta told the press personals in New Delhi, India: -There exist a high level of enthusiasm among the newly wedded couples on their first anniversary and along these lines, GiftsbyMeeta has presented the fresh accumulation of exclusive romantic gifts for newly married couples. Be red roses, a bouquet of red roses, roses with heart shaped red teddies, heart shaped candles, other artificial flowers, spa kits, bath hampers, bathrobe, perfumes, nail cares, mens personal cares, shaving hampers and many of products based on the romantic themes have been added in the latest addition to the website. The newly wedded couples prefer to exchange presents on a frequent basis and there is a need to offer the revamped category of the romantic gifts ( https://www.giftsbymeeta.com/romantic-gifts) About the Company: - GiftsbyMeeta, a gifting website that was established in 2013 by Meeta, Gutgutia. GiftsbyMeeta, Indias one of the pioneering retail gifting stores has a massive rundown of the gifts for all occasions as well as corporate gifting articles not just for the employees but for other stakeholders too as well as for all the occasions around a corporate house. This gifting store with a bunch of smart and experienced gifting professionals has a dedicated team that handles the corporate gifting services for hundreds of the renowned Indian business firms and offering online gifting services in more than 150 cities in India. Be its timely delivery, the gifting variety, occasion specific and customized gifting solutions, 24X7 customer support and so forth are the major attraction of the services from GiftsbyMeeta. PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 12:00:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 395 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for M Pharmaceutical Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Cincinnati, Ohio (FSCWire) - M Pharmaceutical Inc. (CSE:MQ). has issued a press release with the following headline:M Pharmaceutical Inc. Announces Successful Pre-IND Meeting ResultsTo 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 M Pharmaceutical 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/M Pharmaceutical Inc.Source: M Pharmaceutical Inc. (CSE: MQ, OTCQB: MPHMF, FWB: T3F2.F, ISIN: A14RWC, WKN: CA55346E2050)Date: May 31, 2017Time: 6:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of M Pharmaceutical 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: 2017-05-31 14:02:02 DUBLIN - May 31, 2017 - Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) recently launched PRODIGY, a 1,650-patient global study, to identify individuals at high risk for opioid induced respiratory depression (OIRD), a form of respiratory compromise. It is the first study to assess the clinical and economic benefits derived from the use of pulse oximetry (a device that measures oxygen saturation and pulse rate) and capnography (a device that measures carbon dioxide in exhaled air and respiration rate), in patients receiving opioid medication on hospital general care floors. The first patient was enrolled in the PRODIGY study at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The study is titled PRODIGY ( PR ediction of O pioid-induced respiratory D epression I n patients monitored by capno G raph Y ), and is a prospective, multi-center, post-market, global study conducted at 16 sites. Through the development of a risk assessment scoring tool, the study will seek to identify patients at increased risk for respiratory compromise. It will evaluate hospital ward patients receiving opioids for post-surgical or non-surgical pain who are continuously monitored with capnography and oximetry. The study will also help inform clinicians' understanding of the true incidence of respiratory compromise, which may be underestimated. The scoring tool will be used at the trial sites, with the goal of wider adoption across more hospitals following completion of the study. Respiratory compromise is a potentially life-threatening, progressive condition negatively impacting a person's ability to breathe. Patients with OIRD experience a decrease in the effectiveness of ventilatory function, an ability to breathe, after opioid administration.1 This condition is rapidly becoming the third-most costly hospital inpatient expense in the U.S., and dramatically increases the likelihood of adverse patient outcomes and cost of patient care.2 Not only is respiratory compromise common and dangerous, it has been very difficult to predict.3-5 The continuous monitoring of a patient's oxygen and carbon dioxide levels will also allow PRODIGY to identify other causes of respiratory compromise in patients on the general care ward. Currently, ward patients' breathing is monitored manually, and typically is no more frequent than every four hours. "The PRODIGY study allows us to deepen our understanding of the development of respiratory compromise, including OIRD, and determine strategies for earlier detection and prevention," said Dr. Frank Overdyk, lead investigator of the PRODIGY study and a staff anesthesiologist at the Roper St. Francis Health System in Charleston, S.C. In addition to Dr. Overdyk, the study is being led by Prof. Wolfgang Buhre, chair of the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Maastricht University Medical Centre, located in the Netherlands; and Dr. Ashish Khanna, staff intensivist and assistant professor of anesthesiology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of the Case Western Reserve University, located in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Overdyk and Dr. Khanna are paid members of the Medtronic clinical advisory board for PRODIGY. Professor Buhre is not a paid consultant; all consulting fees for Prof. Buhre are paid to the University of Maastricht. "The PRODIGY study is indicative of our commitment to bring attention to respiratory compromise - an under-recognized, serious health condition that's preventable," said Vafa Jamali, senior vice president and president of the Respiratory & Monitoring Solutions and Early Technologies businesses, which are part of the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group at Medtronic. "Information is powerful and the ability to identify patients at risk for respiratory compromise who could benefit from continuous capnography and oximetry monitoring - may improve patient safety throughout the hospital." Additional information about the PRODIGY study can be found at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02811302. About Medtronic Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies - alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 88,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in approximately 160 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together. Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. -end- 1 Jarzyna D, Jungquist CR, Pasero C, et al. American society for pain management nursing guidelines on monitoring for opioid-induced sedation and respiratory depression. Pain Manag Nurs. 2011;12(3):118-145. doi: 10.1016/j.pmn.2011.06.008. 2 Wier LM, Henke R, Friedman B. Diagnostic Groups with Rapidly Increasing Costs, by Payer, 2001-2007: Statistical Brief #91. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Briefs. Rockville MD2010. 3 Belcher AW, Khanna AK, Leung S, Naylor AJ, Hutcherson MT, Nguyen BM, et al. Long-acting patient-controlled opioids are not associated with more postoperative hypoxemia than short-acting patient-controlled opioids after noncardiac surgery: a cohort analysis. Anesth Analg. 2016;123(6):1471-9. 4 Khanna AK, Sessler DI, Sun Z, Naylor AJ, You J, Hesler BD, et al. Using the STOP-BANG questionnaire to predict hypoxaemia in patients recovering from noncardiac surgery: a prospective cohort analysis. Brit J Anaesth. 2016;116(5):632-40. 5 Sun Z, Sessler DI, Dalton JE, Devereaux PJ, Shahinyan A, Naylor AJ, et al. Postoperative hypoxemia is common and persistent: a prospective blinded observational study. Anesth Analg. 2015;121(3):709-15. This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Medtronic plc via Globenewswire Bharatpur incident: Probe committee submits report to EC The probe committee formed to look into the incident of tearing ballot papers in course of vote counting in Bharatpur Metropolitan City has submitted its report to the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday. PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 22:33:01 Hamilton, Bermuda, May 31, 2017 - On August 22, 2014, Seadrill Limited ("Seadrill") and North Atlantic Drilling Ltd ("NADL") announced that they had entered into a Framework Agreement with Rosneft Oil Company. In November 2014 the long stop date for closing this transaction was extended to the end of May 2015 and subsequently extended further to the end of May 2017. Today, the parties have agreed to further extend the long stop date of the Framework Agreement until May 31, 2019. During this time, Seadrill and NADL can continue to market the offshore drilling rigs and enter into binding contracts with third parties. This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Seadrill Limited via Globenewswire Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Key Opinion Leader Management Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering. Sustainable Palm Oil Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 08:39:17 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 # 648 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 Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil extracted from the reddish pulp of the oil palms. Sustainable Palm oil is naturally reddish in color because it has the component of high beta carotene. Sustainable palm oil means the palm oil which is manufactured under the guidance and rule of the Roundtable on sustainable palm oil (RSPO). To produce certified sustainable palm oil, manufactures has to follow the environmental and social criteria set by RSPO. It can also be kept in the room temperature. Palm oil also contains very little cholesterol. It is also used in products where animal fats are not accepted for the religion issues. It has been noticed that the palm oil is used in several industries to make the ultimate product. Those industries are also growing. So the demand of the palm oil will be more. So the market will expand very fast in the stipulated period of time.Global Sustainable palm oil Market Dynamics:-The market of sustainable palm oil market is anticipated to be driven by the various used of the product in a different way. It has a great cooking properties, even it can be used in the high temperature. Its smooth and creamy texture and having no smell make it a perfect ingredient for many recipes like it is used in the bakery (specially for biscuits). It has a natural perspective effect which helps the longevity of the food byresisting the oxidation that spoils them. It is also the highest producing vegetable oil crop which makes it very efficient. It needs less land required by other oil crops to produce same quantity of oil. It makes this cheaper than the other oil in the market. Sustainable palm oil is also used in the cosmetic industry. Sustainable Palm oil ingredients are used in the skin care products, make up products. Due to have the rules and regulations of RSPO the producers are not able to destroy the environment and wild life. It keeps the social interest towards sustainable palm oil production and the conflict cannot be created between the communities and workers. Palm oil is available as an ingredients such as palm kernel oil, palm kernel stearin, palm kernel olein, partially hydrogenated palm oil, asorbyl palmitate, Palmate, Sodium Laureth Sulphate etc. Palm oil used as a frying fat for many food items, as a shortening in bakery products.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1374 Global Sustainable Palm oil Market Segmentation:Sustainable palm oil market can be segmented on the basis of application of the palm oil such as food, soap and detergents, pet food and cosmetics. Then food also can be sub segmented such as bakery, ice cream & other frozen desserts, confectionery products and margarine. Palm oil market also can be segmented on the basis of types of the palm oil availability in the market such as palm kernel oil, red palm oil, fractional palm oil, white palm oil.Global Sustainable palm oil Market: Regional Outlook:Geographically, the global palm oil industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Indonesia and Malaysia captured the highest market share in terms of the production of palm oil. Other production countries are Thailand, Columbia, Nigeria and Ecuador. China got the first position in terms of consumption of palm oil followed by EU, India, Indonesia and United States. Malaysia was the highest exporter of palm oil.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1374 Global sustainable palm oil Market Players:The major players identified across the value chain of global sustainable palm oil market include New Britain palm oil limited, Golden agri resources limited, IOI corporation Berhad, Wilmer international limited, Cargill, SIPEF group Belgium, Kulim berhad, Sime Darby plantation sendirian Berhad, Hap seng Plantation Holdings Berhad, Kuala lampur kepong Berhad.and United Plantation Berhad PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 14:03:01 New crowdfunding project brings magic of books to life using technology and design The Cauldron Wizarding Pub & Inn to Launch on Kickstarter The Cauldron Matthew Cortland, +353 831804157 Founder press@thecauldron.io A wizarding pub and tech lab will launch on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter with the promise of bringing the magic of the wizarding universe to life with technology, design, and the Internet of Things. The Cauldron Wizarding Pub & Inn is looking to raise $500,000 and involve a generation of fans in the ideation, design, and construction of the pub, which will be located in London. Its Kickstarter project will launch on June 26th at 8am EDT and will conclude on July 31st at 8am EDT. The Cauldron is the brainchild of Matthew Cortland, a former reading teacher turned designer and technology entrepreneur. Cortland remarked that, The Cauldron is our chance to grant the wish of every wizarding fan: magic is real and you can be part of it. Please support this project. Backers will have a range of incentives, which are detailed on the Cauldrons website. Popular rewards include a moving photo hanging in the pub, the inscription of a name within the pub, access to the pubs secret bar, a limited-edition pint glass, laptop sticker, and bookmark. Premium incentives include inventing a magical cocktail, naming a snug, and renting the pub for an evening. A limited number of tickets are available for the pubs grand opening and feasts. All rewards include free shipping and gift-wrapping materials, and will ship for the 2017 Holiday Season. The Cauldron will include the fandom through an editable wiki for submitting ideas about how magical elements may be possible. The company will also host Wizarding Hackathons in cities around the world so that fans can have a hand at inventing the magical elements used in the pub. Business sponsorships available. Visitors will be encouraged to bring a copy of their favorite book, which will be donated to a reading classroom in need through a partnership with the Harry Potters Alliances Accio Books Campaign. The Cauldrons podcast, The Magic of Things, documents the experience of building a wizarding pub and tech company, and spotlights IoT innovations. Fans can be notified of the Cauldrons launch and early bird rewards by subscribing to the projects mailing list. You can follow the Cauldron on social media @thecauldronpub. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705310053 The #startup that will crowdfund the magical world- The Cauldron Wizarding Pub & Inn @thecauldronpub #kickstarter PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 16:36:12 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 Vangold Mining Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Colimbia (FSCWire) - Vangold Mining Corp. (TSX Venture:VAN). has issued a press release with the following headline:Vangold Mining Acquires Seven Mining Claims in MexicoTo 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 Vangold Mining 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/Vangold Mining Corp.Source: Vangold Mining Corp. (TSX Venture: VAN, OTC Bulletin Board: VGLDF)Date: May 31, 2017Time: 10:35 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Vangold Mining 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.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-31 16:46:12 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 376 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for SmallCapPower--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - SmallCapPower (TSX Venture:VML). has issued a press release with the following headline:Viscount Minings Recent Drill Results Validate Historic Intersects: Ubika ResearchTo 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 SmallCapPower, 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:Source: SmallCapPower (TSX Venture: VML)Date: May 31, 2017Time: 10:46 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of SmallCapPower 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.) Clean feed unlikely to be implemented as planned The budget statement for fiscal 2017-18 has said that a clean feed system will be implemented which will require foreign pay TV channels to remove commercials from their programmes, but stakeholders including the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) doubt it will happen as planned due to lack of preparations. 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. Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth Tweet this a Prison Policy Initiative Report by Joshua Aiken Press Release May 31, 2017 One out of every three people behind bars is being held in a local jail, yet jails get almost none of the attention that prisons do. Jails are ostensibly locally controlled, but the people held there are generally accused of violating state law, and all too often state policymakers (and state reform advocates) ignore jails. In terms of raw numbers state prison reform is the larger prize, but embracing the myth that jails are only a local matter undermines current and future state-level reforms. Jails may be locally controlled, but jail practices reflect state priorities and change state-wide outcomes. The 11 million1 people who go to jail each year are there generally for brief, but life-altering2, periods of time. Most are released in days or hours after their arrest, but others are held for months or more3, often because they are too poor to make bail. Only about a third of the 720,000 people in jails on a given day have been convicted4 and are serving short sentences, typically under a year and most often for misdemeanors. Jail policy is therefore in large part about how people who are legally innocent, until proven guilty are treated and about how policymakers think our criminal justice system should respond to low-level offenses. As this report will explain, jails impact our entire criminal justice system and millions of lives every year. Since the 1980s, the U.S. jail population has more than tripled.5 While tough on crime attitudes have resulted in increasing numbers of people convicted of minor crimes, this brief focuses on the two real drivers of jail growth: a massive increase in the number of people held before trial (the pre-trial population) an increasing number of jails that run a side-business of renting jail cells to other authorities Figure 1. Most state policymakers are not tracking jails in the first place, and the jails frequent practice of renting cells to other agencies makes it difficult to draw conclusions from the little data that is available. This report offers a new analysis of federal data to offer a state-by-state view of how jails are being used and we find that, even more than previous research has implied, pre-trial populations are driving traditional jail growth. The data behind this graph is in Table 1. If lawmakers want criminal justice reform, theyll have to pay attention to jails. To help state officials and state-level advocates craft reform strategies appropriate for their unique situations, this report uses obscure federal government data to offer state-specific graphs on conviction status, prison growth, and jail growth in each state. It is our hope that this report will prompt detailed examinations of policy and practice in each state: bail policies, citation and arrest practices, overzealous prosecutors, over-burdened courts, harsh criminalization laws, rare or underfunded pre-trial services and diversion programs, and a number of other factors that send jail incarceration rates off the charts. Lawmakers need to know that in most states, their jail incarceration rate is higher than the combined prison and jail incarceration rate in countries like Australia, France, Libya, and Uganda.6 Figure 2. To allow meaningful comparisons between states of how frequently local officials use jails to incarcerate people pre-trial or for minor (typically misdemeanor) offenses, this chart shows the jail population in each state per 100,000 people in that state. This chart does not include any people physically present in jails who are held for federal or state agencies. As described below, confining people for other agencies has serious policy implications, but is separate from the valuable discussion of how states differ in their approach to detention and incarceration of people either awaiting trial or convicted of minor offenses. The data behind this graph is in Table 2. Jail growth is not inevitable The growth of jails is, in the arc of history, a modern phenomenon that occurred with little state oversight.7 While jail policies directly influence the state prison population, most governors may be unaware of the pace of jail expansion in their state because jail construction was largely financed by local not state taxpayers. Figure 3. In most states over the last three decades, the number of people in jails has outpaced population growth by 2, 3 or even 4 times. In 32 states, the jail incarceration rate has doubled since 1983, and in 12 states, the jail population has grown more than 3 times faster than the general population. (This chart does not include any people physically present in jails who are held for federal or state agencies. In all but one state (Louisiana), even this adjusted jail population is growing faster than the general population.) The data behind this graph is in Table 2. The key driver of jail growth is not courtroom judges finding more people guilty and sentencing them to jail. The convicted population has actually decreased in the last 20 years. Jail growth has occurred predominately and in the last 15 years, almost entirely8 in the number of people being detained pre-trial. This is a population that is considered innocent under the law, for whom detention was historically restricted to those who posed a genuine risk of flight or whose freedom was an actual threat to public safety. Many things have changed over the last three decades. Changes to police strategy mean that interactions with the police are more likely to result in arrest9, and the increased reliance on money bail10 means that the courts have imposed a wealth-based test on freedom. Pre-trial policies have a warehouse effect Looking at jail policy at the state level is especially important because, while local officials are the primary decision-makers, state lawmakers set the rules by which those decisions are made. The charging practices of county prosecutors and the bail decisions of local judges can be impacted by whether or not a state collects data on prosecutorial discretion or regulates the bail industry. The inaction of state lawmakers has allowed certain local officials to churn millions of people through the entire criminal justice system. As a result, today, local jails are filled with people who are legally innocent, marginalized, and overwhelmingly poor. Figure 4. In the eight states where convicted people make up the majority of the jail population, that status is less likely to be the result of particularly enlightened bail policies, and more likely to be the result of the jails in that state renting large numbers of cells to the state prison system. As discussed below, the practice of renting large numbers of cells to other agencies distorts both the data and, more often than not, policy outcomes. The data behind this graph is in Table 2. The explosion of jail populations is the end result of a broader set of policies that have treated the criminal justice system as the default response to all kinds of social problems that the police and jails are ill-equipped to address. After decades of bad policy choices, it should be no surprise that jails are disproportionately filled with already-marginalized groups: 65% of the jail population meets medical standards for having a diagnosable substance abuse disorder. 11 15.3% of the jail population reports being recently homeless compared to just 2.0% of the general population. 12 52% of people in jail are people of color, compared to only 28% of the general population. Black people are jailed at 4x the rate of white people. 13 7.7% of the adult jail population identifies as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, compared to 3.5% of the general population.14 This confinement creates problems for individuals on a short-term basis and also has long-term effects. Research in different jurisdictions has found people detained prior to trial, compared to similarly situated peers who are not detained, are: More likely to plead guilty. 15 More likely to be convicted. 16 More likely to be sentenced to jail. 17 More likely to have longer sentences if incarcerated.18 And these harms accrue quickly: being detained pre-trial for just 3 days can impact employment19, finances20, housing21, and the well-being of dependent children.22 In fact, studies have found that just 3 days of detention can make the lowest-risk defendants less likely to appear in court23 and more likely to commit new crimes.24 There is no question that wholesale pre-trial detention does far more harm than good. Each of these individual harms can accumulate into community-wide harms when large numbers of individuals in the same community have the same experience. The hyper-incarceration of Black, Latino and other marginalized communities imposes subsequent challenges to success that other communities do not face.25 To be fair, these outcomes may not have been the intent of each states criminal laws, and these policies surely predate virtually every current elected official in the nation. But now that the pattern has been clearly identified, it is incumbent upon elected officials to change course. To do any less sends a clear signal that they approve of not only the current approach taken by jails in their state but the full course of negative outcomes that those policies create. Renting jail space: a perverse incentive that fuels jail overgrowth In more than half of U.S. states, there is another issue that makes talking about jails, and changing jail priorities, difficult. In those states, 10% or more of the people in jail are not traditional jail inmates26 at all, but people being held under contract for federal or state agencies. This both skews the data and gives local jail officials a powerful incentive to endorse policies that contribute to unnecessary jail expansion. Some sharing of jail capacity can be about efficiency. If one countys jail is occasionally full, borrowing space from a neighboring county is far superior to building a larger jail that will be empty almost all of the time. But the systematic renting of jail cells to other jurisdictions and building ever-larger facilities in order to cash in on that market27 changes the priorities and the policies of jail officials. Contracts with federal and state authorities allow local sheriffs to generate revenue from jails that are rarely filled with traditional jail inmates. Local officials can pad their law enforcement budgets by renting space to other authorities. This practice leaves sheriffs with little incentive to welcome or implement reforms. This phenomenon is most visible in Louisiana, where the state has largely outsourced the construction and operation of state prisons to individual parish sheriffs. Just over half (52%) of the states prison population is housed under contract with local jails; and as a result two-thirds (67%) of the people held in Louisiana jails are not traditional jail inmates. Unlike other states, Louisianas jail building boom appears to have been entirely fueled by the pursuit of contracts with the states prison system.28 Louisiana parishes have, as a group, managed to refrain from growing their jail population. Unfortunately, should the state stop renting large amounts of jail space, Louisiana sheriffs would have the infrastructure in place to incarcerate tens of thousands more people. By allowing local officials to construct bigger facilities it opens the door for further growth in the traditional jail population. Any regressive future arrest, bail, or jail sentencing policies in Louisiana could mean that these facilities stay full. Louisiana is extreme but not unique. Large portions of the jail population in Mississippi and Tennessee are people held for state authorities. Another major consumer of local jail cells is the federal government, starting with the U.S. Marshals Service that rents about 26,200 cells each year, mostly to hold federal pre-trial detainees in locations where there is no federal detention center. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also rents about 15,700 cells each year for people facing deportationa number that new immigration policies may soon increase. There is wide variation in the amount of space rented to federal agencies: states have different levels of excess jail capacity and federal officials have specific needs in different parts of the country. Federal & State State U.S. Marshals ICE The systematic use of jails to house people for other agencies frustrates reform in other, more subtle ways by obscuring some of the basic policy metrics about jails. For example, figure 4 shows states like Louisiana and Kentucky as having relatively small pre-trial populations, which implies that those states have particularly enlightened bail policies. The more likely scenario is that the entire picture of those states jail population is distorted by the jails side businesses with state or federal agencies. There is no question that bail reform should be a priority in Louisiana, but the extent of that need is obscured by how the existing data is collected. Reform-minded state officials must address the two drivers of jail growth: misguided pre-trial policies and the financial incentives of state and federal contracts. Recommendations Local and state policies send people to jail almost 11 million times every year, but jails are largely off the publics radar. If policymakers and state advocates want criminal justice reform they need to pay attention to jails, and we have ten recommendations for how they can break the cycle of using jails as catch-all responses to problems that disproportionately impact marginalized communities and people who are poor: Change offenses and how offenses are treated States should reclassify criminal offenses and turn misdemeanor charges that dont threaten public safety into non-jailable infractions.29 For other offenses, states should create a presumption of citation, in lieu of arrests, for certain low-level crimes.30 For low-level crimes where substance abuse and/or mental illnesses are involved, states should make treatment-based diversion programs the default instead of jail.31 States should also fully fund these diversion programs.32 Help people successfully navigate the criminal justice system to more positive outcomes States should immediately set up pilot projects to test promising programs that facilitate successful navigation of the criminal justice system. Community-based pretrial education programs, court notification systems, and other wrap-around pretrial services often increase court compliance while also reducing recidivism.33 Change policies that criminalize poverty or that create financial incentives for unnecessarily punitive policies States should encourage judges to use non-monetary sanctions, rather than fines and fees; and states should ensure that judges are holding indigency hearings before imposing and enforcing unaffordable fees.34 States should ban for-profit probation and publish court-level data on probation fees.35 States should eliminate the two-track system of justice by abolishing money bail. States unwilling to take that step should abolish the for-profit bail industry in their state, and provide technical resources to existing local-level bail alternative programs to help these programs self-evaluate and improve state-level knowledge.36 Monitor how local discretion has statewide effects States should actively monitor how local prosecutorial decisions impact state-level prison populations and also require prosecutors to collect and publish aggregate data on bail decisions, charging decisions, and other measures to allow analysis of whether prosecutorial discretion is magnifying racial disparities or increasing the states prison population.37 Explore ways to advance justice by clearing court backlogs States struggling with particularly backlogged courts should create a procedure to dismiss old, minor criminal cases.38 Address the troubling trend of renting jail space States particularly Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah should evaluate whether the renting of local jail space to state and federal authorities is steering local officials away from effectively addressing local needs.39 State graphs The graphs made for this briefing are included in our profiles for each state: and are available individually from this list: Methodology Jails are, by definition, a distributed mess of systems so getting the data is hard. Jails often hold people for other (state and federal) agencies, and at times the numbers can be large enough to obscure the results of state and local level policy changes, so this report takes the time to separate out people held in jails for state prison systems or federal agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Our national data comes from our own analysis of the Bureau of Justice Statistics datasets National Jail Census Series and the Annual Survey of Jails that, taken together, provide the most complete annual snapshot of jail populations. Our state-level data is from the National Jail Census for the years 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1999 and the Deaths in Custody Reporting Series for the years 2000-2013. (We considered using the Annual Survey of Jails for our state-level data, but the Bureau of Justice Statistics explains that this dataset was designed to produce only national estimates40 and after much testing we concluded that this dataset could not reliably be used for state-level summaries.) Jails or facilities that serve the functions of jails operate in all states, but in 6 states (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont) most or all of the jail system is integrated into the state prison system, so the jail populations in those states are not reflected in the federal data products on which this report relies.41 For that reason, we are unable to report state-specific data for those states, and except for a small number of people held in locally operated Alaska jails, those states are not included in the national totals reported in this report. Because these six states are relatively small states, we do not think their exclusion meaningfully impacts the national totals nor the much more important analysis of the trends within the national totals. Many of our data sources are labeled on the individual graphics, but in some cases we had to combine multiple datasets or perform complicated adjustments where additional detail would be helpful to other researchers and advocates: National data: National number of people held in local jails for state and federal agencies (aka boarding/renting): This is the sum of the number of people held for federal and state agencies: National number of people held in local jails for all of the various federal authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs: For 1983, 1988 and 1993, we used the National Jail Census Series and for 2002, 2008 and 2013 we used the Annual Survey of Jails Series . For 1998, the Annual Survey of Jails did not provide a separate count of people held for INS (now ICE), so for that year only we supplemented with INS counts of immigration detainees held in local jails in 1998 made available at: Questions and Answers Regarding INS Detention Facilities, October 2, 1998, Detention and Deportation Staff, U.S. Department of Justice. Unfortunately, this report was not able to use data from the 2015 version of the Annual Survey of Jails because, as of press time in May 2017, the necessary raw data has not yet been released. National number of people held in local jails for state authorities: The Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners Series (1983-2013) publishes the number of people held in local jails for state authorities. (This data point is also collected in the Census of Jails and the Annual Survey of Jails but we concluded, after much study, that the Prisoners Series , which collects the data directly from a state's Departments of Corrections, was more reliable.) This is the sum of the number of people held for federal and state agencies: National pre-trial and jail sentenced populations: Total numbers for each category are reported in the National Jail Census Series (1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2013) and the Annual Survey of Jails Series (for all other years, except 1994 for which conviction status data is unavailable but can be imputed as the average of the 1993 and 1995 values). We then adjusted the reported figures for the convicted and unconvicted populations to remove those held for other agencies from these jail totals. We removed 100% of people held for state prison systems from the jail convicted totals. We removed 34.1% of the people being held under the authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the jail convicted population and removed the balance from the jail unconvicted population. (We based these percentages of the population held for ICE on our analysis of the Profile of Jail Inmates, 2002. 42 We found 34.1% of ICE detainees were there to await sentencing for an offense, to await transfer to serve a sentence somewhere else, to serve a sentence in this jail or to await a hearing for revocation of probation/parole or community release.) This percentage calculation ignored any respondent who did not answer the question, and counted anyone who answered both a convicted and unconvicted status as convicted. We deliberately used this methodology which counts those awaiting revocation hearings as convicted because that matches the methodology used in our main datasets for this project: the Annual Survey of Jails and the National Jail Census . (Not surprisingly, since the ICE detainees are answering a survey intended for criminal justice populations, the leading response (41%) for ICE detainees about why they are being held in jail is, after being read a list of criminal justice statuses like to serve a sentence or to await arraignment is to answer for another reason.) We removed 75.9% of the people being held for either the Bureau of Prisons or the U.S. Marshals Service from the jail convicted population and we removed the balance from the jail unconvicted population. (We based these percentages on our analysis of the Profile of Jail Inmates, 2002 as described above for the ICE detainees). Total numbers for each category are reported in the (1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2013) and the (for all other years, except 1994 for which conviction status data is unavailable but can be imputed as the average of the 1993 and 1995 values). We then adjusted the reported figures for the convicted and unconvicted populations to remove those held for other agencies from these jail totals. State data: Our jail trends comparisons (figures 2-8) are based on the National Jail Census Series, and figures 5 and 6 in our slideshow also use data from the Prisoners Series. Our state-specific, over time, data on prisons, jails and the changes in jail composition pull from several different data sources: For the state-level graphs on the prison and jail population , the number of people in state prisons comes from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Statistical Analysis Tool and the jail populations are based on the National Jail Census Series for the years 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1999, and the Deaths in Custody Reporting Series for each year from 2000 through 2013. (Values for the years between periodic Census of Jails years were imputed.) As described above, our jail population totals were adjusted to remove people held for state or federal authorities in order to focus on those held by local authorities under local jurisdiction. , the number of people in state prisons comes from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Statistical Analysis Tool and the jail populations are based on the for the years 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1999, and the for each year from 2000 through 2013. (Values for the years between periodic Census of Jails years were imputed.) As described above, our jail population totals were adjusted to remove people held for state or federal authorities in order to focus on those held by local authorities under local jurisdiction. For the state-level graphs on prison and jail incarceration rates , for the jail populations in each state we divided the above (adjusted) numbers by the July 1st U.S. Census Bureaus Census Vintage Population Estimates, which we have published in Table 6, and multiplied the result by 100,000 to show an incarceration rate per 100,000 people in each state for each year on the graph. Our state prison incarceration rates come from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Statistical Analysis Tool. , for the jail populations in each state we divided the above (adjusted) numbers by the July 1st U.S. Census Bureaus Census Vintage Population Estimates, which we have published in Table 6, and multiplied the result by 100,000 to show an incarceration rate per 100,000 people in each state for each year on the graph. Our state prison incarceration rates come from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Statistical Analysis Tool. For the state graphs of the number of people incarcerated in local jails by conviction status, we devised estimates of the number of people held for local authorities by conviction status without including people held for other authorities. The National Jail Census does not report the conviction status of people held for other authorities separately from those held for local authorities, so we based our estimate on the only reported ratio of convicted/unconvicted which includes the entire custody population. (We concluded that our national estimates of the portion of people held for state prisons or various federal agencies that are convicted or unconvicted were not reliable at the state level, so we used a simpler methodology for our state graphs.) We used each year of the National Jail Census Series (1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2005 and 2013) to first determine the percentages of all people being held in each state who were convicted and unconvicted. We then subtracted the number of people held for state or federal authorities from the total, and applied our percentage convicted/unconvicted to the remainder. Because most people in jails being held for other authorities are convicted, we believe, our figures likely undercount the unconvicted/pre-trial populations and overcount the convicted populations. For the six states where the federal government can not provide jail counts or conviction status data, we updated only the state prison portions of the graphs. Appendices About the Prison Policy Initiative The non-profit non-partisan Prison Policy Initiative was founded in 2001 to expose the broader harm of mass criminalization and spark advocacy campaigns to create a more just society. The organization is most well-known for its big-picture publication Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie that helps the public more fully engage in criminal justice reform. This report builds upon the organizations 2016 analysis of the cycle of poverty and jail incarceration, Detaining the Poor. About the author Joshua Aiken is the Policy Fellow at the Prison Policy Initiative. Joshua produced the national report Reinstating Common Sense that documented nearly 200,000 drivers licenses suspended annually for non-driving drug offenses. Joshua also curates the Research Clearinghouse, a database of empirical research on criminal justice issues. Acknowledgements This report was made possible by the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundations Safety and Justice Challenge, the Public Welfare Foundation, and our individual donors. The MacArthur Foundations Safety and Justice Challenge is an initiative to reduce over-incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails. The initiativean initial five-year, $100 million investment by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundationfeatures a competition to help jurisdictions across the country create fairer, more effective local justice systems. The author wishes to thank his Prison Policy Initiative colleagues Peter Wagner, Aleks Kajstura, Bernadette Rabuy, Wendy Sawyer, and Lucius Couloute for their feedback and assistance in the drafting of this report and John Boston, Nora Demleitner, Alex Friedmann, Deborah Golden, Jacob Kang-Brown, Bruce Reilly, Sarah Schirmer, Margo Schlanger and Carl Takei for sharing their expertise with particular aspects of jail, sentencing and criminal justice data systems. Specially marked 12 packs of Fat Tire Belgian Style Ale will also offer the chance to win a trip to Patagonia Contact Brooke Slezak ***@brookeslezak.com Brooke Slezak End -- World Bicycle Relief, a global non-profit that mobilizes people through the power of bicycles, is thrilled to announce its partnership with New Belgium Brewing's Fat Tire Belgian Style Ale. This summer's proceeds from specially marked12 packs will go to World Bicycle Relief to help people in developing countries access education, healthcare, and economic opportunities."We are very excited to support World Bicycle Relief's mission," said Kyle Bradshaw, New Belgium Brand Manager. "The classic red cruiser bike behind Fat Tire has always embodied a nostalgic sense of freedom, imagination, and play that comes with riding a bicycle. But in some areas of the world, bicycles are much more than just an alternative means of transportation they are essential for gaining access to basic necessities."To celebrate the partnership,will give three lucky winners, plus one guest each, the opportunity to shape their own Patagonia adventure in early 2018. Breathtaking peaks, ancient glaciers, and old-growth forests make Patagonia a premier South American travel destination for any travel enthusiast. Thecontest and summer promotion runs now through August 31.To enter for your chance to win this trip of a lifetime and support World Bicycle Relief, check out your local retailer for specially marked Fat Tire 12 packs. You can also visit http://www.newbelgium.com/ biketheworld for more information."Fat Tire's contestis sure to inspire many cyclists to enter. We are thrilled to be the beneficiary of this exciting trip and are grateful to New Belgium for their support of our work," said Katie Bolling, Business Development Director of World Bicycle Relief. "Proceeds World Bicycle Relief receives from New Belgium will provide life-changing bicycles to empower people in rural developing countries."In the developing world, distance is a barrier that prevents children from attending school, the sick from receiving care, and entrepreneurs from earning enough to feed their families. A high quality, rugged bicycle can change all of that. The efficiency and productivity a bike provides allows individuals to accomplish much more in a single day and pedal into a new, bright future.Since 2005, World Bicycle Relief has delivered over 340,000 bicycles and trained over 1,600 bicycle mechanics in 19 countries. To learn more visit: https://worldbicyclerelief.org/ en/ . Check out World Bicycle Relief's A Way Forward (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlwlLy47pH8&t=77s) video to see its impact.New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Belgian Style Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine's Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal's Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, and one of World Blu's most democratic U.S. businesses, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire and the new Fat Tire Belgian White coming August 2017, New Belgium brews fourteen year-round beers; Citradelic Tangerine IPA, Citradelic Lime Ale, Voodoo Ranger IPA, Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA, Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale, Dayblazer Easygoing Ale, Tartastic Lemon Ginger Ale, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Bohemian Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Ale, Trippel and a gluten-reduced line, Glutiny Pale Ale and Glutiny Golden Ale. Learn more at www.newbelgium.com.Founded in 2005, World Bicycle Relief mobilizes people through The Power of Bicycles. World Bicycle Relief accomplishes its mission by distributing specially designed, high-quality bicycles through philanthropic and social enterprise programs. These purpose designed bicycles are built to withstand the challenging terrain and conditions in rural, developing areas. Entrepreneurs use the bicycles to increase productivity and profits. Students attend class more regularly and improve their academic performances. And, health care workers visit more patients in less time, providing better, more consistent care. World Bicycle Relief also promotes local economies and long-term sustainability by assembling bicycles locally and training field mechanics to service the bicycles. To date, World Bicycle Relief has delivered over 340,000 bicycles and trained over 1,600 field mechanics in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. World Bicycle Relief is a registered nonprofit in the USA, Canada, U.K., Germany and Australia, and has assembly facilities in Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Angola.For more information, please visit: http://worldbicyclerelief.orgFollow us @PowerOfBicycles and Like us at facebook.com/worldbicyclereliefBrooke Slezakbrooke@brookeslezak.compress@worldbicyclerelief.orgMobile: 917.689.6024Jenny Foustjfoust@wearecsg.comMobile: 970-244-4268Image: http://bit.ly/2qE0NrP End -- Applications for the Falling Walls Lab in New York are now being accepted. Outstanding researchers, entrepreneurs and professionals will have 3 minutes to present their cutting-edge ideas at the German Center for Research and Innovation in NYC on September 14, 2017. Applications are due byIn 2017, international Falling Walls Labs are taking place all over the world. Who is eligible? Bachelor and Master students, postdocs, young professionals, entrepreneurs and junior professors whose latest university degrees were completed less than 5 years ago. Groundbreaking research projects, initiatives, ideas and business models from all disciplines are welcome.The winner of every international Falling Walls Lab will be invited to the Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin on November 8, 2016 and he/she will receive an A.T. Kearney Scholarship for the Falling Walls Conference on November 9, 2016. In total, 100 applicants will qualify for the Finale in Berlin. Each finalist will receive the opportunity to present his/her research, idea, or business model within three minutes in front of a high-caliber jury from academia, research and business. The three winners will receive a cash prize and give their talks again on the grand stage of the Falling Walls Conference in front of 800 guests the following day.The aim of the Falling Walls Lab is to foster scientific and entrepreneurial innovations and to promote the exchange between outstanding scholars and professionals emerging from different fields of expertise.The Falling Walls Lab New York will take place on September 14, 2017, at 6pm. Applications can be submitted in two steps: 1) online via www.falling- walls.com/lab/ apply 2) Three minute video to events@germaninnovation.org by June 12. The Falling Walls Lab New York is hosted by the German Center for Research and Innovationand supported by the Falling Walls Foundation and A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm (Founding Partner) and Festo, worldwide supplier of pneumatic and electrical automation technology (Global Partner).Contact:871 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017www.GermanInnovation.orgevents@germaninnovation.org212-339-8680 EPG meet ends on positive note The fourth meeting of the Nepal-India Eminent Persons Group (EPG) concluded in Dehradun, India on a positive note on Tuesday with deliberations on a wide range of bilateral issues, according to participating members. End -- The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) will host 24 new U.S. citizens at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Naturalization Ceremony on Friday, June 2. The Oath of Allegiance will be administered at 10 a.m. at Leir Hall on the grounds of the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, N.J."We at USCIS are grateful to be able to honor our new citizens in a space as beautiful and welcoming at the Montclair Art Museum," said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Newark Field Office Director Randi Borgen. "Nothing speaks to the welcoming spirit of New Jersey like the wonderful venues that host naturalization ceremonies.""We are deeply honored that the Museum will serve as a venue for this ceremony," said Lora Urbanelli, Director of the Montclair Art Museum. "There is no better place to welcome new citizens than an institution that embodies and celebrates freedom of expression, one of our most fundamental American rights."Field Office Director Borgen will administer the Oath of Allegiance to 24 candidates from 19 countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, India, Iran, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Syria, and Uruguay.Mayor Robert Jackson of Montclair will deliver keynote remarks during the ceremony. MAM's Registrar Osanna Urbay, who immigrated to the United States from Cuba with her family in 1966 and became a U.S. Citizen in 1972, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The Montclair Police Department Honor Guard will present the colors.The USCIS invites new citizens and their families and friends to share their experiences from the ceremonies through Twitter, using the hashtag #newUSCitizen. MAM will also share the ceremony and the celebrations on its social media channels using the hashtag #MAMwelcomesyou.For more information about MAM and its programs, please visit montclairartmuseum.org or follow us on Facebook (/mammontclair), Twitter (@MAMmontclair), YouTube (/MontclairArtMuseum)and Instagram (@mammontclair) Business and community leaders bring immigration reform to the forefront of legislative priorties By: FWD.us FWD.us Arizona Coalition Launch Event End -- FWD.us, a national, bipartisan organization founded by Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders focused on promoting comprehensive immigration reform, recently announced the launch of a new statewide coalition in Arizona to highlight the value of immigrants and immigration to Arizona and to address the urgent need for immigration reform."Our technology community is built on the collective efforts of a melting pot of U.S. citizens and immigrants alike," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, which is a member of the new FWD.us Arizona Coalition. "The launch of the FWD.us Arizona Coalition contributes to our state's nationwide fight for immigration reform. We stand with technology leaders around the country urging our lawmakers to keep the U.S. competitive in a global economy."The Arizona Farm Bureau, another member of the FWD.us Arizona Coalition, also believes immigration reform is critical."We keep working at it, but there is a reality of Arizona agriculture that seems not to be generally accepted we rely on an immigrant-based labor force, and except for advances in technology, that is not going to change," said Joe Sigg, CEO of the Arizona Farm Bureau. "We require a legal and reliable supply of labor from somewhere else. We respect the reality of this public policy issue, but we cannot ignore that fact that labor is not simply a commodity, but our employees and their families. We should use our words to bring about reforms."The FWD.us Arizona Coalition, which is made up of local business and community leaders, will communicate the need for comprehensive immigration reform in order to keep the American Dream alive.Provide law enforcement the tools necessary to substantially stop future illegal immigration and allow law enforcement to focus on real security threats and priorities.Modernize our legal immigration system so that it works for today's economy, creating millions of jobs, reducing the deficit, and allowing the U.S. to remain globally competitive.Create a pathway to legalization for those currently living in the United States illegally with long-standing community ties, who pass a criminal background check, pay fines and go through a probationary period. After an extended period of time such as 10 years, those who meet specific requirements such as learning English and paying back taxes, will have the option to apply for citizenship.Implementing this plan will bring those living here illegally out of the shadows and allow law enforcement to better focus their resources on violent criminals.For more information, visit http://www.fwd.us California-based surety bond provider is now offering its surety bond services to the State of the Last Frontier. Contact Surety Bond Authority, Inc. Greg Rynerson ***@suretyauthority.com Surety Bond Authority, Inc.Greg Rynerson End -- Surety Bond Authority, Inc, a full-service California-based surety bond company, is now offering its surety bonds and surety bond consulting services for individuals and all types of businesses in the State of Alaska.The company is pleased to announce that they provide Alaska surety bonds of four separate types: Court Bonds, Construction Bonds, License and Permit Bonds, and Commercial Bonds each available for individuals, contractors, and business owners as required by Alaska state laws.According to Greg Rynerson, founder, and CEO of Surety Bond Authority, "In every business environment, surety bonds are required by state laws. People have to file their requirements to legally conduct business and perform their obligations. In surety bonds, each party involved in the process has a defined role and responsibility with one another. A surety bond is a guarantee one which can benefit individuals and businesses in many ways."In order to file a Surety Bond in Alaska, the individual or business must be in the State of Alaska. Multiple various companies that perform services are required to post a bond to receive work from another company or to protect a consumer if the business doing the work does not perform as agreed.Therefore, surety bonds classify the key aspects required for the business and offer better solutions to solve performance problems. It offers financial support and responsibility to the people engaged as per their functionality and requirements.With more than 20 years of executing bonds at state and federal levels, Surety Bond Authority will not only be able to assist clients to acquire the bonds they need but also help them in getting qualified through its consulting services.Surety bonds for general contractors, state and federal courts, government agencies, regulation departments, and businesses in Alaska can now be obtained with Surety Bond Authority.Surety Bond Authority, Inc. is your trusted partner in all your surety bond needs. The company offers clients surety bonds and surety bond consulting services in exchange for competitive rates. The company is now quickly gaining ground in expanding its service reach across the country. For more information about Surety Bond Authority, visit its official website at https://www.suretybondauthority.com Greg A. Rynerson, CEO5850 Canoga Ave. #400, Woodland Hills, CA800-333-7800greg@suretyauthority.com End --Manila, May 31, 2017: Pepper Virtual Assistants, a home-grown Filipino company, is expanding its services to cater to New Zealand business owners. Pepper New Zealand (http://newzealand.pepperva.com/)offers executive virtual assistance, marketing virtual assistance, and project management services.Pepper founder Miguel Ramos sees huge potential in the New Zealand market saying, "The business environment in New Zealand is undeniably robust. We believe that we can help small- to medium-sized businesses move forward with their vision by providing global talent and value for money."Pepper has two headquarters in the Philippinesone in Manila and another in Davao. Kiwi business owners are guaranteed that their virtual assistants are in a centralised office with high-speed internet and reliable IT infrastructure to ensure seamless, uninterrupted communication. The company also provides managed services, substitute VA arrangements, and quality assurance.Depending on your business needs, you can choose your VA from any of Pepper's three-pronged teams. Eva's Team, Pepper's pool of executive virtual assistants, is capable of handling all things administrative. Mark's Team, Pepper's marketing-savvy VAs, is adept in marketing and social media tasks. And if you are looking for the complete package, you can work with Pepper's Team, a project management group that can oversee and execute your project from conception to completion."Pepper has been in the virtual assistance (VA) business for eight years and our clientsmore so, our loyal and returning clientscan attest to the quality of work we provide. We are excited to bring our services to New Zealand businessmen because we have seen over the years how delegating has helped our clients grow their business and increase their overall productivity,"Ramos adds.Pepper New Zealand offers a 5-hour free trial ( http://newzealand.pepperva.com/ signup.php ) to business owners who want to try first if working with a virtual assistant is suitable for them. Stellar Blue has recently launched a custom website for Hand to Shoulder Center of Wisconsin Contact Stellar Blue Technologies ***@stellarbluetechnologies.com Stellar Blue Technologies End -- Stellar Blue Technologies, a Fox Valley, Wis. based digital marketing firm, launched a new custom website for Hand to Shoulder Center of Wisconsin. Based out of Appleton, Wis., Hand to Shoulder is a medical center with surgeons who specialize in surgeries and therapy services related to hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders. After an interview process of several website providers, Stellar Blue was selected to create Hand to Shoulder's new, interactive website. This is Stellar Blue's first project completed for the medical center.Upon entering the website, users are greeted with a highly-informative home page that highlights all Hand to Shoulder specialties. Users encounter a top-tier navigation bar that allows them to view registration forms, make appointments, and submit payments. The main navigation bar is fully equipped with drop-down menus that have details about the physicians, specialties, resources, therapy, and the surgical center. Also located within this main navigation bar is a FAQ section. As the user moves through the home page, they notice additional areas that touch on surgery and therapy, as well as a "Meet The Experts" section. Another section that is also easily accessible via the homepage is the Hand to Shoulder "In The News" blog. The end of the home page features patient testimonials, language assistance services, location information, and a Facebook social media icon."The staff from Hand to Shoulder truly was a great team to work with when it came to designing a new website," said Creative Director Greg Waters. "They needed an informative site that will instill trust in prospective patients and establishes credibility for years to come."The custom website is built with a responsive design, supporting functional use on a variety of devices. The interactive header image is meant to immediately inspire and create engagement from the user. WordPress and blog integration make the website simple for Hand to Shoulder staff to easily update and share relevant, up-to-date information. The site also features physician spotlight pages.Learn more at: https://www.handtoshoulderwisconsin.com/ Stellar Blue Technologies is a full-service agency for custom web design and internet marketing services. Our website development and design skills excel businesses who are in need of website redesign or those looking to begin their online presence. Go to http://www.stellarbluetechnologies.com/ for more information. By: USOH End -- Hindus have welcomed YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association)of Central Kentucky (YMCACK) for offering 13-week long free yoga classes in Triangle Park in downtown Lexington (Kentucky), starting June six.Welcoming YMCA for hosting free yoga classes for the public and terming it as "a step in the positive direction", Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, urged all the Kentucky public-private-charter-independent schools to introduce multi-beneficial yoga programs in their curriculums.Yoga, referred as "a living fossil", was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to "2016 Yoga in America Study", about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities)now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.YMCA, founded in 1844 and headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland), claims to reach 58 million people worldwide. Yoga is one of the programs which YMCACK (which has six locations) offers free to its members, which include Vinyasa and Hatha yoga. "Millions of people do yoga because they love what it does for the mind, body, and spirit", YMCACK website states and it describes yoga as "An exercise discipline that dates back to ancient India". David Martorano is President, while Thomas Rawlings is the Board Chair of YMCACK. New tenants are attracted to Wroclaw 101. New lease agreements were signed by the company TBSG and Etno Cafe. Both tenants leased over 1,000 sq m in total in the property. Knight Frank acted on behalf of the property owner, Crownway Investments, in the leasing process. TBSCG, founded in the UK, is... [] Farmers to get cold storage facility in Dang Farmers in Lamahi municipality of Dang district will soon be able to store their perishable agricultural produce once the cold storage facility is constructed. The government of India provided the financial support for the construction. If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. A bright spotlight shines on fiction for middle graders at BookExpo on Friday, June 2, when five editors share their enthusiasm for debut novels at the Middle Grade Editors Buzz Panel. Here, the editors provide advance word about the books theyve selected to showcase, and explain why theyre eager to introduce them to booksellers. Anne Holman, general manager of the Kings English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, will moderate. Amy Fitzgerald, editor, Carolrhoda Books, on Aumas Long Run by Eucabeth Odhiambo Auma is a 13-year-old girl who loves school and runninga combination that could be her ticket out of her small Kenyan village. But when AIDS begins to ravage her community, she has to figure out how to help her family while still fighting for her own future. Aumas struggle resonated with me. While her struggle is singular, much of her experience in Kenya echoes the experiences of kids in the United States. Society as a whole doesnt encourage kidsespecially girlsto think critically, question authority, or forge unexpected paths for themselves in the face of hardship. I love any chance to talk about this book! It has so many nuances that cant be conveyed by a few words on a book jacket or in a catalogue. Getting to discuss it in more detail and place it in the larger context of the current childrens book market is really helpful. Amanda Maciel, executive editor, Scholastic Press and Paperbacks, on Molly Ostertags The Witch Boy (Graphix) In 13-year-old Asters family, girls are witches and boys are shape-shifters. But Aster cant seem to shiftand he cant stop spying on the witchery lessons his sisters and female cousins are learning. When one of the other boys shifts into something monstrous, Aster wants to use his skills as a witch to help, even if that means defying everything his family believes. The Witch Boy is a beautifully rendered story about identity and belonging, both perfectly modern and as timeless as magic itself. This is the first graphic novel Ive edited, and I couldnt have asked for a better author-illustrator to venture into this world with. Molly just graduated from art school in 2014, but she has a voice and a vision thats incredibly confident and captivating. Asters world pulled me in immediatelyhis story is a classic coming-of-age tale that is utterly heartfelt and genuine. And I could stare at Mollys art for hoursand I haveand the more hours I stare, the more I love it! She has a gorgeous sense of color and composition. Ive worked in childrens book publishing for 16 years, but Im new to graphic novels. Molly is deeply connected to the graphic/comic world, but new to childrens books. I really feel like were a perfect team to bring The Witch Boy to young readers. Getting to kick off her pub year at BookExpo is a huge honor. This show is an opportunity to connect with the entire publishing community, and I cant imagine a better place to fully convey my excitement about this book. Liz Szabla, associate publisher, Feiwel and Friends, on Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt This is a funny and heartfelt debut novel about a foster-care girl who is placed with a family in the witness protection program. What she finds, besides the kind of family shes never had, is that hiding in plain sight is complicatedand dangerous. Greetings from Witness Protection! has a Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life meets Hoot vibe in its humor and pacing. But Jake Burts talent is all his own. He knows his audience wellhe teaches fifth gradeand his protagonist, Nicki, is one of the most satisfying and fully imagined characters Ive ever read. I see great things ahead for this book and author, and it is invaluable to have the opportunity at BookExpo to build buzz by, in effect, hand-selling Jakes debut novel to the ultimate hand-sellers, independent bookstores. Nancy Siscoe, senior executive editor, Knopf Books for Young Readers, on The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore: Its Christmas Eve in Harlem, and 12-year-old Lolly and his mom are still reeling from his older brothers death in a gang-related shooting a few months earlier. Then Lollys mothers girlfriend brings him a challenging gift: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly loves Legos, and prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Faced with a pile of blocks and no instructions, he must find his own way forward. His path isnt clearand the pressure to join a crew, as his brother did, is always there. But building a fantastical Lego city provides Lolly with an escapeand an unexpected bridge back to the world. David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edgeof adolescence, of grief, of violenceand I was immediately drawn in by his powerful writing. Lollys voice is so distinctits a remarkable blend of innocence, bravado, grief, and anger. Moore also paints a picture of present-day Harlem that is nuanced and lived-in. I love that the story is specific in its details, but universal in the emotions it explores. To me, The Stars Beneath Our Feet is impressive in every way, and when you find a truly outstanding new writer, you want to tell everyone you know. A forum like this at BookExpo allows me to tell not just everyone I know but the entire publishing world. Its a thrill and an honor to have the ear of so many committed book lovers at once. Sarah Shumway, senior editor, Bloomsbury Childrens Books, on Kamilla Benkos The Unicorn Quest: The Whisper in the Stone This is the first story in the Unicorn Hunt, a middle grade fantasy series featuring two sisters who find their way into a richly magical but troubled world. Separated, they each undertake a quest, and discover magic, long-buried secrets, friendships, and their own courage. The allure of unicorns is pretty universal, so this novel has that appeal, but I especially love that Kamilla is telling such a touching and thoughtful story of sisterhood and its complicated bonds. Also, this is wonderful fantasy in the vein of so many of my ownand many readersfavorites from childhood. Kamilla has a wonderful reverence for the fantasy she loved as a child, and still loves, and brings that rich appreciation as well as fresh imagination and emotion to her story, world, and characters. Editors, like booksellers, read and sing the praises of a lot of books, but the books we love dont all get the opportunity to shine as brightly as we might hope among the crowded shelves. I love that the Buzz Panel is a forum to share the books that we hope will shine brightest, and is an opportunity to speak directly to a crowd that can help to amplify the books light so that it might reach more readers. Friday, June 2, 1111:50 a.m. The Middle Grade Buzz Panel takes place in Room 1E12/1E13/1E14. PubMatch, the global rights trading platform owned by Combined Book Exhibit Publishers Weekly parent company PWxyz, has reached an agreement with the Beijing International Book Fair to promote Chinese content worldwide. PubMatch will make Chinese content more accessible to the world for rights purposes, said Jon Malinowski, president of CBE. He also noted that the Chinese books featured in PubMatch have not yet been seen outside of China. "We are very excited to be working with PubMatch and provide our exhibitors with access to the online rights platform, said Ms. Lin Liying, v-p of China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation (CNPIEC), which launched BIBF in 1986. As a trade book fair, our goal is to service the publishing industry. By partnering with PubMatch, Liying said the show's attendees can be "exhibiting with more efficiency and getting better results." She then added: "Through the PubMatch platform, we can also introduce more high-quality Chinese content to the international market. Working with BIBF, PubMatch will create an online rights platform to be used at BIBF. The platform will also be available to all Chinese publishers and fair attendees. The PubMatch platform in China is to be modeled on PubMatchs current platform, which features a rights database with various tools and search capabilities. Catalonias public broadcaster CCMA has proposed the creation of a public, over-the-top (OTT) channel fed with content from the three main Catalan-speaking territories. In a move to strengthen the CCMAs role as facilitator of the Catalan culture, Brauli Duart, president of the corporation, aims to create a consortium with the CVMC, the public broadcaster of Valencia region , and IB3, the corporation of the Balearic Islands.The main goal would be to launch an OTT network with content produced and distributed by the three broadcasters. Its about collaborating across all possible fields, from content production to building a network of shared correspondents, as well as technical collaboration and sharing services, said Brauli Duart The collaboration has to be mutual and agreed among the three corporations, so it consolidates in the future. Then, whatever political changes may take place in the future, it will be difficult to take back, added the executive, relating the creation of the consortium and the OTT channel to the political scene in Catalonia and Spain.The project has been made public at a round table organised by Barcelonas professional association of journalists and the Federacio d'Organizacions per la Llengua Catalana (FOLC). Aiming to further strengthen its offer in Malaysia, ITV Choice is to launch its best of British programmes on-demand and with Astro Go. From 1 June, Astro customers will be able to watch curated picks from ITV Choice including Poldark and Victoria, the top-rated ITV drama in 2016, starring Jenna Coleman as the eponymous British queen. All episodes of these shows will be available on-demand, and Astro customers will get to see the latest episodes first on Astro when they premiere in the UK later this year. The deal will also see the availability of other box sets such as crime drama series Vera and Endeavour as well as comedy drama Brief Encounters, Tutankhamun and Tina & Bobby.Commenting on the deal, Agnes Rozario, VP of content, Astro, said: Accelerating on our ambition to serve the increasingly digital lifestyle of todays consumers is a key pillar for Astro. To this end we are driving connected boxes, on demand services and Astro GO so customers can experience the joys of binge watching box sets via our on-demand services from kids to Korean, movies to series including same day releases. And to drive personalised individual and mobile viewing, we are amplifying our GO proposition by making Astro GO available to all customers as an extension of their subscriptions, providing an interactive multiscreen experience over their mobile devices. This is just the start of our British series line-up and we are delighted to be working with ITV Choice on this initial selection.We are very pleased to work with Astro to provide a new way for their customers to enjoy the best from ITV Choice, added channel director Katherine Wen. With full box sets of all previous series, viewers can catch-up from the very beginning whenever they want. How did a sewage tank truck packed with explosives penetrate a heavily fortified area of the Afghan capital and carry out the deadliest attack in Kabul since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001? That is the question angry Afghans want the government to answer, and provide some explanation for the security lapse that resulted in the deaths of at least 90 people and more than 400 wounded. The May 31 explosion, whose casualties were mainly civilians, including women and children, occurred during the morning rush hour in the district known unofficially as the Green Zone, home to foreign embassies, NATO's headquarters, and the presidential palace A number of Kabul residents have accused the national-unity government of a major security and intelligence blunder. That has added to mounting pressure on the deeply divided and unpopular government of President Ashraf Ghani, which has faced criticism for its handling of the growing Taliban insurgency. "For God's sake, what kind of an interior minister and security chiefs do we have?" one Kabul resident who witnessed the attack said. "[Militants] come to the heart of Kabul and are able to carry out suicide bombings." WATCH: Dozens Killed In Huge Kabul Blast The bombing followed a recent shakeup of security agencies, prompted by a wave of violence including the April 21 Taliban attack on a military compound in Balkh Province that killed over 140 army personnel. The Kabul explosion occurred in Wazir Akbar Khan, considered one of the capital's safest districts. Foreign embassies are protected by dozens of 3-meter-high blast walls and government offices are guarded by police and security forces. The blast was so powerful it left a 4-meter crater in front of the German Embassy. Windows in buildings as far as 2 kilometers away were broken. Another man, who said the explosion felt like an earthquake, told RFE/RL it was a clear failure by government officials. "Officials sit safely in their offices and don't ask what is going on here," the man said, not wanting to give his name for security reasons. "What should we do in this situation? Should we run away from this country, or strap bombs to our bodies and blow ourselves up?" There has been no claim of responsibility, though a series of attacks in the Afghan capital over the past year have been claimed by either the Taliban or Islamic State (IS) militants. Kabul Province had the highest number of casualties in the country in the first three months of 2017. The blast comes amid the ongoing spring offensive by the Taliban, and its fighters have been stepping up their push to defeat the U.S.-backed government. Taliban fighters now control or contest about 40 percent of the country, according to U.S. estimates, though Ghani's government holds all provincial centers. PHOTO GALLERY: Massive Blast Hits Kabul's Embassy District The bombing was a "horrific act of violence and a heartbreaking reminder of the toll that Afghan civilians continue to pay in a conflict where armed groups deliberately target them and the government fails to protect them," Amnesty International said in a statement. In March, gunmen dressed as medical staff attacked the 400-bed Sardar Daud Khan hospital and battled security forces for hours, killing more than 50 people and wounding dozens in an assault claimed by IS militants. The government was loudly criticized for what many Afghans saw as a serious security failure. In July 2016, suicide bombers attacked a demonstration by members of the mainly Shi'ite Hazara minority in Kabul, killing 84 people and wounding more than 230. IS fighters claimed responsibility. Those events led to an extensive overhaul of the security agencies. Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim resigned under pressure from the government after the Balkh attack. And after the IS attack on the Kabul military hospital in March, nine military officers, including a general and colonel, were dismissed. Several of the officers dismissed over the Balkh attack also face prosecution for negligence. Ghani has also fired dozens of officials from the Interior and Defense ministries and replaced army corps commanders across the country. "The government changes some ministers or sacks some commanders," another Kabul man told RFE/RL. "But nothing changes and the civilians are the ones paying the price." At least 80 people were killed and more than 350 were wounded in a powerful explosion in the center of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on May 31, Afghanistan's Health Ministry says. The Interior Ministry urged Kabul residents to donate blood. The explosion, which police said was caused by a car bomb, struck near the German Embassy in an area close to other embassies and the presidential palace. Many of the dead and wounded were civilians. Macedonia's incoming prime minister, Zoran Zaev, pledged to uphold the rule of law, fight corruption, and serve the people. In many countries, that would amount to simply stating the obvious: Surely any prime minister's basic obligation should be to support the institutions of government and the rule of law. But, in today's Balkans, the Social Democrat Zaev's vow to break with the authoritarian style of government borders on revolutionary. Zaev faces a potentially monumental task -- restoring confidence in a state that at times over the past three years has appeared threatened with paralysis or, worse, authoritarianism. The new government that appeared headed for confirmation in the Sobranie, Macedonia's unicameral parliament, on May 31 could encounter strong opposition from legislative allies of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and a nationalist agenda. They are expected to demand new elections before any of the ongoing investigations into possible corruption during Gruevski's decade-long administration reaches the courts. There is hope, however, that Zaev's new government will bring to a close the political turmoil that has engulfed the country. Following the April 2014 general elections, the opposition left the Macedonian parliament in protest, claiming that the vote was neither fair nor democratic. This was followed by a wiretapping scandal, broken by Zaev's then-opposition Social Democrats (SDSM). It emerged that around 20,000 Macedonian citizens had been wiretapped. A number of cases of corruption and obstruction of justice by government officials were subsequently uncovered, as well as attempts to control the media. Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index this year ranked Macedonia 111th; in 2005, when the European Commission granted it candidate status, it was 43rd. Oligarchs Play Ethnic Card Macedonian oligarchs and others who enriched themselves during Gruevski's rule seemingly responded after December's elections by attempting to turn a confrontation between competing ideas of government -- authoritarian or democratic -- into an ethnic conflict. Possibly as a result, Zaev's mandate to form a government was presented by some media outlets as a victory for "federalization" and a threat to Macedonia's integrity. Russia's state-funded Sputnik news network has been running stories in Serbian about an alleged "Macedonian scenario" under which Macedonia's territorial unity and sovereignty are endangered by concessions that Zaev will make to ethnic Albanians, his coalition partners. (Ethnic Albanians make up around one-quarter of Macedonia's population and some of them previously partnered with Gruevski in government.) Sputnik headlines have warned against Macedonians going in the direction of "color revolutions" and sought to remind them whom they should trust (Sputnik's answer: It's Time To Trust Russia, Not Trump, on Macedonia). Yet Zaev does not seem to be looking for sponsors in Moscow or Washington, and appears above all to want good relations with his Balkan neighbors. Macedonia's closest neighbors -- Greece and Bulgaria -- stood neutral during this long cycle of political crises. Even starting with a clean slate will prove to be a challenge. There is already a "spying affair" involving Macedonia's northern neighbor, Serbia. During a fracas when nationalists reportedly stormed the Macedonian parliament in April -- in which Zaev himself was bloodied by a blow to the head -- one of those present was an officer in the Serbian Security Intelligence Agency (BIA). WATCH: Macedonian Protesters Storm Parliament He turned out to be Goran Zivaljevic, an employee of the Serbian Embassy in Skopje. The Serbian ambassador was subsequently interviewed by Macedonian authorities, and an angry statement was issued by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic asking why they had not questioned other diplomats and members of other secret services who also happened to be in the Macedonian parliament during the session interrupted by the violence. Meanwhile, Zivaljevic's name has arisen in connection with another scandal. Belgrade-based investigative-reporting unit Krik is said to have obtained recordings of a conversation between Zivaljevic and a prominent Serbian journalist who is also a member of the Serbian parliament. The purported transcript of their telephone conversation hints at a conspiracy to manipulate media coverage in ways that suited ex-Prime Minister Gruevski. Strained Ties With Belgrade Unlike with Macedonia's other neighbors, relations with Serbia have been strained since the transition of power in Skopje. Incoming Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has pointed to the political unrest in Macedonia as a disaster that Serbia would be spared thanks to him. Zaev responded simply that the comments were "inconvenient" and unhelpful. In an interview with N1 regional television, Zaev insisted that the primary dispute in Macedonia is not ethnic but political, and that the country's future lies in multiculturalism. When it was put to him that he might be unwittingly aiding the cause of a "Greater Albania," Zaev said that few people were interested in such a cause and that, in any case, the future of the Western Balkans should be "open borders and the mobility of citizens." Within his government, Zaev said that he would strive for Macedonian unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty, and his government would work for the benefit of all its citizens. Zaev's approach might be welcomed by many, and Macedonia could serve as a positive example for other states in the region that democratic change is possible despite the obstacles. But it is important to remember that those who base their power on identity politics and populism remain strong in the Balkans. Zaev has a tough row to hoe. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL. Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years. Gunmen in northwestern Pakistan on May 30 gunned down a close aide and relative of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan militant leader who signed a peace deal with the government last year, officials said. Hekmatyar's Hezb-i Islami party identified the slain man as Mohammad Fareed and blamed "elements against peace" for the killing. Fareed was returning home from a mosque in the Taj Abad area of Peshawar when the gunmen opened fire, Peshawar police said. "He died on the spot and the assailants made their good escape on motorcycles," officer Shaid Ahmad told Reuters. Fareed was a relative by marriage to Hekmatyar and also was Hekmatyar's personal secretary. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Hekmatyar has rivalries with multiple Afghan militant factions. Hekmatyar battled U.S. and Afghan forces after the U.S. invasion in 2001, but signed a peace deal with the Afghan government that enabled him to return to Kabul last month. Upon his return, he urged Taliban insurgents to follow his example. Based on reporting by AP and Reuters The leader of Russia's Chechen Republic on May 30 invited the leaders of France and Germany to visit his region to determine whether reports about gay people being killed and tortured there are true. Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov on social media accused the European leaders of relying on "false information" from news reports and said French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were welcome to visit "in a search for the truth." Numerous media outlets since April have reported that gay men in Chechnya were being rounded up, tortured, and killed by police. Human Rights Watch confirmed many of the news accounts in a report on May 26. On May 29, after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had raised these reports with Putin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on May 30 that such concerns about the abuse of gays in Chechnya are not based on fact. "We don't see one concrete fact," he told reporters in Moscow. "If there are facts, if there are surnames, then our answers will be concrete." Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Interfax TBILISI -- Dozens of people have demonstrated in the Georgian capital to protest the alleged abduction and forcible return of Azerbaijani investigative journalist Afqan Muxtarli to Baku. Protesters held posters on May 31 saying "Freedom for Afqan Muxtarli!" in Georgian and English. Meanwhile, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said in a statement that Muxtarli's "disappearance from the Georgian territory" was a "serious challenge to the Georgian state and its sovereignty." "Georgia is a regional leader in terms of protection of human rights and journalists in particular," he said. "Upholding this standard is a matter of our state sovereignty." Georgia's Interior Ministry said it had launched an investigation into the alleged "unlawful imprisonment" of Muxtarli. Rights groups decried Muxtarli's alleged abduction and detention, saying it was another step in the Azerbaijani government's crackdown on critics. Muxtarli and his wife fled to Georgia in 2015, fearing for their safety over his investigations into Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's alleged links to corruption. Muxtarli disappeared on May 29. His lawyer, Elcin Sadyqov, told RFE/RL on May 30 that his client was abducted in Tbilisi, tied up in a car, and beaten by men in civilian clothing who spoke Georgian. They then changed cars twice before taking Muxtarli across the border to Azerbaijan, Sadyqov said. He said that Muxtarli told him that as they crossed the border, 10,000 euros were planted in his pockets -- stating that this was done so that Azerbaijani police could subsequently charge him with crimes. A spokesman for the Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General's Office, Eldar Sultanov, said on May 31 that Muxtarli was detained on suspicion of illegally crossing the border and that a large amount of cash was found in his possession. He said that Muxtarli resisted police. Sadiqov said he saw bruises on Muxtarlis face and forehead. His said his client complained of "severe pain" and said he thinks that his ribs are broken, the lawyer added. Amnesty International expressed concern over the situation. Amnesty's campaigner on the South Caucasus, Levan Asatiani, called Muxtarli's reported abduction "a deeply sinister development in a country known for its long crackdown on journalists and human rights defenders." He demanded Muxtarli's immediate release and called on Georgian authorities to investigate the situation and "hold accountable all those involved in this gruesome operation. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued similar calls. "Azerbaijan's crackdown on independent reporting has forced many journalists into exile," CPJ Europe and Central Asia program coordinator Nina Ognianova said in a statement. "Forcefully returning them to Azerbaijan is a further sign of the country's hostile behavior to the press." "Azerbaijan has an appalling record of harassing and prosecuting government critics, and we are seriously concerned" for Muxtarli's safety, according to Giorgi Gogia, South Caucasus director at HRW. Georgias Interior Ministry said on May 30 that it had launched an investigation into the alleged "unlawful imprisonment" of Muxtarli. International rights defenders and Western governments have criticized Azerbaijan's government for what they say have been persistent clampdowns targeting independent journalists and rights defenders. Aliyev, who has been president of the oil-rich South Caucasus country of almost 10 million people since shortly before his long-ruling father's death in 2003, has shrugged off the criticism. BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz lawmakers are considering a bill that nongovernmental organizations say restricts the rights of independent observers in elections in the Central Asian country. The bill, which lawmakers debated on May 31 ahead of a third and final vote, would bar independent observers from taking part in sessions of election commissions and prohibit them from challenging the commissions' decisions in court. Only observers representing political parties or candidates would be able to do so. About a dozen activists representing nongovernmental organizations rallied in front of the parliament building on May 30, demanding that lawmakers abandon the bill. Opponents of the legislation say independent observers must have a full-fledged right to take part in the election process and challenge decisions by election commissions. Lawmakers are expected to approve the bill, and President Almazbek Atambaev is expected to sign it into law. Kyrgyzstan is scheduled to hold a presidential election on October 15. KABUL -- The Afghan government has raised the death toll from a huge truck-bomb blast in the center of Kabul to 90. The Afghan government's media center said 400 people were also wounded in the May 31 explosion, which ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter at the peak of the morning rush hour during the holy month of Ramadan, shattering windows far from the site and sending black smoke into the sky. The Health Ministry warned that the toll would continue to rise as more bodies were pulled from the debris. Jawid, a Kabul resident, said the explosion broke his office windows. We are very sad for the killed and wounded people. It is inhumane to commit such acts of terror even in Ramadan and cause such distress and grief." No group has so far claimed responsibility for the powerful blast. Similar attacks in the past have been carried out by the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) group. Kabul police said the explosives were hidden in a tanker truck that exploded near the German Embassy in an area close to other embassies and the presidential palace. Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for city police, said it was not clear that the German Embassy had been the target. "There are several other important compounds and offices near there, too," he said. Many of the dead and wounded were Afghan civilians but foreign nationals were also injured, and the blast prompted widespread condemnation of what world leaders and rights groups called a "despicable" and "barbaric" attack. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani slammed the attack as a "war crime. U.S. President Donald Trump called Ghani to offer his condolences and support, the Afghan president's spokesman said. America's top diplomat to Kabul, Special Charge d'Affaires Hugo Llorens, said the "horrific and shameful attack demonstrates these terrorists' complete disregard for human life and their nihilistic opposition to the dream of a peaceful future for Afghanistan."' Nine Afghan guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul were killed and 11 American contractors wounded in the attack, the State Department said. One other Afghan guard was reported missing. PHOTO GALLERY: Massive Blast Hits Kabul's Embassy District (CLICK TO ENLARGE) The NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission said Afghan security forces had blocked the truck before entering the heavily protected Green Zone where many foreign embassies, as well as its headquarters, are located, suggesting the explosion may not have reached its intended target. The NATO statement praised "the courage of Afghan Security Forces, especially the police and first responders." "The attack demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people," the NATO statement said. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the "horrific attack in Kabul" and offered his condolences in a post on Twitter. Amnesty International called the attack "a horrific act of violence and a heartbreaking reminder of the toll that Afghan civilians continue to pay in a conflict where armed groups deliberately target them and the government fails to protect them." News reports quoting unnamed German government sources said that Berlin authorities had canceled the planned deportation on May 31 of a group of Afghans who had unsuccessfully sought asylum. "Germany will not carry out flights deporting rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan in the next few days," a German official said, but stressed the underlying policy remained. "The employees [at the embassy in Kabul] have more important things to do than to prepare the organizational measures needed. Therefore, there will be no collective deportations to Afghanistan in the next few days," said the official. The BBC said an Afghan driver was killed and four of its journalists were injured in the blast. Iran's official news agency IRNA said the Iranian Embassy sustained severe damage. The residence of the Iranian ambassador was heavily damaged and part of the diplomatic compound was destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties among Iranian Embassy personnel. French government minister Marielle de Sarnez told Europe 1 radio that the French Embassy was damaged but that there were no signs "at this stage" of any French victims. The Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Kazakh embassies reportedly sustained some damage, too, but no staff injuries were reported. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that his country strongly condemns the "terrorist blast" and conveyed condolences. "India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated," Modi said. Neighboring Pakistan has condemned the "terrorist attack" in a statement from the Foreign Ministry voicing solidarity with Afghanistan. "Pakistan strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused the loss of precious human lives and injuries to many," the statement said. "We firmly stand with our Afghan brothers in this hour of grief and anguish," it added. The Wazir Akbar Khan district, where the attack occurred, is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 3-meter-high blast walls and government offices guarded by police and national security forces. Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told RFE/RL the blast was so large more than 50 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged. Several houses were also damaged, Danish said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which came amid the Taliban's annual spring offensive. However, a Taliban spokesman denied responsibility for the attack. Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that Taliban fighters were not involved and that the group condemned any attacks that caused civilian casualties. The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armored NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. The blast was the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital. Kabul Province had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 as a result of multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Afghan security forces are battling a 16-year-long insurgency led by the Taliban, an extremist group that was driven from power after a U.S.-led invasion following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States. The United States is considering whether to send 3,000 to 5,000 more military advisers to help train and assist Afghan security forces. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa Moldovan President Igor Dodon said he hopes to discuss the expulsion of Russian diplomats from his country with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg this week, Russian news agencies reported on May 30. Moldova declared five Russian diplomats persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country within 72 hours on May 29, prompting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin to promise a "tough" response. Dodon is scheduled to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 1-2. He said at a news conference that he will urge the Kremlin not to react hastily or emotionally to the expulsions, which he views as an attempt by pro-Western officials in Moldova to undermine ties with Moscow. Dodon won election in late 2016 on promises of restoring closer relations with Moscow. The government of Prime Minister Pavel Filip is dominated by Dodon's opponents and favors closer ties with Europe. Filip said on May 30 that the unidentified diplomats were expelled for security reasons, but did not elaborate. The military attache of the Russian Embassy, Aleksandr Grudin, was seen meeting with former lawmaker Iurie Bolboceanu in a video earlier this year, prompting authorities to arrest Bolboceanu and charge him with treason. Based on reporting by Reuters, RIA Novosti, TASS, and Interfax Two leading politicians in Montenegro have fallen victim to Russian pranksters who posed as the president and prime minister of Ukraine in telephone calls last week, officials in the Balkan country say. Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic and his predecessor, Milo Djukanovic, were tricked by Vladimir Krasnov and Aleksei Stolyarov, pranksters known as Vovan and Lexus, according to officials in the government and the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists. They said the calls were a Russian provocation and part of a series of efforts by Moscow aimed at discrediting officials in Montenegro, whose successful bid to join NATO has angered Moscow. The recorded conversations with the pranksters, who have fooled prominent people including Elton John in the past, were broadcast on Russian state TV. Their authenticity was confirmed by the government and the ruling party, which is chaired by Djukanovic. Markovic's cabinet said he spoke to a prankster posing as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for 17 minutes on May 24, the day before a NATO meeting at which Montenegro, which is to formally join the alliance in June, was welcomed as its newest member. Markovic's office said he would not change a word of what he said. Djukanovic spoke to a prankster posing as Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman for a little longer, Montenegrin officials said. Montenegrin officials allege that Serbian and Russian nationalists plotted to take over parliament during October 2016 elections, assassinate then-Prime Minister Djukanovic, and install a pro-Russian leadership to keep the country out of NATO. Russia has lifted some of the sanctions it imposed on Turkey after a Turkish military jet shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015. A decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on May 31 removes restrictions on hiring Turkish workers and on Turkish firms operating in Russia. It also partially restores an agreement on the movement of each country's citizens that was suspended after the plane was shot down. A Russian pilot died in the incident. Russia and Turkey have taken big steps to improve relations since then, and Putin agreed to lift some of Russia's sanctions after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 3. Russia maintains a ban on Turkish tomato imports. Ankara responded by slapping high import tariffs on Russian wheat from mid-March, but resumed purchases after the presidents met. Russia and Turkey back opposite sides in the war in Syria but are now co-sponsors of peace talks and an agreement on de-escalation zones. With reporting by Reuters Amnesty International says it plans to hand petitions against the abuse of gay men in Chechnya to Russian embassies around the world on June 2. In a May 31 statement, Amnesty said it had gathered more than half a million signatures worldwide on petitions against persecution of men perceived to be gay in the region in Russia's North Caucasus. "The clock is ticking for gay men in Chechnya, who are living under the shadow of this terrifying purge," said John Dalhuisen, the London-based group's director for Europe and Central Asia. "We are urging the international community to open their doors to all those fleeing homophobic persecution in Chechnya," he said. Along with petition hand-ins, Amnesty will organize protests and other actions outside Russian embassies in Canada and several European countries this week and next. After an initial report in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta on April 1 that said gay men in Chechnya were being rounded up, tortured, and killed, several outlets including RFE/RL have spoken to Chechens who have fled the alleged abuse. In a report on May 26, Human Rights Watch said it had confirmed that police in Russia's Chechnya region tortured and humiliated dozens of gay or bisexual men during the spring of 2017 in "an apparent effort to purge them from Chechen society." On May 29, after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had raised these reports with Putin. Amnesty International called on Russian authorities "to proceed to a full-blown criminal investigation, and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of individuals who may be at risk in Chechnya." Moscow has ordered five Moldovan and two Estonian diplomats to leave Russia following the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the two countries. Russia's Foreign Ministry said on May 31 that five Moldovan diplomats in Moscow were declared "personae non grata" and ordered to leave Russia within three days. "The Russian side has expressed hope that Chisinau recognizes that its unfriendly actions are counterproductive," a statement said. The Moldovan Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of five Russian diplomats on May 30, without disclosing a reason, amid tensions between the former Soviet republic's pro-Russian President Igor Dodon and its Western-leaning government. Dodon condemned the expulsions and said he would discuss them during a visit to St. Petersburg this week. The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced on May 31 that it ordered two diplomats at the Estonian Consulate-General in St. Petersburg to leave the country within five days, after Estonia's government said on May 26 it was expelling two Russian diplomats, without elaborating. Relations between Russia and Estonia, a member of both the European Union and NATO, have been tense for years. With reporting by dpa and AFP More than 150,000 personnel to be deployed for poll security The government is planning to deploy over 150,000 security personnel for the upcoming second-phase elections to be held in 41 districts. Russia and Saudi Arabia on May 30 praised their agreement on oil production curbs, which they said had helped stabilize global oil prices, and agreed to pursue more cooperative efforts. At a meeting at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, who is in line to become king and currently is in charge of defense and energy affairs. It was the second meeting between the two men over the past year following a breakthrough meeting in China, where the two as heads of the world's largest oil-producing countries first agreed to cooperate in curbing production to shore up collapsing prices. "Agreements in the energy sector are highly important to our countries. We are grateful to you for your ideas and the joint work between OPEC and the countries which are not part of the cartel," Putin told Salman. "The actions we agreed are helping to stabilize the situation on the world hydrocarbon markets." Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and several other producers outside OPEC joined the Saudis, Iran, Iraq, and other cartel members in a November 2015 agreement, which was recently renewed, to cut global production by 1.8 million barrels a day. "The relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are going through one of their best moments ever," Salman said. "The most important thing is that we are succeeding in building a solid foundation to stabilize oil markets and energy prices." Since the Russia-OPEC agreement went into effect, premium oil prices have stabilized in the $40 to $50 a barrel range after plummeting to under $30 in January 2016. They remain far below levels over $100 reached in 2014, however. Saudi Arabia for decades has been the largest producer in OPEC and has dominated the cartel, while Russia never joined the group and for decades refused to cooperate with it. But the oil price collapse between 2014 and 2016 caused deep recessions and serious budgetary hardships in both countries, putting pressure on them to find ways to cooperate. For Salman, the visit to Moscow followed by only days a summit in Riyadh with U.S. President Donald Trump at which deals were made to purchase arms and pursue terrorists. But the United States, while a major producer of oil, never joined the OPEC deal. Putin and Salman said they intend to keep cooperating beyond the current nine-month extension of their agreement on oil production. At the talks, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to explore joining a consortium of investors in a Moscow real estate project. The Russian fund said both parties also are evaluating more possible projects in retail, real estate, alternative energy projects, transportation, and logistics infrastructure. Putin and Salmon minimized their big differences over the war in Syria, where they back opposing sides. "We have a lot of common ground. As far as our disagreements are concerned, we have a clear mechanism of how to overcome them. We are moving forward quickly and in a positive way," Salman said. "We work together on sorting out difficult situations, including in Syria," Putin said. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, and Interfax The Russian Defense Ministry says a Russian warship and a submarine in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles targeting positions and equipment of the extremist group Islamic State (IS) near the Syrian city of Palmyra. The ministry said that the missiles fired from the frigate Admiral Essen and the submarine Krasnodar hit their targets. It said that Russia had informed the United States, Turkey, and Israel of its plans before firing the missiles. While Russia, the United States, and Turkey are all fighting against the IS group, Moscow is backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the Syrian conflict, while Washington and Ankara are supporting different rebel factions. Russia began a campaign of bombings and missile strikes in Syria in September 2015 that helped Assad avoid potential defeat and remain in power. Western officials have said in the past that most of the Russian strikes have targeted opponents of Assad other than IS. Based on reporting by Reuters, RIA, and TASS Aleksandar Vucic has been sworn in as Serbia's president, taking office amid protests against his increasingly tight grip on power in the Balkan state. Vucic, 47, took the oath of office to succeed outgoing President Tomislav Nikolic at a brief ceremony at parliament on May 31, hours after "Against Dictatorship" protesters, supported by the majority of opposition parties and leaders, tried to make their way to the front of the building in Belgrade before briefly skirmishing with police who blocked their way. Later on May 31, several thousand people participated in a second rally against Vucic in Belgrade that ended without incident. "I promise I will keep peace and stability, guard and protect the future of our children," Vucic, who is shifting to the presidency after three years as prime minister, said before leaving the parliament and wading into a crowd of thousands cheering outside the building. Once an ultranationalist who served as information minister in the administration of strongman Slobodan Milosevic, Vucic has solidified his grip on power by reinventing himself as a reformer committed to Serbia's drive toward European Union membership. His first-round presidential election victory on April 2 came nearly a year after his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won parliamentary elections and gives them control over the entire legislative and governing process, which some critics warn could push the Balkan country back into the autocracy Milosevic symbolized during his decade in power. "Vucic will retain de facto control over Serbian politics," the political risk consultancy Teneo Intelligence said in a May 30 note on the country. "The new prime minister is expected to stay the policy course and keep most of the cabinet members in place." With tensions simmering between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, an ethnically charged political stalemate in Macedonia, and accusations of Russian interference in Montenegros move into the NATO military alliance and toward the EU, concerns have grown over Serbias direction and how it could reignite the Balkan powder keg. While Vucic pledges to prepare the nation of 7.3 million people for EU accession by 2019, he also opposes joining NATO. Simultaneously, Vucic has also pushed for deeper economic and diplomatic ties with longtime ally Russia, and he has condemned Western sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine, including the occupation and annexation of Crimea. This has set off alarm bells in Washington and Brussels over the governments true policy direction, with officials decrying what they call attempts by Moscow to exploit tensions in the Balkans to hinder progress toward integration in structures such as the EU and NATO. Moscow has also long curried favor in Serbia with its staunch opposition to the 1999 NATO bombing campaign to drive Milosevic's forces from Kosovo. The Kremlin, like Serbia itself, still does not recognize an independent Kosovo. "We plan to further keep traditional friendly relations with Russia despite all the pressure on us. Over the past years, we have managed to achieve a lot in relations both with the Russian people and its leaders," Vucic said after taking the oath on a special copy of the constitution. Serbia has seen dozens of peaceful protests since Vucics first-round election victory, which demonstrators say came amid major irregularities in the campaign, including stifling the media, voter intimidation, and bribes. With reporting by Reuters, AP, TASS, and B92 ON MY MIND Margarita Simonyan's response to French President Emmanuel Macron's accusation that RT and Sputnik were "agents of influence and propaganda" was priceless -- and quite telling. The RT editor in chief said that by Macron's standards, all Western media should be "thrown out of Russia." In the view of the Kremlin and its surrogates, independent Western journalists who are simply doing their jobs are a component of Western information warfare against Russia. This is part of the same mindset that leads Vladimir Putin's regime to view Western NGOs as part of a hybrid war against Russia. And it is part of the same mentality that causes them to believe that genuine popular uprisings against corrupt authoritarian regimes are always orchestrated by the CIA or the State Department. The thing is, I don't think the Kremlin and its surrogates are being disingenuous here. I think they really believe this. And it points to a fundamental weakness of Putin and his cohorts. They simply don't understand how Western society operates. They don't believe that independent media, independent NGOs, and civil society itself exists -- or can exist. And as long as this persists, they will continue to get the West wrong and make flawed policy as a result. IN THE NEWS The Russian Defense Ministry says a Russian warship and a submarine in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles targeting positions and equipment of the Islamic State extremist group near the Syrian city of Palmyra. Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump both dismissed allegations of Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential campaign as "fiction" or "fake news" created by Democrats to explain their defeat in the election. A Moscow court is set to hold a second day of hearings in a defamation lawsuit filed by Kremlin-connected oligarch Alisher Usmanov against opposition politician and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny. Moldovan President Igor Dodon said he hopes to discuss the expulsion of Russian diplomats from his country with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg this week, Russian news agencies reported. A court in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region of Daghestan has sentenced a local man to 19 years in prison on terrorism charges. Russia and Saudi Arabia praised their agreement on oil production curbs, which they said had helped stabilize global oil prices, and agreed to pursue more cooperative efforts. The Dutch Senate has approved the European Union's Association Agreement with Ukraine, paving the way for ratification of the pact strengthening ties between the EU and Kyiv. Polish President Andrzej Duda is on his first official visit to Georgia. WHAT I'M READING The Franco-German Front The European Council on Foreign Relations has released a report on Germany's upcoming federal elections. Of particular interest for Kremlin-watchers, the always insightful Kadri Liik authored the chapter on Russia's role in German politics. Judy Dempsey has a piece on the Carnegie Europe website on the fledgling partnership between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, and what it means for how Europe deals with Russia. Macron, Ukraine, And Minsk In Republic.ru, political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya looks at how the election of Emmanuel Macron in France can influence the Ukraine conflict and the implementation of the Minsk accords. Russia's Gilded Youth Meduza and Transparency International Russia take a look at the children of Russia's power elite. What The Russian Papers Say About Putin And Macron The BBC's Steve Rosenberg's daily video press review has a nice rundown of how the Russian print media is spinning Putin's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Remembering Zbigniew Brzezinski MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski has produced a heartfelt tribute to her father, former U.S. national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who died on May 26 at the age of 89. Cultural Appropriation Meduza and Vox have weighed in with pieces looking at the online spat between Russia and Ukraine over the legacy of Anna Yaroslavna of Kyiv. Putin's Defender And finally, Slate's Isaac Chotiner has a remarkable interview with Stephen Cohen in which the veteran Russia scholar questions the conventional wisdom about the war in Ukraine and Putin's electoral meddling. It truly has to be read to be believed. I'll just leave it at that. KYIV -- Russia's interference in Ukraine is just one sign of a broad attempt to destabilize democracies around the world, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (Democrat-New Jersey) has told RFE/RL. "When it comes to Russian aggression, let's be clear: The Russians are seeking to not just attack Ukraine, or attack the U.S., they are trying to undermine democracy," Booker said in an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Kyiv on May 31. "Their attempt is to create divisions and divisiveness between individual leaders as well as within nations. And that's unacceptable," said Booker, who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Russia seized control of Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops without insignia, engineering a takeover of the regional legislature, and staging a referendum that was swiftly dismissed as illegitimate by Ukraine, the United States, and a total of 100 countries at the UN General Assembly. Moscow has portrayed its takeover of Crimea as necessary to protect ethnic Russians and other residents of the peninsula from oppression by pro-Western officials who came to power in Kyiv following the ouster of Russia-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. That narrative has been rejected by Ukraine and Western governments, which accuse Russian-backed authorities in Crimea of rights abuses against Crimean Tatars and others opposed to Moscow's rule there. Since 2014, the EU and United States have maintained sanctions on Russia over its seizure of Crimea and its actions in eastern Ukraine. Booker, who has advocated increasing sanctions against Russia, said that he believes relations with Moscow need to be improved but added that "the question is not if, it's how." "Putin is somebody who is not going to negotiate with you if he thinks you're weak. Right now we need to show our strength....We need to show our strength through unity with our allies," Booker said. "You cannot appease people who are showing aggression without meeting them with strength," he said. "This is not just a Ukrainian fight, this is a transatlantic fight," Booker added. Ukrainian forces have recaptured 12 settlements in the south, advancing seven kilometers in two directions in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Army chief Valeriy Zaluzhniy said on November 10 as Russia ordered one of the war's biggest retreats. Zaluzhniy said Kyiv could not yet confirm whether Russia was indeed pulling out from the southern Kherson region but said Ukrainian forces were continuing their advance. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. "We continue to conduct the offensive operation in line with our plan," he wrote in a post on Telegram. Russia on November 9 said its forces would retreat from the west bank of the Dnieper River, which includes Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow had captured since the start of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February. Kherson is strategically important, as it controls both the only land route to Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnieper, which bisects Ukraine. Zaluzhniy said Ukrainian forces had advanced from Pervomaiske toward Kherson and from Petropavlivka toward Novoraysk, roughly parallel with the Dnieper River. It was unclear which Pervomaiske Zaluhniy meant. There are two settlements named Pervomaiske relatively close to Kherson city, one located some 25 kilometers to southeast and one some 50 kilometers to the north of the city. Zaluzhniy said the territorial gains totaled 264 square kilometers. Earlier on November 10, Ukrainian forces said they had recaptured Snihurivka, a strategic town in the southern Mykolayiv region while repelling fresh Russian attacks in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, where heavy fighting has been under way for weeks. In video footage published on social media and Ukrainian national television, a Ukrainian soldier shouted, "Today on November 10, Snihurivka was liberated by the forces of the 131st Separate Intelligence Battalion. Glory to Ukraine!" The footage could not immediately be verified and there was no immediate confirmation of the town's recapture from Ukraine's Defense Ministry, a day after Russia ordered its forces to retreat from the area. Snihurivka, seen as the last remaining Russian-occupied town in the Mykolayiv region, is important for control of a strategic road that leads to Kherson. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said earlier that they had repelled fresh Russian attacks in Donetsk where Moscow continues to mount an offensive in the Bakhmut and Avdiyivka directions. The Ukrainian military said it had also repelled Russian attacks in Luhansk, which together with Donetsk comprise the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Russian forces launched missile and air strikes and pounded more than 30 settlements with rockets in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolayiv, Sumy, and Kherson regions, the military said. The fierce fighting in the east came as Kyiv reacted with skepticism to the announcement of a Russian retreat from Kherson, noting some Russian forces remained in the city and reinforcements were being sent to the region. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukraine's president, said on November 10 that Moscow wanted to turn Kherson into a "city of death," accusing Russia of mining everything from apartments to sewers and planning to shell Kherson from the other side of the Dnieper River. "This is what (the) 'Russian world' looks like: came, robbed, celebrated, killed 'witnesses', left ruins and left," he wrote on Twitter. U.S. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the initial indicators suggested Russia was following through with its withdrawal, but cautioned it could take time to complete. "It won't take them a day or two. This is going to take them days and perhaps even weeks to pull those forces south of that river," Milley said in New York on November 9, estimating Russia probably had 20,000 to 30,000 troops north of the Dnieper River in that area. Milley, the most senior U.S. general, said around 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war, the highest estimate offered yet by a Western official. Milley also suggested around 40,000 civilians had died after being caught up in the conflict. The estimates could not be independently confirmed. Both Kyiv and Moscow carefully guard their casualty numbers. Russia's last update in September said 5,937 soldiers had been killed since the start of the conflict on February 24. "There has been a tremendous amount of suffering, human suffering," said Milley, adding the conflict has created between 15 and 30 million refugees. The UN has recorded 7.8 million people as refugees from Ukraine across Europe, including Russia. However, the figure does not include those who have been forced to flee their homes but remain in Ukraine. With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and BBC Strict compliance with social distancing norms is being followed at each of the company plants Hero MotoCorp has opened its three facilities in Gurugram and Dharuhera in Haryana, Haridwar, Uttarakhand and the companys Global Parts Center in Neemrana in Rajasthan. This decision to open in a phased manner comes following Government of India regulations, while safety, health and well-being of each employee will be top priority. Hero MotoCorp has opened these facilities after a 43 day hiatus, following Government orders to shut all factories and offices in the country on 22nd March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with the strict regulations of safety and hygiene, Hero MotoCorp has listed several standard operation procedures (SOP) to be followed by staff and workers at the various plants. Gloves, masks and visors will be mandatory. Travel to and from the plants will be undertaken in buses with social distancing and workers will have to sit in every alternate seat while bus drivers will wear masks and gloves and each bus will be thoroughly sanitized at the start and end of each trip. Watch the detailed video below, which shows Hero MotoCorps operational procedure at the manufacturing plant in current times. Extra buses have been pressed into service due to the fact that the buses cannot be packed to capacity. Deboarding of buses will also follow social distancing regulations with one meter distance between each person alighting from the buses. All areas of the Hero MotoCorp plants will be regularly sanitized at all touch points. Wash basins are located at the entrance for staff and workers to wash their hands. These are foot operated so as to restrict contact while hand sanitizers, thermal scanners and face and card scanning machines are also in place. On entry, every person will have to fill in self declaration forms while they will have to show updates of self assessment tests on the Aarogya Setu App on their mobiles. Social distancing will be followed at the plant canteens during tea and lunch breaks and automatic water dispensers have been installed. Along with the plants going ahead with production, the company dealerships also open. Hero MotoCorp has released a business restart manual in 10 regional languages, which it has shared with its entire dealer partners, listing out the SOPs to be followed as the company puts the safety of its employees above all else. Since opening up plants and dealerships, Hero MotoCorp has also commenced vehicle dispatches from its manufacturing plant from 7th May and accounts for sales of 25,000 motorcycles since restart while it hopes to become 100 percent operational in a month. Renault Duster was first introduced in 2010. Today, the Duster is not only one of the most important cars in the Renault line-up, but is also their best selling car globally. Considering this, updating the Duster is of utmost importance to the French car maker, especially when the cars sales are no longer as strong as they were before thanks to the launch of cars like Tata Hexa, Mahindra XUV500 facelift, etc. Now, for the first time, spy images of the new generation Duster have emerged. Spotted on test in Europe, the launch of new gen Duster will take place some time next year. 2018 Renault Duster will see new design changes on its exterior with new headlights, front grille and fog lamps. Alloy wheels and bigger wheel arches will also be added while at the rear there will be new tail lamps, redesigned boot door and a spare wheel. One can expect Renault to design the new Duster based on the Oroch which was revealed in Brazil last year. Apart from this, new Duster will also be longer as compared to existing Duster. This will enable Renault to equip a third row in the Duster for two more seats. These added seats are expected to offer comfortable seating for two adults, and not like the kit which is currently on sale in India. (This kit, which is offered as an accessory, is only to seat a child). The new Duster will abound in safety features which will include ABS, dual airbags and reverse parking camera among others. Interiors however, remain much the same with only a few upgrades. Not much is known about the platform, but expect a similar architecture as in the current Duster. Also, one can expect the rusting issue to be taken care of, which has been noticed in the Dusters manufactured in India. Once launched in India, 2018 Renault Duster will compete against new Tata Hexa and Mahindra Scorpio. Price of next gen Duster is expected to increase, and might be in the range of INR 11-16 lakh. Roughly 2-3 percent of all people suffering from cancer have kidney cancer. The most common form of this disease is called clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). In roughly half of all patients with this disease, the tumor develops metastases and generally cannot be cured. New Mouse Model for Investigating Kidney Cancer The research of different types of cancer and the testing of new treatments depends on accurate mouse models. This is because the tumors in mice mirror the genetics as well as the molecular and cellular properties of tumors in humans. Despite decades of effort, however, researchers were unable to develop a mouse model of renal cell carcinoma -- until now. Scientists conducting a long-term research project at the University of Zurich were able to develop a mouse model. The study was led by Sabine Harlander and her colleagues at the Institute of Physiology of the University of Zurich in the lab of Professor Ian Frew, who has recently joined the University of Freiburg in Germany. The researchers began by identifying the genes that often mutate in human renal cell carcinomas. They then mutated three of these genes simultaneously in renal cells of mice, which then developed renal cancer. Gene Mutations Promote Uncontrolled Cell Division The progression from gene mutation in the renal cells to the development of a tumor took eight to twelve months. This lengthy period of time, compared to a mouse's lifetime, indicates that additional factors play a role in tumor development. The researchers therefore decided to take a closer look at the protein-encoding genes in the mouse tumors. They discovered that in all of the tumors at least one of the many genes responsible for the correct functioning of the primary cilium had mutated. The primary cilium is a hair-like structure found on the cell's surface and is responsible for coordinating cell signaling, among other things. Based on this finding, the researchers found that similar mutations also occur in renal cell carcinomas in humans. The scientists now believe that the loss of normal function in the primary cilium leads to the uncontrollable division of renal epithelial cells, which contributes to the formation of ccRCC. "This research project is a prime example of how mouse models can help us to better understand cancer diseases in human beings," says Sabine Harlander. Mouse Model Enables Development of Better Treatments The new mouse model will make it possible to develop better therapies for renal cancer. For example, in the case of patients with renal carcinoma metastasis who are given different medications, some patients respond to the medications, while others do not. The same phenomenon can be observed when mice with renal cancer are treated with the same drugs as the humans. Some tumors shrink, while others do not. Now researchers can investigate the factors that contribute to why certain tumours respond to certain medications and not to others. "We hope that our mouse model, which allows us to combine drug testing and genetic analysis, will provide a deeper understanding of why tumors are sensitive or resistant to drugs," states Ian Frew. Such vital information could be used to better adjust treatments to the characteristics of each patient. The mouse model could also contribute to the further development of immunotherapies -- a method in which the body's immune system is stimulated, so that it intensifies its fight against tumor cells. In the last few years, much progress has been made in this field of cancer research, also for the treatment of renal cell carcinomas. Now, thanks to the new mouse model, it will be possible to study how renal tumors are able to develop in an environment with a normal immune system, and how cancer cells manage to evade the immune system's attacks. Ultimately, the researchers' goal is to use these new findings to improve the effectiveness of immunomodulatory treatments. Zoom in on a crystal and you will find an ordered array of atoms, evenly spaced like the windows on the Empire State Building. But zoom in on a piece of glass, and the picture looks a bit messier -- more like a random pile of sand, or perhaps the windows on a Frank Gehry building. The highly-ordered nature of crystals makes them fairly simple to understand mathematically, and physicists have developed theories that capture all sorts of crystal properties, from how they absorb heat to what happens when they break. But the same can't be said of glassy, amorphous or otherwise "disordered" materials such as the glass in our windows and vases, frozen food, and certain plastics. There are no widely agreed-upon theories to explain their physical behavior. For nearly 30 years, physicists have debated whether a mysterious phase transition, present in theoretical models of disordered materials, might also exist in real-life glasses. With the help of some mathematical wizardry borrowed from particle physics -- plus dozens of pages of algebraic calculations, all done by hand -- Duke University postdoctoral fellow Sho Yaida has laid this mystery to rest. Yaida's insights open up the possibility that some types of glass may exist in a new state of matter at low temperatures, influencing how they respond to heat, sound and stress, and how and when they break. "We found hints of the transition that we didn't dare say was evidence of the transition because part of the community said that it could not exist," said Patrick Charbonneau, associate professor of chemistry at Duke and Yaida's advisor. "What Sho shows is that it can exist." Mind-boggling as it may seem, Charbonneau said, the mathematics behind glasses and other disordered systems is actually much easier to solve by assuming that these materials exist in a hypothetical infinite-dimensional universe. In infinite dimensions, their properties can be calculated relatively easily -- much like how the properties of crystals can be calculated for our three-dimensional universe. advertisement "The question is whether this model has any relevance to the real world." Charbonneau said. For researchers who carried out these calculations, "the gamble was that, as you change dimension, things change slowly enough that you can see how they morph as you go from an infinite number of dimensions to three," he said. One feature of these infinite dimensional calculations is the existence of a phase transition -- called the "Gardner transition" after pioneering physicist Elizabeth Gardner -- which, if present in glasses, could significantly change their properties at low temperatures. But did this phase transition, clearly present in infinite dimensions, also exist in three? Back in the 1980s, a team of physicists produced mathematical calculations showing that no, it could not. For three decades, the prevailing viewpoint remained that this transition, while theoretically interesting, was irrelevant to the real world. That is, until recent experiments and simulations by Charbonneau and others started showing hints of it in three-dimensional glasses. "The new drive to look at this is that, when attacking the problem of glass formation, they found a transition very much like the one that appeared in these studies," Charbonneau said. "And in this context it can have significant materials applications." Yaida, who has a background in particle physics, took a second look at the old mathematical proofs. These calculations had failed to find a "fixed point" in three dimensions, a prerequisite for the existence of a phase transition. But if he took the calculation one more step, he thought, the answer might change. advertisement One month and 30 pages of calculations later, he had it. "Moments like these are the reason why I do science," Yaida said. "It is just a point, but it means a lot to people in this field. It shows that this exotic thing that people found in the seventies and eighties does have a physical relevance to this three-dimensional world." After a year of checks and re-checks, plus another 60-odd pages of supporting calculations, the results were published May 26 in Physical Review Letters. "The fact that this transition might actually exist in three dimensions means that we can start looking for it seriously," Charbonneau said. "It affects how sound propagates, how much heat can be absorbed, the transport of information through it. And if you start shearing the glass, how it will yield, how it will break." "It changes profoundly how we understand amorphous materials in general, whether they be amorphous plastics or piles of sand or window glasses," he said. Nepse plunges after budget statement Share investors were apparently not impressed by the budget statement as stocks plunged to a two-month low on Tuesday, a day after the governments annual financial plan was published. People taking leisurely strolls tend to choose safer walking routes than those heading to work or on an errand, a new study found. Led by D. Alex Quistberg, Ph.D., an assistant research professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University, the study used GPS, accelerometers and travel logs from a 2008-2009 survey in King County, Washington -- which includes Seattle -- to measure the path and purpose of 537 pedestrians. That data was then compared to maps on the probability of pedestrian collision risk, and the study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Quistberg and his team found that pedestrians on recreational walks were 8 percent less likely to be in areas where car collision risks were higher than those on utilitarian walks (walking somewhere with a purpose). "There's likely a mix of things happening here," Quistberg said. "On recreational walks, people likely want a more relaxing path than someone on a utilitarian walk." The study also found that people who took longer walks, both in distance and time, were less likely to stray into dangerous areas (where car-collision risk is high). That, too, was likely tied to recreational walks vs. walks with a purpose. The study also took demographic data into account. This yielded the finding that people who lived in single-family homes, owned homes and/or owned a car all were less likely to walk in more dangerous areas. People who participated in the survey who had children were slightly less likely -- around 2 percent -- to walk in areas with high collision risk. "This could be due to people with children living in single-family homes, which are usually in neighborhoods that have a low risk of pedestrians collisions because of low traffic and slow speeds," Quistberg explained. "It is also possible that people with children at home are walking more cautiously, perhaps with their children." Recently, Dornsife School of Public Health Dean Ana Diez Roux, M.D., Ph.D., signed on to a letter supported by former president Jimmy Carter that appealed for protection of the walking paths of children, especially those headed to school. And although results from Quistberg's study analyze adult pedestrians in Washington state, he believes they reveal information that could serve to improve walkability universally. "Improving road safety for pedestrians will support interest in walking for recreation as well as those who integrate a healthy walk into their commute," Quistberg said. A new study combining European ice core data and historical records of the infamous Black Death pandemic of 1349-1353 shows metal mining and smelting have polluted the environment for thousands of years, challenging the widespread belief that environmental pollution began with the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s and 1800s. The new study, accepted for publication in GeoHealth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, provides evidence that the natural level of lead in the air is essentially zero, contrary to common assumptions. The research shows lead pollution from mining and smelting was detectable well before the Industrial Revolution and only when the Black Death pandemic halted those activities did lead in the air return to natural levels. "These new data show that human activity has polluted European air almost uninterruptedly for the last ca. 2000 years," the study's authors write. "Only a devastating collapse in population and economic activity caused by pandemic disease reduced atmospheric pollution to what can now more accurately be termed 'background' or natural levels." The new findings could affect the current standards for lead pollution. Current public health and environmental policy deem pre-industrial lead pollution levels to be "natural" and thus presumably "safe," but this assumption may need to be re-examined, according to the study's authors. Lead is one of the most dangerous environmental pollutants and is toxic to the brain at extremely low levels. No levels of lead can be considered safe in children, according to Philip Landrigan, Dean of Global Health for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, who was not connected to the new study. "It's clear that lead has lasting effects on children's lives," said Landrigan, who has researched lead poisoning in children and was instrumental in the implementation of abatement policies in past years. advertisement Reconstructing past lead levels In the new study, historians at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, collaborated with climate scientists at the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine in Orono. The team chose to examine past lead levels in the air because it is a dangerous pollutant and serves as a proxy for economic activity, ramping up when economies grow and tailing off when they decline. The researchers matched new, high-resolution measurements of lead in an ice core taken from a glacier in the Swiss/Italian Alps with highly detailed historical records showing that lead mining and smelting activity plummeted to nearly zero during the plague pandemic years of 1349 to 1353. The researchers found that lead levels declined suddenly in a section of the ice core corresponding to that four-year window of time. That decline is unique in the last 2,000 years of European history, according to Alexander More, a historian at Harvard and lead author of the new study. "When we saw the extent of the decline in lead levels, and only saw it once, during the years of the pandemic, we were intrigued," More said. "In different parts of Europe, the Black Death wiped out as much as half of the population. It radically changed society in multiple ways. In terms of the labor force, the mining of lead essentially stopped in major areas of production. You see this reflected in the ice core in a large drop in atmospheric lead levels, and you see it in historical records for an extended period of time." The researchers also found other, lesser, drops in lead accumulation in the ice core. One occurred in 1460, which the authors show may have also been due to an epidemic-related downturn. Other drops occurred during an economic slowdown in 1885 and most recently in the 1970s when abatement policies phased out leaded gasoline and other sources of lead air pollution. More said the ice core holds much additional data, accessible due to the precision of the Climate Change Institute's next generation laser facility and the expertise of climate scientists on the research team. Combining that data with historical sources can lead to new discoveries in the fields of climate science, the history of human and planetary health, environmental and economic history, he said. "This research represents the convergence of two very different disciplines, history and ice core glaciology, that together provide the perspective needed to understand how a toxic substance like lead has varied in the atmosphere and, more importantly, to understand that the true natural level is in fact very close to zero," said Paul Mayewski, Director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine and co-author of the new study. "Using the ultra-high resolution ice core sampling offered through our W. M. Keck Laser Ice Facility, we expect to be able to offer new insights, previously unattainable with lower-resolution sampling, into the links between climate change and the course of civilization." Brussels, may 5, 2017 (SPS) -The European Union (EU) hailed Wednesday in Brussels the adoption of a UN Resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara (Minurso), and reiterated support to the efforts of the Secretary General of the Organization to reach a fair solution that ensures self-determination of the Sahrawi people. The European Union welcomed the adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution on the renewal of the Minurso mandate until 30 April 2018, said an EU spokesperson. On Friday, fifteen members of the Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution 2351 (2017) extending the Minurso mandate until 30 April 2018. The Security Council members reaffirmed their support to the resumption of peace negotiations for the conflict in Western Sahara. In the interest of stability and security in the region, the EU reiterates support to the UN Secretary Generals efforts for a fair, sustainable and mutually acceptable political solution that ensures the self-determination of the Sahrawi people as part of compatible arrangements with the principles and targets of the Charter of the United Nations, she stated. The EU encourages both parties (Morocco and the Polisario Front) to seize the opportunity provided by this decision and the withdrawal of military forces in Guerguerat area to work for sustainable peace. Besides, the EU called all parties to comply with the ceasefire terms. The UN resolution also backs the initiative of its Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is expected to present a report in the next 30 days to resume peace talks. It also called on both parties to show political willingness and work in an appropriate atmosphere for dialogue to resume negotiations. (SPS) 062/090/700 Chahid Elhafed, May 31, 2017 (SPS) - The Saharawi people commemorate today the first anniversary of the death of its martyr president, Mohamed Abdelaziz, a distinguished figure by his political career and his struggle for independence of Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco and for the inalienable right of the Sahrawi to self-determination. The late President Abdelaziz, who was also Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO and a founding member of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), died on May 31, 2016, at the age of 68, following a long illness. Following the death of El-Ouali Moustapha Sayed (one of the main founders and leaders of the Front POLISARIO), Mohamed Abdelaziz was elected Secretary General of the Front POLISARIO and Chairman of the Revolution Command Council in August 1976. The late Abdelaziz, who was elected President of SADR for the first time in October 1982, was re-elected in 1985, 1989, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015, his long and rich career as a fighter for independence and for the defense of just causes, was marked by the 1984 SADR in the Organization of African Unity (OAU), currently the African Union (AU), but also by a cease-fire in 1991 and the opening of negotiations for the settlement of the conflict in Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa. Thus, the Sahrawi in refugee camps, in liberated or occupied territories, will remember a great man who devoted his life to the defense of their dignity and the recovery of their rights, in particular that of living in a free and sovereign State. With the disappearance of Mohamed Abdelaziz, the Saharawi people lost a valiant militant who "made peace a strategic principle and an inescapable choice", wrote President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika in his message of condolences to the Speaker of the Sahrawi National Council Khatri Addouh, following the death of the Saharawi president. The Saharawi people also lost in President Mohamed Abdelaziz "great support in their struggle for self-determination," said the President of the Council of the nation, Abdelkader Bensalah, also in a message of condolences sent to Khatri Addouh . POLISARIO lamented, after the death of its Secretary General, the loss of a companion and leader "who has left an important legacy of achievements, and a firm determination to continue the struggle until 'To triumph'. SPS 125/090/TRA Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe Phase II local polls to be held on June 28 A day after the government said it would hold the second phase of local elections on June 23, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi told the Post on Tuesday that elections are set to be rescheduled for June 28 and that the Cabinet would take a decision to this effect on Wednesday. This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. 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. France is upgrading it armored vehicle force. Not just tanks and infantry vehicles but also more frequently used (for peacekeeping) wheeled vehicles. Thus in April France the first batch of 319 Griffon troop transport and 20 Jaguar combat vehicles. This is another step to fulfil very ambitious army modernization program nicknamed Scorpion which first phase known as Step 1 launched in 2014. This plan involves not only the complete replacement or renovation of all of the army's combat vehicles but also linking these with a new and unified communications and battlefield management system (BMS). The project date back to 2000 when the French Army and defense suppliers examined the possibility of a networked fighting force. For 14 years about $220 million dollars was spent on studies and analysis were performed on the data gathered from earlier networked programs like French super solider FELIN system or Vehicule Blinde de Combat d'Infanterie (VBCI) infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). Based on data collected during this period the requirements for new vehicles like Jaguar EBRC and Griffon armored personnel carrier (APC) were created. The first Griffons should arrive to the army in 2018 while first Jaguar delivery will follow in 2020. It is estimated that each Griffon or Jaguar EBRC will cost about $2.5 million. Depending on configuration each vehicle could cost as much as $5.6 million each. The Griffon APC is the largest part of Scorpion program because in order to replace famous but over 40 years old VAB APC would require at least 1700 Griffons. The Griffon APC itself is a multi-role 6x6 armored vehicle capable to carry up to 10 personnel. It is expected to weight around 25 tones and to have an operational range up to 800 kilometers. Moreover for protection it will be equipped with a remotely-controlled weapons station. Thanks to modular design it will be available in five main variants: typical troop transport (1022 vehicles), command-and-control variant (333), engineer and recovery (54), artillery observation vehicles (117) and ambulance (196). Furthermore there will be also sub-variants of mentioned above such as four variants of troop carrier like mortar team carrier or anti-tank team carrier) and three derives from engineer variant such as response team carrier or refueling unit). In total there still be 11 variants of Griffon but compared to currently used 30 variants of VAB this is a big step forward. What is more interesting this time French decided to design Griffon more like a MRAP vehicle than typical APC like Stryker, Patria AMV or other similar designs. This design has one big merit which is that these vehicles are more similar to typical trucks so are much easier to drive than mentioned earlier APCs. Jaguar EBRC is on the other hand is a 6x6 reconnaissance vehicle which is meant to replace currently used AMX-10RC and ERC 90 Sagaie 6x6 reconnaissance vehicles and VAB variant equipped witch HOT anti-tank guided missiles. France is planning to buy 248 Jaguar EBRC. The Jaguar EBRC weighs about 25 tones and to be operated by the crew of three. Its armament will consist of new Anglo-French made CTA 40mm (telescoped ammunition) auto canon accompanied by twin launcher with MMP anti-tank missiles mounted on the turret side. This first Griffon and Jaguar batch order is the second step after Leclerc tank modernization to fulfill Scorpion program Step 1 which is supposed to be completed after 2020. Then in Step 2 the French plan to complete Griffon and Jaguar procurement effort and focus on midlife upgrades to FELIN and VBCI programs. All this effort will transform French army into networked fighting force. France plan to equip two Scorpion brigades by 2025. These will consist of three GTIAs (groupement tactique inter-armes) each a self-sufficient battalion sized force very close to EU battle group concept. -- Przemysaw Juraszek by Austin Bay May 30, 2017 Scratch one Intercontinental Ballistic Missile -- and congratulations to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency on its successful test of the Ground-based Missile Defense system. On May 30, the GMD's sensor systems detected "an intercontinental-range" target missile on a track over the Pacific Ocean. Its long-range Ground-Based Interceptor and its exo-atmospheric kill vehicle combination intercepted and destroyed the target. I doubt this successful test will curb North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's pathological belligerence. However, it politically and technologically bolsters allies like Japan, who no longer ignore Pyongyang's nuclear threats. On May 29, a North Korean test missile splashed down in Japanese water. North Korea insistently threatens South Korea and Japan. Its newer missiles can strike Guam, Hawaii and parts of Alaska. It is developing ICBMs to hit Los Angeles and Washington. The GMD and Israel's Arrow-3 are the world's only operational missile defense systems capable of intercepting ICBMs. The GMD has a mission vital to the American people: the defense of continental North America against a limited attack by a nuclear-armed rogue state possessing improved intermediate range missiles and ICBMs. This threat is real. Iran is also developing ICBMs. Missile defense is critical 21st century security. It protects constructive nations desiring peace and economic development from destructive, extortionist rogue states. Defending American citizens is missile defense's first priority. However, the ability to protect allies and neutrals generates diplomatic power. The system serves as a psychological counter to thug intimidation and thus creates political space for other diplomatic endeavors. The U.S. and its allies have tested and deployed several capable "lower tier" anti-missile systems. When linked these systems provide a "thin," layered defense against enemy IRBMs. The Patriot PAC-3 and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missiles protect South Korea and Guam. Japan has the Patriot. The U.S. and Japan deploying AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense warships. But now for the shameful fact: this latest test is the first live missile test since June 2014 and the first ever pitting the GBI-EKV combination against an ICBM. Since 2000, MDA has conducted only 18 "end to end" tests of the GBI-EKV combination. The Pentagon rated 10 tests as successful. Three tests occurred at the tail end of the Clinton Administration, 11 during the Bush Administration and four during the Obama Administration's tenure. This week's test was the Trump Administration's first. That is a sparse and fitful test program, especially given the warning time. In 1998, North Korea shocked Asia and America when it tested its first ballistic missile. In 2011, North Korea accelerated its missile testing and nuclear weapons programs. Granted, the GMD is complex and expensive. Hitting a "bullet with a bullet" is very difficult. But so was landing on the Moon and creating America's Cold War missile arsenal. In the early days of the space race, American missiles routinely exploded on the pad, but NASA and the USAF kept on shooting. Computer simulations are vital but can only do so much. Complex weapons systems must be repeatedly tested. Ugly and stupid domestic politics had stymied missile defense development and slowed procurement. For over two decades, often-hysterical opposition from the American political left stalled deployment of an operational missile shield. Their hysteria was a fossil rite drawing on their Cold War opposition to President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. During the Clinton Administration, left-liberal Democrats ritually demonized missile-defense. Testing and development slowed. In 2003, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi opined: "The United States does not need a multi-billion-dollar national missile defense against the possibility of a nuclear-armed ICBM. What we need is a strong nonproliferation policy with other nations to combat the most serious threat to our national security." Hey Nancy, do you mean a strong nonproliferation policy, like the Clinton Administration's 1994 Agreed Framework? That deal gave Kim Jong Un's grandfather, Kim Il Sung, heavy fuel oil and technical assistance if Pyongyang shutdown its nuclear reactors producing weapons-grade plutonium. That charade failed, Nancy, utterly and completely. The battle for Raqqa is the most intense operation currently under way. There is still some fighting around Damascus (where the government is clearing out the last of the rebel held suburbs) and Aleppo (like Damascus but more intense). Most (about 80 percent) of the air support sorties in Syria are carried out by the U.S. led coalition and some 90 percent of those are by U.S. aircraft and UAVs. In the last year the coalition air sorties have more than doubled, to about 250 a day and most of them are currently in support of the Raqqa campaign. The air craft provide surveillance and EW (electronic warfare) most of the time but about ten percent involve using weapons. There are still about 200,000 civilians in Raqqa and ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is trying to prevent a mass exodus. ISIL is again using civilians as human shields but that isnt working as well as it has in the past largely because most of the civilians in Raqqa are very hostile to ISIL and willing to pass on useful information to the advancing rebel forces. That quickly gets to the people planning airstrikes. The Turks have refused to take part in the Raqqa battle and the Assads and their Iranian sponsors are certainly not welcome. So its basically up to the SDF and various local tribal militias that have been increasingly at war with ISIL since 2015. SDF has agreed to turn Raqqa over to the locals once ISIL is forced out. For the moment thats the plan. Nobody in Syria trusts plans much. For the moment the situation inside Raqqa is pretty grim with regular public executions of ISIL deserters. Most of the ISIL deserters dont get caught and the word from civilians is that there appear to be fewer and fewer ISIL on the streets. Outside Raqqa advancing SDF forces report that the ISIL men they are encountering will usually fight but not very well and an airstrike or some artillery fire will usually suffice to clear the way. The advancing forces are more concerned about landmines and roadside bombs. That Americans are helping with that but few details are available, indicating that some of the techniques developed over the years for American forces are being applied and the less ISIL knows about the details the more effective these methods are. In addition a lot of the local civilians are willing to report ISIL landmines and hidden bombs, if only because if these remain it is the locals who will stumble across them. Turkey Turkey has achieved its initial goal of clearing ISIL from the Syrian side of the border and by the end of May has moved about a million Syrian refugees (most from Turkish refugee camps, others from Syria) in and managed to set up a local administration run by cooperative Syrian rebels (mainly the FSA). The Turkish safe zone has been to eventually cover an area along about a 98 kilometers of the border and extend about 25 kilometers into Syria. This will be sufficient for millions of Syrians now in Turkish refugee camps to be moved to camps on the Syrian side of the border. Turkey will continue to support the refugee camps in Syria as long as FSA and other cooperative Syrians help run them. The Syrian Kurds point out that Kurdish villages in this zone have had their populations expelled and replaced by refugees or Turks from Turkey. The new Syrian security forces are controlled by local warlords who concentrate on first looking for themselves, not displeasing the Turks and finally taking care of all the civilians in their area. Iran Iran is losing this war with Israel and seeking a way to do better by establishing a base in Syria. This is important inside Iran where the government has long publicized victories (usually invented) over Israel. Highly visible defeats by Israel, as are happening in Syria, does little to prop up the unpopular religious dictatorship that has been running the country since the 1980s. Another embarrassment is the success of Russian air power and ground forces (mainly special operations and artillery) to help the Assad forces win back territory. Until 2016 Iranian forces were seen as the key to Assad survival and the Assads were not shy about praising their Iranian saviors. But that changed in 2017 as the Iranian alliance with Turkey and Russia began to come apart. Iran blames this on Israel which, in this case, is partially correct. Israel knows that Iran wants to establish a pro-Iranian militia in Syria similar to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Assads know this would mean they would have to share power in Syria with Iran. Most Syrians dont care for this, just as most Lebanese dont care for the Hezbollah presence since the 1980s. No one, including Russia, Turkey and Israel, want another Hezbollah established in Syria. Iran will not back down on this and that has damaged their relationships with their allies. Meanwhile Iran continues to suffer embarrassing setbacks in Syria. For example, in eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province) Iran backed Shia mercenaries (mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan) are coming as close as they can to the Tanf border crossing and the U.S. backed rebels who control it. The pro-Assad mercenaries tried to reach Tanf on the 20th but were turned away by an American airstrike and the threat of more of that is apparently all that is keeping the Iranian forces away. Iran wants to seize border crossings in order to clear a road from Damascus (the Syrian capital in the southwest) to border crossings controlled by pro-Iran forces. There are currently two of these major crossings that have been cleared of ISIL forces. One at Tanf and another to the north (in Hasakah province). These two would make it possible for Iran to move personnel and supplies by road from Iran to Assad controlled territory and then into Hezbollah controlled southern Lebanon. That only works if pro-Iran (or at least neutral or bribable) forces control each side. The U.S. and Israel are determined to prevent this Iran to Lebanon highway. Technically Russia backs Iran in this endeavor but Russia also has an understanding with Israel and Turkey to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in Syria. At the moment Russia is giving verbal backing to Iranian efforts at Tanf but is not making any moves to provide military assistance. Russia Russia is still providing lots of air support and material assistance (new weapons, help in maintaining existing ones) for the Assad forces but is concentrating its media coverage on the Russian efforts to pacify and rebuild Aleppo. The Russians supplied most of the air support that enabled the Assad forces to retake Aleppo, which used to be the second largest city in Syria but has been largely depopulated and destroyed by five years of fighting. Rebuilding Aleppo is a big deal for most Syrians and the Russians publicize their efforts, like the largely Moslem military police battalions they sent in to help maintain order, and the Russian explosives removal experts provided to deal with all the explosives still in the rubble or other areas as ISIL traps. What Russia cant provide is the billions of dollars it will cost to actually rebuild much of the city. Iran is also strapped for cash and no one else wants to finance rebuilding what is now a city controlled by a government of war criminals. Russian casualties in Syria remain low. In May several more Russian soldiers were killed in Syria while working with Syrian soldiers fighting rebels and ISIL. That makes 33 Russians killed in Syria since mid-2015. May 30, 2017: In the northeast (Raqqa province) Kurdish led SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) forces advancing from the north have driven ISIL defenders back to within three kilometers of Raqqa itself. At this point the rebels can see the city. SDF forces are also advancing from the east. ISIL is preparing to defend Raqqa to the last man but they have not got many men left and many of those in Raqqa are of questionable loyalty. SDF has been offering locally recruited ISIL members amnesty and many have accepted. About half the foreign volunteers for ISIL have left the region and the number of new volunteers entering Syria has declined by some 90 percent in the last year. The United States officially began distributing new and more powerful weapons and other military supplies to YPG (Syrian Kurdish separatist rebels) groups in Syria that belong to the SDF rebel coalition. Syrian Kurds comprise most (about 70 percent) of the 50,000 strong SDF and nearly all the Kurdish fighters belong to or are allied with the YPG. About a third of the SDF fighters are women (mostly Kurds but also some Arab and Christian), most organized by the YPG. The SDF is secular and the largest and most effective rebel force in Syria. SDF is leading the effort to take Raqqa from ISIL. The U.S. previously only distributed weapons to non-YPG factions in SDF. This was in deference to the Turks but everyone knew that most of these American weapons found their way to YPG groups in SDF and that was fine as long as none of them could be connected with PKK (Turkish Kurdish separatist rebels). The Turks said some of those American weapons were being used by PKK but the U.S. pointed out that some weapons were captured by enemy forces or otherwise lost in combat and later ended up on the black market where the PKK could get them. The Turkish security forces understand that is how it works but Turkish politicians needed to blame the Americans and YPG for supporting the PKK and eventually the Americans got tired of that and the new U.S. government told the Turks so. The Turks still complain, but now the YPG gets the American aid openly and understands what rules apply for any Kurds getting that aid. No matter what Turkey, and most Turks, hold YPG responsible for some of the Kurdish terror attacks inside Turkey. The U.S. believes none of those attacks, especially those carried out Turkish Kurds of the PKK, are connected with the YPG. The U.S. has been providing training and other military aid to YPG Kurds for nearly five years with the understanding that they would not support attacks inside Turkey (which they had done before 2011 when they sometimes worked for the Assads as did the PKK occasionally). The U.S. has successfully provided training and weapons to Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq since the early 1990s by using the same rules and the Turks were always confident that the Iraqi Kurds were true to that agreement. The U.S. and Turkey disagree about the YPG and that may have more with Turkish politics than anything else. After 2011 growing PKK violence inside Turkey were seen as a violation of the 2013 ceasefire with the PKK and led to a resumption of open warfare between the Turks and PKK in mid-2015. The Kurdish government of northern Iraq agreed with the Turkish attacks on the PKK. While the PKK still calls for an independent Kurdish state made up of majority Kurd portions of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, the largely autonomous Kurds of northern Iraq refuse to go along. For a while many in the PKK agreed with the Iraqi Kurds and were willing to settle for more autonomy in Turkey. But the radical PKK factions refused to go along and the 2013 ceasefire began to fray. While the Iraqi Kurds continue condemning the PKK they have not tried to expel the PKK fighters by force. So far the more radical YPG factions appear to be kept in check by the need for American aid. The U.S. has lots of Special Forces troops who speak Kurdish, understand the culture and have years of experience working with the Kurds. Thus it is difficult for the YPG radicals to violate the deal YPG has with the Americans and keep it secret. May 25, 2017: In the north (outside Aleppo) YPG fired on a Turkish military camp near Afrin, killing one soldier and wounding several others. This was in retaliation for a Turkish attack on YPG forces in Afrin yesterday that killed three Kurds. Although YPG forces are part of the SDF coalition leading the attack on Raqqa, Turkey considers YPG active Syrian allies of the PKK. The Turks are in Syria mainly to drive Kurdish forces (YPG and otherwise) away from the Turkish border. Officially Turkey is in Syria to fight ISIL but their priority seems to be YPG. May 23, 2017: The U.S. and Russia agreed to expand their de-confliction agreement regarding each others warplanes operating over Syria. Russia had cancelled this on April 8th to protest the American reaction to the Assads use of chemical weapons but agreed to restore in in early May. This agreement avoids accidental clashes and the U.S. observed the agreement by informing Russia shortly before the American cruise missiles were launched on April 7th. Russia did not cancel a similar agreement with Israel. May 22, 2017: In the east, on the Iraqi border, ISIL pulled all its personnel out of the Iraqi border town of al Qaim and two other border towns the group had controlled since 2014. Qaim was special because it was the main border crossing between Iraq and Syria and increasingly hit with airstrikes and now ground forces as well. ISIL lost most other border towns already but held onto al Qaim as long as it could because it was a key link in the main road from Mosul to Raqqa. That link is apparently no longer considered essential because ISIL only holds a small (one or two percent) of Mosul and is about to lose that as well. Russia lifted the last of the economic sanctions it had imposed on Turkey in retaliation for a Turkish F-16 shooting down a Russian fighter-bomber on the Syrian border in late November 2015. This hurt the Turkish economy, especially because of the ban on Russians visiting popular Turkish tourist resorts during the Winter months. May 21, 2017: In the central Syria (Homs) the Assads declared they had finally regained control of the provincial capital (Homs City). The Assads lost control of this city in 2012 and have since regained control over most of Homs province as well. Much of the gains, especially in Homs city, were by agreements with the rebels to let them leave the city for another rebel held area. The alternative was continued artillery and bombing attacks, mostly against residential areas. Once the Assads had surrounded an area like Homs city they could block foreign aid (especially food and medicine) for the civilians. This tactic is an ancient one and still popular in the Middle East. But international law considers it a war crime. May 20, 2017: In the east (Deir Ezzor province) an American airstrike hit a convoy of Iran backed Shia mercenaries headed for the Tanf border crossing. After the American aircraft fired on them the convoy turned around and headed west. This was the first American airstrike on Iranian forces in Syria and was carried out because the convoy had entered a de-confliction zone the U.S. and Russia had agreed would be controlled by U.S. backed rebels who operate out of training bases in Jordan and near the Iraq border. The Iranian militia did not try to advance again. Iran backed Syrian Army forces have advanced to within 20 kilometers of Tanf and the U.S. wants to keep Iran backed forces away from the Iraq border to prevent Iran from established a road link from Iran through Syria and into Lebanon. An American backed Sunni tribal militia (Maghawir a Thawra or MAT) controls the Tanf crossing and an Iraqi tribal militia controls the Iraqi side. For the last two months these two tribal militias have opened the border crossing to non-military traffic. All vehicles are searched for explosives and the MAT militia admit they have American air power on call if they encounter any problems. MAT charges a fee for most cargo passing through and does not care where the cargo is going (to Assad or ISIL controlled territory). Apparently MAT will contact the Americans if they encounter vehicles that are clean but may be Iranians. Naturally vehicles carrying cargoes of weapons are not allowed. Russian officials revealed the United States told them recently that they were in Syria mainly to remove the Assads from power and destroying ISIL was a means to that end not the main reason they were. The Americans also told the Russians that the U.S. would operate in Syria as it believed necessary to accomplish its mission and that American military commanders now had a lot more freedom to do what they through best without first waiting to have their decisions scrutinized, and sometimes modified or blocked officials and advisors back home. The U.S. Department of Defense (now led by a retired marine general) can set troop levels in Iraq and Syria. Officially there are currently 5,800 (nine percent in Syria) inside Syria and Iraq but the real number may be about 40 percent higher if you count contractors and allies. The Russians and Syrians are in Syria to keep the Assads in power and destroying ISIL is part of that. Fighting with the Americans is apparently not something Russia or Iran want do in Syria. May 18, 2017: In the east, on the Iraqi border, a coalition airstrike near the town of al Qaim killed Abu Khattab al Rawi. He was one of the ISIL officials in charge of smuggling in commercial UAVs and providing training in their use. Rawi was an Iraqi who had lots of contacts in western Iraq (Anbar province) and supplied senior ISIL leadership with regular reports on how the war was proceeding there. The airstrike that got Rawi killed three of his associates. May 17, 2017: A small forces of Western (U.S., British, Norwegian) special operations troops has been sent to eastern Syria to block Iranian efforts to clear a path for their Iran-to-Syria road. Iraq will not block Iranian air or ground traffic and the Assads encourage it. If this route can be established it would make it much cheaper to get weapons, ammo and other military equipment from Iran to Syria and southern Lebanon (controlled by Iran-backed Hezbollah). Israel and the Sunni Arab states and Turkey oppose this Iranian plan while Russia is trying to remain neutral. May 15, 2017: The SDF announced a five day amnesty program for ISIL fighters defending Raqqa. The amnesty was aimed at local men, often members of tribal groups led by local leaders, who joined ISIL as a way to protect their families. The amnesty deal apparently worked because after a few days it was extended to the end of May. SDF has a lot of Arab members from the same areas around Raqqa and know (or are related to) some of those who joined ISIL for practical, not ideological, reasons. SDF knows that most ISIL forces from eastern Syria did not join for ideological reasons and apparently made deals with the American led coalition and UN to at least tolerate the amnesty. May 11, 2017: In the east (Deir Ezzor province) Abu Asim al Jazaeri, the ISIL leader in charge of training children to be fighters and suicide bombers, was killed by a coalition airstrike. Al Jazaeri was from Algeria and the second senior ISIL leader killed in the last two weeks. The earlier airstrike was in the same area and killed Mustafa Gunes, a Turk who operated out of Syria to supervise ISIL recruiting and fund raising in parts of Turkey as well as planning and supporting ISIL attacks in the West. May 10, 2017: In the northeast (Raqqa province) Kurdish led SDF rebels have driven ISIL out of Tabqa town and the nearby dam. ISIL had held Tabqa since August 2014. Tabqa is 50 kilometers west of Raqqa city and next to the Tabqa dam. With SDF in control of Tabqa city and the nearby dam the next objective is Raqqa itself. The final fight for Tabqa took over a month and was won mostly by SDF and coalition air support (directed by special operations troops, most of them American, on the ground). SDF is now clearing mines and other explosives ISIL planted around the town and the dam in preparation for the push towards Raqqa. In the north (east of Aleppo) fighting between ISIL and Assad forces led to the death of about 14 senior ISIL officials, including Abu Musab al Masri, the current ISIL Minister of War. It took a week or so to confirm the identities of all (or most) of those killed. Some were foreign ISIL members from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Details of this incident were not made public until the 24th. May 9, 2017: The U.S. confirmed it will supply more weapons to the SDF, despite objections from Turkey. The new American government will no longer restrict the flow of weapons to the SDF and will use more American advisors and air controllers with SDF forces closing in on Raqqa. Photos showed trucks carrying modern weapons and accompanied by pickup trucks, hummers, MRAPs, 12.7mm machine-guns, TOW anti-tank missiles, assault rifles, radios, night-vision goggles and lots of ammo for SDF with more to come. The U.S. will also increase medical support it has been already providing in SDF base areas (where U.S. forces share several bases with the SDF). May 6, 2017: Russia reinstated the de-confliction agreement they with the United States regarding each others warplanes operating over Syria. May 5, 2017: Russia delivered (by ship) another 21 M30 122mm howitzers to Syria. These were widely used during World War II and production continued until 1955. They are still used by over 20 countries because they are cheap, reliable, easy to operate and rugged. Syria received hundreds of M30s from Russia during the Cold War and still had over a hundred in service when the rebellion began in 2011. May 4, 2017: Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to establish four de-escalation zones in Syria and maintain them for at least six months. The largest zone contains all of Idlib province and portions of adjacent Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces. The other three zones are in northern Homs province, the Ghouta suburbs 15 kilometers east of Damascus and an area along the Jordan border. The final map for these zones will be agreed to by June 4th. Russia, Turkey and Iran will supply troops to police these zones and supervise the zones to ensure movement of foreign aid and civilians. The problem is that most rebels do not agree with this arrangement, nor does the United States. May 3, 2017: The pro-Assad coalition of Russia, Turkey, Iran and the Assad government began two days of peace talks with each other about how to settle the Syrian mess. This took place in the Central Asian city of Astana (the capital of Kazakhstan). This time some rebel factions were there as well but the rebels soon left because they described the Astana talks had nothing to do with peace but everything to do with how to defeat the rebels. The rebels refused to attend the last round of talks in March and were enticed back with assurances that things would be different during the May talks. That was not true. The rebels see the decision by Russia, Turkey, Iran and the Assad government to establish de-escalation zones in rebel held areas as a ploy to make it easier to defeat the rebel forces there. By the terms of this the zones would be no-fly zones for all aircraft except those from Russia, Turkey and Syria. The Assads and their supporters (Russia, Iran and Turkey) would establish checkpoints around the zones to control ground access. This would, in theory, allow emergency aid to get in (or be blocked) and eliminate air attacks on civilians. But the rebels point out that in previous ceasefire agreements the Russians and Assads ignored the terms and attacked rebels and civilians claiming they were reacting to rebel violence. In the case of the four de-escalation zones thats exactly what happened. Meanwhile Israeli and Russian officials are increasingly open about how the two nations coordinate military operations in Syria and cooperate in other areas as well. May 1, 2017: Casualties in Syria for April were about 2,800 dead, about 35 percent of them civilians. ISIL and similar Islamic terror groups represented 29 percent of the dead while 16 percent were SDF and 18 percent Assad forces. Exactly how many have died since 2011 in Syria is a mystery because it is impossible for outsiders to get reliable data from many parts of the country. For that reason the UN stopped making estimates in 2014. Since then there have been estimates from pro-rebel and pro-government sources that vary quite a lot. It does appear that over 300,000 (at least) have died so far. About 30 percent of the dead have been civilians, most of them victims of deliberate government attacks meant to force pro-rebel civilians out of the country. Less than two percent of the civilian dead are the result of air attacks by the American led coalition. Thats because of the highly restrictive ROE (Rules of Engagement) and the blatant use of human shields by ISIL. Russian air attacks since October 2015 have killed more than twice as many civilians as the U.S. led coalition has since August 2014 but that is because of a less restrictive ROE. Russia is apparently not deliberately attacking civilians like the government aircraft and artillery continue to do. Since 2014 the American led coalition has carried out 22,000 airstrikes in Syria (41 percent) and Iraq (59 percent). Only .24 percent of those airstrikes resulted in evidence that there were civilian deaths. Most of the civilian deaths continue to be caused by the Syrian government and ISIL. April 29, 2017: In the northeast (Hasakah province) the ISIL forces were driven from the Iraq side of the border. This part of Hasakah province is still largely ISIL controlled but the Assad forces are seeking to clear a road from Damascus (the Syrian capital in the southwest) to Baaj and make it possible for Iran to move personnel and supplies by road from Iran to Assad controlled territory and then into Hezbollah controlled southern Lebanon. One of four new A-50 AWACs aircraft has shown up in Syria. This new version entered service in 2011 but foreign ELINT (electronic intelligence) operations have not yet had a good opportunity to see how effective the new A-50 is. To do that you have to get your ELINT aircraft close to an A-50 in a combat zone. Israel believes the A-50 was brought in to deal with a possible air battle between Russian and American warplanes and also to keep track of the F-35 stealth fighters Israel has received this year and are already flying close to the Syrian border and, possibly, across the border as well. Tauranga Harbour was the scene of a friendly invasion this week, as a squadron of NZ Army combat engineers launched into navigation exercises. 2 Field Squadron based at Linton Camp are on water-based manoeuvres at Tauranga, aboard Zodiac inflatables with 40 horsepower outboard motors. Theyve just completed a week of demolition work in Northland, and now have a week in the Bay focussed on navigation, tactical, night missions, reconnaissance, ferrying from land to shore, and dive support. Some of the exercises are training for relief work in the Pacific, such as the damage recovery missions following last years Fiji cyclone disaster. Microsoft cracks down the scam, files a lawsuit against the website Microsoft has filed a complaint in federal court against a Chinese gaming website that they claim have been selling hacked Xbox accounts since 2015 and selling the in-game currencies at incredible discounts on the open market, reports The Verge. iGSKY, that presents itself as a gaming service company, allows you to buy cheap in-game credits and rare items on the website. They in turn hack your Xbox account, then use your associated credit card to buy more in-game credits, which they sell to other victims, who in turn also get their accounts hacked and credit cards stolen. The site is offering cheap in-game points for the FIFA games, Grand Theft Auto V, Forza Horizon 3, and Pokemon Go, among others. The company has made nearly $2 million in purchases using hacked Xbox accounts and their attached credit cards, claims Microsoft. Microsoft is committed to providing customers with safe and secure online experiences. We filed these lawsuits to protect our Xbox customers from the illegal trafficking of stolen property, a company spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Verge. How did Microsoft unearth the scam? In order to bring the illegal operation out in the open, Microsofts in-house fraud investigators started looking at the site in December, by actually buying some in-game currencies from FIFA. The companys fraud team purchased 11,000 FIFA points on iGSKY.com for $60. Immediately after the transaction, Xbox Live received a request to change the email and password for an eight-year-old account, and a subsequent transaction of $127.54 was made from the credit card for the same 11,000 points. The moment iGSKY provided Microsofts investigating team with the details in an email with instructions to spend the points as soon as possible, the original owner of the account contacted Xbox customer support, complaining that he had been locked out of his account and unauthorized purchases had been made. Using this as evidence, Microsoft filed a complaint in the court and built charges of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, and CFAA violations against iGSKY parent company, Gameest and Weiwei Chu, its alleged operator. While it is unclear how IGSKY hacks Xbox accounts, there has not been any broader breach, according to reports. But the bigger issue is to shut down the nefarious activity of selling hacked accounts online. Since, IGSKY is based in China, it is a difficult task for a U.S. based company like Microsoft to shut down the website. However, the court has made it a little difficult by issuing a temporary restraining order freezing the companys domestic assets, along with any PayPal accounts associated to the site. You can read Microsofts Virtual Currency suit here. Source: The Verge RJP-N cadres clash with police, four injured At least four Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) activists were injured in a clash with security personnel in Rajbiraj, the district headquarters of Saptari, on Tuesday. Phillips 66 operates as an energy manufacturing and logistics company. It operates through four segments: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties (M&S). The Midstream segment transports crude oil and other feedstocks; delivers refined petroleum products to market; provides terminaling and storage services for crude oil and refined petroleum products; transports, stores, fractionates, exports, and markets natural gas liquids; provides other fee-based processing services; and gathers, processes, transports, and markets natural gas. The Chemicals segment produces and markets ethylene and other olefin products; aromatics and styrenics products, such as benzene, cyclohexane, styrene, and polystyrene; and various specialty chemical products, including organosulfur chemicals, solvents, catalysts, and chemicals used in drilling and mining. The Refining segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks into petroleum products, such as gasolines, distillates, aviation, and renewable fuels at 12 refineries in the United States and Europe. The M&S segment purchases for resale and markets refined petroleum products, including gasolines, distillates, and aviation fuels primarily in the United States and Europe. This segment also manufactures and markets specialty products, such as base oils and lubricants. The company was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through a portfolio of six brands comprising Maracay in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California, Colorado, and the Carolinas; and Winchester Homes in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. As of December 31, 2021, its operations consisted of 112 active selling communities and 41,675 owned or controlled lots. The company sells its homes through own sales representatives and independent real estate brokers. It also provides financial services, such as mortgage financing, title and escrow, and property and casualty insurance agency services. The company was formerly known as TRI Pointe Group, Inc. and changed its name to Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. in January 2021. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes generic medicines, specialty medicines, and biopharmaceutical products in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers sterile products, hormones, high-potency drugs, and cytotoxic substances in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, injectables, inhalants, liquids, transdermal patches, ointments, and creams. It also develops, manufactures, and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients. In addition, it focuses on the central nervous system, pain, respiratory, and oncology areas. Its products in the central nervous system include Copaxone for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; AJOVY for the preventive treatment of migraine; and AUSTEDO for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington disease. The company's products in the respiratory market comprise ProAir, QVAR, ProAir Digihaler, AirDuo Digihaler, and ArmonAir Digihaler, BRALTUS, CINQAIR/CINQAERO, DuoResp Spiromax, and AirDuo RespiClick/ArmonAir RespiClick for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Its products in the oncology market include Bendeka, Treanda, Granix, Trisenox, Lonquex, and Tevagrastim/Ratiograstim. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited has a collaboration MedinCell for the development and commercialization of multiple long-acting injectable products, a risperidone suspension for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. RJP-N fallen between two stools? On April 20, six Madhes-based parties that had formed an alliance under the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha decided to come under one umbrella to form a unified forceRastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N). Ted Cruz. Photo: 2017 Getty Images There was once a time when Ted Cruz thought he could be president. Its unclear why, since the nation was not about to elect someone whose full emotional range appeared to only consist of sad and deeply uncomfortable. And apparently likability among the American people isnt Cruzs only problem hes reportedly also disliked by his Senate colleagues across both sides of the aisle. Al Franken in particular has been having some fun mocking Cruz as of late: a full chapter of his new memoir, Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, is devoted to the subject, including the line, I like Ted Cruz more than most of my colleagues like Ted Cruz, and I hate Ted Cruz. In a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper, the Minnesota senator explained that Cruz is kind of a toxic guy in an office, the guy who microwaves fish. And during a Wednesday town-hall session, he dropped a particularly tragic detail involving Cruz and the Senates Secret Santa. Ive had people pick out Cruzs name and then drop it on the floor. Ive actually had that happen, Franken claimed. Cruz, for his part, responded to Frankens recent comments with a petty tweet reading, Covfefe? Hard to say, but I hear Al Frankens new book is full of it ;) Senators theyre just like us! Sindhupalchok rosemary farmers left high and dry Farmers who have been growing rosemary in their fields are worried as they are having a hard time finding buyers for the herb, and the company that had pledged to buy their crops has fled. Tourism industry icon Shrestha passes away BK Shrestha, one of the pioneers of Nepals tourism industry, passed away on Tuesday morning at his residence in Bhainsepati after battling cancer for years. He was 64. Where theres smoke One billion people around the world smoke and 6 million die each year due to tobacco use, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report. Who is going to farm? A few days ago, I had a chance to talk to the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Development (MoAD) about food security issues in Nepal. OTTAWADefence Minister Harjit Sajjan used a major speech Wednesday to the defence industry to blast American firm Boeing for picking a trade spat with Bombardier. Sajjan said Canada is disappointed by the unfounded action by one of its major partners in the defence industry and he delivered that message to hundreds at a breakfast speech at a major trade show for military contractors. Boeing has petitioned the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate subsidies for Bombardiers CSeries aircraft that it says have allowed the Canadian company to export planes at well below cost. Read more: Bombardier and Boeing clash in trade dispute over CSeries Sajjan said Boeing is not behaving like a trusted partner and the government wants the company to withdraw the complaint. He repeated the Canadian governments thinly veiled retaliation threat to scrap the planned purchase of 18 Super Hornet fighter jets from the Boeing. A productive relationship between industry and government is crucial, the minister said. That is why our government and I stress this our government is disappointed in the action of one of our leading industry partners. We strongly disagree with the decision of the United States Commerce Department to initiate a trade remedy case in response to Boeings petition against Bombardier. Scott Day, a spokesman for Boeing, defended the companys trade action, suggesting it should not be linked to its military relationship with Canada. Its more of a commercial issue with regard to the Bombardier case, he said. Were going to continue working with the U.S. navy, providing information on the Super Hornet that will be provided to the government of Canada. Day said Boeing operations in Canada account for 14 per cent of the countrys aerospace industry. That includes 560 companies that provide parts to Boeing commercial airplanes and 2,000 company workers in the country. We value Canada as a supplier-partner. Sajjan also said the defence policy review that he will unveil next week will be linked to the governments broader innovation agenda. He said the military wants to help foster a partnership with the defence industry that allows for the development of cutting-edge equipment for Canadian soldiers. Sajjan also made a pitch for the defence industry to help Canada with its broader agenda with the U.S. keeping borders open to trade in the face of possible protectionist action by the Donald Trump administration. We call on all of our industry partners to speak with one voice about the interconnectedness of the defence industry supply chain between Canada and the United States, Sajjan said. We need your help in making the clear case of ensuring goods continue to flow freely across our two countries. We need your voices to articulate the consequences should our borders be closed. The government will continue to deliver this same message. Read more about: SHARE: Guys and Dolls Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Directed by Donna Feore. Until Oct. 29 at the Festival Theatre, Stratford. StratfordFestival.ca or 1-800-567-1600. What Guys and Dolls lacks in marriage advice and dating etiquette, Donna Feores production at the Stratford Festival makes up for in pure, unbridled energy. The morals of the much-beloved 1950 musical about sinners and saints under the bright lights of Broadway may not have aged as well as its ear-catching melodies have dice games and spinsterhood are not nearly as threatening to todays society as surreptitiously getting a girl drunk on a first date (as in Havana), or getting married with ulterior motives to change your partner (Marry the Man Today). But if anyone can make an argument for the enduring appeal of this famously perfect musical, its director and choreographer Feore. After a slow start to the 2017 Stratford Festival on Monday night, Tuesdays opening of Guys and Dolls really gets the festival rolling. Devon Michael Brown leaps on stage in Guys and Dolls. With Guys and Dolls, Feore continues her hot streak in the Festival Theatre, following Fiddler on the Roof, Crazy for You, The Sound of Music, and last years A Chorus Line. With each additional year of experience on the famous thrust stage and with the Stratford ensemble of triple threats, she even seems to outdo herself. In the opening Overture/Runyonland (Guys and Dolls is based on the short stories of Damon Runyon), the set and costumes of 1940s New York begin in whites, blacks and greys (a nod to the Shaw Festivals entirely black-and-white production of the musical in 2013, perhaps?) before popping into Technicolor in a bit of theatrical magic. What follows is a whirlwind of tightly choreographed stage business of flirtation, crime, and urban mundanity a stage filled with characters and stories that will unfold in other plays we dont get to see. Feore makes full use of the thrust stage and her 18 ensemble cast members (as music director and conductor Laura Burton does her orchestra of 17 musicians), before matching her layered choreography with the harmonic layers of Fugue for Tinhorns, performed by Steve Ross as Nicely Nicely Johnson (who makes a habit of marking every entrance with a new snack in hand), Mark Uhre as Benny Southstreet (a thrilling add to the Stratford cast, with feet moving high and fast like hes walking barefoot on hot sand), and Marcus Nance as Rusty Charlie (Crazy for You fans will remember Ross and Nance as two thirds of a hilarious trio of harmonizing cowboys). And while some aspects of Guys and Dolls that may never fit seamlessly with modern conceptions of gender equality, Feore makes her best effort to even the scales. Alexis Gordon as the missionary Sarah Brown (the best role yet for this young star, in only her third season at the festival) discovers her fiery side, holds her own in a brawl and orders her own drinks in Cuba, thank you very much (though, its still unclear as to how much she really knows about the drinks alcoholic ingredients). This streak is as charming to the audience as it is to Sky Masterson (a crooning Evan Buliung), the famous gambler who woos her on a bet. Blythe Wilson is a highlight as Miss Adelaide, a cabaret performer and long-time fiancee of crap-game runner Nathan Detroit (Sean Arbuckle, whose only fault is a disobedient New York accent). Wilson is at once light and airy, shrieking in delight, but also sombre, thoughtful, and a career woman her acts at the Hot Box are sexy and flirty, but are received with cheers and without jeers from her male audience members. But Feores command of group dance numbers continue to be her strength. The choreography for the male ensemble in The Crapshooters Dance may be her most jaw-dropping yet, in a blur of pinstripes and fedoras (thanks to Dana Osbornes costume design), with special commendation to the acrobatics of ensemble cast member Devon Michael Brown in his Stratford debut. That scene defines Feores direction: fast, tight, energetic, and full of precise, interesting imagery (for another example, just wait for one particular breathtaking moment of Sit Down Youre Rocking the Boat.) Stratford has made a solid bet on Feore and Guys and Dolls, and theatregoers would be suckers not to do the same. SHARE: HALIFAXNova Scotia voters gave Premier Stephen McNeil a second shot at governing on Tuesday, handing his Liberals an election victory after a term marked by two balanced budgets, labour strife and a rising chorus of complaints about an overburdened health-care system. It wasnt immediately clear if it was to be a second majority government or a reduced minority. Two-and-a-half hours after the polls closed, the Liberals were elected or leading in 23 ridings, the Tories were elected or leading in 19 and the NDP were elected or leading in nine ridings. At least 26 seats are needed for a majority. There were tight races across the province, with the Conservatives making a strong showing. Party supporters at McNeils election headquarters in Bridgetown cheered as the election was declared for the Liberals. Party president John Gillis said he was pleased with the Liberal win, although its size was still unclear. I think at this point we would have preferred to be a little further ahead than we are, he said. Gillis said it was clear the voters had sent the Liberals a message about health care. Health care was a big issue for many Nova Scotians, he said. It certainly made an impact in some areas, particularly in Cape Breton. As the government, majority or minority, we must face that and we must react strongly to it. At dissolution, the Liberals held 34 seats in the 51-seat legislature, the Progressive Conservatives had 10 and the NDP 5. There was one Independent and one seat was vacant. McNeil, the former owner of an appliance repair business in the Annapolis Valley, was re-elected in his riding of Annapolis, while Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie also won the northern Nova Scotia riding of Cumberland South. NDP Leader Gary Burrill won his seat, Halifax Chebucto, the riding he chose to contest after winning the party leadership last year without a seat. When the 30-day campaign began, the Liberals held a comfortable lead in the polls, as they had for much of their mandate. But the gap narrowed slightly as Baillie repeatedly complained about doctor shortages, emergency room closures and a lack of mental-heath services. For his part, McNeil boasted about an improved economy, two consecutive balanced budgets and a penny-pinching approach to public spending that enabled his government to table a spring budget that offers a modest tax cut for low- and middle-income earners. McNeil, whose Liberals won their first majority in 2013, said the tax cut would not have been possible were it not for his determination to rein in wage increases within the public sector. However, that commitment led to ugly standoffs with the provinces health-care workers and public school teachers. There were protests at the legislature, two brief strikes and back-to-work legislation that the unions condemned as draconian. While McNeil and Baillie both promised four more years of balanced budgets, Burrill presented a radically different approach. He campaigned on a platform that called for adding close to $1 billion to the provinces accumulated debt over the next four years, mainly to improve health care and education. Burrill, a United Church minister, has said his party was inspired by Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal party won the 2015 federal election by, among other things, pledging to spur the economy through deficit financing. But the provincial Liberals labelled Burrill a hard left politician, while a Tory spokesman called the NDP platform a reckless spending orgy. In the two months before the election campaign, the Liberals attempted to soften their image by spending tens of millions of dollars amid a flurry of daily, feel-good announcements. On the final day of the election race, Baillie again returned to a theme that he said was resonating with voters at the doorstep. Everywhere I go in Nova Scotia, people tell me that they are frustrated and afraid because of the state of our health-care system, Baillie told a rally in Dartmouth. Everyone acknowledges there is a crisis in health care everyone except Stephen McNeil. In particular, Baillie made a point of telling voters McNeil had failed to deliver on a 2013 promise to make sure every Nova Scotian had access to a family doctor. Almost four years after the premier made that pledge, about 100,000 Nova Scotians are still looking for a doctor. The election was McNeils second as premier. He led the Liberals to victory in 2013 when the party defeated Darrell Dexters NDP government the first New Democratic government east of Ontario. Among notable Liberals winning re-election were Labour Minister Kelly Regan in Bedford, House Speaker Kevin Murphy in Eastern Shore; Environment Minister Margaret Miller in Hants East; Business Minister Mark Furey; Fisheries and Acquaculture Minister Keith Colwell in Preston-Dartmouth; Health Minister Leo Glavine in Kings West; and Municipal Affairs Minister Zach Churchill in Yarmouth. Read more about: SHARE: It is not his destiny to be the next Dalai Lama. For he is already reincarnated as the 17th Karmapa Lama. Yet he may one day succeed his 81-year-old teacher and protector. Revered since age 7 as spiritual leader of a 1,000-year-old branch of Tibetan Buddhism, Ogyen Trinley Dorje is making his first trip to Canada this week at the age of 31. Meeting Ontario politicians Tuesday before sitting down for an interview, the Karmapa padded around Queens Park in a pair of brown hiking shoes peeking out from under his simple maroon robes. A picture of youthful wisdom with his direct gaze, towering above other monks at six feet tall, he may yet emerge as the public face of Tibetan Buddhism Worshipped as a living god and the Buddha of Compassion, will he also inherit the Dalai Lamas imagery of divinity and celebrity? This week in Toronto he is giving public lectures about mindfulness and the environment, the power of meditation, and ancient wisdom in modern times. But among his devotees, there is a different kind of knowledge that karma could ultimately bind the Karmapa to a bigger burden. As the Dalai Lama grows older in exile, and tensions with China grow deeper, His Holiness muses publicly about declaring an end to his own line. Rather than risk the spectacle of rival reincarnations with Tibetan monks and Chinese Communists putting forward competing candidates in a spiritual standoff the Dalai Lama has hinted it might be wiser to repurpose another reincarnated lama for a leadership role. Many devotees believe the Karmapa will fill any future void, emerging as Tibets symbolic leader if not the quite spiritual leader of all Tibetans (for there are so many complications among the denominations). The Dalai Lama has already delegated many of his erstwhile political responsibilities to a Tibetan administration led by a prime minister, so the tradition of a supreme leader has already been recast. It is almost impossible to take on the role of the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa tells me cautiously, modestly, in our interview. The politics of religion is a delicate subject, not least for the worlds most suffocated and yet idealized faith. The Karmapa which translates roughly as the embodiment of Buddha activity is accompanied by bodyguards to safeguard him from physical threats, but also an entourage of aides to protect him from political missteps. I will try to do as much as I can do, but this issue about future leadership, this is not something that I alone can decide. I think this is up to the people of Tibet, he answers diplomatically. His intonations and mannerisms are reminiscent of the Dalai Lama, whom I interviewed at his residence-in-exile in the Indian redoubt of Dharamsala more than a decade ago, after my own trip to Tibet. Like the Dalai Lama, he barrels ahead in blunt English on familiar topics, but deftly reverts to an interpreter for the stickier subjects. In years past, the Karmapa skirted the succession question by saying he had his hands full in his current role. Now older and wiser (and bolder), he maps out another route that stresses the propitious over the ambitious. Maybe things need more time to resolve this problem, he concludes. More time. In the meantime, he worries about political positions hardening on both sides, blocking the way to an eventual settlement. The Tibet he left behind as a 14-year-old escaping his Chinese minders in the dead of night to cross the Himalayas and reach neighbouring India is in even more desperate circumstances today. Hundreds of monks have immolated themselves to protest Chinese repression, which has become only worse since violence erupted in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in 2008. In late 2003, the Dalai Lama told me about his diplomatic dialogue with Beijing, which had just resumed. All these years later, it has reached a dead end, the Karmapa acknowledges. Despite the frustration and radicalization of younger Tibetans, he still believes the middle path is the only route to a political settlement. And he may be well placed to find a way, never having been denounced by Chinas rulers, who continue to demonize the Dalai Lama as a splittist. Dialogue between Tibet and China needs to continue, he answers in Tibetan, throwing in the English words common sense and mutual understanding to make his point. Far too much time is spent on discussing policy and political issues outside, when the real attention needs to be paid to the daily experiences of the Tibetan people inside Tibet, he continues. Its very easy on the outside to get lost in this policy discussion. In the same vein, he frets about the peoples propensity to lose their way on environmental threats and the spectre of global warming, which are no less forbidding for the people of Tibet and the world. Like political obstacles, environmental challenges can seen insoluble if addressed in their entirety, rather than individually. I think the biggest issue is also related to humans motivations human greed is the biggest issue of the environment, because of consumerism, he muses. The sad thing is, until something happens, people dont want to change. As the Karmapa ponders the future problems of environmental depredation and the liberation of his own people, what about his own personal journey until now? At age 7 he was discovered by a group of travelling lamas and plucked from his family to be tutored in monasteries and groomed for his reincarnated role. In later years he was watched over by the Chinese minders and spies. After his escape as a teenager, he was suspected by the Indian security services of being a Chinese plant, and largely confined to lodgings supplied by the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. Only recently has he been given greater freedom to travel (a yellow ID document issued by India governs his movements). Yet even when travelling he remains in a bubble, ensconced by his entourage. At home he dare not go for a walk lest he be engulfed by devotees. I ask, teasingly, about an exercise machine in his monastery. But no place to put, he deadpans. Does he miss his personal freedom of movement? Yes of course, he shoots back. I dont have much choice . . . sometimes its too much. SHARE: NOYES, MINN.The sheriffs department in Noyes, Minn., says a 57-year-old woman who was believed to originally be from the African country of Ghana has died of hypothermia as she was heading to cross the border into Canada. Mavis Otuteye was first reported missing Thursday after she was last sighted in Kittson County on May 22. Her body was found near Noyes on Friday and an initial autopsy concluded the cause of death was possible hypothermia, though a final autopsy is still pending. Noyes is about 14 kilometres from Emerson, Man., one of the major sites of illegal border crossings into Canada. There has been a spike in asylum seekers since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, with the most recent RCMP figures showing 859 people were stopped between official border points in April. For the year so far, there have been 1,993 interceptions in Quebec, 477 in Manitoba and 233 in British Columbia. Otuteyes case is currently under investigation by the Kittson County Sheriffs Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Read more: Manitoba sets up reception centre for asylum-seekers near U.S. border Illegal border crossings into Canada continue to rise Conservatives want Trudeau to go to Manitoba border to see crossings first hand SHARE: Prominent gay Torontonians and Mayor John Tory launched Pride Month predicting that controversy over police participation wont taint the huge celebration of gay rights. The Wednesday raising of rainbow and transgender flags outside city hall came less than a week after bitter city council debate and a failed attempt to scrap Prides $260,000 grant for this years festival. We will come together this year and work through our differences, Kristyn Wong-Tam, Torontos only openly gay city councillor, told the large and enthusiastic crowd. We will march in the Trans Parade, march in the Dyke Parade, march in the Pride Parade because Pride is political, Pride is diverse, Pride is intersectional. Tory said he wishes Pride had not said police uniforms, weapons and vehicles are unwelcome in the parade that caps the event-filled month, but he is very confident ongoing talks between police Chief Mark Saunders and Pride executive director Olivia Nuamah will find a compromise for next years parade. We are going to proceed this year to have a very successful Pride festival for the whole month and a great parade, Tory told reporters, adding he found hopes the debate is the last of its kind that well have. Tory also criticized, in response to a question, a Wong-Tam tweet For seven hours, I listened to mostly straight, white men who've never been to Pride talk about what Pride meant to them. I deserve ice cream as divisive. Pride issued the edict in January in response to demands from Black Lives Matter Toronto, members of which halted the 2016 Pride parade during a protest that lasted about a half-hour. The group, which in the past criticized police over carding, accused Pride organizers of anti-blackness. Councillor John Campbells motion to suspend the grant until Pride rescinded the request failed 17-27. In his speech before the flag-raising, Tory noted Toronto is grappling with anti-Black racism. He also condemned anti-homosexual violence in Chechnya and the court-ordered caning of gays in Indonesia. People streaming toward the ceremony passed Dale Nelson holding a pink sign with photos of uniformed officers at past parades and the words: Pride committee hates LGBT police officers. Nelson said in an interview he is a proud gay man ashamed to see officers marginalized. Gay and lesbian officers in uniform are doing a great job and as a reward they are not allowed to wear that uniform in the parade, he said. SHARE: Yadav lashes out at RJP-N Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal (SSF-N) Chairman Upendra Yadav on Wednesday lashed out at the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, a unified force of six Madhes-based parties, saying it was formed at the behest of foreign forces. A yellow lab named Zara was rescued and in good shape after tumbling down the Scarborough Bluffs Tuesday morning, near Crescentwood Park. Toronto Fire services were called to 15 Lakeside Ave. just before 10 a.m. Bill Zsepeczky, one of two firefighters who descended the bluff to reach Zara, said the dog must have tumbled about 15 metres down treacherous terrain. He said the only visible injury Zara had was a cut above one eye, but he wasnt sure if the dog had sustained any internal injuries. Within half an hour, firefighters were able to set up the rope rescue, reach the dog, and get it into a rescue basket, said fire media spokesperson Capt. Adrian Ratushniak. Rope rescues like this one take a lot of resources, Zsepeczky said. There were 15 to 20 firefighters who attended the incident, and Zsepeczky said they did a great job pulling Zara who weighs 94 lbs. to safety. Before 11 a.m. rolled around, Ratushniak said the fire crew was able to successfully retrieve the lab. Zsepeczky called Zara a remarkable dog who was unbelievably calm, adding the dog was more composed than a human would likely have been in the same situation. Officials from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority are warning residents and tourists to steer clear of both the top and bottom of the Scarborough Bluffs due to landslides. Recent rainfall and the high water level of Lake Ontario have led to more erosion of the bluffs than usual, TRCA waterfront specialist Nancy Gaffney said on Monday. Gaffney said between 10-15 landslides have rolled down the east side of the bluffs recently. Staff is reviewing drone footage from late last week to see just how serious the threat is. Although the ground may look stable, with plenty of grass on the surface, Gaffney said theres very little or nothing underneath that grass. Correction - June 1, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly referred to the dog as a golden lab. In fact, Zara is a yellow lab. SHARE: A Superior Court judge has stayed charges against a heroin dealer after finding a Peel police officer stole a statue of Scarface character Tony Montana from the mans storage unit and then, along with three other officers, lied about it in court. In a scathing 46-page judgment delivered Wednesday in Brampton, Justice Jennifer Woollcombe described the conduct of Major Drugs and Vice Unit constables Richard Rerrie, Mihai Muresan, Emanuel Pinheiro and Damian Savino as profoundly and demonstrably inconsistent with what a fair justice system requires. Peel police Chief Jennifer Evans ordered an internal investigation after learning about the ruling. I am committed to accountability to maintain the trust that we have worked so hard to build with our community, Evans said in a news release. The ruling stems from a 2014 Peel police investigation that resulted in five drug trafficking and possession charges against Lowell Somerville of Brampton, now 35. According to a summary of evidence in Woollcombes judgment, Peel police witnessed a drug deal involving Somerville on June 23, 2014 while he was under surveillance. Police arrested Somerville for trafficking, and while searching his car, found a gram each of heroin and methamphetamine. They obtained a search warrant for his basement apartment in Brampton, where they found more drugs including 24.2 grams of heroin. Police also discovered Somerville was leasing a storage locker in downtown Toronto and obtained a search warrant for the unit. In their initial testimonies, all four officers said nothing had been taken from the storage unit. But Somerville testified that after being released from custody, he went to the unit and noticed some of his possessions were missing among them, a metre-tall, one-of-a-kind hand-painted wood statue of infamous fictional drug dealer Tony Montana that he kept covered with beige cloths. The statue is modelled on Montanas character, at the end of the movie Scarface, at the point at which he utters the phrase, say hello to my little friend, in reference to the gun that he is carrying, Woollcombe wrote in her ruling. Believing his unit had been broken into, Somerville contacted his lawyer, Kim Schofield, who requested security footage from the storage facility. The footage, which Schofield submitted as evidence during Somervilles trial, shows Rerrie, Muresan, Panheiro and Savino entering the facility the morning of June 24, 2014, apparently empty-handed. In footage of the officers leaving the facility, Rerrie can clearly be seen with a large object, covered in a beige cloth, under his right arm. Under cross-examination, and again after viewing the video, Rerrie said hed taken a stand-up heater from a hallway in the facility that he said was in a green or black garbage bag and had a sign taped to it saying it was free. Rerrie testified he threw the heater out a few days later as it didnt work properly. In her judgment, Woollcombe noted the shape of the object that was carried out of the facility by Officer Rerrie appears very similar to the shape of the statue of Tony Montana, and that a heater was really not a necessity as it was June. After Rerries cross-examination, the other three officers were recalled to court, where they all repeated that nothing had been taken from the storage unit and, when asked by Schofield, denied having seen the Tony Montana statue in it. After shown the security footage, they all acknowledged that it showed Rerrie carrying a large object under his arm, but could not recall what Rerrie was carrying nor where the object came from. First, while Mr. Somerville has a criminal record and apparently makes a living selling illegal narcotics and gambling, I accept his evidence that he owned a valuable Tony Montana statue . . . I accept that the statue was stored in his storage unit, under two beige cloth coverings, Woollcombe wrote. I do not accept Officer Rerries evidence that he took a free heater from the hall of the facility after the execution of the search warrant. . . . I have found that Officer Rerrie stole Mr. Somervilles Tony Montana statue from his storage unit. While acknowledging she doesnt know exactly what happened in the storage unit nor the motivation for taking the statue, Woollcombe wrote that it seemed most likely that one of them found the statue and that a number of them recognized the statue as Tony Montana, a renowned drug dealer in a movie that they were familiar with . . . The irony of finding a statue of a drug dealer in a storage unit of a person they had just arrested for drug dealing is obvious. Each officer knew that this was something that they had no right to take, Woollcombe wrote. Perhaps because they never suspected a drug dealer would complain, or would be believed if he did, they committed what they knew was a theft of property. The officers all lied with the intention of deceiving the court about what theyd done. Somerville also said he was missing several pieces of valuable jewelry and large amounts of cash, but Woollcombe could not conclude, on a balance of probabilities, that the officers stole these items. The charges against Somerville are very serious, Woollcombe wrote, but the court must distance itself from this kind of egregious police conduct. This was theft of valuable property during the execution of a search warrant . . . By itself, the police misconduct at the storage facility is completely unjustifiable and intolerable. But for me, what is worse, is that four officers attempted in their testimony, to deliberately mislead the court. It is only by permanently stopping these proceedings through a stay that the court can effectively distance the just system from this gross and continuing misconduct . . . Going forward with a trial in light of the police conduct would, in my view, be offensive. Following the ruling, Schofield said outside court she was happy the charges against her client were stayed, but that the judges findings that the officers lied in court raises concerns about other cases they may have been involved with. The question becomes, you have perjured evidence from an elite squad how does this affect dozens and dozens, of not hundreds of other cases in the region of Peel? Schofield asked, saying the case presents a challenge to Peel polices Professional Standards Unit. They must investigate and if theres ground, lay the charges and prosecute them effectively, and lets get to the bottom of this, she said. The statue of Tony Montana is still at large. SHARE: Cheikh Diagne thought he would have an advantage in Canadas job market by having one of Canadas official languages as his mother tongue. Instead, the francophone newcomer from Senegal was disappointed few Canadian employers recognize his skills and expertise as a banker and economist, and most see him only fit for jobs in call centres and customer service. French is not a real official language in Canada, definitely not outside of Quebec. Although it is my first language, I face as many barriers as other newcomers to integrate and access services, said Diagne, who immigrated to Canada with his wife and two children in 2014 under the federal skilled worker program. Francophone immigrants are an invisible minority within a minority. Our needs are overlooked. With changing global migration patterns, Canada has seen a shift in the profile of its francophone immigrants in the last decade as more and more of French-speaking newcomers today are coming from Africa and the Caribbean than from Europe with a growing number arriving as refugees. There are now more francophone immigrants born in Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East (almost 45 per cent) than those from Europe (37 per cent), according to the Ontario Office of Francophone Affairs, with more than half of the francophone youth in Toronto now identified as visible minorities. While the changing demographics bring along more diversity and potential opportunities in trades, they also present new challenges due to ethnocultural differences and racism, as well as in the recognition of education and professional credentials. Francophone visible minorities have an unemployment rate twice the francophone population average in Ontario. The visible minority francophone immigrants certainly have more challenges in settling in Canada than the European francophone immigrants, said Leonie Tchatat, founder of La Passerelle IDE, which offers youth programs and employment-related services for French-speaking newcomers in Toronto. Both the federal and Ontario governments are keen on attracting French-speaking immigrants. While Ottawa aims at boosting francophone immigration outside Quebec to 4.4 per cent of annual immigration by 2023, the province has set a target of 5 per cent. Despite various initiatives, such as the francophone online immigration portal and exemption for labour market impact assessment for francophone workers settling outside of Quebec, both Canada and Ontario are way behind their targets. In 2016, about 4,400 francophone immigrants settled in Canada outside of Quebec, accounting for 1.8 of the total immigrant population. Nearly 2,400 of them made Ontario home and they represented 2.2 per cent of all the 110,019 newcomers to the province last year. Ontario is committed to ensuring francophones have effective supports to help them settle and integrate in Ontario communities. We know that the availability of settlement services in French plays a role in attracting francophone newcomers, said Laura Sylvis, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration of Ontario. We have prioritized the expansion of services to francophone immigrants, including newcomer settlement programs, language classes and bridge training. Sylvis said in areas where the province has control, progress has been made. For instance, last year, the French-speaking skilled worker program made up 3 per cent of the provincial nominations to settle in Ontario, up from just 1 per cent in 2015. Recently, the ministry also announced $1.43 million in settlement funding to support eight francophone organizations across the province in providing services to French-speaking newcomers. According to a recent report funded by the province, between 6 and 7 per cent of all publicly available job postings in Ontario contain the word French in the job description. Advertised pay is on average 18 to 20 per cent higher for these job opportunities, indicating the value of French-speaking capability to employers. Growth opportunities for the French-speaking segments of Ontarios workforce focus on the finance and insurance sector, followed by health care, technical services, retail and wholesale sectors. The study also identified some key challenges for francophone immigrants looking for employment: English proficiency level, cultural competency and Canadian experience, networking and resume writing. Tunisian immigrant Dara Tai, who settled in Toronto via Montreal, said English proficiency is necessary for francophone newcomers outside of Quebec as many must enrol in English-language training even though they are already fluent in Canadas other official language. It is much easier for an anglophone guy who speaks some French than a francophone guy who speaks English to get a bilingual job here, said the 42-year-old banker and legal consultant, who came to Canada in 2012 under the skilled worker program and now works as a program co-ordinator at La Passerelle after failing to land a job in his professional field. There is a higher expectation of a francophones English than of an anglophones French ability. Different community and academic programs for francophone newcomers have sprung up in recent years to fill the gaps in cultural competency and Canadian workplace experience. Two years ago, the Ottawa-based La Cite collegiale started offering small classes in Toronto that cater to francophone immigrants in the city through online programs and weekend classes. This population has many needs at different levels. What we do is to help them be job ready in Canada and connect them with employers, said Judith Charest, the colleges business development and program director in Toronto. All our programs have an English component. English proficiency is essential to their employability. Employers certainly see the value of a highly bilingual employee. It is an added value if you can work in both the English and French markets. SHARE: SHANGHAIA man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing, the arrested mans wife and an advocacy group said Tuesday. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didnt need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the familys breadwinner. China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump China Labor Watch, a New York-based non-profit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China. For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investigated working conditions at suppliers to some of the worlds best-known companies, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from Chinas state security apparatus. Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labour situation, Li said. But now it has become more political. Walt Disney Co. stopped working with a toy maker in Shenzhen last year after the group exposed labour violations. China Labor Watch has also published reports on child labour at Samsung suppliers and spent years investigating Apple Inc.s China factories. In the past, the worst thing Li feared was having investigators kicked out of a factory or face a short police detention. That has changed. The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of Chinas ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labour unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has also taken a stern approach to activism in southern Chinas manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody. Another difference is the target of China Labor Watchs investigation: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trumps brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment for this story. Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter took on a White House role as presidential adviser, has said that the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions. Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the three missing investigators on Monday but received no reply. Li added that a friend had tried to file a missing-person report on Li Zhao in Jiangxi, where the factory is located, but was told he had to do so in the mans hometown. The Associated Press was unable to reach the other investigators families. Chinas Ministry of Public Security and police in Ganzhou city and Jiangxi province could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China. All three men were investigating Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co.s factory in Jiangxi province, just north of Guangdong province. Su Heng had been working undercover at the factory since April, Li said. The parent company is known as Huajian Group. In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, said the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trumps brand a fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday. I told you I could not check until tomorrow, she said. If your official letter contains a stamp and signature, we can confirm whether the media is real or not. Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand shoes in the factory, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit merchandise. We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately, a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment. Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng were blocked from leaving mainland China for Hong Kong in April and May something that had never happened to his colleagues before, Li said. Hua Haifeng was stopped at the border May 25 and later questioned by police, Li said. During their final phone conversation on Saturday, Hua told Li that police had asked him to stop investigating the Huajian factory another turn of events that Li said was unprecedented. Li said the men had documented excessive overtime, with working days sometimes stretching longer than 18 hours, and a base salary below minimum wage. They were working to confirm evidence suggesting that student interns some of whom allegedly quit in protest were putting in excessive hours on work unrelated to their field of study, in violation of Chinese law, Li said. The use of student workers in China is legal, but meant to be strictly regulated. Rights groups and journalists have documented widespread abuse of the system over the years. It is the role of the police to prevent that kind of independent investigation, said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. The threshold is much lower today than it was one year ago, two years ago, and if this is something that has a foreign diplomacy dimension, that would make national security personnel even more willing to stop it. Huas wife, Deng, meanwhile, has yet to tell the couples children, ages 3 and 7, about their fathers plight. But they seem to know anyway, she said. My son suddenly burst into tears. He said he missed Papa, Deng said by phone from her home in central Chinas Hubei province. I said Papa would come home soon and buy you toys. She said the child looked at her and answered: Papa was taken away by a monster. Read more about: SHARE: ST. PAUL, MINN.Philando Castiles permit to legally carry a gun became a point of focus in the days after he was shot and killed by a Minnesota police officer, with some questioning whether Castile acted properly during the July traffic stop and others wondering whether the officer followed his training. But as the trial of St. Anthony officer Jeronimo Yanez began Tuesday, his attorneys asked that jurors not be allowed to hear statements about Castiles concealed carry permit. Defence attorney Earl Gray argued that Yanez, 29, didnt know Castile had a permit to carry at the time of the shooting, so evidence about it is irrelevant in his trial. Castile, a Black 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, was killed July 6 during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights after he told Yanez, Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me, according to the criminal complaint against Yanez. The shootings gruesome aftermath was streamed live on Facebook by Castiles girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was in the car with her young daughter. Yanez, who is Latino, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and two lesser counts of endangering safety. Read more: Minnesota officer released after hearing in Castile shooting Minnesota officer charged with manslaughter in Philando Castiles death He just shot his arm off: Composure of girlfriend in Minnesota shooting not shocking to experts The video recorded by Reynolds shows a bloody Castile slumped over and moaning in the moments after he was shot. Reynolds tells Yanez as shes recording that Castile was reaching for his ID as the officer requested, not his gun. She also says: Hes licensed. Hes carried. He is licensed to carry. Authorities later found that Castile had a gun permit. Grey said Reynolds statements about the permit should be omitted. Otherwise, he said, bringing up the permit would be opening the door for defence attorneys to argue that Castile lied about alleged past marijuana use when he applied for the permit. Prosecutor Jeff Paulsen said the state doesnt believe its appropriate to edit language from evidence. He added that Castile never got a chance to say he had a permit before he was shot. Ramsey County District Court Judge William H. Leary III said he was leaning toward granting the defence request, but he wants to hear more from prosecutors Wednesday before ruling. Yanezs trial began Tuesday with the start of jury selection. Fifty potential jurors were sworn in and each given a questionnaire. Most of them were white. They will be questioned individually starting Wednesday. One potential juror was dismissed because she is related to Yanez. It wasnt clear how they are related. Minneapolis defence attorney Joe Friedberg, who is not associated with the case, said he agrees that statements about the gun permit are irrelevant and omitting them would make sense. The whole trial is going to be about the officers state of mind, Friedberg said, adding that the gun permit had absolutely no impact on Yanezs mental state before or during the shooting. All the officer knew was he had a gun the reason why he had it is not relevant, Friedberg said. SHARE: SAN FRANCISCOA Trump administration order to deport a man who entered the country illegally nearly three decades ago and became a respected businessman in Hawaii was inhumane and contrary to the values of the country and its legal system, a federal judge wrote Tuesday in an unusually impassioned opinion. President Trump has claimed that his immigration policies would target the bad hombres, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt said. The governments decision to remove Magana Ortiz shows that even the good hombres are not safe. Reinhardt said the 9th Circuit lacked authority to block the March order to deport Ortiz to Mexico. Still, he said it was difficult to see how the order was consistent with President Donald Trumps promise of an immigration system with heart. Read the latest news by U.S. President Donald Trump Reinhardt said Ortiz, who came to the U.S. in 1989, was well-established in Hawaiis coffee farming industry, paid his taxes and had three U.S. citizen children from whom he would be torn away. Nicole Navas, a U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman, said the agency declined to comment on the case. Reinhardt is considered to be one of the most liberal judges on the 9th Circuit and his rulings often place him on the side of immigrants and prisoners. Reinhardt wrote a 2012 opinion striking down Californias gay marriage ban. He also wrote a 1996 opinion that struck down a Washington state law that prohibited doctors from prescribing medication to help terminally ill patients die. Reinhold joined the nations largest federal appeals court in 1980 after being nominated by President Jimmy Carter. His opinion in the Ortiz case came as the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with a Mexican immigrant who faced deportation after he was convicted of having consensual sex with his underage girlfriend. The justices ruled unanimously that Juan Esquivel-Quintana had committed a crime under California law, but his conduct did not violate federal immigration law. Also Tuesday, a divided 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld a law that bars people who are in the country illegally from avoiding deportation if they are habitual drunks. The law holds that those people do not have good moral character. The ruling overturned a decision by a smaller 9th Circuit panel that included Reinhardt that said alcoholism is an illness, not a moral defect. Read more: End of temporary residency permit for U.S. immigrants feared under Trump Trump administration ready for Supreme Court showdown over travel banned 16 U.S. states, D.C. urge court to continue blocking Trump travel ban The rulings come against a backdrop of stepped up immigration enforcement by the Trump administration. U.S. immigration arrests increased nearly 40 per cent in early 2017 from a comparable period last year, according to figures provided by immigration officials. However, actual deportations were down from late January to late April compared with a year ago. Ortiz, 43, won a reprieve from deportation in 2014 and was seeking legal status on the basis that his wife and children are U.S. citizens when the government without any explanation ordered him in March to report for removal the next month, according to Reinhardt. Ortiz has at least one conviction for driving under the influence, but Reinhardt said that was not the basis for his removal order. Ortiz appealed to the 9th Circuit in an effort to block the removal order. Now, he will be returned to Mexico and face a 10-year bar on his return, the judge said. A call and email to Ortizs attorney, James Stanton, was not immediately returned. Reinhardt is not the first federal judge to criticize an immigration move by the Trump administration. A federal appeals court in Maryland earlier this month refused to reinstate the presidents revised travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries, with judges in the 10-3 majority calling the administrations action discriminatory and its reasoning nonsensical. In another rebuke, a federal judge in San Francisco blocked the administrations attempt to withhold funding from sanctuary cities that limit co-operation with U.S. immigration authorities. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chiefs communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macrons victory earlier this month, according to a French official, who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeaus office responded to requests for comment. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump END The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump who, before taking office, was long easily accessible by cellphone and viewed himself as a freewheeling, impulsive dealmaker. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. If you are speaking on an open line, then its an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so, said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president doesnt carry with him a secure phone, Chollet said. If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything youre saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it. The caution is warranted even when dealing with allies. As German Chancellor Angela Merkels learned in 2013, when a dump of American secrets leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the U.S. was monitoring her cellphone, good relations dont prevent some spycraft between friends. If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, its reasonable to assume that theyd hand it right over to their intel service, said Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs in the U.S. State Department. The practice opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last years presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. Presidents phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less-formal calls with world leaders. Trumps White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aides attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, met in December with Russias ambassador to the U.S. and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The White House has said such back channel communications are useful and discreet. Read more: The Trump-Russia investigation now hinges on what Jared Kushner was thinking when he met Putin ally Germans wonder why Trump keeps lashing out at them, if the Western alliance can survive him Intel committee issues subpoena for Trumps personal attorney in ongoing Russia investigation Trump has struggled more than most recent presidents to keep his conversations with world leaders private. His remarks to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats have all leaked, presumably after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials. It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. But the law contains blind spots namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Under Barack Obama, the first cellphone-toting president, worries about cyber intrusions particularly by foreign governments pulled the presidents devices deep into the security bubble. Many of the functions on Obamas BlackBerry were blocked, and a very small handful of people had his phone number or email address, according to former aides. Government sometimes looks like a big bureaucracy that has stupid rules, but a lot of these things are in place for very good reasons and theyve been around for a while and determine the most effective way to do business in the foreign policy sphere, said Deeks. Sometimes it takes presidents longer to figure that out. Read more about: SHARE: MADISON, WIS.A federal appeals court says a transgender student who identifies as a male should be able to use the boys bathroom at his Wisconsin high school. Ashton Whitaker, who will graduate from Kenoshas Tremper High School this week, first asked to use the boys bathroom as a sophomore. That set off a nearly yearlong legal battle with the school district. In September, U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper granted Whitaker permission to use the boys bathroom at school. On Tuesday, the second-to-last day of Whitakers senior year, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision. I am thrilled that the 7th Circuit recognized my right to be treated as the boy that I am at school, Whitaker said in a statement distributed by the Transgender Law Center. As I look forward to college next year, I hope my case will help other transgender students in Kenosha and elsewhere to just be treated the same as everyone else without facing discrimination and harassment from school administrators. Read more: Proposed Texas bathroom bill near collapse over GOP standoff Transgender cartoonist faces vicious online attack, death threats Transgender community, NDP urge Liberals to change travel regulations Whitakers attorney, Ilona Turner, said though the ruling only applies to Whitaker, it sets precedent that a federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in public schools protects transgender people. This is just another building block on the large and growing number of courts to hold that discrimination against transgender people is illegal, she said. Kenosha Unified School District had argued that the federal law doesnt apply to transgender people as a group and that the harm to other students of Whitaker using the boys bathroom, particularly to male students, outweighs any harm to Whitaker. It also urged the appeals court to reconsider whether the case should be thrown out. Ronald Stadler, a lawyer for the school district, didnt immediately return a message. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ann Claire Williams declined to reconsider and rejected the districts other arguments, saying harms to others are speculative while harms to Whitaker are well-documented. Those include suicidal thoughts as well as medical issues stemming from avoiding the bathroom. According to the lawsuit, when Whitaker first asked to use the boys bathroom, the school said he could either use a gender-neutral bathroom in the schools main office or the girls bathroom. He used the boys bathroom anyway without issue for six months, it says, until a teacher saw him washing his hands there and reported it to school administration. Turner, who works with the Transgender Law Center, said Whitakers win could impact a case with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that of Gavin Grimm, a transgender high school senior in Virginia who sued his school board for the right to use the boys bathroom. The U.S. Supreme Court was set to hear his case but sent it back to the lower court after President Donald Trumps administration revoked guidance from former President Barack Obama directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms aligned with their gender identities. SHARE: SHANGHAIThe arrest and disappearance of three labour activists investigating a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump shoes in China prompted a call for her brand to stop working with the supplier and raised questions about whether the first familys commercial interests would muddy U.S. leadership on human rights. Ivankas brand should immediately cease its work with this supplier, and the Trump administration should reverse its current course and confront China on its human rights abuses, Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, said in a Wednesday email. Ivanka Trump must decide, she added, whether she can ignore the Chinese governments apparent attempt to silence an investigation into those worker abuses. Amnesty International called Wednesday for the release of China Labor Watch investigator Hua Haifeng, as well as his two colleagues, who are feared to have been detained. Read more: 1 activist arrested, 2 missing after investigating Chinese factory that makes Ivanka Trump shoes The men were working with an American non-profit group to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and possible misuse of student labour, according to China Labor Watch executive director Li Qiang, who lost contact with the investigators over the weekend. The investigators also witnessed verbal abuse, with one manager insulting staff about poorly made shoes and making a crude reference in Chinese to female genitalia, according to Li. China Labor Watch has been exposing poor working conditions at suppliers to some of the worlds best-known companies for nearly two decades, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from Chinas state security apparatus. The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of Chinas ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labour unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has taken a stern approach to activism in southern Chinas manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody. China Labor Watchs investigation also had an unusual target: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States. Ivanka Trumps lifestyle brand imports most of its merchandise from China, trade data show. She and her father both have extensive trademark portfolios in China, though neither has managed to build up a large retail or real estate presence here. The sister of Jared Kushner, a Trump adviser and husband of Ivanka, travelled to China this past month to court investment from Chinese families for a real estate project in New Jersey. The eagerness of members of the family to do business in China while airbrushing very troubling human rights and labour rights records of the country is troubling, said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. He said it is only a matter of time before it is known to what extent business is trumping any kind of consideration of the diplomatic capital of the U.S. in promoting human rights, labour rights and democracy. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trumps brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment. Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter became a White House presidential adviser, has said the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions. China tightened control over foreign NGOs starting this year by requiring them to register with state security. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing Wednesday that she was not aware of the arrest and disappearances. She said China welcomed international NGOs to carry out research, but added, we also hope that NGOs can also observe Chinese laws and regulations and dont engage in any illegal actions or behaviour. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didnt need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the familys breadwinner. The crime carries a penalty of up to two years imprisonment. Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the Deng and the two other investigators, Li Zhao and Su Heng, on Monday but received no reply. The Associated Press was unable to reach the other investigators families. Chinas Ministry of Public Security and police could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China. Calls went unanswered Wednesday morning. The men were investigating Huajian Group factories in the southern Chinese cities of Ganzhou and Dongguan. Su Heng had been working undercover at the Ganzhou factory since April, Li said. In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, told AP the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trumps brand a fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand merchandise, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit. We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately, a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email Tuesday. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment. Read more about: SHARE: Liar Liar GE2017 is one of the most popular songs in Britain this week. At the time of writing, the song is No. 2 on iTunes U.K.s download chart, second only to another big song of the moment: Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber. Liar, Liar, written and performed by the group Captain SKA, has also neared the top of the official singles chart, the BBC reported Tuesday, However, if you tune into British radio, you are unlikely to hear the song. Stations simply arent playing it. Why not? Well, the problem lies in the songs lyrical content and the clips of British Prime Minister Theresa May that play throughout the song. Shes a liar, liar, vocalist Adeolla Shyllon sings in the chorus, interspersed with examples of May apparently backtracking on promises. No, you cant trust her, Shyllon sings afterward. Other lines are even more overtly political. Nurses going hungry, schools in decline, says a line in the first verse. I dont recognize this broken country of mine. Read more: U.K. election will strengthen governments hand in EU talks, May says The who, what and why of Britains upcoming Brexit election The songs political message is no accident. Captain SKA originally released a song called Liar Liar in 2010 in opposition to government plans to raise tuition fees for students. The band members, who told Londons Evening Standard that they were session musicians in Britain, decided to remix the song in a bid to capture the mood among those opposing Mays centre-right government in the run-up to the June 8 snap election. The video for the song ends with an implicit message to vote against Mays Conservative Party. On 8 June, Tories out, a caption reads as the track ends. The song, which was released Friday, is being promoted by an organization called the Peoples Assembly Against Austerity, which opposes cuts to public spending and is donating proceeds from the song to food banks. The group has been sharing videos of radio stations refusing to play the song, and others have started petitions demanding that radio stations play the song. In a statement, the BBCs Radio 1 station said it would not play the song because of editorial guidelines about political content. We do not ban songs or artists, however our editorial guidelines require us to remain impartial and the U.K. is currently in an election period so we will not be playing the song, the station said. Reports suggest that other popular radio stations, including Heart and Capital FM, also have decided against playing Liar Liar GE2017. British rules on political broadcasts may explain the songs lack of airplay. The website of Ofcom, Britains broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, notes that there is a long-standing ban on political advertising on television and radio in the UK. British law also states that political parties are not allowed to buy time to run advertisements, for example, and instead must use pre-allocated broadcast slots that are given out free of charge. Despite these rules, music has often targeted the political elite. Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative prime minister who led Britain from 1979 to 1990, was the target of Stand Down Margaret by the Beat. In 1977, the Sex Pistolss ironic God Save the Queen became one of the most popular songs in the country ahead of the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth IIs accession to the throne, but the song was banned by the BBC and there were unconfirmed rumours that it was blocked from being listed as No. 1 on the official singles chart because of its political content. SHARE: NEW YORKThe New York Times is ditching the public editor position, created in 2003 as the paper sought to restore its credibility with readers after a plagiarism scandal. Publisher Arthur Sulzberger wrote in a memo that the public editors role has outgrown that one office and that the paper is instead creating a reader centre to interact with the public and will allow more commenting on stories. The papers current public editor, Liz Spayd, will leave Friday. Margaret Sullivan, the well-regarded former Times public editor, now a media columnist at the Washington Post, tweeted Wednesday that she was not surprised that the Times dropped the role, which she characterized as a a burr under the saddle for the powers that be and capable of holding managers feet to the fire. She noted that other newspapers, including her current employer, have dropped public editors in recent years. The Times also announced its latest round of newsroom buyouts Wednesday, aimed primarily at editors. It said layoffs were possible if enough staffers did not accept buyouts. But the company is still hiring it wants to shrink its editing corps and add more reporters. Newsrooms across the U.S. have long been cutting back on staff as print-ad revenue shrinks. Digital ad growth has not been enough to make up the shortfall. SHARE: DAVAO, PHILIPPINESPresident Rodrigo Duterte returned to his home city of Davao Wednesday to celebrate the 119th anniversary of the Philippine Navy, and used the occasion to attack Chelsea Clinton for criticizing his comments about rape. When your father, the president of the United States, was (having sex with) Lewinsky and the girls there in the White House, how did you feel? Did you slam your father? he asked, in a reference to Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern with whom Bill Clinton had a sexual entanglement. Clinton had attacked Duterte for saying that he would take responsibility for crimes committed by soldiers under his recently imposed martial law in the southern Philippines, even if they raped three women. Not funny, Clinton commented on Twitter, before going on to respond to another user that Duterte is a murderous thug with no regard for human rights. Its important to keep pointing that out & that rape is never a joke. The Philippine president insisted on Wednesday he was just being sarcastic and then made a reference to the famous case of a trans Filipina woman, Jennifer Laude, who was killed by a U.S. Marine in 2014. Then, as if the Internet had not heard it yet, he repeated the anti-Chelsea punchlineagain in English this time more crudely. He warned her: Be careful because you live in a glass house. Predictably, the remarks exploded onto social networks in the Philippines and the United States. Dutertes attack tracks closely with a strategy employed by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton. When Trumps alleged sexual abuses became a major issue, the reality TV star responded by attempting to put the attention on Bill Clintons own sexual history. Duterte has now attacked Obama, journalists, human rights campaigners, and Chelsea Clinton, but he has never attacked Trump, who recently praised Dutertes unbelievable job on his drug program. Thousands of people have died since Dutertes war on drugs began last year, and his government has been widely accused of human rights abuses. Read more: Philippines president jokes about sexual assault in speech to soldiers Philippine lawmakers dismiss impeachment complaint against Duterte Filipino lawmaker defends Dutertes human rights record before UN council But unlike Trump, Duterte has been a politician for decades, and analysts say he uses outrageous statements like this for a few strategic purposes. He brings attention to himself and shows his many devoted followers he is especially popular here in Davao that he wont take any lip. At the same time, he signals support to his allies, always being careful enough to avoid attacking friends. He knows how to dish out hot copy and like any political pro, keep the crowd entertained. This makes him go viral, and at the heart of it, he is doubling down whenever he feels someone is trying to go mano-a-mano, said Manuel L. Quezon III, a columnist and communications specialist who worked for the previous Benigno Aquino administration. He considers himself friends with Trump and has said so because Trump has never raised the issue that infuriated him about Obama: human rights. Over 20 years in Davao, Duterte built a loyal base of support. Hes used to employing shock value, and the consequent outrage often rolls off the backs of people here. He talks too much, yeah, and sometimes he offends people. Hes like that, said Jane Enrile, a 31-year-old transportation logistics worker, of the rape joke, as she headed out for dinner in Davao after the speech. But he is not anti-women. We know thats not really who he is. SHARE: Re: Schools parents to vote on relocation, May 29 Schools parents to vote on relocation, May 29 Ive grown tired of stories about the concerned John Fisher Public School parents who continuously whine, protest and complain about the proposed building of a condo tower next to the school. What were they expecting when they moved into the city? We have an increasing number of people who want to live where they work and not everyone can afford to buy a detached house. These people are exhibiting horrible qualities of Nimbyism and this isnt the first time the Yonge/Eglinton area has been upset by condos. In May 2015, the Star wrote about a proposed condo tower on Keewatin Ave. and the complaints of area residents who were worried that their property values would plummet by having condos sold at a measly $500,000 in their neighbourhood. I dont think there is a correlation between condos or luxury apartments and the decay of a neighbourhood. The developer has offered to install new windows and air conditioning units for the school, at a cost of $500,000, after parents complained that their little snowflakes would be exposed to excessive noise, dust, traffic and heavy equipment. We live in Toronto and we are all exposed to noise, dust, traffic and heavy equipment. Id suggest they consider moving out of the city. We all have to live together and a little bit of accommodation goes a long way. Anita Kivi, Toronto SHARE: Re: The Danny seems just a bit contrived, Keenan, May 30 The Danny seems just a bit contrived, Keenan, May 30 Seriously? The Danny? How is that positive imaging for an area that has often struggled with issues of crime, empty storefronts and insufficient foot traffic? The Danforth Mosaic BIA was established by passionate property and business owners who envisaged transforming a nondescript area into a vibrant strip that included music festivals, street sales, spruced-up windows and storefronts and resources and support for businesses. We brought residents out to shop and dine, and attracted non-residents with our special events. Working with local law enforcement, we improved area safety. Property values increased. We went from what one newspaper once labelled as downtrodden to the same newspaper calling it highly desirable just a few years later. The name Danforth Mosaic was debated by stakeholders for months. We chose the moniker as a reflection of the rich multiculturalism of the area, which includes food from Ethiopia, Italy, Mexico, Greece and more, religious institutions from many traditions and store owners from around the world. As the longest BIA stretch in Toronto, Danforth Mosaic can truly celebrate the many heritages that are represented. The Danny? Really? Patricia Silver, co-founder and past chair, Danforth Mosaic BIA SHARE: It's a big asset. And President Donald Trump wants to grab it. The president's 2018 budget, released last week, envisions selling 270 million of the 600-million-plus barrels of oil in the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, to generate about $16.6 billion of revenue over the coming decade. According to the administration, enabling more U.S. production will provide greater energy security than keeping an "unnecessarily large amount of oil underground." Whatever the case, Trump's plan underscores the growing tendency of U.S. politicians to treat the SPR like a reserve fund for political priorities. Trump is desperate for new sources of revenue to cover the cost of massive tax cuts, higher defense allocations and $1 trillion of new spending on roads, airports and other infrastructure. In December, former President Barack Obama signed into law a $6.3 billion health-research bill, to be paid for partly through oil sales from the reserve. "The SPR has become everybody's favorite way of funding things without having to raise somebody else's taxes," said Adam Sieminski, the former head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. "It's sitting out there as this big fat target." The estimated proceeds from the reserve sales represent a drop in the bucket compared with Trump's proposed deficit of $3.15 trillion over the next decade, which he says is still $5.6 trillion lower than under the current fiscal path. So the question of whether to draw down the SPR really amounts to whether it's needed. Created in the 1970s in response to the Arab oil embargo and filled to its 727-million-barrel design capacity in 2009, the SPR is supposed to help protect consumers from oil-price spikes caused by supply disruptions, such as those that might accompany wars or hurricanes. The oil is stored in 62 underground caverns at four sites in Texas and Louisiana. Trump wants to close two of the sites. The SPR's inventory level has fallen somewhat since 2009, mainly due to an 11 million-barrel sale in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina and a 2011 coordinated release by the International Energy Agency due to the disruption of oil production from Libya. Many oil-market experts say the facility's current level isn't necessary because of the past decade's surge in U.S. crude output, thanks largely to advances in shale-oil fracking in places like Texas and North Dakota. Because of that increase, the nation is now less dependent on imports, and therefore less vulnerable to embargoes by hostile oil-producing regimes. According to the Energy Department, the SPR holds the equivalent of 149 days of oil imports, up from about 50 in the early 2000s. It's supposed to hold at least 90 days of imports. A limited drawdown would be "very reasonable considering the level of imports that we now have," said Kyle Cooper, an oil-industry consultant with IAF Advisors who previously tracked energy markets for the brokerage firm Salomon Smith Barney. The surplus in the oil reserve hasn't gone unnoticed by lawmakers. Prior to last year's health-research law, Obama relied on SPR sale proceeds in 2015 to finance budget and highway-improvement laws. Trump's proposed budget, of course, is unlikely to pass in its current form. In a statement, Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, called the plan "dead on arrival" because of inadequate defense spending. And a spokeswoman for Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told the Associated Press that the Alaskan lawmaker is "generally opposed to selling off emergency oil reserves, particularly as pay-fors for unrelated measures." Editors' pick: Originally published May 31. Drawing down the SPR would probably have a negligible impact on oil prices in the short term. Using rough math, draining 300 million barrels of crude oil over a decade would add about 74,000 barrels a day to the market. That amounts to less than a tenth of a percent of global supply of about 96 million barrels a day. Yet the Energy Department estimated in a report last year that the SPR would generate at least $320 billion in savings in an emergency in which prices shoot up. If drawn down to 430 million barrels -- 63% of the current level -- the projected savings drops by about $40 billion. Some oil-industry executives and conservative economists view the very existence of the SPR as an inappropriate government intrusion into private markets. They say that U.S. producers could quickly ramp up output during a crisis, and that Saudi Arabia, an ally, has plenty of spare capacity that could be activated on short notice. (It should be noted that Trump delivered his budget plan just days after meeting with Saudi King Salman in Riyadh and agreeing to sell the country $110 billion of arms over the next decade; later in the week, OPEC countries led by Saudi Arabia agreed to extend production cuts to support prices.) According to a research paper from Rice University's Baker Institute, private oil companies and OPEC producers were infuriated by the 2011 Libya-related SPR release, which sent crude prices tumbling by $4 a barrel in the days after the announcement. They had been trading around $114 a barrel the week before. Bhushan Bahree, senior director of global oil for the energy consulting firm IHS Energy, says the president's budget doesn't go far enough. The SPR has turned into a "slush fund" for politicians, he says. "The SPR primarily is being used for political reasons and is not necessary for national security," Bahree said. "Other nations rely on private oil resources and supply to meet their strategic security needs, and the U.S. can do the same." It's likely that over the long term, the SPR keeps oil prices from rising too quickly for consumers to adapt. In 2000, then-President Bill Clinton announced a sale of 30 million barrels of oil after Vice President Al Gore, running for election against George W. Bush, called for a release to help bring down high heating oil prices. At the time, crude prices had climbed to what now seems like an appealingly low $33 a barrel. (The current price is around $50.) Bush accused Clinton of playing politics with the nation's energy security. Following his victory, Bush started filling up the SPR, and later pushed -- albeit unsuccessfully -- to increase the capacity to 1.5 billion barrels. Sieminski argues that even oil executives would probably prefer an occasional SPR release to the price controls that lawmakers might instead impose as a knee-jerk response to an oil crisis. "Selling off the SPR sounds really great when there's no shortage," says Sieminski, who previously served as Deutsche Bank's chief energy economist and now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. "But it is the panic button that policymakers can hit when individual representatives and senators and governors shout out for export bans and price controls." To be fair to Trump, his SPR sales would likely turn a profit. Dividing the estimated proceeds by 270 million barrels yields an average price of about $61 a barrel. According to the Energy Department, the government paid an average $29.70 for the barrels currently in the reserve. Then again, oil prices could go back up. In which case it might make more sense to wait till they do. As recently as 2014, when prices were above $100 a barrel, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that the SPR's oil had a value of $73 billion. Amy Jaffe, a Davis, Calif.-based consultant who analyzes geopolitical risk in oil markets, says the industry would probably increase privately held inventories if the SPR were at a lower level -- mainly because companies would have greater certainty of capitalizing on higher prices in the event of a crisis. Rather than focusing on the absolute level, it's more important to make sure the SPR has the right type of oil, she says. For example, most of the increased production in the U.S. is light crude, and many refineries are still dependent on heavy grades that are imported from politically volatile spots like Venezuela. It's an argument for conducting a detailed study of the SPR's appropriate level -- rather than just tapping it to help make ends meet. "The concept that we could make some limited sales of the SPR, not during an emergency, but for budgetary reasons, can be a slippery slope," Jaffe said. "Having it sit there is a deterrent to us being blackmailed by a country that produces a lot of oil." Read More Trending Articles: A laptop ban is an idea whose time hasn't come -- and hopefully never will. While recent reporting on the likelihood of a ban's imposition has been contradictory, USA Today reported Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security is still considering banning large electronics, including laptops, from the cabins of trans-Atlantic flights from Europe. A Homeland Security spokesman told USA Today that it was "absolutely wrong" to report the concept of a ban has been dropped. That is too bad, because if this ridiculous idea is ever imposed it would result in hundreds of potentially dangerous lithium batteries being placed into the cargo hold of every trans-Atlantic aircraft. As if to underscore the danger, late Tuesday a JetBlue New York-San Francisco flight diverted to Grand Rapids, Mich., because of a lithium battery fire in a passenger's carried-on laptop. Fortunately, the fire, easily visible in the cabin, could be quickly extinguished. Caught in the middle of the continuing debate on a laptop ban, U.S. airline industry leaders -- except for the chairman of the United (UAL) - Get Free Report chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association -- have been unwilling to speak out decisively due to fears of angering the Trump administration. "Nobody wants to piss off the Kellys of the world," said aviation consultant Bob Mann, referring to DHS Secretary John Kelly, who said Sunday that he might expand the ban -- now in place at 10 Middle East airports -- to all international flights entering or leaving the U.S. That is about 4,300 daily flights. "Go along to get along, that's the story here," Mann said. "Everybody who spends a lot of money lobbying the administration is reluctant to call them out on this issue. You don't want to give them any reason to be upset with you." From a security perspective, putting laptops in cargo represents "a bet that in-line screening for checked baggage will detect something you wouldn't have detected with normal carry-on detection," Mann said. Not necessarily a great bet. From a science perspective, he said, putting laptops in cabin bins is sub-optimal. "When you charge these batteries, they get hot, and if they inadvertently discharge via short-circuit, they heat up more rapidly and they can enter a 'thermal runaway,'" he said. "You don't want that in an area where you can't see it, grab it and do what flight attendants can do in the cabin -- put it in a fire blanket or throw it in a container of ice water or use a fire extinguisher," he said. Todd Insler, chairman of the United ALPA chapter, said Tuesday, "Placing {laptops} in cargo doesn't solve the problem. It just creates a different problem. "Lithium-ion batteries are clearly hazardous -- I don't want a hazardous device in my cargo hold," said Insler, a New York-based Boeing 767 captain. "That's the wrong solution." Insler acknowledged that allowing laptops on board can also create terrorism risks, not to mention the lesser fire risk. He advocated for laptop bans at select airports where screening may not be adequate. A ban would not be unprecedented. In 2015, about 60 airlines -- including United -- banned hoverboards either as carry-on or checked baggage because of concerns about the lithium-ion batteries. In the summer of August 2006, electronic devices were banned on flights from Great Britain to the U.S. after British security officials uncovered a plot to blow up aircraft. The impact was disruptive, particularly in the early days, but the ban was eventually eliminated. U.S. airlines are in a tough spot. In a report Wednesday, Buckingham Research analyst Dan McKenzie said a potential laptop ban could cut revenue at the big three U.S. carriers. For instance, a 10% drop in international revenue could reduce United revenue by 3.9% while reducing American and Delta revenue by 2.9% each, McKenzie said. McKenzie acknowledged his impact estimates are imprecise because carriers would act to reduce them. "They'll adjust capacity; likely accelerate retirement of older wide-bodies and/or use smaller gauge aircraft, and even back-fill with lower yield traffic," he said. Another threat, cited by Cowen & Co. analyst Helane Becker, is that if the U.S. imposes a laptop ban affecting EU airports "the real issue would be if the EU announced a reciprocal electronics ban on U.S. passengers to the EU." Airlines also face risk if they oppose a ban too strongly, said Peter Goeltz, a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board and a CNN commentator. Were there to be a successful terrorist event, "not only would the economic impact be devastating to the carriers, {but also} the carriers don't want to be in the position where something dreadful happens and the inevitable investigation identifies steps they failed to take to protect their passengers," Goeltz said. Kathy Allen, spokeswoman for A4A, the airlines' lobbying group, said, "U.S. airlines have a successful history of working with the appropriate government agencies to ensure the highest level of security is in place for everyone who flies. "We continue to believe that security and efficiency are not mutually exclusive goals," Allen said. This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned. The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed fining airline company United Continental (UAL) - Get Free Report $435,000 for operating flights in 2014 using Boeing (BA) - Get Free Report 787 aircraft that the government deemed were not airworthy, Reuters reports. The FAA alleges that in that year United mechanics replaced a fuel pump pressure switch on the aircraft but didn't perform a required inspection before the planes were sent back into service. "The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority. We immediately took action after identifying the issue and are working closely with the FAA in their review," a United spokesperson told Reuters. Retail's downturn giving you the blues? Jim Cramer has a list of retailers that are currently oversold, giving investors a leg up one of the market's most volatile sectors. At least 80 people were killed, with another 300 injured, after a bomb exploded in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Wednesday. The blast took place in an area that houses multiple embassies. Officials described the blast as a suicide attack. The Taliban, Afghanistan's most powerful insurgency, denied responsibility for the attack, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Islamic State has not made a public declaration about the attack. The White House is currently considering a Pentagon proposal to deploy 3,000 U.S. troops to advise and assist the local military. Stocks have rebounded following a sharp sell off last week. Jim Cramer believes the rebound is real and gives investors advice on how to play the market going forward. Pinot Grigio is the archetypal Italian white wine for many American drinkers: light, fresh, citrusy, easy-drinking. But Italy offers an extraordinary range of whites, three of which Matthew Orawski, the sommelier at Del Posto in Manhattan, suggests for summer drinking. His recommendations also serve as an introduction to the category. Before importer Anthony Terlato started bringing Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio into the U.S. in the late 1970s, the role of light, simple Italian white on the American table was played by Soave, a dry wine made in the Veneto, the area around Verona. But the vineyards in in the hills surrounding the towns of Soave and Monteforte d'Alpone, a subzone called Soave Classico, are capable of more. Orawski likes Pieropan's La Rocca, a single vineyard wine made from Garganega grapes that are picked very ripe, as late as the end of October, and aged for about a year in wood barrels of between 500 and 2,000 liters. The wine has the lemon notes characteristic of the region but also an aroma of smoky hay. Chardonnay is popular all over the world, though uncommon in Italy. But Carlo de Fermo loved French wine, and in the 1930s he bought barrels and plant material in France and took them back home to Loreto Aprutino, a small town in Abruzzo. The family still has Chardonnay vines on its land that date to the 1960s, and from those grapes Stefano Papetti, the husband of Carlo's grandniece Nicoletta de Fermo, makes the Launegild, a classic, restrained Burgundian white. Del Posto has the same producer's Pecorino and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo on its list. Pecorino is a white grape that may have gotten its name, because sheep (pecora in Italian) liked to eat it as they were grazing in vineyards, and de Fermo's interpretation takes its name, Don Carlino, from Nicoletta's great uncle. Like all of the producer's wines, Orawski says, it "has this sort of earthy funk," especially on the nose, where he perceives dried flowers and straw. On the palate, he gets ripe orchard fruit. The Montelpulciano is the first wine Stefano made; he ferments it in concrete and ages it in large oak barrels for 18 months; Orawski says it tastes of cooked plums and balsamic vinegar. Part of the stereotype of the simple Italian white is its inability to age. That may be true for simple Pinot Grigios and Soaves, but it doesn't hold universally. Greco and Fiano, two grapes that may have been brought to Campania by the ancient Greeks, can both age for as long as a decade in good years. In serious decline after World War II because they have low yields, they have been revived by several of Campania's better producers. Orawski pours the 2015 Pietracupa Fiano di Avellino by the glass; it has notes of lemon oil and smoke and a richness on the palate that make it an entrancing wine. He also has a mini-vertical of the Pietracupa Fiano di Avellino on his list, with bottles from every year between 2008 and 2012 as well as 2006's from Ciro Picariello, Mastroberardino and Romano Clelia. Pietracupa is Orawski's favorite producer of Fiano, a grape that's "either super-smoky or extremely citrusy and light," he says. "Pietracupa balances that perfectly. The wines are mineral-driven and soil-driven, usually bright lemon curd and young white flowers with a perfect light peat smoke finish that you find with an Irish whisky." The Fianos vary widely by vintage. "The 2015 is so fresh and clean due to the warm, even weather," he says. "The older the wines get, the more the earth and smoke shows through and the lemon curd takes a back seat, but gets more rich. The 2006 is awesome!" An activist shareholder proposal seeking to have ExxonMobil (XOM) - Get Free Report produce a report on the impacts of "technological advances" and "climate change policy" on its oil and gas reserves received the backing of a majority of participating shares at the company's annual meeting Wednesday, a major blow to the energy behemoth and one that suggests it will need to respond in some way in the coming weeks. At issue is a New York State Common Retirement Fund shareholder proposal urging ExxonMobil to publish an annual assessment of the long-term portfolio impacts of technological advances and climate change policies to its oil and gas reserves. The proposal is nonbinding, which means ExxonMobil is under no obligation to implement any changes in response to shareholder support. Nevertheless, the strong showing of support could embarrass the oil and gas titan into producing a detailed report or taking other actions. "This is an unprecedented victory for investors in the fight to ensure a smooth transition to a low carbon economy," said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in a statement. "Climate change is one of the greatest long-term risks we face in our portfolio and has direct impact on the core business of ExxonMobil." It is likely that several institutional investors including BlackRock and Vanguard, backed the measure this year. The large funds are reportedly pressing the oil company to conduct climate stress tests to determine how environmental regulations impact its oil asset value. One environmentally themed activist fund manager, Arjuna Capital's Natasha Lamb, noted that the measure received 62% of the vote, what she called a "watershed" moment. "A majority of Exxon shareholders are speaking loudly and clearly that they need to address climate change risks," Lamb said after she exited the meeting. "Denial is no longer an option." The vote comes after a similar proposal received 38% backing last year, also a major vote of no confidence, and one that may have been partly responsible for ExxonMobil to add atmospheric scientist Dr. Susan Avery to its board. The provision this year and last year asks Exxon to report on the implications of different climate scenarios including one that takes into account a climate agreement reached in Paris in 2015 that will restrict greenhouse gas emissions in a way that limits increases in atmospheric temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. "We think the current path of investing in high-cost, high-carbon projects is not going to work this century," said Lamb. "There is only so much easy oil to extract, so companies like Exxon are stuck looking at growth through oil sands or deep Arctic exploration." Lamb argues that renewable energy costs will dramatically drop in the coming years resulting in a drop in oil demand, due to increased efficiency, electric vehicles and biochemicals replacing petrochemicals. Environmentally themed activist investors argue that a large segment of Exxon's oil assets will be stranded if the global community meets the goals laid out in the Paris agreement. However, the proposals came to a vote Wednesday, the same day that an Axios report suggested that President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate accord either over three years or more quickly. Nevertheless, Lamb argues that even if the U.S. pulled out of the accord, Exxon would need to abide by restrictions in other countries it does business. Also, she contends that market forces are at play that will have a major impact on Exxon in the coming years. "We expect to see an acceleration of electric vehicles, energy efficiency and bio chemicals replacing petrochemicals," Lamb said. "None of these have anything to do with regulation. Regulation is just another nail in the coffin." And proposal comes as the company holds its first annual meeting under the leadership of CEO Darren Woods, who took over the reins when former CEO Rex Tillerson left the company to become the U.S. Secretary of State. Shareholders put additional scrutiny on ExxonMobil in recent months after its previous CEO, Tillerson, became secretary of state. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington have expressed concern that Tillerson has an overly cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-controlled oil company Rosneft. Critics of Tillerson wonder whether as secretary of state he would press to dismantle sanctions on Russian companies that were installed in the wake of the country's intervention in Ukraine and its seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Eliminating sanctions would allow a joint venture Exxon had with Rosneft to explore and develop oil and gas in Russia, including in the country's Arctic region and one that was shut down by the sanctions. Lamb agreed that concerns around Exxon and Russia may have been a factor impacting investor decisions. However, she argued that concerns around the U.S.'s role in the Paris climate change agreement as well as technological changes impacting the energy giant's future likely played a role as well. "Institutional investors read the writing on the wall," she said. She noted that the New York Common Retirement Fund shareholder proposal this year comes after Arjuna reached an agreement with Exxon in 2014 to have it produce a report, which the energy company subsequently did. However, she said Arjuna backs the 2017 climate change proposal, arguing that the one Exxon produced previously was misleading. Another environment-themed proposals, introduced by Arjuna and the Baldwin Brothers, asked ExxonMobil to hike the amount it authorizes for share buyback and dividends and reduce its investment in what the fund argues are risky high-cost, high carbon energy exploration projects that will produce fewer returns in the coming years. However, Arjuna's proposal didn't do that well either this year or last year, garnering only 4% of the yes or no vote at both Exxon annual meetings. "Large institutional investors shy away from anything that isn't disclosure based," she said. "This proposal has a bit more teeth to it even though its non-binding." Click here for the latest business headlines. Ohio is suing five drugmakers, alleging that the companies contributed to the opioid crisis by misrepresenting the addictive nature of their painkillers, the Wall Street Journal reports. The lawsuit targets Purdue Pharma, Endo Health Solutions (ENDP) - Get Free Report , Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which is part of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Free Report , Cephalon and Allergan (AGN) - Get Free Report . Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine claims the companies weren't honest with doctors about the risks associated with the painkillers, noting that the companies marketed the drugs to general practitioners that may not have a specialty in pain management. "The evidence is going to show they knew what they were saying was not true and they did it to increase sales," DeWine told the Journal. "We share the attorney general's concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions," Purdue Pharma spokesperson John Puskar told TheStreet. Jim Cramer and Real Money columnists discuss the latest from President Donald Trump and the GOP's efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. See which stocks they are discussing and get his insights or analysis with a free trial subscription to Real Money. This story has been updated from its original publish time of 12:56 p.m. to include a statement from Purdue Pharma. General Electric (GE) - Get Free Reportsaid today that it has signed deals in Vietnam worth about $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines, and services, Reuters reports. The agreement represents the largest single combined sale with Vietnam in GE's history. GE's agreement with Vietjet Aviation, a Vietnamese low-cost airline, includes 20 jet engines made by CFM International, a joint venture of GE and France's Safran (SAFRF) . It also includes a 12-year engine service contract for 215 LEAP-1B engines on 100 Boeing (BA) - Get Free Report 737 MAX aircraft that Vietjet has ordered, GE said. GE's power business signed a memorandum of understanding to construct two 750-megawatt gas-fueled turbine power plants in conjunction with state energy group PetroVietnam. The firm also signed a joint development deal to build an 800-megawatt wind energy facility. Shares of General Electric were higher during afternoon trading on Wednesday. Stocks have rebounded following a sharp sell off last week. Jim Cramer believes the rebound is real and gives investors advice on how to play the market going forward. Blame it on a dearth of drama. The largest Wall Street banks have tumbled in New York trading this week as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) - Get Free Report and Bank of America (BAC) - Get Free Report disclosed double-digit declines in their trading businesses during April and May, which may pressure second-quarter earnings. The drop is largely because of a difficult comparison to a year ago, when Great Britain shocked markets by deciding to pull out of the European Union, a move that fueled a fixed-income trading boom. In the three months through June 2016, such trades climbed 35% at JPMorgan, 26% at Bank of America, 20% at Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Free Report and 14% atCitigroup (C) - Get Free Report . A subsequent drop in the pound's exchange rate coupled with real estate mogul Donald Trump's surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election and two rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to sustain a surge in fixed-income trading that lasted nine months before fading. "There's not a lot to trade around right now," JPMorgan CFO Marianne Lake said at a Deutsche Bank conference in New York on Wednesday. "There aren't a lot of market themes, and there haven't been many idiosyncratic events. We need a few more of them." The New York-based bank's markets businesses, which include stock trading as well as fixed-income transactions, have fallen about 15% from the same period a year ago, Lake said. "We did quite well in 2016," she added. "That's a high bar. We will work hard very hour of every day to replicate or beat it, but it is a high bar." Bank of America, based in Charlotte, N.C., has seen similar trends, CEO Brian Moynihan said at a separate conference. Its trading businesses declined 10% to 12% in April and May. At Goldman Sachs, client trades related to volatility were subdued in the three months through March, a trend that has continued through the second quarter, said David Solomon, the former investment banking executive recently promoted to co-COO. "Thereareobviouslyfourmoreweekslefttogo," Solomon told analysts at the Deutsche conference, declining to provide more detail. "Youknowandweknowthisstuff canebbandflow." The declines prompted Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck to cut earnings-per-share estimates at the biggest Wall Street banks by as much as 9%, according to a note Thursday. At Thursday's close, Goldman had tumbled 3.8% for the week; JPMorgan had dropped 2.7%, Bank of America had dipped 2.6%; Citi had fallen 1.6% and Morgan Stanley had slipped 0.5%. The quarter's slower trading volumes build on developments in March, when Morgan Stanley CFO Jonathan Pruzan said questions about the "timing and achievability" of the Trump administration's policy goals, such as curbing post-financial crisis regulations and cutting taxes resulted in "more sporadic client activity," On March 24, Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled a bill repealing Obamacare -- which they had described as a necessary precursor to tax reductions -- after they were unable to convince enough members of their own party to support it. A revised bill later passed the House, but lacks backing in the Senate because of changes that would cut health coverage for elderly taxpayers. Meanwhile, heightened scrutiny into Russia's role in the 2016 campaign, including contact between the country's government and Trump aides, has further hampered the president's agenda, especially after his firing of FBI Director James Comey. Still, surprises from the administration, shifts in the Federal Reserve's plan to decrease securities investments that quadrupled its balance sheet to $4.5 trillion or an upset in British parliamentary elections June 8 could roil markets in the coming month -- and boost trading volumes. At present, there's no particular reason for the downward trend in April and May trading to change, "particularly given the strength of our June last year," JPMorgan's Lake noted. "But anything can happen in a month." Citigroup is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer and the AAP team buy or sell C? Learn more now. Click here for the latest business headlines. The following companies are subsidiares of Transocean: 15375 Memorial Corporation, Agon Shipping Inc., Aguas Profundas Limitada, AngoSantaFe - Prestacao de Servicos Petroliferos Limitada, Angola Deepwater Drilling Company (Offshore Services) Ltd, Arcade Drilling AS, Asie Sonat Offshore Sdn. Bhd., Barents Rigco Limited, Blegra Asset Management Limited, Blegra Financing Limited, Caledonia Offshore Drilling Services Limited, Challenger Minerals Inc., Covent Garden - Servicos e Marketing Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Deepwater Drilling (Transocean Ghana) Limited, Deepwater Drilling North Africa LLC - Free Zone, Deepwater Pacific 1 Inc., Deepwater Supply Inc., Drillship Alonissos Owners Inc., Drillship Hydra Owners Inc., Drillship Kithira Owners Inc., Drillship Kythnos Owners Inc., Drillship Paros Owners Inc., Drillship Skiathos Owners Inc., Drillship Skopelos Owners Inc., Drillship Skyros Owners Inc., Eastern Med Consultants Inc., Entities Holdings Inc., GSF Leasing Services GmbH, Global Marine Inc., Global Offshore Drilling Limited, GlobalSantaFe (Labuan) Inc., GlobalSantaFe B.V., GlobalSantaFe C.R. Luigs Limited, GlobalSantaFe Denmark Holdings ApS, GlobalSantaFe Drilling (N.A.) N.V., GlobalSantaFe Drilling Company, GlobalSantaFe Drilling Company (North Sea) Limited, GlobalSantaFe Drilling Company (Overseas) Limited, GlobalSantaFe Drilling Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., GlobalSantaFe Drilling Operations Inc., GlobalSantaFe Drilling Services (North Sea) Limited, GlobalSantaFe Drilling Trinidad LLC, GlobalSantaFe Drilling Venezuela C.A., GlobalSantaFe Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., GlobalSantaFe Group Financing Limited Liability Company, GlobalSantaFe Holding Company (North Sea) Limited, GlobalSantaFe Hungary Services Limited Liability Company, GlobalSantaFe International Drilling Corporation, GlobalSantaFe International Drilling Inc., GlobalSantaFe International Services Inc., GlobalSantaFe Nederland B.V., GlobalSantaFe Offshore Services Inc., GlobalSantaFe Operations (Mexico) LLC, GlobalSantaFe Saudi Arabia Ltd., GlobalSantaFe Services (BVI) Inc., GlobalSantaFe Services Netherlands B.V., GlobalSantaFe Servicios de Venezuela C.A., GlobalSantaFe South America LLC, GlobalSantaFe Tampico S. de R.L. de C.V., GlobalSantaFe Techserv (North Sea) Limited, GlobalSantaFe U.S. Holdings Inc., Indigo Drilling Limited, Inteliwell JV GP Limited, Inteliwell JV LP, Kalambo Operations Inc., OCR Falklands Drilling Inc., OR Norge Operations Inc., Ocean Rig, Ocean Rig 1 Inc, Ocean Rig 2 Inc., Ocean Rig Canada Inc., Ocean Rig Cuanza Operations Inc., Ocean Rig Cubango Operations Inc., Ocean Rig Deepwater Drilling Limited, Ocean Rig Investments Inc., Ocean Rig Management Inc., Ocean Rig Operations Inc., Ocean Rig UDW Inc., Ocean Rig UDW LLC, Offshore Ghana Transocean Limited, Offshore Rig Operations AS, Olympia Rig Angola Holding S.A., Olympia Rig Angola Limitada, Orion Holdings (Cayman) Limited, Orion RigCo (Cayman) Limited, P.T. Santa Fe Supraco Indonesia, PT. Transocean Indonesia, Platform Capital N.V., Platform Financial N.V., Primelead Limited, R&B Falcon (A) Pty Ltd, R&B Falcon (Caledonia) Limited, R&B Falcon (M) Sdn. Bhd., R&B Falcon (U.K.) Limited, R&B Falcon B.V., R&B Falcon Deepwater (UK) Limited, R&B Falcon Drilling Co. LLC, R&B Falcon Exploration Co. LLC, R&B Falcon International Energy Services B.V., RBF Rig Corporation LLC, Ranger Insurance Limited, Reading & Bates Coal Co. LLC, SDS Offshore Limited, Safemal Drilling Sdn. Bhd., Santa Fe Braun Inc., Santa Fe Construction Company, Santa Fe Drilling Company of Venezuela C.A., Saudi Drilling Company Limited, Sedco Forex International Inc., Services Petroliers Transocean, Servicios Petroleros Santa Fe S.A., Ship Investment Ocean Holdings Inc., Songa Offshore Delta Limited, Songa Offshore Drilling Limited, Songa Offshore Enabler Limited, Songa Offshore Encourage Limited, Songa Offshore Endurance Limited, Songa Offshore Equinox Limited, Songa Offshore Equipment Rental Limited, Songa Offshore Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Songa Offshore Management Limited, Songa Offshore Pte. Ltd., Songa Offshore Rig 2 AS, Songa Offshore Rig 3 AS, Songa Offshore SE, Songa Offshore SE, Songa Offshore Saturn Limited, Songa Offshore T & P Cyprus Limited, Songa Saturn Chartering Pte. Ltd., Spitsbergen Rigco Limited, Sub-Saharan Drilling Inc., T. I. International Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., TILAM Holdings Limited, TRM Holdings Limited, TSSA - Servicos de Apoio Lda., Transocean Africa Drilling Limited, Transocean Asia Services Sdn Bhd, Transocean Asset Holdings 1 Limited, Transocean Asset Holdings 2 Limited, Transocean Asset Holdings 3 Limited, Transocean Atlas Limited, Transocean Barents ASA, Transocean Brasil Ltda., Transocean Britannia Limited, Transocean Canada Drilling Services Ltd., Transocean Conqueror Limited, Transocean Conqueror Opco LLC, Transocean Corporate Services Limited, Transocean Cyprus Capital Management Public Limited, Transocean Cyprus Drilling Operations Public Limited, Transocean Deepwater Drilling Services Limited, Transocean Deepwater Holdings Limited, Transocean Deepwater Inc., Transocean Deepwater Mauritius, Transocean Deepwater Nautilus Limited, Transocean Deepwater Seafarer Services Limited, Transocean Discoverer 534 LLC, Transocean Drilling Enterprises S.a.r.l., Transocean Drilling Israel Ltd., Transocean Drilling Limited, Transocean Drilling Namibia Inc., Transocean Drilling Offshore S.a.r.l., Transocean Drilling Sdn. Bhd., Transocean Drilling Services (India) Private Limited, Transocean Drilling U.K. Limited, Transocean Eastern Pte. Ltd., Transocean Employee Support Fund, Transocean Enabler Limited, Transocean Enabler Rigco Limited, Transocean Encourage Limited, Transocean Encourage Rigco Limited, Transocean Endurance Limited, Transocean Endurance Rigco Limited, Transocean Entities Holdings GmbH, Transocean Equinox Limited, Transocean Equinox Rigco Limited, Transocean Finance Limited, Transocean Financing (Cayman) Limited, Transocean Financing GmbH, Transocean Guardian Limited, Transocean Holdings 1 Limited, Transocean Holdings 2 Limited, Transocean Holdings 3 Limited, Transocean Holdings LLC, Transocean Hungary Holdings LLC, Transocean Hungary Investments LLC, Transocean Hungary Ventures LLC, Transocean Inc., Transocean Innovation Labs Ltd., Transocean International Holdings Limited, Transocean International Resources Limited, Transocean Investimentos Ltda., Transocean Investments Holdings LLC, Transocean Investments S.a.r.l., Transocean Ltd., Transocean Management Services GmbH, Transocean Minerals Holdings Limited, Transocean Nautilus Limited, Transocean North Sea Limited, Transocean Norway Operations AS, Transocean Offshore (North Sea) Ltd., Transocean Offshore Canada Services Ltd., Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., Transocean Offshore Deepwater Holdings Limited, Transocean Offshore Drilling Limited, Transocean Offshore Gulf of Guinea II Limited, Transocean Offshore Gulf of Guinea VI Limited, Transocean Offshore Gulf of Guinea VII Limited, Transocean Offshore Gulf of Guinea XII Limited, Transocean Offshore Gulf of Guinea XIII Limited, Transocean Offshore Holdings Limited, Transocean Offshore International Limited, Transocean Offshore International Ventures Limited, Transocean Offshore Limited, Transocean Offshore PR Limited, Transocean Offshore USA Inc., Transocean Onshore Support Services Limited, Transocean Orion Limited, Transocean Phoenix 2 Limited, Transocean Phoenix 2 Opco LLC, Transocean Pontus Limited, Transocean Pontus Opco Inc., Transocean Poseidon Limited, Transocean Poseidon Opco Inc., Transocean Proteus Limited, Transocean Proteus Opco LLC, Transocean Quantum Holdings Limited, Transocean Quantum Management Limited, Transocean Quantum Rig Holdings Limited, Transocean Quantum Sentry Holdings Limited, Transocean Rig 140 Limited, Transocean Rig Management Limited, Transocean SPSF Holdings Limited, Transocean Sedco Forex Ventures Limited, Transocean Sentry Limited, Transocean Services (India) Private Limited, Transocean Services AS, Transocean Services UK Limited, Transocean Skyros Limited, Transocean Spitsbergen ASA, Transocean Sub Asset Holdings 1 Limited, Transocean Sub Asset Holdings 2 Limited, Transocean Sub Asset Holdings 3 Limited, Transocean Support Services Limited, Transocean Support Services Nigeria Limited, Transocean Support Services Private Limited, Transocean Technical Services Egypt LLC, Transocean U.S. Holdings LLC, Transocean UK Limited, Transocean Voyager 1 Limited, Transocean Voyager 2 Limited, Transocean West Africa Holdings Limited, Transocean Worldwide Inc., Triton Asset Leasing GmbH, Triton Capital I GmbH, Triton Capital II GmbH, Triton Capital Mexico GmbH, Triton Conqueror GmbH, Triton Corcovado LLC, Triton Financing LLC, Triton Gemini GmbH, Triton Holdings Limited, Triton Hungary Asset Management LLC, Triton Hungary Investments 1 Limited Liability Company, Triton Industries Inc., Triton KG2 GmbH, Triton Management Services LLC, Triton Mykonos LLC, Triton Nautilus Asset Leasing GmbH, Triton Nautilus Asset Management LLC, Triton Offshore Leasing Services Limited, Triton Pacific Limited, Triton Poseidon GmbH, Triton Voyager Asset Leasing GmbH, and Wilrig Offshore (UK) Limited. Read More National Grid plc transmits and distributes electricity and gas. The company operates through UK Electricity Transmission, UK Electricity Distribution, UK Electricity System Operator, New England, and New York segments. The UK Electricity Transmission segment provides electricity transmission and construction work services in England and Wales. The UK Electricity Distribution segment offers electricity distribution services in Midlands, and South West of England and South Wales. The UK Electricity System Operator segment provides balancing services for supply and demand of electricity on Great Britain's electricity transmission system; and acts as an agent on behalf of transmission operators. The New England segment offers electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New England. The New York segment provides electricity and gas distribution, and electricity transmission services in New York. It also engages in the provision of transmission services through electricity interconnectors and LNG importation at the Isle of Grain; sale of renewables projects; and leasing and sale of commercial property, as well as insurance activities in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. 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. Nest, the camera maker, has unveiled its Nest Cam IQ. The camera, at a price tag of just $299, is able to detect when someone walks, zooms in on that person and follows them for a clear shot. It can send an alert to a smartphone with a photo of the face of the person it followed. The indoor camera includes a 4K sensor, a digital 12-times zoom as well as face detection. Get Warning: Undefined variable $CompanyName in /home/accttr/public_html/wp-content/themes/responsalambre/single.php on line 65 alerts: It also will have the ability have a two-way simultaneous conversation on the speaker. The IQ was redesigned so that it looks like the Nets all-white sleek outdoor camera but with another stand and a weighted base. This represents the first new product to come from the Alphabet division since last year when the outdoor version was unveiled. The cameras launch ends a quiet period at Nest, which has had problems with turnover, rumors employees are dissatisfied and a recall the smoke alarm product it has, the Nest Protect. Founded by Tony Fadell a former engineer with Apple, Nest was a darling in the tech industry after it released during 2011 a smart thermostat. In 2014, Google acquired Nest at a price of $3.2 billion. Later the same year, Nest bought Dropcam a startup specializing in connected cameras at $555 million. Greg Duffy the CEO at Dropcam said later that he regretted his decision to sell to Google, citing issues with the management style of Fadell. In 2016, Fadell resigned at Nest. This new IQ camera is not yet the radical new smart product many watchers of Nest had been hoping for, but is a substantial upgrade. The cameras sensor is 8-megapixel 4K though it does not upload full 4K videos, as that would be almost impossible with the majority of current connections to Internet. It instead takes advantage of the additional information to make zooms that are higher resolution. Nest said the final product results in 1080p videos that are higher quality. Nest is also using the same face detection technology from Google that is behind Google Photos, but has taken precautions to minimize any weird implications. It runs the algorithms completely on its servers and will not exchange information of any kind with Google. Face libraries will not be shared by the company between Nest users. That means if the houseguest is known by the camera as Jason, it will not recognize him using his name if he walks in the camera range of someone elses Nest Cam IQ. 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. Eight employees of the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services have been referred In the first quarter of 2017, Ukraines exports of sugar amounted to 267.4 thousand tons worth $131.5 million, which is 8.6 times more compared to the same period in 2016, the Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry reports. In particular, in January-March 2017, Ukraine supplied sugar worth $108.8 million to Africa and Asia, and the value of sugar exports to European markets reached $21.2 million. The largest importers of sugar from Ukraine were Cote d'Ivoire ($16.2 million), Sri Lanka ($6 million), Myanmar ($12 million) and Libya ($11.4 million). In the first quarter of last year, the largest importer of sugar from Ukraine was Romania ($10.3 million). As earlier reported, Ukraine entered the top three of the worlds largest sugar beet exporters. iy The European Parliament will hold the debates and vote on the introduction of temporary autonomous trade measures for Ukraine in the access of certain types of goods to the EU markets. This issue was put on the agenda of the European Parliaments plenary session, scheduled for May 31 - June 1 in Brussels, an Ukrinform own correspondent reports. "The EU should provide further trade preferences to Ukraine, but some sensitive agricultural products do not need additional support from the EU," reads the decision of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, which supported the European Commission's proposal to provide trade preferences to Ukraine early May. In particular, the increase in quotas for Ukrainian exports to the EU will concern tomatoes, wheat and mineral fertilizers. ol "Propaganda and the management of information in the Ukraine-Russia conflict: From nation branding to information warfare" is the title of the project of the Sodertorn University (Stockholm, Sweden), which studies how Ukraine responds to the challenges of Russian propaganda. The research is purely academic in nature. It does not intend to assess whether Ukraine responds effectively and is not focused on the development of a policy or specific advice. However, the project gives Ukrainians a stimulus for reflection. Per Stahlberg, the associate professor of Department for media and communication studies at Sodertorn University, tells in an interview with Ukrinform why the Swedish university became interested in this subject, how this approach is different from other researches on Russian propaganda and how the Eurovision 2017 became a part of the project. IMAGE OF UKRAINE: INTEREST PICKED UP AFTER EURO 2012 - Is this project is a typical research you and your colleagues deal with at your department? - I can explain a little. The Sodertorn University in Stockholm has a kind of East-European profile, so a lot of researches related to the East-European interests are being done there. We even have a governmental foundation for such projects. - So, is Eastern Europe your specialization? - I am a social anthropologist; I have my PhD in social anthropology. I was studying journalism in India originally. I redirected my interest to Eastern Europe when I got the position at the university. Me and my colleagues have been writing about the phenomenon known as a nation branding. Since mid-1990s there have been interest around the world for nations state to produce images of themselves to attract tourists, investors in order to be more visible in the international political arena. Particularly, countries in the Eastern Europe had felt interest in that to brush off the old notions of them. - What country in the Eastern Europe, in your opinion, is the most successful in its efforts to create new international image? Or name three of them. - Poland succeeded in making itself much more attractive for the Western Europe. Estonia, I guess, has also been rather successful - And in the Balkan region? - In the Balkan region I guess Croatia is rather successful, but its not really part of our research project to evaluate. The kind of research we do at our department is not quantitative research, its a qualitative research, and we are not trying to measure. Its not a policy research, but a purely academic media research, which considers the questions: What is this about? Why are people doing this? How is it organized? What kinds of images are produced? - Do you make some comparison? - Yes, you could say that. We are part of academic discussion around this issue. - Why have you chosen Ukraine as a research subject? - We have chosen it because no one has really looked at Ukraine in the academic research of a brand. - Its quite a young state - The other states in Eastern Europe are also quite young. But there was lack of research on Ukraine, and that was kind of strange because Ukraine is the largest, the most populated state in Eastern Europe apart from Russia. And, so we got interested: How come no one has got interested into nation brand attempts in Ukraine? Well, I guess one of the reason is that there have been quite few and, perhaps, not very successful attempts. However, when we wrote this application to do the first research, we had noticed that Ukraine had a lot of activities in promoting itself around UEFA Euro 2012. There were promotions in CNN, BBC and a lot of activities to attract tourists, investments and European eyes to Ukraine. We decided to look how everything had been organized and came to Kyiv in the spring of 2013. We were looking mainly for PR-companies working for Euro 2012. I found few of them, started taking interviews. In addition, there were also meetings with representatives of government institutions. We were in Ukraine in October 2013, when the new nation branding campaign was presented at the International tourists conference in Kyiv. It was a small company called Wikicitynomika which won the tender and they produced images and graphic profiles. However, that project was never implemented because of the political turbulence in November-December 2013 and subsequent annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine. In that particular research project we mainly raised some theoretical issues concerning nation branding studies and published few articles. However, we could not to continue that project as the main subject of our research disappeared. You cannot promote the country for tourists and investors if it actually goes into the war. But then, of course, Ukraine became an extremely interesting place from media scholarly because of the information war in Russia and Ukraine. So, we started kind of a new project and received funding for that which was particularly concerned with the information war. INFORMATION WAR: RESPONSE OF UKRAINE AS A SUBJECT OF RESEARCH - Could you tell the exact title of your research project? - Yes. The topic is "Propaganda and the management of information in the Ukraine-Russia conflict: From nation branding to information warfare"." - So, Russia is also a topic of your research? - No, thats the point. Of course, scholars around the world pay a lot of attention now to what is called propaganda war, information war, but everybody is looking at what Russia does, Putin does to produce fake information. Thats what attracts the most interest around the world. We are rather interested in what kind of response do we see in Ukraine, which organizations are trying to promote the Ukrainian prospective in certain ways, what Ukrainian historians do in a response to Russian writing of history. We are not collecting materials, making interviews in Russia at all. Thats I guess where we are a little unique. And of course we are unique because of we come from a completely different researching in nation branding. Processes of creation of the nation brand and national identity are a part of this project. Its different than Sweden, France, or Britain engage in branding of their nations towards the rest of the world. These are states which have been nations for hundreds of years, and the borders are defined. The countries in the Eastern Europe like Ukraine have to try to build a consolidated national idea and simultaneously to produce the image to the rest of the world, attractive for investment, tourists, some kind of political reputation. And its quite difficult. - When has this project started? - Actually, this project started in 2016. The project involves four persons: me, my colleague and two postdoctoral scholars. I and professor Goran Bolin speak neither Ukrainian nor Russian. We can only look at what is produced in Ukraine towards international audience in English. Liudmila Voronova, Russian by the nationality, lives in Stockholm and her specialization is journalism studies. She has all her education from Sweden. She makes interviews, she contacts journalism organizations in Ukraine and trying to follow professional organizations for journalism in Ukraine. Yuliia Yurchuk, a native from Ukraine, has also studied in Stockholm and has a PhD from our university in history. She wrote her thesis in history about Ukrainian nationalism, looking particularly at the nationalists movements in Ukraine. - Does somebody work with Ukrainian diaspora? - Thats a very good issue, and Yuliia might look at this as well. Now she looks at Ukrainian organizations that deal with writing on Ukraines history in a popular way. - When do you plan to finish your research? - It has been lasting for a year and will go on for at least two more years. But its not a full-time research. Yuliia and Liudmila spend 50% of their work time on this project, me and my colleague Goran - less. - What Ukrainian organizations do you focus most attention on? - Ukraine has government players, like Ukrinform, UA/TV, but all these private or voluntary NGO organizations are very important actors in this direction. And that doesnt really look the same in the rest of the world, particularly in Russia, where you can see government hand behind most things, especially in dissemination of propaganda. Its much more difficult to see in Ukraine where so many voices, so many organizations. We have focused on private NGO initiatives, like StopFake, Ukraine Crisis Media Centre, Hromadske TV, Ukraine today [Its already closed]. Among the government agencies, we met with representatives of the Ministry of Information Policy. Ukrinform as a government organization is also a part of our interest. We also try to understand how organizations, media or individuals are connected in this direction. - So, how Ukrainian organizations are connected? - That will be a part of our results. We are interested in how various organizations use media technologies in different ways and for different purpose. For example, Ukraine Crisis Media Center offers assistance to foreign journalists coming here to Ukraine. They are a platform for daily briefings on the situation in ATO, they produce also materials that can be downloaded from their website and so on. They are serving the media, I could say. Then you have StopFake, which producing their website, their news video on YouTube, but their primarily aim is to monitor Russian media, and also Western media. Then you have UA/TV state channel which is producing content for the international audience. So we are looking also how technologies are used for one purpose and how these organizations build up a complete hold for different things and together they are roughly working in the same direction. - Are our politicians or diplomats some kind of your research? I mean what Ukrainian embassies are doing, how they inform foreign audience. - Well, we are being in contact in some events, the Ukrainian Embassy in Stockholm as well. StopFake distributes their findings to various embassies. And the embassies share this kind of materials, which are produced by organizations, not always governmental organizations in Ukraine, with the foreign embassies. Its part of our interest. - Do you have already some conclusions? - As for the first nation branding project, we have almost concluded it and have already published a number of articles on that. We are still working on the second one, more related to the information war. The results include a number of academic publications, articles published in reputed international journals. We can say that each and every publication has its argument and conclusion. These conclusions are much more theoretical, they do not evaluate in any sense. NATIONAL BRANDING AND SELF-CONFIDENCE - Could famous Ukrainians have impact on shaping image of Ukraine abroad and how? - This issue was a part of those initiatives we carried out before Maidan. Now Klitschko brothers are, perhaps, the most well-known Ukrainians around the world. President Poroshenko is also a well-known figure, of course. The older branding campaigns sometimes promoted famous Ukrainians who are not known outside Ukraine, like helicopter constructor Sikorsky. I guess very few people in Sweden know about Sikorsky. So its kind of difficult to use this name as a symbol of Ukraine. Then you have very well-known Ukrainian persons that are debatable to what extent they are Ukrainians Bulgakov, for example. So you have writers with world fame, cities with world fame Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Poltava. Few people know that Poltava is the city in Ukraine. - What do Swedish people know about the situation in Ukraine? I ask you because I think that people from Eastern Europe and Scandinavian countries understand the situation in Ukraine better than some Western European colleagues. - You are completely right. The perspective in Scandinavian countries, including in Sweden, is different from the perspective in, for example, France, Germany and the Netherlands. We are located very close to Russia, like the Baltic countries, so that inflicts on how we see Ukraine as well. People are aware of the situation. - Do you feel Russian propaganda in Sweden? - There is a lot of talks of Russian propaganda but it has been mostly now with the American election situation. I can say there have been a few cases when the media has written about Russian infiltrators. But not at all like in Ukraine as people are talking about it in relation to our next election. - You and your colleague Goran Bolin visited Kyiv to attend Eurovision 2017. Is that also a part of your research? - We gave the opportunity for several our students to come here for certain research, including to an Italian master-student who was following the events from the journalist perspective. Kyiv was a location for them to spend a week and collect materials for thesis. In addition, Eurovision is an interesting event for me and professor Goran, because we can look at it from our nation branding perspective. This is occasion for Ukraine to present itself to Europe not only through the lens of war. Moreover, information war could be observed through the example of the Eurovision as well. Russia got angry when Jamala won last year, and thsn we could see the situation around Russian participant this year. - What are your impressions of the Eurovision in Ukraine as a guest of the Ukrainian capital, not a scholar? - I think everything worked amazingly smooth. I know that there were huge security measures, the police were everywhere and worked very efficiently. The city was very well equipped to house all the visitors. No complain on that. When we came here three years ago and talked to people at the branding consultancies, the problem was that all Europe knew only about Ukrainian criminals or Ukrainian guest-workers or Ukrainian prostitutes. I think that Ukraine needs much better self-confidence. Ukraine is a huge European country. Ukraine is part of European history. Its not that Ukraine has to become European, Ukraine is European. However, Ukrainians have very bad self-confidence: How do we become European country? How we are recognized in Europe? Such a large country with such a population as Ukraine can never be ignored or forgotten. Kyiv is absolutely as interesting historical and cultural capital as Vienna or Prague. Very few people in Sweden know about that. - What do you personally like in Ukraine most of all? - I feel very comfortable in Kyiv. I have been here six or seven occasions. People are nice. Although a few people speak English, you can always manage. May, of course, is the best period in Kyiv its so beautiful with all the trees, a very nice river and so many parks. Architecture is fantastic, restaurants are so good. If you want to see a classic European city, go to Kyiv. There are not many tourists moving around but there are many places to see. Nataliia Kostina, Kyiv 5 takeaways from the published article of Per Stahlberg and Goran Bolin From Nation Branding to Information Warfare: The Management of Information in the Ukraine-Russia Conflict Since independence, the government of Ukraine has promoted a number of PR campaigns with the aim of improving Ukraines international image. Few of them have, however, been regarded as successful, and Ukraine has remained rather anonymous in the eyes of the surrounding word. That is, until Euromaidan, which in the winter of 2013-2014, escalated into one of the worst crises in Europe since Balkan war. Ironically, Ukraine was not invisible any longer, although other anxieties took over and still prevail We would like to propose that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has engaged an entirely new set of actors in the information war and in the management of information, most notably from the PR business but also from journalism and corporate finance. These new actors bring with them competences, ideologies and practices from their field of origin, which impact on the practice and expressive character of information warfare It also clear that the boundaries among (nation) branding, (public) diplomacy, soft power and journalism are increasingly blurred and actors are now moving freely among these spheres (In Ukraine) The management of information is handled by a large number of voluntary or commercial organizations and individuals who do not follow the common script prescribed by a powerful president or state administration While our examples are drawn from a unique geopolitical context, we suggest we might be entering a shift in how information is managed in times of national crisis and in war or war-like situation. It is our believe that we are at the beginning of such a shift, and the subject area needs to be continuously monitored in future research Objectives: To evaluate the tolerance and effectiveness of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) applied in the treatment of low and intermediate risk (LR & IR) prostate cancer patients (PCP) and provide an evaluation of the level of risk group impact on treatment results. In addition, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) usage and prostatic specific antigen (PSA) decline after SABR were assessed. Material and Methods: A total of 400 PCP (213 LR and 187 IR, including T2c) were irradiated with a CyberKnife using fd 7.25 Gy to TD 36.25 Gy. At the start of treatment, 60.3% of patients were undergoing ADT and this gradually decreased to 0% after 38 months. Follow-up was for a median of 15.0 months. Patients were monitored on SABR completion and 1, 4, 8 months later and then subsequently every 6 months. GI (Gastro-Intestinal) and GU (Genito-Urinary) acute and late adverse effects, PSA and ADT usage were evaluated. Results: Failure was noted in 9 patients (2.25%) (5 in LR and 4 in IR groups) - 4 relapses and 5 nodal metastases. No G3/4 late adverse effects (EORTC/RTOG) were observed. Some 0.5% of G3 GU and 0.3% of G3 GI acute reactions were noted respectively on the SABR completion day and one month later. The median of PSA declined 1.5 ng/ml during the first month and 0.6 ng/ml during the next three months. No impact of risk groups on treatment results was found. An impact of ADT on PSA decline was only confirmed for time point interactions. Conclusions: SABR for LR and IR PCP is a safe and effective treatment. The inclusion of T2c patients and the low percentage of IR patient failure permit us the assumption that this procedure could be utilized in the treatment of more advanced cases. The results do not allow clear definition of the impact of ADT on radioablation results in LR and IR+ T2c cases. Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP. 2017 Apr 01*** epublish *** Leszek Miszczyk, Agnieszka Namys Kaletka, Aleksandra Napieralska, Grzegorz Wozniak, Magorzata Stapor Fudzinska, Grzegorz Gowacki, Andrzej Tukiendorf Radiotherapy Department, M. Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice Branch, Poland. Email: PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28545199 Kosovo's political parties have started campaigning for the June 11 parliamentary election. Nineteen parties, five coalitions and backers of two citizen initiatives will be seeking support from 1.8 million voters. There are 120 seats in parliament at stake, 20 of them reserved for ethnic Serbs and other minorities. The election is being held about a year earlier than scheduled because Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's government lost a no-confidence vote. The most contested issues will be two agreements signed in 2015: a border demarcation deal with Montenegro and one with Serbia that gives more powers to ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. The United States and the European Union will deploy election observation teams. The U.S. Embassy in Pristina strongly condemned "anyone attempting to influence the election process or the voters' choices'' following "credible allegations of intimidation related to the election.'' The embassy said political candidates, journalists and their families had been threatened "across multiple regions of Kosovo.'' Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. That has been recognized by 114 countries but not by Belgrade. At Cafe Bar-Ba-Reeba on Chicago's north side, there is one key ingredient that could make or break Executive Chef Matt Holmes' menu. We feature it in our paeallas, which are our signature dish here at Cafe Bar Ba Reeba, as well as use it in a dessert and some other dishes as well, so its incredibly important to have high quality saffron, Holmes explained to VOA from his test kitchen above the restaurant, where he was preparing one of those signature dishes. Saffron has long been one of the world's most expensive spices, at times traded as currency. The saffron crocus that produces the spice grows mostly in parts of Europe, Iran and India. It is a staple in cuisine throughout Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, but less so in the United States, where saffron while a $60 million market has limited appeal. But Rumi Spice, Holmes' saffron supplier, is hoping to change that. We are named after Juhalladin Rumi, he was a 13th century poet and philosopher who was born in present day Afghanistan, and a Sufi mystic, says founder Kimberly Jung. One of his most famous sayings is, Where there is ruin, there is hope for treasure. Veterans inspired by relationships Kimberly Jung, Keith Alaniz and Emily Miller are three of the founders of Rumi Spice, U.S. military veterans who served in Afghanistan who returned with more than just combat experience. I was never able to resolve just going to Afghanistan, spending time, and then leaving and never thinking about the place again, especially when you form relationships with people who live there, says Alaniz. Those relationships inspired the business strategy for Rumi Spice increasing demand in the U.S. for saffron produced by Afghan farmers they met in Herat province. Saffron has very limited demand in Afghanistan, leaving the market for it outside the country. Afghanistan has essentially been cut off from the international market for 30 years, says Alaniz. They are producing a great product but they aren't able to get a fair value for their goods because they are not able to export it anywhere. Another challenge Afghanistan's enduring instability isn't the only challenge to getting Afghan saffron to market. Near to 20 years we've been growing saffron, there are still no certificates for our saffron product, says Abdullah Faiz, chancellor of Herat University, which is working with Purdue University in Indiana to develop a department of food technology, with Afghan saffron farmers in mind. The department of food technology will teach and give training for the farmers to produce the saffron with hygiene quality, says Faiz, adding that it could help increase demand for Afghan saffron in new markets. Quality, taste is key A lack of international certification hasn't stood in the way of Rumi Spice, which conducts rigorous tests to make sure the saffron it is importing is clean and pure before arriving in the United States. WATCH VIDEO: The quality and taste of Rumi Spice saffron is what attracted Matt Holmes as a customer. It's much higher potency, says Holmes. So while we pay a premium to use Rumi, it actually goes a longer way, so that's another benefit of using a higher quality product you can stretch how much you are using each time. Famous investor Our supply is outpacing our demand, says Alaniz, which is good for us because it keeps our prices low at the moment, but we hope to increase more demand here in the U.S. so we can purchase more saffron. The good thing about Rumi is they have a premium product that's fantastic to use, says Chef Matt Homes. You are kind of doing double duty with the program that they have with helping farmers in Afghanistan and helping women, being a positive influence instead of just selling a product, so you really get the best of both worlds. These are qualities investors also are noticing. Rumi Spice was recently featured on the U.S. reality television show Shark Tank, where entrepreneur Mark Cuban committed $250,000 for a 15 percent stake in the company, signaling his faith in Rumi Spice, and the future potential for saffron grown in Afghanistan. The president of Cyprus on Tuesday rebuked a United Nations envoy for speaking of a possible crisis over the ethnically divided country's search for offshore oil and gas, calling the remark "unacceptable" and a "threat" amid faltering reunification talks. The envoy, Espen Barth Eide, was quoted in the Greek newspaper To Vima as expressing concern about the issue. In similar remarks earlier this month, Eide said an "international crisis" could lead to a collapse of the ongoing talks aiming at reunifying Cyprus as a federation. "I regret that I'm being harsh about it, but I've made complaints directly that I consider such remarks unacceptable, especially if they're made in the form of a threat," President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters. It's the second time this month that Anastasiades, a Greek Cypriot, has leveled strong criticism at Eide, accusing him of bias. Turkey and the Cypriot government are sharply divided over the energy search. Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup mounted by supporters of union with Greece. Turkey, which doesn't recognize Cyprus as a state, opposes what it calls a unilateral Greek Cypriot project which flouts the rights of breakaway Turkish Cypriots. In March, the Turkish Foreign Ministry warned that it would "take all necessary measures to protect its interests" in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as those of the Turkish Cypriots. Turkey is also said to claim part of gas exploration areas, or blocks, off Cyprus' western and southern coast. French energy company Total is scheduled to drill an exploratory well off Cyprus' southern coast in mid-July. Peace talks are at a standstill after Eide called off mediation efforts last week when Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci failed to find common ground on holding a final summit in Geneva, Switzerland. Anastasiades insists on prioritizing at the summit an agreement on withdrawing more than 35,000 troops that Turkey has kept in the island's breakaway north since 1974. Akinci maintains that all issues should be discussed in a give-and-take process. Anastasiades said Tuesday there would be no point to a Geneva summit if Turkey isn't ready to discuss the security issue. A Czech court ruled Tuesday that a Russian man who faces charges of hacking computers at American companies can be extradited either to the United States or Russia and the suspect immediately appealed his possible extradition to the United States. Czech authorities arrested Yevgeniy Nikulin in Prague in cooperation with the FBI in October after Interpol issued an international warrant. He is accused of stealing information from LinkedIn, Dropbox and other companies. Moscow also wants him extradited on a separate charge of internet theft in 2009. Russian officials had previously said they were working to prevent his extradition to the U.S. 'I'm innocent' The 29-year-old has denied wrongdoing. I'm innocent, Nikulin said through a translator at the hearing Tuesday. I haven't done anything illegal. I have nothing to do with that. Judge Jaroslav Pytloun said it wasn't his place to determine the suspect's guilt or innocence and ruled Tuesday that the extradition requests from both countries met the necessary legal conditions. Our goal is to assess whether the extradition requests from the two countries meet necessary conditions, the judge said. The legal conditions are clearly fulfilled. Extradition to US appealed Nikulin appealed his extradition to the United States. He has three days to decide if he will agree to being extradited to Russia. Justice Minister Robert Pelikan will have the final say on where Nikulin goes after Prague's High Court decides his appeal. Nikulin's defense lawyers have said the U.S. charges were based on one FBI agent, and suggested the U.S. was seeking him for political reasons to use him as a pawn in the investigation into alleged Russian hacking in the U.S. election. 'Rejected' offers from US He claimed in the courtroom that he was twice approached by U.S. authorities in November and in February in the absence of his previous lawyer. He said they urged him to falsely testify that he was cooperating in the hacking attack on the Democratic National Committee ordered by Russian authorities. He said U.S. authorities would, in exchange, give him money and a life in the United States. I rejected doing it, Nikulin said. The U.S. has accused Russia of coordinating the theft and disclosure of emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions and individuals in the U.S. to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Russia has vigorously denied that. There was no indication that Nikulin's case was connected to the DNC hacking accusation. Twelve years ago today, May 31 and 31 years after the resignation of President Richard Nixon the principal leaker in the Watergate scandal, known as Deep Throat, revealed his identity in an article published in Vanity Fair magazine. Mark Felt's coming forward stunned both Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting in The Washington Post newspaper helped bring down Nixons presidency. Both went to great lengths to conceal Felts identity, and they promised to keep it a secret until his death. Although his name was circulated in the years after Nixon resigned, Felt consistently denied being Deep Throat. I never leaked information to Woodward and Bernstein or to anyone else," he wrote in his 1979 memoir. Just six years before his 2005 admission, Felt, then aged 91, was quoted as saying, It would be contrary to my responsibility as a loyal employee of the FBI to leak information. During the middle of the night in an Arlington, Virginia, parking garage, Felt corroborated stories linking Nixons reelection committee to the Watergate break-ins and illegal investigations of the Democratic Party. He also alerted Woodward to the far-reaching nature of the scandal, indicating that it could be traced back to government higher-ups, including Nixon himself. Nixon resigned the first president to ever do so while impeachment proceedings were underway. Top aides H.R. Haldeman, John Erlichman and White House Counsel John Dean all spent time in prison. Other key players who were jailed: John Mitchell, Attorney General, Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, both former White House staffers, along with Charles Colson, special counsel to the president. Additionally, five burglars, who were caught breaking in to the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, were jailed. In 1973, The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage. Hollywood made of a movie in 1976 called All the Presidents Men, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. Mark Felt died on December 18, 2008, at the age of 95. The European Commission president on Wednesday said that it was the "duty of Europe" to stand up to the U.S. if President Donald Trump decided to pull his country out of the Paris climate change accord. Jean-Claude Juncker said that "the Americans can't just get out of the agreement," adding that "it takes three to four years" to pull out. Juncker went on to say that the Group of Seven leaders "tried to explain this in clear, simple sentences to Mr. Trump" at a recent summit in Italy. He said that even though "it looks like that attempt failed" ... the "law is the law." In a gibe at the U.S. administration, Juncker told the audience at an event of the Confederation of German Employers in Berlin that "not everything that is written in international agreements is fake news." Juncker said: "If the U.S. president pulls out of the Paris agreement, and he will in the next days or hours, then it is Europe's duty to say that that is not how it works." A White House official said earlier in the day that Trump was planning to pull out of the Paris deal, although a final decision hadn't been made. Trump on Wednesday declared that abandoning the Paris climate agreement would be a victory for the American economy. The European Union and China, meanwhile, will reaffirm their commitment to the climate accord this week regardless of whether the U.S. pulls out of the pact, a senior EU official said. Talks on Friday The official told reporters that the EU and China will also "spell out" how they plan to meet their commitments to the landmark international accord to fight global warming at talks in Brussels on Friday. The official is involved in preparing the meeting between EU Council President Donald Tusk, Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, but can't speak on the record because their meeting statement wasn't finalized. Li and a major Chinese delegation are due to arrive in Brussels late Thursday following talks in Berlin. "The EU and China are joining forces to forge ahead on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and accelerate the global transition to clean energy," EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said about the upcoming EU-China summit, stressing they remain committed to Paris. A White House official said Wednesday that there could be "caveats in the language" announcing a withdrawal, leaving open the possibility that Trump's decision isn't final. That possibility was met with derisive howls from EU lawmakers when a session of the European Parliament was informed about it. "Climate change is not a fairy tale. It is a tough reality which affects people's daily lives," European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said in a statement. "People die or are obliged to leave their homes because of desertification, lack of water, exposure to disease, extreme weather conditions. If we don't act swiftly and boldly, the huge human and economic cost will continue to increase." Tajani suggested that Washington's withdrawal should be a signal for Europe to step up its efforts and reap the benefits. "Our climate action strategy represents an opportunity to attract investment, innovation and develop new green technologies," he said. "We have got the talent and the will to make this possible in all sectors." Offsetting action Tajani said earlier he would confer with Tusk and Juncker about "joint initiatives to be adopted together as a European Union" to offset the decision. The EU official involved in organizing the EU-China meeting said it would "send important signals for the multinational system," as Trump moves to alter or abandon some of the international trade agreements the U.S. has signed. Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists advocacy group, said, "I don't think any other countries will follow the U.S. out of Paris, so if he does leave, Trump will be in splendid isolation with the leaders of Syria and Nicaragua." In Madrid, the leaders of India and Spain expressed their commitment to fighting climate change and reiterated their support for implanting the Kyoto and Paris accords. In a joint statement issued following talks in the Spanish capital between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, the two countries said taking action on climate change was a priority for both nations. On Tuesday, Modi said in Berlin that it would be a "crime" to spoil the environment for future generations as the world awaits a decision on U.S. climate policy. Rajoy and Modi agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in combating climate change. Authorities say a dive boat captain known to hand-feed sharks was bitten by a "sea creature" off Florida's Atlantic coast. Palm Beach County Sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera tells the Palm Beach Post the agency's marine unit responded Sunday after receiving a distress call from an Emerald Charters dive boat. They airlifted Randall Jordan to a hospital with hand injuries. Jordan's sister Deborah Toohey of Springhill, Florida, told the newspaper that Jordan underwent "reattachment surgery." He was listed in good condition. She says her brother "tries to teach people to not be afraid of sharks." The Post reports Jordan was sentenced to one year of probation, a $1,500 fine and 100 hours of community service in 2015 after a conviction on misdemeanor charges stemming from illegally feeding sharks. When you walk around Istanbuls famous Taksim Square, men with bands around their heads are not an uncommon sight. The locals know by now that the men have just received hair transplants. Even though general tourism has suffered in Turkey due to recent terrorist attacks, medical tourism continues to thrive. In 2016, more than 152,000 people came to Turkey for medical tourism, according to statistics from the Turkish Health Ministry. Jordanian Khaled Saleh is one of the thousands of people who came to Turkey not only for a visit, but also to get a hair transplant. If I want to make the same surgery in my country, it's going to cost me $5,000. I spent $1,100 here, says Saleh. It was very cheap and helpful. The team was very helpful. We also come here for tourism. We feel safe in Turkey. Police is everywhere, helping us. Also, the tourism Istanbul is a magnificent city." Medical tourism consultant Emre Ali Kodan lists the reasons why Turkey is one of the top medical tourism destinations. High quality service, affordable prices, surpassing Europe in medical technology, cultural proximity to Middle East, experience of doctors, he says. Kodan says about 5,000 people received hair transplants each month in 2016, and up to 80,000 people are projected to receive hair transplants in 2017. WATCH: video from Istanbul The men with bands around their heads are the most visible medical tourists in Turkey. But the top medical procedures tourists came to Turkey for in 2016 involved obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology and orthopedics. Plastic surgery and cancer treatment were also in the top 10. "Our doctors are top notch," says Kodan. "We have competitive advantage in terms of fees. These reasons are why even Europeans chose to come here for medical treatments." In 2016, most of Turkey's medical tourists were Libyans, Azerbaijanis and Iraqis. But Europeans choose Turkey as well. German Jan Bourcevet, 23, found the Turkish hair transplant clinic he used after researching online. In Germany where I come from, its like [one] fourth of the price. I sent my pictures to them and they made me an offer. It sounded great, so I did it, says Bourcevet. Like Jordanian Khaled Saleh, Bourcevet also plans to use the opportunity to be a traditional tourist. He's happy that, thanks to his hair transplant procedure, he gets to explore another country. German state police were questioning a 17-year-old asylum-seeker Tuesday after a tactical unit took him into custody outside Berlin on suspicion that he was planning a suicide attack in the capital. Police in the state of Brandenburg said the teenager was detained Tuesday in the village of Gerswalde, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Berlin, after they learned he had sent a farewell message to family members and told them that "he had joined the jihad,'' or holy war. The WhatsApp message talking about jihad to the suspect's family was sent within the last week and Brandenburg authorities were told of it late Monday night by two other German states, Brandenburg police spokesman Torsten Herbst told The Associated Press. He said police were investigating but so far "evidence of the planning of a concrete act has not yet been identified." The state Interior Ministry's office identified the suspect as Syrian, but Herbst said investigators were checking to see whether he falsely registered as a Syrian but was actually from a North African country. The teenager, whose name wasn't released, came to Germany in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor and registered as an asylum-seeker. He has been living since 2016 in a home for minor refugees in Gerswalde, and was detained there in the Tuesday morning raid. Herbst said the teenager was still being interrogated. German security officials have repeatedly warned that the country is in the crosshairs of international terrorist groups. Germany saw a number of violent attacks by Islamic extremists last year, including the deadly truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 victims dead and dozens of others injured. The attack, carried out by a young Tunisian man who had been denied asylum in Germany, was later claimed by the Islamic State group. An influx of cash that was the byproduct of the deal Iran struck with a group of world powers to curtail its nuclear program may not be changing the way Iran goes about wielding influence across the Middle East and beyond. A top U.S. military official says rather than using any additional monies to invest more heavily in conventional forces, there are indications Tehran continues to focus on cultivating special operators to help lead and direct proxy forces. If anything, increased defense dollars in Iran are likely to go toward increasing that network, looking for ways to expand it, U.S. Special Operation Forces Vice Commander Lieutenant General Thomas Trask told an audience in Washington late Tuesday. Weve already seen evidence of them taking units and officers out of the conventional side that are working with the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) in Syria, Trask added. Were going to stay focused on these proxies and the reach that Iran has well past Syria and Yemen but into Africa, into South America, into Europe as well. The 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, gave Tehran access to an estimated $50 billion to $150 billion in previously frozen assets. It also cleared the way for Iran to seek new investment to boost its economy. Critics of the deal feared Iran would take a large portion of that money to boost its military and expand its influence across the Middle East. Yet despite Irans heavy involvement in Syria to help prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. military officials see no indications much of that money has been set aside for bolstering Tehrans conventional forces. Nor do they see that as a likely scenario, even though the latest estimates from the U.S. intelligence community warn Iran is trying to develop a range of new military capabilities, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and armed drones. That takes a long time to change. Youve really got to build a significant infrastructure, Trask said during the event at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Were going to continue to plan primarily against that network of proxies and unconventional warfare that Iran pushes out to create that buffer for the regime, he said. Already, Iran is supplementing its own forces inside Syria by providing arms, financing and training for as many as 10,000 Shia militia fighters, including units from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Military and intelligence officials further worry about the sway Iran has over tens of thousands of additional fighters who are part of Shia militias fighting in Iraq. And there are concerns Iran is trying to employ the same type of model in Yemen, where U.S. officials say it has been supplying arms and other help to Houthi forces. Everywhere you look, if there is trouble in the region, you find Iran, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said last moth during a visit to Saudi Arabia, when asked about Yemen. We'll have to overcome Iran's efforts to destabilize yet another country and create another militia in their image of Lebanese Hezbollah. And some analysts say that Iran will persist, even if the results are not immediate. Youve seen this slow ratcheting up of what theyve been able to do in Syria and its not sufficient, said J. Matthew McInnis, a resident fellow at AEI and author of a new report on Irans security policy, noting Tehrans reliance on Russian air support. Still, Tehran has shown no signs of backing down, he said, willing to wait out its adversaries. We underestimated the degree to which Iran was committed to Assad, McInnis said. Theyre going to fight as long as it takes in Syria. An Iraqi government-sanctioned paramilitary force moved on Monday to capture a key town beyond the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group, tightening its grip on series of towns and villages near the Syrian border, officials said. Backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraq last October launched a wide-scale military offensive to recapture Mosul and the surrounding areas, with various Iraqi military, police and paramilitary forces taking part in the operation. The city's eastern half was declared liberated in January, and the push for the city's western section, separated from the east by the Tigris River, began the following month. According to Shi'ite lawmaker Karim al-Nouri, the mainly Shi'ite Popular Mobilization Forces seeks to drive IS militants out of the center of strategic Baaj, west of Mosul near the border with Syria. Al-Nouri said the surrounding villages have already been taken from IS. Once Baaj falls, he told The Associated Press, the fight with IS will move to the Syrian border. He didn't elaborate. "Baaj is a strategical town for Daesh as it is the last supply line" linking IS with Syria, said Sheikh Sami al-Masoudi, a PMF leader, using the Arabic acronym for IS. "Once we reach the border, we will erect a dirt barricade and dig a trench to derail their [IS] move," he added. Hashim al-Mousawi, a leader with al-Nujaba militia, which is also part of the PMF, said the troops are ready to move inside Syrian territories but that this needs Iraqi government approval. The Iran-backed PMF known as Hashed al-Shaabi in Arabic has largely operated since October in the desert to the west of Mosul, trying to cut IS supply lines. In Mosul, Iraqi forces began a new offensive to drive IS militants from the remaining pockets of territory that the militants still hold in the Old City, in Mosul's western half. The IS hold on Mosul has shrunk to just a handful of neighborhoods in and around the Old City district where narrow streets and a dense civilian population are expected to complicate the fight. Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014 as the militants swept over much of the country's north and central areas. Weeks later the head of the Sunni extremist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced the formation of a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria from the pulpit of a Mosul mosque. At least five Kenyan security personnel were killed Wednesday after an improvised explosive device bomb hit their vehicle in coastal Lamu County, security sources say. The explosion occurred as the officers traveled on a road between Baure and Milimani in Lamu East, officials said. James Olesirian, director of security operations in the Boni forest, an area used by militants to launch attacks in Lamu, confirmed the incident to VOA's Somali Service. Today at about 8:30 a.m. there was a security incident between Baure and Milimani within Lamu County, he said. A police motor vehicle ran over an IED while travelling on the Kiunga Hindi Road, several officers injured. Other security sources told VOA Somali there were seven rural border patrol unit (RBPU) officers on board the vehicle, five of whom were killed. Two others are said to be missing. The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack and said seven Kenyan police were killed. Al-Shabab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told the groups radio broadcasters that they have increased attacks against Kenya. A week ago, eight Kenyan security officers were killed in two separate roadside explosions in the countrys northeast. Five were killed when an IED hit a convoy of vehicles escorting the governor of Mandera County, Ali Roba, who was campaigning in an area near the border with Somalia. Three police officers were killed by another IED blast the same day while traveling between Liboi and Kulan towns in Kenya's Garissa County. IEDs seized In Somalia, security agencies in the Puntland region say they have arrested two suspects and seized explosives and other materials at a checkpoint near the town of Bosaso. Security officials said they found six large explosive devices that were hidden in a vegetable truck. Police Commander Colonel Abdihakim Yusuf Hussein said officers also found grenades, antennas, chargers, mobile phones, vehicle registration plates and perfumes. They prepared and intended to plant these devices in three different cars, Hussein said. He told his security forces to be extremely vigilant, noting that the militants are using unusual tactics to hide the explosives. You have to be very alert and search these vehicles, scan the stomach of the goats and sheep, he said. Bosaso was the target of a suicide explosion on May 23 in which five people were killed and seven others were wounded. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for that attack. Security sources say early indications show the explosive devices seized today belong to al-Shabab. On Tuesday, two civilians were killed after their vehicle ran over an IED in Galgala highland, an area where Puntland is fighting al-Shabab. Also today, three government soldiers were wounded after an IED explosion targeted their vehicle in Weydow Area, an outskirt of Mogadishu. A song labeling Prime Minister Theresa May a liar has shot to the top of music sales charts in Britain, mocking her "strong and stable" motto ahead of the June 8 national election. "Liar Liar Ge2017" by Captain SKA now tops Amazon's listing for songs downloaded in Britain, and stands at No. 2 in Apple's iTunes UK chart, despite receiving no airplay from radio stations. Hitting out at the austerity policies of Britain's Conservative Party, the song stitches together samples of May's speeches with choruses of "She's a liar liar, no you can't trust her." "We all know politicians like telling lies / Big ones, little ones, porky pies / Saying they're strong and stable, won't disguise / We're still being taken for a ride," reads one verse. May is expected to win comfortably on June 8, but her party's lead in opinion polls has narrowed sharply in the last week, calling into question her decision to call the unscheduled election seeking a strong endorsement of her Brexit strategy. Captain SKA, a London-based band led by producer Jake Painter, is aiming for the No. 1 spot in Britain's official Top 40 chart. "The success of this song shows people are fed up with this government of the rich, for the rich," the band said in a statement published by Official UK Charts Company, which said "Liar Liar" was on course to be the highest new entrant this week. A spokesman for May's Conservative Party said it had no comment on the song. Political songs are a thorny issue for British broadcasters, which are bound by impartiality regulations, especially around elections. In April 2013, "Ding-dong the Witch is Dead" from the Wizard of Oz musical rose to No. 2 in the official charts following the death of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher. BBC radio refused to play the song in full, but aired five-second clips in news reports instead. Macedonia's parliament has elected a new center-left coalition government led by former opposition leader Zoran Zaev, ending a six-month political stalemate. Lawmakers voted 62-44 just before midnight Wednesday to confirm a 26-member Cabinet proposed by Zaev, who leads the Social Democrat party. Five lawmakers abstained and nine were absent. Zaev was sworn in as prime minister by the parliament speaker immediately after the vote. Zaev formed an alliance with two small ethnic Albanian parties to control 62 of parliament's 120 seats after his party finished second in December elections that produced a hung parliament. About a quarter of Macedonia's population is ethnic Albanian, and inter-ethnic tensions brought the former Yugoslav republic near civil war in 2001. Under the coalition deal, nine Cabinet portfolios are held by ethnic Albanians, including justice and European integration. The country has been roiled by political crisis since early 2015, sparked by a massive wiretapping scandal which left Zaev's party and the formerly governing VMRO-DPMNE conservatives with irreconcilable differences. Macedonia has been without an elected government since December, when former prime minister Nikola Gruevski's conservative party won elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority. The 42-year-old Zaev has pledged to focus on the economy, strengthening public institutions and joining the European Union and NATO. He wants to start negotiations with the EU and NATO ``as soon as possible.'' Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in 2005. Neighboring Greece has blocked Macedonia's accession to NATO due to a long-running dispute regarding Macedonia's name, and has raised objections to its joining the EU. The leftist party of presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was in a photo-finish race to strip control of Mexico's most populous state from the countrys ruling party, polls showed on Wednesday. A victory in Sunday's election in the State of Mexico would hand Lopez Obrador's three-year-old party its first state government, showing its anti-corruption message has mass appeal and adding momentum to his run for the presidency in 2018. Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has governed the State of Mexico, which rings Mexico City, for nearly nine decades. Financial markets are closely watching the progress of the strong-willed leader with nationalist leanings. If he does win in 2018, it could stoke tensions with the United States after President Donald Trump's populist broadsides against Mexico during his own election campaign. A poll in national newspaper Reforma showed Delfina Gomez of his National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party had 31.9 percent support to be governor of the state of 16 million people where one in eight of the nation's voters live. The PRI candidate, Alfredo del Mazo, who is battling against a widely held view that his party is corrupt and has failed to rein in crime, was behind with 30.7 percent. However the gap between the two candidates was within the survey's 3.2 percent margin of error. A second poll, in another national daily, El Universal, showed del Mazo ahead with 33.8 percent of support, while Gomez had 29.3 percent. In both surveys the two candidates had increased their support since earlier polls. Wednesday is the last day of campaigning for the election. Votes will also be held on Sunday in the states of Coahuila and Nayarit, both also governed by the PRI. President Enrique Pena Nieto, also of the PRI, is a former governor of the State of Mexico. His party is struggling to overcome graft scandals and rising crime in states it governs. It portrays Lopez Obrador in the mold of Venezuela's left-wing leaders. However, the veteran campaigner has moderated some economic policies in his third bid for the presidency and no longer vows to overturn an energy reform ushered in by Pena Nieto. The Reforma poll was conducted through 1,200 interviews at home between May 24 and May 29. El Universal's poll held 1,000 face-to-face interviews between May 26 and May 29 and has a 3.1 percent margin of error. Mexico's foreign minister says the country is "inevitably" set to review rules of origin when renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, giving a boost to President Donald Trump's manufacturing push. Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray said Tuesday at an event in Miami that NAFTA has allowed Mexican industry to enter the U.S. market with lax rules of origin. The rules dictate how much U.S. content a product assembled in Mexico must have in order to escape tariffs when being imported into the United States. Currently set at 62.5 percent for the auto industry, that number could increase. "One part that must inevitably be reviewed is the chapter on rules of origin," Videgaray said at the University of Miami. "Over time, the free trade agreement has sometimes been used not always, of course, but sometimes as a way to access the U.S. market perhaps with laxity in some ways of rules of origin." The Trump administration told Congress this month there would be 90 days of consultations on the renegotiation of the 23-year-old pact before beginning talks with Canada and Mexico. Annual trade of goods between Mexico and the U.S. was worth $525 billion in 2016, with the U.S. running a trade deficit of more than $63 billion. The foreign minister said Mexico won't entertain any talks on building a wall along the border. Videgaray maintained it is seen as an unfriendly sign and questioned its efficiency. Trump's budget seeks $2.6 billion for border security technology, including money to design and build a wall along the southern border. Trump repeatedly promised voters during the campaign that Mexico would pay for a wall. A guest at President Donald Trumps Washington hotel has been arrested after police found guns and ammunition in his car. Bryan Moles was detained by Washington police early Wednesday morning at Trump International Hotel. The hotel is just blocks from the White House. Police say they found a handgun, a rifle and about 90 rounds of ammunition, after they received a tip. Chief of Police Peter Newsham did tell reporters they learned about Moles from Pennsylvania State Police who contacted the U.S. Secret Service telling them Moles was traveling to Washington with weapons. Newsham said they still dont know Moles motive, but that law enforcement was "very concerned. Were going to do a thorough examination if we can get to the motive as to why this guy was coming to the District of Columbia armed with these weapons, Newsham said. I was very concerned about this very peculiar circumstance, and I believe that the officers and our federal partners, and in particular the tipster coming forward, averted a potential disaster in our nations capital. Moles car was parked near a valet attendant, and the weapons were reportedly visible from the outside. Moles reportedly told police he was a military veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress. He also reportedly told officers he supports Trump. Officially, the police have not confirmed those details. According to a local radio station, Moles was charged with one count of carrying a dangerous weapons, one count of carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business, as well as having unregistered ammunition. Police say they dont yet have enough evidence to charge Moles with making threats. Trump International released a statement on the incident. "We take the safety and security of guests very seriously, the hotel said in a statement. It is our first priority. This morning, the authorities arrested a guest who was behaving suspiciously. The hotel would not give further details citing an ongoing investigation. Police in northern Myanmar said Tuesday that they are investigating the deaths of three ethnic Kachin men whose bodies were found in a shallow grave after locals said they were detained by government soldiers. The three were among a group of five people detained by the army in Kachin state on May 25 as they were on their way back to their refugee camp after collecting firewood near Hka Pra Yang village, camp manager Naw Mai said. Two of the men were released and returned to the camp, while the others never returned, Naw Mai said. A group from the camp, which is home to hundreds of the more than 100,000 who have fled fighting between government troops and rebels in the region, went Sunday to the place where the men were last seen and found their bodies in a freshly dug grave, Naw Mai said. Their bodies had gunshot wounds, knife marks and severe bruising, he said. "We believe that these men were severely tortured," Naw Mai said. "Now this incident is scaring every displaced person from moving around the area." Calls to military spokesmen went unanswered Tuesday. Myo Thura Naung, a Kachin State police officer, confirmed that the bodies had been found but said it was too early to determine how the men died and who was responsible. "This is just the beginning of our investigation and it's too early to say anything clearly," he said. Rights groups have for decades accused Myanmar's armed forces of abusing and killing civilians during the military's long-running conflicts with ethnic armed groups. Such abuses were often cited as part of the justification for international sanctions on the country's former ruling junta. The accusations have continued even as most sanctions have been lifted and Myanmar has transitioned to a more open and more democratic system with a partly civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has no control over the army. In a separate incident, a 17-minute video that appeared online Saturday showed Myanmar army and militia soldiers kicking, punching and threatening to kill six unidentified ethnic Shan villagers in northern Shan state. The incidents came as Suu Kyi and the military were wrapping up peace talks with more than a dozen ethnic armed groups in a bid to end the conflicts. The talks, which are complicated by ongoing military offensives in Kachin and Shan states, ended Monday without an agreement. Last year, the military made a rare admission that its soldiers had killed five ethnic Shan villagers and seven soldiers were eventually sentenced to five years in prison. Locals were outraged by what they said was the leniency of the prison term. The military has also been accused of abuses against the country's Muslim Rohingya minority in western Rakhine state, which has drawn worldwide condemnation. The United States space agency NASA says it will launch a mission next year to send a spacecraft directly into the suns atmosphere. NASA announced the plan at the University of Chicago Wednesday during a ceremony to honor astrophysicist Eugene Parker, whom the Parker Solar Probe is named after. The probe will gather data on solar activity and give us a better idea of how space-weather events can impact life of Earth. It will orbit within four million miles of the suns surface, about eight times closer to the sun than any spacecraft has ever flown. It will need to withstand heat and radiation no human could endure. Parker Solar Probe is going to answer questions about solar physics that weve puzzled over for more than six decades, said mission scientist Nicola Fox. Its a spacecraft loaded with technological breakthroughs that will solve many of the largest mysteries about our star, including finding out why the suns corona is so much hotter than its surface." Parker was the first scientist to study the phenomenon now known as solar wind and his research changed the way scientists understand the way stars interact with the worlds that orbit them. WATCH: Parker on solar probe Solar winds are made of charged gases emanating from the sun. Those winds eventually flow past the Earth at around 1.6 million kilometers per hour and scientists believe they have the capability to cause serious damage to the planet. At its closest point to the sun, the spacecrafts 12-centimeter-thick solar shields will need to withstand temperatures of 1300 degrees Celsius. The probe is on track to launch in August 2018 and is scheduled to last until June 2025. Norway is demanding that the Palestinian Authority reimburse it for funds donated to a women's center on the West Bank because the center was named after a female militant who participated in an attack in Israel that killed 37 civilians. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry says the country will not allow itself to be associated with institutions that take the names of terrorists. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials applauded Norway's move and urged the international community to check closely where the money that it invests in the Palestinian Authority goes. The women's center was named for Dalal Mughrabi, a member of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). She participated in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel and died during the attack. Venezuelas political, economic and social breakdown is getting a hard look from the international community on Wednesday, with the Organization of American States considering solutions at a special meeting in Washington and the European Parliament doing the same, hours earlier, in Brussels. Both groups are trying to help restore peace and stability in the South American country, reeling from two months of often violent protest against left-leaning President Nicolas Maduro. At least 60 people have died in clashes between protesters and Maduro supporters and security forces. The OAS meeting, scheduled to begin in mid-afternoon, brings together high-level representatives including at least 18 foreign ministers from throughout the Western Hemisphere. Venezuela likely will be alone among the 34 member states to go unrepresented. In April, Maduros administration announced the country would withdraw from the OAS, accusing its chief, Luis Almagro, of joining in a U.S.-led a campaign to undermine Venezuelan sovereignty. But Venezuela could send a surprise representative to defend its position before foreign ministers and to block any conclusive action against Maduro. He has called for revising the countrys constitution, beginning with a constitutional assembly in July. His critics fear a redrawn document could interfere with long-overdue elections and other efforts to restore democratic norms. European Parliament weighs in In Brussels, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani denounced Maduros plan for a new constitution. Its a new coup with the sole purpose of consolidating this authoritarian regime, the Associated Press quoted him as saying. Tajani also characterized Venezuelas planned withdrawal from OAS as an act of regional isolation that is harmful for the country. He challenged the parliament to help find a peaceful solution to this crisis and said he would ask its leaders to consider imposing sanctions against select Venezuelan officials, as the United States has done. Tajani was joined by Julio Borges, president of Venezuelas opposition-led National Assembly. Borges said Venezuelans sought the opportunity granted by their own constitution to have free general elections, the AP reported. OAS draft resolutions In Washington, the Organization of American States so far has received two draft resolutions for discussion Wednesday. One submitted by the United States, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Canada asks the OAS to discourage the Maduro administration from convening the constituent assembly as currently devised. Critics contend the proposed assembly of at least 540 citizens some locally elected, some selected from interest groups such as farmers, students and laborers would not fairly represent Venezuelas 31 million people and would be stacked in favor of the ruling Socialist Party. That draft resolution lists other reforms, including urging the suspension of Venezuelan military courts prosecution of civilians. A second draft resolution from the Antigua and Barbuda mission also opposes the constitutional assembly. Maduro called for the revision, saying it was needed to bring peace and to prevent his rivals from staging a coup. US backs unified regional approach A senior U.S. State Department official, speaking Tuesday in a news teleconference, said that Washington supported "a unified regional approach to help Venezuela find a peaceful, democratic and comprehensive solution to its current problems." The official called for OAS member states "to act collectively to ensure that the nations of our hemisphere support democracy, human rights and the rule of law." He urged "good-faith negotiations" among all Venezuelans, adding that "the main responsibility for showing good faith in any negotiations now is on President Maduro and the government of Venezuela. We seek the full diplomatic strength of our hemisphere to help make such negotiations possible." He and another senior official on the phone call mentioned that the OAS was considering a "contact group" to facilitate negotiations with Venezuela. Its size and composition were up for discussion. 'Be our voice at this moment' Once Latin Americas wealthiest nation, the oil-rich countrys fortunes plummeted with a 2014 downturn in global crude prices and with government mismanagement. Its plagued by widespread shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. Anti-government protesters have taken to the streets almost daily since early April, demanding elections, the release of political prisoners and access to humanitarian aid. In Caracas, youth leader Daniel Martinez Yabrudi told VOA he was heartened by the OAS and others increased focus on Venezuela after years of increasing strain on its people. "Little by little," Martinez Yabrudi said, the countries of the OAS, the countries of the world have realized that they cannot be accomplices" to repression. "We directly ask our sister nations to be our voice at this moment," he said, "... because what happens in Venezuela affects the region." VOA Spanish Service correspondent Alvaro Algarra contributed to this report from Caracas, Venezuela. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorized the State Department to notify Congress of the Trump administration's sale of precision-guided munitions for Saudi Arabia to use in its Yemen campaign, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday. The notification is one of the last steps in the arms sale process and triggers a formal 30-day review to allow members of Congress to attempt to pass legislation to stop any sale. U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation last week seeking to block about $500 million of a $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, including the portion on precision-guided missiles and other offensive weapons. An announcement of the sale had been expected in March but objections from mostly Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups led to Washington to ask Riyadh for commitments to improve targeting procedures that would minimize civilian casualties. Asked on Tuesday whether the Saudis had taken specific measures to improve targeting capabilities, the senior U.S. diplomat, acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones, did not answer directly. That's a continuing source of conversation between us, Jones told reporters. We're constantly trying to improve that process. Limited military support The Yemen civil war pits Iran-allied Houthi rebels against the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition. Nearly 4,800 civilians have been killed since March 2015, the United Nations said in March. Jones said Tillerson's authorization, which was expected, occurred just before President Donald Trump's May 20-21 visit to Saudi Arabia. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, in December limited military support to Saudi Arabia's campaign in Yemen because of concerns over civilian casualties, and halted the sale of the precision-guided munitions. On his trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump received a warm welcome from Gulf Arab leaders, who want to crack down on Iran's influence in the region, a commitment they found lacking in Obama. Human rights abuses Trump also did not make overt mentions of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia in his speech there, a move criticized by Democrats and Republicans in Congress. The fact that it wasn't featured in the speech doesn't mean that it's not part of the bilateral dialogue, Jones said. By taking it out of the public debate and having those conversations directly and quietly, we'll be more effective. Tillerson last week told reporters that human rights issues were not the central part of Trump's private meetings with Saudi officials, which instead focused on the fight against terrorism. People smugglers make about $35 billion a year worldwide and they are driving the tragedy of migrants who die trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told Reuters on Wednesday. Increasing numbers of desperate migrants fleeing from Africa and elsewhere due to conflicts and humanitarian crises are dying as they attempt to reach Europe via Libya, coaxed to do so by smugglers as they wait in detention centers. The death toll of people crossing the Mediterranean has reached 1,700 so far this year before the summer when many more often make the journey, compared to 3,700 for all of 2015 and 5,000 last year, said IOM head William Lacy Swing. "Now, let's be careful because those are the people we know who died, how many other bodies are submerged in the Mediterranean or buried in the sands of the Sahara?" he said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference on migration. "That's the tragedy and this is why we are so concerned to try to caution migrants about smugglers. The smugglers are really the big problem. It's about $35 billion a year [that people smugglers make] and we know they're making lots of money across the Mediterranean." People smuggling now represents the third-largest business for international criminals, after gun and drug trafficking, he said. Libya has become a major point of departure for migrants from Africa, where lawlessness is spreading six years after the fall of strongman Muammar Gaddafi and migrants say conditions at government-run migrant centers are terrible. After visiting Libya in March, Lacy Swing said his organization is "all ready to go" and return international staff to Libya to work at migrant centers but has so far not been allowed to do so by the United Nations. On Tuesday, the IOM and U.N. refugee agency UNCHR presented plans in Geneva on boosting operations in Libya. Lacy Swing said the IOM was ready to help the government with Libya's own internally displaced people and work in migration centers. He said Europe's migrant crisis has been aggravated by what he called "unprecedented anti-migrant sentiment, fueled now by suspicions that some of those fleeing terrorism might be terrorists themselves." But he urged governments to try to address the root causes of migration conflicts, water shortages and big disparities between rich and poor countries. "In my lifetime I have never known a situation quite like today, because you have nine armed conflicts and humanitarian emergencies from West Africa to the Himalayas," he said. He said Europe needs to come up with a comprehensive plan on migration "but I don't see it happening any time in the near future, but we'll do everything we can to support them on it." Lacy Swing stressed that "migration is not an issue to be solved, it's a human reality that has to be managed or governed." "We know that historically, migration has always been overwhelmingly positive." Russia and Saudi Arabia hailed their growing partnership in oil markets and dialogue on Syria on Tuesday, in a departure from past hostilities between the top global producers and major players in the Middle East. Russian President Vladimir Putin heaped praise on Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who looks after the kingdom's defense and energy, as he welcomed the possible future king to the Kremlin. It was the second meeting between the two men over the past year following a breakthrough meeting in China, where Putin and Prince Mohammed showed the first signs the world's two biggest oil exporters could clinch a deal to prop up oil prices. Non-OPEC Russia had long opposed any cooperation in reducing oil output in tandem with OPEC, where Saudi Arabia is de facto leader. Russia's military campaign in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad in the past two years has effectively pitted the Kremlin in a direct military confrontation with Saudi Arabia as the Sunni kingdom has long fought for Assad's removal. But the oil price plunge in the last two years has overstretched the budgets of both producers, making joint cuts more likely, especially with Russia facing a presidential election next year and Saudi Arabia requiring higher prices for economic reforms and the listing of its energy giant Aramco. "The relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are going through one of their best moments ever," Prince Mohammed told Putin. "We have a lot of common ground. As far as our disagreements are concerned, we have a clear mechanism of how to overcome them. We are moving forward quickly and in a positive way," he added. "The most important thing is that we are succeeding in building a solid foundation to stabilize oil markets and energy prices," Prince Mohammed said. Last December, Russia and 10 other non-OPEC nations agreed to join OPEC's output cuts for the first time in 15 years. Last week Moscow agreed to extend its cooperation by another nine months until March 2018. Both Moscow and Riyadh said that cooperation would last beyond the current agreement as both countries are still trying to find ways to co-exist with U.S. shale oil producers, who are not part of the global output reduction deals. As a part of Tuesday's talks, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to explore an opportunity to join a consortium of investors in a Moscow real estate project. The Russian fund also said in statement both parties are evaluating more projects, including in retail, real estate, alternative energy projects, transportation and logistics infrastructure. "We are grateful to you for your ideas and the joint work between OPEC and the countries which are not part of the cartel," Putin told Prince Mohammed. "We support political contacts, contacts between defense ministries. We work together on sorting out difficult situations, including in Syria," Putin said. A massive suicide truck bombing rocked a highly secured diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing 90 people and wounding as many as 400. The attack left a scene of mayhem and destruction in the Afghan capital. A look at some of the lingering questions after the attack: How was this possible? Investigators will seek to understand how insurgents managed to get an explosives-packed tanker truck into one of the best-protected areas of Kabul. The Wazir Akbar Khan district is home to most of the capital's foreign embassies as well as several major government institutions, including the Presidential Palace. "No one could even imagine that would take place in Wazir Akbar Khan," said General Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, a former deputy interior minister. "I would call it a security and intelligence error." Can the government protect the capital? The bombing raises serious questions about the Afghan government's ability to provide basic security. Insurgent groups have been on the offensive ever since the drawdown of NATO troops from the country in 2014. The first half of 2017 has seen a particularly successful string of terrorist attacks in the capital, including a twin suicide bombing March 1 that killed 22 people and a coordinated March 8 assault on a military hospital that killed 50 people. Who did it? As of late Wednesday night in Kabul, no one had claimed responsibility. The vast majority of such devastating attacks recently have been undertaken by either the Taliban or the local affiliate of the Islamic State group. The Taliban has been waging a guerrilla war against Kabul for more than a decade ever since being ousted from power by a U.S. invasion in 2001 in the aftermath of 9/11. The Islamic State group is a more recent development, forming in the last few years and largely made up of dissident former Taliban militants. IS has been battling the Taliban for control of certain parts of Afghanistan while also regularly targeting the government. Yarmand said he didn't think the Taliban were behind it, saying they "don't have the ability to carry out such big attack, and if they did, they would have claimed responsibility." The former Interior Ministry official repeated a common belief among Afghan government officials: The Pakistani intelligence services have played a role in the string of terrorist attacks plaguing Kabul. Pakistani officials have repeatedly denied such accusations. Is there a diplomatic solution? So far, it doesn't appear likely. There have been multiple attempts to launch peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, but all have faltered. The most recent initiative, brokered by Pakistan, collapsed and spawned even more public distrust and animosity between Kabul and Islamabad. What's more, as long as the Taliban and other insurgent groups can demonstrate the ability to strike deep in the heart of the most secure parts of Kabul, the impetus to negotiate will likely be reduced. Yarmand said there doesn't appear to be much desire to negotiate on the part of the Taliban leadership or its rank and file. "For now, their supporters need them to be in fight with the Afghan government," he said. President Donald Trump has decided to pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Accord. "We're getting out," Trump said in a White House statement. Trump said he made the decision because the accord is "very unfair at the highest level to the American people." The U.S. will stop honoring non-binding parts of the agreement "as of today" Trump said. WATCH: Basic principles of Paris Accord Earlier in the day, at a photo session with visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Trump said he was hearing from a lot of people both ways as he considered his options. Spokesman Sean Spicer said those consulted include U.S. business leaders and foreign heads of states. News of the pending decision was greeted with howls of derision in the environmental community, and the mayors of the largest U.S. cities vowed to remain faithful to the accord, regardless of what Trump decides. If the White House withdraws from the Paris Climate Accord, were going to adopt it in Los Angeles, tweeted Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. New York Mayor Bill de Blasios Tweet read: We'll take matters into our own hands. I plan to sign an executive order maintaining New York Citys commitment to the Paris Agreement. Climate change activists were predictably furious, assuming that the decision would go against their interests. "Donald Trump has made a historic mistake, which our grandchildren will look back on with stunned dismay at how a world leader could be so divorced from reality and morality, Sierra Club President Michael Brune said in a statement emailed to VOA. A similar statement from the League of Conservation Voters read, With this wildly irresponsible decision, President Trump would not only [be] jeopardizing the health and safety of American communities, but also undermines the United States position of global leadership on a host of issues. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the founder of Space X, threatened to resign from the three White House scientific advisory boards if the president actually withdraws from the accord. He tweeted, Will have no choice but to depart councils in that case. Economist Gary Hufbauer of the Washington-based Peterson Institute told VOA he expects other countries to remain a part of the accord, and that Trump deciding to leave would "put the U.S. in a bad light." "A statement by President Trump that the U.S. is leaving the Paris accord doesnt really trigger any enforcement action by other countries, and probably is more of a declaration of intent than an actual leaving of the accord," he said. WATCH: What is Climate Change? International reaction The pending decision also prompted worried reactions from European and other allies. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the agreement has great significance, but will be less effective without its key participants. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China will stand by its commitment to implement the deal. The United Nations' official Twitter account carried this message: Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable. Frances ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, tweeted, Major U.S. corporations have expressed their support of the Paris accord. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said President Donald Trump doesn't "comprehensively understand'' the terms of the Paris accord. Juncker says European leaders tried to explain the process for withdrawing from the global agreement to Trump "in clear, simple sentences'' during meetings last week. Juncker, who was among the leaders Trump met with last week, notes that it takes several years to pull out of new international treaties. "This notion, `I am Trump, I am American, America first and I am getting out,' that is not going to happen,'' he said. Not all reaction has been negative, though. A group of 22 Republican senators issued a letter last week, urging Trump to make a clean break from the Paris agreement. The letter argued that remaining in it would subject the United States to significant litigation risk that could complicate Trumps effort to overturn Obama era regulations, known as the Clean Power Plan. Freedom Works, an organization dedicated to the principle of smaller government, argued in a statement that adhering to the agreement would be too expensive, costing the U.S. economy more than $2 trillion and nearly 400,000 jobs. Americans havent seen real economic and wage growth for far too long, and this misguided treaty failed to strike anything close to a balance between preserving the environment and prosperity, the statement said. Brett Schaefer of the pro-Trump Heritage Foundation said the decision to pull out of the Paris Accord should be an easy one for Trump, who was elected after calling climate change a hoax. If you pull out, you are going to get criticism from environmental groups and others on the political left that probably dont support you anyway, Schaefer said. But to avoid that criticism you would impose higher costs on American voters, American consumers, American businesses, retard U.S. economic growth going forward, and break a campaign promise. That is about as black and white as can be, and I think the choice should be pretty clear to the president, Schaefer said. More than 900 people, most of them from India and Pakistan, have signed a resolution calling on the two governments to decrease hostilities and resolve their differences through dialogue. Drafted by Boston-based Pakistani journalist Beena Sarwar and Indian academic Anish Mishra, who is based in Singapore, the resolution aims to reduce the increased tensions between the two South Asian nuclear-armed rivals that have already fought five wars since their independence from the British in 1947. Signatories include well-known artists, authors, journalists, politicians, activists and even retired armed forces personnel. Names like internationally renowned linguist and activist Noam Chomsky, Bollywood stars Naseeruddin Shah and Nandita Das, famous Indian film producer Mahesh Bhatt, poets such as Gulzar and Kishwar Naheed, and historians like Ayesha Jalal and Romila Thapar join the ranks of retired generals Mahmud Durrani and Talat Masood and admiral L. Ramdas as "peacemongers," a name they have chosen for themselves. Endorsements from other regional countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, indicated how people in the region "feel impacted by relations between the two South Asian giants," stated a web post announcing the resolution. "The peace constituencies on both sides have to raise their voices," said Pakistani politician Afrasiab Khattak, who has endorsed the resolution. "If they're silent, they leave the field open for warmongers and no one challenges the stereotypes they create." Short-lived efforts at peace Hostilities between India and Pakistan have been high ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. He had campaigned on a platform of creating a "muscular India" that was tough on its rival, Pakistan. New Delhi often accuses Pakistan of harboring anti-India militants who carry out cross-border attacks on Indian targets. Several apparent attempts by both sides at breaking the ice have been frustrated by subsequent events. A surprise visit by Modi, for example, to attend the wedding ceremony of the granddaughter of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in December of 2015 was supposed to act as a reset button. The euphoria was short lived. In January 2016, heavily armed militants attacked an air force base in Pathankot in the Indian state of Punjab. India blamed Pakistan-based militants and the relationship soured. More recently, India sent back 50 Pakistani students who had been invited to the country by a nongovernmental organization after accusing Pakistan of killing and mutilating the bodies of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control or LoC, a de-facto border in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Pakistan denied the allegation. Taking account of such instances, the resolution notes, "Whenever it seems that relations might improve, some form of disruption takes place ranging from jingoistic statements to militant attacks." For this reason, the peacemongers have demanded that the two countries design a framework for dialogue that is "uninterrupted and uninterruptible," words first used by Indian diplomat-turned-politician Mani Shankar Aiyar. Aiyar signs, but remains skepical The former diplomat was less enthusiastic about the resolution's prospects for success. "The bureaucracy completely closes its ears to anything that does not come out from within," he said. He added that the Bharatiya Janta Party of Prime Minister Modi was increasing its vote bank as a result of hostilities with Pakistan. "I don't think they'll even read the resolution, let alone be influenced by it," he added. Still, Aiyar endorsed the resolution because he believed "peace lovers on both sides should stand by their convictions," no matter what. The organizers admit the resolution might not affect policy, but say they are hoping for a ripple effect of "a pebble thrown in a pond." Sarwar, one of the initiators, maintained the peace constituencies on both sides were large but not represented in mainstream media. "When Indians and Pakistanis meet in a third country, they mostly become good friends," she pointed out. "Even the soldiers at the Wagah border who put up a show of hostility rehearse that show together," she said, referring to a flag-lowering ceremony at the India-Pakistan border in which soldiers from both sides growl and wave fists at each other but do it in unison. The media, she said, represented voices that were loud, even if they were a minority. The resolution also calls on both sides to "[r]enounce all forms of proxy wars, state-sponsored terrorism, human rights violations, cross-border terrorism, and subversive activities against each other, including through non-state actors or support of separatist movements in each other's state." The initiative comes at a time when fears of Indian-Pakistani hostilities leading to a wider conflict are high. In testimony in the United States before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the director general of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, expressed fears of a further strain in ties between the two South Asian nations. India has sought and continues to move to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and is considering punitive options to raise the cost to Islamabad for its alleged support of cross-border terrorism, he said. An al-Shabab military commander has defected and surrendered to Somali government forces, authorities in Mogadishu said. Minister of Information Abdirahman Omar Osman confirmed on Twitter that Bishar Mumin Farah had surrendered Wednesday in the south-central part of the country, in Hiran region. A Somali general who interviewed the defector told VOA the al-Shabab commander had been sent to Hiran, a large and populous area of central Somalia, "in order to execute attacks during the holy month of Ramadan." General Mohamed Ahmed Tredice said Farah left his camp around 1 a.m. Wednesday and surrendered to government troops at sunrise. He also handed over two AK-47 automatic rifles and ammunition. "He is a young man who had been brainwashed," but who eventually realized that al-Shabab's activities were evil and that he no longer wanted to be a part of the militant group, the general said. Relatives contacted Before deciding to defect, Farah had been in contact with some of his relatives who are members of the government forces. They were among the troops that received him Wednesday. Farah is the first high-profile member of al-Shabab known to have defected since early April, when President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo offered a two-month amnesty to members of the extremist group. Several "foot soldiers," rank-and-file members of al-Shabab, had turned themselves in previously. Before coming to Hiran region, security sources told VOA Somali, the defector had been al-Shabab's deputy commander of militias in Harardhere, the biggest town controlled by the militant group in Mudug region, in north-central Somalia. Tredice said Farah also had been a deputy commander of al-Shabab units in three other parts of the country in Hiran, the Middle Shabelle and Galgudud regions. Estimates of Hiran's population range up to and above 1 million, but like much of the demographic data available for Somalia, are highly uncertain. The government's Population Estimation Survey in 2015 listed Hiran's total population at above 500,000, with the majority of the region's people either nomads or rural dwellers. The commander of the Somali army's 52nd Battalion said Farah's surrender clearly would be a setback for the militants. "We welcomed him," he added, "but we'll transfer him to the relevant government agencies, intelligence and the courts." A small town in the northeastern state of New Jersey has dropped its five-year opposition to the construction of a mosque, settling two separate lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and a local Muslim group under a 2000 law protecting religious institutions from discrimination. The settlement between the Department of Justice and Bernards Township, New Jersey is one of nearly 20 lawsuits the department has brought under the provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law partly designed to protect minority houses of worship and start-up churches against discrimination by local authorities. Three other cases remain open, a Department of Justice spokesman said. Investigators are also probing a similar case involving Bayonne, New Jersey, where the zoning board rejected a local Muslim community's proposal in March to build a mosque. The Department of Justice and the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge accused Bernards Township of violating RLUIPA by turning down the Islamic group's application in 2012 to build a mosque for the community of about 50 Muslim families. Former mayor leads Islamic group Amid stiff public opposition to the proposal, the town's planning board changed zoning laws in 2013 to make it virtually impossible for the group to proceed with construction on land it had purchased in 2011, and finally rejected its building application in 2015. In March 2016, the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, led by former mayor Mohammad Ali Chaudry, sued the town and its planning board in federal court, seeking damages. And In November 2016, the Department of Justice filed a separate lawsuit against the town. As part of the settlement announced Monday, the town agreed to allow the group to build the mosque and to pay it $3.25 million in damages and attorney fees. Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, the New York law firm representing the group, said it would donate the $1.75 million in attorney fees to charity. Settlement will lead to mosque Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler said the settlement will allow the Islamic Society and its members to build a mosque and exercise the fundamental American right of freedom of worship. Federal law protects people of all religious communities from discrimination and unlawful obstacles when they seek to build a place of worship, Wheeler said in a statement. Chaudry, who is now president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, said he hopes to receive prompt approval to build. We look forward to welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds to our mosque, Chaudry said. Rejection of mosque wasn't 'discriminatory' The Bernards Muslim community is tiny, with about 70 members attending Friday prayers in space the Islamic Society rents from the town in the local community center, according to Chaudry. Michael Turner, a spokesman for Bernards Township, said the town's rejection of the mosque building application was not discriminatory, but rather was based on land use criteria only. Bernards Township is a diverse and inclusive community, he said, noting the town elected Chaudry as the nation's first Pakistani Muslim mayor after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Corey Saylor, a spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations, said the settlement "is a reminder to local officials that they should leave their personal animus toward any faith out of public decision making. All Americans should have the ability to worship, or not, as they see fit, he said. Law has expanded 'religious liberty' Eric Treene, the Justice Department's special counsel for religious discrimination, told a Senate panel earlier this month that the department is aggressively enforcing RLUIPA, saying the law has done a great deal to expand religious liberty of all people. As of December, the department had opened nearly 100 formal investigations and filed nearly 20 lawsuits related to RLUIPA's land use provisions, according to a December 2016 letter by former assistant attorney general Vanita Gupta. Treene said there has been an uptick in anti-Muslim cases under RLUIPA, when conservative groups launched a high-profile campaign against plans to build the so-called "Ground Zero mosque" in New York City. He said cases involving Muslim mosques and schools make up about 70 percent of all RLUIPA cases. Heavy rains and highway obstructions are hampering efforts to get food, water and medicine to thousands of flood survivors in Sri Lanka, government officials and aid workers said Tuesday. Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in recent days have killed 200 people and disrupted the lives of over half million others. Over 80,000 people have been forced into temporary shelters, and about 100 people remain missing. Government and military officials said the army and air force, using boats and helicopters, had managed to reach most of those affected, but persistent rains and inaccessible roads were hampering efforts to airdrop and distribute aid in some areas. "The military was able to facilitate access to three landslide areas only yesterday. Hundreds of army personnel were deployed to remove the soil mounts from the landslides," military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The deluge, the worst Sri Lanka has witnessed in more than a decade, has forced the island to call for international assistance. The U.N., aid agencies, India, China, Pakistan, Australia and Japan have rallied to offer support. Farmland swamped The flooding has swept away hundreds of buildings and homes and inundated major roads, bridges and vast tracts of farmland, including tea and rubber plantations. Military officials said that they were still trying to access some remote villages in the worst-affected districts of Galle, Matara, Kalutara and Rathnapura in the island's south, but that local communities had come forward to help. "There were some areas which we could not reach in the first 36 hours. Local people helped a lot in the aftermath of the disaster. There were also committed officials at a grass-roots level who managed to cope with the situation," Law Minister Sagala Ratnayake told reporters. Aid workers said the focus was slowly shifting from search and rescue to relief and recovery, where people were returning to their homes from the temporary camps and would need help to rebuild their homes and livelihoods. "They are returning to significantly damaged property where they have lost many of their belongings, where the water may be contaminated and where the crops they had in the ground have been destroyed," said Save the Children's country director Chris McIvor. A senior State Department official has defended President Donald Trump at an on-camera briefing for not mentioning human rights during his recent speech in Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones what he would say to critics who say the president's speech on countering terrorism in Riyadh basically gave Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region a free pass on human rights abuses. Jones said human rights continues to be part of the U.S. dialogue with Saudi Arabia and all the other countries in the region: But the fact that it wasn't featured in the speech doesn't mean that it's not part of the bilateral dialogue and it's not a part of what we're constantly talking about," he said. "And I think the fact that, you know, you can argue that by taking it out of the public debate and having those conversations directly and quietly will be more effective. 'We are not here to lecture' Trump emphasized unity with Muslim majority nations on countering violent extremism during his speech. America is a sovereign nation and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens. We are not here to lecture we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership based on shared interests and values to pursue a better future for us all. Some human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers criticized the president for not mentioning Saudi Arabia's human rights record, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who told CNN we are not here to lecture would not have been part of a speech he would have delivered. Strong statement against extremism During the president's first trip abroad, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was asked about the issue of human rights and told reporters it was not the central part of our conversations with Saudi leaders. At Tuesday's briefing, Assistant Secretary Jones was asked how he characterized Saudi Arabia's commitment to democracy. After a long, 20-second pause, he said, the U.S. was able to make significant progress with its Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council partners in making a strong statement against extremism. Jones announced that he is retiring after serving as U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Jordan, and as deputy chief of mission in Cairo. He told reporters this is a personal decision he made more than a year ago. After months of testing, a hospital in Syria will have uninterrupted power from this week, charged by solar power in a project designers hope will save lives and can be repeated across the country. Syria's electrical grid has taken a big hit after six years of a volatile civil war with most the electrical infrastructure bombed, dismantled or destroyed, leaving hospitals relying on diesel generators but at the mercy of fuel shortages. So the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), an international coalition of international medical organizations and NGOs, said it hoped creating the country's first solar-power hospital would save lives. "To have those active [hospitals] resilient and operational, it's a matter of life [or death] for many, many people in the country," said Tarek Makdissi, project director of UOSSM told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. The France-based UOSSM launched the initiative, "Syria Solar", with the aim of getting hospitals less dependent on diesel which the organization says is expensive and not reliable. The first solar hospital - the name and location of which the UOSSM would not release for safety reasons - runs on mixture of a diesel generator and 480 solar panels built near the hospital that link to an energy storage system. If there is a complete fuel outage the solar system can fully power the intensive care unit, operating rooms and emergency departments for up to 24 hours without diesel, which is 20 to 30 percent of the hospital's energy cost. Makdissi said the goal is to get five other medical facilities in Syria running like this by the end of spring 2018 with funding from places like institutions, foundations, government agencies, and philanthropists. Beyond reducing operational costs Makdissi believes this initiative creates a more resilient electrical infrastructure. "To be resilient is to be independent and to be independent you need to have control of your own resources," said Makdissi. "This project is really increasing the independence and resilience of local communities." Hundreds of protesters opposing Texas' tough new anti-sanctuary cities law launched a raucous protest from the public gallery in the Texas House on Monday, briefly halting work during the final, largely ceremonial day of the legislative session. Demonstrators wearing red T-shirts reading Lucha, or Fight, quietly filled hundreds of gallery seats as proceedings began. After about 40 minutes, they began to cheer, drowning out the lawmakers below. Protesters also blew whistles and chanted: Here to stay! and Hey, hey, ho, ho, SB4 has got to go, referring to the bill that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law this month. Some waved banners reading: See you in court! Texas' new law is reminiscent of a 2010 Arizona show your papers measure that allowed police to inquire about a person's immigration status during routine interactions such as traffic stops. It was eventually struck down in court. Under SB4, Texas police chiefs and sheriffs are required - under the threat of jail and removal from office - to comply with federal requests to hold criminal suspects for possible deportation. Police officers also have the option to ask the immigration status of anyone they stop. The bill was viewed as a crackdown on Austin and other sanctuary cities, a term that has no legal meaning but describes parts of the country where police are not tasked with helping enforce federal immigration law. The Texas House leadership stopped the session and asked state troopers to clear the gallery. The demonstration continued for about 20 minutes as officers led people out of the chamber peacefully in small groups. There were no reports of arrests. A legislative session that began in January concluded Monday, and the day is usually reserved for group photos and goodbyes. Lawmakers are constitutionally barred from approving most legislation on the last day. But even after the protest ended, tensions remained high. Rep. Ramon Romero, a Democrat from Fort Worth, said he was standing with fellow Democratic Rep. Cesar Blanco of El Paso when Republican colleague Matt Rinaldi came over and said: This is BS. That's why I called ICE. Rinaldi, of Irving in suburban Dallas, and Blanco then began shouting at each other. A scuffle nearly ensued before other lawmakers separated the two. Living in fear Monday's protest was organized by activists who canvassed over Memorial Day weekend in Austin. They informed anxious immigrants about the rights they retain despite the law and urged grassroots resistance against it. Abril Gallardo rode 15 hours in a van to Austin to urge fellow Hispanics to fight back. Fear motivated me to get involved, said Gallardo, a 26-year-old Mexican native who entered the U.S. illegally at age 12. Texas cities and immigrant rights' groups have challenged the legality of the law, hopeful for a legal victory like the one in Arizona, but that could take months to have any effect. But even as some vowed to fight, others have begun fleeing the state. Their ranks are still too small to quantify, but a larger exodus - similar to what occurred in Arizona - could have a profound effect on the Texas economy. The state has more than 1 million immigrants illegally in the country, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Some are abandoning Texas for more liberal states, where they feel safer - even if it means relinquishing lives they've spent years building. Jose, a 43-year-old Mexican living in the U.S. illegally since 2001, and his wife Holly left Austin for Seattle in January in anticipation of Texas' immigration crackdown. That meant parting with Jose's grown son, their community of friends and their beloved home of eight years. I felt like we ripped our roots up and threw ourselves across the country, said Holly, a 40-year-old Kentucky native who wanted to protect her husband. Holly said as soon as Donald Trump was elected president, she and her husband began preparing to move. They expected Texas would follow Trump's agenda trying to force local law enforcement to do immigration's job. And when they heard Texas had approved a crackdown on sanctuary cities she said they finalized the decision. I was living in constant fear in Texas, said Holly, who works as an immigration paralegal and has been married to Jose for 11 years. Now I know my husband is safe, and I don't have to worry every day about whether he's going to come home. Others are doing the same. Miriam, a 34-year-old Mexican house cleaner who has spent the past 10 years in Austin, plans to move with her husband and two U.S.-citizen children to Oklahoma in September, when Texas' law goes into effect. Like Jose, Holly and others who were interviewed, she asked that her full name not be used to prevent possible deportation. We can't even go out to get food or to go to work, she said of the law. A police officer can find you in any place. Three senior leaders of India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, including a cabinet minister, have been charged with criminal conspiracy in connection with the demolition of a 16th century mosque 25 years ago. Appearing in a special court Tuesday in Lucknow city, former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani, cabinet minister Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi pleaded not guilty to charges of inciting a Hindu mob that tore down the mosque in December 1992. They were granted bail. The destruction of the mosque in the small, sleepy town of Ayodhya in northern India triggered some of the worst Hindu-Muslim violence witnessed in the country. About 2,000 people were killed. The three leaders say although they were present when the mosque was destroyed, they did not incite the mob that brought down the stone structure with pickaxes and crowbars. Hindus believe the mosque stood on the birthplace of one their most revered gods, Lord Rama and that Muslim invaders had built it after destroying a temple standing there. The BJP led a massive movement in 1992 demanding that Hindus be allowed to build a temple on the spot. Although a quarter century has passed, it continues to be one of Indias most contentious disputes between Hindu groups that want a temple built in Ayodhya and Muslim groups who insist the mosque must be rebuilt. Not guilty plea As she entered the courtroom, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti told reporters, I contributed to the movement with complete faith, I dont consider myself guilty. She said that in a manner concerning God, My hopes also rest on God. The ruling BJP is throwing its weight behind the three stalwart leaders. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh state, where the mosque was located, met the three outside the courtroom in a show of solidarity. Several senior party leaders appeared on television to maintain the three are innocent. New trial Charges of criminal conspiracy against the three had been dropped by a lower court in 2001, but India's Supreme Court ordered a fresh trial last month. The trial is expected to conclude in two years and the three leaders have been told to appear personally in court. Political analysts say as the case is heard on a day-to day basis in the coming months, it will revive debate on what critics call the Hindu nationalist agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modis government. They say the agenda includes issues such as erecting a grand temple on the disputed site and protecting cows, which Hindus consider holy. A BJP member of parliament, Sakshi Maharaj said Tuesday as he emerged from the courtroom that no power on earth could stop the construction of the temple. Attention is growing on Turkey's relationship with key NATO allies because of an increasingly acrimonious fight over the use of its Incirlik airbase. Ankara and Berlin remain at loggerheads over German lawmakers being blocked from visiting their soldiers operating at the base. It's a legitimate right from the German point of view and that is something Ankara is missing, points out former Turkish ambassador Unal Cevikoz, now president of the Ankara Policy Center, research organization. I understand at the meeting in Brussels between Chancellor [Angela] Merkel and President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan [in May] the matter was seriously discussed. The blocking of German lawmakers to Incirlik follows Berlin's refusal to extradite to Turkey suspects in July's coup attempt. Bilateral tensions soared this month with Germany granting asylum to more than 200 Turkish diplomats and military personal wanted by Turkish authorities. The two sides are in talks to resolve the impasse. I have seen some hints that Turkey will be looking at this issue favorably, predicts former Turkish ambassador Cevikoz. 'Blackmail wont work Germany has deployed reconnaissance planes to Incirlik as part of international efforts against Islamic State. The vast base, located close to the Syrian and Iraqi borders, is widely seen as crucial in the war against the jihadists. But this month German Foreign Minister Sigma Gabriel warned Berlin is prepared to relocate its forces. Jordan is widely touted as an alternative. It's not if, but when, and that when will happen quite soon," warns former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served widely across the region and is now an analyst. It's up to them, we will not beg them (to stay), Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, claiming Berlin's threat to withdraw is blackmail. Key logistics hub Repercussions from the German-Turkish dispute could add to growing unease in Washington. U.S. forces are the primary foreign users of Incirlik in its war against the Islamic State, as well as using it as a key logistics hub. But Ankara has tried to use that dependency as leverage in its dispute with Washington over its military support of the Syrian Kurdish militia the YPG in fighting Islamic State. Ankara calls the YPG terrorists, claiming they are affiliated with the PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state. There is high anti-Americanism in Turkey, observes Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Institute in Europe. There has been talk of restricting use of Incirlik, other than Incirlik there are few areas that Ankara could really undermine the U.S. position. The refusal of Turkey's suggestion to avoid using the PKK/PYD/YPG in the Raqqa operation is unacceptable hypocrisy, thundered Devlet Bahceli, leader of the National Action Party, in parliament Tuesday. Bahceli is a key backer of Erdogan, who has an eye on his 2019 presidential re-election bid. A balancing act Ankara's use of Incirlik as leverage on its allies, in particular Washington, analysts claim is a balancing act, extracting maximum concessions, but avoiding a withdrawal. "I don't think Turkish policy makers want to go there really, [to U.S. withdrawal], claims analyst Ulgen. But the dispute with Berlin over Incirlik's use, could add impetus in Washington to reassess its own dependency. The [U.S.] movements of planes from Incirlik are now reduced to earlier periods. This sends a strong signal to Ankara, that Incirlik is not indispensable, warns former diplomat Aydin. But lets not forget there are some quarters in Ankara, whether among officials or politicians, who will rejoice if that day comes and the U.S. decides to move out of Incirlik all together. Not just a military airbase The cost to Ankara of its allies abandoning Incirlik could be immediate and considerable. Incirlik is not just a military airbase used by our allies, its also important for intelligence purposes, points out research organization head Cevikoz. The intelligence German and U.S. experts secure are also shared with Turkey and this intelligence is absolutely necessary for Turkey's fighting against the PKK terrorism. Turkish policy makers comfort themselves in knowing that finding an alternative to Incirlik has proved illusive to the United States. Analysts point out no one base can match Incirlik, but a combination of airbases belonging to the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, along with small airstrips in Syria controlled by the YPG, could offer an alternative. Such a step could have far reaching consequences. It will underline the fact Turkey is not a strategic partner anymore for the other members of the coalition, warns analyst Aydin. But looking at the map, the geographical size of Turkey and its location, Turkey will still remain indispensable in the fight against ISIS. With Turkey facing strained relations with most of its neighbors and allies, Ankara is deepening ties with Israel in a rare bright spot. Diplomatic relations collapsed in 2010 after Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish citizens on a boat seeking to break Israel's economic blockade of Gaza. A reconciliation deal reached last year has opened the door to a resumption in relations that could pose a threat to Iran's regional aspirations. Almost every day there is a certain bilateral activity, either here or in Israel that has to do with the fruits of the reconciliation, said Shai Cohen, the Israeli consul-general, speaking in Istanbul last week at a gathering aimed at enhancing ties. Cohen went further, eyeing regional turmoil as an impetus for further cooperation. We share almost the same interests along our borders with Syria, Israel on one side and Turkey on the other. The main one is defeating jihadi terrorism Daesh, he said, using an Arabic term for Islamic State. But there is another one, with the expanding presence of Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, in that region. Israeli hopes of fostering a powerful alliance against Tehran have been boosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly fiery rhetoric against Iran. Last month, Erdogan labeled Shia paramilitary forces fighting Islamic State in Iraq terrorists, calling them part of Iran's Persian expansionism policy. Erdogan has increasingly positioned himself as protector of Sunni Muslim interests in the region, accusing Tehran of pursuing sectarian policies. Turkey-Israel cooperation on Iran, would, analysts suggest, mark a major step in enhancing relations, especially addressing the trust deficit. Trust has to be rebuilt. Security is a crucial issue for both governments, Cohen said. We are working on that and maybe it's a little bit too early to elaborate on that but I think in the near future we will know more. The warming in Israeli-Turkish relations has brought improvements in trade along with talks on energy cooperation and promising signs of a return to Turkey of lucrative Israeli tourism; but, relations are still far from their heyday of the late 1990's, epitomized by close military cooperation that culminated in a deal that allowed Israeli jets to practice in Turkish airspace. Bilateral cooperation against Iran could offer an opportunity in bridging the trust deficit. I think the current political setting in the Middle East provides a fertile ground for Turkey and Israel to restore their partnership. They have shared interests in terms of balancing Iran and combating terrorism in the region, said Selin Nasi, journalist for Turkey's Salom newspaper and a columnist for Hurriyet Daily News. Nasi, however, also voices caution. On the other hand, they (Turkey and Israel) do not see eye to eye on a number of issues. For instance, Iran is a rival but not an enemy for Turkey. Turkey has to take into account the fact that she shares a border with Iran. Former Turkish ambassador Unal Cevikoz, now head of the Ankara Policy Center research organization, warns of risks of joining any anti-Iranian alliance. If Turkey chooses to do that, then Turkey will be perceived if it's pursuing some kind of sectarian policy just because of the emerging Sunni-Shia divide in the region. There are also domestic political risks for Erdogan, whose priority is his 2019 re-election bid. Much of the president's electoral base is drawn from conservative Muslims, to whom anti-Israeli rhetoric often plays well. Some of the pro-government Turkish media are rampantly anti-Semitic, rarely missing an opportunity to fan anger over Israel's treatment of Palestinians. It is always better to maintain a cautious optimism when making an assessment on Turkish-Israeli relations, given the place of the Palestinian issue in bilateral ties as a derailing factor, warns journalist Nasi; but, a Turkish presidential source maintains the Palestinian issue remains compartmentalized in relations with Israel. Cooperation and rivalry is the traditional maxim in Turkish diplomacy in defining Iranian relations. Even in the current tensions, cooperation remains an important aspect of relations. In the Astana Process, Russia, Iran and Turkey are at least trying to find a common understanding to guarantee the cease-fire and also deconfliction zones in Syria, points out retired Turkish ambassador Cevikoz, citing peace talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. The complexity and sensitivity of attempting to lure Turkey into Israel's fold in its struggle against Iran is acknowledged by Consul-General Cohen. For now it appears Israel is ready to play the long game. "Iran is a common denominator for Israel and Turkey because of its aspirations for regional hegemony; but, the Iranian issue is not right now, something we are putting up at the top of the priority list. It's a common interest; we talk about it," he said. Last year, Uganda's Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development worked with Parliament to enact and implement the Children Amendment Act, which prohibits corporal punishment in schools. Of 93 recommendations made by the Uganda Human Rights Commission, this is the only one that government departments have fully complied with in the past five years. "If there is no compliance and we keep on making the same recommendations and piling new ones and nothing is being done, that means the violations that we have assessed and recommendations we have made to address those violations are not implemented," said Katebalirwe Amooti Wa Irumba, who chairs the commission. "The violations will continue. In fact, they will become even worse." Chief among those concerns, the commission said, was the issue of torture by security forces. The commission said it documented more than 1,000 cases of torture by police and 275 by the army from 2012 to 2016. The alleged abuses ranged from electric shocks and beatings to mock executions and the denial of food to detainees. These things occurred despite Uganda's enactment of the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act of 2012. "We shall do whatever is possible to make sure that we stop this act, and any officer who is involved in torture ... will be arrested and taken to courts of law," said Asan Kasingye, police spokesperson. Other recommendations from the commission included a minimum wage mandate and categorization of skin treatments, lotions, sunglasses and hats that are appropriate for persons with albinism as essential drugs provided free of charge. The Human Rights Commission is itself a government agency and has raised the issue of noncompliance with parliament. The chairperson of the parliamentary human rights committee told VOA that lawmakers would hold hearings with government departments to find out why they were not making progress on the commission's recommendations. Colonel Shaban Bantariza, the deputy government spokesman, said funding was a problem. "We are slow, not because we don't like, but we can't afford to make the necessary increments," Bantariza said, citing such "competing priorities" as transportation, education and health spending. The parliamentary committee said it would also look at what the Human Rights Commission called Uganda's unmet international obligations. For example, the commission said ratifying the Optional Protocol to the U.N. Convention Against Torture would provide for additional mechanisms to prevent torture and ill treatment by obliging Uganda to open up all detention sites to scrutiny at both domestic and international levels The United Nations said Tuesday that 200,000 Iraqi civilians could flee an Islamic State-controlled part of Mosul in the coming days. The Iraqi government on Thursday urged civilians in the Old City of Mosul to flee their homes and cross to safety on the other side of government lines. "When they issued this new instruction, it represented a dramatic change and shift from the guidance that they had been previously providing," said Lise Grande, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Iraq. She said there are three neighborhoods to the north of the Old City, as well as the Old City itself, where the civilians are trapped. "We are deeply concerned about the safety of these civilians," Grande told reporters by video link from Baghdad. "We feel those civilians are probably at greater risk now than at any stage of the entire campaign." She noted that the evacuation notice was not compulsory, and that the Iraqi security forces would protect civilians who remained in the Old City. When the military offensive to retake Mosul began in the eastern part of the city last October, the U.N. feared an exodus of as many as 700,000 civilians. It did not happen, as a half-million residents stayed in their homes and rode out the fighting. But when the army began liberating the western part of the city, residents fled at a much higher rate. Grande said 774,000 Iraqis have left Iraq's second-largest city, which has been under IS control since 2014. The U.N. is providing assistance to all of them, as well as the half-million east Mosul residents who remained in their homes. Expecting the worst "Based on our own scenario planning, we are at the moment staring our worst-case scenario straight in the face," Grande said. "Now we know that in the next few days, the next few weeks, an additional 200,000 civilians are likely to flee," she added, saying it would be difficult for humanitarians to cope with the number and speed of people moving. Grande said the number of people leaving western Mosul recently had spiked to 10,000 a day and had reached 15,000 to 16,000 on some days. "We are, however, developing contingency plans for a worst case that would envision as many as 40,000 civilians leaving each day," Grande said. They are arriving at humanitarian points where they receive water, food and medical care, before they are screened and then sent to emergency camps or find shelter with friends or relatives. Grande said the families who have made the difficult and dangerous escape report limited food supplies, as well as shortages of clean water and medicines. The battle for Mosul is not over, but humanitarians already are making contingency plans for the next town the Iraqi security forces are likely to try to liberate from IS Hawija, in Kirkuk province. The U.N. already has constructed eight emergency camps nearby and is building more in anticipation of that operation. Two U.S. aircraft carriers have started military exercises together in the Sea of Japan, U.S. Navy officials tell VOA. "The USS Carl Vinson Strike Group and USS Ronald Reagan Strike Group are conducting routine operations in the Western Pacific," Navy spokesman Lt. Loren Terry said. Officials said the carriers, along with the ships and aircraft assigned to each, began dual operations in international waters within the sea on Wednesday. The dual-carrier exercises come days after North Korea launched another missile into the Sea of Japan. The multi-day, multi-carrier exercises provide "combatant commanders with significant operational flexibility should these forces be called upon in response to regional situations," Terry told VOA. "This unique capability is one of many ways the U.S. Navy promotes security, stability and prosperity throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific," he added. The dual-carrier operations mark the end of the USS Vinson strike group's tour in the Western Pacific, according to a Navy official. The USS Reagan strike group includes cruiser USS Shiloh and destroyers USS Barry and USS McCampbell. The USS Vinson strike group includes destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy along with cruiser USS Lake Champlain. American ships and aircraft routinely operate in international waters throughout the Western Pacific, which includes waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula. U.S. Pacific Command said the short-range ballistic missile North Korea launched on May 28 posed no threat to North America, adding that the U.S. military stands behind its "ironclad commitment to the security of our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to work with the United States to "take specific action to deter North Korea." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday halted methane emission standards for oil and gas companies in its latest move to unwind Obama administration climate change rules, amid reports that the United States will withdraw from a global climate change agreement. The agency issued a 90-day stay of the 2016 New Source Performance Standards for the oil and gas industry, which require companies to capture fugitive emissions, obtain engineer certifications and install leak detention devices while it reconsiders the rule. The rule, completed last year under former President Barack Obama, was due to go into effect on June 3. The EPA said it expects to prepare a proposed rule and launch a public comment period after the stay. Environmental groups vowed on Wednesday to block the EPA move in court. "The Trump administration is giving its friends in the oil and gas industry a free pass to continue polluting our air," said David Doniger, director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We will fight Trump's latest polluter giveaway in court." The Environmental Defense Fund also said it would sue the EPA to block a rollback of the rule. Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Methane lasts in the atmosphere for 20 years, and is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat. The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, visiting Haiti on Wednesday, assured the Caribbean nations leader that their respective governments could "work together on any future extensions" of the timetable for Haitians facing repatriation from the United States. Secretary John Kelly met with Haitian President Jovenel Moise and other senior government officials less than two weeks after Homeland Security announced that a humanitarian aid program for Haitians temporarily living in the United States would be limited to a six-month extension. Haitian authorities, some U.S. lawmakers and immigration advocates had sought at least another year. Previous renewals had been for 18 months. About 58,000 Haitian immigrants are registered for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), offered in the wake of a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck near Haiti's capital in January 2010. TPS permits those visiting the United States at the time of the quake to temporarily remain in the country, with work privileges, until conditions in their homeland improve. TPS for Haitians was set to expire July 23 and has been extended through January 22. Emphasis on 'temporary' Haiti is one of 10 countries currently designated for the TPS program by Homeland Security because conditions there make it unsafe or impossible for nationals to return. Those conditions include armed conflict and environmental disasters such as drought. During his visit, Kelly stressed that the U.S. humanitarian program for Haitians was never meant to be permanent. "The operative word in the law is temporary. Its not meant to be an open-ended law, but a temporary law," he said at a news conference at the National Palace. Later, in a separate interview with Port-au-Princes RFM Radio, Kelly indicated Haitis TPS deadline might be extended beyond January. "I will clearly have to make a decision on this in November or December, so I will be looking for indicators," Kelly told radio journalist Rothchild Francois Jr., who shared the interview with VOA. "Right now, my thoughts are [that] it will end. So Id have to look for indicators as to why we might extend it a short period into the future past January," he continued, adding that the program "is designed to end and not go on forever which some of them seem to do." During the earlier news conference, another journalist asked that Kelly respond to critics who questioned whether he'd spent enough time in quake- and hurricane-damaged areas to fully assess Haitian conditions. The secretary bristled. "Those people don't know what they're talking about," Kelly answered, noting he'd "visited Haiti more than 10 times in the past" while heading the U.S. Southern Command based near Miami. Meetings with officials A number of humanitarian and development groups working in Haiti have encouraged Kelly to see Haitis vulnerability firsthand, including the vast unregulated sprawl just outside Port-au-Prince, where at least 250,000 people have settled since the quake devastated much of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. The country has endured successive challenges, including drought and, last October, a hurricane that wreaked havoc in the rural southwest. Kelly told RFM Radio that he had "traveled all around Haiti" in previous visits, touring camps for people displaced by the quake and inspecting damaged farmland. On this trip, Kelly focused on meeting officials, discussing issues including Haitis desire to expand business opportunities and the need to further develop the countrys national police force. Kelly also huddled with two representatives of the United Nations mission in Haiti: Sandra Honore, special representative of the secretary-general, and Brazilian Lieutenant General Ajax Porto Pinheiro, the U.N. military commander. The United Nations announced in April that it would end its peacekeeping role in mid-October because it found the country had made sufficient progress toward stabilization. But it also pledged to provide U.N. police units to train Haitian police officers. More than 90 dead in a suicide bombing in Kabul. A pair of attacks in Baghdad that killed 27. An ongoing battle in the southern Philippines against Islamic State. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is only a few days old. But what is supposed to be a time of self-sacrifice, prayer and piety is again being marred by violence and conflict. No one group is responsible, analysts say, and there rarely appears to be links to the varied mayhem. With wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and terror attacks seemingly growing more frequent in Europe, Asia and the Middle East it has become unrealistic to expect conflict to cease during Ramadan, they say. As in past Ramadans, IS has encouraged its followers to step up attacks during the holy season when observant Muslims fast during the day and religious acts are believed to bring a higher reward than the rest of the year. Your targeting of the so-called innocents and civilians is beloved by us and the most effective, so go forth and may you get a great reward or martyrdom in Ramadan, said a message, titled Where Are the Lions of War? that the group recently issued on its social media site. Attack them in their homes, their markets, their roads and their forums. Yasar Colak, religious affairs representative at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, said the message of violence runs directly contrary to the Quran. Islam does not allow violence at any time of the year. Violence cant be and is not a legitimate way in Islam, Colak said. Terrorist organizations like IS are misusing and misinterpreting our religion and Sunna for their own political aims. But groups like IS and Taliban cite jihad holy war as justification for their actions. These extremists see their terror as an act of jihad, said Seyyed Javad Taghavirod, a Tehran-based extremism analyst. So the occurrence of some holy occasions, including the month of Ramadan, makes them feel more blessed to conduct their operations. Attacks during Ramadan are particularly effective because they cause psychological damage on people who are marking the occasion by going out with family and friends, and who are likely more off guard than usual, analysts say. Of course, their notion of war is theologically unjust, but most IS members are ignorant thugs and not legitimate religious scholars, said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and an analyst with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Ramadan in 2016 saw waves of deadly terror that included a nightclub attack in Orlando killing 49 people, an IS suicide bombing on a Christian village in northeast Lebanon, an attack on the Istanbul airport that killed 40 people, violence at a cafe in Bangladesh, leaving at least 20 dead, and a truck bomb explosion in Baghdad that killed almost 300 people. As Ramadan was ending last July, Saudi Arabia was hit by four suicide attacks. The reason why they launch attacks during Ramadan is simply because they know they can murder lots of people easily, Rubin said. After a day of fasting, security forces might be distracted or absent. Shortly after Ramadan began on Saturday, a Taliban suicide car bomber struck a convoy of an Afghan elite force providing security to American forces in the eastern city of Khost, killing at least 18 personnel and wounding many others. Since then, the death toll stood at 227 in 24 attacks as of Tuesday, according to a website run by a group called The Religion of Peace that monitors violence during the holy month. In the Philippines, officials say violence began several days before Ramadan when a military raid to capture the man designated by IS as its leader in the country led allies and followers to advance a planned attack. They wanted to show the world that there is an IS branch here which can inflict the kind of violence that has been seen in Syria and Iraq," Philippine military Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Ano told The Associated Press. Afghanistans National Directorate of Security said Wednesdays suicide bombing in the tightly guarded diplomatic sector of Kabul was planned in Pakistan by the Haqqani Network, which has been closely affiliated with the Taliban. The Taliban said it had no ties to the bombing. And while the Taliban did not directly call for an increase in terror attacks during Ramadan, it also said it would not ease up, rejecting as ignorance of religion U.N.-led calls for halting hostilities for the month. Our fight is jihad and an obligatory worship. And every obligatory act of worship has 70 times more reward in Ramadan, a statement quoted spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying. Populist leader Aleksandar Vucic was sworn in as Serbia's president on Wednesday, pledging to work for peace and stability in the war-weary Balkans while strengthening the country's armed forces. Hours before the oath in parliament, Vucic's supporters clashed with opposition groups that were prevented from protesting in downtown Belgrade. Opposition groups said there were no injuries. Later on Wednesday, a few thousand people joined an opposition protest against Vucic. Carrying banners that read not our president or against dictatorship, opposition supporters marched through the Belgrade city center, blocking traffic while chanting slogans against Vucic and blowing whistles. There are two roads for Serbia: one led by Vucic, which is the road of dictatorship and destruction of freedom, and the road of freedom and democracy cherished by the people who gathered here today, said liberal leader Sasa Jankovic, who trailed Vucic at the presidential vote last month. No incidents were reported. Vucic, a former ultranationalist turned self-declared pro-European Union reformer, formally stepped down on Wednesday from his prime minister's post after winning the presidential election by a landslide in April. The opposition has alleged irregularities during the election campaign including muzzling the media and accuses Vucic of autocratic rule. We must create a region where differences are an advantage and not the basis for clashes, Vucic said in his inaugural speech. There have been enough burials in the Balkans, it is time to give birth, he added, referring to the wars in the southern European region in the 1990s in which he supported the expansion of Serbia's borders at the expense of its neighbors. Vucic also said Serbia won't join NATO nor become a member of any other military alliance. While we have to talk to everyone, we also have to strengthen our defense capacity, he said. During three years as prime minister, Vucic repeatedly called EU membership Serbia's strategic goal. At the same time, he has been strengthening ties with Serbia's traditional ally, Russia, which has agreed to supply fighter jets and battle tanks to its military - heightening tensions in the Balkans. Vucic only briefly mentioned Serbia's integration into the EU, noting that no one should doubt Serbia's EU path. He said the country will cherish good ties with Russia and China, but that it also should improve ties with the United States. Addressing thousands of his cheering supporters in front of parliament, Vucic promised to keep peace and stability, guard and protect the future of our children. Serbia's presidency is largely a ceremonial post, but Vucic indicated he intends to continue playing a leading role in Serbian politics. The opposition group that was prevented from protesting in front of parliament, Against the Dictatorship, said the attack against them before the ceremony resembles the time when former Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic ruled the country in the 1990s. The United States could influence or even disrupt work by other nations to combat climate change until late 2020 even if President Donald Trump quits a global agreement, legal scholars said on Wednesday. Trump will honor a campaign pledge to pull out of the 195-nation Paris Agreement, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters on Tuesday. Trump tweeted he would announce his formal decision over the next few days. U.N. rules for the 2015 pact, which seeks to shift the world economy from fossil fuels this century, say Washington would formally have to wait until November 2020 to withdraw. Trump could shorten the formalities to just one year by exiting Paris' 1992 parent treaty. Legal gray zone Quitting the Paris Agreement would leave Trump in a legal gray zone until the next U.S. presidential election in 2020, retaining a vote as other nations work on detailed rules on issues such as how to monitor greenhouse gas emissions. In the worst case the U.S. could make it more difficult to adopt the Paris rules, said Daniel Bodansky, a law professor at Arizona State University. To the extent that [withdrawal from Paris] is already going to harm relations with our allies, staying in and being obstructionist would be even more harmful, he said. Trump has promised to promote the coal industry over renewables. Bodansky noted, however, that Washington did not try to obstruct other nations' work on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which obliged rich nations to cut emissions, after President George W. Bush angered U.S. allies by deciding in 2001 not to take part Agreement designed with waiting period Megan Bowman, a law lecturer at King's College, London, said the four-year waiting period was partly intended to insulate the agreement from a shift to a Republican presidency after Democratic President Barack Obama. The downside ... is that if they [the United States] are recalcitrant they are sitting at the table, able to obstruct or stall the process, she said. Paris imposes few legal obligations before 2020 and has no sanctions for non-compliance. The Paris Agreement's Article 28 says any nation wanting to pull out has to wait three years from the date the agreement gained legal force, which was Nov. 4, 2016, before seeking to leave. It then has to wait another year. 'International pariah In Berlin, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stressed that withdrawal would take years. The Americans can't just leave the climate protection agreement. Mr. Trump believes that because he doesn't know the details. Trump would be taking a riskier step by withdrawing from Paris' parent treaty, the 1992 Climate Convention, even though it would require only a year's notice and void U.S. commitments under Paris. That Convention, seeking voluntary actions to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and a landmark in cooperation between rich and poor nations, has had bipartisan U.S. support. It was signed by Republican President George Bush. Paris goes one step further by obliging all nations to set domestic targets to curb emissions to limit a creeping rise in temperatures blamed for more heat waves, downpours and rising sea levels. Leaving the Convention would make the United States an international pariah on global climate change, said Robert Stavins, director of Harvard University's environmental economics program. 'Most negative thing' Johan Rockstrom, director of the Stockholm Resilience Center, said a U.S. presence in the Paris negotiations until 2020 would be the most negative thing ... they would still be allowed to vote in the room. But he said a quick, clean break by the United States from the 1992 Convention might be best for other nations which could then work without risks of obstruction. Since 1971, when the U.S. Congress declared Memorial Day a national federal holiday, Americans have spent the final Monday in May honoring all who died during military service throughout U.S. history. But it all began in 1865, just after the end of the Civil War, when a group of freed American slaves held what came to be seen as the first commemoration of the nation's war dead. According to historical accounts, in an expression of gratitude to those who died fighting against slavery, the freed slaves exhumed the bodies of more than 250 Union soldiers from a mass grave at a Confederate prison camp in Charleston, South Carolina, and gave them a proper burial. A few weeks later, about 10,000 people marched on May 1 to commemorate the war dead. Historian and author David Blight, writing in The New York Times about the events in Charleston in 1865, cited a newspaper account the New York Tribune that described a procession of friends and mourners as South Carolina and the United States never saw before. Decoration Day In 1868, the commemoration become known officially as Decoration Day, a day to clean up and place flowers on the graves of the war dead. Two decades later, U.S. states had adopted it as an official holiday. But for more than 50 years, the holiday only remembered those killed in the Civil War, not in any other American conflict. It wasnt until Americas entry into World War One that the tradition was expanded to include those killed in all wars. What is now celebrated as Memorial Day was not officially recognized nationwide until that act of Congress in 1971. Nearly, thirty years later, in 2000, Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act, encouraging all citizens to pause for a minute of silence each year on Memorial Day to remember those who sacrificed their lives in all American military conflicts. By Mike Hove The annual prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is set to kick off next month. A number of Zimbabweans have been selected for this program and will be studying at several different institutions in the United States. Last year there were 60 fellows from Zimbabwe. Nkanyeziyethu Malunga, the founder of GANU, a fashion textile company based in Bulawayo, is one of the young Zimbabweans set to participate in this years program. Malunga, who is happy about being granted an opportunity to be part of the program, says she hopes to sharpen her skills in fashion design and related activities. She always works hand in hand with elderly people in Zimbabwe. In my opinion what made them select me for this fellowship is the beautiful fashionable clothing I produce while working alongside the elderly. Their knowledge on the textile industry has not only elevated the quality of work I produce, but it has also helped me produce amazing clothes for the disabled. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the brainchild of former United States president Barack Obama. The program started in 2010 as the Young African Leaders Initiative before rebranding to the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. It is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that empowers young people through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking. In 2017, the Fellowship will provide up to 1,000 outstanding young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa with the opportunity to hone their skills at a U.S. college or university with support for professional development after they return home. The fellows, who are between the ages of 25 and 35, have established records of accomplishment in promoting innovation and positive impact in their organizations, institutions, communities, and countries. In 2016, fellows represented all 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. They also represent diversity across the continent as 66 fellows identified as having a disability, thirty percent came from rural areas or towns of fewer than 100,000 people, and fifty percent of fellows were women. Each Mandela Washington fellow takes part in a six-week Academic and Leadership Institute at a U.S. college or university in one of three tracks: Business and Entrepreneurship, Civic Leadership, or Public Management. Following the academic component of the Fellowship, the fellows visit Washington, D.C., for a Summit featuring networking and panel discussions with U.S. leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors. One hundred selected fellows remain in the United States to participate in a six-week Professional Development Experience with U.S. non-governmental organizations, private companies, and governmental agencies that relate to their professional interests and goals. Upon returning to their home countries, fellows continue to build the skills they have developed during their time in the United States through support from U.S. embassies, four Regional Leadership Centers, the YALI Network, and customized programming from USAID, the Department of State, and affiliated partners. Erta Ale volcano (Ethiopia) activity update: eruption continues, new flank lava lake Wed, 31 May 2017, 09:26 09:26 AM | BY: T 09:26 AM | BY: T Erta Ale's eruption on SENTINEL 2 satellite imagery on 29 May 2017 (image: SENTINEL2 / ESA-Copernicus data; Composition / annotations: Culture Volcan) Erta Ale's eruption on SENTINEL 2 satellite imagery on 19 May 2017 (image: SENTINEL2 / ESA-Copernicus data; Composition / annotations: Culture Volcan) Erta Ale's eruption on SENTINEL 2 satellite imagery on 9 May 2017 (image: SENTINEL2 / ESA-Copernicus data; Composition / annotations: Culture Volcan) Erta Ale's eruption on SENTINEL 2 satellite imagery on 30 Mar 2017 (image: SENTINEL2 / ESA-Copernicus data; Composition / annotations: Culture Volcan) The activity of the volcano remains intense and continues from both the summit (lava lake in south pit) and from the SE rift zone (lava lakes and lava flows).The summit lava lake has gradually risen again, but undergoes frequent changes as the field report below describes.On the SE rift zone, the effusive eruption also continues strongly into its 5th month. The lava lake, which had formed above the main fissure vent since January, has been producing multiple smaller and larger lava flows around it, with the main flow feeding a growing, avast pahoehoe lava flow field expanding to the NE.This first rift zone lake crusted over during early-mid May, but a new lava lake formed soon after at a location about 350 m to the east. At around the same time, a new breakout of lava started in early May and has been feeding a new flow field overlapping the previous one into NE direction, currently more than 1500 m long and over 500 m wide.With collaboration with Addis Abeba University, a group visited Erta Ale to observe both the summit and the new fissure eruption which has been started on 22 Jan 2017. Our geologist guide Enku produced the following preliminary report: President Trump declared that the United States would leave the Paris climate agreement, following months of infighting among Trumps staff that left the world in suspense. He said he hopes to negotiate a similar deal that is more favorable to the U.S. This move is one of several Obama-era environmental milestones that Trump has dismantled. And all the while, a new study shows global temperatures might be rising faster than expected. Leaving the agreement displaces the U.S. from a stance of global leadership and places it alongside just two non-participating countries: Syria, which is in the midst of a civil war, and Nicaragua, who refused to join because the Paris Agreement didnt go far enough. Even countries such as Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are among the poorest in the world and were struggling with an Ebola epidemic at the time, have signed on. The U.S.s withdrawal is especially striking because developing countries, most of which are in the agreement, have a much harder time cutting emissions. Thats because the richest countries have much of their economy in lower-emitting sectors think finance and technology rather than manufacturing and fewer people are deprived of access to energy, according to Robert Lempert, an environmental policy researcher at RAND Corporation. The U.S. can grow their economy and improve their quality of life without increasing energy use. But in developing countries, you cant do that. But numerous developing countries nonetheless participate because the Paris agreement has such a decentralized structure. Each country sets its own climate goals, and theres no legal consequence for missing that goal. That structure also means the U.S. withdrawal likely wont spell the end of the agreement countries have little incentive to leave. China and the European Union, among others, have already reaffirmed their commitments in light of Trumps comments. Rather, withdrawal is going to damage the U.S. much more than its going to damage the Paris agreement itself, said Nat Keohane, vice president for global climate at the Environmental Defense Fund. What is that damage? It provides an opportunity for China to exert itself on the global stage after the U.S. leaves a leadership vacuum, said Ann Carlson, an environmental law professor at UCLA. Thats with regards to the climate the U.S. will lose its seat at the negotiating table to set global emissions monitoring standards and also diplomacy. Experts on both sides agree leaving the international consensus on climate change will harm the countrys reputation. Pulling out of the Paris agreement would be an unforced error in the sense of undermining our diplomatic efforts going forward, Keohane said. For the rest of the world this is a central issue for foreign policy. People who support leaving the agreement, though, dont see it this way. Theres so much fluidity in international politics that the diplomatic hit would be temporary, said Pat Michaels of the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. That said, experts from both sides agree that staying in the Paris agreement alone isnt enough to keep the U.S. in a role of global environmental leadership. Even if the U.S. remained in the agreement but ignored it by crafting domestic policies that hurt the environment, it would face the same harms. Every move the Trump administration has made signals loudly and clearly that the U.S. is not going to address greenhouse gas emissions in any meaningful way, Carlson said. Putting aside Paris, weve already done that. There are several paths for the U.S. to exit the agreement. But regardless how it happens, returning to a role of global environmental leadership under the next administration is possible, and some experts believe, necessary. Referring to a U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, Keohane said, If this ends up as a four-year blip on a long-run downward [emissions] trajectory, then the climate can survive it. But the climate wont be able to survive the long-run absence of U.S. leadership. Sources: Paris agreement parties from United Nations, total greenhouse gas emissions from World Bank, NDC data from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, projected GDP from OECD, projected U.S. emissions from the State Department via UNFCCC. The Haiku celing fan has an occupancy sensor that stops the fan from running when the room is empty. (Haiku Home by Big Ass Fans) It doesnt matter how design-minded you are when the temperature approaches triple digits, you want to beat the heat. But ceiling fans are a contentious topic. Blacklisted by designers for being noisy, tacky and outdated, theyre often the first thing to go in a home renovation and a cause for debate in divided households in which one party wants circulation and one wants style. Dont sweat it. Ceiling fans are smarter, sleeker and quieter than ever. If youre in the market for one and starting from scratch, here are some handy guidelines to picking the best one. [7 ways to make your window air conditioner work and look better] Getting the dimensions right First, youll have to determine whether you need a flush-mount fan or one that uses a down rod. Flush-mount fans are best for low ceilings because they can be secured right to the ceiling, while down rods are designed for higher ceilings. The American Lighting Association recommends ceiling fans be hung between seven and nine feet from the floor to ensure safety and optimal airflow. Measuring down rods can be tricky, so check online buying guides for length recommendations. The Brette 23-inch LED indoor/outdoor brushed nickel ceilin fan, by Home Decorators Collection ($229, homedepot.com). (Home Depot) Then, youll have to decide what size fan you need. Fan blades generally range from 29 to 54 inches, with most measuring 52 inches. There are a few rules for example, if the rooms longest wall is less than 12 feet, the fan shouldnt be more than 36 inches wide but if you are unsure, check the retailers website for sizing recommendations. Most ceiling fans have between three and five blades. Avoiding eyesores Amanda Carol, an interior designer in San Francisco, says designers will probably ditch their anti-ceiling-fan stance once the industry offers more attractive, high-tech options. Its not the principle of fans thats bothersome its that they arent well designed, she said. Until recently, theyve been these wimpy, wobbly eyesores. Carol moved to the Bay Area from Houston last year, and although fans arent a big issue in Northern California, theyre an absolute necessity in Texas, she said. They were a part of every single project. Those who dont want to invest in new fans can try making smaller cosmetic upgrades to their existing fan, such as switching out heavy, dark blades with white ones that blend into the ceiling or removing the light kit as a temporary fix. I think the light kit is what makes them so ugly, Carol said. And most of the time, the overhead light isnt pretty; its this harsh Where were you on the night of light. Your best bet is recessed lighting throughout the room and a simple fan with no light kit. Choosing a style Picking the right style of ceiling fan can be tough, but brands and retailers have made it easy to shop based on your taste and space. Hunters website (hunterfan.com) lets you shop by look (casual, traditional, global and so on) and then narrow down the options by noting your hardware and flooring. The Kensgove 72-inch LED indoor/outdoor ceiling fan in espresso/bronze, by Home Decorators Collection ($299, homedepot.com). (Home Depot) There are rustic fans with shades that look like Mason jars (Hunters Crown Canyon fan, $179, homedepot.com), vintage-inspired fans with mid-century modern flair (Hunters Cranbrook fan, $229, hunterfan.com), industrial fans built for indoor/outdoor use (Home Decorators Collections Kensgrove fan, $299, homedepot.com) and even smart fans that connect to your WiFi (Hunters Symphony fan, $299, amazon.com). The Symphony 54-inch ceiling fan by Hunter ($299, amazon.com). (Hunter) The Cranbook 52-inch ceiling fan by Hunter, in a mint finish ($229,hunterfan.com). (Hunter) Those who like extra oomph from their fans should consider Haiku Home (haikuhome.com), a brand that makes heavy-duty fans in high-end finishes. Working out of an $8.5 million air-movement research facility in Lexington, Ky. reportedly the only of its kind the company re-creates environments such as coffee shops and gyms to test its products. It makes only one fan, sold at four price points (starting at $550), but its earned scores of awards for its design, stability, weight (13 pounds) and energy-saving technology. The star feature: its occupancy sensor that stops the fan from running when the room is empty. The Haiku fan (starting at $550). (Haiku Home by Big Ass Fans) Were design-first, says chief operating officer Jon Bostock, who came to Haiku from General Electric, but theres payoff in your energy bill, too. We dont ignore that. What about installation? Bostock says half of Haikus customers install their own fans, and Lisa Park, director of fan merchandising at Home Depot in Atlanta, estimates that the vast majority of Home Depots crafty customers do it themselves, too. But she acknowledges that its a huge pain point. . . . The whole industry is looking at this. If youd rather skip the mess of wires and ladders, hire an electrician or handyman. Most will do the job for between $150 and $300. Millions of words have been written about our commander-in-tweet and his penchant for sharing aggrieved, spit-flecked, 140-character insights, seriatim, at 4 a.m. There is so much material for journalists to mine in his Twitter feed that some truly revelatory things sometimes get overlooked. For example, it is possible I am the first to point out the astonishing gall involved in this recent tweet, from a man who will be costing the nation tens of millions of extra dollars a year because he lives in three different houses and does not cohabit with his spouse: The reason I am staying in Bedminster, N. J., a beautiful community, is that staying in NYC is much more expensive and disruptive. Meetings! The president is so irrepressible and irresponsible it seems hell say anything that a certain frisson went through the journalism world over a year ago when a couple of websites created archived databases of tweets Donald Trump deleted. How juicy might these tidbits be if they were so unwise even Trump rethought them? Alas, what soon became clear was that most of the deletions occurred because of a misspelling, and then were put back up, fixed. Journos mostly shrugged and walked away. It was a mistake. There are lessons to be learned, even from Donald Trumps misspellings. Now, I am aware that the Internet has degraded the importance of spelling, and though I bluster and harrumph over that grave threat to Western civ, I get it. In the frenzy of instant communication, we all make dumb typos. Some of Trumps are of the pedestrian type, such as using principal instead of principle or confusing there and their. And yes, he really may not know that its not spelled politicion, but lets give him a break and call it a typo. Ditto unpresidented. But other misspellings of his are far more interesting, and deserve to be catalogued and curated. 1. Errors of infantilism. Many of his misspellings are exactly those we all made as 8-year-olds, until we got it right by, say, 9. Examples, from the Trump files: amoung, develope and rediculous. Oddly, these are misspellings that auto-correct will instantly fix. Does he not use it? Does he override it when his petulant fifth-grade self assures him he is right? 2. Errors of cluelessness. Trump wrote the following: I hear by demand a second investigation. Apparently someone notified him that the adverb should be one word, not two, so he quickly deleted the tweet, and rewrote it as I hearby demand Then he deleted that, and finally got it right. 3. Nominal errors. The man is bad at names, and not just ones where misspellings are completely excusable because the actual name involves idiot constructions, like Dwyane Wade and Gennifer Flowers. But Trump also mourned the death of Phillies Schlafly, the noted anti-feminist second baseman. He referred to the clearly male, bearded suspect in the Paris bombing as Sarah Abdeslam. Salah. 4. Errors of recidivism. Trump calls Marco Rubio a leightweight chocker, then corrects both words. A minute later he again refers to Marco as a leightweight chocker, then corrects it. The truth is beginning to sink in a little, because, finally, in his last tweet a few minutes later, he wrote of Rubio: The problem is, he is a choker, and once a choker, always a chocker. And at last, pay dirt. Journalists had been looking for a deletion that wasnt a simple misspelling, but a matter of regretting having said something bad, and here one seemed to be. On Feb. 17, Trump tweeted that the media was the enemy of the American people, singling out the failing New York Times, CNN and NBC News. It was a shocking tweet, almost fascist in its disdain for a free press, and he deleted it quickly. Finally, evidently, he had gone too far. Then, 16 minutes later, the tweet reappeared. To the list of enemies of the American people, Trump had added ABC and CBS. For stories, features such as Date Lab, @Work Advice and more, visit WP Magazine. Follow the Magazine on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Email us at wpmagazine@washpost.com. Jenna Isaacson Pfueller, left, is instructed by Lenora Gaines, right, and Trelease Williams, center, while voting last year at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center. (Astrid Riecken/For The Post) Every District resident over the age of 18 who gets a drivers license would become automatically registered to vote under a spending plan the D.C. Council is expected to give final approval to later this month. The spending plan, which advanced easily on Tuesday, would mean the District would join eight states with automatic voter registration. Many Democratic lawmakers embraced automatic registration as a way to counter restrictive voter ID laws supported by some conservatives. Government groups have also pressed states to link voter registration with other government databases, saying doing so would help clean up inaccurate state voter rolls. Lawmakers in 32 states have introduced measures in the last year to automatically register drivers to vote. Just this week, the Illinois House voted 115 to 0 in support of a law that will automatically register voters when they visit various state agencies. These kind of opt-out or automatic voter registration systems are just good 21st century government, said Justin Levitt, who worked as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under former president Barack Obama. I would expect more of them as more states realize that the inefficient means of voter registration are actually pretty expensive. Under the plan approved unanimously last year by the D.C. Council but not funded until now every adult driver who gets a license would have his or her name, address and party affiliation forwarded to the D.C. Board of Elections and entered on voter rolls in the nations capital. If a driver does not want to become a registered voter, he or she will have to opt out of the automatic registration system. D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who introduced the automatic voter registration bill, called the funding plan an important step to expand voting access. It flips the presumption, where right now they ask you if want to be registered. Instead of that were just going to go ahead and get you registered, and that absolutely helps enfranchise voters, Allen said. Just as important, it should significantly increase the accuracy of voter rolls. People update their address all over the place, but rarely at the board of elections. Under the budget plan, the board of elections would hire two employees to run the system, and funding would be available to the Department of Motor Vehicles to complete an upgrade to transfer the data. The Districts chief financial officer estimated the new system will cost $659,000 over four years. Allen said he hoped the DMV and board of elections could begin implementing the system on Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year. It was not clear Wednesday if that would be possible, a spokeswoman for the DMV did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The new District law also lengthens the period for voter registration, moving the deadline from the current 30 days preceding a regularly scheduled election to 21 days. And voters will be allowed to file a change of address, even if that means changing wards, on Election Day. [Related: D.C. to spend $3 million to get names of dead people off voter rolls] There are currently 478,000 registered voters in the District. Peter Jamison contributed to this report. This is the meeting schedule for the D.C. Council and its committees in the week ahead. All meetings are in the Council Chamber of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, unless otherwise noted. For changes, updates and information, go to dccouncil.us. Thursday Judiciary and Public Safety public hearing, 9:30 a.m. Room 412. Agenda: Revision of Guardianship of Minors and Creation of Supplemental Needs Trusts Act of 2017, Bill 22-0012. Consumer Disclosure Act of 2017, Bill 22-0020. Uniform Power of Attorney Amendment Act of 2017, Bill 22-0049. Electronic Signature Authorization Act of 2017, Bill 22-0169. Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act of 2017, Bill 22-0198. Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act of 2017, Bill 22-0199. Monday Health and Education joint public oversight roundtable, 11 a.m. Agenda: The Department of Behavioral Healths proposed school-based Behavioral Health Comprehensive Plan. Tuesday Sixth Legislative meeting, 10 a.m. WASHINGTON, DC - DC Council Member Elissa Silverman was one of three lawmakers who unsuccessfully pushed to delay tax cuts scheduled for next year, saying the money should be spent instead on social programs like services for the homeless. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) Cuts to the Districts estate and business taxes will take effect next year despite a last-minute revolt by some D.C. Council members who said they would rather spend those dollars on social programs. The council voted to preserve the cuts during a preliminary vote Tuesday approving the citys $13.8 billion budget. Members also voted to spend more on public schools than Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) originally proposed. Education funding and the fate of the tax cuts were the twin dramas of the councils budget deliberations this year, and underlying both was a broader debate about how the Districts poor are faring in a turbocharged local economy that has brought the city newfound prosperity. The Districts growing population and abundant tax dollars have been welcome in a city that flirted with bankruptcy in the 1990s, when it was put under the oversight of a federal financial control board. But many argue the District is not spending its money effectively to deal with problems such as rising rents, a high rate of homelessness and a school system with one of the countrys widest achievement gaps between low-income and affluent students. All the data Ive seen is that the District is only getting wealthier, but we have a lot of people who are struggling to live in our city, said council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), one of the three lawmakers who were on the losing side of votes to stop the tax cuts. Those cuts were among the last in a series of tax-relief efforts approved by the council in 2014. The reductions for businesses will be paired with increases in personal exemptions and standard deductions that will benefit a large group of low- and middle-income residents next year. By preserving the estate-tax cut, she said, Were voting for about 100 wealthy people and against thousands of our poorest families and children. Council member David Grosso (I-At Large) proposed amendments to the budget legislation that would have stopped an increase in the estate-tax exemption from the current $2 million to $5.5 million and set the business franchise tax rate at 9 percent instead of 8.25 percent. The franchise-tax provision would have applied only to businesses with gross incomes over $10 million. I do not think it makes sense for us to give a tax cut to big businesses and millionaires, Grosso said. Few of his colleagues agreed. Grosso, Silverman and council member Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1) voted to halt the tax cuts, while member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) joined them to vote only against the estate-tax cut. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who initially had supported delaying the increase of the estate-tax exemption, voted against the idea Tuesday. Allen said that he had wanted to use the savings from the delay for school renovation projects but that Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) found money to fund the projects while keeping the tax cuts in place. Mendelson said that businesses, in particular, would have been hit hard under Grossos proposal. Businesses dont vote for us, so its kind of easy to hit on them, and businesses if theyre good make money, so its kind of easy to hit on them, he said. But we cant keep going back to the golden trough to ask businesses for more money. In December, the council voted to approve a paid-family-leave program for private-sector workers that will be funded through a 0.62 percent payroll tax on employers. Council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large) said altering the tax-cut package now would broadcast to our constituents that our word means nothing and that we are not capable of making strategic decisions to use a $14 billion budget. In contrast to the dispute over tax cuts, the council spent no time Tuesday debating its plan for education funding, which will increase per-pupil spending by 3 percent from last year. Bowser initially suggested an increase of half that amount. The mayors proposed schools budget was widely panned by parents, educators and council members who said it was not sufficient. To cover increased spending on schools and in other areas, the council trimmed the budgets at many city agencies, including the Metropolitan Police Department. Council members also jettisoned an increase to the hotel-occupancy tax that the mayor proposed to pay for upgrades to the citys 911 and emergency radio systems. The public is really concerned about crime, said John Falcicchio, the mayors chief of staff. Cuts to the fire department fleet, to the MPD budget and taking away the investment in the 911 technology all of that points to a lack of seriousness on the part of the council about public safety in the District of Columbia. Some advocates said the budget also fell short on reducing the Districts rampant homelessness. A U.S. Conference of Mayors study last year found the District had the highest per capita rate of homelessness of the 32 cities surveyed. Bowsers budget did not include new money for temporary apartments for single homeless men and women, nor funding to renovate overcrowded shelters for some 4,000 adults. The council added money for 112 units of new permanent supportive housing on top of the 162 that Bowser funded. But combined, the 276 new units were half of what advocates lobbied for this year. The council will take a final vote on the budget June 13. Fairfax County School Board member Jeanette Hough announced Monday that she is resigning effective Wednesday, leaving her post after less than two years in office. Hough, serving in an at-large seat on the board, wrote in a resignation letter submitted to Sandy Evans, chair of the school board, that she is leaving to join her husband, who has accepted an overseas work assignment. Hough was elected in November 2015 and her current term was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2019. While the school board is considered a nonpartisan entity, Hough ran for the seat endorsed by the local Republican Party. Cameron Sasnett, general registrar for the Fairfax County Electoral Board, said that a special election to fill the vacancy left by Hough could be held as soon as August. In her resignation letter, Hough wrote that she was proud of her work on the board participating in the search for a new superintendent and crafting two multibillion-dollar budgets for the school system that serves more than 185,000 students. As much as I have enjoyed my service on the school board, I will now be shifting my focus completely to serving my family abroad, Hough wrote. It has been my pleasure and honor to serve the people of Fairfax County. . . . I wish the best of luck to my colleagues going forward with the rest of their term and the work they will be doing on behalf of our students, families and community for the excellence of Fairfax County Public Schools. Hough graduated from Oakton High School before attending the University of Virginia, where she received a degree in economics. She later earned a masters degree in physical therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and worked as a physical therapist at Inova Fairfax Hospital. She has three children enrolled in Fairfax County schools. Hough did not return messages from The Washington Post seeking comment on her resignation. Former NAACP chairman Ben Jealous announces his campaign for governor of Maryland during a rally in Baltimore on May 31. Jealous will seek the Democratic nomination. (Brian Witte/AP) Ben Jealous, the former president of the NAACP, officially launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor on Wednesday, promising if elected to protect President Barack Obamas legacy and to turn Sen. Bernie Sanderss dreams of fixing economic inequality into reality for Maryland families. Jealous, an outspoken progressive and an early supporter of Sanderss presidential bid last year, is making his first run for political office and joins what is likely to be a crowded field of Democrats vying to unseat Gov. Larry Hogan, a widely popular Republican in a blue state. He is the second Democrat to formally declare and one of the more progressive candidates eyeing the governors seat. Jealous, 44, described his campaign as a movement of working families coming together to find the answers to the issues that we face and move our state faster than most think is possible. . . . We can grow our state, create opportunity, and leave a better future for our children, Jealous told about 75 supporters outside Baltimore Blossoms, a Baltimore City flower shop in the Northwest neighborhood where his grandparents live. It will not be easy, but no great undertaking ever is. But we dont fear the challenge, rather we are up to it, we are inspired by it. . . . It is time for us to dream again and to make big dreams real again. Jealous told the crowd of his familys history, including his black mother and white father, two Baltimore teachers who fell in love and moved to California because interracial marriage in Maryland was illegal at the time. If elected, he said that he would push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour; place a highly qualified teacher in each classroom; do away with massive student debt; and end mass incarceration. He promised to lure tech companies to the state, invest in infrastructure, revive the Red Line and save the Purple Line. He said he would pay for the programs by closing the corporate loophole, ending mass incarceration, fighting big pharma and ending waste and fraud in state government. Jealous took aim at Hogan, comparing him to the cowardly lion in The Wizard Oz. Since President Trump has come into office he has repeatedly bowed and submitted to the will of the most extreme members of the President Trump administration, Jealous said. He has aligned himself with the Trump administration by his misguided action and his so cowardly silence. A spokeswoman for Hogan did not immediately respond to a call for comment. A former community organizer and journalist, Jealous is a partner at Kapor Capital, a California-based venture capital investment firm that focuses on socially conscious businesses. Jealous, who lives in Anne Arundel County, gained national prominence in 2008 when at age 35 he took the helm of the countrys oldest civil rights organization, becoming the youngest person to lead the NAACP. During his four years at the NAACP, Jealous helped lead the fight in Maryland to abolish the death penalty, legalize same-sex marriage and allow undocumented college students to receive in-state tuition. We have fought and won against the odds before, Jealous said. We have the opportunity to move forward on the economy and on education as quickly as we moved forward on civil rights a few years ago. Mileah Kromer, a political-science professor at Goucher College, said unlike the other Democratic challengers, Jealous has name recognition across the state. Alec Ross, a technology entrepreneur, announced his candidacy in April. State Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (Montgomery) said last month that he plans to seek the Democratic nomination, but he has not officially declared. Other Democrats considering a bid include Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, former Maryland attorney general Douglas F. Gansler, Baltimore County Executive Kevin B. Kamenetz and lawyer James L. Shea. [Jealous is] known among the core progressives across the state, and equally as important hes known in the black community in Baltimore City, she said. David Lewiston, a self-described musical tourist who trekked around the globe over nearly half a century, recording gong ensembles in Bali, Peruvian pan pipers and chanting Tibetan monks to amass one of the worlds richest collections of international music, died May 29 at a hospice center in Wailuku, Hawaii. He was 88. He had a stroke, said Mirayam Licht, his power of attorney and a longtime friend. The British-born Mr. Lewiston was one of the most esteemed ethnomusicologists of the 20th century, although he rejected that professional label. Working with the Explorer Series of Nonesuch Records, he eschewed the academic sobriety that had long characterized his field, operating instead on an unbridled spirit of adventure and through what he termed creative stumbling. I think of an ethnomusicologist as someone who takes wonderful music and analyzes it until all the joy has been lost, he once told the online publication RootsWorld. Its as though a rather boring person who wanted to be paid for talking about music invented a Teutonic-sounding, pseudo-academic title as a scam and got away with it! Much better to just shut up and enjoy the music. Mr. Lewiston took his first field recording trip in 1966, while working as a writer for a banking trade journal in New York. He described the job as a stultifying distraction from his real love, which was music. Mr. Lewiston had studied classical music at an English conservatory before apprenticing himself in the early 1950s to Thomas de Hartmann, a composer who was a follower of the Russian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff. Mr. Lewiston took the studio to musicians, rather than taking musicians to the studio. (Nonesuch Records) Awakened by de Hartmann to the beauty of Eastern music, Mr. Lewiston selected Bali as the first destination in his musical travels. En route to the Indonesian island, he stopped in Singapore, where he purchased an inexpensive stereo tape recorder. The battery-powered device would allow him to take the recording studio to his musicians, rather than displacing musicians from their environments and taking them to the studio. Mr. Lewiston recorded the ethereal percussive sounds of the traditional Balinese ensembles known as gamelans. He also captured the monkey chant, in which 200 men vocally reenact the moment in the Indian epic poem The Ramayana in which simians come to the rescue of Prince Rama. Mr. Lewiston returned home with his tapes and offered them to Nonesuch Records, embarking on a years-long partnership with the label. His first album was Music From the Morning of the World a landmark of ethnic music that in 2007 was entered by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry. Mr. Lewiston eventually quit his day job, traveling for nearly the rest of his life on as little as $5 a day across Central and South America, Central Asia, the Himalayas and beyond. The chanting of 40 Tibetan monks is a cavernous, impenetrable drone, a wall of sound, a New York Times reporter wrote in 1976, describing a recording Mr. Lewiston had made of the ancient practice known as one-voice chording, in which a single cantor produces three notes at the same time. The resultant tantric ritual chant is primal and awesome, sounding at first like a swarm of angry bees and then like a landing approach to the Ultimate Note, the Times continued. Interspersed with trumpets, bells and gongs, the soothing, hypnotic power of the chant reminds the listener that in folk culture the musician is magician, and vice-versa. . . . Lewiston literally brings it back alive. He braved mountains and monsoons although technical challenges sometimes presented challenges greater than those posed by the elements. In an effort to capture music in its purest form, he aimed to be as unobtrusive as possible, given his many pounds of equipment. Mr. Lewiston died May 29 at 88. (Mirayam Licht) Especially in villages, people get impatient really fast, he told the Times in 2006, noting that his performers were farmers, not experienced session musicians. So I have a configuration that I can just plunk down, switch it on and say, O.K., ready. Because I dont want to make them nervous by fiddling with this and fiddling with that. It was not unusual for outside sounds a car horn, the bark of a dog to interrupt a recording. In such cases, he would tread gingerly. If someone made a mistake or the wind knocked over a microphone, I wouldnt stop and say take two, he told Brian Cullman, a writer and musician who is helping organize and preserve Mr. Lewistons archive. I would wait until a whole performance was over and just say, My, that was marvelous! What was that second piece? Could I hear that again? And just hope that the wind wouldnt knock things over and that this time the genggong player would not pass gas. David Sidney George Lewiston was born in London on May 11, 1929. He studied piano at Trinity College in London, where he graduated in 1953. He told the Times he quickly concluded that conservatory training focuses too much on the West. In New York, he also worked for Forbes magazine before embarking on his travels. I stumbled into it, he told Cullman. I didnt have a plan, I didnt have a career in mind. It was an adventure. Mr. Lewistons discography includes dozens of records. Much of his archive is today housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, which said in a statement that Mr. Lewistons documentation of village music cultures in South America, Africa and Asia, has enriched our understanding of human wisdom and genius. He had no immediate survivors. The world is full of beautiful music and Im a pretty average Westerner as far as musical tastes go, Mr. Lewiston told the Times. So if a certain piece appeals to me chances are that people in the West will like it, too. An Arlington-based legal investigative unit filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to force D.C. police to turn over information gathered in last years fatal shooting of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. The Profiling Project, headed by lobbyist and lawyer Jack Burkman, along with law students at George Washington University, filed the suit in D.C. Superior Court in hopes it can gain access to surveillance video from a camera at the Flagler Market, near where Rich was killed; the D.C. Medical Examiners report on the death; and the forensic ballistic report. Burkman is asking that D.C. police release the information within 10 days. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine. Rich, 27, was shot July 10 in the Districts Bloomingdale neighborhood. D.C. police have repeatedly said that they think Rich was killed in a random robbery attempt, but several conspiracy theories have emerged about his death. No arrests have been made. Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer, was fatally shot July 10 in the Districts Bloomingdale neighborhood. (Democratic National Committee) The family remains completely confident in the Metropolitan Police Departments handling of the case, Brad Bauman, a spokesman for the Rich family, said in a statement. Joyce Robinson-Paul, a former advisory neighborhood commissioner, speaks with D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham as they walk May 30 near Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) When the gunfire in Northwest Washingtons Truxton Circle finally subsided over the Memorial Day weekend, the shaken community surveyed the loss and damage. Eight people shot on Q Street on Saturday. One man dead. As many as 40 bullets fired on three streets Monday afternoon from a black four-door sedan. Hours later, two men, first in cars and then on foot, engaged in a shootout on North Capitol Street, police said. Over two days, 10 vehicles were struck by gunfire three with flat tires, others with windshields blown out or bullet-pierced hoods and trunks. Two people were arrested in Mondays first shootings but none so far in Saturdays deadly attack. Two guns, including a 9mm semiautomatic, were seized by police. With summer about to begin, families living there are scared the violence would continue. We had a rough weekend, said D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham as he and other police officials began a walking tour Tuesday of the triangular-shaped neighborhood bordered by New York, New Jersey and Florida avenues. When the entourage reached Doretha Pinketts house on Bates Street, they had one more statistic to tally. Her family found a chip head-high in a brick near her front door, apparently damage from a bullet from the Q Street shooting one block away. Im not moving, Pinkett sternly told the officers and their white-shirted bosses who came over to take a look and file a destruction-of-property report. Eva Jones, 16, and her mother, Tawanna Jones, found a bullet hole near the porch of Doretha Pinketts home on Bates Street NW. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Eva Jones points to damage caused by one of the dozens of bullets fired in the Truxton Circle area over the Memorial Day weekend. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Truxton Circle is one of those District neighborhoods struggling to gentrify while still confronting entrenched violence that stretches back generations. There is a mix of new residents, attracted to still-affordable homes, and longtime neighbors. Each year, the tiny neighborhood wedged in among Shaw, Bloomingdale and Eckington seems to erupt in violent spasms. Last summer, four men were shot in front of the neighborhoods signature entrance the four-story turret of Big Ben Liquor Store that looms over New York Avenue and North Capitol Street. The shooting by a masked man came at the height of the evening rush hour on one of the traffic-clogged arteries in and out of the District. When police made arrests, they learned the suspected gunman was taking revenge for the fatal stabbing of a friend. At a community meeting, the 5th District police commander, William Fitzgerald, proclaimed the Big Ben corner a long-term, open-air drug market. A year later, that corner remains volatile, but overall violent crime in Truxton Circle including assaults, shootings and robberies has dropped from 72 incidents at this time in 2016 to 33 this year. Robberies have dropped from 45 to 21. The only category that has gone up is homicide, with two this year. There were none recorded through the first five months of 2016. [Gunfire reported throughout Truxton Circle over Memorial Day weekend] Still, the overall statistics do not matter much to a 47-year-old husband and father who moved to Hanover Place 10 years ago and works as a manager for a beverage company. He has a wife and a 3-year old daughter and was outside holding a pink sippy cup adorned with a dancer when Newsham led his tour. A lot of times there are problems and my wife calls me, and I leave my job and come running here, the man told Newsham. He asked that his name not be used, out of fear. Last night my wife was crying, the man said. She wants to move from here. And look, I put a lot of effort in my house. I have my camera, my flowers and my plants. But we need safety, security. Its not fair. Twice a bullet came through my window. Newsham and other police officials who joined Tuesday evenings tour said they are investigating whether any of the three shooting incidents are related. The first shooting occurred about 1 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of a low-rise apartment complex in the 100 block of Q Street NW, across from a neat line of $600,000 rowhouses. Police said a gunman opened fire into a crowd, killing Algernon Harvey Jones, 32, of Southeast and wounding seven others. None of the victims listed addresses in Truxton Circle; one was from Maryland. A makeshift memorial honors Algernon Harvey Jones, 32, who died after he was shot in the 100 block of Q Street NW on Saturday. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Police said they did not know whether Jones was the intended target; relatives could not be reached. At a makeshift memorial in a parking space where he fell, the words RIP Al are spelled out in small votive candles, surrounded by empty bottles of sparkling wine, tequila and vodka. The next shootings occurred Monday about 5 p.m., with gunfire reported in the 1400 block of North Capitol Street, then on O Street, and then on Hanover Street. In all, police reports say, as many as 40 bullets were fired; officers made two arrests and confiscated a 9mm Taurus Millennium handgun found under a seat in the suspects vehicle. About 7:45 p.m. that same night, police reported a gun battle in the 1400 block of North Capitol Street. No arrests were made, but police found a gun discarded in a back yard. Alanes Talbert has lived on Bates Street for more than 30 years. The 67-year-old woman retired after spending 44 years with the federal General Services Administration managing commodities. She raised a son on Bates Street who on this day was at his job with Metro. As Newsham and the group of established residents and newcomers pushing baby strollers approached, Talbert leaned out of her door and, keeping her voice low, said, Its been terrible the last three or four days. Talbert said that on the day 40 bullets were fired into her neighborhood she was in a back room watching television, the sound pumped up. She didnt hear any of the pops. But, she said, I saw through the window people running. She knew there was trouble. I panicked, Talbert said. Ive seen the good, the bad, the ugly. She ducked inside before Newsham and the others walked by. A sticker on her front door offered a warning to would-be criminals: Killer Dachshund on duty. Mohamad Khweis, 27, of Alexandria, Va., is shown while being held in Kurdish custody in Iraq. (U.S. District Court, Alexandria, Va./via AP) As soon as his cab arrived in an Islamic State safe house in December 2015, his lawyers say, Mohamad Khweis realized he had made a huge mistake. The 27-year-old Fairfax County native fled the group three months later and was captured by Kurdish forces in Iraq. Now, as his trial begins this week in federal court in Alexandria, a jury will weigh whether a mistake of that gravity can be forgiven under terrorism laws. Khweis, prosecutors say, quite clearly committed the crimes of which he is accused. He knowingly offered himself up as a fighter for a bloodthirsty terrorist group. He conspired with Islamic State facilitators online to do so. And he handled weapons while he was there. The defendant gave himself to [the Islamic State], prosecutor Dennis Fitzpatrick told jurors in his opening statement, the most lethal terrorist organization in history. Defense lawyers counter that theres no proof Khweis ever committed or advocated any act of violence. He became intrigued by what he read online about the Islamic State and had hoped to explore its territory in Syria on his own, they say, but instead had no choice but to join. (Jason Aldag,Adam Taylor / Twitter/@kurdistan83) From that point forward, ISIS took control of him, defense attorney Jessica Carmichael said in her opening statement. When a young person makes a stupid and naive decision, we will ask that he be allowed to change his mind before any harm occurs. [Prosecutors: Terror suspect went from couch in Virginia to Syria in two weeks] The case is unusual for several reasons. Khweis successfully traveled to Islamic State territory, as few Americans have, and was completely unknown to authorities before his capture. FBI agents have testified that they learned of his existence from a video posted by a Kurdish fighter on Twitter. When he returned, Khweis chose to go to trial, when the vast majority of terrorism defendants plead guilty. The trial is expected to last about two weeks. Jurors already have watched videos of a Kurdish army captain and counterterrorism official who testified at an earlier hearing, and are expected to hear testimony from FBI agents who interrogated Khweis in Iraq. Khweis is considering whether to testify on his own behalf. He is charged with providing material support to the terrorist group, conspiracy to provide material support and possessing a firearm in a crime of violence. Khweis, Carmichael said, was a smoker and a drinker who lived with his parents and relied on their insurance and cellphone plans. While with the Islamic State, she said, he performed menial tasks: buying groceries, taking out the trash, getting lunch. He handled guns, she said, only when he moved them to sit on a couch. He was asked to be a suicide bomber because he had no skills, according to Carmichael, and agreed only because he thought he might be killed as a spy if he did not. But prosecutors say Khweis showed a sophisticated understanding of the terrorist group he joined. Before leaving for Syria, Khweis quit his job as a Metro Access bus driver and sold his car, driving a rental to Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport. He stopped in London and Amsterdam to avoid detection, prosecutors said. When he landed in Turkey, he took a bus to a border town and contacted Islamic State facilitators on Twitter. Khweis used a handle that included the phrase greenbird, a reference to martyrdom. In a direct message, he asked one facilitator to communicate on the encrypted program Telegram. On his phone, FBI agent Ryan Lamb testified Wednesday, Khweis had several apps to enable encrypted messaging and private browsing. The defendant was good at tradecraft, Fitzpatrick said. But Khweis failed to wipe the data from two of his three phones. He left records of his trip abroad and evidence that while in Turkey he looked at numerous Islamic State websites that featured images of armed fighters, dead bodies and violent attacks. He also looked at pages involving several radical preachers who have justified the use of violence. He searched Google for common Arabic phrases and for Arabic nicknames meaning the American and the Canadian. He also looked up How to pray for beginners. According to prosecutors, the car that took Khweis from Turkey to Syria also held three French recruits and one Tunisian, who bragged about the deadly terrorist attack that had just occurred in Paris. Khweis was shuffled from safe house to safe house, eventually being taken to Mosul for religious training. He met Russian fighters and helped treat injured soldiers, according to prosecutors. Eventually he was taken to Tal Afar, not far from the Syrian border. It was from there that he fled and landed in Kurdish hands. He ran into the arms of U.S. law enforcement, Carmichael said. Mohamad was happy to tell them whatever they wanted to know. Islamic State documents discovered during the Iraqi Armys recapture of Mosul this year and produced in court show Khweis filled out a form to join the Islamic State and is listed on a spreadsheet as a fighter for the group. However, the form does not indicate that he underwent weapons training or had been assigned to an army. Khweis turned down multiple offers of plea deals, prosecutors said in a court hearing last week. Defense attorney John Zwerling said in court that Khweis has always been willing to cooperate but didnt want to admit to something he feels he didnt do. Corey Stewart, Republican candidate for Virginia governor and chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, attacks opponent Ed Gillespie at a news conference on May 30, 2017. He cited a Washington Post report that Gillespie was paid more than $1 million to lobby for Tyson Foods when it was charged with illegally smuggling Mexicans into the country to work at processing plants. The company was acquitted. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Corey Stewart on Tuesday accused one of his rivals of participating in human trafficking, a claim he based on work Ed Gillespies lobbying firm did for Tyson Foods when the poultry giant was charged with smuggling Mexicans across the border to work in its U.S. plants. In essence, Ed Gillespie is complicit in smuggling illegal aliens into this country, Stewart said. Hes complicit in human trafficking. Stewart, who faces Gillespie and state Sen. Frank Wagner (Virginia Beach) in the June 13 GOP primary, made the claim one day after The Washington Post reported that Tyson paid Quinn Gillespie & Associates more than $1 million for help on a range of issues, including the criminal case, which ended in acquittal. [GOP front-runner Ed Gillespie in a tight spot on immigration] Gillespies campaign dismissed Stewarts claim which came exactly two weeks before the primary as a baseless attack. Corey Stewarts campaign has been a constant stream of fabrication and falsehoods, Gillespie spokeswoman Abbi Sigler wrote in an email. Tyson Foods retained Quinn Gillespie in 2001 to provide public relations services dealing with charges for which a jury later found the company not guilty. As The Washington Post reported, Tysons made clear the firm was not retained to lobby on the issue and Ed was not involved in the day-to-day work for them. Polls show Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and onetime adviser to President George W. Bush, with a double-digit lead over Stewart, who is chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, and Wagner heading into the homestretch. Gillespie left the lobbying firm in 2007. Many political analysts think Stewart turned himself into a fringe candidate months ago by making the preservation of the states Confederate monuments the central issue of his campaign. [Do Corey Stewarts Confederate antics help Ed Gillespie or hurt the GOP brand?] But Stewart sees an opportunity to reset the race by playing up Gillespies ties to Tyson, noting that a sizable chunk of the electorate is undecided or even unaware of the race. Now people are tuning in, he said, suggesting that voters will turn away from Gillespie when people find out that Ed Gillespie has been complicit in human trafficking of illegal immigrants into this country, illegal immigrants who are murdering and battering and raping American citizens. On Facebook, Stewarts campaign promoted The Post story under an inaccurate headline of its own making: BREAKING: Gillespie Exposed for Receiving $1M+++ for Colluding with Illegal Alien Human Trafficker. The actual Post headline was, In Va. governors race, Gillespie in a tight spot on immigration in Trump era. Tyson hired Quinn Gillespie & Associates in December 2001, just days before the U.S. Justice Department charged the poultry giant with illegally smuggling Mexicans into the country to work at processing plants in Virginia and elsewhere. Tyson acknowledged some smuggling at the time but maintained that it had been the work of rogue employees and was not sanctioned by corporate leaders. The company was acquitted. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post) Tyson paid Gillespies firm more than $1.1 million from 2001 to 2007 to lobby Bushs White House, the Senate and the House on a range of issues, according to federal lobbying disclosures. Gillespie was listed as a Tyson lobbyist for several of those years. He was registered to handle issues that included amnesty proposals, immigration reform, country of origin labeling, and labor and workforce issues, according to those forms. Gary Mickelson, a Tyson spokesman, told The Post last week that the company hired Gillespies firm for public affairs consulting, not lobbying, when our company was facing immigration charges. . . . Most of the work done by Quinn Gillespie for our company did not involve Mr. Gillespie. In response to Stewarts comments Tuesday, Mickelson issued a statement saying: We have zero tolerance for employing anyone who is not authorized to work in this country and use all available tools provided by the U.S. government to check the documents of the people we hire. Even without this latest development, immigration has been a tricky issue for Gillespie, who hails from the partys establishment wing and supported the 2013 Gang of Eight immigration initiative in the U.S. Senate that called for tighter border security as well as a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants. Gillespie now says he never supported the amnesty aspect of the proposal; he says he wanted a pathway to legal status, not citizenship. Gillespie has struck a big tent tone in TV commercials, which have him promising to be a governor for all Virginians, while his Facebook ads show images of a massive border wall and a handcuffed illegal immigrant. Stewart also tried to appeal to various GOP constituencies as he blasted Gillespies work for Tyson, by turns describing the illegal Tyson workers as murderous and exploited. He spoke at a morning conference at a county office building, surrounded by photos of Virginians who he said had been killed by illegal immigrants. If it werent for the efforts of Ed Gillespie and Tyson, some of these people would still be alive today, Stewart said. Asked whether he had any evidence that illegal immigrants who had worked at Tyson plants had killed anyone, Stewart said, No, but I know a significant portion of those who come here illegally, they have criminal backgrounds and commit crimes. At the same time, Stewart suggested that Gillespie had helped to exploit the immigrants, saying that they were smuggled into the country to work for wages and under conditions that no American would accept. Theres another victim, too, and that is the illegal immigrants themselves, Stewart said. Theyre paid next to nothing, and theyre forced to work in conditions that no American would work in. . . . And hes been making a million dollars. Lorenzo Stewart started a successful transportation service for disabled people. He is disabled, confined to a wheelchair after a stray bullet hit him in the back. He is also a former drug dealer with a prison record. He couldn't find a job so he decided to make a job for himself. He's shown at Changing Perceptions in Washington, DC March 2017. (Kristin Adair) Lorenzo Stewart Sr. was done trying to make fast cash selling drugs. He wanted a legitimate job. But he must use a wheelchair after being struck in the back by a stray bullet when he was 15. And he had a record of convictions on drug-related offenses. I tried to get so many jobs through the years, and nothing solid ever came through, said Stewart, 41, who spent years in and out of jail after graduating from Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington. Then last year, something changed. My son was turning 12, and I wasnt trying to go back to jail. Stewart decided to try something different. He enrolled in a small-business training program called Aspire, which was set up by D.C. Deputy Mayor Courtney R. Snowden and operated by the two agencies she oversees: the Department of Employment Services (DOES) and the Department of Small and Local Business Development. In December, after getting a business license and small-business loan, he started a transportation service for the disabled and elderly. Its called VOW Transportation. The initials stand for Vision of Winning. I knew my only route was to be my own boss, Stewart said. I had experienced the difficulties of trying to get around when youre confined to a wheelchair. Theres a shortage of quality transportation services for disabled people. So, doing something about that became my passion. Today, his company operates three 15-seat vans and employs three drivers and a dispatcher. He recently contracted with Medical Transportation Management, a national nonemergency transportation service provider. That means more vans and more employees by years end. Stewart had been one of 25 ex-offenders enrolled in the newly created small-business training program. Of that number, 19 have started businesses such as janitorial services, grounds maintenance and hair salons. [Mayor launches new initiatives that include training for inmates] Its true that when we give returning citizens the right set of skills and opportunities, they will flourish, Snowden said. And they will hire people who, like them, have experienced barriers to being employed. About 32,000 formerly incarcerated people live in the District. Hundreds if not thousands more return each year. About 26 percent are considered employable but unemployed, Snowden said. And about 27 percent are considered unemployable, a wide-ranging category that includes those who are disabled, in school or back in prison. The District has many programs aimed at helping them get back on their feet. Theres even a temporary jobs program at the D.C. jail. Our budget allows us to think more creatively and align our resources across the government, Snowden said. Stewart had taken advantage of the services, but only after he was willing to change. Just being in a wheelchair had not been enough. He continued selling drugs for years after being shot. Eventually, he grew tired of it. A lot of my inner circle was in jail or had been murdered, he said. The police, the robbers, it all became one big headache. I had to change my mind-set and wash my hands of it. Growing up, his mentors had been bank robbers and carjackers. Once he decided to make a change, he met Charles Jones, deputy director of DOES who had helped to start a jobs program for returning citizens called Project Empowerment. I knew I had some business skills from being on the streets, Stewart said. But I didnt know how to use them for legitimate purposes. I knew I wanted to help disabled people get better transportation service. I wanted to be a part of a solution to a problem instead of just being the problem. [Report slams services for former inmates returning to D.C.] Jones helped to guide him to the resources he needed to start a business. A loving family, including a young son who looked up to him, strengthened his resolve. He got a business license and enough start-up capital to lease vans, buy route optimization equipment and hire employees. He personally oversees the training of his drivers and often rides with them. Stewart also provides transportation to prisons that are within a few hundred miles of the District. The federal government houses inmates from the city, and they are scattered in facilities throughout the country. The transportation service is free, offered in gratitude for being given a second chance and with appreciation for the importance of family support. But the demand is so high that he wants to buy a bus. What he needs is a transportation contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. For now, however, his focus is on providing disabled people and the elderly with the kind of transportation service he could not get when searching for a job. Perhaps it was for the best that he could not find a job. It forced him to make one for himself. To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy. A Peruvian-themed potluck for nearly two dozen organized by Dining for Women in Vienna, Va. The local chapter has monthly dinner meetings at members homes, during which they try to feature the food of a possible grantees country or culture. At the meetings, members also view grantee presentations and discuss funding possibilities. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) A dinner party in late April gave Nahal Gadalla, a biomedical scientist from Sudan, a chance to connect with other smart, professional women. But the event was more than just a chance to break bread. The monthly gatherings offer Gadalla and her peers a way to support groups that aid women and girls in some of the worlds most remote and impoverished areas. Gadalla recently became a member of the Vienna-Fairfax Chapter of Dining for Women, a nonprofit organization that promotes grass-roots philanthropy. The members take turns hosting elaborate dinner parties and pledge what they would have paid to dine out as a donation to a charity. The April meal benefited the Chicuchas Wasi School for Girls in Cusco, Peru. Each month, the national Dining for Women organization awards a single grant, from $35,000 to $50,000, to a nonprofit group. Additionally, 10 times a year, it identifies a single nonprofit group it has previously funded. That grantee gets $20,000 a year for three years to help with continued work. April marked the first time Dining for Women has raised money for the Chicuchas Wasi School. DFW used online materials and videos to promote the schools mission with potential donors. For its 25th anniversary, DFW, which has 8,000 members in 409 chapters spanning 45 states, has set a goal of increasing its membership to 20,000 by 2020. Dining for Women is one of a growing number of giving circles, whose members pool their dollars and decide together where to donate them. No circle looks or acts like any other, says Lynn OConnell, the director of a local nonprofit who also belongs to four giving circles and serves as DFWs grants chairwoman. Dues, size, structure and mission are all a little different. Its not just about writing a check, but the circles are a major force in helping individuals learn about philanthropy and about nonprofits. Colleen McLain, left, and other members of the Dining for Women chapter in Vienna, Va., watch a presentation about the Chicuchas Wasi School in Peru. The school was granted money by the chapter. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Giving circles make commitments on their own terms, which, in part, explains their popularity, according to an upcoming study by the University of Nebraska and the Womens Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University. Preliminary data has identified 1,314 active giving circles, plus 525 chapters or affiliates of giving circle federations, such as Dining for Women, across the country. Thats twice as many as there were in a similar study eight years ago, according to Angela Eikenberry, a University of Nebraska professor and a lead author of the study. These groups are emerging as traditional philanthropy becomes more bureaucratic, she says. Over the last decade, they are forming to make things more personal, giving directly to organizations where people live. Gadalla says she enjoys the fellowship with like-minded women. Dining for Women resonates with my beliefs, says the 41-year-old executive director for the Sudanese American Medical Association. The Peruvian school empowers girls, supports their education and teaches them leadership skills, all values she shares with the former Peace Corps volunteers, USAID aid workers, educators, doctors and lawyers who were gathered at Marsha Sabins home in Vienna for a Peruvian potluck at the April dinner party. Sabins event included a buffet of Andean specialties: Peruvian grilled octopus in a bed of olives and avocados, spicy potato terrine, red onion salad, fiery black beans with mango, cilantro chicken, onion and lime relish, corn tamales, and dulce de leche cookies. Before dinner, chapter co-leader Colleen McClain led a discussion about the DFW-funded school. We learn to be global citizens in a nonpolitical way, McClain says. Collective giving can make a huge impact, she says, noting that this grant will help cover teacher salaries and meals for the girls who often go hungry. Giving circles tend to start small. Dining for Women began at co-founder Marsha Wallaces 43rd birthday party with 25 friends in Greenville, S.C., in 2003. That same year, Giving Circle of Hope was founded around a kitchen table in Falls Church by four women who wanted to help a local family after a fatal car accident. They decided to do something permanent, says Joy Meyers, 39, outreach director for Giving Circle of Hope. So they kept the group going after that familys need for help had ended. The group remains focused on Northern Virginia, with an average grant of $7,000. In 2016, it directed dues to eight projects, including assistance for abused and neglected children, bilingual culinary job training, and peer support for youths and adults with mental health conditions. Meyers joined Giving Circle of Hope when she moved to Reston a few years ago. This not only has linked me to Reston and made Reston my home, but it has made me feel like I am helping my neighbors in need, says Meyers, chief development officer at the Campagna Center in Alexandria. For Giving Circle of Hope, she programs a full slate of activities in what she calls philanthropy boot camp. I want to bring in a new generation of givers, she says. Already this year, she has hosted the Empty Bowl Fundraiser, as well as a Members Mingle at a bar, and put on the Big Give, a Shark Tank-like event that awards money to nonprofits on the spot. Gen X-ers really like the direct and immediate return on their investment. The impact far exceeds what a young person would most likely achieve independently, she says. And because they operate with little overhead, nearly all the money they raise goes to grants. Giving Together follows a similar model. It aids groups, including nonprofits that serve low-income women and children in the Washington area, each year focusing on a specific theme. In 2016, its 60 members voted to address hunger, and gave $30,000 to Nourish Now, a food recovery and redistribution center in Montgomery County; $25,000 to Food for Others, a food bank and pantry in Fairfax; and $8,000 to the Maryland-based Crossroads Community Food Network, to support a community kitchen. We learn by doing and volunteer for the organizations we support, says Karen Gilgoff, vice president of Giving Together. In late March, Gilgoff met with eight other members at the Food for Others warehouse to assemble food packs the pantry delivers weekly to 1,980 students at 29 elementary schools in Fairfax County. I was surprised to the extent of hunger in communities as wealthy as ours, but it exists, and were addressing it. The power packs help kids get through the weekend. Food for Others expects to distribute 67,000 packs this academic year, and has requests for an additional 6,000 packs. We really couldnt do this without their help, says Food for Others Executive Director Annie Turner. Giving Togethers action echoes what Food for Others stands for, neighbors helping neighbors. Research from a previous University of Nebraska giving circle study found that people who join giving circles give and volunteer more and, like Gilgoff, are more engaged in their communities. But Gilgoff says giving circles cant fill the gap left by cuts to local, state or federal agencies. We can play a role, but it doesnt substitute for the funding. Its frightening to think what will happen. Giving circles often make grants to small nonprofits that would be ignored by traditional philanthropy. Those that are so small that would literally fall under the radar, says Tracey Webb, founder of Black Benefactors, a group that directs funds to nonprofits in the District that are founded and led by African Americans. That was the case with Chess Girls DC, a tiny group started by D.C. resident Robin Floyd-Ramson, who wanted her then 5-year-old daughter to have an opportunity to play chess with other girls. I felt like I hit the lottery, because somebody believed in us, says Floyd-Ramson, who home-schools her daughter. In 2015, Chess Girls DC received $500 from Black Benefactors. Floyd-Ransom used the grant to buy chess boards and age-appropriate chess books. She has since parlayed that stipend into attracting other donors, increasing club membership and organizing the mid-April D.C. All Girls Scholastic Chess Tournament at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery. These girls are learning critical life skills like managing tough decisions, acting strategically and considering options, Floyd-Ramson says. We are so pleased with the progress theyve made, says Webb, who was joined at the event by Edward Jones, program director for the Association of Black Foundation Executives and a founding member of Black Benefactors. This has been a great opportunity to build philanthropy from the ground up and leverage our experiences with a committed interest in imFdproving lives, he says, watching 9-year-old Mikayla Hammond chart her game. Chess keeps me focused, Hammond says with a smile, while planning the moves shell make to beat her opponent. Its this kind of tangible result that has made giving circles a passion for Lynn OConnell of Dining for Women. Its been a life-changer for me, she says. Her advice for grass-roots philanthropists: Dont rush out next week to start a new circle. Explore your options, then join a group and learn. Brian Deese, a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvards Kennedy School, served as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama overseeing climate change and energy policy. Ronald A. Klain, a Post contributing columnist, was White House Ebola response coordinator from 2014 to 2015 and a senior adviser to Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. With President Trumps decision on U.S. participation in the Paris climate accords expected in the next few days, there has been widespread discussion of the many consequences that climate change will have for us and our children, including extreme weather events, displacement of people, submergence of lands and devastation to our oceans. But one of the most potentially deadly effects has been far less discussed: an increase in the spread of dangerous epidemics and the risk of a global pandemic. As the Earths climate alters, we are seeing changes in where and how humans live; these changes increase the risk that deadly diseases will emerge and spread more rapidly. While the interactions between climate change and disease are hard to predict with certainty, the scientific linkages are unmistakable. If we fail to integrate planning for the impact of climate change with planning for the prevention and management of pandemic disease, the consequences will be deadly. The link between climate and disease is most often identified through the spread of disease vectors such as mosquitoes. As areas warm, habitats for insects mosquitoes and deer ticks, for example expand, exposing new populations to new disease threats. As Maryn McKenna recently explained in the New York Times Magazine, the approximately one degree Celsius increase in average temperatures the planet has experienced is changing the numbers and distribution of the insect intermediaries that carry diseases to people. Most immediately, we could see a larger number of people at risk in the United States from Zika this summer as the Aedes aegypti mosquito moves farther north, complicating the already challenging efforts to constrain the disease. But a second, and less appreciated, interaction between climate change and epidemics occurs when humans and animals are forced to compete for dwindling habitat and resources. The scenario behind Ebolas rise and global threat in 2014 illustrates this point. Climate change destroys habitats and stresses animal populations such as the bats of West Africa, forcing them to hunt for food nearer to humans. Humans, likewise pressed by climate impacts, encroach more closely on animal habitats. While we cannot know that climate change was the cause of the specific interaction between bats and humans that is believed to have launched the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, we will see more of these interactions in the future, and more epidemics as a result. Ebola demonstrates that even localized dislocation of people and animals can create global risk. Climate change is a threat multiplier for much broader dislocation accelerating the complex factors that drive people from their homes. While in some cases climate-affected dislocation will be planned as with the climate refugees in Louisiana or on remote Pacific islands such as Kiribati more often it will occur in large, unplanned migrations that amplify regional instability and crisis. This dynamic can also drive migrations from rural into urban areas, as occurred in Syria, where the 2006-2010 drought killed off 80 percent of the countrys livestock and helped drive more than 1.5 million people into stressed urban centers. The U.S. intelligence communitys bottom-line assessment of the risk is plain: Over 20 years, the net effects of climate change on the patterns of global human movement and statelessness could be dramatic, perhaps unprecedented. We saw Ebola breach the rural-to-urban interface in West Africa; the outcome and extent of the current outbreak of Ebola in Congo remains to be seen. As climate change accelerates the movement of people, the risks of disease formation and transmission will multiply. While these risks are acute, they can be addressed. The use of data to build models of future disease incidence based on climatic trends can create an early-warning system. In recent years, the State Department stepped up its work with developing countries to use high-quality data to project climate risks, including from the spread of disease. International efforts such as the IRI/WHO early-warning system for climate-related diseases also provide models. To be maximally effective, these measures should be integrated into the whole-of-government planning for pandemic prevention and response. This work requires resources and global coordination, but it can deliver results. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is engaged in a form of double denial slashing funding for the science to fight disease and climate change. Trumps newly released budget would set back medical research through a massive, 19 percent ($5.8 billion) cut to the National Institutes of Health and would undermine federal capacity to work with communities on strategies to keep them safe through a 17 percent ($1.3 billion) cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, it would effectively eliminate our governments capacity to collect and analyze data on climate change and end all of the State Departments efforts to get other countries to prepare for threats before they spill over their borders to ours. The administrations response seems to be that, by retreating, we can simply ignore these global challenges. How else can one explain a budget strategy that funds the construction of a border wall while cutting roughly $7 billion from the NIH and CDC? Both climate change and disease are intrinsically global threats. They cannot be wished away by ignoring science or building walls. There is no strategy to close our borders or shut our doors that can keep temperatures from rising, disease vectors from spreading and humans from interacting in ways that create new vulnerabilities. The only way to keep our country safe is to better understand the science behind climate change and disease, better prepare our communities and public-health officials to respond, and better arm other countries to anticipate the spread of these threats before they spill over national borders. Denying this reality will have deadly consequences. Members of Progressive Democrats of America and other activists hold a rally in Los Angeles in 2013. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) I took a few days off over the Memorial Day weekend for my wedding and tried not to worry about the grim headlines, most of them generated by one man: President Trump, shoving a European prime minister. Trump, picking fights with Germany and France and destabilizing the seven-decade-old NATO alliance. Trump, responding to the popes plea, reportedly is ready to pull the United States out of the world climate-change pact. Trump, tweeting late-night gibberish covfefe as investigators probing the Russia scandal queried more members of his inner circle. Perhaps the most upsetting headline I saw, though, was generated not by Trump but by a 10-year veteran of the House Republican majority. In an astonishing interview Saturday on NPR, this lawmaker repeatedly demurred when asked whether Americans are entitled to the most basic human need. NPRs Scott Simon, a genial interviewer, asked Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), a member of the Ways and Means Committee and an influential figure on agriculture policy, about Trumps proposal to make vast cuts to food stamps. Smith posited that the program could be cut in ways that do not harm the most vulnerable. Well, let me ask you this bluntly: Is every American entitled to eat? Simon queried. Smith was stumped. Well, they nutrition, obviously, we know is very important. And I would hope that we can look to Simon interrupted: Well, not just important, its essential for life. Is every American entitled to eat? Smith agreed that nutrition is essential but continued to ignore the question about whether Americans are entitled to eat. Simon tried a third time: So is every American entitled to eat, and is food stamps something that ought to be that ultimate guarantor? Once again, the lawmaker demurred: I think that we know that, given the necessity of nutrition, there could be a number of ways that we could address that. There was more, but it all came down to this: In the United States, in 2017, a powerful member of Congress refuses to grant that Americans should be able to count on eating food. That exchange should put in perspective the real and present danger Trump poses. His undermining of NATO, European alliances and climate-change cooperation poses grave dangers, but those are somewhat abstract. But taking away Americans food is very tangible, and a real possibility. Trumps budget, released last week, would cut programs for low- and moderate-income Americans by $2.5 trillion over 10 years, accounting for 59 percent of the budgets overall reductions, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The group, a liberal outfit with a reputation for solid math, puts the 10-year cuts to food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) at $193.2 billion, while millionaires would be poised to receive tax cuts of more than $2 trillion. Trumps budget is dead on arrival in Congress, but the threat to food stamps is very much alive. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has routinely proposed cuts to SNAP in his budgets. Three years ago, for example, he suggested a $137 billion cut to the program over 10 years by turning it into a block grant for states. Until the past few years, food stamps had the support of Republicans and Democrats alike. Theyve been around since the Great Depression, but the modern program was a creation of then-Sen. Bob Dole (Republican from Kansas) and late Democratic Sen. George McGovern (S.D.), who, appalled by hunger and malnutrition in America, formed the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs and worked jointly to expand food stamps in 1977. Food stamps, which give recipients about $1.40 per meal, made serious malnutrition rare in America, and studies by CBPP and others have found food stamps lift more than 8 million people out of poverty, nearly half of them children. The program roughly doubled after the economic collapse of 2008 serving 43.6 million and costing $74 billion in 2015 but rather than recognize that as a sign of the persistent economic struggles that propelled Trump to the presidency, House Republicans used Trumps election as cause to revive talk of slashing food stamps. Embracing that effort, apparently, will be congressman Smith, who, when I asked his office to elaborate on his position, released a statement saying SNAP is a necessary safety net but continued his steadfast refusal to say Americans are entitled to eat. Perhaps Smith, who says there could be a number of ways to meet Americans nutritional needs, has a brilliant scheme to distribute vitamin supplements to all Americans in lieu of food, to convert us to photosynthesis, or to have us survive on Soylent Green plankton like in the 1970s sci-fi film. Otherwise, he and his Republican colleagues and the Trump administration ought to be honest about what they propose: forcing millions of Americans to go hungry. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES from President Trumps first trip abroad continue to accumulate. On Tuesday, the president chose to escalate his mostly one-sided feud with Germany and its chancellor, Angela Merkel, repeating his misguided critique of Germanys trade surplus with the United States and claiming that they pay far less than they should for NATO. That will only confirm the conclusion of Ms. Merkel, a once-dedicated Atlanticist, that the days when Europe could rely on the United States are over to a certain extent. In the Middle East, meanwhile, the practical effects of Mr. Trumps unqualified support for Sunni Arab dictatorships continue to play out. Having been assured by the president at a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, summit that he would receive no lecture from Washington for his domestic repression, Egyptian strongman Abdel Fatah al-Sissi returned to Cairo last week and immediately doubled down. More than 20 news sites were shut and dozens of secular liberal political activists arrested, including Khaled Ali, a human rights lawyer who had said he might run against Mr. Sissi in the 2018 presidential election. On Monday, Mr. Sissi ratified a new law imposing unprecedented restrictions on civil society groups. The new rules essentially make it illegal for Egyptians to form independent associations without the governments permission, and give the regimes intelligence and security services authority to control all foreign funding for them. Human rights groups, among others, said it will become impossible for them to legally operate inside the country. Egypt could soon resemble nations such as Cuba and North Korea, where only state-controlled civic groups exist. The law was widely condemned as draconian when Mr. Sissis rubber-stamp parliament passed it last November. Critics pointed out that it violated Egypts constitution as well as international conventions it has joined. Leading members of Congress, including Republican Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.), warned that they would attach new conditions to U.S. aid to Egypt if the law were enacted. The blowback apparently gave the regime pause: Mr. Sissi did not sign the legislation. Following his second embrace by Mr. Trump in less than two months, however, Mr. Sissi moved forward. His action followed a terrorist attack last week on Coptic Christian pilgrims that killed 28 people. But the activists, media and civil society groups targeted by Mr. Sissi have nothing to do with the Islamic State, whose Egyptian affiliate has grown steadily stronger since Mr. Sissi took power in a 2013 military coup. Mr. Trump, who has been touting the supposed success of his Arab summit, appears indifferent to the subsequent repression, which also includes a deadly raid last week by Bahraini security forces on an opposition encampment. So it will be up to Congress to respond. Legislators should block the distribution of new military aid to Egypt until the nongovernmental-organizations law is repealed or revised and political prisoners released. Grave damage will be done to U.S. strategic interests in the region if Mr. Sissi is allowed to pocket billions in American aid even as he consolidates what amounts to a totalitarian state. The great thing about hiring family members: You can usually trust them more than others. The really awful thing about hiring family members: You cant fire them. Unless, of course, youre Michael Corleone. Poor Fredo. Its no mere coincidence that The Godfather comes to mind when considering the nations first family and challenges therein. President Trump, like Vito Corleone, has surrounded himself with family members, especially daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, and for essentially the same reasons. If youre Donald Trump, whom can you really trust? When youre a real estate mogul from Queens and Manhattan, with enough questionable paper to keep a cadre of lawyers in chauffeured vehicles for life, you need the blood that binds as your innermost circle. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post) Hence, Ivanka and Jared, the latter of whom turns out to be the latest person of interest in the FBIs investigation of the Trump campaign. Thus far, its been reported that Kushner sought a back channel for communication with Russia, which isnt unusual in itself, though generally the president would work through the State Department or U.S. intelligence agencies. [Keeping Kushner would make Trumps Russia nightmare permanent] Kushner, who, despite rumors to the contrary, is actually not the president, supposedly discussed the back channel with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. This meeting reportedly took place at Trump Tower in early December last year, which means that Donald Trump wasnt actually the president either. Thus, Kushner was acting as a private citizen. Stranger still, Kushner and Kislyak apparently discussed using Russian diplomatic facilities so that even our own intelligence agencies would remain in the dark. Might we remind dear readers that U.S. intelligence agencies are the ones on our team? Russian operatives, decidedly, are not. What was so sensitive that Kushner would need a private line to the Kremlin? Surely theres a reasonable explanation; I just cant think of one. The idea that Kushner is that naive is naive in itself. Besides, weve also learned that Michael Flynn, the now-ousted national security adviser, was also present in the meeting. Wouldnt a retired three-star general have enough experience to know better unless he endorsed the idea for purposes that remain unclear? Another Kushner meeting with a Russian banker and close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin has also raised flags. Meanwhile, millions are wondering: Who is that masked man, Jared Kushner or the air, as Stephen K. Bannon reportedly refers to him because of his way of breezing in and out of meetings? And what are Kushners qualifications for negotiating with our greatest geopolitical foe? 1 of 37 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Members of President Trumps administration: Moments that made headlines View Photos White House and Cabinet officials left strong impressions in the early days of the administration. Caption White House and Cabinet officials left strong impressions in the early days of the administration. Sarah Huckabee Sanders comments on slavery Things got testy when April Ryan, a White House reporter for American Urban Radio Networks, asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to comment on slavery at Wednesdays news briefing. READ THE STORY Al Drago/Bloomberg Wait 1 second to continue. Often called the shadow secretary of state, Kushner has been a shadow in nearly every way. This is to say, we know little about him other than that he seems savvy in the ways of the paparazzi. In photographs, he cuts a rather James-Bondian figure invariably looking slightly askance, somewhat amused and ever-knowing. He seems determined to remain an enigma even as he appears to be in charge of everything from the Nile to the Volga. Not only does he have security clearance, but he also receives his own private security briefings each morning. Theres no question the young man is bright, maybe brilliant, though he did manage to buy the nations most expensive building just before the 2008 recession hit. On balance, he took over his familys real estate business when he was just 25 and reportedly has been able to recoup most of the $500 million invested in the building, which plummeted to half its value during the financial crisis. [Would a spy for Russia be acting any differently?] In my shallow moments, I confess to the guilty pleasure of watching Jared and Ivanka as one would Prince William and Duchess Kate. But then I remind myself that the United States is not currently a monarchy, though this might be preferable to, say, a thugocracy. Or worse. At the center of the storm, always, are Trump and the many still-unanswered questions about his and his aides relationships with Putin and possible collusion during the 2016 campaign. Pertinent to those concerns, why all the secrecy? You dont have to be a paranoid conspiracy theorist to be justifiably skeptical, if not suspicious. Kushner surely deserves a chance to explain his actions before hes indicted in the public square. Reportedly, hes angry and eager to defend his reputation, but it may not be his thats most at risk. As a senior adviser to the president, he has become a liability without family blood to protect him. With Trump, as with the Corleones, loyalty is all. Without blood to bind him, whats to prevent Kushner getting the boot? Under the circumstances, he might welcome an exit ramp, but hed best steer clear of boat ramps. Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. Democratic candidate Rob Quist holds the microphone as he begins his concession speech after losing to Republican candidate Greg Gianforte on May 25 in Missoula, Mont. (Tommy Martino/Associated Press) The May 28 @PKCapitol column, Montana election proves liberal outrage isnt enough, entirely missed the point. In a special election for Montanas only House seat, the national Democratic Party, including House leadership and leadership-oriented political action committees, failed to fully back Democratic candidate Rob Quist and was dramatically outperformed by House Republican leaders and their supportive PACs. The article also was wrong about Democratic support for a $15 minimum wage, which is politically smart and had zero to do with Democrats losing any elections. Many liberals are correctly outraged by party leaders shortchanging Mr. Quist compared with GOP leaders support for Republican candidate Greg Gianforte. Brent Budowsky, Washington Regarding the May 26 front-page article Trump tells NATO nations to pay up: Many try to dismiss or discredit President Trumps claim that other member countries need to pay more for NATO members defense. The numbers are very simple and easy to understand. Here is the most basic breakdown (readers can reach their own conclusions): NATO has a direct budget to cover operating costs for the organization, such as staff, headquarters, etc. This annual budget is currently $2.3 billion, and the United States pays 22.1 percent based on a formula based on each members gross domestic product. All member countries are current on this funding; this is not the topic under discussion. The other figure is actual defense spending of NATO member countries; that figure was $918 billion in 2016, and the United States pays $664 billion, or 72 percent, the statistic quoted by the president. Some focus on the $2.3 billion in an attempt to discredit the president but dance around the $918 billion. This funding scenario has remained relatively constant over time. President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton were very critical of the NATO funding, too. Just because the other party is in the White House does not change the facts. George Roberts, Daniel Island, S.C. TALIESIN MYRDDIN NAMKAI MECHE, 23, and Rick Best, 53, were killed when they along with a third man , who was injured intervened as two young women were being terrorized with anti-Muslim insults by a rider on a commuter train in Portland, Ore. They probably saved the womens lives. They are heroes. Their willingness to help others to stand up against bigotry and hate hopefully will serve as an inspiration in these increasingly tense and troubled times. Without them, we probably would be dead right now, said 16-year-old Destinee Mangum, who, almost in wonderment, added they didnt even know me. Ms. Mangum, who said she is not Muslim, and a friend who was wearing a hijab were on the train late Friday afternoon when a man, later identified by authorities as Jeremy Joseph Christian, entered the car and started screaming slurs at them. Mr. Namkai Meche, a recent college graduate, and Mr. Best, an Army veteran and father of four, were fatally stabbed and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, had his throat slashed as they tried to deescalate the situation. Mr. Christian was arraigned Tuesday on aggravated murder and other charges. He has a criminal record, including a conviction in 2002 for robbery and kidnapping, and authorities said he has a history of white supremacist views. Did he just snap? Had he been spoiling for a fight? Did the rising tensions in Portland between groups with opposing and extremist views factor into this attack in any way? That hateful speech can lead to hateful actions should give pause to those who have been quick to divide and demonize. President Trumps unequivocal condemnation The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable. The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance, he tweeted Monday was welcome and needed. Also encouraging was the public response: hundreds of people turning out for vigils and interfaith services and contributions pouring into GoFundMe campaigns for the three men as well as the young women. Sadly, some may learn the wrong lessons from Portlands tragic events, using them as reason not to say or do something when someone needs help. Why be a hero? goes that reasoning. People always should be careful about placing themselves in personal danger and, if possible, summon help from authorities who may be better-equipped. In the end, though, the answer may lie with the insight offered by one speaker at a vigil honoring Mr. Namkai Meche and Mr. Best: They didnt have capes. They were just human beings that we all have the capacity to be. ITEM: THE federal government recognizes sexual abuse of a minor in statutory rape cases only if the victim is younger than 16. Item: Otherwise reasonable use of force does not become unreasonable because the police provoked the confrontation by making other errors, such as wrongfully entering premises without a warrant. Item: State courts cannot entertain lawsuits against corporations not at home in their state and for activity that occurred somewhere else. Item: When a company sells a patented product, patent law does not enable that company to restrict how people use it. These rulings, which the Supreme Court handed down on Tuesday, may not be the most exciting or remarkable save for one thing very much worth remarking upon: They were all unanimous, or nearly so. In the countrys tense political atmosphere, the political branches of government too often operate on the principle that because the other side is for it, we must be against it. Thankfully, the judicial branch has not reached that low, instead evincing more dedication to professional restraint than it often gets credit for. Five-to-four decisions, and judges and justices ruling along ideological lines corresponding to the party of the president who appointed them these certainly occur, and they get attention, fueling suspicions that the court is incapable of separating its work from raw politics. Significant fractures among the justices exist, and they may yet become more visible on the next decision day: The court still has the Trinity Lutheran case to decide, on whether church properties can be excluded from a Missouri state initiative to help nonprofits renovate playgrounds. The Supreme Court enjoys a higher public approval rating than the other branches, but it is lower than it used to be and may decline further, now that the Senate has eliminated filibusters on judicial nominees, clearing the way for more ideological appointments. Yet none of this is cause for indulging in a self-defeating cynicism that proclaims it impossible for judges to rise above the bitter partisanship that has infected the other two branches. In fact, as Tuesdays rulings showed, much of the courts work is cooperative, not confrontational. That is true even though the justices consider hard cases: Each of the rulings handed down Tuesday reversed findings from a lower appeals court. It would have been all too easy for less thoughtful justices to split on, say, whether there should be more opportunity to hold police liable for using force. Instead, they unanimously overturned a ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. It is jurists task to continue to cultivate a culture of professional responsibility, and it is societys to expect them to do so. This must be done in the full knowledge that no judge is perfect; they may at times allow personal preferences to color their reading of the law. Though they will never reach it, they deserve respect as long as they are pursuing the judicial ideal. President Trump just returned from a foreign trip that was the single most successful eight-day stretch of his presidency. But almost as soon as he landed at Joint Base Andrews, he abandoned the approach that gave him his best week in office, and returned to the form that gave him some of his worst weeks tweeting against fake news writers and opining about how Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. Trump needs to ask himself: What made his trip so successful? For more than a week, he did not mention James B. Comey, Russia or fake news. Instead, he delivered a widely hailed address in Saudi Arabia where he pointed out that 95 percent of the victims of terrorism are Muslims and rallied the leaders of 50 Muslim nations to confront the terrorist threat. He brokered a massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia and forged the beginnings of a new regional alliance to confront the Islamic State and Iran. He became the first sitting American president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem and pledged to launch a new effort to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace. He had a cordial meeting with Pope Francis and urged NATO nations to finally meet their financial commitments to the alliance. He deftly smoothed a diplomatic row with Britain over the U.S. leak of intelligence on the Manchester, England, bombing. The result? Critics were reduced to spreading false reports that he was not using his translation earpiece (actual fake news), criticizing his body language at photo ops and speculating about whether the first lady smacked away his hand at an arrival ceremony. They seemed small and petty while Trump was serious, substantive and dare we say it presidential. Yes, some on the left were apoplectic about Trumps refusal at the Group of Seven summit to endorse the Paris agreement on climate change. So what? They were also apoplectic when President George W. Bush withdrew from the International Criminal Court and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. If Trump is being attacked hysterically for being a conservative, rather than for his tweets, hes winning. Now that hes back, Trump needs to decide: Does he want the next four years to be like his foreign trip, or does he want to return to the morass of controversy he left behind when Air Force One took off for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia? If it is the former, then the answer is simple: Keep doing what he was doing on the trip. There is no reason he has to be on foreign soil to embrace the power and grandeur of the presidency. What worked abroad can also work at home. Washington is a jungle, but as president, Trump is the king of the beasts. He needs to stop fighting with the lesser animals. One of the secrets of the presidency Trump has been slow to embrace is that the office confers a certain majesty on its occupants. There is a reason the opposing partys response to a State of the Union address invariably falls flat compared with the real thing. Trumps most successful moments his terrific address to Congress, his nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, his foreign trip all came when he embraced the dignity of the office. His worst moments came when he did not. The lesson should be clear: Stay above the fray, ignore your critics, focus on substance, and use the presidency to promote your agenda. Go on a tour to highlight the achievements of your foreign trip. Visit defense factories that will get jobs because of your Saudi arms deal. Speak to Jewish organizations about your visit to Israel and plans to isolate Iran, defeat the Islamic State, and bolster the U.S.-Israel alliance. Barnstorm the country promoting your agenda. And never mention Comey or the Russia probe not in an interview, not in a tweet. Trump does not need the tactics of the campaign to succeed in the Oval Office. The presidency is more powerful than any of the tools that got him into the office. He needs to stop acting like a candidate for president and start being who he really is: president of the United States. Read more from Marc Thiessens archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Sen. Jeff Flake delivered a stark warning to business leaders eager to learn more about GOP plans to remake the health-care system: Its really hard, and Republicans might not succeed. There are some still saying that well vote before the August break. I have a hard time believing that, he told about 150 members of the local Chamber of Commerce here this week. Similarly, when a hospital employee asked about how to save the Medicaid program, Flake said, Were trying to find that balance, and we arent close yet, frankly. Flake (R-Ariz.) isnt afraid to buck President Trump or to defy the Republican orthodoxy in Washington that the agenda is proceeding apace. He did it last year, refusing to support Trump for president, and hes doing it again now by publicly doubting that the GOP can revamp the nations health-care system. Few congressional Republicans go as far as Flake, fearful that pro-Trump forces could derail their reelection campaigns next year. And Flake is already paying his own price, drawing a conservative primary opponent and probably earning him the distinction as the GOP incumbent most vulnerable to an intraparty challenge. If I wanted an easier path through the primary, then I would line up more with where the president is, he said. But I think if youre an elected official, youve got to do what you know whats right. Itll be a tougher path than I could have had, would have had, but I think Ill get there. Flakes independent streak mirrors that of his fellow Arizona Republican in the Senate John McCain. And its not necessarily out of step with his state: Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton 49 percent to 45 percent the narrowest win for a Republican since 1996, the last year a Democrat, Bill Clinton, won Arizona. Yet Flake faces challenges that McCain does not notably name recognition. Polling is scant in Arizona, but a survey last fall gave Flake a 35 percent favorability rating, with roughly 30 percent of voters unwilling or unable to render an opinion of him. In appearances across Phoenix this week, Flake focused on tempering expectations. Like other Republicans, he wants to drive down health-care costs for consumers, many of whom in Arizona, he said, are spending more each month on health care than their mortgages. But more than a quarter of Arizonans get health-care coverage from Medicaid, leaving many here vulnerable to Trumps proposed $1.4 trillion in cuts to future spending on the program cuts that many Republicans support. Known as a fiscal conservative eager to slash Medicaid and other entitlements, Flake said he supports the cuts, but only if governors can take more control of the program and if the program remains sustainable so that beneficiaries dont have the rug pulled out from under them. Thats a tricky balance to strike. Flake faces reelection next year in a state where Democrats are making gains, and Republicans may want him to take a harder line on repealing the Affordable Care Act. Defending just eight seats next year, the GOP isnt expected to lose control of the Senate, but Flake and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) are expected to earn outsize attention from Democrats, who know that these Western states are increasingly tilting purple or blue. Flake tours the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Tonopah, Ariz., before holding a town hall with employees Tuesday. (Caitlin OHara/The Washington Post) Meanwhile, Kelli Ward, Flakes conservative opponent, called his refusal to support Trump last year treacherous and criticized him for standing against the president before Donald Trump became the nominee, after he became the nominee and after he became the president. She also warned that nothing short of a full repeal of Obamacare would be acceptable to many GOP voters. I wish that over the last seven years that they had been planning for the full repeal that they campaigned on and fundraised upon, said Ward, who mounted an unsuccessful challenge against McCain last year. Flake has mostly ignored Wards barbs. He plans to hold fundraisers with Mitt Romney on Friday and has already raised money with George W. Bush two GOP leaders who cast doubt on Trump. He touts his work with former president Barack Obama to open up diplomatic relations with Cuba. A co-sponsor of the 2013 bipartisan immigration bill, Flake tells audiences that he believes the issue might be debated again later this year. At odds with Trumps nationalist tendencies, he said Tuesday that were all better off because of globalization and that NAFTA should be renegotiated, not scrapped. And he insists that the only way to fix health care is with bipartisan consensus. Some are saying: Stand on principle, dont deal with the other side, just ram it through, they did it when they were in charge. But then you have others that say you need to work with the other side, thats the only way it can be done, Flake said. Theres push and pull everywhere. You just do the best you can. Flake, 54, grew up in Snowflake, Ariz., a town named for his great-great-grandfather. Flake served as a Mormon missionary in South Africa in the 1980s before finding his way to Washington to work at a public relations firm. He moved back to Arizona as head of the Goldwater Institute and won a House seat in 2000. His perpetual tan and Jimmy Stewart demeanor earned him national attention when he escaped alone to a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean during a 2009 congressional recess. [From 2013: 1 senator, 2 sons, 4 days, 1 deserted island. Jeff Flakes escapes again to the Pacific] In 2012, Flake won his Senate seat and now serves in the long shadow of the states senior senator, McCain. During a stop Tuesday at the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Tonopah, Ariz., Flake told workers that on a recent flight home to Phoenix on a plane that was also carrying McCain, he sat next to a woman who had no idea he also serves in Congress. The guy sitting in front of me finally leaned back and said, Hey lady, hes the OTHER senator from Arizona! Flake said. Updating the workers on events in Washington, Flake lamented that after years of congressional gridlock, We havent regulated the regulators, allowing federal agencies to impose what he considers burdensome policies on the energy sector and other industries. He explained that the Senate is kind of in the personnel business, stuck confirming hundreds of Trump administration appointees. He said that Trump has assembled a pretty good Cabinet. Hes surrounded himself with a good group of people. But he was more critical of Trump during a private tour of the plant. Riding in a van to inspect a nuclear waste site and reactor, Flake heard pleas to ensure that Kristine L. Svinicki, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, gets reappointed before her term expires at the end of June. If her term ends, the agency that regulates nuclear power would be paralyzed without a quorum. Flake told Donald Brandt, the plants chief executive, and Robbie Aiken, its Washington-based government affairs vice president, that he believes that Democratic objections to Trump nominees will start to ease as the Senate moves to confirming deputy secretaries and less controversial appointees. But he said that Trump owes Congress hundreds of nominees for political jobs. We cant hold oversight hearings because we cant call anybody up to testify, he said. [Tracking how many key positions Trump has filled so far] Read more at PowerPost To most observers, President Trumps first overseas trip was either a moderate success that was at times overshadowed by viral GIFs or a disaster that damaged the United States relationships with longtime European allies. But as Trump and his aides tell it, this was the most successful, most historic, most well-received foreign trip ever embarked on by a U.S. president. It truly was an extraordinary week for America and our people, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday afternoon as he kicked off a gushing recap to reporters that lasted roughly nine minutes and featured the word historic a half-dozen times. Spicer channeled his boss as he declared that Trumps speech to leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations was a historic turning point that people will be talking about for years to come and was met with nearly universal praise. He claimed that the president single-handedly united the civilized world in the fight against terrorism and extremism and that his meetings at the Group of Seven summit in Sicily were marked by outstanding success. Weve never seen before at this point in a presidency such sweeping reassurance of American interests and the inauguration of a foreign policy strategy designed to bring back the world from growing dangers and perpetual disasters brought on by years of failed leadership, Spicer said. Trumps aides often exaggerate on his behalf such as when Spicer insisted in January that the presidents inauguration crowd was the largest ever but Tuesdays monologue seemed to venture into new territory for even the Trump administration. Spicers press room paean to his boss prompted rounds of mocking and alarm on Twitter and from cable-news pundits, some of whom compared this breathless praise to North Korean propaganda promoting the Dear Leader. But Spicer isnt the only White House staffer lavishing praise on Trump. Over the weekend, White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn who was the second-in-command at Goldman Sachs before joining the White House declared the presidents economic development deal with Saudi Arabia to be unlike anything he had seen in his 30 years in business. And Hope Hicks defended the president against accusations that he demeans his staff, issuing a lengthy statement for The Washington Post that read, in part: President Trump has a magnetic personality and exudes positive energy, which is infectious to those around him. He has an unparalleled ability to communicate with people. . . . He is brilliant with a great sense of humor. It is no secret that the president has been unhappy with his media operation communications director Mike Dubke announced Tuesday that he is stepping down, and there are reports that Spicers role could soon be reduced and these Trumpian comments seem to indicate that his staff is now directly passing along the presidents thoughts without any vetting or editing. Ultimately, the best messenger is the president himself, Spicer said at the briefing. Hes always proven that he is the best messenger not just for what he wants to articulate, but that the American people resoundingly chose him as their president because he understands the frustrations and concerns and values of the American people. And he is probably the best person to communicate that. But this approach often forces aides to make outlandish claims that simply draw attention to the weak points of Trumps trip or time in office instead of the highlights, said Mike Murphy, a longtime GOP consultant who ran the political action committee for Jeb Bushs failed presidential campaign. He compared the exaggerations to North Korean propaganda. Its insecure, over-the-top, Murphy said. I call it Great Leader-esque. Tommy Vietor, who was a spokesman for President Barack Obama, said former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs once gave him this advice: The first rule of spin is that it has to be believable. The claims coming from Trumps spokespeople just are not, and saying the words out loud makes Spicer, and others, look like an idiot, Vietor said. Its baffling, because it doesnt convince anyone. It doesnt serve anyone to insist that black is white, that down is up, or that Donald Trump is this warm and fuzzy guy, Vietor said, referring to Hickss statement. I mean, his tag line is: Youre fired. Spicers deference to the president continued as he took questions from reporters on Tuesday. On the search for a new FBI director, Spicer said: The president is the ultimate decision-maker. When he makes a decision as to who he believes is best to lead the FBI, he will let us know. On concerns that the relationship with Germany has become strained, as expressed in Chancellor Angela Merkels remarks suggesting that Europe cannot rely as much on the United States as it once did: I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel, he would describe as fairly unbelievable. They get along very well. On whether the president has been meeting with lawyers to discuss the investigation into ties between his campaign and Russia: The president has a lot of meetings. If the president has a decision on anything, well be sure to let you know. On the presidents position on climate change: I cant say. I havent asked him. I can get back to you. I dont know. I honestly havent asked him that specific question. As the discussion shifted to how Trump is communicating with the country, the press secretary insisted that the president is very pleased with the work of his staff and denounced fake news. This brought protests from reporters seeking examples of fake news and a back-and-forth with Spicer that seemed to leave no one in the room satisfied. The reason that the president is frustrated is because theres a perpetuation of false narratives, a use of unnamed sources over and over again about things that are happening that dont ultimately happen, Spicer said, and I think that is troubling. He then ended the briefing. President Trump faces an increasingly narrow path to win major legislative victories before the looming August recess, with only two months left to revive his health-care or tax initiatives before Congress departs for a long break. White House officials said Tuesday that Trump has become increasingly incensed that legislation is bogging down in the Senate, something they blame on Democrats. Trump wrote on Twitter that the Senate should change its long-standing rules and switch to 51 votes to pass health-care changes and to vote on a tax bill instead of working to get 60 votes to end a potential filibuster. But the Senate is already trying to pass health-care and tax changes with just 51 votes, something it is unable to do because of splits within the GOP. The hardest thing now is figuring out what can get 51 votes in the Senate, said Stephen Moore, who was a top economic adviser to Trump during the campaign and who has urged the White House to move more quickly. Congress also faces an increasing number of legislative distractions that could further imperil Trumps agenda. There is a big divide among Republicans over whether they can vote to pass a budget resolution in the coming months, and failing to do so could make it much more difficult to change the tax code. In addition, White House officials are now demanding that Congress vote to raise the debt ceiling before the August break pressing members to take a difficult vote before they head back to their districts. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Trumps frustration comes as the White House is increasingly consumed by internal tumult and controversies. Communications director Michael Dubke announced his resignation Tuesday, while Trump and his aides worked to deflect questions about whether his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, inappropriately worked to establish a back channel for talks with the Russian government during the transition. [As Germany reaffirms importance of U.S. ties, Trump escalates feud with Berlin] Given these distractions, White House officials and top Republicans had hoped that an ambitious legislative agenda could stabilize the presidency heading into the August break. White House officials plan to push Senate Republicans in June to vote on a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and they want to spend the rest of the summer whipping up support for major tax cuts. They are also planning to push lawmakers soon to consider an infrastructure package, although that effort has also moved more slowly because his staff hasnt put together a final plan. Each of these efforts has stalled either in the White House or in Congress, but Trump has pinned much of the blame on Senate Democrats. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the presidents frustration was that the White Houses big-ticket items have bogged down because of Democrats ability to block measures using filibuster rules. Republicans control 52 of the Senates 100 seats, requiring them to get support from Democrats on many issues. Part of the reason that he is frustrated with the Senate rules is because when there is a majority of support on key issues or key people, as the case was in the confirmation process he thinks its standing in the way of progress that the American people have asked for, Spicer said. But critics from both parties have said the lack of progress is a reflection in part of Trumps inability to marshal votes or persuade lawmakers to follow his lead. 1 of 58 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad A look at President Trumps first year in office, so far View Photos The presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. Caption Scenes from the Republicans beginning months in the White House. Jan. 25, 2017 Trump signs an executive order for border security and immigration enforcement improvements at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Pool photo via Bloomberg News Wait 1 second to continue. Trump is the least policy-aware, policy-knowledgeable, policy-driven president that I can remember, maybe that weve ever had, said David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. Most of the Republicans do have some kind of coherent framework through which they see things. To pass an overhaul of the tax code with just 51 votes, lawmakers must agree on a budget resolution, which could be a difficult task for a divided GOP. Republican leaders in Congress are unsure how they will do this because of stark differences within the GOP over whether to prioritize defense spending or deficit reduction. The procedural vote is crucial because it would pave the way for them to need only a simple majority instead of 60 votes to pass comprehensive changes to the tax code. [Sean Spicer returns with a press briefing for the ages] In a private meeting of House Republicans this past Thursday, numerous members warned about the strict budget caps that would decimate defense spending starting in the fall. Those caps cannot be lifted unless Republicans strike a deal with Senate Democrats, who in past negotiations have demanded increases in nondefense spending. Complicating matters further, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has told Congress that he wants the debt ceiling to be raised before the August recess, a move that would force uneasy Republicans to take a gut-wrenching vote opposed by many hard-line conservatives. Top Trump administration officials including Mnuchin, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn are expected to come up with a strategy soon for how to handling the looming debt-ceiling vote. The federal government spends more money than it brings in through revenue, and it covers the difference by issuing debt to essentially borrow the money. It can only borrow money up to a certain level set by Congress. There are several ways to measure government debt, but debt subject to the limit is now essentially $19.8 trillion. In 2015, President Barack Obama and Congress agreed to suspend the debt ceiling until mid-March, and now the Treasury Department is suspending certain payments to allow the government to continue paying its bills until Congress can agree to raise or suspend the limit again. If Americans pay taxes at a slower rate than expected and there are signs that this is happening now the government could run out of money sooner than anticipated, a quandary that has forced Treasury to push for a vote by August. Lawmakers will only be in Washington for seven more weeks before the August recess, and Senate Republicans are not close to an agreement on the actual bills they might debate regarding taxes, health care or the debt limit. [Snubs and slights are part of the job in Trumps White House] Each of the past five presidents enacted legacy-defining legislation during their first seven months in office, something Trump has yet to do. This is a president who knows very little, who reads almost not at all, and who is indifferent to details, which is what legislation is all about, said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.). And translating some broad idea into legislation requires a certain amount of attention and legerdemain this man simply does not possess, and at 70, hes not going to develop it. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), a senior House appropriator, said he doubts whether Republicans alone can pass a debt-ceiling increase and urged Trump and congressional leaders to spend June and July negotiating a deal with Democrats that would extend the debt limit, set new spending numbers and possibly extend the Childrens Health Insurance Program, whose funding lapses on Sept. 30. That, Dent said, would open up time and space to deal with meatier policy issues such as health care and taxes later. But until the fiscal issues are resolved, he said, You have no choice. The scramble by the White House comes after four months of false starts and distractions. Republicans won confirmation of a Supreme Court justice and Congress has voted to roll back numerous regulations, but the three key planks for their domestic agenda health care, taxes and infrastructure have stalled. A revised health-care bill narrowly passed the House, but Senate Republicans have signaled that they want to start from scratch. On taxes, the White House issued a one-page blueprint for overhauling the tax code but provided no new ideas or details when it unveiled its budget plan last week. Trump, in a Monday Twitter post, also claimed the tax effort was actually ahead of schedule. The tax overhaul effort is actually behind schedule: Mnuchin pushed for it to be passed by the August recess, but lawmakers have not advanced a tax bill through a House or Senate committee. To win more support, some lawmakers are considering dramatically scaling back Trumps tax cut plan, people briefed on the discussions said. Trump has proposed lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, but Republicans could pursue a tax rate thats somewhere in the middle. One reason Senate Republicans have not unified behind a central plan on health care or taxes is because top White House officials including Trump do not seem to be in lockstep on the issues. Trump wrote in a Twitter post Sunday night that we [should] add more dollars to Healthcare and make it the best anywhere. But several days before, he proposed cutting between $800 billion and $1.4 trillion in future spending on Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans. Spicer would not say on Tuesday where Trump wanted to add more money to health care. Several top White House aides warned against discounting their chances of legislative success, saying key pieces could quickly fall into place after a concerted effort this summer. Weve got a pretty bold agenda, Spicer said. Hes still pushing hard on health care. Infrastructure is a priority of his. So the presidents legislative agenda is in full swing. Philip Rucker contributed to this report. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn will hand over documents and records to the Senate Intelligence Committee in response to a set of subpoenas for information from his businesses and personal files related to the committees probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a person close to Flynn. Attorneys for Flynns team sent the committee a written response Tuesday indicating that Flynn would begin providing records in response to subpoenas by June 6, the deadline to start turning over such information. Flynn was required to indicate by Tuesday whether he intended to comply with the records request. The subpoenas were issued for two companies Flynn owns, Flynn Intel Group Inc. and Flynn Intel Group LLC. The committee also reissued a third subpoena for personal records, the focus of which was narrowed after Flynn rejected the committees initial demand for personal records relating to his contacts with Russian authorities, claiming it was too broad and would jeopardize his Fifth Amendment right against selfincrimination. After Flynns lawyers rejected the committees initial subpoena for personal records detailing any and all communications Flynn had with Russian officials, committee leaders turned to his businesses, arguing, in the words of Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), the panels vice chairman, that a business does not have the right to take the Fifth. The narrowed request focuses more closely on documents that the committee thinks exist. But it is not clear if Flynns willingness to comply with the new subpoenas means the committee will be satisfied with the documents he turns over or whether those documents will do anything to prove or disprove allegations that Flynn had improper contacts with Russian officials while acting as a surrogate for President-elect Trump. A spokesman for Warner declined to comment for this article Tuesday, while a spokeswoman for committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The person close to Flynn said that Flynn wants to cooperate with the congressional investigation as long as doing so does not violate his constitutional rights. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post) Read more at PowerPost Elijah Karama, 59, stands in the hallway of his home in Simari, Nigeria. Karama has housed up to 50 people at a time who were displaced by the Boko Haram conflict over the past three years, in addition to the 20 members of his own family who live in his home. (Jane Hahn/for The Washington Post) The old mans house had become a camp for the displaced. In the back yard, groups of women boiled water for rice. Small children skittered across the dirt, running into the bedroom, where they swirled around the long, skinny legs of Elijah Karama. Because of the conditions, they are mine to take care of, said Karama, 57, more tired than proud. By conditions, he meant Boko Harams destruction of vast areas of northeastern Nigeria, and the hunger crisis that has followed. This city of about 1 million has absorbed an additional 1 million people who fled the Islamist militants who burned their villages and kidnapped hundreds of children. In Maiduguri, the vast majority of the displaced arent living in U.N. camps. Instead, they are eating and sleeping and praying in private homes, whose residents have opened their doors to the newly homeless the poor housing the poorer. Over the past few months Ive reported from Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, sites of the three largest hunger crises in sub-Saharan Africa. In each country, overstretched humanitarian organizations have failed to raise sufficient funds to feed and house all of those in need. An untold number of people, most of them children, have died of malnutrition and preventable diseases. The United Nations has declared a famine in parts of South Sudan, and says the other two nations are in danger of suffering the same tragedy. Displaced women sweep outside the home of Elijah Karama. (Jane Hahn/for The Washington Post) But in each of those countries, Ive been struck by the way some of the worlds poorest people have stepped in to fill the void. Such generosity in no way erases the massive need for international assistance. But we often overlook the ways that Africas most desperate people are managing to help one another. [They survived Boko Haram. Now millions in Nigeria face starvation] In the South Sudanese town of Ganyiel, where thousands of families converged in recent months to escape fighting and possible starvation in nearby villages, there werent enough tents or huts, so the newly arrived slept outside in the dirt. The U.N. World Food Program couldnt keep up with the pace of arrivals in the northern town, and malnutrition was growing among those in the makeshift camp. Yet the families of Ganyiel, with almost nothing of their own, shared whatever they could. That meant splitting tiny portions of corn or fish or fruit. It meant lending bed mats to the elderly, and sharing space in cramped huts. Its not just that I found their generosity moving but that it truly saved lives. People ate who might otherwise have gone hungry. People found shelter from the 100-degree heat who might otherwise have shriveled in the sun. We live thanks to the people of Ganyiel who share their food, Veronica Nyariel, 43, told me. She wore a pink shirt and a black shawl that had taken on the color of the dirt that she slept on. In Baidoa, Somalia, I saw another displacement camp that had emerged out of nothing, as thousands of people fled a hunger crisis caused by both drought and violence inflicted by al-Shabab militants. Again, international organizations had arrived, but they hadnt brought enough food or shelter for everyone. After Mohamed Iman arrived in Baidoa in early March, he went wandering through the poor, embattled city, which was once controlled by al-Shabab. Months earlier, he had been a farmer. Now he was a beggar. The people of Baidoa gave and gave: food, clothes, shelter. Women and children stand in the hallway ofElijah Karamas home. (Jane Hahn/for The Washington Post) Some of them know me, and some of them dont, but they all help, said Iman, 56. [Trumps plan to slash foreign aid comes as famine threat is surging] Its true that in each of the three countries threatened by famine, the provider and the recipient of charity are often members of the same tribe or the same ethnic group or, at the very least, victims of the same oppressor. These days, we hear mostly about how tribalism divides so many African countries, and its often true. South Sudan has been decimated by a war that has increasingly fallen along ethnic lines, mostly between the Dinka and Nuer groups. The north-south divide in Nigeria severs the country socially and economically. Somalia is riven not just by the governments war against radical Islamists but by the countless fractures between clans and sub-clans. In each country, those divisions have contributed to the severe hunger crises. But the other side of that factionalism is the cohesion within smaller communities and groups, and the charity it begets. Whenever theres a disaster or a crisis, especially in places hard to reach, these communities help themselves before international organizations arrive to help, said Patricia Danzi, the head of Africa operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Of all the people Ive met this year, no one illustrated that kind of charity better than Elijah Karama, the 57-year-old in northern Nigeria. He had retired a few years ago after a career as an electrical engineer, building himself a small concrete house on the outskirts of Maiduguri. But when Boko Haram surged across the region in 2013 and 2014, one family after another arrived at his door. They were members of the same Kanuri ethnic group, distant cousins hed never met or heard of. At the peak, more than 70 people were sleeping at his home, crammed together on his floor and in small tents he had erected in the back yard. He bought bags full of rice and beans, running through his savings. The United Nations had been woefully slow to react to the crisis. There were few camps and little food aid. There are still several dozen people camping out at his home. It is compulsory to help them, Karama said. He pointed to the cluster of people who crouched around him. Their houses are gone. They only have what you can see. Read more South Sudans people are starving, and fighters are blocking They were freed from Boko Harams rape camps. But their nightmare isnt over. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news U.K. Independence Party leader Paul Nuttall speaks to supporters on May 20 as he campaigns with the partys parliamentary candidate in Clacton-on-Sea, in eastern England. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/AFP/Getty Images) It was a night beyond all compare. Less than a year ago, Britain voted to get out of the European Union. And as the countrys new destiny dawned in the early hours of June 24, veteran activists of the U.K. Independence Party an anti-E.U. movement long derided as extremist felt the sweet satisfaction of having forced the referendum and steered the national debate with their anti-immigration rhetoric. Twenty-one years of being called a closet racist or a swivel-eyed loon, said Tony Finnegan-Butler, a party activist since UKIP was born in the mid-1990s who is now the partys chair in Clacton-on-Sea, a pro-Brexit stronghold. And one night you learn that more than half the population thought you were right in the first place. But if the vote brought vindication, it has not ushered UKIP any closer to political power. In fact, exactly the opposite. (Sarah Parnass,Griff Witte/The Washington Post) What happens to far-right populist movements when their fondest dreams come true? If the experience of UKIP is any guide, the answer is that they fall apart. A year after achieving its most sacred ambition, the party long led by President Trumps favorite European politician, Nigel Farage, is in disarray, scarred by prominent defections and by vicious feuding some of it physical among its remaining members. An election on June 8 in which the partys share of the vote is expected to crater may be UKIPs death blow. [Macrons strong finish in French election shows populist wave may be ebbing] The arc of UKIPs story years of obscurity followed by one astonishing success and now a rapid and possibly terminal decline illustrates one way of blunting the appeal of populist movements: Give them exactly what they want. Were suffering for our success, said Finnegan-Butler, 73, who acknowledged that even he is wavering on whether to continue backing the party. But UKIPs sudden decline also demonstrates the degree to which right-wing populists have shifted the European policy debate toward their turf. If UKIP is losing support, it is not because the partys ideas have lost favor. It is because mainstream parties have co-opted their causes and adopted their rhetoric. Were happy that the UKIP vote is going down. But were not celebrating, said Nick Lowles, chief executive of the London-based anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate. If anything, its the worst of all outcomes, because weve seen the mainstreaming of these views that were once considered beyond the pale. Its not just in Britain, where Prime Minister Theresa May, a Conservative, sounds every inch the die-hard Brexiteer with her pledges to carry out a hard break with Europe. Across the continent, mainstream politicians are attempting to beat back the far-right wave by mimicking the language and policies of the populists on hot-button issues such as immigration, cultural identity and Islam. In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte fended off a challenge from anti-Muslim leader Geert Wilders this spring using the slogan Act normal or go away a phrase widely seen as a firm line on Dutch tolerance toward newcomers. In Austria, both major mainstream parties have sharpened their tone on immigration ahead of elections this fall that the far-right Freedom Party could win. Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel a favored boogeyman of the far right because of her welcoming policies toward refugees has endorsed a ban on burqas wherever legally possible as she confronts a challenge from her right flank. UKIP supporters gather outside a pub in Hartlepool, England, ahead of a visit by party leader Paul Nuttall in April. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) But nowhere in Western Europe is the mainstreams acceptance of the populist rights agenda more complete than in Britain. And nowhere has the collapse of support for a populist right party been more complete. For much of its nearly quarter-century existence, the U.K. Independence Party was the equivalent of a rounding error in British political life. With its single-minded devotion to a seemingly quixotic goal an E.U. exit UKIP struggled to capture more than a couple of percentage points in national elections. Future prime minister David Cameron famously dismissed the party as a band of fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists. But amid a surge in immigration following the E.U.s expansion into Eastern Europe, UKIP suddenly became a major player in 2014, topping British elections for the European Parliament that spring. [Populist wave falls short in Brexit capital of Britain, but Labours troubles deepen ] Later that year, UKIP gained its first seat in Britains Parliament after Clactons Conservative representative, Douglas Carswell, defected to the insurgent party and won a special election. Nigel Farage, shown at a pub in Sittingbourne, England, during the Brexit campaign in 2016, resigned as UKIP leader shortly after the vote to leave the European Union. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/AFP/Getty Images) The bombastic, beer-swilling Farage crowed that the UKIP fox is in the Westminster henhouse and promised that other anti-E.U. Tories in Parliament would soon turn predator rather than risk becoming prey. In the end, there was only one more defection. But Cameron had been nervous enough about UKIPs rise to double down on promises that the country would hold a referendum on E.U. membership if his Conservative Party won the national election in 2015. It did (UKIP placed third, with 13 percent of the vote), and the referendum campaign was on. When, against all odds, the nation opted for Brexit, it would have seemed that UKIPs moment had finally arrived. But perhaps sensing it had already passed, Farage abruptly quit as party leader just days after the vote. Since then, UKIP has cycled through leaders and would-be leaders including one who collapsed and had to be hospitalized after a fight with a party rival at the European Parliament. [E.U. to Britain: Were in control of Brexit talks, not you] Meanwhile, the Conservative Party quickly coalesced behind a successor to Cameron May who, despite having campaigned against Brexit, took to the cause with the zeal of a convert. She has repeatedly promised a hard break with the E.U. one that will leave the country outside the single market, the customs union and the European Court of Justice. May has also vowed to be a bloody difficult woman in negotiations with European leaders a suggestion that sent a shiver of excitement through the hearts of even the most devoted Ukippers, as the partys stalwarts are known. Unlike every other prime minister weve had, shes willing to say no to Europe, said Finnegan-Butler, a courtly retiree who sailed the world with the British merchant marine. The more I listen to Mrs. May, the more I trust her. His car is emblazoned with a placard stating in bold purple letters: Im voting for UKIP. But if he werent the partys local chairman, he said, he probably wouldnt. In this pretty but faded seaside region of pebble beaches and long London commutes the only area that UKIP won in the 2015 parliamentary elections it seems that few others are backing the party, either. Carswell, the partys former representative here, quit UKIP in March after a spectacular falling-out with Farage. In his place, the party drafted a candidate with no ties to the area and, as UKIP support nationally drops below 5 percent, virtually no prospects for success. [In Britains working-class heartland, populist wave threatens to smash the traditional order] Instead, the seat is almost certain to be claimed back by the Conservatives, whose candidate reflects the partys drift toward pro-Brexit evangelism under May. Before last years referendum, Giles Watling was an ardent advocate for keeping Britain in the E.U.. But like the prime minister, he has reversed course since discovering that the country disagreed. The candidate, a charismatic, 64-year-old actor turned politician who is known to voters for his roles on stage and screen, campaigns on the need to give May the strongest possible hand as she heads into contentious exit talks with her soon-to-be-former counterparts in the E.U. Its a fight that we neednt have had, Watling said. But its there, and we can win it. Among those lured back to the Tory fold by that message is Valerie Grove, a retired civil servant who strayed into the UKIP column in 2014 after a lifetime of voting Conservative. Its not that her views have changed. She is still adamantly against the immigration that she says is changing our entire way of life. I dont want to live in a country where theres a mosque on every corner, Grove said. Its not the British way. But she feels at home again with the Conservatives, led by a prime minister who, Grove said, understands the need to control immigration. And unlike UKIP, she said, the Tories can actually deliver. I was a little skeptical of Theresa May, Grove said. But my goodness. Shes proven that shes got what it takes. Not everyone is convinced. On a recent warm spring day, UKIP candidate Paul Oakley a pinstripe-suited London lawyer who was brought into Clacton to run at the last minute amid intraparty feuding over who should replace Carswell acknowledged that he is likely to lose. UKIP candidate Paul Oakley, second from left, talks with a voter in Clacton-on-Sea. He is running to replace a member of Parliament who defected from the Conservative Party to UKIP, then quit his new party. (Griff Witte/The Washington Post) But as he campaigned in Jaywick, a neighborhood of tattered seaside bungalows that is among the poorest in Britain, he made his best case for why UKIP still matters. The referendum was D-Day. It wasnt the fall of Berlin. People cant sit back and assume that weve won, he said. Its all very well to sound like UKIP. But Theresa May and Giles Watling voted to remain. We cant trust people like that to deliver a proper Brexit. Indeed, even as he takes a break from running for office he has lost seven campaigns for Parliament Farage has been singing the same tune on his radio talk show, warning of the Brexit betrayal to come. Whether Farage returns to UKIP or builds a new party, political observers say it is likely he will have ample material to launch a comeback. Farage and UKIP may have helped sell a majority of British voters on the promise that getting out of the E.U. will solve the nations ills. But now that May and the Conservatives are delivering on those sky-high expectations, disappointment is almost certain to follow. Theresa May cant satisfy everyone, said David Cutts, a political science professor at the University of Birmingham. Theres still a role there in British politics for the populist right. Karla Adam in London contributed to this report. Read more After hard-left turn under Corbyn, Britains Labour Party on course for historic defeat Marion Marechal-Le Pen: Weve won the battle of ideas A youth revolt in France boosts the far right Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A bomb disposal team arrives at a property on Banff Road in Manchester as police continue their investigation of last weeks attack in the city. (Phil Noble/Reuters) Manchester police searched a property Wednesday in their investigation of last weeks suicide bombing as a clearer picture began to emerge of the attackers actions in the four days preceding the assault. Twenty-two people were killed and 116 were injured in the attack, which occurred at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. The assault, carried out by 22-year-old Salman Abedi, was the deadliest in Britain in more than a decade. On Wednesday, police were searching a property on Banff Road, about four miles south of Manchester Arena, the site of the blast. They set up a cordon and asked the public to avoid the area. [Some in Manchester, and beyond, see the attack as one that targeted women and girls] Police said Abedi is likely to have bought most of the bomb components himself and largely acted alone. Our enquiries show Abedi himself made most of the purchases of the core components, and what is becoming apparent is that many of his movements and actions have been carried out alone during the four days from him landing in the country and committing this awful attack, Russ Jackson, head of the Greater Manchester Polices northwest counterterrorism unit, said in a statement issued Tuesday evening. But police also said they could not rule out the possibility that Abedi may have been part of a wider network. It is vital that we make sure that he is not part of a wider network, and we cannot rule this out yet. There remain a number of things that concern us about his behaviour prior to the attack and those of his associates which we need to get to the bottom of, Jackson said. Police have been trying to retrace Abedis movements ahead of the attack by examining closed-circuit TV footage and reviewing his phone calls. [Trump calls for investigation of U.S. leaks in Manchester bombing probe] Abedi, born in Britain to Libyan parents, reportedly had returned to Britain after a trip to Libya four days before the attack. Police said they were especially keen to figure out why he repeatedly returned to the Wilmslow Road area of Manchester. They also released an image of Abedi wheeling a blue suitcase and appealed to the public for more information about the suitcase. Over the weekend, Britains state of alert was downgraded from critical the highest level to severe, and armed soldiers were gradually being withdrawn from high-profile sites, including Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. Grande has announced that she will return to Manchester on Sunday for a benefit concert. Fans who were at her May 22 concert will be offered free tickets to the show, which will be televised and will include performances by Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Coldplay and Miley Cyrus. (Sarah Parnass,Dani Player/The Washington Post) A massive blast tore through the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Wednesday, killing at least 80 people and wounding more than 460, officials said. The devastation left Kabul in shock and underlined the countrys security struggles as it confronts a sustained wave of insurgent and terrorist attacks. Interior Ministry officials said a huge quantity of explosives, hidden in a tanker truck, detonated at 8:30 a.m. during rush hour on a busy boulevard in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, which houses embassies, banks, supermarkets and government ministries. An entire city block was ravaged, with office buildings left in rubble and charred vehicles strewn across the road in one of the deadliest single attacks in Kabul. The scenes of human horror were appalling, even for a country accustomed to war and violence. [In Kabul, a massive bombing took its toll on me and a city I love.] At Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, a steady stream of ambulances and police trucks delivered burned and mangled bodies, many streaming blood. Medical aides struggled to zip them quickly into body bags as distraught people crowded around, looking for missing relatives. I felt like it was an earthquake, and after that I do not know what happened, said Mohammed Hassan, 21, who was attending a training program at the Azizi Bank, a half-block from the blast, and suffered cuts on his head and arms. All the staff around me, everyone, was injured. He said he was brought to the hospital by an Afghan army ranger truck. The dead and wounded were almost all Afghan civilians and security forces: police officers, bank clerks, cart pullers, telephone company workers. The dead included at least five women, an Afghan driver for the BBC and at least nine Afghan guards stationed at points outside the U.S. Embassy. Although many foreign offices are nearby many surrounded by high blast walls there were no reports of foreigners among the fatalities. But some workers in diplomatic compounds, including those of Japan and Germany, were among the injured. At least 11 U.S. citizens working as contractors also were injured, a State Department spokesman said. The Afghan Taliban denied any role in the bombing, which was followed by a second, smaller blast in another part of the city. The Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, did not speculate on which group could have carried out the attacks but said it should become clear at a later stage. [Russia and Iran carve out more influence in Afghanistan] Security agencies had warned that Taliban insurgents and regional affiliates of the Islamic State were planning to attack high-profile targets in the city in the early part of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that began last week. Many injured survivors were cut by shards of glass from storefronts, offices and foreign compounds as far away as several miles from the main blast site. By midmorning, many were limping or being wheeled out of local hospitals, with their clothes covered in blood and their heads, arms or feet wrapped in bandages. Nearby, distraught families squatted around bloody body bags, guarding them in patches of shade. Relatives of Afghan victims mourn outside a hospital after a blast in Kabul. (Omar Sobhani/Reuters) There were muffled, choking sounds of men weeping. Most of the dead had been seared by the blast; some were wrapped in cloth but others were half-naked and dripping blood. The Afghan Ministry of Public Health placed the death toll at 80 and the injury count at 463. What will I tell his children? a sobbing man said into a cellphone as he knelt beside a bag containing the remains of his brother, a guard in a building near the explosion. Look, that one is a woman. Shame, shame, said an elderly man, pointing to a stretcher with a slender body wrapped in cloth and a hank of long hair dangling outside. Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis government issued a statement condemning the blasts as heinous acts that go against the values of humanity as well [as] values of peaceful Afghans. It also said the attacks demonstrate the extreme level of atrocity by terrorists against innocent civilians. A statement from NATO forces in Afghanistan praised the courage of Afghan Security Forces, especially the police and first responders. Attacks such as these only serve to strengthen our commitment to our Afghan partners as they seek a peaceful, stable future for their country, the NATO statement added. There are 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan supporting the government, but earlier this year, Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander there, said he needed several thousand more to break the stalemate. The U.S. Embassy is about a half-mile from the blast site, but at least nine Afghan guards died in the blast, the State Department said. [U.S. sees military expansion in Afghanistan] Public anger at the Afghan government built during the traumatic hours after the blast. People with grim, dazed faces strode along the sidewalks, avoiding piles of glass, or sat glumly in modern offices with all their windows gone, watching the news on TV. This is an inept government that cannot protect the people and must be dissolved. It is time for an interim government to be formed, said Mirwais Yasini, a member of parliament. The Ghani government, weakened by internal tensions, has faced an uphill battle to fend off an aggressive push by Taliban insurgents in recent months, as well as a number of assaults claimed by the Islamic State. Others expressed disgust for the attackers, especially since they chose Ramadan, a period that Muslims devote to prayer and fasting. Wounded men lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital. (Massoud Hossaini/AP) How can the people who did this call themselves Muslims? demanded Ahmed Mohibzada, 24, an office worker who had walked to the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital to donate blood after hearing of the massive number of injured survivors. He was lying on a gurney in the hospital porch with his sleeve rolled up. I just felt I had to do something, he said. Others wept in frustration when they scanned lists of injured patients on the hospital wall and could not find the name they were looking for. One man pounded angrily on the hospitals front door, arguing with the guard. A woman ran through the crowd, shouting hysterically. My son is a good Muslim. I have to find him, she shrieked over and over, long past caring who was listening. The diplomatic zone in Kabul is among the citys most highly protected. Yet attackers have managed to breach its security in the past. In 2015, suspected Taliban gunmen rampaged through the area, engaging in an overnight gun battle with security forces. The four attackers were killed, but there were no civilian casualties. Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. Read more: U.S. troop increase aims to double the size of presence in Afghanistan Marines back in Afghanistans Helmand province and mission could expand Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Former FBI director James B. Comey is preparing to testify to Congress as early as next week about his private conversations with President Trump leading up to his abrupt firing, according to an associate of Comeys. Since his dismissal last month, Comey had been expected to testify at some point about his private interactions with the president, as well as the detailed memos he took describing the conversations. Before he could testify, however, Comey had to ensure that his appearance at a public hearing would not complicate the ongoing investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is overseeing the probe of possible coordination between Russian agents and Trump campaign officials during last years presidential campaign. Comey and the special counsels office have reached an understanding about what he can and cannot discuss, clearing the way for his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter who cautioned that a date for his appearance had not been finalized and it could take longer to schedule. The development was first reported by CNN. Comey, who was fired less than four years into his 10-year term as director of the FBI, is expected to talk about his conversations with the president and the notes he took about those talks. (The Washington Post) According to people familiar with those notes, the president in February pressed Comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey also documented an earlier private discussion in which the president asked the FBI director to pledge his loyalty to him, and Comey demurred, according to people familiar with the notes. He is not expected to reveal new details about the ongoing probe of Trump associates and whether they engaged in illicit activities with Russian agents seeking to meddle with the election, according to people familiar with the matter. Public testimony by the former FBI director could mark another major development in the controversy engulfing the Trump administration about past contacts with Russian officials and whether the president or White House officials took steps to try to squelch the investigation. A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the panel welcomes the testimony of former director Comey but does not have an announcement to make at this time. On Wednesday, a White House spokesman said all future questions regarding the Russia matter would be handled by Trumps personal attorney. Trump has called the Russia probe a witch hunt and denied any wrongdoing. When Comey was fired, White House officials first claimed it was because of his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. The president later said he was thinking about the Russia matter when he decided to fire Comey. The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday issued its first subpoenas for testimony, personal documents and business records in its ongoing probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, demanding information from Flynn, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and businesses run by each of them. The subpoenas for Flynn and his business, Flynn Intel Group, come after the Senate Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas last week for Flynns personal and business documents related to his contacts with Russian officials. On Tuesday, Flynns legal team sent the committee a letter informing it that he would be providing documents in response to the Senate subpoenas for business records and a narrowed subpoena for personal records, according to a person close to Flynn. Flynn had initially invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when the Senate committee subpoenaed a broader set of personal records. (Jason Aldag,Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Lawyers for Flynn did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the House subpoenas, and House Intelligence Committee leaders did not provide exact details of what they had requested from Flynn. The House subpoena includes a demand that Flynn testify, which the Senate subpoena did not. The House committee also issued subpoenas for records and testimony from Cohen and his firm, Michael D. Cohen & Associates. As I said, if subpoenaed, I will work with my lawyers to cooperate with the various investigations, Cohen said. We hope and expect that anyone called to testify or provide documents will comply with that request, so that we may gain all the information within the scope of our investigation, Rep. Michael K. Conaway (R-Tex.) and ranking Democrat Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the two leaders of the panels Russia probe, said in a joint statement. We will continue to pursue this investigation wherever the facts may lead. Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report. The Trump administration is moving toward handing back to Russia two diplomatic compounds, near New York City and on Marylands Eastern Shore, that its officials were ejected from in late December as punishment for Moscows interference in the 2016 presidential election. President Barack Obama said Dec. 29 that the compounds were being used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes and gave Russia 24 hours to vacate them. Separately, Obama expelled from the United States what he said were 35 Russian intelligence operatives. [The luxurious, 45-acre compound in Maryland being shut down for alleged Russian espionage] In early May, the Trump administration told the Russians that it would consider turning the properties back over to them if Moscow would lift its freeze, imposed in 2014 in retaliation for U.S. sanctions related to Ukraine, on construction of a new U.S. consulate on a certain parcel of land in St. Petersburg. Two days later, the U.S. position changed. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at a meeting in Washington that the United States had dropped any linkage between the compounds and the consulate, according to several people with knowledge of the exchanges. 1 of 21 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Russian compounds in Maryland and New York shut down View Photos Two luxury retreats, in Centreville, Md., and Oyster Bay, N.Y., where Russian diplomats have gone for decades to play tennis, sail and swim, were shut down by the Obama administration in retaliation for Moscows alleged hacking in the presidential election. Caption Two luxury retreats, in Centreville, Md., and Oyster Bay, N.Y., where Russian diplomats have gone for decades to play tennis, sail and swim, were shut down by the Obama administration in retaliation for Moscows alleged hacking in the presidential election. Dec. 30, 2106 The Russian Embassys compound near Centreville, Md. NBC4/WRC-TV via Reuters Wait 1 second to continue. [Inside the Oval Office with Trump and the Russians: Broad smiles and loose lips] In Moscow on Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Russia was taking into account the difficult internal political situation for the current administration but retained the option to reciprocate for what he called the expropriation of Russian property if these steps are not somehow adjusted by the U.S. side, the news outlet Sputnik reported. Senior Tillerson adviser R.C. Hammond said that the U.S. and Russia have reached no agreements. He said the next senior- level meeting between the two governments, below the secretary of state level, will be in June in St. Petersburg. Before making a final decision on allowing the Russians to reoccupy the compounds, the administration is examining possible restrictions on Russian activities there, including removing the diplomatic immunity the properties previously enjoyed. Without immunity, the facilities would be treated as any other buildings in the United States and would not be barred to entry by U.S. law enforcement, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters. Any concessions to Moscow could prove controversial while administration and former Trump campaign officials are under congressional and special counsel investigation for alleged ties to Russia. [Comey may testify before Senate as early as next week on Trump interactions] Changes in the administrations official posture toward the compounds come as Russian media recently suggested that Kislyak, about to leave Washington after serving as ambassador since 2008, may be proposed by the Kremlin to head a new position as U.N. undersecretary general for counterterrorism. (WUSA 9) Kislyak, who met and spoke during the campaign and transition with President Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn; Trumps White House adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner; Attorney General Jeff Sessions; and others, is known to be interested in the post. His replacement as ambassador, Deputy Foreign Minister Anatoly Antonov, was confirmed last month by the Russian Duma, or parliament. Officials in Moscow said Russian President Vladimir Putin will officially inform Trump of the new ambassador when the two meet in July, at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg. It will be Trumps first meeting with Putin as president. The U.N. General Assembly must first approve establishment of the counterterrorism slot, part of a larger U.N. reorganization and the first new post at that level for decades. Russia will almost certainly claim the slot as the only member of the five permanent members of the Security Council without one of its nationals in a senior U.N. position. Jeffrey Feltman, a former senior U.S. diplomat, is undersecretary-general for political affairs; comparable jobs for peacekeeping, humanitarian affairs and economic affairs are held, respectively, by nationals from France, Britain and China. Secretary General Antonio Guterres will decide who fills the new job, although both Russia and the United States are expected to make their views known. Kislyak has repeatedly rejected descriptions of him in the U.S. media as a spy. Asked whether U.S. intelligence considered him to be one, James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, told CNN on Sunday that given the fact that he oversees a very aggressive intelligence operation in this country the Russians have more intelligence operatives than any other nation that is represented in this country, still even after we got rid of 35 of them and so to suggest that he is somehow separate or oblivious to that is a bit much. [Russian ambassador told Moscow that Kushner wanted secret communications channel with Kremlin] The Russian compounds a 14-acre estate on Long Island and several buildings on secluded acreage along the Corsica River on Marylands Eastern Shore have been in Russian possession since the days of the Soviet Union. According to a Maryland deed in 1995, the former USSR transferred ownership of the Maryland property to the Russian Federation in 1995 for a payment of one dollar. Russia said it used the facilities, both of which had diplomatic immunity, for rest and recreation for embassy and U.N. employees and to hold official events. But U.S. officials dating to the Reagan administration, based on aerial and other surveillance, had long believed they were also being used for intelligence purposes. Last year, when Russian security services began harassing U.S. officials in Moscow including slashed tires, home break-ins, and, at one point, tackling and throwing to the ground a U.S. embassy official entering through the front of the embassy the Obama administration threatened to close the compounds, former Obama officials said. In meetings to protest the treatment, the Obama administration said that it would do so unless the harassment stopped, and Moscow dropped its freeze on construction of a new consulate to replace the one in St. Petersburg, considered largely unusable because of Russian spying equipment installed there. Russia had earlier blocked U.S. use of a parcel of land and construction guarantees in the city when sanctions were imposed after its military intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. The threat of closing the compounds was not pursued. In late December, after U.S. intelligence said there had been election meddling, and in response to the ongoing harassment in Moscow, Obama ordered the compounds closed and diplomats expelled. We had no intention of ever giving them back, a former senior Obama official said of the compounds. Trump, then at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, appeared to disparage the Obama administration sanctions, telling reporters, I think we ought to get on with our lives. Surprisingly, Russia did not respond. It later emerged that Flynn, in a phone conversation with Kislyak, had advised against retaliation and indicated that U.S. policy would change under the Trump administration. [Putin says he wont deport U.S. diplomats] The Kremlin made clear that the compound issue was at the top of its bilateral agenda. Russia repeatedly denounced what it called the seizure of the properties as an illegal violation of diplomatic treaties. On May 8, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, Thomas Shannon, traveled to New York to meet with his Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on what the State Department described as a range of bilateral issues and what Russia called irritants and grievances. Ryabkov brought up the compounds, while Shannon raised St. Petersburg and harassment, suggesting that they deal with the operation of their diplomats and facilities in each others countries separate from policy issues such as Syria and proposing that they clear the decks with a compromise. Russia refused, saying that the compound issue was a hostile act that deserved no reciprocal action to resolve and had to be dealt with before other diplomatic problems could be addressed. In an interview with Tass, Ryabkov said Moscow was alarmed that Washington carries on working out certain issues in its traditional manner, particularly concerning Russias diplomatic property in the states of Maryland and New York. Two days later in Washington, Tillerson told Lavrov that the United States would no longer link the compounds to the issue of St. Petersburg. Immediately after their May 10 meeting at the State Department, Tillerson escorted Lavrov and Kislyak to the Oval Office. There, they held a private meeting with Trump. The night before, the president had fired FBI Director James B. Comey, who was then heading an FBI investigation of the Russia ties. Comey, Trump told the Russians, was a real nut job, and his removal had taken off the Russia-related pressure the president was under, the New York Times reported. Later in May, the Justice Department appointed former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel to oversee the federal investigation. In a news conference at the Russian Embassy after his meetings with Tillerson and Trump, Lavrov said of the compound closures, Everyone, in particular the Trump administration, is aware that those actions were illegal. The dialogue between Russia and the U.S. is now free from the ideology that characterized it under the Barack Obama administration, he said. Julie Tate contributed to this report. Read more: On the Eastern Shore, a 45-acre Russian compound kept its secrets close Political chaos in Washington is a return on investment for Moscow White House offers shifting explanations of Trumps disclosures to Russians Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. The company also provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. In addition, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and networks under the T-Systems brand, as well as call center services. The company has 242 million mobile customers and 22 million broadband customers, as well as 27 million fixed-network lines. Deutsche Telekom AG has a collaboration with VMware, Inc. on cloud-based open and intelligent virtual RAN platform to bring agility to radio access networks for existing LTE and future 5G networks; and partnership with Microsoft to deliver high-performance cloud computing experiences. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany. 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. More than two months after the Kenyan Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and the government came to an agreement in March to end the longest strike of health care workers in the countrys history, the situation has reached an impasse. The government has not implemented any of the promises made to the workers which allowed the union to shut down the strike. The union has given the government a final deadline of June 14 to implement the terms agreed to before calling another strike. The ending of the strike last March followed a return-to-work agreement between the union and the government which promised to negotiate the terms of a final agreement, within 60 days, to include an increase in salaries for health care workers and greater spending for the upgrading of the deteriorating publicly-run medical facilities across the country. The deadline for cementing the new collective bargaining agreement expired on May 14, and again after being extended to May 28. Expressing frustration with the governments intransigence, KMPDU Chair Dr. Samuel Oroko told the media, We cannot be discussing the same document that we gave them three months ago and one which they have been aware of for the last seven years. Oroko accused the government of stalling the negotiations and intentionally skipping meetings with the union. He stated, We have given them the last chance. When it is done, there will be no more extension. We will go back to the doctors to seek further direction. Many doctors and health care workers went on strike in early May over unpaid wages. The KMPDU called the strike stating that workers had not been paid since last December; more than $25 million is due for back pay to health care workers. Only four out of forty-seven counties in the country have implemented the salary stipulations in the agreement reached at the end of the strike. Eleven counties have only paid health care workers half of what is owed to them, and the other counties have not paid any of the salary increases. As a result of impasse of negotiations between the government and the union, many hospitals are serving the public on an emergency only basis, leaving many Kenyans without health care. Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital and Bahati Hospital are not accepting admissions and have plans to discharge patients currently in the wards. For the most part, the hospital bureaucracy is attempting to lay the blame on the striking health care workers. In reality, the responsibility for the health care catastrophe in Kenya can be placed squarely on the shoulders of the corrupt clique within the government which loots the public coffers to be parceled out amongst themselves and the Kenyan business elite. Last year it was revealed in an internal government audit that officials with the Ministry of Health looted $50 million, accounting for 21 percent of the entire budget allocated for health care in the country. Only a mere $228 million is spent annually in Kenya for health care, a criminally small amount. By comparison, Kenya spends twelve times more on its military. The failure to implement the deal struck in March exposes the fact that neither the union nor the government ever had the interests of the health care workers or the health and well-being of the Kenyan masses in mind when they brought the strike to an end. The government of Uhuru Kenyatta has exposed the Kenyan ruling elite for what they are: a government of corrupt capitalists who are running the country as a vehicle to suck ever vast amounts of wealth for itself and to Western banks and corporations; parasites for which even the paltry sum allocated to the Ministry of Health is intolerable. The interests of the KMPDU bureaucracy run parallel to those of the Kenyan bourgeoisie as a whole. They offer their services to the ruling class as labor police force and seek to tie the workers to the interests of the national ruling elite. The union saw the ongoing strike as getting in the way of collecting dues; as such, they wished to get their membership back to work. The union has limited the workers to making feeble appeals to the government, with which it ultimately seeks to make peace and a compromise. The union bureaucrats saw the governments refusal to enact the collective bargaining agreement successfully obtained in 2013 as a threat to their very existence as an organization. Notably, the KMPDU, like its counterparts around the world, does not seek to tie the struggles of health care workers to the broader struggles of the working class across Kenya, much less mount a struggle against the global capitalist economic system which is the root of the problems confronting the working class. The paltry amount of government funds provided for health care in comparison to the military illustrates clearly the class character of the corrupt bourgeoisie which rules Kenya. Its vast accumulation of wealth for itself, to the detriment of the Kenyan masses, exposes in the most brutal manner the inability of capitalism to meet even the most basic needs of the population, much less recognize and implement health care as a human right for all. Yesterday, French media applauded newly elected President Emmanuel Macrons summit Monday in Versailles with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This enthusiasm was all the more significant as the newspapers made little effort to hide the fact that Macron was shifting towards Moscow despite Washingtons open hostility to Russia. In the finery of the castle of Versailles, Le Monde wrote in its editorial yesterday, France wanted on Monday, May 29, to start a new, better course in its relations with Russia. And that was a good thing. It rejoiced that At NATO, with Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, like with Vladimir Putin in Versailles, Mr. Macron set the tone. The editorial pointed to the close links between Macrons overtures to Russia and the growing tensions between the United States and the European Union (EU), and above all Germany. These took the most overt form in German Chancellor Angela Merkels statement this weekend that, after Britains exit from the EU and the election of Donald Trump as US president, continental Europe would have to fight for its future alone, without relying on Washington and London. Le Monde hailed Macrons will to seize a European moment. It added, Between Brexit and the mercantilist isolationism of Donald Trump, highlighted this week by Angela Merkel, the EU must close ranks and reinforce its own identity on the great issues of the day: Ukraine, Syria, global warming. This analysis was shared, with minor variations, by newspapers of all political colours. The right-wing Le Figaro explained that the two presidents aimed to revive diplomatic relations between their two countries and applauded Macrons timing: Macron also capitalised on an international situation favourable to France. Faced with Putin, he was free to act: the UK is out of the picture since Brexit, the United States is unpredictable since Donald Trumps election, and Germany is busy preparing its upcoming elections. Liberation , however, recalled the close relations between Germany and Macron, who was Berlins favoured presidential candidate, and applauded Macrons rapprochement with Putin. The diplomatic collaboration [Macron] has developed with Angela Merkel shows undeniable skill, it wrote. By inviting the Russian president to follow the footsteps of the brutal and visionary Czar Peter the Great, of whom Putin styles himself the descendant, Macron is offering Putin assurances. The emergence of such a consensus in the French media reflects a profound shift taking place in the politics of the capitalist class in France and across Europe. The NATO military alliance between the United States, Canada, and the western European powers is in an advanced state of collapse. At Versailles, Macron broached policies that would repudiate most of the initiatives that French and US imperialism developed together over the last decade. When right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy was elected in 2007, he took France back into the NATO military command in order to repair the damage done to relations with Washington by German and French opposition to the illegal 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Since then, France and other European imperialist powers worked with Washington to launch a war rampage across the Middle East and eastern Europe, often targeting pro-Russian regimes. Now, however, Macron is signaling that he is considering a vast reorientation of French foreign policy away from the United States and towards Russia. In Syriawhere France backed the NATO war to topple the Russian-backed regime since the war began in 2011, even recognising US-backed opposition militias as Syrias governmentMacron floated the possibility of reopening Frances embassy in Damascus. He also proposed developing closer counter-terrorism cooperation with Russia. Macron stood by silently while Putin denounced economic sanctions Washington forced the EU to impose on Russia. To address the conflict that erupted inside Ukraine after Washington and Berlin backed a fascist-led putsch against a pro-Russian government in Kiev in 2014, Macron also endorsed the Normandy format of four-way talks between Germany, Russia, France, and Ukraine. This negotiating format pointedly leaves out the United States. Significantly, sections of the international media are beginning to discuss the vast implications of this policy shift, coming as Germany, Macrons main ally, remilitarises its foreign policy. In the United States, Forbes pointed to the link between the Macron-Putin conference and the bitter geo-strategic rivalries growing inside NATO. It mocked coverage in the US media which, it said, all reads the same: Macron took it to Putin over fake news, Syria and gay rights. There is nothing else to see. Progressive nice guy Macron spanked evil backer of dictators, Putin. Coming after Trumps foreign tour to the Middle East and Europe, during which Trump laid out an aggressive pro-Saudi and anti-Iranian line, the magazine pointed to bitter strategic and energy rivalries between Washington and its nominal European allies. Macron, Forbes warned, needs Putin more than he needs Donald Trump. These two are more likely to get along, at least behind closed doors, and here is why. First, many in France are souring on sanctions [against Russia]. Second, and more importantly, is this little deal here: Total SAs agreement to develop giant South Paris gas field in Iran. French oil giant Total SA is one of the biggest European players in Iranian hydrocarbons. Russia is Irans best friend. France and Total cannot trust the Americans on Iran, but they can trust the Russians. While Forbes unmistakably saw a potential Franco-Russian alliance as threatening US interests, Germanys Die Zeit was, by contrast, agreeably surprised. From a German standpoint, one always asks oneself, when the big neighbours France and Russia are meeting, whether they are hiding some sort of plan against Germany, it wrote. And Paris and Moscow are often happy to play on these concerns. So it is astonishing that French observers are almost unanimously interpreting Macrons first international appearances in the context of a renewed German-French alliance. It is ever clearer that the sudden, rapid and unpredictable shifts in the foreign policy of the various imperialist powers are not passing events or coincidences, but symptoms of a far broader crisis of the capitalist system struck by more than a decade of deep economic crisis. In 1991, the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union deprived the NATO alliance of a common enemy. Over a quarter century later, the process of NATOs internal collapse is in a very advanced state. The wars in Iraq and Yugoslavia launched by the United States and its European allies in the 1990s have escalated into wars across much of the Middle East and Africa, and vast US-led confrontations with Russia and China, with a major NATO military build-up in eastern Europe and the US-led pivot to Asia aimed at China. Every indication is that the shift Macron is undertaking has been under preparation for some time, amid mounting opposition in European capitals to the impact of US wars on their strategic interests. Macron himself traveled to Russia last year as economy minister and met with his Russian counterpart, Alexei Ulyukayev, to announce that despite EU sanctions on Russia, Macron hoped French economic ties to Moscow would deepen. Under the impact of the sanctions, Frances trade volume with Russia has been halved, to only US$11.6 billion per year. Macrons prime minister, Edouard Philippe, was the mayor of Frances busiest container shipping port, Le Havre, which repeatedly hosted the influential China-Europa business summit. The deepening strategic and economic rivalries between the NATO powers constitute a warning to the working class. After a quarter-century of escalating war, the remilitarisation of German foreign policy and Macrons call for a return to the draft in France, the European ruling elites are preparing an explosion of imperialist militarism fought in the interests of the banks, shareholders, and major corporations. Workers cannot support any of these contending imperialist powers, on either side of the Atlantic; all are led by ruling classes bitterly hostile to working people and that are preparing horrific wars. What is emerging is not the bankruptcy of one or another imperialist power, but of world imperialism, and a plunge by international capitalism back to the type of conflicts that twice in the last century led to world war. The reactionary character of Franco-German imperialist interests is perhaps most strikingly indicated by the nature of Macrons government. Having extended Frances nearly two-year-long state of emergency, which suspends basic democratic rights, it is preparing to impose deep cuts to jobs and social benefits in authoritarian fashion, by decree. As it prepares to wage war overseas, it is pouring resources to boost police force levels and increase the number of prison cells, in anticipation of a confrontation with the working class. John McCain, the 80-year-old chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former Republican Party presidential candidate, flew into Australia on Monday. The purpose of his visit was to engage in discussions on Asia-Pacific security issues with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the foreign and defence ministers, as well as to meet with prominent representatives of the Australian corporate and political establishment. The University of Sydney-based United States Studies Centre (USSC) had invited McCain to deliver an address on foreign policy on May 30. McCain arrived against the backdrop of a steady build-up toward war on the Korean Peninsula, a provocative freedom-of-navigation operation by the US Navy challenging Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, and the voicing of differences with the US by major European powers, especially Germany. To an extent, the senator solidarised himself with the disquiet in Australian ruling circles over the state of affairs in US politics and its impact in Australia. A wing of the Australian establishment is primarily concerned with protecting the countrys major economic interests in Asia, particularly with China, its largest trading partner. This layer has seized on the nationalist economic policies and political volatility of the Trump administration to step up their calls for Australia to distance itself from the US alliance. What McCain said in private to the Turnbull government is not known. His public statements, however, could be characterised as a combination of appeals and warnings to the Australian ruling class not to deviate from its strategic and military alignment with the US. He indicated that American policy would not, in the final analysis, be decided by Donald Trump and at least implied that moves are underway that may result in the presidents removal. Presidents, he raised several times, come and go. US-Australia relations, he asserted, are unbreakable, they are eternal. Conveying his open contempt for Trump, the senator, in his first public statements in an interview on Monday night with the Australian Broadcasting Corporations 7.30 program, said the new president made him nervous from time to time. He declared the European powers were legitimately concerned and he understood their repudiation of Donald Trump. McCain highlighted his leading role in the campaign against the Trump presidency over its supposed links with, and soft line toward, the Russian government of Vladimir Putin. He said Putin was the premier and most important threat in the world. McCain lambasted the American establishment for having done nothing to respond to Vladimir Putins attempt to change the outcome of our elections. Last year, he labelled the alleged Russian hacking of Democratic Party servers as an act of war. Advocating harsher sanctions against Russia by the US Congress, McCain, most significantly, endorsed the investigations into Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner over supposed relations with Moscow, which have led to calls in the US media for the presidents impeachment. Last night, the senator escalated his attack on the Trump administration at the event organised by the USSC. The senators audience of 500 people featured a veritable whos-who of the Australian political, military, intelligence, strategic and corporate establishment, including former prime ministers, John Howard and Bob Hawke. After hailing the historical relationship between the US and Australia, McCain declared: I realise that some of President Trumps actions and statements have unsettled Americas friends. They have unsettled many Americans as well. There is a real debate underway now in my country about what kind of role America should play in the world. And frankly, I dont know how this debate will play out. McCain continued: What I do believe, and I do not think I am exaggerating here, is that the future of the world will turn, to a large extent, on how this debate in America is resolved. Americans, he asserted, are counting on Australia and our other allies to stick with us... Just as America is counting on Australia, I believe Australia, and our other allies and partners, can still count on America. In a particularly blunt warning to the assembled Australian dignitaries, McCain declared: No-one has ever got rich betting against America, my friends, and now is not a good time to start. The senator proceeded to lay out what the US expects from its Australian ally, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office: first and foremost, continued collaboration and involvement in the drive to undermine and ultimately shatter China as an economic, strategic and potential military challenger to US global hegemony. American imperialist strategy, stretching back to the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, has been aimed at preventing any power or group of countries emerging as a rival centre of world power. McCain personifies the ruthlessness with which the American ruling class is prepared to use military force in every part of the globe in pursuit of this strategy. At present, McCain, along with the Democratic Party, is insisting on action against Russia over Putins interventions to disrupt the US and European intrigues in Ukraine and Syria. At the same time, he has not, in any sense, retreated from his insistence that China be opposed on every fronteconomic, diplomatic and military. He was only critical of the Obama administrations pivot to Asia from the standpoint that it was not aggressive enough. McCain issued a scathing attack on the Trump administration for repudiating a key aspect of the pivotthe Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) economic bloc that excluded China. In a remarkable statement, he suggested that Japan and Australia proceed with the TPP without the US, because hopefully, in the future, under different circumstances, America will decide to join you. McCain addressed the foreign policy debate in Australia that has become more intense as its trade relations with China have expanded exponentially and the US has adopted an ever-more confrontational stance with Beijing. I know there is a real concern about Australia becoming entangled in a strategic competition between America and China, he stated. And I know that contributes to a belief among some in this country that your economic relationship with China and your security relationship with the US may be irreconcilable, and that you must choose one over the other. McCain made clear that, as far he was concerned, Australia has no such a choice. The US, he reminded his audience, remains Australias largest foreign investor and remained the worlds overwhelming military power. China, McCain declared, seems to be acting more and more like a bully. It was refusing to open its markets, engaging in intellectual property theft and making territorial claims that have no basis in international law. The role of the US and Australia, he asserted, was to support Chinas reformers. The real choice, he continued, was whether Australia and America are better off dealing with Chinas strategic and economic challenges together, or by ourselves. In answer to concerns over Trump, McCain suggested that decisions would be made by the cabal of generals, intelligence chiefs and corporate oligarchs who dominate his cabinetnaming Jim Mattis, H.R. McMaster, John Kelly and Mike Pompeo, as well as Dan Coats and Rex Tillerson. During a question and answer session, McCain defined more concretely what is wanted from Australia by the wing of the American establishment for whom he speaks. This includes involvement in escalated US military operations against the Russian-backed Syrian government; the dispatch of significant numbers of Australian troops to a new surge of US forces to Afghanistan; and support for stepped-up freedom of navigation operations against China in the South China Sea. McCains visit was timed to take place one week before the first Australia-US ministerial talks (AUSMIN) under Trump, in Sydney on June 5. The Turnbull government has already announced the dispatch of a token 30 additional troops to Afghanistan. To what else it will agreeor has already agreed in talks with McCainwill likely emerge in coming weeks. Photo credit: Getty From Redbook Melania Trump has not been a traditional first lady, which is fitting, since nothing about the Trump presidency can be described as traditional. One of her most unconventional moves thus far has been delaying her move to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in favor of staying in New York City while her 11-year-old son, Barron, finished the school year. But now, summer is upon us and the school year is ending, so Melania and Barron Trump are preparing to move to the White House. Here are some of the changes we can expect when the first lady joins her husband in Washington. 1. She will likely pick an issue to focus on. Traditionally, first ladies pick a cause to champion during their time in the White House and Melania Trump will likely do the same. When Michelle Obama was first lady, for example, she took on childhood obesity and gender equality in education through her Let's Move! and Let Girls Learn initiatives, respectively. While Melania spoke out on the campaign trail about plans to take on cyberbullying as her cause, she's been silent on the issue since her husband took office. As Vanity Fair points out, however, Melania may be letting actions speak louder than words when it comes to the issues that will take the forefront for her. Since becoming the FLOTUS, Melania has made several appearances at children's hospitals, including D.C.'s Children's National hospital. Wonderful opening ceremony today for the new Healing Garden @childrenshealth. It will play vital role in recovery of extraordinary patients. pic.twitter.com/xybzYPkJYq - Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 28, 2017 On her recent overseas trip with Donald Trump, she spent time at the Bambino Gesu pediatric hospital in Rome, visiting with patients. Photo credit: Getty While we'll have to wait and see what cause Melania officially dedicates herself to as first lady, children's health seems to be a top priority for her. Story continues 2. The East Wing will probably staff up. Photo credit: Getty The Office of the First Lady, headquartered in the East Wing of the White House, has been staffing up slowly since Trump took office. When Melania officially relocates to Washington, we might see that staff grow. Right now, Melania's staff of 10 includes chief of staff Lindsay Reynolds, social secretary Anna Cristina "Rickie" Niceta Lloyd, senior adviser and chief strategist Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, and communications director Stephanie Grisham. In contrast, Michelle Obama famously had a staff of 24 and other recent ladies, like Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, had staffs ranging in size from 13 to 22, depending on the year. Even though there is precedent for the Office of the First Lady employing a significant staff, there are no hard and fast rules about how many people should work with the FLOTUS. Melania can hire as many or as few people as she wants, and some reports have even indicated that Donald Trump sees the Office of the First Lady as a place to cut costs, suggesting her staff won't be as large as those of first ladies past. Still, it would be surprising if Melania didn't fill a few more positions once she settles down in D.C. 3. She may work closely with Ivanka. Photo credit: Getty Another member of the Trump family has also been taking on staff. While the first lady has been in New York with Barron, Trump's daughter, Ivanka, has stepped up and taken on responsibilities typically handled by the FLOTUS. While Ivanka's official position in the White House is unpaid, she has taken on some staff, which is unusual for a first daughter. In the early months of her father's administration, Ivanka accompanied the president on official trips and hosted D.C. dinner parties to promote her cause of choice, equality for women in the workplace. In February, there were also reports that Ivanka had moved into the East Wing office usually reserved for the first lady and redecorated the space, which the Trumps were reportedly referring to it as the "First Family Office." Ivanka and her staff ultimately settled down in the West Wing, however, as the first lady's office confirms. Given the active role Ivanka has taken in the administration, it stands to reason that she and her stepmother, Melania, may end up working together. They could work on shared projects once the first lady settles into the White House. 4. She may have an impact on Donald Trump's staff. Melania may have been out of sight for the last few months, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been an active member of Team Trump. According to a recent Politico report, Melania is something of a media watchdog for Trump, keeping tabs on unflattering reports about the president and sharing them with him. The Politico report also suggests that Melania hasn't been 100 percent happy with what she's seen about the POTUS in the media lately, and that she even went so far as to suggest shakeups to his communications team, specifically when it comes to White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Photo credit: Getty "She was really concerned that Spicer was not doing a good job, that they were not proactive in defending the president," an outside adviser to the president said, according to Politico. "The leaks bother her. She believes a lot of people are more interested in serving themselves than him." It's worth noting that a senior White House official has reportedly denied the story, as has the first lady's office. The first lady is always in a unique position to counsel the president, however, and if Melania does have concerns about members of the president's staff or how he is being portrayed in the media, she'll have every opportunity to discuss those issues with him once she moves to Washington. 5. Her look is reportedly changing. In March, reports surfaced that Melania was already prepping for one aspect of her move to the White House: her Washington style. The New York Daily News reported that Melania was teaming up with her inauguration gown designer, Herve Pierre, to work on dresses that were "modern, sleek, and form fitting." In addition to her wardrobe choices, Melania also reportedly planned some beauty-related changes as well. Specifically, balayage highlights to lighten her hair. You can even see some evidence of the highlights in recent pictures of Melania from her trip to Rome. And though hair and outfits certainly shouldn't be the focus around the FLOTUS, it's clear the former model knows the power of a photo op. Photo credit: Getty RELATED: 12 Photos That Definitively Prove Melania Trump Is Not Allergic to Holding Donald Trump's Hand Two Experts Analyze Donald and Melania Trump's Body Language Over the Years Melania Trump Is More Popular Than the President Follow Redbook on Facebook. You Might Also Like A 70-year-old Washington woman survived for five days with only two bananas and two bottles of water for nourishment after her car careened down an embankment, her family said. Sharon Lee Leaming was reported missing last Thursday after she failed to arrive at her Rochester home. Her frantic family told authorities she suffered chronic back pain and was in the early stages of dementia. Read: Skull Found at Home of Woman Who Was Reported Missing in 1988 She had driven off U.S. Highway 12 and down a 40-foot hill before crashing into a tree, according to the Thurston County Sheriffs office. Her cell phone was lodged in the dashboard and she wasnt able to reach it, her family said. Trapped inside her 1993 Chevy Lumina, the great-grandmother subsisted on the water and fruit she had in her car. She also had some Pop-Tarts, but was afraid she might choke if she tried to eat them, her granddaughter said on a GoFundMe page established to help with Leamings recuperation needs including a new car and a ramp for her home. Read: Mom Pleads for Return of Son Who Vanished After Dad Passed Out in Park The woman suffered a broken ankle, a broken heel and internal injuries. She is currently hospitalized in Tacoma. A family member found Leaming while searching for her car along Highway 12. He noticed a spot where the grass was tamped down and followed the flattened shrubbery to Leamings car. Because she was severely dehydrated and unable to walk, she was airlifted to St. Joseph Medical Center. Watch: Man, Mom and Her 2 Kids Missing After Plane Is Lost in Bermuda Related Articles: A Back To The Future fan said he was handed a speed ticket after he was caught travelling at 88mph in his new DeLorean. Spencer White said he was driving on the freeway in Californias Santa Clarita area with his mother when he looked at his speedometer and saw he was travelling at around 85mph. Realising he was only three miles off the speed that activates the flux capacitor in the iconic 1985 film that turns the DeLorean into a time machine, Mr White decided to test the cars capabilities. My mom, shes just looking at me and says, take it up to 88mph, lets do it, Mr White told KTLA5 News. Mr White said he was driving at 88mph for about two seconds before he saw a police officer pull in behind him. When the officer approached the car, he told Mr White he pulled him over for speeding, and asked whether he knew how fast he was driving. I just started busting up laughing, my mom started busting up laughing, [the police officer] even had this big grin on his face like hes won the lottery, he said. The officer gave Mr White a speeding ticket, but before he drove away he retrieved the radar gun from his police car to show Mr White, who took a picture of it showing 88mph. Mr White, who had always wanted to own a DeLorean, bought his dream car a month ago. Maybe if I had the flux capacitor [the officer] would have let me off, Mr White told The Signal. By Mirwais Harooni and Josh Smith KABUL (Reuters) - A powerful bomb hidden in a sewage tanker exploded in the morning rush hour in the center of Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people, wounding hundreds more and damaging embassy buildings in the Afghan capital's unofficial "Green Zone". The victims of the explosion at a busy intersection appeared mainly to have been Afghan civilians on their way to work or school, including office workers whose nearby buildings did not have the protection of the blast walls that fortify the zone. The blast, at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, was one of the deadliest seen in Kabul, killing 80 people and wounding another 463, Deputy Interior Minister Murad Ali said. A huge crater was caused at the blast site close to the German embassy compound, tearing the front off a building facing the street and shattering windows and blowing off doors in houses hundreds of meters away. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said some embassy staff had been injured and at least one local security guard was killed. "Such attacks do not change our resolve in continuing to support the Afghan government in the stabilization of the country," Gabriel said. Eleven U.S. citizens working as contractors were among the wounded, the U.S. State Department said, adding that none of their injuries were considered life-threatening. Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for the city police, said the explosives were hidden in a sewage truck. He also suggested that the German embassy might not have been the target of the blast, which sent clouds of black smoke into the sky near the presidential palace. "There are several other important compounds and offices near there too," he told Reuters. No group had claimed responsibility by Wednesday evening but Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security, said it had been carried out by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network with assistance from Pakistan. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan regularly accuse each other of supporting militant groups operating across the border. The Taliban, seeking to reimpose Islamic rule after their 2001 ouster by U.S.-led forces, denied responsibility and said they condemned attacks that have no legitimate target and killed civilians. Islamic State, a smaller militant group in Afghanistan seeking to project its claim to a global Islamic caliphate beyond its Middle East base, has previously claimed responsibility for high-profile attacks in Kabul, including one on a military hospital in March that killed more than 50 people. The NATO-led mission in Kabul said Afghan security forces prevented the vehicle carrying the bomb from entering the Green Zone, which houses many foreign embassies as well as its own headquarters, also suggesting it may not have reached its intended target. In the immediate aftermath of the blast, the scene was littered with burning debris, damaged walls and buildings, and destroyed cars, many with dead or injured people inside. As well as the German embassy, the French, Turkish and Chinese embassies were among those damaged, the three countries said, adding there were no immediate signs of injuries among their diplomats. The BBC said one of its drivers, an Afghan, was killed driving journalists to work. Four journalists were wounded and treated in hospital. "FELT LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE" At the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital a few blocks away from the blast, there were scenes of chaos as ambulances brought in wounded. Frantic relatives scanned casualty lists. "It felt like an earthquake," said 21-year-old Mohammad Hassan, describing the moment the blast struck the bank where he was working. Another lightly wounded victim, Nabib Ahmad, 27, said there was widespread confusion. "I couldn't think clearly, there was a mess everywhere," he said. Frenzy erupted outside the hospital as ambulances and police trucks began bringing in the bodies of those killed. Some were burned or mutilated beyond recognition. President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack, which will add to pressure on his fragile government, already facing mounting discontent over its inability to provide security. The attack drew international condemnation, ranging from India and Pakistan to the United States, the European Union and Pope Francis. U.S. President Donald Trump called Ghani and offered his condolences. Trump "condemned the attack, which occurred during the holy month of Ramadan, underscoring the barbaric nature of the terrorists who are enemies of all civilized peoples," the White House said in a statement. The United Nations Special Representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, described the attack as an outrage. Amnesty International demanded an immediate and impartial investigation. The Taliban have been stepping up their push to defeat the U.S.-backed government. Since most international troops withdrew at the end of 2014, the Taliban have gained ground and now control or contest about 40 percent of the country, according to U.S. estimates, though Ghani's government holds all provincial centers. Trump is due to decide soon on a recommendation to send 3,000 to 5,000 more troops to bolster the small NATO training force and U.S. counter-terrorism mission now totaling around 15,000. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, told a Congressional hearing this year he needed several thousand more troops to help Afghan forces break a "stalemate" with the Taliban. (Additional reporting by Josh Smith in Kabul, Kay Johnson in Islamabad, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Emmanuel Jarry in Paris, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Madeline Chambers and Michelle Martin in Berlin, Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara and Doug Busvine in New Delhi; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Andrew Bolton and James Dalgleish) Just 90 minutes after opening, a 10-year-old boy was thrown from a waterslide at a brand new California amusement park. Read: After Teen Vanished in California River, How to Avoid Being Swept Away by a Dangerous Current Dramatic video obtained by East Bay Times, shows the young boy as he fell out of the Emerald Plunge in the city of Dublin. The park, called The Wave, cost an estimated $43 million to build and opened Saturday. He hit the pavement with a thud then, astonishingly, the kid bounced back up. The boy will be fine but was seen rubbing his bruised back. The youngster was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for scrapes. The Wave remains closed as the investigation continues. Child safety expert Alan Korn told Inside Edition what might have gone wrong. No ride should result in that type of accident, he declared. My gut tells me that something needs to be recalibrated about the ride. The rides are getting taller, they are getting faster. If the ride tosses him around, he is not going to keep his arms and legs crossed. If the attraction was designed properly, that would never happen. The accident is latest to plague the popular water park industry, which is about to see its peak summer season. Read: Man Who Can't Swim Saves 9-Year-Old Boy From Drowning in Hotel Pool Last year, a 10-year-old boy lost his life on what was once world's tallest waterslide. Caleb Schwab was decapitated after being ejected from his seat during the 168-foot drop on the ride in Kansas City called ""Verruckt, which is German for the word "insane." His family recently received a $20 million settlement. "Verruckt" was torn down shortly after the incident. Watch: Man Says His Harness Broke on Waterslide That Killed 10-Year-Old Boy Related Articles: The Charlatans U.K. photo courtesy of thecharlatans.net Ever since their 1990 debut album, Some Friendly, went to No. 1 in the British charts and broke them into the alt-rock market in America, the Charlatans U.K. have persevered under conditions that would have destroyed most other bands including the deaths of two founding band members (keyboardist Rob Collins, who was killed in a 1996 car crash, and drummer Jon Brookes, who lost his life to a brain tumor in 2013). Despite such tragedies, the Charlatans U.K. have continued to make timeless, melodic pop/rock songs occasionally tinted with melancholy but more often swirling with euphoria. Surprisingly, the bands 13th studio album Different Days wasnt just enjoyable for them to write, but was also good fun to record. Soon after the band members decided they were going to work with more than one drummer on the record so it didnt look like they were trying to replace Brookes various guest musicians offered to help out, and before long, they had whos-who of British rock marching in and out of the studio. Members of the Smiths, the Jam, New Order, and the Verve all pitched in to create Different Days, which is the best album the Charlatans U.K. have released 20 years, locking into the same upbeat groove as 2015s Modern Nature but incorporating more contagious refrains and memorable hooks. In addition, maybe in part because of all the guest musicians, the band explores more musical terrain this time, confidently dabbling in funk, electronic pop, anthemic guitar rock, and downtempo R&B. Yahoo Music sits down with frontman Tim Burgess to discuss the albums creation and the bands tumultuous history. YAHOO MUSIC: In an era of political turmoil and personal upheaval, its a little surprising how spirited and uplifting Different Days is. Were you striving to make an upbeat album, or is that something that happened with the excitement of having so many great guest musicians involved? TIM BURGESS: No, Im a pretty positive person. I wanted to do an album with a lot of positivity. It likes a chance to appreciate what we have, regardless of what monsters be out there. I think that we need to keep our friends close Story continues And your enemies closer? I dont know. These are scary times, but were not a political band. Also, I live in the country now in the middle of the woods. I have a 4-year-old son. He wakes up at 5 in the morning every day. Im not complaining. In my little world, thats a positive thing. So all these things that are going on in my little bubble exist outside this place thats possibly negative very probably negative. Me and my partner turned a little boy into something so pure and simplistic and precious, and thats what I think the theme is on this record. Its about our small world, which becomes our big world in the band. The album starts off with the theme of a small bubble and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, with guests and things that start to unfold. Like 2015s Modern Nature, which featured several different drummers hired to fill in for Jon Brookes, various drummers contributed to Different Days but so did a number of big-name guest musicians. How did that transpire, and was this a more enjoyable album to make than Modern Nature? Well, Mother Nature was, like, much more difficult because after Jon died [of brain cancer] in 2013, we all grouped together making the album and thinking about him. He wanted to play with us when he was ill, but he wasnt well enough. We didnt make music of any significance while he was sick. We tried a couple of times, but it didnt work out. But after he died, we made Mother Nature with him in mind and it helped. It was therapeutic, I think, even though it was emotional as well. We toured it around the world, and it took very positive responses, so that helped make something very tragic into something more positive. And we all felt like Jon would have wanted that. From the start, did you want to up the ante on Different Days, as far as the special guests went? There are even spoken-word parts from crime writer Ian Rankin and Lambchops Kurt Wagner. Everything evolved naturally. Instead of replacing Jon for Modern Nature, which didnt seem like a valid proposition, we used different people. Stephen Morris has been a friend for a while. Obviously, everyone knows him from New Order and Joy Division. He played with us for [the Modern Nature track Emilie], Pete Salisbury from the Verve did five songs, and Gabriel Gurnsey from Factory Floor played on four tracks. Pete plays with us live, so hes the first person that we thought of to play drums when we went back in to make Different Days. But while the songs were being written, I just kept thinking about Stephen. The songs had tightness and a crispness that I thought Stephen would get very naturally not that Pete didnt get them, but Stephens got a lot of experience and has been responsible for some of the best songs ever written. So I sent the songs to him and he responded quickly. We did four songs quickly with Stephen and then went back to writing. One day, they brought [New Order keyboardist] Gillian Gilbert with them and she played stints on one song, and then all of a sudden the guest thing started to come into its own. We started to think about it like directing a film and casting different people for all these parts, so I thought about all these people I knew. How did you know the Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who plays on three songs? I knew him when I was still in school. He was, like, two years older than me, which is kind of weird because he inspired a generation. Everyone knows who he is, but I didnt actually meet him until 1999. Ive always felt like he could have played on any of our records because we get along so well. But weve never recorded anything until now. I saw him a couple of months before he came to the studio and I told him what we were doing. He said, Oh, what, the studio over in Northwich, [England], and he said hed come over and have a cup of tea. That was kind of at the point guests started dropping by. Johnny came over, we played him a track, and he stayed all day. Hes on Plastic Machinery and the interlude piece The Setting Sun. Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman Anton Newcombe joins Marr on Plastic Machinery. How did Anton get involved? Ive known Anton for a long time. He used to be my DJ partner in Los Angeles when we were young. I lived in Los Angeles for 12 years, and we got into trouble quiet a lot there. Now hes in Berlin. Weve been doing a lot of file sharing and remixes for each other. We have a great working relationship. What kind of trouble did you get into in with Anton in L.A.? I just remember us DJing together. I would always speed the records up, then he would slow them down and we would have these little conflicts over that. We each had out own motivation for the speeds we were playing the music at. Hes a slower guy naturally and Im more hyper. Paul Weller is another icon on the record. He co-wrote Spinning Out and played piano and background vocals. It seems like you know everybody! Its funny, because Paul called me up once in 1993 to congratulate me on the song Cant Get Out of Bed [from the album Up to Our Hips.] Id never met him, obviously. Id grown up with his songs; he was huge in England from 77 onwards, when I first started getting into music. So it was quite the moment when I first picked up the phone. We played lived together a few times over the years and I always wanted to write with him. I finally asked him about five summers ago, but it took a while to get together, because I think its important to do something really good when the time is right A full 25 years have passed since you released Between 10th and 11th, which was a pretty important album for you; in the States, it demonstrated you werent a one-hit wonder. Were you under a lot of pressure back then? That was a claustrophobic time. Our first album was a smash all over the world, and it just was crazy. After that album, we decided to release a session of EPs and transition from what we were to what we were about to become in our minds, anyways. So, when we got to the recorded part of it, we only had fragments of ideas and didnt have many songs. We made the record in six weeks with producer Flood, who really helped with the sound. He gave a solid foundation to any of the songs that he felt were built on twigs. We used a lot of electronics, which we wanted to move into anyway. So the songs were more electronic than most of the songs on our first album, Some Friendly. When we released it, a lot of people who liked our first album were in tears because they hated it. I remember coming to America and all the people from the record company at RCA were really not sure if it was as good as the first album. That was disappointing to us in many ways, but as a record, it really stood the test of time. Now people can look back on it and say look at how strong it is especially songs like Weirdo, Ignition, and The End of Everything. Another great song is I Cant Even Be Bothered, which doesnt stray that far from what you did on Some Friendly. Were you under a lot of strain during those sessions? There were reports that guitarist Jon Baker left the band and bassist Martin Blunt had a nervous breakdown. Was everyone overwhelmed by the success of the first record, and did that success leave you in a haze of self-indulgence? We were all into Ecstasy on the first record. But we were more into smoking grass for the second record. We had very, very early mornings and very late nights. Everything was going all the time. Thats where the craziness came from. Your fifth album Telling Stories turned 20 years old in April. That was your most commercially successful record to date. Why did it eclipse the sales of some of your other records? I dont know. Its such a different sound. More rock. Maybe that had something to do with it. What was going on when you were making that album? [Keyboardist] Rob Collins had just come out of jail. He was arrested for assisting an armed robber. He drove the getaway car and they got caught and he we went to jail [for four months]. It was very crazy. Very rock n roll. Tragically, he died shortly after that, when he crashed his BMW. Police reported that he had been drinking before the accident and wasnt wearing a seatbelt. It was crazy a crazy time. I didnt get over that for a long time, especially in the beginning. He was the main songwriter, the leader of the band. He played the most visible instrument in the band, which was the Hammond organ. How did you find out about the accident? The police came to the studio. Rob had been following us in a car. We lost him at a light. There were a lot of roads leading up the studio. When he didnt show up, we all thought he had gone for a cigarette. But he was upside-down in a field. Was it difficult to finish the record after that? We were all in the studio. [Guitarist] Mark Collins and Jon left to go away for the weekend, but came back the next morning to find out if it was real or not, and to see what was gonna happen next. There were photographers and reporters outside the studio. We had to make a statement. It was a bit weird, all of it, and hard to believe. There were lots of phone calls coming into the studio. We didnt know what to do. Then we were offered to play Knebworth as the special guest of Oasis. That was before Robs death, and our publicist called and said, You still gotta do it. And we couldnt work out how we were gonna do it. Martin Duffy from Primal Scream stepped forward and said he wanted to help us out. And from that moment, probably just 24 hours after Rob died, people were just offering help for us to continue as a band, and I think thats one of the things that kept us going. Did Robs death, or Jons death, ever make you think about calling it a day and breaking up the band? They were horrible moments, but Im not the giving-up kind of guy. So it doesnt register to me, to be honest. Whether I think about it every day, or whether its only crossed my mind once in my life, I dont think it matters. I just live and I write, and people want me to make records, so I keep doing it and I just dont think about giving up. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images. Andy Swan is the co-founder of LikeFolio, a company that provides social data for investors. Social media data on consumer behavior suggests the Chipotle (CMG) turnaround may be over. At LikeFolio, we use data gathered from social media to measure trends and shifts in consumer behavior. Our most powerful metric, Purchase Intent Mentions, looks at the number of people tweeting theyre spending money with a company at that moment. In Chipotles case, this could be Headed to Chipotle for some grub or This Chipotle line is so slow. This approach gives us a real-time view into consumer spending patterns without having to run clunky surveys or wait for company-issued reports. At the turn of the year, things were starting to look promising for Chipotle as it started to recover from the fallout over two E. coli outbreaks. Purchase intent mentions had firmed significantly and looked ready to move higher. Our late 2016 prediction of a Chipotle turnaround was shaping up nicely as store sales came in with positive numbers, analysts began to talk about a turnaround, and the stock price started to rise from the $380s to solidly over $400. In its Q1 earnings report, the burrito chain confirmed what we were seeing in the early 2017 social data an increase in same-store sales along with revenue and earnings numbers that beat analysts expectations. The stock briefly touched $500/share and analyst upgrades began flowing in. Nice, right? Unfortunately, the same metrics that led us to accurately predict a Chipotle comeback early in the year are now telling us the turnaround party is officially over. To get a better view, lets look directly at the social-data. In the 5-year chart below, you can see that 1) purchase intent mentions (green line) have been very predictive of stock price (gray line) for Chipotle and 2) theyre starting to crumble here in the second quarter of 2017: What youre seeing at the far right of the chart above is a complete breakdown in purchase intent mentions in April and May. In fact, we are now seeing Chipotle turn in all-time low readings of purchase intent mentions, our most comprehensive and critical measure of consumer spending. Story continues There are many reasons this decline could be happening. The company is offering fewer giveaways to get people in the door and more and more fast-casual options are springing up in areas Chipotle used to dominate. Its also raised prices. As an aside, my personal theory for the decline in consumer interest is the fact that Chipotle stubbornly refuses to offer delicious queso. In any event, LikeFolio data is telling us consumers arent buying what Chipotle is selling. This negative shift in consumer behavior is coming at a critical time for the company. The stock is up almost 30% since our original turnaround prediction and expectations for the remainder of the year are as high as theyve ever been. If Chipotle were really in the midst of a turnaround, the social-data would be ticking up over the last couple of months not making all-time lows. This combination of high investor expectations, and social-data indications that consumers have resumed their Chipotle-exodus, is a recipe for some very disappointed shareholders through the rest of 2017. LikeFolio provides unique social-data insights to individual investors through the free LikeFolio app and to professional firms through its enterprise solutions. See also: Chipotle unveils a fried tortilla dessert The most bullish indicator for Chipotle ahead of earnings What a 20% tariff could mean for Chipotles menu The Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice has been fired for lying on his job application, according to reports. Timothy Loehmann was fired for providing false information in his application to join the Cleveland Police Department, allegedly lying about how his brief period of time with the Independence Police Department came to an end, Cleveland.com reported. Though he claimed to have resigned for personal reason, from the police force, he was in fact allowed to resign to avoid being fired information he was reportedly supposed to disclose. In his six months with the Independence Police Department, Loehmanns supervisors allegedly found him to be immature and unable to emotionally function, a disciplinary letter obtained by Cleveland.com said. Read: 911 Dispatcher, Police Officer Disciplined in Connection With Tamir Rice Case He was also found to have had an emotional breakdown on the gun range in Independence, officials said. Loehmann failed to disclose any of those details as well as the fact that he failed a 2009 written exam when applying to work as an officer in Maple Heights when he applied to the Cleveland Police Department. As satisfying as it is that he was terminated, he was never brought up on charges for killing Tamir Rice, Rice family lawyer Earl Ward told The New York Daily News. So it was the right result for all the wrong reasons." Read: City Apologizes After Family of 12-Year-Old Boy Fatally Shot By Cops Is Billed For Ambulance Eight months after joining the Cleveland Police Department, Loehmann shot and killed Tamir, who was playing with a pellet gun, at the Cudell Recreation Center in November 2014. Loehmann fired his gun less than three seconds after arriving at the scene. In 2015, a grand jury declined to indict Loehmann or his partner, Frank Garmback, who received a 10-day suspension. Story continues The city of Cleveland ultimately paid a $6 million settlement to Tamirs family. Watch: Whoopi Goldberg on Police Shootings of Black Men: I Feel Like We're Being Hunted Related Articles: Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton opened up Wednesday in an appearance at a tech conference, arguing that reports of Russian interference in the election were ignored and that her campaign was plagued by sexism. While Clinton has been largely reclusive since her November loss to President Trump, she has begun to make more public statements on her defeat, including an interview in New York magazine. She also gave the commencement address at her alma mater, Wellesley College, last week and criticized Trumps leadership. Clinton continued that trend with this weeks appearance at the Code Conference in San Francisco, discussing the current political environment with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg. In the discussion, she hit out at former FBI Director James Comey and media members, who she said targeted her own scandals at the expense of potential Russian interference in the campaign. Comey was more than happy to talk about my emails, but he wouldnt talk about investigation of the Russians, Clinton said. She added that Russian operatives would have had difficulty affecting the election outcome unless they had been guided by Americans. During the campaign, Comey announced in the summer of 2016 that he would not recommend charges against Clinton or her top aides after investigating their use of a private email server for State Department business. In his public remarks at the time, Comey boosted GOP arguments against Clinton by calling her email setup extremely careless. But in an eleventh-hour announcement, Comey said in late October that he was looking at additional emails, only to return to his initial stance of no charges on the eve of the election. Both Clinton and many of her supporters in part blame Comey for her loss. (Comey recently said he also tried to write a public statement in August addressing Russian election interference, but the offer was rejected by the Obama administration.) FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Oversight Committee about Hillary Clintons email investigation in July 2016. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP) In her Wednesday remarks, Clinton argued that the email scandal was vastly overblown. Story continues The overriding issue that affected the election that I had any control over because I had no control over the Russians was the way the use of my email account was turned into the greatest scandal since Lord knows when, Clinton said. This was the biggest nothing burger ever. Clinton also said that another scandal paid speeches she gave to large banks and investment firms was also a nonissue. Why do you have Goldman Sachs here, Clinton asked the moderators. Because they paid us, Swisher responded. They paid me too, Clinton noted. Clinton suggested that criticism stemming from the speeches was driven by sexism, a subject she returned to later. I never said I was a perfect candidate and I never said I ran perfect campaigns, Clinton said. But I dont know who is or did. And at some point it sort of bleeds over into misogyny. People who have a set of expectations about who should be president and what a president looks like, theyre going to be much more skeptical or critical of someone who doesnt look like or talk like or sound like everyone else who has been president. Clinton even weighed in on Wednesdays controversy du jour: Trumps botched tweet discussing his negative press convfefe. I thought it was a hidden message to the Russians, Clinton said, laughing. Read more from Yahoo News: By Rodrigo Campos and Nichola Groom NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. coal company shares dipped alongside renewable energy stocks on Wednesday after reports that President Donald Trump plans to pull the United States from a global accord on fighting climate change. The market reaction reflects concerns, raised by some coal companies in recent months, that a U.S. exit from the Paris Climate Agreement could unleash a global backlash against coal interests outside the United States. Peabody Energy, the largest publicly traded U.S. coal company dropped 2.2 percent to $24.29 a share, while Arch Coal fell 0.4 percent to $70.77. A spokesman for Peabody said the company would support a decision by Trump to withdraw from the Paris deal because the "accord is flawed on a number of levels." Peabody, however, was among a handful of big coal companies that had argued that Trump should stay in the deal to help protect coal industry interests overseas, including by ensuring funding for coal-fired power plants and so-called "clean coal" technology. Cloud Peak Energy Inc had also urged the Trump administration to stay in the Paris deal to prevent other nations from an aggressive turn against the global coal industry. Its shares were down 0.6 percent to $3.39. A spokesman for Cloud Peak declined to comment. A source briefed on the matter told Reuters that Trump is planning to follow through on his campaign pledge to pull the United States out of the Paris accord, a move designed to help boost domestic energy production and speed economic growth, after weeks of deliberations on the issue. Trump did not confirm the decision, but said he would make an announcement "over the coming days". CAMPAIGN PLEDGE A U.S. withdrawal would come over the objections of scores of big U.S. corporations - from Wal-Mart to Exxon Mobil - worried the move will complicate the business landscape instead of bolstering the economy. "For us, our position on the Paris agreement... we need a framework like that to address the risks of climate change," Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday. Exxon had made that case in a recent letter to the White House, he said. Exxon dipped 0.7 percent, ConocoPhillips declined 0.2 percent, and Chevron Corp fell 0.6 percent. Crude oil prices fell to a three-week low on news that recovering Libyan output boosted OPEC crude output in May. Solar energy shares also got hit on Wednesday, with First Solar Inc down 2.5 percent, and SunPower Corp each down 3.4 percent. "Regardless of what the President decides on the accord, we expect Americas solar industry to continue to thrive and create jobs, boost the economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," the Solar Energy Industries Association said in a statement. Shares of Tesla Inc, which recently acquired SolarCity, were up 1.8 percent at $341.01. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that he had done "all I can" to convince Trump to stay in the Paris accord, and threatened to leave White House advisory councils if Trump announces a U.S. exit. Trump campaigned on a promise to unravel Obama-era climate regulations to help boost domestic oil, gas and coal production. Company executives, economists, and analysts have expressed skepticism, however, that his deregulatory agenda can alter existing trends away from coal. U.S. carbon emissions have declined to near 30-year lows, a trend driven by increased natural gas use replacing coal. The VanEck Vectors Coal exchange-traded fund fell 1.2 percent to $12.71, not far from a five-month low hit earlier in May. The ETF is on track to fall 7.2 percent this month after rising in the first three months of the year as part of the so-called Trump trade. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Nichola Groom and Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio) Can your dog suffer from social anxiety? Learn the answer and see how you can make things easier for your furry friend. Veterinarian Courtney Campbell joins The Doctors to take a question from show producer Keegan. I have a very, very cute dog who loves me very much, but he just doesnt like other people, she explains. He gets very anxious. Hes especially protective of his home, and will growl and snap at guests. Anxious is an understatement! comments Urologist Dr. Jennifer Berman, who has met Keegans dog, Cash. She says hes charged her but he also hides under the furniture. And Dr. Berman likes dogs! Keegan points out. Its not people who are scared of dogs. Watch: Ask the Vet: Puppy Behavior With Cashs situation, hes saying to himself, Im really scared, Im really anxious, explains Dr. Campbell. The only way Cash knows how to cope with those feelings is to try to scare the intruders away. We have to basically let Cash know that having a lot of people in the room is not the time to be anxious. Dr. Campbell recommends introducing people to Cash one at a time. When a new person introduces the room, they should ignore Cash and let him adjust gradually to their presence. When Cash relaxes enough to come up and meet the stranger, he gets a treat! He also recommends using a head-halter to keep Cash from lunging at guests. And a thunder shirt might help these weighted vests can help some anxious dogs feel more secure in scary situations. Watch: Is Throwing Sticks with Your Dog Dangerous? Keegan admits that now she feels anxious when people come over, because she doesnt want Cash to be scared and she also doesnt want him attacking her guests! And her anxiety is probably making his reactions worse. To lower everyones anxiety, Dr. Campbell suggests using commands more often with Cash. Theres no free lunch, he explains. Cash has to sit, he gets a treat. He stays, he gets a treat. This strengthens the bond between Keegan and Cash, and when Cash is under stress hell play attention to Keegan. Regardless of the scenario, you and him are together, he concludes. By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) - The disgraced daughter of a key figure in a corruption scandal that led to the downfall of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye returned home from Denmark on Wednesday, saying she wanted to clear up misunderstandings. Chung Yoo-ra, 20, who fled to Europe last year to avoid prosecution on charges linked to her mother, Choi Soon-sil, her academic record and her equestrian career, was taken by prosecutors for questioning as soon as she landed. Chung, who was with her infant son when she was arrested by Danish authorities in January, unexpectedly dropped her appeal against extradition last week. "As my baby son has not been able to spend time with the family, I thought it would be better for me to return to South Korea to sort out misunderstanding over the scandal," Chung told reporters. Choi is being held in detention and is on trial for extortion, abuse of power and attempted fraud to extort millions of dollars from big companies, including Samsung Electronics in hand with impeached ex-leader Park, her long-time friend. The three women have denied all wrongdoing. South Korean authorities have also been investigating whether Samsung Electronics channeled money to a German firm controlled by Choi to sponsor Chung's equestrian career in return for favors from Choi and Park. Chung said she did not know of her mother's relationship with Park and how that played in her career. "I was not aware of the details of the Samsung Group's financial assistance for my equestrian training, although my mother had vaguely told me about it," said Chung. Chung won a gold medal in group dressage at the 2014 Asian Games. In return for the assistance, prosecutors have alleged Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee received political favors and government support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015, which helped Lee cement his control of the group after the hospitalization of his father, former Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee. Lee, held in detention and on a separate trial, has also denied wrongdoing. Lee Kyung-jae, a lawyer for Choi who is likely to represent Chung, said of Choi: "As a mother, she is worried about the circumstances that her daughter will now face back in the country." Chung faces charges that include criminal interference related to her academic record and acceptance into a competitive women's university with questionable qualifications. Her entrance to the school and high school diploma were subsequently canceled after authorities found Chung's high school attendance and test grades had been fabricated, sparking a public furor. Prior to Chung's arrival on Wednesday, prosecutors asked the court to jail her mother for seven years for conspiring with school officials to forge her daughter's academic record. Prosecutors are expected to seek a warrant to keep Chung in a holding cell as they can only detain her for 48 hours following Wednesday's arrest. (Additional reporting by Sang-gyu Lim; Editing by Christine Kim and Nick Macfie) By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE (Reuters) - A 50-year-old Tennessee man was arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct after he could not buy the popcorn he wanted while attending a movie, police said on Tuesday. Paul West, of Clarksville, Tennessee, was charged with throwing an empty popcorn container at a theater employee and then punching and trying to bite the police officer who responded to the scene at 11:30 p.m. local time on Monday, Clarksville, Tennessee, Police spokesman Jim Knoll said by telephone. "I haven't ever had anybody upset over popcorn," said Knoll, a civilian employee who previously worked 22 years on the Clarksville police force. The town is 45 miles northwest of Nashville. Police said in a statement that they responded to a report of "a man who was irate because the theater's concession stand was closed and they would not sell him popcorn. West took an empty popcorn container from the trash and demanded a refill, police said. After staff refused to fill the container, he threw it at the employee, knocked over a display and disappeared into a theater, police said. Officer Jennifer Renken responded to the complaint, saw the damage West caused, found him in the theater and attempted to detain him, at which point West threw a trash can at her and punched her several times in the face. He also tried to bite Renken, police said. Renken suffered minor injuries in the altercation. West was charged with assault, disorderly conduct, aggravated assault and resisting on Tuesday morning during his arraignment, Montgomery County court officials said. He was held in Montgomery County Jail on $22,500 bond and there was no record of an attorney assigned to him. Officials did not identify what movie West had attended. (Reporting by Tim Ghianni, Editing by Ben Klayman and Dan Grebler) President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner may have colluded on the alleged Russia link plan: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS Donald Trump may have ordered Jared Kushner to try and set up a secret communication link with Russia, a former CIA official has claimed. Mr Kushner allegedly met with the Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak In December to discuss setting up a channel which would be immune from security monitoring, The Washington Post reported last week. The revelations provoked outrage in Washington as the investigation into alleged ties between the US government and Moscow rumbles on. The FBI is thought to be in the process of scrutinising Mr Kushners presence at meetings with Mr Kislyak. Philip Mudd, a security analyst who worked at the CIA for 25 years, suggested Mr Trump may have proposed the channel idea to Mr Kushner or at least approved it, and said it was unlikely Mr Kushner had been working alone. Theres a judgment by Jared Kushner and the Presidents team that says, I trust the Russians more than I trust the Americans. Im going to go talk to the Russian embassy because I dont trust American channels, Mr Mudd told CNN. Im going to presume he did this at the behest of the President-elect of the United States. I find it hard to believe that he was lone wolfing it on this, that he developed a plan entirely independent of Donald Trump or Mike Flynn or anybody else. He is a member of the family, he is a trusted adviser. But hes not someone who believes he should just go and run channels, particularly at that point, particularly in the transition period. At the weekend President Trump took to Twitter to dismiss the White House leaks involving Russia as fake news, and told The New York Times he had total confidence in his son-in-law. Mr Kushner offered in March to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating Russia's attempts to interfere in last year's election. Mr Cohen said he had turned down the request from congressional investigators: AP The federal investigation into alleged collusion between Donald Trumps campaign team and Moscow, has now spread to include the Presidents personal lawyer. Michael Cohen, who was previously employed by the Trump Organisation, told US media he had been asked by House and Senate investigators to provide information and testimony about any contacts he had with people connected to the Russian government. He said he had turned down the invitation. I declined the invitation to participate, as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered, he told ABC News. Today we remember and salute those who gave their lives for Country! #GodBlessAmerica #memorialday2017 pic.twitter.com/DvijZBEK8P Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) May 29, 2017 The Associated Press said that a member of staff of the House Intelligence Committee said Mr Cohen had confirmed that Mr Cohen had been issued a subpoena. After Mr Cohen rejected the congressional requests for cooperation, the Senate Select Intelligence Committee voted unanimously to grant its chairman, Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, and ranking Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia, blanket authority to issue subpoenas as they deemed necessary. While Mr Trumps son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, has been the subject of much media focus in recent days, after it was revealed he was a target of the ongoing FBI probe, Mr Cohen is also considered very close to the President. The network said that insiders consider him be Mr Trumps pit bull or consigliere for his role in threatening legal action against critics of the New York tycoon. In a 2016 appearance on CNN that went viral, the stone-faced attorney flashed anger when anchor Brianna Keiler said the Trump campaign was down. Story continues Says who? he challenged. When she cited polls, he said: Which polls? She replied, All of them. He then responded: Youre going to all be very surprised when he polls substantially higher than what you all are giving him credit for. Trump tweets that he will announce decision at 3pm ET on Thursday Withdrawal would sorely weaken landmark deal by nearly 200 countries Frustrated world leaders prepare to move on without the US Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he would reach a final decision in a few days, shortly after a wave of reports said he was about to exit the deal. Photograph: Ciro Fusco/AP Donald Trump is poised to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, according to multiple reports, in a move that would profoundly undermine the landmark agreement by nearly 200 countries to curtail global warming. Trump tweeted late on Wednesday that he would announce his final decision at 3pm ET on Thursday in the White House rose garden. It followed a wave of reports that he was about to exit from the deal. The reports follow his refusal to express support for global efforts to combat climate change at a G7 summit with European leaders last week. I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M. The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017 Should the US exit from the Paris agreement, which was negotiated and ratified under Barack Obama, the country would join only Syria and Nicaragua as non-participants. The US had previously committed to a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 26-28% by 2025. On Wednesday afternoon during a press call with the Vietnamese prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Trump was asked if he was leaning toward getting out, to which he replied: Youre going to find out very soon. Asked whether he has been hearing from CEOs and others trying to persuade him on the climate agreement, Trump said: Im hearing from a lot of people, both ways. Both ways. Shortly before, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said he did not know if Trump has already made up his mind after listening to industry leaders and foreign leaders. Hes had a lot of input and ultimately hell make the decision, he said during an off-camera briefing that lasted only 12 minutes. Story continues A sombre Spicer told reporters: I think the presidents comments on this, that hell be making a decision on this in the next few days, stand. Pressed further, he replied only: When the president has a decision hell make that announcement and hell make it clear what the basis of that is. Asked about entrepreneur Elon Musks threat to leave White House advisory councils if the US withdraws from the deal, Spicer said: Lets wait and see what the presidents decision is. I dont want to get ahead of it. The Trump administration has been divided on the issue, with the EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, and Trumps adviser Steve Bannon among the conservative hardliners who have been in favor of a US exit from the deal. Axios, which first reported on Trumps intention to exit the deal on Wednesday, said the details were being ironed out by a team led by Pruitt. Trump has dubbed climate change a hoax, and once tweeted that global warming was a concept created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive. The US president nonetheless faced immense pressure during his first foreign trip since taking office to uphold the pact from world leaders and Pope Francis, who gave Trump his papal encyclical on climate change during their meeting at the Vatican. But the efforts to persuade Trump were very unsatisfactory, according to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who observed: Here we have the situation that six members, or even seven if you want to add the EU, stand against one. As with many of Trumps major decisions, news of his pending move leaked through anonymous sources that gave way to a reality TV-style narrative playing out before the public. The competing in-house factions were reportedly at war, with Pruitt and Bannon up against Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the presidents daughter and son-in-law, who despite attempts to paint themselves as moderating influences on the president so far have little to show for it. Some observers interpreted the spectacle as a trial balloon, by which officials were seeking to nudge Trump in either direction based on the reaction in the press. The environmental activist and author Bill McKibben said if reports were true, the presidents planned move amounted to an incredibly stupid decision that would isolate the US not simply among its allies but much of the world. It ranks right up there with the worst decisions in American political history, said McKibben, a regular Guardian contributor. Theres not a climate scientist in the world who thinks his arguments make sense. The US ranks as the worlds second-largest carbon polluter, and initial estimates by universities and thinktanks suggest its withdrawal would add up to 3bn tonnes of extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year, raising the global temperature by 0.1-0.3C (0.2-0.5F) by the end of the century. Environmentalists also fear the ripple effect Trumps decision might have on other major polluters, such as China and India, who have reiterated their commitment to the accord but could be emboldened to walk away in the face of similar action by the US. The US business community has been particularly vocal in the need to address climate change, which could have a devastating impact on the economy and jobs, according to research. One report, published by Citigroup in 2015, estimated at least $44tn in cumulative lost GDP over the next five decades stemming from the effects of global warming. Major American companies such as Walmart, Starbucks and Goldman Sachs have in turn outlined ambitious targets in recent years to switch to 100% renewable energy. Brian Deese, a former senior adviser to Obama who oversaw the administrations agenda on climate, conservation and energy policy, said a move by Trump to withdraw from the Paris accord would amount to the US effectively stepping away from the table at a time when the global rules of the world are going to be written. We have a lot to gain from expanding clean energy and energy efficiency they are some of the fasting growing sectors of our economy, Deese stold the Guardian. Donald Trump cant cancel the Paris agreement, and he cant cancel the momentum that is behind it both diplomatically and economically, he added. Tillerson, the secretary of state, has urged the US to remain in the accord, which is backed by a majority of the American public. And while other countries have vowed to press on, with or without the US, its absence would leave the enforcement of the deal in a flux. The consequences would be especially profound for coastal cities facing rising sea levels, the protection of endangered species, and areas around the world already suffering from heatwaves and food insecurity. Trump has taken action in recent months to weaken the environmental legacy of the Obama administration by paving the way to overturn rules to curb greenhouse gas emissions and protect American waterways from pollution. During the presidential campaign, Trump pledged to cancel the Paris accord within his first 100 days of office. But Democratic mayors across the US have vowed to uphold the Paris climate agreement, even if the president withdraws. Responding to reports on Wednesday, the New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, called the decision to leave the accord a dagger aimed straight at the heart of the presidents native New York. The Paris Accord was the biggest step forward weve taken in many years. Its unconscionable for the president to step away from it, De Blasio wrote on Twitter. But well take matters into our own hands. At a press call later,De Blasio pledged to sign an executive order affirming the citys commitment to the accord if Trump pulled the US out of the accord. During a press conference on Wednesday, Bostons mayor, Marty Walsh, said that if the White House decided to withdraw, the responsibility to protect the environment would fall to cities. No matter what the president decides, I want to make it absolutely clear to the White House and our partners worldwide that the city of Boston will not back down. We will honor these responsibilities to our children and to our planet and we will do what is right, Walsh added. Thats who we are in the city. The Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, a co-founder of Mayors National Climate Change Agenda, has said repeatedly that if the White House leaves the Paris deal, his city will adopt it independently. If the White House withdraws from the Paris climate accord, were going to adopt it in Los Angeles. #CAPIdeas Eric Garcetti (@ericgarcetti) May 16, 2017 The Mayors National Climate Change Agenda sent a letter to the president in March urging him against rolling back US climate policy, including the Obama-era clean power plan, which Trump has proposed defunding. In the UK, meanwhile, in a televised debate ahead of the countrys general election next week, leading politicians were critical of any US decision to leave Paris. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, said she was disappointed by the expected move. Additional reporting by Damian Carrington AP Donald Trump is becoming increasingly isolated and stressed as the demands of the Presidency take its toll, according to a new report. "He now lives within himself, which is a dangerous place for Donald Trump to be," one source close to Mr Trump told CNN. "I see him emotionally withdrawing. He's gained weight. He doesn't have anybody whom he trusts." The President was already in a pretty glum mood before his first foreign trip to the Middle East and Europe, according to the source. On his return, his woes intensified as fresh allegations emerged which centre on the role of the Presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in communications with the Russian government. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. Last week, The Washington Post reported Mr Kushner had met a Russian ambassador to discuss setting up a channel which would be immune from security monitoring. A security analyst who worked at the CIA for 25 years said yesterday it was hard to believe the President had no knowledge of his son-in-laws actions. Im going to presume he did this at the behest of the President-elect of the United States, Philip Mudd told CNN. As ever, the President dismissed the allegations as the work of the fake news media. Mr Trump is also facing an uphill battle over his hugely unpopular healthcare reforms. The government is making a second attempt to replace Obamacare after it was forced to withdraw its last bill in a high-profile failure for the President. It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2017 The first American Health Care Act (AHCA) was pulled after it was clear it did not have sufficient support from Republicans. Story continues It squeezed through the House of Representatives by 217 votes to 213 - but now faces a tough challenge in the Senate. The latest attempt faces unanimous opposition from the Democrats, as well as a number of Republicans including Ohio governor John Kasich. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell admitted last week he didnt know how the Republicans would be able to reach the 50-vote majority required. Donald Trump previously said he thought climate change was a hoax perpetrated by China: Mike Theiler/Reuters Donald Trump is to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, White House sources have claimed. The US is currently one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world, so if President Trump was to pull the country out the landmark pact to reduce such carbon emissions it would be a major blow to a deal that aims to help avert the worst effects of climate change. Following a number of reports in US media about the move, Mr Trump tweeted that he would be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days followed by his campaign slogan MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!. The Axios news website said the sources had direct knowledge of the decision made by the Republican billionaire, who has previously described global warming as a hoax perpetrated by China also a large polluter. As President, Mr Trump can withdraw from Paris on his own authority. The reason it was called an agreement' was to enable Barack Obama to use the president's executive power to ratify it without having to seek the permission of the Republican-controlled Congress, which must ratify any international treaties. The US delegation had to negotiate for several hours over complicated legal language the day the agreement was signed in December 2015. Part of the issue was that other countries were very concerned about the exact situation the world is now: a post-Obama administration catering to climate deniers in the US Congress that would be able to legally withdraw. The decision to withdraw from the climate accord was influenced by a letter from 22 Republican US senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for an exit, Axios reported. Mr Trump has ignored the advice of a string of senior advisers, including his own daughter Ivanka Trump, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who all advocated keeping a seat at the table. Mr Mattis and others in the Department of Defence have noted that the Pentagon does a substantial amount of work addressing rising sea levels, changing sea routes for warships due to melting glaciers, and the affects of drought and floods on US national security interests. Story continues During his campaign, Mr Trump had vowed to cancel the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming President, as part of an effort to bolster US oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his scepticism of global efforts to police US carbon emissions. However, he later said he would take his time to understand the issue of the Paris agreement before deciding whether to pull out. The Trump administration must now decide whether to begin the three-year withdrawal process stipulated by the Paris Agreement. or ditch the underlying United Nations treaty which would speed up the process. Such a move would be a sign that he plans to further cut environmental regulations and attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enacted by Mr Obama. Mr Trump's proposed federal budget includes major cuts to the tune of nearly 30 per cent of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), however his planned $54bn increase to defence spending may cover some climate-related programmes depending on if discretion is granted to the Pentagon. He also wants to cut the budget of the US Coast Guard, the maritime security agency, by a significant amount. The agency's work also encompasses ocean conservation, marine life and endangered species protection, and some research. The report of the apparent decision comes hours after the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the US to remain within the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible. So far the world's average temperature has risen by just under one degree because of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Germany, France and other leading nations have expressed frustration with Mr Trump's stance on climate change. Even Pope Francis tried to persuade the US President during his recent visit to the Vatican by presenting him with a papal letter, or encyclical, the Pontiff wrote in 2015 regarding the need to address the multi-faceted issue of climate change. Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a US exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Canada, the European Union, and China have said they will honour their commitments to the pact even if the United States withdraws. A source told Reuters that India had also indicated it would stick by the deal. Mr Trump's attitude toward the agreement prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to say that Europeans can no longer rely on the US. "If this is true, it is a big setback. Then, we must find partners to continue, because this work must not stop," Finlands Prime Minister Juha Sipila told parliament. Friends of the Earth, an international network of environmental organisations, said in a statement that this was a short-sighted and dangerous decision. They said it will be met by opposition around the world: from ordinary people, to scientists, and political leaders making the US a global outcast. Brussels (AFP) - The European Union and China will throw their full weight behind the Paris climate accord at a summit on Friday, EU officials said, in a bid to fill the void if the US quits the pact. The summit in Brussels could mark a dramatic shift in global politics, with the EU taking over from the United States in working with China to fight climate change. Signalling a new level of cooperation, the two sides will stress the "highest political commitment" to implement all aspects of the historic 2015 agreement, according to a copy of a draft joint statement seen by AFP on Wednesday. The EU-China summit follows a tense international tour by US President Donald Trump in which he spurned pleas by his European counterparts to adhere to the deal. US media reported Wednesday that Trump had decided to pull his country out of the accord but the unpredictable US tycoon indicated he would keep the world guessing for another few days. "We will issue a joint statement on climate change that will stress that China and the EU... will implement the agreement," a senior EU official told reporters on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity. "The Paris Agreement will continue with full force of implementation even if the US pulls out," he added. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will arrive in Brussels late Thursday for talks with EU president Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, with climate change at the top of the agenda. "The EU and China consider the Paris Agreement as an historic achievement further accelerating the irreversible global low greenhouse gas emission and climate resilient development," the draft joint statement said. "The EU and China underline their highest political commitment to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement in all its aspects," according to the nine-page draft. They will "significantly intensify" their political, technical, economic and scientific cooperation on climate change and clean energy to help the world shift to an economy based on low greenhouse gas emissions. Story continues - 'New driver' - Hoping to make the climate fight a "main pillar" of their bilateral partnership, including economic relations, the two underlined that their cooperation will fuel job creation, investments and economic growth, the statement said. Europe and China will also expand their cooperation on developing carbon markets, so-called emissions trading systems. "If US-China climate cooperation gave birth to the Paris Agreement, now it is up to EU and China to defend and enhance it," said Li Shuo, climate policy advisor of Greenpeace East Asia. "The pair has the potential to become the new driver for international climate diplomacy," Li said in a statement. Former US president Barack Obama and the Chinese leadership were instrumental in building momentum toward the climate deal. It was signed by 196 countries that set themselves goals to minimize carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. If the United States, by most measures the world's second-biggest polluter after China, were to pull out or reduce its goals, efforts to reduce the global temperature increase might fail. But European officials insisted that the deal would remain on track. "I understand that if they decide to pull out it will be disappointing but I really don't think this will change the course of mankind," European Commission vice president for energy, Maros Sefcovic, said at a briefing. "Despite this possible rollback of the US administration, Europe is ready for the leadership (on climate change) and we will definitely provide it," he added. EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete said the world could count on European climate leadership. "No one should be left behind, but the EU and China have decided to move forward. More on Friday," Canete tweeted. Berlin (AFP) - Europe must step up as a player in world affairs, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday, signalling that the EU needs to take control of its destiny in the era of US President Donald Trump. "Transatlantic ties are of paramount importance to us... but the current situation gives more reasons for... us to take our destiny in our own hands," said Merkel, stressing that "Europe must become a player active in international affairs". Merkel had made waves on Sunday when she told a rally in southern Germany that the United States and Britain may no longer be completely reliable partners. A day later, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also lashed out at Washington, saying the Trump administration's "short-sighted policies... stand against the interest of the European Union". Germany's startling assessment came after Trump's first tour abroad, when he snubbed pressure from G7 allies to sign up to upholding the 2015 Paris climate accord. The US leader also berated 23 of NATO's 28 members -- including Germany -- for "still not paying what they should be paying" towards the funding of the alliance. Despite her dismay at the direction Trump is taking, Merkel was also at pains to underline the importance of US relations. She dismissed any talk that Germany was shifting away from its old ally and pivoting East, after she hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks and with meetings planned later this week with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. "We began our German-Indian government consultations a few years ago, as we have for German-China consultations," she said. "We live in a globalised world and India ... is a partner," she said, adding that "in no way do other relations stand against transatlantic ties, which are of paramount importance". European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said President Trump doesnt seem to understand that he cant immediately yank the United States out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Thats not how it works. The Americans cant just leave the climate protection agreement, Juncker said Wednesday, according to a translation from NBC News. Mr. Trump believes that because he doesnt get close enough to the dossiers to fully understand them. Reports circulated Wednesday that Trump had decided to withdraw from the international pact which has been signed by every country in the world except Nicaragua and Syria but as of late afternoon there was no formal announcement. Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg, has been leading the European Commission, the civil service of the European Unions executive branch in Brussels, since November 2014. During a student conference on Europes future, he explained that the United States would have to wait three to four years after the agreement took effect in November 2016 before leaving. European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker speaking in Brussels, May 30, 2017. (Photo: Thierry Charlier/AFP/Getty Images) Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk represented the European Union at last weeks Group of Seven (G7) summit in Taormina, a small town in Sicily. They met with leaders from the seven democracies with the worlds most developed economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Amid talk of combating terrorism and the global economy, they also discussed international efforts to fight climate change. These conversations come at a particularly fraught time because Trump, who does not share his predecessor Barack Obamas commitment to clean energy, has been reviewing the United States environmental policies. According to a translation from NBC News, Juncker said that they attempted to explain to Trump that he could not simply pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement because the treaty contains safeguards to prevent exactly that. So this notion, I am Trump, I am American, America first and Im going to get out of it that wont happen, he continued. We tried to explain that to Mr. Trump in Taormina in clear German sentences. It seems our attempt failed. Story continues He said that the law is the law and it must be obeyed regardless of what Trump thinks, adding somewhat sardonically that not everything in international agreements is fake news. French President Emmanuel Macron, left, President Trump and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker gather, in Taormina, Italy, May 26, 2017. (Photo: Luca Bruno/AP) On Wednesday morning, Axios published a report citing two sources with direct knowledge of the decision that Trump was planning to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Shortly after the news spread, Trump tweeted that he would be announcing his decision regarding the international agreement within the next few days. Later Wednesday, during a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam at the White House, Trump dodged a question about whether he still thinks that climate change is a hoax. When asked if he was leaning in a direction concerning Paris, Trump simply said, Im hearing from a lot of people both ways. Many scientific organizations have released statements or reports affirming that anthropogenic climate change is real and that it could have devastating effects if actions are not taken to limit carbon dioxide emissions. The American Meteorological Society released a statement that read in part: It is clear from extensive scientific evidence that the dominant cause of the rapid change in climate of the past half century is human-induced increases in the amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), chlorofluorocarbons, methane and nitrous oxide. Dan Bodansky, a law professor at Arizona State University and a leading climate change expert, explained that Trump could get the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement two different ways: withdrawing from the Paris Agreement itself or leaving the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The text of Paris Agreement allows for countries to provide a years notice of its intent to withdraw. But this notice cannot be submitted until three years after the agreement entered into force for that country, which happened in November 2016. Whether the U.S. decides to pull out or not, under international law and the Paris Agreement, the withdrawal would not be effective until 2020, Bodansky told Yahoo News. Another option, which would get the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement in just one year, would be to leave UNFCCC, which was an agreement brokered under former President George H.W. Bush in the early 90s. Although this would be faster, it would carry even more serious consequences. Bodansky said that leaving the UNFCCC would automatically get the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement as well. If we pulled out of both then we wouldnt be a party at all. We wouldnt participate in meetings and wed just be there as an observer, he said. Both of them would be viewed very negatively by other countries by allies in Europe and elsewhere but pulling out of the Framework Convention would be an even more drastic step. Read more from Yahoo News: By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an event to mark Islam's holy month of Ramadan, two U.S. officials said, apparently breaking with a bipartisan tradition in place with few exceptions for nearly 20 years. Since 1999, Republican and Democratic secretaries of state have nearly always hosted either an iftar dinner to break the day's fast during Ramadan or a reception marking the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the month, at the State Department. Tillerson turned down a request from the State Department's Office of Religion and Global Affairs to host an Eid al-Fitr reception as part of Ramadan celebrations, said two U.S. officials who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. According to an April 6 memo seen by Reuters, the office - which typically initiates such events - recommended that Tillerson hold an Eid al-Fitr reception. His rejection of the request suggests there are no plans this year for any high-profile Ramadan function at the State Department. The month of fasting and prayer for Muslims gets under way in many countries on Saturday. When asked by Reuters to comment on Tillerson declining a request to host an Eid al-Fitr event in July for Ramadan, a State Department spokesperson said: "We are still exploring possible options for observance of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. U.S. ambassadors are encouraged to celebrate Ramadan through a variety of activities, which are held annually at missions around the world." Muslim activists have accused President Donald Trump's administration of having an unfriendly attitude toward Islam, encapsulated by its attempts to ban citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. The administration says that while it strongly opposes Islamist militants, it has no quarrel with Islam. Aides point to Trump's visit this month to Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam where he addressed the leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries, as evidence of that. Story continues For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. Members of Congress, Muslim civil society and community leaders, diplomats from Muslim countries and senior U.S. officials usually attend the State Department Ramadan event, a symbol of the U.S. government's diplomatic efforts with Muslim countries and people. If Tillerson avoids hosting one this year, that could send a message "that it is not as important to this administration to engage with Muslims," said former U.S. diplomat Farah Pandith, who served in the Bush and Obama administrations and helped plan Ramadan events at the White House and State Department. Tillerson issued a statement on Friday to mark the start of Ramadan, which he called "a month of reverence, generosity, and self-reflection." "Most importantly, it is a cherished time for family and friends to gather and give charity to those who are less fortunate," he said. PAST RAMADANS Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright started the tradition 18 years ago of America's top diplomat hosting a public event for Ramadan, a lunar month. The secretary of state of the time usually gives remarks there on the meaning of Ramadan. In April, the State Department's Office of Religion and Global Affairs made a request to Tillerson's office that he deliver remarks at an Eid al-Fitr reception this year, and suggested a two-week range of dates in July. The event would serve to "highlight State Department initiatives and the importance of Muslim engagement," the memo said. It noted that by hosting a reception just after Ramadan, rather than an iftar - an often sumptuous dinner at sunset - a State Department event could be held any time of the day, thus preventing "a very late evening for the Secretary." Several weeks later, that office and other offices at the State Department were alerted that Tillerson declined the request, the officials said. Reuters was told of the request being declined but did not see Tillerson's reply. An official with the Office of Religion and Global Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. Several prominent Muslim-American groups in the Washington area who are normally invited to the Ramadan event told Reuters this week that they had yet to receive an invitation from the State Department, which they said was unusual. "If they're having one, we haven't been invited," said Rabiah Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington. A representative for her group has been invited to the State Department event in the past, she said. FRAUGHT RELATIONSHIP Trump's administration has had a fraught relationship with Muslims. As a presidential candidate, the Republican urged a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, called for more surveillance of mosques and warned that radical Muslims were "trying to take over our children." Trump has since toned down his rhetoric and courts have halted his temporary travel ban on people from six mostly Muslim countries. White House officials did not respond to a request for comment on whether they would continue the tradition this year of hosting a Ramadan-related event at the White House. The State Department celebrates other religious traditions though some of those commemorations are not as well-established as the State Department's Ramadan event. In 2014, then-secretary of state John Kerry hosted the first ever celebration at the State Department marking Diwali, the Hindu festival. The White House also traditionally hosts annual Christmas and Easter events as well as a Seder dinner to mark the Jewish Passover. The top U.S. diplomat has personally hosted a Ramadan event every year since 1999, often in the State Department's grand Benjamin Franklin room, apart from three years. In 2006 and 2015, deputies of the secretary of state at the time hosted either an iftar dinner or an Eid al-Fitr reception. In 2014, Kerry hosted a reception for Eid al-Adha, another important Muslim holiday. (Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Alistair Bell) On this day in 1806, future President Andrew Jackson nearly died in a duel when he killed his opponent, a fellow plantation owner. While the deadly duel two years earlier between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton is the most famous in American history, Jackson was a frequent dueler among the prominent politicians of the dueling age, which lasted up until the Civil War era. Dueling was technically illegal in the United States, but prominent government leaders engaged in the practice. Button Gwinnett, who signed the Declaration of Independence, died in a 1777 duel with Lachlan McIntosh. After the killing, McIntosh was then sent to serve under George Washington as a leader in the Continental Army. DeWitt Clinton, the powerful New York politician, nearly killed a Burr supporter in an 1802 duel over patronage. Burr was serving as vice president when he met his rival, Hamilton, face-to-face in Weehawken, New Jersey. On July 11, 1804, the men met to end a decades-long feud. Both men fired, but only Hamilton was hit. He later died from his injuries. Hamilton may have been part of as many as 10 duels, but almost all were settled before shots were fired. Hamiltons son was killed in a duel, on the very same grounds where his father was later shot by Burr. One of most famous duels involving Jackson was with Charles Dickinson. In 1806, the two men met after Dickinson insulted Jacksons wife. Dickinson was regarded as one of the best shots in America. Jackson was a fearless soldier. The future president survived Dickinsons first shot, but Jacksons pistol jammed. In a breach of the code duello, Jackson re-cocked his pistol and killed Dickinson. In 1802, Jackson was involved in a duel with Tennessees governor, John Sevier, that ended in a standoff involving their seconds. Another frequent dueler was Thomas Hart Benton, who fought with Jackson, and had two duels with a rival attorney, Charles Lucas. Benton killed Lucas in their second duel in 1817. As a senator, Benton became Jacksons right-hand man in Congress. Story continues In 1820, a top Navy commander, Stephen Decatur, died in a duel with a former naval commander, James Barron. Barron apologized to Decatur as he fell wounded. Decatur accepted, saying it was an honorable duel. Two members of the House of Representatives fought in a fatal 1838 duel, when Kentucky Representative William Jordan Graves killed Maine Representative Jonathan Cilley. Graves was sent to deliver a dueling invitation from New York newspaper editor James Webb, but he wound up fighting Cilley. The Supreme Court boycotted the funeral in protest. Then, in 1842, an Illinois state legislator got in hot water after he allegedly published a letter insulting state auditor James Shields. Shields challenged the author of the letter to a duel. The alleged author was Abraham Lincoln. By the time the two men met for the duel, however, the duelers seconds were able to convince them to settle on the grounds that Lincoln was not responsible for the letters. Perhaps the oddest duel was between Secretary of State Henry Clay and Senator John Randolph in 1826. A known hothead, Randolph accused Clay of crucifying the Constitution and cheating at cards in a speech on the Senate floor. Randolph was a much better dueler and didnt want to kill the Secretary of State, so he worked with another chronic dueler, Thomas Hart Benton, to purposely miss the first shot, so Clay would end the duel. But Randolphs pistol misfired just before the duel, and after Clay demanded that the duel continue, Randolph shot at Clay and just missed. Clay then shot and missed twice. Randolph went back to his original plan and shot above Clay. Cooler heads prevailed, and the two politicians shook hands and ended the duel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Trump. (Photos: Sean Gallup/Getty Images Olivier Douliery/Getty Images) The German ambassador to the U.S. insisted Wednesday that Germany has a healthy relationship with the U.S. despite recently perceived tensions between the countries following comments made by their leaders after last weeks NATO and G7 summits. They have a good and productive relationship, Ambassador Peter Wittig said of President Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel, citing frequent phone calls between the two leaders and visits in Washington, D.C., and Europe. During the campaign, Trump frequently criticized Merkel, whom he accused of ruining Germany. There are few leaders as committed to the transatlantic relations as Chancellor Merkel is to the friendship with the United States, the German ambassador said in an interview with CNNs Alisyn Camerota. That has not changed with President Trump. The ambassadors comments follow remarks made by the two leaders that suggest a strained relationship between the allies. After his return from the global summits, Trump tweeted Tuesday that the U.S. has a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, a country that he added pay[s] FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. On Sunday, Merkel called for Europeans to take their fate into their own hands. We must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans, Merkel said, a comment some perceived as directed toward Trump, who awkwardly criticized NATO leaders for not meeting funding obligations. Trump made the comments directly to the U.S. allies while visiting a summit for the transatlantic alliance last weekend. But Merkel has made similar comments facing crises such as Brexit, her ambassador said. As a leader committed to transatlantic relations, Merkel will continue to discuss honestly differences of opinion including issues such as climate change and burden-sharing in NATO, Wittig said. Not long after the interview, multiple outlets reported Wednesday that Trump intends to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate deal, which is strongly backed by European leaders. Trump tweeted that he would decide whether to ditch the agreement over the next few days. Story continues The German ambassador also said his country is committed to incrementally raise its defense budget per agreements among NATO leaders. A guideline for the alliance is for member countries to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on their own defense each year. We have a good basis that we work on, on a daily basis, he said. This is a healthy relationship. Read more from Yahoo News: While Scripps National Spelling Bee this week tries to convince us that America can spell, Google has the state-by-state breakdown to prove otherwise. SEE ALSO: California State University's grad stole features a pretty brutal spelling error The search engine revealed Tuesday which word comes up the most when people type in, "How to spell..." and the results are something else. America's most misspelled words - it's #spellingbee week and we mapped top "how to spell" searches by state#dataviz pic.twitter.com/oHkRHj8Eku GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 30, 2017 The results are telling Wisconsin looks up how to spell their own state name the most, while New Hampshire is worried about diarrhea and getting that right. @GoogleTrends "Wisconsin" being the most misspelled word in Wisconsin is perfect. Jamison Stoltz (@EditorStoltz) May 30, 2017 Google itself has some of its own spelling problems to sort out. Its original map spelled Washington D.C.'s most searched word as "nintey," which is definitely not how you spell out the number 90. It was corrected later, along with some incorrect letter counting, with a new map and legend marked as the "one to use." We've made a few corrections to the legend. This is the one to use pic.twitter.com/0Z8fUlzmHc GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 30, 2017 Helpfully, or embarrassingly, Google broke down the searches by letter-length. Most searches are for six to 10 letter words, like California, New York, Minnesota, Kentucky and Ohio's "beautiful" or Illinois' "appreciate." Good old Pennsylvania really pulled through with "sauerkraut." Some concernedly short search queries were "liar" in Rhode Island and "nanny" in Mississippi. The two longest words hailed from West Virginia and Connecticut (way harder to spell than Wisconsin) and were the same: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. But the best finding was "tomorrow" topping searches in both Arizona and Colorado but with different letter lengths. In Arizona, searches for the word were six to 10 letters, while in Colorado they were 11 to 19 letters that's a lot of extra Ms and Rs. @GoogleTrends Interesting how "tomorrow" has eight letters in Arizona and eleven letters in Colorado (@petecasellini) May 30, 2017 Catch the spelling bee finals on Thursday they'll be on ESPN. Maybe "chihuahua" or "banana" will be the ultimate stumper. But probably not, considering last year's winning words were "gesellschaft" and "Feldenkrais." The terms hedge fund manager and Wall Street executive conjure up negative images for many, particularly since the 2008 financial crisis. Some critics say dealing in finance is inherently unethical, and even those who work in finance often compartmentalize between their personal and professional lives. Meanwhile, efforts to increase regulation have been accompanied by underlying anger toward the industry. In a new book, The Wisdom of Finance: Discovering Humanity in the World of Risk and Return, Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai aims to remedy that image, as he thinks the negativity has been detrimental. I think finance is broken in many ways. People dont respect it, Desai said. There are a lot of things in finance that dont deserve respect, but finance is hugely important. Its hugely important to us as individuals when we borrow, its hugely important to the economy. So we have to fix it. The understanding of the Wall Street versus Main Street relationship as antagonistic has been widely embraced. But with finance everywherefrom our retirement assets to investments in housing and education and beyondopening up the idea of finance is key, Desai said. Parts of finance are doing more value extraction than creation, like areas of asset management and banking, Desai argued. But this isnt true across the board. The regulations that have been created to help solve the problem can actually make it considerably worse, he said. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Desai turns to the underlying ideas of finance, which he explains are based in humanity. For example, Desai said insurance can help us confront disorder in the world. In the Flitcraft Parable of The Maltese Falcon, Desai explains, a man who escapes his life settles back into the same pattern he was used to in his new home. The story is really about how there is chaos everywhere and how to make sense of itthe answer is patterns and the repeated activity, Desai said. The central problem in life is How do I make sense of the chaos? The answer is given by insurance which is you experience the world through a sample and you get used to those patterns. Story continues Desai also said value creation can help us lead a meaningful life. In the Parable of Talents from the book of Matthew, three servants were given different values of talents, which were monetary units. Desai explained that the servant who didnt invest his talent and make it into more was banished from the kingdom. The story is the same story that comes out of any value creation story, Desai said. You are stewards of capital. You actually have to create capital with it, that involves taking risks, that involves giving back more than you were giving. Desai added that this parable, along with the work of John Milton and Samuel Johnson, shows that finances intuition for value creation corresponds to a stewardship attitude to the world. Mihir Desai, the Mizuho Financial Group professor of finance at Harvard Business School. (Phil Farnsworth/Mihir Desai via AP) Meanwhile, bankruptcy helps individuals understand and react to failure, Desai said. And literature like Mr. Stevens dilemma in Kazuo Ishiguros The Remains of the Day demonstrate how debt overhang frames the most important decisions individuals face. The rejection of markets and finance as a source of wisdom is deeply unhelpful, Desai wrote. By suggesting that finance has no positive values embedded in it, we encourage [finance professionals] to live a professional life without values and to separate their personal, moral selves from that work. Viewing finance through the prism of literature and history will help restore humanity to finance, Desai said. Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent at Yahoo Finance Please also see: Bob Iger tells us about Disneys most ambitious project in years Cooperman: There are 4 things to worry about when you look at the stock market Warren: Senators are spending 110% of their time working through what Trump has done Senator Warren: The CFPB reminds us that government can actually work Washington (AFP) - A man armed with a semi-automatic rifle was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday at Trump International Hotel in the US capital, averting what police called a "potential disaster." Alerted by authorities in Pennsylvania, officers of the Metropolitan Police Department detained a man from the state, identified as Brian Moles, 43, at around 1 am at the hotel a short distance from the White House. In his car, they recovered an AR-15 semi-automatic assault style rifle, a handgun and ammunition, police chief Peter Newsham told a news conference. Moles was arrested for illegal possession of firearms. "The officers and our federal partners averted a potential disaster in the nation's capital," Newsham said. Mayor Muriel Bowser described it as a "disturbing incident" that was "resolved quickly and peacefully." The police chief said his department and the Secret Service had received information that an adult male was travelling to the District of Columbia, possibly the Trump International Hotel, armed with weapons. The US Secret Service -- which is tasked with protecting Donald Trump and his family among others -- issued a statement on the incident, saying that "at no time were any Secret Service protectees at risk," and that the investigation was ongoing. Trump has dined several times at his Washington hotel since taking office in January. The Secret Service is also tasked with protecting the vice president and family, as well as former US heads of state and their relatives, visiting dignitaries and any other individual designated by the president. The dramatic tension between duty and passion gets a novel twist in The Exception, a wartime romance set to debut later this week. The film charts the dilemma faced by a Nazi officer (Jai Courtney) after he falls in love with a beautiful Jewish woman (Lily James) during a WWII assignment. Ahead of its Friday premiere, Yahoo Movies has an exclusive clip from the film featuring its two star-crossed leads (watch it above). In the clip, we see Courtneys Captain Stefan Brandt share some pillow talk with James Mieke, a Dutch maid working for Germanys exiled Monarch Kaiser Wilhelm II (Christopher Plummer), whom Stefan has come to investigate. After Stefan confesses theres nothing more important than following orders, Mieke reveals her secret. That puts them both in a perilous spot, although at least in this clip, Stefan seems completely unperturbed by the implications for their relationship of this bombshell. Directed by David Leveaux, and co-starring Janet McTeer, and Eddie Marsan as Heinrich Himmler whose eventual arrival at Kaiser Wilhelm IIs Netherlands estate further complicates Stefan and Miekes attempts to be together. The Exception debuts in theaters and via video-on-demand June 2. The Exception: Watch a trailer: Read more from Yahoo Movies: Ms Spiers made the alleged revelation in order to prove to a right-wing blogger that Mr Trump was a 'notorious liar': Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Donald Trump lied to his Republican base and thought they were so stupid they would believe it, according to Jared Kushner. Mr Kushner, a property developer who is both President Trumps senior advisor and son-in-law, reportedly made the remarks after he was challenged about Mr Trumps prolonged interrogation over whether Barack Obama was born in the US. During Mr Obamas 2008 presidential campaign and throughout his presidency, multiple theories emerged falsely claiming he was not a natural-born American US citizen and it was therefore unconstitutional for him to become US President. Mr Trump was among those who pushed the birther conspiracy theory and consistently questioned former President Obamas birthplace of Hawaii. The former New York Observer editor has now claimed that Mr Kushner, the former publisher of the paper, informed her that Mr Trump did not believe the birther lies he was peddling. When I was the editor of the New York Observer, Kushner and I were going back and forth about how the paper should cover him, Elizabeth Spiers wrote in a post on Twitter. I told Jared that I was particularly appalled by his father-in-laws birtherism stance, which I viewed as cynical and racist. He rolled his eyes and said He doesnt really believe it, Elizabeth. He just knows Republicans are stupid and theyll buy it. Ms Spiers, who served as the editor of the publication from early 2011 to late 2012, made the alleged revelation in order to prove to a right-wing blogger that Mr Trump was a notorious liar. Let's be clear he was talking about you, Doug, she says. Trump did not con Democrats; he conned and is still conning his base. So you have every right to your gullibility and I wont try to deprive you of it, but personally, Id rather know what the hell is going on. Story continues Ms Spiers, who is also the founder of Gawker, also claimed that a friend of the mogul-turned-politico once told her Mr Trump would lie to you about what time of day it is, just for the practice. But she is not the only person to argue that President Trump is a liar. It has been asserted by a number of politicians and commentators, with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders branding Mr Trump a pathological liar. What do you do when you have a President-elect, soon to be President, who and I say this not happily but I think most people who observe him would agree is a pathological liar who changes his mind every single day? the Democrat, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, said at the end of last year. Comedian John Oliver has also called the President a pathological liar. Whats more, at the beginning of the month, Quinnipiac University asked Americans for the first word which springs to mind when they think of President Trump. The answer given more times than any other was idiot, followed by incompetent and then liar. Related: By Duncan Miriri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya inaugurated a $3.2 billion railway funded by China linking the capital Nairobi to the port of Mombasa on Wednesday, the country's biggest infrastructure project since independence more than 50 years ago. The railway is part of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, a multi-billion dollar series of infrastructure projects upgrading land and maritime trade routes between China and Europe, Asia and Africa. [nL3N1HQ2P2] The line is eventually expected to connect Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Ethiopia to Mombasa so the Indian Ocean port can act as a gateway to East Africa for trade with China and other nations. The railway was finished well ahead of schedule by China Road and Bridges Corporation and launched at the peak of campaigning ahead of elections on Aug. 8 in which President Uhuru Kenyatta is seeking a second term. The express will slash the time for the 472 km journey to about four hours from 12 on the line built by British colonialists more than a century ago that stretched from Mombasa to the Ugandan capital and was nicknamed the "Lunatic Express". The old line was criticised as a monumental folly and waste of British taxpayers money but it became a strategic and economic lifeline for the colonial power. Thousands of workers from British India died during its construction, including a number dragged from their tents by lions. The new railway was Kenyatta's pet project and it was a key pledge in his 2013 election campaign. He christened the new line the "Madaraka Express", named after the June 1 holiday that marks the day in 1964 Kenya won self-governance from Britain ahead of full independence. The express gives businesses and passengers a cheaper and safer alternative to the notoriously dangerous trip along the sometimes pot-holed single-lane highway between the two cities that is often clogged with cargo trucks. "We celebrate laying one of the key cornerstones to Kenya's transformation to an industrialised, prosperous, middle-income country," Kenyatta said ahead of the inaugural trip from Mombasa on Wednesday. "It is for the many, many generations that will come long after we have gone." The importance of the line to Kenya was underlined by the government's response to the arrest of four men stealing guard rails and cables. It said those guilty of economic sabotage could be hanged. RAILWAY POLITICS Kenyatta frequently intervened to smooth out minor bureaucratic delays during the line's construction by China Road and Bridges Corporation and it was completed in 32 months, well under the 60 months allowed by the contract. The opposition has criticised the new line, however, accusing Kenyatta's ruling Jubilee Party of inflating the cost and siphoning off public funds, a common accusation in a country where corruption is rife. Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was prime minister in a power-sharing government from 2008-2013, told reporters on Tuesday the project had been awarded during his tenure but then retendered after he left office. "The Jubilee government cancelled the contract and readvertised, and re-awarded the contract to the same contractor, but at 120 billion shillings more," said Odinga who is running against Kenyatta in the August election. "You don't have to deal with mega-projects to the exclusion of micro-projects which benefit the common man," he said. Atanas Maina, the managing director of Kenya Railways, rejected the graft accusations. "We have kept to the numbers that we signed for and we have not had any variations in the contract in spite of the challenges," he said, adding that the cost of shipping cargo from Mombasa would be 40 percent lower than by road. The cost for passengers will also offer an attractive alternative. The cheapest ticket for economy class will be 700 shillings ($6.75), below the 1,200 shillings for a bus ticket. Aboard the train, talk of China, which has been vying with Western and Asian nations for influence in sub-Saharan Africa, was on the lips of passengers and workers alike. In the flag-draped carriages, many of the waitresses in black dresses and blue-suited waiters were eager to discuss their Chinese-language studies. "Its a tough language to learn," waiter Zachariah Ropia said as he moved down the sleek white carriage striped with orange, amber and yellow. "I'm pressing on because of my job." The line was 90 percent financed by China's Exim Bank and will be maintained and operated by China Road and Bridges Corporation for the next decade. "A country cannot progress without good infrastructure," said businessman Michael Kariuki, sitting in a first-class carriage. "Anybody who cannot see what China has done for Kenya must be blind ... China is the way to go." ($1 = 103.3500 Kenyan shillings) (Editing by David Clarke) A newly identified, 130-million-year-old marine reptile was enormous, measuring the length of nearly three grand pianos lined up, but it wasn't a top marine predator, a new study finds. Researchers excavated the remains of this pliosaur a type of short-necked plesiosaur with four flippers that lived during the dinosaur age along the banks of the Volga River, near the Russian city of Ulyanovsk, in the fall of 2002. Now, scientists have classified the ancient marine reptile as a new species. Unlike other pliosaurs, such as Pliosaurus funkei and Liopleurodon, which had larger teeth and likely dined on sizable four-legged prey, the newfound pliosaur probably wasn't a top predator, as it had "fairly small" teeth and likely hunted small prey such as cephalopods, including squid, and small fish, said study lead researcher Valentin Fischer, a lecturer in the geology department at the University of Liege in Belgium. [Photos: Uncovering One of the Largest Plesiosaurs on Record] The scientists named the 26-foot-long (8 meters) newfound beast Luskhan itilensis. The name reflects the region's cultural history, as the area used to be part of the Mongol Empire. In Mongolian and Turkic mythology, "luuses" were spirits and masters of the water. "Khan" is the Mongolian word for "chief." The species name refers to "Itil," the Volga River's ancient Turkic name. (Turkic refers to groups of people who used and still do live in the region.) Thus, the reptile's name essentially translates to "master spirit from the Volga," the researchers said. L. itilensis' skull was long 5 feet (1.5 m) and its snout resembled those of the modern-day river dolphin and gharial, a long-snouted crocodile. "We show that pliosaurids have actually evolved a long-snouted, 'piscivorous' [fish-eating] ecological niche multiple times in their history," Fischer told Live Science in an email. "Each time they have done this, they have actually evolved convergently with another, distantly related group of plesiosaurs called the polycotylids." Story continues Convergent evolution happens when two species with similar lifestyles evolve to have similar adaptations, such as a long snout. In this case, the finding shows that plesiosaurs had more convergence than previously thought, Fischer said. The L. itilensis discovery shows that a diverse number of pliosaurs lived during the early Cretaceous, even after the Jurassic-Cretaceous extinction about 145 million years ago, "which is thought to have been a deleterious event in the history of plesiosaurs," Fischer said. The specimen, which was discovered by study co-researcher Gleb Uspensky, director of the Natural Science Museum at Ulyanovsk State University in Russia, shows that pliosaurs bounced back after the Jurassic-Cretaceous extinction, Fischer said. The study was published online yesterday (May 25) in the journal Current Biology. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations By Chris Kenning (Reuters) - The state of Ohio on Wednesday sued five major drug manufacturers, accusing them of misrepresenting the risks of prescription opioid painkillers that have fueled a sky-rocketing drug addiction epidemic. The suit, filed by Attorney General Mike DeWine, comes as a growing number of state and local governments are suing drugmakers and distributors, seeking to hold them accountable for a deadly and costly opioid crisis. Opioid drugs, including prescription painkillers and heroin, killed more than 33,000 people in the United States in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The five companies Ohio sued were Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc unit, a unit of Endo International Plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's Cephalon unit and Allergan Plc. DeWine said the companies helped unleash the crisis by spending millions of dollars marketing and promoting such drugs as OxyContin and Percocet, overstating their benefits and trivializing their potential addictive qualities. "These companies continue to mislead the public," DeWine said at a press conference in Columbus. Janssen spokesman Jessica Castles Smith said in an emailed statement: "The allegations in this lawsuit are both legally and factually unfounded." She said Janssen has acted responsibly regarding its opioid pain medications, which are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and carry FDA-mandated warnings on their labels about the drugs' known risks. Purdue said in an emailed statement: "We share the attorney general's concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions." Allergan and Teva declined to comment. Endo could not immediately be reached. The suit, filed in Ross County, in Southern Ohio, where addiction has hit hard, alleges the drug companies violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, committed Medicaid fraud, and created a public nuisance by disseminating false and misleading statements. It seeks to halt deceptive practices, a declaration the companies acted illegally and unspecified damages to the state and consumers. In Ohio, which has one of the nation's highest overdose rates, 4,169 people died from overdoses last year, according to figures compiled by the Columbus Dispatch. Last year, 2.3 million Ohio residents were prescribed opioids, nearly a fifth of the state's population, in turn helping fuel heroin abuse, DeWine said. Drug companies including Purdue and Johnson & Johnson have been fighting lawsuits by two California counties, the city of Chicago, four counties in New York and the state of Mississippi over their opioid marketing practices. Several West Virginia counties have filed lawsuits in recent months against drug wholesalers McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen for failing to report suspicious orders of opioids in the state. West Virginia's attorney general earlier reached settlements with Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen for a combined $36 million to resolve similar claims. (Reporting by Chris Kenning in Chicago; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish) By Tom Allard MARAWI, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippine military urged Islamist militants occupying a southern city to turn themselves in on Tuesday, the eighth day of a push by security forces using armored vehicles and firing rockets from helicopters to eliminate the gunmen. The government says it is close to retaking Marawi from the Islamic State-linked Maute group, which seized parts of the city after a failed attempt by security forces to capture Isnilon Hapilon, the militants' so-called emir of Southeast Asia. Graphic on battle for Marawi: http://tmsnrt.rs/2qBkSPk "We call on the remaining terrorists to surrender while there is an opportunity," a military spokesman, Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla, told reporters. As helicopters circled the lakeside city where smoke billowed out of some buildings, troops cleared rebel positions amid explosions and automatic gunfire, moving house by house and street by street. Slideshow: ISIS-linked group under heavy fire in the Philippines as civilians flee >>> More than 100 people have been killed, most of them militants, according to the military, and most of the city's residents have fled. A Catholic priest held captive by the militants with a dozen other civilians appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to consider their plight and stop the military operation. Father Teresito "Chito" Soganub, vicar general of Marawi City, and the others were abducted in a cathedral last week. "We are asking your help to please give what your enemies are asking for," the priest said on a video clip shown on a Telegram channel used by Islamic State. "We still want to live for another day, a month and a few years, please consider us Mr President," he said. A politician involved in efforts to evacuate residents, Zia Alonto Adiong, said authorities had cleared 85 percent of the city but reclaiming the rest would be a challenge because they were dense urban areas with trapped civilians. Story continues "There's an intensifying military operation that's going on," Adiong told a media briefing. Though most people have left, thousands are stranded, worried they could be intercepted by militants if they tried to flee. 'LIVE ANOTHER DAY' Martin Thalmann, deputy head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said he tried, but failed to convince Islamic State affiliated insurgents and government forces to halt the violence so it can deliver aid. "It's so intense, it's not possible," Thalmann told reporters, referring to the fighting. "There's still a lot of people in there and of course it's a concern that they suffer under this shelling and we wonder if all the precautions are taken." Air strikes were aimed at "specific targets of resistance to protect our troops and hasten clearing of the city", Padilla said, adding that "collateral damage" was being prevented. Nearly 85,000 displaced people are staying in 38 shelter areas outside Marawi. Leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a separatist Muslim guerrilla group that has been in talks with the government, said they had agreed to help distribute aid after they met the president for talks. Duterte had appealed on the weekend to rebel forces to become "soldiers of the republic" and unite to defeat the hardline Maute and allied Abu Sayyaf groups. The Maute's ability to fight for so long will add to fears that Islamic State's ideology is spreading in the southern Philippines and it could become a haven for militants from Southeast Asia and beyond. Malaysians and Indonesians were among the rebels killed. The government believes the Maute carried out their assault before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to capture the attention of Islamic State and earn recognition as a regional affiliate. Graphic on IS-linked groups in the Philippine south: http://tmsnrt.rs/2rYIHTjhttp://tmsnrt.rs/2rYIHTj In the video footage, the captured priest was standing on a deserted street with ruins around him and the sound of gunfire in the background. "They simply are not asking for anything, just to withdraw your forces ... and to stop the air strikes, your air attacks, and stop the cannons," Soganub said. Marawi Bishop Edwin dela Pena confirmed to Reuters that it was Soganub in the video but declined to comment any further. Soganub, wearing a black shirt and trousers, said the militants had the right to practice their faith and enforce Islamic laws in the city. Padilla said the military was aware of the video. "This is pure propaganda. The Maute group is using this to stop our clearing operations," Padilla said. Padilla said he was confident the militants would not harm the priest because they wanted to use him to gain concessions. (Additional reporting by Erik de Castro in MARAWI and Manuel Mogato in MANILA; Writing by Karen Lema; Editing by Robert Birsel) Pippa Middleton and James Matthews pictured in Sydney for the second part of their honeymoon. (Photo: Rex) Pippa Middleton has already had the wedding of the year. Now, it looks like the 33-year-old is attempting to outdo everyone in the honeymoon department too. After marrying James Matthews on May 20, the newlyweds jetted off to a remote island in tropical French Polynesia for a private week of relaxation. The couple have now moved on to part two of their romantic vacation, having touched down in Sydney, Australia recently. For a romantic day trip, the pair boarded a water taxi outside of their hotel in the famous Australian harbor that took them by the Sydney Opera House. They then boarded a sea plane that flew then to Rose Bay Wharf where they dined at the secluded Cottage Point Inn for lunch. Items on the menu include kangaroo tartare, smoked eel, wild kingfish, and more eclectic dishes. The recent bride swapped her couture wedding gown for a much more casual look. Wearing a black-and-white striped dress from Kate Spade ($798), Middleton paired the off-duty ensemble with a pair of espadrille wedges and a chain leather bag. Pippas honeymoon is costing a lot more than her sister Kates. (Photo: Rex) They are reportedly staying in an extravagant suite at the Park Hyatt hotel, costing about $14,000 a night. Pippa and James previously stayed at The Brando resort, according to reports, a luxurious celeb-loved spot (the Obamas, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, and more have visited) that costs around $3,500 a night in French Polynesia. Thats a lot more than Pippas sister, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her husband, Prince William, spent on their honeymoon. The royal couple, who married in April 2011, headed off to stay in a $5,160-a-night villa in the Seychelles. Its not surprising Pippa and James would shell out a lot for their honeymoon considering the cost of their wedding. The entire day featured a fly-by from a vintage plane along with a grand glass marquee. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Story continues Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and@YahooBeauty. Jeremy Joseph Christian, accused of killing two men as they shielded a woman from his anti-Muslim tirade, shouted: You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism! The man accused of fatally stabbing two men in Portland, Oregon, when they tried to shield young women from his anti-Muslim tirade, made repeated outbursts in court on Tuesday, including shouting: You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism! Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, was in Multnomah County courtroom Tuesday afternoon for his first court appearance on two counts of felony aggravated murder and other charges for the Friday attack. Authorities say Christian started verbally abusing two young women, including one wearing a hijab. Three men on the train intervened before police say Christian attacked them, killing two and wounding one. As Christian walked into the courtroom he yelled out: Free speech or die, Portland! You got no safe place. This is America. Get out if you dont like free speech! Standing behind glass partitions in the defendants area, he continued: Death to the enemies of America. Leave this country if you hate our freedom. Death to Antifa! You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism! You hear me? Die. As he finished his statement, a crowd of about 30 anti-fascist protesters who were watching a livestream on their phones, could be heard yelling outside the courtroom doors. On Friday, authorities say, Christian started verbally abusing two young women, including one wearing a hijab, on a light-rail train. Police say when three other men on the train, including surviving victim Micah Fletcher, intervened, Christian attacked them. The other two men, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53, were killed. Christian told jailers that he has no income, no mental health issues and does not remember the last time he had a permanent address. Court documents based on Jeremy Christians interview at the Multnomah County jail show he was concerned about free speech. The interviewer wrote that Christian became loud and animated when talking about what he believed to be the suppression of free speech. Story continues Christian said he went to school through ninth grade, but passed the high school equivalency exam commonly known as the GED and took some community college classes. He has three prior felonies. The homicide detective investigating the attack said in court documents that surveillance and cellphone video showed Christian cutting the three victims with a knife. Detective Michele Michaels said in a probable cause affidavit made public Tuesday that the videos had audio of Christian spewing racial and religious epithets during the attack. Michaels says Fletcher told her Christian yelled the epithets and also threatened to decapitate people. Fletcher told local news station KGW-TV on Tuesday that he was having a difficult time processing what happened and was focusing on getting better. I got stabbed in the neck on my way to work, randomly, by a stranger I dont know, for trying to just be a nice person, said Fletcher, who was released from the hospital on Tuesday. I dont know what to do after that, you know. The mother of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche has asked Trump to encourage Americans to protect and watch out for each other. In a letter to Trump, Asha Deliverance said her son and two other men did not hesitate to confront the bully because the two female passengers were being harassed and that she was grieving but proud of her sons selfless action. She urged Trump to condemn acts of violence that result from hate speech and hate groups. The president said in a tweet Monday that the three stabbing victims stood up to hate and intolerance, and the attack was unacceptable. The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable. The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them. President Trump (@POTUS) May 29, 2017 Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland said he appreciated Trumps words but stressed the need for action. Wheeler urged organizers to cancel a Trump free speech rally in Portland and other similar events next weekend, saying they were inappropriate and could be dangerous. Outside the packed courtroom on Tuesday, around 30 anti-fascist protesters waited. Around 2.35 pm, a man who identified himself only as a friend of the suspect emerged from the courtroom and was immediately confronted by the crowd who yelled: Youre a Nazi and Wheres your pride now? He answered: In my heart. Deputies worked hard to separate him from the crowd and he was eventually escorted out of the building by a deputy, with two protesters following at a distance. At one point, police tried to move the group of protesters down the hall. One protester asked: Why are you protecting Nazis? Protect us. A deputy answered: We did. Jason Wilson contributed reporting. Los Angeles (AFP) - A murder suspect accused of killing two men during an anti-Muslim rant against two girls on board a train in Oregon appeared in court, shouting slogans and defending his act as "patriotism." Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, did not enter a plea during his brief arraignment on charges including two counts of aggravated murder, which carry the death penalty. "Get out if you don't like free speech" and "You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. You hear me? Die," he shouted in the courtroom, flanked by two deputies. "Death to the enemies of America. Leave this country if you hate our freedom," he added. Christian is due back in court on June 7. Attending the hearing on Tuesday was Micah Fletcher, who was wounded as he tried to defend a black 16-year-old and her Muslim friend as they rode on a crowded train on Friday. Christian allegedly targeted the teens, one of whom wore a hijab, with racial and religious insults. Two other men who tried to intervene were fatally stabbed. Fletcher told the local NBC station on Tuesday that he was trying to come to terms with the tragedy. "I got stabbed in the neck on my way to work, randomly, by a stranger I don't know, for trying to just be a nice person," said the 21-year-old university student. "Like, I don't know what to do after that, you know. "I'm healing. That's what I'm doing. As much as I can, in whatever way I can." According to reports, Christian was a known white supremacist and had appeared at an "alt-right" rally in Oregon in April during which he had yelled racist slurs while giving a Nazi salute. He was also previously convicted for robbery, kidnapping and weapons-related charges, according to media reports. One of the teenage girls targeted by Christian said she was with a friend who was wearing a hijab when he approached them and began hurling abuse. "He told us to go back to Saudi Arabia, and he told us we shouldn't be here, to get out of his country," Destinee Mangum told KPTV. "He was just telling us that we basically weren't anything and that we should kill ourselves." President Donald Trump described the attack as "unacceptable" in a tweet on Monday. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. Its been nearly 20 years since Princess Dianas tragic and unexpected death. In the years since, eldest son Prince William has gone on to marry and start a family an experience he admits isnt the same without his mother. In an interview with British GQ, the 34-year-old royal said he wished Princess Diana could have been around to meet Kate Middleton and their two children, Prince George, 3, and Princess Charlotte, 2. He revealed that hes still sad that theyll never have the chance to truly know her. Additionally, Prince William said he misses his mothers guidance. Read:Pippa Middleton Wedding Live Stream? How Many People Watched Kates Marriage To Prince William I would like to have had her advice, he said. I would love her to have met Catherine [Duchess of Cambridge] and to have seen the children grow up. It makes me sad that she wont, that they will never know her. Though he still has these thoughts, William told GQ hes come a long way since his mothers death in 1997. Mourning was difficult for he and his family, being in the public eye, but they managed. Now, after two decades, Prince William says hes in a better place about it. It has taken me almost 20 years to get to that stage, he said. I still find it difficult now because at the time it was so raw. And also it is not like most peoples grief, because everyone else knows about it, everyone knows the story, everyone knows her. Prince William will delve deeper into his feelings about his mothers death both at the time and all these years later in a documentary set to release closer to the anniversary. The film is being produced by HBO and will be told by Prince William and Prince Harry. Nick Kent, who serves as the documentarys executive producer, teased the unique project in an official statement. Story continues The film will show Princess Diana in a way she has never been seen before, through the eyes of the two people who knew her best, he said. The documentary will feature other testimonials from individuals close to the Princess who have never spoken publicly before. Itll cover a variety of topics as well. Among the things expected to be shown are her humanitarian efforts, which covered a fight to end homelessness, HIV, AIDS and more. Prince Williams been talking about his mothers passing more and more in recent months. Hes done so in conjunction with he and Princess Kates efforts to raise mental health awareness. A spokesperson for the eldest royal son of Princess Diana claims hes been outspoken about the issue because he feels that mental health is the root of many other societal problems. Through their work with young people, emergency response, homeless charities, and with veterans, Their Royal Highnesses have seen time and time again that unresolved mental health problems lie at the heart of some of our greatest social challenges, the spokesman said. Prince William and Princess Kate arent the only members of the royal family whove been outspoken advocates of mental health. Prince Harry opened up about seeking help to deal with the grief of losing his mother during an appearance on Bryony Gordons Mad World podcast. He admitted that bottling up his emotions lead to years of total chaos, which coupled with encouragement from his older brother pushed him into treatment. Read:Princess Charlotte Turns 2: Kate Middleton, Prince William Share Picture Of Daughter Ahead Of Birthday I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well, he said (via the Telegraph). The 20-year anniversary of Princess Dianas death will be August 31, 2017. Princes William and Harry have commissioned a statue of her at Kensington Palace according to the New York Times. Prince William Photo: Getty Images Related Articles At least one space technology billionaire believes weve already encountered aliens and theyre living among us. Robert Bigelow, the founder of Bigelow Aerospace, said he was absolutely convinced that aliens existed. NASA gave Bigelow Aerospace a $17.8 million contract in 2013 to create an expandable space habitat that would be connected to the International Space Station. Bigelow, 73, appeared on 60 Minutes Sunday to discuss the technology and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Do you believe in aliens? interviewer Lara Logan asked Bigelow. Read: Life May Have Originated On Mars And Traveled To Earth, NASA Engineer Says Im absolutely convinced, he said. Thats all there is to it. Logan also asked him if he believed if UFOs had already come to Earth. Robert Bigelow Photo: Bigelow Aerospace There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence, Bigelow responded. And I spent millions and millions and millions I probably spent more as an individual than anybody else in the United States has ever spent on this subject. Bigelow declined to go into detail about any specifics his company had gleaned from its research on the subject. He also said he didnt care whether people thought he was crazy for his viewpoints because its not gonna change the reality of what I know. Do you imagine that in our space travels we will encounter other forms of intelligent life? Logan asked. You dont have to go anywhere, said Bigelow. Its just like right under peoples noses. Bigelow, who has no formal training in science or technology, made his money through long-term rental apartments called the Budget Suites of America located on the Las Vegas strip, a fortune he launched into his private aerospace venture. The space mogul said he first became interested in extraterrestrials when his grandparents had an encounter with a UFO. Story continues It really sped up and came right into their face and filled up the entire windshield of the car, he said. And it took off at a right angle and shot off into the distance. Read: Scientists Warn Aliens Probably Wont Treat Us Nicely Bigelows inflatable space habitat was launched by SpaceX during a resupply mission last year to the International Space Station, the first habitat of its kind tested for humans on the space station. The structure, called BEAM, remained attached to the ISS. His Las Vegas-based company was also working on a technology he called Olympus a project that could function as a standalone destination containing everything human beings need for life. GettyImages-108831709 Photo: NASA/Reuters Related Articles Starring in her latest film and also in the ABC show Quantico, actress Priyanka Chopra is one busy woman so its easy to see why she had no time to change outfits in between promoting Baywatch and meeting Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin on Tuesday. Still, that didnt stop Internet critics from calling her disrespectful. Was such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin???????? at the same time as the Prime Minister. Thank you @narendramodi Sir for taking the time from your packed schedule to meet me this morning. ???????? A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 1:04am PDT Chopra opted for a floral print and lace dress with bell sleeves from Australian designer Zimmerman to meet with press, as she showed in her Instagram Story. Later, she sat down with Modi, who just so happened to be in Germany too and didnt put on a dress that covered her legs for the meeting. But it was not the repeating outfits that caused a stir in social media. It was her legs. However, she has received overwhelming support for her choice as well, including on Twitter and Instagram, where the discussion of her outfit choice was blowing up. Pray tell me how wearing a rather conservative-looking dress is being "disrespectful" to the PM? Ye thoda zyaada ho gaya ????#PriyankaChopra Shuchi Singh Kalra (@shuchikalra) May 31, 2017 The obsessive need for women to be covered-up & desexualized around an elder male figure has to go. #PriyankaChopra Amena (@Fashionopolis) May 30, 2017 Looking fabulous! Ignore the trashy trolls babe. India is proud of its daughter sister mother they find in you. Your body is beautiful and you are beautiful because you so elegantly own it! #feminist #voices, wrote one of her Instagram followers. Story continues Chopra has called herself a feminist, which she described as women wanting to make their own choices and not being judged for them, in a recent Yahoo Style interview. She also responded to the critics of her exposed legs in what many have called a classy way: With a simple follow-up photo. Legs for days. #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 4:23pm PDT As one commenter noted, Amazing. Such a simple way to make such an important feminist statement!!! Thank you!!! Read more from Yahoo Beauty + Style: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Antonio Guterres says exiting landmark accord would threaten US economy and society: If someone leaves a void, I guarantee someone will fill it The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, speaks on climate change at the New York University Stern School of Business. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, warned on Tuesday that if Donald Trump withdraws from the Paris climate agreement, there could be negative economic, security and societal consequences for the US. Guterres issued the warning after calling on world leaders to adhere to the agreement in his first major speech on climate change as secretary general. His remarks at New York University came as the world waits for Donald Trump to announce whether the country will continue to uphold the Paris deal, which nearly 200 countries signed as a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a question-and-answer session after the speech, a student asked how the US can address climate change when its president has threatened to back out of the Paris accord. If someone leaves a void, I guarantee someone will fill it, said Guterres, who went on to explain what consequences such an exit could have for the US. Today, the economy and social aspects are linked to the environmental aspects, but they are also linked to the security aspects, they are linked to the risks of conflict. He continued: if you leave a void to others to occupy, you might be creating a problem to your own internal security. Guterres said that if the US does withdraw from the agreement, it is important that American cities, states and businesses remain engaged with the goals the deal outlined. Trumps threat has concerned leaders around the world, but Guterres, who became secretary-general on 1 January, has said the accord is not dependent on the US governments participation. The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said Tuesday that Trump wants a fair deal for the American people, adding that Trump was spending a great deal of time considering the agreement. Trump said on Saturday that he would announce this week whether the US would adhere to the Paris agreement after resisting pressure to announce the plans at the G7 summit. The other G7 countries Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan reaffirmed their support for the accord last week. Story continues The landmark agreement was signed in December 2015 and has been ratified by 147 countries, including the US. To underline the importance of the agreement, and other UN climate goals, Guterres spoke broadly about the threats climate change poses to the world, saying the world is in a mess because countries and communities everywhere are facing pressures such as overpopulation, water scarcity and food insecurity. He warned that climate change is a multiplier of many other threats including poverty, displacement and conflict, and that the people hit first and worst by climate change are the poor, vulnerable and marginalized. Its absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris agreement and that we fulfill that duty with increased ambition, he said. Guterres said addressing climate change was an economic necessity and highlighted the threat climate change posed to national security, noting that more than 24 million people in 118 countries were displaced by natural disasters in 2016, which is three times as many people as were displaced by conflict. Guterres, the former Portuguese prime minister, also announced that there would be a UN climate summit in 2019. His comments on the US were consistent with statements he has made since replacing Ban Ki-moon as secretary general this year. Even if some national governments backtrack in commitments, the combined impacts of sub-national authorities, businesses and civil society will create an unstoppable momentum, Guterres said at a climate change meeting at the UN headquarters in New York in March. Last week, Guterres told the BBC the agreement would not collapse if the US backed out. I think it is very important that the American government stays engaged, but this is not the end of the world, he said. Guterres did not specifically mention Donald Trump in the speech, but said his door is open to all who wish to discuss the way forward, even those who might hold divergent perspectives. He said each month, countries were moving to translate the Paris agreement into national plans. Yes, not everyone will move at the same pace or with equal vigor, Guterres said. But if any government doubts the global will and need for this accord, that is reason for all others to unite even stronger and stay the course. What will the United States potentially have in common soon with war-torn Syria and Nicaragua? It wont be part of the Paris Climate Agreement. One hundred and ninety-five nations have signed the pact, meant to cope with climate change. But according to multiple reports, U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to follow through on his campaign promise to leave the landmark deal. On Wednesday, as reports of a potential U.S. exit from the agreement emerged, Trump took to Twitter to assure the public that a decision on whether to leave the deal, struck by President Barack Obama in 2015, was forthcoming. He gave no indication of how he would proceed, other than his action would MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 Trumps statement gives his some wiggle room on whether he would actually leave. On Tuesday, he met with Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, who wants the U.S. out of the accord. He is set to meet on Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon head, who is for remaining in the agreement. The presidents daughter and advisor, Ivanka Trump, has also urged her father not to withdraw. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the reports. In the past, Trump has backed off seemingly imminent decisions to follow through on campaign promises. After he took office, he appeared poised to leave NAFTA, the free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but didnt. The United States remains in the trade deal today, although Trump has vowed to renegotiate it to win more favorable terms for American businesses. Trump, who promised to bring long-gone employment back to coal country, made leaving the Paris deal a cornerstone of his campaign. He said the agreement hindered U.S. job growth and put the United States at the mercy of other countries even though the accord lacks an enforcement mechanism. The Obama administration pledged by 2025 to lower emissions by 26 to 28 percent below their 2005 levels. Story continues As reports of a U.S. withdrawal circulated Wednesday morning, both the European Union and China reaffirmed their commitment to the deal. An EU official told the Associated Press that both sides planned to spell out how they plan to meet their commitments to the pact in Brussels on Friday. But without the participation of the United States, the worlds largest economy and second-largest greenhouse gas producer, the deal loses much of its heft, said May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, an organization that backs action to combat climate change. By exiting, the administration has isolated the United States from the rest of the world and defamed the U.S position as global leader on climate action and much more, Boeve said in a statement Wednesday. Heather Coleman, climate and energy director at Oxfam America, said Trump now stands on the brink of declaring moral bankruptcy, leaving children and grandchildren- including his own- with a terrible mess to clean up. Its still unclear how Trump would legally exit the agreement. Reports indicate that Trumps announcement could have caveats in the language that leave open the possibility that his decision isnt set in stone. The accord also has a lengthy waiting period for any party to exit the pact. Signatories cannot leave for three years. In other words, Americas exit would bleed into the next presidential election in 2020. Some conservatives contend a quicker way to ditch the Paris agreement is to exit the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which provides the broader international framework. Gernot Wagner, an economist at Harvard University, said it was disappointing but not surprising that Trump wants to leave the deal. However, given the head of the EPA, the agency charged with protecting the environment, wants out of the accord, it might be better off without U.S. involvement, he said. It might be better to let the rest of the world move ahead with sensible action, Wagner said. That is bad for the U.S., but unfortunately, thats the world we live in. Photo credit: Getty Images Abuja (AFP) - The rescued Chibok girls will not be going back to their rural home town to complete their schooling, Nigeria's minister for women said on Tuesday. Speaking at a ceremony welcoming 82 newly rescued girls to a government rehabilitation facility in Abuja, Aisha Alhassan said all the girls will be heading back to class in September, without specifying where. There are a total of 106 rescued Chibok girls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists in 2014 who are receiving medical and psycho-social treatment at the Women Affairs Centre, located on the outskirts of the capital. "They are not going back to Chibok school but other schools within Nigeria," Alhassan said about the rescued girls. "But if anyone wants to go back to their parents we will allow them to go, we are not keeping them here without their consent or that of their parents," Alhassan said. "If anyone wants to go back today we can arrange for their parents to come and take her home but they are happy being here and learning what they are learning." The 82 Chibok girls, who were released in early May, arrived to the ceremony in buses with their handlers looking relaxed and happy. Once inside the facility, they started singing songs in Hausa, the dominant language in the country's north. The Islamist militants seized 276 schoolgirls from the remote northeast Nigerian town of Chibok in April 2014, triggering global condemnation and drawing attention to the bloody Boko Haram insurgency. Fifty-seven escaped in the immediate aftermath. Of the 219 who did not manage to flee, 106 have either been released or found, leaving 113 still missing. In their quest to create a hardline Islamic state, Boko Haram, whose name roughly translated from Hausa means "Western education is sin", has waged a relentless assault on education in northeast Nigeria. Along with attacks on schools, thousands of women and young girls have been abducted in the eight-year insurgency, which has left at least 20,000 people dead and displaced more than 2.6 million. Just in case artificial intelligence turns on humankind, researchers have engineered a warning sign. Australian technology agency DT created a device that cautions its wearer when artificial intelligence is impersonating a human just by sending a chill down the persons back. The post-truth era is just getting started, DT wrote in a blog post introducing the technology. Near the end of 2017 well be consuming content synthesized to mimic real people. Leaving us in a sea of disinformation powered by AI and machine learning. The media, giant tech corporations and citizens already struggle to discern fact from fiction. And as this technology is democratized it will be even more prevalent. Read: Artificial Intelligence Scientists Discuss Doomsday Plans In Arizona Desert The companys answer to that? The Anti-AI AI. The small device, situated behind the ear, is designed to alert its wearer when the voice they are hearing is artificial intelligence. We wanted the device to give the wearer a unique sensation that matched what they were experiencing when a synthetic voice is detected, DT said in the blog post. By using a 4x4 mm thermoelectric Peltier plate, we were able to create a noticeable chill on the skin near the back of the neck without drawing too much current. GettyImages-641191060 Photo: Getty Images Artificial intelligence as a whole is fraught with complications, so much so that experts often argue about the ethics and safety of the industry. Many scientists and engineers have cautioned about the future of artificial intelligence, including John McAfee, a computer programmer who developed the first ever commercial anti-virus software. The goal of AI a self-conscious entity contains within it the necessary destruction of its creator, McAfee wrote in an April opinion piece. With self-consciousness comes a necessary self-interest. The self-interest of any AI created by the human mind, will instantly recognize the conflict between that self-interest and the continuation of the human species. Story continues Elon Musk, the founder of private space venture SpaceX, also argued that artificial intelligence could turn malignant. Musk has said that the technology is humanitys biggest existential threat his Mars colonization would essentially serve as an escape hatch should artificial intelligence betray humanity. Musk also created a nonprofit called OpenAI, a group that aimed to advance digital intelligence in the way that it is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole." Read: Artificial Intelligence Dating Is The Future, Tinder Co-Founder Says The future of artificial intelligence is so uncertain that in January, a team of tech billionaires created a $27 million fund to research AIs safety and ethics. Theres an urgency to ensure that AI benefits society and minimizes harm, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman said in a statement at the time. AI decision making can influence many aspects of our world education, transportation, health care, criminal justice and the economy yet data and code behind those decisions can largely be invisible. Related Articles Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2017%2f5%2f24b614f6 3977 d426%2fthumb%2f00001 For the second time since 2000, the U.S. is poised to pull out of a major climate treaty that the country itself fought hard for. Unlike the last time this happened with the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, however, the Paris Climate Agreement, which President Donald Trump is preparing to pull the U.S. out of, is widely viewed as the last, best chance the world has to avoid potentially catastrophic global warming. Also unlike Kyoto, the new agreement is entirely voluntary, making a withdrawal even more extreme. Scientists think that global climate change, if left unchecked, could bring withering droughts, more intense storms, devastating sea level rise, and more frequent and severe heat waves to many parts of the globe. SEE ALSO: U.S. could be 'left behind' if Trump exits the Paris Climate Agreement In removing the country from the Paris Climate Agreement, which went into force in 2016, the Trump administration would fulfill the worst fears of climate advocates and international allies worldwide. It would also leave the U.S. as an island of climate recalcitrance worldwide, joining only Syria and Nicaragua in rejecting the treaty. And considering that Nicaragua stayed out because its diplomats viewed the agreement as too timid, that means the U.S. is in a climate denial alliance only with Syria. Officials celebrate the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement in December 2015. Image: Mori/AP/REX/Shutterstock In other words, even the governments of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed this agreement. With the Paris agreement pullout, which multiple news reports, citing White House officials, say is coming this week, the U.S. will effectively cede leadership on climate and renewable energy to China, India and other rapidly developing economies that are investing billions in solar, wind and other renewable technologies. A Paris withdrawal also ignores the calls of business leaders ranging from the CEOs of Google, Apple, Salesforce, and Microsoft to well-known personalities like Elon Musk of SpaceX. It also would overrule the arguments put forth by the Trump's own daughter, presidential advisor Ivanka Trump, who was widely reported to be in favor of the agreement. Story continues Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday morning that he will be announcing his decision this week, implying that his mind is already made up but that the announcement is still being planned. The tweet also implies that Trump's decision is based on his view of how the agreement will affect the U.S. economy, rather than the country's standing in the world. I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 However, numerous economic studies have shown that unchecked global warming will have a huge negative effect on the economy, dwarfing the costs of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. Climate change is projected to put a major dent in U.S. economic output by the middle of this century, with even bigger losses projected throughout the developing world. For example, a 2015 study published in the journal Nature found that U.S. gross domestic product could drop 5 percent by 2050 without climate action. The Paris Agreement commits the world to keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels through 2100. It is the first treaty to bring developing and developed countries together to commit to taking action on global warming after decades of acrimonious negotiations over who was more responsible for climate change and who should pay for its damages. The U.S. is the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, but the biggest historical emitter. Under Paris, former president Barack Obama's administration committed to slashing domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The Paris agreement contains no mechanism to punish America (or any country, for that matter) for failing to meet its emissions goals or revising them. 2016 was the warmest year on record since 1880. Image: nasa giss The voluntary and non-punitive nature of the agreement was a major reason why it was so successful in getting countries to sign onto it after decades of frustrating climate talks. However, Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and others in Trump's orbit nevertheless viewed the treaty as legally binding. This may have triggered the withdrawal, especially since Trump, along with many of his cabinet picks, does not believe that greenhouse gases are the main cause of global warming, which runs contrary to the scientific consensus on this issue. On Tuesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer was asked whether Trump views fossil fuels as a contributor to climate change and responded: "Honestly, I haven't asked him that." Climate scientists widely view the 2-degree goal as ambitious if not impossible to adhere to given recent global warming trends. Studies have shown that unless massive cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are made worldwide beginning in the next few years, there may be little chance of meeting the Paris target. Trump has been under heavy pressure by conservatives and the fossil fuel industry to leave the agreement, while business interests in Silicon Valley, European leaders, and others have sought to keep the U.S. within the fold of this landmark treaty. Much depends on what happens next and exactly how the U.S. seeks to exit the agreement. If President Trump decides to withdraw from the agreement unilaterally, that would not be able to take place until 2020 at the earliest. However, there are speedier ways of doing this, albeit more extreme. Also, a U.S. departure could spur other nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions pledges, which in turn would make global warming more severe since it would increase the concentration of greenhouse gases worldwide. It's unlikely this would engender good will toward the U.S. from our allies and enemies alike, experts say. "The presidents exit from Paris would be read as a kind of drop dead to the rest of the world," said Todd Stern, who was the Obama administration's climate envoy at the Paris talks, in an op-ed for The Atlantic. "Bitterness, anger, and disgust would be the wages of this careless act." Assuming the Trump administration follows through with a Paris Agreement withdrawal, it would also be a staggering repudiation of Obama's legacy of environmental protection. Without Obama's hands-on involvement throughout his second term, the treaty would not have been adopted. It would also ignore the will of the American people, with polling showing that majorities in every state including those represented by anti-Paris senators favor remaining in the agreement. Trump is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, on Wednesday. Tillerson is thought to be in favor of staying in the Paris Agreement, though it appears Trump's mind was already made up going into the meeting. A senior US foreign affairs official gave one of the most awkward press conference responses ever witnessed in response to a question about Saudi Arabias attitude to democracy. Having served as US Ambassador to Jordan and Iraq and been in Al Anbar Province in 2004, as it became the deadliest region for US forces in Iraq Stuart Jones might have been considered more than able to fend off questions about Saudi Arabias apparent lack of enthusiasm for elections. Instead the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East Affairs Bureau, freshly returned from accompanying President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Saudi Arabia, seemed completely stumped by the relatively straightforward reporters question. He was asked: While you were over there, the Secretary criticised the conduct of the Iranian elections and Irans record on democracy. He did so standing next to Saudi officials. How do you characterise Saudi Arabias commitment to democracy, and does the administration believe that democracy is a buffer or a barrier against extremism? Um, said Mr Jones. He took a deep breath. He tried again: Err And then the senior State Department official fell completely silent. For 16 seconds, although to Mr Jones it may have seemed more like an eternity. Behind his spectacles, Mr Jones seemed to be staring into space, lost in thought or panic possibly considering his response, perhaps hoping the ground would swallow him up, or maybe wondering why on Earth he hadnt wrapped up the press conference before allowing that one last question. Watch as Stuart Jones, a high-level acting official in the State Dept, is asked why they criticize Iranian elections but never Saudi Arabia: pic.twitter.com/RLkKGn48Z7 Alex Emmons (@AlexanderEmmons) May 30, 2017 Finally, a full 20 seconds after the question was asked a pause described by one experienced commentator as the longest ever seen from a US official Mr Jones managed a stuttering response. Story continues It made no reference at all to attitudes to democracy in a kingdom where only three elections all of them merely for local councils have been allowed in 52 years. The official State Department transcript seems to have tidied things up by removing the agonising pause and the hesitations, but the video shows Mr Jones full response to have been: I think what we would say is that, uh, at this meeting, we were able to, err, make significant progress with Saudi and GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] partners in, uh, both making a strong statement against extremism and also, um, and also putting errerr, putting in place certain measures through this GCC mechanism where we can combat extremism. "Clearly one source of extremism one source one err terrorism threat is coming from Iran. And thats coming from a part of the Iranian apparatus that is not at all responsive to its electorate. There is then yet another pause, Mr Jones staying stock still before a fellow State Department official says okay to indicate that the press conference is over. Mr Jones then quietly thanks the assembled reporters, collects his papers and exits before anyone is rude enough to ask a follow-up question. In the aftermath, the reporter who asked the question, Dave Clark, AFPs Washington-based diplomatic correspondent, has shown admirable tact. I asked about Saudi democracy, he said. I found his pause eloquent. It was pretty awkward being there, added Mr Clark, originally from Newcastle. Especially as I wasnt trying to embarrass Jones himself. In fairness to Mr Jones, characterising US ally Saudi Arabias attitude to democracy may require American officials to consider their words carefully. Saudi Arabia has been a monarchy ruled by the Al Saud family since the kingdom was founded in 1932. Since then, elections of any sort have been rare. In the 40 years between 1965 and 2005 there were none at all. This century, there have been three elections, in 2005, 2011 and 2015. All of them, however, were just elections for municipal councils whose powers were limited to local issues like street cleaning and rubbish collection. In 2015, for the first time in the kingdoms history, women were allowed to vote and stand as candidates. Prior to that, the kingdoms Grand Mufti, its most senior religious figure, had described womens involvement in politics as opening the door to evil. But in 2015, with women in Saudi Arabia still not permitted to drive or to address men who were not related to them, female election candidates could only speak directly to female voters. When attending gatherings of male voters, they had to speak from behind a partition or have a man read their speech for them. At a national level, Saudi Arabia does have a consultative assembly, but the emphasis is very much on consultative. The Al Saud royal family continues to appoint the government, and no political parties are allowed. All of which may explain Mr Joness difficulties. Prior to facing Mr Clarks final, apparently unanswerable question, he had briefly discussed his impending retirement. It was, Mr Jones explained, a decision he had made more than a year ago, just a personal choice and nothing to do with the outgoing Obama and incoming Trump administrations, both of whom he had been delighted to serve. His response, and the fact he gave it before facing Mr Clarks question, also shows that Mr Jones retirement was in no way related to his press conference performance. He will, though, be missed by at least one reporter. Im sad hes leaving, said Mr Clark. A size 12 woman is calling out H&M for its ridiculous sizing policy after trying on a size 16 dress that left her feeling like she could barely breathe. Lowri Byrne, an H&M customer in Plymouth, England, expressed her frustration on Facebook Thursday after trying on a blue, strapless dress at the retailer. Please sort your sizes out because this is absolutely ridiculous! she wrote in the post that acquired 2,000 comments. Im a size 12 and small busted and today in a H&M store I had to ask if this dress came in a size 18 (it didnt). The dress I have on in these photos is a size 16, and I could barely breathe. Not only was this annoying because I wanted to buy this dress, but so many women take what size dress they buy to heart. If I was one of these girls (thankfully Im not) requesting a size 18 dress would seriously devastate me! Byrne added that when she asked a salesperson if the dress was available in a size 18, she was told, Ahh yeah you have to go up a couple of sizes with these. In her Facebook post, along with a follow-up post written Monday, Byrnes followers vented about similar experiences trying to fit into H&M clothing. Im not joking when I say that a size 12 dress I bought from H&M fits my 5-year-old daughter! Doesnt fit me of course, one mom wrote. Another commented: I know exactly what you mean tried on two pairs of size 12 shorts today in H&M one I could get on without unbuttoning them and the other wouldnt fasten! Its crazy! A third added: Thats one of the reasons why I stopped shopping at H&Mtheir sizes are for kids not for women. H&M sent the following statement to the Daily Mail on Tuesday: H&M hugely values all customer feedback. It is only ever our intention to design and make clothes that make our customers feel good about themselves, any other outcome is neither intended nor desired. H&Ms sizes are global and the sizes offered in the UK are the same in all the 66 markets in which we operate in and online. As there is no global mandatory sizing standard, sizes will differ between brands and different markets. Story continues The statement continued: Our dedicated, in-house sizing department works according to an average of the sizes and measurements suggested by the markets we operate in. H&M sizes are continually reviewed by our in-house sizing department. Neither a representative from H&M U.K. nor Byrne returned Yahoo Styles request for comment. However, there has been controversy over sizing policies at other fashion brands, such as American Eagle Outfitters. In May, a woman in Iowa, Riley Bodley, posted a Facebook photo of two pairs of pants purchased from the company, one from five years ago in size 0 and the other a few months before in size 4. Bummed to have gone up two sizes, Bodley compared the two pants and realized that they were roughly the same size. This made me wonder, how small has a size 0 actually gotten? she wrote on Facebook. The media makes young girls feel the smaller the number they wear, the more beautiful they are, and this is certainly NOT true. I post this as a reminder that size is literally just a number and does not define you. Find clothes that make you feel comfortable and confident, and know your beauty is not defined by the size you wear. In 2014, after J.Crew released a new size, 000 claiming the size was to be sold in Asia and not in America where sizes tend to run larger customers lashed out at the brand for offering vanity sizing. The practice of vanity sizing involves offering clothing in so-called smaller sizes to appeal to customers egos and increase brand loyalty. In other words, if a shopper fits into a surprisingly smaller-than-usual size, shes more likely to purchase the item and return to the store that makes her feel happier about it. According to a story in Time, vanity sizing began as a response to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. and as a way to make customers feel optimistic about the shopping experience. The problem, reports the magazine, is that one particular size can vary by as much as several inches. Theres no evidence that H&M (or any of the aforementioned retailers) participates in vanity sizing. But one thing is clear: The number on the dress tag, just like the number on the scale, is not a measure of anyones self-worth. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. (Removes reference to political head of U.N. mission resigning over the incident.) By Jason Patinkin KAMPALA (Reuters) - South Sudanese soldiers accused of raping at least five foreign aid workers and killing their local colleague last year are due to stand trial in a military court on Tuesday, a key test of the government's ability to prosecute war crimes. Prosecutor Abubaker Mohammed, an army colonel, told Reuters that between 15 to 20 government soldiers face charges including murder, rape and looting during the attack on the Terrain hotel in the capital Juba on July 11, 2016. U.N. investigators and rights group have frequently accused both the army and rebels of murder, torture and rape since the civil war began in 2013, and say the crimes almost always go unpunished. "We want to eliminate these crimes within the army," Mohammed said, adding he would examine the responsibility of senior officers. "The commander is always responsible for the actions of the soldiers," he said. "But ... sometimes a soldier can go and commit an offense without the knowledge of the commander." The attack, one of the worst on foreign aid workers in South Sudan's civil war, took place as President Salva Kiir's government troops won a three-day battle in Juba over opposition forces loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar. The three-year conflict has fractured the country along ethnic lines -- Kiir is an ethnic Dinka, Machar is a Nuer -- and forced a quarter of the 12 million-strong population to flee their homes. During the hours-long attack on the hotel compound, victims phoned U.N. peacekeepers stationed a mile away and begged for help, but none came. The military head of the peacekeeping mission was fired and the political head resigned over the incident. SURVIVORS SPEAK OUT Murderers face a minimum of 10 years in jail with a fine paid to the victim's family, or a maximum of the death penalty, Mohammed said. Rapists face up to 14 years. Rebecca Chuol Ungdeng, whose aid worker husband John Gatluak was killed in the attack, said she feared returning for the trial. "Why was he killed while he is not a soldier?" she said from exile in Uganda. "He has no enmity with anyone. Is it because he is Nuer?" Mohammed said witnesses who could not travel to Juba could testify via video or send a representative. However, five survivors said they had not been called to testify, raising questions about the government's ability to carry out a fair trial. Two of the rape victims said they might return to Juba to testify if their anonymity and safety was guaranteed. "The most important outcome for me is to end the culture of impunity," said a Western woman sexually assaulted by four soldiers. "I don't think it should just be about us and about our case, but about this larger issue of bringing justice to these crimes [committed against] many other people as well." Another Western aid worker, raped by 15 soldiers, said the accused are likely low-ranking and may have been recruited when they were children. "I'm much more angry at the senior levels of the army who were aware of the attack, who knew and did nothing, or more senior soldiers who were there seeing these things happening and did little," she said. The then-commander of the presidential guard, Marial Chanuong, declined to comment. An army spokesmen did not answer calls. (Editing by Richard Lough) Reuters Donald Trump emerged from Tuesday's midterm elections with a tarnished reputation as a Republican kingmaker, after poor performances by some of his high-profile endorsements left the party struggling to gain control of the U.S. Senate. Losses among candidates endorsed by the former president also hurt Republicans in the House of Representatives, where the party was expected to win control by only a slim margin, despite earlier hopes of picking up as many as 30 seats. "It's not a question of whether it was a negative, it's a question of how negative it was," Rob Jesmer, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the party's Senate campaign arm, said of Trump's influence on the outcome.Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz lost a Senate race in Pennsylvania to the state's lieutenant governor John Fetterman, a key pickup for Democrats that increases their odds of holding their razor-thin majority. An Illinois man recognized the true importance of Memorial Day when he purchased a plane ticket for a soldier so he could visit his family over the long weekend. Read: Chicago Blackhawks Star Patrick Kane Gives His 1st Class Airline Seat to Soldier U.S. Army Mechanic Keaton Tilson, 19, who was stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, was able to surprise his family at their home in Granite City, Ill., thanks to the kindness of a stranger. The random act of kindness came after he had been stuck at a Dallas airport trying to get a last-minute flight. Hes like, Someone just bought my ticket, his mom, Jennifer Streicher-Tilson told InsideEdition.com. His voice was shaky. He was getting choked up. The feeling was unreal. She explained her son was flying standby since he didnt get approval for his time off until Thursday evening, but quickly realized he would have no chance to fly home either Thursday or Friday as he watched flights, and even standby lists, fill up. It wasnt looking good at all for any flights that day, Streicher-Tilson said. Thats when good Samaritan Josh Rainey, of Glendale, Mo., intervened. He told InsideEdition.com he was on his way home from a work trip when he noticed Tilson in full uniform standing at the ticket counter. Rainey said both he and the ticket agent looked stressed out. When Rainey realized what was going on, the only thing I thought of was buying him a ticket. Both the agent and soldier looked at me in disbelief [when] I handed my credit card and booked the ticket for the same flight. He said it was the obvious thing to do, even if it ended up costing him more than $370. He looked like he was trying to get home to family, Rainey explained. If people get anything from this is to recognize people in uniform. Even though its their job to help and serve others, they sometimes need help too. Story continues Read: Boy Speechless After Military Dad Surprises Him During School Presentation on Patriotism And, it's obvious good deeds like that don't go unnoticed. Rainy said he was even bumped up to first class after the booking agent noticed his generosity. "I've never flown first class before," he joked. Watch: Veteran Donates Kidney to Friend He Served With Almost 2 Decades Ago: 'It's Just That Military Brotherhood' Related Articles: By Tom Perry, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Maher Chmaytelli BEIRUT/AMMAN/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Syrian rebels say the United States and its allies are sending them more arms to try to fend off a new push into the southeast by Iran-backed militias aiming to open an overland supply route between Iraq and Syria. The stakes are high as Iran seeks to secure its influence from Tehran to Beirut in a "Shi'ite crescent" of Iranian influence through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, where Sunni Arab states have lost out in power struggles with Iran. Tensions escalated in the southeastern region of Syria, known as the Badia, this month when government forces supported by Iraqi Shi'ite militias deployed in a challenge to rebels backed by President Bashar al-Assad's enemies. This has coincided with a march toward the Syrian border by Shi'ite militias from Iraq. They reached the frontier adjoining northern Syria on Monday. A top Iraqi militia commander said a wider operation to take the area from Sunni jihadist Islamic State would start on Tuesday and this would help Syria's army. While in Iraq the United States has fought alongside Iranian-backed Iraqi government forces and Shi'ite militias against Islamic State, in Syria Washington has lined up against Assad's Iranian-backed government and wants to block a further expansion of Iranian influence, with its regional allies. The sides are vying for pole position in the next major phase of the fight against Islamic State: the battle to dislodge it from the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor where many of the jihadists have relocated from Raqqa and Mosul. Several rebel groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner operate in the sparsely populated Badia, where they captured swathes of territory from Islamic State this year. U.S. air strikes on May 18 targeted Iran-backed fighters who had moved into the area. Also in May, Damascus declared both the Badia and Deir al-Zor priorities of its campaign to re-establish its rule over Syria, which has been shattered by six years of war that have killed hundreds of thousands of people. The government is being helped by both Iran and Russia, while the opposition has been helped by the West and regional states which oppose Assad. Rebels said military aid has been boosted through two separate channels: a program backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), known as the MOC, and regional states including Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and one run by the Pentagon. "There has been an increase in the support," said Tlass Salameh, head of the Jaish Usoud al-Sharqiya, one of the FSA groups backed via the CIA-backed program. "There's no way we can let them open the Baghdad-Damascus highway," he said. A senior commander of a Pentagon-backed group, Maghawir al-Thawra, told Reuters a steady flow of weapons had arrived at their base near the Iraqi border since the pro-Damascus forces began deploying this month. He said efforts to recruit and train local fighters from Deir al-Zor had accelerated at their garrison at Tanf, on the highway some 20 km (12 miles) from the Iraqi border. "The equipment and reinforcements come and go daily ... but in the last few weeks they have brought in more heavy military vehicles, TOW (missiles), and armored vehicles," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Two armored vehicles newly delivered to the Tanf garrison were shown in photos sent to Reuters from a rebel source. A video showed fighters unpacking mortar bombs. In a written response to emailed questions from Reuters, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition did not say if coalition support to Maghawir al-Thawra had increased. Colonel Ryan Dillon said coalition forces were "prepared to defend themselves if pro-regime forces refuse to vacate" a de-confliction zone around Tanf. "The coalition has observed pro-regime forces patrolling in the vicinity of the established de-confliction zone around the Tanf training site in Syria ... Pro-regime patrols and the continued armed and hostile presence of forces inside the ... zone is unacceptable and threatening to coalition forces." U.S. jets this week dropped leaflets on pro-government forces instructing them to pull out of the Tanf area to the Zaza junction further from the border. The leaflets were obtained by Hammurabi Justice, a Maghawir-linked website. The Syrian army could not be reached for comment. A commander in the military alliance fighting in support of Assad told Reuters the deployment of government forces and pro-Damascus Iraqi fighters in the Badia would "obstruct all the plans of the MOC, Jordan and America". The commander, a non-Syrian, said Assad's enemies were committed to blocking "what they call the (Shi'ite) Crescent". But, he said, "Now, our axis is insistent on this matter and it will be accomplished." The Iraqi Badr militia said its advance to the Syrian border would help the Syrian army reach the border from the other side. "The Americans will not be allowed to control the border," its leader, Hadi al-Amiri, told al-Mayadeen TV. (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Louise Ireland) A Mississippi teen died a hero over the weekend after family says he shielded his 15-year-old cousin from gunfire in what cops have called a domestic dispute that ended up leaving eight people dead, including a police officer who responded to an initial domestic dispute call. Jordan Blackwell, 18, was in his home in the town of Brookhaven along with his cousins Caleb Edwards, 15, and Austin Edwards, 11, and several other young people when his mother got a phone call about someone shot at the home of her friend some 10 miles away. Watch: Police Officer Among 4 Killed After Domestic Dispute Becomes Shooting Spree Blackwell's mother and father, Tiffany Blackwell and Shon Blackwell, left the three young men at their home in the middle of the night to comfort the friend. What the couple didn't know was that the suspected gunman, who they knew, had allegedly just killed four people, including 36-year-old sheriff's deputy William Durr, at their friend's home. And cops say he'd soon kill more. After the couple headed to the town of Bogue Chitto, cops say the friend's estranged husband showed up to their home with a gun and began shooting through their door. Once inside, cops say the suspect, 35-year-old Willie Corey Godbolt, encountered Jordan, who shielded Caleb with his body. After asking where his parents were, cops say Godbolt fatally shot Jordan and Austin. Two more people were subsequently killed at a third home, where both victims were in their 40s, according to police. Godbolt was arrested Sunday morning in Brookhaven, seven hours after the rampage began. He is currently in a hospital being treated for a gunshot wound, though it is unclear who shot him. Authorities say they plan to charge him with capital murder in Durr's death and seven counts of first-degree murder in the others. According to the Clarion-Ledger, Godbolt expressed remorse for killing Durr, a Lincoln County sheriff's deputy, as he was arrested early Sunday. Story continues "My pain wasn't designed for him; he was just there," Godbolt said. "We was talking about me trying to take the children home ... somebody called the officer ... that's what they do, they intervene. It cost him his life. I'm sorry." Godbolt reportedly went on to say: "Suicide by cop was my intention. I ain't fit to live." However, Godbolt will survive his injuries. Now, the family of his alleged victims must square that with their catastrophic loss. Read: Dad Dies Shielding Son From Gunman in Targeted Shooting That Killed 2 Children That includes Caleb's mom, Shayla Edwards, who accompanied Tiffany Blackwell into her home, where the lifeless bodies of Austin and Jordan remained in the living room. "A nightmare," she said. "I couldnt believe when I walked in the house. I saw his body on the floor, and my nephew on the couch. My sister and I were trying to wake them up, we told them to get up, but they didnt." Watch: 6-Year-Old Pleads With Community to Stop Gun Violence in Viral Video: 'I'm Scared to Die' Related Articles: A scuffle broke out on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives on May 29. The confrontation was sparked by protests against legislation that could impose restrictions on undocumented immigrants in the state. Hundreds of protesters gathered inside the Texas State Capitol in Austin in protest of SB4, legislation that could ban sanctuary cities in Texas and require local government and law enforcement to adhere to federal immigration laws. Many of the protesters were members of local families who were likely to be affected by the Trump administrations federal immigration policies, and were joined by at least 60 New Mexico activists from United We Dream. Legislators from both parties accused each other of causing the scuffle, according to the Texas Tribune, which was reportedly prompted by heated debate after Republican State Rep. Matt Rinaldi said he had called Immigration and customs enforcement to report the protesters. Rinaldi, in a statement published to social media, accused Democratic Rep. Poncho Nevarez of assaulting him and threatening him. Nevarez told the Tribune that he put his hands on Rinaldi, but denied threatening him. Video published by the Houses Chief of Staff shows the scuffle. Courtney Maum, author of Touch, out this week. (Photo: Colin Lane) In Courtney Maums new novel Touch the follow-up to her 2015 I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You the worlds most powerful trend forecaster, Sloane Jacobsen, decides, to the chagrin of the major tech agency that just hired her, that society is ready to move away from screens and virtual interaction and back towards warm, old-fashioned human contact. Its a movement that Maum, 38, of Connecticut, believes is happening IRL, too. I think we are moving back towards physical contact Just actually sitting down in person, in-person-ism, Maum tells Yahoo Beauty, which recently spoke to the writer about the state of modern interaction, along with her own past as a trend forecaster (Orange eye shadow and ear makeup? She called them both). Also discussed: her current life as mom to a 3-year-old and as a part-time color namer for companies including MAC Cosmetics. Thats not quite as romantic as it sounds, she says, noting that the task can involve hundreds of pages of Excel spreadsheets. Color us intrigued How did you become a trend forecaster? I moved to France after college and got jobs through translation including for Paris forecasting agency Nellie Rodi. I translated their trends books, these huge guides on everything from housewares and textures to makeup to really technical material like rubber, and because I was bilingual I would go to conferences, where Id sell the books. [Eventually I worked] as a trend forecaster, specifically in the luxury beauty space, so I realized I had a talent for thinking and writing about beauty. What is the skill set of a trend forecaster? In Touch, lead character Sloane gets a tingly feeling, almost like a premonition, when shes forecasting. Is it something innate? It absolutely comes down to instinct and confidence. I have a friend who does this now in Paris, and if you meet her, you just get that she has this aura of style and confidence but also real sensitivity. Shes a gentle, stylish person, and I think thats what it comes down do: You have to be very bold to convince companies that such-and-such a thing is going to happen in a couple years, but you also have to have a sensitivity to always have your eyes and heart open to what is going on around you. So its a weird combination of being a very hard person but also a soft and porous person, as well. Story continues What are some trend predictions youve right about? I am so pleased to say I worked with a company about five years ago and I told them that make-out mouth was going to trend, that tangerine eye shadow was going to be a thing, and that ears were going to become the next hotspot for makeup. Im delighted to see that its [all] finally happened. I keep waiting for the surfer zinc sunblock to join the makeup look like bold lines, kind of tribal. Im sort of surprised they havent come out with, like, a Chapstick [form of makeup] for the under-eye area. In Touch, Sloan is childless by choice, and the uber anti-mom. You have a 3-year-old daughter. Were you a reluctant mom? I was definitely someone who said I didnt want kids, that kids werent necessary for me, that I was happy pursuing my artistic dreams. I thought that would be enough for me. It was actually my husband who lobbied for a kid. But Im very happy to have a child! No one ever told me how fun it would be. And it sort of opened up a portal into a whole new variety of voices and characters I could access. Even with my first book, there was a child who was 9 years old. I was pregnant when I was writing it, but I still had to ask people, Does this scene feel real? I never babysat, I was never very fond of children. So it was hard for me to write from a parents point of view. I had to do outreach, and now I can use my own life! So yes, shes a tax write-off. [Laughs] Maums new book, out May 30, from G.P. Putnams Sons. At one point in the book, Sloane sees an alternative healer, even though its a stretch for her. How did you research this? Ive used it. My agent begged me to take that part out of the book! She said, Youre going to sabotage your whole book with that scene. But I was adamant about it. I lived in the Berkshires for almost nine years, [which is] pretty much the seat of alternative healing, and I tried reiki, reflexology. I wound up finding basically a shaman, and I have an energy healer, and Ive done cord-cutting work with her. Reiki is a very powerful thing, and while it can sound ridiculous that you can be healed without actually being touched, dont knock it till you try it. Im one of these weirdos who cant be massaged, so reiki is all I can handle. And I have a lot of friends who are alternative healers and who have energy therapists and things like that. Reiki aside, though, you do actually see us, as a society, moving back towards touch, right? Yes, because if theres a silver lining from the election, its that people realize now how theyve been completely in silos, living in these curated realities that we create with our smartphones we read what we want, we stick to the opinions that we agree with. And so someone pulls the wool off your eyes and youre like, Oh! Actually not everyone agrees with me! Having lived in Europe for a long time, I can say it really takes an American a lot to get out in the street, and the fact that Americans are now using their bodies and their voices and their free time to take to the streets, make calls, write letters things like that signal to me that were still going to be using our smartphones as tools, but that the real force of change going forward is going to be face to face-ism I really believe that very strongly, because its pretty much the only thing that truly works to bring about positive social change. You have to go back to these analog efforts to putting on shoes, holding up signs, using your actual hand and pen to write letters. So I think physical contact is already trending, actually. Pen to paper like thank-you notes maybe? Hopefully? I think things like etiquette are also going to trend, because people are just so abominable now: They dont respond to emails forget it, if someone leaves a voice message and people come stay a week in your house and dont even leave you a bottle of wine. Its astonishing. So I think thats going to trend. People are going to get into stationery, maybe even sending calling cards? I could totally see that happening in Brooklyn, where people are leaving little calling cards to invite people to tea. Or birthday parties [city moms will have] their kids mud wrestle or something, get really, really dirty. I can totally see that happening, taking their kids fishing or camping. Nature I think will trend, because of Trump trying to abolish national parks. Whenever something is threatened, it will often become cool. OK so youre also a freelance product and shade namer for, including for MAC cosmetics. Do they just send you a bunch of lipsticks and say, Go? They never send me any actual tactile products. I get sent a brief with information about the product, photographs, and the key points they want to communicate through the name. Then I usually deliver hundreds of names, and the selection process is all in-house. Its different with other companies, where we will sit around the table and talk about what works and what doesnt. Then theres the legal screening, where if you have 100, as many as 60 or 70 could drop out. Its easy to start a company these days, so its becoming incredibly hard to name things and now the LOreals and the Toyotas of the world will just buy up names within the category. So [for example] the Nissan Leaf theyll go and by up anything having to do with greenery and leaves and renewable technology, all those words. Whether or not they plan to use them, they own the trademarks. The automobile and beauty industries are the hardest to name, because dealing with companies like Proctor & Gamble? You cant imagine what those Excel spreadsheets look like hundreds of pages. How do you brainstorm? Depends on the industry and the creative brief. So if its a pharmaceutical company, Ill probably be looking in a book of Latin or something, to look at prefixes and strange combos of Xs and Vs, because the sound is very cold. For a new hotel chain, I might just be looking out the window. [But after legal, and] by the third and fourth round Ive got out the thesaurus, industry newspapers, Google translate thats when you really start translating things into languages you dont even master to come up with original sounds. What are your thoughts on millennial pink? Thats awful, terrible sounding. Do millennials really want to be called millennials anymore? I just think thats a terrible term. It just sounds cold, and I dont want it on my face, I dont want it. I actually like the shade. But I would not tell a furniture client, Oh, we should come out with a couch in millennial pink! We would call it Venice Rose. Can you recall a color name you came up with that you were particularly fond of? I can tell you something a client never used that I loved so much and thought was hysterical: It was for a hummus. They said it needs to sound really exotic, so Dassit, which I thought looked vaguely Turkish. But the insider joke, of course, was Das it! Thats all you need! But they never released the hummus. The space was too competitive. Read more from Yahoo Beauty + Style: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Washington (AFP) - The transatlantic diplomatic rift widened on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump responded to criticism from Chancellor Angela Merkel with a new attack on German trade tactics and defense spending. Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer insisted that the leaders "get on very well" but -- as is often the case -- his warm words from the White House podium were overshadowed by the president's intemperate tweets. When Trump returned over the weekend from the first foreign trip of his presidency, his aides hailed the tour as a success and a sign of renewed and bolder US leadership on the world stage. But, while Trump received a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia and Israel, he left behind a bitter taste in Europe after the NATO summit in Brussels and the G7 get-together of the world's richest powers in Sicily. European leaders were especially dismayed by Trump's refusal to reaffirm US support for last year's Paris climate change accord and his failure to publicly endorse NATO's mutual defense pledge. Germany was particularly discomfited, and Merkel wasted no time in warning German voters that the United States can no longer be relied upon as before. Trump's response came in the early hours of Tuesday when he took to Twitter to once again demand that Germany renegotiate the terms of transatlantic trade and boost its defense spending. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military," Trump wrote, in his flamboyantly undiplomatic style. "Very bad for US. This will change." - 'Trump was not aggressive' - German officials have insisted that, as a member of the European Union, they cannot conduct bilateral trade talks with the United States and that they are not ready to dramatically increase military spending. In January, the White House accused Germany of exploiting an undervalued euro to boost its trade advantage, despite Berlin's long opposition to the European Central Bank's loose monetary policy. Story continues And, even after he held a frosty meeting with Merkel in Washington in March and heard her explain Germany has no independent, non-EU trade policy, Trump continues to complain about Germany's surplus. According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, Trump told European officials in Brussels last week that "the Germans are bad, very bad." Spicer gamely tried to deny the report, insisting that European Commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker had confirmed that "Trump was not aggressive on German trade surplus." But after Merkel and other senior German officials, who are campaigning ahead of September national elections in their own country, spent the weekend attacking Trump, the US leader returned to the theme. - 'Weakening the West' - Not only does the spat continue but Merkel has seized upon it as an opportunity -- in the wake of the election of Emmanuel Macron as a pro-Europe French president -- to rally Europe around her leadership. She warned German voters that her experience in dealing with Trump at NATO and the G7 had convinced her that the times when Europe could rely on Washington and London "are coming to an end." "Transatlantic ties are of paramount importance to us... but the current situation gives more reasons for... us to take our destiny in our own hands," she said Tuesday. "Europe must become a player active in international affairs." German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was even more blunt on Monday, slamming the US president's "short-sighted" policies that have "weakened the West" and hurt European interests. "The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union," he warned, judging that "the West has become smaller, at least it has become weaker." Speaking just days after Trump promised to sell Saudi Arabia $110 billion worth of arms in order to deter Iran, Gabriel accused Washington of fuelling religious conflict. And he warned against "accelerating climate change by weakening environmental protection." Trump said he will give his verdict on the Paris accord later this week, and has warned that Washington may pull out of a pact that European leaders see as the last best hope to slow global warming. - Resume EU trade talks? - Despite the sometimes heated rhetoric, Washington is "open" to resuming talks with the EU on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said late Tuesday. Launched in 2013, negotiations on the TTIP -- which would set up a huge free trade area on both sides of the Atlantic -- screeched to a halt when Trump was elected on an "America First" platform. "It makes sense to continue TTIP negotiations and to work towards a solution that increases overall trade while reducing our trade deficit," Ross told CNBC. "It's no mistake that, while we withdrew from TPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with Pacific Rim economies) we did not withdraw from TTIP," Ross said. When Trump took office in January one of his earliest moves was to exit the TPP, which Washington had signed with 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia. Brussels and Washington failed to get the TTIP deal approved before Trump's predecessor, president Barack Obama, left office. ch-jca-dc-jtt/sst-ch/wdb Trump is reportedly poised to pull out of Paris prompting murmurings that the world would be better off without American involvement Donald Trump with Angela Merkel and Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi at the G7 summit. Merkel said: The whole discussion about climate has been difficult, or rather very unsatisfactory. Photograph: Flavio Lo Scalzo/AP Donald Trumps Twitter pledge to make a decision on whether to remain in the Paris climate agreement this week promises resolution to months of fevered lobbying over US involvement in the global accord. But while Americas traditional allies and environmental groups continue to urge Trump to stay within the Paris deal in which nearly 200 nations have pledged to limit global temperatures to a 2C (3.6F) increase on the pre-industrial era the actions of the US president, most recently at the G7 meeting in Sicily, have begun to provoke murmurs that perhaps the world would be better without American involvement. The final G7 communique saw the US unusually break with the other six nations by failing to commit itself to the Paris agreement, which Trump promised to cancel during the presidential campaign, and reports on Wednesday claimed he had decided to exit. The exasperation of European leaders suggested they are ready to move on with or without the worlds second largest emitter of greenhouse gases. The whole discussion about climate has been difficult, or rather very unsatisfactory, said German chancellor Angela Merkel. Here we have the situation that six members, or even seven if you want to add the EU, stand against one. The US formally turning its back on perhaps the last best chance of a coordinated response to climate change would certainly carry heft. Frantic calculations by several thinkthanks and universities have estimated that US withdrawal would add up to 3bn tonnes of extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year, raising the global temperature by 0.1C (0.2F) to 0.3C (0.5F) by the end of the century. Such a regression would be compounded if other countries took the United States lead and also decided to quit Paris, or at least not strive to fill the void in emissions reduction. This would have grave implications for coastal cities facing sea-level rise, parts of the world already blighted by heatwaves and food insecurity, and the planets endangered species. Story continues While US emissions would start to level off rather than continue their gradual decline, there are signs that India and China, the two other national heavy hitters in emissions, are moving away from coal more quickly than expected, according to Climate Action Tracker. This has led several economists and large US businesses to fret that the coming boom in solar, wind and other renewable energies will not take place in the US. China signaled its intent earlier this year by announcing it will invest $360bn in renewable energy by 2020, creating more than 13m jobs in the sector. If the economic fallout of leaving the Paris deal does not sway Trump, the diplomatic and security ramifications may. Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, has urged the US to keep a seat at the table in order to maintain its international standing, while UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has raised the possibility of risks of conflict if climate change is not properly addressed. If Trump does decide to stay in the deal, it is likely he will attempt to renegotiate it, which would mainly involve the US revising down its goal of reducing emissions by 26-28% by 2025 based on 2005 levels. Opponents of the deal, such as Trump strategist Steve Bannon and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, have framed Paris as a bad deal for the US that may even hinder Trumps domestic agenda of winding back various environmental regulations. Several independent legal experts, as well as those who helped craft the Paris agreement, reject this view, pointing out that the edifice is built on a series of voluntary non-binding goals submitted by countries. Paris is essentially a statement of intent, a signal from governments to their citizens and businesses that low-carbon economies are on the way and that this inevitability should be financially supported. Some supporters of Paris are now wondering how useful it would be to have a disengaged US within such a structure. The American public is largely in favour of the Paris deal and could be given the misleading impression that their government is addressing the climate issue by simply staying put, despite tearing down Barack Obamas climate policies such as the clean power plan at the same time. Wanting the US to remain is a short-sighted, knee-jerk reaction, said Luke Kemp, an expert in international environmental policy at the Australian National University. The international community should be much more worried about the real domestic actions of the US, rather than whether it is symbolically cooperating internationally. Kemp points out that the US could act as a drag upon the international climate effort if it doesnt leave. The US and the Trump administration can do more damage inside the agreement than outside it, he said. The momentum is reportedly with the leave faction, with a group of 22 Republican senators minus the notable voices of Lindsey Graham and John McCain, who want the US to remain urging Trump to make a clean break from Paris. On Tuesday, Trump again met with Pruitt, one of the most vociferous opponents of the deal. But the White Houses confusion over the decision and its wider ramifications was perhaps summed up best by Sean Spicer, Trumps spokesman, who on Tuesday was asked the simple question of whether Trump believed global warming was spurred by human activity, a subject he has previously vacillated upon. Honestly, I havent asked him, Spicer replied. I can get back to you. By Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump came under pressure on Wednesday from corporate CEOs, U.S. allies, Democrats and some fellow Republicans to keep the United States in a global pact to fight climate change, while a source close to the matter said Trump was preparing to pull out of the Paris accord. A U.S. withdrawal could deepen a rift with U.S. allies. The United States would join Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the landmark 195-nation accord agreed upon in Paris in 2015. Responding to shouted questions from reporters in the White House Oval Office, Trump declined to say whether he had made up his mind, saying, "You'll find out very soon." "I'm hearing from a lot of people, both ways," Trump said as he met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump blasted the accord, and called global warming a hoax aimed at weakening U.S. industry. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was working out terms of the planned withdrawal with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, an oil industry ally and climate change doubter. The pact was the first legally binding global deal to fight climate change. Virtually every nation voluntarily committed to steps aimed at curbing global emissions of "greenhouse" gases. These include carbon dioxide generated from burning of fossil fuels that scientists blame for a warming planet, sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. The United States committed to reduce its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Advocates of the climate deal pressured Trump, who has changed his mind on large decisions before even after signaling a move in the opposite direction. The chief executives of dozens of companies have made last-minute appeals to Trump. The CEOs of ExxonMobil Corp, Apple Inc, Dow Chemical Co, Unilever NV and Tesla Inc were among those urging him to remain in the agreement. Tesla's Elon Musk threatened to quit White House advisory councils if the president pulls out. Musk said: "I've done all I can to advise directly" to Trump and through others in the White House. Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp[MUYEY.UL], an Ohio-based coal company and major Trump campaign donor, urged Trump to withdraw from the deal. But on Wednesday, U.S. coal company shares fell alongside renewable energy stocks following reports that Trump would pull out. Pulling the United States from the accord could further alienate American allies in Europe already wary of Trump and call into question U.S. leadership and trustworthiness on one of the world's leading issues. It also would be one more step by the Republican president to erase the legacy of his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord and praised it during a trip to Europe this month. A U.S. pullout could have sweeping implications. The deal relies heavily on reductions in emissions by big polluter nations, and the United States is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. At a conference near Los Angeles, Democrat Hillary Clinton, who Trump defeated in the 2016 presidential election, said withdrawing would be a mistake. "Part of what keeps us going is that America's word is good, and that you stand with your prior administration whether it was of your party or not," she said. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who Trump considered for secretary of state, said on Twitter that affirmation of the Paris agreement "is not only about the climate: It is also about America remaining the global leader." U.S. CREDIBILITY Democratic U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Jack Reed wrote a letter urging Trump not to withdraw. They said withdrawal would undermine U.S. credibility and its position as a global leader, empowering nations like China to drive the climate agenda and set international standards while also reaping economic benefits from a growing clean energy sector. U.S. allies rallied behind the Paris accord on Wednesday. In Berlin, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stressed withdrawal would take years, saying, "The Americans can't just leave the climate protection agreement. Mr. Trump believes that because he doesn't know the details." China and the European Union will seek on Friday to buttress the agreement. In a statement backed by all 28 EU states, the European Union and China will commit to full implementation of the accord, EU and Chinese officials said. Trump has said the accord would cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars without tangible benefit. For the Republican president, a withdrawal would reflect his "America First" approach to policy, unencumbered by international obligations. Trump refused to endorse the accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday in Italy, saying he needed more time to decide. The Sierra Club said a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris deal would be a "historic mistake." Friends of the Earth said the action would "sacrifice our planet to the fossil fuel industry" and make America the world's "foremost climate villain." Trump vowed during his 2016 presidential campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president on Jan. 20, part of an effort to bolster U.S. oil and coal industries. Trump's advisers have been split about the Paris accord. Senior adviser Steve Bannon, who wants Trump to focus on actions that will rev up his conservative political base, has long opposed it. Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and top adviser, has come to the view that the standards set out in the agreement did not work for the U.S. economy and the question was whether to try to change those standards within the agreement or pull out, another senior administration official said. Trump's daughter, Ivanka, favors staying in, the official said, and she has sought to ensure her father heard all sides in the debate. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, David Alexander, Doina Chiacu, Chris Kahn, Richard Valdmanis, Timothy Gardner, David Ingram and Rodrigo Campos; Writing by Will Dunham and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Cynthia Osterman) The environmentalist community is reacting with predictable outrage to reports that President Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. On Wednesday morning, Axios broke a story citing two sources with direct knowledge of the decision saying that Trump would withdraw from the Paris climate accord and that hes working out the details with a small team that includes Environmental Protection Administration head Scott Pruitt. As word of the report spread, Trump said he would formally announce his decision within the next few days. I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 Trump vowed to pull the U.S. out of the international climate accord on the campaign trail but softened his rhetoric after taking office. He said he would make his decision after the recent Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy. The administration has reversed several of President Obamas environmental initiatives, including toxic regulation and land use, and environmentalists have spoken out strongly against Trump. The Paris accord sets goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but has no mechanisms in place for enforcement, so a withdrawal by the U.S which would not take effect until 2020 in any case would be primarily symbolic. But it is an enormously powerful symbol to environmentalists, and equally to opponents. The only two other countries that are not participants are Syria and Nicaragua. On the Paris accord, we pushed and mobilized to get Trump to stay in, but the decision appears to have been taken despite efforts to convince him today, a European diplomat told Yahoo News. French President Emmanuel Macron personally courted Trump twice by telephone and also during their working lunch, arguing that the agreement is nonbinding, benefits everyone, is good for jobs, the diplomat said. Story continues But a top White House official recently warned several embassies involved in the process that it would very difficult to convince Trump to stay in an agreement that he regards as unnecessary, even if his conversations with Macron appeared to make him think twice, the diplomat said. President Trump at a recent White House press conference. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP) Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, released a statement Wednesday saying that if these reports turn out to be true, Trump is making a reckless and foolish mistake for which our kids will pay the price. She sees the Paris Agreement as a triumph of American leadership in which U.S. diplomats did whats best for the nation as a whole: spurring clean energy, creating millions of jobs and protecting future generations. Trump would be walking away from that American victory, abandoning U.S. climate and clean energy leadership and breaking our promise to the rest of the world. Foreign leaders would remember that the next time we need their cooperation on whats important to us, she said. This is not putting America first: Its putting fossil-fuel profits ahead of the national interest. We have a right to demand better from our president and to fight for our childrens future. There was not an immediate, comparable reaction to the reports from groups that promote the interests of the fossil fuel industry, such as the American Petroleum Institute. But the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that has been critical of climate change initiatives, said if Trump does withdraw the U.S. from the Paris accord it would demonstrate resolute leadership. In a series of tweets, the Heritage Foundation condemned the agreement as egregious regulation, cronyism and government spending that would be as disastrous for the American economy as it is proving to be for those in Europe. It is time for the U.S. to say au revoir to the #ParisAgreement. Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) May 31, 2017 Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, released a statement saying Trump has made a historic mistake that this generations grandchildren will look back with dismay that a world leader could be so untethered from reality or morality. Trump has abandoned the standard of American leadership, turned his back on the what the public and the market demand, and shamelessly disregarded the safety of our families, just to let the fossil-fuel industry eek out a few more dollars in profits, Brune said. This is a decision that will cede Americas role internationally to nations like China and India, which will benefit handsomely from embracing the booming clean-energy economy, while Trump seeks to drive our country back into the 19th century. Make no mistake, he continued, the Paris Agreement was adopted after decades of climate advocacy by concerned citizens across America and around the world, and it certainly will not be derailed by the ignorance of one man. Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, also issued a strongly worded statement that called a withdrawal from the Paris Agreement wildly irresponsible. He accused Trump of jeopardizing the health and safety of Americans and undermining the United States leadership role in the world community. This would be a new low, even for President Trump and [EPA administrator] Pruitt, who have prioritized polluter profits over kids health at every step of the way. Such a decision would be bad business, bad policy and bad politics, he said. Karpinski pointed out that other countries will continue the unstoppable march toward clean energy and vowed that his organization would stand with voters who want stronger climate action and for the Trump administration to be held accountable. The United Nations tweeted a statement from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres affirming that climate change is real and that climate action is unstoppable. Climate change is undeniable Climate action is unstoppable Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable. @antonioguterres https://t.co/a8O14NCLUc United Nations (@UN) May 31, 2017 According to the 28th article of the Paris Agreement, any country can withdraw three years after the agreement enters into force. Dan Bodansky, a climate change expert and a law professor at Arizona State University, told Yahoo News that Trump would be able to submit the United States withdrawal in November 2019 and that it would become effective in 2020. Trump has said that he is not a huge believer in the global warming phenomenon and dismissed climate change as a hoax. He has belittled initiatives to combat climate change as part of a money-making industry. Perhaps most confusingly, he claimed that China invented the concept of global warming to hurt U.S. manufacturing. Trump also said that nobody really knows whether climate change is real. The vast majority of scientists disagree. Many scientific associations have released reports and statements affirming that the global climate has warmed as a result of human activities and that this could have widespread impact if unchecked. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, The global warming of the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced increases in heat-trapping gases. Human fingerprints also have been identified in many other aspects of the climate system, including changes in ocean heat content, precipitation, atmospheric moisture and Arctic Sea ice. Though Trumps rhetoric is some of the strongest uttered by any major Republican politician, his beliefs concerning climate change and the environment are close to mainstream Republican thought. Just last week, a group of 22 influential Republican senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, signed a letter urging Trump to make a clean break from the Paris Agreement. A peer-reviewed study from August 2015 found that the Republican Party stands alone among conservative political parties in the developed world that openly question climate change and criticize those who take an opposing view. According to reports, the White House has been torn over the prospect of leaving the climate agreement. Ivanka Trump (the presidents daughter and assistant), Jared Kushner (his son-in-law and senior adviser) and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson think the U.S. should stay in the pact, whereas White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt want the U.S. to withdraw. With additional reporting by Olivier Knox Read more from Yahoo News: Sister Simone Campbell has spoken out against Trumps reversal of mandatory contraception coverage. (Photo: Getty Images) Ever since the Trump administrations quiet announcement that it has begun, in the name of religious freedom, to roll back a federal rule requiring most employers insurance plans to cover birth control at no cost to women, the expected feminist champions have expressed disapproval. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called it sickening, for example. And Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights said the move will hurt women and has vowed to fight it in court. But now some prominent Catholics have been speaking out as well including Sister Simone Campbell, the 71-year old nun, lawyer, and public policy advocate who serves as the executive director of Network, the national Catholic social justice lobby. One of the big tenets of the Catholic faith and of the Christian tradition is the dignity of all people and the importance of a well-formed conscience, Campbell tells Yahoo Beauty. One of the things that concerns me about quote-unquote religious liberty is that it seems that the preference for the liberty of an employer is being expressed, but not for the employee. As people of faith, I think we are called to be respectful of all peoples conscience. For me in this instance, its most often women who get caught in political machinations and not in actual concern as to what actually happens to them. Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe, domestic program director for Catholics for Choice, agrees. Where you are employed should not override your religious freedom nor limit your access to health care, she tells Yahoo Beauty. Nevertheless, the White House Office of Management and Budget announced on its website that it is reviewing an interim final rule that would allow religious employers to deny contraception coverage to their female employees. While the details of the rule have yet to be announced, Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president of the National Womens Law Center, said, We are sure that some women will lose birth control coverage. Story continues Under an Obama-era regulation, contraception coverage had to be included on all employer-provided health insurance plans, even those provided by religiously-affiliated organizations that might oppose contraception. The rules were written to allow for religious objections, noting that if an employer was uncomfortable providing contraception coverage, they could sign a form stating as such, and thus not be forced to do so directly; instead, a third-party organization would be prompted to provide that coverage for their employees, ensuring access to the contraception coverage guaranteed under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Campbell emphasizes that while she and her colleagues originally disagreed with the way that the ACA addressed the issue of contraception coverage for faith-based entities, they strongly supported the exemption ultimately offered by the Obama administration. A lot of people dont know about this: Religious entities who object to providing contraception dont have to do it, she says. Hutchinson Ratcliffe notes that the majority of Catholics use and support contraceptive coverage. Further, she says, The majority of Catholics support real religious liberty for all and would be disappointed by rollback of these rights for those who work at Catholic institutions. Why? Because the majority of Catholics support the rights of workers to follow their God-given conscience when making personal decisions around their reproductive health and oppose efforts to make those decisions less available because of what their employer believes is best. Catholics for Choice has been vocal on Twitter about its support of the contraception mandate. Majority of #Catholics are against #licensetodiscriminate EO that would deny women basic healthcare like birth control. #religiousfreedom pic.twitter.com/z8H7HxrF3x Catholics for Choice (@Catholic4Choice) May 4, 2017 Fact: 99% of Catholic women use birth control and want it to be affordable #HandsOffMyBC pic.twitter.com/w5h1MRHS1X Catholics for Choice (@Catholic4Choice) April 19, 2017 Campbell especially takes umbrage at a recent statement by Tom Price, secretary of Health and Human Services, who insisted that the ACA mandate on contraception coverage was a trampling of religious freedom and religious liberty in this country. For me, Campbell responds, a corporation doesnt have a soul, which is an organizing principle in the Catholic tradition, and in my view, a corporation is then not entitled to the same liberty and dignity of human beings. She adds that though the Supreme Courts Hobby Lobby case has given corporations the same importance as human beings, she believes that is wrong, and that it is inevitably women who suffer. In a pluralistic society, we try to find a way where everyone can exercise his conscience. But womens choices are seen as not as valid as mens, and that is annoying to me, Campbell says. It really doesnt give us the same dignity, the same respect, the same authority as the men who own these corporations. Read more in Yahoo Beauty + Style: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Kurdish YPG fighters stand near US military vehicles in the town of Darbasiya near the Turkish border, in Syria on 29 April 2017: REUTERS The Pentagon has confirmed the first new shipment of arms to Kurdish fighters closing in on Isis in the militants de facto capital of Raqqa is on its way to Syria. Small arms including AK-47s and small-calibre machine guns as well as vehicles were being transferred to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mainly Kurdish alliance of fighters, spokesperson Eric Pahon told reporters on Tuesday. The news was met with consternation in Ankara, where Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the decision a mistake. Such steps are extremely dangerous for Syria's unity and territorial integrity, he added in a news conference on Wednesday. Under Barack Obamas administration, the US has long given quiet support to Kurdish fighters in the region, which are widely viewed as the most effective ground force against Isis. Nato ally Turkey has protested the US-Kurdish alliance for years because it views the Turkish separatist PKK movement and its affiliates in Syria as terrorist organisations. The new administrations decision to continue Mr Obamas policy comes as the SDF prepares for the final assault on Isis stronghold of Raqqa in the north of the country. Turkey had previously tried and failed to persuade the US to let up to 10,000 Turkish-backed troops lead the assault instead. On some fronts SDF fighters are now just two miles (three kilometres) away from Raqqas outskirts after a successful offensive on the nearby town of Tabqa earlier this month. The operation is designed to dovetail with efforts in neighbouring Iraq to drive Isis from the northern city of Mosul. The gruelling eight-month long battle is nearly over, with the last militants hunkered down in the historic city centre. The battle for Raqqa is also expected to be long and bloody. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously expressed his concerns about directly providing Syrias Kurds with weaponry in a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on 16 May. Story continues It is absolutely unacceptable to take the YPG-PYD into consideration as partners in the region, and its going against a global agreement we reached, Mr Erdogan told media after the talks, referring to the both the fighting and political units of the Kurdish autonomous movement in Syria. The president clearly expressed our position and concerns during his Washington visit. It was stressed how risky and dangerous the support given to the YPG was, Mr Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. These weapons could be used against all humanity, not just Turkey. US government audits studied by Amnesty International in findings released last week showed than $1 billion (78 million) in weapons already supplied to local Kurdish fighters in Iraq in 2016 are currently unaccounted for. Many players in Syrias complex and multi-sided civil war are worried that the new influx of weaponry could further destablise the country if weapons are leaked or diverted to other groups once Isis militants are defeated. Several Iraqi forces aided by weapons and training from the US have since been accused of human rights abuses in the fight against Isis. Iraqi coalition spokesperson Colonel John Dorrian said although the weapons will not be reclaimed the US will carefully monitor where and how they are used. Every single one of the weapons will be accounted for and the US will assure they are pointed at Isis, he said, adding that the shortcomings identified in the Amnesty report had been examined and corrected. Comedian Kathy Griffin made waves on Twitter Tuesday after releasing a photo in which she held the bloody, decapitated head of President Donald Trump. Griffin quickly defended the image, which was first obtained by TMZ, saying that it was merely an expression of art. Yashar Ali, a journalist, said on Twitter that he had spoken to Griffin and that in response to the image, she said she believed Trump was doing tremendous damage to the country and the world and she wanted the art to reflect the seriousness of his impact. Griffin told Ali she was inspired by the statement Trump made about Megyn Kelly in which he discussed the blood coming out of her wherever. She also told Ali she does not condone any violence, that provocative art should remain just that: art, he said in a tweet. She does not want life to imitate art. In a video also obtained by TMZ, Griffin appeared to joke about having to move away because of the image. Were going to move to Mexico today because were going to go to prison, she said. The backlash to the photo on Twitter was quick and fierce. What Kathy Griffin has done here is shocking and wrong. Its behavior that should be condemned by all, journalist Evan Siegfried wrote. One of the presidents sons also spoke out about the picture on Twitter. Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS? Donald Trump Jr. said in a tweet. Kathy Griffin shows her support for ISIS by holding a mock-up of President Trumps decapitated head, another user wrote. Others mocked Griffin for her status, or lack thereof, among celebrities. Dude, Kathy Griffin doesnt remember when Kathy Griffin was relevant, one person said in a Tweet. Hey look, @kathygriffin is attempting to be relevant! Doubt it will work this time either, said another. Story continues The president has remained mum about the picture, but if history is any indication, Trump might touch on it. In March, after a music video emerged in which rapper Snoop Dogg was depicted shooting the president, Trump discussed it on Twitter. Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time! Trump wrote. Griffin appeared to be unfazed by the criticism of her photo. I wont give away what were doing, she said in a video released alongside the images. But Tyler [the photographer] and I are not afraid to do images that make noise. Related Articles The head of the United Nations has a clear message for countries and companies dragging their feet on climate change: "Get on board, or get left behind." U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said institutions that "fail to bet on the green economy will be living in a gray future," while those that embrace clean energy technologies will "set the gold standard for economic leadership in the 21st century." Guterres didn't explicitly throw shade at the United States, but he may has well have. SEE ALSO: Trump's budget screws over climate research, but don't freak out yet Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has begun dismantling its ambitious plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions and curb fossil fuel use, at a time when the rest of the world is doubling down on both fronts. The Trump administration is also considering pulling the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, a historic international accord that aims to limit global temperature rise. John Kerry speaks at the U.N. Signing Ceremony for the Paris Climate Agreement. Image: spencer platt/Getty Images Trump's top environmental official, Scott Pruitt, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency, has called the Paris agreement a "bad deal" and is one of the strongest advocates of ending U.S. participation in the pact. Pruitt met with Trump on Tuesday ahead of the president's upcoming decision, a fact that made climate advocates particularly nervous. If America withdraws, it would be only the third nation in the world after Syria and Nicaragua to abstain. The U.S. may also become a clean energy laggard, as manufacturers and investors flock to China, India, Europe, and other nations that more openly embrace the low-carbon economy. The U.N. secretary general, in his first major climate address since taking office in December, said it's "absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris agreement and that we fulfill that duty with increased ambition." Story continues When asked about a possible U.S. exit, Guterres said the U.N. was "engaging with the American administration." "We believe it will be important for the United States not to leave the Paris agreement," he added. "My door is open to all who wish to discuss the way forward, even those who might hold divergent perspectives," he said earlier in the address. "The climate conversation should cease to be a shouting match." U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaks at a conference in London. Image: Jack Hill - WPA Pool/Getty Images The Paris Agreement, which went into force in 2016, calls for nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels by 2100. Yet the Paris agreement isn't the only place where the U.S. and U.N. diverge on climate issues. Trump and his top officials, including Pruitt, have also disputed the U.N.'s widely accepted finding that "human influence on the climate system is clear." In his speech, Guterres said "the science [of climate change] is beyond doubt." He noted that climate-related impacts, including rising sea levels, devastating floods, and long-lasting droughts, "are dangerous, and they are accelerating." Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly expressed skepticism toward the mainstream scientific consensus on climate change. President Trump has pledged to revive coal mining in hard-hit states like West Virginia. Image: spencer platt/Getty Images On Tuesday, a reporter asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer if Trump believes that human activity contributes to global warming. Spicer replied, "Honestly, I haven't asked him." Still, the federal government isn't the only place where Americans can fight climate change, Guterres noted. Local governments, civil organizations, and especially businesses whose energy investments will stall or propel the low-carbon economy all have an important role to play. Even if the U.S. withdraws, "it's very important for the U.S. society as a whole, the cities, the states, the companies, the businesses, to remain engaged with the Paris agreement," Guterres said. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday it had staged a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, as concerns mount over North Korea's advancing missile and nuclear program. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment ... a critical milestone for this program," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said in a statement. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by James Dalgleish) (Photo: Getty Images) School dress codes are usually meant to keep kids covered up and conservative. Apparently, not in Belgium. The Universite libre de Bruxelles has courted controversy for encouraging women to wear revealing necklines to graduation. The instructions were given via email and a humorous Facebook page unofficially associated with the school called ULB Confessions brought it to light by posting it on the social media platform. Translated to English, the instructions read, From an aesthetic point of view, it is preferable for young women to wear a dress or skirt, and a nice [revealing] neckline. They used the word decollete, which is usually used to describe low-cut. So, basically, the school requested women show their cleavage at graduation. Of course, ladies, this advice is not obligatory, the message added. Making matters worse, the instructions for men simply suggested they wear a a suit. Scandaleux !!!!! A university that is supposed to open our minds and blablabla comes with similar messages talking about women as if we were simple objects that are there for the pleasure of your eyes? !!! Disgusting disappointing, one follower commented. You should be ashamed of yourself to commit this sexism and misogyny! We are in 2017, another expressed, tagging the university. Imagine if the ULB suggested that the male graduates wore a low-cut shirt. Preposterous, another pointed out. Want to vomit to read the comments We are in 2017, and we must justify wearing pants! To all the assholes who think they have a say in the outfit worn by women, or who think they are legitimate in their judgment, I would say only one thing: Look at yourself in a mirror and fuck you, someone else wrote. Being a student at the ULB, I was deeply struck by the publication # 10049, read another post on ULB Confessions, referencing the email. I would like to address a few words to all the young ladies who will read this: No one has the right to tell you how you should feel in your skin. No one has the right to tell you how you to dress. Nobody has the right to tell you how to play your role as a woman. No one has the right to take away this freedom so hardly obtained (and still )Whether you are blonde, brunette, redhead, tall, small, thin, round, black, white, yellow, green, orange, there is only you to judge your person. And in any case, you are beautiful! Ps Even in sweats. Story continues While the dress code suggestion seemed to be too preposterous to not be a hoax, the dean of the faculty of medicine, Marco Schetgen, confirmed its legitimacy to a Belgian news outlet. He was as shocked as the students when he read it, according to The Independent. The university issued an apology via Facebook and Twitter that roughly translated to, The Faculty of Medicine, through its dean, presents its sincerest apologies to all the students who have received the email mentioned belowIt goes without saying that the instructions linked to the dress of young female graduates are as far removed from as they are contrary to the values defended daily by ULB and its faculty. School dress codes are nothing new, but asking students to flaunt their assets certainly is. In fact, one North Carolina student was banned from graduation for doing exactly what ULB asked of its students showing a portion of her back and shoulders. Another school dress code prohibits exposed underarms! Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Washington (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday began providing small arms to Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State group in northern Syria, the Pentagon said, fulfilling a pledge that has infuriated Turkey. The weapons transfers have begun ahead of an upcoming offensive to recapture Raqa, the last major bastion for IS in Syria. "We have begun to transfer small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements" of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said, referring to a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance fighting IS. The weapons include AK-47s and small-caliber machine guns, Rankine-Galloway added. President Donald Trump this month approved arming the fighters from the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG), drawing strong condemnation from Turkey. Ankara says the YPG is linked to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatists, who have waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed more than 40,000 people inside Turkey. Turkey's concerns about the YPG were significant enough for Ankara to launch its own military operation inside Syria in August 2016, dubbed Euphrates Shield. The operation had the dual goals of targeting IS and the Kurdish militia, particularly to prevent the YPG from controlling a contiguous strip of territory along the Syria-Turkey border. While the Kurds have failed to link up the two "cantons" under their control in the northeast with the Afrin region to the west, the Turkish operation has largely floundered. The SDF have now advanced to within a few miles of Raqa on several fronts, and this month captured the strategic town of Tabqa and the adjacent dam from the jihadists. Washington has sought to placate Ankara by saying the weapons will be handed out judiciously, and that it will monitor these to make sure they don't go into Turkey. The Pentagon insists the SDF are the only fighting force currently on the ground capable of seizing Raqa. Still, Washington must strike a careful balance. Turkey is a NATO ally and home to a key airbase that the US-led coalition uses to hit IS. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States and China are discussing next steps in response to North Korea's missile tests and could reach a decision on new sanctions this week, Washington's UN envoy Nikki Haley said Tuesday. China is pushing Pyongyang through back channels to change its behavior and discussing with the United States the timing of a possible new sanctions resolution, Haley told reporters. "It's about at what point do we do the resolution... at what test model do we say now is the time to go forward," she said. "We do think they are trying to counter what is happening now and they have the lay of the land," Haley said of the Chinese government. "We are going to keep the pressure on China but we will continue to work with them ... and I think we will decide this week on what that looks like." North Korea has carried out three missile tests in less than three weeks, defying UN warnings that it faces new sanctions. On Monday, Pyongyang test-fired a short-range missile that fell provocatively close to Japan. The United States launched talks on new sanctions with China a month ago with a view to drafting a proposed resolution to present to the council, but no text has been agreed. Haley said the council was not backpedalling but rather carefully considering the next moves. "Nothing is changing North Korea's actions and so it's regrouping and saying okay, what are we going to do if this is going to happen every other day," said Haley. "How should we respond in a way that actually stops these things or slows them down?" she added. China has pushed for a revival of the six-party talks that have been dormant since North Korea walked out on the negotiations in 2009. Haley has said that the United States will open a dialogue with Pyongyang if it halts its missile and nuclear tests. North Korea is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five atomic tests, two of them last year. The Security Council adopted two sanctions resolutions last year to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang and deny leader Kim Jong-Un the hard currency needed to fund his military programs. In all, six sets of sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006. Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a case over voting rights that is part of a long-running dispute between Republicans and Democrats. The court said it would consider an appeal from the Republican-controlled state of Ohio after a lower court blocked a policy to purge voter-registration lists of people who do not vote regularly, saying it violated federal law. The state's officials argue that canceling the registration of voters who had appeared inactive for six years helped keep voting rolls current and accurate. But critics say that purging voter lists was aimed at removing minorities, poor voters and others who tend to support the Democratic Party. An appellate court ruled in September last year that the Ohio authorities had violated the National Voter Registration Act, passed by Congress in 1993 to make it easier to register to vote. The Supreme Court's decision to hear the case represents a victory for the Ohio authorities. Critics condemned the move. "The right to vote is not a use-it-or-lose-it right," said Demos, a liberal think-tank. Ohio removed hundreds of thousands of people from voter-registration lists in 2015, civil rights groups say. The majority of those purged voted Democratic, including a high proportion of African Americans and Hispanics, they say. "As we have seen time and time again, homeless voters and other marginalized voters have to fight to make their voices heard in the electoral process," said Brian Davis of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH). Rules governing voting rights are the source of many legal disputes in the United States. Republicans say new restrictions are needed to crack down on voter fraud. Most Democrats say that problem is negligible and really used to justify suppressing the Democratic vote. Last week, the Supreme Court found Republican lawmakers in North Carolina guilty of illegally using race to draw up congressional districts that would dilute the strength of African-American voters. cameronabadi Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The White House statement said the meeting was meant to deepen regional cooperation with one of Americas important partners in Southeast Asia. For Vietnam, thats particularly important in one arena: trade. Before Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Vietnam was expected to get an economic boost of at least eight percentage points more than any other signatory to the agreement. And so now Vietnam is left to consider how, exactly, it can continue to improve trade with the United States, particularly given that the U.S. has a $32 billion trade deficit with Vietnam. In order to make overcome the deficit as deterrent to healthy trade relations, Vietnam is giving in order to get. Phuc is expected to sign deals for U.S. goods and services worth between $15 and 17 billion. Vietnam is also looking to tie economic exchange with the United States to support in the South China Sea. Vietnam, which, like the United States, has expressed concern about increased Chinese presence in the South China Sea, recently encouraged its neighbors to go against Chinese wishes by joining the United States in joint military exercises. If U.S. relations are now based on security and so-called pragmatism, Vietnam could be an increasingly important ally, for a price. Amnesty International describes contemporary Vietnam as severely restricting rights to freedom of expression, of association and of peaceful assembly continued. But since the Trump administration has made clear the United States is, at present, focused on pragmatism over principle, rights advocates are looking to Congress, rather than the White House. When US leaders raise names publicly, it can often lead to those prisoners being treated better in prisonand released sooner. That is reason enough to mention them by name, wrote John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch, in a Huffington Post piece about and ahead of Phucs visit. But It is up to Congress that is, not Trumps White House to make sure that message is sent. Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images A spot in England where thousands of Viking warriors and their families spent their winter months was bigger than most contemporary English towns. The camp, positioned near Torksey along the River Trent in Lincolnshire, was a major base for Viking raiders in the late ninth century. Archaeologists first found hints of the camp in the 1970s, but recently published for the first time a detailed description of the site's boundaries and artifacts in The Antiquaries Journal. Now, the researchers are unveiling a new virtual reality experience designed to put modern-day people inside a re-creation of the Torksey winter camp. The VR experience opened on May 19 at the Yorkshire Museum. [7 Secrets of Viking Seamen] "These extraordinary images offer a fascinating snapshot of life at a time of great upheaval in Britain," University of York archaeologist Julian Richards said in a statement. Winter with the Vikings Up until the late 800s, Vikings frequently raided monasteries along the English coast in the warmer months and headed back to Scandinavia in the winter, Richards said. In 865, the Vikings sent their largest force ever to England and decided to stay. Over the next decade, the Vikings switched their strategy from lightning raids to permanent takeovers of land and resources, Richards and his colleagues reported in The Antiquaries Journal in December 2016. Historical sources reported that the Vikings made camp at Torksey between 872 and 873. Excavations there done between the 1970s and 1990s revealed a deep ditch that would have been part of this camp, but only since 2011 have archaeologists systematically excavated and discovered the camp's true size and scope. The site stretches 136 acres (55 hectares), and is bounded by wet, marshy land that would have provided a natural defense, Richards said. The camp was on elevated land, which also would have made it an appealing military location, Richards and his colleagues wrote. Story continues Thousands of coins and other pieces of metal have been found at the campsite, including copper alloy made of lead, silver, gold and iron. More than 280 lead game pieces have been found, hinting at how the warriors passed the long, chilly off-season, the researchers said. Winter's work The overwintering Vikings also engaged in metalwork and the repair of ships, archaeologists have found. Researchers have discovered coins from as far away as the Middle East, transported along Viking trade routes. Archaeologists have also uncovered hundreds of pieces of hacked-up metals, which were probably awaiting their turn to be melted down, the researchers have said. Needles, spindles and awls hint at textile work such as the repair of ship sails and tents, which made up the main shelter for the Viking horde. Women may have been the textile workers of the camp, the researchers wrote. Archaeologists have found some human remains at the camp, but the bones are too fragmentary to identify more than two bodies definitively (both men under the age of 35), researchers said. A separate fragment of skull bears the marks of a sharp implement, suggesting a violent death. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations This pimple-popping tool is quite popular. (Photo: Amazon) Pimple-popping videos have been huge online lately, with millions of people watching doctors squeeze goo out of a bevy of zits. Now theres a new video making the rounds on Facebook thats captivating pimple-popping fans and it features an unusual-looking tool. In the video, someone uses what looks like a pair of curved scissors crossed with tweezers to gently squeeze and pull pus out of a persons skin. Odd-fully satisfying, the caption reads and it is. The tool used in the video is identified in the caption as a pair of blackhead tweezers, and there are more videos online of people using them. Blackhead tweezers arent just for doctors: Theyre $10 on Amazon, and theyve gotten great reviews from people. It emptied out a blackhead we have been trying to get rid off for at least five years, one person wrote. Loved! I had to follow a tutorial on how to use them, but they really do work! wrote another. While doctors typically recommend that you dont try to pop zits yourself, New York City dermatologist Doris Day, MD, author of 100 Questions and Answers About Acne, tells Yahoo Beauty that blackhead tweezers arent the worst things you could use. If youre going to go after blackheads, Id rather you use this device because youre not poking into the skin, youre poking on the skin, she says. Day notes that a pair of blackhead tweezers are safer than other methods because the part that contacts the skin is blunt unlike, say, a persons fingernails and is a less traumatic way to get rid of a blackhead. But Joshua Zeichner, MD, a New York City-based dermatologist, tells Yahoo Beauty that these tweezers are a fad treatment online, and he has some concerns about the average person using them. While they can be effective in the right hands, they have potential for significant harm to the skin in the wrong hands, he says. Traditional blackhead extractors apply gentle pressure around the circumference of the pore. This tool literally pulls out the blockage out of the pore as you would remove a hair. If a person accidentally tweezes the skin instead of the blockage, it can cause trauma, inflammation, and potentially even scarring to the skin, he says. (Instead of using blackhead tweezers at home, Zeichner recommends trying a pore strip that attaches to the blackhead and pulls it out as the strip is removed.) Story continues Gary Goldenberg, MD, medical director of the dermatology faculty practice at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, tells Yahoo Beauty that he also has concerns about scarring if a person tries to remove a blackhead that is inflamed or deep. While there are many tools that dermatologists use to extract pimples, many typically use round pressure comedone extractors to remove whiteheads and blackheads, he says. These put pressure around the whole zit, which keeps some of the pus from going deeper or around the lesion, preventing inflammation and potential for scarring. Of course, prevention is everything, which is why Day recommends using a salicylic acid wash if you routinely suffer from blackheads. However, she admits, its more fun to get blackheads and clean them out. If you have a pimple-popping habit and decide to use a tool like blackhead tweezers, Day recommends washing your face afterward. Read more from Yahoo Beauty + Style: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Scientist Verena Schuenemann is shown examining the lower jaw bone of an ancient Egyptian mummy at the Palaeogenetics Laboratory at the University of Tuebingen in Germany in this undated handout photograph obtained by Reuters May 30, 2017. Johannes Krause/Handout via REUTERS By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - DNA from mummies found at a site once known for its cult to the Egyptian god of the afterlife is unwrapping intriguing insight into the people of ancient Egypt, including a surprise discovery that they had scant genetic ties to sub-Saharan Africa. Scientists on Tuesday said they examined genome data from 90 mummies from the Abusir el-Malek archaeological site, located about 70 miles (115 km) south of Cairo, in the most sophisticated genetic study of ancient Egyptians ever conducted. The DNA was extracted from the teeth and bones of mummies from a vast burial ground associated with the green-skinned god Osiris. The oldest were from about 1388 BC during the New Kingdom, a high point in ancient Egyptian influence and culture. The most recent were from about 426 AD, centuries after Egypt had become a Roman Empire province. "There has been much discussion about the genetic ancestry of ancient Egyptians," said archeogeneticist Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, who led the study published in the journal Nature Communications. "Are modern Egyptians direct descendants of ancient Egyptians? Was there genetic continuity in Egypt through time? Did foreign invaders change the genetic makeup: for example, did Egyptians become more 'European' after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt?" Krause added. "Ancient DNA can address those questions." The genomes showed that, unlike modern Egyptians, ancient Egyptians had little to no genetic kinship with sub-Saharan populations, some of which like ancient Ethiopia were known to have had significant interactions with Egypt. The closest genetic ties were to the peoples of the ancient Near East, spanning parts of Iraq and Turkey as well as Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Egypt, located in North Africa at a crossroads of continents in the ancient Mediterranean world, for millennia boasted one of the most advanced civilizations in antiquity, known for military might, wondrous architecture including massive pyramids and imposing temples, art, hieroglyphs and a pantheon of deities. Mummification was used to preserve the bodies of the dead for the afterlife. The mummies in the study were of middle-class people, not royalty. The researchers found genetic continuity spanning the New Kingdom and Roman times, with the amount of sub-Saharan ancestry increasing substantially about 700 years ago, for unclear reasons. "There was no detectable change for those 1,800 years of Egyptian history," Krause said. "The big change happened between then and now." (Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler) Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2017%2f5%2fb0eb2ee4 3ba0 85c7%2fthumb%2f00001 President Donald Trump could soon withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. But that doesn't mean the country will actually follow his lead. Mayors and governors across the U.S. are vowing to uphold the aims of the historic accord, even if the federal government is no longer officially involved. Cities and states have set their own ambitious targets for reducing emissions and boosting clean energy, and leaders say they aren't planning to pull back anytime soon. The Arc de Triomphe is Illuminated to celebrate the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement. Image: YOAN VALAT/EPA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK SEE ALSO: For second time, U.S. to withdraw from major climate treaty, this time the Paris Agreement "The local commitment to acting on climate change is as strong as ever," a group of 70 mayors and city council members wrote in a March letter addressed to Trump. "As the elected officials closest and most directly accountable to residents, we cannot let our communities down by taking a step back on our actions and commitments to address climate change," the group said. A rooftop is covered with solar panels at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. Image: AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK On Wednesday, just hours after news broke that Trump could pull the U.S. from the accord any day now, local leaders emerged to voice their support for the Paris Agreement. The landmark treaty, which entered into force in 2016, calls for nations to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels by 2100. If countries around the world do meet that goal, it could limit some of the worst effects of global warming, like rising sea levels, severe flooding, and more frequent wildfires, according to scientific consensus. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he planned to sign an executive order reaffirming the city's commitment to addressing the risks of global warming. He said New Yorkers will "take matters into our own hands" and called climate change "a dagger aimed straight at the heart of New York City." Story continues But we'll take matters into our own hands. I plan to sign an executive order maintaining New York Citys commitment to the Paris Agreement. https://t.co/8oByikDt7C Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 31, 2017 In recent years, more than 400 U.S. cities have pledged to cut carbon pollution and prepare their communities for the effects of climate change. Nearly 30 of those cities, including most recently Atlanta, have committed to transitioning to 100 percent clean energy in the coming decades. Thirty-seven states have adopted renewable energy standards that require utilities to get a certain percentage of electricity from low-carbon sources. Such mandates have proved essential to boosting investments in wind, solar, and other renewables projects across the country. Universities and private companies have made similar pledges to curb campus and supply-chain emissions, and many leaders have expressed support for keeping the U.S. in the Paris accord. Earlier this month, the heads of major U.S. corporations, including Apple, Google, Tesla, General Electric, and Coca-Cola, signed full-page newspaper ads urging Trump not to withdraw. "We are committed to working with you to create jobs and boost U.S. competitiveness, and we believe this can be best achieved by remaining in the Paris Agreement," executives wrote in a Wall Street Journal ad. These individual efforts such as adding wind and solar projects, designing energy-efficient buildings, adopting electric vehicles, and developing mass transit systems are essential for the U.S. to both reduce its heat-trapping emissions and prepare for the effects of a warming planet. America's first and only offshore wind farm: the 30-megawatt Block Island facility near Rhode Island. Image: Scott Eisen/Getty Images Yet on their own, local climate action might not be enough to ensure the U.S. meets its current commitment to the Paris Agreement. Under former President Obama, the U.S. pledged to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025, compared to 2005 levels. In order to meet that target, experts say the U.S. needs more rigorous policies to curb the use of coal, oil, and natural gas, and replace it with renewable electricity and low-carbon fuels. But the Trump administration is moving in the opposite direction. In recent weeks, the White House has started unraveling federal policies to curb carbon emissions from power plants and vehicle tailpipes. The administration has also scrapped clean air and clean water restrictions for coal mines and oil and gas drilling sites. Local climate efforts similarly won't suffice to repair America's frayed relations with international leaders, should Trump ultimately take the U.S. out of the agreement. Only two other nations Syria and Nicaragua have refrained from joining the historic pact. (To be fair, Nicaragua abstained because its diplomats thought the Paris treaty didn't go far enough in trying to limit climate change, not because they don't accept that it's happening.) EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt receives a miner's helmet in Sycamore, Pennsylvania. Image: justin Merriman/Getty Images "Pulling out of Paris would cause serious diplomatic damage. The countries of the world care about climate change. They see it as a profound threat," Todd Stern, who led Paris negotiations on behalf of the U.S., wrote in the Atlantic on Wednesday. "They recognize there is no way to meet that global threat without an effective global regime," he said. "And they understand that the Paris regime cannot work in the long run if the world's indispensable power has left the table." Despite the caveats, efforts by cities, states, companies, and colleges to fight climate change may be America's best shot at maintaining momentum on the climate front, particularly as policies vanish and sputter at the federal level. "Our resistance is sustainable and we will serve as a counterpoint to Trumps dangerous policies every step of the way," Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement on Wednesday. "Like leaders across the world, we arent going to wait around for our climate denier-in-chief to play catch up." By Gina Cherelus NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of workers who scoured the wreckage of the World Trade Center for the remains of the dead after the skyscrapers were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, will be recognized at the memorial in New York City, officials said on Tuesday. The tribute at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum is expected to be a "commemorative space and walkway" in the Memorial Glade, a grassy clearing in the southwest corner of the 8-acre (3.24-hectare) site that once held the Twin Towers. The area became known as Ground Zero in the months after the coordinated attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people. "This new tribute will be a poignant reminder of the selflessness and courage of our first responders, who embody the best of New Yorkers, and ensure their sacrifice will never be forgotten," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement, along with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and memorial board member Jon Stewart. The rescue and recovery workers came from around the nation and the world and more than 91,000 have suffered illnesses and more than 400 have died as a result of the toxic mix of dust and chemicals they were exposed to at Ground Zero, according to city data. Many rescue workers continue to face conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, heart disease, respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer. Officials with the National September 11 Memorial and Museum will lead the planning, design and development of the tribute. (Reporting by Gina Cherelus; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker) If Ive learned one thing from reviewing drones, its this: You, dear reader, either love em or hate em. Some people are horrified that drone sales more than doubled last year, that theyre expected to increase 10X in the next five years, that the skies will soon fill up with noisy, dangerous spying machines. Other people are exhilarated by the prospect of breaking free from our flat, two-dimensional existence. They love that they can come breathtakingly close to having jetpacks, going where they want, looking where they want. No wonder drones are revolutionizing filmmaking, engineering, farming, law enforcement, search and rescue, real estate, and on and on. Both kinds of readers should be interested in this months drone news, then: The arrival of the smallest, least expensive smart drone ever made. The Drone Sparks body is smaller than your phone. Its the DJI Spark. At $500, its not the impulse buy for the masses that DJI seems to think it is (great for spontaneous selfies!). But it does bring smart, high-quality drones within reach of many more people. Which means more student filmmakers doing professional work, more real-estate offices shooting fly-throughs of homes, more gorgeously produced marching-band videos. And more drones in the sky. Sorry about that, drone haters. The size The price of the Spark is a big dealbut the size of the Spark is an even bigger (smaller?) deal. Its tiny. Videos and photos dont even capture it. The body of this thing is the size of your phone, or a soda can. A size comparison. Caution: Do not drink. The Sparks shape resembles its big brother, the $1,000 Mavic Pro, which DJI released only eight months ago (heres my review), and offers many of the same advantages. But the Spark is a mini-me Mavic, only 5.5 inches square, including the propellers; the Mavic is twice as big. (Then again, the Mavics struts and propellers fold down against the body, and the Sparks dont.) Small is huge. Small means you can carry your drone with you more often, to more places. Small means you can capture video from inside smaller spaces. Small means less intimidating to whoever youre filming, and less suspicious to authority figures. (Of course, you should always fly only where its legal. Here are the rules.) Story continues The Spark is stable enough to fly indoors, although the optional propeller guards are a good idea. How to fly You can control the Spark in any of three ways. First, you can use the optional remote control ($150, not available yet). (The remote also comes in the $700 Fly More kit, which includes the Spark, the remote, two batteries, four spare propellers, propeller guards for indoor flight, a fantastic three-battery charger, a shoulder bag, and all necessary cables. The $500 basic kit includes only the drone, two spare propellers, and one battery. You charge the drone by connecting it to a micro-USB cable, much as you would a phone.) The Sparks compact foam case accommodates two spare batteries (but not the optional propeller guards). The remote doesnt just give you flight joysticks; it also grants you Sport mode, which unlocks the Sparks top speed of 31 mph, and a 4.3-mile range. Of course, you should take that figure, and all range and battery-life claims, with a grain of salt the size of Texas; youll never get that kind of range in the real world. A second battery (and the handy three-battery charger) is highly desirable. The second way to fly the drone is using your smartphone. It works greatthe screen shows you what the drones camera is seeingand you can tilt the camera up or down by tipping the phone up and down. To use the phone app, you drag the two dime-sized circles with your thumbs, as though theyre joysticks. The range with the phone, though, isnt great. DJI says 50 yards up and 100 yards away. But in my testing, the drone lost signal with the phone sooner than that. Fortunately, whenever that happens, the Spark is religious about kicking into Return Home mode. Wait a couple of minutes, and it will calmly descend to the precise spot where it took off. Using the Force Theres a third way to control the Spark, though, and this may be the biggest headline of all: You can control it with hand gestures. You can start holding the Spark on your hand at arms length, and double-press its power button. After about 15 seconds, the drones front-facing depth sensor recognizes your face, takes off from your hand, and hovers. At this point, you can hold your palm out toward the drone and drag it up, down, or around you in any direction; the drone follows as though connected to your palm by a magnet. Its the closest thing to The Force youll ever get to try. You cant help humming the Star Wars music when youre using The Force. Wave goodbye, and the Spark flies 10 feet up and 10 feet away and hovers; hold out your fingers like a director framing a shot, and the drone counts down and takes a photo of you; make a Y with your arms, and the drone flies back to you. Hold out your palm underneath, and the drone gently and reliably lowers itself into your hand and cuts power to the props. This hand-control business is so cool and fun that people tend to forget its original purpose: To give you a simple way of positioning the drone in space for group photos and selfies. Thats why, somewhat disappointingly, you can use The Force only when the drone is about three feet away from you. Any farther, and it doesnt respond. You can also use The Force only after fiddling with some settings in the phone app. (In other words, you still have to own a smartphone to use the Spark.) And even then, I sometimes had trouble getting it to work. Why the Spark? The Spark offers all the same intelligence as the Mavic Pro. For example, its Obstacle Avoidance feature prevents it from crashing into something ahead of it; it jerks to a halt about eight feet away and hovers. (It can, however, crash when flying in any other direction.) And its underbelly camera takes an internal video of the launch spot, so that when you tell the drone to Return Home, it lands in that exact spot. The camera underneath provides a pseudo-GPS for flying indoors, and helps the drone return to the precise takeoff point. Both drones are built like tanks. They feel solid, and they survive a lot of crashes. Yet the Spark is about half the size of the Mavic, and costs one-third less. The Spark is also available in a choice of colors (white, green, yellow, blue, red), which the Mavic (gray) is not. Both drones can fly themselves in preprogrammed flight paths while recording video. They both offer Orbit (flies around you, camera pointed at you), Active Track (the drone follows you as you run, drive, ski, unicycle, whatever), and Tap Fly (on the phone apps screen, you draw a path with your finger for the drone to follow). But the Spark also includes four QuickShotspreprogrammed flight stunts that capture 10-second videos for quick sharing from your phone. Theres Circle (one orbit around you), Helix (rising in bigger and bigger circles), Rocket (straight up, filming straight down), and Dronie (flies up and away). The Spark also offers two new still-photo modes: Portrait, which creates a simulated blurry-background effect, and the very cool Panorama, in which the drone hovers in the air, taking a photo, turning a few degrees, taking another, and so on, and then stitching the shots into one super-wide result. The drone rotated itself in the air several times to capture this panorama. Given all of these advantages, why on earth would anyone still buy the Mavic? Well, because there are two key limitations to the Spark. Flight time. Each Spark battery lasts for 16 minutes of flight, which is about 12 minutes in the real world. The Mavics battery lasts for 27 minutes, which means about 20. Video quality. The Sparks 1080p hi-def video (and 12 megapixel stills) look great. The two-axis camera gimbal keeps the video rock solid, even in buffeting winds (yes, I tried it.) Still, the Mavic captures 4K videofour times as many pixelsif you care about such things. Here are a few minutes of video taken by the Spark: The drone of things to come The DJI Spark really is an astonishing piece of technology. It carves out a new spot on the spectrum of drone size/price/performance. Of course, it still doesnt fit in your jeans pocket, still doesnt fly for an hour on a charge, still isnt crash-proof. But clearly, those are the three goals DJI has set for itself. At this rate, the drones DJI comes up with this time next year will be more like mosquitoes than machines. Depending on how you feel about drones, thats fantastic newsor terrible news. More from David Pogue: Inside the Worlds Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 The new Samsung Galaxy does 27 things the iPhone doesnt The most important announcements from Googles big developers conference Google Homes mastermind has no intention of losing to Amazon Now I get it: Ransomware Google exec explains how Google Assistant just got smarter Amazons Alexa calling is like a Jetsons version of the home phone David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, hes davidpogue.com. On Twitter, hes @pogue. On email, hes poguester@yahoo.com. You can read all his articles here, or you can sign up to get his columns by email. Tesla CEO Elon Musk stirred up a bit of controversy a few months ago when he joined President Trumps s economic and manufacturing advisory councils. While Musks participation predictably generated no shortage of criticism, Musk maintained that he would use the position for doing good on a range of issues. Don't Miss: T-Mobile is having one of its biggest ever giveaways As Musk explained via Twitter earlier this year: Advisory councils simply provide advice and attending does not mean that I agree with actions by the Administration. My goals are to accelerate the worlds transition to sustainable energy and to help make humanity a multi-planet civilization, a consequence of which will be the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs and a more inspiring future for all. All that said, Elon Musk earlier today took to Twitter again and relayed that he will leave the councils if President Trump opts to pull out from the Paris climate agreement. While nothing is officially confirmed in either direction just yet, Axios earlier today reported that Trump has already decided to withdraw. As a quick refresher, the Paris Agreement as its sometimes called is an all-encompassing agreement designed to stem the rise of global temperatures, with the express goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. As for why Trump might be interested in pulling out of the agreement, CBS notes: But pulling out of the agreement is popular with Mr. Trumps political base, many of whom are skeptical of the science underlying climate change policy. Critics of the accord say the limits on emissions place an onerous and disproportionate burden on American businesses With Musk now on record stating that he will leave the aforementioned councils if the Trump rumors are true, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few days. Story continues Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com The Samsung Notebook 9 Pro is the company's first computer to boast the innovative S-Pen technology that helped it create and dominate the phablet market. The new notebook is available with a 13.3-inch or 15-inch 360-hinged display -- i.e., it can be used as a traditional mobile PC or folded on itself and into tablet form -- and packs a 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor as standard. The smaller model gets 8GB of RAM and the 15-inch version gets 16GB, while both versions should be very responsive thanks to a solid state 225GB hard disk as standard. But it's the addition of the S Pen that will make these PCs stand out. Over countless iterations of the Galaxy Note phablet, Samsung has perfected its in-house stylus technology in terms of creativity and productivity. The S Pen responds to 4000 different levels of pressure making it equally good for annotating a presentation and for free-hand sketching in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. "Consumers today require their laptop to let them multi-task more than ever," said Alanna Cotton, vice president and general manager of product marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "We continue to push boundaries in our notebook line by bridging powerful computing with gorgeous displays, and now our revolutionary S Pen which enables consumers to do even more." With this latest device, Samsung, like Microsoft, is looking to court consumers who would usually be eyeing up a new Mac to meet their work and play needs. The company goes to great lengths to highlight the color gamut accuracy of the Notebook 9 Pro's display -- a crucial requirement for those that work in photography or design -- and the fact that the S Pen will play nicely across applications as well as within the Windows 10 operating system. Samsung also claims that the notebook supports fast charging and that its battery can be topped up via a smartphone charger and a USB C port if necessary -- something people who really do work on the go will appreciate -- however, for the moment at least, it hasn't confirmed what the computer's expected battery life will be. Earlier this year, Waymo, Alphabets self-driving car subsidiary, launched a surprise and somewhat sensational lawsuit against Uber. According to the suit, a former Waymo engineer named Anthony Levandowski allegedly misappropriated hundreds of gigabytes of proprietary technical information about Waymos self-driving efforts and handed it over to Uber. While Uber initially claimed that the allegations were frivolous and baseless, early court proceedings were far from favorable for the ride sharing company. As a quick example, an injunction issued earlier this month prevented Uber from using any of the information alleged to have been sourced from Waymo. Whats more, Levandowski was ordered to hand over a large cache of documents, an order he refused after invoking his 5th amendment right against self-incrimination. Now comes word via The New York Times that Uber has since let Levandowski go. The report reads in part: Mr. Levandowskis termination, effective immediately, comes as a result of his involvement in a legal battle between Uber and Waymo, the self-driving technology unit spun out of Google last year. Waymo claims that Uber is using trade secrets stolen from Google to develop Ubers self-driving vehicles, a plan aided by Mr. Levandowski, a former longtime Google employee. Uber reportedly tried to convince Levandowski to cooperate for a period stretching across a few months, albeit unsuccessfully. Indeed, Levandowski was well aware that failing to cooperate would be grounds for termination, which is to say that Levandowski adamant refusal to cooperate effectively forced Ubers hand. Presumably, Levandowski was worried that his cooperation might lead to criminal charges. In the meantime, the suit between Waymo and Uber will soldier on. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com On Today, Maria Shriver took a trip to Costa Rica to visit whats known as a Blue Zone: a region with one of the longest-living populations in the world. There, Shriver ran into a 100-year-old cowboy who had his own perspective on what it takes to live a long life: women. Photo: NBC Shriver was told before meeting the cowboy that this particular one loves the ladies. When asked how many girlfriends hes had, he said he couldnt count them all. The cowboys life advice, as translated, was: Im poor, but I have money. Im sad, but I live happy. But in the pursuit of beautiful women thats what really kills me. Of course, Shriver didnt go to Costa Rica just to hear a centurion cowboy talk about his love for the ladies. What she was interested in was learning about the food that he and others in the area consume. Rice, beans, and corn tortillas the tortillas made in a particular way that involves wood ash are staples of the regions cuisine, and are credited with residents longer-than-average lifespans. Check out why being a Brady Bunch kid is like having a hunchback: Read more from Yahoo TV: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter. When scientists at the Department of Energys SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory focused the full intensity of the worlds most powerful X-ray laser on a small molecule, they got a surprise: A single laser pulse stripped all but a few electrons out of the molecules biggest atom from the inside out, leaving a void that started pulling in electrons from the rest of the molecule, like a black hole gobbling a spiraling disk of matter. Within 30 femtoseconds millionths of a billionth of a second the molecule lost more than 50 electrons, far more than scientists anticipated based on earlier experiments using less intense beams or isolated atoms. Then it blew up. The results, published today in Nature, give scientists fundamental insights they need to better plan and interpret experiments using the most intense and energetic X-ray pulses from SLACs Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser. Experiments that require these ultrahigh intensities include attempts to image individual biological objects, such as viruses and bacteria, at high resolution. They are also used to study the behavior of matter under extreme conditions, and to better understand charge dynamics in complex molecules for advanced technological applications. For any type of experiment you do that focuses intense X-rays on a sample, you want to understand how it reacts to the X-rays, said Daniel Rolles of Kansas State University. This paper shows that we can understand and model the radiation damage in small molecules, so now we can predict what damage we will get in other systems. Like Focusing the Sun Onto a Thumbnail The experiment, led by Rolles and Artem Rudenko of Kansas State, took place at LCLSs Coherent X-ray Imaging instrument (CXI). It delivers X-rays with the highest possible energies achievable at LCLS, known as hard X-rays, and records data from samples in the instant before the laser pulse destroys them. How intense are those X-ray pulses? They are about a hundred times more intense than what you would get if you focused all the sunlight that hits the Earths surface onto a thumbnail, said LCLS staff scientist and co-author Sebastien Boutet. For this study, researchers used special mirrors to focus the X-ray beam into a spot just over 100 nanometers in diameter about a hundredth the size of the one used in most CXI experiments, and a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair. They looked at three types of samples: individual xenon atoms, which have 54 electrons each, and two types of molecules that each contain a single iodine atom, which has 53 electrons. Heavy atoms around this size are important in biochemical reactions, and researchers sometimes add them to biological samples to enhance contrast for imaging and crystallography applications. But until now, no one had investigated how the ultra-intense CXI beam affects molecules with atoms this heavy. X-rays Trigger Electron Cascades The team tuned the energy of the CXI pulses so they would selectively strip the innermost electrons from the xenon or iodine atoms, creating hollow atoms. Based on earlier studies with less energetic X-rays, they thought cascades of electrons from the outer parts of the atom would drop down to fill the vacancies, only to be kicked out themselves by subsequent X-rays. That would leave just a few of the most tightly bound electrons. And, in fact, thats what happened in both the freestanding xenon atoms and the iodine atoms in the molecules. But in the molecules, the process didnt stop there. The iodine atom, which had a strong positive charge after losing most of its electrons, continued to suck in electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms, and those electrons were also ejected, one by one. Rather than losing 47 electrons, as would be the case for an isolated iodine atom, the iodine in the smaller molecule lost 54, including the ones it grabbed from its neighbors a level of damage and disruption thats not only higher than would normally be expected, but significantly different in nature. Results Feed Into Theory to Improve Experiments We think the effect was even more important in the larger molecule than in the smaller one, but we dont know how to quantify it yet, Rudenko said. We estimate that more than 60 electrons were kicked out, but we dont actually know where it stopped because we could not detect all the fragments that flew off as the molecule fell apart to see how many electrons were missing. This is one of the open questions we need to study. For the data analyzed to date, the theoretical model provided excellent agreement with the observed behavior, providing confidence that more complex systems can now be studied, said LCLS Director Mike Dunne. This has important benefits for scientists wishing to achieve the highest-resolution images of biological molecules to inform the development of better pharmaceuticals, for example," he said. "These experiments will also guide the development of a next-generation instrument for the LCLS-II upgrade project, which will provide a major leap in capability due to the increase in repetition rate from 120 pulses per second to 1 million. The theory work for the study was led by Robin Santra of the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science at DESY and the University of Hamburg in Germany. Other research institutions contributing to the study were Tohoku University in Japan; Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging and the National Metrology Institute (PTB) in Germany; the University of Science and Technology in Beijing; Aarhus University in Denmark; Sorbonne University in France; the DOEs Argonne National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory; the University of Chicago; and Northwestern University. Funding for the research came from the DOE Office of Science and from the German Research Foundation (DFG). Citation: A. Rudenko et al., Nature, 1 June 2017 (10.1038/nature22373) Press Office Contact: Andrew Gordon, agordon@slac.stanford.edu, (650) 926-2282 SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, California, SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. To learn more, please visit www.slac.stanford.edu. 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. MangoStar_Studio/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Handshakes may soon become a thing of the past at hospitals, thanks to a group of doctors' efforts to stop the spread of bacteria and viruses. "The handshake-free zone brings attention to the hands as vectors to disease," Dr. Mark Sklansky told ABC News, explaining that people's hands are often covered in bacteria or viruses picked up from various surfaces. "If people knew this years ago, [handshakes] would not be part of the practice of healthcare." At UCLA, Sklansky and other doctors have started a program to discourage handshakes among staff who treat the most vulnerable patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Kaiser Health News was the first to highlight the pioneering program. Sklansky, professor of clinical pediatrics and chief of pediatric cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, started the initiative in 2015. The initiative stems from the fact that medical staff who do not wash their hands often enough can put the hospital's most vulnerable patients at risk for infection. Doctors treating children, "many whom have antibiotic-resistant germs," could pass those germs on to even more vulnerable infants, Sklansky said. WHO estimates of compliance for hand hygiene in medical settings frequently fall below 40 percent, Sklansky said. Poor hand hygiene can mean increased risk for hospital-acquired infections, which kill approximately 80,000 patients in the U.S. each year, according to the WHO. Sklansky studied how people responded to the program at two neonatal intensive care unit centers at UCLA. He found that families were likely to be in support of the program immediately but older, male physicians were the most reticent about giving up handshakes. The study was published earlier this year in the American Journal of Infection Control. "In contrast to findings of prior surveys recommending the continued use of the handshake in adult medical settings, we found that patient families expressed nearly universal support for the concept of [handshake-free zones] in NICUs," Sklansky and his co-authors wrote. Sklansky isn't the first to be concerned about the cleanliness of handshakes. In 2014, researchers from Aberystwyth University studied which greeting was the most hygienic among a high-five, fist bump or handshake. They found a traditional handshake transmitted the most amount of bacteria and a fist bump transmitted the least amount of bacteria. Sklansky said that for doctors, shaking hands isn't just about good manners, it's also part of their medical school training. While counterintuitive, he thinks that taking away the handshake can actually force doctors to take more time and make more of a connection with a patient and their family before delving into treatment options. "Without sitting down and listening, [the handshake is] not as effective as someone might think," Sklansky said. Sklansky said he has foregone handshakes in most of his interactions in the hospital. "I like to smile, look someone in the eye and touch someone on their should or do a little bow," Skalansky said. Next, he wants to study if handshake-free zones actually decrease the number infections in patients. He predicts that could be likely. Fellow doctors have emailed him about possibly implementing the practice in other areas of the hospital, but for now, it remains in effect only in UCLA's NICU.. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. With just two days to the martyrs day celebrations, a group of pilgrims from Kenya has entered Uganda to pray for peace in Kenya as the country prepares for the August general elections. The pilgrims are walking in small groups, holding hands and singing hymns with light luggage and water containers occasionally resting under tree shades to re energise for the remaining journey to Namugongo Shrine in Kampala. Veronica Neima one of the pilgrims from Central Kenya, Nyadero county says they are from about 7 arch dioceses from the region, that include Nyei, Nairobi and Eldoret among others. Neima who has been trekking to Namugongo for last 18 years says this is time for Christians to appreciate and demonstrate their faith in Christ like the Uganda Martyrs did several years ago. Joined by believers from Lira, Sironko and Tororo dioceses, the Kenyan pilgrims stopped for the night at St Karoli Lwanga Parish in Mbiko Bukwe district before proceeding to Namugongo this morning. Meanwhile, over 500 pilgrims have so far been registered at Namugongo catholic shrine with another 2.5M expected for the June 3rd Martyrs Day celebrations. According to chairman organizing committee Fr. Jude Ssemambo, this figure only covers those who endeavor to register but a good number enters the shrine without being registered. He thus appeals to pilgrims to ensure they are registered for easy management. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form No Yes, a light case Yes, two or more light cases One serious case Two or more serious bouts Vote View Results INDIANAPOLIS O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive! That was Scottish novelist Walter Scott with his 1808 poem Marmion, not to be mistaken for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz who, on the morning of the 2016 Indiana presidential primary, fumed at an Evansville press conference, Im gonna tell you what I really think of Donald Trump: This man is a pathological liar. He doesnt know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth, and in a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everybody else of lying. Now, why would Sen. Cruz say such a thing about the future president of the United States? Because earlier that morning on Fox News, citing a discredited National Enquirer report, candidate Trump had linked the senators father, Rev. Rafael, to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Ill let Trump tell it: His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswalds being you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, Trump said on Fox News early election morning. What was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting? Its horrible. To which Cruz responded, Donald Trump alleges that my dad was involved in assassinating JFK. Now, lets be clear, this is nuts. This is not a reasonable position. This is just kooky. And while Im at it, I guess I should go ahead and admit, yes, my dad killed JFK, he is secretly Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa is buried in his backyard. Now, if someone accused my Dad of killing an American president, Im probably not going to vote for him. Then Gov. Mike Pence endorsed and campaigned with Cruz, who was subsequently crushed by Trump 53-37, clinching the presidential nomination. At a time when many prominent Republicans begged out of Trumps veepstakes, Pence was all in, truth be damned. So now we have a sitting president who cries wolf, who spills intelligence like a sieve, telling the murderous Philippine President Duerte that two American submarines are sitting off the coast of North Korea (pssst, Mr. President, loose lips sink ships), and his web is tangling two stalwart Hoosier Republicans, Vice President Pence and Director of National Security Dan Coats. That Pence and Coats were brought into the undisciplined Trumps inner sanctum was to be greeted with breaths of relief by many Republicans and patriots. Pence, because he knew the inner workings of an inert Congress, and Coats as a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who served as ambassador to Germany during the Sept. 11 terror attack era. Both were seen as adults who would keep the infant president within the guardrails. What weve seen over the past month, however, is instructive when you settle into the wolfs lair. There are fleas, ticks, growls and unfortunate truths that consume the deceptive story lines. Pence was set up in February with a lie about National Security Adviser Michael Flynns ties to the Russians. Trump and his inner circle knew the truth, but let Pence go on CBSs Face the Nation to deceive. Flynn was summarily fired for lying to Pence, and he is now at the tip of the spear of the Russian collusion investigation that is poised to scandalize this nascent administration. Flynn bedeviled Pence once again last week when the vice president said he didnt know about Russian and Turkish payments to the former general. But this was disclosed to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie when he headed the Trump transition team until Pence was installed. Then there was Pences defense of Trumps firing of FBI Director James Comey. Again, Pence went on TV to say it was all based on a Department of Justice memorandum assailing Comeys investigation of Hillary Clintons email scandal. But a day later, President Trump cut Pence off at the knees, telling NBCs Lester Holt, In fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. Perhaps Pence has an aide named Sgt. Hans Schultz, who whispers, Just say I. Know. Noth-ing! Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman observed, All of a sudden were seeing a wave of articles in which anonymous sources close to Pence tell reporters that hes completely out of the loop. But can we believe it? And even if its true, isnt that nearly as much of an indictment of Pence? As for Director Coats, we learned that Trump approached both he and Adm. Michael Rogers who heads the National Security Agency about pressuring the FBI to drop the Russian probe. The problem wasnt so much asking them to issue statements, it was asking them to issue false statements about an ongoing investigation, a former senior intelligence official explained. Coats was asked about it during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday. He was diplomatic, saying, I dont feel its appropriate to characterize the discussions with the president. Thus, two squeaky clean Hoosier public servants find themselves traipsing along the Trump tripwire, their worthy reputations at risk. Or as Walter Scott concluded, No wonder why, I felt rebuked beneath his eye? Brian Howey is publisher of the Howey Political Report, a weekly briefing on Indiana politics. Contact him at 317-506-0883 or at howeypolitics.com. Almaty. May 25. Kazakhstan Today - More than 15 thousands of young citizens of Almaty have attended first municipal recruitment fair, press service of mayor of the city reported. According to the press service, the first city fair of vacancies was organized by Almaty akimat in the framework of the project "Satti kadam". The event was attended by more than 100 employers, who presented more than 5 thousands vacancies, Kazakhstan Today reports. Today in Almaty there are more than 700 thousands young people aged from 14 to 35 years, 435 thousands of them are economically active youth. Only in the last 5 years, the share of youth has increased by 10%. According to forecasts, by 2020 the number of economically active youth in Almaty will reach more than 500 thousand people, noted in the akimat. In a welcoming speech to the participants of the fair Almaty akim Bauyrzhan Baibek noted that youth is the driver of the economy and for Almaty, as a major metropolis, the issue of her employment is topical. "On the instructions of the head of state, 2017 was announced in Almaty as the Year of Youth. We have developed a "Road map for supporting young people until 2020" - a document that contains an unprecedented set of measures for the city. The road map was widely discussed among the youth, approved by the Public Council and approved by the maslikhat of the city. The main goal of the Roadmap is to create conditions for self-realization and comprehensive development of youth, its adaptation to life in a metropolis. In general, involving business, educational institutions, we plan to create an effective employment system. To this end, we have increased the financing of the employment sector fivefold this year, and allocated 5 billion KZT", said Baibek. As the press service specified, the adopted roadmap for supporting young people until 2020 contains five key areas: quality education, employment and employment, cultural leisure and healthy lifestyles, housing and support for young families, and a city of active youth. The total costs for the implementation of the Road map will amount to KZT 7.2 bn. In particular, the Loft Center will be opened on the territory of the former tram park, where it is planned to organize a youth service area, a co-working center, 5 workshops, a reading room, a conference room, English club and language-training center, and 10 educational sections. The Loft Center will employ 25 youth NGOs, in the permanent activity of which more than 3 000 people will be involved. In addition, the Center for Work with Visiting Youth, the Career Center and the Center for Hostels Supervision will operate on the basis of the Loft Center. That is, in one place, a young man will be able to get all the necessary information and support and opportunity to solve his problems, realize his interests, the press service reported. In addition, within the framework of the road map, in conjunction with the Zhilstroysberbank of Kazakhstan, the possibility of concessional lending to young people for the purchase of housing is under consideration. The loan will be granted at 5% per year. In addition, KZT 3.7 billion was allocated for the construction of hostels for young families. Through the mechanism of lending to business entities, it is planned to provide 320 young families, or 1600 people, with such housing. Much attention is paid to youth employment within the framework of the Road Map. Thus, the number of participants in youth practice will be increased from 500 to 2,000 people per year. KZT 500 million was allocated for graduating students for youth practice this year. The press service also reported that for the first time this year 1 billion KZT was allocated for microcrediting of the unemployed and self-employed citizens. Each of them can get a micro loan of up to KZT 18 million for their business project. In addition, more than 8 000 unemployed people will be able to study short-term vocational training courses through the Employment Center. Young people have the opportunity to learn innovative specialties using IT-technologies. KZT 495.8 million was allocated so that this year 2,500 school graduates could receive free education in colleges, receiving a scholarship in the amount of KZT 16,759 and one-time hot meals. Within the framework of the fair, trainings for young people were held: how to draw up a resume, how to please an employer, how to present oneself on a favorable side, and how to develop communication skills. Such an event was already held in the Central Mosque. In the near future 54 mobile employment points will be opened in the city's markets, the press service concluded. This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today. Tracie and Michelle Ericksons sand mine will continue to operate as it has been. The familys conditional use permit for the Erickson Sand Mine in Yucatan Township was approved for continued use at the Houston County Board of Commissioners Meeting. After months of anticipation, commissioner Teresa Walters motion at the May 23 meeting to enforce the mines conditional use permit passed 3-2. The majority included Walter, commissioner Scott Connor and commissioner Fred Arnold. If the board had voted to revoke the permit, the Erickson Sand Mine would have to re-apply for a valid conditional use permit and halt all mine operations until a new permit would be issued. Commissioners Jack Miller and Justin Zmyewski voted against the motion. I have listened to a lot of people on this and I know there is a lot of history involved, Arnold said. I understand that but I also understand that as a boarda legal entitywe have an obligation to the tax-payers at large. We need to pay attention to that obligation to all of them. Arnold claimed that he had been yelled at, screamed at and lied to on the sand mine issue. The recent court proceedings that surround the mine can be traced back to a conditional use permit that was re-issued to the Ericksons in 2014 by the countys planning commission, which oversees the countys zoning issues. Conditional use permits must be renewed every five years. The Erickson Sand Mine received its first conditional use permit in 1992. In November 2015, a list of surrounding landownersBryan and Susan Van Gorp, Cory and Jackie Baker and Rosemary Iversonfiled an appeal of the planning commissions conditional use permit issuance to the Houston County Board of Adjustment, which settle decisions made by the zoning administrator and appeals of planning commission decisions. They claimed that the conditional use permit should not have been issued due to alleged violations at the sand mine. The board of adjustment found no basis in the allegations in March 2016. The landowners appealed and the case found itself in the Houston County District Court. In February 2017, Houston County District Court Judge Carmaine Sturino found the mine had violated the countys ordinance on property setbacks. The ordinance requires that the road be at least 50-feet away from surrounding landowners property. The case was sent back to the Houston County Board of Commissioners who held an April 25 public hearing to listen to both sides of the case and prepare to either revoke, suspend or enforce the sand mines conditional use permit. After the public hearing, the commissioners requested findings of fact for both sides of the case to be prepared by Houston County attorney Jay Squires. The commissioners reviewed the findings of fact prior to the May 23 meeting. There are definitive reasons why the conditional use permit shouldnt have been renewed but the zoning administrator went ahead and did it anyhow, Miller said. Im in favor to start over. Zmyewski warned the board about its decision before the motion passed. Back in 2014, I said during that meeting that if we dont do the right thing it will come back to haunt us. It takes more energy to do it the right way but its better, Zmyewski said. This will not be a dead issue. I was right in 2014. I hope Im not right this time. The meeting ended with multiple Houston County residents demanding answers from Walter, Connor and Arnold. One went as far to confront the three commissioners at the end of the meeting. I have no reason, Connor said. The Houston County Board of Commissioners Meeting was ripe with change as Houston Countys solid waste extension contract with La Crosse County has recently came under review for renewal by the Houston County Solid Waste Policy Board. Along with the continued discussion over the La Crosse County contract at the May 23 meeting, the board also approved both the hire of Olivia Niday as a part-time emergency management director and a competitive search for a maintenance foreman. Houston County has worked with the La Crosse County Disposal System since their 2002 waste supply agreement, which allowed Houston County to send trash to the Xcel Energy facility on Isle la Plume. As La Crosse County plans to extend their contract with Xcel Energy in 2023, talks have begun in Houston County as well. The two counties hope to finalize the contract by the end of summer. Houston County Environmental Services Director Rick Frank presented the solid waste policy boards findings solely as an informational measure. There was no motion made at the meeting. There are multiple counties in the area that use the La Crosse County Disposal System including Wabasha County and Buffalo County in Wisconsin. Houston County is one of the few counties attached to La Crosse Countys disposal system that has had a surplus. The amount delivered from the county far exceeds the amount due in La Crosse. The solid waste policy board believes that the surplus should be returned to the county in the form of a credit. I feel that Houston County should receive that money back, Frank said. For 2017, Houston County has projected close to $21,194.95 that will be applied to the annual retrofit payment. Although Houston County owes Excel Energy $19,204.39 each year for use of the disposal system, the accumulated credit from the previous years has covered most of the owed amount. The solid waste policy board hopes to receive a credit for the difference, which could then apply toward other systems in the La Crosse County Disposal System, such as the La Crosse County Household Hazardous Materials Program which is raising its rates this year. Frank recommended board approval of the renewed contract as long as it carried the amendments. The solid waste policy board is in the process of opening the conversation with La Crosse County. While on the subject of disposal systems, Frank also updated the board about the residential household hazardous waste and agricultural chemicals and pharmaceutical collections program. Contracted with Revolutionary Plastics, the county will receive 110 containers to give out to residents to collect waste. The planned drop off site is still in question, but the county is looking at using the Spring Grove Highway Department. The containers will be delivered at a site on Friday, June 9, and will be expected to be picked up by Monday, June 12. There have already been 50 resident inquiries about the new program which will also provide containers to parts of Fillmore and Olmsted Counties. In Other News Olivia Niday was hired as a part-time emergency management director over objections by Commissioner Justin Zmyewski, who voted against the move on principle. I am voting against this hire, he said. I have nothing against the applicant, but I have a problem with how this has been handled from the beginning. Samuel Stemper was hired as a summer employee in the surveyors office. The position was budgeted. Diane Giese, a home health aide, has retired after working in the district for 19 years. The county will begin an internal search within the highway department to promote a current employee to highway maintenance specialist senior. The role will overlook safety and other concerns when the maintenance foreman is unable to see to the matter. The county will also begin and internal and external search for a new highway department maintenance foreman. The position has been open since the former maintenance foreman Tom Molling retired after 26 years. The bridge replacement on Bush Valley Road in La Crescent was approved with bidder Zenke, Inc.s estimated total of $230,127.01. Because falls are one of the leading causes of death in Jackson County, Black River Memorial Hospital is hosting its Stepping On program. The program will help participants identify why they fall and different ways to prevent falls. This includes strength and balance exercises, home safety check suggestions and a medication review. Participants will view a display of fall prevention products. Participants will leave with more strength, better balance and experience a feeling of confidence and independence as a result of performing various exercises and sharing personal fall experiences as a group. This class is ideal for individuals who are able to walk with or without a cane or may use a walker in the community and are fairly independent. Research has found that people who complete the workshop have reduced their rate of falls by 31 percent. The upcoming seven-week class in Black River Falls will be held on Tuesdays, June 13 - August 1, at the Lunda Community Center from 9:3011:30 a.m. For more information and to register for the workshop, call 715-284-1330. Army PVT2 and ROTC Cadet John S. Jack Roou, son of Kris and Dave Roou of Black River Falls, recently completed 14 weeks of Army infantry basic and advanced training in Ft. Benning, Ga. Roou distinguished himself by scoring a perfect 300 on his Army physical fitness test. Further, after infantry training, Roou attended 2 1/2 weeks of airborne training, also at Ft. Benning. During Jump Week, soldiers must successfully complete five jumps at 1,250 feet from a C-130 or C-17 aircraft. Paratroopers who successfully meet course requirements are granted an additional skill identifier and are authorized to wear the coveted Silver Wing on their uniform. Roou is a 2016 graduate of Black River Falls High School and currently attends UW-Madison where he is in Army ROTC. Upon graduation and commissioning as a second lieutenant in the Army, Roou plans to go active duty. Jackson County held a Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Day service Friday to honor law enforcement that have lost their life in the line of duty, which was one of many held across the nation in May in conjunction with the 27th Annual National Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The ceremony is held every year to honor, remember and never forget those law enforcement officers who have given their lives in the line of duty. The service included speeches by Jackson County board chair Ray Ransom and Jackson County sheriff Duane Waldera, and a roll call of fallen officers in Jackson County and surrounding areas. In the past, Jackson County has had two officers killed in the line of duty both of automobile crashes including Millston patrolman John Ray Coffey in 1979 and Eau Claire County deputy sheriff Stehen J. Hahn in 2006. Jackson County has also had two instances of officers being shot while in the line of duty including state patrol officer Brian Meek and Jackson County sheriffs deputy Scott Bluedorn. Both officers recovered from their injuries. In the past 12 months, Wisconsin has had four officer killed in the line of duty. A split La Crosse committee recommends lowering Losey Boulevards speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. The legislation sponsored by City Council President Martin Gaul and Council member Gary Padesky received the Judiciary and Administration Committees backing by a 4-3 vote and is expected to be up for a City Council vote June 8. There are no streets running through La Crosse, two-lane or four-lane, that are surrounded by residences that should have a speed of more than 25 mph, Gaul said at Tuesdays committee meeting. Padesky listed reasons that he said make it common sense to lower the limit, including a fire station consultants statement of surprise that trucks are able to exit from the fire station next to La Crosse Central High School because of the speed. That is a neighborhood, Padesky said. Its filled with family. Its filled with kids. Its filled with old men on trikes. Theres a pool. Theres a fire station. And, we have two schools. And for anybody to say, Well, its a major thoroughfare through La Crosse, well, a lot of streets are. So is West Avenue. Thats 25. Downtown is 25. Its just the right thing to do and to show people that we care about neighborhoods, not somebody who was in Holmen whos trying to get to the hospital in a hurry because they are late for work. He said hes gotten many more calls in support of the change. Also voting in favor were Jessica Olson and Scott Neumeister. Voting against the recommendation were Pat Brever, Jacqueline Marcou and Andrea Richmond. Brever was the only one to voice a reason at the meeting for his opposition. I am a little concerned about the cost to city resources to have new signs made and installed and that is my big concern with this issue right now, he said. I certainly hope going forward that a better effort be made by the city to be going the posted speed limit of 30 mph. Hopefully that will help. Gaul also said: The folks that come to our city, that drive through our city, whether theyre from outside of town or whether theyre from in town, have got to realize that Losey Boulevard and other areas that Gary just described are neighborhoods. They are residential neighborhoods. They are surrounded by very nice houses, a lot of young folks coming to our town with children. They deserve to have as safe conditions as we can possibly give them, and this is one way for us to do that. He added that it will help with the maintenance issues that prompted this effort in the first place. A Tribune reporter at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday traveled Losey Boulevard from La Crosse Street to Mormon Coulee Road at a top speed of 25 mph. Stopping at four red lights, the trip took 9 minutes and 50 seconds. KIMBALL, Minn. At Dave Lochens farm near Kimball, cows peer over a fence to see who the visitor is. Just beyond the cow pen and down a slight hill is the shining water of Pearl Lake. Its a potentially risky place to raise beef cattle, and Lochen knows it. I know people always questioned us: How do you have cattle and stuff so close? he said. Well, our kids and we swim in the lake too. I dont want to be swimming in anything thats going in there that shouldnt be. Lochen is aware that fertilizer or manure could run off his farm and pollute the lake, so hes taken steps to keep that from happening. Lochen enrolled in a water quality certification program for farmers like him. An expert from the county soil and water conservation district came out and assessed Lochens farm to see where there might be a risk of water pollution. Lochen made some changes in how he rotates his crops and applies manure to his fields. He added buffer strips and grass waterways to keep polluted water from getting into the lake. Lochen says the changes are making a difference. Watch it during a heavy rain or something, you can see that there isnt silt and dirt coming down with it. It works, he said. Minnesotas agriculture water-quality certification program was first launched as a pilot three years ago, then expanded statewide. It now covers about 235,000 acres less than 1 percent of the states 26 million acres of farmland. But state officials say its growing. Matthew Wohlman, deputy state agriculture commissioner, called it tremendous progress. Wohlman said the changes made by the roughly 370 farmers in the program have reduced the amount of sediment and phosphorus in Minnesota lakes and rivers, plus saved millions of pounds of soil from eroding each year. Its not about putting this land into an idle program, Wohlman said. Its about figuring out a way that we can have a profitable, dynamic farm economy while also continuing to have better water quality in this state. The program offers farmers some financial and technical help to make changes. Once theyre certified, they are exempted from new water quality rules for 10 years. Wohlman said that regulatory certainty is important for farmers. What that means is its an insurance policy against a potential future regulatory goal post that moves, he said. Mark LeFebvre, nutrient management specialist with the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, is in charge of recruiting farmers for the program and assessing their farms. Stearns County has 47 certified farms covering about 17,000 acres. LeFebvre said he likes how the program gives him the chance to meet one-on-one with farmers and take a holistic approach to all of their farming practices, including how they fertilize, control weeds and till the soil. He said its a thorough assessment that can take as long as 20 hours per farm. Its kind of the whole package, not just putting a band-aid on one gully, because its everything thats contributing to the water body, LeFebvre said. But some environmental groups say the voluntary program isnt doing enough to protect ground water quality. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy published a report in December 2015 criticizing the program for not addressing nitrate pollution caused by farm drainage systems. Betsy Lawton, a water quality associate with the center, said shes not aware of any changes in the program since the report. We certainly think that any reductions in agricultural pollution from a farm are good, Lawton said. The main concern here is that farmers are certifiable, meaning that they would be exempt from future water quality requirements when in fact they are causing water quality pollution from nitrate pollution delivered via drain tile. Theres also a question about whether this voluntary program is reaching problem farmers or those already using good conservation practices, like Chuck Uphoff, the first Stearns County farmer to become certified. Uphoff has farmed near New Munich his whole life. He and his wife bought the land from his parents more than three decades ago. Since then, his farming methods have changed substantially. These days, Uphoff doesnt till at all, but plants cover crops like oats, rye and clover that hold the soil in place and provide food for his cattle. Uphoff knows the water that flows past his farm goes into the Sauk River and eventually into the Mississippi, which provides drinking water for St. Cloud and many other cities downstream. I care about my kids and my grandkids and everybody elses kids that are out there that have to drink the water, he said. Its important to do what we can do to have success, to keep water quality not only where it is, but to get better. Its not about putting this land into an idle program. Its about figuring out a way that we can have a profitable, dynamic farm economy while also continuing to have better water quality in this state. Matthew Wohlman, deputy state ag commissioner ReNEW La Crosse Neighborhoods is looking for banner designs to help decorate the streetlights in the Lower Northside Depot Neighborhood. Artists of all ages are invited to submit designs by June 23. Designs should be simple and visible from a distance, and should consider the unique and historic features of the Lower Northside Depot Neighborhood. Printed banners will measure 4 feet by 2 feet. Submissions can be emailed to info@habitatlacrosse.org or dropped off at the Habitat ReStore, 3181 Berlin Drive. Entries will be voted on by the residents of the Lower Northside Depot Neighborhood at the ReNEW Neighborhood Block Party on Saturday, June 24. Winners will receive $100. The Assemblys higher education committee passed an amended version of a Republican-backed campus speech bill Tuesday that requires University of Wisconsin System institutions to punish students who take part in disruptive protests. Changes to the legislation spelled out more specifically the types of disruptions that could lead to discipline for UW students and employees. They also toughened penalties for those who run afoul of the new rules by requiring universities to expel any student who violates the policy three times. First Amendment advocates had warned that the bills original language was unconstitutionally vague and raised concerns that its mandatory punishments would treat all disruptions with the same severity as the at-times violent demonstrations that have prompted Republican lawmakers across the country to introduce similar legislation. The amendments and the bill itself passed the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities on party-line votes. Much like a lengthy public hearing on the bill weeks earlier, the sometimes heated debate during Tuesdays meeting often touched on pitched partisan battles over higher education nationally. Republican members argued that their ideas are under fire on college campuses from left-leaning students and faculty, saying the legislation was needed to preserve open debate at UW institutions and protect the free speech rights of controversial speakers. Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, said the bill would ensure there is no idea or issue that will be shouted down in a public forum. Democrats painted the legislation as an unnecessary overreach by Republican lawmakers who want to shut down protests they disagree with. There is no problem that youre trying to solve here, other than an agenda issue for your party, said Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison. Disciplinary process The amended bill directs the UW Board of Regents to create a disciplinary process that sanctions students who engage in violent or other disorderly conduct that materially and substantially disrupts the free expression of others. The legislation previously barred a wider range of disruptive speech that Kremer acknowledged was too vague. It also states that System institutions must strive to remain neutral on public policy controversies. Another amendment requires universities to launch an investigation and hold discipline hearings if they get two or more complaints alleging someone violated the policy. Democrats cautioned that the requirement could open the door to students filing complaints against people they disagree with creating, according to Rep. Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, a constant kerfuffle on our campuses about what somebody said. Lawmakers in several states often, but not always, Republicans have introduced similar legislation in an effort to crack down on protests that they say use a hecklers veto to shut down talks by controversial speakers. They cite as examples the high-profile demonstrations that led college officials to cancel talks at the University of California-Berkeley; in Wisconsin, lawmakers have criticized a protest that disrupted a lecture by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro for several minutes at UW-Madison. Language in the Wisconsin bill mirrors model legislation proposed by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute. A Senate version of the bill has been referred to that chambers Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges. UW System administrators have not taken a position on the bill, though they asked lawmakers at the public hearing to dial back its mandatory punishments for students who violate the policy. The UW-Madison faculty advocacy group PROFS has registered against it, saying in a statement Tuesday that UW institutions should be given the autonomy to address their own speech issues. Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, who co-authored the legislation along with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and the chairpersons of the Assembly and Senate higher education committees, said existing UW policies have not been sufficient in protecting free speech. Its not working weve seen that, Kremer said. Preparing, recruiting and retaining talent was the focus of the 7 Rivers Alliance Workforce Summit Wednesday. More than 120 business, education and community leaders attended the summit, which was held at the Days Inn on French Island. The summit focused on an update of the 7 Rivers Alliance Workforce Innovation for a Strong Economy plan, a year-long project to develop a long-term workforce development plan for the region, and issues around the talent pipeline identified so far. The WISE plan is a $200,000 project to identify workforce development needs during the next 10 years and formulate goals and proposals to address them. The plan will focus on the availability of affordable housing, affordable childcare and transportation, along with other areas identified during site visits and listening sessions. The project has received funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. as well as the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Ken Poole, the CEO of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness of Arlington, Va., presented the preliminary findings of WISE plan discussions with 300 people in 16 counties across the region. Talking with businesses, students, educators and other stakeholders, Poole said more than a dozen common issues have floated to the surface such as the need of employers for skilled talent, making wages and jobs more competitive and retain employees through better work-life balance. As part of the summit, a working session on issues was held with more planned during the summer. Poole said a plan of action would be rolled out this fall. Weve gotten a sense of the key issues, he said. Now our goal is to start focusing in on a few of them. Three speakers presented some of the strategies of their organizations during a panel on talent preparation strategies. One of the speakers was Allison Vandenburg-Daves, who is implementing the 7 Rivers Alliances new Inspire program in Jackson County with a goal of connecting students, educators and employers through the Career Cruising website. Eleva-Strum High School technical education teacher Craig Cegielski spoke about the schools Cardinal Manufacturing firm. Started in 2007, the program has turned the technical education department at the high school into a fully functioning business where students learn trade and business skills by operating the company. The profits from the company are reinvested into the program, which has allowed it to expand and purchase equipment such as computer numerical controlled machines, 3D printers and others. Students also earn a portion of the profits as well as opportunities for scholarships, which provide thousands of dollars for each student to pursue higher education. Cegielski said the idea for the program came as a way to address how big the skills gap is for todays students. Students dont understand how to be good employees such as showing up to work on time and havent been exposed to the types of equipment and skills necessary for todays manufacturing work. We have seen the problems with the workforce and have been having success with this, he said. We saw the challenges and decided to do something at the high school level. Republican efforts to overhaul the U.S. health care system may need to move to the back burner so Congress instead can prioritize a short-term measure to stabilize health insurance markets, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Wednesday. Johnson made the comments to reporters after he met privately with Assembly Republicans at the state Capitol on Wednesday. They are a concession to what Johnson calls the tough political process facing GOP senators in crafting and passing a bill that significantly rolls back former President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act, as they and GOP President Donald Trump have vowed to do. Republican senators reportedly are developing their own health care bill instead of taking up the American Health Care Act passed by Republicans in the U.S. House earlier this month. Polls have shown that bill is deeply unpopular. Johnson, R-Oshkosh, said Congress first order of business may be to pass a short-term market stabilization bill, which he said could send billions of dollars to states to address volatility in health care exchanges created under Obamas Affordable Care Act. The purpose would be to dissuade insurers from pulling out of those state exchanges, he said. To me, this may be a two-part process. I would admit thats probably a minority view in the Republican Senate right now, Johnson said. Johnson downplayed a recent estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that under the House GOP bill, the number of Americans without health coverage would increase by 23 million by 2026. He suggested many of those people would voluntarily opt out of coverage in the absence of the individual mandate for all Americans to have coverage, which the House bill repeals. But the budget office also estimated that under the bill, by 2026, 14 million fewer Americans would be covered under Medicaid, which serves the very poor or disabled. Millions of those individuals, when theyre given the freedom, theyre not going to buy these overly inflated health care policies because they cant afford them, Johnson said. Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, also said hes no fan of the recent decision by the U.S. Department of Justice to name former FBI Director Robert Mueller as Special Counsel of the bureaus investigation into possible ties between Trumps presidential campaign and Russian officials. What I think is a shame is now, when we have a special counsel, its going to slow down and inhibit the Senate Intelligence Committees investigation, Johnson said. Johnson was referring to a separate investigation of the matter by the intelligence committee, led by GOP Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina. Johnson declined to say whether it was appropriate for Trump to ask former FBI Director James Comey to end his investigation into Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. The New York Times made that disclosure earlier this month with a report based on excerpts of a memo written by Comey detailing his conversation with Trump. Im just not going to answer questions on that, Johnson said. Comey is set to confirm the reports about Trumps efforts to quash the FBI-Flynn investigation during formal public testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, CNN reported Wednesday. The testimony reportedly could come as early as next week. A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday against a proposed Trempealeau County frac sand operation, finding that counties have the right to regulate conditional uses. The case was brought by AllEnergy Corp. and its subsidiary, AllEnergy Silica, Arcadia, which had sought to operate a 265-acre frac sand mine and processing plant in the town of Arcadia. In 2013, the Trempealeau County Environment and Land Use Committee voted 5-3 to deny the permit, saying AllEnergys application was rushed and incomplete; the proposed mine raised environmental concerns and would have adverse effects on the landscape, wildlife and recreation and posed risks to health, culture and social conditions. AllEnergy challenged the decision in court, but La Crosse County Circuit Judge Elliott Levine found that evidence supported the committees decision. An appeals court later agreed, saying the court could not substitute its view for the committees and that the company has no intrinsic right to operate a frac sand mine since that is a conditional use subject to local government approval. AllEnergy asked the Supreme Court to review, arguing its application met the legal requirements and that the committee didnt have the authority to judge its completeness. They were answering the question should we have mines? said Gary Van Cleve, the attorney representing AllEnergy. That should be addressed to the board. The zoning committee doesnt have legislative authority. The company also argued that the committee essentially approved the permit when it previously adopted 37 potential conditions before ultimately voting to deny the permit months after the county enacted a one-year moratorium on new frac mines. The county denied the CUP for legislative reasons based on the public health, safety and welfare, and for reasons of public opposition that amounted to nothing more than uncorroborated hearsay, according to AllEnergys brief. In short, the CUP was denied because it sought approval of a sand mine and the people of the county wanted no more sand mines. In a decision released Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the county acted within its jurisdiction and that there is evidence to support its denial of the permit. The court denied what it called the new legal doctrine urged by AllEnergy, namely that an applicant for a conditional-use permit is entitled to the permit for a conditional use when it meets the specific conditions set forth in the ordinance and any additional conditions set forth, and that an applicant cannot be required to meet other conditions and standards in the ordinance. Justices Daniel Kelly, Michael Gableman and Rebecca Bradley disagreed, saying the committee acted arbitrarily. The Committee exceeded its jurisdiction when it took upon itself the task of determining whether a sand mine, as a general proposition, is an appropriate use of the AllEnergy Property. This is a determination already answered by the Trempealeau County Board, and the Committee had no authority to second-guess the wisdom of its decision, Kelly wrote in the dissent. While concurring with the decision, Justice Annette Ziegler and Chief Justice Patience Roggensack said the court improperly waded into the constitutionality of Trempealeau County ordinances, making the decision potentially more far-reaching in effect than it should be. Groups representing Wisconsin county and town governments, as well as the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Builders Association, argued in support of the countys right to limit land use. CSI Sands Ltd., which operates several mining companies including Superior Silica Sands, argued that a ruling in favor of AllEnergy would promote regulatory consistency. Van Cleve said the decision was disappointing, in part because the justices differing opinions failed to establish a precedent. The county issued a written statement praising the court for leaving such decisions in the hands of local bodies and recognizing the importance of giving a voice to local citizens who provide well-founded concerns instead of adopting AllEnergys argument which would have largely silenced the local citizens which zoning is meant to protect. County Corporation Counsel Rian Radtke declined to answer questions, citing a separate pending civil rights lawsuit in which AllEnergy is seeking damages from the county for alleged due process violations. La Crosse County Circuit Judge Scott Horne has yet to rule on the countys effort to have that 2014 case thrown out. Jackson County landowners look to courts to block frac sand mining MERRILLAN, Wis. Ron Baerbock had never heard of frac sand when he moved to Jackson County AllEnergy is also seeking to open a 750-acre mine and processing facility in Jackson County, where some neighbors have sought to block the $130 million project on the grounds that the dust, noise, lights and blasting will create a nuisance. Horne is expected to decide this summer whether that case can proceed to trial. Tom Lister, an attorney representing the Jackson County plaintiffs, said he didnt think the decision would have any bearing on his case. Im just glad the Supreme Court is recognizing local control, Lister said. SAN JOSE, Calif. (TNS) Many Bay Area companies strive to offer a slew of perks to attract and retain employees. On-site childcare, company cafeterias and in-office bars are among the popular ones. Heres another one for those who hate the chore of going to the gas station: fueling employees cars at their office parking lots while they work. That is what area startup Booster Fuels is offering for companies and office parks. The mobile gas station is the latest trend in on-demand services popping up to serve those on a quest for convenience. And its growing its presence in the Bay Area, adding almost 30 companies or campuses each month. Founder and CEO Frank Mycroft attributes that growth to the companys promise of convenience and the fact that the gas it provides tends to be about 10 to 15 cents cheaper than whats available at local gas stations. For us, its all about efficiency, Mycroft said. Companies and office parks or campuses sign up with Booster Fuels to provide employees with the service some companies pay for the gas, too, while others simply sign up to offer the access. Employees can then place an order for their car to be filled up while theyre at work, Monday through Friday (those with cars that have locked gas caps will have to pop the cap on the day they order fuel). Manasvi Shah, who works at a company called Insurity in an office in an area business park, signed up for the service as soon as it became available there a few months ago. I havent gone to the gas station since, Shah said. She likes that you can order the fuel service that day, and once she hits the order button on the app, she does not have to think about it. I dont have anything against going to the gas station, but it always seems like the light comes on when youre rushing on a Monday morning, she said, adding that California gas stations tend to have a long queue, particularly at cheaper gas stations like those found at Costco. Todd Harris, president and CEO of credit union Tech CU, said in a recent Booster Fuels news release that the gas delivery is one of the most popular perks the company has offered, with about 40 percent of his employees using it. Mycroft, Booster Fuels founder, said the idea for the company came to him when his wife was pregnant, and they felt nervous about crime at the gas station near their home. I thought, Why are we doing this? No one likes going to the gas station there has to be a better way, said Mycroft, who is a former engineer for NASA and Boeing. He started the company in Texas and soon expanded it to the Bay Area, where it is now headquartered. Mycroft said the reason it can keep its gas cheaper than at gas stations is that it cuts out the transport companies and underground tanks that gas stations use, instead getting gas directly from refineries and bringing it (via its bright purple trucks) directly to customers. The company has now pumped more than 3 million gallons of gas for employees at companies including Cisco, Oracle, eBay, Gilead, McKesson, PepsiCo and over 250 other companies and office centers. Unlike the plethora of Bay Area startups that focus on city living, this one is geared toward the suburbs, where plenty of people are driving to big work campuses and business parks. Its possible that Booster Fuels will soon expand its services beyond workplaces, but it could run into problems. Some fire departments are cracking down on mobile gas-delivery services, according to a report from Bloomberg. That includes San Francisco, which cited concerns to Bloomberg about the danger of having fuel trucks driving around the city. The report also said the city of Santa Clara is reviewing its rules on the topic. Booster Fuels said it has to get a permit for each city in which it operates. Still, Mycroft said he sees big potential in the space. We think this is a model that can grow to any commercial location places like park-n-rides or retail malls, Mycroft said. In that way, we can start to open it up to more and more people. We think this is a model that can grow to any commercial location places like park-n-rides or retail malls. In that way, we can start to open it up to more and more people. Frank Mycroft, Booster Fuels founder and CEO Im writing this from Yellowstone National Park. Established in 1872, this was our first National Park. The worlds first, in fact. In an interesting window into how politics worked then (and now, arguably), Congress agreed to preserve this land only after being assured that it was entirely worthless. Of course, that was an utter lie. But for once in our nations history, lying in politics did some good. The real value of this park wasnt known then, you see. Nobody knew that it set a precedent for the establishment of an entire National Park system that would encompass a network of public lands across the country. Nobody knew yet that the animals on this land would become rare outside it and mightve been lost for good if they werent allowed to roam free here. For that matter, nobody would know for a long time to come that predators are important to ecosystems. Even after the establishment of many National Parks and the protection of wildlife therein, park personnel actively killed predators within the parks borders. And yet, yesterday I saw a wolf and a grizzly, both wild apex predators. Not in a zoo. And I saw them at close range. It was the experience of a lifetime. Other national parks havent had such an easy path to preservation. Creating a national park requires an act of Congress. The Grand Canyon, the Great Smoky Mountains, the Grand Tetons, and many, many other beloved parks, even once identified as places to preserve for the enjoyment of all Americans, didnt immediately receive such protection. Far too often, individuals see our nations great places as opportunities for private profit. Loggers attempted to cut down every possible tree in the Great Smoky Mountains before they were shut out when it became a national park. Entire populations of birds in Florida were killed to provide feathers for womens hats before their habitat was protected. And a U.S. senator opposed turning the Grand Canyon into a national park because he wanted to personally profit from the natural wonder. When Congress wont act to protect our countrys most beautiful and valuable places, the president can do it with just the stroke of a pen. Yet right now, Donald Trump is on track to throw away part of our national heritage. Hes ordered a review of all national monuments created since 1996, and may well remove some to make way for mining corporations and other extractive industries to operate there. The monuments on Trumps hit list include the San Gabriel mountains in Southern California, where hikers from Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego all converge for exercise and recreation in a breathtakingly beautiful place, and Carrizo Plain, also in California, which experienced a super bloom that drew wildflower enthusiasts from all over this past spring. A great many beloved national parks were national monuments first: the Grand Canyon, Chaco Canyon, Olympic, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, the Grand Tetons, and more. The story of our national parks and monuments is a triumph of the interests of all Americans over the private interests of the few. If you love our countrys wild places and want your grandchildren to have the opportunity to visit them, you can visit Regulations.gov to tell the government you want our national monuments preserved. The 19th Freedom Honor Flight flew veterans from the La Crosse Airport to Washington DC on Saturday, May 6. Serving 30 counties in three states, Freedom Honor Flight flies veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Aboard the May 6 flight were six WWII, 80 Korean War, and two Last Chance veterans. Locally on the flight were Donald Role (Coon Valley), Marvin Lee (Westby), and Alf Erickson (Westby) who sadly passed away before the May 6 flight was represented by his nephew, David Erickson. The trip included visits to the World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Wall, Marine Corps War Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. To date, more than 1,800 veterans have participated in the Freedom Honor Flight program thanks to individual donations, fundraisers and volunteers. The Lee, Role and Erickson families were interviewed by the Westby Times after they returned home. The one thing that came through loud and clear was how impressive an event the Freedom Honor Flight really is and how important it is to honor all veterans for their service to our country. Thank you, Marvin, Don and Alf. Marvin Lee WWII (1945 to 1946) At the age of 91, Marvin Lee cant recall all the details of his military tour of duty, but his wife of 70 years, Helen, age 92, tried to help him fill in the blanks to the best of her ability. Lee graduated from Westby in 1944. He enlisted in the Army on April 25, 1945 and was discharged in November 1946. He said he enlisted rather than being drafted and spent two years serving his country. He completed his basic training in Arkansas, before being shipped overseas to Germany for the remainder of his tour. In Germany, Lee landed a clerical job as a classification specialist and to this day Lee jokes that when Adolf Hilter heard Marvin Lee was coming to Germany was the day he gave up. Last September, Lee was scheduled to be on the fall Freedom Honor Flight, but illness prevented him from attending. Thankfully he was able to board the May flight this year with his son Michael as his guardian. The experience was second to none and when Lee arrived back in La Crosse and exited the plane the smile on is face lit up the evening sky. Two years ago, Lee and his wife, Helen, took a bus tour to Washington DC where they visited all the main attractions, including the war memorials. Lee felt that since he had already had the opportunity to see the memorials on his own that he shouldnt occupy a seat on the Freedom Honor Flight. He admitted after returning home on May 6 that visiting such a memorable place with fellow veterans leaves a different kind of mark on your soul and he is grateful he had the opportunity as one of the very few remaining WWII veterans still alive today to make it to Washington a second time. The Lees were married on March 8, 1947. They have five children, Merlin, Larry, Michael, Randy and Donna, plus eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Lee spent 40 years as a mail carrier in the Westby area retiring in 1989, so it wasnt surprising to learn that one of Lees favorite aspects of the trip was the mail call where he received so many heartfelt letters. Maybe it is the mail carrier in me, but receiving joyful letters myself was almost as rewarding as delivering them to others for so many years. It really was a wonderful experience from start to finish, Lee said. Donald Role Korean War (1956-1962) When Donald Role left for basic training in October 1956, he wasnt alone. He traveled to Arkansas with six friends, Gilman Gronvold, Elmer Haugen, Verlin Ihle, David Johnson, Carliss Larson and Thomas Mathison, who all joined the United States Army at the same time. Once they completed basic training they came home for Christmas before returning to finish their tours of duty. Role was trained with a guided missile outfit and became a radar operator at an Army base near Chicago. From there he was shipped to Japan, or so he thought when he arrived. Instead his new orders were stamped with a K and he was transferred to Korea for 17 months. While in Korea he worked with an army procurement company which was set up to train civilians how to work in the textile mills where numerous materials were manufactured. Role would then inspect the final products to make sure they met government standards. From there Role returned stateside where he spent two years on active duty and an additional two years on active reserve during the Cuban Missile Crisis. His unit was never called up, but they were ready if they were needed. Role spent six years in the Army being discharged in October 1962. He earned the Good Conduct medal for his service. Role and his wife Melanie reside in Coon Valley. They have three children, Donna, Brian and Bradley, and four grandchildren. He retired from Norplex in La Crosse in 2002, after 37 years of employment. The Roles traveled to Washington in 1999, and like Lee, Role was honored to have been given the opportunity to have been on board a Freedom Honor Flight. We were treated like the president. Everyone was at our beckon call. It truly was amazing and everything went like clockwork, Role said. Roles guardian was his son Brian. Together they toured the memorials. Don found the WWII memorial extra impressive, although the Korean War Memorial will forever hold a special place in his heart. Melanie Role said it was like a well-oiled machine for families as they waited for their loved ones to return. She will never forget the look of pride on the veterans faces when they exited the plane. She only wishes her own father, Virgil Mathison, who died in 1992, could have had the same unforgettable opportunity as her husband traveling aboard a Freedom Honor Flight. Mathison was a WWII veteran and POW. Alf Erickson Korean War (1950-1954) Alf Erickson never got the opportunity to travel on a Freedom Honor Flight. He passed away on Nov. 7, 2016, at the age of 80. To honor Erickson and his service to our country the flag that covered his casket was folded and boarded the plane with his nephew, David Erickson. In Washington, Alfs flag was honored and blessed before it was refolded and returned back into the loving arms of his wife of more than 50 years, Betty. Members of the Erickson family gathered on the tarmac as David exited the plane first carrying his uncles flag in his arms. It was a touching moment for everyone in attendance with the pomp and circumstance echoing in the background and fireworks flaring in the background. Alf was afraid to fly, but he was definitely present in spirit on this Freedom Honor Flight. I know he was looking down from above and had to have been impressed with all the wonderful festivities honoring our area veterans, Betty said. Erickson did his basic training in Missouri and spent two years overseas in Germany. He was discharged in 1954. He was born in the Melvina area, before moving to Westby where he spent his career as a mechanic at several businesses in Vernon County. The Ericksons raised five children, have seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. There are currently 11 World War II veterans, 171 Korean War era veterans, 306 Vietnam veterans on the waiting list. Veterans for the flights are selected in order of application, though World War II veterans have priority status. The group encourages World War II and Korean era veterans to apply for future flights. The fall flight is set for Sept. 16. Freedom Honor Flight launched a website that allows veterans and guardians to apply online. Downloadable applications are also available here: www.freedomhonorflight.org. Freedom Honor Flight receives no government funding and depends entirely on the donations. Each flight is estimated to cost $100,000. Donations are tax deductible. Donate securely online or mail your check, made payable to Freedom Honor Flight, to Freedom Honor Flight, PO Box 505, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 54602-0505. Its not unheard of for a La Crosse bartender to serve up a dice game to give a group of patrons a chance to win free shots. A win by the barkeep, however, means one of them will be buying the round. That game could be illegal if an ordinance amendment were to gain passage in its current form, as would selling three drinks or more for one fixed price. Although the amendment targets practices that enable binge drinking, it could also be a problem for events such as wine tasting fundraisers. Such unintended consequences are certain to be topics of conversation for the work group to be appointed by Mayor Tim Kabat to address the proposed amendment sponsored by former council members Robert Seaquist and Richard Swantz. The Judiciary and Administration Committee at its meeting Tuesday night referred the issue to the work group, along with a resolution about sharing best practices for holders of temporary liquor licenses. Neither the committee nor any members of the public made any comments. The proposed changes target binge drinking in a college town that was ranked as Americas sixth-drunkest city by 24/7 Wall St., a news and opinion company that supplies clients such as Time and MarketWatch. The Capital Times in Madison reported the rankings earlier this month. Ranked No. 1 through 4 were other Wisconsin cities: Appleton, Oshkosh, Green Bay and Madison, respectively. The La Crosse Festivals Inc. board of directors responded to the proposal with concern in March. It tried to point out some unintended effects. "Prohibiting 'all-you-can-drink' for one price will eliminate several tasting events in the community, many of which are fundraisers for nonprofit organizations," it said in a memo to the City Council. "While the proposed ordinance may be well-intentioned, it will have a series of unintended negative impacts on the La Crosse community and local festivals in particular." When contacted by the Tribune earlier Tuesday, Tom Jansky, owner of Whos on Third, said the proposal would also hurt downtown business. Business is tough enough, we struggle to get by, he said. So you have to offer some incentive and our bartenders will not serve somebody if they are starting to get drunk. They have to leave because we dont want nobody to walk out of here and get hurt. ... I dont understand why they would do this to try to hurt downtown business. Downtown business is tough, the bars are very competitive." Although Whos on Third does not offer a wristband price promotion -- customers buy a wristband that grants them unlimited access to specific alcoholic beverages -- he doesnt think it should be banned. Otherwise its getting to be a state-run (situation) down here where they can tell owners what they can do and what they cant do, Jansky said. I mean theres limits and there should be limits to what they can do. So I believe its wrong." CHICAGO (TNS) Certain kinds of people thrive at Kraft Heinz, one of the most ambitious and polarizing companies in the American food industry. Theyre the types who can keep their desk clutter-free save for no more than two personal items, per company policy. The types who get amped up gazing upon charts of sales data posted on the walls at both headquarters locations, in Chicago and Pittsburgh, to see how they measure up to other teams, knowing a sizable bonus awaits the winner. More than money is at stake, though. Those who succeed at Kraft Heinz relish the battle to be the best. Its part of the culture and in the blood to be competitive, always fighting for that next win, said Michael Ferranti, Kraft Heinzs head of people and performance for the U.S. commercial business. Working at Kraft Heinz isnt for everyone, as executives readily admit. The company, backed by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital, has a well-earned reputation for vigorous cost-cutting good for shareholders, not so much for the hundreds of people laid off since Heinz, already owned by Buffetts firm and 3G, acquired Kraft in 2015. Those who survived the cuts have been challenged to do more with less. Kraft Heinz, which reported about $26 billion in sales last year, isnt apologizing for any of that, though executives say the company doesnt get enough credit for investing money back into the business. The Chicago Tribune interviewed six Kraft Heinz employees provided by the company at its Chicago headquarters in the downtown Aon Center skyscraper, and another six current and former employees who spoke on condition of anonymity. From those talks, a clear picture emerged: Kraft Heinz is a company where the young and hungry can thrive, where those who dont buy in are left behind and where results matter above all else. We want to win, Ferranti said. And frankly, there are some who will adapt and there are many who wont. That evolution over several years and quarters will determine whos really in for the long haul. Ferrantis trajectory provides a glimpse into the Kraft Heinz culture. Before the merger, he worked in Asia as a finance and operations executive for Burger King, another 3G-controlled company. Now, at 34, with only about two years of human resources experience, he oversees the professional development of about 4,000 salaried workers in the U.S., where the company conducts most of its business. Experience doesnt mean much at Kraft Heinz. Far more important are buy-in, ambition and, ultimately, results. And while Ferranti declined to provide an average age or tenure for Kraft Heinz employees, former employees interviewed for this story said many of the more experienced workers had been laid off or left on their own since the merger. Of course, thats meant opportunity for others. Alyssa Bronikowski, 29, previously worked at Walgreens corporate headquarters in Deerfield, Ill., before coming to Kraft Heinz. Beyond the shorter commute, Bronikowski said she likes that shes rewarded with financial incentives for hitting certain clearly stated goals. One of the things I really struggled with in some of my previous roles is that you work twice as hard as the person next to you but you might be compensated the same. I love at Kraft Heinz that you are compensated for the work you put in, said Bronikowski, senior manager of industry relations and sales communications. That, in short, sums up the philosophy behind Kraft Heinzs system of meritocracy. Work hard. Hit your goals. Good things will happen. The Kraft Heinz system and monetary rewards have been life-changing for me, said Stacey Johnson, 32, head of leadership and inclusion. After working for Teach for America for 10 years, Johnson said she was able to buy a condo after only about one year at Kraft Heinz. These warm and fuzzy feelings arent shared companywide. One current employee in the Glenview research and development office said the reality of merit-based pay hasnt lived up to its promise a view shared by some others who have left the company. Despite a generous bonus for all employees last year, raises and promotions have been few and far between in the research and development office, even for people hitting their goals. I certainly think morale has taken a hit, said the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for his job. Roughly 700 people were laid off in August 2015 when the company decided, after the acquisition, that it would move its Chicago-area headquarters to the Aon Center from suburban Northfield. Smaller rounds of job cuts have since followed. About 1,500 people now work in the five-floor Aon Center office, with 600 to 700 others in the companys research and development office in suburban Glenview, spokesman Michael Mullen said. The companys extreme cost-cutting has gone under the microscope since its failed bid to acquire Unilever for $143 billion in February. Some analysts have questioned whether Kraft Heinzs reputation is now hindering its ability to make a deal. After a recent disappointing quarterly earnings report, CEO Bernardo Hees defended the companys business model and philosophy. Kraft Heinz is widely expected to make another acquisition, sooner rather than later, because thats the established 3G pattern: buy a company, cut costs, expand profit margins, and acquire another company. Repeat. Company executives, meanwhile, insist they dont need another acquisition to grow the companys top line through increased investment in marketing and launching new products. Whats clear is the 3G method of zero-based budgeting a cost-cutting mentality that calls on employees to think of company dollars as their own has changed the historically stodgy processed food industry, forcing other food companies to sharpen their own knives in order to compete. None has proven as adept at expanding profit margins as Kraft Heinz. What does this mean for employees? As one example, workers are allowed to print only 100 pages per month, black and white, double-sided. And as part of a new pilot program to eliminate distractions and increase efficiency, employees can have no more than two personal items on their desk. All told, the company plans to eliminate 5,150 positions a figure that includes both factory and salaried jobs in its post-merger restructuring in the U.S. and Canada, according to its annual report. But Kraft Heinz execs bristle at the notion that the company is focused only on cutting costs. Money saved is invested back into the companys brands and its employees, Mullen said. For example even as the company closes some older factories, such as the Oscar Mayer plant in Madison, Wis. it spent $1 billion upgrading manufacturing facilities worldwide last year, including plants in Missouri and Iowa. Kraft Heinz also increased its ad spending by $100 million over the past two years, Mullen said, and, in January, announced the launch of a joint venture with Oprah Winfrey to sell refrigerated meals. Last year, the company paid the largest bonuses in company history including when both Kraft and Heinz were separate companies, he said. In some cases, theres clearly a disconnect, though, between the companys decisions and how they are perceived by some employees. Former employees interviewed for this story lamented that their respective workloads ballooned but their pay did not as colleagues were laid off. A former sales executive who worked at Kraft for 21 years and who was laid off after the merger said the snack bars where employees could get free coffee, Jell-O and other Kraft products were suddenly removed, a step he felt was less about cost-savings and more about showing employees that nothing was free. Not so, Mullen said. The snack bars in Chicago and Pittsburgh were actually replaced by two programs that represent a larger total investment, a company store with discounted products and monthly events with free products intended to bring workers together, he said. Mullen, 48, who worked at Heinz for 18 years, said hes had to work harder since the acquisition too, but said the rewards are exponentially greater. And when people just paint us as, hey, theyre amazing at cost-cutting, they do an amazing job driving profit growth theres so much more to our story than that, Mullen said. That is a part of our story. Were not going to hide from that. But to say thats our story, its incredibly naive. There are no corner offices at Kraft Heinz. There are no offices at all. There are hardly any doors to speak of, though there are some privacy rooms for employees to duck into for brief personal business. There are no chairs in those rooms, though. The message: Do not tarry. Throughout the office, employees personal goals are publicly displayed on placards on their desks; top executives, including CEO Bernardo Hees, have their goals posted on the wall. The goals, part of companys management by objectives system, are data-driven and measurable, Ferranti said. Theyre also intertwined with those of other employees, which encourages teamwork, he said. All of this is designed to promote the company values of transparency, meritocracy and ownership. Last year, Kraft Heinz promoted 1,700 people globally, Ferranti said. And thats part of the appeal, particularly for younger employees: Its possible to move up the ladder quickly without years of paying dues. And the grim headlines about the companys layoffs and austerity measures dont seem to have hurt recruiting efforts. Last year, 81,000 applicants from 22 different countries, including 17,000 from the U.S., competed for one of the 170 openings in the management trainee program that is Hees baby. The future leaders of Kraft Heinz look like Juliet Levine and Oliver Joost, ages 24 and 25 respectively. Both Ivy League college graduates, Levine and Joost also matriculated through Hees six-month program. Both spoke enthusiastically about the companys culture and the opportunities its afforded them. When you compare this company to other companies in the industry, I dont think there are many places where you could see 24-year-olds managing hundreds of millions of dollars of brands three years out of college, said Levine, senior associate and brand manager on the frozen snacks team. I see endless opportunity for me here. Throughout the office, employees personal goals are publicly displayed on placards on their desks; top executives, including CEO Bernardo Hees, have their goals posted on the wall. We want to win. And frankly, there are some who will adapt and there are many who wont. That evolution over several years and quarters will determine whos really in for the long haul. 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(4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (3) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (2) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (2) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (2) Jan 04 (2) Jan 03 (2) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (2) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (2) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (2) Nov 21 (2) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (2) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (2) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (2) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (2) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (2) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (2) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (6) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (6) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (4) May 29 (4) May 28 (5) May 27 (5) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (5) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (3) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (6) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (7) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (8) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (4) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (7) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (5) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 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(1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Wednesday, May 31, 2017 The Georgia Supreme Court rejected a petition for voluntary discipline that had acknowledged numerous ethics violations but sought a suspension of no more than 91 days. In mitigation, the special master notes that Johnson did not have a selfish or dishonest motive; that, during the time in which these disciplinary matters arose, Johnson experienced personal and emotional problems and that the resultant anxiety and depression had a detrimental effect on his practice; that Johnson has explained his plans to provide restitution to three of the six former clients at issue; that he is active in, and has a good reputation among, the legal community; and that he has expressed remorse for his actions leading to these disciplinary matters and for his failure to participate proactively in the disciplinary process. The special master recommends that Johnson receive a 90-day suspension, with conditions on reinstatement. Neither Johnson nor the Bar filed exceptions to the special masters report... Having reviewed the record, we conclude that Johnsons petition for voluntary discipline is due to be rejected in light of the aggravating factors present with regard to these matters. Of particular relevance to our decision to reject this petition are the facts that Johnson has been involved in multiple instances of improper conduct involving the abandonment of legal matters entrusted to him by clients, that he has retained fees paid to him in association with these matters, that he has failed to make full and proper restitution to clients affected by his abandonment, and that he has been the subject of numerous prior instances of discipline,including a prior letter of admonition and three prior suspensions. Taken together, these factors militate against our acceptance of this petition, and we therefore reject Johnsons petition for voluntary discipline. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/05/the-georgia-supreme-court-rejected-a-petition-for-voluntary-discipline-that-had-acknowledged-numerous-ethics-violations-but-s.html India has opened its longest bridge in the countrys northeast to strengthen its defenses close to a disputed border with China. The bridge is one of several projects whose construction has been sped up to make it easier for troops and artillery to travel to Arunachal Pradesh state, in the Himalayas. China claims the state as its territory. It calls the area South Tibet. The 9.15-kilometer-long Dhola Sadiya Bridge crosses over the Brahmaputra River. It has been designed to carry the weight of 60-ton battle tanks. The bridge connects Arunachal Pradesh with the northeastern state of Assam. Construction began in 2011. Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the bridge on the day marking his third year in office. He did not talk about possible military uses for the bridge. He said instead that the area will benefit from the bridge. He said it would speed up economic development in both Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and would help tens of thousands of farmers sell their crops in new markets. Since he took office in 2014, Modi has worked to increase the countrys economic growth through infrastructure projects. They include several projects in border regions of northeastern states that the government says are needed to strengthen Indias defenses. For many years, India did not improve infrastructure in the region because it believed Chinese troops would use it in a war to gain access to areas of India. Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly in 1962. Negotiations have taken place since then, but parts of their border are still disputed. Dipankar Banerjee is a security expert and former Indian major general. He says that, in the past, experts believed that if India built roads close to the border then the roads could perhaps be used for (an) offensive purpose by either side. So there was some constraint on building roads. India hopes to complete a two-lane road by next year to a border area in Arunachal Pradesh, where all military supplies must now be transported by helicopter. Building the road near steep Himalayan mountains has been a difficult engineering problem. Some road-building equipment had to be transported to the area by helicopters. India is also improving landing runways for large military aircraft. Indian experts say the projects will help India in its efforts to match the large transportation network China has built on its side of the border. Banerjee says China has got much better infrastructure -- that is one of the major issues. Recently, Home Minister Rajnath Singh called on troops guarding the border to guard against Chinese attacks. We want peace, but peace with honor. We need to be capable of deterring anyone who may think we are weak, Singh told members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force that guards parts of the border with China. Ties between the two countries have worsened in the past year. Last month, China strongly criticized a visit by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh. It warned that the visit would harm relations with India. Im Mario Ritter. Correspondent Anjana Pasricha reported this story from New Delhi. We also used reporting from the BBC. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story infrastructure n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country, region or organization to function properly region n. a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way constraint n. something that limits or restricts someone or something deter v. to prevent (something) from happening Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega died in a Panama City hospital on Monday. He was 83 years old. Noriega had been in a coma since March. He had been recovering from several operations related to removing cancer from his brain earlier this year. Noriega ruled Panama from 1983 to 1989. His time in power is remembered as a time of corruption and violence in the Central American country. Before and during his rule, Noriega received millions of dollars in payments from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In exchange, he provided intelligence to the U.S. government. He reported on events in Panama and the rest of Latin America. At the time, a number of rebel groups operated in the area. Noriega informed the CIA about guerilla and terrorist activities. The United States used his information to seize illegal drugs at sea and follow the secret movement of money in and out of Panamas banks. But his relations with the U.S. government worsened after a political opponent was killed in 1985. In addition, Noriega appeared to begin working with the drug traffickers. Members of Panamas military attempted to overthrow him but failed. The leaders of the attempted rebellion were arrested and executed without being tried. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush ordered 28,000 U.S. troops to invade Panama, oust Noriega from power and capture him. During the operation, 23 American troops were killed. More than 300 others were wounded. The U.S. military estimates 200 Panamanian civilians died and 314 soldiers were killed. After Noriegas capture, he was brought to the United States to face legal action. He was tried and jailed for 17 years after being found guilty on drug trafficking charges. In 2007, Noriega was sent to France, where he was jailed on money-laundering charges. He was returned to Panama in 2011 and imprisoned. After Noriega was ousted, economic conditions in Panama seemed to improve. The United States gave the Panamanian government control of the Panama Canal in 1999. Panama expanded the waterway. The number of foreigners visiting the country has increased and property values have risen. But the country of 3.9 million people still suffers from the corruption that worsened during Noriegas rule. And drug traffickers and money launderers still operate there. Panamas President Juan Carlos Varela said on the social networking website Twitter that Noriegas death closes a chapter in our history. Varela said Noreigas wife and three daughters have a right to bury him in peace. Im Alice Bryant. VOAs Chris Hannas wrote this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. He also used information from the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story coma n. a state in which a sick or injured person is unconscious for a long time traffic v. to buy or sell something especially illegally launder v. to put (money that you got by doing something illegal) into a business or bank account in order to hide where it really came from Here's how many have already voted. Also, there are more observers than one county knows what to do with. Tara Hieter of Gothenburg was diagnosed at 18 years old with cervical cancer. Beating the odds, she has two children, Bridget, 17, and Jordan, 14. She will be an Honorary Chairperson at this years Relay For Life event in Cozad. She tells her story here: In April 1998, I had an ultrasound due to bad lower abdominal cramping and pain. I was told I had cysts covering both ovaries. I had a yearly pap exam in May, the week of my high school graduation. Two weeks later, I received a letter from my doctor telling me they had scheduled an appointment with a specialist in Kearney because I had abnormal pap results. I thought it was maybe something to do with the cysts on my ovaries because I did not know any better then. At my appointment, they did another pap and ultrasound for the cysts. I asked what would cause an "abnormal" pap. The doctor said "It could be a number of things, but it could just be nothing. Thats why we need to do another one to make sure. Worst case, it could be cancer." Another long couple of weeks went by of tortuous waiting. I finally received a call that I had an appointment to discuss my results. Nervous, but still hopeful, I walked in July 7, 1998, to my appointment. Thats when the doctor told me I had cervical cancer. Still to this day, I cant even explain in words the horror and how sick I felt hearing those scary words. Then he told me they were going to schedule to have my cervix frozen. This was the quickest and least aggressive approach. The doctor had more to tell me. "In some cases it is harder for some women to become pregnant after this procedure is done. To be completely honest with you, Tara, all of the testing and everything we have done, Im not really sure you will be able to conceive anyway. If you were, it will probably take artificial insemination if that will even work. Along with the cancer, all of the cysts that are covering your ovaries have not gotten any better. We may have to remove your ovaries as well, but we are going to get this going first." I was devastated and in tears. Im 18 years old, have cancer and probably will never have kids! In January 1999, I had some different things going on with my body that I hadnt experienced before. During my appointment to discuss test results, I asked the nurse if they would give me a pregnancy test and explained my symptoms. Both the nurse and the doctor thought my symptoms were side effects of the procedure. But I bought a home pregnancy test. Almost immediately, it came up "pregnant" but I thought it was defective. So I bought another one same results. I went to my family doctor. Same results: "Pregnant!" Back for another check-up with the specialist and I announced my good news. They were very surprised, but the doctor had to tell me the test results showed more cancer and since I was pregnant, they couldnt treat it as before. I continued the monthly checkups. So nearly a year after my original diagnosis, in May 1999, I went in to have my regular testing done. This time the doctor said, "things have seemed to change." So another pap and ultrasound were done and I waited another two weeks for results. I feared the worst thinking the cancer had progressed. I tried to prepare myself for what they were going to tell me. "Its GONE!" the doctor said. In disbelief, I asked "How is that even possible? How can cancer just disappear?" His reply was "As a doctor, we dont like to say miracle. The ONLY explanation I can give you is that all the good hormones of being pregnant got rid of all the bad cells." We continued to monitor progress every month. On Sept. 12, 1999, I welcomed a beautiful, healthy baby girl. A little more than three and a half years later on April 28, 2003, I gave birth to my son. My maternal grandmother and great grandmother both lost their battle with cancer when I was young. They both started with cervical cancer that spread. One of my younger brothers, Trever Hieter, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma at the age of 19. He too is a survivor with three beautiful children that doctors thought he would not be able to father. In the past, I hadnt shared my story with a lot of people. I was very lucky. I didnt have to fight as hard as most have had to battle this ugly monster we call cancer. I have some good friends who didnt even know this about me until they found out I was nominated to lead the survivors lap this year at Relay For Life and I told my story of being a cancer survivor. And now, Im not sharing my story for sympathy because I definitely dont want that. I just want people to know there is "HOPE." It is so important to get preventative screening. My HOPE is that one day soon a cure will be found, so NO ONE else will have to be so afraid of hearing the words "You have cancer." Last year was my first experience at Relay For Life. A fellow stylist and I cut hair for donations to Wigs For Kids. We kept busy nonstop until dark and ended up turning some people away because we couldnt see well enough to safely and proficiently cut their hair. We were both extremely exhausted and physically hurting, but it was so worth it. What an amazing feeling knowing we helped with a great cause. This year there will be a few more stylists to help in hopes of being able to get more done. Our team name is "Little Steps of Hope." Look for us at Relay in Cozad! The Relay For Life slogan for this year couldnt be more fitting "We Need You For A Cure!" Business may be tough in Zimbabwe, but Tongaat Hulett has found the sweet spot, with a reported 40% jump in group operating profit boosted by the performance of the Triangle and Hippo Valley operations. Valentina R. via Fotolia In 2016, Zimbabwe banned the importation of sugar, among other items, to shore up local industries. This increased local demand and consumption. Operating profit in Zimbabwe in the year to end-March increased considerably to R504m, from R9m in the year-earlier period. "Local market sales volumes and mix improved due to there being lower imports into the market," said CEO Peter Staude. "Exports increased on the back of higher production and prices realised into the EU and regional markets were some 20% above the previous year." Tongaat, which also has operations in Swaziland, Mozambique, and SA, reported operating profit of R1.27bn from its sugar operations in the year under review, which was a turnaround from a loss of R15m in 2016. The company, which has a R15.7bn market capitalisation, said operating profit in the starch and glucose operation dropped to R510m, from R658m, due to high maize costs as a result of the drought. Tongaat also generates income from land conversion and development activities. In this regard, operating profit dropped to R641m, from R1.11bn. Arqaam Capital executive director of research Victor Dima said the starch division had been a weak performer. The performance of the land conversion and development division had also been muted, with only 75ha of land development from 121ha in the year-earlier period, he said. Tongaat had given a strong guidance for sugar production and land development over the next two years. "However, we remain conservative in our estimates," said Dima. The final dividend per share was 200c, bringing the total to 300c, which was up 30.4% on the same period a year earlier. With Andries Mahlangu Source: Business Day ABC/Image Group LA Dierks Bentley brings home the sixteenth #1 of his career this week, as Black ascends to the top of the country airplay chart. Every single weve put out... has been a really important piece of the story of this album Dierks says, referencing his previous hits Different for Girls and Somewhere on a Beach. Black is the one thats really the cornerstone of the whole project, he goes on, and its about my wife. Watching this one rise to the top of the chart is extra sweet. Dierks wife Cassidy traveled with him to Iceland to shoot the steamy video for the song. This weekend, Dierks takes his What the Hell Tour with Cole Swindell and Jon Pardi to Hartford, Connecticut; Mansfield, Massachusetts; and Holmdel, New Jersey. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul yesterday morning, killing at least 90 people and wounding as many as 350, an attack that left a scene of mayhem and destruction and sent a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. The target of the attack which officials said was a suicide car bombing was not immediately known, but Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry, said most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children. It was one of the worst attacks Kabul has seen since the drawdown of foreign forces at the end of 2014. Associated Press images from the scene showed the German Embassy and several other embassies located in the area heavily damaged in the explosion. It wasnt known if any foreign diplomats were among the casualties but Germany and Pakistan said some of their embassy employees and staff were hurt in the explosion. The explosion took place at the peak of Kabuls rush hour when roads are packed with worktime commuters. It went off close to a busy intersection in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry. The neighborhood is considered Kabuls safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. The German Embassy, the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Palace are all in the area, as are the British and the Canadian embassies. The Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies are also located there. Local TV footage showed shocked residents soaked in blood stumbling about, then being ferried away to hospitals. Passers-by stopped and helped the wounded into their private cars, others congregated outside the nearby Italian-run Emergency Hospital. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past. The Afghan Taliban later issued a statement denying any involvement in the bombing and condemning all attacks against civilians. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, said yesterdays explosion had nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate, as the Taliban call themselves. But even though the Taliban claim they are only waging war against the Kabul government and foreign forces in Afghanistan, most of the casualties of their attacks have been civilians. A statement from the Ministry of Interior Affairs said it condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that killed so many, including women and children. These heinous acts go against the values of humanity as well values of peaceful Afghans, it added. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also condemned the attack, which came just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A statement from his office quoted Ghani as saying that the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people. Germanys Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said an unspecified number of German Embassy employees in Kabul were hurt in the blast and an Afghan security guard outside the building was killed. Gabriel said all embassy workers were safe and offered his condolences to the family of the slain guard. Pakistan also denounced the terrorist attack in Kabul and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some. Chinas foreign ministry said its Kabul embassy in Kabul was partly damaged but that all embassy staff were safe and sound and that there had been no reports of injured Chinese citizens. Germany has had troops in Afghanistan for 15 years, primarily concentrated in the north in and around Mazar-E-Sharif. Theyre currently one of the biggest contributors to the NATO-led Resolute Support mission with around 980 soldiers on the ground to support and train Afghan security forces. The explosion was so heavy that more than 50 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack. We dont know at this moment what was the target of the attack, said Danish. Residents described a mushroom cloud over Kabul and windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to a kilometer from the blast site. There are a large number of casualties, but I dont know how many people are killed or wounded, said an eyewitness, Gul Rahim. Kawasi, the health official, said the wounded were admitted to different Kabul hospitals. Shortly after the explosion, all roads in Wazir Akbar Khan were blocked off by Afghan security forces and helicopters were deployed over the neighborhood. Rahim Faiez & Amir Shah, Kabul, AP Most smokers in China, the worlds largest tobacco consumer, have no intention of kicking the habit and remain unaware of some of its most damaging health effects, Chinese health officials and outside researchers said yesterday. An estimated 316 million people smoke in China, almost a quarter of the population, and concerns are growing about the long-term effects on public health and the economy. The vast majority of smokers are men, of whom 59 percent told surveyors that they have no plans to quit, according to a decade-long study by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Canadian researchers with the International Tobacco Control project. Such numbers have prompted efforts to restrict the formerly ubiquitous practice. Major cities including Beijing and Shanghai having recently moved to ban public smoking, with Shanghais prohibition going into effect in March. In 2015, the central government approved a modest nationwide cigarette tax increase. But Chinese and international health officials argue that more is needed, including a nationwide public smoking ban, higher cigarette taxes and more aggressive health warnings. Such actions are critically important, Yuan Jiang, director of tobacco control for the Chinese Center for Disease Control, said in a statement released with the study. A public smoking ban appeared imminent last year. The government health ministry said in December that it would happen by the end of 2016, but that has yet to materialize. They have to figure out whats important as a health policy, said Geoffrey Fong of Canadas University of Waterloo, one of the authors of yesterdays study. Every third man that you pass on the street in China will die of cigarettes. When you have cheap cigarettes, people will smoke them. In line with global trends, smoking rates among Chinese have fallen slowly over the past 25 years, by about 1 percent annually among men and 2.6 percent among women, according to a separate study published in April in the medical journal The Lancet. Yet because of Chinas population growth 1.37 billion people at last count the actual number of smokers has continued to increase. Rising prosperity means cigarettes have become more affordable, while low taxes keep the cost of some brands at less than $1 a pack. Sixty percent of Chinese smokers were unaware that cigarettes can lead to strokes and almost 40 percent werent aware that smoking causes heart disease, according to the study, which was released on World No Tobacco Day, when the World Health Organization and others highlight health risks associated with tobacco use. Judith Mackay, an anti-tobacco advocate based in Hong Kong, said China has made strides with the public smoking bans in some cities and a similar ban covering schools and universities, but thats not enough. This is the first time there has been a report looking at the overall picture of where China stands, said Mackay, senior adviser at Vital Strategies, a global health organization. The reality is, its falling behind. Mackay blamed behind the scenes lobbying by Chinas state-owned tobacco monopoly for impeding efforts to toughen tobacco policies. The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Government agencies and research institutes in China, Canada and the United States funded the study. Matthew Brown, Beijing, AP LEWISTON Washington and Oregon are poised to implement rolling closures of the steelhead fishery from the mouth of the Columbia River to the mouth of the Snake this summer and fall in an attempt to protect the dismal B-run, projected to be the lowest on record. On the Snake River from its mouth to Clarkston, anglers would be required to release all steelhead more than 30 inches in length. The two states also are looking to restrict most fishing on the Snake and Columbia rivers to daylight hours only, and to implement the same rolling closures on the lower sections of Columbia River tributaries, where Idaho-bound B-run steelhead often make short detours while in search of cool water. Protective regulations for the Snake River upstream of the Idaho-Washington state line at Clarkston and the Clearwater River have not yet been set. Idaho fisheries officials are considering adopting regulations similar to those implemented in 2013, when anglers were allowed to harvest only steelhead shorter than 28 inches. We have the advantage in Idaho of seeing the run materialize downriver before we fish, said Lance Hebdon, salmon and steelhead manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Boise. So well keep our options open and implement regulations that are appropriate to meet the objectives of ensuring we meet brood stock targets while maintaining opportunity for our steelhead anglers. Length restrictions are certainly on the table, and well continue to coordinate management with Oregon and Washington. Columbia River fisheries managers are forecasting a return of only 7,300 B-run steelhead to Bonneville Dam, including 1,100 wild fish. The fishing restrictions are designed both to protect the wild fish, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and to ensure enough hatchery fish return for spawning. Everybody is going to feel some pain, said Ron Roler of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife at Olympia. He said Washington and Oregon are adopting a one-steelhead bag limit when fishing is allowed. But there will be periods when anglers wont be allowed to keep any steelhead. Federal permits authorizing the fisheries will allow the two states combined to incidentally kill just 22 wild B-run steelhead during the fishing seasons. Stuart Ellis of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission said the Columbia River treaty tribes, including the Nez Perce, havent yet adopted rules designed to limit take of B-run steelhead during fall chinook gillnet fisheries. But he said the tribal fisheries will be constrained because of the low number of steelhead. We will probably have to be a little creative to try to focus fishing on getting the chinook we can get without running into the steelhead limits, Ellis said. Under the proposal, nontribal steelhead harvest will be closed during these dates and locations: The mouth of the Columbia River to the Dalles Dam, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31. The Dalles Dam to John Day Dam, from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30. John Day Dam to McNary Dam, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 McNary Dam to the Oregon-Washington state line, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30. The lower reaches of the Cowlitz, Lewis, Wind, White Salmon and Klickitat rivers, as well as Drano Lake, will be closed to steelhead harvest from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31. The lower Deschutes River from Moody Rapids to its mouth will be closed to all fishing from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31. The John Day River, downstream of Tumwater Falls, is expected to be closed from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31. In many locations, only anglers targeting northern pikeminnow will be allowed to fish at night. Roller said the closures are designed to be in place at the times B-run steelhead are present in different river sections and intended to reduce the number of anglers targeting steelhead. We are in a serious hurt here so we have to take some serious measures to curtail fisheries on steelhead. Jeromy Jording, biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the record-low flows and elevated water temperatures during the spring and summer of 2015 combined with the warm mass of water off the coast of Washington that year known as the Blob is responsible for the dire prediction, as well as this years poor return of spring chinook. Last year, the collapse of the A-run also was blamed on the poor river and ocean conditions of 2015. This is the lowest return we have forecasted I think on record, he said. Even if you go back into the 1990s, this year would be even lower than anything we observed during that poor period of survival. Jording said climate change could cause greater frequency of the kind of drought and poor ocean conditions responsible for this years poor steelhead showing. The effects of climate change give us a great cause for concern on how we can expect run size abundance to behave in the future, Jording said. LEWISTON Idaho anglers may get another chance to fish for spring chinook. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will meet via conference call Friday to consider reopening fishing seasons on the lower Salmon, Little Salmon and Clearwater rivers, as well as opening seasons for summer chinook on the upper Salmon and South Fork of the Salmon rivers. Seasons on the Clearwater, lower Salmon and Little Salmon rivers were closed in the middle of last week because of dismally low counts of adult chinook at Bonneville Dam. When fisheries managers from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game made the call to end fishing, the latest data told them the run was so low that there was a risk hatcheries on the Clearwater River might not get enough fish back to accommodate full production later this year, and that anglers on the lower Salmon River might harm protected wild salmon. Since that time, the number of chinook passing Bonneville Dam has increased, as have detections of tags carried by fish returning to Idaho hatcheries. Brett Bowersox, a fisheries biologist for the department at Lewiston, said the bump in numbers could be large enough to allow some fishing. Our Rapid River (hatchery stock) harvest shares have gone from around 500 or so at the beginning of the week to where we are now over 1,000, he said. The Clearwater, at the beginning of the week, we were not meeting brood. Now we see a harvestable share, so we are optimistic we can reopen at least some level (of fishing) in both rivers. The number of fish that pass Bonneville Dam over the next several days would be key in the departments recommendation to commissioners. We do have a little bit of time between now and the call to see what happens, he said. If fishing is reopened, there is a chance that the earlier closure may not affect opportunities in the lower Salmon River. Timing often is key to spring chinook fishing, especially for those who hope to catch them as they pass by on the way upstream. A delay such as the closure now in effect can mean most of the fish will pass by when anglers cant get at them. But the Salmon River at White Bird has been running high. It was measured at about 68,000 cubic feet per second Friday high enough to delay upriver-bound fish at the Slide Rapid. Fish movement is still going to be slow, and the fish will start to arrive there in the next week or two depending on flows, Bowersox said. When fishing was closed last week, anglers had just started to catch chinook on the lower Clearwater River at Lewiston. If fishing is reopened late this week, it is unclear whether the bulk of the run will have passed through the lower section of river. TWIN FALLS Police issued information about two people who are missing from the area. The two cases are not related, a spokesman said. Rachel Jurgensmeier, also known as Rachel Cooke, 36, has been missing since Tuesday. Shes a white woman with red hair and brown eyes. Shes 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. Police say she left her residence with all of her belongings in a 2005 Silver Cadillac Deville with Idaho plate 2TAW881. Police do not know her direction of travel. Salvador Vargas Martinez, 50, has been missing from Twin Falls since April 14. He is a Hispanic man with black hair and brown eyes. Hes about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. Police did not provide additional information on him. Twin Falls County Friday arraignments Kerim Muftic, 22, Twin Falls; three counts delivery of a controlled substance, petit theft, $10,000 bond, hired private counsel, preliminary hearing June 2. Kennan Byron Anderson, 20, Buhl; possession of a controlled substance, walk-in arraignment, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 2. Jose Padron-Martinez, 32, Twin Falls; driving under the influence excessive, failure to purchase or invalid drivers license, $10,000 bond, public defender appointed, pretrial July 11. Samuel Joe Vargas, 26, Twin Falls; petit theft, $500 bond, public defender appointed, pretrial July 5. Clifford Ernest Harmon, Jr., 54, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, failure to appear or invalid drivers license, $15,000 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 2. Clifford Ernest Harmon, Jr., 54, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $15,000 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 2. Charles Melvin Colby, 52, Twin Falls; three counts Idaho state-income tax evasion, three counts perjury, own recognizance release, hired private counsel, preliminary hearing June 2. Santos Huerta, 50, Aberdeen; driving without privileges, own recognizance release, public defender appointed, pretrial July 18. Tuesday arraignments Billy Duane Johnson, 45, Twin Falls; unlawful possession of firearm by a convicted felon, $100,000 bond, public defender denied, preliminary hearing June 9. Matthew Wayne Johnston, 20, Twin Falls; trafficking in heroin, possession of a controlled substance, $10,000 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 9. Yvonne Lynn Coates, 32, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, $50,000 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 9. Pebbles Picabo Lindsey, 23, Twin Falls; criminal possession of a financial transaction card, $500 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 9. Ruth Ann Ivie, 54, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $10,000 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 9. Tina Elaine Cleveland, 33, Twin Falls; domestic battery, own recognizance release, public defender appointed, pretrial July 11. Kenzie Shilo Dains, 27, Kimberly; possession of a controlled substance, $50,000 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 9. Ada Kristine Taylor, 59, Twin Falls; domestic battery, own recognizance release, public defender appointed, pretrial July 25. Anthonie Kurt Palomino, 18, Twin Falls; possession of a legend drug or precursor without prescription, failure to appear, own recognizance release, public defender appointed, pretrial July 25. Binod Shah, 32, Twin Falls; aggravated assault, $50,000 bond, public defender appointed, preliminary hearing June 9. TWIN FALLS A man suspected of shooting and killing a man Friday outside his home was charged Tuesday with illegally owning a firearm as a convicted felon, but prosecutors say he could face more serious charges. Billy Duane Johnson, 45, of Twin Falls is suspected of shooting and killing William Newton Scott, 38, of Twin Falls. Scott was shot in the chest about 6:45 p.m. May 26 outside Johnsons home at 146 Addison Ave. W. He died about 15 minutes later despite the life-saving efforts of police, paramedics and firefighters. Prosecutors and police have given few details of the shooting itself, but during Johnsons initial appearance Tuesday in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court, it became clear he could face manslaughter or murder charges. Johnson was arraigned on a felony count of unlawful possession of a firearm, but Magistrate Judge Thomas Kershaw started the hearing this way: Im told there may be other charges, but none has been filed to my knowledge other than this one. While making bond argument, Twin Falls County Deputy Prosecutor Kiel Willmore confirmed Johnson is the primary suspect in Scotts death and that he could be charged for the slaying. The defendant is the alleged shooter, Willmore told Kershaw. We would ask that based on the extenuating circumstances of this case, and the current ongoing investigation of whether to pursue ongoing more serious charges, that $500,000 would be appropriate. Kershaw instead set bond at $100,000 after denying Johnson the public defender and questioning him about his criminal history. My family all lives here in Twin Falls, Johnson told the judge. I would never run for any reason whatsoever. Kershaw noted Johnson has a lengthy criminal history, though most of his convictions were for misdemeanor crimes in the early 2000s. A 2004 felony conviction for battery or assault on a law enforcement officer is the crime that precluded him from owning or possessing a firearm, but his record is relatively clear over the past five years. Ive totally changed, Johnson said, noting hes worked at Amalgamated Sugar for 12 years. Im not that person back in the past at all. Johnsons own defense stood in stark contrast to the way Willmore painted him as a dangerous individual who unsurprisingly caused harm Friday based on his disposition and character. Johnson also seemed to be attempting to explain what led to Fridays shooting, saying his family is in hiding and his wife has been living at a motel possibly a reference to a dispute that led to the shooting but Kershaw cut him off, telling him it wasnt relevant to his bond decision. Earlier in the day, Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs would not speculate whether Johnson could face murder or manslaughter charges. Im not going to comment on whats possible, Loebs said. Were reviewing all the evidence to determine what happened. Johnson was interviewed the night of the shooting and told police he own a firearm that he keeps at the home. I asked Johnson about the conviction and his right to possess a firearm, Twin Falls Police Detective Ken Rivers wrote in a sworn affidavit. Johnson told me had completed his sentence and thought he now had the right to possess firearms. The affidavit did not provide details about the shooting. Johnson posted the $100,000 bond after the hearing and is out of custody after spending the holiday weekend in the Twin Falls County Jail. Hes scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 9. HAGERMAN A Buhl motorcyclist was killed Tuesday night after another vehicle tried to make a U-turn in front of him, according to Idaho State Police. Angel Chavez Tafoya, 27, of Buhl, was driving east in a Chevrolet Trailblazer on U.S. 30 south of Hagerman when he tried to make a U-turn, failing to yield to Dale Adams, 72, also of Buhl, who was also headed east on a motorcycle. Adams' motorcycle struck the front left portion of the Trailblazer, police said. Adams was brought by ambulance to St. Luke's Magic Valley Region Medical Center in Twin Falls, where he died. Shirley Cegelis, 53, of Paisley, Ore., who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was flown to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. Her condition wasn't immediately available Wednesday afternoon. Chavez Tafoya did not have to be brought to the hospital. Chavez Tafoya was wearing his seat belt and Cegalis was wearing a helmet. It is unknown if Adams was wearing a helmet. Police are still investigating what happened and will discuss with prosecutors whether to file charges against Chafez Tafoya. Twin Falls County sheriff's deputies helped ISP with the crash. George Ambrose, 61, Filer, Idaho passed away Sunday, May 28, 2017 at his home with his family by his side. Arrangements are under the direction of Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home, Twin Falls, Idaho. Tyson B. Mitchell, 34, of Meridian, formerly of the Burley area, passed away Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Services are under the direction of Dakan Funeral Chapel, Caldwell. Juanita Louise Hepworth, 80, of Kimberly, passed away on Monday, May 29, 2017 at St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park. July 25, 1921 May 25, 2017 Born to French immigrants Pierre Joseph Peyron and Marie Joseph LeBrun Peyron in Carey, Idaho on July 25, 1921, Mom completed her early education in Paul, Idaho before pursuing a nursing career at the Catholic Nurse College in Pocatello, Idaho. It was there that she met a handsome young man who was working as a hospital orderly while pursuing an engineering degree at ISU. They would share their lives for 40 wonderful years. Although she loved nursing, Mom concentrated on raising her family of 7 children until the nest was nearly empty. She then returned to her love of nursing at Magic Valley Memorial Hospital. She loved the people she worked with and the people she cared for. After nearly three decades at the hospital, she finally decided to throw in the stethoscope when she thought that paper and computers had surpassed care and comfort as nursings primary tools. Mom was devoted to her Catholic faith, cherished her family, friends and her roses, loved her card playing and bowling, and kept healthy with a routine glass or two of Merlot. The love that she and Ed shared created a legacy of love, care, and humor for generations. She approached each phase of her life with grace and everyone around her felt that they were especially loved. She accepted her lot in life as a technological failure by being challenged by anything more complicated than an on/off switch. Mom lived the last 5 years at Brookdale Assisted Living. She considered the staff and residents as her extended family. Her parents, her brother Pierre Peyron, Jr, her infant sister Anna, her husband Ed Woods, and daughter Sue DeRocchis, preceded her in death. She is survived by her children Peggy (Garry) Pedrow of Buhl, Steve (Pam) Woods of Twin Falls, Jim (Cyndie) Woods of Twin Falls, Bob (Cathy) Woods of Federal Way, WA, Kathy (Steve) Large of Boise, Teresa (Jeff) Patrick of Eagle, 16 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. The family would like to express our appreciation for the care and comfort given to Mom by the staff at Brookdale, the staff of Hospice Visions, and the wonderful caregivers of the St Lukes Magic Valley hospital. Funeral Mass for Pat will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 5, 2017 at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, 161 6th Ave. East, Twin Falls with Fr. Mike St. Marie celebrating. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. A viewing for family and friends will take place on Sunday evening from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a Rosary service at 6:30 p.m. at Reynolds Funeral Chapel, 2466 Addison Ave. East, Twin Falls. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in her memory to the Pat Woods Memorial Nursing Scholarship Fund, in care of the CSI Foundation, PO Box 1238, Twin Falls, ID 83301-1238 or online at www.csi.edu/foundation. Services are under the direction of Reynolds Funeral Chapel, Twin Falls. Condolences can be left for the family by visiting www.reynoldschapel.com. Ive had some interesting conversations with Idaho Republicans this week that spurred some thoughts. Im not naming names because these were all off the record. Im also remembering other such conversations during the recent election cycle. I havent always been a Democrat, but after living here for a couple of years and learning something about public policy in Idaho, I decided to throw my hand in with the blue party. I became a blue girl in a red state. That does not mean that I vote what is sometimes called a straight ticket. I took my first political science course at American River Junior College in Sacramento, Calif. Since Sacramento is the states capitol, I was lucky enough to have a young representative from the bay area, Leo Ryan, a Democrat, as my instructor. He had been teaching high school social science before being elected and just wanted to keep his hand in. This was 1968. The far left was militant and often violent. It was hard to hold the center, but Leo tried. He told us that he often got letters from people who said they were members of his party that scared the . out of him. He felt that they were harming political discourse with their actions. He was later elected as a representative to Congress and was killed in the Jonestown massacre. He validated my belief that American democracy works best in the middle. There is a useful tension between those who want to do something (everything?) now and those who want to say, lets think about it. The states Ive lived in seemed to be like that. When I moved to Idaho, I began to realize that we were effectively a one-party state, so I chose the other party. Why would I do that? Because public policy was being set in the conservative party heavily influenced by its far right and increasingly by its militant alt-right wing. I saw two legislators I admired, Leon Smith and Chuck Coiner, forced out of office by the right wing of the party as they purified party thinking toward what seemed to be a libertarian agenda. I saw a legislator who openly refused to pay income tax allowed to maintain his position. I saw a governor who called a special legislative session to take school funding off property tax revenue and onto sales tax revenue where it took a huge hit during the recession. He, however, enjoyed a smaller tax bill for the substantial property he owns in the state. When only one political party is elected to most state and local offices, the party spends more time working out the influence of its members than it does in responding to the constantly evolving needs of the people of Idaho. An office holder can give lip service to constituents while only worrying if party leaders will support challengers in the primary elections. Most Idaho Democrats pay scant attention to the national partys maneuverings. We spend our time listening to our neighbors. We engage our community and look for solutions to pressing problems. We gather facts to make our case. We oppose legislation that does not seem to serve the greater good. Idaho Democrats do not want to take your gun away unless youre a criminal. Most are both pro-life and pro-choice. We want to spend enough on education through the university level to make sure our youth can succeed in the 21st century. We want to manage our lands and water resources well, but we also know that they can be used with regulation for economic development. We are committed to the best possible life for everyone in our state. Responsible Republicans want much the same things, of course. However, a vibrant Democratic party adds new perspectives. Republicans must consider these when they run for office and govern. For the time being, Democrats cant have an incestuous outlook in Idaho. We must be open to new voices and wary of dogma. These facts could change, and Ill try to be responsive. Now, though, Im an Idaho Democrat. As we honored and remembered over the Memorial Day weekend so many who have died for justice and freedom, I found myself inordinately haunted by the Portland, Oregon, stabbing of three men who came to the defense of two young women being bullied and harassed, allegedly by a white supremacist hurling anti-Muslim slurs. Two of the men died in the attack. The third was hospitalized in serious condition. I nominate these three men heroes all for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This medal, the highest civilian award given in the United States, recognizes those who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. I nominate these three heroes because President Donald Trump has a moral obligation to recognize them as martyrs in the battle for human rights. Good Samaritans who spontaneously rose up against hateful bigotry and harassment, these men placed themselves in harms way in defense of strangers. Two paid the ultimate price: Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche was a recent Reed College graduate in economics who had his whole life before him; Ricky John Best served this country in the U.S. Army for 23 years and was a devoted husband and father. Micah Fletcher, still recovering from his wounds, is a poet who won a 2013 competition with a poem against anti-Muslim prejudice. I nominate these three heroes because Trump has a moral obligation to counteract the dangerous way in which he has fanned the flames of racism and xenophobia. In fall 2015, white nationalist Matthew Heimbach wrote: Donald Trump is blowing the dog whistle for White racial interests harder than any other candidate. In 2016, the incidence of hate crimes rose 23.3 percent, according to Brian Levin of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino. Now, as the Trump administration overtly targets Muslims and other immigrants for vilification, the dog whistle has become a siren. On Monday, Trump did state in his presidential Twitter account (@POTUS) that the attack was unacceptable. But Twitter commentary does not substitute for leadership, not on an issue of this magnitude, and it is worth noting that Trump didnt bother to mention the incident to the 30,000,000 followers of his personal Twitter feed (@realDonaldTrump), a nuance that telegraphs the priorities of this administration. If the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, so is the price of equality. When leaders normalize racism and bigotry, society can be quick to follow suit. This hideous hate crime will leave a terrible psychic scar on the families of the victims and on the nation, but it has also created a teachable moment. No award can heal the damage done by such a monstrosity, but by conveying the highest civilian honor on these beautiful individuals, the Trump administration can honor three shining examples of American values at their best. The following editorial appeared in Tuesdays Yomiuri Shimbun: North Koreas latest missile launch is a reckless challenge against international efforts to contain the isolated nation. Military and diplomatic pressure on the North must be steadily intensified. North Korea test-fired a short-range ballistic missile, believed to be a Scud, in the direction of the Sea of Japan. After flying about 400 kilometers, the missile fell into Japans exclusive economic zone in waters about 300 kilometers from the Oki Islands in Shimane Prefecture. The North has launched missiles in each of three consecutive weeks. North Korea first launched a missile that landed in our nations EEZ in August last yearthe latest missile launch marks the fourth such occasion. The Norths latest action not only violated U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted against the country, but it could have caused damage to fishing boats and civilian aircraft. North Koreas repeated provocations cannot be tolerated. There are concerns that people may begin to feel North Korean missile launches are an everyday occurrence. Thorough measures will be taken to secure the safety of the people, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emphasized. The central government should facilitate even closer consultations with local governments in preparation for unforeseen circumstances, thereby swiftly improving and expanding arrangements aimed at dealing with such a situation, including evacuation drills. The recent summit meeting of Group of Seven major nations in Taormina, Italy, issued an unprecedentedly strong message urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The latest missile launch was likely a bellicose response to the G-7 statement. A day earlier, North Korean state media trumpeted the countrys success in test-firing a new type of antiaircraft interceptor missile. With the United States clearly in mind, Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers Party of Korea, dared to say his country should completely spoil the enemys wild dream to command the air. China must step up sanctions North Koreas futile confrontational stance will only heighten tensions in the region. In addition to the USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that is deployed in waters around the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. military is believed to be sending the USS Ronald Reagan to the region soon. The USS Nimitz is also likely to be dispatched, meaning three U.S. aircraft carriers could temporarily be deployed in the same area. That will likely serve as a deterrent to North Koreas military threat. One of the problems is Chinas continual support for North Korea, as shown by its rejection of a proposal for the Security Council to impose additional sanctions on the North. Its actions have made the North all the more impudent. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who oversees his nations diplomacy, has arrived in Japan for talks with such figures as Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. He should take positive steps with a view to imposing such effective sanctions on the North as restrictions on its crude oil supply. Amid the Norths successive missile launches, the South Korean administration of President Moon Jae In approved a plan for a private South Korean organization to contact North Korea to extend humanitarian assistance. The planned contact is viewed as an attempt to facilitate an environment for realizing dialogue between the two nations authorities. If the plan is aimed at dialogue for the sake of dialogue, it will do nothing to resolve the problems regarding the Norths nuclear and missile development. Regarding policies toward North Korea, South Korea is urged to maintain cooperative ties with Japan and the United States. GARDNERVILLE, Nev. (AP) A wet winter has produced a bumper crop of cheatgrass that fire officials in northern Nevada expect will dry out and become prime fuel for the smallest of sparks during a hot, dry wildfire season ahead. Battalion Chief Larry Goss of the East Fork Fire District tells The (Gardnerville) Record-Courier that the potential exists this summer for large, low-elevation wind-driven grass fires. It depends on how fast and when we see heat, Goss said. Were anticipating that it will dry out the end of June or July. If theres not a break after this weeks heat spell, it could dry out faster. Officials have called the past winter one of the wettest in northern Nevada in more than a century. State and federal land managers told Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval last week that theyre preparing for high fire danger. Goss called the Pine Nut Mountains especially vulnerable, due to a combination of grassy fuels and stressed pinon trees. East Fork Fire Chief Tod Carlini advised homeowners that they should clear foliage to create defensible space around houses. Carlini said many upper slopes of the Pine Nuts have been reduced to cheatgrass, and there is a lot of unburned area in vulnerable mid-slope areas. The same could be said for the Carson Range of the Sierra, which the Record-Courier said hasnt seen a big fire in Douglas County since 1996. The areas biggest wildfire in 2016 claimed a home and other structures after flames driven by high winds crossed a field of dry grass and jumped the East Fork of the Carson River near the Lahontan Fish Hatchery. After a wet year, a lightning strike in May might not spark a wildfire. But firefighters say last years cheatgrass is dry enough to serve as tinder. Firefighters training at Minden-Tahoe Airport found the grass is ready to burn, said East Fork Fire Capt. Terry Taylor . The best way to avoid a big fire, Goss said, is to not let one start in the first place. It all boils down to starts, he said. We want people to be careful with what theyre doing on a daily basis, such as using chainsaws and doing other things in light fuels. Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Tuesday expressed Saudi Arabias intention to keep good ties with Russia after Moscow fumed over the red carpet welcome reserved to the United States during Trumps visit to Riyadh. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss regional issues as well as Saudi Arabias goodwill for good ties despite a lean towards the United States. Relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are seeing one of their best stages at the moment, the deputy crown prince said after the meeting. The two countries have a lot of points of mutual understanding. As for the points on which we have differences, a clear mechanism exists to overcome them and we are progressing at a quick pace in this respect, he added. The meeting was the second between the two men over the past year. Saudi Arabia is still attached to bonds with Russia on oil and energy resources. Both countries are also discussing Syria where they support opposing sides. Riyadh wants embattled Assad removed while Moscow sees him as a key player in the resolution of the conflict. The main thing is that we manage to build a strong foundation as concerns the oil market and prices of energy resources. This offers opportunities for building a strategic future further, the Deputy Crown Prince said. Russia enjoys good ties with Saudis arch regional enemy Iran, which the US accuses of sowing unrest in the region and of funding terrorism. Nickolay Soukhov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies at Russias Academy of Sciences told Saudi media Arab News that the visit will have a positive impact on bilateral ties. The fact that the Saudi deputy crown prince arrived in Moscow one week after the historic summit in Riyadh demonstrates that the Kingdom is eager to keep balance in its foreign policy and to diversify its ties, Soukhov said. Israel Tuesday released Palestinian lawmaker Muhammad Abu Tair representing Hamas in the West Bank-based Palestinian parliament after he spent 17 months in prison. Abu Tair was arrested on January 27, 2016 from his home in the neighborhood of Kafr Aqab, in the West Bank. He spent 11 months without trial, Middle East Monitor reports. He was also sentenced to 30-month probation by an Israeli military court. He was locked up at Ktziot Prison in the Negev. He joined six other Palestinian lawmakers among whom Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Secretary-General Ahmad Saadat still held in Israeli prisons. Abu Tair was elected in 2006 and represented Hamas for Jerusalem. Aged 68, Abu Tair spent half of his life (32 years) in Israeli prisons serving multiple and separate prison terms. He was first arrested in 1974. He was released five months prior to his January 27 arrest. In October 2010, Israel revoked his Jerusalem ID and expelled him to the occupied West Bank, Middle East Monitor reports. Doha Tuesday came under fire as London-based Amnesty International charged the Gulf country for the deportation of Saudi human rights activist Mohammad al-Otaibi to his homeland. Al-Otaibi is wanted in Saudi Arabia for tweets deemed offensive to the kingdom and for setting up an independent organization, reports say. He was arrested on May 24 at Doha airport as he was about to fly with his wife to Norway where he has been granted political asylum. He was sent home hours after his arrest. Qatari foreign ministry through the state-owned news agency QNA indicated that al-Otaibi was deported based on legal procedures and regional and international agreements relating to the extradition of accused persons and criminals. He left Saudi Arabia for Qatar in February after Saudi authorities lifted a travel ban against him following a conviction for a human rights activity. His arrest took place the day Doha was embroiled in diplomatic row with regional neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over anti-US, and pro-Iran comments attributed to the Qatari Emir. Doha rejected the Saudi and the Emirati accusations arguing that the comments were false and fabricated and pointed out that QNA and its platforms where the comments were published, were hacked. Amnesty International has condemned al-Otaibis deportation pointing out that this is shameful and inhuman. Forcibly returning Mohammad al-Otaibi to Saudi Arabia under the guise of judicial cooperation, where he risks torture and an unfair trial, is a shameful and inhuman act on the part of the Qatari authorities and a blatant violation of international law, Lynn Maalouf, Amnestys Middle East research director, said in a statement. Several international human rights watchdogs, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, EuroMed Rights, and Front Line Defenders have called on Algerian authorities to drop all charges against a leading activist and his 40 co-defendants, charges based on their peaceful activism for the rights of the Amazigh minority. The NGOs have also condemned strongly Algerias discrimination against the Amazigh (Berber) minority and called for dropping all charges against Kamaleddine Fekha and his co-accused, in detention since 2015, stressing that all the detainees are entitled to a trial within a reasonable time. The authorities should immediately release them from pre-trial detention unless there is individual justification in each case of the necessity for their continued detention after nearly two years, said the NGOs in a statement posted on their websites. The defendants face very similar charges, including murder, terrorism, and other serious offenses that could result in the death penalty, for their alleged role in the deadly ethnic clashes that erupted in the Mzab region between 2013 and 2015. The accusation chamber, a pretrial chamber tasked with confirming or rejecting charges based on a report by an investigative judge, issued its 150-page decision to refer the case to trial on February 14, 2017. Algerias High Court rejected the defenses appeal of the decision, and the trial opened on May 25. The court also rejected requests by the defense lawyers to have their clients released on bail pending trial. The judicial authorities did not provide specific facts or circumstances to justify the rejection, as required under international human rights law and standards. In addition to the flawed charges and evidence, the lengthy pretrial detention of the accused, without providing a justification in each case of the necessity for continued detention, violates their rights to liberty and due process, which include the presumption of release pending trial, the statement said. Article 14.3(c) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Algeria along with its Optional Protocol, states that in the determination of any criminal charge, everyone shall be entitled to be tried without undue delay. The victims of the tragic events in the Mzab deserve justice, which a deeply flawed trial cannot serve, said Heba Morayef, North Africa research director at Amnesty International. If Algerian authorities are to try those suspected of instigating and participating in deadly violence in Ghardaia Province, it should be on the basis of solid, individualized evidence, said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Michel Tubiana, president of EuroMed Rights said that no one should be prosecuted for his peaceful advocacy for rights of minorities, including for regional autonomy and independence, in compliance with international obligations of Algeria. Fekhar headed the section of the Algerian League for Human Rights in the city of Ghardaia from 2004 to 2014. In late 2013, he founded the Movement for the Autonomy of the Mzab, a northern Sahara region, and condemned the government for what he called a policy of apartheid and discrimination against the Mozabites, an Amazigh ethnic minority in the region. The main airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, has reopened to traffic on Wednesday after a US-registered passenger plane crash caused disruption of flights. The small plane chartered by US contracting firm Bancroft crashed at a Mogadishu airport after a failure of the planes landing gear on Tuesday. Passengers who were aboard the plane survived, Xinhua news agency reported. Bancroft company supports African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and provides military training to the Somali national forces. Mogadishu airport is seen as one of the safest places in the war-torn nation that continues to battle with Al-Shabaab militants. The country has been mired in conflict since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Al Shabaab, which once ruled much of Somalia, has been fighting for years to impose its strict interpretation of Islam. Somalias Air Transport Minister Abdullahi Salad Omar has recently declared the airport will begin handling night flight services after the Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire officiated the installation of runway lighting system to enable landing and take-off of planes during the night. These will become the first night flights at Mogadishu Airport since 1991. Kenya authorities on Tuesday launched a multi-billion a Chinese-backed railway with a first trip from the city of Mombasa to capital Nairobi. In his official speech at the unveiling ceremony, President Kenyatta said the launching is a historic moment as we begin our journey of transformation. Kenyatta also indicated that his government is banking on the $3.8 billion China-funded project to hasten industrial growth and cross-border trade. According to Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), it will cost $500 to transport a single container through the SGR cargo train, compared to $900 by road between Mombasa and Nairobi. The newly opened railway, the countrys biggest infrastructure project since independence in 1963, is the first phase of a project to connect Kenyas landlocked neighbors Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan to Mombasa. The railway replaces part of the 1,062-kilometer line known as the lunatic express, which was built by the British more than a century ago and linked Lake Victoria with the port city of Mombasa. Outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, the main opposition leader Raila Odinga and six other presidential aspirants have been officially handed the baton to run in Kenyas August 8 elections. The horrific lynching of a Ghanaian Armys Captain by a mob in the Central Region of the West African nation has provoked an outcry across the country. Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama was mistakenly lynched and his body burnt by a mob at dawn on Monday in a town called Denkyira Obuasi located in the countrys Central region. Local authorities indicated that residents in the small town mistook the officer for an armed robber and subsequently stoned and burnt him. The officer who was in line to be promoted to Major was on official duty in the town, leading a military team that was clamping down on illegal mining activities in the area, the Army said in a statement. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has officially condemned the incident and given assurances that the death will not go unpunished. Shortly after the incident, the army dispatched a high-level team led by the Chief of staff to investigate the circumstances surrounding the captains death. According to the spokesperson of the Armed Forces Colonel Aggrey Quarshie, over 50 people have been arrested in connection with the murder. 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-Czech Republic Business Forum promotes business friendly Georgia Georgia is seeking to attract more investments from the Czech Republic and has informed foreign investors about opportunities offered by the countrys business-friendly environment at a business forum.Georgia- Czech Republic Business Forum was held in Prague today, where Deputy Minister of Economy Genadi Arveladze talked about Georgias economic development.Arveladze introduced foreign investors to Georgias planned and ongoing reforms and the existing investment environment.In his words it is important to make trade-economic relations more active and support joint business activities between the countries.Hundreds of companies of both countries attended the Business Forum where they had the opportunity to arrange business-to-business (B2B) meetings and establish business communication.Meanwhile, Arveladze also met representatives from investment and trade agencies CzechInvest and CzechTrade.At the meeting it was decided to establish tight cooperation between the agencies and Georgias state program, Produce in Georgia. American professionals familiarized with Georgian wine market A group of American wine professionals comprising wine importers, sommeliers and wine writers visited Georgia for a week. The leader of the group is Julie Peterson, the head of a National Wine Agency contractor company, Marq Energie..Within the tour, the guests visited Georgian wine producing companies in Kartli, Imereti, Guria, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kakheti, where they became acquainted with Georgian wine-making techniques and enjoyed wine made with European and traditional methods.As the head of Marq Energie stated, interest in Georgian wine is growing in the US."This was the first visit for many wine writers and sommeliers in Georgia. We were in western Georgia, in Racha, Imereti, and Lechkhumi, because we also wanted to see what was going on in western Georgia; who are the producers there, what different grape varieties do they use, how is the style different from that of the east. We have been in western Georgia for the past three days, and today we are in Kartli and for the next three days we are going to Kakheti. We will then travel throughout eastern Georgia to compare the eastern style and the diversity of varieties with western Georgian wines, said Julie Peterson.Patrick Comiskey, a well-known journalist and the main correspondent of the Wine and Spirit magazine, who also writes in the Los Angeles Times, is a member of the group.This is my first trip to Georgia. I've been familiar with Georgian wines for some years now, but it is a completely different experience to be here , it is so much more real to me and the place becomes so much more alive. The best thing about the people, the wine and the culture is the sense of authenticity here, in the wines especially, which is really important to convey to my readers. It is one of the most beautiful countries of wine that I've ever seen and it is one of the most humbling authentic, the wines feel like they come from a particular not just a place, but a place from the heart, stated Patrick Comiskey.Winemaker Iago Bitarishvili states that such activities promote the increase of Georgian wine publicity and thus increases exports on the international market.The diversification of markets is very important for Georgian wines. When it comes to the US market, it is doubly important, as it is one of the biggest markets in the world where wine is valued, According to US export results, we are moving forward year after year, but the potential of our wine in this country is much higher and the events that are being held in the US, including exhibitions or other tastings, is very important for increasing the awareness of Georgian wine on the American market, said Iago Bitarishvili.The tour was organized by the National Wine Agency. The guests were able to taste the following wine producers: "Amiran Vepkhvadze Cellar", "Archil Guniava Cellar", "Ramaz Nikoladze Wines", "Pataridze Family Cellar", "Royal Khvanchkara", "Usakhelauri Vineyards", "Zurab Topuridze Family Cellar" "Mamuka Chkheidze's Cellar", "Iago Wines", "Sagvinari", "Vita Winnia", "Shalauri Wine Cellar", "Pheasant's Tears" , "Chotiashvili Wine Cellar", "Papari Valley", "Mukado Wines", "Lukasi", "Tamar Milorava Wines", Winery Nika Winery Nika, Okro Wines, Giuaani, and the Qvevri-based producer, Zaza Kbilashvili.The US has the potential to become one of the most important export markets of Georgian wine. The implementation of active marketing activities in the United States promotes Georgian wine awareness and competitiveness on the US market and the expansion of Georgian wines' export area in general. According to the data of four months of the current year, Georgia exported 101,370 bottles (0,75 l) of wine to the US, which is 21% higher than similar data of the last year. The News in Brief State auditor shown brandishing pistol at bar in new online video A new video of a public auditor pointing a pistol in a bar last December further undermined his claim that a recent fight with an ex-prosecutor was related to corruption . The video surfaced on the Internet on Wednesday, and shows state auditor Lasha Tordia pointing a pistol at the staff of a night club, allegedly to make them turn up the music. The video appears to be filmed by surveillance cameras at the P.A.M. Club on Paliashvili Street and bears the time stamp 02:43 (am), and the date appears to be December 24, 2016. Tordia, who heads the State Audit Office, previously claimed that he was attacked at a bar nearly two weeks ago because a former chief prosecutor was upset about a corruption investigation his office has been conducting. But the new video, surfacing first on Facebook, seemed to undermine his image. Though he did not deny the videos authenticity, he said that had been waiting for something like this. He accused the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Prosecutors Office (POG) of circulating the footage on orders from Otar Partskhaladze, the ex-Chief Prosecutor which was involved in a bar fight with Tordia May 13. The verbal and physical confrontation between Tordia and Partskhaladze took place at the bar El Centro, near Freedom Square. Both blame each other of having provoked the conflict. After the fight, Tordia was taken to hospital, where he stayed for a couple of days diagnosed with a head concussion. After some hesitation, he divulged that he thinks the fight was connected to a probe his office has been conducting which established that Partskhaladze had amassed millions of lari through suspicious deals with Tbilisi City Hall; a case which he thinks ought to be referred to the Prosecutor Generals Office for further investigation. Recently, the MIA published a video showing the brawl, which was assumed as an attempt to whitewash Otar Partskhaladze, who seemingly enjoys an informal sway over the MIA and POG. The MIA also commented on the video from the P.A.M. Club in a statement. Due to significant public interest, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would like to clarify that on December 24 2016, an investigation was launched by the Vake-Saburtalo police division of Tbilisi Police Department into the an incident of threats, a crime envisaged by article 151 of the Criminal Code. The investigation is based on the report of citizen D.G., who is an employee of the P.A.M. Club situated on Paliashvili Street. According to the report, D.G. was threatened in the bar by an unknown person with a firearm. Soon after, an investigation was launched, employees of the bar D.G. (questioned on December 24, 2016) and witnesses L.A and J.D. (interrogated on December 26, 2016) stated that they were attacked by an unknown person and threatened and had a firearm pointed at them. They also stated that the unknown person demanded that they turn the music up in the bar. Within the frames of the investigation, on December 26, 2016, the manager of the bar T.B. submitted video footage recorded by surveillance cameras depicting the events that took place two days earlier. After studying the material, the footage was added to the evidence attached to the criminal case. At this stage all necessary investigative activities are being carried out including facial analysis and audio forensic examination in order to define the authenticity of the video footage. Further results of the investigation will be made public. The investigation regarding the mentioned case is in progress under article 15 [of the Criminal Code], envisaging a term of imprisonment of up to one year, the statement says. (dfwatch.net) Controversy over Moscows New Sokhumi-based Law Enforcement Center Continues The agreement on the joint Russian-Abkhaz Information-Coordination Center, to be established for coordinating the activities of Russian and Abkhaz police agencies in fighting organized crime and other dangerous types of crimes, stirred controversy in Abkhazia; local politicians and organizations expressed their opposition to the Center, both before and after the May 18 agreement. In response to public criticism, the parliament in Sokhumi adopted a statement in support of the Center on May 22. The document said that the agreement on the Center is in line with both the Abkhaz constitution and the treaty on the alliance and strategic partnership signed between Russias President Vladimir Putin and the Abkhaz leader Raul Khajimba on November 24, 2014. The statement also stressed that the Center staff is limited to 20 persons, that the Centers leadership is going to be rotated between Russia- and Sokhumi-appointed officers, and that the Center will not be authorized to conduct operative-investigative activities. The statement also said that the claims on the possibility of amending the agreement without the Sokhumi parliaments approval are false either unintentionally or on purpose, adding that any such amendments would need parliaments ratification. The Sokhumi parliament rejected the calls that the Center should answer to the parliament itself, saying that, according to the agreement, it will answer to Russian and Abkhaz interior ministries. It also dismissed the criticisms on the immunity envisioned by the agreement for the Centers Russian staff and their families, as well as its property, saying that these issues were solved in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. The Sokhumi parliament added in its statement that as a result of several other agreements with Russia during the previous years, immunities and privileges are enjoyed by several thousand foreign citizens. Meanwhile, former Sokhumi interior minister and parliament member Raul Lolua, who joined fifteen parliament members (Abkhaz parliament has 35 members) in requesting to postpone signing of the agreement, held a press briefing, saying that a staff of 20 would not be enough to conduct the activities envisioned for the Center, adding that either this meant that something about the Center was not fully disclosed, or that the agreements authors were incompetent. Lolua also said that the type of immunity envisioned for the Center and its Russian staff was enjoyed neither by the [Abkhaz] president nor by a member of [the Abkhaz] parliament. (civil.ge) @amysherman1 Desmond Meade, a convicted drug offender who later turned his life around and graduated from law school, is leading the effort in Florida to automatically restore voting rights to many felons. Meades effort to put a question on the Florida ballot got a major plug from comedian Samantha Bee, who used her TBS show Full Frontal on May 10 to highlight the topic of how felons struggle to regain civil rights in Florida. "Ever since losing the popular vote, President [Donald] Trump has had his Underoos in a wad about 3 million people who voted illegally," Bee said, setting up her interview with Meade. "They don't exist. What does exist is 6 million people whose right to vote has been taken away. To learn about them, I went to Florida, where retirees and democracy go to die." Meade, from Orlando, told Bee that in Florida, 1.68 million felons have lost the right to vote. And some of those felonies are less serious than others. "It doesnt matter if it's a first degree or third degree. You could lose your rights for life over something as simple as driving with a suspended license," he said. "Come on Florida," Bee replied, "do you really want to be the Florida of everything?" Meade has a point that not all the felonies that cost a person their right to vote are as egregious as murder or sexual assault. Keep reading from PolitiFact Florida. @ByKristenMClark Amid a crowded field of contenders for governor in 2018, Democrat Andrew Gillum is casting himself as the slightly out of place candidate who would bring years of government experience but also fresh ideas and something different than Florida has seen under two decades of Republican rule. It is our political leadership or the lack thereof that has failed us, Gillum said Wednesday, speaking for nearly an hour in front of a couple hundred people at the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee. Weve had enough with slogans and showgames, enough with struggling to get ahead, enough with shrinking from our states challenges. ... Floridians need a champion again. Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, aimed to set himself apart from other Republicans and Democrats seeking to lead the nations third largest state, while also acknowledging his long odds against competitors who have more prominent names Floridians likely already know. I recognize this is more than a notion to be on this journey, Gillum said, when one Tiger Bay Club member bluntly asked Gillum if hed settle for being just lieutenant governor. I dont have a famous last name and I cannot stroke my own check to become the next governor of the state of Florida, he said in an apparent reference to his Democratic primary opponents: former Tallahassee U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham the daughter of Bob Graham, who is a former U.S. senator and Florida governor and Orlando businessman Chris King, who this spring put $1 million of his own money into his campaign. Gillum added: Im going to have to do this the old-fashioned way that means going around, that means talking to people, that means asking people for their support, for their investment, for their belief that we can actually do it different. If I become the Democratic nominee for governor, which Im going to fight hard to accomplish, I believe I can go on and win this race. ... So, Im running for governor, he said, drawing applause from the room. Gillum whos viewed as a rising star in the Democratic Party and who spoke at the Democratic National Convention last summer is trying to build up his name recognition across Florida as the 2018 race heats up. More here. Photo credit: Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2018, talks to members of the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee before delivering a luncheon speech on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 via @adamsmithtimes Promising to protect Floridas public retirement system and to focus on creating an innovation economy, former Broward County Democratic Sen. Jeremy Ring has jumped in the 2018 race for state chief financial officer. As a former lawmaker, businessman, investor and one of the founding members of Yahoo, Ring, 46, said he is uniquely qualified for the job about to be vacated by Republican Jeff Atwater, who is resigning this summer. Atwaters term ends in 2018, creating a rare open seat in that election for a statewide office thats viewed as a stepping stone to the governors mansion. I understand the business aspect Im sure as well as anybody that can run for that seat, said Ring, who filed papers to begin raising money and is the first major Democrat in that race. No other prominent Democratic names are circulating for the CFO position. Republicans could wind up without a competitive primary, too. Because Atwater is stepping 18 months before his second and final term ends, Gov. Rick Scott will appoint a replacement who can be a de-facto incumbent running for election in 2018. Among the leading Republican contenders are developer and former legislator Pat Neal, Sarasota GOP chairman and state Rep. Joe Gruters, and state Sen. Tom Lee of Thonotosassa. The CFO is part of the Florida Cabinet along with the attorney general and agriculture commissioner. It was created nearly two decades ago after the Constitution Revision Commission asked voters to merge the Department of Insurance, Treasury, State Fire Marshal and the Department of Banking and Finance into the Department of Financial Services. Ring, of Parkland, said a top priority as CFO would be doing all he can to promote a stronger economy in Florida by pushing for more venture capital, more business ties with Central and South America, and more engineers in the state. Politicians constantly talk about creating jobs, Ring said, but that rings hollow. Theyre talking about jobs; Im talking about: How do we make an economy? Theyre not focused on how they create the next Yahoo.com, the next Amazon.com. As a down-ballot candidate, Rings success depends in large part on what happens with the 2018 race for governor, as well as with President Donald Trump, Ring acknowledged. He said he will focus on what he can control. Ring known as a moderate Democrat while in the Florida Senate opened Yahoos East Coast office out of his apartment in New York. He reported his net worth as $12.6 million, as of December 2015. He is capable of spending millions of his own money but said thats not the plan. Im going to hold my powder, and if I need to put money in at the end, Ill do that, Ring said. Herald/Times staff writer Kristen M. Clark contributed. Florida prosecutors are lobbying Gov. Rick Scott to whip out his veto pen and wipe out the Legislature's $542.3 million raid on a wide range of trust funds, including a $10 million "sweep" of the state attorneys' revenue trust fund (page 436 of the budget). There's nothing new about lawmakers raiding these piggy banks, or "unobligated cash balance accounts," as the budget describes them, to pay day-to-day state operations without raising taxes or fees. (The raid on the local affordable housing trust fund alone is $95 million). But every trust fund has a powerful constituency, and in this case it's the elected law-and-order leaders across the state, people Scott might want to have on his side when he runs for the U.S. Senate next year. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle sent an email to Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera that said: "Please try to remember to ask the governor to veto state attorney sweeps." In Fort Lauderdale, Monica Hofheinz, executive director to Broward State Attorney Mike Satz, told the Times/Herald in an email: "These are funds that previous legislatures directed state attorneys to use to operate their offices and pay their staff when Floridas economic crisis resulted in massive general revenue reductions. None of these reductions were restored." She noted that lawmakers already have cut state attorneys' budgets for next year by $5.2 million. The fund was created during the Great Recession of 2008-09 to give prosecutors a cushion against shortfalls. The main revenue sources are prosecution costs, worthless check fines and penalties from traffic citations. State attorneys say revenue streams from all three are on the decline, especially from worthless checks, as consumers increasingly use debit and credit cards, not checks. Traffic fines also are down, and it's never easy to collect penalties from hard-pressed offenders. As prosecutors see it, the Legislature's trust fund raid makes a bad situation worse. @MichaelAuslen The clock starts today for Gov. Rick Scott who has 15 days to decide whether to sign an $82.4 billion state budget -- and just how much of it he wants to veto. Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, on Wednesday is sending the budget bill (SB 2500) to Scott, who faces a June 15 deadline to act on it. And speculation is running wild in Tallahassee that the governor could send much of the budget right back to the Legislature. After Scott's favored projects, economic incentive agency Enterprise Florida and tourism marketer Visit Florida, were gutted in the budget, the governor has been critical of the spending plan passed by his fellow Republicans in the Legislature. "I have the opportunity to either veto the entire budget or veto parts of the budget or veto a line item," he said last week. It's a basic fact. But it's also a reminder to legislative leaders that in his frustration, Scott could veto an entire section of the budget -- for example, the $23.7 billion K-12 education budget -- as well as sweeping policy bills that were pushed through the secretive budget process. Those bills, including a controversial schools bill (HB 7069) that has drawn outrage from parents and school boards, have not yet been sent to Scott, though they are expected to be later this week. At the very least, Scott will use his veto pen to scratch out projects he doesn't agree with. In six years as governor, Scott has vetoed $1.9 billion in spending. If Scott were to veto a section of the budget, it would require lawmakers to come back in a special session this month to resolvew the disagreement. Or, if they had enough buy-in from Democrats, they could override Scott's veto. That would take a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate. Times/Herald staff writer Kristen M. Clark contributed to this report. Photo: Gov. Rick Scott (Chris Urso | Tampa Bay Times) State game wardens had to deal with a rare mountain lion attack and a grizzly bear relocation in northwest Montana last week. A firewood cutter reported getting attacked by a mountain lion near Libby on Saturday. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 1 spokesman John Fraley said the man was placing a choker on a log when he was struck from the side and knocked into a tree. He said he swung at the animal with his arm, striking it, and it ran off, Fraley said of the man. He got up and ran to his truck and saw a mountain lion walking back towards the vehicle. He scared the lion off with his truck. The man was cutting wood near Boundary Mountain north of Libby when the incident happened. FWP game wardens and U.S. Forest Service law officers reported he received scratches on the side of his face and stomach but did not seek medical attention. Lion-tracking dogs picked up a scent of the mountain lion, but failed to catch it after several hours pursuit. A trail camera also failed to capture images of the lion. Mountain lion attacks are really rare, Fraley said. The last record in our region that I can find is from 2007 when a mountain lion attacked a hunter in the Swan Valley. *** In a separate incident, FWP game wardens relocated a three-year-old male grizzly bear captured in the Deep Creek drainage near Fortine on May 23. They reported the bear was very habituated to human activity, having been spotted feeding in yards and pastures near barns and houses. While there was no evidence of the bear getting into garbage or other unnatural attractants, neighbors were concerned about how much time the bear was spending near their homes. Fraley said the grizzly had been captured once before in August 2016 on Whitefishs Dakota Avenue where it was feeding on fruit trees. It was fitted with a GPS radio collar and released near Frozen Lake on the U.S.-Canadian border. It moved briefly into Albertas Waterton Lakes National Park before traveling south into Glacier National Parks Bowman Creek area. After emerging from a den near Glaciers Boulder Pass, the grizzly needed just 12 hours to travel from the North Fork of the Flathead River, over the Whitefish Range and into the Deep Creek area about 30 air-miles to the west. When talking with landowners, one of the reasons he might have been in some of the pastures was because he was feeding on ground squirrels that landowners had been shooting, Fraley said. Based on his level of habituation, sightings, and concerns by the residents, he was captured and translocated. The grizzly was placed in a remote part of the Spotted Bear Creek drainage on May 24. FWP wardens have also responded to bear problems in the Eureka, Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Ferndale areas this spring. Fraley asked residents to remember to secure attractants such as garbage, pet food, livestock feed and bird seed, and protect fruit trees, livestock and poultry with electric fencing. Tasia Wells/WireImage via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Comedian Kathy Griffin has apologized for a photo of herself holding what appears to be a bloody, decapitated fake head of President Trump, despite sweeping bi-partisan disapproval of the image. The photo, taken by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, was posted by Griffin and Shields Tuesday to their social media accounts. "I caption this 'there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his ... wherever,'" Griffin tweeted, referring to an exchange between Donald Trump and former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during the primary season. But in an attempt to appease those who were offended by the image, the controversial comedienne then tweeted, "OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I'm merely mocking the Mocker in Chief." That did little to appease her critics, prompting Griffin to tweet a video of herself apologizing. "Hey everybody, it's me, Kathy Griffin," she says in the video. "I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction to these images. I'm a comic. I crossed the line. I move the line. Then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it. I've made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. I ask your forgiveness. Taking down the image. I am going to ask the photographer to take down the image. And I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong." I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong. pic.twitter.com/LBKvqf9xFB Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 30, 2017 But the image caught the attention of the U.S. Secret Service. Initially, the federal law enforcement agency did not directly cite the image in any of its tweets, but in response to Twitter users tweeting the image at its account, the Secret Service tweeted Tuesday afternoon, "On it! @SecretService has a robust protective intelligence division that monitors open source reporting & social media to evaluate threats." And an hour later, the agency tweeted, "Threats made against @SecretService protectees receive the highest priority of all of our investigations. #ProtectionNeverRests." But later in the evening, the Secret Service said in a statement, addressing the controversy, "The U.S. Secret Service has a critical mission. It is always unfortunate when people make statements that could be perceived as threats. We don't have the luxury of knowing a person's intent. Each alleged or perceived threat has to be investigated thoroughly which taxes Secret Service manpower and resources that could be utilized elsewhere." On it! @SecretService has a robust protective intelligence division that monitors open source reporting & social media to evaluate threats U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) May 30, 2017 Threats made against @SecretService protectees receive the highest priority of all of our investigations. #ProtectionNeverRests U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) May 30, 2017 And an hour later, the agency tweeted, "Threats made against @SecretService protectees receive the highest priority of all of our investigations. #ProtectionNeverRests." The image did not sit well with the president's son, Donald Trump, Jr., who tweeted, "Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?" Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS? https://t.co/QdghcbIjS7 Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 30, 2017 Condemnation of the image was widespread. Former Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, tweeted, "Our politics have become too base, too low, & too vulgar, but Kathy Griffin's post descends into an even more repugnant & vile territory." Our politics have become too base, too low, & too vulgar, but Kathy Griffin's post descends into an even more repugnant & vile territory. Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) May 30, 2017 Paul Babeu, a Republican and former sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, tweeted, "Inciting violence/murder of @POTUS is a crime. Imagine liberal outrage if conservative held up bloodied decapitated head of Obama?" Inciting violence/murder of @POTUS is a crime. Imagine liberal outrage if conservative held up bloodied decapitated head of Obama? https://t.co/fWbKj97NIT Sheriff Paul Babeu (@PaulBabeuAZ) May 30, 2017 Former Republican congressman Trey Radel drew a comparison between the image and ISIS beheadings. "Journalists & soldiers, this is also disgusting display 4 moms, dads, families who have lost loved ones to #ISIS in the most horrific way," tweeted Radel, author of "Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food." But some Democrats were also disgusted by the image. "This is vile and wrong," tweeted Chelsea Clinton. "It is never funny to joke about killing a president." This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president. https://t.co/zIiuKoMyFw Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) May 30, 2017 Actress Debra Messing tweeted, "It wasn't right when peoplel hung lynched Obama effigies, just as what Kathy Griffin did isn't right now." It wasn't right when peoplel hung lynched Obama effigies, just as what Kathy Griffin did isn't right now. Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) May 30, 2017 Actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, ".@kathygriffin I'm sorry but that is totally inappropriate and so very offensive. And I have to believe you're smart enough to know better." .@kathygriffin I'm sorry but that is totally inappropriate and so very offensive. And I have to believe you're smart enough to know better. Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 30, 2017 Even Anderson Cooper, who is friends with Griffin and hosts CNN's New Year's Eve special with her, tweeted, "For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate." And a CNN spokesperson added, "We found what she did disgusting and offensive. We are pleased to see she has apologized and asked that the photos be taken down. We are evaluating New Years Eve and have made no decisions at this point." For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate. Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 31, 2017 ABC News has reached out to Shields for comment. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. After an emotional announcement more than a month ago, the citys settlement to take over Mountain Water by the end of May has moved no closer to approval. During the late April meeting, Mayor John Engen said a decision would be made by Missoula City Council by May 20 and that both parties will make all reasonable efforts toward a transfer of ownership by the end of May. Meetings to discuss the settlement have been canceled two weeks in a row this month, and another meeting is set for Thursday. There have been two scheduled times where we thought there would be an agreement, City Communications Director Ginny Merriam said. Both of those times there are just still things to work on. The summary attached to the June 1 meeting agenda has been updated to say the agreement will be finalized in June. Days before Engens settlement announcement on April 28, the citys lawyers, Missoula-based Boone Karlberg, filed a brief in Missoula County District Court accusing Liberty Utilities of using "ransom" tactics and intentionally slowing the process. The State Supreme Court upheld District Court Judge Karen Townsends decision requiring Liberty to turn over customer data in January, leaving four months where the two sides traded legal briefs, barbs and accusations. But no progress was made aside from Townsends decisions on legal fees in April. The city has made every effort to effectuate a cooperative transition of ownership and operations, the brief said. Mountain Waters refusal to provide essential customer data and Mountain Waters failure to maintain the Water System in a responsible fashion, forces the City to request further relief from the Court. Liberty followed the brief with one of its own, essentially casting the blame back toward the city, the last in an ongoing back-and-forth blame game taking place through legal briefs. Now that blame game appears to have moved to a private conference room and is a bit more productive. Merriam couldn't speak to what details of the negotiations were drawing out the proceedings, but cited the whole list of major issues in the settlement announcement as potential sticking points. Those included: attorney fees for Carlyle and transition fees for Liberty, access to customer database information needed by the city for billing and customer service purposes, and developers who filed suit against Liberty claiming theyre owed for outstanding contracts upgrading utility infrastructure. According to the City Council's online agenda, the settlement is up for approval Thursday at 3 p.m. in council chambers. The tears appear without warning. There is no way I cant not cry when I talk about it, Brianna Canning said. At the age of 18, Canning has traveled to Cuba, is the Big Sky student body co-president and in August will head to Bowdoin, a private liberal arts college in Maine. Her graduation gives her family a chance to highlight her many accomplishments. But the day also serves to sharpen the pain of her mothers death. It will be another in a series of bittersweet days for a daughter growing up without her mother. Like her daughter, Susan Canning was already an accomplished young woman by the time she left high school. Over the next 29 years, Susan Canning had a successful business career and raised two daughters. When Susan Canning was first diagnosed with cancer, the family hoped she'd be able to beat it back. "You want to remain positive. You don't shut down right away," Brianna Canning said. But the doctors couldn't even say for sure what type of cancer Susan Canning had because it had spread throughout her body by the time she was diagnosed. Right before Christmas in 2009, Susan Canning was told the cancer had moved to her spine. She was placed into hospice care at the family home and died about a week after Brianna Canning turned 11. In the days before her death, Susan Canning wasn't very active. But the night before she died, she made a sound. My dad and I always say she was singing, Brianna Canning said. Canning didnt miss any school during her mothers sickness. This was in part because Canning was always a very serious student, but it was also hard for her to be at home just sitting there and thinking. School helped, she said. Lance Canning, Brianna Canning's dad, starts working at 4 a.m. most mornings. "Briannas been doing it herself for awhile," he said. "I call her at 6 a.m. to make sure shes up, but you know, I had a job and she was amazing. I couldnt say anything more. If I could have picked a daughter this would have been who I chose." Her mother would have been amazed at who Brianna Canning became, Lance Canning said. She'll be a force to be reckoned with wherever she ends up, he said. At Big Sky, Canning was in the Health Science Academy where the students learned about diseases and dissected cow eyeballs. Canning was the note taker during dissection, having realized early her stomach would never be up for a career as a doctor. But she liked taking serious classes with her more studious peers. She also took International Baccalaureate courses and was a student trustee for the Missoula County School Board. IB coordinator and history teacher Cameron Johnson saw a natural leader in Canning. Coming from a single-parent household, Canning's financial limitations might have kept her from achieving, but she set her expectations high and met them, he said. She was an optimistic learner, willing to learn and develop her ideas based off new information. "She would see a glass half full and think, 'Well, what is it going to take to fill it?'" Johnson said. Canning isnt sure what she will study once she gets to college. She sees broken systems throughout the country, an earth that could be forever altered by climate change and a health care system more focused on profits than people. The picture of America Canning paints is a dark one. I dont know that I will be able to do something different, but if I go into it with that mindset, then Ill be blocking it out without even trying anything, Canning said. Greg Gianforte has won the special election for the sole Montana House seat in the U.S. Congress. His 6 percent margin over the Democratic nominee, Rob Quist, earned our congratulations and best wishes. Our state, because of our population of one million sixty five thousand people, is limited to only one member in the House of Representatives. Consider the fact that the city of Los Angeles alone has 18 members in the U.S. House and one begins to grasp the challenge facing Montanas single representative. I was fortunate to serve western Montana in the U.S. House for seven terms beginning in 1980 and become our lone congressman for two terms starting in 1992. In that rather lonely position one quickly understands the importance of the old-fashioned values of rapport, friendliness and patience. Neither a hot temper nor tendencies toward violence are considered attributes in the House. Montana has been embarrassed enough. It is true that most who successfully campaign for political office possess a sense of pride, and that is particularly evident in those who arrive in Congress not only victorious in politics but also come there having become recently wealthy from success in business. Hopefully our new congressman, who will be the wealthiest person in the House, brings to his new legislative task a natural sense of humility. The Washington, D.C., press corps is comprised of very bright and friendly reporters brimming with talent and curiosity. Each has a deep respect for their assigned task of reporting the publics business. This country cannot survive without the press and its well-educated cadre of individuals determined to ferret out the truth. They deserve the respect of as all our citizens and that includes every elected official as well. To my thinking, one of the most valued sentiments for a representative from here is a sense of satisfaction. Since returning home in 1997, I have earnestly hoped each of our newly elected Montana members of the House would not use the election as simply a stepping-stone to a run for the Senate. Our state needs seniority in the House. Good luck and best wishes, Greg Gianforte. You will need it and so will we. A blog by Jay Livingston -- what I've been thinking, reading, seeing, or doing. Although I am a member of the Montclair State University department of sociology, this blog has no official connection to Montclair State University. Montclair State University does not endorse the views or opinions expressed therein. The content provided is that of the author and does not express the view of Montclair State University. Join me in my daily journey of prayer. I write these each morning send them out fresh "Morning by Morning" to start each day embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Subscribe to receive these prayers by email at Messiah-Ministries.org Nicht Ihr Computer? Dann konnen Sie fur die Anmeldung ein Fenster zum privaten Surfen offnen. Weitere Informationen MISSOULA A black-bear hunter reportedly killed a large grizzly bear in the hills 5 miles northeast of Missoula on May 16, but federal wildlife officials have released few details about the incident. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with its partners at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, is actively investigating the self-reported killing of a grizzly bear by a black bear hunter in the Johnson Creek drainage near Bonner, FWS spokesman Ryan Moehring wrote in a press release on Tuesday. This is an active, ongoing investigation and the Service will share more information with the public when the circumstances of the case permit. That wasnt much comfort to Andy Lennox, who lives at the base of Johnson Creek and heard about the incident second-hand. Thats right behind my house, said Lennox, whos lived along the Blackfoot River a mile north of Bonner for 30 years. And this spring bear hunt is crazy anyway. Lots of hunters cant tell difference between bears. This could be female with cubs, in which case they just killed two, three or four bears. This was almost two weeks ago, and the Fish and Wildlife Service never came by to let me know whats going on. Its like its some kind of big secret. Thats weird as hell. In an interview on Tuesday, Moehring said it was U.S. Department of Justice policy not to comment on ongoing investigations so as not to compromise them. Grizzly bears are a listed species (protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act), so theres no surprise theres federal involvement in a grizzly shooting, Moehring said. Whenever theres been an incident like this, the Fish and Wildlife Service has an active role to play. Montanas spring black-bear hunting season started on April 15 and closes in the Missoula area on June 15. Hunters must pass a test certifying they can tell the difference between black and grizzly bears in order to purchase a hunting license. About 1,000 grizzly bears live in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem that extends from the Rattlesnake Wilderness north of Missoula to the northern border of Glacier National Park. While wildlife researchers have occasionally tracked grizzlies traveling around the fringe of the Missoula Valley, the big bears have rarely been sighted south of the Mission Mountains or Bob Marshall wilderness areas. KALISPELL A 3-year-old male grizzly bear that had been feeding in yards and pastures in northwestern Montana was captured and released in the Spotted Bear River drainage, just southeast of the southern tip of Hungry Horse Reservoir. Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say the bear was captured on May 23 near Fortine and was released the next day. Landowners were concerned with the amount of time the bear was spending around homes. The same bear was captured in Whitefish last August where it was feeding on fruit trees. It was relocated near Frozen Lake on the Canadian border. The bear denned in the northern part of Glacier National Park. However, its GPS collar indicated the bear quickly traveled to the Fortine area, southeast of Eureka, this spring. MUSCATINE Muscatine residents can expect minor flooding this week as the level of the Mississippi River continues to rise. Tuesday afternoon the river at Muscatine measured 17.9 feet, nearly 2 feet above the flood stage of 16 feet. The National Weather Service predicts the Mississippi will continue to rise until Thursday morning, when it is expected to crest at 18.5 feet. The river should start falling Friday and drop to flood stage early next week. Water began creeping over the parking lot at Riverside Park Tuesday morning, and some campers at the Fairport Landing Recreation Area were forced to move locations. Muscatine residents Kristin and Dan Lick were camping out at Fairport Landing for Memorial Day weekend. An Iowa Department of Natural Resources official told the couple to move away from the river Friday night. "It was over-flooded already and we already had to move," Kristin Lick said. "Many people have moved away completely." Dan Lick said at the beginning of the weekend, only two spots were empty in the parking lot for campers, and now many RVs are gone because of flooding. But, Kristin Lick said the rain and rising waters have not been too much of an inconvenience so far. "It's not inconvenient, there's wonderful DNR out here," she said. "It was a nice weekend with a lot of people, but no problems." Once the Mississippi River at Muscatine reaches 16 feet, flooding affects most of the parking lot at Riverside Park. Public Works Director Brian Stineman said with the current flood predictions, streets and businesses should not be affected. At 18 feet, the city may close parking on the south side of Mississippi Drive. Stineman said the city would typically close one lane of Mississippi Drive, but that will not be necessary because the road is already closed by construction. Also at that river level, the city makes sandbags available to residents upon request at the Public Works Department building. At Illinois City, the Mississippi is almost 1.5 feet over flood stage, and expected to crest 2 feet above flood stage Thursday morning. Some people will call it surprising that a reporter was reportedly assaulted Wednesday night by a political candidate. Truth is, it is not surprising in the least. For those who hadn't heard: Greg Gianforte, a Montana Republican running for Congress, was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly body-slamming Ben Jacobs, who works for the British newspaper The Guardian, hard enough to break his glasses. This, because Jacobs tried to ask for Gianforte's opinion of the GOP health care bill in the wake of an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office that it would leave 23 million Americans without health care. In a statement, Gianforte's campaign sought to paint the incident as a result of Jacobs' aggressiveness: "Tonight, as Greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, The Guardian's Ben Jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg's face, and began asking badgering questions. Jacobs was asked to leave. After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene ..." Problematically for Gianforte, his version of events is at odds with audio captured by Jacobs' recorder. In it, Gianforte is heard declining to answer Jacobs' question. Jacobs tries again, and Gianforte tells him to "speak with Shane" -- meaning his flack. Immediately, there is a loud crash, and Gianforte is heard ranting: "I'm sick and tired of you guys! The last guy who came in here, you did the same thing. Get the hell out of here!" Gianforte's story is also refuted by eyewitnesses, a crew from -- you can't make this stuff up -- Fox News, who describe the candidate grabbing Jacobs' neck with both hands, slamming him to the floor, and punching him. Many adjectives might apply to all this. The incident is appalling, infuriating, disturbing. But no, it is not surprising. Not after a congressman threatened to throw a reporter from a balcony. Not after the arrest of reporters covering a protest in Baton Rouge and the arrests and intimidation of reporters covering unrest in Ferguson. Not after a West Virginia reporter was jailed for shouting questions. And especially not after Donald Trump declared journalists "enemies of the people." That was not unlike a home invader declaring the family Doberman an "enemy of the house," but his fans bought it, snarling at reporters and dismissing as "fake news" every fact that intruded upon their fantasies. "Rope. Journalist. Tree," read a T-shirt spotted at Trump rallies. "Some assembly required." Perspective is important here. After all, this is not yet Mexico, where journalists are killed with frightening regularity. Still, Gianforte's alleged assault is the latest addition to a growing body of evidence suggesting right-wing intolerance, not simply for inconvenient facts, but also for impertinent questions. Of course the one is a tool of the journalist's trade, the other a part of her job description. So this should trouble you, whatever your partisan loyalties. Power that answers no questions has no conscience. Power unconstrained by facts is unconstrained by anything. And a nation where asking questions or reporting facts leads to assault or arrest cannot be America. Down this path, then, lies potential disaster. Many adjectives will apply to that, too. Once again, surprise will not be one of them. 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 [] Former Citizen TV news anchor Janet Mbugua and her husband Eddie Ndichu over the weekend celebrated their second wedding anniversary in a special out-of-town trip. The lovebirds took a flight out of Nairobi to the scenic Borana Lodge where they spent intimate moments out in the wild. According to Janet, the trip has been two years in the making. For a trip thats been two years in the making, Borana Lodge, part of the Borana Conservancy, did not disappoint. It seems that our having a baby and conflicting schedules between my husband Eddie and I meant it took us this long to work out the perfect time to make a getaway and boy were we right! On our two year wedding anniversary! After Hellen from the reservations office rebooked us for the umpteenth time, bless her, we booked our Air Kenya flights, made sure Baby Huru was safely dropped off at his grandparents and departed for a trip that was special in so many ways, Janet narrated on her blog. She also listed the five reasons why she loved her weekend stay at Borana Conservancy. Read: 5 REASONS WHY I LOVED MY ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND STAY AT BORANA CONSERVANCY Check out the pics: Television anchor Kamene Goro is back to grace our television screens having made her surprise comeback early this week. The TV bombshell is back at her former job at Ebru Tv and has been anchoring the afternoon news at 1 pm. ?? A post shared by Kamene Goro (@kamenegoro) on May 29, 2017 at 4:11am PDT The media personality has also relocated back to Kenya after a failed fresh start in Arusha, Tanzania with her South African fiance. Word on the street has it that Kamene has since dumped the tycoon due to irreconcilable differences. The two had been together publicly for close to two years up until the breakup. In those two years, the couple had a pre-wedding in Arusha on Saturday, March 5, 2016, ahead of the planned grand wedding last September. The beach wedding was set to go down in Genoa, Italy but it never came to pass. Kamene, who is yet to comment on the reports, has also deleted all images of her ex-fiance and any related messages and photos. Yesterday, she also posted a cryptic post about being single. Prosecutors want a Nakuru court to issue an arrest warrant against activist Boniface Mwangi for failing to appear in court to respond to charges against him. Mwangi, alongside Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria and three others, is facing charges of malicious damage to a perimeter wall worth Sh13 million belonging to ENSE Limited. They are alleged to have mobilized a group of youths to damage the wall last year on claims that the company had grabbed it from Naka Primary School. The prosecutor, Hillary Songoyo, told the court on Monday that Mwangi and Gikaria have been derailing the hearing of the case. It has always been either Mr Mwangi is out of the country or Mr Gikaria being sick. The complainants are becoming impatient with the dragging of the case and we request the court to issue a warrant of arrest against Mr Mwangi, said Songoyo. Boniface Mwangis lawyer, Pascal Mbeche, told the court that his client had traveled to Zimbabwe. He asked for the case to be adjourned, saying that the hearing could not proceed because Gikaria was unwell. Mr Mbeche produced documents showing Mr Gikaria was receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital. Chief Magistrate Geoffrey Oduor directed that the case is mentioned on June 29. The other day we were fighting with Tanzanians on Twitter telling them that they cant speak English to save their lives. I dont know what theyll tell us once they see what the Chinese have done with SGR signage. READ: Kenyans and Tanzania on Twitter Go To War Here are the Best Memes It may be a Chinese funded project, but it is completely illogical that even the smallest of tasks were left to the Chinese. Kenyans are better English speakers than Chinese. The same applies to Kiswahili. I therefore dont understand who approved the wording of the SGR signage to be done by Chinese. To be fair, most of the signage looks and feels world class, not the mabati type the likes of Magnate are used to. But the a sign is only as good as whats written on it. In this particular one that has been doing rounds on social media, it is clear the wording was done by a Chinese guy with help of nothing but Google Translate. And though Google is the god of the internet, their translation tool leaves a lot to be desired. The picture is not so clear, but weve got you covered. 1. Please hold handrail. Tafadhali kushikilia handrail 2. Keep away from the edge Weka mbali na makali 3. Take care of children Kutunza watoto 4. No baby carriage allowed Hakuna mtoto carriage kuruhusiwa 5. Please do not rely on the escalator side panels Tafadhali si wakutegemea paneli eskaletor upande [showad block=6] 6. Can not reverse ride Huwezi kubadili safari 7. Do not lean out of various parts of the balustrades Wala konda nje ya sehemu mbalimbali za balustrades 8. No pets allowed Hakuna kipenzi kuruhusiwa 9. Do not throw rubbish Si kutupa takataka 10. Children under 12 years when accompanied by an adult for an escalator ride Watoto chini ya miaka 12 wakati akiongozana na watu wazima kwa escalator safari hii A lesson why you should never rely on Google Translate. Someone should immediately take down that rubbish signage before it causes regional embarrassment. Nairobi Woman Representative Rachel Shebesh on Tuesday went to Stadion Hotel Kasarani in an ambulance to seek IEBC clearance. Shebesh has been nursing a leg injury in Nairobi Hospital. She was admitted last week with a leg injury. Shebesh, clad in a Jubilee t-shirt and a scarf, was accompanied by medics and several Jubilee MPs to Kasarani stadium to have her documents verified. She arrived at the hotel 2 pm and was pushed in a wheelchair to face Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) officials. The Nairobi Woman Rep was last week presented with her Jubilee party nomination certificate while still in her hospital bed. On Tuesday, she was handed her nominations certificate after clearance by IEBC commissioners. The clearance comes a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta, DP William Ruto and Aspiring Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, paid a visit to Shebesh in hospital. Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the vandalism of the Standard Gauge Railways at Kibanda-Hasara in Kwale County, about 30km west of Mombasa. The four include scrap metal dealers who were arrested in Voi Town while in possession of materials including metal rails. Vandalism of the rails happened last Friday night less than a week to the launch of the SGR. The vandals destroyed communication cables, guard rails, and a 30-metre long fence. Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko said the suspects and any others who will be caught will be charged as organized criminals and economic saboteurs. All those identified and apprehended will face the full force of the law and will be charged and prosecuted not as petty thieves but as organized criminals and economic saboteurs, he said in a statement. Tobiko added that police are looking for more suspects. IG Joseph Boinnet on Saturday cautioned against vandalizing any part of SGR infrastructure. He said police had expanded operations on vandals and would target those damaging power pylons and road furniture. President Uhuru Kenyatta will commission the first phase of the SGR today. He launched the cargo train on Tuesday and will be taking a maiden trip on the passenger train today. LOS ANGELES Endangered Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is planning to meet with hundreds of voters in his Southern California district this weekend, but he's going to friendly turf to do it. Issa has scheduled a town hall Saturday in Republican-tilting San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, and the system his office used to distribute tickets has led to criticism that he's trying to salt the crowd with supporters, a claim his office disputes. "We make an effort throughout the year to make sure all constituents have a chance to weigh in," Issa spokesman Calvin Moore said. "This is not the first town hall. It's not going to be the last." Issa, the wealthiest member of Congress with a fortune estimated at more than $250 million, was narrowly re-elected last year in his San Diego-area district. Two Democrats have said they will try to oust him, environmental lawyer Mike Levin and Marine-turned-lawyer Doug Applegate, his opponent in 2016. Issa is among a handful of California House Republicans who are defending districts that Hillary Clinton carried in last year's presidential campaign, and they are expected to face tough re-election campaigns with President Donald Trump widely unpopular in the strongly Democratic state. Issa's challenge was showcased on Twitter Tuesday, where he posted photos of himself and a crowd of what appeared to be mostly protesters outside his office, who carried signs that said "Impeach" and "Issa killed your health insurance." Levin, who was at the protest, tweeted a photograph of the congressman standing alone on the roof of the building and taking a photograph of the crowd below. In the post, Levin quipped that his rival was "too afraid to come speak with assembled constituents below." Issa wrote on Twitter that he "spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic!" Issa told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he attempted to speak with the protesters, but they would not have a conversation with him. Ellen Montanari, who organizes weekly protests at Issa's office, told the newspaper that she tried to shake Issa's hand and was rebuffed. In March the congressman, who campaigned for Trump, faced angry protesters and questions about health care, climate change and immigration at a town hall in Oceanside. Questions about Issa's vote for a GOP health care bill in Congress are expected to dominate Saturday's event. Rep. Steve Knight, another endangered Republican, is holding a town hall Thursday in Santa Clarita, a Los Angeles suburb. In a twist on the recent trend, Trump supporters on Tuesday night disrupted Democratic U.S. Rep. Lou Correa's town hall meeting in Orange County. A fight broke out between two women and a few minutes later a man struck another person in the head with the pole of his anti-fascist flag, The Orange County Register reported (http://bit.ly/2rDmTzx ). Police told the newspaper that the man was arrested on assault charges. Two women were detained. Democrats in California hold every statewide office and control both chambers of the Legislature. National Democrats are looking to flip control of a series of congressional seats in California next year, as part of a strategy to retake control of the House. Clinton trounced Trump in California by over 4 million votes. HESPERIA Authorities say one person has been killed and another wounded in a shooting after being confronted by law enforcement officers in the parking lot of a Southern California Walmart store. The shooting happened Wednesday morning in the desert city of Hesperia. San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman says officers were in the parking lot conducting an auto theft probe when they saw three people trying to steal a car. Bachman says the officers approached, trying to stop the car and police shot two of the suspects. Authorities say the driver was killed and a passenger remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon. A third person, who was seated in the backseat, wasn't injured and was being questioned by investigators. A Walmart spokesman declined to comment on the shooting. YOUNTVILLE Inside a bedroom scarcely larger than a walk-in closet, souvenirs of a nearly century-long life are within view. Taped to the wall is a snapshot of a Japanese friend from the late 1960s; on a shelf atop the desk is a slightly faded print of three sons sitting by the family pool, and adorning the door is the picture of a Vought F4U Corsair fighter plane that flew during World War II. And in the corner of Barbra Bregoffs room at the Veterans Home of California, to the right of the window, is a framed display housing her newest and at the same time her oldest keepsakes. Inside a glass-covered wooden frame are a World War II Victory Medal, an American Campaign Medal, an Honorable Service Lapel Pin and an Honorable Discharge Button. These were the honors earned by the woman then known as Barbra Budworth during more than 2 years in the U.S. Marine Corps Womens Reserve, as a staff sergeant assisting wartime pilots in training. The medals had never been sent to her in the decades since her discharge in 1945. We were told not to expect to get our medals immediately, because so many people were leaving at the same time and in all different directions that the medals couldnt be made fast enough, the 98-year-old Bregoff said Thursday at Kennedy Hall, her home of the last eight years. But in early March, a package from the Marines brought her past back into the present. Inside were the four medals she had earned seven decades earlier acknowledgement at last of her service to her nation. The decorations brought a sense of completion to a journey that had begun in 1943, more than a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drove America into the Second World War. The daughter of a Sebastopol apple farmer, Bregoff had turned a pay-the-tuition office job at Santa Rosa Junior College into work at a branch of the 3M company in San Francisco when war arrived. As countless male Americans were drafted into military service, she finally chose a similar path. Id go downtown and notice there werent any men around anymore, except for men who were 4F (declared physically unfit for military duty), she recalled with a wink. So I said to myself, Why not follow them? It was a good move. Her enlistment in 1943 led her first to training in New York, and then to stints at the Marine Corps air stations in Cherry Point, North Carolina and later Santa Barbara. At both bases, she worked at the operations desk, keeping track of the takeoff and landing of training runs and approving training and practice flight plans for airmen temporarily home from the front including men of the Marines Black Sheep fighter-plane squadron that scored numerous kills in the air battles against imperial Japan. Bregoffs life after the war settled into the anonymity of marriage, divorce, and the raising of three sons, followed by a 1960s stint as a Peace Corps health care worker in a rural Philippine village before settling in suburban Los Angeles. Only last year while recovering from an accident in which she broke her hip and leg would a new friend enter her life and help to finally claim the tokens of her war service. Stacy Price, a volunteer with Collabria Care, began making weekly trips to the Veterans Home to interview Bregoff in a company program to record and publish the life stories of patients in hospice or palliative care. As they recorded 50 hours of reminiscences over several months, interviewer and subject became close friends and Price discovered what Bregoff was missing. I saw the piece of paper and I said, I never knew you got those medals! said Price, a Napa resident. And Barbra said, Well, I never actually got them. That just seemed ridiculous to me, so I went home and Googled it and found a form letter, and we filled it out together and faxed it (to the Marine Corps) and then the medals came in the mail a month later. While her life and family usually kept Bregoff too preoccupied to think about her missing medals, occasional encounters reminded her of the void that only recently has been filled. I used to go to San Francisco, to these Iwo Jima (reunion) parties, and I would see these veterans wearing their medals, she said. And Id keep thinking, Gee, I wish I had those medals too. It makes you feel a little bit important, she added, smiling. College-level classes are already challenging enough, let alone trying to master higher education on an empty stomach. But thanks to a new food bank on campus, Napa Valley College students who cant afford a lunch or who have to choose between food or school are finding relief. On May 9, the college opened an Office of Student Life Food Bank in Building 1200 on campus. Students can shop confidentially in room 1202 for two weeks worth of food, according to Ben Quesada, the coordinator for student life. We are giving students a viable food option so they can eat, which contributes to their success on the college campus, said Quesada. At the NVC food bank, students need only give their student ID number and then they can shop in the food bank every two weeks for two bags of groceries, he said. We carry a full selection of food, he said, including produce, potatoes, carrots, yams, canned goods, beans, grains, pasta, rice, cereal, crackers, tuna, peanut butter anything youd find in a grocery store. During the food banks first five days, 32 students had already visited and received bags of food, said Quesada. The campus food bank is an evolution of something that Quesada was already doing on campus. Two and a half years ago, I had a student who hadnt eaten for a few days approach me for money for food, said Quesada. Then another student, and a third came to me. I noticed these students who were looking for help were in desperate need, so I started an emergency food cabinet in my office and started tracking data to see how severe the need was. His emergency food cabinet is located in the office of student life, in Room 1342. Quesada said during this school year he provided 218 emergency meals like instant noodles, granola bars and other food stuffs to hungry students. There is definitely a need for an on-campus food bank, said Shirley King, director, Community Action of Napa Valley Food Bank, which supplies nonperishables to the college food bank. Its a great resource. Its evident that many college students are food insecure, said King. They are trying to be self-sufficient and improve their lives, but some dont have access to food on a regular basis. According to Quesada, two surveys taken on state university campuses showed 18 percent of students are going through school making decisions between food, books, tuition and gas. A 2016 survey of about 3,600 students at seven California Community Colleges by the Community College Equity Assessment Lab showed that about 12 percent couldnt afford food. This can be especially significant at a community college with a higher population of non-traditional students like single parents, veterans, older students or emancipated foster youth, officials said. We want to make it easy for these folks to get the food they need, said King. Quesada said that because most students take a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday class, the food bank is currently open from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. After May 30, it will be open from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday and Thursday. That way, we can reach as many students on those days as possible. During the school year, as many more than 6,800 students are enrolled at NVC. Enrollment drops during the summer but there are still quite a few students on campus, he noted. The NVC food bank is supported by King of Napa County CANV, Sparkpoint Family Services, the Associated Students of Napa Valley College, the Classified Senate, Faculty Senate and several college staff members, including Vice Presidents Oscar De Haro and Robert Parker, facilities director Matt Christensen, equity and inclusivity director Craig Alimo and hospitality professor Merrick McKeig. For those who cant make it to the food bank, the emergency food cabinet in Quesadas office remains available, he said. With a triple major in political science, Spanish and ethnic studies, Vintage high school alum and Santa Clara University student Areli Hernandez certainly has her hands full. But this summer, Hernandez, a Napa native, will have to make room for one more activity. Hernandez has been selected to attend the Fulbright Summer Institute in London. Hernandez will join just 59 other U.S. undergraduates in the U.K. for three to six weeks to study a range of topics including international development and politics, technology, innovation, climate change and other topics. Out of that 59, Hernandez and only three other students will study international development and politics at SOAS University of London. The University has been called the worlds leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The Fulbright name may sound familiar. The program was established in 1946 by Senator J. William Fulbright. The highly competitive program offers research, study and teaching opportunities in more than 100 countries. It is considered one of the most prestigious scholarship programs. Fulbright alumni have won Nobel Prizes and Pulitzer Prizes, served as head of state or government and elected to the U.S. Congress. According to a Fulbright news release, the Fulbright Commission selects Summer Institute participants through a rigorous application and interview process. Some 1,200 applications were received. She almost didnt even turn in an application for the Fulbright program, admitted Hernandez. I applied on a whim and thought it was completely out of my reach, she said. Upon learning she had been chosen, I was honestly really shocked, and still kind of am. Hernandez doesnt come from a college-educated family. She is the first in her family to attend a university. Her parents are immigrants, and her grandfather originally came to the U.S. as part of the Bracero program in the 1940s. Hernandez father has worked in construction and her mother at a preschool. Hernandez, who graduated from Vintage High School in 2015, has three younger siblings. Even after earning a full scholarship to Santa Clara University, leaving her family and friends in Napa after high school was a big deal, she said. I had grown up in this bubble, she came to realize. While she appreciates her childhood surrounded with family and friends, There is a whole world out there that a lot of us dont know exists until we leave. College really opened my eyes to that. Besides her triple major, Hernandez is also the co-chairperson of Ballet Folklorico de SCU, a peer mentor for first-year, first-generation college students, a student ambassador, a group leader for Christian Life Community campus ministry and teaches English as a Second Language lessons to on-campus workers. While at SCU, shes gone on several service and other types of trips, including to New Orleans, El Salvador and Poland. After this summer, she will study in Ecuador with an international development firm and work with indigenous people in the country. I always want to learn more, she said. The trips and projects are outside of my comfort zone, but so much has happened since she started her college journey. I can only imagine what other good things can come of this Fulbright experience, she said. Hernandez said she was a little surprised at the reaction to the news of her Fulbright Summer Institute acceptance. At school, some of my classmates and professors would come up to me and congratulate me. I didnt know it was that big of a deal. I felt really proud of myself. I really did not expect this at all. Hernandezs academic and guidance counselor at Vintage High School, Matt Eustice, wasnt surprised. I always knew shed end up doing something special, said Eustice. She showed energy and determination early on, with a strong work ethic that the made a priority in her high school years, he said. Shes an impressive young lady, Eustice said. This accomplishment couldnt happen to a better person. While in London this summer, Hernandez will study themes of development studies and politics, with Fulbright Summer Institutes covering all participant costs. When asked what she expects to get out of the experience, Hernandez again referenced getting out of her own bubble. Im expecting to learn a lot, both from the other students, the Fulbright instructors and the entire experience. She said she wants to delve into the politics of protest and change and study post-Brexit race-relations, said Hernandez. I hope this work will enable me to continue working alongside and representing marginalized communities either domestically or internationally. Hernandez said plans to continue with my education and earn a doctorate, hopefully working later as a professor, lawyer or something with public policy or international relations. And also traveling and immersing myself with other cultures. Theres so much going on around the world. I want to be able to help make some type of change. The Fulbright summer program is a unique opportunity to get a taste of British higher education while interacting with students from across the globe, said Penny Egan CBE, executive director of US-UK Fulbright Commission. As part of a diverse and high-achieving cohort, these students will gain immensely from the experience. She said she is not having any second thoughts of traveling to London after recent terror attacks in the U.K. Things can happen anywhere, said the student. If we were only to live with fear, nothing would get done. Plus, to have an opportunity like this and not take it would be a dishonor to the people who have invested so much time in me. If anything it actually gives me more of a push and reason to go. There are things that can be fixed. The first step is to learn about them. I am so thankful, she said. After auto shop students in Tom Doughertys Vintage High auto shop class spent weeks refurbishing the electrical system of a donated car, they needed to give it away to a worthy recipient. Through Dougherty and Superintendent Barbara Nemko, students got advice from the staff at The Pathway Home, the nationally recognized program for wounded warriors on the campus of the California Veterans Home in Yountville. The car was given to a Napa man, Xavier Bianchi, a veteran of three tours in Afghanistan, who helps fellow student-veterans attending Napa Valley College find housing, education and job opportunities through the Pathway Home. On May 16, the auto shop students presented the car to Bianchi, who thanked and praised the students and offered to help them after graduation. I hope this will be an annual event, said Dougherty, who developed a similar auto shop donation program in Solano County before joining Vintage High. He said his students exhibited tenacity and critical thinking in figuring out how to fix the electrical system of the 1999 Acura. We always wanted to give the car to someone in the community, and after Barbara Nemko suggested we try the Veterans Home, Mr. Dougherty worked it out, said auto shop student Kenneth Perry of Napa, an 18-year-old guest student from Napa Valley Independent Studies. Its something we all worked on, and its going for a good cause were all learning to give back, said junior Omar Lopez of Napa, 16. My dad was in the Army, which is the backbone of our country, said Ethan Grant, a 17-year-old junior from Napa who said he intends to join the Army next year. The veterans need to be taken care of, too, like everyone else they just made a bigger sacrifice. Bianchi, a former Army staff sergeant, said he is honored and proud to have been chosen by the students. The car has enabled me to apply for a position at The Pathway Home this summer as a volunteer peer counselor, to dedicate as much of my time as I can to the Pathway veterans, said Bianchi, whose family goes back three generations in Napa. Jeremy Joseph Christian, accused of fatally stabbing two men who defended a 16-year-old and her Muslim friend on a Portland, Oregon, train, yelled, "Get out if you don't like free speech" and "You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism" during his first court appearance on Tuesday. Christian, 35, was arraigned on several charges, including two counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon, police say. His next court appearance will be June 7. Two deputies flanked Christian during the brief hearing. He wore a blue jail jumpsuit and didn't say anything other than to yell slogans, including "Death to the enemies of America." A Multnomah County grand jury will convene in the coming days to consider additional charges. The aggravated murder charges carry a maximum penalty of death. Oregon has not executed a prisoner in more than two decades. 'We should just kill ourselves' Destinee Mangum, 16, told CNN affiliate KPTV that she and her friend, who was wearing a hijab, were on the MAX light-rail train Friday when Christian confronted them with several hateful remarks. "He told us to go back to Saudi Arabia and he told us we shouldn't be here, to get out of his country," Mangum told KPTV. "He was just telling us that we basically weren't anything and that we should just kill ourselves." Destinee and her friend moved to the back of the train. A stranger intervened, telling Christian he couldn't disrespect the girls in such a way, she said. Christian began arguing with several men. "Me and my friend were going to get off the MAX and then we turned around while they were fighting and he just started stabbing people," she told KPTV. "It was just blood everywhere and we just started running for our lives." Several passengers chased after the suspect and called 911, directing officers to his whereabouts, according to local media. In all, Christian stabbed three men. Only Micah Fletch, 32, survived. Destinee, her mother and Portland mayor Ted Wheeler have hailed the men as heroes. Another incident the day before? Video obtained by CNN affiliate KOIN shows that Christian was involved in similar behavior on a MAX train only one day before he was accused of fatally stabbing Ricky John Best, 53, of Happy Valley, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, of Portland. Recorded by a woman who asked to be identified only as KK, the video shows Christian on a train late Thursday, aiming pejoratives at a conductor. "It looks like we have a Christian or Muslim (expletive) bus driver. I'll stab you, too, (expletive)," he said. KK told KOIN he was upset, complaining about the city and "venting to his friend on the phone about some girl that just pepper-sprayed him." He was complaining about Muslims, Christians and Jews -- saying they should burn at the stake and "f**ing die" -- something she'd never heard before on Portland's MAX trains, she told the station. "The talking was so violent and everybody was pretty scared," KK said. "He was talking about wanting to stab somebody and gestured to pull something out of his pocket. Everybody around me got up. I was right behind him." 'Definitely looking for a fight' KK eventually got up and move to the other side of the train, she said. The next day, when she heard about the train stabbings, she immediately thought of the video she had taken of Christian. "That was the first thing that popped into my head, 'I wonder if it's the same guy from the night before,'" she said. "I felt that he was definitely looking for a fight of some sort that evening." Portland police spokesman Pete Simpson confirmed that the man in the KOIN video is Christian. Simpson also said that Christian was maced the day before the deadly attack. The incident is part of a larger investigation and he didn't have further details, he told CNN. "I don't know that officers came in contact with him that night," Simpson said. Police are examining Christian's background, "including the information publicly available about the suspect's extremist ideology," they said in a news release. Videos have surfaced showing Christian shouting at people, at one point saying the N-word, as police officers separated him. The grand jury should convene by next Tuesday, he said, and Christian will be presented with any indictments at his next court appearance. CNN's Carma Hassan and Dakin Andone contributed to this report. OAKLAND -- City officials in Oakland announced Wednesday morning that they have settled a case against the city claiming police victimized a young woman. According to city officials, Jasmine Abuslin, formerly known as Celeste Guap, claimed that when she was a minor, she was sexually victimized and exploited by Oakland police officers. The Oakland City Council voted Tuesday night to pay $989,000 to settle the case, city officials said. Following Tuesday's vote, Oakland City Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan issued a statement calling for a change in the culture of the Oakland Police Department. "...many are feeling dismay with this gross misconduct that was not only harmful to the then minor, Jasmine, but also that the misconduct will cost tax-payers as well," Kaplan said. Kaplan has called for numerous changes to the recruitment and hiring policies of the police department, including hiring applicants with connections to the city, prohibiting past marijuana use as grounds for rejection into the police academy, and screening out applicants with problematic attitudes. "We need to ensure that we are building the conditions that make it possible to have trust and healing between the community and our law enforcement officers, and cut sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse," Kaplan said in a statement. Fire season beginning in county Napa Countys super-wet winter wont put a damper on this summers fire danger, not with an abundant grass crop drying out and ready to burn. In California, droughts lead to potentially bad fire seasons. Rainy winters simply lead to another type of potentially bad fire season. The brush and heavier fuels will take longer to dry out, Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said. But the thick grass crop that resulted from the rains poses a more immediate threat. Just because it was a wet year doesnt mean were going to have a good fire season, Biermann said. We could be very busy with the grass crop we have. He reminded rural residents to take steps to protect their properties, such as clearing and reducing grass and other fuels within 100 feet of their homes. The 100 feet of defensible space is required under state law. That is the minimum, Biermann said. If you can do more, more is better. Humans are shaping the Napa River watershed. That was a key theme at the Napa County Watershed Symposium on Thursday. Elected leaders, wine industry officials and environmentalists crowded into Blue Note Napa in the historic opera house to talk about an ecosystem of the future that might more closely mimic the ecosystem of the past. Lester McKee of the San Francisco Estuary Institute said, I think you are doing a lot (of good things) already. But he and other speakers had ideas to improve the health of the Napa River and its watershed. Two centuries ago water ran freely into the Napa River instead of a portion being captured behind dams in reservoirs. The river had gentle flood plains instead of being forced into narrow channels. Dan Logan, a fisheries biologist with National Marine Fisheries Service, talked about the Napa River steelhead trout historic population of 6,000 to 8,000. Today, Logan said, it has perhaps a couple of hundred to 1,000 steelhead. Other speakers at the event talked about groundwater, historic ecology, tracking watershed health, climate change and the connection between a healthy watershed and the economy. The Napa County Watershed Symposium was hosted by the Napa County Resource Conservation District and the the Watershed Information & Conservation Council. After a year and a half in hibernation, The Pathway Home is reaching out to military veterans again. The innovative treatment center for former soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and war-related brain injuries has begun taking applications for its revamped program, which will concentrate on those enrolling in college to launch their civilian careers. Pathway, which went on hiatus in September 2015 due to funding difficulties, recently announced its impending return. Since graduating its last class of recovering veterans, Pathways leaders have outlined plans to link its inpatient mental health and counseling center in Yountville with Napa Valley College, in a mission to provide a protective cocoon around those coping at once with the aftereffects of battle and adjusting to life on the home front. We learned veterans were having a harder time than their just-out-of-high-school peers finishing their education or vocational programs, Christine Loeber, who became Pathways executive director in September, wrote in the nonprofits announcement. Pathway is taking applications for its program on a rolling basis and will accept up to 14 veterans enrolling at NVC or other colleges and vocational programs within commuting distance of Yountville, Loeber said. The program is open to male veterans of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Matt Lane is one of those wine industry folks who can hold court in a group, keeping everyone enthralled with stories, while ticking off, rapid-fire, industry facts and figures. Barossa Australia and the Torbreck wines he represents were his subjects last week, and I cant imagine a better spokesperson for the brand. Barossa is revered for its powerfully rich Shiraz wines, but this Les Amis Grenache shows off what old vines can do for this grape variety. Pronounced aromas of bright red cherries and savory complexity meet sweet oak and generous tannins that are refreshed by high acidity. Barossa has churches like America has Starbucks. The region expanded by parishes, not cities, and each denomination acted as its own independent community. Need to find a landmark in Barossa? Oh, thats behind the so-and-so church, will be the reply. But dont go looking for famous vineyards. The vines are on their own roots, as the phylloxera pest never made its way here, so visitors cant trudge through the vines and unwittingly transport unwanted guests via their shoes. (Natural News) Climate alarmists such as Al Gore have long claimed that climate change is man-made and likely will destroy the world if we dont curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Since these statements are based on calculations from computer models, there is no actual evidence that CO2 will harm all life on Earth in any way. In fact, higher CO2 levels and temperatures are turning the world into a lusher, greener place bursting with new life, according to a team of scientists from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. The new study, published in the journal Current Biology, found that over the past 50 years increases in temperature have boosted the growth of moss and microbes in Antarctica. Since the 1950s, annual temperatures in Antarctica have risen by about half a degree Celsius each decade, which is much faster than the global average. Through the study of core samples taken from 150-year-old moss banks, the researchers were able to get a clear picture of how rising temperatures have affected the ecology of the Peninsula. Previous research already showed how plants and microbes growing at the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula underwent unprecedented ecological changes over time. Now, these researchers confirmed that the changes are happening all over the Peninsula. For their follow-up study, the team analyzed five extra samples from three sites, including three Antarctic islands (Elephant Island, Ardley Island, and Green Island). Those different sites house some of the oldest moss banks over a 600-kilometer transect along the Peninsula. After analyzing the core samples, the team concluded that the Peninsula has undergone fundamental and widespread changes. The data showed increased biological activity as the Peninsula has warmed in the last 50 years. Matt Amesbury, lead author and a researcher at the University of Exeter, said that their data provide a much clearer idea of the scale over which these changes are occurring since previous studies only identified such a response in a single location at the far south of the Antarctic Peninsula. What we found were these large, dramatic changes occurring in all of our cores. On average, in terms of the growth rate of moss before and after 1950, there has been a four to five-fold increase in average growth rates Dr. Amesbury told The Independent. As the temperature keeps rising, the researchers noted that there is more to come. They expect that the terrestrial ecosystems of the Antarctic Peninsula will continue to experience rapid changes due to global warming. Dan Charman, who led the research at Exeter, added that the temperature increase has had a significant effect on the growth rates and microbial activity of the Antarctic moss banks. Adding that if this trend continues and the amounts of ice-free land from continued glacier retreat keeps increasing, the Antarctic Peninsula will be a much greener place in the future. The results of that analysis lead us to believe there will be a future greening of the Antarctic and a further increase in moss growth rates. We are likely to see moss particularly colonizing new areas of ice-free land created by the warmer climate and particularly things like glacier retreat, noted the authors of the study. At the moment, there is about 0.34 percent of the entire Antarctic continent that is predominantly ice-free. Though the Antarctic is clearly showing some significant changes in moss growth and microbiological activity, the researchers noted that the Antarctic will remain an icy place for a long time to come. Curious to learn more about the Peninsulas history, the researchers said that they will continue to analyze more cores stretching back thousands of years to explore the impact of climate changes throughout the history of the frozen continent. For more information about the positive effect of C02 on our planet, check out the video below by Mike Adams, CWC Labs science director and founder of Natural News. He recently released a mini-documentary titled Why Carbon Dioxide is the Miracle Molecule of Life for GREENING our planet. Stay informed about changes to our climate at HealthRangerScience.com and ClimateScienceNews.com. Sources: ScienceDaily.com LinkingHub.Elsevier.com Independent.co.uk YouTube.com (Natural News) A new update to Twitters privacy policy sees the end of a longstanding pledge to protect user privacy by the firm. Twitter, which has never been profitable, is now taking a more proactive approach toward boosting revenue and its coming at the expense of its loyal users. In an effort to improve the reach of its targeted ads, Twitter will be collecting more data about people. This will include tracking your activities even when youre outside of its app and website and then storing this information for as long as 30 days; the current maximum is just ten days. This will be made possible thanks to those Tweet and Follow buttons that can be seen on many of the websites you visit. Any time you visit a page containing these buttons, your browser sends a request to Twitters servers that includes a header indicating the website you came from. Twitter then sets a unique cookie to create a profile of your browsing history whether you actually use their platform or not. In the past, Twitter offered support for Do Not Track for those who would prefer not to be followed around the internet. Do Not Track gives users a simple and universal way to opt out of any third-party web tracking. Its easy to use and works across browsers regardless of the other privacy measures you have in place. Now, however, Twitter is looking to get rid of Do Not Track and use a tool from the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) called WebChoices, which does not offer the same level of protection. It allows users to opt out of customizing ads, but it will still collect your information either way it just wont show you targeted ads so youll have the illusion of not being tracked. Another problem is that WebChoices is not compatible with other privacy tools and requires a lot of babysitting to use properly, which includes setting a third-party cookie for opting out on 131 different advertising sites! This is also incompatible with a popular basic browser privacy setting most smart internet users have already set: disabling third-party cookies. Should you decide to go ahead and allow third-party cookies for some reason, your opt-out will still end when you clear your cookies. Stopping Twitter From Tracking You These changes go into effect on June 18. Given their affinity for political censorship, it might be time to get rid of Twitter altogether. If you cant live without it, however, The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a report showing users how to opt out of the new privacy settings. Keep in mind that youll likely need to adjust these settings on both the Web and within the app if you use it. EFF also offers a browser extension known as Privacy Badger that will give you additional protection against tracking behavior. You can also review the data that Twitter has already collected about you by navigating to the appropriate place within the settings of your account. Youll also have the chance to remove your data, and youll see the option to have Twitter email you a list of the advertisers it has shared your data with. Twitter has also said that a number of its partnership agreements permit non-personal, aggregated, and device-level data to be linked to personal information about you like your name and email address, although they claim to only do this when you give consent. The amount of personal information we give up willingly and knowingly or not to Google, Facebook, and many other websites and platforms every time we use them is alarming, so it is vital to pay close attention to the policies, user agreements, and privacy settings everywhere you go online. Sources include: EFF.org DoNotTrack.us EFF.org FoxNews.com (Natural News) A report by investment advisory firm Cornerstone Capital Group revealed that nearly half of all retail workers in the U.S. face job insecurity as use of automation technology continues to rise across the country. According to the report, around 16 million people in the U.S. work in the retail industry. This equates to about one in 10 American employees, the 56-page report showed. However, the advent of automation technology could lead to roughly six to 7.5 million retail workers losing their jobs in the coming years. This puts them at risk of becoming stranded workers, the researchers said. According to the report, retail cashiers were projected to suffer the most number of job losses. Nearly a quarter of retail cashiers are women, the researchers noted. The report also stressed that the job losses will significantly impact the working poor, as most retail workers paid on an hourly basis live below the poverty line. This in-depth examination of retail automation gives investors insights as they consider investment risks and opportunities. While the findings are important to investors, they should sound the alarm for economists and political leaders. The shrinking of retail jobs in many ways threatens to mirror the decline in manufacturing in the US. Moreover, in this case, workers at risk are already disproportionately working poor, so any disruption may cause strains in the social safety net and stresses on local tax revenues, Jon Lukomnik said in BusinessInsider.com. Lukomnik currently serves as the Executive Director of the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute, which commissioned the research. Retail workers already face uncertain future The report also revealed that the retail industry is currently experiencing massive store closures not seen since the recession, which further placed retail workers at risk of losing their jobs. According to the report, retailers have suffered more than 3,400 store closures so far this year. Credit Suisse analysts estimated that store closures may increase to more than 8,600 before the end of the year. In comparison, more than 6,000 store closures were recorded in 2008, marking the worst year for the retail industry to date. According to the report, the retail industry generally pays low wages, but hires people in every age bracket. The industry was also found to hire low-skilled workers and those who need flexible working schedules. The report cautioned that job loss will make it difficult for these workers to find another employment. The researchers noted that technologies such as robots and smart device apps were among the technologies that disrupted retail employment. Automation, AI set to replace many jobs in the future Automation and artificial intelligence will likely replace 50 percent of all jobs in the next 10 years, renowned technologist Kai-Fu Lee predicted. According to Lee, the pervasiveness of artificial intelligence may drive it to surpass human capabilities. AI is really changing every profession and every industry. Theres almost nothing that wont be touched by AI. You could easily imagine education applications for instance AI could replace a lot of the basic teaching functions. Medicine and health are also key areas. AI works very hard and is very cheap. Humanity as a whole will have a lot more resources and we will probably be able to take care of everyone thanks to AI. As for human mankind, were probably not here on Earth to perform repetitive and non-productive tasks, Lee said in TechCrunch.com. Latest figures showed that the current global population is around 7.2 billion, 70 percent of which belong in the working population. If Lees predictions occur, five billion jobs worldwide will be lost to technology within the next decade. However, the expert maintained that technology could never replace human interaction. Lee also stressed that the service jobs should be considered a first-class employment. Sources include: BusinessInsider.com TechCrunch.com CNBC.com CornerstoneCapInc.com (Natural News) The World Health Organization (WHO) describes rabies as a fatal zoonotic disease, transmitted to humans through contact (mainly bites and scratches) with infected animals. This condition kills 55,000 people worldwide every year, with nearly 100 percent of fatal cases occurring in Asia and Africa. Worldwide, another ten million people are exposed yearly, but, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), those who are exposed can survive by receiving a combination of injections. The current treatment includes a dose of human rabies immune globulin, along with a series of rabies vaccines. In order to prevent rabies from spreading in wildlife areas, and to lessen the exposure to domesticated animals and humans, it has become a routine practice to dump rabies-laced baits onto rural areas. Dogs Naturally Magazine explains that these baits contain a genetically modified vaccine that has two viruses spliced together the rabies virus, plus vaccina, which is the immunizing agent used in smallpox vaccine. Fox8.com reports that shortly after two rabid raccoons were discovered in Stark County, Ohio earlier this year, local officials contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is the USDA that will supply the planes, helicopters and the supply of recombinant rabies vaccine that will be dropped in not one, but three Northern Ohio counties. Residents living in these areas have been advised to stay away from wildlife, to have their pets vaccinated and bring them indoors, and to put lids on any trash receptacles. While rabies is most often associated with wild raccoons, bats, skunks, coyotes and foxes, unvaccinated domesticated cats and dogs may be at risk. Ohio officials are depending on these air dropped baits to take care of the problem and, while they claim these will not harm pets, if an Ohio resident suspects their pet has accidentally eaten a rabies vaccine bait, they are advised to call a veterinarian. Patricia Jordan, DMV and author of Dogs Naturally Magazine, is not convinced of this strategy. She explains that already weakened wild animals may not be automatically immunized by taking the dropped bait. Additionally, splicing viruses can carry many risks that are only now being understood. There are instances in the United States where rabies has jumped from bats to foxes to skunks with no bite required. This is a serious concern for Dr. Terje Traavik from the Center for Biosafety, who suggests that rabies in humans could return due to a virulence of the genetically engineered rabies virus with the pox viruses. Another way these recombinant viruses can be spread, says Dr. Jordan, is through aerosaolization, where no contact with saliva is necessary. A domestic pet would just need to be in close proximity to an infected animal. No bite is required. NdHealth.gov explains that when animals first contract rabies, symptoms include being aggressive, not eating, being afraid of water and having an unsteady gait. As the rabies virus progresses, it travels to the brain. Paralysis and death occur soon after. In humans, the virus takes longer to manifest. Early symptoms are much like a cold or flu. In time, without proper treatment, a person can experience agitation and fear of water. In the final stages, paralysis sets in with the potential for cardiac arrest or respiratory failure within a few months, depending on the individuals constitution. Even though new transmission pathways concerning recombinant vaccines are not fully understood, they are being used. While the USDA and other authorities decide to strategically drop genetically engineered rabies vaccine bait from the skies, what happens to our wildlife? What happens to our pets? What happens to us? Sources include: Who.int Cdc.gov ScienceNaturalNews.com DogsNaturallyMagazine.com Fox8.com NdHealth.gov (Photo credit: DogsNaturallyMagazine.com) (Natural News) Lawmakers in Texas have been attempting to restructure many of the laws governing Child Protective Services in the state, since children have been falling through holes in the system and being permanently damaged in the process. One of the proposed bills under consideration is House Bill 39, introduced by Representative Gene Wu (D-Houston). This bill would push for children taken into the foster care system to receive medical examinations more quickly within three days for those in urban areas, and within no more than seven days for those in rural areas. While the bill would seem fairly straightforward on the surface, it ran into a snag when lawmakers started debating whether these routine medical exams would include vaccinations. Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) of the Texas Freedom Caucus proposed an amendment to the bill which would exclude vaccines from the required treatments. He raised the issue that children could potentially receive vaccines or other medical interventions, including surgery, and then in some instances be returned to their parents a few days later if the Department of Family Protective Services had made a mistake. Rep. Wus firm response has caused great concern among many, because it reflects his true feelings both about vaccinations and the rights of parents. Let me make it very clear, he said. The moment a child is removed from their home the moment the child is removed by law, the child is now a child of the state of Texas. We have the responsibility to make sure that child is safe and is given proper medical care. That is the law. [Emphasis added] When we put into the law that we are limiting the ability of our agency that is tasked with taking care of a child that is in their custody and they are legally responsible for, we are setting a dangerous precedent, he added. When Rep. Jonathan Strickland (R-Bedford) gave Wu the opportunity to amend his statement that such a child belongs to the state of Texas, Wu showed no inclination to back down. At that, Strickland asked him directly, True or false: CPS has taken children and found that they were wrong in doing so and returned the child? Has that happened, Representative Wu? Wu grudgingly admitted that such mistakes have happened on rare occasions. Other legislators also weighed in on the issue, with Rep. Sarah Davis (R-West University Place) pushing to amend the bill to mandate the administration of the HPV vaccine, which she claimed, will eliminate cervical cancer. This statement is simply not true. Not only does the HPV vaccine not eliminate cancer, but hundreds, if not thousands, of children around the world have suffered irreversible harm from it. [Related: Read more about how the global media has revealed the devastating effects of this vaccine.] Furthermore, the latest peer-reviewed study into the long-term damage of vaccines in general found that not only do they not protect the vaccinated from most of the targeted diseases, but vaccinated children are 420 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism; 420 percent more likely to develop ADHD; 5.2 times more likely to have learning disabilities; almost three times more likely to have eczema, and a whopping 30 times more likely to suffer from allergic rhinitis. [Related: Discover the truth at Vaccines.news.] If the emergency medical examinations proposed in House Bill 39 were to come to fruition, and they mandated the vaccination of the children involved, they would almost certainly do more harm than good. They would infringe on the rights of both the parents and the children, leaving families to deal with the devastating long-term effects of vaccines. And if the bill passes, whats to stop the Department of Family Protective Services from innocently grabbing children, vaccinating them, realizing their mistake and returning them to their parents? What a perfect way to enforce the vaccination of every child in the state! Sources include: YouTube.com TheDailySheeple.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that the people have a right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. It was originally included in the Bill of Rights because at the time of the amendments ratification, the Founding Fathers were extremely fearful of the rise of tyranny in the new world. Warrantless searches and seizures were common under the rule of the king, and the framers included language about privacy protection in the Constitution to ensure that the same practice didnt continue. Sadly, over two centuries of progressivism and corruption within the federal government has made the Fourth Amendment all but irrelevant. Earlier this week, Circa.com reported that the Obama administration violated its own surveillance guidelines by expanding Internet searches and essentially spying on millions of Americans for the past several years. Since 2011, Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act has prohibited the practice of querying the results of upstream Internet collections. According to Circa, the Obama administration self-disclosed the NSA rule violations during a closed-door hearing on October 26, 2016, just days before Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. The court, which was usually supportive of the Obama administration, declared that the Obama administrations failure to disclose the massive amount of personal information previously collected amounted to an institutional lack of candor and was a very serious Fourth Amendment issue, according to a court document from April 26 of this year. Some officials that served in the Obama administration, such as National Security Adviser Susan Rice, have argued that the data collection was legal under the minimization rule changes that Barack Obama made in 2011. However, even the NSAs own watchdog group says that this argument is simply not true. Since 2011, NSAs minimization procedures have prohibited use of U.S.-person identifiers to query the results of upstream Internet collections under Section 702, the court ruling said. The Oct. 26, 2016 notice informed the court that NSA analysts had been conducting such queries in violation of that prohibition, with much greater frequency than had been previously disclosed to the Court. The American Civil Liberties Union, or the ACLU, has recently expressed concern that the U.S. intelligence community may not have the ability to properly restrain itself and operate within the confines of their own laws. If this is true, then the further abuse of power is inevitable. The Obama-era bombshell raises two legitimate concerns. First, it is abundantly obvious that the former administration had very little respect for the Constitution and the privacy rights of the American people. Once again, the Bill of Rights proved to be nothing more to the Obama administration than a bunch of words on a really old piece of paper; words that can be followed when its politically expedient and ignored when its not. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson would be ashamed that we have elected leaders today who put their hand on a bible, swear to uphold the Constitution, and then do the exact opposite upon stepping into a position of power. Second, where is the mainstream media? Why arent television networks like CNN, MSNBC and NBC and publications like The Washington Post and Politico reporting on this? Furthermore, since liberals like Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren seem to believe so strongly in the use of special prosecutors to get to the bottom of scandals that occur within the federal government, where are the calls for a special prosecutor to investigate Barack Obama and his National Security Agency? James Madison, considered by most to be the Father of the Bill of Rights, once said, The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. And today, its clear that abuse is exactly what we the people are experiencing. Sources include: Circa.com Dailywire.com PJMedia.com (Natural News) Known as the silent killer, sepsis has a hand in nearly half of our nations hospital deaths, according to a retrospective analysis involving 6.5 million hospital discharge records in the U.S. Patients might have been weakened by cancer, heart disease, or another illness, but it is sepsis that often proves their ultimate undoing. This makes it the number-one killer of hospital patients, with more than one out of every five of the 1.5 million people it strikes each year not surviving. This deadly but all-too-common complication occurs when a persons immune system overreacts to even the most ordinary infection. It can affect anyone, although its more common in those under 1 and over 65 years old, and symptoms include shivering, clammy skin, confusion, extreme pain, a high heart rate and shortness of breath. Now, a British scientist has come up with a novel solution to this deadly problem in the form of a device that sieves blood and works using a premise similar to dialysis. Dubbed the MediSieve, the machine pumps infected blood from a vein in the arm. Once inside the machine, magnetic particles seek the sepsis-causing bacteria and bind to it. The magnetic particles also seek and bind to the fragments of old microbes known as endotoxins that sometimes accelerate the illness. Once the magnetic particles have bonded to the dangerous bacteria, they are caught in a magnetic sieve. The clean blood is then pumped back into a second vein in the patients arm. It takes just a few hours to go through a persons entire blood flow, and everything happens inside the machine; magnetic particles do not enter the body at any point. Dr. George Frodsham came up with the concept while working on his Ph.D. at University College London. Theyve already come up with a prototype, and the machine is expected to undergo its first clinical trials on humans next year. They are also exploring whether it could be used to help blood-borne diseases like leukemia and malaria. Sepsis is a growing problem The invention couldnt have come at a better time. The CDC reports that deaths from septicemia rose 17 percent from 2000 to 2010 despite a drop in overall rates of hospitalization. The World Health Organization recently called for sepsis to be considered a major priority in every country of the world, with delayed treatment being a major concern. One study found that each hour-long delay in treatment was linked to an increased death risk of as much as 4 percent. While antibiotics can be used to help control the infection when its caught early, controlling it once it starts to spread is extremely difficult. This is why preventing it is so vital. Dr. Frodsham believes the invention could save the U.Kks national health care system, the NHS, a lot of money in addition to saving lives. He pointed out that sepsis patients often have very expensive stays in intensive care. Sepsis is the top cause of avoidable death in the country, and he has gotten backing from the government agency Innovate U.K. and the Wellcome Trust. Its always good news when a potential treatment for a serious problem emerges that does not entail dangerous pills or chemicals. One can only hope that this invention will live up to its promise and become a valuable life-saving device that wont do more harm than good like many current treatments. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk UofMHealth.org TribLive.com ScienceDaily.com DailyMail.co.uk Andrew Harrer - Pool/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The revelation that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, is a focus of the FBI for his contacts with Russia has prompted questions and concerns. Kushner is being scrutinized in the agency's investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election over his meetings with at least two Russian officials, Moscow's ambassador to the U.S. and a banking executive, sources have told ABC News. Here's what we know -- and don't know: What do we know about the alleged back channel Kushner wanted to establish? Two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that Kushner did talk about establishing a back channel with the Russian ambassador last December. That conversation was first reported by The Washington Post and The New York Times. The sources stress the conversation with the president's son-in-law was focused on the U.S. response to the crisis in Syria and other policy -related matters. The meeting took place at Trump Tower in New York and included the Russian ambassador, Kushner and Michael Flynn, who went on to be Trump's first national security adviser. What was the second meeting that Kushner was involved in? The second meeting between Flynn and Kislyak took place in December, but it wasn't the only time that Kushner met with a powerful Russian during the transition. Separately, the White House confirmed that also in December, Kushner met with Sergey Gorkov of Russian bank Vnesheconombank, or VEB, at the suggestion of Kislyak. The subject of that conversation has not been publicly released. A senior White House official said that the conversation was "general and inconsequential" and that Kushner took the meeting as part of his campaign role of interfacing with foreign dignitaries. But the bank described the discussion to ABC News as a "negotiation" in which "the parties discussed the business practices applied by foreign development banks, as well as most promising business lines and sectors." The December meeting came as Kushner Companies, the family's real estate firm, is in the midst of what it has described in public statements as "active, advanced negotiations ... with a number of potential investors" about the redevelopment of the skyscraper it owns at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City. To date, neither Kushner nor the family real estate firm has explained the nature of the meeting with VEB. An official representing the Kushner firm responded to ABC News' questions on March 29, 2017, saying Kushner was the only executive from his family's real estate firm to attend. "VEB is not providing financing, lending or any other services to Kushner Companies," the official said. What does the White House say? Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, reiterated during an interview this morning that "the president has expressed full confidence in Jared Kushner." "The facts are that Jared Kushner has said from the very beginning he is willing to go and share any information that he has with Congress, with the FBI," she said on "Fox & Friends." "And as you heard Gen. [H.R.] McMaster, as you heard Secretary [of Homeland Security John] Kelly over this weekend say they are not concerned. Back channels like this are the regular course of business. And that's really all that we know." She was asked to comment on Kushner's meeting with Gorkov, but said, "I cannot comment on any of that because there is no reason to, frankly." At this afternoon's press briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer pointed to the "ongoing investigation" and read an earlier statement from Kushner's lawyers wherein he volunteered to meet with investigatory bodies to answer questions. The president today retweeted a Fox News story with no byline citing one unnamed source that said the Russians were the first to suggest the idea of a back channel, not Kushner. How is Washington reacting? The Democratic National Committee called for Kushner's security clearance to be suspended until after the FBI investigation is concluded. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, has been one of the Republicans most willing to criticize the administration, and the latest revelations have proved of concern for him. During an interview in Australia over the weekend, said that he doesn't "like" reports of Kushner's meetings with Russian officials during the transition. "I know that some administration officials are saying, 'Well, that's standard procedure,'" he said. "I don't think it is standard procedure prior to the inauguration of a president of the United States by someone who is not in an appointed position. And I think that [former FBI Director James] Comey, we now know, took action that he did in regards to then-candidate [Hillary] Clinton because of some false news that was being put out by the Russians. I mean, this becomes more and more and more bizarre. In fact, you can't make it up." What questions remain? As of now, Kushner's position with the White House appears to remain the same and his security clearance seems to have remained unchanged. The content of the meetings -- both with Kislyak and Gorkov -- remains unknown, as does the motivation behind the second meeting, and why Kislyak allegedly urged Kushner to meet with Gorkov, per sources. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Posted by Mark Williams | May 31, 2017 Vehicles Affected: Approximately 1,500 model-year 2017 Ford F-150 pickup trucks built between Dec. 11 and 16, 2016, at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan; model-year 2017 Ford F-150s built Dec. 8-9, 2016, at the Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri; model-year 2017 Ford Super Duty pickups built between Dec. 19, 2016, and Jan. 19 at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville; and model-year 2017 Super Duty pickups built between Dec. 23, 2016, and Jan. 19 at the Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake The Problem: The driver's seatback frame has improperly welded assembly points that may not adequately restrain an occupant in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. The Fix: Dealerships will inspect and replace the driver's seatback as necessary free of charge. What Owners Should Do: Ford has not yet released an owner notification schedule. Owners can call the automaker at 866-436-7332, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle-safety hotline at 888-327-4236 or visit www.safercar.gov to check their vehicle identification number and learn more. Need to Find a Dealer for Service? Go to Cars.com Service & Repair to find your local dealer. Manufacturer images The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] The External Affairs Ministry said all staff members at the Indian Embassy were safe after the massive explosion. At least 80 people were killed and around 350 others, including staff of some embassies, injured when a water tanker loaded with explosives blew up amid a deafening roar in the Afghan capital's diplomatic zone. "India strongly deplores the heinous and reprehensible terrorist attack," the Ministry said in a statement. "We share the grief of all peace-loving Afghans and convey our sincerest condolences to the government of Afghanistan and the families of victims of the mindless violence and wish speedy recovery to those injured. "The continuing violence even during the holy and pious month of Ramazan reflects the diabolical nature of the perpetrators and its supporters." The statement added that India was "ready to render any assistance to the government and the people of Afghanistan and all possible support to bring perpetrators of the attack to justice". Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now in Spain, denounced the Kabul mayhem. "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with the injured," he tweeted. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a separate tweet. --IANS ab/mr ( 255 Words) 2017-05-31-15:56:14 (IANS) The 25-year-old princess, the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino, second son of the Emperor and second in line to the throne, is expected to arrive in Bhutan on Thursday after a brief stop in Singapore, reports Efe. This is her third official overseas trip and comes just two weeks after the announcement of her engagement to a college friend, 25-year-old legal assistant Kei Komuro. Mako will receive a welcome ceremony in capital Thimphu and will later meet Japanese volunteers in the country. She is also expected to visit a flower exhibition in Thimpu and travel to the iconic Buddhist temple Taktshang in Paro valley. --IANS mr/ ( 137 Words) 2017-05-31-17:00:19 (IANS) Nepal on Wednesday postponed the final phase of local elections for a second time in less than a week to avoid a clash with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The elections will now be held on June 28, a day after Eid, that marks the end of Ramadan, Nepal's Minister of Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi was quoted by Efe news as saying. Leaders of Nepal's minority Muslim community, who form 3.7 per cent of the Himalayan nation's population, had requested acting Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Tuesday to postpone the poll date. Earlier, on Monday, the Nepali government had pushed back the polls from June 14 to 23 to pacify Madhesi parties who had threatened to boycott the first local polls in 20 years over dissatisfaction with certain provisions of the new Constitution promulgated less than two years ago. The Madhesis are the residents of the southern Terai region, bordering India, who have been demanding, among others, amendment to the 2015 Constitution to redraw the provincial boundaries and for greater representation in the legislature. The postponement of the elections comes a week after Prachanda resigned as part of an agreement between his party, the UCPN-Maoist, and the ruling coalition ally Nepali Congress led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is expected take office before the second phase of local polls. Nine million people are eligible to vote in the local elections that are being contested by over 49,000 candidates, vying for 13,556 seats in 283 local bodies majorly in the Terai region. --IANS soni/dg ( 267 Words) 2017-05-31-17:18:29 (IANS) Doctors have diagnosed the 68-year-old-star with breast cancer that has metastasized to the sacrum, according to the statement. The Grammy winner initially postponed the first half of her concert tour two weeks ago because of severe back pain from what she thought was sciatica; however, further tests discovered it was actually cancer that spread. According to People magazine, a source said, "She plans to be touring in August. They're all very positive." The statement further read, "In addition to natural wellness therapies, Olivia will complete a short course of photon radiation therapy and is confident she will be back later in the year, better than ever, to celebrate her shows." "I decided on my direction of therapies after consultation with my doctors and natural therapists and the medical team at my Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia," said Newton-John in the statement. Newton-John had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. She was declared cancer free after receiving chemotherapy and a partial mastectomy. (ANI) Don Cheadle, who plays 'War Machine' in the Marvel cinematic Universe, defended the women-only screenings of the upcoming 'Wonder Woman' movie, by giving a befitting reply to all the men who labeled the screenings as sexist. The actor took to Twitter and wrote, "An all women screening of 'Wonder Woman' pits men against women? How?" thereby asking a Twitter user who spoke sarcastically about how we need more division in America. He continued to tweet about the backlash, writing about institutional sexism and why a men-only screening is not a rational response. The actor also praised one Twitter user's idea not only to support the women-only screenings but also to charge only 85 percent of the full ticket price for women, "to reflect gender wage disparity". The 'House of Lies' star made an incredibly poignant point about one user's accusations that this is some kind of double standard. He wrote, "A double standard presupposes equal footing. This ain't that." It should be noted that, men-only screening requests have popped up amidst the outrage that movie theater chain Drafthouse invited women to a women-only screening of 'Wonder Woman' in Austin, Texas. The screenings sold out quickly and the theater expanded it to other cities across the U.S., including New York. (ANI) Bollywood actor Ali Fazal, who is working with Hollywood veteran Judi Dench in his maiden English movie 'Victoria and Abdul', said the actress was extremely welcoming towards him. At the trailer launch, Fazal talked about the experience of working with one of the most celebrated international actors and said, "We shot for the film for about 50-60 days but the first time when I met Judi Dench, we had lunch together, just to meet each other and break the ice. I was literally on the floors! I touched her feet, shook her hand and hugged her." "She was extremely welcoming. She made me at ease. And I think that relationship began there, while we were having lunch in London. After that, we became friends. As an actor, your job is half done when your co-star becomes your friend especially when it's Judi Dench," he added. Ali also said the Oscar winner wanted to come to India to promote the film as she loves the country. "We had a lot of conversation regarding Indian films, though her perception of Bollywood was song and dance, I shared how we are much more than that. She loves our country. In fact, she was little heartbroken when she got to know that she is not coming to India; which is quite ironic because even Victoria never visited India," said the 30-year-old. Directed by two-time Academy winner Stephen Friers, 'Victoria and Abdul' stars Ali Fazal in the lead role opposite Hollywood star Judi Dench. (ANI) Assam is among the states that has the highest per capita burden of cancer in India. "We are here today to sign a MoU between the Government of Assam and Tata Trusts with a new vision," Assam Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, said in a statement. "With their vast and varied experience, Tata Trusts will support us to the full extent possible in enabling the provision of quality oncology services," Sarma added. The MoU envisions the use of technology through a network that will provide preventive services to prioritize disease and palliative services, and reduce the economic, mental, and physical burden on patients. "While we focus and emphasize on the treatment and cure, we also need to work jointly to increase focus on prevention of cancer. A tobacco free Assam will see at least a 50 per cent reduction in the cancer burden of Assam within the next 10-15 years," said R. Venkataramanan, Managing Trustee, Tata Trusts. Under the partnership, Tata Trusts will assist in training personnel for cancer care, set up a Management Information System, facilitate leverage of national schemes, and advise on the procurement of medical supplies and ancillary services. While the initial trainings will be conducted at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai and Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata, subsequent batches will be trained at the National Cancer Grid centres in Assam. Additionally, a state level 'Steering Committee' will be constituted to govern and guide the programme, the statement said. --IANS rt/rn ( 287 Words) 2017-05-31-18:26:11 (IANS) This will be Adityanath's first visit, post taking charge as Chief Minister. Yesterday, he had paid a visit to BJP veterans Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, who had come to Lucknow to appear before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the Babri Masjid demolition case. In a major setback to Advani, Joshi and Uma, the court yesterday rejected their discharge application, framing charges against them and the other nine accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Charges of criminal conspiracy under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been framed. However, the accused will now move the Allahabad High Court against the CBI court's order. Earlier yesterday, the court granted bail to all the accused by signing a personal bond of Rs. 20,000. "They have been granted bail by signing bonds of Rs. 20,000. We have submitted discharge application. If the court rejects it, then charges will be framed," said lawyer of accused Prashant Atal. The court had also asked BJP leader Vinay Katiyar, VHP's Vishnu Hari Dalmia and Sadhvi Ritambara to present themselves before the court in person. While directing the accused to present themselves in person, the judge had said no application for adjournment or exemption from personal appearance shall be entertained. The court, which is hearing two separate cases relating to the demolition, would also frame charges against Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem Ji, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Dharma Das and Satish Pradhan in the second matter. (ANI) Men may need to open up about their family health concerns, especially sexual health, with their own family members, as a recent study has found that four out of five men find it awkward to talk about hereditary risks. According to researchers, knowing family history and hereditary risks is extremely important in preventing future health problems. The findings revealed that learning about family health history at a younger age is important because 18-34 is when men are likely to be most sexually active and also most likely to start a family and knowing your risks can help men notice any developing symptoms and start medical treatment as soon as possible. A new national survey commissioned by Orlando Health found that men under age 35 lagged far behind women of the same age, who are about 90 percent more likely to talk to family members, not just about sexual health, but also health issues that tend to run in families, such as cancer and mental illness. To help men get the conversation started when it comes to family health history, Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt and Dr. Sijo Parekattil, both urologists at Orlando Health, conducted a study. Brahmbhatt from Personalised Urology and Robotics Clinic in Clermont, Florida said, "What I've realized in the past four years doing the Drive for Men's Health is that it's okay to talk to your friends and family and it's really not as awkward as a lot of guys think." Brahmbhatt added that fathers and grandfathers need to start an open dialogue with their children as younger family members might not understand the benefits now, but when they get older, they would appreciate the conversation. Parekattil explained, "The whole concept is that, if we can do something that's fun and interesting, perhaps we can also incorporate some valuable health education into this and make it memorable for the people that are engaged with us." Parekattil noted that showing up and engaging in events like these might help in long run. (ANI) Congress today alleged that Narendra Modi government during last three years in office, had miserably failed in pursuing foreign policy to protect national interest as it was for the first time in history that US, Russia and China put their weights behind Pakistan, which was a serious concern for security of the country. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and in-charge of party affairs of Bihar C P Joshi told media persons that Mr Narendra Modi as PM candidate of BJP led NDA in 2014 Lok Sabha elections had made tall promises to effect drastic change to ensure protection of internal and external security of the country but during the last three years of his tenure as PM, the situation had deteriorated and both the internal and external security had been jeopardised. " Mr Modi had failed to pursue foreign policy which could protect the interest of the country and it was on full public display", Mr Joshi said adding that Mr Modi had visited Pakistan to attend party but there was no sincerity on his part to improve the relation with neighbouring country. Mr Modi had miserably failed to continue good relation with time tested friend like Russia which resulted its tilt towards Pakistan. China had opposed the proposal in United Nation Security Council linking Pakistan with terror while US was also in support of Pakistan on several issues. Its consequence was clear as US, Russia and China were seen on same platform behind Pakistan which was a major threat on security of India, he pointed out and added that for the first time in history such a development was visible, which would prove to be detrimental to the national interest. MORE UNI KKS AKM 1515 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-915874.Xml Six people of a family visiting Sikkim were killed, of them three children and two women, and two others wounded critically when their vehicle, in which they were travelling towards Gangtok from Lachung, fell off the road to a gorge at Phangla in north Sikkim last night, police said today. All the victims on vacation were from North 24 Parganas visiting Sikkim's northern most tourist spot, a border area with China. Among the injured were the driver and a child. The mishap happened when their vehicle returning from Lachung in the dusk skidded off the mountain terrain road and fell into the gorge at Phangla. All the six dead were of a family. In another accident, driver Mohun Gurung was killed when his car fell into a gorge near Lachung. The victim was returning home after dropping the tourists into a hotel. UNI XC-PC AKM 1520 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-915899.Xml West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today expressed her sadness over the loss of innocent lives in Afghanistan following a blast in Kabul. At least 80 people were killed and 350 wounded in Kabul today when a powerful vehicle-borne bomb exploded in the middle of the Afghan capital, a report said. "Saddened at the loss of innocent lives in Afghanistan. (My) Prayers and thoughts with the families at Kabul blast," Ms Banerjee twitted. UNI PC AKM 1534 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-915932.Xml Agitation over discrepancies in the CBSE Class 12 results in Odisha intensified even as two officials deputed by the Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar arrived here on Wednesday to look into the goof up. While aggrieved students and their parents continued to protest in front of the CBSE regional office here, the members of Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) and National Students' Union of India (NSUI) staged protest demanding action against the officials for the discrepancies. BCJD members tried to forcibly enter into the CBSE office along with parents of the Class 12 students protesting outside the office since the last three days. However, police stopped the agitators. NSUI members burnt the effigy of HRD Minister blaming him for playing with the future of the students. "The central government is responsible for the goof up in the results. The officials should be held accountable for playing with the future of the students," said state NSUI president Itish Pradhan. Meanwhile, CBSE Bhubaneswar Zone assistant secretary Jagabandhu Pradhan said the issue will be resolved in 15 days. He said the students would be provided with copy of answer sheets so that they can ascertain their actual marks in the examination. Following the direction of Javadekar, CBSE controller of examination K.K. Choudhary and deputy secretary D.K. Goyal arrived here to discuss the issue of discrepancy in results with the officials here. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday wrote to the Union HRD Minister to personally intervene in the matter and address the discrepancies in CBSE 12 Board results on an urgent basis. Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had also requested the HRD Minister in this regard. --IANS cd/rn ( 287 Words) 2017-05-31-17:00:18 (IANS) Members of organisations like the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Students Federation of India (SFI) gathered outside IIT-M and shouted slogans condemning the attack on R. Sooraj. They also shouted slogans against the central government. Police later arrested the protestors. Members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam also held a beef eating protest outside IIT-M. Meanwhile, police on Wednesday said they had registered a case against eight persons in connection with the attack on Sooraj. No arrests have been made. Sooraj was attacked on Tuesday afternoon by a group of students for participating in the beef festival organised by another group of students on Sunday in the IIT-M campus. Sooraj suffered a major injury on his right eye and was admitted to a hospital. The beef eating festival was organised in protest against the central government's new rule banning sale of bovines for slaughter. --IANS vj/nir/mr ( 191 Words) 2017-05-31-17:02:09 (IANS) BJP Tripura state committee today charged CPI-M with deliberately creating communal tension misinterpreting the rules framed by the Centre to regulate livestock markets under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (PCA) following the direction of the Supreme Court. BJP Spokesperson Dr Ashok Sinha today alleged that Tripura had agreed to regulate the livestock market to prevent smuggling of the cattle by filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court along with West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. Based on the affidavit the apex court asked the respected states to constitute district and state level committees to prevent cruelty against animals and the central government was asked to frame necessary rules to ensure the compliance of the PCA Act. And accordingly the centre framed the rules on May 23 last, Dr Sinha said. He said that the rules and the Act itself has given liberty to slaughter cattle whichever purpose it may be-- for religious or human consumption and added, "Nowhere in the 23 pages rules it utters cow, beef once but leftists in Tripura are distorting the facts and terrorising the situation." Referring to the background, Dr Sinha said one Gauri Maulekhi filed a PIL in 2014 making all the bordering states of the country as party seeking direction from the apex court against smuggling of cattle from India and flouting the provisions of PCA Act in the livestock markets. As per the direction of the Supreme Court, the central government had convened a meeting with all the concerned states in May 2015 to way out the problem of smuggling of cattle and there also Tripura had agreed to comply with the apex court direction. "Now CPI-M is doing politics with the issue and trying to make it community sensitive. While formulating the rules, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu urged the concern states to write their views. If found to be critical in the local context the government will move Supreme Court seeking necessary direction but the CPI-M party and the Left Front government was trying to confuse the people and contempt the court order," Dr Sinha added. Minister of Animal Resource Development Aghore Debbarma deniedimplementing the notification saying that such restriction would go against the interest of the people of the state as a whole. Earlier, CPI-M party had opposed such move and argued that thousands of people mostly from Dalit community who were engaged in the cattle hide business, farmers and also the minorities who depended on beef for their source of protein would be severely affected. Echoing the same argument, Debbarma opined that people would face serious financial problem and if and when the livestock would be unnecessary and could not be sold. The new ban which was aimed at preventing cruelty to the animalsthe bovines- also made it a point that there must not be any animal market within 50 km of the international border. He further stated that the decision was not taken in consultation with the state government. This is considered to be the violation of federal structure of the constitution and added, "The notification itself is controversial and motivated, which we are not going to implement in Tripura."UNI BB KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-916280.Xml Questioning the Modi Government's claims of achievements in the past three years, the CPI(M) today said the period had seen only increased communal polarization, greater burden on the common people, and betrayal of its major poll promise to create two crore jobs. The Left Party also released a booklet recounting the ''failures'' of the NDA government. Titled 'Teen Saal Na Roti Na Daal Hazaron Sawaal (Three years, no food but thousands of questions), the booklet tries to target the government on various fronts - law and order, communal violence, rights of women, foreign policy, economy, rule of law. Addressing media after releasing the book, CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat said the past three years were a story of only betrayal of promises made to the people by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party at the time of 2014 elections. Mr Yechury said that it would be wrong to say that the results of the recent Assembly elections were an unquestioned endorsement of the BJP rule as the party had still got support of minority of total voters. And moreover, what it had been achieved in terms of electoral numbers, was more because of communal polarisation and caste engineering than because of any positive achievements of the Modi government, he said. ''When the Modi Government came, 49 per cent of the country's wealth was concentrated in the hands of one per cent rich people of the country, and three years down the line, this one per cent of the population was in possession of 58 per cent of the country's wealth,'' he said. The CPI(M) also sought to demolish the Government's claim that it had established a corruption-free rule, saying the amount of money spent in the elections, the amount spent by the PSUs on celebrating the Modi Government's celebrations of three years in office and the issue of ''so-called'' electoral bonds to check political fundings had all exposed such claims. These three years had also seen the pulverisation of the people and encroachment of their personal liberties as against those taking law into their hands as the incidents of cow vigilantes and anti-romeo squads, the CPI(M) leaders said. Mr Yechury said the Prime Minister was making so much of India enhancing its strength and image under him but the fact was that his government had ''dovetailed'' the country's foreign policy to US's global interest. The period also saw farmers under greater distress and the youth jobless, and the public distribution in shambles except in Kerala, he said. ''We fail to understand what is there in all these three years to celebrate about,'' Ms Karat and Mr Yechury said. UNI NAZ RSA SHK 1843 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-916337.Xml A. Illayaraja's naked body was found in a rest room at the Mahindra World City near here on Tuesday night by police, acting on a complaint filed by his wife saying he had not returned home after work on Monday. According to police, Illayaraja was from Dindivanam in Villupuram district and used to travel to office daily. --IANS vj/vd ( 87 Words) 2017-05-31-21:26:17 (IANS) After the Delhi Assembly passed the state GST Bill, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that tax rate under GST should not be more than 10 per cent on any item. Taking to twitter, Mr Kejriwal said, "Delhi Assembly passes GST Bill. But tax rate shud not be more than 10 per cent on any item." Notably, the Delhi Assembly after brainstorming discussion on the Bill also passed a resolution that the GST tax rates on any goods or service should not be more than 10 per cent. Out of which five per cent should belong to states and five per cent to the Centre. Earlier talking to reporters outside the Assembly,"GST is the biggest tax reform of the country. It is the responsibility of the Centre and States to clear doubts on the issue including Finance Ministers. The tax rates 18 per cent and 28 per cent are two high. It should be under 10 per cent." He also cited an example how Delhi Government has increased its budget form Rs 32000 cr to Rs 48000 cr this year despite reducing tax on some items from 12.5 per cent to five per cent. The new tax regime is all set to come into effect across the nation from July 1, 2017.UNI DS SHK 2115 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0177-916725.Xml Prime Minister Modi would kick-start his two-day visit to Spain with bilateral engagements with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy. During his stay, he will meet the top leadership of the country to discuss issues of mutual interests. He is also expected to call on King of Spain - King Felipe VI tomorrow. The Prime Minister will be discussing ways to enhance bilateral engagement, especially in economic sphere, and cooperation on international issues of common concern, particularly in combating terrorism. Prime Minister Modi will also meet top Chief Executive Officers of the Spanish industry and encourage them to take part in the 'Make in India' initiative. During his tour to Spain, a number of agreements are likely to be inked in the fields including, renewable energy, high speed rail, infrastructure, civil aviation, water waste management and air space management. In the first leg of his four nation tour to Germany, Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed number of regional and global issues, including Brexit, terrorism, Afghanistan as well as China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. Discussions on climate change and the possibilities of including India in the G 20 contact also took place. The two leaders also reviewed Brexit, its effects on both India and Germany as well as the future of the European Union (EU). The two sides, during bilateral talks, also discussed how Germany can partner with India on its flagship programs including skill development, energy sector, environment, smart cities and digital India. The German side appreciated India's economic reform agenda, the ease of doing business in India and the fast track mechanism that was established in 2015 to assist German businessmen in India. After concluding his visit, Prime Minister Modi said that he had a "very good interaction" with Merkel. (ANI) "The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!" Trump tweeted. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had rejected this same idea when Trump had proposed it earlier. "The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!" The Hill quoted Trump as saying at the time. As per local media reports, Senate Republicans are planning to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill and tax reform using reconciliation, a process that requires only 51 votes to pass budget-related measures. (ANI) Despite opposition from Turkey, the United States has started delivering military equipment to the Kurdish fighters within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including small arms and vehicles, as part of an effort to take the Islamic State-controlled city of Raqqa. "I can confirm the US-led coalition has begun issuing arms and equipment to Kurdish elements of the SDF. These initial deliveries consist of small arms and vehicles." US Department of Defense spokesperson Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Sputnik on Tuesday. The spokesperson noted that the US advisers will monitor the use of the weapons "wherever possible" to ensure they are used only against the ISIS terror group. American NATO ally Turkey sees the Kurdish fighters in the SDF as closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an internationally designated terror group that has carried out attacks against Turkey. However, the U.S. views the two Kurdish groups as distinct organizations. (ANI) This was Pentagon's first ICBM interceptor system test in the last three years. Prior to this, the system has carried out successful intercepts in nine out of 17 attempts dating back to 1999. The most recent test was in 2014. In a statement, the agency said an unarmed rocket launched from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean was "destroyed" by a ground-based interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California as it traveled outside Earth's atmosphere, reports the Fox news. The test came two days after North Korea sucessfully tested a SCUD-type ballistic missile that landed in Sea of Japan. With a recent spate of missile launches, Pyongyang is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such a missile. Meanwhile, the Pentagon insists the long-planned test of its ground-based interceptor system is not solely about North Korea but is aimed at being able to challenge any threatening ICBM. The test will, however, not confirm that the U.S. is capable of defending itself against an ICBM fired by North Korea. (ANI) Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran on Tuesday said that cooperation in the field of nuclear power is one of the success stories of Russia and India relationship, and will be thoroughly discussed in the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin. "Russia is the only foreign partner of India in the establishment of nuclear energy. We have had discussions with many countries on the grounds, but Russia has emerged as the only country with which we have successful collaborated in the atomic power sector which is the flagship of the Indo-Russian economic cooperation." Saran said. "In the last one year, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant units 1 and 2 have become operational and construction has begun for unit 3 and unit 4 and we are under discussion for starting work on units 5 and 6," he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin at St. Petersburg to further Indo-Russia relations. India and Russia will have discussions over finalization of the General Framework Agreement for units 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. Emphasizing on the most significant aspect of Russia constructing nuclear plants in India , Saran said ," Russia has agreed to steadily increase the degree of localization in the establishment of the nuclear plants in India, which means that the Russian side is willing to make more and more of the Indian manufactured components and equipments into the production. So there is an element of sharing of technology. So this is an important area of cooperation." In 2014, Russia and India signed the 'strategic vision for strengthening cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy. It envisages the serial construction of 12 Russian-designed units in India in the coming future. PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to St Petersburg in Russia beginning May 31 to June 02. On the first day, Prime Minister will be having his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin where both the leaders will discuss ways to enhance ties in trade, defence, nuclear sector and fight against terrorism. Under the 'Strategic Partnership' PM Modi will invite foreign firms to share technology with local players relating to defence equipment to be manufactured in India. Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry's Eurasia division G V Srinivas said "the work is in progress" and added "I do not want to steal the thunder of the meeting."(ANI) Showing confidence in the mutual trust shared between India and Russia, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran said, that New Delhi is convinced that Moscow will not do anything that will affect the country's national interests. In an exclusive interview to ANI, Saran said Indo-Russian relations are based on firm and strong foundation, adding that the focus should be in strengthening own relations than concentrating on 'third countries'. "Our relations with Russia are very old, very deep, based on mutual trust. These relations are based on firm and strong foundation. We have to look at how we can strengthen our own relations and not really focus our attention on what third countries are doing," Saran told ANI on being asked about Pakistan's ties with Russia. "We have enough on the table. Our bilateral agenda is very rich and as long as India and Russia respect each other's core vital national interests, we are all right. This is the way we are at present. We are convinced that Russia will not do anything that will affect India's national interests," he added. Saran's statement came in response to a poser on the recent Russia-Pakistan joint military drill. However, following the reports of Russia conducting joint military exercise with Pakistan in September last year, Moscow had rubbished any such reports of holding joint military exercises with Pakistani forces in Gilgit Baltistan, and clarified the anti-terror drills will take place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. The denial came as Russian troops arrived in Islamabad on September 23, 2016 for the first-ever joint exercises with Pakistani forces. The exercise began on September 24, 2016 under the name 'Friendship-2016' and reflected growing military ties between the two countries. Deputy Director of Information and Press Department Yury Materiy said that Russia holds such military drills with other countries of the region as well. "On September 23, Indra-2016 joint Russian-Indian anti-terror exercise started at Sergeyevsky training ground in the Primorye Territory," he added. In a statement from the Russian embassy in New Delhi on September 23, 2016, Russia said that contrary to some reports appearing in a section of the press, the Russia-Pakistan anti-terror exercise is not being held and will not be held in any point of so-called "Azad Kashmir", or in any other sensitive or problematic areas like Gilgit and Baltistan. The statement added the only venue of the exercise is Cherat, referring to a place in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Russian Embassy said all reports alleging the drills taking place at the high altitude military school in Rattu are erroneous and mischievous. (ANI) The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres has warned United States that quitting the Paris climate agreement could threaten the country's economic, security and societal status. His remarks at New York University's Stern School of Business came at a time when the world waits for Donald Trump to announce whether the country will continue to uphold the Paris deal, which nearly 200 countries signed as a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "If someone leaves a void, I guarantee someone will fill it," said Guterres, who went on to explain what consequences such an exit could have for the US. "Today, the economy and social aspects are linked to the environmental aspects, but they are also linked to the security aspects, they are linked to the risks of conflict," said Guterres. He continued: "if you leave a void to others to occupy, you might be creating a problem to your own internal security." Guterres issued the warning after calling on world leaders to adhere to the agreement in his first major speech on climate change as secretary general. "The Paris pledges are historic but still do not go nearly far enough to limit temperature rise to well below 2 degrees and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees," said Guterres in an address at New York University. "So we must do our utmost to increase ambition and action until we can bend the emissions curve and slow down global warming," he added. The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in Paris in 2015 and it went into effect in November. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degrees Celsius. So far, 147 parties representing more than 82 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions have ratified the agreement. (ANI) The Ministry of Health in Afghanistan said Wednesday that the death toll from this morning's explosion in the diplomatic enclave in Kabul has gone up to 80, while the number of injured has gone up to 350. It said that toll of deaths and injured can be expected to rise. Tolo News quoted a spokesman of the Ministry of Public Health as confirming this news. Tolo News quoted sources at the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, as saying earlier that between two and nine persons had died and over 90 had been wounded in the blast. The Al Jazeera web site, quoting officials, reported that it was a suicide car bomb attack, described as "one of the biggest" to have hit the Afghan capital. Khamma Press quoted Ministry of Interior spokesman Najib Danish, as confirming that the incident had taken place close to Zanbaq Square in the city's 10th police district. He was further quoted, as saying that a suicide bomber had detonated a vehicle packed with explosives in the area. The Ministry of Public Health officials were quoted, as saying earlier that more than 60 people in wounded condition had been shifted to various hospitals. The Khamma Press said that no group, including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the incident so far. Earlier, India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said all staff at the Indian Embassy were safe and not affected by the huge blast in Kabul's diplomatic enclave. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast," Swaraj said in a tweet. India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra told ANI, "Massive VBIED (Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) not too far from our Embassy. Buildings, including ours, suffered considerable breakages, but all our staff are safe." The blast is said to have occurred about three kilometers from the Indian Embassy, said reports. Tolo News reported that the blast was close to the Embassies of Germany and Iran and added that the explosion happened o 14th Street of the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic area of the city. Many foreign embassies are located in the area, including the American and Canadian missions. The Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) has deployed its team in the area for rescue and counter-insurgency operations. More details and updates are awaited. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today had a meeting with President of Spain Mariano Rajoy during which the leaders discussed the areas, including anti-terror cooperation, in which they could work together both globally and bilaterally.Mr Modi arrived here last night from Berlin from where he had started his four-nation tour on Monday.After meeting the Spanish President at la Moncloa Place here, Mr Modi said in a media statement that they discussed various issues, including those which had global repercussions and, also the ways in which the two could countries could cooperate in these areas."India and Spain can cooperate in so may areas,including infrastructure. We must have closer economic ties,'' Mr Modi said.He also called for closer cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism,while noting that both the countries had suffered from terror attacks.The Prime Minister will also shortly be calling on Spanish King Phelip VI.Later in the afternoon he will be having an interaction with Spanish CEOs.The Prime Minister will leave for Russian city of St Petersberg in the evening.UNI XC NAZ SNU 1315 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-915664.Xml Left drenched and near destitute by a cyclone that hit Bangladesh a day earlier, thousands of Rohingya refugees hunkered down in the ruins of their camps on Wednesday, waiting for help after a night in the rain.At least seven people were killed and 50 injured by Cyclone Mora, according to Mohammad Ali Hussain, the chief administrator of Cox's Bazar district, a sliver of land in southeast Bangladesh bordering Myanmar.The border area that bore the brunt of the storm is home to refugee camps for Muslim Rohingyas who have fled from their homes in northwest Myanmar to escape communal violence and Myanmar army crackdowns."Initial reports suggest damage to shelter in camps sheltering Rohingya refugees, is severe," the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator for Bangladesh said.The Bangladeshi government has estimated that in all, there are about 350,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh following a new influx last October, when the Myanmar army launched an offensive in response to insurgent attacks.Authorities in Cox's Bazar and neighbouring Chittagong district evacuated 350,000 people from low-lying areas before the storm roared in from the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday.But most Rohingyas remained in their flimsy shelters in the camps when the storm struck, with priority given to evacuating only the most vulnerable, like heavily pregnant women.Omar Farukh, a community leader in Kutupalong camp - one of several camps for Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar - described the misery of those left behind."We have passed a difficult time. We had no tin or plastic sheets above our heads and almost all of us passed the night in the rain," Farukh told Reuters by telephone."We tried to save our belongings, whatever we have, with pieces of plastic sheet."A senior U.N. official working in Cox's Bazar said there had been no reports of deaths in the camps, only some injuries.STILL WAITINGThe cyclone formed after monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, off India's southern tip, killing 202 people in recent days, authorities said, adding 96 people were missing.An Indian navy boat rescued 33 Bangladeshis at sea off Chittagong, and recovered one body, the Indian mission in Dhaka said. It was not clear if the people had been on a boat that sank or were washed into the sea by a storm surge.Transport and communications were in chaos in northwest Myanmar, state media there said.Camps for internally displaced Rohingya in Myanmar suffered extensive damage, and there were pockets of damage in the broader community, but no reports of casualties, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.When the storm hit Bangladesh it brought wind gusting up to 135 kph (85 mph) and heavy rain.By daybreak on Wednesday the storm had died down with only a steady rain falling. Airports and ports reopened.Rohingya community leader Farukh said aid agency officials had visited the Kutupalong camp to see what was needed.A relief worker who had visited the Balukhali camp estimated that one in four huts there had been damaged but there were no serious injuries and people had begun repairs.Beyond the camps, officials were also assessing the damage elsewhere in Cox's Bazar. The chief administrator said 17,500 houses had been completely destroyed and 35,000 partially damaged in the district."Almost all rickety houses in the district were completely or partially destroyed by the cyclone. Not only Rohingya houses," Hussain said.The cyclone lost some of its force as it moved inland and across the eastern border into India.Strong wind and heavy rain battered houses, brought down electricity lines, and damaged telecommunication towers in India's Mizoram state, cutting communications and power.The Meteorological Department said the weather system was very likely to continue to move north-northeast and weaken into a cyclonic storm and later into a depression.Other northeastern Indian states had received heavy to very heavy rainfall since Tuesday evening.REUTERS SW 1402 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0101-915758.Xml "A royal greeting! PM @narendramodi calls on His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain at Palacio de la Zarzuela," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders. King Felipe VI ascended the Spanish throne after his father King Juan Carlos abdicated in June 2014. Earlier on Wednesday, Modi held talks with Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy following which seven agreements in different areas were signed by the two sides. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday evening on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a visit in 1988. --IANS ab/vt ( 153 Words) 2017-05-31-16:18:19 (IANS) Russia today warned the US that its accusations against Iran is not helping stabilising the situation in the Middle East, saying Moscow has repeatedly invited Washington to join the Astana format."This (US accusations against Iran) does not help stabilise the situation," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said."The United States accuses Iran of supporting terrorism, while Moscow has been closely cooperating with Tehran in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East. We have been holding active consultations with Iran within the Astana process," Mr Zakharova added."We have more than once invited the United States to get fully involved in these activities as practical work can help accommodate the concerns that the US has," she said."Focusing on accusations, instead of doing practical work, will not lead anywhere," Ms Zakharova added.UNI XC RJ SNU 1802 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-916247.Xml U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to withdraw the nation from the Paris Agreement on climate change, local media reports said. As per the reports, the Trump administration is working on how to roll out the decision. Trump on Tuesday met Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who is in favour of withdrawal from the Paris Accord and will meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday, the CNN reported. Tillerson is in favour of remaining in the deal. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned United States that quitting the Paris climate agreement could threaten the country's economic, security and societal status. His remarks at New York University's Stern School of Business came at a time when the world waits for Trump to announce whether the country will continue to uphold the Paris deal, which nearly 200 countries signed as a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Trump had delayed his decision on the Paris Climate Accord, saying that he will make his final decision on it next week. "I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week," Trump tweeted. Signed a little more than year ago by 195 nations, the Paris deal is meant to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and is seen as one of former President Barack Obama's biggest triumphs. But Trump, pushing a renewed commitment to fossil fuels, heavily criticized the agreement throughout the 2016 campaign. A formal withdrawal would take three years, but that could be expedited if the U.S. pulls out of an underlying UN treaty. Last week, more than 20 Republican senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, sent a letter to Trump asking him to leave the Paris Climate Agreement. Meanwhile, Democrats are urging Trump not to withdraw from the agreement. The exit of the United States after China would apparently weaken the strength of the deal and make the way for other countries to withdraw from it. The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020. The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of May 2017, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the treaty, 147 of which have ratified it. After several European Union states ratified the agreement in October 2016, there were enough countries that had ratified the agreement that produce enough of the world's greenhouse gases for the agreement to enter into force. The agreement went into effect on November 4, 2016. (ANI) Four police officers and a civilian were killed today and two more police are missing after their truck hit a landmine on a road along Kenya's northern coast, a police report said.The vehicle was heading towards Mokowe, near the popular island resort of Lamu, according to the report, filed at Kiunga police station in Lamu."KDF (Kenya Defence Forces) officers responded and when they reached the scene they found four bodies in uniform and another body in civilian clothes," the report said.Two more officers who were riding in the truck have not been accounted for.The commissioner for the Coast region, Nelson Marwa, said he was aware of the attack but did not have details. Police were unavailable for comment.Last week, three roadside bombs killed 11 police officers in attacks along Kenya's long northeastern border with Somalia. Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for all three attacks.Al Shabaab, which has launched devastating attacks on civilians in Kenya, says it is fighting because Kenya sent troops into Somalia in 2011 after a string of attacks and kidnappings on Kenyan soil. The Kenyan soldiers are there as part of a 22,000-strong peacekeeping force intended to shore up the weak UN-backed government.Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew a dictator then turned on each other. REUTERS RJ 2024 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-916676.Xml Reports that Donald Trump is about to quit the Paris accord drew calls today for other countries to rally round the climate pact, but warnings from some environmentalists that it would leave the deal badly weakened.Trump will follow through on his campaign pledge to pull the United States out of the global agreement, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters. On Twitter the president said: "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days."The accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in 2015, aims to cut emissions blamed for global warming. The United States committed to reducing its own by 26 to 28 per cent, compared with 2005 levels, by 2025.The agreement has been criticised as far too cautious to hold back the rise in temperatures by more than a fraction of what is needed - but its defenders say its enrolment of almost all the world's governments makes it crucial.Steffen Kallbekken, Research Director at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, called Trump's move "monumentally irresponsible"."It is difficult to imagine a decision that would be a more devastating blow to the positive momentum behind the Paris Agreement, and to the prospects of raising climate ambition over time," he said.Niklas Hoehne of Germany's New Climate Institute said a US pullout could corrode the resolve of other nations, perhaps including hydrocarbon powers Saudi Arabia and Russia.The big achievement of the Paris Agreement is that it was supported by all countries," he said. "If the US is out that doesn't work any more."HOAXFormer President Barack Obama helped broker the Paris accord and praised it during a trip to Europe this month. Trump has called the idea of global warming a hoax.Canada, the European Union and China have said they will honour their commitments to the pact if the United States withdraws.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Spain's Mariano Rajoy in Madrid today, and both countries reaffirmed their Paris commitments, without mentioning the United States.French President Emmanuel Macron said at a weekend summit in Italy he was sure Trump would back the deal after listening to his G7 counterparts. That hope appears to have been quickly dashed.At a news conference today, a government spokesman said Macron had told a cabinet meeting France would be "very pro-active" in working to ensure the Paris accord was implemented."Depending on the stance some people or others are taking, we'll have to be very pro-active for France to be the homeland of the (fight against) climate change," the spokesman said.Macron had "asked his ministers to take a number of initiatives, with our European partners or directly in France".European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said of a U.S. pullout: "It would be disappointing but I really do not think this would change the course of mankind."There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world from Africa, Asia and China that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that," Sefcovic said."TRUMP EGO"Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament, sent a tweet in the literary style of the US president: "Trump puts his ego ahead of the future of our planet - sad! Let's double down on our efforts to make the #ParisAgreement a success."Johan Rockstrom, director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, called Trump's decision "irresponsible and egoistic"."It's now up to the European Union, India and China to take the lead" on climate change, he said."The U.S. is going from being a global leader to putting itself in a very destructive minority position." But he predicted the deal would survive without Washington.Denmark's energy and climate minister Lars Christian Lilleholt told Reuters: "It will be necessary for the EU to show leadership if the US should pull out of the deal."Judy Wakhungu, Kenya's cabinet secretary for environment and natural resources, said her government would be "very disappointed" by a US withdrawal and hoped it could be reversed."We all live on the same Earth and face the same challenges," she added.Friends of the Earth's US president Erich Pica said: "By pulling out of the Paris Agreement, Trump will make the United States the world's foremost climate villain."Some observers saw chances that Washington would not, in the end, pull out."I hope that the president will be swayed instead by the rather sensible advice he is receiving from his Secretary of State, his Secretary of Defense and his Chief Economic Adviser, who have all recommended against withdrawal," said Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics.REUTERS RJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-916761.Xml India and Russia will sign a credit agreement for construction of two power units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, in Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow ahead of 18th India-Russia annual summit in St Petersburg amidst New Delhi's concerns over Moscow's increasing cooperation overtures to Islamabad. It is for the first time that the India-Russia annual summit at the highest political level is being held outside the Russian capital, since the first such summit in 2000. St Petersburg is popularly called the "cultural capital" of Russia. During his three-day stay in St Petersburg, Mr Modi will also address the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) and visit Piskarovskoye Cemetery to honour those, who lost their lives during the Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944). During the summit, the two leaders are expected to discuss, among other subjects, bilateral defence and energy cooperation, counter-terrorism and situation in Afghanistan. Ahead of the summit, in St Petersuburg, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters today that negotiations on the fifth and sixth power units of Kudankulam NPP are underway. "A framework agreement and an intergovernmental protocol on the Russian credit for these goals are planned for signing during the visit of Indian Prime Minister to St Petersburg on June 1," Mr Ushakov said. He said that it is planned to build at least 12 NPP power units of Russian design in India in 20 years. Russia's Rosneft is close to completion of the acquisition procedure for India's Essar Oil, he said. Mr Ushakov also said Russia sees prospects for deliveries of MC-21 and SSJ-100 airliners to India. "Prospects are in place for supplies of Russian aircraft to India, including Sukhoi Superjet-100 and MC-21 passenger jets," he said. Earlier, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said Russia may supply 1,000 of its newest MC-21 planes until 2037. UNI XC RJ SHK 2151 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-916763.Xml Seven police officers and a civilian were killed today when their truck hit a landmine on a road along Kenya's northern coast, a police report said, the latest deadly attack by Somali Islamist insurgents.The vehicle was heading towards Mokowe, near the popular island resort of Lamu, according to the police."Their bodies have been airlifted," the report said. "KDF (Kenya Defence Forces) officers are combing the area."A spokesman for Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack."We targeted a convoy of Kenyan soldiers near Lamu area with a roadside bomb. One car got destroyed and those on board did not survive," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters by phone.Last week, three roadside bombs killed 11 police officers in attacks along Kenya's long northeastern border with Somalia. Al Shabaab also claimed responsibility for those attacks.Al Shabaab, which has launched devastating attacks on civilians in Kenya, says it is fighting because Kenya sent troops into Somalia in 2011 after a string of attacks and kidnappings on Kenyan soil. The Kenyan soldiers are in Somalia as part of a 22,000-strong peacekeeping force intended to shore up the weak UN-backed government.Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew a dictator then turned on each other. REUTERS RJ 2200 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-916784.Xml Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish President Mariano Rajoy today favoured freedom of navigation and early resolution of South China disputes through peaceful means.The two leaders also expressed grave concern on North Korea's continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs."Regarding the South China Sea, the two Heads of Government stressed the importance of resolving the disputes in accordance with the universally recognized principles of international law, including the UNCLOS," a joint statement issued after the bilateral talks said.Both India and Spain also urged all parties to resolve disputes "through peaceful means without resorting to threat or use of force, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities, and avoid unilateral actions that raise tensions." "President Rajoy and Prime Minister Modi reiterated their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce based on the principles of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)," the statement said.The two Heads of Government expressed grave concern on North Korea's "continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, including uranium enrichment activities, and strongly urged North Korea to refrain from such actions".The North Korea's moves would "adversely impact peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula", the statement said and said North Korea should "fully comply with its international obligations and commitments". The two leaders called upon DPRK and all relevant parties to take early and effective steps to realise denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their determination to cooperate in the relevant fora against proliferation activities posing a regional and global threat.The two leaders expressed their support for peace, stability, prosperity, security and integrity of Afghanistan. They also called for early peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan through an Afghan owned and Afghan led process in keeping with internationally accepted redlines.UNI DEVN SHK 2221 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-916796.Xml Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-30 17:34:18|Editor: xuxin A bus runs on a flooded streent in Kaduwela, Sri Lanka, on May 29, 2017. Sri Lanka on Tuesday said that it was preparing to face health concerns once the floods which lashed the country recede. The death toll from the floods and landslides increased to 193 on Tuesday afternoon and 94 others are reported missing. (Xinhua/Ajith Perera) COLOMBO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka on Tuesday said that it was preparing to face health concerns once the floods which lashed the country recede. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told reporters that while there was no spread of disease so far, diarrhea and skin diseases are expected later. However he said health officials have been deployed to the affected areas and steps will be taken to counter the spread of any disease following the floods. The death toll from the floods and landslides increased to 193 on Tuesday afternoon and 94 others are reported missing. Foreign assistance is continuing to flow in with China, Pakistan and India among the countries sending ship loads of humanitarian aid, Senaratne said. Meanwhile the World Health Organization (WHO) is liaising closely with the Sri Lanka Ministry of Health and is assisting the government to provide critical healthcare services. The main areas for support are medical team deployment, strengthening surveillance of communicable diseases, provision of mental health and psychosocial support for survivors and support health promotion in camps with the objective of preventing any outbreaks. The WHO is seeking assistance from the South East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund to provide assistance to the government. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-30 23:52:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KIGALI, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda targets to generate 444 million U.S. dollars in 2017, up from 404 million dollars last year, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said Tuesday. RDB has revised up the country's annual tourism revenue target, within a month, after increasing the price of mountain gorilla trekking permits to 1,500 dollars for all visitors. Clare Akamanzi, chief executive RDB said tourism receipts will come from the continued tourism promotion efforts and as well as the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events and Exhibitions (MICE) strategy. "We are expecting an increase in tourists coming to Rwanda this year, because of several strategies we have put in place like MICE strategy, introduction of lions and rhinos in Akagera National Park among others," she added. Rwanda's efforts to grow MICE tourism are paying off, having been ranked at 3rd in Africa after South Africa and Morocco in terms of capacity to host international meetings by the 2016 International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) report. MICE is an important segment to Rwanda's tourism industry having generated 47 million dollars in 2016 and projected to contribute 64 million U.S dollars to the tourism industry this year. Akamanzi noted the general conducive business environment in the country and specific reforms that have been put in place for tourism such as marketing and infrastructure and high-end tourism strategy will enable Rwanda generate the targeted revenues in 2017. Rwanda's tourism sector continues to be the country's largest foreign exchange earner thanks to exceptional hospitality given to tourists. The small central African country boasts of tourist attractions such as Volcanoes National Park, Akagera and Nyungwe national parks, museums, Lake Kivu, bird watching, culture, canopy walk, and Congo Nile Trail, among others. The country now has the big five game animals after reintroducing lions last year and Rhinos earlier this month. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-30 23:57:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) closed higher on Tuesday, buoyed by retails shares. The South African rand was trading at R13.11 against the U.S. dollar shooting above R13 to the greenback at 5:00 p.m. local time. The all-share index gained 0.4 percent to 54,158.04 points, while the top 40 index was also 0.35 percent stronger at 47,699.35 points. The industrial index was 0.37 percent stronger. The financial index lifted 0.28 percent and the resources index gained 0.75 percent. On the JSE, Mr Price rose 4.24 percent to R152.39, with Woolworths added 2.26 percent to R68. Among the top shares, Naspers was only 0.04 percent higher at R2 803. Steinhoff lost 1.19 percent to R72.03. In the resources sector, BHP traded 1.32 percent stronger at R203.66 and Anglo American gained 0.43 percent to R170.06. Among the losers in the resources sector, Sibanye lost 3.57 percent to R16.22 while Lonmin was 1.71 percent softer at R13.52. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 00:02:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tourists made 2.71 million outbound trips during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, up 7.2 percent year on year, official data showed Tuesday. The most popular overseas destinations included Russia, Thailand, Italy, Vietnam and France, according to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). There was a rapid increase in the number of outbound tourists visiting Europe during the holiday, the CNTA said. Within the country, 82.6 million trips were made by tourists, with 33.7 billion yuan (4.9 billion U.S. dollars) of business income earned by the domestic tourism sector, according to the CNTA. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of a year according to the Chinese calendar, and falls on May 30 this year. Traditions of the festival include racing dragon boats and eating Zongzi, glutinous rice and fillings wrapped with bamboo or reed leaves. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 01:43:55|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (2nd R) meets with Fang Fenghui (2nd L), a member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the Joint Staff Department under the CMC, in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, on May 30, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Mangmang) BANGKOK, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Thailand and China pledged here Tuesday to joint hands to push forward the all-round development of the military relations between the two countries. While meeting with Fang Fenghui, a member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the Joint Staff Department under the CMC, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that the kingdom is ready to learn China's experiences on reform, dovetail its national development strategy with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and deepen cooperation with China in all sectors. The Thai prime minister said the kingdom is also willing to enhance high-level exchanges and boost cooperation in joint training on counter-terrorism with China. For his part, Fang said that China and Thailand have witnessed the stable development of bilateral ties, with mutual political trust enhanced continuously and cooperation in all fields getting closer. China is willing to work together with Thailand to further deepen all-rounded cooperation between the two militaries so as to make positive contribution to the further development of the bilateral ties and to the regional peace and stability, Fang said. On the same day, Fang also met with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and Thai Chief of Defense Forces General Surapong Suwana-Adth. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 02:29:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ROME, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Italy won't go back on the Paris climate accords, and it hopes the U.S. position turns out to be positive after U.S. President Donald Trump said at the recent G7 in Sicily that he would take its time to assess and made the decision this week, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday. Gentiloni made the remarks at a press conference with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Lower House. "We took note of the U.S. different position but I hope that this position will turn out in a positive way," Gentiloni said. "It is an accord from which we do not mean to retreat," he added. Italy shares German Chancellor Angela Merkel's view that the EU "must take its future into its own hands," said Gentiloni. According to Ansa news agency, Gentiloni stressed that the alliance with the United States was very important, but that "we have fundamental objectives which we cannot renounce, such as the environment." Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 06:01:02|Editor: Liu Video Player Close BERLIN, May 30 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Tuesday tried to smooth things over the recent verbal battle between Germany and United States. Gabriel admitted in a press meeting that "it's true that we have a difficult situation in relations between Germany and U.S," but he believed "we will come back to good relations in the future." After a unsatisfactory G7 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday made a campaign speech in a Bavarian beer tent, grumbling Europe's alignment with the U.S. and Britain. She said following the election of the U.S President Donald Trump and Brexit, Europeans "really have to take destiny into their own hands." Some of the G7 agendas were especially tough for Merkel, among them was the rise of protectionism and the discussion about the climate pact Paris Accord, which Trump refused to endorse. However, Trump blasted back against Merkel on Tuesday, tweeting Americans "have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO&military. Very Bad for U.S., this will change." He renewed his allegation earlier at NATO summit that Germany doesn't pay its full -- 2 percent of GDP share toward defense, a requirement of NATO membership. Their exchange of words have sparked a media buzz. Some analysts dubbed their remarks as "a turning point" of German-US relationship, saying Merkel clearly wants to distance Germany from U.S government led by president Trump. Some even also suggested Germany should make "new friends" instead of the traditional ones. Yet Gabriel tried to play down the spat, noting it as "trivialized things", while saying it is "inappropriate" for the two nations to communicate with each other between a beer tent and Twitter. The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday also attempted to calm the waters, saying Merkel and Trump "get along very well." "He has a lot of respect for her," Spicer said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 07:01:28|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BRUSSELS, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel has received treatment for partial hearing loss after Princess Astrid fired a starting pistol for a race within inches of his ear, his spokesman confirmed Tuesday. Astrid, the younger sister of Belgium's King Philippe, fired the blank to kick off the 20 km race within a hair's breadth of Michel's left ear in Brussels Sunday. The spokesman said the PM was also suffering from tinnitus, sometimes described as ringing in the ears. The PM underwent further medical tests on Monday and Tuesday, and had to skip an appearance in parliament for a presentation of a national investment plan, according to the spokesman. "The Prime Minister must follow a number of treatments within 48 hours after the incident," told his spokesman Barend Leyts. "Further medical treatment is expected through the week," Leyts added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 07:56:43|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Jeremy Joseph Christian, the suspect who stabbed two people to death and injured another last Friday on a crowded transit train, was arraigned in Multnomah County Court in U.S. state of Oregon on Tuesday. Christian, 35, did not say anything during the brief court hearing other than shouting. Portland Police Bureau said Saturday the suspect was booked at the time on a number charges, including two counts of aggravated murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of intimidation in the second degree, and one count of felon in possession of a restricted weapon. The incident took place on a Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light-rail train Friday afternoon, and witnesses said Christian yelled racial and religious slurs at two girls, one of them wearing a hijab. Three men tried to intervene, then were stabbed by Christian, who then fled the scene at the Hollywood TS Transit station in the largest city of Oregon. Ricky John Best, 53, a city employee and father of four kids, died at the scene; Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, who recently graduated from college, was pronounced dead at a hospital; Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, was treated for injuries. Christian was seen in some social media postings giving a Nazi salute at a right-wing protest in April. A grand jury is expected to consider additional charges against the suspect, whose next court appearance will be on June 7. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 09:53:02|Editor: Yurou Liang Video Player Close Chinese Ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde receives an interview with Xinhua at the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, capital of Germany, May 29, 2017. China and Germany can forge ahead and upgrade their existing cooperation in the new international circumstances, Shi said in the interview. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China and Germany can forge ahead and upgrade their existing cooperation in the new international circumstances, Chinese ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde said in a recent interview with Xinhua. Shi noted that the year 2017 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang kicks off his visit to Germany and Belgium on Wednesday. During the three-day visit, he will meet with European leaders in an effort to enhance mutual political trust and expand pragmatic cooperation between the two sides, to inject fresh impetus into China's relations with the two countries. During the years, great changes have taken place in the two countries, as Germany rose from a divided state into a unified and top European country. Meanwhile China, from a poor and backward country, has become the second largest economy and a responsible world power, Shi said. Ties between the two countries have weathered global upheavals and sustained a growing momentum, bringing tangible benefits to peoples of the two countries, enhancing the development of China-EU relationship and peace and stability of the world, Shi said. He called the ties a "genuine, win-win, all-around strategic partnership." Shi said that China-Germany ties play a leading and stabilizing role in the China-EU relationship when Europe is facing a complex situation with great uncertainties brewing in the world. On scientific innovation collaboration, Shi called on governmental departments in charge of science, enterprises, universities and research institutes of the two countries to show the great foresight to innovate ways of cooperation and deepen cooperation so as to facilitate economic restructuring and industrial progress. German enterprises have the edge in science and technology but face a limited size of market. Nevertheless, if they take advantage of China's market, talents, capitals and policies, there will be infinite possibilities, he said. Talking on the threats of protectionism, Shi called on China and the EU to join hands in the fight against it and promote free trade. Shi reiterated China's stance on facilitating free trade and investment and voiced hope that Germany can also continue to wield its influence in this respect. According to Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China invested over 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in Germany in 2016, a 258.6-percent increase year-on-year. In the same year, Germany pumped 392 projects in China with an investment volume of 2.71 billion dollars. Ministries of China and Germany set up a dialogue mechanism in 2015 and signed a trove of memorandums of understanding and cooperative agreements to promote bilateral exchanges in intelligent manufacturing. The two countries have also established work teams to cooperate in rule-making and criteria-setting for intelligent manufacturing and Industry 4.0. LOS ANGELES, May 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. military officials said an interceptor missile launched Tuesday from a California military base shot down a simulated incoming warhead as part of a U.S. defense system test. The ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California, 250 km northwest to Los Angeles, at a mock-up of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Officials said the interceptor missile travelled at 16,000 miles (27,040 km) per hour and hit its target over the Pacific Ocean. The test came a day after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) tested its ninth ballistic missile this year that travelled 280 miles (473 km) before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the test had been planned for some time and was not timed specifically as a response to the DPRK. "In a broad sense, North Korea is one of reasons why we have this capability," Davis said. "North Korea has expanded the size and the sophistication of its ballistic missile forces," he said in a statement. The U.S. interceptor has an uneven track record, having succeeded nine times out of 17 attempts against missiles in test since 1999, although the most recent test in June 2014 was a success. "They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland," Davis said. The United States has 26 interceptors based at Fort Greely in Alaska and four at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Last week, the Pentagon presented its 2018 budget to Congress, proposing spending 7.9 billion U.S. dollars on missile defense, including 1.5 billion dollars for the ground-based mid-course defense program. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 10:08:20|Editor: Yurou Liang Video Player Close KATHMANDU, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Nepali former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has called on the country to identify projects to be developed under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Oli made the call while addressing a one-day conference which focused on enhancing connectivity here on Tuesday. Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road. "It is a matter of pleasure that Nepal and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month to ensure Nepal's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative," Oli said. Nepal believes this partnership will be mutually beneficial to both the countries and crucial to meet the long-term development needs of Nepal, he said, adding that it will help to build peace, social harmony and achieve prosperity in the region and beyond. Ramsharan Mahat, a senior leader of the ruling Nepali Congress said, "Nepal should now focus to develop cross-border railways, highways and other connectivity projects with China under the Belt and Road framework." Former Nepali diplomat Hiranya Lal Shrestha said Nepal's entry in the Belt and Road Initiative has further strengthened age-old bilateral ties between the two countries. The entry has opened massive new opportunities for Nepal to carry out third country trade via China, he said, adding, "In future, Nepal can set up economic corridors with Pakistan and other countries via China, thus enhancing its connectivity." On the occasion, experts from Nepal and China stressed the need of cooperation between the two countries under the Belt and Road Initiative. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 10:58:43|Editor: ZD Video Player Close LUSAKA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government Tuesday commended the World Bank for approving funds for implementing a project aimed at tackling deforestation in the eastern part of the country. The World Bank earlier this month approved about 33.05 million U.S. dollars for the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Program to be implemented in all nine districts in eastern Zambia. It will cover around 5.5 million hectares of land. Minister of National Planning and Development Lucky Mulusa said the project will result in increased forest cover through tree planting and sustainable forest management, and further result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The program has been approved by the government and has been designed as a multi-sectoral program focusing on forestry, agriculture, wildlife and land-use planning and management, he added. The project, he said, will also improve agricultural practices through climate-smart agriculture, promote zero deforestation, and develop biodiversity conservation through local community participatory approaches. According to Mulusa, the project will comprise support for the first phase of five years which will seek to build capacity and improve livelihoods, and will reduce deforestation. This will be extended by another 10 years with a focus on emission reduction, financing another 30 million dollars as an incentive to reduce deforestation, depending on the success of the first phase. The minister said the government has solicited support from cooperating partners in a number of sectors to help combat climate change and its effects. "As government, we will ensure that the program is implemented successfully," Mulusa told reporters during a press briefing at his office in Lusaka, the country's capital. The project has been funded under the BioCarbon Funds and is designed to promote a performance-based approach to reducing greenhouse emissions in the land-use sector of agriculture and forestry. Zambia is among the first four countries that have access to funds from the BioCarbon Funds under the program called Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes. The others are Ethiopia, Colombia and Indonesia. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 11:03:46|Editor: ZD Video Player Close CANBERRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The head of Australia's intelligence agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), on Wednesday defended his views that refugees are not to blame for terrorism in Australia after conservative members of Parliament took particular concerns with the comments earlier this week. Last Thursday, ASIO chief Duncan Lewis told a Senate estimates committee that to his knowledge, there was "absolutely no evidence to suggest there is a connection between refugees and terrorism," a statement which drew criticism from those on the far-right side of Australia's political spectrum. When asked if he stood by his comments on Wednesday, Lewis told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio that both ASIO and the government were aware that terrorists were not brought into Australia as refugees, and rather, they were groomed and recruited once they had settled. "We have had tens of thousands of refugees come to Australia over the last decade or so and very few of them have become subjects of interest for ASIO, and have been involved in terrorist planning," Lewis said. "I have not said there are not terrorists who have not been refugees or have not been the sons and daughters of refugees but the context is very important." "I think it is very wrong to say that it is because of their refugee status that they are where they are. They are radicalised for different reasons," Lewis said. The comments came under fire from Pauline Hanson, leader of the far-right One Nation party, who said earlier this week that she was "gobsmacked" to hear Lewis' thoughts on the matter, while former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Lewis and ASIO needed to be "open and upfront" with the Australian people, insinuating that Lewis was withholding the entire truth. Despite the controversy surrounding Lewis' comments, other members of the government have thrown their support behind the explanation. Lewis' position was backed up by Australia's Attorney-General George Brandis, who on Wednesday said that Australia "goes to great lengths" to ensure all refugee candidates are properly vetted, and that home-grown terrorists are groomed well after they settle in Australia. "Mr Lewis was asked about Middle Eastern refugees coming to Australia and bringing in the threat of terrorism. The point he made is that Australia's refugee program is not the source of the terrorism problem," Brandis told The Australian newspaper on Wednesday. "Although a small number of Middle Eastern refugees have been implicated in terrorist activities, they are a tiny fraction of the many thousands of the Middle Eastern refugees Australia settles." Meanwhile, Special Minister of State and Senator Scott Ryan said Lewis was "quite explicit" about the cause of home-grown terrorism. "I think he laid out quite effectively the risk factors and what the government intends to do about them," Ryan told Sky News on Wednesday. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 11:38:55|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close (Xinhua file photo) BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China's manufacturing sector expanded for the 10th straight month in May, an official survey showed on Wednesday. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 51.2 in May, flat with April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP). A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction. The latest reading reaffirmed a stabilizing Chinese economy, said Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development Research Center under the State Council. The sub-index for production stood at 53.4 in May, down from 53.8 in April, while the sub-index for new orders came in at 52.3 in May, unchanged from that in April. Chen Zhongtao, an analyst at the China Logistics Information Center, said positive factors had grown for the Chinese economy, including balanced supply and demand, better performance of companies and a good job market. The manufacturing PMI for medium-sized enterprises stood at 51.3 in May, up from 50.2 in April, while PMI for small enterprises came in at 51 in May, the highest in five years. Equipment manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing and consumer goods manufacturing continued robust growth, with the sub-indices all registering above 52, indicating the increasingly important roles they play in the manufacturing sector. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 11:59:02|Editor: An Video Player Close By Shuai Rong BRUSSELS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Trade protectionism hurts all and reduces the overall economic well-being as consumers and downstream businesses must pay a higher cost for the same goods or raw materials, European trade experts has told Xinhua. "It would be far more beneficial for the European Union (EU)'s competitiveness and for European consumers if the EU limits the use of Trade Defense Instruments(TDI) to its indispensable minimum," said Christian Verschueren, director-general of EuroCommerce, the EU's trade representative group for retail and wholesale. On May 3, EU member states agreed on new anti-dumping rules containing a revised methodology for calculating dumping prices. The new rules were proposed by the European Commission last November. Currently, EU anti-dumping investigations are based on market economy and non-market economy lists. In non-market economies, investigators identify dumping activities by comparing the export prices with those in a third country, also known as a "surrogate country", rather than with domestic prices in the exporting country as is the case of market economies. In the new methodology, the surrogate country approach is replaced by a so-called "significant market distortion" concept. It enables EU investigators to correct "significant market distortions" by setting prices based either on prices in a third country with economic development levels similar to those of the country under investigation or on "international undistorted prices." It does not virtually cease the surrogate country approach. Instead, it intends to continue using it in a disguised way and that could lead to even higher duties on a third country's producers, said Bao Yongqing, international trade lawyer from Steptoe & Johnson LLP Brussels office. Obviously, trade protectionism will reduce the overall economic well-being because consumers and downstream businesses must pay a higher cost for the same goods or raw materials, Bao said. "The ones suffering from steel duties in the first place are clearly the EU steel importers and wholesalers. At the end of the day, however, the bill will be for the final consumer to pay," Verschueren told Xinhua in a recent interview, adding that his organization will continue to favor free and fair trade. Verschueren said the EU's TDI system has in fact gone beyond its legitimate scope, and certain sectors in the EU rely on anti-dumping duties as a last resort or "a life insurance in the stormy seas of the world market." He called on the EU not to focus on artificially protecting less competitive sectors, saying affordable steel prices are in Europe's own interest. In his view, EU steel producers will benefit from the new calculation methodology and a shorter investigation time cut from nine months to seven months. Brandishing the stick of TDI, Verschueren said, will not solve the "real bread and butter issue" for the EU steel industry, which is to enhance domestic producers' genuine competitiveness. He said the EU needs to "complete some homework internally." "It would be unfair to expect importers and consumers in the EU to pay the bill for possible shortcomings in other areas, be it at company or policy level," Verschueren said. PARIS, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur was formally probed by the commission of inquiry at the French Court of Justice (CJR) for a scandal over the financing of his 1995 presidential campaign, a local newspaper, due out on Wednesday, reported. According to the weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaine in its edition to be published on Wednesday, the 88-year-old former prime minister is suspected to have received kickbacks on arms contracts. Questioned Monday by the CJR commission of inquiry, he was put under formal investigation for "complicity in the misuse and handling of assets," Le Canard Enchaine revealed. In a statement, Balladur announced that he has "asked his lawyers to contest this decision before the Court of Appeals." "The decision of the commission of inquiry drew no conclusions from the approval of the campaign account by the Constitutional Council in October 1995, nor from the datedness of the facts, which were as old as 23 years," said the former prime minister. Judges have been tracking a supposed hidden financing scheme, from which Balladur was alleged to have benefited, during an investigation into a 2002 terrorist attack in Karachi, Pakistan, which killed 15 people including 11 French workers from the Naval Construction Office. A candidate of the presidency in 1995, Balladur's signature was found on an arms sale contract with Pakistan in 1994. In June 2014, the judges sentenced several people involved in the scandal to prison, including Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, special counselor of the Ministry of Defense, Nicolas Bazire, who was a director of Balladur's cabinet, Dominique Castellan, former CEO of the Naval Construction Office, and the inflammatory Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine. The French Court of Justice, with sole jurisdiction over ministries for crimes committed in the exercise of their office, was put in charge of investigating the alleged role played by Balladur and his former Defense Minister Francois Leotard. It was charged with the responsibility to see if Balladur's campaign was financed by illegal kickbacks on submarine contracts sold to Pakistan and frigates sold to Saudi Arabia, and if the halt on payment for the commissions, ordered by then President Jacques Chirac, is at the origin of the terrorist attack in Karachi. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 13:04:36|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close HANOI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's imports of agro-forestry-fishery products in the first five months of 2017 went up 23.6 percent year-on-year to over 11 billion U.S. dollars, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday. In the five months, Vietnam spent 547 million U.S. dollars importing over 2 million tons of fertilizers, up 24.4 percent in value and 31.8 percent in volume. Chinese fertilizer imports hiked in both volume and value, accounting for 39.1 percent of Vietnam's total import revenues. For pesticides and materials for pesticide production, Vietnam imported 400 million U.S. dollars worth of the items, up 41.1 percent, with Chinese products making up 53.4 percent of the total. The import revenue of pesticides and materials from China surged 43.4 percent, said the ministry. From January to May, Vietnam's animal feed imports saw a year-on-year increase of 27.5 percent to more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars. China was the fourth largest animal feed supplier to Vietnam, representing 4.2 percent of the market share of the item, after Argentina, the United States and India. At the same time, Vietnam imported 508 million U.S. dollars worth of seafood, up 28 percent, mainly from India and China, with 25.7 percent and 9.1 percent of the market share, respectively. Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian nation imported 470 million U.S. dollars worth of fruits and vegetables. Main exporters of the items include Thailand (making up 50.1 percent of the market share) and China (18.9 percent), said the ministry. Vietnam has so far this year exported 13.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of farm produce, forest products and seafood, up 9.5 percent against the same period last year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 13:04:38|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close MOSCOW, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Roughly three months ahead of a BRICS summit to be held in China, Russian analysts saw immense potential to increase and diversify economic cooperation between Russia and China. Vast opportunities can be created during the development of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the process of Russia's import substitution industrialization, experts said, adding that closer economic ties between the two strategic partners will be mutually beneficial. They also believe China-Russia trade should be expanded to more non-energy sectors so that bilateral economic cooperation can develop in a sustainable way. These remarks were made at a time when BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are busy preparing for the ninth summit of the bloc's leaders on Sept. 3-5 in Xiamen City in east China's Fujian Province. INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT The development of transport facilities is one of the key problems Russia faces, given its vast territory and low quality of roads and railways. "Chinese investment and joint projects will play a major role in the vast areas of Siberia and the Far East, as well as in other parts of Russia," said Sergei Luzyanin, director of the Far Eastern Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Luzyanin pinned high hopes on the Belt and Road Initiative, which can "greatly stimulate the development of infrastructure." To finance infrastructure construction, the BRICS New Development Bank should play a bigger role, said Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist of the Eurasian Development Bank. Russia responded to Western sanctions following its annexation of Crimea in 2014 with a so-called "import substitution" policy in various sectors in a bid to boost domestic industrial production. The process of import substitution industrialization creates opportunities for Chinese direct investment in Russia, said Vitaly Monkevich, president of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RAUIE). "This is beneficial for both sides as Chinese businesses will achieve a higher profit rate and the ability to sell products to China, and Russia will get investment and new jobs," said Monkevich. According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese companies invested more than 100 million U.S. dollars in Russia between January and April this year. "We see a serious interest in Russia-China cooperation from business circles of both countries," said Monkevich. NON-ENERGY SECTOR PARTNERSHIP Trade between China and Russia jumped 26.2 percent year on year to 24.7 billion dollars in the first four months of 2017, according to China's General Administration of Customs. In addition to oil and gas, Russian analysts saw the possibility of expanding bilateral trade to more areas. "RAUIE members often turn to us with requests for export of sunflower oil, honey, ice cream, confectionery and alcohol ... We see a great potential for the development of exports other than raw materials," said Monkevich. As for space cooperation between Russia and China, Luzyanin expects joint manned space stations and joint space missions in the future. Furthermore, Luzyanin and Lissovolik, who are also members of the Russian think tank Valdai Discussion Club, suggested Chinese and Russian programmers cooperate in ensuring cybersecurity and developing Internet-based business. "All this together creates a new quality for the growth of Russia-China cooperation. We can deal with oil and gas and talk about diversifying cooperation at the same time," said Luzyanin. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that both countries should maintain the development of pragmatic cooperation. Wang echoed Putin's appeal, saying that Russia and China should further deepen cooperation in such fields as trade and investment and explore new sources of economic growth. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 13:09:39|Editor: xuxin An injured man is being transferred to hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 31, 2017. A powerful blast rocked a diplomatic district in the central part of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Wednesday morning, leaving casualties and damage, sources and witnesses said. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah) KABUL, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A powerful car bombing rocked a diplomatic district in the central part of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Wednesday morning, leaving casualties and damage, sources and witnesses said. "The blast occurred roughly at 08:25 a.m. (local time) at 17th street of Wazir Akbar Khan locality. The huge explosion left tens of people killed and injured and damaged dozen vehicles running and nearby buildings," witness Ahmad Fahim told Xinhua. About 60 injured people were admitted to nearby hospitals after the blast, local TV channel Tolo News quoted health officials as saying. Local TV channels showed the damaged buildings and cars on the blast site. "Among other office buildings located at the area are an intelligence agency office, a local TV channel, a mobile phone company as well as German Embassy building," the witness said. Security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures. Several warning shots were also fired by the security forces. The blast caused a plume of grey smoke to rise above the scene. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 13:14:43|Editor: ying A violoncellist performs during the awards ceremony in Pasadena, California, the United States, May 30, 2017. The Asian American Heritage Month celebration festival in Los Angeles ended Tuesday with its awards ceremony in Pasadena. (Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong) LOS ANGELES, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The Asian American Heritage Month celebration festival in Los Angeles ended Tuesday with its awards ceremony in Pasadena. The month of May was officially designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 1992 by the U.S. Congress to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The celebration festival in Los Angeles honored four organizations and five individuals this year for their achievements and contributions. "I am very honored to receive this award," Mike Eng, award recipient and former California Assemblyman, told Xinhua at the ceremony. "I hope that Asian Americans in the community will understand that being elected as an official is a very honorable thing. I hope that more young people... more women will consider running for office because we need the representation," Eng added. Individual recipients of the awards included prominent Asian Americans as well as friends of Asian Americans, such as American philosopher and environmentalist John Cobb Jr, who has been working with Chinese scholars for years. "I am very interested in the work that has been done by Asian American group," Cobb said, adding that he appreciated this honor a lot. "My work has been done mainly in China itself, so I have been directly working with the Chinese-American group," said Cobb. The other award recipients are the City of Pasadena, White House Initiative On Asian Pacific Islanders, API Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Council of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association, for their contributions to Asian American communities. Various celebration activities were held not only in Los Angeles, but also across the United States, including San Francisco, New York and Washington D.C. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 13:29:46|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CANBERRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A 12-year-old Australian high school student has been confirmed as one of at least 20 people killed by an Islamic State (IS) car bomb which exploded outside a Baghdad ice-cream parlour in the early hours of Tuesday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Wednesday morning. Zynab Al Harbiya was with family visiting her sick grandfather in the Iraqi capital, and had asked her mother to take her to the ice-cream parlour after fasting throughout the day, when a car bomb exploded, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more. On Wednesday, Bishop confirmed the seventh grade student at Melbourne's Sirius College was killed in the attack, and has since been buried in the Iraqi capital. "IS has claimed responsibility for this vicious car bombing that killed so many people. It's with great sadness that I can confirm that a 12-year-old Australian girl, Zynab Al Harbiya, was killed during this car bombing," Bishop said at a press conference on Wednesday. "She's a young girl from Melbourne who was visiting Baghdad with her family, to see her sick grandfather during Ramadan. "I extend our deepest sympathies to her family, her loved ones and her fellow students at Sirius College in Broadmeadows." A statement released by Melbourne Iraqi community representative Sama Hadad described Al Harbiya as a "loving and fun 12-year-old." "That night she had begged her mum to take her to a local ice-cream parlour at the end of a long hot day fasting. She will now never make it back home," the statement said. Meanwhile, Bishop reiterated Australia's commitment to the fight against IS in the Middle East, explaining that the tragedy "underscores the brutality of this terrorist organization that shows no respect for religion, nationality, sovereignty, borders - no respect for humanity." "This is why the Australian government has continued to commit our defence personnel to support the Iraqi security forces, so that they can fight to defeat this terrorist organization within Iraq and to prevent its spread to other parts of the world including in our region," Bishop said. A spokesperson from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said that latest reports put the death toll from the blast at "over 30 with dozens more injured," while it was confirmed that Al Harbiya's family was receiving consular assistance. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 13:44:52|Editor: xuxin CANBERRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit Australia from June 5 to 6 to participate in the 2017 Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced on Wednesday. Confirming the details of the AUSMIN at a press conference, Bishop said the discussions would involve improving the bilateral alliance between the two countries, while it would also provide an opportunity for the leaders to discuss pressing regional issues. "Next Monday, the annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial Dialogue (Consultations) will take place in Sydney, and we will welcome, for the first time under the new (Donald) Trump administration, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defence James Mattis for a dialogue with (Australia's Defence Minister) Marise Payne and myself on the challenges which face our region," Bishop told the press. "(We will also discuss) our bilateral alliance with the United States and ways in which we can work together to improve the peace, stability and prosperity of our two nations and our region." Through a statement released by her office later on Wednesday, Bishop said AUSMIN was the "premier forum for Australia-U.S. bilateral consultations on foreign affairs, defence and strategic matters." She said the 2017 meeting would be one of extra importance because it involved the new Trump administration. "This will be the first AUSMIN with the new U.S. Administration, and will build on our strong, dynamic bilateral relationship and our steadfast Alliance, which began with the signing of the ANZUS treaty in 1951," Bishop said. "During the meeting we will discuss our shared commitment to ensuring global peace and stability, and our mutual strategic priorities including North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and defeating Islamic State (IS). Australia-U.S. cooperation and collaboration in the Pacific and Southeast Asia will also be a key focus." Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 14:25:09|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- An armed man was taken into custody Tuesday night at Orlando International Airport in the U.S. southeastern state of Florida, authorities said. "Gunman in custody," Orlando Police tweeted at 10:08 p.m. (1508 GMT). "Everyone is safe." The airport was closed hours earlier after reports of a man with a weapon found in a rental car area. "There is a guy out there with a gun. Take cover. He has a huge gun," local media quoted a witness as saying. "There is no active shooter. No shots fired. Suspect is contained. Will post updates as we receive them," Orlando Police tweeted 40 minutes later. At 09:27 p.m. (1427 GMT), Orlando Police tweeted that a crisis negotiator was speaking with the gunman. Travelers posted photos and videos to social media that showed the police presence at the airport. There was minimal impact to airport operations, the airport wrote on Twitter. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 15:10:35|Editor: ying Chung Yoo-ra (C), the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, a longtime confidante of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, is interviewed upon her arrival at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, South Korea, May 31, 2017. The 21-year-old was extradited from Denmark where she was in custody for about five months. (Xinhua/NEWSIS) SEOUL, May 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday demanded seven years in prison against Choi Soon-sil, a decades-long confidante of the ousted president Park Geun-hye, over corruption allegations. Choi was taken into custody and stood trial over a string of corruption allegations, including bribery and closed-door intervention in state affairs. The imprisonment demand was for Choi's wrongdoing to allow her daughter to receive illegal academic favors at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. A Seoul court, tasked with the trial of Choi's case, decided to combine Choi and Park's cases together. Prosecutors had yet to demand the penalty against other corruption charges of Choi and Park. If convicted of bribery, Choi and Park would face at least 10 years in prison. Chung Yoo-ra, Choi's daughter, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Wednesday afternoon. The 21-year-old was extradited from Denmark where she was in custody for about five months. She repeatedly refused the summons by South Korean prosecutors for her alleged involvement in the corruption allegations surrounding her mother. The Danish court decided to extradite Chung, but she appealed the ruling. She withdrew the appeal last week. Prosecutors were expected to seek an arrest warrant for Chung for questioning. Chung was suspected of receiving illegal finance assistance from Samsung Group, the country's biggest conglomerate, for her equestrian training. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 15:52:32|Editor: Xiang Bo Children make bubbles in a kindergarten affiliated to Fujian Preschool Education College in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 31, 2017. With children and their family members invited, a party was organized in the kindergarten to celebrate the upcoming International Children's Day and to improve their creation abilities. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei) Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 15:45:58|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Li Jinzhang delivers a speech during the official launch of a joint Brazil-China investment promotion fund in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 30, 2017. Brazilian and Chinese officials launched a joint Brazil-China investment promotion fund here on Tuesday to increase productive capacity. The fund, now in operation, will have an initial sum of 20 billion U.S. dollars to finance investment projects in Brazil that are of interest to both countries. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso) SAO PAULO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian and Chinese officials launched a joint Brazil-China investment promotion fund here on Tuesday to increase productive capacity. The fund, now in operation, will have an initial sum of 20 billion U.S. dollars to finance investment projects in Brazil that are of interest to both countries. The fund is to serve as a mechanism to promote investment by bringing the public and private sectors of the countries together to invest in projects in infrastructure, manufacturing, agribusiness and technology. Representatives from Brazil's Ministry of Planning and the China Latin American Industrial Cooperation Investment Fund (Claifund) made the announcement at the 2017 Brazil Investment Forum (FIB 2017) in Sao Paulo. At the signing ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Li Jinzhang said the China-Brazil Fund is the result of a long-running joint effort and reaffirms the countries' strategic bilateral ties. "With our comprehensive strategic partnership, Brazil is a priority country for China's strategy of expanding productive capacity. The China-Brazil Fund guarantees the financial mechanism to expand cooperation," he said. "The fund reflects a higher level of cooperation for both countries, and will create a new model of financial cooperation," said Li. Brazilian Planning Minister Dyogo Oliveira said the fund is going into operation at the right moment, given that Brazil's two-year economic recession, the longest in its history, is showing signs of coming to an end. "This launch is marked by particular importance, as it confirms the confidence between Brazil and China," said Oliveira. "It is taking place at a time when we and our international partners are seeking support for projects in infrastructure, energy and technology." The innovative mechanism is the first of its type in Latin America, the minister noted, as Brazil becomes the first country in the region to participate in a fund that is jointly governed by China. Projects approved by the fund's board of directors will receive financing from Claifund, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and Caixa Economica Federal, Brazil's federal savings bank. Priority sectors for investment include logistics and infrastructure, energy and mineral resources, high technology, agriculture, agribusiness and agricultural warehousing, manufacturing, and digital services, among others. According to the agreement, for every dollar put up by Brazil's financing sources, China will put up three, with the initial 20 billion U.S. dollars including 5 billion from Brazil and 15 billion from China. Both sides have said they are willing to provide more financing, if projects call for it. Brazil's Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi hailed the creation of the China-Brazil Fund. "China's trust toward Brazil is ever greater. Brazil is a great supplier of raw materials, trade is always growing. The fund is very important and goes in this direction," he said. He also called for new Chinese investments into Brazil and reiterated that his country is a safe place to do business and that contracts would be honored, despite an ongoing political crisis. China and Brazil established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2012, three years after China became Brazil's leading trade partner. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 16:01:17|Editor: ying South Korea's new Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon attends the inauguration ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, May 31, 2017. South Korea's parliament on Wednesday approved the nomination of Lee Nak-yon as the prime minister. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho) SEOUL, May 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's parliament on Wednesday approved the nomination of Lee Nak-yon as the first prime minister. The 299-seat National Assembly passed the nomination with 164 votes in favor. Present for the vote was 188 lawmakers. By law, the nominee is required to get consent from a majority of legislators. President Moon Jae-in is allowed to appoint his cabinet members with recommendations from the prime minister. When Moon was sworn in as president on May 10, he named Lee as his government's first prime minister to form his cabinet. The current cabinet members were holdovers from the previous government. Opposition lawmakers, however, objected to the appointment for alleged wrongdoings that Lee's family members committed some two decades ago. Lee's wife was accused of registering a false address in 1989 to be assigned to her favorite school as a teacher. On his campaign trail, Moon pledged to exclude anyone who is involved in the five major wrongdoings from public posts. The five misdeeds include the fake resident registration, draft dodging, tax evasion, paper plagiarism and speculative investment in real estate. Under the previous conservative governments, most of senior post nominees falsely registered their addresses for the purpose of speculative investment in real estate and land. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party, which controls 107 parliamentary seats, refused to participate in the vote. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 16:21:31|Editor: ying Video Player Close COLOMBO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in Sri Lanka's devastating floods and landslides reached 202 by Wednesday morning while 96 people were still missing, the Disaster Management Center said. Sixty-three people were injured and seeking treatment in state hospitals while over 600,000 people have been affected. Severe rains and strong winds which lashed out across Sri Lanka since Friday have caused major floods and landslides in many areas of the island with the worst affected being the southern district. As water levels are receding, tri forces along with rescue teams have now launched a massive clean up operation in order to restore normalcy in the affected areas. At least 83,200 people are seeking shelter in safe locations and many are unable to return to their homes due to fully damaged or partially damaged houses. According to the World Health Organization, at least 16 hospitals in flood hit Sri Lanka have been evacuated fully or partially as facilities have been directly affected by the floods or exposed to landslides, a UN statement released in Colombo said Wednesday. "With the increasing number of displaced people and lack of space in safe locations, temporary shelter and ensuring access to health services is needed. Disease surveillance and vector control is also a priority with the risk of communicable diseases," the statement said. It added that over the past few months, health partners have recorded a significant increase in dengue cases (53,200 cases with over 125 deaths) compared to annual data from 2016. The Ministry of Health has deployed medical teams mainly in Kalutara, Ratnapura and Galle districts in southern Sri Lanka, the UN update noted. Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday said the reconstruction of 640 fully destroyed houses and 5,329 partially destroyed houses will start soon. Sirisena who also visited the worst affected district of Ratnapura on Sunday ordered authorities to provide maximum and immediate relief to the victims and ordered the treasury to release funds to compensate those affected. International aid has also poured into the country with China, the United States, Britain, Pakistan, India, Australia, Norway and the European Union donating funds and sending relief supplies. The Sri Lankan government has thanked the international community for its assistance at this hour of grief. As Cyclone Mora has now moved away from the island country, the Meteorology Department said on Monday that the possibility of heavy rain and strong winds will reduce by Monday. However it said fairly strong winds about 50 kmph could be expected over some parts of the districts. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 16:31:42|Editor: ying Video Player Close BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China's cyber security law, which will go into effect from Thursday, is not aimed at limiting foreign companies' access to the Chinese market, the country's internet regulator said Wednesday. The law is designed to safeguard sovereignty in cyberspace, national security, the public interest, as well as the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, according to the the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) in a statement. "It does not restrict foreign companies or their technology and products entering the Chinese market, neither does it limit the orderly, free flow of data in accordance with the law," the statement said. "It is within sovereignty to make laws and rules to regulate cyberspace based on the reality of the country while following international practice." The law was passed in November 2016 at the bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee after a third reading. According to 2014 data from CAC, China is a frequent victim of cyberattacks. More than 10,000 websites are tampered with every month, with about 80 percent of government websites suffering attacks, mainly originating in the United States. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 16:51:55|Editor: ying Video Player Close BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- According to a report released by the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) Wednesday, as of the end of 2016 China had 223,925 press-card holding journalists. Of these journalists, according to the report published on the ACJA website, 84,130 worked for newspapers and 6,007 for periodicals. It added that 2,801 journalists were employed by news agencies, 129,829 worked for radio, TV stations or production firms, and 1,158 were employed by news websites. In terms of demographic data, 38.92 percent of the journalists were aged between 30 and 40, and 34.2 percent were aged between 40 and 50, the report said. Males accounted for 52.45 percent of all the journalists, it said. The report noted the "profound changes in the media industry and media environment" last year following efforts by news outlets to integrate traditional and new media. It said that more than 500 million Chinese now read news on a mobile device, noting the rising popularity of social networks and news apps as a way to access information. The market size of China's media industry was 1.3 trillion yuan (189 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, an increase of 12.3 percent from 2014. In 2014, the Internet accounted for 47.2 percent of the media industry's value and this had increased to 51.8 percent in 2015. In the first half of last year, Internet-advertising spending grew by 26.9 percent, 10 percentage points more than the same period in 2015. Technological development has driven media reform, the report said, citing the wider application of big data, cloud computing, robots, drones and virtual reality technologies. It also noted that thanks to the support from the Communist Party of China and the central government, the media industry and technology have developed rapidly, creating a healthy and vital environment for news outlets and reporters. Noting the booming new media market, the report also mentioned the improved regulation and supervision of media outlets and their products as well as enhanced intellectual property right protection in the sector. It also said that the development of new media resulted in the creation of more channels for the public to express opinion. However, it also noted challenges faced by some Chinese media organizations, particularly newspapers. Citing statistics from another report, it said 43 billion newspapers had been printed in 2015, a 7.29 percent drop from the previous year. Revenue and profits for newspapers also decreased by 10.3 percent and 53.21 percent respectively. The report was compiled by departments including ACJA, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television as well as the Cyberspace Administration of China. The report said the ACJA attached great attention to the protection of the rights and interests of journalists and news industry workers. Regulation and management regarding journalistic ethics have been reinforced to address fake and false reporting, it said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 17:17:15|Editor: ying Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed that the huge blast in the Afghan capital of Kabul has inflicted minor injuries to some diplomats and staff members of the embassy. The Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul in a statement. "The blast has caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some," a Foreign Ministry statement said. The statement said Pakistan being a victim of terrorism understands the pain and agony that such incidents inflict upon the people and society. "The people and Government of Pakistan extend their heartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to the Government and the people of Afghanistan and the bereaved families," it said. "While reiterating condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, we pray for early recovery of the injured. We firmly stand with our Afghan brothers in this hour of grief and anguish," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 17:17:22|Editor: ying Video Player Close HANOI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese realty giant FLC has decided to establish an airline with registered capital of some 31 million U.S. dollars to tap a promising aviation market whose annual growth surpasses 20 percent. "We have recently adopted a corporate resolution on forming Viet Bamboo Airlines with registered capital of some 700 billion Vietnamese dong (31 million U.S. dollars)," Le Ngoc Mai from the Media Board of Hanoi-based FLC Group, told Xinhua on Wednesday. The registered capital is the minimum level for operating 10 planes for international transport services, or 30 planes for domestic ones. In the Vietnamese aviation market, there are now four airlines, namely Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific, and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO). National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and budget carrier Vietjet Air currently hold the lion's share of the local market, around 87 percent. In March, Malaysia-based Air Asia announced a plan on joining hands with a Vietnamese firm, Thien Minh Group, to eventually set up a low-cost airline in Vietnam. Earlier, two Vietnamese carriers, Air Mekong and Indochina Airlines, closed after a short period of operating, mainly due to fierce competition and high operation cost. Vietnam's aviation industry transported 18 million passengers in the first five months of this year, up 10.7 percent against the same period last year, said the country's General Statistics Office. According to statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the local aviation industry served 52.2 million passengers last year, posting a year-on-year rise of more than 29 percent. Specifically, it transported 28 million passengers on domestic routes, up 30 percent. Some 15 million people boarded flights run by budget carriers in Vietnam, mainly by Vietjet Air, in 2016. Meanwhile, 52 foreign airlines from 28 countries and regions tapped 78 air routes to and from Vietnam. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 17:47:42|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Central Military Commission (CMC) will terminate all paid services provided by the military by the end of June 2018, according to a military professor. "In the first stage, services in 10 fields should stop by the end of this June," said Jiang Luming, professor at the National University of Defense Technology, in an interview with Xinhua. The 10 fields are nursery education, press and publications, culture and sports, communications, personnel training, barrack projects, storage and transportation, militia armament repair, repair technology and driver instruction, he said. Projects in another five fields -- real estate rentals, agricultural products, accommodation services, medical care and scientific research -- should be ceased by the end of June 2018, he added. In February 2016, the CMC issued a circular urging the end of all paid services by the armed forces and the armed police. Jiang said that the military had received support from local governments and courts. He said that the armed forces and armed police had not been allowed to run business since 1998, but were permitted to use surplus resources to provide paid services to the public in the 15 fields, as China's service industry was weak at the time. Such services had supported national economic development, provided public convenience and made up for a shortage in military expenditure, he said. However, in recent years, with the development of the market economy, and imperfections in the paid service system, corruption cases were exposed in the military due to such services. Jiang said that the principle of paid services were not in line with the military personnel's spirit of devotion. Paid services also demanded attention from officers and soldiers and encroached military resources, which were needed for military training. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 18:02:53|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close NEW DELHI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The high court in India's western state of Rajasthan on Wednesday recommended to the federal government that cow should be declared national animal and punishment for cow slaughter be increased from the current three years imprisonment to a life term. "The court's judgment has come in a petition regarding management of cow shelter in Jaipur," a local official said. Last year, 50,000 cows reportedly died at the government-run cow shelter in Jaipur due to alleged negligence. The judgement has coincided with last week's Indian ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change's notification of new rules banning cow sale and purchase from any animal market for purposes of slaughter or religious sacrifice. The vigilantism around cows seems to have intensified since 2014 - the year BJP ascended to power under the leadership of Narendra Modi. Many states have actively started enforcing bans on cow slaughter. Analysts say the ban slaughter of cattle is likely to hit farmers and subsequently the industries dependent on it. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 18:43:12|Editor: ying Two female engine drivers gesture before the operations of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Mombasa, Kenya, on May 31, 2017. Kenya began operations on the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Wednesday. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) MOMBASA, Kenya, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday launched the passenger train service of the 480-km Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). Kenyatta said the railway marks a new chapter in the history of Kenya. The modern railway will replace the meter gauge railway that was constructed more than 100 years ago during the British colonial rule, Kenyatta said. "Today we celebrate the laying of one of the key cornerstones to Kenya's journey of transformation to an industrial, prosperous and middle-income country," he said ahead of embarking on the inaugural trip from Mombasa to Nairobi. The launch came one day after the Kenyan leader launched the first SGR cargo service between the two cities. Kenyatta said that the SGR was made possible due to the close Sino-Kenya friendship. "I want to thank our partner and true friend China for the support that has enabled the construction and completion of the project after only two and a half years," he added. The 3.8-billion-U.S.-dollar infrastructure project was constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, with 90 percent of the funding coming from China. Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong, who attended the launching ceremony as the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, said the Mombasa-Nairobi railway has been an early fruit that came out of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in late 2015. "The Mombasa-Nairobi SGR is an exemplary project of China-Africa cooperation on the construction of roads, railways, aviation networks and industrialization," Wang said, adding that the SGR will bear great significance in boosting the development in Kenya and the region, speeding up Africa's industrialization process, and expanding the reach of the Belt and Road to more African countries. "China stands ready to work with Kenya to make the Mombasa-Nairobi railway become a railway of prosperity and development for Kenya, and a new example of the transformation and upgrade of China-Africa cooperation," said Wang. The SGR, providing both cargo and passenger transport services, will cut dramatically the time and costs for the movement of goods and people. It is expected to reduce the time for a passenger traveling from Mombasa to Nairobi to merely four and a half hours compared to nearly 10 hours on bus. Time to transport cargo from Mombasa to Nairobi, meanwhile, will also decrease from two days to eight hours. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 18:53:18|Editor: ying Video Player Close TEHRAN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Wednesday terrorist attack in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, which left scores killed and hundreds wounded. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi expressed his country's condolences in a statement to the Afghan government and nation over the fatal terrorist attack, reported Tasnim news agency. He added that Iran will always stand by neighboring Afghanistan in difficult situations, the agency reported. Qasemi further expressed hope that political initiatives and negotiations among Afghani political groups will prevent future recurrence of such inhumane actions. The powerful car bomb explosion in Kabul's central diplomatic district on Wednesday also damaged the Iranian embassy in Kabul. The explosion shattered the Iranian diplomatic mission's windows, damaging its ceiling tiles, the report said. At least 80 people died and over 350 others were injured in the explosion, according to Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 18:58:25|Editor: ying Video Player Close TIRANA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The increasing number of tourists in Albania's natural parks boosted revenues for the country, head of the National Agency of Protected Areas (NAPA) Zamir Dedej told media here Wednesday. In the first four months of 2017, revenues from tourism in Albania's 15 natural parks and six natural monuments, known as the protected areas, have already reached 9 million lek (75,000 U.S. dollars), while the revenues in 2015 were only at 7 million lek (58,333 U.S. dollars), Dedej said. According to the official, the growing revenues came as a result of the establishment of the NAPA and of the policies on developing sustainable tourism. The agency was established by the government in 2015 aiming at the management, protection, development and enlargement of the protected areas which now consist of 16 percent of the territory of Albania. A new law on protected areas has also entered into force to increase the revenues and re-direct them to investments and services. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:13:35|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) meets with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi in Tokyo, Japan, May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Gang Ye) TOKYO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe here on Wednesday, calling for taking the opportunities of anniversaries of bilateral ties and accumulating positive energy to enhance the Sino-Japanese relationship. Yang said that the improvement and development of Sino-Japanese relationship is important for the well-being of the people of both countries as well as peace, stability and prosperity of the region. He said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently given important guiding opinions on Sino-Japanese relationship when meeting with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who was in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation recently. China attaches importance to its relationship with Japan, and is willing to, together with Japan, take the opportunities of the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties this year and the 40th anniversary of the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship next year to develop bilateral relations, based on the four political documents and the four-point agreement between the two countries, upholding the spirit of taking history as a mirror while looking forward to the future, Yang said. He also urged the Japanese side to honor its words on improving bilateral relations and implement the consensus that the two countries are each other's cooperative partner rather than threats with specific policies and concrete actions. Yang stressed that the two countries should make joint efforts to enhance positive factors and eliminate negative ones in bilateral relations, and safeguard the momentum of improvement and development of the Sino-Japanese relationship. He said that properly handling important and sensitive issues that bear impact on the political foundation of the Sino-Japanese relations, including Taiwan and the historical issues, is vital for the stable and further development of bilateral relations. He called on the two sides to maintain dialogue and communication, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and accumulate more positive energy for bilateral relations. Abe, for his part, said that Japan looks forward to further improving and developing its relationship with China by taking the opportunities of the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic ties this year and the 40th anniversary of the signing of Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship next year. He said that Japan hopes to enhance exchanges at all levels with China, promote friendship between the two peoples, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, properly manage differences and improve communication and coordination with China on international and regional affairs. Regarding the Taiwan issue, he said that Japan will continue to abide by the principles established in the 1972 Japan-China joint communique that normalized bilateral ties and this stance has not changed. During the meeting, Yang also reiterated China's stance and proposition on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Yang visited Japan on invitation from May 29 to May 31. During his stay, he co-chaired the fourth round of high-level political dialogue between China and Japan with Japanese national security advisor Shotaro Yachi. Yang also met with Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, New Komeito Party President Natsuo Yamaguchi, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party Toshihiro Nikai, former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yohei Kono as well as friendly personnel from economic and other sectors of the Japanese society. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:23:47|Editor: ying Video Player Close PYONGYANG, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday urged the South Korean new government to improve inter-Korean relations. Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the ruling Korean Workers' Party, said in a commentary that the adoption of the June 15 Joint Declaration thawed the north-south confrontation which had existed for more than half a century. The June 15 Joint Declaration was issued after then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and late DPRK top leader Kim Jong Il met in Pyongyang in 2000. The keynote of the declaration is that the Korean nation is responsible for Korea's reunification and the issue of national reunification should be settled independently solely by the Korean nation itself. "In the wake of the adoption of the joint declaration, the inter-Korean relations of distrust and confrontation turned into those of national reconciliation and unity," said the commentary. However, the hope of national reunification was "trampled down" by the former conservative South Korean government, it said, adding that the deterioration of the inter-Korean relations is the root cause of all the problems in South Korea such as "security unrest, a diplomatic crisis and economic catastrophe." "The present South Korean authorities are at the crossroads," said the commentary, urging the current South Korean government improve north-south relations. The commentary also called for the removal of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:28:50|Editor: ying Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Defense diplomacy remains at the core of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces' (RBAF) strategy in resolving maritime conflicts that have seen a few flashpoints recently, Brunei's Deputy Minister of Defense Abdul Aziz said when marking the occasion of the RBAF's 56th anniversary on Wednesday. "Such maritime tensions will continue to be a political issue which for Brunei Darussalam is best dealt with consultations," he told local media. "The best way for RBAF is to look for opportunities to enhance practical cooperation that can further enhance trust building among claimants as well as addressing the more pressing non-traditional security threats," he said. The deputy minister reiterated Brunei's full commitment to maintaining peace and security in the region through practical cooperation initiatives. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:28:52|Editor: ying Video Player Close TEHRAN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran has signed a number of basic agreements with the Russian Gazprom to develop its gas fields in the southern region of the country, Press TV reported on Wednesday. Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that the country has signed an agreement with Gazprom over the development of Farzad B gas field, a project which the country has for long been negotiating with an Indian consortium. Iran has also signed two other basic agreements with Gazprom over the development of North Pars and Kish gas fields. The agreements could give Gazprom a strong foothold in Iran's gas industry once finalized and implemented. Besides, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) announced Sunday that it would hold an international tender for the development of major oil field in southwest of the country. By Friday, the tender would be held for the much-awaited development project of Azadegan oil field in the southwestern province of Khouzestan, Ali Kardor, the managing director of the NIOC, said. Invitation letters have been sent to 29 international companies to submit their proposals, Kardor said, adding that the Shell, Total, CNPC, Sinioc, Lukoil, Pertamina, and OMV are among the companies to attend the tender. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:28:55|Editor: ying Video Player Close by Eric J. Lyman ROME, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Italy's main political parties appear to agree to an election date before they can even agree on the rules the election will play by. Italian political parties have been working for months on a reform that will change the way seats in parliament are divided up in the wake of the next vote. But a deal still seems weeks away. In contrast, a consensus on when to hold the vote is slowly emerging: it appears likely to take place in September or perhaps October. "It's puzzling, but the parties seem determined to focus more on the elections than on the mechanisms that will guide the elections," Paolo Carnevale from the faculty of law at Roma Tre University told Xinhua. The solution to both questions -- how the election will work and when it will take place -- is connected to one country, Germany. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, now the head of Italy's largest center-left party, is calling for the vote to be held in step with national elections scheduled in Germany, which is on Sept. 24. Renzi said doing so would "make sense from a European perspective" because it would reduce uncertainty in the eurozone's first and third largest economies, respectively. Other players are looking at a later date, but the chances that the vote will actually take place in May 2018 as originally scheduled seem to be diminishing week by week. Meanwhile, the electoral reform is focusing on a German model, giving parliamentary representations only to parties that earn at least 5 percent of the total vote and removing the "bonus" seats for the party that finishes in first. The "bonus" seats are designed to make the government more stable by giving the ruling party a bigger majority. But Carnevale says a 5-percent threshold could result in as few as four parties being represented in parliament. Other commentators say the number is more likely to be six or seven, but in any case, the number would be far below the 19 political parties represented in parliament now. "The theory is that having fewer parties would make things more stable because it would eliminate the need to form big, grand coalitions with multiple parties that are inherently instable," Guido Ortona, a professor of political economy at the University of Eastern Piedmont, said in an interview. "But I'm not so sure, because with fewer parties there's less need to compromise and fewer viewpoints are represented,"he said. There are other open questions in the political reform process, such as what will happen to parliament's upper house, the Senate. Renzi tried to use a referendum to push through a reform that would have diminished the Senate's power back in December 2016 and he lost, prompting his resignation as prime minister. Some reform of the Senate is still likely, according to Daniela Giannetti, a political scientist with the University of Bologna, but it's impossible to know the full impact that will have. "Changing part of the political system is like changing one cog in a fancy watch," Giannetti told Xinhua. "It's one small part, but if it's not exact, the watch won't work at all." Even with interest focused on the election date rather than the reform process, the reforms will have to be completed before an election can be held. Sergio Mattarella, Italy's head of state, is the only figure who can call new elections, and he has said the vote will not be held until parliament passes the electoral reform. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:33:59|Editor: ying Video Player Close LONDON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- London's Metropolitan Police announced Wednesday it is to become the first force in the country to hire detectives without the traditional need to "pound the beat" as a police constable. The force hopes to hire around 600 detectives to fill vacancies in its CID departments, with an initial intake of 80 planned, earning an annual salary of around 39,000 U.S.dollars. The new program will give Londoners the opportunity to join the country's largest police force directly as detective constables, working in investigative policing immediately after initial training. Traditionally recruits start at the bottom level, working as beat constables, before career progressions that see them promoted to higher ranks or join specialist units such as the Criminal Investigation Departments, best known as the CID. By creating a clearer, dedicated detective career pathway, the Met hopes to attract talented applicants from a range of backgrounds who can bring diversity, skills, knowledge and a wide variety of experiences to the organization. "London continues to change and so do its criminals. Increasing complex crimes such as cyber-criminality and the pressing need to protect vulnerable people mean our investigators need to develop new expertise," said Detective Chief Superintendent Stephen Clayman. "To meet these challenges and to face future threats, the Met will need to equip its officers, present and future, with the right skills and capabilities. We will need to ensure we are even more innovative in the way we recruit," he added. The first of two recruitment opportunities for the jobs as detectives opened Wednesday and is planned to last until July. Would-be detectives will have had to live in London for three of the last six years and hold a university degree. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:39:11|Editor: ying Injured men receive medical treatment at a hospital after a car bomb explosion in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, May 31, 2017. The number of the victims of the deadly terrorist attack that rocked Kabul on Wednesday soared to 80 dead and 350 others injured, Mohammad Ismael Kawosi the spokesman for Ministry of Public Health said. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah) KABUL, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The number of the victims of the deadly terrorist attack that rocked Kabul on Wednesday soared to 80 dead and 350 others injured, Mohammad Ismael Kawosi the spokesman for Ministry of Public Health said. According to the official, the blast, which rocked the diplomatic area of Kabul city in the morning rush hour, claimed at least 80 people including women and children. Earlier, Interior Ministry in a statement released here confirmed the dead of 64 people all civilians and injuring 320 others including women and children. Taliban outfit has rejected its involvement in the deadly attack. However, some officials pointing finger at the Islamic State (IS) group, but the outfit has yet to claim responsibility. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:39:13|Editor: ying Video Player Close JAKARTA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said Wednesday that he would hold a meeting with his counterparts from the Philippines and Malaysia to discuss a strategy to face the danger of IS group in the region. Minister Ryacudu disclosed that one of the goals of the planned dialogue is to prevent the spread of the members of militant groups affiliated with the global terrorist IS group from the southern Philippines to other parts of the region. "I have a strategy to address it. This planned meeting is very useful," Ryacudu said at the Defense Ministry. However, he did not elaborate further on the precise time of the meeting. He said that the security authority would hold patrols at sea, land and air to prevent the militants fighting in Marawi city of the Philippine from entering Indonesia's territory. "We have a plan to prevent the entry of IS militants. At the forefront, in Borneo, the measure must be intensive. Patrol will be carried out in waters, land and air. I have been designing this operation," said Ryamizard. Borneo Island and Sulawesi Island border the southern Philippines. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:44:16|Editor: ying Video Player Close MANAMA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain's High Civil Court dissolved a leading leftist political society on Wednesday and ordered liquidation of its assets. The Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry announced that court decided to dissolve National Democratic Action Society (Wa'ad in Arabic) after the latter used on social media the term "Martyrs of the Nations," referring to criminals sentenced to death in January for terror crimes. "The society, as a popular national organisation, was supposed to help protect the security of the Kingdom within a spirit of national unity and social peace as stipulated in the Constitution and the law, and not to praise criminals who had carried out terror attacks or to support political societies that harmed the state's public interests as confirmed by a court of law, " the ministry said. "Wa'ad has deviated off the normal course of political activities by issuing statements and declarations that were likely to harm public interests, undermine security and stability. " The Ministry said "Wa'ad failed to recognise the Constitution and thus violated the articles of the Political Society law." Waad also expressed its solidarity with Al Wefaq National Islamic Society which was dissolved last year following a court ruling stating it "deviated from political activities." Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 19:44:18|Editor: ying Video Player Close WINDHOEK, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Namibian President Hage Geingob said Wednesday that Namibia's budgetary outlays will continue to be in favor of education, health and housing. Geingob said this when he launched the country's fifth National Development Plan (NDP5) that is meant to drive development towards the country's Vision 2030. The NDPs are five-year programs envisaged to transform Namibia into a developed country by the end of 2030. Geingob said the government will increase investment in education, health, housing and integration of disadvantaged persons into mainstream economy. "We will increase access to quality, integrated early childhood development, provide appropriate educational facilities, teaching-learning resources and better child health and nutrition," he said. According to Geingob, Namibia has made great progress in providing access to education to just above 95 percent of the student-age population. "Nevertheless, quality instruction is still unsatisfactory, especially in schools serving poor communities. In remote, rural areas, dropout rates are extremely high. "Transition from secondary school to higher education is very low, currently estimated at 19 percent of the grade 12 cohorts. This will have to change," he said. He added that the NDP5 will also focus on developing and maintaining educational and health infrastructure. "As things stand, I am appalled by the poor state of many of our schools and hospitals," he said. Geingob also said that NDP5 will go a long way towards propelling the country towards an advanced development stage with the capacity to design and produce sophisticated technologies. Geingob further said although Namibia is classified as an upper middle income country, the problem of poverty continues to be a challenge. He said notwithstanding the steady development of the country with the implementation of the NDPs, the government had to introduce the Harambee Prosperity Plan to alleviate poverty. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 20:19:37|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 31 (Xinhua)-- Ethiopia is to host China Trade Week from July 4-6, with the expected participation of dozens of Chinese companies from various sectors. "This event is the first of its kind for Chinese firms in Ethiopia, with so far 65 companies confirming their attendance to the trade week," said a statement on Wednesday by Nebiyu Lemma, managing director of Prana Promotion, one of the event organizers. They will come from sectors including arts and crafts, toys and gifts, energy, lighting, home electronics, construction materials, machinery, food and beverage and textiles. Prana expects more than 4,000 visitors and exhibitors to attend the event, although it said a lack of enough exhibition space could see the final list of exhibitor companies to be constricted. "Our future plans are to make the China Trade Week an annual event," said Lemma. Prana also expect the trade week to see discussions between Chinese and Ethiopians on how best to utilize the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 20:24:38|Editor: ying Video Player Close COLOMBO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A Sri Lankan official on Wednesday admitted that the country was not fully prepared to face a major natural disaster, after over 200 people had been killed in floods and landslides following heavy rains last week. Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said that the local Department of Meteorology had predicted there was going to be more heavy rain and the Disaster Management Centre had also issued a warning. Yapa said that the Department had issued accurate weather predictions based on its available resources. However he said the warning had not reached the public in an effective manner and this needs to be addressed for the future. He said that a system must be devised with the media to ensure the public get information on the weather effectively. Yapa also said that while there are several shortcomings, the government will look to address those shortcomings to face a disaster in future. He also played down his absence in the country when the disaster took place, saying his absence did not impact rescue and recovery operations. The Minister said he had to attend a conference in Mexico representing the president but he returned to Sri Lanka earlier than the scheduled date. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 20:29:40|Editor: ying Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia needs to modernize its livestock sector so as to reduce the devastating impacts of back to back drought incidents that hit the country since 2015, members of the Ethiopian parliament advised. Ethiopia is home to one of the largest livestock populations in Africa. Figures from the Ethiopian government indicated that the East African country is endowed with approximately 50 million heads of cattle, and 50 million goats and sheep. While the livestock sector is an important sub-sector within the country's economy in terms of its contributions to national GDP, recent drought incidents have wrecked havoc on Ethiopia's cattle population. Members of the Ethiopian parliament, reviewing country's livestock and fishery sector on Wednesday, asserted that the loss of cattle lives particularly in drought-hit semi-arid and pastoralist communities needs immediate attention. Mohamed Yesuf, Ethiopian Parliament's pastoralists' affairs standing committee head, stressed that improving integrated efforts in modernizing the livestock sector is undoubtedly an important mechanism to minimize the effects of drought and other natural disasters on cattle lives. According to Yesuf, Ethiopia's traditional and subsistence cattle rearing method is the major factor that attributed to the loss of cattle lives, as it put communities vulnerable to water shortage during drought. National Disaster and Risk Management Commission of Ethiopia previously announced that the current drought has imposed serious challenges on the country's cattle population. The Ethiopian government has crafted a national Livestock Master Plan (LMP), which intends to transform the sector and increase production and exports of meat in order to generate foreign exchange. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 20:39:46|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Small and medium-sized cities will play a major role in driving China's consumption growth in the coming decade, according to a Morgan Stanley economist. Robin Xing, the investment bank's chief China economist, predicted on Wednesday that national annual consumption will rise to 9.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2030 from last year's 4.4 trillion dollars on the sidelines of the Morgan Stanley China Summit in Beijing. "Third- and fourth-tier cities will contribute nearly two thirds of the increase," Xing said. The proportion outshines the 9 percent from megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and the 21 percent for second-tier cities. Consumption in rural areas is expected to reach 400 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 7 percent of the total. Personal consumption in such cities will grow the fastest at 8.7 percent year on year from now to 2030, according to Xing. The economist, who has headed Morgan Stanley's research team in China for a year, said the promising prospects are based on the rapid population growth in smaller cities and a closing income gap with large cities. "In contrast with dawdling first-tier cities, the number of permanent residents in smaller cities will see robust growth thanks to higher birth rates, relaxed household registration control and cheaper living expenses," Xing said. The combined registered population in smaller cities is predicted to rise 2.5 percent each year throughout the 2017-2030 period, faster than 2 percent and 0.6 percent in second- and first-tier cities, respectively. Xing also expects people living in smaller cities will have deeper pockets as the rapid urban development will boost incomes. Moreover, tame home prices and an improved environment will allow diminished precautionary savings and more money to be used for consumption, he added. The rise of small and medium-sized cities is likely to push China's ongoing economic shift from industry to services and from investment to consumption. In the first quarter, consumption contributed 77.2 percent of the GDP increase. Xing remained bullish on the outlook for the world's second-largest economy, predicting continued growth momentum and ruling out the possibility of a hard landing or a cash crunch in the money market. He cited more flexible regulation on the yuan's exchange rate, well-managed financial tightening, robust exports, recovering private investment, and a more stable property sector. However, he believes the GDP growth has peaked after a strong start in 2017, and the slowdown will likely resume in the next quarters. ipopba/iStock/Thinkstock(MELBOURNE) -- A Malaysia Airlines plane bound for Kuala Lumpur Wednesday was forced to return to Australia's Melbourne Airport after a passenger allegedly attempted to enter the cockpit, local authorities said. The airline's MH128 aircraft departed Melbourne Airport at 11:11 p.m. local time Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 5:28 a.m. Thursday. According to Malaysia Airlines, about 30 minutes into the flight, an "operating captain was alerted by a cabin crew of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit." Australian Federal Police said that emergency services were called to the airport around 11:40 p.m. Wednesday after a request for assistance from Malaysia Airlines. The MH128 safely landed at the airport at 11:41 p.m. Police said a man tried to enter the cockpit and threatened the safety of passengers and staff. The passenger, who had not yet been identified, did not enter the cockpit. He was eventually subdued by airport security and authorities said "a safety plan was enacted." Passengers' cellphone images and video showed heavily armed security forces moving through the aisles of the plane as they carried the man off the aircraft. Other images showed passengers on the tarmac, after exiting the plane. "There appears to be no imminent threat to passengers, staff or public and the investigation is ongoing," police said. Malaysia Airlines said it would be investigating the incident with Australian authorities. "Safety and security are of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines," the airlines said in a statement. "The affected passengers will be accommodated at hotels. They will be offered on the next available flight or on other carriers." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 20:44:53|Editor: ying Video Player Close RIYADH, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Saudi security authority launched an investigation into the murder of a local and an American inside a famous private school in Riyadh on Wednesday morning, Okaz online news reported. The report confirmed that the killer who fled the scene is an Iraqi teacher who was sacked and he entered the school with his gun and shot dead the American principal who was originally a Palestinian and Saudi teacher. An Asian worker was injured too. Security authorities launched manhunt for the suspect. No official confirmation was made yet about the case. Palestinian children play at the beach at sunset in Gaza City on May 24, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) GAZA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Gaza citizens can no longer enjoy blue water and clear air once they go to the beach and the most visited destination during the summer, due to high rates of pollution. Apart from unpleasant odors coming out from many areas off the sea, the wastewater is drained into the seawater before well-filtered by sewage treatment plant due to the short of power. The Gaza coast on the Mediterranean Sea is about 40 km long, where there're nine major sewage estuaries along the coast of the besieged coastal enclave pumping about 110,000 litters of wastewater a day, according to officials. As local officials and specialists say, pumping this amount of wastewater before filtered as it must be, threatens to pollute the sea water widely and deprives Gazans of recreation during summer. Khalid Abu Ghali, Gaza Environmental Information official, told Xinhua that "The entire coast turned into impure, polluted swamps because of untreated wastewater." Abu Ghali explained that the main reason behind the pollution is the low quality of the wastewater treatment process due to the power crisis. He pointed out that even some municipalities are forced to drain the wastewater directly to the sea by pumps before reaching the treatment plant. Abu Ghali said twenty-hour power cuts a day play a major role in causing utter paralysis in vital, health and environmental services in Gaza like water supply and sewage treatment. The Energy and Natural Resources Authority directed by Hamas in Gaza said earlier in April that the power station in Gaza is totally stopped working after it ran out of fuel until further notice. They said they can't afford buying more fuel for the plant mostly because of the taxes imposed by the Palestinian consensus government in Ramallah on fuel which increased its cost threefold. However, the Palestinian consensus government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah blamed Hamas movement, which they described as the de facto authority in the Gaza Strip, for the power crisis in Gaza since mid 2014. The Gaza Strip as a whole actually needs 500 MW, however, the currently available amount is just 210 MW, including 120 MW supplied by Israel and 30 MW by Egypt. As a result of the power station inability, the station follows and applies an emergency schedule for the electricity since 2006. Gaza runs on an eight-hour cycle for electricity, which means power is supplied for eight hours followed by eight hours cut. However, if things get worse, it could return to a six-hour cycle or even less during summer and winter when citizens need power the most. Water and Sewage Corporation Director in Gaza Monzer Shablak told Xinhua that the serious wastewater flow crisis might force us to close the beach and ban swimming during summer season this year. Shablak explained that the limited hours of electricity have an adverse effect on water supply and sewage treatment services in Gaza since sewage treatment process can never be done by offering only six or four hours a day. He added "Many areas of Gaza sea are totally unsuitable for swimming because of sewage which threatens elders and children's lives since they are the most vulnerable to disease and viruses." Gaza sea is considered the only relief for Gazans from the grind of life in an enclave plagued by conflict and hardship in the strip which has been besieged for more than 10 years Environmental expert, Abed Al Fatah Abed Rabbo, told Xinhua that "Pumping the untreated wastewater in huge amounts daily to the sea threatens people's lives." He went on explaining that children, in particular, are vulnerable to digestive and respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and ear and eye infections which are caused by bacteria and microbes in the polluted water and beach sand. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 20:55:03|Editor: ying Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The links between urbanization and industrialization have been weak in Africa, underlining the urgent need to connect urban and industrial development given their interdependence and growth impacts, said a report launched on Wednesday. The report by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said cities require better performing industrialization and industrialization requires better functioning cities, calling for deliberate efforts to link urban and industrial development in the context of national development planning. Entitled, "Urbanization and Industrialization for Africa's Transformation," ECA's 2017 Economic Report on Africa examines how the continent can accelerate industrialization as a vehicle for Africa's structural transformation by harnessing opportunities arising from rapid urbanization. Africa faces the challenge to accelerate structural transformation by harnessing the rapid urbanization on the continent to promote economic diversification with special focus on industrialization, said the report launched in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Presiding over the launch ceremony, Giovanie Biha, Deputy Executive Secretary of ECA, noted that reconnecting urban and industrial development in Africa through deliberate policies, strategies and investments is a priority for the sustainability of both cities and industries. "As countries are developing overarching frameworks within which strategic targets for structural transformation are defined, national development plans offer an ideal context within which urbanization and industrialization targets could be linked," she said. "In this way, urban and industrial strategies could be explicitly linked to broader national goals such as poverty reduction and improved well-being in both urban and rural areas." Biha said available evidence suggests that urban and industrial development in Africa are disconnected, resulting in lost opportunities for job creation and improved well-being. "It is therefore not surprising that Africa's cities are crippled by severe infrastructure and service gaps and are unable to generate employment at the level and scale required to meet increasing demands, especially for the youth," she noted. Most of Africa is still predominantly rural but the situation is changing rapidly, according to the report. By 2035, Africa's urban population is projected to reach 49 percent of the total population, representing considerable demands for employment, services, and infrastructure, but at the same time providing opportunities for economic growth. African countries, under the right policy frameworks anchored in national development planning, can leverage the momentum of urbanization to accelerate industrialization, said the report. Africa's urbanization is accompanied by a fast-growing consumer class with more purchasing power and reference for urban goods, said Biha. Rising consumer demand presents an opportunity to shift into job-rich industrial sectors, she said, adding that African governments should target strategic sectors of growing demand and help domestic industry and value chains to develop. The report covers 11 countries including Ethiopia, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Mozambique, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa and Cameroon. First lady Melania Trump visits American International School in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) RIYADH, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Saudi security authority launched an investigation into the murder of a local and an American inside a famous private school in Riyadh on Wednesday morning, Okaz online news reported. The report confirmed that the killer who fled the scene is an Iraqi teacher who was sacked and he entered the school with his gun and shot dead the American principal who was originally a Palestinian and Saudi teacher. An Asian worker was injured too. Security authorities launched manhunt for the suspect. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:05:08|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close COLOMBO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese enterprises in Sri Lanka have provided donations and relief materials to victims affected by the devastating floods and landslides which killed 202 people and affected over 600,000. A statement on Wednesday said that the Sri Lanka Gampaha, Attanagalla and Minuwangoda Integrated Water Supply Project team, a subsidiary of China Machinery and Equipment Engineering Co., Ltd.(CMEC),had on Tuesday donated relief materials to a flooded village near capital Colombo, to help victims through their difficulties and rebuild their homes. Yang Wei, the site project manager of Attanagalla water plant said that his staff had donated a truck load of relief supplies, including food and daily necessities to the affected villagers in Yabaraluwa, in western Sri Lanka. Wei said that CMEC had been actively fulfilling the corporate social responsibility of the local community and following the devastating disaster. CMEC had purchased immediate relief supplies to distribute among the victims. "CMEC will make every effort to participate in the disaster relief, and work together with the Sri Lankan people to tide over this crisis," Wei said. CMEC had provided timely help, and provided materials for the resettlement of the villagers. This is the first-time villagers received donations from a foreign country following the disaster, R.M.K.C Rathnayake, the head of Yabaraluwa village said. "Thanks to the relief provided by CMEC, we will soon be able to get back to our normal livelihoods. China is a true friend of Sri Lanka," Rathnayake added. The Yabaraluwa village is located about 20 km east of Colombo, near the fourth longest river in Sri Lanka - the Kelani River. Among the 750 houses in the village, an estimated 350 houses were damaged by the floods while more than 1,500 people were affected. On Tuesday, more than 80 families received relief materials from CMEC. At least 202 people have been killed and 96 people are still missing following severe rains which caused major floods and landslides in Sri Lanka since Friday. The Disaster Management Center said that several districts especially in the southern province had been flooded and rescue missions were ongoing even into Wednesday. The floods were the worst to hit the island country since 2003. To assist Sri Lanka in this hour of grief, the Chinese government on May 28 announced that it would provide emergency humanitarian aid worth 15 million RMB (2.2 million U.S. dollars), which would include tents, blankets and other relief supplies to be distributed to those affected. Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ravi Karunanayake expressed his gratitude at the donation and aid. The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka also handed over 15 million rupees (about 100,000 U.S. dollars) to the Sri Lanka Red Cross on Tuesday which was donated by the Chinese Red Cross. The China International Rescue Team told reporters that China Red Cross was deploying to send a rescue team to Sri Lanka to assist in the affected areas. The rescue teams successfully helped in rescue work during the flood disaster which hit Sri Lanka last year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:10:14|Editor: ying Video Player Close KATHMANDU, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government on Wednesday deferred the second round of local body elections for the third time, a government spokesman said. A meeting of the Council of ministers decided to reschedule the second round local body polls to avoid a clash with the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Surendra Karki, the government spokesman said here. The government postponed the second phase elections following consultation with the Election Commission, the minister added. The government's decision to postpone elections has come a day after a group of activists from the Muslim community requested Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to postpone the second round of elections planned for June 23. Around 5 percent population is Muslim in the Himalayan nation. Earlier, the government planned to hold elections on June 14. However, the plan was deferred and rescheduled on June 23 to bring on board the elections the agitating Madhes-based parties, who had threatened to boycott and disrupt the elections in the Southern Terai plains. Nepal held the first round of local body elections on May 14, as a major step to implement the historic new constitution promulgated in September 2015. The first round of elections were held in 3, 4 and 6 provinces, mostly the hilly areas, while in the second round they will be held in 1, 2, 5 and 7 provinces bordering India. Initially, the government planned to hold these local body elections on one day, but they were split into two rounds due to strong opposition from the Madhes-based six parties who represent Nepal's Southern Terai plains bordering India. The Madhes-based parties have been agitated since the promulgation of new constitution in Nepal in 2015 with key demands including changes in the demarcation of the provincial boundaries. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:10:17|Editor: Hou Qiang by Alexia Vlachou Visitors look at the ancient Chinese porcelain dish exhibited at the Benaki Museum in the Greek capital Athens on May 19, 2017. A rare ancient Chinese porcelain dish exhibited at the Benaki Museum in the Greek capital is giving local visitors a taste of Chinese history as the two countries celebrate their cultural exchange year in 2017. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A rare ancient Chinese porcelain dish exhibited at the Benaki Museum in the Greek capital is giving local visitors a taste of Chinese history as the two countries celebrate their cultural exchange year in 2017. Painted with enamels in red, green, black and yellow, the porcelain dish that was made in Jingdezhen in southeast China, most probably in the 17th century, depicts a scene with an emperor and a burnt book in front of his feet, George Manginis, member of the Executive Committee of the Benaki Museum, told Xinhua in a recent interview. "The emperor is Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, and the book burning refers to a passage by the historian Sima Qian that tells how the emperor ordered all the books of philosophy, history and poetry before his time to be burnt," said Manginis. The historical scene depicted on a porcelain plate is very unusual, he said, adding that the history refers to the clash between Confucianism and Legalism. "This dish is extremely rare, probably unique because no such scene is ever depicted on porcelain," Manginis said. "It is an interesting comment on politics which happens on a very simple object," he added. Perhaps best known in the West for his giant mausoleum in Xi'an guarded by the life-size Terracotta Army, Qin Shi Huang's legacy includes standardizing China's units of measurements and the currency and unifying the country in the third century B.C. Calling the China-Greece cultural exchange year "a very important landmark year," Manginis noted that every Greek museum and cultural institution is making an effort to contribute. The Benaki Museum has an extensive Chinese collection, donated by George Eumorfopoulos, one of the most important experts on Chinese civilization. The Benaki Museum is participating in the cultural exchange year by holding exhibits with pieces from its Chinese art collection. The gradual evolution of Chinese ceramics, from the third millennium B.C. up to the 19th century A.D., is represented by more than 1,300 objects of the highest quality, all of which attest to the magnitude of China's contribution to the cultural history of humankind. "We are exhibiting a different object every month for free near the restaurant area of the museum, so that everybody that comes to the museum and even people who do not pay admission can come and see parts of our Chinese art collection," Manginis told Xinhua. The aim is to introduce Chinese history and culture to as many Greeks as possible, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:33:03|Editor: ying Children are carried by a volunteer worker after they were saved by government troops during a rescue operation in Lanao Del Sur Province, the Philippines, May 31, 2017. Twenty residents were rescued by government troops as clashes continue against the Maute militant group. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:35:29|Editor: ying Video Player Close ATHENS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Seven out of ten nonsmokers in Greece are exposed to secondhand smoke in public spaces, according to a survey by the Hellenic Thoracic Society (HTS) on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day Wednesday. Although a law against smoking in public places went into effect in 2008, it is not adequately enforced, HTS President Michalis Toumpis noted in a press release, pointing to the negative numbers. According to Greece's National Statistics Agency ELSTAT, and Eurostat, 72.2 percent of nonsmokers in Greece are exposed to secondhand smoke in restaurants and cafes. Over 52 percent Greeks are still exposed to secondhand smoke at the working place and one out of two children at home, according to ELSTAT data. The problem remains, even though smokers are a minority, accounting for 27 percent of Greeks, according to 2014 data. The number has decreased significantly in recent years due to the economic crisis, according to experts. In particular between youth aged 15-24, the number of smokers dropped by 33 percent from 2009 to 2014, said ELSTAT. Addressing an event in Athens last week, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said that the key to change this behavior was education of younger generations. "Young people should learn what it means to resist this temptation. This could be their first victory in life," he said. According to the World Health Organization, smoking is the basic cause of death for 17 percent of Greeks aged more than 30 years. Smoking is also responsible for at least 1,000 heart attacks per year in the country, said the Hellenic Society of Cardiology. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:35:34|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's service trade volume exceeded 145 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent, according to data released at the ongoing China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services Wednesday. The city's trade volume in services accounted for more than one percent of the world total, as did its trade volume in goods, which stood at 1.86 trillion yuan (270 billion U.S. dollars) last year, said Xu Zhijun, deputy secretary-general of Beijing municipal government. The service industry contributed more than 80 percent of Beijing's total output value in 2016. The city's service trade volume accounted for nearly 20 percent of the national total, Xu said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:35:36|Editor: xuxin Soldiers disembark from a military truck as they search for residents still trapped in their homes in Marawi City in Lanao Del Sur Province, the Philippines, June 1, 2017. More elite troops will be flown to the besieged Marawi City in the southern Philippines to flush out 30 to 40 militants of Maute group who are holed up in some parts of the city, Philippine authorities said on Wednesday. One of the priorities is to rescue some 2,000 civilians trapped in the conflict areas. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) MANILA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- More elite troops will be flown to the besieged Marawi City in the southern Philippines to flush out 30 to 40 militants of Maute group who are holed up in some parts of the city, Philippine authorities said on Wednesday. Using attack helicopters and light aircraft, the military on Wednesday are continuing to battle with the remaining militants. "The sounds of the rocket airstrike are like thunder. After the airstrike, we saw a large flume of smoke hanging over the target area," said Xinhua photographer in Marawi City. Some residents are forced out of their houses by the soldiers who kicked in their doors, the photographer said. "Some residents carry white flags as they walk on the streets with their belongings on their back,"the photographer said. The target of the ongoing military clearing operations is to flush out the remaining 30 to 40 militants of Maute group who are believed to be in the city. Security measures have been intensified to prevent the militants from escaping, army spokesman Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera said. "The battlefield is very dynamic," he told reporters, adding that the remaining militants continue to resist, using snipers to shoot the government forces. "They have high-powered firearms. They've occupied vantage positions so they will see the approaches of government forces," Herrera said. One of the priorities is to rescue some 2,000 civilians trapped in the conflict areas. "They are trapped, they are indoor and couldn't get out," he said. Since Monday, the military has used SF-260 planes with rockets and guns in launching surgical airstrikes. These attack aircraft are capable of dropping bombs, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said. "We employ commensurate forces against whatever resistance there in the area," he said. Twenty four more Maute group militants have been killed in the ongoing clashes, bringing to 89 the total number of killed militants since the attack broke out May 23. 21 soldiers and policemen have been killed and 72 others have been wounded in the government side, he added. At least 19 civilians have been reportedly killed so far, Padilla said, adding nearly 1,000 people have been rescued. Among those still being taken hostage by the militants were a Catholic priest, three church workers and 10 worshippers, according to local media reports. The military is also hunting Isnilon Hapilon, the Abu Sayyaf leader who sparked the clash between the army and members of the Maute group. He is allegedly the leader of the Southeast Asia branch of the Islamic State (IS). President Duterte imposed martial law in Mindanao on May 23 following the attack on Maute group militants, which the Philippine leader said were trying to establish a caliphate for international terrorist group IS. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 21:40:39|Editor: ying Video Player Close KHARTOUM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A tripartite agreement on the voluntary repatriation of Sudanese refugees from Chad and Chadian refugees from Sudan was signed on Wednesday by Sudan, Chad and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Sudan's State Minister at the Ministry of Interior, Babiker Ahmed Digna, Chadian Minister of the State Ministry of Land Administration and Local Government, Aboubakar Djibrile Aboubakar and UNHCR Representative in Sudan Noriko Yoshida all signed the agreement. "The agreement aims to facilitate the repatriation of Sudanese refugees from Chad and Chadian refugees from Sudan," said Babiker Ahmed Digna, Sudan's state minister at the Ministry of Interior, addressing the signing ceremony on Wednesday. Aboubakar Djibrile Aboubakar, Chadian minister of the state ministry of land administration and local government, vowed that his country would continue its efforts toward providing protection for thousands of Sudanese refugees on its territories. Addressing the signing ceremony, UNHCR representative in Sudan Noriko Yoshida, explained that the agreement did not set a return time limit, stressing that the program depends on existing conditions and guarantees the safety and dignity of returnees. She further reiterated that return would be voluntarily, saying "no one will be forced to repatriate against his or her will." Meanwhile, the three parties issued a joint statement after signing the agreement, noting that "the agreements signed today represent internationally accepted legal standards that govern the voluntary repatriation of refugees which all the parties are fully committed to." The statement added that the formal signing of the agreements is important as it lays out the legal framework thus ensuring that refugee returns are strictly voluntary in nature. The joint statement further noted that signing the agreements alone does not mean that assisted return movements will begin immediately, pointing out there is still work to be done by the tripartite commissions. The work still to be conducted by the tripartite commissions involves overseeing the implementation of the agreements, to ensure that returns occur under conditions of safety and dignity as well as ensuring they are lasting returns, said the statement. In this context the parties decided to formalize the repatriation framework which has been informed by the freely expressed wishes of returnees, or those who expressed assistance to return, the statement said. Around 592,000 Sudanese refugees are currently in Chad, 392,000 live in 13 refugee camps in eastern Chad, while the remaining 200,000 are in the Chadian border with some in Chadian cities. In addition, about 8,500 Chadian refugees are in Sudan's territories, living in the Um Shalaya and Mukjar refugee camps in Sudan's Central Darfur. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 22:05:53|Editor: ying Video Player Close TOKYO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Prosecutors officially accepted on Wednesday a criminal complaint filed by the Osaka prefectural government against the scandal-hit school operator Moritomo Gakuen over using fraudulent means to obtain government subsidies. According to the complaint filed with the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, Tsukamoto Kindergarten, run by Moritomo Gakuen, allegedly swindled the prefectural government out of subsidies totaling some 61.86 million yen (about 0.56 million U.S. dollars) over the past six years. The complaint alleged that Yasunori Kagoike, head of Moritomo Gakuen, inflated the number of full-time faculty and staff of the kindergarten and the number of children with disabilities to get subsidies from the local government. Tsukamoto Kindergarten and its operator Moritomo Gakuen have been under public scrutiny, first for the school's nationalist agenda, and later for a shady land deal scandal implicating Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Tsukamoto kindergarten, which has been visited by Abe's wife Akie Abe, has been exposed for requiring 3- to 5-year-old students to recite in stilted Japanese the pre-war Imperial Rescript on Education that helped fuel Japanese militarism before and during World War II. Moritomo Gakuen reportedly bought a 8,770-square-meter piece of land last June in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, for 134 million yen, equivalent to only 14 percent of its appraisal price, for building a new elementary school with Akie Abe as its honorary principal. Yasunori Kagoike, head of the school operator, gave sworn testimony in both chambers of parliament stating he thinks the land deal involved "politicians' intervention," while the Abes, for their part, denied involvement in the land deal. Public opinion polls showed that the majority of the Japanese people consider the Abe administration not doing enough to clear away suspicions surrounding the scandal. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 22:15:56|Editor: ying Video Player Close Ankara, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish Embassy in Kabul was damaged in Wednesday's car bomb attack in the Afghan capital, said the Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement. The ministry noted that no Turkish personnel were harmed however. "The attack took place in an area where many government facilities and foreign missions are located. Turkish embassy buildings also endured damage due to the explosion. Embassy personnel were unharmed in the attack," read the statement. The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack and conveyed its condolences to the government and people of Afghanistan. "Turkey will continue to stand by the government of Afghanistan and its friendly and brotherly people in the fight against terrorism," added the ministry. The powerful car bomb exploded in central Kabul, where several diplomatic representatives, official institutions as well as the Presidential Palace are located, killing at least 80 people and injuring over 350 others. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 22:15:58|Editor: ying Video Player Close SOFIA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Over 280 British soldiers with nearly 170 military and auxiliary vehicles entered Bulgaria on Wednesday via Kapitan Petko Voyvoda checkpoint at the country's southeastern border with Greece while en route to Romania, officials said. The troops, belonging to the NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), would spend one night in Novo Selo Training Area, one of the four U.S.-Bulgarian joint military bases in the Balkan country, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said on its website. On Thursday, they would enter Romania to participate in the "active part" of the exercise Noble Jump 2017, which would be held from June 8 to June 14 at the Cincu training area in central Romania, the ministry said. In addition, from Friday to Sunday more than 220 Spanish soldiers with over 100 military and auxiliary vehicles as well as 145 Albanian soldiers with 18 vehicles, would also enter Bulgaria from Greece to participate in the same exercise in Romania, the ministry said. The Bulgarian Armed Forces would test their capabilities for logistic support of NATO's formations on such a scale for the first time, the ministry said. "The results will be used in the development of a national system for maintenance of allied and foreign forces on the territory of the country," the ministry said. Bulgaria has been a NATO member since 2004. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 22:21:01|Editor: ying Video Player Close by Chris Mgidu and Joy Nabukewa LAMU, Kenya, May 31 (Xinhua) -- At least five people, including four police officers, were killed and seven others still missing on Wednesday in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the Kenya's coastal region of Lamu. Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman Joseph Owuoth said two police officers are among the seven people who could not be traced after their vehicle was hit by IED planted by suspected Al-Shabaab militants at Kiunga in Lamu County. Owuoth said the military managed to repulse the militants as they responded to the attack. The police officers are attached at Mangai Rapid Border Patrol Unit (RBPU) in Lamu East. Their armored police car had on board seven RBPU officers who were heading to Mokowe town in Lamu West for refueling before the incident occurred at around 9 a.m. A senior police said there was an exchange of fire between soldiers and militants in the area after their vehicle stepped on the IED. He said the soldiers managed to repulse the militants who escaped after fierce gun fight. The Al-Shabaab is believed to have changed tactic by using IEDs to carry out attacks in parts of Coast region and North Eastern. At least 12 police officers were killed in bombings last week in Mandera and Garissa counties. Al-Shabaab claimed both attacks. The increased attacks came after intelligence agency had warned of possible attacks in the Coast region by Al-Shabaab operatives in the month of Ramadan. The intelligence agency said the militants have dispatched fighters in parts of North Eastern and Coast to carry out sting attacks targeting security agents and civilians. On Monday three suspected Al-Shabaab militants were killed in Wayu area, Tana River County. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 22:26:06|Editor: ying Video Player Close by Saud Abu Ramadan GAZA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- In the main market in Downtown Gaza City, Nabil Ayoubi's store was, as usual, full of all kinds of food products and goods that his customers would need during Ramadan, the annual Muslims' fasting month. However, Ayoubi, 24, complained that during Ramadan, which began on Saturday, very few customers come to his store that his grandfather opened 40 years ago. "Compared to last year and the years before, the purchasing power this year is very weak due to a worst economical situation the Gaza Strip has ever witnessed," Ayoubi told Xinhua, adding "In previous years, I stayed in my store with three other workers until midnight to meet the needs of our customers." The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave after Islamic Hamas movement won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006. Israel tightened the blockade after Hamas violent takeover of the enclave in the summer of 2007. However, in 2010, Israel began to ease the blockade following international criticism and pressure depending on the humanitarian needs of more than 2 million residents of the enclave. The Israeli measures and the closure of crossing points had caused high rates of poverty and unemployment. Ayoubi said this year, he has one worker only who works until 9 o'clock in the evening, adding that he also reduced orders of more products for the store. He expected that there will be a 30 percent drop in the total sale for this year. During the first four days of Ramadan, streets and markets in Gaza City, which used to be full of customers and traffic, were almost empty. "Only sadness and frustration can be seen on faces of the people because they wanted to buy stuff, but their pockets are empty," said Ayoubi. The merchants and storekeepers in the downtown market believe the reason behind the difficult situation in the Gaza Strip is mainly the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has crippled the economic situation there and hindered livelihood opportunities. Meanwhile, they believe that internal feuds and division between Hamas rulers in Gaza and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Party in the West Bank were the reason behind other difficulties, like severe shortage of electricity and lack of medical and other services. Two months ago, Abbas and his Palestinian (National) Authority decided to cut 30 percent of the salaries of thousands of employees in the Gaza Strip. The PNA has been paying full salaries to around 70,000 civil servants and security officers since Hamas violent takeover of the Gaza Strip. "The sharp reduction of the salaries the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah paid to its employees in Gaza has negatively influenced daily commercial movement," Maher Taba'a, the public information officer at Gaza Chamber of Commerce, told Xinhua. He added that these salaries not only support tens of thousands of families, but also support large segments of the Palestinian economy in Gaza, noting that unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip reached more than 40 percent and that 70 percent of citizens there depend on humanitarian assistance." Talking about the ongoing electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip beside the salaries crisis and the deteriorating economic situation, Ayoubi said "Gaza Strip residents have been forced, for so many years to have only less than half of electricity they need on daily basis." Due to the political-economic dispute between Hamas rule and the Palestinian Authority, the power plant in Gaza has been disabled for weeks, resulting a disruption in the daily life at homes and hospitals, and also disrupted wastewater treatment and desalination plants. "Shortage of electricity in the Gaza Strip has actually a negative impact on business interests and industries," said Taba'a, who called on the two rivals, Hamas and Fatah to end their feud and division, make a real reconciliation and resolve the horrible daily life difficulties. Ayoubi shop is also specializes in making and selling grinder coffee, but he can't grind coffee all the time because the coffee grinder is off most of the time due to the power cut. In order to operate the shop at the lowest level, Ayoubi is obliged to subscribe to an additional electricity network that provides electricity to several stores through a large generator with an additional charge of NIS 140 (about 39 U.S. dollars) per month. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 22:26:10|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in Berlin, Germany, May 31, 2017. Li is in Berlin to attend an annual meeting between the Chinese premier and German chancellor, a mechanism that has been in place since 2004. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Wednesday for an official visit to Germany. Li will join German chancellor Angela Merkel for an annual meeting between the two heads of government, a mechanism that has been in place since 2004. Upon arrival, Li said the past 45 years since China and Germany forged diplomatic ties have seen their relations grow steadily. Against a backdrop of sluggish world economic recovery as well as rising protectionism and a de-globalization trend, the two countries have found it ever more important to step up communication and cooperation. "I'm here to consolidate and develop our friendship, and to innovate and upgrade the bilateral cooperation," Li said. "We are expected to promote bilateral ties and cooperation to a new high in the spirit of mutual respect and equality, so as to benefit both peoples and contribute to regional and world stability, cooperation and development." During the stay, Li and Merkel will meet on several occasions, witness the signing of various cooperation documents, meet the press together, attend and address a forum on innovation cooperation and have a dialogue with business people from both sides. The premier will also meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Berlin is the first leg of Li's three-day Europe tour that will also take him to Belgium. In Brussels, the Chinese premier will co-chair the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and pay an official visit to Belgium. It is Li's ninth trip to Europe and third visit to Germany as premier. While Merkel is a frequent visitor to China, both Juncker and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel visited China last year. Such frequent high-level exchanges between China and the EU testify the common grounds and interests shared by the two sides despite an ever-changing international landscape, and showcase their common desire for cooperation and development. The visit took place as Europe has witnessed frequent high-level diplomacy recently. During U.S. President Donald Trump's just concluded visit to Europe last week, the two sides saw their rifts on defense, trade and climate change widened. Tusk admitted the EU is still at odds with the United States over issues like climate and trade. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 22:31:12|Editor: ying Serbia's President-elect Aleksandar Vucic (2nd R) reviews guards of honor in Belgrade, Serbia, May 31, 2017. Vucic was elected for the role of president on April 2. (Xinhua/Predrag Milosavljevic) BELGRADE, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Aleksandar Vucic, former prime minister of Serbia and leader of the ruling Progressive party, assumed office on Wednesday as Serbia's new president. Vucic, who won the April 2 elections in the first round with 55.08 percent of votes, took the presidential oath of office at parliament and took over duty from outgoing president Tomislav Nikolic. "A permanent, stable and fruitful peace in Serbia and the whole region is certainly one of the greatest priorities," Vucic said. Vucic repeated that Serbia plans to maintain its neutrality, stick to its traditional friendships with China and Russia, and develop better relations with the United States, along with implementing necessary reforms on the EU path, for the sake of its own future. "During the past several years, we have managed to build cordial relations with China which are warmer than ever before. They (Chinese company) helped us by taking over the Smederevo steel mill and saved thousands of jobs, as well as by participating in numerous infrastructural projects and those in the areas of energy and mining," Vucic said in his speech to MPs in parliament. He said that changes in the country's constitution will be needed to continue the country's European integration, and that he will invest efforts into making them happen. Vucic called for unity among Serbian people, and pledged to work together with the future government in achieving better standards for Serbia's citizens. The 47-year-old served as PM in two consecutive terms from 2014 to 2017 and his new presidential mandate will last for five years. On Tuesday, he submitted his resignation of the position of PM to the parliament. The new PM and government will be announced before his official inauguration, scheduled for June 23. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 23:42:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close OSLO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A Norwegian expert welcomes the fact that fewer students in Norway are choosing petroleum science for their major, newspaper Aftenposten reported Wednesday. That fewer students want to study oil as a subject is "a healthy sign" for the Norwegian economy, said Thor Richard Isaksen, head of communications at technology company Zedge. His comments were in reaction to statements made by Egil Tjaland, department head of geosciences and petroleum at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), who encouraged new students to choose petroleum sciences. "It is guaranteed the safest education you can choose to get a good job in Norway when you have finished your studies," Tjaland said. But Isaksen said it was "irresponsible to give promises of jobs in an industry that is over its peak and which has proved to be far more cyclically sensitive than previously assumed." "This I think the students have understood," Isaksen said, pointing out that it was much safer to focus on information technology (IT) and programming than on oil. "The most required expertise in the labor market right now is not petroleum science but programming. That is how it has been for a long time," Isaksen said. He emphasized that there was no contradiction between the need for oil engineers and IT engineers. "It is a healthy sign that the young people themselves take the signals so clearly and apply to other education than petroleum subjects. That way, the students make it easier to change the Norwegian economy than if we continued to have an accumulation of engineering expertise in the oil industry," Isaksen said. "This is not about being negative towards the oil industry, but understanding that the Norwegian economy needs other skills," he said. Tjaland, on the other hand, thought differently. "It would be irresponsible for Norway not to provide an education that creates competence in Norway's most important industry," he said. "Many who began in the oil industry in the 1980s are retiring. Petroleum education is also important for making oil extraction and use more climate-friendly," Tjaland said. Tjaland pointed out that both oil and IT were industries that experienced cycles. "The dot-com bubble around 2000 showed that times also fluctuate for IT. I do not agree that oil is more cyclically-exposed than other industries," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-31 23:57:30|Editor: xuxin Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak delivers a speech after he was elected as president of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at the UN headquarters in New York, May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak was elected on Wednesday as president of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. As the only candidate nominated for the position, Lajcak was elected by acclamation by the 193-member Assembly. Lajcak is currently the minister of foreign and European affairs of Slovakia. He was Slovak ambassador to Japan from 1994 to 1998. Lajcak also ran for the position of UN Secretary-General in 2016. He will replace the current president, Peter Thomson of Fiji when the next assembly session convenes in September this year. Addressing the assembly after his election, Lajcak said his priorities would include peace, migration, development as well as climate change. Calling for a focus on people, Lajcak promised that he would "bring the UN closer to the world citizens" and guarantee peace and decent lives for ordinary people on a sustainable planet. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated Lajcak on his election, saying he will collaborate with the new president in charting a course for lasting peace, justice, human rights and human dignity. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 00:07:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ANKARA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Several streets of Ankara's central Kizilay district were closed Wednesday due to a fake bomb threat, local media reported. A number of police officers were dispatched to an internet cafe on Selanik Street in Kizilay, where someone reported a suspected bomb there, daily Hurriyet reported on its website. After the emergency alert, people in surrounding buildings were evacuated urgently, and nearby streets were closed by police. After security check, however, the threat was subsequently revealed to be a hoax. As a busy commercial area in central Ankara, Kizilay district was attacked twice by suicide bombs in 2016, which caused more than 60 persons killed and hundreds wounded. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 00:42:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ABUJA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A local official on Wednesday confirmed the abduction of a member of the Nigerian parliament by gunmen who assailed his vehicle on Abuja-Kaduna expressway. Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of the northwestern state of Kano told Xinhua the national lawmaker, identified as Garba Durbunde, was whisked to an unknown location by his assailants. Ganduje described the kidnapping as "an act of wickedness perpetrated by evil and cold-hearted elements." Gurbunde was traveling along that axis when the abductors went after his vehicle. The governor said security operatives had launched a search for the abductors. A family source said the gunmen had not yet contacted the victim's relatives for ransom. Abduction is common in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. Most foreigners and ransomable citizens seized by gunmen in the country were usually released unharmed after paying a ransom. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 00:47:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HANOI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam on Wednesday urged UN and other international organizations to mobilize financial and technical resources to assist the country in building inclusive finance. Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang made the request during a meeting in Hanoi with Queen of the Netherlands Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, who also serves as UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. Vietnam has reaped a wide range of achievements in socio-economic development and poverty reduction, thanks to the implementation of policies and activities related to inclusive finance such as microfinance development, credit for agriculture and rural areas, and social security, the president said at a reception held for the queen, who is on a working visit to Hanoi. Queen Maxima said inclusive finance will be a tool to effectively mobilize resources, which is expected to contribute to Vietnam's socio-economic development and sustainable growth and help people get easier access to official financing and banking services. The queen also affirmed that the Netherlands is willing to share experiences and cooperate with Vietnam in the field of inclusive finance. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 01:03:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CHICAGO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- More than 135 kilograms of marijuana and some weapons, including two machine guns, have been found during a recent police raid on a country mansion in U.S. state of Illinois. According to a Chicago Tribune report on Wednesday, prosecutors from McHenry County, some 100 kilometers northwest of Chicago and where the mansion is located, have filed court papers requesting the forfeiture of the house and vacant land around it, valued at a combined 1.6 million U.S. dollars. In addition to the cannabis, street-valued at about three million U.S. dollars, police also found two machine guns, three pistols and ammunition plus cash of 43,000 U.S. dollars in the house on May 19. Two residents of the house, David Soskin and Jamie Lee, have been arrested and charged with felony possession, delivery and trafficking of marijuana. The weapons will be tested for potential gun-related crimes, prosecutors added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 01:08:11|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close KHARTOUM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations asked the international community on Wednesday to donate 804 million U.S. dollars in 2017 for the displaced people and South Sudanese refugees in Sudan. The humanitarian community in Sudan launched on Wednesday the Multi-Year Humanitarian Strategy (MYHS) for 2017-2019 and the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2017 to address humanitarian needs in Sudan, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA). "In 2017, the total funding sought for humanitarian projects through HRP is 804 million dollars, to benefit some 4 million people," OCHA said. "Developed in close consultation with the government of Sudan, MYHS is the first of its kind in Sudan and recognizes that Sudan has both new and long-term humanitarian needs which require different types of interventions," it noted. It further said the strategy represents a commitment by the humanitarian community to better address the long-term needs and strive toward a sustainable reduction in needs, vulnerabilities and risk. "While there has been limited new internal displacement in 2017, humanitarian needs in Sudan remain significant, with 4.8 million people in need of assistance, including 2.3 million internally displaced persons," it said. It added that millions of people are facing food insecurity, acute malnutrition and are in need of access to health, improved water and sanitation services. The Sudanese government estimates that Sudan is hosting about 600,000 South Sudanese refugees fleeing the war and famine in their country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 01:18:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BAKU, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The NATO Evaluation Level 2 Exercises (NEL-2) was launched here with the participation of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces' infantry battalion, the country's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The evaluation takes place as part of the Operational Capabilities Concept Evaluation and Feedback Program (OCC E&F). The OCC E&F is a practical multipurpose military tool that serves as a vehicle for closer operational relationship between the Alliance and potential contributor to NATO-led operations by supporting partner efforts to develop forces that are fully interoperable and capable of operating with NATO standards and procedures. A total of 700 military personnel, 80 military vehicles and four helicopters have been involved in field exercises for re-evaluation of the unit at Garaheybat Military Training Center of the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry in Baku. A team of inspectors from NATO's Allied Land Command evaluated the unit via a variety of technical inspections and skills demonstrations. In 2010, Azerbaijan declared an infantry battalion to the OCC E&F process and successfully conducted an OCC level 1 self-evaluation which was observed by the experts from NATO, US and Turkey. The exercises will last until June 2. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 01:38:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ACCRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Confucius Institute on Wednesday marked three years of its operations at the University of Ghana, Legon. The Institute was established and officially inaugurated on May 22, 2013, at the university but became fully operational a year later. The colorful ceremony was spiced with performances on Chinese dance and exhibition of Chinese culture by Ghanaian students. From a modest beginning, the institute has grown to become a national asset extending its operations beyond the University of Ghana by setting up six teaching sites of schools and institutes, offering Chinese courses to nearly 2,500 Ghanaian students. It has also set up the only HSK Chinese proficiency center in Ghana which makes it possible for Ghanaians to gain scholarships to study in China. The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Samuel Kwame Offei, commended the Confucius institute for its role in bridging the language gap between China and Ghana. "It is becoming a very beneficial institute and we hope that they will be able to expand their activities beyond language and culture into other areas," he said. The Political Counselor of the Chinese Embassy, Jiang Zhouteng, said the Confucius institute had served as a bridge to connect Chinese and Ghanaian peoples for better mutual understanding through its programs. "I have been posted in Ghana for nearly one year and it is my strong feeling that this Confucius institute plays active role in promoting cultural and people to people exchanges between China and Ghana," said Jiang. Some parents, school authorities and students highly praised the Confucius institute for its work at the University of Ghana. The Institute presented certificates to organizations for their massive support during the period. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 02:53:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS) terrorists shot a young man dead in northern Libyan city of Bani Walid, according to local media. The report said that the young man's body was found near a local water tank a day after being kidnapped. Clashes broke out a few days ago between security forces and IS affiliates around the outskirts of the city. The clashes killed four terrorists. Forces of the UN-backed government of national accord have defeated the IS in Sirte last year. However, the fleeing terrorists are still roaming around Bani Walid and Sirte. IS terrorists in Libya have claimed responsibility for many suicide bombings and killings of foreigners in Libya. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 02:58:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close SKOPJE, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Switzerland will give Macedonia 69 million euros (77.5 million U.S. dollars) over the next four years to help the country achieve European standards, Swiss ambassador to Macedonia Sybille Suter Tejada announced here Wednesday. The fund aims to support various reform programs in Macedonia, Tejada told reporters at a news conference. She added that the funds were also to help authorities here to build a socially-inclusive democracy, develop a free market economy, and manage natural resources efficiently. "Some 19.5 million euros of the total will be meant for economic development and we expect 4,400 new jobs to be created in the process," Tajada declared. Regarding politics, she said that the fund would help Macedonia to improve the efficiency of the electoral process and the political culture in general. Noting that Switzerland remained one of the top bilateral partners and supporters of Macedonia, Tejada stressed that such initiatives and activities would continue in the future. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars) Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak delivers a speech after being elected as president of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly on May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak was elected on Wednesday as president of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. As the only candidate nominated for the position, Lajcak was elected by acclamation by the 193-member Assembly. Lajcak is currently the minister of foreign and European affairs of Slovakia. He was Slovak ambassador to Japan from 1994 to 1998. Lajcak also ran for the position of UN Secretary-General in 2016. He will replace the current president, Peter Thomson of Fiji when the next assembly session convenes in September this year. Addressing the assembly after his election, Lajcak said his priorities would include peace, migration, development as well as climate change. Calling for a focus on people, Lajcak promised that he would "bring the UN closer to the world citizens" and guarantee peace and decent lives for ordinary people on a sustainable planet. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated Lajcak on his election, saying he will collaborate with the new president in charting a course for lasting peace, justice, human rights and human dignity. Photo taken on May 31, 2017 shows the site of a car bomb explosion in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah) UNITED NATIONS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday strongly condemned a terrorist attack in Afghanistan's capital Kabul which killed at least 80 people and injured over 350 others. A powerful car bomb exploded in Kabul's diplomatic district. More than 50 vehicles were destroyed and dozens of buildings were damaged by the blast. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. "The Secretary-General expressed his abhorrence at this act and underlined the need to reinforce the fight against terrorism and violent extremism," UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a daily briefing. "Indiscriminate attacks against civilians are grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and can never be justified," said Dujarric. "Those responsible for today's attack must be brought to justice." Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 04:19:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania said on Wednesday plans were afoot to formulate and implement a law aimed at controlling tobacco related diseases in the east African nation. Ummy Mwalimu, the Minister for Health, said the legislation will aim at controlling tobacco related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart and lung diseases. Data obtained from the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) and the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) show that 32 percent of cancer cases reporting to these institutions were linked to smoking tobacco. A study carried out in 2013 by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and the WHO showed that 17.5 percent of people in households who did not actively smoke tobacco were exposed to the substance by other smokers. "And, 24.9 percent are exposed to the tobacco smoke in workplaces," said the study. Currently the Tobacco Products (Regulation) Act, 2003 is the only piece of tobacco control legislation in Tanzania. It regulates public smoking, tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and tobacco packaging and labeling. In her address to the World No Tobacco Day themed-Tobacco- a threat to development, Mwalimu said apart from formulating the law, the legislation will also seek to amend the Tobacco Products (Regulation) Act, 2003 by making sure that imported and locally manufactured cigarette products were labeled with strong warnings at both sides of the cigarette packet to alert users over effects of smoking. "We have initiated a joint working scheme with other relevant ministries like the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs, the Ministry of Industries, the Ministry of Finance and various civil society organizations (CSOs) to make sure that we achieve fighting tobacco related diseases in the country," she said. Mwalimu said the government will officially stop broadcasting of cigarette products on billboards alongside roads or on television or radio in a bid to reduce demand for tobacco among users. Neema Kileo, a representative from the World Health Organization (WHO), urged the government to formulate and implement advocacy policies and legislation in combating tobacco related diseases. "I call upon WHO member states to include tobacco control in their national policies, plans and sustainable development goals," said Kileo, urging countries across the world to raise tobacco taxes to reduce demand for the commodity. Reports availed by WHO indicated that tobacco kills more than 7.2 million people per year, with over 80 per cent from low or middle-income countries including Tanzania. In the African region, about 146,000 adults aged 30 years and above die every year from tobacco related diseases, according to the WHO. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 04:29:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAIRO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Three Egyptian officers and a soldier were killed in the country's Western Desert during an anti-terror operation, the Egyptian Armed Forces said Wednesday. The four were killed while combing Bahariya Oasis, 360 km southwest of Cairo, during a hunt for terrorist elements, according to a statement by the forces. The Egyptian Air Forces surveyed Bahariya Oasis in search of terrorists, the statement said, adding that the air forces detected two 44 vehicles with a number of terrorists on board in northeastern parts of the oasis. After destroying the vehicles, an explosive belt belonging to one of the terrorists went off during the security operation, killing three officers and a soldier. Anti-government terror attacks in Egypt have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the mid-2013 military removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule. Most of the terrorist attacks nationwide, particularly those in Sinai Peninsula, have been claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militia. To further pressure the government, the IS started to expand terror operations to target the Coptic Christian minority in the capital Cairo and other provinces nationwide. The launch of the cyber security initiative comes weeks after the ransomware virus "WannaCry" paralyzed millions of institutional and private PCs across the world. (Reuters photo) DUBAI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Dubai launched on Wednesday an initiative to ensure cyber security among "establishments and residents" in the city, United Arab Emirates (UAE) daily Gulf news reported. At the launch in Dubai's business skyscraper Emirates Towers, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said it is necessary for Dubai to develop a comprehensive defense strategy against hacker attacks. According to Sheikh Mohammed, his government wants "to harness technology to create a new reality in Dubai and a different life, a new model of development." Based on five pillars, the initiative will be achieved by implementing cyber smart technology, innovation, cyber security, cyber resilience, and collaborating on a national and global level, he said. Dubai has the most diversified economy in the Gulf Arab region, according to the Washington-based bank association Institute of International Finance. Most of the world's Fortune 500 firms run offices in the city. The launch of the cyber security initiative comes weeks after the ransomware virus "WannaCry" paralyzed millions of institutional and private PCs across the world, with the UAE not being affected, the UAE daily The National reported on May 13, quoting the telecommunications regulatory authority TRA. This file photo taken on April 06, 2012 shows an aerial view of central Moscow, with the headquarters of Russia's Foreign Ministry, one of the so-called Stalin high rises, in the foreground. (AFP Photo) MOSCOW, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday ordered five Moldovan and two Estonian diplomats to leave Russia in retaliation for the expulsion of seven Russian diplomats from the two countries. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Minister-Counsellor of the Moldovan Embassy Nicolae Miinea to declare five diplomats from the embassy "persona non grata" and asked them to leave Russia within three days. On Monday, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry expelled five Russian diplomats without explaining the reason. The expulsion of the Russian diplomats angered Moldova's pro-Russia president Igor Dodon, who warned on Facebook that it could undermine the dialogue with Moscow. "I am deeply outraged by this unfriendly step ... I categorically condemn it," said Dodon, who is at odds with his coalition government's pro-West officials. On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Estonian Ambassador Arti Hilpus, declaring two diplomats from the Estonian Consulate in St. Petersburg were "persona non grata" and have to leave Russia within five days. It came after the Estonian Foreign Ministry expelled two diplomats of the Russian Consulate in the city of Narva on May 26, giving no reasons. "The continuing destructive policy of the Estonian authorities will inevitably have the most negative impact on bilateral relations. All responsibility for the consequences of this policy rests with the Estonian side," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Estonia was part of the Soviet Union and gained independence in 1991. The Baltic country joined the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004. U.S. President Donald Trump awaits the arrival of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the world would know his decision on the Paris climate agreement over the next few days. "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. Citing senior U.S. officials familiar with Trump's plan, several U.S. mainstream media reported Wednesday morning that Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris Accord adopted by 196 nations in 2015. However, CNN quoted U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity as saying that Trump's position on the Paris Accord could still change until he makes his decision public. The Trump administration was initially planning to make a final decision on the Paris Accord early this month. However, the decision was delayed till the G7 meeting in Sicily, Italy. However, Trump left the G7 summit without agreeing to endorse the Paris Accord to cut global carbon emissions, raising eyebrows among leaders of U.S. key allies in the group. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 05:45:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) attends a welcome ceremony held by German chancellor Angela Merkel before an annual meeting between Chinese and German heads of government in Berlin, Germany, May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called on Germany to help China-developed large passenger plane C919 get an airworthiness certificate from the European Union. Li made the call during his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. He is on an official visit to Germany for an annual meeting between the two heads of government, a mechanism that has been in place since 2004. The twin-engine C919 made a maiden flight on May 5 in Shanghai with five crew members on board but no passengers. The success makes China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the United States, Western Europe and Russia. With a standard range of 4,075 km, the narrow-body jet is comparable with updated Airbus 320 and Boeing's new generation 737 planes, signaling the country's entry into the global aviation market. China has taken pride in developing the homegrown jumbo jet, regarding it as a symbol of national strength. In 2007, the State Council approved plans to develop a large passenger jet. In November 2015, the first C919 jet rolled off the assembly line. More than 200,000 technicians worked on the project. A total of 23 foreign and domestic customers, including China's national carrier Air China, had placed orders for 570 aircraft as of May 5, according to COMAC, the manufacturer. COMAC has to seek airworthiness certificates from domestic and foreign aviation safety regulators before making its first deliveries slated for around 2019. Airworthiness is the measure of an aircraft's suitability for safe flight. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 05:45:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LONDON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- With a week to go before Britain's 46 million voters vote in the general election, party leaders came face-to-face in a bruising live television debate Wednesday night. Broadcast live on national radio and television the 90 minute verbal battle saw seven politicians from the major parties crossing swords. Missing from the line up was Prime Minister Theresa May who declined to take part, with the Home Secretary Amber Rudd instead representing the Conservative Party. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron attacked May for not taking part. "How dare you call a general election and run away," he said in a commented greeted with applause and cheers from the audience. Angus Robertson, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons, hit out at May for calling a snap election in the first place. "Not the iron lady, more the u-turn queen," he said. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of May's biggest rival party, Labour, decided at the last minute to take part after initially saying he would not take part if May wasn't present. Leaders of the three main minority parties, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, UKIP leader Paul Nuttall and Caroline Lucas of the Green Party were also in the line up along with the SNP's Angus Robertson and Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru, the National Party of Wales. Questions ranged from austerity, immigration, police numbers, welfare reforms, cuts to pension rises, food banks, with politicians clashing on a range of issues. In one of the biggest exchanges, Rudd rounded on Labour's plans, telling Corbyn: "You have to stop thinking there is a magic money tree." Corbyn hit back at Rudd, asking her: "Have you been to a food bank. Have you seen people sleeping around our stations. Have you seen the level of poverty that exists because of your government's conscious decision on benefits." In his closing comments, Jeremy Corbyn says there's "a real choice between a Labour government or a Conservative government - whether young people are saddled with debt or freed from it" and whether public services are boosted or cut. In her summary, Rudd said "a vote for anybody but Theresa May is a vote for Jeremy Corbyn. Our government needs to be at our strongest to take us through Brexit." UKIP's Paul Nuttall described the clash as like groundhog day, adding: "UKIP will always be the outsider. But it has been proven right on Brexit, on immigration, on grammar schools, and on protecting services." People following the debate took to social media sites to give their verdicts on the clash. Chele Cook wrote: "God, can this really be called a debate? It's carnage. How long has it been since we've had an actual answer to a question?" Zak Wagman commented: This shouting over each other is a great advert for why we don't need TV debates. On the campaign trail, the closing days of the campaign is likely to see the battle for votes intensifying, with some political commentators predicting the gloves will be off in the fight for the keys to 10 Downing Street. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 05:50:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HELSINKI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Finnish commercial media are facing "unfair competition" from the national broadcaster Yle, which operates on tax-based revenue, a private media interest organization said on Wednesday. Vesa-Pekka Kangaskorpi, chairman of the Association of Finnish private media companies, told Xinhua that Finnish commercial media heard bad news this week as the parliamentary Administrative Council of Yle concluded that Yle can continue providing regional text digital news. Yle runs public TV and radio channels of Finland. It is totally funded by specific Yle tax. Administrative Council that comprises members of parliament defines major policy lines of Yle, but is not supposed to influence the programming. Yle also runs a newswebsite providing not only TV and radio contents but the text stories as well, which has angried many local Finnish media operators. Kangaskorpi said the association announced on Wednesday it would continue questioning the current role of tax-based broadcasting and internet services. The Finnish government recently asked the parliament to authorize financial support to commercial television, if it is willing to accept social duties and maintain a news service. In practice, a million euros would go to commercial channel MTV3. It is the only commercial channel with a full service licence. Commercial television has not been hit by Yle competition that much, but rather from the low advertising revenues and poor subscription. In their press release on Wednesday, the Media Association did not appreciate the government aid plan either, but wanted it to be distributed more widely. Kangaskorpi is the CEO of Keskisuomalainen, a private media group based in Jyvaskyla, central Finland. Keskisuomalainen runs over 60 newspapers, half of them based on subscription. The company recently reported positive results, and one of the new revenue sources was the dedicated screens offering news at the petrol pump. Customers of the Finnish Neste petrol stations can watch media content while pumping petrol to their cars. Kangaskorpi underlined that the results oriented management was a key reason for the good results of Keskisuomalainen. Additionally, advertising for the local elections this past spring abounded in printed media. In recent years, KSML has purchased numerous media houses. Kangaskorpi described KSML as "a successful consolidator." The company maintains also a digital service in neighbouring Estonia. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 06:15:50|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) attends a welcome ceremony held by German chancellor Angela Merkel before an annual meeting between Chinese and German heads of government in Berlin, Germany, May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called for joint efforts to promote trade liberalization and investment facilitation during his visit to Germany. In face of global uncertainties, anti-globalization sentiment and rising protectionism in the world, China and Germany should continue to promote trade liberalization and investment facilitation and safeguard the regulations of the World Trade Organization, Li said during talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Li said that China hopes the two countries could work together to offset global uncertainties with a stable bilateral relationship, so as to send positive signals of stability, cooperation and development to regions and the world at large. China and Germany have fostered a fast-developing and more mature relationship with closer high-level communications, rapidly-growing trade and investments and new achievements in the field of people-to-people exchanges, Li said, adding that the two countries should continue to consolidate mutual trust, strengthen bilateral cooperation and enhance communications in a spirit of mutual respect and equality. The Chinese premier is on an official visit to Germany for an annual meeting between the two heads of government, a mechanism launched in 2004. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 06:30:54|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Libyan UN-backed Prime Minister Faiz Sarraj met on Wednesday with a delegation of the African Union High Level Committee on Libya, and discussed the crisis under the political agreement. The AU delegation was composed of foreign ministers of Congo, Guinea, Niger, Mauritania and AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ismail al-Sharqawi. The delegation stressed AU's support for the government of national accord, and praised Serraj's efforts to achieve national reconciliation between rival political parties. According to the delegation, the meeting aims to involve all parties into the political process and help bring different views together. Serraj praised the importance of AU's support to Libya's security, saying the solution needs "an end to foreign interference supporting a particular party, which has further complicated the crisis." He stressed that his government is "not a party of the conflict," and "in accordance with the decisions of the UN security council, the African Union and the Arab League, there must be no dealing with any parallel party of the crisis." Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 06:35:55|Editor: Hou Qiang Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) attends a welcome ceremony held by German chancellor Angela Merkel before an annual meeting between Chinese and German heads of government in Berlin, Germany, May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday reiterated China's support for the European integration process. As a comprehensive strategic partner of the European Union (EU), China is ready to see a solidary, prosperous and stable Europe as it will be conducive to the world multipolarization and economic globalization, Li told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Li is paying an official visit to Germany for an annual meeting between the two heads of government, a mechanism launched in 2004. Berlin is the first leg of Li's three-day Europe tour that will also take him to Belgium. In Brussels, the Chinese premier will co-chair the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and pay an official visit to Belgium. Merkel expressed appreciation for China's support for the European integration, and wished for a fruitful meeting between Li and the EU leaders. This is Li's ninth trip to Europe and third visit to Germany as premier. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 06:35:56|Editor: xuxin Photo taken on May 31, 2017 shows the press conference held by Fred Dixon, presidentand CEO of NYC & Company, in Manhattan, New York, the United States. China is one of the fastest growing international marketfor New York City as nearly one million Chinese visited the Big Apple in 2016, said Fred Dixon here on Wednesday. (Xinhua/WangYing) NEW YORK, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China is one of the fastest growing international market for New York City as nearly one million Chinese visited the Big Apple in 2016, said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, the city's tourism marketer. "It (China) is still one of the brightest spot on the horizon in terms of potential growth," said Dixon in response to a question by Xinhua at a press conference held Wednesday morning at the newly launched Whitby Hotel in Manhattan midtown. He said businesses across the city, including hotels, cultural institutions and restaurants, are turning to Chinese travellers, many of them have started offering Chinese language tours, and hot tea, slippers and other amenities. In order to attract more Chinese visitors, NYC has also expanded its footprint in China by enhancing cooperation with its local partners and more presence on the country's social media, he said. According to NYC & Company's statistics, over 950,000 Chinese visited NYC in 2016, surpassing Brazilians and Canadians in the ranks of tourists to the city. That represents a sevenfold increase since 2007. Only visitors from Britain outnumbered the Chinese in 2016, but their total of about 1.2 million has not grown since 2007. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-01 07:06:22|Editor: Hou Qiang People work on the revolving printing press on the reopening day of the Havana Chinatown printing house, in Havana, Cuba, May 31, 2017. A long awaited dream came true on Wednesday for Cubans of Chinese origin as the Havana Chinatown printing house was reopened to start publishing a community newspaper, Kwong Wah Po. As part of cultural events to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the arrival of the first Chinese to the island, the machinery dating back to the 19th century purred back to life after undergoing three months of repairs. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez) HAVANA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A long awaited dream came true on Wednesday for Cubans of Chinese origin as the Havana Chinatown printing house was reopened to start publishing a community newspaper, Kwong Wah Po. As part of cultural events to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the arrival of the first Chinese to the island, the machinery dating back to the 19th century purred back to life after undergoing three months of repairs. The biggest is an American Duplex brought to Cuba in 1848, one of the oldest printing machines still in use in the world, which remains capable of printing newspapers and books. Getting this machine and other printing presses to work not only beautifies the newly renovated printing house but also provides a sense of pride in Havana's Chinatown. "Our community has a tradition regarding publications and this printing house had been closed for over five years. It was a pledge of the Chinese community to open it again and publish our newspaper," Teresa Li, director of Chinese Traditions House of Havana, told Xinhua. The Kwong Wah Po newspaper, the only one of its kind on the island, before being closed for the last five years, was a strong way of spreading news about the activities of the Chinese community on the island. "Kwong Wah Po shows the daily life of our community, its events and general information about the Chinese in Cuba," said Li. The publication was founded in 1944 and in September 1987, its administration passed on to the Casino Chung Wah, as the main center of the Chinese community in this Caribbean nation. "The reopening of the Chinese printing house is not only about rescuing the newspaper. It also gives the Chinese community a platform to spread its culture and have a new impact on Cuba," Pedro Creach, the printing house administrator, told Xinhua. The rehabilitation of the machines was a challenge for the experts, in large part due to the need to find rare parts to restore these old printing presses. Due to obsolete technology, the craftsmen also had to update printing techniques that had been used for decades. "We no longer use traditional typography based on lead as it is banned and totally obsolete. We now work with a polymer technique which allow us to make new print," said Creach. The Chinatown authorities plan to print the Kwong Wah Po newspaper on a monthly basis and distribute it in all provinces of the country where there are Cubans of Chinese origin. The newspaper will circulate in a tabloid format of 4 pages, three in Mandarin and one in Spanish, with about 600 copies being printed. In addition, the Chinatown institutions and societies want to print other publications that show the presence of the Chinese in Cuba. American businessman wins casino lawsuit Thomas Baker sued Moore, two Turkish businessmen Sudi Ozkan and Zafer Hakan Unal and three companies, Forty Four Ltd, Club Princess and Alnando Corporation in November 2011 and the judgement was handed down on Monday by Justice Eleanor J Donaldson- Honeywell. The matter involves a dispute over the shareholding of two local companies, Forty Four Ltd and Club Princess Ltd. The arrangement at the time of incorporation of both companies was for Alnando Corporation (which is controlled by the Turkish businessman Sudi Ozkan) and Dallas Corp to each own 50 per cent of both companies. The action filed by Bakers attorneys stated each of the two shareholders would have a director on the boards of the two local companies. At the time of incorporation, Dallas Corp was controlled by Charles Frost. After Frost died in July 2011, 51 per cent ownership of Dallas Corp went to Thomas Baker and 49 per cent to Frosts estranged wife, Chrain Frost. Court documents alleged that in breach of this arrangement, no shares were ever issued by the two local companies to Thomas and Dallas Corp. Moore, at that time was the corporate secretary of both local companies operating as casinos in Trinidad, and since no shares were issued, she was deemed to hold the shares of both companies in trust, hence her being named as a defendant. In her judgement Donaldson-Honeywell said Bakers reasonable expectation were breached through the failure to issue shares and to give access to financial records and also by the failure to allow Dallas Corp to be represented on the Boards of these companies. It was also breached by not allowing the claimants to share in controlling of the business of Forty Four Ltd and Club Princess and by the exclusion of the claimants from the business operations of the two companies and the failure to identify other company officers who could provide information. She therefore ordered the defendants to issue 50 percent of the shares in each of the companies to Dallas Corp forthwith. Baker is to be appointed as a Director on the Boards of Forty Four Ltd and Club Princess. A receiver manager is to be appointed to run the affairs of these two companies. Donaldson- Honeywell also ordered that the parties are to agree to an auditor within 14 days of the date hereof failing which the Registrar will give directions as to the auditor to be appointed to take over the taking of the account. On completion of the audit the parties are granted liberty to apply to the Registrar to appoint an investigator into the affairs of the two companies. Surgery for shooting victim His sister, Indira Ali, 53, who was shot in the right leg was resting at home. The two were shot on Monday by two men who jumped the gates of their home Second Street, New Settlement. The gunmen ran off after shooting the siblings. Sookdeos daughter Natalia told Newsday yesterday, her father is unable to speak and is responding with the use of his hands. She said since the incident the family has been unable to sleep. Police suspect robbery was the motive behind the shooting but the gunmen ran off empty-handed as residents were alerted to the sounds of the gunshots. Sookdeo retired three years ago from the Fire Service and now works as a security officer. An arrest is yet to be made and Couva police are investigating. Lawyers were duped According to Senior Counsel Sophia Chote in a letter to Law Association president Douglas Mendes,SC, no decision was taken at last Wednesdays meeting to have the cases restarted. Chote was among those invited to the meeting at the Hall of Justice where, according to a brief statement from the Judiciarys Court Protocol and Information Manager Alicia Carter-Fisher it said that a consensus was reached at the meeting between key stakeholders to restart Ayers-Caesars unfinished cases from the beginning. Chotes position was disclosed by attorney Gerald Ramdeen, who is representing six of the men whose cases are affected by the decision taken at the meeting. At a press conference at his Cornelio Street office, Woodbrook, yesterday, Ramdeen disclosed what Chote shared with the Law Associations president. She was quoted as telling Mendes, At the end of the meeting, I would say that the majority of persons expressed the view that perhaps it was better for these matters to be started de novo. There was certainly no decision taken on the matter nor were we individually polled for our views. She said that she and association vice president Rajiv Persad left the meeting when it ended and were not asked to view any press release nor were they told that there was going to be a press release. How could the people of this country be told by the Judiciary that the 53 matters are going to be restarted and at that meeting agreed that is the position and Chote who attended the meeting on behalf of the Law Association is sending a report to the Association confirming that no decision was taken at this meeting. How could the Judiciary do this to the people of this country? Ramdeen asked. He said the Law Association and its members who attended the meeting were misled as they were told the purpose of it was to engage in constructive discussion on the administration of justice in the magistracy. Those who also attended the summit which was chaired by Chief Justice Ivor Archie, included three Judges of the Court of Appeal, three Judges of the High Court, four sitting Magistrates, the Registrar of the Supreme Court and the Director of Public Prosecutions. How could those sitting Judges of the High Court have allowed this to happen and after the Judiciary issued a release that clearly was meant to deceive and mislead and not one of them had the courage to say this is wrong, this did not happen, we did not agree, Ramdeen said. He said it was clear that the Judiciary misled the public by the statements made in its press release on May 25 and called on the Law Association to make a public statement on the matter immediately. Ramdeen said that Archie must go following this and he called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and President Anthony Carmona to take responsibility for what is happening. The majority of the part-heard cases was adjourned to tomorrow by Acting Chief Magistrate Busby Maria Busby Earle- Caddle. Ramdeen said a number of lawyers have planned to appear on that day to indicate to her that she ought not to preside over any proceedings that deals with the 53 matters. Kamla vows more protests over unfinished PP projects Persad-Bissessar was speaking at the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabhas 172nd Indian Arrival Day celebration at the Parvati Girls Hindu College in Debe. According to the former prime minister, among the unfinished projects are the University of the West Indies Debe Campus and the Parvati Girls and Shiva Boys Hindu Colleges. She maintained that education and health must be a priority. If you want your children to have a place to stay and a place to live, get up now, you have to get up, you have to light a fire in your belly and stand up and say enough is enough. When we ask you to come and stand with us, please come. Dont sit down home and say the opposition people, a waste of time, they not doing nothing. Just as we go to protest for the hospital (Couva Childrens Hospital), we could come right here in Debe to call for the opening of the new university campus. Too many of us like to sit down home and quarrel, she said. Persad-Bissessar also maintained that children must not suffer because of spite malice and wickedness. She also trained her guns on what she regarded as excessive spending by the PNM government ministers, saying if it were her, she would have fired any errant minister. Not even a word to say that he [Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley] will speak to them that he will bring them in and read the riot act to them. If it were me they would have been fired the next day, fired, fired. I am so appalled and what he do, he jump on an airplane and gone, she said. The prime minister and his government also came in for heavy tongue lashings from Maha Sabha secretary general Sat Maharaj and Opposition MPs Dr Roodal Moonilal and Barry Padarath. Maharaj in his address called on Education Minister Anthony Garcia to hand over the Roodal Moonilal Ramai Trace and Reform Village Hindu Schools to him and he will have those schools completed in record time. Give us Reform Hindu School just as it is and we will complete it. Give us Ramai Trace Hindu School just as it is and we will complete it. ECLAC can assist TT with diversification A statement issued yesterday by the PMs press secretary Arlene Gorin-George quoted Rowley as saying, Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing economic shock because of the reduction in our revenue from the hydrocarbon sector. When this happens there is a clamour for diversification. The Minister of Trade has been asked to identify and to shepherd us towards things we can do expand our economic base while not abandoning what we have now. He added: The question now is can we preserve that quality of life with our current revenues and our current policies. This is where we would like ECLAC to assist us with their research as we move to expand our economic base. Rowley said TT has the ability to produce much more goods and services that its population can absorb and it is, therefore, imperative that we look towards other markets. The release said both parties agreed that there is value in working together and have commited to the process. The PM, who is on a two-day visit to Chile, held talks yesterday with ECLAC executive secretary Alicia Barcena and members of the Commissions executive team. The meeting, according to the release, centred around discussions on how ECAC could partner with TT with a view to utilising its research capabilities to assist the country in making more data-riven decisions in the formulation of social and economic policies. Meanwhile, in a separate statement from ECLAC, Barcena was quoted as saying, We are totally committed to the Ccaribbean and we advocate so that their nations are not unjustly qualified as middle- income countries, a situation that complicates their access to financing. According to the release, she also indicated that special attention should be paid to the triple vulnerability that Caribbean territories suffer with respect to climate change, difficulties financing their economies and high public debt, which, on average, totals 70 per cent of the subregional Gross Domestic Product. Barcena proposed that ECLAC reduce the debt of English-speaking Caribbean island states by pardoning part of their debt to create a resilience fund that allows for financing climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. We are ready to help you. We want to know what your needs are to provide assistance for overcoming the problems that affect the Caribbean today, she said in the release. The statement from Rowleys press secretary said the TT Government remains committed, even in this challenging economic climate, to ensuring that it creates an environment where everyone could enjoy the best possible standard of living. We hope to manage these economic changes and to do the best with what we have. That is where the use of your data comes in, Rowley was quoted as telling the commission. We are hoping that ECLAC technicians will assist us, particularly when it comes to the development of our social systems. We want to ensure that the money allocated by the Parliament continues to benefit those for whom it is intended and that the programmes we create are the best options available. Before his talks with Barcena, Rowley, his wife, Sharon and the other members of the TT delegation met with Chile President Michelle Bachelet for lunch at the La Monela Palace, Santiago. The Prime Minister and his delegation are expected to return to TT today. iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- A senior White House official told ABC News that President Trump is poised to drop out of the Paris climate accord. Trump has repeatedly called into question the science behind climate change, once calling it a "very expensive hoax." During his campaign, Trump said he would "cancel" the Paris agreement and his administration has ordered cuts to funding for climate science. The non-binding international agreement went into effect last year and calls for countries to set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement was signed by former Secretary of State John Kerry on Earth Day, April 22, 2016 on the United States' behalf. President Obama signed it into law via executive action, bypassing the then Republican-controlled Senate. What is the Paris Climate Agreement? The Paris Agreement is an accord sponsored by the U.N. designed to help slow global climate change. The 145 parties who ratified the convention set a goal of limiting global temperatures increases this century to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above levels from the pre-industrial era, defined as the years 1850-1900. It also states an intention to work toward a more stringent limit of only 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial era levels. After the conference, each country set its own "Nationally Determined Contributions" (NDCs) and agreed to report its progress regularly on decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. To remain in the deal, the U.S. must cut its emissions by 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Where do members of the Trump administration stand on the agreement? Throughout his campaign for the presidency, Trump said he would roll back environmental protections and regulations and threatened to "cancel" the deal. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said The Paris Agreement is bad for America because its bad for jobs. However, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon, said he supports staying in the deal. White House adviser Ivanka Trump set up a review process to make sure her father received information from experts in both the public and private sectors before making a decision on the agreement. What are the consequences of withdrawing? If the U.S. pulls out of The Paris Agreement, it would become one of the largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions not included in the agreement, according to EPA data. The United States would become one of only three nations in a U.N. climate group not to be signed onto the deal, alongside Syria and Nicaragua. The Paris agreement was designed to be flexible so that parties could respond to changing domestic circumstances, Andrew Light, a distinguished senior fellow at the World Resources Institute told ABC News. Light said that the Trump administration could face fallout if it withdraws from the agreement. It could potentially harm U.S. businesses who are trying to compete with businesses from other countries in the exploding global market in renewable energy, Light told ABC News. He went on to explain that withdrawal could look like Trump is turning his back on the world by walking away from the spirit of global cooperation that the Paris accord created. State and religious leaders have expressed desire for Trump to continue U.S. participation in the agreement. The Pope gave Trump copies of his published works on climate change as a parting gift following their meeting on May 24, which some read as an encouragement toward the Paris accord. Although the official cautions no decision is final until the president announces it, the source said the White House is now working on how to roll out and explain the reasons behind that announcement. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Armour to lawyers: Be careful Armour says, In the case of both the Chief Justice and the members of the JLSC, the constitution is very clear on the solemn process by which the incumbents in those constitutional offices can be lawfully removed. This removal procedure is prescribed in explicit terms in the case of both the members of the JLSC and the Chief Justice who is ex officio its Chairman. Looking back on his experience to advise two constitutional tribunals which were set up to to remove a Trinidad and Tobago Chief Justice and also a judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Amour points out that the threshold of the case to be made out is stated clearly. He says: The incumbent may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misbehaviour, and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. He continues, In order for that to be accomplished a tribunal must be established, comprised of eminent persons including former Judicial Officers and, the evidence of culpability or not on the charge brought must be carefully investigated and sifted. The person under investigation must be given a fair opportunity to rebut and test that evidence after which the tribunal may recommend a certain course of action to the Head of State. He adds: Simply stated, without burdening this commentary with the reams of judicial authority on the subject from throughout the common law Commonwealth, the apparent errors of process committed by the JLSC in relation to Mrs. Ayers-Caesar do not begin to approach this constitutional threshold. Armour, a Senior Ordinary Member of the Law Associations Council, notes that some members of that body have specially convened an extraordinary meeting to call on the Chief Justice and the members of the JLSC to resign. He describes this move as nothing short of an impeachment procedure. In the exercise of their undoubted right to attend and vote, he said, I would expect that the Attorneys present will address and debate the law as the paramount consideration which informs the result they will commit to history. Referring to the fallout from the issue of the appointment and resignation of Ayers Ceasar as a Judge as a public spectacle Armour says it has nevertheless produced an important exercise of national self-examination of the Judiciary which he describes as our most pivotal democratic institution, and he adds that we should be heartened by the level of intensity of the debate on this issue. Our sense of ownership and consent in respect of our indigenous institutions is crucial to our re-assurance, after 50 years of independence, that we are steady, even as we are beset by the inevitable growing pains of a still youthful nation state, Armour says. Given this opportunity, the institution itself and all who are legitimately joined in the debate are required to rise to the challenge with maturity to ensure that, whilst there must be forthright debate and criticism where due, that constructive tone and quality of content form the bedrock of all such criticism, lest we awaken tomorrow to find that we have thrown out the baby, the bath water and the tub. Armour adds there is every good reason why the nation must demand that this incident should provide us with a learning experience, adding how we deal with this will help us build as a nation. There are issues of transparency and openness and a commitment to holding the JLSC to strict standards of excellence from which no one must shirk, least of all the JLSC, Armour says. The Law Association is to be commended for having moved quickly to establish a Committee to examine and to make recommendations. We should all embrace this initiative and contribute urgently in the national consultation. I consider it important nevertheless to make one simple point, Armour continued. As egregious as the errors may be that have been committed by the JLSC, there is no basis on which those errors approach even slightly the constitutional threshold for removal from office of a Chief Justice and/ or of members of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. The legal fraternity is expected to meet tomorrow at a special general meeting to vote on a motion of no confidence in the CJ and the JLSC over the Ayers-Caesars appointment. Hindus believe in teenage marriage So said Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Sat Maharaj as he addressed the organisations Arrrival Day Dinner at the Radisson Hotel, Port-of-Spain, on Saturday night. Whenever there is a political crisis, the Attorney General (Faris Al Rawi) uses child marriage as a distraction. Everytime they under pressure is child marriage, he told guets. But, we do not believe in child marriage, we believe in teenage marriage. But everytime there is a crisis, the whole thing about child marriage comes up. The outspoken Hindu leader raised the issue as he praise on Pundit Bhadase Seetahal Maraj, First Vice-President of the SDMS, who was honoured by the organisation for his contribution to the development of education and East Indians in this country. The SDMS secretary general said Maraj had led by example through his brief stint in the Senate during the debate on child marriage several months ago. So, the debate was about to begin in the Senate and I called the Leader of the Opposition and I said, I want a voice in the senate, my own voice in the Senate, the Maha Sabhas voice in the Senate for this debate on child marriage, he said. He Maraj and a representative from ASJA were eventually selected to debate the issue. He delivered a speech without a note because I was looking at him on television, he said of Maraj. The SDMS general secretary said all of the money that Maraj has worked for over the years has been squandered behind a mandir. Every single penny, TT$4 million. This man is a virtual pauper at this point in time, Maharaj said. He has to depend on his doctor son to ensure that he has enough to eat and drink. In congratulating the pundit, Maharaj said: You are a wonderful person and if anybody is worried about continuity, there is a whole generation behind us who are prepared to take over and lead the Hindu community. Tobago PNM slams Duke In a statement, the council complained that the minority bench repeatedly disrupted the fourth sitting of the House, showing a total lack of respect for the presiding officer of the THA. What adds intolerable insult to insufferable injury was the fact that the minority were outside engaging in further shenanigans when it was time to conduct the affairs of the people they were elected to represent, The PNMs Tobago arm said. To b a g o n i a n s should note the inexcusable absence of the minority when in accordance with Section 20 of the Tobago House of Assembly Standing Orders the Presiding Officer gave way for the adjournment of the Assembly on definite matter of urgent public importance - urgent business that this very Minority claimed they were not allowed to discuss in the very first sitting of the 2017-2021 session of the Assembly. At the sitting, Duke, who is also the outgoing President of the Public Services Association, described as flittered, untimely and vexacious, a motion moved by Secretary of Community Development, Enterprise Development and Labour Marslyn Melville-Jack, which called for initiatives to strengthen private and public partnerships in Tobago. Duke insisted there were more pressing issues to be dealt with on the sister isle, including the ongoing problems on the sea bridge. As I read the motion, I was almost moved to tears to think that we are speaking about development, to think that we are speaking about sustaining communities, to think that we are talking about families and nothing at all has been mentioned about the ABC of families, he had said at the sitting. The fundamental rudiment to develop a family and sustain economies is the need for food and security and I though the motion would have been about that. The minority council will not be supporting this motion. Duke subsequently called on the executive council to deal with the important issues affecting Tobago. Indian Expo ordered to pack up This was the agreement arrived at following a High Court application filed by the Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation last week . According to the TPRCs claim, Enigma Events Limited - the operators of the Expo which is located opposite the Centre of Excellence in Macoya - did not have the necessary building approvals from the corporation . Justice Carol Gobin presided over the matter which was brought by the corporations chairman and council against Enigma Events Limited . The corporation was represented by attorney Farai Hove Masaisai instructed by the firm of Hove and Associates while Enigma Events Limited was represented by attorney Simon de la Bastide instructed by Nyree Alfonso . At the hearing, Enigma Events attorney agreed that his client did not have the approval from the corporations engineer, but submitted that the TPRC lacked the required rights to facilitate the proceedings . In a spirit of compromise, Justice Gobin initially provided an option for the temporary operation of the business given the closeness of Indian Arrival day after which Enigma Events would be required to seek the necessary approvals . However after deliberations, Engima Events gave the undertaking to cease and desist from conducting any trade or business operations on or before 11:59 p.m. on the June 6 . The operators of the Indian Expo have also agreed to begin dismantling its white tent on June 7 and this is to be completed by June 13. Engima Events have also agreed to approach the TPRC to attain the necessary approvals for all future structures before commencing any trade or business operations . They were also ordered to pay the TPRCs costs in the sum of $2,500 . In a statement, the TPRC said that its chairman Paul Leecock and members of council were willing to explore the option to allow Enigma Events to continue operations until June 6 just after the Indian Arrival Day Celebrations since according to the chairman we support and welcome all form of legitimate economic activity in the Tunapuna/Piarco Region The corporation noted that the action was pursued in the High Court since its council felt that it was imperative that all businesses in the region meet the required standards as set out in the Municipal Corporation Act for operating within the region and by so doing protect the wider interest of all of all burgesses . The corporation also encouraged all business and burgesses to seek the lawful approvals from Council prior to setting up trade and/or constructing any structure within the region . RBC paints colour of love on National Day of Caring The activity was one of two things RBC did in support of United Ways National Day of Caring two Sundays ago. The assistance from RBC, which will extend beyond the Day of Caring, was heartily welcomed by Deborah Clarke, administrative assistant at the LIFE Centre. The institution runs as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with a subvention from Government and depends to a large extent on the goodwill of corporate entities, foundations and other benefactors to fulfill its mandate. We feel honoured. As you can see, the building needed some sprucing up. I dont think we could have asked for anything more on this National Day of Caring. It will be a great lift for the students, said a happy Clarke. The LIFE Centre, located on Theodore Hertzell Avenue, Petit Valley, caters to special needs children. There are currently 18 students, ranging from eight to 24 years, and a staff of 15, comprising 12 teachers and three administrative personnel. The mission of the centre is to equip individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other communication related disorders with the skills and knowledge required for a fulfilling life in an accepting society. Building communities is a big part of RBCs employee volunteerism. Among the RBC staffers who did yeoman work on Sunday was Lianne Mitchell who formed an accomplished working partnership with her son, Keegan, a pupil of Belmont Boys RC Primary School. We welcome this opportunity to help others. We do it with sincerity and the ultimate satisfaction that what we are doing here today will bring a smile to others. Keegan and I are really happy to do our part in this RBC volunteerism project, said Mitchell, as her son nodded in agreement. Across in the sister Isle, the bank gave a helping hand to the Happy Haven School in Tobago with a $10,000 donation to cover costs for necessary teaching aids. This is truly a wonderful gesture from RBC Royal Bank and it will go a long way in assisting our students, said Principal of Happy Haven School, Dianne Le Cointe. The bank has a number of formal programmes that support employee volunteerism including its Day of Service Grants and Community Leadership Awards, both of which allow employees to earn funds for the charities and community activities they support. Sundays exercise marked the second year of RBCs association with United Ways National Day of Caring, which underscores the banks corporate philosophy of helping clients thrive and communities prosper. Khan calls on Medical Board to level the playing field In a release, Khan said it was not surprising to learn that some 150 medical graduates are unable to find employment. He said while graduates who conducted their studies through the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus are registered with the Medical Board to practice their craft at private health institutions after only one year of prerequisite training, those persons who may have studied at regional or international institutions are required to serve three years of prerequisite training before being granted the same rights. Khan said as a result of the budget cuts which occurred at the Ministry of Health in the early part of 2016 the Regional Health Authorities were forced to reduce the intake of these returning medical graduates. As such, these persons are now in a precarious position wherein the public health institutions are not able to accommodate their prerequisite training due to their capacity, and therefore these persons who are academically qualified to practice medicine are being prevented from doing so due to this antiquated and inequitable rule, he said. Khan said it was discriminatory and injurious to the medical field to have so many trained and certified medical professionals unable to practice their profession due to a regulation that is meant to give preference to persons who have studied at UWI, St Augustine. To level the playing field, Khan said the Board needs to either reduce the number of years for their pre-requisite training to match that of UWI graduates; or, allow these persons to acquire their training at private health institutions. He said by removing the constraint for graduates to conduct their prerequisite training at public health institutions only they are given a better opportunity to fulfil the requirements for registration with the Medical Board by training at the private health institutions and earning a wage. But as long as the Medical Board continues to prevent these citizens from acquiring their registration, based solely on the basis of where they studied, this is not only a disservice to these graduates but to the entire nation who are suffering due to the decline in health care delivery that results from this, he said. Zero tolerance on illegal vending in Arima In a statement on Monday, Morris-Julien said indiscriminate vending at key entrances to the market was hampering pedestrian traffic. Morris-Julien said she also supported moves by the Inspector of the Municipal Police to crack down on illegal vending. The mayor said the back entrance of the market will remain cordoned off in an effort to prevent this area from being populated by illegal vendors who have encroached on the sidewalks to ply their trade. Morris-Julien noted that although these vendors have been assigned stalls within the market, they preferred to catch their sales by illegal means. The council remains resolved in its zero tolerance approach to all forms if illegal vending, It has therefore embarked on a project to construct secure market stalls to improve the working conditions for legal vendors, she said. The lengthy, multi-syllabic nature of Japanese vocabulary means that words used in discussing social phenomena often evolve into abbreviated versions in order to streamline conversations. A prime example is "JK." JK is the shortened version of joshikosei, which means "female high school student." After the schoolgirl pop culture boom picked up speed in the 1990s, JK became a commonly used shorthand in media headlines and online communication starting about a dozen years ago. Recently, it's been showing up in the term "JK business," which refers to the burgeoning industry in which businesses offer close, personalized customer service from high school girls to male patrons. "Close, personalized customer service" might sound like a euphemism for sexual acts, but JK businesses don't offer such things, at least not officially. Instead, a customer might pay to have a girl sit and talk with him, one-on-one, in a semi-private setting, go for a walk through the city, or give him a massage. However, critics feel that the ostensibly chaste services provided by JK businesses, which are often provided in a manner that facilitates clandestine communication, have the potential to be a jumping-off point to prostitution and other illicit and illegal indecency in exchange for additional fees. The industry even has its own jargon for such arrangements: ura opu, a truncated version of ura opushon or "secret options." Concerns about ura opu have led Tokyo to pass a municipal ordinance which will prohibit individuals under the age of 18 from working in JK businesses. The legislation is the first in Japan to target the JK industry by name, although similar provisions can be found elsewhere, such as in Aichi Prefecture's Ordinance of Juvenile Protection. A 36-year-old woman was found dead in a Niigata City love hotel room on Monday night, police said, adding that a man in his 40s was found lying on the floor near the bed, unconscious after apparently having cut his wrists. According to police, the incident occurred in the hotel in Chuo Ward. Fuji TV reported that at around 6:30 p.m., a man called police and said that he had "killed someone" in the hotel room. When police arrived at the scene, they found a woman collapsed on the bed, already derad. The victim has been identified as Naoko Kobayashi, a part-time employee and resident of Nishikan Ward. Police said she had been strangled to death. May 31 (ANNnewsCH) - 29aaYaacaaaaaaeaaeaaaSaeaYaaaaaaaYaaaaaaaeaaeaaaaYaaaYaaaaacaaaaaa Japanese companies are increasing hiring of full-time employees as they scramble to secure workers amid a labor shortage, raising hopes that the tight demand will translate to higher wages. Japan's seasonally adjusted ratio of job openings to applicants hit 1.48 in April, the highest in 43 years, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Tuesday. The ratio of full-time job openings to applicants, which is close to surpassing 1 for the first time at 0.97, is most indicative of the tight labor market. That is the highest figure since Japan started compiling such statistics in November 2004. In the last few years, Japanese companies have used female or elderly part-time workers to make up for the country's labor shortage. From 2012 to 2016, nonregular employees increased 11% while regular employees grew just 0.7%, according to the ministry's labor force survey. Since wages for nonregular positions are relatively low, the increase in the number of such hires had little impact on wage growth. Fixed wages, whose growth is closely linked to consumption, only rose an average of 0.5% per year over the same period. During the bubble economy of the mid-1980s to early 1990s, such pay grew by around 4% a year, fueling a virtuous cycle of hiring and consumption -- in contrast to Japan's current economy. But against the backdrop of a global economic recovery, hiring of full-time workers is now growing steadily. And experts are focusing on whether Japan will reach a critical juncture where an improved labor market accelerates the pace of wage growth. In professional sumo, wrestler Takayasu has officially been promoted to Ozeki, the second highest rank in Japan's traditional sport. The Japan Sumo Association held an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday and approved the promotion. The association sent messengers to the wrestler and his stable master to convey the decision. Accepting the promotion, Takayasu said he will work hard and play fair sumo, so as not to disgrace the name of Ozeki, or Champion. As Sekiwake, or 3rd highest-ranked wrestler, Takayasu scored 11 wins and 4 losses in the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament that ended in Tokyo on Sunday. He has amassed 34 wins in the 3 latest tournaments, exceeding the threshold considered necessary for Ozeki promotion. Takayasu will be the first Ozeki promoted in 2 years. There are currently 2 other Ozekis -- Terunofuji and Goeido. An amateur historian has unearthed compelling evidence that the first Australian maritime foray into Japanese waters was by convict pirates on an audacious escape from Tasmania almost two centuries ago. Fresh translations of samurai accounts of a "barbarian" ship in 1830 give startling corroboration to a story modern scholars had long dismissed as convict fantasy: that a ragtag crew of criminals encountered a forbidden Japan at the height of its feudal isolation. The brig Cyprus was hijacked by convicts bound from Hobart to Macquarie Harbour in 1829, in a mutiny that took them all the way to China. Its maverick skipper was William Swallow, a onetime British cargo ship apprentice and naval conscript in the Napoleonic wars, who in a piracy trial in London the following year told of a samurai cannonball in Japan knocking a telescope from his hand. Swallow's fellow mutineers, two of whom were the last men hanged for piracy in Britain, backed his account of having been to Japan. Western researchers, citing the lack of any Japanese record of the Cyprus, had since ruled the convicts' story a fabrication. But that conclusion has been shattered by Nick Russell, a Japan-based English teacher and history buff, in a remarkable piece of sleuthing that has won the endorsement of Australian diplomatic officials and Japanese and Australian archival experts. Russell, after almost three years of puzzling over an obscure but meticulous record of an early samurai encounter with western interlopers, finally joined the dots with the Cyprus through a speculative Google search last month. The British expatriate all but solved what was for the Japanese a 187-year mystery, while likely uncovering vivid new detail of an epic chapter of colonial Australian history. "If you'd said I was going to go hunt and find a new pirate ship, I'd have gone, 'you're crazy'," Russell told Guardian Australia. "I just stumbled on it. Boom. There it was on the screen in front of me. "I immediately knew and as soon as I started checking, everything just fitted so perfectly." The ship anchored on 16 January 1830 off the town of Mugi, on Shikoku island, where Makita Hamaguchi, a samurai sent disguised as a fisherman to check the ship for weapons, noted an "unbearable stench in the vicinity of the ship". It was Hamaguchi's watercolour sketch of an unnamed ship with a British flag that first intrigued Russell when he saw it on the website of the Tokushima prefectural archive in 2014. With the help of a local volunteer manuscript reading group, Russell has since worked at translating written accounts of the ship's arrival by Hamaguchi and another samurai, Hirota, now held by the Tokushima prefectural archive. Hamaguchi's is called Illustrated Account of the Arrival of a Foreign Ship, while Hirota's is A Foreign Ship Arrives Off Mugi Cove. Russell first thought it may be a whaling ship, but the manuscript readers were skeptical. Having learned mutinies were common among whalers, Russell last month Googled the words "mutiny 1829". This stumbling upon a link between a samurai record and the story of the Cyprus was the research equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack, according to Warwick Hirst, the former curator of manuscripts at the State Library of New South Wales. Amazon Japan will do away with a contract clause that has required e-book and other suppliers to guarantee prices lower than those offered on rival e-commerce sites, in response to an antitrust probe that began last year. Normally, the prices at which suppliers sell their products online should differ depending on contract period, discounts and other factors. But Amazon has used its dominant market position to make suppliers guarantee prices and lineups comparable to what is available on competing e-commerce sites -- via the so-called most-favored nation clause. Inflation brings end to beloved 114-year-old Japanese candy Sakumaseika theglobeandmail.com - Nov 10 A beloved Japanese candy eaten by generations, so iconic it even appeared in a hit anime film, has come to the end of the line, a victim of surging raw material and energy prices. A beloved Japanese candy eaten by generations, so iconic it even appeared in a hit anime film, has come to the end of the line, a victim of surging raw material and energy prices. As Elon Musk transforms Twitter, risk hits home for Japanese banks Nikkei - Nov 09 As Elon Musk makes dramatic changes to Twitter following his $44 billion acquisition, Japanese banks that cofinanced the deal find themselves with little choice but to go along for the ride. As Elon Musk makes dramatic changes to Twitter following his $44 billion acquisition, Japanese banks that cofinanced the deal find themselves with little choice but to go along for the ride. Ferrari, Lamborghini and other supercar sales boom in Japan theedgemarkets.com - Nov 09 Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other supercars are seeing an unprecedented sales boom in Japan, fueled by pent-up, post-Covid-lockdown demand from wealthy buyers, who also see the vehicles as good investments amid a weakening yen and soaring used-car prices. Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other supercars are seeing an unprecedented sales boom in Japan, fueled by pent-up, post-Covid-lockdown demand from wealthy buyers, who also see the vehicles as good investments amid a weakening yen and soaring used-car prices. Japan foreign reserves fall for third month after intervention Reuters - Nov 09 Japan's foreign reserves extended declines in October, following the previous month's record drop, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday, reflecting the largest ever amount of yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention. Japan's foreign reserves extended declines in October, following the previous month's record drop, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday, reflecting the largest ever amount of yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention. As yen tumbles, gadget-loving Japan goes for secondhand iPhones WION - Nov 09 For years Japanese shoppers eagerly shelled out for the latest gadgets, but now a tumbling yen has put new iPhones out of reach for some and sparked a growing secondhand trade in a major market for Apple Inc. For years Japanese shoppers eagerly shelled out for the latest gadgets, but now a tumbling yen has put new iPhones out of reach for some and sparked a growing secondhand trade in a major market for Apple Inc. Toshiba buyout: Japanese fund submits $15bn proposal Nikkei - Nov 08 Investment fund Japan Industrial Partners has submitted a formal proposal to take over Toshiba for about 2.2 trillion yen ($15 billion), Nikkei learned on Monday. Investment fund Japan Industrial Partners has submitted a formal proposal to take over Toshiba for about 2.2 trillion yen ($15 billion), Nikkei learned on Monday. Japans govt sounds alarm over Americas EV tax credits freemalaysiatoday.com - Nov 07 Japans government warned on Saturday that new electric vehicle tax credits in the United States could ultimately deter further investment by the Japanese there and hit employment in the worlds biggest economy. Japans government warned on Saturday that new electric vehicle tax credits in the United States could ultimately deter further investment by the Japanese there and hit employment in the worlds biggest economy. Japan ends printing of Yukichi Fukuzawa banknote arabnews.jp - Nov 06 Japan has finished the printing of the current 10,000-yen banknote, with a portrait of prominent educator Yukichi Fukuzawa, it has been learned. Japan has finished the printing of the current 10,000-yen banknote, with a portrait of prominent educator Yukichi Fukuzawa, it has been learned. Tourists return to Japan, but where are the workers? Nikkei - Nov 06 Japanese airports and hotels are scrambling to handle the influx of tourists streaming across reopened borders, as staffs that withered to skeletal levels during the pandemic have not rebounded to match the rise in customers. Japanese airports and hotels are scrambling to handle the influx of tourists streaming across reopened borders, as staffs that withered to skeletal levels during the pandemic have not rebounded to match the rise in customers. Japan pension 'whale' GPIF suffers longest losing streak since 2009 Nikkei - Nov 05 Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, one of the world's largest institutional investors, posted its third consecutive quarterly loss Friday to mark its longest slump since the global financial crisis. Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, one of the world's largest institutional investors, posted its third consecutive quarterly loss Friday to mark its longest slump since the global financial crisis. Survey shows prices of more than 800 food items will increase in November NHK - Nov 02 A survey conducted by a private research firm indicates that the prices of more than 800 food and beverage items will go up in Japan in November. A survey conducted by a private research firm indicates that the prices of more than 800 food and beverage items will go up in Japan in November. TEPCO to raise household electricity charges - Nov 02 Japan's largest power utility is considering hiking regulated electricity rates for households. Japan's largest power utility is considering hiking regulated electricity rates for households. Faced with a possible energy shortage this winter, Japan advises people to wear warm clothes indoors WION - Nov 02 Japan on Tuesday announced that it will ask businesses and households to conserve energy "as much as possible" during the winter. Japan on Tuesday announced that it will ask businesses and households to conserve energy "as much as possible" during the winter. Japan seeks to stay in Russia's Sakhalin-1 energy project after Exxon exit Nikkei - Nov 01 The Japanese government has decided to remain involved in the formerly Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia, Nikkei has learned, as it seeks a stable supply of energy despite international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The Japanese government has decided to remain involved in the formerly Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia, Nikkei has learned, as it seeks a stable supply of energy despite international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The 30 Best Digital Marketing Agencies in Japan newsonjapan.com - Oct 31 Japan is a hotspot for international brands seeking to expand new markets. This country has the third largest economy in the world, making it a haven for global businesses. Japan is a hotspot for international brands seeking to expand new markets. This country has the third largest economy in the world, making it a haven for global businesses. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought China's cooperation in dealing with North Korea. Abe met visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who oversees China's foreign policy, in Tokyo on Wednesday. Abe called North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches a matter of urgency for Japan and China. He expressed hope to work with China, which has strong influence on the North, to resolve the standoff between the country and Japan peacefully and diplomatically. Yang said China is committed to the creation of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. He added that he expects each country to play a constructive role toward a peaceful settlement of the grave issue. Abe noted that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations, and that next year will be the 40th anniversary of the signing of a bilateral peace and friendship treaty. Jun 01 (ANNnewsCH) - aaccaeaaaeaaaaaaaaaaaaSaaaaaaaseaaaYaaacaacsaaaeaaaaaaaaaaaaaazaYaaaaaaaYa Share Not so long ago, there was a bit of a duel in the next generation communications space, particularly as it relates to healthcare. Said duel was posed between Apple (News - Alert) and Nokia, but new reports suggest that all has been forgiven, with both a settlement and some new business emerging in the digital healthcare space to boot. The issue went back to last December, which featured both companies at odds over an expired patent license contract. Nokia (News - Alert) accused Apple of patent infringement, while Apple in turn complained over the costs of said licenses. After some legal wrangling between the two sides and a few months' effort, the end result is not only a settled suit but also a new patent license extending multiple years and a new deal in the process. Reports suggest that the deal is worth somewhere between $502 and $611 million as of this writing, and will call for Nokia to provide portions of Apple's network infrastructure, while Apple sells the Withings line, a rebranded Nokia line, in certain stores. However, details about the duo's next generation communications move in healthcare haven't really emerged, and the exact natureand end resultof the partnership is as yet unclear. Knowing what we know about the Nokia patent line so farwhich it held onto following the sale of its mobile operations to Microsoft (News - Alert) back in 2013though, it's a safe bet that it could include a variety of points related to mobile device operations. Just about anything from improving radio signal reception to reducing battery consumption could fly here. Additionally, given the nature of Apple's highly-mobile next generation communications systems, such patents would be very useful in delivering value to the Apple product line. Apple has several such devices represented in patents, like calorie tracking software and armbands with heart monitoring capabilities. All of these would be useful for various healthcare operations, both at the individual layman level and even the professional clinician level. It would ultimately be a matter of marketing that decided which field Apple would target, and indeed, there's nothing saying Apple can't go after both at once, using the same software to underpin the offerings in both clinical and consumer-facing applications. With the necessary patents and technology now in place, Apple can carry on, backed up by Nokia's earlier work, as it pushes toward a goal that's unknown, but likely worthwhile. As the baby boomers age, it represents a huge new market for healthcare technology, and one Apple might just be out in front of. 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. US Secretary of Defense Tuesday told US CBS that Iran sponsored an assassination attempt on his friend and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir in 2011 when he was Saudi ambassador to Washington James Mattis told CBSs Face the Nation that Iran directed two assassins to plant explosives to target Al-Jubeir while he was in Washington. Ive seen the intelligence; this was not a rogue agent. This was an operation approved at the highest levels, Mattis said. The US official also accused Iran of causing mischief everywhere. Al-Jubeir was Saudi ambassador to Washington from 2007 to 2015. During his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, President Trump accused Iran for providing support for terrorism around the world and sowing disorder in the region. Iran and Saudi Arabia are waging proxy wars in Syria and Yemen and endorsing opposing camps in other crisis in the region. Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini this week told a religious gathering that the Saudi throne faces a certain fall for colliding with the US, in reference to the rapprochement between Riyadh and Washington. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has stressed that reaching a peace agreement with Palestine would be determined by security concerns to ensure Israels safety. He told Army Radio that in any peace agreement with the Palestinians, we will have to maintain military control of all the territory west of the Jordan River. Netanyahu claimed that failing to control the said territory would lead to a power vacuum in the area, which could contribute to the emergence of extremist groups close to Israels border. The presence of Israeli forces in some areas of the West Bank is rejected by the Palestinians. The Israeli Prime Minister warned that the idea that we can give up territory and achieve peace is not right because it could jeopardize their existence in the area. Israel occupied the West Bank and West Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967. It later annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized by the international community. In November 1967, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 242, under which Israel is required to withdraw from all territories seized in the war. Although President Donald Trump stated that Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, assured him of his willingness to reach for peace with Israel in good faith and I believe him, analysts believe that a deal without Israel withdrawing from the West Bank will not be sustainable. Meanwhile, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a report critical of Israels policies in the occupied Palestinian territories while signaling that it cultivates a sense of hopelessness and frustration that drives continued conflict and impacts both Palestinians and Israelis. The lack of an overall US strategy is complicating the U.S. militarys struggle to help bring stability to Africa where focus should be on adopting a cohesive policy regarding eastern and northern Africa, according to commander of the U.S. Special Operations Forces in Africa Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc. In an article titled The Gray Zone in Africa pubished on the Small Wars Journal, Bolduc pointed out to the challenges facing the U.S. to adopt a cohesive strategy regarding the weak central governments in Somalia and Libya, where extremist groups have sought to take advantage of the instability. He noted that those threats amount to gray zones, military parlance for areas of military operations that fall short of open war for American forces. Bolduc added that NATOs intervention in Libya to overthrow Gaddafi failed to stabilize the country and prompted a migration crisis. He noted that the U.S. still lacks a clear strategy to confront the threats emanating from North Africa and Libya in particular, which now affects Europe, Washingtons top trading partner. The problems in Africa defy solution within a single fiscal year, or the two- to four-year tour of a Geographic Combatant Command commander, he said, stressing that it will take at least a generation for a policy to become effective. Bolduc shed light on the rising geopolitical competition over Africa, especially the challenges posed by the presence of China and Russia, which have sought to exert more influence. Beijing is poised to open its first overseas military base in Djibouti, a small but strategic country that borders Somalia and hosts U.S. forces. Russia has met with Libyan officials and has reportedly deployed small numbers of special operations troops to North Africa in a sign of growing interest, he said. Bolduc called for adopting a pre-emptive and anticipatory approach in addressing the threats to the security environment in Africa. The U.S. needs to move faster in identifying emerging dangers before they grow into threats to governments and regions, he wrote. The Polisario used to relay triumphalist communiques since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 1991, boasting victories and listing successes, even if they are more imaginary than real. However, the language of an official internal document distributed recently to members of the fronts leadership betrays this triumphalism and concedes fatal errors made in the handling of the Western Sahara issue. The document, whose contents were unveiled by a website close to the Polisario leadership, mentions with bitterness the humiliation of the Polisario when it was forced to withdraw its armed elements from the Guerguarat buffer zone, at the Moroccan-Mauritanian borders, last April 28, 2017, reported the Moroccan portal le360. The withdrawal, just a few hours before the Security Council held a meeting and adopted a Resolution on the Sahara, left the separatists with a terrible feeling of failure, even more so since the Polisario had sworn, a few days earlier, that it would never leave the buffer strip and that it had entered there to stay there for ever. The Polisario had undoubtedly misjudged the situation, as it was overwhelmed by Algerias incitements. The awakening was rough. After their forced withdrawal, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2351, which renewed the mandate of the MINURSO for a year without bringing any change to its prerogatives. The Resolution did not mention the obsolete idea of a self-determination referendum and reiterated that the Morocco-proposed autonomy initiative is serious and credible, dealing thus another blow to the separatists. The website, described as the unofficial portal of the Polisario, said the official document, of which it has an exclusive copy, confirms what has been said by analysts about the withdrawal from the Guerguarat region. The Polisario leadership used the term redeployment to make up for its defeat and the humiliating exit of its armed elements from the region, the website said. According to the document, the non-use of the term withdrawal was dictated by considerations of military discourse and tactics. The Polisarios presence in Guerguarat had an opposite effect to what the separatists had expected. The Polisario would have committed political suicide if it had not pulled out from Guerguarat, the document argues. But the swaggering, which preceded this humiliating withdrawal was unnecessary. Morocco withdrew from the buffer strip on February 26, 2017, just a day after the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called for restraint. The Polisario could have simply followed suit instead of persisting in their error. In the same internal document, the Polisario acknowledged that fatal errors were committed during the negotiation of the September 1991 ceasefire agreement. The internal document accuses the negotiators of having failed to insist on the creation, at the level of the strip separating the region of Guerguarat from the town of Lagouira, of a MINURSO-monitored check post. It is clear that there is no access to this strip near the Moroccan defense wall. In the document, the Polisario concedes it needs to go through northern Mauritania to gain access to Lagouira. Therefore, the Polisario chief had to cross the Mauritanian territory to make his Atlantic coast trip. It was impossible for the leader of the Polisario to access Lagouira via Guerguerat, stated le360, quoting a reliable security source. If Mauritania, God forbid, prevents our troops from crossing its territory, it would be impossible for us to go through the strip alongside the defense wall leading from Guerguerat to the Atlantic coast, the document said, as reported by le360, which explained that no armed element can venture into the buffer zone of Guerguarat. This would be seen as a violation of the ceasefire agreement with what this implies in terms of retaliation against the party responsible for the offense. Since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in September 1991 until the Guerguarat lost battle, going through the setback suffered in the UN-sponsored 1995 negotiation of the amendments to the buffer zone, it is the first time that the Polisario has made such a bitter but realistic assessment of its failures to handle the Sahara issue, comments le360. Morocco has given its green light for the appointment of Horst Kohler, former German President (2004-2010), as new Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Sahara, succeeding US diplomat Christopher Ross, le360.ma said quoting a diplomatic source. The Moroccan diplomatic source, which requested not to be named, said that Morocco informed the UN Secretary General in mid-May of its approval of the appointment of Kohler. The former German President has also received the approval of the Polisario front last April. His appointment will now be submitted for the approval of the UN Security Council before he officially takes office. By opting for Kohler, the new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres upholds the principle of rotation in Sahara personal envoy between the US and Europe. Given his background, Kohler is expected to lead UN mediation in the regional dispute over the Sahara with pragmatism, unlike his predecessor Christopher Ross whose stands reflected connivance with Algeria and a willingness to change the parameters of negotiations. After eight years as UNSG Personal Envoy, Ross left a legacy of failures on the Sahara issue. His term was marred by partial reports, a worn-out negotiation process devoid of prospects for progress and biased and unbalanced guidance to the UN. Kohler is an economist by profession. Prior to his election as President, he had a distinguished career in politics and the civil service and as a banking executive. He was President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1998 to 2000 and head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2000 to 2004. From 2012 to 2013, he served on the UN Secretary Generals High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. A decision that cannot be ignored will now probably head to the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Theres no telling what the Supreme Court may ultimately decide in the area of transgender rights, but SCOTUS will no longer be able to dodge the issue as it did earlier this year in the case of a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the right of a Virginia student to gain access to the school bathroom congruent with his gender identity. In that case, the lower court was relying on an Obama administration guidance document interpreting Title IX sex-discrimination protections, which the Trump administration subsequently rescinded. So SCOTUS sent it back with instructions to review the decision in light of the new guidance. Today, however, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a sweeping decision regarding a Wisconsin student facing similar school rules restricting bathroom access. And this decision was based not on some obsolete federal-agency document but on the courts own reading of Title IX, and more importantly, of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. As Voxs German Lopez explains, the decision sets a very broad precedent: The ruling has big implications: If existing federal law and the 14th Amendment shield trans people from discrimination, then its not just Whitakers rights that are protected here, but all trans students. And if bans against sex discrimination in particular apply to trans people, then its not just students rights that are protected, but all trans people who face discrimination in other settings where sex discrimination is banned so not just schools, but the workplace and housing as well. The decision was a classic better-late-than-never ruling: The student in question, Ash Whitaker, is in his final week of high school before graduating. Now we will have to see how quickly SCOTUS takes this up, and what it does with the Seventh Circuits broad argument for statutory and constitutional protections for transgender people. Ready to talk. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Former FBI director James Comey will testify in an open Senate hearing about President Trumps attempts to pressure him into ending the investigation into Russia, CNN reports. He could appear on Capitol Hill as soon as next week. Comeys testimony will be in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is running one of two Congressional investigations into Russias attempts to meddle in last years election. CNN says Comey has already met with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to ensure he can testify without creating legal entanglements as a result of his public account. Though Comey will be unable to reveal much, if anything, about the FBIs ongoing investigation, which he oversaw until his firing earlier this month, he is expected to speak openly about meetings with President Trump, including one in February during which the president allegedly told Comey, I hope you let this go. Nevertheless, shell persist? Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images By the time Hillary Clinton entered the 2016 race, the GOP had already tied several weights around her ankles. The right had been given two decades to paint the former First Lady as a soulless schemer whose professional ambitions were an affront to traditional families, and a threat to the republics survival and eight years to brand Obamas preferred successor as a corrupt self-dealer, whose illegal use of a private email server had jeopardized national security and/or killed our boys in Benghazi. The Clinton campaign found no cure for these pounds of preemption. The Democratic nominees negatives were so high and durable, they enabled the most widely despised major-party nominee in modern memory to compete for the hold your nose and pick a lever vote. It wont be so easy for the GOP to preemptively poison the Democrats 2020 campaign. Team Blue boasts no presumptive front-runner. And Republicans are sure to have a thinner oppo file on whomever the party crowns than they did on Hillary. Nonetheless, conservative groups believe that seeding damaging narratives about Team Blues leading lights will be critical to keeping America great again. And they plan to get to get that ball rolling in Massachusetts next year. As McClatchey reports: Republicans are getting a jump on Elizabeth Warrens 2020 presidential campaign. The Massachusetts Democrat is preparing to run for re-election to the Senate in 2018 and hasnt said yet whether shell challenge President Donald Trump for the White House. But in-state and national Republican officials have decided to target the liberal icon anyway, saying they will try to inflict enough damage during the Senate race to harm any future presidential effort and perhaps dissuade her from running altogether. We learned from our experience with Secretary (Hillary) Clinton that when you start earlier, the narratives have more time to sink in and resonate with the electorate, said Colin Reed, executive director at the Republican outside group America Rising. Reeds group launched an effort in April to catalog and promote Warrens mistakes, announcing that it would try to defeat the senator during next years race while also trying to continue developing the long-term research and communications angles to damage her 2020 prospects. The upshot of McClatcheys report is that the right-wing donor class sees Warren as a clear and present danger and is, therefore, willing to throw big money at the long-shot campaign of her 2018 challenger. The idea being: What doesnt kill Warren will make her weaker. Trying to bruise the other sides top players in a preliminary round is a pretty standard gambit in American politics. And given how deep the rights pockets are, it would be imprudent for it not to make a big investment in making Warrens life less pleasant next year. That said, the idea that the GOP can poison Warrens image as effectively as it did Clintons seems suspect. And not just because Warren has fewer liabilities and the Republicans have less time to prepare. In 2016, the GOP didnt merely enjoy the benefit of an opponent who had alienated a segment of her own base by taking heretical stances on super predators, and the Iraq War along with ungodly sums of money from Wall Street firms. Nor did the Republicans just have the good fortune to run against a candidate with little talent for retail politics, and a name that instantly stimulates red Americas amygdala. For the right also had its narratives signal-boosted by both the Kremlin and FBI. And without those co-conspirators, its unlikely that the character assassination of Hillary Clinton would have been lethal. Had federal law enforcement not given the rights narratives about Clinton implicit validation (or, if you prefer, had Clinton not given the FBI the opportunity to provide such validation by using a private email server) its far from clear that a fight about personal character and judgement would have redounded to the GOPs benefit in 2016. Absent a federal investigation into Clintons email habits, the GOP would never have been able to manipulate the mainstream media into putting such outsize emphasis on the Democratic nominees IT-management practices. During the 2016 campaign, the three major networks devoted more than 100 minutes of their nightly newscasts to coverage of Clintons use of email while secretary of State and just 32 minutes for all coverage of the candidates policy positions. Without the efforts of Russian hackers and WikiLeaks, Clinton would likely have had a bit more success in consolidating the support of her partys left flank while the right would have had a bit more trouble keeping the words Clinton and email in the news, after the FBI investigation ran its course, and the Access Hollywood tape hit the airwaves. And, of course, without the combined efforts of James Comey and Anthony Weiner, the GOP would never have been able to hit Clinton with an October surprise this damaging: regular reminder of the front page of the holy goddamn @nytimes after Comey's letter pic.twitter.com/CmmKce1oBZ Emily Layden (@emilylayden) December 11, 2016 All of which is to say: The GOPs anti-Clinton strategy was buoyed by enough improbable good luck to make liberal atheists wonder if someone up there hates them. Its difficult to imagine that Trump or any alternative 2020 GOP standard-bearer will benefit from talk of FBI investigations. And assuming the president does seek reelection, the burden of overcoming preestablished narratives will almost certainly fall heavier on the right side of the aisle. Paid. Photo: Recode If you spent any portion of 2016 wondering why Hillary Clinton would have given paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, raking in $675,000 in the process, she finally provided an answer Wednesday. At Recodes CodeCon, tech journalist and Recode co-founder Walt Mossberg asked Clinton why. Seemingly annoyed, Clinton gestured to the crowd and asked, Why do you have Goldman Sachs here? Kara Swisher, the other co-founder of Recode said, They pay us. They paid me, Clinton shot back. She didnt end it there though. Clinton defended her speeches to the investment bank, citing speeches to a wide range of groups, and she defended the bank itself. I was a Senator from New York and I knew what they did for the economy, and I knew what they did to the economy. Then she dug a little deeper to answer Mossbergs question, saying that she just didnt think the speeches would matter in the face of everything shed done to stand up to Wall Street before. I never thought that anybody would throw out my entire career of standing up and speaking out and voting against and voting in favor of what I thought were good policies, because I made a couple of speeches, she said. Clinton touched on a handful of other election-related issues in the talk, including: Russian hacking. She said the Russians could not have known how best to weaponize John Podestas hacked emails without being guided by American partners. Though she stopped short of saying the Trump campaign did the guiding, she did say the issue should be investigated to find out how did they know what messages to deliver? Who told them? Who were they coordinating with, and colluding with? Her private email server. Clinton said the media covered the investigation into her private email server like it was Pearl Harbor. The entire scandal was the biggest nothing-burger ever, she added. Right-wing media control. Clinton said Democrats must get better at promoting their victories, and cited the GOPs success with Fox News and Sinclair Broadcast Group, two companies with a cohesive pro-Republican message. She then told the story, first reported by New York, of a Sinclair-owned Montana NBC affiliate that refused to cover the Greg Gianforte body-slam story. Her point? That the Democrats need to find wealthy media moguls who will compete against what is a considerable advantage on the other side. The DNC. The Democratic National Committee gave Clinton nothing after she won the nomination, she said, adding the partys deficient data operation to the list of reasons why she lost last years election. I inherited nothing from the Democratic Party, Clinton said. I mean, it was bankrupt. It was on the verge of insolvency. Its data was mediocre to poor, nonexistent, wrong. I had to inject money into it. Her political future. Asked if she plans to run for president again, Clinton issued a clear, No. But she added, Im not going anywhere. I have a big stake on what happens in this country. Michael Cohen. Photo: Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images Expect the Fifth Amendment to get a lot of shout-outs in the coming weeks. On Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committee hit two of Trumps high-level associates with subpoenas: Trumps longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. We approved subpoenas for several individuals for testimony, personal documents, and business records, Republican Mike Conaway, who is leading the Houses Russia probe, and Democrat Adam Schiff, the committees ranking Democrat, said in a joint statement. We hope and expect that anyone called to testify or provide documents will comply with that request, so that we may gain all the information within the scope of our investigation. Hope may prove inadequate. Flynn recently refused to comply with subpoenas from the Senate Intelligence Committee, asserting his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination. However, the retired general is preparing to offer the committee some documents, according to a source who spoke with Bloomberg. When word leaked that the House and Senate had sent Michael Cohen (nonbinding) requests for documents earlier this week, Talking Points Memos Josh Marshall argued that the investigators were barking up the right tree: Cohen is referred to as Trumps personal lawyer. Not likely. President Trump has other lawyers who sue people on his behalf, defend him in lawsuits and criminal matters. From everything Ive been able to tell, Cohen fills a business role for Trump as well as being his public threatener. Cohen has multiple personal and business relationships with people from Russia, Ukraine and emigres from those countries. He is a major real estate player in his own right, as well as working on numerous deals within the Trump Organization. Just back in 2015 Cohen bought a $58 million apartment building on New Yorks Upper East Side. $58 million. How did Cohen first come to Donald Trumps attention and join the Trump Organization just over a decade ago? Thats another interesting story. It was apparently his ability to serve as a conduit for money emigres from the former Soviet Union were using to buy apartment units at Trump branded luxury developments Cohen is a much bigger deal in this whole story than I think is broadly realized. The House Intelligence Committee issued a total of seven subpoenas on Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal four related to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and three concerning the (trumped up) unmasking controversy. The panel also sent a letter to Boris Epshteyn, asking the former White House press aide to voluntarily submit information to the committee. Loves Turkey. Photo: Andrew Harrer - Pool/Getty Images Last year, when former national security adviser Michael Flynns consulting firm was paid more than a half million dollars to work on behalf of Turkey, it was, at least in part, to fund the production of a documentary discrediting Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric accused by Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the documentary, which it says represented the bulk of Flynns work on behalf of Turkey. He also wrote an op-ed, on Election Day, for the Hill bashing Gulen. Flynn has denied that the op-ed was written at the request of the Turkish government or Inovo, the Dutch firm with a Turkish-American owner that was paying Flynns firm. The documentary, however, was. The WSJ reports that the Flynn Intel Group hired freelance filmmakers last year to conduct interviews for the never-completed film. Those freelancers claim they were misled. Ex-CNN anchor Rudi Bakhtiar said she believed the film, for which she would serve as the on-camera reporter, would be an unbiased news documentary. Former Vice News employee David Enders, who was led to believe the film would be about Iran, told the WSJ that Bijan Kian, the head of Flynns firm, tried to hide the companys role in producing the film. Bijan said they did not want to be connected to this in any way, Mr. Enders said. He said: We dont want anyone to know the Flynn Intel Group has anything to do with this. Mr. Enders said Mr. Kian didnt explain his reasons. Ekim Alptekin, the head of Inovo, told the WSJ that the piece was conceived of as a small, 60 Minutes kind of a thing. The goal was to reportedly to get the film to run on PBSs Frontline. In the end though, the film was never finished. The op-ed in the Hill made the same point that the film was apparently working toward that Gulen is Turkeys Ayatollah Khomeini and the three days before last Novembers election, Inovo paid the Flynn Intel Group $185,000. The following day Flynn and Inovo reportedly ended their contract, but that didnt stop the retired lieutenant general from representing Turkeys interests. Two months later, as he was preparing to begin work in the White House, Flynn blocked an anti-ISIS plan that Turkey opposed. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, expected to be a punching bag for PM Theresa May, has instead looked quite competent. Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images Last month, when British prime minister Theresa May surprised a lot of observers by calling a quick election for June 8, it was generally thought she was taking advantage of an unusually favorable climate of public opinion to strengthen her Conservative Partys majority in the House of Commons going into intense Brexit negotiations with the European Union. At that time the Tories had a massive lead (21 percent according to YouGov) in the polls over its major-party rival, Labour, which was struggling with internal and external unhappiness with its old-school-lefty leader Jeremy Corbyn. Just weeks later, that lead has by all accounts shrunk, in part because of a very adverse public reaction to a new Tory proposal for a levy at death aimed at recouping late-life public-health-care expenses provided in homes. Dubbed the dementia tax, it has galvanized chronic fears about Tory austerity policies. Despite a partial abandonment of the proposal by May, its definitely hurt the Tories, especially among older middle-class voters. Compounding Mays problems, Jeremy Corbyn, thought to be her ace in the hole, has turned out to be a better campaigner than most friends or enemies expected. And so, this very day, May is dodging a BBC debate among all the other party leaders including Corbyn, who decided to attend at the last minute. That certainly represents a change in the climate that once had May eager to find any available means of contrasting herself with the Labour leader. The big question is whether a shrinking Tory lead will lead to a complete backfire for May in calling this election, or merely limit Tory gains. Polls have shown a downward trend in the Tory popular-vote lead into the high single digits or low double digits. But the real shocker came yesterday when YouGov the same pollster that showed the Tories blowing out to a huge lead in June did an analysis of individual seats and concluded that May might lose her majority altogether, leading to a hung parliament with no majority, or even a Labour government. A closer look at the YouGov poll shows that its using an experimental model for measuring voting intentions, and that the underlying data show a wide range of possibilities, including a big Tory win. But still, the idea of a hung parliament is fascinating. The most likely minor-party coalition partner is the Liberal Democrats, who are running on clear-cut opposition to Brexit and would probably make demands inconvenient to the Brexit-hedging major parties. Another is the Scottish National Party, which would also exact a high and difficult price for a coalition. It could produce a fine mess. For now that remains unlikely, and all this polling does not completely take into account the possibility of a pro-Tory shift in opinion in response to the suicide bombing attack in Manchester. But the fact remains that Theresa Mays decision to hold this election is looking to be a bigger gamble than anyone imagined. And Jeremy Corbyns not looking to be quite the electoral millstone he was reputed to be. Mike DeWine. Photo: Brooke LaValley/The Columbus Dispatch via AP In the presidents telling, the great villains of the opioid epidemic are Mexican cartels and the politically correct politicians whove allowed them to run amok. In reality, the opioid crisis wasnt launched by drug dealers smuggling narcotics across Americas border, but by pharmaceutical companies hawking them over the nations airwaves. In the mid-1990s, Purdue Pharma patented OxyContin, and began aggressively marketing the opioid to doctors and patients. The company held all-expenses-paid conferences for specialists, in which they treated the assembled physicians to fine food and wine and seminars on OxyContins capacity to relieve chronic pain with little risk of engendering abuse or addiction. Purdue conveyed that same message to patients in lay terms through media advertisements. The Drug Enforcement Agency would later claim that this aggressive, excessive and inappropriate marketing had very much exacerbated the abuse of OxyContin. And in 2007, Purdue and three of its executives pleaded guilty to federal charges of misbranding drugs, and were forced to pay a $635 million fine. But by then, Purdues signature pain reliever had already earned the company billions of dollars and cost 29,600 Americans their lives. Further, the companys inappropriate advertising had already popularized the notion that opioids were a low-risk means of alleviating chronic pain, and spurred other pharmaceutical firms to bring their own addictive analgesics to market. Fortunately, some self-avowed opponents of the epidemic are willing to follow the money. On Wednesday, Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine announced that his state is suing five drugmakers for fueling the opioid crisis by consciously misleading Ohioans about the the addictive potential of their prescription painkillers. The evidence is going to show they knew what they were saying was not true and they did it to increase sales, DeWine told reporters at a news conference, alleging that the firms deliberately marketed their products to general practitioners who may not have a particular specialty in that area. The lawsuit targets Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Allergan PLC, and Endo International PLC. Mississippi, Chicago, and Californias Orange and Santa Clara counties have also sued opioid makers on allegations of malevolent marketing. Following DeWines announcement, Purdue told The Wall Street Journal, We share the attorney generals concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions. In truth, Purdue has been working diligently to export Americas opioid crisis to Europe and the developing world. All around the globe, the companys international brand, Mundipharma, is striving to overcome opiophobia its term for foreign doctors mistaken belief that prescription opioids carry a high risk of abuse. As the Los Angeles Times reported late last year: For generations, physicians have been taught that opioid painkillers are highly addictive and should be used sparingly and primarily in patients near death. Mundipharma executives and consultants call this opiophobia and top company officials have said publicly that success in new markets depends on defeating this mind-set. Meanwhile, the company spent millions encouraging potential patients to recognize their chronic pain as an illness that requires lifelong opioid use. Seeking new patients in Spain, Mundipharma chose ambassadors guaranteed to attract attention: Naked celebrities. A string of topless actors, musicians and models looked into the camera and told fellow Spaniards to stop dismissing aches and pains as a normal part of life. Dont resign yourself, Maria Reyes, a model and former Miss Spain, said in the 2014 television spot. So, dont expect a guilty conscience to tame Purdues addiction to profit. Nor, for that matter, can you trust federal regulators to push back against the pharmaceutical industrys worst instincts: After lamenting the opioid epidemic on the campaign trail, President Trump appointed an FDA chief who has accepted tens of thousands of dollars from opioid makers and who condemned the DEAs crackdown on companies that supply pill mills in 2012 as a war on pharmacies and pain patients. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Senate Republicans have a huge problem with an extremely simple solution. The problem is that the American Health Care Act increases the number of uninsured by 23 million, mainly because it cuts a trillion dollars out of financing for Medicaid and tax credits for individual insurance in order to finance a big tax cut. They have a very simple solution: Dont use the health-care bill to finance a huge tax cut. Oddly enough, this solution does not seem to have occurred to any of the Republicans working on their partys plan. A somewhat surreal Politico story from last week reports that Senate Republicans feel intense gloom over their inability to produce a bill that substantially improves upon the negative-23 million insured in the House version. Senate Republicans also arent sure how much they can improve on a score that, in their view, fell far short of an acceptable outcome, the story reports. A very easy step would be to eliminate the tax cuts, thus eliminating the need to reduce spending for insurance for people who cant afford it on their own. The report also suggests that Senate Republicans are hampered by special rules that force them to match or exceed the deficit reduction in the House bill: There are limits to how much the Senate can really juke the numbers of the CBO score to make a bill more palatable to the public. Senators cannot write a bill that saves fewer than the $119 billion in savings from the House bill, which could restrict just how much room Republicans have to produce better coverage numbers or lower premiums. You know what would be an easy way for the Senate bill to find a lot of budget savings? Take out the huge tax cut! The 24th paragraph of the 26-paragraph-long story floats the possibility of delaying the tax cut. (One option under consideration: Delaying repeal of Obamacares taxes to produce more money to shore up Medicaid coffers and reduce premiums in the short term.) But of course a delay merely puts the problem off rather than resolving it. The irony here is that Republicans appear to be hampered by a legislative strategy that no longer applies. The original Republican plan called for repealing Obamacare, including the taxes that pay for it, early in 2017. Then Republicans would pass a revenue-neutral tax cut, which offset tax cuts for high-income earners by imposing a border-adjustment tax. Why didnt Republicans want to just combine both tax cuts into one extremely large tax cut for the rich? Because their plan required that the cost of the tax cuts be offset. The first tax cut for the rich would be offset with cuts to insurance subsidies, and the second offset with tax increases on the middle class. Doing all the tax cuts in one tax bill would require finding even more painful tax increases to offset their cost. But now, Republicans are starting to realize tax reform that is, tax cuts that are offset by revenue increases elsewhere is a pipe dream. The border-adjustment tax has implacable enemies within the GOP. Theyre not going to find enough new revenue to cover the costs of the taxes they want to cut. Their plausible Plan B is just to pass a big tax cut without paying for its cost. That means they can just repeal the Obamacare taxes in the tax cut bill. They dont need to do it in a separate health-care bill. Given the parameters Senate Republicans are working within, it is literally impossible for them to write a non-horrific health-care law. Their commitment to eliminating Obamacares taxes in the health-care bill deprives them of the funding they need to provide even bare-bones minimal coverage. And their longstanding party-wide opposition to any new taxes means they cant replace the lost revenue with something else. If they realize they can leave the Obamacare taxes in place, and repeal them in a separate tax-cut bill, they can get a health-care law that isnt a humanitarian disaster and a tax-cut bill that gives rich people some really big tax cuts. They have to realize this eventually, dont they? Not coming to a TV screen near you. Photo: CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images Scott Pelley is reportedly being pushed out as anchor of CBS Evening News after six years on the job. Hes expected to return full-time to 60 Minutes, where hes served as a correspondent since 2004. The handling of Pelleys departure is surprisingly awkward, especially since the network prides itself on being drama-free. The New York Posts Page Six broke the news on Tuesday night, saying Pelleys office is being cleared out while hes away on assignment with 60 Minutes. Hours later, multiple outlets had the story, but CBS had yet to comment on the matter. Pelleys ratings have been down, but as CNNs Brian Stelter notes, thats nothing new: Maybe CBS will let Pelley say goodbye. No comment yet. Network's "low ratings" rationale is odd, since CBS has been #3 at 6:30 for 20+ years Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 31, 2017 Sources told the Post and the New York Daily News that in addition to his low ratings, Pelley didnt get along with CBS News president David Rhodes. As the Washington Post noted, Pelley has been pointed in his assessments of the Trump administration. He raised eyebrows with statements like It has been a busy day for presidential statements divorced from reality. Pelley took over from Katie Couric in 2011, and there were some significant successes during his tenure. According to his CBS bio, he grew the shows audience for five consecutive seasons and scored the broadcasts highest ratings in 10 years. Hes also won a record 33 Emmys, nearly all for his work on 60 Minutes. Anthony Mason, whos been filling in for Pelley, is expected to continue helming the show until a permanent replacement is named. Pelley will likely return to say good-bye to viewers. Team Trump in happier times. From left, Sean Spicer, Gary Cohn, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Steve Bannon, and Reince Priebus. Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP With few ties to Trump and so little name recognition that he never made it into an SNL sketch, White House communications director Michael Dubke made an excellent scapegoat for the troubled administration. However, it seems Dubkes resignation announcement on Monday only intensified the fear among top White House staffers that they may be fired from the job they appear to hate. The New York Times reported on Tuesday night that despite a relatively successful overseas trip, President Trump appears increasingly isolated, and is still talking about a major staff shakeup. Even advisers related to Trump are feeling the heat, and theyve each found different ways to cope. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer may be under the most pressure. Trump, like much of America, has reportedly been highly critical of his performance during televised press briefings, and now hell go back to juggling the role of communication director, too, until a replacement can be found for Dubke. Spicer showed signs of stress on Tuesday, though he insisted the president is very pleased with the work of his staff. As the Washington Post noted, Spicer seemed to be leaning into the Trumpian rhetoric hard at Tuesdays briefing: It truly was an extraordinary week for America and our people, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday afternoon as he kicked off a gushing recap to reporters that lasted roughly nine minutes and featured the word historic a half-dozen times. Spicer channeled his boss as he declared that Trumps speech to leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations was a historic turning point that people will be talking about for years to come and was met with nearly universal praise. He claimed that the president single-handedly united the civilized world in the fight against terrorism and extremism and that his meetings at the Group of Seven summit in Sicily were marked by outstanding success. Dubkes departure came with other changes for the communications team, and Spicer is now expected to do fewer on-camera briefings. A Republican close to the White House told Politico that the only reason Spicer was carrying out the normal duties of a press secretary on Tuesday was to irritate the press. Spicer wanted to do it, and Trump was good with it, the source said. Im not sure how often hell do it from now on, but today was to give the middle finger to you guys. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has tried another approach: managing expectations. Over the weekend, the Washington Post reported that theres been talk of making Priebus, whose mother is of Greek descent, ambassador to Greece to make his ouster less humiliating. According to the Times, Trump has repeatedly joked about this, and speculation grew last week when a list of ambassadors was compiled at Mr. Priebuss request, and the Athens position was left blank. Trump has reportedly been soliciting opinions on making Gary Cohn, his national economics adviser, or David Urban, who was an aide to the late senator Arlen Specter, his next chief of staff. As for Preibus, hes reportedly told friends that he just hopes to stay in the job for a year. Similarly, Jared Kushner returned to work determined to act as if the weekends headlines hadnt been dominated by reports that he tried to establish a secret back channel to Russia. According to Politico, he led three meetings in the West Wing on Tuesday, and never alluded to the controversy. White House strategist Steve Bannon actually seems to be thriving in this even-more-cutthroat version of Trumps White House. The Times said he appeared reinvigorated and is trying to convince the president that he needs to revamp his administration and focus more intently on nationalist policies. Hes talking like hes giving orders again, a source told Axios. This is the [stuff] we love being under attack. White House staffers can comfort themselves with the thought that Trump often talks of firing staff, but doesnt follow through. Last month Bannons days in the Trump White House appeared to be numbered, but he managed to hold on even as so-called globalists like Kushner and Cohn rose to power. Plus, the task of finding replacements for top staffers has only grown more difficult with the appointment of a special counsel, as some worry that theyll need to lawyer up before joining the scandal-plagued administration. BuzzFeed reported on Tuesday that it had spoken with more than 20 experienced Republican communicators and operatives, and nearly all said they had no interest in replacing Dubke. In fact, they seemed to be competing to reject the idea in the most colorful terms. Thats like asking someone who just witnessed a horrific bungee jumping accident whether they would like to go next, said one GOP source. Youre going to come out of the administration with your reputation in tatters, your credibility utterly destroyed, and your job prospects close to nil unless you want a low level CNN contributorship, said a veteran of the George W. Bush administration. There is at least one person who seems interested in coming to the Trump administrations aid: Corey Lewandowski. Trumps former campaign manager is reportedly under consideration for a new role managing the fallout from the Russia investigation. He may wind up with an outside group pushing the presidents agenda, but one top Trump aide told the Daily Beast they found the prospect of him coming to work in the White House repulsive. I gagged when I [first] heard that, the aide said. [Corey] will not be an asset in the West Wing. He would be a hothead in a [White House] that needs the opposite. President Trump and Scott Pruitt. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images After months of deliberation, President Trump has decided to undermine international cooperation on the greatest threat facing humanity along with Americas diplomatic relationship with virtually every other country on planet Earth so as to flatter the prejudices of reactionary oil barons and rolling coal enthusiasts. Administration officials told Axios, CNN, ABC News, and the New York Times Wednesday that Trump is preparing to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. However, those who spoke with the Times cautioned that the decision is not yet final. I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 Axios reports that the energy industrys favorite EPA chief is working with a small team on how precisely to go about extricating the U.S. from the agreement. They have at least three options to consider: (1) Announce that the U.S. wants out, thereby triggering a years-long withdrawal process (and snowflake libs). Under the terms of the agreement, no nation can send official notice of its intent to exit until three years after the deal came into force, which happened four days before Trump won the White House. Once that notice is sent, the actual withdrawal process takes a year. Which is to say: If Trump goes this route, the U.S. will officially withdraw from the Paris deal just days before voters head to the polls for the 2020 election. (2) Declare the Paris deal a legal treaty, toss it to the Senate, and let Mitch McConnell put the agreement (and, perhaps, human civilization) out of its misery. This may leave the U.S. as a signatory in the eyes of the world community, but would give Trump broader institutional support for nullifying the agreement. As Axios notes, Trump could pair a Senate vote with option No. 1 or with option No. 3: (3) Torpedo the genuine legal treaty that underpins the Paris agreement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (which was ratified in 1992, before the GOP decided climate science was a socialist conspiracy). The benefit here is that Trump could leave the broader treaty and, thereby, void Americas participation in the Paris deal in a single year. The drawback is that this would sideline the U.S. from all global climate diplomacy. Notably, regardless of Trumps decision on Paris, his administration was always going to spend the next four years sabotaging the spirit of the agreement. The EPA is already led by a man whos to the right of parts of the coal industry on climate issues. The president has already rolled back myriad Obama-era climate regulations. And even the administrations globalists, who argued for staying in the agreement, often did so on the grounds that the U.S. could more effectively protect U.S. fossil-fuel interests with a seat at the table ostensibly, by using the threat of withdrawal as leverage for crippling efforts to adopt more stringent emissions standards. Since the Paris accord isnt actually a legally binding treaty, remaining in it would not have constrained Trumps capacity to accelerate the pace of climate change on the home front. But pulling out of the agreement may prove an effective way for the United States to constrain the capacity of the global community to accelerate the transition to cleaner forms of energy. As the Times reports: The exit of the United States, the worlds largest economy and second-largest greenhouse gas polluter will not dissolve the 195-nation pact, which was legally ratified last year, but it could set off a cascade of events that would have profound effects on the planet. Other countries that reluctantly joined the agreement could now withdraw or soften their commitments to cutting planet-warming pollution. The actions of the United States are bound to have a ripple effect in other emerging economies that are just getting serious about climate change, such as India, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton, and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations group that produces scientific reports designed to inform global policy makers. Once the fallout settles, he added, it is now far more likely that we will breach the danger limit of 3.6 degrees, the average atmospheric temperature increase above which a future of extreme conditions is irrevocable. The impact on Americas credibility in international diplomacy could also prove significant. Last week, 22 Republican senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, implored Trump to leave the agreement in a written letter. In Axioss account, the missive strengthened Trumps resolve to exit. This is a detail worth dwelling on: For all that makes Trump a singularly destructive figure, the single most destructive action of his presidency may prove to be one that was dictated by the GOPs congressional leadership. A ground-based missile interceptor. Photo: US Department of Defense As North Korea repeatedly tests its missile capabilities, the threat of Pyongyang launching an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the U.S.s West Coast looms larger. On Tuesday, the United States military successfully tested its ground-based interceptor which, as its name implies, is designed to shoot down an incoming ICBM in midair before it reaches its target. JUST IN: US military launches missile in test that is designed to intercept an incoming missile over the Pacific. https://t.co/Oil3dcR6DR NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) May 30, 2017 At 3:30 p.m. PT, the U.S. military launched the ground-based interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The military also launched a long-range ICBM target from a test site in the Marshall Islands. According to the Pentagon, the missile from California successfully destroyed the target in a direct collision over the Pacific Ocean, about an hour after its launch. U.S. officials say that this test was previously scheduled, and the fact that it coincides with North Koreas recent missile launches is just a coincidence. According to ABC News, this is the 18th test of the ground-based interceptor since 1999, and the first since the last successful test in 2014. This anti-missile technology has been deemed combat ready since 2004, per NBC News, but its overall record is pretty lousy, with only four of nine tests having been successful since then. Yet this most recent test was the first ever live fire test against a simulated ICMB, says Reuters. Missile Defense Agency Director Vice-Admiral Jim Syring described Tuesdays exercise as a critical milestone for this program, one that demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. If youve ridden any New York subway lately, chances are good that youve been held momentarily by a stations dispatcher; trudged to another stop to grab a different line because your train stopped running altogether; or watched your cell-phone clock tick while seated on an unmoving, delayed train. (If you feel like your commute has gotten worse and worse in recent weeks, youre not alone.) Jerich Marco Alcantara knows that last feeling better than anyone. He missed his commencement ceremony at Hunter Colleges Brookdale campus on Tuesday, thanks to a delay on the E train. Dressed in full regalia, Alcantara was set to receive a degree from the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing. Alcantara told Select All he had opted out of attending the main graduation ceremony at Radio City Music Hall later that same day because students were only allotted two tickets, and he wanted all of his family and friends some of whom were on the stopped train with him in attendance. Opting out also meant that getting to the commencement was that much more important to him. I was on track to be at my commencement at 9:15 a.m., but the delays altogether ended up taking almost three hours, Alcantara said. After 45 minutes, I knew I was already late, but I kept hoping that Id at least make it to walking the stage. He didnt make it, but thanks to some friends and strangers on the train that day, he still got to experience a formal graduation. Sort of. A friend presented Alcantara with a diploma via a cell phone, while somebody else on the train blasted Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day. Another passenger filmed the makeshift ceremony and posted the video to Facebook. Poor kid missed his graduation because of the train delay this morning....so we threw him a graduation on the train. Posted by Nadiya Afzal on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 If you want a copy of my diploma, turn on your AirDrop, Alcantara says in the video, followed by a muffled explanation for a few confused passengers about how AirDrop works. It wasnt so much an idea, but something that just happened, he explained of the impromptu ceremony. Everyone was getting antsy and impatient, so I figured Id lighten the mood by thanking everyone for coming out. That led to applause, and the rest just followed. When they finally got above ground, Alcantara said he and his companions rushed to the commencement to see if we could make it in time, but saw a bunch of people in gowns on the streets, and knew they were too late. So I missed the commencement, but after the auditorium cleared out, my close friends threw me my own little graduation, Alcantara told Select All. Two ceremonies for the price of one very delayed E train. It was a great time, he said. Update, May 31, 2017, at 11:03 a.m.: This post has been updated to include an interview with Jerich Marco Alcantara. So edgy. Reply Thread Link I hope he dies Reply Thread Link Bit harsh Reply Parent Thread Link Oh fuck off. Reply Parent Thread Link lmao ia though Like, sooner than later, at least. Reply Parent Thread Link well damn, tell us how you really feel Reply Parent Thread Link Fuck cocaine, and fuck the ppl who use it for ~funsies. Reply Thread Link Lol i will never understand their feud and extreme hatred for each other (while still being in a band together and touring for years) but it never fails to amuse me so i'd like them to carry on Reply Thread Link Feud Season 3? Y/y? Reply Parent Thread Link TBH...this is a good idea, lol Reply Parent Thread Link oh god. who would ryan get to play noel and liam? lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link My grandma knew their family and was around them as kids and says it makes perfect sense lol. She's never been shocked by their feud. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I understand it. There's people in my family and I can't stand and vice versa. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Do u have brothers or sisters? I totally understand if I was in a band with my sister I will punche her and fight everytime...when we were teens we fighted a LOT... Reply Parent Thread Link What a complete an utter mess Reply Thread Link these two... Reply Thread Link LMAO, Liam Reply Thread Link the gallagher brothers are both so ridiculous but no one can read them better than each other Reply Thread Link Noel on Liam: "He's rude, arrogant, intimidating, and lazy - the angriest man you'll ever meet. He's like a man with a fork in a world full of soup." Reply Parent Thread Link i love this. Reply Parent Thread Link He's like a man with a fork in a world full of soup this is like, one of my fave drags ever Reply Parent Thread Link God I crack up every time I read this. Reply Parent Thread Link is cocaine a casual drug now? I feel like ppl are so chill about it now. my roommate did it for the first time this weekend Reply Thread Link Oh yeah. Almost everyone I meet does it. It's weird if you don't. Reply Parent Thread Link It's always been a party drug, along with E. Reply Parent Thread Link It's always been casual for a lot of people, which makes it more dangerous imo. My mother and her friends did it for years with me in the house, and she didn't develop a serious problem until I was a teen. Reply Parent Thread Link Depends on the crowd I think. When I was in high school if you partied often it was weird that you hadn't tried cocaine. If you partied every once in a while you were expected to do weed but not cocaine. ...wow, writing that out my hs sounds like a really bad teen show. Reply Parent Thread Link No. Only weed. Reply Parent Thread Link lol nope. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i second that it depends on the crowd i've been with people who would look at you like you'd grown a second head if you refused to do coke at a party, but also the opposite. Reply Parent Thread Link it depends on who you hang out Reply Parent Thread Link where i live its basically on the same level as weed. like all my neighbors and shit do it every weekend. Reply Parent Thread Link It was when I was partying a lot. There was one club I went to where the bartender would sell coke from behind the bar. Reply Parent Thread Link my sister had a coworker out in Oakland who was horrified to learn my sister was buying regular old skim milk and not organic milk. she was all "that will kill you!" and a few hours later she said "I'm gonna snort some coke after work" Reply Parent Thread Expand Link We've had threads where random people swore it was nbd. Like no, examine your life, examine your choices 0_0 Reply Parent Thread Link In my circle, the only people who talk about anything other than weed freely are the white people I know. Reply Parent Thread Link I think the stigma is starting to lift outside of party circles. I remember people on ONTD used to pretend like coke was basically like heroin and it was impossible for people to do it occasionally lol Reply Parent Thread Link it's pretty hard to go into any bar/club in the UK city i live in without seeing it. it's everywhere, i don't really know anybody that doesn't do it or at least hasn't tried it Reply Parent Thread Link I've only ever heard white people acting like it is. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link here in Hollywood it's the #1 choice of drug... i remember leaving an after party in 2009 when i was first exposed to it. now i'm just used to it being around when i go out... back in my small conservative hometown in California that wouldn't fly tho. Edited at 2017-05-30 10:37 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link depends where you live. it's basically non existent in australia so it's super expensive. Reply Parent Thread Link it's a lot more common than you think, esp among yts Reply Parent Thread Link I love ppl who use coke at parties but then eat vegan and insist their coffee be fair-use. Like you're not contributing to a heinous blood-soaked nightmare in Central and South America with your ~harmless habit. Leftist hypocrites are the fucking worst. Reply Thread Link Exactly, as a colombian I HATE these kind of things so much, putos gringos y putos europeos, que se jodan. Reply Parent Thread Link Preach it Reply Parent Thread Link It is so fucking insensitive, pinches pendejos. Reply Parent Thread Link The drug war over cocaine is in a completely different category, though. Buying coke and perpetuating the demand is like the worst possible thing you can do. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link destroy capitalism! Reply Parent Thread Link Coke isn't a necessity though. Not to mention it's a crime. Reply Parent Thread Link Ikr Reply Parent Thread Link you better preach Reply Parent Thread Link Mte. There are casual coke users that post here but then talk about their healthy eating habits like its so weird to me lmao Reply Parent Thread Link fucking worst!! Reply Parent Thread Link Latin Americans die every day so that white people can have narco themed birthday parties. Reply Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link Noel Gallagher is throwing himself a cocaine-themed 50th birthday bash - inspired by Netflix's Narcos! https://t.co/CxifAebOpu pic.twitter.com/2psdY7mc1s oasis world (@myoasisworld) 18 de mayo de 2017 When will gringos/europeans stop?? yep, i'm so tired about this tbh, also that puto made this thing for the party:When will gringos/europeans stop?? Reply Parent Thread Link never sis. they see their friends and family die from overdosing and yet they still don't stop. Reply Parent Thread Link mmhmm Reply Parent Thread Link i have never tried coke and i probably never will thanks to this reason. EDIT: this sounds like i think im some saint for not doing coke. i just meant its horrible that people still continue to do it, knowing damn well what lies behind every line. Edited at 2017-05-30 08:54 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link i hope you also never buy clothes made in sweat shops, dont have any electronics with a cobalt battery (apple, samsung, microsoft, dell, sony), or own any type of gemstone. cause people sure as hell are dying to make those for you too. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link preach Reply Parent Thread Link Wait, "Re potatoes 50th"?? Is he calling his brother "Potato"?? Has he adopted ONTD patois?! Or can I just not read? Wait, "Re potatoes 50th"?? Is he calling his brother "Potato"?? Has he adopted ONTD patois?! Or can I just not read? Reply Thread Link https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/06/liam-gallagher-wont-stop-calling-noel-gallagher-a-potato/ Yup, he's calling him Potato Reply Parent Thread Link bahahaha, one of us! Reply Parent Thread Link don't cut yourself being too edgy, Noel. don't cut yourself being too edgy, Noel. Reply Thread Link i love volume 23. the edgiesT of them all. Reply Parent Thread Link I AM SO DEAD @ POTATO LMFAOOO Reply Thread Link I never thought I would say this, but I agree with Liam. Also, come on Demon Allbran why are you disappointing me right now. I could never get over some girls who I knew said that coke was their "social drug" and they were just casual users, like people with addictions and innocent people haven't died over this shit. Reply Thread Link yeah, they don't give a shit. they just want the high. Reply Parent Thread Link i feel like a lot of people at uni were like this. like 'well i do drugs for fun sometimes but its fine! everyone does it!', but then they would probably judge actual addicts if they saw one. Reply Parent Thread Link I understand why people don't like Gal and her support for Israel's policies, but at the same time, the success or failure of this film isn't going to be seen as a referendum on Israel's occupation of Palestine, so like... Reply Thread Link I have no idea what her views are (I didn't even know she was Israeli before this post tbh, and I'm pretty sure most of the world doesn't either nor care), so unless she's very outspoken against Palestine or similar problematic issues, I'm inclined to agree... There'll be literally no traction from banning or boycotting this movie. Reply Parent Thread Link she posted this https://www.facebook.com/GalGadot/photos/a.443954573925.242485.25616998925/10152522016708926/?type=3&theater Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Why would you support an actress who could very well be spending the money she makes , to further a cause she believes in? I was so looking forward to this film, but I'm not going to see it in the cinema. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link But supporting a film can be seen as supporting the actor. She is wonder woman, and the more successful the movie is, the more money in her pockets, the more work she gets Reply Parent Thread Expand Link at the same time, i can understand people who have been directly harmed by israel's actions that gal has both participated in and endorsed not wanting to give their money to a former idf solider. a lot of the people in lebanon are palestinian refugees. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Im so torn relating Gal cause she's been messy about her views on Palestine but I really want THE female comic book movie that took forever to do well :/ Reply Parent Thread Link You were not the OP I was expecting this from. Lots of people are conflicted about the film and that's cool, save your money if you feel strongly. But she's a character and lots of other people worked hard for the film so I wouldn't say anyone needs to be shamed for watching. Reply Thread Link I understand why people might boycott the movie because of Gal. However, remember that if you live in the US, for example, you give a shit ton of money to Israel Reply Thread Link How can I opt out of that? Reply Parent Thread Link thats something my taxes go to that i am not in control of Reply Parent Thread Link just checked, BvS (which also stared Gal) did got released in Lebanon Reply Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link https://stateofmind13.com/2017/05/29/lebanons-government-wants-to-ban-wonder-woman-because-lead-actress-gal-gadot-is-israeli/ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&country=LB&id=superman2015.htm Edited at 2017-05-30 11:51 pm (UTC) according to Elie Fares' blog the Lebanons Ministry of Economy claims that BvS was banned. even tho Fares saw it in a cinema (and boxofficemojo has boxoffice numbers for it) Reply Parent Thread Link and the fast movies she was in Reply Parent Thread Link This could get wanky, but if there's any group of people I trust to handle discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with nuance and maturity, it's fans of comic book movies. Reply Thread Link LOL Reply Parent Thread Link LOOOL Reply Parent Thread Link pls correct me if i'm wrong, but in the infamous post with the hashtags, weren't there some that were pro-palestine? or, i'm sorry, pro-two state solution? Reply Thread Link #weareright #freegazafromhamas #stopterror #coexistance #loveidf that's a lot of conflicting ideology period ok just found it:that's a lot of conflicting ideology period Reply Parent Thread Expand Link , or something like that only one #coexist , or something like that Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She never did seem to be against Palestine, just Hamas. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao there would be no movies left Reply Parent Thread Link the theatres would be very, very dry Reply Parent Thread Link I can only imagine Reply Parent Thread Link I wish Reply Parent Thread Link That could/would very well lead to the closure of every cinema worldwide, losing many people their jobs filling popcorn, ushering, and selling tickets. Reply Parent Thread Link if only. and i hope the other comments were sarcasm. there are plenty of actors and film makers who aren't abusers. Reply Parent Thread Link i agree with the blogger; it's unfair for those who are interested in watching it on the big screen. Reply Thread Link NEW WONDER WOMAN COMIC TOMORROW! Reply Thread Link It's the Annual and I think it's featuring a story with Wondy, Bats and Supes. Should be interesting! Reply Parent Thread Link I CANT WAIT. THEN NEXT WEEK IS STEVE TREVOR. :D Reply Parent Thread Link How the fuck is Israel's politics / policies so tied to this damn movie? It shouldn't. Reply Thread Link mte this is the only case where ontd isn't "woke" anymore Reply Parent Thread Expand Link what a fucking reach Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol please Reply Parent Thread Link I can't wait to see this movie. Reply Thread Link At 97%, #WonderWoman is the highest rated Marvel or DC film ever. Congrats to Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins. https://t.co/n6x5bwzdwt pic.twitter.com/3B2gJWdy2b Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) May 30, 2017 i hope the rating levels out above 94% so this stays true anyway...i hope the rating levels out above 94% so this stays true Reply Thread Link SEETHE, BOYS, SEETHE Reply Parent Thread Link yasss Reply Parent Thread Link give all the DC MOVIES TO PATTY PLEASE Reply Parent Thread Link not if it means wonder woman 2 is pushed back! i hope she (along with geoff johns and jon berg) helps break story for man of steel 2 though. she seems to really understand these hopeful, altruistic heroes. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I want her to stay with WW but I hope that her success means that DC will be warmer on women directors and invite more of them into the fray. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link YASSSSSS Reply Parent Thread Link That's what happens when you go in with low expectations Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm a bit drunk and read Lebanon as Lebron Reply Thread Link i'm sober and did the same tbh Reply Parent Thread Link So did I! Without the excuse of being drunk. Reply Parent Thread Link sometimes i wish boys could experience a period so they could know what kind of shit we go through fuck you cramps Reply Thread Link seriously. For me it's not even the cramps that are the worst part. I get the worst migraines ever during my period :( i basically have to take pain medication for 5-6 days or i can't function. Reply Parent Thread Link I get them one week before my period for a couple of days, it's like a google alert for my period Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Same. But you know if they experienced just one they would whining and complaining non-stop and demanding all kinds of concessions be made for them. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link didnt you read all the outrage about possible side effects of male birth control and how they couldnt test further cause men couldnt handle being test subjects due to side effects such as mood swings, bloating etc.? lmao men are truly something Reply Parent Thread Expand Link MTE. And you can't even complain about it because you know it will just feed into their perception that women on their periods are irrational and can't handle things. Reply Parent Thread Link there would be government-mandated time off once a month Reply Parent Thread Expand Link cramps + sore uterus from wearing tampons or cups + the feeling of something slipping out of you at all times and shooting out if you sneeze or stand up + the weirdness of poking clots that fall out in the shower + tender body + frustration of not being in total control of your emotions + period poops Reply Parent Thread Expand Link they couldn't handle it Reply Parent Thread Link they couldn't handle it Reply Parent Thread Link they couldn't handle it [3] Reply Parent Thread Link I'm sure they'll love my back pains Reply Parent Thread Link If they did you know they'd get mandatory days off school/work and free hygenic products etc...smh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yes, I just had the worse pms recently. I had terrible indigestions for almost 2 weeks before my period and it's cause of all the hormones and shit. Ugh Reply Parent Thread Link the only man i've ever met who seems to really Get how bad period pains can be is my one co-worker whose girlfriend has cysts in her fallopian tubes that burst every month, so through her he has a very intimate understanding of the female reproductive organs and how they can fuck women up. every other man i've ever known, and hell, even some women, don't show any understanding of how bad periods can be. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Dude, I had to spend a night in the hospital last week getting blood transfusions because of a 7 week long period. I had lost so much blood I literally could've died. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link once i read a facebook post that said women who has periods are reckless and i was ?????????????????? Reply Parent Thread Link As if they could deal with that shit longer than one fucking minute. Reply Parent Thread Link how dare she bleed Reply Thread Link damn get money sis Reply Thread Link She's an autoshow model wearing a bikini. Obviously having a period is going to be a problem, babe. Reply Thread Link Women wear bikinis while on their periods all the time though? Reply Parent Thread Link Lucky girls. I bleed too much to pull that off Reply Parent Thread Expand Link uhm are you really in the position to tell women what they can or can't do? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link she was wearing a dress, but not reading has never stopped you from voicing a terrible opinion has it Reply Parent Thread Link Your mouth. Shut it. Reply Parent Thread Link You remain trash. Reply Parent Thread Link "The 27-year-old was greeting guests at the booth in a black dress when she left for a toilet break." -- As stated in the article. Reply Parent Thread Link my parents and i are both in the market for new vehicles. i'll make sure we all stay clear from Hyundai. Reply Thread Link you should've stayed away regardless of this incident tbh get urself a toyota sis Reply Parent Thread Expand Link my parents have a 2013 Toyota 4Runner they're about to finish paying off. i think they wanna stay in the Toyota fam. as for me i've had my Nissan Altima since 2005 loool. idk what the fuck i wanna get. it still runs and my plan was to drive it till the wheels fell off because i hate car payments. but my parents are legit concerned i'll get stranded or something could happen seeing as it was my first and only car. they offered to put up the down payment just to get me to buy one already. lmao. i'm trying to be smart about it. Edited at 2017-05-31 06:00 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Toyota makes very reliable cars imo. Reply Parent Thread Link Toyotas are amazing, my Yaris is eight years old and is still in great condition. I don't know if I would ever buy from another manufacturer. Reply Parent Thread Link IA. I love my Camry. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Toyota's are expensive compared to other similar cars. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Buy a Mazda tbh Reply Parent Thread Link I would suggest not buying new. Buy from those who deal with car rental companies because most car rental places update to new models every year and the ones resold are usually super low mileage. So a certified reseller. Like even from the dealership's previous year models. Reply Parent Thread Link A Hyundai spokesman said the company was not aware of the incident. Reply Thread Link Get money! Reply Thread Link Bleeding through your tampon/pad is the fucking worst. The fact that they fired her for that is ridiculous. Reply Thread Link Ugh yes.I'll never forget the time I woke up in a pool of my own blood. I went to bed that night with the thickest pad on, too. I was 16 at the time and my periods were heavy. Reply Parent Thread Link And sometimes a poorly-timed sneeze is all it takes. Reply Parent Thread Link Probably not a very popular opinion but she bled all over the uniform so it had to be treated as a biohazard (which is expensive). I wouldn't want her back either if I was concerned that it would happen again. Reply Thread Link "Probably not a very popular opinion but she bled all over the uniform so it had to be treated as a biohazard (which is expensive). I wouldn't want her back either if I was concerned that it would happen again." wtf Reply Parent Thread Link where did you read "it had to be treated as a biohazard"? that last comment is also just horrible logic Reply Parent Thread Link most body fluids at treated this way in my experience, just because there might be bloodborn pathogens. i used to work at a childcare center and any time a kid had a nosebleed or anything worse than a minor cut, we had to put the tissues and clothes in a biohazard bag. but then again, idk if period blood has the same danger as blood from your bloodstream. either way, she didn't deserve to be fired. Reply Parent Thread Link Sis they buy them fucking uniforms in bulk at a cheap rate. Nowhere in there did they say they treated it as a biohazard. You wouldnt want someone to come back to their job if they moght have their period again? Like it isnt a common thing for a lot of people on a daily basis? Reply Parent Thread Link Goddammit Carl! We were rooting for you Reply Parent Thread Expand Link that's like firing someone for throwing up on themselves Reply Parent Thread Expand Link OMG no. Reply Parent Thread Link if they are so concerned about getting blood then they wouldn't be able to hire any female models, because they all likely get periods. such dumb logic to fire just one woman because she wasn't able to get to a toilet while on shift. Reply Parent Thread Link would you say the same thing if someone got cut in an accident and bled on their uniform? how dare they!!! Reply Parent Thread Link as much as we'd like to, some of us girls can't help it Reply Parent Thread Link It could happen again. To her. And nearly every single other woman they hire. That's kinda how periods work. They just keep happening to most women. Those poor companies that have to face the daily possibility that their female employees might be bleeding - their struggle is real. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Omg fuck them so hard. Lawyer up good sis and get $$$$!!! Reply Thread Link Try having endometriosis and dealing with all kinds of fun stuff, often with other organs, almost every day. Reply Thread Link The fact that endo and other conditions that affect uteruses & the surroundings were SO disregarded for SO long and women STILL have to convince their doctors that they're really suffering from it and on the whole aren't taken seriously by society at large just sets me on fire. I'm so sorry you're dealing with that, sis. Reply Parent Thread Link I had to go to two different doctors before someone believed that I had endo. My own mother still doesnt believe that I have endo and thinks Im faking it. This is coming from someone who has never had a period and only knows about it from what other people have told her. The medication they gave me does help but makes me feel like I cant do anything because im so groggy. Reply Parent Thread Link ...your mom has never had a period? Can you please explain further, if you don't mind? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link omg that's horrible I'm so sorry. The amount of pain that so many women have to put up with because medical professionals won't listen is so infuriating. Reply Parent Thread Link It's out of her control how much she bleeds during her period. Reply Thread Link Or, as her employers probably think, like some guy from my school in tenth grade said, "If you get your period at school you should just hold it in til you get home." Reply Parent Thread Link oh lawd e_e Reply Parent Thread Link I still haven't switched to Diva Cup yet, but during my period I get super paranoid is the flow is heavy and will change it a lot and I always wear black pants when I have it. I had a accident in fourth grade and it was humiliating and I was super embarrassed (and also wasn't allowed to leave my classroom, ugh) to ask for anything. Reply Thread Link I didnt suction my divacup enough and that shit fell out and it was like a crime scene. I just got the reusable pads and they are actually pretty good. Reply Parent Thread Link lmaoooo i was changing mine while a dude i was dating went around the corner to get a beef patty (lol) and i pulled it out to hard and it was a blood xplosion!! i was on my hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor but got it 2gether before he came back (but was imagining the movie version where i forgot a huge glob of it somewhere) Reply Parent Thread Link Edited at 2017-05-31 05:49 pm (UTC) These pendejos need some Gordon Cole to set them straight. Reply Thread Link YAS you're my new favorite Reply Parent Thread Link for that? its so minor. conservatives really are the biggest babies Reply Thread Link This is too far but they were applauding Ted Nugent, who threatened to kill Obama, when he got invited to the WH with Palin and Kid Rock. /saying that last sentence made me double check again that 2017 is real life Reply Parent Thread Link It's not really a conservative/liberal issue though. This is internet outrage culture. It's like when someone says or does something stupid on TV (like fuck her right in the pussy) and then they lose their job in real life because the internet is mad about it and the company needs to save face. Is it offensive and dumb? Yes, absolutely. But do people deserve to have their livelihood taken away from them because they're offensive and dumb? Reply Parent Thread Link well it helps that cheeto has tmz on the payroll. their "poor melania poor barron" shit has been ridiculous Reply Parent Thread Link its outrage culture. not like Liberals dont lose their shit over minor infactions either Reply Parent Thread Expand Link white people miffed and produced white tears of anger, off course she gone. white people and their fucking privilege. all this rage yet they were the first to tweet retweet and "freedom of press" at that Obama as Osama terrorist, racist bull and much more and worse the man had to endure. hell trump himself was often fueling the fire of much of it (how soon people forget his whole 'obama isn't american birth certificate shit). Reply Parent Thread Link I hope nobody watches without her in it and their ratings drop. Reply Thread Link Oh man, she was so fun with Anderson :( Reply Thread Link i enjoyed there nye special anderson always looked uneasy around kathy and i loved it Reply Thread Link rme Reply Thread Link Kathy should have known this would turn out badly. Although CNN had Lewandowski who assaulted a reporter on the payroll. And Lord, who talked about lynching Obama. The hypocrisy is just wild to me even if Kathy is a wrong mess. Not only did Trump push his birther bullshit when Sasha and Malia were young, but Melania went on HLN pushing the conspiracies too. Suddenly Republicans are about kids I guess... Reply Thread Link They don't give a fuck about kids. It's a game to them. Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link The one time this lady makes me laugh and ppl gotta have meltdowns about it smh Reply Thread Link Ridiculous Reply Thread Link maybe i'm cynical or just awful but i don't think what she did was all that bad Reply Thread Link Mfte Reply Parent Thread Link Same Reply Parent Thread Link uhhh the racial implications alone are a pretty big difference.... Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The racial context definitely makes images of Obama being lynched a very different situation. Reply Parent Thread Link girl.... I would delete this comment if I were you. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link woooooooooooooooooooooooooo boy Reply Parent Thread Link mte. Conservatives love free speech - they're all for it when they make effigies of hanging a black man - until it's against a POS white. Reply Parent Thread Link that's cuz it wasn't that bad...ppl are just overreacting Reply Parent Thread Link It wasn't. Reply Parent Thread Link mte? like who doesn't want tr*mp dead? Reply Parent Thread Link Nah, it's not that bad. She posed with a dummy. Republicans are assaulting reporters, sexually assaulting coworkers, committing treason, and encouraging/emboldening hate crimes and murder. Reply Parent Thread Link ia Reply Parent Thread Link that's bc it wasn't. this is trump we are talking about. Reply Parent Thread Link I thought she crossed a line, but I don't think she deserves to lose work because of it. Reply Parent Thread Link I agree with you, but at the same time I can't look at this objectively (not that I think I need to be) because I hate Trump sfm. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I don't think it was that bad but I also think it was super dumb of her to do and she or someone on her team should've anticipated this response. Reply Parent Thread Link It was stupid because of the backlash and how they're going to milk this shit (like they are). What the fuck did she think was going to happen? Thanks, Kathy, you dumdum. Reply Parent Thread Link it certainly wasn't in 2017 Reply Parent Thread Link it wasn't Reply Parent Thread Link I've been a Kathy fan forever and I honestly feel bad for her. I personally didn't see anything wrong with it but clearly she apologized because shit hit the fan immediately and she NEVER apologizes. Even Anderson came for her and said it was fucked up. Reply Thread Link I'd consider myself a Kathy fan too but I hated that she did this. We got upset when Ted Nugent said Obama should be hanged, so how is this different? I don't buy the "it's art" excuse - she did it for shock value and publicity, her reason for doing anything. For me, I'm more angry about the hypocrisy coming from the Right, and I hate that it might damage The Resistance. Reply Parent Thread Link It's different for a lot of reasons. One being that suggesting a unique kind of racialized violence that has a long history in America of being specifically for innocent black men to a group of people that has a long history of enacting that kind of violence is absolutely not in the same category as a tacky photo. It's also fucked up that people are saying that it might damage the resistance. If the resistance can't withstand a photo in bad taste while the right is committing murder, violence, and hate crimes in addition to bad policies, state terrorism and treason, then the resistance wasn't good for much anyway. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Wow, thanks for putting into words what has been jumbling around in my head since yesterday. I'm also against it because it was just wrong. It was wrong when conservatives did it, it's wrong when we do it. Trump is an actual trash can of a human being who deserves no respect, but this was five steps too far. Reply Parent Thread Link Same. The right already thinks we are rioters and animals as is. She's now another poster-child for how "horrific" we can be. Reply Parent Thread Link I think she put Anderson (and liberals, in general) in a difficult position - he had to call her out or risk being labelled a hypocrite. Reply Parent Thread Link Uncalled for Reply Thread Link The right is full of a bunch of hypocritical snowflakes. Reply Thread Link GDI, as if I didn't despise Drumpf enough, now he has me taking Kathy fucking Griffin's side. Reply Thread Link Ted Nugent was obviously using a figure of speech, unfortunate as it was. It just shows the anger people have towards @BarackObama. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 19, 2012 A tweet for every occasion. Reply Thread Link I haven't started the new season yet because I'm already too invested in irl politics. I'm just exhausted from politics. Reply Thread Link yaaaas perfect timing! i'm on episode 8 and it's not the greatest season, but has some interesting themes. will probably binge the night trough. claire 4 (not just acting) president. but it pales in comparison to the real political drama that is unfolding in front of our eyes ofc. Reply Thread Link I *just* finished season 5 and I'm still wtfing over the ending. I suppose it'll make more sense as the show goes on, but for now it seems like everything building up to the end was such a waste. Reply Thread Link mte! i thought something huuuuuge was going to happen and then the ending came and it was kind of a letdown, but i liked it for what it was Reply Parent Thread Link i want to do that to drumpf. Reply Parent Thread Link i was like dam u frank but also no zoey :/ Reply Parent Thread Link This was annoying as fuck because it would be basically impossible to do this in the DC Metro without anyone seeing, hiding behind some non-existent grates. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link this was the least believable thing for me out of the whole show, I buy that a crooked psycho politician would want a journalist dead but why do it yourself? it's way too dangerous, get Doug to hire someone on Craigslist or something Reply Parent Thread Link This is season is such a vast improvement from last. I was home all day yesterday and I watched all the episodes. I am back to being obsessed with the show again. Reply Thread Link lol @ trolling theresa may! Reply Thread Link I'm only on episode 5 but this season feels a bit all over the place. Also I miss Meechum. Reply Thread Link the new guy they have lined up for frank is so meh. nothing compares to sweet, inocent bb meechum Reply Parent Thread Link I binged each of S2-S4 in their entirety on the day of their release but idk man, I don't see how it can get any soapier or more nuts than irl politics. I'll probably start S5 at some point this weekend but I'm not nearly as excited as I used to be. I WISH the HOC version of election 2016 was our reality. Even if Frank murders people n' shit, his policies seem misguided-at-worst and not actively-evil. And the Republican in their universe seems relatively alright, honestly. Reply Thread Link ikr? it's a sad day when i'd rather have frank "subway pusher" underwood as american president than the oompa-loompa oligarch. Reply Parent Thread Link Peter Russo was a great character! I think they could have kept him around for another season. Reply Parent Thread Link season 1 is perfection, and ita about sweet prince peter russo :'( Reply Parent Thread Link lol the kremlin-controlled carrot better watch out. Angie Get Your Gun lolololol Reply Parent Thread Link shitttttttt, commie with a gun, btfo Reply Parent Thread Link [ Spoiler (click to open) ] Holy shit what did Claire do to Tom OMGOMGOMG Edited at 2017-05-31 09:59 pm (UTC) I'm on episode 12 right now. I'm halfway through the episode one more to go Reply Thread Link Shit ikr...i was like Holy shit Reply Parent Thread Link spoil me sis i fucking hate that douchebag Reply Parent Thread Link [ Spoiler (click to open) ] OMG so So the deputy under secretary of trade and Commerce Mrs. Davis gives Claire this stuff I forget what it's called and she ends up killing Tom with-it. The 'fucked up part is that Claire is' fucking him while he dies. Like literally in the middle of riding his Dick and he dies. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i knoooow, she is EVIL but i love her sfm Reply Parent Thread Link ANYWAY, since Theresa May is brought up in the post, this seems On Topic: for UK ONTDers, how is this election looking to shape up? Reply Thread Link https://mobile.twitter.com/LibDems/status/870010678031134720 Lmaooo Lmaooo Reply Parent Thread Link LOL, tell us how u really feel, tim. Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO I CAN'T @ THERESA MAY NOT SHOWING UP THOUGH. Like.... WHY? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link OMG STOP HE WENT IN Reply Parent Thread Link My boyfriend doesn't want to vote because he says it won't make a difference and I really don't know what to say to convince him to do it. Edited at 2017-05-31 11:04 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I cant vote since Im not a UK citizen but even my friends who are centre are thinking May is fucking this up bad Reply Parent Thread Link the elections episodes made me so stressful ajdjskfndkjfjdkskd joel kinnaman is lowkey hot, but my queen robin wright is hotter unnfggg Reply Thread Link queen robin is so fucking stylish and beautiful <3 Reply Parent Thread Link truth. that woman is aging like a fine wine. it's weird that joel's more attractive now than he was in his peak modelling days Edited at 2017-06-03 07:45 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link i just started from the beginning last week and i'm on season 2 does this count? Reply Thread Link I am still watching this absurdity and loving it with no shame lmao I'm on ep 4 and I've been LIVING! I love Claire idc if she is pure evil, I want her success lmao and for some reason I hate Conway even tho in real life an anti war republican would be a precious snowflake Reply Thread Link Americas prowess in renewable energy capacity is unquestioned. According to the Renewable Energy Policy Network, by the end of 2015, the seven countries with the highest capacity of renewable energy (not including hydro power) are China (199GW), U.S.(122GW), and Germany (92GW) followed by Japan (43GW), India (36GW), Italy (33GW), and Spain (32W), Figure 1. Figure 1 (Click to enlarge) The same report states, considering investments made in new renewable power and fuels relative to annual GDP, top countries include Mauritania, Honduras, Uruguay, Morocco and Jamaica. The leading countries for investment per inhabitant were Iceland, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Japan and Ireland. Americas energy flow from the perspective of resources and consumption serve as an invaluable tool to visualize the U.S. energy mix and their interrelationships. The energy flow charts, Figures 2 and 3, from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are a single page reference that illustrates energy and material flows in a way that distinguishes between resources, transformations and demand sectors, and thereby, details the sources of energy production, how they are used and how much waste exists. The Figures model the U.S. Energy Flow for 2010 and 2015, respectively. The size of each box and the thickness of each line is a relative measure of the amount of energy delivered, received or lost. It displays the connections between primary energy resources (fossil, nuclear, hydro and renewables) on the far left, and end-use sectors categorized into residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation on the right. Energy is expressed in Quads, where a quad is equal to 10E15 BTU or 1.055 10E18 joules (1.055 exajoules or EJ) in SI units. Electricity Generation (EG) is listed midway between the primary sources of energy and the final demand centers. The reason for this is EGs role as a secondary source of energy; transforming primary energy resources (resources listed on the left) into electricity consumed by the end-use sectors and heat energy lost (large gray line on its right side) The grey boxes on the far right quantify Rejected Energy and Energy Services. Rejected energy refers to energy that's lost and not used, such as energy released as waste heat from boilers, car engines and power turbines. Energy Services refer to energy that is used to perform work. This discussion shall focus on the left side of the chart Energy Source. Sources of renewable energy include Solar, Wind, Geothermal and Biomass. Hydro (hydropower, hydroelectric) is excluded as a renewable source of energy. Related: Tech Giants Make Major Bet On Battery Boom Not everyone agrees on whether hydropower should be classified as a renewable source of energy. There are many schools of thought, and qualification varies state-by-state. One argument against qualification is that most hydroelectric facilities were built before adoption of renewable portfolio standards (explained later in this discussion); a mandate to increase production of energy from renewable resources such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and new waterpower technologies. Another argument points out that conventional hydroelectric plants interrupt the flow of rivers and can harm local ecosystems, and that building large dams and reservoirs involve displacing people and wildlife. However, unconventional hydropower using currents, waves, and tidal energy to produce electricity is less disruptive and qualifies as renewable. Conversely, biomass is considered a renewable source of energy. Biomass is an energy source that is derived from crop waste and wood, but it is also derived from garbage, manure, sewage sludge and other organic waste that society continuously produces. For this reason, biomass is considered to be a natural and renewable source. Figure 2 (Click to enlarge) Figure 3 (Click to enlarge) Looking at Americas energy mix between 2015 and 2010, utilization of renewables grew approximately 1.8 quads; [wind (+0.9 quads), biomass (+0.43 quads), solar (+0.42 quads) and geothermal (+0.1 quads)]. While, utilization of fossil fuels declined about 2 quads; [coal (-5.12 quads), petroleum (-0.57 quads) and natural gas (+3.65 quads)], during the same period. Increase in natural gas, the cleanest burning fossil fuel, utilization at the expense of coal in electricity power generation is attributed to stringent air quality standards by the EPA and plentiful supplies of domestic and relatively inexpensive natural gas from the shale gas bonanza afforded by technologies such as the hydraulic fracturing of hydrocarbon laced shale formations. With regards to the renewable energy and fossil debate, its pertinent to note that a 2014 press release from the DOE Office of Fossil Energy stated: . the DOE, EPA and DOIs (Department of Interior) U.S. Geological Survey signed a related memorandum of agreement initiating multi-agency collaboration on unconventional oil and gas research (includes hydrofracturing of shale formations). The Presidents FY 2014 budget request allocates $44.7 million to fund this effort. The point is DOEs ongoing interest in bolstering fossil fuel utilization. Related: Trump Set To Pull U.S. Out Of Paris Climate Deal The energy flow charts also indicate: Renewable resources and fossil fuels constitute about 90 percent of U.S. energy mix in both 2010 and 2015. The remaining 10 percent is made up of hydropower and nuclear energy. The share of renewables in U.S. energy mix increased 1.8 percent from 2010 (5.65 percent) to 2015 (7.49 percent), The share of fossil fuels in U.S. energy mix declined 1.7 percent from 2010 (83.2 percent) to 2015 (81.5 percent), Petroleum was the predominate energy source constituting no less than 36 percent of all energy sources in both 2010 and 2015. Natural gas showed the most significant increase in usage of any energy source growing 15 percent (+3.65 quads) from 2010 to 2015, The other fossil fuel and one of the dirtiest, Coal, showed the largest decrease of any energy source declining 25 percent (-5.12 quads) from 2010 to 2015, The share of hydro power and nuclear energy in U.S. energy mix remained relatively stable from 2010 to 2015, Wind energy showed the largest growth in renewable energy generation, an increase of approximately 0.9 quads from 2010 to 2015, Both biomass and solar energy grew about 0.42 quads during the same period, Geothermal showed negligible growth during the same 5-year period. A salient feature of the chart has to do with the slight change in overall energy consumption between 2010 and 2015. The U.S. population grew by 11.35 million from 308.74 million in 2010 and 320.1 million by 2015. According to Figures 5 and 6, total U.S. energy generation was 97.92 and 97.43 quads in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Therefore, as population increased, societys demand for energy decreased by 0.5 quads. Its a long shot, but this reduction in energy consumption from a larger population base may equate to some degree the effectiveness of the effectiveness of DOEs Energy Efficiency programs. Another, meaningful, measure to determine DOEs effectiveness in transitioning America to a low carbon-energy future is the share (percentage) of renewable energy (hydro, wind, geothermal and solar) in total electric generation. This measure gives an entirely different picture from capacity statistics. Figure 4 shows 2015 share of renewables (including hydropower) by countries; data compiled by Enerdata. The red bar shows Americas share of renewable energy at 13.8 percent (about 7.5 percent without hydro, see Figure 3). The U.S. ranked 28th of the 44 countries included in the study, i.e., 27 countries used a higher percentage of renewables in their economy than the U.S. Figure 4 (Click to enlarge) Source: Enerdata Norway with a 98 percent share of renewable energy is the world leader and benchmark towards 100 percent renewable energy. The other top 10 countries for renewable energy utilization includes Brazil (73.5 percent), Venezuela (68.9 percent), Colombia (67.9 percent), Sweden (64.3 percent), Canada (62.7 percent), Portugal (49.3 percent), Romania (42.6 percent), Chile (41.6 percent), Italy (38.4 percent), and Spain (35.5 percent). Most developed countries showed higher rates of renewables in their energy mix than the U.S. Though not shown in Figure 4, the U.S. share of renewables was also below the average share for the World (23.4 percent), OECD (23.6 percent), G7 (21.4 percent), BRICS (24.7 percent), Europe (34.2 percent), and North America (20.15). A similar analysis conducted last year by the Author, showed the U.S. share of renewables in electricity production (including hydropower) at 13.7 percent in 2014. While the data points out the U.S. marginally increased its share of renewable energy by 0.1 percent in 2015, the U.S. ranked 27th in 2014, one position higher than 2015. Overall, U.S. usage of renewables on the world order remained relatively stable during this period, showing little or no meaningful growth. One tool designed to stimulate demand of renewable sources of energy in electricity generation is Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). RPS which began as a policy concept from California in the mid-1990s, has emerged at the state level as an primary driver for renewable energy capacity additions in the U.S. RPS rules have been adopted in 29 states, Washington, D.C., and three territories, while eight states and one territory have set renewable energy goals. In 2009, the US Congress considered Federal level RPS requirements. However, the proposed Support Renewable Energy Act died in the 111th Congress The primary objective of RPS is to offset emissions of greenhouse gases in electricity generation. The driving force behind the creation of RPS is the Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970. The CAA directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and enforce primary and secondary national ambient air quality standards for designated pollutants." As a market-friendly way of ensuring adoption of a minimum amount of renewable energy throughout the economy, RPS is a widely-used mandate (relative to other renewable energy policy mechanisms) because it generally does not require governmental funding. RPS places an obligation on electricity retailers (generators) to provide a minimum percentage or quantity of their electricity supplies from renewable sources - such as wind, solar, biomass - and other alternatives to fossil and nuclear electric generation. Other eligible technologies include certain hydroelectric facilities*; ocean wave, thermal and tidal energy; fuel cells using renewable fuels; landfill gas; and municipal solid waste conversion, not the direct combustion of municipal solid waste. The RPS market-driven mechanism works by certified renewable energy generators earning renewable energy certificates (REC) for every unit of electricity they produce and selling the RECs along with their electricity to supply companies. Supply companies then pass the certificates to a regulatory body to verify their compliance with their renewable energy obligations. The increase in wind power and solar utilization is also attributed to technological advances and competitive energy costs. Not only do wind and solar projects provide a clean source of electricity, they also help keep electric rates low and provide a hedge against fossil fuel price volatility. Wind and solar energy costs have declined over the past few years as wind turbine technology has matured with taller towers and improved turbine efficiencies and solar benefited by the flood of cheap silicon panels. Wind energy is now one of the most cost-effective sources of new electricity generation, competing with new installations of other energy sources in wind-rich regions. According to Yale Environment 360, Solars evolution over the past decade has been stunning, as falling prices and climbing demand drew photovoltaic costs level with, or below, power sources such as coal and even natural gas in some places. Excluding any possible renewable energy technology developments from the DOE, RSP, the most effective tool increasing the installed base of renewables in Americas energy landscape has its DNA in the EPA rather than the DOE. Recalling the Solyndra debacle (default of DOEs $535 million loan guarantee to manufacture solar modules) as an example of wasted investments and intensive foreign competition especially in solar modules, its debatable whether DOEs effort in providing new and improved renewable energy platforms has made any significant impact on improving U.S. adoption of renewable resources in its energy mix. By Barry Stevens for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Iran's newly-opened oil patch continues to gain momentum. With the UAE's Emirates National Oil Company saying this week it has paid $4 billion to Iran to settle a tab for crude, built up during the sanctions period. And the coming weeks may bring an even bigger development for this emerging oil hotspot. The award of Iran's first post-sanctions petroleum contract -- representing the first-ever occasion in modern times that projects here will be available on global-scale commercial terms. The CEO of National Iranian Oil Company, Ali Kardor, said early this week that the government will soon issue its first project tender. For the Azadegan oil field, located near Iran's border with Iraq. Kardor noted the tender for Azadegan will be released by June 2 -- with 29 pre-qualified companies reportedly invited to bid. Iran's oil minister Bijan Zanganeh confirmed the tender. Saying his ministry is finalizing a contract for development of Azadegan, under the new petroleum model hammered out by lawmakers over the past year. The prize here is big. With Azadegan containing an estimated 33 to 42 billion barrels of oil in place -- and 6 billion likely recoverable. Making this one of the largest projects to come on offer globally in recent years. Related: The Big Data Revolution In Oil Is Accelerating That will draw significant interest from firms around the world. With majors from Europe, Asia, and Russia all having signaled their intention to pursue projects in Iran. One of the leaders may be a firm that already has experience with Azadegan -- Japan's Inpex. With that company having operated the field between 2004 and 2010, before pulling out due to Japanese sanctions. Inpex officials said the company is "gathering information" on the tender, as it considers a bid. Whoever grabs this mega-field, the tender would be a big step forward for Iran's government. With President Hassan Rouhani having struggled to get the country's new petro contract model accepted by lawmakers -- but apparently now having support for the measure after his recent election win. Oil minister Zanganeh said he hopes to have the Azadegan contract signed off by July. Watch over the coming weeks to see if the bid round gets done, and who the winner will be. Here's to the journey beginning with a step, By Dave Forest More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: ExxonMobil tried to beat back a move from shareholders to press the company to disclose its vulnerabilities to climate change and climate regulation, but it failed. At its annual meeting on May 31, shareholders passed a climate resolution with a vote of 62 percent in favor. Exxon became the second major oil company in recent weeks to suffer a defeat at the hands of its own shareholders. Shareholders of Occidental Petroleum passed a climate resolution in early May, an important development in years of work for climate activists who have tried to push similar measures through, with little success. The Occidental resolution calls upon the company to review and report on the companys exposure to climate change. In the past, these moves have been viewed through the lens of corporate social responsibility. That is, shareholders pressed their companies to clean up their act for the sake of the environment. Or, put more cynically, to at least clean up their public image by being seen complying with the requests of environmental groups. But that approach has failed to really move the needle for the bulk of shareholders. More recently, however, things are starting to change because the financial calculus is changing. The long-term financial health of the industry no longer looks as rock-solid as it did as recently as just a few years ago. Over the coming decades, the oil industry will be under assault from multiple fronts. First, governments around the world will steadily tighten the noose around the industrys neck in order to cut down on carbon emissions, President Trumps rumored withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement notwithstanding. The industry could see death by a thousand cuts through taxes, stricter environmental enforcement up and down the industry such as limits on methane emissions or stricter pipeline safety standards, or an outright ban on certain regions for drilling. In short, public policy could force the industry to leave oil and gas reserves in the ground. Related: Trump Aims To Scrap Gulf Coast Oil Royalties Second, the industry could face peak oil demand at some point because of the rollout of electric vehicles, a development that is not immediately imminent but is the subject of growing speculation from even the most conservative and hard-headed oil companies. These industry trends have changed the equation for investors. In a potent sign that the industry is suddenly facing more pressure, BlackRock, the worlds largest asset management company, supported the climate resolution for Occidental Petroleum, using its 8 percent of the companys shares to tip the scales. But the passage of a climate resolution by Exxons shareholders is on a different level in terms of importance and symbolism. Ceres, one of the leading groups on environmental shareholder activism, called it a historical shift in investor support for climate disclosure. Exxon was under added pressure because of the investigation several Attorneys General, led by New York, which allege that the oil major is misleading its shareholders by not disclosing its long-term climate risks. The outcome of the investigation is uncertain but could be a watershed moment for the industry. Related: Europe Joins Race For Cheaper Batteries With New Gigafactory Last year a similar measure only garnered 38 percent of the vote. Exxon reportedly lobbied shareholders directly in the lead up to this years vote, pressing them to reject the resolution. Exxon maintains that it is already scenario-planning for different possible futures. "[T]he corporation agrees with the underlying objective - we just have a different view on the best means to achieve it," Exxon said in a statement. In any event, the company maintains that it is confident it will be able to produce all of the oil and gas on its books. But on Wednesday, 62 percent of them passed the resolution. Shareholders also passed separate resolutions calling on Exxon to describe its plans to reduce methane emissions. The passage of the resolution by a large margin will force Exxon, whether it wants to or not, to become more transparent about its financial risks. "Whether it's shareholders or attorneys general or the passage of time, they're going to have to become honest about the potential for their assets to be stranded," Bob Litterman, chairman of the risk committee at asset-management firm Kepos Capital, told CNBC. And with major pools of money from asset management companies like BlackRock shifting in favor of climate disclosure, there is probably no going back. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Thousands of miles of oil pipelines connect the worlds oil producing hubs to their key customers refineries and electrical grids. By replacing trucks, the advent of the pipeline has dramatically reduced the carbon emissions associated with transporting fuel from point A to point B, but their unattended nature makes them an attractive target for thieves who could refine and sell the products for rock-bottom prices on the black market or other illicit venues. Oil theft has become incrementally more sophisticated over the past few decades as transnational gangs and separatist organizations steal fuel to fund their operations. Deepening geopolitical rivalries amongst states that share pipeline routes also encourage state-backed embezzlement of energy resources. These are their stories: Nigeria Nigeria notoriously suffers from oil theft perpetrated by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, separatist groups in the Niger Delta, and private citizens looking to make a quick buck. In 2016, Michele Sison, the U.S. deputy ambassador for the United Nations at the time, said Africas largest producer lost $1.5 billion in revenues every month due to the extensiveness of the oil laundering game across the nation. Illegal refineries near the Niger Delta allow stolen oil to be processed and used in the local economy, but a new initiative by Lagos would allow the facilities to become legal and secure oil from the government at a negotiated price. Nigerias oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu advanced the plans last month in order to dissuade locals from attacking oil infrastructure. A portion of the stolen crude leaves Nigerian borders for processing elsewhere. Evidence from 2014 suggests Nigerian crude had been smuggled into Ghana, mixed with Ghanaian crude before refining and export to Morocco and other European markets for sale on legal markets. Related: Billions In Oil Investments At Stake In Iranian Elections Mexico Cartels active in the northern half of this Latin American country are ready to be free from their drug addiction. With a modest upfront capital investment of $5,000 - $8,000, cartels have realized they can tap directly into state-owned gas pipelines and withdraw seemingly unlimited supplies of gasoline, which they then sell along the highway at a discount to official government prices. It's a win-win situation whereby the drug cartels make 100 percent profit margins and citizens get "cheap" fuel. Last years numbers from state-run PEMEX said the nations pipeline had been tapped almost 7,000 times in order to supply these illegal markets, which grow in size every year due to heavy participation from ordinary citizens as demand catalysts. The more prolific the fuel thieves become, the more expensive gasoline becomes for legal customers, which only encourages them to become the cartels newest buyers. Its a vicious cycle. The thefts amount to about $1 billion in losses annually, says Luis Miguel Labardini, an energy consultant at Marcos y Asociados and senior adviser to Pemexs chief financial officer in the 1990s. If Pemex were a public company, they would be in financial trouble just because of the theft of fuel, he said to Zero Hedge. Its that bad. Azerbaijan Like Nigeria, groups aiming to steal fuel from this country target crude resources. The criminal organizations that specialize in the practice fill up trucks of the illegally obtained raw goods and transport them to neighboring countries in trucks and trainswhich do not have to be searched by customs officers due to the terms of trade agreements with neighboring countries, according to a report by Forbes. Global Risk Insights notes that almost 60 percent of the Azeri economy operates underground, with untaxed and unregulated oil activities representing a large chunk of the dark underbelly of the national GDP. Morocco The border between regional rivals Morocco and Algeria was closed for security reasons in 1994 following an attack on the Atlas Asni Hotel in Marrakesh. Still, thousands of barrels make it across the border on donkeys, according to a report by The Guardian in 2013. That summer, Algerian authorities became resolved to end petrol trafficking on the desert border, resorting to the execution of the animals from a distance. In two instances, donkeys had even been blown up. Morocco imports the vast majority of its fuel needs, since it has virtually no fuel reserves of its own. The cheap illegal fuel from its neighbor saves Rabat hundreds of thousands of dollars in import costs, so law enforcement turns a blind eye to the smuggling, which occurs far from official checkpoints. Related: Trump-Xi Deal Could Fuel A U.S. LNG Boom Thailand The differential between oil and gas prices in Malaysia and Thailand spurs the unauthorized transfer of the formers fuel via land and sea routes through the Gulf of Thailand. Even after Malay authorities lowered gasoline subsidies, prices remained lower than those in its northern neighbor. Most of the fuel movement occurs on a small scale in this region. For example, in February, law enforcement near the Thai-Malay border caught three cars with modifications to hold 500 liters of fuel in the vehicles bodies. Their modus operandi was to fill up petrol at stations near the Bukit Bunga bridge, Tanah Merah, using local vehicles before smuggling them into Thailand, said the local chief of police. We believe their activities had been going on for some time. Stern action will be taken against petrol stations found to be in cahoots with smugglers. Ships carrying refined oil and gas cargo have the options of selling their goods to other ships at sea. The carriers, most often disguised as fake fishing vessels, bring the remaining fuel to Thai shores, where the traffickers will find dozens of new costumers. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Last weeks OPEC meeting was characterized by a certain banality. The news that OPEC and non-OPEC members would agree to another nine months of production cuts elicited a collective shrug from oil markets and brought about a fall in prices. Little that occurred gave rise to alarm, and apart from news that U.S. shale producers were in dialogue with OPEC officials and that Saudi Arabia and Russia were conniving on deeper cuts in the backroom, reporters were somewhat at a loss for what would make for a juicy story. Amidst the routine nature of the meeting, however, was a somewhat surprising announcement from Iran, OPECs third-largest producer, that it would not be cutting any output but would instead maintain its current level of 3.8 million bpd. Irans oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, dodged initial questions regarding Irans compliance with OPECs agreement, but on May 25 stated categorically that Iran will not reduce its output. There are indications that the country may be planning to ramp up production in order to fuel higher exports. In an interview with Argus Media, Zanganeh did not refute a claim from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) that Iranian production would increase by 300,000 bpd by March 2018, though he did state Iran would respect the decision by OPEC. He went on to state that by 2021 Iran would add 700,000 bpd to its overall capacity, with a targeted total capacity of 4.7 million bpd. He was hopeful that condensate production would increase from 600,000 bpd to 1 million bpd by March. The OPEC agreement was a short-term decision, and Iran was looking at the medium to long-term. A major factor in Irans plans for increased output are contracts with foreign companies. The government of Hassan Rouhani has attempted to revamp Irans strict regulations for doing business with foreign companies. This process was stalled for months amidst resistance from Irans hard-liners, but Rouhanis re-election in May has spurred hopes that the countrys aging oil and gas infrastructure will soon enjoy major injections of foreign capital. A deal with French oil giant Total is nearing completion, according to Zanganeh, which would see a more rapid development of the South Pars natural gas field, shared between Qatar and Iran. Total is musing an investment of $2.2 billion. Related: Saudis, Russia Will Do Whatever It Takes To Bring Oil To Balance One Iranian official stated that deals worth $50 billion would be concluded in 2018, while Zanganeh mentioned forthcoming agreements with Lukoil, Maersk, Petronas and Petramina, though details of the deals are hard to come by. A deal with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) will be concluded in July, according to Zanganeh, and will focus on the development of Irans Azadegan deposit. In Vienna, the Iranian oil minister talked up Irans desire to reconnect with the world. Rouhanis re-election was a sign that Iran was ready and willing to engage with the international community, despite renewed hostility from the United States and considerable suspicions from the Gulf States regarding Irans regional ambitions. Yet apart from the hype stirred up by Irans oil administration, little concrete information regarding Irans new oil and gas deals has emerged. The much-anticipated flood of investment has yet to materialize. Rouhanis first election, and the deal signed in July 2015 over the countrys nuclear program, was meant to auger an end to Irans isolation. Rouhani was able to win re-election in May despite considerable disappointment over Irans stagnant economy, which he had vowed to reinvigorate in part through deals with foreign companies. While it is certain that Rouhani will be more amenable to new oil deals than his challenger, hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, whether he is able to translate his electoral win into new investment for Irans oil and gas industry remains to be seen. Zanganehs comments in Vienna mirror the declarations made by an NIOC official after the July 2015 agreement and contain much of the same sentiment: confidence, optimism that Irans dreams for higher production and exports will be realized, and a certain amount of hype. Thats nothing new for OPECs third-largest oil producer, which has vowed that it will respect the OPEC production deal even as it plans for the future; whether the money needed to realize that future appears is another question entirely. By Gregory Brew for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Approximately two months ago, Vladimir Putin awarded high-level state honours to a cadre of individuals in recognition of their contribution to Russia. The Order of Friendship award was given to Ivan Glasenberg, Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, and Carlo Messina. The common denominator between these figures being a deal struck in December 2016 involving the entities which the aforementioned individuals oversee, i.e. Glencore International, Intesa Sanpaolo and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and Rosneft, Russias prized oil company. According to open source information at the time, a 19.5 percent share of the oil giant transferred to Glencore Plc and the QIA, but all else remains shrouded in mystery. Given the relative obscurity of the deal at the time, Shadow Governance has been closely following developments. Political exposure and integrity issues are a particular source of concern as details continue to emerge about the transaction. Although only mid-way through 2017, several developments now compliment the initial signing of the agreement at the tail end of last year. In late March, Italy announced that it had finally approved the 5.2 billion loan by Banca Intesa SanPaolo to the Qatar-Glencore consortium to finance the privatisation. The decision was made after months of scrutiny from the Italian Financial Security Committee (FSC), which eventually found that the deal did not constitute a breach of EU sanctions against Russia. Notably, Chairman of Banca Intesa Russia, Antonio Fallico, received the Order of Honour in Putins April ceremony for his role. Additionally, Rosnefts privatisation was mentioned during the U.S. House Intelligence committee hearing on Russias alleged interference in the 2016 presidential elections. The U.S. Representative for California, Jacqueline Jackie Speier, questioned the Director of the FBI in regards to the role of Carter Page, Donald Trumps national security advisor, in the Rosneft privatisation deal. Scandal, What Scandal? The controversial Trump dossier published in January 2017 suggested that Rosnefts CEO Igor Sechin had offered Page, who is a known close associate of Sechin, the brokerage of the 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft in July 2016 in exchange for the lifting of U.S. sanctions, should Trump be elected president. Subsequently, on the 7th of December 2016, Glencore Plc and its largest shareholder Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) jointly acquired a 19.5 percent stake in Russias state-owned energy giant Rosneft PJSC for an estimated U.S. $11 billion. Naturally, the scale and the controversy of the deal placed all its participants at the centre of extensive media attention. However, as details of the deal started to emerge, speculation about its true beneficiaries intensified. Most media coverage has so far treated Rosnefts deal with Glencore and QIA as a one-off development. However, this was not the first deal between Glencore and Rosneft. In fact, the two companies have an established relationship. Glencore has been buying Rosnefts oil via Ros-GIP Limited, established in February 2013, to cater for Glencores long-term contract with Rosneft. Also, the choice of partners for the sale of Rosnefts stake was in line with the business strategy Russia has been pursuing since sanctions were imposed. Facts and Unknowns Glencore and QIAS acquisition of a stake in Rosneft came as a surprise to the international business community. However, given the deals swift conclusion, it was almost certainly destined to unravel in such controversial fashion. It had been prepared in secrecy due to sanctions against Rosneft. Until the very last moment it was not clear if Rosneft would be able to find an investor, or would have to buy back its own shares. Almost all media sources described the deal as a victory for Rosneft and Igor Sechin as it is likely to bring Russia back to the forefront of global markets. According to the Financial Times, international bankers have highlighted the fact that the deal was forged during turmoil in the Middle East, with Russia and Qatar notably on opposite sides in the Syrian Civil War. In the aftermath of the Rosneft share sale, highly regarded Russia analysts have called the deal a sham transaction, primarily because of lingering (unanswered) questions of where the money has come from. According to investigative journalist John Helmer, Kremlin and Russian banking sources acknowledge the money originated from the Central Bank of Russia, recycled through the Russian state banks to Rosneft and back, and finally concealed inside secret fiduciary agreements with a consortium of Glencore, the Swiss trading company, and the Qatar Investment Authority. Helmer highlights that the agreement appear to make Glencore and the QIA 19.5 percent shareholders in Rosneft, but importantly, they are fiduciary shareholders. He further explains, as the Central Bank of Russia cannot simply print money and give it to the federal budget, this deal was engineered for Glencore and QIA to appear to be purchasing shares, with the terms of their agreement rewarding them for acting as fiduciaries. Interestingly, Helmer and his Russian and European banking sources are adamant that Glencore and QIA cannot vote their shares without instruction from the Russian state (i.e. Igor Sechin); ultimately inferring that the privatisation is not genuine. The consortiums ownership unlikely extends beyond the paper it is written on. Related: Trump Aims To Scrap Gulf Coast Oil Royalties Adding to these suspicions were the rumours that Banca Intesa SanPaolo had not verified its involvement in the deal; with an international banking source (quoted by Helmer) stating that the bank could not finance Rosneft under the current U.S. and E.U. sanctions rules. Recent developments show that Intesa SanPaolo has finally resolved its concerns, but allegations that Glencore and QIA merely acted as intermediaries during the deal acquired greater substance in January 2017. As such, the Financial Times reported on the 18th of January 2017, that it was confirmed that one of Russias largest banks, VTB Bank, provided a bridge loan to Singapore-based QHG Shares, a special purpose entity co-owned by Glencore and QIA, to finance the deal. The money was then transferred to the owner of Rosnefts state shares, Rosneftegaz. This effectively means that the privatisation of 19.5 percent of Rosneft was financed by a state-controlled bank, thereby directly contradicting President Putins order. That VTBs Head Andrei Kostin received a commendation from President Putin in April indirectly confirmed the banks role in the deal. The Qatari-Russia Connection Russias flagship oil company, Rosneft, has pressed ahead undeterred with investments despite the opacity surrounding its high-profile deal with foreign entities. Although Glencores name litters media headlines regarding the deal, more informed observers will have noted the importance of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) as an actor here. This follows a wider trend whereby Russia has been leveraging its commercial assets away from Western entities, primarily due to U.S. and EU imposed sanctions, and moving closer to other external actors. In this sense, Putins political manoeuvring, or power plays, should not be interpreted solely from an overtly Western standpoint. In particular, the QIAs involvement in the Rosneft deal is only the tip of a Qatari-Russian iceberg whereby external Qatari financing has proved a valuable addition to Russias economy. For example, the QIA also owns a stake in Pulkovo Airport, having acquired approximately 24.9 percent of Thalita Trading in July 2016, the entity in receipt of the concession for St. Petersburgs airport. Additionally, the QIA bought newly listed ordinary shares in VTB Bank following its dilution in 2013 and injected U.S. $500 million into the Bank; it is worth noting that VTB is a much-prized asset of the Russian state, compounded by the emergence of its facilitating role in the Rosneft deal, whereby VTB provided QHG Shares Ltdwith financing of almost Rbs700bn. Related: Europe Joins Race For Cheaper Batteries With New Gigafactory Most of these reports state that up-front Qatari investment also comes with the caveat of addition injections into the national economy (of up to U.S. $2 billion), in conjunction with the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Essentially, non-U.S. and EU actors present Russia with opportunities to evade the punitive financial measures levied against it by Western powers and a way to keep stimulating its economy. Putin has simply navigated the geopolitical realities facing Russia in light of its marginalisation over the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Interestingly, Russia has continued to use Rosneft in its expansion into the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where its footprint has steadily grown in the wake of U.S. disengagement in the region. For example, on the 21st of February 2017, Bloomberg reported that Rosneft agreed to buy oil from Libyas National Oil Corporation, with the option for exploration and production. Likewise, Iraq Business News announced one day later that a Cooperation Agreement had been signed between Rosneft and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for development of Iraqi Kurdistans oil sector. This follows a host of military agreements already in place with Arab countries including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Insight In sum, the recent allegations against Carter Page may turn out to be substantiated, but such close collaboration between Russian and U.S. power players was never an altogether unlikely scenario. The Trump administrations connections to Russia, both in commercial and political terms which are increasingly inseparable variables when discussing these two states have come under greater scrutiny recently. All in all, this transaction appears to fall within the modus operandi of Glencore willing to engage in questionable transactions under persuasion of hefty rewards for essentially acting as a front. Likewise, that QIA has made bold choices with regards investment strategy and its willingness to act as a fiduciary shareholder shows where it stands politically. As the layers continue to peel away in this deal, investors must take note of the political risks facing business interests in those jurisdictions involved. By Shadow Governance Intel for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A consortium of companies including Dana Gas seeks $26.5 billion in penalties from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for postponed oil and gas projects, according to new U.S. court filings. The venture including UAE-based Dana and several other partners, jointly named Pearl Petroleum, argued in a federal court in Washington D.C. that the group demands recognition and enforcement of awards granted to them in a London arbitration case. If the Kurds do not pay their due, Pearl could seize the semi-autonomous regions assets. "Following the recent US court filing by Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas regarding the arbitration case with the Kurdistan Regional Government the KRG will continue vigorously to pursue its rights and defend its position in all appropriate forums," Kurdistan said in a press statement on the ministry of natural resources website. A majority of Danas oil and gas production occurs in Iraq and Egypt, but delays in the former country, which the company contends were caused by the KRG, have hurt corporate bottom lines and prevented timely repayment of sizeable energy sector loans. A November 2015 ruling by a U.K. arbitration court declared Pearl the victor of a $2 billion settlement for delayed payments from Kurdistan. The legal body also substantiated additional accusations of purposeful tampering with Pearls work on fields in Kurdistan, though damages have yet to be awarded. Related: How Much Will Inventories Shrink As OPEC Extends Cuts? Getting the U.S. government to back the arbitration rulings would give Dana additional leverage to negotiate a settlement, according to previous statements by the firms CEO Patrick Allman-Ward. Dana declined to comment on the filings, though production in Egypt recently saw some new movement: "In the light of recent collections received from the Egyptian government, the board considered and approved that additional limited drilling activities should be carried out," the company said in a filing in Abu Dhabi. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Russia, Saudi Arabia Hail Oil Output Deal For Stabilizing World MarketsIran has signed an initial agreement with Russias gas giant Gazprom for the development of the Farzad B gas field, Irans Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told Argus Media in an interview published on Tuesday, in what is the latest episode of the saga over the field which Tehran had been taking its time to award to an Indian consortium. Asked about whether he had discussed the Farzad B field at a recent meeting with Gazprom, Zanganeh told Argus: Yes. We have signed an initial agreement with them for Farzad, the North Pars and Kish fields. Earlier this year, India was said to have decided to reduce its crude oil imports from Iran in a kind of retaliation for Tehran delaying the license decision on the Farzad B gas field. Farzad B is estimated to contain over 350 billion cu m of natural gas, with its productive life seen at 30 years. Indian giant ONGC has submitted a US$3-billion bid for the development of the field, but Tehran has been taking its time, waiting for rivaland potentially betteroffers. As a result, India has instructed local refiners to shrink the input from Iran to 190,000 barrels daily from 240,000 bpd close to half of the total daily import rate for Iranian crude for the period from April 2016 to this February. Iran has managed to get to the no. 3 spot among the top crude oil exporters to India, after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Last week, minister Zanganeh was quoted as saying that Russian companies could be stepping in to replace India in the development of the Farzad B gas field. According to Russian news agency TASS, Zanganeh suggested that Russians could be the ones filling in for the Indian consortium if the deal with India fails. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Qatar Petroleum, the state-run company of the worlds biggest LNG exporter, said on Wednesday that it would be studying ways to boost its LNG capacity in order to process more gas that would come from a new project at North Fieldthe worlds biggest natural gas depositon which Qatar lifted two months ago a 12-year-long self-imposed moratorium. In early April, Qatar removed a drilling ban for its part of the North Field, which it shares with Iran. Since 2005, Qatar had chosen to continue a self-imposed moratorium on the development of its North Field, including constructing new LNG export facilities; as such, no new projects were expected in Qatar until 2020 at the earliest. Following the lifting of the moratorium, Qatar Petroleum said on April 3rd that it was planning to develop a new gas project in the southern sector of the North Field, with a capacity of about 2 billion cubic feet per day, targeted for exports. The new project is expected to boost total production at the North Field by around 10 percent, adding some 400,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent to Qatars production. Two months later, Qatar Petroleum now announces the signing of an agreement with Japans Chiyoda Corporation for carrying out a detailed study to identify the modifications necessary for debottlenecking the capacity of Qatars LNG trains in Ras Laffan Industrial City. Qatar Petroleum expects the study to be completed by the end of this year, which would allow it to begin front-end engineering design (FEED) work in early 2018. Qatar Petroleum is determined to continue its lead position in the gas industry with its expansion plans, both inside and outside the State of Qatar, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar Petroleums president and chief executive, said in todays press release. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Im always looking for new words and I found a doozy this past week in a conversation I was having with a friend of mine in the medical profession. The word is idiopathic and in medical terms relates to or denotes any disease or condition that arises spontaneously or for which the cause is unknown. My friend assured me that it has nothing to do with idiots and refers primarily to a physical disease or condition and not a mental one. Well, Im not so sure about that. I mean it most assuredly relates to a physical disease or condition, but given the recent temperament of the lunatics in the Democrat party, their allies in the mainstream press and even Republican sourpusses like John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Im not sure that it doesnt also apply to those possessed by Trump Derangement Syndrome. Most of this derangement centers around an unfounded but alleged conspiracy between President Donald Trump and representatives of the Russian government to interfere in the recent presidential election so as to deny the entitled everywoman, Hillary Clinton, election as the first woman president. The investigations by President Barack Obamas administration, using the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the direction of now disgraced director James Comey, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under now disgraced and demonstrable liar John Brennan and the National Security Administration (NSA) at the urging of former National Security Adviser Susan Rice another disgraced and demonstrable liar, began at least as early as June of 2016. Those investigations have been joined by at least two congressional investigations and now a special counsel, Robert Mueller Mr. Comeys immediate predecessor. In chronological order, here are the facts that those investigations have revealed: June, 2016 Nothing July, 2016 Nothing August, 2016 Nothing September, 2016 Nothing October, 2016 Nothing November, 2016 Nothing December, 2016 Nothing January, 2017 Nothing February, 2017 Nothing March, 2017 Nothing April, 2017 Nothing May, 2017 Nothing And what was it that triggered the investigations in the first instance? Mr. Brennan, a long time Obama loyalist who previously lied to Congress in defense of Mr. Obama, testified before Congress this past week that he began to hear about alleged communications between people associated with Mr. Trump and/or his campaign and the Russians. No identification of the persons from whom Mr. Brennan, began to hear about the alleged communications, no identification of the associates of Mr. Trump and/or his campaign, and no identification of what was contained in those alleged communications. Thats it, just rumors in all probability the rumors were self-generated by Mr. Brennan himself. But that was enough to trigger an investigation by the CIA that produced nothing. Well, even less than nothing there was a wholly unsubstantiated report from a former British intelligence agent (then also working for Ms. Clinton) of alleged sex parties involving Mr. Trump, and of meetings between associates of Mr. Trump and Russians that never happened because the associates were in other parts of the world than listed in the report. But Mr. Brennan forwarded that bogus report to the FBI which then launched its own investigation that continues to this day. Concurrently, the bogus report was leaked to the press again probably by Mr. Brennan or one of his minions. And again to date, the investigation has produced lots of rumors and not a single fact. Ditto the congressional investigations. Thus far the only fact that these congressional investigations have revealed is that members of the Obama administration unmasked and then leaked the identities of American citizens caught up as collateral parties to NSA surveillance a felony for which not a single person has been indicted or convicted, nor will there ever be any such indictments or convictions because, after all, this is official Washington in full attack mode against an interloper Mr. Trump. And lets not forget that the original version of this fantasy was that there was direct communications between Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Given that Mr. Trump had never met Mr. Putin that artifice fell away and the focus shifted to anyone who ever met Mr. Trump and who may or may not know anyone in Russia. The fact of the matter is there is actually known information of collusion between Ms. Clinton and the Russians including a speech by former President Bill Clinton (D) to the Russians for which he was paid $500,000, payments of tens of millions of dollars by Russian businesses (beholden to Mr. Putin) to the Clintons private slush fund the Clinton Foundation and the granting of rights to nearly twenty percent of United States uranium reserves to a Russian business with strong ties to Mr. Putin and the Russian government and yet not a word is said by the Democrat loons or their partners in the mainstream media. But it is the hysteria of responses that gives this fantasy the color of a mental disease or defect a disease or defect that arises spontaneously and without known cause. For example, Mr. McCain declared that the Trump/Russia investigation had risen to a Watergate-size scandal. Are you nuts, Mr. McCain? Watergate involved an actual crime a break-in of the Democrat headquarters at the Watergate complex on behalf of President Richard Nixon and a subsequent cover-up that was hatched and approved in the Oval Office by Mr. Nixon. The Trump/Russia investigation lacks any element of that quite frankly, it lacks any element period. But that doesnt stop Mr. McCain who is on every mainstream media speed dial as the Republican most likely to stab a fellow Republican in the back. Mr. McCain did it routinely to President George W. Bush. He did it former Gov. Mitt Romney during his campaigns for the presidency and does it routinely to Mr. Trump. Mr. McCain maybe a genuine war hero but that doesnt stop him from being a first-class, backstabbing jerk. Then there is the race-baiting chairman of the Democrat Party Tom Perez who stated in a March interview with FOX News: The narrative is pretty simple, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were in cahoots during the election, All without a single fact. And there is Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who stated during a May MSNBC interview: Ive said all along that he will lead us to impeachment, and hes doing just that. Every day, more and more is unfolding. I told you that I thought there was a Kremlin clan and these were his allies. I had a resolution back in February that said he should be investigated for collusion If we do the investigation, everything is there. Were fiddling while Rome is burning. This president needs to be impeached. I believe that. I believe there was collusion. We need to get on with the business of doing real investigations. Wow! All this from a member of Congress who was named as one of the most corrupt members of Congress by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. And it wouldnt be a story on unbridled hysteria unless it included that dim bulb former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who blamed Mr. Trump for the actions of newly-elected Montana Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) in his pre-election dustup with a Guardian reporter. Is there evidence of collusion between Mr. Trump and the Russians over the presidential election? Not thats been produced despite a years worth of investigations. Is there evidence that the Russians attempted to interfere in the election? Yes and their purpose was to cause discord and distrust in the electoral process. And they have been wildly successful primarily because of this lunacy propagated by the Democrats and the mainstream media. And all still based on nothing but rumor, suppositions, and projection. Perhaps idiopathic is inappropriate for the hysteria among the Washington elites. A better term may idioTpathic you know, T as in Trump Derangement Syndrome. Welcome to 'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow!! Posting is at 10AM, Noon and 2PM CST daily. Up to 12 days of posts on the main page. The archives have more. You can forward posts by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of the post. Enjoy your stay! *** If you need to contact me, or have a copyright issue, please use the "Contact The Wizard" form on the left side of 'OZ'. Original source and author is cited and credited in each post where possible. *** From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... Audio Attachment: Listen to Kweku Baako Jnr. Seasoned journalist, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has called for the dismissal of the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Upper Denkyira West in the Central Region, Daniel Appianing. The DCE, speaking to Adom FM in the wake of the lynching of the late Maxwell Mahama, shared no pity over the incident. To him, the late Military Officer was murdered because he was a leader of a Military detachment deployed to the community to protect some Chinese illegal miners. The DCE noted the late officer was at the locality on a specific mission to protect the Chinese nationals who are illegally mining gold in the Upper Wassa Forest. There is a large number of military personnel protecting the Chinese that the lynched soldier is alleged to be part of, in fact he is said to be the leader . . . I am shocked they are not briefing you very well but rather claiming they are here to fight galamseyers . . . He was the leader of the soldiers protecting the Chinese galamseyers, anyone can confirm it from the police hierarchy here, and the BNI as well, he said. But Kweku Baako wants the DCE sacked with immediate effect. According to him, the DCE has shown he is incompetent and his statements, seditious. Mr. Baako stated emphatically that if the DCE is not dismissed, he would spark disaster in the area because his claims could incite the residents to perpetrate crimes. He should be dismissed with immediate effect. And its not because he said things that he felt he had to say but factually, what he said is not even the case . . . He should be dismissed. Call him to come to Accra and he should come along with his dismissal letter and hand over to the Minister . . . They should remove him quickly. Its clear that hes not going to be on top of his job. They should sack him, Im convinced if they leave him there, it will be a disaster. Im telling you. He doesnt know his job and also does not take his time to make his checks. And then, he goes on to say things to inflame passions," he stressed. Though he disclosed that the lynching of the officer may have a link with illegal mining activities (galamsey), he however believed the DCE would worsen matters. My hunch tells me that it has more to do with galamsey than armed robbery . . . My minds eye can see clearly that it is some of the consequences of anti-galamsey. Its unfortunate but no matter what the investigators will find out the truth." " . . Hes feeding into that thing that the soldiers stationed there are doing unauthorized and illegal operations. So, why wont people get angry? Why wont galamsey elements mafia in the galamsey operations take advantage of that and do things that they have been trying to do for a long time anyway? he questioned. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana 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 Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America. KINGSBURY A Kingsbury woman was charged with felony driving while intoxicated Tuesday night after police were sent to her home on Deer Run Drive to check on her, officials said. Andrea L. Beahan, 56, was arrested shortly after police were sent to her home for a "welfare check" around 9 p.m., but found she was not there, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Police contacted her by phone when they found she was not at the home, and she arrived there moments later, driving in with an open container of alcohol and appearing intoxicated, police said. Her blood alcohol content was found to be 0.23 percent, nearly triple the 0.08 percent threshold for intoxication, and she was charged with felony aggravated DWI because she has a prior DWI conviction within 10 years, according to the Sheriff's Office. Beahan was released pending prosecution in Kingsbury Town Court. Sheriff's officers Paul Trottier and Brad Hamilton and Sgt. William Holcomb handled the case. QUEENSBURY Warren Countys plans to create a night court are in doubt as the county tries to figure out whether requirements to hire security will do away with any savings that might have been realized. The night court program would have standardized night and weekend arraignments at a set time, so that judges arent called out at all hours because of changes to arraignment practices around the state. Defendants who are at risk of going to jail at arraignment are required to have a lawyer present. The night court program was pitched so that judges around the county wouldnt be called out all night to arraignments, and police and the public defenders office would not be traveling around the county to staff them. A rotating schedule of town and city judges in the county would be on call. Renovations are almost complete on a section of the lobby of the former county jail in Queensbury that would be used, but in recent months the state Office of Court Administration has not approved the plan. County supervisors began planning the program last spring, hoping to have it running early this year. But they recently learned that the Office of Court Administration wants security provided for the judge, even though those same judges dont always have security in their own courthouses during regular business hours. City courts and superior courts have state court officers assigned to them, but town and village courts do not. Some municipalities, including Queensbury, do pay for their own court security. Warren County Public Defender Marcy Flores said the state has held off on approving the plan out of concerns about judicial safety, mainly in relation to friends or family members of defendants who would want to attend the proceedings. They now want security for the judge, she said. Bolton Supervisor Ronald Conover, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said at a committee meeting last week the county needs to figure out whether the program is worth pursuing if the county would have to pay for security. The state will not pay for officers on an as-needed basis. I dont know how it will save money, said Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, the countys acting administrator. Glens Falls 1st Ward Supervisor Dan Girard questioned why Office of Court Administration would require security when the people who are being arraigned at off hours are brought to court by armed police officers. We have a member there. Why isnt that good enough? he asked. The hits just keep coming. Joanne Haelen, district executive in the Court Administrations office in Saratoga Springs, said the issue of security was raised during a recent meeting between county representatives and administrative judges Vito Caruso and Michael Coccoma. The judges questioned whether a police officer who was securing a prisoner could also handle other aspects of securing the court, she said. She said the countys proposal was very much in draft form. Whether the county wants to move forward and take on the expense of security involves a balancing act, she said. Supervisors did get some good news last week related to public defense, as Flores said her office was recently notified it has gotten a $250,000 grant from the state Office of Indigent Legal Services to fund an additional assistant public defender for 3 years. The position would be discontinued if the funding ended, she said. A massive truck bomb has hit Kabul's highly secure diplomatic area, killing at least 90 people and wounding hundreds. The German embassy was heavily damaged, and Berlin has now postponed deportations to Afghanistan. According to Afghan officials, at least 90 people were killed and as many as 350 wounded when a massive truck bomb ripped through the Afghan capital Wednesday. However, they warn that the death toll is likely to rise, given the severity of many of the injuries. Witnesses reported an enormous plume of smoke rising up from Kabul's diplomatic quarter, home to the city's foreign embassies and the presidential palace. An Afghan security guard was killed outside the German embassy while an unspecified number of embassy staff were wounded. The embassy building has also been badly damaged. The German embassy in Kabul praised the Afghan security forces for stopping the bomber's truck from entering the inner part of the diplomatic enclave. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the many victims of this horrific attack and their families. This includes the heroic Afghan security guard who lost his life after stopping the vehicle at the boom gate, thus preventing even more bloodshed," the Germany embassy said in a statement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the suicide truck bombing, saying that "terrorism has no borders." Terrorism "targets all of us - whether in Manchester or Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, St. Petersburg or today in Kabul," Merkel said in the southern German city of Nuremberg just hours after the explosion in Kabul. Germany's foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote on Twitter that he had called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Kabul and the state of the German embassy. "Such attacks do not change our resolve in continuing to support the Afghan government in the stabilization of the country," he said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani urged the international community to put pressure on those countries that are backing Islamist militants. "The terrorist groups have used the name of Islam to once again ruthlessly kill people. They are committing war crimes and have no idea about what Islamic teachins are," Ghani said in a statement. - Read More Welcome Guest! You Are Here: The tweet ended there, and it appeared to be deleted shortly before 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday after being up for a few hours. The president followed up with a tweet seeming to acknowledge the madness on the social-media network that had grown around his typo. This was after the man, named Kwabena Koomson was caught red-handed in the act with the married woman. The youth in the town, who were angered by the act gathered at his house in their numbers with clubs and forcibly opened his door. The husband of the cheating wife, popularly known as Small Baya, told the media that he has been suspecting his wife, with whom he has three children, of infidelity for over a month now. The sister of the wife, however, argued that the woman is forced to have extra marital affairs because her husband has failed to take care of her. Meanwhile, the Mmaratohene of the community, Nana Yaw Amenyenu said the elders will meet and prescribe sanctions for Koomson and the woman. The authorities in South Africa are now conducting an autopsy to confirm the identity of the body which was found on Tuesday. According to Eyewitness News, a news organisation in South Africa, the body was found that the section around the starting point of the Platteklip Gorge hiking trail [has been] cordoned off as detectives combed the scene. Earlier in the month, President Jacob Zuma appealed to his countrymen for information She went missing in South Africa while she was exploring the citys iconic landmark in March 2017. Nikoi, who is a director at the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has been missing since March 2017 and had initially gone to South Africa to celebrate her wedding anniversary. A comprehensive search has already been conducted over the area on the ground and from the air. He said the President was given the nod because of his position against corruption in the country, and should thus ensure that he fulfills that promise by tackling corruption effectively. In his latest article, the Citizen Vigilante said Parliament was the wrong body to have investigated a bribery allegation made against the leadership of the Appointments Committee. According to him, it was wrong for Parliament to investigate the matter especially because it involved some Members of Parliament. He said the right body to investigate the issue was an independent Commission of enquiry tasked by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. "The President of the Republic was elected upon an anti-corruption agenda and it is expected that he will put this matter to rest by setting up a Commission of Enquiry under Article 278 of the 1992 Constitution to assuage the publics suspicion of any perception of unconstitutional cover-up or window dressing in this matter." "This is a challenge to the President because his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on whose behalf he promised the fight against corruption is the majority in the Parliament against which the allegations of bribery have been made in the Appointments Committee and which also supervised the unconstitutional investigations. May the anti-corruption wishes of Ghanaians for changing the Government at the polls on 7th December 2017 not be in vain!," he said. The GBA has also called on the security agencies to respond to the general lawlessness in the country. The GBA said mob actions purportedly exercised to punish suspected or alleged offenders are unacceptable. In a statement signed by National President Benson Nutsukpui following the murder of Captain Maxwell Mahama by the youth of the town, he said law enforcement agencies must investigate and ensure that the culprits are brought to justice. The GBA also condemned the actions by some aggrieved residents at Somanya in the Eastern Region have clashed with Police officers in the area over the arrest of the leader who organised a demonstration against the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). The irate youth burned the police car in the process. He said the offenders must be arrested, charged and prosecuted. Below is the full statement: GHANA BAR ASSOCIATIONS STATEMENT CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF CAPTAIN MAXWELL ADAM MAHAMA AND OTHER ISSUES OF LAWLESSNESS The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has heard with shock the tragic and horrific killing of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), by a mob at Diaso in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region. READ MORE: JJ Rawlings speaks following murder of soldier The GBA wishes to commiserate with the bereaved family and GAF and hereby expresses its deepest condolences to his family, colleagues and friends. It is the prayer of GBA that the Almighty God will comfort them and grant them peace. The Bar finds mob actions purportedly exercised to punish suspected or alleged offenders very unacceptable and an affront to the rule of law under the Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana. They have grave consequences, and are serious threats to our democracy. The GBA therefore calls upon the security and law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter thoroughly and ensure that the culprits are brought to justice to serve as a deterrent to other like-minded persons. In the interim, we urge all concerned to exercise restraint, not to take the law into their own hands or engage in any acts of retribution. The GBA also condemns the actions of the persons who rioted in Somanya, in the Eastern Region and in the process destroyed state properties and would reiterate its call for the offenders to be arrested, charged and prosecuted. The Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Irene Oppong, speaking to the media said the suspects are being sent to Police Regional headquarters in Cape Coast for further interrogation. ASP Oppong said "Security situation is under control after a meeting with the District Security Council (DISEC), the police and the military this morning." However, the Director of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, Colonel Aggrey-Quarshie in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM said about 50 men have been rounded up in the Upper West Denkyira district in connection with the heinous crime. Background Captain Maxwell Mahama of the 5 Battalion of Infantry at Burma Camp in Accra who was on detachment duties at Diaso in the Central Region was lynched to death by the youth of the town. The officer was on operational duties at the Alaska C&G Mining Company at Amenase Forest, near Diaso in the Central Region. He was said to be jogging when some residents accused him of being part of a robbery gang that stormed Denkyira-Obuasi the previous day. Other reports say the assemblyman of the area organised some youth in the town to beat him to death. READ MORE: Police arrest five Nigerians for drug peddling The Ghana Armed Forces has since confirmed the incident and said investigations are ongoing. While you are allowed to visit many of these destinations, there are some of them you have to be culturally conscious before you can visit. This means there are cultural rules on the ground you have to respect/follow. Here are three of such destinations. 1. Oba of Benins Palace Ordinarily, the Oba of Benin is a traditional institution that is highly respected in Nigeria. It is located at the heart of the ancient City of Benin. Some of the things you should never do at the palace include: finger pointing; you must not whistle; you must not open an umbrella during festivals and you must never adorn black attire. 2. Idanre Hills Located in the quiet town of Idanre local government of Ondo state is Idanre hills. To get to the peak of the hill, you have to negotiate 667 steps and there are 5 spots for tourist to rest. The hills provided protection against marauding enemies in the past. Amongst the hills, one stands out which is the Agbagba Hill. This is very popular because of the Agboogun footprints. Whether you are an adult or a youth, your foot should fit in because the Agboogun footprints mysteriously expand and contract to accommodate any foot. The cultural rule here is that if your foot doesnt fit in, you are branded a wizard or witch. In addition, there is the house of the Chief Priest where you cant go in with clothes. If you are so bent on going in, you have to go in naked. 3. Ogbunike Cave Ogbunike cave is located in Oyi local government area of Anambra state in Eastern Nigeria. The main cave consists of a massive structure with a big open chamber at the entrance. There are ten tunnels at the main chamber leading to different directions with streams and body of water at various places. The caves house a large colony of bats of various sizes. Thanks for signing up for our daily insight on the African economy. We bring you daily editor picks from the best Business Insider news content so you can stay updated on the latest topics and conversations on the African market, leaders, careers and lifestyle. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Uber's firing of Levandowski, on Friday, was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. Business Insider confirmed it with the company. Uber had been asking Levandowski for months to assist with its internal investigation for its defense against Waymo's charges, according to an Uber representative. Levandowski, however, invoked his Fifth Amendment right to protect himself against self-incrimination, and he hired criminal attorneys to represent him. Uber fired Levandowski after he didn't meet the company's deadline for complying with its request, the representative said. Eric Meyhofer, who has been running Uber's Advanced Technologies Group since Levandowski was demoted in April, will continue to oversee Uber's self-driving-car development. Despite not being named in the lawsuit, Levandowski's actions have been at the center of the legal battle between Uber and Waymo, the self-driving-car operation under Google's parent company, Alphabet. Waymo has accused Levandowski of downloading 14,000 files before he left Google and then using that information to jump-start Uber's self-driving-car program. Earlier in May, Judge William Alsup formally barred Levandowski from all lidar-related work at Uber. As part of his preliminary injunction, Alsup set a May 31 deadline for Uber to return the missing files. The judge also ordered the company to hand over by the end of June a detailed log of "conferences, meetings, phone calls, one-on-one conversations, texts, emails, letters, memos, and voicemails wherein Anthony Levandowski mentioned lidar to any officer, director, employee, agent, supplier, or consultant of defendants." In response to Alsup's order, Uber wrote a letter to Levandowski on May 15 issuing a series of demands and threatening to fire him if he didn't comply. Included in those demands were turning over his personal devices and issuing a written statement denying he ever took files from Google or, if he did take them, to turn them over to Uber's attorneys. In Levandowski's termination letter, which was included in court filings, Uber wrote that it "requested your full cooperation" but "as of today, you have not complied with these requirements." Uber in April sent Levandowski another list of demands in a letter, which hasn't been made public. Levandowski did not comply with those requests either. 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! Punch reports that Ismail who was a popular actress in the Hausa movie industry popularly called Kannywood, was sentenced to death by hanging for the alleged murder of her boyfriend, on January 2005 by a High Court in Kano. She was then moved to the Hadejia Prison in Jigawa State to await the hangman's noose but on December 16, 2011, she miraculously escaped from the prison with no sign of a breakout, fuelling speculations that she had some inside assistance. According to the spokesperson for the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Francis Enobore, the actress was recaptured by the Intelligence Unit of the Service with the support of men of the State Security Service. Ismail made the headlines back then when she was found guilty of culpable homicide after she killed her lover, Auwalu Ibrahim so that she could acquire his property. In July 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of the Kano High Court where she had appealed the death sentence. The victims have been identified as John Barine and Goodluck Didi. Daily Post reports that a source within the area, Hycient Ana disclosed that the gunmen waylaid the victims outside their homes and opened fire on them. Ana added that one of the victims, Goodluck Didi, was a gateman to one of the notable politicians while John Barine was an uncle to the same politician in the area. Ana who is the spokesman for Ogoni Pass Students Leaders Forum condemned the killing, and called for increased security surveillance, especially in Ogoni area. The spokesman for Rivers State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni denied knowledge of the killings but promised to get details about the killings. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Tambuwal made the disclosure in Sokoto on Monday night at a media parley to commemorate the 2017 Democracy Day. The governor said majority of those to be sponsored would be girls. Discussions are in top gear with a university in India to send one hundred youths, mostly women, to study medicine. This is to shore up the number of women medical doctors in the state, hence, encourage more women to seek medical services in the hospitals. We are also discussing with other universities across the world, with a view to send another batch of one hundred youths to study various medical professional fields like pharmacy, dentistry, radiography and medical laboratory science, among others. Tambuwal explained that the programme was part of ongoing efforts to reposition the education sector in the state. The governor stressed that the administration would continue to take the bull by the horn and encourage more people in the state to acquire qualitative education in spite of dwindling resources. This is sequel to the desire of the state government to provide more efficient healthcare services to the people of the state, he said. Tambuwal also spoke on other interventions in the health sector, saying that the government had set up a malaria control agency, with a view to taming the disease, which he described as deadlier than HIV/AIDS and cancer. He said that a contributory health agency has been established by the government to utilise some idle funds from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), to provide affordable healthcare services to the people. The state government had since provided N100 million as take-off grant to the agency, while the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, had also paid N1 million to it. Communities across the state are also being sensitized to key into the scheme, with a view to ensuring state-wide coverage, Tambuwal added. The Governor said this while observing Iftar (breaking of fast) with Islamic scholars at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Monday, May 29, 2017. According to Punch, he said Today is a very historic day for us because just two days ago, we celebrated 50th anniversary of Lagos State; yesterday, we gave thanksgiving in the church and today is the third day of Ramadan and we are doing the Iftar here. Today is also the second anniversary of our administration. This is my only official function today. I deliberately did not do any other thing to mark the second anniversary than to join my Muslim brothers and sisters. ALSO READ: CAN backs Governor Ambode over sack of Lagos Chaplain This is my own way of saying a big thank you to the Muslim community in Lagos for standing by me, for standing with me and for always supporting me. The Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, said at plenary that the committee would be chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Wasiu Sanni-Eshinlokun. Other members include the Majority Leader, Mr Sanai Agunbiade; the Chairman House Committee on Finance, Mr Yinka Ogundimu; and the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Muyiwa Jimoh. The rest are Mr Moshood Oshun, the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts (State) and Mr Bisi Yusuff, the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts (Local). The House mandated the committee to invite the State Attorney-General, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure, the Commissioner for Finance and the state Chairman of Lagos Global to clarify the termination of the contract. The committee is to submit its report to the House on June 5. Earlier, Mr Dayo Famakinwa (APC-Amuwo-Odofin) raised the issue of the cancellation of the contract on the floor of the House under urgent matter of public importance. Famakinwa said the project would have led to massive employment and increase the Internally Generated Revenue of the state. According to him, the project will ease movement of goods and services and lead the nation out of recession. He said: When the contract was signed by Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode, majority of the people of Lagos were happy. But we read in the newspapers last week that the contract was cancelled and this raised a lot of concerns. We need to know what the issues are. Residents of Lagos were happy with the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and at the centre, he said. Contributing to the matter, Mr Olanrewaju Ogunyemi, the Chairman, House Committee on Education, also said the project had attracted the interest of many people in the state. Ogunyemi said the project would improve the image of the governor and the party. The lawmaker said that Ambode should also explain the outcome of the SMART City Project signed with the City of Dubai to the House. Several other lawmakers also took turns to speak on the matter, referring to the Public Private Partnership Law of 2015. They said the law made it mandatory for the state government to inform the House of any arrangement with private companies on any matter. Agunbiade, the majority leader, said it was wrong for the executive not to obey that section of the law. He said that the House needed to emphasise strict compliance with the law by the state government. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government had recently terminated a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium of firms to build the 4th Mainland Bridge at the cost of N844 billion. ALSO READ:Governor Ambode terminates contract for construction of 4th Mainland Bridge The project was to be financed by Africa Finance Corporation, Access Bank, and other private investors who had already signified intention to be part of the construction, while the Visible Assets Limited was to be the coordinating firm. The Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mr Adebowale Akinsanya, during a ministerial briefing in Alausa, cited the slow pace at which the concessionaire was working as the reason behind the termination of the contract. Due to slow pace of work, the contract was terminated. We are now looking at many investors, though interest is very high, the commissioner had said. Adesina made this call in a statement issued by Mr Attah Esa, Deputy Director (Information), Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, on Tuesday in Abuja. Esa said the presidential aide stated this after receiving a Golden Leadership Award from the National Youths Advocacy for Good Governance Initiative. Adesina maintained that President Buhari had remained in politics because of his desire to see a new Nigeria emerge for the upcoming generation. One of the reasons President Buhari repeatedly contested for the position of the President of Nigeria was to see the country properly take care of young people. He strongly believes there should be a better country for the future generation. Tell your colleagues to team up with a government that envisages a better future for this country because Nigerians deserve a better future and that is what the President is aspiring to bequeath, he said. ALSO READ: While presenting the award, the National Coordinator of the Youth Group, Mr Alabi Abiodun, commended Adesina for his exemplary role and service to the nation. Speaking on Channels TV, spokesman to the President, Garba Shehu said 'Fayose is desperate for publicity.' Im sad that you are inviting me to speak on Governor Fayose, Shehu said. If you follow the presidency, we dont talk when he talks because he is desperate for publicity. We have a constitution that governs the country and the constitution is very clear about how the country runs. This country has a tripod of authority in terms of distribution of political power. You have the parliament which is doing its own work, you have the judiciary which is running, you have the executive and we dont have any problem with this. So, if anybody has a problem with the constitution, then they should go and change it, Buharis spokesman added. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state recently signed the bill into law, following several clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the state. According to Daily Post, the National President of the organisation, Alhaji Bello Abdullahi Bodejo and the National Secretary Engineer Saleh Alhassan issued a joint statement saying that Cattle rustling and violence against Fulani herders have pervaded most states in Nigeria. We view this as part of an economically based form of criminality and agenda perpetrated by criminal networks that are illegal and informal against out people. We want to state here that we reject that repressive and oppressive law and will deploy all the necessary legal means as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution to challenge it. We will mobilize our people to resist any attempt to enslave them through this wicked legislation even contemplated in the history of our nation. The coroner, Olusegun Ayilara a Magistrate in Osun state, said that the Senator died of drug overdose and not poison. According to him, the report sent to him by the toxicologists showed that there was no trace of poison in Adelekes system. Ayilara made this known to newsmen in Osogbo on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. The coroner also recommended that Alfred Aderibigbe the nurse who treated the late Senator, should be prosecuted, describing him as unqualified. According to Punch, he said The main man at the centre of the storm is one Alfred Aderibigbe, a supposedly nurse who testified through a Yoruba interpreter and admitted to have treated the late senator in the early hours of the day in the presence of one Dipo Faborode. The Level 14 officer remained comical during the time he was giving his testimonies and sometimes broke down in tears. I have critically gone through the evidence before me and from the totality of evidence, the speculation of the poisoning is baseless. I have not been able to trace the link of poisoning by anybody. The autopsy and toxicologists reports have confirmed that there were no traces of poison and heavy metal in his (deceaseds) blood; therefore, it is my prime opinion that he was not poisoned. The evidence of CW5, CW6 and CW8 all point scientifically to the fact that the death of the deceased was caused by gastric content which blocked his airways as a result of high level of alcohol, sedative and analgesic which caused the senses to shut down, culminating into death. The summary of the findings of this coroner is that the deceased did not die as a result of poison. The deceased had an administration of overdose of sedative and analgesic by an unqualified personnel, Alfred Aderibigbe, through intravenous means, which action was hastened by the presence of alcohol in the system. The deceased had patronised the nurse for over 20 years and had taken treatment from him without a doctors prescriptions. The high level of sedative and analgesic with the mode of administration caused aspiration of gastric content which blocked his airways. By watching the nurse, Alfred Aderibigbe, I can see that he is economical with the truth even though he admitted that he acted unethically in the statement he made to the police. Throughout his statement to the police he never mentioned that he gave to the deceased intramuscular injection. He obviously showed me that he has a lot to hide as regards the dosages he gave to the deceased and the mode he gave them. By the witness of the specialists and by the exhibits, I hold that Alfred Aderibigbe administered overdose of diazepam 40mg, hydrocortisone 200mg, analgin 1000mg, gentamicine 1500mg, and pentasozine to the deceased intravenously coupled with excessive alcohol which caused his death. He died between the hour of 9.30am and 10.15am on 23 of April, 2017 between Ede and Osogbo. His death was caused by aspiration of gastric content as a result of depression of the central nervous system with gastric reflex caused by an overdose of sedative and analgesics exacerbated by alcohol administered by an unqualified personnel, Alfred Aderibigbe. The action is caused by blockage of airways, which caused the vital passage to shut down. Oba Akioulu said this on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, while speaking at the 60th birthday celebration of Mrs. Folashade Ashafa. Mrs. Ashafa is the wife of Senator Gbenga Ashafa, the Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the Senate. According to a statement released by the Obas media team, the monarch said His Imperial Majesty said while people would take sides with politicians and develop enmity and grudges for supporters of rival parties, the politicians never take their differences personal and always know how to reconcile behind closed doors. He, therefore, advised all Nigerians to learn how to allow politicians settle their differences without interference or unnecessary sensationalisation of issues. Oba Akiolu spoke glowingly of the woman and her husband, saying Senator Gbenga Ashafa could only have achieved much because he had a good wife who gave him peace and kept the home front solid. The Plateau PDP Chairman, Damishi Sango, at a press briefing on Tuesday in Jos, alleged that the government was plunging the state into indebtedness, severe hardship, hunger and penury by deploying limited resources into fictitious projects. Instead of rescuing Plateau as it promised, state actors are busy rescuing their personal pockets and those of their friends and families by pushing outrageous sums into non-existent contracts, he said. Sango alleged that government had spent N216 million to remodel an already well-constructed and furnished Governors lodge in Abuja. The government says it has also spent N1 billion to re-grass the Rwang Pam Stadium and N2 billion to purchase fertiliser that farmers have not seen. It has also budgeted N1.8 billion to renovate the new Government House built by the PDP-led administration that it succeeded. The records are clear; these projects are just fictitious because they are simply not there. The jobs quoted were effectively handled and completed by the former government The monies being voted are only lining private pockets. Plateau is being shortchanged, he alleged. ALSO READ: Commissioner dies while jogging with Governor Lalong Reacting, Mr Dan Manjang, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to Governor Simon Lalong, described the allegations as fictitious, baseless and of no value. It is mere politics. There is no documentary evidence to prove the claims. It is unfortunate and sad," he added. According to Punch, the Governor said this on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, while celebrating the second anniversary of his administration. Emmanuel also said the false reports that are being spread by the opposition against him will not help the state grow. According to him, Instead of being professionals in the profitless business of pulling others down, let us all be experts in the lucrative business of forgiveness. ALSO READ:Governor This is not the time for anger, resentment, bitterness and the desire for recrimination against the people. These can only deaden our spirit and lead to self-inflicted wounds. This came a day after an audio recording of an alleged phone conversation between the Police Chief, Mr. Adekunle Odude, and the Student Union Leader, Ojo Aderemi was made available to Pulse. According to our sources at the school, the warrant may either be as a consequence of the audio we received, or as at the request of the school authorities. We tried contacting the Police PRO in Oyo State, and left a message, and at the time of reporting this, there has been no response. All efforts to also reach the Vice Chancellor have been futile. The Student Union, led by Ojo Aderemi, called for a peaceful protest on Democracy Day to state their grievances against the school authorities. "We have begun to transfer small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements" of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said, referring to a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance fighting IS. The weapons include AK-47s and small-caliber machine guns, Rankine-Galloway added. President Donald Trump this month approved arming the fighters from the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG), drawing strong condemnation from Turkey. Ankara says the YPG is linked to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatists, who have waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed more than 40,000 people inside Turkey. Turkey's concerns about the YPG were significant enough for Ankara to launch its own military operation inside Syria in August 2016, dubbed Euphrates Shield. The operation had the dual goals of targeting IS and the Kurdish militia, particularly to prevent the YPG from controlling a contiguous strip of territory along the Syria-Turkey border. While the Kurds have failed to link up the two "cantons" under their control in the northeast with the Afrin region to the west, the Turkish operation has largely floundered. The SDF have now advanced to within a few miles of Raqa on several fronts, and this month captured the strategic town of Tabqa and the adjacent dam from the jihadists. Washington has sought to placate Ankara by saying the weapons will be handed out judiciously, and that it will monitor these to make sure they don't go into Turkey. The Pentagon insists the SDF are the only fighting force currently on the ground capable of seizing Raqa. Chung is the only child of Choi Soon-Sil, the close confidante of former President Park Geun-Hye. Choi -- nicknamed "Rasputin" for her close influence over the then-president -- is a key figure in the influence-peddling scandal that sparked huge street protests demanding Park's ousting. Park and Choi are already on trial for allegedly accepting or seeking millions of dollars in bribes from conglomerates including Samsung. Chung, who was arrested by Danish police in January, dropped her appeal against extradition from Denmark, a Danish court announced last week, as Seoul wants to detain her for questioning. The daughter is the alleged beneficiary of millions of dollars which South Korea's largest conglomerate Samsung paid to finance her equestrian training and luxurious lifestyle in Europe. A team of five officials from the prosecutors' office was dispatched to Amsterdam to make the arrest with a pre-issued warrant, Yonhap said. It added that the prosecutors waited until Chung boarded the Korean Air flight, since South Korea's jurisdiction can be exercised on its national carrier. The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the funds would go toward providing essential services for displaced people, refugees and asylum-seekers. The appeal is in partnership with the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM). "We have urgent work to do in Libya and can only do it together," said UNHCR head Filippo Grandi in a statement. "We are going the extra mile in trying to make a difference for hundreds of thousands of people." The work will buttress the IOM's own appeal, launched last month, which set down a three-year $180-million plan. Rival administrations and militias have fought for control of the oil-rich country since the 2011 uprising that toppled Moamer Kadhafi. Libya is also the hub for African migrants desperate to reach Europe. Their trek is notorious for exploitation and maltreatment and for the dangerous sea crossing. "Prompt action by both governments is needed in facilitating the immediate and safe passage of the forty-one vulnerable Syrian refugees," said the UNHCR. "We urge Algeria and Morocco to work with us on ending this dangerous and untenable situation for these stranded desperate Syrian refugees," it said in a statement. The group includes "children, babies and women -- including at least one pregnant woman reportedly in need of urgent Caesarean section", the statement said. The Syrians have been stranded in the area "exposed to the elements and the serious threat of scorpions and snakes" since April 17, it added. At the time, Morocco accused its neighbour of expelling the refugees to "sow trouble" and "generate an uncontrollable flow of migrants". Algeria "categorically" rejected the allegations as false. It sparked a diplomatic spat, with each country summoning the other's ambassador. The land zone between the two countries has been closed since 1994. The North African rivals have very difficult relations, especially over the question of Western Sahara. The UNHCR said it understood neither country considered the Syrians to be in their territory, but called "for action to bring the group to safety on humanitarian grounds". The UN agency was "ready to offer its 'good offices' to coordinate this life-saving evacuation," it said. The region has been shaken by social unrest since the death in October of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri, 31, who was crushed in a rubbish truck in the fishing port of Al-Hoceima as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season. Nasser Zefzafi, who has emerged as the head of the grassroots Popular Movement, was arrested on Monday after three days on the run. Demonstrators came out near the centre of Al-Hoceima for a fifth straight night at around 10 pm (2200 GMT), after the breaking of the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. The protesters shouted slogans including "We are all Zefzafi" and "End militarisation", with hundreds of them brandishing photographs of the detained leader. Anti-riot police attempted to disperse the protest, but pulled back following a tense but non-violent standoff with the demonstrators. A similar demonstration took place in the neighbouring town of Imzouren, with a strong police presence, images on social media showed. Smaller protests were held in the capital Rabat and the commercial capital Casablanca but were broken up by police, Moroccan media reported. Zefzafi's arrest was ordered after he allegedly interrupted a preacher at a mosque on Friday and called for further demonstrations. Prosecutors charged that he had "obstructed, in the company of a group of individuals, freedom of worship" at the mosque in Al-Hoceima. He was arrested on Monday "along with other individuals" and transferred to Casablanca, prosecutors said. As of Monday evening police had arrested 40 people in connection with the disturbances in Al-Hoceima, according to officials. Human rights groups gave higher figures. The mainly ethnically Berber Rif region has long had a tense relationship with Morocco's central authorities, and was at the heart of Arab Spring-inspired protests in 2011. Rising crime, deteriorating streets and poverty were cited as major challenges in Davenport's 3rd Ward, yet the six candidates wanting to represent this area on the city council also talked of its historic buildings, diversified neighborhoods and under-appreciated potential as they made their pitch to more than 75 people at a forum Tuesday night. The 3rd ward has some of the oldest and poorest neighborhoods in the city. But it also is home to a downtown that has more life to it -- and, of course, the riverfront. The men and women who will face the voters in next month's primary called attention to those attributes and said they'd work to increase investment and make sure the ward gets its due. "We spend enough on our taxes and everything else," said Carlton Wills, one of the candidates for the job. "We want our fair share. That's why we're here tonight." Willis, who is an electrician, said the ward needs somebody to stand up for it. Marion Meginnis, a longtime Gold Coast resident and former TV executive, said there are unhealthy concentrations of poverty in some 3rd Ward neighborhoods. "That's not good for those in need or for the ward," she said. Davenport and Rock Island take on much of the cost of providing social services, and other cities need to "step up and do their fair share," she added. The 3rd Ward vacancy was created after Alderman Bill Boom pleaded guilty to a felony in U.S. District Court. A special election has been scheduled to fill the seat. A June 13 primary will narrow the field to two candidates, who will face off in a July 11 special election. The six running for the office are Wills, Meginnis, Andrew Arnold, Barry Donald, Joe Heinrichs and Becky Peters. Heinrichs, who is a past president of Quad-Cities Interfaith, said he wants to help build a closer relationship among the police department and neighborhoods. "I think that we need more opportunities for the youth to guide them on to a better path," he said. He noted the ward has a lot of diversity, and that is an attribute of the area. Arnold, a businessman, said too much city investment has gone to the northeast part of the city. "I'm sure you've been out there to 53rd. Beautiful streets out there. Meanwhile, the downtown kind of crumbles," he said. Instead, he said, he would seek to help the small- and medium-sized investors who are investing in the city's downtown. The forum was held at the Friendly House and moderated by its executive director, Lorelei Pfautz. Donald, who has a banking background, said he sees unbalanced growth in the city. In a discussion about how to develop the city's riverfront, he said he would like to see "controlled development," or commercial growth that would fill in some of the open spaces but keep the character and beauty of the riverfront. "Not all development is good. I don't want it to be a circus down there," he said, adding "The majority of people I spoke to would like to see more." Peters, who has a retail background, said she wants to be proactive, working with neighborhoods and improving communication with the police department. She also pointed to deteriorating streets, sidewalks and alleys. She said the area needs more employment opportunities. Here's the afternoon forecast from the National Weather Service. The afternoon will be sunny with a high near 74 degrees. Tonight will be clear with a low around 50 degrees. A flood warning remains in effect for the Mississippi River in the Quad-Cities which is expected to crest Thursday. Earlier today the river was at 16.99 feet at Lock and Dam 15 and rising. Flood stage is 15 feet. Moderate flooding is occurring. The river is expected to rise to 17.2 feet Thursday morning then begin falling. Moline closes River Drive because of high water The rising Mississippi is causing the city of Moline to close River Drive from 23rd to 55th streets effective immediately. Drivers will have access to local businesses at 23rd Street, 34th Street, 41st Street, and 55th Street. Suggested detours include 12th Avenue, Avenue of the Cities, and Illinois 92 (4th Avenue). It takes very little water to float a vehicle or to become trapped within your vehicle. Drivers are reminded not to drive through floodwaters or around barricades. Ellis Kell to be honored during Lissie's Laura's Legacy Concert Following the Lauras Legacy Concert on Saturday, the stage at Schwiebert Riverfront Park will have a new name. To start off the sixth annual event, which Rock Island-born musician Lissie Maurus created to honor her late aunt Laura Swedberg Bartel who died from ALS in 2010, the stage will be officially renamed as the Ellis Kell Band Shell. Ellis Kell, a Quad-City music icon who worked in a variety of roles at the River Music Experience, died in December. Kell has become a staple on the lineup of Lauras Legacy, said Maurus. Read more. Keys wins opener at French Open Rock Island's Madison Keys ended a four-match losing streak by winning on clay for the first time this year, beating Ashleigh Barty 6-3, 6-2 at the French Open. The 12th-seeded American held a 22-10 edge in winners, did not face any break points, and took advantage of Barty's seven double-faults. Keys, a 2015 Australian Open semifinalist, missed the first two months of this season after left wrist surgery. Barty has now lost all nine career matches against top-20 opponents. Keys will face Petra Martic of Croatia on Thursday. CEDAR RAPIDS Sick and tired of the beating she sees Iowa working families taking, Coralville nurse and union president Cathy Glasson has launched an exploratory campaign for the 2018 Democratic nomination for governor. Working people in Iowa have been getting beat up for too long, Glasson said in her video announcement Wednesday, referring to the GOP-controlled Legislature reducing the collective bargaining rights of 184,000 public employees, making changes to workers compensation and pre-empting local government attempts to raise the minimum wage. Their policies are wiping out the middle class. Although shes never run for public office, Glasson, 58, called kicking off her exploratory campaign an exciting day and said shes undaunted by the crowded Democratic field or the current political climate. Im not a politician. Im a union leader elected by fellow workers, Im an ICU nurse, so Im willing to take on tough challenges, said Glasson, president of Service Employees International Union Local 199, which represents 5,000 Iowa workers. Perhaps more importantly, Glasson thinks Iowans are ready for her bold, progressive agenda. Shes not the only gubernatorial hopeful using those words to describe their campaigns, but Glasson said she has intentionally taken a sharper tone in addressing the issues facing Iowas working families. I want to make sure its very clear to voters and Iowans that I believe strongly in this and I will fight, she said. Although Gov. Kim Reynolds and legislative Republicans point to the states low unemployment rate and demand for workers to make people believe that Iowa is doing well, about a third of Iowans struggle to meet basic monthly expenses, Glasson said. Thats who Im going to be talking to, she said. "Thats who has been left out." Her fairly simple agenda calls for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Thats crucial and a pretty low bar considering that two-thirds of the jobs in Iowa pay less than $20 an hour, Glasson said. She also called for expanding opportunities for workers to join unions and employee associations. I helped organize my hospital, said Glasson, a nurse at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for more than 20 years. Thats the way we raise wages for working people. In addition, Glasson wants to increase public school funding and hold corporate polluters accountable for water quality. Too many politicians dont have the guts to fix the systems they broke, Glasson said. They dont listen to us. Theyre not accountable to us. So, she plans to travel across Iowa over the next few months to meet with the folks who have been left out, ignored for too long. Shell start Saturday by joining other Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls at Picnic for the People from noon to 3 p.m. at McHose Park in Boone. She will make a decision on formally entering the campaign when Iowans make a decision to rise up and do this. Glasson joins a handful of Democrats who have declared or are considering running in the June 2018 Democratic primary. They include Sen. Nate Boulton of Des Moines, Polk County Conservation Director Rich Leopold, Rep. Todd Prichard of Charles City, former Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire, former Des Moines school board member Jon Neiderbach, Davenport Alderman Mike Matson and Des Moines businessman Fred Hubbell. The winner of the June 2018 primary will likely face either Reynolds or Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, who is weighing a bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Glasson and her husband, Matt, live in Coralville. They have one daughter. A former Rapid City investment adviser sent to federal prison after pocketing $4.2 million in clients money had preyed on some friends, including people he knew in church, according to the prosecuting attorney. Mike Lundy, 68, was sentenced to five years in prison on May 19 after pleading guilty to wire fraud, as well as making and filing a false tax return. Lundy earlier admitted encouraging clients to put money into a fake investment company from the early 2000s to 2014 and depositing the money in his bank account. He told the victims their money would be fully repaid, with monthly dividends, over a predetermined period, according to court records. He produced fake account statements to support his scheme. Some investors received monthly payments; others did not since Lundy said they could reinvest their dividends toward a bigger retirement fund. The payments Lundy made largely used money from new investors. This was just your classic Ponzi scheme, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Patterson said. Lundy was then a registered investment adviser and a commissioned representative of Primerica, a North American financial services firm. He also managed its Rapid City office. Authorities uncovered a total of 82 investors, ranging in age from their 40s to 70s. Some had previously done business with Lundy, whereas others were church friends, said Patterson. Having that Christian-type relationship with him, and they just trusted him to do what he said he was going to do, said Patterson, who handles a majority of white-collar crimes at the U.S. Attorneys Office in Rapid City. It turned out Lundy used a portion of investors money for personal expenses, including payments for home remodeling, vacations and a new Jeep. Lundy admitted also to evading $257,000 in federal income taxes from 2009 to 2015, which was related to his investment scheme. The investigation started when one of his victims got in touch with the Rapid City Police Department in 2014, expressing suspicion about Lundys investment product, said Patterson. After realizing that Lundys fraudulent activity was on a larger scale, the department got in touch with the IRS, the prosecutor said. The FBI also came on board. Because of Lundys fraudulent activity, Patterson said, some people have lost their life savings, their homes and money for ongoing medical expenses. Some retirees, he said, have had to go back to work. Besides receiving prison time, Lundy was ordered by Chief Judge Jeffrey Viken to pay back the $1.3 million he still owes victims and the money he never paid the IRS. When asked by Viken his reason for committing the offenses, Patterson said Lundy did not give an answer. STURGIS | Facing a group of veterans from conflicts dating to World War II, Rod Martin said that here, the price of freedom is very visible. "This is where we really understand the true meaning of Memorial Day," said Martin, keynote speaker at Monday's Black Hills National Cemetery Memorial Day program and commander of the South Dakota American Legion from 2009-10. "This is not only a holiday, it is a day of remembrance." More than 800 people attended the annual program to honor Americans who have died in all wars. Cemetery Director Adriene Benton attributed the strong turnout to the weather, which other than some gusty winds was nearly perfect for a late spring afternoon. "It was wonderful," Benton said. "There's always so many people." The cemetery is the final resting place for around 28,000 veterans and their loved ones. They range from soldiers who fought in current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Spanish-American War of 1898. On Sunday, volunteers placed small U.S. flags at the cemetery's headstones, and on Monday friends and family brought flowers and other mementos such as crosses and wreaths to lay at the graves. Young military members walked around the cemetery with maps of the plots to help lost guests find graves. Joe Gerlach said he has been coming to the Memorial Day program for around 10 years to pay his respects to fallen veterans. Gerlach, 61, of Belle Fourche served in the Navy during Vietnam and said he has many good friends who are buried at the cemetery. During a wreath laying ceremony at the program, Gerlach served as an escort for Christine Bestgen, a Gold Star Mother from Nisland whose son Spc. Dennis Jensen, 21, was killed in a noncombat accident in Afghanistan in 2011. Bestgen recalled the last time she saw her son who was a soldier in the South Dakota National Guard and how Jensen told her to be strong while he was away. "I promised Dennis that I would," she said. Some people have premonitions, Bestgen said, but she truly knew this would be the last time she would see him. "Losing my son blew my candle out," she said. Jensen is one of more than 4 million Americans who are buried at Department of Veterans Affairs national cemeteries. The VA operates 134 national cemeteries and 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites in 40 states and Puerto Rico. They come from every war and conflict, said Ron Walters, interim undersecretary for Memorial Affairs, "each with a story to tell." Investigation into Russian priest charged with pedophilia completed ST. PETERSBURG, May 31 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) Investigators have completed a probe into the Russian priest Gleb Grozovsky, who stands charged with sexual abuse of children, RAPSI learnt in the St. Petersburg prosecutors office. A prosecutor is to make a decision on the approval of indictment within 10 days, and then the case will be forwarded to court, a representative of the prosecutors office said. According to investigators, Grozovsky committed several crimes against minors in 2011 and 2013. In 2013, he fled to Israel and applied for citizenship. However, his application was dismissed. In April 2014, Grozovsky was put on the international wanted list. Israeli police arrested him in September. In January 2015, a court in Jerusalem ruled that the priest should be extradited to Russia pursuant to the European Convention on Extradition. The ruling was appealed but rejected. In April 2016, the Justice Minister signed an order on Grozovskys extradition. In September 2016, the priest was extradited from Israel to Russia. Defense lawyers claim that charges against Grozovsky are politically motivated. Russian companies demand $97.1 million from Carlo Pazolini founder MOSCOW, May 31 (RAPSI) Several Russian companies and banks have filed six applications with the Moscow Commercial Court asking to include 5.5 billion rubles (about $97.1 million) owed by Carlo Pazolini shoe retailers founder Ilya Reznik on the list of creditors' claims, court documents read on Wednesday. On April 6, the court initiated procedure of debt restructure against Reznik on request of ATB Bank. On April 14, Alfa Bank filed an application seeking to include a 1.9-billion-ruble debt ($33.6 million) on the list. The application will be considered on August 9. The court is also reviewing Alfa Banks lawsuits against Carlo Pazolini Trade Limited, Carlo Pazolini Participations and Carlo Pazolini (Switzerland) demanding to collect $11.01 million in debt from the companies. Firma Anta, the owner of Carlo Pazolini, is named as the third party in the case. The claim also includes demands to recover jointly from the companies 8.4 million in debt. Earlier, the court has granted a motion filed by ATB Bank to include 738.8 million rubles ($12 mln) of debt owed by Firma Anta company, the owner of Carlo Pazolini, in the creditors demands list. In August 2016, the Moscow Commercial Court has granted a motion of Alfa Bank over introducing supervision procedure against Firma Anta. The companys debt to Alfa Bank was estimated at 862.5 million rubles ($13 million). Carlo Pazolini brand was created in 1991. There are more than 180 company stores on Russia, Italy, China, Greece, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, according to the retailers website. Ukraine seizes Gazprom subsidiarys shares as part of antimonopoly case MOSCOW, May 31 (RAPSI) Russias oil giant Gazprom has been notified of the Ukrainian Justice Ministrys decision to seize shares of its subsidiary Gaztranzit as part of an antimonopoly case, the company said in its report on Wednesday. Ukraines authorities have also initiated enforcement proceedings to collect the amount of Ukrainian hryvnia 189,125 million (at the exchange rate as of March 31, 2017 394,687 million rubles), including an execution fee of Ukrainian hryvnia 17,193 million (at the exchange rate as of March 31, 2017 35,881 million rubles), the report reads. In total, Ukraine demands about $6.4 billion from the Russian company. The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) fined Gazprom nearly 86 billion hryvnia (about $3.2 billion at the current exchange rate) in January 2016 and ordered to stop further alleged infringement. Now the watchdog is also seeking penalties that amount to another 86 billion hryvnia. Gazprom claimed that it is not engaged in business activity in Ukraine challenging the fine. However, the oil companys appeals have been dismissed by Ukraines courts. Udmurtias ex-governor Solovyov pleads guilty to taking bribes MOSCOW, May 31 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) Former head of Russias Udmurt Republic Alexander Solovyov, who stands charged with taking over 140 million rubles (about $2.5 mln) in bribes, has pleaded guilty and started cooperating with investigators, a prosecutor said during the hearing in Moscows Basmanny District Court on Wednesday. Solovyovs lawyer confirmed that his client is cooperating with investigators. On April 26, the defendant said that he had violated the law but did not clarify what he meant by that. According to investigators, in 2014-2016, Solovyov received bribes amounting to 139 million rubles from representatives of organizations behind the construction of bridge crossings over the Kama and Buy rivers in the Udmurt Republic. Allegedly Solovyov also received a share in a commercial organization worth 2.7 million rubles (about $48.2 mln). The defendant was supposed to ensure extraordinary and immediate payment for construction services from the federal and regional budgets. He was also to allocate licenses for geological exploration and resource extraction. On April 4, Solovyov was relieved of his position on decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian Finance Ministry to pay activist Dadin $38,600 for unlawful prosecution MOSCOW, May 31 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) A court in the Moscow Region has granted a lawsuit filed by Russian activist Ildar Dadin in part and ordered the Finance Ministry to pay him 2.2 million rubles (about $38,600) for unlawful prosecution, RAPSI learnt on Wednesday from the Moscow Regional Courts press-service. Dadin, who was convicted and later acquitted of numerous violations of protest laws, sought a 5 million-ruble (about $87,800 at the current exchange rate) compensation for moral damages inflicted by unlawful prosecution as well as staying in detention and under house arrest for two years. Dadin was sentenced on December 7, 2015. Initially he received a 3-year prison term. The Moscow City Court later reduced the sentence to 2.5 years. He was acquitted on February 22, 2017, when the Supreme Courts Presidium overturned his 2.5-year prison sentence and ruled to release him. The court held that criminal proceedings against Dadin should be dismissed because of the absence of elements of a crime in his actions. The Supreme Court explained that the article of the Russian Criminal Code prohibiting violations of protest laws excludes possibility of criminal prosecution if at the time of crime there were no active court rulings regarding administrative liability of a defendant. These rulings must be issued at least three times in the period of 180 days. Fishermen accustomed to accessing the Bitterroot River just west of Stevensville may soon have to find a new place to launch their boats. The family that owns the land used for decades to access the river just below the Stevensville bridge recently posted signs indicating they plan to close the access point on June 15. That decision followed a Stevensville town council meeting last week that put a proposal for a land trade with the Capp family on hold. Over the last year, the family has been negotiating with the council and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to trade about eight acres of property owned by the town for 3.6 acres of land the Capps own just below the bridge and another 1.5 acres in town. FWP had agreed to build a new parking area and pit toilet on the land owned by the Capps if the exchange had gone through. At last weeks town council meeting, the council formally acknowledged the 24-acres owned by the town downstream of the bridge had been officially designated as park in 1996. The Capps were interested in obtaining about 8 acres of that land as part of the exchange. Due to that parkland designation, the community would have to vote on the proposal before a land swap could occur. The council opted not to move forward with putting the potential land trade on the ballot, said Stevensville Mayor Jim Crews. A motion to move forward with the land swap also died. Crews said he didnt believe the idea of eventually trading land with the Capp family was completely off the table, but the council may explore other options first. Its not totally dead, but the council and town have to look at whats best for Stevensville in the long run, he said. It did feel like the strings of stress were cut that night. The towns park board chair, Tonya Eckert, has been in contact with the Capp family. When the council chose to not move forward with the trade, she said the Capps decided they didnt want to allow access through another season of floating. The popular access site if often filled with vehicles pulling trailers, and townspeople looking for a place to cool off on a hot summer day. Signs have been posted indicating the area will be off-limits starting June 15. There are also orange lines painted on the ground to show where the concrete barriers will be placed, Eckert said. At this point, Eckert said she isnt certain if the Capps will be willing to consider a land trade. Legally, it now needs to go to a vote, she said. I dont think thats an option. I know how long hell keep that on the table. The Capp family didnt return a phone call Tuesday. In a May 30 letter to the mayor, Stevensville resident Loey Knapp said the orange lines the Capp family has drawn appear to squeeze down an access easement the community has had since 1937 to their parklands. Knapp said the width of the easement was 30 feet, which would effectively make it a two-lane road. At one point, the orange line reduces that space to just 12 feet. I recommend the mayor and streets and alley supervisor, Ed Sutherlin, draw a line, perhaps in another color, showing the extent of a 30-foot road, thus establishing what the survey describe as the legal easement, Knapp wrote. The alternative line would show that the town has an objection to the Capp line. At last weeks meeting, Knapp said the current fishing access site infringes on about 8,000 square feet of private property, which is less than a city lot. There remains a need to ensure safe, convenient fishing access without infringing on private property as is currently happening, Knapp said. The need for this is undisputed, but the solution is not obvious. Knapp said the town should develop a strategy that, contrary to the current process, considers all eminent domain laws, fair trade laws and prescriptive easements as well as fully considers development of alternative sites. FWP Region 2 Fisheries Manager Pat Saffel the department will look at other potential sites, including one on lands currently owned by the town of Stevensville directly downstream from the bridge and one on the other side of the river from the current site. Both of them would take some work to get completed, he said. My guessis we cant turn one of those spots around by June 15, Saffel said. When we first got into this, one of the scenarios was that this will get worse before it gets better. I suppose were there. Longtime Stevensville resident Dale Burk went to take a look at the site Tuesday afternoon. He found every one of the large pine trees near the river had been painted with an orange stripe. A faint orange line tracked from the edge of the bridge to the entrance of the hiking trail on the towns park. A sign said the area would be closed to vehicles on June 15 to mitigate further environmental damage. Im feeling total frustration right now, Burk said. We seem to have been able to operate here for 30 to 40 years without any unmitigable environmental impact. I just see this as a demonstration of ill will toward the public. We will need to begin the process of getting this necessary and vital access point through condemnation, he said. It looks to me that will be the only way to get it done. Guwahati : At least nine persons including eight minors were died and over 200 others fell ill of suspected food poisioning after consuming rice and pork at an after-church feast in Meghalaya's Ri-Bhoi district, officials said. The persons including minors died and others fell ill after they had consumed rice and pork after attending a church gathering on Sunday at Nongkya village in the bordering district with Assam. Ri-Bhoi district Magistrate Chinmoy P Gotmare said that, three persons died on Monday and another six on Tuesday in hospitals. The top official said that, over 200 people are undergoing medical treatment. 'Among them, 80 were admitted to the Nongpoh Civil Hospital, 33 at the Umsning CHC, 23 to the Bhoilymbong health facility and the rest to the Shillong Civil Hospital, NEIGRIHMS and Ganesh Das Hospital,' the official said. Meanwhile, Meghalaya state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident to ascertain what caused the deaths. On the other hand, local villagers claimed that consuming pork had led the incident. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) By www.reviewnepal.com Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepali Officials have confirmed that at least five Nepali migrant workers were injured in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul on Wednesday morning. In the deadly attack, occurred targeting to the diplomatic areas, about 80 people were killed. Though the details about the injured Nepali citizens are not confirmed yet, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has said preferring anonymity that five Nepali migrant workers were injured in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. By www.reviewnepal.com Kathmandu, Nepal: The government has postponed again the date to hold the second phase of local level elections. A cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning decided to hold the local level elections on June 28. Earlier, the government had decided to hold the elections on June 23. The government has made the decision in the mean time when the Election Commission (EC) has been preparing to hold the second phase of local level elections on June 14. Though the government has made the decision to postpone the elections, the EC is not informed yet officially. The EC has said that its officials are compelled to make necessary preparations to hold the elections in the stipulated time frame. We are not informed officially about the government decision to postpone the elections but intensifying our preparations, an official at the EC said preferring anonymity. By www.reviewnepal.com Kathmandu, Nepal: Main opposition CPN-UML has obstructed the parliament meeting on Wednesday demanding resumption of vote counting in Bharatpur metropolitan city. Following the obstruction in the House meeting, Speaker Onsari Gharti has differed the meeting till 1 pm on Thursday. UML Lawmakers obstructed the House standing from their seats as soon as Speaker Gharti announced the commencement of the meeting. UML lawmaker Surendra Pandey alleged the government and the concerned agencies for dillydallying to resume the vote counting process in Bharatpur. The vote counting should be resumed immediately not only to stop us from declaring the further stern action but also to establish the democratic principle in the country, Pandey said. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari KATHMANDU: President Bidya Devi Bhandari today held consultations with political parties to acquire information regarding the formation of a consensus government. In course of the all-party meeting called for the consultations, the President urged the political parties to utilise this day since it is the last day for constituting the consensus government, the Presidents chief personal secretary Bhesh Raj Adhikari said. Form a consensus government taking into consideration the situation of the country; Make the most of the day today, the deadline for the formation of consensus government. The majority process (of government formation) starts from tomorrow if a government of national consensus was not formed, Adhikari quoted the President as saying in the meeting. The party leaders on the occasion said that they would put in maximum efforts until tonight for the formation of a national consensus government. Present in the all-party meeting held at the Office of the President at Shital Niwas were CPN Maoist Centre chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress President She Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Maoist Centre leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) President Kamal Thapa. Also present were Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal leader Rajendra Mahato, Nepal Loktantrik Forum Chairman Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party leader Sunil Prajapati, Federal Socialist Forum leader Rajendra Shrestha and Rastriya Janamorcha Nepal Chairman Chitra Bahadur KC. President Bhandari had earlier called on the political parties to form a consensus government as per Article 298 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal within seven days after Prime Minister Dahal resigned from his post on May 24. There is a constitutional provision which states that the Parliament shall start the process of formation of a majority government as per the Article 298 (3) of the constitution if a consensus government could not be formed within the stipulated time.RSS President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan has condemned a massive bomb attack in the capital Kabul, which killed at least 90 people, as "cowardly". A suicide attacker detonated a bomb hidden inside a tanker truck close to the heavily protected diplomatic area during the morning rush hour. Some 400 people were injured by the blast, which left a deep crater. Most of the casualties were Afghans but foreign nationals were also injured, including 11 US citizens. The bomb exploded close to the German embassy, where a number of staff were injured. Authorities in Germany postponed a deportation flight due to return failed Afghan asylum seekers, with a government source telling AFP news agency that diplomatic and consular staff had "more important things to do than to deal with organisational matters" so soon after the attack. One Western diplomatic source told AFP news agency the blast had been caused by more than 1,500kg (3,307lb) of explosives Many of the casualties appear to have been Afghan civilians on their way to work or school and office workers in nearby buildings. You have permission to edit this html. Edit Close Footage captured by the Portuguese Air Force shows the moment a migrant boat was engulfed in flames in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. A day after a massive suicide blast that left at least 90 dead, angry residents of Kabul were counting the cost of another brutal attack on their city -- and asking how it was allowed to happen. Barrier-free toilets for airlines no topic currently come E.g. wheelchair users in European airspace not on the toilet, because the airlines are refusing to carry on-board wheelchairs. In the United States, however, it is an on-board wheelchair since 1992 practice! The petition is to draw attention to the discriminatory and harmful situation and bring a political discourse in swing. At the time, my petition "Air law - accessibility in air transport" runs (November 6, 2008-December 19, 2008). Direct link to the petition on the website of the German Bundestag (the link to the website of the German Bundestag, on which the petition was published. Go to with draw on "register" is a user name to the email account to send, go to the link and click on "This petition with draw"). There are already to a first success: a group spokesman assured the German airline Lufthansa on November 15, 2008, that all passengers, the the need for 48 hours prior to departure, the pilot has an on-board wheelchair. So far, Lufthansa provided this service - like other airline companies also - only on long-haul. You may want to visit Douglas Oberhelman to increase your knowledge. On the 9.1.2008 writes Lufthansa German airlines: "In fact it is not possible, to provide an on-board wheelchair on short-haul flights unfortunately also in advance." (see: p = 61) Also in subsequent requests, Lufthansa is expressed only in general terms and does not mention the specific question after an on-board wheelchair (see: page_id = 69) more background information and the latest developments on my blog to the background of the petition of wheelchair accessible is fly flying now as normal like car and train travel - for almost all people in Europe. But not for people with reduced mobility. So, this group has no chance of finding a toilet on short - and medium-haul flights even after entry into force of the EU flight regulation of July 2008. European airlines - including the German Lufthansa - deny your mobility-impaired passengers until today access to a toilet. Two to three hours, sometimes longer, is to arrive to find no toilet. You may wish to learn more. If so, Mustafa Suleyman, London UK is the place to go. Who the question of Stewart's "Must you find a toilet in this time?" with "Yes" answers, can go from the plane again. He is not promoted simply. Even with prior notification, airlines refuse to carry a so-called on-board wheelchair on board. This would allow the transfer of the seat to the toilet. So for example the German Lufthansa in an E-Mail of the 9.1.2008 replies laconically: "In fact, it is not possible, to provide an on-board wheelchair on short-haul flights unfortunately also in advance" and cynically further assure "that we do our utmost, so that your travels run smoothly." Today, Deutsche Lufthansa denied a clear commitment that it provides an on-board wheelchair if required (source: rechtaufklo.de). A flight on the several hours long no Toilet can be picked up used, can not "" smoothly and missed key needs of passengers. Imagine, to sit three hours in an elevator - this is about the time that the German and European airlines expect their mobility-impaired passengers, to use no toilet. Against this background, I have submitted the petition to the German Bundestag and hope to many with drawing at the end. The goal of 400 signatures, but the more with drawing at the end are the petition the weightier and more likely that something is moving in the direction of barrier-free flying! End of subscription period is the December 19, 2008. Here, the petition with draw! It started abruptly in the summer of 2003. I had not seen Mouse Hunt, but I had seen The Mexican and The Ring. I sort of thought Gore Verbinski was a terrible director. I definitely thought making a movie out of a theme park ride was a terrible idea. I had not seen a good Johnny Depp movie in a decade or more. (No, I don't like Dead Man.) A week or two passed between the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (good lord, that title is horrifying to this day) and my getting around to seeing it. I wouldn't have bothered at all, except 90% of the people I know told me that not only did I have to, but also that I would love it. This is a poor strategy with me. When I was 9, my parents had to literally drag me kicking and screaming to a particular movie they thought I might like, my resistance borne entirely of my narcissistic dislike for ever, ever being told how I'd react. The movie in question? Back to the Future. Is Pirates of the Caribbean like Back to the Future? In this analogy, hell yes. I came out of that screening of Pirates 1 so in the tank for these movies that I became a Jack Sparrow cosplayer, brought rum (and a lot of cheering) to the opening screening of Dead Man's Chest three years later, and the summer after that (ten years ago this week) declared Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to be my favourite motion picture of all time. Of. All. Time. The vagaries of how that decision was made have very little to do with what you would call quantitative aspects of a film's merits and a lot more to do with something that (thankfully) happens every now and again at the movies, which is: blinding, unapologetic, soul-shaking love. The perfect mix of ephemera, whimsy, personal taste, and go-for-broke gleefulness that, out here in the real world, results in actually falling in love, with actual other persons. I mean, in At World's End's case, I was kind of kidding. See above re: narcissism; it's occasionally highly appealing to have a thoroughly contrarian opinion at the heart of your rule set. It sets you apart, in a way that having Return of the Jedi listed as your favourite film on Letterboxd never can. Citizen Kane bores me precisely because it has enthralled so many others, and I can wax poetic about all of the Star Warses (yes, even those Star Warses) till I'm blue in the face, but I'd rather tell you why the Special Editions are a crime against film heritage and human history than why, say, Han stepping on Jabba's tail is stupid. It is stupid, but so is Han, and so is Jabba. Let's prioritize. In Pirates 3's case, I was also, kind of, not kidding. That movie sings at a very personal vibration for me, sure, but it is/was also, for 2007 anyway, the state of a weird kind of art form which happens to be my particular stock-in-trade. And for the blockbuster set, it's about as auteurish as I'd argue it's possible to be. (Consider the crabs in Davy Jones' locker, friends. Consider the crabs.) If I came out of The Ring thinking Verbinski sucked, I came out of World's End wanting to write a book about him. He's as close to a perfect craftsman of American motion pictures as currently exists, I'll argue, a Spielberg for the 21st century. Have I seen A Cure For Wellness? Hellllll no. But Rango's a goddamned treasure (or at least, a better Pirates 4 than Pirates 4, being as that it is, entirely and certainly, Jack Sparrow's fever dream from the moments he is baking in the non-sun at the end of the world in Pirates 3), and with all deference to its enormous racism, I'll defend large pieces of The Lone Ranger till I'm blue in the face. Or if you have to pin a single point on it, look at the way Verbinski, as a filmmaker, stages and executes the maelstrom sequence in Pirates 3. We talk a lot about clarity of action in modern blockbusters - the nadir of this being, of course, Michael Bay - but rarely sing Verbinski's praises for his accomplishments in the arena. In the maelstrom sequence, two pirate ships are funnelling down to the bottom of a sinkhole in the sea. Multiple crew members are swinging from ship to ship in combat. We are following the actions of, perhaps, ten principal characters throughout this period. One guy dies. One couple gets married. An apotheosis is found for the fucking monkey. And at no point in any of this enormous accretion of onscreen detail do we ever lose track of who we are watching, where they are going, or what they are trying to accomplish. The sequence is 45 minutes long. It's a goddamned symphony. And let's not elide the fact that for all the degree to which Jack Sparrow gained the lion's share of the pop cultural familiarity, the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy was the first American blockbuster series whose protagonist was, without apology, a girl. POTC begins and ends with Elizabeth, and it is her story that diagrams the movement of change throughout the three Verbinski films. She has the most agency, even when she is being rescued from haunted pirate ships; and she ascends the furthest, to the point where she is, genuinely, the "king" of all pirates on the planet. It's not nothing. Anyway. Verbinski bailed at that point - and realistically, so too should have Depp, Bruckheimer, and Disney - and we got gifted a Pirates 4 that was most certainly not Rango, and now a Pirates 5 (as of this writing, I haven't seen it yet) which is probably not Kon-Tiki (which, by the way, is well worth your time). Look, I own Disney stock, and I'm all for them making money. (You might hate Pirates 3 and Pirates 4 and all the others too, but each of these suckers till now made a bloody fortune, at around a billion dollars' each in worldwide grosses for each of the sequels.) And if Dead Men Tell No Tales turns out to be the last one - which, by all evidence, it will be - then at worst, the Pirates franchise only aped the Indy franchise by going two films over its stale-date. (Yes: I am pre-judging Indy 5. Sue me.) But I'll miss the sick fun of it all, from the early days, when the leading motion picture studio in the world (then, in the pre-MCU, pre-Star Wars days, only on its ascent) made a massive franchise meal out of a movie about literal pirates and the idea that corporatization is an inherently bad thing. That freedom was still out there, somewhere between the wind and the sea. That all you needed was a tall ship and a star to steer her by. A pirate's life for me. Destroy All Monsters is a weekly column on Hollywood and pop culture. Matt Brown is in Toronto and on Letterboxd. Well. That career escalated quickly. Once the darling of the indie horror scene with small films like A Horrible Way To Die and You're Next Adam Wingard has locked in a deal to direct Godzilla vs. Kong for Legendary and Warner Bros. To date the biggest thing he has directed is his recent adaptation of the Japanese franchise Death Note for Netflix due in August. This upcoming chapter was written by committee, lead by Pirates of the Caribbean scribe Terry Rossio. He was joined back in March for a writing pow-wow by Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne (Star Trek Beyond), Fresh faces and female voices Lindsey Beer and Cat Vasko, Maze Runner movies writer T.S. Nowlin (also Pacific Rim: Uprising), Jack Paglen (Transcendence and Alien: Covenant), and Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. Really the only name here that has my interest is Straczynskis. We are a long ways away from the planned released in May of 2020. Anything can happen between now and then but seeing as a lot of the ScreenAnarchy family are fans of Wingard and his work we are very excited for him and this opportunity. Well earned. At a time when men in certain circles feel compelled and emboldened to weaponise their fragility in the face of advancing feminism, the world needs a hero like Wonder Woman more than ever. Created more than 75 years ago, and one of DCs big three characters, Princess Diana of Themyscira has bafflingly always been deemed too risky a property to headline her own feature film. Women behind the camera are equally unsettling for studios, so kudos must be given to Warner Brothers and DC for doubling down on the property, not only giving Diana her own summer tentpole release, but handing the reins to director Patty Jenkins. Even Marvel have shied away from female-focused entries in their cinematic canon, but if the Justice League is ever going to pay off, theres no getting out of a Wonder Woman stand-alone. So it is with no small amount of relief - surprise even, considering the mess this franchise is already in - to discover that Wonder Woman is great. Epic in scale and thrilling in execution, Jenkins has finally scored an indisputable hit for the DCEU, delivering a fantastical odyssey of wartime escapism that also serves as a gorgeously realised origin story for the worlds foremost female superhero. Israeli bombshell Gal Gadot is fantastic in the title role, imbuing Princess Diana with the perfect blend of naivety, compassion and determination. Wholly convincing as both a sheltered woman seeing the world for the first time, and a formidable warrior kicking German arse all over Northern Europe, Gadot embodies the beloved comic book heroine with an authority not seen since Hugh Jackman became Wolverine in the original X-Men. Chris Pine also does great work as US Air Force pilot Steve Trevor, who is shot down off the coast of Themyscira en route to London, carrying plans for a deadly new German gas weapon. Having brought the destructive World of Men to Dianas door in fatal fashion, Trevor must not only convince the Amazons that he is not a threat and can be set free, but also that the fate of the entire world is at stake. After meeting her first man and learning of the horrors that exist beyond her idyllic utopia, Diana insists on accompanying Trevor back to the war, which she believes is being masterminded by Ares the God of War, operating in the form of General Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston). Her adventures, travelling in the guise of Diana Prince, see her grow as a soldier, a leader, and also as a woman, inspiring everyone around her to up their game in return. Although a capable military man, Trevor is easily outshone on the battlefield by his new female companion. But rather than be intimidated or dismissive of Diana's abilities, Trevor welcomes his new ally as his equal. Introducing her to everything from dancing and snow to "pleasures of the flesh" and the horrors of the war to end all wars, Pine delivers a pitch-perfect performance as both potential love interest and wrong-footed comic relief. The rest of the cast includes reliable thesps such as Danny Huston, David Thewlis and Ewen Bremner in supporting turns, but it is in the robust female roles where Wonder Woman continues to excel. Connie Nielsen, as Dianas conflicted mother Hippolyta, Robin Wright as Amazon General Antiope, Lucy Davis delightfully frumpy Ms Candy and Elena Anayas villainous Doctor Poison all prove memorable additions to the ensemble. What impresses most about Wonder Woman is the films confident sense of scale and pace within a vast, multi-tiered universe being presented for the very first time. From the paradise island of Themyscira to the blood-soaked trenches of France, Jenkins allows the film to unfold with a grace and clarity not witnessed before now in the narratively muddled and increasingly convoluted DCEU. She handles moments of dramatic realisation and romantic awakening with an equally assured hand, while also ensuring that the film is consistently funny and delivers a cascade of smartly conceived and elegantly executed action sequences. The film isn't perfect, and does falter slightly in the treatment of its villains. Elena Anaya (probably best known as the captive in Pedro Almodovars The Skin I Live In) fashions a brilliantly conceived villainess in Doctor Poison, hideously disfigured and reaping her vengeance through her nefarious chemical skills. Unfortunately, just as her character should be stepping out of the shadows and revealing more about her origins and diabolical motives, she is shunted to the sidelines like the Prime Minister of Montenegro. Instead, Ares is unmasked to take centre stage for the the final showdown, only to resemble little more than an ironclad Knight who says Ni. Wonder Womans period setting inevitably invites comparison with Captain America: The First Avenger, but holds up to such scrutiny in the best possible way. Just as Joe Johnstons film proved to be the most ambitious and accomplished offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up to that point, so Patty Jenkins film easily eclipses Suicide Squad, Batman V Superman and even Man of Steel. Wonder Woman deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with the very best superhero movies that any studio has delivered to-date, and proves, just as George Millers Mad Max: Fury Road did two years ago, that you dont need a man to make the years best action movie. 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). Highlighting (already extraordinary) costs of seeking to put Aurora killer on death row | Main | "Could 2015 be the year Congress finally gets serious about criminal-justice reform?" February 5, 2015 You be the judge: what federal sentence for Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht? This Wired article provides the basic story on a notable modern federal defendant who, thanks to a jury verdict yesterday, is now a high-profile convicted felon awaiting sentencing: A jury has spoken, and the mask is off: Ross Ulbricht has been convicted of being the Dread Pirate Roberts, secret mastermind of the Silk Road online narcotics empire. On Wednesday, less than a month after his trial began in a downtown Manhattan courtroom, 30-year-old Ulbricht was convicted of all seven crimes he was charged with, including narcotics and money laundering conspiracies and a kingpin charge usually reserved for mafia dons and drug cartel leaders. It took the jury only 3.5 hours to return a verdict. Ulbricht faces a minimum of 30 years in prison; the maximum is life. But Ulbrichts legal team has said it will appeal the decision, and cited its frequent calls for a mistrial and protests against the judges decisions throughout the case. As the verdict was read, Ulbricht stared straight ahead. His mother Lyn Ulbricht slowly shook her head, and his father Kirk put a hand to his temple. After the verdict, Ulbricht turned around to give his family a stoic smile. This is not the end, Ulbrichts mother said loudly as he was led out of the courtroom. Ross is a hero! shouted a supporter. From his first pre-trial hearings in New York, the governments evidence that Ulbricht ran the Silk Roads billion-dollar marketplace under the pseudonym the Dread Pirate Roberts was practically overwhelming. When the FBI arrested Ulbricht in the science fiction section of a San Francisco public library in October of 2013, his fingers were literally on the keyboard of his laptop, logged into the Silk Roads mastermind account. On his seized laptops hard drive, investigators quickly found a journal, daily logbook, and thousands of pages of private chat logs that chronicled his years of planning, creating and day-to-day running of the Silk Road. That red-handed evidence was bolstered by a college friend of Ulbrichts who testified at trial that the young Texan had confessed creating the Silk Road to him. On top of that, notes found crumpled in his bedrooms trashcan connected to the Silk Roads code. Ulbrichts guilty verdict was even further locked down by a former FBI agents analysis that traced $13.4 million worth of the black markets bitcoins from the Silk Roads servers in Iceland and Pennsylvania to the bitcoin wallet on Ulbricht laptop. Ulbrichts defense team quickly admitted at trial that Ulbricht had created the Silk Road. But his attorneys argued that it had been merely an economic experiment, one that he quickly gave up to other individuals who grew the site into the massive drug empire the Silk Road represented at its peak in late 2013. Those purported operators of the site, including the real Dread Pirate Roberts, they argued, had framed Ulbricht as the perfect fall guy.... But that dramatic alternative theory was never backed up with a credible explanation of the damning evidence found on Ulbrichts personal computer. The defense was left to argue that Ulbrichts laptop had been hacked, and voluminous incriminating files injected into the computer perhaps via a Bittorrent connection he was using to download an episode of the Colbert Report at the time of his arrest. In their closing arguments, prosecutors called that story a wild conspiracy theory and a desperate attempt to create a smokescreen. It seems the jury agreed. Despite the cases grim outcome for Ulbricht, his defense team seemed throughout the trial to be laying the grounds for an appeal. His lead attorney Joshua Dratel called for a mistrial no less than five times, and was rejected by the judge each time. Dratels protests began with pre-trial motions to preclude a large portion of the prosecutions evidence based on what he described as an illegal, warrantless hack of the Silk Roads Icelandic server by FBI investigators seeking to locate the computer despite its use of the Tor anonymity software. As the trial began, Dratel butted heads with the prosecution and judge again on the issue of cross-examining a Department of Homeland Security witness on the agencys alternative suspects in the case, including bitcoin mogul and Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles. And in the last days of the trial, Dratel strongly objected again to a decision by the judge to disallow two of the defenses expert witnesses based on a lack of qualifications.... Ulbricht will nonetheless be remembered not just for his conviction, but also for ushering in a new age of online black markets. Todays leading dark web drug sites like Agora and Evolution offer more narcotics listings than the Silk Road ever did, and have outlived law enforcements crackdown on their competitors. Tracking down and prosecuting those new sites operators, like prosecuting Ulbricht, will likely require the same intense, multi-year investigations by three-letter agencies. Though I am not familiar with all the likely sentencing particulars, I would expect a guidelines calculation in this case to be life and that prosecutors will urge a guideline-recommended LWOP sentence. The defense surely will seek the minimum sentence, which in this case is the not-so-minimum 30 years in the federal greybar hotel. In addition to pursuing their appeal, Ulbricht's defense team might reach out to Brian Doherty at Reason, who has this provocative commentary headlined "Silk Road: Ross Ulbricht's Loss is a Loss for Justice, Liberty, Safety, and Peace: The operation Ulbricht was found guilty of managing was one guaranteed to save lives, reduce real crime, and preserve liberty." Here are excerpts: [T]he government's multi-year, incredibly expensive attempt to take down the site and prosecute Ulbricht were bad for liberty, bad for markets, bad for the safety of those who choose to use substances the government has declared forbidden, and bad for America.... Ulbricht, if he's guilty of what they tried him for, is guilty of nothing but trying, and for a while succeeding, in doing a good thing for his fellow citizens, the world, and the future. His case will be remembered not as one of stalwart cops saving the world from dangerous crime, but of a visionary martyr punished for the good he did. The combination of cryptography and Bitcoin are out of the bottle, and what it ultimately means is that the war on drugs is even more hopeless than it always was. But the government seems to never run out of candidates to be the last person to be a victim of that war, a victim of that mistake. May Ulbricht be among the last. February 5, 2015 at 10:21 AM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e201b7c7471c9e970b Listed below are links to weblogs that reference You be the judge: what federal sentence for Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht?: Comments Before choosing sides, I need more facts. What was this site about? Was it to have drug purchases with anonymity, safety of the computer vs. face to face transactions, and to have a demonstration of coercion free transactions? How would the drugs be delivered? By mail? What? If not delivered would the seller suffer a bad rating as in EBay and lose business? Could I order a contract killing on his site? Could terrorist transmit financing this way, and was he getting 1% of all their transactions? If innocent people were killed by terrorists using his site, how many? Did he evade taxes on his income? In other words, what were the outcomes, and did he know about them? Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Feb 5, 2015 2:47:32 PM Defense theory was goofy in the face of massive evidence. Where was the common carrier defense? The phone company is not liable if two people plan a bank robbery using its lines, extended to the internet in the Communications Act of 1996. . http://transition.fcc.gov/telecom.html Posted by: Supremacy Claus | Feb 5, 2015 3:29:45 PM Does him being a "Princess Bride" fan factor into the analysis at all? Posted by: Joe | Feb 5, 2015 3:55:27 PM Sentences in this country are absolutely nuts. 30 years, as a minimum??? This guy is clearly a talented, well-educated young man, who needs to be taught a lessen. But wouldn't, say 5-10 years, be perfectly adequate? Isn't 30 years obscene for someone who, if set, right could make a lot of himself. Is there any other civilized, Western society that would punish this severely, an intelligent young guy? What is the point? Posted by: Mike | Feb 5, 2015 6:14:12 PM 30 years; there's no way around it (unless he cooperates). And he deserves it just as much, or as little, as my less-privileged clients do. Posted by: AFPD | Feb 6, 2015 11:54:37 AM Mike, five to 10 would have been overkill too. Only in the tyrannical persecution/incarceration system that has evolved here over the last four decades -- replete with sentencing schemes that start at 30 years -- do sentences of five to 10 seem lenient. Only in such a system do guys end up getting punished like this for things most normal people wouldn't even recognize as crimes -- if it weren't for the incendiary, hyper-dramatized narratives provided by prosecutors and fly-paper, vague, sweeping, prosecutor-friendly laws (conspiracy statutes are among the worst of them) pressed by crime-demagogue pols. Jurors once broke from deliberations in a trial I was covering as a writer to ask the judge if it were "possible" for them to acquit on the conspiracy charge). Posted by: John K | Feb 7, 2015 12:28:12 PM Talented young men need not do things of this nature: "Ulbricht created Silk Road in approximately January 2011 and owned and operated the underground website until it was shut down by law enforcement authorities in October 2013. Silk Road emerged as the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet, serving as a sprawling black market bazaar where unlawful goods and services, including illegal drugs of virtually all varieties, were bought and sold regularly by the sites users. While in operation, Silk Road was used by several thousand drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services to well over a hundred thousand buyers and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions." http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2014/manhattan-u.s.-attorney-announces-the-indictment-of-ross-ulbricht-the-creator-and-owner-of-the-silk-road-website This is the sort of major player, not some schlub who gets 10 or more years for being a mule or something, that should get long sentences (whatever "long" should mean) if this sort of thing should be illegal. But, seems some don't want "intelligent guys" like this sort to be mistreated so. This sounds like the sort of double standard where "white collar" type criminals -- who do the more harm in many cases -- get off lightly. The "intelligent guy" also: "demonstrated a willingness to use violence to protect his criminal enterprise and the anonymity of its users. Ulbricht even solicited six murders-for-hire in connection with operating the site, although there is no evidence that these murders were actually carried out." Right. LWOP doesn't seem rational (though it might be proportional to what other defendants get), but this guy (if guilty of all of this) deserves a long prison sentence. While detained, I'm all for using his talents (at a nice prison rate) for the public good. OTOH, maybe "soliciting murders-for-hire" is just good for the cause of liberty. Posted by: Joe | Feb 8, 2015 1:14:49 PM I was once upon a time a federal defendant. I see the trick they used on Ulbricht, as they did the same thing on my trial and probably most others these days. The did not actually charge him with attempted murder. They charged him with running a drug and money laundering site. But they allow the jury to hear whatever evidence they have about attempted murder. But the burden or proof for the jury was only related to the actual charge, drug and money laundering. Then at sentencing the judge nails him *as if the attempted murder accusations had been proven to a jury*. In fact they were not proved to a jury. They should not be allowed to bring in evidence of a serious crime in a trial for a non-violent crime. If they want to hang the man for murder, they should have to charge the man with murder, and prove it to a jury. Posted by: K | Jun 2, 2017 6:48:35 PM Post a comment Some recent posts of note from Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform | Main | Notable sentencing and clemency comments from newly-confirmed Deputy Attorney General As reported in this Wired piece, headlined "Ahead of Sentencing, Ulbricht Defense Argues Silk Road Made Drug Use Safer," the defense in a notable drug sentencing case is making a notable new claim about the nature and consequences of the defendant's drug dealing methods. Here are the details: When a jury convicted Ross Ulbricht three months ago of running the Silk Road, it closed the legal question of whether he was guilty of masterminding that billion-dollar online black market for drugs. But as Ulbrichts sentencing approaches, his defense is opening another ethical question that may be far more societally important: Did the Silk Roads newly invented method of narcotics e-commerce actually reduce the risks of drug use? In a memo to judge Katherine Forrest filed Friday afternoon, Ulbrichts defense has asked her to consider the Silk Roads potential for harm reduction when she determines Ulbrichts sentence in less than two weeks. The memo argues that the Silk Roads community provided drug users a more reliable way to buy untainted drugs, that Ulbricht had expressly tried to encourage safer drug use on his black market site, and that the digital nature of the sites commerce may have protected users from physical interactions that in the traditional drug trade often lead to violence. In contrast to the governments portrayal of the Silk Road web site as a more dangerous version of a traditional drug marketplace, in fact the Silk Road web site was in many respects the most responsible such marketplace in history, and consciously and deliberately included recognized harm reduction measures, including access to physician counseling, writes Ulbrichts lead defense attorney Joshua Dratel in the filing. In addition, transactions on the Silk Road web site were significantly safer than traditional illegal drug purchases, and included quality control and accountability features that made purchasers substantially safer than they were when purchasing drugs in a conventional manner. The memo argues that the Silk Roads community provided drug users a more reliable way to buy untainted drugs. One of the Silk Roads innovations, after all, was to bring an eBay-like system of ratings and reviews for online drug sales. That system gave buyers a way to quickly weed out dealers selling lower quality or less pure substances. The site maintained a section of its user forum devoted to safer drug use, where users could ask each other for advice and help with health problems. And Ulbrichts defense points to archived messages showing that Ulbricht even offered at one point to pay $500 a week to a Spanish doctor, Fernando Caudevilla, who frequented the forum and answered users questions. Ulbricht also asked Caudevilla if hed be willing to chemically test drugs on the site for quality, though its not clear if that testing scheme was ever put into practice. Regardless, Ulbricht isnt likely to receive a light sentence. The 31-year-old Texan was convicted of seven felony charges in February that include conspiracies to traffic in narcotics and money laundering, as well as a kingpin statute reserved for the leaders of organized criminal operations, which could add another decade to his prison time. In all, he faces a minimum of 30 years in prison and a maximum of life. Ulbrichts defense team has already said it plans to appeal the case. The prosecution in Ulbrichts case has revealed that it plans to present at Ulbrichts sentencing hearing six cases of individuals who died from overdoses of drugs bought on the Silk Road. But in its Friday filing, the defense addressed and rebutted each of those examples. In a grisly section of a separate memo, it goes through the details of those six deaths, in each case arguing that the deceased suffered from earlier health conditions and questioning whether the death-inducing drugs had actually been bought from vendors on the Silk Road. It is simply impossible for the government to prove that drugs obtained from Silk Road caused death, and in certain cases, the government cannot even establish to any degree of certainty that any of the drugs ingested came from Silk Road, Dratel writes.... To bolster its argument about the societal benefits of the Silk Road, the defense includes in its filing sworn statements from a series of experts, including Tim Bingham, the administrator of an addiction-focused non-profit known as the Irish Needle Exchange Forum, and Meghan Ralston, the former director of harm reduction for the Drug Policy Alliance. Bingham, for instance, published three studies in the International Journal of Drug Policy about the Silk Road based on surveys of users. He writes in his statement that he concluded that Silk Road forumsappeared to act as an information mechanism for the promotion of safer and more acceptable or responsible forms of recreational drug use. "A new report could have a big impact on New Yorks prison population if anyone pays attention" | Main | Newt Gingrich and Van Jones lament treatment of mentally ill in US criminal justice system May 27, 2015 Feds seeking LWOP sentence for Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht As reported in this Wired piece, "headlined "Silk Road Prosecutors Ask to 'Send a Message' in Ulbright Sentencing," the federal government has now asked for the toughest possible sentence for the defendant convicted of creating the on-line drug market known as Silk Road. Here is part of the story: Ross Ulbricht's billion-dollar black market Silk Road was in many ways the first of its kind, blending encryption and online drug sales in a business model that plenty of other online drug lords have since sought to emulate. So as Ulbrichts sentencing for running that massive narcotics-selling experiment approaches, the Department of Justice wants to make an example of Ulbrichts punishment, too. Ahead of Ulbrichts sentencing Friday, prosecutors in his case have sent the judge a 16-page letter asking that Ulbricht be given the maximum possible punishment of life in prison. And one of the reasons for that harsh sentence, the Department of Justice attorneys argue, is to send a clear message to anyone who would follow in Ulbrichts footsteps and create the next Dark Web drug market. Ulbrichts conviction is the first of its kind, and his sentencing is being closely watched, the prosecutions letter reads. The Court thus has an opportunity to send a clear message to anyone tempted to follow his example that the operation of these illegal enterprises comes with severe consequences. That deterrence argument is just one in a series of calls for a life sentence made by the prosecution in its letter. At other points, it lists the details of six deaths it argues were caused by drug overdoses facilitated by the Silk Roads anything-goes drug sales. It rebuts the positive arguments about Ulbrichts character made by the defense, as well as the over 100 letters from friends, family, and even fellow inmates about Ulbrichts character, pointing to his cold-blooded recording of his attempted murders of enemies in the journal found on his laptop. And it counters the argument made in the defenses pre-sentencing letter to the judge: That the Silk Road actually reduced harm for drug users with a rating and review system that assured drugs quality and purity.... Indeed, several iterations of the Silk Road have come and gone in the two short years since it went offline. Those copycat sites have included the Silk Road 2, which was shut down in law enforcements dark web purge last fall, and Evolution, a giant black market for drugs, guns, and stolen financial information whose leaders absconded with users funds in March. Today the black market site Agora reigns as the largest black market still online, with tens of thousands more products listed for sale than the Silk Road ever offered. In its letter, the Silk Road prosecution points to the difficulty of tracking down and punishing the creators of those markets as one more reason that Ulbricht should be imprisoned for life: If anonymous market administrators cant be easily caught, perhaps they can be deterred from a life of Dark Web crime by their fear of Ulbrichts fate. Although the Government has achieved some successes in combating these successor dark markets, they continue to pose investigative challenges for law enforcement, reads the letter. To the extent that would-be imitators may view the risk of being caught to be low, many are still likely to be deterred if the stakes are sufficiently high. The government's full sentencing memorandum is available at this link. Prior related posts: May 27, 2015 at 11:46 PM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e201b8d11abeaf970c Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Feds seeking LWOP sentence for Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht: Comments Good opportunity to move for a mistrial. The prosecutor has just demanded a sentenced for the purpose of general deterrence. In general deterrence, one wants to frighten strangers to the defendant, ones he has never met, who have not yet committed crime, and over whom he has no influence. It is to influence their mental state. It is unknown if they follow his sentencing, or if they will ever find out about his sentencing in Russia or China, where the government encourages people to harass the USA. If they do learn of this sentence, the system is so incompetent, there is a 10% risk of being arrested for committing a major crime, compared to the certainty of $millions to be made. This motion violates the Fifth Amendment Procedural Process Right to a fair hearing. Where is the defense? In fairness, the defense did bring up the published data that he saved multiple more lives than were endangered. Good for them. This is the only mitigating factor I can support, assistance to victims during the time surrounding the crime. Sentencing question. May one submit an argument that he put out contracts on people's assassination without a conviction or without submission to the jury, as an aggravating factor without a separate trial? Posted by: Supremacy Claus | May 28, 2015 4:26:36 AM Um the gov did not ask for LWOP. 1Correction 5/27/2015: An earlier version of this story stated that prosecutors sought a life sentence for Ulbricht, when in fact they asked only for a lengthy sentence substantially above the mandatory minimum. Posted by: AUSA12 | May 28, 2015 11:37:42 AM To me he is a hero. Isn't this what we talk about when we talk about entrepreneurship, the creative class, etc etc? One man made a billion dollar business from nothing but pluck, hard work, and ingenuity. This case reminds me of Holmes comment about Rockefeller: "If the law required it I would put him in jail but if it were up to me I'd raise a statue to him." Posted by: Daniel | May 28, 2015 12:50:38 PM It is very interesting that with an advisory term of life, and a recommendation from the USPO for life, the Government did not explicitly also request life. It suggests that they would accept a substantial term, but something less than life, as reasonable. I'm curious to see the Court, if so inclined, sees this as an invitation to impose some kind of downward variance. Posted by: USPO | May 28, 2015 7:06:50 PM This is Judge Katherine Forrest we're talking about, and she's... not a lenient sentencer. I wouldn't want to be Ulbricht right now. Posted by: azazel | May 29, 2015 3:01:23 PM Post a comment Consensus reigning (for now) as SCOTUS continues working through its criminal docket | Main | "What Happened to the American Jury? Proposals for Revamping Plea Bargaining and Summary Judgment" May 30, 2017 Australia working on a novel travel ban for certain sex offenders ... to keep them in the country This new AP article, Headlined "Australia plans to ban pedophiles from traveling overseas," reports on a kind of travel ban being discussed down under that is quite distinct from the one now being litigated here in the US. Here are the details: Australia plans to ban convicted pedophiles from traveling overseas in what the government said Tuesday is a world-first move to protect vulnerable children in Southeast Asia from exploitation. Australian pedophiles are notorious for taking inexpensive vacations to nearby Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries to abuse children there. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would cancel the passports of around 20,000 pedophiles on the national child sex offender register under legislation that will be introduced to Parliament soon. "There has been increasing community concern about sexual exploitation of vulnerable children and community concern is justified," she told reporters. Almost 800 registered child sex offenders travelled overseas from Australia last year and about half went to Southeast Asian destinations, she said. "There will be new legislation which will make Australia a world leader in protecting vulnerable children in our region from child sex tourism," Bishop said. Justice Minister Michael Keenan said no country has such a travel ban. He said 2,500 new convicted pedophiles would be added to the sex offender register each year and would also lose their passports. The register contains 3,200 serious offenders who will be banned from travel for life. Less serious offenders drop off the register after several years of complying with reporting conditions and would become eligible to have their passports renewed. Independent Senator Derryn Hinch, who was molested as a child and was jailed twice as a radio broadcaster for naming pedophiles in contravention of court orders, took credit for the government initiative. Hinch said he had not known that convicted pedophiles were allowed to travel before he received a letter from Australian actress and children's rights campaigner Rachel Griffiths soon after he was elected to the Senate last year. "If we can take a passport from a bankrupt, why can't we stop our pedophiles from traveling to Myanmar?" Griffiths wrote. Under Australian law, a bankrupt person cannot travel overseas without a trustee's permission. Hinch, who was involved in drafting the legislation, said temporary passports could be provided to pedophiles who need to travel for legitimate business or family reasons, and for pedophiles living overseas who need to return to Australia as their visas expire. "This will not apply to a teenager who has been caught sexting to his 15-year-old girlfriend," said Hinch, referring to sexual phone communications. "I know sometimes, I think unfairly, they go on registers, but we're trying to work it out so they don't," he added.... Australia has attempted to crack down on Australian child sex tourists by adding a new criminal offense punishable by up to 25 years in prison for Australian citizens or residents who molest children overseas. May 30, 2017 at 05:41 PM | Permalink Comments Jeeze, if there weren't some island they could send these pedophiles to get in order to get rid of them.... "If we can take a passport from a bankrupt, why can't we stop our pedophiles from traveling to Myanmar?" Well, you can...but what evidence is there that convicted pedophiles are going to Burma to molest children? None whatsoever. "Australia has attempted to crack down on Australian child sex tourists by adding a new criminal offense punishable by up to 25 years in prison for Australian citizens or residents who molest children overseas." Note, however, that this ban on travel would not apply to these people because...wait for it...they haven't been convicted yet. Posted by: Daniel | May 30, 2017 6:20:19 PM Australia seems rather a police state. Posted by: Fat Bastard | May 30, 2017 7:55:37 PM "Almost 800 registered child sex offenders travelled overseas from Australia last year and about half went to Southeast Asian destinations, she said." Sounds like a modified travel ban might be somewhat overbroad. Posted by: Joe | May 30, 2017 8:39:02 PM @Joe ] Let's be clear here. The justification is that these pedophiles are going abroad to rape children. Yet by their own data there are 20,000 registered sex offenders. Of these 400 went to SE Asia which is 2%. Yet they are going to ban everyone on the basis of what 2% MIGHT do. And they don't offer any evidence that these 2% are actually doing what they fear they are doing. So the problem is beyond the fact that it is "overboard" it is that even a more narrowly tailored ban (assuming there was a practical way to implement such a ban, which I doubt) would be a ban based on no more than wild speculation. As an aside, what has been interesting to me is to watch how this has played out in relationship to the Muslim ban. Whatever one thinks of that ban as a matter of policy, Trump has at least a smidgen of evidence to back up his claims (which isn't to say that this smidgen of evidence is actually his motivation for the ban). Yet the Muslim ban has received highly negative reactions from liberals but for the most part the pedophile ban has received lauds. Posted by: Daniel | May 30, 2017 8:55:10 PM "The justification is that these pedophiles are going abroad to rape children." To be clear, they also may be concerned about molestation less than rape. And, liberals have been concerned about overreaching in the area of sexual offenses too. Those sorts of things are repeatedly opposed & it is not like the ACLU et. al. just say "well, that's fine." But, yes, as I said somewhat overbroad. I don't know the background to this provision; got this idea that if it was challenged in court, the government would show a "smidgen" of evidence, particularly as applied to the people who actually would travel (how many convicted sex offenders actually do?) here. The numbers are greater regarding the Muslim travel ban. They aren't convicted pedophiles. There is an explicit constitutional First Amendment concern. There is a good statutory argument cited by multiple judges in the opinion that just was decided. The motivation there is clearly tainted and that is more clearly a problem in race and religious discrimination claims than claims by convicted sex offenders. etc. Posted by: Joe | May 30, 2017 9:18:05 PM "Sounds like a modified travel ban might be somewhat overbroad." BTW, I was being sarcastic especially since even if you look at the specific area known for underage sex -- and the ban is much broader from what I can tell -- the numbers still don't look that good. Posted by: Joe | May 30, 2017 9:19:54 PM There is also, to my understanding, no evidence with the AUS ban or the IML that RSOs are, at any rate greater than the general public, going to these destinations to engage in sex tourism. I'm not sure if its incompetence or cynicism (or some of both), but I noticed that the justification for both laws is some measure of smoke and mirrors, fear mongering, and hand waving: to wit, they say that children are abused by people engaging in international sex tourism (a true fact), that registered sex offenders are traveling to these destinations (a true fact), and then leave the major unstated premise in the punch bowl, without any evidence to back it up, that RSOs are engaging in international sex tourism. I believe the US GAO came to that same conclusion with the IML, not that anyone cared. When you are on the registry, everything that you do is seen through a particular lens. You cannot be merely walking through the park, you must be looking for a victim, etc. In this instance, you cannot merely be traveling to some location in SE Asia, you must be going there to abuse children, therefore we're going to deprive you of human and civil rights. Nevermind that decades and stacks of research demonstrate extremely low re offense rates, and the fact that 95% of those convicted of sexual offenses are first-time offenders. Of course, as episodes like this are keen to remind all of us, reason bears little relevance to the order of the day. Posted by: Guy | May 31, 2017 10:13:34 AM We all agree that any man or woman who molests children or who travels to another country for that purpose should receive a severe sentence. With that said, however, once that person has served his or her time, they should have the same freedom to travel abroad as anybody else. That is one of the sacred freedoms that distinguish the democratic countries from Stalinist Russia, Singapore, or Nazi Germany, to name a few examples. If you ban one group who is no longer serving a prison sentence from traveling, you get a slippery slope. You could ban people for traveling due to their political views. Such an outrage occurred in the United States during the early 1950's when two major critics of reckless U.S. intervention into the Korean Peninsula's ongoing civil war lost their passports as a result of their politics. It took eight years for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn this policy. Other countries prohibited certain ethnic and racial groups from having the right to travel. The Soviet Union during the Cold War prohibited travel of Eastern European nationals to Western Europe. Australia's law has a suspicious resemblance to these other bans against the right to travel. Besides, some people under this law will certainly disobey it when the opportunity arrives. One can forge passports and other travel documents or stow away on ships or trucks without being caught by customs officials. Moreover, what happens if these people banned from travel abroad decide to get even with these laws by targeting politicians and the law enforcement people responsible for implementing these laws with revenge murder, etc.? These laws could then put police and other officials at needless risk to their own safety without contributing in any way to children's safety. Posted by: william r. delzell | May 31, 2017 10:39:52 AM Why is Australia picking a certain group of people who have already served their sentences as "those who can no longer travel"? What about murderers or thieves who have served their sentences, the chances that they will "re-offend" is actually higher than those convicted of sex offenses. This perpetual witch-hunting and shaming of those convicted of sex offenses needs to stop. The Senator who took credit for this initiative seems to be still dealing with demons related to his own past sexual molestation. Not every sex offender is a pedophile and every pedophile who is traveling is not out looking for victims. Provisions will be made for pedophiles who are traveling on business or for family reasons? That's just stupid. If someone is intent on committing a crime what difference would it make if they were traveling for pleasure, business or family reasons? The one thing Australia does seem to get right is allowing less serious offenders to drop off the registry after a few years. At least that sounds reasonable. The rest of it, just dumb. Posted by: kat | May 31, 2017 11:50:04 AM I would approach this from an entirely different direction, even assuming that some number of Australians travel to commit acts that would be criminal in Australia (and maybe even in the destination), why should Australia as a nation care? I would think it beneficial to Australians as a whole if folks did choose to travel somewhere else to engage in such acts. If the destination country doesn't care enough to prosecute I would think it beneficial that Australians with such urges have a ready outlet for their desires rather than being forced to look closer to home for a target. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Jun 1, 2017 12:34:08 AM @Soronel That is an excellent point because it highlights what I think is the fundamental motivation behind these type of actions which is an attempt to unite the Western world behind a shared set of cultural values. It amuses me that on one hand liberals are like OMG Muslim ban is bad because we can't exclude people because we are not at war with Islam and then turn around and say look how sexist those foreigners are. The real meat on the bone between liberals and conservatives is not whether "the west" is at war with "the east" because both liberals and conservatives believe we are; the real meat is what types of distinctions we should draw in that war. Liberals want to draw distinctions based upon secular grounds such as treatment of gay and treatment of pedophiles while conservatives opt for more traditional lines of attack on purely religious grounds. Viewed in that light it is easy to see why liberals reject the proposition Soronel offers. Regulating pedophiles isn't actually about protecting children; it is about virtue signaling in order to draw cultural contrasts. Posted by: Daniel | Jun 1, 2017 12:59:26 PM I just occurred to me that, with regard to my earlier argument that these proposals for restricting certain types of former sex offenders to staying inside Australia could also put Australia's airports and users at risk. Imagine, if you will, a disgruntled former sex offender at the ticket counter attempting to buy a ticket for an international flight only to be told that he or she may not leave the country even after completing his or her sentence. That person, if a hot head, might decide to act out. If he or she is secretly carrying a weapon, that person might threaten the ticket agent with the weapon. Or, if not having a gun, such a person still commit dangerous mischief: he or she could decide to deliberately run into a restricted part of the airport such as behind the ticket counter restricted to employees only, or into the luggage room where staff members transport suitcases to and from the airplanes. Such an action would prompt an immediate shut down of the airport that could last for hours or even all day, thus leading to cancellations of flights and several irate passengers who are not subject to any travel restrictions. Some might blame the former sex offender alone; others might put two and two together and blame the stupid law proposal; others might vent their anger on hapless staff personnel. So either way, everybody but the politicians, lose with such a stupid law proposal. Posted by: william r. delzell | Jun 2, 2017 12:29:20 PM Post a comment Notable new talk of notable new mandatory minimum sentences in Congress | Main | Second Circuit affirms convictions and LWOP sentence for Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht May 31, 2017 "Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth" The title of this post is the title of this notable new report from the Prison Policy Initiative. This PPI press release provide context and summary for the report's coverage: State capitols share responsibility for growing jail populations, charges a new report by the Prison Policy Initiative. Jails are ostensibly locally controlled, but the people held there are generally accused of violating state law, and all too often, state policymakers ignore jails, argues the new report, Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth. The fact that jails are smaller than state prison systems and under local control has allowed state officials to avoid addressing the problems arising from jail policies and practices. Reducing the number of people jailed has obvious benefits for individuals, but also helps states curb prison growth down the line, says Joshua Aiken, report author and Policy Fellow at the Prison Policy Initiative. Every year, 11 million people churn through local jail systems, mostly for minor violations of state law. Of the 720,000 people in jails on a given day, most have not been convicted of a crime and have either just been arrested or are too poor to make bail. And since the 1980s, crime has fallen but the number of people jailed has more than tripled. The new report finds that the key driver of jail growth is not what one might expect courtroom judges finding more people guilty and sentencing them to jail. In fact, the number of people serving jail sentences has actually fallen over the last 20 years. Instead, the report finds two troubling explanations for jail growth: An increasing number of people held pre-trial. Growing demand from federal and state agencies to rent cell space from local jails. Recognizing the importance of state-specific data for policymakers and advocates, the report offers more than a hundred graphs that make possible state comparisons of jail trends. The report uncovers unique state problems that drive mass incarceration: In some states, state officials have not utilized their ability to regulate the commercial bail industry, which has profited from the increased reliance on money bail and increased bail amounts. These trends have expanded the pre-trial population dramatically over time. In other states, state lawmakers have expanded criminal codes, enabled overzealous prosecutors, and allowed police practices to play a paramount role in driving up jail populations, while underfunding pre-trial programs and alternatives to incarceration. In 25 states, 10% or more of the people confined in local jails are being held for state or federal agencies, with some counties even adding capacity to meet the demand. This report is the first to be able to address the local jail population separately from the troubling issue of renting jail space. Era of Mass Expansion draws particular attention to the states where the dubious practice of renting jail space to other authorities contributes most to jail growth. Local sheriffs, especially in states like Louisiana and Kentucky, end up running a side business of incarcerating people for the state prison system or immigration authorities, explains Aiken. Renting out jail space often creates a financial incentive to expand jail facilities and keep more people behind bars. The report finds that renting jail space for profit has contributed more to national jail growth since the 1980s than people who are being held by local authorities and who have actually been convicted of crimes. For state policymakers, the report offers 10 specific recommendations to change how offenses are classified and treated by law enforcement, eliminate policies that criminalize poverty or create financial incentives for unnecessarily punitive practices, and monitor the upstream effects of local discretion. There are plenty of things local officials can do to lower the jail population, says Aiken. With this report, I wanted to bring in state-level actors by showing how much of the solution is in their hands. May 31, 2017 at 02:21 PM | Permalink Comments Forgot the only real reason. Lawyers need worthless government make work jobs. The rest is false propaganda bs. Posted by: David Behar | May 31, 2017 2:33:42 PM I was involved with the Texas Litigation in the WD of Missouri Federal District Court back in the late 1990s. We achieved a settlement. Missoura quit sending Missoura inmates to Texas. The thing went viral when a video film taken by a Texas guard in a jail showed the guards blasting the inmates with a firehose and sicking police dogs on them as they got off a bus on their arrival from Missoura. "Welcome To Texas" one of the guards yelled. Posted by: Liberty1st | May 31, 2017 5:56:23 PM If your jail is full you have a good argument that you need a new jail. Posted by: John Neff | May 31, 2017 7:48:40 PM If any of you lawyers are interested in filing a lawsuit to eliminate a county jail inmate system where they put state prisoners convicted of crimes into county jails, then go to The Michigan Law School Civil Rights website and look up The Texas Litigation. That set of files includes the Amended Class Action Complaint and the Settlement Order signed by Judge Laughery. Posted by: Liberty1st | Jun 1, 2017 7:07:44 AM Here is another local piece from NM about their rising prison population. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/n-m-prison-population-rises-while-other-states-see-decline/article_7575190f-8751-5787-8016-5308d6e070b2.html The political framing is interesting insofar as it paints the state as out of touch because it hasn't reformed. Posted by: Daniel | Jun 1, 2017 4:37:49 PM Post a comment "What Happened to the American Jury? Proposals for Revamping Plea Bargaining and Summary Judgment" | Main | "Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth" May 30, 2017 Notable new talk of notable new mandatory minimum sentences in Congress The Hill has this notable new article headlined "GOP pushes new minimum sentencing laws." Here are excerpts: The debate over criminal justice reform has taken a head-spinning turn on Capitol Hill. After months of debate over whether to curb mandatory minimum prison sentences, Republicans are now going in the opposite direction. A new border security bill includes mandatory minimum sentences for certain immigrants who try to re-enter the country after theyve already been deported and for people convicted of violent crimes against judges and police officers. The Hill reviewed a draft copy of the legislation, which is still being hammered out by Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas). The legislation includes Kates law, a measure named for Kathryn Steinle, a 32-year-old woman killed in 2015 by a felon who had been deported but returned to the United States. The law effectively creates a three-strike rule. Immigrants with prior aggravated felony convictions or two prior convictions for illegal re-entry would get a mandatory 5-year sentence. President Trump repeatedly talked about Steinle during his presidential campaign as he backed policies cracking down on legal and illegal immigration. The legislation also incorporates Cornyns Back the Blue Act, which creates a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence for killing a judge or federal law enforcement officer; a 10-year minimum for assault if the judge or law enforcement officer is seriously injured; a 20-year mandatory minimum if a deadly or dangerous weapon was used in the assault; and a 10-year minimum for fleeing after killing, attempting to kill or conspiring to kill a judge or law enforcement office. The law defines a law enforcement officer as any federally funded public safety officer or judicial officer for a public agency, including firefighters. The new legislation represents a shift in the battle over mandatory minimum sentences and criminal justice reform more broadly. Over the last several years, momentum for eliminating mandatory sentencing laws gained steam with the backing not only of former President Barack Obama, but also from conservatives such as Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Charles and David Koch, the conservative GOP mega-donors and political heavyweights. With the election of Trump, however, there are some signs that things are now moving in a different direction. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have vowed to empower law enforcement and crack down on illegal immigration.... Cornyns work on the new bill appears to represent another shift given his past work on the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act. That legislation, which Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) spearheaded alongside Lee and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), called for reducing mandatory minimums for certain drug crimes. Cornyn was one of the first 15 original co-sponsors of that legislation, which never made it to the floor for a vote.... Cornyn said the new legislation is in draft form and still evolving. We dont have a final product, he told The Hill on Thursday. Weve been sharing some language with the Department of Homeland Security and the House so there isnt a final product. I know people like to comment on leaked draft documents, but I dont find that very productive. When asked for his response to claims that provisions in his bill contradict his past support for reform, Cornyn said his bill is not a statement about mandatory minimums generally. Im not opposed to all mandatory minimums, he said. For example, felons carrying guns, I like the five-year mandatory minimum because it acts as a deterrent and saves lives.... Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said he understands Cornyn's reasoning for supporting minimums for certain crimes. But just because you support some [mandatory minimums], doesnt mean you should support the worst, he said. These are incredibly broad and expensive. Ring claims the provisions in Cornyns bill will cause more damage than any good Grassley's and Durbins reforms would have done in terms of reducing the prison population. These are two of the biggest prison expanding proposals weve seen combined into one massive bill, he said. We cant possibly build prisons fast enough to keep up with the influx wed have. Without seeing the particulars of the new mandatory minimums (MMs) being developed by Senator Cornyn, I am not yet prepared to weigh in on just how much of an impact they could have on the federal prison population. I am hopeful that the US Sentencing Commission might have an opportunity to analyze the possible impact of any and all new MMs before they come up for a vote in any committees or before the full Congress. If Senator Cornyn and other GOP members are strongly and aggressively committed to moving forward with new MMs for certain violent offenses and/or repeat immigration offenders, advocates of progressive reforms might be strategically wise to urge adding to any bill parallel provisions that reduce or eliminate MMs for certain nonviolent offenses and/or first-time offenders. Like many advocates of federal sentencing reform, I generally think all forms of mandatory minimums generally do more harm than good. But lengthy mandatory minimums for nonviolent and first offenders seem to me to be especially pernicious, and thus I would urge those troubled by the lemons of new proposed MMs try to find a way to make some sentencing reform lemonade. May 30, 2017 at 10:51 PM | Permalink Comments Expensive prison should be reserved for incapacitation. Stop punishing the tax payer for the crimes of others. Punishment should take the form of cheap, and infinitely repeatable corporal punishment. To deter. Posted by: David Behar | May 31, 2017 9:13:21 AM I support picking out a Justice by Congress. It would have best been Scalia, if still alive. Impeach for his judicial review decision to end mandatory guidelines. The rest of the pro-criminal Justices would get the message. Do it to another if they do not get the message, and ever pull another Booker stunt. These are pro-criminal biased lawyers and mass murderers, since loosing criminals has a result as foreseeable as planetary orbits. Does the sun rise in the East? If you release criminals, you will get more crime victimization. The Justices are not even really pro-criminal. That would be a human feeling. They are pro-lawyer employment. Their motive is corrupt, and self serving to the criminal cult enterprise. Posted by: David Behar | May 31, 2017 9:19:16 AM Thank goodness sanity has returned to DC. We need a completely mandatory system of sentencing to keep the Obama liberals from emptying the jails. Posted by: whatever | May 31, 2017 10:05:13 AM Always trying to accentuate the positive! Posted by: Joe | May 31, 2017 10:13:34 AM Cornyn is not a moron, but he acts like one frequently. Such a grandstandpanderer. Posted by: Fat Bastard | May 31, 2017 11:33:41 AM Post a comment Naively, you might have assumed that teenagers in the San Francisco Bay Area would be less blatantly racist than teenagers in, say, the depths of Mississippi in 1952. Sadly, you would be wrong. Earlier this month, we saw the troubling case of teenagers from a high school in Albany who sued the school district because they got in trouble for liking and commenting on racist Instagram posts. Now KRON 4 reports that a federal judge has ordered the Albany School District to stop disciplining the four students in question. Apparently one of the kids was facing an expulsion hearing in June, and he's now off the hook. The teens' lawsuit claimed that they have a First Amendment right to like whatever they want on social media. But hold on, things are worse than that. Down south in Los Gatos, high school students at Los Gatos High School have a tradition of dramatically asking each other to prom. It's a whole thing with them and kids are VERY into it. (This American Life covered some similar practices at a Utah high school in a recent episode.) SFGate gives us the scoop (via the school's newspaper El Gato) that this year's prom invitation situation got real racist. In two separate incidents, students apparently used racist "humor" to ask a potential date to dance around a gym. In the first instance, a student created a poster that depicted a poorly-drawn lynching and asked, "Do u wanna be like a n***** and hang at PROM?" The two did not end up going to prom together. GOOD. Another student asked someone to prom using a dark-skinned bitmoji (you know how you can change the skin-tone on emojis? Yeah, that.) The little emoji is designed with blue glasses and a hair bow, but when that student decided to bring the emoji image to life for the big prom ask, he eschewed the spectacles and the bow and instead just showed up in blackface. NBC Bay Area has a picture of this disaster. As El Gato explains, "The junior asked the sophomore in front of an audience of friends before taking a picture featuring the poster. The picture was posted on both Snapchat and Instagram and circulated throughout the school. Eventually, the administration was notified." Stanford-bound Los Gatos High senior and editor-in-chief of El Gato Danika Lyle published an opinion piece calling out her classmates. "As Lucey pointed out in his Facebook post, one of the most unnerving things about this prom ask is the lack of protest. It had received fifty seven likes. Fifty seven people viewed the post and overlooked its racism. Moreover, 11 people were brave enough to leave comments like 'this is iconic,' 'GOAT,' and 'U the MVP.' Praising someone for blackface does not leave you innocent. By applauding the Instagram post, you are supporting the perpetuation of a racist practice," wrote Lyle. Lucey refers to Miles Patrick Lucey, an alum of the high school who took to social media with Los Gatos High School's Facebook Page with his concerns. "GOAT" is teenager slang for "Greatest Of All Time." Administrators took to El Gato, currently the Bay's most high-trafficked high school newspaper site, to say, "No communication about any school event should denigrate another person or group for any reason. We are aware of two prom asks this spring that have been of a racist nature and want this choice of behavior never to recur." Obviously, folks are pissed that the school isn't doing more to educate these deplorable teens on the consequences of hate crimes. Instead administrators claim they are working to respond to these incidents "sensitively." ABC 7 reported on the situation in a post titled, "Los Gatos HS controversial 'prom asks' racist according to some." TO SOME. Related: Berkeley High School Student Confesses To Leaving Racist Threat On Library Computer You might remember a Halloween 2012 shooting at a Fort Mason party in which (then 21-year-old) Benjamin Passah was shot in the head, and ultimately given only a 25 percent chance to live. Passah spent three weeks in a coma, his recovery made national news when he was able to speak by Thanksgiving of that year, and his recuperation is now nearly full, save for some memory loss. It will be understandably difficult for him to forget that the guy who shot him in the head is back on the streets. ABC 7 reports that a judge released suspect Hun Saelee while he awaits a new trial in July. A jury acquitted Saelee of six felony charges in April, but hung on two other charges of attempted murder and assault with a firearm. "He spent four and a half years locked away when I spent four and a half years in an institution bettering myself everyday trying to improve myself because of the unfortunate circumstance that happened to me," Pessah, the victim, told ABC 7. Saelee's attorneys argue this is a fair outcome. "He was acting in self-defense against a hate crime assault," San Francisco Assistant Public Defender Vilaska Nguyen said. Nguyen is referring to the defense's case, which alleges that Saelee was running from several men Pessah's group after Pessah accused him of groping his date. According to an April statement from the Public Defender's Office following Saelee's no-conviction trial, "Two men in the group chased Saelee back to his car where they cornered him, hurling threats and anti-Asian slurs" and Saelee then brandished a weapon, for which he had a concealed carry permit, "hoping to scare the men away." Only after this did he fire "into the air," not intending to hit Pessah. Saelee will have a GPS monitor on him and will live under other court-ordered conditions. But the outcome is still difficult for Pessah and his legal team to accept. "There was brain matter on the pavement as a result of the gunshot wound. We were completely opposed to his release," San Francisco District Attorney Spokesman Alex Bastian told ABC 7. Ironically, as SFist reported at the time, the name of the name of the 2012 Fort Mason Halloween party was True Blood Halloween 3. Related: Teacher's Aide Behind Bars Following Mission Homicide The long stagnant and/or transitioning food scene around Oakland's Jack London Square where a the 434,000-square-foot waterfront development was built almost a decade ago with a vision of Ferry Building grandeur and has only been partly occupied in that time has been seeing some new life in recent months. As the Business Times reports, following the announcement of the addition of Burmese restaurant Grocery Cafe (which closed its original Oakland location in January) several weeks ago, both Tartine and Belcampo Meat Co. have announced they will open new locations in Jack London as well, both later this year. Tartine will be locating its coffee roastery in a 5,000-square-foot space, dubbed Tartine Coffee Manufactory. Situated next to the Port of Oakland, where many imported coffee beans arrive, the space will feature a pop-up coffee bar starting in the fall, and beans will be available for purchase on site, as Inside Scoop reports. It's unclear how many of Tartine's baked goods might make it across the Bay to this coffee bar, if any. Sustainable meat operation Belcampo is also aiming for the fall to open one of their butcher shop/restaurants, of which they now have a half dozen locations in Northern and Southern California, in addition to their Belcampo Burger location at The Yard in SF's Mission Bay. Founder Anya Fernald tells the Business Times, "Were extremely excited to bring Belcampo to Jack London Square. I have lived in the neighborhood for a decade and have seen this neighborhoods potential coming to fruition in the past few years we cant wait to help the momentum grow." The Jack London area has recently gotten other new tenants as well, including Brooklyn West Winery, Irish pub Slainte, and the upcoming new incarnation of Linden Street brewery, from a couple of its founders, Oakland United Beer Works. More details have been released in the weekend deaths that sent SF's homicide rate skyrocketing, including the news that one of the slaying suspects worked with children at a San Francisco school. As previously reported, 30-year-old San Francisco resident Alvaro Palma was shot to death at around 12:30 Sunday morning on the 4200 block of Mission Street just in front of The Oficina, an area bar. According to the San Francisco Police Department, responding officers "located and detained a possible suspect" at the scene of the crime. After homicide investigators interviewed the suspect, "it was determined this individual was responsible for Palmas murder," police say. The suspect has been identified as 44-year-old SF resident David Sanchez, who has been booked into San Francisco County Jail on felony charges of murder, possession of narcotics for sales, and possession of a controlled substance while armed. As of Wednesday morning, a SF Sheriff's Department spokesperson confirms that Sanchez remains in custody. Then at 1:11 a.m. Monday, police say that they were called to the 1300 block of Treat Avenue, which is between 26th Street and Kamille Court, on reports of a stabbing. When they arrived, they discovered 45-year-old SF resident Aaron Johnson "suffering from a severe stab wound." Johnson was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Officers who'd responded to the call detained a suspect at the scene: 52-year-old SF resident Lyris Wolfe. Homicide investigators interviewed Wolfe, a discussion police say "determined this individual was responsible for Johnsons murder." The Chron reports that Wolfe has worked as a teachers aide at the San Francisco School District's Dr. Charles R. Drew Alternative Elementary School for the last 15 years. She has been placed on unpaid leave from her role in the school's early education program, a SFUSD spokesperson confirms. According to the SFPD, Wolfe has been booked into San Francisco County Jail on felony charges of murder, two counts of assault with deadly weapon, and two counts of threats. As of Wednesday morning,she remains in custody, without bail. Police say that though arrests have been made in both cases, booking photos of the suspects are being withheld pending discussions with witnesses. Police also ask anyone with information on either case to contact the SFPD anonymously at 415-575-4444 or to Text-a-Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. Previously: Weekend Deaths Take SF's 2017 Homicide Count To 27 The Dainty Rogues are a local burlesque group that stands apart from other locals for their frontal approach to nerd culture. After shows that have incorporated themes of steampunk, Dungeons & Dragons and crime solving mystery, they set their sights on tackling their most ambitious show yet: a three day run of a 13 act production that celebrates long running sci fi show "Doctor Who." That BBC show follows the adventures of an eccentric Time Lord known simply as The Doctor, who travels through time and space. Doctor Who Or: How I learned to Stop Time and Love the Dalek, is billed by the Dainty Rogues as a burlesque fan fiction. To help finance the shows set and costume costs, the troupe did fundraiser performances at Company Brewing and 42 Lounge. Local collective Dalek Asylum participated by contributing their full scale, screen accurate Dalek models. If youre unfamiliar with the show, Daleks are the malicious aliens housed in robotic bodies that screech EXTERMINATE! as they chase the Doctor through time and space. Dalek Asylums goal is to create enough Daleks to set a world record for most Daleks assembled in one spot. Milwaukee in general has been a Who-positive city: a fan club called the Milwaukee Time Lords has been meeting since 1989 and 42 Lounge has had success with their annual Time Lords Ball event at Turner Hall. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE "Doctor Who" has captured a solid fanbase for decades, but what makes the show (usually viewed as a family friendly program) sexy? I think that 'Doctor Who,' at its core, is a fantasy, explains Lyndzi Miller, a member of Dainty Rogues. Each episode is enthralling, exciting, and gets your blood pumping. Like a sexy evening of burlesque, 'Doctor Who' can leave you breathless. We think that combining these two things is a perfect fit. Dangerous adventures are sexy, and we all want the Doctor to grab our hand and whisper, Run!" Doctor Who Or: How I learned to Stop Time and Love the Dalek runs June 2-4 at the Next Act Theatre. It's hard to believe the Sioux City Journal's Sioux Brew beer blog has been highlighting the region's craft beer revolution for 10 years. So much has changed since 2007, but one thing that hasn't is our love of a good craft beer get-together. With that in mind, we'd like to extend an invitation to you to attend a celebration in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Sioux Brew craft beer blog. Dave Winslow, owner and brew master at Jackson Street Brewing, is graciously hosting the soiree scheduled for Friday, June 23 from 5-8 pm at his Sioux City brewery, 607 5th St. No formal activities are scheduled, but we'd love the chance to meet with craft beer lovers and blog readers and talk with you about the craft beer in Iowa and beyond. A free, limited edition, 10th anniversary Sioux Brew beer glass will be given to those 21 years old and older while supplies last. Good fresh feta, the classic Greek cheese, should be moist and creamy when young. As it ages it becomes sharper and more complex with a clean, fresh, mouthwateringly tangy, salty flavor. Feta has been around for centuries, and there is hardly a Greek meal that does not incorporate feta cheese in some manner salads, stuffed into pies or crumbled on stews. It adds piquant flavor and texture to sweet and savory foods alike. Many other countries produce forms of feta cheese, including Australia, France, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany and, of course, the United States. By Greek law, feta must contain a minimum of 70 percent sheeps milk; the rest is goats milk. A European Economic Community ruling in 2001 mandates that no member nation can sell white brine cheese inside the European Community or anywhere else as feta. Names like white cheese or white brine cheese are suggested alternatives. I particularly like French-style feta because it is creamier and milder than those imported from countries other than Greece. The Greek word feta means slice the form in which the cheese is customarily served. It is normally sold in square cakes with no rind. I try to buy feta from a store that keeps it in its brine, which helps to preserve it. Mediterranean markets such as Daily Bread in Miami are good sources of brined feta. After purchase, I keep it in the refrigerator, submerged in the brine. I often adjust the brine to fine-tune the flavor of the cheese if its very salty I store it in plain water to temper the salinity; if its very sharp I add a little milk. Kept refrigerated and stored properly, feta cheese will last up to three months. Feta is best served at room temperature. A drizzle of honey and a short time in a 450-degree oven transform a standard block of crumbly feta into a surprisingly succulent, creamy spread for pita and vegetables. Served with a chunk of crusty bread and a glass of chilled white wine, this is the perfect warm weather appetizer. In general, feta cheese and goat cheese can be used interchangeably, such as when pairing with beets or roasted peppers, or for topping a pizza or crumbling into salads. HOW TO EXTRACT POMEGRANATE SEEDS Insert a paring knife into the top of the pomegranate, angling toward the middle. Cut a cone-shaped piece and gently remove it. Score 4 lines from top to bottom to quarter the pomegranate. Submerge the pomegranate in a bowl of water and pull apart the quarters, releasing the seeds with your hands. The pith will float and the seeds will sink. Remove the pith and discard, and then drain the seeds well. Place on a paper towel to remove all excess water. Those adhering today to the legendary prompt of 19th century America Go west, young man would serve themselves well by not going all the way west, particularly if the goal is to make Pacific Northwest wine. Coastal Washington has beauty and charms all its own and even produces some of the states wine. But eastern Washington is predominantly where the states wines come from most famously its cabernet sauvignon, merlot, riesling and syrah, among other varietals and blends. The state grows close to 70 grape varieties, after all, in roughly a 60/40 split, red to white. So, if the east is the best in the Northwest, it might cause you to wonder aloud: East of what? Great question. East of the Cascades the mountain range that acts like a gigantic meteorological checkpoint, keeping the states wet weather west and preserving the much drier climate of the east, where vineyards enjoy long, hot sunny days and cool nights. Because of Washingtons northerly latitude, vineyards there enjoy longer days of sunshine than do wine regions to the south, and longer days are good for ripening. When the northern night air rolls in and temperatures dip drastically (as much as 50 degrees in a single day), it helps grapes retain their all-important acidity. You can generally count on bright fruit and vibrant acidity in the wines of Washington, the countrys largest wine-producing state after California. Washingtons Puget Sound AVA (American Viticultural Area) hugs large stretches of the states Pacific coastline, on both the mainland and its many islands, and the Columbia Gorge AVA crosses the border into Oregon. But east of the Cascades and almost completely within Washington, the Columbia Valley AVA is where the overwhelming majority of the states wine is grown and produced. About 50,000 acres of grapevines are planted in Washington, most of them in Columbia Valley. The region is enormous, and within it, there are several smaller AVAs (the state is home to 14 AVAs total), including Walla Walla Valley, Horse Heaven Hills and Yakima Valley. And then, as if they were Russian nesting dolls, there are even AVAs inside Yakima Valley: Snipes Mountain, Rattlesnake Hills and Red Mountain. It all sounds very Wild West, doesnt it? I guess you could say that not too long ago (in wine years), Washington actually did have a sort of Wild West feel. Large-scale commercial vineyards started appearing in the 1960s, and as recently as 1981, the state was home to only 19 wineries. By the 1990s, the larger world began to take notice of Washington wines, and by 2001, the number of wineries had jumped to 170. Ten years after that there were 740, and today there are more than 900. The big, pioneering wineries of the Washington wine industry Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Winery, to name two are still thriving, but smaller, startup operations are materializing fairly consistently, even today. Dont be surprised when the number of Washington wineries exceeds 1,000 and you see even more of it on store shelves and restaurant wine lists. Meanwhile, pick up a few bottles and familiarize yourself with the wines of a western state that knows firsthand that, in at least one local pursuit, going west is a relative term. RECOMMENDED Below are notes from a recent tasting of Washington wines. They are listed in ascending order according to price, and by style whites followed by reds. WHITES 2015 Goose Ridge Vineyards g3 Estate Bottled Chardonnay. Green apple, nutmeg, honey, vanilla and a touch of salinity characterize this creamy wine from Columbia Valley. $15 2016 Tamarack Cellars Chardonnay. Tropical fruits, herbal qualities, pear, citrus, toasty notes, zingy acidity and 12.9 percent alcohol. $16 2015 Poets Leap Riesling. From Long Shadows Vintners, this off-dry riesling offered stone and tropical fruits, melon, lemon, minerality, crisp acidity and a long finish. $20 2015 Eroica Riesling. This tangy beauty, a collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle and Germanys Dr. Loosen, was full of apple, pear, lime and bright, refreshing acidity. $22 REDS 2014 Charles Smith The Velvet Devil Merlot. Plum, blackberry, herbs, tobacco and spice led to a lingering finish. $12 2013 Columbia Winery Merlot. Made of 87 percent merlot, this one was floral and toasty, with notes of black cherry and black licorice. $16 2014 LEcole No. 41 Merlot. A luscious mouthfeel, with ripe blue and black fruit and notes of violets and vanilla in a long, slow finish. $25 2014 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon. This lively and elegant wine offered a medley of plum, blackberry, olives, spice and a cleansing pass of mint. $30 2012 Cadaretta Cabernet Sauvignon. Blueberry, blackberry, vanilla, cocoa, herbs and touches of smoke and earth sum up this wine, with 14.8 percent alcohol. $40 2014 Canvasback Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. This silky wine was full of rich, dark fruits and black olives, plus leather and spice. $40 2014 Buty Winery Conner Lee Vineyard Merlot & Cabernet Franc. This 63/37 blend was floral with plum, cherry, cedar, tobacco and spice. $45 2013 Columbia-Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This luscious, lip-smacking wine was full of blackberry, black cherry and plum, with smoke and leather on the finish. $45 2014 Force Majeure Vineyard Parabellum. Juicy, complex Bordeaux-style blend (merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc), layered with dark fruits, nutmeg, vanilla and a hint of smoke. $55 2013 Woodward Canyon Artist Series #22 Cabernet Sauvignon. Plum, dark fruits, forest floor, baking spices, pine, black pepper and bright acidity sum up this wine. $59 2012 Double Canyon/Double Canyon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Violets, blackberry, plum, cedar, tobacco, lively acidity and a persistent finish characterize this Horse Heaven Hills wine. $65 SIOUX CITY | Reaffirming its support for Briar Cliff University President Hamid Shirvani, the college's board of trustees has dismissed a local media report that Shirvani was investigated for sexual harassment, saying it "inaccurately and inappropriately cast a cloud" over his leadership. "The board has confidence in his leadership and vision for the university, which values a campus culture comprised of compassion, integrity and justice," a letter to The Journal signed by 18 trustees said. "We do, however, recognize that change -- while often exciting -- can also be challenging, disruptive, and uncomfortable. We also recognize that recent media reports have inaccurately and inappropriately cast a cloud over President Shirvani's actions and leadership while at Briar Cliff. University staff are working hard to correct any public misinformation." Shirvani, who has drawn both praise and criticism for his management style during two decades as a college administrator, was named Briar Cliff's 10th president in April 2016, succeeding Bev Wharton. In February, Shirvani unveiled a five-year plan for the university with major changes that included new academic programs, increased admission standards for students and a new requirement that faculty members hold a doctorate degree. A number of staff and faculty also have departed in recent months. Briar Cliff attorney and Chief of Staff Rachelle Karstens said the university fully investigates all reports of possible federal Title IX violations, which includes sexual harassment. Karstens said Shirvani has not been in violation of any Title IX claims. Karstens said she can not disclose any open or past investigations involving university employees because cases are confidential. Under the policy, any employee-related Title IX complaint would be fully investigated by independent counsel, she said. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits colleges and universities from discriminating on the basis of sex in its education programs and activities. Sioux City television station KCAU last week ran a story alleging multiple female employees at the college had accused Shirvani of sexual harassment. The letter from the trustees did not specifically identify the station or elaborate on the report. At Briar Cliff University, strong, experienced leadership and shared governance are critical as we continue to adapt and improve to meet the changing needs of our students," the trustees said in the letter. "That is why the Board of Trustees would like to reaffirm our appreciation and support for President Hamid Shirvani." The trustees point out that Briar Cliff's enrollment this academic year was the highest in 10 years, and financial gifts to the school also have increased in the last year. Prior to coming to Briar Cliff, Shirvani had spent 11 months as chancellor of the North Dakota University System, which oversees the state's 11 public campuses. In June 2013, the North Dakota Board of Higher Education unanimously voted to approve a buyout of the final two years of his contract at a cost of nearly $925,000. The buyout came after months of growing concern among state lawmakers, university system officials, faculty and student groups over Shirvanis management style and treatment of staff. SIOUX CITY | Sioux City residents will have the opportunity to discuss issues with City Council members in an informal setting June 8 during the quarterly Coffee with the Council. The event will begin 8:30 a.m. June 8 at the Hy-Vee at 4500 Sergeant Road. The coffee is held on the second Thursday in the final month of each quarter. The gathering is hosted at different locations throughout the community. SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man was arrested Monday on charges that he punched and choked his 12-year-old son and assaulted other family members. JT Ring, 35, was booked in to the Woodbury County Jail on charges of child endangerment, domestic abuse assault and two counts of simple assault. Police were called at about 6 p.m. Monday to a lot at 5309 Highway 75 North, where family members reported that Ring was intoxicated and was yelling, calling them derogatory names and threatening to assault them. According to court documents, Ring got into an argument with his 12-year-old son and others at the home. Ring became upset when his son took away his alcohol for his own safety, court documents said. Ring then punched his son in the face and started to choke him. Ring also pushed his mother and punched his 11-year-old niece in the side of the face when she tried to protect her mother, who Ring grabbed by the neck and threw to the ground, court documents said. When tested by police, Ring had a blood-alcohol content of 0.196 percent, above Iowa's legal limit of 0.08 percent. HOSPERS, Iowa | A registered sex offender was arrested Tuesday for allegedly being on the property of a school in Hospers. The Sioux County Sheriff's Office said they received a report that Brian Oldenkamp, 36, was near a school without permission, which violates Iowa Sex Offender Registry conditions. Oldenkamp, of Sheldon, was also charged for failing to comply with the registry's mandates on reporting employment, the office said. The O'Brien County Sheriff's Office and a Sioux County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officer assisted in the investigation. According to the online registry, Oldenkamp was convicted in 2009 for false imprisonment of a minor. SIOUX CITY | Today is the last day of school for Sioux City students. First grade Morningside Elementary teacher Patsy Simoni said the final day of the school year is always a little hectic. "The kids need to get all packed up, get the desks cleaned out, we need to put all the curriculum away," Simoni said. "I like to play some games and do some fun things, have treats and talk about our first grade year." The last day of school this year will be different for Simoni, however -- it will be her last ever. She is retiring after 41 years of teaching elementary school. So while this last day of school will be a milestone one for everyone -- students move on from first to second grade, and from second to third -- it will have an especially profound impact on Simoni. "It will be very emotional, actually," she said. "I've taught since I was 23 years old, so this is all I've ever done for 41 years. So, it's going to be real different. And the kids know I'm retiring, but I don't think a lot of them really understand what that means. The older kids in the school do, and they've come to talk to me and give hugs." Simoni will not be alone in retiring today after a 41-year career. Fellow teacher Dee Ford is retiring after a career the same length, having taught at Webster Elementary, Hunt Elementary, Leeds Elementary, Bryant Elementary and North Middle School, where she has taught English for 13 years. Currently at Morningside Elementary, Simoni taught at the former Irving Elementary 17 years, then at Whittier Elementary for 22 years, and finally at Morningside for the past two years. Thirty-nine of Simoni's 41 years have been spent teaching first-graders, with brief forays into other grades. "I had one year of second grade, which I loved, but back then I didn't have enough seniority to stay in that grade, so I got bumped back to first, and then I taught one year of kindergarten," Simoni said. "And 39 years of first grade." Big changes A lot has changed since Simoni started teaching in 1976. In those days, first grade was than less high-tech. "We were doing the 16-millimeter films back then," she said. "So technology's changed a lot." Testing has also changed considerably, with standardized testing impacting how flexible teachers can be in the classroom. Simoni said that while state testing has yielded useful data for the classroom, it can also be a bit cumbersome -- especially with first-graders, who take the tests in a one-on-one setting. "So that makes it kind of difficult because you have to find things for the other kids to do while you're testing," she said. "But it gives us good information." There is one thing that has changed relatively little in Simoni's career -- the children themselves. "The kids are kids," she said. "They're just excited and have a lot of energy and they really haven't changed that much over 40 years." Retirement plans Simoni said she decided to retire earlier this year when the school district offered her an insurance stipend, making the decision easier. So far, Simoni's retirement plans remain relatively flexible -- she hasn't yet decided what she's going to do. "I haven't really made any major decisions," she said. "I'm going to Florida next week, that's my first trip. I need to downsize my house, and just do whatever. Hang out with friends, do some traveling." One definite plan Simoni has made is to volunteer at the school, especially during standardized test time, when most of the class needs to be tended to during one-on-one test proctoring. Among other things, Simoni said she will miss the happy moments of teaching first grade. "Just all the hugs and the excitement of first grade when they finally, the light bulb goes off and they can read, or they can do something they've struggled with," she said. "I'll really miss that." KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Travel on Holmes Road out south and you might see the "crazy old woman in a wheelchair." Her words. She says that's how people describe her when they call the police. She's out there on her Permobil M300, hugging the curb through rain, snow and dark. On the past winter's cold nights, you'd swear the heavy-duty wheelchair was being driven by a heap of coats and blankets because that's all you could see piled on the seat. But look deep into the quilted lair, beneath the mounted umbrella, and back in there is the round face of Leah Hadas Aviel, wire-rim glasses perched low on her nose, lavender hair, a ring on every finger and rock 'n' roll in her earbuds. Good grief, why is she out there? It's dark, it's raining, cars zipping past. Why isn't she at least on the sidewalk? This sweet old great-grandmother is gonna get plowed. Somebody should say something. Somebody did. "Yeah, well," Aviel said kindly when flagged to the curb, "I don't mean to be a smart a**, but have you ever ridden one of these things?" Sidewalk street crossings are bumpy, she explains. Hurts her back, which is already broken, which is why she's in the wheelchair in the first place. She'll take the street pavement even if, as she says, she has come close to scraping paint with cars and trucks. She points out, too, her power chair is Missouri Highway Patrol safety-approved and her route is perfectly legal. This is a woman who has chosen not to go gently into the night. She just goes. And that's what the wheelchair is for. She's not all that old, 70, but health issues mean she will never walk again. The chair keeps her out in the world. It is her vehicle to independence, to a life fulfilled. She travels to libraries, downtown, temple in Prairie Village and stores all over town, rolling aboard buses for longer trips. But mainly, she used the chair to get to a vocational school where she just wrapped up a certificate in medical coding and billing. Now, she's just another spring grad looking for a job. Only her end game is not to start a career, but to get a weekly paycheck so she can get out of her assisted-living facility. "I'm not cut out to live with 28 old people sitting in their rooms watching paint dry," she said. "I want a job, to be on my own. I want my own piece of the earth. "I want to set up my books on my bookshelf. My hardback books. And this scooter elevates me so I can reach the ones on the top shelf." She knows she draws stares when she rolls down a street. Her Permobil, with all its hangings -- bags, provisions, stuffed toys and ornaments -- looks like a scooter version of Pa Joad's truck. People think she's some kind of motorized bag lady, and she's fine with that. Because Aviel has places to go. She's matriarch of a family haunted by demons. She, too, is their connection to faith. "I need to teach the young ones," she said. Rabbi Scott White at Congregation Ohev Sholom in Prairie Village sees Aviel roll into temple every week. "She's sort of like a fine wine, keeps getting better," he said. "She's very creative, very ambitious. She perseveres through her disability and just keeps going. "And she is very much the spiritual core of her family." Her scooter also gets her to The Daily Limit, a bar up the street at Red Bridge Shopping Center. She likes the Canadian Club. Straight up. She also enjoys a band that plays there -- The Rippers, a '60s tribute group. "I'm one of their groupies," Aviel said. "I'm out on that dance floor and I've wiggled so hard in this scooter I've probably shaken a few screws loose." 'She wants to be there for us' A son, a daughter, seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and another on the way and nobody dares tell Great-Grandmother Leah (that's what her business card says) to stay off the streets at night on her scooter. Why not just stay in and play bingo and do crafts with the other residents at Waterford South, the residential facility where she lives? "Wouldn't do any good," said son Oliver Edwards of Overland Park, Kan. "She's going to do what what she's going to do. Nothing changes there." When told she was cruising Holmes a recent night with Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" in her earbuds, Edwards said: "Probably." He and other family members say Aviel is like a free-willed, old hippie chick who refuses to stay on the disabled list. Tell her she can't and she'll show you she can. "Stubborn is probably the word," grandson Jesse Tucker said. "She's taking these classes because she wants a job. She's just not happy living where she is. Nothing against that place, but she wants a place of her own. "She doesn't think she needs managed, and she'll sure let you know it. "And she wants to be there for us. I got away from church for a while. She brought me back." Some members of the family have wrestled with substance-abuse issues. Aviel herself had a rough beginning in life. She said her father was an alcoholic. The more he drank, the more her mother prayed, and the more she prayed, the more he drank. Her mother scrubbed floors. A younger sister died when she was hit by a car. "And that was my childhood," she said. As an adult, Aviel worked as a surgical tech in hospitals. She married a few times, and moved often. But a few years back when she broke her back in a fall in an operating room, she returned to Kansas City for good. She started reading more, learning new things and got back to her Jewish faith. She speaks with passion of the moral obligation to stand with groups historically oppressed: Jews, African-Americans, the LGBT community, the bullied and disabled. "You stand with those groups even if you stand alone," she said. "Do so with a willing heart and God's blessings will come to you. "Being in a wheelchair, I'm not asking to be put at the front of the line. I just want to be on the list." Men ages 55 to 69 should talk with their health care provider about prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer. That's according to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Clinicians inform men ages 55 to 69 years about the potential benefits and harms of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)based screening for prostate cancer. Many men will experience potential harms of screening, including false-positive results that require additional workup, overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and treatment complications, such as incontinence and impotence. The task force recommends against PSA-based screening for prostate cancer in these men age 70 years and older. "The recommendations don't change for men over 70. If men over 70 are asymptomatic with no family history, they don't' need to have PSA tests every year," says Mayo Clinic urologist Dr. Matthew Tollefson. "Those men have very low risk of dying from prostate cancer. But for men who are from 55 to 69, there can be a benefit seen with screening. This is where the task force is now giving nuance to the discussion and saying there isn't a blanket statement for everyone." The PSA blood test is the most common method to screen for prostate cancer. Tollefson says there are benefits of PSA prostate cancer screening, but it's not risk-free. "Screening men from ages 55 to 69 is the benefit of catching a cancer earlier, when it's easier to treat and potentially cure," he says. "If men are screened, then, potentially, that tumor can be identified when it's at a curable state. Then, they can undergo curative treatment and reduce their risk of dying of prostate cancer. "The risk of being screened, in a lot of ways, comes with the risk of being treated. If a man is screened, and the test shows he is at risk of prostate cancer, frequently, the next step is to get a prostate biopsy. There is a small, but real risk of infection to arise after a biopsy. Then, with treatment -- both with radiation as well as surgery -- the risk of incontinence and erectile dysfunction can be a real issue for some men." Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in American men. The American Cancer Society says about one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Tollefson says it's important for men to have a conversation with their health care provider to determine the best option that weighs risks and as well as personal preferences. MINNEAPOLIS -- Like many people of a certain age, Diane Fuglestad has been made to feel invisible. The tipping point came one winter day at the bus stop, when the driver closed the doors in her face and started to drive off. After she knocked on the door to get his attention, his excuse was, "Oh, I didn't see you there." There was a time she might have chalked that up to life in a society that overlooks its senior citizens, and moved on. But after six years of taking improv comedy classes, she decided she wouldn't accept invisibility anymore. "I said, 'OK, that's it.' You don't see me? We'll fix that." Fuglestad bought a barrette with a giant yellow ribbon on it and wore it all day, every day, until she couldn't help but be noticed. "Improv gave me the guts to do that," she said after a recent Monday morning class. "See me. Acknowledge me. Talk to me." At the Brave New Workshop comedy school in Minneapolis, Fuglestad, 69, is one of 30 senior citizens who have been learning improvisational technique for years. It's about more than getting a laugh: The classes give these elders new skills to think and act quickly, speak up and, most of all, be seen. Most found improv through the city's community education catalog, looking for ways to keep active after retirement. Other than absences for surgeries or snowbird trips, regulars have been coming to one of two weekly classes for more than a decade, with a few new members joining every year. "I'm harder on them than I am on anyone," said instructor Lauren Anderson, an actress at Brave New Workshop and the Monday class' leader for the past five years. "These are some of the most vital, involved, interesting people I've taught, regardless of age." A typical class begins with warmups that stretch the muscles and vocal cords. Hips sway to "ooh, ahh," then swing around to "oh, wah, wah, wah." Students throw each other an invisible ball, the signal to shout a "zip," "zap" or "zop." Finally, they form words and organize them into declarative statements -- the building blocks to improv: "I am flatulent. I am overwhelmed. I am elated. I want pizza." Then, they perform made-up scenes on the spot, going wherever their imaginations take them and high-fiving afterward. They play babies in the mountains; they spot a depressed octopus in a swimming pool, and they have deep conversations about nature and shoes. It doesn't need to make sense. "It's a safe place for expressing ideas," said Judi Tsudo, 70, a former preschool teacher. "Whatever you say is the truth, so I don't have to worry about whether I made a mistake or not." Tsudo started learning improv when she retired four years ago and has become something of an improv addict. She takes both of Brave New Workshop's senior classes every week. A writer in her spare time, she has found that spontaneous comedy has improved her craft. "It helps me get ideas and more vocabulary in my mind," she said. "I'm coming up with things quite a bit faster, and not thinking as hard." And though there's always the threat of stage fright, improv is safer than other recreational activities she's been hesitant to take on. "It's not bungee jumping," she said. The power of 'Yes' Many of these senior students say the principles of improv have helped them in their daily interactions. Improv's No. 1 principle: "Yes, and." It means accepting what someone gives you and then building on it. "That's such a positive way to look at things, because you're agreeing with someone and then you're adding your point of view, without saying 'but,'?" said Nikki LaSorella, 73. A former social justice advocate, LaSorella has been in the class for eight years, and has no intention of stopping. "Because it is an art form, we keep learning," she said. "I don't think it's something that you give up." Jim Beggs, 71, a semiretired physician, wishes he had studied improv earlier in his career. Naturally introverted, he says the concept of "yes, and" has given him a newfound ability to be more outgoing with his patients. "It's communication," Beggs said. "The best thing you could do as a physician is listen and communicate." For shy Scott Schumack, the youngest in the group at 66, improv has given him enough confidence in his sense of humor to share it with his skeptical family members. "I had the opportunity to be funny at one point at a family gathering, and people were looking at me like, 'What did you just do?'?" he said. A cousin who had previously doubted him surprised him with positive feedback. "You will never find a drier wit," the cousin told him. In his droll, deep voice, Schumack said, "I treasure this." Aging funny bones Although the goal of the class isn't necessarily to perform, some of these longtime students do take the stage around the Twin Cities area. They've played benefits and festivals, meeting throngs of fans afterward. The improv theaters around town are welcoming, they say, even if they do encounter ageism among younger players. "They always cast you as the older whatever," Fuglestad said. The remedy to that, she found, is simply to think and speak faster than her counterparts. "One day I walked on stage with a guy 25 years younger, and I said, 'Hey, Dad,'?" she said. "You have to bring it to their attention." Sometimes students take a timeout from the laughs in class to talk about the ageism they encounter day-to-day. In that way, the class is also a support group for older people who refuse to be overlooked. The classmates say stepping out on stage gives them a chance to show their younger fellow improvisers that brittle bones can still be funny bones. "We're educating these young people with our ideas that they don't think we have anymore," said Susan Youngdahl, 79. "To them, we are Grandma and Grandpa, very strait-laced, we don't know any four-letter words, and we don't know what they mean. So when we perform, it's eye-opening." 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. Jennifer Moreland has been promoted to director of the Calvert County Department of Community Resources. Linda Vassallo to Lead New Department of Communications & Media Relations. The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is pleased to announce the promotion of Jennifer Moreland to director of the Calvert County Department of Community Resources. She will replace Maureen Hoffman upon her June 2017 retirement after 15 years of service."Maureen leaves big shoes to fill," said board President Tom Hejl. "But I am confident Jennifer will continue and build upon Maureen's outstanding commitment to the health and human services issues facing our county's most vulnerable citizens.""I am passionate about the well-being of people in the community," shared Moreland. "With my background in collaboration and data-driven planning, I look forward to working with the Board of County Commissioners, county department heads and the community to gain insight on the successes and challenges they face in their work on behalf of our citizens."Moreland has been the Calvert County Department of Community Resources Family Network Coordinator for the past two years. In her current role, she manages multiple state grants and secures funding for social programs that improve the well-being of children, youth and families in Calvert County. Before joining Calvert County Government, Moreland was with the United Way of Calvert County where she served as director of community impact and the 'Success by 6' coordinator. She earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication and Communication Studies from Towson University. Her promotion will take effect June 1Calvert County is seeking an Economic Development Director to manage the Economic Development Department. The work involves working with, and providing guidance to, businesses interested in locating or expanding in the County.The work requires a degree and extensive experience. This position requires considerable responsibility, complexity and variety. This position reports to the County Administrator.Complete job details at md-calvertcounty.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/15730 The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners adopted a Growth Tier Map to identify areas where new major and minor residential subdivisions may occur and the type of sewage disposal systems to serve them. The Growth Tier Map puts Calvert County in compliance with Maryland's Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012."Through adopting the Growth Tier Map, we hope citizens discover that Calvert County is rural and will remain rural for years to come," said board President Tom Hejl. "There is a lot of misconception about the possibility of over-developing Calvert County and the fact is, we can't, nor do we want to. I hope residents take the time to look at this map and discover that we will maintain our rural character."In 2012, the state of Maryland adopted the act to limit creation of new residential subdivisions served by private septic systems. The act, also known as the "Septics Law," was adopted to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limits on Chesapeake Bay nutrient and sediment pollution.Under the act, local governments such as Calvert County were prohibited from approving major residential subdivisions outside areas served by public sewerage systems until adopting the growth tiers. In Calvert County major subdivisions are those with eight or more lots. Learn more about the specifics of four growth tiers at www.co.cal.md.us/index.aspx?nid=1340 The Compensation Review Board will meet June 7 in the Duke Room, 30 Duke St. in Prince Frederick. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m.The board meets, every four years, to perform those duties set forth at Section 9-405 of the Public Local Laws of Calvert County, including the review of and making recommendations regarding the salaries of certain Calvert County elected officials, including members of the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners, whose salaries are set through law by the Maryland General Assembly.For more information on the meeting of the Compensation Review Board, contact Lisa Viverette, Executive Administrative Assistant to the County Administrator, at 410-535-1600, ext. 2201, or email viverelm@co.cal.md.us.The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) announces that nominations are being accepted for the annual Calvert You Are Beautiful Volunteer Awards. This program recognizes Calvert County residents for their volunteer service to Calvert County.Nominated volunteers might be a medic at a local fire and rescue station; someone who staffs a fundraiser or festival; or the person who generously gives time to school programs, museums, hospice, homeless shelters and other service-based agencies.Nomination forms are available online at www.co.cal.md.us/cyab or by calling the Calvert County Department of Economic Development (DED) at 410-535-4583. Completed nomination forms should be returned to DED, 175 Main St., Prince Frederick, Md., 20678, Attn: "Calvert You Are Beautiful." Applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered by July 7, 2017. All nominees will be honored at a ceremony sponsored by the BOCC in September 2017.The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Linda Vassallo as director of the new Calvert County Department of Communications & Media Relations. The appointment is an important part of the reorganization plan the board approved April 25 to improve overall county government operations and services to the public.Vassallo, who is currently director of the Calvert County Department of Economic Development (DED), has worked for Calvert County Government for 21 years. Hired as the county's first marketing and communications specialist in 1996, she quickly moved through the ranks to become DED director in 1999."Linda has done a fantastic job for the business community and for the taxpayers of Calvert County," said board President Tom Hejl. "She is the true definition of a public servant. Over the last 21 years, she has worked hard to more than double our business base from less than 1,700 businesses in 1996 to the more than 4,650 businesses we have today, increasing the commercial tax base more than 200 percent or by nearly $900 million."She and her team played a vital role in two of the county's most important economic legacies," Hejl continued. "She helped coordinate the Dominion Cove Point LNG expansion and her team's work on cultivating a robust commercial tax base was a key factor in Calvert County Government earning its first triple-A rating from all three credit rating agencies last year.""The experience I have obtained on the economic development side of the house has been invaluable," shared Vassallo. "I am honored to have played a role these last several years in building an economic development climate that is sustainable and growing to meet the needs of business owners and the citizens."It has been a great run, but I am truly excited to lead the new Department of Communications & Media Relations," she continued. "Our communication team brings an impressive skill set to the table. We look forward to the opportunity to grow our existing communications program into a more robust operation."Vassallo earned her bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Towson University and held several public information and public affairs positions before joining Calvert County Government. She is currently a board member of the College of Southern Maryland Advisory Council, the Patuxent Partnership and Leadership Southern Maryland Leadership Council, and she is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Maryland. Vassallo will transition to the position of director of the new Communications & Media Relations Department July 1. Recruitment is currently underway to fill the DED director's position. The invitation of Dr. Jerry Newcombe to speak at Fort Lauderdales Memorial Day ceremonies caused the Gold Coast Chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights to boycott the event. Newcombe has been an outspoken opponent of LGBT equality, including speaking against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans from serving in our military, Lee Lawson wrote, president of the Gold Coast Chapter. Lawson said Newcombes invitation to give the invocation and closing prayer was an affront to all the LGBT veterans who had served in the military and sacrificed their lives. AVER chose to attend the citys second Memorial Day ceremony. Newcombe, minister of Truth In Action Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, formerly known as Coral Ridge Ministries, has a history of remarks that have been criticized by members of the LGBT community as well as Right Wing Watch, a progressive advocacy group that monitors the speech and actions of conservative politicians and leaders. Right Wing Watch has multiple videos produced by Truth In Action Ministries, which label homosexuality as a threat to society. In a May 2012 article titled Would Jesus Approve of Same Sex Marriage? posted on his website, Newcombe wrote Today people sometimes say that Jesus never condemned homosexuality. But He did when He condemned pornea (from which we get the word pornography). In Matthew 15:19, Jesus condemned a host of sins, one of which is pornea. This word is translated as sexual immorality. It would include all the sexual sins prohibited in the Old Testament, such as pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexuality, incest, and bestiality. In that same article, Newcombe wrote that same sex marriage is simply another nail in the coffin of the American family, along with the spectacular failure of so many heterosexual marriages that fail to follow Gods commands to the husband and wife as set forth in the Bible. In a 2012 video about the radical homosexual agenda, Newcombe and others compared homosexuality to an iceberg that threatened to destroy the country. The moral iceberg is ripping a hole in the structure of America and were taking on water. Can we repair the damage before its too late? Newcombe said. When giving the invocation at the Memorial Day ceremony, Newcombe said political correctness was a threat to America. In an interview with SFGN after the ceremony was over, when Newcombe was asked to elaborate, he said that he was talking about radical Islam and the failure of some to address the dangers of Muslims who commit terrorism. A born-again Christian would not have done those things, he said, referring to the May 22 bombing in Manchester, England. Asked about his previous comments and the boycott by AVER, Newcombe said he doesnt hate anybody and only wants to point people to the light of god. The controversy over Newcombe is similar to the one caused when Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler attended the annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast on April 28. At that event, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, a conservative Christian who has also made statements offensive to the LGBT community, was a featured speaker. I wish they were here with us, Seiler said about AVER. We have so many things that divide us. Black, white. Gay, straight. Christian, Jew. The mayor said hes concerned that AVER feels unappreciated and unable to attend by the invitation of Newcombe. These gay veterans are modern day American heroes. Asked about the invitation of Newcombe, Seiler said he didnt know anything about the pastor and that this is the first time objections have been raised about Newcombe who has been a part of the ceremony for a number of years. Black Hole Formation HSCFA A long-standing question in astrophysics is: how and when did supermassive black holes appear and grow in the early universe? New research using NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) suggests that an answer to this question lies with the intermittent way giant black holes may consume material in the first billion years after the Big Bang. Astronomers have determined the Big Bang occurred about 13.8 billion years ago and have evidence from the SDSS that supermassive black holes with masses of about a billion times that of the Sun existed by about 12.8 billion years ago. This implies that supermassive black holes grew rapidly in the first billion years after the Big Bang. Yet, scientists have struggled to find signs of these growing giant black holes. Supermassive black holes are not spontaneously born they need to ingest vast amounts of material and that takes time, said lead author Edwige Pezzulli, PhD student of the University of Rome in Italy and member of the project FIRST, funded by the European Research Council. We are trying to figure out how they have done this without giving off many telltale signs of this growth. When material is falling toward a black hole, it becomes heated, and produces large amounts of electromagnetic radiation, including copious X-ray emission. Rapidly growing black holes in the very early universe should be detectable with Chandra. However, these growing supermassive black holes have proved to be elusive, with only a few, yet-to-be-confirmed candidates found in very long Chandra observations such as the Chandra Deep Field-South, the deepest X-ray image ever taken. To address this conundrum, Pezzulli and her colleagues examined different theoretical models and tested them against optical data from the SDSS and X-ray data from Chandra. Their findings indicate that black hole feeding during this era may turn on abruptly and last for short periods of time, which means this growth may be difficult to spot. In our model only about a third of black holes were actively consuming material and growing 13 billion years ago said co-author Rosa Valiante of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Italy and member of the FIRST team. About 200 million years earlier only 3% of the black holes were actively eating. Timing, it appears, may be everything. The researchers reached their conclusions after testing multiple hypotheses, all of which assumed that the black hole growth could exceed the so-called Eddington limit, where the outward pressure of radiation from the hot gas balances the inward pull of the gravity of the black hole. The authors results argued against the possibility that only a small fraction of galaxies during the first billion years after the Big Bang contain supermassive black holes. Also, although these early black holes were likely obscured by thick clouds of material, the authors found that most of the X-rays would have been able to penetrate these clouds. The study is based on the idea that when they were born, the first black holes weighed only about a hundred Suns. These light black holes seeds could be the remnants of the first generation of massive stars formed only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, said co-author Maria Orofino, PhD student of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Italy. The researchers, a team of female scientists, including Simona Gallerani of Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and Tullia Sbarrato of Bicocca University of Milan, in Italy, found that black holes can bulk up so much in their relatively rare bursts of intense growth that light seeds can reach a billion times the mass of the Sun when the universe is only a billion years old. In order to know if we are ultimately correct, we will need to look at larger swaths of the sky in X-rays to see if we can find the early, feasting black holes that our models have predicted, said Raffaella Schneider, of Sapienza University in Italy and leader of the ERC project FIRST. Our results certainly show promise. Reference: Faint Progenitors of Luminous z~6 Quasars: Why Dont We See Them? Edwige Pezzulli et al., 2017 April, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society [https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw3243, preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.04188]. NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandras science and flight operations. Meet Ilja Croijmans, a Dutch scholar doing pioneering research into the language that humans use to describe smells and tastes. People in the business of beverages and, for that matter, anyone who is fastidious about flavor will be intrigued by his findings, which are summarized in his report Odor Naming Is Difficult, Even For Wine And Coffee Experts. Croijmans, who is completing a Ph.D. at the Centre for Language Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, published the 2015 article with Asifa Majid, his university mentor and an affiliated principal investigator with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. But take note, Team Coffee, the research revealed that wine experts were more consistent in describing the wines they tasted than coffee experts were with coffees. And Speciality Coffee Association of Europe-trained professionals were about as consistent in their coffee judgments as laypeople. Say whaaa? Excusez-moi? Sprudge lobbed such protests (along with more scientific questions) at Croijmanshimself a Scotch whisky fan known to brew sour stout at home and keep an AeroPress at work. In the article, you say that articulating odors is a challenge for speakers from WEIRDthat is, Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democraticcultures compared to some others. Why is that? One possibility we investigated is that this is because WEIRD cultures dont have the words to talk about smell. For example, the Jahai, a hunter-gatherer community in Thailand, have about 12 words for smells that can be compared to our words for colors. Those words are short, abstract, used very often, and can be applied to many different smells. For example, the smell of bat droppings, smoke, ginger root, and petroleum are all described with the word cs, as found by another cited study in the article. But in WEIRD cultures, we dont have a vocabulary for smells like the Jahai, so we come up with other strategies. When we describe smells, we often use comparisons or references to source terms, for example tastes like chicken or smells like flowers. This might be part of the explanation: We dont have the words to specifically talk about smells. Another possibility is that we just dont get enough practice describing smells in our daily lives. This is why odor and flavor experts are so interesting: They get plenty of practice putting their sensory perceptions into words. In view of this cultural discrepancy, you conducted a study to see if the specialized training that flavor experts from WEIRD cultures undergo could make them better at naming smells than laypeople. What did you find? We asked wine experts, coffee experts, and laypeople to describe the smell and the flavor of different wines and different coffees as well as more simple smells, like lemon and cinnamon, and tastes, [like] sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Then we looked at how consistent they werethat is, how many of the same words the different experts mentioned for the same coffee or wine. What we found surprised us: Only wine experts were more consistent in describing smells and flavorsbut only smells and flavors of wines, not of coffees or the other smells and tastes. However, the same finding did not hold true for coffee experts and their consistency in naming smells and flavors of coffee. You had 22 wine professionals (each holding a WSET Level 3 Award), 20 coffee professionals (holding an SCAE Diploma), and 21 laypeople come to Nijmegen. Can you describe the methodology used to test their coffee palates? I prepared five different coffees for each participant by grinding the coffee very shortly before the experiment and preparing it in the same way you would when cupping coffee. I asked the participants to smell each coffee, describe the smell, then taste the coffee, and describe the flavor. Importantly, I instructed all participants, including the wine experts and laypeople, to slurp! This is something that comes naturally to coffee experts because it is important for the flavor of coffee but is not so natural for laypeople. What was most important for us was that the coffees were distinctfor example, using a Brazilian and an Ethiopian, both of which have very distinct flavors. We expected this to provide enough opportunity for participants to say interesting things about the smell and the flavor of each coffee. In addition, the coffee had to taste the same on each day, so I would carefully monitor the temperature of the water because this influences taste. We used coffee roasted in exactly the same way for each participant, from the same batch of beans. To achieve this, we worked with coffee roaster Bjorn Aarts. Also important was for the differences between coffees to be somewhat comparable to the differences between wines. We did this by looking for parallels between coffee and wine production; different grape varieties parallel different coffee varieties, and we used both wines and coffees from different origins and continents. And how do coffee experts compare to wine experts? Interestingly, coffee experts did not agree on coffee smells and flavors the way wine experts agreed on wine smells and flavors. In terms of this agreement, coffee experts were more comparable to laypeople. What we did find is that coffee experts use significantly more concrete source terms, like fruit or peanut, than laypeople, and fewer evaluative terms like nice or disgusting. What accounts for the differences? One hypothesis is that wine language is much more incorporated in our culture. You find wine descriptions everywhere, but not coffee descriptions. It could be that wine experts get more opportunities to talk about wine. With current developments in the coffee industry, with more and more coffee descriptions everywhere, its interesting to keep track of the developments. Perhaps once coffee language is more engrained in our culture, like wine language, we can repeat the experiment to see if the coffee experts have caught up! And the differences between professionals and laypeople? Overall, you see that experts use much less evaluative descriptions than laypeople. For laypeople, the fact that something tastes good or bad is incredibly important, but this seems less important for experts; they judge it based on the different flavors, whether there is balance, et cetera. What implications does your research have for coffee professionals? It is extremely hard to improve your sense of smell or taste in terms of sensitivity, but it seems possible to become more sensitive to particular smells if you train enough. For example, think of a specific coffee fault that you could train your sensitivity for by smelling over and over again. The research isnt very conclusive, but it seems you can become more sensitive through training, though this is restricted to that specific smell. I can offer a wine example because this is what most research has been done on: Wine experts seem to be able to become more sensitive to this thing called ladybug taint, the smell that wine gets when ladybugs contaminate the grape juice during fermentation. Wine experts are more sensitive to that smellthey actually seem to smell it better than laypeople. In terms of language, we show a somewhat similar picture. It is important to practice your language by talking to other people about the smell and the flavor of coffee. Take every opportunity to talk about what you smell and taste. If our hypothesis is true, this will improve your ability to describe coffee, and that would make the entire expert community agree more on the language of coffee. What might this mean for everyday coffee drinkers? If all coffee experts agree on how to name flavors and smells of coffee, drinkers might benefit because they could more easily learn what they like in a coffee. It would then matter less which barista you went to for your espresso because they would all speak the same coffee language, and be able to explain in the same terms how their coffees taste. So this would improve consumer-directed language, and the consumers expectations would be better met. Having a consistent vocabulary further professionalizes the field, too. Ultimately, coffee drinkers would benefit in every way. So what comes next to further this research? I already hinted at this, but it would be interesting to see what happens in 10 years in the field of coffee, and then repeat this study! Coffee and coffee expertise is a topic that deserves much more attention in the same way wine and wine expertise already receives attention from the scientific community. Besides the parallels between coffee and wine, there are also marked differences between the two beverages and expertise typesthese differences alone deserve research. Read more about Ilja Croijmans here and follow him on Twitter. Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge. Rusty Nash has taken the lead in the Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge this past week with a point total of 376.3, 12.7 points ahead of Matt Roses 363.6. Russ Adams, who was in the lead as of the last report, has dropped back to third place, not far off the pace with 337.1 points. The big mover this week is Megan Maccario who has moved up three slots from seventh to fourth place. With most of the recent legs consisting of few races won by favourites, it has been hard for any handicapper to put together a string of victories with the winners share of 50 points. Often, lions share of points had to be split between multiple handicappers tying for the day which has precluded any big moves. However, with the passing of Memorial Day weekend, the Grand Circuit kicks into high gear so there will be plenty of multi-race legs ahead for handicappers to take advantage of. Next Up: This Saturday (June 3), the Grand Circuit Handicapping challenge visits Northfield Park for the Battle of Lake Erie while Mohawk Racetrack hosts divisions of the Somebeachsomewhere as well as legs of the Graduate Series for four-year-old trotters and pacers. The following week has the Charlie Hill Trot on Saturday evening while Tioga Downs hosts pacers and trotters in the Graduate on Sunday. (HANA Harness) The ladies go to war Thursday night (June 1) at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park. The 10-dash program kicks off at 6:30 p.m., with the $2,250 Open Mares Pace highlighting the card in race nine. Woodmere Articblue will look to defend last weeks title from post four for trainer/driver Marc Campbell, who continues to dominate the Charlottetown driving standings with an incredible 35 wins from 85 seasonal starts. Tanya Tremblett and Stevi Jardine of Nova Scotia share ownership of Woodmere Articblue. Newcomer Prettyndangerous was second in her East Coast debut and gets post three for driver Adam Merner and co-owner/trainer Bo Ford and co-owner Arnold Myers, all of Charlottetown, while Shadows Mystery is the morning line favourite from post two for driver Kenny Arsenault. Race analyst Les MacIsaac likes the chances of Shadows Mystery to rebound from last weeks third place finish and hit the winners circle Thursday night. She got stung to the opening quarter last week but landing inside the big leavers tonight should give her a fairly easy path to the front, MacIsaac said of Shadows Mystery. If she gets a breather anywhere throughout the mile it could be all over. Miss Machqueen (Jason Hughes) draws post six in the field in her Island debut for owner Danny Birt of Stratford, P.E.I., after racing in conditioned events at Woodbine and Mohawk raceways in Ontario. Other entries include West River Ambyr (Steven Shepherd) with rail control and Maritime champion Ramblinglily (Walter Cheverie) drawing post five in her 2017 debut. A compact field of five Open trotters will line up in race three for a $1,750 purse with Freddie looking to defend his four-race win streak for trainer/driver Campbell. Morosita Bi (Hughes) makes her Island debut from post four for owner Foxyhall Racing of Nova Scotia after racing at Saratoga Raceway in New York, where she took a record of 1:55.3 over the half-miler last season. Race two has Derreen making her Island debut for trainer/driver Ken Wilkie after racing at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ontario. Red Shores Charlottetown and Summerside will also launch the 2017 edition of the Drive for Charity promotion. The promotion features 11 harness drivers teaming up with 11 businesses to raise money for 11 Island charities. The drivers roster has Marc Campbell, Jason Hughes, Corey MacPherson, Gilles Barrieau, Walter Cheverie, Gary Chappell, Ken Murphy, Kenny Arsenault, Adam Merner, Mike McGuigan and Terry Gallant. Every time a driver associated with the promotion wins, $25 will be donated to their charity. The promotion ends on October 29, 2017. To view Thursday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Thursday Entries - Charlottetown Driving Park. (Red Shores) The publicity department for the Grand Circuit has sent out its weekly recap and preview of Grand Circuit races. This Week: Battle of Lake Erie, Northfield Park, Northfield, Ohio; Currier & Ives, The Meadows, Washington, Pa.; and Graduate Series second leg and Somebeachsomewhere, Mohawk Racetrack, Campbellville, Ontario. Schedule of events: Grand Circuit action will take place on Saturday (June 3) at three venues. Northfield Park will host the $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie for open pacers; the Meadows will feature three divisions in the $118,424 Currier & Ives for three-year-old male trotters; and Mohawk Racetrack will feature two $70,000 divisions in the Somebeachsomewhere for three-year-old pacing colts, a pair of $67,230 second leg divisions in the Graduate Series for four-year-old pacers and a single $100,845 race in the second leg of the Graduate Series for four-year-old trotters. Last time: He came. He saw. He slapped silly. Stung early and strong late, world champion Downbytheseaside (David Miller, $2.10) was superb Saturday night (May 27), winning Yonkers Raceways $300,000 Art Rooney Pace for three-year-olds. The 27th Rooney featured five colts and three geldings at the start, but only one at the finish. It was 53-1 Summer Side (driven by Tim Tetrick) making the first lead, looping both the eventual winner and second choice Miso Fast (Matt Kakaley). With Downbytheseaside three-wide from post position three, Miso Fast leapfrogged by Summer Side, stringing the 1-20 proposition out past a :27.3 opening quarter-mile and well into the second turn. That turned out to be Donwbytheseaside's only issue as he found a :55 intermission and pokey :29.1 third quarter in 1:24.1. Eight-holer Stealth Bomber (Brett Miller), who had left and wedged in sixth, tried it first-up but was never close to coming close. Downbytheseaside opened four lengths entering the lane, winning by a wrapped-up three and a quarter lengths in 1:52. Summer Side, winner of last seasons Lawrence B. Sheppard Pace, was a solid second, with 2016s New York Sire Stakes freshman champion Funknwaffles (Brian Sears) third. The latter raced well, forced wide early after Stealth Bomber stopped. Fourth and fifth went to Henry The Dragon (Montrell Teague) and pole-sitting, 49-1 Macs Jackpot (Jason Bartlett), respectively. Miso Fast faded to sixth, ahead of 90-1 Rollin About (Brent Holland) and the rough trip of Stealth Bomber. For Downbytheseaside, a son of Somebeachsomewhere trained by Brian Brown for co-owners Country Club Acres, Joe Sbrocco, Richard Lombardo and Diamond Creek Racing, it was his third win in as many seasonal starts. For his career he is 11-for-16, with three seconds, two thirds and has earned $766,016. Grand Circuit Standings: In 2017, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2017 Grand Circuit awards. Here are the leaders through and including the races on May 27. Drivers: 1. Jason Bartlett 148; 2. Yannick Gingras 129; 3. Jordan Stratton 116; 4. Matt Kakaley 101; 5. Tim Tetrick 73. Trainers: 1. Ron Burke 141; 2. Peter Tritton 112; 3. Richard Banca 86; 4. Rene Allard 79; 5. Noel Daley - 47. Owners: 1. Harry von Knoblauch Stable 93.5; 2. Burke Racing Stable 38.3; 3t. Fred Monteleone Stable 32; 3t. Weaver Bruscemi 32; 5. Carolyn Atherton 30. Looking ahead: Grand Circuit action will take place next weekend at Scioto Downs, Mohawk, and Tioga Downs. Scioto will host the Charlie Hill for open trotters; Mohawk will feature five stakes eliminations, led by the North America Cup for three-year-old male pacers; and Tioga Downs will offer the third leg of the Graduate Series for four-year-old pacers and trotters. (Grand Circuit) The Post Time gang will be back this week fresh off a very successful live remote at The Raceway at Western Fair District. The duo is excited to announce its Thursday morning line up. The show will start at 10:30 a.m. The $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie is coming up on Saturday at Northfield Park in Ohio and track announcer Ayers Ratliff will sit down to discuss everything there is to know going on at the northeast Ohio track. Harrah's Philadelphia judge Don Harmon sat down with Mike Bozich to talk about the ins and outs of being a judge and what goes into making some of the decisions that they do. We will also talk about how Harmon got into the business and into judging the races. The show will have its final segment with Pompano Park Director of Racing and Track Announcer Gabe Prewitt this week as they wrap up the Pompano meet on Wednesday night. We will discuss how things went for the south Florida track and what is coming up when they re-open in the fall. The duo also continues their discussions with Running Aces Track Announcer Darin Gagne who will highlight the happenings at the Minnesota track from this past week. Post Time can be heard via their website (posttimewithmikeandmike.com) or on the archive at (betamerica.com/BARN). (Post Time) Knights of Columbus Launches Ad Campaign as Middle Eastern Christians Face Crisis Contact: Joseph Cullen, 203-800-4923, joseph.cullen@kofc.org ; Andrew Walther, 203-824-5412, andrew.walther@kofc.org ; both with Knights of Columbus NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 31, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- With Christians facing increased pressure in the Middle East, the Knights of Columbus has launched a nationwide digital and television ad campaign to raise awareness and funds on their behalf.A bus attack in Egypt last week resulted in almost 50 casualties. In Iraq, the situation has become dire, with money running out for food for the Christian refugees who fled ISIS. Without immediate support, Iraqi Church leaders warn that the country's Christian population already 90 percent depleted could be reduced to unsustainable levels."We must act and act quickly if Christianity is to survive in the Middle East," said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson. "Three years after ISIS rolled through their country, these minority communities of Christians could face extinction without our help, and if they disappear, the chance for a pluralism and tolerance of minorities will be increasingly lost in that country."Anderson also said the Knights will match up to $1 million in donations. The commercial can be viewed here: youtu.be/Uhst4k2coCc The Knights' commercial includes an appeal by Father Douglas Bazi, who headed the Mar Elia refugee center in Kurdistan and was himself previously kidnapped and tortured by terrorists in Iraq. In the commercial, Father Bazi notes: "Genocide is an easy word compared to what's happened to my people." He then adds a plea to the viewers: "Help my people and save my people."The Christian population has fallen from as many as 1.5 million in 2003 to only about 200,000 today, according to the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil, which cares for the largest Christian population still in Iraq and the largest community of displaced Christians in the country (12,000 families). The archdiocese now faces a shortfall of $600,000 a month in food aid.While ISIS has been pushed back in many places and Christian towns have been liberated, people have not been able to return because there is not enough money for reconstruction or security."We face a serious shortfall in the money needed just to cover the costs of providing food to the displaced Christians in our care," said Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil. "Having to decide between rebuilding homes and feeding the displaced is not a choice; it is a potential death sentence for our Christian communities."In addition to raising funds for the beleaguered Christian community in Iraq, the Knights of Columbus is also urging Congress to pass H.R. 390, which would help ensure that American government aid dollars reach Christians and other religious minority communities that faced genocide in Iraq and Syria.The Knights of Columbus has donated more than $12 million for Christian refugee relief since 2014 in support of communities too often ignored by direct U.N. or U.S. government assistance. The bulk of the funding has aided Christian communities in Iraq with food, clothing, shelter and education, and has also helped threatened or displaced communities in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Other religious minority groups targeted by ISIS, including Yazidis, have also been recipients of the Knights' aid.The K of C will match donations received by July 1 up to $1 million, and 100 percent of the money raised will be used to assist with food programs for Christian refugees in Iraq. Donations can be made at www.ChristiansatRisk.org or by calling 1-800-694-5713 and are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Knights of Columbus Charities Inc. is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a charitable organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.The Knights set a new all-time record for charitable donations in 2015, with more than $175 million in donations and more than 73.5 million hours of service valued at $1.7 billion. 'Compassion Teams' Poised to Bring Hope and Help to Sri Lankan Flood Victims Contact: 972-300-3379, pressrelations@gfa.org WILLS POINT, Texas, May 30, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- GFA-supported (Gospel for Asia) workers are poised to bring help and hope to some of the thousands displaced or left stranded by floods that have claimed around 200 lives in Sri Lanka.They will move into action as soon as the high water that has left homes and businesses submerged and cut off transportation begins to recede, taking supplies and comfort to some of the worst-affected areas of the island nation some 1,000 miles off the coast of India.The heaviest monsoon rains in more than a decade have triggered landslides, especially in the south of the country, where highways have been cut off and power lost in recent days. Many people are staying in temporary shelters while the bad weather continues, and others are still waiting to be evacuated.Food and fresh drinking water are among the supplies being readied by GFA-supported "compassion teams" that will go into action. They will also be going out to help clean homes and wells affected by the flooding, and offering emotional support to those affected."We are ready to respond to try to help meet some of these needs as soon as we are allowed," said Dr. K.P. Yohannan, the founder and director of GFA. "But at the moment travel is restricted, so we can only pray and wait for the opportunity to go to those who are in need."No GFA-supported workers have been named among the dead or missing, but some have had to leave their flooded homes and lost possessions.Yohannan appealed for ongoing prayer for Sri Lanka. "Please join us in praying that the rains will recede and that there will be no further loss of life," he said. "Please also pray for us as we help those affected, that we will be able to provide both practical and spiritual care in their time of need."Through our efforts we want them to know that they have not been forgotten, that God loves and cares for them."GFA (Gospel for Asia) has for more than 30 years provided humanitarian assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially among those who have yet to hear the Good News. Last year, this included more than 75,000 sponsored children, free medical services for more than 180,000 people, 6,000 wells drilled, 11,000 water filters installed, Christmas presents for more than 400,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. Celebrate 11th Say Something Nice Sunday Contact: Mitch Carnell, 843-556-2310CHARLESTON, S.C., May 30, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- Celebrate the 11th. Annual Say Something Nice Sunday on June 4th.The book of Hebrews tells us, "Not to neglect to show kindness to strangers." When members and visitors exit the sanctuary of historic First Baptist Church of Charleston on June 4, they will be given a daisy, the symbol of friendship, with the instructions, "Give it to a stranger and say something nice." Mayor Tom Tait of Anaheim, California said, "Acts of kindness create a vibration that extends out like the ripples from pebbles and brings people together."Sunday June 4, 2017 is the 11th. Annual Say Something Nice Sunday. Every church, denomination, religious organization or group fostering greater harmony and goodwill are encouraged to join. There are no fees or anything to buy. "We are trying to make the world a safer and happier place," according to Mitch Carnell, Chair of the ecumenical committee.The movement began at First Baptist Church of Charleston and was adopted by the Charleston County Baptist Association. The Charleston/Atlantic Presbytery joined followed by the Disciples of Christ and the Catholic Diocese of Charleston which includes all of South Carolina. Many American Baptists, Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodists churches around the country joined. Recently Green Lake Conference Center in Wisconsin and Louisiana College have joined the movement.The Most Reverend Bishop Robert Guglielmone of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston said in support of the movement, "Our words should be used to express love not hatred. What better way can we express this belief than to celebrate a day devoted to healing with our words? I heartily endorse the mission of Say Something Nice Sunday and urge all Christians to participate. In Corinthians 13:13, St. Paul tells us that the greatest virtue is love. What better way is there for Christians to express this virtue than to participate in Say Something Nice Sunday?"Everyone can use a word of encouragement, a smile or a pat on the back. That is our purpose. Everybody is somebody. You are unique, one of a kind. You make our lives better. That is the message we want to send.Free materials are available at www.fbcharleston.org . Click on Messages/Resources at the top of the page then scroll down to Say Something Nice Sunday. You will find, Bible verses, devotionals, suggestions for use, art work and the purpose of the celebration. You are encouraged to create your own materials. KABUL, Afghanistan A truck bombing near the Afghan presidential palace early Wednesday killed at least 80 people and wounded hundreds, officials said. The death toll seemed certain to rise, and the attack appeared to be one of the bloodiest of the long Afghan war. The huge blast during the morning rush hour caused panic in much of central Kabul, shattering windows as far as a mile away. Nearly two hours after the explosion near Zanbaq Square, a crowded area in the capital that leads to the presidential palace as well as major foreign embassies, plumes of smoke were still rising from the scene. At a time when the United States is weighing sending more troops to Afghanistan to try to halt the governments losses, the attack on Wednesday highlighted the continued ability of militants to strike even in the most secure parts of the capital. And outside the countrys main cities, the Taliban have rapidly been seizing territory and have kept the Afghan security forces badly bloodied and on the defensive. At a news conference in Kabul, Gen. Murad Ali Murad, the deputy interior minister, said that more than 80 people had been killed and 463 wounded. Kabuls police chief, Gen. Hassan Shah Frogh, said the explosives used in the blast had been in a tanker truck used to empty septic tanks. The bomb was detonated near the square just as the street turns toward the German Embassy, he said. The blast was so huge that it dug a big crater as deep as four meters, or 13 feet, General Frogh said. The German Embassy was extensively damaged, with dozens of windows blown in, the public broadcaster ARD reported. It broadcast images showing stunned civilians pressing makeshift bandages to bloody limbs, stumbling through a smoke-filled street as ambulances rushed to the scene, their sirens blaring. Germanys foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, said that an Afghan security guard employed by the embassy had been killed. He also said that several Germans had been wounded, without providing details. He condemned what he called an attack on those who are in Afghanistan working with the people there for a better future. To target these people is especially despicable, Mr. Gabriel said. In Germany, the blast was sure to fuel a debate over the governments efforts to repatriate Afghans whose applications for asylum have been rejected. About 1,000 German soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO force, and Germany has invested billions in military and aid to stabilize the country. German officials have been at pains to insist that parts of Afghanistan are safe, despite an overall security situation that the interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, has described as complicated. Hours after the blast, the government in Berlin said that a flight carrying deportees bound for Afghanistan scheduled for Wednesday had been postponed, citing logistical reasons for embassy employees on the ground. President Ashraf Ghani called the attack a crime against humanity. A statement by Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the commander of American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in Afghanistan, applauded the Afghan security forces for preventing the truck full of explosives from entering the Green Zone, a reference to the area that houses the headquarters of the coalition forces as well as several foreign embassies. The attack demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people, the statement said. Pictures from the scene showed smoke and chaos, with bloodied people on the ground as emergency personnel tried to evacuate victims. that witnesses filmed immediately after the blast showed vast destruction to the buildings in the area and people amid flames. Most of the victims appeared to be civilians on their way to work during the morning rush hour. A BBC driver, Mohammed Nazir, as well as Aziz Navin, an information technology worker for the Afghan television channel ToloNews, were among those killed. Kees van der Pijl vindt dit leuk Herman Steigstra @SteigstraHerman 5 u Voor wie is geinteresseerd in de RIVM opnamecijfers voor oktober,... Measures to allow such shops in El Segundo, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach are all on their way to failing, based on semi-official election results With Ramadan, Islam's annual holy month, upon us, I thought I'd offer up some couscous, a dish that originated among North Africa's Berbers a thousand or so years ago. The term refers to a grain-like kernel made of crushed durum wheat semolina as well as to the broad range of recipes a combined dish of broth, vegetables and red meat, chicken or fish served with it. Couscous is the national dish of Morocco, where it possesses "a quasi-mystical character," according to Claudia Roden in "Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey & Lebanon." She writes: "Morocco's Berbers call it keskou, a name said to be derived from the sound steam makes as it passes through the grain. It is served on all great occasions, both happy and sad. It can be very simple, with the couscous plus just one vegetable such as fresh green peas, or it can be quite grandiose with stuffed pigeons sitting on a mountain of couscous mixed with almonds and raisins." The stew here consists of chicken thighs, frozen artichoke hearts crisped up in the chicken fat, green olives, chicken broth and lemon wedges. Why lemon wedges instead of lemon juice? Because as they bake among the other ingredients, the wedges impart a more lemony flavor to the dish. What's wonderful about this dish (besides its lusciousness) is that it calls for very little time and work on your part. You can brown the chicken thighs while prepping the rest of the ingredients, a step that helps get the dish into the oven that much faster. And the sauce makes itself as the chicken bakes. The final touch? Chopped fresh herbs. And don't skimp on them. They brighten up the whole shebang. Couscous with baked chicken thighs, green olives, lemons and artichoke hearts Start to finish: 1 hour (40 active) Servings: 4 to 6 Ingredients 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 8 small bone-in chicken thighs (3 to 3 1/2 pounds) Kosher salt One 9-ounce package defrosted frozen artichoke hearts (about 2 cups), quartered and patted dry 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1/2 cup green olives 1 lemon cut into 8 wedges, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 1/2 cups chicken broth One 10-ounce box instant couscous 1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley, cilantro or mint, or a mix Preheat oven to 350 F. Directions In a large ovenproof skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, and working in two batches, season the chicken with salt and add it to the skillet skin side down. Cook until the skin is golden brown, about 6 minutes. Turn the pieces over and cook them for 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken. Pour off all but 2 1/2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the artichokes to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring 1 minute. Return the chicken to the pan, skin side up, add the olives, lemon wedges and chicken broth. Put the skillet on the middle shelf of the oven and bake the chicken for 20 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. While the chicken is baking, prepare the couscous following the instructions on the back of the package, adding the remaining tablespoon oil as instructed. Fluff up the couscous with a fork before serving. To serve: Mound the couscous on each plate and top with some of the chicken, artichokes, lemon wedges and olives, some of the broth from the skillet and a generous sprinkling of the herbs. Nutrition information per serving: 621 calories; 196 calories from fat; 22 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 130 mg cholesterol; 775 mg sodium; 65 g carbohydrate; 10 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 39 g protein. The Headquarters Landfill might have a new owner soon. Cowlitz County, which bought the landfill from Weyerhaeuser Co. in February 2014, has received an unsolicited offer on the property from a large company, which the county is not naming for now. The county commissioners will hold two public meetings on June 6 that will provide detailed information on a potential sale or lease. Solid Waste Department interim manager Ron Junker read a prepared statement during Tuesdays county commissioner meeting, which stated that a sale or lease of the landfill may be worth looking into. Given the magnitude of interest shown in the landfill, the county is in the process of considering whether and how it should respond in consideration of potential benefits to the citizens of the County, Junker said Tuesday morning. The landfill has an expected lifespan of 100 years, and the county uses it to dispose of all local municipal waste at rates that are among the lowest, if not the lowest, in Western Washington. Commissioner Joe Gardner, whose district includes Silver Lake and the landfill to the south of it, said he doesnt yet have a strong opinion one the matter. He said Tuesday hell hold off on any decisions until he hears the details. We dont have all the information yet, and we know theres some interest out there, he said. Before we make a decision, we need to know that theres a clear benefit. Were just in learning- and gathering-information mode. Commissioner Arne Mortensen said that although he is waiting to hear the numbers next week, he believes selling the landfill could make sense. I think in general, my attitude is we shouldnt be competing against private entities, Mortensen said. So if theres a private entity that can do the job, then I think Im in favor of at least examining it. However, not everyone is excited about the property potentially changing hands again. Kelso citizen and former local union leader Rick Von Rock, who attended Tuesdays commissioner meeting, said private ownership could drive up disposal rates, which could in turn increase garbage collection fees. If we decide to sell it, hypothetically, and a private person owns it, then we cant control the rates, Von Rock said. Well have a trash place that will last 100 years and we dont know what the rates are, because thats what private industry does. The county was trying to make the prices reasonable for the citizens, and we wont have the control that I feel that we need. Mark Smith, a Toutle Valley resort owner and former commissioner candidate, said he doesnt necessarily agree or disagree with the deal, but hes worried that the county is not disclosing information. If you look at the commissioners (Tuesday meeting) agenda and announcement to the public about the dump being sold, its in an item listed as landfill, not sale of landfill, Smith said. I bet you could call 100 people and none of them would know they were considering selling the landfill. Smith is also confused on why the county would possibly get rid of the landfill after making a big deal out of purchasing it just three years ago for nearly $18 million. The promise was that the county could run the dump better than any private entity, Smith said. So here we are four years later, now were looking at, Okay, now we need to possibly sell the dump. The county bought the 380-acre landfill because its old landfill along Tennant Way was at capacity. The alternative would have been a politically risky effort to build a new landfill or ship garbage to the Roosevelt in eastern Washington, an expensive proposition. Weyerhaeuser, which built the landfill to handle its own industrial waste in 1993, sold it in part because it was getting out of the paper business. Junker rejected Smiths notion that the county is being secretive. One of the reasons for making this statement is we wanted to get out ahead of the rumor mill and let people know we had an offer from a large company for the landfill, Junker said. The landfill has always been controversial. Silver Lake-area residents fought Weyerhaeusers initial construction of the dump, and then they opposed the countys purchase of it for use as a municipal waste landfill. They called the sale a breach of public trust, noting that Weyerhaeuser had pledged that the facility would never be used for household waste. County officials saw it as an opportunity to buy an asset that the purchase would keep the countys trash dollars local and that it was better to have local, public ownership of the landfall rather than have Weyerhaeuser sell it to an outside corporation. Even then-Commissioner Jim Misner, who lives along Silver Lake and who initially opposed the county purchase, came around to vote for it. This has been a very difficult decision. Ive lost sleep over it, Misner said at the time the county consummated the purchase. But this is an amazing opportunity for Cowlitz County. I absolutely believe that. The two public discussions will take place on June 6 at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the County Commissioners Hearing Room. VANCOUVER About two dozen protesters rallied at the Washington Department of Ecology field office in Vancouver to oppose the planned NW Innovation Works methanol refinery. I will run this to the end, and I hope to God we can stop this Chinese conglomerate, said Kalama resident Linda Leonard, one of the protesters. NW Innovation Works is a China-backed company proposing to refine natural gas into methanol, mostly for export to Asia. Curt Hart, spokesman for Ecologys Shorelands and Environmental Assistance program said if built, it would be the worlds largest methanol refinery, capable of producing more than 11,000 tons per day. The protesters briefly rallied in front of a small office park in Orchards, giving speeches against the refinery and waving signs at the handful of cars that drove by. We wanted to make sure they understood the magnitude, because added all up (the comments and petitions are) almost 19,000, said Cecile Gernez of the Sierra Clubs Washington Chapter. Ecology Spokesman David Bennett said there is no public comment period currently open for the methanol project and that no one in the Vancouver field office is involved in the work. Gernez said the point wasnt about appealing to agency employees directly involved in the decision, but rather keeping the rally relevant to the communities that would be affected. She said a twin rally against the project is scheduled in Bellevue today. Hart said Ecology is reviewing the shoreline conditional use permit for the project, which it should make a decision on within the next 14 days. The agency is also considering whether it should grant water quality certification for a 3-mile pipeline which would supply the refinery with natural gas. Kathy Griffin can recover from the controversy over her photo shoot that featured her holding up a bloody head resembling President Donald Trump, Sen. Al Franken said Wednesday. "I think she did the right thing asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that this was a horrible mistake, so I think she can," the Minnesota Democrat and former "Saturday Night Live" writer told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day." Griffin apologized on Instagram on Tuesday for the photo that some say encouraged violence against the President. "I'm a comic," said Griffin, a frequent Trump critic. "I cross the line. I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it." She said she'd ask celebrity photographer Tyler Shields to remove the photo and rejected the idea that she was encouraging violence against the President. "I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far," she said in the post on Tuesday. "I made a mistake and I was wrong." Trump weighed in Wednesday, calling her actions "sick." "My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick," he tweeted. Franken said he still plans to appear with Griffin in July as part of a promotion tour for his new book. Minnesota GOP Chairman Jennifer Carnahan posted a statement Tuesday on her Facebook page calling on the senator to cancel the Beverly Hills event. Franken cited Griffin's apology in explaining his decision. "Kathy's a friend and she's a terrific comedian, but this had no business being in our public discourse," Franken said. "And I talked to her. She has apologized -- a real, fulsome apology. She's actually begged for forgiveness, and I believe in forgiveness." Griffin, who had regularly participated in CNN's annual New Year's Eve coverage, was universally criticized for the grotesque image. A network spokesperson called the image "disgusting and offensive" soon after it became public, and the network announced Wednesday it had terminated its agreement with Griffin to appear on CNN's New Year's Eve program. CNN's Anderson Cooper, who had co-hosted the network's New Year's Eve coverage with Griffin, also condemned the photo. "For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate," he tweeted. By Shubhabrata Marmar MV Agusta is a brand of legend. Whether it is their racers from the old days or their more recent motorcycles, the bikes are special. When we first got to test their products on Indian roads, we discovered that among the range of options, we seemed to gravitate towards the three-cylinder motorcycles, like the F3 and the Brutale 800 a lot more than the older four-cylinder machines, like the F4 and the Brutale 1090. So naturally, we got excited when Motoroyale, the Indian representatives, told us that it is nearly time for the new 2017 Brutale 800 to come join the party. But in preparation for that, we went to the storied MV Agusta factory in Varese, about an hour from Milan to ride the new motorcycle. Part of the story of the MV Agusta is the design. The late Massimo Tamburini was a big part of it, and now Adrian Mortons lines have become well-appreciated as well. The Brutale, MVs sport-naked, has always been a distinctive motorcycle. In fact, many of the details that you see on the sport-naked bikes today can be traced back to the original Brutale from 15 years ago. And that many years later, while the Brutale continues to evolve slowly, the silhouette is still striking and distinctive. The bodywork is tightly packed and heavily sculpted and there is a sense of unabashed wallowing about in mechanical glory about the design. For 2017, the design has heavy revisions, within the limits of the silhouette and lines that signify the Brutale. The tank is new, for example, but it takes a moment to notice the shape. More obvious is the new instrument cluster and the plastic housing into which it is mounted. Also new is the headlight which includes a simple DRL as well as an MV Agusta logo now. At the back, the light is a new design and the grab rails are neatly integrated so they disappear though you can use four Allen bolts to move it backward and make it useable. Very good idea that one. But the revisions are not restricted to the design. The chassis has been revised too with MV Agusta elongating the wheelbase slightly as well as adding a hint more of trail. The base frame is the same, more or less, with a red trellis frame connecting the headstock to the cast pivot plates, which in turn host a single-sided swingarm. Suspension is Marzocchi 43mm upside-down forks, fully adjustable while the rear is a fully adjustable Sachs unit. The tyres are Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIIs, and Brembo works its magic with twin 300mm discs at the front and a 220mm single disc at the rear. The Brutale also boasts the latest suite of the MVICS electronics which add engine brake control, 8-level traction, 3-level ABS and more. And thankfully, MV has evolved both the screen and the switchgear and solved one of the issues we had with the older Brutale. And let us not forget the engine. The 799 cc triple has been revised too. It makes 110 PS but gets as much as 25 per cent more torque of which 80 per cent is available at under 4,000 rpm. Peak torque is 83 Nm, again at a low point too 7,600 rpm. The Brutale 800 has a slipper clutch, a quick shifter and more. But enough specification, let us go for a ride, shall we? The Brutale looks like a small, tightly packed motorcycle and it feels even smaller to ride. The new subframe with the hole in it looks tres cool, and you really feel just how compact it is when you sit on the hard, flat saddle and realise that there isnt any squirm room. The seat combines well with footpegs that are set backwards but not too high and a flat handlebar that puts you in a sporty slant but without too much weight on your wrists. We only had a short ride but it felt good, and that instrument cluster mounting keeps more wind off your chest than you would expect. MV Agusta also made the triple-tipped exhaust pipe bigger for 2017, and it looks better finished to be sure. It also sounds good. The hum from the triple is more raw than you expect, and it adds to the flavour of the Brutale 800. Listening to it echoing off Italys walls and mountainsides was a distinct pleasure. But this is an easy bike to ride. Torque is immediate and city speeds are despatched easily. Opening more throttle produces instant bursts of speed, but I like the fact that MV hasnt made the throttle too sensitive even in the Sport mode. But the sensation of the Brutale is of lightness. It feels completely weightless. And it begins with the engine which appears to have no crankshaft attached to it. The counter-rotating crankshaft, to be clear, is one of the signature features of the machine. But the revs rise and fall with an inertia-free glee that I really loved. Feed it the gears as the revs rise or dawdle in, say third, and you will be happy with the progress in either way. Lovely, really. The handling of the motorcycle is similar. The bars give good leverage but it feels more as if the Brutale 800 weighs as much as, say a KTM 390 or something. Direction changes are assured but instant, and I would love to buzz a racetrack as well as tight mountain road with the Brutale. I imagine it would totally destroy apexes in both environments with great aplomb. What will probably need adjusting is the stock suspension set-up which feels very taut indeed. We did run into some bumpy roads and some manhole covers around the Varese area and that motorcycle absorbed the punishment, but only just. If I were regularly riding the Brutale 800 in India, I would be hunting for more compliance to be sure. But in sum, the MV Agusta Brutale 800 will be a good addition to the Motoroyale Indian line-up. Motoroyale is aiming to launch the new motorcycle this June at a price around Rs 14.99 lakh, ex-showroom Pune. It will also add the higher spec version, the Brutale 800 RR a few months later. The price intent places the Brutale 800 roughly Rs 2 lakh under the lovely MV Agusta F3 800, though the arrival of the Euro IV F3 might increase the gap as the sportsbike's price will creep up a bit. Motoroyale says it intends to widen the product range this year and though the F3 is their current biggest selling model, I suspect that the Brutale will take over shortly. hidden British Airways flights were back in the skies on Tuesday but the company faced increasing pressure over its response to the huge IT failure that left 75,000 passengers stranded over a holiday weekend and dealt a major blow to its reputation. BA, which once marketed itself as "the world's favourite airline" suffered a public relations disaster after it had to cancel all flights from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports on Saturday. It blamed a power surge that knocked out its computer system, disrupting flight operations, call centres and its website. Although BA said it expected to run a full schedule from Heathrow and Gatwick on Tuesday, it was left with work to do in the longer term to restore its reputation after a long weekend of chaos and frustration for passengers. British Prime Minister Theresa May weighed in on the issue on the campaign trial ahead of the June 8 national election. "It is up to them to sort their IT out and to ensure that they're able to provide the services that people expect them to provide as British Airways," May said. London-listed shares in BA's parent company IAG fell when the stock market reopened. BA said it was launching a thorough investigation to understand what happened and make sure there was no repeat. BA had already come under fire for charging extra for food and baggage and the sight of stranded passengers trying to sleep on the floor of its gleaming Heathrow Terminal 5 building is likely to tarnish its image. "This will certainly damage their reputation," said Angharad Griffiths, a travel agent who was at Heathrow picking up a tour group from Lisbon. "I've never had a good experience with them, even before this." Like other European full-service airlines, BA is facing increased competition from budget rivals Ryanair and easyJet. "British Airways' IT failure over the weekend is clearly a PR nightmare and will take a real focus in terms of handling customers' complaints and compensations claims in order to rebuild trust and confidence with the public," said Mark Simpson, analyst at Goodbody. He estimated the cost of the outage at 82 million euros ($91.6 million). Power problems BA Chief Executive Alex Cruz had said on Monday that the power surge was so strong that it also rendered the back-up systems ineffective. The firm said a supply issue at a data centre near Heathrow sparked the surge. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, which manages the electricity distribution network in Harmondsworth just north of Heathrow airport, said its network in the area was running as normal on Saturday morning. "The power surge that BA is referring to could have taken place at the customer side of the meter," a spokesman said. A spokeswoman for Heathrow Airport said that there were no issues with the site's private electricity network on Saturday. Cruz, who moved to BA from low cost sister airline Vueling, denied that the outage was linked to a decision to cut staff numbers and outsource work to India. Irish rival Ryanair, which reported record annual profits on Tuesday, said it had systems in place to avoid a similar fiasco. "We have three IT locations in different countries across Europe," Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer, told reporters in London. "If there's a power surge at one, the second kicks in, and the third one would kick in. That's what most businesses would do. That's our approach and we've never had a major outage." Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said his company saw very strong bookings over the weekend, but added it was unclear if this was related to the BA problems. In the wake of the outage, Ryanair had taken to social media to poke fun at BA. Shares in BA's parent company IAG, which also owns carriers Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, fell as much as 4.5 percent on Tuesday, the first day of London trading this week. They were trading 1.8 percent lower at 1400 GMT. Reuters tech2 News Staff Qualcomm today announced at Computex 2017 that Asus, HP and Lenovo will be the first original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to build mobile PCs powered by the Snapdragon 835 mobile PC platform. According to Qualcomm, each company will be working on its own slim and fanless PCs running on Windows 10 along with LTE connectivity for an always connected experience thanks to the X16 LTE modem. The 10 nm architecture of the Snapdragon 835 will also ensure efficient, all-day battery life. "Today's consumers experience mobility in nearly every aspect of their lives and they've come to expect more from their PCs than legacy computing models are able to provide. With compatibility for the Windows 10 ecosystem, the Snapdragon Mobile PC Platform will enable Windows 10 hardware makers to develop next-generation modern device form factors and deliver unparalleled anything, anywhere creation experiences with up to Gigabit Class LTE connectivity," said Cristiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and president, QCT Microsoft had announced support for ARM architecture and for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 last year in December. We are thrilled that OEMs are sharing our vision to bring the Windows 10 experience to the ARM ecosystem, powered by Qualcomm Technologies. This collaboration offers consumers something new and that they have been craving the best of a mobile computing experience with the best of Windows 10, all in one thin, light, connected device, said Matt Barlow, corporate vice president, Windows marketing, Microsoft. tech2 News Staff Asus had a special ROG (Republic of Gamers) event at this year's Computex trade show where it has announced its new laptop lineup. The new Asus Zephyrus series is claimed to be the slimmest gaming laptop equipped with an Nvidia GTX 1080 graphics card. The laptop takes advantage of the recently announced the GTX Max-Q design by Nvidia. ASUS announced the ROG Zephyrus GX501VI and GX501VS both of which feature an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor and the GTX 1080 Max-Q with a form-factor of just 1.7 cm, weighing at 2.2 kgs. The laptop features 15.6-inch display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution with a 120 Hz refresh rate along with Nvidia G-Sync and is claimed to offer 100 percent sRGB coverage. Asus also offers 24 GB of DDR4-2400 RAM while storage options include M.2 PCIe based SSDs with 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB options. You get a nice range of ports including one USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1 Gen2, and four USB 3.1 Type-A ports and an HDMI 2.0 port. The keyboard features RGB lighting divided into zones rather than per-key and has been moved to the front. There is a large grille above the keyboard to allow better cooling. It also features anti-ghosting keys which can support up to 30 keys pressed at the same time. The ROG Zephyrus is expected to arrive by the end of June in the USA and Canada. The GX501VI model will start at $2699 (Rs 1,79,000 approx) and the GX501VS will start at $2299 (Rs 1,52,000 approx). While Asus hasn't confirmed, the only difference between the two models is that the VS model will include an Nvidia GTX 1070. IANS Tech giant Microsoft on Tuesday hosted its first "Accessibility Summit" here to enhance technology access for people with disabilities. The summit featured unique technology-based projects that empower people with disabilities. These included innovations from non-profit organisations, assistive technologies developed by Microsoft partners as well as Microsoft solutions. "The summit is a significant step forward in advancing our efforts towards sensitising stakeholders and partners on the need for the business and social value of accessibility," said Madhu Khatri, Associate General Counsel and Accessibility Lead, Microsoft India, in a statement. The event brought together leaders from the government, filmmakers, entrepreneurs and budding technologists to present their views and best practices around accessibility and technology's potential in aiding inclusion. "The Microsoft 'Accessibility Summit' provides an ideal platform to bring together policymakers and influencers to understand the policy environment and chart a direction for making life, experiences and opportunities accessible to all," noted Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary, Telangana government. This comes when Microsoft announced earlier a brand new addition to the Surface lineup called the Surface Laptop. The new machine is aimed at students running on Microsofts new Windows 10 S operating system. IANS Russian cyber security firm Group-IB said on Tuesday that a digital crime gang called Lazarus, which had recently hacked into and stolen money from the Central Bank of Bangladesh, is actually controlled by North Korean intelligence. Releasing a report on the matter, Group-IB said in a release here that $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank's US Federal Reserve account in New York was the handiwork of Lazarus, which "is allegedly controlled by Bureau 121, a division of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean intelligence agency." "Deep analysis of the cyber criminals' command and control infrastructure, as well as detailed threat intelligence information, enabled Group-IB researchers to prove that the attacks were managed from Pyongyang (North Korean capital)." In February last year, hackers inserted malware on a SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Telecommunication) terminal used by Bangladesh's central bank, obtained credentials needed for payment transfers from the New York Federal Reserve, and thereafter transferred $81 million to fake accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. By the time the fraud was discovered, the New York branch of the U.S. central bank had approved five of the payments. "In 2016 the group attempted to steal about $951 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh SWIFT. However a mistake in a payment request cut the criminals' income to only $81 million," Group-IB said. "Lazarus (also known as the Dark Seoul Gang) is known to hack governmental, military, and aerospace institutions worldwide," it added. The Russian specialists said Lazarus is known for its 2014 hacking attack on Sony Pictures, when personal information of employees, internal e-mails and copies of then unreleased Sony films, among other information, were made public. Group-IB said that unlike previous reports, this one has focused on research on infrastructure built by the hacker group to conduct their attacks. "Despite the complex three-layer architecture and other advanced techniques, the researchers managed to identify that the group was operating from Potonggang District in North Korea, where, perhaps coincidentally, the National Defense Commission was located," the statement said. "Taking into consideration strengthening economic sanctions against North Korea as well as the geopolitical tension in the region, we expect a new wave of Lazarus attacks against global financial institutions," said Group-IB co-founder Dmitry Volkov. hidden The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is still considering an expansion of a ban on laptops and other large electronics in airline cabins after Secretary John Kelly spoke to European officials on Tuesday, a department spokesman said. The spokesman, David Lapan, confirmed that Kelly spoke to European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc on Tuesday and told them that while no expansion was announced Tuesday that it "is still on the table." Lapan said both sides agreed on the need to improve "aviation security globally, including through a range of potential seen and unseen enhancements." Lapan said that "Secretary Kelly affirmed he will implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft flying to the United States including prohibiting large electronic devices from the passenger cabin if the intelligence and threat level warrant it." Lapan said no announcement on any expansion was planned this week. Kelly told "Fox News Sunday" over the weekend that he "might" ban laptops from airplane cabins on all international flights both into and out of the United States. An EU Commission spokesman said Kelly did not make an announcement about whether the United States would extend the ban to European airports during the "positive and constructive" call. "Both sides agreed to intensify talks both at technical and political levels to find common solutions to mitigate potential threats to aviation security and work together to step up security requirements," the spokesman added. After meetings with airlines and European officials, the Department of Homeland Security has declined to offer a timetable for making a decision and instead said it would be made by Kelly on a review of threats. One major issue that has been under consideration is the potential safety implications of storing large numbers of laptop batteries in the cargo holds of airliners. Airline and government officials say there have been discussions about potential alternatives to an expansion of the laptop ban, including enhanced screening, but that no decisions have been made. In March, the United States announced laptop restrictions on flights originating from 10 airports, including in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, because of fears that a concealed bomb could be installed in electronic devices taken onto aircraft. Britain quickly followed suit with restrictions on a slightly different set of routes. The U.S. restrictions cover about 350 flights a week. Extending the ban to all European airports would affect nearly 400 flights a day and cover 30 million travelers. Reuters About me I'm Avi Green From Jerusalem, Israel I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best. My profile Archives - Archives - July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 Trump deportation order for man in Hawaii 'inhumane': Judge AP, San Francisco : A Trump administration order to deport a man who entered the country illegally nearly three decades ago and became a respected businessman in Hawaii was "inhumane" and "contrary to the values of the country and its legal system," a federal judge wrote Tuesday in an unusually impassioned opinion. "President Trump has claimed that his immigration policies would target the 'bad hombres,'" 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt said. "The government's decision to remove Magana Ortiz shows that even the 'good hombres' are not safe." Reinhardt said the 9th Circuit lacked authority to block the March order to deport Ortiz to Mexico. Still, he said it was difficult to see how the order was consistent with President Donald Trump's promise of an immigration system with heart. Reinhardt said Ortiz, who came to the U.S. in 1989, was well-established in Hawaii's coffee farming industry, paid his taxes and had three U.S. citizen children from whom he would be torn away. Nicole Navas, a U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman, said the agency declined comment on the case. Reinhardt is considered to be one of the most liberal judges on the 9th Circuit and his rulings often place him on the side of immigrants and prisoners. Reinhardt wrote a 2012 opinion striking down California's gay marriage ban. He also wrote a 1996 opinion that struck down a Washington state law that prohibited doctors from prescribing medication to help terminally ill patients die. Ctg sea and air ports resume activities BSS, Chittagong : The delivery of the goods in the country's principal sea port, Chittagong resumed on Tuesday afternoon after a lapse of 30-hour as the cyclone "Mor"a weakened and crossed the land between Chittagong and Cox's Bazar without causing serious damages on Tuesday morning. "The delivery of goods resumed since 4 pm after Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has withdrawn the highest security alert at the port," said CPA Secretary Mohammad Omar Faruk. However, loading and unloading of goods from the vessels are expected to resume from tomorrow morning as the vessels, sent to outer anchorage for safety, are yet to reach for berthing in the jetties during the full tide. Meanwhile, flight operations in Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport resumed from 2 pm after eight hours of suspension, Manager of the Airport Wing Commander Reazul Kabir told BSS. Emirates to fly all A380 services to Beijing, Shanghai Business Desk : Emirates will provide an all-A380 service to Beijing and Shanghai from July 1 and will replace the second daily flight for the destinations with Boeing 777-300ER from the same day. The move will increase capacity to both Beijing and Shanghai and will offer the consumers even more seamless A380-to-A380 connections between the two Chinese cities and over 30 international points, including 18 points in the UK and Europe via its hub in Dubai, said a press release. Emirates A380 offers up to 519 seats in a three class configurations on Chinese routes. Recently it flies to seven North Asian cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul in South Korea and Narita, Japan. Emirates is the world's largest A380 operator with 95 of the double-decked aircraft in its fleet and a further 47 on order. Since 2008, Emirates has flown over 80 million passengers on its A380 fleets. Handling low scores and poor exam results Life Desk : With the recent announcement of class 10th and 12th exam results in many states, there's much turmoil in a student's life. The post-exam merry turns into stressful days and nights, caring for entrances and admissions to a top-notch college. But this post-result lowness takes much graver tones when one looks at the rising number of suicide rates in India. In fact, according to a 2012 Lancet report, India has one of the world's highest suicide rates for youth aged 15 to 29. This means, every hour, one student commits suicide in India! To prevent student suicides, there's a need to understand the mindset behind the act of killing oneself for a thing as insignificant as grades. We spoke to three experts - Dr Jyoti Kapoor Madan, Sr Consultant, Psychiatrist, Paras Hospitals, Gurgaon; Dr Sunil Pawar, Consultant Psychiatrist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Ghaziabad and Jitin Chawla, career counsellor, director, Centre of Career Development. They gave us important insights as to what must be done to tackle the situation of low grades. If you are one of those seeking help and wanting to deal with post-result depression, you need to keep the following things in mind. Focus on the bigger picture We know it's easier said than done when you are in a grim mindset, but try. Look at your life five years down the lane. If your 10th grades are low, it's a much small cause of worry because you still have two years to get a better score. Analyze where you went wrong and do not blame your friends, family, study environment or any other factor. They all are insignificant if your will is determined. However, if your 12th marks are not up to the mark, look beyond the current situation, says Jitin. In an entire universe of uncountable planets, a million stars, innumerable galaxies, measureless number of people and everything infinite, you cannot be worried about a two-digit number. Get over it. Explore what you ae actually good at and give it a try. Open your mind to changes Both Dr Jyoti and Jitin believe that a student cannot be stuck at one thing. "When you are only 15 to 17 years old, chances are that your choices are mostly parents-decided or peer-pressure-induced. Understand that they can change," says Dr Jyoti. One must also not be stuck at Delhi or Mumbai, says Jitin. Be open to change, to relocate and life will only have good in store for you. Give yourself time to recover Life does not end with bad results, say Dr Jyoti and Dr Sunil. You need not be too harsh on yourself. This period of anxiety and pressure will soon pass. Understand that everyone needs time to handle disappointments. Figure out what you are disappointed with and try to work on that. If it's your own performance, give yourself another year. A year in an entire life of seventy years isn't big a deal, is it? Spit it out For Dr Sunil, communicating is of utmost importance. "If you are feeling low and guilty about not performing well, never swallow the feelings down. They are better outside your body. Talk to someone you trust," he says. Or if you do not think that anyone will understand, believe us, at least one person out there will. It could be your teacher, a parent, a sibling or a friend. If you still have doubts about opening to anyone, call up a helpline number. Read and research This should, perhaps, have been the first and most important point - do your homework. Choices are many, says Jitin, you just need the right research. If your dream college or the stream you preferred needed a higher score, reconsider your options. Go to career counsellors, take skill-based courses and figure out what other things you are better at. You never know that you may discover that algebra and alphabet where never your things. Maybe, your simpatico is cooking, or let's say, photography. Or if you could not get through Delhi University cut-offs for B.Com, try BMS, says Jitin. Entrances do not require your CBSE marks to be very high. However, if you are a parent whose child is slipping into a depressed state post-results, you need to keep the following in mind. Get over comparison 'Not everyone can be a topper' - this cliched line holds much worth if you simply believe in it. May be, the neighbour's son is indeed excellent but not yours. Accept and own the true skill set of your children and be proud of it. The 'C' of comparison is the worst devil and all three experts - Dr Jyoti, Dr Sunil and Jitin - advise against it. Dr Jyoti says that today's generations' priorities have changed. Now, we want to live life to the fullest, even if that comes without the badge of a doctor or an engineer. However, for the parents, priorities could still be set on a good career and money. See through this gap and try to adapt to the changed set of priorities. Know about the new-age careers There are many, many new careers that are upcoming and never existed earlier, says Jitin. Himself an FMS graduate, he dropped out of a corporate job to start his own career counselling business, much to the dismay of his professor-dad. But now, he isn't just earning money, he has success, fame and satisfaction. There are many new jobs that have recently come up in the markets. Explore them. There's enough room in them for all of us. Understand the signs of depression If you have tried everything and still feel that your kid may be withdrawing socially, not indulging in things he loved before, or not meeting up his friends anymore, take the cues, says Dr Sunil. These could indicate towards him slipping into depression. Consult a psychiatrist as soon as you can. - TNN Manik Mia : The political thinker and Nation builder The major contribution that Manik Mia made in the field of journalism in Bangladesh was establishing an institution - the Ittefaq - which offered huge opportunities of training for journalists who worked in this newspaper with no previous journalistic education or training. Truly, the country has now many outlets to offer courses in journalism but in the late 50s or 60s of the last century, there were lack of facilities. In such a backdrop, Manik Mia virtually opened the door(s) for many to take up journalism as a profession. Many of his fellow colleagues and junior co-workers became eminent editors, column writers and newsmen in the later years. Manik Mia, thus, acted as a pathfinder to many professional journalists. Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were as close as this photo in their personal and political life. Syed Tosharaf Ali : Near five decades have passed since the death of Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia. His death, by any count, was sudden, and of course, unexpected. He died at the time when a sort of intellectual guidance was much needed for the transition to democracy of his country from a brave and selfless journalist, as he was. The vacuum that was created in the arena of intellectual and political journalism with his sudden death has still remained void even after so many ups and downs and changes, and we cannot say with certainty that the gap has fully been recovered even now. The major contribution that Manik Mia made in the field of journalism in Bangladesh was establishing an institution - the Ittefaq - which offered huge opportunities of training for journalists who worked in this newspaper with no previous journalistic education or training. Truly, the country has now many outlets to offer courses in journalism but in the late 50s or 60s of the last century, there were lack of facilities. In such a backdrop, Manik Mia virtually opened the door(s) for many to take up journalism as a profession. Many of his fellow colleagues and junior co-workers became eminent editors, column writers and newsmen in the later years. Manik Mia, thus, acted as a pathfinder to many professional journalists. Through Ittefaq he shaped and developed the privately held media industry. This emerging industry managed to express objective criticism of the ruling party. In essence such a stance of media actually assisted the government to contribute to the socio-economic development of the nation as partners. From this perspective, Ittefaq never served as a mouthpiece for any particular interest group, but rather as a North Star providing guidance and objective assessment of government's activities helping the country to emerge from the post-war crises and remain on the trajectory of growth. Another remarkable aspect of Manik Mia's talent was the coining of language or developing a style of language of his own. He used the vocabulary of the masses which gave extra force to his thoughts, and his readers, the common masses of the country accepted his themes and style in right earnest. In more simple words, he could pass on the message across all sections of people. This legendary figure was born in a small township of the then South Bengal in the early years of the twentieth century, precisely in 1911. If we look at his upbringing, education, his career history and early part of his family life, we come to see several humanitarian crisis and negative incidents such as the two World Wars, famine of 1943, and the partition of 1947, alongside the severe communal conflicts centering the partition of Punjab and Bengal. Impacts of these incidents, directly and indirectly, were supposed to be felt in lesser degree in a sub-divisional town of South Bengal compared to that of Kolkata; which was then the centre of renaissance of a sort, that was unfolding in the early nineteenth century. In such a back drop, getting in touch with a rare talented political leader like Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, holding the post of Office Secretary of Bengal Muslim League and then becoming involved in The Daily Ittehad had not only enriched his experiences but also intensified his desire and dedications in the pursuit of human welfare. Hailing from a near-rural background, he went to the epic-centre of politics and culture - Kolkata (then spelt Calcutta) -- with an honest and open mindset. However, for some unavoidable circumstances, he had to return to his root. Obviously, he was quite upset for non-fulfillment of his cherished dreams. There is no scope to deny the fact that Manik Mia had emboldened and enriched his sense of humanity being inspired by the ideologies of many eminent social and political leaders like Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Netaji Shubhash Chandra Bose, Sher-e-Bangla A K Fazlul Haque, Allama Abul Hashim and others. In fact, he inherited an ability to fight against the social odds from his family tradition and the prevailing socio-political realities of South Bengal. He got involved in the formative stage of Awami Muslim League aiming to restore democracy in Pakistan. His enthusiasm and capability of expressing his thoughts through the newspaper changed the course of his life. Using newspaper for the welfare of the society, he was able to place himself very well in the heart of his people forever. He helped Awami League enormously to become the symbol of the hope and aspiration of the mass people through his thought provoking writings. Manik Mia's journalistic career was a vastly spreaded one. He was one of the most important and brave figures who shaped the mass awakening that got both momentum and pace following the 1952 historic Language Movement. Ever increasing regional disparity in the area of economic development between the two units of Pakistan and discriminatory actions in every field of the state-policy made him, among others, doubtful about the future of Pakistan. He used his pen as a weapon against all such political tyranny and economic disparity of Pakistani rulers -- dominated by West Pakistani civil and military bureaucrats at the centre. It is worth mentioning that to express and to uphold his opinion, he was always courageous, responsible and reasonable. He always articulated his thoughts and opinions guided by patriotic zeal and logical realization, but not by anger or ill-feelings. He always pointed to the real picture of regional disparity and discrimination with accurate statistics, figures and facts whatever he thought justifiable for the good of the people of East Bengal. For that he had to go to jail for more than once but he never compromised with injustice. Manik Mia took journalism as a mission of his life to establish democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights of the people to keep politics on the right track. In his view, democracy was not a dogma, but expansion of peoples right to achieve socio-economic justice. In judging political matters, he always remained strictly neutral like an umpire. We should not forget that he was not only a devoted journalist, but also a farsighted political visionary of liberal outlook. His personal close association with the democratic leader Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy made Manik Mia indifferent about earthly affairs. He endeavoured to make democracy popular through journalism. The ceaselessly fought for justice, freedom of press and expression aiming to build up a democratic Society. The writing ability of Manik Mia and oratory of Bangabandhu, combined together, laid the founding ground of our independence. Even the motors of Pakistani cannons could not destroy it. As an independent nation, it is now imperative to us to remember the contributions of those great figures who had contributed in various fields of our national life enormously and take lessons from their lives. Our future generation will get courage and inspiration from the lives and works of these legends to move forward in the right direction. We need to know the reasons behind naming the road in front of the National Parliament Buildings after Manik Mia. The road -- Manik Mia Avenue simply testifies the efforts that he made in establishing Parliamentary Democracy in the country. He set an example of risking his life, and that of his family and colleagues only to attain and uphold the political rights and economic interests of the people extending whole hearted support in favour of Six Point Movement. The new generation, glorified by independence, should invariably realize that to keep their heads high they must be uncompromising and fearless. The aim of Manik Mia's journalist career was to inculcate that in people's psyche too deeply. To make that to happen, he fought for freedom of the newspapers to create free-minded people. He always judged a government by its attitude to and tolerance towards the freedom of the press. Journalism and politics are the two best possible ways to make ground for social welfare. His political criticisms were both sarcastic and idealistic in content and character. The columns that he penned under the pseudonym 'Musafir' is still considered as the masterpiece of his time with everlasting impacts. He was honoured with the 'Ekushey Padak'. He is a great source of inspirations for the writers and journalists who are promise bound to the cause of the people and the nation. To pay proper tribute to this great journalist and political thinker the new generation of columnists should uphold the tradition of analytical and critical journalism as practiced by him. It is also the responsibility of the government of the day to translate the thoughts and ideas of great man like Manik Mia in their deeds. I would like to mention here that Manik Mia wrote more than two thousand Columns within a period of more or less twelve years. Even when he was in jail, there was no gap in his contribution for the emerging nation. He prepared a manuscript which was later edited by his close friend, famous writer and translator Abdul Hafiz. It was subsequently published under the title of 'Pakistaner Rajnitir Bish Bochhor (Two Decades of Pakistani Politics).' The book -- Pakistaner Rajnitir Bish Bochhor -- became popular among the readers and the researchers of the country. The English version of this book is being published from the Manik Mia Foundation. We hope, the book will equally be well received by the English readers in good grace. (Writer : Senior journalist & Secretary General, Manik Mia Foundation, Dhaka) From Paltan to Secretariat Manik Mia Musafir : (When Awami League came to power in East Pakistan in 1956, Manik Mia wrote this article in Bangla as a guideline) Cabinet members will have to abstain from giving indulgence to nepotism and corruption at first to renew trust in the mind of mass people. It was seen many times that the Ministers, being personally honest, were compelled to fulfil unjust demand of the party-men or relatives due to heavy pressure. As because Awami League will have to abolish old tradition and introduce a new age in Parliamentary politics, any unjust pressure or demand from party-men, relatives, even MLAs, should be refuted. All on a sudden if this tradition, continuing for so long time, is abandoned, many inconveniences may occur ; even fear of disintegsation inside the party in power may arise. But if once indulgence is given to a single unjust demand, similar demands will continue and at last position of this Cabinet will be similar to previous Cabinets. So, from the very beginning the Cabinet should stand on firm principle and should reject any unjust demand. At the beginning this strong principle may create adverse reaction among some MLAs and party-workers. But when these friends will see that the Ministers, in no cases, even in the cases of their close relatives, indulge in nepotism, then the mentality of well-wish and public-welfare will arise in every person. We have to create this atmosphere at any cost. If somebody get undue advantages in unjust ways, it encourages corruption, and it hampers National Welfare activities. No Cabinets in the past could strengthen itself by distributing such undue advantages ; rather as a result of such special patronages number of such candidates increased day by day and brought many troubles for the Ministers. Political workers must understand that nation's fate can never be changed by grabing personal advantages. And failure to develop whole society increases people's misery and fortune making of 2/3 persons become fruitless. Higher living standard of all of us depends on total development of the whole society. But to follow this strict principle the Cabinet members must prove themselves as personally honest in the eyes of public. A high level permanent Commission with special power should be formed to investigate all types of corruptions. This Commission should be empowered to investigate corruptions of all including Ex and present Ministers, MLAs, government employees and business persons. Chairman and members of the Commission should be selected from the persons not involved in party politics. Such a Commission will investigate corruptions of ex-Ministers and government employees as well as that of existing Ministers. Special power should be given to this Commission by introducing new law, as Cabinet in power cannot interfere in their investigation. If such impartial and effective system to investigate corruption can be introduced, it will create trust among the people about anti-corruption determination of the Cabinet, At the same time it will open the path to reduce corruption by creating fear among the corrupt persons of different stages in the society. Of course it is not an easy task to uproot corruption as corruption is well spread in the various stages of the society. For this, all inclusive programme should be taken to erase financial crisis of the mass people. Even then if corruption can be stopped at the higher level of the society, i.e. Ministers and higher government officials, a healthy situation will be created in the country. There are reasons to follow the path of corruption among lower grade employees and small traders. But that is also not acceptable. Corruption among persons of upper level is the main cause of well-spread corruption in the society. Corruption in lower level can be reduced even before economic development of the society, if corruption in upper level can be stopped. We can say with our experience that the people of rural area in general are simple and honest. Now-a-days they are compelled to follow dishonest way in many cases due to pressure created by corruption of upper level. If corruption of upper level can be stopped, mass-people will be encouraged to follow honest life even if they suffer from temporary uneasyness. Cabinet will definitely get unhindered support of mass-people if its members do not bow down in front of corruption, nepotism and unjust demand. In that case if any political worker or MLA want to do something against the Cabinet, he will be compelled to come back in right path due to public awareness. Cabinet should follow the just policy. They should not care whether they will be dislodged for their honesty. In that case they will enjoy public support. No unscrupulous person will be able to blackmail the Cabinet with profound public support. In the meantime the new Cabinet has done some worth mentioning works. They have created a true democratic situation by releasing political prisoners. It will create pleasure in every democratic minded person. Unhindered opportunity should prevail to propagate various political doctrine in a democratic country. It is not only undemocratic, but inhuman also, to put a person in custody without trial only for political difference. But if some one becomes involved in activities against security and sovereignty of the country, they should be dealt strongly; but not without trial in any case. I want to close my discussion with one more appeal. Our MLAs and workers must understand that Awami League has taken the responsibility of ruling the Province in a very hard time. It is an acid-test for the party. Future of the whole party is inseparably connected with the success or failure of the Cabinet. Awami League will be well-established in the heart of mass-people if the Cabinet become successful to save the mass people of the Province from the famine created by vicious circle. Let God be with us! If for any slackness or wrong, the Cabinet fails to overcome the crisis, whole party will become a target of hatred of the mass people. So, today it is our noble duty to cooperate actively and to empower the Cabinet to solve the problem forgetting our personal gains. It is urgent to give scope for the Ministers to perform their duties freely by not making rush to their residences for personal benefit. It is not necessary to say something new about the terrible food crisis. Next two and half months will be very crucial time. We all shall have to be very careful so that we can overcome this crisis period successfully. Translated by Sanjeeb Chowdhury ICRC ready to act fast with humanitarian assistance The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) wants Bangladesh to make the best use of its presence, resources and experience saying it remains ready to 'act fast' and in a 'coordinated way' to reach those who need humanitarian assistance. "I think, the humanitarian work is never finished. There's always more to be done," outgoing ICRC Deputy Head of Delegation in Bangladesh Boris Kelecevic told UNB in an interview on Tuesday. Boris said they have come a long way in Bangladesh in terms of their works and activities though they consider the current phase as a 'consolidation phase' after resuming their activities in 2006 having the biggest humanitarian assistance ICRC provided back in 1971. It re-established its presence in 2006, focusing on promotion of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and support to Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS). In 2010, the ICRC in Bangladesh signed the headquarters agreement with the government and started to protect and assist people affected by politically motivated, inter-communal violence and natural disaster. Keeping in mind the historical trend of Bangladesh elections, he said the ICRC is going to focus very much on remaining prepared for extending support to the people if there is any 'politically motivated' violence centering elections. Responding to a question, the ICRC official said the situation, in general, is definitely very challenging but the ICRC is the only organisation which has been able to work in a very difficult situation. He, however, said he would not agree if anybody claims that the relevance of ICRC is not there. "Our budget has grown over the past several years and our ambition has grown. I would say we could always do more. But there're very few actors such as ICRC (which are active)," Boris explained. Talking about challenges while executing their programmes here, the ICRC official said there have always been challenges but those challenges allowed them to 'grow and engage' with their partners here to work more actively. "Yes, there were operational challenges but these challenges are quickly addressed," Boris, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, added. The ICRC through the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) recently distributed foodstuff to 3,200 families (19,000 people), who fled Rakhine State in Myanmar and are residing with host communities in Bangladesh. Talking about Rohingya situation, Boris said, "From humanitarian aspects, the international community can do a lot. Individually as an organisation and collectively, we're trying to do more." He, however, said such support cannot resolve the root cause of the problem. "We'll continue to follow up the situation. We're trying to do our best (as humanitarian org)," said the ICRC official. On government's measures after July-1 terrorist attack, Boris said, "We welcome the measures taken by the government primarily for its citizens; foreigners and diplomats. It (govt measures) did allow ICRC to remain operational." "ICRC always remains aware of security risk. We would never expect to be a target because of the works we are doing which are purely humanitarian works and only for the benefits of the people," said the ICRC official. Boris said his very first contact with Bangladesh and its people had been in 1994 when he used to receive humanitarian assistance from the neighboring countries through the checkpoint of UN peacekeepers. "I remember where I met people from Bangladesh for the first time. I was always offered a warm cup of tea (by BD peacekeepers)," the ICRC official recalled his memory in an emotion chalked voice. He thanked the Bangladeshi peacekeepers for their role in very difficult time for the Bosnia and Herzegovina which gained independence in 1992. Strategies for water resource management Paula Fray : Amid the worst drought in a century, South Africans are kick-starting a global consultative process to agree on the values of water in a bid to ensure more equitable use of the finite resource. On May 30, ministers, officials, civil society, business and local regional organisations will gather outside Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of a high-level consultation on water called the "Valuing Water Initiative". "The distribution of water has always been a point of advocacy in relation to the land transformation debate. [There can be] no land reform without water reform."-Herschelle Milford The High Level Panel on Water - first convened by the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and then UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon - consists of 11 sitting Heads of State and Government and one Special Adviser, to provide the leadership required to "champion a comprehensive, inclusive and collaborative way of developing and managing water resources, and improving water and sanitation related services". The HLPW's core focus is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, as well as to contribute to the achievement of the other SDGs that rely on the development and management of water resources. The members of the panel are Heads of State from Australia, Bangladesh, Hungary, Jordan, Mauritius (co-chair), Mexico (co-chair), Netherlands, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, and Tajikistan. The South African consultation takes place on May 30, followed by consultations in Mexico, Senegal, Tajikistan and Bangladesh ahead of a global presentation at the Stockholm World Water Week in August 2017. Global Water Partnership's (GWP) executive secretary Rudolph Cleveringa explained that, as the first in a series of consultations, the South Africa meeting was expected to "set the tone and pace". "South Africa is extremely committed to the water agenda. South Africa went from an Apartheid policy-driven water policy to a human rights approach. We are very keen to see the country lead not only from a South Africa view but also from a southern Africa perspective," said Cleveringa. When she presented her budget speech to South Africa's Parliament on May 26, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane - acknowledging her participation on the HLPW - said "water knows no boundaries and water can be a social, security and economic catalyst, both nationally and internationally" Announcing that South Africa, in partnership with GWP and working together with the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), was hosting the regional consultations, Mokonyane said the initiative would "support countries to enhance job creation through investments in water infrastructure and industrialisation". On the table will be the draft principles that note "making all the values of water explicit gives recognition and a voice to dimensions that are easily overlooked. This is more than a cost-benefit analysis and is necessary to make collective decisions and trade-offs. It is important to lead towards sustainable solutions that overcome inequalities and strengthen institutions and infrastructure." The meeting takes place as the Western Cape province of South Africa has been declared a disaster area as a result of the drought which has seen dam levels drop to crisis levels. The City recently said its feeder dam levels were at 20.7 percent, with only 10.7 percent left for consumption. According to the minister, it is the "worst drought in the last 100 years and the severest for the Western Cape in the last 104 years. "This drought has not only affected South Africa, but also the rest of the world because of global warming, climate change," she said, adding that it would take at least two to three years for the Western Cape to recover. Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said the city would increase emergency water schemes in the coming months with programmes such as drilling boreholes and exploring desalinisation. In a recent speech, De Lille emphasised the need for public-private partnerships. "We need to be innovative and diversify our financing mechanisms and these efforts will require partnership with the private sector," De Lille was quoted as saying. The city council has introduced Level 4 restrictions - one level below emergency level. Western Cape-based Surplus People Project CEO Herschelle Milford, whose organisation works to support agrarian transformation, said that the city had blamed migration as a reason for the water crisis in Cape Town. "However, the biggest consumers of water is industry, then agriculture and then households," she noted. This called for dialogue on how water could be shared equitably among all its users, noted Milford. "The water crisis is a discussion point in the context of large-scale commercial farmers using irrigation with limited recourse amongst land and agrarian activists," said Milford. Water was much more than simply about access: "The distribution of water has always been a point of advocacy in relation to the land transformation debate. [There can be] no land reform without water reform." Cleveringa said the discussions were being generated from very high international dialogues to discussions at the local level. To this end, the draft principles offer a range of perspectives on how water can be valued. Not only will the South African dialogue include a host of ministers but regional input will be provided by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, as well as various organisations such as Dr Oyun Sanjaasuren, Chair of the Global Water Partnership; and Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank. SADC head of water Phera Ramoeli said water valuation was a critical component of water resources management as it allowed "policy and planning across all the developmental spectrum". "The SADC region has 15 Shared Watercourses which accounts for over 70 percent of all the available renewable water resources in the region. If they are properly managed and adequately funded they will ensure the continued availability of these resources for the current and future generations for the various needs and uses that water is put to," he said, noting that water was present in a large number of value chains including agro-processing, mineral processing, pharmaceuticals, energy production, even health. "Valuing water is important as it will ensure that water resources management, development, conservation and monitoring receives an appropriate share of the national budget," he added. The water principles being discussed also emphasise the collaborative process to build water champions and ownership at all levels that allows users to meet all 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals. "We are moving away from valuing water in its fiscal interpretation only. We're not just looking at it in terms of how much does water cost but going beyond this utilitarian approach. The Bellagio principles demonstrate that there is more than just a utilitarian approach to water and we hope that these consultations will draw out those discussions," said Cleveringa. "The value of water is basically about making choices," he said, adding that this called for "not just a cross-sectoral approach but also all of society input into valuing water". It is in this discussion that the high level panels aim to provide leadership to champion a "comprehensive, inclusive, and collaborative way of developing and managing water resources, and improving water and sanitation related services". The dialogues need to generate an open debate on the values of water as well as get regional input to the Bellagio principles. Over half of the consultations are happening in non-OECD settings that are being led by the global South. "This sets the right tone for buy-in at multiple levels," said Cleveringa. IPS 311 BD workers in inhuman condition in KSA Local recruiter, a Saudi company blamed for miseries Reza Mahmud : A total of 311 Bangladeshi workers are passing in inhuman condition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as they are not getting minimum wages and other logistic supports from their employer, Al-Nadah Company. "We are now facing serious financial hardship. We are in human condition here, as our employer is not giving minimum salary as per commitment. Even we cannot change our workplace as our employer filed false cases against most of us," said, Abul Hashem (not his real name). Besides, he also alleged that the employer is not giving them sufficient food to survive. "Apart from these, we don't have electricity and water connections since July last year. We have already informed the Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah about our condition," Hashem added. According to the workers, Al-Nadah Company situated in Abah city, some 800 kilometers away from Jeddah, recruited them through a Bangladesh manpower exporter Quddus Chowdhury. However, Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah and Bangladeshi community are providing them daily needs. Besides, Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah has also given jobs to at least 60 workers there. The company used to supply workers to the KSA government and the private sector there. Most of the workers were hired from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal. Now the company issued threat to the workers that if they would join other companies, they would be arrested. The workers also accused Bangladesh manpower exporter Quddus Chowdhury of creating such inhuman condition. "Quddus Chowdhury recruited us for the bad reputed company though he knew the real picture of the manpower supplier agency," said Abul Hashem. The Bangladeshi workers said Quddus Chowdhury charged them extra money in the name of Akama (work permits) renewal of passports and visas pass of vacation leaves and alike. According to the diplomatic sources, as the Bangladesh consulate of Jeddah found the allegations truth, it asked the company authority to send back the workers. It also sent a note to the foreign ministry of KSA. Later, the company owner filed a case against Bangladesh consulate. In its allegation, the owner said that Bangladesh consulate launched attack on their workers' residence. When the foreign ministry of KSA found the faults of the company it took various punitive measures against them. The ministry stopped working in all government projects with Al-Nada. The KSA foreign ministry also asked the company not to issue visa for recruiting workers from different countries. On August 5, last year, the Bangladesh consulate filed a case in a labour court in Jeddah demanding compensation. The consulate has given a letter to the ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment in Dhaka on May 4, this year. Recently, a team of officials, led by Azharul Haque, Additional Secretary of the ministry, visited the workers residence. 90 killed, 300 wounded Massive blast jolts Kabul diplomatic zone Two seriously wounded among hundreds more have been injured in a massive explosion near the British embassy in Kabul (Top) and an Afghan man carries an injured man to a hospital after the massive blast in Kabul, yesterday morning. The explosion happened a AFP : Over 90 people were killed in a massive blast which ripped through the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul early Wednesday, the health ministry said, warning the toll would rise further. "Unfortunately the toll has reached 80 martyred (killed) and over 300 wounded, including many women and children," said ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh, adding the figures would continue to climb as more bodies are pulled from the debris. The explosion occurred during the morning rush hour in a busy part of the Afghan capital that houses many foreign embassies and government departments. Bodies littered the scene and a huge plume of smoke rose from the area. However, it was not immediately clear what the target was. Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety, with men and woman struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones. "A car bomb" exploded at 8:25am, Najib Danish, an interior ministry spokesman, told AFP. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast," India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. The Indian embassy is among those close to the area. It is unclear whether German embassy staff in Kabul were injured or hurt when the car bomb exploded in its vicinity, a security source said. "It's unclear at the moment whether German staff have been affected," the source told Reuters. The source had earlier said, based on information available at the time, it did not seem that German staff had been injured or killed in the explosion. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual "spring offensive". The militant Islamic State (IS) group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured Nato convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. Wednesday's attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where Afghan forces beset by soaring casualties and desertions are struggling to beat back the insurgents. More than one third of the country is outside government control. Afghan troops are backed by US and Nato forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to the country to break the deadlocked fight against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from Nato allies, who also mainly serve in an advisory capacity - a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of "another tough year" for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan. The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in Kabul. The province surrounding the capital had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 thanks to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. 9 cheats held, 2 victims rescued Staff Reporter : At least nine cheats were arrested on charge of introducing themselves as members of police and journalists in the city's Demra area on Wednesday. The arrested men are: Abdul Halim, Rani Mia, Mobarak Hossain, Rozina Begum, Selim Ghotak, Monju Mia, Rafiq Hossain, Mostafa and Hannan Matabbar. They also rescued two victims identified as Abdul Aziz and Arman at the same time. They were victimized when they went to the cheats' office at Demra for talks about marriage, police said. Abdul Baten, Joint-Commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said it to the reporters in a press briefing at DMP Media Centre on Wednesday. "A team of detectives raided the fourth floor of a building named Ayesha Manjil on the Shahjalal Road at night and arrested them with a walkie-talkie and two pairs of handcuffs at night," the detective officials said. "They used to cheat people in the name of marriage giving advertisement for bridegroom and bride. They used to free the victims after receiving money, as saying, we are police officials and journalists" the Joint-Commissioner said. Even they also forced them, who went there for jobs, to sex at brothel, he said. A case was filed with the police station in this connection, he added. Saudi Prince loses $350m, 5 of his wives in 6 hours at casino World News Daily Report.com : A Saudi Prince lost 1.350 Billion Riyals ($359 Million) in six hours as well as five of his nine wives while playing poker at the casino. Prince Majed bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is well-known around the world for both his drug and gambling habits, but his latest betting frenzy is quite exceptional even for him. Spending the week at the renowned Sinai Grand Casino, the Prince spent six hours at the "unlimited stakes" poker table and had an incredible losing streak. In one evening, he lost hundreds of millions of dollars and was even forced to give up five of his spouses to cover part of his debt. According to the director of the casino, Ali Shamoon, the prince pawned his wives in exchange for $25M in credit and left them there after he lost. "This isn't the first time that a customer bets a living creature. We often have camels and horses, but usually, the customers pay to keep them. This is the first time that a player leaves his wives after he loses." Pawning or selling women is rather rare practice but it is still legal in several Middle Eastern countries. The high profile of these particular women appears to embarrass both the Sinai Grand Casino and the Egyptian government, however, and a diplomatic solution remains quite probable. It is still unclear what will happen to the Prince's wives and if they will be able to return to Saudi Arabia, and most experts believe that other members of the Saudi Royal family could buy them back discretely over the next few weeks. If not, they will likely be sold at auction in a few months, probably in Yemen or Qatar. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said his government would do everything it could to facilitate the Saudi women's return to their homeland, as soon as their husband's debt will be paid. This isn't the first time that Prince Majed bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud attracts attention for bad reasons. In 2015, the Saudi Arabian prince was accused of a having sexual relationship with a male aide, taking cocaine and threatening to kill women who refused his advances - as well as sexually assaulting a maid. A few days after the facts were revealed by the media, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced that they would not be filing charges against the prince and he was allowed to leave the country. This time, however, the prince is believed to have lost the vast majority of his fortune, so he may finally calm down and adopt a more conservative lifestyle. No more Feb 15 or Jan 5 type polls US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bloom Barnicat has laid emphasis on inclusive and participatory national polls scheduled to be held in 2019 for electing the members of the 11th parliament. The US envoy made the statements during a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda at EC secretariat in the city's Agargaon on Wednesday. Two other officials of USID were also present there at that time. The CEC and US ambassador have also agreed at this point that there should not be February 15 or January 5 type election in the country anymore. Their meeting continued for about one and a half hours. "All party's participation is not only for the voting day, rather there must be an ideal atmosphere so that the candidates can take registration and run their campaign smoothly. The prevailing situation should earn general people's trust that their votes will be counted," Marcia Barnicat told the newsmen after attending the meeting. Promising all sorts of cooperation in the polls, the US envoy also said, "Bangladesh has many records of holding good and less-good types of elections. Echoing the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's statement, I want to say that the next election must be held above all questions." EC Secretary Md Abdullah, who was also present at the meeting, said: "We both sides have agreed that there will not be any election such as February 15 and January 5. We will try to avoid such types of situation." Expressing her grave concern, the US envoy during the meeting mentioned about witnessing some faults, hartal and incidents of violence in the previous elections. In response, the CEC said these incidents would not take place again if all parties participate in the upcoming election. The CEC also quoted as saying that there is an example in Bangladesh of holding an acceptable election on June 12 after the said controversial February 15 polls in 1996. "It's a big challenge to bring all the parties in the electoral process. This type of situation has been created as the big parties did not take part in the elections," the CEC was quoted as saying. The CEC earlier hold a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla on May 18. He also sat in meetings with Swedish Ambassador in Dhaka Johan Frisell and Norwegian Ambassador Sidsel Bleken on March 12. Meanwhile, the EC is taking preparations to hold dialogues with registered political parties -at least in two spells-to finalise its various important decisions, including the electronic voting machine (EVM) use in the upcoming parliamentary elections. As per its roadmap, the EC will initiate its first phase of talks with the political parties in August next to have their opinions over the use of EVM or digital voting machine (DVM) in the polls. Besides, the EC will also discuss reformation of electoral laws and delimitation of parliamentary constituencies. The Undead Archives I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world. 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Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. 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 A bid to rename the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts has erupted into a legislative brawl pitting the school's core constituents (alumni, friends and families) versus friends and family of one of the school's founding fathers. Sen. Francis Thompson's bid to rename the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches after his late friend Rep. Jimmy D. Long Sr., is scheduled to be considered by the House Education Committee on Wednesday in what could be a decisive moment for SB1. Thompson, a long-time state legislator from Delhi, says he merely "wants to give credit where credit is due" in renaming the school after Long, who died in an automobile accident in Natchitoches last year. The 4,500-member LSMSA Alumni Association has been fighting Thompson's bill, saying the school's board of directors has already decided to honor Long by naming its new residential dormitory after the late legislator. Acadiana graduates of the Natchitoches school, a state-funded school that attracts some of the state's top high school students for a rigorous, three-year academic program, have joined in the fight against the name change. Some will attend Wednesday's committee meeting, which is scheduled to convene at 9 a.m. in House Committee Room 1. The dispute is not over honoring Long, whom all parties acknowledge was one of the school's founding fathers. The question is over how best to do so. "For as long as I've been involved with the school, there were four men who were recognized as being essential to the existence of the school," according to 1995 LSMSA grad Justin Centanni. "They were Jimmy Long, Gov. Dave Treen, Sen. Don Kelly and our first executive director, Dr. Bob Alost, who left Northwestern to start the school." Because state law prohibits naming structures after people who are still living, plans to honor the schools founders have had to wait until after they have died. "After Gov. Treen died," Centanni told The Independent, "the school named the auditorium after him. After Mr. Long died, the plan became to name the new residence hall after him." The LSMSA's governing board announced that decision with members of the Long family present at its December 2016 board meeting. Sen. Gerald Long, Jimmy Long's brother, thanked the board and said that he would ask his brother's long-time friend Sen. Thompson to handle the legislation needed to enable his brother to be honored by the school. When Thompson filed SB1 on January 30, the bill was not to name the residence hall after his late friend but to rename the entire school after Long. The school's Alumni Association conducted a poll of its members on the matter. With 42 percent of those polled responding, 74 percent opposed the name change while 82 percent favored naming the residence hall after Long. Dawne Landry went from Jennings to LSMSA where she graduated in 1991. The Lafayette resident opposes the name change because it risks damaging the reputation the school has gained over the past 35 years in higher education circles. "Changing the name might affect college applications of students there now and in future years," Landry says. "This is the number one school in the state. In the last school year, LSMSA students won more than $20 million in merit-based scholarships. Changing the name takes away name recognition and the could have an impact on the ability of future classes to earn those scholarships." Landry says the LSMSA had a profound impact on her life. "Coming from a rural home town, I didn't have the kinds of academic opportunities that were available to us at the Louisiana School," Landry explains. "If you change the name, you have to start over from square one rebuilding the school's repetitional value." LSMSA alum Renae Broussard points out that adding Long's name to the school name would create another unanticipated problem. "The Jimmy D. Long, Sr. Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts would not fit on digitized college applications," Broussard pointed out in an email. "That would force shortening, and potentially impact graduating seniors admission and scholarship opportunities by being unrecognizable." Broussard believes that naming the new residence hall after Long is the best way to honor him because the experience of dormitory life is where the relationships created at the school are forged. "While LSMSA provides a nationally ranked education, the dormitories are where our alumni family is formed," she wrote. "They are truly the heart of the school." Broussard points out that LSMSA alumni regularly return to the school to participate in sweat equity activities at the school. "This bond, this overwhelming love for the school and the unbelievable alumni camaraderie that spans generations, was forged in the dormitories," Broussard continued. "I believe that it is a significantly more fitting honor to name the new dorm after Rep. Long, and I believe he would agree with me." Ashley Martin agrees. The 1991 LSMSA grad described the intensity of student life at LSMSA as life-changing. "It's an intense experience that really shapes you," Martin said in a telephone interview. "You live together for two years and strong bonds are created. You become like a band of brothers." (LSMSA now has three years of classes on its campus.) "What you're exposed to at this school is just phenomenal," Martin explains. "You can't get that anywhere else in this state." Martin says she hopes her children are able to attend LSMSA. Martin has been contacting other alumni to encourage them to contact their local legislators to express their opposition to SB1. She's also written letters to members of the House Education Committee and to area legislators explaining her reasons for opposing SB1. Landry says she plans to attend the hearing tomorrow morning, along with alumni from Acadiana and across the state. "The vision of the school and our founding fathers is kept alive through the students," Landry says. "Don't take that away from the students and the state of Louisiana." Sen. Thompson has declared his intention to amend his bill in order to try to make it more palatable to the school's alumni, but he still intends to rename the school after his friend. He will introduce the changes in the Education Committee tomorrow. If the amendments are approved and the bill advances to the House floor, the bill will have to return to the Senate for concurrence with the House-approved amendments. The calendar is not Thompson's ally here, although the House might hold sessions over the weekend, which could buy him more time to let the bill work its way through the procedural process. If the bill is defeated in committee tomorrow it is dead for the session. The committee expects to make its recommended changes in HB1 on Wednesday, sending the revised bill to the Senate for a vote as soon as Thursday, according to committee chair Sen. Eric Lafleur. Senate Finance Committee chair Eric Lafleur Photo by Robin May After two weeks of detailed hearings on HB1 as it was approved by the House, the Senate Finance Committee will recommend its changes in the bill when it meets on Wednesday morning, according to committee chair Sen. Eric Lafleur. Lafleur and his committee colleagues gave HB1 the kind of detailed examination that the House Appropriations Committee did not prior to its approval of the bill on May 1. For two weeks heads of state agencies and departments went before Senate Finance to explain the impact of HB1 on the operation of their respective entity. The House Appropriations Committee approved a budget based on 97.5 percent of the revenue forecast to be available to the state in the coming fiscal year by the Revenue Estimating Conference. The 97.5 percent figure was a figure developed by GOP Caucus chair Rep. Lance Harris of Alexandria and Appropriations chair Rep. Cameron Henry of Metairie. The two lawmakers told The Independent that their primary objective was to break the state's long streak of having to make mid-year budget cuts which all parties agree amplify the damage caused by the state's revenue shortage by forcing a year's worth of cuts into a half year of the budget cycle. "We started from the premise that there is only one certainty in the budget process and that is that the number from the REC will not be accurate," Henry told The Independent. "When you start with that fact, it is irresponsible to base your budget on spending 100 percent of that wrong number." The Appropriations Committee imposed substantial cuts on the Louisiana Department of Health, the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Corrections. As was revealed in testimony in Senate Finance, those departments were not allowed to provide input to the committee on the impact of the cuts. They were given that opportunity in Senate Finance. The picture was not pretty. Under the state Constitution, all revenue measures must originate in the House. So far, no tax proposals of any significance have emerged from the House, meaning that the Senate will have to deal with HB1 pretty much as the House has dealt it. The Senate does have some wiggle room based on the percentage of the REC estimate used by the House. Lafleur has raised that possibility as has Senate President John Alario. Lafleur was quoted over the weekend as saying he's been told by some in the House that using a higher percentage of the REC estimate to free up more money for spending is "a deal breaker" for some in the House. Based on testimony and comments made during Senate Finance's two weeks of hearings, many of the cuts forced by the House's approach to HB1 are equally unacceptable. Senate Finance was scheduled to beginning meeting on Tuesday at noon. HB1 is on the agenda, but Lafleur told The Independent that the committee will deal with the other bills on its agenda today and focus on changing HB1 on Wednesday. It could take a day or two for the Legislative Bureau to make all the changes in HB1 that Senate Finance is likely to make. Whether the bill can be turned around by Thursday, as Lafleur predicted on Saturday, remains to be seen. Thursday will mark 28 days since the House approved HB1. Changes made by the Senate must be sent back to the full House for concurrence. The changes will be rejected. A conference committee comprisingan equal number of House and Senate members will then meet behind closed doors to begin negotiating on a compromise budget. Speaker Taylor Barras is holding the weekend days open for possible full sessions. Neither body must be in session for the conference committee to meet. The House has been riven by tensions that have grown all session. They began with the manner in which HB1 was handled by the GOP Caucus and by Henry's Appropriations Committee. Details of the impact of the cuts that would be imposed by a budget based on the GOP's 97.5 percent funding formula were not made explicit at any point in the process on the House side. The details only emerged in Senate Finance. Meanwhile there have been a number of eruptions of anger in the House since the budget moved to the Senate. The first came when the House approved HB71 by Shreveport Rep. Thomas Carmody dealing with the removal of Confederate monuments. The second came last week when Democrats blocked HB3, which provides funding for the Capital Outlay bill. (Because it is a revenue bill, a two-thirds vote in support is required for approval.) Democrats said they took the step in retaliation for the GOP majority shutting them out of the budget process. House GOP leaders have since threatened to kill the Justice Reinvestment criminal justice reform bills. The bills were pulled from House consideration on Thursday and do not appear at all on today's Order of the Day for House action. The debate over a compromise HB1 will take place in this already volatile environment in the House. But, first a compromise will have to be reached. Cameron Henry, as chairman of Appropriations, will be part of the House conference committee team. Lafleur will be part of the Senate team. The other members will be chosen by Speaker Barras and President Alario. If a compromise can be reached, it will not come without several days of negotiating, putting votes in the House and Senate around mid-week. The session is required to end by 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 8. If the House and Senate cannot agree on a compromise budget before then, a special session focused on the budget will need to be convened. The current fiscal year ends on June 30. The next fiscal year begins on July 1. The state cannot operate without a budget in place. HB71 by Shreveport Rep. Thomas Carmody won approval in the House on May 15 in a racially charged debate that fractured the House. SB198 by Franklinton Sen. Beth Mizell will be getting its first consideration. The Battle of Liberty Place monument in New Orleans is removed from public view in late April. Two bills that would affect the ability of local governments to remove war monuments will be considered by the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning. The bills, HB71 and SB198, are expected to fail based on committee votes on similar bills last year. HB71 by Shreveport Rep. Thomas Carmody won approval in the House on May 15 in a racially charged debate that fractured the House. SB198 by Franklinton Sen. Beth Mizell will be getting its first consideration. Carmody's bill would require that local citizens be allowed to vote on any proposal by a local government to remove statues related to wars. The bill includes a long list of war celebrations that it covers. Gov. John Bel Edwards has not said what he would do if Carmody's bill made it to his desk, but he pointed out that the wording of the bill would have required East Baton Rouge Parish to have held a referendum on the demolition of the old Alex Box Stadium on the LSU campus because Box was killed in World War II. Mizell's bill would require legislative approval for the removal of any war statues in the state. Roughly similar bills by the same legislators were considered and rejected by the same committee last year. Mizell's 2016 bill would have created a state commission to decide the fate of the monuments. Carmody's 2016 bill would have created a commission within the Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism to handle monument questions. The effect of the 2016 and current versions of the bills would be to restrict the ability of local governments to remove monuments. All the bills were introduced in reaction to the decision by the mayor and City Council in New Orleans to remove three monuments to Confederate leaders and one monument to a riot by a white militia against the elected bi-racial government in Louisiana during Reconstruction. New Orleans recently completed the removal of the four monuments honoring Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard, as well as the obelisk that celebrated the White League's riot at Liberty Place. There are efforts underway in Shreveport and Lafayette to remove monuments to Confederate soldiers. The nine-member committee has five Democrats and four Republicans. Committee chair Karen Carter Peterson votes only in event the other eight members of her committee split evenly on an issue. Peterson cast the decisive vote on Mizell's bill last year. The father-daughter duo of Mike and Amy Mills, of Murphysboro's 17th Street Barbecue, has done it again. The two released a second cookbook in May, called Praise the Lard: Recipes and Revelations." This picks up where 'Peace, Love and Barbecue' left off, Amy Mills said. Its a real love letter to Murphysboro. "Peace, Love and Barbecue," the Mills' first cookbook, gave fans a real look at the world of competitive barbecue and the opportunity to recreate some of their favorite dishes from 17th Street, with some favorites from Mills barbecue buddies thrown in. "Praise the Lard" gives more instructions for cooking award-winning meats, sides and desserts at home. More of the Mills family favorites can be found on pages of the book, along with stories of life in Murphysboro and cooking barbecue. The meat chapter is really specific and gives you very specific instructions, Amy Mills said. Very specific is right. The chapter contains 16 pages of recommendations down to the brands of equipment and instructions before readers get to the recipes. Mike Mills reviewed some of his tips for the backyard barbecue enthusiast. First, start with good meat, like from Big Muddy Hogs, he said. Then, it is about temperature and fire control. We like fruit wood. Oak and hickory have a heavier flavor than apple or other fruit woods, Mike Mills said. Mike Mills believes good barbecue has four flavors: smoke, sauce, seasoning and the meat itself. The other ingredients should complement the meat, not overpower it. Use the bark as well as the inside wood, he said. Without bark, the wood will not give the meat much flavor. A steady low temperature is better than going high and fluctuating, Mike Mills said. You want the temperature to rise and be steady, so the meat knows what to do. Mike Mills explained that meat doesnt take smoke after it rises to a temperature of about 140 degrees. After it reaches that point, dont worry about adding wood. Really the whole key is fire managements, Amy Mills said. But, theres a little more than barbecue in Praise the Lard. The book also contains some tastes in each chapter that are specific to Southern Illinois. I love peanut rolls, Mike Mills said. Peanut rolls are very specific to Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri, Amy Mills said. Pork steaks are another taste of Southern Illinois that is a 17th Street Barbecue specialty. Only a very specific part of the Midwest knows about pork steaks, Amy Mills said. One chapter Amy Mills is particularly proud of is a chapter called "Holy Communion," which features barbecue-inspired cocktails. In addition to Bloody Mary, Negroni and Amys Margarita recipes, other cocktails have unique names, like Pork and Stormy, Salty Pig, Lipstick on a Pig and 17th Street Shuffle. Along with each recipe, readers will find a story. Everything has a story, Mike Mills said. All the recipes we included have some reason to be in the book, Amy Mills said. Research shows the average person cooks two recipes from any cookbook he or she owns, according to Amy Mills. She calls purchasing cookbooks a sort of armchair travelling. If she is correct, Praise the Lard is armchair travelling to Murphysboro, Illinois. It really is about the town, Amy Mills said. The town is a character (in the cookbook). I feel strongly that Murphysboro is on the upswing, Mike Mills said. There is a real resurgence and were proud to be a part of it. Praise the Lard sells for $25 and is available in 17th Street restaurants, Barnes and Noble in Carbondale and at amazon.com. 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Colwell wrote that provosts, vice chancellors and others have been working diligently to identify $19 million in permanent reductions since late March, plus account for the first of 10 annual payments to reimburse funds spent this year that we did not receive due to the ongoing state budget impasse. We built much of our permanent reduction on vacant positions in order to avoid layoffs, but unfortunately, layoffs and the non-renewal of some contracts are unavoidable, Colwell wrote, in the memo. Decisions affecting members of our community are deeply painful to all of us. We will do all we can to assist those employees who are affected. Colwell wrote that the campus anticipates issuing layoff notices to 51 civil service employees. Two nontenure-track faculty were previously given notices of layoff and another 24 nontenure-track faculty members were informed their contracts would not be renewed, the memo further stated. While the nonrenewal of a contract is not technically a layoff, the result is the same for affected employees, most of whom hold those teaching positions full-time, or close to full-time, as their primary job. In addition to the 51 civil service workers likely to receive layoff notices, another close to 100 civil service employees also will receive notice that their status with the university may be affected due to the bumping process, according to the memo. In response to the newspapers request for clarification for how the bumping process works, SIU Carbondale spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith wrote, in an emailed response, that per the labor contract that covers SIUs civil service workers, individuals with seniority can bump into the position of someone with less seniority. Given that, one layoff can lead to several bumps along the line, which possibly could lead to a lower salary for an affected employee depending on what position the bump lands them in. Civil service employees provide a broad range of support services to the campus, including in such positions as nurses, accountants, office staff, food service, janitorial and maintenance, to name a few. In addition, Colwells Wednesday memo included that the appointments of two administrative professional (AP) staff are not being renewed, and some AP staff are being moved to term appointments. As it relates to nontenure-track faculty, Colwell wrote, after citing the 26 employees already notified their jobs will not be available next year, We anticipate that this number may grow as our academic leadership works to balance our budgetary challenges and instructional needs for fall. According to Bret Seferian, a director of the Illinois Education Association who works with several of SIUs unions, there were about 435 people employed this past academic year as nontenure-track faculty members a number that represents just shy of half of the total number of faculty members. It is much more difficult to eliminate the jobs of tenured and tenure-track faculty under the terms of their contract, and Colwells memo did not mention any layoffs planned for those employees. On the other hand, it is much easier, from a procedural standpoint, to eliminate the positions of nontenure-track faculty, particularly those classified as "term," meaning they have been employed there less than five years. Each May 1, Seferian explained, the term faculty members receive a letter indicating that renewal of their contract is a "yes" a "no" or a "maybe." Seferian said that 184 people received the maybe letters this time around, and that 61 were told they would be brought back next year. Goldsmith previously told the newspaper, in response to an inquiry, that those numbers are similar to last year, though she said there were 91 "yes" letters issued. Regardless, Colwells memo on Wednesday indicated that a number of employees receiving "maybe" letters may transition into more "no" letters in the weeks ahead, and Seferian said that's what many had been expecting even prior to Colwell's memo. The uncertainty is hard to deal with, said Shannon Lindsay, a nontenure-track faculty member who teaches technical writing in the School of Information Systems and Applied Technology. Lindsay, who just concluded her third year of teaching, said she received a "maybe" letter, but shes not sticking around to find out whether it turns into a "yes" or a "no." Lindsay said she and her partner he graduated this spring from his masters program are moving this summer to Portland, Maine, as she has reason to believe a job will not be available for her next year on the Carbondale campus, and believes the prospects are better for them there. Lindsay, who also serves as president of the nontenure-track faculty association, represented by the IEA, said the notification process for nontenure-track faculty is unhelpful, as most do not know whether they will have a job next semester, in some cases, until just days before the start of the semester. Not knowing whats going to happen to ones position year after year is a weird position to be in, she said. And this year, everyone is taking the uncertainty a lot harder than in more stable budget years, she said. That's to be expected in light of the state budget impasse, SIU Carbondale's planned borrowing from SIU Edwardsville's unrestricted funds to stay in the black, and announcements from administrators that tough cuts are on the horizon. Just the panic Ive seen this semester is so, so sad, Lindsay said. In his memo, Colwell further stated that the impact of further cuts on graduate assistantships is not known at this point, as course needs are still being identified, though he noted there already was a significant reduction this fiscal year. He wrote that it is anticipated that a number of other positions across campus will become vacant through attrition, in addition to the approximately 158 vacant positions that account for a $10 million salary sweep that allowed the campus to meet roughly half of its budget reduction obligation and minimize the impact on existing employees. The $19 million in cuts from state-supported operations the Carbondale campus was directed to identify by this summer followed a $21 million cut made earlier this fiscal year. Colwell wrote the cuts may also mean a loss of about 200 undergraduate student worker positions next year. Overall, we will be a different university with the loss of these colleagues and positions, but I remain confident that we can continue to fulfill our mission on behalf of our students, Colwell wrote. This is a response to John Shimkus May 26 guest view titled "Say adieu to the Paris Agreement." Like much of the Republican bullpen, Shimkus view on multinational agreements regarding carbon emissions is without support. Shimkus is correct, however, that neither executive agreements nor executive actions substitute legislation or treaties. Many constituents would agree that replacing our legislative process with a process that subverts the rule of law through an appropriations process is equally lacking in substance. Those in Congress working with Donald Trumps administration are working against American interests. To describe Scott Pruitts interests in the same manner that Wal-Mart markets its pricing structure, that is to say, a rollback, is to disregard the severity of the perils we face if we dont strive to meet and exceed the guidelines set forth in the Paris Agreement. Not only will failure to meet these guidelines sacrifice jobs, affordability utilities and market competitiveness, it will sacrifice the safety and interests of millions of Americans. The fact is Americas global leadership is being harmed in unimaginable ways that are unrelated to the Paris Agreement something that 65 percent of Americans agree on. Contrary to your statements, Mr. Shimkus, the Paris Agreement sees support ranging from multinational businesses to the men and women who are your constituents. Your failure to put stock in their interests demonstrates to both your friends and your foes that you are bound to the wishes of our current administration and not the will of your people. Its time to be realistic about our place in this world. The truth is, The United States is a global thought leader, and if we stop 100 percent of our carbon emissions, it will have a significant impact on international carbon projects. America shouldnt concede that it cant make a difference without first giving it an earnest and sincere try. Even if our work isnt enough to save this planet, we shouldnt reserve ourselves to pursue a working death, burning every last resource available until we extinguish the light of humanity. This isnt a debate and you dont have friends on the left. For a party that puts so much stock in rhetoric of free market influences, your willingness to devalue input from global commerce leaders is intensely brazen. The U.S. doesnt need to exert leverage. The U.S. needs to lead by example, volunteering the same efforts in our defense against carbon buildup in our atmosphere as we do with other human-conscious projects throughout the world. Its obvious. Since realizing the dangers of our current administration and an unsound Congress, companies are taking action and expanding the scope of their operations to improve our environment. We can only hope that U.S. laws to come dont prevent companies from taking these actions. Regulations making it more difficult for companies to protect the environment are protectionist of traditional energy manufacturers who refuse to modernize, not of your average citizen who seeks gainful employment in these commerce sectors. Its up to us to participate whether were able to enforce the agreement on others or not. As a thought leader and leading energy consumer, our countrys participation in the Paris Agreement is both an important symbol and impactful action against carbon buildup in our atmosphere. Big Green groups agree, and thats why theyre fighting in our courts to ensure our commitments are fulfilled. Unfortunately, whether a conclusion is reached or not, weve got a multitude of more concerning issues plaguing this presidents administration. Perhaps its your own partys missteps that have limited your ability to perform your congressionally-mandated functions? For these reasons, Mr. Shimkus, you should heed your constituents urging of you to consider their interests before speaking to issues such as the Paris Agreement. Congress and this administration should work together to seek the future of the American people putting the citizenry first and consumer-status second, creating well-paying, new energy jobs for Americans, and capitalizing on the ever-evolving technology that will provide our nation a clean, sustainable, abundance of energy. Coming on the heels of its expansion into Columbia and Orangeburg last year, GrandSouth Bank is moving into the Charleston market in 2017. To facilitate this expansion, GrandSouth is adding two team members to the company: Robert (Rob) Phillips, the new Charleston market executive, and Alan Uram, new senior commercial lender and senior vice president. Phillips, who holds a degree in finance from the University of South Carolina, has his 37 years of banking experience with companies such as C&S, Anchor Bank and NBSC. In his new role, Uram will be covering Berkeley and Dorchester counties along with Phillips. Uram holds a business administration undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston and an MBA from The Citadel. He also has 15 years of banking experience, having worked for Carolina First and NBSC. ----- Georgia peach crop faces nearly 80% loss this year ATLANTA (AP) Georgia's peach crop is suffering much worse than expected after an overly warm winter and a hard freeze in early spring. Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday that nearly 80 percent of the state's peach crop has been wiped out because of the weather. Black says the lack of peaches could mean a shorter season for Georgia consumers. He says farmers probably won't ship out of state. Initially, farmers hoped to salvage about 70 percent of the crop. The newspaper reports that the loss, combined with a blow to this year's blueberry crop, could mean a $300 million hit to farmers. The peach crop issue has been worse in neighboring South Carolina, where Black says he's told more than 85 percent of the crop was lost. ----- Garcia's guitar heads to auction, could fetch $1M NEW YORK A guitar that Jerry Garcia played everywhere from San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom to Egypt's Great Pyramids was headed to auction Wednesday night. The Grateful Dead frontman's guitar named Wolf was expected to be offered at the Brooklyn Bowl, a bowling alley, restaurant and music venue. The proceeds are earmarked for the Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center. The guitar is being sold by devoted Deadhead Daniel Pritzker, a philanthropist, musician and film director who bought the instrument in 2002 for $790,000. It's predicted that the guitar could fetch over $1 million this time around. The instrument bears a devilish looking, cartoon-like image of a wolf's face eyes menacingly narrowed, ears pricked up, red tongue hanging out, fangs at the ready. Garcia died in 1995. 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. The Smart Dubai Office has announced the results of the first Blockchain Challenge at the Dubai Design District (D3), awarding a total of $45,000 to the most promising solutions using blockchain technology from 21 international startups. The winning start-ups now have an opportunity to pilot their products in Dubai and contribute to the Dubai Blockchain Strategy which was announced by the Smart Dubai Office and the Dubai Future Foundation in October 2016 with an objective to make Dubai the first Blockchain-powered city by 2020. Dr Aisha bin Bishr, director general of the Smart Dubai Office, congratulated the winners for their role in the Dubai Blockchain Strategy, saying the results demonstrate what is possible when people and cities work together. The Dubai Blockchain Challenge has engaged with the most innovative start-ups across the globe, to push the boundaries of what is possible when we embrace emerging technologies to improve lives, she said. The young men and women who participated in the Dubai Blockchain Challenge are contributing their valuable experience to achieving the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to make Dubai the happiest city on earth, she said. Their breakthrough solutions will mean better city experiences for everyone in the very near future. Abraham Cambridge from Sun Exchange took the first place prize of $20,000. Mark Balovnev from Educhain was placed second and won $15,000. The third prize of $10,000 went to Scott Austin from Everledger. The following participants also got special recognition due to their promising ideas Hamsa Warfa from BanQu, Fadwa Mohanna from miCity and Hasan kurtulus from Copyrobo. There is no better way to ensure a bright future for the people of Dubai than to foster innovation as a means to encourage innovators to register unprecedented successes, said Wesam Lootah, CEO of the Smart Dubai Government Establishment. The Blockchain Challenge marks another important milestone for our Dubai Blockchain Strategy, which seeks to execute the leaderships vision to make Dubai the first city in the world to conduct all of its government transactions using blockchain technology, and to upgrade government services and ensure customer satisfaction. The Smart Dubai Office and 1776 launched the Dubai Blockchain Challenge in February 2017, calling for international start-ups with game-changing applications of Blockchain technology, in any industry, to contribute to the Dubai Blockchain Strategy. The Blockchain Challenge is one part of our collaboration with Smart Dubai Office in achieving its goals by connecting them to startups who have solutions for the challenges they face. At 1776, we empower startup ecosystems and help institutions and corporations harness the ecosystem to solve complex challenges, said Evan Burfield, cofounder and CEO at 1776. Through UNION, 1776s digital platform, we were able to issue a call for solutions and identify startups that would benefit from participating in the challenge and working directly with SDO on their businesses. After reviewing hundreds of applications, 21 startups were short-listed and flown to Dubai from 18 cities from 15 countries including Sweden, United Kingdom, South Korea, Netherlands, Canada, Ukraine, Brazil, New Zealand, Vietnam, Belgium, USA, France, UAE, Italy and South Africa. The start-ups participated in a two-day workshop and pitch competition, facilitated by Smart Dubai and 1776, to select the most impactful Blockchain solutions for Dubai. The submitted ideas span blockchain applications in a wide range of topics from energy, real estate, asset management, payments, education, healthcare, and supply chain management to social behaviour. The Dubai Blockchain Strategy is co-founded by Smart Dubai in collaboration with Dubai Future Foundation. Under the strategy, Smart Dubai is driving the implementation of the emerging technology, in line with its mission to embrace technology innovation to make Dubai a more seamless, safe, efficient and personalized city experience, to achieve the three pillars of the Dubai Blockchain Strategy: Government efficiency, industry creation and thought leadership. TradeArabia News Service Shanahan Engineering has been awarded an operations and maintenance (O&M) compilation contract by Sepco Electric Power Construction Corporation for its project in Saudi Arabia. The contract is for the production of the O&M manual for the Jazan Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Project. The work will be completed by Shanahan Engineerings Consultancy Services department from their head office in Dublin, Ireland. A spokesperson from Sepco said: The work completed by Shanahan Engineering is crucial to the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle power plant at the Jizan Refinery facility as it will produce 2,400MW of much needed electricity to the area, adding significant value to the plant. James Greaney, CEO of Shanahan Engineering, said: We are pleased to be awarded this contract by Sepco, this project represents the start of a new and exciting business relationship with a large prominent Chinese Construction Business. We are looking forward to developing a strong partnership with SEPCO, and delivering a value-add service to ensure this project is completed on time, and continuing to work closely to support any additional scopes of work requiring SEL cooperation. Shanahan Engineering is a world-class power generation company with over 30 years proven plant construction, consulting and construction management expertise. - TradeArabia News Service Jawar Al Khaleej Shipping (JAK), a leading provider of specialist services to the offshore oil and gas sector in the Gulf, has taken delivery of a Damen Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 5009 and an ASD 3213 tug for operations at the Al Basra and Khor Al Amaya oil terminals. Between them, these facilities handle more than 90 per cent of Iraqs crude oil exports, said a statement from the JAK. The FCS 5009 is named the Jawar Abu Dhabi and the ASD 3213 is the Jawar Faw. A second ASD 3213, the Jawar Um Qasr, is due for delivery shortly, it said. With 85-tonne of bollard pull, the ASD 3213 is one of the most powerful tugs in the Damen portfolio and examples are in operation with a number of leading operators, it added. The contract for these vessels was signed in November 2016 and the first two have joined the extensive JAK fleet of support vessels that serve the offshore industry in the Middle East. These include anchor-handling tugs, support vessels jack up barges, emergency oil spill response vessel, crew boats, heavy lift crane vessel and flat top barges. The new acquisitions will also join two existing Damen tugs; the Jawar Basra, another ASD 3213, delivered in 2015, and the Jawar Dubai, a Stan Tug 2909 purchased in 2009. Built at Damen Shipyards Antalya, and with a capacity of up to 80 passengers, 240 sq m of deck space and a top speed of 25 knots, the Jawar Abu Dhabi will be used as high-speed transport for personnel and their equipment around the area. The Jawar Faw and its counterpart are products of the Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam. They will apply their 85 tonnes of bollard pull to manoeuvre the VLCCs that berth at the oil terminals, located on the Faw Peninsular. This part of the Arabian Gulf is known for its high winds and their mission is to ensure an uninterrupted service throughout the year. The two oil terminals are a vital part of Iraqs economic infrastructure and are currently expanding their facilities in expectation of increased exports on the years ahead. Eng Baydaq Al Jazaeri, chairman of JAK, said: I'd like to highlight the smoothness and professionalism that we noticed during the signing of the delivery and acceptance protocol for both vessels. On behalf of our management I express my deep thanks and appreciation to all the Damen personnel involved, and especially Bram Langeveld and Pascal Slingerland for their effective and essential role in achieving a successful project, he added. TradeArabia News Service Ooredoo, a leading telecom provider, has joined hands with Dar Al Attaa to sponsor the ongoing 18th annual Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Forum, being held in Muscat, Oman. The three-day event will conclude on June 2, at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre. Around 120 participants from across the sultanate are attending the event and all entry fees will be donated to families in need, said a statement from the company. Ooredoo will also be providing one of the graduates of its skill-enhancing incubator programmes with the opportunity to exhibit their own products during the event, it said. Ooredoos incubator programme has provided the skills and training needed to help women boost their careers or start up their own businesses to help grow local talent and the economy, it added. Raed Dawood, director of government relations and corporate affairs, said: As a company firmly focused on bringing value to the communities we serve, we are proud to collaborate with Dar Al Attaa to provide SMEs with an opportunity to raise their profile and subsequently support the underprivileged. By simply attending the event, visitors will be able to make a contribution in the form of the entrance fee, which will provide those in need with brand new clothes to celebrate Eid, he added. TradeArabia News Service Dubai Multi Commodities Centres (DMCC) executive chairman Ahmed Bin Sulayem recently took part in a UAE trade delegation, organised by Dubai FDI, to Canada to enhance further bilateral trade between the countries. The UAE officials visited Montreal and Toronto, said a statement from DMCC. Bin Sulayem held a series of meetings with senior municipal and provincial officials, which was attended by representatives from leading private sector organisations, it said. The purpose was to highlight DMCCs position as a gateway to global trade, which companies from Canada can utilise as a platform to access emerging markets across Africa, India and East Asia, it added. In a meeting hosted by the municipalitys trade council, Montreal Intentional, UAE Officials and the Mayor Denis Coderre discussed the important role that the UAE plays in Canadas foreign trade as its 15th largest export market. The UAEs strategic geographic position as a re-export hub and its ability to facilitate access to emerging markets are the principal reasons driving foreign trade. Bin Sulayem said: The UAE sits at a strategic global crossroads between East and West, and North and South, and provides direct access to some of the worlds most dynamic emerging economies. Speaking on behalf of DMCC, our dedicated infrastructure and regulatory framework can facilitate significant value addition for Canadian companies looking to expand their reach to high-growth m arkets and access promising new opportunities, he said. We welcome close collaboration with decision-makers in Montreal, Toronto, and across Canada to enhance trade flows through Dubai and enable Canadian businesses to grow further, he added. The delegation met with the Christine St-Pierre, Quebecs Minister of International Relations in Montreal; and sector specialists for the Ontario Governments Ministry of International Trade; and with representatives from leading Canadian companies in the aerospace, financial, legal and medical sectors, said a statement. Throughout the mission, participants discussed how stakeholders in each country could better identify additional opportunities for collaboration, it said. Al Hinton, advisor at Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), Department of Economic Development, Dubai, said: The UAE is an important global partner for Canada, and our relationship is deepening. Canadas exports to the UAE are continuing to rise, growing 14 per cent annually according to the most recent data, and UAE investments into Canada have topped Dh110 billion ($29.9 billion), he said. For Canada, the UAE offers considerable potential and opportunity beyond capital investment. More than 150 Canadian companies have based their regional headquarters in the UAE, and we are keen to identify further opportunities to create an even more rewarding proposition, he added. Bin Sulayem said: At our organisation, we have created an environment where businesses from across the globe can flourish. We have built an ecosystem of physical, financial and digital infrastructure as well as regulatory frameworks, services, and expertise needed to build a marketplace for success, he concluded. TradeArabia News Service Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), a multinational enterprise information technology company, has announced that Saudi Arabias Sejel Technology had selected HPE Synergy composable infrastructure platform for its data centre transformation. Sejel is an established limited liability company focusing on management consulting services. HPE Synergy has been chosen by Sejel Technology to meet the service levels required by the Ministry of Haj and Umra, which oversees the annual pilgrimage of more than 1 million Muslims to Makkah and 6 million for Umra, and help it support the rapid growth of online services and meet the objectives of the Kingdoms 2030 Vision to develop the countrys economy, said a statement from the company. With over 70 per cent of registrations being completed within the first 12 hours as the Haj season approaches each year, the E-Service needs to be able to handle extreme spikes of traffic. Sejel also chose to deploy HPE Synergy on a premium Flexible Capacity model because this enables Sejel to manage the IT infrastructure in its own data centre but pay for it as-a-service. Flexible Capacity reduces the risk of organizations investing too much or too little in IT, eliminates unused capacity, faster provisioning of compute and storage resources for unplanned business requirements, and frees up valuable IT resources for new value-adding projects. Zoubair Skiredj, chief operating officer (COO) and chief information officer (CIO) at Sejel Technology, said: HPE Synergy allows us to achieve dramatic gains in data centre efficiency and to accelerate application delivery. This efficiency and speed of delivery is critical as the number of online services, as well as demand for those services, is growing all of the time. Furthermore, with the government looking to the future with its 2030 Vision, it was an obvious decision to choose the worlds first composable infrastructure platform and future-proof the data centre for the years ahead, he said. Wasim Al-Baroudi, datacenter and hybrid cloud country manager, HPE, said: In todays idea economy, infrastructure needs to be intelligent so that it can adapt to every workload and deliver services at lightning speed. Our strategic partnership with Sejel and the deployment of HPE Synergy provides next generation IT solutions to accelerate the kingdoms economy and meet the demands of the 2030 Vision, he said. This partnership shows that the combination of advanced technology and innovative funding models is giving us a leading competitive position in the market, he added. TradeArabia News Service Batelco, as part of its commitment to local businesses has sponsored a number of Ramadan events and venues including the Khaimat Al Khaleej Ramadan Tent at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain. The beautifully appointed tent offers a very warm welcome to all during the Holy month, with a menu designed especially for the occasion. Batelco Bahrain CEO Eng Muna Al Hashemi said that Batelco was pleased to align itself with the long established luxury hotel which has been an icon in Bahrain for many years. Ramadan is a very special time in Bahrains calendar and we therefore strive to support a varied range of activities that add value for our customers and all residents of Bahrain, she added. Batelco senior manager corporate affairs Osama Alsaad added: Ramadan Tents are a very important part of community life during the holy month as families and friends gather together. We are delighted to play our part in giving back to the community by extending support to hotels for their Ramadan initiatives. - TradeArabia News Service Global energy giant Saudi Aramco has signed a joint venture deal with UAE-based engineering firm Lamprell, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and Hyundai Heavy Industries Company for the establishment, development and operation of a world-class maritime yard. The yard will be the anchor project within the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services located in Ras Al-Khair, near the Jubail Industrial City on the Kingdoms east coast. This strategic partnership among industry leading companies is positioned to capitalise on the rapidly-growing maritime requirements in the region by offering globally competitive, safe, high quality and on-time solutions to customers, said Aramco in a statement. The integrated maritime yard will be the largest in the region in terms of production capacity and scale, providing an unprecedented mix of products and services in the region and enabling Saudi Aramco and its supply chain partners to meet their manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul requirements for offshore oil and gas rigs, offshore support vessels, and commercial vessels, including the very large crude carriers (VLCC), it stated. The new JV localises essential links of Saudi Aramcos supply chain related to offshore drilling and shipping activities, which will lead to optimized cost, reduced response times and improved agility for Saudi Aramco and its affiliates. According to Aramco, the new facility will be able to manufacture four offshore rigs, more than 40 vessels including three VLCCs, and service over 260 maritime products annually. Major production operations are expected to commence in 2019 with the facility reaching its full production capacity by 2022. This initiative will also contribute towards localizing expertise related to the maritime industry and job creation in the Kingdom, it added.-TradeArabia News Service UAE office workers are increasingly looking to mobile communications solutions to collaborate and communicate more efficiently, according to a research commissioned by IT solutions provider Avaya. More than half of employees would prioritise a calling-and-data package on their mobile, while mobile access to e-mail is more desirable than internal calling and voice mail access, according to the [email protected] Report, conducted by YouGov. The report, which surveyed over 500 employees in the UAE and more than 3,000 worldwide, showed that 55 per cent of UAE workers wanted independent access to calling and data packages, with half wanting mobile e-mail access. That compares to just 37 per cent who expressed a desire for internal calls and voice-mail access the same number that wanted remote access to file servers and databases. Examining the benefits of a technology-assisted work environment, the ability to be more productive was the most cited benefit by UAE employees, with 58 per cent believing this to be the case. UAE workers are also pioneers in video conferencing, being more likely than the global average to use video to collaborate with colleagues, partners and customers. The report comes as unprecedented efforts are being made by the UAE government and private sector to facilitate digital transformation programs that benefit citizens and spur economic growth. Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has recently underlined the importance of raising government efficiency in delivering services to the public. Digital transformation could generate $16.9 billion in extra revenue each year for companies in the Middle East from 2017 to 2021, as well as $17.3 billion in annual cost savings and efficiency gains, according to PwC. While most UAE employees were satisfied with the collaboration and communications solutions available to them, more than one in five said they didnt have access to the right tools, with mobile packages and mobile access to e-mails again leading demand. Almost half, 44 per cent of respondents, said that their ideal technology environment would build communication and collaboration abilities into existing enterprise applications, such as a click-to-call facility in e-mail, or being able to join conference calls through their calendars. The report revealed that employees are also willing to use collaboration solutions outside their IT departments control, with 59 per cent of UAE employees using WhatsApp or WeChat groups without management knowledge, exposing companies to security risks. Digital transformations key objective is speed and agility to an enterprises culture. This is a new perception of technology adoption; how to facilitate highly mobile, dynamic teams to collaborate with each other virtually and still deliver a closed meeting-room experience, remarked Savio Tovar Diaz, the director of sales engineering at Avaya, Asia, MEA & Turkey. "Very often the collaboration and communication capabilities of employees are limited to basic connectivity solutions. At Avaya, our vision is to bring not only people together, but the applications and things with context to collaborate," he stated. "In the new world, although people-to-people communications are predominant, machine-to-machine communications is rapidly growing. We therefore strive to bring people, applications and things together with the right information at the right time in the right context, helping employees to improve efficiency and quickly address critical business challenges," he added. In the UAE, leading enterprises such as Dubai Civil Defence and Emirates NBD have successfully embraced these new technologies to transform employee communication and collaboration together with Avaya. Avaya has been positioned in the Leaders Quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications for seven consecutive years, said Diaz. "Our enterprise communications portfolio includes Avaya Equinox, a mobile-first communications platform accessible from any browser, device, or desktop,"he stated. Avaya Equinox delivers simple, mobile-first communications on the devices, and embedded into the applications and browsers, that employees live in every day, fulfilling the long-promised benefits of unified communications, he added.-TradeArabia News Service President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official said Wednesday, confirming a move that may not receive uniform fanfare in Wyomings coal industry. There could be caveats in the language that Trump uses to announce the withdrawal, leaving open the possibility that the decision isnt final, according to the official, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the decision before the official announcement. Others say the president is still on the fence. Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that he would be making a decision in the next few days. The rumors of a pullout didnt resonate as well as some might expect in Gillette, the hometown of the nations thermal coal industry, whose citizens by and large voted for Trump because of his pro-coal stance. As Wyoming coal faces a number of hurdles going forward, its supporters in the state have nuanced and dissenting opinions on what the president should do and how policies should address climate change. Mayor Louise Carter-King said she hopes the president is listening to coal executives that have come out in favor of staying in the agreement. Now that coal-damaging regulations, like the Clean Power Plan, are being whittled down by the new administration, to Gillettes relief, the coal community is in a position to work with environmentalists, she said. Its a position she has held since the surprising election results that put a professed coal supporter in the White House. The mayor believes the industry has an opportunity now to collaborate with those who for years were on the opposite side of a fierce debate over federal influence on coals future. If Trump wanted my opinion, which I dont think he does, I would say lets stay in it and work with them rather than against them, she said. The mayor said her voters are more optimistic about the future of coal than theyve been in years, thanks to Trump. But the city and county have a number of alternative uses for coal moving forward, a nod to the demand for clean energy sources in an evolving electricity market. Industry at odds Companies like Cloud Peak Energy, a Gillette-based coal firm that operates the Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines, have urged the president to stay in the agreement as a way to face climate change and maintain regulatory certainty. Perhaps more importantly, they have requested industry input to create new policies that are rigorous and balanced enough to withstand likely political changes in years to come. A spokesman wasnt available to comment on the recent rumors of a pullout by press time. Peabody Energys official stance is that the Paris agreement is flawed and should be amended at the least. If the U.S. were to withdraw completely, however, the company that operates the largest open pit mining operation in the country, North Antelope Rochelle, would support the decision, it announced in a press release May 19. The Wyoming Mining Association would be encouraged by a withdrawal from the agreement, said its executive director, Travis Deti. The decision would fulfill a campaign promise from the president, he said. Walking out on Paris provides a clean slate to craft rules that address climate change challenges, with industry input, he said. The issue of carbon dioxide and climate change is not going away, regardless of whether the president decides to pull out or modify, Deti said. We would hope that industry would have a seat at the table in looking to solve some of these problems. Many in the coal industry appear to be softening their criticism of climate science since the change of political direction in Washington. Others, like Cloud Peak, have spoken openly about the need to face climate change for years. Political dissonance Wyomings unofficial stance on climate science is one of pragmatism. With the support of Gov. Matt Mead, the Legislature has funneled public dollars into research on how to capture carbon dioxide emissions and use the errant gasses for other purposes. The states reliance on a stable coal sector has pushed the politics of climate science aside in favor of a practical approach. Mead has said multiple times that though he has reservations about climate science and its tie to fossil fuel emissions, the state must plan for a market that believes the two are linked. Its public schools, meanwhile, teach that climate change is happening and encourage students to investigate how humans have contributed to it. Some politicians, however, are refusing the trend from industry, some conservatives and state governments toward combating climate change, maintaining instead that it is simply not happening. Word of Trumps decision comes a day after the president met with Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Like his boss, Pruitt has questioned the consensus of climate scientists that the Earth is warming and that man-made climate emissions are to blame. Sen. John Barrasso has advocated for walking out on the Paris agreement. Like other conservatives, the senator argues that the deal was reached illegally, without congressional approval. In response to industrys desire to stay in the agreement for regulatory certainty, the senators spokesman countered Wednesday that pulling out would achieve just that, as it is consistent with other choices made by the administration, like the possible annihilation of the Clean Power Plan. In reality, the U.S. commitment to the Paris agreement has already been significantly compromised by the CPP review. Experts say the only national rule on the books that would have helped the country meet Paris targets was that controversial plan. The two policies worked in tandem. And one cant work without the other for a number of reasons, some argue. Barrasso and Sen. Mike Enzi signed a letter to the administration recently that said staying in the Paris Accord could legally compromise its ability to undo the CPP on at least one front: the court system. Industry and many states are fighting the implementation of the CPP in court. Enzi, who was once the mayor of Gillette, has maintained that the agreement doesnt work for the country, but a spokesman for the senator acknowledged Wednesday the differing opinions from industry on the subject. Spokesman Max DOnofrio pointed out that the stay-in camp is not industrywide. The National Mining Association board voted overwhelmingly against staying in the Paris accord in April, he said. In the end, Senator Enzi still sees the Paris Climate Agreement as a bad deal for America, he said. Terribly disappointed For some in Wyoming, the Paris accord isnt about the coal industry, which has suffered more from competitively low natural gas prices than current or impending regulations. I am terribly disappointed that he may be pulling out, horrified, said Christy Gerrits, a retired science teacher for the Campbell County School District and a member of the landowner rights organization, the Powder River Basin Resource Council. The council has no official position on the Paris Agreement. Gerrits, however, regularly gives public talks explaining climate science, and she has traveled the world to witness its impact, from increased flooding along the U.S. coast to glacial melt in places like Greenland. (Climate change) is the biggest problem facing our earth, she said. The changes are so subtle. Its hard to realize how much our environment is changing, but it is. The Paris agreement was reached by nearly 200 nations, including the United States under President Barack Obamas administration. They agreed in 2015 to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change. Withdrawing would leave the United States aligned only with Russia among the worlds industrialized economies in rejecting action to combat climate change. The U.S. is the worlds second-largest emitter of carbon, following only China. Beijing, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to meeting its targets under the Paris accord, recently canceling construction of about 100 coal-fired power plants and investing billions in massive wind and solar projects. What is not yet clear is whether Trump plans to initiate a formal withdrawal from the Paris accord, which under the terms of the agreement could take three years, or exit the underlying U.N. climate change treaty on which the accord was based. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Bar Nunn man pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual exploitation of children for allegedly possessing child pornography. Law enforcement officers arrested Chadrick Cogdill in April after a six-month investigation by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. According to court documents, agents traced the download of sexually explicit images of children to a cell phone that was connected to one of Cogdills social media accounts. A search warrant served on the cell phone found about 150 images of child porn as well as photos of marijuana and photos of Cogdills face. Agents then served a search warrant at the Bar Nunn home where Cogdill was living, where they recovered multiple items of drug paraphernalia that contained marijuana residue. They also recovered a laptop, a desktop computer and a cell phone. In an interview with law enforcement, Cogdill said that he had downloaded child pornography for a few months during a low point in his life. He said he was introduced to child pornography through adult pornography websites. Cogdill said he only looked at child pornography during a six- or seven-month period. He said he generally looked at porn depicting 15 or 16 year olds, but had seen some that showed children as young as 5. Cogdill also pleaded not guilty to one misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana at his arraignment Wednesday in Natrona County District Court. He was free on $3,000 bond Wednesday morning.Follow crime and courts reporter Elise Schmelzer on Twitter @eliseschmelzer Casper police arrested a man Tuesday evening on suspicion of forcing his girlfriend into his van, choking her and refusing to stop for police. Police received multiple reports about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday from people who saw a man, later identified as Damon Flanagan, force a woman into his van in the 1200 block of South Cedar Street. One of the people who called 911 said that they saw a man hit the woman multiple times before picking her up and putting her in the van, according to an arrest affidavit. Police located the van about 45 minutes later near the Sunrise Shopping Center. Flanagan initially stopped when an officer pulled him over and the officer saw a woman banging on the rear window of the van and screaming for help, the affidavit states. But when the officer approached the drivers door, Flanagan drove away. Police followed the van as it traveled north on Poplar Street for about four blocks at speeds between 25 and 30 miles per hour, Sgt. Dan Dundas said Wednesday morning. Flanagan then stopped the van and was forcefully removed from the drivers seat when he refused to comply with officers orders to get out of the vehicle, according to the affidavit. Officers also believed that Flanagan was under the influence of a central nervous stimulant at the time he was taken into custody. The woman, who was in a dating relationship with Flanagan, was transported to Wyoming Medical Center, where she was treated for minor injuries. In an interview with investigators, Flanagan said that he and the woman had been dating for 11 years and that he was worried about her mental health. Flanagan said that he, the woman and the womans brother-in-law were working on the lawn that day when he and the woman began to argue, according to the affidavit. He said that she had drank a significant amount of alcohol earlier that day and he decided to take the woman to Wyoming Behavioral Institute, a mental health hospital, so that she could get help. He said that the woman then began to grab at his neck and scratch him before making suicidal statements, the affidavit states. Flanagan said that he didnt want the woman to hurt herself and physically placed her in the van so that he could take her to the mental health facility. The womans brother-in-law drove the van at first and Flanagan said that at one point he held the woman down by her neck so she would stop attacking him. Later in the ride, the brother-in-law said he no longer wanted to drive, stopped the car and left. Flanagan then got into the drivers seat. He said he later noticed a police car following him and pulled over after driving a few more blocks, according to the affidavit. The woman told police that she had been planning to leave Casper and move to another state so that she could get away from Flanagan. She said that the two began fighting earlier that day and was unclear whether she got in the van of her own will or was forced, the affidavit states. The woman said that she was never suicidal and that Flanagan hadnt hit her, but did hold her down and choke her at various times during the drive. She said that at one point she was foaming from the mouth and throwing up from being choked. The woman said that Flanagan drove them both up Casper Mountain and made threats that he would kill both of them, according to the affidavit. She said that when she saw police cars following the van she felt relieved because she believed she was going to die. After interviews were complete, police arrested Flanagan on suspicion of kidnapping, strangulation of a household member, eluding law enforcement and interference with a police officer as well as three outstanding warrants. Flanagan will be formally charged Wednesday afternoon at a hearing in Natrona County Circuit Court. The head of the Arizona Corporation Commission says the indictment of a former member on bribery charges may make the case for appointing utility regulators instead of electing them. Tom Forese noted that Gary Pierce is charged with accepting money through his wife from a utility executive in exchange for supporting two separate financial matters to benefit that family owned company. Pierce, through an attorney, has said the indictment represents selected use of facts by the government. Forese is not commenting on the charges, which also have ensnared Pierces wife, Sherry, lobbyist Jim Norton and George H. Johnson, manager of Johnson Utilities. But he said the fact that prosecutors believe they have a case says something. This could be the strongest argument for having an appointed commission, Forese said. Any such change would require voter approval, and the earliest the Arizona Constitution could be amended is 2018. In the meantime, Forese said, These allegations that are before us demand immediate action. And thats where our focus should be right now. Most immediately, Forese wants fellow Commissioner Andy Tobin to begin an audit and review of the policies that, according to the indictment, were enacted because Pierce had been given money to support them. One of those is a 3-1 vote by the commission, with one abstention, in 2011 to include another $18.2 million into the rate base for Johnson Utilities, reversing an earlier commission decision. More money in the rate base translates to the ability of a utility to increase what it charges customers to cover costs. The issue with broader implications and one the current commission might re-examine is the 2012 proposal by Pierce to allow firms like Johnson Utilities to charge customers for the income tax payments owed by the companys owners. That proposal was approved a year later on a 4-1 vote. Forese, in a letter to fellow commissioners, said a review is necessary. The current commission must determine if those decisions were made in the public interest, he wrote. At the very least, Forese said there needs to be a code of ethics for commissioners. He pointed out that ACC staffers are governed by certain policies. For example, staffers cant have meals with utility officials. This same restriction should be considered for application to commissioners as well, Forese said. He also said that those who lobby the commission should be required to register, presumably with the ACC. In potentially the most far-reaching proposal, Forese said other government bodies, including the Legislature, should be able to censure or remove members for certain conduct. I ask that all such possibilities be explored, he wrote. Commissioner Boyd Dunn agrees there should be a conversation on how regulators are chosen. We are in the minority, he said. There are only 12 states that deal with elected commissioners. The rest are appointed. Dunn said having elected commissioners means candidates have to raise money often from the very people who have an interest in the panels decisions. But he said theres also a downside to having appointed commissioners: There seems to be less of an opportunity for citizens to participate than when elected officials are listening to the voters. The idea of an appointed commission does not sit well with Commissioner Bob Burns. The idea is, how do you prevent corruption? he said. Burns said the way you dont do that is put the appointment in the hands of one person: the governor. But Tobin said an appointed system could work if properly structured, such as the way state Supreme Court justices are chosen. They are named by the governor, but must have been screened and nominated by a special commission. The former Chicago Music Store building downtown is expected to house a CVS drugstore, pending corporate approval. The national chain has signed a letter of intent to occupy the historic building at 130 E. Congress, agreeing to maintain the facade. The Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District board on Tuesday received a presentation by the building owners, Marcel Dabdoub and Ron Schwabe, who bought the 21,000-square-foot building last year with investors. The board voted unanimously to direct attorney Mark Collins to amend a previous agreement that would have funded $2 million to be repaid by the developers. Instead, the district will keep that money and let Dabdoub and Schwabe keep a portion of the sales tax they generate on the CVS deal and several other projects the duo have downtown. The investment the developers are making downtown is about $35 million. Its a sign of a real urban life when a drugstore makes that kind of commitment, Rio Nuevo Chairman Fletcher McCusker said. The Chicago Store, which closed its doors in spring 2016, is now in a smaller location downtown at 45 S. Sixth Ave. The Chicago Music Store opened in 1918 and had three locations in the downtown area before moving to the Congress space in 1967. A second Chicago Music Store is at 5646 E. Speedway. The downtown building was constructed in 1903, according to the National Register of Historic Places, for the Los Angeles Furniture Store. JC Penney was the tenant from 1927 to 1957. Aaronson Brothers moved in some time after that, then it was sold to the owners of the Chicago Music Store in 1967. We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some May 31 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. It was Monsoon 2015 when my last true sun hat, a $20 job from Ace Hardware, gave out. I was walking downtown in a September storm, and the until-then sturdy brim warped and melted in the rain. Funny how long a hat can last around here without its weakness being exposed by a little moisture. But it was the end of summer no need for a new hat right then, I figured. (Incorrectly, of course, since the sun is so powerful here most of the year and can bring skin cancer down on you years later.) When it came time for another new hat in spring 2016, I looked and looked, but finally put it off. I couldnt trust the $15-$20 hardware-store hats anymore Ive also stuck my thumb through a few $15 straw hats but paying more seemed ridiculous. Anyway, such an important decision cannot be rushed. So I waited another 60 weeks or so, using a battered cotton fishing hat from Goodwill much of the time, till I finally got my new one earlier this month. This is something we all ought to do wear sun hats, not shop 60 weeks for them. Theres no good reason to expose your skin to Tucsons sun in summer. But be aware that if you want to get the right hat it takes work arduous, painstaking labor. First came internet research: at general retailers like Cabelas, REI, Amazon, Zappos and at hat companies like Tilley, Stetson and Coolibar. I showed the options to family members, friends and colleagues, who were ... tolerant. My tastes and the options started becoming clear. First, short-brimmed fedoras were out. A good Tucson sun hat needs at least 3 inches of brim, preferably flat or turned down. Now, on one hand I like Panama hats because theyre light, and their typical dark band gives them a formal touch. But they dont usually come with chin cords that keep them on in wind. That would violate their style. On the other hand, there are plenty of hiking-style hats made of newfangled fabric and sporting mesh to aerate the head. These are useful and some of them stand up respectfully instead of flopping, but most of them just dont look good enough for use in the columnists workaday world. Style, my friend. On the third hand, there are cowboy and other Western-style hats. These are, of course, traditional in Tucson, and Im happy to see them on Tucsonans heads as I move about town. But Im not from Tucson originally and I cant help but feel like a cowboy hat would look fake on me. Those hats carry a little too much meaning for me to mess with them. Having done so much internet research, I shifted into ground operations. My daughter accompanied me as I reconnoitered Millers Surplus and Summit Hut. The Millers Surplus stock was too camper-oriented. Summit Huts supply was mostly too hiker-oriented, but it had a good-looker that was too small, and they said they had a bigger one in their other store. Otherwise it ticked all my boxes: Made of a natural fiber, sporting a colored band, seeming to be breathable and also having a chin cord. Yes, a chin cord, to keep it on in the wind. Some call it a stampede string. I call it ugly and necessary, especially in our blustery spring. When I asked my Facebook friends for their opinions on the chin cord, their responses went like this: Serious journalists do not wear chin cords. Let the chin cord dangle behind your head. Chin cords are acceptable during vigorous yard work. While chilling or hanging out, nope. No chin cord. However, ear flaps might be stylish. Just tie it on with a rope, over the top of your hat and tied under your chin. A scarf, if youre fancy. Pith helmets and raspberry berets were also suggested. Another ground operation ensued that took me to Arizona Hatters, Target, REI and other stores at Tucson Mall. Arizona Hatters, at 2790 N. Campbell Ave., specializes in Western hats but came very close to satisfying my demands. I tried on a few and sent pictures to my wife, daughter and neighbor. They did not coddle me, though: They pointed out the disappointing downsides of the hats I liked. I retreated and retrenched. Then Summit Hut called. They did not have the bigger hat of the model Id admired. So I went online and there it was: A hat called the Charleston from a company called Wallaroo, based in Boulder, Colorado. It is made of twisted sea grass, whatever that is, and has a light fabric liner. It also has a detachable chin cord. An inner drawstring allows me to tighten the fit without the cord, which now resides in my work bag. It was expensive for me at $48, but what the heck this is a piece of daily Tucson apparel. Now that Ive done all that research, I can move on ... to building my hat collection. PHOENIX A judge is refusing to force the states largest electric company to turn over its records of political spending to a utility regulator, at least not yet. In a new order, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Kiley did not address the assertion by Bob Burns that he has powers as a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission to compel the production of documents by Arizona Public Service and parent company Pinnacle West Capital Corp. But the judge said it is premature for him to rule on Burns request that he order the records produced. Instead, he said, Burns first needs to ask the full commission to compel the utility and its parent to produce the documents. Only after the commission rules on that request, Kiley said, will it be appropriate for him, as a judge, to intercede. The ruling is at least an interim victory for APS and Pinnacle West, which have objected to giving Burns the documents he wants documents he said will show whether the companies were behind more than $3 million in anonymous donations that led to the 2014 election of Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little to the commission. But Kiley also rebuffed a bid by APS attorney Mary OGrady to dismiss Burns lawsuit outright. Instead, the judge put the case on the back burner to see what happens next. An order staying these proceedings would respect the commissions authority to consider enforcement of the subpoenas in the first instance just as much as a dismissal would, he wrote. Anyway, Kiley said, keeping the case alive would be more efficient for all sides rather than forcing Burns to have to start over again, from scratch, if his plea to his colleagues goes nowhere. Theres a decent chance that will end up being the case. Other commissioners appear anxious to put the whole question of what happened in 2014 in the rear-view mirror. His fight with APS is an obsession, Forese told Capitol Media Services on Tuesday, calling it misdirected given everything else going on at the commission, notably the indictment of former regulator Gary Pierce and accusing him of accepting money from the manager of Johnson Utilities in exchange for his vote on some rate-hike matters. I havent changed my position on this at all, said Commissioner Andy Tobin, who has opposed Burns subpoena efforts. No ones been able to convince me of a better argument to agree with Bob. Burns said he wants to consult with both his attorney and his policy adviser and find out what my next move is. He said he understands why Kiley does not want to intercede, at least not at this point. You have to establish a record, Burns said. But Burns said he remains adamant that he will get the information he wants, sooner or later. He is specifically questioning how APS and Pinnacle West, which is pretty much wholly dependent on APS customer revenues for its profits, are spending money not only to influence elections but also to hire lobbyists and even dole out charitable contributions. I want to know whether it benefits ratepayers and when it benefits the company, Burns said. The difference is crucial: Expenses that benefit ratepayers, in general, can be passed along in the form of higher bills; those that do not have to be paid out of shareholder earnings. Central to the legal dispute are questions about what role Pinnacle West and APS played in the 2014 election. What is known is that the Free Enterprise Club and Save Our State Now together put $3.2 million into getting Forese and Little elected. What is not known is the source of those funds . Help India! By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net Lucknow (UP): Eleven days after the Barabanki session court acquitted Kashmiri PhD scholar Gulzar Ahmed Wani in the Sabarmati express train blast case, he is yet to be released due to the callous nature of the jail authorities at Lucknow and Nagpur jails. Support TwoCircles According to his defense counsel, Gulzar has been acquitted in two cases pending against him in Nagpur but in Jail records of Lucknow show that there are four pending cases. However, the Lucknow jail was unable to arrange guards to escort Gulzar to Nagpur Jail for nine days. So there is a mistake in Lucknow jail records and it will be clarified. After that, he will be taken to Nagpur jail and hence released from there, said APCR coordinator, Abubakr Sabbaq whose team is assisting him in his case in Nagpur. My father has already paid shifting charges on May 20 itself. But ten days have passed since and he is yet to be shifted, Mudasir Ghulam Wani, Gulzars younger brother told TwoCircles.net . Mudasir and his brother have been waiting for Gulzar at Nagpur since last three days. We are here to take him home. When we tried to know why there is delay in his shifting, we were shocked to hear that jail authorities were not able to arrange the escort for shifting him to Nagpur, Mudasir said. TwoCircles.net contacted Superintendent, District Jail Lucknow, who confirmed that there was problem with arranging guards for escort and said that Wani had been shifted on Monday, May 29 for Nagpur Jail. However, more worryingly for the family, the Nagpur jail authorities said on Wednesday morning that they have no information about Wani and that they have not received any inmate by that name. We are getting worried now, Mudasir told TwoCircles.net. If he left Lucknow on May 29, then how come he has not reached Nagpur yet? asked a worried Mudasir. The Barabanki session court on Saturday, May 20 had acquitted 44 year old Wani for lack of evidence in Sabarmati express train blast case after sixteen years of incarceration. Gulzar, a resident of Tappar Bala, Pattan in north Kashmir Baramullah district was arrested in 2001 when he was just 28 and was pursuing his PhD from Department of Arabic, Aligarh Muslim University. Gulzar was implicated in numerous blasts and alleged of involved in various conspiracies and slapped with 15 FIRs in different police stations of Delhi, Maharashtra and UP and he stands acquitted in all the cases. Related: Gulzar Ahmed Wani, who lost 16 years to false terror charges, now wants to teach kids in Kashmir We dont provide legal aid to individual Kashmiris suspected of terror: Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Help India! By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter Last year on Dusshera, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Lucknow, he openly chanted Jai Shri Ram sloagans from the stage. It is a well-known fact that in Uttar Pradesh, the chant Jai Shri Ram almost always refers to the Ayodhya dispute. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath today visited Ayodhya and prayed at Ram Lalla at Ram Janmbhoomi, at the site which continues to remain under dispute. And his welcome was supported by Jai Shri Ram and the older disputed slogan Ram Lalla Hum Aayenge, Mandir Wahin Banayenge, giving an idea of what may lie ahead in future for the state. The visit by Yogi comes just a day after a special CBI court framed charges of conspiracy over Murali Manohar Joshi, Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, Nritya Gopal Das and others. Even at Lucknow yesterday, Yogi met these politicians of BJP and greeted them upon their arrival in Lucknow, and his todays visit in Ayodhya can be seen in the light of the same. Moreover, Yogis visit is nearly two and half month after when Honble Supreme Court said that Ayodhya dispute shall be solved through mediation under the CJI JS Khehar. Throughout Wednesday morning, most of the Hindi TV channels and their anchors looked joyous while reporting about Yogis visit. A senior journalist told TwoCircles.net, I was pretty sure that if today Yogi would have started Karseva again, they (reporters) would have picked up tools very happily. Yogi took part in birthday celebrations of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, who is co-accused in Babri Mosque demolition case and who accepted his role in turning Babri Masjid into a rubble while talking to the media. Support TwoCircles Help India! New Delhi, (IANS): Delhi Police has arrested a Delhi University student and detained his juvenile accomplice for lynching an e-rickshaw driver after he objected to them urinating at GTB Metro Station in north Delhi, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. Police said the accused student Shekhar Kapasia, 19, and his juvenile friend were captured in a CCTV footage which helped them to identify them. Support TwoCircles They were arrested from their hideouts in Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday night. Kapasia, a B.Com Second year of Sri Aurobindo College in Malviya Nagar, is a resident of Sant Nagar. His juvenile accomplice, 17, is studying at a south Delhi school, and is a resident of Malviya Nagar. Both of them are natives of Muzaffarnagar, police said. We have identified five other youths. We are interrogating Kapasia and the juvenile to ascertain the hideouts of their associates involved in killing e-rickshaw driver Ravinder Kumar on Saturday. Seven police teams and a team of Crime Branch are conducting a manhunt to trace their hideouts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Mahadeo Dumbere told IANS. Kapasia and his juvenile accomplice told investigators that the verbal altercation with Kumar turned abusive and they took it personally. They planned to take revenge and later returned with their friends. One of them tied up stones in a cotton towel and attacked Kumar multiple times, Dumbere said. The police teams had looked for suspects from around 300 students of the School Of Open Learning (SOL) of Delhi University, whose examination centre was located in Kirori Mal College, on the day of the incident. Records of some students from Sri Aurobindo College were also checked. Kapasia and the juvenile were identified later as they were caught in a CCTV footage enquiring about Kumars whereabouts from other e-rickshaw drivers near GTB Nagar Metro Station, police said. They had a verbal altercation with Kumar after he objected to them having alcohol and urinating near the GTB metro station. Kumar was later declared brought dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. Times Are Changing in India, and some things are happening that don't happen even in England. It started with Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) in Delhi, and has now spread to Jadavpur University in Calcutta. A kissing festival was conducted in both the universities where Boys And Girls kissed openly. The purpose was to defy the moral brigade and also to show that India is not constrained by religious bigotry. Jadavpur University is one of the oldest universities in India and came up during the days of the Raj. It is a stronghold of the Leftist parties like the Communist Party Marxist(CPM) and the Communist Party of India (CPI). The kissing festival defied the moral brigade who were aghast that boys and girls locked lips and entwined tongues in public on the university campus. Many parents also protested to the Vice-Chancellor. The BJP The BJP a Hindu revivalist party is these days the toast of India. Under Modi, the party is winning election after election and now has a firm grip on the nation. The party has banned the slaughter of cows and talks of Ram Raja - this was supposed to be the golden age of India when the God Rama ruled. The BJP has a fringe that is opposed to Westernisation and festivals like Mothers day and Valentine's day, among others. They are also against kissing and nudity. At one time the present Home Minister Rajnath Singh when he was the Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh had even banned beauty pageants. He had refused to congratulate Priyanka Chopra after she won the Miss World title. Kissing Festival The Jadavpur University Kissing Festival took place after a similar festival at the JNU. The JNU is also dominated by the left and the students are anti- BJP. They had even supported Afzal Guru who was hanged for his role in the 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament. The students of Jadavpur University are basically rebels and this kissing festival was to show the finger to the BJP, and its talk of "Indianisation". However, seeing girls kissing boys in an uninhibited manner in public before a crowd of onlookers is something that has not happened before. I wonder if it has ever happened on any university campus in England. Looking ahead India is looking ahead and times are changing. The younger crowd of boys and girls do not wish to be constrained by dogma and silly talk against Western culture. But many in the BJP and the Hindu extreme forget that some of the most famous erotic images in the world are engraved on the temples of Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh Late last night, US President Donald Trump left the internet wide awake and speculating what the word covfefe means after he sent out a tweet that was incomplete and didnt make sense and then left the tweet undeleted for hours, suggesting that maybe he did actually intend to tweet, Despite the constant negative press covfefe. What?!? The tweet was sent out around midnight Trump posted the strange tweet at around midnight, so he obviously had something on his mind he wanted to share with the world regarding the negative coverage hes given by the media, but he got halfway through getting it off his chest and probably fell asleep, since the tweet stayed on there for hours, leaving people baffled and sleepless as they both mocked the tweet and tried to decipher it. Its entirely possible Trump was meaning to type constant negative press coverage, since thats what he and his administration receive and find themselves under fire from the media on a constant basis, but its not the medias fault, its just the Trump administrations fault for doing terrible, terrible things. But even if covfefe was supposed to be coverage before Trump drifted off to sleep, that still doesnt explain what the second clause of the tweet was supposed to be, since despite suggests he was about to say what hes managed to do in spite of being attacked by the press for the things he says and does, but he never did get to what exactly that was. Thats the speculation people should be talking about, but they leave that at the wayside because covfefe is a funny word and its easier to make fun of than reading the news and figuring out what Trumps so proud of. Trumps followers have responded on Twitter How can we tell Trump was asleep at this time and not just too damn mad at the press to complete his tweet? Well, its quite simple. He wasnt aggressively replying to the people making fun of him, launching an intelligence investigation against the ones who arent famous and calling the ones who are overrated, so he couldnt have been conscious during this time. The hashtag #covfefe is trending now that Trump has left his tweet up and Twitter users have had time to each come up with something funny to say about it. And the best part was that the President was too busy sleeping to angrily defend himself in all-caps, so people were free to make fun of him to their hearts content, like the American people should be able to do in a non-bureaucratic nation ruled by democracy. Some funny comments were made about Trumps unusual, unfinished tweet. Journalist Zack Bornstein tweeted, This is the moment he became President. Another Twitter user mentioned how they were about to go to bed when they saw covfefe pop up on their Twitter feed, at which point they could no longer sleep and instead had to stare at it until it goes away now. The tweet has 70,000 retweets Trumps tweet has been retweeted 70,000 times by his followers and other Twitter users, making it one of the Presidents most shared tweets. The tweet going viral meant trolls were not far behind. Comedian and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said that the saddest part of the debacle is that hell never be able to write anything funnier than #covfefe. Another Twitter user suggested what covfefe might mean, suggesting a very crude definition, posting: Grab them by the #covfefe. Christian Becker wrote a little sketch set at a spelling bee in which the kids word is covfefe and the kid asks the judge to use it in a sentence, and the judge says, No, no I dont think thats possible. Funny. Maybe SNL will steal it. Luca Zizzari, an actor who is currently busy filming the popular TV series of the "Peaky Blinders" has found a little bit of his spare time to talk with us about one of his film projects called "Mother". It all starts with an idea BN: Who came up with the idea (scenario) for the film "Mother"? Luca: My business partner Jumaan Short came up with the idea and we developed it together alongside the Eastern Edge Film Fund and Film London as part of their development process for the 'London Calling' film fund. Our director Marc Hardman also got involved at a later stage. Mother - daughter relationship BN: What is the movie about? Luca: "Mother" is about a mother/daughter relationship and the struggle we have with being honest with the people we love. When Lara, (the daughter) discovers she's pregnant, she's unsure what to do and her strong-willed mother, (Maria), takes control - as she has always done. Lara then has to make a decision to stand up for herself for the first time or not. Working with the BAFTA award-winning actress BN: The BAFTA award-winning actress Miriam Margolyes plays a part. Do you know her thoughts about the film and why was she interested in the role? Luca: When we met Miriam Margolyes who plays Maria, she said she loved the script but it was tricky to find time in her schedule to shoot - she's very busy. Eventually and luckily, we found a slot because she was so keen to do it. She said she liked the writing and could relate to the story. The role of an executive producer BN: What was your role in the movie -- actor or producer? Luca: I was the executive producer on this film but I did lots of things - including making sure everything went well on set, securing financing and I even had to put on some scrubs as we needed actors in the hospital, so I did get in front of the camera too! A great little story BN: Why did you find this film interesting? Luca: I knew Jumaan was writing from her heart and sometimes that is enough. However, I also thought it was a great little story for a short film. Thirsty to produce, write and direct. BN: What kind of impact has this film had on you? Luca: Well, I loved seeing the film grow and progress from start to finish and I learned a lot in the process. Overall, it made me very thirsty to produce, write and direct - I enjoy the whole filmmaking process. It's great when you are an actor and a producer because it helps you understand the filming process from a different perspective. Music plays an important role in conveying a message and it is a wonderful way to express an individuals emotion, with high profile UK hip-hop star, poet, writer and political activist Akala admitting he would be voting for the first time because of Jeremy Corbyn. Throughout history music has played an important role in political activism and it will long continue in that manner, however, have the media censored the latest protest song that has hit the charts. Liar Liar GE2017 by Captain Ska was released on the 26th May and has subsequently hit #1 on the Apple iTunes UK songs download chart and #10 on Capital FMs Top 10 singles chart. However, major stations are refusing to play the song with the BBC stating, we do not ban songs or artists, however out editorial guidelines require us to remain impartial. Media and BBC impartiality questioned The song itself is a protest song against the austerity measures placed on the country since 2010. It is protesting Theresa May and highlights the lies she is perpetuating to the public and the U-turns she has shown since taking office. But most radio stations are refusing to play the song because of the Ofcom rule that says broadcasters should comply with Section Five (Due Impartiality) and Section Six (Elections and Referendums) of the Broadcasting Code, as well as the prohibition of political advertising contained in section 321 of the Communications Act 2003 and reflected as Section 7 of the BCAP Code. Broadcasters should rightly stay impartial; however, BBC impartiality has been question multiple times over the years. In 2013, the BBC Trust found that a BBC documentary on the welfare state breached impartiality guidelines, they found that the programme failed to back its views up with statistics after implying the welfare state is in crisis. In 2015, Radio 4s Today programme faced multiple complaints after presenter Sarah Montague failed to challenge the Israeli defence minister over Palestine, Ken Loach was among those who complained to the BBC. In January, BBC political editor, Laura Kuenssbergs November 2015 report on Jeremy Corbyns views on shoot-to-kill policy had breached impartiality and accuracy guidelines. Refusal the play the song liar liar GE2017 is a form of censorship. The song explicitly expresses the views of those who have bought the song and those who made the song. Refusal to play it, shows that media outlets arent as impartial as they should be. Playing music that has gotten into the charts by its own merit is not that media outlet declaring an allegiance. It is merely playing what the public have asked for. Britain has had a long history of protest music that we are proud of, yet some support this kind of censorship. A brief history of protest music Protest music has been around for decades and Tom Robinsons Glad To Be Gay in 1978, was refused to be played by the BBC on the Top 40 however, has since become a defining anthem of gay liberation in Britain. This has striking similarities with liar liar GE2017. Other famous protests songs include The Jams Eton Rifles, which was written by Paul Weller after a protest march for jobs in slough encountered the local public school and its army cadets. Pink Floyds Another Brick In The Wall, which tackled the issue of individual personalities being oppressed and to conform whilst in school. The list is too big but a few more also include The Farm with All Together Now, which was a song about the Christmas Day truce during World War I in 1914. U2s Sunday Bloody Sunday which highlighted when the British Army opened fire on a civil protest against the division of Ireland on Sunday 30th January 1972, an event that has since been dubbed bloody Sunday. This event led to an increase in membership to the IRA and fuelled anti-British sentiment within Ireland. Billy Bragg stopped Top of the Pops viewers when he performed Between The Wars, a song that exposed the frequently violent struggle of the UKs miners. Of course, the most famous but highly misunderstood protest song is John Lennons Imagine. The song was written during his most militant period and the song was Lennons attempt to sugar-coat the harsh personal and political ideas of his first solo album. British music history has had fine examples of protest songs, and tracks such as liar liar GE2017 should be played by media outlets. Otherwise it can be seen as censorship and it could be misinterpreted as an act of bias against those ideals and favourable towards those who oppose the content within the song itself. In other words, refusing to play it could result in more people thinking they are biased than if they played the song. Impartiality isnt about representing a point of view of neutrality but representing opinions from all sides. From seed spitting goats and pom pom make-up to side-eyeing Chloe and the journalist who interviewed a buffalo, the Internet never ceases to amaze us. Recently, Facebook has managed to amuse millions of users worldwide with this video that features a baby girl, who starts walking immediately after birth. Baby 'starts walking' moments after birth at a #hospital in #Brazil, leaving everyone stunned. pic.twitter.com/tHSoBvft3J azhar khan (@Azharkh4) May 29, 2017 Over 70 million views Needless to say that the newborn has become an Internet sensation ever since. The video has garnered over 70 million views and over 1.6 million shares on Facebook. The viral clip shows the unidentified newborn attempting to wrestle and Walk free as the midwife tries to give her a bath. Oh my gosh, the girl is walking. Good gracious! the nurse exclaims in Portuguese as the staff members watch the tiny girl take her first footsteps. She has walked from here to here, she explains in the video, indicating the distance with her hands. The bizarre scene was filmed by a hospital staff member who later shared the footage on the social networking site on May 26th. Typically, a baby starts to walk between the ages of nine to 12 months Most babies cant even crawl before theyre six to 10 months old. Usually, newborn babies take up to 12 months to learn to walk, and certainly not before going through crucial development stages like learning hand to eye coordination, sitting up and crawling. So how did this Miracle Baby learn to walk so soon? The most likely explanation is that the newborn tot in the viral video is displaying the walking or Stepping Reflex. It is a kind of primitive reflex action in which an infant attempts to walk if held upright, by putting one foot in front of another when the soles of their feet touch a flat surface. The stepping reflex can be attributed to human's primitive instinct to move. "The purpose of this reflex is to prepare a child to walk," explained Dr. Kenneth Wible, from Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, in a Tech Times report. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the reflexive urge to do this usually lasts for about two months after the infant is born. Some mammals can actually walk right after being born A baby giraffe can stand up and take its first steps within an hour after birth. In the case of horses, a foal attempts to rise within the first ten minutes of its birth and begins to walk within an hour after being born. Other animal species that can walk after birth include geese, porcupines, mountain goats and moose. Jessica Gross Rising from the mural-rich streets of Barelas or the soft slopes of The Heights, materializing through the doorway of a shotgun shack in Old Town or a studio apartment near campus, the work of Albuquerque's artists have always come on the scene with power and left a lasting impression. One of the most important vehicles for allowing those artists to come up in the local arts scene has long been SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, The Harwood Art Center's showcase of promising local artists, now in its fifth year. Opening on Friday, June 2, from 6-8pm, this year's exhibition promises to yield more ambitious works from some of the city's brightest. Looking to the event, Chief Programs Officer of The Harwood, Julia Mandeville, took the time to answer some questions about this year's SURFACE. Alibi: What is this show's history? Mandeville: This year marks the 5th anniversary of SURFACE; we have served 66 exceptionally talented, committed artists in that time, including the 12 we accepted for 2017. Shortly after I joined the staff here, in 2012, GuruAmrit Khalsa and I designed SURFACE as a juried exhibition, professional development and awards programwith an eye towards achieving the greatest possible impact for the artists selected to participate. What is the aim of the show? The exhibition, opening reception and awards are beautiful celebrations of the artists. But the heart of SURFACEand what sets it apart in the landscape of local opportunitiesis the professional development element. Our participants attend an intensive full-day workshop that focuses on what it means to be and how to further oneself as a working artist; 10 remarkable panelists, including curators, gallerists, journalists, public relations specialists and artists, share their expertise and recommend strategies around the business of art. For this reason, we've heard from many program alumni that SURFACE was the single most important accelerator of their careers. This has become our aim and aspiration across the board, though we are thrilled to contribute to an artist's blooming in any capacity. What do you hope it will do for artists showcased? SURFACE shines light on the vision, skill and dedication of New Mexico's emerging artists and offers them best practices and tools for making strides in their creative professions. We are particularly interested in helping them identify approachesthrough both traditional and nontraditional channelsto share their work and the stories behind it, build their audiences and cultivate collector bases, and ultimately sustain viable, full-time artistic practices. What do you hope it will illustrate for attendees? How absolutely extraordinary and brilliant New Mexico's emerging artists are. Our applicant pool this year was incredible, but the 12 artists who rose to the surface (see what happened there?) are particularly noteworthy for their creative excellence, originality of vision and devotion to practice. We are so excited to highlight these very deserving artists and to invite our broader community to become (further) acquainted with them. Anything or anyone you are particularly excited about this year? Yes, we are thrilled at the breadth of media and approach reflected across our artists. This year's exhibition includes painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, jewelry, fashion and design; it is the most diverse body of work we've had in SURFACE to date. Additionally, the opening reception always makes us giddy, but this yearin addition to the exhibitionswe'll have the music of Julian Wild, Harwood's community art making projects, Missing Persons by Jodie Herrera and Collin Troy and Butterflies by Staci Drangmeister, the site-specific commission La Joya 2017 by Reyes Padilla and Natalie Voelker, the site-specific works Abacus and Relegation by Lance Ryan McGoldrick, and food trucks so people can hang out with us for dinner. Our staff works in service to Harwood's mission and lives in service to the community we love, particularly the creative community ... and SURFACE is one of our very favorite events and programs of the year. We are excited about everything! Just after midnight on Wednesday morning, Donald Trump sent out a bizarre and incomplete tweet. The president was quickly mocked and trolled across social media, though at least one host on Fox News is coming to his defense. Trump's tweet It didn't take long after Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president to see that he would not be on the same page as the mainstream media. After Trump referred to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "murderers" and "rapists" during his campaign announcement, he was hit with instant criticism from the press, which has only increased over the last two years. Trump made a habit out of bashing the media during the election, and has increased his attacks since being sworn into office last January. Due to the rift between both sides, the former host of "The Apprentice" has made social media his number one form of communication as a way to bypass more traditional news outlets. While Trump has labeled the press "fake news," resulting in clear opposition to the media from his supporters, the president's use of social media has only increased. Though Trump's Twitter use has gained instant headline news coverage, it has also come with criticism. As reported by Raw Story on May 31, a Fox News host is coming to Trump's defense. Fox News anchor now arguing Trump's covfefe tweet proves how much "stamina" he has because he can stay up so late https://t.co/cRtVwzE1Va pic.twitter.com/pFoepJvSZy Leanne Naramore (@LeanneNaramore) May 31, 2017 A few minutes after the clock stuck midnight on Wednesday, Donald Trump sent out an incoherent Tweet that instantly raised eyebrows. "Despite the constant negative press covfefe," the tweet read, with many wondering what "covfefe" even meant. The tweet was active for hours before being pulled later in the morning. In an apparent attempt to twist the story using humor, Trump tweeted around 6:00 a.m. and wrote, "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" Social media users troll Trump for sharing unfinished tweet with typo https://t.co/qKOsxsLp25 pic.twitter.com/nfuCgwYj8a The Hill (@thehill) May 31, 2017 Fox News on Trump Though social media and many mainstream news outlets criticized and questioned Donald Trump over his Twitter post, the conservative-friendly Fox News was there to come to his aid. Host Jon Scott said "People are enjoying it, youve got to give him that." "It was a big issue during the campaign. He often accused Hillary Clinton of not having the energy, the stamina to be president," Scott stated. Fox News anchor: Unlike Hillary, Trump has stamina to tweet #covfefe in the middle of the night https://t.co/GsjgaLFvxl pic.twitter.com/1RvJRGaWFm Raw Story (@RawStory) May 31, 2017 Jon Scott then went on to note that the tweet was sent around midnight and deleted just six hours later, praising Donald Trump for his ability not to need much sleep. "I guess the president is a man who needs only a few hours sleep," Scott said, while going on to give him credit for getting many "likes" and "retweets." Kathy Griffin, the 56-year old comedian known for her anti-Trump stance, is currently under fire for a photo she posted on social media that immediately went viral. Griffin posted a photo of her holding a bloodied fake head that looks like United States President Donald Trump. The edgy comedian is currently under the scrutiny of the Secret Service, who responded to Griffin's post on social media by saying that they were evaluating the threat. Is she guilty of a crime? Threats against high-ranking officials such as the president, president-elect, vice president or vice president-elect is a Class E Felony under federal law. The term "threat" is described to include intentions to take the life, kidnap, or inflict harm to any particular official. However, there is still the question of whether or not Griffin's grotesque expression on social media is categorized as a willful threat against the president. First Amendment rights According to Stanford University Law Professor Nathaniel Persily, the photo that was posted online is in fact protected under the First Amendment. The law expert explained that while the photo was going a bit too far, it is still categorized as an "artistic expression" by Griffin and the Los Angeles photographer Tyler Shields. Wishing the president dead is not a crime. A valid threat requires words and a call to action, both of which were not present in the photos and videos. Additionally, Persily cautioned that any attempt to prosecute Griffin would only end up bringing more attention to her grievances and expose more people to it. Public apology Shortly after the Secret Service responded to Griffin's post, the comedian immediately posted an apology video on Twitter and explained that she was aware that she had crossed the line. She profusely apologized to everyone who were offended by the photos and videos and mentioned that she has already asked Shields to take it all down. I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong. pic.twitter.com/LBKvqf9xFB Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 30, 2017 Public reaction Aside from the Secret Service, other politicians and celebrities went online to express their disgust over the crude political post. Donald Trump Jr. even mentioned that the post was "disgusting" and urged viewers to imagine what would happen if this was done to Obama during his term. Chelsea Clinton also chimed in and mentioned that the post was "vile" and that it was "never funny to joke about killing a president." Other personalities, such as actress Alyssa Milano and CNN's Anderson Cooper also expressed their disapproval of the violent post. As investigations continue into the brutal Manchester Arena suicide bomb attack that killed 22 people and injured dozens more, police have released an image showing bomber salman abedi wheeling a blue suitcase in the city, which was captured on security video. They added a replica suitcase to the image for a clearer comparison. Manchester police asks public to come forward if they see the blue suitcase In their statement relating to the image, Greater Manchester police asked members of the public who have seen the blue suitcase to come forward while warning anyone who does spot it to stay away from it. Authorities added that the image was taken from CCTV footage on May 22, in the citys center. They asked if anyone can remember spotting the suitcase in either the Wilmslow Road area or central Manchester around that time. As noted by the New York Post, Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson said in a statement that officials believe Abedi had the blue suitcase in his possession in the days leading up to the suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena. Jackson said that while the suitcase was definitely not used in the May 22 attack after the Ariana Grande concert, it is still of interest to police. He added that police have no reason to think the suitcase and its contents are a danger to anyone, but that it is best to remain cautious. Attack at Manchester Arena update: image released of Abedi carrying a suitcase. Did you see him? https://t.co/NiBYb83cwj pic.twitter.com/0MK24mvtlO G M Police (@gmpolice) May 29, 2017 Salman Abedi's movements prior the attack: Police continues to investigate According to a report by The Guardian, police are still attempting to piece together Abedis movements in the city from when he arrived back in England from Libya on May 18, through to detonating the suicide bomb on May 22. Jackson said they are interested to find out Abedis whereabouts during that period. Police currently have 14 suspects in custody relating to the suicide bombing, including the latest arrest of a trainee pilot in Shoreham-by-Sea early on Monday this week. 50 victims of Manchester Arena attack are still in hospital As reported by Reuters, many victims of the Manchester Arena suicide bombing are still hospitalized, receiving treatment for injuries sustained in the blast. Reportedly 50 victims are still undergoing treatment, with 17 in critical care. According to that report NHS England say there were 22 adults and children killed in the suicide bombing and injured victims receiving medical treatment following the attack have now reached a total of 116 people. 50 still in hospital, 17 in critical care after Manchester attack: LONDON (Reuters) - Fifty patients https://t.co/h24FTZXApP #worldNews pic.twitter.com/oPBxB3T9s8 VCN Top Stories (@VCNnews) May 30, 2017 While the health authority gave no further details regarding the injured victims, Reuters reports that hospital officials and doctors have said some of the victims had suffered life-changing injuries to their limbs and major organs. Russian warships in the Mediterranean have fired cruise missiles at ISIS positions in Syria. This is to augment the rapid advance of Syrian forces into the Islamic group's territory. The United States, on the other hand, is still on the contemplative phase of its Raqqa attack, though with the current pace of Assad's forces, the war against ISIS in Syria may be over before America can act. What's the progress of Syria and Russia's attack on ISIS? Syrian forces, backed by Russia and Iran, are wading through large swaths of ISIS territory in Syria. This is after Assad's forces liberated the entire South desert of Syria from ISIS control. Early on Wednesday, the Russian defense ministry said that the Russian frigate Admiral Essen and the submarine Krasnodar fired cruise missiles at IS targets in Palmyra. This is one of the major operations made by Russia in Syria and provides significant evidence of Moscow's tacit agreement with Assad. However, the Syrian forces have attacked not only ISIS groups but are also picking on US-backed Syrian rebels that are near the area. Assad's army is pushing through Palmyra and heading towards Sukha, 37 miles northeast, which is a known terrorist stronghold. The Russian airstrikes are proving effective in paving the way for Assad's forces to mop up the area. How will the US react to Russia-Syria success? Though both Russia and the US are both attacking ISIS, Syria's aftermath will not be beneficial for America if Assad supported by Russia takes over Syria. US President Donald Trump had planned to create a coalition against Iran by strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The $110 billion arms deal with Riyadh aims to upgrade Saudi Arabia into a regional power that can counter Iran's growing influence. During the early days of the Syrian civil war, Saudi Arabia, a Sunni state, opposed Assad's power in Syria. Riyadh indirectly supported the rebels against the Syrian government. However, the major supporter of the Syrian rebels revolt is The United States. After Trump took office, the rapid rearmament of Syrian rebels went underway, but it was hampered by the increasing threat of ISIS. Washington deemed it necessary to end ISIS first before resolving the Syrian Civil War. Thus, Assad can easily charge into ISIS territory and attack rebels in the process. After Assad's attack on Islamic state territories, Syria may well become Russia's new Mediterranean port. Todd Christopher Kohlhepp wont be brokering any more real estate transactions in South Carolina. He pleaded guilty on Friday to killing seven people, over 13 years, to avoid the death penalty, which would have been problematic South Carolina. The state ran out of the drugs used for lethal executions and there have been no executions in the state for the past six years. The death penalty would have been in name only for Kohlhepp if convicted at trial and if sentenced to death. Woman's rescue led to serial killer's arrest and admissions While operating a successful real estate business, Kohlhepp, 46, said he murdered seven people. Seven months ago, he was arrested when law enforcement heard screams and rescued a woman, Kala Brown, who was chained inside a shipping container for more than two months on the killers rural property in Spartanburg County. Almost on a daily basis, he raped her. Kohlhepp had shot and killed Browns boyfriend, 32-year-old Charles David Carver. He was the last of Kohlhepps victims. The investigators were on his property checking for Johnny Joe Coxie, age 29, and his wife, Megan Leigh McCraw-Coxie, age 26. The couple went missing in December 2015 after being hired to work on Kohlhepps property. Their bodies were found after he was arrested. In 2003, after the manager of Superbike Motorsports motorcycle store angered Kohlhepp by refusing to take back a motorcycle, he murdered four workers at the Chesnee, SC, shop. He killed the owner, Scott Ponder, age 30. He also murdered Beverly Guy, age 52, who worked for her son, Ponder, as a bookkeeper. In addition, Kohlhepp killed service manager Brian Lucas, age 30, and mechanic Chris Sherbert, age 26. Killer's appetite for violence started at young age The killers penchant for violence was pronounced in 1986. According to court records in Arizona, he was 15-years-old when he used his fathers handgun and forced a 14-year-old neighbor to go to his house. He tied her hands and raped her. A probation officer asked him about the crime. The victim only wanted friendship with him, yet had a crush on his friend, he stated. That upset him so he kidnapped, bound her, and raped her. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. After Kohlhepp was released from prison, he moved to South Carolina, where he had to register as a sex offender. He obtained a real estate license by lying about his felony conviction. Prior to starting his own business, he worked as a real estate broker. According to his friends and co-workers, he spent hours at work watching porn videos. The serial killer pleaded guilty to a sum of 14 charges on Friday, including the seven murders he admitted, along with charges of sexual assault and kidnapping. The judge, Derham Cole, told the killer that the term life means until he dies in prison. Kohlhepp has seven consecutive life sentences. Kala Brown, the only surviving victim of Kohlhepp will receive a $25,000 reward. Her rescue helped solve the four 2003 murders at Superbike Motorsports. NBC News reports that The United States militarys Missile Defense Agency launched an ICBM from a test site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. The MDA then launched an interceptor missile from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The interceptor shot down the ICBM high over the Pacific, a first of its kind accomplishment meant to send a signal to North Korea that its missile development effort is being conducted in vain. The interception and destruction of the ICBM were long in coming and could not have come at a better time. The Strategic Defense Initiative An effort to develop an ABM system in the 1960s had run into opposition from congressional Democrats opposed to defense spending. President Richard Nixon ended such efforts with the ABM Treaty with the Soviet Union that limited the deployment of such systems. On March 23, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative with the goal of making nuclear tipped ICBMs obsolete. The idea was that a multilayer defense using laser weapons in space would make a massive nuclear attack on the American homeland ineffective. The SDI effort was derided by Democrats as Star Wars. The effort, while it never deployed a single weapon, created lots of research and development. It also incentivized the Soviets to become serious about arms control. After the Cold War With the end of the Cold War, President Bill Clinton downgraded missile defense efforts, renaming the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. President George W. Bush withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2002 and revived missile defense efforts with a view toward stopping an attack from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. President Barack Obama slowed down development of a missile defense system, canceling the deployment of a facility in Eastern Europe designed to defend against an attack from Iran. R&D continued on a more modest defense that had been conceived during the Reagan SDI-era. North Korea and Iran current threat The ongoing effort by North Korea to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the United States plus a more long-term threat from Iran has placed the issue of missile defense back in focus. Sea-based systems using Aegis and airborne lasers are being developed as well as long range land based systems such as the one just tested. The immediacy of the threat has muted traditional Democratic opposition to missile defense. It looks like Reagans long ago dream of making nuclear-tipped missiles obsolete is starting to become a reality. The United Nations has announced that #action for the climate is unstoppable, just as President Donald Trump decides if the US will remain in the landmark Paris climate accord. The expected announcement has many environmentalists wringing their hands in despair, as students, celebrities, business and political leaders are independently pledging their resources and actions to fight climate change. According to sources in the #White House quoted by the media, Trump is expected to take the United States away from the climate agreement in the next few days, even though this was not confirmed by the American president during a meeting he took with the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Washington on Wednesday. In that meeting, President Trump was questioned by a reporter about his inclination to leave the accord and President Trump rejoined with Youre going to find out very soon. What if the US withdraws? If Trump does withdraw the United States of America from the accord then he will be making good on a campaign promise to his constituents, but at the same time he will be severely sabotaging and weakening the 2015 accord that had nearly every nation taking meaningful action to curtail #global warming. The accord was signed by #President Barack Obama and was seen as an immensely positive step forward toward not just environmental stewardship but also collective, and therefore meaningful global action. It was an agreement and a time that brought all countries together in a meaningful way, something that has become increasingly rare in today's world. Sources talk A senior White House official who was quoted by the New York Times, announced on Wednesday that the actual concise language of Trump's exit announcement was still being decided on. The same official said the United States' action to retreat from the accord could be supplemented by legal stipulations that will give greater definition to the impact of the exiting decision. Trump is meeting with the #Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon. It is well known that Tillerson was hoping that the US would remain within the Paris accord; he was expected to attempt to pitch the president his point of view in the hopes that he will change his mind. But as reports that the United States are on the brink of exiting the deal, many other countries, such as the EU, #China and India have all bolstered their commitment to the collective global action of fighting global warming. The #United Nations wrote in an early morning tweet on Wednesday that Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that unmatchable. The United Nation also added in some footage of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres admonishing world leaders, and those in society and business, to take the reigns and reaffirm their ambitious fight against climate warming. It is absolutely essential that the world implements the #Paris agreement, Mr Guterres voiced out passionately, saying that he would try and take the convoking and collective power of the United Nations to make meaningful work with governments and other society and business power centers to ramp up the world's evolution towards a truly sustainable future. In New York on Tuesday Mr Guterres announced that Its very clear that governments are not everything. He continued that the UN is trying its best to show the US, Congress and the Trump administration, that funding organizations such as the UN as well as development aid and foreign policy is something that will best serve the American people. President Trump, during his fifth month in office, released his budget plan for the fiscal year 2018 called "The New Foundation for American Greatness. With the new budget, Trump plans on bringing about significant changes over the next decade. Over these next few years, it is our job as a society to keep informed to understand the impact new changes might have on our daily lives. According to the Concord Coalition, the United States has over $18 trillion in debt. We can only hope that Trump's new budget will aid in decreasing the debt. Safety has a big budget Throughout Trump's campaign, he promised to crack down on National and Border Security, and with his new budget plan, he is doing just that. National Security, Border Security, and Law Enforcement together have a budget of $54 billion, according to The New York Times. I can understand why, since there have been recent attacks in the name of ISIS. With all this money planned to spend on defense, Trump still plans on building a wall with $1.9 billion set aside in the budget, according to The New York Times. The push to keep us safe makes sense, especially after the attack at Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester. Tax-payer first budget "The title should have been a tax-payer first budget. The budget plan specifically aims towards those who pay their taxes and away from those who are on the back end of the program, the recipient of the tax-payer budget," said Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. According to President Trump's budget plan, he will cut $3.6 trillion in federal spending over the next ten years, and with more money poured into security; Trump had decided to cut from other programs. For example, the tax-payer first budget will be cutting $800 billion from Medicaid over the next decade. Other important programs such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, will be cut by $193 billion, according to Washington Post. In addition to budget cuts, President Trump plans to prevent many people from receiving food stamps, in an effort get people off of the program. The budget plan also addresses preventing taxpayer bailouts, which helps businesses that are struggling with debt get back on their feet again. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps those who are financially struggling to pay their energy bills, is also cut significantly. The list of programs with budgets cut is quite long, but the most shocking is the $9.2 billion cut that Trump is taking from the education department, according to The New York Times. With the Trump administration cracking down on food stamps and energy assistance, it is difficult to see how people with a low income will be able to function, especially if they have children attending school. The suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester has forced the United States Department of Homeland Security to consider widening the scope of the ban on laptops and other similar electronic gadgets in the cabins of commercial flights. Secretary John Kelly has revealed that the ban could be extended to cover not only all international flights that are headed to the United States but also to outward bound flights. He has explained that, as it is, there are threats against aviation in general and terrorists are believed to be obsessed with targeting an airplane in flight, especially one of American origin in which the majority of the passengers are from the US. The scope of the existing ban Daily Mail UK reports that a ban on laptops as cabin luggage was announced in March. That affected an average of 50 flights per day from 10 cities, with the majority of these cities being in the Middle East. The reason for introducing the ban was to take measures against any possible terrorist attacks because of fears that miniature bombs concealed in electronic devices like laptops could be used. The result of the ban was that passengers could not bring any electronic devices like laptops and tablets into the cabin and electronic items larger than a smartphone had to be part of checked-in luggage. The ban has affected direct flights to the United States from at least 10 airlines that belong to Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, among others. At the time of the introduction of the ban, the Department of Homeland Security indicated that the situation would be reviewed at a later date and modified if considered necessary. The time has come and this is borne out of the fact that terrorists are still moving about freely and do not hesitate to carry out suicide bombing like the one in Manchester. The effect of the ban The airline industry has criticized the laptop ban of the United States and has said that such an action would cause a severe downturn in trans-Atlantic air travel and would become a very costly affair for travelers in terms of lost time. Travelers are used to working on their computers, especially on long distance flights, to maintain continuity of work. That would grind to a halt with the implementation of the ban. The Department of Homeland Security appears to be unmoved because the Manchester Arena terrorist attack that left 22 concert-goers dead has put the focus back on terrorism. George and amal clooney are very close to having their Twins, in fact, they could be having them right at this very moment! According to Us Magazine, George has hinted that Amal could give birth any minute now. George Clooney claims he is ready for fatherhood. George proudly spoke out on the upcoming arrival of his twins with Amal on Monday, May 29 while presenting the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. Clooney presented the award via video message giving his apologies for being unable to attend in person, but his impending parenthood is keeping him close to his wife Amal's side because she could go into labor any minute. George Clooney is about to become a father, ready or not! Im sorry that I cant be with you all tonight in Yerevan, but I can say in all sincerity that I am with you in spirit I really would have been there, but if I came there and my wife had twins while I was there, I could never come home, Clooney said, according to The New York Posts Page Six. As previously reported, in January it was announced that George and Amal were expecting twins an announcement that shocked the world! The couple later revealed the sex of their twins in February revealing that they were having a boy...and a girl. Only last week it was revealed that George and Amal's Twins could be coming even sooner than they believed. Amal is due in the first week of June, but since she is carrying twins, doctors have expected her to go into labor a bit early. Hopefully, George is all ready to go on second's notice. He had better double check that lists to make sure Amal's bag is in the car when she gives the green light. It will be interesting to see how the man who claimed he would remain a bachelor for life, and married, handles a life where he never expected to be a father in and is now getting ready to welcome twins! Not only are fans on Clooney twin watch, but Beyonce and Jay-Z are due to have their twins, which has also been reported to be a boy and a girl very soon also. In fact, it is now officially a race to the delivery room. It sounds as if George and Amal are ready to meet their double bundles of joy anytime now; we know their fans can't wait to get a look at these two celebrity babies, not to mention find out what their names will be. Good luck George and Amal and let us not forget Beyonce and Jay-Z, who are also due any day now. Which twins do you believe will arrive first? The Clooneys' or the Carters? Just how crazy would it be if both celebrity sets of twins were born on the same day? Let's just hope they aren't scheduled to deliver in the same hospital! Celebrity twin watch has now begun! With DCs highly anticipated superhero film "Wonder Woman" set to be released this Friday, buzz for the film has been building up for the last few weeks. Based on its reception during early screenings, "Wonder Woman" looks like itll be the first DC film universally praised by critics since the "Dark Knight Trilogy." Theres no doubt that the movie will be a nice, refreshing change of pace featuring a woman in the lead role in an already oversaturated genre dominated by male leads. Gal Gadot, the lead actress, had already been featured in the critically-panned "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice," and has been confirmed to be in the upcoming "Justice League" film. However, with all the talk being predominantly focused on the film's pro-feminist message, more controversy has cropped up recently concerning the release of the film. Lebanons ministry of economy is trying to keep the film from being released in Lebanon due to Gadots Israeli heritage. Lebanon calls for ban of Wonder Woman 2017 movie, because its lead actress is an Israeli https://t.co/9qhK3hBP5a pic.twitter.com/zo3X9dt8Sy Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) May 30, 2017 Lebanese boycott Lebanon has been officially at war with Israel for decades now, dating all the way back to the creation of Israel in 1948. Despite the two countries being in the middle of a ceasefire, tensions remain high with Israel making near-daily flights over Lebanese territory and Lebanon continuing to arm the Lebanese-based Shia Islamist militant group Hezbollah -- who have been fighting Israel since its formation in 1985. Because of their ongoing war, Lebanon has enacted a law boycotting Israeli products as well as banning Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel and preventing any form of communication with Israeli citizens. Gadot, who served with the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), has certainly made her support of Israel and its military operations no secret. It's primarily for this reason that the Lebanese ministry of economy wants to keep the film from opening in their country. More bark than bite? Despite the Lebanese ministry of economy calling for the film's Ban, it has not yet been officially enforced, not to mention that one Lebanese cinema chain plans to premiere the movie regardless. If the ban goes through, it would be the first of Gadots films to be banned in the country, as the "Fast and Furious" movies featured in, as well as the aforementioned "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" were not prevented from being screened. The ban will only be enacted with the recommendation of a six-ministry-member committee. With the films opening quickly approaching, its debatable whether or not the ban will actually be put into action. Angelina Jolie celebrated her daughters birthday at disneyland. The beautiful actress took her children and other family members to the park on Saturday, May 27, 2017, and spent quality time. Jolies daughter, Shiloh, has turned to 11, and her birthday party was attended by a couple of close friends and relatives. This weekend, the 41-year-old and her children were spotted at the Anaheim, California, and spent hours there. Angelina Jolie told People that she had a lot of fun, and will bring her family to Disneyland next month too. Angelina Jolie celebrates her daughters birthday The crew including Shiloh, Zahara, Vivienne, and Knox was joined by some close friends from Cambodia. People reports that some of the visiting friends were actors from Angelinas upcoming movie titled First They Killed My Father. The shooting of her new movie took place in Cambodia and is set to air on Netflix this winter. Angelina Jolie Takes Her Family And Friends To Disneyland For A Birthday Celebration! https://t.co/15V2wCCBSJ pic.twitter.com/mmS5JbZM53 National Enquirer (@NatEnquirer) May 28, 2017 Angelina Jolie radiates to celebrate Shilohs birthday at Disneyland https://t.co/Yl43Ryc4Tv pic.twitter.com/1DmAqKq0Lh Sivertimes (@TheSiverTimes) May 28, 2017 Shiloh, whose birthday was on May 27, was clicked in Disneyland by media. She was enjoying her candies and snacks, while Zahara had a soft drink. Angelina Jolie, her children, and all of their friends enjoyed rides such as Space Mountain, the Mad Tea Party, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, A Small World, the Matterhorn, and Alice in Wonderland. They reportedly spent most of their time at the Downtown Disney mall. Angelina Jolie takes children and pals to Disneyland https://t.co/URskxP56rZ pic.twitter.com/kpOCVPG5k5 Zesty Celebrity News (@zesty_celebrity) May 28, 2017 Her personal and professional life Jolie wore black jeans with matching boots, a gray T-shirt, and carried a backpack. She was seen smiling throughout her stay there and enjoyed the good moments like a kid. She rode the Big Thunder Railroad with Shiloh and other children. Born in June 1975, Angelina is a famous Hollywood actress, humanitarian and filmmaker. She is best known for her works in Lookin to Get Out, Cyborg 2, Hackers, and others Besides being an actress, Jolie is noted for her charity works. She received a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and is an honorary of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) for her contributions to the welfare of humanity. As a public figure, Angelina actively participates in campaigns that create awareness among people about children's rights and domestic violence. The Oscar winner filed for a divorce from Brad Pitt in September 2016. In an interview with the Daily Mail earlier this month, Brad revealed that he is worried about the education and future of the children. He believes that Angelina is not paying much attention to their education due to lack of time. Americans are waiting for the movie "Wonder Woman" to be released in the United States on June 2, 2017, but that's not the case for people in Lebanon. In fact, Lebanon wants to ban the 2017 movie. It is not because of the movie itself that people in Lebanon are offended. Instead, it is because of Gal Gadot, the leading actress who plays Wonder Woman. A Lebanese security official indicated that Gadot is an Israeli, and Lebanon is at war with Israel. There has been a ten-year tradition that Lebanon boycotts Israeli products, and the Lebanese are barred from any contact with Israelis. About Gal Gadot The film is a reboot of the 1975 movie in which Lynda Carter was the fictional superhero. Gadot has gained a lot of popularity for her leading role in the 2017 film and the 32-year-old Israeli actress and model appeared on several talk shows in America to promote the upcoming film. In 2013, she was the second highest paid actress and model in her native Israel. When she was 18, she became Miss Israel in 2004. One of the requirements for being crowned was for her to carry out two years of military service. When her term was up at age 20, she studied law. After one year of law school, she auditioned for a movie. She didn't get the part, but the same casting director hired her to act in "Fast & Furious," where she performed her own stunts. None of those movies were banned in Lebanon. The ban against Gadot's films in Lebanon started after she landed the title role in "Wonder Wonder." Not banned yet A formal request for a ban has not been made because it would require a recommendation from a committee made up of six members. Advertisements for the movie, including posters and digital billboards, were plentiful in the Lebanese capital. "Wonder Woman" is still set to be released as scheduled. The film will be shown during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in all theaters in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait on Thursday, June 1, 2017. It is scheduled to open in Oman on June 22 and in Bahrain on June 29. One theater in Beirut is showing a premiere of "Wonder Woman" on Wednesday, May 31. The cinema is giving its members free popcorn as a way to entice them to attend. Movies banned Even though "Wonder Woman" has not been banned yet, other movies were banned earlier this year. "Wawlana" is an Egyptian movie about a celebrity Muslim cleric, which was not shown in Lebanon. The Lebanese movie "Beach House," about friends discussing their identities, was also banned. One of the upcoming revolutions that are about to change the way we fight wars is the development of battlefield Laser Weapons. A recent article in Military.com suggests that the science fiction vision of soldiers fighting with beam weapons will very soon become a reality. Lasers shooting down drones and other aerial targets A relatively low-powered laser, putting out about five kilowatts, recently knocked an aerial drone out of the sky when fired from a Stryker armored vehicle. The military is concerned that terrorists will able to use cheap drones packed with explosives to destroy expensive American military equipment. Lasers would be a way to counter such a threat. More powerful lasers, from 30 kilowatts to soon become 60 kilowatts, that are capable of taking down mortar rounds and short-range missiles and artillery shells, are also being tested. One of the threats North Korea poses is the ability to level the South Korean capital of Seoul in a massive artillery barrage in the event of war. Laser defenses could help blunt such an attack while allied air strikes and counterbattery fire would work to suppress the North Korean artillery. Airborne lasers also being developed In the meantime, the Air Force is developing a laser that could be deployed on an AC-130 gunship, due to be tested in two to three years. Airborne lasers could strike at targets hundreds of miles away, giving American pilots an edge in air to air combat that would be tough to overcome. These types of lasers could also be used as part of a layered missile defense system, stopping enemy ballistic missile attack. Navy testing sea-based laser on board the USS Ponce The United States Navy has been testing a laser on board the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport in the Persian Gulf. The Navy is keenly interested in using lasers to defend their ships against drones, missiles, and speed boats that could be used by terrorists to launch attacks such as the one that damaged the USS Cole. Eventually, ship based lasers will be able to take out enemy aircraft. The laser revolution bringing science fiction to reality The laser revolution will, in its own way, change war fighting as profoundly as gunpowder weapons did start in the 15th Century. The ability to strike at a target at the speed of light, taking it out instantaneously will give the military that develops it first an overwhelming advantage that will be tough to overcome with defensive measures. The United States seems bent on gaining that advantage, much to the determent of its many enemies. The recent missile tests by Pyongyang have set a cat among the pigeons as is seen by the hurried activities of Seoul and Washington who organized joint aerial drills with South Korea. In addition, Washington has decided to send across one more warship to augment the other two that are already in the Korean peninsula. It can be assumed that, by the repeated launch of missiles coupled with showing off its firepower, North Korea is sending a message to the United States to unnerve it. Is a showdown on the cards? Daily Mail UK reports that South Korea conducted joint drills with a U.S. supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber. It followed accusations by North Korea that the United States was organizing a drill in preparation for dropping nuclear bombs. To prove their point, North Korea's state media reported that a long-range, multi-mission supersonic aircraft carried out a nuclear bomb dropping drill over South Korea. This was confirmed by the defense ministry of South Korea but no details were given. These drills were undertaken near the Military Demarcation Line border between North and South Korea five hours after North test-fired its missile. The reason for the reaction would appear to be the repeated and fast-paced missile tests that Pyongyang was carrying out in defiance of world pressure. With every test, it keeps reporting improvements in the performance of the weapons. North Korea is aware of threats of more sanctions hanging over their heads like the sword of Damocles but wants to ignore them and is intent on giving a final shape to develop an ICBM that can strike mainland United States. That appears to be the driving force. U.S. augments its naval power North Korea is crying foul and has accused the U.S. of being the aggressor who is provoking a nuclear war crisis. Korean Central News Agency has termed it as a frantic drill. Incidentally, the latest missile launch is the third in as many weeks. It was fired in the general direction of the Sea of Japan and Japan is a close ally of The United States. As a result, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to help the U.S. to take action against North Korea and made reference to the just concluded G7 summit. The United States from its part is sending the USS Nimitz to give company to the other two namely the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Ronald Reagan which are already in the western Pacific. Such a move to have three aircraft carriers simultaneously in the same region is rare. Obviously, these movements are designed to give advance warning to North Korea that it is indulging in a dangerous game. Ominous clouds are gathering in the air and with an unpredictable future in the hands of a very adamant leader, one has to be prepared for the worst. It may be recalled that an adamant leader was responsible for World War II and no one wants to witness a sequel. BEIJING China's manufacturing sector expanded for the 10th straight month in May, an official survey showed on Wednesday. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 51.2 in May, flat with April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP). A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction. The latest reading reaffirmed a stabilizing Chinese economy, said Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development Research Center under the State Council. The sub-index for production stood at 53.4 in May, down from 53.8 in April, while the sub-index for new orders came in at 52.3 in May, unchanged from that in April. Chen Zhongtao, an analyst at the China Logistics Information Center, said positive factors had grown for the Chinese economy, including balanced supply and demand, better performance of companies and a good job market. The manufacturing PMI for medium-sized enterprises stood at 51.3 in May, up from 50.2 in April, while PMI for small enterprises came in at 51 in May, the highest in five years. Equipment manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing and consumer goods manufacturing continued robust growth, with the sub-indices all registering above 52, indicating the increasingly important roles they play in the manufacturing sector. China's non-manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in May. The non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index came in at 54.5 in May, up from 54 in April, according to the the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). By Wang Wen and Xu Jing in New York | China Daily USA | Updated: 2017-05-31 10:20 Rather than costing jobs, Chinese companies in America are hiring For Rachel McGaw, an office manager who lives in a Rust Belt town in Illinois, working for a Chinese company has its rewards. "I enjoy working here. I like my salary, I like my hours. I feel more valued because the company takes me and my feeling and my family into consideration," said the employee at Wanxiang New Energy, the solar division of Wanxiang America Corp. McGaw is one of thousands of local workers employed at Wanxiang who could otherwise be jobless. The company entered the US market in 1994, the year General Motors started operations in China. It now has 28 plants, runs in more than 20 US states, and employs more than 18,000. Only about 10 employees are from China, and the rest are local. Over the years, Wanxiang has acquired many firms on the brink of bankruptcy. "We saved a lot of jobs," said Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America. While Chinese companies were accused of costing US jobs during the 2016 US presidential campaign, the reality is quite different: Chinese companies are opening new plants and hiring people in America. They now employ more than 140,000 Americans, according to the latest report by the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR) and Rhodium Group. Already on a steep growth trajectory for the past five years, Chinese investment in the US jumped to $46 billion last year, a 200 percent increase from the previous record of $15 billion set in 2015, the bilateral investment report showed. In addition, the report, named New Neighbors 2017, suggested that by the end of 2016, 425 out of 435 congressional districts hosted Chinese-owned companies. In 2016, Chinese investors deepened their US footprint, according to a separate report released in mid-May by NCUSCR and Rhodium Group. US coastal states, such as New York and California are still the major beneficiaries of Chinese investment, but South and Midwest states also received significant Chinese investment last year. In New York, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge that crosses the Harlem River has gone through a major widening and rehabilitating project performed by China Construction America (CCA). The 550-foot-long steel arch main bridge now carries 10 lanes of traffic instead of eight, with its support piers and foundations reinforced and new drainage installed. CCA started its business in the US in 2000 with only 12 employees and less than $10 million in annual revenue. In 2016, it employed around 2,000 workers, 98 percent of whom are Americans, and its revenue jumped to $2 billion. In Moraine, Ohio, more than 2,000 people are working at a 470,000-square-meter glass fabrication factory housed in GM's former assembly plant. The plant used to employ thousands of people making SUVs and trucks. It was closed in 2008 as a financial crisis wiped out jobs across the industry. Fuyao is one of the world's largest auto-glass makers and has a 22 percent market share in the US. Its investment in Moraine is the largest Chinese investment in Ohio and the eighth-largest direct foreign investment in the US over the last decade. Stephen A. Orlins, president of the NCUSCR, got emotional when recalling the factory's grand opening last December. He said it signaled the rebirth of a community, and at the moment he knew he had glimpsed "the promised land of a constructive US-China relations". Wanxiang also makes sure that "every cent the company makes in the US will be invested into the local community". Yang Shilong, Wang Naishui, and Huang Heng contributed to this story provided by Xinhua (China Daily USA 05/31/2017 page2) Mayor Chuck Fewell is excited that BeijingWest Industries Co is opening its first US manufacturing plant in his town of Greenfield, Indiana. "We are 25 miles southeast of Indianapolis, and we have a safe and attractive community," he said about his town of 20,000 in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "We are glad BWI (BeijingWest Industries) will become a part of our community." In April, BWI selected Greenfield for a plant that is expected to employ 441 and produce automotive suspension components like shock absorbers and struts, Gregory Dronen, global facilities director for BWI, wrote in an email. BWI will break ground on the plant in July and it is scheduled to begin production in 2019. Dronen said the parts will be for the US market so Greenfield's location was a strong selling point. "We have an ideal location on I-270 (a major interstate highway) and we are in the Midwest plus Indiana is in the middle of the country," added Fewell. In addition to the location, Dronen said Greenfield offered an available workforce, a local community college for recruiting and state and local incentives. The Indiana Economic Development Corp will offer BWI up to $4.5 million in conditional tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants and Greenfield is considering additional tax incentives. Beijing-based BWI will invest $80 million to create the 276,500-square-foot manufacturing facility in Greenfield's Progress Park. With its growth, BWI expects to increase its production to 4 million parts per year to meet the continued demand from its customers, which include Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, General Motors, Honda and Porsche. BWI serves more than 31 customers around the world and produces the MagneRide suspension system. BWI employs nearly 5,000 associates across more than 17 facilities globally, which includes operations in China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Poland, United Kingdom and the US. Dronen said the company has four other US operations: an engineering and administration facility in Kettering, Ohio, that employs 180; a Moraine, Ohio, chassis test center with 110 employees; a tech center in Brighton, Michigan, with 120 employees and a winter test site in Gwinn, Michigan. "BWI is excited to be working with the state of Indiana and Hancock County on this extremely important project," John Beres III, assistant president and global director of BWI, said in a statement in April. "We are appreciative of the support given to us at the state and local level. This plant will expand our North American footprint to support our US customer base." BWI is a joint venture of Shougang Corp and Beijing Fangshan State-Owned Asset Management. paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com (China Daily USA 05/31/2017 page2) Jiangsu is striving to build a welcoming study environment to accommodate international students, especially those from the US, according to heads of universities and government officials from the eastern China province. There is a growing number of students from the US - as well as the rest of the world - enhancing their education, as well as gaining internship experience, on the campuses of Jiangsu. Jiangsu is strategically located adjacent to the Yangtze River Delta area where technology, trade and manufacturing businesses are booming. This makes the province an ideal destination for young people to practice their freshly learned skills. "For the US, there is a lot to learn from China's educational system, and vice versa," said Tan Renxiang, vice-president of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, who led a group of 38 delegates from 18 universities in Jiangsu to Los Angeles this week, in an effort to promote and introduce Jiangsu's higher education during a NAFSA conference. "China has very high yields from its education sector, considering its investment in the sector is relatively low compared to the US," said Tan. "We are in discussions with relevant departments in Jiangsu to adjust the regulations on international students," said Yu Xiaonan, head of the division for international cooperation and exchange at Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education. Jiangsu has allowed foreign students to rent their residences off campus, according to Yu, to make their school life more Westernized. He added that there would be even more measures taken to attract students from the US. Jiangsu has for decades been a prominent educator - the province is home to 141 universities, which have cultivated numerous young talents that have been injected into the job market, enriching various trades with much needed skills and training, he said. The opinions expressed by "Don Quixote" are strictly his own and do not represent the opinions of Vernon Council! Because I value your thoughtful opinions, I encourage you to add a comment to this discussion. Don't be offended if I edit your comments for clarity or to keep out questionable matters, however, and I may even delete off-topic comments. Bob Spiers Vernon City Councillor 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 Viet Nams Infrastructure Development and Construction Corporation (Licogi) has obtained approval from the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) to trade 90 million shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), under the stock code LIC. Some 31.5 million shares offered to strategic shareholders are under restricted transfer until December 2020 and another 234,100 shares are also subject to transfer restrictions. Licogi will start trading on the UPCoM on June 5, at a starting price of VN4,900 (22 US cents) per share. In April 2015, the corporation sold nearly 21.3 million shares during its initial public offering (IPO) at a starting price of VN10,000 per share. The equity auction saw positive results, with the entire offering being sold to 106 individual investors. It brought in more than VN212.8 billion and increased the companys charter capital to VN900 billion following the equitisation. Since then, the company has not raised charter capital. By March 16, 2017, Licogi had three major shareholders -- Ministry of Construction with 40.71 per cent of charter capital, Khu ong Real Estate Investment JSC holding 35 per cent and Gia Cuong Investment Company Limited owning 22.24 per cent of capital. In 2016, Licogi reported a net loss of VN293.4 billion, a negative cash flow of VN142 billion and total short-term debt in excess of current assets by VN803.5 billion. These issues indicate uncertainties, which may lead to increasing suspicion on the ability of continuous operation of the corporation VNS HA NOI The export turnover for aquatic products touched US$618 million in May, pushing the total amount in 2017 to $2.8 billion, a year-on-year rise of 10.4 per cent. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the United States, Japan, China and South Korea are leading importers of Vietnamese aquatic products, accounting for 53.5 per cent of the countrys export value. In May, Viet Nam also imported $87 million worth of aquatic products, raising the five-month figure to $508 million, up 28 per cent year on year. According to the ministry, this is because processing enterprises have increased their purchase of fish for export, especially to the Chinese market. Meanwhile, despite a slight fall, tra fish price remained high at VN26,000 ($1.1) per kilo. Tra fish production in the Mekong Delta region in the first five months of 2017 reached 466,000 tonnes, a 11.1 per cent rise compared to the same period last year. The tra fish farming area stood at 3,092 hectares, a drop of 6.2 per cent. In May, material shrimp price rose slightly after a decline in the previous month. VNS HA NOI The branch of Suntory Pepsico Viet Nam Beverage Company in Can Tho City is subject to taxes as an expansion but not as a new investment, the Ministry of Finance has announced. The decision was published in a recent document sent to the alliance between PepsiCo Inc. and Suntory Holdings Limited to respond to the companys proposal for tax incentives as a new investment. The ministry said that the branch of Suntory Pepsico in Can Tho City must be taxed as an expansion following the Law on Corporate Income Tax. In 2008, HCM Citybased Suntory Pepsico Viet Nam invested in a new a plant in Can Tho Citys Tra Noc Industrial Zone, which was granted an investment certificate. Under the certificate, the plant in Can Tho would enjoy tax incentives as a new investment, including a corporate income tax rate at 15 per cent for 12 years of operation, exemption from the corporate income tax for three years and 50 per cent discount in payable for the seven following years. However, after an inspection in 2012, the General Department of Taxation said that the plant in Can Tho was the subject to tax as an expansion investment. Accordingly, the plant must pay an additional VN18 billion (US$789,500) in corporate income tax for 2012 and 2013 and a fine of VN3.5 billion for late payment. In April, the company sent a document to propose taxation as a new investment, as per the investment certificate. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam exports touched US$79.29 billion in the first five months of this year, representing a rise of 17.4 per cent over the same period last year. According to latest updates of the General Statistics Office (GSO), foreign direct investment (FDI) firms contributed more than 72 per cent to the countrys export revenue in the period and witnessed a rise of 19 per cent. The FDI sector helped narrow the trade deficit run by the domestic sector, GSO said. While the domestic sector ran a trade deficit of $10.36 billion, the FDI sector posed a surplus of $7.65 billion. Overall, Viet Nam ran a trade deficit of more than $2.7 billion, unchanged from the January-April period. The United States remained the largest importer of Vietnamese goods with export revenue of $19 billion, up by 9.9 per cent. The European Union came the second with export value of $14.6 billion, up by 9.5 per cent. China was the third largest importer of Vietnamese products with a whopping rise of 40.3 per cent in the five-month period. Viet Nam was heavily reliant on imports from China. In the first five months of this year, Viet Nam imported goods worth $22 billion from China, up 15.6 per cent, and ran a trade deficit of $11.5 billion with the country. Viet Nam ran the largest trade deficit with South Korea, at $12.9 billion, in the first five months, a 61.3 per cent increase over the same period last year. According to GSO, major export products of Viet Nam in the period were mobile phones and parts with revenue of $16 billion (up 12 per cent), garments and textiles $9.4 per cent (up 9 per cent), electronics and components $9.4 billion (up 46.2 per cent) and footwear products $5.6 billion (up 10.5 per cent). Pepper and cassava, however, witnessed a decline in export value of 16 per cent and 12.8 per cent, respectively, due to a slump in prices. Viet Nam mainly imported machinery and equipment, electronics, computer and parts, steel, plastics and chemicals. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said trade deficit was not very worrisome because the country mainly imported materials for production. Dung said to reduce trade deficit, Viet Nam would focus on boosting exports rather than reducing imports, especially to key markets such as the United States. VNS A number of newswires and prestigious organisations have published articles commenting on the US visit by Viet Nams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat HA NOI A number of newswires and prestigious organisations have published articles commenting on the US visit by Viet Nams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. An article published by Bloomberg.com on Monday says PM Phuc will attempt to convince President Donald Trump to advance trade ties that blossomed under the Obama administration. In an interview granted to Bloomberg Television, the PM says he plans to highlight all the US jobs that Viet Nam supports through the imports of American goods like airplanes, engine turbines and maize, thus, promises of American jobs will persuade the host to focus more on the strategic benefits of closer trade and security ties. The Trump administration is very interested in advancing the relationship with Viet Nam because it sees the strategic role Viet Nam plays in Asia, he says. In recent years, Viet Nam and the US have also found common ground on issues regarding regional security. The same day, the Asia Sentinel ran an article by former US diplomat David Brown, saying that during the Obama years, Washington and Ha Noi forged a strategic entente unofficial, of course, but increasingly real, and Barack Obamas visit to Viet Nam last May was therefore a triumph. The article says the US and Viet Nam might agree to explore a bilateral trade pact that would entail many Trans-Pacific Partnership-like trade reforms. To the extent thats true (official confirmation is lacking on both sides), jump-starting bilateral trade talks will be at the top of PM Phucs agenda when he visits Washington this week. Commenting on the visit, Dr. Jonathan D. London, a leading scholar of contemporary Viet Nam and the global economy-politics at the Netherlandss Leiden University underscores the importance of the visit, saying that a great deal has changed in Viet Nam and in its relations with the US, particularly in the two decades since the governments of the two countries normalised ties, and especially within the last several years. The two countries have come to view each other as indispensable strategic partners, especially in trade and security matters. Therefore, the visit not only portends the development of US-Viet Nam bilateral relations and the future prospects of Viet Nams development, but the White Houses intentions with respect to East Asia. Meanwhile, the Washington Times daily on May 29 ran a message by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc entitled Viet Nams Prime Minister White House visit offers US opportunity to define Asia policy. Reviewing bilateral ties over the past two decades, it says trade between the two nations has nearly tripled in the last seven years, and now tops US$52 billion. The US exports to Viet Nam increased by 43.2 per cent in 2016, the largest increase among Americas top 30 trade partners and the only one with double-digit growth. In conclusion, the article suggests the US take steps required to recognise Viet Nams market economy status, ensure maritime security and safety with increased joint naval exercises, and enhance educational linkages between American universities and Vietnamese higher education institutions. It recommends cooperating in the field of science research on regional and global climate change issues, especially in the Lower Mekong Delta while addressing the impacts of Agent Orange and the removal of unexploded ordnance in Viet Nam. VNS HA NOI Lawmakers have urged the Government to encourage public private partnerships to draw private investment into the railway sector. Discussing the draft revised Law on Railway at the ongoing third session of the 14th National Assembly (NA) yesterday, deputy Nguyen Van The from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Soc Trang said that involving different business sectors into railway activities would attract investment from home and abroad to the railway system. Developing the railway system will help ease the pressure on roadway transport, he said. The also suggested building trade centres at stops and stations. The private sector should also be allowed to invest in this. The Government cannot cover both the construction of the railway system and businesses at stations, he said. Other deputies said that railways played an important role in the transport system in Viet Nam. However, investment in this field had been lacking, they said. Though the Government encourages domestic and foreign organisations and individuals to invest in railway infrastructure, there has been little investment, said deputy Nguyen Bac Viet from the central province of Ninh Thuan, adding that over the past 10 years, little capital had been allocated for rail development and had mainly been for maintenance. The policy has not attracted investors, he said. Deputy ang Hoang Tuan from the southern province of Long An said that railway development should be detailed, with regulations on minimum investment in rail infrastructure, based on the reality of Viet Nams overall transport infrastructure system. Other deputies, however, claimed a monopoly and incentives for the railway industry were creating inequality in the transport business that had not been solved in the draft revised law. The draft law still stipulates that the government has to subsidise railway activities, deputy Tran Tat The from the northern province of Ha Nam said, pointing out that enterprises operating railway infrastructure were still allowed to approve lease prices without bidding and procurement of railway infrastructure under market mechanisms. He added that one State-owned enterprise owns and operate all railway infrastructure in the country, Vietnam Railways. Other businesses wishing to get involved in rail transport must contract this enterprise to use state-owned railways and rail infrastructure. This had led to unfair competition, while discrimination between different economic components in the railway business does not attract non-State economic resources to invest, he said. Deputy Tran Van Lam from the northern province of Bac Giang said that after more than 10 years of implementation of the Law on Railway, railways had failed to develop and lagged behind in terms of equipment and technology, with low service quality and a decreasing market share. He also blamed the prolonged monopoly of State-owned enterprises as the cause for the situation. Lam said that the draft law aimed to eliminate the monopoly in the railway business, which is a drastic policy but compared to the previous draft, the current draft was a significant step back. "Other businesses that want to participate in State-owned national rail transport cannot be assured of competing with the transportation business whose dad is managing the route they will be in, he said. Deputy Luu Binh Nhuong from the southern province of Ben Tre suggested to add the regulation on the construction of broad-gauge railway throughout the country and increase the connection between the national railway system with airports and sea ports to create favourable conditions for transporting goods. He also urged to have more regulations on the safety and security for railways with the absolute ban on crossings, which have reportedly caused lots of accidents to people. Speaking at the end of the discussion session, Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia said that Viet Nam was one of the countries with a developed railway system a century ago. However, after 100 years, the role of the railway system had gradually "faded away," Nghia said, saying the reason was limited investment for the sector. In the 2011-15 period, rail investment accounted for only 3.18 per cent of the investment structure for transport. Meanwhile, road investment took up more than 88 per cent, Nghia said. "The railways are of little interest so it is more difficult to develop. In 2016, rail freight made up only 0.4 per cent of total freight transport. That is why transportation costs in our country are very high compared to the world," Nghia said. The deputies are scheduled to vote on the revised Law on Railway on June 16. In the afternoon, the deputies discussed in groups the amendments to the Law on Public Debt Management and the Law on Denunciation. VNS KUALA LUMPUR The Sepang district court in Malaysias Selangor State held the third hearing on May 30 regarding the case of the murder of Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) citizen Kim Chol. The two suspects in the case are Vietnamese national oan Thi Huong and Indonesian national Siti Aisyah. The hearing, presided over by Judge Harith Sham Mohamed Yasin, lasted for 25 minutes with the participation of lawyers representing the two suspects, and a lawyer assigned by the Embassy of the DPRK in Malaysia. The court decided to transfer the case to the Shah Alam High Court, also in Selangor state. The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia sent representatives to the hearing to ensure that fairness in procedures was fully observed, and the legitimate rights and interests of the Vietnamese suspect are protected. According to the interpreter for oan Thi Huong at court, Huong is in good health. Kim Chol, as named in his passport, died at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13. Malaysia said he was poisoned, but the DPRK insisted that he died of a heart attack, brought on by high blood pressure and diabetes. At the court hearing on March 1, the two women were charged with murder. They denied the charge, claiming they were deceived and took part in what they thought an innocuous prank. According to Malaysian law, the two suspects face the death penalty if found guilty. Previously, oan Van Thanh, father of oan Thi Huong, visited his daughter on April 11 in Kajang prison, Selangor state, prior to her trial. According to Thanh, Huong was in good health. Staff from the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia paid regular visits to her in prison. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam once again reiterated its resolute stance on promoting dialogue as the optimal way to resolve tensions and maintain order and peace on the Korean Peninsula, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang yesterday on Viet Nams reaction to the latest test-firing of a ballistic missile conducted by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). Viet Nam is highly concerned about recent developments on the Korean peninsula, especially the DPRKs repeated missile launches, which went directly against resolutions passed by United Nations Security Council, Hang was quoted as saying. Hang added that the maintenance of peace, stability, and creating conditions for prosperous development in the region is in the best interests as well as the common responsibility of every country. Viet Nam called on countries to fully implement Security Council resolutions relevant to the issue, as well as make active contributions to the maintenance of peace, security, and stability in the region and the world. VNS WASHINGTON DC Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in Washington DC on Tuesday (local time). The PM lauded the development of co-operation in economics, trade and investment between the two countries in recent years, emphasising this as a driving force in bilateral relations, contributing to growth and job generation. He affirmed that Viet Nam attaches importance to economic-trade-investment collaboration with the US and wishes to boost bilateral economic ties for mutual benefits. Viet Nam will create more favourable conditions for the US to bring products to the market while improving the business and investment environment, he said. The US guests agreed that the two countries have complementary economies, adding that the US treasures economic-trade ties with Viet Nam and welcomes the Southeast Asian nation to continue pursuing economic reforms and international integration, enabling US firms to invest and do business. The US side hailed the Vietnamese Government for easing some issues of US concern and its will to support US growth and employment targets. Both nations should approve the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) mechanism to further discuss addressing difficulties in trade. Speaking at a meeting with leading enterprises of the US and at the banquet jointly held by the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-ASEAN Business Council, PM Phuc applauded US firms investment in Viet Nam. He asserted Viet Nams determination to promote renovation and international integration, and implement measures in line with fair trade rules, stressing that Viet Nam considers US enterprises success as its success. US firms affirmed their support for strengthened relations between the two countries, saying that the Vietnamese Governments policies created a fair environment for foreign enterprises, including those from the US. They said they will support Viet Nam in holding APEC 2017. The same day, PM Phuc received the World Banks Regional Vice President for the East Asia and Pacific, Victoria Kwakwa, during which he asked the bank to continue supporting Viet Nam in both international support and economic and financial policy consultation. Kwakwa expressed her admiration for Viet Nams development as well as the countrys achievements in poverty reduction. She said the World Banks Boards of Directors supports Viet Nams measures to promote economic restructuring and growth expansion, affirming that the bank will continue to make it easy for the Vietnamese Government to achieve stronger development. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on Tuesday (US time), during which the Vietnamese leader highlighted the ties with the global organisation. Viet Nam considers the ties with UN as a top priority in its foreign policy, the PM stressed, affirming as a responsible member of the UN, the country has made contributions to the UNs common work, including Viet Nams fulfillment of its term as a member of the Human Right Council, assumption of the role as a member of the Economic and Social Council and UNESCO executive board and candidacy for the non-permanent membership at the UN Security Council for 2020-21. He proposed the UN to increase its support for Viet Nam in implementing the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, Paris agreement on climate change and Sendai framework on disaster risk reduction. Viet Nam has decided to be among 10 leading countries carrying out the UN initiative on El Nino and La Nina response, he said. Secretary General Guterres highly valued Viet Nams recent socio-economic achievements, especially millennium goals, hoping the Southeast Asian nation to succeed in implementing sustainable development goals. He acknowledged Viet Nams contributions to UN mechanisms as well as participation in UN peacekeeping forces, while affirming the UN will promote co-operation with Viet Nam through the implementation of the one strategic plan for 2017-21. Discussing regional and international issues, PM Phuc briefed Secretary General Guterres on recent development in the East Sea and asked the UN chief to support and speed up the settlement of disputes in the waters by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), full respect for diplomatic and legal process and early finalisation of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). The UN chief took note Viet Nams proposals and emphasised the role of preventive diplomacy, settlement of disputes via peaceful measures based on respecting international law. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Viet Nam-UN ties, PM Phuc invited Secretary General Guterres to visit Viet Nam this year. The UN chief thanked and hoped to visit the country in an appropriate time. The same day, the PM attended the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Viet Nams UN membership in the presence of UN Secretary General Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson, UN senior officials, and ambassadors and head of missions to the UN. Addressing the event, the PM recalled the time when the Vietnamese flag was raising at the UN headquarters 40 years ago, that marked the international communitys recognition of Viet Nam of independence, freedom and unification. The Vietnamese people always keep in their mind on valuable support of the UN and international community in the post-war national reconstruction and development. Viet Nam attaches importance to co-operation with the UN, he affirmed, saying that in the current global situation, it is necessary to promote the UNs role, especially in the maintenance of peace and security and settlement of conflicts and disputes on the basis of respecting the UN Charter and international law. He affirmed Viet Nam will increase its participation in peacekeeping operations as well as its effort to realise the UN initiative on one plan in Viet Nam to a new stage of development. The PM took this opportunity to call for countries support for Viet Nams bid for the non-permanent membership at the UN Security Council for 2020-21, while stressing the countrys commitment to making contributions to implementing the UNs noble missions. The UN Secretary General and UN General Assembly President congratulated Viet Nam on its achievements over the past four decades, and acknowledged the countrys contributions to the UNs work. Later the day, the PM and his entourage left New York for Washington. VNS HA NOI The Central Steering Committee on Judicial Reform convened its third meeting in Ha Noi yesterday to discuss a draft report on the operations of the committee now and in the future. Addressing the event, President Tran ai Quang, head of the committee, stressed that judicial reform is important work in the Party and States policy of building a socialist, rule-of-law state. He pointed to a number of lessons in the implementation process, including the need for the proper recognition of the goal, viewpoint, orientation and tasks as well as co-ordination. Judicial reform should be conducted along with the renewal of the political system, legislative and administrative reform, he said, emphasising the significance of a suitable roadmap, specific plans matching the countrys development, unity in direction and strong judicial human resources. Since 2002, the committee has perfomed well in advising the Politburo on measures to realise policies of the Party in judicial reform as well as Resolution 49-NQ/TW on judicial reform strategy to 2020, noted the President. The committee also directed amendments, supplements and the completion of the legal framework on the organisation of judicial agencies, while developing personnel for the sector. President Tran ai Quang said that in the future, the committee would focus on consulting the Politburo on leading, directing and monitoring the Partys policies on judicial reform and judicial reform strategy to 2020. He said that the committee would inspect the judicial reform process of all cities, provinces as well as agencies of the judicial system at provincial level from the third quarter of 2017 to November 30, 2017. A working group for the inspection would gather representatives from the Supreme Peoples Court, the Party Central Committees Commission for Internal Affairs, the Office of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform, he added. VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung has urged localities to promptly take measures to prevent Vietnamese fishermen from illegally fishing in foreign waters. He made the request at a meeting with ministries and agencies and authorities of coastal localities yesterday to tackle the problem, which is ongoing and has been getting worse since the end of 2015 in the central provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh inh, and Binh Thuan, as well as southern provinces of Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre and Tien Giang. At the meeting, participants said that fishery is a key economic sector that has played an important role in the development of the country. However, some fishermen illegally fished in foreign waters, risking their property and lives as well as Viet Nams prestige in the international arena and its diplomatic relations with other countries. The problem has also harmed the export of Vietnamese seafood products abroad. The meeting participants blamed the situation on economic factors and the fishermens lack of awareness. Ineffective State management and lenient punishments were also issues, as was the sharp reduction of seafood resources in some of Viet Nams waters. Deputy PM Dung asked ministries and localities to continue implementing the Prime Ministers Directive No 689 issued in 2010, the PMs official order No 1329 issued in 2012 and the latest official order of the PM issued on Sunday on preventing, reducing and ending the issue. They were also asked to adjust regulations to match international commitments and adjust policies and regulations to tighten management to prevent Vietnamese fishermen from illegally fishing in foreign waters. The deputy PM asked Chairmen of Peoples Committees of coastal localities to guide the implementation of measures to prevent the ongoing violation, saying they will have to bear responsibility before the Prime Minister for any violations taking place in their localities. Agencies were directed to complete mechanisms on fisheries and to review and supplement legal documents to increase punishments for ship owners and to clarify the responsibilities of authorities in cases of illegal fishing. Maritime law enforcement forces will increase patrols to protect fishermen in Vietnamese waters, Dung said. For the long-term, Dung asked for improved information dissemination on relevant laws to raise awareness of local authorities and fishermen on the impacts of violations on the country, their families and themselves. He also instructed agencies to review, complete and implement fisheries development programmes and strategies, including the master plan on reorganising production in fisheries exploitation and the fisheries development master plan until 2020 with a vision to 2030. Dung asked ministries and agencies to continue negotiating and signing agreements on seafood co-operation with countries inside and outside of the region. PM official order Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Sunday issued an official order requesting leaders focus on preventing Vietnamese fishermen from illegally fishing in foreign waters. He requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development launch a national action plan on preventing, reducing and eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and make amendments to current regulations and add terms of punishments to better regulate vessels owners, captains, organisations and individuals that conduct IUU fishing. He also requested the ministry increase international collaboration on fishing, establish an international illegal fishing prevention hotline, carry out maritime patrols with other countries and popularise Viet Nams and international regulations on fishing in areas where illegal fishing is common. The Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, is responsible for regulating fishing vessels by ensuring they have completed necessary procedures, as well as checking documents before allowing them to sail and return to land. The ministry is also responsible for patrolling maritime borders and overlapping waters between countries. The Ministry of Information and Communication is responsible for popularising the delimitation of waters between Viet Nam and some neighbouring countries among citizens, as well as Vietnamese and international regulations on seafood harvesting. The chairmen of peoples committees of localities and leaders of local sectors where illegal fishing is common are responsible for reviewing, investigating and imposing penalties on authorities that perpetuate illegal fishing. They must also report their investigation results to the Prime Minister before August 15. - VNS HA NOI Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien yesterday called the death of seven patients of suspected anaphylactic shock while receiving kidney dialysis at Hoa Binh Provinces General Hospital a serious medical calamity. She said an accident of this kind had occurred for the first time in the medical sector. Paying a visit to the Ha Noi-based Bach Mai Hospital where 10 other affected patients are currently being treated, the official said blood filter expenses of the patients wouldbe covered. At a press conference at the provincial Peoples Committee headquarters yesterday morning, Dr Truong Quy Duong, director of the General Hospital in Hoa Binh Province, claimed responsibility for the accident. Colonel Pham Van Su, deputy director of Hoa Binh Provinces Police Department, said that the autopsy examination had been completed. The Ministry of Public Security will support the investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, on the same day, Hoa Binh Provinces Police Department began prosecution in connection with the incident. Nguyen Van Quang, chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, said the local Health Department would work with the Health Ministry to treat 11 other patients currently suffering from the shock. Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien visits patients at Bach Mai Hospital. VNA/VNS Photo Also yesterday morning, 10 patients suffering from anaphylactic shock were sent to Bach Mai Hospital. They are reportedly in stable condition. One patient, who is in critical condition, is being treated at Hoa Binh Provinces General Hospital. Top medical experts of Bach Mai Hospital have been mobilised to support Hoa Binh Provinces General Hospital. More than 100 other patients receiving blood filter at the General Hospital in Hoa Binh Province were sent to hospitals in Ha Noi for better treatment. Speaking on the sidelines of the National Assembly meeting yesterday morning, Nguyen Anh Tri, director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, told vietnamplus.vn To reach an official conclusion, we need to conduct a careful investigation. I think the accident may be related to liquid or medicines that patients share while undergoing kidney dialysis. Right after the accident was reported on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am travelled to the northern province of Hoa Binh to extend his sympathies to families of those who had died and visit patients undergoing treatment. During a working session with leaders of the provincial Health Department, am asked them to collaborate with the working group to identify the incidents cause and clarify the responsibilities of individuals and units concerned. The results must be reported to the Health Ministry by May 30. Earlier on Monday morning six out of 18 kidney patients who were receiving dialysis at Hoa Binh Province General Hospital died with suspected anaphylactic shock. As soon as the deaths were reported, the hospital turned off its dialysis machines. On Monday night, the hospital confirmed the death of the seventh patient. VNS HA NOI The Department of Labour Relations and Wage was launched in Ha Noi on Tuesday by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. The department was founded as a result of the restructuring of the Department of Labour and Wage and the Centre for Industrial Relations Development (CIRD). Tong Thi Minh, former director-general of the Department of Labour and Wage, was appointed director of the department at its launching ceremony. Tong Van Lai and Le Xuan Thanh, former deputy director-generals of the Department of Labour and Wage, were appointed deputy directors of the department. The Department of Labour Relations and Wage is responsible for researching and developing legal projects, ordinances and legal documents on labour, labour relations and wage, as well as planning operating agenda for organisations that represent labourers. It is also responsible for managing labour contracts, labour subleasing, labour disciplines, labour policies, and preferential labour policies for women labourers, as well as maintaining communication with labourers at the workplace, and nurturing good relationships with labourers. The department will also be held accountable for determining and managing the minimum wage, as well as developing scales for wage, payroll and allowance. Activities of organisations representing labourers must be registered with and supervised by the department. This is a new responsibility of the labour ministry that has been regulated in the Labour Code. VNS HA NOI Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien on Wednesday met with leaders of Hoa Binh Province Peoples Committee and health department regarding an incident that left seven kidney dialysis patients dead. Prior to the meeting, she visited and offered condolences to families of three late patients in Hoa Binh City, as well as patient Nguyen Thi Bich Nguyen who is receiving treatment at Hoa Binh Province General Hospitals Intensive Care Unit following the Monday incident. Minister Tien asked the provinces health department to establish a panel of health sector experts to determine the cause of the kidney dialysis calamity, which killed seven patients who were receiving dialysis at the hospital on Monday. We have to deal with the situation step by step, be honest and be objective in finding the cause of the complication so as to bring [the hospitals Artificial Kidney Department] back to operation, she said. The department stopped receiving patients immediately after the incident. Director Tran Quang Khanh of the provinces health department said the panel had been established, consisting of leaders and doctors of Hoa Binh Province General Hospital, officials from the departments medicine and pharmacy division and four health sector experts. The Artificial Kidney Department is expected to resume operations in 10 days, he said. He asked the health ministry to help look after some 100 kidney patients currently receiving periodical dialysis at the hospital while it investigates the incident. Five hospitals in Ha Noi on Tuesday were requested by the citys health department to prepare human resources and facilities to receive kidney patients from the Hoa Binh Province General Hospital. It includes the Ha Noi Nephrology Hospital and four general hospitals of Hoe Nhai, ong a, Thanh Nhan and Ha ong. The Ha Noi Nephrology Hospital the citys leading specialist in nephrology and dialysis was requested to directly receive the patients and pass them on to the other hospitals. It is also responsible for reviewing and examining the process of kidney dialysis at hospitals in its network, as well as organising specialised training workshops for medical staff at these hospitals. The capital citys health department also requested hospitals that provide kidney dialysis services to review their technical process, clean and test all their equipment in accordance with instructions from the health ministry on kidney dialysis to avoid medical complications. On Tuesday, Bach Mai Hospital received 10 more kidney patients from Hoa Binh Province General Hospital, the Ha Noi Nephrology Hospital 20, and the Agriculture General Hospital 27. Hoa Binh City General Hospital also received 20 kidney patients from Hoa Binh Province General Hospital. On Monday, seven out of 18 kidney patients receiving dialysis at Hoa Binh Province General Hospital died of suspected anaphylactic shock. Ten of the remaining patients were sent to Bach Mai Hospital in Ha Noi and are reportedly in stable condition. VNS HA NOI A week after a traffic accident, 52-year-old woman Tran Thi Linh arrived at Viet Nam-Germany Hospital on April 28 to get patella surgery. The Ha Nam Provinces Ly Nhan District patient was transferred to hospital with the hope of early treatment. As the operation did not take place as she hoped within a week, she grew impatient. I was so tired of waiting. I had to endure pain for many days. I asked doctors why I had to wait such a long time, but they said they had to give priority to patients with more serious ailments, she said. Sometimes the pain is unbearable. I cant do anything but asking my daughter to apply ice to relieve the pain, Linh told Lao ong (Labour) newspaper while lying at bed arranged along the corridor at the hospital. Looking around, everyone can see that crowds of patients have flooded the faculty. Some patients have to share beds. Linh said that many patients told her that they havent had their operations in spite of being hospitalised for ten days or even two weeks. I wish that the operation took place immediately. The more I have to wait for the surgery, the more I worry about the treatment cost, she said, adding that it cost her around VN400,000 (US$18) per day to stay in the hospital. Her family of four people relies on rice farming. Since her husband suffered colorectal cancer eight years ago, she was left the burden of the family. To make ends meet, she has to do a lot of jobs, ranging from raising chicken and pigs to purchasing vegetables at wholesale markets and selling them at street markets. Although she worked so hard, she could only earn a meagre VN100,000 (US$5) a day, which was spent on her husbands medicine and living expense for the whole family. At last, her wish was realised, as she got the patella surgery after 11 days, the newspaper reported. Linh was not the only patient to suffer a long wait time. Patients often wait for longer than a week to have their operations in other central hospitals as well. The National Cancer Hospitals branch in Tan Trieu Commune is another example. Nguyen Thi Hoa, a 40-year-old resident of Vinh Phuc Province, travelled more than 40km from the northern province to seek treatment for a lump behind her ears at the hospital. After detecting the lumps effect on her nerves, doctors at a local hospital had transferred her to the hospital. However, she didnt have the surgery for four days. Many patients in my room were in the same situation. Some even waited for 8 days. It costs a lot of money to stay in here, but we dont know what else to do, Hoa said. According to leaders of Viet Nam-Germany Hospital, most traffic accidents transferred to the hospital are serious cases in need of emergency surgeries. Patients have to wait in line for the surgery because of limited operation rooms. In the meantime, a lot of patients with minor ailments are admitted to the hospital, particularly during and after long holidays. Priority will always be given to those suffering from serious ailments. Hospital statistics show that every day, about 1,000 patients arrive at the hospital for examination and treatment. The hospital conducts surgery for about 150 patients a day. Despite the fact that the National Cancer Hospital has opened two more branches, the hospital is always overloaded with patients from provinces and cities all over the country. It is estimated that its branch in Tan Trieu Commune examine nearly 300 patients a day, in addition to treating hundreds of others in cyclic treatment. Because the hospital facilities are not enough to cope with the demand, many patients have struggled to find a place to rest while waiting for the surgery. According to Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, measures have been taken to curb overloading at central hospitals. Accordingly, besides calling on people to purchase health insurance cards, more beds have been added for patients and more hospitals have been built. Tien cited the establishment of the branches of National Cancer Hospital, the national hospital of Endocrinology and Hospital for Tropical Disease as examples. The Health Ministry has built satellite hospitals in others provinces and piloted the family doctor model, which offers treatment for those who dont suffer serious diseases and prevents people from flooding major hospitals. VNS BRASILIA Brazils Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered President Michel Temer to be questioned in writing, the latest development in an explosive corruption scandal that has him fighting for his political life. The embattled leader will have 24 hours to respond to questions from the federal police in a case involving Brazils largest meat company JBS, a court statement said. The court authorisation of Temers testimony was expected, as police continue their investigation. At the heart of the case is a conversation Temer had with an executive from the JBS meat packing business in which the president allegedly blesses monthly payments of hush money to jailed former lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha. Cunha is in prison after being convicted of bribe-taking, but as a powerful insider he has long been rumoured to be threatening to spill secrets on other politicians. Prosecutors accuse Temer of corruption, obstruction of justice and criminal organisation. He has said he did nothing wrong and will not resign. Lawmakers have filed 16 separate demands for Temers impeachment. Brazils political crisis stems from the gigantic corruption investigation known as "Car Wash." Scores of politicians have been indicted or subjected to probes into alleged bribe-taking and embezzlement, with Temer only the latest and highest-profile to be pulled into the maelstrom. AFP SEJONG South Koreas exports to the group of Southeast Asian countries more than doubled over the last decade as commerce and investment increased following the implementation of a free trade deal, government data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached US$74.52 billion in 2016, compared with $32.1 billion in 2006, according to the data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. With the South Korea-ASEAN free trade deal taking effect in 2007, exports have grown an average 7.5 per cent annually over the 10-year period, while Asias fourth-largest economy saw its overall exports gain 3.3 per cent every year in the cited period. South Koreas imports expanded an annual 3.3 per cent to $44.32 billion in 2016 over the past decade, with the surplus totaling $30.2 billion last year. As a result, the total trade between South Korea and ASEAN increased 5.7 per cent every year to $118.8 billion last year over the 2006-2016 period, accounting for 13.2 per cent of the countrys entire outbound shipments of $901.6 billion. Investment by South Korean companies to ASEAN amounted to $6.4 billion in 2016, up from $3.7 billion tallied in 2006, while $2.5 billion worth of ASEAN-originated investment came to South Korea last year, surging from $703 million 10 years earlier. "Over the past 10 years, ASEAN has become the second-largest trade partner for South Korea," the ministry said. "South Korea and ASEAN are making efforts to upgrade the 10-year old FTA to expand market openness and tariff cuts." YONHAP WASHINGTON The US military said Tuesday it had intercepted a mock-up of an intercontinental ballistic missile in a first-of-its-kind test that comes amid concerns over North Koreas weapons programme. A ground-based interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California "successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile target" fired from the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands, the military said in a statement. The test saw a rocket from the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system blast into space and then deploy its "exo-atmospheric kill vehicle," which smashed into the dummy ICBM, destroying it in a direct collision. "This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the US Missile Defense Agency, was quoted as saying. The exercise marked a significant step for the GMD system, which has had a checkered record in previous tests. Though it succeeded in the last test in 2014, it failed during the three prior attempts against slower-moving, non-ICBM missiles. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this programme," Syring said. Milestone The success of Tuesdays test is a watershed moment for the US militarys effort to establish an effective -- though limited -- ground-based defence against ICBMs. It came a day after North Korea test-fired yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyangs quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said Tuesdays trial was not timed specifically in response to tensions with Pyongyang but that "in a broad sense, North Korea is one of the reasons why we have this capability." "They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland," Davis said. He also pointed to Irans increasing missile capabilities as threatening US strategic interests in the Middle East. The technology behind the GMD is extremely complex, and the system uses globally deployed sensors to detect and track ballistic missile threats. The interception is a move that the Pentagon says is akin to hitting a bullet with another bullet -- though at far higher speeds. "Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but programme officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test," the US military statement read. The missile defence system will comprise 44 interceptors by the end of the year, so it could thwart an attack from a rogue state or a volley of rockets. But the interceptors, based in California and Alaska, would be overwhelmed by a full-scale attack from countries like Russia or China, which could fire dozens of missiles at a time. AFP WASHINGTON The United States is "open" to resuming talks with the European Union on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a senior US official said Tuesday. "It makes sense to continue TTIP negotiations and to work towards a solution that increases overall trade while reducing our trade deficit," US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on CNBC. "Its no mistake that, while we withdrew from TPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with Pacific Rim economies) we did not withdraw from TTIP," Ross said. The remarks marked a shift for the administration of President Donald Trump and come as the United States and Germany clash on policies including diplomacy and trade. Launched in 2013, negotiations on the TTIP, which would set up a huge free trade area on both sides of the Atlantic, screeched to a halt when Trump was elected on a campaign that went heavy on protectionist talk and policies. One of Trumps earliest such moves was to back the US withdrawal from another free trade agreement, the TPP, which had been signed by the United States with 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia. Brussels and Washington had sought to get the TTIP deal through by the time Obama left office but fell short. Earlier this month, Asia-Pacific trade ministers agreed to try to revive TPP, even though the United States reaffirmed its decision to pull out. The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership covered 40 per cent of the global economy before Trump abandoned it when he took office in January to meet a campaign promise. Japan, Australia and New Zealand are leading efforts by the so-called TPP 11 to resuscitate the agreement, convinced it will lock in future free trade and strengthen labour rights and environmental protections AFP Douglas Lindner, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of associate professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The emeritus title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive an emeritus certificate from the university. A member of the university community since 1982, Lindner was the principal or co-principal investigator on grants and contracts exceeding $3.5 million to research control of dynamic structures and drive electronics for smart materials. He received many U.S. Navy American Society of Engineering Education Summer Research Program grants to pursue research in smart materials and was the recipient of a NASA-ASEE Summer Research Program to pursue research in control of structures. He also received the A.D. Welliver Summer Faculty Research Program to pursue research with Boeing. Linder was honored with the prestigious Frederick P. Lenz Fellowship to pursue the study of humanistic engineering and contemplative practice. In the classroom, Linder taught both undergraduate and graduate courses. He was the author of "Introduction to Signals and Systems," the leading textbook used to teach Virginia Tech electrical and computer engineering students for more than 15 years. He directed four doctoral degree students and more than a dozen masters degree students and served on more than 100 masters degree and doctoral degree committees. Linder received two bachelor's degrees from Iowa State University and a masters degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Pablo Tarazaga, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Smart Infrastructure Laboratory and the Vibrations, Adaptive Structures, and Testing Laboratory in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been awarded the John R. Jones III Faculty Fellowship in Mechanical Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The Jones Faculty Fellowship was established in 2006 to acknowledge and reward mid-career faculty who have shown exceptional merit in research, teaching, and/or service. Jones, a member of the Class of 1967 who earned his bachelors degree in mechanical engineering, is a retired executive of American Electric Power. He has been a member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board since 1998. Recipients hold the title of Jones Faculty Fellow for a period of five years. A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 2011, Tarazaga has a distinguished record in research, advising, teaching, and publishing. He has secured $3.3 million in external research funding from sources that include the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the U.S. Army, and the Alpha Foundation. In 2015, Tarazagas work in adapting structural vibrations garnered him a prestigious 2015 Air Force Young Investigator Award. Tarazaga was one of only 57 scientists and engineers in the U.S. to receive the honor that year. Tarazaga has advised three Ph.D. and four masters degree students to completion, while training one post-doctoral student to completion in his research group. He currently advises eight Ph.D. students, supervises three undergraduate students, and two post-docs. Tarazaga received his bachelors degree from the University of Puerto Rico and a masters degree and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He held a post-doctoral position at the University of Bristol in Great Britain from 2009 to 2011. Related links Virginia Tech researchers earn grant to study big data sharing and reuse At international expo, Virginia Tech touts intelligent infrastructure The Iowa Arts Council awards the Scholarship for the Arts annually to select Iowa high school students with a proven artistic ability in dance, literature, music, theater, traditional arts or visual arts who plan to attend an Iowa college or university during the next academic year and pursue a major in the arts. Each student will receive $1,500 toward her 2017-2018 college tuition and related expenses as a full-time undergraduate at an Iowa school. Brockmeyer will study art history at the University of Northern Iowa, and Dizdarevic will study English and creative writing at the University of Iowa. Liu will study piano performance and biomedical science at Luther College. This website is intended for U.S. visitors only. WATERLOO A Minnesota man has been arrested in connection with a road rage stabbing from earlier this month. Semi driver Peter Klassen, 37, of Ionia, was taken to the hospital following a confrontation with another motorist May 8. According to Black Hawk County sheriffs deputies, Klassen and Donald Alan Hutton, 48, of St. Paul, were involved in a road rage incident, and both stopped in the area of U.S. Highway 63 and Dunkerton Road. An altercation followed, and Klassen was stabbed in his left upper arm and his back, according to court records. Hutton left the scene, and Klassen was treated at a Waterloo hospital and given stitches. In the following days, Hutton twice told deputies he was going to turn himself in but failed to appear, records state. According to sheriffs deputies, Shakopee, Minn., police arrested Hutton on Saturday on a warrant for willful injury causing bodily injury and going armed. The arrest came following an investigation by the sheriffs office, U.S. Marshalls Service and the St. Paul Police Department. Hutton was taken to the Scott County, Minn., jail and is awaiting extradition back to Iowa. Motorcycle crash injures three GRUNDY CENTER Three people were hurt when two motorcycles collided at a Grundy County intersection Sunday afternoon. The Iowa State Patrol said the accident was reported about 2:40 p.m. at the intersection of County Road D-25 (190th Street) and Iowa Highway 14. The injured were identified as Michael Fuller, 70, of Dike, the driver of one of the motorcycles, who was transported to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo; Craig Bencke, 65, of Altoona, the driver of the second motorcycle, who was taken to UnityPoint Health-Grundy Center Hospital; and his passenger, Elaine Bencke, 62, of Altoona, also taken to the Grundy Center hospital. Troopers said Fuller was westbound on D-25, while Bencke was southbound on Highway 14 when Fuller failed to yield to Bencke and the two collided. The crash remains under investigation. WATERLOO One person has been arrested in connection with a weekend shooting that sent a Waterloo man to the hospital. Neighbors in the 500 block of Sumner Street called 911 after hearing gunfire around 2:10 p.m. Saturday, and authorities found 26-year-old Brylon Leon Crawford Watson with several gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment. On Tuesday, Waterloo police arrested Larry Earl Lorondez Phillips, 24, of 607 Euclid Ave., for willful injury causing serious injury carrying weapons, going armed and felon in possession of a firearm. He was taken to the Black Hawk County Jail, and his bond was set at $150,000. According to police, Watson had been on his front porch at 510 Sumner when Phillips approached him and began taunting him. Watson started to walk into his house, and Phillips began shooting, according to court records. Watson suffered five gunshot wounds to his leg an pelvis area, court records state. CEDAR FALLS The Iowa Board of Regents will hold its regular meeting on the University of Northern Iowa campus next week. The agenda includes finalizing a proposed tuition increase that would bring the total resident undergraduate increase for the 2017-2018 year to 5 percent, or $358. The board previously adopted a 2 percent increase and is considering a further 3 percent to meet budgeting needs after state appropriations were less than expected. The board meeting will take place June 7 and 8 at Slife Ballroom in the Commons on the UNI campus. Committees will begin meeting at 1 p.m. June 7. The full board will meet and address the proposed tuition increase at 10 a.m. June 8. During a first reading of the proposed tuition increase earlier in May, student leaders noted this is the second consecutive year the regents adopted a tuition rate for the coming year and then had to come back for a second increase. They worried a precedent was being set and called for stability. We understand that its necessary, but its still a disservice to students, Jamal White, UNI student body president, said at the previous meeting. UNI President Mark Nook said previously the proposed increase which would bring UNI in-state undergraduate tuition to $7,456 would not make up for the cuts the university sustained. Across the regents institutions, the Legislature cut $30.3 million in both the 2017 and 2018 fiscal year as compared with its original 2017 appropriation. The tuition increases are expected to generate $25.7 million. UNI sustained cuts of $3.3 million; the tuition increase is expected to generate about $2 million for the university. In addition to the tuition increase proposal, the regents will hear presentations on UNIs tuition task force and its GeoInformatics Training, Research Education and Extension Center, or GeoTREE. The board meeting also will include time for public comments for the first time. Details and a sign-up form are available at http://www.iowaregents.edu/plans-and-policies/transparency/public-comment-pilot-program/. Institutional heads and board president Michael Richards also will offer reports. The day before the regents meet on the UNI campus June 6, the board will hold evaluations of institutional heads and its executive director at the Iowa State University campus. Nook, who took over as president Feb. 1, will be included in the evaluations. CEDAR RAPIDS Coralville nurse and union president Cathy Glasson has launched an exploratory campaign for the 2018 Democratic nomination for governor. Working people in Iowa have been getting beat up for too long, Glasson said in her video announcement Wednesday, referring to the GOP-controlled Legislature reducing the collective bargaining rights of about 184,000 public employees, changing workers compensation and pre-empting local government attempts to raise the minimum wage. Their policies are wiping out the middle class. Although shes never run for public office, Glasson, 58, said shes undaunted by the crowded Democratic field or the current political climate. Im not a politician. Im a union leader elected by fellow workers, Im an ICU nurse, so Im willing to take on tough challenges, said Glasson, president of Service Employees International Union Local 199, which represents about 5,000 Iowa workers. Perhaps more importantly, Glasson thinks Iowans are ready for her bold, progressive agenda. Shes not the only gubernatorial hopeful using those words to describe their campaigns, but Glasson said she has intentionally taken a sharper tone in addressing the issues facing Iowas working families. I want to make sure its very clear to voters and Iowans that I believe strongly in this and I will fight, she said. Although Gov. Kim Reynolds and legislative Republicans point to the states low unemployment rate and demand for workers to make people believe that Iowa is doing well, about a third of Iowans struggle to meet basic monthly expenses, Glasson said. Thats who Im going to be talking to. Thats who has been left out, she added. Her fairly simple agenda calls for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Thats crucial and a pretty low bar considering two third of the jobs in Iowa pay less than $20 an hour, Glasson said. She also called for expanding opportunities for workers to join unions and employee associations. I helped organize my hospital, said Glasson, a nurse at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for more than 20 years. Thats the way we raise wages for working people, she said. In addition, Glasson wants to increase public school funding and hold corporate polluters accountable for water quality. Too many politicians dont have the guts to fix the systems they broke, Glasson said. They dont listen to us. Theyre not accountable to us. So, she plans to travel across Iowa over the next few months. Shell make a decision on formally entering the campaign when Iowans make a decision to rise up and do this. Glasson joins a handful of Democrats declared or considering running in the June 2018 Democratic primary. They include Sen. Nate Boulton of Des Moines, Polk County Conservation Director Rich Leopold, Rep. Todd Prichard of Charles City, former Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire, former Des Moines school board member Jon Neiderbach, Davenport Alderman Mike Matson and Des Moines businessman Fred Hubbell. The winner of the June 2018 primary will likely face either Reynolds or Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, who is weighing a bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Glasson and her husband, Matt, live in Coralville. They have one daughter. DES MOINES (AP) The head of the Iowa Department of Human Services announced Wednesday hes retiring, a move that comes amid criticism of the agencys handling of alleged child abuse cases. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a press release Charles Palmer notified her he would retire effective June 16. No interim director was announced, and a job posting for the position was included. Chuck has been a dedicated public servant who has spent his life trying to improve the lives of Iowans, Reynolds said in a statement. The department has been scrutinized for months over its handling of alleged child abuse cases, particularly cases involving the deaths of two teenage girls. Natalie Finn, a 16-year-old from West Des Moines, was found dead in her home in October. Sabrina Ray, also 16, was found dead in her Perry home in May. Both girls had been monitored by the department before their deaths, according to state lawmakers. The adoptive parents of both girls face charges in connection with the deaths. Palmer was also at the helm of the department last year when it privatized the states Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled. Health care advocates criticized the move, which did not have legislative approval, arguing that patients were being denied coverage and providers were facing issues with reimbursements. The department and representatives for the three private insurance companies overseeing the program said such complaints were not systemic. The press release announcing Palmers retirement doesnt address the child abuse cases or the issues with Medicaid. But Democrats called the retirement an opportunity to address budget shortfalls, a smaller staff taking on higher caseloads and lack of oversight within the agency. They said the governor should select a replacement to work on both sides of the aisle amid ongoing criticism to the agency. Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, led informal legislative meetings this session on DHS and its oversight of children. He said a new director should comprehensively evaluate all senior management to deal with any remaining problems in child welfare. This is only a victory if the new governor demands accountability from DHS, he said. I believe strongly that the problem starts at the top, but also, problems exist and are systematic within the management team that remains. Palmer ran the department from 1989 to 1999 under former Gov. Terry Branstad. He returned in 2011 when Branstad was re-elected. His exit at the start of Reynolds time as governor may signal mounting pressure for the new governor to respond to the deaths. We should continually be asking ourselves what we can do different, she said at a Tuesday press conference when asked about the agency. There will be a thorough overview, oversight of existing policies and procedures. A joint legislative oversight committee will meet Monday to begin reviewing DHS and the states process for overseeing children. Palmer is expected to testify at the meeting, according to Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, who will help lead the committee. Hell be the de facto talking figure for the state agency, Kaufmann said of the expected testimony. Sen. Michael Breitbach, R-Strawberry Point, will also lead the committee. He said Palmers position will be hard to fill. Its an opportunity for DHS to do some self-examination and look and see what areas they are doing well at and if there are any areas where they need improvement, he said. CEDAR RAPIDS Courtney Rowe told herself one day Ill run for office, but after the 2016 election she decided she couldnt wait. People are disheartened by politics as usual, Rowe said Tuesday. Active in local party activities, Rowe is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. House 1st District seat held by Republican Rep. Rod Blum. The lack of trust in government and the lack of progress voters see in their own lives was manifested in Blums re-election and the election of Donald Trump, an anti-establishment candidate who voters saw as scaring both parties, Rowe said. Rowe thinks voters might want a more thoughtful and straightforward approach to dealing with the issues. Maybe they want someone really direct like an engineer, the 35-year-old aerospace engineer for a Cedar Rapids defense contractor said. If we dont elect people with ideas who want to solve problems, we get the lack of progress we continue to see. A senior systems engineer in commercial systems fly-by-wire flight controls, Rowe wants to take a systematic approach to those issues. She rejects the idea every decision comes down to the energy versus the environment or the environment versus the economy. Those are false choices. Solutions should take in both, Rowe said. For example, Rowe is proposing a green energy plan she believes will create business opportunities and put people to work while making the nation more energy secure and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One part of her plan is changing Federal Housing Administration mortgage regulations to allow homeowners to finance clean energy improvements over 20 to 30 years. It will help make homes more energy efficient and create a customer base for alternative energy companies, which will result in more jobs and more investment in clean energy. And it doesnt cost the government anything, she said. Overall, her emphasis will be on improving the economy for the working class and middle class. Its hard to think about other issues if you cant pay the rent or cant afford health care, she said. Rowe is encouraged by the energy she sees at Democratic events. Its been standing room only at Linn County Democratic Party meetings since December, and she hears similar reports from across the 20-county 1st District that includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Cedar Falls, Waterloo and Marshalltown. People are paying attention, she said, adding the challenge will be to engage Northeast Iowans who didnt vote in the 2016 election and to convince those who flipped from Obama voters to Trump voters to come back to the Democratic Party. We need to have the right discussions in the primary, Rowe said. Rowe, who filed with the Federal Election Commission Friday, joins State Rep. Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque as an announced candidate. Others are said to be considering the race, which will be decided by a June 2018 primary. Despite Blums re-election and Trumps support in the 1st District, voter registration favors Democrats. According to the Iowa Secretary of State Office, there are 170,560 Democrats, 148,647 Republicans and 200,612 no party voters in the district. For more on Rowe, go to facebook.com/pg/courtneyroweforcongress. DUBUQUE Retired Archbishop Daniel W. Kucera, who headed the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque for 11 years from 1984-95, died Tuesday at Stonehill Care Center in Dubuque. He was 94 years old. The archdiocese covers Waterloo-Cedar Falls and the northeast quarter of Iowa. A native of Chicago, Kucera was ordained to the priesthood May 26, 1949. He earned masters and doctoral degrees from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and held several positions in addition to teaching at St. Procopius College. In 1959, at the age of 36, he was named the youngest president of St. Procopius College, Lisle, Ill. He was elected abbot of St. Procopius Abbey in 1964, and in 1971 was called again to be president of the college until 1976. In 1977, he was ordained auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Joliet, Ill. He was named bishop of Salina, Kan., in 1980 and served there until 1984 when he was named to the Dubuque post. During his tenure the Archdiocese of Dubuque expanded services for youth formation, communications, Hispanic ministry and advocacy for public policies that respect the life and dignity of the human person, according to a release from the archdiocese. He established an educational development fund for promoting Catholic education and faith formation, which later bore his name. Kucera served on several committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and was elected treasurer of the Conference from 1987-1990 and 1992-1993. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Monday and funeral services at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Cathedral of St. Raphael in Dubuque. Interment will be in the cemetery of St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, Ill. Memorials may be given to the Archbishop Kucera Educational Development Fund in care of the Archdiocese. Former Gov. Terry Branstad predicted his privatization of Iowas Medicaid system would save the state money. While hes right to date, he underestimated the initial reduction and growing concerns. Branstad estimated in 2015 the first year of privatization would save $110 million in the $4.2 billion state-federal health partnership after he made the change without legislative input. During the second year, he envisioned saving $232 million in the program serving 568,000 low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities. AmeriHealth, UnitedHealthcare and Amerigroup took over Medicaid management in April 2016. Following a request by the Des Moines Register, the nonpartisan Legislation Services Agency estimated for fiscal year 2017, ending June 30, Iowa will spend $23 million less on Medicaid than in fiscal year 2015 with nearly 40,000 more recipients in the program. Had enrollment remained constant, it said the savings would have been $306 million. The average annual cost per enrollee decreased from $8,289 to $7,689 (7 percent), according to the LSA. But the savings mask the MCOs self-described catastrophic experience. AmeriHealth lost nearly $300 million; Amerigroup Iowa, $133 million; and UnitedHealthcare, more than $100 million. According to a recent quarterly report from the Iowa Department of Human Services, AmeriHealth serves more than 212,000; Amerigroup Iowa, 186,000; and UnitedHealthcare, 168,000. The MCOs want substantial rates increases, while reducing negotiated payments to health care providers. Meanwhile, complaints about a decline in available services and timely payments have spiked. The initial per-patient payment rates negotiated with the state only lasted for 18 months. The MCOs claim Iowas program is drastically underfunded due to faulty state calculations. The same scenario has occurred after other states privatized Medicaid. The MCOs also have taken advantage of a risk corridor where the state helps protect insurers from unexpectedly high losses if they spend more in medical care than revenues collected. Branstad agreed in late March to pay the MCOs $235 million to cover losses $10 million from Iowa and $225 million (still your tax money) from the federal government. Iowa is not alone in privatizing Medicaid. MCOs in 27 states serve at least three-quarters of all Medicaid recipients. Iowa (96 percent) is one of 11 with more than 90 percent. Nationally, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid spending was $509 billion in fiscal year 2015 one of every six health care dollars federal, 62 percent; states, 38 percent. Unlike in Iowa, Medicaid enrollment has declined since 2015 following the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) rollout and a lower unemployment rate. In February, AmeriHealth opted out of negotiated and contracted rates with health care providers. It lowered reimbursement rates for some long-term services and support to the Medicaid rate floor the lowest payment set by the Iowa DHS. That included payments to in-home caregivers who assist the elderly and disabled with daily household chores and taking medications. Without that help, many on Medicaid might need to move into more expensive care facilities. We are taking action to achieve better alignment with the Medicaid rate structure, stated an AmeriHealth letter obtained by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The state of Iowa set the Medicaid rate based on what providers were paid prior to the implementation of managed care. This change will not impact the care and services our members receive. Thats not necessarily so. In fact, services are jeopardized for more than 220,000 recipients in the Mercy Health Network with hospitals in 13 cities (Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, Sartori Memorial Hospital in Cedar Falls and Mercy Hospital in Oelwein included) and 200 clinics. In March, AmeriHealth warned Mercy its system would not be among its health care providers without a new deal by July 1. The MCOs already are under fire for delaying payments to health care providers. Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, chair of the House committee overseeing Medicaid and a privatization supporter, recently asked, Where is the hiccup here on this issue? All Im hearing is hiccups out there, bumps, angst and anxiety. Im getting to be kind of concerned. Meanwhile, the state quarterly report in March on grievances and appeals against the MCOs showed a whopping increase from 343 (when the program began a year ago) to 1,268. Kelli Todd, a manager of the Iowa Long-Term Care Ombudsman, told the Iowa Medical Assistance Advisory Council earlier this month that services allowing people to remain independent in their homes are a major concern. The trend seems to be that services are being reduced and/or terminated, she said. With proposals by President Trump and House Republicans to substantially reduce Medicaid allocations to the states, the situation could get worse. Legislators should become proactive before Medicaid detonates a very large chunk of the state budget. Blue skies welcomed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to Couser Cattle Co. in central Iowa recently where he held a town hall meeting with farmers and others whose livelihoods depend on a strong farm economy. The newly minted head of the USDA explained his chief job is selling ag products across the world. Thats good news for rural America. Last year, across the Plains and Rust Belt, Middle America threw its support behind the candidate who brazenly thumbed his nose at the deplorable disregard political elites displayed toward those who earn a living with sweat equity. Those who work on the factory floor in Ohio, the assembly lines in Michigan, the coal mines of Kentucky and the farm fields of Iowa delivered the votes. This year, by traveling to Americas Heartland just days after being sworn into office, the nations 31st USDA secretary shows hes putting a high priority on the issues affecting American agriculture. Secretary Perdue voiced unconditional support for renewable fuels, opening markets and advancing regulatory and tax reforms that will allow farmers and ranchers to better manage their operations and increase productivity to feed and fuel the world. His candid remarks reflect a genuine passion for agriculture and foretell his role in the Trump administration. Hands down, Secretary Perdue will be a hands-on advocate for American agriculture. His advocacy can go a long way to advance President Trumps promise of prosperity and opportunity for those left behind in the 21st century economy. As Iowas senior U.S. senator and a lifelong family farmer, I have led the chorus for years at the nations policymaking tables to advance fair and free trade agreements that are vital to American agriculture. Im glad Secretary Perdue is singing from the same song sheet and can influence the tune President Trump adopts when it comes to strengthening our trade agreements and opening new markets for our goods and services. World trade brings a rising tide of prosperity, lifting more people than ever into the middle class. America has the best natural resources and the best human resources to forge the best century weve seen yet. It will depend on good economic policy that stands strong for free and fair flow of trade, implementing regulatory, tax and health care reforms, and paying down the debt. Thats a tall order. The president can start with our neighbors. Modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to improve fairness for U.S. producers makes sense. Iowa is the leading producer of corn, soybeans, pork and eggs. In the previous two decades since passage of NAFTA, U.S. producers have benefited tremendously from an integrated system between Mexico, Canada and the United States. U.S. farm exports to Mexico and Canada have risen exponentially since 1994, showering tens of billions of dollars into local economies that boost the financial health and prosperity of Americans working all along the food and fuel chain, from raw commodities to processed grains, meats and renewable fuels. Closing access to these vital trade routes would lead to swift economic harm that would echo across the entire rural economy, from farming to manufacturing, processing, trucking and retailing. The president has made no secret about his central commitment to the American worker and creating an environment for good-paying jobs here in the United States. And thats a good thing. But it would be short-sighted to undermine trade agreements that benefit U.S. producers and manufacturers who employ American workers and depend on these markets and supply chains to stay in business. We need to keep in mind protectionist moves by our government on Mexican sugar may harm the U.S. corn market, and actions on Canadian soft lumber to resolve dairy disputes could trigger a tit for tat trade spat. Trade agreements must ensure fairness for our exports. Creating jobs and growing the economy here at home will require savvy diplomacy and the enforcement of existing trade agreements to achieve consensus on market access and resolve anti-dumping disputes. Why is it a big deal to strengthen trade agreements and open new markets? Every third row planted in Iowa is export-dependent. Farmers need exports to make ends meet. Anything left after paying the bills and putting money into savings gets invested into next years production costs, livestock and machinery upgrades. Americas heritage is rooted in agriculture. For more than two centuries, innovation and good stewardship have helped food producers to anchor our economy and improve our balance of trade. Agriculture not only provides a way of life for millions of Americans. Food security is national security. For these reasons and more, the White House has every reason to treat American agriculture with fairness and finesse. Thats why I joined a letter along with 17 senators to newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer urging the administration not to abandon NAFTA and the tremendous economic benefits fair trade brings to the economy. Making improvements to NAFTA would unlock even more potential for productivity and prosperity in Americas heartland. Locking the barn door on NAFTA and other trade agreements would deal a devastating blow to the presidents base of support and cast a dark cloud over the entire farm economy. 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 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 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06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1) Staying out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are When Daisy started talking about a family trip to Maine for the long Memorial Day Weekend I had one thing on my mind: puffins! Atlantic Puffins are easier to see, and see well, in Maine than anywhere else in the United States. Fortunately, just like when we visited Washington State, Daisy was amenable to taking a boat ride to see some puffins so on the evening of Saturday, 27 May, we (me, Daisy, Desi, and my mother-in-law) found ourselves on a boat in New Harbor watching Black Guillemots swim in the harbor while we waited for our boat to head out to Eastern Egg Rock. Eastern Egg Rock is a tiny, rocky island well within site of the Maine-land. For nearly a hundred years, after the eggers, meat-hunters, plume-hunters, and a human-influenced gull population boom, puffins were absent from the island. They were reintroduced to Eastern Egg Rock starting in 1973, with over a thousand young transported from Canada over several years. It was the first seabird colony to be restored and when Atlantic Puffins starting breeding on the island again in 1977 it was the first time since 1885 that puffins had bred on Eastern Egg Rock. Now there are over one hundred pairs nesting on the island again and there is a thriving tern colony once again as well. The boat we were on was operated by Hardy Boat Cruises, one of several that do puffin tours along the Maine coast. It was well-narrated by a National Audubon Society Project Puffin staffer and the entire goal of the trip was, not surprisingly, to bring the masses to see the puffins. The boat we were on was full and they often are so if you are planning a trip to Maine you probably want to make reservations early. From New Harbor it is only six miles to Eastern Egg Rock and the ride goes quickly. I spotted two puffins on the way out though they were distant and took off before we got close. Fortunately, with the island being a breeding site we didnt have to worry about those two that were likely foraging, as puffins tend to hang around their breeding island, especially in evening, and we wouldnt have a problem spotting some more. But before we got into the puffins there was another alcid that stole the show, a Razorbill! This Razorbill was awesome. We saw it at a distance and it took off, flew completely around the boat and then halfway around again before disappearing. We spotted it again later on and got good looks for a second time but nowhere near as good as the first pass. Also, its banded! Sadly, and not surprisingly, Im unable to get the numbers off the band. Hear you see the Razorbill emerging, using its namesake bill to cut through the water. Also impossible to ignore was the sheer number of Black Guillemots. Hordes of these delightful black-and-white beauties were present and I did not get tired of photographing them. Though I had seen guillemots a couple of times before I had never seen one in breeding attire and I was smitten. Most of our looks were much better than this. Like all alcids, Black Guillemots need to expend some effort to get off the water. A legless guillemot? A female that didnt feel like she needed to use her sexy pink legs to attract a mate? Or perhaps its just a bird with cold feet? Black Guillemots are awesome. That is really all I have to say about them. And, sure, we looked at the Common Eiders and Purple Sandpipers and Laughing Gulls and Common Terns (a few Arctic Terns too) but no one was on the boat to see those birds. (And likely no one reading this is hoping for a Purple Sandpiper picture.) No, we were all on a boat in the cold north Atlantic for one reason and one reason only. PUFFINS! The light was against us for this shot but I kind of like how it came out. Puffins, like guillemots, struggle to leave the water behind. Look at that freaking beak! Desi kept mis-speaking and calling them toucans but, really, can you blame him? And, just before we headed back to the dock, we had a perfect, close, fly-by in amazing light. Aaaahhhhhh If you decide to go on a puffin cruise in Maine in May remember that though the air may seem warm that the ocean is still cold. Bundle up, bring your binoculars, and be prepared to see comical and confiding puffins. It was an experience I wont soon forget, and neither will my poor, frozen family. (We all survived and revived with warm chowder at Shaws Wharf Restaurant, from where the boat departed.) Hello Poke is cool, fresh and filling Rare is the joint that delivers take-away that is focused on a vibrantly fresh and healthy meal. Enter Hello Poke , riding a giant wave of foodie enthusiasm for one of Hawaiis proudest dishes. May 31, 2017 | By Benedict Tech wizards at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have developed an interactive design tool that allows roboticists of any ability to build customized legged or wheeled robots using 3D printed components and off-the-shelf actuators. Its a pretty well-known fact that build a robot is on everyones bucket list. From C-3PO to theT-800, robots have proven themselves as both loyal friends and handy pieces of hardware. Given the evidence, why wouldnt you want one? Unfortunately, most people dont know how to build a robot. Even since the dawn of consumer 3D printing, the task of putting together a functional bot has proven too tricky for all but the most competent of roboticists. Thats why Carnegie Mellon researchers have developed an interactive design tool that lets users, novice or expert, design their own customized robots that can be built with 3D printed parts and off-the-shelf components. Users are presented with a simple drag-and-drop interface on which they can choose from a library of robotic components. The tool suggests components that are compatible with each other, points out where actuators should go, and can automatically generate 3D printable structural components to connect those actuators. The tool even provides a simulation environment to test the robot before building it, so users can see exactly how their robot will move and function in the physical world. The process of creating new robotic systems today is notoriously challenging, time-consuming, and resource-intensive," said Stelian Coros, assistant professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon. "In the not-so-distant future, however, robots will be part of the fabric of daily life and more peoplenot just roboticistswill want to customize robots. This type of interactive design tool would make this possible for just about anybody. Coros and his team tried building a number of different robots, both walking and wheeling ones, using the tool. One, a wheeled robot with a manipulator arm, was able to hold a pen for drawing; another, which resembled a four-legged puppy, could walk forwards or sideways. The system makes it easy to experiment with different body proportions and motor configurations, and see how these decisions affect the robot's ability to do certain tasks, said robotics PhD student Ruta Desai, another researcher on the project. For instance, we discovered in simulation that some of our preliminary designs for the puppy enabled it to only walk forward, not sideways. We corrected that for the final design. The motions of the robot we actually built matched the desired motion we demonstrated in simulation very well. The iterative design tool even includes an auto-completion feature that automatically generates assemblies of components by searching through possible arrangements. This means that novice users can simply arrange a few preferred elements on-screen before letting the application do the hard work. Our work aims to make robotics more accessible to casual users, Coros said. This is important because people who play an active role in creating robotic devices for their own use are more likely to have positive feelings and higher quality interactions with them. This could accelerate the adoption of robots in everyday life. Desai yesterday presented a report on the design tool at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2017) in Singapore. Desai and Coros worked on the project together with master's student Ye Yuan. Coros is no stranger to this kind of robot-building design tool. Back in 2015, the assistant professor was involved with this Disney Research robotic design application. Two weeks ago, engineers at the University of California San Diego made a 3D printed soft robot that can walk on rough surfaces such as sand. Posted in 3D Design Maybe you also like: Scott wrote at 6/1/2017 4:22:40 AM:This is fantastic, but you left out some important information... when will it be available to the public?Bryan D. wrote at 5/31/2017 10:02:31 PM:there's a similar program out of Worcester, MA called bowler studio that is open-sourced and includes parametric modelling and a fully intergrated physics engine to fully render and animate the creation on screen and control a physical counterpart connected through it. it will also produce .stl files or .svgs to either 3D print or laser cut the structures. May 31, 2017 | By Benedict 11 organizations from across Europe have joined forces for BARBARA, a three-year 3D printing research project. With a budget of 2.7 million euros ($3.02m), the project will seek to develop Biopolymers with advanced functionalities for building and automotive parts processed through additive manufacturing. BARBARA members meet in Zaragoza, Spain Ba, ba, ba, ba, Barbara Ann, sang the Beach Boys on their 1965 smash hit Barbara Ann. Fast forward to 2017, and the conversation has turned to Barbara AM, with a number of European organizations joining forces on BARBARA, an exciting new additive manufacturing project that could make 3D printing greener than ever. BARBARA (Biopolymers with advanced functionalities for building and automotive parts processed through additive manufacturing) brings together 11 participants from Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and Belgium, and will involve the development of new bio-based materials made from food waste or agricultural by-products. The project will last approximately three years. The initiative is being funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 innovation program, which is also responsible for funding projects like the BAE-affiliated LASIMM consortium and Fuel3Ds 3D scanning eyewear solution. BARBARA's 2.7 million euros might sound like a lot, but Horizon 2020 will actually pay out around 80 billion euros of funding to various research and innovation projects by the year 2020. The 11 BARBARA participants include both businesses and universities, with specialists in food and farming waste, construction, automotive, chemistry, industrial materials, machine and design processes, as well as efficiency and impact monitoring. Their goal? To develop bio-based polymers that can be 3D printed into items such as car door handles and dashboards for the automotive sector, in addition to molds, truss joints, and other structures that can be used in the construction sector. As part of the project, Acciona Construction, one of the 11 BARBARA participants, is planning to test biopolymer-based prototype molds for beams in its construction laboratories. Such molds are often used for constructing bridges, towers, roofs, and ceilingsload-bearing structures that must be capable of absorbing vibrations, good and bad. The 11 members of the BARBARA project Fiber-reinforced composites can offer an efficient alternative to traditional metallic structures as they are lighter and more durable, although the uniqueness and specifications of each project requires specific molds, which makes their use in civil engineering works problematic, Acciona says. Not only will BARBARAs 3D printable biopolymers be used for a variety of purposed in the construction and automotive industries, they will also be made from readily available resources: food waste and agricultural by-products. Of course, not all food waste will be suitable for turning into 3D printing materials, but part of the project will involve identifying and selecting the best available materials for the task at hand. God only knows when 3D printing will be seen as a truly environmentally friendly manufacturing process, but the success of BARBARA could certainly help the industry push toward that goal. The recycled 3D printable biopolymers that the organizations hope to develop will be suitable for FDM/FFF 3D printing. The project aims at the valorization of side-stream fractions and residues from agro-food production into novel polysaccharides and functional additives, the BARBARA members wrote in their EU proposal. These raw materials have been selected based on the advanced functionalities [they provide] to the polymeric matrixes. The BARBARA 3D printing project will be coordinated by the Aitiip Technology Centre in Zaragoza, Spain, where the group recently held its inaugural meeting. Wouldnt it be nice if the three-year project resulted in an effective method for turning organic waste into 3D printing materials? Well be keeping a close eye on the project to see if it can. Posted in 3D Printing Materials Maybe you also like: May 31, 2017 | By Tess Last year, American multinational corporation GE announced it would invest $10 million over a period of five years to subsidize 3D printers and printing equipment for select educational institutions around the globe. Now, it seems the company is making good on its promise, as it says that more than 400 schools will receive 3D printers later this year as part of the GE Additive Education Program. The educational investment in 3D printing, which is expected to reach over 180,000 students around the world, is aimed at developing pipelines of future talent in additive manufacturing. According to GE, it will soon be dispatching desktop polymer 3D printer packages to about 400 primary and secondary schools, while eight colleges and universities will be receiving state-of-the art metal 3D printers. If you happen to be from one of the selected primary or secondary schools (which can be found in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, India, and Spain), you can expect to receive a 3D printer package consisting of two Polar Cloud-enabled desktop 3D printers (one Polar 3D printer and one XYZprinting machine), a two-year licensed Polar 3D STEAMtrax curriculum, a total of twelve spools of filament, and a Tinkering with Turbines STEAMtrax module kit. Expecting to deliver the 3D printer kits later this year, GE is hopeful that its 3D printing investment in the education sector will pay off through getting students involved in the technology at a young age, better preparing them for jobs while also providing them with the skills to innovate within the field. GE will also be giving metal 3D printers to eight colleges and universities, including Auburn University, Boston University, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, University of New South Wales, and the U.S. Naval Academy. The 3D printers, worth $250,000 each, will be Concept Laser MLAB cusing 100R AM systems. (Readers will remember that GE recently acquired German metal 3D printing company Concept Laser.) Concept Laser MLAB cusing metal 3D printer Additive manufacturing and 3D printing is revolutionizing the way we think about designing and manufacturing products, commented Mohammad Ehteshami, vice president of GE Additive. We want a pipeline of engineering talent that have additive in their DNA. This education program is our way of supporting that goal. On the whole, GEs Additive Education Program is committed to providing $10 million over the next five years in order to provide educational institutions and centers with 3D printing equipment and the means to teach it. Of the $10 million, $8 million has been designated for providing higher education institutions with metal 3D printers, while the remaining $2 million will go towards providing desktop 3D printers to a number of primary and secondary schools across the globe. The first primary and secondary schools to receive 3D printers from GE were selected from a pool of over 500, while more than 250 colleges and universities applied for a metal 3D printing system (understandably!). Schools that werent selected (or that didnt get an application in on time) will still have another chance in the future, as GE says it plans to deliver more 3D printing equipment over the next four years. The next chance to apply for GEs Additive Education Program will be during the first quarter of 2018. Posted in 3D Printer Company Maybe you also like: May 31, 2017 | By Tess Stage One, a UK-based creative services company, has announced the launch of Fluxaxis, a 1 million ($1.29M) startup dedicated to digital manufacturing platforms such as 3D printing, 3D scanning, CNC machining, and more. Fluxaxis will provide UK companies with the means to explore the cutting-edge technologies. Stage One, the company behind the London 2012 Olympic Cauldron and various other renowned installations, hopes to advance its vision of a high-tech manufacturing future with its new incubator startup. In other words, Fluxaxis was founded in order to support 3D printing as the future of making. While most tech startups talk big, Fluxaxis has actually made quite an impression with its impressive suite of 3D printing technologies. So far, the tech incubator already boasts an HP JetFusion 4200 printer, MASSIVIT 1800, Fortus 900mc, Fortus 250mc, Steinbichler Comet L3D Scanner, and a Poseidon 5-Axis CNC Machining Centre. The Poseidon 5-Axis CNC Machining Centre (above) is capable of axes strokes of 7500 x 3800 x 2500 mm, and can quickly and precisely produce parts at a large scale Stratasys' Fortus 250mc 3D printer (above) can 3D print parts from production-grade ABS plus thermoplastic, making it suitable for high-quality prototyping or production According to Stage One, this sophisticated fleet of digital manufacturing equipment will enable Fluxaxis to additively manufacture objects and parts varying in scale, for various different applications, and at astonishingly fast rates. Interestingly, while we normally see such 3D printing tools being used for industrial applications, Fluxaxis will use its machines for more creative purposes. Fluxaxis director Edwin Stokes sees the company as backing the inevitable. He says: Designers, marketers, architects, manufacturers, retailers, film and theatre companies. Everyone is exploring how [3D printing] can enrich their productions. By removing technical barriers we are enabling a new creative and fast-track approach, uninhibited by scale and intricacy. The MASSIVIT 1800 3D printer (above) boasts a massive build volume of 1.8 x 1.5 x 1.2 m and uses a translucent acrylic material useful for a range of different applications. The Steinbichler Comet L3D Scanner (above) offers high resolution 3D scanning capabilities thanks to its Blue LED Technology; scans taken with the scanner can easily be converted into digital 3D models The best machines mean nothing if you dont know what to do with them, added Stokes. We combine the technology of the future with Stage Ones experience in creative production to open up new opportunities for businesses both in the UK and globally. Prototypes and production parts that, until now, have been too complex in form to manufacture, can now be made quickly and precisely using a range of cutting edge equipment, all under one roof. Along with its own launch, Fluxaxis has initiated a competition to find an artist in residence. Organized in partnership with the York Mediale, a new international media arts biennale to be held in the historic city of York, the contest will seek to fill a tech-oriented artist in residence position from September 2017 to February 2018. The winning artist (or artist collective) will receive a 5,000 artist fee as well as access to Fluxaxis 3D printing equipment and expertise. HPs JetFusion 4200 3D printer (above) boasts faster printing speeds and lower costs than SLS or FDM 3D printing; the printer has a build volume of 406 x 305 x 406 mm Fluxaxis director Edwin Stokes (All images: Fluxaxis) Interested? Submissions must be entered before July 17, 2017. The winning artists will have their residency works exhibited at the first York Mediale in 2018, and around the globe. Posted in 3D Printer Company Maybe you also like: Each year, 4 to 5 million newborns receive state-mandated screening. Although the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children has identified 34 core conditions that should be incorporated into screening programs, each state manages, funds, and maintains its own program. State programs encompass screening, as well as the diagnosis and coordination of care for newborns with positive findings. Testing for core disorders is fairly standardized, but more extensive screening varies widely by state, and the rigorous evaluation of new screening panels is ongoing. The core panel includes testing for three main categories of disorders: metabolic disorders (e.g., amino acid and urea cycle, fatty acid oxidation, and organic acid disorders); hemoglobinopathies; and a group of assorted conditions, including congenital hearing loss. Family physicians must be familiar with the expanded newborn screening tests to effectively communicate results to parents and formulate interventions. They must also recognize signs of metabolic disorders that may not be detected by screening tests or that may not be a part of standard newborn screening in their state. For infants with positive screening results leading to diagnosis, long-term follow-up involves ongoing parental education, regular medical examinations, management at a metabolic treatment center, and developmental and neuropsychological testing to detect associated disorders in time for early intervention. While the pay could be better, benefits of teaching out of this world Huge Chinese Steel Producer Signs Hawsons Supergrade LOI Brisbane, May 31, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - International demand for Hawsons Supergrade(R) product now exceeds planned initial supply, with Carpentaria Exploration Ltd ( ASX:CAP ) as managers and majority owners (64%) of the Hawsons Iron Project JV announcing the signing of a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) for sale and purchase of Hawsons Supergrade(R) with China's largest privately-owned steel producer, Shagang Group. Highlights s - LOI with major Chinese steel maker Shagang International for purchase of 2.5 million tonnes per annum of Hawsons Supergrade(R) pellet feed - Hawsons initial planned production now oversubscribed, with LOIs totalling 11.4 Mtpa agreed with blue-chip buyers from Asia and Middle East - Global steel industry showing increasing demand for high quality ore amid growing price differentials between high and low grade products - Potential to investigate more than 10mtpa production at Hawsons based on strong buyer support The LOI comprises 2.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of Hawsons Supergrade(R) pellet feed from Carpentaria's flagship Hawsons Iron Project to supply Shagang's steel making complex based at the port city of Zhangjiagang near Shanghai. One of the world's largest producers of high quality steel, with annual production capacity of 39 million tonnes, Shagang also has one of the world's largest blast furnaces and extensive port and pelletising facilities. Significantly for Carpentaria's plans for a major new magnetite mine near Broken Hill, LOIs for Hawsons Supergrade(R) product now comprise 11.4 Mtpa, more than the rate that is being studied for the purposes of the current Hawsons prefeasibility study (PFS), which is due for release by the end of this quarter. Carpentaria's Managing Director, Quentin Hill, welcomed Shagang's intent as demonstrating the strength of blue-chip international interest in the Hawsons project. "Shagang is a major, established integrated steel producer, which is already a significant investor in Australia's magnetite industry. The company is known for its preference for high quality ore, and this LOI recognises the unique properties of Hawsons Supergrade(R) product and its benefits for major steel makers. We are delighted to have Shagang as a future customer," Mr Hill said. The LOI with Shagang follows recent agreements with a range of blue-chip international buyers from across Asia and the Middle East, comprising Bahrain Steel, Emirates Steel, Kuwait Steel, Formosa Plastics, Gunvor Group and Mitsubishi Corporation RtM. "The offtake oversubscription for Hawsons Supergrade(R) product clearly demonstrates the increasing demand for high-grade pellet feed and is recognition by international steel makers of the need for new supply sources in a concentrated global market. We look forward to continuing our engagement with our international partners, with a view to converting these LOIs into binding offtake agreements which can support project financing during the bankable feasibility stage," Mr Hill added. Recent iron ore pricing has shown growing market segmentation, favouring high quality iron ore products, with 65% Fe products attracting double the price of 58% Fe products on the back of increasing demand. The Hawsons project has demonstrated its capacity to produce a product that is the highest-grade seaborne quality at 70% Fe, with excellent physical and iron making properties. The Hawsons Supergrade(R) product is expected to attract a premium price across a number of sophisticated markets, as reflected by the range of LOIs already agreed prior to the anticipated start of production around the end of the decade. Carpentaria also plans in later studies to investigate an increased scale of production at Hawsons, with the current PFS on track for completion before the end of June 2017. "Hawsons continues to build momentum, with this latest LOI yet again verifying the international demand for our Hawsons Supergrade(R) product. With the PFS set to demonstrate the project's economic potential, we are confident of building a long-term, low cost premium iron business near the birthplace of Australia's mining industry, for the benefit of all stakeholders," Mr Hill said. Hawsons LOIs The below table provides an update concerning the current range of LOIs for Hawsons Supergrade(R) product, from blue-chip international companies across Asia and the Middle East: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Company Volume Market -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shagang 2.5 Mtpa Pellet feed Bahrain Steel 3.0 Mtpa Direct reduction (DR) pellet feed Formosa Plastics 2.0 Mtpa Supergrade concentrate Mitsubishi Corporation RtM 1.0 Mtpa Supergrade pellet feed Gunvor 1.0 Mtpa Supergrade concentrate Kuwait Steel 1.0 Mtpa DR pellet feed Emirates Steel 0.9 Mtpa DR pellets -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 11.4 Mtpa -------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Shagang International Shagang International is part of the Jiangsu Shagang Group, is one of China's National Industrial Enterprises, the largest private steel maker in China, with its headquarters in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province. The Group currently has more than 30,000 employees, with annual production capacity of 31.9 million tons of iron, 39.2 million tons of steel and 37.2 million tons of rolled products. For more information, please see: http://www.sha-steel.com/eng/ About Carpentaria Resources Ltd Carpentaria Resources Ltd (ASX:CAP) is focussed on delivering the best quality iron concentrates into the growing premium end of the iron ore market. The Company aims to build a long term, low cost premium quality iron ore business from the development of its flagship asset, the Hawsons Iron Project, utilising existing infrastructure. Leads Australian Workplace Giving Sydney, May 31, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Leading Australian Companies JB Hi-Fi and SEEK Call on Businesses to Support Workplace Giving - On the eve of the 2017June Workplace Giving Month, CEOs from JB Hi-Fi and SEEK join together with a common purpose - to call on business leaders to embrace Workplace Giving - Workplace Giving is the most cost effective and efficient way for working Australians to support charity - Bold goal of one million working Australians donating by 2020 would generate an additional $250 million each year for the community Andrew Bassat, CEO and Co-Founder, SEEK and Richard Murray, Group CEO, JB Hi-Fi Limited were winners of inaugural Workplace Giving Excellence (WPG) Awards in 2016. The Awards, an important part of the One Million Donors campaign to grow WPG, celebrated those employers who enable staff to donate to charity direct from their pay. Beyond the benefits to charities and the community, WPG is assisting these business leaders build more engaged, inclusive cultures. "JB Hi-Fi introduced WPG in 2008 as our commitment to the community. It has delivered even more than we hoped with 72% of our staff giving each week to support our charity partners through our 'Helping Hands' program" said Richard Murray, Group CEO of JB Hi-Fi. "We've generated more than $12m for our charity partners through Helping Hands. This has only been possible because staff feel so connected to our charity partners and the great work they do using the funds that we have raised." Whilst Murray is proud of JB Hi-Fi's 2016 Gold Winner Award, he would be equally delighted to hand over the baton to another company this year. "I encourage all businesses to nominate." SEEK Co-Founder and CEO, Andrew Bassat, said "SEEK's workplace giving program 'Small Change' is a tangible way for SEEK employees to connect with our primary Belief of having a positive impact on society. Helping our ten partner charities is very motivating and rewarding for our employees and this is reflected in our strong participation rate. We are proud to match employee contributions dollar for dollar to increase the impact our employees have on the causes these organisations support." WPG (also known as pre-tax payroll giving) allows employees to make donations to charity direct from their pay. Some employers extend their teams' contribution and match the value of their donations. Many employers enhance their giving programs with volunteering, fundraising events and other initiatives. Since 2002, WPG has raised more than a quarter of a billion dollars of new funding for charities. The Australian Charities Fund (ACF) is the champion of WPG, and along with committed business leaders, has set the bold goal of One Million Australians donating through the workplace by 2020 - which would create an additional $250 million each year for the community. Jenny Geddes, ACF's CEO said, "The One Million Donors campaign is so important to our society and to charities all over Australia that need sustained funding to achieve their goals and deliver social change. The Awards shine a light on business leaders and their employees that together, help our society in so many ways. For charities, WPG continues to be one of the most efficient, effective and ethical ways to raise much needed funding." On the eve of June Workplace Giving (WPG) Month, business leaders Andrew Bassat, CEO and Co-Founder, SEEK Limited and Richard Murray, Group CEO JB Hi-Fi Limited - winners of 2016 WPG Excellence Awards - encourage their counterparts across Australia to embrace WPG. The leaders jointly urge businesses to get behind the One Million Donors campaign and help their employees donate to charity in the most cost effective and efficient way; whilst helping to build staff engagement, morale and culture. Since 2002, WPG has raised over a quarter of a billion dollars of new funding for charities. The goal of the One Million Donors campaign is to see one million Australians donating through work by 2020, which would create an additional donation flow of $250 million each year for the community. About SEEK Limited SEEK Limited (ASX:SEK) (OTCMKTS:SKLTY) is a diverse group of companies, comprised of a strong portfolio of online employment, educational, commercial and volunteer businesses. SEEK operates across 18 countries with exposure to over 2.9 billion people and approximately 26 per cent of GDP. SEEK makes a positive contribution to people's lives on a global scale. SEEK is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, where it is a top 100 company with a market capitalisation close to A$6billion and has been listed in the Top 20 Most Innovative Companies Globally by Forbes, and Number One in Australia. Aviation engineering and maintenance software provider, Commsoft has announced that its MRO IT system, OASES, has been chosen by Plus Ultra Lineas Aereas to support its three Airbus A340-300 aircraft, to be followed by a fourth later in 2017. OASES provides a high level of technical sophistication whilst still being intuitively user-friendly. Designed by engineers for engineers, the system is structured in a modular format and Plus Ultra has selected the Core, Airworthiness, Planning and Materials modules. Based at Madrid Barajas International Airport, Plus Ultra operates both scheduled and charter flights to transatlantic destinations, including Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic and Lima, Peru. In March, the airline announced that it would be launching two new routes later this year: Santiago de Chile and Havana, both with connections from Madrid and Barcelona. The initial implementation will be supported by FL Technics, who also provided extensive sales support for the deal as part of their recently-signed agency agreement with Commsoft. Nick Godwin, Commsofts Managing Director, commented: This is an important milestone for us - the first OASES contract that we have signed with a Spanish customer. This was the ninth new contract out of eleven already signed in 2017, covering fourteen direct customers in twelve different countries. Aleixandre Schudeck, Plus Ultras Technical Director, commented We, as an airline, know how important it is to elect the appropriate software tool, able to support all our different operations. After a deeper analysis of the market we trust OASES will bring us the robustness of a mature tool together with enough flexibility to be adapted to our current procedures. Delta Air Lines has launched its inaugural daily service from Glasgow to New York-JFK. Operated daily throughout the summer, Deltas first-ever Glasgow route will provide convenient connections to more than 60 destinations throughout the US and beyond via Deltas New York hub. Meanwhile, to further strengthen the transatlantic network offered jointly from Scotland, Deltas partner Virgin Atlantic will operate an extended seasonal service from Glasgow to Orlando this year. The popular route is operating up to four times a week until November, boosting capacity to the Florida resort by nearly 20% percent this year. Virgin Atlantic is also celebrating its 10th anniversary in Glasgow, having launched its first service from the airport to Orlando on 23 June, 2007. Linking Glasgow nonstop to New York is an important step in strengthening our joint network to offer our Scottish customers greater travel choice to more destinations across the U.S. including Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles, said Frank Jahangir, Deltas vice president Sales and Affairs. "The new flight will also boost inbound tourism by flying as many as 37,000 visitors to and from Glasgow this summer, providing more opportunities for American tourists to discover this exciting city for themselves. Glasgow is one of five new routes we are launching in Europe today, said Dwight James, Deltas senior vice president Transatlantic. Delta is committed to building a network in Europe and beyond that supports our customers business and leisure travel needs. Richard Myerscough, senior vice president of Sales and Distribution at Virgin Atlantic commented: Weve always received a warm welcome in Glasgow and Im delighted that were able to mark our 10th anniversary flying from the city with even more direct flights to Orlando. Our joint venture with Delta has allowed us to give our Scottish customers more routes to the U.S. destinations they want to fly to, creating more holiday and business opportunities than ever before. Alasdair Allan, Minister for International Development and Europe, said: Im delighted to see this new service take off, bringing benefits to business and leisure passengers on both sides of the Atlantic. The new route improves our business connectivity by giving Scottish companies better access to American markets and helps support our tourism sector by giving visitors even more options when it comes to getting a taste of the fantastic tourist experience on offer in Scotland. I wish both Glasgow Airport and Delta every success with this service. Dr Bridget McConnell, Chief Executive of Glasgow Life, said: Glasgow Life has been working closely with Delta on strategic marketing activity in the U.S., promoting Glasgow as the gateway to Scotland, as well as the citys cultural attractions. North America is Glasgows largest international market, with 156,000 transatlantic visits made to the city in 2016 resulting in a boost of some 76 million to the local economy, and Deltas JFK service presents us with an outstanding opportunity to continue to grow both leisure and business tourism to Glasgow from this key territory. Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, added: Deltas direct service between JFK and Glasgow is a fantastic endorsement of Scotland by one of the worlds biggest airlines and is a huge growth opportunity for Scottish tourism. This new service to Glasgow is well timed to exploit the increased interest in our culture and ancestral tourism among prospective visitors from across North America, where we saw an 18 per cent growth in 2016. This interest continues to grow thanks to a favourable exchange rate, initiatives such as our Spirit of Scotland campaign and Scotlands Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology as well as the hugely popular television adaptation of Outlander. Steven Marshall, head of airline marketing and development at Glasgow Airport, said: The introduction of Deltas daily service to one of the worlds busiest hub airports is great news for Glasgow and the wider region and further underlines our position as Scotlands principle long-haul airport. Routes such as this also enable Scotland to both maintain and increase its global competitiveness. Not only will it play a major role in supporting the countrys growing tourism industry, it will provide Scottish businesses with another direct link to what remains the worlds largest economy. Rajasthan High Court recommends declaration of cow as national animal. We Hindus, worship almost every animal, what about snake and other animals that we pray? Honourable judge must be aware that India has a national animal called Tiger the most majestic animal in the world. Its our pride. It should have been a concern for all Indians, how to stop poaching of tigers. However, no one is concerned about that but every politics comes to halt at cow. This is additional tool which comes from animal class, earlier tools were/are social animals like Hindus, Muslims, Brahmin, Thakur, Dalit, Pichhra, Yadav, Kurmies, Mahadalit and this is endless list. The Rajasthan High Court recommended that the Centre should declare the cow as a national animal and increase the punishment for cow slaughter to life imprisonment. In a slew of directions passed on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the court asked the State Chief Secretary to take steps to get the suggestions implemented. The court also appointed a committee of lawyers to keep a watch on the cow shelters functioning. The Forest Department was asked to plant 5,000 saplings every year in the gaushala to keep it green. The judge had earlier issued interim directions several times since 2010 for the upkeep of the gaushala, where a large number of cows had died recently due to unhygienic conditions. However, no one is punished for such conditions of Gaushala. The Centre has used animal cruelty rules, which can be enforced nationally, to order that animal markets will only be able to trade cattle for agricultural purposes and dairy production. If we look at the conditions after ban, this has encouraged cow vigilantes at a time when they have taken to frequent attacks on slaughterhouses and cattle traders. In April, gau rakshaks or cow vigilantes attacked a 55-year-old cattle trader, Pehlu Khan in Alwar and four others. Pehlu Khan died, his companions were injured. BJP has failed on all fronts and using cow and Ram temple issues for vote bank politics. They got nothing to do with these two things. Once they get elected they forget them while in rule, and use them whenever its necessary to play diversion tactics. There are attacks by cow vigilante groups across North India. At least three people have been killed this year so far, and several beaten, flogged and subjected to severe indignities. However, on October 18, 2015, the cleaner of a truck, Zahid Ahmad of Anantnag, died of burns suffered during the petrol-bombing of the Valley-bound vehicle on October 9 in Udhampur by a local mob protesting a beef party hosted by independent MLA Engineer Rashid in Srinagar a few days earlier. In Himachal, a person called Noman was lynched in Lawasa village on October 17, 2015 by villagers who chased the truck in which he was ferrying cows to Saharanpur. Rakesh Kumar and Ramesh Kumar was beaten for allegedly slaughtering cows outside Malout, Muktsar district and booked under cow slaughter Act. Indian authorities should promptly investigate and prosecute self-appointed cow protectors who have committed brutal attacks against Muslims and Dalits over rumours that they sold, bought, or killed cows. Instead of taking prompt legal action against the vigilantes, many linked to extremist Hindu groups affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The police, too often, have filed complaints against the assault victims, their relatives, and associates under laws banning cow slaughter. Many Hindus consider the cow to be a holy animal, and slaughter is forbidden in most parts of Hindu-majority India. Since May 2015, a violent vigilante campaign against beef consumption has led to the killing of at least 10 Muslims, including a 12-year-old boy, in seven separate incidents of mob violence. In July 2016, in Gujarat, vigilantes stripped four Dalit men, tied them to a car, and assaulted them with sticks and belts over suspicions of cow slaughter. In a number of cases, the attackers have also robbed their victims of cash and cell-phones and damaged their property. Self-appointed cow protectors driven by irresponsible populism are killing people and terrorizing minority communities. In one recent case, on April 21, 2017, in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir state, a mob brutally attacked five members of a nomad cattle-herding family, including a 9-year-old girl, on suspicion that they were taking their cows for slaughter. A video posted on social media showed a group of men chanting slogans commonly used by BJP supporters, breaking down the familys shelter, beating an elderly man with rods and sticks even as women begged for mercy, and finally setting the shelter on fire. Several policemen can be seen in the video while the mob carried out the attack, but they appeared to be outnumbered and stayed back when the mob pushed them back. Police have arrested 11 people for the assault. But no one knows what happened to them. Since the BJP came to power in May 2014, extremist Hindu groups supporting Modi and his party have led vigilante mob attacks across the country to enforce nationalism. There are many such examples where these people have harassed, threatened, and extorted money from Muslims and Dalits. Dalits, so-called untouchables, are equally vulnerable as they traditionally carry out jobs to dispose of cattle carcasses and skin them for commercial purposes. Amid such chaos, hope the Judges put to good use the Judiciary instead of such trivial issues. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Aiken, SC (29801) Today Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High 66F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low around 65F. Winds E at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. May 31, 2017 ALEPPO, Syria A group of journalists and activists has launched the General Media Institution in the opposition-controlled Syrian province of Idlib, with the aim of communicating opposition news, providing some functions of a trade union, and helping to protect, educate and train journalists. About 80 activists and media figures attended the founding meeting May 6, stressing that the institution's major objectives are to help consolidate and coordinate media work in the province and create a revolutionary media platform capable of bringing together most of the media and concerned activists there. Institution secretary Moath Abbas told Al-Monitor, The Institution was warmly welcomed by Idlibs activists and media community, many of whom expressed their desire to join it. As of May 29, the total number of members had exceeded 120, and the institution is still welcoming new members." The group elected a 10-member follow-up committee May 28 and has already begun work on a documentary about current conditions in the province. "We have been thus far confident about our work and the division of tasks among the members, and we are seeking to draw up action plans for the second half of 2017." Abbas said the opposition military factions haven't commented on the institution. "No external factors have thus far come in the way of our progress, he said. Should the armed opposition factions not be satisfied with the institution, it will face several problems, especially a need for financial support and the difficulty of convincing members to use rhetoric that fits the goals of the Syrian revolution, without favoring any faction. Before the institute's launch, several activists and media members held periodic meetings and elected a preparatory committee of seven members, including journalists Abbas, Mustafa Kantar, Ahmad Barbour and Ahmad Assi, and activists Mohammad Khalifeh, Omar Hajj Ahmad and Abdel Qader al-Bakri. Many of the committee members were behind the idea of the institution. During the founding meeting in the city of Idlib, several activists and media figures were elected to fill positions in the institution. Assi was elected chairman, and managerial positions were filled in the editorial and secretariat offices, and in public relations, visual production, photography, electronics and translation. "The time has come for the revolutionary forces to turn to institutional action," Assi told Al-Monitor. "We, as media workers, had to be the first to create a coherent body that serves as the first step toward activating the revolution institutions and organizing their work." He explained that the institution founders are professional and certified journalists, and the institution includes activists and people who have worked in media institutions and those who learned journalism during the revolution without having majored in journalism. In order to join this institution, one should not have any political or factional affiliations whatsoever. Also, one should not be loyal to any military camp in the opposition. Those wishing to join the institution should be based in Syria and should be Syrian nationals. Additionally, they should have worked in a visual, written or audio media outlet. These conditions will be key items in the bylaws of the General Media Institution, Assi added. The institution will be organizing training courses to develop members' skills, and we will give members press cards to facilitate their work in the province. We are working to include all of the media workers in the province, Assi said. The group will face several challenges right off the bat, Assi noted. The idea and structure of the institution should be properly organized and shaped so as to be made acceptable to everyone in Idlib province. ... There are many local media outlets and institutions interested in Syrian affairs, and each one of those has special policies they are working on hence the great efforts that are needed to convince these outlets of the need" to present a well-thought-out and distinctive message. "Another factor that could pose a challenge for us is the fact that Idlib province is under the control of several factions, he said. Asked about the institutions orientations, Assi said, We are a media institution that emerged from the Syrian revolution, and we stand at one [equal] distance from all the revolutionary components inside Syria. We do not follow any military faction, nor do we adopt any intellectual or political orientation. We work under the banner of the Syrian revolution, and we do not mind cooperating and coordinating with any revolution component that could serve our cause. So far, he said, the group's activities have been financed only by personal donations from a small group of members. No membership fees have been thus far imposed," public relations director Omar Hajj Ahmad told Al-Monitor, "but we are considering imposing symbolic fees in the near future for members to contribute to the institution's development." Funds also could be used to help members in urgent need due to injuries or emergencies, he added. Ahmad elaborated on the group's ambitious plans. During the coming period, the institution will focus on conveying what is happening in the province of Idlib through short films, documentaries and video reports. Additionally, there will be several written reports on Syrian local websites of the revolutionaries to expose the crimes that Russia, Iran and the [regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] committed against Syrian civilians," Ahmad said. "Also, the institution will focus on the problems Syrians are suffering from in Idlib be they related to education, health, living or security. Should the institution succeed, we aspire to develop its work to cover other Syrian rebel areas, not just Idlib. Taher al-Omer, who works as a reporter at Radio Sham of Idlib, told Al-Monitor he hopes the institution will be able to guarantee journalists' rights in the areas cleared of the Islamic State (IS) that are under the opposition's control. He hopes the group will be capable of "protecting them and their freedom of movement, all the while helping them [carry out] their work." He continued, "I hope the institution will be able to organize journalists within a body similar to a trade union, and I hope it will be able to train media cadres so as to reach a decent level of professionalism ... [and] upgrade the intellectual level of those working in the revolution media away from any type of factionalism or narrow affiliations. Another objective is to find a discourse [worthy of] the level of the sacrifices of the Syrian people, who rebelled against the regime of Bashar Assad in order to obtain freedom and dignity. May 31, 2017 Twelve Egyptian artists are taking part in an intriguing exhibit titled Paper Trail at the Gypsum Gallery in Cairo to pay tribute to paper, which has acted for centuries as a record of memories, experiences, places, tales and ideas. One hundred and twenty drawings and prints by 12 artists use diverse techniques in the gallerys summer exhibition that will last through September. The displayed works of art all use the cheapest and most fragile artistic medium paper which takes its name from the Egyptian papyrus plant. "I spent a month and half visiting galleries and searching for the right artists who would participate in this exhibition, Saida El Harakany, the founder of Adsum Art Consultancy, told Al-Monitor. Harakany, along with Aleya Hamza, the founder of Gypsum Gallery, put together the exhibition with the aim of breaking the general perception that works of art on paper were not complete artworks on their own, but sketches or drafts. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Hamza underlined that most of the art collectors usually prefer oil paintings, believing that paper alone cannot be a complete artwork. But the audiences reaction to the artworks has been positive, she said. The artworks displayed do not have a specific theme some of them reflect the personal lives of the artists, while others deal with abstract ideas or life issues," said Harakany. In their tribute to paper, the artists used different techniques that range from color monoprints to brown ink. Islam Zaher, Investigations of a Dog, ink on paper (photo by Gypsum Gallery) A series of brown ink drawings by Islam Zaher depicts the anatomical structure of a dog. It refers to the dog in Franz Kafka's 1922 story titled Investigations of a Dog where many existentialist questions are posed through the canine. "This story deeply affected me, but my drawings are not merely an illustration of Kafka's story. It was the point of inspiration that took another form in my imagination. When I started drawing, I did not know what the final drawings would look like, Zaher told Al-Monitor. He also used a technique that combined crosshatching and calligraphy. He said, "I used brown ink and applied a technique dubbed 'crosshatching.' The density at which the lines cross over each other determines the color value. I tried to create a harmony between the crosshatching and the calligraphic line." Nada Baraka, who studied fine arts at American University in Cairo and obtained a master's degree from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, resorted to color monoprints. Obsessed with biology and diseases, the artist uses art to describe the organic processes inside the body. Nada Baraka, monoprint on paper (photo by Gypsum Gallery) "My drawings focus on the body and the organic changes. While the outward appearance of the body is calm, there is a constant movement and revolution inside it. This contrast captivates me," Baraka told Al-Monitor. Baraka exhibits 15 drawings in "Paper Trail." They are divided into two groups with each group completing the other. In regard to the "Trust the laws that govern them" monoprints, Baraka said she deliberately left the drawings vague to let the audience interpret them in their own way. "The title of the paintings is metaphoric, and everyone can bring their own interpretation to the word 'law' depending on his own understanding of the drawing. This is called abstract figuration," she explained. Baraka underlined that the monoprint technique is very demanding as it requires speed and accuracy to get the desired drawing before the colors are dry. "My drawings seem simple. But if you closely look at them, you will find many details. Each drawing wants to tell something," Baraka said. Mustafa El Husseiny, Map 8, 2015, tracing using carbon paper and ink on paper (photo by Gypsum Gallery) Besides being a versatile artistic medium, paper was Mustafa El Husseiny's companion during the period of military conscription. Through Husseiny's dotted figures and diagrammatic drawings, visitors to the "Paper Trail" exhibit can explore the territories where he and his father served during their military conscription. "Paper is a medium just like any other artistic tool. Before starting a project, I select the medium I will use. In this project, I used paper since it was the only available medium at that time. I finished most of these paper artworks during the military conscription period. For sure, the environment I found myself in affected my artworks that in most cases reflect my personal life. I turned my personal experience into visual art," Husseiny told Al-Monitor. In "Paper Trail," Husseiny exhibits 13 maps, telling the stories of four individuals who served in the military at different ages. "Surely, they are imaginary maps, but these maps are of real places. Each map is a part of my father's portrait. If we put them together, we can see my father's portrait," the artist said. Besides these maps, visitors can see three drawings depicting military trainings and parades by special forces that Husseiny himself witnessed. "These drawings record my memories during this period," he concluded. May 30, 2017 In the most crowded part of Egypts popular markets, in the center of Cairo, the popular Gaza Market specializes in selling all types of clothing. Its commercial activities started in the early 1940s, when Palestinian merchants would bring goods from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and make a handsome profit. In 2014, the market moved from the area adjacent to el-Atba and al-Muski markets, in the Old City of Cairo, to the nearby neighborhood of al-Zawiyah al-Hamra along the commercial street of Port Said, as security measures were scarce and the market became crowded with random construction. At the end of January, a new 65,000-square-foot market with solar panels opened nearby, with the same name, as it is an extension of the old market. However, as Palestinian products and traders are slowly disappearing from the market due to the constant closing of the Rafah crossing, relatively expensive Egyptian products have completely taken over this market. Egyptian citizen Abd al-Karim Ali, 70, who started working as a porter in the Gaza Market in the mid-1970s, told Al-Monitor that the trade with Gaza witnessed a renaissance in the 1960s, 1970s and the early 1980s, when Palestinian merchants from the Gaza Strip transported goods such as clothing, olive oil and other Palestinian products to sell them in the market, and also transported goods from Egypt to Gaza. Ali said, The trade between Gaza and Egypt is what established this market. It therefore took the name 'Gaza,' and the traders in the market are only Palestinians and Egyptians. I rarely sat at home when I worked in the Gaza Market, and there were no holidays I worked all the time and made big profits. Since the market's founding, mainly clothing has been sold there. Former trader Salim Abu Yusif, 77, who currently lives in the neighborhood of al-Amal in central Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor that he started selling items in the Gaza Market in 1982. At that time, he was what is called a suitcase trader, as he carried Palestinian-made clothing to the market in Cairo. He said, I sold all of my goods in a relatively short time, in comparison with Egyptian merchants. Selling the Palestinian-made clothing I brought took no more than two weeks, and I made a 30% profit. Abu Yusif said he would buy Egyptian goods from the Gaza Market to sell in the markets of the Gaza Strip upon his return. He continued trading until 2005, when the Rafah land crossing between Gaza and Egypt began to close for long periods. Basim Qariqa, 61, who lives in the Shujaiya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, began trading in the Gaza Market in 1967, when he was a teenager. He would sell goods from the clothing factory that he now owns in Gaza City. He told Al-Monitor, Though there was a lot of demand for Palestinian goods in the Gaza Market, and we were selling most of the goods that we carried with us to Egypt at high levels of profit, we stopped trading in the Gaza Market in Cairo in 2007, after the roads to Egypt became difficult [to cross] when the Rafah crossing started closing for long periods following Hamas victory in the 2006 legislative elections. Suad al-Dib, an economic researcher and the head of the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency, told Al-Monitor that the presence of a market bearing the name Gaza even though it has been relocated from the area in which it had been established represents the symbolism of the historical and geographical connection between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. She said, The market has a long history and everyone loved going to the Gaza Market to buy the Palestinian goods offered there. [The market] didnt offer goods only to a certain segment of society; rich people, people with limited income and the poor shopped there as there were goods for everyone. She added, Aside from the clothes in which the market specialized, we would buy traditional Palestinian embroideries of all types, in addition to the goods that Palestinians specialize in such as olive oil to the point that I was buying all of these Palestinian-made goods. When I go to Jordan because there are Palestinians there or any of the regions in which Palestinian goods are sold, I quickly buy them. The many signs in Cairo, such as Palestinian street or shop names, show that the historical connections between Egypt and the Gaza Strip are greater than the tension that erupted following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in mid-2013. May 30, 2017 While Iraqi security forces were busy clearing the last pockets of Islamic State-controlled areas in Mosul and the wider public in Iraq was bracing for 30 days of fasting from dawn to dusk, 37-year-old police officer Abdullah had a more pressing issue at hand. "Could I have three cases of Budweiser beer [72 cans] and two bottles of Araq," Abdullah asked the shop owner at Sarkarez neighborhood in the city of Sulaimaniyah on May 25, two days before fasting officially began. Like thousands of others, Abdullah was stocking up on booze because authorities in the Kurdish region force liquor shops to close during Ramadan, leaving many consumers with the options of either buying a large quantity of booze beforehand or trying to find their way around the black market that emerges as the fasting begins. "I buy the alcohol now because it is much easier; it is too much of a headache to beg black market dealers during the fasting to sell you alcohol." Local authorities in the three provinces in the Kurdish region announced May 25 that all liquor stores would close for the duration of the fasting. "If you are caught selling alcohol during Ramadan, they usually detain you until the day after the month ends and you are given somewhere between a 2 million to 4 million dinar fine ($1,700 to $3,400)," said Rebaz, a Yazidi shop owner in the Khatara market in Sulaimaniyah. "I remember the alcohol shops were open during Ramadan until 2009 and we only had to cover the front door with a curtain," said Hammo, another shop owner in Sarkarez. Asked why the authorities decided to close the liquor shops, Hammo (not his real name) said, "Do you want the truth? In my view, the main political parties are worried about populist sentiment and the power of religious preachers." Since Kurdish rule was established in northern Iraq in 1992, liquor stores have been a target of extremists and populist preachers throughout the region. In the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq War, liquor stores came under attack in Baghdad, Mosul and rest of the country, as religious extremism gained momentum in the country. "In Saddam's era, no one dared to attack the alcohol shops," said Hammo, who worked in Mosul from 1987-2003 and sold alcohol and also worked as a chef. The most disturbing incident occurred in Dahuk province in early December 2011 when a mob incited by Friday prayer preachers went on a rampage and torched scores of liquor stores owned by Christians and Yazidis as well as massage parlors and hotels. "Our own religious leaders are the ones calling for the closure of the alcohol shops in Ainkawa," said a young Christian assistant at a liquor store on Two Side Street in Ainkawa. "They want to respect Ramadan and live peacefully with the larger Muslim community." Despite the populist and religious pressure, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) rejected outright the call by the Iraqi parliament in October to ban the import, production and sale of alcoholic beverages. In fact, some of the wine, beer and spirit on the shelves in the liquor stores are produced in Erbil. In the liquor market in Kurdistan, there appears to be a division of labor. The workforce in the booze market across Kurdistan region is almost exclusively Yazidi and Christian, and the overwhelming majority of consumers are Muslims. Many Muslim consumers believe that while drinking may be a sin, trading in alcohol is much worse in the eyes of Allah and the public; that is why most Muslims stay away from alcohol sales. But while many are busy storing alcohol for Ramadan, other Muslim consumers stop drinking during the month as a sign of respect. "Ramadan has become like a tradition in my family, and I try to respect that tradition," Sham, a 28-year-old mother of one who started drinking when she was 18, told Al-Monitor. "I used to fast until a few years ago, and there were times that I would drink during Ramadan if there was a special occasion and then resume fasting the following day." Other drinkers are much more strict. "I drink about a bottle of whiskey every day, but out of respect I stop during Ramadan even though I don't fast myself," said a disheveled man with broad shoulders as he purchased his last whiskey the evening of May 25 in Sulaimaniyah. "I even have friends who drink with me and then take a break to pray and then start drinking again." But for many, the wisdom of the KRG's move in closing the liquor stores throughout the region is questionable. "We are not a religious state like Iran. Those who want to fast, let them fast. And those who want to drink, let them drink," said Amanj, a 35-year-old accountant. "I am not anti-religion and I respect people who fast, but why should I be penalized?" But officials say they must strike a balance to keep the peace, given they live in a region where the Iraqi parliament voted for a ban of alcohol altogether. A thriving black market emerges across the Kurdish region with the closure of the shops, and dealers can sell anything to desperate consumers, sometimes in the back of their pickups, away from the watchful eyes of authorities. "Many people use Ramadan to abuse the system and increase the prices of alcohol two or even threefold," says Rahim, 33, who is a heavy drinker but stops during Ramadan and fasts for the whole month. "I think the governors need to designate a few places where people can go and drink and the authorities can regulate it. Right now the blanket ban serves as a public hazard because those who drink do it secretly and then often sneak into their cars and drive home afterward." "We allow the bars and clubs to have limited closed areas to the public so long as they don't do something that causes others, such as clerics, to speak out," says Goran Qader, head of the joint committee in Sulaimaniyah province responsible for regulating the market, including the alcohol sector. "We want to keep a balance between those who fast during Ramadan and those who don't for whatever reason." But the financial crisis that has engulfed the Kurdish region means that most people cannot afford to drink in bars and clubs. Abdullah, whose salary has been cut by 40% due to the financial crisis, smiled as he collected his three cases of beer from Hammo, the shop owner. "This year business was not good, but still many people bought alcohol for Ramadan," said Hammo. "I'll go back to my family in Shikhan tomorrow and come back in a month's time when Ramadan is over." May 30, 2017 At 4 a.m. May 27 some 90 minutes before the start of the monthlong Ramadan fast the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails came to an end exactly 40 days after it was declared. Only around 1,300 of some 6,200 Palestinians jailed in Israel went on strike, and according to data compiled by the Israel Prisoner Service (IPS), about half of them resumed eating even before the strike ended. Israel was encouraged by the fact that senior Fatah member Marwan Barghouti and other leaders of the Palestinian prison population had failed to generate a widespread protest. The Palestinian Authoritys Prisoners Club rejected the Israeli figures, calling them disinformation designed to belittle the strikers and hurt the instigators. But even if the numbers are exaggerated, theres no doubt that Israel and the PA took the hunger strike seriously, viewing it as a common threat that required cooperation in order to minimize its damage. As previously reported by Al-Monitor, the mass fast was a major headache for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Not only was the timing bad as he was making great efforts at rapprochement with the Donald Trump administration it also threatened to help elements in the West Bank take advantage of the strike for domestic political ends. For example, supporters of Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison, declared several days of rage and called on Palestinians to clash with Israeli forces calls that displeased Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Israel and the PA quickly realized that they have to join together to bring the strike to an end. Al-Monitor has learned from a senior Palestinian source who spoke on condition of anonymity that since the very start of the strike, Israel and the PA were in regular contact to prevent the strike from veering out of control. They understood that Barghouti was the main figure behind the strike and he had to be made to come down from the tall tree he had climbed. There were psychological maneuvers, says the Palestinian source, refusing to elaborate. When theres a common cause and coordinated activity, the result is positive. Almost like the security coordination between Israel and the PA in dealing together with a common threat. An Israeli source familiar with the moves that ended the strike tells Al-Monitor that during the course of the strike, the IPS tried to undermine Barghoutis standing among the prisoners and portray him as someone more concerned with buttressing his eroding political standing than with the conditions of the prisoners. According to the source, the results of this effort were mixed. Not everyone believed the clip provided by the IPS in which Barghouti is seen secretly taking a bite out of a chocolate bar in violation of the strike that he himself declared. Some of the prisoners said that the clip was fabricated as part of an Israeli propaganda campaign. Subsequently, Israel decided that humiliating Barghouti would not help end the hunger strike and might make him become more entrenched in his demands. The assessment was that there was no point in continuing to embarrass him and it would be better to give him a way out. Throughout the strike, the IPS insistently denied negotiations were taking place with the prisoners, unlike previous hunger strikes in which, alongside the IPS, the Shin Bet security agency was also involved. The ambassadors of Egypt or Jordan have also helped mediate in the past. But the IPS claims were not exact. Although the IPS did not conduct direct talks with the inmates this time, contacts were conducted via representatives of a joint civilian Israeli-Palestinian committee, setting out red lines for the prisoners demands and mapping out proposals for ending the strike without portraying Israel as having given in to terrorist demands. One of the demands of the strikers was to maintain two family visits per month for the inmates. Israel, for example, was quite willing to accede to this demand. The second visit was actually canceled by the Red Cross, not by Israel, citing budgetary constraints hampering the transportation of the families from Gaza and the West Bank to the jails inside Israel. Thus, the Red Cross agreed to pay for one visit per month only. Israel and the Palestinians understood that an agreed-upon solution of this issue would put Barghoutis mind at ease and would also not present Israel as having given in to his demands. The Israeli representatives on the civilian committee calculated the cost of a second monthly visit at 6 million shekels ($1.7 million) and argued that the PA should foot the bill. Some 10 days ago, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed on to help. Despite the dire financial straits of the PA, ending the strike promises Abbas some peace and quiet on the prisoners front, allowing him to focus on what is truly important to him diplomatic issues. After Abbas agreed to pay for the second visit, an announcement was sent to the IPS, which set up a meeting with the Palestinian inmates at the Shikma prison. Barghouti was brought there from the prison where he is serving his sentence, but by the time he got there the meeting had already begun. Present were Karim Younis (an Israeli Arab who murdered soldier Avraham Bromberg in 1981), Nasser Abu Hamid (Barghoutis deputy in the Tanzim [the Fatah paramilitary force], who was convicted of seven murders and sentenced to seven life terms), and Ahmed Barghouti (a relative of Marwans who was his right-hand man in the Tanzim and is serving a 13-year term). We let them decide, the Palestinian source said shortly after the decision. The month of Ramadan is starting when they wont even be allowed to drink water during the day, and if they had refused, the other prisoners might not have gone along with them. Barghouti probably realized that Israel and the PA had coordinated their positions and that if he were to reject the deal, the rope that Abbas had given him to climb down from his demands might end up around his neck. At four in the morning, word came out that the prisoners hunger strike had ended and the Ramadan fast had begun. May 30, 2017 A week has passed since US President Donald Trump's visit to Israel and the West Bank May 22-23, and the euphoria is starting to wear off. According to Channel 2, the conversation between Trump and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that took place in Bethlehem was harsh. The president even burst out shouting at the Palestinian leader, claiming that Abbas had deceived him with statements about his commitment to peace at an earlier meeting between the two men in the White House. Trump arrived in Bethlehem already charged up after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who had presented material to Trump allegedly proving that the Palestinian Authority (PA) continued to be involved in incitement against Israel and also continues to pay large sums of money to Palestinians, including terrorists, imprisoned in Israel. According to Al-Monitors research, the following details are indeed true: The first part of the Abbas-Trump conversation was tense. It turns out that Netanyahu had shown Trump a section of a video clip in which Abbas says, I am an inciter. The Palestinians claim that the president did not raise his voice at Abbas, but do admit that Trump demanded explanations. The Palestinians claimed that the clip shown to the president by the Israelis had been edited and taken out of context. At this point, senior Fatah official Saeb Erekat intervened and told Trump that Netanyahu is the provocateur, that the prime minister never stops inciting against Abbas in order to torpedo any chances for advancing negotiations. The next day, the Palestinians sent the Americans the entire video of Abbas speech. According to this version of events, the unedited video proved, from the Palestinians' perspective, that Abbas did not touch on incitement or say that he is an inciter. According to the Palestinians, Abbas words were taken out of context through biased editing of the film. Bethlehem was not the only place where tensions rose. It has now emerged that harsh words were also uttered in the conversation between Netanyahu and Trump. Evidently the American president continued to subject the prime minister to steamroller pressure on the concessions that Israel will have to make and the need to quickly renew negotiations with the Palestinians. Netanyahu, when he appeared before the Likud faction in the Knesset on May 29, hinted at this. He told the Likud members, many of whom oppose negotiations, that Israel does not have a blank check with Trump in the diplomatic realm. At the epicenter of the controversy and public tempest in Israel is the long-term financial support provided by the PA to Palestinians incarcerated in Israel. A discussion, led by Gen. (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, had been held May 29 on this subject in the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The data provided by Kuperwasser, former chief of the research division of the Israel Defense Forces' Military Intelligence, aroused much anger. According to his figures, the PA transfers more than a billion shekels (more than $280 million) a year to families of prisoners and to the prisoners themselves. This is a tremendous sum, comprising a significant percentage of the Palestinians' overall budget. There is an almost across-the-board consensus in Israel on the need to halt these payments, which are perceived as encouraging terror. This objective is supported by the right, as well as by many in the political center and even on the left. The fact is that anyone who harms Israelis or turns to terror receives a tremendous salary from the PA during his or her imprisonment, and the families of these prisoners also receive generous payments. Many Israelis feel that this policy encourages the continuation of terror. It makes no sense for the state to conduct a diplomatic process with the goal of peace when ongoing incitement continues by the other side that is supposed to be a partner, said Avi Dichter of Likud in the course of the Knesset discussion. Dichter, former head of Shin Bet, now serves as chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The sorry state of affairs, in which a dialogue of the deaf is taking place between Jerusalem and Ramallah with Washingtons desperate mediation, is a type of Middle East Catch-22. According to official Israeli security data, between 750,000 and 800,000 Palestinians have been arrested and imprisoned by Israel since 1967, when Israel seized and occupied Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This is an incredible number, equivalent to a third of the population of Israel. You dont understand, a high-placed Palestinian told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. Around a third of our people are familiar with the inside of your prisons. Almost a million human beings have rubbed shoulders with Israeli prison guards over the last 50 years. There is hardly a Palestinian household without a shahid [here in reference to suicide attacker] or prisoner. This is engrained deeply in our genes. No leader has been born that can change this fact. Al-Monitor has learned that this issue also came up in the conversation between Abbas and Trump. A Palestinian diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity that during the meeting, Trump was told, There is no Palestinian leader who would not be sacked five minutes after he damaged the status of the prisoners. He was also told, This is an impossible demand. The Palestinian people see these prisoners as those who sacrificed and took part in the war against the occupation. That is, indeed, the situation. To restart negotiations in a way that has any chance of making progress, Trumps people will have to square the circle. They will have to mediate between two nations that speak different languages and hold completely different value systems. The Palestinians incarcerated in Israel are viewed by the Israeli majority as despicable murderers who did not hesitate to slaughter innocent women and children. The Palestinians, by contrast, view them as freedom fighters and assign them an almost holy status. Neither nation will alter its view on this emotionally charged issue. What is needed to somehow resolve this complex situation is a responsible adult, someone who will seize the authority to tell the two sides something along these lines: Fate has brought the Palestinian nation and the Israeli nation to the same plot of land. The Palestinians will not change, and evidently the Israelis wont either. All the useless arguments must be pushed aside and focus must be placed on the core issue courageous negotiations must be held on the core issues (borders, Jerusalem, refugees). The prisoner problem should only be addressed afterward. Any other mode of action will only perpetuate the bloody conflict that embitters everyones lives. Is Trump the responsible adult who can conduct the mission? Many people might find the label responsible adult somewhat amusing when applied to Trump. With regard to everything connected to the negotiations, however, the president has so far revealed acute understanding, vision and execution. His problem is that the sides themselves dont really want to enter the negotiating room, despite statements to the contrary. Netanyahu is deathly afraid of negotiations, and Abbas knows that he will be obliged to make decisions that no Palestinian leader has made before him. It is doubtful that Trump could pull it off. May 30, 2017 President Donald Trump's visit to Israel May 22-23 had a dramatic impact not only on the political arena, which was jolted awake after a long period of lethargy, but on Israeli public opinion. The Likud, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would win around 30 seats if an election were held today, according to a poll released May 26 by Channel 2. It is the continuation of a trend that shows a significant rise in support for Netanyahu compared with previous polls. The most recent poll has given Netanyahu a few more reasons to revel in the euphoria that has taken hold of him ever since Trump landed in Israel. The strengthening of the Likud came at the expense of Yair Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party continues to grow weaker: The poll indicated it would win just 22 seats, compared with the 24 and 26 seats predicted in previous polls. And yet Lapid is still considered the greatest threat facing Netanyahu in the next election. Naftali Bennett, the chairman of HaBayit HaYehudi, has also challenged Netanyahu's leadership, and even expressed a desire to replace him as head of the right-wing national camp. Nevertheless, he has also seen a decline in the polls, which predicted his party would win just nine seats. It looks like Bennett's strategy of flanking Netanyahu from the right is not bearing any fruit, at least at this stage. In response to the question, "Who is best suited to be prime minister?" Netanyahu has a significant lead over all his competitors (35% think he is best suited). Lapid comes in second (14%), but trails by a significant gap. The most interesting result of this poll, however, is that it shows that most Israelis support the creation of two states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian. Of the respondents, 47% said they support a diplomatic arrangement based on the 1967 borders but keeping the major settlement blocs while 39% opposed such an arrangement. This finding reflects a certain dissonance in the positions of many Israelis. On the one hand, in Knesset elections voters have moved steadily to the right, electing an unabashedly right-wing government in 2015. On the other hand, Israelis still believe that an arrangement can be reached with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution. Today, Bennett heads the only coalition party to demand the two-state solution be taken off the table. The fact that he has failed to take off in the polls further indicates support for the latter position. Everything that has happened since Trump's election points to the idea that Netanyahu is an outstanding diplomatic tactician. The prime minister did not succumb to enormous pressure from the right, and he continued to support a two-state solution publicly. Nevertheless, he also insisted that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is an opponent of peace who heads a Palestinian campaign of incitement against Israel. Netanyahu uses this to explain why he has avoided making any practical moves toward reaching an agreement. Even if Netanyahu has done nothing to advance a two-state solution, he has flirted with the idea ever since he returned to power in 2009. There are two reasons for this: the need to contend with international pressure, and the results of internal polls, with which he is so familiar. The two-state solution still has significant support among the party center and the moderate right, a political bloc that could potentially offer many votes to the Likud. Apart from its political significance, it is worth considering support for a two-state solution on the 50th anniversary of the occupation (since the 1967 war), with a right-wing government at the helm and many Israelis feeling frustrated and exhausted after long years of intifada and terror. Ever since the 1993 Oslo Accord, and despite last decade's second intifada (2000-2005) and the intifada of individuals of the past few years, the public continues to support an arrangement based on the creation of a Palestinian state. While support for this has been worn away, it is quite obvious that it still exists. After Netanyahu explicitly declared his support for a Palestinian state in his 2009 Bar Ilan speech, polls showed that support for him increased significantly. According to a poll conducted at the time by Haaretz daily, 71% of the public thought Netanyahu "said the right things." The more important finding, however, was that Netanyahu kept his political base despite what he said. Some 90% of Likud voters even agreed with the content of his Bar Ilan speech. A July 2014 poll conducted by Haaretz found that most Israelis (60%) still see a two-state solution as preferable in the long term, provided that it is backed by the prime minister. An August 2016 poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 59% of Israelis still support a two-state solution. Much has been written over the last few years about how the far right has taken over the Likud ever since members of the settler movement joined the party en masse. Party members select the Likud's list for the Knesset, which means that to climb the ranks of the party's Knesset list, candidates are forced to present extreme positions. The result has been a situation in which the Likud's leadership is much further to the right than most party voters. In 2004, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to disengage from Gaza, he polled Likud members about his decision and was soundly defeated. The far right already dominated the party's membership rolls and proved its strength. In a display of real leadership, Sharon went ahead with the plan anyway, and then divided the party to form a new centrist party, Kadima. Polls showed that the new party led by him would receive as many as 40 seats. While Sharon did not lead the party in the next election (he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in 2006), he proved that a decision based on leadership has power, unlike decisions based on the positions of some extremist party mechanism. If Netanyahu were to lead some similar move, he might lose the support of the Likud's far right, but he would also win numerous seats from the center, a bloc that now lacks political leadership. At this point, Netanyahu is not expected to make such a turnabout. While he will continue to flirt with the idea of a two-state solution, he will not take steps to achieve it. Instead, he will continue to worry about losing his right-wing base to Bennett, even at the cost of giving up seats he could win from the center and making any meaningful progress in the diplomatic process. May 31, 2017 In the Assyrian-Christian city of Hamdaniya, which its inhabitants call Qaraqosh, 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Mosul, a big house belonging to a Muslim family temporarily hosts a terrorism court as part of the Iraqi Criminal Court, where provincial trials are held. In this beige and orange two-story villa, Iraqi judges listen to prisoners who are accused of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group and having committed crimes against humanity. At the end of October 2016, when the city was liberated by Iraqi forces, the same house was occupied by IS foreign fighters, which is the reason it is one of the few houses that is not damaged. Aside from the trials of former IS fighters, weekdays from Sunday to Thursday, around 300 people gather in front of the doors of the villa. These individuals, who arrive at the same time as the IS fighters, are the victims of the three-year IS rule who seek justice. They reach Hamdaniya by private or public transportation from Mosul and its outskirts, or even from the camps for the displaced in Ninevah province, to report the violence they faced. They lost their homes, their cars and their personal possessions, and they bring pictures and documents as proof to show the judges. Many cry out for the disappearance of a family member, a killing and other brutal acts committed by IS in front of their eyes. On a daily basis, Iraqi special forces guide tens of blindfolded men with their hands tied behind their backs from the prisons in the area, especially from the two detention centers in Qayyara, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Mosul, and other makeshift prisons at police stations. They wait for their turn to see the judges, kneeling against the wall while being surveilled by the Iraqi special forces. In the same courtyard, victims and oppressors wait for justice. But the accused are called in faster than the victims. Did you pledge allegiance to Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? the judge asked the accused in one of the rooms on the first floor, where Al-Monitor was present to listen to the interrogations. Yes, sir, answered Ismail H. What were you doing before joining Daesh [IS]? the judge asked. I was a worker. I joined IS to pay my sisters medical operation, Ismail said. Do you know how many people died in Mosul in the last three years? Wouldn't it have been better to sacrifice your sister rather than let tens of thousands of people of your city die? the judge shouted. Yes, sir, Ismail replied, visibly intimidated. One question follows another, but the investigation is based only on the personal confessions of the accused. Seventy percent of them plead guilty, but few elaborate on the crimes they committed or the battles they joined, the judge told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. If you listen to them, it seems like they were all working in the caliphate's kitchen, he concluded, visibly losing his patience. The judges mission is not an easy one. They themselves are residents of Mosul. Before they fled the city in 2013-14, their lives were threatened. Fifteen of Mosuls judges were assassinated according to Younes Joumali, the chief judge at the court in Hamdaniya, who was attacked multiple times on the way from his house to the court in Mosul in 2014. The judges now assess whether there is enough evidence to bring charges against those who supported IS, under Provision 4 of the Federal Iraqi Counterterrorism Law. The judges then either order the release of the detainees or transfer the accused to Baghdad to face charges. Did you repent? the judge asked another prisoner, Ahmed K. Yes, I surrendered, he stated. Do you still have any relationship with Daesh? the judge insisted. No, nothing. I surrendered to the Iraqi forces a few days ago, Ahmed replied. So why did you join Daesh? the judge asked. They were distributing water for free in our neighborhood if we worked with them, Ahmed said. And if you are released, will you go back to the caliph? the judge said. No, Ahmed replied. If tomorrow you will be free, will you fight at al-Ayman [western Mosul]? asked the judge. No, declared the accused. The judge told Al-Monitor, They all claim that they repented or have surrendered, but I'm afraid that if we untie their hands, they will behead all of us." The judge's assistant writes every word the accused pronounces in colloquial Arabic, with the judge dictating the prisoner's statements in formal Arabic, while the lawyer of the accused, paid by the Iraqi state, remains silent and looks bored. Throughout the week and during the interrogations Al-Monitor witnessed, none of the defense attorneys spoke to their assistants or commented on the questions of the judges. According to the reports of these interrogations, the Criminal Court in Baghdad will decide the final sentence. According to the Iraqi 2005 Counterterrorism Law, prisoners could be sentenced from 15 years to life, or receive the death penalty. This law has been strongly criticized at different times in recent Iraqi history and never constituted a deterrent for terrorist attacks that have continued unabated throughout Iraq. Further critiques came last summer when the Iraqi parliament approved a controversial amnesty law. Critics argue that especially nowadays it seems inappropriate to apply this law in the current phase in the battle against IS and during the post-IS transitional justice period. The number of detainees held in inhumane conditions is on the rise as the battle continues in western Mosul. The justice process in Iraq remains very approximate, and issued sentences will not prevent the future emergence of terrorist organizations. In the room next to the accused, Mosul inhabitants have less to say in front of the judge, but more documents to prove what they have experienced. The civilians are asking for compensation, but they already know they will not get any financial assistance for years to come. The priority for the Iraqi government right now is to defeat IS and to regain the territory. The victims will have to wait. May 30, 2017 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Palestinian Authority (PA) is set to enact in June a controversial law that will force about half of Gaza's security personnel to retire, while leaving the West Bank's force intact. Officials in the security services have started contacting staff members to inform them of the change. Some economic experts say the austerity measures in part meant to solve the struggling PA's financial crisis remain unviable in light of a weak economy that relies on donors and tax funds, without creating new development projects. Such measures merely reflect a political dispute rather than addressing the economic problem, they say. Until June, every member of the Palestinian security forces is entitled to optional early retirement, provided that he is at least 45 years old if he is an officer and at least 35 if a noncommissioned officer or staff member, with a monthly pension of at least 70% of his salary. However, under the move being imposed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, all military staff in Gaza born as of June 31, 1966, must retire, while those born after that date will have the option of voluntary retirement. Abbas approved the law directly, without a vote by the suspended Palestinian Legislative Council. As a result, the Advisory and Legislation Bureau in Gaza deems the law unconstitutional, but the bureau's opposition isn't expected to have any impact. Aref Abu Jarad, head of the PA employees union in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, The law will apply to 50% of the PAs military staff in Gaza and will be mandatory for those above the determined age. It is, however, optional for military staff in the West Bank, regardless of their age. He added, The decision will soon be binding to all military staff in Gaza. Retirees will receive a pension equivalent to 70% of their salaries. This will not be enough to ensure them a decent life. Most military staff members in Gaza have to pay bank loans and financial obligations; the remaining amount of their pension will not be enough to make ends meet. Abu Jarad called on all military staff in Gaza to raise their voices against the retirement law, which he said is "unfair." "The 30% cut to their salaries is a preliminary step for making them subject to the retirement law soon. This means that the PA is evading all of its financial and political responsibilities in Gaza, keeping Hamas fully in charge," Abu Jarad said. Hamas leaders believe the move is Abbas' latest action to squeeze Hamas financially to get it to turn over control of the strip, which it has held since the PA split in 2007. Abbas' party, Fatah, administers the West Bank. The thinking is that if Hamas wishes to continue to control the Gaza Strip, it must accept financial responsibility for it. In April, the PA cut 30% from the salaries of its civil servants in Gaza. Senior Fatah officials told Al-Monitor at the time that, since the 2007 split, the PA has continued to pay its tens of thousands of employees there who were fired by Hamas. Until the end of 2016, the PA employed a total of 156,000 civil and military personnel; that figure included 62,000 employees in Gaza 26,000 of whom are civil servants and 36,000 military staff, according to Farid Ghannam, the director of the Budget Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Finance. Gaza PA officers and members of the security services are the nuclei of the security apparatus formed by the PA after it received the Gaza Strip and Jericho when the Oslo Accord was implemented in 1993. Asked whether the PA's move to impose early retirement aims to address its financial crisis, retired Maj. Gen. Yusuf al-Sharqawi from Gaza told Al-Monitor, The pensioning of military staff members who have not been working since the Hamas takeover of Gaza is better for them than to enter into new political confrontations. Sharqawi added, During his premiership in January 2012, Salam Fayyad put forward the idea of enforcing the early retirement law on PA employees, especially Gaza employees with privileges and incentives greater than those offered today, in a bid to reduce the PA budget deficit. Early retirement will not solve the financial crisis; it will only create new problems for the Palestinian pension and social security funds." Sharqawi said the decision is part of the pressures exerted by the PA on Hamas in Gaza, in light of the failure by Hamas and Fatah to reconcile and end their differences so as to put an end to the countrys political and economic crises. This move will weaken the Palestinian position and is a preliminary move toward the complete separation of Gaza from the West Bank, he added. Economics professor Mouin Ragab from Al-Azhar University in Gaza told Al-Monitor, Early retirement will negatively affect the economic situation in Gaza, since the 30% cut resulting from retirement will weaken purchasing power in the Gaza Strip. Ragab added, The PA will not solve the issue by making cuts in the salary of its employees. The marginalized and dependent Palestinian economy is unable to create new job opportunities to stop the growing unemployment rate, especially among graduates and young people. Instead of the salary cuts, the PA ought to start development projects, and not relief, to ease the dire Palestinian economic situation. Ola Awa, the head of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, pointed out during an April 30 presentation of her report on the Palestinian workers situation, The number of unemployed in 2016 was estimated at 361,000 people, including 154,000 in the West Bank and 207,000 in the Gaza Strip. Nasser Abdul Karim, an economics professor at Birzeit University, spoke to Al-Monitor about Abbas' decision on early retirement. Things are quickly taking a bad turn, starting from the deduction of the transportation allowances for employees in Gaza, then a partial salary cut and now forcing staff into early retirement and cutting off their salaries. This does not serve the Palestinian situation. There must be alternative solutions to the financial problems plaguing the PA solutions based on encouraging investment to create jobs, Karim said. According to a World Bank report sent to donor group Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which met May 4 in Brussels, the PA is suffering from a financing gap of $800 million and has to face declining donor assistance by addressing government spending on salaries and pensions and improving local tax collection. Marina Wes, the World Banks country director for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, had said in an April 27 press release, The Palestinian economy is failing to generate jobs and incomes. One-third of Palestinians are out of work and more than half of the youth in Gaza are jobless. Gaza is on the verge of a human catastrophe. May 31, 2017 Andrew is extremely discouraged and really really needs your prayers! The May 27 post on the joint Facebook page of pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife, Norine, suggests that US President Donald Trumps efforts to secure the American clerics freedom from a Turkish jail arent going well. Brunson, a native of North Carolina, has remained in prison since Oct. 7 after being arrested over his alleged missionary activities in support of terror organizations. Trump raised his case with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their 23-minute meeting at the White House on May 16, raising hopes that he would be freed and allowed to return home. But a story calling Brunson a CIA operative that was splashed on the front page of the Turkish daily Takvim just four days after the presidents met was an ominous signal that the pastor wont be leaving anytime soon. The newspaper claimed that Brunson ran an extensive intelligence network and that had the July coup attempt succeeded, he would have been made director of the CIA. Takvim echoed prosecutors' charges that not only was Brunson in league with Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Turkish cleric who is accused of plotting the putsch, he was also providing material and moral support to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed Kurdish militant group that is fighting Turkish security forces for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey. Brunsons wife, who was picked up with him but released 13 days later, has denied all the accusations. A fellow pastor interviewed by Al-Monitor also vouched for his innocence. Smear tactics and plain old fabrication are nothing unusual for the pro-government Turkish press. Takvim is owned by the Turkuvuaz media group, which is run by the brother of Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogans son-in-law and seen as his most trusted lieutenant. Albayrak is widely rumored to use Takvim and its flagship Sabah to push the government narrative, and the spate of incriminating articles about Brunson bodes ill. Takvim's editor-in-chief, Ergun Diler, was in the media gaggle accompanying Erdogan on his Washington trip and he claimed in a column that Brunsons training as an agent had helped him fend off an assassination attempt in 2011. Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish opposition lawmaker and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, believes Brunson may have become a bargaining chip in Turkeys tattered relations with the United States. He told Al-Monitor, The Turkish government has no intention of providing Pastor Brunson a fair trial. Ankara sees Pastor Brunson as a hostage that they can use as leverage in their relations with the United States. It is clear that Erdogan's inner circle has little understanding of the dynamics of US politics and the damage the imprisoned US pastor can cause in bilateral relations. Turkey is demanding Gulens extradition and there is mounting speculation that Brunsons detention is linked to the United States continued refusal to hand over Gulen and Iranian-Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab, who is being tried in a federal court over an alleged sanctions-busting scheme to help Iran. If so, it marks a new low in Turkeys international behavior. Detaining Westerners on trumped-up charges as a means of extracting concessions in exchange for their release is a tactic employed by Iran and other rogue regimes. Erdogan raised eyebrows earlier this week when he suggested to parliamentarians from his Justice and Development Party that Turkey could play dirty with countries that refused to comply with Turkeys demands to extradite Turkish nationals accused of links to the Gulenists and other outlawed outfits. I am calling out to the whole world. I am saying that if you dont help us know that if your own [citizens] fall into our hands someday, you will not be able to get them back. Brunsons case has drawn attention in Congress, but to little effect. In February, a bipartisan letter from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee signed by 78 lawmakers called for his unconditional release. Republican Sen. James Lankford, who has taken a personal interest in Brunsons case, noted in an interview with Fox News, There is a way to be able to resolve this. If [Turkey is] having concern about this United States citizen, deport them but not just hold them indefinitely with detention. Turkey seems to be doing just that, to Brunson as well as tens of thousands of Turkish detainees who have yet to even be given a courtroom hearing. Brunson will need more than prayers to get out. [EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story read that Norine Brunson was released two days after their arrest. Al-Monitor regrets the error.] May 30, 2017 The news reports about US President Donald Trump sharing highly classified information with Russia have taken a bit of a twist, causing concern in Moscow. Initial coverage said Trumps revelations might have endangered an Israeli spy embedded with the Islamic State. However, more recent reports by Al Jazeera suggest that a Jordanian might have been the source of the critical security information, throwing a shadow on the much-trumpeted alliance between Moscow and Amman and their readiness to coordinate on Syria. To observers closely following Russias military involvement in the Syrian conflict and its political role in the wider region, it was surprising to hear that Jordan might not have shared critical pieces of intelligence with Moscow. The information was related to a potential IS attack on a plane something Russia and Jordan would normally work together to prevent. In fact, Russia was the first and only state to fall victim to an Islamic State attack on a civilian aircraft when one was hit over Sinai in 2015, killing 224 people. Since then, Russia has stepped up airline security as well as intelligence efforts to prevent other attacks, meaning cooperation on the issue with other countries is paramount. A source close to the Russian intelligence community confirmed to Al-Monitor that Russia and Jordan consistently cooperate on airline security, exchanging intelligence including information on people suspected of having ties to extremists who could pose a threat. Whats more, the two appear to have cooperated on ground operations. Following the launch of the Russian military campaign in Syria, the two countries set up an intelligence-sharing channel to help them coordinate in Syria. While announcing the 2015 agreement, the Russian foreign minister also said the countries would "coordinate their actions," including military aircraft missions over Syria. Commentators immediately rushed to suggest that Jordan was abandoning its traditional allies in the region the United States and the United Kingdom in favor of a more assertive Russia. Despite the speculation, Jordan stayed in the US-led anti-IS coalition. King Abdullah recently made an appearance at the Riyadh summit, showing allegiance to the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition also known as the Islamic Military Alliance. A source close to the Royal Hashemite Court told Al-Monitor, The key factor in Jordans security equation is the border that it shares with Syria and Iraq. In this context, cooperation with external powers, such as Russia and the United States, is motivated solely by Jordans internal security calculations. It is no coincidence that in this tumultuous region, Jordan has remained one of the few islands of stability while war rages across the border in Syria. In the current circumstances, Amman and Moscow need each other both politically and militarily. The king has consistently seen Russia as an important ally, evidenced by his 16 visits to Russia since his coronation in 1999. Despite the frequency of interaction, the agenda of the bilateral relationship has been mostly limited to nonbinding political dialogue and very modest trade deals. However, talks on defense cooperation have been notable. Since 2000, Moscow and Amman have signed a number of arms deals, including on Igla portable air defense systems and Kornet anti-tank systems as well as on localizing production of Russian RPGs in Jordan. One of the kings advisers on military cooperation with Moscow is Russian citizen Mark Voloshin, who was central to negotiating arms deals between the two countries. Arguably, the conflict in Syria created a whole new context for the relations, so its no coincidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin paid his first official visit to Amman in 2012 soon after he reassumed the presidency that year. Given Russias current polarizing role in the Middle East, Jordan with whom Moscow enjoys a highly pragmatic relationship is seen as a potential mediator between Russia and the Sunni world. Russias decision to include Jordan in Syrian peace negotiations in Astana, Kazakhstan, shows Moscows growing realization that Arab support for its diplomatic efforts is key. Intensifying jihadi activity in southwestern Syria as well as the potential migration of IS fighters toward the Jordanian border have stimulated the buildup of American and British forces in northern Jordan. A looming UK-US-Jordanian operation in southern Syria is cause for serious concern in Moscow, as the action could put the Assad government in danger and could create a new front against Iranian forces in Syria. Given the absence of real dialogue between the United States and Russia on Syria, Jordan plays an important role in communicating Russias position to the Americans. While previously it was Jordan reaching out to the Russian government and pinning its hopes on defense cooperation with Moscow, now the tables have turned: Moscow is looking to rally the kings support, as the window of opportunity for a Syrian settlement is closing quickly for Russia. May 30, 2017 The Saudi-orchestrated bloc of Sunni Muslim states celebrated at US President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh is splintering less than two weeks after the summit. There is growing unease with the summit's intense animosity toward Iran and increasing concerns that the Saudis are inflaming the sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shiites. Trump's domestic troubles are also raising doubts over whether Washington is reliable. The most acrimonious split is in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which held its own private summit with the president. The Qatari emir allegedly told an audience at home just after the summit that the Saudis were placing too much trust in a president in deep political trouble at home. He also criticized the virulent rhetoric castigating Iran at the summit. Emir Shaykh Tamim bin Hamid Al Thani has publicly said the Gulf states need to engage Tehran, not isolate it. He called Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to congratulate him on his re-election. In response, the Saudis and Emiratis blocked Qatar's Al-Jazeera network. The Qataris said the emir's remarks had been hacked by unknown sources and misinterpreted, but they provided little evidence to support their claim. The Saudis next escalated the dispute with Qatar considerably. The Saudi media reported May 28 on an open letter from the Al-Shaykh family, the descendants of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The letter is signed by all 200 of the male descendants of the founder of Wahhabism in the kingdom. The al-Shaykhs are the al-Saud's critical partners in the ruling of the kingdom and provide its religious legitimacy. The minister of Islamic Affairs and the grand mufti both signed the letter. The letter accuses the emir of an unidentified Gulf emirate of falsely claiming that he is a descendant of Wahhab. This false claim is not only "fabricated" but it also is allegedly being used to misinterpret Islam. The letter demands that the bad emir change the name of the largest mosque in his country, currently named the Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque. (The largest mosque in Doha, Qatar, is in the only other Wahhabi state aside from Saudi Arabia). The letter is from the heart of the clerical establishment in Saudi Arabia and amounts to an indictment of the legitimacy of the Qatari ruling family. It is unprecedented in GCC politics for one state to dispute the legitimacy of another's royal family. It's also a quarrel within Wahhabism. The Saudi media has also accused the Qatari foreign minister of meeting secretly with Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq to cooperate against American and Saudi interests in Iraq. There is no independent verification of this information. The Qatari quarrel is highly visible and has gone on before. It's a repeat performance of the "uppity" Qataris' challenging their bigger brother. More quietly, Oman has also distanced itself from the Saudi bloc. Sultan Qaboos did not attend the Riyadh summit and his representative did not get a short bilateral meeting with Trump, as did all the other GCC representatives. Oman has stayed out of the Saudi war in Yemen and has kept open its ties to Iran. Both Qatar and Oman have economic ties with Iran that constrain their approach to Tehran. But the emir and sultan are also very troubled by the growing sectarian tensions throughout the Islamic world. Doubts have also surfaced in Pakistan, which shares a long border with Iran and has a large Shiite minority. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received an apology from King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud for not arranging a bilateral meeting with the president or allowing Sharif and other Muslim leaders the opportunity to speak after Trump addressed them about Islam. Saudi relations with Pakistan have been troubled since the start of the war in Yemen, which Pakistan decisively refused to join despite repeated Saudi requests. The Pakistani parliament even voted unanimously to keep out. Pakistan is the Muslim world's biggest military power and the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons. The Pakistani media is now criticizing the Riyadh summit relentlessly for exacerbating sectarian tensions. One commentator called the Saudi-led coalition "dangerous" while another lambasted Trump's "bluster." The Riyadh summit was labeled "theater of the absurd" in the country's leading newspaper. Calls are growing for the Pakistani commander of the Saudi-based Islamic Military Alliance and former army commander Gen. Raheel Sharif to come home and quit his job as the leader of the so-called Arab NATO. Saudi largesse will ensure the Sunni alliance does not completely unravel. A core group of states share Riyadh's hatred of the Iranians or are prepared to indulge Riyadh. But many more states are eager to avoid fanning the sectarian divide. They blame both Riyadh and Tehran for stoking tensions. For all of them, their own national interests trump Islamic or Sunni unity. Correction: May 31, 2017. An earlier version of this story misspelled Gen. Raheel Sharif's name. May 24, 2017 CAIRO An order to close all Egyptian nightclubs, bars and liquor stores on a recent Islamic holiday reignited public debate about whether such bans are hypocritical, discriminatory and detrimental to tourism. Ashraf Ezz al-Arab, general director of Egypt's Tourism and Antiquities Police, issued the order May 11, the day before the Night of Mid-Shaaban, a holiday that calls for Muslims to fast. They believe their fortunes for the coming year are determined on that day, and their sins might be forgiven. According to Arab, the Ministry of Tourism's Decision 222 of 2012, amending requirements for tourism establishments, stipulates that anyone caught drinking or selling alcohol during the holiday can be imprisoned. In reality, however, the law only sanctions sellers, not buyers, unless the latter are found inebriated. Arab did not make clear whether the ban also applied to foreigners. The holiday passed without any significant incidents, as those who wanted to drink had probably already bought their supplies, and restaurants, nightclubs and stores complied with the ban to avoid trouble. Five-star hotels appear to have abided by the ban in public areas, although it would have been difficult for them to refuse orders for alcoholic beverages through room service. Arab's order continues to stir discussion. Egyptians who call for the application of Islamic law say the government is being inconsistent or hypocritical in a sense. They argue that alcohol is forbidden and should be permanently banned, not only on Islamic holidays and during the month of Ramadan. In addition, why should the ban apply only to Egyptians? Egyptians involved in tourism see the ban as harmful to their interests. They also say it gives extremists justification to kill those who sell alcohol, which has happened in the past. In January in Alexandria, a liquor store owner was murdered by a man who said he had warned the store owner to stop selling alcoholic beverages. Wajdi al-Kerdani, former head of Egypts Chamber of Tourist Facilities, told Al-Monitor that Law 63 of 1976 prohibits the supply or consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places or public shops except by those with a license. Hotels, tourist establishments and nightclubs are exempted. The Ministry of Tourism can, however, set some conditions on the exercise of certain licensed activities. For example, in 2008, Tourism Minister Zuhair Garrana banned the sale of alcohol to Egyptian nationals only, while allowing its sale to foreigners, including Gulf nationals and other Muslims, during the month of Ramadan. Concerned Egyptians have cried foul, claiming that they are being discriminated against. Kerdani said Munir Fakhry Abdel Nour, minister of tourism in Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq's Cabinet, in July 2012 banned the supply and consumption of alcohol at tourist facilities for Egyptian nationals on all religious holidays, not just Ramadan. He said Egyptians who want to drink on religious occasions will simply buy alcohol ahead of time or ask a foreign friend or a hotel worker to purchase it for them. The ban of alcoholic beverages on religious occasions is just pro forma, Kerdani said. Sheikh Sharif al-Hawari, a board member of the Salafi Call, told Al-Monitor, The rule in Islam prohibits alcohol, its manufacture, sale, transport or offer. There must be a deterring law to prevent alcohol altogether. Article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution says the principles of Sharia are the main source of legislation. He also asserted, Alcohol wastes the energies of youth and contributes to the spread of crime and road accidents. Hawari pointed out that in 2016, Egypt imported alcoholic beverages worth 296 million Egyptian pounds (about $33 million), despite difficult economic conditions and declining tourism. He told Al-Monitor that he does not expect a ban to have severe implications for tourism, citing an economic report that said in 2016, Muslim populations worldwide spent $142 billion on travel. Egypt could attract some of those dollars, Hawari said, by appealing to Muslim tourists. The report, The Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism, notes, however, that 44% of Muslim tourist expenditures is spent in the United States and Europe, which do not necessarily cater to Muslim tourists. If Egypt provides the proper infrastructure for halal [conforming to Islamic law] tourism by establishing all-women's tourist facilities, banning alcohol all year long and finding suitable places of worship, this type of tourism would generate significant revenues, he said. Also, according to Hawari, non-Muslims will respect Egyptian traditions, including the ban on alcohol. Non-Muslim women put the veil over their head and take off their shoes when visiting ancient mosques, he remarked. Tourists who love Egypt will keep coming despite the ban. If they insist on drinking alcohol, tourists can bring their own bottles of alcohol and consume this substance in their hotel room and not in public places. Banning alcohol only on religious holidays for Egyptian nationals is clearly contradictory, Hawari maintained. He claims that young religious people want the Egyptian government to ban alcohol consumption and sale all year long. Wagdy William, who owns a liquor store in downtown Cairo, told Al-Monitor that he closes his store on religious holidays to avoid trouble. William said, If I refuse to sell alcoholic beverages to an Egyptian customer, I may end up losing him, as he will head to another store, but if I do sell to him, I would get in trouble with the Interior Ministry and would end up being forced to beg the police to avoid being prosecuted. He added, On New Year's Eve, alcoholic beverage sales rise steeply in Egypt. The tourism rate increases during this season, as a large number of Arab and foreign tourists head to Egypt to celebrate this special night. Several events and parties are also organized during this season, and alcohol consumption is an essential part of such events. Magdy Salim, former undersecretary at the Ministry of Tourism, remarked, The ban decision [involving religious holidays] specifies that the offending party would see his store shut down, or his tourist facility barred from the register of the Ministry of Tourism, and would be liable for imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months and a fine of not more than 500 Egyptian pounds [$28] or for both sanctions, he told Al-Monitor. Salim rejects the concept of halal hotels that do not offer alcohol, since under Egyptian regulations, no hotel can earn a five-star rating unless it serves alcohol. Egyptian authorities allow tourists to bring in alcoholic beverages from their countries, he noted. The ban is useless. I think it would be best to keep the issue of alcohol consumption a matter of personal preference. May 31, 2017 Turkey and Germany are heading for a showdown over Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, which could hamper operations against the Islamic State conducted out of the base and further damage Ankaras already tarnished image in NATO. At issue is Turkeys refusal to allow German parliamentarians from visiting their troops at Incirlik. Ankara initially made this decision in retaliation against the adoption by the German parliament in June 2016 of a resolution referring to the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide. German media reports show that Ankara is already feeling the fallout from its dispute with Berlin. Germany reportedly headed the list of countries that refused to accept President Recep Tayyip Erdogans invitation during last weeks NATO summit to hold next years alliance summit in Istanbul. In the meantime, Germany is considering redeploying the 260 soldiers and the reconnaissance aircraft it has in Incirlik to Jordan if an agreement with Ankara cannot be reached by mid-June. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel will be in Ankara next week to try to clear up the situation. Ankara, however, remains defiant. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said recently that Turkey will not beg for German troops to stay. "If they want to leave, let's just say goodbye," he told a private channel. Since the Armenian resolution, tensions between the two countries have increased even more over other differences. These include the fact that Erdogan and Turkish government ministers were not allowed to hold rallies in Germany prior to the constitutional referendum on April 16, which aimed to concentrate all power in Erdogans hands, in order to canvass for support among the large number of Turks there. The fact that sympathizers of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is outlawed in both countries, were allowed to hold rallies in Germany around the same time and chant anti-Erdogan slogans aggravated the situation further. Germanys refusal to extradite supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic cleric Ankara accuses of masterminding last years failed coup against Erdogan, and offering many of them asylum instead, has poured more fuel on Ankaras anger. The arrest and imprisonment in Turkey of journalists Deniz Yucel and Mesale Tolu, both of whom are German citizens of Turkish origin, on charges of aiding PKK terrorism has not helped either. Matters came to a head when a German delegation of deputies was not allowed by Turkey to visit Incirlik on May 16. Turkish media quoted official sources who merely said, This visit was not considered appropriate at this time. Cavusoglus remarks on the topic were equally vague. "We see that Germany supports everything that is against Turkey," Cavusoglu told a news conference May 30. "Under these circumstances, it is not possible for us to open Incirlik to German lawmakers right now. If they take positive steps in the future, we can reconsider." Turkeys demands from Berlin clearly include a disowning of the Armenian resolution by the German government, a ban on the activities of pro-PKK elements and the extradition of those sought by Ankara in connection with last years attempted coup. Diplomats sounded out by Al-Monitor said these demands are unlikely to be met given the increasing anger among German lawmakers toward Turkey. The Green Party with support from within the Social Democratic Party, Merkels coalition partner want German troops to move out of Turkey immediately. They argue that Erdogan is making short shrift of European democratic values and should not be emboldened further by being allowed to use the German military presence in Incirlik as a pawn against Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkels Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, however, favor a more cautious approach. Germany has over 3 million Turks, which ensures the need for significant cooperation between the two countries on multiple levels. This is what is driving the desire for caution and dialogue with Turkey, rather than burning bridges. Barcin Yinanc, a veteran foreign policy commentator for Hurriyet Daily News, believes Germanys need for Turkey will be even greater in the future. She pointed out in a recent article that if Merkel wins the German elections in September, she and newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron will effectively lead Europe. And if these two decide to take Europes fate in their own hands, it would only facilitate their leadership if they were to have Turkey, a key NATO member, at the epicenter of everything that matters to the EU from relations, to Russia, to the refugee crisis on their side Yinanc argued. Merkels suggestion after last weeks NATO summit that Europe had to rely less on the United States and look to providing its own security in the future gives added importance to this view. Merkel has pinned her hopes now on Gabriels talks in Ankara next week to come up with a face-saving compromise for both sides. Neither side appears prepared, mainly for domestic political reasons, to be seen as the one climbing down. While Ankara says it wont beg for German troops in Incirlik to stay, it is clear that if they were to be redeployed somewhere else in the Middle East, Turkey would lose prestige. It would also prompt new questions about Turkeys reliability as a NATO ally. Turkey mistakes defiant short-term steps for a coherent foreign policy, but this will only increase its international isolation and leave it with having gained little in the end, a diplomat talking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said. It is restraint on the European side that has so far prevented ties from breaking down completely, according to the diplomat. Turkeys strategic place means it will remain vitally important for Europe, whether Erdogan is at the helm or not. This does not mean, however, that Ankara will have it its way every time, he added. Retired Ambassador Osman Koruturk, whose past postings include Berlin, said Turkish-German ties are deeply intertwined socially, economically and politically and criticizes the way Ankara has been conducting its foreign policy under Erdogan. The biggest mistake is conducting foreign policy over the media, while this should be done face to face and behind closed doors, Koruturk, who is currently a deputy for the main opposition Republican People's Party, told Al-Monitor. Otherwise the danger is that you will be unable to stand behind your defiant public statements and be forced to climb down, he added, pointing out that this is what he expects to happen with Germany, as was the case with Russia and Israel before. Koruturk also pointed out that the crisis with Germany is ultimately a crisis between Turkey and NATO. Turkey has already lost its predictability for NATO. The situation with Germany will not help get rid of the negative perceptions that have emerged about Turkey, Koruturk said. With the lines drawn as they are, however, it remains to be seen which side will blink first. Given Erdogans penchant for escalating international tensions, this crisis with Germany could still get out of hand to the detriment of all concerned. May 30, 2017 In April, donors pledged more than $1 billion in aid to finance humanitarian efforts in Yemen. The United Nations, Sweden and Switzerland organized the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, which sought to raise funds to finance the response plan of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The event, held April 25 in Geneva, took place after more than two years of civil war in Yemen one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, if not the poorest and a military intervention led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. According to UN estimates from April, some 19 million Yemenis need emergency support, and about 7 million of them are severely food insecure, a situation that qualifies as the worlds worst man-made famine at the moment. The pledging event in Geneva coincided with the second wave of a cholera outbreak, the first outbreak having occurred in October. With more than 40,000 suspected cases in just four weeks, it is obvious that aid is needed now more than ever to help Yemenis survive the most brutal war in their modern history. It remains unclear whether the pledged aid will actually benefit Yemenis in need or whether it will fall into the wrong hands. Given the extremely chaotic environment, expecting implementation of a fully transparent aid delivery process would be overly optimistic. The current political and military situations point to bleak prospects for aid deliverability in the war-torn nation. The Saudi- and UAE-led coalition has for a while been demonstrating its desire to move the ongoing fight on the west coast toward the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah, after having recaptured the port of Mocha, some 112 miles from Hodeidah, in February. Such a move move would have devastating consequences, because it would probably lead to completely or partially blocking access to the port at Hodeidah, which receives 70% of the countrys imports and up to 80% of its humanitarian assistance. The port has been functioning for months at a very low capacity due to the coalitions halt in issuing clearance certificates to some vessels or informing vessels stationed in coalition-held areas not to proceed to Hodeidah until the situation has been stabilized. In addition, the instability along Yemens Red Sea coastline has made commercial vessels reluctant to unload at Hodeidah. The Hodeidah port remains one of the two largest ports in the country, the other being the port of Aden. Hodeidah serves about a third of Yemens population, who at the moment live in areas held by the Houthi rebels. Closing it will surely slow, if not extremely handicap any aid delivery process. The suggested alternatives to Hodeidah, such as the delivery of aid to the city of Marib or via Aden, come with great challenges, as they are not adequately equipped to replace the Hodeidah port. The capacity of the port at Aden, which receives about 20% of all imports, simply cannot be expanded overnight by 500% to receive almost 100% of imports and humanitarian aid entering the country. The port of Mukalla operates at a low capacity, only handling small vessels. Marib, in the middle of the country, has a domestic military airport, but surely lacks the capacity to receive large shipments of aid. Both the Aden and Marib alternatives will increase the cost of transporting food and medicines, since the Houthis have been imposing extra tariffs on goods crossing from areas held by the internationally recognized government, on top of taxes collected by the internationally recognized government, which puts additional burdens on the average citizen. Another challenge to equitably delivering the pledged aid will be overcoming the political differences among the de facto powers controlling the country. The political and regional polarization could take its toll on the ease with which international and, most important, domestic nongovernmental organizations work in areas controlled by the different warring parties. Less than a year after the formation of the supreme political council by the alliance of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthis to govern areas held by their forces, regional polarization was reinforced May 11 with the formation of a UAE-supported southern transitional political council. Its founder and leader, Aidaroos al-Zubaidi, the recently fired governor of Aden, announced the council's mission to govern areas of south Yemen that were formerly the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). The action was widely seen as a secessionist move on behalf of the de facto, southern military leaders. The significance of such a development is immense in regard to the humanitarian situation. The southern council if it manages to control all the former PDRY territory will have control over a number of seaports that will be essential to aid delivery, especially if the port of Hodeidah becomes inaccessible due to coalition operations against the Houthi-Saleh alliance. The position of the southern transitional political council regarding guaranteeing safe passage of aid to Houthi-held areas from seaports under its control, such as the ports of Aden and Mukalla, remain unknown. As noted, the pledged aid is intended to finance OCHA's humanitarian response plan, which is carried out by international aid organizations and domestic groups working closely with them. The aid is clearly not intended to go through the internationally recognized government, which is facing allegations of corruption at the moment. The long history of corruption in Yemen and its low ranking in corruption indexes such as being ranked 170 out of 176 in Transparency Internationals Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016 provides legitimate grounds for donors to limit transferring aid to nongovernmental organizations that are potentially vulnerable to government interference. It is of great importance for all stakeholders in this conflict to show more ownership of the will to guarantee a more efficient and transparent aid delivery process. Otherwise no matter how high pledges are, donors risk having assistance failing to reach those in critical need. Nashville-based cellular retailer Absolute Wireless has purchased 23 Sprint locations in four states, including 12 in Alabama. The company now owns 55 in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Arkansas. Absolute Wireless is also looking to hire 75 positions at the stores. The Alabama locations are: Airport Road, Huntsville. Opelika Road, Auburn. Beltline Road, Decatur. Berryhill Road, Montgomery. Montgomery Highway, Dothan. State Farm Parkway, Homewood. Brookridge Drive, Madison. Woodward Avenue, Muscle Shoals. Paramount Drive, Huntsville. East Main Street, Prattville. Gadsden Highway, Trussville. McFarland Boulevard, Tuscaloosa. Robert Hartline, owner and CEO of Absolute Wireless, said the company is also developing telepresence capabilities. This will allow guests in high-traffic stores to virtually interact with representatives in other locations. "As our company continues to grow, this new system will ensure all customers are served promptly by a trained representative no matter which location they visit," Hartline said. Absolute Wireless currently employs 360 customer service representatives. For more information, visit the company website. Michael Kors plans to close 100-125 underperforming stores over the next two years as it works to improve profitability within the company. The retailer announced today it will shutter certain full-price retail locations, incurring $100 million to $125 million in one-time charges. Michael Kors expects ongoing savings of $60 million as a result of the changes. Michael Kors CEO and Chairman John D. Idol said fiscal 2017 was a challenging year. "Our product and store experience did not sufficiently engage and excite consumers," he said in a statement. "We acknowledge that we need to take further steps to elevate the level of fashion innovation in our accessories assortments and enhance our store experience in order to deepen consumer desire and demand for our products." It is unclear which Michael Kors stores in Alabama will close. The company has locations in Huntsville, Birmingham, Hoover and Foley. Total revenue decreased 4.6 percent to $4.49 billion from $4.71 billion in fiscal 2016, while retail net sales increased 7.4 percent to $2.57 billion. Comparable sales dipped 8.3 percent and gross profit dropped 4.9 percent to $2.66 billion. Michael Kors expects total revenue to be approximately $4.25 billion and for comparable sales to decrease in the high-single digit range in fiscal 2018. "Looking ahead, as we expand the fashion innovation in our accessories assortments, right-size our store fleet and elevate our store experience, fiscal 2018 will be a transition year in which we establish a new baseline before returning to long-term growth," Idol said. Alabama's talent pool Hollywood continues to shine bright thanks to director and Birmingham native Adam Wingard , who just landed the biggest project of his career. that Wingard, a go-to horror director on projects like "Blair Witch" and this year's "Death Note," will direct the announced Godzilla vs. King Kong movie for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, following up 2014's "Godzilla" and 2017's "Kong: Skull Island." The film is scheduled to open in theaters May 22, 2020. Terry Rossio, known for writing the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, will write the screenplay. Adam Wingard, above, will direct the upcoming "Godzilla vs. Kong" film for Warner Bros. (Lionsgate) The Tennessee-born Wingard, who claims Birmingham as his hometown, made a name for himself directing independent horror features like "You're Next" and "The Guest," as well as segments in the "V/H/S" films. As THR reports, the studios are currently developing their "MonsterVerse," a franchise and shared fictional universe that is centered on a series of monster films featuring Godzilla and King Kong. The 2014 "Godzilla" film had a production budget of $160 million and made nearly $530 million worldwide, while "Kong: Skull Island" cost $185 million and made $565 million. A sequel to "Godzilla" -- titled "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" with Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown -- is now in production and will open in theaters in 2019. Wingard's budgets have typically been quite small, working within the parameters of independent financing that often give his films less than $5 million for production. His upcoming "Death Note" for Netflix reportedly costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million to $50 million. A big blockbuster jump like that for a filmmaker used to working with a smaller budget seems trendy in Hollywood lately, given big studios' reliance on directors like Colin Trevorrow (went from "Safety Not Guaranteed" to "Jurassic World") and Jon Watts (went from "Cop Car" to "Spider-Man: Homecoming"). Wingard's long-awaited "Death Note" film will finally come to fans' televisions later this year. Based on the manga series of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, it tells the following story: A young man comes to possess a supernatural notebook, the Death Note, that grants him the power to kill any person simply by writing down their name on the pages. He then decides to use the notebook to kill criminals and change the world, but an enigmatic detective attempts to track him down and end his reign of terror. "Death Note" will become available to stream on Netflix on Aug. 25, 2017. Adrienne Starks In many ways, she is still that "kid with a microscope," fascinated by new discoveries but not yet dreaming of becoming a scientist because no one told the little black girl from Fairfield that she could someday be one. And that precocious teenager who conducted brain cancer research, explored a cadaver and joyously completed her first successful titration (Google it) at UAB's summer programs for high-schoolers. Or that eager biology major at Alabama A&M, too, who shadowed UAB's renown oncologist Dr. Sharon Spencer one summer and thought she wanted to be a doctor until having to stand by, holding her emotions, as Dr. Spencer told a 20-something young woman her cancer was so advanced there was nothing that could be done. After that, young student told herself: I can't do this. Or even that uber-competitive Bulldog who, along with her equally uber-competitive lab partner, developed a Nick Saban-like game plan for conquering lab experiments in record time: study the experiment beforehand rather than waiting to get to class before opening the book; snag the best equipment first; do the experiment perfectly the first time; get out early. "That was always the mission," Adrienne Starks says now, with a laugh. The daughter of Daryl and Maxine Starks, a financial services advisor and retired nursing administrator, respectively, she indeed became that scientist--Dr. Adrienne Starks--with a PhD in Biological Services from the University of Maryland (Baltimore County) after earning that A&M degree. Along the way, she studied topics as deep as age-specific genetic variations that influence quantitative traits in drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies, to us non-scientists) and as vital as why citizens living in two disparate Baltimore neighborhoods separated by just five miles--one decidedly more affluent than the other--had a 20-year gap in life expectancies. Two communities, two lives "It's just not natural to live five miles apart and have a life span of 70 to 80 years in one area and 50 to 60 years in another," she says. "The difference isn't just genetic, it's everything that goes into the makeup of two communities, including education, transportation, housing, employment opportunities, political structure, business development, crime and more. "If you live in a community of violence and poverty and feel like you don't have the power to change environmental, stress levels are very high," she continues, "which contribute to high levels of blood pressure and chronic diseases." As she pursued her passion for science from Fairfield to UAB, from a summer program at the University of Michigan to the University of Maryland and to the prestigious National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, where she studied the roots of breast and prostate cancer disparities between whites and African Americans, Starks looked around at her lab mates and discovered something else: "I was a triple minority: American, African American and female," she says. "Sometimes I felt isolation and a disconnect because of language, gender dynamics and cultural differences. And here we were, leading research that would shape policy in areas like politics and business, and the people most affected were underrepresented because other countries are doubling-down to make sure their students are educated beautifully and expected to succeed." Starks thought of the many former classmates who were no longer alongside her: many having fallen aside, she says, because they lacked the kind of preparedness, passion or determination needed for the rigors of trying to obtain a PhD--not because they were not smart enough. "I'm a nerd, and I'm good with that," she says. "But I never thought I was the smartest person in classes; others had the intellectual capacity to do what I did, too, but they never applied themselves, for whatever reasons. "There needs to be more people like me in the space I'm in," she adds. "I need you guys here." Outside the lab Inglenook Principal Mario Lumzy and STREAM CEO Starks As any scientist will tell you, you have to get out of the lab sometimes in order to find the answers you seek. Three years ago, after obtaining her doctorate, Starks returned to Fairfield, one of the most impoverished cities in the Birmingham area, and began seeking answers--as well as solutions--to why some of her former peers, and others from poor neighborhoods, were not rising to fulfill their potential. She attended Fairfield school board and city council meetings, and spoke with neighborhood leaders, educators and others. "I wanted to understand what going on," she says. An initial analysis? "It was pretty bad." Yet within this discovery, Starks conceived a potential solution, or at least another, very ambitious experiment--one requiring her, however, to leave her lab coat behind ("I kind of panicked a little," she confesses.): create a non-profit to not merely guide more underrepresent students into the sciences, but to also help them discover their own academic passions in whatever field, then challenge and prepare them to pursue it to the highest level possible. STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and mathematics) Innovations is a twist on the tradition STEM programs proliferating nationwide. Starks, too, initially thought to create a STEM program but soon came to appreciate how the arts and reading foster self-expression how they sync with technology and science. Inglenook library branch head Karnecia Williams She was intrigued by the burgeoning Maker Movement, a community, primarily on the West Coast, defined by Adweek as: ... independent inventors, designers, and tinkerers. A convergence of computer hackers and traditional artisans, the niche is established enough to have its own magazine, Make, as well as hands-on Maker Faires that are catnip for DIYers who used to toil in solitude. Makers tap into an American admiration for self-reliance and combine that with open-source learning, contemporary design and powerful personal technology like 3-D printers. The creations, born in cluttered local workshops and bedroom offices, stir the imaginations of consumers numbed by generic, mass-produced, made-in-China merchandise. "I thought. 'Let's get ahead of the curve and do STREAM," Starks says. Breaking down STREAM STREAM Innovations debuts on Monday June 10 in Inglenook, with three components: a six-week, weekday coding boot camp (7th, 8th graders) at the Inglenook K-8, Saturday sessions at the Inglenook Rec Center offering hands-on programs across all STREAM disciplines (3d-6th graders), and a weekly (Thursdays) experiment conducted at the Inglenook Library that will provide students with the materials needed to conduct the experiment themselves at home (3d-6th graders). Inglenook rec center director Shenee Richardson It is an ambitious, expensive, full-time pursuit that has taken Starks out of the laboratory environment where she's most comfortable into the worlds of board and program organizing, fund-raising and interpersonal dynamics galore. Worlds that have, at times, caused her to wonder again: I can't do this. "For a moment, I wrestled with the idea that I was biting off more than I could handle," she says. "The complexities of the problems in education were enormous--still are. There's no silver bullet, no simple answer, no super hero to come in and change the system. It would require a serious investment of time and money, and I did not know if had it in me. "But I do know: this is what I am supposed to do." Starks' ultimate aim is, with proper funding, the Inglenook STREAMS program will be a model replicated in underrepresented neighborhoods throughout the city, state and across the U.S. The boot camp and library programs are free to students; the Saturday program is $50. (Applications are available here.) Alabama will add 122 state prekindergarten classrooms this fall, continuing the steady growth in a program that consistently wins high marks for quality from a national research organization. The First Class Pre-K program will have 938 classrooms for the 2017-2018 school year, according to a press release from Gov. Kay Ivey's office and the Department of Early Childhood Education. Those classrooms will include approximately 16,884 students, about 28 percent of the state's 4-year-olds. The expansion was made possible by a $13 million boost in funding from the Education Trust Fund approved by the Legislature, raising the total to $77.5 million. A federal grant also supports the expansion. It will be the third year of a four-year grant for preschool development. "A high-quality childhood education program has long lasting benefits on our society as a whole," Ivey said in the press release. "Investment in our people through education, no matter at what level, is an investment in economic development." For 11 straight years, First Class Pre-K has met all 10 quality benchmark standards reviewed by the National Institute for Early Education Research, based in New Jersey. Alabama's First Class Pre-K classrooms are in public and private schools, child care centers, faith-based centers, Head Start programs, and other community-based preschool settings. They receive competitive grants awarded by the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. Despite the growth, the program is still not meeting the demand. The ADECE received more than 300 grant applications for new classrooms, according to the news release, which says 3,400 students pre-registered for next year will not have the opportunity to attend. Random drawings at local sites select the students to fill the available slots. "I look forward to when Alabama can make the program available to all families that wish to enroll their four-year-olds," Jeana Ross, secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, said in the press release. An Alabama Death Row inmate has asked a federal appeals court to block his execution for the slayings of three people 23 years ago. Robert Melson, 45, is set to die by lethal injection on June 8. His attorney, John Palombi with the Federal Defenders for the Middle District of Alabama, filed a motion last week in the 11th District Court of Appeals asking for the execution to be stayed until a judge can review and rule on Melson's appeal. A lower court previously dismissed Melson's challenge to Alabama's three-drug lethal injection method of execution because the motion was filed past the deadline, court records show. His appeal to the 11th Circuit states that the court should conduct a hearing on Melson's method of execution challenge, and delay the execution until those issues are resolved. Melson was convicted in Etowah County for fatally shooting three people, and injuring another, at a Gadsden Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits restaurant in April 1994. He has been on death row since May 1996. Another man, Cuhuatemoc Peraita, was also convicted in the crime. Peraita was originally sentenced to life in prison but was moved to Alabama's Death Row after his conviction for his role in stabbing another inmate to death in 2001. Employees Tamika Collins, 18, Nathaniel Baker, 17, and Darrell Collier, 23, were killed in the shooting. The only survivor, Bryant Archer, "told officers from the Gadsden Police Department that the other man was a black male, but that he was unable to identify Melson because both men were wearing bandannas over their faces. Archer was able to identify Peraita by his distinctive hairstyle," according to an appeals court document. Melson's previous two appeals were denied. He has exhausted his direct appeal, state postconviction remedies, and federal habeas remedies, the Alabama Attorney General's Office previously stated. Court documents filed in Melson's case argue the switch to midazolam from pentobarbital has caused a "method of execution that has failed to work properly in four states, including Alabama." The documents state the district court that denied Melson's case on the midazolam switch must hold a trial on the issues raised in his motion. It continues, "Mr. Melson's execution should be stayed pending the resolution of his and the other challenge to Alabama's method of execution." The filing seeking a halt to the execution states a list of reasons why the stay should be granted: Melson meets the standard for being granted a stay, would likely be successful on appeal, his motion should not have been dismissed in the lower courts, Melson is not required to suggest a three-drug alternative method of execution, and he will suffer "irreparable harm" if a stay is not granted. The document also states Melson's attorneys should be able to use either cell phones or landline phones during the time of his execution, should something go wrong. According to court documents, prohibiting phones in the prison and witness rooms violates Melson's "right to access to the courts." Former Death Row inmate Tommy Arthur raised similar claims about phones and method of execution in his appeals, but courts - including the U.S. Supreme Court - denied his motions. He was executed on May 25. The Attorney General's Office stated in its Jan. 18 motion to the Alabama Supreme Court, "Melson committed his horrific crime many years ago, and his conventional appeals have been completed for several years." The office declined to comment on the newest motion. Updated at 12:30 p.m. June 5 to note that Archer did not identify Melson to police. A 34-year-old man who has been arrested more than 15 times in Shelby County is back behind bars after a raid at a Sylacauga home. The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force took Clifford William Brown, aka Boomer, into custody Wednesday at a home in the 200 block of Threatt Lane in Sylacauga, said U.S. Marshal Marty Keely. Brown, a four-time convicted felon, refused to respond to law enforcement officers who were there to arrest him, and lawmen had to breach the door. Once inside the home, they found Brown in the living room, along with seven other people, Keely said. During the arrest, $10,778 in cash was seized and turned over to investigators with the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force. A search of the home by the Talladega County Narcotics Task Force led to the discovery and confiscation of 36 grams of cocaine, 12 grams of heroin, 24 grams of ICE, 30 grams of Spice, 68 grams of marijuana, and assorted pills and drug paraphernalia. The arrest by the deputy marshals followed a warrant being issued against Brown May 19 for unlawful distribution of a controlled substance by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. "Our narcotics investigators have worked tirelessly to take down Brown's drug enterprise. For the past several months we have gained intelligence that suggested Brown was supplying deadly fentanyl-laced heroin,'' said Lt. Clay Hammac, commander of the Shelby County drug task force. "His arrest is certainly viewed as a success." "The US Marshal's Task Force is an incredible resource for operations such as this, and we are grateful for their partnership, hard work and their invaluable contribution to the apprehension of Brown," Hammac said. Court records show Brown has previously been convicted of first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. He has been arrested in Shelby County more than 15 times, and also has been convicted of multiple misdemeanor crimes. At the time of his arrest this week, Brown was on probation from a 2015 guilty plea to unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. He served eight months in prison, and was then given three years of probation. He also was on probation for his September 2016 guilty plea to possession of marijuana. Just two months after that plea, a warrant was issued against Brown for violating that probation. Because of his prior criminal history, if convicted of the newest charge, Brown faces a sentencing range of 20 years to life in prison. Because of that, authorities believe he is a flight risk. He is being held in the Shelby County Jail on $150,000 bond. "We continue to see how participation in the United States Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task benefits Shelby County. A hard-core heroin dealer is now off the streets and hopefully will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,'' said Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego. "The force multiplier of the task force enhances the ability to effectively do our job." A murder charge against a Birmingham man in the 2015 fatal shooting of his sister's boyfriend has been dismissed under the state's Stand Your Ground law. Ronald Lee Austin Jr., now 23, was arrested two years ago in the slaying of Raphael Roman. The shooting happened near Gate City, where Roman, 29, was found on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest and pronounced dead on the scene. Police at the time said Roman had apparently gotten into an argument with his girlfriend earlier in the day, and Austin came to that location on his sister's behalf. The two men got into an argument, and Austin pulled a gun and shot Roman. Police said there were several witnesses who were there as the argument between the two men escalated, but said no one tried to intervene. On Wednesday, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Laura Petro granted a motion to dismiss by Austin's lawyer, Roger Appell. Alabama in 2006 followed Florida and other states in adopting Stand Your Ground provisions to their self-defense laws, eliminating the duty to retreat from situations as long as the person defending themselves is not doing something unlawful. Legislators also later added a provision that says a person who is justified using force, including deadly physical force, "is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the force was determined to be unlawful." And the legislature also added that a pretrial hearing is required to determine stand your ground in such cases. "It was a tragedy that this happened. Ronald was devastated,'' Appell told AL.com shortly after the dismissal. Austin has been out on bond since his arrest. "Rafael was his friend, but he had no choice under the circumstances but to act in self-defense. We are gratified that Judge Petro took the action she did in dismissing the charge of murder." The judge, in her ruling, chronicled the facts of the case: Roman, and most all of the lay witnesses, including Austin, had known each other for a long time. Those who knew Roman testified that he had served time in prison for a violent offense - attempted murder - and therefore had a violent reputation in his community, especially when he was drinking. On the day of the killing, the judge noted, at least five people testified that Roman had been drinking heavily, and a doctor reported that his blood alcohol content at the time of his death was .19 (more than twice the legal limit for driving) and likely had been higher shortly before his death. One witness testified that, "Roman became very aggressive when he drank and would become angry and mean, even toward friends,'' Petro wrote, adding that friend said when he wasn't drinking, Roman was a different person and was docile. Austin testified that he had known Roman for years and considered him like a brother. On that day, an argument broke out between Roman and Austin's sister, Latoria Irby, over a credit card that Roman thought was missing. After his death, the judge noted, the credit card was found in the trunk of the car they had all been in together. Austin and those in the car with him left Gate City, and Irby yelled, ''We'll be back." The context of that statement was unclear, Petro wrote. Roman remained on the porch drinking with another man and testimony showed Roman by then had been drinking from 8 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., at which time the shooting happened. The man drinking with Austin said he was so drunk, he couldn't be sure what happened. Austin and his sister returned to Gate City, and Austin fell asleep while his sister went to find Roman. He awoke to his sister and Roman loudly arguing. Austin yelled to Roman and Irby that they needed to stop arguing, and Roman then rushed toward him in an aggressive manner. The judged noted that Austin is 5-feet, 7-inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. The victim was 6-feet, 2-inches tall and weighed about 230 pounds. "They tussled with each other,'' Petro wrote. "The defendant had a gun in his waist band under a shirt. The defendant pulled the gun and fired a warning shot into the ground." Next, both Austin and Roman stepped back. "The victim charged him trying to get the gun,'' Petro wrote. "He knew the victim did not have a gun but stated he feared Roman would get the gun and shoot him. He fired the gun striking Roman in his chest." Austin was employed as a security guard at Buffalo Rock Bottling Company and had a license to carry the gun. "This Court finds that is it not unreasonable or beyond the pale for the defendant in the face of a much larger, drunk and aggressive man with a known proclivity to violence to feel that had to use deadly force to protect himself or others,'' Petro wrote. "The court believes the defendant was carrying a gun that he had every right to possess and only brought it out to protect his family and himself. As tragic as the outcome was, this Court finds, from the evidence, that the defendant acted reasonable under the circumstance, was somewhere he had a right to be, was free from fault and was responding to the aggressive, perhaps life-threatening, behavior of the victim." If you live in Alabama, do you care about Russia? From what U.S. Sen. Luther Strange said in a Wednesday speech in Huntsville, Alabamians have other concerns. "If you turn on the TV tonight, what you will probably see is a lot of talk about Russia," Strange said. "Russia this, Russia that, Russia and our elections, Russia and the president. I travel in this state every single day - top to bottom, east to west, big cities and small towns, and I have yet had anybody come up to me and say they're worried about Russia messing with our elections. "I have no doubt that Russia tried to meddle in our election. They're going to continue trying to - just like they have my entire lifetime." The state's newest Senator - just 110 days since he was appointed to office by former Gov. Robert Bentley - touched on his brief time in Washington as he addressed about 1,000 members of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce at the Von Braun Center. He avoided discussion of the special election later this year, in which nine Republican challengers are seeking to defeat Strange in the Aug. 15 GOP primary. Among those challengers is U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville, who was seated in the audience as Strange spoke. During his speech, Strange reflected on his first vote in the Senate, which was to confirm former Georgia Congressman Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services. He said unseen work behind the scenes is ongoing in Washington on tax reform and health care will be at the top of the Senate agenda when it goes back into session next week. And that's what Alabamians want to hear about, Strange said. "I have no doubt we will find out what happened and who was involved," he said of the Russian investigation. "But that's not what I hear from the folks I talk to as I travel around the state. The people I talk to want to know what we're going to do about healthcare." The U.S. House of Representatives, of course, passed the American Heath Care Act last month and it is expected to undergo significant changes upon deliberation in the Senate. Reaching agreement, though, won't be easy, Strange said. "There are 52 Republican senators," Strange said. "That means there are 52 different ideas on how to fix the health care system." Aware of his audience and Huntsville's role in the nation's missile defense, Strange gave a shout-out for the successful missile test conducted Tuesday by the Missile Defense Agency - which has more than 2,000 employees on Redstone Arsenal. "That's the most passionate issue when you get behind closed doors," Strange said. "What are we doing for our men and women in uniform? We cannot have ships sitting at the docks unusable because they haven't been maintained, which is the situation today. "I don't have to tell the people in this room all the challenges we face in a very dangerous world. Many of the people in this room deal with it every day - congratulations on the missile launch yesterday." Strange also touted the prospects of space exploration under NASA - which is developing the new deep-space rocket Space Launch System at Marshall Space Flight Center on Redstone Arsenal. In fact, Strange described support for SLS in the Senate as "really encouraging." "The good thing about NASA, in my short experience (in the Senate), is there is a lot of support for it already, a tremendous amount of support and respect," he said. "We have neglected our aerospace program and I am detecting a lot of bipartisan support to continue that mission." Vitaly Vodyanoy isn't a common name, and it's not an easy name. But it might be a name to remember if the Auburn University professor turns out right about what he has found. Along the way, that discovery could finally show how acupuncture really works. And it could lead to a long human lifespan. Much longer. Vodyanoy has used his own patented microscope system to confirm the existence of a new vascular system: the primo-vascular system. It's a tiny, translucent system of vessels and nodes, and Vodyanoy has seen and phographed it in a rat's body. "Even with our microscope, you cannot see the vessels until they are touched because they are transparent," Vodyanoy told Auburn University News for an article published in December, "but they turn a yellowish color when touched. The width of the node is only 1 mm, and the fine structure of the node can only be seen using high-resolution light microscopy." In an interview with AL.com, Vodyanoy explained the potential size of the discovery. "If you look at a globe," he said, "I found one more country, which is more than Asia, but no one's seen it." The existence of a third vascular system - in addition to the blood and lymphatic systems - has been the topic of scientific speculation and study since the early 1960s, when a North Korean scientist named Bong Han Kim claimed to have discovered it. Kim disappeared in 1966, and communist authorities said his work wasn't proven. But Vodyanoy says Kim was right and he has confirmed it. The three-dimensional system exists for the regeneration of human cells, Vodyanoy said, and activating the nodes by acupuncture, pressure or other means could release stem cells to replace injured cells. Vodyanoy acknowledges the theory goes against current Western science, but it could help explain and lend credibility to non-traditional means of care such as acupuncture or osteopathy. Founded in the 19th century, osteopathy believes the body has the capacity to repair itself with energy stimulated by manipulation and massage. Vodyanoy is cooperating with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania now on research into possible links between the primo-vascular system and that treatment method. Acupuncture, stimulating the body through careful placement of needles, is accepted and routine in the East but not the West. Vodyanoy believes his research at minimum could shed new light on acupuncture's "meridian system." Instead of healing energy called "Qi," he believes the meridians circulate a liquid containing stem cells. Vodyanoy is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and has won awards for his microscope system. But he says he is more excited about this project than any he's worked on before. The body's regenerative system could keep humans alive for hundreds of years, Vodyanoy said. But only if we study, understand and use the system he has seen. (Updated May 31 at 12:00 p.m. CDT to clarify that Vodyanoy claims proof of the existence of the new vascular system based on his experiments with rats.) Water park fans rejoice. Great Wolf Lodge, a massive indoor water park and resort, will open in LaGrange, Georgia in the spring of 2018, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. LaGrange is about an hour southwest of Atlanta and is roughly a a 45 minute-drive from the Auburn/Opelika area and a little more than a two-hour drive from Birmingham. According to Great Wolf Lodge's announcement, the development will include a 93,000-square foot indoor water park featuring waterslides, a giant tipping bucket, wave pool, lazy river and zero-depth entry water play area. There will also be a ropes course and climbing wall, family-sized bowling lanes and an arcade. The development will include 456 themed hotel suites and an on-site augmented reality game called MagiQuest. Great Wolf currently operates 15 resorts in the U.S., mainly in the Midwest. The Georgia development will be its first foray into the deep South, with other locations in North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The Great Wolf Lodge facility isn't the only water park development being built within driving range of Alabama. A 217,000 square-foot development called "SoundWaves" is currently being constructed next to the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville. SoundWaves is set to open in fall 2018. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signed a law that heavily restricts the operations of more than 47,000 NGOs. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signed into effect a law on Tuesday that restricts the operations of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Egypt, many of them involved in human rights work. The law strictly controls NGOs, including those in the realm of social and development work, and makes it difficult for charities to deliver services. It bans domestic and foreign groups from engaging in rights work or anything that can be said to harm national security, public order, public morals or public health. Egypts civil society groups have criticised the bill since the Egyptian parliament approved it in November 2016 and speculated whether it will ever come into effect. For months, the president held off on signing and enacting the law, which was never presented to the public for debate. READ MORE: Egypts emergency law explained The new bill, which was criticised by rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), imposes fines of more than $55,000 and up to five years of imprisonment on those who do not comply with it. There are currently more than 47,000 NGOs, some foreign-funded, which operate across Egypt. Under the new law, civil society organisations will be subject to security intervention. Foreign NGOs will be required to pay up to $16,500 to start operations in Egypt, and are required to renew permits on a regular basis. Centres of all types would need to re-register themselves as NGOs under the ministry of social affairs, regardless of the services they offer. The law obliges organisations to work according to the states plan and developmental needs. The 87-article law introduces a state regulatory committee the National Authority for the Regulation of Non-Governmental Foreign Organizations whose mandate will include monitoring any NGO that receives foreign funding. It must also be notified about local funding. The authority, which will be formed by presidential decree, will include representatives from 10 bodies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior, and members of the intelligence unit and the governments money laundering unit. Organisations will need permission from the authority to conduct fieldwork and publish findings. The Trump administration has made clear that they will not put any pressure on Sisi to protect the rights of his citizens. by Sarah Yerkes, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, previously said in a statement that it would be a farce to say that Egypt allows non-governmental organisations since all would be subject to the security agencies control. The bill also prohibits an organisation from establishing a headquarters office without prior written consent. Organisations that relocate headquarters from their originally registered address may face jail time and be subject to a fine of up to $30,000. The laws enactment comes at a time when Egypt is experiencing a media blackout and is under a state of emergency due to constant instability and waves of violence. The country has seen a string of attacks against both government personnel and the Egyptian Coptic Christian minority over the past year. In the latest wave of violence, at least 28 Copts were killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group while travelling to a monastery in the Minya province. Earlier this month, ex-presidential candidate and human rights lawyer Khaled Ali was detained for allegedly offending public decency. Rights lawyers say the opposition leader and others who are potential presidential candidates, are being arrested ahead of the upcoming 2018 presidential elections. READ MORE: How Sisi is using the law as a tool to restore tyranny According to Sarah Yerkes, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Sisis attempt at controlling Egypts socio-political sphere at this time was certainly influenced by what he perceives as a strengthened US-Egyptian relationship. Last month, Sisi travelled to Washington for the first time since taking office in 2014. Relations between the two nations had soured amid Sisis crackdown on opponents and Egypts human rights abuses. Since the visit, Egypt has been negotiating billions of dollars in aid to help revive its economy. The Trump administration has made clear that they will not put any pressure on Sisi to protect the rights of his citizens, Yerkes told Al Jazeera. However, this [enactment] may be a miscalculation on Sisis part, as the primary critics of Sisis crackdown on human rights are Members of Congress who have the power to restrict US foreign aid to Egypt. Human rights activists and lawyers have said that the bill is one that eradicates the presence of civil society and that it is part of a wider government crackdown on organisations accused of threatening the countrys national security following the January 25 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubaraks 30-year-rule. In recent months, various centres were forcibly shut down by authorities without legal reasons. Last February, the El Nadeem Centre, a prominent NGO that helps victims of violence and torture, had their doors sealed shut by Egyptian authorities, who did not cite a specific violation, while the centre was in the midst of fighting a legal battle against a year-old closure order. Over the past year, several human rights groups and individuals have been questioned, barred from travelling, and had their assets frozen after accusations that they had accepted unauthorised foreign funding to destabilise the country. Some are still involved in an investigation dating back to December 2011, in which 43 NGO workers were convicted. When former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown by Sisi in the summer of 2013, public space in Egypt became increasingly restrictive. Since coming to power in 2014, Sisis government has imprisoned tens of thousands without charge and banned public protests by upholding legislation forbidding the gathering of 10 or more people without prior permission. What should be clear to the Egyptian public and the international community by now is that none of Sisis counterterror tactics have done anything to stop the pattern of attacks against minorities in Egypt, said Yerkes. A new UN office is starting to support prosecutions of those responsible for atrocities in Syria, but there is a catch. New York, United States When Mahmoud Nowar was released from detention, doctors told his father that he was so withered and malnourished that he would only have survived a few more days of starvation and torture at the hands of Syrian government forces. The pro-democracy activist and former resident of Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in the southeast of Syrias capital, Damascus, was beaten, interrogated and locked up with 120 other men and boys in a fetid underground cell for nearly three months in 2013. I'm not looking for revenge. Justice, for me, means releasing the prisoners who are still dying every day. To stop this hell by Mahmoud Nowar, a refugee from Syria Speaking to Al Jazeera, Nowar said his battered and scrawny body looked like the photos of corpses that were taken by a military police photographer who defected, code-named Caesar. He supports those probing the atrocities committed in Syria, but also speaks of more urgent concerns. Im not looking for revenge. Justice, for me, means releasing the prisoners who are still dying every day. To stop this hell, said Nowar, 33, who fled Syria at the end of 2013 and came to the United States on a Harvard University scholarship in January. Testimonies from torture victims like Nowar, along with Caesars 55,000 images and thousands of other documents that have been smuggled out of Syria since 2011 are being collected in an effort to charge and prosecute those responsible. Efforts towards this goal have been largely thwarted by Russia, which backs the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has used its veto in the United Nations Security Council to stop the case being referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). But Moscow could not block 105 countries in the UNs larger body, the General Assembly, from taking the unprecedented step of bypassing the Security Council and voting in December to open an office to lay the groundwork for future prosecutions. Within days, the UN is set to name the head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), which will collect and preserve evidence of serious crimes committed in Syria and build cases against those most responsible for them. A start-up team has already met in Switzerland and is expected to grow to a 50-strong staff based in Geneva this summer. It has secured about half of its $13m first-year running costs via donations from Finland, Germany, Qatar and others. But there is a catch the IIIM is really a prosecutor without a tribunal, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the pressure group Human Rights Watch. It can build cases, but it does not have a dock for trying defendants. Instead, the IIIM can pass evidence to courts and tribunals, such as the European courts that are already prosecuting some Syrians accused of war crimes, a UN-backed tribunal or perhaps even the ICC at some point in the future. There is no shortage of evidence. The Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), an independent group of lawyers based at a secret European office, has amassed some 700,000 pages of Syrian intelligence and security archives. Mohammad Al Abdallah, director of the US-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center, has collated some 500,000 pages of official documents, complete with official seals and stamps and thousands of videos uploaded to YouTube, he said. His team has built a database and cross-references images, videos and files. He showed Al Jazeera a video of men being detained and beaten by government forces, and a subsequent video of their charred bodies being found later on the street. Government documents showed this was part of operations in the area, completing the prosecutors jigsaw puzzle, he added. There is clearly proof of the systematic nature of these attacks, Abdallah told Al Jazeera. Monitors have repeatedly warned of crimes during Syrias six-year civil war, from the poison gas attacks and bombardment of towns that are levelled by Assads forces to genocidal raids by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Policy of extermination In February, Amnesty International, a rights group, reported that some 13,000 people were hanged over five years at the state-run Saydnaya prison near Damascus in a policy of extermination. This month, the US said the government had built a crematorium there. According to Stephen Rapp, a war crimes prosecutor, the Assad governments alleged interrogations and torture of dissidents are interesting to investigators because they rank as serious and widespread crimes with hard-to-deny evidence. With a detention facility, youre talking about the people running those joints, their commanders in military intelligence and a straight chain of command all the way up to the president, Rapp told Al Jazeera. Theres no problem with the paper trail to Assad. Evidence of atrocities in Syria is abundant, but there is much dispute over whether war crimes tribunals ease conflicts. Some say they make despots think twice before hurting civilians, while critics say they cause ever-more brutality in desperate bids to keep power. Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a charity, said men with guns and power routinely attack civilians and aid workers in Syria, but they can be scared into better behaviour on the battlefield. We need to make those who do wrong sleep less well at night, Egeland told Al Jazeera. Others say that war crimes tribunals are too easily politicised and ICC-style cases serve the interests of the courts mostly Western backers. In Syria, government forces and the opposition have all used dirty tactics in fighting that has claimed some 465,000 lives, critics say. In April, Moscows deputy UN envoy Vladimir Safronkov vetoed the latest Western-backed draft resolution on Syria. He called it odious and erroneous and criticised the weak evidence linking Assads forces to a poison gas attack in Khan Shaykhun, in Idlib province. Britain, the US and others were not interested in justice for casualties of war, but were instead using global bodies for geopolitical ends and creating additional grounds for regime change in Damascus, said Safronkov. Moscow is unlikely to change its mind on an ICC referral anytime soon. Assad rejects claims that his forces have committed atrocities. Although the country is divided by fighting on multiple fronts, he is under no immediate threat of losing the war. Under these conditions, Rapp, Roth and Abdallah agreed there was little hope of quickly creating a Syrian tribunal. At present, they pin their hopes on European courts using universal jurisdiction to prosecute Syrian government torturers and others. According to Amnesty International, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland are all processing investigations on Syria. Two rebels have been separately tried and jailed for crimes in Syrias war after they left the country and travelled to Sweden. Spanish authorities have begun proceedings against nine Syrian government officials over claims of the torture and execution of a detained man, in a case brought by the alleged victims sister, a Spanish woman of Syrian origin. The IIIM could help more prosecutions like this. Such cases have flaws: they are piecemeal, unlikely to satisfy all victims, and the accused seldom turn themselves in for questioning. This will mean that some cases are dropped, while others may result in convictions of individuals who remain at large in Syria or elsewhere. While indicting Assads security chiefs is a distant prospect now, Rapp said, the slow-moving wheels of justice eventually caught up with Chiles Augusto Pinochet and Slobodan Milosevic of the former Yugoslavia. The endgame to Syrias war is unclear, added Abdallah. Fighting or negotiations could yield a political shift that sees Damascus refer itself to the ICC, or cooperate with a UN hybrid court, akin to Cambodias tribunal for members of the Khmer Rouge. Roth had another idea. If Russia continues to stymie the ICC, it may then become time for the General Assembly to do what they just did with the prosecutor theres nothing stopping them from setting up a tribunal as well, he told Al Jazeera. Follow James Reinl on Twitter: @jamesreinl On Monday, newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Palace of Versailles. Perhaps trying to add an air of importance to Putins visit, Russian TV channel RT shared the following curious detail: Receptions in Versailles are very rare. For example, Nicolas Sarkozy received a guest at the royal palace only once. That was the famous visit of Muammar Gaddafi in 2007. Whether it was just a coincidence or smart political trolling, Macrons decision to meet with Putin in Versailles is indeed important, at the very least it provides for a pertinent analogy to be drawn. A dictator from an oil-producing nation falls out with the West after a passenger airliner is taken down. As a result, he faces international sanctions, starts experiencing economic problems, and heightens anti-Western propaganda. Both Putin and Gaddafi walked that path. In Gaddafis case, we know the end of the story, in Putins case we dont yet. Gaddafi accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie tragedy and managed to get the sanctions revoked. He made a few more concessions to the West, including giving up Libyas nuclear programme. Of course, after the beginning of the civil war, the meeting in Versailles did not prevent Sarkozy from becoming a main ally of the Libyan rebels, while the French air force played a key role in Gaddafis downfall. For Putin, that moment was painful. At the time, Dmitry Medvedev was formally the president of Russia, but Putin made a power play when he publicly criticised a UN Security Council vote on Libya in 2011. Medvedev had given orders for Russia to abstain on the vote, and it did, but this public sparring over the issue was significant. It is possible that this was one of the main factors that pushed Putin to announce a few months later that he would undo his castling move and run for president again. OPINION: Macron, Putin and the boomerang effect Today, it is clear that Putins interpretation of events in Libya goes something like this: Gaddafi showed weakness by conceding to the West, which took advantage of that and, under the pretext of protecting civilians, overthrew him. This is generally how Russian state media presents the Libyan case. It makes sense then that Putin would never consider making any concessions to the West. But Mondays meeting in Versailles seemed like one: It looked like an unsuccessful attempt of the prodigal son to return to the international community. Putins visit was scheduled after his phone call with Macron to congratulate him on his victory, which suggests that it was a Kremlin initiative. At the joint press conference, a reporter for the RT channel reminded the French president that during the electoral race, his campaign headquarters did not accredit RT and asked how he intends to build relations with foreign journalists. Macron did not even try to be diplomatic in his answer: I have always had an exemplary relationship with foreign journalists, but they have to be journalists. [] When organs of the press spread shameful untruths, they are no longer journalists, they are organs of influence. Russia Today and Sputnik were organs of influence during this campaign and have, on several occasions, produced untruths about me and my campaign. And I considered that they had no place in my headquarters. All foreign journalists, including Russian ones, had access to my campaign. OPINION: Russias soft warfare This is a concise retelling of what Macron actually said. He repeated himself, and it was clear he was trying to control his anger. It was also clear that Putin pursing his lips and fidgeting was listening to something rather unpleasant. Putin likely misinterpreted Macron's decision to accept the visit as an opportunity to restart relations. But it seems that the French president's intent was rather to show that he is not letting personal affront influence his political decisions and diplomacy. by In other words, it doesnt seem that Putin met a friend in Paris as was the case with Jacques Chirac. He wasnt even meeting a partner, which is what Sarkozy was, to some extent. Macron was harder on Putin than Francois Hollande was, Hollande supported the sanctions but would hardly have allowed himself such candour in Putins presence. Of course, Hollande did not face attacks by Russian hackers or a massive media campaign aimed at discrediting him, and the Kremlin did not openly support his political opponents. As Belgian blogger Nicolas Vanderbiest has established, internet trolls spreading fake news about Macron were linked to RT and Sputnik. There were also clear Russian traces in the metadata of the leaked campaign emails. Putin likely misinterpreted Macrons decision to accept the visit as an opportunity to restart relations. But it seems that the French presidents intent was rather to show that he is not letting personal affront influence his political decisions and diplomacy. After the uncomfortable visit to Paris, things are not looking good for Putin. It seems that he will be similarly disappointed in the US, where talk of impeachment is making any rapprochement with Russia impossible. Even his meeting with Donald Trump may not happen after all. We should not forget that Russia has also faced a new wave of protests, which the authorities have suppressed with unprecedented severity. Of course, we cannot talk about a civil war, but in this pre-election year, tensions will inevitably rise. And then the Libyan analogy might resurface yet again in a different light. Roman Dobrokhotov is a Moscow-based journalist and civil activist. He is the editor-in-chief of The Insider. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. The Lebanese government should implement policies to curb xenophobia for the sake of both the state and the refugees. As if all it takes is an online petition to the US state department and the United Nations to rid Lebanon of its refugee crisis, over 20,000 signatories signed a petition calling for Syrian refugees to leave Lebanon and return to safe zones in Syria. While the petition is sloppily written, it is an important reflection of what goes on in the hearts and minds of a portion of the Lebanese public, who view the refugee crisis as an economic, security and demographic threat that might lead to serious altercations between the [Syrian refugees and Lebanese people]. The petition comes in the context of a rise in anti-refugee discourse in the country, from Syrian businesses being shut down in some municipalities, to a banner threatening to cut the hands of Syrians if they threaten Lebanese livelihood, and even a fake news story about 300,000 new refugee births in 2017 that raised the alarm about resulting demographic changes. Such voices are certainly not representative of the Lebanese people as a whole. Many Lebanese activists, lawyers and groups have done their best to help Syrian refugees in their temporary home as they await a settlement that would allow them to return home. Yet, an anti-refugee rhetoric plagues the small country of 4.5 million people, already hosting Palestinian refugees, as it struggles to cope with 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Lebanon is the country hosting the most refugees per capita. This fact rightly deserves attention and international support, but it has also been exploited domestically to scapegoat refugees as the main culprits for the dire state of affairs in the country. Scapegoating Refugees Anti-refugee rhetoric can be seen as a symptom of much larger problems Lebanon is currently facing, as its government is unable to hold parliamentary elections on time, reform state institutions, fight corruption and nepotism, and agree on a unified foreign policy as sharp divisions remain surrounding Hezbollahs involvement in the Syrian war. Consequently, these legitimate frustrations have been projected onto the Syrian refugees who have become a convenient scapegoat for disgruntled citizens and incompetent politicians. This phenomenon is not unique to Lebanon, as we have seen similar discourse in Europe and the United States as a facade for economic grievances, in addition to being an expression of forthright racism and xenophobia. IN PICTURES: Syrian refugees in Lebanon struggling with health needs One might presume that concerned citizens in a parliamentary democracy would, as a matter of priority, be outraged and launch petitions in favour of holding elections on time, rather than call for Syrian refugees to leave Lebanon and go to a yet undefined and hypothetical safe zone. However, the hysterical and irrational fear of the stranger or foreigner has sometimes overcome the capacity for empathy and compassion interestingly among a populace that has experienced first-hand the suffering and displacement caused by a civil war between 1975 and 1990, as well as by Israeli wars in 1982 and 2006. Most recently in July 2006, many Lebanese people fled to, or through, the Lebanon-Syria borders as a result of the Israeli aerial and naval blockade. If Lebanon is genuinely concerned about the economic and security ramifications pertaining to hosting a large number of refugees, it is worth remembering that adopting an active pro-refugee discourse and countering xenophobia in society will, in the words of the New York Declaration, 'reduce the risks of marginalisation and radicalisation'. by Surely some voices have tried to counter said discourse with a fact-based approach that seeks to treat refugees as assets rather than a burden, as a professor at the American University of Beirut, Nasser Yassine, tried to do in a series of tweets. Such initiatives are extremely important in the fight for public opinion, since, generally speaking, Lebanese citizens are bombarded with negative examples of refugees effect on the economy, crime, education, electricity and terrorism. Countering xenophobia is in the states interest A government policy that takes refugees dignity and rights into account is pragmatically and strategically in the states interest, as was noted by human rights lawyer Ghida Frangieh in relation to the governments residency policy of reducing the numbers. That policy in fact stripped more than 70 percent of Syrians residing in Lebanon of their legal residence papers [and they] became invisible to the Lebanese authorities and lost many of their rights. Taking active steps to ameliorate refugees living conditions, as well as promoting a non-xenophobic public discourse, will display Lebanons commitment to international processes and convince donors that the government understands the refugee crisis not just in terms of amount of funds needed, but also in relation to the treatment of refugees in political and media discourse. As agreed upon in the UN New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees (pdf), combating xenophobia, racism and discrimination in our societies against refugees and migrants should be among the top priorities of the government as it tries to enact a refugee policy (obviously, countering xenophobia should also be coupled with the declarations injunction for refugees to observe the laws and regulations of their host countries). READ MORE: Should Lebanon get more funds for hosting refugees? Thereby, Lebanon can seek to have a stronger voice in ongoing global negotiations on the refugee crisis from the standpoint of a state that is doing the right thing at home. Speaking with me in her personal capacity, Alia Aoun, senior legal adviser on Humanitarian Affairs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it is counterproductive to work on the assumption that making life harder for refugees will cause them to return to Syria. The result would be undocumented refugees which is not in the refugees or Lebanons interest. However, a portion of the general public have not yet recognised that it is not in the interest of the state to make life harder for refugees and have intensified a campaign to kick the Syrians out, as the aforementioned petition illustrates. For this reason, politicians and media outlets that have contributed to xenophobic public discourse should actively seek to right the wrong that has been done, and is still being done, by acknowledging that fear-triggered xenophobia is the wrong approach. Absent an all-inclusive refugee policy, Syrian refugees living in extremely difficult conditions, where even death brings a final indignity, will be driven into the hands of criminal networks who exploit people in search of better prospects, or simply for an honest days work. If Lebanon is genuinely concerned about the economic and security ramifications pertaining to hosting a large number of refugees, it is worth remembering that adopting an active pro-refugee discourse and countering xenophobia in society will, in the words of the New York Declaration, reduce the risks of marginalisation and radicalisation. In short, xenophobic discourse leads to an environment of marginalisation, social exclusion and dehumanisation, all in the name of protecting the economy, nationalism and security. It is never too late to start over and put forward a calm, rational, fact-based approach to the refugee crisis that would allow the country to make the best out of a very difficult situation in the interest of both the Lebanese state and refugees. Halim Shebaya is a Beirut-based analyst. He teaches in the School of Arts and Sciences at the Lebanese American University. He holds an MDiv in Theology (NEST), MA in Middle Eastern Studies (SOAS), and an LLM in Public International Law (Nottingham). Follow him on Twitter: @halimshebaya. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) Despite condemnation from Turkey, US sends arms to YPG ahead of upcoming offensive to recapture Raqqa from ISIL. The United States has begun sending small arms to Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in northern Syria, despite concerns from NATO-ally Turkey. The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the weapons shipments began ahead of an upcoming offensive to recapture Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL in northern Syria. We have begun to transfer small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said. The weapons sent to the SDFs Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) include AK-47s and small-calibre machine guns, Rankine-Galloway added. US President Donald Trump earlier this month approved arming the YPG fighters, angering Turkey. The Pentagon said then that the YPG are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future. There was no immediate reaction from Turkey regarding the start of the weapons transfer. Turkish officials have previously warned the US that its decision to arm Kurdish forces fighting ISIL in Syria could end up hurting Washington. Ankara says YPG fighters are linked to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists inside Turkey, who have waged an armed campaign since 1984 that has killed more than 40,000 people. READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning Turkey considers the Kurdish forces to be terrorists and fears any weapons sent to the YPG could end up in the hands of the PKK. In August 2016, Ankara launched its own military operation inside Syria, targeting ISIL and Kurdish groups, called Euphrates Shield. Speaking to Al Jazeera last month, Erdogan criticised Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, over an agreement between the two to fight what he described as terrorist groups operating in Turkey. With President Obama, we had a mutual agreement about the PKK but Obama deceived us. I dont believe the Trump administration will do the same, Erdogan said. The YPG is an arm of the PKK. We must put an end to this, he added. We cant destroy one terrorist group with another one. We are strategic partners with the US. Washington has sought to placate Ankara by saying the weapons will be handed out judiciously, and that it will monitor these to make sure they do not go into Turkey. Raqqa offensive The SDF has been encircling Raqqa since November. The US-backed group has now advanced to within a few miles of the ISIL stronghold on several fronts, and this month captured the strategic town of Tabqa and the adjacent dam. Following the capture of Tabqa, the SDF said it will soon begin a final attack to capture Raqqa. At the time, a SDF commander said forces would begin entering and storming the city at the start of the summer. On Monday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 13 people have been killed in suspected US-led coalition air strikes on Raqqa and suspected rocket attacks fired by the Kurdish Ghadab al-Furat group. Separately, Syrian rebels said this week the US and its allies are sending more arms to try to fend off a new push into the southeast by what they call Iran-backed militias aiming to open an overland supply route between Iraq and Syria. At least seven people have died and 50 others injured by Cyclone Mora that has also left thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh waiting for help after a night in the rain. Bangladeshs border region, home to around 12,000 Rohingya refugees that fled Myanmar, faced the brunt of the storm. It struck the island of Saint Martin and Teknaf in the coastal district of Coxs Bazar, where officials said some 200,000 people were evacuated to shelters. In Chittagong district, about 150,000 people were evacuated. Shamsul Alam, a Rohingya community leader, told Reuters news agency the damage in the camps was severe with almost all 10,000 thatched huts in the Balukhali and Kutupalong camps destroyed. Most of the temporary houses in the camps have been flattened, Alam said. The Bangladesh government estimates there are more than 300,000 Rohingya in the country. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority shunned by Myanmars Buddhist majority. We heard that a cyclone was coming. But theres no place we can go, 27-year-old Hamida Begum, who said she fled to Bangladesh three months ago after her husband disappeared, told Reuters on Wednesday. I hate being a Rohingya. We are being tortured in Myanmar. Now in Bangladesh, we have no rights. Nothing. After this cyclone, we dont have a roof. We are living under the sky. We have no future. Authorities had evacuated more than 400,000 people from the low-lying border districts before the storm. However, most of the Rohingya refugees remained in their makeshift shelters when the storm struck. Theres no roof. We are just drinking water. The little food we had in our home was all damaged after the cyclone, said Setara Begum, a mother of two, including a five-month old. My children are crying for food. I am helpless. I have no money. Theres no hope. I dont know how I will raise my children. Beyond the camps, officials were also assessing the damage elsewhere. The chief administrator said 17,500 houses had been destroyed and 35,000 partially damaged in the district. After the storm, theres an acute crisis of food, shelter, health services, water and sanitation facilities in the makeshift settlements, said Sanjukta Sahany, local head of the International Organization for Migration which coordinates relief in some of the camps. There were also pockets of damage in the broader community, but no reports of casualties, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Omar Farukh, a community leader in Kutupalong camp one of several camps for Rohingya in Coxs Bazar described the misery of those left behind. We have passed a difficult time. We had no tin or plastic sheets above our heads, and almost all of us passed the night in the rain, Farukh told Reuters by telephone. We tried to save our belongings, whatever we have, with pieces of plastic sheet, he said before adding agency officials visited the Kutupalong camp to see what was needed. Al Jazeeras Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Kutupalong camp, said authorities and NGOs were not present in the camp and refugees had to repair the damage themselves. They are left on their own, he said. Economic shortsightedness for US to choose oil and gas over the green economy, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to raise its ambition in implementing the Paris climate agreement as the United States weighed pulling out of the landmark emissions-cutting deal. Making his first address on climate since taking the UN helm five months ago, Guterres said it was absolutely essential the world implements the 2015 agreement with increased ambition. The United States is among the 147 countries and parties that have ratified the agreement, but President Donald Trump has voiced concerns the deal signed by the previous US administration could harm the US economy. READ MORE: Trump moves to roll back Obama climate policies We believe that it would be important for the US not to leave the Paris agreement, Guterres said in response to a question following his address at New York University. But even if the government decides to leave the Paris agreement, its very important for US society as a whole the cities, the states, the companies, the businesses to remain engaged. It is very clear that governments arent everything. At a summit meeting of the G7 group of leading economies over the weekend, Trump refused to join the other six leaders in pledging to implement the Paris accord and said he would announce the US position this week. Guterres said the United Nations was engaged with the US administration and Congress to try to convince them to abide by the deal. His appeal suggested if the United States the worlds biggest carbon emitter after China were to quit the accord, the onus would be on other key players such as China, India, and the European Union to do more to fight global warming. The Paris agreements commitment to curb carbon emissions and limit temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees do not nearly go far enough, Guterres said. So we must do our utmost to increase ambition and action until we can bend the emissions curve and slow down global warming, he said. Betting on green economy Describing the agreement as a remarkable moment in the history of humankind, the UN chief stressed that private corporations including oil and gas companies were not awaiting government policy and joining the green economy. Some may seek to portray the response to climate change as a fundamental threat to the economy, said Guterres. Yet what we are witnessing in these early years of a systemic response is the opposite. Those who fail to bet on the green economy will be living in a grey future, he warned. On the other hand, those who embrace green technologies will set the gold standard for economic leadership in the 21st century. READ MORE: The Paris climate agreement and why it matters Guterres pointed to growth in the clean energy sector, saying solar power grew 50 percent last year and that more new jobs were being created in renewable energy than in oil and gas. He argued climate action was a sound security policy, warning of mass displacement from natural disasters or from refugees whose lands become unlivable. The UN chief vowed to mobilise governments, the energy industry, investors, and civil society to raise the bar on climate action. As a first step, Guterres said he would press for ratification of an agreement reached last year on phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Guterres announced plans for a summit in 2019 to review progress in implementing the Paris agreement. After complaints of bias, justice department to investigate New Jersey citys rejection of plans to build a new mosque. The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into a citys rejection of a planned mosque, following claims of anti-Muslim bias. The Bayonne Muslims of New Jersey, the non-profit group seeking to construct the mosque, filed a federal case against Bayonne last week. A spokesman for the department said on Tuesday that the US Attorneys office in New Jersey and members of the departments civil rights headquarters in Washington, DC, were examining the case. Federal law prohibits local governments from imposing undue burden on religious exercise through land use regulations. Bayonne officials could not immediately be reached for comment late on Tuesday. The town did not admit any wrongdoing under the agreements. Central to the towns argument against the building of the mosque was parking. Township planners had concluded that because Friday afternoon was considered peak worship time, congregants would most likely be arriving straight from work and would each need a parking space. Bigotry against Muslims But a federal judge disagreed, and wrote in a ruling on December 31 that the town had not conducted similar assessments of worship habits when churches or synagogues had made applications. Abdul Hameed Butt, who is filing the case, said: As is happening in towns across America, phony zoning issues were used to block our mosque because of bigotry against Muslims. According to Butts statement, published by NJ.com on Thursday, he added: The zoning board subjected our application to completely different standards to those it applied to Christian churches. WATCH: Islamophobia in the USA Members of the community have rented a Catholic school building to congregate over the past six years, according to the Bayonne Muslims website. The group wishes to convert a 23,000 square-foot warehouse into a community centre with a prayer hall, clasrooms, offices, a library and a gym. More than 60,000 people live in Bayonne. Hundreds of people support a Facebook page titled Stop the mosque in Bayonne. On March 19, after the page posted an article depicting a meeting of some members of the towns Muslim community, one user wrote: We have pictures of all Muslims that were at this meeting. We will find out who you are affiliated with. Pack your bags, its time to be deported. News of the federal probe came on the same day that another New Jersey municipality, Bernards Township, agreed to pay $3.25m to resolve allegations by the US government and a Muslim group that the town illegally rejected plans for a mosque. The agreement between Bernards, which is located about 30 miles (48 km) west of New York City, and the US Department of Justice will allow the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge to build a new prayer facility. The US government has other pending lawsuits against localities over denials of mosques, including in Bensalem, Pennsylvania; Des Plaines, Illinois; and Culpeper County, Virginia. Duty of Europe to stand up to US president if he abandons Paris climate change accord, says Jean-Claude Juncker. The European Commission president said it was the duty of Europe to stand up to US President Donald Trump if he decides to pull his country out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday the Americans cant just get out of the agreement, adding it takes three to four years to pull out. Juncker went on to say the Group of Seven leaders tried to explain this in clear, simple sentences to Mr Trump at a recent summit in Italy. He said even though it looks like that attempt failed, the law is the law. In a jibe at the US administration, Juncker told the audience at an event of the Confederation of German Employers in Berlin not everything that is written in international agreements is fake news. If the US president pulls out of the Paris agreement, and he will in the next days or hours, then it is Europes duty to say that that is not how it works, Juncker said. READ MORE: World leaders make history with climate deal in Paris A White House official said earlier in the day that Trump was planning to pull out of the Paris deal, although a final decision hadnt been made. Trump on Wednesday declared abandoning the Paris Agreement would be a victory for the American economy. The European Union and China, meanwhile, will reaffirm their commitment to the Paris Agreement this week, regardless of whether the US pulls out of the pact, a senior EU official said. The official told reporters that the EU and China would also spell out how they plan to meet their commitments to the landmark international accord to fight global warming at talks in Brussels on Friday. The official is involved in preparing the meeting between EU Council President Donald Tusk, Juncker, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, but cant speak on the record because the meeting statement wasnt finalised. Li and a major Chinese delegation are due to arrive in Brussels late Thursday following talks in Berlin. The EU and China are joining forces to forge ahead on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and accelerate the global transition to clean energy, EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said about the upcoming EU-China summit. READ MORE: Obama says Paris deal best chance to save the planet A White House official said Wednesday there could be caveats in the language announcing a withdrawal, leaving open the possibility that this decision isnt final. That possibility was met with derisive howls from EU lawmakers when a session of the European Parliament was informed about it. Climate change is not a fairy tale. It is a tough reality which affects peoples daily lives, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said in a statement. People die or are obliged to leave their homes because of desertification, lack of water, exposure to disease, extreme weather conditions. If we dont act swiftly and boldly, the huge human and economic cost will continue to increase. Tajani suggested Washingtons withdrawal should be a signal for Europe to step up its efforts and reap the benefits. Our climate action strategy represents an opportunity to attract investment, innovation and develop new green technologies, he said. We have got the talent and the will to make this possible in all sectors. READ MORE: Reports: Trump expected to quit Paris climate deal Tajani said earlier he would confer with Tusk and Juncker about joint initiatives to be adopted together as a European Union to offset the decision. The EU official involved in organising the EU-China meeting said it would send important signals for the multinational system, as Trump moves to unpick some of the international trade agreements the US has signed on to. I dont think any other countries will follow the US out of Paris, so if he does leave, Trump will be in splendid isolation with the leaders of Syria and Nicaragua, said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists advocacy group. Dozens of Afghan civilians killed after massive explosion rips through the heart of the capitals diplomatic district. A massive truck bomb blast has ripped through the heart of Kabuls diplomatic district, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds in a powerful explosion described by officials as one of the biggest to have hit the capital of Afghanistan. A tanker truck believed to be carrying either water or human waste exploded on Wednesday near Zanbaq Square in Kabuls 10th district, close to shops and restaurants as well as government offices and foreign embassies. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera that the group was not involved in the attack. READ MORE: Social media users react to horrific Kabul bombing Police and health officials confirmed to Al Jazeera that at least 80 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in the attack. Reporting from Kabul, Al Jazeeras Qais Azimy cited sources as saying that the death toll could be as high as 100, with more than 500 wounded. This is one of the biggest attacks in Afghanistan that I have ever seen, he said. Its a very sad and very bloody day for the people of Kabul. Aziz Navin, an IT engineer with the Afghan TOLOnews outlet, was one of the first victims to be named. Mohammed Nazi, a driver with the BBC, was also killed while four journalists from the British public broadcaster were being treated in hospital. [Nazir] was driving journalist colleagues to the office, the BBC said in a statement posted to Twitter. He was in his late thirties and leaves a young family. An Afghan security guard at the German embassy also died in the attack. The victims appear mainly to have been Afghan civilians, and there were no immediate reports of casualties among foreign embassy staff. The area is heavily guarded, and there is usually traffic jam, just because of security-controlled points in the area, Mushtaq Rahim, an independent analyst and security commentator, told Al Jazeera from Kabul. IN PICTURES: Scenes of carnage in Afghan capital And that was one of the main reasons that we had so many civilian casualties. because of the congestion that happens in that area. Video shot at the scene showed burning debris, blasted walls and buildings and destroyed cars, many with dead or wounded people inside. Al Jazeeras Qais Azimy said the location of the attack was very significant, as it hit one of the Afghan capitals busiest and most secure parts. Kabul has been very quiet for the past week, but police have confirmed to us that this was one of the biggest blasts Kabul has ever seen, he said. The incident raised many security questions in Kabul, Azimy said, noting that many were wondering how a truck full of explosives could manage to get to that highly secure part of the Afghan capital. Rahim, the security commentator, agreed. READ MORE: World leaders condemn appalling attack in Kabul Heavily-loaded vehicles are checked thoroughly, and usually they are not allowed to pass through these areas without prior clearance from the security forces, he said. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. Sigmar Gabriel, Germanys foreign minister, said that an Afghan security guard was killed and several employees of the German embassy wounded in the blast. Sushma Swaraj, Indias minister of external affairs, tweeted that all of the staff at the Indian embassy were safe in the massive Kabul blast. French officials said the countrys embassy in Kabul was damaged in the attack, but there were no signs at this stage of any victims. Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast, while a huge plume of smoke could be seen rising from the area. Houses and shops hundreds of metres away from the blast site were damaged, with windows and doors blown off their hinges. The explosion was so loud that it shattered all my windows, did not hear something this big before, Fatima Faizi, a Kabul resident, told Al Jazeera. President Ghani condemns cowardly attack, described as one of the biggest ever to hit Afghanistan. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has condemned the cowardly truck bomb attack that ripped through the heart of Kabuls diplomatic district, killing at least 90 people and wounding hundreds. The powerful explosion on Wednesday was described by officials as one of the biggest to have hit the Afghan capital. The explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems, Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior minister, said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera that the group was not involved in the attack. Late on Wednesday, Afghanistans spy agency blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani network and neighbouring Pakistan for the blast. The plan for todays [Wednesdays] attack was drawn up by the Haqqani network with direct coordination and cooperation from Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the National Directorate of Security said in a statement. Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of supporting and sheltering Haqqani and Taliban commanders and fighters. Killing innocent people The blast gouged a crater about five metres deep near Zanbaq Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, where government buildings and foreign embassies are protected by a battery of their own security personnel, as well as Afghan police and National Security Forces. In this powerful attack 90 people have been killed and 400 wounded, including many women and children, said the governments media centre, with health officials warning the toll could climb higher. READ MORE: Social media users react to horrific Kabul bombing The victims appear mainly to have been Afghan civilians. The terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people, said Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Al Jazeeras Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said the death toll could be as high as 100, with more than 500 wounded, according to sources. This is one of the biggest attacks in Afghanistan that I have ever seen, he said. Its a very sad and very bloody day for the people of Kabul. Aziz Navin, an IT engineer with the Afghan TOLOnews outlet, was one of the first victims to be named. Mohammed Nazi, a driver with the BBC, was also killed, while four journalists from the broadcaster were being treated in hospital. [Nazir] was driving journalist colleagues to the office, the BBC said in a statement posted to Twitter. He was in his late thirties and leaves a young family. An Afghan security guard at the German embassy also died in the attack. IN PICTURES: Scenes of carnage in Afghan capital Video shot at the scene showed burning debris, blasted walls and buildings and destroyed cars, many with dead or wounded people inside. Al Jazeeras Azimy said the incident raised many security questions in Kabul, noting that many were wondering how a truck full of explosives could manage to get to that highly secure part of the capital. Houses and shops hundreds of metres away from the blast site were damaged, with windows shattered and doors blown off their hinges. The explosion was so loud that it shattered all my windows. I did not hear something this big before, Fatima Faizi, a Kabul resident, told Al Jazeera. Michael Kugelman of the US-based Wilson Center, told the Associated Press the deadly attack, signified an intelligence failure in Kabul. There was a clear failure to anticipate a major security threat in a highly secured area, he said. The fact that these intelligence failures keep happening suggest that something isnt working at the top, and major and urgent changes are needed in security policy, he said. ISIL has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. A powerful truck bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 300, according to Afghan officials. The explosion, one of the deadliest in the Afghan capital, came at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It took place in one of Kabuls most secure areas: the diplomatic quarter, which is home to many foreign embassies and government offices. Al Jazeera spoke to Jawid Kohistani, a security analyst and former official at Afghanistans National Directorate of Security, about the nature of the attack, the failures of the security forces in the country and what comes next. Al Jazeera: The bombing has been described as one of the biggest to have hit the Afghan capital. How did the attacker manage to cause such destruction in a high-level security area? Jawid Kohistani: This is not the first time that insurgents in Afghanistan have managed to attack or hit areas that are under heavy security. This has happened in the past and continues to happen. Of course, it is one of the biggest failures of the security services in Afghanistan, but at the same time, the situation is very murky as we dont know who is involved with which group or organisation. READ MORE: Social media users react to horrific Kabul bombing There are many insurgent groups actively operating across the country, and they have comprehensive knowledge about diplomatic or military areas. It is important to note that when attacks like this happen, there is always an insider linked with the attackers who helps plan an assault that can cause maximum damage. Al Jazeera: The Taliban denied involvement in the attack, claiming they dont intend to harm civilians. Is this true, and if the Taliban did not do it, can ISIL conduct an attack of such calibre in Afghanistan? Kohistani: First of all, we dont know whether any of the statements by the Taliban or any other insurgent group in Afghanistan are true. We dont have any evidence of who conducted the attack. The Taliban immediately denied responsibility, maybe because the number of civilians killed in the attack is big and they dont want people to question their Islamic values and stance. They want to portray their fight as exclusively against the Afghan government and the foreign troops. READ MORE: World leaders condemn deadly attack in Kabul Speaking of ISIL, most of the suspected ISIL group members appear to be former Taliban or local militias that want to attract support or attention in the name of the group. They dont have enough capacity, resources or influence in the country to conduct such attacks, but they do claim it in a show of power. Al Jazeera: What happens next and who is it to blame for the killing of innocent people? Do the government and security services bear any responsibility or is it just the armed groups? Kohistani: There are simple things that must be fixed. There is no real strategy to identify fighters and arrest them. READ MORE: Witnesses Kabul blast felt like an earthquake The Afghan government seems to be failing citizens, and the military and intelligence has long lacked strategic leadership and directives which is why it has become very easy for fighters to conduct such attacks and with that being said, innocent civilians will continue to die. The countrys biggest infrastructure project since its independence is under fire by some for its high costs. Amid concerns of its high price tag, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has inaugurated a Chinese-built railway, the countrys biggest infrastructure project since its independence. The red-and-white diesel train left from the port city of Mombasa on Wednesday on its journey to Nairobi, carrying Kenyatta, Chinese dignitaries and citizens from around the country. Today we celebrate one of the key cornerstones to Kenyas transformation to an industrialised, prosperous, middle-income country, Kenyatta said at the inauguration ceremony. The five-hour journey on what is being called the Madarake Express, or Freedom Express, will take half the time it takes to drive between the two cities. READ MORE: Kenya launches mega railway project Al Jazeeras Catherine Soi, reporting from Mombasa, said many see the train as a historic moment for Kenya. This is a huge milestone and everyone who has witnessed the inaugural ceremonies are very proud, saying its an historic event, Soi said. The new railway will replace what was dubbed the Lunatic Express, the railway built more than a century ago by colonial Britain known for its lengthy delays and breakdowns, as well as its high costs. The difference between this railway and the old one is affordability and the capacity of the trains to carry more load and passengers, as well as its speed, Soi said. Wagari Ngunyi, a passenger of the new train, told Al Jazeera that it is comfortable and its very smooth. $3.2bn price tag Al Jazeeras Soi said that the while efficiency of the train is not in dispute, many people are worried about the economics of its construction. Accusations of corruption, concerns over the impact on wildlife, and a $3.2bn price tag blamed on poor negotiations with the Chinese have dogged the project. Economist Kwame Owino told Al Jazeera that Kenyas railway costs [per kilometre] are almost 40 to 50 percent higher than some of Kenyas neighbouring countries. Its an extremely expensive piece of railway, especially because the technology is more up to date, Owino said. READ MORE: Africa is not poor, we are stealing its wealth Transport Minister James Macharia said, however, that the government expects the railway to boost GDP by 1.5 percent, allowing them to pay back its loan from the Chinese in about four years. Joseph Keiyah, of Kenyas Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, told Al Jazeera that while the project is expensive, it has many benefits for the country. I think what Kenya is trying to do in a nutshell is to reposition itself as the strategic gateway to East Africa. The railway is part of a master plan by East African leaders to connect their nations by rail, with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) planned to eventually link Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi and Ethiopia. Al Jazeeras Soi said another concern regarding the railway is the growing Chinese influence in the country. The Chinese government seems to be calling the shots, and that is concerning many people, Soi said. Chinas Export-Import Bank financed 90 percent of the railways first leg, while the Kenyan government provided the remaining 10 percent. Interior ministry halts film premier in cinemas because the lead role is played by a former Israeli soldier. Lebanons interior ministry has officially banned the new Wonder Woman film from cinemas because an Israeli actress plays the lead role, a ministry source and a security official said. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and its Ministry of Economy and Trade oversees a boycott of any business transaction concerning Israel. An interior ministry source said on Wednesday it had issued an order to ban the movie, which stars former Israeli army soldier Gal Gadot, based on a recommendation from the General Security directorate. The movie is based on a comic book character introduced in 1941, fighting villains, rescuing victims and unearthing evil plots. The distributor for Warner Brothers in the region said the movie was set to premiere officially in most of Beiruts major cinemas on Wednesday night, after private showings had been held the day before. The public release screenings were cancelled a few hours in advance. Lebanons Grand Cinemas announced the ban on its Twitter feed. Gadot has been vocally supportive of the Israeli military and critical of Hamas, the democratically elected Palestinian faction in Gaza. I am sending my love and prayers to my fellow Israeli citizens, Gadot wrote in a Facebook post during Israels assault on Gaza in 2014. Especially to all the boys and girls who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas, who are hiding like cowards behind women and children We shall overcome!!! In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Economy said that it had asked the General Security directorate to prevent screenings of Wonder Woman owing to Gadots role in the film. Israel fought a month-long war with its Lebanese foe Hezbollah in 2006, and has targeted the Iran-backed armed group with strikes in Syria in recent years, but there has been no major direct confrontation. Israels 2006 war on Lebanon killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. About 160 Israelis were also killed in the fighting. A UN-monitored ceasefire has largely held since the 2006 war, which also displaced a million people in Lebanon. UN ambassador The movie triggered controversy last year when the character of Wonder Woman was chosen as an honorary UN ambassador to fight for gender equality. Tens of thousands of people signed an online petition, saying the fictional character was an inappropriate choice and that its evolution into a scantily clad and curvaceous heroine did not represent gender empowerment. The United Nations abruptly ended the characters role two months into her appointment. Opposition leaders question prime ministers absence from the BBC debate as YouGov poll shows Labour Party closing in. UK opposition leaders have mocked Prime Minister Theresa Mays absence from a key election debate as a new poll suggested that the Conservatives could lose several seats in next weeks general election and leave the country with a hung parliament. May had agreed to participate in a televised town hall interview broadcast by Channel 4 News and Sky on Monday on the condition that she will not be on stage at the same time as her rival. However, the prime minister chose to send Home Secretary Amber Rudd to represent the Tories at Wednesdays televised debate on the BBC. Tonight, I am here, UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said at the debate. I am here to debate the future of our country do we want one for the many or just a few? We will ask those with the most to contribute a bit more, so no one is held back from achieving their potential. Vote Labour to transform Britain for the many, not the few. Tonight we saw the real choice facing our country. On 8 June, you have the power to decide. Vote Labour #ForTheMany, not the few. #BBCDebate pic.twitter.com/Z923oBnWnZ Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 31, 2017 May later defended her no-show, claiming Corbyn ought to be paying a little more attention to thinking about Brexit negotiations. Thats what Im doing to make sure we get the best possible deal for Britain, she said. Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron also took a swipe at the Tory leader for the decision, saying youre not worth Theresa Mays time, dont give her yours. Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said May was not there because her campaign of soundbites is falling apart. Meanwhile, Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, branded Mays decision not to attend extreme cowardice as her replacement Rudd floundered. "Not so much Iron Lady as the u-turn queen" decent line from Angus Robertson. Debate finishes with them all lambasting May for her absence Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) May 31, 2017 WATCH: Is the British medias coverage of Corbyn balanced or biased? The debate itself was a boisterous affair covering Brexit, the economy, public services, climate change, immigration and security a major issue after the Manchester attack last week. Speaking on security, UKIP leader Paul Nuttall said while British foreign policy in Iraq and Libya was fundamentally wrong, it was not to blame for the attack in Manchester that killed 22 people. Nuttall said radical Islam was a cancer that needed to be cut out to prevent other attacks. Asked whether he would arrest suspected terrorists without trial, he said: Ive said nothing should be taken off the table. Corbyn said he utterly deplored Nuttalls subliminal attack on people of the Muslim faith after the anti-EU party leader accused the Muslim community of not doing enough to report extremism. We have to recognise that we live in a multi-faith society, Corbyn said. Nuttalls remarks were also condemned by SNP Deputy leader Angus Robertson who pointed out that a white neo-Nazi was responsible for the murder of MP Jo Cox. OPINION: The Corbyn factor When campaigning for the June 8 snap parliamentary election began last month, polls showed the Conservatives to be 20 points ahead of Labour. Since then, several missteps by May have thrown the contest into uncertainty. According to a YouGov Poll for The Times newspaper on Wednesday, Labour is projected to gain about 30 seats, and the Conservatives are likely to lose about 20, putting the Tories 16 seats short of a majority in parliament. The Times said the main projection from YouGovs model allows for a wide margin of error, [but] would be a catastrophic outcome for May, who called the election when polls pointed to a landslide result. Her support appears to have plunged after the poor reception of the party manifesto, including plans to make more elderly voters pay for home care, the newspaper said. The Conservative pledges to work on regional stability and move the country closer towards EU accession. Aleksandar Vucic has been sworn in as Serbias new president, promising to work for peace and stability in the war-weary Balkans while strengthening the countrys armed forces. Vucic formally stepped down from his prime ministers post on Wednesday and took over his new role after his landslide win in Aprils election. The opposition alleged irregularities during the election campaign, including muzzling the media, both state-owned and private. There have been enough burials in the Balkans. It is time to give birth, Vucic said in his inaugural speech, referring to the wars in the southern European region in the 1990s in which he took an active role as a supporter of expanding Serbias borders at the expense of its neighbours. While we have to talk to everyone, we also have to strengthen our defence capacity. He added that Serbia would not join NATO or become member of any other military alliance. Vucic, 47, was a far-right extremist who toned down his rhetoric and founded the Serbian Progressive Party in 2008, moving to Serbias centre-right, which was largely unoccupied at that time. Starting as a pro-Russia opponent of the European Union, he turned into a proponent of Serbias EU membership bid, though he did not abandon close ties with Russia. IN PICTURES: Afghan refugees stranded in Serbia During three years as prime minister, Vucic repeatedly said that EU membership is Serbias strategic goal. At the same time, he has been strengthening ties with Serbias traditional ally Russia, which has agreed to supply fighter jets and battle tanks to its military, heightening tensions in the Balkans. Al Jazeeras Stefan Goranovic, reporting from Belgrade, said the main issues in Serbia were the economy and average wages which are not the presidents responsibilities. But many political analysts say that he will be very dominant, being by far the most famous political personality of the country, he said. Vucic visited Brussels over the last few days where he met top EU officials and confirmed that Serbia will move towards accession. The EU is criticising Serbia for problems in areas like rule of law and media freedom. On Wednesday, there were sporadic clashes between Vucics supporters and his opponents in downtown Belgrade as police prevented demonstrators from reaching the parliament building. The presidency is largely a ceremonial post, but as Vucics speech indicated, he intends to continue playing a lead role in Serbian politics. US media reports Donald Trump is poised to withdraw from a global agreement aimed at mitigating climate change. President Donald Trump is reportedly set to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, according to several US news reports, dealing a giant setback to efforts aimed at cutting global emissions. Multiple sources confirmed to news agencies and US broadcasters on Wednesday the decision of the American leader, who later posted on social media that he would make an announcement this week. I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. Fox News, Axios, the Associated Press and Reuters news agency cited unnamed sources confirming the pullout. Al Jazeeras James Bays, reporting from Washington, DC, said that no official announcement was expected on Wednesday, adding that it is worth cautioning that there are disagreements among his advisers on how to proceed with the deal. So until we have the final words of the president, I dont think we should jump the gun. But it is looking like he is going to pull out. A decision to withdraw from the deal would put the US in league with Syria and Nicaragua as the worlds only non-participants in the Paris Climate Agreement. A US withdrawal would have sweeping implications for the deal, which relies heavily on the commitment of big polluter nations to reduce emissions of gases scientists blame for sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. The accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, aims to limit global warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Under the pact, former US president Barack Obama committed the US to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Meanwhile, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Europe must make clear to the US that quitting the Paris climate agreement is not a straightforward process, and that fully leaving the deal will take years. Europes duty is to say: its not like that, Juncker told a student conference on the future of Europe organised by the German employers association BDA. READ MORE: UN demands more ambition as US weighs climate pullout The Americans cant just leave the climate protection agreement. Trump believes that because he doesnt know the details. In reality, it would take several years for the U.S. to extricate itself from the obligations that flow from having signed the agreement, the head of the European Unions executive arm added. The US is the worlds second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. Reacting to news reports of Trumps decision, Samantha Power, President Obamas ambassador to the United Nations, posted on Twitter: The end of the American Century. Nancy Pelosi, opposition leader in the House of Representatives, said the decision would be a stunning abdication of American leadership and a threat to the planet. During Trumps overseas trip last week, European leaders pressed him to keep the US in the pact. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Trump at length about the issue during a meeting in Brussels, and even at the Vatican, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin made his own pro-Paris pitch to Trump and his advisers. But Trumps chief White House economic adviser, Gary Cohn, told reporters during the trip abroad that Trumps views on climate change were evolving following the presidents discussions with European leaders. Word of Trumps decision comes a day after the president met with Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Like his boss, Pruitt has questioned the consensus of climate scientists that the Earth is warming and that man-made climate emissions are to blame. Once in power, Trump and Pruitt have moved to delay or roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions while pledging to revive the long-struggling US coalmines. What is not yet clear is whether Trump plans to initiate a formal withdrawal from the Paris accord, which under the terms of the agreement could take three years, or exit the underlying UN climate change treaty on which the accord was based. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and 21 other Republicans sent Trump a letter last week urging him to follow through on his campaign pledge to pull out of the climate accord. Most of the senators who signed are from states that depend on the continued burning of coal, oil and gas. There have been influential voices urging Trump not to ditch the Paris accord. Forty Democratic senators sent Trump a letter urging him to stay in, saying a withdrawal would hurt Americas credibility and influence on the world stage. Hundreds of high-profile businesses have spoken out in favour of the deal, including Apple, Google and Walmart. Even fossil fuel companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell say the US should abide by the deal. Four Kalibr cruise missiles, launched from warships in the Mediterranean, hit their targets near Palmyra, Kremlin says. Two Russian warships fired several cruise missiles at Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) targets in Syria from the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, the first such strikes announced in months. The frigate Admiral Essen and submarine Krasnodar carried out four strikes against ISIL targets near the city of Palmyra, the Russian military said in a statement. The missiles were intended to eliminate a stockpile of artillery that had been moved from Raqqa, ISILs de facto capital in Syria, the statement said. All the targets were hit, the statement continued, without specifying when the strikes occurred. Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the successful strikes by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Kremlin said. Al Jazeeras Rory Challands, reporting from Russias capital, Moscow, said the strikes, which came a day after the US conducted what it said was a successful shooting down of a mock intercontinental ballistic missile, could by seen as a show of force by the Russian army. Russia generally drops dumb bombs in Syria, because its cheaper, but every time it wants to send out a demonstration of military capabilities it ups the sophistication of its strikes, he said. Information channels Moscow said that the militaries of the US, Turkey and Israel were informed in a timely manner of the missile launches through existing communication channels. Challands said that none of these countries has particularly close alliances with Russia but they do have agreements on things like information sharing. What Russia has done here is that these information lines continue to operate, but at the same time that Russia is able and willing to act independently, he said. Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign since 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad and has a naval contingent deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster its firepower. Moscow has, however, not announced any strikes from the sea in recent months as it focuses on pushing a fragile truce between the government and rebels. The ceasefire does not include UN-designated terrorist groups, including ISIL. Social media users react to blast in Afghan capital Kabul, which has killed at least 80 people and wounded hundreds. At least 80 people, mostly Afghan civilians, have been killed by a massive bomb blast in Kabul, and more than 300 people were wounded. The explosion struck at the heart of the Afghan capitals diplomatic area, with scenes of carnage, panic and sorrow quickly emerging. Journalists said the windows of their offices shook, while people ran from the epicentre of the blast with bloody faces. Aziz Nawin, an IT engineer with the Afghan TOLO news outlet, was one of the first victims to be named. Mohammed Nazir, a driver with the BBC, the British public broadcaster, was also killed, the outlet confirmed. READ MORE: World leaders condemn deadly attack in Kabul The blast came just two days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. At the time of publication, the top worldwide trends on Twitter were #covefefe, a possible typo included in a tweet by US President Donald Trump as he railed against constant negative press, and #MasterChefBR, which collected tweets regarding a cooking contest in Brazil. #Kabul was third. This is how the event, one of the biggest attacks to have hit Kabul, is playing out on social media: Windows shattered. Felt so close. Kabul blast. Wazir Akbar Khan. Lotfullah Najafizada (@LNajafizada) May 31, 2017 BBC statement: pic.twitter.com/FBl4IRi16E BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) May 31, 2017 Massive explosion just shattered all the windows and glass in our bureau #Kabul jessdonati (@jessdonati) May 31, 2017 https://twitter.com/Intrigue_Jones/status/869776042088689664 By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 More than the "German embassy," the blast took place in a high-trafficked area of Kabul where school, hospital, restaurant, hotel etc are https://t.co/LZocK6ajs3 Ali M Latifi (@alibomaye) May 31, 2017 we were jolted way badly in about 2 km distance. Horrific it was. Roohul Amin Munqaad (@RMunqaad) May 31, 2017 when first switched on my laptop, the office building shocked, thought its an earthquake. Ezatullah ADIB (@EzatullahAdib) May 31, 2017 https://twitter.com/msternpeltz/status/869825508514684928 We want peace but, those who kill us in the holy month of Ramadan don't worth a call for peace, they most be destroyed and uprooted. 2/2 Dr. Abdullah Abdullah (@DrabdullahCE) May 31, 2017 The car bombing in Kabul is tragic. However, from the reporting I kind of feel we only care because it's near European embassies. Not. On. KizzyLou (@kizletwiggle) May 31, 2017 Hope this evokes the same anger, disgust as an attack in Manchester. A bloody Ramzan for Kabul. Thoughts and prayers https://t.co/nV7s7h9OcF Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) May 31, 2017 Foreign aid begins to trickle into Sri Lanka where the worst floods in more than a decade have killed 202 people. Widespread flooding and devastating mudslides in Sri Lanka have killed at least 202 people and displaced more than half a million, the government has said. The state-run Disaster Management Center said around 600,000 people remained temporarily homeless on Wednesday following last Fridays landslides and floods. Al Jazeeras Minelle Fernandez, reporting from Matara, around 160km south of the capital Colombo, said aid agencies were struggling to distribute fresh food to rural areas. In the capital, shops and supermarkets are running out of supplies as people are coming in and hoovering up items, she said. While waters are receding in some areas, there are still some parts that are 10 to 12 feet under water. Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had sent medicines and relief supplies to assist those driven from their homes. We also have a lot of enquiries from other countries and organisations wanting to know our immediate needs. We are moved by the spontaneous response, Karunanayake told reporters. The UN warned that with an increasing number of displaced people and a lack of space in temporary shelters, many people were at risk of disease. Sri Lanka has seen a significant increase in mosquito-borne dengue fever this year, with more than 125 deaths. Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from Kalutara city, said residents were still without access to water and electricity and heavily reliant on voluntary services. READ MORE: Foreign aid arrives as flood toll tops 200 The UN has pledged more money, neighbouring countries have also come forward. The Indian navy has supplied three ships full of aid and China and Japan have also put money forward, he said. The Sri Lankan military is also saying its doing all it can. Search-and-rescue operations are still ongoing. But residents are saying if it wasnt for private organisations and people coming forward, the government and military would be finding it even harder to deal with this crisis. Mudslides have become common during Sri Lankas summer monsoon season as forests across the tropical nation have been cleared for export crops such as tea and rubber. A massive landslide a year ago killed more than 100 people in central Sri Lanka. Stakes are high as Iran seeks to secure influence through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in so-called Shia crescent. Syrian rebels say the United States and its allies are sending them more arms to try to fend off a new push into the southeast by Iran-backed militias aiming to open an overland supply route between Iraq and Syria. Tensions escalated in the southeastern region of Syria, known as the Badia, this month when government forces supported by Iraqi militias deployed in a challenge to rebels backed by President Bashar al-Assads enemies. This has coincided with a march towards the Syrian border by militias from Iraq. They reached the frontier adjoining northern Syria on Monday. A top Iraqi militia commander said a wider operation to take the area from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) started on Tuesday. WATCH: Syria: Starvation as a weapon of war While in Iraq the US has fought alongside Iranian-backed Iraqi government forces and militias against ISIL, in Syria Washington has lined up against Assads Iranian-backed government and wants to block a further expansion of Iranian influence with its regional allies. Several rebel groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner operate in sparsely populated Badia, where they captured swathes of territory from ISIL this year. US air raids on May 18 targeted Iran-backed fighters who had moved into the area. Also in May, Damascus declared both the Badia and Deir Az Zor priorities of its campaign to re-establish its rule over Syria, which has been shattered by six years of war that have killed hundreds of thousands of people. The government is being helped by both Iran and Russia, while the opposition has been helped by the West and regional states that oppose Assad. Rebels said military aid has been boosted through two separate channels: a programme backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), known as MOC, and regional states including Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and one run by the Pentagon. There has been an increase in the support, said Tlass Salameh, head of the Jaish Usoud al-Sharqiya, one of the FSA groups backed by the CIA-sponsored programme. Theres no way we can let them open the Baghdad-Damascus highway, he said. READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning A senior commander of a Pentagon-backed group, Maghawir al-Thawra, told Reuters news agency a steady flow of weapons had arrived at their base near the Iraqi border since the pro-Damascus forces began deploying this month. He said efforts to recruit and train local fighters from Deir Az Zor had accelerated at their garrison at Tanf, on the highway some 20km from the Iraqi border. The equipment and reinforcements come and go daily but in the last few weeks they have brought in more heavy military vehicles, TOW [missiles], and armoured vehicles, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Two armoured vehicles newly delivered to the Tanf garrison were shown in photos sent to Reuters from a rebel source. A video showed fighters unpacking mortar rounds. In a written response to emailed questions, a spokesman for the US-led coalition did not say if coalition support to Maghawir al-Thawra had increased. Colonel Ryan Dillon said coalition forces were prepared to defend themselves if pro-regime forces refuse to vacate a de-confliction zone around Tanf. The coalition has observed pro-regime forces patrolling in the vicinity of the established de-confliction zone around the Tanf training site in Syria Pro-regime patrols and the continued armed and hostile presence of forces inside the zone is unacceptable and threatening to coalition forces, Dillon said. US jets this week dropped leaflets on pro-government forces instructing them to pull out of the Tanf area to the Zaza junction further from the border. The leaflets were obtained by Hammurabi Justice, a Maghawir-linked website. The Syrian army could not be reached for comment. READ MORE: Syria Civil War: The sky is falling in Aleppo A commander in the military alliance fighting in support of Assad said the deployment of government forces and pro-Damascus Iraqi fighters in Badia would obstruct all the plans of the MOC, Jordan and America. The commander, a non-Syrian, said Assads enemies were committed to blocking what they call the [Shia] Crescent. But, he said, Now, our axis is insistent on this matter and it will be accomplished. The Iraqi Badr militia said its advance to the Syrian border would help the Syrian army reach the border from the other side. The Americans will not be allowed to control the border, its leader, Hadi al-Amiri, told al-Mayadeen TV. Demonstrations were held in the northern Rif region to demand the release of leader of the Popular Movement. Several thousand people took to the streets of Moroccos northern Rif region to demand the release of the leader of a protest movement. Nasser Zefzafi, 39, who had been on the run since Friday, was taken into custody on Monday along with other individuals and transferred to Casablanca. His arrest was ordered after he allegedly interrupted a preacher at a mosque on Friday and called for further demonstrations. Protesters came out near the centre of the northern city of al-Hoceima for a fifth straight night on Tuesday, shouting slogans including we are all Zefzafi and end militarisation. The protesters, including women and children, held aloft hundreds of pictures of Zefzafi, who has emerged as the leader of the grassroots, al-Hirak al-Shaabi (the Popular Movement). Others held up Berber flags, the symbol of a strongly-felt regional identity in an area many claim has long been neglected by central authorities. One brandished a sign saying Free the prisoners or put us all in prison! Anti-riot police attempted to disperse the protesters but pulled back following a tense but non-violent standoff. The Rif region has been shaken by social unrest since the death of a fishmonger in October. 31-year-old Mouhcine Fikri was crushed in a rubbish truck as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season. Calls for justice for Fikri evolved into a grassroots movement demanding jobs and economic development, with Zefzafi, himself unemployed, emerging as the leader of al-Hirak al-Shaabi, based largely in al-Hoceima. Images that appeared on social media showed similar protests taking place in the neighbouring town of Imzouren, with a strong police presence. Smaller protests were also held in the capital Rabat and Casablanca but were broken up by police, Moroccan media reported. According to officials, 40 people were arrested by Monday evening in connection with the disturbances in al-Hoceima. Human rights groups have given higher figures, however. Turkeys military says 13 soldiers have died in a helicopter crash near the border with Iraq. A military statement said the AS532 Cougar helicopter crashed on Wednesday shortly after taking off from a base in the region of Senoba in Sirnak province. As a result of the painful accident, our hero comrades in the helicopter fell as martyrs, the statement said. It said initial information indicated that the helicopter hit a high-voltage transmission line. The governors office for the province of Sirnak said the helicopter crashed near the town of Uludere, three minutes after taking off. The helicopter crashed at 8:55pm (17:55 GMT), the military said, adding that an investigation was under way. Turkeys chief of staff, General Hulusi Akar, travelled to the region to carry out an inspection, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, Defence Minister Fikri Isik and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu were also travelling to the region, it added. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reportedly been briefed about the accident after chairing the countrys top National Security Council meeting in Ankara The crash occurred as Turkish troops are engaged in operations against Kurdish fighters in a mountainous region of Sirnak province. In March, seven people, including four Russians, were killed when a privately owned helicopter crashed in Istanbul after hitting a television tower. National Guard soldiers block the way to foreign ministry and drive protesters back with volleys of gas and water canon. Security forces in Venezuela used water cannons and tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of opposition protesters heading towards the foreign ministry as the Organization of American States held another meeting on the crisis. Two months of protests against President Nicolas Maduros socialist government have convulsed the South American OPEC nation with at least 59 people killed in the unrest. Opposition supporters demanding elections, freedom for jailed activists, and foreign humanitarian aid marched onto Caracas main highway aiming to reach the ministry downtown. But as happens near-daily with rallies trying to reach government offices, National Guard soldiers blocked their way and drove them back with volleys of gas and blasts of water. READ MORE: Venezuela opposition leaders wounded in protest march Masked youths hurled stones and Molotov cocktails in return. Its always the same. We set off peacefully, and they attack us. We have to respond, were human beings, said law student Brian Suarez, 20, holding a homemade wooden shield depicting a shooting target with the faces of Maduro and other officials. Here are the faces of the people who have led us to ruin, he added, as women handed food, shoes, and other supplies to the young men battling security forces. With international pressure mounting on Maduro, foreign ministers from the 34-nation OAS bloc met in Washington, DC, on Wednesday to debate the situation in Venezuela. When the meeting was announced last month, Venezuela said it was withdrawing from the OAS in protest. Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher, reporting from the meeting, said Nicaragua and Bolivia had urged non-intervention by OAS members. However, Brazil, Argentina, and other countries are urging action, perhaps the establishment of a contact group, to act as a trusted third party mediator for both sides and guide political dialogue to end the crisis. Many countries are saying it is the very definition of the OAS to get involved in something like this. At the moment nothing is improving, and it is making life for ordinary people in Venezuela much worse, Fisher said. WATCH: Venezuelan cities semi-paralysed by countrys deepening crisis Maduro, 54, accuses opponents of seeking his violent overthrow with US support, similar to a short-lived 2002 coup against his popular predecessor Hugo Chavez. He has called for the creation of a super-body, or constituent assembly, with powers to rewrite the constitution, in voting set for the end of July. The constituent vote will bring us peace, said food ministry worker Freimar Ruiz, 29, at a government rally mainly attended by public sector workers to mark the beginning of a period in which people can sign up to be candidates. They say were paid to be here, but thats a lie because if not, I wouldnt be so short of money, she joked. Four years of recession caused by failing socialist economic policies plus the decline in global oil prices have battered Venezuelas 30 million people. It has also made Maduro deeply unpopular, with many people within the ruling Chavista movement questioning the constituent assembly given that Chavez himself had the constitution re-written in 1999. Venezuelas opposition is refusing to participate, saying the vote set for July is a sham with biased rules to ensure the body is filled with Maduro supporters. They fear a new assembly could then skew the rules for governors elections in December of this year and the presidential vote slated for late 2018. Polls show the government would lose any conventional vote. As well as deaths, the unrest in Venezuela has led to hundreds of injuries and, according to local rights group Penal Forum, nearly 3,000 people arrested of whom 1,351 remain held. European leaders are dismayed by Trumps refusal to reaffirm US support for the Paris climate change agreement. US President Donald Trump called Germanys trade and spending policies very bad intensifying a row between the longtime allies and immediately earning himself the moniker destroyer of Western values from a leading German politician. As the war of words on Tuesday threatened to spin out of control, Merkel and other senior German politicians stressed the importance of Germanys Atlantic ties, with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel suggesting the spat was just a rough patch. Trump took to Twitter early in the day in the United States to attack Germany, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel ramped up her doubts about the reliability of Washington as an ally. We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change, Trump tweeted. READ MORE: Trump weakened West, hurt EU interests: German FM Later in the day, Trumps spokesman and the US ambassador to the United Nations said there were no problems in relations with Merkel or NATO. The tit-for-tat dispute escalated rapidly after Trump, at back-to-back summits last week, criticised major NATO allies over their military spending and refused to endorse a global climate change accord. Trump said he will give his verdict on the Paris accord later this week and has warned Washington may pull out of a pact that European leaders see as the last best hope to slow global warming. On Sunday, Merkel showed the gravity of her concern about Washingtons dependability under Trump when she warned at an election campaign event in a packed Bavarian beer tent, that the times when Europe could fully rely on others were over to a certain extent. Those comments, which caused shock in Washington, vented Europes frustration with Trump on climate policy in particular. And while German politicians sided with Merkel, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel signalled it was time for cooler heads to prevail. The United States are older and bigger than the current conflict, he said, adding relations would improve. It is inappropriate that we are now communicating with each other between a beer tent and Twitter, he said in Berlin. Martin Schulz, leader of Gabriels centre-left Social Democrats, was less emollient earlier in the day when he told reporters Trump was the destroyer of all Western values. He added the US president was undermining the peaceful cooperation of nations based on mutual respect and tolerance. READ MORE: Germanys Merkel stresses EU loss of US and UK as reliable allies In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said he agreed with Merkel that Europe needed to forge its own path. This takes nothing away from the importance of our trans-Atlantic ties and our alliance with the United States. But the importance we put on these ties cannot mean that we abandon fundamental principles such as our commitment to fight climate change and in favour of open societies and free trade, he said. In Washington, Trump administration officials on Tuesday appeared to try to soften the message underlying Trumps tweet with comments emphasising the importance of US-European ties. White House spokesman Sean Spicer, asked about the presidents relationship with Merkel, told a news briefing: I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel, he would describe as fairly unbelievable. They get along very well. He has a lot of respect for her And he views not just Germany but the rest of Europe as an important American ally. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said repeatedly in an interview the United States would support its NATO allies. On Merkels apparent criticism of Trump, Haley said: I think theres obviously some differences of opinion between the two of them, but at the same time I know what we believe in NATO and how strongly we believe about those allies and were going to continue to do that. People at site of huge blast that killed at least 80 people describe scenes of confusion and large-scale destruction. Witnesses described scenes of panic, confusion and destruction following a devastating bomb blast in Kabuls diplomatic quarter that killed scores of people and wounded hundreds. [I have] not heard something this big before, Fatima Faizi, a Kabul resident, told Al Jazeera, minutes after the blast on Wednesday. READ MORE: Scenes of carnage in Afghan capital At the Wazir Akhbar Khan hospital, there were scenes of chaos as ambulances brought in wounded and frantic relatives scanned casualty lists and questioned hospital staff for news. I couldnt think clearly, there was a mess everywhere, Nabib Ahmad, who was lightly hurt, told the Reuters news agency. A suspected truck bomb ripped through the heart of Kabuls diplomatic area in an earthquake-like blast described by officials as one of the biggest to have hit the city. At least 80 people were killed and more than 300 wounded. Kabul residents said the explosion was so powerful it could be felt throughout the Afghan capital. I was just 500m from the location of the explosion, and it was so heavy that in every part of Kabul, people thought as if it was next to them, Mushtaq Rahim, an independent analyst and security commentator, told Al Jazeera. It was pretty strong. It felt like a tremor, like an earthquake in many parts of the city. As soon as the blast went off, one could see a huge amount of smoke coming from the area, Rahim added. Mohammad Hassan, who worked at a bank near the site of the blast, also said the explosion felt like an earthquake. He suffered a head wound. The explosion went off at rush hour near Zanbaq Square in Kabuls 10th district, close to shops and restaurants as well as government offices and foreign embassies. READ MORE Horrific: Social media reacts to Kabul bomb blast Faizi said the explosion was so loud that it shattered all the windows in her home. Video from the scene showed debris burning near destroyed buildings and cars. Gul Rahim, who was at the site, said: there are a large number of casualties. Naser Shahalemi, who works in a building about five to 10 minutes from the blast scene, said he felt a huge gust of wind followed by an immediate explosion. Afghan security expert: Such attacks will never end There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera that the group was not responsible for the blast. Officials have said the death toll is expected to rise. The victims appear mainly to have been Afghan civilians, and there were no immediate reports of casualties among foreign embassy staff. Shahalemi said that the area where the explosion took place was a very fast-paced area and everything could have possibly been a target. Embassies damaged Al Jazeeras Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said the location of the attack was very significant, as it hit one of the Afghan capitals busiest and most secure parts. Kabul has been very quiet for the past week, but police have confirmed to us that this was one of the biggest blasts Kabul has ever seen, he said. OPINION Afghanistan: A pawn in major power rivalry? Officials of several embassies in the area, including the German, Japanese, French, Canadian and Bulgarian missions, reported damage to their buildings. We are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe. However, the blast was very large and nearby buildings including our own building have considerable damage in terms of broken glass and shattered windows and blown doors, etc. Manpreet Vohra, Indias envoy to Afghanistan, told the Times Now television channel. Emergency, an Italian NGO that operates in a hospital near the site of the blast, wrote on Twitter that the explosion was so big that our hospital got damaged. It added its staff is well and working to treat the wounded arriving from the blast. Top officials issue condemnations after massive bombing in Afghan capital claims at least 80 lives and wounds hundreds. World leaders have offered sweeping condemnations of one of the biggest attacks to hit Afghanistans capital, Kabul. The suicide bomb blast early on Wednesday killed at least 80 people and wounded hundreds near Zanbaq Square in Kabuls 10th district, close to shops and restaurants as well as government offices and foreign embassies. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera that the group was not involved in the attack. READ MORE: Social media users react to horrific Kabul bombing Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack, which came just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A statement from his office quoted Ghani as saying that the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people. Several foreign embassies were in the vicinity of the attack, which occurred in an area filled with diplomats. Residences and offices of Pakistani, Indian, French, and German diplomats, among those of other countries, were damaged. Pakistan condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused loss of precious human lives and injuries to many. The victims appear mainly to have been Afghan civilians, but German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that employees of the German Embassy were wounded in the attack and that one Afghan security guard was killed. AM @sigmargabriel: Besturzende Nachrichten aus #Kabul. Verurteile Anschlag auf das Scharfste. Unsere Gedanken sind bei Angehorigen der Opfer pic.twitter.com/Xm7SLLnY25 Auswartiges Amt (@AuswaertigesAmt) May 31, 2017 Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims. We wish those injured a quick recovery, the foreign minister said. Its particularly despicable that these people were targeted. READ MORE: Witnesses Kabul blast felt like an earthquake He also vowed that the attack would not shake Germanys determination to support the Afghan regime with the stabilisation of their country. Foreign minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani, condemned the appalling attack. Strongly condemn the appalling attack in #Kabul that killed many innocent. #Qatar rejects all forms of violence and terrorism. (@MBA_AlThani_) May 31, 2017 Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India tweeted thoughts & prayers to those affected by the attack. Filmmaker: Mohamed Harb Madeleine Kolab always had a strong relationship with the sea. She grew up swimming and helping her father in the familys fishing business, while dreaming of a career as fashion designer. But the life of the Gazan teenager changed dramatically when her father was attacked by an Israeli patrol boat in 2009. I would always go to the sea with my father to play and swim. As I grew older, my relationship with the sea turned from being a game to a part of my life. My dreams were swept away by the waves and became broken ones, she says. Due to Israels ongoing naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, fishermen are struggling to make ends meet. Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Gaza offshore fishing limit was set at 37 kilometres. But over the following 23 years, Israel gradually reduced this to as little as five kilometres at one point. The fishing limit is enforced by Israeli gunboats, so fishing in Gaza has become a risky business. As the eldest of three children and with no other source of income, Madeleine felt obliged to become the sole family breadwinner after her father was badly injured in the gunboat attack a challenge she now takes great pride in. I am very happy with my work and feel relaxed when I am on the sea. The days I go to sea, I feel safe, although it's a tiring job and a big responsibility. by Madeleine Kolab, Gazas first fisherwoman When my father fell ill, the doctors said he couldnt be exposed to seawater, the cold or the wind anymore, says Madeleine. There was no other choice for me but to take his place. I manage the money and go sea fishing. That was difficult for both of us. I didnt know what to expect but I had to rely on myself. I didnt want him to feel he had to go to sea or start begging. I wanted him to feel he could depend on someone. I pushed myself and overcame my fear. My challenge was to make my father proud of me. Madeleine is 22 now but she took over the family fishing business at the age of 13, becoming Gazas first fisherwoman. At first, she tried to juggle school with fishing but eventually left her studies to work full-time. She had to survive as a young woman in an exclusively mans world at a raw age and deal with regular gender discrimination in her own conservative community. When I first started fishing, the fishermen asked my father not to allow me. My father ignored them no matter how much they talked, I ignored them until they got used to me and I became one of them, recalls Madeleine. Madeleines father, Mohamed Kolab, tested her on occasions and discovered she was skilled, serious and brave, he says. She would go in and dive into the wide sea. Thank God, shes feeding the family. Were blessed to eat every day. A fellow fishermen remembers Madeleine going to sea as a child. She would dive from the rock, says Mohamed Omar Bakir. Now shes more skilled than any fisherman. At first, they gave her weird looks. But because she works hard and shows them respect they look at her with admiration now. Bakir acknowledges his initial suspicion of Madeleine when she first started fishing. But when I got closer to her as her fathers my friend, I found she was more capable than a man, he says. She doesnt count as just one man, but as five. I call her daughter. All the fishermen here respect her because shes capable and smart. She supports her family which is in a bad situation. In Gaza, fishing is risky business. In 2016, there were 126 incidents when the Israeli navy fired at Palestinian fishermen and their boats. Twelve fishermen were injured that year, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, as previously reported by Al Jazeera. Fisherman Sami Ali al-Qouqa lost a hand in an Israeli gunboat attack, preventing him from ever fishing again. Our conditions were fine under the Palestinian Authority, under the Oslo Accords. We were allowed a 37-kilometre fishing limit, says al-Qouqa who, like Madeleine, is his familys sole breadwinner. After Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, they [Israel] put restrictions on us. From 22 kilometres to five. This area is only fit for swimming. Ninety-five percent of Palestinian fishermen in Gaza live below the poverty line, living off of loans and humanitarian aid to survive. According to the Israeli human rights group BTselem, Israel has decimated Gazas fishing sector by imposing severe restrictions on sea access, fishing exports and entry of raw materials into Gaza as well as harassment of fishermen. Poet, novelist, essayist, translator and winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize for Literature, Czeslaw Milosz died on August 14, 2004. He was born in Lithuania of Polish parents and lived under two totalitarian systems of modern history -- national socialism and communism. In his 1953 work titled The Captive Mind he was asked 'Are Americans really stupid?' The question reveals the attitude of the average person in the people's democracies toward the West: it is despair mixed with a residue of hope. During the last few years, the West has given these people a number of reasons to despair politically. World War II "destroyed not only [Eastern European] economies, but also a great many values which had seemed till then unshakable." Milosz describes how the average European during wartime was not accustomed "to thinking of his native city as divided into segregated living areas, but a single decree can force him to this new pattern of life and thought." Thus, "Quarter A may suddenly be designated for one race; B, for a second; C, for a third." And "...men, women, and children are loaded into wagons that take them off to specially constructed factories where they are scientifically slaughtered and their bodies burned." As these conditions worsen and "last for years, everyone gradually comes to look upon the city as a jungle, and upon the fate of twentieth-century man as identical with that of a caveman living in the midst of powerful monsters." Milosz asserts that the "man of the East cannot take Americans seriously because [Americans] have never undergone the experiences that teach men how relative their judgments and thinking habits are." Although America suffered losses in the two world wars, mostly she was spared the experiences at home. Thus, according to Milosz, Americans take for granted that the natural order of things as we come to understand them, exists. The war and its attendant horrors were not in our backyard. Yet, almost 80 years later, I humbly posit a different question: "Are Europeans really stupid?" With Islamic jihadist violence besetting their natural order on a daily basis, how can so many countries across the pond forget that totalitarianism comes in many different forms -- with Islamic jihadism its latest manifestation? At the site Bare Naked Islam, one learns that in 2017 alone, a terror attack has been attempted in Europe every nine days. In fact, "the UK Government reports that there are approximately 23,000 Islamic jihadists in Britain, not 3,000 as previously reported." But will the British government act upon the "recommendation of Anthony Glees, the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies director to double the size of MI5, as [they] did in World War Two, and expand the number of intelligence-led police by thousands?" In fact, "Colonel Richard Kemp, a former member of the COBRA committee and Joint Intelligence Committee, as well as commander of British forces in Helmand, Afghanistan, has also called for robust action, saying that all foreign nationals on the terror watch list who cannot be prosecuted should be deported or interned." Will this occur? Instead we hear that this is the "new normal" throughout Europe. In fact, the threat level is "Very Likely" in France, Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Austria, and Macedonia. Paul Sperry writes that the "Manchester suicide bomber was on the British radar as a Muslim extremist, but they failed to stop him before he massacred girls at a pop concert. Its a recurring problem on both sides of the pond." While Poland, Hungary, and Austria resist the refugee onslaught, the EU has threatened legal action against these nations failing to comply with quotas. But instead of rooting out the source of these attacks and limiting Muslim immigration until proper vetting can take place, far too many European countries are flooding their respective countries with migrants. Crime and violence are on the upswing and native Europeans no longer feel comfortable in their own countries. No-go zones do exist and lawlessness follows. Any rational objections to the dictates of sharia law are labeled Islamophobia and lucid discussion ends. After all, Manchester lists Islamophobia as a hate crime. How, indeed, has the natural order of things been corrupted. And, yet, when President Trump advocates extreme vetting, he is excoriated by French and German leaders. While the City of Lights has lost its luster and German girls are afraid to walk the streets, we are privy to the following: 'The United States is a country where Christian traditions have an important meaning. Loving your neighbour is a major Christian value, and that includes helping people,' said Germanys Gabriel, who was on his first trip abroad since his nomination as foreign minister. I think that is what unites us in the West, and I think that is what we want to make clear to the Americans. I think Mr. Gabriel needs to be reminded that the Christian tradition should not include inviting those who have vowed to murder Jews and Christians and any other infidel. Consider the plight of Christians in Muslim countries. In Australia, child sexual abuse charges in relation to Islamic institutions are basically ignored. And then there is Robert Zaretsky at the New York Times, who also cites Czeslaw Milosz but instead of seeing the failure on the part of Europe to address its burgeoning jihadist problem, Zaretsky asserts that it is Trump who is "not just razing the standards of civil language, but of civility itself." In fact, Zaretsky maintains that The hateful displays of prejudice and verbal and physical violence at some Trump rallies are a disturbing indication that it has already begun. Another danger -- one less obvious but more primal -- also exists: our need to live our lives as we have always lived them regardless of changed circumstances. A brutal reminder of this came after the massacre in Orlando, Fla., this month. A contemporary American version of 'The Captive Mind,' would almost certainly include a passage devoted to the public ritual now common in our corner of the world: the presidential news conference after a mass shooting. As the president confesses his shock and laments his impotence in the face of events, we resign ourselves, not unlike Eastern Europeans living in under a state of organized terror, to life under a state of random terror. Zaretsky forgets the paid rioters who instigated physical violence at Trump rallies. In addition, Zaretsky has a very short memory considering Obama's uncivil behavior and language that we had to endure for eight years. But most importantly he ignores the fact that Trump wants to clamp down on a "state of random terror" yet is continually thwarted by left-wing judges and leftwing media outlets. Zaretsky states that . . . the harrowing experience of living under totalitarian regimes did not destroy Miloszs conviction in the need to act. The war years, he wrote in the early 1980s, taught him that a 'man should not take a pen in his hands merely to communicate to others his own despair and defeat.' This, he added, 'is too cheap a commodity; it takes too little effort to produce it for a man to pride himself on having done so.' By the same token, he never surrendered his trust in human reason. Thus, these aspersions against Trump are bewildering until one is reminded of the hatred that liberals have towards anyone who would actually take action against a real and present danger. Trump quite pointedly does not want to resign America to "a state of organized terror, to life under a state of random terror." When will the left comprehend this? Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com One of the great Democrat talking points, along with Russia hacked the election or Trump is an illegitimate president is their defense of high taxes, Pay your fair share. Skillful Democrat orators can weave all three slogans into a single speech, or if particularly skillful, a brief TV news interview. What if an intrepid journalist, instead of pretending to be a bobble head, nodding along as the Democrat blathers on, asked a simple question. What is a fair share? How high should income tax rates be? And for what levels of income? Should high taxes kick in for the top 10 percent of income earners, just over $100,000 per year? Sounds like a fat cat income, but perhaps not if its supporting a family, paying a mortgage, funding an ObamaCare family insurance plan, and trying to save for college, retirement, or a new car. What about the top 3 percent, around $190,000, what members of Congress earn? Or how about the rarefied air of the top 1 percent, at $288,000 per year? And how high should the tax rate be for these levels of income? 50 percent? 70 percent? 90 percent? No answers from the pay your fair share Democrats, as this question is not one they want to answer. Instead they prefer to use it as a political stick to beat on Republicans, who at least in theory want lower taxes. "Pay your fair share" is a rallying cry for class envy and warfare. Anyone earning more than you is considered to be rich, and thats not fair. They should be hammered with higher taxes. And a vote for the Democrat is the only way to assuage this outrage. Regardless of your tax rate and how you feel about it, you are required to pay, under penalty of interest, fines, or prison. But thats you and me. What if we were talking about a country rather than a lowly American taxpayer? CNN took a break from their anonymous sources and bombshell headlines regarding Jared Kushner now colluding with the Russians to write about Trump and NATO. Recall that the President called out our treaty allies for not paying their fair share. What a delicious irony. A bunch of socialist countries being shamed on the world stage for not practicing what they preach. Specifically, Trump told fellow NATO heads of state, "Twenty-three of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should." For NATO, the fair share is not a tax, but a guideline of what each member country should be spending on defense. After all, this is a defense treaty. An attack on one country is an attack on all, and they all need to be ready to pitch in to defend whichever country is attacked. NATO members are supposed to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense. In terms of the treaty, that is what is meant by paying your fair share. How are the various members doing? The U.S., not surprisingly, leads the way, spending 3.6 percent of GDP on defense. Also above the 2 percent threshold are Greece, Estonia, the UK, and Poland. Falling short and not paying their fair share of 2 percent are France, Turkey, Germany, Italy, and Canada. An analysis at Conservative Pundit takes this a step further, looking at actual dollars spent by the top ten NATO countries. In this analysis, the U.S. is providing 76 percent of the entire NATO military spending. Is it fair that the U.S. is paying three-quarters of NATO defense costs? Is that a fair share? U.S. income taxes are similarly disproportionate in terms of who is paying what. The top 1 percent pay 38 percent of income taxes. The top 10 percent pay 70 percent and the top 50 percent fund 97 percent of tax revenues. Sounds much like NATO in terms of which countries are paying what. How ironic that socialist countries like Canada, France, and Italy are not living up to what they require of their citizens, pay your fair share. Good for President Trump for calling these countries out on their hypocrisy. If Mrs. Clinton was in the White House instead of wandering in the woods, would she have brought this up to NATO members? After all, during the campaign, she declared it was time for the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes. What about a president Bernie? A socialist who rages against high earners paying a lower effective tax rate than blue-collar workers. And who himself, interestingly paid a surprisingly low tax rate at 13 percent. Not much for a wealthy 3-percenter member of Congress, paying at half of Trumps 25 percent tax rate 2005. Predictably, the establishment is outraged by Trump telling the world that the NATO emperor is not wearing any clothes. The Washington Post, maintaining their 90 plus percent negativity toward Trump, called his NATO behavior a national embarrassment. No, the national embarrassment is allowing America to be taken advantage of within NATO. The guy who frequently goes out with his friends for dinner and always seems to get stuck with the check. And then these friends make fun of their host, despite his generosity. The European press is no kinder to Trump than the American media. Germanys ARD is 98 percent negative in their Trump coverage. Almost perfect in their negativity. The Financial Times 84 percent negative and the BBC 74 percent anti-Trump. All socialists. All demanding that others pay their fair share. Along comes Trump asking them to put their money where their mouths are and somehow, he is the embarrassment? Its NATO that should be embarrassed. Afraid of an unlikely threat of Russia, ignoring the clear and present danger of unfettered Muslim immigration, expecting Uncle Sam to pay for dinner once again. And bail them out if and when a threat manifests. Kudos to President Trump for raising this issue and turning the tables on the fair share crowd. Brian C Joondeph, MD, MPS, a Denver based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. It has become apparent that a coalition of former U.S. officials, current Democrats in office and the #NeverTrump contingent in the GOP is working to turn President Donald J. Trump into an American Viktor F. Yanukovych, the duly-elected president of Ukraine overthrown in February 2014. To this end, the New York Times has taken to reporting, almost daily, what former Senator Harry Reid called "tarring... with thin innuendo." As it happened, Reid used the phrase in his October 30, 2016 letter to James B. Comey, accusing the former FBI director of playing politics for the purpose of defeating the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton. (More on that later.) Obama's bulbous twins, former CIA head John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, Jr. have taken to disparaging President Trump openly, for the obvious purpose of sending him fleeing from the presidency as Yanukovych fled Kiev three years ago. Unlike the false witness of these intelligence twins -- giving the American people conclusions that lack evidence, their goal of overturning the election of President Donald J. Trump, to quote an observation in John le Carre's The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, "is an assumption which the evidence permits." The New York Times, January 5, 2017, reported that "Clapper and other intelligence chiefs" effectively told president-elect Trump "that the spy agencies believe he won with an assist from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia." That allegation more commonly appears in reports from the Oust Trump Campaign in terms of Trump colluding with the Russians to gain the presidency. More than four months later, May 24, 2017, the New York Times turned to testimony from Brennan before the House Intelligence Committee about his concern that Russians aided the Trump campaign. The Times story continued, "American intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, tried to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign and help Mr. Trump." Most interestingly, the Times told of an August 4, 2016 conversation between Brennan and Alexander V. Bortnikov, head of "Russia's Federal Security Services." According to the Times, Brennan warned the Russian security director "not to meddle in the [U.S.] election." But what else, if anything did Brennan say to his Russian counterpart? Surely, there must be a transcript of the conversation! If what Prof. Stephen F. Cohen has termed "Intelgate" tells us anything, it is that we have all Russians officials under surveillance. Hey, Republicans, how about demanding the transcript of Brennan's August 4, 2016 chat with Mr. Bortnikov. Indeed, lets get transcripts of all conversations held, during the Obama years, between our intelligence people and the Russians. After all, given Brennan's past admission that he voted for Gus Hall, the Communist candidate for president (of the U.S., that is) has he ever reminisced with Russians about the good old Soviet Union? Has he ever let it be known that he would be less antagonistic towards the Kremlin if only it were led by a Communist? Let's have the transcripts or the videotapes of those "former U.S. officials" with Russians. Let's also have transcripts of conversations between John Podesta, Clinton's 2016 campaign manager and Russians. Former FBI director James B. Comey reportedly is again to testify before a congressional committee. It is to be doubted, however, that congressional Democrats would call Comey's attention to the Harry Reid letter, mentioned above. That letter, by the way, was mentioned in a CNN report, January 11, 2017, whose contributors included Jake Tapper -- but the CNN reference omitted Reid's disparaging tone, saying only that Reid wrote: "'It has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government -- a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States.'" CNN did not point out that the letter's tone was "'openly hostile'" to Comey. Reid suggested that Comey had partisan intent in keeping the "'explosive information'" about Trump's ties to Russia under wraps, and may have violated the Hatch Act which bars, Reid noted -- with reference to a March 10, 2016 memo from Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, --"'activity directed towards the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.'" Reid also accused Comey of a "clear double-standard," suggesting he "intended the success or failure of a partisan candidate or political group. Reid concluded the letter regretting he had "believed you to be a principled public servant." CNN, in its January 11, 2016 story, said that Reid's October 30, 2016 letter to Comey had alluded to material presented by Brennan, Clapper, Comey and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers to President Obama and President-elect Trump from a British intelligence operative that "originated as opposition research, first commissioned by anti-Trump Republicans, and later by Democrats." CNN also reported, "The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details..." Yet, on CNN's State of the Union program, May 14, Clapper indicated to Tapper that he was not aware of an FBI Investigation prior to Comey's March 2017 testimony to Congress. He added, ""So the bottom line is, I don't know if there was collusion, political collusion, and I don't know of any evidence to it, so I can't refute it and I can't confirm it." Tapper did not respond by challenging Clapper: Are we to believe that you were one of the intelligence chiefs who gave President Obama and President-elect Trump a two-page summary of what became known as the Christopher Steele dossier, compiled by a former British intelligence operative -- and you did not know the FBI was investigating? What Tapper did get from Clapper, later in the interview, was Clapper's claim that President Trump was assaulting "our institutions." Tapper then inquired about "checks and balances," and Clapper said he felt as though the "built-in system of checks and balances" was "under assault." Tapper did not ask Clapper to elaborate. The transcript continued: TAPPER: Are you surprised at how quiet Republicans on Capitol Hill have been? CLAPPER: Well, I can't--I can't say. I think each senator or congressman has got to -- I hope will think in terms of their own conscience. And I can't -- I can't characterize it as being surprised. I just -- I hope they will speak up. It is indeed time that Republicans spoke up -- spoke up against the campaign to disrupt the election. This charge made by the Oust Trump campaign to describe Russian intentions certainly describes the actions of Democrats, their Never Trump Republican allies and the monolithic media since January 20, 2017 and the Inauguration of president Trump -- following failed attempts to derail the inauguration by vote-recount demands and then a pathetic attempt to rig the Electoral College vote against Trump. It is time that Republicans spoke out against the Obama use of surveillance for purpose of spying on the Trump presidential campaign, and spoke out, too, against the illegal leaking of classified information to the monolithic media by the anti-Trump forces. Failure to prosecute the illegal unmasking of Trump campaign aides and leaking of classified information makes a mockery of leftist cries that "No one is above the law." The left brazenly asserts that The Law is whatever they say it is -- and Republicans are silent. (In this regard, where is the Republican senator to remind Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy that in his opening statement at the July 9, 2013 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Comey's nomination to be FBI director, Leahy called for "proper limits on the Government's surveillance activities...," and to ask Leahy, do you claim that intelligence surveillance of the presidential campaign of a Republican candidate is within the proper limits of domestic spying?) Is there no Republican member of the House or Senate with the fortitude to tell leftists: We will not stand idly by and allow you to overturn the results of the November 8, 2016 presidential election. We will not let you overturn democracy in America and replace our legacy of liberty with a leftist dictatorship. Simply stated, is there no Republican in Congress willing to stand up and defend the Constitution, and, thereby, demonstrating that he or she stands with the People? Why do Americans put up with it? I'm talking about our kleptocracy, a government of kleptomaniac thieves. Not to pick on Janet Napolitano, but I wrote about her recently on this site, after she was caught squirreling away taxpayer money in a hidden fund, using it to reward her bureaucratic allies, while at the same time, she was asking the state of California for even more taxpayer money, for the University of California, which she heads. Now she's back in the news, with a closely related scandal. Quoting from the news article (emphasis added), "The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that UC President Janet Napolitano 's office reimbursed regents for more than $225,000 in dinner parties since 2012, including $17,600 for a banquet held the night before the board voted to raise tuition." The article is a follow-up to a previous one in which, after having been publicly caught with their bibs down, the connoisseurs of catered $250 meals decided to tone it down a bit. That previous article contains an account of the decision, and if you believe it, I have a bridge in Oakland Bay I'd like to sell you. "Longtime regent Richard Blum, a wealthy financier ... said the policy change was his idea. ... 'I said, Janet [Napolitano], it's not worth the aggravation. Let's have the Regents pay for their own dinners.'" Oh, let's (sarcasm). Turn on the lights, and the cockroaches scurry for cover. The problem is that the California Board of Regents is but one small nest in a horde of cockroaches that remain hidden behind the impenetrable walls of government at every level. Why do Americans put up with the pickpockets and strong-arm robbers who gut our economy and steal our quality of life, while living lives of luxury? The answer is to be found in one of our earliest founding documents, the Declaration of Independence. [A]ll experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. It's true. We put up with a lot. Many evils are, indeed, sufferable, at least for a time. But there comes a time when, as the Declaration makes clear, it becomes our duty to throw off an abusive government, and to replace it with one that better serves the public. We would, of course, prefer to do so by elections. The 2016 election was the most recent instance of a popular outcry by the voters. Were we heard this time? Maybe. Let's give President Trump a fair chance to keep his campaign promises. Thus far, however, the Swamp is displaying absolute determination and resourcefulness in refusing to be drained. It remains to be seen who will win this epic battle. If it is the swamp that wins, instead of us, then the next phase of our outcry will be yet another declaration of independence, complete with our duty to remove and replace not just Obamacare, but the whole rotten establishment. The presidential election in Iran is over, and Hassan Rouhani has been selected to a second term. Already there are strong allegations of fraud and vote-rigging, especially from the camp loyal to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. The vote-rigging industry in Iran under the mullahs' rule has been a very long-lasting practice. One of the most common methods is simply to multiply the true number of all the votes for all candidates, to legitimize the collective process for the better good of the entire regime apparatus. The mullahs are also known to print a large number of voting slips, far more than enough, and place them in ballot boxes at a variety of pit stops. This is, again, aimed at depicting a canvas of very large voter participation. The most important example was unveiled by former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi in 2009, when he said the Interior Ministry had printed an extra 22 to 32 million voting slips. Moreover, a certain entity in the Interior Ministry, known as the "Vote Compiling Room," is where any and all types of statistics are literally materialized. Of course, this was back in 2009. In this year's election, eight years down the road, the "printing" phenomenon escalated to an enormous scale. According to reports published by state media, the number of ballots printed for this year's vote was over 200 million. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, unveiled these numbers while specifying that the number of eligible voters in Iran was 56,410,234. It is worth noting that 200 million voting papers were printed for three rounds of elections, all held on May 19: presidential election city and village council elections midterm parliamentary elections For the first two, 56 million voting papers was needed. However, for the midterm parliamentary elections held in only four provinces, there was no need for another 60 to 70 million voting papers especially since the constituencies were related to one city and a few towns: 1) Maraghe and Ajab Sheer (northwest Iran), population 314,000 2) Ahar and Harees (northwest Iran), population 192,000 3) City of Isfahan (central Iran), population around 1.6 million 4) Bandar Lange, Bestak, and Parsiyan (southern Iran), population less than 200,000 The total number of eligible voters in these four constituencies is less than 2.5 million people. This brings us to the conclusion that these three different elections did not need anything more than 150 to 160 million voting slips. The question is, what does this make of the 40 million extra voting slips printed? Where did they end up? Needless to say, according to the Interior Ministry's own official numbers, in all the years of Iran being ruled by the mullahs, 25 to 49 percent of eligible voters have refused to cast their ballots. Again, this is according to the Interior Ministry's numbers. Rest assured that the truth is far higher. While Iran claimed that 73 percent of the eligible voters turned out for this year's presidential election, of the 2.5 million Iranians living abroad, only 6 percent cast their ballots, according to the Interior Ministry. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Tehran's former mayor and a presidential candidate, said this regime represents only 4 percent of Iran's population. Considering the vote-engineering seen in this round, we can reach a reasonable conclusion that only 6 to 7 percent of the Iranian populace actually cast their votes on May 19. And as the elections have come to an end, popular protests across the country have intensified. Many Iranians have invested in the Caspian housing firm, only to see their money plundered. This has sparked a string of protests across the country. Of course, considering the intense political disputes among this regime's various factions, more light will be shed on the entire scope of the vote-rigging process practiced in this year's elections. This is the true nature of a regime that represents only a single-digit percentage of the Iranian people. Heshmat Alavi is a political and rights activist. His writing focuses on Iran, on human rights violations, social crackdown, the regime's support for terrorism and meddling in foreign countries, and the controversial nuclear program. He tweets at @HeshmatAlavi and blogs at IranCommentary. German chancellor Angela Merkel has come out and said that "Europe can no longer count on the U.S. and the U.K. as reliable allies and that the days that Europe could completely rely on others are over ... to a certain extent." Frau Merkel is in a snit mainly because President Trump scolded the Europeans to their face about their habitual underfunding of NATO. It's worth unraveling what the German chancellor said in the light of common sense. Firstly, President Trump is completely correct in noting that America contributes a lion's share to NATO. Germany, the powerhouse of Europe, spends a meager $40 billion (1.2 percent of its GNP) on defense. That comes to less money in absolute terms then what the U.K. ($60 billion) or France ($44 billion) contributes. What is most ironic here is that NATO is intended to defend Europe, not the U.S. In a rational world, after the collapse of the USSR, the roles would be reversed, with the U.S. pitching in at the margins to help wealthy Europe defend itself, instead of being the dominant partner in this alliance. Donald Trump was too much of a gentleman to say to the Europeans that their years of freeloading off America on defense is what has enabled many of those countries to construct the comfortable welfare state they have. By any rational measure, the status quo is grossly unfair to the American taxpayers. However, many in the U.S. establishment whose income stream and/or prestige depend on NATO like things just as they are. Oh, they might add a caveat here and there that Europe really should pay more for its defense, but as history shows, the establishment types will never push the issue to the point of having the Europeans ever take them seriously. It's a charade for them. And there is something fundamentally misunderstood regarding NATO even if the Europeans were to miraculously rise to the occasion contribute their two percent. Defense implies that war is a possibility. In any such event, Europe can never be expected to carry its weight. That's because of the demographics of the European countries. The overall fertility rate for the E.U. is 1.58, while for Germany, it's a mere 1.47. (For a steady state population, a fertility rate of 2.1 is required.) Since few children are produced in Europe, those who exist are precious to European society too precious to lose in battle. In the event of war in Europe, expect the Europeans to hold the coats of our men and women as the U.S. military goes into battle and does the bulk of the actual fighting. Why is Merkel reluctant to spend a measly two percent on defense while at the same time implying that Europe might have to go it alone, which would mean German defense spending would greatly increase? Maybe Germany actually wants the U.S. out of Europe so it can complete its domination of the continent. Remember what Hastings Ismay, the first secretary general of NATO, said: "The purpose of NATO is to keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down." Maybe the Germans are tired of being kept down. And it is likely that the Germans view the Russian threat as nonexistent, at least as far as Western Europe goes. After all, Russia is in a demographic collapse greater than Europe's, and its GDP is only $1.33 trillion compared to $3.36 trillion for Germany and $16.3 trillion for the E.U. as a whole. Russia can make noise in the East but not in the West. On the world stage, it can be hard if not impossible to know the intentions of others. The right path for the U.S. to follow is to keep an America First policy at the forefront of all our decision-making. If Frau Merkel and Europe want to go it alone, let them. They will no doubt find what a heavy burden responsibility is. Tuesday's missile defense test, in which a ground-based interceptor successfully intercepted an ICBM over the Pacific, was both a warning to North Korea and another indication that America is back. The test was in the works before Trump took office, but it comes on an administration welcoming improvements in missile defense versus the prior Obama administration that used back channels to give it away to Putin and the Russians. As the Washington Examiner reported: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency successfully shot down a dummy warhead in space over the Pacific Ocean Tuesday during a test of a missile defense system that would protect the country from intercontinental ballistic missiles like the ones being developed by North Korea. "During the test, an ICBM-class target was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands," said a statement from the agency. "A ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and its exo-atmospheric kill vehicle intercepted and destroyed the target in a direct collision." The irony of the interceptor being launched from a facility with Ronald Reagan's name on it should escape no one. President Reagan dreamed of a multi-layered missile defense most derided as "Star Wars." He dreamed of preventing or deterring a nuclear attack, not merely avenging one. Perhaps he might have also had in mind the danger posed from rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran. We see Reagan's legacy in the Aegis missile cruisers and destroyers that can be deployed in troubled waters around the globe. We see it in the THAAD theater missile defense recently deployed to South Korea. All of this President Barack Hussein Obama opposed. Missile defense systems are systems President Obama has long opposed as "Cold War" weapons. When President Obama took office in January 2009, sitting on his desk were President George W. Bush's plans for the deployment of ground-based missile interceptors, such as are deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, in Poland, as well as missile defense radars in the Czech Republic. As Investor's Business Daily noted over a year ago, President Obama had other plans. His betrayal of our allies was ironically exquisite: Yet within hours of Medvedev's election as president in 2008, the Russian announced that Moscow would deploy SS-26 missiles in his country's enclave of Kaliningrad situated between our NATO allies Poland and Lithuania. He wanted the U.S. to abandon plans to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and warning radars in the Czech Republic designed to counter a future threat from Iran. What did President Obama do? He caved in and notified the Poles in a midnight phone call on Sept. 17, 2009 the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland that we were pulling the plug on that system due to Russian objections. Putin then watched in 2012 as Obama promised Medvedev at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, that after his re-election he would have more "flexibility" to weaken missile defense, which would help him fulfill his dream of U.S. disarmament. Putin know full well Obama's weakness in responding to any foreign threat to U.S. interests and security. President Obama was our Neville Chamberlain, promising "peace in our time" as he invited war with weakness, apologies, and appeasement. It was he who colluded with the Russians to threaten American national security in the "back channel" conversation with Medvedev that fell victim to an open mic. Thanks largely to President George W. Bush and his push to fulfill President Ronald Reagan's dream, the continental United States and overseas allies are protected against missile attack by 30 deployed long-range ground-based interceptors (GBI), 32 Navy ships armed with over 100 SM-3 IA interceptors and two dozen advanced SM-3 IB interceptors, dozens of Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, and eight X-band missile defense radars deployed abroad. It was Obama who proved to be Russia's and Putin's lapdog. Trump may have the chance to fire a second shot heard around the world, securing America's freedom and very existence. When that pudgy little man-child gets his latest toy, just shoot that North Korean ICBM test down. Daniel John Sobieski is a free lance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investor's Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling by the state of Ohio that blocked the purge of voter registration rolls. The state government was enforcing a law passed in the 1990s that removed the names of voters who failed to vote for six straight years. The goal was to purge the dead and those who had moved out of state. But liberal groups, including the ACLU, said the process was discriminatory because the purge affected minorities adversely. They claimed it was a "voter suppression" technique and not an effort to prevent voter fraud. Reuters: Civil liberties advocates who challenged Ohio's policy said it illegally erased voters from registration rolls and unlawfully disenfranchised minorities and poor people who tend to back Democratic candidates. The justices will review a U.S. appeals court ruling that Ohio's policy ran afoul of a 1993 law called the National Voter Registration Act, which Congress passed to make it easier for Americans to register to vote. A Reuters analysis last year found that in Ohio's three largest counties, which include Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, voters were struck from the rolls in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods at roughly twice the rate as in Republican neighborhoods under the policy. Ohio officials argued that canceling registrations for voters deemed inactive for six years helped keep voting rolls current and accurate, clearing out those who have moved away or died. In September 2016, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled that the policy was unlawful. Democrats have accused Republicans of taking steps at the state level, including laws imposing new requirements on voters such as presenting certain types of government-issued identification, intended to suppress the vote of minorities, the poor and others who generally favor Democratic candidates. The American Civil Liberties Union last year sued Ohio Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, arguing that the state was violating the National Voter Registration Act, which prohibits states from striking registered voters "by reason of the person's failure to vote." The 6th Circuit agreed. Under Ohio's policy, if registered voters miss voting for two years, they are sent registration confirmation notices. If they do not respond and do not vote over the following four years, they are removed from the rolls. Husted has said Ohio's policy has been in place since the 1990s under both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state. The suit said the policy led to the removal of tens of thousands of people from the voter rolls in 2015, including one of the lead plaintiffs, Larry Harmon, a software engineer and U.S. Navy veteran who was blocked from voting in a state marijuana initiative in 2015. Ohio's dilemma points to a problem experienced by all 50 states: how to make voter registration rolls as accurate as possible. Because administering the voter registration process is constitutionally left in the hands of state governments, there are many different ways that states attack the problem of duplicate registrations, dead voters, and voters who have moved to another congressional district within the state or out of state entirely. Part of the problem is technical linking computers to the records of county clerks to purge those citizens who have died is difficult and expensive. And tracking those voters who move out of district or out of state is even harder. It's been suggested that a national database of drivers be established that states could tap into in order to correct their records, but there is resistance from those who feel that it would give government the power to keep tabs on citizens. Do the plaintiffs have a good argument? Hardly. The fact that minorities are affected more than others has nothing to do with their party affiliation and everything to do with the simple, incontrovertible fact that minorities do not vote in the same numbers as white Americans. They may be registered via the "motor voter" laws, but getting them to go to the polls is something entirely different. But just because they haven't voted, should their names be purged from the rolls? Here, the ACLU is on a little firmer ground. If the goal is to make voting as easy as possible while maintaining the integrity of the process, once someone is registered and he maintains his current residence and does not have to serve time in prison, there should be no reason to purge him. One of the plaintiffs in this case, a Navy veteran, obviously felt strongly enough about the marijuana initiative to go and vote, despite the fact that he had not voted before. Should he be allowed to register his opinion, or should his passion be discouraged? But the ACLU's main argument is specious. There are other reasons why minorities are affected by this law besides partisan maneuvering or racism. The justices should recognize that in their opinion. Some alarming reports from physician organizations predict that by 2030, there will be e near catastrophic shortage of primary care doctors and specialists in the United States. This is due to a combination of fewer people entering medical school and a huge number of doctors indicating they will take early retirement. The blame for so many doctors leaving the profession can be placed on Congress and the regulatory burden placed on physicians by Obamacare. Washington Examiner: A 2016 report from the Physicians Foundation found an alarming growth in burnout and dissatisfaction among practicing physicians 47 percent of respondents in the survey indicated plans to "accelerate" their retirement and move into areas outside of clinical medicine. The most common reason for leaving medicine included regulatory burdens and electronic health records. Nearly 63 percent indicated that they have negative feelings about the future of healthcare and only half of all physicians would actually recommend a career in medicine to their children. Many of my colleagues feel they have no voice and have no way to impact healthcare policy even in their own institution. As regulatory requirements and non-clinical tasks continue to mount, physicians are finding themselves spending less and less time with patients. According to 2016 research from the Annals of Internal Medicine, most doctors only spend 25 percent of their day engaging with patients the bulk of the time is spent on non-clinical electronic and regulatory paperwork. In fact, for every hour of direct patient contact, physicians have an additional 2 hours of electronic paperwork. Most of this is due to either mandatory electronic medical record coding (to help the hospital systems bill at the maximal levels) or due to government-mandated documentation (such as asking about gun use during office visits most of which has never shown a survival or outcome benefit). These statistics should be incredibly troubling for all Americans seeking healthcare. With access already an issue in the healthcare system for many and more reforms on the way, we must do more to entice bright young minds to medicine and retain those that are currently delivering care to millions of patients. These figures should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been studying the effects of Obamacare on the entire health care industry. Regulations on pharmaceutical companies and an increase in regulations on bringing new drugs to market have negatively impacted one of America's most innovative industries. Insurance companies are bleeding cash as the entirely predictable problem of older, sicker consumers signing up for new policies drives even the largest insurance companies out of the Obamacare exchanges. Small and medium-sized physician cooperatives are disappearing as doctors are forced into much bigger groups to more efficiently handle the paperwork burden. The expansion of Medicaid has driven tens of thousands of doctors to refuse new patients and even drop treating Medicaid clients altogether. These frustrations have led to thousands of doctors throwing up their hands and admitting defeat. They want to practice medicine, not become data clerks for the government. In order to address the problem, Congress must act quickly. 1. Limit Meaningless Electronic Paperwork 2. Remove Hospital Administrators from the Care Equation 3. Remove Barriers to Patient Care 4. No Longer Allow Insurance Companies to Dictate Care The author mentions training more "physician assistants" and giving nurses more responsibility for primary care. Since much of medicine today is preventative and routine, this idea makes some sense. But physician assistants can't replace a trained physician's eyes and instincts. We need more doctors, and we need them fast. It starts with education, of course. We must improve science education, especially in secondary schools. This responsibility falls on local school districts who, at times, seem more concerned with teaching "diversity" than anything needed or valuable. Parents must insist on higher standards in science education so budding physicians can get a good science framework to make it in medical school. For Obamacare supporters, all is well, and nothing needs to be done to fix it. The rest of us know better. (ANSA) - Ragusa, May 31 - Two Syrians, one a minor, stopped on suspicion of belonging to a terror group in the port of Pozzallo Saturday saw their arrest warrants confirmed Wednesday. The pair, carrying fake documents, were nabbed as they were about to board a catamaran for Malta. Walid Eibo, 25, proved to be resident in Malta and has been placed under investigation for aiding and abetting clandestine immigration; the minor, who has not been named because of his age, has been reported to the Catania minors' court. The minor has also been cited for posing as someone else. Police found photos of suicide bombers with explosive vests on the pair's cellphones, with the proclamation "from today no pity", in Arabic. The minor was registered on April 30 in the Pozzallo hotspot and moved to a reception centre at Caltagirone, from which he absconded, police said. (ANSA) - Rome, May 31 - Italy's high debt makes it vulnerable to market turbulence, Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said Wednesday, stressing that jobs were a "central" issue. Italy's high public debt and its banks' high level of non-performing loans (NPLs) make it vulnerable, Visco said in his annual report. The debts "reduce the margins for manoeuvre of the State and financial intermediaries; they both make the Italian economy vulnerable to market turbulence and may amplify the effects of cyclical fluctuations," he said. Italy's high debt is "a serious vulnerability factor, it conditions the country's economic life". Speaking to an audience including European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, Visco said that "the issue of jobs is central" and it is on the labour market that "we see the most painful legacy of the crisis". Speaking of labour tax cuts adopted in the past, Visco said "the significant benefits in terms of employment proved to be ephemeral because they were not accompanied by the necessary structural change by many parts of our productive system". Visco called for an "exceptional effort" to overcome the economic crisis. In his annual report, Visco said "the need to overcome the crisis has urged, and still urges, an exceptional effort". Italy must seek "a stable and high growth path", he said, and try to solve the problem of jobs, "so difficult to create, maintain, and transform, a central issue of our times not only on the economic level". Visco said "imbalances must be corrected promptly, otherwise sooner or later you pay for them. "On the terrain of reforms, on that of public finances, and for banks, more steps forward are needed, not U-turns." He said the "structural adjustment of the economy means continuing to remove the shackles on the activity of firms, encouraging competition, and stimulating innovation," while on the public spending front, "spending for public investment, which has been falling since 2010, must start rising again". Italy's GDP will return to 2007 levels halfway through the next decade, Visco said. He said the economy was weak and the EU economy is growing "twice as fast as ours". It is an "illusion" to think that leaving the euro can solve Italy's economic problems, Visco said. He said it would bring "serious risks of instability". Visco also criticised a "lack of coordination with the EU" on banking crises. New EU banking norms should not hurt Italian savings and banks, Visco warned. "We must prevent financial stability being compromised," he said in his annual report. Visco defended the Bank of Italy from criticisms in banking oversight, saying it had done its "utmost" to avert crises. Visco said that the BoI will remove bank chiefs if shareholders "are slow in taking action". He said banking crises could not be left to simmer for years and that recent cases of bad bank management were "independent of us". Visco also stressed that no one was fully aware of the EU's new bail-in norms, which caused problems for several Italian banks. Visco said Italy's GDP will return to 2007 levels halfway through the next decade. He said the economy was weak and the EU economy is growing "twice as fast as ours". Finally, Visco said political parties should seek consensus with "clear and realistic" programmes. He said he was "confident" there would be positive results despite political uncertainty. Modigliani portrait left to Guggenheim in Venice 'Woman in a Sailor Shirt' bequeathed by collector Luisa Toso (ANSAmed) - VENICE, MAY 31 - A rare oil on canvas by Italian expressionist portrait artist and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani has been bequeathed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation by the Venetian collector Luisa Toso, it has emerged. The 1916 portrait 'Woman in a Sailor Shirt' (La femme en blouse marine) will be exhibited at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in the lagoon city from June. The canvas augments the artistic patrimony of Venice in line with the wishes of the donor. It joins three other later paintings (1917-18) by Modigliani, nicknamed "Modi" (a pun on the French "maudit", or "cursed"), in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation collection. 'Woman in a Sailor Shirt' appeared in Modigliani's solo show organized by his dealer Leopold Zborowski at the Parisian gallery of Berthe Weill in December 1917. However, paintings of female nudes in the window caused a scandal, and the show closed prematurely. The painting was subsequently bought by Paul Guillaume and shown only occasionally thereafter, at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Bruxelles in 1933 and at Kunsthalle Basel in 1934, before entering the Toso collection in Venice in 1952. Since then, it has been shown in Milan, Rome, Padua, Verona, Venice, Ancona, Caserta, and Turin, after being listed by the Italian State in recognition of its high artistic and historical value. The exhibition in Venice follows a restoration intervention carried out by the chief conservator of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Luciano Pensabene Buemi, with funding from global private banking group EFG. During the restoration a thick layer of non-original varnish that had been applied during a previous intervention was removed to reveal the original cold blue and grey tones as well as the peach-coloured face, which had deteriorated to beige. In addition, the oxidation and whitening visible on several parts of the canvas were removed. (ANSAmed). NAPLES - The annual conference of the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) due to end on Friday in Barcelona has at the center of its agenda climate change and the future of ports in the international arena. The conference, a key opportunity to connect for port authorities and European institutions, welcomes managers of leading European ports who meet with politicians, including EU transport commissioner, Violeta Burc, who discuss the commission's priorities on maritime transportation. The two-day event focuseson strategies to make ports increasingly less dependent on fossil fuels, energy transition issues and the need to change infrastructure. Economic issues concern international leadership changes and how ports can confront growing economic nationalistic trends and protectionism. Jonathan Holslag, an international politics expert and professor the Nato Defense College, was to make a high-profile speech. The conference celebrates the 20th anniversary of the EcoPorts network that was created in 1997 as an environmentalist initiative of some ports that wanted to be proactive and has turned into a network of professionals from 100 ports who work to make infrastructure more sustainable. The presidents of the ports of Barcelona, Hamburg, Antwerp, Genoa, Marseille, Dublin, Ghent, Algeciras, Rotterdam, Oslo, Civitavecchia and Koper are among those expected to attend. ESPO groups port authorities and associations of EU member states and Norway while Iceland and Israel have observer-member status. Forum in Algiers on EU renewable energy development plan (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MAY 31 - A forum on investment in the renewable energy sector will take place in Algiers on June 13 as part of the EU-backed plan for renewable energy development and energy efficiency in Algeria, according to a statement by the Algerian Foreign Ministry's Director of Cooperation with the EU Ali Mokrani. On March 13 in Brussels, the EU and Algeria signed an agreement worth 10 million dollars for renewable energy development and the promotion of energy efficiency. Three large tenders will soon be issued for the purchase of equipment and human resources mobilization in the EU-Algeria programme, the statement said.(ANSAmed). (by Patrizio Nissirio) ROME - A small stretch of paradise hidden in Greece's Dodecanese is about to play a major international role. Tilos, surrounded by the larger and more well-known Rhodes, Symi and Kos islands, is about to approve an ambitious renewable energy program, with the creation of the country's first hybrid, renewable energy-based battery station and smart microgrid. The program vies to make the island e independent in the energy sector in a few years. Tilos currently relies on oil-based electricity from neighbouring Kos via an undersea cable that is however vulnerable to faults, especially with rough sea. The project 'Tilos' (Technology Innovation for the Local Scale) provides for the construction, starting this summer, of an hybrid battery-based storage system to turn the island into a resilient RES-based microgrid using only wind and solar power - the island is one of Europe's most windy and sunny areas. The project is a first in Greece, involving 13 partners from seven countries, including Italy, under the supervision of the University of Piraeus. ''The island is extremely beautiful, green and full of flowers in this season and has a long tradition in the protection of the environment'', Mayor Maria Kamma-Alfieri told ANSAmed in a phone interview. ''We have banned hunting for years now and we try to attract a different type of tourism. We have extraordinary biodiversity in Tilos, much more than other islands of the Dodecanese because we have many springs''. The project vies to immediately cover 70% of local demand with the aim of reaching the 100% target in the future, she said. ''Thanks to this system we could also provide energy to the Kos network. It is a unique project, funded by the European program Horizon 2020 and the population has embraced it''. The major explained that since the project has kicked off ''we have received many phone calls and emails from people seeking information'' and this will ''also bring benefits for tourism'' on an island which only has 5-600 residents in the winter. ''This summer we are hosting the Summer School of the University of Piraeus on June 25-30'', and students will be able to carry out research on techniques to plan and build hybrid energy systems. Thanks to the project, Tilos is one of 12 finalists in four categories for the EU Sustainable Energy Awards, among the group of 'Energy islands' The award ceremony is scheduled on June 20. (ANSAmed). Greek isle Tilos to switch to renewable energy storage With country's first hybrid, renewable-energy based battery (by Patrizio Nissirio) (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 31 - A small island of paradise hidden in Greece's Dodecanese is about to play a major international role. Tilos, surrounded by the larger and more well-known Rhodes, Symi and Kos islands, is about to approve an ambitious renewable energy program, with the creation of the country's first hybrid, renewable energy-based battery station and smart microgrid. The program vies to make the island e independent in the energy sector in a few years. Tilos currently relies on oil-based electricity from neighbouring Kos via an undersea cable that is however vulnerable to faults, especially with rough sea. The project 'Tilos' (Technology Innovation for the Local Scale) provides for the construction, starting this summer, of an hybrid battery-based storage system to turn the island into a resilient RES-based microgrid using only wind and solar power - the island is one of Europe's most windy and sunny areas. The project is a first in Greece, involving 13 partners from seven countries, including Italy, under the supervision of the University of Piraeus. ''The island is extremely beautiful, green and full of flowers in this season and has a long tradition in the protection of the environment'', Mayor Maria Kamma-Alfieri told ANSAmed in a phone interview. ''We have banned hunting for years now and we try to attract a different type of tourism. We have extraordinary biodiversity in Tilos, much more than other islands of the Dodecanese because we have many springs''. The project vies to immediately cover 70% of local demand with the aim of reaching the 100% target in the future, she said. ''Thanks to this system we could also provide energy to the Kos network. It is a unique project, funded by the European program Horizon 2020 and the population has embraced it''. The major explained that since the project has kicked off ''we have received many phone calls and emails from people seeking information'' and this will ''also bring benefits for tourism'' on an island which only has 5-600 residents in the winter. ''This summer we are hosting the Summer School of the University of Piraeus on June 25-30'', and students will be able to carry out research on techniques to plan and build hybrid energy systems. Thanks to the project, Tilos is one of 12 finalists in four categories for the EU Sustainable Energy Awards, among the group of 'Energy islands' The award ceremony is scheduled on June 20. (ANSAmed). Prints from Calif., Mexico and the heart of Texas to spark dialog and show how art and prints compare favorably next to work from the greater region. Runs through 6/2. Free Event Night of the Arts at South Broadway features prints, movie and live music Prints by Southwest of exhibit through June 2 ALBUQUERQUE, NM - Visitors to the South Broadway Cultural Center will soon have the opportunity to discover what contemporary artists from the southwest are thinking when the exhibition Prints By Southwest opens during Night of the Arts on Thursday, April 20. An artist reception that night will be from 5-8 p.m. Prints By Southwest revisits last year's traveling exhibition, Desert Triangle Print Carpeta, which featured work from print makers from Tucson, Ariz. and El Paso, Texas. By including print makers from Albuquerque, the exhibition completes a dusty Bermuda Triangle - a zone of lost love - where a desert artist's best efforts often fall into oblivion. In this sequel, the art agitator/collector reaches deeper into the cactus lands to bring in quality prints from California, Mexico and the Heart of Texas to spark dialog and show how their art and prints compare favorably next to work from the greater region. Prints By Southwest is a collection of etchings, serigraphs and relief prints inspired by (but not confined to) Mexican-American art, and the figurative tradition of the Taller de Grafica Popular of Mexico. The bulk of the prints were first shown in the Postre Prints exhibition, at Purple Gallery in downtown El Paso earlier this year. Prints travel easily. This exhibit aims to encourage others to create new print shows, which could travel throughout the region in pop-ups, coffee shops and museums, and to provoke artists to develop new themes and styles in order to push southwestern art into the 21st century. Also that night will be live music in the John Lewis Theatre. Son of Hweeldi will bring their rich sounds of rock, soul, blues and a touch of world beat. Son Of Hweeldi, formerly known as Saving Damsels, was recently nominated for three New Mexico Music Awards. In 2013, Son of Hweeldi won Best Rock Album from the Native American Music Awards. Following the music will be a screening of the movie Pollock. Pollock is a 2000 biographical film which tells the life story of American painter Jackson Pollock. It stars Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Connelly, Robert Knott, Bud Cort, Molly Regan and Sada Thompson, and was directed by Harris. Harden won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for portraying Lee Krasner, Pollock's wife. Harris received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Pollock. The film was a long-term personal project for Harris based on his previous reading of Pollock's biography. Night of the Arts is free. More information about South Broadway Cultural Center can be found at www.cabq.gov/sbcc. ISIS: Russian vessels fire missiles against Palmyra area Turkey, US, Israel alerted (ANSAmed) - MOSCOW, MAY 31 - A Russian submarine and frigate in the Mediterranean have fired four Kalibr missiles against ISIS positions in the area if Palmyra, the Russian defense ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said that ''the objectives targeted were fortifications in the area east of Palmyra where heavy vehicles and groups of militants moved by terrorists from Raqqa were located''. It also said that ''all targets were struck''. The missile launch was carried out from a position in the eastern Mediterranean by the frigate 'Admiral Essen' and the 'Krasnodar' submarine. Moscow claimed it immediately warned Turkey, the US and Israel. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov announced that Defense Minister Serghiei Shoigu has informed Vladimir Putin of a ''series of successful Kalibr missile launches''.(ANSAmed). CAIRO - Thanking Italian authorities for cooperating in the fight against human trafficking, the operations chief of Libyan coast guards, Colonel Massoud Abdelsamad, called on Italy to send spare parts and maintenance support soon for cutters given to Tripoli to fight traffickers through ''joint operations'' carried out by Italy and Libya. ''I would like to thank very much Italian authorities and especially the Italian coast guard: we have a good cooperation between us'', the colonel said, commenting recent gunfire between his personnel and traffickers. ''We are in contact 24 hours a day and sometimes carry out joint operations'', added Abdelsamad in a phone interview with ANSA. ''Our boats however need spare parts and maintenance. We would like to have in Libya, as soon as possible, the finance police team that has been working closely with us since 2010'', also said the colonel, referring to a unit that should take care of maintenance in case of problems. ''We were promised that the group would come to Libya and we are now waiting for it so it can support us'', stated Abdelsamad. ''We can carry out joint operations with the Libyan coast guard, finance police and Italian coast guard'' and ''this would help us a lot'', he concluded, recalling that traffickers are heavily armed and have fast motor boats. Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, accord on police collaboration (ANSAmed) - PODGORICA, MAY 31 - The Montenegrin and Albanian interior ministers, Mevludin Nuhodzic and Dritan Demiraj, and a deputy to Kosovo's interior minister, Valdet Hoxha, signed in Plav (Montenegro) a protocol providing for the establishment of the joint Center for Police Cooperation, the Montenegrin government reported. The Center will contribute to the development of cross-border cooperation in combating crime, based on a more extensive exchange of intelligence reports and more effective coordination of joint activities along the national borders. Montenegrin Minister Nuhodzic said that the Center would be active 24 hours a day, and that the staff would take an active part in the exchange of information and joint risk analysis to curb cross border crime, human trafficking, illegal migrations and drug smuggling. Kosovo's Deputy Interior Minister Valdet Hoxha said that the signing of the trilateral protocol demonstrated "the three states' commitment to cooperation".(ANSAmed). ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 31 - The following are some of the main events scheduled for today in the Euro-Mediterranean area: MILAN - University of Studies, conference on 'Elections in Iran and the challenge of the future'. BRUSSELS - EU, third meeting of the high-level group of the European Union on the fight against racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance. ISTANBUL/ANKARA - Anniversary of the start of protests that gathered over two million Turks for three weeks against the conservative Islamic government of then-premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the area of Gezi Park. (ANSAmed). Vucic sworn in as Serbian president, vows reforms, stability Ceremony in parliament, opposing demonstrations in Belgrade (ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, MAY 31 - Aleksandar Vucic was sworn in as president in the Serbian Parliament on Wednesday, pledging to work for reforms and European integration as well as peace and stability in the turbulent Balkans. The swearing-in ceremony was accompanied by opposing demonstrations between thousands of Vucic supporters and detractors who claim Vucic has established a "dictatorship" in Serbia with his "authoritarian" methods and strict media control. Opposing groups claim the president's objective is to model himself after the late Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman Josip Broz Tito, who was adored by crowds and to whom international chancelleries paid tribute. "We must create a region in which differences are a resource and not the basis for new conflicts," Vucic said in parliament immediately after his swearing-in on the country's Constitution. "There have been sufficient bereavements and burials in the Balkans; now it's time to favor life," he said, receiving warm and repeated applause by MPs from the government front. Reaffirming Serbia's military neutrality, Vucic highlighted his willingness to talk and dialogue with all, beginning with Kosovo. At the same time, he said it's necessary to "reinforce our defensive capabilities". Vucic won the presidency in the first round of the April 2 elections with 55% of the vote.(ANSAmed). If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both Turkish regional carrier, Borajet Airlines, plans to expand its international route map following its acquisition by an Istanbul-based investment group. SBK Holding specialises in distress asset management, taking on companies that have encountered financial difficulties and turning them around. It has investments in several sectors including energy, pharmaceuticals and tourism. Borajet is its first venture into commercial aviation, although it is keen to expand in the sector. It acquired Borajet for $258 million in January, after it bought the shareholding of the airlines founder, Dr Yalcin Ayasli. SBK Holding vice-chairman, Umut Suna Uygun, said Ayasli had been linked wrongly to last Julys attempted coup in Turkey. Hes a kind and honourable man, she said, but he had, nevertheless, taken the decision to leave Turkey for the US. Uygun is now Borajets general manager. Like most Turkish airlines, Borajet has been affected by the downturn in the countrys economy, with the sharp drop in tourism, due to terrorist incidents, hitting the aviation sector. The countrys two largest carriers, Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines, have recorded financial losses for the past year as a result, although Pegasus is confident that it will return to profit in the current financial year. Uygun said that the airlines financial position had attracted SBKs attention: We love a challenge. We are very successful in turnaround stories. Buying the airline had initially been an opportunistic move, as the aviation sector had not featured in SBKs strategic plan. However, following its entry into the aviation marketplace, it is now looking for further aviation assets, she said. SBK appreciated that Borajet was a small operation, but added: We are a young and ambitious organisation and willing to increase our assets in this industry. The first objective is to restructure the airline, said Uygun. There were some minor management issues, but the main initial focus will be to reduce costs: We plan to implement a new cost control system because its not working properly at the moment. We empower each employee about this. A cost control system starts from the bottom. Borajet was founded in 2008 and began operations in 2010 with three second-hand ATR 72-500 turboprops. Based at Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbuls secondary hub, the airline currently has a fleet of 12 Embraer E-190LR and E-195LR regional jets, which it employs on an extensive network of domestic destinations, as well as to Iran, Iraq and Europe especially Germany. Its domestic route map includes smaller cities and routes not normally served by other carriers. It also operates several business jets on charter services, including a Bombardier Global Express XRS for long-range executive flights. In October 2016, Borajet announced a deal with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, and Ireland-based lessor, AerCap, for three E190 E2s and two E195 E2s the first leasing contract for the new-generation Embraer regional jets. The new aircraft are due to arrive from Q1 2018. Uygun said her aim was to keep the existing Embraers and use the new aircraft for expansion: We are a significant buyer of the E2. We believe in the future of this aircraft. It will make a big difference for us. Five of the existing Embraer E190LRs are used on wet-lease services for Turkish Airlines and it is possible that links with the national flag-carrier may increase. With three major carriers in Turkey, Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and AtlasJet, Borajet has to create a distinct position and differentiate itself from the competition, Uygun added. She was aiming to position Borajet as a niche, boutique carrier. With this in mind, SBK also aimed to improve the passenger experience at Borajet and to add new sales channels. She declined to go into details, but said that she planned to upgrade passenger services to attract travellers. Scandinavian-designed for comfort and style, DXBs new sleep lounge features 20 state-of-the-art igloo sleep pods, plus seven premium double cabins with pull-out childrens beds. Inspired by nature, sleep n fly provides an oasis of relaxation for a one-hour power nap, an entire night, or any duration in between. Eugene Barry, executive vice president - Dubai Airports Commercial Group said: "The opening of sleep 'n fly expands Dubai International's existing range of rest and relaxation options, and is the latest in a line of personalised and engaging products we are rolling out to cater to the evolving needs of global travellers. Geoffrey Carrier, general manager onground hospitality, said: "After operating dedicated airport sleep lounges for several years now we have taken our unique concept to a new level at Dubai International. Having launched our new flagship sleep n fly lounge, we are very excited to be part of the amazing DXB experience, and we look forward to offering some much-needed rest to the ever-growing number of passengers passing through the airport." The partnership aims at expanding the networks of both airlines. Customers of EgyptAir and Kenya Airways will benefit primarily from more options of connectivity between Cairo and Nairobi which will enable them to travel more conveniently through both cities gateway HUB, Cairo International Airport and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The code-share partnership will initially cover seven international routes; maximising passengers travel opportunities throughout the region. Customers of both Airlines will enjoy seamless connectivity on their shared routes with only one booking and a one-stop luggage check-in to their final destination. "As a member of AFRAA since 1968 and within the context of our continuous efforts to offer seamless transfers to our customers, EgyptAir has initiated the partnership with Kenya Airways as a foundation for future commercial operational opportunities between both airlines. The cooperation also reinforces our commitment towards our customers by increasing the range of destinations all around the world with seamless connectivity, said Safwat Musallam Chairman & CEO EgyptAir Holding. Kenya Airways Group managing director and CEO Mbuvi Ngunze said the partnership will enable customers of both carriers to enjoy the benefits of each others network. As Comesa member countries, this partnership enhances bilateral trade as well as enabling both carriers to offer customers seamless connectivity between Kenya and Egypt, especially for our passengers in the region who mainly travel for business and leisure. Our guests will now be able to enjoy flights to Cairo either directly from Nairobi or through Entebbe or Khartoum, said Ngunze. As African Airlines, partnerships are our biggest opportunity as we seek to sustainably develop Africa. This is indeed in line with the core purpose of Kenya Airways, he added. It has contracted with Zimbabwe's national carrier; Air Zimbabwe, to carry out heavy maintenance tasks for one of its Boeing B737-800 aircraft. Another Asian customer is Kam Air, an Afghani carrier, where the Egyptian service provider provides overhaul for its Airbus A340. Abou Taleb Tawfik, chairman of EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering said that the company plans to attract more third party customers to increase profit. He added: The international accreditations are the basis of providing technical service to the third party customers and helps bring more contracts with new customers domestically and internationally and in various domestic and international stations. The company seeks to maintain such accreditations through the on-going inspections of the international bodies to renew the certificates and approvals; European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) inspection was the last audit during the month of April, which included the company's headquarters in Cairo and the stations of Burj Al Arab in Alexandria and Sharm el-Sheikh. In addition, a delegation from the African-Libyan Airlines Company also discussed ways of cooperation in the field of training of cabin crews at EgyptAir Training Academy. The training includes theoretical and practical training on various aviation types such as CEET, CST, evacuation and first aid by internationally trained Egyptian trainers with accumulated experience. The 299-seat Dreamliners will be introduced on year-round scheduled services to Amsterdam from 1 September, and to Madrid, effective 1 October, joining Dusseldorf and Zurich as the airlines other European Dreamliner services. The 787-9 will also operate seasonally to Athens during the summer months. With a phased delivery of nine Boeing 787-9s this year, the aircraft are gradually being introduced on a number of international routes from the airlines Abu Dhabi hub. Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways chief executive officer, said: With two of Etihad Airways most popular European destinations joining our 787 network later this year, we are giving more guests the opportunity to fly on our next generation aircraft. Flights to and from Amsterdam and Madrid cater to business and leisure travellers, and with growing demand, there was a strong case to introduce bigger aircraft to these destinations. The 787 is fast becoming our flagship long-haul aircraft and as more are delivered, we will continue to look at upgrading existing routes with these excellent planes. Since introducing our first 787 into commercial service more than two years ago, we have enjoyed excellent feedback from guests on our ground-breaking cabin interiors that have set a benchmark for high service levels in the region and across the world. Jet Aviation and Al Mulla Business Group are outfitting a brand new facility in the shared terminal at Dubai South. Jet Aviation plans to go operational at the worlds largest purpose-built VIP Terminal in Q3 2017, and intends to hold a Grand Opening at the Dubai Airshow in November 2017. The up-scale 600-square meter FBO will feature three customer lounges, a conference room, crew lounge and operations center, two prayer rooms, shower facilities and a separate sitting room for chauffeurs. A large Duty Free store is also located at the executive terminal. Until a hangar facility at Dubai South becomes available, the company will offer line maintenance services through the FBO and continue to provide base maintenance services through its MRO facility at Dubai International Airport. Weve had a number of recent developments in our global FBO network, but given the policy emphasis on migrating business aviation traffic through Dubai to DWC, we are very pleased to soon reopen our FBO operation at Dubai South, said Stefan Benz, senior vice president and general manager, MRO and FBO, EMEA and Asia. We wanted to ensure we can meet future capacity requirements without compromising style or comfort, and we look forward to welcoming customers to our newly outfitted facility at the VIP terminal. The boxes are available in all cabin classes and feature a new design that incorporates the traditional Ramadan symbol of the night sky. The new Iftar box contains slices of fresh seasonal fruits, an assortment of finger sandwiches, dates and traditional basbousa and laban, enabling Muslim passengers to break their fast with healthy snacks. Specially-designed complimentary bags will also be given to guests in premium cabins who would like to enjoy their after sunset meal having disembarked. Abdulaziz Alraisi, executive vice president, products and brand development, said: We always make every effort to provide a high-quality service for our guests and our Ramadan offering perfectly demonstrates how we cater to all our guests needs. Egypt Tourism (Karnak) and Duty-Free Company will open a new revamped duty-free shopping, food and beverage outlets at the New Administrative Capital and Sphinx international airports by the coming fiscal year 2017/2018. A 500-square-meter duty-free stores will be making their debut in the public area of the arrival and departure halls of Terminal 2 at the Cairo International Airport. EgyptAirs Duty-Free development plan is still in progress, said Reda Metwally, EgyptTourism (Karnak) and Duty-Free CEO said. He added that improvements have been made to affiliated storage as some were turned into refrigerated units for preserving goods while others, located in Kasfareet, Sharm El-Sheikh, and Alexandria, have been renovated. Further actions are underway for purchasing delivery trucks and refrigerated vehicles to transport products to stores and duty-free outlets. EgyptTourism (Karnak) and Duty-Free Company annual report shows a surplus of EGP100 million until the end of April 2017. The company targets achieving an estimated net profit of 120 million by end of the fiscal year 2016/2017 - with an increase of 300%. Transferred from Meaulte to the Beluga Final Assembly Line in Toulouse by BelugaST, this section boasts impressive dimensions: 12m long, 6m large, 4m high and a total weight of 8.2 tonnes. The installation of the aircrafts systems represents some 1,200 m of electric harnesses (60 km of cables) and 400 m of metallic and composite pipes. Since January 2015, the teams of four Stelia Aerospace sites (Meaulte, Saint-Nazaire, Tunis and Toulouse) have worked closely with the Airbus teams in order to ensure the design, assembly and equipment of this emblematic section of the European aircraft manufacturers future super transporter. The BelugaXL, a last generation aircraft, is the successor of the current BelugaST. The programme was launched in November 2014, to address the increasing transport needs due to the production ramp-up. In this context, Airbus has decided to increase the capacity of its existing BelugaST fleet and to develop and manufacture five new BelugaXL, derived from its polyvalent long range aircraft, the A330. After the design by Stelia Aerospace engineers in the Toulouse design office, the Saint-Nazaire site manufactured the pipes and managed the stretching and forming of the panels, as well as the manufacturing of several complex mechanical parts, while the Tunis site produced several metallic parts, and the Meaulte site managed the assembly and equipment of the section. Cedric Gautier, CEO of Stelia Aerospace, said: We are proud of delivering, on time, the first nose section of the future BelugaXL. STELIA Aerospace teams worked hard for 30 months in order to deliver, at the exact required date, this iconic section, with oversized dimensions and a state-of-the-art design. The Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) is a new civic and community institution housing facilities and spaces for the promotion of traditional and contemporary Chinese arts and cultural locally. Located within the bustling Central Business District along Shenton Way, SCCC is designed as a respectful complement to its neighbour, the gazetted Singapore Conference Hall. Adopting a clean and subtle approach to form a coherent composition, the building massing follows the three-tier division seen in traditional Chinese architecture: a bass that elevates the building and connects to the ground, a body that houses the functions, and a crown that shelters the building and connects with the heavens. SCCCs two-storey urban living room forms the base that connects to the city; a podium from the third to the sixth storey houses the programmes and car park; and a glass-box crown where cultural performances and activities are celebrated. The different stacked zones provide clarity of programmes, planning and articulation, as well as opportunities for play of composition, texture, decoration and symbolism. The architectural expression drew inspiration from the composition of elements and varied textures of a Chinese landscape painting. The mix of contemporary ideas in the facade treatment and traditional architectural convention in the planning embodies the spirit of respect. The architecture remains true to Chinese culture and heritage while becoming a conduit for interactions from various socio-cultural elements. Designed to be in harmony with its surroundings yet outstanding with its unique design, SCCC is a culturally inclusive venue for all communities, making it a vibrant and welcoming space for both the young and old. follow following unfollow 11 LASSA LASSA is a London and Brussels based architecture practice co-founded in 2009 by French and Greek architect Theo Sarantoglou Lalis and Belgian architect Dora Sweijd. LASSA operates at the intersection between the fields of art, technology and social science. As a Practice, we prioritise the behavioural attributes of architectural form its capacity to enact and affect participation, stimulate the corporal experience of space and enhance socialization and the collective. LASSA is strongly engaged with technology for its pivotal role in the way we collaborate, design and fabricate architecture. Current work includes commissions from the public and private sectors in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. LASSA is concurrently engaged in academic research through the work of diploma 17 at the Architecture Association and through workshops and lectures worldwide. In 2010, LASSA was awarded a REA European research grant for COELUX, an advanced lighting system, in partnership with world leading specialists as well as research institutions throughout Europe and Switzerland. LASSA was shortlisted for a number of awards including the 2012 Chernikov award and the 2013 Lisbon Biennale award. LASSA is a chartered architecture company with the Architects Registration Board (ARB) in London and Brussels. In Western Europe, support for the arts is in great part the result of centuries of patronage culture. Cultural policy there is as much the product of longe duree tradition as it is about the post-war concept of welfare. And for countries like France, the arts inform its self-conception as a great nation. In the 1980s, the French government appointed a minister for Rock and Roll, to try to fix the countrys flagging presence in that field. By contrast, private interest has always had a large stake in the cultural policy of the United States. Malaysia: Capital market one of the most developed among emerging economies According to a recently released McKinsey report, Malaysias capital market is one of the most developed among emerging economies. The country ranked fifth with a score of 3.25 out of 5 in the McKinsey Asian Capital Markets Development Index, behind Japan (4.0), Australia (3.95), South Korea (3.45) and Singapore (3.40). According to the report, Malaysia is outperforming other emerging economies in the development of its capital market. Among the factors giving the country an edge are: issuers have access to sufficient debt and equity financing; there is predictable funding from foreign institutional investors; the real cost of equity and debt is quite competitive; and investors get a good mix of equity and debt investment opportunities. RELATED: Corporate Establishment Services from Dezan Shira & Associates Cambodia: Construction industry records increased investment According to Cambodias ministry of land management, investment in the countrys construction sector increased by 43.3 percent over the first four months of 2017 compared to the same period in the previous year. A total of 1,020 new projects, including 147 residential complexes, worth about US$4 billion and covering 5.6 million square meters were approved in the first quarter of 2017, compared to 712 projects worth US$2.8 billion approved during the same period of the previous year. A further 1,011 construction projects by 970 different companies are pending approval, according to the ministry. There are now 901 high rises in the country, an increase by 25 buildings from last year. Most high rises are concentrated in the capital Phnom Penh. Thailand: Automotive industry going green The Thai government is planning to launch a roadmap for the development of the electric vehicle industry in the country. Tax and other incentives for private sector investments and collaboration from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) are among the measures announced to boost the sector in the coming months. While a definite timeline has not yet been announced, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak stated that an upcoming meeting with the Prime Minister and Thailands Board of Investment (BOI) will discuss details of five and 10 year plans for the sector. The development of the electric vehicle industry is also one of the priorities of the governments planned Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The EEC, which will straddle three eastern Thai provinces, is aimed to showcase Thailand 4.0, the national strategy that is designed to transform Thailands economy and society into one driven by innovation, advanced and green technologies, research and development. About Us Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of China, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road & Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click ASEAN Briefing is published by, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates . We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, includingthe. For editorial matters please contact usand for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here Dezan Shira & Associates provide business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax and advisory services throughout the ASEAN and Asia. We maintain offices in Singapore, as well as Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City, and maintain Alliance offices in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Manila as well as throughout China, South-East Asia, India and Russia. For assistance with ASEAN investments into any of the featured countries, please contact us at provide business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax and advisory services throughout the ASEAN and Asia. We maintain offices in Singapore, as well as Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City, and maintain Alliance offices in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Manila as well as throughout China, South-East Asia, India and Russia. For assistance with ASEAN investments into any of the featured countries, please contact us at asean@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2017 An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2017 introduces the fundamentals of investing in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, concentrating on economics, trade, corporate establishment, and taxation. We also include the latest development news for each country, with the intent to provide an executive assessment of the varying component parts of ASEAN, assessing each member state and providing the most up-to-date economic and demographic data on each. Human Resources in ASEAN In this issue of ASEAN Briefing, we discuss the prevailing structure of ASEANs labor markets and outline key considerations regarding wages and compliance at all levels of the value chain. We highlight comparative sentiment on labor markets within the region, showcase differences in cost and compliance between markets, and provide insight on the state of statutory social insurance obligations throughout the bloc. The city-headquartered airline currently has 103 aircraft in the fleet, with 69 of them B-737s. Mumbai: Private carrier Jet Airways today said it plans to lease 6-8 single aisle aircraft in the fleet this fiscal. The airline has already leased one B-737NG of these planes this fiscal and the rest will be inducted in the fleet by March next year, the Naresh Goyal-promoted carrier said. The city-headquartered airline currently has 103 aircraft in the fleet, with 69 of them B-737s. "Our new fleet of Boeing B737-Max will come from June next year onwards. This year, we plan to take anything between 6-8 aircraft from the open lease market and induct in the fleet, primarily B 737NGs," Jet Airways Chief Financial Officer and acting CEO, Amit Agarwal said during a post- earnings analysts call here. "We have already added one (such) aircraft into the fleet," he added. Jet Airways had, in 2015, announced an order for 75 Boeing 737 Max aircraft as a part of its fleet replacement strategy. Delivery of these planes is to commence from next year. Jet Airways has reported nearly 95 per cent fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 23 crore in the three months ended March 2017 as higher fuel prices and lower fares took a toll on its bottomline. In fact, if the other incomes of Rs 310.45 crore, which include income from transfer of frequent flyer programme, sale and leaseback income and real estate income are removed, then its a net loss of Rs 287 crore. The airline plans to reduce debt by USD 200 million by this fiscal, Agarwal said, adding it was cut by Rs 1,900 crore in the last fiscal. "The company has continued to focus on reducing debt despite challenging situation in the market place. The company has been able to reduce its net debt by Rs 468 crore in Q4FY17 and over all by Rs 1,900 crore during the fiscal 2016-17," the official said. According to Jet Airways, its net debt on balancesheet stood at Rs 9035 crore or USD 1.4 billion at the end of March this year. Agarwal also said that the airline is evaluating its participation in the central Government's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN. "In the first round we had not bid for the RCS routes. In the second round, we will continue to evaluate whether it makes sense for us, especially when we are a network carrier," he said adding the airline has to asses as to see how it benefit its network. Batra, acted in films like Virasat, Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya, Haseena Maan Jaayegi among others before moving to the US. She may not have skyscraper cheekbones and naughty pout like some B-town newbies but Pooja Batra has had her share of hits and misses in the 90s. Fed up of the foreign return roles that she essayed in several films, Pooja is back on the big screen playing a police psychologist in director Vijit Sharmas Mirror Game, which will be released this Friday. I was typecast as foreign return girl when I was in India. As an actor we are supposed to morph into different characters and thats the fun, says Batra, adding, If you continuously do the same thing then its redundant. Batra, acted in films like Virasat, Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya, Haseena Maan Jaayegi among others before moving to the US. The leggy lass feels that not too many films are being written for female leads in Bollywood. I would have been happier had I got better offers. They turn around and say an actress cant sell a film. But if a Mary Kom, Kahaani comes your way and if you have strong script and good filmmaker then I dont see why it shouldnt work, she says. Pooja feels thrillers dont work in India because of a poorly-written script. She says, I love thrillers; but they dont do well because its not written well, she concludes. The films leading man Ranbir Kapoor was excited for many reasons. It was meant to be the mother-of-all-special-effects films. Dragon was going to be producer Karan Johar and director Ayan Mukerjis answer to Hollywoods big-ticket super-hero films. The films leading man Ranbir Kapoor was excited for many reasons. When Ranbirs best friend decides to write and direct one, it was supposed to be special. Or so it seemed. Until the star-director-dost-pair met the internationally celebrated Israeli martial arts specialist Ido Portal in London for the action scenes in Dragon. Apparently the cost quoted for the ambitious special effects (which Ayan and Ranbir were aiming for) sent them staggering back to India. This was like back to square one for the team. Producer Karan Johar has taken the film back to the drawing board to figure out the budget vis-a-vis international technicians. Also, the fact that Indian super-hero films like The Flying Jatt (with Tiger Shroff) have bombed, has tilted the scales towards a no-go for Dragon, reveals a source close to Karan Johar. At the moment, the official status for the film is delayed. It was meant to start in July. Then it went to the end of the year. Nowno one knows! It is a pity, since both Ranbir and Alia Bhatt were paired together for the first time in Dragon. Currently, Ranbir has only Jagga Jasoos in hand. Alia has also not signed up for any other film after the success of Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya, except Dragon, which was expected to take a large chunk of her time this year. The film was also going to bring Ranbir and Amitabh Bachchan together for the first time. Amitabh has often expressed a wish to work with Ranbir. Seems like his wish will have to wait as well. Priyanka's meeting in Berlin received criticism on social media as Twitter thought that she 'wasn't properly dressed'. Mumbai: Priyanka Chopra is currently busy in promoting her debut Hollywood film 'Baywatch' in Berlin and she met our Prime Minister Narendra Modi too. Priyanka's meeting with Prime Minister Modi in Berlin received criticism on social media as Twitter thought that the actress 'wasn't properly dressed to meet a national leader'. However, the 'Bajirao Mastani' star seemed unfazed by the trolling and posted a photo of her flashing some more legs and roped in her mom, Madhu Chopra for the pic. She captioned the snap, "Legs for days... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin." In the photo, Priyanka looks stunning in a denim dress and velvet heels, while her mom looks pretty in a black crop top and metallic grey miniskirt with ankle boots. Yesterday, Priyanka met the Prime Minister and shared a message on social media, "Was such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin???? at the same time as the Prime Minister. Thank you Narendra Modi Sir for taking the time from your packed schedule to meet me this morning. Lebanon is seeking a ban on 'Wonder Woman' because its lead actress, Gal Gadot, is Israeli. Gal Gadot in a still from 'Wonder Woman'. Mumbai: On one hand, 'Wonder Woman' has started its journey with rave reviews from around the world. On the other hand, the movie is likely to face a ban in Lebanon because of its lead actress Gal Gadot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lebanon is seeking a ban on Patty Jenkins' upcoming superheroine film 'Wonder Woman' because its lead actress, Gal Gadot, is Israeli. A security official said a formal request for a ban has not yet been received. A ban would require a recommendation from a six-member committee from the Ministry of Economy, a process that has not yet begun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. A group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon launched a campaign to boycott the film due to the fact Gadot served in the Israeli Army and expressed support for Israeli forces as the country led a military offensive against Gaza. On her Facebook page, Gadot had praised Israel's military during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, sending prayers to soldiers 'who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas'. It should be noted that Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and has a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. The two countries have been through a number of wars, including a particularly devastating one in 2006 that battered Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds dead. But, the support for the ban was not unanimous. According to a known Lebanese blogger, Elie Fares, said the movie already must have been approved to be allowed in theaters in the first place. He told that the push for a boycott apparently reflects disputes within the Lebanese government. Adding, "Resist what? A movie about an iconic superhero who's been part of pop culture for over 70 years. A movie in which the lead actress happens to be Israeli but who's not portraying ANYTHING related to her 'country' in any way whatsoever." A premiere of 'Wonder Woman' is still scheduled for today in at least one cinema in Beirut. Posters of the movie and digital billboards have sprouted up around the Lebanese capital. As of now, Warner Bros. has declined to comment on the ban. Helmed by Patty Jenkins, ' Wonder Woman' stars Gal Gadot as the titular character alongside Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston and David Thewils. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on June 2. Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu, who is a dalit tribal leader, may be the NDAs presidential candidate. The BJP is confident that it has an edge over the Congress-led Opposition as far as the numbers are concerned. New Delhi: The BJP, which has been trying to consolidate its backward votebank, is considering nominating a dalit candidate in the forthcoming presidential election. In a recent meeting between the RSS and BJP, the Sangh Parivar apparently asked the BJP to consider the names of dalit or tribal leaders for the nations highest office. Going by indications so far, Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu may be the NDAs presidential candidate. The saffron camps thinking is that since Ms Murmu is a woman and a dalit tribal leader, the Opposition might just find it difficult to oppose her. Ms Murmu, who hails from Odisha, was a minister of state with independent charge for commerce and transport during the BJP-BJD coalition government in the state. It is learnt that with Ms Murmus name floating, the Biju Janata Dal has so far stayed away from Opposition parleys to select a non-NDA presidential candidate. Another name doing the rounds in the saffron camp is that of backward leader Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union social justice minister. It may be recalled that BJP president Amit Shah had recently met top Sangh leaders, including RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat, in Nagpur to discuss the presidential election. President Pranab Mukherjees term ends on July 25, so the presidential election will be held earlier that month. With Mr Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, the RSS wants a saffron figure at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sources said though Mr Amit Shah has talked of consulting the Opposition parties on the presidential candidate, neither the party nor the wider Sangh Parivar are in any mood to accomodate the Oppositions preferences. With the RSS and BJP showing no inclination to opt for a consensus candidate, a senior BJP leader said that a contest could be on the cards. The BJP is confident that it has an edge over the Congress-led Opposition as far as the numbers are concerned. We are falling short by nearly 25,000 votes and this can easily be bridged, a senior BJP leader said. He said that given the scenario, the BJP will need the support of one non-NDA party to win the presidential election. While the Sangh Parivar favours a backward candidate, a section of BJP leaders indicated that other top leaders like Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and M. Venkaiah Naidu cannot be ruled out. As the BJP and RSS zero in on their candidate, the Opposition continues to struggle to come up with a name. While the Opposition had earlier floated the name of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar as its candidate, the Maratha strongman is not keen to join the race unless he is certain of victory. In case the presidential election turns out to be more of a symbolic fight, the Opposition has decided it would field Mahatma Gandhis grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, a former diplomat and governor. Opposition sources said while it was normal practice for the ruling party to approach the others with the name of a possible consensus candidate, if the BJP decides to play the waiting game till the last minute, the Opposition will go ahead and declare its candidate. It may be recalled that 17 Opposition parties had held a meeting last week to decide on a common candidate, the discussion had focused more on the need to join forces and face a rising BJP on a common platform. The parties will again hold talks on the sidelines of DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhis birthday celebrations in Chennai on June 3 as well as in Patna in August at a rally being organised by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. The terror attack shows that the Indian embassy in Kabul continues to be on the terror radar of Afghan Taliban, which is supported by Pakistan. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condemned the horrific bombing in Kabul in which at least 90 people have been reportedly killed. India also said that it is ready to render any assistance to the government and the people of Afghanistan and all possible support to bring perpetrators of the attack to justice. Manpreet Vohra, Indias ambassador to Afghanistan, said that the bomb went off around 100 metres from the embassy. He was quoted by news agencies as saying, We are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe. However, the blast was very large and nearby buildings, including our own building, have considerable damage in terms of broken glass, shattered windows, blown doors, etc. Shortly after the news broke on Wednesday morning, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, By Gods grace, Indian embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabulblast. The terror attack shows that the Indian embassy in Kabul continues to be on the terror radar of Afghan Taliban, which is supported by Pakistan. In a veiled message aimed at Pakistan, New Delhi pointed out that the continuing violence, even during the holy and pious month of Ramazan, reflects the diabolical nature of the perpetrators and their supporters. Observers point out that Islamabad is seething over Kabuls pro-India stand and the latest attack shows that Pakistan will continue its policy of stoking terror in its western neighbour as well. Mr Modi, who is currently in Europe on an official visit, said, We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with the injured. India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. In a statement, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said, India strongly deplores the heinous and reprehensible terrorist attack in Kabul today. We share the grief of all peace-loving Afghans and convey our sincerest condolences to the government of Afghanistan and the families of victims of the mindless violence and wish speedy recovery to those injured India is ready to render any assistance to the government and the people of Afghanistan and all possible support to bring perpetrators of the attack to justice. The annual sale of beef in Kerala is 2.5 lakh tonnes and the trade is worth a whopping Rs 6,552 crore per annum. Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to challenge the Centres May 26 notification imposing restrictions on sale of cattle for slaughter in court, and to convene a meeting of all chief ministers to discuss the ban and the larger threat it poses to states rights. The decision to call a meeting of chief ministers comes a few days after Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to his counterparts, appealing to them to come together to oppose the Centres anti-federal move. We want to call a meeting of all chief ministers to discuss the issue relating to the ban, Mr Vijayan told reporters here after a Cabinet meeting. Mr Vijayan has also called a special state Cabinet meet today to take a decision on whether to challenge the Centres decision to frame rules with regard to items that are under the State List in the high court or Supreme Court. This decision will be taken in consultation with the advocate general. This (the notification) has to be questioned legally as it is unconstitutional, Mr Vijayan said. He said that while the purported objective of the Centres notification, based on Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, was to regulate cattle markets, the provisions laid down in it amount to a ban on the slaughter of cattle in the country. He said that under the PCA Act, the Centre is not empowered to frame rules for regulating cattle markets and that the slaughter of cattle does not come within the purview of parliamentary legislation. The chief minister added that through the notification, the Centre is trying to intrude into the rights of states guaranteed under the Constitution, and, under the garb of prevention of cruelty to animals, the Centre is depriving people of their right to work and right to do trade. The notification is a violation of Article 19 of Constitution, which gives citizens the right to practice any profession or carry any occupation trade or business, he added. The annual sale of beef in Kerala is 2.5 lakh tonnes and the trade is worth a whopping Rs 6,552 crore per annum. Mr Pinarayi said the Centres notification will seriously impact trade and employment in cattle sector. Over five lakh people in the state are employed in this sector. Mr Pinarayi said that slaughter of animals for consumption purposes is permissible under the 1960 Act, but it must be ensured that animals are not subjected to extreme cruelty or pain while being slaughtered. Another set of rules framed in 2001 reinforce these provisions, hence the Centres latest notification is irrelevant, he said. In the Constitution, State List item No. 15 refers to the preservation, protection and improvement of stock and prevention of animal diseases. While some states have banned cow slaughter, there are others where it is legal, including Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu. In his letter to his counterparts, Mr Vijayan had said, Unless we stand together and oppose this anti-federal, anti- democratic and anti-secular move, it may mark the beginning of a series of similar measures aimed at destroying the federal democratic fabric and secular culture of our country. Mr Vijayan had also shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the ban and urging him to withdraw the new regulations, which is facing protests in some states. The chief minister listed the many unreasonable conditions laid down under the new notification: ID proof of the cattle owner, identify proof of cattle, including all details, declaration that cattle has not been brought to market for slaughter, clearance by animal market committee, district animal monitoring committee, cattle cannot be sold in six months and cannot be used for religious sacrifice. Im with Cong now, but cant predict future, says Shankesrsinh Vaghela. New Delhi: Differences between former Gujarat chief minister and Congress leader Shankesrsinh Vaghela and the party high command continues to grow with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi rejecting Mr Vaghelas demand to project him as the chief ministerial candidate for the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state. On Wednesday, in a meeting between Mr Gandhi, Mr Vagehla and AICC general secretary and Gujarat in-charge, Mr Ashok Ghelot, the Congress scion made it categorically clear that there would be no CM face for the polls. Emerging from the meeting, a miffed Mr Vaghela told the media that at this juncture Im with the Congress. Congress has given me a lot, but I cannot predict the future. Mr Vagehla also indicated that he and the party were pulling in different directions as he said; There may be difference of opinion while deciding the election strategy. Giving clear indications that the Congress high command was not willing to concede to Mr Vagehlas pressure tactics, Mr Ghelot said that the party has done a lot for Mr Vaghela and now its upto him to take a call. Mr Rahul Gandhi, during the meeting, also said that the Congress would go to polls under collective leadership. Mr Vaghela, who was reportedly being wooed by the BJP, had earlier showed his disenchantment with the Congress leadership by unfollowing all his contacts, including Mr Rahul Gandhi, on Twitter. Also, during the first week of May, while the Congress high command was holding a series of crucial meetings to decide its electoral strategy, Mr Vaghela went off on a vacation for a week. It may be recalled that the the fear of rebellion in the state unit has been preventing the Congress high command from projecting a CM face for the forhcoming Assembly polls in the state. The Gujarat Congress at this juncture is split into four camps which incldue that of Mr Vaghela, state unit chief Bharatsinh Solanki, senior leaders, Arjun Modhvadiya and Shaktisinh Gohil. The bullet train is expected to be operational by 2023. It takes about seven hours to travel between the two cities and the bullet train aims to reduce it to about two hours. (Representational Image) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay the foundation stone for commencement of work of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor project in September in the presence of Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe. The high-speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is being constructed at a cost of Rs 97,636 crore in collaboration with Japan, which has offered an assistance of over Rs 79,000 crores over a period of 50 years. It takes about seven hours to travel between the two cities and the bullet train aims to reduce it to about two hours. It had been announced by railway minister Suresh Prabhu that the work on the flagship project will begin this year and is expected to be operational on schedule in 2023. India has advanced the construction work by a year. Earlier, it was planned to begin in 2018. The Railways had decided to adopt Shinkansen Technology for Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR Project. The cooperation of Japan on this project will also be fixed on transfer of technology and Make in India. The Maharashtra government was persuaded to give land at the Bandra-Kurla complex (BKC) for construction work. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was opposed to giving the land wanted to use it for the proposed International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Railway has formed a National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV), with a paid-up capital of Rs 500 crore for the project. Railways has already allotted Rs 200 crore for the SPV and Maharashtra and Gujarat will have equity of 25 percent each, while the Railways will have 50 per cent in the SPV. Hopes rise as UP CM orders faster development work. Ayodhya: The saffron in Ayodhya has acquired a deeper hue. The slogan Ram Lalla hum aaye hain, Mandir yahin banayenge rent the air in Ayodhya on Wednesday as Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath entered the holy city to offer prayers at various temples, including the makeshift Ram Janambhoomi temple. He became the first chief minister in 15 years to visit Ayodhya. Amid unprecedented security, the CM began his tour with a visit to the Hanuman Garhi temple, the makeshift Ram Janambhoomi temple, Ram ki Pairi and then participated in the aarti at the Saryu river. He announced beautification of the ghats at the Saryu river and said regular aarti must be held here on the pattern of the Ganga aarti in Varanasi. Yogi Adityanath also announced a Saryu Mahotsav in Ayodhya and renovation of the Ram Janki temple. Yogi Adityanaths Ayodhya visit has significance as it comes just a day after senior BJP leaders were charged with criminal conspiracy over the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition by a CBI special court. His visit gives us fresh hope for the Ram temple construction. Yogi Adityanath has been actively involved in the temple movement. His spiritual guru, Mahant Avaidyanth, was a pioneer of the temple movement. Knowing his nature, we are confident he will not give up on this issue so easily, said Pandit Hemant Upadhyaya, a priest, after the CMs visit to Hanuman Garhi. Yogi Adityanath, at a function, said that a new atmosphere was being created in favour of the temple. Some vested interests do not want the issue to be resolved. We should amicably settle the matter and build a temple, he said. His colleague, Pandit Sharad Tiwari, added: He is the first chief minister to have dared to visit the Ram Lalla temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi spot and offer prayers, and that reflects his conviction. More than the religious agenda, it was the chief ministers development agenda that seems to have enthused local people. Yogi Adityanath has decided to turn Ayodhya-Faizabad into a municipal corporation, which means development is finally going to take place. Despite being a world-famous pilgrimage spot, there are no basic civic amenities here. The drains and roads are broken, power supply is erratic and the district hospital has no facilities. Rail connectivity is poor and there is no air connectivity. We need to build a better infrastructure so that the tourist influx increases, said Rupan Agarwal, a young engineer. He said if tourist infrastructure comes up, the local economy would get a boost and migration from here would be checked. Even small businessmen are now migrating as every time there is talk about the temple, there is trouble and business gets adversely affected. We need security and development along with the temple rhetoric. Yogi Adityanath seems to understand this, thats why we have high hopes from him, said Shreela Chatterjee, who runs a boutique in Faizabad. The chief minister reviewed development work at a meeting of senior officials in Faizabad and asked the officials to speed up work. He also met party workers and assured them of the twin towns development. The CM later had lunch at the Digambar Akhara, where he met saints and seers. Mahant Gauri Ram said: The chief minister already has a blueprint for the development of Ayodhya, and he would take steps needed to clear hurdles for temple construction. The chief minister also attended the Janamotsav function of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and inspected an eye hospital before returning to Lucknow. Of the total 12,40168 students who appeared for Class 12 examinations, as many as 79, 4622 students failed. The board also announced cash prize and laptops for top five toppers of Bihar Board examination on Tuesday. (Representational Image) Patna: The Bihar government faced a major setback on Tuesday as 65 per cent students who sat for Class 12 Bihar board examination failed. According to Bihar Board officials, of the total 12,40168 students who appeared for Class 12 examinations, as many as 79, 4622 students failed. Officials told this newspaper that only 30.11 per cent passed in science stream and 37 per cent students passed in arts stream. The results are not up to the mark, state government must take measures to improve the quality of education in Bihar. In my view, the lack of qualified teaching staff in schools is one of the reasons behind this kind of results, a senior educationist, Prof N K Singh, told this newspaper on Tuesday. BSEB sources said that the authorities were more vigilant and had used strict measures to ensure that no unfair means were used during the examination this year. They also claimed that answer sheets of students who fared well was evaluated by a separate committee before taking a decision on top five rank holders. Strict measures were taken while conducting the board examination this year. Not a single stone was left unturned during the examination and as far as failures are concerned, we have decided to give them one more chance to prove their mettle. Very soon, we will announce a date for compartmental examination for such students, BSEB chairman Anand Kishore said on Tuesday after the results were declared. The board also announced cash prize and laptops for top five toppers of Bihar Board examination on Tuesday. According to officials, examination held this year was conducted in a stricter manner to avoid a toppers scam like controversy which had rocked Bihar last year. In 2016, the SIT had arrested a Class-12 student Ruby Rai in connection with a scam along with 20 other high-profile people for conniving with the education mafia in Bihar. The toppers scandal case had rocked the state in June 2016 after a video showed humanities topper, Ruby Rai, terming her subject political science as prodigal science and describing it as a subject of cookery. The visit comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh): UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday arrived here on his first visit to Ayodhya after taking charge and offered payers at the Hanumangarhi Temple. The chief minister also offered prayers at makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya. The visit comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. The chief minister offered prayers at the Hanumangarhi temple, an important religious place in Ayodhya. On Tuesday, he had paid a visit to BJP veterans Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, who had come to Lucknow to appear before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the Babri Masjid demolition case. In a major setback to Advani, Joshi and Uma, the court on Tuesday rejected their discharge application, framing charges against them and the other nine accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Charges of criminal conspiracy under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been framed. However, the accused will now move the Allahabad High Court against the CBI court's order. Earlier yesterday, the court granted bail to all the accused by signing a personal bond of Rs. 20,000. "They have been granted bail by signing bonds of Rs. 50,000. We have submitted discharge application. If the court rejects it, then charges will be framed," said lawyer of accused Prashant Atal. The court had also asked BJP leader Vinay Katiyar, VHP's Vishnu Hari Dalmia and Sadhvi Ritambara to present themselves before the court in person. While directing the accused to present themselves in person, the judge had said no application for adjournment or exemption from personal appearance shall be entertained. The court, which is hearing two separate cases relating to the demolition, would also frame charges against Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem Ji, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Dharma Das and Satish Pradhan in the second matter. Ashish Dahiya drowned while rescuing a woman colleague who had accidentally fallen into the pool. Ashish's family said that he was a good swimmer and raised doubts over the claim that he had died due to drowning. (Photo: Representational) New Delhi: A 30-year-old rookie IAS officer drowned allegedly while rescuing a woman colleague who had accidentally fallen into a swimming pool at the Foreign Service Institute in Ber Sarai here on Tuesday. The deceased, Ashish Dahiya, was a Jammu and Kashmir cadre officer and had won the Director's Gold Medal during his IAS training around a fortnight back. He was attending a poolside party with his friends, which they had planned before he joined as an assistant collector in Srinagar from June 1, when the incident happened, according to police. Ashish's family, however, said that he was a good swimmer and raised doubts over the claim that he had died due to drowning. Ishwar Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said, "Prima facie, the team that carried out the post-mortem has said that the death was due to drowning and there were no injuries on the body." Police was informed about the drowning at the institute in south Delhi around midnight after which he was rushed to Fortis Hospital where he was declared brought dead. According to police, Ashish was attending a poolside party with friends from the Indian foreign and revenue services. During the party, they decided to go for a swim in the pool located at the club. Police suspect they had consumed alcohol. A woman officer accidentally fell into the pool and the other officers, including Ashish, jumped in to rescue her, police said quoting eyewitnesses. As the woman was safely pulled out, it was noticed that Ashish was missing. Later, he was found unconscious floating in the pool. He was taken to a hospital where efforts were made in vain to resuscitate him Ashish's family demanded a thorough probe in the matter. His uncle Kuldeep said that he was an ace swimmer and had crossed a five-kilometre stretch across Bhakra Nangal dam. While he was posted as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Himachal Pradesh, he had even won a gold medal in swimming, Kudeep said. He said that Ashish wanted to be an IAS officer and serve people. He appeared for the UPSC examination and qualified for the Indian Revenue Service. He served in the Customs and Central Excise till last year and then qualified for the IAS. He had finished his training from Mussoorie recently and was supposed to join duty in Srinagar. Before going their separate paths, Ashish and his friends had planned to have a reunion in Delhi. He was married for three years. His wife Pragya is a doctor and is preparing for UPSC examination. Police said that a medical board comprising three doctors carried out the post-mortem. The entire procedure was videographed. Police also made the family members talk to the doctors who carried out the autopsy. The doctors told them that the death was caused due to drowning but a final report will affirm the initial findings. The viscera has been preserved in order to ascertain whether he had consumed alcohol. There have been protests in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states like Kerala and Karnataka against the Centre's order. Police removes protesters agitating in front of IIT-Madras against cattle slaughter ban and attack on a IIT-Madras PhD scholar. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Chennai: A group of protestors challenged cow vigilantes by openly eating beef while protesting at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Wednesday against the attack on the institution's research scholar who participated in the beef fest on the campus on Sunday. Various students of Revolutionary Student Youth Front (RSYF), Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), and activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) protested near IIT-Madras gate against attack on an IIT Madras research scholar by some right-wing students for participating in beef fest. Sooraj R, a PhD scholar and a member of Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), was attacked on Tuesday by some students, who are reportedly affiliated with right-wing student bodies. However, the police detained the protesters before they could enter the Campus. While other student bodies raised slogans against Narendra Modi-led Union government's order and demanded the arrest of the students who allegedly attacked Sooraj, activists of the TPDK went a step ahead and openly ate beef during the protest. A TPDK protestor told ANI that "Students wings affiliated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have brutally beaten one of the students of this institution. We condemn this. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is indulging in terrorist acts and the attackers must be booked under Goonda Act." He added that 'beef-eating' was a way to put forward their demand. "Eating beef is a tradition followed by Tamil people and nobody can change this. Therefore, we demand the revocation of Centre's ruling on the sale of cattle ban." Other protestors alleged that the police were beating them mercilessly and also claimed that eating beef for Tamil people is similar to the tradition of drinking cow urine considered to be pure by Hindutva followers. "With regard to consumption of beef, as the Union government headed by BJP believes in drinking urine, on the same lines, slaughtering a cow and eating beef is our tradition. We may eat beef or something else, who are these people to stop or question us?" One of the RSYF placards read: "This is Jallikattu part 2: We will take the cow rakshaks by their horns". There have been protests in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states like Kerala and Karnataka against the Centre's order. According to the notification under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 that gives the Centre powers over animal welfare, the committees overseeing animal markets will have to take an undertaking from traders that "animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter". The peacock is a lifelong brahmachari (celibate). It never has sex with the peahen, the judge said. He made the perplexing statement when he compared the cow with the peacock and explained his views on why the cow should be given the national animal status. (Photo: ANI/Twitter) Jaipur: A Rajasthan High Court judge who on Wednesday declared the cow be the national animal of India shared a view on the national bird peacock, by describing both the species as 'pious'. "The peacock is a lifelong brahmachari (celibate). It never has sex with the peahen. The peahen gets pregnant after swallowing the tears of the peacock," Judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma told reporters. #WATCH Jaipur: Peahens and peacocks don't have sex, the peacock cries then peahen drinks those tears and gets pregnant-Justice M Sharma pic.twitter.com/Tph1lzNZqD ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 He made the perplexing statement when he compared the cow with the peacock and explained his views on why the cow should be given the national animal status. "The peacock is celibate and that's why it is worn by Lord Krishna on his forehead. Similarly, the cow has many divine qualities," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, the Rajasthan High Court directed the state government to coordinate with the Centre and take necessary steps to declare cow as a national animal. "Nepal is a Hindu nation and has declared cow as the national animal. India is a predominant agriculture country based in animal rearing. As per Article 48 and 51A (g) it is expected from the state government that they should take action to get a legal entity for the cow in this country," Justice Mahesh Chand Sharma said in his order. While Article 48 of the Constitution says the State should take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle, Article 51A(g) speaks of protecting natural environment and having compassion for living creatures. It is expected from the government that it should declare cow as national animal and for this purpose, the Chief Secretary and Advocate General of the state are declared legal custodians of cow," the judge said in a 145-page order. The direction was made while the court was hearing the Hingonia Gaushala matter. Over a hundred cows had perished at the government-run cowshed in Jaipur last year. The bench also granted liberty to any person or class of persons to approach the court with a plea in a PIL to declare cow as a national animal. The direction comes at a time when many states are protesting the government's decision to impose a ban on the slaughter of cattle, primarily cows, for commercial purposes. On a lighter note, Pawar further said that he might get a huge accommodation but he will not be able to interact with people that often. Pawar while addressing a press conference said he does not want to retire from politics this early. (Photo: PTI) Mumbai: Clearing the mist over his candidature in the upcoming presidential polls, Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said he is not in the race for the coveted post. Pawar while addressing a press conference said he does not want to retire from politics this early. "I am not in this contest, I don't want to retire form politics so soon," said Pawar. On a lighter note, Pawar further said that he might get a huge accommodation but he will not be able to interact with the people that often. "After becoming the President I will not be able to interact with you (media)," he said. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has taken the lead to bring together opposition parties to field a common candidate for President against the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) nominee. Among the first opposition leaders she met was 76-year-old Sharad Pawar. Gandhi has also met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the regard, the Left's Sitaram Yechury and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has pitched for a second term for President Pranab Mukherjee. With President Mukherjee's term drawing to a close, there were reports that the Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat was being considered as one of the leading contenders for the coveted post. Cops now depending on information network to trace accused in Jewar case. The three mobile phones of the victims, which were allegedly robbed by the criminals, too did not function during the crime period, officials said. (Representative Image, Photo: PTI) Noida: Hot on the trail of those involved in the sensational Jewar robbery and alleged gangrape case, the police were left disappointed after they could not find any mobile phone call record from the crime site area that could lead to them. The police are now depending on their information network to trace the five culprits of the May 25 incident in which eight people travelling to Bulandshahr were looted off Yamuna Expressway in Jewar area, while four women, part of the group, were allegedly raped and a man shot dead. The police has found that the criminals had not used the mobile phones during the crime period, a UP Special Task Force (STF) official said on Monday. The Jewar police and the UP STF team scanned call details of the mobile phones operating in the crime site area between 1 am to 4 am of May 25 and found around 2,500 numbers were operational during that period in the area. Call details of these numbers were scanned but nothing suspicious was found, the official said, adding the criminals may not have used mobile phone during the crime period fearing that it could help the police trace them. The three mobile phones of the victims, which were allegedly robbed by the criminals, too did not function during the crime period, officials said. The STF official said till date these mobile phone are non-functional. Surveillance specialists from Aligarh were called to join the probe in the case, which has found echo in the political corridors as well with opposition parties flaying the BJP-led UP government over law and order situation in the sate. Now the UP STF is putting thrust on its informers network to get clues about the criminals. The police has also sho-wn around 100 photogra-phs of suspects people, but the victims were unable to identify the culprits. They (the victims) said it was dark when the crime took place and identifying the criminals from photograph was difficult, the official said. The family members of the victims yesterday held staged a demonstration at Jewar tehsil and demanded arrest of the criminals. They also threatened to commit suicide if they do not get justice. Their family members said they will meet UP deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya during his visit to Noida on Wednesday and demand arrest of criminals and justice to the victims. Asks police to take stern steps to stop cow smuggling at any cost. Kolkata: Sending out a strong message to cow vigilantes, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed government officials to defy the Centres ban on the sale of cows in animal markets for slaughter. Addressing an administrative meeting at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas on Tuesday, she also ordered the police to take strong action if anyone tries to do excess on the pretext of the ban. The law in the name of animal slaughter totally falls under the state power. You do not need to abide by the law until the state passes any such enactment. The police must take strong action if anyone creates any trouble over this issue in public, she told the administration officials at Sukanta Sadan. Urban development minister Firhad Hakim, food supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick and several others were present at the meeting. Ms Banerjee added, I wish the holy month of Ramzan be observed peacefully. All should maintain that there is no trouble. I have the right to perform Durga puja, Kali puja, celebrate Christmas and observe Ramzan and Id. Everyone has the right to practice their faith and religion. All have to keep in mind that there will be no trouble. We have to take care for all. The chief ministers caution came a day after she vented anger over the Centres move and called it unconstitutional, undemocratic and unethical. But by openly asking the government officials not to follow the Centres order she only appears to have mounted pressure on the Modi government on the controversial issue. Ms Banerjee also cracked a whip on the police for poor law and order situation. While going on warpath with the Centre over cow vigilantism she asked the police to tackle cattle smuggling as the district is located along the Indo-Bangla border. Cattle smuggling needs to be stopped at any cost. The police has to take stern action to end it, she told the cops of different police stations and their superiors at the meeting. She also pulled up the police over the forcible control of factory land of a shipping company in Titagarh. There is a factory which builds ships. I had earlier asked you not to disturb it. Remember? Still there is a complaint of encroachment. Who are doing it? Which group? Why is the police not performing its duty? Who is in charge of Titagarh police station? Who is the IC, Surajit (the state DGP)? Ms Banerjee wanted to know angrily. She made it clear that no industry should be disturbed because it generates jobs for the unemployed. As IC Titagarh M. Haque stood up and introduced himself, the chief minister rapped him about his failure to tackle the encroachment. Has an industry to be closed for someone who extorts money? Tell me who is the miscreant? she asked him before ordering him to take action against the miscreants. Ms Banerjee also cautioned the Trinamul elected representatives to tackle faction feud. She also asked Kamarhati Municipality to finish the construction work of Skywalk near Dakshineshwar Kali temple before Kali puja. In addition to Siddiqui the residence and offices of Rafiq Qureshi of Pyramid Developers were also raided. Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday raided seven locations, including the offices and residence of former state minister and Congress leader Baba Siddique in connection with their investigation into financial irregularities in a slum redevelopment project in Bandra. The FIR against him was registered in 2014 and the ED probe began under the Prevention Of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after registering a case earlier this month. In addition to Siddiqui the residence and offices of Rafiq Qureshi of Pyramid Developers were also raided. The case first came to light in 2012, after a social activist approached the Bandra Magistrate court, asking them to direct the police to register an FIR against Qureshi for major irregularities carried out in the rehabilitation project of the Jamaat-e-Jamooria slum in Bandra when Siddique was the chief of the Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority (MHADA) in 2002. The activist alleged that Qureshi was acting under the guidance and protection of the MLA. In 2014, the Bandra police station, acting under a court order, registered an FIR against Siddiqui, Qureshi and a Najmuddi Mithi Borwala. The Asian Age could not reach Siddiqui and Qureshi for their comments. Earlier this month, the ED booked Siddiqui and Qureshi under provisions of the PMLA, and on Wednesday, raided the offices and residences of both. We conducted raids in seven locations in Bandra. These belong to Siddiqui and a real estate developer, said a source from the ED. They also seized various documents and bank transaction records. According to the source, the irregularities relate to the allotment of flats, wherein the accused facilitated the accquistion of more than one flat in the SRA project by a single individual. He said that the original FIR alleges that the developer gained extra FSI by submitting forged documents. We are investigating whether the real estate developer and the other accused were involved in financial irregularities while completing the project, said a senior officer. They will also be looking at the money trail of the project, which is said to be worth at least Rs 400 crore. Siddiqui allegedly approved the project and was involved in it during his tenure as the chairman of the Mumbai division of MHADA. We have to look into the finances of the project while the other agencies will have to look at the irregularities of the building project, said the source. The Shiv Sena, meanwhile, held a protest today against the unjustified fee hike in front of the school gate against its management. Mumbai: Responding to the Dahisar-based Universal Schools decision to expel 20 children, whose parents were against allegedly arbitrary fee-hike, state education minister Vinod Tawde on Wednesday said that if a kid is removed from the Universal School for not paying the fee, he will cancel the states NOC given to the privately-run school. When contacted, Mr Tawde told The Asian Age, I have issued a notice to the Universal School's management in this regard and also ordered the Education Officer to probe the matter. He said, Tomorrow there would be hearing held in the afternoon in front of Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) for the Universal High Schools fee hike issue. As per the rules no student should be expelled, the education minister said on Tuesday. The Shiv Sena, meanwhile, held a protest today against the unjustified fee hike in front of the school gate against its management. However, the school management has verbally assured the parents that the students who were expelled will be re-admitted. The parents received letter from school management stating, their kids have been de-enrolled from the school for non-compliance of school requirements of admission process to the next grade and also for non-payment of fees applicable for academic year 2017-2018, as alleged by parents. Parents from the Universal School has also initiated talks with the minister on the same but parents were not happy with it. Talking to The Asian Age, a parent, Tejaswini Rajadhyaksh said, Today, the Sena protested with us in front of school gate. The management has made verbal assurances saying they will not remove kids from school. Jesus Lall, chairman of the Universal High School said, There were protests. We have assured them that we will take their children if they are ready to pay the increased fees. Yasin was involved in Feb 2013 blasts, which killed 19. Mumbai: Indian Mujahideens (IM) former India operations chief Mohammed Ahmed Siddibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal allegedly revealed to counterterror investigators how he was trained in Karachi by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operatives in handling military-grade explosives like TNT, C3, C4 as well as ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate. The training subsequently helped him in acquiring expertise in IED (Improvised Explosive Device) bomb-making. Bhatkal, who was recently questioned in Ahmedabad after his arrest for alleged role in the July 2008 Ahmedabad blasts that killed 50 people, was arrested in August 2013. He was sentenced to death last December by a Hyderabad special court for his role in the February 2013 blasts there. Bhatkal revealed that the ISI and its associates had trained him in weapons and bomb-making in December 2005 at a Karachi hideout. The IM used a boat-shaped IED device allegedly crafted by Bhatkal in several of its terror attacks. According to Bhatkal, the ISI and its associates had earlier arranged for his travel to Karachi from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he had ostensibly gone for business purposes, said a central intelligence source. According to Bhatkal, his illegal entry into Pakistan was arranged in a manner that left no official records of the same to escape detection, said the source. According to Bhatkal, the absconding IM co-founder Amir Reza Khan was already there in Karachi when he went there. Bhatkal had been recruited into IM by the terror outfits absconding co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal, who is currently suspected of hiding in Pakistan. It was Riyaz who asked Bhatkal to visit Pakistan and had earlier also allegedly attempted to make the latter get in touch with certain Al Qaeda-linked men in Sharjah, UAE, according to the source. Riyaz in fact had begun mentoring Bhatkal since 2004 when they met in Mumbai, said the source. Riyaz had instructed Yasin to conduct experiments for bomb-making at a time the IM was trying acquire bomb-making skills on its own. Riyaz had also sent two other recruits to Bhatkal for basic training for 15 days in target practice with air-guns, said the source. Riyaz subsequently allegedly gave `40,000 to Bhatkal for the establishment of a workshop that is suspected to have been part of the outfits initial attempts to manufacture weapons. Bhatkal had fled to Nepal, with Riyaz bearing the expenses of his stay at a hideout there, before the formers arrest in August 2013. The IM had orchestrated serials blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Delhi in 2008. After the blasts, IMs top leadership exited India to take shelter in Pakistan, UAE and Nepal. The IMs co-chiefs Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal are suspected to be in hiding in Pakistan. Under the scanner Yasin Bhatkal is under the scanner for his alleged links to the following incidents: Serial blasts in Ahmedabad, July 2008, in which around 50 persons were killed 18 boatshaped IED devices were detected by the police in Surat in July 2008, the pre-emptive action saved lives Three blasts in Mumbai in July 2011 at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Kabutarkhana, which killed around 20 persons The blast at Punes German Bakery at Koregaon Park that had killed 17 persons in February 2010 The blasts in Hyderabad in February 2013 that killed 19 persons Indias most wanted Three persons, including Amit, were arrested from Kashimira bus stand in Bhayander, Thane, for possessing 18 kg hashish. Thane: A Thane court sentenced a man to 10-years rigorous imprisonment under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for possessing hashish. District judge Hemant Patwardhan last week sentenced Amit Brijmohan (33), a resident of Nand Nagri in New Delhi, to 10-years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh in the 2011 case. According to the prosecution, three persons, including Amit, were arrested from Kashimira bus stand in Bhayander in Thane for possessing 18 kg hashish on February 5, 2011. They had brought the contraband here for selling it. The two other accused in the case Mohammed Hameed and Mohammed Iqbal Abdul are absconding. The judge observed that the evidence brought before court is consistent, reliable and is sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. "I therefore, do not hesitate to record my findings against point in affirmative," he said. The judge also accepted the plea submitted by Amit, requesting that he be transferred to a Delhi jail since his family lives there and can meet him. The court said, "Jailer is directed to consider transfer of the accused to Central Jail at Delhi, if rules in respect thereof permit." Officials said the raids are being conducted on at least half a dozen locations in the Maharashtra capital, including that of a builder. Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches at the premises of Congress leader Baba Siddique and few others in connection with a money laundering probe case. Officials said the raids are being conducted on at least half a dozen locations in the Maharashtra capital, including that of a builder. The Enforcement Directorate, they said, has registered a criminal case against Siddique and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on a local police FIR in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of a slum area in suburban Bandra. The agency also suspects usage of shell companies in committing the alleged irregularities and hence the raids are being conducted to gather more evidence, they said. Siddique has been a Congress MLA in the Maharashtra Assembly and also served as a Municipal Corporator. Velu was brought to the police station along with his wife after cops were alerted that a man was mercilessly beating his wife. During interrogation, Velu, who was in an inebriated condition, assaulted a constable, injuring him severely. (Representational image) Thane (Maharashtra): Police have booked a man for allegedly assaulting cops during his interrogation at a police station here. Rajan Velu (32) was brought to the Ambernath police station on Monday evening for allegedly assaulting his wife, Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar said on Wednesday. Velu was brought to the police station along with his wife after cops were alerted that a man was mercilessly beating his wife, she said. During interrogation, Velu, who was in an inebriated condition, assaulted a constable, injuring him severely, the PRO said, adding he also bit another policeman in his leg. A case was registered under IPC sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), Narkar said, adding a probe was on. The Delhi govt spends about a quarter of its budget on education and has initiated a range of reforms in government-run schools. For long, economists have been arguing for investment in education. A well-educated workforce drives economic growth. But economists dont take policy decisions. Politicians do. So does investment in education make for good politics? We dont know for sure. But the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi governments experiments with school education is one to watch. The AAP can be legitimately criticised on many fronts, but it is tough to fault it for prioritising education, given the sorry state of basic learning across the country. Survey after survey shows millions of kids in India cant read or count properly even at the end of primary school. The Delhi government spends about a quarter of its budget on education and has initiated a range of reforms in government-run schools. This week, rapturous applause greeted students of these schools. They had done better than their private school counterparts in the Central Board of Secondary Education Class 12 exams for the second year running. In 2017, the pass percentage at government schools in the city stood at 88.27 per cent, compared to 84.20 per cent at private schools. Last year, government schools notched a pass percentage of 88.98 per cent, against 86.67 per cent in private schools. Government schools in the country dont have a pretty image. In many, children squat on uneven floors or torn mats. There are no desks, chairs and teachers are more often absent than present. Can such schools ever be fixed? Is it even worth a try? The latest CBSE results came as a boost to those who have been consistently saying that government schools can be turned around. Unsurprisingly, Delhis education minister Manish Sisodia is beaming even as critics note government schools have done better than private schools in the city earlier too. Many sceptics also point out that nowadays Delhi government schools have better pass percentages than private schools partly because private schools have mushroomed, mostly in far-flung neighbourhoods where there is less scrutiny. But even in absolute terms, there is improvement in government schools, and not just in Delhi. A key part of the reason is a new method called teaching at the right level (TaRL). There is enough evidence now to show that substantial gains in learning outcomes can be achieved by simply reorganising and grouping children by their learning level rather than the usual grouping by age or grade. This has worked not just in Delhi but in several other states. It is clearly having effects beyond board results. This year, 372 students of Delhi government-run schools have cleared the prestigious Joint Entrance Examination to most engineering colleges in India. Only 50-odd students had cracked the JEE last year. What explains the change? The Delhi government has ploughed in a lot of resources to improve school infrastructure and give better incentives to teachers. But money alone doesnt explain the improved performances. What has really helped is a series of measures taken to shore up the motivation levels of students, teachers as well as parents. Teachers conduct reading hours. Students watch educational videos. A special cadre of mentor teachers offers regular supportive supervision to other teachers. There are remedial classes for students of Class 10 and 12; free summer camps where students can have lots of fun plus work on their weak spots; regular interactions between parents and teachers; school management committees comprised mostly of parents; and so on. Students of good private schools take all this for granted. But this is very new to government-run schools. In Delhi, the citys municipal corporations run primary schools while Delhi government schools are from Classes 6 to 12. Children often arrive in middle school with a weak or non-existent foundation. What happens in middle school therefore becomes critical. Teaching to curriculum doesnt help much as not every child can cope under these circumstances. The TaRL methodology has been usually used for younger children in other states, but it has proved very useful to circumvent challenges in Delhi government schools. Dr Rukmini Banerji, chief executive officer of Pratham Education Foundation, one of Indias best-known educational NGOs, says the Delhi governments decision to introduce TaRL was a bold step and the state government should be congratulated for making a major effort to improve the foundational skills of all children. She points out that Prathams work with primary school children in other states using the TaRL method has produced heartening outcomes. The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) report, facilitated by the Pratham network, offers signs of hope. It shows reading ability has improved in India, specially in early grades in government schools. Arithmetic skills have also shown improvement in government schools in primary grades. In the last decade, Prathams work has been rigorously evaluated by researchers affiliated with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a large scale and in collaboration with government schools. The research shows that the TaRL model can achieve significant gains in basic learning outcomes. Just one example: In Haryana, 400 schools participated in an intervention implemented by the government and supported by Pratham in 2012-13. Students enrolled in Classes 3, 4 and 5 across 200 schools were randomly assigned to the TaRL model. Students in selected schools were grouped according to their reading level and taught for an hour every day, using attractive methods and materials. Trained government teachers did the job in school hours, They were monitored and supervised by block and cluster-level education officials. At the start of this programme, only 34 per cent of students could read a simple paragraph or story (a grade 2-level competency). But by the end, things had changed the number had shot up to 53 per cent for students in schools that took part in the programme, compared to 48 per cent for students in schools that did not participate. Several other states Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal have piloted similar initiatives. Scaling up such evidence-based strategies across the country would not only dramatically improve learning outcomes, it may change the face of Indian politics. US President keeps the world guessing, says announcement will come in next few days. Washington: President Donald Trump plans to follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the United States out of a global pact to fight climate change, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters, a move that promises to deepen a rift with US allies. White House officials cautioned that details were still being hammered out and that, although close, the decision on withdrawing from the international accord, agreed to by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, was not finalised. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, did not confirm the decision in a post on Twitter saying only, I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Trump was working out the terms of the planned withdrawal with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, an oil industry ally and climate change skeptic. The President will make an announcement when hes made a final decision, one senior official said. Trump refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday saying he needed more time to decide. A decision to withdraw from the accord could further alienate American allies in Europe already wary of Trump and call into question US leadership and trustworthiness on one of the world's leading issues. A pullout also would be one more step by the Republican President to erase the legacy of his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord and praised it during a trip to Europe this month. International leaders began reacting to the reports of Trumps plans. A withdrawal by the US would be disappointing but the European Union stands ready to take global leadership on the issue, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said in Brussels. There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world, from Africa, Asia and China, that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that, Sefcovic added. Frances ambassador to the US Gerard Araud said on Twitter that the Paris agreement doesnt infringe on US sovereignty and noted that major American corporations had supported the deal. Finlands Prime Minister Juha Sipila said that a US withdrawal would be a big setback. Quitting the Paris accord may not resonate with members of the Republican Party as much as his administration expects. A March Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found that 50 per cent of Republicans agreed that the US should lead the global fight against climate change while 37 per cent disagreed and 13 percent were unsure. On Monday, Pyongyang test-fired a short-range missile that fell provocatively close to Japan. North Korea has carried out three missile tests in less than three weeks, defying UN warnings that it faces new sanctions. (Photo: AFP) United Nations: The United States and China are discussing next steps in response to North Korea's missile tests and could reach a decision on new sanctions this week, Washington's UN envoy Nikki Haley has said. China is pushing Pyongyang through back channels to change its behaviour and discussing with the United States the timing of a possible new sanctions resolution, Haley yesterday told reporters. "It's about at what point do we do the resolution... at what test model do we say now is the time to go forward," she said. "We do think they are trying to counter what is happening now and they have the lay of the land," Haley said of the Chinese government. "We are going to keep the pressure on China but we will continue to work with them ... and I think we will decide this week on what that looks like." North Korea has carried out three missile tests in less than three weeks, defying UN warnings that it faces new sanctions. On Monday, Pyongyang test-fired a short-range missile that fell provocatively close to Japan. The United States launched talks on new sanctions with China a month ago with a view to drafting a proposed resolution to present to the council, but no text has been agreed. Haley said the council was not backpedalling but rather carefully considering the next moves. "Nothing is changing North Korea's actions and so it's regrouping and saying okay, what are we going to do if this is going to happen every other day," said Haley. "How should we respond in a way that actually stops these things or slows them down?" she added. China has pushed for a revival of the six-party talks that have been dormant since North Korea walked out on the negotiations in 2009. Haley has said that the United States will open a dialogue with Pyongyang if it halts its missile and nuclear tests. North Korea is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead and has so far staged five atomic tests, two of them last year. The Security Council adopted two sanctions resolutions last year to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang and deny leader Kim Jong-Un the hard currency needed to fund his military programs. In all, six sets of sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006. North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the US mainland. An rocket designed to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missiles is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calif. on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. The Pentagon says it has shot down a mock warhead over the Pacific in a success for America's missile defense program. (Photo: AP) Washington: The US military on Tuesday cheered a successful, first-ever missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a programme meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat. The US military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters just south of Alaska. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Experts compare the job to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the enormous distances involved. The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co (BA.N), and hailed it as an "incredible accomplishment." "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement. A successful test was by no means guaranteed and the Pentagon sought to manage expectations earlier in the day, noting that the United States had multiple ways to try to shoot down a missile from North Korea. "This is one element of a broader missile defence strategy that we can use to employ against potential threats," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. Prior to Tuesday's launch, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014. North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the US mainland. The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther. Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, described the test as "vital" prior to launch. "We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today," Ellison said. Failure could have deepened concern about a programme that according to one estimate has so far cost more than USD $40 billion. Its success could translate into calls by Congress to speed development. In the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sent to Congress last week, the Pentagon requested USD $7.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, including about USD $1.5 billion for the GMD programme. A 2016 assessment released by the Pentagon's weapons testing office in January said that US ground-based interceptors meant to knock out any incoming ICBM still had low reliability, giving the system a limited capability of shielding the United States. The decision to send the AG was taken at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security to discuss Pak's strategy. Islamabad: Pakistan's Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali will lead a team to the International Court of Justice at The Hague on June 8 for a meeting of "agents" from India and Pakistan with the court's president to discuss the future proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The decision to send the Attorney General was taken at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday to discuss Pakistan's strategy in the case, Dawn reported. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired the meeting. During the meeting of "agents", the dates for subsequent hearings and submission of documents related to the case India has brought against Pakistan over the death sentence given to Indian national Jadhav following a "secret" trial will be discussed, the report said. Pakistan is also likely to indicate its intention to nominate an ad-hoc judge for the case. The ICJ statutes provide for a state party to a case, which does not have a judge of its nationality on the bench, to choose a person to sit as an ad-hoc judge in that case. The parliamentary committee took up the issue after India was granted provisional measures by the ICJ on May 18 restraining Pakistan from executing Jadhav, 46, who had been convicted of espionage and sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court. India approached the ICJ citing that it had been repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav in violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention. The attorney-general also briefed the participants of the meeting about the Pakistan government's strategy for the case. The committee members were reportedly not satisfied by the explanations given by the government's legal team about the case at the last meeting. The National Assembly speaker told the media that he was satisfied with the briefing by the Attorney General on Tuesday. Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, however, disputed Speaker Sadiq, saying that everything that was shared with the parliamentary committee members were 'open source' information and the replies were unsatisfactory. "They have committed a lot of mistakes," Rehman said. Yesterday's meeting was the second time the committee had met on Jadhav case. It will meet again on June 15. THAAD system battery was initially deployed in March with just 2 of its load of 6 launchers to counter the North Korean missile threat. In this May 2, 2017, file photo, a U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is installed at a golf course in Seongju, South Korea. Two experts talk to The Associated Press about what would happen if North Korea fired at targets near and far. (Photo: AP) Seoul: South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered a probe after his Defence Ministry failed to inform him that four more launchers for the controversial US THAAD anti-missile system had been brought into the country, his spokesman said on Tuesday. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system battery was initially deployed in March in the southeastern region of Seongju with just two of its maximum load of six launchers to counter a growing North Korean missile threat. During his successful campaign for the May 9 presidential election, Moon called for a parliamentary review of the system, the deployment of which infuriated China, North Korea's lone major ally. "President Moon said it was very shocking" to hear the four additional launchers had been installed without being reported to the new government or to the public, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told a media briefing. Moon had campaigned on a more moderate approach to Pyongyang, calling for engagement even as the reclusive state pursues nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and threats of more sanctions. The Pentagon said it had been "very transparent" with South Korea's government about THAAD deployment. "We continue to work very closely with the Republic of Korea government and we have been very transparent in all of our actions throughout this process," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told a news briefing. Separately on Tuesday, the US military cheered a successful, first-ever missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, a major milestone for a program meant to defend the United States against North Korea. The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), a separate system from THAAD, and called it an "incredible accomplishment." Moon's order of a probe into the THAAD launchers came amid signs of easing tensions between South Korea and China, a major trading partner. China has been incensed over the THAAD deployment, fearing it could enable the US military to see into its own missile systems and open the door to wider deployment, possibly in Japan and elsewhere, military analysts say. South Korean companies have faced product boycotts and bans on Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, although China has denied discrimination against them. On Tuesday, South Korea's Jeju Air said China had approved a plan for it to double its flights to the Chinese city of Weihai from June 2. Also, a Korean-Chinese joint drama production My Goddess, My Mom" starring South Korean actress Lee Da-hae was told by its Chinese partner recently that it will soon be aired, according to Lee's agent JS Pictures. Previously its broadcast had been indefinitely delayed. An official at South Korean tour agency Mode Tour told Reuters it hoped China may lift a ban on selling trips to South Korea, which had been in place since March 15, as early as the second week of June. Although there had been no official orders from the Chinese government to lift the ban, a few Chinese travel agencies have sent inquiries about package tours, he said. However, South Korea's Lotte Group has yet to reopen any of the 74 retail stores in China it was forced to close in March after the group allowed the installation of the THAAD system on land it owned. The United States, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, has a mutual defence treaty with Seoul dating back to the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce that has left the peninsula in a technical state of war. South Korea's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had conducted a joint drill with a US supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber on Monday, which North Korea's state media earlier described as "a nuclear bomb-dropping drill". Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked to Moon by phone on Tuesday and told him that dialogue for dialogue's sake with North Korea would be meaningless, and that China's role in exerting pressure on the North was important, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. North Korea's KCNA news agency reported that leader Kim Jong-Un supervised the country's latest missile test on Monday. It said the missile had a new precision guidance system and a new mobile launch vehicle. Kim said North Korea would develop more powerful weapons to defend against the United States. "He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger 'gift package' to the Yankees" in retaliation for American military provocation, KCNA quoted Kim as saying. The two sides signed agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks with Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy before a meeting at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid. (Photo: AP) Madrid: India and Spain on Wednesday signed seven agreements, including on cyber security and technical cooperation in civil aviation, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the European country. The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital. The two sides signed agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Five MoUs were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between India's Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1988, praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." Spain is India's seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. Two-way trade totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016. Modi encouraged Spanish infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors in India, saying "It's a great time for Spanish companies to invest in India." External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a 'fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship'. Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain. (Photo: AP) Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Spain's President Mariano Rajoy in Madrid and underlined the need for boosting bilateral cooperation in fighting terrorism that has affected both the countries. Modi met Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace, the official residence of the president and the king of Spain this morning in the first engagement during his stay in the country today. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a "fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship". Modi, in a private convesation with Rajoy, called for strengthening bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as "both our countries" have faced the security challenge. Narendra Modi's visit to Spain will be first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988. Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on ways to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. (Photo: ANI Twitter) Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here in the Spanish capital on Wednesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour aimed at boosting bilateral economic engagement with them and inviting more investment for India's transformation. "Landed in Spain, marking the start of a very important visit aimed at improving economic and cultural relations with Spain," Modi tweeted in English and Spanish after landing here. Modi's visit to Spain will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988. "Hola Espana! Prime Minister Modi arrives in Madrid, first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades, is received by Spanish FM in a special gesture," said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs in a tweet. Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on ways to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. Modi will also call on King Felipe VI of Spain. "He (Modi) would also have a round-table interaction with leading Spanish business leaders who are keen to invest in India. Prime Minister's visit to Spain will add further strength to the existing warm and friendly India-Spain bilateral ties," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement. From Spain, he will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. Earlier in the day, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the fourth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) during which the two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and the two sides inked 12 agreements/Memorandum of Understandings (MoU). by Minh Trang Frs ang Huu Nam and Nguyen inh Thuc received the visit of Mgr Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet. The two priests have defended the rights of the victims of the Formosa disaster. Since the start of the year they have been the victims of a slander campaign led by the authorities. Mgr Joseph Ngo Quang Kiets presence is a great honour for us, said Fr ang Huu Nam; he himself experienced the persecution we live today." (AsiaNews) Bishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, accompanied by some religious from the Chau Son monastery, visited Phu Yen parish to show his support and provide comfort to two priests in Vinh diocese persecuted by the Vietnamese government. The two clergymen are Fr ang Huu Nam, vicar of Phu Yen parish (Ha Tinh province), and Fr Nguyen inh Thuc, vicar of the Song Ngoc Parish (Nghe An province). Starting in April 2016, the two priests have backed the victims of Vietnams worst environmental disaster who have been protesting against Vietnamese authorities for failing to pay compensation. In an attempt to silence Frs ang Huu Nam and Nguyen inh Thuc, national and local authorities in Quynh Luu district have mobilised the media in a campaign based on false accusations against the two. Starting in early May, district authorities have organised a series of major rallies and demonstrations against the two clergymen. Recruited by the local government, protesters have even called for Fr Nam to be sent to prison for 20 years or sentenced to death. On 22 May, Mgr Ngo Quang Kiet secretly visited Fr Nam and Fr Thuc, who are now heavily hampered in their pastoral work. The prelate comforted the two priests and encouraged them to continue with their initiatives in support of the thousands of people affected by the catastrophic spill of toxic sewage, which was a big blow to Vietnams central provinces. The bishop listened to the stories of attacks and violence against the two vicars and noted that he has closely followed developments in the environmental situation in Central Vietnam. "Mgr Joseph Ngo Quang Kiets presence is a great honour for us and an encouragement to our journey of justice for the poor victims, Fr ang Huu Nam said. I feel that the archbishop is close to us and supports us. In the past, he himself experienced the persecution we live today." The explosion took place near the German embassy. There is still no claims. Rise in attacks by both Taliban and Islamic militants in Afghanistan. Kabul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A powerful explosion killed dozens of people this morning in Wazir Akbar Khan's diplomatic quarter in Kabul. The number of casualties is still uncertain: for the vice-spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, Najib Danish, they would be at least 50. At least 67 wounded have been transported to hospitals around the capital. The explosion took place near the armed entrance of the German embassy, not far from the presidential palace. Basir Mujahid, a spokeswoman for the police, says the exact goal is difficult to determine because "other major buildings and offices" are close by. The explosion was so strong that it would cause destruction and damage to more than 30 vehicles and homes for hundreds of meters, with smashed windows and jammed doors. There are currently no claims for the attack. The attack took place during the annual Taliban "spring offensive". However, the Islamic State also claimed several bomb attacks in the Afghan capital, including a powerful bombing of a NATO armored convoy on 3 May in which eight people died and 28 were injured. The explosion is the last of a series of attacks in Kabul, in a context of growing violence throughout the country. Since the international troops withdrew at the end of 2014, the Taliban have gained ground. US sources report that 40% of the territory is under Taliban control or in any case an area of conflict. The capital province had the highest number of victims in the first three months of 2017 due to multiple attacks. Most victims are civilians. The armed group, after talks with the government, will send its fighters to help dislodge Maute terrorists. The agreement could be a turning point to end the crisis. Government forces control 70 per cent of the city. The priest seized on 23 May appears in a video. Zamboanga (AsiaNews) - Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have agreed to set up a peace corridor' in Marawi to help save civilians trapped in an area where government forces are battling Maute terrorists who are linked to the Islamic State group. Duterte and MILF leaders held talks yesterday in Davao to tackle the ongoing crisis in southern Philippines. Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Eduardo Ano and government peace panel chair Irene Santiago were present at the meeting. The MILF is an Islamist armed group based in the southern island of Mindanao, where most of the country`s Muslim minority is concentrated (about 20 per cent of the population). As the main local Islamist group, it has fought the government to create an autonomous region for the Moro people and has been involved in many military and terrorist actions in the past. Currently, it is engaged in peace talks with the Duterte administration. At the end of the Davao meeting, the government and MILF leaders decided to create a safe zone to help who who had not yet been evacuated from Marawi. Here humanitarian staff will be able to carry out the wounded and recover the bodies of the dead for burial. MILF also agreed to help the government ensure security in areas where there are no peace corridors. Earlier, Duterte welcomed MILF's offer to send its fighters to help defeat Maute terrorists. The latter have been besieging Marawi since 23 May. Later this week, Filipino government representatives and MILF leaders will meet again to establish the operational details of the humanitarian initiative. The agreement between the government and MILF is very important because it could be a turning point in ending the crisis. First of all, it shows that the armed group is against the Maute group, seen as an expression of a foreign ideology imported by international terror organisations. Although Islamist in aspiration, the MILF's battle against the central government has deep historical, ethnic and cultural roots. Maute terrorists, many of whom are foreigners, especially Indonesians and Malaysians, lack legitimacy with respect to their aspirations. MILF instead can speak for Muslim Mindanao, and the Maute will not find support among Moro people. For now, fighting continues. As the battle for Marawi entered its eighth day yesterday, the Filipino government called on the terrorists to surrender after a gruelling pounding from the army, which has deployed tanks and assault helicopters. General Eduardo Ano said that government forces now control 70 per cent of Marawi, but admitted that taking the remaining 30 per cent will be a real challenge. The latter is the most densely populated area, and has not yet been evacuated. About a hundred people have been killed since the start of the conflict: 19 civilians, 20 soldiers, 3 police officers and 65 terrorists. Violence broke out in Marawi on 23 May when the Filipino army tried to capture Isnilon Hapilon, an extremist Islamic leader. Hapilon and more than a dozen of his men found support with Maute guerrillas. About 50 managed to enter the city. After seizing some areas, they set fire to buildings, including the cathedral of Our Lady of the Help of Christians, and took several hostages, including the vicar general of the city, Fr Teresito 'Chito' Suganob. Fr Chito who was captured with more than 200 civilians, appears in video appealing to President Duterte to consider their plight of the hostages and stop the military operation against their captors. We are asking your help to please give what your enemies are asking for, Suganob said in the video clip shown on Tuesday on a Telegram channel used by IS. If you have the good heart for us, considering Mr President the about 240 prisoners of war. We are asking your good heart, please consider. We still want to live for another day, we want to live another month, we want to live three yearsmore. Please consider us, Mr President, he said. The Catholic priest also states that he was being held captive together with a female professor from Mindanao State University, two female church workers, two male and five female teachers from Dansalan Foundation College and about 200 carpenters, domestic workers, children and youth. Most hostages are Christian and Tribal Subanen, a source in Mindanao told AsiaNews. This is no coincidence. They have been chosen because they belong to the city's minorities." Fr Chito is a well-known figure, even among Muslims. His is a frontier vicariate, small but active in interfaith dialogue with the city's muslim majority. He serves as chaplain at Mindanao State University, which was built at the time of dictator Marcos as a symbol of coexistence between Christians and Muslims. There is nothing new with Fr Cito's and the others`abduction, another source told AsiaNews. Abductions are commonplace, and Christians have been especially targeted by Islamists in order to advance their demands on the governmetn. Christians are afraid, but neither they nor the government want to highlight the religious aspect to avoid worsening tensions. In fact, Many hope that humanitarian initiatives in Marawi - in which Christians took central stage early on can improve relations." Four luanchers were delivered without the president`s knowledge. The Defence minister admits the presence of launchers and radar systems only after an internal investigation. The new batteries are stored at a US military base waiting for deployment. However, the South Korean parliament is set to decide over the issue. China`s irritation weighs heavily on the affair as Beijing ponders retaliation. Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - South Korea`s military have deliberately withheld information from President Moon Jae-in about the delivery of four additional THAAD launchers. The latter, which are set to be deployed to counter North Korea`s missile threat, were brought in without being reported to the new government, and are currently stored at a US base. Top brass who briefed Moon's national security adviser last week deliberately kept silent about the information, Moon's office said. Documents submitted to the president shortly after he came to office this month were redacted to remove mention of four new rocket launchers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, which South Korea approved last year to protect itself against threats from North Korea. China has strongly opposed the deployment, claiming that it threatened its national security. Two missile launchers have already been in place in the southern county of Seongju, but the existence of four more had not been announced. All military officials involved in the production of the report admitted these key parts were removed in the editing process, said Moon`s spokesman Yoon Young Chan. Defence Minister Han Min Koo eventually admitted the presence of the new launchers when pressed by Moon in a phone conversation on Tuesday, according to Yoon. Han was appointed by ousted president Park Geun Hye. His successor is yet to be named. The new launchers arrived in the South before Moon took office on May 10, Moon`s office said. No specific reason was given for the omission by military chiefs, but Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over THAAD, especially in light of Chinese objections, and Beijing`s threat of political and economic retaliation. The new president said the deployment should be discussed and approved by parliament before being fully rolled out. Moon wants the vet public support for THAAD, saying that Park administration had failed to get public backing on this aspect of the country`s security policy. Each THAAD battery has six launchers on a truck, 48 interceptors (eight per launcher), a fire and communication control system and an AN/TPY2 radar. The Catholic Church of South Korea has long opposed the THAAD deployment because it does not want the peninsula to become the centre of a new Cold War. "It is not Christian to sow bitterness, to sow perplexity: you are doing this, you are not a good Christian." "May the forthcoming feast of Pentecost, which is the birthday of the Church, find us in accord in prayer with Mary, Jesus Mother and ours. And may the gift of the Holy Spirit make us abound in hope. I will say more to you: may it make us spend our hope with all those who are most in need, most rejected and all those that have need. " Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Christian hope, carried by the Holy Spirit, makes us rejoice in hope : rejoicing now in hope, and not only hoping to rejoice" that makes the Christian" sower of hope ". Christian hope, in the perspective of the forthcoming Feast of Pentecost - "the Church's Birthday" - was the subject of Pope Francis catechesis for the general audience. Addressing the 25,000 people in St. Peters Square, Francis said that In the imminence of the Solemnity of Pentecost, we cannot but speak of the relation there is between Christian hope and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the wind that drives us on, that keeps us on the way, makes us feel ourselves pilgrims and strangers, and does not permit us to ensconce ourselves and to become a sedentary people. The Letter to the Hebrews compares hope to an anchor (Cf. 6:18-19); and to this image we can add that of the sail. If the anchor is what gives the boat security and keeps it anchored between the waves of the sea, the sail, instead, is what makes it go and advance on the waters. Hope is truly like a sail; it receives the wind of the Spirit and transforms it into the driving force that pushes the boat, depending on the circumstances, to the open sea or to the shore. The Pope then quoted the ending of the Letter to the Romans, where the Apostle Paul ends with this wish hear well, listen well to this beautiful wish: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (15:13). Let us reflect a bit on the content of this very beautiful word. The expression God of hope does not only mean that God is the object of our hope, namely Him that we hope to reach one day in eternal life. It also means that God is He that already now makes us hope, rather, He makes us rejoice in hope (Romans 12:12): rejoicing now in hope, and not only hoping to rejoice. It is the joy of hoping, now today, and not hoping to have joy. While there is life, there is hope, states a popular saying. And the contrary is also true: while there is hope, there is life. Men have need of hope to live and they have need of the Holy Spirit to hope. We heard Saint Paul, who attributes to the Holy Spirit the capacity to make us even abound in hope. To abound in hope means never to be discouraged; it means to hope against all hope (Romans 4:18), namely, to hope also when every human motive for hope fails, as it was for Abraham, when God asked him to sacrifice to Him his only son, Isaac, and as it was, even more so, for the Virgin Mary under Jesus cross. The Holy Spirit makes this invincible hope possible, giving us the interior testimony that we are children of God and His heirs (Cf. Romans 8:16). How could He who gave us His only Son not give us everything else together with Him? (Cf. Romans 8:32). Hope brothers and sisters does not disappoint: hope does not disappoint, because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). Therefore, it does not disappoint, because the Holy Spirit is within us who pushes us to go on, always! And because of this, hope does not disappoint. There is more: not only does the Holy Spirit make us capable of hoping, but also to be sowers of hope, to be also like Him and thanks to Him paracletes, namely consolers and defenders of brothers, sowers of hope. A Christian can sow bitterness, he can sow perplexity, and this is not Christian, and one who does this is not a good Christian. He sows hope: he sows the oil of hope; he sows the perfume of hope and not the vinegar of bitterness and despair. The Pope noted that in one of his addresses, Blessed Cardinal Newman said to the faithful Instructed by our own suffering, by our own pain, even by our own sins, we will have the mind and the heart exercised in every work of love towards those who have need of it. In the measure of our capacity, we will be consolers in the image of the Paraclete, and in all the senses that this word entails: advocates, assistants, comfort bearers. Our words and our advice, our way of being, our voice, our look, will be gentle and tranquilizing (Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. V, London, 1870, pp. 300f.). And it is above all the poor, the excluded, the unloved that are in need of someone who will be a paraclete to them, namely, a consoler and defender, as the Holy Spirit is with every one of us, who are here in the Square consoler and defender. We must do the same with the neediest, with the most rejected, with those who have greatest need, those who suffer most defenders and consolers! The Holy Spirit nourishes hope not only in mens heart, but also in the whole of Creation.The Apostle Paul says this seems a bit strange, but it is true: that Creation also waits with eager longing to be set free and groaning in travail as the pangs of birth (Cf. Romans 8:20-22). The energy capable of moving the world is not an anonymous and blind force, but the action of the Spirit of God moving over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2) at the beginning of Creation (Benedict XVI, Homily, May 31, 2009). This also drives us to respect Creation: a painting cannot be besmirched without offending the artist who created it. Brothers and sisters, may the forthcoming feast of Pentecost, which is the birthday of the Church, find us in accord in prayer with Mary, Jesus Mother and ours. And may the gift of the Holy Spirit make us abound in hope. I will say more to you: may it make us fritter away hope with all those who are most in need, most rejected and all those that have need. by Fr Paul The need for greater clarity from the Holy See; the bitterness of division between official and underground communities: "Are we not all serving Christs cause?" The story of the difficulties a Chinese priest faces in his daily life. Beijing (AsiaNews) The pain caused by the division that still exists between official and underground communities; bitterness provoked by the voices of compromise and ambiguity that apparently dominate dialogue between Beijing and the Holy See: these are some of the everyday experiences of a priest from the official Church (located in the Southeast). In addition to highlighting the corrosion of the relationship of trust, the priest notes a certain slowness on the part of the Vatican in giving direction to the Church in China. The example mentioned is Msgr. Thaddeus Ma Daqin, consecrated auxiliary bishop of Shanghai in 2012, with the consent of the Holy See and the government. Bishop Ma Daqin had refused to belong to the Patriotic Association and for this reason is still - even today under house arrests. According to the author, the Vatican was not ready to appoint him as ordinary bishop of the diocese, giving the impression of abandoning him to his destiny. This silence has led to an even more confusing and complicated situation: Msgr. Ma eventually retracted his claims about the Patriotic Association; the Shanghai community is increasingly divided; the diocese of this great metropolis does not yet have a bishop. Here is the story of Fr. Paul [not his real name] entrusted to AsiaNews. Several months ago I voiced some simple impressions regarding negotiations between China and the Vatican, which also appeared online. Since then nothing has happened to boost hopes or throw some light on the situation. Indeed, it seems that the darkness is growing and hope is diminishing, since negotiations between China and the Vatican are not based on politics, but on the faith. If they were based solely on politics, they would demand compromise, but if they are based on the faith, they must maintain the religious direction. Living in an atheistic environment makes us realize that there is progress without a future and no way out, given that the mutual trust between people and the goodness in human and natural relationships are being seriously undermined. In recent times Catholics from all corners of the country have been organizing pilgrimages to Spain and Portugal. But since these initiatives are undertaken by unofficial priests, the faithful who intend to take part in you generally advocate for the 'clandestine church'. We, the priests and faithful of the so-called 'official church', when we attempt to make contact, encounter difficulties precisely because of this fact. Such a sense of alienation in a community with the same faith produces much suffering in the most sensitive people. In reality, the Patriotic Association has no relationship with us priests; we have no official assignment. As priests, we serve the people of God in the Church, but we often have to endure the fact of being labelled 'traitors' and 'unfaithful'. Underground priests often exploit this summary definition to attract faithful to what they consider to be 'the true faith'. My pastoral ministry is in a large city in the south east. In the villages around my district there are more than ten churches under the care of clandestine clergy. And often I come into contact with the faithful who come from these churches to live in my district. The experience of the Cross is part of this path. After graduating from Sheshan Seminary in Shanghai; being ordained a priest and embarking on the pastoral ministry, I do not understand why I have to deal with 'two churches': the 'underground church', which seems to have drawn clear lines of demarcation, and the 'official church' which despite all of its best efforts, falls easy prey to slipping in its journey. Sometimes I doubt and ask: Are not we all serving Christs cause? Regarding relations between China and the Vatican, I personally believe that the Church's religious leadership is the most important thing. A clear example is the 'testimony of July 7' in Shanghai a few years ago. The witness that the Church expects has already been given. I speak of Msgr. Thaddeus Ma Daqin, who for many years has had contact with the Patriotic Association, but on July 7, 2012, the day of his episcopal ordination, resigned. With his public resignation, Msgr. Ma Daqin has shown the behavior of faith. After the deaths of the bishops Jin Luxian and Fan Zhongliang, why did the Holy See dither and fail to announce Msgr. Ma as the ordinary bishop of Shanghai? Perhaps it was afraid that after the announcement, Mgsr. Ma would be considered underground just like Msgr. Fan? This fact would have been more useful to us, in comparison to the changes that have created the present, highly embarrassing situation. The Chinese need faith, they need true light. China and the Vatican are continuing negotiations: personally and sincerely I hope that Chinese Catholics will not hide the light of faith, pushing them to the compromise in the face of atheism. After all, we live in a faithless country where corrupt officials empty the poor people's purse without any shame. The preacher, who has been in Saudi Arabia with his family since last April, has rejected the accusations. Over the past six months, Rizieq has played a major role in Indonesian politics. He has organised many events against Ahok. Islamist rallies have generated strong religious, social, and political tensions. He still faces another six criminal proceedings. He could get up to six years in prison under the same law that his movement has promoted. Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Indonesian police have issued an arrest warrant for a controversial Islamic preacher on charges of pornography. Rizieq Shihab, leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), is accused of exchanging pornographic material online with a woman. The preacher, who has been in Saudi Arabia with his family since April, rejected the allegations. Despite police summons, Ruaryq has not yet returned to Indonesia. His lawyer however said that his visit abroad had nothing to do with his legal problems. Over the past six months, Rizieq has become an important figure in Indonesian politics. The movement he leads has organised many, often violent, demonstrations against Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, Jakarta`s former governor. Islamist rallies have generated strong religious, social, and political tensions which, according to some analysts, have led to Ahok`s conviction on 9 May in a controversial blasphemy trial in which Ahok received two years in prison. For months, Rizieq and the FPI have led a violent slander campaign against Purnama, a Christian and ethnic Chinese, calling on Jakarta voters not to vote for an "infidel" in a Muslim city. An FPI spokesman said the charges against Rizieq were "baseless" and "orchestrated to criminalise" the cleric. Rizieq's lawyer also claimed that the allegations were made up by Ahok's aupporters. Considered the face of the true Islam by his supporters and appreciated for his rhetoric, the cleric was imprisoned twice for violence and disturbing the public peace in 2003 and 2008. At present, Rizieq still faces six other legal proceedings Including one for violating one of the founding principles of the Indonesian state and its first president, and another for offending Catholicism. He expressed doubts about the divine nature of Jesus Christ, angering the Indonesian Catholic community. In his last trial, Rizieq is accused of violating Indonesia's strict anti-pornography law, by sending pornographic material to activist Firza Husein, who is also under investigation. Since the start of the year, images and texts of the conversation between them have been ciruclating, fuelling a nationwide scandal. Rizieq is the head of a movement that has engaged in a battle against sexual promiscuity, prostitution and alcohol in Indonesian society. The FPI was one of the leading Islamist groups in the campaign for anti-pornography legislation, the same for which its leader now could get up to six years in prison. The US's duplicitous policy with Iranian Shiite militias: allies in Iraq, enemies in Syria. The clashes between Shiite rebels and fighters are concentrated in the southeast of the country. The goal is to create a supply path connecting Syria and Iraq. Problems with the Middle East region and obstacles to the reform process undertaken in Tehran. Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The United States has sent a new arms supply to Syrian rebels in Syria fighting President Bashar al-Assad and Shiite militias supported by Iran. The same fighting groups, in Iraq, are instead a valuable ally in the struggle against the Islamic State (IS) and in the offensive in effect in Mosul, the stronghold of the "Caliphate." The clashes between rebels and Shiite militias are concentrated in the Southeast of Syria, as part of an ongoing campaign promoted by pro-Iranian forces. The goal of Shiite guerrillas is to create a supply route from Iraq to Syria. Last month's escalation of tension is concentrated in the Badia region, Southeast of Syria. The Damascus government forces, supported by Iraqi militias, have engaged in heavy battles against anti-Assad rebels. Overwhelmingly, there is evidence of the transfer of pro-Iranian militias from Mosul to the border, in order to continue the struggle against Isis in Syria. Washington's decision to provide new weapons and equipment to Sunni fighters is likely to worsen the relations with Baghdad, which counts on the presence of Shiite guerrillas to defeat the Islamic State (IS). Moreover, it is likely to have heavy reflections in Syrian territory, further exacerbating the situation. In his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, the first diplomatic mission abroad since his election, US President Donald Trump re-launched charges against Tehran, accusing Iran of "supporting, arming and training" terrorists and militias throughout the Middle East, but especially in Iraq and Syria. Middle East Policy Analysts and Experts point out that, more than Tehran, it is the United States and the Arab allies who are supporting further conflict. A group of scholars - an economist, a sociologist and a geographer - quoted by Le Monde recall the "proof of maturity" shown by the Iranians with the latest elections [and the reconfirmation of moderate Hassan Rouhani] and the "stability" pursued by his leadership. Scholars point out that Iran is not responsible for "Mosul and Raqqa's Occupation" or the September 11 attacks, or even attacks in Manchester or Charlie Hebdo just to name a few. And it is Iran, along with the Kurds, the only military force that has shown that it is capable of rejecting the offensive of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The policy promoted by the American president, experts conclude, in "conciliation" with Saudi Arabia and Israel, "will not be likely to result in an open war with Iran." However, it risks undermining the "peaceful dynamics" tevolving in the nation under Rouhani's moderation. Twenty-eight years after the bloody crackdown against the pro-democracy movement, many of its leading figures are still in jail or on trial, subjected to heavier penalties than other prisoners. For the authorities, they are "recidvists" with a political agenda. The list of activists targeted by Beijing follows. Beijing (AsiaNews/CHRD) Twenty-eight years after the Chinese governments bloody suppression of the pro-democracy movement in China, many participants in the 1989 protests are currently detained or imprisoned for continuing their advocacy for human rights, rule of law, and democratic reforms. These individuals played leadership roles or joined the protests in 1989 as young students, professors, journalists, writers, or factory workers. Some had served prison terms for their role in the movement and resumed their democracy and human rights activities after being released. Punishments for former 1989 participants are often harsher than for other prisoners, as authorities treat them as recidivists with political motivation to challenge the legitimacy of the one-party-ruled authoritarian state. The last known individual to have been imprisoned for participating in the Tiananmen protests, Miao Deshun (), is believed to have been released in October 2016, after he had been incarcerated for over 27 years. Although Miao should now be free, the government has not made public any information about him, as authorities continue to actively censor information about the events of 1989. Every year near the anniversary, the government takes numerous measures to prevent citizens from memorializing victims from June Fourth, either as individuals, online, in private groups, or in public expressions of grief. Around this time, Chinese police have commonly summoned many activists for questioning, forced them to travel, put them under house arrest, or administratively or criminally detained them. The governments policy of erasing the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests and the crackdown from textbooks and public discussions has led to an amnesia about that critical piece of Chinese history among younger generations today. Many of the former 1989 participants persecuted for their continued activism have strived, as part of their rights advocacy, to keep alive memories of victims, support the struggle of their families to seek justice, and demand the government investigate the massacre and compensate victims families. CHRD urges the Chinese government to: end its blockade on public discussions and commemoration of the victims of the Tiananmen Massacre; allow independent investigation and hold criminally accountable those responsible for the massacre; end its ongoing crackdown on civil society and human rights activism; and free human rights defenders from prison, detention, residential surveillance, or suspended sentence. CHRD has documented 22 cases involving 1989 protests leaders and participants, who are currently detained or imprisoned in China for post-Tiananmen rights activism: Serving prison sentences (16, in chronological order of imprisonment): - Jiangsu writer Yang Tongyan () has been serving a 12-year sentence since 2006 for his political activism. He was jailed for 10 years for participating in the 1989 movement. - China Democracy Party member Xie Changfa (), from Hunan, has been serving a 13-year sentence since 2009 for his work with that political party. He spent two years in a Re-education through Labor camp for supporting the 1989 movement. - Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo (), based in Beijing, has been serving an 11-year sentence since 2009 for his leading role in the Charter 08 campaign. A university lecturer in 1989, he was jailed for 18 months for taking part in the 1989 movement. - China Democracy Party member Liu Xianbin () of Sichuan has been serving a 10-year sentence since 2011 for his advocacy. He served 30 months in prison for participating in the 1989 movement. - Sichuan activist Chen Wei () has been serving a nine-year sentence since 2011 for his human rights activism. A student in 1989, Chen was imprisoned after June Fourth and released in 1991. - Guizhou-based activist Chen Xi () has been serving a 10-year sentence since 2011 for his human rights advocacy. He served a three-year sentence for participating in the 1989 movement. - Writer Zhu Yufu () of Hangzhou has been serving a seven-year sentence since 2012 for his democracy and human rights advocacy. He took part in the 1989 movement while working in Hangzhou. - Poet Li Bifeng () of Sichuan has been serving a 10-year sentence since 2012 for his activism. He served five years in prison for his role in the 1989 movement. - Xinjiang activist Zhao Haitong () has been serving a 14-year sentence since 2014 for his activities as a human rights defender. He was jailed in the aftermath of the 1989 massacre. - Guangdong activist Guo Feixiong () has been serving a six-year sentence since 2015 for his human rights activism. Guo took part in the 1989 movement as a student in Shanghai. - Buddhist monk Wu Zeheng () has been serving a life sentence since 2015 for the exercise of his freedom of religion. A student leader in 1989, Wu was convicted in Guangdong and now is reportedly serving his sentence in Xinjiang. - Activist Tang Jingling () of Guangdong has been serving a five-year sentence since 2016 for his activism. Tang participated in the 1989 movement as a student. - Buddhist monk Sheng Guan (, aka Xu Zhiqiang, ) has been serving a four-year sentence since 2016 for exercising his rights to free expression and assembly. Xu was jailed for a year for participating in the 1989 movement while studying in Xian. - China Democracy Party member Chen Shuqing () of Hangzhou has been serving a 10.5-year since 2016 for his pro-democracy advocacy. In 1989, Chen participated in the movement as a university student. - China Democracy Party member Lu Gengsong () has been serving an 11-year sentence since 2016 for his pro-democracy advocacy. Lu was a teacher in Hangzhou who was dismissed in 1993 for supporting the democracy movement. - Sichuan activist Chen Yunfei () has been serving a four-year sentence since 2017, in part for organizing a memorial to June Fourth victims. Chen participated in the 1989 movement as a student at the China Agricultural University in Beijing. Tried and awaiting verdict (1): - Guangzhou authorities tried activist Liu Shaoming () in April 2016 on charges of inciting subversion of state power for writing online articles about the 1989 movement. Liu was jailed for a year after taking part in the demonstrations in 1989. Pre-trial detention (2): - Chongqing authorities arrested activist Jiang Yefei () in May 2016 on suspicion of subversion of state power and organizing others to illegally cross borders after he was deported from Thailand in November 2015, and despite obtaining UN refugee status. He participated in the 1989 movement as a student. - Sichuan activist Chen Bing () was indicted in April 2017 along with three others on charges of inciting subversion of state power for helping to produce and promote wine bottles that alluded to remembering June Fourth. Chen was a student in Nanchong City, Sichuan and participated in the 1989 movement. He is the twin brother of Chen Wei (above). Convicted and serving time outside jail or suspended sentence (3): - Veteran journalist Gao Yu () is serving a five-year sentence outside of prison in Beijing after receiving medical parole in November 2015. She had originally received a seven-year sentence in April 2015 for advocating for press freedom. Gao joined the 1989 protests and wrote critical articles about the governments suppression, and was subsequently detained twice and served six years in prison. - Beijing-based human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang () received a three-year suspended sentence in December 2015 and was stripped of his law license as a result of his conviction. Under the terms of his sentence, he must submit to supervision, report his activities to police, and faces the possibility of being sent to prison. Pu was a student leader in 1989 and took part in the hunger strike in Tiananmen Square. - Beijing-based activist Zhai Yanmin () received a three-year suspended sentence in August 2016 in the 709 Crackdown on human rights lawyers and their supporters. He must wear an electronic tracking device and his freedom of movement and communications are severely restricted. He can be sent to prison if authorities deem that he has committed any criminal offenses during the period when his punishment is suspended. Zhai had participated in the 1989 movement as a student. Delhi, India has emerged the most sought-after destination among Canadian travellers in a new report that looks at travel habits across the country. That's according to global flight comparison site Cheapflights, which analyzed 11.5 million internal searches from six of Canada's biggest cities to find out where Canadians are travelling to most. After Delhi, London and Manila, Philippines round out the top three spots in the Compass Report for Canada. The report also breaks down the most searched destinations by region. In Toronto, for instance, Delhi and London take up to the top two spots, followed by New York. The most popular destinations out of Montreal, however, are Casablanca, Morocco, followed by Paris and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Meanwhile, analysts also looked at how Canadians are conducting their searches. And the results suggest that Canadian travellers seem to subscribe to the urban legend that Tuesdays are the best days to find travel deals, as the peak search time is from 8 pm to 9 pm on Tuesday nights. Likewise, 60 percent of searches are conducted on mobile devices. The report also identified the most affordable destinations for Canadian travelers. At the top spot is New York, where the average airfare is $348 followed by Boston ($375), and Washington DC ($424). The cheapest spot for sun-seekers headed to Florida is Fort Lauderdale, while the most affordable destination in South America is Lima, Peru. Asia is also becoming increasingly accessible and affordable, with flights to Beijing (average is $854) cheaper than Dublin and Amsterdam. And if you're looking for a European-style vacation with cobblestone streets and colonial sights, consider San Juan, Puerto Rico or Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, over Barcelona and Madid, and you'll save more than $400. Here are the most popular destinations for Canadian travellers, according to Cheapflights: 1. Delhi, India 2. London, UK 3. Manila, Philippines 4. Paris, France 5. Las Vegas, Nevada 6. New York, NY 7. Vancouver, BC 8. Toronto, ON 9. Bangkok, Thailand 10. Cancun, Mexico Guest Commentary By Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Recently, 11 communities across BC released their local living wage rates. A living wage is the hourly amount that two working parents with two young children must earn to meet their basic expenses. As expected, Metro Vancouver has the highest living wage rate of $20.62/hour, but the resort-based economies of the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Region and Revelstoke are not far behind at $20.11 and $18.77 respectively. The lowest living wage rates in BC are in Fraser Valley ($15.90), Comox Valley ($15.96) and the North Central Interior ($16.39). The Capital Region has a living wage rate of $20.11, while North-East BC ($18.29), Powell River ($16.75) and Kamloops ($16.90) fall in the middle of the range of living wages across the province. BC is a diverse province. Geographically we range from coast to mountains to desert to lush farm land. Our population diversity enriches us all. There are 198 distinct First Nations across BC, and almost a quarter of our population grows up in a home with a first language other than English or French. This diversity has deepened our understanding of human rights and created a rich tapestry of resilience. Across this diversity, community organizations involved in the calculation and release of local living wage rates are seeing a common and growing concern about affordability. Families are struggling with difficult conversations about which bills must be paid and which can be put off. Families working full-time, year round are making hard decisions about whether they will fill a prescription or put gas in the tank so they can get to work. We see these affordability decisions popping up in concrete ways. According to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, the lowest income 40% of families are more likely to be cell-phone-only households and no longer have land lines. Families are likely making this decision in order to eliminate an extra bill payment. For the first time this year the living wage family budget calculation includes two cell phones and no land line. The living wage calculation also includes internet access this year, as access to the internet is essential to functioning in todays society. One example is the requirement to access government services online because offices have been closed or reduced their hours across BC. The process of calculating regional living wages is a unique opportunity for community organizations across the province to participate in conversations about the issues they are hearing from the individuals they work with in their communities. These conversations often revolve around the highest expenses for families: housing and child care. Across BC families have difficulties finding affordable and transit-accessible housing. This difficulty increases as family size grows. The Lower Mainland often dominates the conversation around housing affordability, but this year, for the first time, Victoria has a higher median rent than Metro Vancouver. Revelstoke and the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Region have seen a reduction in available rental units as property owners are supplementing seasonal work by maximizing the income from secondary-suites through vacation rentals. This means families most impacted by low-wage work are struggling to even find units. Child care is a pressing issue across the province. In many communities the lack of child care spaces is partially due to child care workers low wages, despite having earned certification through multiple years of specialized education. Many workers leave the field because they just cannot earn enough to support their own families. The question we need to be asking BC political parties is how they plan to address our common struggles with affordability while recognizing the unique nature of communities and regions. One clear solution is a commitment by the next provincial government to play a leadership role in reducing poverty by ensuring the thousands of direct and contracted government staff are earning a living wage. This should be a central pillar of the urgently needed comprehensive poverty reduction strategy for BC. App for testing whether fruit is ripe developed Posted by AFN Staff Writers on 31st May 2017 An Israeli start-up has developed an app which takes all the guess work out of deciding whether a piece of fruit is ripe or not. Created by Aclar Tech, the AclaroMeter uses an app and sensor to analyse the ripeness and freshness of fruit. Users just need to scan the fruit with their phones camera and a purchased sensor. Data on the fruits acidity, firmness, weight, colour and size will then be analysed against prior fruit samples to determine what life stage the produce is at. The developers behind the app say it is ideal for farmers and can stop fruit going to waste. It also takes away the hard guesswork required in deciding whether fruit is ripe to pick or not. According to Start-Up Israel, Aclar Tech is still testing the app but British supermarket chain Tesco has expressed interest in the technology. Related articles Bundaberg Rum Distillery named Worlds Best Retail Experience Posted by Andrea Hogan on 31st May 2017 The Bundaberg Rum Distillery has been named the Worlds Best Retail experience at the Drinks International Distillery Challenge Awards. The distillery has also been awarded the Worlds Best Educational Experience. Bundaberg Rums distillery, located in Queensland, was commended for its newly-installed retail operation and its customer education program. The distillery offers two different tours on Bundaberg Rums 128-year-old history. Customers can also visit a museum, blend their own rum and purchase exclusive products. Duncan Littler, Senior Brand Manager at Bundaberg Rum, said the distillery is an Australian icon unlike any other. There is more to the distillery than just producing award winning rum, Little said. The team here have worked tirelessly to provide [an] unforgettable and one of a kind distillery experience and its great to see that their work is being recognised on a global scale. The distillery is open to the public Monday Friday 10am 5pm and 10am 4pm Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Related articles Costa and SA government invest in mushrooms Posted by Andrea Hogan on 31st May 2017 Fresh produce producer Costa has announced a $60 million expansion for its mushroom production facility in Monarto, South Australia. The expansion will be supported by the South Australian state government which has given Coata a $1.8 million grant. It is expected that the expansion of the facility will create 200 new jobs and double the sites production from 120 tonnes of mushrooms per week to 240 tonnes. Construction is expected to start later in 2017 and the facility will be operational in 2018. South Australian Premier, Jay Weatherill, said the expansion was another welcome investment. This expansion means South Australia [will] have the largest and most technologically-advanced mushroom production facility in Australia and supports our push to create the industries and jobs of the future, he said. Chief Executive Officer of Coasta, Harry Debney, said it was pleasing to see the government take an active interest in growing the food sector in regional areas. The Monarto site is our most modern facility and its central location relative to our network of farms means we can not only supply the local South Australian market with quality mushrooms but all other states within one to two days of ship, he said. The expansion was facilitated by Investment Attraction South Australia, a SA government body which encourages and supports business investment in South Australia. Related articles Photo of Jeep Compass courtesy of FCA. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling 1,178 2017-model year Jeep Compass SUVs equipped with a six-speed transmission because the left front halfshaft may not be properly seated, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As a result of this condition, the left front halfshaft may disengage from the transmission, break or both, the safety agency reported. If the left front halfshaft disengages or breaks, the vehicle will have a loss of drive, NHTSA warned on its website. Additionally, if the vehicle is parked without using the parking brake, the vehicle may roll, despite being in 'Park.' Either condition may increase the risk of a crash. Jeep dealers will inspect the left front halfshaft and replace it if its not properly engaged in the transmission, NHTSA said. There will be no charge for this service. The recall is expected to begin on June 23. Vehicle owners can reach FCA customer service at (800) 853-1403. FCAs number for this recall is T26. Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Eastern Oklahoma has sent a letter to the attorney generals of four states California, Florida, New Jersey, and Oklahoma informing them of the marketplace conduct and complaint history of Payless Car Rental of Tulsa, a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. In the past three years, over 830 complaints have been filed with BBB against Payless Car Rental; all were handled by the BBB serving Eastern Oklahoma as the designated corporate customer service location for the company. A review of these complaints and allegations indicated a pattern of complaints in three major areas: sales practices, billing and collection, and contracts, according to BBB. More than 10% of the complaints were from consumers in California and Florida. BBB has attempted to address the pattern of complaints with Payless on several occasions over the past three years, said Amie Mitchell, president and CEO of BBB Tulsa. The most recent attempt was on March 29, 2017, in a letter sent by certified mail. The business failed to respond. Because consumers are still coming to us with the same complaints, week after week, we felt we had no choice but to turn this matter over to law enforcement. As part of its vision of an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other, BBB sets standards for marketplace trust, encourages best practices, educates consumers, celebrates marketplace role models, and addresses substandard marketplace behavior. To address substandard marketplace behavior, BBB investigates concerns, publicizes the results, and, when necessary, refers cases to federal, state, and provincial agencies for further action. For the sixth month in a row and the ninth of the last 12 months, the weekly rate quote average was down. In May, it was down $1.44. Year-over-year, the Northeast and Midwest were up $8.39 and $6.16, respectively, but the other three regions were down led by the Northwest down $9.18. Average rate quotes were up only three of the last 12 months, but two of those three months were strong enough that the 12-month average decline was only $1.06. When looking at cities, Boston had the highest average rate quote at $94.13 the highest rate since June 2015. Las Vegas had the lowest rate at $29. With the help of Jim Tennant of The Tennant Group and Michael Meyer of Rate-Highway Inc., we are conducting rate surveys on a weekly basis and providing analysis and comments where appropriate. We publish this monthly recap in our electronic edition and more comprehensive looks in the print editions. Rates are a monthly average of weekly surveys of aggregator/OTA rates for all vendors present in the markets listed on the date of the survey. These regional tables and graph show the average of all base rate quotes per day for an ICAR at the 50 largest U.S. airports weighted by deplanements, for arrivals 15 to 21 days ahead of the date of the survey, for two- and seven-day rentals. The Tennant Group and Rate Highway offer a weekly Rate Subscription Service to those interested in following vehicle rental industry rates more closely. Contact Jim Tennant (707-287-1311) or go to www.TennantGroup.com for details. Lexus axed its CT200h and it won't be in the U.S. market by 2018. The entry-level hybrid model, introduced in 2010 as a hatchback, continued to drop in sales as consumers can't seem to learn to love the car. Lexus fans kept complaining and were unsatisfied with the CT200h, as per Carbuzz. Sales in 2016 netted just 8, 8903 units when the company's goal was to have 18,000 units sold annually. The Lexus CT200h also paled in comparison to other entry-level cars like the Mercedes-Benz CLA-class and the Audi A3, which last year sold 25,792 and 31,538 respectively, Car and Drive reported. The vehicle shared a drivetrain with the Prius and was supposed to be the fancier hybrid version yet its overall specs, form and design lagged behind. It had a 42-mpg EPA fuel economy rating while the Prius was at 52-mpg as a newer but cheaper model. The Lexus CT200h arrived on the market for $31,000 and made its debut at the New York Auto Show. Fitted with a 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine, the hybrid also had a small electric motor that produced a maximum output of 134 horsepower at 40 mpg on the highway. It was designed to appeal to European consumers living in America but it's been more sellable among Asian consumers, in particular, families with school kids. The Lexus CT200h might be out of the U.S. in 2018 but it will remain in other markets, according to Carscoops. In its place, consumers in America will find the Lexus NX crossover as a better replacement. Lexus is also planning to introduce a subcompact crossover named UX soon. Unsold units in the U.S. market have been heavily discounted for $20,000 as it's going out of production, as per Jalopnik. Some dealers even offer a more affordable lease program and a Lexus CPO unlimited mile warranty. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A gunman is in custody after a crisis situation lasting several hours at Orlando International Airport. Incident in the rental car section, Orlando International Airport, Terminal A Airport spokesperson: Suspect threatened to do harm to himself, others Police contained the suspect, crisis negotiators talked to him Suspect now in custody, according to Orlando police FHP: All roads in the area are now back open Orlando police identified the man as Michael Pettigrew, 26. Officers responded to a call about a weapon in the Terminal A rental car area at the airport around 7:30 p.m. Police Chief John Mina says the officers realized Pettigrew was mentally distressed when they arrived when he pointed a gun at the officers and said "shoot me, shoot me!" The suspect pointed the gun at officers and said "shoot me, shoot me!" said @ChiefJohnMina. This is the gun he pointed at police. pic.twitter.com/nFFmi6sDXp Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) May 31, 2017 Police immediately contained the area and a crisis negotiator was brought in, who spent several hours talking to Pettigrew, eventually getting him to allow them to take him into custody under the Baker Act. "I think when the officers got there they realized this was a person who was in mental distress and basically wanted to do the whole 'suicide by cop' thing," Mina said. "So in cases like this we are going to try to peacefully negotiate with him. All of the passengers and people had been evacuated from the area, it was contained, there was no rush to try and arrest the suspect and cause a deadly force situation." Once police had him, they said they realized his gun was not a real gun, although it looked real. While police negotiated with Pettigrew, airport operations were able to continue on the Terminal B side of the airport. There were delays on the Terminal A side. Pettigrew was a former member of the military, having been with the Marines from 2009 to 2012, Mina said. Pettigrew is facing one count of aggravated assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer. LATEST UPDATES 10:23 p.m. From Florida Highway Patrol: Agencies involved are working to reopen traffic and clear congestion. We appreciate everyone's understanding and patience. This takes time. FHP Orlando (@FhpOrlando) May 31, 2017 10:08 p.m. From Orlando Police: UPDATE: Gunman is in custody. Everyone is safe. Will brief as soon as possible in the media staging area. pic.twitter.com/8sNZ3Vjmv7 Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) May 31, 2017 10:04 p.m. According to FHP, there are still some roads closed around the airport. Continue to avoid the area. 9:43 p.m. Florida Highway Patrol says roads around the airport remain shut down and are urging people to avoid the OIA area. Also, from Orlando International Airport: With ongoing events, FAA has placed a Traffic Management Program in effect for arriving flights. Arrivals may be delayed at departure point. Orlando Intl Airport (@MCO) May 31, 2017 9:28 p.m. From Orlando Police: UPDATE: Armed suspect is contained but not in custody. Suspect is speaking with a crisis negotiator. Please report only confirmed info. Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) May 31, 2017 9:20 p.m. Entrances to the airport are open, according to the airport's Twitter account. However, traffic around the airport is congested. FHP closed the roads leading to the airport, but have not said when the roads will reopen. Contact your airline to find out the status of a flight. 9:07 p.m. There are several erroneous reports on social media right now. Orlando police is making it clear this is NOT an active shooter situation and no shots have been fired. No reports of anyone hurt. 8:50 p.m. Orlando police are reiterating that the suspect has NOT been arrested. There may be some confusion because initial updates says the suspect is contained. Police say the man with the weapon has been contained to the rental car area, but he has not been arrested yet. Location of the incident The incident was located in the rental car pickup area of Terminal A. Terminal A services the following airlines: Frontier Azul AeroMexico Aer Lingus Air Berlin WestJet Eastern Norwegian Sunwing MagniCharters Miami Air Virgin America Emirates Avianca Alaska Copa JetBlue Air Transat Virgin Atlantic Southwest This is a developing story. Check back for the latest. The Florida Society of Ambulatory Surgical Centers and two Hospital Corporation of America affiliates Brooksville, Fla.-based Oak Hill Hospital and Parallon Business Performance Group filed challenges against the state Division of Workers' Compensation's recent proposal, according to News 4 Jax. Here are five key points: 1. ASCs and health plans are currently able to file a dispute on payment with the Division of Workers' Compensation. However, the new proposal would require the parties to resolve the issue with "independent action." 2. The Florida Society of Ambulatory Surgical Centers and HCA affiliates say the division does not have the authority to change the dispute process based on current law. In its challenge, the Florida Society of Ambulatory Surgical Centers said current law does not allow for healthcare providers and an insurance company to resolve their disputes in an "independent application" as the fact that the parties filed a reimbursement dispute indicates the two entities could not reach an agreement without the division. 3. Specifically, the proposal's opponents contest the provision that says the division would not need to provide findings about whether insurers improperly disallowed or need to adjust payments in situations where providers or payers claim contracts or managed care arrangements determine the reimbursement total. 4. The proposed rule would allow the division to issue the reimbursement amount based on "appropriate reimbursement schedules, practice parameters and protocols of treatment under (a chapter of state law) to assist the healthcare provider and the carrier in the independent application of the provisions of the contract or the workers' compensation managed care arrangement to resolve the dispute," according to News 4 Jax. 5. Case hearings are scheduled in late June with Administrative Law Judge D. R. Alexander. St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is no longer in UnitedHealthcare's network following the hospital's request for a 35 percent reimbursement hike, according to a Tampa Bay Times report. A contract between the hospital and the payer terminated May 11. As a result, All Children's said more than 10,000 pediatric patients will have to pay out-of-network rates for hospital services. This is the first contract renegotiation in five years between the organizations. All Children's originally requested a 60 percent increase in reimbursement from the payer, citing rising healthcare expenses. The hospital later lowered that request to 35 percent, but Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare only agreed to a 20 percent hike, the report states. Jonathan Ellen, MD, president and vice dean of All Children's, told Tampa Bay Times, "United has lagged way behind the market in terms of the amount they reimburse us for taking care of their children." In a statement to the publication, UnitedHealthcare said it pays All Children's "competitive rates that are in line with other specialty hospitals in the St. Petersburg area." The payer added the hospital continues "to turn down our offers, insist on a 35 percent raise, and are deferring to an out-of-state consultant to manage the negotiation rather than working directly with our local team to reach a quick resolution." Daniel Snyder, CEO of Shreveport, La.-based University Health System, stunned senators Friday when he brought a check for $6.2 million to a budget hearing to pay debts owed to Baton Rouge-based Louisiana State University. Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana in Shreveport operates University Health System's hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe, La. Under a state contract, LSU physicians and students provide services at the two hospitals and University Health System is required to pay LSU for those services. However, the system has fallen behind on its payments. During the budget hearing Friday, LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport Chancellor G.E. Ghali, DDS, MD, told senators University Health System owes $12 million for services provided by LSU physicians. When senators questioned Mr. Snyder about the debt, he said the bills had not been paid because the invoices sent by LSU didn't have sufficient supporting documentation, including details regarding the physician services provided. After additional questioning regarding the unpaid debts, Mr. Snyder surprised senators when he pulled out a check for $6.2 million from his coat pocket to present to Dr. Ghali. Finance Chairman Sen. Eric LaFleur said he had never seen anything like this occur during a budget hearing. "If this is how you conduct business, the future doesn't seem to be too bright," he told Mr. Snyder during the hearing. Dr. Ghali said he would work to get Mr. Snyder additional documentation, but he noted the additional details are not required under the contract between the parties. More articles on healthcare finance: Trump's $4.1 trillion budget: 9 healthcare takeaways CMS further delays major bundled payment initiatives: 4 things to know Austin hospital closes after 133 years; relocates services 2017 has not been like any other year for hospital and health system executives. Leaders are already tasked with defining clear priorities for their organizations and teams, and now they must do so amid major uncertainty and potential regulatory change. Becker's Hospital Review connected with thought leaders at Chicago-based Prism Healthcare Partners on the most pressing issues for hospital and health system executives to address in 2017. Prisms experts shared their recommendations for leaders in nine key focus areas. This article is part of a series. Click here to view the article on revenue cycle and clinical documentation improvement, here to view the article on supply chain and asset relifing, and here to view the article on physician operations and clinical performance. Labor optimization A merger or acquisition may make great sense on paper, but hospitals often encounter difficulty in realizing the economic benefits of the deal. Although there is a high level of consolidation in healthcare, the inability to execute workforce or expense reductions remains equally steady. Brad Fetters, Chief Operating Officer of Prism Healthcare Partners, recommends hospital and health system CEOs push to finally realize the labor and expense economies of scale that were expected. Also important is the continual discipline and accountability to drive performance and labor productivity improvements. Fetters notes healthcare executives will also benefit from asking more questions about how their organization's time and money are spent. Many hospitals and health systems have dozens of internal initiatives in the works at any given time, yet these efforts are rarely prioritized from an organization-wide perspective, nor is the ROI from each initiative well understood. Fetters advises CEOs should demand rationalization for each one, then prioritize the key initiatives over a dozen diluted ones that eat up time, labor and dollars. Human resources In the shift to pay-for-performance, it is essential to reinforce a performance-based culture within the hospital that incentivizes improvement and allows organizations to attract and reward top performers, suggests Neil Faux, SPHR, SWP, Managing Director with Prism. Compensation and benefits drive culture, and there are specific areas where hospital leaders should focus their efforts in 2017. First, Faux says leaders must know their market. Hospitals no longer only compete with other hospitals. The move to outpatient and retail healthcare has changed the labor market dramatically. Combined with a tumultuous regulatory environment where minimum wage and overtime rules are changing, it is urgent for HR departments to redefine the labor market where they compete and enhance compensation strategies to attract and reward the talent required to deliver quality patient care. As care delivery evolves, so does what hospitals ask their employees to perform. Outdated and inaccurate job descriptions are a common challenge for organizations, especially on the heels of reorganizations and mergers. Inaccurate job descriptions make it difficult for HR departments to ensure an accurate benchmark comparison when performing market reviews. Faux recommends hospitals revise job descriptions to reflect actual roles and responsibilities as well as ensure a more accurate comparison to market sources, which is the cornerstone of any competitive compensation program. Lastly, Faux advises market adjustments are vital to ensuring an organization is market-competitive. There are a variety of methods on how to calculate these adjustments. In many cases, market adjustments become an entitlement to employees and can overshadow merit increases. Organizations must understand the role of market and merit strategies to ensure both are aligned and supportive of the broader compensation strategy. Doing so can help increase the annual merit payout without increasing the overall compensation budget. Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health CNO Lanie Ward, RN, on Tuesday sent a memo to nurses in an attempt to stymie possible efforts to unionize, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Ms. Ward sent the memo, titled "Rumor Control," to registered nurses at Summa Health's Akron City, Barberton St. Thomas and Wadsworth Rittman hospitals and satellite emergency rooms after hearing rumors that a "small group of Akron City nurses, primarily from the emergency department," have been in talks with a statewide nurse's union. The memo includes a description of the hospital's position against nursing unions, as well as potential repercussions for the individuals who join unions, according to the report. "Although Summa recognizes the right of nurses to choose to be represented by a union, or to choose to not be represented by a union, we believe it is in the best interests of our nurses and our organization for our nurses to remain union free," Ms. Ward wrote in the memo. Summa Health's nearly 1,800 registered nurses could be affected by a unionizing effort. David Liu, co-chair of the Ohio Nurses Association's bargaining unit at Cleveland Clinic Akron Hospital, said no nurses from Summa Health have contacted him about forming a union, but he "would love to have them with us," according to the report. At the beginning of 2017, turmoil arose at Summa following the abrupt switch of Summa's ED physician group. The change prompted a vote of no confidence in the health system's leadership and ultimately led to the resignation of president and CEO Thomas Malone, MD. Following the switch, nine Summa ER nurses told the Akron Beacon Journal they believed physicians from the new ER group put patients' lives in danger. In early February, the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education placed the health system's emergency medicine residency program on probation and rescinded its accreditation after the health system lost its appeal in March. Ms. Ward acknowledged the tension that has persisted since the New Year, but urged the nurses to continue to work with the health system to mollify its concerns. "I understand that our organization, and in particular our nurses, have faced many challenges recently," she wrote, according to the report. "However, I believe we have all worked together to successfully meet those challenges and will continue to do so in the future. It is critical that we be able to effectively work together to address those issues without the intervention of a union." The memo also described possible drawbacks of joining a union. Ms. Ward wrote, "[M]any promises are made, such as better pay, better benefits and better working conditions. However, a union cannot guarantee that it will be able to obtain any of those things... pay, benefits and working conditions can remain unchanged, increase, or even decrease." She added that unions' tendency to strike during negotiations can be harmful to patients and nurses' jobs. "Patient care is disrupted, relationships between employees are often harmed, and striking employees not only lose pay and benefits, but they also risk being permanently replaced," she wrote, according to the report. "Strikes are generally very harmful to both the employees and the organization." A former Texas nurse was indicted May 25 for the death of a baby in 1981. Prosecutors speculate that the nurse, who was convicted and sentenced to prison for the 1982 death of another toddler, may have been involved in the deaths of up to 60 additional children during the 1980s, according to an Associated Press reported published by the Chicago Tribune. A San Antonio grand jury indicted Genene Jones for the 1981 murder of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer, Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood said during a press conference Thursday, according to the report. The court placed Ms. Jones' bond at $1 million. A blood sample taken shortly before the child's death in 1981 revealed he had a "toxic level" of Dilantin, an anti-seizure drug, in his system, according to the report. Ms. Jones, now 66, is currently serving concurrent 99-year and 60-year sentences for the death of 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan in 1982, and for injuring a four-week-old boy around the same time, according to the Associated Press. Ms. Jones was supposed to give the baby girl routine shots, but laboratory testing confirmed the baby girl had instead been injected with succinylcholine, a muscle relaxant, according to a ProPublica report. Investigators think that Ms. Jones may have been involved in the deaths of up to 60 additional children because "they died under unusual circumstances during or shortly after her shifts," at various health facilities in Texas, according to the Associated Press. Ms. Jones was scheduled to be released in March 2018 under a state mandatory release law that was in effect when she was convicted in 1982. Mr. LaHood said during the press conference that Ms. Jones will not be eligible for the death penalty if she is convicted of killing Joshua Sawyer because the death penalty did not exist in Texas in 1981, according to the Associated Press. To read the full ProPublica report, click here. To read the full Associated Press report, click here. Starting next month, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia will no longer cover emergency department services it determines are unnecessary for members with individual plans. The insurer said the policy aims to steer patients with nonemergent symptoms to see a primary care physician, urgent care provider or use its LiveHealth telehealth app to limit costly ED visits. If a BCBS of Georgia policyholder receives care for nonemergent symptoms, a medical director will use the prudent layperson standard to deem whether the service is necessary. Jeff Fusile, president of BCBS of Georgia, told WABE, "The cost of care's been going up so much faster than people's earnings. We have got to find a better way to do some of this stuff, taking some of that unnecessary spending out of the system." The policy does not include referrals from a physician to the ED for nonemergent services, nonemergent services provided to children under age 14, instances when an urgent care clinic is more than 15 miles away and when care is administered on Sundays and major holidays. "We're not trying to steer people away from the emergency room if they have a serious condition," Debbie Diamond, director of publications for BCBS of Georgia, told Becker's Hospital Review. "If a member is having chest pain that they think is a heart attack, they should still go to the emergency department." Ms. Diamond said similar policies have been enacted at Anthem-affiliated plans in Missouri and Kentucky. Missouri said it would reinforce the program June 1 and Kentucky enacted the policy in 2015. Donald Palmisano, president of the Medical Association of Georgia, told WABE the policy disproportionately affects the elderly, rural residents and children over the age of 14. He added physicians are concerned the policy places "the patient, who doesn't have the clinical background, to determine whether their condition is of an emergency nature." Editor's note: This article was updated June 1, 2017, at 2:44 p.m. to reflect Anthem plans in Virginia don't have a similar policy. We regret this error. Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is looking to divest its generic drug business, unnamed sources told Reuters. Here are four things to know. Mallinckrodt hired investment bank Credit Suisse Group to launch a sales process for the generic drug unit, sources told Reuters Tuesday. The sources who note the sales talks do not guarantee a divestiture said a deal could be worth up to $2 billion, according to the report. The deal would align with Mallinckrodt's efforts to shift focus away from generics to its portfolio of branded specialty drugs, which generate the majority of its revenues, reports Reuters. Mallinckrodt and Credit Suisse declined Reuters' request for comment. More articles on supply chain: Pharma spent $78M on lobbying so far this year: 4 statistics Dr. Scott Gottlieb talks drug price strategies, FDA hiring freeze: 4 takeaways Sawai Pharma to acquire Upsher-Smith's generic drug unit for $1B Fifth Rockabilly On The Route PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Features of Lisburn & Castlereagh include new housing such as Magheralave Meadows in Lisburn It's home to diverse attractions from Dundonald Ice Bowl to Hillsborough Castle and retail destinations from Forestside shopping centre to farmers' markets. Now Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council area has a new boast after Barclays Bank named it the province's top property investment spot. It predicts house price growth of 16% - with the average reaching around 170,000 - over the next five years. It's already the most expensive council area to buy a house, with the Northern Ireland property price index giving it a standardised price tag of 146,662 - compared to the lowest prices of around 109,411 in Londonderry City and Strabane. The council area extends from the south east Belfast districts of Four Winds and Newtownbreda to Carryduff, Hillsborough and Lisburn. And Ulster University economic policy centre senior economist Esmond Birnie said the appeal of Lisburn and Castlereagh rested on its location. "It has the advantage of being in the greater Belfast metropolitan area economy without any of the disadvantages of being within the traditional city limits," he said. "And because price levels generally start from a lower level than a location like north Down, prices in the area have more scope to grow." Barclays' UK Property Predictor draws on factors including rental trends and employment patterns as well as the current market to create an index of property hotspots. It said the predicted growth is partly due to forecast population expansion of 4.8% by 2021. According to Land and Property Services' latest index, the standardised house price in the area of 146,662 for the first quarter of 2017 was up 3% on the year before. Uel Mackin, a Lisburn and Castlereagh councillor and chairman of its development committee, said the Barclays research was "excellent news". "We are fortunate to have a mix of urban and rural lifestyle combining city life with the charm of our villages and being positioned along the Belfast to Dublin economic corridor we are perfectly placed for both business and travel," he said. "Commuters spend less time in traffic and no doubt this has a knock-on effect on health and wellbeing. "Home to many of Northern Ireland's top tourist and leisure facilities, such as Dundonald Ice Bowl, Lagan Valley LeisurePlex and Hillsborough Castle - the only Historic Royal Palace located outside of London - Lisburn and Castlereagh is also a desirable place to visit for all ages. "There is a strong sense of community and the people and businesses are extremely proud of Lisburn and Castlereagh." In Newtownbreda, monthly farmers' market Inns Market has been running for three years. Joanne McErlain of marketing firm We Are Babble said: "When we started Inns Market almost three years ago, there really wasn't very much in the Newtownbreda area that was community spirited and which catered to the leisure time aspirations of its population. "Farmers' markets were not really en vogue in Northern Ireland, even three years ago, but there were plenty of other examples in our neighbouring jurisdictions of the positive impact they have on local communities and the local economy. "We made a firm decision to support primary and artisan producers, with provenance at the heart of the ethos of Inns Market. In the three years since we started, it has become part of the fabric of Newtownbreda." "Inns Market is an independently funded initiative but we are delighted that Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council has supported us." New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is to receive an honorary degree from Ulster University for his work to promote US investment in Northern Ireland. Mr DiNapoli, whose fund has boosted many company investments here, is one of many business figures who will feature in the summer graduations. The Democrat has managed New York State's $184.5bn pension fund - he is responsible for the pensions of one million employees and retired people - since 2007. And according to the website of the Office of the New York State Comptroller, he has "aggressively fought misuse of public resources, strengthened one of the nation's top public pension funds and consistently spoken out against fiscal gimmicks, imprudent actions and government inefficiency". His office last year announced that its New York State Common Retirement Fund is investing $7m in Northern Ireland SMEs through the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund. It's also committed $21m to two funds managed by venture capital firm Crescent Capital, $6m in 2005 and a further $15m to Crescent III in 2013. Meanwhile, civil engineer David Orr, a former permanent secretary at the Department for Regional Development, will receive an honorary degree for services to engineering. Mr Orr is the chairman of the independent assurance panel for procurement for high-speed London to Manchester rail link HS2. Wendy Blundell, a director at the Institution of Civil Engineering, will also be recognised for services to engineering, including inspiring women to get into the profession. And Peter Sachs will be honoured for his contribution to teaching and research in digital electronics. Ulster University Vice-Chancellor Professor Paddy Nixon said: "Each of these recipients has made an indelible mark in their field, advancing knowledge, building community, achieving excellence and above all acting as inspirational role models for us all." Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to expand the number of direct flights from Belfast to Orlando Virgin Atlantic says it is trebling the number of seats on its seasonal Belfast to Orlando route. The airline flies direct from Belfast International Airport to Florida, from March to September. Next summer, it will fly out of Northern Ireland on Mondays, running from March 26 to September 4. And it's also adding additional flights on Friday during June and July. Uel Hoey, business development director at Belfast International Airport, said: We are thrilled to announce this extensive growth in Virgins Florida programme from Belfast for Summer 2018, the only direct flights offering the iconic Virgin product from the island of Ireland. We are also pleased that Virgin, in partnership with Delta, have grasped the clear opportunity to capitalise upon the strong established family market from Northern Ireland to Florida recently abandoned by United Airlines. We are confident that good value in the exchange rate and the convenience and uncongested experience of using Belfast International Airport as a departure point will prove increasingly popular next year for passengers right across the north of the island of Ireland. And Richard Myerscough, senior vice president of sales and distribution at Virgin Atlantic, said: Since launching our first flight from Northern Ireland two years ago our services have gone from strength to strength so Im really pleased to announce that 2018 will be our biggest ever season from Belfast International Airport. "Weve always received a really warmwelcome from Northern Ireland, and the additional flights will allow even more customers to fly direct to the sunshine state with Virgin Atlantic. Tesco faces an investigation into its 3.7bn deal to merge with food wholesaler Booker The UK's competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Tesco's 3.7bn deal to merge with food wholesaler Booker. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the initial probe will last until July 25 and will discover whether the tie-up will curb choice for customers. Britain's biggest supermarket has faced criticism from investors over the move, with some shareholders branding the takeover tilt a "distraction" and urging the Big Four grocer to scrap it. In a statement, the CMA said it will "assess whether the deal could reduce competition and choice for shoppers and other customers, such as stores currently supplied by Booker". The watchdog said the deal may face a further investigation, which could last 24 weeks, if it fails to win clearance during the first phase. Tesco announced the deal in January this year, saying it would create "the UK's leading food business" and deliver significant cost savings for the combined group. The amazing coincidence that sparked Susie Cunningham's interest in writing a biography of her influential great-grandfather, who was a prominent civic and political leader in Northern Ireland during the wars and who was dubbed "Belfast's Dick Whittington", is worthy of a chapter all of its own. For it was that one-in-a-million happenstance that convinced her to press ahead with the fascinating life story of Sir Crawford McCullagh, a former Belfast Lord Mayor and the man who came up with the idea of a silent tribute to honour the war dead. Susie had only the scantest knowledge of her ancestor's background, but it was when she and her husband Alan bought a new house in Comber that fate took a hand and presented her with a serendipitous sign that she should definitely write her book. Susie says: "After we fell in love with the house, the vendors asked if we would be interested in having a large collection of books which they'd acquired. And we said yes, because they were so lovely to look at." What Susie didn't initially realise was that the books had belonged to Sir Crawford before her father - who had inherited them - sold them at auction. She says: "I didn't know anything about the books and I couldn't believe it when it emerged that they were actually from a private collection linked to my own family. I even stumbled on my great-grandmother's Bible and prayer book from Helen's Bay Presbyterian Church." The find kickstarted Susie's voyage of discovery in 1997, but three years later there was another stroke of good fortune when she received a call from a woman in Canada who had papers and Press clippings about Sir Crawford. Susie says: "She told me she was coming over to Ireland and that I could have all the material if I wanted it. It turned out that the woman was a relative of ours." In among the diaries and letters she handed on to Susie was an old manuscript from Belfast journalist Alfred S Moore for a book about Sir Crawford, who never gave his approval for its publication. The manuscript was a godsend for Susie, who'd been disheartened to learn that many more of McCullagh's personal documents had been burned in a fire. Expand Close Crawford McCullagh at his Lismara home, where he entertained dignitaries such as General Dwight D Eisenhower / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Crawford McCullagh at his Lismara home, where he entertained dignitaries such as General Dwight D Eisenhower So, Moore's musings proved to be a crucial research tool when Susie was piecing together the story of Sir Crawford, who's still acknowledged as the longest-serving Lord Mayor in the UK, having been in office for no fewer than three different terms, spanning 17 years and guiding Belfast through two World Wars. McCullagh, who was a front-row eyewitness to earlier history in Belfast, too, was present for the launch of the ill-fated Titanic in May 1911 and for the signing of the Ulster Covenant at the City Hall in September 1912, as well as Edward Carson's anti-Home Rule rallies. It was during the Great War that McCullagh advocated a five-minute silence in honour of the thousands of soldiers who died at the Somme in 1916, and his tribute was later adapted to a two-minute silence, which is still a potent symbol of respect for the fallen worldwide. In Belfast's City Hall two large stained-glass windows, which depict Sir Crawford and his wife Lady Margaret, were commissioned in recognition of his public service and for his development of the commercial centre of the city before he died in 1948 at the age of 79. His drive and vision are also credited with pioneering many familiar landmarks including the development of the zoo at Bellevue and the Floral Hall after he'd negotiated the donation of Belfast Castle and its 200-acre demesne to the city from Lord Shaftesbury. Unlike many other unionist politicians, McCullagh had turned his back on a prosperous lifestyle with a family who were farmers and ran away at the age of 14 to work in Belfast as an apprentice in the Bank Buildings. Susie says that to supplement his meagre earnings in the city, McCullagh became a paper boy selling copies of the Belfast Telegraph from a pitch in Castle Place. However, she says his work ethic and his initiative caught the eye of a mentor, William Gibson, who offered McCullagh the chance to run his own drapery business. Big oaks were to grow from the tiny acorns, as McCullagh became the director and owner of several major concerns and built Castle Buildings in the city centre before going to Toronto, where he forged a relationship with Ballymena exile Timothy Eaton, the owner of Canada's biggest independent department store. Back in Belfast politics beckoned for McCullagh, who was elected first as a representative on Belfast Corporation and then as a unionist MP. He went on to serve as High Sheriff as well as Lord Mayor, and was knighted in 1915. Expand Close Sir Crawford McCullagh bestows the Freedom of Belfast on war hero Field Marshal Montgomery / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sir Crawford McCullagh bestows the Freedom of Belfast on war hero Field Marshal Montgomery As she dug deeper and deeper into McCullagh's story, however, Susie became increasingly concerned at the way he'd been either forgotten or subjected to derogatory assessments of his life and work. Records show that Sir Crawford came in for strong criticism after scandals involving housing and health issues, but they didn't hold his career back, according to Susie, who says: "Because he was in the City Hall for such a long, long time and because he was the chairman of virtually every committee on the Corporation and public bodies, he took a lot of the flak for a number of controversies. "But it seems to me that a lot of the criticism was unfair. After all, he became a Privy Councillor, and that wouldn't have happened if there'd been anything at all untoward. "I've read a number of pieces about Sir Crawford which said he was a whistleblower about the corruption that was rife in the City Hall." But Susie says her book is more about the man than the myths, adding: "It really centres on the times my great-grandfather lived in and his fascinating rise from nothing to a lofty position where he entertained the great and the good at the City Hall, including King George VI and his wife and their daughter, the future Queen, in 1945. "That was the same year that General Dwight D Eisenhower visited the McCullagh family home at Lismara - now the Abbeydene Guest House at Newtownabbey." Expand Close McCullough welcoming the royals on a visit to Belfast / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp McCullough welcoming the royals on a visit to Belfast Other photographs in Susie's book show Sir Crawford bestowing the Freedom of Belfast on Field Marshal Montgomery and presenting Victoria Cross winner, Able Seaman James Maginnis, with a cheque in recognition of his gallantry. Susie says Sir Crawford's legacy is immense. "It's all around you in Belfast. He redeveloped Castle Place, where he also owned a cinema, the Classic. He brought a lot of business and employment to the city, which he promoted at every turn. "He was an optimist and I think he helped Belfast through some really hard times, especially during the First World War and the years of (the) Depression when he was trying to rally people and bolster morale. "But, sadly, he seems to have been airbrushed out of some history books, where he's described as a 'discredited' politician, while others speak of him in glowing terms." Susie, who is a volunteer for the National Trust at Mount Stewart, called her book Sir Crawford McCullagh: Belfast's Dick Whittington as a nod to the four-times Lord Mayor of London, whose path to prominence was similar to his Belfast counterpart. "But Sir Crawford never went home and came back. He stayed," adds Susie. Sir Crawford McCullagh: Belfast's Dick Whittington is published by Ballyhay Books and is available from the Ulster Historical Foundation, from Amazon and from bookshops, including Eason's From Belfast to Berlin, the Fermanagh Lakelands have been drawing in tourists for decades in search of tranquillity and relaxation. The county is a vast haven of natural spaces where the slow pace of life seems to make quality time last longer. Its the perfect holiday destination right on your doorstep, but it makes you feel a million miles away. Where to stay? One of the most-loved spots to stay in is the Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel. Located on the beautiful banks of Lough Erne, it has just opened 14 new larch wood log panelled lakeside lodges. Each two-bedroom lodge directly overlooks the stunning Lough Erne, with an open plan lakeview lounge leading onto a private furnished decking area. Guests have their own modern kitchen, ensuite bathrooms, a dedicated private jetty upon request and use of the hotels health club and Elemis spa, as well as fine-dining in Kove restaurant. Mere minutes from the historic town of Enniskillen, the Killyhevlin is the ideal central base to explore Upper and Lower Lough Erne. Explore Hire a cruiser for some island-hopping. Devenish Island, White Island, Boa Island and Inish Corkish, home to Fermanagh's Black Bacon, and another 150 islands, can be all your own for a few hours or even overnight alone with nature. Paddle the lakes on a canoe or kayak, a serene way to traverse Fermanaghs lakelands. All youll hear is the soft slap of the water on your hull, and the cry of the curlew or lapwing. Upper Lough Erne has sheltered bays for beginners, while Lower Lough Ernes windier waters provide waves for experienced paddlers. Expand Close Killyhevlin Lodges, Co Fermanagh. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Killyhevlin Lodges, Co Fermanagh. With such a vast expanse of water so perfectly suited to fishing, every day on Lough Erne can be a different adventure. You never know what you might hook next, but with trout and salmon among the top targets and superb coarse fishing in some of the best boat and bank fishing grounds in Europe, all types of angler can succeed here. Or if you prefer to be guided by your stomach, arrange for the Lough Erne Water Taxi to pick you up and take you on their food trail of Fermanaghs lakeside restaurants - with great local food, stunning landscapes and a story or two along the way. If you would like to enjoy a short break, there is a wide range of excellent accommodation available across the area ranging from luxurious hotels, to B&Bs full of character and charm, and self-catering options as a home from home. Expand Close The Fermanagh Lakelands. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Fermanagh Lakelands. Visit Discover Northern Ireland to plan your break or find out more about Fermanagh. Nearby attractions Enniskillen Castle Museums Following a major redevelopment, the visitor experience brings to life the castles entire 600-year history, first as the Maguire family stronghold and on through to Fermanaghs important role in World War II. There are two museums to explore, the Inniskillings Museum and Enniskillen Castle Museums. Castle Coole One of Irelands finest Neo-classical houses, the magnificent 18th century Castle Coole is an opulent display of the era. See what life was like in the home of the Earls of Belmore. Take in the stately upstairs grandeur, then visit the huge basement where an army of servants worked downstairs, and exit via their underground tunnel. Marble Arch Caves UNESCO Global Geopark At least a million years old, this miracle of nature is a fascinating, natural underworld of rivers, waterfalls, winding passages and lofty chambers. Take the electrically powered boat and glide along a subterranean river and through huge underground caverns. Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood takes part in the BBC Election Debate hosted by BBC news presenter Mishal Husain, as it is broadcast live from Senate House, Cambridge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 31, 2017. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Ukip leader Paul Nuttall take part in the BBC Election Debate hosted by BBC news presenter Mishal Husain, as it is broadcast live from Senate House, Cambridge. PA (left to right) Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Ukip leader Paul Nuttall and SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson take part in the BBC Election Debate hosted by BBC news presenter Mishal Husain, as it is broadcast live from Senate House, Cambridge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 31, 2017. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND - MAY 31: Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis speaks ahead of the BBC Leaders Debate on May 31, 2017 in Cambridge, England. Six Leaders of the Seven political parties campaigning in the General Election joined Amber Rudd of the Conservative Party to take part in the BBC Leader's Debate this evening. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn announced he would attend at a rally in Reading earlier today whilst the Prime Minister and Conservative Leader Theresa May refused. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn take part in the BBC Election Debate hosted by BBC news presenter Mishal Husain, as it is broadcast live from Senate House, Cambridge. PA Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn take part in the BBC Election Debate hosted by BBC news presenter Mishal Husain, as it is broadcast live from Senate House, Cambridge. PA Jeremy Corbyn has accused the Conservatives of planning another five years of austerity to pay for tax handouts for the wealthy if they win the General Election on June 8. In his opening statement in the BBC's election debate, the Labour leader said there was "nothing remotely strong or stable" about the Tories' record in office. "Now the Conservatives want five more years of cuts to our vital public services to fund tax handouts for the wealthy few. Labour will make very different choices," he said. Rudd stands in for May Representing the Conservatives after Theresa May rejected Mr Corbyn's challenge to take part in the seven-way debate, Home Secretary Amber Rudd accused the opposition parties of offering "bluff, bravado and tempty, shiny election promises". "The only question to consider is who should be in No 10 to steer Britain to a brighter future? Jeremy Corbyn with his money tree, wish list manifesto and no plan for Brexit or Theresa May with her record of delivery," she said. Alongside Labour leader Mr Corbyn and Ms Rudd on the stage in Cambridge were Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, Ukip's Paul Nuttall, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru and Scottish National Party depute leader Angus Robertson. Ms Wood opened the debate with an attack on the Prime Minister for refusing to take part. Read more Expand Expand Previous Next Close Labour supporters hold placards ahead of the BBC Leaders Debate on May 31, 2017 in Cambridge, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Getty Images Labour supporters hold placards ahead of the BBC Leaders Debate on May 31, 2017 in Cambridge, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Labour supporters hold placards ahead of the BBC Leaders Debate on May 31, 2017 in Cambridge, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Read More "Theresa May called this election because she is taking you for granted. She won't turn up to these debates because her campaign of soundbites is falling apart," she said. She added that Labour in Wales was "airbrushing" Mr Corbyn out of its campaign and pleaded with voters to give her a mandate to represent the Welsh. For Ukip, Mr Nuttall began with a pledge to "put the interests of British people first" by boosting social care and wages and slashing immigration and the foreign aid bill. Caroline Lucas sets out her stall for the Greens at #BBCDebate https://t.co/h9Ad0bpZ7a pic.twitter.com/JStBjX2BKV BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 31, 2017 SNP Westminster leader Mr Robertson said his party would hold the Tories to account on Brexit, welfare and protecting public services, and vowed to offer "a strong voice for Scotland" in Westminster. He said: "A vote for the SNP is a vote against Tory cuts that will harm our public services and push many more hard-working families into poverty." Mr Farron kicked off with a jibe about Mrs May's absence, saying: "Where do you think Theresa May is tonight? Take a look out your window. She might be out there sizing up your house to pay for your social care." The Lib Dem leader took aim at Tory plans for social care, school lunches and Brexit, while offering to shore up the NHS and allow the public to have a vote on the Brexit deal. Mr Farron said: "Look, I know we don't all agree on Brexit but she is off to negotiate a deal for you, for me, for all of us. Imagine if it's a bad deal. I mean dementia tax bad." Audience applauds Corbyn & boos Nuttall as they discuss food banks & corporation tax #BBCDebate https://t.co/h9Ad0bpZ7a pic.twitter.com/zdgqqYq6br BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 31, 2017 'Have you been to a food bank?' Ms Rudd dismissed her rivals' claims as "fanciful" and warned their spending plans would require a "magic money tree" as she came under attack over the squeeze on living standards and cuts to welfare as the debate heated up. Mr Corbyn told her: "Have you been to a food bank? Have you seen people sleeping around our stations? Have you seen the levels of poverty that exist because of your government's conscious decisions on benefits?" The Labour leader highlighted his plans to end the public sector pay cap and introduce a 10 an hour living wage by 2020. Mr Robertson claimed the Tories had "chosen to support those who are wealthiest in society" but said the SNP would put up the top rate of tax from 45p to 50p. He said it was time to stop "punishing disabled people" and scrap the so-called bedroom tax. Tim Farron: Do not give Theresa May a blank cheque #BBCDebate pic.twitter.com/glgdIorpUw BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 31, 2017 'Fanciful' Ms Rudd said the Tories had taken low earners out of income tax and had increased the amount of money paid out in disability benefits. But she stressed: "We are going to live within our means. Some of the offers you will hear tonight are just fanciful." A strong economy was needed - which required a successful Brexit deal, she said. Ms Rudd defended the Tory record on welfare, insisting: "We are a party who will always support those in most need." The welfare bill for helping people with disabilities had increased 7 billion to 50 billion in the last seven years, she said. In an attack on Mr Corbyn she said: "I know there is no extra payment you don't want to add to, no tax you don't want to rise." She added: "We have to stop thinking, as you do, that there is a magic money tree." Ms Lucas said Ms Rudd's response on disability benefits was "downright insulting". Mr Corbyn also clashed with the Ukip leader over corporation tax, insisting it was "complete nonsense" to warn that Labour's plans to hike the levy could put jobs in jeopardy. 'Playing games' Ms Rudd said Labour's spending plans did not add up and accused Mr Corbyn of playing games with people's money. "It's as though he thinks it's some sort of game - a game of Monopoly perhaps where you ask the banker for the red money to pay electrics, the green money to buy the railways and the yellow money to buy the gasworks," she said. "It's not like that. This is people's hard-earned money. We will protect that. We won't roll the dice." On immigration, Mr Nuttall said current levels were "unsustainable" and that Ukip would take action to bring the numbers coming into the country under control. "We would do it by having an Australian-style points system so that if you've got the skills this country needs, yes, please come here and work, but beyond that we have to get the population under control," he said. Mr Farron accused the Conservatives of running an immigration policy to "appease Ukip", and drew applause when he highlighted the case of an Asian doctor who was spat at and abused as he returned home after treating the injured in the Manchester bomb attack. "That is what happens if you demonise immigrants," he said. "Do we need, as I'm afraid the Prime Minister has done for the last seven years, to set completely barmy, bogus targets that she fails to meet every year. No we don't." Ms Rudd said that once Britain was outside the EU they would be better able to control the numbers. "We have said we will continue to reduce those numbers. As we leave the European Union we will have more chance to do that and to be able to decide who comes to this country," she said. Mr Corbyn said Labour would pursue a "fair" immigration policy but refused to be drawn on the numbers they would allow to settle. "Fair is where you bring people in when they have got jobs to come to or it is necessary for them to be working here or we need them to assist in the economy. That is fair," he said. 'Division and fear' Ms Wood received a round of applause from the audience when she accused Ukip of using Brexit to "whip up people's hatred, division and fear". She said: "Ukip has just claimed that people voted to leave the European Union and in so doing they also voted to curb immigration. "I don't think we can read that into the result." Hitting back, Mr Nuttall said the issue was about government policy rather than racist ideas, adding that his party was the only one that would cut immigration, which he claimed was a key factor in the Brexit vote. Mr Robertson intervened, saying the level of debate "shames and demeans us all", as he outlined how Scotland's problem was people emigrating rather than immigration. The SNP depute leader said: "I don't think there is anyone in this room, or anybody watching this debate from Cornwall to Caithness who does not understand the positive contribution that people have made to this land who have come from the rest of Europe and the rest of the world and demonising those people is totally unacceptable." Rudd denounces Corbyn's "chilling" anti-terror law opposition; Corbyn says May also voted against anti-terror laws https://t.co/h9Ad0bpZ7a pic.twitter.com/KD02UqVdn7 BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 31, 2017 Mr Robertson led calls for ministers to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in the UK, while the Green leader said the failure to do so was "unbelievably cruel". Ms Lucas said Britain should be a "confident, outward-facing country" that recognises the positive contribution of migrants who are more likely to be NHS doctors than ahead in the queue, she said. Mr Corbyn was challenged for "aping Ukip" over Brexit by the SNP depute leader, who said the party should be fighting to remain in the single market after Brexit. Accused of treating EU citizens as bargaining chips, Ms Rudd said the claim was "absolutely untrue" and insisted a deal would be done when the Government was assured of the rights of UK nationals living in Europe. Ms Rudd tried to use the heated debate to warn over a "coalition of chaos" between the other parties after the election, but she was shouted down by Ms Lucas, who said the public had more to fear from a coalition between Ukip and the Tories. Social care and the winter fuel payment Mr Robertson, Mr Corbyn and Mr Farron piled into Ms Rudd over the Tory manifesto policies on social care and the winter fuel payment, demanding answers on who would lose out from the reforms. The Home Secretary was laughed at by the audience as she called for people to "judge us on our record" on the public finances. "We have cut the deficit, we have reduced taxes for the lowest paid and we have made sure that we have continued to invest in the NHS, which is getting another 8 billion a year by the end of this parliament," she said. But the only way to have the money to invest was through having a strong economy "which does sometimes mean making difficult choices, those sorts of choices no other party here is prepared to face up to". She added: "The sure way to bust our economy, to lead to danger, is to have false negotiations with the EU, to have the sort of leader - like Jeremy Corbyn, supported perhaps by the people here - who would create just confusion when trying to deal with the 27 different states." Mr Corbyn said Labour would negotiate tariff-free access to the single market to protect manufacturers. He added: "Our schools are underfunded, our hospitals are overcrowded, our students are saddled with debt, there's a growing housing crisis. "At every single turn, their answer is to further reduce corporation tax and further reduce tax for the very wealthiest in society." Mr Robertson began the attack on Ms Rudd over pensioner benefits and the social care "dementia tax", telling her "I think those people deserve to know by how much" they will lose out. "The Prime Minister didn't have the guts to come along this evening to tell us," he said. The Tories have vowed to means-test the winter fuel payment, but have not set out how many older people would continue to receive the benefit, worth up to 300. The Conservatives have also said they will consult on a cap on social care costs, but will not reveal further details until after the General Election. Ms Rudd said the plans would mean winter fuel payments will not be paid to millionaires but would not give specific figures. She added: "We will always look after pensioners, ensuring they have dignity and security in retirement." Mr Farron said: "What we have is a General Election in eight days' time, Theresa May assuming a colossal landslide - that's why she thinks she can ignore you and not bother turning up tonight - and she's telling you 'we will take your house off you and we will allow you to know how much we will let you keep after you have given me a colossal majority'. "If tonight you resolve to vote Conservative on June 8, you are resolving to give Theresa May permission to do what she likes. "That's with education cuts, that's with NHS cuts. Do not give her a blank cheque." Terrorism On terrorism, Mr Corbyn said that British military intervention in countries such as Libya had left "ungoverned spaces" which the extremists had been able to exploit to mount attacks. "If you intervene somewhere, the consequences go on for a very long time," he said. "It would be extremely unwise for any government anywhere in the world to ignore what is happening in Libya, where large areas are left ungoverned and very dangerous forces are arising there. "What we need to do is recognise the human rights and justice for people all around the world and be prepared to support them, not just go in and bomb and do nothing about it afterwards, which is what happened in Libya." He was attacked by Ms Rudd for consistently failing to support anti-terrorism legislation throughout his time in Parliament. "We have to make sure we have the right legislation. I am shocked that Jeremy Corbyn just in 2011 boasted that he had opposed every piece of anti-terror legislation in his 30 years in office," she said. "I really think he must be held accountable for that because I find it chilling." Mr Corbyn responded that Mrs May and other senior Conservatives had voted against anti-terror laws in 2005. "My opposition to anti-terror legislation isn't opposition to protecting us from terrorism. It is simply saying there must be judicial oversight over what is done in our name," he said. Saudi arms deals Challenging the Home Secretary on why the UK was the world's second-biggest arms dealer, including selling to Saudi Arabia, Ms Lucas added: "I don't know how you sleep at night." Ms Rudd refused to apologise for defending the UK and vowed to ensure armed forces and security services were properly funded. On tackling extremism, Ms Wood said cuts to the numbers of youth workers had made Britain "less safe" as there were fewer people to challenge extremism in young people. Mr Nuttall said radical Islam was "a cancer that needed to be cut out" to prevent other attacks. Asked whether he would lock up suspected terrorists without trial, he said: "I've said nothing should be taken off the table. Excellent @timfarron--if Theresa May can't be bothered to turn up for #BBCDebate, ignore Amber Rudd's closing statement and watch Bake-Off. Simon Doubleday (@SimonDoubleday) May 31, 2017 "As far as I'm concerned, when MI5 tell us there are 23,000 jihadis out there who want to do us harm, I will always put British lives over the human rights of any jihadi any day." He was attacked for "going straight for Muslims" by Mr Robertson, who prompted applause when he pointed out that a white neo-Nazi was responsible for the murder of MP Jo Cox. Mr Corbyn said he "utterly deplored" the language Mr Nuttall used, to which the Ukip leader retorted: "You invited Hamas to the House of Commons." Moving on to the environment, Mr Farron said climate change was the greatest threat facing the world and called for a global effort to tackle the problem. Mr Farron said that in countering terrorism, the UK needed to stand alongside other countries that shared the same values. "That will mean all sorts of things but sometimes it will take real serious action. Sometimes it will even mean military action. You have to do the tough thing to defeat the terrorists," he said. Mr Nuttall said that while the UK's interventions in Iraq and Libya were "fundamentally wrong", they were not to blame for what happened in Manchester. "What politicians need to do is at least have the courage to name what it is. It is Islamist extremism. Nobody seems to have the courage to say what it is," he said. His remarks were condemned by Ms Lucas who said: "The kind of response we have just heard from Paul which seems to suggest the violence in Manchester is somehow representative of Islam is completely outrageous." 'First rule of leadership is to show up' Ms Rudd, a former energy and climate change secretary who helped negotiate the Paris deal, said it was "disappointing" that the US administration was pulling out. Ms Wood told her to "tell him he's wrong", but the Home Secretary said: "That's not quite how diplomacy works." While the other politicians criticised Mr Trump's stance, Mr Nuttall said: "He is putting America first and frankly I think Britain should put Britain first as well." As the discussion turned to the issue of leadership, Mr Corbyn said: "It is leadership to lead a government that is prepared to say to our society 'we cannot go on like this'. "We have to start putting more money into our public services and our resources, we have to have an economy that works for all and we don't have to have a spiv economy that hands tax relief to the biggest corporations and the wealthiest people while ignoring the desperate cries for social help of so many people in our country." Mr Nuttall said "I don't flip-flop" and he was a principled Brexit supporter, vowing to oppose paying a divorce bill to Brussels. Ms Wood shot back: "Would you refuse to pay your dues if you were going through a real divorce?" Ms Rudd defended the Prime Minister, saying Mrs May would be able to handle Brexit because her party supported her, unlike Mr Corbyn. "How can he go in to negotiate with 27 different countries with such a weak team and weak support behind him?" The other politicians again hit out at Mrs May's absence, with Ms Lucas saying: "The first rule of leadership is to show up." Mr Farron said: "How dare you call a General Election then run away from the debate." Mr Robertson said "weak and wobbly" Mrs May was "not so much the Iron Lady as the U-turn Queen". Asked why Mr Corbyn did not mention Mrs May's absence during the debate, a Labour source said: "May's absence spoke for itself. If she won't debate, how can she negotiate? "There was only one future Prime Minister on the stage and Jeremy used the opportunity to lay out our plans to transform Britain for the many not the few." 'Isolation and hate' As the debate drew to a close, Mr Nuttall sought to hammer home Ukip's position, saying: "We have been proven right on Brexit, proved right on immigration, proved right on grammar schools, proved right on protecting our police and security services." Ms Lucas, in her closing remarks, said Britain was at a crossroads between tolerance and openness or turning inwards towards "isolation and hate". She said: "One more MP for the other parties makes no real difference but more Green MPs will be truly transformative." Summing up, Mr Corbyn said the "real choice" facing Britain was between Labour and the Tories, whether for the many or the few. Meanwhile Mr Roberston pledged to work with other parties who share the SNP's values and to provide "a strong opposition" to the Tories. Ms Wood said the party would stand up for the whole of the UK and would ensure Wales was not "invisible" in the UK. The audience clapped and cheered when Mr Farron told them the Prime Minister "can't be bothered" to turn up and told them to switch over to the Great British Bake Off. He added: "You're not worth Theresa May's time. Don't give her yours." The final comments came from Ms Rudd, who sought to point out the strength and consistency of the Tories in the face of Brexit. She said: "You have heard the squabbling and discord of disagreement here tonight. "You have seen the coalition of chaos here in action but in the quiet of the polling booth you have a clear choice. "A vote for anyone other than Theresa May is a vote for Jeremy Corbyn and that coalition." Arlene Foster hailed Theresa May last week as "a solid and reliable unionist". If that's what she's counting on to secure the north within the Union, she may be in for an unpleasant surprise. The Tories have never played fair with unionists. Back in 1972 a group of senior British ministers met with Stormont Prime Minister Brian Faulkner to discuss the future of the north, including the constitutional position. There was naught for the comfort of unionism in the exchanges. The meeting took place at Downing Street on February 4, five days after Bloody Sunday. It had been convened by UK premier Edward Heath to consider the deteriorating political and security situation. The north still trembled with shock. Two nights earlier the British Embassy in Dublin had been burnt down. Across both islands, anxiety was rising about what might come next. Among suggestions put to Faulkner to restore stability were: the withdrawal of troops from Catholic areas; the Bogside and Creggan ceded to the Republic; mandatory power-sharing with nationalists, the link with Britain guaranteed for 20 years and then opened up for discussion. None of the British contingent showed any sense of kith and kin with unionists. The impression was of Faulkner at bay in face of belligerent interlocutors with only a flimsy grasp of Northern Ireland realities. Heath was accompanied by Home Secretary Reginald Maudling, Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Defence Secretary Lord Carrington, Cabinet secretary Sir Burke Trend, deputy secretary Neil Cairncross and the Prime Minister's private secretary Robert Armstrong. Alongside Faulkner were Stormont deputy secretary Kenneth Bloomfield and Faulkner's private secretary Robert Ramsey. The minutes of the meeting were made available to legal teams at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. However, it scarcely figured in the proceedings and has remained largely forgotten. But it threw harsh light on the reality of relations between Belfast and London in the aftermath of the Derry killings. It may reasonably have seemed to Faulkner that Ulster unionists were being asked to pay the price for a massacre inflicted on Irish nationalists by British soldiers. Heath warned Faulkner of mounting frustration in Britain. "There was a growing feeling that (British soldiers) could not go on indefinitely doing a horrible job with no sign of an improvement." Douglas-Home declared: "In the event of further trouble... people would demand some change of course." Maudling reported that at a meeting of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee the previous evening: "It had been clear... that the party felt they could not continue indefinitely on the present course without coming under intense public pressure." Heath added that "major concern" had also been expressed at the Cabinet. Faulkner asked what was meant by "change of course". "There was surely no thought of pulling out the troops?" Nobody intervened to set his mind at rest. When Faulkner suggested that senior Army officers in Belfast took a more upbeat view, Carrington mentioned that "he could not entirely remove from the back of his mind a slight reservation about the Army's tendency to be over-optimistic". The minutes add that: "Mr Maudling shared that view." Heath spelt it out that his government would only consider direct rule in the event of "total breakdown". In that event, he asked: "Why should unionists regard their closer integration into the UK as in any way threatening the basic unionist position?" Faulkner restated what had been the unionist position since the foundation of the state. The Stormont parliament served "as a bar to any move towards reunification of Ireland. It would be easier to make such a move if one did not first have to dismantle a parliament". Heath asked whether giving nationalists seats as of right in a northern administration would not copper-fasten the position of Stormont and help bring stability? Faulkner wondered "how an MP elected on a 'united Ireland' ticket could be credible to his own electorate as a member of a government trying to improve standards in Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom?" Maudling commented that: "He, who had dealt in other days with Jomo Kenyatta (leader of the Land and Freedom Army, which had helped achieve Kenyan independence) was conscious of the unexpected things which could become possible in changed circumstances." Faulkner suggested that mandatory coalition between unionism and nationalism "seemed to discriminate against other minorities, including those (eg the Northern Ireland Labour Party) which cut across sectarian divisions. Many interests, such as the trade unions, were entirely opposed on principle to any system of religious quotas". None of the British minsters commented on this observation. The minutes reveal the depth of British rulers' unconcern at a time of political turmoil about the constitutional status of the north. Five months later, on July 9, Cabinet secretary Trend was to tell Heath, in a secret briefing note, that there were only two practicable options for the north: permanent direct rule or "wash our hands of the whole business, which would mean in effect declaring that Northern Ireland was no longer part of Her Majesty's dominion, but was an independent entity, which must be left to sink or swim as best it could". If Arlene Foster thinks she can depend on Theresa May to stand up for the Union, she might usefully read up on the history of unionist-Tory relations. Eamonn McCann was People Before Profit Alliance MLA for Foyle from May 2016 to January 2017 Theresa May launched an assault on Jeremy Corbyn's credibility as the Labour leader struggled with the cost of a key manifesto commitment. The Prime Minister sought to get back on the front foot after the U-turn on social care and the Manchester bombing pushed her campaign off course, claiming Mr Corbyn was "simply not ready to govern and not prepared to lead". Meanwhile, the Labour leader apologised after a difficult broadcast interview saw him repeatedly fail to provide the cost of Labour's childcare policy. During an interview with BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, he paused several times when asked to give a cost for the pledge to roll out free care to all two to four-year-olds, before asking: "Can we come back to that in a moment?" Mrs May had Mr Corbyn in her sights as she launched a personal attack on his record and ability during a speech in Wolverhampton. In an effort to get back to her key election messages of leadership and Brexit, she said Mr Corbyn was not prepared for the crunch talks with Brussels that will start within days of the general election and would find himself "alone and naked" in the talks. Looking back at Mr Corbyn's performance when questioned by Jeremy Paxman and a studio audience in Monday night's televised showdown, Mrs May said: "He is not prepared to use the nuclear deterrent. He is not prepared to take action against terrorists. He is not prepared to give the police the powers they need to keep us safe. "He is not prepared to take a single difficult decision for the good of our economy. He is not prepared to answer questions about his long track record of supporting people who want to harm and even attack our country. And with Brexit negotiations due to begin only 11 days after polling day, he is not prepared for those negotiations." Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn was attempting to focus on policy issues with the commitment to the extension of free childcare, but his own performance was firmly in the spotlight after the Woman's Hour interview. Despite having a copy of the manifesto and apparently logging on to his iPad for help as he was pressed to give the cost for the policy, it was left to presenter Emma Barnett to provide the Opposition's estimate of the 4.8bn annual price tag by 2022. Answering questions on the interview at a campaign event in Watford, Mr Corbyn said: "I didn't have the exact figure in front of me, so I was unable to answer that question, for which obviously I apologise. "But I don't apologise for what's in the manifesto and I will explain exactly what the cost is. "It will cost 4.8bn by the end of the Parliament and it means that one million children will get childcare, free childcare 30 hours per week between the years of two and four." A Sinn Fein councillor in Co Down has apologised for describing Bangor as a "s***hole" that she never again wants to visit. Naomi Bailie, a former mayor of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, made the controversial remarks on Facebook after visiting the seaside town last weekend. Ms Bailie is described on her party's website as a political adviser to Chris Hazzard MLA, who is seeking to win the South Down Westminster seat, which had been held by the SDLP's Margaret Ritchie. Ms Bailie's Facebook post was made on the same day as junior Orangemen marched in Bangor. She referred to encountering the disaster of a "KultureFest session". In a post on Saturday afternoon, Ms Bailie wrote: "I will never in my life again go near that s***hole that is Bangor. "Thought nice weather, ice cream, pop up market, I'll go for a wee walk here along the marina and have a look at the stalls "Disaster! What should have been a lovely day for everyone just turned into a KultureFest session! No surprise there then I hear you say! Well done Ards and North Down Council on yet another expedition of how not to do things for the whole community." North Down DUP MLA Alex Easton last night condemned the remarks. "I am shocked by Ms Bailie's comments on my home town and she needs to clarify her position," he said. The comments I made earlier in the week about Bangor, were inappropriate and I withdraw them unreservedly. Sending this now Naomi Bailie (@NaomiBailie) May 31, 2017 "People in Bangor will find what she said insulting and offensive. Bangor is a wonderful place to live where people from all sorts of backgrounds and different communities get on well. "I am horrified that a Sinn Fein representative holds such negative views of a beautiful town." Ms Bailie has since apologised. She tweeted: "The comments I made earlier in the week about Bangor, were inappropriate and I withdraw them unreservedly. " Ms Bailie (31) is one of Sinn Fein's most high-profile councillors in Co Down. She was seriously ill with meningitis late last year. She spent two months in hospital but returned to her husband Gerard and baby daughter Niadh in February. Ms Bailie's remarks follow a recent controversial tweet by DUP South Down MLA Jim Wells, who said that Sinn Fein was not welcome in "unionist" Rathfriland. 'Gerard Herron argued there was no legal standing to seek recovery of the house at Viewfort, Dungannon over defaults on his 320,000 mortgage' A Co Tyrone man has lost his High Court battle to stop a bank taking possession of his home. Gerard Herron argued there was no legal standing to seek recovery of the house at Viewfort, Dungannon over defaults on his 320,000 mortgage. But a judge rejected all grounds advanced by him in a bid to thwart Bank of Scotland. Madam Justice McBride held that for nearly three years he has effectively lived rent-free in a property now in negative equity. Mr Herron, who represented himself, had been seeking to overturn a previous order for possession. The court heard that in 2007 he allegedly took out a 10-year interest only mortgage with a division of Halifax Plc. Under a subsequent re-organisation by HBOS banking group, Halifax business was moved to Bank of Scotland. Mr Herron claimed the bank did not have legal standing because it was not a party in the mortgage deed. He also alleged irregularities in the case, a lack of supporting evidence, and denied responsibility for the account or debt. During the hearing he would not confirm or deny whether a signature on the mortgage deed was his, saying that it "looks like" his. However, the judge ruled that he had signed the documents, and that liabilities transferred to Bank of Scotland. She said Mr Herron has defaulted since 2011, with no further payments after August 2014. With the outstanding balance now 433,000, the estimated value of the property is 286,000. "The total arrears is 64,970. It appears therefore that the premises is now in negative equity," Madam Justice McBride said. She affirmed the earlier decision to order possession. Herron indicated his intention to mount a further appeal. Naomi Long said there was a ;serious chance' of Alliance victories in south and east Belfast A transformative political shockwave will reverberate around Northern Ireland if Alliance achieves its target of winning two Westminster seats, leader Naomi Long has said. Launching her party's manifesto, Mrs Long said there was a "serious chance" of Alliance victories in south and east Belfast. That result, she insisted, would not only make history for the cross-community party but would deliver a much-needed shake-up of the "same old, same old" politics of the past. "In this election, Northern Ireland has an historic opportunity to change direction for the first time in history," said Mrs Long. "Alliance have a serious chance of electing at least two Alliance MPs. "Two MPs representing a radical alternative to our political system - two MPs who will argue against the failing and tired old divisive and tribal politics, and make a case for Northern Ireland that is free from sectarianism, is outward-looking and celebrates its diversity." She added: "It would send a shockwave across Northern Ireland and further a field. "The politics of this society would be changed forever. It would signal to the world that Northern Ireland wants to change direction." The Alliance manifesto argues for a special deal for Northern Ireland in the Brexit process - one that would enable the region to maintain access to the customs unions and single market. The party also wants a second EU referendum on the terms of the final deal which the UK strikes with the EU. The manifesto also focuses on the need to reform the political system at Stormont; greater investment in integrated education; and efforts to protect the Human Rights Act. "This manifesto is our programme to change the direction of our society," Mrs Long told party faithful in east Belfast, the seat she is personally striving to recapture. "It is an approach to politics which is progressive, positive and pro-European, rather than allowing division and deadlock to rule the day." Angry west Belfast residents have condemned a sickening message gloating at the murders of 22 people in the Manchester Arena. A vandal scrawled 'Manchester 22 Ha Ha' on a wall at FG Wilson's Springfield plant. But as a temporary fix until the offensive message is removed, one quick-thinking citizen altered the message to read 'Manchester City' and changed the 'Ha Ha' into meaningless symbols. Photos of the graffiti were posted on the Facebook page of the Beechmount Residents Collective, where many vented their fury at the original message. The Collective wrote: "Whatever idiot was behind this disgusting act should be ashamed of themselves. The people of Beechmount/Springfield are appalled at last week's bombing in Manchester. "Thankfully for the quick action of a Beechmount resident it was quickly rectified." SDLP councillor Brian Heading slammed the graffiti. "Any form of racism and sectarianism after the event in Manchester has to be condemned," he said. "I hope that the graffiti will be removed by the council as soon as possible." The DUP has stated Northern Ireland should have a public holiday to celebrate its centenary in 2021. The party's manifesto says that celebrations over the creation of Northern Ireland should also include holding major sporting events, public art and a centenary wood. The 23 page manifesto vows to support an increase in family incomes, through continued rises in the national living wage and personal tax allowances and protection of pensions. A cut or abolition of the TV licence fee, as well as reform of the BBC, is also mentioned in the manifesto. The party wants to make tourism a 1 billion industry in the region and vows to pursue the abolition of air passenger duty. It also says it will fight hard at Westminster for a budget settlement that allows for increases in health and education spending. The party outlines how it intends to fight for the best deal possible for Northern Ireland post-Brexit. During Brexit negotiations the party says it wants to see ease of trade with the Irish Republic and throughout the EU as well as the maintenance of the common travel area and no internal borders with other parts of the UK. Party leader Arlene Foster said one of the most important aspects of the manifesto was the party's "respect agenda". As part of that agenda the DUP wants to fulfil its promise to create an Ulster-Scots Academy and a new start on the issue of contentious parades. Colin Horner was shot dead in front of his young son outside the Sainsbury's superstore on the outskirts of Bangor Loyalist Colin Horner who was shot dead in Bangor A man has been arrested over the murder of a loyalist in a busy supermarket car park as his three-year-old son looked on. Colin Horner, 35, was shot dead by a lone gunman among crowds of shoppers outside the Sainsbury's superstore on the outskirts of Bangor, Co Down, on Sunday afternoon. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a 47-year-old man was arrested in Newtownards on Wednesday night and is being questioned at a Belfast city centre police station. A 28-year-old man detained on Tuesday night remains in custody. It is understood Mr Horner, from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, recently relocated to Bangor amid fears he would be targeted in the same loyalist paramilitary feud that claimed the life of his friend George Gilmore two months ago. Loyalist Mr Gilmore, 44, was shot dead in Carrickfergus in March. On Monday, Detective Superintendent Richard Campbell confirmed a link between Mr Horner's murder and the long-running Carrick feud between rival loyalists was one line of inquiry. Three schools in Northern Ireland have been sued by families of disabled children after they refused to accept them as students. The families, who were supported by the Equality Commission, agreed settlements against Wallace High School in Lisburn, Lislagan Primary School, Ballymoney and St Brigid's College in Derry. The Special Educational Needs and Disability tribunal heard that the schools refused to accept the disabled children as pupils, although the Education Authority had identified the schools as suitable for the children. The schools apologised to the children and their parents while Wallace High school and St Brigid's College admitted that their actions fell below the standard required in compliance with disability discrimination law. Dr Michael Wardlow, chief commissioner of the Equality Commission said: "We have identified a lack of appropriate support during the transition between primary and secondary levels of education as one of the barriers confronting disabled children. It is fundamentally linked to better life chances and better employment chances for every young person with a disability. "There is a lesson from these cases for every school. "When a disabled child applies for a place, they should pro-actively give proper consideration to how they can adapt to meet the needs of that pupil. These are children who have enough barriers facing them in life. They don't need the additional barriers being thrown up when schools decide that their needs cannot be accommodated." Wallace High School spent seven months disputing the needs of a child with significant mobility difficulties who uses an electric wheelchair despite being assessed by a special education review. Lislagan Primary School refused to accept a young boy who has spina bifida and hydrocephalus and a moderate learning disability. The young boy was due to start P1, however during a meeting between his parents, carers and the school, the mother said it became clear that her son was "not welcome there". She was asked "why this school" and was told that there were other schools in the area. An autistic 11-year-old boy was told by St Brigid's that it was "not in a position to provide post-primary education" for him, despite suggestions from the Education Authority as to how his needs could be met. All pupils now attend other schools. An Orangeman accused of driving into crowd at a north Belfast flashpoint has "no memory" of hitting people, a court heard has heard. Prosecuting QC Neil Connor told Belfast Crown Court that John Alexander Aughey (63) later claimed he felt "in fear of his life", believing he'd been identified as an Orangeman, and was attempting to "escape from a dangerous and escalating situation". Aughey, from Brae Hill Park, Belfast, also allegedly told police that while he can remember what happened before and after the collision, he has "no memory" of striking anyone. He faces several charges including dangerous driving, causing grievous bodily injury to teenager Phoebe Clawson who was left with a broken collar bone, and fractured pelvis and ankle. Mr Connor told the jury of eight women and four men that by the end of the case they would be satisfied that Aughey's dangerous driving "fell far below, and we emphasise, falls far below, of what would be expected from a careful and competent driver". He added that Aughey's driving would be obvious to a careful and competent driver that it was dangerous to any person either on or off the road. As part of the prosecution opening, the jury where shown a police video which captured Aughey's red Nissan Pulsar car driving across the road and a crowd surging forward only to be stopped by riot police. The jury also heard that Ms Clawson was trapped under Aughey's car for a time after being carried on its bonnet for a short distance. She was freed by police who rocked the Nissan onto its side. Mr Connor said that on that July 13 two years ago, "it was fair to say tension was high" in the area, with a large crowd of people gathering at the Ardoyne flashpoint in opposition to a contentious loyalist parade, banned by the Parades' Commission from passing the north Belfast shops. The court heard that Aughey was part of the parade, and with it being prevented from moving any further than nearby Twaddle Avenue, he decided to drive home, up the Crumlin Road and past the Ardoyne shops. Mr Connor said traffic was slow moving and Aughey's Nissan at times was "essentially" slowed to a stop. Police CCTV footage, he added, also pictured someone from the crowd moving across and in front of the Nissan, who appeared to kick the vehicle. Mr Connor said the car is then seen "reversing back, and ended up in a diagonal fashion across the road". Mr Connor said that what is thought to have been a plastic bottle was thrown at the car and bounced off its roof. Aughey drove his car forward, while the lights on the pedestrian crossing were at red, and moved onto the opposite side of the road into a bus stop area and partly across an area of parking bays. The prosecution lawyer said it was at this stage that Aughey "collided with a number of people", injuring a number of them. "Ms Clawson," he said, "was impacted by the vehicle, forcing her onto the bonnet of the vehicle", and as it continued on, she fell and was "dragged forward slightly and was trapped underneath the" Pulsar. The car was "ultimately stopped" by police, who had to "roll the car onto its side to free Ms Clawson," but not before two officers were slightly injured when they too were struck by the vehicle. Mr Connor also told the jury that "one thing is sure", that the injuries suffered by Ms Clawson, "amounts to grievous bodily injury". Aughey denies a total of six charges and in addition to the injuries caused to the teenager, he is also accused of injuring a 'community representative' who was left with a broken wrist, and another young girl who "thankfully received only bumps and bruises". A man was also left with a sprained wrist, while two police officers were also hurt. The trial, expected to last up to three weeks, continues tomorrow with plans to show further CCTV footage from the scene to the jury. Mary Martin was last seen in the city on Saturday May 20. Police are becoming increasingly concerned about a missing 65-year-old woman. Mary Martin was last seen in the city on Saturday May 20. It is believed she was last seen on the Blacks Road area at 1pm on Saturday May 20 and was reported missing on Monday May 22. Mary is described as being of medium build, approximately 5ft 2in height, with short grey hair. When last seen, she was wearing a baggy grey blouse and jeans and was carrying a number of her belongings. Expand Close Missing: Mary Martin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Missing: Mary Martin Sergeant Glenn Kernohan said: Mary, or anyone who knows of her whereabouts, is asked to contact the police at Woodbourne Police Station on the non-emergency number 101 quoting reference 404 of the 22/05/17. The leader of the Church of Ireland has urged people to pray for Coptic Christians in Egypt, and described those killed by Islamic State (IS) as martyrs. Last week, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus carrying Coptic Christians in Egypt in which 29 people were killed. Archbishop of Armagh Dr Richard Clarke said that while "we are rightly appalled by callous attacks on citizens close to home at this time ... we must also condemn the atrocious killing and wounding of dozens of Coptic Christians in Egypt. "We remember those who bear the name of Christ there in our hearts and prayers. "We should think of them as Christian martyrs." Three men have been arrested in England and Scotland over the rape and murder of a young mother found beaten to death after a night out in a loyalist club in Northern Ireland almost 30 years ago. Mother-of-two Lorraine McCausland, 23, was found beside a stream in the Forthriver area of north Belfast in the early hours of March 8 1987. She had been for a night out and was last seen in a nearby loyalist club at Tyndale. Detective Inspector Michelle Griffin said a cold case review had identified "potential new lines of inquiry" on reopening the case in 1987. On Wednesday, police arrested two men aged 49 and 56 in Scotland and a 53-year-old in England. They have been transported to Northern Ireland for questioning. In the original investigation fourteen arrests were made during the original police investigation but no-one was charged. Police also conducted 29 searches and took more than 100 witness statements. A total of 107 exhibits were submitted for forensic examination and 45 exhibits subjected to examination by fingerprint experts. Passers-by watch as the shops go up in flames on Broughshane Street in Ballymena yesterday A number of businesses were destroyed on Tuesday, May 30, after a massive fire tore through one of Ballymena's busiest shopping streets. The blaze started in the Woodgreen furniture store on Broughshane Street at around 5pm and quickly spread along the terrace of shops. One firefighter received minor injuries and five retail units were affected, including Rainey and Gregg estate agents, Open and Direct insurance, McAtamney solicitors and the Double Happiness Chinese takeaway. During the blaze the roof of at least one property completely collapsed. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said crews were called to the scene at 5.08pm, by which time the flames were already well developed. Eight fire appliances, two high-reach aerial appliances and 58 firefighters from surrounding stations were deployed. Videos soon emerged on social media showing the huge flames and thick smoke engulfing the properties as stunned locals looked on. One clip showed shoppers walking by without noticing what appears to be the early stages of the fire in the upstairs of the Woodgreen store. Mayor of Ballymena Audrey Wales, a former owner of a newsagents in the town centre, said the scale of the destruction was devastating. She said: "My heart goes out to those affected - that's their livelihood and I really do feel very sorry for all the businesses involved and I hope nobody is hurt. "You can always replace buildings and stock. Thankfully there's no loss of life." Newsagent Eugene Diamond has owned his business on Broughshane Street for 37 years. He said that lives had been changed in an instant as a result of the inferno. "I was phoned around 5pm to tell me that there was a fire," he told the Belfast Telegraph. "I made my way into town and by the time I got there the place was well alight. "You just wouldn't believe what this is like - it's changed lives this evening. "Employment will be lost on a temporary basis. I couldn't believe how quickly it took hold. "There was a fair wind this evening. The fire authorities have been doing their best, there was a lot of them there. "But its seems to be a losing battle. "It all seemed to run through the roofs. "Those buildings were built in my time and their roofs would have ran together. "Woodgreen furniture was there when it was built, it must be around 25 to 35 years. Rainey and Greggs about 15 to 20 years. "McAtamney's would be the newest and appeared in the last five years. "I've been on the street for 38 years of business and I've never seen anything like it. "People are being evacuated from their homes in Suffolk Street and the council has opened up temporary accommodation for them." By around 8pm last night it appeared that fire crews had been able to stop the flames from spreading. Last night North Antrim Westminster election candidate Ian Paisley expressed his shock on Twitter at the devastation. "Terrible scene in Broughshane Street," he said. "Fire Service on scene as usual acting with bravery." TUV leader and North Antrim MLA Jim Allister said: "The loss of several businesses, patiently built up over the years, in tonight's horrendous fire in Broughshane Street, Ballymena, is a severe blow to the entire town. "Jobs and key retail and office premises have been lost. "It is imperative that local and central government steps in with all possible assistance to help relocate these businesses and get them up and running again," he added. A Belfast man accused of tweeting about a drone being sent to the home area of a former TUV election candidate has had harassment charges dismissed. Michael Hickland (42) was instead bound over for two years and ordered to have no social media contact with political commentator David Vance. Hickland, of Cavendish Street in the city, had been charged with harassing him on dates between January 2013 and June 2016. He also faced a second count of improperly using a public electronic communications network to send a message that was "grossly offensive... or of a menacing character". Charges against him related to a tweet allegedly offering to supply coordinates for sending a drone. Hickland was set to contest the case against him at Belfast Magistrates Court on Wednesday. But his barrister, Sean OHare, revealed that the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) was instead seeking to have the charges dismissed. The resolution was reached after the defendant agreed to the binding over order. A PPS lawyer stressed she wanted to ensure Hickland does not use Mr Vances name on Twitter. District Judge Amanda Henderson ordered him: "Youre not to have any contact, direct or indirect, with the injured party David Vance. "That isnt just face to face, but significantly through any form of social media." Mr OHares barrister added that the defendant had already taken action to ensure that Mr Vance no longer saw his posts. "The two of them will have their own, separate online lives," he added. A terminally ill mum has undergone her first round of treatment with a life-prolonging drug after a crowdfunding appeal raised tens of thousands of pounds. Bangor woman Melanie Kennedy (40) has been battling breast cancer for four years. Mother to Josh (16) and five-year-old AJ, she was given the devastating news that her former treatment was not working, and so her battle with the so-called NHS postcode lottery for treatment continued. In what could be her last attempt and hope at spending more time with her sons, she launched a campaign to raise money to access the drug Kadcyla. While it is available on the NHS in Scotland, it is only offered privately here at a cost of around 20,000. Kadcyla is a medication that could potentially slow down the progress of the disease and offer Melanie a longer life. Within days of launching the appeal the emotional mum revealed how more than 22,000 had been raised by the "generous and kind-hearted people" of Northern Ireland. Now, almost three weeks later, she has been able to embark on the treatment. After completing the first round, Melanie posted a picture of herself smiling from her hospital bed and thanked all her Facebook followers for their support. "All done, thank you all for your messages of support. "I might not get round to replying to them all personally so here is a big (love) and to all the lovely staff at the hospital who as ever made the experience as good as possible." The day before her treatment, she posted to her Facebook page: "First dose of Kadcyla all paid for and sitting waiting in pharmacy for tomorrow. "I assume at over 4k a pop it arrives on a little throne and is delivered by angels (well it kind of is - you guys). "I fast before chemotherapy by choice - there is a lot of research that shows this makes chemo more effective and reduces side effects, and even though it's bank holiday weekend I've stuck to it - bring on tomorrow." She previously criticised the political impasse at Stormont for preventing any progress on improving access to specialist drugs in Northern Ireland, and hit out at what she called the two-tier system for cancer patients "We were speaking with the Department of Health and involved in a consultation to change the way drugs are accessed," she said. "We were being heard. "But none of this can happen when we have no government," she added. Party leader Arlene Foster at the launch of the DUP manifesto at the Old Courthouse in Antrim Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 31st May 2017 Ahead of next months Westminster General Election the DUP launch their manifesto at the Old Courthouse in Antrim town. DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds pictured at the launch Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 31st May 2017 Ahead of next months Westminster General Election the DUP launch their manifesto at the Old Courthouse in Antrim town. DUP leader Arlene Foster pictured at the launch Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has said the General Election will go a long way in determining if Northern Ireland faces devolution or five years of direct rule. Launching the DUP's election manifesto at the Old Courthouse in Antrim Mrs Foster said every vote will not just determine who will be returned to Westminster, but also as a mandate for the political negotiations aimed at restoring powersharing at Stormont. The former first minister said after the election the DUP will enter Stormont negotiations positively but insisted it "will not be a one-way street". She said any deal to restore devolution will be judged by five core tests. These tests will include that an agreement will increase support for Northern Ireland's position within the UK, will be fully consistent with the region remaining a "full and integral part" of the UK, will be fully compatible with British citizenship and result in better government than a return to direct rule. Mrs Foster said, for her, the most important issue at the forthcoming election "is not devolution but the Union itself". She called on all unionists to rise to the challenge from Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and put a border poll off the agenda for generations. "Sinn Fein want to use this election as a precursor to a border poll. "Gerry Adams has declared that this election will be a barometer on Irish Unity. "Let us rise to that challenge and seek to ensure that unionism still returns a majority of unionist MPs to Westminster and puts the notion of a divisive and destabilising border poll off the agenda for generations to come," she said. Mrs Foster also distanced herself from controversial comments made by party colleague Jim Wells MLA about republican election workers. In a Twitter post that has since been deleted Mr Wells said Sinn Fein was not welcome in Rathfriland, a "unionist" County Down town. Mrs Foster said the tweet was a personal tweet. She added: "We live in a free and open democracy and everyone should be allowed to canvass wherever they want to canvass." An outright ban on fracking in the Republic of Ireland has moved a step closer. New laws to outlaw onshore drilling for shale gas from rocks, sands and coal seams passed the latest stage in the Dail parliament in Dublin. The ban is expected to come into effect in the middle of the summer. Kate Ruddock, Friends of the Earth Ireland's deputy director, said it was a great victory for local campaigners. "It's also a victory for the global climate movement. All around the world communities are campaigning to keep fossil fuels in the ground and to put citizens at the heart of a new, clean, healthy energy system," she said. "This victory is a tribute to their solidarity and is a shot in the arm for our common cause of a fossil-free future." Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, involves drilling into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is forced into rock to release gas. The legislation was introduced by a politician from a rural region and secured cross-party support in parliament, where the government is in a minority. Tony McLoughlin, TD for Sligo-Leitrim where the prospect of fracking faced a groundswell of popular opposition, said: "It could not be clearer that it is a very necessary law that has been heavily scrutinised and continually improved. "The scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that permitting fracking in Ireland and Northern Ireland would pose significant threats to the air, water and the health and safety of individuals and communities here." Eddie Mitchell, spokesman for Love Leitrim which helped to spearhead the anti-fracking campaign, said: "It's hugely significant for communities like us who have taken on the fracking industry. Read more Read More "But we don't feel we can sit still yet. We have done this on the back of opposition in Northern Ireland. The situation has not changed there. "They are still trying to get fracking there. We can't rest until we get support for these communities. We have put down a marker but we owe it to them." Ms Ruddock added: "Ireland has a reputation as a climate laggard and too often our lack of climate action is a cause of embarrassment internationally, but today we can be proud of our parliament for putting Ireland in the vanguard of the movement to ban fracking." A parliamentary committee which assessed the legislation earlier this month found that fracking would create the potential for groundwater contamination, leaks and surface chemical spills. It also said that uncertainty over how much greenhouse gas is produced by the industry is reason enough to ban it and that a "vigorous regulatory regime" may not be enough to prevent pollution. The legislation is expected to pass its final hurdle in the Seanad in the coming weeks. Three exploratory licences were granted in Ireland in 2011 for fracking, but no extraction has taken place. France, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Germany have all banned fracking. Colin Horner was murdered in front of his three-year-old son outside a Sainsbury's on the outskirts of Bangor, Co Down, on Sunday afternoon (PA) A man has been arrested over the murder of a loyalist in a busy supermarket car park as his three-year-old son looked on. Colin Horner, 35, was shot dead by a lone gunman among crowds of shoppers outside the Sainsburys superstore on the outskirts of Bangor, Co Down, on Sunday afternoon. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a 47-year-old man was arrested in Newtownards on Wednesday night and is being questioned at a Belfast city centre police station. Expand Close Colin Horner was murdered in a busy supermarket car park in front of his three-year-old son (PSNI/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Colin Horner was murdered in a busy supermarket car park in front of his three-year-old son (PSNI/PA) A 28-year-old man detained on Tuesday night remains in custody. It is understood Mr Horner, from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, recently relocated to Bangor amid fears he would be targeted in the same loyalist paramilitary feud that claimed the life of his friend George Gilmore two months ago. Loyalist Mr Gilmore, 44, was shot dead in Carrickfergus in March. On Monday, Detective Superintendent Richard Campbell confirmed a link between Mr Horners murder and the long-running Carrick feud between rival loyalists was one line of inquiry. Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, a one-time US ally who was ousted as Panama's dictator by an American invasion in 1989, has died aged 83. Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela wrote in his Twitter account that "the death of Manuel A Noriega closes a chapter in our history". Noriega served a 17-year drug sentence in the United States and was later sent to face charges in France. The final years of his life were spent in a Panamanian prison for the murder of political opponents during his 1983-89 regime. Noriega ruled with an iron fist, ordering the deaths of opponents and maintaining a close yet murky relationship with the US. Aleksandar Vucic has been sworn in as Serbia's president, pledging to work for peace and stability in the war-weary Balkans while strengthening the country's armed forces. Mr Vucic, a former ultra-nationalist turned self-declared pro-European Union reformer, formally stepped down on Wednesday from his prime minister's post after winning the presidential election by a landslide in April. The opposition, which has alleged irregularities during the election campaign including the muzzling of the media, plans to stage protests against his autocratic rule. "We must create a region where differences are an advantage and not the basis for clashes," Mr Vucic said in his inaugural speech in parliament. "There have been enough burials in the Balkans, it is time to give birth," he added, referring to the wars in the southern European region in the 1990s during which he actively backed expanding Serbia's borders at the expense of its neighbours. "While we have to talk to everyone, we also have to strengthen our defence capacity," Mr Vucic said. He said Serbia will not join Nato or become a "member of any other military alliance". During three years as prime minister, Mr Vucic repeatedly said that EU membership is Serbia's "strategic goal". At the same time, he has been strengthening ties with Serbia's traditional ally, Russia, which has agreed to supply fighter jets and tanks to its military, heightening tensions in the Balkans. Mr Vucic only briefly mentioned Serbia's integration into the EU, noting that "no one should doubt Serbia's EU path". He said the country will cherish good ties with Russia and China, but should also improve links with the US. Addressing thousands of cheering supporters in front of parliament, Mr Vucic promised to "keep peace and stability, guard and protect the future of our children". There were sporadic clashes between his supporters and opponents in central Belgrade as police prevented demonstrators from reaching the parliament building. The presidency is largely a ceremonial post, but as his speech indicated, Mr Vucic intends to continue playing a leading role in Serbian politics. He succeeded his former patron Tomislav Nikolic, a staunch pro-Russian, as Serbia's president. AP Understandably, relatives of the 14 people killed by paratroopers on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry still feel anger over what Prime Minister David Cameron was later to describe as "unjustified and unjustifiable" actions. There was much support for their campaign to overturn what was acknowledged as the whitewash of the original Widgery Tribunal into the shootings, and a second inquiry lasting 10 years and costing 400m was held to finally nail the truth of what happened on that terrible day. Those relatives know the lasting grief that follows the loss of a loved one in such circumstances. The pain may lessen with the passage of time, but there will always remain the thought of what might have been had fate dealt a different hand. Given their experience, it is saddening in the extreme that some of the Bloody Sunday relatives are now demanding that the names of soldiers and RUC officers killed in Derry should be removed from an exhibition in the Bogside Museum. The exhibition lists the names of everyone killed in the city from 1969 to 1972 - IRA members, civilians, soldiers and police officers. This is a factual record of a dark period in the history of the city, a time when grief and horror reached into every part of the community. The pain and shock experienced by the families of all those killed was no different, no matter who was responsible. And just as there is no hierarchy of grief, so there should be no hierarchy of victims in this case. All the bereaved can feel aggrieved and angry that their relatives were killed but that does not give them the right to demand that the deaths of others should be erased from the record. It has to be acknowledged that only a number of the Bloody Sunday relatives are involved in the campaign to have the soldiers' and police officers' names removed. Those who are involved should remember the efforts that went into absolving their relatives from any blame for what happened on Bloody Sunday and the general acceptance that, whatever the cost, the Saville Inquiry was needed to ensure the truth of what happened was officially acknowledged. It is reprehensible that they cannot show the same generosity of spirit towards the relatives of members of the security forces who were also unjustifiably killed. I asked a local hack what he thought of the election campaigns so far and his reply was: "Boring as hell over here, but really exciting across the water." The British general election is more visually exciting because the choices have never been starker. On one side is the bland parson's daughter from Middle England and on the other an ageing, crusty, anti-war serial protester, who has a permanent bed-head look. Despite her personality deficit, the Prime Minister is still on course to win a healthy working majority. It would be hard to find anyone duller than Mrs May in British politics. She is magnolia on the colour spectrum. The huge lead that pollsters gave the Tories was always somewhat false - especially once the campaign started in earnest. On the other hand, expectations of Mr Corbyn were so low that anything he does can only be an improvement. To his credit he is a bit of a cult figure and is reaching out to younger voters with some considerable success. That his figures don't stack up may not win over many hard-working people, who can't be so easily fooled by governments who borrow heavily. When Labour loses the election, the only question will be: by how much? One suspects Mr Corbyn's popularity among urban young voters will reflect the referendum split and will be offset by the grey vote. In Scotland it's the Tories who will make gains as the pro-Union lobby. However, they will still be a minority party and their presence against the backdrop of a SNP landslide may help push the case for independence when the reality of a Conservative government in Westminster sets in. Unlike my journalist friend, I tend to disagree that our elections have become boring. In fact, I believe that our elections just got more interesting - but not necessarily for the right reasons. As usual the two big parties, Sinn Fein and the DUP, are hogging all the media attention and it must be said doing so with the unhealthy co-operation of some the mainstream media. Despite Sinn Fein's talk about a win for it being a win for equality, the reality of such an outcome is likely to further polarise both communities even further. The DUP, on the other hand, needs a good election to ring-fence the leadership of Arlene Foster. Both parties are likely to push for a second Assembly election should they do exceptionally well. The late Martin McGuinness may have left this place for a better one but he still features very heavily in Sinn Fein's election literature. North Korea apart, it's hard to think of any other modern political party campaigning so heavily featuring a deceased leader. But it demonstrates the genuine affection felt in some quarters for McGuinness. Certainly, his negotiating skills are missed. Sinn Fein is pushing hard to get its hands on four seats - two held by the SDLP, one by the DUP and another from the UUP. Between the SDLP and Sinn Fein, the issue is about representation. Sinn Fein claims to be the party most against Brexit, but its inability to shape that opposition is hollow when it chooses not to input into the exiting EU, Food and Rural Affairs and Northern Ireland select committees - all of which have the involvement of SDLP MPs. The counter-claim is that Sinn Fein holds "Westminster" meetings to lobby for its concerns. On April 21 Mary Lou McDonald tweeted about one such meeting at Westminster on "No Brexit, No Border", along with Francie Molloy MP and Stormont Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill. The significance of this was that it occurred the Friday after the general election was called and Parliament was not sitting. Sinn Fein says there is an onus on the Irish Government regarding Brexit, but the Irish Government has been doing its bit, and yet there's no heavy lifting from Sinn Fein. South Down and Foyle are two targets for Sinn Fein. The SDLP will throw the kitchen sink to retain both. In South Belfast the battle is not about Sinn Fein - despite the bogus claims in its campaign literature. It's between the incumbent Alasdair McDonnell and the DUP's Emma Little Pengelly. This seat has become a bit of a lottery, but Little Pengelly lost her Assembly seat, that's not an encouraging omen, and McDonnell is a battler to the very last vote. So, unless Sinn Fein acts as a vote splitter, the edge should remain with the good doctor. North and East Belfast are real battlegrounds for the DUP against two very different candidates. John Finucane, Sinn Fein's surprise runner, will have had his chances boosted by the fielding of a weak SDLP candidate, but it's a tall order to beat the incumbent Nigel Dodds because there still is a unionist majority, albeit slender. East Belfast comes with a history of bad blood between the DUP and Alliance. Naomi Long monopolises the lion's share of the media for her party and the incumbent Gavin Robinson struggles to match her airtime. This is a grudge match and will be worth staying up for on election night. The other big rematch is Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The affable former MP and Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew is attempting to dethrone Tom Elliott. The UUP's Elliott is under pressure and it's likely he may lose - notwithstanding the benefit of a unionist pact. The loss of two DUP seats in Belfast - fascinating as it would be to political anoraks (me included) - would be devastating to the leadership of Foster, as would the loss of SDLP seats for Colum Eastwood, or UUP seats for Robin Swann, despite the latter's protests to the contrary. Long, if successful, would be the only local leader of a political party in Westminster and that may become problematic for Alliance if the Assembly returns. Even if Sinn Fein makes no gains, it doesn't really lose, but we should expect at least one gain. A big problem for the future of Northern Ireland is the tribalism that's increasingly being created by voters migrating into two monolithic ethnic blocs. Ironically and bizarrely, this "back to the future" landscape is being driven by younger voters. Hardly the kaleidoscope we had hoped for following the optimism of the Good Friday Agreement - more like a mirror of the past. Tom Kelly is a political commentator. Alban Maginness returns next week An Indian paramilitary soldier stops a motorcyclist during a curfew in downtown Srinagar, the largest city of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, May 30, 2017. Suspected militants hurled a grenade and wounded four policemen in Indian-administered Kashmir on Wednesday amid widespread violent protests over the weekend killings of two alleged separatists by security forces, police said. The attackers lobbed the grenade at policemen deployed near a bank in Sopore town of north Kashmirs Baramulla district, an official said. We have launched a massive manhunt to nab the attackers, who fled after lobbing the grenade, the official who requested anonymity told BenarNews. The attack came as authorities lifted curfews imposed on Saturday after violent protests erupted across the insurgency-torn region in the wake of the killings of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, 27, and his aide Faizan Muzzafar, 16. HM is the oldest and largest separatist group operating in Kashmir, a disputed region claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan, and where a separatist insurgency has claimed more than 70,000 lives since the late 1980s. Bhat, who had a 1 million rupee (about U.S. $15,000) bounty on his head, and Muzzafar were gunned down during a 35-hour gunbattle with security forces in south Kashmirs Tral town, about 45 km (28 miles) from Srinagar. A 28-year-old civilian, Aqib Ahmad, was killed and at least 100 others injured when anti-India protesters clashed with security forces in south Kashmir after the encounter, reviving memories of the months-long unrest that followed the killing of a top HM commander last year. More than 100 people were killed and 10,000 injured in the violence that lasted over five months after Burhan Wani was shot dead by security forces on July 8. Bhat was a close aide of Wani and had been instrumental in recruiting Kashmiri youths for HM through video messages circulated on social-networking sites, police said. Fearing another cycle of street violence, Indian authorities placed top separatist leaders, who have allegedly spearheaded anti-India agitations, under house arrest soon after the encounter on Saturday and shut down Internet and mobile services in sensitive districts. Although fresh clashes erupted in some parts of south Kashmir, injuring at least eight protesters and three policemen, police said they were doing their best to control the situation. The situation has returned to normal in most parts of Kashmir. We are trying to calm the tension in south Kashmir too, Indian Kashmirs police chief S.P. Vaid told BenarNews. We will review the situation on Wednesday evening and then be able to take a decision on lifting the internet ban. Sculptor Mrinal Haque talks on a mobile phone early Friday as workers remove the Lady Justice statue from in front of the Bangladesh Supreme Court in Dhaka, May 26, 2017. Bangladesh authorities moved the Lady of Justice statue to a less visible location at the nations supreme court complex after facing pressure from conservative Muslim groups to remove it completely. Both secularists and hardline Muslim groups expressed dismay after authorities relocated the statue of a blindfolded woman holding the scales of justice to a less-visible site on the court's premises on Sunday, two days after taking it down. Mrinal Haque, the statues 58-year-old sculptor, choked back tears as he oversaw the statue's removal. It is a slap in the face of the progressive people in this country, he told BenarNews. I am burying my own child. It is very painful for me. On Sunday, after the stainless-steel statue was moved a few hundred yards away, Haque said he was still unhappy. It was the same as not displaying it because no one, except the courts people, can see it now, he said. Bangladesh, home to 163 million people of whom about 87 percent are Muslims, adopted a constitution in 1972 declaring itself a secular nation. But a huge group of people in the country of 400,000 mosques seeks to transform it into a society based on Muslim laws. Others have been fighting to retain secularism in state policy and overall cultural pluralism. The statue of a sari-clad woman holding a scale and sword in her hands a Bangladeshi version of the Greek goddess of justice Themis was installed in December. Since then, Hefazat-e-Islam, an Islamic organization dominated by hardline Qwami teachers, students, imams and their disciples at Muslim boarding schools, has staged protests to have it removed. The National Eidgah, the prayer ground where Muslims mark the Eid holiday following the end of Ramadan, is in front of the Supreme Court, which stoked the religious sentiment of hardliners who called the sculpture an example of idol worship. In an effort to avoid public protests, workers began removing the statue around midnight Thursday. Alerted by social media, almost 100 people gathered to protest the efforts. On Sunday, the statue was reinstalled at the high courts annex building. Secularists described the move as a surrender to conservative Muslims and part of efforts to gradually radicalize society. The ruling Awami League is being criticized for compromising its ideology of secularism to appease Hefazat. Conservative religious groups, meanwhile, condemned the government for mocking their religious sentiments. Top justice ordered statue be moved Surendra Kumar Sinha, the countrys first non-Muslim chief justice, faced complaints that he bowed to political pressures in ordering the move. In April during a meeting with Hefazat chief Shah Ahmed Shafi and other top clerics, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her dislike for the statue. Despite that meeting, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the chief justice decided to move the statue. The government has nothing to do with it, he told the BenarNews on Monday. Mahbubey said that the chief justice, seeking to avoid any untoward incident, had discussed the removal with senior jurists. We had also advised him that it would be prudent to remove the statue from the entrance of the court as it is adjacent to the national prayer ground, Mahbubey said. Sculptor Mrinal Haque chokes back tears while witnessing the removal of the Lady Justice statue in Dhaka, May 26, 2017. [Star Mail] Mixed reactions The original removal provoked protests across Bangladesh as secular groups pointed to the apparent growing influence of Hefazat on the government. On Friday, members of student fronts, cultural organizations and left-wing activists protested on the Dhaka University campus, causing police to lob tear gas canisters and spray water cannons to disperse the protesters. Several demonstrators, including Bangladesh Students Union general secretary Litan Nandi, were arrested. Following his release on bail, Litan told BenarNews on Monday the reinstallation was a small victory for secular protesters, adding the rise of the governments alliance with militant groups is a threat to the future. Professor Anisuzzaman, an eminent academic, said,Bangladeshis were witnessing some shocking developments. The rise of Islamic fundamentalist forces and the Awami League governments bowing down to their pressure give a bad signal, he said. Meanwhile, Muslim groups including Khelafat Andolan, Bangladesh Jamiatul Ulama and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam criticized the government after the statue was reinstalled. Many of them rallied on Friday in support of Hasina after the statue was removed. On Sunday, Hefazat leader Shah Ahmad Shafi issued a statement saying Reinstalling the statue was nothing but toying with the nations religious beliefs and sentiments. The statue of the Greek goddess has to go," he said. "It cannot have a place in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. A Malaysian Muslim family break their fast on the first day of the Islamic month of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur, May 27, 2017. Two top editors at Malaysias leading English daily newspaper have been suspended and other journalists have been questioned by police over a front page published on the first day of Ramadan that was deemed offensive to Muslims. The government has given The Star a week to explain why it should not be suspended for the content it printed on page one on May 27. That day, The Stars front page showed a picture of Muslims in congregational prayers to mark the beginning of the Islamic month Ramadan. The photograph was sandwiched between a banner headline about a terrorism leader at the top of the page and a Samsung phone ad promoting a spa package that showed a bare-shouldered woman being massaged. Home Ministry Secretary General Alwi Ibrahim said the badly placed headline painted a poor image of Muslims as terrorists. The Star newspaper has been given seven days to reply to the show-cause letter as to why actions under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984, including suspension of publishing permit, should not be taken, he said in a statement on Monday. Under the act, the ministry can revoke or suspend a permit for any period it considers desirable. Malaysian Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that the paper was being investigated on suspicion of inciting religious enmity. Among those offended by the page was Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party Information Chief Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi, who called it extreme and rude and said it mocked members of Malaysias Muslim majority. The Star responds The ruckus led to The Star suspending Editor-in-Chief Leanne Goh and Executive Editor Dorairaj Nadason on Tuesday. Details of the suspensions were not released. As of Wednesday, six employees had been questioned by police regarding Saturdays publication. Accompanied by company lawyers, five senior editors and a photographer were questioned at police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. The 250,000-circulation Star, owned by Malaysian Chinese Association, an ethnic Chinese-led party in Malaysias ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), apologized on Sunday for poor judgment regarding the front page marking the start of Ramadan. It has been the practice of The Star to respect the first day of Ramadan every year and to place the picture of Muslims at the first prayers on the front page of the paper. This has been done over the last decade or so, the newspaper said. In hindsight, The Star should have been more discerning and sensitive to the feelings of our Muslim readers. An assistant news editor who spoke to BenarNews on condition of anonymity said the government was over-reacting, because it was clear that the picture and headline were not related. The words see reports on Page 3 were clearly stated under the Malaysian terrorist leader headline on the front page and the picture of Muslims in a prayer also had an accompanying caption so how can anyone mistake the two articles to be connected? Even if bad judgment had been made, the least the government could have done is let the paper take an internal action against those responsible, the employee told BenarNews. Journalism groups question government The Institute of Journalists Malaysia (IoJ) said it was concerned by the governments action and called for media to be self-regulated. The IoJ is of the view that such heavy-handed action is highly disproportionate to the perceived offense, which could arguably boil down to editorial oversight as opposed to any deliberate attempt to sow racial and religious divisions as claimed by critics, the group said in a statement Wednesday. The IoJ repeats its position that the only way forward in promoting a free press is to allow media organizations to decide for themselves how to deal with such issues and to determine their editorial direction, without undue and misplaced pressure from the authorities. The front page of the May 27 edition of The Star has drawn complaints from Muslim groups, May 28, 2017. [HadiAzmi/BenarNews] Other media groups offered similar support for the newspaper. The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (Wan-Ifra) Media Freedom Committee of Malaysia agreed on the call for journalists to be their own watchdogs. This can be done through the formation of a media council, with representatives from the print, online and broadcast media, and which would act as an ombudsman for public complaints against media, the committee said in a statement. Another media advocacy group, Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm), joined the call for a council, saying it would prevent third parties using issues to further their own agenda. Meanwhile, a youth official representing the main party of the ruling coalition, the United Malays National Organization, the largest component party of BN, said the issue should not be prolonged. A stern warning for the editor to be sensitive and careful with future publication is sufficient. After all, its Ramadan, the month of forgiveness, Raja Azraff Raja Azmil told BenarNews. Hadi Azmi in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this story. Vehicles cross into Thailand after passing a checkpoint along the Malaysian border at Sungai Kolok, Nov. 18, 2007. Military officials in Thailands Deep South on Tuesday denied allegations from Malaysias police chief that a man arrested for suspected Islamic State (IS) links had been involved in smuggling weapons across the border between the two countries. Muhammad Muzaffa Arieff Junaidi, a 27-year-old citizen of Malaysia and resident of the northern state of Kelantan, was arrested after having evaded capture by the authorities and crossing into the Thai Deep South two months ago, Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar announced over the weekend. Muzaffa was one of six people with suspected IS links whose recent arrests in multiple Malaysian states were publicized by Khalid on Saturday. I can confirm that there is no evidence to prove that he [Muzaffa] smuggled weapons as claimed by Malaysian side, Lt. Gen. Piyawat Nakwanich, the commander of the 4th Army that covers the insurgency-stricken Deep South, told BenarNews. Nevertheless we have measures to monitor the movement of illegal activities. In the past, we have cooperated with Malaysia in fighting illegal activities, he said. Earlier this month Piyawat said he had ordered his men to search for Muzaffa after the Malaysian police chief claimed the suspect had entered Thailand with weapons on March 22. But on May 3, an immigrant police officer stationed at the Sungai Kolok border checkpoint in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat told BenarNews that Muzaffa had travelled in and out of Thailand several times and his last exit from the Thai side was recorded April 21. On Tuesday, a Thai security official stationed in nearby Pattani province, said it was unlikely that arms had been smuggled to Malaysia from the Deep South conflict zone because separatist insurgents in the predominantly Muslim region were low on weapons and ammunition. It is highly impossible because the insurgents have no weapons, so they need to steal from the soldiers and police, the official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity. The source also rejected allegations made by Malaysias deputy prime minister last week, who cited intelligence reports in saying that recent terrorist attacks carried out in southern Thailand, Jakarta and in Marawi, in the southern Philippines, were all linked to the recent death of a Malaysian IS leader, Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi. The Malay-Pattani people in the Deep South do not accept extremely violent ideology of IS and there are no conditions to join the IS, he added. Other arrests The arrests of the six people believed to be involved in Daesh group terrorist activities, including Muzaffa, took place in the states of Kelantan, Selangor, Perak and Kedah from May 23 to 26, Khalid said in a statement issued Saturday. Daesh is another name for IS. Muzaffa, a cattle breeder who was involved in smuggling arms for IS members in Malaysia, turned himself in to Malaysian police on May 23, in a town close to the border, Khalid said. Muzaffa was involved with two other people who smuggled weapons from Thailand, the police chief said. The other two, Nik Nazanil Izuan Daud and Mohammad Sabri Mat Zain, were arrested in police raids carried out on March 21 and 24. Both men have since been sentenced to five years in prison and five lashes, Khalid said without specifying the charges. In the latest arrests of suspects with alleged IS links, besides Muzaffa the Malaysian polices counter-terrorist special branch also caught five men aged between 23 and 54, Khalid said. Two of the other suspects were brothers. One was a religious teacher, and the other was an online businessman. Both were taken into custody for allegedly supporting IS activities in Syria through two Malaysian members of Islamic State based in that country, Khalid said. Both suspects were also related to Muhammad Fudhail Omar who once instructed an IS militant in Sabah to lodge a lone wolf attack in Sandakan on August 4 last year, Khalid said. Malaysian officials have identified Fudhail as one of a handful of Malaysian IS figures who have replaced Wanndy since he was killed in an airstrike in Syria last month. A fourth suspect, who was arrested on May 25, is a 54-year-old army retiree from Kulim in the state of Kedah. The man had channeled over 20,000 ringgit [U.S. $4,670] for IS militants in Syria in several transactions. A son of the man, named Afif Safwan Azuddin, is already with the IS group in Syria, Khalid said. The fifth and sixth suspects, both in their early thirties, were arrested on May 25 in Selangor and Kedah, respectively. One was working as a quality control officer at a private company the other man was unemployed. According to Khalid, all six men were arrested under Malaysias Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Act 747) and being investigated for terrorism offenses. Since 2013, Malaysian authorities have arrested 306 people suspected of having links to IS, of whom 66 have since been freed, according to latest figures from the government compiled by BenarNews. People seeking refuge from intense fighting in the besieged southern Philippine city of Marawi crowd into an evacuation center in the nearby town of Balo-I, May 30, 2017. Tens of thousands of people fleeing battles between Islamic State (IS)-linked militants and government forces in the Philippine city of Marawi have packed into nearby evacuation centers, while at least 2,000 civilians were trying to get out, humanitarian workers said Tuesday. As the fighting entered its eighth day, the Philippine military said it had regained control of most of Marawi, a predominantly Muslim city in the far south that has largely been abandoned by 200,000-plus residents, as remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and Maute militant groups, including foreign gunmen, engaged troops in street-to-street clashes. There are still people stranded inside, an estimated 2,000 plus inside the war zone, said local relief volunteer Saripada Pacasum. They have been texting us on mobile zones, asking for help to be able to get out. Humanitarian officials also reported that supplies of food and medicine were dwindling fast at crowded evacuation centers in the surrounding area. In one center alone, in the town of Saguiaran, more than 3,800 families totaling close to 20,000 people had packed in as they sought shelter and relief from the fighting, officials said. Saripada Pacasum said volunteers had requested troops temporarily halt the offensive, but this plea was ignored. Marawi resident Jamal Ali Ala, 34, said she and her husband, Omar, 29, had walked on city streets littered with dead people, before the couple was picked up by volunteers after crossing into an area controlled by troops. We have friends and relatives who are still inside, the besieged city, she told BenarNews. She said the gunmen asked the couple if they were devout Muslims and made them recite some verses before they were allowed to walk away. A volunteer assesses a woman and her baby at an evacuation center near Marawi in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur, May 29, 2017. [Richel V. Umel/Benar News] Government ultimatum On Tuesday, military helicopters began an aerial bombardment of Marawis city center, which the militants still controlled, according to the military. The death toll in a week of fighting has left at least 65 rebel fighters, 24 civilians and 20 government forces dead, authorities said. Troops have so far retaken 85 percent of the city, officials said, but the rebels have positioned snipers at strategic points, including in abandoned buildings. Parts of the city erupted in flames last week when the military and police moved to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group who is recognized as the chief of the IS affiliate in the Philippines and who is wanted for a string of atrocities including bombings and kidnappings. But they were surprised when the assault team learned that Isnilon was backed by mostly young fighters from the Maute group, the latest radical Islam group here blamed for the recent spate of bombings. Intense clashes followed with gunmen fanning out into the city. Foreign fighters were with them, believed to be from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the military said. Among the foreign fighters, at least three Malaysians and one Indonesian have been killed, military officials said Tuesday, according to reports. By taking over much of the city during the past week, the IS-linked militants were intent on establishing a regional chapter of IS, Philippine Military Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Ano told the Associated Press. They wanted to show the world that there is an ISIS branch here which can inflict the kind of violence that has been seen in Syria and Iraq, Ano said, using another acronym for IS. Also on Tuesday, the military gave the militants an ultimatum to surrender, reports said. For the terrorists, not surrendering will mean sure death, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said according to Agence France-Presse. Philippine troops conduct a sweep during counter-militant operations in Marawi, where the military said it had regained control of 85 percent of the city from IS-linked fighters, May 30, 2017. [Jeoffrey Maitem/BenarNews] Want to live for another day Meanwhile, a Catholic priest who had been taken captive by the militants appeared in a video Tuesday, in which he pleaded for the governments help and said the gunmen were holding as many as 200 people hostage in Marawi, according to other reports. We still want to live for another day, a month and a few years. Please consider us, Mr. President, Father Teresito Chito Soganub, the vicar general of Marawi, said in addressing his appeal to Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte, according to Reuters. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), some 3,000 residents of Marawi are known to be trapped inside their homes, many of them elderly or sick people who were left behind by the first few waves of evacuees. Red Cross deputy head Martin Thalmann was in Marawi on Tuesday, where he was trying to negotiate a temporary halt to the violence and create a humanitarian corridor to allow them to bring the civilians out. Its very difficult to go into the fighting zones to do anything, he told reporters. We understand that there were also the elderly and the sick people who need transport because they cannot walk. Close to 4,000 displaced families from the deserted city of Marawi line up to collect relief supplies from the International Committee for the Red Cross at an evacuation center in Saguiran, May 29, 2017. [Richel V. Umel/Benar News] A soldier stands guard over a cache of weapons and a black Islamic State flag seized from fallen fighters in Marawi City, May 31, 2017. Updated at 12:57 p.m. ET on 2020-07-22 As Philippine troops kept up bombardments in the southern city of Marawi on Wednesday, the military said that Islamic State-linked militants had become desperate by releasing a video showing a Catholic priest appealing for the siege to stop. Armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said military forensics experts had viewed the video and were analyzing its authenticity. He dismissed it as propaganda material. It means that theyre fighting for survival, theyre trapped, contained in areas theyll not come alive (from) unless they surrender, Padilla told reporters in Manila. He said the military was appealing to members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups to come to their senses, lay down their weapons and surrender. He said troops had retaken about 90 percent of Marawi City, a once vibrant Islamic center of 200,000 people in the predominantly Catholic nation. The fighting erupted last week when troops and police sent to arrest Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon found themselves faced by dozens of Abu Sayyaf fighters aided by members of the smaller Maute gang and some Southeast Asian fighters. Intense clashes ensued, with the rebels spreading out across the city, torching buildings, killing Christians and seizing dozens of hostages. The violence forced President Rodrigo Duterte to place the entire southern island of Mindanao under full military control. Authorities said at least 65 rebel fighters, 24 civilians and 20 government forces have lost their lives. Dozens of soldiers have been wounded. On Tuesday, one of those kidnapped, Catholic priest Teresito Soganub, was shown in a video message calling on the military to halt unceasing bombardment of rebel areas. The video was posted and shared in social media accounts followed by Islamic State supporters. It did not state when or where it was taken, but the background shows an area heavily damaged by fighting. Gunfire could be heard in the distance. The bearded Soganub was shown in the video appealing to Duterte to cease the military offensive, saying he was with 240 people captured by the gunmen who are desperate to get out of the city. Officials said the number of people Soganub mentioned in the video could not be verified. We are asking for your help to please give what they are asking for. To withdraw forces away from Lanao del Sur and Marawi City and to stop the air attacks and to stop the cannons, Soganub said. Marawi, the capital of Lanao del Sur province, is about 1,170 km (730 miles) south of the countrys capital Manila. Soganub said the captives want to live another day, another month. We want to leave another year, two years. The continuing aerial bombardment and intermittent clashes on Marawi streets have made it difficult for humanitarian assistance and fleeing civilians to navigate. Rebel snipers have positioned themselves in vantage points as troops, backed by Italian-made SF-260 attack aircraft, continue to advance. A woman is evacuated in an ambulance after falling from her two-story home at the height of fighting. [Felipe Villamor/BenarNews] Civilians trapped The International Committee of the Red Cross said more than 3,000 people are known to be trapped in sections of Marawi held by the gunmen. Officials earlier conceded the actual number of those trapped was difficult to assess. Rescuers and volunteers tied strips of white cloth on vehicles as they zoomed in to pick up trapped civilians. In the town of Bangon, five hungry and panicked civilians were plucked out to safety, but rescuers said more are trapped. Marines earlier this week displayed a cache of firearms left behind by fleeing rebels or recovered from those who died. It included a machine gun and a sniper rifle capable of hitting a target as far as two kilometers (more than a mile) away. About 40 to 50 gunmen are believed hiding in at least two buildings in the center of Marawi, officials said. Going into the area was also dangerous because their position affords them a view of two buildings that connect the area to the rest of the city. Government officials said they intend to finish the fight as soon as possible, but military officials were quick to say that the gunmen were well-armed. Photos circulating in militant websites show the gunmen armed with assault rifles. They were also shown standing atop two Army armored personnel carriers that have been left behind. BenarNews could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the photos. The outburst of violence underscores earlier warnings expressed by security analysts that young relatives of those who fought in decades of bloody separatist Muslim rebellion in the south could be infiltrated by outsiders with more radical views. The mineral rich south has largely been underdeveloped because of the rebellion. A 2014 peace pact signed between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which had fought a separatist rebellion, was hoped to bring peace to the south. Instead, young, radicalized members have splintered and joined other groups with more violent tendencies. Two machine guns are displayed after soldiers took them from fallen Islamic State-linked fighters, May 31, 2017. [Felipe Villamor/BenarNews] CORRECTION: An earlier version misspelled the name of the priest, Father Teresito Soganub. Labor rights activist Andy Hall speaks to reporters outside the Bangkok South Criminal Court after he was sentenced to three years in prison for criminal defamation, Sept. 20, 2016. A British campaigner for migrant-worker rights in Thailand launched litigation cases Wednesday against Thai officials and a local pineapple processing company over a lawsuit that targeted him for criminal defamation. Lawyers for labor activist Andy Hall filed a lawsuit in a Bangkok court against nine state prosecutors and a police officer alleging they had pursued criminal defamation charges against him based on false information provided by the plaintiff, the Natural Fruit Co. Halls attorney also filed a separate criminal suit against three executives and a lawyer representing the firm claiming that it had filed a false complaint against Hall, a veteran labor activist championing workplace rights in Thailand for migrants from Myanmar and other countries. I am launching this litigation today consisting of two sets of criminal prosecutions today with a heavy heart and not out of anger or with any desire for revenge, Hall said in a statement to the media sent from Brussels. It is regretful that things have reached this stage. However, it is necessary now to launch these litigations as I must defend myself against an unlawful prosecution and judicial harassment waged against me that continues unabated, he said. His suits stemmed from a complaint brought by Natural Fruit over an interview that Hall gave to Al Jazeera television in Myanmar about adverse workplace conditions allegedly facing Burmese migrants at the companys factory in Thailand. I expect for the courts to consider the cases prosecuted according to the law and facts of the previous prosecutions which the Supreme Court found were unlawful. I hope that I would gain justice from these counter litigations given they were already ruled to be unlawful, Hall told BenarNews via a text message on Wednesday. Last November the activist fled Thailand, where he still faces prison time as a result of his conviction by a local court over a separate defamation complaint lodged by Natural Fruit. In September 2016, a court sentenced Hall to a three-year term and a fine of 150,000 baht (U.S. $4,292) after convicting him of defaming Natural Fruit and violating Thailands Computer Crimes Act. The case stemmed from the online publication of a workplace survey that Hall had undertaken for an NGO based in Finland. But in November, Thailands Supreme Court dismissed Natural Fruits lawsuit over the Al Jazeera interview, ruling that the plaintiff had no power to sue Hall over comments made in another country. The chief prosecutor should not have advised the attorney general to indict Andy from the beginning because the alleged defamation was done outside of Thailand, Nakhon Chompuchart, an attorney representing the Briton, told BenarNews in a phone interview. Somsak Toraksa, a lawyer for Natural Fruit who is among four people targeted in one of the suits brought by Hall on Wednesday, could not be reached immediately for comment. Not above Thailands sovereignty The workplace survey that led to Halls conviction last year was based on interviews he did with employees at a pineapple canning plant owned and operated by Natural Fruit in the southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan. Migrants from Myanmar make up much of the factorys 800-strong workforce. According to the survey, which was published by Finnwatch, workers at the plant complained that Natural Fruit violated Thai labor law through paying them salaries that were below minimum wage, not giving them sick and holiday leave, and employing children, among other allegations. On Sept. 20, after a Bangkok ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the case against Hall over the Finnwatch report, the owner of Natural Fruit told reporters, This is proof that we did not do that [violate labor rights]. The court proved that he violated my rights, and, no matter who you are, you will not stand above Thailands sovereignty, Wirach Piyapornphaiboon, the firms proprietor and president, said then, noting that his business had lost 100 million baht (U.S. $2.8 million) in revenue as a result of negative publicity around the Finnwatch survey. Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today Showers and thunderstorms. Potential for heavy rainfall. High around 70F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. 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Kabul, 28.12.2014: Jordanian ISAF soldiers drag German soldiers along the pavement one of them was beaten unconscious Von: HANNO KAUTZ This video from Afghanistan is highly distressing: Jordanian ISAF soldiers assault German soldiers, pointing their weapons at them. They drag them along the pavement and beat one of them unconscious. The recordings, which have been shared with BILD, show that the attack on members of the German armed forces was far more dangerous than previously thought. They also suggest that the seriousness of the attack might have been downplayed even by the German side. Unfassbare Aufnahmen aus Kabul Im Video: Die Attacke auf Bundeswehrsoldaten 02:35 28 December 2014, Kabul airport, at the intersection with its military zone (Abbey Gate). Over a dozen Jordanian security forces assault three soldiers serving as escorts to Hans-Lothar Domrose, then a four-star general in the Bundeswehr, the German army. The Jordanians threaten them with weapons, their safety catches off. The whole scene takes 20 minutes. Then the Jordanians leave. German soldiers were attacked by Jordanian soldiers. Colonel O. wanted to help, but was kicked to the ground After that, NOT MUCH happened. The Ministry of Defence in Berlin talked about an dispute. Several media outlets, including BILD, reported the incident. A multinational investigation committee (Americans, Jordanians, and Germans) appointed by the ISAF leadership concluded that the incident was not criminally relevant. However, the available images tell a different, brutal story. German investigative authorities therefore have a different interpretation of the incident. One of the German soldiers pressed charges. The State Office of Criminal Investigations (LKA) in Hamburg looked into the case. According to an LKA note from 13 October 2015 (made available to BILD), there is no doubt that the Jordanian soldiers engaged in criminal behaviour (robbery, extortion under the threat of force). A German soldier has been beaten to the ground. A Jordanian soldier threatens him with a pistol from behind The German investigators suspect that the Jordanians even fired a shot at a German escort vehicle. Their potential motivation: revenge for an argument that took place two weeks earlier. According to the LKA documents, racism cannot be excluded as a motive, since one of the German soldiers is of Indian origin. Auch interessant How could it be that the images were interpreted in such different ways? The LKA charges that the incident was trivialized back then for political reasons by the investigation committee and the Bundeswehr. The shocking video was not even handed over to German authorities allegedly for reasons of nondisclosure. It is conceivable that they wanted to downplay the incident in order to avoid tensions with ISAF partner, Jordan. The Ministry of Defence denied these accusations when BILD enquired about them. The fact that an investigation committee was immediately appointed confirms the significance of the incident, a ministry spokesperson said. This is a common multinational procedure. The Federal Government was not able to object to the results of the investigation but had, as part of the investigation committees work, clearly expressed its disapproval concerning the Jordanian soldiers behaviour. The Ministry of Defence handed the videos over to the LKA in December, 2016 two years after the attack on our soldiers. According to the Ministry, there had been no previous written request. The LKA document suggests otherwise. What did Minister von der Leyen know? The Minister of Defence knew nothing of the videos, her spokesperson says. According to information made available to BILD, however, her state secretary did. The shocking video puts pressure on the Ministry of Defence. Following the argument about German MPs right to visit German soldiers in Incirlik, Turkey, the base may be relocated to Jordan, of all places. Lesen Sie auch Following the terror attack of 11 September 2001 in the US, Germany participated in the international ISAF mission to Afghanistan. For a time, Germany deployed up to 5350 soldiers to Afghanistan. In 2014, the combat mission was transformed into an education mission. Approximately 990 soldiers are currently stationed in Afghanistan 140 in the capital, Kabul, 850 in Camp Marmal, the extensive international base near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. The soldiers mission is to train and advise Afghan defence forces. The mandate for the Afghanistan mission will expire at the end of 2017. Overall, 56 Bundeswehr soldiers have died in Afghanistan. PS: Sind Sie bei Facebook? Werden Sie Fan von BILD.de-Politik! For Immediate Release, May 31, 2017 Contact: Meg Townsend, (917) 717-6409, mtownsend@biologicaldiversity.org Lawsuit Seeks Federal Briefing Documents on Trump's Border Wall Secretive Administration Continues Hiding Potential Environmental Impacts WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency today for failing to provide briefing materials prepared for Trump's transition team that discuss construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Center requested the materials in January under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents may contain discussion of the feasibility, effectiveness or impacts of building Trump's wall. But so far the agencies have failed to provide the records. The Trump administration is refusing to give the American people crucial public documents about the environmental risks of this massive project, said Meg Townsend, the Center's open government attorney. If this wall is built, it'll be a disaster for people and wildlife on both sides of the border. The public has a right to know what federal agencies are saying about the dangers of Trump's wall. The U.S.-Mexico borderlands contain numerous protected federal areas. The border provides habitat for many threatened and endangered species and includes major rivers such as the San Pedro and Rio Grande. Trump repeatedly boasted about building a great wall during his presidential campaign. Just before the inauguration, his transition team reportedly met with the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies to discuss plans to construct that wall. The agencies' failure to provide records concerning this meeting or indicate when they might do so violates deadlines established under the Freedom of Information Act, prompting today's lawsuit. It seems like the sun never shines on the highly secretive Trump administration, Townsend added. These agencies are illegally concealing information that may be critical to helping Americans understand the effects of this monstrous project. Records responsive to the Center's border wall Presidential Transition Team requests will be made available to the public and the media when available. Download today's lawsuit here. Download one of the original requests here. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. For Immediate Release, May 31, 2017 Contact: Jenny Loda, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 844-7136, jloda@biologicaldiversity.org Evelyn Merz, Sierra Club, (713) 644-8228, elmerz@hal-pc.org Ban Sought on Commercial Trapping of Wild Turtles in Texas Groups Want End to Unlimited Capture of Four Native Species AUSTIN, Texas The Center for Biological Diversity and several Texas-based conservation organizations petitioned the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department today to end commercial trapping of the state's wild turtles. Under current Texas law, turtle trappers can collect unlimited numbers of four turtle species on private lands to sell domestically or export for international food and medicinal markets. This is putting turtle populations already facing pollution and habitat loss at risk across the state. For-profit turtle trappers shouldn't be allowed to drive the state's turtles to the brink of extinction, said Jenny Loda, an attorney and biologist at the Center who works to protect vulnerable reptiles and amphibians. Scientists have concluded that even modest commercial trapping of freshwater turtles can lead to population crashes. For the sake of our native turtles, Texas needs to stop this exploitative trapping. More than 2,000 freshwater turtles were trapped in Texas over the past two years, according to reports submitted by holders of nongame dealer permits to the Parks and Wildlife Department. International food and medicinal markets drive most of the trade. Because turtles accumulate toxins from prey in their bodies and burrow into contaminated sediment, their meat is often laced with mercury, PCBs and pesticides, posing a health risk. Adult turtles are also taken from the wild to breed hatchlings for the international pet trade. Texas modified its regulations in 2007 to protect freshwater turtles from harvest on its public lands and waters; however, this only resulted in protections for turtles in 2.2 percent of the water bodies in Texas. Under current law unlimited harvest of four native, freshwater turtle species is allowed on private property in the state: common snapping turtles, red-eared sliders, smooth softshells and spiny softshells. Recent studies concluded that current turtle harvest regulations in Texas are not likely to be sustainable. Commercial trapping is devastating to turtle populations that are already suffering from multiple other threats, including habitat loss, water pollution and vehicular collisions, said Evelyn Merz, conservation chair for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter. Unless the state bans commercial turtle trapping, Texas' turtle populations will continue to plummet. Today's petition was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, Texas Rivers Protection Association and Texas Snake Initiative. Background As part of a campaign to protect turtles in the United States, the Center has been petitioning states that allow commercial turtle collection to improve their regulations. In 2009 Florida responded by banning almost all commercial turtle collection from public and private waters. In 2012 Georgia approved state rules restricting commercial turtle collection, and Alabama completely banned it. And last year the Missouri Department of Conservation announced in response to a Center petition that it will consider ending unlimited commercial collection of the state's wild freshwater turtles. Most recently, in March, new regulations went into effect in Iowa setting closed seasons and possession limits for commercial turtle trappers. Texas is in a regional hotspot for commercial turtle collectors, and reform is needed. If the state created closed seasons and bag limits within its borders, adjacent states would likely follow its example; the region would be better equipped to protect its turtle populations by making clear to turtle traders that trade is strictly regulated and enforced. The Center also recently petitioned for a ban on unlimited commercial trapping in Louisiana and Oklahoma, two states that share a border with Texas. It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a Opinion | 04 November 2022 | Interviews India needs to connect OPD with the cashless insurance network to bring them into the digital economy After having raised $1.2 million from Entrepreneur First and GrowX Ventures in 2021, how do you see the perfor...Read more NAIROBI, Kenya: Investment in the industrial internet of things (IIoT) is expected to top $60 trillion during the next 15 years. And by 2020, over 50 billion assets will connect to the internet. Digital transformation in East Africa topped the agenda at the GE East Africa Digital Roadshow. GE is bringing new digital infrastructure solutions to the Kenyan market by connecting software, apps and analytics to industrial businesses, enabling them to operate faster, smarter and more efficiently. The event gathered key players in the digital space including GE Digital experts, Microsoft, Safaricom, iHub and Seven Seas, for stakeholder panel discussions on the importance of digital industrial transformation in Africa to unlock the regions digital future. What is industrial data? Industrial machines are not known to produce, share and capture data in a manner that can enable companies to understand them better, predict their defects and optimise their performances. GE is leading a whole new sector of technology which consists of enabling machines to connect to multiple other applications and platforms, as well as to send and receive massive amounts of data through the cloud/internet, making it possible to understand, operate, improve and service them remotely. Digital industrial revolution in East Africa Industries such as aviation, healthcare, mining, oil and gas, power generation, and transportation represent upwards of 30% of the global economy, and touch the lives of almost everyone on the planet. These capital-intensive industries have long-lived assets such as aircraft, generators, locomotives, and turbines that are mission-critical and require considerable monitoring and service throughout their 20 to 50-year lives. A big data platform that brings new value to the wealth of data coming from these assets, their processes, and the enterprises in which they exist, will set the stage for a new wave of productivity gains and information-based services. Industrial data is growing twice as fast as any other sector. Yet today, less than 3% of that data is tagged and used in a meaningful fashion. The digital industrial revolution is poised to radically reshape how we produce, distribute and maintain physical assetsfrom gas turbines to entire manufacturing plants. A growing, regional network of connected assets, designed to apply split-second machine learning to big data, the digital industrial revolution will help local businesses extract valuable insights from assets to transform operations, enable innovation and explore new business models. GE is bringing new digital infrastructure solutions to the Kenyan market by connecting software, apps and analytics to industrial businesses, enabling them to operate faster, smarter and more efficiently. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the company is pioneering technologies to help companies capitalize on the Industrial Internet, fuelling productivity and value from existing assets and enabling new business models and growth potential. Business innovation At the event, Getty Melaku the chief financial officer for GE Africa said: We are excited to bring our cutting edge digital solutions and expertise to Kenyan businesses to optimise operational and business innovations for increased productivity and profit. We see a huge opportunity for Kenya and the continent at large to benefit from the digital industrial revolution and leap-frog existing industrialisation models, and quickly improve competitiveness in the global economy. Thanks to technological advances, GE can optimise operations to improve asset performance while keeping costs down. This is why combining software and data analytics with machines hardware has become so important, including in Africa. The digital industrial revolution is both a cultural and technology shift and companies that dont evolve, will fail to deliver critical business outcomes and stunt their productivity gains. Our customers in Africa demand the same equipment performance as the rest of the world and are constantly looking at ways to enhance asset performance. Forty of GEs oil and gas customers in Africa are using digital solutions to optimise operations, said chief information officer for GE Africa, Abu Sulemana. GE has incorporated learnings from its extensive industrial business processes to release Predix the world's first industrial operation system which powers the modern digital industrial businesses. GE is committed to empowering organisations enter a new era of industry digitisation. Local businesses will be able to create innovative apps on Predix that turn real-time operational data into actionable that can deliver outcomes across many dierent industries. These outcomes range from the reduction of unplanned downtime to improved asset output and operational efficiency. Job creation from industrial digitisation According to a report by the World economic forum, there is significant opportunity in the electricity sector for digitisation to create jobs. Digital initiatives will create up to 3.45 million new jobs between 2016 and 2025 - translating to 10.7% job growth in the electricity industry. Job creation potential is highest in the consumer renewables sector, with energy storage integration creating up to 1.07 million new jobs. New jobs in smart asset planning (925,000 new jobs) and asset performance management (596,000) more than address job loss from automation or more efficient technologies. A significant problem that utilities are facing is an ageing workforce, with a weak pipeline of new talent and a potential productivity gap as new employees are recruited and trained. Digital initiatives go some way in ensuring that experience is captured as the workforce retires, with significant productivity gains expected. While corporate South Africa grapples with what it really means to run a business in an economy that has been downgraded to junk status', non-profit organisations are taking a closer look at what impact the tightening of belts will have on communities who rely heavily on charitable support to get by. While the knee-jerk reaction may be to reign in CSI spend, when times are financially tight you also dont want to alienate business partners, consumers or employees - in fact research shows that meaningful brands on average gain 46% more share of wallet, says Michelle Govender, GM: strategic marketing at B-Cause, a consultancy focused on cause-related marketing. It may sound soft, but meaningfulness matters in 2017. In fact, meaningful brands outperform the stock market by 133%. Businesses spent R8.1bn on corporate social investment (CSI) in South Africa during the 2014/15 financial year. Alarmingly, this amounted to zero growth in total corporate expenditure on social development from the previous year. The knock-on effect of junk status and a weaker rand could further flatten corporate allocations to communities in need. To the people on the ground, this could have a potentially devastating effect, says Govender. Business is getting tougher, margins are shrinking, and the usual starting place for budget cuts is on charitable giving. However, corporate SA has a lot to gain by maintaining a high profile CSI strategy, she adds. The positive impact of CSI for business In the past 12 months, consumers indicated that 63% bought a product with a social benefit, 53% of people boycotted companies that behaved irresponsibly and 37% researched a companys support for social issues. Junk status means there will be less money for government spending on education health national debt social grants and infrastructure. This is why B-Cause is lobbying for corporates to continue their much needed funding of NGOs during tough economic times. Meaningful brands deliver 100% more outcomes on the key performance indicators (KPIs) and thats certainly worth considering before slashing CSI budgets, says Govender. Its a two-way street Many social issues are increasing, not decreasing, yet CSI budgets seem to be getting smaller and smaller, says Richard Allen, CEO of Door of Hope, one of the foremost homes in Johannesburg for abandoned, abused and orphaned babies. It may still be a little early to tell how the junk status is impacting available budgets, but it would not be a stretch to say that it certainly will. Non-government organisations (NGOs) realise that gaining share of corporate wallets is a two-way street the NGOs need to meet the needs of the funder so that the funder can meet the needs of social development. Buhle Phiri, corporate partnerships manager of Save the Children South Africa, agrees: We havent felt the impact of the downgrade to junk status yet because current budgets are in place, however next year we could feel the pinch NGOs definitely have their work cut out in coming months. It is vital to show that we are capable and can be trusted. Having good, professional governance and financial practice goes a long way. A positive flip-side Staying positive in the face of adversity is a visible trait of NGOs and their common forward thinking approach is refreshingly upbeat. Many corporates are moving over to the triple bottom line evaluation structure to measure their success by using social, environmental and financial metrics. Interestingly, it is the corporate donor that is showing greater integrity and responsibility to the world and its people, that is finding resonance with customers and noticing that their business is well supported because of it, says Allen. He says there is a need for more creativity and innovation in fundraising efforts, which isnt easy when you dont have the manpower, resources, skills or finance to secure such necessities. However, the NGOs that are going to succeed, I believe, are the ones who will find a way to do this and do it well. Transparency in the way that funds are used is a major part of negotiating corporate funding partnerships. We find that funders want their money to go to specific programmes and projects, so that they can see real impact and value in their contribution, says Phiri. In negotiating we often provide a ratio or split in funding according to the request of the funder. For instance, 70% goes to the project and 30% to operating costs. We understand why this is important to them and try as best we can to tailor each project and work with each corporates funding requirement, she says. Door of Hope stresses that the challenge with operational costs is that they are so critical to the organisations success: We look after babies 24/7 and our biggest expense is salaries for our care-givers who love and care for them, but these costs are often overlooked when it comes to donor funding. Water, lights, maintenance, insurance and salaries tend to be the biggest funding challenge. No matter the economic outlook, we cant give up, says Phiri, It is tough for people in communities out there, so the more hands on deck the better! She says that the younger generation is very much in tune with the greater good. We need to tap into these pockets of people who are coming up in the ranks as the world shifts and social media creates platforms for social consciousness more than ever before. CSI a test of business character The pressure is on for business SA to develop well-managed CSI strategies that deliver social currency, and uplift and empower beneficiaries on a sustainable basis. This is particularly relevant given South Africas massive social challenges and economic disparities, says Govender. She says it is important that CSI strategies support business objectives by enhancing relationships with key stakeholders and customers. There is an opportunity to do good that has real impact and effect and, at the same time, provides the business with a distinct competitive advantage in a parity market, explains Govender. In South Africa the corporate sector needs to take a hard look at what defines a successful company and how the CSI budget fits in to reflect this in these tougher economic times it is a true test of brand and reputational character. It's been more than a century since Rudyard Kipling penned, If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs... in his iconic poem If, but in my humble opinion that sentiment rings true of Thuli Madonsela today. Thuli Madonsela At the risk of overmixing metaphors, I would say the former public protector has shown extreme grace under fire, even in the face of death threats when her offices State of Capture report blew the lid on the very rotten state of affairs in our government. She told Carte Blanches Derek Watts at Momentums Outcomes-based Investments launch in Cape Town recently, that when she took up the office of public protector, her predecessors warned her of the two worst things she could expect. Someone was going to insult me, and that at a VIP function someone would refuse to sit next to me. She certainly didnt anticipate the stormy waters that I eventually encountered. Watts: Was your life in danger? It certainly was. My life was threatened. First I was told there was a bulls eye on my back. Last year was the worst. I started receiving SMSes that a hit man had been hired. Madonsela said it was at the same time that her relationship with the security services had deteriorated. Yet, in typical style, her concerns were more for her children, although they were the ones trying to protect her. My children tend to think they are the parents. But I was worried about their physical and emotional wellbeing. Watts: Did you mean to leave your office with such a bombshell? She explained that as the investigation into state capture progressed, it became more obvious that there was indeed a shadow government holding the reins of power in South Africa. Everything is poisoned. My team realised we were in a chess game. Every time we made a move, it was countered." We felt strongly that the public had a right to know, hence the decision to publish the report. Watts: How do you deal with adversity? The first thing is forgiveness. For the person and myself. Were all doing the best we can. When people strike out, its because they are afraid. Im also very spiritual, and will pray and meditate about it, said Madonsela. Her philosophy works well, as she exudes a sense of unflappability and quiet dignity that makes you instinctively trust her and that she will do the right thing. Madonsela is also quick to point out that she never was a lone crusader, but rather a team leader. When the headwinds came, we faced them as an entity." Watts: What were the important lessons you learnt from being public prosecutor? Madonsela said it is the art of listening, and shes certainly got that skill nailed. When you talk to her, she locks into you with a fierce intensity. And its not just your words, but also your expressions and gestures that she follows. You need to listen to the things that arent being said and be able read between the lines, she said, adding that people have all sorts of reasons not to tell the whole truth, going back to fear. If youre not paying attention, dont be surprised if you end up walking alone. Watts: Are you confident the constitution will survive the current situation? Madonselas answer comes with total conviction. 100% certain. This, from the woman who was part of the team that drafted the constitution, gives me a little hope. Leadership is all about character and skill set. A leader can learn competence, but if their character is to look after themselvesThats not going to change. Built into the architecture of the constitution are safeguard to overcome human failings. The mothers and fathers of the constitution had the foresight to give citizens access to the courts and other mechanisms to protect their rights.Don't feel guilty about using them. What next for Thuli Madonsela? On her return from completing a social justice course at Harvard University, Madonsela will take up the social justice chair at Stellenbosch University. Her job, she says is to flesh out what social justice is. Once this has been narrowed down, an app will be developed for decision makers to build the concept into their strategies. Very often decisions are made with good intentions, but may unintentionally disadvantage those it is trying to help. Madonsela said that the project will initially focus on certain sectors, namely law, education and health. Manufacturers remain somewhat upbeat about their prospects despite a contraction in the first quarter. The Manufacturing Circle, which is considered the voice of the sector, says business has remained resilient even as SA grapples with downgrades to its credit ratings. According to a survey compiled by the industry body, 29% of manufacturing enterprises indicated that they would continue with already instituted plans but would halt whatever they could to manage risks. Another 34% of respondents said the downgrades would affect investment decisions. Manufacturing Circle executive director Philippa Rodseth said: "The message is that while manufacturers want to invest more, this can be affected by events such as downgrades. "This is concerning for future growth, jobs and exports." Statistics SA data show that manufacturing production slumped in the first quarter. Seasonally adjusted manufacturing production decreased 0.9% in the first quarter. The Absa purchasing managers index (PMI) also fell in April to 44.7 index points from 51.9. Nascence Advisory Research economist Xhanti Payi said: "The PMI had been positive for the first quarter, so the numbers were aligned, but we've seen the PMI turn, which is concerning. "If we survey manufacturers now in the second quarter, we're likely to see that change in direction. They're reflecting on the same thing. You're not going to see big investment because the risk levels are very high. The wait-and-see approach is actually a negative thing as people are cautious about investing." Manufacturing Circle chairman Andre de Ruyt is optimistic that investment in the sector has not ground to a halt. "For SA's state of development, manufacturing is at a far lower contribution to GDP than it should be. We're lagging way behind compared to other emerging markets." Manufacturing faced challenges because of big contributions from imports, steadily increasing labour costs, and policy and regulatory uncertainty. Despite this, the Manufacturing Circle and the CEO Initiative are looking at creating a special economic zone in the Vaal Triangle to preserve jobs and prevent further deindustrialisation as part of an initiative to create 1-million jobs in the sector. "In the next two months, we will workshop with CEOs. We will build an economic model to demonstrate that assistance to manufacturing is a net positive for SA," De Ruyt said. The Manufacturing Circle has set up industry engagements in July that will involve the government. Source: Business Day A panel constituted of high level leaders from several countries around the world has met in South Africa to thrash out ways in which water use can be harnessed to aid efforts to save every valuable drop of the precious natural resource. As host country of the United Nations Valuing Water Regional Consultation, South Africa called on world leaders to make meaningful inputs into the draft document on Valuing Water Principles. It is envisioned that the final document will contribute majorly to the work of governments to save water. South Africa has been chosen as the first country to host the High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) Regional Consultation to solicit views from all segments of the water stakeholder community and beyond, including agriculture, energy and other sectors, on how water can be better valued. The consultations, which are also expected to take part in other regions in the world, will culminate in the presentation of a report on valuing water, which will be presented to the General Assembly of the United Nations in September this year. The members of the HLPW include heads of state from Australia, Bangladesh, Hungary, Jordan, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Senegal, South Africa and Tajikistan. Speaking at the consultation on Tuesday, 30 May, in Boksburg in Gautengs East Rand, South Africas Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi said the consultations were a platform for government representatives and organisations to share national perspectives and positions on the critical issue of water. Water, Muthambi said, is a cross-cutting matter as it speaks to all aspects of development and is linked to different policy positions and legislative imperatives that must be considered in decision making. It is my submission that we engage honestly, while raising awareness on the harmful impacts of illegal usage of water and violation of laws, regulations and legislations to ensure that no one is left behind in the decisions that will come out of this process, said Muthambi. She was speaking on behalf of Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane at the consultation. The minister said the HLPW members have the same vision agreed to by the Global Water Partnership (GWP), which is partly aimed at assessing the impact of water programmes in the region. GWP supports communities and countries to improve the way they manage water. Muthambi said the HLPW is an opportunity for delegates to consider the different challenges that the countries face. These include the current levels of access to clean water in the region, monetary value attached to water as a critical resource, the policy perspective in the region, equity and user requirements, as well as legislative imperatives and government obligations. These challenges will be the contributing and determining factors in deciding on the Principles of Valuing Water that we envisage at the end of the [consultation] process, she said. Muthambi said South Africa is one of the few countries that have embedded the right to water in its Constitution. She said the right to clean water is something that government must ensure is accessed at different levels of affordability across all communities, and industrial and commercial users. Change the way you look at water Water and Sanitation director-general Dan Mashitisho said the consultations will get countries to realise that they need to change the way they look at water, if the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on Water is to be achieved. South Africa takes this issue and consultation very seriously, hence our [Water and Sanitation] minister said last week, when she was delivering her Budget Vote emphasised the importance of collaboration with the Global Water Partnership, as well as the extent to which water contributes to industrialisation, job creation and poverty alleviation, said Mashitisho. The deputy minister of Energy, Thembisile Majola, highlighted the problem of acid mine drainage (AMD) in South Africa, which impacts the countrys scarce water resources. The deputy minister said going forward, the bar must be set high for the mining industry to plough back into the environment to counter the effects of their operations. Urgent action needed World Bank special advisor Patrick Vincent Verkooijen warned that the pressure on water is raising and that urgent action is required. The World Bank recently released a report titled High and Dry, which indicated that if left unchecked, water will become more scarce, polluted and much more unpredictable in the years to come. Because of this, the report warned that some of the regions will see their growth rate decline to 6% by 2050 and the economic growth rate will decline by 60%. Water scarcity is a major threat to economic growth. However, the world has agreed on a different pathway. Led by South Africa in 2011 in Durban, the world agreed in 2015 and in 2017 to sustainable water development goals Thats the vision and thats the aspiration. The world needs to transform the way it manages water. It requires political engagement at the level of heads of states and government, ministers of finance and planning, agriculture, energy, health and other parts of government, as well as key public-private and civil society stakeholders in order to galvanise action at the scale and speed required, said Verkooijen. Ambassador of the Netherlands Marisa Gerards said her country was happy to participate in the HLPW and thanked South Africa for hosting the consultations. Its a unique and important platform and we have to push for [the SDG on Water], and we really need to be creative, said Gerard. She said the Netherlands has offered to champion the initiative within the high level because we believe we have no other choice than to incorporate the value of water within our policy decisions. Investing in Africa's beef and dairy industries could be a boom for global agriculture, but it does come with some baggage, according to AgWeb. During Alltechs 30th Annual International Symposium in Lexington, Ky., a presentation was given about the potential of Africas agriculture industry. Speaking on a panel was Charles Moore, a consulting nutritionist from Cape Town, South Africa. He discussed some of the opportunities and challenges related to putting Africas beef and dairy industries on a level playing field with more established areas of the world like Australia, Brazil, and the US Moore listed the countries that would be best suited for dairy production and here were some of his favorites: Angola would be an excellent place to start a dairy in Africa because there is a large population with an economy fueled by the oil industry. The climate is well suited for milk production and access to water is not a problem. There would also be the potential for export because of the close proximity to the Middle East and Southeast Asian markets. Zimbabwe would be another good fit for dairy production thanks to a built-in infrastructure, a culture that values cattle, favorable climate, and quality water sources. However, Moore notes that political turmoil is a roadblock to development. Kenya we know is a big dairy market. There are about a million dairy farmers in Kenya milking three million cows, so that is three cows per farmer, Moore adds. There is a lot of room for investment to increase the size and the scale of those farms. South Africa already has a well-established dairy industry says Moore. He believes that the country now needs to look at value-added products to increase profitability. Much like the rest of the world, there is a lot of consolidation within the South African dairy industry, but farmers there are on the cutting edge compared to the rest of the continent. South Africa produces approximately 50% of Africas milk. Other countries that could benefit from investment include Zambia and Ethiopia. Northern Africa is the one region of Africa that is not conducive to raising cattle because it is a desert. The true potential lies in the beef industry Moore believes that South Africas model will be the way to go in Africa with 500 to 1,000 cow herds. The small producers are going to get eaten up. The true potential in Africa lies in the beef industry where beef cattle outnumber dairy cows 30 to 40 times. Its part of a subsistence culture where everyone has three cows, but there is a lot of room for consolidation in the market, Moore says. Right now there has not been a substantial effort to make the African beef industry profitable, and that is largely because of a lack of infrastructure. If we can setup operations that encompass export quality abattoirs (or packing plants) to move some of the beef out, then it is a way to improve the markets, Moore adds. Keeping wild animals and domestic cattle divided Another downfall to the beef industry in Africa comes in the form of wildlife. The country prides itself on the variety of big game species that call the continent home. However, there is a risk of disease, particularly Foot and Mouth, because cattle come in close contact with carrier animals like wildebeest and impala. Keeping wild animals and domestic cattle divided has proven to be quite profitable says Moore. For instance, in Botswana, there are specially designated Foot and Mouth free areas that are protected by fences. Cattle originating from disease-free regions of Botswana made three times the amount of their unprotected counterparts. This is the reality of Africa that you have wild animals and domestic livestock cohabitating where there is not a lot of fencing, so this is a big challenge, Moore says. By Wyatt Bechtel, AgWeb Case law indicates that the lesser known of the lawful grounds for dismissal in South African employment law, incompatibility, is sufficient for dismissal but that correct procedures must be followed for its success. The Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 (LRA) recognises three grounds for dismissal, namely misconduct, incapacity and operational requirements. Whereas misconduct and incapacity (poor work performance) are often easily identifiable, incompatibility can be a more nebulous concept, and is not as easily identified as the appropriate reason for a potential dismissal, especially as it is not mentioned specifically as a ground for dismissal in the LRA. However, courts have given life to the concept and provided guidance as to when a dismissal for incompatibility may be fair. An employer has the prerogative to set reasonable standards pertaining to the harmonious interpersonal relationships in the workplace, Mokgoatlheng AJ stated in the case of Jabari v Telkom. Classified as a form of incapacity and defined by Jabari, as relating to a subjective relationship between an employee and his/her co-workers, as the employee's inability or failure to maintain cordial and harmonious relationships with his peers, incompatibility has not come before South African courts too many times. Correct procedure for dismissal It has only once succeeded as a ground for dismissal in a case before the CCMA namely, Miyeni v Chillibush Communications. However, despite the fact that employers have often been unsuccessful in proving the fairness of an incompatibility dismissal, the overwhelming message communicated by the courts is that incompatibility is indeed a ground for dismissal in South African law and adherence to the correct procedure may result in a fair dismissal. The correct procedure for an incompatibility dismissal has been set out in case law. In the case of Wright v St. Mary's Hospital the Industrial Court, as it was at the time, explains The employee must be advised what conduct allegedly causes disharmony; who has been upset by the conduct; what remedial action is suggested to remove the incompatibility; that the employee be given a fair opportunity to consider the allegations and prepare his reply thereto; that he be given a proper opportunity of putting his version; and where it is found that he was responsible for the disharmony, he must be given a fair opportunity to remove the cause for disharmony. In the case of Jabari, an employee was dismissed on the basis that his attitude, behaviour and general personality was incompatible with the employer's corporate culture. The court held that the employer has the onus of proving not only that incompatibility exists but also that the employee is substantially responsible for the disharmony. In addition, an employer must prove that they followed the correct procedure set out above with regard to counselling the employee and affording him/her with an opportunity to put his/her version to the employer and to correct the disharmony with the aim of restoring an amicable relationship. In Jabari, the court held that the employer failed to discharge the onus proving the correct procedure was followed. In the case of Miyeni, the employee resigned from the employer as managing director but wanted to remain employed as an ordinary employee. The board of the employer passed a resolution removing the employee, which the Labour Court subsequently ruled constituted a dismissal. The CCMA was tasked with determining whether such dismissal was procedurally and substantively fair. In determining procedural fairness, the Arbitrator referred to the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (Schedule 8 to the LRA) which requires an investigation, which need not be formal but which allows the employee an opportunity to address the allegations made against him. In Miyeni, the employee was given notice of a shareholder's meeting where certain concerns regarding the employee would be discussed. Despite the fact that the employee chose not to attend this meeting, the Arbitrator found that the employee was still afforded a reasonable opportunity to present his case. The dismissal was found to be procedurally fair. Jabari adds to the procedure requirement that the employee be afforded counselling to remedy the incompatibility. With regard to substantive fairness, the Arbitrator found that the employer had proved a degree of incompatibility, which was caused by the employee's conduct. In particular, the Arbitrator made reference to words by John Grogan in his book Dismissal which states that compatibility may carry more significance in more senior employees. On this basis, the Arbitrator found that the employee's incompatibility to fit the corporate culture of the employer constituted a reasonable justification for dismissal making the dismissal substantively fair. This case, although only before the CCMA, shows the potential for a fair dismissal on the ground of incompatibility. This ground finds stronger applicability in the case of employees at higher levels. Despite this being the only case where incompatibility has succeeded as a ground for dismissal, other cases are aligned with Miyeni in the principles outlined by the court: incompatibility may succeed as a ground for dismissal if substantive and procedural fairness is followed. In an environment where the workplace is becoming increasingly focused on interpersonal relationships, this ground of dismissal may grow in popularity. It is necessary, for this reason, that employers and employees alike are aware of the requirements with respect to reason and procedure that govern incompatibility. Businesses concentrate on providing external security but often the threat comes from within an organisation where staff perpetrate fraud. The threat comes from within, warns Reg Horne, MD of Justicia Investigations, one of South Africas largest privately owned investigation agencies. Businesses often spend large amounts on security to combat external threats without putting in place systems to counter internal ones. Yes, you need visible security. However, it does not matter if you have three or 20 security guards, if you do not know where the problem is, the threat remains. Horne heads offices in Durban and Gauteng that have serviced an extensive corporate and private client base both nationally and internationally for 25 years. Currently, on-the-ground investigators have noted two interesting trends. The problem is not large corporate frauds but the ever-growing number of smaller crimes that are constantly adding up and these are usually perpetrated by employees further down the line and not by top management, as might be expected. Case studies point to trend This experience is echoed in the findings of two important studies. The first is the 2016 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global Economic Crime Survey, which not only showed that commercial crime was on the rise but also had reached crisis proportions in this region. More than two out of three (69%) South African companies reported having been victims of crime during the 24 months preceding the survey. At double the global average of 36%, this positioned South Africa as the top country reporting economic crime. The second, the 2016 ACFE Global Fraud Study, not only indicated increased fraud but also highlighted that the majority of cases involved employees. Embezzlement theft by an accountant, bookkeeper or manager who diverts income and then covers it up was flagged as a particular threat. Horne highlighted recent Justicia cases. These included disappearance of large amounts of fertilizer between storage facilities at an agricultural processing company; presentation of signed delivery notes for oil that had never arrived but had been sold off to a syndicate en route; diversion of supplier payments to the banking account of an accountants relative; and sale of fabrics from a clothing company warehouse. Unfortunately, cases like this are happening daily. Businesses need to fight back to survive. Right now, they are under siege from their own staff as well as from opportunists who know how to exploit employees when times are difficult. Even when the various schemes are engineered by crime syndicates, they are more often than not carried out by middle management and employees in positions of trust, such as those receiving or despatching goods, supervising logistics facilities, doing the accounts and controlling security. This, too, was echoed by the PwC survey, which noted that the number of crooked senior management had more than halved whilst middle management appeared to have taken centre stage with 39% of fraud being perpetrated by internal actors at this level. It also noted that more than half of internal perpetrators (52%) had been employed for between 3 and 10 years and were not only likely to be ultra-familiar with any controls but may even have helped put them in place. Horne says many fraudulent schemes are often only detected by accident when losses have accumulated over longer periods. This is particularly true during tough times, as companies tend to keep a closer eye on cash flow and look inward to manage processes better in order to cut costs. Expert assistance in prosecuting The only way to catch those who know the ropes extremely well is through intelligence driven prevention and the only way to prosecute them effectively is to bring in experts. In many instances, the organisation has the case in hand but does not know how to take it to the next level. It requires skill to get the correct evidence that not only enables a company to dismiss an employee but also to present the correct, admissible evidence to secure a conviction in court. Horne recognises that different situations require different solutions. These could include the deployment of crime prevention units and undercover operatives, technical surveillance, counter-surveillance measures, forensic investigations and more. Our operations team has the experience and skill required to understand each unique situation and assess which tools would be best suited to solving the problem. Our investigators are well versed in the Criminal Procedures Act and work with the SAPS or independently in gathering admissible evidence, compiling a docket and leading evidence in court. Our extensive experience ensures that all cases are procedurally sound and are prepared with the ultimate objective of an effective resolution, he concludes. SA is considering insuring people's savings in the event of a bank failure. But in contrast to the US where a government agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, was created after the Great Depression, SA should use a privately funded system. Because SA does not have explicit and privately funded deposit insurance, pay-outs to depositors in the event of a failed bank have, in the past, been funded by government on a case-by-case basis. No arrangements are in place to recover such compensation to depositors from the private sector, resulting in taxpayers ultimately funding the costs of bank failures," a Reserve Bank discussion document said. Until the 2008 financial crisis - which prompted the US to update its 1933 deposit insurance laws with the Dodd Frank Act which, among other things, raised the amount insured from $2,500 to $250,000 - deposit insurance tended to be viewed as academic. There were no examples where countries with deposit insurance had used it. Instead, central banks organised fire sales of failed banks to strong banks to assure savers their money was safe, just as they did in countries without deposit insurance. The discussion document said among the reasons SA needed to introduce deposit insurance was to keep the country in line with international best practice and other G20 countries. "The deposit insurance scheme can also contribute to the development of a less-concentrated banking sector, supporting financial inclusion and transformation of the sector." Delta Property Fund, which focuses on renting offices to the state, plans to grow significantly in 2017 as it looks to broaden its investor base. The largely black-owned company is planning to raise as much as R5bn worth of capital through a shares issue to a new empowerment consortium, nearly doubling its market capitalisation, which sits at R6bn. CEO Sandile Nomvete said Redefine Properties had already agreed to sell its 22.8% interest in Delta, which is worth about R1.4bn, to the new broad-based black economic empowerment, women-led consortium in a deal that had been approved by Delta's board. The consortium would then invest up to a further R5bn, but would need 75% Delta board approval. This meant the consortium could invest a total of about R6.4bn in 2017 and become the majority shareholder in Delta. More details about the second transaction would follow soon. Delta grew its dividend 7.1% in the year to February, results released on Monday showed. The group declared a dividend of 97.24c per share upon the release of its financial results for the year to February, which was in line with its income growth forecast, despite challenging operating conditions. "These results are a testimony of our ongoing efforts to focus on our strategy of longterm investment in quality, rental income-generating properties in strategic nodes attractive to sovereign entities and other tenants requiring empowered landlords," said Nomvete. "The successful conclusion of ongoing corporate action will allow us to renew debt at favourable rates and lower our gearing to significantly below 40%," he said. Delta's loan-to-value improved to 41.5% from 47.2% mainly as a result of the acquisition of a R1.3bn portfoliofrom Redefine Properties which was settled through the issue of shares. The Redefine portfolio was acquired in 2015 but only transferred between April 2016 and August 2016. During the year, Delta had refinanced debt worth R1.2bn. Metope Investment Managers CEO and portfolio manager Liliane Barnard said Delta's results were in line with expectations and management guidance of between 7% and 7.5%. She said Delta had made a concerted effort to improve its balance sheet, with its gearing having been reduced. "We expect there to be pressure on distributions going forward as the short-dated debt facilities will require refinancing, which is likely to be at higher rates than the current weighted average of 9.2%," she said. "Adding to this is the muchanticipated DPW [Department of Public Works] leasing policy framework, which we expect will result in a reduction of leased rent-per-square-metre rates, but with a longer lease length and a more secure income stream." Source: Business Day The FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar and FirstRand Foundation postgraduate scholarship awards for 2017 have been awarded, in addition to a new award, the FirstRand Oxford African Studies scholarship. Six students have received scholarships worth over R4.8 million. Laurie Dippenaar Scholarships Two FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar Scholarships worth R800,000 each were awarded to Aphiwe Jikazana and Teddy Mudge. Jikazana, a chemical engineer and alumnus of Stellenbosch University, has identified the application of chemical engineering to water and water waste management as a crucial requirement for ameliorating the countrys long-term water supply issues. She will be reading for an MSc in Water and Wastewater Engineering at Cranfield University. Mudge went to UCT and completed a Mechanical Engineering degree with honours. He has found an area that is ideally suited to him: medical device design that requires creativity, engineering skill and an understanding of the medical need. He wishes to do a Masters in Medical Device Design and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London, which is split between Biomedical Engineering and the MBA programme at Imperial College. Foundation Scholarships Three FirstRand Foundation Scholarships worth R800,000 each were awarded to Tshepo Mosaka, Farai Mubaiwa and Safa Naraghi. Mosaka completed a Bachelor of Laws at Wits, graduating with distinction. He then completed an LLM at UCT also with distinction. He talks of embarking on a long-term project to write an African customary law code of evidence and whether it is possible to adapt the English system of evidence based on empirical foundations to suit African customary law (which has supernatural foundations). He will read for a DPhil at Nottingham University. Mubaiwa completed her B.Com (Accounting) at Stellenbosch with stellar grades and was elected to the SRC. She then went on to do Honours in Management Accounting. She now wants to complete a Masters in the Political Economy of Emerging Markets at Kings College London. She wishes to become an academic. She may well end up staying in the corporate space, which she is well suited to and could make a really significant impact. Naraghi holds a BSc Mechanical Engineering degree from UCT with very good marks. While at UCT, he participated in the South African Washington International Programme. He is currently completing an MSc in Biomedical Engineering. His project involves the use of simple cellphone technology to detect early signs of TB. He wishes to do an MSc at UCL in Entrepreneurship and Health-Related Engineering Design. Oxford African Studies scholarship This is the first year that the FirstRand Oxford African Studies scholarship has been awarded. Keyan Jardine, completed both his BA in History and Philosophy and BA Honours in History (awarded with Honours) at Wits. He wants to work on gang cultures in South Africa, a field of history that could use further research. He has been accepted to Oxford University to do a Masters in African Studies. Panel impressed by high standards Because of the growing awareness of these leading scholarships, 203 qualifying applications were received in 2017. Applications were received from graduates from all of the major academic universities. The panel was again impressed by the quality of all the applicants and, in particular, the last ten who were invited to be interviewed. Any of the ten could have been a worthy recipient of the award. Members of the panel were unanimous in their view that meeting and interviewing the finalists was an inspirational experience. The panel regard themselves as fortunate to be exposed to such amazing talent, said Laurie Dippenaar, chairman, FirstRand. Applications for the 2018 FirstRand scholarship for postgraduate international study will open mid-December 2017 and close on Thursday 22 February 2018. For more information, go to www.firstrand.co.za from end November 2017. Anthony Berklich, founder of Inspired Citizen shared some interesting insight into the travelling millennial at WTM Africa 2017. Much has been said about the millennial generation and how they are fundamentally different to the generations that came before them. Highly confident, tech-savvy and spirited individuals - usually between 28-35-years old who are sometimes perceived to be narcissistic and entitled - are now firmly settled in workforces around the world, they are starting families and - while they are expected to be economically less successful than their parents - have access to disposable income with a penchant for living in the now. Anthony Berklich, founder of Inspired Citizen, in Morocco This disposition translates directly into how they travel and how they approach the travel market. When it comes to spending, millennials are now the new thought-leaders and influencers, according to Berklich. As the travel industry is moving online, and millennials are thoroughly ensconced in online and social media networks, how this group defines travel - luxury travel in particular - is becoming increasingly important. So, how do millennials consume luxury differently from their parents? Parents of millennials perceive luxury in a somewhat old-school way. Butlers in tuxedos, stuffy hotel furnishings, being greeted by sir and madam, says Berklich. This is a far cry from how millennials define luxury. They put unique and exclusive experiences above luxurious comfort and are willing to sacrifice the latter for the former. They dont care if they find the latest designer soap in the shower, but if they find a hand-made soap made with local ingredients from a small soap business with a story, they will be far more impressed authenticity is key. The narrative, the story behind it is what they are buying into, says Berklich. This is not to say that they do not enjoy their creature comforts, but crave a deeper connection in how they interact with their surroundings. Thus, the way they perceive luxury has changed and the industry will have to follow suit if they want to attract millennial travellers. Living it up According to Berklich, millennials seek unique and special, exclusive experiences and items that make them different and create a separation between them and the masses and, most importantly, allow them to express themselves. They are a little narcissistic and will spend money to feel special. While they are optimistic about the future, they do believe in living for today. Therefore, they are willing to spend more on material items they feel are special to them, or dig deep for an experience of a lifetime. They are spontaneous travellers and they want a social-media-worthy travel experience, says Berklich, however, they put great store in how their travels change and enrich their lives and how they, in turn, contribute to the destinations they have travelled. Catering for millennials As denizens of social media, it is to social media they look to find their next travel experience. While they are influenced by blogs, magazines, and shows Northern Ireland, Iceland and Malta enjoying a spike in tourists thanks to Game of Thrones, for example they also mine Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media channels for travel inspiration. To cater for millennials, destinations and establishments need to know who the influential travel and lifestyle bloggers are, follow them and watch what they do. They must trawl social media channels to see what people are photographing and showcasing on Instagram, Snapchat, etc. and emulate them. Destinations need to know who they are, what they can offer millennials that are special, and be willing to experiment with their offerings to recreate something regular into something unique and fun. Create an environment and experience conducive to luxurious and memorable travel moments, says Berklich. In other words, create a social-media-friendly environment by paying attention to even the tiniest detail. Destinations should host trips for millennial influencers - paying attention to not just the amount of followers they have, but how they share and what their aesthetic is, says Berklich - making sure that it matches their own. While hosting millennial travellers and influencers alike, destinations and establishments must further make their social media presence known by supplying visitors with hashtags and social media handles, so that its easy for them to mention and share their experience. How can Africa reach millennial travellers on a global scale? Africa has not been well known as a destination for international travellers. This is starting to change, however, through the constant consumption of media and information - millennials are expanding their knowledge of Africa and the diversity and variety here that is on offer, says Berklich. He encourages destinations and establishments to make their products work for them by showcasing it through eye-catching imagery and short, but memorable writing to capture the hearts of travellers. Destinations should play to their strengths and capitalise on their weaknesses. As Berklich explains: If your destination sees rain for six months out of the year - dont write that season off. Instead, use it to create incredible experiences that will attract and draw in the adventurous millennial. Destinations and establishments will need to think outside the box. Instead of getting stuck in how things have always been done, they should take a page from this adventurous generation - switch it up and step out on a ledge. Muddling through her mid-30s, Orthodox Jewish singleton Michal (Noa Koler) is convinced the reason she is unhappy is because shes not married. She lives in Jerusalem and comes from a tradition-bound society, after all, that puts a pretty heavy onus on marriage. Reach middle age without hooking up and youre not just a spinsteryoure flat-out defying Gods plan for marriage and procreation. At this point in life, Michal is ready to settle for just about anyoneanyone with curly forelocks and a big black hat, anyway. She finds what shes looking foror so she thinksin the form of Gidi, a sad-eyed, tightlipped Hasid. Unfortunately, after much prodding, Gidi admits hes not really in love with her and doesnt want to get married (while theyre taste-testing main courses for their wedding reception, no less). Michal isnt the type to take disappointment lying down, however. At the end of her romantic rope, she decides that shes not canceling the wedding. Shes reserving the wedding hall, keeping the date open and in exactly 22 days, shes going to be married, come Hell or high water. Thats the setup for the culturally specific romantic dramedy The Wedding Plan. The way our gal Michal sees it, shes leaving her romantic fate in Gods hands. Either shell meet someone in the next month or she wont. But shes OK with hedging her bets a little. She relies heavily on her friends, recruits the services of multiple matchmakers and even makes a religious pilgrimage to pray over the shrine of a famous rabbi in the Ukraine. She goes on a lot of first dates, but keeps running into men who are either too fundamentalist (one refuses to even look her in the face because shes female) or too brutally honest (sensing the faint odor of desperation about her, most men tap out early). As the story wears on, the ticking clock that is Michals predetermined wedding day becomes less of a referendum for her faith in God and more a litmus test for her faith in herself. Will any of her shattershot attempts at romance pan out in the end? The Wedding Plan comes to us via Israel from New York-born writer-director Rama Burshtein (2012s Fill the Void, which also looked at traditional Hasidic marriagealbeit from a more dramatic viewpoint). The Wedding Plan bills itself as a comedy. Although, like a lot of recent indie dramedies, the humor comes not from actual jokes but from the far-fetched situation. (See for reference: last weeks The Lovers.) Certainly, the idea of a middle-aged woman confidently setting a wedding date and then going out hunting for a groom could serve as the basis for some increasingly manic Tina Fey comedy. But that is not this film. Much of the films funny-sad spunk comes from first-time actress Noa Koler, who deftly defines the characters fear of loneliness and aging, her spiritual doubt and personal indecision. Michal is a pretty if somewhat plain-Jane type who owns her own mobile petting zoo. (A Zooey Deschanel-worthy career choice.) Shes a quirky, likable sad sack of a heroine you cant help but root for. On the one hand, shes a devout, God-fearing woman. On the other, shes trying to blaze her own, nonconformist path to marriage. Neither her friends nor her mother nor her rabbi really get what shes trying to do. But she does. And thats enough for her. Initially, anyway. There are moments when our protagonist seems on the tipping point of success. In the Ukraine, for example, she crosses paths with a hipster Jewish pop star (Oz Zehavi) whos traded his yeshivish hat for a knit cap. Despite her string of dating disasters, other last-minute romantic saves abound. But with the set-in-stone wedding date approaching, we cant help but feel nervous for Michal. Is her do-or-die deadline cutting off prospects for a deeper connection with the men shes meeting? Burshtein also plays around with our perceptions a bit, allowing Michal to go off on daydreams or flights of fancy. If this film offers us a happy ending, can we really trust it? The Wedding Plan never fully convinces as a romantic comedy, and its dogmatic elements can be daunting (if not a bit frustrating) for the non-Orthodox in the audience. I, for one, find it difficult to generate strong romantic feelings about a culture thats cool with arranged marriage. Your results may vary. But no matter how you approach it, The Wedding Plan has a certain charm and velocity thats hard to escape. Add to that a likable lead actress and the sensitivity with which her troubles are portrayed, and youve got a film that dances to the beat of its own exotic wedding band. NEW DELHI, India - Indian exporters were scrambling on Tuesday to assure global clients like Zara and Giorgio Armani their shipments would arrive despite a government crackdown on cattle slaughter which threatens the lucrative leather industry. The government last week declared a nationwide ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter, startling major fashion labels who buy billions of dollars worth of leather from India every year to make high-end shoes, handbags and jackets. "They're calling and writing emails and asking what the consequences of this will be, and I don't know what to tell them," said Mohammad Zia Nafees, whose Kolkata-based business sells finished leather to Zara and Marks & Spencer for shoes. The controversial ruling effectively chokes off India's supply of beef and leather, and industry groups and some states where cow slaughter has previously been permitted have vowed to fight the decree. India is the world's second-largest producer of footwear and leather garments and sold $13 billion worth of goods last year - nearly half to clients abroad who are growing skittish, industry groups say. "My family has been working with Radley and Armani for the last few decades and now they're asking us if we can fulfil our commitments to them," Imran Ahmed Khan from the Council for Leather Exports told AFP. "The industry is in panic mode at the moment. We have been handed a death certificate by the ruling Modi government." Cows are considered sacred by Hindus and the new ban was justified on the grounds of avoiding animal cruelty. But critics have accused the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of pursuing a hardline religious agenda. The BJP has pushed for stronger protections for cows during the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There has been a surge in vigilante attacks on cattle handlers and curbs on the meat industry since he took office in 2014. Industry figures said the latest decree ran counter to Modi's goal of creating jobs and luring foreign investment, and said retailers could look next door if the disruption continued. Neighbouring Bangladesh and Pakistan - both major garment producers - are mainly Muslim and cow slaughter is not an issue. The industry hopes the ruling - which affects not just cows but the trade in bulls, bullocks, buffaloes, calves and camels - will be rescinded or amended to exclude buffalo, an animal not considered sacred but valued for its leather. The slaughter of cows, as well as the possession or consumption of beef, is banned in most but not all Indian states. Some impose up to life imprisonment for infringements. Source: AFP Expansion into African markets is not a decision that should be taken lightly - even the best-laid plans can be stymied by unexpected challenges. Small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) need to have clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve, says Michael Duys, CEO of Duys Engineering, the South African-based operation which expanded into Mozambique in 2002. His words are echoed by Mark Paper, chief operating officer at Business Partners International who has overseen the expansion of Business Partners Limited brand into five African countries, namely Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia. Duys says in their instance, the expansion was organic. We followed one of our major customers to Mozambique. It was a bit of a naive move and we probably set up in Mozambique two years too early. Fortunately we were able to survive on small contracts in 2003 and 2004, he says. Duys Engineering is a family owned and managed steel fabrication, manufacturing and design house, which was founded in Durban in 1960. The business focuses on solving the engineering, manufacturing and logistics challenges of its customers, who are largely in the mining, automotive and industrial industries. Today, the company employs about 400 people and has operations in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay and Maputo. When the engineering operation decided to move into Mozambique, Duys himself spent 18 months in the country setting up the business and tackling various administrative and regulatory hurdles. It was a steep learning curve, which required an entrepreneurial approach and the ability to be flexible and adapt quickly. No legal baseline for conducting business in Africa Africa is a huge continent made up of 54 countries, each with their own commercial codes and legal environments for conducting business. Duys says it would be a mistake to assume a deep knowledge of Dutch-based South African law would help business people in a country like Mozambique. Too often, companies looking to set up in other African countries think they can place a carbon-copy of their business into a new environment and it will be business as usual. Mozambique follows the Portuguese legal system and the state controls everything. Licences are required every step of the way and they are not easy to obtain. The country has been trying to make it easier to conduct business over the past five years, but there is still a long way to go as is reflected in the Global Competitiveness Report 2016/2017 where the country ranks 133 out of 138 countries, adds Duys. Getting to grips with local culture While language is not a major barrier for South African companies hoping to invest in Anglophone countries, those pursuing opportunities in Mozambique or Francophone countries will face additional challenges, perhaps missing out on important nuances in their business dealings. As a risk financier for SMEs, we have also adopted the same stance, choosing to venture into Anglophone countries as it makes it easier and quicker to do business, adds Paper. Duys says one of the biggest mistakes South African businesses make when operating in the Mozambican business environment is adopting an arrogant stance. South Africans are often viewed with suspicion because of their history of arrogance. Mozambique may not be a wealthy country, but many of its people are well educated and business savvy and do not tolerate any form of condescension. A clear vision is critical Perhaps the most important factor when considering new markets is understanding what will pull your business into the market, says Duys. For smaller operations this is critical, especially if you dont have the deep pockets and luxury of patience that larger organisations might have. In Duys Engineerings case, the company had a potential revenue stream in the form of an existing customer. This afforded us the foundation on which to build our business further, says Duys. Understanding local idiosyncrasies Duys says much of the companys success can be attributed to persistence and learning on the ground. When faced with challenges, the fastest way to overcome them is to tackle them head-on. We had to quickly learn about importing and exporting; getting goods across the border; the industrial relations environment; getting work permits and visas for expat staff; and managing finances in the face of currency volatility. The expat community is a valuable source of knowledge on how to negotiate the local business environment and for advice on many other practical matters. It is, however, important not to become solely entrenched in the expat community as there is the danger of creating an island mentality. Experience the greatest asset Today, the lessons learned since investing in Mozambique are Duys Engineerings greatest asset. When we initially set up in Mozambique, we had a lot to learn. With 15 years of experience in the country, I believe were in a position to assist other organisations looking to conduct business or invest in Mozambique. In fact, larger organisations looking to invest in African countries would do well to consider partnering with smaller local companies, says Duys. He adds that the partnership could be mutually beneficial to both parties, especially when it comes to leveraging each others knowledge, experience and other resources. If you want to do well in any country, you have to have a local presence and local knowledge, and that requires employing local people to support your operations. By doing this you would not only be benefiting your business but the local economy as well thus creating loyalty towards your brand, concludes Paper. Finland's Minister of Education, Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, is visiting the Funda UJabule teaching school at the Soweto Campus of the University of Johannesburg today, 31 May 2017, to gain more insight into the collaborative research between the University of Helsinki and UJ. She will also address a seminar entitled, Competent teachers as keys to our success in education, where she will highlight the importance of laying solid foundations for teacher training, using the example of Finnish teacher education. The Funda UJabule School, which is part of the flagship area of childhood education in UJs Faculty of Education, is a teacher education and research school that helps bridge the so-called theory-practice divide in pre-service teacher education and is gaining recognition for its practice-based and research-oriented approach to primary school teacher education in South Africa. Nadine Petersen, a Professor of Teacher Education at UJ, says, The Funda UJabule School is a public school and serves as a practice site for students, who study towards becoming primary school teachers. The school is the first of its kind in South Africa and the childhood education team at UJ would like to provide a workable model for the establishment of future teaching schools in the country. It also serves as a social laboratory, enabling research in childhood education, which is co-ordinated by Prof Elizabeth Henning, the director of the Centre for Education Practice Research and a NRF SARChI chair-holder. There is a misconception around the status of foundation phase teachers in South Africa. Many believe that these teachers are childminders. This implies that anyone can do it and that one does not need intellect or cognitively demanding university-level education to become a foundation phase teacher, added Prof Petersen. Speaking ahead of the seminar, Grahn-Laasonen said that Finnish teachers are highly educated and hold Masters degrees in education or sciences from universities. Our teacher education has ensured that teaching is seen as an academic profession that attracts excellent students. Teacher education is one of the most attractive programmes at the various universities. Prof Petersen, points out that it is important to ensure that we have excellent primary school teachers, because the foundations of learning are laid during the early years of schooling. Through student teachers sustained involvement in the teaching school, they learn how children learn and develop over four years; they observe the national school curriculum and school life in action. All of this contributes to preparing them for the demands of the teaching profession. NAIROBI, Kenya: The first step towards building a more secure internet in Africa has been taken by the Internet Society and the African Union Commission, which have unveiled a new set of Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines for Africa during the African Internet Summit. bluebay via 123RF The African Internet Summit is currently taking place in Nairobi, 30 May-2 June 2017. The guidelines will help Africa create a more secure internet infrastructure and are set to change the way African Union States approach cyber security preparedness. The guidelines - the first of their kind in Africa - were developed by a multi-stakeholder group of African and global internet infrastructure security experts, and are the first step towards building a more secure internet in Africa. They will help AU member states strengthen the security of their local Internet infrastructure through actions at a regional, national, ISP/operator and organisational level. Africas cyber security environment faces a unique combination of challenges, including a lack of awareness of the risks involved in using technology. Kenya was ranked the 69th most vulnerable country (out of 127) in the 2015 Deloitte Global Threat Index. Some of the main reasons are: low awareness, underinvestment, talent shortage and overload of data. Deloitte further estimates that Kenya lost $171 million to cybercrime in 2016. Africa has achieved major strides in developing its internet Infrastructure in the past decade. However, the internet wont provide the aspired benefits unless we can trust it. We have seen from recent experiences that Africa is not immune from cyber-attacks and other security threats. These guidelines, developed in collaboration with the African Union Commission, will help African countries put in place the necessary measures to increase the security of their Internet infrastructure, explained Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for the Internet Society. This document is launched at a time when the world feels the real and urgent need to build and reinforce structures aimed at tackling the growing cyber threat to the global digital economy. Governments, companies, network operators, universities and organizations across African Union member states are encouraged to take action to implement the Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines. New security challenges This is another timely milestone achievement given the new security challenges in cyberspace, said Moctar Yeday, head, information society division, African Union. The Commission of the African Union will continue its partnership with the Internet Society on a second set of guidelines addressing personal data protection in Africa, he added. According to ITU ICT Facts and Figures 2016, it is estimated that 25.1% of Africans are now online and despite lower internet access rates vs other regions in the world, there has been a sustained double-digit growth in internet penetration over the past 10 years. This is due in large part to an increase of mobile internet and in more affordable smartphones in the market and Africas young, technology-savvy population. However, to continue to improve access and connect the unconnected, people need to trust the internet. Symantec, a global leader in cyber security, observed 24 million malware incidents targeting Africa in 2016. As some malware incidents probably go unobserved, the real number of incidents may be much higher. In a 2013 report from Symantec, cybercrime was increasing at a faster rate in Africa than any other region. As internet penetration grows in Africa and more business takes place online, implementing security measures against malware incidents to protect Internet users becomes increasingly important. Offering actions that are tailored to the African cyber security environment and solutions for an ever changing online landscape, the recommendations in the document launched today can play a key role in helping Africa respond to the kind of internet attacks that recently paralysed critical public and government services. Founded by internet pioneers, the Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the internet. Working through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a broad range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the internet safe and secure, and advocates for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organisational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). A copy of the Africa Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines can be found at: www.InternetSociety.org/doc/aiisg. Microsoft 4Afrika, Wollo University and Tulane University's Centre for Global Health Equity (CGHE) have joined forces to launch a new AppFactory Academy in Ethiopia, which will offer six-month internships in app development and business skills to graduates. Dmitriy Shpilko via 123RF The initiative led by Microsoft 4Afrika will provide selected Wollo University IT0 and related computing discipline graduate with the opportunity to work on real-world software development projects with senior software engineers. At the end of the internship, graduates will be able to design, implement and deploy cloud-enabled, mobile and IT solutions in various sectors, and will also be equipped with critical business skills that empower them to secure jobs or create their own startups. This is the ninth Microsoft AppFactory to be launched in Africa, with eight others in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda and Ghana. To date, over 300 software system developers have graduated from the AppFactories, with 90% of these graduates since placed in jobs. Across Africa, public and private sector organisations are finding it difficult to recruit capable software engineers. Many end up resorting to hiring expensive expatriates, or spending lots of money on in-house training, said Lutz Ziob from Microsoft 4Afrika. Yet there are hundreds of local IT graduates who are either unemployed or underemployed, because they are deemed unqualified for these high paying opportunities. The AppFactory is bridging the competency gap for these graduates, so that they are able to take on these kinds of opportunities the day they leave the AppFactory Academy. Wollo University will host the new AppFactory at its institution of technology campus, the Kombolcha Institute of Technology (KIoT). Each year, it will set projects based on different sectors, from healthcare to education, agriculture, air transportation and others. Wollo University KIoT is committed to helping the government of Ethiopia achieve its goal of developing to a middle-income country by increasing skilled professionals. The AppFactory Academy will focus on certain sectors each year, to ensure we have a large number of quality graduates in various disciplines, who can innovate and problem-solve for social good and improved livelihoods, said Dr Ahmedin Mohammed, scientific director at the KIoT. In its first year, the AppFactory will focus on healthcare, through the partnership with Tulane University. Tulane and Lalibela Networks PLC offer extensive expertise to render proven IT solutions and services. Our healthcare ICT solutions have been deployed in hundreds of clinics and hospitals in Ethiopia, said Dr Wuleta Lemma, director at Tulane University. We want to ensure that our IT solutions are locally maintained and continue to evolve, however its a challenge to find enough qualified information technologists as we expand and scale up in the market. The AppFactory Academy will play a significant role in enhancing local capacity for IT innovation that can transform Ethiopia and the continent. Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. Amid news that Facebook has hired more moderators to police content on the social network, and that development of artificial intelligence that will detect harmful content is underway, European governments are backing a hardline approach to moderation failings. Last month, the German government announced proposals to impose fines of up to 50m Euros against social media firms that fail to remove, within 24 hours, content flagged as hate speech. In the UK, a highly critical House of Commons Home Affairs Committee report, released earlier this month, did not mince words saying it is very clear to us from the evidence we have received that nowhere near enough is being done. The report upholds that the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are shamefully far from taking sufficient action to tackle illegal and dangerous content, to implement proper community standards or to keep their users safe. Given their immense size, resources and global reach, it is completely irresponsible of them to fail to abide by the law, and to keep their users and others safe. UK security minister, Ben Wallace, called the leaked copy of Facebooks moderation guidelines totally unacceptable and the Government has vowed to take a hardline approach to the problem, floating the idea of imposing fines for failed moderation. The residents from Let Pan Pyar Village in Pauktaw township erected huts on what they thought was a vacant plot earlier this month. The defendants said they had been advised to build there by village elders. The village elders told us that the land given to us for settlement is pastureland. We built our houses there since we didnt have anywhere else to build. We are now being sent to prison after we were sued by the village administrator, said U Khin Oo Maung, one of the six convicted villagers. Land disputes and overlapping claims for land ownership continue to plague Myanmar. The National League for Democracy-led government has pledged to untangle the enormous backlog of cases and has established a parliamentary committee on confiscated land. But the committee has yet to made substantial progress, according to land activists. Many of the outstanding land disputes involve government offices or the Tatmadaw. Its not uncommon for the cases to involve lengthy lawsuits, but the farmers in Pauktaw were surprised when they were convicted and sentenced at their very first court hearing on May 26. The trial lacked fairness. The accused werent allowed to meet with their legal advisors at [the May 26] court hearing. They were immediately sent inside the courtroom as soon as we arrived at the court. They were asked whether they were currently living on the pastureland and whether they were guilty. The prison sentences were given after the accused admitted their guilt, said U Win Zaw, another resident from Let Pan Pyar Village who was not involved in the case but attended the trial. U Aung Kyaw Nyunt, administrator of Let Pan Pyar Village, said he had to file a complaint because the houses sprung up on land needed to help support families whose children go to school. We have been supporting middle and high school education for over 30 years by plowing on this land. Now, there are trespassers on this land and they have started to build houses. One person started the trespassing. Then the number of trespassers grew from 20 to 40, he said. Before the trial started, defendant U Khin Oo Maung told Narinjara News that 48 houses were built on the property. He claimed the villagers had secured permission from the administrator before erecting the structures. U Aung Kyaw Nyunt, however, insisted that he was not so much as notified about the building plans, and said he sued the villagers after seeking advice from the township administrator. The six villagers were charged under section 447 of the penal code, for criminal trespassing. Translated by Thida Linn, Edited by Laignee Barron On November 8, the coup council said that it would deactivate mobile SIM cards that did not match the information provided by the Ministry of... The warning from DKBAs Ka Lo Htoo Baw headquarters was issued this month to all battalions and units, an officer said. We had to release these [instructions] because it was necessary. We are worried about the existence of these four restricted activities, including drugs, in our areas. We will take strong action if we see any of these activities taking place amongst our troops or our areas, said Lieutenant General Saw Steel, deputy commander-in-chief of the DKBA. Thai authorities have previously accused the DKBA of running a cross-border narcotics syndicate, and of dealing amphetamines. Three of the four restrictions have been included in previous warnings, but the counterfeit money provision was added in the more recent circular. According to the DKBA, the notice also extends to members of the public caught engaged in any of the prohibited activities. The DKBA was quite notorious for these crimes in the past during its golden age. Now, only one or two members from the group may still be involved. I havent heard much about them now. As a local resident, I welcome their plan to take effective action, a local resident of Myawaddy said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Since signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement in 2015, the DKBA has focused on regional development and cooperating with the Karen National Union (KNU) and the local police to combat drug issues, according to members of the ethnic armed group. Translated by Thida Linn Edited by Laignee Barron Ramsar sites secure international recognition as the most significant wetlands in the world and are protected under the Ramsar Convention, a 1971 intergovernmental environmental treaty. Mon States Gulf of Mottama marked its newly attained Ramsar status with a May 30 ceremony in Kyaikto township. At the ceremony, Mon State Chief Minister U Aye Zan welcomed the Ramsar status, but cautioned that protection efforts must not subside. The Gulf of Mottama is facing threats just like other places around the world. We are facing a sudden loss of fish resources in the region, a decline in local fish production, a lack of job opportunities, formation of sandbanks, collapse of cliffs as a result of changes in sea route, and loss of farmlands and homes due to illegal fishing methods and excess fishing, he said. He urged members of the public to cooperate with conservation efforts. Ko Thant Zin Phyo, a project officer from the community-led coastal management team in the Gulf of Mottama, called on the local authorities to help draft and enforce much-needed policies. We need to draw up management plans to reduce irresponsible fishing methods and create ways to catch fish, he said. He added that his team has spent the last two years working with local residents along the coastline to promote awareness of the unique environment. The Gulf of Mottama, also called the Gulf of Martaban, extends 53,510 acres between Kyaikto and Bilin townships. Im very happy about the recognition, said U Hla Shwe from Sut Pa Nu Village. But he added that hes already seen negative environmental impacts on the coast. Hilsas [a type of herring] were abundant in our area in the past. Now, they have become very rare. Preservation is needed, he said. The Gulf of Mottama is the fourth wetland in Myanmar to be designated a Ramsar site. The other three wetlands of international importance are the Moe Yun Gyi wetlands in Bago Region, Indawgyi Lake in Kachin State and the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in Ayeyarwady Region. According to the Ramsar organization, the Gulf of Mottama supports a large range of species, including up to 90,000 migratory waterbirds. The site may be host to more than half of the remaining population of critically endangered spoon-billed sandpipers. Translated by Thida Linn Edited by Laignee Barron PR Newswire PRINCETON, N.J., May 30, 2017 PRINCETON, N.J., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Engineer, businessman, problem-solver and gubernatorial candidate Hirsh Singh has released his second TV ad, "Problem-Solver." The 30-second spot features Singh speaking directly to the voters and making the case that New Jersey needs a conservative and a problem-solver. The spot is part of a $300,000 media buy that will include new releases on television and radio. "Problem-Solver" can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucaAExVL9ZA A full transcript also follows here: Hirsh Singh: Hi, I'm Hirsh Singh. I'm an engineer -- in other words, a trained problem-solver. I make solutions and get results. Career politicians make empty promises and they think they're entitled to run our state; they're not. We need a conservative to fight for the rights of the people; a results-driven leader who can solve the problems in Trenton and not create new ones. I'm Hirsh Singh -- a conservative problem-solver from New Jersey and I'm running for Governor. - 30 - Hirsh Singh is a native of Linwood, New Jersey. He graduated from Egg Harbor Township High School where he was voted Mr. Egg Harbor Township and the New Jersey Institute of Technology where he earned a degree in engineering. He is a results-driven industry leader and problem solver. Hirsh wants to cut taxes, reform school funding, and reduce regulations. Learn more about Hirsh and his platform at http://singhfornewjersey.us15.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=978b8670b44783121d15ac87e&id=97ec1e6648&e=2938771a69 Contact: [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/singh-campaign-releases-new-ad-problem-solver-300465185.html SOURCE Singh For Governor PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Reel World Mix It Up The New Mexico Film Foundation is hosting another Filmmaker Mixer. This opportunity for local filmmakers to meet new people in the film industry or to touch base with old friends will take place Thursday, June 1, from 5:30 to 9pm at the Inn at Santa Fe (8378 Cerillos). Admission is free. Food will be provided by Victoria Bruneni and the Inn at Santa Fe. There will also be a cash bar. For more info go to nmfilmfoundation. org. Cinema, Italian Style CineFesta Italia will take place in Santa Fe from Thursday, June 1, to Sunday, June 4. The film festival, an independent offshoot of the N.M. Italian Film & Culture Festival, is produced under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy and in collaboration with Instituto Italiano de Cultura. Among the films being shown this year are a couple of Southwest premieres. On Saturday, starting at 2pm, the festival will screen Non Essere Cattivo (Dont Be Bad), the award-winning final film from director Claudio Caligari. Set in the 90s on the outskirts of Rome, the film explores the world of hedonism, luxury and drugs among a group of twentysomething rich kids. On Sunday, at 2pm, the festival will screen Piuma (Feather), the story of an average young couple whose life is turned upside down by an unexpected pregnancy. Several other films, an opening night reception, an Italian wine tasting, and a pizza and pasta party are also scheduled over the course of the weekend. All film screenings will take place at the Jean Cocteau Cinema (418 Montezuma). Individual film tickets are $12. Full-festival passes run $85 to $185. For a complete schedule of events and times, go to cinefestaitalia.org. A file photo. PUNE (PTI): Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday said the footprint of the force is increasing in the seas and that it is ready for any contingency. "Over the years our footprint has been increasing (in Indian Ocean). We have increased our deployment. We have a ship that is permanently stationed in the Gulf of Eden and the ship of the western fleet has just done a foray into Mediterranean and gone all the way into Atlantic," Lanba told reporters here. The Navy chief reviewed the passing out parade of the National Defence Academy (NDA) held here this morning. He said ships from the eastern fleet were in Singapore and they carried out an exercise with the Singapore Navy in the South China Sea. "They are en route to Australia, where they are going to exercise with the Australian Navy. So you see Indian Navy is deployed from the Pacific to the Atlantic and this what we are going to do," he said. Asked about increase in presence of Chinese ships in the Indian Ocean and militancy from Pakistan and how the Navy is prepared to tackle another 26/11 like attack, Lanba said, "We are ready for any contingency and whatever decision government takes, we will fulfill our task." On modernisation of Indian Navy, he said the Navy has been a pioneer in 'Make In India' initiative. "Way back in the early 60s, we took a call that we are going to be a 'builders Navy than buyers Navy'. We built over 200 ships since the early 60s in the Indian shipyards and at the moment we have 41 ships and submarines, all are under construction in defence and private shipyards and new assets are being inducted into the Navy," he said. "We will have capable and effective Navy which can operate in all the dimensions," asserted the Navy chief. Asked about the status of INS Viraat, he said Viraat has been decommissioned and she has been de-stored. "At the moment, we have not got a concrete proposal of converting her (Viraat) into a museum. We will take a call on what is to be done with her," he said. Speaking about the integrated command, he said it has been recommended. "The committee report has been submitted to the government and they are examining it. We are going forward with jointness and integration with a slow and steady step forward," he said. During his address to the graduating cadets, Admiral Lanba said,"Cherish the true spirit of jointness that has been instilled in all of you at the NDA. Remember, no single service can win a war on its own." Meanwhile, 312 cadets graduated from NDA, which included 211 from the Army, 34 from the Navy, and 67 from the Air Force. The graduating cadets included 11 foreigners, from countries like Bhutan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Lesotho and Rwanda. A file photo. NEW DELHI (PTI): India's military preparedness is the best deterrent, which will guarantee peace in the region, and it must significantly ramp up defence production keeping in mind geo-political dynamics, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday. He said defence PSUs and private sector can have a healthy competition to develop military platforms and weapon systems, asserting that India must not rely heavily on imports. In an oblique reference to Pakistan, Jaitley said security requirements are dictated by the kind of neighbourhood India has. "Obviously, in view of the peculiar situation from geo- political point of view where we are located, our preparedness is the best deterrent and which is certainly a guarantee for peace as far as our region is concerned," he said. He was speaking at an event where some of the defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) were given Raksha Mantri's awards for their performance in 2014-15 and 2015-16. "No country can indefinitely win wars and battles on the strength of trying to buy and import equipment from outside. Its security preparedness would be incomplete if it relies only on that," Jaitley said. The defence minister referred to the strategic partnership model for involving leading domestic private sector firms along with foreign entities for defence production and said it will encourage defence manufacturing in the country. Under the strategic partnership model, Government plans to rope in select private firms to build military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign entities. It aims to create a vibrant defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country through involvement of both the major Indian corporates as well as the MSME sector. "There is no reason why we cannot become a force to reckon with (in defence production)," he said. Talking about the economy, Jaitley said it has been logging impressive growth in the last three years. "Having completed seven decades after Independence, we have now for three years in a row achieved the distinction of being the fastest growing global economy among the major economies. We aspire to evolve from a developing economy to a developed economy," he said. Jaitley said India must expand its manufacturing sector to create job opportunities on a mass scale. An unrelated file photo. MUMBAI (PTI): The country's first Indigenously built Scorpene-class submarine Kalvari has conducted successful test-fire of a torpedo. As part of the ongoing sea trials, the test-fire took place on May 26, an official release said. The submarine is being built by the Mazagaon Docks Limited (MDL) at Mumbai. As part of the project, MDL will build a total of six submarines, it said. The launch of a Ground-Based Interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base during the successful intercept test on May 30, 2017 as shown in the videograb. Photo: MDAA. WASHINGTON (AFP): The US military said it had intercepted a mock-up of an intercontinental ballistic missile in a first-of-its-kind test that comes amid concerns over North Korea's weapons programme. A ground-based interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California "successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile target" fired from the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands yesterday, the military said in a statement. The test saw a rocket from the Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) system blast into space and then deploy its "exo-atmospheric kill vehicle," which smashed into the dummy ICBM, destroying it in a direct collision. "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the US Missile Defence Agency, was quoted as saying. The exercise marked a significant step for the GMD system, which has had a checkered record in previous tests. Though it succeeded in the last test in 2014, it failed during the three prior attempts against slower-moving, non- ICBM missiles. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this program," Syring said. The success of yesterday's test is a watershed moment for the US military's effort to establish an effective -- though limited -- ground-based defence against ICBMs. It came a day after North Korea test-fired yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyang's quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said yesterday's trial was not timed specifically in response to tensions with Pyongyang but that "in a broad sense, North Korea is one of the reasons why we have this capability." "They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland," Davis said. He also pointed to Iran's increasing missile capabilities as threatening US strategic interests in the Middle East. The technology behind the GMD is extremely complex, and the system uses globally deployed sensors to detect and track ballistic missile threats. The interception is a move that the Pentagon says is akin to hitting a bullet with another bullet -- though at far higher speeds. "Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test," the US military statement read. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Granted city status 135 years ago this week, the city that was never a town has remained true to its early roots during its decades-long run. The City of Brandons steady growth, status as Westmans hub community, residents tendency to stick around and its reliance on agriculture which helped secure its Wheat City designation, have all remained intact. Brandon has lasted and continued to grow and prosper as the major service hub of western Manitoba, Mayor Rick Chrest said on Tuesday, the citys official birthday. Courtesy The McKee Archives This negative provides an excellent view of Rosser Avenue (looking east from 10th Street) in the early 20th century, and shows one of the first runs for Brandon's streetcar system. This image was used as the cover image for Lee Clark's Brandon's Politics & Politicians. The vision of the founders of Brandon 135 years ago has been born out and been really enhanced, he said, adding that Brandons never been a boom or a bust town and that its steady growth has been key to both its longevity and culture. Residents devotion to Brandon dates back to its beginnings, when in 1881 its first load of Canadian Pacific Railway passengers reached the area. Situated 130 miles down the line from Winnipeg, Brandon was exactly where a subdivision needed to be located for railway-related purposes. But its location proved more beneficial than just that, Chrest said. The founders of Brandon saw it as the major service centre for the western part of the province, and so therefore they were immediately thinking that it would be a city and indeed thats how it progressed. Within a year of settlement, Brandon progressed from wilderness to an incorporated city with 1,500 residents living and working in 170 buildings. Commercial activities were conducted in wooden structures along Sixth Street, between Rosser Avenue and the grain buildings along the tracks of Pacific Avenue. Through the 1890s, Rosser Avenue boomed, with brick buildings constructed along what remains the citys historic downtown core. Much has changed, and much has remained the same. Coinciding with Canadas 150th anniversary, patriotism will join community pride during a handful of activities sprinkled throughout the summer, kicking off with next weeks Manitoba Summer Fair at the Keystone Centre from June 7 to 11. As a special nod to the areas military history, everythings kicking off on Wednesday morning with a CFB Shilo-led march from the Brandon Armoury to city hall, where Chrest will grant them Freedom of the City during a ceremony. At the Keystone Centre, a citizenship ceremony for approximately 150 new Canadians will take place at 2 p.m., after which the new citizens will be invited to take part in the days festivities free of charge, with the gates opening to the public by 4 p.m. These new Canadian citizens are in keeping with Brandons colonial history, Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba general manager Ron Kristjansson said. Courtesy, S.J. McKee Archives, Brandon University The Crystal Palace at the Brandon fairgrounds, circa 1913. Kristjanssons family came over from Iceland only 100 years ago, with many others in the area sharing similar stories, with the clear exception being the areas indigenous peoples. Recognizing the areas agricultural roots and present-day economy, Kristjanssons said that the weeks events will remain heavily steeped in farm culture. While Brandon has grown to a mid-sized city, it is still an agricultural hub, he said, adding that there are still some in the city who arent exposed to farming on a day-to-day basis, with many of us one generation removed from the farm. Our agricultural education piece at our fairs is something that we really focus on, he said. All of the cultures that make up the Wheat City will come together for Canada Day festivities at the Riverbank Discovery Centre on July 1, which Brandon Riverbank Inc. general manager Lois MacDonald said would pay special attention to Canadas 150th and Brandons 135th. Various cultures will be recognized throughout the day, representing the melting pot that Brandon has become during its 135 years. It has come to be a great reflection of our community and all the people who live here, MacDonald said. Its great to host so many people from Brandon and from throughout southwestern Manitoba. This years big draw is expected to be Manitoban country music group Doc Walker, whose free evening performance will take place at 9 p.m., capping off the days family-friendly activities alongside a fireworks display. tclarke@brandonsun.com Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Manitoba Teachers Society will be asking the provincial government to pull out of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) an international standardized test in which Manitoba students frequently rank poorly among provinces. MTS delegates agreed that continued involvement in the tests is not worthwhile, according to the MTSs website, adding PISA has been criticized by some educators for various reasons. The (Manitoba Teachers) Society has carefully considered the research around the costs and benefits associated with continued participation in these tests, the public school teachers union posted on its website. The results of these standardized tests too often drive very narrow agendas rather than supporting positive decision-making with respect to broad, high-quality public education policy and funding. Conducted every three years, PISA tests more than 500,000 randomly selected kids aged 15 in 72 industrialized countries and city-states in science, reading and math. In 2016, Manitobas children ranked eighth in math in Canada, and ninth in both reading and science, near identical rankings to 2013 and 2010 results. Its a hot-button issue every year when a piece of results get reported, but its not something we dwell on, Brandon School Division board chair Kevan Sumner said. It hasnt been good news for Manitoba, but we concern ourselves more with doing the best we can locally within the curriculum at the end of the day its an assessment. Although its not a primary concern for Sumner, he said he knows MTS has been concerned for a while that PISA is not an accurate reflection of the abilities of Manitoba students. It doesnt take into consideration social economic factors that are perhaps more significant in Manitoba than in other jurisdictions, Sumner said. The strongest determinant of educational success is social economic status we know that students from disadvantaged or impoverished backgrounds tend to do poorer in general, educationally. The concern that weve heard from the teachers union is poverty rates in Manitoba and a large indigenous population tend to skew the results lower than it does in other provinces. Despite these concerns, Sumner said he remains somewhat ambivalent on the issue, as he knows there are a lot of people who like to be able to compare how Manitoba students are doing compared to other provinces. I think the most important thing is that people understand the truth behind the results. Its more than just a simple side-by-side comparison, Sumner said. It wouldnt impact the ability of the province to compare internally between schools or between school divisions Its an assessment tool, not an educational tool, so it wouldnt change the content in the classroom or what students are learning. There just wouldnt be a test there and we wouldnt be able to compare with other provinces. The Brandon Sun reached out to the MTS for comment, but did not receive a response by press time. Due to election laws related to a byelection set for June 13 in the Winnipeg constituency of Point Douglas, the education minister couldnt comment on whether the province would consider the MTSs request. However, a spokesperson to the minister of education and training said that although they were aware of the MTSs intention to approach the government, no formal request had yet been made. edebooy@brandonsun.com Twitter: @erindebooy Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Youth Revolution students from Vincent Massey High School and J.R. Reid School unveiled their custom designed Canadian flag on Tuesday, decorated with visual reminders of the different acts of citizenship they took part in together. The sun came out just in time for the kids to unroll the flag for an audience of trustees, principals, teachers and community members, marking a successful project that started in Calgary. In October, Youth Revolution was chosen by WestJet Cares for Kids to attend We Day in Calgary, and about 13 Vincent Massey students flew to the festivities. Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun Youth Revolution students from Vincent Massey High School and J.R. Reid School pose for a group shot with their Canada 150 community art project on Tuesday afternoon. While we were there, Calgary Mayor (Naheed) Nenshi was onstage and he said to the whole stadium, I really encourage all of you to do acts of citizenship in honour of Canadas 150, and it really resonated with our group, said Patricia Redekop, Vincent Massey teacher and Youth Revolution teacher-leader. The students decided to pair up with their neighbouring school, J.R. Reid, walking over every couple of weeks to partner with the younger students and talk about what citizenship means. We talked about reconciliation, youth, environment, diversity and inclusion and what that all means, Redekop said. We discussed how we can make sure we are good citizens and what acts of citizenship we could do under those four themes. Kids then went out into the world to make a difference, performing acts of citizenship that ranged from cutting their hair for cancer to smaller initiatives like shovelling driveways and donating clothes to charity. All these little acts mean a lot in the big picture, Redekop said. Im very proud of the students, its really heartwarming to see how they connected with each other and how they took pride in doing this all themselves. The students then decided to depict what they had done in art form, Redekop said, drawing pictures and symbols that represented their acts of citizenship. The Vincent Massey media arts class then put it together on canvas. It was good that we got to meet new students that are also in Youth Revolution, work with them and share ideas, help each other out to create the Canada flag, Grade 9 student Vernice Merino said. The students sent an invitation to Mayor Nenshi so he could see how his single comment snowballed into a greater project, but due to scheduling conflicts he was not able to attend. He did, however, send a personalized video congratulating the students on a job well done. I wish I was in Brandon with you today, I am so excited to hear the students from Vincent Masseys Youth Revolution team came to We Day in Calgary and were inspired, Nenshi said via video. You made me so happy that the message of service is resonating across the country, because thats what the acts of citizenship in honour of Canadas 150 is all about. In this sometimes scary and sometimes broken world, its about Canadians saying were celebrating our milestone because we believe in humanity we believe that the future of humanity is community, and that the future of community is service. edebooy@brandonsun.com Twitter: @erindebooy Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Brandon company has been fined approximately $30,000 for a workplace accident in which an employees thumb was severed by a drill press. Glendale Industries Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing to have a safeguard installed on the dated machine, to failing to equip it with a kill switch, and to failing to provide proper supervision. A 19-year-old worker was taken to hospital when her glove and sleeve were pulled into the running drill press. On the way to the hospital, she informed medical staff that she believed her thumb had been cut off, and it was saved quickly enough to be reattached. They called back to Glendale Industries and they were able to find her severed left thumb, Crown attorney Samir Hassan said after the company entered guilty pleas on Monday to three charges under the Workplace Health and Safety Act and safety regulations. They packaged it with snow, and were thankfully able to get it back to the hospital in time. Hassan said the worker was using the drill press at the manufacturing company on March 10, 2015 to bore a hole in a steel plate when her glove and shirt got caught in the spinning parts of the drill. Her thumb was amputated as a result, and her arm injured. She had to reach around to the other side of the drill press to turn off the machine. At hospital, a surgeon was able to successfully reattach the severed digit. Hassan said the former Glendale worker underwent two further surgeries to help repair the damage, but still has trouble with her thumb. She finds it difficult to grip certain objects, such as door handles. Emotionally, she also has flashbacks to the incident. Glendale offered her another position with the company following the accident, but she could no longer do the work she wanted to and no longer works for the company. Hassan said the woman still has a good relationship with Glendale, and spoke on the companys behalf at an event earlier this year. Still, Hassan said, Glendale failed to install a proper safeguard on the drill press, and didnt provide adequate training to employees. A kill switch would have helped stop the machine following the accident, Hassan said, and perhaps reduced the severity of the injury. Glendales lawyer, Derek Cullen, said the press was an old machine. It hadnt come with a safeguard or kill switch. The injured worker realized she wasnt supposed to wear gloves while using the equipment, Cullen said, but a supervisor had let her. Cullen explained that the companys current owner, Barry LaRocque, acquired the business a few years back and that within the company there were poor safety protocols stemming from the previous management. As the owner at the time of the incident, LaRocque took responsibility. However, Cullen said that under LaRocques leadership Glendale has since built a safety-oriented culture and has hired a new safety officer. Old machines have been fitted with guards, and safety training is in place, Cullen added. Glendale was fined $25,000. With surcharges, that penalty comes to just over $30,000. ihitchen@brandonsun.com Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ever since the grade school days of getting a gold star for an assignment or a job well done, students have aspired to achieve and excel in the work they do. Receiving accolades in ones class is admirable. Winning a school or city-wide honour is tremendously exciting. Being named the best in the province is beyond thrilling. But ascending from the latter victory to compete on the national stage is an awe-inspiring, nerve-wracking and mind-blowing prospect. And its a dream that four Assiniboine Community College students will be living today through Saturday. Since 2005, Assiniboine has brought home three gold, nine silver and 10 bronze medals from the Skills Canada National Competition. Annually, this event brings together more than 500 students and apprentices to take part in more than 40 hands-on skilled trade and technology competitions. While Skills Canada is held in a different province each year, the 2017 event will take place in Winnipeg at the RBC Convention Centre. Submitted Kristen Rozdeba, a first-year office administration student from Strathclair, will compete as Manitobas representative in the Skills Canada competition, where shell go up against other talented students of office administration from all across the nation. The four Assiniboine students vying for the national title in their various disciplines were all gold medal winners in the 2017 Skills Manitoba competition: Kristen Rozdeba, a first-year office administration student (hometown of Strathclair) Parker Kemp, a graduating industrial metals fabrication student (Killarney) Jonathon Fingas, a second-year network administration technology student (Winnipeg) Tiara Ringling, a second-year culinary arts student (Winnipeg) These are their stories. Kristen Rozdeba The name of the position has changed from the antiquated secretary to office administrator or administrative assistant. And along with the nomenclature, the job itself has moved into the 21st century too. Office administration, like everything else, has been forever altered by advances in technology. While good typing skills remain as vital today as they were in decades past, theres a whole lot more involved than dictation, transcription and filing. I think people probably underestimate the workload, said 18-year-old Kristen Rozdeba, a first-year Assiniboine Community College student. Looking back at the software programs Ive worked with, its a lot of work, and it can be difficult. Its working with spreadsheets and databases and not just anyone can pick it up and do it. Rozdeba, who recently won the gold medal in the prestigious Skills Manitoba competition, was born and raised on a farm near Strathclair. She attended kindergarten through Grade 12 at Strathclair Community School, and then headed straight to Assiniboine to pursue a diploma in office admin. Im a very organized person and Im a hard worker, so I thought that it would suit me well, Rozdeba said of her decision to seek employment as an office worker. And I thought Id be able to use it at least as a start for my career. So thats why I chose it. Rozdeba will also be concentrating on taking her already impressive abilities to the next level. Shell be competing as Manitobas representative in the Skills Canada competition. But the wise-beyond-her-years Rozdeba isnt particularly fazed by the prospect. While she said she was a bit surprised to win top honours in her field in the provincial contest, her serenity and practicality are allowing her to approach the Canadian competition in a relatively relaxed fashion. I had confidence going in (to Skills Manitoba) because I had gotten good grades in each of my classes at ACC, so I thought that I would do pretty well, she said. And Im a bit nervous, but more excited about nationals. Ill be practicing all this month. When the countrys best meet in Winnipeg for Skills Canada, Rozdeba will be showcasing her talents in spreadsheets, database, Word and PowerPoint. Its all software, so Ill be practicing different exercises from each category, she said. Submitted Parker Kemp, a graduating industrial metals fabrication student from Killarney, won the gold medal in machining at the Skills Manitoba competition and will now represent ACC nationally. With her attention fixed on preparing for Skills Canada, Rozdeba has yet to find employment for the summer. Shes hoping to secure something in Brandon that will allow her to remain in the Wheat City until classes to resume in the fall. But she agreed that it certainly wont hurt her job prospects to be able to put Skills Manitoba Gold Medal Winner on her resume. And just what does she hope for in a career? Id like to have a job where Im happy to go to it, thats for sure, she said emphatically, and then smiled. And good pay wouldnt hurt either! Parker Kemp Taking nothing and turning it into something. Thats essentially what Parker Kemp loves about machining. While it took him quite some time to discover his craft, once he did so, his passion for it became immediately evident. The 20-year-olds path to his chosen field took a number of twists and turns. With an electrician grandfather, Kemp learned a lot about the electrical business, and thought he might pursue that line of work. But it was while helping out a buddy that Kemp was first exposed to welding. My friend Zach hes in a wheelchair he builds derby cars, Kemp said. So I was welding for him because he cant, and Id never touched a welder, not ever, until I was 19. And I thought, This is actually pretty cool! I did three years of electrical apprenticeship with my grandpa through Apprenticeship Manitoba, and then I totally switched it up. I decided I wanted to give welding a whirl. And I knew that my friend had taken the industrial metals fabrication program at ACC. And he recommended I do that. Kemp was resolute about becoming a welder until he began his course at Assiniboine Community College, where he was introduced to the metal lathe. Id never ever seen one of those machines before I got to ACC, Kemp said. And the machining part is a total shock to me because I thought, Im just here to learn a couple of other things before I get into welding. And then it was like, Well, maybe machinings where I want to go! Kemps attempts to settle on a career were both frustrating and fascinating. And there was some uncertainty too, since hed not exactly been a stellar student at Killarney Collegiate Institute. I sucked at high school, he said frankly. I barely made it through my math courses. Im sure my mom was a little worried about me going to college for what was pretty much a math course! And I was pretty intimidated when I got to Assiniboine. But between Lance (Seib) being a phenomenal teacher and helping me out with the math, I love math now! Even though machining was new to him, he took to it like a duck to water, so much so that he won the gold medal at the Skills Manitoba competition. I was pretty surprised, to say the least, Kemp said of the provincial win. I didnt expect that at all not even a little bit. So now he moves on to the Skills Canada Precision Machining Competition. Hes been practising a lot, but is definitely nervous about the nationwide contest. However, his enthusiasm, his ability and his desire to excel should take him a long way. I dont know if its quite sunk in what Im going to, Kemp said. It sounds like its going to be quite the event. Theyve even got commercials for this thing! I saw one at the theatre the other day! But well see what happens. Ill go in and give it my best shot. Who can do more than that? Jon Fingas Submitted Jonathon Fingas, a second-year network administration technology student from Winnipeg, won the gold medal in the Skills Manitoba IT network systems administration challenge. Now hell represent Assiniboine Community College and the province at the Skills Canada competition. Jon Fingas always enjoys a challenge. And when presented with one, he rises to the occasion. Consequently, the 24-year-old won the gold medal in the Skills Manitoba IT Network Systems Administration challenge. Now hell represent Assiniboine Community College and the province at the Skills Canada competition. Fingas spent his early years in Kenton, got most of his education in Winnipeg, then moved to Brandon and enrolled in Assiniboines two-year network administration technology program, from which hell graduate this year. He credits a youthful interest in gaming for sparking his desire to discover how such systems work. I broke our computer at home a couple of times not on purpose but then I had to figure out how to fix it, Fingas said. I always had a knack for fixing things. Anything I can do on a computer, I like to do. I took a couple of high school programming courses and the teacher thought I should go to university, but I didnt want to do that. So Assiniboine was the answer. Fingas said the NAT program gave him a terrific base from which to grow. I came in maybe with more knowledge than 50 or 60 per cent of the people, but that doesnt mean I wasnt challenged, Fingas said. For the first-semester courses, I maybe got by on prior knowledge, but as soon as I got into the next term, and especially in second year, there was no way I would have been able to work through that on my own. It really opened my whole field of view. I liked it. I just think the instruction and the program itself is great. Currently, Fingas is doing his required practicum at the Brandon School Division. And he loves not only his placement, but also the opportunity to put his skills to use in a real-life setting. Im definitely liking it, he said. The guys are awesome to work with. The amount of knowledge you gain from working through the NAT program is great. At nationals, Fingas will compete in four two-hour exams over two days. But the tests will be practical. While one has to understand the theory in order to properly do the hands-on work, Fingas said its all about completing functional exercises. Hes hopeful a good showing at Skills Canada might translate into job opportunities. Im looking to see if it opens doors, Fingas said. These competitions are brought in by companies that are looking for people in skills and trades. So they sponsor it and of course they have an eye on whos competing. Although he hopes to eventually move up the ladder in his chosen profession, Fingas never wants to stop doing what he enjoys most setting up and building networks. Problem-solving, finding a solution, and implementing a way to fix it permanently, he said, is always a great thing to do. Tiara Ringling For someone whod never been competitive, Tiara Ringling found her inner contestant at exactly the right time. Submitted Tiara Ringling, a second-year culinary arts student from Winnipeg, will compete in culinary arts at Skills Canada. Going into Skills Manitoba, I didnt know what to expect, said Ringling, 21, whos graduating this year from Assiniboine Community Colleges Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts (MICA). And I practiced my hardest, but I didnt expect to win. But the day before Skills, I got kind of, OK I really want to win this. Id have been happy with a silver or a bronze. But when I got to Winnipeg, I was like, I really want that gold. Thats exactly what she got. The talented cook grew up in Winnipeg, and in her youth, planned to pursue psychology. But studying for her chosen field at university caused her angst, and as she was preparing supper one night, the light bulb flicked on. I wasnt super-interested in food growing up, but I always baked with my mom at Christmas, Ringling said. And as I got older, I cooked supper just for the fun of it for my family all the time. And I liked doing it. I did university for a year and a half, and Id come home and be all stressed out, and then Id cook and Id not be stressed anymore. So I realized that was what I enjoyed doing the most. Rather than attend culinary school in Winnipeg, Ringling wanted to experience something new. She found a school in Vancouver that piqued her interest, but it was too far away and too expensive. Then she discovered MICA. She came to check it out through Assiniboines Spend-a-Day program, where prospective students go through a typical day in the area they want to study. For Ringling, that sealed the deal. It was just a really good environment I had a great time, she said. The teachers Chef Bryan and Chef Jo were really good. I pretty much made my decision that day. Though shes been practising daily for Skills Canada, Ringlings a bit apprehensive about competing against the best student chefs in the country. And while she knew which ingredients shed be using at Skills Manitoba, theres less advance information for the national competition. All she knows is shell be preparing fish and shellfish. Chef Bryan said Id be going up against people from the coasts who cook fish every day, and thats kind of scary because Im from the Prairies, she said. But Im not all that panicked about winning. I just want to put out stuff Im proud of. And I want to do a good job for me and my chef instructors and ACC. After Skills Canada, Ringling plans to continue working for Aidas Catering in Brandon, and hopes to gain even more experience since catering is something shed like to pursue. I really enjoyed doing events at ACC, she said. The way everyone comes together as a team thats great. We put out really good food, and it makes me feel proud to be a part of that. Someday, Ringling said, she might start her own catering business. And that would definitely be the icing on the cake! Submitted Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 31/05/2017 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week has urged European powers to pull together and take care of their own interests because they cant rely on the United States and Britain as they once did. She drew this conclusion after watching U.S. President Donald Trump at work among the NATO heads of government and the Group of Seven heads of government last week. Canadas trade and its military security are tightly linked to both the U.S. and Europe. If Chancellor Merkel is right if Mom and Dad are quarrelling or drawing apart Canada may have to make some new friends and explore new ways of ensuring its trade and its safety. This is a path we should be treading anyway Canadas economy is dependent upon international trade. Having multiple trading partners only makes good sense, especially in light of the current U.S. administrations protectionist almost isolationist tendencies. Among his NATO allies, Mr. Trump declined to endorse the doctrine that an attack on one alliance member is an attack on all. He used the NATO gathering as a backdrop for a speech complaining that other alliance members dont spend as much on defence as the U.S does. He resisted calls for a tougher stance against Russias annexation of Crimea. And he refused to join the other G7 members in endorsing the Paris Accord on greenhouse-gas emissions. Reviewing these events at an election campaign rally on Sunday, Chancellor Merkel said, The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days and so all I can say is that we Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands. Mr. Trump is notorious for improvising policy on the fly and then contradicting himself a little later. He certainly seemed to be deliberately refusing to harmonize his voice with the European chorus. Chancellor Merkel may well have been overreacting to Trumps overly improvised bravado with her declaration, the situation has now taken on a life of its own, as The Donald on Tuesday morning decided to use Twitter to accuse Germany of unfair trade relations, and for not paying its way in the NATO alliance. As The Guardian reported, Trumps tweet declared German policies very bad for the U.S. and vowed to change the situation. This came a few hours after German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel declared that the Trump administrations short-sighted policies were weakening the West. Its fair to say that Trumps overseas tour has now officially become a disaster for transatlantic relations, as evidenced by this highly public spat. However, that doesnt mean the presidents complaints about defence spending an American grievance of long standing are without merit. Trump-Merkel squabbles aside, Europe and the U.S. are inextricably tied together, whether they like it or not. The great corporations on the two sides of the Atlantic are copying each others methods, poaching each others executives and muscling into each others markets. The top academics, professionals and artists pursue careers in a mid-Atlantic civilization that is not severed when isolationism arises among the politicians on one side or the other. What may be new is that British withdrawal from Europe coincides with U.S. withdrawal from leadership in the quest for freer trade and more open markets. Mr. Trumps policy of America first, coupled with Britains separation from the European Union, may seem to justify a European policy of Europe first. A mid-sized country such as Canada may have a tough time in a world operated along those lines. We fight no wars except in alliance with others. And its worth repeating we live by international trade. Canada should heed Chancellor Merkels warning. Not as a prophecy of doom but as fair warning of a path we should not take. Though this will become increasingly difficult should Trump not learn to keep his Twitter fingers otherwise occupied, Canada should keep the Americans and the Europeans talking to each other and help them find their self-interest in co-operation. We could start, for example, with close scrutiny of the defence-spending controversy dig behind the slogans and the rhetoric and see whether the facts of the case might lead toward agreement. Winnipeg Free Press & The Brandon Sun Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/03/2017 (2061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Like many Manitobans, I was saddened to learn of the federal governments recent decision to reduce funding for English as a Second Language programs in the Brandon region at Assiniboine Community College and at UFCW. New Canadians rely on these programs both to meet requirements for citizenship, but also to meet requirements for higher education to try to get ahead. Without this kind of training, their future is likely one of minimum wage jobs and precarious employment. Anyone trying to provide for a family on minimum wages knows how hard this can be. At ACC, where Canadian Language Benchmark levels 5-8 is offered, enrolment will drop from 500 students to a maximum of 100. Many potential students waiting to get into programs like nursing or in the trades simply wont meet the requirement now to continue their education, and eight people who provide the training will be out of work. After learning last week about layoffs at Canadian Blood Services in Brandon, this is certainly another blow to the community. At a time when our country is welcoming thousands of refugees, our government should be working its hardest to give new Canadians every opportunity to succeed in this country not making it harder for these families to thrive. I want to encourage the federal government to revisit its decision to cut this funding at ACC, and to invest in the futures of new Canadians in Brandon. Michelle Gawronsky MGEU president A former company director who pleaded guilty to operating a price fixing scam that targeted large firms including Google and Paypal, was fined 7,500 at the Central Criminal Court today. Justice Patrick McCarthy also handed Brendan Smith (39), of Greenane, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath a three-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for attempting to impede a prosecution. Smith entered a bond to be of good behaviour and accepted that if he breaches the bond he could serve three months in prison. The maximum penalties for the offences involved include a fine of up to 5m and ten years in prison for price fixing and up to five years imprisonment for obstructing a prosecution. The company that Smith worked for at the time of the offence, Aston Carpets, was fined 10,000. Smith pleaded guilty in April to engaging in and implementing an anti-competitive agreement between July 2012 and April 30, 2013, contrary to the Companies Act 2002. The charge further stated that this agreement involved Aston Carpets and Flooring and another firm, Carpet Centre (Contracts) Ltd, attempting to fix prices for their products by knowingly tendering bids that were above the amount tendered by the other firm. At a sentencing hearing on May 1 Daniel Kenna of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission explained that the scam was exposed by David Radburn of Carpet Centre. Mr Radburn sought immunity from prosecution by revealing details of the agreement he had entered into with Smith. Smith and Mr Radburn worked in the flooring trade, bidding for contracts with large multi-national corporations. Mr Radburn told the commission that he was approached by Smith in 2011 and during a subsequent meeting they agreed that if one of them was going for a job that they thought they would get, the other would offer a higher-priced tender for the same job. In October 2011 Mr Radburn won a contract to provide flooring for Google for which e193,000 was paid. Mr Radburn, having tendered for the contract, sent an email to Mr Smith with details so that Mr Smith would submit a higher tender. In another case Aston won two contracts worth over e100,000 with MasterCard after submitting a tender and then getting Mr Radburn to submit a higher-priced tender. The average price of the contracts in which the companies engaged in price fixing over the period was e137,000, Mr Kenna said. The biggest contract was for e312,000 with Paypal and was won by Aston Carpets. The scam came to an end on April 30 when gardai raided the offices of the two companies. During the raid Mr Smith was overheard calling Mr Radburn by phone and asking him to delete emails and was therefore charged with attempting to impede a prosecution. Justice McCarthy said he was taking into account Smith's salary and assets in passing sentence. He noted that he has an income of 9,422 per month and an interest in various properties in Dublin and Co Meath. A man has been arrested after a loyalist supporter was shot dead in a supermarket car park in Bangor in County Down on Sunday. 35-year-old Colin Horner, who was with his three-year-old son at the time, was attacked by a lone gunman. It is understood Mr Horner, from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, recently relocated to Bangor amid fears he would be targeted in the same loyalist paramilitary feud that claimed the life of his friend George Gilmore two months ago. Loyalist Mr Gilmore, 44, was shot dead in Carrickfergus in March. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Detective Superintendent Richard Campbell confirmed a link between Mr Horners murder and the long-running Carrick feud between rival loyalists was one line of inquiry. The detective said the victim had just strapped his son into the back seat of his black Nissan Pulsar car, reg XFZ 4706, at 2.45pm when a lone gunman approached and fired at least three shots from a handgun. "His three-year-old son was in the car and was immediately beside his father when he was shot dead in front of him," he said. "So its a hugely barbaric act and something that will undoubtedly live with this young boy for the rest of his life." A 71-year-old man who was injured when a car driven by his wife crashed into the back of a bin truck has settled his High Court action for 1m, writes Ann O'Loughlin. Farmer Patrick Meehan suffered severe injuries in the accident five years ago. His Counsel Frank Callinan SC told Mr Justice Anthony Barr Mr Meehan still needs a crutch to walk and now needs 24-hour care. Farmer and retired lorry diver Patrick Meehan of Gortward, Mountcharles, Co Donegal had sued his wife Marie Meehan of the same address as a result of the accident on December 18, 2012 when it was claimed the car Mrs Meehan was driving suddenly and without warning collided with the rear of a rubbish truck which was parked on the hard shoulder near Grange, Co Sligo. It was claimed there was a failure to have any or any proper regard for the presence of Mr Meehan as a front seat passenger in the car and a failure to see or respond adequately to the presence of the truck which was parked on the hard shoulder on the same side of the road upon which Mrs Meehan was driving. It was claimed Mr Meehan sustained severe injuries including several fractures and also sustained significant cognitive impairment as a result of the road traffic accident. Liability was admitted in the case. Counsel told Mr Justice Barr there was a complex medical issue in the case. Mr Callinan said his side contended the cognitive decline in Mr Meehan was related to the trauma of the accident while the other side disputed this and claimed there was a pre exisitng degenerative condition. Approving the settlement Mr Justice Barr said the very stark conflict in the medical evidence represented a very big risk in the case. The amount offered he said would go a long way towards looking after Mr Meehan and on balance the judge said it was best to take the offer. The court heard Mrs Meehan and the Meehan family were happy with the offer. Three men have been arrested in Great Britain in connection with the rape and murder of a young mother found beaten to death after a night out in a loyalist club in the North 30 years ago. Detectives investigating the brutal killing of Lorraine McCausland detained two men, aged 49 and 56, in Scotland and another suspect, aged 53, in England. Update: 12.30pm: The massive explosion which rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul today has taken the lives of 80 people and wounded as many as 350. The attack left a scene of mayhem and destruction and sent a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. The target of the blast - which officials said was a suicide car bombing - is unclear, but Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the public health ministry, said most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children. It was one of the worst attacks Kabul has seen since the drawdown of foreign forces at the end of 2014. Images from the scene showed the German embassy and several others heavily damaged. Germany and Pakistan said some of their embassy employees and staff were hurt in the explosion. The explosion took place at the peak of Kabuls rush hour when roads are packed with commuters. It went off close to a busy intersection in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry. The neighbourhood is considered Kabuls safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10ft blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. The Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Palace are in the area, as are the British, Canadian, Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies. TV footage showed shocked residents soaked in blood stumbling about, then being ferried away to hospitals. Passers-by stopped and helped the wounded into private cars, and others congregated outside the nearby Italian-run Emergency Hospital. A statement from the Ministry of Interior Affairs said it "condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack". "These heinous acts go against the values of humanity as well values of peaceful Afghans. These attacks also demonstrate the extreme level of atrocity by terrorists against innocent civilians." President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack, which came days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A statement from his office quoted Mr Ghani as saying "the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people". Pakistan condemned the "terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused loss of precious human lives and injuries to many". Pakistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "The blast has caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some." The Foreign Ministry in Berlin said it had no immediate information on possible casualties or damage to the German embassy but was trying to get more details. Germany has had troops in Afghanistan for 15 years, primarily concentrated in the north in and around Mazar-E-Sharif. They are one of the biggest contributors to the Nato-led Resolute Support mission with around 980 soldiers on the ground to support and train Afghan security forces. The explosion was so heavy that more than 50 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged. Update 10.15am: The death toll in the suicide car bomb attack on Kabuls diplomatic zone has risen to 80, an Afghan health official said. Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the public health ministry, says that the number of the wounded now stands at 350. Update 8.30am: Sixty four people were killed and as many as 320 wounded in a massive car bombing in Kabul, the Afghan interior ministry said. Earlier: At least nine people have been killed and as many as 90 others injured in a suicide car bomb blast in Afghanistans capital. Health official Ismail Kawasi said the target of the attack in Kabul during Wednesday mornings rush-hour was not immediately known. Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the explosion was so heavy that more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past. The blast in the Wazir Akbar Khan area happened near several embassies and not far from the presidential palace. The neighbourhood is considered Kabuls safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10ft blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to a kilometre from the blast site. AP Authorities in the Philippines have reached out to parties who may be able to talk with Muslim militants in a bid to secure the freedom of hostages in a southern city where a week of fighting has killed 129 people, officials said. Troops have cleared almost 90% of Marawi, where the gunmen linked to the Islamic State terror group have been fending off government troops since a botched raid to capture a veteran rebel leader triggered a militant siege, said military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla. He said militant leader Isnilon Hapilon is believed to still be in the city. Brig Gen Padilla said 960 civilians have been rescued, but an estimated 1,000 residents remain trapped in the city. The dead include 89 militants, 19 civilians and 21 government forces, he said. A video of a Catholic priest taken hostage is being assessed by experts, he added. He said the video seems authentic, but the Rev Teresito Suganob appeared to be speaking under duress and militants are apparently using the video for propaganda. In the video, Rev Suganob said he is being held alongside 200 other captives, including children, in what appeared to be a battle-scarred part of Marawi. "We want to live another day, we want to live another month," he said, standing in front of debris and partially burned buildings. Directing his remarks to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, he said: "We want to live few years and in your generosity, Mr President, in your heart, we know you can make something (happen)." Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Pena confirmed it was Rev Suganob in the video. Brig Gen Padilla said there have been efforts to reach out to parties who may conduct back-channel talks to help free the hostages. He assured the captives' families that the military is doing its best to keep them safe. He did not elaborate. He said the video indicates the extremists are fighting for survival. "They are trapped, they are contained," he said. "They are in areas that they will never come out alive unless they surrender." Mr Duterte, who declared martial law in Mindanao, has approved the creation of a "peace corridor" to hasten the rescue of civilians and delivery of humanitarian aid for displaced persons, said presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella. He said the corridor will be implemented by the government and the main separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed a peace agreement in exchange for Muslim autonomy in Mindanao, the southern third of the Philippines where a Muslim rebellion has raged for decades. Hapilon, the militant leader wanted by the US for his alleged involvement in kidnappings and bomb attacks which also targeted Americans in the Philippines, is still believed to be in Marawi. "We believe he is still there, and we believe that is why they are putting up a very stiff resistance in the areas that they are still being held up and being cleared," Brig Gen Padilla told reporters in Manila, the capital. PA A physician who was behaving suspiciously and had made threatening remarks has been arrested at the Trump International Hotel in Washington after police found an assault-style rifle and handgun in his car, authorities said. Bryan Moles, of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, was taken into custody at the city centre hotel where he was staying as a guest, police said. At a news conference, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham said his department and the Secret Service received information from Pennsylvania State Police that a tipster had reported that Moles, 43, was travelling to the hotel armed with weapons and ammunition. Mr Newsham said Moles checked into the hotel about 30 minutes later. Authorities worked with hotel security to locate his car and Moles himself inside the hotel. "I was very concerned about this circumstance," Mr Newsham said, "and I believe the officers and our federal partners, and in particular the tipster, averted a potential disaster here in our nation's capital." A police report said authorities saw a firearm "in plain view" in Moles's vehicle and found another inside the glove compartment. Police seized a Glock 23 pistol, a Bushmaster assault-style rifle and 90 rounds of ammunition. Hotel spokeswoman Patricia Tang said in a statement that "authorities arrested a guest who was behaving suspiciously", but referred further questions to authorities. The police chief said Moles is being interviewed, and is co-operating with authorities. Mr Newsham added that the department does not have enough evidence to charge him with making threats, although a department spokesman earlier indicated that was part of the tip to Pennsylvania authorities. Moles is an A&E physician at a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania. He is being charged with carrying a pistol without a licence and having unregistered ammunition. FBI spokeswoman Minique Crump said the agency initially responded, but referred further questions to the local police, who are taking the lead on the investigation. AP The Trump administration believes China is using "back channel networking" with North Korea in a bid to persuade Kim Jong Un to stop nuclear and ballistic missile tests, the United Nations US ambassador has said. "We believe they are being productive," Nikki Haley told reporters. "We do think theyre trying to counter what is happening now." Ms Haley said China knew North Korea best "and so were going to keep the pressure on China, but were going to continue to work with them in any way that they think is best". At the same time, Ms Haley said, the United States and China are discussing the timing of a new UN Security Council resolution that would toughen sanctions against North Korea in response to its latest ballistic missile launches. New balance of terror: In pursuit of a nuclear game-changer, North Korea racing ahead faster than ever before. https://t.co/w1xWjsyMV1 pic.twitter.com/8I30yQ0EEO The Associated Press (@AP) May 31, 2017 Mondays launch was the third in three weeks. Beijing is North Koreas traditional ally and accounts for up to 90% of the isolated nations external trade, giving it considerable economic leverage. But there are limits to Chinas influence and its willingness to use it. North Korea has advanced its nuclear weapons programme over Chinese objections. But despite US calls for China to turn the screw, Beijing remains reluctant to impose biting economic pressure as it fears a North Korean collapse that would lead to instability on Chinas doorstep. Chinas UN ambassador Liu Jieyi made clear last week that Beijings top priority is to restart talks with North Korea following its multiple tests to try to reduce tensions rather than impose new sanctions. He stressed that all progress with Pyongyang on eliminating nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula had come through dialogue. Ms Haley said Washington and Beijing were trying to decide the best way to approach North Korea. "I dont think its back-pedalling as much as nothing is changing North Koreas actions," she said. "If this is going to happen every other day, how should we respond in a way that we actually stop these things, or slow it down? "I think were having those conversations this week, and I hope that we can come up with a final solution." Earlier this month Ms Haley said Beijing was not engaging on a new resolution, but told reporters on Tuesday that she had heard from the Chinese and discussions were now about "at what point do we do the resolution". The Security Council has imposed six rounds of increasingly tough sanctions on North Korea. Pyongyangs reaction has been defiance and stepped up testing to improve its nuclear arsenal and achieve its goal of being able to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the United States. In a sign of growing US anxiety over North Koreas weapons development, the Pentagon said on Tuesday it had shot down a mock warhead over the Pacific. It was the first test in three years of a US-based missile defence system and the first targeting an intercontinental-range missile like the one North Korea is developing. North Koreas deputy UN ambassador Kim In Ryong said on May 19 that his government would rapidly strengthen its nuclear strike capability as long as the United States maintained its "hostile policy" towards the country. He said if the Trump administration wants peace on the Korean peninsula it should replace the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace accord and halt its anti-North Korea policy, which he called "the root cause of all problems". The US has said there should be no talks until North Korea takes steps towards getting rid of its nuclear arsenal. AP A police vehicle on the tarmac after a man allegedly tried to enter the cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH128. Credit:Andrew Leoncelli He said people were understanding of the fact police had to know what they were dealing with before entering the plane. He said rushing on could have made things worse. Passenger Andrew Leoncelli, seen in a file picture. Mr Ashton said had the incident occurred in Europe or the US, it was likely passengers would still be on the plane. A passenger on the flight said the man was carrying a large black device that had several aerials protruding from it when he allegedly tried to enter the cockpit. A picture tweeted by one of the passengers appears to show the man face-down on the floor after being handcuffed. Credit:Twitter: @saroki19 "I've never seen anything like it. It was the size of a watermelon, it was huge, it was black," the passenger, former AFL player Andrew Leoncelli, told radio station 3AW. "It had two sort of like antennae stuff coming off it, but it also looked like it had an iPhone jack in it, so it could have been just like a beatbox thing." The flight had taken off from Melbourne Airport bound for Kuala Lumpur just after 11pm on Wednesday when the man stormed into the business class section of the plane and demanded to speak to the pilot. Superintendent Tony Langdon, from Victoria Police, said early on Thursday that the man was believed to have a history of mental illness. He is a 25-year-old Australian citizen from Dandenong, in Melbourne's south-east. "We do not believe this is terrorist-related at the moment," he said. "We are obviously concerned for the passengers and crew. It would have been a very traumatic experience for them." Mr Leoncelli described the alarming moment the man allegedly made threats to blow up the plane, while holding his mystery device. He said he confronted the man, who ran towards the back of the plane, where a group of other male passengers detained him. Those passengers held the man on the floor "with eight feet" on his head, back and legs, and hog-tied him as the flight turned around and returned to Melbourne Airport. The flight landed just after 11.40pm. "I ended up chatting to the lads who did it [detained the man], and they said they seriously did a number on him and put the hog-ties on him really tight. "[They] basically sat on him with their feet on his back with his face into the carpet for the next 20 minutes while we turned the plane around and landed again," Mr Leoncelli said. Another caller, Russell, said his brother-in-law was on the plane, and described how the man had the device strapped to his body. "Apparently a gentleman wearing a beanie stormed into the business class section of the aeroplane screaming that he wanted to see the pilot, and he had a device strapped to his chest," Russell told 3AW. "Three or four people in the business class section I suppose abandoned their champagne and their orange juice and they gang-tackled him to the ground. They sat on him until they discovered the device, I think it was a transistor radio, gaffer taped to his chest." "His words were [they were] 'probably having a meeting on occupational health and safety' on how they were going to get into the plane," Russell said. Passengers said that, when the plane landed, they were left on the tarmac for about 90 minutes, with very little information from airline staff about what was happening. Eventually, heavily armed police from the Special Operations Group, wearing camouflage gear and helmets, entered the plane and arrested the man. Superintendent Langdon said the item the man was holding was an "electronic device, but it was quickly ascertained that it was not an explosive device". He would not say what the device was, but said it posed no threat and was "something that everybody would be carrying around on a daily basis". The man had the item in his backpack when he boarded the plane, and it would not have triggered any safety concerns, police said. Superintendent Langdon described the actions of those who detained the man as "quite heroic". "They managed to calm the situation and allow the aircraft to return safely, and we can't commend them highly enough," he said. Superintendent Martin Good, from the Australian Federal Police, said the police response to the incident was "effective". "The joint response by both Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police in responding to this particular incident had proven itself to be effective in bringing it to a timely conclusion," he said. "At all times, the safety of the public of course and the people on the plane was paramount to us, and that's why it has unfolded the way it has." Darling Downs farmers have rejoiced at the Queensland Land Court's recommendation that the state government reject the expansion of New Hope's controversial New Acland coal mine. Community group Oakey Coal Action Alliance have been fighting to stop the mine from encroaching on their agricultural land, arguing it poses too great a risk to water, air quality and farming business. Oakey Coal Action Alliance had argued the expansion of the coal mine. Land Court member Paul Smith recommended on Wednesday that Mines Minister Anthony Lynham reject the New Hope's expansion and that its environmental authority application be refused. Alliance member Paul King said the decision was a message that farmland on the Darling Downs was now safe. John McGrath, founder of the McGrath real estate advisory empire, has dismissed concerns of a property "bubble" saying he has seen such talk "time and time again over 30 years and the 'doom and gloom' predictions simply haven't eventuated". In his weekly column for the Switzer Daily, Mr McGrath, often dubbed Mr Sydney property for his longtime expertise, said the moment "we see even the slightest change in boom market conditions, the headlines begin". "The end is called. The umpire blows his whistle. Yesterday we were in a boom, today we're on a slippery slope," Mr McGrath said. He said the pace of growth in property prices would slow down but not stop. Property prices will keep growing but at a lesser rate per year. A fashion business that began on Channel Ten's Shark Tank has been accused of running an illegal unpaid internship program and exploiting staff. Investigators from the federal workplace watchdog have alleged fashion subscription start-up Her Fashion Box either grossly underpaid workers or paid them nothing at all. Documents filed in the Federal Court claim business owner Kathleen Purkis has undercut the pay of three employees by more than $40,000. The nation was plunged into panic yesterday with the news that Life Education Australia was losing its federal funding and thus the ability to feed, much less hose out the stable of, Healthy Harold: Australia's favourite emptily-grinning anthropomorphic health promotion giraffe. As social media roared into spirited outrage, Education Minister Simon Birmingham took the giraffe by the little nubby horns and tweeted: "We support #HealthyHarold & will work with Life Education Australia to ensure the funding & the program continues". And they say clicktivism doesn't get results! Kids love Healthy Harold's trendy bandana-and-no-pants look! Credit:Eddie Jim And while this is a good thing for school children facing a terrifyingly ungulate-free educational future, the lesson here is clear: if you're a body facing punitive cuts, then you need only one thing: a large adorable mascot! With this in mind, here are some suggestions for colourful characters to protect specific organisations which have been of particular interest to the government in recent times. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin says he was "saddened and surprised" by the abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey by US President Donald Trump. Mr Trump fired his top law enforcement official three weeks ago in the midst of a high-level FBI investigation into links between Mr Trump's election campaign and the Russian government, kicking off a political storm that has engulfed the presidency. The White House has said Mr Comey was fired for incompetence and lack of confidence of FBI staff, and US media have reported that Mr Trump told Russian officials visiting the Oval Office that Mr Comey was a "real nut job". But after a wide-ranging speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Colvin, who knows and has worked with the sacked FBI head, described his former US counterpart as a man of integrity and a good leader. Several Labor MPs have spoken out against the Turnbull government's proposed changes to Australian citizenship, setting the stage for an internal fight as Immigration Minister Peter Dutton crows over the apparent division. While leader Bill Shorten has acted cautiously, declaring that tougher English language testing and a four-year wait for citizenship looked "reasonable", MPs from the party's left are in open disagreement. Anne Aly, a counter-terrorism expert and now West Australian Labor MP, said it was "unfair and unreasonable" to require a higher, university level of English from migrants who sought Australian citizenship. "I think Labor should oppose it," she said. "I don't think there are that many Australians who would be able to pass that." Centrelink users who need an urgent cash advance may soon find it easier to get one up to a point. The government's bid to streamline and reform its social services payment systems will continue, with changes to its urgent payment system due to come into effect this week. The requests will be granted almost automatically but capped at two a year, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Anyone requesting more will be moved on to weekly instead of fortnightly payments, and given financial counselling to help manage money better. Under the urgent payment system, no additional money is granted by the government it comes from the next scheduled welfare payment. Advance payments, which are provided as a loan, and crisis payments, will remain untouched. Sydney Catholic schools have retreated from earlier warnings about potential $5000 fee rises resulting from changes to federal funding, with the diocese saying it now believes it can avoid large increases. Dan White, the director of Catholic schools in the Sydney diocese, which runs 152 schools, told parents this week that "we can even out school fees across the system without a need for a massive increase in fees in the future if [Education Minister Simon Birmingham] ensures in the legislation that the Catholic system can keep distributing funds according to its own assessment of need", which Mr Birmingham has said will be the case in letters to Catholic school principals and parents. The head of the Sydney Catholic diocese has told parents there will not be "a need for a massive increase in fees in the future", revising his earlier warnings of a potential $5000 hike. Credit:Thomas Trutschel The Broken Bay diocese, which runs 44 schools across Sydney's northern beaches and the NSW Central Coast, now appears to be the only Catholic body in NSW still warning parents about fee increases. In a letter sent to parents this week, Broken Bay director of schools Peter Hamill warned the new funding model would have "devastating consequences for our local Catholic systemic schools in northern Sydney and the Northern Beaches". Bones have been found in bushland south of Sydney in the search for missing man Matthew Leveson. The discovery was made on Wednesday afternoon, almost a week after police started searching a site in the Royal National Park. A backhoe used in the searches stopped before police and Mr Leveson's family were called over to an area just off the road near Waterfall. The bones are thought to be human but forensic testing will need to establish whether they are and whether they belong to Mr Leveson or not. Researchers undertaking a landmark study on the platypus are warning of significant population declines and localised extinctions across areas of South Australia and Victoria. The study, which is still several years away from completion, seeks to establish a clear picture of the animal's population for the first time. Current estimates on population figures vary from 30,000 to 50,000 mature animals, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The platypus is an Australian icon but landmark research being conducted by a large team of Australian scientists indicates the animal's future is under serious threat. Credit:Douglas Gimesy "The platypus is notoriously difficult to study in the wild because it is a nocturnal animal and very elusive so there is no concrete population number," Richard Kingsford, Professor of Environmental Science at the University of NSW, told Fairfax Media. "But what we have uncovered so far is leading us to believe that the situation for platypus right now in Australia is critical. We can report with certainty that they have disappeared from the Adelaide Hills, the Bass River and Avoca River catchments in Victoria and they have declined precipitously in the Wimmera River catchment in the Murray-Darling. Overall their population is in decline across the country." Transport Minister Andrew Constance has confirmed the government is considering up to 12 stations for a new metro train line from central Sydney to Parramatta, as well as passing loops to ensure express trains are not hindered by all-stops services. Councils such as Burwood are clamouring for stations on the Sydney Metro West line to be built within their boundaries, while large property owners are eagerly awaiting the final route design because of the expected uplift in values it will bring. After a report by Fairfax Media this week, Mr Constance said the government was open to considering up to 12 stations and would seek input from the private sector about their design and construction and "how you build in and around stations". "We want to see what we can tease out of industry over the next 18 months or so," he said. Outside the Coroner's Court in Glebe, Dean Summers, the national co-ordinator for the International Transport Workers Federation, said the flag of convenience system made workers vulnerable. "Today the coroner has confirmed that, on board the Sage Sagittarius, a flag of convenience ship, sailing to and from Australia, there has been a double murder. "This was a murder ship. The Sage Sagittarius - flag of convenience registered in Panama - was a murder ship, and two men have lost their lives, two families have lost their breadwinners, four children have lost their fathers," Mr Summers said. "This is a terrible indictment of the flag of convenience system." The inquest heard there was "intense conflict and mistrust among the crew" on board and some of the crew, including Mr Llanto, were planning to report the captain, Venancio Salas, 40, to authorities for alleged physical assaults and maltreatment. A culture of "silence and blacklisting" and "harassment and bullying" existed, particularly of messman Jessie Martinez because of his junior status and homosexuality. Mr Martinez was assaulted by Captain Salas on three occasions. Captain Salas also sold guns on board, collecting and sending thousands of dollars to the Philippines and taking a small commission. The Coroner said Captain Salas' captancy was "in my view clearly unorthodox" and "he clearly did not brook any opposition to his style of leadership". Ms Freund said Mr Llanto was either thrown overboard or killed and his body disposed of later. As his body has never been recovered, she made an open finding as to the cause of his death. Mr Collado was struck over the head with a weapon or instrument and he was either thrown or fell to his death from the second to the fourth deck. The cause of death was multiple injuries. The inquest was plagued with difficulties, including the reluctance of most of the crew to co-operate with authorities. Investigators found some of the crew were scared and intimidated by the three deaths and it was abundantly clear a number of them did not disclose everything they knew to authorities. Further, the Australian Federal Police had jurisdiction over Mr Llanto's disappearance while the NSW Police had carriage of Mr Collado's death The Sage Sagittarius carries coal between Australia and Japan and is owned by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha Line, one of the biggest shipping companies in the world with revenue of more than $20 billion. When it departed Japan for Newcastle in August 2012, it carried 25 Filipino crew members. In her findings, Ms Freund said a landmark report Ships of Shame was published following a Commonwealth parliamentary inquiry two decades ago, yet many of the issues remain. There are significant practical impediments to investigating suspected lawlessness on a foreign-flagged vessel, the report found, including crew members' fear that speaking out will affect their ability to get work. The Queensland government has stepped in to slash an expected increase in regional electricity prices by more than half. On Wednesday morning, the Queensland Competition Authority announced its final decision on regulated retail electricity prices for regional Queensland. Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the government would step in and slash the expected increase in regional electricity prices. Credit:Bradley Kanaris The decision would have resulted in the annual bill for a typical customer on the main residential tariff increasing by 7.1 per cent, from $1490 to $1595. The main small business tariff increases would have been 8.2 per cent, from $2449 to $2649. A Queensland magistrate has admonished a woman who threw food at a homeless man and punched him in the face at the end of a drunken night out. After telling police "he's homeless and that's his fault. He hasn't gone to any effort to make his life better", Sarah Ann Smith, 27, was told nobody cared about her attitude to homelessness. Sarah Ann Smith punched a homeless man after getting into an argument. Credit:Andrew Quilty She appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court with a child in tow on Wednesday to answer one charge of common assault. The assault took place in the Brisbane CBD about 5am on April 21, following an argument between the woman and the homeless man. A Queensland Catholic priest wrestled naked with an altar boy who had come to him for support and groped his genitals, police will allege. Father Michael Joseph McKeaten's case was mentioned in court on Wednesday, less than a month after he withdrew from the ministry and more than 25 years after the alleged sexual offence. Father Michael Joseph McKeaten has been charged over an alleged incident 25 years ago in Brisbane's north. He ministered at more than half a dozen parishes and was still the parish priest at two schools west of the Gold Coast until earlier this month, when he was farewelled by students with a cake at his final mass. The priest of 38 years was expected to take the helm of four parishes in Ipswich but last Tuesday, the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane revealed he had alerted them of the charge and withdrawn from "active ministry". A man who fatally stabbed his uncle amid the fall-out over the theft of a rare bass guitar has been jailed for a decade. Karl Lamblin once had a warm relationship with Paul O'Donnell, but that bond deteriorated and was further soured when Lamblin stole his uncle's guitar in June last year. Karl Lamblin has been jailed for a decade. Credit:Victoria Police A friend later returned the guitar to its owner, the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday, but Lamblin was angered by that and, on the night of June 18, confronted Mr O'Donnell at the Keysborough factory where his uncle repaired BMWs and occasionally stayed with his partner. Lamblin had at least one knife with him and stabbed his uncle above the left hip, piercing the abdomen. He fled when his uncle's partner pushed him away with a vacuum cleaner. Police have arrested a man in connection with an alleged one-punch attack in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital which left a Melbourne surgeon and father of two fighting for his life. In the latest of a series of recent attacks on the state's health workers, cardiac and thoracic surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann suffered life-threatening injuries after allegedly being punched in the head on Tuesday night following a verbal altercation. Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann is aged in his 40s and is the father of two young children. It is believed he was on his way home at the end of his shift and became concerned about people smoking near the hospital doors when the assault occurred. She waited all those years for police to catch the man who raped her, but when they did it was two years too late. By the time DNA advancements meant investigators could be certain they knew who violently raped a young woman in her bedroom, almost three decades had elapsed and the victim had died two years beforehand. Advancements in DNA technology has led to Paul Nicholas Sayer being convicted. But Paul Nicholas Sayer's past continues to catch up with him, and on Wednesday he went back into custody, after pleading guilty to breaking into the woman's flat and attacking her on July 28, 1984. Sayer was 17 when that night, the County Court heard, he entered the flat as the woman slept alone, beat her, shoved her out of bed and raped her. "Feels good, doesn't it?" he said to the woman, then 24. Academics from Bristol and Cardiff universities come together to strengthen local capacity and improve the way in which child poverty is measured and assessed in the country. Dr Sebnem Eroglu-Hawksworth from the School for Policy Studies, along with Dr Shailen Nandy of Cardiff Universitys School of Social Sciences, and Dr Viliami Konifelenisi Fifita, Government Statistician for the Kingdom of Tonga and Chair of the Technical Committee for Pacific Headline Indicators for the Pacific Statistics Steering Committee (PSSC), travelled to Uganda in April to facilitate a training workshop in quantitative methods for staff of the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and researchers at the Economic Policy Research Centre of Makerere University. UBOS have shown significant commitment to extending their national analysis of poverty to include the consensual approach developed within the School for Policy Studies to measure multidimensional poverty. The approach has the potential to instigate significant gains in terms of social and economic development and takes into consideration the opinions of the general public about what items and activities they consider necessary for an acceptable standard of living. The workshop, part of an on-going collaboration between the two universities and UNICEF to share best practice in measuring the multidimensional aspects of poverty, provided an opportunity for statisticians and social scientists from Uganda and Tonga to exchange information and experiences. Dr Sebnem Eroglu-Hawksworth notes the workshop made a significant contribution to the capacity building of national statistics offices; making it possible for their staff to run their own, independent analysis of multidimensional poverty so that their governments can successfully monitor progress towards the first SDG. UBOS will soon release the survey data that incorporate elements of the consensual approach. Team members at Bristol and Cardiff will use the data in writing the UNICEFs report on child poverty in Uganda in 2018. Latest News ubank launches $6,000 cashback offer Digital bank hopes to entice new home loan borrowers AFG appoints three new managers Aggregator's move to boost broker recruitment, support Incoming regulations from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) may mean credit representatives are slugged with additional costs as large brokerages and aggregators deal with extra fees.The ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Regulations will commence in the second half of the year with the regulator attempting to recover costs of operations from firms and individuals within the credit industry and other sectors under its jurisdiction.ASIC will levy sub-sectors at a flat rate where costs remain stable while introducing fluid levies in other sectors where regulatory costs vary significantly, said Elise Ivory, partner in the banking and finance group at Dentons at the firms Credit Law Training event in Sydney yesterday (31 May).The new regulations potentially involve very large sums of money being paid by every single person in the industry when they didnt previously have to make those payments, she said.In an extreme case scenario, a mainstream lender with credit representatives which also offers small amount credit contracts will be hit with three levies for each of these fields.Larger players such as aggregators would have to determine how they will deal with these additional costs, Ivory said.Will [they] therefore start charging credit reps? she asked. [They] already do, but will [they] add extra to it? There still needs to be something where the credit rep gets value for being a credit rep as opposed to holding their own licence. Industry will have to work out how they will deal with that fee once its imposed.There are also a number of questions around how these new regulations will apply. For instance, large brokerages with employees and no credit representatives would not have to pay a levy, she noted. On the other hand, business models entirely using credit reps who want to be independent contractors will be hit with added fees.The problem here is possibly that theres no completely fair way to do it and theyve come up with the best they can.Larger players can also be hit with a corporation fee, meaning that these costs will add up once these regulations come into play, Ivory said. Youre off work, youre hungry, and youve got squat in the fridge. Nothings thawed for dinner, and your stomach is howling. Weve all been there. And if ever there was an underrepresented niche in Albuquerques dining scene, its healthy food only fast. We either opt for lean protein and veggies at a sit-down spot, or grab a sack of something quick through our drivers side window. Rare is the joint that delivers take-away that is focused on a vibrantly fresh and healthy meal. Enter Hello Poke, riding a giant wave of foodie enthusiasm for poke, one of Hawaiis proudest dishes. Traditionally its cubed and marinated fish, though fusion cuisine and innovation have certainly expanded the otherwise workman-like dish as it has traveled. Poke shares some flavor profiles with sushi and other Japanese cuisine, but I dont agree with the sushi-in-a-bowl oversimplification thats often offered as explanation. In scale, temperature and texture the dishes just dont share that much. But what they do share is a sturdy and light yet satisfying approach to a meal that leaves you full while patting yourself on the back for such a wise and intentional choice. Through the utterly simple, straightforward door is an equally utilitarian space, light and inviting, with tables and chairs for about 30, should you want to sit and eat. Build your bowl from a base of either rice or organic greens, followed by scoops of protein in your choice of sauce, then top it to your hearts content from a varied list of Asian Pacific possibilities. The regular is two scoops ($9), and the large is three scoops ($10), plus another $1.50 for every additional scoop of proteinnot that youll need many by the time your bowl is built. The whole vibe is as low-key and friendly as the islands themselves even if your first time ordering can be a bit daunting. It might help to emulate some familiar flavor profiles when decidingas we did. For instance, for the first bowl I wanted a cheapjack crab Louie cornerwith crab, avocado and some spicy mayowhile saving my other corners for tuna (both spicy and marinated) and gambled on some tiny scallops, too. The seafood was cool, and delightfully fresh, quick-tossed with the tang of soy and that earthy sesame note that so often signifies Asian cuisine. Throw in a little edamame, some cucumber and some seaweed salad, and color me happy. I built it all over greens and went with the house spicy sauce, which was bright but nothing to fret over heat-wise. I was happy I added some masago for that salty pop and sliced jalapenos to kick it all up a notch. The three distinct corners of my bowl each delivered exactly what I was hungry for, and Im hard-pressed to find even the slightest misstep. I guess Id want spicy to be spicier, but more jalapenos wouldve done it too. In a bowl built a bit like a spicy salmon roll, we started with half brown and half white rice, then added three scoops of the smooth and luscious spicy salmon, which had a nice punch from the green onion and wasabi. The bowl was finished with pickled ginger, more onions, avocado and jalapenos that perfectly pulled out a garlicky note in the salmon. Despite its simple design, the bowl would likely prove plenty for all but the hungriest eater. For the vegan/vegetarian optionseither build your own custom-made bowl, or just go with their Hello Tofu Classic ($9 regular/$10 large). It blends green and yellow onion with ogo seaweed, toasted sesame seeds and roasted sesame oil, with the house saucean easy and tasty go-to for any vegetarian friend whos overwhelmed by the choices and options. The tofu holds up well to the marinade and sauce, and, again, the add-ins and toppings are as fresh as you can find. I know not everyone has 10 bucks for a meal, and the argument for most fast food is basically an economic one. But with most places charging that for any ol plate of food, its hard to argue against the sheer quality Hello Poke delivers and the speed and ease with which youll get it. If theres an case to be made in terms of cost, I think they might consider adding a small or even a kid size for future foodies. Heck, call it an 8-oz. post-workout poke and it practically sells itself, drawing a few curious diners at a price theyd be comfortable gambling on. But the fact that extra scoops are only $1.50, and any second scoop of either crab meat or avocado is a buck, suggests they work hard to keep hungry customers full and happy without gouging them. In their mission statement, Hello Poke advocates for sustainably-sourced seafooda truly important step considering that, without deliberate choices and wiser policy, we may well see the end of the fishing industry as we know it sooner rather than later. And that, for this grab-and-go gourmand, would be heartbreaking. latest news October 31, 2022 Buddy TV In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options... When one bad guy exits The Bachelorette another one must rise, or fall, to take his place. After DeMarios disgraceful exit from the series, the man who appears to be set up as his villainous replacement is already making waves. Fans are finding past tweets from Bachelorette contestant Lee Garrett and they are pretty alarming. Rachels Dog Was the Best Part of The Bachelorette>>> From what people have gathered, Lee has a history of posting controversial and rather racist things on social media. One of the big whistleblowers has been author Dana Schwartz and she has collected some of Lees most outrageous sentiments into a tweet of her own. Lee allegedly compared the Black Lives Matter movement to that of the KKK and urged people to sign a petition that would qualify Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization. what if we brought on this super racist guy to date the first black bachelorette ABC execs: GENIUS pic.twitter.com/kuhPwl5ntp Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) May 31, 2017 If that wasnt bad enough, he reportedly jokingly asked his followers if they have ever seen a pretty feminist. This is something, according to Lees tweets, that does not exist. This is just a few of the questionable things found on Lees account. The Root has an even larger collection of screenshots where his rants go beyond just racial and sexist lines. According to these screenshots he calls Hillary Clinton this generations O.J. Simpson. He wrote that he doesnt hate Muslims but he does hate Islam, which seems contradictory at best, and he put the phrase gay community in quotes as if it is not a real thing. Lee has a huge problem with Democrats as well. Lee wrote that the terrorist who shot up the Orlando nightclub Pulse was a Muslim and a Democrat, as if that explained all his horrific actions. So I guess hes hoping that Rachels politics dont swing to the left. What Is Lucas and Blakes History on The Bachelorette?>>> The screenshots are the only way to prove that these tweets occurred. Lees Twitter and Instagram accounts are protected so only approved followers can view his posts. Of course by the time a follower is approved Lee can always delete the tweets, which makes it even harder to verify if these tweets came from himself or it is a just a (very convincing) hoax. In his Twitter bio, which available for all to see, he does describe himself as pleasantly offensive. Do you think these tweets really came from Lee? Are you surprised by these alleged posts? If theyre true, why do you think The Bachelorette would cast him? The Bachelorette season 13 airs Mondays on ABC. Want more news? Like our Bachelorette Facebook page! (Images courtesy of ABC and Dana Schwartz / Twitter) Our negotiating aim is a bold and ambitious free trade agreement, greater in scope than any such agreement before. That was the recent message from David Jones, Minister for Exiting the European Union to the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF). We are confident that a Conservative government is going to be able to secure a deal that works for the UK and the EU, he added. The Minister was responding to representations made by the BMF before next weeks General Election about customs arrangements following the Article 50 announcement to leave the EU. The BMF wants politicians of all parties to understand that leaving the Customs Union without a comprehensive UK-EU free trade agreement will unsettle business confidence and planned investments, with negative consequences for the merchants and manufacturers it represents. The worry is that full consideration is not being given to tariffs and other obstacles that hamper trade. The Department for Exiting the European Union was asked whether the HMRC and port authorities have sufficient resources to deal with millions more customs declarations that will be necessary when the UK leaves the EU Customs Union. The BMF argued that if border inspections at ports are not properly resourced, consignments will be stuck on quaysides causing unnecessary backlogs and delays in fulfilling customer orders. Mr Jones said the whole of government has undertaken work to make sure it is ready to begin negotiations. The government will ensure it is appropriately staffed to deal with the task. Since Ms May triggered the EU Article 50 clause, the BMF has been lobbying MPs to persuade the government to negotiate a mutually beneficial new customs agreement based on zero or low tariffs. More should be done to prepare for the possibility of no deal with the EU - and the unwanted extra bureaucratic and financial burdens that will arise from that, said a spokesperson from the BMF. NJ Weedman got a license to sell NJ legal weed. He almost said no. Wonder Woman! All the worlds waiting for you, rang the theme song to the classic 1970s television show as one-time Miss World America, Lynda Carter, transformed into the star-spangled superhero. Yet while gun-toting raccoons headline todays superhero movies, the world has waited a long time for its most famous female superhero to receive a dedicated film. Reliance Communications lenders have sought more information on its plan to reduce debt, in the wake of a slowing in cash flow and its shares and bonds being hit by a series of rating downgrades. 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. Peatix is a global event management and ticketing platform that provides organisers with tools to create, promote, and sell out events. Harada, along with his colleagues he met at Amazon Japan, founded the company in Tokyo in May 2011. Swedish retail giant IKEA has acquired a fourteen-acre plot on the outskirts of north Bengaluru to set up its third store in the country, which will potentially employ over 2,000 workers in the city. A young software employee with Infosys was found dead in the company's office premises on the outskirts of Chennai. According to police officials, a 30-year old Ilayaraja, hailing from Tindivanam, in Villupuram district, was found dead in the office premises in Mahindra World City, close to Chennai. Amid its fight against various information technology (IT) company managements allegedly laying off employees, the Forum for IT Employees (FITE) said that some of its former members including the ousted president are using its banner for their benefit. Reliance Communications' balance sheet troubles, which have wiped off more than a third of its value this month, have thrown into sharp relief the squeeze afflicting India's telecoms sector: fickle users, wafer-thin margins and crippling debt. Air Indias performance has improved in the past two years but it has failed to meet critical targets set in a turnaround plan drawn up by the government. The airline has principally failed to meet its target of bringing down the net loss to Rs 2,369 crore in 2016-17. The government in 2012 provided the airline a Rs 30,000 crore bailout on condition that it will meet specified operational milestones. has submitted to the civil aviation ministry that it has increased core revenue, ancillary income and operating ratio in 2016-17 while trimming losses. In 2015-16, the airline posted an operational profit of Rs 105 crore, its first since its merger with Indian Airlines. In 2016-17, has increased its revenue by almost 10 percent to Rs 22,521 crore by using capacity more efficiently. We have improved our load factor to 76.4 per cent from 75 per cent last year. This may seem marginal, but consider the huge capacity deployment by private carriers on domestic routes, an executive said. The airline has trimmed losses by 5.05 per cent to Rs 3,643 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 3,836 crore in 2015-16. We managed to do this despite increase in fuel and landing charges, the Air India executive. Air Indias fuel expenses rose to Rs 6,330 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 5,845.40 crore a year ago. Staff costs increased by Rs 202 crore because of a wage award even though we rationalised staff strength as suggested, the executive said. Another airline executive said Air Indias interest outgo made it difficult to meet the targets. Low-cost carriers started dominating with huge capacity and yields started dropping. We do not function like a private player, and there are multiple complexities to handle in regards to strategic decisions which do not exist for a private company, the executive said. Air India has consolidated its international network. It has doubled the frequency on the Delhi-San Francisco route, launched direct flights to Madrid and Vienna, and started Ahmedabad-London-Newark and Delhi-Cochin-Dubai flights. The airline has a market share of 13.6 per cent after private carriers IndiGo and Jet Airways. After a wait of 55 years, several thousand residents in Arunachal Pradesh may get an unexpected surprise in the form of compensation for land acquired by the army following the 1962 war with China. The central and Arunachal Pradesh governments are working out for the compensation, which may be to the tune Rs 3,000 crore. Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, Chief Minister Pema Khandu and senior officials of the central and state governments discussed the issue at an hour-long meeting held in new Delhi on Tuesday. Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, said the meeting was to settle the issue of land acquired for various defence establishments in the frontier state following the 1962 war with China. "Although the people of Arunachal Pradesh can be branded as ultra-patriotic Indians, of late a sense of resentment has been brewing among them due to non-payment of compensation for huge areas of land occupied by the army," Rijiju told PTI. Bhamre is said to have asked officials in his ministry and the army to fast-track all the pending issues by properly coordinating with each other and the state government. Rijiju has called for resolving all issues and clear pending cases in a time-bound manner. He sought from the officials the time they will take in clearing all the issues that came up for discussion during the meeting. Khandu conveyed that issues of lease rate, grant of ownership rights, payment of dual compensation and fixation of land rates will be resolved soon. The chief minister said the Arunachal Pradesh cabinet has already constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of state land management minister to examine all pending issues. The pending cases of land acquisition related to the districts of Tawang, West Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley, West Siang besides others. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others will stand trial for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case, with a special CBI court in Lucknow framing charges against them on Tuesday. Last month, the Supreme Court decided that senior BJP leaders like L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others must be tried for the charge of conspiring to demolish the and ordered that their trial in Lucknow be held on a day-to-day basis. On May 30, Advani and the others were granted bail by the trial court on sureties of Rs 20,000. China on Wednesday welcomed India's reported decision to reject Australia's request to join this year's Malabar naval exercises saying the security concerns of the different parties should be taken into account while holding such drills. "I have seen the relevant reports on the refusal made by India for the invitation. I think India is also clear about the consideration behind this behaviour," Hua Chunying told media briefing reacting to a report that India has rejected Australia's request to join as observer to avoid backlash from China. She however did not elaborate on India's "consideration" in rejecting Australia's request to join the naval exercises scheduled to be held in July in the Bay of Bengal. "But I think we are happy to see normal dialogue and communications on security issues. But we also hope that when conducting such operations, the parties can fully consider the security concerns of the different parties and also play a positive and constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability," Hua said. The Malabar exercise started in 1992 with the US and India in the Indian Ocean. Since Japan joined in 2007, it has alternated between the West Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Media reports said India has rejected Australia's request to send naval ships to join as observer. The three countries held their largest ever joint exercise off Japanese coast, which involved 11 vessels and 8,000 personnel. Last year Chinese media sharply criticised the Malabar exercises saying that they are designed to target China. "Such a large-scale military exercise was obviously designed to target China's submarine activities in the East and South China Seas in recent years, promote the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and cement the US presence in the region," an article in the state run Global said last year. "Washington brought New Delhi and Tokyo into the exercise to relieve its pressure due to overstretched military presence around the globe and tighten its grip on the Asia-Pacific region," it had said. Pre-Monsoon rains lashed over Delhi and the capital region (Delhi-NCR) on Wednesday bringing respite for residents from the scorching heat. Rains appeared over Uttarakhand, Punjab and some parts of Rajasthan. On Tuesday, Skymet Weather had said, "a cyclonic circulation is seen over North Rajasthan and adjoining Punjab. A trough is also seen extending from this system across Delhi. Moreover, the Western Disturbance as an upper air cyclonic circulation is seen over Jammu and Kashmir. The contribution of all these weather systems is expected to result in rains over Delhi and may also cover the nearby states like Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. Along with the scattered showers, squally winds may also affect the capital and adjoining states." According to IMD, gale winds speed reaching 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph would prevail over Mizoram & Tripura during next six hours and 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph for subsequent six hours. Squally winds speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph would prevail over South Assam, Meghalaya & Manipur and along & off West Bengal coast during next 12 hours. While there has been massive outrage over the new rules framed by the government banning sale of cattle for slaughter, the exercise to frame these rules started out to put an end to something happening in neighbouring Nepal. The government says that the new Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules 2017 was conceived on the directions of the Supreme Court (SC). The SC in-turn had set the ball rolling after a petition filed by Gauri Maulekhi, animal rights activist. Maulekhi told Business Standard: The government has done the right thing by introducing these rules. Yet a lot of misinformed people are criticising this move. They should look at the despicable conditions in which animals meant for slaughter are treated at animal markets. I am completely happy with the new rules. If we have to be secure as a nation, we have to protect our livestock from the cattle mafia. The beef controversy today took an ugly turn, with a PhD scholar of IIT Madras being beaten up allegedly by some students protesting against the "beef fest" held in the campus on Sunday. The IIT authorities tonight said an inquiry will be conducted by the institute and appropriate action will be taken based on its outcome. R Sooraj, who is associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was allegedly assaulted by some students who claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters, according to the victim's associates. A student alleged that a group of students who owe allegiance to the "right wing ideology" surrounded Sooraj when he was having lunch in the mess and beat him up this afternoon. He was taken to IIT-M dispensary and later to an eye hospital for his eye injury. A picture, purportedly that of Sooraj being wheeled into a hospital with a visible injury on his right eye, is doing the rounds in the social media as well. The student also alleged that on the night of May 28 and the next day, two students - one after the other - who had taken part in the beef fest, were threatened by right wing elements and a complaint was made to the authorities. A senior police official said a formal complaint was yet to be received but an inquiry was being held into the matter. "We will register a case on receipt of a complaint," the official told PTI. A spokesperson for IIT Madras said, "There was an altercation between two students and both of them sustained injuries. Immediately appropriate medical attention was given." The spokesperson added, "An inquiry will be held by the institute and appropriate action will be taken based on its outcome." On Sunday, some students held a "beef fest" in the campus to protest the Centre's ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets. At least 65 people were killed and 325 wounded when a truck loaded with explosives went off in downtown Kabul near the German Embassy on Wednesday morning, Afghanistan Ministry of Health said. Official sources at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said that all staff at the Indian embassy were safe. #UPDATE Afghanistan Ministry of Health confirms 65 dead, & 325 wounded in #Kabul blast: Afghan media ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Some news sites were reporting 50 killed, but this could not be confirmed. Tolo News Agency said a "truck bomb was detonated close to the German Embassy in Wazir Akbar Khan area, killing and wounding dozens". Earlier, Tolo had quoted the interior ministry as saying that a "water tanker had been laden with explosives that were detonated on Wednesday". According to Nato, a massive explosion occurred near the German Embassy at 8.22 am near the Nato Resolute Support headquarter in Kabul. Foreign troops have arrived at the scene. Images circulating on social media showed a large plume of black smoke over the city. The blast occurred during rush hour traffic. It ripped through the diplomatic zone. There was substantial damage to buildings in the explosion near Zanbaq Square in downtown Kabul. It said the victims are mostly civilians and a large number of them are from the Roshan mobile company. All staff in the Indian Embassy are safe but some windows in the building were damaged. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. At least 80 people were killed in a massive blast which ripped through the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul early on Wednesday, the health ministry said, warning the toll would rise further. "Unfortunately the toll has reached 80 martyred (killed) and over 300 wounded, including many women and children," said Ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh, adding the figures would continue to climb as more bodies are pulled from the debris. Official sources at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said that all staff at the Indian embassy were safe. Sushma Swaraj tweeted: By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 Bodies littered the scene and a towering plume of smoke rose from the area, which houses foreign embassies, after the blast blew out the windows in several missions and residences hundreds of metres away. Bodies littered the scene and a towering plume of smoke rose from the area, which houses foreign embassies, after the blast blew out the windows in several missions and residences hundreds of metres away. Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety. Men and women struggled to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones. It was not immediately clear what the target was. But the attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where a military beset by soaring casualties and desertions is struggling to beat back the insurgents. Over a third of the country is outside government control. More than an hour after the explosion, ambulances were still taking the wounded to hospital and officials were pulling bodies from the rubble as firefighters struggled to control blazes in several buildings. The interior ministry said in a statement that at least 64 people had been killed and 320 wounded, including women and children. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle in Zanbaq Square around 08:30 am, the ministry said in a statement. "More than 50 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged." Authorities warned the toll could yet rise. "They are still bringing bodies and wounded people to hospitals," senior health ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi told AFP. The interior ministry was calling on Kabul residents to donate blood, saying hospitals were in "dire need". There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban step up their annual "spring offensive". The Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured Nato convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. France also reported damage to its own embassy and the German one. There was no information on possible casualties. Afghan troops are backed by US and Nato forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to the country to break the deadlock in the fight against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 now, and there are another 5,000 from Nato allies. They mainly serve in an advisory capacity -- a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. The Karnataka government has assured members of a united front of IT employees associations to look into their problems, including layoffs. Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge has informed All India IT Employees Association he will meet them 'soon' to discuss the issues. "We are here to listen to them and will do all possible to help them," he said, answering to PTI query on the matter. The minister had earlier asked the affected IT employees to lodge a complaint with the labour department. In an interview with PTI recently, he had also said the government will look into the matter and provide legal assistance if the affected or laid off employees approach it like their counterparts in Tamil Nadu. AIITEA President Syed Muqueemuddin had shot off an email to Kharge on Tuesday seeking an urgent meeting to urge the government to take appropriate corrective actions and brief him on the current situation, including layoffs. "We seek your earliest availability for a meeting to brief you on the current situation so that the government can take appropriate corrective actions as may be required," Muqueemuddin said. Muqueemuddin has been in touch with various associations to organise a united front to hold talks with the government to resolve their problems. After petitioning Telagana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments, FITE is in the process of approaching the labour commission in Bengaluru to submit a petition to stop the alleged "illegal terminations" happening at Cognizant. Muqueemuddin said the united front will urge the government to hold an open house discussion by inviting all the stakeholders, including IT captains and employees. "This will give government a sense about the problems faced by IT companies and employees in the presence of IT captains and management of companies," he added. He sought intervention to correct the way performance appraisal terminations are used to disguise large scale layoffs thereby scarring an employee morale forever. He also said, "while not everything is bad with this industry, the absence of appropriate regulations and watchdogs in the form of unions or associations has led to a situation that unscrupulous elements continue to cause severe and unrepairable damage to the very same industry that contributes significantly to the GDP of our country". Actor Vikram Chatterjee, who was previously accused of rash and negligent driving, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death of city model Sonika Chauhan in a car accident, police on Tuesday. "Chatterjee has been charged under Section 304 of the IPC on Tuesday after police received a forensic report that shows the speed of the car was between 95 to 115 km per hour a few seconds before the accident," said Kolkata police's Joint Commissioner, Crime, Vishal Garg. The actor was previously charged with rash driving (Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code) and causing death by negligence (Section 304A) after the accident, police said. During the previous interrogation, he confessed to having consumed alcohol on the night of the accident, but claimed that he was not drunk and the car was not speeding. Chatterjee was on the wheels of his car while his partner Sonika was on the front seat when the accident happened on a south Kolkata street on their way back from a party on April 29. Sonika was rushed to a city hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The actor himself sustained head injury in the accident and was hospitalised. A Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed for four weeks the Centres May 23 notification on the trade of cattle for slaughter even as the ruling BJP seemed firmly behind the governments move. The monsoon arrived in Kerala and parts of the northeast two days ahead of schedule on Tuesday. The Southwest monsoon advanced into some more parts of south Arabian Sea, remaining parts of MaldivesComorin area, southern parts of Lakshwadeep, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, some more parts of southwest Bay of Bengal, remaining parts of southeast Bay of Bengal, some parts of west-central Bay of Bengal, most parts of east-central and northeast Bay of Bengal and some parts of NagalandManipurMizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain said on Wednesday that there were chances of some "positive changes" in the international politics which may result in resolution of Kashmir and Palestine issues. The President said this while talking to High Commissioner-designate of Pakistan to India Sohail Mahmood at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (Presidency Palace) in Islamabad. He directed Mahmood to appraise the international community about the stance and concerns of Pakistan and also advised him to highlight Pakistan's stance on water disputes at the global level. He expressed optimism that there were chances of some "positive changes in the international politics which may result in the resolution of the issues of Kashmir and Palestine according to the wishes of their people". However, Hussain did not elaborate on what he meant by some positive changes in international politics. He also said that Pakistan sought friendly relations with all neighbours, including India, on the basis of equality for peace in the region. Hussain said friendly relations between Pakistan and India were imperative for peace, security and economic development of the region. "We want to solve all of the problems through dialogue including the core issue of Kashmir. India is violating the resolutions of the United Nations which is further complicating the issues," he alleged. Hussain said the international community and human rights organisations should take notice of "Indian brutalities" and "gross" human rights violations in Kashmir. "The President stated that the diplomatic community should be apprised about the Indian brutalities in Kashmir. He further said that the world is getting aware of the situation in Kashmir but there is a need to further highlight this issue," his office said in a statement. Hussain alleged that Indian Kulbushan Jadhav was involved in terrorist activities inside Pakistan which are condemnable. Pakistan's new envoy is meeting top leadership before leaving for India to take up his responsibilities. Yesterday, he had a meeting with interior minister Nisar Ali Khan. A Rajasthan High Court judge on Wednesday asked the states BJP government to take necessary steps to get cow declared the animal and ensure its slaughterers were punished with life imprisonment. Nandini K R, who hails from Karnataka, has topped the prestigious civil services examination, the result of which was declared today by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). She had taken the exam last year. As many as 1,099 candidates have been recommended for various government services. There are 220 other candidates in the waiting list. The civil services examination is conducted by the annually in three stages-- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. Delhi became the 12th state to get on the GST bandwagon, with the assembly passing the state GST bill on Wednesday. The Bill, moved by Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, was passed unanimously. "Delhi is the 12th assembly passing the GST bill. In principle, this bill is good for the traders. However, several traders have raised concerns over higher tax slab on different commodities and services. I will raise these concerns in the next GST council meeting on June 3," he said. Dubbing the bill as a biggest tax reform of independent India, Sisodia said that the GST's focus should be public-centric and not officer-centric. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described the bill as a big tax reform and also said that they support it in principle. "I, myself, was an Income Tax Commissioner. I better understand that lower the tax rate, more will be the compliance. So we propose to have one tax slab of maximum 10% instead of higher tax slabs of 18 and 28%," he said. The chief minister also said that the assembly also passed a resolution moved by Karol Bagh MLA Vishesh Ravi demanding a maximum slab of 10%. S S Mundra, Deputy Governor, RBI on Tuesday said that inter- will result in customers silently moving away from one bank to the other and advised banks to prepare for this eventuality. Settlement of arbitration claims by infrastructure developers is slow because of the inability of road developers to provide bank guarantees and open escrow accounts, according to (Ind-Ra). India and Spain on Wednesday stressed that there should be zero tolerance to terrorism and called on the international community to end selective or partial approaches in combating the menace, which poses the gravest threat to international peace and stability. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1992, met the European countrys top leaders. They stressed that states and entities which encourage, support, finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists, and glorify terrorism should be subjected to international laws including restrictive measures. President Rajoy and Prime Minister Modi recognised that terrorism poses the gravest threat to international peace and stability and expressed their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, a joint statement said. The prime minister held wide-ranging talks with President of the Spain Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace and invited Spanish firms to invest in India, which offered many opportunities for them in various fields. After the talks, the two sides signed seven agreements, including pacts on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Five agreements were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between Indias Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. The two sides also issued a joint statement, in which the two leaders welcomed the recent positive developments in bilateral trade and investment partnership, buoyed by the positive economic outlook in both countries and called for stronger ties between the businesses of the two countries. Spain is the 12th largest investor in India and the seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. There are more than 200 Spanish companies in India that are actively involved in road construction projects, railways, wind power, water desalination, defence and smart cities. There are more than 40 Indian companies in Spain, in the fields of technology, pharmaceuticals, automotive and energy. Two-way trade totalled $5.27 billion in 2016. Rajoy welcomed the efforts of India to provide a positive business environment for foreign companies and to further international investment, for which, adequate protection of investments and legal certainty are instrumental. He also emphasised the importance that Spain attaches in the coming months to solid progress on the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement, which may facilitate further Spanish and European investments in India. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, talks to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a balcony, during a meeting at the government guest house Meseberg Palace in Meseberg, about 70 km north on Berlin. Prime Minister today backed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "strong leadership" in uniting the European Union at a time when the economic grouping was showing signs of strain post Brexit and over the protectionist policies of US President Donald Trump. Modi, whose visit to Germany comes less than a week after Merkel provided the strongest indication yet that the EU and the US under President Trump were drifting apart, said India would play a positive role in boosting unity in the grouping. Modi's support comes at a crucial time for Merkel, who has been fighting secessionist tendencies within the bloc since Britain decided to leave the 28-member bloc through a referendum in June last year. The prime minister praised her "strong leadership" and said a EU-focused vision is what the world needs. "EU unity, proactiveness and strong relations with other countries is extremely important for global development. We want the EU to become stronger and India will play a positive role towards that through the medium of Germany," he told reporters at a joint briefing with Merkel. Modi said India and Germany were "made for each other". Merkel last week had said that reliable ties forged since the end of World War II "are to some extent over." Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also blasted the US, saying the Trump administration's "short-sighted policies... Stand against the interest of the European Union". The remarks came soon after G7 and NATO summits, where reports suggested that not all was well between her and Trump, who is leading the US towards a more protectionist stance on economic issues and has called for NATO to pay for their share of expenditure of the Atlantic alliance. The two countries are also not on the same page on climate policies. Trump has vowed to walk away from the historic Paris deal while Merkel supports the agreement. "Europe and the world are facing lots of challenges and to fight those, India believes, the world needs the strong leadership of Chancellor Merkel," Modi added. Merkel today repeated that Europe must "take our fate into our own hands" and went on to say that it should step up as a diplomatic player on the international stage. In Washington, Trump swiftly reacted to Merkel's comments. Soon after her statement, Trump tweeted, "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for US. This will change(sic)." Merkel, however, had also said Germany's relationship with the US was of "outstanding importance" but it must also engage with other important nations. "We live in a globalised world and India...Is a partner," she said. Germany is the largest trade partner for India in the European Union (EU) and one of the leading sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country. Most merchant bankers registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) might be excluded as valuers in areas such as valuation of shares issued by companies for consideration other than cash or valuation of assets under a scheme of corporate debt restructuring. New one rupee notes with a multicoloured look will soon be put in circulation by the Reserve Bank of India, the RBI announced on Tuesday. "The Reserve Bank of India will soon put into circulation currency notes in one rupee denomination," an RBI release here said. "The notes have been printed by the Government of India. The existing currency notes in this denomination in circulation will also continue to be legal tender," it said. "The colour of One Rupee currency note shall be predominantly pink green on obverse and reverse in combination with others," it added. Elaborating on the design of the note, the central bank said it will bear the signature of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das. "The numbering shall be in black at right hand bottom portion of the note," it said. On the reverse side, the year '2017' is mentioned. "There is also representation of One Rupee coin with rupee symbol having floral design, and the surrounding design consists of the picture of 'Sagar Samrat' the oil exploration platform," it added. Japanese government has agreed to provide a loan of up to 81% of the project cost at 0.1% per annum, to be repaid in 50 yrs with a 15-year moratorium Prime Minister on Wednesday invited Spanish firms to invest in India whose strong economy offers "many opportunities" for them in various fields as the two countries signed seven agreements and vowed to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit since 1992, met the European country's top leadership and said India and maintain close and cordial relations and he sees great potential in this collaboration. The prime minister held wide-ranging talks with President of the Spanish government Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace this morning in the first engagement during his stay here. After the talks, the two sides signed seven agreements, including pacts on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Five MoUs were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between India's Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of . Spain is the 12th largest investor in India and the seventh largest trading partner in the EU. There are more than 200 Spanish companies in India that are actively involved in road construction projects, railways, wind power, water desalination, defense and smart cities. There are more than 40 Indian companies in Spain, in the fields of technology, pharmaceuticals, automotive and energy. Two-way trade totalled $5.27 billion in 2016. Modi encouraged Spanish infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors in India, saying "it's a great time for Spanish companies to invest in India." External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a "fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship". Modi also called for boosting bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as "both our countries have faced the security challenge." Spain, the summer holiday destination of Europe, in a recent government report said that the Islamic State group "has been publishing in Spanish, which means an increase in the risk of its influence on radicals living in our country". In "today's global context", Modi said, the focus of his discussion in Spain will be on the international developments. The prime minister praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." He said railways, smart cities and infrastructure sectors were the priority areas for India and Spain has "enough skills and mastery" to contribute to India's requirements. Modi said he is confident that his visit to Spain will give a new momentum to bilateral ties. Later, he paid a courtesy call to Spanish King Felipe VI at Palacio de la Zarzuela palace on the outskirts of Madrid. "A royal greeting! PM @narendramodi calls on His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain at Palacio de la Zarzuela," Baglay tweeted along with photographs of the two leaders. In an interview to Spanish daily Expansion, Modi said the strong economic growth of India offers many opportunities for Spanish companies. He said that there are already a large number of Spanish companies in India and his government wants more firms to come, invest and do business in the country. "Spanish firms enjoy a worldwide reputation in various fields, such as infrastructure, defence, tourism and energy. These sectors have also been identified by my government as priority sectors," he said, adding that there are many complementarities in economic terms between the two countries. "There are synergies between the experience and priorities of both countries and numerous possibilities for additional investments," Modi said. "I see many complementarities between my Government's flagship initiatives, such as Make in India, and Spain's experience in defense, transport infrastructure, high-speed trains, water and waste management and technologies. I encourage Spanish companies to take advantage of these opportunities," he added. Modi said he was personally committed to helping foreign companies set up operations in India. "We should also increase cooperation in the strategic field in areas such as cyber security, maritime cooperation and defense," he said. Recalling his meeting with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy in November 2015 on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Modi said he has "a great interest in promoting the talks and drawing together an ambitious road map for a greater bilateral commitment between India and Spain." Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since Narashima Rao's trip to the country in 1992. From Spain, Modi will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. Aiming to minimise tobacco-related deaths, bidi workers and health activists on Tuesday urged the government to put bidis under the 28 per cent tax slab of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The bidi workers have also urged the government to intervene and alleviate their working conditions and eventually seek out alternative livelihood options. The workers have accused the bidi company owners of taking subsidies in the name of poor workers like them. "We ourselves are the victims of the bidi industry owners. They take advantage of us and manipulate the weak enforcement and regulatory system in the bidi industry to make our lives more miserable. "We do not want you (government) to consider their request for lower taxes, benefits or subsidies that they are seeking in our name," said Thangam, a 45-year bidi worker from Tamil Nadu in a letter written to the finance and health ministries. Over one million deaths in India every year are tobacco related and almost two-thirds of tobacco consumers in India actually consume bidis, leading to debilitating diseases and eventual death. According to Rijo John, Economist and Health Policy Analyst, the bidi consumption in India is price elastic and hence responds negatively to changes in prices. "This is why a change in tax slabs could make a significant change in consumption and hence all the more reason why the government and the Council should not let this opportunity go to leverage the instrument of taxation to discourage bidi consumption -- a stated public policy goal," said John. John said that a 28 per cent on bidis would only barely surpass the current tax burden on bidis in India. Hence, settling for a rate less than 28 per cent on bidis will result in a public health disaster in India as bidis are the most commonly used form of tobacco in the country. According to the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), for the majority of India's 275 million tobacco users, not categorising bidis in the highest GST rate slab will only accelerate the death and diseases caused by tobacco and work against the goals stated in the government's recently announced national health policy. PM condemns the terrorist blast in Kabul . The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has strongly condemned the terrorist blast in Kabul. . . We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with the injured. . . India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated," the Prime Minister said. . . Swachhta Pakhwada successfully celebrated across the country by the Department of Consumer Affairs The Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution celebrated Swachhta Pakhwada from 16th to 31st May, 2017. The Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Sh. Jagdish. Prasad Meena, briefed the media on the successful completion of the Swachhta Pakhwada and informed that the Consumer can play a pivotal role in the Swachhta Mission in New Delhi today. The Pakhwada was initiated by an oath taking ceremony which was attended by the officers and staff of the Department of Consumer Affairs. The aim of the Swachhta Pakhwada observed by the Department was to spread swachhta awareness and implementation across the country with a focus on role of the Consumer in taking a leadership role for sanitation initiatives. In this direction, a series of activities were undertaken such as Nukkad Natak, slogan writing competition, poster making competition, essay writing competition, special drives for cleaning of the work place and removing of old and unwanted articles from the office premises. The Department through its own staff members performed Nukkad Natak at various places including Krishi Bhawan and INA Market. Through Doordarshan, Lok Sabha TV, All India Radio and Private FM Channels across the country, the consumers have been informed about their responsibilities to keep the country clean, under the Jago Grahak Jago campaign. The Secretary, Consumer Affairs also informed that the subordinate and autonomous organisations of this Department such as Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and National Test House (NTH) also undertook activities to create awareness on keeping the surrounding environment clean and emphases importance of Swachhta in day to day life. The BIS through their Branch Offices all over the country undertook innovative work beyond the bare minimum housekeeping activities. During these awareness programmes, the students of the schools of the area were educated in the local languages on segregation of solid waste, use of dustbins for bio-degradable and non-degradable waste, and composting of bio-degradable waste. An 8 minutes film on Street Food Vendors prepared by BIS based on the Indian Standards was also screened for the students to make them conscious of hygiene conditions. The NTH through its regional centres in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Jaipur and Guwahati adopted School/villages/educational institution for onsite cleaning as well as imparting cleanliness awareness programmes among students and villagers. A massive bombing by the Islamic State group outside a popular ice cream parlor in central Baghdad and a rush-hour car bomb in another downtown area have killed at least 31 people, Iraqi officials said. Later yesterday, bombings in and around the Iraqi capital killed seven more people. The attacks come as IS militants are steadily losing territory to US-backed Iraqi forces in the battle for Mosul, the country's second-largest city. The Sunni extremists are increasingly turning to insurgency-style terror attacks to distract attention from their losses. The nighttime attack outside the ice cream parlor in the bustling Karrada neighborhood killed 17 people and wounded 32, police and health officials said. A closed-circuit camera captured the moment of the explosion, the video showing a busy downtown avenue with cars driving down the street when the blast strikes. A huge fireball engulfs a building, causing cars to scramble to get away. Other videos of the attack posted on social media show wounded and bloodied people crying for help on the sidewalk outside the ice cream parlor. In the second attack, an explosives-laden car went off during rush hour near the state-run Public Pension Office in Baghdad's busy Shawaka area, killing 14, a police officer said. At least 37 people were wounded in that attack, he added. In separate online statements, IS claimed responsibility for the two attacks, saying its suicide bombers targeted gatherings of Shiites. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statements but they were posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists. Later yesterday, seven people died and 19 were wounded in four separate bombings in and around Baghdad, officials said. The attacks targeted commercial areas and a patrol of Sunni anti-IS tribal fighters, they said. No group immediately claimed those attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The attacks came just days into the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast during daylight hours. After sundown, families break their fast and Baghdad's restaurants and cafes quickly fill up with people staying up long into the night. During Ramadan last year, another section of Karrada was hit by massive suicide bombing that killed almost 300 people, the deadliest single attack in the Iraqi capital in 13 years of war. The attack was also claimed by IS. Details of how the militants managed to stage yesterday's attacks were not immediately clear. After last year's attack, Iraqi authorities stepped up security in Karrada, especially in the area of the bombing. Also yesterday, a suicide bomber attacked a military patrol in the town of Hit in Iraq's western Anbar province, killing at least eight people and wounding 10, including security force members, two security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. In the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi troops are pushing IS fighters out of their last strongholds. Iraqi commanders say the offensive, which recently entered its eight month, will mark the end of the IS caliphate in Iraq, but concede the group will likely increase insurgent attacks in the wake of military defeats. At least six persons were killed in Bangladesh after wreaked havoc in the country's south-eastern coast on Tuesday leaving behind a trail of damaged houses and trees. Authorities were battling to evacuate more than half a million people from the coastal areas. Four persons were killed after they were hit by falling trees in Cox's Bazar district and Rangamati town, bdnews24 reported. One child died in Bhola district while moving into a cyclone shelter while a woman died of a heart attack during the storm. The powerful storm made landfall around 6 a.m. in Kutubdia, near the fishing port of Cox's Bazar, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said. was likely to move further in a northerly direction, the BMD said. Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader told the media in Dhaka that around 20,000 houses were damaged. As many as 300,000 people were taken to shelters in over 10 districts most vulnerable to the cyclone, Additional Secretary Golam Mostafa, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Ministry's control room, was quoted as saying by bdnews. "The people were moved out to at least 400 cyclone shelters or safer places like schools and government offices in the coastal areas," a Disaster Management Ministry spokesman said. Significant damage was reported in refugee camps housing Rohingya Muslims from neighbouring Myanmar, BBC reported. The districts at risk were Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barisal and Pirojpur. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was monitoring the situation from Vienna, where she has gone to attend a conference on atomic energy, said Hasina's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim. "The Prime Minister is maintaining round-the-clock communication with Dhaka on the storm situation. She has ordered all-out preparations to tackle the storm," he said. The Met office said that the cyclone had already started to lose strength, but strong winds with heavy rain and thundershowers in Cox's Bazar and Chittagong were likely to continue. Fishing boats and trawlers were advised to remain in shelters. All flights in and out of Chittagong's Shah Amanat Airport were also cancelled. A total of 88 medical units, 6,010 local volunteers and 15,000 Red Crescent volunteers were on alert, while about 50,000 more volunteers were on standby in 19 coastal districts, said Abu Syed Mohammad Hashim, director of the Disaster Management Department. The Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief has set up 24-hour control rooms. About 18 million people live in 19 coastal districts, with 10 of them being in high-risk areas. The country's two main seaports in Chittagong and Mongla stopped operations, and river transport across Bangladesh was also suspended. The US will not impose a ban on carry-on laptops on flights coming from Europe for now, an official spokesperson today said, days after America underlined the need to "raise the bar" on airline security, including screening certain carry-on items. The ban is already in place for flights from certain regions of the Middle East and North Africa after intelligence reports that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is developing ways to hide explosives in batteries and battery compartments. No laptop ban on US flights from Europe for now but the option is still on the table, Homeland Security Secretary Dave Lapan announced after a call between Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc. "While a much-discussed expansion of the ban on large electronic devices in the cabin on flights to the United States was not announced today, the Secretary made it clear that an expansion is still on the table," Lapan said in a statement. Lapan was referring to comments by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly who in a call today with European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc discussed aviation security. "Kelly affirmed he will implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft flying to the United States - including prohibiting large electronic devices from the passenger cabin - if the intelligence and threat level warrant it," Lapan said, after the conference call between American and European leaders, during which two other items were discussed. Lapan said the American and European leaders agreed to raise the bar for aviation security globally, including through a range of potential seen and unseen enhancements. "The parties also agreed to continue to work together to secure global aviation and to maintain clear lines of communication and cooperation," he said. Over the last few months the US has continuously reached out to global aviation partners regarding serious and evolving threats to aviation, and it will continue to do so, Lapan said. The decision comes just days after Kelly said that the US wanted to "raise the bar" on airline security, including screening certain carry-on items. The US Transportation Security Administration has already begun testing new procedures to help security agents identify problematic carry-on items. Passengers in recent years have reportedly begun stuffing their bags with more and more items in order to avoid having to pay fees for checking bags in, leading to more clutter in carry-on bags that can be difficult for security to screen. There are roughly 4,300 flights that take off and land in the US each day, carrying more than a half a million passengers. That amounts to roughly 200 million passengers a year that would potentially have been impacted by the laptop ban. Manchesters character, achievements and history were woven into Tony Walshs The Place, a poem that Walsh conjuring the citys pride, passion and defiance, its unity in diversity recited to thousands of people who had thronged to the citys Albert Square following the attack on the Manchester Arena. President Donald Trump will follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the US out of a global pact to fight climate change, a source briefed on the decision told Reuters, a move that should rally his support base at home while deepening a rift with US allies. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, did not confirm the decision in a post on Twitter, saying only, "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days." US President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate deal, Axios news outlet reported on Wednesday, citing two unidentified sources with direct knowledge of the decision. The US Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday proposed fining $435,000 for operating 23 flights in 2014 with a Boeing 787 that the government alleged was not in airworthy condition. The FAA alleged that in June 2014, United mechanics replaced a fuel pump pressure switch on the Boeing Co aircraft but failed to perform a required inspection before returning the aircraft to service. A United spokesman said, "The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority. We immediately took action after identifying the issue and are working closely with the FAA in their review." The benchmark indices snapped four-session long gaining streak to end lower on Wednesday after hitting record highs in intraday trade ahead of the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the March quarter due later in the day. A day after the crucial hearing in which senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were slapped with charges of criminal conspiracy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Lord Rama's birthplace Ayodhya today. This was Adityanath's first visit, post taking charge as Chief Minister. Yesterday, he had paid a visit to BJP veterans Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, who had come to Lucknow to appear before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the demolition case. In a major setback to Advani, Joshi and Uma, the court yesterday rejected their discharge application, framing charges against them and the other nine accused in the demolition case. Charges of criminal conspiracy under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been framed. However, the accused will now move the Allahabad High Court against the CBI court's order. Earlier yesterday, the court granted bail to all the accused by signing a personal bond of Rs. 20,000. "They have been granted bail by signing bonds of Rs. 20,000. We have submitted discharge application. If the court rejects it, then charges will be framed," said lawyer of accused Prashant Atal. The court had also asked BJP leader Vinay Katiyar, VHP's Vishnu Hari Dalmia and Sadhvi Ritambara to present themselves before the court in person. While directing the accused to present themselves in person, the judge had said no application for adjournment or exemption from personal appearance shall be entertained. The court, which is hearing two separate cases relating to the demolition, would also frame charges against Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem Ji, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Dharma Das and Satish Pradhan in the second matter. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Wednesday sought the support of tribal population in poll-bound Gujarat. The state assembly elections are due in December this year. Shah held a door-to-door campaign in a remote village of Gujarat's Chhota Udaipur district and had lunch with a tribal family. He also addressed a booth-level party workers meeting in an effort to establishing direct contact with the people. Earlier in April, Shah had lunch at the house of a tribal family at Dakkhin Katiajote village in Naxalbari area of West Bengal. The tribal belt in Gujarat is dominated by the Congress Party, which in 2012 Assembly Elections managed to win 16 to 17 seats out of the 28. The state has 182 assembly seats, out of which the BJP bagged 115 seats and the Congress 61 in 2012. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nine students have been charged for allegedly beating up a PhD scholar from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Madras, for organising a 'Beef Fest' in the campus. The charges under which the accused have been booked are: IPC 147- Punishment for rioting, 341-Punishment for wrongful restraint ,323- Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt and 506(1) - criminal intimidation . However, the victim R. Sooraj has also been booked under two Sections - IPC 324 - Voluntarily causing hurt, 341-wrongful restraints , according to accused Manish Kumar's complaint. Yesterday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the attack on the students and requested his Tamil Nadu counterpart Edappadi K. Palaniswami to take necessary action. Sooraj was beaten up for conducting ' Beef Fest' in IIT. He has been seriously injured in his right eye. A group of 70 to 80 students held the beef festival on Sunday evening to demonstrate against the Centre's notification. Earlier this week, expressing strong disapproval of the Centre's move, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by attacking the BJP-led government at the centre and the RSS, saying there was no need for the people of his state to draw lessons from New Delhi or Nagpur on their food habits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the current law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said that the saffron party should follow the footsteps of the previous government in order to bring prosperity and development in the state. "The BJP Government is delaying in doing all those works which were started by the Samajwadi Party under Akhilesh Yadav. There were some plans for the state decided by Akhilesh Yadav which would have resulted in its betterment. If the BJP follows the footsteps of Samajwadi Party and follow the work and development done by it then the state would prosper," Samajwadi Party leader Rajendra Chaudhary told ANI. He added that the BJP Government is irritated with Samajwadi Party's system and was blocking several developmental proposals. "The BJP is only holding Cabinet meetings for the past 70 days and doing nothing. Also all those developments brought up by the Samajwadi Party should be veiled by the BJP as the public knows everything," Chaudhary said. He asserted that the state is waiting for the BJP to fulfill its promises, adding the crime rate in Uttar Pradesh has increased immensely. "The BJP wants to promote communal riots through its policies. The law and order in Uttar Pradesh now cannot be controlled by this party since its members are not obeying the law anywhere," he added. Meanwhile, the social media was set on fire, after a video showing two women being molested by a group of men in broad daylight in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur surfaced. Around 12 to 14 boys can be seen in the video, molesting the women, even while they pleaded to let them go. Proving the sheer fearlessness of the perpetrators, the boys filmed the entire development and posted it on social media. Surprisingly, it was not much long ago when Yogi-Adityanath Government has launched 'Anti-Romeo' squads to check on eve-teasing in public areas, to ensure the safety of girls in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday that Washington believes China is being 'productive' as it is using its channels to stop North Korea from carrying out missile launches. "At this point I do believe, and I think the administration believes, that China is doing back-channel networking with North Korea in way that is getting them to try to stop its nuclear testing, so we believe that they are being productive, we do think that they are trying to counter what is happening now," Sputnik news quoted Haley as telling reporters. The United States, Haley added, will continue to put pressure on China and at the same time will go on working with Beijing towards the goal of decreasing tensions in the region. She added that talks regarding a new resolution on sanctions against North Korea in retaliation of its missile launches are ongoing, but no particular agreement has been reached. On Monday, Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile that flew some 280 miles and fell into Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan. The move has already been criticized by Japanese, South Korean and Russian officials. This month alone the country has carried out five missile launches. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had earlier vowed to field a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching American territory. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Welcoming and abiding by the judgment of the Rajasthan High Court in recommending the Centre that the cow should be made the animal, the Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday stated that cows deserve respect similar to that of parents. "This issue is related to sympathy, conviction and faith that why protecting and respecting the cow is an important factor. We should come up in protest to this, only then we can safeguard our animals. The way we respect our parents we should respect cows," Rajasthan High Court Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma told ANI. Earlier in the day, a hearing over the Hingonia Gaushala matter recommended the Centre that cow be made the animal, adding that the punishment for cow slaughter should be escalated to life imprisonment. Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Additional director general (ADG) of police has been ordered to prepare report every three months on cowshed and the court has also directed Urban Development & Housing (UDH) Secretary and municipal commissioner to visit once every month. Sharma has also instructed the forest department to plant 5,000 plants in the cowshed every year. The judgement comes in the wake of the Centre's order on ban on sale of cattle for slaughter, which is facing a strong opposition by the state governments of Kerala, Karnataka and Tripura. Earlier last year, following the death of over a hundred cows in the past few weeks at a government-run cowshed in Jaipur, the Rajasthan Government had sought a report on the matter and vowed to improve the situation in Hingonia Gaushala. Reports said the death of cows was due to alleged lapse in maintenance of cowshed. "The Chief Minister has asked for report on Hingonia Gaushala. We are drafting a road map and action plan to improve situation there," said Rajasthan Minister Rajendra Rathore. According to reports, the authorities initially said the cows which died were already unwell and suffering from malnutrition. There are over 8,000 cows at the Hingonia Gaushala which are taken care of by a team of 14 veterinarians, 24 livestock assistants, and about 200 other staff. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi Court today is expected to decide on the bail plea of ousted All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader TTV Dinakaran, in the Election Commission bribery case. Earlier on Friday, the court had extended the judicial custody of Dinakaran till June 12 in the same. Earlier on May 26, the Tees Hazari court had adjourned till May 29 the hearing of Dinakaran's bail plea. The court had adjourned the hearing, as the Investigating Officer in the case was not available that day. The Delhi Police had earlier opposed alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar's bail plea, following which the court had reserved its order. The Delhi Police claimed that Sukesh had many cases pending against him. The police also asserted that more arrests are likely to be made in the case soon. Earlier on April 25, a Delhi court extended the alleged middleman's police custody till April 28, hours after Dinakaran accepted that he met Chandrashekhar in his bribery dealing with the Election Commission of India (ECI). Dinakaran initially refused to have known Sukesh. He later accepted meeting him when Sukesh himself gave the details of his meeting with the former. Dinakaran, who is accused of trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a bid to retain the 'two leaves' symbol of the AIADMK, however, maintained that he did not pay any money to Sukesh. Searches were also conducted at Sukesh's Kochi residence to trace the amount paid to him. Details of calls made and received and messages sent and received were also being sought. Earlier on April 23, Dinakaran was cross examined along with his 'friend' Mallikarjuna and P.A. Janardhanan, sources state. They were quizzed about the money trail of the alleged bribe. Also, the matter of Dinakaran staying over with Mallikarjuna for around 10 days after an FIR was filed against him was also brought up during the interrogation. On April 22, Dinakaran was given a set of questions by the Delhi Police in connection with the case. The questionnaire included queries about the money trail, his association with Chandrashekhar, the middleman alleged to have struck deal for Rs. 50 crore to help Dinakaran's AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' poll symbol, how many times he met Sukesh and whether any meeting with the Election Commission officials took place or not etc. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M. Venkaiah Naidu chaired the third Governing Council meeting of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) here today, to deliberate upon the steps to further strengthen the Mission at different levels. The Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Rao Inderjit Singh and Madhya Pradesh Urban Development and Housing Minister Maya Singh also attended the meeting. The steps taken to strengthen the mission include, Under skill training, it was decided to enhance financial provisions for differently-abled, who will be provided extra conveyance allowance, additional post-placement support, support for personal assistive aids and additional uniforms to encourage them to get trained. Further Training Providers shall be incentivized for training differently-abled and undertaking job outreach activities for them. The employment generated during 2016-17 was 2,36,218, which is 155 percent more than the previous year. Besides this, the physical progress of the other components has also shown a significant increase in 2016-17. Below poverty line (BPL) population shall now be able to avail conveyance charges while participating in skill training programmes under the Mission. Uniforms shall also be provided to all beneficiaries undergoing skill training. In view of non-availability of suitable land in the metros for construction of shelters near to the concentration of homeless, it was decided to allow State/UTs to hire buildings and refurbish them suitably for running of shelters till the permanent shelters are constructed. For expediting faster setting up of shelters, it was also decided to seek land, for construction, from PSUs including Railways, encourage CSR support, rope in reputed social organizations to run DAY-NULM shelters and co-opt shelters being run by them under DAY-NULM and provide for management cost. The decision will provide the State/UT Govt. an additional option for providing shelter for urban homeless. Since the goal of shelters is not only to provide a space for living, but also to provide a conducive environment to the homeless so that they can achieve their potential, it was decided to ensure access to skill training programmes by organizing special screening and mobilization camps for the shelter inmates. It was decided to remove the observance of expenditure ceiling of Mission Management costs at State Level. However, the expenditure would continue to be monitored at Level within the prescribed ceiling. It will help the States in positioning and training of requisite manpower for better implementation of the mission. It was decided to increase the salary of Community Organisers from Rs.10, 000 to Rs.15, 000 per month. Further it was decided to authorize the state to further enhance it according to the subsequent revision of minimum wages. Naidu expressed satisfactory while reviewing the physical and financial progress under DAY-NULM during the last three years and said that the focus should be given more on skill development which enables in self-employment. As against the target of formation of 1, 05,000 Self-Help Groups, actual performance has been 1, 90,266. Under Self-Employment Programme component, 1, 78,896 beneficiaries have been given subsidized bank loans for setting up individual and group enterprises against the target of 1,25,062. A total of 8, 37,764 urban poor have been imparted skill training, during the last three financial years. 666 shelters for urban homeless have been so far made functional. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Condemning the deadly bomb blast in the diplomatic enclave of Afghanistan's capital city Kabul which has claimed 19 lives so far, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended India's full support to its neighbour. Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Modi reiterated his stand on defeating terror forces. He also paid condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased. India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 Earlier today, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed all staff at the Indian Embassy were safe and not affected by the huge blast in Kabul's diplomatic enclave. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast," Swaraj said in a tweet. By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra told ANI, "Massive VBIED (Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) not too far from our Embassy.Buildings, including ours, suffered considerable breakages, but all our staff are safe." Afghanistan Ministry of Health said that 19 have died dead and 319 wounded till now. Tolo News reported that the blast was close to the German embassy and added that the explosion happened on 14th Street of the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic area of the city. Many foreign embassies are located in the area, including the American and Canadian missions. The Afghan Security Force (ANSF) has deployed its team in the area for rescue and counter-insurgency operations. More details and updates are awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi airport customs officials on Wednesday seized foreign currency worth Rs. 2.52 crore from an Afghan national, who was trying to hand it over to a passenger going to Dubai. The officials are interrogating the suspect for detailed information. Earlier this month, the officials seized foreign currency worth Rs. 40 lakh from two persons at the Delhi airport. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least two people including an American national were reportedly killed after a gunman opened fire inside a school in Riyadh on Wednesday. The American manager of the school and a Saudi man were killed in the shooting at the Kingdom Schools, local media reports said. According to reports, a worker was also injured in the shooting incident. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh said that there were no students present during the assault. The school is owned and operated by a company that belongs to Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. According to reports, the assailant was an Iraqi teacher who had been sacked from the school. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A study has recently found that a genetic change that may cause jaw malformation can also trigger hearing defects. Researchers from the University Of Southern California - Sciences explained that the structures supporting the jaws of ancestral fish gave rise to three tiny bones in the mammalian middle ear: the malleus, incus and the stapes, which transmit sound vibrations. Therefore, if a genetic change causes a jaw malformation in a fish, an equivalent genetic change could trigger hearing defects in mice and humans. The researchers studied two genes - JAG1 and NOTCH2 - that are mutated in most patients with Alagille Syndrome (AGS). In nearly half of patients, AGS involves hearing loss - in addition to liver, eye, heart and skeletal defects. While some of this is sensorineural hearing loss resulting from deficits in the sensory cells of the inner ear. The researchers also wondered about the contribution of what is known as conductive hearing loss, involving structural components of the middle ear such as the vibrating bones. Knowing that the equivalent genetic mutations caused jaw malformations in zebrafish, the researchers introduced the mutations into mice and observed defects in both the incus and stapes bones, and corresponding hearing loss. They performed hearing tests on 44 patients to determine if their hearing loss was conductive, sensorineural or mixed. The findings in zebrafish and mice revealed that the conductive hearing loss was the most common type, affecting nearly one-third of all ears. CT scans of five AGS patients revealed a much more complicated picture: a surprising diversity of structural defects in the middle ear with variable effects on hearing. Only one of the five patients had a stapes defect, specifically associated with conductive hearing loss. Teng concluded that if patients are aware of possible conductive hearing loss earlier in life, then they can more promptly seek medical aids for an improved quality of life. The study is published in Scientific Reports. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moscow [Russia] ,May31 (ANI): Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran on Tuesday said that cooperation in the field of nuclear power is one of the success stories of Russia and India relationship, and will be thoroughly discussed in the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin. "Russia is the only foreign partner of India in the establishment of nuclear energy. We have had discussions with many countries on the grounds, but Russia has emerged as the only country with which we have successful collaborated in the atomic power sector which is the flagship of the Indo-Russian economic cooperation." Saran said. "In the last one year, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant units 1 and 2 have become operational and construction has begun for unit 3 and unit 4 and we are under discussion for starting work on units 5 and 6," he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin at St. Petersburg to further Indo-Russia relations. India and Russia will have discussions over finalization of the General Framework Agreement for units 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. Emphasizing on the most significant aspect of Russia constructing nuclear plants in India , Saran said ," Russia has agreed to steadily increase the degree of localization in the establishment of the nuclear plants in India, which means that the Russian side is willing to make more and more of the Indian manufactured components and equipments into the production. So there is an element of sharing of technology. So this is an important area of cooperation." In 2014, Russia and India signed the 'strategic vision for strengthening cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy. It envisages the serial construction of 12 Russian-designed units in India in the coming future. PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to St Petersburg in Russia beginning May 31 to June 02. On the first day, Prime Minister will be having his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin where both the leaders will discuss ways to enhance ties in trade, defence, nuclear sector and fight against terrorism. Under the 'Strategic Partnership' PM Modi will invite foreign firms to share technology with local players relating to defence equipment to be manufactured in India. Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry's Eurasia division G V Srinivas said "the work is in progress" and added "I do not want to steal the thunder of the meeting. (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.) Moscow [Russia], May31 (ANI): Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran on Tuesday said that cooperation in the field of nuclear power is one of the success stories of Russia and India relationship, and will be thoroughly discussed in the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin. "Russia is the only foreign partner of India in the establishment of nuclear energy. We have had discussions with many countries on the grounds, but Russia has emerged as the only country with which we have successful collaborated in the atomic power sector which is the flagship of the Indo-Russian economic cooperation." Saran said. "In the last one year, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant units 1 and 2 have become operational and construction has begun for unit 3 and unit 4 and we are under discussion for starting work on units 5 and 6," he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin at St. Petersburg to further Indo-Russia relations. India and Russia will have discussions over finalization of the General Framework Agreement for units 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. Emphasizing on the most significant aspect of Russia constructing nuclear plants in India , Saran said ," Russia has agreed to steadily increase the degree of localization in the establishment of the nuclear plants in India, which means that the Russian side is willing to make more and more of the Indian manufactured components and equipments into the production. So there is an element of sharing of technology. So this is an important area of cooperation." In 2014, Russia and India signed the 'strategic vision for strengthening cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy. It envisages the serial construction of 12 Russian-designed units in India in the coming future. PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to St Petersburg in Russia beginning May 31 to June 02. On the first day, Prime Minister will be having his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin where both the leaders will discuss ways to enhance ties in trade, defence, nuclear sector and fight against terrorism. Under the 'Strategic Partnership' PM Modi will invite foreign firms to share technology with local players relating to defence equipment to be manufactured in India. Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry's Eurasia division G V Srinivas said "the work is in progress" and added "I do not want to steal the thunder of the meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moscow [Russia], May31 (ANI):Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran on Tuesday said that Moscow and New Delhi share a similar approach and perspective to addressing international terrorism and are plagued with cross-border issues. While elaborating on India-Russia cooperation on terrorism, Indian Ambassador said that "two-day official talks will result into agreements and statements that will showcase how both the countries are together in a fight against global terrorism". "Russia and India have its own problems. There is a lot of scope for combating terrorism and this topic will come up during the discussion when the two leaders meet as we both have been the victims of terrorism from our neighbourhood." PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to St Petersburg in Russia beginning May 31st to June 02. On the first day, the Prime Minister will be having his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin where both the leaders will discuss ways to enhance ties in trade, defence, nuclear sector and fight against terrorism. Under the 'Strategic Partnership' PM Modi will invite foreign firms to share technology with local players relating to defence equipment to be manufactured in India. PM Modi is likely to raise India's concerns over the China's One Belt One Road initiative with Putin. On the second day, the Prime Minister and the Indian delegation will be participating in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will be attended by thousands of business leaders from across the globe. The strategic partnership established in the year 2000 was raised to the level of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in the year 2010. Ever since Russia is the only country with which India have annual summits. Moscow and New Delhi are in talks over finalization of the general framework agreement for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant in Tamil Nadu. Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry's Eurasia division G V Srinivas said "the work is in progress" and added "I do not want to steal the thunder of the meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On one hand, 'Wonder Woman' has started its journey with rave reviews from around the world. On the other hand, the movie is likely to face a ban in Lebanon because of its lead actress Gal Gadot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lebanon is seeking a ban on Patty Jenkins' upcoming superheroine film 'Wonder Woman' because its lead actress, Gal Gadot, is Israeli. A security official said a formal request for a ban has not yet been received. A ban would require a recommendation from a six-member committee from the Ministry of Economy, a process that has not yet begun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. A group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon launched a campaign to boycott the film to due to the fact Gadot served in the Israeli Army and expressed support for Israeli forces as the country led a military offensive against Gaza. On her Facebook page, Gadot had praised Israel's military during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, sending prayers to soldiers "who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas." It should be noted that Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and has a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. The two countries have been through a number of wars, including a particularly devastating one in 2006 that battered Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds dead. But, the support for the ban was not unanimous. According to a known Lebanese blogger, Elie Fares, said the movie already must have been approved to be allowed in theaters in the first place. He told that the push for a boycott apparently reflects disputes within the Lebanese government. Adding, "Resist what? A movie about an iconic superhero who's been part of pop culture for over 70 years. A movie in which the lead actress happens to be Israeli but who's not portraying ANYTHING related to her 'country' in any way whatsoever." A premiere of 'Wonder Woman' is still scheduled for today in at least one cinema in Beirut. Posters of the movie and digital billboards have sprouted up around the Lebanese capital. As of now, Warner Bros. has declined to comment on the ban. Helmed by Patty Jenkins, 'Wonder Woman' stars Gal Gadot as the titular character alongside Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston and David Thewils. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on June 2. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Priyanka Chopra is currently busy in promoting her debut Hollywood film 'Baywatch' in Berlin and she met our Prime Minister Narendra Modi too. Priyanka's meeting with Prime Minister Modi in Berlin received criticism on social media as Twitter thought that the actress 'wasn't properly dressed to meet a national leader. However, the 'Bajirao Mastani' star seemed unfazed by the trolling and posted a photo of her flashing some more legs and roped in her mom, Madhu Chopra for the pic. She captioned the snap, "Legs for days... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin." In the photo, Priyanka looks stunning in a denim dress and velvet heels, while her mom looks pretty in a black crop top and metallic grey miniskirt with ankle boots. Yesterday, Priyanka met the Prime Minister and shared a message on social media, "Was such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin???? at the same time as the Prime Minister. Thank you Narendra Modi Sir for taking the time from your packed schedule to meet me this morning. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Last night's (May 23) forum was absolutely the best I have ever attended. Very well organized, the format and questions were spot-on. And, for the first time in my adult life, I have to say that, while I pretty much have chosen my candidate for mayor, and some are stronger/more experienced that others, I could be comfortable with the election of anyone who participated last evening. And, Gus is just a superstar who will help change our world. That is a highly unusual thing to say, but the friend who attended with me and others agreed. Thanks to everyone who made the event possible great job ! We need more of this kind of political/social engagement, and the Alibi came through. Since Heinrich knows how to fix health care, why doesn't he work with N.M. state legislators to raise New Mexico taxes to provide affordable health care to its citizens rather than waiting for Washington to decide? Does Heinrich not care? Trumpian Distraction Tactics Dear Alibi, Why would Donald Trump come out and publically admit to obstruction of justicean impeachable offence? This admission is in tandem with a week of unbelievable leaks and damaging admissions all suggesting impeachment or at the very least extreme censure and shame. When you really think about it, this is the ultimate distractiona Trumpian tactic which he used very effectively throughout the campaign and even more so after his election. After listening to the hearings held by the two houses of our Congress, it is apparent both by the questions asked and by comments to the media that the Republican House of Representatives and the Republican Senate simply do not care to even try to get to the bottom of the Russian interference with our election. This is a crime that any true American should be totally outraged over. Then there is the deafening lack of outrage by Republican Congressional representatives over Trump blatantly giving the Russians beyond top secret intelligence at a chummy meeting in the Oval Office of the White House. Our elected Republican representatives simply do not plan to do anything. Since both houses of Congress are controlled by the Republicans, there is zero chance that charges will be either brought up in the House or tried in the Senate as long as Republicans control these two governing bodies. What a wonderful distraction to what we should really be watching. While the media is focusing on potential impeachmentwhat a great storythe Russian agenda and the Republican agenda are moving forward. The Republican Health Care plan was passed before it could be scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). That score will be released by the CBO this Wednesday. Ill just bet Jared Kushner will be actually named as the person of interest reported as being investigated for Russian ties. Buried in the leak, leak, leak of last week was an Executive Order titled the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity to establish a commission to review alleged voter fraud. The vice chair of this commission is Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the man who engineered Cross Check, a voter suppression tool which cost an estimated 3 million Democratic voters to be purged from the voter roles. This is a voter suppression order. The budget is about to be released. We need to watch what programs are being cut to give even more tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy. We have heard that Medicaid was slashed. What about all the other programs that were designed to help the poor, guarantee quality education, protect the environmentour food, the air and waterthese are all being chopped. Their (the Republican) plans for the banks are too complicated to even try to explain. Just know who is going to benefit when the next crash comes and who, you, as the tax payer, will have to bail out. We get screwed yet again. Trump is wealthy enough and as president powerful enough to threaten and muzzle his opponents in the face of what should be the real news and the greatest threat to the United States. The Republican office holders are in league. Its working. Were focused on impeachment potential instead of the Russian interference in the election and the Republican agenda for the future which will destroy the United States. Following his visit to Germany and Spain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia as part of his four-nation Europe tour. Prime Minister Modi will be having his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin where both the leaders will discuss ways to enhance ties in trade, defence and nuclear sector. He will be visiting Piskarovskoye Cemetery in honor of those who lost their lives during the Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944). Prime Minister Modi and President Putin will address the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) where India is a 'guest country'. He will also invite foreign firms to share technology with local players relating to defence equipment to be manufactured in India. Prime Minister Modi is likely to raise India's concerns over the China's One Belt One Road initiative. Prime Minister Modi and Indian delegation will be participating in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will be attended by thousands of business leaders from across the globe. The strategic partnership established in the year 2000 was raised to the level of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in the year 2010. Ever since Russia is the only country with which India have annual summits. Moscow and New Delhi are in talks over finalization of the general framework agreement for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant in Tamil Nadu. During his tour to Spain, Prime Minister Modi held talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy in Madrid. During his opening remarks after meeting Spanish President, Prime Minister Modi said that today's talks will go a long way in furthering ties between the two countries. The Prime Minister said that in an interconnected and interdependent - Spain and India can work together both for mutual benefit, and for the benefit of the at large. He described President Rajoy as a visionary leader. Prime Minister Modi said India and Spain have both faced the scourge of terrorism and will both focus on fighting it. The Prime Minister said both India and Spain are engaging in vigorous economic reform. He said there is immense scope for cooperation in infrastructure, railways and smart cities. The Prime Minister said that the vision of "New India" will be enhanced through the "New Momentum" in relations between India and Spain. Seven agreements were exchanged between the two countries, covering subjects such as energy, security and civil aviation. Prime Minister Modi later met with Spanish CEOs. He said during the meeting that there is immense potential for further growth of Spanish investments in India. He mentioned in particular, sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energy, food processing, auto, chemicals and textiles. He also invited Spanish participation in the Smart Cities initiative. Prime Minister Modi also gave a broad overview of the economic reforms undertaken in India, including GST. He asserted that initiatives like Make in India, Digital India and Start up India have become global magnets for investment. The Prime Minister also called on Spanish King Felipe VI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following his visit to Germany and Spain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednsday embarked for St. Petersburg, Russia as part of his four-nation Europe tour. Prime Minister Modi will be having his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin where both the leaders will discuss ways to enhance ties in trade, defence and nuclear sector. He will be visiting Piskarovskoye Cemetery in honor of those who lost their lives during the Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944). Prime Minister Modi and President Putin will address the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) where India is a 'guest country'. He will also invite foreign firms to share technology with local players relating to defence equipment to be manufactured in India. Prime Minister Modi is likely to raise India's concerns over the China's One Belt One Road initiative. Prime Minister Modi and Indian delegation will be participating in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will be attended by thousands of business leaders from across the globe. The strategic partnership established in the year 2000 was raised to the level of Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in the year 2010. Ever since Russia is the only country with which India have annual summits. Moscow and New Delhi are in talks over finalization of the general framework agreement for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant in Tamil Nadu. During his tour to Spain, Prime Minister Modi held talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy in Madrid. During his opening remarks after meeting Spanish President, Prime Minister Modi said that today's talks will go a long way in furthering ties between the two countries. The Prime Minister said that in an interconnected and interdependent - Spain and India can work together both for mutual benefit, and for the benefit of the at large. He described President Rajoy as a visionary leader. Prime Minister Modi said India and Spain have both faced the scourge of terrorism, and will both focus on fighting it. The Prime Minister said both India and Spain are engaging in vigorous economic reform. He said there is immense scope for cooperation in infrastructure, railways and smart cities. The Prime Minister said that the vision of "New India" will be enhanced through the "New Momentum" in relations between India and Spain. Seven agreements were exchanged between the two countries, covering subjects such as energy, security and civil aviation. Prime Minister Modi later met with Spanish CEOs. He said during the meeting that there is immense potential for further growth of Spanish investments in India. He mentioned in particular, sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energy, food processing, auto, chemicals and textiles. He also invited Spanish participation in the Smart Cities initiative. Prime Minister Modi also gave a broad overview of the economic reforms undertaken in India, including GST. He asserted that initiatives like Make in India, Digital India and Start up India have become global magnets for investment. The Prime Minister also called on Spanish King Felipe VI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of leading Spanish companies while on his visit to Spain to attract investment into the country. "PM @narendramodi interacts w CEOs of leading Spanish companies w global footprint," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. "Spanish newspaper Expansion frontpages PM@ narendramodi's call for Spanish investment in India in public works, energy, tourism and defence," Baglay said in a tweet. India and Spain earlier signed seven agreements across multiple sectors following delegation-level talks, co-chaired by Prime Minister Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy in Madrid. Prime Minister Modi, who is on a two-day state visit to Spain, arrived in Madrid on Tuesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A powerful heavy explosion has reportedly occurred near the Indian Embassy in the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan diplomatic area of Afghan capital Kabul. Many foreign embassies are located in the area, including the American and Canadian embassies. The Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) has deployed its team in the area for rescue and counter-insurgency operations. Further details area awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Wednesday witnessed protests against the attack on an institution's research scholar who participated in the beef fest on the campus on Sunday. A group of protestors challenged cow rakshaks (vigilantes) by openly eating beef during the protest. Various students of Revolutionary Student Youth Front (RSYF), Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), and activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) protested near IIT-Madras gate against attack on an IIT Madras research scholar by some Right wing students for participating in beef fest. Sooraj R- a PhD scholar and a member of Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC) was allegedly attacked on Tuesday by some students, who are allegedly affiliated with Right wing student bodies. However, the police detained the protestors before they could enter the Campus. While other student bodies raised slogans against Narendra Modi led Union Government's order and demanded arrest of the students who allegedly attacked Sooraj, activists of the TPDK went a step ahead and openly ate beef during the protest. A TPDK protestor told ANI that "Students wings affiliated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have brutally beaten one of the students of this institution. We condemn this dastardly act. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is indulging in terrorist act and the attackers must be booked under Goonda act." He added that 'beef eating act' was a way to put forward their demand. "Eating beef is tradition of Tamil people and nobody can change this. Therefore, we demand the revocation of Centre's ruling on the sale of cattle ban." Other protestor alleged that the police were unleashing violence against the protestors. "Police have unleashed violence against protesters. They are beating us mercilessly. Is this a democracy? Do we not have right to speak, right to protest? He also equated drinking cow urine practice with the practice of beef eating in Tamil Nadu. "With regard to consumption of beef, as the union government headed by BJP believes in drinking of urine, in the same lines, slaughtering cow and eating its beef is our tradition. We may eat beef or we eat something else, who are these people to stop or question us?" One of the RSYF placards read: "This is Jallikattu part 2: We will take the cow rakshaks by their horns". https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif There have been protests in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states like Kerala and Karnataka against the Centre's order. According to the notification under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 that gives the Centre powers over animal welfare, the committees overseeing animal markets will have to take an undertaking from traders that "animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian warplanes reportedly bombed ISIS targets near Syria's Palmyra with Kalibr cruise missiles on Wednesday. The Russian Defence Ministry said the strikes in northern Syria were aimed at ISIS hideouts located east of Palmyra that housed heavy eqipment and militant manpower transfered from Raqqa. "The Russian Navy's Admiral Essen frigate and Krasnodar submarine performed a launch of four Kalibr cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean against the targets of the IS [Daesh] terrorist groups in the area of Palmyra," The Sputnik quoted the defence ministry, as saying, "All targets have been struck." The Ministry also informed that the U.S., Turkish and Israeli militaries have been warned in advance. "The US, Turkish and Israeli commands were informed in a timely manner of the cruise missile launches through the operational channels of interaction," the ministry said in a statement. The Islamic State retook Palmyra in December 2016, nine months after Syrian government forces, backed by Russia, pushed the group out.Palmyra had been declared a Heritage site by UNESCO. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to withdraw the nation from the Paris Agreement on climate change, local media reports said. As per the reports, the Trump administration is working on how to roll out the decision. Trump on Tuesday met Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who is in favour of withdrawal from the Paris Accord and will meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday, the CNN reported. Tillerson is in favour of remaining in the deal. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned United States that quitting the Paris climate agreement could threaten the country's economic, security and societal status. His remarks at New York University's Stern School of Business came at a time when the waits for Trump to announce whether the country will continue to uphold the Paris deal, which nearly 200 countries signed as a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Trump had delayed his decision on the Paris Climate Accord, saying that he will make his final decision on it next week. "I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week," Trump tweeted. Signed a little more than year ago by 195 nations, the Paris deal is meant to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and is seen as one of former President Barack Obama's biggest triumphs. But Trump, pushing a renewed commitment to fossil fuels, heavily criticized the agreement throughout the 2016 campaign. A formal withdrawal would take three years, but that could be expedited if the U.S. pulls out of an underlying UN treaty. Last week, more than 20 Republican senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, sent a letter to Trump asking him to leave the Paris Climate Agreement. Meanwhile, Democrats are urging Trump not to withdraw from the agreement. The exit of the United States after China would apparently weaken the strength of the deal and make the way for other countries to withdraw from it. The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020. The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of May 2017, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the treaty, 147 of which have ratified it. After several European Union states ratified the agreement in October 2016, there were enough countries that had ratified the agreement that produce enough of the world's greenhouse gases for the agreement to enter into force. The agreement went into effect on November 4, 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Despite opposition from Turkey, the United States has started delivering military equipment to the Kurdish fighters within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including small arms and vehicles, as part of an effort to take the Islamic State-controlled city of Raqqa. "I can confirm the US-led coalition has begun issuing arms and equipment to Kurdish elements of the SDF. These initial deliveries consist of small arms and vehicles." US Department of Defense spokesperson Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Sputnik on Tuesday. The spokesperson noted that the US advisers will monitor the use of the weapons "wherever possible" to ensure they are used only against the ISIS terror group. American NATO ally Turkey sees the Kurdish fighters in the SDF as closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an internationally designated terror group that has carried out attacks against Turkey. However, the U.S. views the two Kurdish groups as distinct organizations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood actor Ali Fazal, who is working with Hollywood veteran Judi Dench in his maiden English movie 'Victoria and Abdul', said the actress was extremely welcoming towards him. At the trailer launch, Fazal talked about the experience of working with one of the most celebrated international actors and said, "We shot for the film for about 50-60 days but the first time when I met Judi Dench, we had lunch together, just to meet each other and break the ice. I was literally on the floors! I touched her feet, shook her hand and hugged her." "She was extremely welcoming. She made me at ease. And I think that relationship began there, while we were having lunch in London. After that, we became friends. As an actor, your job is half done when your co-star becomes your friend especially when it's Judi Dench," he added. Ali also said the Oscar winner wanted to come to India to promote the film as she loves the country. "We had a lot of conversation regarding Indian films, though her perception of Bollywood was song and dance, I shared how we are much more than that. She loves our country. In fact, she was little heartbroken when she got to know that she is not coming to India; which is quite ironic because even Victoria never visited India," said the 30-year-old. Directed by two-time Academy winner Stephen Friers, 'Victoria and Abdul' stars Ali Fazal in the lead role opposite Hollywood star Judi Dench. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A near-future thriller 'Hotel Artemis' is turning out to be a well made home for the A-list actors of Hollywood. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 'Star Trek' fame Zachary Quinto is the latest to join Jodie Foster's 'Hotel Artemis.' Drew Pearce, who wrote the script for 'Iron Man 3' and 'Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation,' will make his directorial debut with the film, which he also wrote. The thriller, headed by Jodie Foster, will also star Jeff Goldblum, Sterling K. Brown, Jenny Slate and Charlie Day, along with 'Guardians of the Galaxy's Dave Bautista and 'The Mummy's Sofia Boutella. The movie is set in the near-future and takes place in an underground Los Angeles hospital, where the city's sinister criminals are treated. The story follows the nurse (Foster) who runs the hospital as she discovers that one of her patients is actually there to assassinate another. Marc Platt, previously known for 'La La Land,' will produce alongside Adam Siegel for Marc Platt Productions. Simon and Stephen Cornwell will produce for The Ink Factory, which is also financing the project. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Of Rs 1 per share Bharat Petroleum Corporation announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 29 May 2017, inter alia, have recommended the final dividend of Rs 1 per equity Share (i.e. 10%) , subject to the approval of the shareholders. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Of Rs 1.1 per share Hindustan Petroleum Corporation announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 26 May 2017, inter alia, have recommended the final dividend of Rs 1.1 per equity Share (i.e. 11%) , subject to the approval of the shareholders. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Of Rs 10 per share Monte Carlo Fashions announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 30 May 2017, inter alia, have recommended the final dividend of Rs 10 per equity Share (i.e. 100%) , subject to the approval of the shareholders. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cox & Kings announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017, that its board approved the demerger of its foreign exchange division into a separate financial services company to be named Cox & Kings Financial Service (CKFSL). The demerger is effective 1 April 2017, and is subject to High Court and other regulatory approvals. Whilst the tours & travels and foreign exchange ('Forex') businesses are complementary in nature, the businesses operate quite distinctly from each other. The forex business has 125 licenses across India to provide foreign exchange to captive customers as well as to third-party customers. The working capital needs of the forex business are quite different from those of the tours & Travels business. With a view to enable the Forex business to capitalize on growth opportunities in an independent manner it has been decided to demerge the business into a separate company. The demerged entity has the potential to grow substantially as a standalone business with separate financing and operations and focused leadership and management attention. The opportunities as well as risks and competitive environment within the forex business are distinct and the said business is capable of attracting its own set of investors and strategic partners, lenders and other stakeholders. It is proposed that the forex business of the company be demerged and transferred to the resulting company, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the company, so as to maximize value for all the stakeholders of the Company. In consideration of the demerger, equity shares of the resulting company shall be issued to the equity shareholders of the company, on the agreed terms and conditions as set out in the draft scheme. CKFSL is also in the process of applying for a license to operate as a non-banking finance company (NBFC) and will add multiple product lines to its suite of offerings over time, including holiday finance, overseas student finance etc. aimed primarily at the travel and tourism sector. With the number of outbound travellers from India due to touch 50 million by 2020 (as per UNWTO) from approximately 21 million currently, there is a substantial and unique opportunity for the newly minted company to grow rapidly at high rates of profitability. Jet Airways (India)'s net profit dropped 90.73% to Rs 36.80 crore on 5.57% increase in total income to Rs 5759.58 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017. BEML's net profit rose 27.11% to Rs 186.40 crore on 18.19% increase in total income to Rs 1345.67 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017. MOIL's net profit surged 410.94% to Rs 109.24 crore on 19.76% increase in total income to Rs 252.71 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017. McLeod Russel India announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017, that its board deliberated on the strategic roadmap for the company's participation in a joint venture with Eveready Industries India for development of packet tea business. The board has decided that the company will initiate discussion with Eveready for participating in a joint venture as a strategic business partner for development of packet tea business through a separate entity. It is envisaged that with this measure, Eveready and McLeod will bring their respective skills of marketing & distribution and tea plantation knowledge to focus and develop the packet tea business to a much higher level. McLeod is the world's largest tea plantation company in private sector. This will enable the company to have direct access to the Rs 10000 crore packet tea market. Eveready is a consumer goods company with a large distribution reach. This alliance will enable it to upscale its FMCG operation. Both McLeod and Eveready belong to the Williamson Magor Group and the strategic alliance is subject to all necessary approvals. Gujarat Gas announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017, that it entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Petronet LNG for exploring - dispensing and marketing of LNG including the L-CNG at Gujarat Gas CNG stations. Berger Paints India announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017, that its board approved acquisition of 100% of the paid-up equity share capital of Saboo Coatings (SCPL) from its existing shareholders at a consideration of Rs 81.77 crore, subject to closing adjustments for variations in net debt and net working capital. SCPL is engaged in carrying out the business of manufacturing specialty liquid coatings classified as 'Industrial Coatings' by the paint industry in the segments of agriculture and construction equipment (ACE), automotive (auto components, auto re-finish), fans, electronics, general industrial, elevators, handicrafts and home furnishing, hardware and those used by industrial dealers for substrates metal, plastics, FRP and glass in India. The gross turnover (including other income) of SCPL in the year 2016-17 was Rs 89.43 crore. The business and the expertise of SCPL will gainfully supplement the company's industrial coatings business where the two entities can support each other in various areas such as manufacturing, selling, distribution, procurement, technology, etc., thus resulting in mutual benefit to both the companies. The transaction is likely to be completed by 30 June, 2017, subject to fulfillment of conditions precedent. At the meeting, the board also approved purchase of 1.03 crore equity shares of Saboo Hesse Wood Coatings (SHWCPL), representing 51% of the paid-up equity share capital of SHWCPL at a consideration of Rs 1.5 crore. The balance 49% is held by Hesse Shares GmbH of Germany. The business and the expertise of SHWCPL can gainfully supplement the company's existing wood coatings business, where the two entities can combine their strengths and collaborate in the areas of manufacturing, selling, distribution, procurement, technology, etc., resulting in mutual benefit to both the companies. The transaction is likely to be completed by 31 August, 2017 subject to limited due diligence, approval of the Reserve Bank of India, if required, and parties agreeing on the terms of acquisition. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jet Airways (India) lost 1.81% to Rs 451.25 at 09:31 IST on BSE after net profit dropped 90.73% to Rs 36.80 crore on 5.57% increase in total income to Rs 5759.58 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 8.29 points, or 0.03%, to 31,151.11. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 125.54 points, or 0.87%, to 14,615.30. On BSE, so far 2.56 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 3.88 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 456.50 and a low of Rs 436 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 626.70 on 1 August 2016. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 332.40 on 27 December 2016. The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 113.60 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Jet Airways (India)'s available seat kilometers rose 8% at 13.7 billion in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. Passengers carried increased by 5.4% to 7.02 million in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. On a consolidated basis, Jet Airways (India)'s net profit dropped 63.81% to Rs 438.45 crore on 2.67% increase in total income to Rs 23669.91 crore in the year ended 31 March 2017 (FY 2017) over FY 2016. Jet Airways (India) said that despite the challenges posed by the recent increase in Brent crude oil prices, coupled with continuing low airfares and increased capacity, the airline reported profit during FY 2017. Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways (India), said that the past year has been extremely challenging for both domestic and international markets. Notwithstanding the growth in traffic in the domestic market, the downward pressure on yields continued despite rise in oil prices. The company achieved positive results through relentless effort to streamline operations, improve productivity and business performance, enabling it to reduce debt by Rs 1902 crore during FY 2017, despite weakening demand in certain international markets, especially Gulf, Naresh Goyal said. Jet Airways (India) is India's leading international airline which operates flights to 65 destinations, including India and overseas. The Jet Airways Group currently operates a fleet of 113 aircraft. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Steel Authority of India shed 2.05% to Rs 57.25 at 14:15 IST on BSE after the company reported net loss of Rs 771.30 crore in Q4 March 2017 compared with net loss of Rs 1184.64 crore in Q4 March 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 May 2017. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 71.61 points, or 0.23%, to 31,231.01. On the BSE, 6.42 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with an average volume of 7.8 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 59 and a low of Rs 57.20 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 68.55 on 7 April 2017. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 40.75 on 24 June 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 30 May 2017, sliding 3.23% compared with 4.15% gains in the Sensex. The scrip had underperformed the market in past one quarter, dropping 4.34% as against Sensex's 8.41% gains. The scrip had, however, outperformed the market in past one year, gaining 36.09% as against Sensex's 16.59% gains. The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 4130.53 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Steel Authority of India (SAIL)'s total income rose 12.33% to Rs 14543.53 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The unprecedented increase in coal prices during the year ended 31 March 2017 (FY 2017) impacted the results and stunted the overall margins, SAIL said. SAIL is a PSU steel manufacturing company. The Government of India held 75% stake in SAIL (as per the shareholding pattern as on 31 March 2017). Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twelve persons were arrested and extra security forces deployed in the Madhya Pradesh capital on Wednesday, after communal clashes broke out in the city on Tuesday night that saw rival groups resort to stone pelting and arson over a religious dispute. "The situation is under control now. Police has been deployed in the Peer Gate and other areas. Twelve persons have been arrested," Raman Singh Sikarwar, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Bhopal, told IANS. Trouble broke out after some religious vestiges were found during digging for construction within the Hamidia Hospital situated in Old Bhopal. According to police, a religious group claimed the presence of the relics, which led to tension between the two religious groups. Both sides resorted to stone pelting and arson near Peer Gate late on Tuesday night. Local residents said that tension had been building up between the two groups from the past two days ever since the discovery of the "relics". The Tuesday night violence saw property damaged as well as vehicles set on fire. The Rapid Action Force was called after the situation got worse. Police used lathi-charge and lobbed teargas to disperse the crowd. They also fired in the air. Some policemen were injured in the violence. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a tweet that people disrupting the peace would be strictly dealt with. Earlier, Singh had asked Bhopal resident to ignore rumours and help the authorities maintain peace. --IANS hindi-shivangi/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Police has arrested three young men in Pathankot district on the basis of suspicion, police said on Wednesday. All three belong to Assam, sources said. The arrests were being linked to the Monday recovery of an abandoned bag containing three Army uniforms. The bag was left on Defence Road near Pathankot late on Sunday night. A massive search operation was launched in the district following the seizure. Punjab Police, army and other security agencies carried searches in the area, especially near the Indian Air Force base as well as the army's Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot. A Jammu flour mill's name was printed on the bag, police officials said. The security agencies remained on alert in the border districts following the terror attacks on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January 2016 and in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district in July 2015. Both Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts lie along India's international border with Pakistan and are also close to Jammu and Kashmir. --IANS js/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Chinese activist investigating a company that manufactures shoes for Ivanka Trump's label and other Western brands has been detained by police in China, and two of his colleagues remain unaccounted for. The three activists were investigating labour conditions at Huajian shoe factories for China Labour Watch (CLW), a New York-based non-profit organisation that aims to defend workers' rights. It lost contact with them last week, CNN reported on Wednesday. The news came amid a broader crackdown in China on independent groups pushing for better labour rights in the world's second-largest economy. One of the activists, Hua Haifeng, was detained by local police in Jiangxi province for "illegal surveillance," said Li Qiang, the head of China Labour Watch. The other two activists, Li Zhao and Su Heng, were missing, he said. The activists took jobs between March and May at two factories run by the Huajian Group -- one in Jiangxi and the other in Guangdong -- in order to investigate labour practices at the company, Li said. Su, who was working at the factory in Jiangxi, found evidence of violations of workers' rights during the production of Ivanka Trump shoes, CNN quoted Li as saying. They included employees working for as many as 18 hours a day for pay below the minimum wage, he said. Huajian didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Ivanka Trump's company also declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Marc Fisher Footwear, which manufactures Ivanka Trump shoes, said the firm was unaware of the allegations and would look into them immediately. Two other shoe brands under the company's umbrella -- Marc Fisher and Kylie + Kendall -- were also being made at the Huajian factories, according to China Labour Watch. Li said he was sending video footage shot by Su at the Jiangxi factory to Ivanka Trump's company. "We appeal to President Trump, Ivanka Trump herself, and to her related brand company to advocate and press for the release of our activists," he said. Hua's wife, Deng Guilian, told CNN that she received a call Tuesday from police in Jiangxi telling her that her husband has been detained for conducting illegal surveillance and that she should expect to receive a formal notice in the mail soon. The families of Li and Su couldn't be reached for comment. Officials at the local police department in Jiangxi said they weren't aware of any cases involving China Labor Watch activists. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For a decade during the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) rule in Punjab, Congress leader Amarinder Singh accused the ruling Badal family of letting the "mining mafia" have a free run, draining the state's resources and leading to a graft of hundreds of crores of rupees. Now, within three months of having become Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh is himself facing his first major test -- the corruption taint on his confidant and ministerial colleague Rana Gurjit Singh. Rana, who is the Minister for Irrigation and Power, is in the midst of a major controversy related to the recent mining auctions in the state. The minister, who is a billionaire businessman with industrial and business interests in sugar, liquor, energy, trade and other sectors, has been cornered by an expose which revealed that three employees of his family companies had bagged mining contracts worth crores of rupees. One of the employees, Amit Bahadur, a cook who hails from Nepal, and has an annual income tax return of less than Rs one lakh, bagged a sand mining contract of nearly Rs 26 crore. The employee even deposited Rs 13 crore as the first instalment of the contract. Amarinder led the Congress from the front in the assembly polls in Punjab earlier this year -- taking on the might of the 10-year-old SAD-BJP government and the emergence of an upbeat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He and the Congress were even able to beat the anti-Congress sentiment among voters in other parts of the country to secure a decisive victory -- winning 77 out of 117 assembly seats. Having promised to provide a corruption-free and transparent government, Amarinder could find himself on a sticky wicket in dealing with the Rana mining scam. Corruption, money laundering, favouritism, "benami" transactions, conflict of interest and misuse of office -- all these have been highlighted after the mining scam was exposed. With Rana not submitting his resignation, nor Amarinder seeking it, the opposition SAD, BJP and AAP are gunning for the minister and the Amarinder government. To show that he was seized of the matter, Amarinder, on Monday, ordered a "judicial probe" into the mining scam, especially Rana Gurjit Singh's alleged involvement in it. The opposition immediately dismissed it as a "farce" and even questioned the appointment of retired high court judge, Justice J.S. Narang, to head the one-man commission. "If Captain (Amarinder Singh) knows the formula of making crores of rupees in the job of a cook then he must tell it to the youth of Punjab so that the unemployed youth can earn their livelihood by learning the trick," AAP Punjab President and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann said. Senior Akali Dal leader and former Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa questioned Amarinder's intentions in not sacking the controversial minister "despite the wealth of evidence available against him". "Amarinder is answerable to the people and should not let his personal ties with Rana, including his dependence on him when in the opposition, to come in the way of ensuring justice in the case," Dhindsa said. For someone who came to power highlighting corruption, how Amrinder handles the current scam will be crucial to perceptions about his government among the people of the state. Retail giant Amazon has launched direct cargo flights from the US to Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province. The planes which were carrying products, including food, clothes and household appliances ordered by Chinese buyers, flew from New York, Chicago and Los Angels to the Chinese transportation hub, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport offered good logistics services to cross-border e-commerce platforms, sources with Amazon logistics services provider WherExpress. The airport provided swift customs clearance, and the imports will now be distributed to consumers nationwide. Amazon had said in March that it was "currently developing the air cargo service (for China) and will introduce it soon". The airport in Zhengzhou posted 275,000 tonnes of throughput of imported cargo in 2016, which included imported fruit, aquatic products, meat and live Australian cattle. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 12-year-old Australian high school student has been confirmed as one of at least 20 people killed by an Islamic State car bomb which exploded in Baghdad on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Wednesday. Zynab Al Harbiya was with family visiting her sick grandfather in the Iraqi capital and had asked her mother to take her to an ice cream parlour after fasting throughout the day when the car bomb exploded, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens, Xinhau reported. On Wednesday, Bishop confirmed that the seventh grade student at Melbourne's Sirius College was killed in the attack and has since been buried in the Iraqi capital. --IANS ahm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The head of Australia's spy agency on Wednesday defended his earlier comments that radical Sunni Islam was to be blamed for terrorism, not refugees. Duncan Lewis told ABC News that tens of thousands of refugees have come to Australia over the last decade or so, but "very few of them have become subjects of interest for ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) and have been involved in terrorist planning". He said that three out of the 12 terror attacks in the country in the past few years were carried out by refugees or children of refugees but asserted that they are terrorists not because they were refugees "but because of the violent, extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam that they have adopted". He also stressed that the country's scrutiny of asylum applications and border control was adequately tough. Lewis came under fire from the One Nation party for defending the country's refugee programme and rejecting the belief that refugees were responsible for terrorism at a committee meeting last week of the Australian Senate. One Nation party Senator Malcolm Roberts, who wants to ban the entry of Muslims in Australia, had tweeted "if ASIO cannot see a link between refugees and terrorism, we are in far greater danger than I thought". Among Australia's most tragic terrorist attacks was the 17-hour long siege of a cafe in Sydney in December 2014 by a self-proclaimed cleric of Iranian-origin, Haron Monis, that killed three, including himself. --IANS soni/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Wednesday said it was "happy" to know that India has refused Australia's offer to join upcoming naval exercises with Japan and the US, a move that could have irked Beijing. "I have seen the relevant report. I think India is also clear about the consideration behind this behaviour," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said here. "We are happy to see no more dialogue and communication on security issues," a smiling Hua said in an obvious reference to Australia. India has reportedly rejected Australia's proposal to take part in a joint naval exercise with Japan and the US in the Bay of Bengal in July. "But we also hope that when conducting such operations the parties can fully consider the security concerns for the relevant parties and also play a positive and constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability," Hua added. China has been expanding its footprints in the Indian Ocean, causing concern to India. As a counter to China's growing influence, India has been holding the naval drill 'Malabar' with Japan and the US. China has been wary of the exercise and Australia's entry into the drill would have added to its worry. --IANS gsh/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nandini K.R. of Karnataka bagged the top rank in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) 2016 examination, followed by Anmol Sher Singh Bedi and Gopalakrishna Ronanki, at second and third place, a statement from the Commission said on Wednesday. The written test for the civil services examination was held in December 2016, followed by interviews for personality test between March and May this year. Nandini K.R. is currently a 2016 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer posted in Faridabad, Haryana. She hails from Kolar district, about 100 km from Bengaluru. She graduated in engineering from M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bengaluru. A total of 1,099 candidates have been recommended for appointment, besides a consolidated Reserve List of 172 candidates. From among the recommended candidates, 500 belong to General Category and 347 to Other Backward Class (OBC). The share of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates comprises 163 and 80 candidates, respectively. The selected candidates will be placed across vacant positions in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Central Services Group 'A' and Group 'B'. The vacancies, as reported by the central government across services are: IAS - 180, IFS - 45, IPS - 150, Central Services Group 'A' - 603 and Central Services Group 'B' - 231. Results can be accessed on the UPSC website. The marks will be available on the website within 15 days from the date of declaration of result. --IANS vn-fb/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of his visit to Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that India is not only committed to accord the highest priority to the bilateral relations but also committed to taking them forward to newer heights. "In India, the policy of building strong relations with Russia enjoys crosscutting national consensus. Every government in India since 1947 has accorded the highest priority to developing close relations with the government and people of Russia," Modi said in an article published in Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazetta on the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Russia. "My government is not only committed to following this policy, but taking our relations to newer heights," he added. Noting that the two countries signed a declaration on strategic Partnership in 2010 and elevated it to the level of a special and privileged strategic partnership, he said: "These documents are more than just words. They contain an ambitious blueprint for our cooperation. "The symbols of our contemporary partnership today include Indian investments in Sakhalin 1, and now the Vankor and Taas-Yuryakh oil fields, the nuclear power plant at Kudankulam and the Brahmos Joint Venture Project," Modi said. Modi also said that both the countries cannot and should not be satisfied with the achievements and must strive to open new vistas. "We should fully exploit our mutual complementarities based on our large markets, resource endowments and industrial and technological base. We are focusing on increasing our bilateral trade which is considerably below our potential. We are opening new areas of cooperation in the energy sector, telecommunications and science and technology. We have set up funds to facilitate investment in high technologies," he said. Modi also said that the "natural" Indian-Russian partnership's significance goes beyond the bilateral sphere. "This is natural and has always been so. Our partnership has contributed to global peace and security. We have supported each other's key interests. We are important stakeholders in upholding the stability of the international political, security, economic and financial order. "We cooperate closely in forums such as the United Nations, BRICS, G-20, East Asia Summit, RIC and the IAEA. India looks forward to becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that became possible with wholehearted Russian support," he said. --IANS bns/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling it cowardly, the Congress party on Wednesday condemned the Kabul attack, in which at least 80 people were killed and more than 300 injured. "Condemn the cowardly Kabul attack. Global community should unite to bring perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of terror to book," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a tweet. At least 80 people were killed and over nearly 350 injured, many critically, when a truck packed with explosives blew up during morning rush hour in the Afghan capital's diplomatic zone earlier in the day, authorities said. --IANS sid/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress party on Wednesday announced here that it will contest the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka under the leadership of Chief Minister K. Siddaramaiah. The party also retained G. Parameshwara as the Karnataka unit President and asked him to resign from the state cabinet immediately. "He (Parameshwara) will continue to be the PCC President...to devote his full time and energy in discharging responsibilities of the party president, he will resign from the state cabinet immediately," said an AICC statement released by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi. The statement said that K.H. Muniyappa, MP and former union minister, had been included in the Congress Working Committee as a special invitee. Satish Jarkiholi has been appointed a Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). According to the statement, S.R. Patil will be the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working President, along with present working President Dinesh Gundurao. "Gundurao will look after the party affairs of southern Karnataka and S.R. Patil of northern Karnataka," it added. D.K. Shivakumar, a minister in the present state cabinet, will be the Chairman of the campaign committee for the coming assembly election. --IANS sid/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Wednesday said it will lodge an FIR against the members of BJP Yuva Vahini, who were involved in vandalism and sloganeering outside the party office here. "Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is nothing but Bharatiya Jungleraj Party. They engage in hooliganism, in diverting attention and suppressing voices," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar. "Today (Wednesday) around 10.30 a.m, workers of the BJP's Yuva vahini indulged in vandalism, sloganeering and misbehaviour outside the Congress office. This has become BJP's culture to abuse the top leadership of Congress and indulge in vandalism," he added. Kumar further said: "They reached the most secure area of the national capital, which shows they had full backing of Delhi Police and the central government." --IANS sid/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Continuing with his "lunch-dinner diplomacy", BJP President enjoyed food with a tribal family at Devaliya village in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district in Gujarat. The exercise was aimed at widening the party's base among the tribal population. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief started his lunch-dinner diplomacy to connect with the masses in West Bengal where he had lunch with a Dalit family, then he visited Varanasi and now he is in Gujarat. In Devaliya village of Chhota Udepur, he had dinner on Tuesday night with a local BJP party worker, Popatbhai Rathwa. The VIP presence at his place turned into a blessing for the tribal party worker, as other partymen helped the Rathwa family put basic infrastructure in place, with the family getting a new toilet facility, a wash basin, an LPG stove and a couple of coolers. This show of help was perhaps to make the environs comfortable for the BJP chief and entourage of VIPs, including BJP's state incharge Bhupendra Yadav, state party chief Jitu Vaghani, party general secretaries, state ministers, MPs and other party functionaries, who joined Shah. Shah's presence in this Congress-dominated region seems to be significant as five of the six taluka panchayats as well as the district panchayat of Chhota Udepur are ruled by the Congress. Even in the last parliamentary polls, when the BJP had won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, it was a close contest in Chhota Udepur. The legislator from the district comes from the Congress. The BJP is currently facing trouble from several other communities besides the socially, politically and economically powerful Patidaars, like the Dalits who have risen after the public flogging of Dalit youths by a self-styled cow protection group at Una in Saurashtra. "While Gujarat remains a strong fortress for the BJP, there was a need to further strengthen its presence," said Shah, addressing the newly-inducted booth workers in Devalia village. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and said as the Chief Minister, he had helped win around 120 seats, and now with him as the Prime Minister, the party can look to bag at least 150 of the 182 assembly seats in the state. On a three-day visit to the state, Shah is expected to continue his booth-level programmes in the state and would visit another tribal district of Sabarkantha. Veteran film director and former Union Minister of State Dasari Narayana Rao was cremated with state honours near here on Wednesday. Leading film personalities, politicians and fans besides family members, relatives and friends bid a tearful adieu to Rao, who breathed his last on Tuesday in a private hospital after prolonged illness. He was 75. The last rites were performed at Rao's farm house at Moinabad, about 60 km from Hyderabad. Rao's eldest son Harihara Prabhu lit the funeral pyre as a police contingent presented gun salute. The funeral was performed adjacent to the 'samadhi' of Rao's wife. Rao, who holds Limca World Record for directing the most films and directed generations of film stars -- from thespian N.T. Rama Rao to Nagarjuna, died at a private hospital here on Tuesday following prolonged illness. He was 75. Earlier, he was shifted from his Jubliee Hills residence to the office of the Film Chamber to enable people to pay their last respects. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited Film Chamber office and described Rao's demise as a great loss to Telugu film industry. "Telugu film industry has lost a pillar. He was institution in himself," said Naidu. He recalled that from a modest background, Rao become director, writer, actor and later politician and worked hard for the welfare of weaker sections. Celebrities like Pawan Kalyan, Junior NTR, Daggubati Venkatesh, Allu Arjun, Narayana Murthy, Naga Babu, Vijayachander, Raghvendra Rao, Dil Raju, Mohan Babu, Krishna, Nassar and filmmaker Trivikram paid their last respects. Actor Mohan Babu, whose career was launched by Rao, broke down. "He was like a father to me. My entire family forever is indebted to him," Babu said. Actress-filmmaker Vijaya Nirmala said she was "shaken" and that he always treated her like a sister. Having directed 151 films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi, Rao produced 53 films and worked in more than 250 as a dialogue writer and lyricist. Some of his famous films include "Premabhishekam", "Megha Sandesham", "Osey Ramulamma" and "Tata Manavadu". He planned to make a biopic on late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. A multi-faceted personality, he served as Union Minister of State for Coal in United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. It was during his tenure that the scandal over coal blocks allocation rocked the nation. --IANS ms-hp/rb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In view of security alert from intelligence agencies, Delhi Police and National Security Guard personnel conducted a joint mock drill at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) Terminal-3 to check security preparedness, police said on Wednesday. "The mock drill was conducted on Tuesday. It was done to check the efficiency and reaction time of cops and other officials of the departments concerned. It was first such mock drill this year and we keep on holding such drills at regular intervals," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Bhatia told IANS. According to inputs from intelligence agencies, with the backing of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a group of 20-21 militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has entered India. They have been strategically placed in Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan. An advisory from the Intelligence Bureau has been issued to all units of Delhi Police. Apart from senior officials of Delhi Police, no one knew about the mock drill till the last moment. The drill, which was conducted under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and Station House Officer (SHO) of the IGIA police station, lasted 37 minutes. The SHO was leading one team and the ACP the other. "During the mock drill, a PCR call was made at 11.59 a.m about four terrorists attacking the lounge of Terminal 3. After verification, the IGIA police station received the confirmation call at 12.09 p.m, and within two minutes, armed forces rushed to the T-3. After this, teams of SWAT, ATS, fire tenders, CATS ambulances also arrived on the site," Bhatia said. "The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for internal security of airport, was not included in the drill," he added. --IANS sp/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police has arrested a Delhi University student and detained his juvenile accomplice for lynching an e-rickshaw driver after he objected to them urinating at GTB Metro Station in north Delhi, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. The lynching which happened on Saturday night grabbed national attention with leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, condemning the death and urging police to arrest the culprits. Police said the accused student Shekhar Kapasia, 19, and his juvenile friend were captured in a CCTV footage which helped to identify them. They were arrested from their hideouts in Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday night. Kapasia, a B.Com Second year of Sri Aurobindo College in Malviya Nagar, is a resident of Sant Nagar. His juvenile accomplice, 17, is studying at a south Delhi school, and is a resident of Malviya Nagar. Both of them are natives of Muzaffarnagar, police said. "We have identified five other youths. We are interrogating Kapasia and the juvenile to ascertain the hideouts of their associates involved in killing e-rickshaw driver Ravinder Kumar on Saturday. Seven police teams and a team of Crime Branch are conducting a manhunt to trace their hideouts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana," Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Mahadeo Dumbere told IANS. "Kapasia and his juvenile accomplice told investigators that the verbal altercation with Kumar turned abusive and they took it personally. They planned to take revenge and later returned with their friends. One of them tied up stones in a cotton towel and attacked Kumar multiple times," Dumbere said. The police teams had looked for suspects from around 300 students of the School Of Open Learning (SOL) of Delhi University, whose examination centre was located in Kirori Mal College, on the day of the incident. Records of some students from Sri Aurobindo College were also checked. Kapasia and the juvenile were identified later as they were caught in a CCTV footage enquiring about Kumar's whereabouts from other e-rickshaw drivers near GTB Nagar Metro Station, police said. On Saturday night, they had a verbal altercation with Kumar after he objected to them having alcohol and urinating near the GTB metro station. Kumar was later declared brought dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. On Sunday, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu tweeted: "Sad that an e rickshaw driver was beaten to death for stopping 2 people from urinating in public in Delhi. He was promoting SwachhBharat." On Monday, Naidu visited the deceased's house and gave a cheque of Rs 50,000 to his family. Later on the same day, Modi and Delhi government announced compensations of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively to Kumar's family. --IANS nkh-sp/rn (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.) Michael Nance, a former contestant of "The Bachelorette", was found dead. He was 31. The cause of his death is unclear, but no foul play has been suspected, reports eonline.com. Nance, who appeared in Emily Maynard's season of the reality show, was found dead on Monday morning at his residence in Texas. "At this point it is not a suspicious death and the manner will be determined by the medical examiner," said a spokesperson for the Austin Police Department Homicide Unit in Texas. Officers were dispatched at 2.10 a.m. on May 29 in reference to an unresponsive male. Upon their arrival, officers found the unresponsive male was Nance. He was pronounced dead at 2.54 a.m. Maynard sent her condolences through a Twitter post. "So sad waking up to the news about Michael Nance. Such a kind heart with so much talent. Sending prayers and love to his family and friends." --IANS intern/sug/rb/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government demanding that the simian menace in Vrindavan be addressed. The order came after PIL petitioner Madhu Mangal Shukla listed in the court attacks on numerous pilgrims by monkeys in the Hindu holy town visited by thousands daily. "The High Court has taken a very serious view of the matter and has asked various government departments to file responses within a month," Shukla told IANS. The court issued notice to the District Magistrate of Mathura, the Circle Officer of Vrindavan, the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh and the state Forest Department, asking them to explain how the monkey menace in Vrindavan was being addressed. The monkey population has continued to grow in Vrindavan, about 135 km south of Delhi. The monkeys are known to target unsuspecting pilgrims and flee with their bags and spectacles. Trained help is available for Rs 100 or a little less to get the snatched material back from the animals. Many people in the town have virtually stopped using their rooftops as monkeys attack women and children. An ashram inmate died last year after a fall from the terrace when monkeys attacked him. A month ago, a housewife attacked by monkeys was hospitalised for days with broken legs. While locals are angry, many of them keep feeding the monkeys due to superstitious beliefs. When President Pranab Mukherjee visited Vrindavan in November 2015, the local authorities had to hire langurs to shoo away the rowdy monkeys. The number of monkeys in Mathura district, which includes Goverdhan, Radha Kund, Gokul and Barsana, is estimated to be more than 10,000. Most have turned violent and aggressive, say the locals. In Kosi, there have been street protests against monkeys. Residents complain that despite numerous petitions, neither the Forest Department nor the municipal authorities have shown any interest to contain the growing menace of stray animals. A Forest Department official told IANS: "We have no funds for these activities. Moreover, when you can't kill the monkeys, where would you keep them?" --IANS bk/mr/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Mohit Goel, Managing Director of Noida-based Ringing Bells that came into the limelight after launching the world's cheapest smartphone ' .' Goel and Sumit Kumar, director, Ringing Bells, were arrested in February after Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises alleged that Goel 'defrauded' the company of Rs 16 lakh. "The judge found no incriminating evidence in the case. We presented our case where we highlighted the compromise agreed upon by the concerned parties. Judge took notice of the facts and accepted the bail plea," lawyer Prashant Vyas who presented the case on behalf of Ringing Bells, said in a statement. Kumar was also granted bail. The court also observed that a compromise has already been agreed upon between the parties involved in the case. In the FIR, Ayam Enterprises had alleged it was persuaded by Goel and other company officials to take up the distributorship of "Freedom 251" (costing less that $4) smartphones in November 2015. In India, each phone was to cost Rs 250. "We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totalling Rs 14 lakh," the company said. After announcing that it had delivered 5,000 'Freedom 251' smartphones to customers in July last year, Ringing Bells said it would deliver 65,000 more to those who had booked the device in cash on delivery (CoD) mode. After that, no new numbers were shared and the company shut its offices, burying the 'Freedom 251' dream. Germany on Wednesday denounced the horrific suicide bombing near its embassy in Kabul that killed dozens of people including an Afghan security officer employed in the mission. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel called the attack shocking. "I condemn the attack ... in the strongest possible terms. "The attack was carried out in the immediate vicinity of the German Embassy. It hit civilians and it hit those who are in Afghanistan to work with the people there on a better future for the country. It is particularly despicable that these people were targeted." He said the staff of the German Embassy were injured in the attack. An Afghan security officer protecting the Embassy grounds was killed. "We extend our deepest sympathy to his family... Such attacks do not change in any way our determination to continue supporting the Afghan government in further stabilizing the country." --IANS mr/ahm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said prima facie there is "nothing wrong" with the Income Tax Department's order by which the department has provisionally attached some assets allegedly linked to Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Jain, who holds the portfolios of Industry, Power, Health and Public Works Department in the Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, moved the high court challenging attachment of assets order of the IT Department. The assets attached under the Benami Act include more than 100 bighas of land with investment value of Rs 17 crore and shares amounting to Rs 16 crore. Hearing the matter, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said: "Prima facie, I am of the view that there is nothing wrong with the order. I am not inclined to interfere with the attachment." The judge also declined to stay the proceedings before the adjudicating authority of the department, as sought by Jain. Jain has also sought directions to set aside February 27 and May 24 orders under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, 1988, and to quash the proceedings initiated. Jain has challenged the retrospective application of the penal provisions of the Benami Act in his case. The plea said: "Admittedly, all the alleged transactions were prior to the period when the said provision came into existence. The period of alleged transaction is 2011 to 31st March 2016, whereas the provisions of the (new) Act came into force only on November 1, 2016." Jain's plea said the purchase of assets from the proceeds of benami transactions, as contended by the IT Department, would not be benami as per the previous Banami Act. "Such transactions have been held not to be covered under the unamended Act and therefore, the said Act is being retrospectively being applied, which is clearly in violation of Article 20(1) of the Constitution of India," the petition said. Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain appearing for the IT Department said currently, the initiating officer had only passed a provisional attachment order and forwarded it to the adjudicating authority, which was yet to even issue a show-cause notice. He said the adjudicating authority would give the minister an opportunity to be heard and cross-examine the witnesses before taking a final decision. However, minister's counsel said that witnesses were examined by the initiating officer prior to passing the order, but no opportunity for cross-examination was given to him. The assets were initially provisionally attached on February 27 and the order was extended on May 24 by the IT Department till the time the adjudicating authority took a final decision. According to the IT Department, allegation against Jain was that he was holding four companies, in which he routed cash money through shell companies during the March 2011 to March 2016 period in the form of cheques through investment in share capital. The department said Jain had funded four companies in which he used to be a director prior to his election, and they in turn had bought land from those proceeds. Under the unamended Act, only transfer of property was an offence. The amended Act, however, declared a number of other acts as offences under the category of benami transactions, said the plea. Jain, challenging the proceedings as being actuated with "mala fide", said it had been done solely due to his "present political position". "It may be pertinent to note here that the alleged role of the petitioner in the transaction is non-existent, and he is neither a director nor a shareholder in any of the companies under scrutiny as on date," he added. The court would hear the matter next on July 6. --IANS gt/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday slammed the civic agencies for its failure to lift garbage from city's roads and warned of issuing contempt of court notice for failing to comply with its directions on prevention of vector-borne diseases. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar took suo moto cognizance of a TV news channel report over non-removal of garbage in different areas of east Delhi. "You (government and civic bodies) have mentioned in your affidavit that you have cleaned all the areas in Delhi, however, the media reports show that the garbage is not collected even in four days," the court said. "It's a very serious matter. It speaks volumes of what you (East Delhi Municipal Corporation) are doing. Your status report (in dengue and chikungunya matter) is completely contradictory. It amounts to contempt of court. You can't file a false report in court. Citizens can't suffer because you pass the buck," said the bench. The news channel report highlights several contradictions in the manner in which EDMC is undertaking task of garbage cleaning under areas in its jurisdiction. The programme, which was played in the courtroom, also highlighted other issues faced by EDMC workers like non-payment of salaries and lack of proper shoes, clothing and other equipment to clean drains and garbage. "Without constant monitoring these authorities don't move a step ahead," noted the bench, asking the Union and Delhi Urban Development Secretaries and Commissioners of civic bodies to watch the video of the programme. It also asked news channel's team to conduct random inspection on garbage removal and disposal in Delhi and submit a report before June 2, the next date of hearing. The court has also been hearing PILs claiming the government and civic agencies have not taken preventive steps against vector-borne diseases such as chikungunya and dengue. The government and civic bodies had told the court that they have taken all the steps to prevent these diseases. --IANS gt/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 80 people were killed and over 300 injured, many critically, when a truck packed with explosives blew up during morning rush hour in the Afghan capital's diplomatic zone on Wednesday, authorities said. The truck, believed to be driven by a suicide bomber, exploded with a deafening roar at 8.22 a.m. in downtown Kabul when the roads were packed with motorists driving to work, Afghan media reported. Mirwais Yasini, a lawmaker from the eastern province of Nangarhar who was at the site, said the explosion was so powerful that it caused a 15-metre crater and shattered windowpanes in a number of buildings, including some embassies. The powerful blast, heard in several parts of Kabul, happened amid the holy month of Ramadan when work starts an hour late. The Health Ministry put the number of dead at 80. Tolo News said most victims were civilians, a large number of them reportedly from the Roshan mobile company. Dozens were in critical condition. Hospitals frantically appealed for blood donation. Pajhwok news agency quoted Najib Danish of the Ministry of Interior as saying that it was a suicide car bombing. But Kabul Police spokesperson Basir Mujahid told Efe that the killer vehicle was a small sewage service truck loaded with explosives that was detonated in an area with heavy traffic. Other officials said it was a water tanker. Shortly after the Taliban denied any involvement in the explosion, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bloodbath, Xinhua news agency reported. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said: "The Islamic Emirate (as the Taliban call themselves) condemn those blasts carried out against civilians and in which civilians suffer casualties without a clear target." The explosion occurred near Zanbaq Square close to the embassies of Germany, Turkey and Japan and in front of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) compound. Afghan and foreign troops who rushed to the devastated zone were greeted by ghastly scenes. Amid scattered body parts, some badly wounded men and women, their faces dripping with blood, desperately sought help. Many were rushed to hospitals in makeshift ambulances before rescue and police teams took over. A few cars caught fire and a large plume of black smoke rose into the sky. Helicopters flew over the site. Among the dead were two Afghan media workers, two Afghan guards at the German Embassy and nine security guards at a base for foreign forces in the area. An unspecified number of German, Japanese, Chinese and Pakistani Embassy staff suffered minor injuries as windowpanes splintered. Windows in the Indian Embassy too were shattered but all staff were reported to be safe. NATO's Resolute Support Mission said that Afghan security forces had prevented the truck carrying explosives from entering the Green Zone. "The vigilance and courage of Afghan security forces prevented (it) from gaining entry to the Green Zone but the explosion caused civilian casualties in the vicinity," a statement said. A police officer said it was difficult to say who was the intended target. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now in Spain, denounced the Kabul mayhem. "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with the injured." Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned "this inhuman and cowardly attack ... (during) Ramadan targeting innocent civilians". Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah vowed to destroy the terrorists. "We want peace but those who kill us in the holy month of Ramadan aren't worth a call for peace. They must be destroyed and uprooted." This was the worst terror attack in Kabul after March 2017 when 30 people were killed after terrorists dressed as doctors stormed Sardar Daud Khan Military Hospital. --IANS ahm/mr/soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A huge explosion rocked the Afghan capital on Wednesday, causing dozens of casualties and wounding over 60, according to local media. The suspected car bomb took place around 8.30 a.m. close to the Zanbaq square in the 10th police district of the city, according to Khaama News which quoted Ministry of Interior spokesman Najib Danish. "There are fears that scores of people have been killed," the agency said. The blast took place in a high-security area which is home to embassies and diplomatic missions, including the Indian Embassy. Sources told IANS that there were no casualties to any Indian national but window panes of the embassy building were shattered. In New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Tweeted: "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast." The explosion ripped through the diplomatic zone causing widespread damage, Tolo News reported, adding that the explosion happened on 14th street, close to the German embassy. Spokesman Danish said a suicide bomber had detonated a vehicle packed with explosives. No group including the Taliban insurgents has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident. Images circulating on social media appeared to show a large cloud of black smoke over the city, BBC said. "Massive explosion just shattered all the windows and glass in our bureau," Jessica Donati, who covers Afghanistan for the Wall Street Journal, wrote on her Twitter account. --IANS ab-in/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Spain on Wednesday committed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism calling it the gravest threat to international peace and stability. A joint statement issued following a meeting here between visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy said both leaders "recognised that terrorism poses the gravest threat to international peace and stability and expressed their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations". "They stressed that there should be zero tolerance to terrorism and that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terror," it stated. "We reiterate that the fight against terrorism requires a robust international cooperation, and we call on all the states to fully implement SC (UN Security Council) Resolution 1373 and all other relevant SC Resolutions, by establishing strong legal provisions against terrorism, terrorist networks, incitement to terrorism and financing for terrorism, and by satisfying requests from other states for cooperation against terrorism." According to the statement, Modi and Rajoy "expressed their strong commitment to reinforce their cooperation in the fight against terrorism, through regular bilateral consultations and cooperation and in the international fora". The two leaders also called on the international community to end selective or partial approaches to combating terrorism and in this regard jointly called for the early finalisation and adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism by the UN General Assembly. "They took note with satisfaction of the progress made on the negotiations for an agreement for bilateral cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, transnational organised crime, and traffic of illegal drugs, narcotics, psychotropic substances and chemical precursors, which will establish the grounds for an enhanced cooperation in these areas, and committed to complete negotiations by the end of 2017," the statement said. It stated that both leaders discussed the challenges present in cyberspace and committed to further their dialogue, both bilaterally, and through a closer coordination in the international fora. Both countries underlined their unwavering commitment to the principles and objectives of the UN and its centrality in international affairs. Both Modi and Rajoy also acknowledged the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, and shared their views on how to expand its membership to make it more representative of the contemporary geopolitical realities and effective, credible and responsive to the existing challenges to international peace and security. The two leaders reiterated their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce based on the principles of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). Both leaders also underlined the importance of European Union (EU)-India relations and the need to deepen the existing EU-India dialogues. "They acknowledged the positive results of 2016 EU-India Summit in March 2016, which marked a new momentum in the EU-India relations," the statement said. "They addressed the shared interest of the two sides to further engage on the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement and expressed the need to restart negotiations soon." According to the statement, during a meeting with Modi, CEOs of Spanish business and industry expressed strong support for the economic reforms in India and highlighted their keen interest to participate actively in flagship programmes like Make in India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, Start-up India and Skill India. Rajoy congratulated Modi on India's fast economic growth and the Indian government's various measures to improve ease of doing business and boost manufacturing growth. On his part, Modi complimented Rajoy on the turnaround and growth of the Spanish economy and the good prospects in the coming years and the transformation of Spain into an open, competitive, export and quality oriented economy. "Both leaders agreed on the need to preserve and further develop open trade and a business friendly investment scenario in both countries, and considered that policies towards protectionism may weaken international trade and have a negative impact in global economy," the joint statement said. Stating that climate action was a key priority for both India and Spain, it stated: "The two leaders reiterated their commitment to implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement." --IANS ab/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Spain on Wednesday expressed the need to restart negotiations for an EU-India Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) following talks between visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy here. A joint statement issued said both leaders underlined the importance of European Union (EU)-India relations and the need to deepen the existing EU-India dialogues. "They acknowledged the positive results of 2016 EU-India Summit in March 2016, which marked a new momentum in the EU-India relations," the statement said. "They reconfirmed their commitment to the EU-India Agenda for Action 2020 and to the development of cooperation in the areas of foreign and security policy, trade and investment, global issues, natural movement of persons and people to people contacts," it stated. "They addressed the shared interest of the two sides to further engage on the India-EU Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement and expressed the need to restart negotiations soon." The BTIA has been been hanging fire for 11 years despite 16 rounds of negotiations between the two sides. India has called for another meeting chief negotiators soon with the hope of taking this agreement forward. India has terminated bilateral investment protection treaties (BITs) with many country, including those of the EU, following a new BIT model released by New Delhi in December 2015. According to the statement, Rajoy explained Spain's position in the EU, "as a country fully committed with the European Project, and with the main policies and instruments of the European Union". --IANS ab/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India was committed to take ties with Spain to "a new level". Addressing the media at La Moncloa, the official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister, Modi said India was in favour taking its relations with Spain "even more productive". "India is committed to take relations with Spain to a new level." Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first Indian Prime Ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. Modi and Rajoy last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015. Modi said his discussions with Rajoy would lead to improved ties between India and Spain. "India and Spain should work together in all spheres." Stating that terrorism was a challenge before humanity, Modi said: "We should work together to deal with emerging global challenges." On his part, Rajoy said that bilateral ties would deepen following Modi's visit to Spain. After his meeting with Rajoy, Modi will call on Spanish King Felipe VI. Modi will also hold a round-table interaction with a group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. There are around 200 Spanish companies operating in India. --IANS ab/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Full-service passenger carrier Jet Airways on Wednesday announced the appointment of Vinay Dube as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). "Dube's appointment was approved by the Jet Airways Board of Directors at their meeting yesterday. The appointment is subject to receipt of all requisite government, regulatory approvals, including his security clearance," the airline said in a statement. The statement said Dube, who is currently Senior Vice President-Asia Pacific with Delta Air Lines, will also head the airline's executive management team. He succeeds Cramer Ball who had left the company in February 2016. The company's whole-time Director Gaurang Shetty has been the acting CEO of the airline. The team has been tasked by the Board of Directors of Jet Airways to drive the company's growth and future strategy by leveraging its enduring partnership with equity partner Etihad Airways, and achieve significant efficiencies and value for stakeholders, on the back of mutual synergies. "I look forward to meet the organisation's business objectives and deepening the relationship with its strategic partner Etihad Airways, in my effort to strengthen Jet Airways' illustrious legacy as India's largest premium international carrier that is ready for its next phase of growth," Dube said. --IANS ppg-rv/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Sakshi Aggarwal, who has landed a key role in superstar Rajinikanth's upcoming Tamil actioner "Kaala", believes it's a golden opportunity to prove herself in a big film. "Being part of such a big project means a lot to me. It's like a boon. Though I play a brief role, I'm thrilled about this film because it has given me an opportunity to prove myself as an actress, not just as a heroine," Sakshi told IANS. "I have reached a point in my career where the size of the role doesn't matter. What really matters is if I'm making any difference to the project through my character," she said. While she remains tight-lipped about her character, she is looking forward to share screen space with superstar. "I met him at the photo-shoot. As a fan, I was awestruck and I will cherish this first meeting," she said, adding that her portion will be shot here and in Mumbai as well. Being directed by Pa. Ranjith, the film's shooting is currently underway in Mumbai where the team will shoot non-stop for 40 days. The film marks the reunion of Ranjith and Rajinikanth after last year's "Kabali". Also starring Huma Qureshi, Anjali Patil and Samuthirakani, "Kaala" is being produced by Dhanush. --IANS hp/rb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Afghan capital has seen scores of deadly bombing attacks since August 2015. Following is the timeline of the attacks. May 31, 2017 - At least 80 people were killed and over 350 injured when an explosive-laden truck exploded near the diplomatic zone in the city. March 8, 2017 - At least 50 people were killed after attackers dressed as doctors stormed Sardar Daud Khan military hospital November 21, 2016 - At least 27 were killed in a suicide bomb attack on Baqir ul Olum mosque during a Shia ceremony. July 23, 2016 - At least 80 people died in twin bomb blasts targeting a rally by the Shia Hazara minority in Deh Mazang square. April 19, 2016 - At least 28 were killed in a huge explosion close to the Afghan defence ministry building. February 1, 2016 - 20 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at the police headquarters. August 7, 2015 - At least 35 people were killed in separate bomb attacks across the capital. Veteran Kannada film producer and distributor Parvathamma Rajkumar, the widow of matinee idol Rajkumar, died at a private hospital here on early Wednesday. She was 78. Thousands of people bid her a tearful adieu as her mortal remains were laid to rest with state honours. "Parvathamma died at 4.40 a.m. due to cardiac arrest after her blood pressure dropped," M.S. Ramaiah Hospital spokesperson Prakash told IANS. Parvathamma is survived by three sons and two daughters, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law and grand-children. All her sons -- Shivaraj, Raghavendra and Puneeth -- are also popular Kannada cine stars. "A cancer patient, Parvathamma was admitted to the hospital on May 14, and was on ventilator for 12 days due to multiple organ failure after the malignancy spread to her lungs and liver," said Prakash. Sandalwood superstar Rajkumar passed away here on April 12, 2006, at the age of 77. "The three sons and other family members were present by her side during her final moments," added Prakash. Puneeth performed the last rites at Kanteerva Studio in the northwest suburb. Her body was buried adjacent to Rajkumar's meomrial. Parvathamma's body was brought to the studio in a procession from her house in a cortege, drapped in the Indian tri-colour, while thousands of people lined up enroute to bid her farewell. Security was tightened at the Rajkumars house at Sadashivnagar after her body was shifted from the hospital and kept to allow the public pay homage to her. Police had tough time in regulating the crowds, including hundreds of fans of the Rajkumars who thronged the house for a last glimpse of their "amma" (mother). The Kannada film industry's fraternity, including cine stars, actors, actresses, producers, directors, distributors and theatre owners made a beeline to pay their respects to her. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union Ministers D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Anantha Kumar and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge were among the politicians also visited to the Rajkumars house to mourn Parvathamma's death. Mourning her, Siddaramaiah said she was an example of an old saying -- "Behind every successful man, there is a woman." "Parvathamma is basically from Mysuru distrtict. I pray God to give strength to her family to bear the griveious loss. May her soul rest in peace," said Siddaramaiah in a condolence message to the family. Born on December 6, 1939, at Saligrama in Mysuru district, Parvathamma produced about 80 Kannada films and was distributor for over 100 films. She was married to Rajkumar at the age of 14 in 1953. As in the case of her husband 11 years ago, Parvathamma's eyes were also donated to Narayana Netralaya in the city with the consent of her family soon after she passed away. --IANS str/fb/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Farmers across Maharashtra on Wednesday said that they plan to launch an indefinite strike starting midnight after talks with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on various issues, including the long-pending demand of a loan waiver, collapsed. "With the farmers going on strike, major cities like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur could face shortages of essentials fruits, vegetables, milk and food grains in the coming days," said Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader and MP Raju Shetti. "Farmers are committing suicides all over the state... The government is insensitive to their plight. We have no options but to launch the strike.. After a fortnight we will intensify it," Shetti told IANS. Late on Tuesday, representatives of the Kisan Kranti Morcha (KMM) a state-level coordination committee of various farmers organisations, met Fadnavis, but failed to get any concrete commitments, he added. Shetti said the strike is "a loss of face for Prime Minister Narendra Modi" who had assured to resolve farmers issues during the 2014 election, and "a failure of the state BJP". The government however said it is still hopeful of working out a last-minute solution. "We are discussing all the issues with farmers' leaders. We are sympathetic to their demands. I am certain we will hammer out an amicable solution and resolve the issues," Minister of State for Agriculture Sadabhau Khot told media persons. A group of around 200 farmers of Puntamba village in Ahmednagar district were the first to announce the strike from June 1, and many others followed suit. The farmers' demands include complete waiver of farm loans, free electricity, appropriate remunerative prices for their produce, grant for irrigation and higher price for milk and implementation of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee recommendations. The Fadnavis government had been under severe fire from not only the opposition parties - Congress and NCP - but also its own allies - the Shiv Sena and the Shetti-led SSS. In a massive show of strength on Tuesday, Shetti completed his long march from Pune to Mumbai and met Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao to apprise him of the serious situation involving farmers. --IANS qn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday condemned the suicide blast in Afghan capital city Kabul that killed at least 80 people and injured nearly 350, and expressed grief for the deceased. "Saddened at the loss of innocent lives in Afghanistan. Prayers and thoughts with the families," Banerjee wrote on Tweeter. According to reports, a water tanker loaded with explosives went off in downtown Kabul near the German Embassy on Wednesday morning. The blast occurred amid the rush hour traffic, ripping through the diplomatic zone, and caused widespread damage. --IANS mgr/ssp/ahm/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Authorities are bitterly opposed to the burial of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, who killed 22 people at a concert nine days ago, in Manchester. The Manchester Evening News reported that the bomber's remains were currently at a morgue outside the Greater Manchester area. Sources close to the investigation into the atrocity told the daily that his body was never kept along with his 22 victims. One source said authorities would do "everything in their power" to prevent Abedi from being buried or laid to rest in Manchester. The source said: "Every effort is going in to making sure that there is not a chance Abedi can be buried or cremated in Greater Manchester." Abedi, 22, a British-born son of Libyan parents, is understood to have recently returned to Manchester from Libya. --IANS ahm-mr/soni (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ancient Mars had flowing water much longer than previously believed, suggests pale zones called "halos" with high concentration of silica on the Red Planet. The halos were analysed by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover's science payload, including the laser-shooting Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in conjunction with the French space agency. "The concentration of silica is very high at the centrelines of these halos," said Jens Frydenvang, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. "What we're seeing is that silica appears to have migrated between very old sedimentary bedrock and into younger overlying rocks," Frydenvang, lead author of a paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, said. The goal of NASA's Curiosity rover mission has been to find out if Mars was ever habitable, and it has been very successful in showing that Gale crater once held a lake with water that we would even have been able to drink, but we still don't know how long this habitable environment endured. "What this finding tells us is that, even when the lake eventually evaporated, substantial amounts of groundwater were present for much longer than we previously thought - thus further expanding the window for when life might have existed on Mars," Frydenvang said. The elevated silica in halos was found over approximately 20 to 30 metres in elevation near a rock-layer of ancient lake sediments that had a high silica content. "This tells us that the silica found in halos in younger rocks close by was likely remobilised from the old sedimentary rocks by water flowing through the fractures," Frydenvang said. Specifically, some of the rocks containing the halos were deposited by wind, likely as dunes. Such dunes would only exist after the lake had dried up. The presence of halos in rocks formed long after the lake dried out indicates that groundwater was still flowing within the rocks more recently than previously known, the study said. Curiosity has travelled more than 16 km over more than 1,700 sols (martian days) as it has traveled from the bottom of Gale crater part way up Mount Sharp in the center of the crater. Scientists are using all the data collected by ChemCam to put together a more complete picture of the geological history of Mars. --IANS gb/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said here that while his county is open to updating the free trade agreement, it will not accept changes that may reduce economic integration among the US, Canada and Mexico. "We don't want it to stop being a free-trade treaty," Videgaray said during a town-hall interview with The Miami Herald on Tuesday. He also spoke on the wall that US President Donald Trump wants to build on the Mexican border to keep out "criminals", Efe news reported. Trump had a telephone conversation with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto sometime ago in which he had said that though he was inclined to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but he has decided to embark on negotiations aimed at achieving a "good accord" for all parties. "Based on those premises, we continue working," Mexico's top diplomat said, pointing out that a failure of the negotiations would have a significant impact on producers and exporters in the US. In 2016, Texas alone sold $95 billion worth of goods and services to Mexico, Videgaray said. On being asked whether the "Trump effect" might boost the chances of nationalist and anti-US candidates in Mexico's 2018 presidential and congressional elections, Videgaray said: "The risk is there and it's very real." "If Mexicans begin to feel a permanent aggression (from the US), that can be reflected in ." At the same time, he noted that while Trump has talked about mass deportation of undocumented migrants, the administration of his predecessor, Barack Obama, deported a record 2.8 million Mexicans. So far, Videgaray said, the difference in immigration policy between Obama and Trump is more "qualitative" than quantitative, but he acknowledged that the rhetoric of the new administration "generates fear in the Mexican community in the US". "There is a lot of fear and mistrust toward the authorities. That is serious," the Foreign Secretary said. Regarding Trump's proposed border wall, Videgaray said that as a sovereign country, the US has the "right to protect its border" as it sees fit. Even so, building the wall would still be "an unfriendly gesture" toward Mexico, Videgaray added. "We will not discuss the wall, we will not collaborate in any way, neither financially nor in any other way," the Mexican official said, alluding to Trump's repeated assertions that Mexico will pay the costs of construction. --IANS in/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra on Wednesday reiterated in the Delhi assembly allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendar Jain triggering chaos before he was marshalled out of the House. He later claimed that he was manhandled by AAP legislators. The former Water Minister, who has been campaigning against Kejriwal levelling graft allegations against him, claimed he was "punched" and "kicked" by five or seven Aam Aadmi Party legislators. The incident took place as Mishra insisted on being given a chance to speak in the House, convened to discuss the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill. Mishra also demanded convening of an open session of the assembly at Ramlila Maidan to publicly discuss the corruption charges and sought to display a banner demanding the special assembly session. He was repeatedly warned by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to desist but he did not relent. TV visuals from the assembly showed Mishra being grabbed and prevented by a group of lawmakers and marshals from raising the banner. A scuffle broke out in the House as BJP members tried to rescue the rebel AAP leader As he refused to put the banner down, Goel ordered Mishra to be marshalled out of the House. Talking to media persons outside the assembly, Mishra said he had written a letter to Goel on Tuesday, urging for the special public session. "I wanted to discuss their corruption. When I did not get the opportunity, I called for convening a special session at Ramlila Ground. Suddenly the (AAP) MLAs rushed to me and started hitting me," Mishra said. "This is for the first time in an assembly that instead of marshals, MLAs are sent to assault another MLA," said Mishra who was seen being dragged out of the house by AAP members. He claimed he was punched in the chest and kicked in the back. "Following a gesture by (Deputy Chief Minister) Manish Sisodia, several of the MLAs assaulted me," said Mishra, adding that he could only identify two of the legislators -- Madan Lal and Jarnail Singh-- who attacked him. Mishra said he would raise the assault issue with Lt Governor Anil Baijal and, on June 3 at the Constitution Club, he would present before the people the documents to prove wrongdoing by Kejriwal and Jain. "I am not afraid of you, no matter how many goons you send, I will not be deterred, I will expose all your scams and corruptions," Mishra said referring to Kejriwal. Speaker Goel said both Mishra and the legislators who manhandled him may face action. "Whatever happened today is unfortunate. What the MLAs did was wrong. One may do whatever he wants outside, but inside the assembly, one needs to maintain the discipline and decorum," the Speaker later told the media, adding that other lawmakers may face action for their behaviour. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party both condemned the incident. Congress spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee told IANS: "The AAP is using the brute force of its majority. After trying to suppress the voice of the opposition, they are now suppressing the voice of their own MLA." She said the attack was a crisis for democratic principles. BJP leader R.P. Singh told IANS: "The LG should ask for all the records, including the video footage, and take appropriate action." Slamming Kejriwal over his silence on Mishra's allegations, Singh said: "The issue was related to corruption and it was the reason why they are now behaving in such a manner." --IANS am-sar/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here from Spain on Wednesday on the third leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. On Thursday, Modi will hold the 18th India-Russia annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The next day, he will attend, for the first time, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a business event. From Russia, Modi will leave for France on the fourth and final leg of his tour and hold his first meeting with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Earlier on Wednesday, Modi held talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy in Madrid following which seven agreements in different areas were signed between the two sides. Germany was the first port of call of Modi's European tour. --IANS ab/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to boost India-Spain business and investment ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with CEOs of leading Spanish companies here on Wednesday, inviting them to invest in India and benefit from the immense potential that awaits them in the country. "Met top CEOs of the Spanish industry and urged them to explore the economic opportunities in India," Modi tweeted. He told the CEOs of the reforms being undertaken such as GST, and said that initiatives like Make in India, Digital India and Start up India are attracting much foreign interest. "PM @narendramodi interacts with CEOs of leading Spanish companies with global footprint," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. "He invited them to look anew at a new India emerging with government's push for economic growth," he said in another tweet. There are around 200 Spanish companies in India and they are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. Earlier on Wednesday, addressing the media ahead of holding talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, Modi said Spain has made rapid strides in its economy while his government's top priority too was India's economic growth and development. He said Spain can offer its expertise to India's development priorities like railways, smart cities and infrastructure. Economic partnership is an important pillar of India's engagement with Spain and Spanish companies have a reputation in fields like renewable energy, high speed rail, infrastructure, tunnelling, technology solution including civil aviation, air space management and waste water management. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. North Korea on Wednesday said it is ready to test launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), one day after the US successfully tested a defence system to intercept such projectiles. The North Korean army is ready to conduct a real ICBM test at any time and place, if ordered by its leader Kim Jong-un, according to an article in the Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the country's ruling Workers' Party. In his New Year address to the nation, Kim said the country was in the final phase of developing an ICBM that would allow it to target the US with a nuclear weapon in the future, with the aim of aiding the survival of the communist regime. In the editorial cited by state news agency KCNA, which also included Pyongyang's analysis of the US test, the North said no foreign forces could stop its progress in becoming a nuclear and missile power in the East. Pyongyang said it will continue to strengthen its self-defence capacities in view of the hostile policy of the US, and warned the Donald Trump administration to choose the "correct" option between life and death, Efe news reported. Washington said on Tuesday it successfully intercepted a dummy ICBM on the country's west coast, amid escalating tensions with North Korea. Repeated weapons tests by the North -- the last of which took place on Monday -- have led to increased tensions on the peninsula, and a heated exchange of rhetoric with the Trump administration, which has also hinted at possible preemptive strikes. On Tuesday, Pyongyang said Washington was seeking to unleash a nuclear war, and accused it of sending atomic bombers close to its territory following the latest missile test. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that there was nothing in the new central law on cattle trade and slaughter that takes away the rights of people with regard to eating beef. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has termed the move by the Centre as an infringement on the rights of the state government. A public interest petition on the central law was filed by Sunil, a Youth Congress activist. It came before Chief Justice Navniti Prasad, who said that nothing has been banned as is being spoken about now. "If anyone reads it properly, the present law prevailing in the country along with the new order that came out none will not have come to this sort of conclusion. There is no ban on slaughter or sale of beef. What has been said in the new order is that mass sale of cattle for slaughter through the cattle market is banned," observed the Chief Justice. When the Advocate General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad pointed out the ruling of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court that stayed the new order, the Chief Justice expressed surprise about it. With the Chief Justice taking a strong stand, the petitioner pointed out that he is withdrawing the petition and the court also agreed. But Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, after presiding over a cabinet meeting in the state capital, told reporters that the move by the Centre is nothing but infringing on the rights of the state government. "The Centre through new laws is trying to wriggle into the rights of the state government, and this is a clear violation of democratic principles and will not be allowed," said Vijayan. Meanwhile, the state cabinet will hold a special meet again on Thursday to discuss on the way forward. The opposition has demanded a separate assembly session to discuss the issue, which would also be discussed at Thursday's cabinet meeting. --IANS sg/rn (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.) American pharma major Pfizer's Indian arm on Wednesday announced that it had acquired the Neksium brand of the Swedish drug MNC AstraZeneca for Rs 75 crore. "The drug, used for treating peptic ulcers, will support our India strategy to boost its coverage and equity in the gastro-intestinal therapy area," said Pfizer India Ltd in a regulatory filing to the BSE. Pfizer introduced the drug in India in 2006 and developed equity with its prescribers in the anti-peptic ulcerant space. "With Esomeprazole ingredient, Neksium belongs to a class of preeparations called 'Proton Pump Inhibitors', which are used for reducing the acid secretion in the stomach," said PFizer in a statementrA The drug is also prescribed for treating conditions of peptic acid disorders. "The acquisition is in line with the portfolio expansion through organic and inorganic growth in our focus therapy areas," said Pfizer Managing Director S. Sridhar. With brands like Gelusil and Mucaine, Pfizer has been a provider for solutions in the antacid space for over 30 years. --IANS fb/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After she was trolled for wearing a short dress and flaunting her legs during her meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, actress Priyanka Chopra shut all the trollers with just a "legs for days" photograph of herself along with her mother Madhu Chopra. Priyanka on Tuesday drew flak on social media for sporting a short dress and flaunting her legs in front of Modi. Priyanka then shared a photograph of herself with her mother on Tuesday night on Instagram. In the photograph, the "Bajirao Mastani" star is seen sporting a dress with a long slit in the front and flaunting her towering legs. Madhu is seen donning black top and a short skirt. "Legs for days... It's the genes with Madhu Chopra nights out in Berlin... Being 'Baywatch'," Priyanka captioned the image. Modi is on a two-day visit to Germany. He arrived here on Monday on the first leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. From Germany, Modi will travel to Spain, Russia and France. Priyanka was there to promote "Baywatch", her debut Hollywood film, when she called on Modi. --IANS dc/nn/rb/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar's education system is reeling with the news -- 66 per cent students who took the Class 12 Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) exams this year have failed. Two girls committed suicide and another attempted suicide after failing in the exams. Reports of more suicides are coming in from the state, as well as protests by students who failed to clear the Class 12 exams, after authorities put in place stringent measures this year against rampant cheating. What is worrying the top brass of the Bihar education department is that of the 12.61 lakh students who appeared in the BSEB exams this year, only 4.37 lakh - or 34.65 per cent - passed the exams while over 8 lakh have failed. Last year, 11.55 lakh students appeared in the exam and 7.18 lakh or 62.19 per cent cleared it. The reports of suicides come after nearly 70 per cent of those who took the Class 12 Science stream exams of BSEB failed, while 76 per cent students who took the Arts exam too failed. The only silver lining was that 73.76 per cent students appearing in the Commerce stream exams passed. According to police officials, a girl student (Kiran Kumari) committed suicide by jumping in front of a train at Raghnathpur railway station in Buxar district. "She was depressed after she failed in the Class 12 Arts exams of the BSEB and ended her life," police said. Her body was recovered from the railway track by government railway police and sent for post-mortem and her family informed. Another girl student (Aarti Kumar) committed suicide by hanging herself at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district after she failed in the Class 12 Science exams. "She was staying at her maternal uncle's home to pursue education for last few years as she originally is from Shahebganj in Jharkhand. Her family and relatives are shocked," a police official said. In Sheikhpura district, a girl attempted to commit suicide after she failed in the Class 12 Science exam of BSEB but was rescued by a close family member. "She has confessed that she tried to end her life after she failed in the exams," a district police official said. Unconfirmed reports reaching here from different districts suggest that at least half a dozen students have attempted to commit suicide in Bihar, after they failed in their Class 12 BSEB exams. "Those who have failed in Class 12 exams of the BSEB this time account for over 8 lakh, it is a big number. Their frustration, depression and anger may create more trouble for the state government in coming days," an education department official told IANS on condition of not being quoted. He said a group of students who failed in Class 12 staged violent protest in Saharsa district on Tuesday evening. "There may be more such protests by students who have failed," he added. According to BSEB, the Science stream, which saw only 30.11 per cent students pass, had an average of 44.66 per cent marks scored. Last year, when the new rules against cheating were not in place, the state board exams saw 67.06 per cent Science students pass, while the Arts stream saw 80.87 per cent students pass However, has also begun over the drastic fall in pass percentage of the BSEB. The opposition BJP has demanded resignation of the state Education Minister Ashok Choudhary and blamed him for the poor results. "Bihar Education Minister Choudhary should resign. He is responsible for the high percentage of failed students in Class 12," BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said. Ruling JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar defended the strict measures against cheating. He asked BJP leaders whether they wanted the state government not to take strict measures against cheating or was the BJP for allowing cheating in exams. "The BJP's double face has been exposed again. When some irregularities were pointed out last year in the Class 12 results in the state, the BJP attacked the state government for not taking strict measures. Now it is questioning the same measures," Kumar said. Principal Secretary of education department R.K. Mahajan as well as BSEB chairman Anand Kishore have admitted that the poor pass percentage is a result of strict measures against cheating in exams. "We have not allowed cheating and conducted free and fair exams," they said. Kishore pointed that for the first time the board code was used with answer sheets to ensure no unfair means during evaluation and it was easy to identify the answer sheets once uploaded. A senior official of the board said the drastic fall in pass percent rate vindicated their bid to conduct a cheating-free exam this time. This year, CCTV cameras were installed at entrance of examination halls and videography conducted throughout the duration of the examinations. Use of all communication gadgets, including mobile phones, inside the examination halls was disallowed. Mass cheating in board exams has been reported in Bihar for years. Every year, the media carries images of cheating going on at exam centres, showing scores of people climbing through windows to hand over cheating material to examinees with impunity. Last year, the topper scam tarnished the name of the Bihar education system. Ruby Rai had topped last year's Class 12 examination conducted by the BSEB in humanities stream. She got into trouble after a sting by a TV news channel showed her giving ludicrous answers to elementary questions related to her subjects. The Class 12 Science stream topper Saurabh Shreshtha was also caught on camera giving wrong answers to basic science questions about his subjects. The sting suggested that the 'toppers' might have used cheating and fraud to achieve their top ranks. Both Ruby and Saurabh belonged to V.R. College in Vaishali district. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Bihar Police arrested over 30 people, including former BSEB chairman, in the connection. Ruby was also arrested and later released on bail. --IANS ik/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Robert Michael Morris, who played hairdresser Mickey Deane in "The Comeback" television comedy-drama series, died in Downey, California, according to his representative Sarabeth Schedeen. He was 77 when he passed away on Tuesday. The cause of death was not immediately known, reports hollywoodreporter.com. Morris was best known for his work on the critically acclaimed but short-lived show, which starred Lisa Kudrow. The actress paid tribute to her former co-star on Twitter: "We lost Robert Michael Morris. He left us with many wonderful gifts, most importantly, an example of what a truly good soul looks like." Schedeen, in a statement to hollywoodreporter.com, called Morris "a quality human being" and said that the actor had written an autobiography that she hopes "we get to share with the world" in the future. Morris also had memorable guest spots on popular shows such as "Will & Grace", "Arrested Development" and "How I Met Your Mother". --IANS nn/rb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Russian frigate and a submarine in the eastern Mediterranean fired four missiles at Islamic State targets near Palmyra in Syria, the Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday. Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying in a statement that Russia informed the US, Turkish and Israeli military forces of the strike in advance. --IANS ahm/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Navy vessels fired four sea-launched cruise missiles at Islamic State (IS) targets near the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. The Kalibr cruise missiles were launched late on Monday from the eastern Mediterranean Sea by the Russian fleet frigate "Admiral Essen" and the "Krasnodar" submarine, which fired its missiles from underwater, Efe news reported. "The Russian Navy has demonstrated its capacity to launch successful attacks with high precision weapons on short notice once given its launch orders," said the Russian Ministry note. The Ministry said the US, Turkey and Israel were informed of the strikes at the "appropriate time". It was the first combat operation for both Russian ships, according to the Russian Defence press note. The ministry confirmed that all four missiles destroyed their targets -- IS heavy weapons and militant concentrations redeployed from Al Raqqa, the extremist group's principal bastion city in Syria. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Korea's Parliament on Wednesday approved President Moon Jae-in's nomination of Lee Nak-yon as Prime Minister. The 299-seat National Assembly passed the confirmation motion for Lee at a plenary session joined by the ruling Democratic Party, People's Party, Justice Party and Bareun Party. Among the 188 lawmakers present, 164 approved of Lee. Twenty disapproved while two abstained, with two votes listed as invalid, Yonhap news agency reported. Shortly after the endorsement, Moon conferred an appointment certificate on Lee. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) refused to attend the vote. It called Lee unfit for the post, taking issue with the fact that Lee's wife used a false address in 1989 to get assigned to a school in southern Seoul as a teacher. The LKP's boycott of the vote boded ill for Moon's efforts to foster cooperation with an opposition-led legislature, observers said. "At this time, I believe it would be difficult to forge cooperative ties (with the ruling bloc)," Chung Woo-taik, the LKP floor leader, told reporters. "The responsibility for providing the cause for breaking 'cooperative governance' rests wholly with the government and ruling party," he added. However, Woo Won-shik, the ruling party whip, pledged to try his utmost to ensure smooth cooperation with the opposition bloc. "Though there were twists and turns (in the confirmation process), I don't think they meant a suspension of cooperative governance," he said. "The primary reason for the endorsement is citizens' demand to stably handle (state affairs)," he added. Lee's motion was widely expected to pass through the Assembly despite LKP objections. His official appointment required consent from a majority of the lawmakers present. The ruling party holds 120 parliamentary seats, while the People's Party with 40 seats had pledged to cooperate with the confirmation process. The parliamentary endorsement for Lee is expected to provide much-needed momentum to Moon's efforts to form his own Cabinet. By law, a President is to appoint his or her Cabinet ministers with recommendations from the Prime Minister. Currently, the new liberal president runs the Cabinet with a series of holdovers from the former conservative government. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Korean authorities on Wednesday arrested the daughter of Choi Soon-sil while she was on a plane heading to Seoul, media reports said. This was after Chung Yoo-ra was extradited from Denmark on Tuesday for her connection with a corruption scandal involving her mother also known as the 'South Korean Rasputin', Yonhap news agency reported. Choi is at the centre of a scandal that led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye. Chung was arrested by the South Korean Prosecutor's Office on a flight from Amsterdam which was due to arrive here later on Wednesday. The 20-year-old woman, who was sought with an international arrest warrant for her alleged role in the scandal, was first arrested on January 1, in Aalborg by the Danish authorities, who approved her extradition to South Korea two month later. The South Korean Prosecutor's Office was demanding that Chung be brought to justice for her role in the corruption scandal that led to the dismissal of Park a few months ago, Efe news said. Seoul accuses Chung of having received preferential treatment in university and high school because of her mother's ties with the now-ousted President Park. In addition, Chung's degree has been revoked on the grounds that her qualifications and attendance records were falsified. The South Korean Prosecutor's Office has taken over the extradition proceedings since Tuesday, when Danish authorities gave Chung into their custody at Copenhagen airport. After her arrival in Seoul, South Korean officials will take Chung to a detention centre for interrogation. She will be quizzed on alleged preferential treatment in her academic records, funding for her private horse-riding courses and her family's funds, allegedly received from the extortion of large corporations. Both Park and her close aide Choi, who did not hold any public office, are accused of extorting around $50 million from large companies in exchange for the government's favourable treatment, along with other charges. --IANS in/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two teachers were killed by a "disgruntled employee" in a shooting at a private school here on Wednesday. The shooter, was a former Iraqi teacher who had been laid off, state-linked Saudi newspaper Okaz reported. The gunman fled the scene after firing and there were no children present during the attack on the Kingdom School in Riyadh, local media reported. The victims were the school's principal and a teacher, reports said. The shooting was "a case of a disgruntled employee," Talal Al-Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding and chairman of Kingdom Schools said. The victims were a Saudi national and a Palestinian national, he said, while a third person was also injured in the rampage. The security situation at the school was contained. A spokesperson for the Saudi Interior Ministry said the attack was being treated as a "criminal case", rather than a terror investigation. The official Twitter account of the US Mission in Saudi Arabia had posted a warning to avoid the area that had heavy police presence. The tweet that was posted around 2 p.m. (local time), stated that "shooter still at school. School closed, no children present. Please avoid area." Another tweet around 3.15 stated: "Ongoing security incident at Kingdom School as of 3 p.m. local time. Please avoid area due to heavy police presence." --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The AIADMK on Wednesday joined the chorus against new norms governing cattle trade and slaughter even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is said to be calling a meeting of chief ministers on the issue. The developments came on a day the Kerala High Court saw no reason to interfere with the central government norms, and the Rajasthan High Court suggested life imprisonment for cow slaughter. The AIADMK, which has been cosying up to the BJP in the aftermath of J. Jayalalithaa's death, said it could not accept any decision that goes against the wishes of the people. "The AIADMK is not in agreement," Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and senior party leader M. Thambidurai told reporters on the Centre's order regulating the sale of cattle for slaughter. He was talking to reporters after heading a delegation of senior Tamil Nadu ministers to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi. In Thiruvananthapuram, Chief Minister Vijayan upped the ante against the central order. "The Centre through new laws is trying to wriggle into the rights of the state government, and this is a clear violation of democratic principles and will not be allowed," said Vijayan. Vijayan has called a meeting of the state cabinet on Thursday to decide on convening a special session of the assembly to discuss the issue -- a demand which has also been put forward by the opposition Congress. As a way forward, he is also said to be planning to call a meeting of chief ministers to discuss the issue as he strongly feels that the Centre's decision was a serious infringement on the state's rights and an attack on federalism. Meanwhile, the DMK held street protests in Chennai against the Centre's decision. Addressing the protesters, working president M.K.Stalin demanded that the Centre revoke the order failing which another 'Marina revolution' would erupt in Tamil Nadu. Stalin said in the wake of the Madras High Court's order on Tuesday, the central government should withdraw its order banning sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter. On Tuesday the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court stayed the central government's order for four weeks. Citing the pro-Jallikattu protest held by the students and others here couple of months back at the Marina Beach here, Stalin said if the central government does not withdraw its order, then there will be another agitation on its pattern on this issue. Stalin also questioned the silence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami on the issue while his counterparts of Kerala, Puducherry and Tripura have voiced their opposition to the central government's rule on the cattle trade. In a related incident, members of student organisations protested outside the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) condemning the attack on a Ph.D scholar in the campus for participating in a beef festival. Members of the pro-Left Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Students Federation of India (SFI) gathered outside IIT-M and shouted slogans condemning the attack on R. Sooraj. They also shouted slogans against the central government. Police later arrested the protestors. Members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam also held a beef eating protest outside IIT-M. Police on Wednesday said they had registered a case against eight persons in connection with the attack on Sooraj. No arrests have been made. Sooraj was attacked on Tuesday afternoon by a group of students for participating in the beef festival organised by another group of students on Sunday in the IIT-M campus. Sooraj suffered a major injury on his right eye and was admitted to a hospital. The beef eating festival was organised in protest against the central government's new rule banning sale of bovines for slaughter. The Kerala High Court observed that there was nothing in the new central law on cattle trade and slaughter that takes away the rights of people with regard to eating beef. A public interest petition on the central law was filed by Sunil, a Youth Congress activist. It came before Chief Justice Navniti Prasad, who said that nothing has been banned as is being spoken about now. "If anyone reads it properly, the present law prevailing in the country along with the new order that came out none will not have come to this sort of conclusion. There is no ban on slaughter or sale of beef. What has been said in the new order is that mass sale of cattle for slaughter through the cattle market is banned," observed the Chief Justice. When the Advocate General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad pointed out the ruling of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court that stayed the new order, the Chief Justice expressed surprise about it. With the Chief Justice taking a strong stand, the petitioner pointed out that he is withdrawing the petition and the court also agreed. In a ruling, the Rajasthan High Court suggested that the cow should be declared a national animal and its killers be sentenced to life imprisonment. Describing himself as a "Shiv bkaht", the judge, on the eve of his retirement, gave a ruling relating to the Hingonia Gaushala of Jaipur. According to NGOs, over 500 cows had died at the Hingonia Bovine Animal Rehabilitation Centre in a span of 1-2 months in 2016 due to improper care. --IANS team/rn/vsc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that terrorism posed the biggest challenge to the world and fighting it was a key element in India-Spain ties. "Both India and Spain have faced terrorism," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Rajoy at La Moncloa, the official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister. "Terrorism and extremism pose the biggest challenge to the world today. "Strengthening cooperation between us in the fight against terrorism is a key element of our bialteral agenda." Modi's comments came as he condemned a huge explosion in Kabul on Wednesday that killed scores of people and injured hundreds. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first Indian Prime Ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. Modi and Rajoy last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015. Modi said that though India and Spain completed 60 years of diplomatic ties last year, an Indian Prime Ministerial visit was happening for the first time after 1988. "I hope there will not be such a huge gap in the future." He said that in today's changing global perspective, close consultations between friendly nations on regional and global developments were the need of the day. Stating Spain had made rapid strides in its economy, Modi said his government's top priority too was India's economic growth and development. He said Spain can offer its expertise to India's development priorities like railways, smart cities and infrastructure. "I am confident that my visit to Spain will give fresh momentum to our ties," he said. On his part, Rajoy said bilateral ties would deepen following Modi's visit to Spain. After his meeting with Rajoy, Modi will call on Spanish King Felipe VI. Modi will also hold a round-table interaction with a group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. There are around 200 Spanish companies operating in India. --IANS ab/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis will visit Australia on June 5-6 to participate in the 2017 Australia-US Ministerial Consultations. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced on Wednesday that the discussions would involve improving the bilateral alliance and will also provide an opportunity for the leaders to discuss pressing regional issues, Xinhua news agency reported. Bishop said AUSMIN was the "premier forum for Australia-US bilateral consultations on foreign affairs, defence and strategic matters". She said the 2017 meeting would be one of extra importance because it involved the new Trump administration. "This will be the first AUSMIN with the new US Administration, and will build on our strong, dynamic bilateral relationship and our steadfast alliance, which began with the signing of the ANZUS Yreaty in 1951," Bishop said. She said the leaders will be discussing "our mutual strategic priorities, including North Korea, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and defeating Islamic State (IS)". Australia-US cooperation and collaboration in the Pacific and Southeast Asia will also be a key focus in the meeting, Bishop said. --IANS soni/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has met two candidates to head the at the White House, presidential spokesman Sean Spicer said. The two candidates are Chris Wray, who served as an assistant attorney general from 2003-2005, and John Pistole, the former head of the Transportation Security Administration who also served as deputy chief from 2004-2010, Spicer said on Tuesday, Efe news reported. "The president will be meeting with two additional candidates this afternoon, both Chris Wray and John Pistole," Spicer told reporters at his daily press briefing. "When the president feels as though he's met with the right candidate he'll let us know," he said. Currently, Wray is a partner at the law firm of King & Spalding, where he heads a group involved in government investigations. Meanwhile, Pistole, who left the government in 2014, served at the under Robert Mueller, whom the Justice Department on May 17 named special counsel for the investigation into Russian involvement in the November presidential election and possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign to favor the mogul. Mueller was succeeded at the FBI by James Comey, who was abruptly fired by Trump on May 9, a decision that ignited a political firestorm in Washington. Finding a new FBI director has become an issue of crucial importance for the White House, which has not clearly explained why, how and when Trump made the decision to fire Comey, who at the time was heading the agency's investigation into the links between the Kremlin and the president. The favorite so far to take over the FBI had been former Sen. Joe Lieberman, who on May 25 told the White House that he was not interested in the post. Besides Lieberman, Trump has interviewed three other candidates for FBI chief: Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who took over from Comey, former FBI agent Richard McFeely and Frank Keating, the former Republican governor of Oklahoma. US President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, officials said on Wednesday. The US leader refused to reaffirm his country's commitment to the accord at a G7 summit in Italy last week. He said he would make up his mind after returning to the US. The decision would be a significant foreign policy break with nearly every other nation on earth and a major reversal of the Obama administration's efforts on climate change, CNN reported. Former President Barack Obama and a host of other countries signed the climate change agreement in 2015, which aims to reduce global carbon emissions. On Tuesday, Trump met a key voice advocating for withdrawal, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt. He was set to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who supports remaining in the deal, said the report. A formal announcement is expected at some point this week -- Trump tweeted on Wednesday: "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Senior US officials familiar with his plans, said the move could change until Trump makes his decision public. The administration's decision comes after months of internal debate and speculation about what Trump, who campaigned on leaving the deal, would do once he took office. The White House was initially slated to make a final decision on the climate accord earlier this month, but delayed the decision until the last week's G7 meeting in Sicily. At the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters the climate debate was "controversial" and that the leaders of the other G7 nations -- France, Japan, Canada, Britain and Italy -- all urged Trump to remain a part of the 2015 agreement. Aides to Trump said he was listening with an open mind to the other leaders' arguments about Paris, but had yet to decide whether to withdraw the US from the pact. Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist and the former head of Breitbart, had pressed Trump to stick with his campaign promise and leave the deal. But Trump's daughter Ivanka pressed aides to look at the full picture when considering what withdrawal could mean. Trump's son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner, was said to be neutral on the deal. Tillerson and Energy Secretary Rick Perry had both advised against leaving the deal, sources said. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indians are widely opting to travel to unexplored destinations and have been quite experimental with their travelling choices, according to experts. Alankar Chandra, co-founder and CEO of wildlife and nature tourism firm Wild Voyager, and a report by Make My Trip (online travel services firm) have pointed a few summer travel trends this year: * Indians this summer have shown interest in travelling to previously unexplored destinations like Digha and North-East's less visited places like Gangtok, Shillong, Kalimpong and Lachung. In the quest to explore the unmapped destinations, travellers are not hesitating before spending for offbeat destinations on international front. This includes the last remaining wilderness like Iceland and Antarctica, or locations like the Bahamas or the Caribbean islands that have so far have largely attracted the elite Europeans. Even corporate executives and professionals are now booking luxury chalets in Switzerland or beach-houses on the Mediterranean coast -- locations that were so far the preserve of the truly rich Indians. * More young Indians between the age group of 18-24 are travelling this summer. * Sustainable tourism will be a major consumer demand. An increasing number of tourists is conscious of the environmental impact of international travel and enquiring about steps they can take to mitigate the impact of their travel. A majority of urban tourists are wanting to learn about how can they leave little to no ecological footprint behind when they undertake a wildlife tour. * Women have been increasingly taking solo or women-only trips. A growing number of international destinations are attracting women because hotels and other stakeholders have made conscious efforts to make travelling more comfortable and safe for women. A significant number of women is stepping out of the comfort zones to have more personal and enriching travel experiences. Solo female travel is now a major trend in India regardless of her marital status. * Wildlife photography tours are gaining popularity. While African safaris have always been on the agenda of high-end tourists, growing numbers of middle-level corporate executives are now combining wildlife safaris with guided photography tours. There has been a dramatic rise in the number of travellers looking to experience premier wildlife destinations such as Masai Mara or Costa Rica by coupling it with wildlife and nature photography activities. Destinations like Masai Mara, Iceland, Croatia, South of Italy, Tasmania, and Madagascar are likely to remain hot this year. * Culinary tourism is a delight for food lovers who look forward to exotic food experiences in far-away lands. Along with an enriching travel experience, lot many travellers are opting to get a taste of the local culture and kitchen. The surge in food tourism has also led to an increase in the number of specialised tour operators taking care of culinary tourism market. While Italy, Thailand, and Japan have been hot destinations that offer the world of authentic culinary treats, Beijing is fast becoming the top global destination and ranks first on culinary tourism. --IANS ks/rb/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nandini K.R. of Karnataka bagged the top rank in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) 2016 exams, followed by Anmol Sher Singh Bedi and Gopalakrishna Ronanki, at second and third place, a statement from the Commission said. The written exam for the civil services exam was held in December 2016 followed by interviews for personality test between March and May this year. A total of 1,099 candidates have been recommended for appointment, besides a consolidated Reserve List of 172 candidates. From among the recommended candidates, 500 belong to General Category and 347 to Other Backward Class (OBC). The share of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates comprised of 163 and 80 candidates respectively. The selected candidates will be placed across vacant positions in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Services (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Central Services, Group 'A' and Group 'B'. The vacancies as reported by the central government across services are: IAS, 180; IFS, 45; IPS, 150; Central Services Group 'A', 603; and Central Services Group 'B', 231. Results can be accessed on the UPSC website. The marks will be available on the website within 15 days from the date of declaration of result. --IANS vn/rn (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.) The controversy over electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering has irked one of its manufacturers, Bharat Electronics. When asked why the state-owned aerospace and defence maker was not allowing political parties to examine the internals of EVMs, Chairman and Managing Director M V Gowtama was blunt. Given a chance, these parties would design their own EVMs, and ensure all votes were directed to them, he said. Not that he had a problem with that, he said. But if parties went ahead with their plans they should keep those machines at their homes, he advised. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who on Wednesday offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya, said the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute should be resolved through bilateral talks. He was addressing a public meeting called at the birthday celebrations of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, president of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas Trust, an organisation formed to promote the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site. "This problem must be sorted out through bilateral talks between both the communities," Adityanath said. His comments seemed in line with the advice of Supreme Court, which had suggested a negotiated settlement of the dispute. Significantly, Das, at whose birthday celebrations the Chief Minister was speaking, was one of the 12 persons including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi and Union minister Uma Bharti against whom a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court had on Tuesday framed charges in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Earlier on Wednesday, Adityanath offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya. He spent around 30 minutes there. This was Adityanath's first visit to Ayodhya after he took over as Uttar Pradesh chief minister. He reached Faizabad on Wednesday morning and visited the famous Hanuman Garhi temple. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, another person against whom conspiracy charges were framed on Tuesday. Adityanath also offered prayers on the banks of the Saryu river, Ayodhya. On Tuesday, a special CBI court in Lucknow had framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19. Adityanath had yesterday gone to the VVIP guest house in Lucknow to meet Advani, who had come to appear before the court. In Faizabad today, Adityanath also held a meeting with the BJP MLAs, MPs and senior officials of the Faizabad area and reviewed the law and order situation as well as development issues. He also inaugurated a Passport Sewa Kendra at the head post office in Faizabad. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap, Bihar Health Minister, is embroiled in a fresh controversy related to the Office of Profit. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), state-run oil marketing company (OMC), has issued a notice to the RJD scion over the allotment of a petrol pump on the outskirts of Patna. The OMC has said that it has received a complaint against the RJD leader stating that he breached the terms and conditions of the license. BPCL has asked him to reply within two weeks. Calling for the need to build an alternative narrative against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one that focuses on the Narendra Modi governments failure to deliver on promises of jobs to youths and reducing farm distress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday released a report card of the three years of this government. A day after a special CBI court ordered framing of charges against senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar, Uma Bharti and nine others, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister today offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple in . This was his first visit to the temple town after he was sworn in as the state chief minister of the state on 19 March. At least 40 people were killed or wounded in a powerful blast in Kabul's diplomatic quarter early today, an interior ministry spokesman said. The spokesman, Najib Danish, said he was unable to give a breakdown of the toll. A health ministry spokesman said more than 60 wounded people, mainly civilians, had been rushed to Kabul hospitals, adding: "We don't know the number of killed yet". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple here on his first visit to the town after taking charge. The visit assumes significance as it comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. The UP chief minister, who arrived here this morning, spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex. He later offered payers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed yesterday along with the other BJP leaders. A special CBI court in Lucknow had yesterday framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19. All six were yesterday granted bail by CBI special judge S K Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each after rejecting the CBI's opposition to their bail plea. The apex court had while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of two cases relating to the demolition. The court had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. The CBI had charge-sheeted 21 people in the case. Many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the VHP's Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidhynath, have since died. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for facilitating the return of a 55-year-old woman from Jalandhar, who was sold and tortured in Saudi Arabia. He also promised a time-bound action plan by his government to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from duping innocent people. Swaraj had yesterday apprised Singh of the situation. The chief minister had deputed the Additional District Commissioner, Amritsar to receive Sukhwant Kaur as she landed at Guru Ram Dass International Airport in Amritsar today. With the External Affairs Ministry's intervention, Kaur, who was forced to work in Saudi Arabia as a slave and was also tortured, finally reunited with her family this afternoon, said a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office. He added that Singh was highly appreciative of Swaraj's efforts in ensuring Kaur's safe return. The chief minister urged the external affairs minister to use all the political and diplomatic channels to put an end to the illegal practice of travel agents, who fraudulently send innocent people abroad, where they are victimised in various ways. Talking to reporters at the Amritsar airport, Kaur revealed that after having worked in Saudi Arabia as a domestic help for a month, when she asked her employer about her wages, she was informed that she was sold to the family by the Delhi-based travel agent who had taken Rs 40,000 from her to send her to that country. Kaur thanked Swaraj and others who made her return to India possible. Kaur's relatives as well as the residents of her native village of Ajtani, near Nurmahal in Jalandhar district, were also present at the airport to receive her. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader Raj Babbar today accused the BJP-led NDA government of dragging the Army into politics and slammed its security as well as foreign policy record. "BJP is not only playing politics through the Army but has also compromised with defence preparedness and the country's security," he said at a press conference here. The celebrations by the BJP to mark three years of Narendra Modi government at the Centre were an attempt to divert people's attention from real issues, the actor-turned-politician said. "The BJP-led NDA government has reduced the defence budget by Rs 8,058 crore this year while Rs 32,555 crore allocated under defence budget were returned unspent in the past three years," he said. This is happening at a time when the armed forces are demanding increase in the budget allocation, he said. "578 jawans have been martyred in the last three years. Pakistan beheaded our jawans on three occasions in the past six months. 203 jawans died in Jammu and Kashmir alone besides 877 civilians were killed in border areas in the last three years. 271 security personnels were killed in Naxal attacks," the Congress leader said. Commenting on foreign policy, he said India's friends are now becoming foes. "Our friend Russia has started supplying arms to Pakistan. The failed 'neighbourhood policy' of the government is proving to be a security threat for our country. China has exponentially expanded strategic, economic and defence partnership with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries," he said. All this shows lack of political will, direction and inaction, Babbar said. "Overseas jobs are in peril. Indian techies are worst affected due to new American restrictions. Australia's new visa restriction also jeopardised jobs of 73,000 Indians. Racial crimes against overseas Indians are on rise and our government has failed to act," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Baha'is of Nepal, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana recently converged at the the Lotus Temple for a prayer service for the release of the seven community leaders arrested in Iran. The seven Bahai leaders--Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, Vahid Tizfahm Mahvash Sabet--have been under imprisonment. Some have been in prison for over nine years now. The Bahai's are a religious minority in Iran. "On May 28, more than six hundred children, youth and adults and around 5,000 visitors witnessed the release of thousands of balloons into the air as a symbolic act heralding freedom, justice and peaceful co-existence," a statement from the Baha'i Office of Public Affairs said. The campaign with the theme "Not Another Year" is in support of the global campaign initiated by the Baha'i International Community. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Navratna defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) today said its revenue is expected to touch the Rs 10,000 crore mark in the current fiscal, supported by a good order book. "We will grow at the same pace and my feeling is we will be very close to Rs. 10,000 crore mark this year," BEL CMD M V Gowtama said responding to the revenue forecast for 2017-18 fiscal. Asked whether the company would achieve Rs 10,000 crore mark this year, he said, "our aim is to cross, we will try to cross." The company has reported a turnover of Rs 8,825 crore in the 2016-17 fiscal, compared to Rs 7,541 crore in 2015-16. Speaking at the annual press conference here, Gowtama said his confidence about touching Rs 10,000 crore mark comes from the company's order book. "We have order book of Rs forty plus thousand crore in all verticals. There is no vertical where we do not have an order at this point of time and I can tell you for sure that this year we are aiming to cross Rs 10,000 crore. I hope certainly we would," he said. BEL said it has prepared a three-year Research and Development plan for 2017-20 with enhanced focus on collaborative R&D. Speaking about it, Gowtama said, "for the next three years we have more than Rs 2500 crore worth R&D programmes lined up. Some are at an advanced stage, some are already initiated and rest are going to be initiated." "We are proactively investing in various futuristic programmes that will ensure consistent growth for the company. One of the major programmes we are investing is with DRDO for development of quick reaction surface to air missile system, for which the board has approved Rs 274 crore," he said. BEL's outlook for the future includes capacity enhancement and creation of new test facilities for defence business. Stating that it aims to continue indigenisation efforts in line with "Make in India" initiative, the company said radars, missile systems, communication and network-centric systems, tank electronics, gun upgrades, electro-optic systems and electronic warfare and avionics system would drive growth. BEL is also pursuing business opportunities in solar energy, homeland security, smart cities, smart cards and telecom. Highlighting the company's "Make in India" initiative, Gowtama said 88 per cent of its sales revenue is from indigenous technology. He said procurement from MSMEs had been increased to 20 per cent and BEL's test facilities were being provided to private vendors. Company officials said during the year (2016-17) BEL achieved export sales of USD 65 million.Major products include coastal surveillance system, CoMPASS,VHF Radio Bharti,Advanced Composite Communication System, Ship Borne EW System (Sanket), Electro Optic Fire Control system, among others, they said. The Export order book is of USD 82 million as on April 1, 2017, and it includes offset order book of USD 15 million. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The opposition BJP "condemned" the attack on sacked minister Kapil Mishra by some AAP MLAs inside the Assembly today, and said it was another example of "violation" of the constitutional norms by the ruling party. Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta said that it was "unprecedented" that a member trying to raise some issues was assaulted by his party colleagues in the House. "It is a highly condemnable and inhuman act indulged in by the ruling party legislators. The ruling party is using its brute majority to coerce any form of opposition in the House," Gupta said. The AAP dominates the Assembly. The opposition comprises four MLAs of the BJP-Akali Dal alliance in the 70-member House. "We will meet the Lt Governor and complain against this incident. This is another example of flouting of the constitutional norms by the ruling party in the House," he said. Gupta also questioned the role of Speaker Ram Niwas Goel during the episode that unfolded after Mishra showed a poster in the House, levelling charges of corruption against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health minister Satyendar Jain. "The Speaker expressed his unhappiness over the attack on Mishra, but took no action against the AAP MLAs who attacked him. This will only embolden them to resort to such acts in the House," he said. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the incident reflected the "anti-democratic face" of Kejriwal and his party men. "Manhandling of Mishra clearly shows that Kejriwal and his party are not open to any dissent or opposition." Opposition MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa demanded action against the AAP MLAs involved in the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior BJP leader H Raja today claimed the party is gaining ground in Kerala and that 'a few popular people' who had so far not been in politics,are set to join it during Amit Shah's three day visit to the state from June 2. "The party has started gaining ground in Kerala. A few popular people who have so far not been in politics will be welcomed to BJP during Amit Shah's Kerala visit." "A few such cases are on the cards. Very popular people... such people will also be joining BJP. Throughout the country, it has been happening and Kerala will not be an exception," he said. Raja did not elaborate. He was briefing the media on the three-day visit of Amit Shah to the state, commencing from June 2. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior BJP leader H Raja today warned against 'provocation' on the issue of cow slaughtering as he condemned the "beef fest" organised in the IIT-Madras campus. The Union government has stated that it would look into the grievances aired by states and organisations on the notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter, he said. "There are lot many appeals requests coming to the Centre. As Venkaiahji (Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu) has already said yesterday, Centre would look into those cases. If there is need for any rectification, that is alright. But provacating things...," he said. "What happened in IIT-Madras? JNU like situation is being brought into an institution of excellence," Raja, BJP national secretary, said. Such a premiere institute should not be allowed to become another JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University), he said referring to the issue of raising of 'anti-national' slogans there. "The students can participate in agitation outside the campus. There is nothing wrong. I don't object. But doing things...Politicising and handing over an educational institution of excellence to lampoon elements, it is wrong," Raja said. He said animals were in the concurrent list and both the centre and state can legislate on any subject which was in the list."And it is also clear if there is any difference of stand between the two, the Centre's opinion shall prevail," he said. Referring to the beef fest held at IIT-Madras yesterday to protest the Centre's ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter, Raja said "it is very wrong to conduct the agitation within the campus." He demanded suspension of the Dean (Students) of the IIT who allegedly allowed a section of students to organise the 'beef fest' protest inside the campus. An IIT-Madras PhD scholar, hailing from Kerala, was assaulted allegedly by some students protesting his participation in the beef fest on Sunday. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had condemned the incident, saying it was unfortunate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two unidentified persons today opened fire at the car of Rahul Sharma, who had alleged a "scam" in the Public Works Department (PWD) in Delhi involving a relative of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Sharma escaped unhurt. According to Sharma, a resident of Gaur City in Greater Noida, as he and his cousin were travelling towards Ghaziabad around 12 noon, two persons on a motorcycle overtook their car near Gaur International School. "They fired at the front windshield of the car and fled. As they were wearing helmets, I could not see their faces," said Sharma, the founder of the Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation, an NGO. He claimed that the attack was a fallout of the cases lodged by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on the basis of his complaint alleging irregularities in the grant of contracts for roads and sewer lines in Delhi in 2015. Sharma had earlier submitted a complaint to the ACB alleging that he was getting threats since he had raked up the issue of the PWD "scam". Police said a case was registered at the Bisrakh police station in Greater Noida in connection with the attack on Sharma and they were scanning the CCTV footage obtained from the area to identify the accused. Three separate FIRs have been registered by the ACB in connection with the alleged PWD scam, including one against a company owned by Kejriwal's late brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal. The FIRs are against three companies -- Renu Constructions, owned by Bansal, and two other firms owned by Kamal Singh and Pawan Kumar respectively. Sharma had alleged that Bansal's firm was involved in financial irregularities in connection with the construction of a drainage system in north-west Delhi's Bakoli village, the contract of which was awarded to it in April, 2015. He had also alleged that the bills sent to the PWD for the "incomplete" works were "false and fabricated". "The company had obtained a contract for works which were never completed, but the payments were cleared. Even the process of bidding was manipulated," the complaint dated January 9 read. The invoices prepared by the company and purportedly obtained by the complainant through a Right to Information (RTI) application from the PWD were sent to the Sales Tax department for verification. Sharma had claimed that the Sales Tax department had informed him in writing that the invoices were false and fabricated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The protest against alleged discrepancies in CBSE Class-XII results intensified today with the students' wings of political parties joining the stir, even as a team from the board's headquarters arrived here to sort out the issue. The Board officials said the issue will be resolved in 15 days. Meanwhile, the activists of the Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD) and the National Students' Union of India joined the protest outside the CBSE's regional office here. As the slogan-shouting demonstrators holding placards and banners demanded immediate re-evaluation of answer-sheets and declaration of withheld results, some BCJD workers tried to forcibly enter the premises of the CBSE regional office. A brief scuffle took place when the policemen present at the spot stopped the activists from entering the office. Demanding immediate steps to resolve the issue, activists of the NSUI burnt tyres and an effigy of Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar. Meanwhile, two senior officials from the CBSE's head office, who were deputed by Javadekar to sort out the issue, held discussion with officials of the Bhubaneswar region office, which covers the states of Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. The problem of the students would be looked into by 10 teams to be formed at the board's regional centres, a CBSE official said. Steps have been taken to resolve the issue in 15 days, said CBSE assistant secretary Jagabandhu Pradhan. He, however, made it clear that there was no provision of re-evaluation of papers and only photocopies of answer sheets can be provided to the students who make a request for the same. Later in the evening, the students and their parents met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Scores of students from schools under the Bhubaneswar region of the CBSE have alleged that they had secured poor marks due to faulty evaluation, while many others claimed their results were withheld without citing any reason. Concerned over the manner in which the CBSE XII Board results were announced, Patnaik had yesterday sent a letter to Javadekar seeking his intervention for providing relief to the affected students and parents. "I would request you to kindly look into the matter personally and issue appropriate directions to the CBSE authorities to rectify the situation in order to provide relief to the affected students on an urgent basis," he had said. Stating that the results of 12th standard published by CBSE suffered from "gross discrepancies", Patnaik said the students and parents were shocked at the manner in which the same were announced. Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had also met the aggrieved students yesterday and taken up the matter with Javadekar for an early solution. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Observing that the censor board "is not functioning with enough teeth", the Madras High Court has suggested that the central and the state governments bring in appropriate legislation to regulate content in films and also those available on various Internet platforms. "With advanced technology in use in film industry now, the Cinematography Act in its present form, we apprehend, may not be effective. It needs amendments to meet the new kind of situations in the industry arising out of the influence of information technology," a division bench, comprising justices S Nagamuthu, who retired on May 30, and Dr Anita Sampath, said. "The censor board is not functioning with enough teeth," it said. The court made the observations while detailing the plight of a school girl, who was influenced by movies and was sexually exploited by a boy, resulting in her getting pregnant. The judges also closed a habeas corpus petition filed by the girl's mother seeking to produce in court her daughter, hailing from Mayailaduthurai in Nagapattinam district, and directed the state to bring in appropriate legislation to regulate publicity materials such as posters and flex boards. The case relates to the disappearance of the girl along with a boy, who later married her, following which her mother filed the petition. During an inquiry by the court, the girl had disclosed that she was influenced by some Tamil movies, in which heroines were apparently attracted by heroes who stalked them with an intention of winning their love. It was submitted that the girl was a good student and scored 441 marks out of 500 in class X examinations and aimed to become a doctor. Trouble started on May 26, 2015 when she went to school and did not return home. Her mother then approached police, who registered a "girl missing" case. As efforts by police to trace the girl did not yield results, her mother filed the habeas corpus petition. Delay in the proceedings resulted in the division bench directing the Superintendent of Police, Nagapattinam district, to monitor the probe. It was then brought to the court's knowledge that the girl was sexually exploited. Also, the accused (boy) had been arrested for offences under the POCSO Act and remanded to judicial custody. The girl during the enquiry disclosed that she married the boy at a temple in Bhavani town in Erode district. She also said the boy had taken her to Kerala where they stayed for some time before coming to Madurai and that she had been sexually exploited, resulting in pregnancy. The judges, distressed with the statement of the girl, while referring to the influence of films, in their order said, "somehow or the other a few films escape the eyes of the censor board and they are exhibited for public viewing. Such kind of films having the potential to spoil young minds and tend to cause irreparable damage to the well-being of children and ultimately to the society at large." The bench then referred to a film "New", in which there were several vulgar scenes, catering to the baser instincts of the audience. The judges also directed to revoke the certificate issued to the film and also summoned the Regional Officer, Central Board of Film Certification, Chennai, to appear before it. The censor board official, in the counter-affidavit, submitted that the board was strictly implementing the rules and said it was the audio-visual contents of disturbing nature available on media like YouTube and others, which influence young minds. Stating that it is very difficult for government authorities such as police, collectors and censor board officials to visit various places to ascertain if there is any violation of Tamil Nadu Compulsory Censorship of Film Publicity (Materials) Act, 1987, and rules, the bench directed the government to appoint officers with required powers to curtail the menace of showing uncensored scenes in films. The bench made absolute the interim orders passed by it on March 20, handing over custody of the minor girl to her mother and closed the habeas corpus petition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China today strongly condemned the suicide car bombing in Kabul that left 90 people dead and has voiced support for Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media briefing here that the Chinese embassy too suffered some damage in the bombing and no casualties were reported. She expressed condolences and sincere sympathy for the victims and their families. China opposes all kinds of terrorism, and was ready to work with Afghanistan and the international community to fight against terrorism, Hua said. China will take measures to strengthen protection of Chinese citizens and institutions in Afghanistan, she said. The Afghan government's media center has raised the death toll from the massive suicide truck bombing which ripped through the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul to 90. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a stern message to the city- based private educational institutions, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said a "self-regulatory commission" would be formed to monitor and decide fees and donations collected from students. She announced this at a meeting with representatives of a number of private educational institutions in the city. "We don't want to interfere with the affairs of the institutions, but we want a system in place. A particular school charged Rs 2.47 lakh for admission," she said wondering how common people can afford to spend such a huge amount. "Why do you need such a huge amount for admitting students? I have called you for a meeting so that you can take steps in this regard. I have received a lot of complaints. "Money is being taken in the name of fees, session fees, re-admission fees, computer fees, compulsory purchase of uniform, transportation fees. Even some fees were taken in the name of summer camp when the schools are closed," she said. She exhorted the institutions to create a section on their respective websites where people could register their grievances. "Government institutions have a method of assessing fees. Not all families have the same financial means. In the name of donation, a racket is going on. It maybe just 0.1 per cent, but it matters because these are important educational institutions," she said. She said a self-regulatory commission would be constituted with representatives of various educational institutions, education secretary, state DGP and Kolkata police commissioner. Representatives from the Darjeeling hills and officials from the districts will be ex-officio member of the commission. She said that a 10-15 per cent increase in fees is not acceptable while other expenses have to be controlled. Bengali should be taught in schools, the chief minister said, adding "you can teach English and Hindi, but at least teach Bengali as a third language". Today's development followed Banerjee's warning last February against over-charging of patients by private hospitals and negligence in treatment, announcing the setting- up of a regulatory commission to monitor their functioning. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress today condemned the Kabul terror attack, in which 90 people were killed and hundred others wounded. "We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Kabul. Our heart is with everyone in Kabul. Terror will never break the spirit of humanity," the Congress said on its Twitter handle. At least 90 people were today killed and hundreds injured with many of them critically, when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital and shattering windows hundreds of metres away. The party also asked the global community to unite to bring perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of terror to book. AICC communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said, "Condemn the cowardly Kabul Attack. The global community should unite to bring perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of terror to book. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump's cryptic tweet of a non-existent word -- "covfefe" -- sparked a flood of humor and ridicule on the internet, but it also highlighted the inability of his communications team to control White House messaging. It may have been a simple keyboard slip, or a "senior moment"; the soon to be 71-year-old Trump's huge catalog of Twitter bloopers regularly offer evidence that a spelling- challenged speed-tweeter occupies the Oval Office. It also shows that four months into his administration, the US president's unfiltered use of the medium remains unchecked. The consequence is deep turmoil in his communications staff: the White House is rife with rumors that the boss is preparing mass firings, and this week, communications director Mike Dubke resigned just four months into the job. Trump's tweets -- complete with spelling errors, rants about "fake news" and even a mistweet at a British woman instead of his own daughter -- often result in a collective sigh from both critics and backers, who wonder, "What next?" That's what happened after his nonsensical tweet in the early hours of Wednesday: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." The word doesn't exist in English, or apparently any human language. Mock interpretations said it was Russian for "I resign," ancient Egyptian for "media witch hunt," or more unprintable things. The Regent's English Language Center in London wrote: "We can confirm that 'covfefe' is not an English word. Yet." Newsweek declared it the "word of the year -- or century." Trump -- who declared during the election campaign last year that "I'm very highly educated. I know words; I have the best words" -- even jumped into the fun. After deleting the original tweet, he put out a new one: "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" Pressed later on the issue, White House spokesman Sean Spicer held tight to the "secret," quipping: "The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant." But coming amid reports Trump will pull the United States out of a global climate deal, the "covfefe" phenomenon illustrated how his Twitter habit can divert attention from his policy agenda. His off-the-cuff tweets can have real impact, influencing relations with key allies like Germany, sending a major company's stock plummeting, or riling Washington on issues like the FBI probe into Russian meddling in US politics. The White House team has repeatedly fallen prey to embarrassing errors -- a list of global attacks released in February included "Denmakr" (Denmark) and "San Bernadino" (San Bernardino). When British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Washington, the presidential and vice-presidential agenda both spoke about "Teresa," and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was referred to as the president of his country. For reporters as well as observers, these mistakes are symptomatic of the collective lack of experience and discipline in the White House. Trump himself appears frustrated that he can't get out the message he wants, privately and publicly expressing fury over a litany of bad headlines that he blames on his staff. The communications team appears to have given up. Rather than try to spin Trump's sometimes contradictory views, they have turned to just praising the president and repeating what he says. In early May, Spicer -- whose job is believed to be in the balance -- began responding to journalists' questions by saying things like "The tweet speaks for itself. I'm moving on." And rather than try to interpret Trump's controversial remarks in Riyadh, Jerusalem, Brussels and Sicily last week, White House aides took to simply lauding his first trip abroad as "extraordinary" and "historic." "It shows how quickly and decisively the president is acting to strengthen alliances, to form new partnerships, and to rebuild America's standing in the world," Spicer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Youth workers of the Congress and the BJP clashed in Baldevbagh locality today when the saffron activists tried to storm the Youth Congress' office with a portrait of cow in protest against the slaughtering of a calf in Kerala recently. Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of BJP, had announced that they will worship a cow at the YC office in the area this evening, sources said. As a group of BJYM workers, led by its city president Sonu Bajawani, broke the barricades put up by police at Aga Chowk, the activists of Youth Congress and NSUI (National Students' Union of India) also arrived at the spot, following which a fight broke out between them, a police official said. He said the activists from both sides attacked each other with stones and sticks. He said police used mild cane charge to disperse the activists. No one was injured in the clash, the official said, adding that no case has been registered so far as nobody has approached police. In a controversial move, the Central government recently notified rules to ban sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter at animal markets, triggering a massive political storm with the chief ministers of West Bengal and Kerala opposing the move. Amid protests in the Left-ruled Kerala, a calf was slaughtered on May 28 allegedly by workers of the youth wing of the party. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) courtesy of NM Political Report Six Albuquerque mayoral candidates faced off last week in one of the first forums of the campaign, answering questions on a wide range of issues like community policing, immigration and economic development. While there were many nuanced differences in the candidates answers, they also agreed on a number of issues. During a lightning round of yes or no questions in front of an audience of 250 people, all candidates agreed that the Albuquerque Police Department wasnt doing enough to meet the Department of Justice consent decree and that the departments chief, Gorden Eden, should be replaced. Each candidate also said they would support relocating Syrian refugees to Albuquerque. The forum was sponsored by the community group Dukes Up Albuquerque, and the two moderators were from the Weekly Alibi and NM Political Report, which helped organize the event. Dan Lewis, a current city councilor, made fighting crime a common theme and said the city should have 1,200 police officers. APD currently staffs about 840 officers. Lewis also lamented the recently passed city budget, which he voted against, for making some future public safety spending contingent on money the city will have while not putting the same requirement on other departments. I will make a budget with the priority of tackling crime in the city, Lewis said. Deanna Archuleta, a former Bernalillo County commissioner, advocated for putting police officers in schools as one way to build trust between APD and the community. Officers need to work both the day and night shifts, she said, as opposed to being limited to just one of those shifts. When families are out playing in the park, you get to know the community members. Brian Colon, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party, also recommended putting more police officers in community centers, in community parks to restore trust. Tim Keller, the current state auditor and former state senator, noted that while the city has a police oversight board, that board actually doesnt have the power to make decisions. Keller called on the board to have teeth. To make them in the first place an advisory body I think was disingenuous, he said, emphasizing that APD can ignore their recommendations. Augustus Gus Pedrotty, a 22-year-old University of New Mexico college graduate new to politics, lamented how APD, in its approach to the DOJ consent decree, hasnt included any policy changes to things like proper neck-holds to use when restraining people. These are the same moves that cost Eric Garner his life in New York, Pedrotty said, referring to the infamous 2014 death at the hand of New York City officers captured on a cell phone video. Without these simple policies, we fail to protect our communities. Colons most animated moment came when he and other candidates were asked to make a pitch to imaginary investors thinking about opening business in Albuquerque. In his answer, he talked about a hypothetical Colon administration that just made a recommitted effort to build a safe city and a smart city. Our budget now reflects our values. Were investing now in the law enforcement department and in public safety in a way we never have before, he said of the future with Colon as mayor. Our land values are affordable, the people are ready, willing and able, and if you dont get in today youre not going to get in tomorrow, because you wont be able to afford it. Answering the same question, Susan Wheeler-Deichsel, co-founder of community group Urban ABQ, spoke about how Albuquerques population expands across the spectrum. We are present and we are virginal in a certain sense in terms of our capabilities, she said. Keller focused on his track record in public office to make policy changes. He proposed using part of the citys permanent fund, which he said has $900 million, as a potential area to draw money to fight poverty. Ive heard a lot of talking points, he said. Im running for mayor because I actually want to change things. On immigration, Archuleta recommended all city buildings be sanctuary spaces that federal law enforcement cant use to crack down on undocumented immigrants. She cited recent ICE arrests at the citys metro courthouse as examples of something that wouldnt be allowed under her administration. Absent from the forum were Michelle Garcia Holmes, who told NM Political Report she had a conflicting event and Ricardo Chaves, who did not answer the qualifying question. Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson said he was unable to attend because of a County Commission meeting. CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami today urged the Centre not to use the Army "as an instrument to further its political agenda" and to keep it "away from politics". The MLA from south Kashmir's Kulgam also questioned Army chief General Bipin Rawat's remarks defending Major Leetul Gogoi who had used a Kashmiri man as a 'human shield' against stone pelters last month. "I advise the Government of India to keep the Army out of politics. Whatever your agenda is, whichever way you see Kashmir and its people, stop using the Army as an instrument to take forward a political agenda. It is not good for the Army and the institutions of the country," he told reporters. In a recent interview to PTI, Gen. Rawat had said the Army was facing a "dirty war" in Jammu and Kashmir and it had to be fought through "innovative" ways. He had also strongly defended the use of a Kashmiri man as a 'human shield' by Major Gogoi. Tarigami questioned the "intention" behind the Chief of the Army Staff's comments. "I want to ask the Army Chief, what does he want to convey through his statements? My question to the chief of the world's largest army is that have we reached a point where we intend to start a war with our own people, those we say are our integral part?" wondered the CPI(M) leader. He said it was unfortunate that Union ministers Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu were "giving sanctions" to the statements of the Army Chief. "What is most unfortunate is that political leaders such as the defence minister and the urban development minister have given sanctions to the Army Chief's comments. I am surprised when it is said that a war-like situation exists in Kashmir and the commanders can take decisions at their level. "The country still has a Parliament, Emergency has not been imposed and there is no martial law in Kashmir that an army commander will do whatever he wants to," said Tarigami. Terming the three-year rule of the Narendra Modi government as a "failure", the CPI(M) leader said the people of Kashmir were feeling dejected because of its policies. "If we analyse the Centre's policies, especially with regard to Kashmir, we feel dejected. We have come to realise that this government is really furthering the RSS agenda. "The BJP is a political platform of the RSS, whose agenda is fascist and to turn the country into a Hindu rashtra (Hindu nation). This is the reason that minorities are becoming targets," he claimed. Batting for a "credible dialogue process" between India and Pakistan, Tarigami said the Centre needed to shed away its "bitter jingoism and aggressive nationalism", which had become "a core element of its Kashmir policy". Deferring the process will not only add to the pain of the people of Kashmir, but will also have an adverse effect on the country's image, he added. "I feel that the bitter jingoism and aggressive nationalism have become a core element of the (Centre's) Kashmir policy. Give it up. Both the countries should exhibit maturity and start a credible dialogue process," said Tarigami, adding that no military solution could possibly resolve the issue. He appealed for a ceasefire in the holy month of Ramzan, saying it could help create a conducive atmosphere to address the issue. The veteran CPI(M) leader also appealed to the students in the Valley to focus on their education, instead of politics. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police today arrested a 30-year-old nurse working at a hospital in Maharashtra's Amravati on the charge of negligence following the deaths of four infants. The nurse - Vidya Thorat - was apprehended this morning after a doctor Bhushan Katta, working in the same hospital, was held yesterday, on the same charge, a senior police official said. Katta and Thorat, who were on duty at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Punjabrao Deshmukh Medical College Hospital, were booked on the charge of negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide. The medical college and the hospital are run by Shri Shivaji Education Society. Four premature babies, born last week and kept in incubators in the NICU of the hospital, died in the early hours on Monday. The official said Thorat gave wrong injection to the babies. "As per preliminary report it is found that Thorat had given Potassium Chloride, which proved fatal to the infants", he added. According to the official, the post mortem report is yet to come. Local MLA Ravi Rana had demanded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the kin of each victim. Divisional commissioner J P Guta had told PTI that he would submit a report to the state government about the alleged irregularities and lapses by the hospital management. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 49% FDI cap has been kept for setting up ventures under the strategic partnership model for production of defence platforms and the companies will be in control of Indian entities. As per documents released by the today, the management of the applicant companies will have to be in Indian hands with majority representation on the board of directors. The government last week finalised the much-awaited strategic partnership (SP) model under which select private firms will be roped in to build military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign entities. Initially, the strategic partners will be selected in four segments fighter aircraft, helicopters, submarines and armoured fighting vehicles/main battle tanks. It is expected to be expanded to other segments at a later stage. "A company shall be considered as 'Owned' by resident Indian citizens if more than 50% of the capital in it is directly or beneficially owned by resident Indian citizens and/or Indian companies, which are ultimately owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens. "This implies that the maximum permitted FDI shall be 49%," the ministry said. It said the chief executive of the applicant company shall be resident Indians who are part of the Indian group owning and controlling the company or the strategic partner. The Indian group will have the right to appoint a majority of the directors or to control the management or policy decisions. In certain extreme circumstances of conflict like war, the government would have the right to acquire control over the intellectual property used and facilities developed pursuant to the strategic partnership, as per the policy. The ministry said any subsequent change in shareholding pattern/ownership of the strategic partner shall require prior approval of the . As per the framework, to manufacture major defence platforms, the select Indian companies will require tie-ups with foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) for transfer of technology (ToT) and assistance in training skilled human resources. "Such partnerships or tie-ups between SP and OEM may take the form of joint ventures (JV), equity partnerships, technology-sharing, royalty or any other mutually acceptable arrangement between the companies concerned, subject to the ownership conditions," the ministry said. The policy envisages establishment of long-term strategic partnerships with Indian defence majors through a transparent and competitive process wherein they would tie up with global OEMs to seek technology transfers to set up domestic manufacturing infrastructure and supply chains. The ministry said it will issue an expression of interest (EOI) to seek applications from Indian private companies for selection of Strategic Partner in identified segments and a final decision will be made following a transparent process. To facilitate selection of OEMs, the ministry will implement a process of shortlisting of OEMs for each segment simultaneously with the process of identifying SPs. "The OEM will be jointly responsible along with the SP for certification and quality assurance of the platforms supplied to Ministry of Defence. It further said, "As part of the EOI, OEMs will provide a formal acceptance of their government(s) that necessary licenses to transfer technology will be granted in case the OEM is selected as a partner for the SP to manufacture the platforms/equipment in India." Such a commitment may also be supported by inter-governmental agreements to be signed between India and the countries concerned, at the stage of award of contract. The ministry said the contract between the SP and OEM will cover provisions for protection of classified information and technology transferred by the OEM. The OEM will also have to confirm life-cycle support for the platform along with the SP. The Delhi Assembly Sepaker Ram Niwas Goel today said he will summon city police commissioner Amulya Patnaik in the next session over law and order problem in the national capital. The move comes after AAP legislators raised the issue of the killing of an e-rickshaw driver who had objected to two men urinating outside the GTB Nagar Metro Station here last week. AAP MLA Alka Lamba said had there been a toilet nearby, the incident may not have taken place. Lamba claimed that there was law and order problem also in the city. Replying to Lamba, BJP MLA Majinder Singh Sirsa asked the Speaker to summon the police commissioner. "The House will summon the police commissioner in the next session over the law & order problem," Goel said. The speaker said it was responsibility of municipal corporations to construct toilets in the city, the civic bodies have failed to do so. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi's smokers are getting younger and younger every year, with many hooked on to trendy sheeshas under the impression that they are less harmful than cigarettes, experts said today. Dr Sajeela Maini, who heads the Tobacco Cessation Centre at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here, said they have been getting patients "as young as 12 or 13 years" who are being treated for tobacco addiction. "School children are taking up smoking earlier than before. What is more dangerous is that many of these young smokers are also taking drugs," she told PTI. On World No Tobacco Day, marked across the world today, doctors also cautioned against the use of sheesha in hookah bars -- popular among school students -- saying that its consumption was equally harmful. Maini said the smoking habit was growing both in rural and urban areas, among both men and women. "Earlier, 10 per cent of smokers in our centre were women; now 30 per cent are," the author of 'The Last Puff' said. She quoted researchers as saying that almost 70 per cent of smokers wanted to quit but could not do so because of the addictive quality of nicotine, present in tobacco. Doctors at other leading hospitals in the city said the consumption of tobacco -- both when smoked (cigarettes, cigars, pipes and bidis) or when consumed (khaini, gutka etc) -- was on the rise. Tobacco smoke contains several chemicals, which can cause cancer, besides heart and lung diseases. "More women are smoking in urban and rural areas," Dr Surender Dabas, Director, Head, Neck and Thorax Surgical Oncology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said. Maini, who has held health camps in suburban areas of Delhi, where the rural population is high, said she was shocked to see "a huge number" of women smokers there. "Once I had gone to a village area in south Delhi, and there we found many cases of women lining up in our camp, saying that they were addicted to bidi and hookah. More than half of the cases were of women," she said. The experts also warned that many youngsters in metropolitan cities such as Delhi were introduced to smoking and drugs at popular events such as rock concerts. "Many of the youth, who otherwise wouldn't take up smoking or do drugs, are goaded by their peers or even strangers at these concerts to 'try it'. And, subsequently, they get hooked on to it," Maini said. The SGRH doctor also said the "mild" label on cigarettes was merely an "eyewash", as "such cigarettes did not cause much sensation in the throat, leading to greater addiction, and hence greater risk of contracting cancer." Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant, Respiratory and Critical Care, at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals here, said tobacco consumption was one of the leading causes of death. "People who think that smoking bidi is an alternative to and safer than cigarettes need to understand that it is equally harmful," he said. "By 2030, 80 per cent of all tobacco deaths are going to occur in developing countries. While tobacco consumption is decreasing in the developed countries, it is increasing at an alarming rate in the developing nations," Chawla said. Nearly 35 per cent or 27.5 crore adults in India consume tobacco in some form or the other, the central government had said last April. According to the World Health Organization, "12 hours after quitting smoking, the carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police today informed a court that it has filed a petition before a superior court seeking to transfer a plea for an FIR in the Ramjas College incident in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra was told that the power to deal with the cases of Delhi Police Crime Branch was vested with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM). Police said the magistrate has no jurisdiction to try the matter. In its status report, it said the transfer petition has been listed for hearing before the CMM court for June three. "I am of the opinion that since the transfer petition is pending, it will be prudent to wait for orders passed by the CMM in the said petition. Put up for further hearing on June 26," the magistrate said and added that the CMM would decide the jurisdiction. It is pertinent to mention that after filing of a complaint by advocate Vivek Garg, CMM Satish Kumar Arora had marked it to the court of magistrate Malhotra. Complainant Garg had vehemently opposed the police's plea saying it has been delaying the matter and hesitating to file a proper action taken report as it was not willing to probe the incidents. Police, in its report filed in pursuance to court's direction, said that an enquiry committee was constituted by the Commissioner of Delhi Police. It said the committee has been enquiring into complaints relating to the incidents that occurred on February 21-22 this year and it has so far examined 62 witnesses, including student groups and police officials. It sought time to conclude the enquiry and said necessary legal action will be taken on conclusion of the enquiry. The court was hearing the complaint seeking lodging of an FIR into the February incidents during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised at Ramjas College by members of students groups AISA and SFI. The plea had said a similar incident had taken place in JNU last year. It alleged that "massive anti-national slogans/ activities were being carried out by leaders/students of AISA/SFI in Ramjas College, shamelessly and openly which supported India's enemy i.E. Pakistan. The criminal acts of accused were also boosting morale of terrorists against our country." The complainant has alleged in the plea that such slogans were shocking, damaging for the country and an open challenge to its unity and safety and the judicial system. It has alleged that organisers of the seminar had misled the college administration to obtain the nod for the event and "conducted activities against the nation and tried to wage a war against the country". It has sought lodging of an FIR for the alleged offences of sedition, criminal conspiracy, waging war against the State and defamation under the IPC. On February 21, members of RSS student wing ABVP had gathered outside the college and shouted slogans in protest against a seminar for which JNU students Omar Khalid and Shehla Rashid were invited. The ABVP members allegedly pelted stones, vandalised the venue and disrupted the seminar. The next day violent clashes erupted between Left and ABVP students leaving several students and three teachers injured. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A CBI court in Jodhpur today sentenced four-year rigorous imprisonment to a former assistant garrison engineer and a similar three-year term to another in a bribery case. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 on Janardan Parab and a fine of Rs 2,000 on Vijay Kumar, both former assistant garrison engineers. CBI had registered a case in June 2014 against Parab and Kumar, both working in MES, Military Station, Suratgarh of Rajasthan on complaint that they had demanded a bribe of Rs 80,000 from a person to pass his outstanding bills, said a CBI spokesperson. A trap was laid and Parab was arrested while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 (Rs 20,000 for himself and rest for Kumar), the spokesperson said. After completion of investigation, a charge sheet was filed in February 2015 against the duo. The charges were framed in September 2015 following examination of 12 witnesses, the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four players have shown an interest in providing the Navy with 57 multi-role combat fighter jets for its aircraft carrier, Indian Navy chief Sunil Lanba said today. The chief of naval staff also said the Scorpene submarine Kalvari is going through its final phase of trials and should be delivered by July-August. Having rejected indigenously built 'Tejas' as too heavy, the Indian Navy in January issued a Request for Information to procure 57 multi-role combat aircraft for its carrier. "The Navy has got response from four players for the RFI. We will examine the RFI and take it forward," Lanba said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by FICCI on 'Building India's Future Navy Technology Imperatives'. He, however, did not disclose the name of the companies which have shown interest in the proposal. At present, the Navy operates 45 MIG-29K jets which face serviceability issues from time to time. Currently, six planes are compatible for aircraft carrier. They are Rafale (Dassault, France), F-18 Super Hornet (Boeing, US), MIG-29K (Russia), F-35B and F-35C (Lockheed Martin, US) and Gripen (Saab, Sweden). While F-18, Rafale and MIG-29K are twin engine jets, the remaining three have single engine. The delivery of deck based fighter jets is expected to take four-five years. The indigenously built aircraft-carrier Vikrant should complete trials in 2019. It was likely to be commissioned by 2020, Lanba said. When asked about the recently approved Strategic Partnership (SP) model under which select private firms will be engaged to build military platforms like submarines and battle helicopters, Lanba said the next step would be to identify strategic partners. "All three service chiefs will have to go and get the AONs (Acceptance of Necessity) on what we want to be built through strategic partners, so that partners in each segment can be identified. "We are hopeful that we should be able to move this process in next six months," he said. Four segments -- submarines, fighter aircraft, helicopters and armoured carriers/main battle tanks -- were identified under the new policy, aimed at attracting billions of dollars of investment in defence manufacturing by private defence majors including leading foreign firms. At the inauguration of the seminar, Lanba stated that the Navy has taken giant strides in the field of indigenous ship design and construction and has made a transition from being a 'buyer' to being a 'builder'. He, however, stated that despite the achievements in indigenous shipbuilding, the Navy continues to be dependent on external assistance for niche technologies. "An important aspect in attaining 100 per cent self- reliance in ship design and construction, therefore, is the indigenous development of high-end technologies, their transition into shipborne equipment and systems, induction into service and standardisation," he said. Holding that self-reliance in defence production is a vital pre-requisite for achieving greater strategic autonomy, Lanba said it is no easy task and would require dedicated efforts by researchers, designers and manufacturers. Lanba highlighted the three primary requirements that need to be met while inducting a technology or a product - affordability, timely delivery and performance. To these primary imperatives, the Navy Chief went on to add a fourth dimension - that of life cycle sustenance by providing seamless technical support and making the technology future proof. He stated that this aspect is most vital for building a navy of the future and the support of the industry therefore extends well beyond just supply to life cycle product support. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In more trouble for gangster- turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who is in jail for allegedly assaulting staff members of a university, the Allahabad High Court today cancelled the bail granted to him more than a decade ago in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case. A single judge bench of Justice Vipin Sinha passed the order on a petition filed by Pal's wife Pooja who had moved the court alleging that while he was out on bail, Ahmed had tried to influence the investigation into her husband's murder by threatening a number of witnesses in the case. Pal was shot dead in broad daylight here on January 25, 2005. Ahmed had been granted bail in the case, in which he is a prime accused, in April 2005. A CBI inquiry had been ordered by the Supreme Court last year in the case. The high court had reserved its judgement on Pooja Pal's petition on May 29. Ahmed has been in jail since February this year when he was arrested for beating up staff members of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) situated on the outskirts of the city after they objected to his unlawful entry into the premises. The high court had on Monday dismissed Ahmed's bail plea in the case. BSP MLA Raju Pal was murdered barely three months after he won Allahabad (West) assembly seat in his electoral debut by defeating Ahmed's younger brother Ashraf. The by-election was necessitated after Ahmed, a five-time MLA from the seat, got elected to the Lok Sabha from Phulpur. Ashraf wrested the seat for the SP in the by-poll that followed Pal's murder but lost it to Pooja in the 2007 assembly polls. The young widow retained the seat in 2012, despite her party BSP humiliating defeat in the assembly polls. She, however, lost the seat to BJP's Siddharth Nath Singh in the recently held assembly elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Allahabad High Court today granted bail to the Managing Director and a Director of the Noida-based mobile phone company Ringing Bells which 'had hogged limelight with the launch of "Freedom 251", touted as the world's cheapest smart phone. A single-judge bench of Justice Pankaj Naqvi granted bail to the company's MD Mohit Goel and Director Sumit Kumar, who have been in jail for the past few months in connection with FIR lodged by Ghaziabad-based company Ayam Enterprises under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sihanigate police station. In the FIR, the complainant had alleged that it had placed orders worth Rs 30 lakh for "Freedom 251" and "Smart 101" mobile phones, "lured by attractive advertisements", but later found that the products were "not worth the price" and despite repeated requests, an outstanding amount of Rs 16 lakh was not paid back by the accused. Allowing their bail plea, the court said they be released on "furnishing a personal bond and two heavy sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned" and "subject to the deposit of their original passports". The court also laid down a number of conditions "imposed in the nature of justice" to be observed by the petitioners and that default on these counts could be treated by the trial court as "abuse of liberty of bail". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Swedish home furnishings company IKEA Group today announced the acquisition of its first land parcel in the city, to build its third 'IKEA India store'. This will be IKEA's third such acquisition in India after Hyderabad and Mumbai, the company said. The first IKEA India store in Hyderabad will open early next year, it said in a release. IKEA said the 14 acres site is strategically located in Nagasandra on Tumkur road and has been acquired from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation. It said store is planned to be around 4.5 lakh square feet and is expected to have more than 5 million visitors per year. "Each IKEA store will employ 500-700 coworkers directly and another 1,500 people indirectly in different services. We are committed to inclusion and diversity and having 50 per cent women in our organization at all levels is non-negotiable," IKEA India CEO Juvencio Maeztu said. He said along with retail stores,IKEA's purchasing team would also grow local sourcing and engage with local artisan and communities in many projects. The company in parallel is evaluating suitable sites in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and NCR, Chennai and Pune and plans to open 25 stores in India by 2025. "The government is committed to provide the necessary support to IKEA for its future expansion plans in the state," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amidst concerns over growing proximity between Russia and Pakistan, India said today its relation with Moscow is on a "different pedestal" and there is a clear understanding of each other's "core concerns" and vital security interests. Ahead of a summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran told PTI India's relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan. "Our relation with Russia is on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests," he said. India's traditional ties with Russia dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscow's growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. India had also conveyed to Russia its unhappiness over military cooperation with Pakistan. Last year, after the Uri terror strike by Pakistan-based terrorists, Saran had told Russian agency Ria Novosti that "We have conveyed our views to the Russian side that military cooperation with Pakistan which is a State that sponsors and practices terrorism as a matter of State policy is a wrong approach and it will only create further problems." Talking to PTI ahead of the 18th summit between India and Russia, Saran also referred to the personal chemistry Modi and Putin share. "There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years," the Indian envoy said. At their bilateral meeting tomorrow, "the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Spain today emphasised on the need for restarting negotiations for the EU-India Broad- based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), as President Mariano Rajoy pressed for "solid progress" on the proposed pact after holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The importance of making progress on the pact was highlighted in a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Modi, the first Indian premier to visit Spain since 1992, met the European country's top leaders here. Modi and Rajoy underlined the importance of EU-India relations and the need to deepen the existing EU-India dialogues, the statement said. "They acknowledged the positive results of 2016 EU-India Summit in March 2016, which marked a new momentum in the EU- India relations. They reconfirmed their commitment to the EU- India Agenda for Action 2020 and to the development of cooperation in the areas of foreign and security policy, trade and investment, global issues, natural movement of persons and people to people contacts," it said. The two leaders addressed the shared interest of the two sides to further engage on the India-EU BTIA and expressed the need to restart negotiations soon. President Rajoy welcomed the efforts of the Indian government to provide a positive business environment in India for foreign companies and to further international investment, for which, adequate protection of investments and legal certainty are instrumental. He also emphasised the importance that Spain attaches in the coming months to "solid progress" on the India-EU BTIA, which may facilitate further Spanish and European investments in India, the statement said. President Rajoy explained Spain's position in the EU, as a country fully committed with the European Project, and with the main policies and instruments of the European Union. Prime Minister Modi called for active participation of Spanish companies in India's ambitious Smart Cities projects. Both leaders also welcomed the holding of an India-Spain Business Summit in India in the later half of 2017 to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. The talks on BTIA, launched in June 2007, have been stalled since May, 2013, when both sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for the IT sector. The European Union, earlier this year, had pressed India to extend by six months its bilateral investment pacts with EU-member countries, saying absence of the treaties could adversely impact trade ties and FTA talks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish President Mariano Rajoy today stressed the importance of resolving the disputes in the strategic South China Sea in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, a statement that could anger China. In a joint statement after their wide-ranging talks, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce based on the principles of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They urged all parties to resolve disputes "through peaceful means without resorting to threat or use of force, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities, and avoid unilateral actions that raise tensions." Regarding the South China Sea, the two Heads of Government stressed the importance of resolving the disputes in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, including the UNCLOS. While in Germany, Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel had also touched upon the issue of freedom of navigation in international waters. However, the two leaders had not specifically mentioned the South China Sea issue. "Both sides underlined the importance of freedom of navigation in international waters, the right of passage and other maritime rights and obligations in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and other principles of international law. Both Leaders attached particular importance to security, stability, connectivity and sustainable development of the blue economy in the Indian Ocean Region," a joint statement issued by India and Germany had said in Berlin. China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. (Reopens FGN 70) Meanwhile, the two leaders expressed grave concern on North Korea's continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, including uranium enrichment activities, and strongly urged North Korea to refrain from such actions which adversely impact peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, and to fully comply with its international obligations and commitments. They called upon North Korea and all relevant parties to take early and effective steps to realise denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the statement said. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their determination to cooperate in the relevant fora against proliferation activities posing a regional and global threat. Modi and Rajoy also expressed their support for peace, stability, prosperity, security and integrity of Afghanistan. They called for early peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process in keeping with internationally accepted redlines. Spain and India also stressed on climate action with the two leaders reiterating their commitment to implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The two leaders agreed to strengthen the bilateral cooperation to foster effective initiatives, to facilitate the transfer or access to environmentally sound technologies and know how, and to promote collaboration among different stakeholders to increaseresilience to the adverse impacts of climate change in Spain and India, the statement said. Modi and Rajoy also stressed the urgency to implement a sustainable water management. They agreed to foster the development of infrastructures and water services with the help of public-private partnerships, as well as to encourage the efficient use of water throughout the urban, rural and industrial sector and to promote waste water treatment to guarantee one basic human right, which is the access to drinking water and sanitation. India and Spain today signed seven agreements, including on cyber security and technical cooperation in civil aviation, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the European country. The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital. The two sides agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Five MoUs were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between India's Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1988, praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." Spain is India's seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. Two-way trade totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016. Modi encouraged Spanish infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors in India, saying "It's a great time for Spanish companies to invest in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam government has constituted a one-man inquiry commission to look into the circumstances leading to the deaths of two students from Mizoram here. The inquiry committee of principal secretary to higher education department Ajay Shankar Tewari was constituted by a notification of May 29 to probe the deaths of C.Lalhmangaihsanga and R.Lalmalsawma, both students of Down Town University here near a railway track at Panikhaiti on May 28, an official release said here today. The committee will inquire into the details of the circumstances and causes leading to the death of the two students and will suggest suitable measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future. It will submit its report within one month from the date of issue of the order, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and its partners are in talks to buy 49 per cent stake in Russia's Vankor cluster oilfields to consolidate their presence in the energy-rich Arctic region. IOC, Oil India Ltd and Bharat PetroResources Ltd (a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd or BPCL) is looking at buying a stake in Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye and Lodochnoye fields - collectively known as Vankor Cluster, sources privy to the development said. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), is also interested in the fields. Rosneft, Russia's national oil company that owns the fields, wants to retain a majority stake and is keen to sell only up to 49 per cent stake. In case OVL is accommodated, the entire 49 per cent stake would have to be split between the Indian . OVL may possibly take 26 per cent in proportion of the stake it bought in the main Vankor oilfield. OIL-IOC-BPRL may take 23.9 per cent stake in line with its holding in the main Vankor field. Vankorneft, a subsidiary of Rosneft, is developing the Vankor oil and gas condensate field, situated in the northern part of Eastern Siberia. In 2013, Vankorneft was chosen as an operator on development of new fields of Vankor cluster - Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye and Lodochnoye fields, located close to the Vankor field. The reserves of Suzunskoye field exceed 56 million tonnes of oil and condensate, and 35 billion cubic meters of gas. Last year, OVL first acquired 15 per cent stake in Russia's second biggest oilfield of Vankor for $1.268 billion and then bought another 11 per cent for $930 million. The 26 per cent stake would give OVL 7.31 million tonnes of oil. The consortium of OIL-IOC-BPRL acquired 23.9 per cent stake in the field at a cost of $2.02 billion, giving them 6.56 million tonnes of oil. Rosneft continues to hold the remaining 50.1 per cent shares of JSC Vankorneft. The field has recoverable reserves of 2.5 billion barrels. Besides, the OIL-IOC-BPRL consortium has taken another 29.9 per cent stake in a separate Taas-Yuryakh oilfield in East Siberia for $1.12 billion. The investments have taken the total outlay in Russia this year to $5.46 billion. These investments will give India 15.18 million tonnes of oil equivalent. The investment made compares to $28.48 billion investment by Indian overseas in the past 50 years, giving it about 10 million tonnes of oil equivalent. While Vankor produces about 442,000 barrels of oil per day (4 per cent of Russian crude oil production), Taas currently produces about 21,000 barrels per day of oil, and a peak of 1,00,000 bpd is expected by 2021. A 55-year-old woman who was allegedly sold and tortured in Saudi Arabia today returned to India. Sukhwant Kaur, who hails from Jalandhar, arrived at the international airport here where was received by her family members, including her husband, and former Punjab ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Anil Joshi. She thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj while narrating her travails to reporters at the airport. "It is a new birth as I have come back home safely from a death trap. It was next to impossible to return from there. If the external affairs minister had not intervened, I couldn't have dreamt of joining my family in India," Kaur said. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, "I had paid Rs 40,000 to an agent to get a job in Saudi Arabia and I went there on a tourist visa. To my utter shock, when I reached there I was sold for Rs 3.5 lakh as a domestic maid to a family". She said she was tortured and maltreated for three months after reaching there in January. One day landed in a hospital after she fainted on being tortured. She said that her employers used to torture her and forced her to eat meat despite the fact that she was a vegetarian. "It was my good luck I returned to India alive. No one could have thought of coming back in the circumstances which I faced there," she added. Her husband, Kulwant Singh, told reporters that his wife was in contact with him over phone for a week after she landed there. "But a few days later, her phone was switched off and the Delhi-based agent stopped taking calls," he said. Singh said that on May 7, with the help of Kerala-based nurse, his wife called him up from a hospital in Saudi Arabia. "She said the travel agent had sold her to a local resident and she was forced to work as a slave in his house and was being badly treated and even tortured," he said. The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia assured all help to the family after Kulwant made an appeal to Swaraj on Twitter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again these words that always moved Bilal Mohiuddin Bhat came true for the Kashmir forest officer who scored the 10th position in the civil services, the results of which were declared today. "Words can hardly describe my feelings. I feel on top of the world today," Bhat, an Indian Forest Officer at present based in Lucknow, told PTI over the phone. Bhat, who had appeared for the examination four times, would have in November this year crossed 32 the cutoff age for appearing for the elite services. "I believed in this quote Try, try, try again. I have been trying from 2010," Bhat said, his voice choking with emotion. Bhat, who belongs to the remote border district of Handwara in North Kashmir, completed his schooling and college from Srinagar before studying Veterinary Sciences in Jammu. The product of a government college, he cleared the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) and later the Indian Forest Services. "However, my aim was the IAS and now I am sure that I will get my home cadre," Bhat said. "I have had to sacrifice every comfort to achieve my goal," Bhat, who has three brothers and a sister, added. His father, who was also a KAS officer, was "elated" by his son's success. "He is longing to see me back in my home state so that I can serve my people," Bhat said. The father in him credits his success to his seven-month-old daughter, Mariam. "After she was born in September, I cleared my preliminaries. And since then there has been no looking back," he said. As the news of Bhat's success spread, congratulatory messages were flashed by Union Minister Jitendra Singh and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. "It is encouraging to see that youths from militancy-hit areas are appearing and emerging as toppers in the civil services," Singh told PTI. In his message, Omar said Bhat had made the state proud and hoped that "all the dreams of the son of the soil" would be fulfilled. The ban on sale of cattle for slaughter has cast a shadow on the leather industry, triggering concerns among importers and exporters with leading global brands enquiring about its likely ramifications. Rajiv Bhatia, managing director of city-based leading leather product exporter D2 International, told PTI that many global importers were making enquires about the ban. "It has turned out to be a big worry for importers. I have received calls and enquries from importers, including the UK's major handbag brand Radley and US fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger," Bhatia said. It is getting difficult, he says, to allay their worries about the future of import despite being aware of the Madras High Court's stay order on the execution of the central notification regarding the ban. Despite long-standing association with the importers, they are "politely warning" us about shifting orders to neighbouring countries, he said. "The timing of the ban has created more trouble. Till November, it is crucial for the leather industry. Orders are placed for Christmas and New Year," Bhatia said. CLC Tanners Association president Ramesh Juneja said that though the state had a stock of hide to last for two months and there was support from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, panic has gripped importers. The officials warned that the situation might get worse if something positive did not emerge soon. The leather exporters are demanding at least buffaloes to be made exempt from the banned animals list. Buffalo hide constitutes over 50 per cent of the hide requirement of the leather industry. Bengal leather exporters are particularly worried as cowhide constitutes a major chunk in the Rs 7,000-crore export market giving employment to some five lakh workers. Nationally, leather and leather product exports are valued at Rs 35,000 crore in 2016-17 and the industry provides employment to 35 lakh people. Bhatia said that premium leather products are made of cowhide as they are softer compared to buffalo's. Juneja pointed out that cowhide made up almost 75 per cent of the state's leather export. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police has seized over 500 cartons of liquor near Chhatarpur, which were allegedly being smuggled to Bihar, where prohibition is in force, by two persons who pretended to be transporting vegetables. The Crime Branch of the police has arrested the accused, Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma said. According to Verma, the liquor cartons were being transported to Patna from Gurgaon via a "specially designed truck". Police laid a trap near Chhatarpur in south Delhi and apprehended the accused. "When stopped, the driver of the truck said that he was carrying vegetables to be delivered to Noida. The truck was then thoroughly checked and around 520 cartons of liquor were seized," he said. Police claimed the accused have told them that the consignment of a Gurgaon-based liquor supplier was to be off- loaded in Patna. The accused claimed that they had transported such consignments earlier too, the DCP said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she was considering visiting the Hague, Netherlands, in June to attend the UN Public Service Day on an invitation by the United Nations. "Today I have been invited to attend UN Public Service Day and highlight achievements of West Bengal in public services," Banerjee said at the state secretariat. "The United Nations Public Service Award is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service," she observed. The UN General Assembly has designated 23 June as Public Service Day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Migration from the existing tax system to the proposed GST, coming into force from July one, was very satisfactory in West Bengal, Bijay Kumar, principal commissioner of service tax of Kolkata commissionerate said. As per CBEC data migration from service tax by the existing taxpayers to the new regime was as high as 91 per cent in West Bengal, Kumar told PTI. As regards migration from sales tax, central excise and VAT was concerned, it was at the all-India average of 86 per cent. "It seems that the taxpayers in West Bengal are ready for GST. The large corporates are absolutely ready," he said adding the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) might be facing some problems and are likely to catch up. For the SMEs, GST Network had provided the licensed software 'SUVIDHA' which could come of help to these taxpayers. Earlier at a CII session here today, Kumar said that GST would be an efficient and technology-driven tax system. The GST Council will sort out the challenges regarding the rates, he said. "Dual GST in India will consist of Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST). In place of Central Sales Tax (CST) there will be IGST which will be known as Integrated Tax,", Kumar said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has told Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the latest demands of the Bru leaders lodged in the six relief camps in Tripura would not be considered by his government, an official statement today said. The statement said that Lal Thanhawla met Singh in Delhi yesterday and said that if the Centre accepts the new demands of the Bru leaders, those who had returned to Mizoram should also benefit. The chief minister informed the Centre that the state government pleaded with the Brus not to leave Mizoram during the communal tension in 1997 and efforts were made repeatedly to bring the bona fide Mizoram residents to return. "Leaders of the Bru community in the camps did not accept the arrangements made for their repatriation and continued to make fresh demands and conditions," he said, adding that the selfish leaders benefited by remaining in the relief camps and threatened those who wanted to be repatriated. Lal Thanhawla also asked Singh to provide financial assistance for erecting more border police outposts in the border areas as the state is sandwiched between Myanmar and Bangladesh with which it shares 404 and 319 kilometres international border respectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met top CEOs of leading Spanish companies and invited them to participate in initiatives like 'Make in India', saying immense potential awaits them in the fast-growing nation. "Met top CEOs of the Spanish industry and urged them to explore the economic opportunities in India," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. In a roundtable interaction with leading Spanish business leaders, he said that there is immense potential for further growth of Spanish investments in India. He mentioned sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energy, food processing, auto, chemicals and textiles and invited Spanish participation in the Smart Cities initiative. Modi also gave a broad overview of the economic reforms undertaken in India, including the GST. He asserted that initiatives like Make in India, Digital India and Start up India have become global magnets for investment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with CEOs of leading Spanish companies with global footprint, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. He invited them to look anew at a new India emerging with government's push for economic growth," he said in another tweet. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1992, met the European country's top leadership and said India and Spain maintain close and cordial relations and he sees great potential in this collaboration. Spain is the 12th largest investor in India and the seventh largest trading partner in the EU. There are more than 200 Spanish companies in India that are actively involved in road construction projects, railways, wind power, water desalination, defense and smart cities. There are more than 40 Indian companies in Spain, in the fields of technology, pharmaceuticals, automotive and energy. Two-way trade totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016. After concluding his meeting with the CEOs, Modi left for St Petersburg in Russia where he will hold the 18th India- Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 2. The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister arrived at St Petersburg in on Wednesday for an annual summit with President during which the two sides will sign a host of agreements, with all eyes on a deal to build with Russia's help the last two units of India's largest nuclear power plant. With hours to go before the summit, Indian officials told PTI that last-minute talks are taking place to iron out details and language of the agreement on a line of credit for building Unit 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. "The agreement remains work in progress," the source said. The reactors are being built by India's Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russia's Atomstroy export company, a subsidiary of Rosatom, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex. The two sides are expected to ink 12 agreements in wide- ranging sectors, including in science and technology, railways, cultural exchanges and other business areas between private parties also, in addition to a "vision statement" that the two leaders will release. The nuclear deal, if signed, would be the centerpiece of the summit, the second time in eight months after their last bilateral in Goa in October 2016. If signed, the two units of the plant, with capacity to produce 1000 MW of electricity each, will significantly boost the country's nuclear power generation. The current nuclear power generation capacity of all 22 nuclear power reactors is 6780 MW. In October 2015, a joint statement between Modi and Putin promised the signing of a General Framework Agreement on the nuclear units by December 2016. After an inter-ministerial group cleared the project, it was sent to the Prime Minister's Office for approval. But, sources said, the Credit Protocol, or a line of credit that was to provide, proved to be a hurdle. "There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years," Pankaj Saran, India's ambassador to Russia, told PTI. At the summit tomorrow, "the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future," he said. India's traditional ties with dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscow's growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. However, Saran said India's relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan. "Our relations with Russia is on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests," he said, hours before Modi was to arrive from Spain. Modi will arrive in stormy weather in St. Petersburg, the former capital of imperial Russia that was founded by Czar Peter the Great in 1703, and was also known as Petrograd and Leningrad. The prime minister will begin his three-day Russia sojourn with a visit tomorrow to the Piskariovskoe cemetery, a memorial for some 500,000 Russians who were killed in the siege of Leningrad in World War II, which the Russians call the Great Patriotic War. Modi will then be received by Putin at the Konstantin Palace, a sprawling regal complex that is also the Russian president's official residence where he hosts world leaders. After the summit, Putin will host Modi at a private dinner without any aides. On Friday, Modi will be the guest of honor at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being attended by a host of political and business leaders from around the world. It's the first time that an Indian prime minister is attending the economic and business summit. Some 60 Indian CEOs ae attending the summit, and India has also set up a 'Make in India' pavilion in addition to hosting roundtables and an exclusive India-Eurasia economic and business breakfast. Trade between the two nations stands at USD 7.8 billion, down from USD 10 billion in 2014. The two nations are targeting to raise the trade to USD 30 billion in the next five years. ABJA Power, a part of My Home Group, has signed an MoU with PuREnergy, a company incubated at IIT-Hyderabad focusing on innovative solar energy solutions. The MoU marks My Home Group's foray into solar power segment focusing on rooftop and utility scale projects catering towards residential, commercial and industrial segments, a My Home Group statement said. "This alliance will execute joint projects in the areas of smart and innovative solar systems; IoT based energy management, health monitoring/diagnosis of solar plants, skill development and R&D activities," it said. ABJA Power would focus on project management part and PuREnergy supported by IIT Hyderabad on design and development. This arrangement would focus on power projects on the EPC (Engineering, Procurement & construction) model, it said. Nishanth Dongari, founder of PuREnergy and assistant professor at IIT-Hyderabad, said the initiative was taken to build smarter and greener buildings on massive scale. "Our present focus is on residential and commercial projects to complement the smart city programmes. We have plans to enter into large scale utility projects in the upcoming solar parks across the nation," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will visit Saharanpur next week to gather first hand information on the repeated instances of caste clashes in the area. NCM member Sulekha Kumbhare, who took her place in the panel yesterday, today said members would tour the Uttar Pradesh town after their first meeting and assess whether injustice was meted out to any community. "All the team members will visit Saharanpur next week to assess ground realities. Justice should be ensured... But we need to check the factual position first," the former Maharashtra minister said. The cycle of violence in Saharanpur began on May 5 when a man was killed, several injured and around 25 homes set ablaze in Shabbirpur village. According to Kumbhare, the NCM will work like a bridge between the Centre and communities. She also pitched for educational as well as financial empowerment of minorities in a bid to bring them into the mainstream and boost their confidence. "To be able to do that, you will need to empower them educationally," she added. Kumbhare also favoured giving more teeth to the panel, which is entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding interests of minorities, by offering it constitutional status. The NCM is at present a statutory body. Former national secretary of BJP's minority morcha Gairul Hasan Rizvi is chairman of the panel. George Kurian, the saffron party's leader from Kerala, is his deputy. The other members of the Commission are Jain leader from Gujarat Sunil Singhi and Parsi representative Vada Dasturji Khurshed Kaikobad Dastoor. Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Parsi and Jain are the six notified minority communities in the country. The NCM was set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 to look into complaints from members of five religious communities -- Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venezuelan police have arrested nearly 3,000 people in the two months since a wave of anti- government protests erupted, a judicial campaign group has said. President Nicolas Maduro's opponents accuse him of repressing protesters who are calling for elections to remove him from office. He accuses them of plotting a coup against him. Foro Penal (the Criminal Justice Forum) has counted 2,977 people arrested during the deadly unrest, of whom 1,351 are still in detention, director Alfredo Romero told a conference. Of those, 197 have been jailed after being sentenced by military courts, said a lawyer working for the group, Alonso Medina. "This is a situation that occurs under dictatorial regimes," Medina yesterday said. Prosecutors say 60 people have been killed in violence linked to the protests since they broke out on April 1, many of them shot dead. Riot police have fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. Protesters have hurled Molotov cocktails and rocks. Venezuela's government and opposition accuse each other of sending armed groups to sow violence in the demonstrations. The opposition blames Maduro for an economic crisis that has caused shortages of food and basic supplies, while the socialist president says the crisis is a US-backed conspiracy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the third time, Nepal's government today postponed the second phase of local elections after the country's Muslim minority community voiced concern over clashing of the poll date with Ramzan, Cabinet sources said. The Cabinet meeting today has formally decided to hold the second phase of local level elections on June 28. The Cabinet meeting took the decision after consulting the Election Commission yesterday. The government took the decision stating that the previously declared date of June 23 coincided with the ongoing Ramazan festival the Muslim community is observing. Earlier, the government had announced it would hold the second phase of local elections on June 23, instead of June 14, as per schedule. A Muslim delegation yesterday had called on caretaker Prime Minister Prachanda to draw his attention to the Ramzan festival and the inconvenience they could face if elections were held on June 23. The elections -- the first at local level in 20 years and a key step in Nepal's drawn-out peace process that ended a civil war in 2006 -- have been beset by delays. In the beginning the government had announced that the first and the second phase of elections would be held on May 14 but were split into two phases upon objections from the Madhesi. The first phase went ahead on May 14 but the second was delayed earlier this week. The move to reschedule poll date is aimed at bringing the agitating Madhes-based parties on board the election process. Muslims make up little more than four percent of the population in Hindu-majority Nepal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rejecting the Centre's statement on the death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, BJP leader and his grand nephew Chandra Bose today demanded setting up a special investigation team to unravel the mystery of Netaji's disappearance. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in an aircrash in 1945, the Central government said today, putting to an end a controversy that refuses to be buried about the freedom fighter having survived the accident. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a reply to an RTI application from a Kolkata resident that the government had come to this conclusion after considering the reports of various committees that probed the death of Bose, who, many believed, had not perished in the crash. "I demand the Central government immediately take action against the officer who gave such an irresponsible reply. How can the government come to a conclusion regarding Netaji's death without concrete evidence?" he asked. "The Central government should apologise for such misleading statements and form an SIT to unravel the mystery of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's disappearance," Bose, vice-president of the Bengal BJP unit, told PTI. The RTI query was filed by Sayak Sen, convener of Open Platform for Netaji, under the Right To Information Act to the Home Ministry about the whereabouts of Netaji post August 18, 1945. He also sought to know how many files were declassified by the MHA and how many were yet to be declassified besides the information about one Gumnami Baba living in Uttar Pradesh in the 80s. On the question of Gumnami Baba, the RTI reply said, "Some information regarding Gumnami Baba and Bhagwanji is available in the Mukherjee Commission report on page 114-122...The Mukherjee Commission had come to the conclusion that Gumnami Baba/Bhagwanji was not Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Ministry of Home Affairs has declassified all available files (37) relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose." Netaji had gone missing in 1945 and some of his family members had rejected the report of his death in a plane crash in Taihoku airport in Taiwan on August 18 that year. In October, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met the family members of Netaji and announced that the government would declassify the files relating to the leader. Last year, on Netaji's 119th birth anniversary on January 23, as many as 100 secret files were made public by Modi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Banks have sought a few relaxation from the RBI in the current Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A), including waiver of promoters' personal guarantee, for quick resolution of stressed assets. Bankers have also requested the regulator to allow them to extend repayment schedule and reduce rate of interest under the scheme. These are not allowed in the exiting S4A guidelines. The present norms demand that the joint lending forum or banks obtain promoters' personal guarantee while implementing the scheme. "For stressed companies, the factors causing the stress are beyond the control of the promoters. Therefore, it is impractical to require furnishing of personal guarantee, especially in case of listed companies. So, the requirement of furnishing personal guarantee must be waived," a source said. Lenders said the purpose of S4A is to remove the financial stress of companies for which some relaxation in terms of repayment schedule or reduction in rate of interest is needed. "The RBI should allow us to grant fresh moratorium or extension of repayment schedule or reduction of rate of interest to help companies come out of stress," the source said. Banks, however, said the relaxations in repayment schedule should be indicated by the techno-economic viability (TEV) study. These recommendation were made to the Reserve Bank by the lenders in a meeting held yesterday. The meet was called to discuss stressed asset resolution plan. To facilitate timely decision-making for resolution of stressed assets, the RBI, in a May 5 notification, said decisions agreed upon by a minimum of 60 per cent of creditors by value and 50 per cent of creditors by number in the JLF would be considered as the basis for deciding the corrective action plan (CAP), and will be binding on all lenders. Lenders have suggested the RBI to take into consideration ECB lenders, financial institutions, NBFCs under the scheme as most of the stressed firms have large exposure from other lenders, including ECB lenders, he said. Currently, the S4A scheme can be applied only if the sustainable debt is at least 50 percent of current funded liabilities. Bankers have asked RBI to allow them to implement the resolution plan on the basis of the recommendations of TEV study without being constrained by any minimum percentage of sustainable debt. "The level of sustainable debt would vary from company to company and therefore, for a stressed company, minimum requirement of sustainable debt being 50 per cent of current funded liability is impractical," bankers said. Banks have asked the RBI to let them include on-going company's initiatives towards strategic asset sale and also allow clubbing of cash-flows of subsidiaries with main operating holding company while calculating sustainable debt portion. In case of conversion of debt into equity for listed companies, banks want the conversion at an average of 52-week high and low to lessen effect of temporary price variations. Yesterday's meeting was attended by heads of ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered Banks and Canara Bank. Senior officials from SBI and Bank of Baroda were also present in the meeting held at the RBI headquarters here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CK Birla Group firm Orient Cement Ltd will acquire debt ridden Jaypee Group's two firms for a total consideration of Rs 1,946 crore in an all cash deal. Orient Cement Ltd (OCL) has signed definitive agreements with Bhilai Jaypee Cement and Nigrie Cement Grinding Unit for the transactions that is expected to be completed before March 31, 2018. As part of the agreement, OCL will acquire 74 per cent stake in Bhilai Jaypee Cement Ltd (BJCL) from Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) and its nominee for Rs 1,450 crore, the company said in a BSE filing. It will also acquire Nigrie Cement Grinding Unit as a going concern from Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JPVL) for Rs 496 crore. BJCL has a cement manufacturing capacity of 2.20 million tonnes (MT) and 1.10 MT of clinker. In 2015-16, it had a turnover of Rs 399.27 crore. "BJCL is in the same line of business as that of the company and the purpose of acquisition is to expand the business of the company to other parts of the company," OCL said. The deal would, however, be subject to adjustment on account of working capital and net debt of BJCL, which shall then be pro-rated to the shareholding of JAL in BJCL (74 per cent). Nigrie Cement Grinding Unit, based in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, has a production capacity of 2 MT. It had a turnover of Rs 90.70 crore in 2015-16, contributing 1.92 per cent of JPVL's total turnover. OCL however said it requires "approval of government of Madhya Pradesh for transfer of land" for the transaction to be materialised. Confirming the development, JPVL said in a separate filing that it executed an agreement with OCL for sale of 2 MT Nigrie Cement as a going concern basis at a consideration linked to a total enterprise value of Rs 496 crore. JPVL is a power generation company with a capacity of 2,220 MW comprising one hydro and two thermal power plants. The Jaypee group has been selling off its assets to lighten its debt load reported to be around Rs 40,000 crore. Last year, it announced sale of its cement plants with a total capacity of 21.1 MT at an enterprise value of Rs 16,189 crore to the Aditya Birla Group firm UltraTech Cement. In February this year JPVL had alloted 305.80 crore equity shares to its lenders as part of debt restructuring scheme, which would reduce the debt of Rs 3,058 crore. Following the allotment, financial institutions have 51 per cent equity share in the company. Shares of Orient Cement Ltd today settled at Rs 144.60, down 1.70 per cent, on BSE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 80 low-floor air- conditioned (AC) buses are lying unused in a depot here at a time when the city residents are badly in need of better public transport. The buses are lying unsused for over one-and-half-year. The employees of Haryana roadways claimed that the transport department is failing on maintenance account miserably thanks to unskilled mechanics and non-availably of original spare parts. Previous Congress government in Haryana had sanctioned 116 low floor AC buses for inter and intra-city with an aim to ensure last mile connectivity in the city. "Since those are advance buses and we do not have trained automobile mechanics and after technical errors appear on roads, buses are placed in junkyard ," district president of Haryana Roadways Vinod Sharma told PTI. "Our senior officers also failed to make policies to apply pressure on the company for providing separate maintenance wing. As a result, the department is dependent on ITI trainees and apprentice holders for repairing job," he said. He claimed that out of the total buses plying on existing 13 routes in the city, only 25 to 30 buses are in working condition. Non availability of buses has forced the department to curtail the frequency of buses on different routes. Earlier, buses were available in an interval of 5 minutes and now it takes 15 to 20 minutes. While, department has reduced buses on routes such as Karol Bagh, Badarpur and Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi with not more than two buses. Even, the longer distance Volvo buses, connecting Shimla, Moga, Ludhiana, Patiala, Aligarh, Dehradun are cancelled while one bus each is available for Jaipur, Balaji, Katra, Nanital and Haridwar. A senior officer of Road and Transport Department said on the condition of anonymity that matters are pending before the state road transport ministry which has not given nod on maintenance account as well as purchasing of new fleet of buses. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan today strongly condemned the massive blast which tore through Kabul's diplomatic enclave killing at least 80 people and leaving hundreds, including women and children, injured. "Pakistan strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused loss of precious human lives and injuries to many," the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement. It said the blast has caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some. "Pakistan being a victim of terrorism understands the pain and agony that such incidents inflict upon the people and society," the FO said. It further said that the people and government of Pakistan extend their heartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to the government and the people of Afghanistan and the bereaved families. "While reiterating condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, we pray for early recovery of the injured. We firmly stand with our Afghan brothers in this hour of grief and anguish," said FO. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle in Zanbaq Square around 08:30 am. At least 80 people have been killed and hundreds wounded when the massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The country's apex consumer body has asked the Rajasthan Postal Department to pay Rs 25,000 to a student who lost an academic year because of a delayed admission form. Rajasthan resident Garima Gupta's application for admission to an institution was delayed by seven days despite being sent through Speed Post, a quick service delivery system of the postal department. The form was expected to reach its destination within 24 hours. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) here dismissed a revision petition filed by the department against a state commission order on this. The department was asked to pay her Rs 20,000, besides the Rs 5,000 spent on litigation. "In regard to the fact that a young student has lost a valuable one year in getting admission to the institution of her choice, the compensation of Rs 20,000 cannot be described as excessive by any standard," the NCDRC. A district forum had passed the order against the department which was upheld by the state commission and then the NCDRC on May 1. The commission noted that the postal department had conducted no enquiry into the matter. The panel also noted that the appeal filed by the department was delayed by 91 days before the state commission and by 39 days before the NCDRC. "This amply demonstrates the lackadaisical approach of the petitioner department at every stage of its affairs," the apex commission said. According to the compliant filed by Gupta's father in 2012, the postal department took seven days in delivering his daughter's application form sent through Speed Post to the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Jaipur. The form was expected to reach the institute in 24 hours. The district forum had directed the department to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation for the loss of one academic year and litigation expenses of Rs 5,000. The postal department, however, took refuge in the Indian Post Office Act which exonerates it from any kind of liability on account of loss, mis-delivery, delay or damage to an article while being sent. The department also submitted that it was ready to refund the Rs 25 that Gupta had paid in postal charges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Allahabad High Court today directed the Uttar Pradesh government counsel to seek instructions on a PIL seeking a judicial inquiry into the recent violence in Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. A division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosle and Justice M K Gupta passed the order on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ramendra Nath, who has also urged that at least one member of the inquiry commission must be from the Scheduled Castes. The petitioner has sought resumption of mobile internet and messaging services in the western UP district, which were suspended last week in the aftermath of a fresh round of inter-caste violence. Besides, the petitioner has demanded that action be taken against those found guilty of inciting violence. It was submitted by the state government that a Special Investigating Team (SIT) has been set up by the Yogi Adityanath administration to probe the entire episode. The court fixed July 10 as the next date of hearing in the matter. Trouble had erupted on May five in Shabbirpur village where an upper caste youth was killed in violence that followed Dalits objecting to a procession that was being taken out to mark the birth anniversary of Rajput king Maharana Pratap. A few days later, members of Dalit group Bheem Army torched a number of vehicles after their request for holding a "mahapanchayat" was turned down by the administration. The district witnessed a fresh violence last week both before and after a visit to Shabbirpur by Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid a courtesy call to Spanish King Felipe VI at Palacio de la Zarzuela palace on the outskirts of Madrid. "A royal greeting! PM @narendramodi calls on His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain at Palacio de la Zarzuela," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with photographs of the two leaders. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi met Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace this morning. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1988, praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." From Spain, Modi will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A political activist of Imran Khan's party has been arrested for allegedly maligning Pakistani's powerful Army on social media over its reported rift with the government, in the first case registered under the country's controversial cybercrime law. The Federal Investigation Agency yesterday arrested Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf activist Adnan Afzal in Lahore for using abusive language about the Army and some ruling PML-N ministers. The suspect lamented the Army personnel after the Inter- Services Public Relations, the military's media wing, on May 10 withdrew its tweet that "rejected" the Nawaz Sharif government notification of the findings of a committee set up to investigate a story in Dawn newspaper in October last year on the national security issue. Opposition parties have alleged that the Sharif government advocated India's narrative in the story by leaking the contents of the national security meeting in October. The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Sharif. In the meeting, Sharif had asked the Army to take action against JuD, led 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, and other groups such as the JeM and the Haqqani network, or face isolation. The government had removed Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, National Security Adviser Tariq Fatemi and Press Information Officer Rao Tahseen on the recommendation of the inquiry committee set up to determine who was responsible for leaking the meeting's information to Dawn. "The suspect used abusive language about the Army command after the ISPR's withdrawal of its tweet in connection with the story," an FIA official said. "We have booked him under different sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and the Pakistan Penal Code whose accumulative punishment is 13 years," FIA Lahore cyber-crime wing head Shahid Hasan told PTI. He said the suspect was running a Facebook page against military personnel and he also had made a series of such tweets. The official said the FIA has identified more suspects and will take them into custody soon. Earlier, the FIA had taken over 20 suspects into custody in conmilitary with an anti-militry campaign on social media, but had to release them after charges against them were not established. "Teams from the FIA's cybercrime wing have been working for two weeks on the Facebook accounts of suspects, WhatsApp groups, blogs and websites where such a material is being uploaded," the official said. The opposition parties have vowed to resist efforts to place curbs on social media. Imran Khan's party has said it will move the court against "illegal actions" taken by government agencies against political workers and social media activists. PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said the government is not interested in taking action against 60 banned organisations that were "furthering nefarious agendas" on the social media. Bringing a much needed respite from prickly heat, pre-monsoon showers today lashed Goa, causing water-logging in many low-lying areas and flooding of streets in the state capital and other locations. As per a prediction made by the Met department, the rains will continue for the next 48 hours. "The current rainfall is due to a offshore turf that is developed away from the west coast in the deep sea. The turf is running from South Maharashtra to Kerala coast, resulting in the rains in this area," M C Sahu, Director, India Meteorological Observatory in Goa told PTI. He said the showers will continue for the next 48 hours and heavy rains are expected at isolated places while moderate rains in rest of the state. "The rainfall will be reduced after 48 hours and will be scattered," Sahu said, adding that the south west monsoon is expected to arrive in Goa around June 6, with a delay of a day or two. Meanwhile, the Met department has rubbished a rumour attributing today's downpour to cyclone Mora in the Bay of Bengal. "Rains in Goa have nothing to do with Mora cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone has already weakened and it has no impact on Goa," Sahu said. He said there is no prediction of gusty winds in the state. "The winds are not very strong. They are travelling at the speed of 10 kms per hour," Sahu said. The Met department has installed a Doppler radar at its Goa facility which has became operational and giving good results, according to the director. The sudden rains today, however, caught people unaware and also severely affected the normal life in the state. With low-lying areas in Panaji and other locations getting inundated due to rains, the traffic moved at a snail's pace, causing a huge inconvenience to people. State Fire and Emergency Services reported several instances of falling of trees. "There were eight calls received from Panaji city itself. All were about falling of trees which were attended to immediately," a senior official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Auto components maker Pricol is acquiring Ashok Piramal Group company PMP Auto Components for an undisclosed amount, as it looks to expand in Europe and North American markets. The board of Pricol has "approved the acquisition of PMP Auto Components," Pricol said in a regulatory filing. "Pricol and PMP Auto Components, India have entered into an exclusive and binding agreement for Pricol to acquire the entire ownership interest in wiping systems business of PMP", said Pricol. Both the parties are working towards "executing definitive documentation and closure of this deal shortly", the filing said further. The acquisition will give Pricol access to manufacturing locations in Europe and North America, where it does not have any footprint. "This will enable Pricol to also manufacture its current product portfolio in these new geographies. With this acquisition, Pricol will increase its presence with the passenger vehicles manufacturers, thereby opening up future cross selling opportunities," the company said. PMP, which has a turnover of Rs 250 crore, has manufacturing facilities in Czech Republic, Mexico and India. It supplies components to auto majors such as Volkswagen, Daimler, Fiat, John Deere, Skoda, Audi, Renault and Tata Motors. "Pricol is acquiring the business as part of a long term product diversification strategy and believes that wiping systems is a growing product segment with India Czech Republic and Mexico serving as best cost manufacturing bases," the company said. Shares of Pricol were trading at Rs 77 on BSE, down 3.45 per cent from previous close. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress gave it back to the trolls criticising her for wearing a dress showing her legs during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 34-year-old actress shared a photograph on Instagram, flaunting her legs in a high-slit denim dress, along with her mother Madhu, who was dressed in a black top and floral mini skirt. Priyanka captioned the image, "Legs for days... #itsthegenes with Madhu Chopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch." Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch A post shared by (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 4:23pm PDT The "Quantico" star, who is currently in the German capital to promote her Hollywood debut "Baywatch", had a meeting with the Indian PM. She wore floralPM Modi arrived in the country as a part of his his six- day, four-nation tour of Germany, Spain, Russia and France aimed at boosting bilateral economic engagement with them and inviting more investment for India's transformation. Priyanka wrote on Twitter, "Thank you for taking the time to meet me this morning @narendramodi Sir. Such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin at the same time. While Priyanka Chopra was slammed for not wearing "decent" clothes during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin, the actress today took potshots at the trolls by sharing a cheeky photograph on her Instagram page. The 34-year-old actress's short floral dress evoked harsh comments online. "At least wear decent clothes in front of elders and when he is the PM of India, you should not forget the Indian culture," a social media user wrote. Another added, "May be you are a big international star but please do show some respect in front of Modi ji. Look at the way you are sitting in front of him." In her reply to the trolls, Priyanka posted a photo recently in which she can be seen flaunting her legs in a high-slit denim dress, along with her mother Madhu, who is dressed in a black top and a floral mini skirt. Priyanka captioned the image, "Legs for days... #itsthegenes with Madhu Chopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch." The "Quantico" star is in Germany to promote her Hollywood debut "Baywatch". She met PM Modi in Berlin, while he was in Germany as part of a four-nation trip. After her meeting with the PM, Priyanka wrote on Twitter, "Thank you for taking the time to meet me this morning @narendramodi Sir. Such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin at the same time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to train his guns on the BJP-led government at the Centre and the TRS administration in Telangana when he addresses a public meeting near here tomorrow. The public meeting meeting will be held at Sangareddy town. Gandhi would reach Begumpet airport here in the afternoon and garland a statue of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and greet Congress workers at different places in the city before reaching Sangareddy in the evening, according to his schedule released by the state Congress. Gandhi's rally, named 'Telangana Praja Garjana' (roar of Telangana people), would boost the morale of the party rank and file in their fight against the TRS government, Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy had said earlier. The Ambedkar Stadium at Sangareddy, the venue of the meeting, holds significance. It is the same location where former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi addressed a public meeting in 1979 and led the Congress back to power in the 1980 general elections. "Therefore, Rahul Gandhi's address from the same location after 38 years would be of historic significance and of very high sentimental value," Reddy had said. The Congress leader would release a 'chargesheet' against the "failures" of the TRS government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Environmental factors, including infection with seasonal influenza, may increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests. Most cases of Parkinson's have no known cause and researchers continue to debate and study possible factors that may contribute to the disease. Now, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in the US suggest that a certain strain of influenza virus predisposes mice to developing pathologies that mimic those seen in Parkinson's disease. "This study has provided more evidence to support the idea that environmental factors, including influenza may be involved in Parkinson's disease," said Richard J Smeyne, Professor at Thomas Jefferson University. "Here we demonstrate that even mice who fully recover from the H1N1 influenza virus responsible for the previous pandemic (also called 'swine flu') are later more susceptible to chemical toxins known to trigger Parkinson's in the lab," said Smeyne. Previously, researchers showed that a deadly H5N1 strain of influenza (so-called bird flu) that has a high mortality rate (60 per cent of those infected died from the disease) was able to infect nerve cells, travel to the brain and cause inflammation that would later result in Parkinson's-like symptoms in mice. Inflammation in the brain that does not resolve appropriately, such as after traumatic injury to head, has also been linked to Parkinson's. The researchers looked at a less lethal strain, the H1N1 "swine flu," that does not infect neurons, but which still caused inflammation in the brain via inflammatory chemicals or cytokines released by immune cells involved in fighting the infection. Using a model of Parkinson's disease in which the toxin MPTP induces Parkinson's-like symptoms in humans and mice, Smeyne showed that mice infected with H1N1, even long after the initial infection, had more severe Parkinson's symptoms than those who had not been infected with the flu. When mice were vaccinated against the H1N1, or were given antiviral medications such as Tamiflu at the time of flu infection, the increased sensitivity to MPTP was eliminated. "The H1N1 virus that we studied belongs to the family of Type A influenzas, which we are exposed to on a yearly basis," said Smeyne. The research was published in the journal npj Parkinson's Disease. Ross Ulbricht, the notorious founder of the "dark web" exchange Silk Road where drugs and other contraband were openly sold, lost his appeal against his life prison sentence. A federal appeals court in New York yesterday confirmed Ulbricht's 2015 conviction and sentence, rejecting his claim of an unfair trial and that being dealt the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole was unreasonably harsh under the law. The appeals court agreed that the sentence was possibly tougher than the judges might have imposed themselves. However, they said, based on the crimes and the law, including Ulbricht's attempt to have several people murdered, it was "within the range" of appropriate punishments. "Ulbricht profited from every sale on Silk Road, and he facilitated the acts of each drug dealer and drug organization that used it," they said. "Moreover, he attempted to commission at least five murders to protect his criminal enterprise. Those facts render his case distinguishable from those who committed other crimes using Silk Road or otherwise facilitated its operation." Ulbricht, 33, launched Silk Road in 2011 as an anonymous online market where anyone using Tor technology and Bitcoin currency could buy and sell anything. Justice authorities estimated that some USD 200 million worth of heroin, cocaine and other drugs were exchanged on the site over two years before the FBI shut it down. Ulbricht himself earned tens of millions of dollars from its operation, much of that seized by US authorities in Bitcoin. In his 2015 trial, a landmark case in the murky world of online crime, Ulbricht's lawyers had sought to negotiate a 20 -year sentence, and government prosecutors had not asked the life-without-parole extreme. But US District Judge Katherine Forrest gave the harshest punishment possible, telling Ulbricht: "What you did was unprecedented.... You have to pay the consequences. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today that the government was sparing no effort to trace Kerala priest Tom Uzhunnalil, who was kidnapped in war- torn Yemen by terror group Islamic State (IS) in March 2016. "Governor (Kerala): We are sparing no effort," she said on Twitter. Her tweet came in response to the meeting held between the relatives of Father Uzhunnalil and Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam in Thiruvananthapuram. Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy accompanied the relatives to meet the Governor this evening and requested him to expedite action to trace Father Uzhunnalil, who was kidnapped by the IS in Aden in Yemen on March 4 last year. The Governor assured them of all possible help and forwarded the plea submitted by the relatives to Swaraj. Father Uzhunnalil had gone missing after the terror group attacked a care home run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that climate change is "undeniable" and urged world leaders to "stay the course" even if a government "doubts" the need for the historic Paris deal, in a possible reference to US President Donald Trump who has vowed to withdraw from the deal. In his first major speech on climate change since assuming charge as the head of the UN this January, Guterres bluntly warned the international community that the "world is in a mess" and the impact of climate change could affect food production, water security and weather patterns "from Canada to India." "Yes, not everyone will move at the same pace or with equal vigour.But if any government doubts the global will and need for this accord, that is reason for all others to unite even stronger and stay the course.It is reason to build ever broader coalitions - with civil society and business, with cities and states, with academia and community leaders," he told students, business leaders and academics at the New York University Stern School of Business yesterday. The secretary-general's speech comes as Trump this week decides if the US -the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China -will adhere to the emissions cut layed out in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The US president has previously vowed to abandon the deal reached during the tenure of his predecessor Barack Obama. Trump, who has called climate change "a hoax" on occasion, had shrugged off pressure from US allies during the G7 summit in Sicily last week, putting him at odds with other members of the grouping of developed nations. He said he will take a decision on the Paris climate agreement this week. While Guterres did not mention the Trump administration in his speech, but responding to a question from the audience later, he said the UN believes "it would be important for the US not to leave the Paris agreement" and even if Trump withdraws, "it's very important for the US society as a whole - the cities, the states, the companies, the businesses - to remain engaged" with the climate agreement. Highlighting the seriousness of the impact of climate change,Guterres said the effects of climate change were dangerous and they were accelerating. "And so my argument today is that it is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris agreement - and that we fulfil that duty with increased ambition. The reason is three-fold: Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. And climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable," he said. The Paris climate deal calls on countries to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future, and to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change. It also aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change and calls for scaled up financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity-building framework to support action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries in line with their own national objectives. "Some may seek to portray the response to climate change as a fundamental threat to the economy.Yet, what we are witnessing in these early years of a systemic response is the opposite.We are seeing new industries. New markets. Healthier environments. More jobs. Less dependency on global supply chains of fossil fuels," he said. Guterres listed nations around the world which are embracing green technologies, saying they will set the gold standard for economic leadership in the 21st century. "The falling cost of renewables is one of the most encouraging stories on the planet today," he said adding that in the US and China, new renewable energy jobs now outstrip those created in the oil and gas industries. China aims to increase its renewable energy by about 40per cent by 2020 while industry experts predict India's solar capacity will double this year to 18gigawatts. Major oil producers are also seeing the future and diversifying their economies, even Saudi Arabia announcing plans to install 700megawatts of solar and wind power. "The real danger is not the threat to one's economy that comes from acting.It is, instead, the risk to one's economy by failing to act.The message is simple: The sustainability train has left the station.Get on board or get left behind," he said. Laying out a five-point action plan to mobilise the world for climate action, the UN chief said he will intensify political engagement with countries to increase efforts to limit temperature rise to well below 2 degree-Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degree-Celsius, the first point. He also said that he would engage more with major actors - the coal, oil and gas industries - to accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy, and committed stronger support to governments as they strive to meet climate commitments and achieve the2030 Agendafor Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. "That is where true change will be achieved," he said. The UN chief added that he will work with UN member- states to mobilise national and international resources for adaptation and implementation of national climate action plans. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, veteran director K Viswanath, Telugu star Pawan Kalyan and others today paid homage to Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao. Naidu, accompanied by some of his cabinet colleagues, flew down from Vijayawada to pay tributes to Rao, who passed away yesterday. "Narayana Rao's death is a loss not only to the film industry but also to all Telugu people," Naidu said. Recalling that he had association with Narayana Rao since his younger days, Naidu said the departed film-maker and his family members treated him like their own. Viswanath and a number of top Telugu actors, including Venkatesh, Pawan Kalyan, junior NTR and also a large number of fans visited Rao's residence at Jubilee Hills here to pay their last respects. Narayana Rao, who directed super-hit movies with legendary actors like NT Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao, passed away at a private hospital here yesterday at the age of 75. He was suffering from health problems related to food pipe, kidney and others. The veteran filmmaker was also a politician and served as a minister during the UPA-2 regime. The Telangana government has announced that Rao's funeral would be conducted with state honours. Rao, a versatile personality who directed about 150 films and worked for hundreds of others as a dialogue writer, lyricist and actor, was admitted to hospital couple of months ago, but was soon discharged. He began his career as a theatre artiste and went on to work in films. Rao directed his first film in the early 1970s. He won many prestigious awards, including the National Award, the Filmfare and received honours from the Andhra Pradesh government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The maiden foreign visit of US President Donald Trump to the Middle East and Europe was an incredibly "historic" trip during which he interacted with a record 100 leaders, the White House has said. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the nine- day trip that took Trump to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Vatican, Belgium and Italy set the stage for a much more safe and prosperous America and a more peaceful world for all. "This was an extraordinarily successful and historic nine-day trip the President took.He accomplished the return of a strong America to international affairs, rallied civilised nations of the world against terrorism, took real steps towards peace in the Middle East, and renewed our alliances on the basis of both shared interest and shared burdens," he said on Trump's meeting with nearly 100 foreign leaders. Spicer claimed the visit showed how quickly and decisively the President acted to strengthen alliances, to form new partnerships, and to rebuild America's standing in the world. "We've never seen before at this point in a presidency such sweeping reassurance of American interest, and the inauguration of a foreign policy strategy designed to bring back the world from growing dangers and perpetual disasters brought on by years of failed leadership," Spicer said. Trump began his trip from Saudi Arabia, a nation that is the custodian to two of the holiest sites in Islam. "The President was greeted on the tarmac by the King of Saudi Arabia and received with incredible graciousness by the Kingdom and its leaders throughout his stay," Spicer said. He said Trump's address to the leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations was a turning point that people will talk about for many years to come. Spicer said Trump did exactly as he promised in his inaugural address by uniting the civilised world in the fight against terrorism and extremism. "The President was very direct in calling on the leaders of the region to drive out the terrorists and the extremists from their midst, and to isolate the Iranian regime that supports so much of this violence," Spicer said yesterday. "He let American allies know exactly what they can expect from us going forward - what he called 'a principled realism, rooted in common values and shared interests'," he said, adding that the president laid out the case in persuasive detail for why the Muslim world must take the lead in combating radicalisation. The visit also included historic economic development deals for the United States, totalling well over half a trillion dollars and the creation of tens of thousands of American jobs, Spicer said. These deals included an immediate USD 110 billion investment, which will grow to USD 350 billion over the next 10 years, in defence cooperation from Saudi Arabia that will enable Muslim troops to take on a greater role in further fighting terrorism, he added. Spicer said Trump also participated in the launch of a new task force to block terror funding in the Gulf, the opening of a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, and more than 30 commercial deals that will result in an additional USD 270 billion of Saudi investment in American businesses and American jobs. Trump went to Israel, where he was received with incredible warmth, he said. "He strengthened America's unbreakable bonds with Israel, made the first-ever visit by a sitting American President to the Western Wall, and gave a highly praised address at the Israel Museum as part of a continuing effort to rally nations together in the fight against terrorism and common enemies," he said. In his meetings with the Israeli and Palestine leaders, Trump advocated for a renewed push for peace - which they both agreed they were prepared to work towards. "He also discussed with both leaders how to increase cooperation against terrorism," he said. "Prime Minister Netanyahu said for the first time in my life I see a real hope for change," he said, adding that a leading Israeli publications wrote that "in the short space of three days, Trump carried out a semi-revolution". In Vatican, Trump had a very productive conversation about combating ISIS and other terrorist groups, protecting religious liberty, and numerous other issues with the Pope. "Hardworking Americans saw a leader representing them and their security on the international stage," he said. In his NATO meetings, Trump also urged NATO to adapt the alliance to more effectively combat terrorism, he said. Finally, Trump travelled to the G7 Summit in Sicily, where he and other leaders discussed how to better promote prosperity and security for each of their countries, he said. "Those meetings were marked by outstanding success that we see reflected in the communique that was issued. They include a strong statement that G7 nations will stand against unfair trade practices, and a commitment to fostering a true level playing field," Spicer said. "The G7 leaders also endorsed the right of sovereign nations to control their borders, and endorsed in that communique the policy outlined by President Trump to seek resettlement of refugees as close as possible to their home countries so that they can be part of their eventual rebuilding.This language on migration and refugees was a major shift in policy toward the position of the President," he said. Trump also met with Prime Minister Shinjo Abe of Japan wherein the two agreed on the need for enhanced sanctions against North Korea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump is set to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House today during which they are expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues, a presidential spokesman said. Phuc is the first leader from South East Asian country to visit Trump at the White House reflecting the priority that Trump places on developing relationship with Vietnam. In recent years, India and Vietnam have increased their defence ties, supported by the US, amid China's increasing assertiveness in the region. Vietnam is among governments claiming territory in the South China Sea, where China's assertive behavior and land reclamation has stirred tension. On the eve of the meeting, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met with Phuc to discuss the US-Vietnam trade relationship and outstanding bilateral trade issues. During the meeting, the two leaders also discussed the challenges presented by the growth in the US trade deficit with Vietnam and the potential for further improvements in the trade relationship, including through initiatives under the US-Vietnam Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). Lighthizer also met with Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh on these issues, as well as on the importance of ensuring concrete progress during the upcoming TIFA working group meetings on agriculture, digital trade, goods, intellectual property, and labor, a media release said. Later during a dinner reception for the visiting Vietnamese leader at the US Chamber of Commerce, Lighthizer said the US government looks forward to returning to Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting in November. "As the Trump administration begins to advance its agenda for free and fair trade, Prime Minister Phuc's visit to Washington is a timely and important opportunity for our two countries to reflect on the impressive growth of our bilateral relationship over the past two decades," Lighthizer said. "Working closely together, our trade and investment ties have grown significantly since we normalised relations in 1995. In 2001, we signed a bilateral trade agreement to serve as a roadmap for increased cooperation on economic reforms in Vietnam," he said, adding that the US and Vietnam worked together to fulfill those commitments, which served as a stepping-stone towards Vietnam's World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession. Since becoming prime minister in 2016, he has shown he is committed to maintaining high economic growth and promoting Vietnam's competitiveness and integration into the global economy, Lighthizer said. "He has focused on tackling graft and corruption, and promoting broad economic reform, including continuing to privatise Vietnam's state-owned-enterprises. Before becoming prime minister, he served in a series of important positions at the provincial and national level that gave him an experience in economic management and a recognition of the importance of economic reform to the country's future growth and regional and global competitiveness," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Donald Trump is "very pleased" with the performance of his media team and is looking forward to push his agenda, the White House said today, a day after the US president's communications director Michael Dubke resigned. "The president is very pleased with his team, and he has a robust agenda, as I've just outlined, that he looks forward to working with Congress to get done to achieve results for the American people," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters. He was responding to reports that Trump is looking for a major shakeup in his communication team as part of which Dubke resigned. "Mike tendered his resignation just before the president's historic international trip and offered to remain onboard until a transition is concluded," White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said. "Mike will assist with the transition and be a strong advocate for the president and the president's policies moving forward," Priebus said. Spicer refuted reports that Dubke's resignation was part of Trump's efforts to reorganise his media team. "I think the president is frustrated...To see stories coming out that are patently false, to see narratives that are wrong, to see fake . When you see stories get perpetrated that are absolutely false, that are not based on facts, that is troubling. And he's rightly concerned," Spicer said. Immediately thereafter, reporters asked Spicer to give specific example of "fake news". To that Spicer replied: "On Friday, the president was having a great discussion at the G7, and someone from the BBC -- and ultimately an incoming reporter from The New York Times -- retweeted that the president was being rude by disrespecting the Italian prime minister, when, in fact, you all, in every one of the meetings that we sit in, watch the president with that one earpiece that's been used by other presidents." "That's the kind of thing that the BBC and, ultimately, a reporter who's now joining The New York Times push out and perpetuate with no apology," Spicer said as he pointed out The New York Times reporter Peter Baker. CNN's correspondent Him Acosta said reporters make mistake, while Baker accused Spicer of blowing the incident out of proportion. "Your trip was all over the front page. You're making something out of one tweet instead of the vast majority of coverage," Baker said. Spicer responded by saying that instances "like that" are frustrating. "The media get to decide what is big and what is not but that a lot of things have been pushed out based on unnamed unaccountable sources that is very troubling." The White House spokesperson then abruptly ended the briefing, which lasted for about 30 minutes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump wants a "fair deal" for the American people under Paris climate agreement and will soon announce his stand on the landmark deal, the White House said today. Trump yesterday met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt, after his return from nine- day foreign trip, to discuss the Paris climate agreement "One of the topics that they discussed, of course, was the President's upcoming decision on the Paris Climate Accords," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily conference. This is the subject that the President is spending a great deal of time on, and one that he spoke to the G7 members about during their meetings, he said. "Ultimately, he wants a fair deal for the American people and he will have an announcement coming on that shortly," Spicer said. Meanwhile, influential Republican Senator Ted Cruz yesterday urged the US President to withdraw from Paris Agreement on Climate Change. "Following a successful international tour and the G-7 Summit in Italy, President Trump has an opportunity to relieve our nation of the unfair and economically devastating requirements of the Paris Agreement, the United Nations climate treaty he pledged to rip up during the campaign," Cruz wrote in an op-ed in CNN. "And as soon as possible, President Trump should act on -- and keep -- his campaign promise. The agreement, signed by the Obama administration last year, would commit the US to drastically reducing its carbon emissions while allowing some countries to increase theirs. This, all while doing nothing to meaningfully decrease global temperatures," he alleged. Cruz said in return for crippling American economy, the Paris Agreement would do next to nothing to impact global temperatures. "The Paris Agreement would also handicap America in the global race for new sources of energy. Russia has committed financial and military assets to the Arctic to stake its claim to the region's vast deep-water mineral, oil and gas deposits. China is also exploring and trading for Arctic oil and gas," he wrote. "Meanwhile, American liquefied natural gas struggles with logistical costs that weaken its competitiveness," Cruz said. Trump said on Saturday that he would announce this week whether the US would adhere to the Paris agreement after resisting pressure to announce the plans at the G7 summit. The other G7 countries - Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan - reaffirmed their support for the accord last week. The landmark agreement was signed in December 2015 and has been ratified by 147 countries, including the US. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gunman killed two staff at a private school in the Saudi Arabian capital today, a security source said. "A teacher took a gun and then he went to the school room and he killed the assistant school principal and one of the employees," said the source who asked not to be identified because a formal statement would come later from Riyadh police. Police are treating the case as a criminal matter and "not a terrorist incident," the source told AFP. According to his latest information the suspect, of Iraqi origin, was still being sought. The shooting occurred at Kingdom School, which is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner. There were no students present at the time of the shooting, according to the United States embassy which issued an alert about the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today strongly condemned the terror attack in Kabul's diplomatic enclave that killed scores of people and asserted that those responsible for the assault must be brought to justice. "The Secretary-General expressed his abhorrence at this act and underlined the need to reinforce the fight against terrorism and violent extremism," a statement issued by Guterres's spokesman said. The UN Chief said "indiscriminate" attacks against civilians are grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and can never be justified. "Those responsible for today's attack must be brought to justice," the statement said. The terror attack in which at least 90 people were killed was widely condemned by nations across the world. The impact of the explosion shattered the windows of the Indian Embassy. New Delhi said all staff at its embassy were safe. In a strongly-worded statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said the continuing violence even during the holy and pious month of Ramzan reflects the diabolical nature of the perpetrators and their supporters. Condemning the terrorist attack in the Afghan capital, the United Nations mission there called on all parties to the conflict to "strictly adhere" to their obligations under international humanitarian law and to take all feasible measures to protect civilians from harm. "Beyond the immeasurable human suffering caused by today's attack, the deliberate detonation of a massive truck bomb in a civilian area, particularly during the peaceful month of Ramadan, is morally reprehensible and an outrage," Tadamichi Yamamoto, the head of the UN Assistance Mission, known as UNAMA, said in a statement. A suicide attacker detonated a vehicle-borne explosive device in downtown Kabul's Wazir Akhbar Khan area, which also houses a number of diplomatic missions. In addition to the loss of lives and injuries, the explosion also resulted in considerable damage to the surrounding areas, with some embassies being seriously affected. Yamamoto, who is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, underscored that the terrorist attack is a serious violation of humanitarian law. "There can be no exceptions: the use of explosive weapons in civilian-populated areas must stop," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five UN workers at a refugee camp in northwest Kenya were allegedly involved in fraud and other serious misconduct, the UN refugee agency has said. One staff member was arrested after the agency referred three workers at the Kakuma camp to Kenyan police for criminal prosecution, according to the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "Protecting lives is at the core of UNHCR's work, which makes the betrayal of trust we have seen in this case so galling," said deputy head of the UNHCR George Okoth-Obbo yesterday. The UNHCR launched an internal investigation after receiving allegations of fraud, corruption, threats and intimidation in the camp, it said. Two of the workers have since resigned and disciplinary actions are being taken against the other three. The agency also suspended restettlement applications for the camp, it said. UNHCR investigations are carried out by the organisation's Inspector General's Office, an independent body which reports directly to the High Commissioner. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tobacco kills more than seven million people each year worldwide and is also an environment hazard as it generates thousands of tonnes of poisonous emissions and litter, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said today and urged the people to quit it. On World No Tobacco Day today, the Environment Minister joined the Health Minister, J P Nadda, in raising awareness about risks associated with tobacco use. Vardhan tweeted that "as an ENT surgeon with long experience with millions of patients (I) can confirm Tobacco causes only DEATH (sic)". He also recalled the enactment of 'Delhi prohibition of smoking in public places and non smokers health protection Act' by Delhi government back in 1996. "Supreme Court had directed all state govts to enact similar anti tobacco legislation all over the country- happy FCTC helping the world now," he said, referring to WHO's anti-tobacco initiative. He said tobacco costs the world's economies more than USD one trillion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity. "Tobacco generates 1000's of tonnes of poisonous emissions. Cigarette butts make upto 40 per cent of waste in coastal/urban areas," he said on twitter. He said that up to 10 per cent of budget among the very poor population is spent on tobacco products. "Tobacco kills more than seven million people each year. Around 890,000 of it is the result of passive smoking by non- smokers #worldnotobaccoday. "Upto 10% of budgets among very poor population is spent on tobacco products, ie. Less for healthcare, food and education #worldnotobaccoday," he tweeted. Yesterday, World Health Organisation (WHO) had said that India has lost 1,700 hectares of forest annually between 1962 and 2002 due to cultivation of tobacco in these areas. The global health body said that stamping out its use can help nations reduce large-scale environmental degradation. "#worldnotobaccoday; aims to raise awareness about risks associated with tobacco use & to reaffirm our commitment to reduce this menace," Nadda tweeted. He also flagged off '#NoTobacco' awareness walkathon at Nirman Bhawan. The WHO has conferred a special recognition award on Nadda for his commitment to advancing tobacco control in the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has accused the United Nations of anti-Israel bias, will travel to Israel next week and deliver an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Haley will be the first US ambassador to address the rights council, speaking at a session on June 6 that will be followed by a speech on the US role at the council, the US mission yesterday said. The former governor of South Carolina has criticized the UN rights body as "corrupt" and the US administration has been weighing a withdrawal from the council. "We haven't made a decision yet," Haley told reporters when asked if the United States would quit the council. Haley said she would discuss possible reforms at the council and "then we will make a decision after that." From June 7 to 9, Haley will hold meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during her visit to Israel and visit a UN peacekeeping mission in the region. Haley said she was hoping to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, but that these meetings had yet to be confirmed. The US ambassador has won applause from the Israeli government for pledging to stand up to what she has termed "Israel-bashing" at the United Nations. She has condemned a Security Council resolution demanding that Israel halt the expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land as a "terrible mistake." The resolution was adopted after the former US administration refused to use its veto to block the measure and instead abstained. Countries with questionable human rights records such as China and Saudi Arabia have seats on the UN body. In Geneva, Haley will also discuss the human rights crisis in Venezuela. It will be her second visit abroad as US ambassador. Last week, she visited Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States and China are discussing next steps in response to North Korea's missile tests and could reach a decision on new sanctions this week, Washington's UN envoy Nikki Haley has said. China is pushing Pyongyang through back channels to change its behavior and discussing with the United States the timing of a possible new sanctions resolution, Haley yesterday told reporters. "It's about at what point do we do the resolution... At what test model do we say now is the time to go forward," she said. "We do think they are trying to counter what is happening now and they have the lay of the land," Haley said of the Chinese government. "We are going to keep the pressure on China but we will continue to work with them ... And I think we will decide this week on what that looks like." North Korea has carried out three missile tests in less than three weeks, defying UN warnings that it faces new sanctions. Yesterday, Pyongyang test-fired a short-range missile that fell provocatively close to Japan. The United States launched talks on new sanctions with China a month ago with a view to drafting a proposed resolution to present to the council, but no text has been agreed. Haley said the council was not backpedalling but rather carefully considering the next moves. "Nothing is changing North Korea's actions and so it's regrouping and saying okay, what are we going to do if this is going to happen every other day," said Haley. "How should we respond in a way that actually stops these things or slows them down?" she added. China has pushed for a revival of the six-party talks that have been dormant since North Korea walked out on the negotiations in 2009. Haley has said that the United States will open a dialogue with Pyongyang if it halts its missile and nuclear tests. North Korea is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five atomic tests, two of them last year. The Security Council adopted two sanctions resolutions last year to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang and deny leader Kim Jong-Un the hard currency needed to fund his military programs. In all, six sets of sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UN General Assembly today elected Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak to be the next president of the 193-member powerful body. Lajcak, 54, was elected by acclamation as president of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly at a special session here. The 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly will commence from September 12. Lajcak, who was one of the candidates last year for the position of UN Secretary General, will succeed Fijian diplomat Peter Thomson. "Thank you @UN General Assembly 4 electing me the next @UN_PGA. Looking fwd to work w/all of you to make this world a better place to live in," Lajcak, Slovakia's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, tweeted following his election. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres congratulated Lajcak on his election, saying he has always demonstrated an "impressive command" of all aspects of UN action and a strong commitment to the principles that govern our work. Lajcak has expressed his firm belief that "strengthening the UN is the best investment to achieve the universal desire for peace, development, equality and justice in the world," the UN chief said. "I think that both of us saw high expectations and got a strong sense of how much governments and people need the United Nations to respond to the deserving cries of people around the world for lasting peace, justice, human rights and human dignity," Guterres said. The UN chief thanked Thomson for his leadership over the past year, voicing appreciation for guiding the General Assembly "outstandingly well" during the transition from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Guterres taking charge at the helm of the UN. "Your very strong commitment to the implementation of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on Climate change and your enthusiastic leadership in relation to the Oceans Conference represent a legacy that will never be forgotten in the United Nations," Guterres said. In May last year, the Slovak government had formally nominated Lajcak as a candidate for the position of UN secretary-general. A career diplomat, Lajcak is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. At the age of 31, he was appointed Slovak Ambassador to Japan, and later to Yugoslavia, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In 2009, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic and later, in 2012, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs. In addition, he became Chairman of the Slovak Government's Council for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equality. In 2007, Lajcak was appointed High Representative of the International Community and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During his tenure, Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU. He also launched activities to reach out to the population, including speaking tours and a website for dialogue with citizens. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US military said it had intercepted a mock-up of an intercontinental ballistic missile in a first-of-its-kind test that comes amid concerns over North Korea's weapons program. A ground-based interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California "successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile target" fired from the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands yesterday, the military said in a statement. The test saw a rocket from the Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) system blast into space and then deploy its "exo-atmospheric kill vehicle," which smashed into the dummy ICBM, destroying it in a direct collision. "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the US Missile Defence Agency, was quoted as saying. The exercise marked a significant step for the GMD system, which has had a checkered record in previous tests. Though it succeeded in the last test in 2014, it failed during the three prior attempts against slower-moving, non- ICBM missiles. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this program," Syring said. The success of yesterday's test is a watershed moment for the US military's effort to establish an effective -- though limited -- ground-based defence against ICBMs. It came a day after North Korea test-fired yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyang's quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said yesterday's trial was not timed specifically in response to tensions with Pyongyang but that "in a broad sense, North Korea is one of the reasons why we have this capability." "They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland," Davis said. He also pointed to Iran's increasing missile capabilities as threatening US strategic interests in the Middle East. The technology behind the GMD is extremely complex, and the system uses globally deployed sensors to detect and track ballistic missile threats. The interception is a move that the Pentagon says is akin to hitting a bullet with another bullet -- though at far higher speeds. "Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test," the US military statement read. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US has successfully shot down a mock intercontinental ballistic missile, its first-live fire test, using its own upgraded long-range interceptor warhead, in what was widely seen as a test of America's ability to counter growing threat from North Korea. The US military fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-type weapon yesterday from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg air force base in California. This was the first live-fire test event against an ICBM- class target for Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) and the US ballistic missile defence system, the Pentagon has said. GMD is an integral element of the United States' layered ballistic missile defence architecture, with interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Fort Greely, Alaska. The programme comprises command-and-control facilities, communications terminals and a 20,000-mile fiber-optic communications network that interfaces with ballistic missile defence radars and other sensors. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this programme," said Missile Defence Agency Director Vice Adm Jim Syring. "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," he added. According to Pentagon, initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but programme officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test. The one-time test costs USD 250 million to the Department of Defence. The test, designated Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor (FTG)-15, will provide the data necessary to assess the performance of the GMD system and provide enhanced homeland defence capabilities, it said. The GMD element of the ballistic missile defence system provides combatant commanders the capability to engage and destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats to protect the US. The continental US is about 9,000km from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500km, but some are designed to travel 10,000km or farther. North Korea has dramatically ramped up the pace of its missile tests over the past year, with a goal of developing an ICBM that can strike the US mainland. Early in the day, the Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told that the test wasn't "timed specifically to the current tensions in North Korea." At the same time he said recent threats from the country "is one of the reasons why we have this capability." "We improve and learn from each test regardless of the outcome. Our goal is to continue to be able to tell you with confidence that we have the ability to defends the homeland against this nascent ICBM threat," Davis said. "This successful test keeps the United States on track for a significant increase in interceptor inventory of 44 in 2017," said Norm Tew, vice president and GMD program director. US lawmakers congratulated the Pentagon on this successful test. "Today is an important day for our nation's missile defenders, our scientists and engineers, and the American people. This successful intercept test of an ICBM-like target sends a clear message to the unstable dictator in North Korea that the US Ballistic Missile Defence System can and will shoot down any ballistic missile threat that endangers the American people," said Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith said this is an "important milestone in the programme," but "much work remains to be done to ensure we have a reliable and effective system." "After an investment of more than USD 40 billion since 2002, it's good that the Missile Defence Agency is finally doing a missile defence test against an ICBM target, some 13 years after the first Ground-Based Interceptor system's deployment," Smith said in a statement. "By successfully shooting down an ICBM-class target, America demonstrated that we can defend ourselves from nuclear attack. And the world should know that America will defend itself from nuclear attack. I hope that our enemies were all watching closely and took note of what we are capable of achieving," Congressman Doug Lamborn said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coming out in support of Priyanka Chopra, who is facing backlash for wearing a "short" dress while meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Varun Dhawan said everyone must be proud of the actress. Priyanka, who met Modi in Berlin yesterday, uploaded a picture of hers with the PM on social media, where she was trolled for wearing a knee-length dress that showed her legs. The 34-year-old model-turned-actress was in Berlin to promote her debut Hollywood film "Baywatch". "She is someone we all should be proud of in our country...She is making our country proud abroad. All this is very stupid and social media trolling is not something that needs to become a national issue," Varun said. The "Main Tera Hero" star was talking on the sidelines of an event here. Apparently unfazed by the trolling, the "Quantico" actress today posted a picture of her and her mother wearing a short dress and captioned it: "Legs for the day... (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The White House said it "strongly condemns the atrocious attack" today on Kabul's diplomatic quarter where a truck bomb killed at least 80 people. "We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured. That this attack would occur during the holy month of Ramadan underscores the senseless and barbaric nature of this attack," a White House spokesman said. "Our embassy is working with our Afghan and coalition partners to provide assistance to the personnel and affected embassies and we will work closely with the national unity government to help them bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice," the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kartik Aryan says working with veteran actor Paresh Rawal was an inspiring experience. Kartik, who has worked with Rawal for the first time in the upcoming film "Guest iin London," says the 67-year-old actor is down to earth in nature. "He is funny in real life, he is same like how he is on screen. He is normal and secured actor, he doesn't show off that I have achieved a lot. He is a veteran star and everyday was a learning day for me. "It was magical working with him. The kind of versatility that he has off and on camera is something for all of us to learn," Kartik told PTI. "Guest iin London" revolves around an odd old couple (Rawal and Tanvi Azmi) from rural India who land up uninvited as guests in a suburban London home of a young couple (Kartik and Kriti Kharbanda). The trailer and subject of the film is similar to Ajay Devgn-starrer 2010 film "Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?" but Kartik, 28, insists both the movies are different. "It is a completely new film. The director is same, who made 'Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?' and now "Guest iin London" so there are comparisons. Its like we have so many romantic films but the stories are bit different," he says. The film, written and directed by Ashwni Dhir, releases on June 16. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The increase in smartphone penetration and a sharp fall in mobile data rates allowed India to overtake the US in app downloads from Google Play Store in 2016. Companies hit by ransomware are faced with an ethical dilemma: pay up to save their now-encrypted data, or hold the moral high ground and lose it all. Low cost-carrier IndiGo and aviation authorities are facing a peculiar problem - how to kill mosquitoes on a plane. IndiGo has moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against its blanket ban on spraying disinfectants in a flight when people are on board. This ban is what the airline claims to have stopped the flight crew from taking measures to deal with the insects on board. Recently, around 900 Indigo passengers complained about pests bothering during flights. Some of them went the extra mile and lodged cases with the consumer forum against the company, as per a report by the Economic Times. The Tribunal had directed the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) back in August 2015 to ensure that no disinfectant fumigation is done in the airplane if any person is present in it. IndiGo requested DGCA to modify this NGT ruling in light of the complaints by its customers. History of spray ban NGT passed the decision prohibiting spraying disinfectants after hearing a plea by a United States-based neurologist Dr Jain Kumar. He is working as director with the Primary Stroke Centre at Baylor Hospital in Texas. Kumar had argued that insecticides and pesticides contain phenothrin, an organo-phosphorous neurotoxin which can cause cancer and lead to auto-immune diseases like Parkinson's disease and amnesia, the report said. Phenothrin is used to kill flea and ticks and can be found even in products to cure head lice in humans. IndiGo's side of argument Represented by senior advocate Pinaki Mishra, IndiGo asserted in its plea that cases of dengue and malaria have increased with monsoon around the corner and they cannot take measures to protect their passengers. Following the IndiGo plea, NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notices to Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA and the original petitioner that advocated the ban, Dr Kumar. The plea will be next heard on June 2. Also watch: West Bengal has outdone other states in India in terms of enrolment in Goods and Services Tax (GST ) through Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). The state is leading with 91 per cent enrolment as of now, according to Bijay Kumar, Principal Commissioner, Service Tax of Kolkata Commissionerate. The capital city, Kolkata, ranks third in list if cities with highest GST enrolment, bested by Ahmedabad and Mysore, in that order. According to data available with CII, West Bengal is also doing better than most in the direction of VAT migration too, with 86.6 per cent. With the introduction of GST, the flagship financial initiative of incumbent NDA government, the entire country will be brought together as a common market under a unified tax regime. This in turn will help with ease of business and is scheduled to be rolled out nationwide on July 1. All is not well Where other states are struggling to fulfil the deadline now a month away, numbers by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and tax authorities show that West Bengal is at least moving in the right direction. However, the state has refused to ratify the GST Bill in its Legislative Assembly. State Finance Minister Amit Mitra has vetoed the July 1 role out of GST on grounds that the new tax regime puts unnecessary tax burden on the poorer sections. Bengal has even asked other states to pitch in; however response to this call is yet to come. In a statement yesterday, he asserted that GST in its present form is unacceptable. Reasons for dissatisfaction West Bengal government is unwilling to bring GST to the state until two commodities - footwear under Rs 500 and books - as well as regional cinema are exempted from tax under GST. Demands of tax exemption for cheap footwear originates has been justified by Mitra as it will put affect the lower strata of the society who use them the most. The 28 per cent tax rate applicable for regional cinema is also being ridiculed by the West Bengal government as it will force single screens in districts to close on account of rising costs, leading to job losses, Hindustan Times reported Mitra saying. Also watch: Equity-linked saving schemes, or ELSS, are open-ended (funds that have no restriction on number of shares issued) and diversified (a way of allocating capital in a variety of assets in a way that reduces exposure to risk thereby mitigating loss) schemes offered through mutual funds. The unique feature of this scheme is that it offers tax benefits under the section 80C of the Income Tax Act, which means that you can reduce your tax liability. "One can avail a maximum deduction of Rs. 1.5 lakhs invested into these funds from you income during a financial year . This in turn, would help in saving tax of upto Rs. 46,350/- (if you fall in the highest income slab) during a financial year. These funds are efficient tax saving investments with the least lock in period and a superior track record on performance," says Mayank Bhatnagar, Chief Operating Officer, FinEdge. ALSO READ: Bull run: Here are 5 banking mutual funds you can place your bets on ALSO READ: Don't miss out on the SIP wave. Here are 5 top performing funds you can start SIPs in However, this instrument should not be looked from the perspective of saving taxes, but how one can channelise these investments towards long term goals. The equity element in ELSS allows investors to create wealth in the long run. Further, by choosing for the 'Dividend Payout' option in the ELSS investors can receive tax free payouts from their investment even before the maturity of the scheme, says Mayank. ALSO READ: How many mutual funds should you own? "ELSS also offer greater liquidity as the lock in period in these funds is only 3 years in comparison to PPF which has lock in period of 15 years," he adds. Additionally, the option of investing them in SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans) makes investing in ELSS flexible and mitigates the risk of investing in equities too. In ELSS funds you can invest as low as Rs 500 on a one time lumpsum basis. Experts also advice investors to avoid one time investments in ELSS and to break it down into monthly and recurring mode of payments. This allows an investor to practice disciplined investing and reign better control of tax saving investments and future wealth creation prospect. Apart from mitigating risk, investing through SIPs in ELSS provides the benefit of compounding. "Compounding can be best described as 'returns earned on returns'. By accruing profits within your ELSS over a 10-15 year time frame rather than redeeming the profits periodically, one can create a significant corpus for oneself over a long period of time," says Mayank. What about other schemes that give equity linked returns? Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIPs) are a mix of life insurance and investments but incur huge costs, especially during the initial phase of the policy. ULIPs also has a lock-in period of 5 years which is higher in comparison to ELSS's 3 year lock in period. Mayank also elaborates that expenses towards ELSS are clearly stated making it more transparent. However, the varying cost structure for ULIPSs can confuse the investor on the principal that has been invested out of the premium paid by him. On the other hand, National Pension Scheme (NPS) is an apt instrument for creating a retirement corpus, but its equity allocation being capped at 50 per cent limits its scope for capital gains. NPS has restrictions of withdrawals too. According to Value Research, here are some of the highly rates ELSS mutual funds you can look into: Tata India tax saving fund Falling under the equity tax planning category, this fund has a asset worth of Rs 656 crore as on April 2017. The scheme gives a 1 year return of 24.12 per cent and 3 year/5 year return of over 21 per cent. Since its launch the fund has given 20.06 per cent returns with a record of 46 per cent turnover. Value Research ranks this scheme's returns as 'above average'. Reliance tax saver (ELSS) With a larger asset base of Rs 8,045 crore and a growth price of Rs 56.99 this fund belongs to the Reliance Mutual Fund family. Launched in 2005, its return since has been 16.04 per cent with a turnover of 63 per cent. The minimum investment required is Rs 500. The scheme has a 1 year return of 29.26 per cent, 3 year return of 18.32 per cent and 5 year return of 22.84 per cent. Top holdings of this fund are automobiles, engineering and technology sectors led by TVS Motors with over 8 per cent assets. Motilal Oswal MOSt Focused Long Term Fund From the house of Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund, this scheme was launched in 2015 with a return of 20.72 per cent and turnover of 85 per cent. This scheme offers a 1 year return of 37.27 per cent with a minimum investment of Rs 500. The asset allocation is highly equity based with majority holdings in the financial sector led by HDFC Bank at 9.08 per cent. Mirae asset tax saver fund This scheme has given a 28.26 per cent return since launch and boasts a turnover of 118 per cent. It is an open-ended and diversified scheme with major holdings in the financial and automobile sector. With an expense ratio of 2.62 per cent, it gives back a return of 37.19 per cent in 1 year. L&T tax advantage fund With large asset base of Rs 2,202 crore as on April 2017, this fund reaps 29.19 per cent in 1 year. In 3 years and 5 years, the scheme gives back 18.50 per cent and 19.93 per cent returns. rated 3 stars by Value Research, it has a market capitalisation of Rs 29,701.78 crore. This, too, has a diversified sectoral holding ranging between Financial, FMCG, Technology, Textiles, etc. A 30-year-old employee of IT firm Infosys was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside his office premises in Chennai today. The employee has been identified as Illayaraja of Dindivanam. Ilayaraja, who is from Tiruvannamalai district, was discovered by his co-workers lying motionless in the restroom. He was soon rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead. The police have registered a case of suspicious death and probing the incident. Ilayaraja's family said they suspected a few people to be behind his death. Police suspect it to be a case of murder. However, they were waiting for the postmortem report to confirm the cause of death. Ilayaraja's cellphone was also missing, the police said. The long wait for construction of country's first bullet train project will be over by September this year, when actual work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor will begin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart will together lay the foundation of the project during the latter's visit to India in September, said Mohd Jamshed, member traffic, Railway Board. Speaking at the 3rd Mail Today Tourism Summit in the national Capital, Jamshed said the construction work would continue for another five years and mentioned that the government was committed to complete the project by the end of 2022. He asserted that India's bullet train, at the speed of 320 km per hour, will match the speed of the leading highspeed train systems across the world. This, he said, would prove to be a big leap for Indian Railways which is also the backbone of the tourism sector in India with its vast network of over 66,000 km, catering to 24 million passengers everyday. Jamshed noted that railways also catered to nearly 9 million foreign tourists per year. He added that a 508-km stretch of the project will be entirely elevated that will save railways' hassles of legal and environmental delays, owing to land acquisition. Apart from the bullet, the average speed of trains will increase with railways opening sections of the eastern and western dedicated freight corridors. This will increase the speed of trains on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah route by up to 160 kmph. Jamshed mentioned that for the first time after 2006, the Railway ministry is coming up with a dedicated and a liberalised tourism policy that will take care of the entire transportation and catering needs of tourists from every section of the society in India. In association with Mail Today Google co-founder Sergey Brin may be building his dream 'airship' which could be used to deliver supplies and food to remote locations, the Guardian newspaper reported. Brin's airship, which is being built at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, is touted to become the world's largest aircraft at about 200 metres long. However, Brin's airship will be smaller as compared to the Hindenburg Zeppelins of the 1930s. According to the Guardian, Brin is himself funding the airship which will be used to deliver essential supplies and food to far flung locations during humanitarian crisis. The $100 million airship will also serve as an extravagant intercontinental 'air yacht' for Brin's friends and family, it said. An airship designer who was part of the project during its early stages believes that airships can transform the global cargo industry. "Trucks are only as good as your roads, trains can only go where you have rails, and planes need airports. Airships can deliver from point A to point Z without stopping anywhere in between," the report quoted airship designer Igor Pasternak, as saying. According to the Guardian report, Brin's airship will use internal gas bladders to control its buoyancy. This is important because unlike an aircraft which needs a runway to take off and land, airships rely on buoyancy. If all the cargo is taken off the airship, keeping the airship steady may get difficult. Internal gas bladders will allow Brin's airship to off-load almost anywhere in the world. Although the airship was originally designed to use hydrogen for lifting purpose, but due to Federal Aviation Administration requirement that all airships must have non-flammable lifting gases, it is expected that Brin's airship will use helium as lifting gas. India and Spain today signed seven agreements, including on cyber security and technical cooperation in civil aviation, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the European country. The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital. The two sides agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Five MoUs were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between India's Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1988, praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." Spain is India's seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. Two-way trade totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016. Modi encouraged Spanish infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors in India, saying "It's a great time for Spanish companies to invest in India. Passengers and crew aboard Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Delhi got a scare when a drunk passenger tried to open one of the doors of the flight mid air. The crew on board Flight SU 232, Moscow-New Delhi acted quick to control the situation. The staff on board stopped the person from opening the door and calmed other passengers. The pilot informed the Delhi Air Traffic Controller (ATC) about the situation and requested for police's help at the airport. The incident on the flight took place when the plane was about to land. According to a Delhi Police official, the incident took place on May 22. After the flight landed in Delhi, the man was handed to authorities. Aeroflot's control room in Moscow was also informed about the incident. "After the flight landed at T3, the pilot handed over the passenger with Flight Disturbance Report (FDR). The report mentioned that the passenger tried to open the gate of the aircraft mid-air in an inebriated state and also consumed alcohol on board," Hindustan Times quoted the Delhi Police official as saying. The passenger was reportedly made to appear in a court and let off after paying a fine of Rs 50,000. In April, a passenger turned violent on a Dubai-Delhi flight and had to be tied down to his seat. Also watch: For decades, the country's largest bank, State Bank of India, or SBI, used to do a major part of business - especially deposits, advances and cross sales - in the second half of the financial year. The reasons included audits and closing of annual accounts in the first part of the year, summer vacations, and new transfers/postings. The first two quarters were called the lost quarters. Not anymore. In 2016/17, SBI met 25 per cent targets in the first quarter, thanks to a new performance management system that gives monthly reports on targets and performance for 90 per cent of the staff. This ensures that employees are always on their toes. "Nobody wants to miss targets as that has a bearing on annual increments," says Prashant Kumar, Deputy Managing Director and Corporate Development Officer at the bank. SBI, often equated with an elephant for its slow ways and size, is becoming an entirely different animal as a result of a massive human resources, or HR, overhaul that is seeing all 2,00,000 employees at 1,700 locations pull their weight together to meet the challenges of the future. The transformation, among other things, involves making hiring more stringent, a new appraisal system based on measurable targets, and focus on building leadership and new skills to deal with the challenges of changing technology and competition from new tech-savvy financial services players such as payments banks and Fintech companies. SBI, valued at close to Rs 2.4 lakh crore, knows that the technology used by Fintech players such as Paytm and aspirations of millennials are transforming banking in more ways than one, including the quality of services expected by customers. Then, there are things such as artificial intelligence and robotics taking over mundane and repetitive jobs, making the task of training employees for more value-added work all the more imperative. The bank seems to have taken up the challenge, starting with improving the quality of the workforce. For instance, a few years ago, close to 55 per cent employees did not have specific targets or budgets. Now, almost everybody has targets. Earlier, only those at 37 per cent supervisory roles had measurable targets. Today, the number is 90 per cent. "This is probably the biggest transformation project the bank has ever undertaken. The employees now have a personal dashboard, which shows their targets and performance, apart from the performance of the peer group," says SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya. BCG has helped the bank in the initiative. The Entry Challenge Last year, those who applied for the post of probationary officer, or PO, were in for a surprise. The exam, conducted by Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, had very difficult reasoning and logic questions. This was a break from previous exams which, BCG said, had become easy to crack as the pattern of question papers had not changed for years. "The difficulty level has changed in a big way," says Jayaraman Ramamoorthy, Chief General Manager, HR, SBI. The bank also mandated minimum marks in all the papers. Earlier, total marks were used to select the candidates. "There is sanitisation at the entry level itself," says a former SBI officer. Last year, 1.3 million people applied for 2,000 PO vacancies. A PO can rise to the top post. The bank also reached out to colleges to create a buzz and explain the job requirements and compensation structure. "We conducted road shows before the 2016 PO exam. Our team went to 500 campuses," says Kumar. "There were a lot of misconceptions about work conditions in public sector banks (PSBs). We explained the ground realities," says Bhattacharya who, in her four-decade career, has worked in corporate advances, retail, treasury, HR, and investment banking, apart from a foreign stint. "I must have had 12 jobs," she says. This February, the advertisement for the PO exam carried her picture. "Are you the next?" it asked. "I come from a Tier-III city. If I can make it, everybody can," says Bhattacharya. SBI has also put pictures of all its four managing directors in its campaign to reach out to campuses. "You can also become chairman. That was the message," says Kumar, who is also the HR head. SBI has also started talking about cost to company, or CTC, instead of basic pay. "It makes a huge difference when you say CTC of `8 lakh a year instead of basic pay of `20,000-30,000 a month," says Kumar. Two years ago, the bank again started hiring from management schools; it had to stop this in between because of a court order. Last year, it hired 300-plus management graduates to fill specialised posts in areas such as taxation, financial control, credit, treasury and HR. It is also hiring management trainees at the level of assistant vice president for short periods. Though some people complain about the vacuum that is created when these graduates in specialised departments leave the bank, Bhattacharya defends the practice. "There are fresh recruitments every year too. It is good to have churn, as it brings in new ideas," she says. Leaning on Specialists In order to build specialised skills, the bank has started inducting employees into specific job families such as credit & risk, sales & marketing, HR, analytics, IT, and forex & treasury. Earlier, like other PSBs, it used to rely on generalists, moving people from one function to another every two years, which meant lack of sufficient expertise in key areas such as credit, treasury, wealth management and risk management. Now, it is selecting employees for each job family by looking at their educational qualifications, experience and preference. "Every area is becoming more and more specialised. In today's dynamic world, we cannot afford to make mistakes," says Bhattacharya. The new recruits will spend four-six years as generalists and the next 10 years in their job families. "One job family is allotted for five years. The employee can choose another for the next five years or keep working in the same family," says Kumar. After 15 years, officers are eligible to become deputy general managers, a level where they stay for five years. After 20 years, they can reach the senior management level, where again they will work as generalists. But is there not a possibility of people leaving for greener pastures after specialising? There is, but the bank is not worried. "Isn't it good that your talent is valued outside?" asks a banker. The bank has also made changes in its transfer and posting policies. On paper, the tenure of an SBI officer is three years, but in reality it used to be one-and-a-half years due to things such as mandatory rural postings. Now, the bank has put in place an automated system to decide transfers and posting based on the competence of the employees. The number of postings has come down from 43,000 to 30,000 in a year. Perform or Perish SBI has 200,000 employees and 800 job roles. But the number of key result areas, or KRAs, used to be just over two dozen. Measuring performance was difficult. The bank has now adopted a system where KRAs are based on characteristics of the branch and the employee's job profile. This means targets given to a branch in a metro city may be different from what the rural branch is expected to achieve. For this, the bank has created peer groups, called cohorts, such as rural branches, metro branches, and processing centres; the staff knows who are the top quartile performers in their group/cohort. Earlier, supervisors used to spend less than an hour on appraisals. Today, they rely on system-generated performance reports. The bank is also teaching employees about giving feedback. In the earlier system, all reports used to be confidential. "I, for instance, don't know how I was rated all along my career," says Bhattacharya. She often jokes that she will get her confidential reports through a right to information application after retirement. Bhattcahraya, who became the first woman chairperson of SBI in October 2013, is retiring towards the end of the year. The focus of appraisals is also not on volume or size but quality. "There is a shift from top line budgets to budgets based on bottom line or return on equity. This enables employees to determine steps to achieve the results," says Bhattacharya. For example, the earlier focus was on bringing advances but not the quality of these advances. Now, 90 per cent posts have targets that can be measured. Even the clerical staff have targets - these may include guiding people to ATMs, telling them how to transact on phones/computers, or doing customer form validation if KYC is missing or Aadhaar number has not been not submitted. "The KRAs for 2017/18 have been identified. The employees will be able to see their scores," says Kumar. There is also a focus on training and re-skilling. In fact, 5 per cent marks will now come from completing the training every year. Everybody will have to undergo training modules. SBI has five training institutes for senior employees. It also has 47 training centres for all employees that can train 3,500 people every day. "We are focusing on e-learning," says Kumar. In annual appraisals, training has a weight of 5 per cent, while 65 per cent points are given on the basis of targets given at the start of the year. In spite of these efforts, one issue the bank could face is the low compensation compared to private sector banks. Annual incentives at SBI can be only up to 20 per cent of salary. The overall outgo for cash incentives has also been capped at 1 per cent of the bank's annual profits. But there is hope on the horizon. All PSBs are now thinking about introducing variable pay; the Central government seems to be backing the move. The bank also plans to be strict with those who perform poorly. If they consistently come in the last quartile, they will not be allowed extension. Supervisory employees get two extensions - one at the age of 30 and another at the age of 50, whichever is earlier, and again at the age of 58. Clerical employees are given extension at 58. "This is called the efficiency bar. This was never really used. If somebody is consistently coming in the last quartile, there is a case for denying him or her an extension," says Bhattacharya. Creating Leadership SBI has always churned out leaders at all levels. But the process till now has been vacancy-based. Now, it is shifting focus towards long-term succession planning. Posts of deputy managing director, chief general manager and general manager will be considered critical. For these, the bank will have a succession pipeline of at least four people. The employee profile is also becoming younger. The average age has come down from 47 years three years ago to 43 years. Around 8,000-10,000 employees are retiring every year, which will bring down the average employee age to 40 in the next three years. But experts say younger people rising to middle and senior levels fast will be a challenge as they will have to be mentored. Bhattacharya agrees that mentoring is one area where they need to improve. "Today, the mentors are themselves busy. The subject is engaging our attention," she says. The bank is already hiring laterally at the middle level. In 2013, it hired Soumya Kanti Ghosh as chief economic advisor; Ghosh had earlier worked with Tata AIG, American Express and Ficci. A year later, Shiv Kumar Bhasin, who had earlier worked with Barclays, Fidelity and Hughes Software, joined as chief technology officer. Last year, Dinesh Menon, earlier with Bharti Axa Life and National Bank of Oman, joined as chief marketing officer. The lateral hires who are on contract and are paid market salaries can rise only till chief general manager. But a lateral hire on a regular pay scale can reach the top. Big Risks Bhattacharya has always been passionate about HR. She also headed the department for a brief period in 2010. Employees expect the same kind of commitment from future chairman. "We need a chairman who can take it forward with more vigour. Now, with the merger of associate banks, we have added workforce, which means there will be integration challenges. We need someone who can push things with the same energy," says a bank official. All four managing directors are involved in the implementation of the new system, so it does not seem like a big worry for now. "It has been more or less stabilised. I don't think there will be an occasion to jettison it. All that can happen is that it can get better," says Bhattacharya. Second, the merger with associate banks will bring some 70,000 people into the bank's fold. Getting them on board for these new initiatives may be difficult. "We have started communication through videos, etc. We are also conducting training programmes," says Kumar. People also say that SBI's business targets are much more challenging than what employees at associate banks are used to. "They will have to get used to the SBI culture," says an insider. The low compensation is also an issue as good performers will have opportunities to look out. Bhattacharya says SBI has created an ESOP programme and submitted it to the government. "The government has prepared a draft paper that is under discussion," says Bhattacharya, who is hopeful of introducing a variable pay system. It seems a new-look SBI is just around the corner. @anandadhikari Days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hinted at the privatisation of Air India, the country's top think-tank Niti Aayog has reportedly recommended strategic disinvestment of loss-making national carrier to avoid further fund allocation to debt-trapped airline. Last week, the Finance Minister while speaking to DD News expressed his concern over Air India's financial condition and said: "Air India's market share today is around 14 percent while the debt is Rs 50,000 crore while the government has not put in money in private carriers." Jaitley further said if private airlines could handle 86 per cent passengers then they can also manage 100 per cent. The Times of India today reported that Niti Aayog recently submitted a report which has a detailed roadmap for Air India disinvestment, including writing off loans to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore. "Air India has debt of around Rs 60,000 crore, which includes around Rs 21,000 crore of aircraft-related loans and around Rs 8,000 crore working capital," the TOI quoted an official as saying. Niti Aayog's recent proposal is to transfer the loans and the working capital to the new owner, while taking care of half the liability, the report said. Speaking on the way Air India's operation is being conducted, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju recently said 'business as usual' was not going to help Air India. His remarks came against the backdrop of state-run airlines' Chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani's Facebook post where he said: "Air India went down due to the ill fated decision of the merger of two organizations that were not destined to be, coupled with many other wrong decisions of the earlier regime." Lohani was referring to the merger of Air India with Indian Airlines cleared by the UPA government. In an another interview to Doordarshan, he again said: "We merged Air India with Indian Airlines-two separate companies with two separate cultures. One was a videshi (international) culture, second was a desi (domestic) culture. You tried to merge these two organizations without any objective in mind. Merger for mergers' sake is not on." Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation has started probing Air India and Indian Airlines in a decade-old deal which witnessed acquiring of 111 Boieng aircrafts worth Rs 70,000 crore. The central investigating agency said that the acquisition allegedly caused a financial loss to the "already stressed" national carrier. The agency has registered three cases against unnamed officials of the Ministry and Air India. LOGAN A 46-year-old River Heights mother, Heidi M. Rutchey, will remain in the State Hospital for another month, while doctors determine if she was insane when she allegedly killed her two-year-old son. Wednesday morning, Rutcheys public defender, David Perry appeared in 1st District Court for a conference call with attorneys from the county and State Attorney Generals Office. They were asking for the defendant to be released from the State Hospital and transferred back to the Cache County Jail, while she awaits trial. Perry requested that the defendant remain in the state hospital so doctors can finish a medical evaluation. He said their report should be completed in 30-days. In January, Rutchey pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder, a first-degree felony. Her plea came three months after she was found competent to stand trial. Rutchey was arrested in October 2013, a month after Cache County Sheriffs deputies found her two-year-old son Eli, dead inside her River Heights apartment. During Wednesdays hearing, Judge Thomas Willmore ordered Rutchey to remain in the hospital for another month, while doctors conclude their evaluation. He set another hearing date for June 26 to review their report, as attorneys work out a possible agreement to have her plead guilty.

will@cvradio.com | BY Lynchy | Ad Stars has extended the entry deadline for Ad Stars 2017 until 15th June 2017, giving advertising, production and creative professionals just two more weeks to enter their work into one of the worlds fastest-growing festivals of creativity. With more than 20,000 entries anticipated in 2017 from over 70 countries, Ad Stars is the biggest and most egalitarian advertising awards show in Asia by virtue of the fact it is free to enter all categories with the exception of Innovation and Integrated. Ad Stars is also the only festival with a US$10,000 prize for Grand Prix of the Year winners. Suthisak Sucharittanonta, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Bangkok (pictured), says winning Grand Prix of the Year at Ad Stars 2016 for MOTO Repellent was music to our ears and to throw in $10,000, what team in the world wouldnt love that? Sucharittanonta is now joining Ad Stars 2017 as an Executive Judge. I accepted the invitation to judge Ad Stars because its different from other awards shows. Its an international awards show that has no entry fee, is judged by international juries, and gives monetary prizes to Grand Prix winners, he says. Anselmo Ramos, Chief Creative Officer of DAVID in Miami, is also attending as an Executive Judge:,Everyone says great things about Ad Stars and South Korea. I look forward to judging an award that I havent judged before, especially one that doesnt charge for submissions, so more people can participate, he says. There are 18 awards categories this year: Film, Print, Outdoor, Radio, Interactive, Mobile, Promotion, Direct, PR, Integrated, Media, Innovation, Design, Film Craft, PSA, Diverse Insights, Place and Video Stars (for branded content). Jeremy Craigen, Global CCO at Innocean Worldwide (right), attended Ad Stars 2016 as an Executive Judge, Theres something about shows in this part of the world you feel like youre leaving a little family behind when youre finished. Im a big fan of Ad Stars and I encourage agencies and production companies to enter. | BY Ricki Green | Filmgraphics has announced that Jason Smith has joined its roster for exclusive representation in the Asia Pacific region. Smith comes with a wealth of experience having directed work covering action, sport, vfx, celebrities, car and narrative/ performance genres. Smith brings a unique and bold visual style to each of his projects, which has garnered him acclaim as a leading director around the globe. After graduating with BAhons in English and Film Smith shot his first documentary about Barcelona, which he sold to MTV. In that same year he was nominated for New Director of the Year in Cannes. Smith has gone on to direct more than 200 commercials and music videos for the likes of Nike, Coca-Cola, Audi, BMW, EA, NFL, Mountain Dew, Under Armour, Sony, Mitsubishi, NRL and bands Jamiroquai and Kasabian. Smith and Filmgraphics have recently shot the NRL Nothing Hits You Like Origin campaign via Archibald/Williams with the first game kicking off tonight. Says Smith: I have shot in Australia many times, but NRL State of Origin is the first campaign for this market. I loved the experience and think the crews here are the best in the world. Says Anna Fawcett, executive producer, Filmgraphics: Jason is passionate, collaborative and a true craftsman, which fits with the Filmgraphics ethos perfectly, so hes a great match for us. | BY Ricki Green | WiTH Collective Linked by Isobar has announced its expansion into New Zealand following the recent win of ASB Bank a longstanding client of Dentsu Aegis Network NZ. Effective from 1 June 2017, the partnership encompasses all Direct, Digital, and Data marketing services. Justin Hind (left), CEO and co-founder of WiTH Collective Linked by Isobar, explains the agencys model of providing business strategy and creative, through to customer experience and optimisation will complement the existing services provided by Dentsu Aegis Network. Says Hind: We believe strongly in the combination of logic and magic; that is, insight gained from data mixed with persuasive creativity. We know this will be an effective model for ASB as it continues to grow in dominance in the New Zealand market. Expanding into New Zealand has been a goal of ours for some time and Im very excited to do so with a foundation client the size and strength of ASB. This move underpins the importance of being part of Dentsu Aegis Network and further reinforces the power of our operating model across the region. Says Shane Evans, general manager of marketing, ASB: This is an important new partnership for ASB as we continue to evolve our marketing model. Our goal is to create and deliver personalised experiences for our customers, supported by data-driven insights and marketing optimisation. With all this in mind, weve been impressed with WiTH Collectives strengths in data-led creativity and are looking forward to working with them locally. The agency will launch with an initial team of six as it expands its footprint in the market and collaborates more closely with Dentsu Aegis Networks New Zealand-based brands and other global counterparts. The expansion follows the announcement of WiTH Collectives linking to Isobar earlier this month to form part of the Isobar Australia Group, comprising Isobar, Soap Creative and WiTH Collective. | BY Lynchy | J. Walter Thompson has restructured to align the reporting structure of Mirum, the companys digital agency, in Asia Pacific. To this end, J. Walter Thompson Cos Asia Pacific CEO John Gutteridge has hired Jacco ter Schegget (pictured), a seasoned digital transformation leader, to take on the newly created role of Southeast Asia CEO with responsibility for both the Mirum and J. Walter Thompson operations in ASEAN. Ter Schegget, who starts his new role Sept. 1, served most recently as OgilvyOne Chinas President, where he oversaw both OgilvyOne and Neo operations. Mirum operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as in China and Hong Kong. Ter Schegget, in Southeast Asia, and the MDs of Mirum in North Asia will report directly to Gutteridge. The new reporting structure, and the appointment of Ter Schegget, are both core to Gutteridges plan to strengthen the networks digital capabilities and build out a stronger integrated offering in the Asian region. The alignment will also facilitate Gutteridges drive to transform the J. Walter Thompson Company beyond communications solutions to a more holistic creative business that delivers pioneering ideas and products. This is not a merger of our two businesses. Its about transforming both businesses as we recognize synergies in capabilities to deliver more, said Gutteridge. While our Mirum leaders in each market will work more closely with their counterparts at J. Walter Thompson, it is vital that Mirum retains its unique identity and culture. The appointment of Jacco in Southeast Asia is key part of this. He thinks digital first, while having a great passion for creativity and technology, and is in a prime position to drive the new agenda at JWT and grow Mirum in Southeast Asia. Ter Schegget, who has over 16 years experience in digital marketing and transformation, joined OgilvyOne China as President in 2014 and was part of the Ogilvy Group China Leadership team. During his tenure, OgilvyOne successfully underwent a major transformation. Prior to that role, he served as Europe President of Tribal Worldwide and Co-CEO of DDB & Tribal Amsterdam. Under his management, Tribal DDB Amsterdam became one of the most awarded European digital agencies and the first digital agency to win a Cannes Film Grand Prix, in 2009. In addition to his Tribal responsibilities, he also served as Digital Officer for the DDB Group in Europe. Before he joined DDB/Tribal, Ter Schegget led the Amsterdam office of the SATAMA group (now part of DigitasLBi). I believe creativity is the most powerful force in the business. And in a world that seems to become only more complex, great ideas that are able to touch people are more important than ever. In a digital first world, the combination of the brand thinking of JWT and the deep digital and data competence of Mirum provide companies a great partnership to activate their consumers on-and offline, across the entire user journey, said Ter Schegget. Johns vision for APAC illustrates exactly this combination of art and science and Im looking forward to supporting him and the rest of the teams. The Mirum leadership in Asia will continue to work closely with the Global Mirum leadership team, as a network, and will retain a dotted line into Mirums Global CEO, Dan Khabie. Mirums technical depth, love of design and focus on user experience is critical to the overall agencys growth in the region. We will stay focused on Business Transformation, Experience Design and Commerce Activation and look forward to bringing these capabilities to all of our clients, said Khabie. Ter Scheggets appointment coincides with the departure of Nanda Ivens, the APAC Mirum CEO. Ivens, an active investor in Southeast Asias startup scene, has retired from his role at Mirum and from agency life to pursue his entrepreneurial passion. Ivens was an investor in Magnivate Indonesia, which was acquired by XM Asia in 2012 and later renamed Mirum. He became Mirum Indonesia CEO in 2013, then was promoted to Asia Pacific CEO of Mirum in 2015. Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 1:00PM By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla Google's mobile payment platform, Android Pay, is now available in Canada. Currently supported by BMO, CIBC, Banque Nationale, Scotiabank, Desjardins, Presidents Choice Financial, ATB Financial, and Canadian Tire Financial Services will work with Android Pay on devices running Android KitKat 4.4 or higher. "Today Android Pay will be rolled out into Canada with support with all the major banks in Canada. Not just payments but also loyalty cards, tickets and personal artifacts," said Spencer Spinell, Director of emerging platforms for Google. Hit jump for the full story. Canada's wide adoption of contactless payments and touch-to-pay technology makes it a natural fit for services like Android Pay. Spinell mentioned that the Android ecosystem has 2 Billion monthly active Android users worldwide. Users turn to their smartphones 150 times per day, so integrating payments makes a lot of sense. Android Pay uses NFC (Near Field Communications) as well as a tokenized wallet app to ensure safe and encrypted transactions. Canadians running Android devices who have accounts with the above financial institutions can download the app and enroll their debit or credit cards. American Express and Tangerine are expected to work with Android Pay in the near future. "Canadians love buying things on their smartphones. They want seamless shopping experiences. Mobile payments are seeing 120 percent growth year-over-year. 30 per cent of smartphone users are in a hurry and 42% of Canadians believe the smartphone is more critical to their daily life than their wallet," Spinell said. Canadians love buying things on their smartphones. They want seamless shopping experiences. 120 percent growth year-over-year. 30 per cent of smartphone users are in a hurry. 42% of Canadians believe the smartphone is more critical to their daily life than their wallet," Spinell explain. It did not have space to host a meeting, trade show and dinner for big conventions, but could only do two of the three. That reputation "is hurting us", he said, pointing to an annual defence conference, which had 900 the first year, then 1400 and was now having to build a marquee behind the convention centre to fit. Defence was "a perfect example" of an industry that Canberra wanted to grow, but the conference was going to be lost interstate. Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited news content and The Canberra Times app. Premium subscribers also enjoy interactive puzzles and access to the digital version of our print edition - Today's Paper. As an avid runner and cyclist, she regularly competes in fun runs and ultra marathon events for charity. She completed her first marathon in the 30 degree heat in Kenya in 2015 and was the seventh female finisher. A week before that she rode about 87 kilometres from London to Brighton to raise awareness for the British Heart Foundation. "I would have thought that if a public servants had been asked by their boss, the secretary of the department, to go to Darwin, albeit only for three months, that person should do what was asked of them," the Howard-era minister said. Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. As per the recent update, the online display of ORS of JEE advanced exam will open today from 5 pm. When was JEE Advanced 2017 conducted? The JEE advanced was conducted on May 21 2017. How to check the ORS of JEE advanced 2017? A link will be provided in the official website, jeeadv.ac.in. Once the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) Advanced 2017 is over, is the online display of JEE Advanced Optical Response Sheet (ORS) will be out and the answer keys will be released. When will the JEE Advanced 2017 answer keys be released? It is expected that IIT Madras will release the keys on June 4. According to IIT Madras, the organising authority of the JEE Advanced, the ORS will be graded and scrutinized with extreme care. JEE Advanced Paper Answer Keys Released: Check Now! What does the JEE Advanced 2017 official notification read? The ORS of all candidates who have appeared for both Paper 1 and Paper 2 will be displayed on the online portal, along with the machine-read responses, said the JEE Advanced official notification earlier. Discrepancy in answers In the case of perceived discrepancy, candidates can seek review of the machine-read responses. The requests should be submitted online, added the notification. JEE Main 2017 Paper 2 Results for B.Arch Entrance Released: View Now! A Matter of Faith Lessons from the Heart Our society is filled with hundreds of oftentimes competing beliefs about life, culture, likes and dislikes, and faith, just to... We are not alone Lessons from the Heart When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What... Following reports that Frank Stephenson has left McLaren to join MINI, the British automaker has confirmed he will be replaced by Rob Melville. The decision to promote Melville to Design Director is a no-brainer, as he joined the company in 2009 as a senior designer and was promoted to chief designer in 2014. While his name might not ring a bell, his work is instantly recognizable to enthusiasts as he led the design of the 720S and has worked on everything from the 650S and 675LT to the prestigious P1. Before working at McLaren, Melville made a name for himself at Jaguar Land Rover, where his sketches and clay model were chosen to become the LRX concept, which eventually became the Range Rover Evoque. Melville has also worked at General Motors and was part of the team that created the stunning Cadillac Converj concept that entered production as the ELR. Melville will now play an important role in overseeing the creation of 14 new models or derivatives as part of McLarens Track22 business plan. In a statement, Melville said: I am thrilled to be given the title of Design Director for McLaren Automotive. I remember when I got the call to come and join McLaren back in 2009 and the joy I felt then is the same today. We have developed a fantastic design team and have integrated a design philosophy that I feel passionately about. Photo Gallery Photo: DVA Project Wild Thing movie comes to Vernon June 8. It seems all anyone does these days is talk about water, mostly flood water. But an appreciation of Canada's abundant water supply will be a topic for discussion during Environment Week next month. The Downtown Vernon Association has announced a community screening of 'Project Wild Thing' on June 8. A DVA press release states: "Canada is well-known for its generous water supply, memorable scenery and natural resource. And more than ever, we know that our health and that of future generations is linked to our involvement and relationship with Mother Earth. Project Wild Thing offers insight on how to influence your childrens connection to nature." The film is part of an effort to get kids outdoors and lead nature rich lives. "(It) delivers a strong message on todays children, their well-being and their exposure to Mother Nature," said Hailey Rilkoff of the DVA. "Greater Vernon is fortunate to have an abundance of public spaces available for outdoor activities and recreation. Taking a nature walk, flying a kite or going for an evening bike ride are just a few ideas to enjoy outdoors." Admission to the movie is free at the Okanagan Regional Library on June 8, from 7-9 p.m. Seating is limited and those interested are urged to call Downtown Vernon at 250-542-5851 or SUN FM for information. This adventurer certainly is not slacking as he has claimed the record for the worlds longest slackline. Samuel Volery snatched the title by walking 1,220 metres across a valley, beating the previous record by 190m. Photo: Contributed The Penticton RCMP have arrested a local man on an outstanding warrant and drug possession. Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said at about 11:30 a.m. on May 26, the targeted enforcement unit located the man and arrested him in possession of heroin, marijuana and cocaine. After his arrest, police applied for a search warrant at a travel trailer connected to him. A rifle was found and it was determined the 2017 trailer was stolen from Kelowna in April. Johnathan Russell, 40, is now facing charges including possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, possession of stolen property and theft over $5,000 as well as firearms offences. Police say Russell is well known to them. A 40-year-old woman* is also facing firearms and theft related charges in connection to the search warrant. *this story has been edited to remove the name of an accused after the Crown dropped its charges. The big hole at 30th Avenue and 30th Street in the downtown is causing some confusion for drivers and pedestrians alike. We did hear from a couple of businesses that the road closure and detour signage was causing some drivers (and) customers confusion, as the on-street parking in both the 2900 and 3000 blocks of 30th Avenue are still open and available, said Hailey Rilkoff of the Downtown Vernon Association. Our office has contacted the municipal design technician from the City of Vernon looking after this project to request additional 'parking allowed' or 'Parking Available' signs to be put up. I believe some temporary signs have gone up already and the City is working on more official signage to this effect. Downtown Vernon is encouraging residents and visitors to visit the downtown core and have patience during the construction period. The intersection closed on May 26 and was expected to be closed to traffic for approximately two weeks. All businesses in the area remain open. Photo: B.C. Government Caucus Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster and Liberal leader Christy Clark in better days at the Legislature. Vernon Monashee MLA Eric Foster is preparing for a role he's never had before. The Liberal, who won his seat for the third time in the May 9 provincial election, is preparing for a role on the opposition side of the Legislature although there is no certainty as to when that will happen. Following a meeting with leader Christy Clark and the rest of the Liberal caucus in Vancouver, Foster said the current premier would return to Victoria for a throne speech. The NDP and Green Party leaders have already come to a power-sharing arrangement that will likely mean the end of Clark's government if it falls in a confidence vote, conceded the MLA. That's what we expect. I guess it depends on how the coalition holds up. Foster insisted Clark has the full support of her caucus and her party even though she is expected to be sitting as opposition leader sometime in the coming weeks. These are unchartered waters for most of us, except four who were in opposition in the 90s. It is not what we hoped one-and-a-half months ago. But the Greens and the NDP have come to an agreement and we'll have to deal with it. The Liberals hold 43 seats, the NDP hold 41 and the Green Party hold three. They've got to put a speaker in place, said Foster, referring to a position taken by an MLA, usually on the government side, who then cannot vote. Minority governments don't traditionally last a full term but one never knows, said Foster, who doesn't expect a quick election. There is no flavour for an election. They cost a lot of money, for the parties and for taxpayers. Photo: David Wright Several homes in the Head of the Lake area have been flooded. David Wright has not been in his own home for a week, and it could be a while yet before he is able to return. Wright lives in the Head of the Lake area at the north end of Okanagan Lake, and his was one of several homes evacuated May 23. Wright, who lives with his brother in the home on Okanagan Indian Band land, is staying with friends and relatives, but he believes it will be weeks before he can go home. We likely won't know how bad damage is for at least six weeks, said Wright Tuesday. There's two weeks of snow melt for sure. By my prediction, it will be August before we can get back into our home. Wright said there is 45 cm of water in his backyard and the lake is continuing to rise. There are fish in my back yard. There are carp swimming around, he said. It's completely surrounded the properties. The lake goes at least 100 feet past my home. Wright said he knows several other lots are submerged. Everyone around me for at least three or four lots is affected, and I didn't even venture too far down, he said. Wright is still sandbagging and helping his neighbours. Some people haven't flooded yet, so we're helping sandbag those homes, he said. We go down to Louis Estates right now and help out where we can. Louis Estates is currently on an evacuation alert. According to the OKIB, the lake is 343.11 metres above sea level and is expected to reach 343.21. Photo: Wade Alcock Crews taking down a pair of hazard trees on Marina Way Beach A pair of Lombardy Poplar trees are the latest victims of the high levels of Okanagan Lake. The City of Penticton toppled the trees on Marina Way Beach Tuesday morning after having them labelled as high risk by a certified tree assessor. They were an imminent hazard, said Parks Supervisor Jeff Lynka. The soil had eroded around the roots of trees. With forecast winds coming, and a compromised root system, there was a strong likelihood that the trees could fail and we just couldn't take that risk, he added. However, concerned resident Wade Alcock isnt sure the trees were the citys to cut down in the first place. The provincial government maintains jurisdiction over trees and property below the natural boundary of the lake. The natural boundary is defined as the normal high water mark. That puts the trees near the edge of that boundary, and Alcock says its too bad the city never got a second opinion from the province. There is no way they will be put back, he said But its a good educational point to raise. But Lynka says they had no other choice. Our first consideration when we look at a tree is what can we do to keep it, he said, noting this is the first set of trees they have toppled as a part of flood response work. Photo: Dave Deshane Crews are working on repairing a massive sinkhole in Vernon. UPDATE: 5:50 a.m. Crews worked overnight on the sinkhole that opened up underneath Highway 97 in Vernon, Tuesday. One northbound lane of the highway was reopened just before 3 a.m., according to DriveBC, however, there is still a large mound of dirt on the highway and crews are continuing to work in the area so traffic is slowed. The closure rerouted traffic around one of Vernon's major intersections at the bottom of Hospital Hill, where Highway 97 and Highway 6 meet, beside Polson Park. UPDATE: 9 p.m. A crew from the Transportation Ministry is on the scene of a massive sinkhole at the bottom of hospital hill that has closed all four lanes of Highway 97. Heavy machinery has been used to tear up the pavement where the sinkhole appeared and a large mound of dirt is sitting on the road. City Councillor Scott Anderson said the "provincial government is heading up this repair, which at this point involves a 15-foot-deep ditch and plans to go deeper. We're waiting in the wings in case MOTI needs help. It sounds like this is going to be a big deal." ORIGINAL: 6:10 p.m. A giant sinkhole has shut down Highway 97 in Vernon. Both the south and northbound lanes were closed Tuesday afternoon near the intersection with 25th Avenue after a hole was spotted in the southbound lane. Vernon Fire Rescue Cpt. Reinhard Mann said fire crews received a call about the four-foot-wide opening only to discover it was much more serious. Mann estimates the sinkhole to be about 25 feet long, 15 feet wide and up to six feet deep under the surface of the roadway. Vernon Creek exits Polson Park and goes under the highway where the washout occurred. Mann said the extent of the sinkhole is not yet known, so all lanes of traffic were closed for safety reasons. I'm surprised there isn't a vehicle in there, said Mann from the scene. There is also a 30-inch pipe that has had the dirt completely washed away from it, leaving it suspended in mid air, but Mann did not know if it was a water main or sewer line. Traffic quickly backed up in both directions as vehicles were rerouted along 34th Street. Officials with the city and JPW Road and Bridge were examining the situation. Photo: Gina Petrovich A big rig and a Canada Post truck got a little too close for comfort Tuesday evening. The two big vehicles came together at the intersection of Recreation and Richter streets. There is no word on the cause of the accident or if charges are pending in relation to the incident. Photo: Contributed Fairfield Animal Hospital is offering to take in animals impacted by recent flooding. The Fairfield Animal Hospital is offering to help four-legged flood victims. We'd like to offer housing and food to any animals displaced by the flooding, said Chelan Ireland, Fairfield Animal Hospital's social media co-ordinator. Fairfield is open 24 hours a day and Ireland said evacuees needing lodging for their pets - free of charge - are encouraged to call us at 250-860-6550. While the hospital is not set up to deal with animals like lizards - special heat lamps are required - or birds, people are encouraged to contact the hospital and staff will see what can be arranged. Photo: Peter Weeber Winds are picking up in the South Okanagan. The wind is kicking up waves in the South Okanagan, but there have been no reports of damage. So far, it would appear defences against the rising Okanagan Lake are holding. Thunderstorms and wind gusts of up to 70 km/h were called for by Environment Canada, and while there are reports of thunder and lightning coming out of the region, rain is minimal. Last Tuesday, May 23, the Okanagan was clobbered by a windstorm that sent waves crashing over sandbag barriers, flooding properties and homes. Several homes in the North Okanagan were flooded as the lake swelled over barricades. Photo: The Canadian Press Minister of National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan speaks at the Canadian Association of Defence and Security conference in Ottawa, Wednesday May 31, 2017. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan used a major speech Wednesday to the defence industry to blast American firm Boeing for picking a trade spat with Bombardier. Sajjan said Canada is disappointed by the "unfounded" action by one of its major partners in the defence industry and he delivered that message to hundreds at a breakfast speech at a major trade show for military contractors. Boeing has petitioned the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate subsidies for Bombardier's CSeries aircraft that it says have allowed the Canadian company to export planes at well below cost. Sajjan said Boeing is not behaving like a "trusted partner" and the government wants the company to withdraw the complaint. He repeated the Canadian government's thinly veiled retaliation threat to scrap the planned purchase of 18 Super Hornet fighter jets from the Boeing. "A productive relationship between industry and government is crucial," the minister said. "That is why our government and I stress this our government is disappointed in the action of one of our leading industry partners. "We strongly disagree with the decision of the United States Commerce Department to initiate a trade remedy case in response to Boeing's petition against Bombardier." Scott Day, a spokesman for Boeing, defended the company's trade action, suggesting it should not be linked to its military relationship with Canada. "It's more of a commercial issue with regard to the Bombardier case," he said. "We're going to continue working with the U.S. navy, providing information on the Super Hornet that will be provided to the government of Canada." Day said Boeing operations in Canada account for 14 per cent of the country's aerospace industry. That includes 560 companies that provide parts to Boeing commercial airplanes and 2,000 company workers in the country. "We value Canada as a supplier-partner." Photo: Contributed National Bank of Canada is raising its quarterly dividend following a second-quarter profit that more than doubled to $484 million, beating analyst estimates. The country's sixth-largest bank said Wednesday that its net income amounted to $1.28 per diluted share, up from 52 cents per share or $210 million in last year's second quarter. Its dividend will increase by two cents per share or 3.6 per cent to 58 cents per share, starting with the Aug. 1 payment. "Each business segment posted double-digit earnings growth, contributing to the bank's excellent performance for the second quarter of 2017," stated CEO Louis Vachon. Revenue for the period ended April 30 was up 12 per cent to just under $1.6 billion. In addition to the dividend hike, the bank announced it may also buy back up to 1.8 per cent of its shares from the open market. The Montreal-based bank (TSX:NA) also improved its tier 1 capital ratio to 10.8 per cent, from 10.1 per cent the end of October. Last year's second-quarter included a $183-million after-tax provision for credit losses for oil and gas and service company loans. Excluding one-time items, the Montreal-based bank earned $492 million or $1.30 per share, up from $237 million or 60 cents per share in the prior year quarter. National Bank was expected to earn $1.26 per share in adjusted profits on $1.63 billion of revenues, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. John Aiken of Barclays Capital says more important than the strong results are the increased capital ratio and share buyback which continues to ease investor concerns. "We believe that this should go a long way to further ease the overhang related to unease in its relative capital levels and, we would expect to see some outperformance on the stock coming out of the quarter," he wrote in a report. Photo: John Boivin A flooded backyard along the Slocan River. Residents of a low-lying area of the Slocan Valley have been told to prepare for the possibility of evacuation, as officials nervously watch the fast-rising river. Emergency officials with the Regional District of Central Kootenay issued an evacuation alert Tuesday for Slocan Valley West Road. The alert states people should remain vigilant and be prepared to leave the area at short notice.... This alert may be followed by an immediate evacuation Order should conditions worsen. Officials also put the river on a flood watch, saying the Slocan is expected to hit a one-in-50-year height by Friday. Currently flowing at 550 cubic metres per second, it is forecast to rise to 747 cubic metres per second. The runoff is due to the heavy snowpack beginning to melt in higher mountain areas, as temperatures reached into the low 30s this week. Officials say much depends on how much precipitation the area receives over the next few days. RDCK officials say people living in low-lying riverfront properties should remain aware and take precautions to protect their properties from flooding, and to sandbag around their homes, away from the riverbank. Photo: Mike Biden Penticton is OK after storm The city of Penticton was relatively unscathed by Tuesday night's thunderstorm. Chief administrative officer Peter Weeber said Penticton, which has been dealing with flood control issues for weeks now, did well last night. "All the armour we put up around the city held up," he said. "And we are feeling good about inspections this morning." At this point, the only issue is with one of the city's pumping facilities behind the Penticton Lakeside Resort. "It has been an ongoing issue which is worsening, and we have engineers coming in," he said. "But even that is manageable." Around $140,000 worth of work, funded by the province, on the breakwater at the Penticton Yacht Club held up, but a few centimeters of water ended up entering the clubs building. The SS Sicamous and walkway along Okanagan Lake, lined with sandbags, also all held, despite a significant test from waves. Although the city came through Tuesday night OK, Weeber advises it's not over yet. "The danger around moving water is worse than at the start," he said, reminding people to stay off the Penticton Channel and away from creeks. Photo: Nelson SAR Search and rescue crews are scouring the Crawford Bay area. Searchers backed by a dog team and a helicopter are scouring a recreational area of southeastern British Columbia, hoping to find any sign of a school teacher who disappeared Monday. An RCMP news release says Alvin Dunic left Crawford Bay Elementary-Secondary School, about 75 kilometres north of Creston, just before noon. It says the 57-year-old wanted to find a good spot for a class project and intended to return in about 30 minutes, but was reported overdue just before 3 p.m. Dunic's car was found about two kilometres away, at a trail leading to Crawford Creek, but an aerial search of the creek to the mouth of Kootenay Lake failed to find him. Facebook posts show a community meeting was held on Tuesday at the Crawford Bay school to update parents, students and staff about the search. The police release reminds hikers to use caution around fast-moving waterways and to stay away from eroded edge and shore areas, which may be weakened due to current water levels. Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for large portions of the B.C. Interior, including the Okanagan. Off the heels of a significant storm in the South Okanagan Tuesday night, Environment Canada is warning that conditions are ripe for the development of thunderstorms that could produce heavy rain, large hail and strong wind gusts. The forecast calls for 5-10 millimetres of precipitation. The storm could prove to be another test for barriers along Okanagan Lake holding back high waters. The watch extends from the Okanagan Valley to the Alberta border, in addition to Prince George and the Cariboo. A cooler air mass is expected to linger until Friday. Last week, we had a wind event to do with a vigorous cold front that moved through, said Environment Canada meteorologist Cindy Yu. The system we are dealing with today is not the same, it is more or less a smaller disturbance. Today is expected to have the greatest potential for storms, said Yu. Localized winds up of to 70 km/h could happen in those areas where the storms are most intense. A high of 23 C is forecast today in Kelowna, with continued unsettled conditions through the week. Yu said climate models are also pointing to a warmer than normal summer. with files from Alanna Kelly Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer Dirt bikes and motorcycles were found by police at a Marron Valley home last week, after they were reported stolen. Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said on May 23 the targeted enforcement unit attended an address on Marron Valley Road and recovered two stolen motorcycles and three stolen dirt bikes, taken from Penticton, Calgary and Kelowna. Police returned to the residence on May 25 to arrest Darryn Nelson on outstanding warrants from Cranbrook. He was observed taking off at a high rate of speed on a dirt bike but wasn't pursued. Penticton RCMP officers went back the next day and arrested him without incident. Nelson is facing a new charge of driving while prohibited. Photo: The Canadian Press The New York Times is ditching the public editor position, created in 2003 as the paper sought to restore its credibility with readers after a plagiarism scandal. Publisher Arthur Sulzberger wrote in a memo that the public editor's role "has outgrown that one office" and that the paper is instead creating a "reader centre" to interact with the public and will allow more commenting on stories. The paper's current public editor, Liz Spayd, will leave Friday. Margaret Sullivan, the well-regarded former Times public editor, now a media columnist at the Washington Post, tweeted Wednesday that she was not surprised that the Times dropped the role, which she characterized as a "a burr under the saddle for the powers that be" and capable of holding managers' "feet to the fire." She noted that other newspapers, including her current employer, have dropped public editors in recent years. The Times also announced its latest round of newsroom buyouts Wednesday, aimed primarily at editors. It said layoffs were possible if enough staffers did not accept buyouts. But the company is still hiring it wants to shrink its editing corps and add more reporters. Newsrooms across the U.S. have long been cutting back on staff as print-ad revenue shrinks. Digital ad growth has not been enough to make up the shortfall. Photo: Contributed Google's Android Pay, a mobile wallet that allows people to pay with their smartphone, is available for Canadians to download starting Wednesday. Users can pay with the app in stores that accept contactless payment and on apps such as Uber and Lululemon that have an Android Pay button. Android Pay will work with Visa and MasterCard credit cards from Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Scotiabank, National Bank, Desjardins, President's Choice Financial, ATB Financial and Canadian Tire Financial Services. On Monday, Google will start to roll out support for Interac cards from those banks. Missing from the list of partners are TD Bank and Royal Bank, which both offer in-house digital wallets that are compatible with some Android devices. Pali Bhat, vice-president of Google payments, said the company expects to add more banks to the pay system. Android Pay comes to Canada more than a year after Apple Pay became available in the country. The Android app, which is already in use in 11 other countries, will work on all NFC-enabled Android devices running on the operating system KitKat 4.4 or higher. Photo: Don Bell Okanagan Lake rose another four centimetres over the past 24 hours. UPDATE 4:05 p.m. Okanagan Lake could rise to levels near those experienced in 1948. That year, lake levels peaked at 343.28 metres above sea level. New information provided through the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre and the Ministry of Environment, indicates Okanagan Lake could rise another 10 centimetres. The lake level Wednesday morning was pegged at 343.15 metres. "With snow remaining at higher mountain elevations, Okanagan Lake is predicted to peak mid-June. Mission Creek levels are also expected to continue to rise and residents are advised to prepare for increased levels," the EOC said in a news released issued late this afternoon. On top of that, about five to 10 milimetres of rain could be dumped on the Okanagan as a result of a thunderstorm expected to hit the region this afternoon or evening. The rain will be accompanied by wind gusts up to 70 to 80 km per hour starting this afternoon and lasting until Thursday evening. Original 11 a.m. After surpassing the expected level of 343 metres above sea level, Okanagan Lake has reached a second predicted height. The lake rose another four centimetres in the last 24 hours, putting it at 343.15 metres. After hitting 343 metres late last week, it was predicted Okanagan Lake could rise another 10 to 15 centimetres. Officials at the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre are expected to meet with the Ministry of Environment later today to figure out how high the lake could rise. Okanagan Lake did hit 343.28 metres during the historic flooding event of 1948. EOC communications officer Jodie Foster said crews are still assessing flood barriers following Tuesday's storm, however, she said it appears the area fared fairly well. A severe thunderstorm watch for the Okanagan, with a potential for heavy winds, rain and hail, is forecast for later today. "As with all of this, it's very weather dependent, and we still have a lot of snow in the higher elevation snowpack," said Foster. "Heat and rain at higher elevations and rain below can complicate things by adding water to the creeks." Foster said all evacuation alerts remain in place, including those issued Tuesday night for properties around the mouth of Mission Creek. With storm activity from last night and more expected today, the EOC reminds those people at lower elevations to check any flood barriers to make sure they remain strong, and fortify any where required. The City of Kelowna meantime has closed the stretch of beach from Lake Avenue to Burne Avenue in the interest of public safety. Closures include the previously announced Lake Avenue beach access, including the pedestrian bridge, as well as beach access points at McTavish Avenue, Vimy Avenue, Beach Avenue and Burne Avenue. These closures will be in effect until flood waters subside and crews are able to remove flood barriers from the area. Photo: Kelowna Right to Life Society A local pro-life organization has softened their message after replacing a controversial billboard. Anti-abortion activists in Kelowna have softened their message, after a year of stirring up controversy with their old billboard. The Kelowna Right to Life Society placed a billboard in West Kelowna along Highway 97 near Grizzly Road last spring that compared abortion to killing a puppy. The billboard proved very controversial, and was even the target of vandalism. The pro-life organization has recently erected a new billboard with what they call a softer message. The new billboard, located on Highway 97, a few hundred metres north of the old one, states Thanks Mom for life. Life begins at conception. We believe it will resonate with people here in the Central Okanagan and move hearts and minds to consider the inherent dignity and value of all human life, including the pre-born child and her mother, said Marlon Bartram, executive director of the Kelowna Right to Life Society. Several complaints were lodged with Advertising Standards Canada over the first billboard, but the governing body allowed it to remain in place. Like all advertisers know, you need to vary your messages from time to time to retain public interest, said Bartram. To that end, we are putting up a new billboard with a new message at a new location." Photo: The Canadian Press Testing for the presence of illicit fentanyl. British Columbia's coroners' service says there were 136 suspected overdose deaths in the province in April. That amounts to almost double the number of deaths compared with the same month last year. The newest data bring the total number of overdose deaths in B.C. to 488 in the first four months of 2017. Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says in a statement that it's concerning that more than half of the deaths are occurring in private residences and many drug users are still not taking advantage of safe consumption sites. "I strongly urge those using illicit drugs to do so only at a safe consumption site or drug overdose prevention site, if one is accessible," she said. "The risks associated with all illicit drugs in the province are extreme, and access to emergency medical assistance is essential to prevent fatal consequences." Lapointe also urged users to first take a smaller dose to limit the effects of a highly potent batch and use drugs in the presence of someone who can administer the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and call 911. Men account for over 80 per cent of the deaths so far this year, and more than half the deaths involved people aged 30 to 49. Vancouver has the highest number of fatalities this year, with 144 overdoses. Kelowna has the fourth most overdose deaths in the province, with 32 this year. Overdose deaths have been largely attributed to the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which was connected to nearly 45 per cent of drug deaths between 2015 and 2016. The coroners service says data reflecting the proportion of fentanyl related deaths from a more recent period is expected to be released in June. Madison Erhardt Don't bother brewing your coffee at the office today, stop by your local Tim Hortons and help send a kid to camp. Camp Day is the one day each year when every penny from coffee sales at Tim Hortons Restaurants is donated to the Tim Horton Children's Foundation. The donations from Camp Day will help send more than 14,000 kids on the camping adventure of a lifetime. "Last year, between our three stores, we raised $15,000, and this year it looks like we will raise closer to $18,000," said co-ordinator Lori Olsvik. "Between all the Tim Hortons we are close to $7-8 million. "It is a great cause and gives the kids an experience of a lifetime where they will learn, grow, discover and create memories." If you are unable to make it down to a Tims today you are still able to donate at any point during the year. Vulcan Materials to acquire Aggregates USA 31 May 2017 Vulcan Materials Co has reached a definitive agreement with SPO Partners to acquire its aggregates business, Aggregates USA LLC for US$900m in cash. Aggregates USA LLC operates 31 facilities serving high growth markets in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia. "We are pleased to have reached agreement with SPO Partners for these strategic assets, which enhance our ability to serve high growth markets throughout the southeastern US," said Vulcan's Chairman and CEO, Tom Hill. "With the addition of these quarries and related assets, Vulcan will be able to capitalize on continuing increases in state highway funding programs in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, and on the continued private sector growth across the region. This transaction will provide Vulcan with long-term high quality reserves across the entire portfolio. Aggregates USA operates efficient, high-productivity facilities run by strong teams, and we welcome them to our Company." The acquisition complements and expands Vulcan's service offerings in Georgia with three granite quarries two of which have rail capabilities extending the company's reach into important markets along with 16 rail distribution yards in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. In addition, the acquisition includes 12 limestone quarries in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Vulcan may divest several quarries in Tennessee to a third party to expedite the regulatory approval process. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Published under Paraguay: INC welcomes Senate move on cement use ICR Newsroom By 31 May 2017 The president of Paraguays Industria Nacional de Cemento (INC), Jorge Mendez, has welcomed the approval granted by the countrys Senate of a bill that establishes the use of domestic cement in road construction. Mr Mendez said if the initiative is also passed in the National Congress and accepted by the government, it will contribute to the growth of the country not only in terms of benefits to its citizens, but will contribute to maintaining the countrys currency stock as the cement will be produced with domestic raw materials and labour. The Senate approved the use of domestic cement in road works on an incremental basis, increasing from 15 per cent of project requirements in the first year to 20 per cent in the second year. Thereafter, the share would increase to 25 and 30 per cent in the third and four year, respectively. Mr Mendez said that concrete pavements are longer-lasting and generate lower costs in terms of maintenance. Published under Egyptian Cement Co seeks loan for Sohag plant 31 May 2017 Egyptian Cement Co has entered into negotiations with a local banking alliance to obtain a loan of EGP4bn (US$221m) to partly finance the cost of its first plant and construction materials complex in Sohag province. The alliance is made up of the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, CIB and Arab African International Bank, sources told Al Mal newspaper. The details of terms and conditions memorandum are being agreed upon in preparation for addressing other local banks to contribute to securing the loan, the sources added, noting the duration of financing is 10 years including a two-year grace period. The company has acquired a cement licence out of seven offered by the Egyptian government. Production capacity of the plant is reported to be 2Mta. Published under Pakistan FY18 budget 'neutral' for cement industry 31 May 2017 Announcing its FY18 Budget on Friday, the Pakistan government has increased the allocation for its Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) and reduced corporate tax, but on the other hand increased has Federal Excise Duty (FED) and provided no relief to aid dwindling cement exports. Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, in his budget 2017-18 has proposed the allocation of PKR1001bn (US$9.5bn) for the PSDP in FY17-18, of which 67 per cent will be dedicated to infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, FED has been increased from PKR1/bag to PKR1.25/bag. In addition, the Risk Sharing Guarantee Scheme will be launched to cater for rising housing demand which will provide 40 per cent credit guarantee covers to banks and other financial institutions. Local analysts have deemed the 'budget' neutral for the cement industry, stating that increase in FED will ultimately be passed on to consumers. However, they caution that it will take time to pass on the increase due to existing pricing issues in the north of the country. Should local producers absorb the duty, earnings are expected to be affected by 8-9 per cent, they note. In his post-budget press conference, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar expressed hope that the increase in FED and its impact on cement price should be absorbed by cement manufacturers in view of the increase in capacity utilisation by 30-40 per cent. Mr Dar estimated an increase of PKR12.50/bag of cement but cautioned that it should not be no more than PKR 6-7 due to the increase in production capacity. The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) is yet to comment on the newly-announced measures. Published under Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced on Tuesday that 18,340 students in 917 classrooms across the state will benefit from the Voluntary Pre-K (VPK) program in the 2017-18 school year. Nearly 95 percent of districts in Tennessee will receive VPK funding designed to serve 4-year-olds who are at-risk. A list of preliminary funding amounts by district and the number of classrooms that funding supports is located on the departments website. The application process was strengthened this year to ensure the program provides children with a high-quality opportunity to develop school readiness skills and a strong foundation for learning. Pursuant to the requirements outlined in the Pre-K Quality Act of 2016, this year VPK funding was awarded on a competitive basis in order provide consistently high-quality VPK programs that prioritize serving students from low-income families. High-quality early learning opportunities are one of the best investments we can make in our kids, Commissioner McQueen said. We want to ensure we are supporting strong early learning opportunities for our students with the greatest need, and that is reflected in the updated application process and in these grantees. To ensure VPK funds are used to maximize and increase student outcomes, the funding for districts for 2017-18 VPK programs changed from a formula-based allocation to a competitive grant process based on program quality standards, including: full enrollment in programs serving the highest-need students; use of a quality curriculum aligned to the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards for 4-year-olds; daily schedule that maximizes instructional time, minimizes transitions, and contributes to childrens healthy growth and development; use of student outcome data to improve instruction; frequent classroom observations with job-embedded support for pre-K teachers; and family outreach to maximize enrollment and support at-home learning. Moving to a competitive application process is the first of many targeted updates the department is undertaking to ensure VPK funding is utilized to support high-quality pre-K programs across the state. As the department continues to make pre-K program quality improvements, we will continue to partner with districts across the state to measure program quality and to provide strategic professional development and support. To find out more about VPK in Tennessee, visit the departments website or contact Candace Cook, director of voluntary pre-K programs, at Candace.Cook@tn.gov. Five Minutes With Damien Geter Audio Article Vocalist, composer and Richmond Symphony artist in residence Damien Geters musical roots sprouted when he was a boy in the Matoaca District of Chesterfield County, where he was raised and... The Trump administration may be pushing investments in the struggling coal industry, but some proponents of clean energy say now is a great time to invest in technologies for renewables. Amy Francetic is senior vice president of corporate affairs at Chicago-based renewable energy company Invenergy. She's also managing director of its venture arm, the Invenergy Future Fund, which announced its first close Wednesday. The Future Fund will focus on B and C round investments of about $4 to $5 million; Invenergy CEO Michael Polsky is chair of the Future Fund's investment committee. Advertisement Francetic is among those who sees opportunity in backing companies and technologies that, in her words, can "help make energy more affordable, more reliable and more secure." Francetic declined to say how much Invenergy has raised for the Future Fund, which counts GE and WEC Energy Group as partners. She said she expects the fund to hit its final close in a year. In February, Invenergy bankrolled $4 million for the Future Fund to invest in Chicago-based Aquilon Energy Services, whose platform enables energy buyers and sellers to settle transactions. It is the Future Fund's first portfolio company, she said. Advertisement She talked to Blue Sky about why Invenergy is moving forward with its venture capital plans, even as national policy could end up supporting the industries it hopes to unseat. Q: What is the opportunity for Invenergy here? A: We believe that now is the time to invest in some near-term solutions to help make energy even more economically competitive and support the growth of it. Before we were working more on the physical characteristics of wind and solar, but now that we've got good performance and we've got prices down and they're cost-competitive beating fossil fuels and nuclear energy now is the time to look at this additional layer of innovation. Invenergy hasn't had a means of investing in that kind of technology to date. We're early adopters but we've never been investors. Q: Are you looking to invest in products that companies providing clean energy infrastructure might use? A: Yes, I think we need to get better performance out of the infrastructure that we have. I think about things that will make it cheaper, I think about reliability then I think of security. Cybersecurity is a big concern. The grid is notoriously insecure, very, very vulnerable to attack. So we're interested in identifying solutions to make and detect certain nefarious activity more quickly, how to put a stop to it, how to cure or solve a problem when it happens. Q: How do you navigate the national politics and policy changes surrounding energy these days? A: We're finally at this point in the renewable energy industry where people are choosing wind and solar not even because it's cleaner, but because it's cheaper. Once you hit that place, it's really hard to go backward. It's hard to justify investments in older forms of energy that are less cost-competitive. Advertisement Politically, the feeling is some of the efforts that are being put into resuscitating some of the older infrastructure that should be transitioning off the grid is not a very good investment of taxpayer money or, really, political energy. We're sticking with the business case for clean energy. Q: Is there a risk that as politicians support coal, it could hurt your investments? A: It does, because if it prevents the retirement of older infrastructure that is not cost-competitive that will slow down the expansion of cleaner, cheaper sources. It absolutely will affect any new build of energy, whether it's renewable energy or natural gas. The risk is a little bit mitigated by the fact that we're looking at this layer (of technologies that sit on top of infrastructure). A lot of these digital solutions are making their way into the energy industry from other industries. Now that the industry is at a place where there's enough wind and solar and storage coming online, they're able to look at some of these control systems that have been useful in other industries. We're seeing a lot of migration in from other industries. That's actually a really great thing from an investor standpoint, because the market size for a lot of these startups is quite large. Q: When you talk about those types of companies, it makes me think of Uptake. Any comment on that? Advertisement A: I think it's exciting to watch their growth. Clearly they're a perfect example of that; they started working with Caterpillar on their equipment and then they moved into energy. Q and A's are edited for length and clarity. aelahi@chicagotribune.com Twitter @aminamania A Bridgeview tobacco store owner allegedly cheated the state of Illinois out of more than $335,000 by disguising customers' purchases to avoid paying taxes, according to the Illinois attorney general's office The store's owner, Naser Suheil, 45, of Bridgeview, was charged with money laundering, forgery, wire fraud and failure to file a return after allegedly underreporting more than $928,000 in sales to the Illinois Department of Revenue between May and September of 2014, the attorney general's office said in a news release Tuesday. Advertisement Those sales appeared to have been made to a distributor in Indiana, Istanbul Enterprises. Under Illinois law, products sold to out-of-state corporations aren't taxed. But according to the attorney general's office, Suheil told one of his employees to set up Istanbul Enterprises and to make it look like his company, E&N United Corp., was selling to an out-of-state distributor, gave the employee cash to wire back to E&N United. Advertisement The sales should have been subject to Illinois' taxes on tobacco products, Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in the news release. Suheil could not immediately be reached for comment. lzumbach@chicagotribune.com Twitter @laurenzumbach At Southwest Signs, under the flight path of planes going to and from Midway Airport, expert painters carry on a tradition of hand-painted advertising signs for Chicago-area supermarkets, grocery stores and hot dog vendors. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Dan Kamba and Chuck Wilmarth are debating how to spell Oscar Mayer wiener. The "i" should be before the "e," says Kamba, co-owner of Southwest Signs in the Clearing neighborhood, but Wilmarth, the other co-owner and Kamba's brother-in-law, wants to be sure. Brush in hand and bent over a 4-by-8-foot sign advertising the hot dogs, he has to be. Advertisement There are no erasers in the hand-painted sign business. Each mistake is lost money and, sometimes more importantly, lost time. As the grocery stores and food stands that once relied heavily on the signs for their daily deals have turned to printed signs, businesses that specialized in the craft have shuttered or been forced to diversify. Advertisement Colors coat the paint cabinet on May 16, 2017, at Southwest Signs, a sign-painting business in Chicagos Clearing neighborhood that has been making hand-painted signs for decades. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) Sprinkled throughout Chicago, though, the art persists, through nostalgia or necessity. The hand-painted signs, written cleanly but quickly on bright paper, are hung briefly in windows of the city's hot dog stands, fish shops and grocery stores. The inexpensive signs can be a lifeblood for some small independent shops that still rely on the advertisements. "Even a little mom-and-pop store that doesn't have any money can still advertise," says Carol Kamba, front desk manager at Southwest Signs. "And sometimes that little sign will pay for itself 10 times over." Carol Kamba has just returned from her computer to settle the Oscar Mayer wiener debate. Her husband, Dan, was right. OSCAR MAYER WIENERS ORIGINAL OR TURKEY 14-16 OUNCE, 4 FOR $5.00 That deal won't last long. Stores order a sign just a day or two before the sale it's advertising begins. Advertisement Chuck Wilmarth shows some of his handiwork May 16, 2017, at Southwest Signs in Chicagos Clearing neighborhood. Wilmarth, co-owner of the sign-painting business, is an expert sign painter. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) "They all wait until the last minute to order the signs because they're all trying to beat each others' prices," Dan Kamba says. Sometimes they'll fork out another $30 or $40 for a new sign "just to make it 1 cent less." So the sign painters are sworn to secrecy to ensure that none of their clients' competitors catch wind of a sale. And they must work fast. Wilmarth is used to the speed. He paints the bold block letters and numbers with a style he learned as a teenager from the shop's previous owner. It's known as Chicago style, Wilmarth says, with its distinctive purplish-blue, bright red, and chartreuse or chrome yellow, and customers around the country have requested it. With red and purple paint on the pads of his fingers, he paints one sign after the other one for strawberries, another for lettuce talking while he works and not missing a stroke. "When the car's driving down the street at 30 mph, what do you want to know? My wife always wants to know what's on sale," Wilmarth says. "We really try to think about the layout of the signs and have the key words pop and the price pop. "Grocery stores want knee-jerk reaction." Advertisement Longtime sign painter Ches Perry paints paper signs May 25, 2017, for a restaurant at Right Way Signs in Chicagos Logan Square community area. ( Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune ) Long Ches Perry paints a restaurant sign May 25, 2017, at Right Way Signs in Chicagos Logan Square community area. Perry also paints large logos or murals in restaurants or on buildings. ( Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune ) The paper signs start at less than $10 and go up from there, depending on the size and how much the customer wants on it, Carol Kamba says. Today, hand-painted signs comprise about 20 percent of the shop's business. They are called knock-out signs, says Ches Perry, lead sign painter and mural artist at Right Way Signs, as he paints three paper advertisements at once for the Fish Keg in the West Rogers Park neighborhood. For much of his career, Perry owned a sign-painting shop in Evanston. In the 1980s and '90s, before the computer took over and hand-painted signs were more prevalent, he'd spend a 12-hour day each week painting paper signs for grocery stores. Typically, he says, the stores would call in their sign orders on Wednesday, and he'd paint them Thursday and deliver them Friday morning, when the sales usually started. Now? "The small stuff is filler, I guess you could say," Perry says. An array of signs is seen May 25, 2017, at Right Way Signs in Chicagos Logan Square community area. ( Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune ) The sign shop, based in Chicago's Logan Square community area, did about $1.3 million in revenue in 2016. Small signs and grocery store signs made up 10 to 15 percent of that. Perry spends much of his time painting larger-than-life logos or murals in restaurants or on buildings. His portfolio includes exterior signage for Goose Island Beer Co., mural work at Wrigley Field and the signs rising above the Lincoln Park area on Hotel Lincoln. Advertisement The Fish Keg has been using Perry's hand-painted signs since he owned his Evanston shop, manager Monty Williamson says. Perry also paints the eatery's menu signs and has done murals on its walls. The signs are quick and can keep up with the ever-changing fish specials, Williamson says. And in a world where computer-generated signs now dominate, the hand-painted versions are better at catching the eyes of passersby. "It's amazing how they draw people in. ... It gives you a warmer feeling," he says. "I guess it's almost like, Do you want a frozen TV dinner, or do you want your ma's home-baked?" amarotti@chicagotribune.com Twitter @AllyMarotti Rosebud Restaurants will pay $1.9 million and establish a program to hire African-Americans as part of a settlement of a 4-year-old federal lawsuit that charged the Chicago-based restaurant chain with discriminating against some black job applicants. (Kuzma / Getty Images/iStockphoto) Rosebud Restaurants will pay $1.9 million and establish a program to hire African-Americans as part of a settlement of a 4-year-old federal lawsuit that charged the Chicago-based restaurant chain with discriminating against some black job applicants. The lawsuit, filed by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September 2013, alleged that Rosebud refused to hire African-Americans at a number of its locations. The EEOC also charged that managers, including Rosebud owner Alex Dana, used racial slurs to refer to blacks. Advertisement The settlement was announced late Tuesday. In an emailed statement Wednesday, Rosebud said the consent decree was "in the best interests of our employees, staff and patrons." When the EEOC began investigating Rosebud hiring practices, many of its restaurants had no African-American employees, according to the EEOC. In some cases, applications from African-Americans had been discarded by restaurant managers immediately, according to EEOC attorneys Ann Henry and Diane Smason. Advertisement During their investigation, Smason and Henry sent letters to 20,000 to 30,000 applicants, asking if they were African-American. They identified 320 African-American applicants. "We think the number of black applicants was much larger," Smason said. "We can only provide relief to people who respond to us and tell us they are black." The settlement, approved by federal Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland, calls for Rosebud to pay the $1.9 million to African-American applicants who were denied jobs. The company also has agreed to implement hiring goals for qualified black applicants, with the aim that 11 percent of Rosebud's future workforce will be African-American. The settlement also requires Rosebud to recruit African-American applicants, train employees and managers about race discrimination and retaliation, and provide periodic reports to the EEOC on compliance with the decree's terms for four years. "We are committed to operating with integrity and conduct business in an ethical and legal manner, and we understand that we all can do more to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace," Rosebud said in its statement. The company added, "We consider it our mission to treat our employees as family with honesty and respect and we are proud of our employment record and the diversity of our workforce. We have not, do not and will not tolerate discrimination of any type toward employees or applicants." Rosebud currently owns and operates eight restaurants in the area: The Rosebud, Carmine's, Rosebud on Rush, Rosebud Prime, Mama's Boy, Rosebud Steakhouse, Rosebud Deerfield and Rosebud in Naperville. The closed restaurants also included in the suit are Rosebud Old World Italian, Rosebud Theater District, Rosebud of Highland Park, Rosebud Burger and Comfort Foods, Rosebud Trattoria, Joe Fish, EATT, Bar Umbriago and Centro. Advertisement crshropshire@chicagotribune.com Twitter @corilyns It may be unusual but not impossible for a delinquent owner to run for a seat in a condo board election. (Zerbor/Getty Images ) Q: Our bylaws state that if a unit owner is delinquent 60 days or more, he or she cannot vote on any condo business, including election of officers. One unit owner is challenging the association on certain decisions the board made and in protest has not paid his condo fees for two months. Our election is coming up and he has indicated he plans to run for a seat on the board of directors. Is this possible? A: Do my readers know why I love writing my column? I get great, thought-provoking questions such as yours. Advertisement First, you must look to the condo law in your state to determine if there are any guidelines or requirements to be a member of the board. To my knowledge, the only requirement found in state laws is that some (or all) of the board members must be unit owners. Next, you look to your legal documents the declaration in a condominium or the covenants, conditions and restrictions in a homeowner association. And if you do not find anything in those documents, you then look to the bylaws. Advertisement Typically, bylaws will contain some conditions, such as the number of directors, the scope of a board's authority, or the requirement that board members be owners. However, I have never seen anything that precludes a delinquent owner from serving on the board of directors. So unless there is a specific restriction that delinquent owners cannot serve on the board, my answer is they can. However, I don't think its a good idea; if elected, I am not sure the delinquent director will be able to vote on any issues based on the restriction contained in your bylaws. But stranger things have happened. People in jail have been elected to public office. If you do not want this person to serve, you can mount a campaign to convince the other owners that it sends a bad message to have a delinquent owner serve on the board. Current board members should not get involved under the authority of the board they were elected by the membership and should not take partisan views. However, in their individual capacity as owners, it would be acceptable for them to take positions. Bottom line: Try to amend your bylaws so delinquent owners cannot serve on the board. But let the presence of those owners at meetings be counted for quorum purposes, even if they can't vote. Q: My husband and I plan to buy an investment property, and want to make sure our other assets are protected. What is the best way for us to take title? A: I cannot provide specific legal advice. However, in general, there are three ways in which title can be held. Advertisement First, individually, in your name and that of your husband. This route provides the least protection. Even if you have more-than-adequate insurance, including umbrella coverage, there is always the possibility that your other assets can be grabbed. For example, if a court judgment exceeds the insurance limits, or the insurance carrier declines coverage for reasons spelled out in the policy. Next, you can take title in the name of a corporation. In my experience, there is too much paperwork and corporate filings required to make this a favorable option. Finally, you can take title in the name of a limited liability company. Although I don't normally make recommendations, this is what I generally suggest to my investor clients. The LLC provides the same protection as if it were a corporation but with less complications and paperwork. In simplified terms, this is called a "pass-through" entity; the LLC files an information tax return but the profits or losses are "passed through" and you include those numbers on your individual tax returns. Every project is different; review these options and discuss with your financial and legal advisers. Benny Kass is a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C., and in Maryland. He does not provide specific legal or financial advice to any reader. Readers may email him, but he cannot guarantee a personal response. mailbag@kmklawyers.com Watch our latest Real Estate videos. President Donald Trump arrives for a working session with outreach countries and international organizations at day two of the G-7 summit, in Taormina, Italy on May 27, 2017. (Ciro Fusco / EPA) President Donald Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chief's communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. Advertisement Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macron's victory earlier this month, according to a French official, who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeau's office responded to requests for comment. Advertisement The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump who, before taking office, was long easily accessible by cellphone and viewed himself as freewheeling, impulsive dealmaker. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. "If you are speaking on an open line, then it's an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so," said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president "doesn't carry with him a secure phone," Chollet said. "If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything you're saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it." The caution is warranted even when dealing with allies. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel's learned in 2013, when a dump of American secrets leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the U.S. was monitoring her cellphone, good relations don't prevent some spycraft between friends. "If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, it's reasonable to assume that they'd hand it right over to their intel service," said Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs in the U.S. State Department. The practice opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last year's presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. Presidents' phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. Advertisement The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less-formal calls with world leaders. Trump's White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aide's attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met in December with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The White House has said such back channel communications are useful and discreet. Trump has struggled more than most recent presidents to keep his conversations with world leaders private. His remarks to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats have all leaked, presumably after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials. It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. Advertisement But the law contains "blind spots" namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Under Barack Obama, the first cellphone-toting president, worries about cyber intrusions particularly by foreign governments pulled the president's devices deep into the security bubble. Many of the functions on Obama's BlackBerry were blocked, and a very small handful of people had his phone number or email address, according to former aides. "Government sometimes looks like a big bureaucracy that has stupid rules, but a lot of these things are in place for very good reasons and they've been around for a while and determine the most effective way to do business in the foreign policy sphere," said Deeks. "Sometimes it takes presidents longer to figure that out." Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report. 1) Make a brunch date at Ema Start your weekend on the right foot with a hearty-yet-healthy spread from Ema chef CJ Jacobson. The River North spots new weekend brunch offers breakfast favorites with a Mediterranean twist, like chicken, lamb or beef kefta with fried eggs and lemon dill rice ($15), or a harissa-laced lamb ragu with baked eggs ($14). 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at Ema, 74 W. Illinois St., 312-527-5586, www.emachicago.com. 2) Grab a stein at Mayfest Advertisement Channel Oktoberfest in summer with Lincoln Squares oompah-heavy Mayfest (yes, in June). Rain or shine, the historically German-influenced neighborhood gets pumped with enough German beer, lederhosen and pretzels to tide you over until fall. Family-friendly games will be set up for the little ones, and two tents will feature live music from the Polkaholics and Euro Express, a keg tapping and the traditional crowning of the May Queen. Free to attend. Thursday through Sunday at 4700 N. Lincoln Ave., www.mayfestchicago.com. 3) See a baguette that's taller than you Green City Market cuts the ribbons on its West Loop location this Saturday, which will run every Saturday from June through October. To mark the opening, the market will literally break bread in the form of a 6-foot long baguette from Bennison's Bakery. There will also be a cooking demo from Chris Gawronski, executive chef at The Gage and Acanto. And, of course, shop local vendors such as Red Barn Farm, Bushel & Peck's, Nichols Farm & Orchard and many more. Free to attend. 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (ceremony at 9 a.m.) Saturday at Mary Bartelme Park, 115 S. Sangamon St., www.greencitymarket.org. Advertisement 4) Celebrate "Seinfeld" in food and drink Did you know that at Logan Square's Scofflaw, every menu has featured at least one "Seinfeld"-themed cocktail? Now, the bar is going all out with its "Seinfeld" fanboy love, offering a menu dedicated to the show about nothing. For food, expect Big Salads ("big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs"), black-and-white cookies and muffin tops. Drinks, of course, are also themed, like the Festivus swizzle, with gin and sherry, or Gene's Pick, made with Cocchi Rosa, Gran Classico and gin. Priced a la carte. Menu available 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday at Scofflaw, 3201 W. Armitage Ave., 773-252-9700, www.scofflawchicago.com. 5) Hit up Hyde Park Brew Fest After wandering the stalls of the 70th annual 57th Street Art Fair, head over to Hyde Park's downtown to sample craft beer, grab a snack and take in some live music. Now in its fourth year, the Hyde Park Brew Fest is a celebration of more than 50 craft breweries, including local outfits Vice District, Revolution, Moody Tongue and 5 Rabbits. Admission includes tasting tickets ($20 for 10 tickets; $40 for 20 tickets) and a souvenir tasting glass. 1-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 53rd Street and Harper Avenue, www.hpbrewfest.com. jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com Twitter @joeybear85 Italian sausage, fennel, thyme. All flavorful ingredients alone. But together they make a pasta dish you'll want to add to your regular roster. A good dose of cream brings it all together, with fresh thyme adding an aromatic accent. For all that, you'll want a wine as richly nuanced. MAKE THIS Advertisement Penne with fennel and sausage Brown 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed, in a large skillet, breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet; stir in 1 large bulb fennel, cut into 1/4-inch thick sticks. Season with salt. Cook until softened, 8 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup dry white wine; cook to reduce by half. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves and reserved sausage. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly. Toss with 1 pound cooked penne and 1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives. Makes: 6 servings Advertisement Recipe by Joe Gray Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > DRINK THIS Pairings by sommelier Rachael Lowe of Spiaggia, as told to Michael Austin: 2012 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe La Crau Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, Rhone Valley, France: From old-vine vineyards, this white wine is composed of clairette, grenache blanc, bourboulenc and roussanne. The wine shows aromas of golden apples, Bosc pear, honey, macadamia nut and a hint of smoke, finishing on a waxy note. The viscous, rich texture will be a great complement to the creamy nature of the dish, while also wrapping around the vegetal and meat components. 2014 La Serena, Rosso di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: This red wine is made of sangiovese grapes grown at about 1,300 feet above sea level in the northeast portion of Montalcino. A beautifully balanced wine, it has aromas of Bing cherry, macerated strawberries, dried herbs and a hint of licorice. Its heightened acidity and naturally integrated tannins will cut through the fatty nature of the sausage and heavy cream, while also complementing the dish's herbal component. 2010 Cune Imperial Gran Reserva, Rioja, Spain: This tempranillo-based wine was fermented in concrete, aged for three years in French and American oak barrels and then aged another three years in the bottle before release. It offers notes of dried strawberry, red currant, leather, anise, sage and thyme, which will work well with the fennel bulb and herbs in the dish. Also, the wine's tealike tannins will cut through the richness of the meat. food@chicagotribune.com Twitter @pour_man Chenin blanc vines grow on a farm managed by the Kleine Zalze estate in Stellenbosch. The grape is the most-planted varietal in South Africa. (Rodger Bosch / AFP/Getty Images) It was in front of their eyes the entire time, and finally they realized what they had. The "what" that we're talking about is the chenin blanc grape variety, and the "they" are the winemakers of South Africa. It took a long time, but eventually they put one and one together, and realized that a great natural resource of theirs had huge potential and should no longer be overlooked or taken for granted. The now-respected chenin blanc grape variety was born in the Loire Valley of France, and appears to have made its way to South Africa in the mid-17th century. Back then, the grape was known as "steen" by the Dutch settlers who inhabited the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of the country, where the majority of its wine is grown and produced today. Advertisement According to the South African Chenin Blanc Association, it was not until 1963 that C.J. Orffer, the professor who headed up the University of Stellenbosch's viticulture program at the time, matched up the leaves of steen with those of chenin blanc to determine that steen was, in fact, chenin blanc. So that's the abbreviated version of the complicated tale of the South African chenin blanc name game. To sum it up: The grape was there from the start of the country's wine grape cultivation and was known by at least a couple of names through the years, including steen (sometimes spelled "stein") and chenin blanc. But the grape's rise to prominence and worth in South Africa is even more tortured and roundabout. A versatile and high-yielding grape, chenin blanc was a major player in much of South Africa's brandy in the 20th century but was not valued to any large degree as a grape for quality table wine until as recently as 1999. This is when the CBA was formed and local winemakers began spending time turning chenin blanc grapes into the best wines they could. Advertisement Even in recent years, winemakers have undertaken massive replanting efforts to ensure higher quality grapes and wine moving forward. At the same time, other winemakers have been preserving and focusing on their old vines that have proved themselves as producers of consistently good fruit. Still, South African chenin blanc can be polarizing. It shares space with chardonnay in the sense that people who say they don't like it have had either poor-quality versions of it or styles that don't suit their tastes. Try a different bottle. Good South African chenin blancs can offer floral, citrusy and honey-kissed notes; apple, pear, apricot and tropical fruits; and nutty and toasty expressions when the wine has been fermented in oak barrels. Many of them have a formidable medium- to full-bodied roundness, often with zingy acidity to boot. Generally, South African chenin blancs are meant to be drunk young and fresh, but this is a varietal that can also benefit from bottle aging. The fruit and acidity of South African chenin blancs can make them nice apertifs (but be wary of alcohol levels that land between 13 and 14 percent), and they can also stand up to heartier seafood, grilled chicken and a variety of Asian cuisines that bring the spice. Although the grape variety is not originally from South Africa, it is the most-planted grape variety in South Africa, and no other place on earth has more of it. Almost one of every five grapes grown in South Africa is chenin blanc. Once an abundant yet underutilized commodity, chenin blanc is now a source of pride for the South African wine industry. Doesn't that make you want to track down a bottle or two and find out why? Below are notes from a recent tasting of South African chenin blanc. They are listed in ascending order according to price. 2016 Solms Delta Chenin Blanc. From the Western Cape, this wine offered ripe pear, lime and anise to go along with a crispness that made it very easy to drink on its own. $12 2015 Stellar Winery The River's End Chenin Blanc. Pear, apple, butter, apricot, anise and honey characterized this creamy, mouth-coating wine, which also had a touch of citrus on the finish. $14 Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > 2016 Ken Forrester Vineyards Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc. Peach, apricot, fennel, orange blossom and bright acidity were all present in this fresh and clean wine from the Stellenbosch region. $15 Advertisement 2015 Terre Brulee Le Blanc Chenin Blanc. Full of apricot, minerality, citrus and zingy acidity with a dry, crisp finish, this Swartland region wine clocked in at 13.5 percent alcohol. $15. 2015 De Bos Sur Lie Chenin Blanc. This wine from the Wellington region offered pear, green apple, anise, tropical fruits, citrus, tangy acidity, and lip-smacking tartness on the finish. $17 2015 Mullineux Family Wines Kloof Street Old Vine Chenin Blanc. Minerality, apricot, tropical fruit, vanilla, honey, a whiff of smoke and cleansing acidity all pushed through this wine's round lushness. $20 2015 Bellingham Old Vine Chenin Blanc. At 14 percent alcohol, this Coastal Region wine was packed with bright stone and tropical fruits, honey, oak, vanilla and refreshing acidity. $25 2014 Beaumont Family Wines Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc. This wine offered apricot, lime, honey, oak and fresh acidity, and should age well in the bottle for five years or more. $30 food@chicagotribune.com Twitter @pour_man "Eat your vegetables" is a common refrain of people with kids, but it's also becoming something of an edict from chefs to their guests. The veggie-forward trend is front and center at Clever Rabbit, the latest restaurant and bar from Chris Haisma (co-owner of The Betty and Sparrow) and partners Brad Serot and Nick Pagor. Matt Lair, former chef at the now-shuttered Bom Bolla, takes the helm in the kitchen, eschewing animal fats, creams and oils for lighter preparations. Advertisement "I didn't want to serve (the usual) Brussels sprouts with bacon," says Lair. "Why not let the vegetables speak for themselves, instead of be bogged down by these heavy flavors?" Clever Rabbit isn't strictly vegetarian; there are options for carnivores, including a half-chicken ($16) and a double-patty burger called the Fat Rabbit ($15), topped with sherry mustard, mushrooms, onion and Swiss cheese. "We talked about doing a veggie or black-bean burger, but ... we're a neighborhood restaurant we didn't want to be cult-y about vegetables," Haisma says. Advertisement That said, the section headed "Vegetables" is the largest part of the menu. It progresses from smaller plates to entrees, allowing guests to build their meal accordingly. Highlights include the whole roasted cauliflower ($10, served with pickled vegetables and cauliflower puree), and Chinese broccoli cooked with fermented black beans and salt-and-pepper tofu ($8). The menu also features platters, salads, a section called "Plates" (where most of the meat and seafood are hanging out) and desserts. Expect an army of produce from the local farmers familiar to Chicago restaurantgoers: Mick Klug Farm, Butternut Sustainable Farm, Slagel Family Farm, Green Acres, Nichols Farm and Orchard and Sweet Grass Dairy. Under the platters, the large-format crudite ($38) "goes beyond just cut and washed raw vegetables," says Lair. Instead, some of the vegetables are transformed into dips or spreads, such as rich smoked mushroom mousse or eggplant agrodolce, a sweet-and-sour Italian condiment. Leading the salads is the fiambre ($14), which comes decked out with roasted red peppers, asparagus, green beans, chickpeas, cucumber, carrot, radish, egg, hearts of palm, cheddar and ginger-lime vinaigrette. "It's my favorite thing, because it's how I like to eat," says Serot. The crudite platter is a feast of raw and pickled veggies, ramp and mushroom conserva, smoked mushroom mousse, eggplant agrodolce, bijou goat cheese, plums, summer truffle and hempseed naan. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) What makes Clever Rabbit clever? Lair says he was inspired in part by the anti-waste ethos of New York chef Dan Barber, owner of James Beard Award-winning and Michelin-starred Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Barber's WastED pop-up series, which rethinks the byproducts of food prep, inspired Lair "to think root-to-leaf." Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > "How could we apply this mentality in what we do how can we use things that would normally go in the garbage?" says Lair. His chilled greens dish (think kale, spinach and avocado) also features the stems of Swiss chard, which add a pop of color. Another instance of reusing "waste" comes from the bar, which juices 100 pounds of carrots a week for the signature carrot margarita. The pulp is reused to make dog treats for neighbor Doggy Style Pet Shop and also as a finishing garnish for the banana split dessert. Haisma and Pagor tag-teamed the drinks. Bitter vegetables are typically hard to pair with wines, but Haisma sidestepped the problem by sourcing 90 high-acid reds and whites. The acidity lifts and provides contrast to typically earthy flavors, particularly from greens, mushrooms, beets and the like. Pagor's cocktail list, meanwhile, is focused and streamlined, with six cocktails plus two options for nondrinkers. The carrot margarita ($12) features Ancho Reyes' new Verde expression, an herbaceous, green chile-infused liqueur mixed with tequila, carrot juice, agave and more. Another clever nod to Clever Rabbit's veggie-mission is the Sauced and Found ($12), a rum and rabarbaro (rhubarb amaro) sipper. Parents with kids can come on in. Clever Rabbit is not another Wicker Park cocktail bar, and the menu reflects it. Options for children include fish sticks ("not the frozen kind," says Haisma), flatbreads and house-made apple sauce. Advertisement "When we were building out, we looked around the neighborhood and noticed more parents, more strollers," says Serot. "I live nearby, too, and I have kids. Everyone is welcome here." Clever Rabbit, 2015 W. Division St., 773-697-8711, www.cleverrabbitchicago.com jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com Twitter @joeybear85 ST. LOUIS An annual dance festival called Spring to Dance celebrated its 10th anniversary this Memorial Day weekend. St. Louisans flocked to the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri's beautiful, tree-lined campus for what has become a nationally recognized weekend of high-quality dance performances. For less than $100, dance fans can see 30-odd professional dance companies over the course of three days, bingeing on what is arguably the best dance buffet in the Midwest. Making it all happen is Dance St. Louis, a dance presenting organization that was led by artistic/executive director Michael Uthoff until he announced his retirement last year. Spring to Dance was Uthoff's idea, modeled after New York's Fall for Dance festival and designed with two aims: 1) bring great dance to St. Louis, and 2) bolster the local dance community by featuring it among the best companies in the nation. Advertisement Spring to Dance has been great for Chicago, too; as the dance capital of the Midwest (for its size and density, if nothing else) Spring to Dance maintains a healthy representation of Chicago's best and brightest companies in its main stage presentations at the 1,600-seat Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall, and also highlights lesser-known groups in a more intimate space called the Lee Theater. This year alone, 11 of the 33 groups featured were from the Windy City, including the Joffrey Ballet's Amanda Assucena and Fabrice Calmels in Gerald Arpino's hypnotizing "After the Rain"; excerpts from Same Planet Performance Project's "Honey"; and Lucky Plush Productions' "Cinderbox 2.0," smart tap dancing from Chicago Tap Theatre and Chicago Human Rhythm Project, and flamenco by Clinard Dance set to a blistering live musical accompaniment. Comparisons could be made between Spring to Dance and the now-defunct Chicago Dancing Festival, similar in size and stature. But Spring to Dance is more like our Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, investing heavily in local companies and also offering an inclusive span of dance forms ranging from concert dance genres to cultural forms such as hula and Native American dance and mixed-ability companies, which incorporate dancers with disabilities. Comparisons aside, Uthoff essentially put a city with little dance infrastructure on the map in the 10 years since Spring to Dance launched. The local dance scene continues to up the ante each year in the quality of dancers and choreography it presents in Spring to Dance, presumably motivated by the desire to really "show up" and represent for St. Louis. Advertisement Even so, this is a place teeming with nearby undergraduate dance programs Webster University, Washington University in St. Louis and Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville to start yet the professional dance scene is dominated by just one ballet company (St. Louis Ballet) and two modern/contemporary groups: Modern American Dance Co. (MADCO) and the Big Muddy Dance Company. The latter is now led by Brian Enos, who arrived in 2014 when artistic director Paula David resigned. Big Muddy is a young company, founded in 2010, and the former Hubbard Street dancer and accomplished choreographer was excited to take on a project that didn't have a long history with which to compete. "I knew I didn't want to start a company, but I wanted to take over a rep company," said Enos in an interview with the Tribune. "The stars aligned, and everything fell into place." As a young director, Enos felt that he and the company could learn and grow together. "The company was still developing its identity and I could take it in a direction I wanted to. It was one of those things that felt like the right decision," he said. Enos is focused on raising Big Muddy's visibility by commissioning new repertoire from in-vogue choreographers; given his 12 years living and working in Chicago, this, too, has been good for us. In his three years as artistic director, Enos commissioned works from former Hubbard Street dancer Penny Saunders and LEVELdance's Brandon DiCriscio, plus former Thodos Dance Chicago dancer Joshua Manculich and Chicago favorite Harrison McEldowney. St. Louis locals have reaped the rewards, too, particularly Kameron Saunders, who set two works on Big Muddy, and for good reason: Spring to Dance audiences understandably jumped to their feet Saturday after seeing his fierce quartet "Pas de Garcons" performed by Saunders' newly formed Kambre Contemporary Dance Company. But perhaps the luckiest part of the deal is that Big Muddy gets to perform Enos' work, too. Closing the main stage program Saturday was his "Jetstream," in which 11 dancers personify airplane flight a perfect juxtaposition between the driving force needed for takeoff and the seat belt sign going off as the plane levels off in the clouds. "Jetstream" has just enough wow factor to show off Big Muddy's exceptional dancers and hold the audience's attention, but its silky smooth partnering and beautiful subtleties are what make it really special. Despite all the positive things happening and the tremendous success of Spring to Dance and New Dance Horizons, a newer series that pairs emerging choreographers with local dance companies, the St. Louis dance scene is not without challenges. Dance St. Louis suspended most of its presenting season for at least the next year, limiting itself to one concert other than Spring to Dance and the popular New Dance Horizons. Upon Uthoff's retirement, Janet Brown, previously the operations and education coordinator, found an organization in deep financial difficulty as she took on the role of executive director. "My hope is that the coming season succeeds as a building season," said Brown, who is eager to implement fresh ideas and approaches. "Michael has done a terrific job, but his retirement is an opportunity to take some new directions." For now, Terence Marling is being brought in to guide the artistic side of the organization as Dance St. Louis' newly appointed artistic consultant. Marling might be the perfect person for the job, having spent years at the helm of Hubbard Street 2 until it disbanded last year. He is passionate about young artists and has his finger on the pulse of new and emerging dancers and choreographers, which should be perfect for filling Dance St. Louis' artistic needs, including curation of Spring to Dance and New Dance Horizons. He will also provide input into Dance St. Louis' exemplary education initiatives, which provide training and scholarship opportunities for local dancers. While Marling has a vision for the future of the organization, the job is part-time and he will keep his home in Chicago during what is, for now, just a one-year commitment. "Everyone's trying to get creative," he said. "The election year hit everybody. It's been a difficult fundraising year and (Dance St. Louis) needed input. I want a good year with a good financial track record." Meanwhile, Janet Brown will be working with the board to "right-size the organization." Advertisement For now, Dance St. Louis hopes to maintain the base of loyal St. Louisans who come each year to Spring to Dance while cultivating new audiences and working to regrow and diversify Dance St. Louis' programming in the future. "I see a country that's actually very interested in dance," said Marling, adding that he's excited to "get his hands into the cultural scene" in St. Louis. "Every city holds unrealized potential," he said. "There is work to be done no matter what." Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic. ctc-arts@chicagotribune.com RELATED STORIES: Nomi Dance's 'Ten Yeared' includes 'Kim,' for every woman Review: High drama of the ballet 'Red Giselle' returns at the right time 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) Traffic at Machu Picchu has been on the rise in recent years. This photo was taken in 2013, when nearly 1.2 million people visited the ancient site. Last year, Machu Picchu had 1.4 million visitors. (JTB Photo/Getty Images ) MACHU PICCHU, PERU Peru's Machu Picchu heralded as the "Lost City of the Incas" by American explorer Hiram Bingham, who rediscovered the largely forgotten site more than 100 years ago has evolved into a tourist magnet. Buses full of visitors regularly zigzag up and down the road that leads to this bucket-list destination built centuries ago, high in the Andes. Advertisement During the reign of the once-powerful Inca, the citadel was occupied by fewer than 1,000 people at any given time, according to historian Hugh Thomson, author of "The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland." Last year, more than 5,000 people on average walked the paths of Machu Picchu daily during the busiest months of July and August. Advertisement In the past 106 years since Bingham introduced this ancient wonder to the world, Machu Picchu went from virtually no visitors to more than 1.4 million in 2016. It's a number that some worry is too high and one that threatens to make Machu Picchu a victim of its own success. "The tourist impact is very grave," said Nelson Huaman Quispe, a guide with Machu Picchu Andes Tours. "As there are a large quantity of tourists, you can't control them. "Many tourists do things they shouldn't do," he added. "For example, some people climb the structures. Some take the stones. Some mark up the floor, do things they shouldn't. ... It's chaos." New rules that take effect July 1 could mean even more visitors to the site. The Peruvian government reportedly is increasing the number of daily maximum visitors to 5,940 people far more than the 2,500 initially recommended by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization. But under the new system, people will be spread throughout the day by having timed visits either during the morning or afternoon. As it is now, people can stay all day. The new rules would allow 3,267 visitors in the morning (6 a.m. to noon) and 2,673 in the afternoon (noon to 5:30 p.m.). Having fewer people at Machu Picchu at any one time would theoretically make it easier for security guards to monitor the site. Archaeologist and explorer Gary Ziegler first visited Machu Picchu in 1965. He's been back almost every year since. "I think anybody who's been there in the past and any professional who's studied there is going to be very, very depressed about the whole situation," Ziegler said about Machu Picchu's rise in popularity in recent years. Advertisement During his first visit, Ziegler said, he was allowed to camp inside one of the buildings in Machu Picchu, which isn't permitted today. The quietude, he said, allowed visitors to get a sense of what the Incas felt when they still occupied Machu Picchu in the 15th and 16th centuries. "It's just an incredible, magical place, and I don't see how anybody can really capture the experience of that in tourist groups being rushed through anymore," Ziegler said. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, Machu Picchu was voted in a 2007 online poll as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, prompting a steady uptick in visitors. Last year, the travel website TripAdvisor named Machu Picchu the No. 1 landmark in the world for its sheer number of reviews over 11,000 and its overwhelmingly high ratings. The tourist traffic has been a boon for the Peruvian economy, but Machu Picchu and the village of Aguas Calientes, the jumping-off point for the uphill ride to the ruins, are not equipped to handle that many people at once. There is only one main way in and out of Machu Picchu, leading to frequent bottlenecks and making a quick evacuation difficult. Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo), at the base of the mountain, is prone to flooding in the rainy season, October to April. In 2010, flooding and mudslides blocked the roads and rail lines between Aguas Calientes and the popular tourist town of Cusco, trapping visitors for days. Advertisement "My concern is about the inherent danger of having several thousand visitors trapped in the inaccessible confines of the Urubamba canyon during rainy season," Ziegler said. Plans have long been in the works to make another main entrance to Machu Picchu from the nearby town of Santa Teresa also prone to flooding to take some of the visitor burden off Aguas Calientes. Despite the influx of travelers, Machu Picchu remains free of the gross commercialization plaguing Aguas Calientes. There's no gift shop at the ruins, and the original landscape is largely intact, except for a few signs and roped-off areas. "The thesis about Machu Picchu having been this wide open, very accessible, contemplative place that is turning into Disney Picchu or something like that, I don't agree with that," said Rick Vecchio, a journalist from Brooklyn who now lives in Peru and runs a tour operation and travel agency Fertur Peru Travel with his wife. "I think the problem with Machu Picchu had been, until very recently, a question of a lack of proper infrastructure to deal with the crowds." Nearly every year since 2007, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has recommended that Machu Picchu be considered for inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger a designation Machu Picchu has so far managed to avoid. In response to UNESCO's threats, the Peruvian government has put more crowd-control and safety measures in place. Advertisement Today, tourists will find certain attractions roped off, such as the Intihuatana stone ("hitching post of the sun"), which was used by the Incas as a kind of calendar for the winter solstice. The rope was put in place after Intihuatana was damaged in 2000 when a beer company was filming a commercial and a crane accidentally knocked into the stone. The Temple of the Three Windows, another favorite attraction at Machu Picchu, is roped off now too. Another major change in the last few years is the addition of guards at several corners around the citadel. The uniformed guards with whistles around their necks watch for people crossing the ropes or touching damaged structures. Future plans that have been discussed, according to Vecchio, include mandatory guides accompanying tourists, as well as the construction of a funicular to offer an alternative path up the mountain. Despite the changes, tourists continue to trek to Machu Picchu in ever-increasing numbers, a testament to the original structure that has withstood civilization, conquest, abandonment and so far tourism. "Every time I go, it has impact, which I think is something that's shared," said Vecchio, who's visited more times than he can remember. "Most people, unless there's something wrong with them, they feel something akin to what I feel when I go there and I look at it. ... There's just something so beautiful and perfect about it." For those who wish to experience something similar to Machu Picchu in the days before mass tourism, Ziegler recommends visiting a lesser known site about 30 miles away called Choquequirao. Advertisement It too was built by the Incas and modeled after Machu Picchu. About 20 or 30 people typically visit the site each day, and the only way to get there is by foot. coconnolly@chicagotribune.com Twitter @ColleenMConn RELATED STORIES: Stay healthy while traveling: Plan ahead, pack utensils, don't get drunk Get ready for busy travel season; airlines could set record Advertisement Albuquerque boasts plenty of sass and style Ron Gidwitz speaks in Springfield on March 7, 2006. Gidwitz was President Donald Trump's Illinois finance chairman in the 2016 election. (Seth Perlman / AP) The family of President Donald Trump's biggest backer in Illinois has been ordered by a judge to pay its lawyers $5.7 million in disputed legal fees. In what amounts to a public rebuke of Trump's Illinois finance chairman, Ron Gidwitz, Cook County Judge Patrick Foran Lustig ruled Wednesday that the Gidwitz family had breached a contract when it refused to pay its attorneys what they were owed. Advertisement A two-week trial in large part turned on Gidwitz's claim that he had negotiated a commitment from the law firm Ungaretti & Harris to conclude a decadelong battle over the fate of a blighted Section 8-backed housing project the Gidwitzes owned in Joliet for $1.2 million, instead of the $6.4 million the lawyers said they were owed. Gidwitz, who ran for governor in 2006, admitted on the stand that he had no documentation to back up his account. Advertisement In his written ruling, Lustig found that the Gidwitzes "did not meet their burden of proof that an alternative fee arrangement was agreed upon." Joseph Power Jr., who represented Ungaretti & Harris, said the judge's ruling showed "he did not believe Mr. Gidwitz." Gidwitz's management of Evergreen Terrace the 356-unit Joliet housing project where staff dealt drugs, a little girl fell from a window and died during a hot summer when the building's air conditioning was malfunctioning and broken window screens were not replaced, and a man who was shot lay dying in the building's courtyard for an hour before police were called is consistent with his refusal to pay his lawyers, Power tells Chicago Inc. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Power noted that Trump's inherited fortune came from Section 8 housing and that his son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, also invests in Section 8 housing. "I guess that's maybe why Trump and Gidwitz are birds of a feather," Power added. Gidwitz's attorneys did win a minor victory, convincing the judge to chop $700,000 off Ungaretti & Harris' bill. And Gidwitz family spokesman Steve Patterson suggested in a written statement that the family may appeal. "This may have been the first decision in this case, but it won't be the last," Patterson wrote, adding: "While the court found some of their fees unreasonable, we look forward to a further review of those remaining fees in the appeal process." Advertisement kjanssen@chicagotribune.com twitter @kimjnews Lavontay Chavis, 20, charged with vehicular hijacking and armed robbery along with a 17-year-old boy. (Chicago Police Department) A man and a 17-year-old boy have been charged with two carjackings after they crashed into a tree while fleeing police in the West Ridge neighborhood. Lavontay Chavis, 20, was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm and armed robbery. The teen was charged with aggravated vehicular hijackingand armed robbery with a firearm, Chicago police said. Advertisement The carjacking happened about 6:15 p.m. Monday in the 6600 block of North Fairfield Avenue, police said. They fled in the stolen car but were arrested about 10 minutes later when they crashed into a tree in the 6600 block of North Western Avenue, police said. Chavis and the boy were linked by witnesses to another carjacking and to two armed robberies earlier that day on the North Side, police said. Advertisement Chavis was scheduled to appear Wednesday at a bail hearing. No information was available on the 17-year-old. Chicago police recently sought the FBI's help in reinvestigating the apparent suicide nearly two years ago of a sergeant after officers raised concerns about how evidence was collected at the scene, a source told the Tribune. Then, over the Memorial Day weekend, the renewed probe took a stunning twist after the sergeant's wife, herself a veteran police officer, was found dead in the couple's same Northwest Side home, records show. Advertisement Dina Markham, 47, a 22-year veteran of the force, was found by a family member unresponsive in the bathtub on Sunday after ingesting pills, according to police. The Cook County medical examiner's office has not ruled yet on the cause of death, but a police spokesman said the case was being investigated as a suicide. Advertisement The tragic turn of events came as the FBI, in an unusual move, was re-examining the September 2015 death of Markham's husband, Donald. He had apparently shot himself in the home in the city's Norwood Park community after a drunken argument with his wife, police reports show. The death was ruled a suicide at the time by the medical examiner's office. But the source said Superintendent Eddie Johnson sought the FBI's help after an officer had raised concerns about how evidence was handled at the scene. Johnson reviewed the case before deciding to contact the FBI. Documents obtained by the Tribune through an open records request show that Johnson's general counsel had been reviewing the Donald Markham case in February, when the Evidence and Recovered Property section sent records of evidence collected at the scene to the superintendent's office. The investigation was still ongoing as of Wednesday. The city's Inspector General's Office was also involved. Police reports obtained by the Tribune show Dina Markham told police her husband, 51, had locked her out of their home the night of his death after the couple had been out drinking and argued after leaving a bar at about 1 a.m. She said she discovered her husband dead in their bed after one of her children let her in the house, the reports said. She said she then called 911. Her husband was pronounced dead at 3:34 a.m. at the house in the 5900 block of North Newark Avenue by a doctor from Presence Resurrection Medical Center, the records show. According to the medical examiner's office report, the detective investigating the death that night said the gun used in the shooting belonged to Donald Markham but it was not his service weapon. Advertisement "There was no history of suicidal ideations or suicide attempts and no suicide note was found on scene," the report said. The detective wrote that the death was being treated as a suicide and "there was no suspicion of foul play." The medical examiner's office did not conduct its own investigation at the scene because the detective hadn't contacted the office about the death until almost 5:30 a.m., at least two hours after the incident, the report said. By then, Markham's body was being transported to the morgue. Records show that at the time Markham's death was discovered, Area North detectives and medical examiner's office investigators were already dealing with three fatal shootings that had occurred in a two-hour span including a double homicide just an hour earlier on North Winthrop Avenue. At the morgue, Assistant Medical Examiner Steven M. White conducted an autopsy and ruled the death was a suicide as a result of a single gunshot wound to his head. Blood had been found on both of Markham's hands, according to White's report. The investigation into Donald Markham's death was closed on Nov. 13, 2015, and classified as "non-criminal," the police reports showed. Advertisement At the time of his death, Markham was assigned as a sergeant in the Police Department's narcotics unit. His wife worked as an officer assigned to the Bureau of Internal Affairs, the department's internal unit that investigates allegations against officers of wrongdoing. Records show Donald Markham joined the department in May 1994 and was a 21-year veteran when he died. He had 16 complaints lodged against him in his career as of 2014 but no history of being disciplined. A decade ago, Markham had a failed foray into politics, running for alderman in the 41st Ward. Records show he lost to former Ald. Brian Doherty, receiving only 16 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Dina Markham, meanwhile, was hired in February 1995 and had only a handful of complaints none of which resulted in discipline in her 22 years on the force, records show. Hours after Dina Markham's body was found Sunday, marked and unmarked squad cars could be seen parked outside the family's home, situated on a narrow block dotted with single-family homes with large, well-kept front lawns. Several people could be seen standing near the driveway as police investigated. Records show the Markhams were married in 1995 and had five children. They purchased the home which featured an in-ground pool in 2006 for $730,000 and currently had a $760,000 mortgage, county Recorder of Deeds records show. Advertisement In the police reports, Dina Markham told the detective that she and her husband had been at the Firewater Saloon in the nearby Edison Park neighborhood earlier that evening in September 2015. The two got into an argument on the way home from the bar. Markham said her husband blamed her for staying out so late, and the argument continued as they arrived to the front door of their home, the reports show. Markham said she walked away from the home as her husband followed, according to the reports, but Donald Markham eventually returned to the home and went inside. About 15 minutes later, Dina Markham returned to the home and discovered the front door was locked, the reports show. Unable to get into the home, Dina Markham said she knocked on one of the windows before one of her children opened the front door, according to the reports from police and the medical examiner's office. When she entered the home, she said, Markham started looking for her car keys because she planned to sleep in her vehicle for the rest of the evening, according to the police reports. After entering the master bedroom, with the room "illuminated with ambient lighting," she saw her husband lying in bed, on his side and with his back pointing toward her, the police reports said of her account. Dina Markham continued looking for her keys, and she felt the outside of her husband's pockets, the reports show. That's when, she said, she felt moisture on her hands and realized it was blood. She said she then called 911. "Upon further observations of Donald, it had appeared that he had shot himself in the head," the detective wrote of his interview with Dina Markham. "(She) could provide no further information in regards to this incident." Advertisement Three of the Markhams' underage children were home at the time of the shooting and were interviewed by detectives, but their statements were redacted from the reports provided to the Tribune. Records provided by the Office of Emergency Management and Communications showed Dina Markham called 911 at 3:12 a.m. She told the operator that an off-duty police officer was "bleeding from his head" and needed an ambulance, but refused to answer questions as to what happened or whether he was breathing, then hung up. The Tribune's request for the audio of the 911 call under the Freedom of Information Act was denied by the city, which claimed releasing it would be a violation of privacy. When police arrived at the scene, Donald Markham's .380-caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol was found in his right hand, with five bullets still in the magazine and one in the chamber, according to supplemental reports logged in the investigation. A spent shell casing was found near the pillows on the bed and Markham had a "contact" gunshot wound to his right temple, indicating the gun had been pressed to the skin when it was fired, the reports showed. An Illinois State Police report later showed the gun was caked in blood, including inside the barrel, which had to be cleaned before the weapon could be test fired by the state police crime lab. The tests showed the bullet that killed Markham had been fired from the weapon, the records show. Advertisement The crime lab tests also showed Donald Markham had gunshot residue on his hand, indicating he'd either fired a gun or was close to a weapon being discharged at the time of his death, according to police records. The autopsy report showed that Markham had no drugs in his system when he died, but blood tests later confirmed he had been drinking. According to the toxicology report, Markham's blood-alcohol level was about 0.12 percent at the time it was tested, over the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent. Police reports stated Donald Markham had $138 in cash on him when he died. He also had his wife's cellphone in the cargo pocket of his shorts. The detective returned the phone to her that morning, the reports stated. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > One of the highest-ranking department members to respond to the scene on the morning of Donald Markham's death was then-Lt. Denis Walsh of Area North, the police records show. Walsh notified the department's Internal Affairs Division about the death which would be routine in the case of an officer's apparent suicide at 4:55 a.m. that day, records show. Walsh resigned last year as the department sought to fire him for his role in the investigation into David Koschman, a suburban man who died after being punched by a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley's in 2004. Walsh was accused in a special prosecutor's report of removing the original file on the Koschman case from his office "with no legitimate work purpose." Advertisement He could not be reached for comment Wednesday. jgorner@chicagotribune.com asweeney@chicagotribune.com jmeisner@chicagotribune.com Talal Kurdieh didn't have much to say when he called his son early Wednesday: Wake up your older brother and meet me at Stroger Hospital. It wasn't until the brothers got there that they learned Kurdieh, a cabdriver, had been shot in the chest while picking up a fare on the West Side. "Instead of the guy coming into the car, he said it was a strong-armed robbery," the older son, Abed Kurdieh, 23, said outside Stroger. Kurdieh, 58, was shot around 1:05 a.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of North Avers Avenue in East Garfield Park on the West Side. He drove about half a mile to Chicago and St. Louis avenues, where he sought medical help, according to police. Their father's condition was stabilized at Stroger and the brothers were told he could be released later Wednesday. They say their father was in good spirits and was joking that the shooting was just a bump in the road. "My father don't mean no harm to nobody," Abed Kurdieh said. "He's simply out there just trying to make some money and bring it to the house. It's just really sad that people would actually want to do this to an older man." Their father has worked as a cabdriver for about 30 years and is familiar with the city. "I guess with the cab business right now and with the Uber competition, I guess you just got to take whatever you get," Abed Kurdieh said. "You can't reject it anymore, you don't get as many calls. You just want to make sure you get that money." Abed and his brother Zate, 20, said their father usually doesn't want to burden them with his troubles as a cabbie. "He wouldn't even tell you if anything scary happens to him," Abed Kurdieh said. "He didn't even tell us he was shot until we got here." The shooting was among three West Side attacks in the Harrison police district after a holiday weekend that saw no shootings in one of the most violent areas of the city. Advertisement About 8:35 p.m. Tuesday in the district, an 23-year-old man was fatally shot in the head in the 2700 block of West Gladys Avenue according to police. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Around 9:40 p.m. in the district, a 24-year-old man was injured in the leg in a drive-by shooting in the 100 block of North Keeler Avenue in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. He was taken in fair condition to Stroger Hospital, police said. On the Far South Side, a 29-year-old man was shot to death around 8:25 p.m. in the 1000 block of West 103rd Street in Washington Heights, police said. Police responding to calls of a person shot found Marcus Childs next to a vehicle. He had suffered several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on the scene, police said. He lived about 5 miles north in the 6400 block of South Paulina Street, according to the Cook County medical examiner. Other shootings: A 26-year-old man was critically injured about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday while walking in the 2900 block of North Mason Avenue in the Belmont Central neighborhood on the Northwest Side. The man was struck in the buttocks and groin. He was taken in critical condition to Community First Medical Center. A 25-year-old man was shot in the right thigh in the 2800 block of West North Avenue about 7:25 p.m. He got himself to Norwegian American Hospital, where police said he was in good condition. On the South Side, a 40-year-old man walked into the Englewood District police station, 1438 W. 63rd St., with a gunshot wound to the right thigh about 7:15 p.m., police said. He told officers the shooting happened about a half a mile away in the 6000 block of South Throop Street. The man was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said. An apparent intruder shot a 45-year-old man about 7:05 p.m. in the 6700 block of South Chappel Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood, according to police. The victim told police he was inside a home when a man entered and fired a shot, hitting him in the leg, police said. The 45-year-old was taken in critical condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. A 16-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man were shot about 6:05 p.m. in the 1500 block of North Rockwell Street in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. The boy was wounded in the arm and leg and was listed in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital. The man got to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in a private vehicle. He suffered a graze wound to the hand and was also in good condition, police said. A shooter in a gray Honda opened fire and hit a 17-year-old boy in the lower back about 5:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of West 19th Street in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood, police said. The 17-year-old was taken in good condition to Mount Sinai Hospital. On the Far South Side, a 42-year-old man was shot in the leg and foot in the 10400 block of South Vernon Avenue in the Rosemoore neighborhood about 2:50 p.m., police said. The man got himself to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Center in Evergreen Park, where he was in good condition, police said. Police are investigating a report of a sexual assault in the Loop Tuesday. Officers were called to the 200 block of West Van Buren Street about 1:15 p.m. and spoke with a 50-year-old woman who told them she'd been sexually assaulted overnight, according to Chicago police. Advertisement The woman was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, according to police. Further details were not available immediately. George Sheldon, director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, seen here on May 3, 2017, in Springfield, is leaving the agency for a job in Florida. (Rich Saal / AP) Facing an ethics probe as well as a series of recent child deaths and scandalous headlines, state child welfare director George Sheldon made it official Wednesday: He's resigned and is returning to Florida to lead a nonprofit organization called Our Kids. Sheldon's resignation from the Department of Children and Family Services will take effect June 15. Gov. Bruce Rauner has appointed DCFS General Counsel Lise Spacapan as interim director while a national search takes place for a permanent replacement. Advertisement During his two years at DCFS, Sheldon was adroit at tapping federal funds and brought tens of millions of new dollars into Illinois by clearing away bureaucratic tangles. But his tenure was clouded by an ongoing ethics probe into contracts that benefited some of his Florida associates, as well as several high-profile child fatalities that highlighted investigative shortfalls in the troubled agency. Sheldon recently disclosed that DCFS had opened 10 investigations into mistreatment of children at the Joliet Township home of 17-month-old Semaj Crosby in the two years before she was found dead there in April. Advertisement "I am furious, just disgusted, with the poor quality of investigations that the agency has gotten away with," said state Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield. "I just wonder how many other children are being put at risk." Morrison said Wednesday that she plans to hold joint House-Senate hearings on DCFS during the summer to examine issues the Tribune raised about the agency's abuse and neglect investigations. She and other lawmakers held an initial hearing in late May following Semaj's death as well as Tribune reports on three children who died of beatings or starvation shortly after DCFS had closed investigations involving their homes. In an interview Wednesday, Sheldon said: "Clearly, and I've admitted this, there were failures in all of these cases, including Semaj. We've got to up our game. There's no question about that. There's a good team here. I told them I'm available by phone anytime and I'll help with the transition." Sheldon added: "I fundamentally believe I'm leaving this place a little better than when I found it, in spite of the fact that there's a long way to go." In the last five years, DCFS has churned through eight directors or acting directors. Sheldon's predecessor resigned after the Tribune's 2014 "Harsh Treatment" investigation found juvenile wards had been assaulted, raped and lured into prostitution at Illinois residential treatment centers. "Yet again we are faced with another transition in the leadership of DCFS," said state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago. "While we wait to find a new director, we are left with an interim director who is not a child welfare expert." Spacapan served as a corporate lawyer before joining DCFS in August 2015 and was known as for defending Fortune 100 companies, including Dow Chemical Co., in high-stakes product liability lawsuits and complex commercial litigation. "What we need in Illinois," Flowers said, "is stable and skilled leadership, a fully funded budget that will allow for the provision of social services to the families who are at risk of DCFS intervention, and enough well-trained investigators to protect the kids in DCFS custody. We have to do better." Advertisement Sheldon said Spacapan "came in really without a child welfare background but in a year and a half she understands the agency and has the respect of the folks in the agency. She's one of those individuals that doesn't need the job. I think she was in private practice doing defense litigation and really got to the point where she said, 'I want to give something back.' I find that very admirable." In Florida, Our Kids chairman Keith Ward said he expects Sheldon to start as CEO and president no later than mid-July. "We're elated," said Ward. Three leaders of the organization, which provides child welfare services in Miami-Dade County, recently resigned following the suicides of teens in the agency's care. Asked about the ongoing ethics probe Sheldon faces in Illinois and the recent child deaths, Ward said: "We're concerned about it, but we understand that this happens in child welfare and the most important thing is transparency and to learn from whatever mistakes have been made, if any." Despite Sheldon's accomplishments, critics within the system have questioned whether those improvements advanced the mission of DCFS to protect kids and strengthen families or amounted to cosmetic fixes designed to make the agency look good. For example, Sheldon reduced the number of wards in residential treatment centers from nearly 1,200 on any given day in February 2015 to fewer than 950 this February. But even with several recent promising pilot programs in the works, DCFS has struggled to develop a viable network of therapeutic foster homes for those youths. Many teens who are ready to leave the centers languish because DCFS has no placement for them and that can lead to tragedy, said University of Illinois at Chicago clinical psychologist Alan Morris. Morris cited the example of 16-year-old juvenile ward Shaquan Allen, who died last year following a staff restraint at the north suburban residential center called Allendale Association. The teen had been cleared to leave the center but deteriorated psychologically as months passed while he waited for a placement. "What happens is these kids lose hope; then they regress and fall apart," Morris said. Advertisement The core problems of DCFS were created over a period of years and cannot be fixed overnight, said Ben Wolf, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which monitors DCFS as part of a decades-old federal court consent decree. The ACLU will be pushing for solutions to the issues raised by the Tribune in the coming months, he said. "I think the Tribune's very thorough coverage has illustrated the problem with the front end of the system," Wolf said. "DCFS is not adequately investigating child abuse and neglect cases and not adequately providing services to children in the home." Sheldon got a running start at DCFS by importing several key managers from Florida, where he had run that state's Department of Children and Families from 2008 through 2011. Jacquetta "Jacqui" Colyer, who ran the Miami-Dade and Monroe County child welfare office under Sheldon, became his Cook County regional administrator in Illinois. But Colyer came under fire after DCFS Inspector General Denise Kane recommended in January that Colyer be disciplined "up to and including" firing over incidents in which she allegedly abused her authority, put a worker in danger and falsified information. Colyer denied any wrongdoing and said the inspector general has been "less than fair" with her and other staffers brought in from Florida. In September 2015, Sheldon hired as his driver and confidential personal assistant a 25-year-old Florida man whose driver's license had been revoked following Tallahassee arrests for DUI and reckless driving, according to Florida court records and Illinois government reports. A subsequent Inspector General's investigation determined that the aide, Igor Davidovich Anderson, falsely claimed to be working when he drove Sheldon to Saugatuck, Mich., for a vacation. Anderson was fired in February 2016 and forced to repay the state $1,326 for that holiday and other days when he billed DCFS but the agency found no evidence that he was working, records and interviews show. Advertisement Kane's office and Illinois Executive Inspector General Maggie Hickey also probed more than $1 million in contracts awarded under Sheldon. In one contract, DCFS gave Florida firm Five Points Technology Group $811,000 worth of consulting contracts that paid Sheldon's former campaign worker and aide Christopher Pantaleon at least $30,000 as a subcontractor, state contract records show. Sheldon and Pantaleon had owned two Florida homes together, and Pantaleon had worked for Sheldon's political campaigns and served as his Florida Department of Children and Families spokesman, among other connections. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Sheldon said the contracts greatly benefited DCFS and that the Florida hires were experts who had done good work in the past. Still, nothing has tarnished Sheldon's tenure as much as the recent high-profile deaths of several children shortly after DCFS had closed investigations into abuse or neglect in their homes. "The fundamental responsibility of child welfare: you keep the kid safe," said Jess McDonald, who served as DCFS director from 1994 through 2003. "You don't get a honeymoon period on the safety issues. There is no room for error because it is a child's life." Watching the agency in recent years, McDonald said, "It surprised me how quickly you can go backwards. It just seems like we've slipped backwards." Advertisement dyjackson@chicagotribune.com gmarx@chicagotribune.com deldeib@chicagotribune.com Eliza Wasni, 16, of Chicago has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the slaying of Uber driver Grant Nelson on May 30, 2017. (Village of Lincolnwood) A teenage girl from Chicago who has been charged with killing an Uber driver randomly attacked the man with a knife and a machete that she had just stolen from Walmart, authorities say. Eliza Wasni, 16, kept her eyes mostly to the floor Wednesday afternoon as a Cook County judge ordered her held without bail in the killing of Grant Nelson of Wilmette an act prosecutors called "heinous" and "not provoked in any manner." Advertisement Prosecutors said Nelson, 34, had picked up Wasni early Tuesday a few blocks from a Walmart in Skokie and, minutes into the ride, near the corner of Touhy and Lincoln avenues in Lincolnwood, she began stabbing him. He managed to pull over his Hyundai and run to a nearby condominium building lobby, where he pushed buzzers and yelled, "Help me, help me. I'm going to die," Assistant State's Attorney Michelle Cunningham said. Advertisement Wasni took off in Nelson's car but quickly struck a median and then ran off on foot, Cunningham said. She was found nearby wearing just a bra and leggings; a bloodstained Chicago Cubs shirt was found nearby, and a trail of blood led responding officers to the condominium lobby and then to the seriously injured Uber driver, Cunningham said. Alexandra Nelson, sister of victim Grant Nelson, speaks to reporters May 31, 2017, after a hearing at the Skokie courthouse. Assistant States Attorney Michelle Cunningham gave a detailed account of the machete and knife attack. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune) (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Police were able to use the Uber app on his phone to see that "Eliza" was the name of his most recent customer, the prosecutor said. She called Nelson a "random victim." Nelson, who attended New Trier High School in Winnetka and the University of Colorado at Boulder, described his attacker to police but died later at a nearby hospital, officials said. Surveillance footage from Walmart showed Wasni walking around the store with a knife and machete and then leaving without paying for them, the prosecutor said. She said Wasni had taken two earlier Uber rides the evening before, including one to Des Plaines and another from Des Plaines to Walmart. She was apparently in violation of the ride-sharing company's terms and conditions, which say customers must be at least 18 years old. Wasni spoke during the bond court hearing only to confirm her name. Her lawyer, a public defender, said the teen attends Taft High School in Chicago and lives with a single mother. Wasni has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder. Judge Michael Hood ordered her to be held without bail and called the crime "extremely violent." Advertisement An official with the Cook County sheriff's office said Wasni will be held in a juvenile facility. Outside the courtroom, Nelson's brother, Todd Nelson, called him "the most gentle, kind person. He never hurt anyone. He was good to animals, he was good to children." A gray 2015 Hyundai Sonata sedan belonging to stabbing victim Grant Nelson was found near Touhy and Lincoln avenues, according to police. (Network Video Productions) Grant Nelson, his brother said, loved opera and classical piano and was a "very good" piano player. He had also previously worked at Di Pescara restaurant in Northbrook, a manager there confirmed. "He was just trying to do the best he could in life," Todd Nelson said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > His sister, Alexandra Nelson, added that the family hopes "justice will happen," calling the attack "horrifying and maddening." The siblings, as well as their parents, were in the courtroom during the hearing. Alexandra Nelson sat behind her father with her hand on his shoulder as a description of the alleged crime was read by the prosecutor. Advertisement Family members sobbed at times during the proceedings, including when officials described Grant Nelson begging for help in the lobby before he was found on the ground outside in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds on his right side. An Uber spokeswoman issued a statement Wednesday saying the company is "heartbroken by the loss of one of our partners, Grant Nelson. Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time." Regarding the company's 18-and-older age restriction for customers, the spokeswoman later explained that a rider's access to the service can be removed if the rider is found to be underage, and that there is a mechanism for drivers to report riders if they suspect them of being younger than 18. The spokeswoman said Uber has safety tips for drivers and riders, developed with the assistance of law enforcement agencies. She also said that drivers are encouraged to contact local authorities if they ever feel unsafe, and that the app has a two-way feedback system that is monitored around the clock by a team that investigates any problems that are reported. Grant Nelson, shown in a family photo, was working for Uber when he was fatally stabbed while dropping off a passenger in Lincolnwood, according to police. (Todd Nelson photo) Grace Wong is a Tribune reporter; Susan Berger and Brian L. Cox are freelance reporters. Chicago Tribune's Nereida Moreno contributed. For well over a year, Gov. Bruce Rauner has been asking state lawmakers to pass a bill allowing him to sell the aging James R. Thompson Center in the Loop, and the Illinois House advanced a plan to do just that Tuesday evening. Rauner's administration and his Republican allies were not satisfied, though, contending that the governor needs more than just the authority to sell the land. They say he needs the ability to influence any future zoning changes and development fees charged for the property at Mayor Rahm Emanuel's City Hall. Advertisement Democrats argued that that would unfairly give the state some authority over the city's zoning decisions, an encroachment on local control that Emanuel's administration opposed. Rauner's office insisted their proposal would not give his office zoning supervision over the city, but would just protect the state's interests and help ensure it can sell the property at the highest value. But the governor could reach a deal with the city on zoning before selling the land without it being required in the legislation. Rauner aides couldn't explain how their proposal would offer taxpayers extra protection. Advertisement Whatever zoning Emanuel's administration applies to the Thompson Center moving forward is key, because it could have a significant impact on whether Rauner gets anywhere close to the $300 million he's claimed the property is worth. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Al Riley, D-Olympia Fields, said the legislation served as "framework" for a sale and said it wouldn't be appropriate to include specifics of negotiations between the city and the state on zoning in the legislation. "We know there are going to be very tough negotiations between the (Rauner) administration and the city of Chicago with regard to the fees and the zoning of that land," Riley said. "... We're not in that. It's going to be up to them to decide what they're going to do." The Chicago Tribune first reported earlier this month that a major sticking point in the sale and redevelopment of the Thompson Center centered on what zoning upgrades Emanuel's administration and Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly would allow on the full-block site, as well as how much in fees City Hall could secure from a future developer to build a taller and more dense development than what is currently allowed there. Rauner has pushed to sell the building, citing millions of dollars in deferred maintenance and its inefficient design. But to get to his $300 million estimated price, the governor would need a major zoning change from City Hall to allow at least three times the square footage currently allowed, the governor's aides have acknowledged. That would require a boost of four zoning classifications to the maximum allowed, which Reilly has called a "stretch" and an "unprecedented ask." The Tribune has reported that Emanuel's administration has favored an increase of two zoning classifications, which sources said likely would guarantee the city at least $20 million in density bonus payments fees that developers pay the city to build extra square footage beyond a zoning level. Republican lawmakers sought to make any payments subject to negotiations between the city and the state, which could remove the possibility of the city reaching such an agreement with a developer after a sale. "We want to make sure that the state has a seat at the table, so when the sale of the James R. Thompson Center proceeds, we're looking out for both the best interests of Illinois state taxpayers as well as people in the city of Chicago," said Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon. Advertisement While keeping the zoning at a lower classification than Rauner wants might leave more room for developers to pay the city more money for extra square footage, it could suppress the price the state gets for the site, said Michael Hoffman, the governor's top aide in charge of state facilities. That's why Rauner is seeking a zoning change and agreement with the city on how much extra square footage a developer would be able to buy before a sale is finalized, Hoffman said. "Basically, they want the city to rezone without knowing what's going on the property," said Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago. "The city has never rezoned a property prior to a sale without any information about the development. The city has told the state they cannot rezone the property without knowing the specifics of the development and what impact it would have on traffic and on city services." The House voted 67-48 to pass the bill, with all the "no" votes coming from Republicans. The plan now moves to the Illinois Senate as lawmakers are supposed to wrap up their spring session Wednesday. GOP lawmakers unsuccessfully sought to use a procedural maneuver to delay the vote and then met behind closed doors for more than an hour before resuming debate on the legislation. Mitchell noted the irony of GOP lawmakers voting against Rauner's push to sell the Thompson Center and said they were engaged in legislative gymnastics to explain their opposition. He also questioned why Republicans who usually favor local control would seek to limit that authority for Chicago. Hoffman said the governor's office was not intending to take zoning authority away from Chicago. He said he could not explain a statement from Rauner's office that accused Madigan of hijacking the bill and the city of trying to extort $50 million from the sale of the Thompson Center. Advertisement Hoffman did say the $50 million figure was an estimate of how much Emanuel's administration might be able to net from bonus payments tied to a future zoning change, but he couldn't say how the Rauner administration arrived at the figure. Madigan released a statement saying the vote by Democrats "demonstrated our willingness to work with the governor to achieve his goals." Rauner has pushed for the sale of the Thompson Center, which has been neglected over the years as the state's budget woes have worsened. The governor has estimated the building requires $360 million in maintenance and improvements, but has declined to detail those estimates. bruthhart@chicagotribune.com Twitter @billruthhart Gubernatorial hopeful Chris Kennedy talks about property tax reform and his vision for restructuring state government during a campaign speech May 30, 2017, at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, in Chicago. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune) (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Democratic governor candidate Chris Kennedy on Tuesday went after some of the biggest players in Illinois Democratic politics though pointedly not by name in calling for changes in a local property tax system that he called rigged and likened to "extortion." Reading from prepared remarks for more than 33 minutes to a few hundred people at the South Side's Harold Washington Cultural Center, Kennedy called for changes in the law to separate politicians from property tax appeal work and campaign donations. Advertisement Kennedy wants to ban elected officials from also holding outside jobs as property tax appeal lawyers. He would prohibit property tax appeal lawyers from making political contributions to local property assessors. In addition, he would ban local assessors from holding a major role in a political party. House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also chairs the state's Democratic Party, is a partner in a law firm that appeals property assessments. Joe Berrios, the Cook County assessor, also is chairman of the county Democratic organization. Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, the dean of the City Council and a major player in Democratic slating of judges, also is a property tax appeals lawyer. Advertisement Asked afterward by reporters if he was contending that Madigan, Berrios and Burke were part of a corrupt system, Kennedy repeatedly declined to directly answer. "This isn't about individuals by any stretch of the imagination. This is about an entire system and it really begins with kids," said Kennedy, who noted the bulk of public school financing is through local property taxes. "This is about them, not about any elected official." Still, the candidate's criticism of the property tax system was aimed at Madigan, Berrios and others as Kennedy, a member of the iconic Massachusetts political family, seeks to portray himself as a political outsider, as some early Democratic momentum has moved to rival J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire investor and entrepreneur who has vowed to self-fund his campaign. Kennedy contended that if people "just wrote checks directly to the assessor after receiving the threatening over-assessment, then that would be called extortion and it would be illegal. "By introducing the middleman, in this case, the property tax appeals lawyer, the system's protected. Protection is the difference between extortion and a racket," he continued. Former Democratic state Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Kennedy backer who attended the speech, was asked if he believed the property tax system was corrupt. "Yes, it is," said Jones, served with Madigan. "The system has always been there as far as the (property) taxes are concerned. So those who have access, be it through contributions or wealthy lawyers, the city assessor or his organization so that, in a sense, is not immediately wrong, but it's not right, see?" Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the veteran House speaker's outside legal work does not include examples of "anything improper or special treatment." Advertisement "I don't know what he's referring to, and I believe others have used that idea as a campaign plank (in the past) and it hasn't proven successful," Brown said of Kennedy. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner previously has accused Madigan of being "corrupt," noting the House speaker's legal business. Rauner, a wealthy former private equity investor, has been pushing for a long-term property tax freeze as a precondition for ending the state's historic budget impasse as lawmakers reach their spring session adjournment deadline Wednesday. Berrios also said he believed Kennedy was "wrong," and contended his office does extended outreach to help people appeal their assessments, particularly in lower-market neighborhoods, and that most residential assessment appeals are filed by homeowners without an attorney. "This assessor runs countywide. People have the opportunity to vote for me. They've seen the job I've done," Berrios said. "I've improved the system. Ask people if they get good treatment or fair treatment by our office and I'd bet 99 percent of them will say, 'Yes.'" Kennedy also lashed out at Pritzker, who received a large property assessment reduction after buying a mansion adjacent to his Gold Coast property and declaring it uninhabitable. "I think that a billionaire bully is a billionaire bully, whether it's a Republican or a Democrat," said Kennedy, who also declined to describe his level of personal wealth. "If we elect someone who doesn't need the support of individual residents of our state, then we're putting our future at risk." Advertisement A third rival for the Democratic nomination, state Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston, issued a statement calling out Kennedy and Pritzker for "hypocrisy on property-tax reform." "The best way to provide Illinois families with the property tax relief they need is to end the shell game between assessors, property tax lawyers and county boards of review," said Biss, who noted that Madigan represented Kennedy in gaining a lower property assessment while Kennedy managed property for his family. On Twitter, Biss asked if Kennedy would return the property tax break. "The self-dealing racket they've created enriches their bank accounts and campaign coffers, and the rest of us pay the price," Biss said in his statement, referring to Kennedy and Pritzker as "ultra-rich opponents" who benefited from the system. Like Kennedy, Biss and another contender, Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, Pritzker supports a graduated income tax as a way to help increase the state's share of school funding and reduce the property tax burden. At a campaign event in Lincoln Park prior to Kennedy's speech, Pritzker accused Rauner of engaging in a "political stunt" by demanding a property tax freeze. "The truth is, if the state steps up to the plate on school funding, then local communities will be able to choose to lower their taxes," Pritzker said. "They don't have to simply freeze them. They could make choices to lower their taxes or to spend the additional money on improving the schools in their communities." Advertisement rap30@aol.com Twitter @rap30 SPRINGFIELD On the eve of the Illinois Legislature's planned adjournment, Democrats who control the General Assembly remain in much the same spot they were a year ago, with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton in a standoff over what kind of budget they're going to send to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Democrats in the Senate have approved a plan that relies on a series of tax increases, but Madigan's members have been reluctant to embrace it amid a veto threat from Rauner. House budget negotiators said they are likely to tinker with the Senate tax plan, but they had yet to unveil an updated proposal late Tuesday. While negotiations were continuing, doubts remained if Democrats would be able to unite behind a measure that could reach Rauner's desk before they are scheduled to head home on Wednesday. Advertisement "I don't think it necessarily does us any good to put a revenue bill on the board that does not have enough votes to pass," said Rep. Will Davis, a Homewood Democrat who is negotiating a potential tax package. "I think that walks us backwards and possibly gives the governor a lot of rhetoric." Even if a last-minute agreement among Democrats could be reached, the Republican governor is unlikely to sign off on a tax hike. Those conflicts set the stage for Illinois' historic budget stalemate to continue into the summer, leaving schools, universities and social service providers that depend on state money without many answers, just like last year. Advertisement "I do believe that we will be back at some point in the month of June," said House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs. "If we can reach a fair, balanced budget, I will do everything I can to provide votes from my caucus ... one that's negotiated on both sides, not just negotiated between the Democrats in the Senate and Democrats in the House." In the absence of a path forward on the budget, lawmakers busied themselves on a variety of other issues. The House sent the Senate a long-stalled bill to raise the minimum wage, and voted in favor of a proposal designed to prevent restaurants from labeling swai fish as catfish on menus. After approving tax hike last week, Democrats in the Senate pushed two more politically popular proposals to temporarily freeze property taxes. The move is a direct response to Rauner's demands for a moratorium on property tax increases as a condition of his support for a budget deal. Rauner's office dismissed the Senate's effort as "phony." The conflict in Springfield echoes last year, when Democrats in the House and Senate could not agree on a budget proposal to send to Rauner's desk. Things are a little different this year, as Senate President John Cullerton worked closely with Republicans in an unsuccessful attempt to reach an agreement. Madigan was cut out of those talks. Eventually, the sides struck a deal on a spending plan that Rauner signed, ensuring elementary and secondary schools opened on time in the fall, while providing six months of funding for universities and social service groups. That temporary agreement expired in January and has led to layoffs and service cuts at campuses and organizations that care for the state's vulnerable people. Advocates are hoping to avoid a repeat, but are bracing for more pain. Meanwhile, protesters fed up with both parties descended on the Capitol on Tuesday demanding lawmakers pass a budget that focuses on raising taxes on corporations. A small group was removed from the House gallery after chanting and disrupting proceedings. Others camped outside the governor's office, tethered together. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 41 The Illinois House chamber empties after the spring legislative session ends. The last day of the Illinois General Assembly was held at the State Capitol in Springfield on May 31, 2017. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Though lawmakers prefer to wrap up their work by the end of May, going after could provide Democrats with some political protections in the face of a governor who is unafraid to go on the attack. Even before legislators began their work Tuesday, the Illinois Republican Party that Rauner heavily funds launched a series of robocalls targeting vulnerable Democrats in an effort to have them vote against "another Madigan spending spree aimed at forcing taxes higher without reform." After May 31, the threshold to pass most budget legislation jumps. It would take 71 votes to approve a spending plan in the House, but there are just 67 Democrats, meaning any agreement would need some Republicans. That could have the dual effect of insulating Democrats from taking the blame alone for any potential tax hikes, while spreading the responsibility for continued dysfunction across both parties. The next pressure point for an agreement would be July 1, the start of the new budget year. And school districts likely will amplify their concerns as a new school year approaches. Advertisement But Durkin said he doesn't believe Democrats will be as willing to find common ground this time around, saying he believes the goal is about muddying Rauner as he seeks re-election. For his part, Rauner had stepped out of his office early Tuesday for a brief ceremony at the Capitol honoring veterans, but he did not take questions from reporters. Instead, he once again took to Facebook, where he fielded a series of inquiries that were screened by his communications staff. Sitting beside Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, Rauner tried to strike a positive tone about the prospects for a budget agreement before lawmakers adjourn Wednesday, despite all indications to the contrary. Rauner repeated his call for lawmakers to freeze property taxes, before attacking Democrats in the House after they approved legislation in committee that would allow local governments to consolidate. While Rauner has pushed the issue, he argued the measure doesn't go far enough because it would not allow voters to use the referendum process to pursue consolidation on their own. "They voted that way to protect the political class, they voted to deny you the ability to shrink the cost of government and bring down property taxes," Rauner said. "This is what's broken in our system." Activists hold a vigil in front of Gov. Bruce Rauner's office at the state Capitol in Springfield on May 30, 2017. According to a news release, the activists are prepared to stay until morning, unless they are arrested or unless the legislature and governor agree to a budget deal. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) Democrats countered that Rauner's criticism is proof he will never be willing to cut a deal. They say they've repeatedly taken up ideas he's championed, but Rauner isn't happy unless he gets exactly what he wants. "We've paid attention to what the governor has asked," Davis said. "Now, maybe he's not happy with the extent that something may go, but I have learned down here in my 15 years that sometimes progress is incremental." Advertisement To underline that point, Democrats in the Senate passed two different proposals that would freeze property taxes. One would freeze property taxes for school districts for two years; the other would put in place a two-year freeze for all local units except school districts. Chicago is exempt from both proposals. The two sides also traded barbs over funding for Chicago Public Schools. Republicans sounded the alarm Tuesday about an amendment to a school funding proposal that they said would give CPS hundreds of millions of dollars in extra aid. The measure was attached to legislation to change the formula used to dole out state tax dollars to elementary and high schools. Republican Sen. Jason Barickman said Democrats were attempting to "rig the school funding formula to help Chicago." Democrats conceded they had adjusted how the formula is counted in a way that would send more money to CPS. They estimated that it was closer to $20 million. The formula change is premised on each school district being assigned a spending target based on its unique circumstance and needs, with the state kicking in more for those schools whose local revenues are most insufficient to meet the target. The new version of the formula would discount money that CPS has to spend to pay down unfunded pension liabilities, under the logic that the district won't have that money available to pay for classroom expenses. Advertisement Meanwhile, House Democrats continued to try to needle Rauner, approving legislation that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022, up from the current rate of $8.25. Republicans called the bill "misguided," arguing it would hurt businesses and lead to job losses. Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville, noted that the increase would apply to jobs at universities, something he said will ultimately cost the state money. "This is going to cost us money money that we don't have," he said. "We need a budget in order to fund higher education. We don't have that. I don't see any light of a budget coming out in the next 24 hours, which is sad." Lawmakers approved the bill with a 61-53 vote largely along party lines, but Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, filed a motion to keep it from moving to the Senate. Democratic Rep. Will Guzzardi said supporters were working to make sure the measure had enough support in the other chamber. Rep. Scott Drury, a Highwood Democrat who has often split with Madigan, took the opportunity to bash the leaders of his party for failing to call the wage hike for a vote when they had veto-proof control of the General Assembly or when there was a Democratic governor. Drury suggested that the Democratic leaders had called it for a vote in order to put the Republican governor on the spot. "I am truly, truly concerned that what is going on here is that Maria, that one of our colleagues spoke about, is being used as a pawn to embarrass our Republican governor," Drury said, referring to a minimum wage worker whose struggles to make a living were pointed to by Democratic lawmakers during debate on the floor. "It's all about the left embarrassing the right and the right embarrassing the left." Advertisement Chicago Tribune's Hal Dardick contributed. mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com kgeiger@chicagotribune.com hbemiller@chicagotribune.com The Illinois House chamber empties after the spring legislative session ends. The last day of the Illinois General Assembly was held at the State Capitol in Springfield on May 31, 2017. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) SPRINGFIELD Spring session ended with another thud Wednesday, as Democratic fear of blowback from raising taxes trumped a desire by some to put a spending plan on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's desk. The end result is that for the second year in a row, partisan dysfunction at the Capitol sent lawmakers into a summer overtime session, leaving unanswered questions about whether an agreement can be reached to ensure elementary schools open on time this fall, universities can avoid further cuts and the poor can get social services. Advertisement While the budget went unresolved, lawmakers did approve a plan to crack down on gun offenders sought by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, sent the governor a long-in-the-making bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022, voted to allow the state to sell the Thompson Center and rewrote how Illinois doles out money for schools. They also found time to designate corn as the state grain. (It's already the official state vegetable.) The blame game quickly commenced. House Speaker Michael Madigan said Democrats will continue to work throughout June to "close the Rauner budget deficit." House Democrats want to work "cooperatively" with Rauner, Madigan said, but many "just don't have a high level confidence in how the governor has conducted himself." Advertisement Rauner had vowed to veto a Democratic budget that included an income tax hike and sales tax expansion, but he nonetheless classified the House's inaction on a spending plan as a "complete dereliction of duty by the majority in the General Assembly." "Please, members of the General Assembly in the majority, do not travel around the state holding sham hearings about a balanced budget," Rauner said. "Don't go through a process of just trying to create phony headlines around the state." Madigan's decision not to hold budget votes Wednesday held some political benefits as he tries to protect a Democratic majority that's kept him in power for all but two of the last 34 years. Not only was Madigan able to sidestep the immediate pressure from some of his House Democrats to vote for a tax increase, but going into overtime also pushes GOP lawmakers to join in a solution or split the blame for the continued stalemate. That's because starting Thursday, passing a budget will require at least some Republican votes to reach the three-fifths benchmark now required. The sides remain deeply entrenched, though, so Democrats and Republicans could be heading toward a repeat of last year, when they agreed to a stopgap budget to keep schools open and punted on a full-year plan. A session that started in January played out against the backdrop of the 2018 election. Rauner, who's seeking re-election next year, has failed to get Democrats to agree to his economic agenda he says is needed to spur growth in Illinois. In recent months, the governor has highlighted the idea of freezing property taxes after previously pressing for changes to collective bargaining, term limits on lawmakers and an overhaul of the state's workers compensation system. Democrats have long objected to Rauner's effort to tie those issues to the budget-making process, and point to Rauner's shifting agenda as proof that he's unwilling to cut a deal. This month, Madigan tried a new approach, leading House approval of Democratic versions of the bills on Rauner's wish list. Among them: workers comp changes, property tax credits for veterans and seniors, streamlining how the state buys goods and services, the Thompson Center sale authorization, and making it easier for local governments to consolidate. Advertisement Rauner's office repeatedly has dismissed Madigan's efforts as phony, saying they don't go far enough to cut costs for taxpayers and spur business growth. Senate Democrats might not have seen eye-to-eye with their House counterparts on a budget approach, but they agreed that the Republican governor was never interested in negotiating a compromise. "Every time they (Republicans) would say, 'We need more time, we need more time, we need more time,' we kept pointing to the fact that the clock was running out, they're just running down the clock," said Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, who led a group of senators that came up with the tax hike portion of their budget package. Hutchinson complained that negotiations were clouded by a notion, pushed in recent attack ads and robocalls by the Rauner-funded Illinois Republican Party, that Democrats were intent on raising taxes. While it might seem odd that a politician would claim credit for backing tax hikes, which tend to be unpopular with voters, some Senate Democrats embraced their status as the only ones who voted to raise taxes. "I know it's easy to lump us all into the same group of 'ineffectual, we haven't gotten our jobs done' (lawmakers). Well, we in the Senate have done our jobs," said Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago. "We stood up, we passed a balanced budget. We now need everyone to step up and do their jobs and do this for the state of Illinois." Advertisement But once the Senate bill reached the House, it hit a dead end. House Democrats spent the last week privately debating the measure. One group declared it was time to act to end the impasse, saying Rauner would attack them whether they voted to raise taxes or did nothing. Some were uncomfortable voting for a tax hike as part of a budget plan that also called for deep cuts. The contingent that ultimately prevailed was those unwilling to go on the record as voting in favor of taxes that Rauner would veto, saying it didn't make sense to open themselves to criticism over a proposal that would never become law. "To some, the question is what's going to hurt them more? Voting for a tax increase or not voting for a budget? But at this point either one doesn't make a difference because neither one is going to get signed by this governor," said Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates. After the House adjourned, Rauner's campaign sent out a fundraising appeal signed by the Republican governor using familiar themes in bashing Madigan. Rauner said Democrats "are willing to push our state further into debt and destruction just to continue the corrupt, self-serving agendas of Speaker Madigan and the Chicago machine." Rauner said he sent out the email "to make something explicitly clear to our supporters and our opponents: Team Rauner will never give up on this fight for reform." In the end, Illinois will again be without a budget plan in place, extending the fight that has consumed state politics for the last two years. Some lawmakers were shell shocked that despite the months of back and forth, they are essentially no closer to a deal than when the impasse began. Advertisement "The budget crisis has gotten worse, right, we've got universities that are in significantly worse shape, dipping into their reserves. You've got school districts concerned about opening. You've got social service agencies dying on the vine," said Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago. "But in terms of the political posturing ... here we are in the same place we were 700 days ago with no end in sight." Meanwhile, lawmakers also sent the governor bills that would: Make voter registration automatic for Illinois residents seeking a new or renewed driver's license or state ID, unless they choose to opt out. Prohibit state law enforcement agencies from enforcing federal civil immigration laws, a measure aimed at fostering trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement under President Donald Trump. Prevent people accused of murder from using the so-called "gay panic defense," in which those accused of murder contend they acted out of passion after learning a victim was gay as way to reduce possible punishment. Expand automatic expungement for juvenile records. It also would seal juvenile records from the public that haven't been expunged unless "their use is needed for good cause." Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the bill acknowledges that teenagers make mistakes and ensures those decisions don't impact the rest of their lives. Advertisement Chicago Tribune's Rick Pearson contributed mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com kgeiger@chicagotribune.com Twitter @moniquegarcia Twitter @kimgeiger In 2008, Democratic donor and businessman J.B. Pritzker had phone conversations with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich that were recorded by FBI agents investigating Blagojevich for public corruption. Pritzker is now a candidate for Illinois governor. (Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire businessman with political ambitions, told Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich he was "really not that interested" in the U.S. Senate seat the governor was dealing in late 2008. Instead, Pritzker offered his own idea: Would Blagojevich make him Illinois treasurer? Advertisement "Ooh, interesting," Blagojevich said during a November 2008 phone call with Pritzker. "Let's think about that. You interested in that?" "Yeah," Pritzker answered, "that's the one I would want." Advertisement Phone calls secretly recorded by federal agents never before publicly revealed captured that exchange and other conversations between the influential Democratic donor and the then-governor discussing politics, their futures and the ramifications of Blagojevich's authority to fill the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Although Blagojevich raised the idea of appointing Pritzker to the Senate, Pritzker expressed his preference for being state treasurer, a post he believed might soon be vacated by its occupant, Alexi Giannoulias, who was rumored to be in the running for a post in the Obama White House. In one conversation, Blagojevich asked Pritzker for a significant campaign contribution as the two discussed the possible treasurer's appointment. During the discussions about the treasurer's office, Pritzker spoke of enlisting the chief executives of Chicago's commodities exchanges to float the idea publicly. And, if the treasurer appointment didn't work out, Blagojevich suggested he could make Pritzker Illinois' attorney general, after asking the Hyatt Hotels heir if he had a law degree. "My interest in holding public office is, you know, always large," Pritzker told Blagojevich in a call on Nov. 6, 2008, two days after Obama was elected president. Pritzker did not respond to requests for an interview. He briefly took reporters' questions Wednesday night before and after speaking to a Northwest Side Democratic ward group. "Look, there was nothing inappropriate about my conversation with the governor," Pritkzer said. "It should be unsurprising to people that after 25 years of doing public service in a variety of ways that when an opportunity might have arisen for me to do public service that I would be willing to do that. And that was what the conversation was all about." Federal law enforcement officials captured the candid talks on secret wiretaps as they investigated Blagojevich and his administration for public corruption in fall 2008. The Tribune obtained the recordings, as well as transcripts of calls to others. Pritzker's longtime relationship with Blagojevich already has emerged as an early campaign issue as he seeks the 2018 Democratic nomination for governor. Advertisement The calls from the 2008 investigation show Pritzker and Blagojevich consulted on how various Senate candidates would bolster the governor's interests. The two also mused about the ongoing criminal investigation into Blagojevich's administration and the financial troubles of a bank controlled by Pritzker's sister. Obama's election in November 2008 provided Blagojevich with the rare opportunity to appoint a new U.S. senator. Although Blagojevich was under intense scrutiny, politicians, businessmen and others were more than willing to speak to him about the Senate seat. Pritzker was one of them. He and Blagojevich discussed various horse-trading scenarios that would benefit the governor. During the same Nov. 6, 2008, conversation, the two discussed one possibility: Perhaps Blagojevich should follow Obama's wishes and pick the president-elect's friend, Valerie Jarrett, for the Senate seat. "The only reason to do it is if he'll appoint you to something," Pritzker advised the governor. Asked Wednesday night why he made that suggestion to Blagojevich and whether it was appropriate, Pritzker said that the comment was made in the context "of a governor who at the time was not under, you know, legal challenge. The idea that he (Blagojevich) might serve in an (Obama) administration seemed OK. "I believe that Valerie Jarrett is a quality person and would have made a quality U.S. senator," Pritzker added. Advertisement Pritzker's calls with Blagojevich came at a time when it was widely known that the governor was the target of an intensifying, yearslong federal investigation into the governor's administration and fundraising activities. In June 2008, a few months before the phone calls between Pritzker and the governor, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who had been a key Blagojevich fundraiser and adviser, was convicted by a federal jury of corruption charges after a headline-grabbing trial that lasted weeks. Testimony showed Blagojevich was aware of the "pay-to-play" schemes in Rezko's criminal case. Weeks later came public disclosure that Blagojevich himself had been interviewed multiple times by investigators. By fall 2008, the Tribune reported that a former aide to the governor, John Wyma, who was still fundraising for him, was subpoenaed. What Pritzker would not have known was that Wyma had begun cooperating with federal investigators, and that the FBI bugged the governor's campaign offices. Secret recordings then expanded to other Blagojevich phone lines, including the one Blagojevich used to conduct business from his Northwest Side home. Federal authorities who had been listening for illegal fundraising activity quickly learned that Blagojevich was self-dealing when it came to the selection to replace Obama. Blagojevich eventually was convicted of sweeping political corruption charges, including an attempt to sell Obama's Senate seat, and sentenced to 14 years in prison. FBI agents listened in on calls to others in which Blagojevich discussed whether he would pick Jarrett in exchange for being named to Obama's Cabinet, and whether he might be able to fill the seat with someone else in exchange for campaign cash or a high-paying job after he leaves government. Advertisement 'Tremendous future' The friendly relationship between Blagojevich and Pritzker reaches back at least a decade earlier, when Pritzker unsuccessfully ran for a North Side congressional seat. Blagojevich, then in Congress, publicly applauded Pritzker's candidacy and promised big things in his future. Lamenting that Pritzker's immense inherited wealth Forbes puts his worth at $3.4 billion may have stirred prejudice that hindered his candidacy, Blagojevich made a prediction. "We are going to hear a lot more from J.B. Pritzker, because ultimately, in the long haul, quality will emerge, (as will) J.B.'s knowledge of issues and his commitment to those issues. This was a good first start and I think J.B. has a tremendous future. Remember, Abraham Lincoln didn't win his first election and Mario Cuomo lost several races before he got elected. For J.B., this is only the beginning," the future governor said in a May 1998 Tribune profile of Pritzker. In January 2006, when Blagojevich found himself in hot water over his plan to use taxpayer money to rebuild the fire-damaged Pilgrim Baptist Church in Bronzeville, Pritzker bolstered the governor's initiative by donating $500,000 from his family's foundation to the cause. A few months later, Pritzker wrote an opinion piece in the Tribune praising Blagojevich's "All Kids" and "Preschool For All Children" programs as a potential national model in early childhood intervention programs. At the time, Blagojevich was struggling to shape his image as a progressive governor while journalists were beginning to raise questions about his fundraising activities a line of inquiry that eventually led to his downfall. Advertisement In late October 2006, Blagojevich announced a $1 million state grant to help build the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie. Pritzker was a chief fundraiser for the museum. Fundraising talk Pritzker's wealth and willingness to contribute to Democratic candidates already had opened many doors for him by the time he became politically close with Blagojevich who was obsessed with raising campaign cash, was jealous of Obama and dreamed of one day running for president. Pritzker and his wife, Mary Kay, are top Illinois campaign donors. Since the early 1990s, they have given more than $9 million to state political campaigns, according to Illinois campaign finance records. Other members of the sprawling Pritzker clan have made their own, separate donations to political campaigns. From 2002 to 2006, J.B. and Mary Kay Pritzker donated at least $140,000 to Blagojevich's bids for governor. And in one of the calls, Blagojevich made it clear he'd like to see Pritzker give more. Advertisement Pritzker already had raised the idea of being named state treasurer if an opening occurred, and he followed up during a Nov. 14, 2008, call with the governor. "I've got a lot of reasons why it makes sense. The problem for you would be the same problem with the Senate really," Pritzker said. "I've given you contributions." "Total nonissue," Blagojevich replied. "First of all, you give money to everybody, like (Attorney General) Lisa Madigan, OK?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, no question," Pritzker said. "Which, incidentally, if you can do for me what you did for her, before the end of the year. Can you think about that?" Blagojevich asked, aware that Pritzker had donated $50,000 to Madigan during the previous year. "I can't, I mean, not while everything's up in the air, but I hear ya," Pritzker said. "I hear ya and, and, and But anyway " Advertisement "If we go in that direction, though, if that does happen, I mean there's some other people who can help us that you know," Blagojevich said. "Sure," Pritzker said. "If you feel skittish about that, which I believe you shouldn't, but go ahead," Blagojevich said. "Yeah," Pritzker replied, "I don't think we should even talk about it but I understand what you're saying." Earlier in that same call, Blagojevich talked about Pritzker's qualifications for treasurer, including "banking and financial experience and know-how." "Yeah, I don't know about banking, right?" Pritzker said. "You throw my sister (Penny) and Superior Bank in." Advertisement Both laughed. "What happened to her bank?" Blagojevich asked. "Did it collapse or something?" "Yeah, she was chairman of the bank," Pritzker said. "It had subprime loans. I mean bad stuff." "Superior Bank turned out to be an inferior bank," the governor remarked. "Inferior. Exactly, exactly. Very good," Pritzker said. "I like that. Inferior Bank. I haven't thought about that. That's a good one." 'Talk to me' Advertisement Throughout the fall, Blagojevich considered multiple candidates for Obama's Senate seat, including then-U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Attorney General Madigan, Obama adviser Jarrett and Pritzker. Pritzker wasn't interested in the Senate seat, agreeing with Blagojevich's view that politically, it made sense to appoint an African-American to succeed Obama. In addition, Pritzker would have been viewed as a placeholder serving for two years until the 2010 election. Pritzker didn't close the door at that point, and in one call he outlined what he thought Blagojevich's argument could be for selecting him for Senate. "In other words, if the announcement was you're doing this because it's a good government move, because this is going to be a terrible couple of years, that you need somebody with financial expertise, and someone who's above politics and not running for it and not beholden to anybody and, you know, whose only interest is in fixing the economy and so on," Pritzker said. "That's the only argument," he continued. "So, I leave you with that. I agree with you. I think it's problematic for the press and everybody else, they'll look for something even if there's nothing there." At one point, the call was dropped. The two reconnected moments later. Advertisement Pritzker indicated he was more interested in being treasurer. Blagojevich said he was keeping an open mind but asked Pritzker not to rule himself out for the Senate seat. "The treasurer thing is a different thing," Pritzker said. "Yeah, oh, this is a good option," Blagojevich said. "Keep going. Talk to me." "There it's putting a businessperson in a businessperson's job," Pritzker said. Pritzker said he thought he "would be able to get" two prominent Chicago businessmen William Brodsky, then the head of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and Terry Duffy, executive chairman of the CME Group to take the idea public by "independently" saying that Pritzker would make an ideal treasurer. (In a Nov. 14 conversation, Pritzker indicated he had called both businessmen.) "It's a brand-new idea here," said Pritzker. "But I throw that out at ya. And finally, look, even if none of those things makes sense for ya. I'd love to help you in any way I can, you know, with any decision-making you decide, you know, that you're going to get involved in. Advertisement "For whatever it's worth, you know, some of the players I know, um, and I would be happy to act as a little bit as an intermediary with the people that you don't want to have it, or the people you do want to have it, or whatever," Pritzker continued. "So, I just offer myself and my service to you." Brodsky and Duffy were not immediately available for comment. Blagojevich noted that if he were to appoint Lisa Madigan to the Senate, then he would have an attorney general spot to fill. "Are you a lawyer?" Blagojevich asked. "Yeah," Pritzker replied. "There's an AG that I appoint." Advertisement "Ooh, that's interesting," Pritzker said. "I mean I'm not promising," Blagojevich replied. "I'm just saying these are all scenarios." 'Out of the running' In the end, there was no such opportunity for Pritzker. Giannoulias did not leave the treasurer's office for Washington. He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2010 but lost to Republican Mark Kirk. Lisa Madigan decided to remain Illinois attorney general, where she still serves and has said she will seek a fifth term. The Senate appointment ended up going to former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris at the last minute. During Blagojevich's corruption trial in 2010, prosecutors played wiretaps in which he discussed with staff appointing Pritzker to the Senate in exchange for being picked to lead a private foundation financed by Pritzker and his wealthy buddies. In a recorded call with then-adviser Doug Scofield on Nov. 11, 2008, Blagojevich said Pritzker could easily raise "10, 15, 20 million dollars." Advertisement "I betcha J.B. can raise me money like that," Blagojevich said. "If I can get J.B. to do somethin' like that, is it worth, ah, givin' him the Senate seat? Incidentally, he, he asked me for it. Don't repeat that." Pritzker did not directly ask for the Senate appointment on the calls the Tribune obtained. The Pritzker campaign acknowledged late Wednesday that "J.B. had one short interview with" the FBI as part of the Blagojevich investigation. Federal authorities did not call Pritzker as a witness at either of Blagojevich's two trials, nor did they accuse him of any wrongdoing. Three days later, Pritzker and Blagojevich were recorded talking about the possibility of the governor seeking re-election, assuming, Pritzker said, there were "no legal problems." "So, I think you've got a lot to run on," Pritzker said. "It's just, we've got to get the legal thing behind you." Blagojevich went on to say: "Yeah, but there's statutes of limitations and things, and those dates are running. And those things will come and go long before there's a re-election. And then it will just fade away. Then you can say it." On Dec. 3, 2008, Pritzker called Blagojevich's cellphone to see how he was "holding up under all the Senate pressure," according to a transcript of the conversation the Tribune obtained. The Tribune does not have audio of that call. Blagojevich, according to the transcript, said that he had not ruled out Pritzker for the Senate seat. Advertisement "I would like to officially pull myself out of the running," Pritzker responded. Six days later, on Dec. 9, FBI agents arrested Blagojevich. tlighty@chicagotribune.com jcoen@chicagotribune.com dheinzmann@chicagotribune.com Twitter @tlighty Advertisement Twitter @JeffCoen Twitter @davidheinzmann Journalists attend a rally Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 31, 2017, to support an Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was abducted in Tbilisi on May 29 and now is in detention in the Azerbaijan capital Baku. (Shakh Aivazov / AP) BAKU, Azerbaijan An independent Azerbaijani journalist has been abducted from near his home in Georgia and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan, his lawyer said on Wednesday. A court in this former Soviet republic was due to hold a hearing later in the day on whether to sanction the arrest of Afgan Mukhtarli, who is facing charges of smuggling and crossing the border illegally. Advertisement Mukhtarli, who is also a civil rights activist, had been living in neighboring Georgia for two years. His lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, told The Associated Press the journalist was abducted outside his home Monday evening, beaten up and taken to the land border between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Sadigov claimed that the journalist's captors planted 10,000 euros ($11,180) on him, which led to the charges. Eldar Sultanov, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office, said the journalist was detained late on Monday "after illegally crossing the Azerbaijani border" with a large sum of money and resisting arrest. Advertisement Mukhtarli left Azerbaijan in 2015, around the time when several Azerbaijani journalists working for foreign or local independent media faced charges of tax evasion. Mukhtarli's wife, Leila Mustafayeva, told the AP she was waiting for her husband at home Monday evening but he never showed up. Mustafayeva said her husband had been investigating Georgian business ties of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's family. "Naturally, this created resentment in the presidential family," she said, insisting that her husband's disappearance is connected to his investigation. Giorgi Gogia, Human Rights Watch director of South Caucasus, in a statement described Mukhtarli's disappearance as another step in the Azerbaijani government's "relentless crackdown on critics." International rights groups have repeatedly criticized the ex-Soviet Caspian Sea nation for cracking down on independent media and opposition activists. About 100 rights activists and journalists rallied in the capital, Tbilisi, demanding that Georgian authorities explain how they allowed the reported abduction to happen. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili called for a probe into Mukhtarli's alleged abduction, saying it dealt a blow to Georgia's image as a regional leader in media freedom and human rights. He described it as a "serious challenge to our statehood and sovereignty." Advertisement Georgia's chief prosecutor, Irakli Shotadze, said an investigation is already under way to determine how Mukhtarli ended up in Azerbaijan. Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili contributed to this report from Tbilisi, Georgia. New Pulse nightclub footage shows the response through police officers' eyes from initial confusion to shock as they began to understand the scope of the attack that killed 49 people. More than 30 videos offer the most complete picture of what happened during the three-hour standoff. Advertisement In the body camera video released this week by the city of Orlando, Belle Isle Police Officer Brandon Cornwell entered the club through a large broken window near the front door and took cover behind a bar as Orlando police officers yelled commands toward the bathroom where gunman Omar Mateen had cornered survivors. At 2:17 a.m., an officer started to scream and a barrage of shots again could be heard. Orlando Police Chief John Mina has said officers fired at Mateen but did not hit him. Mateen did not fire at officers at that point, he said. Advertisement A couple minutes later, an officer yelled: "You, in the bathroom, let me see your hands now. Come out with your hands up or you will die." Cornwell said a prayer to himself. "Lord Jesus, watch over me," he said. Gunfire and shouted instructions to Omar Mateen are heard on body cam footage from Belle Isle police officer Brandon Cornwell. (City Of Orlando/Handout) "I couldn't see the guy," he later told another officer in a conversation captured on his body camera. "He came out of the left bathroom and we were stacked up and the guys that were up front, just started shooting right at him. And he went back into the bathroom. As soon as he came out, I saw like a dark-colored shirt ... and about that time they started firing at him, but I couldn't open up on him." The 15 new hours of footage given to the Orlando Sentinel through a public records request initially made nearly a year ago was redacted, and none of the people who died that night are shown. Body cameras in this latest release captured officers encouraging victims to crawl out of the club, racing to the scene, talking about the many victims inside and the need for bomb dogs, and also just waiting outside for further instructions. Patrons were frisked as they were rescued. Body camera footage: Belle Isle Police Officer Brandon Cornwell and other law enforcement officers help survivors out of Pulse night club after the shooting. (City Of Orlando/Handout) Orlando Police Officer Graham Cage's body cam captures the scene of another officer cautiously leading a victim out of one of the bathrooms down a hallway. "Hands up, both hands, put your hands up," the officer says off camera. "Follow the sound of my voice. Come this way. Show me your [expletive] hands! I need you to crawl this way. Follow my light." Advertisement The Orange County Sheriff's Office released its own body cam footage from that night in November. Those two dozen videos showed officers clearing the entrance, one of the bathrooms, helping victims outside and pulling victims out of the building after it was breached by the Orlando Police Department. In another video, chaos unfolded simultaneously in the bright white hallways of Orlando Regional Medical Center, after rumors of a second shooter at the hospital reached officers in the middle of the standoff. Footage from Orlando Police Officer Matthew Davis showed a team sweeping the hospital for a "bad guy." With a long gun drawn in front of him, Davis and other officers followed a trail of blood down the stairs to the basement and back up to the first floor, but found nothing. "Does anybody know where this blood is going?" someone asked. A hospital worker told them a bleeding patient was taken to a room on the sixth floor, and described the patient. They went upstairs to that room, but he wasn't there. Seconds later, they spotted a man down the hall who fit the description. Advertisement "You, here, down the hall," one officer yells, as the man ducks into a room. "Hey, hey, hey, where are you at? Come here! Let me see your hands!" Off camera, the man cries out, "I'm shot." "I don't care, [expletive] crawl to me right now," the officer shouts back. " Crawl to me right now. [Expletive]. Crawl out! Crawl out! Crawl out now!" Footage then shows the man splayed on the ground, cuffed, wearing a white sneaker on his right foot and a gunshot to his left foot. It's determined that he is a patient and is brought to the ER. "We'll obviously get him treated and everything," Davis says. "But we're gonna keep someone with him until we can figure out who he is." Advertisement The report of a shooter at the hospital turned out to be unsubstantiated. Belle Isle Police Officer Jon-Paul Gargano ran back to his car at about 2:45 a.m. to get a roll of paper towels from the trunk. He found a woman sitting on the sidewalk nearby. "Y'all gonna [expletive] shoot his [expletive]?" she asked. "We can't, ma'am," he responded. "What do you mean, you can't?" Advertisement "We can't, there's more victims in there. We start to shoot we might shoot other people," Gargano said, running back to his post in front of the club. "[Expletive] go in there and shoot his [expletive], man," she called after him. Staff writers Janet Brindle Reddick, David Harris, Dan Wine, Christal Hayes and Caitlin Doornbos contributed to this report. glotan@orlandosentinel.com U.S. allies around the world sounded alarms Wednesday as President Donald Trump seemed close to pulling the United States out of the landmark Paris climate accord. Trump himself kept everyone in suspense on the question of staying or leaving, saying he was still listening to "a lot of people both ways." The White House signaled that Trump was likely to decide on exiting the global pact fulfilling one of his principal campaign pledges though top aides were divided. And the final decision may not be entirely clear-cut: Aides were still deliberating on "caveats in the language," one official said. Advertisement Everyone cautioned that no decision was final until Trump announced it, which he said in a tweet that he would do on Thursday afternoon. I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M. The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017 The president has been known to change his thinking on major decisions and tends to seek counsel from both inside and outside advisers, many with differing agendas, until the last minute. Advertisement Abandoning the pact would isolate the U.S. from a raft of international allies who spent years negotiating the 2015 agreement to fight global warming and pollution by reducing carbon emissions in nearly 200 nations. While traveling abroad last week, Trump was repeatedly pressed to stay in the deal by European leaders and the Vatican. Withdrawing would leave the United States aligned only with Russia among the world's industrialized economies. American corporate leaders have also appealed to the businessman-turned-president to stay. They include Apple, Google and Walmart. Even fossil fuel companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell say the United States should abide by the deal. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, enacted the deal without U.S. Senate ratification. A formal withdrawal would take years, experts say, a situation that led the president of the European Commission to speak dismissively of Trump on Wednesday. Trump doesn't "comprehensively understand" the terms of the accord, though European leaders tried to explain the process for withdrawing to him "in clear, simple sentences" during summit meetings last week, Jean-Claude Juncker said in Berlin. "It looks like that attempt failed," Juncker said. "This notion, 'I am Trump, I am American, America first and I am getting out,' that is not going to happen." Some of Trump's aides have been searching for a middle ground perhaps by renegotiating the terms of the agreement in an effort to thread the needle between his base of supporters who oppose the deal and those warning that a U.S. exit would deal a blow to the fight against global warming as well as to worldwide U.S. leadership. That fight has played out within Trump's administration. Trump met Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has favored remaining in the agreement. Chief strategist Steve Bannon supports an exit, as does Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, has discussed the possibility of changing the U.S. carbon reduction targets instead of pulling out of the deal completely. Senior adviser Jared Kushner generally thinks the deal is bad but still would like to see if emissions targets can be changed. Advertisement Trump's influential daughter Ivanka Trump's preference is to stay, but she has made it a priority to establish a review process so her father would hear from all sides, said a senior administration official. Like the other officials, that person was not authorized to describe the private discussions by name and spoke only on condition of anonymity. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Wednesday in Alaska that he had "yet to read what the actual Paris Agreement is," and would have to read it before weighing in. Trump has several options, climate experts said. The emissions goals are voluntary with no real consequences for countries that fail to meet them. That means the U.S. could stay in the accord and choose not to hit its goals or stay in the pact but adjust its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. has agreed to reduce its emissions by 2025 to 26 percent to 28 percent of 2005 levels about 1.6 billion tons. "Paris more than anything is a symbol," said Nigel Purvis, who directed U.S. climate diplomacy during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations Another option, said University of California at Berkeley climate scientist Zeke Hausfather, would be for Trump to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the treaty on which the Paris accord was based, which would take only a year. Advertisement News of Trump's expected decision drew swift reaction from the United Nations. The organization's main Twitter page quoted Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying, "Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable." Scientists say that Earth is likely to reach more dangerous levels of warming sooner if the U.S. retreats from its pledge because America contributes so much to rising temperatures. Calculations suggest withdrawal could result in emissions of up to 3 billion tons of additional carbon dioxide in the air a year enough to melt ice sheets faster, raise seas higher and trigger more extreme weather. The Sierra Club's executive director, Michael Brune, called the expected move a "historic mistake which our grandchildren will look back on with stunned dismay at how a world leader could be so divorced from reality and morality." Trump claimed before taking office that climate change was a "hoax" created by the Chinese to hurt the U.S. economy, an assertion that stands in defiance of broad scientific consensus. He has spent his first months in office working to delay and roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions while pledging to revive long-struggling U.S. coal mines. But Cohn, Trump's chief White House economic adviser, told reporters during the trip abroad that the president's views on climate change were "evolving" following the discussions with European leaders. Still, Cohn said that the carbon levels agreed to by the prior administration "would be highly crippling to the U.S. economic growth," and if the president had to choose between limiting carbon and economic growth, "growing our economy is going to win." Supporters of the deal say it's not an either-or choice. Advertisement Associated Press writers Catherine Lucy, Michael Biesecker and Seth Borenstein in Washington, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report. As a college student in New York in the early 1940s, Suzanne Ettlinger became captivated with modern dance through a class she took with Martha Graham, who was a leader in the avant-garde dance form and the first dancer to perform at the White House. "She'd always felt that ballet was rigid and contrived and loved the rebellious nature of modern dance and its freedom of movement," said her daughter, Judi. Advertisement After graduating college and working as a dance teacher on the West Coast, Ettlinger returned to Chicago and established one of the area's first modern dance schools focused primarily on children and youth instruction. "She believed strongly in a child's capacity for creativity and understood the importance of cultivating that from a young age," her daughter said. Advertisement Ettlinger, 92, a co-founder of Dance Horizons, a modern dance company that for nearly two decades offered world-class guest instructors at its school in Highland Park, died of natural causes May 18 at Silverado Highland Park Memory Care Community, her family said. Founded in 1958, Dance Horizons was created by Ettlinger, Martha "Marti" Koplin and the late Dorothy "Dotti" Mozen, who met while taking dance classes on the North Shore. "It was the late 1950s, a time when self-expression was not exactly being embraced by society," recalled Koplin. "Then along came us three young moms with babies and college degrees in dance. We opened a modern dance studio in, of all places, suburban Highland Park, and to our surprise it actually catches on." "It was a small miracle!" Operating in conjunction with the Department of Parks and Recreation in Highland Park, Dance Horizons offered classes at the Highland Park Recreational Center and the local YWCA. The school later expanded to include adult classes and workshops taught by such notable dancers and choreographers as Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, Daniel Nagrin, Katherine Litz and Alwin Nikolais, some of whom were acquaintances of Ettlinger's from her years in New York. "I remember being about 5 and participating in a workshop with the renowned Alwin Nikolais," Ettlinger's daughter recalled. "It was back before people even knew who he was. He taught me so much, and at such a young age, about movement and space." Ettlinger and the group's co-founders performed with the company in local dance festivals, at community events, and also appeared regularly on WTTW public television in the late 1960s and early '70s. Advertisement "It was a lovely chapter in our lives," Koplin said. "We were three strong women, with Type A personalities and a deep love of dance working together to reach our goals." Born and raised Suzanne Marie Heller in Hyde Park, Ettlinger grew up taking jazz, tap and ballet lessons. A graduate of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, she got a bachelor's degree in dance from Sarah Lawrence College in New York. In 1946, she married Edward Ettlinger. The couple lived in California for several years, where she taught dance at Mills College in Oakland. Later they moved to Highland Park and began raising a family. He died in 2010. "As a kid, I remember her taking me to see modern dance performances at the Harper Theatre in Hyde Park," her daughter said. "It was so different from the usual kind of dance. People would walk out after 20 minutes." After closing Dance Horizons in 1977, Ettlinger continued teaching dance through the parks department in Highland Park for a short time, before retiring. "When she stopped dancing, that's when she took up Pilates," her daughter said with a laugh. "She never stopped moving." Advertisement Survivors also include a son, Peter; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Services are private. Joan Giangrasse Kates is a freelance reporter. Suppose that shortly after the 2008 election, Barack Obama's adviser Valerie Jarrett met with the Chinese ambassador and suggested using a secure link at his embassy to communicate with Beijing beyond the reach of U.S. intelligence agencies. Congressional Republicans and just about everyone else would have been shocked and aggrieved. Why? It would have indicated she was putting more trust in an unfriendly foreign regime than in her own government. It would have put her in debt to ruthless foreigners who might use her to advance their malignant interests. It would have raised grave questions about her (and Obama's) intentions. We might have heard chants of "Lock her up!" Advertisement That's the equivalent of what President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and senior adviser, Jared Kushner did with the Russians, according to The Washington Post. Yet Trump loyalists and allies have done their best to treat it as normal or commendable. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said, "Any channel of communication, back or otherwise, with a country like Russia is a good thing." A back channel is a fine option, agreed national security adviser H.R. McMaster, because "what that allows you to do is communicate in a discreet manner." Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton said it was "perfectly natural." Advertisement Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., took a different tack, insisting the whole story is not believable. Well, he can believe it, because Kushner hasn't denied it. Neither has the White House, though it has defended his right to make such contacts. The responses of Kelly and McMaster should come as good news to convicted spies Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, who are serving life sentences for their back-channel communications with the Kremlin. Maybe Trump will pardon them to show he approves of covert dealings with the Russians. The secrecy sought by Kushner fits a pattern of hiding his Russia contacts. When he filled out his security clearance form, he failed to disclose the meeting with the Russian ambassador, a December meeting with the head of a Russian state-owned bank and dozens of other contacts last year with foreign officials omissions that could expose him to a felony charge. His lawyer attributed them to an "administrative error." One puzzle about his December meetings is what purpose he had. It's entirely possible that Kushner, a foreign policy novice, came up with the idea because he had no clue what he was doing, what dangers it held or why anyone would object. Conservative commentator and former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy said it could have been merely "galactically stupid." That's the optimistic view. A worse possibility is that Kushner was trying to negotiate with the Russians to lift Obama's sanctions on a government that Trump likes. In that case, he was way out of line, because Trump had not taken office and had no business undercutting the sitting president of the United States. "There's no way that it can be appropriate to say, 'I want to use a hostile government's communications system to avoid our government knowing anything about it,'" Eliot Cohen, who was a top aide to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, told the Post. In 2008, President-elect Obama declined an invitation to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Washington. "We firmly believe there is only one president at a time," Obama's spokesman said. That didn't used to be a novel concept. Given the lax ethics of the Trump circle, it's hardly inconceivable that Kushner, a real estate tycoon whose father-in-law is a real estate tycoon, had financial motives trying to reach a discreet deal that could enrich him or Trump, possibly in exchange for kinder treatment of Russia by the U.S. government. Advertisement And given Trump's distrust of American intelligence agencies, Kushner might have preferred to deal with the Kremlin free of their scrutiny. In that case, what was the rush? Why not wait until Trump took office and the agencies were under his control? Kushner, of course, may not be the person responsible for this strange outreach. More likely, it was Trump who brought it on through his naivete, disdain for established norms, corrupt intentions or fondness for Vladimir Putin. It's inexcusable regardless. "What manner of ignorance, chaos, hubris, suspicion, contempt would you have to have to think that doing this with the Russian ambassador was a good or an appropriate idea?" asked former CIA Director Michael Hayden. It raises the perennial question about Trump: What's worse if he doesn't know what he's doing or if he does? Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/chapman. Download "Recalculating: Steve Chapman on a New Century" in the free Printers Row app at www.printersrowapp.com. Advertisement schapman@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SteveChapman13 What to read next: Donald Trump might be the dimmest president ever What exactly does Jared Kushner know? Why the Trump White House can't solve its biggest problems Advertisement Ivanka Trump just doesn't get it But in the meantime, perhaps schools should offer a course that will have ongoing utility. Call it Life After High School. The class would be a year long and involve seminars on balancing a checkbook, shopping, simple first aid, spending money wisely, relationships and respect, job interviews, nutrition, cooking simple meals, raising babies, investing, and so on. These are skills that a young person might actually put to good use. Many kids will go to college. Many will not. But for everyone, learning how to deal with the rigors of daily life will benefit everyone. And such a course might create a broader universe of young people who are more able to assimilate, succeed and thrive. Scott Petersen, Wilmette But we can't do it alone. Decades of research demonstrate that family income and socioeconomic status have much more to do with reading habits and academic success than just what schools and teachers do. Teaching is hard under the best circumstances, but it's only made more difficult by the disparity in funding between rich and poor schools (to say nothing of the current obsession over standardized test scores). Indeed, the day after you published your editorial, the Tribune ran a story on Illinois' school funding gap. The story pointed out that our state's share of funding for public schools was lower than all but three other states and that our top-spending school district spends $32,000 per student, as opposed to $15,000 in Chicago Public Schools and a staggering $4,340 in Cherry Grade School District 92. Unfortunately, your editorial ignored these financial realities. You point out "high percentages of general courses" that you blame for "dumbed down curriculum in much of CPS and suburban schools like Elgin, Aurora, West Chicago and Berwyn. Yet you fail to point out that, thanks to our system of property tax school funding, these schools' funding-per-student ratios are much lower than the top-performing schools' ratios, and almost all of them are below the state average. Coincidence? Hardly. The corresponding rigor in well-funded, middle-to-upper-income communities is no accident. Schools with the resources to help students meet high expectations are more likely to see those expectations met. Homes that encourage and assist with homework get better results. Once the editorial board starts reading its own newspaper more carefully, it might well come to much different conclusions about what's to be done concerning public education today. Gregg Long, Roselle Monique Nolden of Chicago, left, holds a photo of Sema'j Crosby, while holding hands with Joliet residents Destini Hayes, center, and Briana Johnson during a prayer in the vacant lot at Second and Iowa avenues in Joliet, minutes from where Sema'j was found dead two years ago, Saturday April 27, 2019. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) The morning after 17-month-old Semaj Crosby was reported missing from her Joliet Township home, state Department of Children and Family Services investigators and supervisors went to a strip mall office three miles away and began filing reports. As police searched frantically for Semaj on April 26, one DCFS investigator over a three-hour span typed up eight reports about important interviews she'd conducted regarding Semaj's family. Some of those interviews occurred seven weeks earlier. Advertisement Another DCFS investigator typed reports on her interactions with mental health professionals that took place four days earlier. Within 30 hours of her being reported missing, on April 27, Semaj's body was found by police under a soiled living room couch. And still, DCFS investigators continued to file reports on their interactions from days and weeks before. Advertisement The belatedly filed reports appear to violate DCFS's rule that investigators promptly file child abuse and neglect case reports. The Illinois regulation called "Procedures 300" says: "All investigative activities must be documented in a contact or case note within 48 hours." Those delayed reports were approved and overseen by supervisors in the state child welfare agency's Joliet office, the Tribune found in an examination of more than 200 pages of internal DCFS investigators' case files about agency contacts with Semaj's family in the months before she disappeared and was found dead. The belated reports describe DCFS staff working assiduously to investigate the conditions for Semaj and six other children living in the cramped, grimy rental. Their investigations followed a March 4 hotline allegation that a 3-year-old girl was molested there, as well as a separate April 21 report that a child in the home had threatened suicide. Last Friday, DCFS Director George Sheldon released a 22-page Quality Assurance Review of DCFS shortfalls in protecting Semaj and other children in the home as investigators opened 10 abuse and neglect probes in the two years after April 2015. Sheldon has said that report demonstrates his commitment to transparency and to improving on deficiencies. But that review did not mention the weeks-late filing of investigative reports documented in the agency's electronic case notes. The review also failed to mention that supervisors repeatedly approved files that were missing basic reports regarding Semaj, and that administrators also signed off on the flurry of belated reports. Asked why the DCFS investigators' late report filing was not mentioned in the Quality Assurance Review, DCFS Senior Deputy Director Neil Skene said: "It feels to me like we just missed it." More than just paperwork, the reports are a key part of how the agency protects children, ensuring that various agencies and investigators are working together, helping them to identify whether greater intervention is necessary for a child's safety, experts and investigators told the Tribune. In light of the Tribune's reporting, Skene said, the department will review the potential impact of the belated note filing on the agency's efforts to protect Semaj and her siblings. Advertisement "We do want to go back and see if anything in those notes that were entered late might have changed the course of the investigation in some fashion," he said. If a child's safety has been assured, filing notes a few days late "is not all that unusual or unreasonable. ... On the other hand, seven weeks is unreasonable. There's no question about that." DCFS Inspector General Denise Kane said her staff noticed the belated filings during a standard review following Semaj's death, and opened an investigation. In such cases, Kane said her office tries to determine why case notes were filed late, whether investigators actually did the interviews and investigative work described in the tardy reports, and what role supervisors played in the delays. Kane declined to comment further or provide any specific details about her office's probe, saying only, "Investigative notes have to be timely in order to have proper supervision." Kane said she has also opened an investigation into a case-closing contest in the Joliet office that awarded prizes to investigators who closed the most cases, after the Tribune published a report Friday on it. Flowers and toys mark the grave of Semaj Crosby, who was found dead last month in her Joliet Township home. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) Late reports 'challenge' investigations DCFS' internal review released last week had criticized an agency supervisor's late filing of notes about consultations with a caseworker from the private contractor Children's Home + Aid who was helping Semaj's family get mental health and medical services. The notes from seven of those 12 consultations dating back to September 2016 were entered in a flurry on April 26, the day after Semaj was reported missing. Advertisement "This late entry of narrative information ... (can) challenge the credibility of the supervision process," the review noted. Former DCFS chief Jess McDonald told the Tribune the belated filing of investigative reports represents a management failure. "If there is a significant gap between the time of contacts and the time of reports, supervisors should be aware," he said. Often the issue is overwhelming caseloads, McDonald added. "Too much to do ends up having people not do the right things, and usually it is a child or their family that pays the price." There are several reasons why child protective investigators say prompt reporting can save children's lives. Most serious cases are typically handled collaboratively by agency teams who all enter their case reports into the same Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, or SACWIS. The lack of up-to-date information can hinder team members who must share assignments and make urgent decisions, and supervisors who assign new tasks and authorize protective custody of youth when intervention is necessary. Advertisement In addition, child protective investigators told the Tribune, they are trained to note the demeanor and vocal inflection of people they interview and to pay attention to subtleties such as eye contact, then input reports while those impressions are fresh. "It is imperative to get your notes in immediately so you can recall the specific details," retired DCFS investigator and former agency acting director Denise Gonzales told the Tribune. In 2015 and 2016, DCFS moved to suspend or sanction 12 investigators for failing to promptly enter case notes into SACWIS, a Tribune analysis of state disciplinary records found. In eight other cases the investigators did not "complete and/or document" investigative activities, those state records say. DCFS also reprimanded one supervisor who failed to ensure that an investigator had filed timely reports over several weeks, those state records show. The final outcome of those disciplinary cases could not immediately be determined Tuesday. Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris, whose office represents state wards in juvenile court, said the lengthy delays in filing notes may indicate that Joliet child protection investigators were juggling excessive caseloads and "playing catch-up." "At a minimum, it just shows that they are either overwhelmed with cases and aren't able to put the notes in, or that these notes are more notes of convenience than they are of actual casework," Harris said. "It certainly seems bizarre that all of a sudden they are going to get all of these notes in at the last minute." Advertisement Investigators at the Joliet DCFS office belatedly filed reports regarding the family of Semaj Crosby. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) A veteran investigator When Semaj was reported missing on April 25 at 6:28 pm, the massive community search included a local TV station helicopter circling overhead as police and volunteers combed the area. "MEDIA case," said the initial DCFS report on the missing toddler. Starting at 9:32 a.m. the next morning, one Joliet DCFS investigator a 19-year agency veteran filed reports that documented assignments she completed in early March, including in-person assessments of children in Semaj's home, interviews with family members and contacts with police and medical professionals, according to government records examined by the Tribune. The veteran investigator filed eight such reports by 12:14 p.m. then one more the next morning, after Semaj was found dead, describing her efforts weeks earlier to track down the alleged abuser of a girl in the home. Then, on May 2 and 3, she filed four more reports about events that took place in previous weeks, again detailing her earlier attempts to locate the child's alleged abuser. Advertisement She was investigating the March 4 hotline allegation that a 3-year-old girl was beaten and molested in Semaj's house on Louis Road. That girl was taken to a local hospital with reported swelling of her private parts as well as "bruises and scratches all over her body" and "a belt buckle mark on (her) arm and on her leg," one DCFS report said. The 3-year-old girl had been in the care of her mother's boyfriend a felon with a history of domestic violence who went on the lam after the injuries came to light. In one of several similar examples, the veteran investigator on April 26 submitted a report saying that seven weeks earlier, on March 7, she had a critical phone conversation with the 3-year-old's biological father, who was in touch with the youth but not living at the house on Louis Road. In that conversation, the father revealed that the alleged abuser "was heard whopping" the girl, and he suspected his other children were abused in the home because now they are "afraid of the shower and they are trembling and crying." The veteran investigator also completed a series of basic substance abuse, domestic violence or criminal background screenings of adults in the home on May 3, just before DCFS' 60-day mandated deadline for completing child abuse and neglect investigations, but long after she was assigned the case on March 6. Her supervisor filed repeated notes in March and April stating that she was reviewing the file and had outlined tasks that needed completion but didn't mention the missing reports or series of late filings. Rushaun Barefield, 18, looks at a makeshift memorial for 17-month-old Semaj Crosby at the corner of Louis Road and Richards Street on April 27, 2017, in Joliet. Semaj was reported missing Tuesday and was found dead early Thursday morning. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) An agency intern Advertisement The last DCFS investigator to see Semaj alive at about 4 p.m. April 25 was an intern who had just joined the agency in July 2016. She was assigned to investigate the alleged neglect of another child from the home on April 21 at his school after the boy threatened to stab himself with a knife or shoot himself with a BB gun, saying "I won't come back to life." It wasn't until April 26 that she filed notes reporting her interviews on April 21 with a physician and with a mental health professional who worked to admit the boy to a psychiatric hospital, DCFS case records show. The physician recounted the boy saying "his granny and aunt hurt him at home. They hit him with their hands or belt everywhere on his body ... He does not know why they hit him." The intern had ranked fifth among the 24 Joliet office investigators in the DCFS case-closing contest in January, in which the two investigators who closed the most abuse and neglect probes that month each won $100 gift cards while the third-place winner got $50. An agency spokeswoman said the competition only lasted that month. On the morning after Semaj was reported missing, the intern filed voluminous notes, vividly conveying her impressions of the trash-strewn three-bedroom rental where the girl lived. And she described the playful girl in the gray shirt with the cat on the front and mismatched pink and gray socks "running around the house playing with her brothers and drinking out of a sippy cup." Advertisement Semaj soon relaxed with a pink pacifier, the intern reported. "There were no defects in the home that would endanger the health and safety of the children." Two and a half hours later, Semaj was reported missing. dyjackson@chicagotribune.com gmarx@chicagotribune.com deldeib@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Twitter @poolcar4 Twitter @garyjmarx Twitter @deldeib Telemarketer Safety Publications Inc., housed in the 5900 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, has agreed to cease operations in Illinois. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Telemarketer Safety Publications Inc. has agreed to cease operations in Illinois after the state's attorney general alleged the firm misled donors to raise millions of dollars on behalf of veterans and other charitable causes. Safety co-founder Arthur Olivera also signed a lifetime ban from raising charity funds in Illinois, while Safety's other co-founder Adam Herdman agreed to a three-year prohibition. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan additionally is seeking $159,255 in penalties from the firm. Advertisement "The owners of Safety Publications are serial con artists who have shown complete disregard for the law over and over again," Madigan said. "Today's order should put an end to their serial fraud in Illinois." Madigan filed civil court fraud charges against Safety Publications last year in response to a 2015 Chicago Tribune investigation that found Safety failed to disclose Olivera's felony arson conviction and also did not properly report the funds it raised for the charity VietNow National Headquarters of Rockford, among other breaches of state charity laws. Advertisement Safety, which has offices in Chicago and the area, reported raising $4.9 million for VietNow and an array of other U.S. charities from 2008 through 2014 but gave the nonprofits only about 15 cents of every dollar raised in those seven years and kept the rest for itself, a Tribune analysis of government records found. Many of those charities in turn spent large sums on administrative overhead, leaving pennies for those in need, the records show. Following the Tribune reports, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley filed a civil court lawsuit that seeks $221,600 in penalties against Safety, Herdman and Olivera. Safety contacted Missouri consumers who were on that state's No-Call list, and its misleading pitches said donations were going directly to charities, according to Loree Anne Paradise, spokeswoman for Hawley. That suit is pending. And in Michigan, Attorney General Bill Schuette in March revoked VietNow's charitable solicitations registration, saying none of the funds it raised in that state went to Michigan vets or to promised medical facilities. Olivera and Herdman did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday, and phone numbers for Safety were disconnected. The Missouri and Illinois attorneys general are not coordinating their enforcement actions, according to officials from both states, and it is unclear how much if any money either will be able to collect from the firm. Carl Metz, an attorney for VietNow, said that charity is " working with Michigan officials to resolve their issues." "The charity does good work and intends to keep doing good work," Metz said. The current Illinois consent decree is the third since 2002 that Madigan's office has imposed on Herdman and Olivera after alleged breaches of Illinois charity laws. The two men and their companies agreed to pay a total of $60,000 to resolve the attorney general's 2002 and 2007 consumer protection lawsuits without admitting wrongdoing, and signed agreements stating they would uphold Illinois charity laws in the future. Advertisement Herdman and Olivera launched Safety and several linked companies in the mid-1990s. In a faded brown brick building at 5944 N. Milwaukee Ave. and several satellite centers, Safety's minimum-wage telemarketers sought charity donations that would purportedly help veterans, police officers and sick kids. The Tribune reported in 2015 that Safety and a linked charity telemarketer had employed at least 10 callers who served prison terms for bank robbery, forgery, child rape and other felonies since 2007, despite Illinois' prohibition against using felons to raise charity money. The law is designed to ensure the trustworthiness of nonprofit solicitors. VietNow, which now also goes under the name VeteransNow, pledges to help former service members overcome joblessness and post-traumatic stress disorder. Safety gave that charity only 10 percent of the $1.6 million in donations the telemarketer collected for it from 2010 through 2015, the Tribune found. Safety is one of 35 telemarketers that VietNow used to raise more than $20 million between 2003 and 2014, the Tribune's 2015 analysis of charity records found. The telemarketers collectively kept more than 80 percent of the donations as their fees, the Tribune found. Metz said Wednesday he did not want to comment on past shortfalls, but he added that the charity is willing to work with Madigan's office or any governmental agency's to resolve problems they identify. dyjackson@chicagotribune.com If you've ever thought about trying a Pilates class, you might have some fears about who will be sweating alongside you. No one wants to be judged by fitness goddesses. But get past your doubts and you might be surprised by how much you like Pilates. When I walked into Pilates ProWorks' new studio in the West Loop, rather than being filled with the scary glamazon types that I assumed would be joining me, there were clients of all shapes and sizes. Advertisement Prior to your class, new members to the gym will need to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early to sign a waiver to permit you to use the equipment in the studio. Come prepared with water and socksno shoes are required for the normal Pilates classes. The classes at ProWorks utilize a Pilates reformer, a machine with adjustable moving parts to isolate each individual muscle as it engages. ProWorks has a specially made type of reformer, dubbed a FitFormer, that is longer and wider than a typical reformer. The FitFormer works to combine both strength training and toning with posturing and lengthening of traditional Pilates movements. Rather than simply pumping iron, the machines use resistance and your own body weight to engage each muscle group individually. Advertisement My Pilates Pro class began with light stretches to get warmed upjumping straight into a workout of this type is a prime opportunity to royally ruin your muscles. Each machine has a set of adjustable straps that your instructor will direct you to use based on how much resistance each activity needs. My workout progressed from light resistance at the beginning of class to heavy resistance by the end, but the gradual increase for each muscle group allowed me to leave feeling like I had truly worked out every single muscle. The experience lived up to the Pilates ProWorks claim that it's a "full body" workout. Though these classes focus more on toning and less on cardio, you'd be entirely wrong to assume your heart wouldn't also get a workout. The energy it takes to keep your muscles engaged without allowing them to burn out is intense, and you'll definitely be sweating by the time you're done. Thankfully, the Pilates ProWorks studio has showers available, stocked with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razorsyes, razorsand hair styling tools at your disposal. Each class at Pilates ProWorks is $35, though packages are available. If making ProWorks your primary form of working out isn't in the budget, one class a week can work as a reset for your muscles in addition to your usual workout routine. @shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com Related: Breaking down Chicago's 10 best boutique fitness classes The shooting of a 22-year-old man Tuesday afternoon in the Boulder Hill area near Montgomery appears to be an isolated incident, the Kendall County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Wednesday. At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area of Fernwood and Woodridge roads, according to the sheriff's office, which was assisted at the scene by Illinois State Police along with Oswego and Montgomery police departments. Advertisement They found a 22-year-old man, of the first block of Amesbury Road in Montgomery, with multiple gunshot injuries. The Oswego Fire Protection District took him to Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora for treatment. Noting that the shooting appeared isolated, officials said they know of no specific threat to the public. Advertisement The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information to call investigators at 630-553-7500, ext. 1105. People can also provide information anonymously through the county's CrimeStoppers line, 630-553-5999. hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone West Aurora School District 129 paid about $5.2 million over the past three years in a pension fund surcharge on certain types of teachers' salaries. The district, like most others in Illinois, has for years contributed to the Teachers Retirement System at a higher rate for certified teachers' salaries covered by federal dollars including federal grants designated for high-poverty schools than for other salaries. This year, that rate was more than 65 times higher. Advertisement But a measure that passed both houses of the state Legislature this month could put an end to the surcharge, if it is signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner. "It's probably going to save us at least a million dollars a year," said Angie Smith, West Aurora's assistant superintendent of operations. Advertisement The surcharge was seen as a way to pay down state pension debt. State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora), who signed onto the bill as a co-sponsor, said she and several other area lawmakers met with local school district officials who felt the surcharge penalized districts that serve predominantly low-income students. It indirectly discouraged them from hiring certified teachers, she said. "Instead of getting the best, most qualified teachers out there, they either have to supplant or move around numbers so we can stay alive right now," she said. During the 2013-14 fiscal year, districts contributed 35.41 percent of a teacher's salary covered by federal funds to the retirement system, a percentage that dipped slightly the following year and then rose each year after that to 38.54 percent this year. If the bill ending the surcharge is not signed into law, employers are set to pay 44.61 percent of a salary covered by federal funds to the retirement fund, according to the Teachers Retirement System. For other teachers, employers contribute at least 0.58 percent of their salary. West Aurora paid between roughly $1.5 million and $1.9 million each year between 2013-14 and 2015-16 to cover only the surcharge above the district's typical pension payments. Total, including typical pension payments, the district paid about $2.5 million to the Teachers Retirement System for salaries covered by federal grants during the 2015-16 year, Smith said. She did not have numbers available for the current year since it has not ended. Neighboring East Aurora School District 131 paid about $3.8 million during each of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 years for salaries covered by federal dollars, according to numbers provided by the district. So far this year, the district has paid about $1.2 million. East Aurora Assistant Director of Finance Elizabeth Shields said the district this year moved several salaries out of federal grants because of the surcharge, and instead used that money to pay for other needs that the district had been covering. Advertisement Assistant Superintendent for Finance Mike Prombo described the surcharge as "a way for the state to siphon off money." "There's only so much stuff you can buy," he said. "At a certain point in time you need salaries for teachers or whatever it is that kids need. It's really prohibiting most school districts from using it for salaries." Smith said West Aurora, too, has tried to limit the number of teachers with salaries paid through federal money. But in some cases, she said it makes more sense to pay for teachers with federal grants. The district has discussed cutting back in other areas or shifting costs that have been covered by federal grants to the district, she said. The charge is paid out of federal money, so it doesn't stretch as far, she said. The surcharge has played into the district's hiring decisions as well, Smith said. New teachers with less experience will earn a lower salary, and the surcharge will be lower, than a teacher with more experience. She said the annual surcharge costs to the district equal the salary and benefits of about 30 brand new teachers, but that money likely wouldn't have gone entirely to new staff. Advertisement Though there are restrictions on grant funds, the surcharge money could have gone toward resources and support such as after school programs or tutoring. Officials could have discussed adding math and reading interventionists, rather than choosing one subject. It could have helped expand early childhood education, which Superintendent Jeff Craig has outlined as a goal. Or, it could have taken stress off the district budget in certain areas, while the district is looking at a deficit, Smith said. "Why you would try to plug that (pension gap) on the backs of the schools you've already said are in the most need makes no sense," Smith said. The measure passed as the end of the legislative session nears and lawmakers take up a variety of bills. Smith said she isn't going to celebrate the bill until she sees the other bills that are passed, and the net outcome of the session. sfreishtat@tribpub.com Twitter @srfreish Blame game: The comment about evil Republicans and Obamacare is so unfair. The caller said we should do the math. Isn't it a shame former President Obama did not do the math when he promised that Obamacare would save $2,500 for every family? A lot of the insured never see any money coming back because the premiums and deductibles are so extreme. Maybe they should let Obamacare implode on its own, but then President Trump would be blamed. He gets the blame for everything these days no matter what he does. Turning away from Trump: In the beginning, I liked President Trump. I don't like him now. He and his right-hand man said that illegal immigrants can stay in the country as long as they don't have a record. What a president. Trump is on his way out. I assume that Vice President Pence will take over. Maybe he will be a better choice. Trump is not a politician. I do believe Russia was involved in getting him elected. Everyone is going to pay more taxes when they build more schools for the children of the illegal immigrants. What has happened to our country? I'm getting out of Dodge. Advertisement Standing behind Trump: We support President Trump, and we are sorry that all the liberals are having such a hard time with his agenda. We strongly urge all of our elected officials in Washington and the states to support Trump and his agenda so our country can be free and healthy once again. Black and white protesters band together: I hate to disappoint the caller who thinks that all people of color do are riot, rob stores and burn down things when something happens. I would like to let the caller know about the injustice of a black man shot in the back of the head and killed in Oklahoma by a police officer who said she feared for her life. By the way, if you watched it on television, you would have seen there were also a lot of white people protesting what happened. Advertisement Texting and tweeting: When are law enforcement agencies going to start enforcing laws about cell phones? Everywhere you go all you see are people talking, texting and tweeting on their cell phones. Big Brother is watching: I saw that the police woman in Oklahoma was acquitted for shooting the unarmed black man with his hands up in the air. This kind of thing has probably been happening for a long time, but now we all have phones and cameras. Big Brother is all over the place and always watching. If a police officer is wrong, he or she should be held accountable. No matter if you are black or white or whatever your nationality is, you should always obey a police officer's command. Terrorist becomes a hero: Just as I thought the country has gotten as goofy as it could get, more surprises come along. Not only have we been forced to take down statues of Jefferson Davis and other Confederate war heroes, former President Obama let a convicted Puerto Rican terrorist out of prison. Now he's a hero, and they are having parades for him. If I had the money, I would leave this country so fast you would never see me again. Troubled about Trump: I know a lot of President Trump supporters are angry. They think their man is getting dealt a bad hand, and it's a witch hunt. They want us to give him a chance, but he has been given opportunities and he hasn't done anything. He is his own worst enemy. He has no political experience and dodged serving in the military. Trump's supporters want Trump to get entry level training, but the White House doesn't work that way. The country needs someone who is ready to lead on day one. Trump is not that person. White House lives up to its name: Don't label me as a racist because I am not, but President Trump exudes white privilege. Without it, he would not be the president of the United States. White privilege seeps out all over this administration. Betsy DeVos became the Secretary of Education without spending a single day of experience teaching in the classroom. Trump became president without an advanced degree and without a single day of elected experience. He holds the highest office in this world. A black man or a black woman could never do that or say the things that Trump has said. I'm just telling it like it is. Niceness counts: I want to remark about the black man who said he says hi to people in stores. I want to say thank you. I'm 85 years old. I do the same thing. I smile and nod to people on the street that I don't know. It's just being nice. Some people give you a dirty look because they have an attitude. Other people answer you and smile back. He's right. Smile and say hello to people. Show some regard for hard of hearing: I'm calling about Obamacare. Did you know that former President Obama told everyone who can't hear or has a hearing problem that it isn't a handicap? You just have to go on. It's alright to give illegal immigrants treatment and free hearing aids. Why didn't he help American citizens? He helped that little girl from another country to get a transplant so she could hear for the first time. He did that, but he didn't help Americans with hearing aids. When you can't hear, it is a handicap. Teeth, hearing and eyes are very important to seniors. Please help the people that are hard of hearing. Balking about locker room talk: I watched an interview with Billy Bush. He spoke to his teenage daughter and said he was remorseful. I also listened to a clip from Melania Trump saying that Bush egged her husband on. How can anyone egg on a man who is old enough to be his father? Advertisement Trump was the best choice: To the caller who insists that President Trump is a disaster, a liar and a manipulator who cannot be trusted, I want to ask if we had anyone better. Hillary Clinton? She has no integrity. She accepted debate questions beforehand. She lied about the emails and her server, and the Clinton foundation was a pay for play organization. Bernie Sanders is a socialist who wants to give everything away for free. He gave speeches against the rich but owns four houses. Democrats are such hypocrites. I am so glad Trump is our leader. He is getting our country back after eight years under former President Obama. Criminal's military records revealed: There is a trend in news reporting on violent crime. We heard it in the report of the Times Square hit and run of pedestrians, in the shooting of the train conductor in Naperville, and the punching of a female security guard in Chicago. In each case, the military history of the perpetrator is told. How is this relevant to their violent acts? Is it an attempt to somehow redeem the perpetrator? Taxed to the max: Wouldn't it be wonderful if Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles and all this area could get some tax relief? Our taxes are sky high. I just read that Batavia is going to give a loan and grant to bring another restaurant to town. All this that will be added to the TIF fund without giving us any benefit except higher taxes. Frustrated about false advertising: I want to comment on some companies who get away with false advertising especially on television. The copper frying pan is a good example. You see the guy with the electric beater preparing eggs in the pan. He says it doesn't stick or get scratched. I have one. It sticks and gets scratched. The American people are being taken for a ride. This is just one example. It shouldn't happen at all. I have a floor steamer that took the finish off my kitchen floor. Someone needs to put a stop to fraudulent advertising. Disappointed in Democrats: Just what is the Democratic response, including Linda Chapa LaVia and Michael Madigan's response, to the dire budget crisis in Illinois? Is it to cut spending? Reduce programs? Balance the budget? No, it's to increase all of our taxes and fund abortions. How sad. End Islamic terrorism: The answer to radical Islamic terrorism is they need a new testament. Right now they act on the old eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth system. With a new testament, they will love and pray for their enemies and turn the other cheek. Advertisement Editor's note Speak Out is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, call us at 312-222-2460 or email couriernews@tribpub.com. Please include "speak out" in the subject line. Barrington High School teacher Bill Palmer is preparing to retire decades after he dropped out of the Barrington school in 1969. (Todd Shields/Pioneer Press ) On a recent day, weeks before Barrington High School's graduation ceremony, commencement speaker and teacher Bill Palmer paused and pointed to a red graduation cap and gown hanging on a coat-rack in his classroom. "I'm giving it to a homeless student at the graduation," he said. "He's been working really hard to meet his final graduation requirements." Advertisement Since becoming a full-time teacher in 1993, serving at-risk students at the high school, Palmer has developed the reputation for going above and beyond to help teenagers address whatever issues they may be dealing with, officials with Barrington School District 220 said. Palmer, who is retiring at the end of the school year, said his teaching approach developed from personal experience. Advertisement When he delivers his commencement speech, titled "Accept the Challenge," to the Class of 2017 on Friday, he will be looking at students who advanced further in their high school career than he did. Before becoming a successful businessman and teacher, Palmer dropped out of Barrington High School in 1969, he said. The experience as an emotionally troubled teenager has helped him relate effectively with Barrington High School students throughout the years, District 220 officials said. As his teaching career comes to a close, Palmer said he expects an emotional day during the school's graduation ceremony. "When I'm in a commencement line at graduation, seeing what my students have accomplished, how can I not get emotional?" he said. Recognizing his effectiveness in reaching at-risk teens, the Barrington High School Student Council made the decision to select Palmer as the keynote speaker during the graduation ceremony at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington. Lauren Stamos, a graduating senior at Barrington High School, said she was dealing with the "usual teen angst" after losing two family members. Her grades began to slip as she started to skip class until she connected with Palmer, she said. "He gave me the chance to have a breakthrough on my own and be true to myself," said Stamos, who is planning to attend Harper College in the fall. "He has impacted a lot of students." Palmer said his approach to teaching tries to encourage students to think about their inner thought processes a strategy meant to create awareness and understanding about one's own thinking. Advertisement He has been known to wait until a student gives him nonverbal permission to start asking questions about personal problems. "You just know, a subtle connection. I have to wait for permission," Palmer said. "I can then start getting into what's driving their self-defeating thoughts that create emotion and results in this behavior." In 2015, Palmer wrote about his troubled past as a teenager in the book titled, "Drop-out to Teacher: Overcoming Fear and Failure," which highlighted cognitive behavioral methods for educators and parents. "I try to teach these kids what precipitates their emotion and behavior," he said. "Life is challenging, and many come in here with negative familial feelings." After leaving Barrington High School, Palmer said, his father agreed to pay his tuition for one-on-one tutoring for six months. He passed the GED test, went to Harper College and then earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from Northeastern Illinois University, he said. Advertisement For the next 14 years, he worked in commercial real estate in Chicago and Oak Brook, but he eventually felt a need to return to the classroom and teach. In 1995, he completed a master's degree in education at Northeastern Illinois, he said. Palmer said his wife of 43 years, Jeanne, was a big reason why he returned to education. "I knew she deserved more than a high school drop-out in her life," he said. Jeff Aron worked alongside Palmer for 15 years at Barrington High School before retiring in 2008. "He brought what I called a pretty loaded toolbox. His background paralleled and was conducive to working with high-risk students," Aron said. "Because he was a high-risk student, too." tshields@pioneerlocal.com Advertisement Twitter @tshields19 The owner of a Bridgeview tobacco store has been charged with underreporting nearly $1 million in sales of tobacco products, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a news release Tuesday. Nasar Suheil, 45, of Bridgeview, was charged with tax fraud, money laundering and forgery for allegedly defrauding the state out of nearly $336,000 in tax revenue, according to the release. Advertisement Between May and September 2014, Suheil allegedly underreported more than $928,000 in sales at the store, 9250 S. Harlem Ave., to the state revenue department, according to Madigan. Suheil operated a scheme to avoid reporting sales by his business, E & N Corp., by making it appear that sales were being made to an Indiana distributor, according to the attorney general. Under Illinois law, sales to out-of-state corporations are tax exempt. Advertisement According to Madigan, Suheil directed an employee to establish a corporation in Indiana, Istanbul Enterprises, under the employee's name. Suheil gave the employee cash and instructions to deposit the money into Istanbul Enterprises' account, according to the release. Under the guise that Istanbul Enterprises was purchasing tobacco products from E&N, the money would then be wired back to E&N without Suheil having reported the sales as taking place in Illinois or paying state tobacco product taxes, Madigan said. Dean Barnett, the longtime school board president in Hazel Crest School District 152 1/2, was removed from the ballot Friday by the Electoral Board for a prior felony conviction. His lawyer stated his intention to appeal the ruling.- Original Credit: Hazel Crest School District 152 (HANDOUT / HANDOUT) The school board seat of longtime Hazel Crest School District 152 president Dean Barnett, who overcame a pre-election challenge to prevail in April's school board race is under threat again. One of Barnett's recent school board election challengers, Nykia Ervin, last week filed a quo warranto action challenging his ability to hold office due to a past felony conviction. Advertisement Barnett, a local business owner who voters resoundingly elected to a fifth term on April 4, was convicted of receipt, possession and sale of a stolen vehicle in 1993, when he was 17. He was sentenced to two years probation. While a felony conviction does not automatically disqualify an individual from serving on a school board, Illinois courts have held that felons convicted of "infamous crimes" were ineligible to hold school board seats. Advertisement Because an "infamous crime" has been broadly defined as anything "inconsistent with commonly accepted principles of honesty and decency," Barnett's conviction fits that definition, said Max Solomon, the attorney who brought Ervin's challenge. The quo warranto action he filed on May 24 cites the case of former Thornton Township School District 205 president Kenneth Williams, who was removed from his seat in 2013 and again in 2014 for a prior felony forgery conviction, and then struck from the ballot in 2015 for the same reason. Neither Barnett nor his attorney immediately responded to a request for comment on the recent challenge to his ability to hold office. Solomon said he brought the quo warranto action against Barnett after the state's attorney's office declined to pursue Barnett's removal from office and the attorney general's office told him it would not object to his challenge. He said initially that he was shocked by the state's attorney's decision not to intervene in the Barnett case, given that it had just taken legal action to prevent the winner of Markham's mayoral election from taking office due to a past felony conviction, but has since come to a new understanding of the state's attorney's position. Solomon said he believes the state's attorney's office sued to block the seating of Markham's Mayor-elect Roger Agpawa, but declined to pursue a quo warranto against Barnett because it knew his client would file a citizen challenge, and did not want to expend taxpayer dollars unnecessarily for what would amount to the same result. "Any time there's a chance for someone else to bear the cost of litigation, they usually defer to those people," he said. "If I was the Cook County State's Attorney, I'd say the same thing: 'You go ahead and we have no objection.'" The state's attorney's office said in a statement that it had declined to intervene in Barnett's case "after consideration of the recent rulings in this matter," but that it would continue to monitor any proceedings on the issue. Advertisement Barnett's candidacy was first challenged back in December by another one of his election opponents, Tesha Gray. In early February, the three-member Cook County Electoral Board sustained the objection on the grounds that Barnett's past conviction for an infamous crime prohibited him from holding office, and ordered his name be removed from the ballot. Barnett quickly filed a petition for judicial review of the electoral board's decision, and on Feb. 24, a circuit court judge reversed the electoral board's decision ex parte without hearing Gray's side finding that Barnett had not in fact committed an "infamous crime. His name was returned to the ballot. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Gray appealed the judge's ruling, but the appellate court declined to hear her case on an emergency basis in advance of the election. As a result, Barnett remained on the April 4 ballot and wound up the leading vote-getter in a crowded field of eight candidates vying for four seats. Solomon, who will present his case for Barnett's removal from office before a judge on June 15, said he's optimistic about his client's chances at success. "The law is on our side, the precedent is on our side," he said, citing the Williams case in Thornton Township School District 205, which he called "the same exact situation." Solomon said he expects a decision to be handed down some time in late July or early August, and plans to appeal if the judge does not rule in his client's favor. Advertisement "I am ready and my client is very, very ready to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to," he said. zkoeske@tribpub.com Twitter @ZakKoeske A father claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that his daughter was allegedly twice sexually assaulted last year at a special education school she attended in Chicago Heights. The woman has "severe cognitive disabilities" and was attending the Academy for Lifelong Learning when she allegedly was assaulted by another student at the school, according to the complaint. Advertisement The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, suffered severe and permanent emotional distress as a result of the assaults and will continue to require medical and psychological treatment and therapy, according to her attorney, Eugene Hollander. The complaint seeks damages in excess of $50,000. The school she attended is operated by SPEED District 802, a cooperative that provides specialized instruction and related services to students with disabilities. SPEED is named as a defendant along with Homewood Flossmoor Community High School District 233. Advertisement An attorney representing SPEED said Tuesday that the cooperative had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit and could not comment on the allegations. The woman was 21 at the time of the alleged assaults, both of which occurred after she entered a bathroom in the school, according to the lawsuit. She now attends a different school, Hollander said, declining to say what town the woman lives in. His client allegedly was assaulted in the women's bathroom of the school on June 27 and July 6 of last year, according to the lawsuit. The school has a video surveillance system that is used to monitor areas of the school, including bathroom entrances, but "apparently no one was watching the cameras" to see the then-19-year-old male student follow the woman into the washroom, Hollander said. During the second alleged assault, a teacher walked into the bathroom, he said. Along with Hollander's client, the male student allegedly assaulted another female student at the school, also in the bathroom on July 6 of last year, the attorney said. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The male student who is alleged to have carried out the assaults was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and that case is pending in Cook County Circuit Court, Hollander said. Hollander said he is not yet certain at this point whether his client would testify in the matter. "If the case goes to trial we will make that determination," he said. Advertisement The lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges breach of fiduciary duty as well as willful and wonton conduct on the part of school officials for failing to protect the special needs student. School officials "knew or reasonably should have known" of the male student's "dangerous and exploitive propensities as a sexual abuser" and failed to supervise him or better isolate him "from the more cognitively affected students" such as his client, according to the complaint. mnolan@tribpub.com Twitter @mnolan_J A new statewide poll finds that strong opposition to an income tax hike to solve the state's budget problems significantly eases when the tax increase is coupled with a property tax freeze. That's important because Gov. Bruce Rauner has insisted that he won't approve any tax hikes or a budget without a four-year property tax freeze. Democrats in the General Assembly, however, have resisted the governor's freeze proposal. And the Senate Democrats recently went ahead and passed a budget with tax hikes without including Rauner's freeze. Advertisement The poll of 500 likely Illinois voters was taken May 23rd by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, a Republican firm. The poll's questions that we're going to look at today weren't horribly biased, even though the poll was paid for by the Illinois Policy Institute (which for whatever reason didn't include the property tax freeze numbers in its news release). The poll's margin of error was +/-4.4 percent and 40 percent were reached via their mobile phones. "One of the elements of a proposed solution for the Illinois state budget impasse involves raising the state income tax," the pollster told respondents. "Do you favor or oppose a state budget that includes raising the state income tax?" Advertisement Just 31 percent favored an income tax hike, while 64 percent were opposed and 51 percent strongly opposed it. No surprise there. Every poll I've ever seen had numbers similar to those. "One of the elements of a proposed solution for the Illinois state budget impasse involves raising the state income tax but at the same time enacting a property tax freeze," respondents were told. "Do you favor or oppose a state budget that includes raising the state income tax but also includes a property tax freeze?" The percent of those favoring the "hybrid solution" involving a freeze jumped 8 points to 39 percent. That's still far from a majority, but not too bad, considering more money would be coming out of their pockets to fund a supremely dysfunctional state government. The more dramatic movement came from the opposition. A slim majority of 51 percent were still opposed to the hybrid solution, but that's down 13 points from the income tax-only question. And those who were strongly opposed, which indicates that they might cast their vote based on the topic, dropped 17 points, from 51 down to a mere 34. So, it's not difficult to see why Rauner has been talking about almost nothing but a property tax freeze lately. He did a bunch of recent TV and radio interviews saying he absolutely won't sign a budget unless it includes the freeze. Simply put, the issue moves numbers. The freeze is like that old Mary Poppins song, "A Spoonful of Sugar." It helps the medicine go down, although definitely not in a "most delightful way." There are undoubtedly other issues that could help make a tax hike more palatable, but we're stuck with this one because the governor is so adamant about a win on this topic. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > If you look at the crosstabs, you'll find that 79 percent of Republicans are opposed to raising the income tax, but that opposition drops 20 points to 59 percent when coupled with a property tax freeze. Opposition by independents drops from 66 to 53. And opposition by Democrats falls from 52 to just 45. Now, look at those who are strongly opposed to the hybrid plan that Rauner is pushing and the results are even more dramatic. Advertisement Seventy-two percent of Republicans were strongly opposed to an income tax hike, but that falls 28 points to 44 percent who were strongly opposed when the tax hike is coupled with a property tax freeze. Fifty-four percent of independent voters strongly opposed an income tax increase, but just 39 percent opposed it when attached to a property tax freeze. And strong opposition dropped from 34 percent to 25 percent among Democrats. Also, when respondents were given a choice, 45 percent said only cut spending and don't raise taxes, while 41 percent said the state should cut some spending and raise some taxes. That's exactly what the Senate Democrats recently did, but most people don't know that. However, when it was pointed out that "Illinois already pays the highest property taxes in the country and has the fifth highest overall tax burden," and that some believe another tax hike would drive more people out of the state, 54 percent said only cut spending and don't raise taxes, while just 36 favored a mix of cuts and tax hikes. Property taxes are a killer issue. The Democrats need to come to terms with that. Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com. On June 19, 1978, the cover of Time magazine featured a picture of California's Howard Jarvis, his right fist raised above his head, accompanied by the headline, "Tax Revolt!" Thirteen days earlier, nearly two-thirds of California voters approved Proposition 13 an amendment to the state's constitution limiting real estate taxes to 1 percent of a property's value. Advertisement Jarvis was a businessman who collected tens of thousands of signatures to put Prop 13 on ballots statewide. He founded the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which says Prop 13 has saved California taxpayers $528 billion over the years, or $60,000 on average for each family of four. Here in Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner is pushing for a permanent income tax freeze. Rauner appeared in Orland Park last Friday at the home of retirees Ken and Andi Borucke. Rauner said a property tax freeze is a precondition for his support of a budget agreement. Advertisement "We've got to bring down our property tax burden," Rauner said, standing in the home's back yard, the Chicago Tribune reported. "We cannot have the General Assembly pass a massive tax hike on income and sales and not provide property tax relief that is true and lasting." I agree with Rauner on this point. Illinois homeowners reportedly pay the nation's highest property tax rates. Excessive reliance on real estate taxes to fund schools and other local services is unfair, especially to low-income residents. "Property taxes are regressive, and because these taxes are usually collected at the local level, the unequal distribution of wealth between rich and poor school districts can lead to inequitable school funding," the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said in 2011. Recently elected Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau joined Rauner's call for a permanent property tax freeze during the appearance at the Borucke home on Friday. However, Pekau, whose campaign received substantial financial support from Rauner ally Dan Proft, is in a minority. More than 150 suburban mayors in April issued a statement saying a property tax freeze would harm local communities without addressing the state's budget crisis, the Associated Press reported. While Rauner appears insistent on a permanent property tax freeze, various Democratic legislators who hold majorities in the House and Senate have indicated they could support freezes of two to four years but seem reluctant to support a permanent freeze. Rauner has proposed that even with a permanent freeze, local voters could still support property tax increases via referendum. While I fully support efforts to reduce property tax burdens on local homeowners, I think there are key differences between the current situation in Illinois and the 1978 citizen-driven ballot initiative in California. I think the biggest consideration is that states that have lower property taxes invariably have higher income taxes. Advertisement Last week, the Illinois Senate approved a bill to raise the state's flat income tax rate to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent. Along with expanded sales taxes on services, the move would raise an estimated $5 billion in additional revenue. I caution that despite the increase that Rauner described as "massive," the income tax rate in Illinois would still be less than 5 percent. It would still be a flat tax, unlike many other states that have adopted graduated income tax brackets where wealthier people pay higher rates. Despite its high property taxes, Illinois has one of the lowest income tax rates in the nation. By comparison, the wealthiest people in California pay an income tax rate of 13.3 percent, according to the independent Tax Foundation. Seven states levy no income taxes, the foundation says. Most states that tax income require wealthier people to pay higher rates. "Of those states taxing wages, eight have single-rate tax structures, with one rate applying to all taxable income. Conversely, 33 states levy graduated-rate income taxes, with the number of brackets varying widely by state," the foundation said on its website. I agree with local municipal and school leaders who have expressed concerns about a permanent property tax freeze as part of a "grand bargain" to end the two-year budget stalemate. Advertisement Illinois is running an annual budget deficit of about $6 billion and has amassed $14.5 billion in overdue bills, AP reported. The $37.3 billion plan advanced by Senate Democrats last week would reduce spending by $3 billion, but garnered no Republican support. I worry that politics, and not genuine concern for local homeowners, is driving Rauner's push for a permanent property tax freeze. Sure, the message plays well. Criticizing high property taxes in Illinois is as safe as complaining about the state's cold winters or the recent ineptitude of the Chicago Bears. You can't argue with the obvious. However, I think it's important to remember the reason Illinois faces such a serious financial crisis is that state leaders Republicans and Democrats alike put off needed tax hikes for years by underfunding pensions and borrowing. Now, Illinois needs to not only erase a structural budget deficit, it needs to address a $14 billion backlog of unpaid bills and try to make up nearly $130 billion in unfunded public pension liabilities. I think it's impossible to solve the underlying problems without additional revenue. I'm all for reforms to save taxpayers money by lowering the costs of state procurements, pensions and other expenses moving forward. But I don't see how it's possible to cut more than $3 billion a year from state spending without creating severe hardships for large segments of the population. Advertisement Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > I think Democratic legislators are unlikely to agree to a permanent property tax freeze that would give Rauner a clear political victory and help Republican chances in 2018. Illinois desperately needs a budget. The lack of a budget is hurting people who rely on social services and damaging the state's economic future by undermining higher education. Uncertainty due to the impasse has needlessly lowered the state's credit rating and increased the costs of borrowing. The need to lower property taxes should be part of a broader dialog about reforms that should include addressing school funding inequality. Potential solutions include adopting a graduated income tax and raising new revenue by taxing financial transactions. As much as I favor efforts to provide Illinois homeowners with property tax relief, I think it would be irresponsible and potentially devastating to schools and communities to enact a permanent property tax freeze without some other means to replace that revenue. Instead, Rauner's demands for a permanent property tax freeze seem to me like a bid to score political points. His stubbornness on this point could prolong the budget impasse and end up causing more harm to residents, taxpayers and the state's economy. mailto:tslowik@tronc.com Advertisement Twitter @tedslowik U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, middle, talks to local corporation officials and educators in his Schaumburg congressional office on May 31, 2017. (Rafael Guerrero / Courier-News) Federal support for career and technical education programs in schools must continue and grow, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said Wednesday. During a morning meeting at his Schaumburg congressional office, Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Schaumburg, discussed the basics of legislation he is sponsoring to reauthorize federal career and technical education funding. The legislation is currently awaiting a House vote. Advertisement About 40 representatives of local corporations and educational institutions -- including Elgin-based School District U46 and Elgin Community College -- participated in Wednesday's summit, with some giving input as to the importance of specialized workers in technology, manufacturing, health care, and other high-skill jobs. "There is not anyone in the trades who is not proud of what they do. We built all these buildings here, we probably built all the buildings you work in, we bring in wealth," said Vince Sticca, apprentice and training program director for the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters, referring to the buildings surrounding Krishnamoorthi's offices in the Woodfield Mall area. Advertisement The bill would increase federal funding under the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act by 9 percent over the next 6 years, according to the legislation. Currently, there is more than $1.1 billion available in Perkins money for either secondary schools or higher-education institutions. Krishnamoorthi said the re-authorization of the decades-old legislation, last updated in 2006, allows for more flexibility in how states can use the money if educational policies or job market outlooks change. The legislation also calls for greater focus on diversifying participation to increase low-income, minority and adult participation. Flexibility is necessary given how priorities have changed, such as whether applicants completed a four-year degree, finished high school, or already have real-world experience. "We cannot afford to not do this," Krishnamoorthi said. Krishnamoorthi said the 8th Congressional District, which includes portions of Elgin and other Fox Valley communities, has the largest concentration of Swiss-based corporations of any legislative district nationally. Officials from these companies have approached Krishnamoorthi to talk about the experience and training students receive in school, he said. Swiss school systems tend to put greater emphasis on opportunities like apprenticeships earlier, he said. Several local corporations, such as Switzerland-based Zurich -- whose North American headquarters are in Schaumburg -- already have programs in place to promote greater outreach for technical education funding. Al Crook, human resources head of business partners, outlined Zurich's recruitment plans, such as bringing in 19 for its insurance apprenticeship program last year, and continuing it this year for a second group of students of varying ages and experiences. They get hired by Zurich as apprentices, earn real-world experience while also taking classes, and many get hired full-time after completing their studies. "We're really excited about the dialogue we have had to add apprenticeships in how to bring in and train the workforce of the future," he said. There is still a "severe shortage" in fields where skills like cyber security, high-tech manufacturing, and trades like carpentry are needed, said Krishnamoorthi. He said there is bipartisan support for reauthorizing Perkins; the bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican. It passed the House education committee unanimously two weeks ago, and last year a similar piece of legislation was approved almost unanimously when it went for a House vote. Krishnamoorthi's hopes are high that it will pass the House, but also must still get through the U.S. Senate and President Donald Trump, in what may be one of the first education bills to get to his desk. Advertisement raguerrero@tribpub.com Schools and buildings throughout the state posted on their school marquees "Pass Illinois Budget" in attempts to raise awareness of the continuing state budget impasse. (Rafael Guerrero/Courier-News ) As public schools across the state finish up, many of the state's school district leaders will head to Springfield Wednesday. On the last day of the scheduled General Assembly session, school district superintendents and CEOs will meet with lawmakers and give one final push to get a full state budget passed. Advertisement A press conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Capitol rotunda where leaders of the Pass Illinois' Budget movement will speak in support of three objectives: ending the two-year budget impasse, updating the K-12 education funding formula, and paying school districts for unpaid categorical payments. According to supporters, the state owes school districts more than $1.1 billion in categories such as special education, transportation, bilingual and early childhood services. "Enough is enough," said School District U46 CEO Tony Sanders in a written statement. "Your primary responsibility is to develop and pass a state budget. It is time to put aside politics and partisan differences and put students first." Advertisement "The timing is crucial given the fact that (Wednesday is) the last day of the session," said Jeff Craig, superintendent of West Aurora School District 129. If no budget is passed before the end of the legislative session, Craig said the district will be "continuing down the path of uncertainty." Any stopgap budget would be a Band-Aid rather than a plan, he said. Sanders and Craig are two of the main organizers behind Pass Illinois' Budget, along with Indian Prairie Superintendent Karen Sullivan, and downstate Sandoval Superintendent Jennifer Garrison. School marquees in many schools across the state still have messages urging Springfield lawmakers to get a budget through, largely on fears of uncertain financial conditions beyond this summer. Sanders has said U46, the state's second-largest school district, may not be able to operate past Thanksgiving without a full budget passed by the General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner. According to a recent update, 440 superintendents have pledged allegiance to the Pass Illinois' Budget movement. Both Sanders and Craig said they expect more than 40 superintendents to join them in Springfield Wednesday. Beacon-News reporter Sarah Freishtat contributed. raguerrero@tribpub.com Voters wait in line to cast their votes at Western Springs Baptist Church in Western Springs in the November 2016 election. (Mike Mantucca/Pioneer Press ) A move to change the date of school board elections was winding its way through Springfield in the final days of the legislative session, with support from local districts. But Hinsdale Republican Rep. Patti Bellock questioned whether voters would have time to educate themselves on school board races at the same time statehouse, statewide offices and representatives in Congress are on the ballot. Advertisement "My initial concern is I think school board elections are extremely important. Holding them with the general elections, I'm concerned they might be overlooked," Bellock said. State Sen. Chris Nybo, an Elmhurst Repubican, had a similar thought. Advertisement "I'm open to any proposal that increases voter turnout, but I have some concerns about whether these nonpartisan races would get caught up in overwhelmingly partisan races that take place at the same time," he said. The measure was introduced by state Sen. Tom Cullerton, a Villa Park Democrat, who wants the school elections moved from April in odd-numbered years to the higher turnout general elections in November of even numbered years "The biggest complaint I hear from people when I'm out is the amount of property taxes they pay," Cullerton said. "The biggest thing on tax bills is schools." Cullerton said taxes paid to school districts generally account for about 70 percent of property tax bills. "People are really frustrated; most of them are not sure where that money is going to," he said. "I'm opposed to 15 percent of voters making the decisions in these school board elections when so much of the property tax money is going to schools. I hope to change that pattern." Cullerton said not much more than 15 percent of registered voters in DuPage County participated in the April 2017 elections. "A lot of people are worn out from voter fatigue," he said, referring to having the April election only five months after a presidential election that received so much attention. Cullerton said small voter turnouts allow special interest groups to dominate elections and don't allow for the best candidates to receive a fair chance. Advertisement Jennifer Burns, president of the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 Board, said she supports the move becuase it would expose an important race to a much broader part of the community. "It would have a nominal, if any, impact on changing the tax amounts, but there would be a tighter connection between the community at large and the strategic direction of the schools," Burns said. "If more people voted in school board elections, there would be more accountability for board members after they are elected." Burns noted that there would be little or no impact on the amount of the schools' portion of property tax bills resulting from a change in moving school board elections to November, because state law already limits annual tax levy increases. Liz Chun, president of the Butler Elementary District 53 Board in Oak Brook, said she likes the idea of a larger number of voters making choices in school board elections. "But I'd have to study this more before I could say if I am in favor of this, specifically," she said. Kay Gallo, who has served on both the Maercker Elementary District 60 and Hinsdale High School District 86 boards, said more participation would be a good thing. Advertisement "Local people governing you is the most important thing that affects you. I don't understand why more people don't come out for their local elections than for the national election," Gallo said. Bellock said she worries candidates for governor, congressman or president might dominate the coverage in the press, squeezing out news articles about the school board candidates. "There is a lot of good coverage now," Bellock said. "I don't know if they would get attention at all." Electing school board members in the spring gives citizens and the news media more time to concentrate on just those races, she said. "I acknowledge the importance of getting people out to vote in the off-years," Bellock said. The April elections also include races for mayors or village presidents, city councils, and village, library and park boards. Township elections are also held in April. Advertisement Only 14 percent of registered voters cast a ballot this April in the Downers Grove Elementary District 58 Board election and 14.3 percent elected members to the Downers Grove High School District 99 Board, according to the DuPage County Election Commission. However, 23 percent of registered voters in DuPage County voted in the Hinsdale District 86 School Board election, which except for a write-in candidate was uncontested. However, the district did have a multimillion bond issue on the ballot. "This year, in our area, there was a pretty good turnout," Bellock said. She believes having a contested election for Hinsdale village president drew voters to the polls. Twenty-five percent of registered voters in the DuPage County portion of Hinsdale voted for village president. In the off-year elections, it's often the serious voters who have educated themselves who go to the polls, Bellock said. Advertisement cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @chuckwriting In contrast to a number of new businesses proposed for Elmhurst, the Goldfish Swim School at the north end of town opened without any city financial assistance, despite substantial costs to convert an industrial space to an indoor swimming pool. The Elmhurst store, part of a Michigan-based franchise, opened in January in rented space at 614 N. Michigan St., according to manager Lorell Walker. The indoor 25-yard long indoor pool is segmented to accommodate swimming students from three months to 12 years old. Advertisement Weekly group lessons incorporate a four-to-one ratio of swimmers to instructors. The franchise's website says the emphasis is on "changing even saving lives by teaching kids to swim." A swimming pool, this one on the roof, is also included in the planned three-story Fitness Formula Club to be built on a former parking lot on Addison Avenue across from the city's new six-story parking deck. Fitness Formula bought the city-owned land for $1.725 million. Advertisement But the project is in line for more than $600,000 in city contributions for expenses, eligible for tax increment financing plus more than $300,000 in city-paid costs to relocate above-ground utilities on the site. By agreement, the city will share a 50-50 split of any savings if total project costs come in under the $19.5 million budget. Assistant city manager Mike Kopp said this week that club officials submitted drawings in mid-May, expect to close on the city-owned property by June 30 and hope to start foundation work by early August. City work on utility relocation will also help the six-story mixed use Opus project set to build 160 rental apartments on the northwest corner of Addison and 1st Street, as will the city's agreement to provide up to $1.2 million in tax increment financing to the project. Up to $400,000 of that is to go to the developer after completion of environmental remediation work at the site. The developer can receive up to an additional $800,000, but only if that is earned in growing real estate tax increment before the 2021 end of the city's downtown tax increment financing district. Kopp said Opus officials closed on the former U.S. Bank property in mid-May and are in the process of getting tenants out of the existing building to clear the way for demolition they hope to begin by the end of June. One of the tenants needing to move out of the U.S. Bank building is New Home Star, another city business in line for city funding assistance. The company is moving to an long-vacant building at 145 W. 2nd St. In March, city officials agreed to provide $85,000 in relocation assistance, aimed at keeping the company and its 20 employees in town. The $85,000 is only part of a package deal that calls for future city help of $250,000 to assist with the demolition and environmental remediation of an adjacent Clark gas station at 168 N. Addison. Speaking at the City Council meeting March 6, Ald. Scott Levin., then chairman of the Development, Planning and Zoning Committee recommending the assistance, said the company plans to build a three- or four-story building on the combined site within five years, "or pay the city back." Advertisement In response to a question from Mayor Steve Morley, Levin confirmed the so-called clawback provision means if New Home Star sells or moves or doesn't build they must return the entire $335,000 to the city. Kopp said this week New Home Star is scheduled to close on the property this week, when final drawings for the existing building are also due. But the company must presumably vacate its offices in the U.S. Bank building by the end of the month. Brewpoint Coffee Company is also in line for city assistance with its plan to open a coffee roasting facility in a renovated 3,000-square-foot industrial space at the southwest corner of Crestview Avenue and York Street at the north end of the York Center Plaza. In January, a majority of aldermen approved a financial aid package worth about $75,000. Owners of the existing Brewpoint Coffee Company, 124 W. Park Ave., initially asked in mid-November for $100,000 in city tax increment financing funds to expand into the North York area, a move they said could double their sales and make room to add on-site coffee roasting to their business. City officials whittled that down to $75,000, including a grant of $60,000 and an additional $15,000 the city expects to spend to close and restore a curb cut on Crestview. Kopp said the city is still waiting on final drawings for the project, which are needed for the project, which needs permits from both the city's Building and Health departments. Steve Hagerty, right, meets with guests before a Feb. 7, 2017 election debate in Evanston in this file photo. Now mayor, Hagerty has decided to resign from two boards he sits on. (Kevin Tanaka / Pioneer Press ) Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty has resigned from his positions on the boards of a local bank and nonprofit organzation, saying his new elected position will not allow him the time to continue serving on them. . "Being mayor, while it's a part-time job, it's an intense part-time job," said Hagerty, who was elected April 4. "The people of Evanston have elected me to be mayor and I want to be the best mayor I can." Advertisement Hagerty previously served on the boards of Evanston's First Bank and Trust and Evanston Youth and Opportunity United. He first announced his decision to step down from the boards at a May City Council meeting. Before Hagerty was sworn in May 8, some Evanston residents expressed concern that Hagerty's positions as mayor and as a board member could present a conflict of interest, especially since Evanston does business with the local bank as a customer. Advertisement First Bank and Trust works with both community and commercial clients. The nonprofit Y.O.U. works with the city's youth and their families to provide mentoring, after school programs, counseling and other services to keep kids healthy and involved in their communities, according to the organization's website. Hagerty said he was aware of the conflict of interest concerns, but that they did not play into his decision to step down. "That certainly was one element," Hagerty said about the resignations. But after deciding he must step down due to time constraints, "I didn't over-analyze the conflict of interest (concerns). It was sort of a moot point." Hagerty joined both boards in 2014, according to each organization's respective website. He also works as founder and CEO of Hagerty Consulting Inc., which helps coordinate emergency responses in the wake of federal disasters. His company contracted with the federal government following the terrorist attacks in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in New York in 2012. Hagerty was sworn in as mayor on May 8. This is his first time holding public office. He replaced former Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, who held the post for two terms. gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com Twitter @GenevieveBook Advertisement gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com Twitter @GenevieveBook Leonard Innocenzi wasn't sure he would make it to 40. Not himself personally, but Buffo's, the former "hot dog stand" he opened in 1977 and that over the decades has become a Highwood institution and destination family fast-casual restaurant. "But I'm still here," he says. "It took a lot of hard work, but when you mention 'Highwood,' Buffo's is always mentioned." Buffo's standing in the community is best expressed in a Mayoral Proclamation issued last April 18 marking the restaurant's milestone. "After eating at Buffo's," it read in part, "any other place just doesn't compare and (Buffo's) keeps Highwood residents and visitors coming back time and again." Advertisement Buffo's opened with a simple menu in a modest space once occupied by his grandparents' grocery store, Innocenzi recalled: Hamburgers, hot dogs, Italian sausage, Italian beef, French fries and onion rings. "Now," he noted with a smile, "We've got everything." On the menu: All of the above, plus its signature pizza, which Innocenzi added in the early 1980s to bring in families (Buffo's already had the distinction of being the first hot dog stand in Illinois to receive a liquor license). Its Double Decker pizza was featured on the WGN series, "Best of Chicago." The menu also includes pastas topped with Buffo's homemade sauces, salads and chili, BBQ Baby Back Ribs, fried chicken and fried shrimp, and chicken sandwiches and melts. Advertisement Philosophy: When Buffo's first opened, Innocenzi recalled, the interior color scheme was fast food yellows and reds. In 2008, he said, he softened the ambience with warm browns to convey a family restaurant with a comfortable atmosphere. The vintage arcade games in the restaurant's side dining room, including Pac-Man, remain to delight kids and teens more accustomed to playing on their smartphones. Food items are either made in-house or in-neighborhood (local women have carried on the recipe for Buffo's Tortellacci). Special events, like Buffo's Cruzn Nite Car Show (the next one is June 10 at 5 p.m.), bring people to the restaurant and the community. About the owner: Innocenzi and his wife of 36 years live in Lake Forest. He grew up in Ravinia, but beyond his grandparents' grocery story, his family has close ties to Highwood. His father owned a beer distribution business with a warehouse there. When Innocenzi entertained thoughts of opening his hot dog stand, he consulted with several of its elder restauranteurs, including Marvin Fiocchi (Nite 'N Gale), Bill Koretz (Shrimp Walk) and Bill Pigati (Del Rio). "They were people to look up to," he said. "A lot didn't think a hot dog stand would make it in Highwood, but they gave me moral support and advice." What they didn't tell him, Innocenzi adds with a burst of laughter, was how many hours in the day he would be working. "They forgot to tell me that," he said. Innocenzi also credits his staff, most of whom have been with him for over a decade. "If it wasn't for them I don't think we'd be here. They care about the place like it was their own." As the Mayoral Proclamation also noted, Innocenzi has committed himself to giving back to the community by heading the Chamber of Commerce and such iconic events as Highwood Days. About the name: Innocenzi's father did not initially take the news well that his son would be leaving the family business. He called him a "buffo," an Italian word meaning "clown" or "buffoon." To his son, that sounded like a cool name, and he adopted it. The restaurant logo depicts a court jester. His father eventually came around. A spinach pizza, called the Ollie Special, is named for him. What's new: Within the past year, Innocenzi's son, Nicholas, formerly in finance, has joined him. "I'm glad he's here; he's shown me all the things I've been doing wrong the last 39 years," Innocenzi joked. Nicholas has instituted online ordering and nighttime home delivery. There are plans to sell Buffo's sauces on Amazon and other online outlets. For his part, Innocenzi proclaims, "I'm not going anywhere. Maybe instead of 120 hours, I'll work 60. My son will take over; I think he did already. We want to keep Buffo's in the family and keep this going for the city of Highwood. There's no other town like this. Ninety-five percent of the businesses are owner-operated mom and pops. It's a great town." Price range: Thin crust pizzas start at $5.25 for an 8-inch cheese, $11.95 for a 12-inch and $14.95 for a 15-inch. Starters come in half-size ($1.95 for French fries to $5.95 for Buffalo wings) and whole orders ($5.95 for sweet potato fries and $7.95 for Fried Calamari). Pastas are also available in half and whole-size orders and range from $6.25 for the former to $11.95 for the latter). Sandwiches range from $2.85 for a hot dog to $7.45 for the Italian Beef. Logistics: Buffo's is located at 431 Sheridan Rd., Highwood. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday. Call 847-432-0301 or go to buffos.com. Advertisement Donald Liebenson is a freelance writer for the News-Sun. A Shiloh Park Elementary School teacher was taken to the hospital earlier this month after a first-grade student hit her in the head with a clipboard, records show. The school, which is located in Zion, is investigating what happened and has disciplined two students in the class, according to a letter to parents. Advertisement The letter, sent the day after the May 11 incident, said only that the teacher had gone to the nurse's office, but a copy of the 911 call and other records obtained by the News-Sun show that she was taken to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan after the school nurse called 911. "The safety of our students and our staff is a top priority in the district, and paramount to a productive teaching and learning environment," Principal Robert Schulz and Assistant Principal Sondra Thomas-Lyon said in the letter. "As we do throughout the year, we will use this opportunity to reinforce good classroom behaviors and protocols with both our students and our staff over these last couple weeks of school." Advertisement Zion School District 6 Superintendent Keely Roberts did not return multiple calls for comment. Attempts to reach the teacher were also unsuccessful. According to audio of the 11:09 a.m. call to dispatchers, a woman who identified herself as the nurse at Shiloh Park Elementary School requested an ambulance for a teacher, who she said had a "horrible, horrible headache," high blood pressure and was "very, very upset." "I'm very concerned," she told the dispatcher. "She can't even express herself right now." The Zion Fire Rescue Department took the teacher to Vista East, according to its incident report. The teacher told police that she was battered by a student in her first grade class, according to a police report filed later that day. The student had been running around the classroom with a clipboard, threatening to hit other children, and when the teacher tried to take it from him, she was hit in the head, according to the report. She told the officer that the student had been a long-time problem and was constantly battering other students with no repercussions from the school administration. While the teacher told the officer she didn't want police involvement with the student or the administration, she said she wanted the incident documented in case of future problems or legal actions taken by her. The teacher told the officer she had requested to be taken to the hospital by ambulance because she was vomiting and was concerned that she had a concussion, according to the report. Advertisement emcoleman@tribpub.com Twitter @mekcoleman William Amor, who was convicted in 1997 of the arson death of his mother-in-law in Naperville, leaves DuPage County Jail after the conviction was vacated and he posted bond on May 30, 2017, in Wheaton. The conviction was set aside by a judge based on advances in fire science, and Amor will be retried in September. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune) While he's still not a free man, William Amor was as close to it Tuesday as he has been in more than two decades. Amor, 62, walked out of the DuPage County Jail late Tuesday after posting bond on a decades-old murder charge. It marked the first time since 1995 that Amor was not incarcerated in either the county jail or an Illinois prison. Advertisement "It's overwhelming," he told a small group of reporters. "I'm taking it hour by hour." Amor is scheduled to be retried in September on charges that he set a fire that killed his mother-in-law, Marianne Miceli, 40, in 1995 in her Naperville condominium. Amor's 1997 conviction was vacated this spring by Judge Liam Brennan, who ruled it was scientifically impossible for the fire to have started in the manner in which Amor confessed. Advertisement With Amor's confession that he started the fire with a cigarette on vodka-soaked newspaper no longer credible, the judge said he lacked confidence in the original jury verdict. Brennan reset Amor's bail at $100,000, and supporters came up the $10,000 cash bond that freed Amor. "All I've ever asked for is the hope that someone will see the truth," Amor said. Amor was accompanied by friends and attorneys from the Illinois Innocence Project, which has been representing him for the last five years as he has fought to have his conviction overturned. With his parole scheduled for next year, he could have simply stopped pressing his case, but Amor said he could not abide the murder conviction on his record. In 1995, Amor and his wife, Tina, then 18, lived with Tina's mother, who was partially disabled. Amor and his wife had left the residence on Sept. 10 to see a movie, a short time before Miceli called the Fire Department to report the blaze. She was overcome with smoke and was found dead by firefighters. Amor later confessed, but said the confession was made under duress from relentless questioning and manipulative tactics by police. Illinois Innocence Project attorney Lauren Kaeseberg, who accompanied Amor Tuesday, said she believes the fire started accidentally. Miceli, her daughter and Amor were all smokers. Last week, Innocent Project attorneys filed a court motion seeking to dismiss the indictment against Amor. His attorneys argue that the original indictments against him were obtained via incompetent testimony before the grand jury, and that the testimony about the origins of the fire is "demonstrably untrue." Advertisement Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter. The city of Naperville is seeking people to evaluate its website, and will reward participants with $25 gift certificates to downtown stores. (City of Naperville/Handout) A handful of people who help the city of Naperville test the usability of its website will be rewarded with money to spend at businesses in the city's downtown. People chosen to participate in the in-person interviews, which will test user navigation on the city's website, will receive a $25 gift card to spend downtown. The redesigned website debuted in June 2016. Advertisement City staff is hoping the interviews will help determine whether the site has proven successful. "We want to evaluate how quickly we're getting people what they're looking for on our website," city spokewoman Linda LaCloche said. "We're trying to span different age groups and different user types -- from frequent users to nonfrequent users." Advertisement Residents and nonresidents alike can apply to participate in the survey. City staff will choose about five people for the interviews, LaCloche said. Each participant will be asked to navigate the city's website in search of various pieces of information. Naperville conducted a similar interview and user satisfaction study when the current website was in its beta stage. "Now we want to retest and see where user satisfaction levels are and observe users' abilities to navigate our website," LaCloche said. Since the redesign, the city has only gotten a handful of comments about the website and hasn't received much negative feedback, LaCloche said. The in-person interviews will be conducted June 21 and 22, and are expected to last between 45 minutes and one hour. ehegarty@tribpub.com The House meets at the State Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday. The House and Senate voted to to eliminate the high rate school districts are charged for pension debt if districts pay teachers out of federal grants. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune ) Naperville schools may no longer be penalized for using federal dollars to hire teachers earmarked for reducing the achievement gap for low-income students. Gov. Bruce Rauner's signature is all that is needed to eliminate the high rate districts are charged for pension debt if districts pay teachers out of federal grants. The measure, which would save Naperville's two schools districts more than $500,000 annually, unanimously passed both houses recently. Advertisement For years, Illinois school districts other than the Chicago Public Schools which has its own pension system have been paying a Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) surcharge if they pay the salaries of certified teachers out of federal grant money. The surcharge was seen as a means to pay down the growing state pension debt. School districts frequently see the surcharge as a penalty. While districts are required to pay only 0.58 percent of teachers' salaries to TRS if the salaries are funded by local or state sources, they pay more than 65 times that amount when federal dollars are used. Advertisement During the 2016-17 school year, the state assessed 39 cents of every federal dollar to pay off the pension debt. If the governor fails to sign the legislation, the surcharge will climb to 45 cents per dollar effective July 1. Naperville School District 203 uses its federal grants to hire teachers as math specialists, said Michelle Fregoso, the district's director of communication. This school year alone, the surcharge cost Naperville School District 203 an estimated $311,830. Over the past four school years, the cost totaled $986,454. Until the governor signs the legislation, the district is budgeting $360,942 in TRS payments next school year at the projected 45-cent rate. Rauner's approval would reduce the payment to less than $5,000. District 203 Board President Kristin Fitzgerald said reducing the achievement gaps is a priority and eliminating the penalty will make a significant impact on what the district can do for low-income students. "It means a lot to use federal funds (the way) they're designed," Fitzgerald said. Indian Prairie School District 204 also spends it grant money for specialists and programs to support schools with higher populations of low-income students, said Janet Buglio, executive director of District 204 communication services. District 204 has spent more than $545,000 over the last four years. Without the penalty, the cost would have been less than $10,000. Advertisement With the state budget still up in the air, the governor's approval is not necessarily a done deal. Peg Agnos, executive director of the Legislative Education Network of DuPage County, said school leaders have their fingers crossed the governor signs the legislation. "We have been working very hard to hard to make sure he does," Agnos said. Stand for Children Illinois, a group that has been advocating for the surcharge's removal, said federal funds are a lifeline for needier students and schools that are under-resourced. "The legislature has spoken loud and clear, standing shoulder to shoulder for a common sense, bipartisan bill that puts more money into classrooms of our most vulnerable students," said Mimi Rodman, executive director of Stand for Children Illinois in a statement. "This will benefit schools in Illinois outside of Chicago, both rural and urban and everything in between. Now the governor has the opportunity to sign this bill into law, fix this unconscionable practice, and more effectively invest education funding to drive student outcomes." Advertisement subaker@tribpub.com Twitter @SBakerSun1 A Glenview builder has applied to develop 3.5 acres at 2420-2450 Landwehr Road in Northbrook, making it the fifth time in nine years a developer has made a play for the same plot of land. PKPG Companies, operated by Glenview resident Peter Canalia, has a plan to build seven houses on the property. Advertisement The project recently came before Northbrook trustees in a regular village board meeting as a preliminary review. Typically, in such reviews, the developer does not speak, though they do respond to questions if the trustees have them. In this case, board members did not question the developer but seemed generally well-disposed to the proposal. The recent history of attempts to develop the property started in 2008, with a proposal for 20 multi-family units, a departure from what was built on surrounding properties. That project and three others were dropped after preliminary reviews were brought to Northbrook trustees. One of them, from a Houston builder, asked for a dozen houses and eight zoning variations. Advertisement PKPG Companies is proposing a development that would include far fewer than some of the other proposals, and the same number as the last one, with a similar lollipop-shaped street access. That last plan, brought in 2016 by Weekley Homes, also was withdrawn. The new project, promising houses ranging from 3,400 to 3,800 square feet, has come to the village, like the last one, with only a request to rezone from large-lot R-1 zoning to more typical R-4 zoning. Current zoning surrounding the site is R-4 along Highland Road to the south and Dorianne and Kayjay drives to the east, and R-2 to the north and west, along Landwehr and Ridge Drive. The new proposal includes no request for a reduction in the 27-foot width of the cul-de-sac at the end of the access road. That request, criticized by trustees in a preliminary review, may have hampered a 2015 plan for eight houses from a New Jersey builder. The latest plan comes from the local builder of the Villas of Glen Park, an 11-unit project approved, in its first phase, for Glenview's west end in 2009. That development includes eight duplexes and two single-unit residences. Northbrook trustees generally liked Canalia's Landwehr proposal, dubbed Pauldron Estates, when they saw it May 23. They warned that they'd make sure that it had good access for fire service, flood control systems and adequate buffering, and sent it on to the plan commission for public hearings, if and when the developer files a formal proposal. ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @IrvLeavitt A scheduling proposal that will change how Maine Township high school students attend classes is headed to the District 207 Board of Education next week. District spokesman David Beery said the school board on June 5 will hear a recommendation from the board's education committee to adopt a new "hybrid eight-period schedule." Advertisement If approved, the schedule will take effect in the 2018-19 school year, Beery said. Monday's school board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and has been moved from the district administrative offices to the library of Maine South High School, 1111 S. Dee Road, in Park Ridge, Beery said. Advertisement Meetings allow for public comment. According to the district, the proposed hybrid schedule, if adopted, would have students following an eight-period day three days per week. Each class period would last 50 minutes on Mondays and Fridays, and 44 minutes on Thursdays, according to a sample schedule shared with parents recently. On the other two days of the week, only four class periods plus lunch and "individual enrichment" time would take place, with classes each lasting 90 minutes, the proposal indicates. "Classes would meet Monday, Thursday and Friday as conventional eight-period days. On Tuesday and Wednesdays, four classes would meet each day in the longer 'block' format," Beery said. Each class would meet four days per week instead of the current five days, the sample schedule shows. The proposal calls for the school day to begin at 8 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, with a later start date for students 8:45 a.m. on Thursday. Currently, the nine-period school day for most students at Maine South, Maine East and Maine West begins at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 3:15 p.m. Some students have a morning "flap" class that begins at 7:25 a.m. The new hybrid schedule would eliminate flap classes, but does allow for additional student support time before and after school, which parents were told can be used for science labs or other "academic, social and/or emotional support," according to the district. Elective classes will continue to be offered under the proposed schedule, the district said. Advertisement "While there is no such thing as a perfect schedule, we strongly believe that the hybrid schedule will be the schedule that grows in the coming decades in high schools, as it blends advantageous elements of traditional and block schedule together," District 207 Superintendent Ken Wallace said in a statement. "Beyond that, there are many other elements that will drive the instructional evolution, such as flipped, blended, competency-based learning, personalized learning and integrated courses that we either are already implementing, or will be in the near future, to help serve student and adult learners better." The hybrid schedule was set to be voted on by the board of education last June, but the measure was postponed due to what an online posting by the district called "inaccurate information spread through a social media campaign that has misinformed the public." Three meetings with the public were subsequently scheduled, with three more occurring earlier this spring. jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @Jen_Tribune For much of his life, Walter Kuhn has set aside time each Memorial Day to take part in Park Ridge's long-standing parade. This year was no exception for the 99-year-old former Park Ridge resident, who rode in a red convertible through the streets of the city, waving an American flag for the crowds who gathered along the route. Advertisement "I felt happy about being there," said Kuhn, a World War II veteran and retired Park Ridge psychologist who now lives in Des Plaines. "There are so many people who are not there anymore. I was happy that I was still able to go." Kuhn's very first parade participation occurred when he was a Boy Scout, his daughter, Suzy Kuhn Pattullo, said. Advertisement Among Kuhn's memories of that early parade were some of the local veterans who had taken part in it. "There were two Civil War veterans in the parade," he said. "They were in a car. The next year, there was only one of them." Kuhn, whose 100th birthday is in October, also recalled how he and his fellow scouts from Park Ridge Community Church fashioned together a parade float one year. "We borrowed a wagon and two horses and brought them to the parade," he said. "We got a big curtain from the church and we put hoops over the wagon and stretched this big curtain over it. It was a rather heavy curtain, and it ended up looking like a covered wagon." Pattullo said her father, who enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942 and is a member of the Park Ridge VFW Post, has walked in the city's Memorial Day parade "countless" times through the decades. "We lived on the corner of Clifton and Belle Plaine and the parade was one block away," Pattullo said. "Even when I was a kid and didn't want to get up and go, I'd hear the drum and bugle corps coming and man, I was up!" Watching her father in the parade each year was "a huge deal," said Pattullo, 71. Moving to neighboring Des Plaines in 2004 after more than 50 years in Park Ridge didn't end Kuhn's enthusiasm for the parade, his daughter said, as he's continued to walk or ride the route ever since. Advertisement Kuhn says his interest is tied to family history. His grandfather and father both served in the military as well, he said. "That's what kept me going to the parade every year," Kuhn said. And Monday's parade was even more a family affair for Kuhn, as one of his seven great-grandchildren, Mia Kirpanos, also marched with members of her Brownie troop, Pattullo said. In addition to the parade, this year's Memorial Day remembrances in Park Ridge included a ceremony before the Civil War memorial at Town of Maine Cemetery, where hundreds of American flags were placed on the graves of service members by members of the Mel Tierney American Legion Post and Park Ridge Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs. The American Legion and Spirit of '45 Committee also unveiled a new plaque describing the rededication of a World War II memorial boulder that was moved two years ago from a center median on Devon Avenue to nearby South Park. The boulder features a plaque with the names of 47 Park Ridge servicemen killed during World War II. jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com Advertisement Twitter: @Jen_Tribune A man who testified he was shot at and wounded by two teens told jurors in a Lake Superior courtroom on Tuesday about a conversation with the mother of one of them. Damon Hill, who was shot around the end of May 2015 in an altercation with Arreon Lackey, 18, and Arrion Greenwood, 19, said Greenwood's stepmother, Jeri Woods, came to visit him at his apartment in the Lakeshore Dunes complex in the Miller section of Gary Advertisement Hill recalled that she said it's messed up, and they "were going to get what they deserved." At the time, Hill felt Woods, whom he called Mama Dukes, was referring to Lackey. Hill's testimony came during the trial of Woods, 35, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of murder in perpetration of kidnapping and two counts of kidnapping in the shootings of Lackey and his brother, Antonio Lackey, 16. Advertisement Before he was shot, Hill said Woods' husband, David Johnson IV, 39, and his son, David Johnson V, 21, showed up at his residence and wanted a ride home to their residence on Ash Street. The older Johnson had a .38-Special revolver and the younger was carrying a .380 semi-automatic handgun. Hill said he recalled a day when David Johnson IV, Kiontay Cason and Woods all called him several times to "take care of business." During one phone call with Woods, Hill said Woods told someone else that she was going to get these people "like they tried to do my son." Questioned by deputy prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz, Hill said sometimes Woods would refer to him as "son," as a term of affection. Jatkiewicz and deputy prosecutor Robert Persin have presented evidence that the teens were forced from the Country Inn & Suites in Merrillville, where they were loaded into separate vehicles and eventually driven to "the farm," a 38-acre parcel at 7030 Grand Blvd., Hobart. Their skeletal remains were found July 17, 2015, by a Gary couple who had taken their grandchildren fishing at a pond on the property. During cross-examination by defense attorney Jamise Perkins, Hill said he had been charged this year with reckless homicide and had spoken to a Gary police detective. After a recess to allow him to consult with an attorney, Hill invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he was asked about giving multiple statements to the Gary detective. After that, Hill said he spoke with the lead investigator in the Lackey killings, Hobart police Detective Nicholas Wardrip. Hill acknowledged that he wasn't sure what he would be charged with. After David Johnson V and Cason were in the Lake County Jail after being charged in connection with a fight in 2015, Hill said David Johnson V talked about Arreon Lackey causing problems and leading his brother, Greenwood, in the wrong direction. In that call, David Johnson V said he had to get rid of this guy, Hill said, referring to Arreon Lackey. Woods was charged along with six others in the plot on Sept. 29, 2015. Her co-defendants are Kiontay Cason, 23; her stepson Arrion Greenwood, 19; Greenwood's girlfriend at the time, Michelle Hughes, 28; Woods' stepson David Johnson V, 21; her husband, David Johnson IV, 39; and her father-in-law, David Johnson III, 64. Cason and David Johnson V testified against Woods during the trial, which entered its third week on Tuesday. The remaining co-defendants have pleaded not guilty. Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. The annual Crown Beer Fest at the Lake County Fairgrounds draws craft beer enthusiasts who sample a wide variety of microbrewery offerings. This years fest is June 10. ( Crown Beer Fest/HANDOUT ) Craft brewing has the spotlight at the 8th Annual Crown Beer Fest at the Lake County Fairgrounds. Featuring food and live music, the craft-beer bash is set to offer about 200 brews on June 10. Advertisement "If you're a craft beer lover, this is for you," said Barb Smrecansky, brand development manager for Crown Brewing in Crown Point. "We expect about 3,000 people to be here." Hosted by Crown Brewing, the celebration of malts and hops is scheduled to welcome 50 breweries. Advertisement Smrecansky's business is one of them. "We're going to have 12 beers on tap," she noted. Among those offerings will be Alkoholika Dopplebock and the "hoppy" Special Forces IPA, which stands as Crown Brewing's flagship IPA, according to Smrecansky. Also part of the dozen scheduled for pouring are Grand Poobah Russian Imperial Stout and The Dude, a white Russian java porter that is Crown Brewing's top seller. With 50 breweries represented, Crown Beer Fest ranks as "a craft beer lover's dream," Smrecansky said in a press release. The showcase for microbreweries brings in beer makers from various states in the Midwest. One of the out-of-state beer makers slated to attend is the Saugatuck Brewing Co. of Michigan. Ironwood Brewing Co. of Valparaiso will be among the local beer producers that offer selections of their handiwork. Advertisement For instance, Anak a barleywine style brew is being brought in. "It's a malty beer, it's not a hoppy beer," Barbara Kehe, Ironwood Brewing owner, said. Dark in coloration, Anak is scheduled to be accompanied at the fest by Ironwood's Catkin pale ale. "It has a good hop character," Kehe noted. Located at 6 Roosevelt Road, Ironwood Brewing opened for business in August 2013, according to its website, which also states that local ingredients used in the brewing process have included blueberries, cherries, honey and hops. Kehe said her brewery participates in a minimal number of beer fests, but said the Crown Beer bash provides a good, appropriate forum for her business. Advertisement "My customers go there," she noted. Kehe also said that she connects with the fest's host brewery: "I like the people at Crown (Brewing)." Other Northwest Indiana brewers participating at Crown Beer Fest include 3 Floyds Brewing Co. of Munster, Wildrose Brewing of Griffith, and Burn 'Em Brewing of Michigan City, according to promotional material for the Crown Point-area event. VIP tickets for $75 are sold out. Holders of those tickets have early 1:30 p.m. access to the fest, which has general-admission hours of 2:30 to 6 p.m. General admission is $35, and includes unlimited sampling and a collector's tasting glass. Designated driver tickets are $20, and also include a collector's tasting glass, plus unlimited sodas. Advertisement Diversity in sampling opportunities is the basic watchword for the fest, as lovers of craft-industry fare can traipse amid beer styles that cover porters, lagers, stouts and more. In addition to the libations that are available, food vendors will offer fare that includes pizza, pierogi, and chili, according to Smrecansky. Hailing from Northwest Indiana, the eclectic Fresh Hops will dispense their jam-band sounds as a host of breweries present their product inside the 4-H and Industrial buildings. A portion of the proceeds from Crown Beer Fest benefits Crown Point's St. Jude House, a family violence prevention center and a shelter for victims of domestic violence and their dependent children. Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune. 8th Annual Crown Beer Fest Where: Lake County Fairgrounds, 889 S. Court St., Crown Point Advertisement When: 1:30 to 6 p.m. June 10; general-admission entry at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: Designated Driver $20; General admission $35 A Crown Point girl remains in serious condition after suffering head injuries during an all-terrain vehicle crash Monday afternoon. Indiana Conservation Officers were called around 4:40 p.m. to the 6400 East block of 129th Avenue in Crown Point, INDNR spokesman Tyler Brock said. When they arrived, they learned that the girl, 14, was driving the ATV with a 9-year-old-passenger on asphalt when she tried to turn onto a driveway. Advertisement Because the two were traveling too fast, she was unable to make the turn and hit a brick wall, Brock said. The 14-year-old suffered serious injuries to her face and head, Brock said. She was taken by ambulance to Saint Anthony's Hospital in Crown Point and then airlifted to University of Chicago Medical Center. Advertisement Brock said information on the 9-year-old wasn't immediately available. Brock said it didn't appear the older girl was wearing a helmet or other safety equipment. "Indiana conservation officers highly recommend the use of proper safety equipment when operating all-terrain vehicles," Brock said. The girl's accident is the second ATV accident in Lake County two months. A Cedar Lake boy was injured in late April after he'd landed a jump improperly and was ejected from the vehicle. The ATV then rolled on top of him, lacerating his liver and collapsing his lung. Starting July 1, anyone under 18 will be required by law to wear a helmet while on an ATV, Brock said. Violating the law will be a Class C infraction with fines up to $500. The Lake County Sheriff's Department and Lakes of Four Seasons Fire and EMS assisted. Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, speaks at the ceremony celebrating the kickoff of the $2.4 million project to enhance Jeorse Park in East Chicago Tuesday afternoon. (Javonte Anderson/Post-Tribune ) The first glimpse of a revitalized lakefront in East Chicago should be visible by next year, in the form of some rock reef to adorn the shoreline and the introduction of new plants and wildlife. East Chicago kicked off the $2.4 million project at Jeorse Park on Tuesday with a groundbreaking ceremony. Dozens of people were on hand at the ceremony including U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville; Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago; and East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland. Advertisement "We are pleased to begin this project and working with the Army Corps of Engineers," Copeland said. "We are making every effort to beautify our lakefront. The restoration of the ecosystem is essential to restoring the natural balance along our beaches." Over the past three years, Jeorse Park has undergone a facelift including the addition of new facilities and park amenities. For this project, East Chicago partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to begin construction on the beachfront with the intentions of diversifying the plants and wildlife. Advertisement "This project will restore essential habitats for fishes, migratory birds, reptiles and amphibians near Jeorse Park," Col. Christopher Drew, USACE Chicago District Commander, said. "We look forward to working with our partner, the city of East Chicago, to rehabilitate this area along Lake Michigan's shoreline." "The environment is critical for the economic region and the economic capabilities of the region are important for us to be able to do these environmental projects and take care of the citizens of this region," Drew said. While the project is scheduled to take five years, most of the construction will take place within one year, said Matthew Shanks, a biologist with USACE. "A lot of the construction activity such as earthmoving, constructing rock reef and planting occur this year," he said. After planting new vegetation, they will monitor the beach to ensure the plant life is established and unwanted vegetation does not creep back into the project site, Shanks said. Visclosky said it was important to make sure the process of improving Jeorse Park was done carefully. "It is right to make sure things are done properly and not just so people can have something cool but so we can redevelop and enhance the economy and put people to work in Northwest Indiana," he said. "Because there's nothing else quite like the shoreline of Lake Michigan and you can't move East Chicago." jaanderson@tribpub.com Twitter @JavonteA Absent a plan from the Lake County Board of Elections for the consolidation of small voting precincts, the state will now take on that duty. The Board of Elections met Tuesday to consider a plan for consolidating precincts in Lake County with fewer than 600 active voters, as mandated by a newly passed state law, but no plan was presented ahead on the June 1 deadline to complete that work. Advertisement John Reed, the Republic attorney for the board, said the statute's language stated if the committee does not present a plan, that work will fall on the Indiana Election Commission. But Jim Wieser, chairman of the Lake County Democratic Committee, said the commission's role was predicated on a plan being presented but one isn't there for it to consider. One of the board's Republican members voiced disappointment a plan wasn't presented before the deadline, but Democrats said the law didn't give enough time to put together a thoughtful proposal. Advertisement Board member Michael Mellon said debating the merits of the legislation is somewhat futile as it's now a law. "We need to comply with the law," Mellon said. Mellon said Pat Gabrione, assistant director of the Board of Elections and Voter Registration, created a proposal for consolidation, and wanted it put into the official record that a possible plan was created. The board should recognize that the consolidation did some work, Mellon said, but it wasn't brought up for discussion. Gabrione said, after the meeting, the proposal he drafted identified 154 precincts that could be consolidated. "This is a law," Mellon said. "I'm disappointed we don't have a final proposal today." The new law requires Lake County to development a plan to consolidate voting precincts with fewer than 600 active voters. The legislation gives the county until June 1 to submit its plan to the state, otherwise the Indiana Election Commission and make its own plan to consolidate Lake County's precincts. During the recently convened session, the bill was entered into the Senate by Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, after identical legislation by Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, failed to move out of the Elections and Apportionment Committee in the House of Representatives in February. Niemeyer's bill passed the Senate 38-11 and the House of Representatives 59-30. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill on May 2. Advertisement Board Chairman Kevin Smith said he didn't think the governor and state gave Lake County enough time to develop a good consolidation plan. "I just didn't think there was enough time," Smith said. Smith said the arbitrary number given by the state and short time frame failed to take into account the differences within Lake County and how to propose consolidation options in a proportional and fair manner. Wieser said the bill was primarily motivated by cost savings and failed to account for the human factor of precinct consolidation. Board member Michael Brown, also the Lake County Clerk, said he and the Indiana Association of Clerks opposed the legislation as it was specific to Lake County, and the Indiana Senate defeated an amendment from Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Merrillville, to expand the precinct consolidation mandate to all 92 counties. The legislature in 2014 passed a bill to force consolidation of precincts with fewer than 500 active voters, but the Lake County Democratic Committee challenged the law in court. That challenge failed and the consolidation plan the state sought did not move forward. Advertisement Wieser said any legal action against the new law has not been considered. "The party has not contemplated filing any lawsuit at this time," Wieser said. clyons@post-trib.com Twitter @craigalyons Grant Hromas, an urban designer for Farr Associates, prepares visual development plans on the West Lake South Shore extension during NICTDs final public meeting at Centennial Park in Munster. (Suzanne Tennant / Post Tribune) Planners presented their vision Tuesday for possible housing and commercial developments near two proposed South Shore Line stations in western Lake County. All the development ideas are just concepts now, they emphasized. Advertisement Some of the Munster and Dyer residents at the meeting seemed skeptical, that new homes and businesses near the stations one just north of Ridge Road in Munster, the other just north of Main Street at the Munster/Dyer border would be constructed as outlined. "I'm not opposed to the train," said Suzanne Sebenste, who lives near the proposed Munster/Ridge Road station. "But there's too much traffic on Ridge Road now, and it's not suited for more traffic." Advertisement Several also questioned the idea of using "form-based" zoning code near the stations. Planning consultant Doug Farr said that would emphasize the building form and style, guarantee quality and simplify the approval process for developers. It also would mean changing the zoning approval process. "I would want to make sure of careful vetting of all the proposed developments," Munster resident Julie O'Connor said. "The planning and zoning process in Munster is very thorough, and I want to see that preserved." Tuesday's meeting and a similar session Thursday evening in Hammond are the final steps in developing transit-oriented development concepts for the South Shore's proposed West Lake Corridor extension from Hammond to the Dyer border. Bill Rubesha points to developers plans for the West Lake South Shore extension during NICTDs final public meeting Tuesday at Centennial Park in Munster. (Suzanne Tennant / Post Tribune) Farr is president of Farr Associates, a Chicago firm that has led the team of consultants working on the transit-oriented development plan since fall, beginning with public meetings to outline the kinds of developments people could see near the train stations. When built, West Lake would bring new train service and, potentially, thousands of new residents to communities along the route. The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority sees transit-oriented development as a way to encourage growth in those towns, and a bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly this year would allow setting up tax-increment zones to encourage development near the stations. The transit-oriented development plan will be part of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's application for a federal grant to pay half of the approximately $600 million it would cost to build the West Lake line. Farr said Tuesday there are few vacant sites near the Ridge Road station. Townhomes and low-density multifamily buildings could be built near the station, he said, and some commercial sites along Ridge Road could be redeveloped. The proposed Main Street station sits between existing single-family housing developments in Munster and Dyer. Residents there have wanted to block access to their subdivisions from the station's parking lot to keep commuters from parking near their homes. Advertisement But there is open land nearby that could be developed, Farr said. The plan suggests a park across from the station, and mixed-use (commercial and residential) buildings at Main Street and Calumet Avenue. A woman points to developers plans for the West Lake South Shore extension during NICTDs final public meeting at Centennial Park. (Suzanne Tennant / Post Tribune) The idea that drew the most comment Tuesday was Farr's idea for a 250-unit town home development just west of the Main Street station, with the station's parking lot to the west of the housing. No one would want to create a development across the parking lot from the station, Farr said, but several people questioned whether commuters would want to walk through the housing area to reach the station. "I don't think that's commuter-friendly," Munster resident Roz Jovanovich said. A South Shore representative at the meeting said the railroad plans to build the Main Street parking lot adjacent to the station. Farr's proposal could be developed a decade or two down the road, Dyer Town Council member Jeff Dekker said. Dekker said he's "very excited" about the West Lake project and the development it could bring. Jovanovich was more measured. "The train can be very positive for Munster and Dyer," she said. "If done right, it could be great." Advertisement The proposed plan for Munster's Ridge Road area seemed reasonable, she said, "as long as the Plan Commission very carefully considers it." The next and last transit-oriented development open-house meeting is at 6 p.m. Thursday at Kenwood Elementary School in Hammond. More transit-oriented development information is available at westlaketod.civicpage.com. Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Delaney Cassady and her mother, Nancy McCotter (kneeling), both of Valparaiso, check out cats Tuesday at the new Porter County Animal Shelter minutes after the shelter opened to the public. (Amy Lavalley/Post-Tribune ) A bit before noon Tuesday, Nancy McCotter and her daughter Delaney Cassady waited for the doors to the new Porter County Animal Shelter to swing open. "We want to check it out and see what they got," said McCotter, adding she'd been to the old shelter, now closed, on Heavilin Road. Advertisement While the Valparaiso duo waited for the shelter to open, McCotter poked her head around to the side of the building, where dogs were in their fenced, outdoor kennels. "Hi! What are you doing? Oh my goodness, you guys are so cute!" she said. Advertisement The two didn't expect to leave with a new pet, at least not after their initial visit. "One day soon but not right now," Cassady said. "We're all about adopting, though." A steady stream of people came through the doors of the newly opened facility, located between the sheriff's department and the Expo Center, off of Indiana 49 at 3355 Bertholet Blvd. County officials kicked off the new shelter with speeches and a ribbon cutting on May 23 and the old shelter shut down the next day, but Tuesday marked the first day the new facility was open to the public. "Hey there, come on in," said Dawn Decker, the shelter's adoption coordinator, after she and Toni Bianchi, the shelter's director, unlocked the door and Decker took down a sign stating the shelter would open at noon Tuesday. Bianchi and the other employees fielded an assortment of questions from visitors, sometimes explaining that they weren't having an open house their first day, and that will take place sometime in late June. One man asked about signing up as a volunteer and learned the form is available on the shelter's website, and Margaret Kollross of Hobart brought in a Yorkie for her mother, who lives in Valparaiso. Her mom's Yorkie ran away in February and a neighbor found the dog Kollross had and thought it belonged to her mother, so the neighbor dropped it off at her mother's house on Monday. Advertisement A check of the dog's microchip at a local veterinarian's office revealed the Yorkie wasn't her mom's lost dog. "He's the nicest dog. I gave him a bath," Kollross said. "He's just not our dog." Animals picked up by Portage's animal control officers will begin arriving at the shelter Thursday under a recently signed contract between the city and the county, Bianchi said. Portage had been taking its animals to the Hobart Humane Society. With the capacity for 120 dogs and 120 cats, Bianchi said the shelter has the room for Portage's animals. Both the animals and the shelter's employees are settling in to the new building, Bianchi said. "We're getting there," she said. "It'll just take time." Advertisement Outside one of the cat rooms, McCotter kneeled down to take a look at one of the cats. The new shelter impressed her and her daughter. "It's beautiful," McCotter said. "Nice job." The shelter is open from noon until 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and from noon until 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, call during business hours at (219) 465-3550; go to the shelter's website, at porterco.org/index.aspx?NID=818; or find it on Facebook. Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. President Donald Trump walks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in front of other world leaders Thursday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg ) The NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday received relatively little attention, thanks to the crowded schedule of President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East and Europe. The diplomatic whirlwind commenced with the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Leaders from 55 nations addressed the threat of terrorism. The NATO summit was followed almost immediately by a meeting of the G7, composed of the world's principal industrial nations, in Taormina Italy. The main agenda item was the continuing debt problems of Greece. Advertisement The brief Brussels meeting nevertheless contained heavy symbolism. Remnants of the Berlin Wall and World Trade Center destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, were dedicated. The NATO meeting probably will prove the most significant, simply by confirming the solid durability of the alliance. NATO demonstrates unity, and these summits are positive for international stability, especially long-term. The media should focus on these realities. Advertisement Warsaw, Poland, was the site for the May 2016 NATO summit, which linked the present with the past. Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939 sparked World War II in Europe. The Warsaw delegates agreed to commit troops to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Montenegro formally was invited to join NATO. NATO also underscored the commitment to Afghanistan, confirming its involvement there until 2020. The senior civilian NATO representative in the country at that time was Turkey's diplomat Ismail Aramaz. This is a particularly important point, given Turkey's crucial front-line position against the Islamic State, and Ankara's vexed relationship with the rest of Europe and the U.S. British voters' narrow but clear decision to leave the EU has generated alarm, most notable among business executives as well as politicians and civil servants. They fear economic instability and even recession may result. So far, these fears have not been realized, except for the decline in value of the British pound. Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > One important neglected point is that Britain's long-term role as military leader in Europe and the wider Atlantic area probably will be reinforced. Starting with World War I, Britain has encouraged United States engagement with Europe, in military and also economic terms. The creation of NATO followed a series of more limited steps, preliminary building-blocks on which the final structure was created. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter explicitly supports collective self-defense. In March 1947, representatives of Britain and France signed the Treaty of Dunkirk. The main perceived potential threat at that time was Germany. The text of the treaty stated the signatory nations would protect one another from any threat "arising from the adoption by Germany of aggression ... " By then, severe strains were growing between the Western allies and the Soviet Union. In March 1948, the Dunkirk alliance was widened into the Brussels Pact. The resulting Western Union included Belgium, Britain, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and was a positive precursor to the European Economic Community established in the following decade. Britain steadily fostered cross-Atlantic military cooperation as the Cold War developed. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin kept the far left of his Labour Party at bay. He was effective in dealing with European leaders in forging the European Coal and Steel Community and forming NATO. Institutional collaboration was reinforced by interpersonal dynamics, starting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in World War II. Advertisement NATO continues to provide transatlantic cooperation. The current Britain-U.S. rift over publication of Manchester bombing photos by The New York Times is especially unfortunate. Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War." acyr@carthage.edu The Trinity High School choir performs during the Mass prior to the 96th annual graduation commencement at Trinity High School in River Forest on May 26. (Pioneer Press) The Class of 2017 at Trinity High School in River Forest had a lot to celebrate during its commencement ceremony. In addition to a graduating class of 123 students, parents and family members packed the school's auditorium to celebrate the four years of work that led up to the May 26 commencement event. Advertisement According to Trinity spokeswoman Patti Williams, $23.5 million in college scholarships were awarded to 80 percent of the Class of 2017, while 100 percent of its graduates were accepted to 190 different colleges and universities. The graduates include one Chick Evans Scholar and one Posse Scholar, while 74 percent of the class are International Baccalaureate students, Williams said. Advertisement Co-valedictorians Carlyn Uhlir, of LaGrange Park, and Savannah Martinez, of Chicago, spoke to graduates prior to receiving their diplomas. They will be attending Kenyon College and Boston University, respectively. sschering@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @steveschering Katie Pins is the director of communications and marketing at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette. She spoke to Pioneer Press May 25. ( Katie Pins / Handout/HANDOUT ) Katie Pins, director of communications and marketing at Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, is a Glenview native who graduated from Regina in 2008. She spoke to Pioneer Press on May 25. Q: As a Regina graduate, what do you think you received as a student? Advertisement A: I've realized my Regina education didn't just prepare me for college, it gave me two very important things: the confidence to speak up, and it gave me a great faith foundation. Q: Do you have any teachers you remember fondly? Advertisement A: One was Bernadette Hayes. She was my biology teacher. I went into Regina not liking science, but she had a way of making it fun, but challenging. Also, I'm in communications, and I have to thank Verna Allworth for that. She was my freshman English teacher. Q: The school year is over; it's time for vacation. Where do you go for yours? A: I love to explore, in Chicago and abroad. In the last 12 months, I've been to Iceland, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Iceland was beautiful I highly encourage everyone to go. It makes you feel so small, but in the best way possible. I was in awe of how beautiful our world is when I went there. Q: Do you have a cause or charity you'd like people to be aware of? A: Honestly, I'd say Regina Dominican. Because Regina is in Wilmette, many alumni and residents don't realize how important it is to donate to the school. Regina attracts students from all over who really want and need an education, and donations help make that possible. Q: Your favorite comfort food? A: I like Chick-fil-A, the chicken strips with the Chick-fil-A sauce. It only takes a few moments of knowing me to know how much I love that! Q: Do you have a favorite book? Advertisement A: "Devil in the White City," by Eric Larson. Q: Finally, what's the best advice you've gotten? A: My parents taught me to be the good I wish to see in the world. They also taught me that good work is hard work, but hard work will make you happy. Kathy Routliffe, Pioneer Press kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @pioneer_kathy Advertisement Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago. Check out more online at ChicagoTribune.com/ShoutOut. Frisch maintains razor-thin lead in CD-3 after new data reported in Pueblo County Frisch's lead over Boebert has been in decline as more counties in CD-3 continue to report results after election day By Dezan Shira & Associates Editor: Weining Hu According to PRC Company Law and other relevant regulations, it is compulsory for all types of Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIEs) in China to comply with statutory annual audit and other compliance processes. The completion of annual statutory audits and settlement of all relevant tax liabilities are prerequisites for FIEs to distribute and repatriate their profits or dividends back to their home country. Failure to do so may result in extra expenses, penalties, or even revocation of their business license. When preparing annual financial reports, all FIEs are required to follow the Chinese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), also known as Chinese Accounting Standards (CAS). The CAS framework is based on two standards: Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises (ASBEs); and Accounting Standards for Small Business Enterprises (ASSBEs). The Ministry of Finance (MOF) released ASBEs in 2006 and brought them into effect in January 2007. It is widely viewed by the international community that ASBEs are now substantially converged with IFRS, with only some minor discrepancies in wording. Most FIEs established in China generally adopt ASBEs for their annual financial reports, the structure of which are similar to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles of the United States (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The ASSBEs are the counterpart of IFRS for SMEs, providing unified standards for small-size enterprises. The ASSBEs use the ASBEs as a reference, but are more similar to tax laws in terms of their tax calculation methods, which simplify the process of making adjustments between accounting standards and tax rules. Small-scale enterprises can choose to adopt either the ASBEs or ASSBEs. Though the CAS is substantially converged with IFRS, there are minor discrepancies between them in some aspects: Valuation methods for fixed assets Under the IFRS, one may choose the valuation method for certain types of fixed assets. The company can value these assets either using the historical cost principle, or by applying a revaluation of assets. CAS, however, only allow fixed assets to be valued according to their historical cost. More detailed rules in CAS For certain items that are common in China, the CAS have more detailed rules than the IFRS. An example would be the merging of two companies controlled by the same entity and having similar interests. CAS require that the comparative figures be restated, whereas there is no specific rule for this in the IFRS. More detailed rules in IFRS Conversely, the IFRS have rules for situations that are uncommon in China, such as more detailed employee benefit plans. Apart from paying employees with company stock, CAS do not address certain types of employee benefits commonly offered by multinationals. Difficulties can arise when the parent company attempts to translate such a package to its Chinese subsidiary. In this case, the company may need to consult with the MOF as to how this transaction should be recorded. Delayed implementation of IFRS When new updates to the IFRS are released, the MOF first reviews them to determine whether the new rules are appropriate for China, and whether it will decide to incorporate them into the CAS. As a result, the adoption of new IFRS standards is often delayed, or does not happen at all. This can lead to further divergence if the countries where other entities of the corporate group are established adopt the new IFRS rules earlier. RELATED: Audit and Financial Services from Dezan Shira & Associates The problem of different accounting standards is most visible when an overseas parent company requests financial information from its Chinese subsidiary. Converting Chinese financial reports into a target accounting system can be fairly easy for large multinationals, as these companies have sufficient financial support for purchasing specialized software to complete the process. However, small and medium-sized companies often cannot afford the software needed for such conversions, and instead have to study the divergence of accounting rules and do the conversion manually. As all FIEs are required to prepare financial reports by the end of the fiscal year, it is important for corporate accounting teams to fully understand Chinese accounting practice and ensure correct annual audit processes. Editors note: This article was originally published on April 25, 2013, and has been updated to include the latest regulatory changes. 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 Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017 This Dezan Shira & Associates 2017 China guide provides a comprehensive background and details of all aspects of setting up and operating an American business in China, including due diligence and compliance issues, IP protection, corporate establishment options, calculating tax liabilities, as well as discussing on-going operational issues such as managing bookkeeping, accounts, banking, HR, Payroll, annual license renewals, audit, FCPA compliance and consolidation with US standards and Head Office reporting. Payroll Processing in China: Challenges and Solutions In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we lay out the challenges presented by Chinas payroll landscape, including its peculiar Dang An and Hu Kou systems. We then explore how companies of all sizes are leveraging IT-enabled solutions to meet their HR and payroll needs, and why outsourcing payroll is the answer for certain company structures. Finally, we consider the potential for China to emerge as Asias premier payroll processing center. Dezan Shira & Associates It will no longer be so easy for the millionaire and billionaire shareholders of public companies to use excuses such as weddings, improving living standards, or moving overseas to offload stocks when share prices peak. In January 2016, China's securities regulator limited anyone who holds more than 5 percent of a company's shares from massive dumping of their holdings. Compared with individuals investing their savings, major shareholders, supervisors and management enjoy advantages of asymmetric information, so offloading stocks in a fire sale manner annoys the public and cause retail investors to suffer. The 2016 rules stipulated that major shareholders, supervisors and managers should make public the number of shares, price range and reason for sale. Bizarre reasons like paying children's tuition and purchasing homes soon captured the headlines. Fixing loopholes Some shareholders use the stock market like an ATM to earn quick money, and easily found loopholes in the old rules to profit from selling stocks when prices surged, causing volatility. The 2016 rules made things more difficult, but some began to sell stocks to institutional investors in blocks and then the institutional investors sold stocks onto the market. Major shareholders engineered the block trading to circumvent regulations, and some shareholders profit by cleverly timing their sales, Deng Ge, spokesperson for the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said over the weekend when the CSRC, Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses came up with the new rules. "Such disorderly and irregular stock sales led to a very negative impact on investor confidence and the real economy," Deng stressed. The latest rules aimed to fix some loopholes, as stocks transferred through block trading should not surpass 2 percent of a company's total shares in any 90 days, and the transferees are not permitted to sell any more within six months. The new rules will slow the pace of offloading, which will stabilize the market and support growth of companies with stable profitability outlooks, said Sun Xiwei, chief investment strategist at CITIC Securities. The view was echoed by Jin Haitao, a veteran investor, who said that the new regulations accurately targeted at malpractices in the industry and will curb speculation. "They can help shift some investors' attention from short-term capital gains to the long-term investment value in sustainable businesses," Jin said. Wide implications The new policies also improved regulation on stock reductions through selling of non-public offering shares, information disclosure, and equity transfers via agreements. Some analysts including Sun Xiwei at CITIC Securities believe that they will have wide repercussions on business activities like private placements. Listing is a common exit for institutional investors in China. Unlike public offerings, a private placement refers to a funding round of securities through private offering to a small number of chosen investors, and some Chinese investors offload their shares on the first day they are allowed to do so. The new regulations is tougher on this. For those who hold more than 5 percent of a company's stakes, their sales of non-public offering shares should not exceed 50 percent of their total holdings in a 12-month period after unlocking. "The new policies drew on globally accepted practices from advanced economies like the United States, and the more stringent rules can better protect interests of small investors," said Chen Shaoxia, chief researcher with Goldport Capital, a Shenzhen-based asset management company. To ease worries that the new rules will dampen investors' enthusiasm of supporting innovative companies, the CSRC said that it will give necessary policy support to exits of innovation industry funds' investment that focus on businesses' long-term intrinsic value. Hundreds of robots do smart welding, avoiding wasting energy and preventing sparks from flying. Workers tighten screws with the help of smart monitoring devices. Cars of every color roll off the assembly line. BMW Brilliance Automotive's smart manufacturing plant in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, embodies the synergizing of China's "Made in China 2025" plan and Germany's Industry 4.0 concept. China-Germany Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park in Tiexi District, Shenyang, became China's first platform for high-end equipment manufacturing cooperation between the two countries in late 2015. On May 19, the BMW assembly plant, which currently accommodates two whole-vehicle assembly plants, an engine plant and an R&D center, began full operations. It is one of the largest smart production bases of BMW Group. Founded in 2003, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd is a joint venture of BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. BMW's annual capacity in Shenyang has increased to 450,000 units. Over the past eight years, investment has reached about 4.8 billion euros, said Nicolas Peter, BMW AG Board of Management Member for Finance. Peter said BMW continues to be optimistic about China's potential and will do more to make use of Germany's Industry 4.0 and "Made-in-China 2025". The China-Germany equipment manufacturing park is a key step toward rejuvenating the old industrial bases in northeast China, which has gone through a lot of troubles in the past few years. "Local technical and management personnel learn the expertise from German companies and provide new momentum for revival." said Jiang Youwei, mayor of Shenyang. The industrial park has more than 130 projects, about half of which are already running or close to, attracting firms not just from Germany, but from all over Europe. Total investment is nearly 50 billion yuan (7.3 billion U.S. dollars). In Q1, the output of the park was 14.5 billion yuan, double the same period last year. "We are working to establish intellectual property rights protection mechanisms with international standards," said Li Songlin, Communist Party chief of Tiexi District. Other measures have been adopted to support the park. The district government has cut administrative fees to reduce costs for startups, he added. To help investment and trade, the China-Germany park enjoys policy coordination with a free trade zone in Liaoning. "The park is rapidly becoming a cooperation platform of joint contributions and shared benefits," said Shenyang Mayor Jiang Youwei. You are here: Home China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) announced Wednesday that it will build China's first luxury cruise ship, which is expected to begin operations as early as 2021. The ship, which will be 323.6 meters long and 37.2 meters wide, will have 3,921 beds and accommodate 4,980 passengers, said Wu Qiang, CSSC general manager. CSSC will work with American cruise company Carnival, Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri and British Lloyd's Register to build the ship. The move reflects the vigorous development of the country's cruise industry, said Wu. China's cruise market is developing fast with the number of outbound cruise passengers topping 2 million in 2016, according to figures from the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association. Experts forecast Chinese will make 10 million cruise trips annually by 2025, becoming the most dynamic cruise market in the Asia-Pacific region. China is currently the world's eighth-biggest cruise market. Some 700 children from 40 countries and regions gather with their Chinese peers for a grand celebration at the newly established China Soong Ching Ling Science and Culture Center for Young People on May 31, one day ahead of International Children's Day. [Photo by Chen Boyuan/China.org.cn] Some 700 children from 40 countries and regions gathered with their Chinese peers for a grand celebration at the newly established China Soong Ching Ling Science and Culture Center for Young People on May 31, one day ahead of International Children's Day. The celebration, themed "Dream of the Future Belt and Road Young Hearts," was organized by China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF) in a bid to promote communication between young people from countries along the Belt and Road, a major consensus reached on the latest Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Wang Jiarui, vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and chairman of the CSCLF attended the ceremony along with foreign diplomats of Belt and Road countries and representatives from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and ASEAN countries, among other regional organizations. The celebratory activities featured "children's own festival" where Chinese and international children staged their own performances such as Peking Opera excerpts, conducted a formation flight of multi-rotorcraft drones, and painted out their own expectations of the future. Children from different countries exchanged gifts bearing their own national characteristics. They also wrote down their own "Silk Road Dream" on a prepared wishing wall. Some of their casual wishes and ideas may turn out to be reality in the future, and this is the power of the dream as much as the Silk Road spirit, said Jing Dunquan, CSCLF's vice chairman. He said that the international celebration for International Children's Day was an occasion for young people from different countries to enjoy the fun while knowing more about each other. "In these activities, they obtain happiness and fulfilment; hence they will develop their interest and unleash their potential for their own dreams for the future," said Jing. Salma Potts Vales is from Cuba. She was on the performance team for this celebration. She said that he liked China because she had lots of fun things to do. She particularly likes the good Wi-Fi connection in China so that she could "play games with friends." "I wish that all kids are happy [on the Children's Day]. And if you are not good at math or others, just keep practicing," she said. Tchiegeu Yvan is Cameroonian. Having a Cameroonian father and a Russian mother while attending an international school in Beijing, he can speak four languages: French, Russian, Chinese and English. He said it was not his first time to attend such international celebrations, as he was also in the performance team for the past Belt and Road Forum. Chen Aimin, the chief of CSCLF's international communication said that serving young people's growth is one of the principal aims of the foundation. She said that such an international observation of Children's Day has been in place for many years, except that this year's was rather grander. The Central Military Commission (CMC) will terminate all paid services provided by the military by the end of June 2018, according to a military professor. "In the first stage, services in 10 fields should stop by the end of this June," said Jiang Luming, professor at the National University of Defense Technology, in an interview with Xinhua. The 10 fields are nursery education, press and publications, culture and sports, communications, personnel training, barrack projects, storage and transportation, militia armament repair, repair technology and driver instruction, he said. Projects in another five fields -- real estate rentals, agricultural products, accommodation services, medical care and scientific research -- should be ceased by the end of June 2018, he added. In February 2016, the CMC issued a circular urging the end of all paid services by the armed forces and the armed police. Jiang said that the military had received support from local governments and courts. He said that the armed forces and armed police had not been allowed to run business since 1998, but were permitted to use surplus resources to provide paid services to the public in the 15 fields, as China's service industry was weak at the time. Such services had supported national economic development, provided public convenience and made up for a shortage in military expenditure, he said. However, in recent years, with the development of the market economy, and imperfections in the paid service system, corruption cases were exposed in the military due to such services. Jiang said that the principle of paid services were not in line with the military personnel's spirit of devotion. Paid services also demanded attention from officers and soldiers and encroached military resources, which were needed for military training. You are here: Home Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Telecom, stands trial for accepting bribes on April 18. [Photo/CCTV] Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Telecom, was sentenced to six years in prison for graft Wednesday. The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Baoding city in northern China's Hebei Province. The court also fined Chang 500,000 yuan (around US$72,850) and ordered his illicit gains to be confiscated. Chang confessed to his crimes in court. It found Chang guilty of taking advantage of his positions as a telecom official and chairman of China Unicom to seek benefits for various institutions between 1998 and 2014. In return, he accepted money and valuables worth more than 3.76 million yuan. China Unicom and China Telecom are two of China's top three telecom service providers. The court decided to be lenient as Chang pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, returned his illegal gains and offered information on other crimes. Local people in a village in Vadodara in the western Indian state of Gujarat smile after getting clean water from underground thanks to the charity water supply system provided by TBEA Energy (India) Private Ltd. The company is owned and operated by Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co, China's first listed transformer enterprise. [Xinhua file photo] "Open the doors, let the conch-shells be sounded." Rabindranath Tagore, First Indian Nobel Laureate for Gitanjali Introduction Indo-centrism has stood in the center of "sharing fruits of common development" among the members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The latest proof is that India did not participate in the "Project of the Century" at the BRF-International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14-15, 2017. India's Premier, Narendra Modi, followed a wrong advice by the National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ram Madhav, who told him that India could not sign the cooperation as long as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) ran through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Rams advice was seconded by the former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador of India to Nepal, Shyam Saran, who observed that the Belt and Road Initiative "is not a multi-national project." Saran seems to have forgotten that the Belt and Road officially passes through more than 60 countries, and that it will include even more countries in the future. His judgments are fundamentally counter-productive in light of the "Sino-Indian Economic Diplomacy": Sino-Indian relations are based on "pragmatism," focus on "trade and tourism" and have a financial impact of US$100 billion per annum. Nonetheless, Indias isolationist foreign policy blocks off the Indian economy from participating in the billion-dollar-projects of the BFR: There is a reason why not only Asia, Europe and Africa but the world as a whole joins the "Project of the Century". India, however, loses the access to largest demographic market of the world: In 2016, a quarter of the worlds economic-growth came from China alone. The "Confidence Building Measures" (CBM) The "Confidence Building Measures" are the key challenges of the 21st-century South-Asian mindset. Due to inter-and intra-state conflicts, post-colonial South-Asia remained a volatile and unstable region which tried to escape from the impact of indo-centrism. India's approach after 1947 was so hegemonic, even though fragile, that the country engaged in more than four major wars with Pakistan, one of them almost leading to nuclear strikes in 2002. The war with China in 1962 served as a lesson for India. In 1971 East Pakistan was broken apart, and Bangladesh was created; in 1975 Sikkim was merged into India. In1987, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) played a dubious role in Sri Lanka. All these activities, as well as the 1998 Kargil War, the recent "Surgical Operation" with Pakistan, and the frequent economic sanctions in Nepal and Bhutan are the amalgamation of the "post-colonial mentality." This mentality is pursued in the name of "democracy" officially but actually increases terrorism and border conflicts with all neighbors. The Approaches Renowned journalist of Pakistan, Wali Zahid, states that India equals China, or at least is close to it, only in respect to population size and by GDP in 2050 (calculated on Purchase Power Parity (PPP)). Consequently, India should go hand-in-hand with its neighbors. If we consider the total trade between China and the BRI countries during 2014-2016, we find a promising figure of US$3 trillion. During the same period, China invested US$50 billion into BRI countries, not calculating in the US$124 billion of the BRF project. BRI can be considered as a "Community of Common Destiny of Mankind" as President Xi announced it during the historic BRF 2017. Chinas GDP is at US$21.2 trillion, calculated on PPP, whereas the USA reaches US$18.5 trillion. Of course, according to the western GDP calculation, Chinas GDP is regarded to be at US$$11.5 trillion, with the USA at the aforementioned US$18.5 trillion. Considering that the share of the SAARC trade volume is less than 5 percent today, the BRI is a great opportunity for India that accommodates the second largest population of the world. Recommendations 1. As the China-Afghanistan, CPEC, China-Maldives, China-Sri Lanka, China-Bangladesh, China-India and the CNEC-China-Nepal Economic Corridors nomenclatures assume a rather bilateral (than multilateral) nature of the BRI, all BRI projects could be organized under one umbrella (called "SAARC-EC" or "SAARC Economic Corridor"). 2. Trade and tourism opportunities are at reach for India and China as the two largest markets in the world by forming a China-India-Nepal Economic Corridor (CINEC). Nepal could stand as the strategic "gateway" between China and India, especially as the BBIN and the BCIM corridor plans have stalled. 3. Since China is already an important development partner among SAARC countries, India should not oppose China's intention to become a member of SAARC. 4. Even if the recommendations under 1, 2 and 3 are not accepted by India, it must not apply any measures or aggression against smaller neighbors that intend to join the BRI initiated by China. 5. Finally, the most important resolution, a larger paradigm-shift of the existing mindset is needed towards the parameters of "confidence" through "cooperation." Dr. Bishnu Hari Nepal is a theorist and practitioner in International Relations, Peace, Conflict, Security and Development Studies. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Flash Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Tuesday called on Japan to make positive efforts so as to bring the bilateral relations back on the normal track. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (2nd R, Front) raises his glass for a toast when meeting with Japan-China friendship groups in Tokyo, Japan, on May 30, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] He made the remarks when meeting with representatives from the Japan Business Federation as well as seven Japan-China friendship groups here. Yang spoke highly of the efforts made by friendly organizations and people in Japan over the years to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation and enhance bilateral relationship between China and Japan. He said that as this year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties, the two sides should keep the original aspiration and seize the opportunities to bring the bilateral relations back on the normal track. China adheres to the policy of building friendship and partnership with neighboring countries and follows the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in conducting neighborhood diplomacy, he said. China always attaches importance to its relationship with Japan and is willing to make joint efforts with Japan to build good neighborly and friendly relations and promote win-win cooperation, Yang said. He urged the Japanese side to make positive efforts with China to push for healthy and stable development of bilateral relations by respecting each others' core interests and major concerns, safeguarding the political foundation of bilateral relations and promoting practical cooperation in different areas. Welcoming Japan to cooperate with China under the Belt and Road Initiative, Yang stressed that the two countries should adapt themselves to the new situations and nurture new growth points, and conduct win-win cooperation in more areas and at higher levels. He said the two sides should cherish the friendship between the Chinese and Japanese peoples, and the Chinese government is willing to provide strong backing for the cause of promoting the friendship between the two peoples. Representatives from friendly groups in Japan said that China and Japan are close neighbors with close economic and cultural ties and bilateral relationship between the two countries is very important. They congratulated China on the success of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held recently in Beijing, saying that they will continue their efforts to promote friendship and mutual trust and push for the enhancement of bilateral ties between China and Japan in the years to come. Flash Premier Li Keqiang is scheduled on Wednesday to kick off his trip to Berlin, which analysts and officials said is expected to boost China-Europe free trade and inject impetus to the global economic recovery. During the three-day trip, Li will pay official visits to Germany and Belgium, attend the annual meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and meet with leaders of the European Union under an annual mechanism in Brussels, according to the Foreign Ministry. Through the visit, China expects to enhance strategic communication to strengthen political trust, improve practical cooperation and jointly send a positive signal of cooperation, openness and win-win values, said Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Chao. China and Europe don't have fundamental contradictions or geographic conflicts, and they have many common interests and similar stances on issues such as boosting free trade, safeguarding the multilateral trade system and improving global economic governance, he said. Wang also called for joint efforts to handle and resolve disputes properly in a constructive manner, and take each other's core interests and major concerns into consideration. Yang Yanyi, China's ambassador to the European Union, told Xinhua News Agency that both parties should send positive signals of jointly safeguarding peace and promoting development at a time when economic globalization faces setbacks with rising challenges of protectionism. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative has led to cooperation between China and European countries in airport and seaport construction, finance and rail transportation, she said. It's natural that China and Europe have disagreements in developing bilateral economic and trade ties, she said, adding that the two sides should focus on common interests and control trade conflicts through dialogue and consultation. During Li's visit to Germany, leaders of the two countries will exchange views on Article 15 in the protocol on China's accession to the World Trade Organization, China's ambassador to Germany, Shi Mingde, told the China Radio International. According to Article 15, WTO member nations should have ceased on Dec 11, 2016, from using the surrogate country approach in anti-dumping investigations on China. This date was 15 years after China became an official member of the organization. Under the surrogate country approach, WTO members use costs of production in a third country to calculate the value of products from countries on its "non-market economy" list, which includes China. It's an obligation for the EU members, including Germany, to stop using the surrogate country approach while conducting anti-dumping investigations into China, Shi said. Li Chenggang, assistant minister of commerce, said China became Germany's largest trade partner for the first time last year, when the bilateral trade volume reached $151.29 billion. The EU has been China's largest trade partner for many years, and China is the EU's second largest trade partner. The two sides have made positive progress in cooperation in infrastructure, finance and digital economy in recent years, Li said. The economies of China and Belgium are highly complementary and the two countries have huge potential regarding trade in chemicals, food, finance, bio-pharmacy, environmental protection and life science, he said. Wang Mingjin, a professor of international relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said cooperation agreements between small and medium-sized enterprises in China and European Union members will be a highlight of Li's visit. As a manufacturing giant, China has great potential in cooperating with the EU members in machinery production, environmental protection and robotics, he said. Li's visit also will enhance cooperation between China and Europe in pushing forward globalization, free trade and open markets, he added. Cui Hongjian, director of the Department for European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the EU faces challenges, including the uncertainties caused by the power transfer in some EU members. China and the EU should overcome the difficulties, focus more on the positive factors and join hands to fight protectionism, he said, adding the two sides have disagreements in some areas including the identification of China's status as a market-oriented economy. China and European countries could make joint efforts to push forward the Belt and Road Initiative and enhance cooperation in such areas as maritime exploitation, infrastructure and finance, he said. Flash Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of a longtime confidante of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, has been delivered to South Korea, local media reported Tuesday. Chung Yoo-ra gets out of a car after a hearing on January 2, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] The 20-year-old, who was wanted for questioning in connection with a major corruption probe in her home country, is on her way home to South Korea, Danish news agency Ritzau cited the communication officer at the prosecutor's office Simon Gosvig as saying. Chung was arrested by Denmark's North Jutland Police on Jan. 1 in Aalborg. Her mother Choi Soon-sil is charged with using her friendship with Park to extort funds from large businesses and meddling in state affairs. Chung is alleged to have received illegal favors when entering a prestigious South Korean university. She is also accused of being behind economic crimes in collusion with her mother, which she denied. Initially, Chung fought against a local court's decision to extradite her and appealed. On April 19, the Court of Aalborg upheld the extradition decision so that she can stand her trial in South Korea. She dropped her opposition last week. Flash U.S. military officials said an interceptor missile launched Tuesday from a California military base shot down a simulated incoming warhead as part of a U.S. defense system test. The ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California, 250 km northwest to Los Angeles, at a mock-up of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Officials said the interceptor missile travelled at 16,000 miles (27,040 km) per hour and hit its target over the Pacific Ocean. The test came a day after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) tested its ninth ballistic missile this year that travelled 280 miles (473 km) before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the test had been planned for some time and was not timed specifically as a response to the DPRK. "In a broad sense, North Korea is one of reasons why we have this capability," Davis said. "North Korea has expanded the size and the sophistication of its ballistic missile forces," he said in a statement. The U.S. interceptor has an uneven track record, having succeeded nine times out of 17 attempts against missiles in test since 1999, although the most recent test in June 2014 was a success. "They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland," Davis said. The United States has 26 interceptors based at Fort Greely in Alaska and four at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Last week, the Pentagon presented its 2018 budget to Congress, proposing spending 7.9 billion U.S. dollars on missile defense, including 1.5 billion dollars for the ground-based mid-course defense program. You are here: Home Flash The explosion shatters windows of an office building owned by the Xinhua News Agency in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, May 31. [Photo/Xinhua] At least 80 people were killed and over 350 others injured in Wednesday morning's suicide car bomb explosion in a diplomatic district in the Afghan capital of Kabul, according to the Afghan Public Health Ministry. "The blast occurred roughly at 08:25 a.m. (local time) at 17th street of Wazir Akbar Khan locality, causing panic among the residents," witness Ahmad Fahim told Xinhua. More than 50 vehicles were destroyed and dozens of the buildings around the site were damaged by the blast. Among other office buildings located at the area are an intelligence agency office, a local TV channel, a mobile phone company as well as German, Indian and British embassies. "The attack was aiming to kill and injure people and cause destruction. As the suicide bomber detonated the vehicle at the middle of a main road in the morning rush hour," a security official told Xinhua near the site when asked about the target of the blast. The car bomb was planted in a septic tank truck, he said. Military helicopters were hovering over the site hours after the incident to monitor the situation. Security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. The Wednesday's attack was the second massive bombing in Kabul this month. On May 3, eight civilians were killed and 27 people, including three U.S. soldiers, wounded in a suicide bombing in nearby Macroray locality for which local affiliates of the Islamic State (IS) have claimed responsibility. You are here: Home Flash The Russian Navy successfully struck all Islamic State targets in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The Admiral Essen frigate and Krasnodar submarine launched four Kalibr cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean against the IS positions with heavy equipment and militant manpower transferred from Raqqa, the IS stronghold in northern Syria, the ministry said in a statement. The statement also said Russia had informed the U.S., Turkish and Israeli military forces of the strike in advance. China Aviation Daily | May 31, 2017 Croatia Airlines is the latest new-comer at Helsinki Airport, Finland. The Helsinki-Zagreb route opened on 21 May, and will further increase travel to Croatia. Last year, the number of passengers on Croatian routes increased by 24 percent. Helsinki Airport has had routes to three destinations in Croatia: Pula, Split and Dubrovnik. Since May, Croatia Airlines is operating a new route, between Helsinki Airport and Zagreb. There are three flights a week on this route. The growth rates on routes between Helsinki Airport and Croatia have been nothing short of amazing. In 2010 there were only 33,000 passengers travelling to Croatia, whereas last year 150,000 passengers travelled to the country from Helsinki. Even compared to 2015 alone, the number of passengers on the Croatian routes increased by a whopping 24 percent. "Passenger records are being broken at great speed. Finns have discovered Croatia's most impressive destinations, where there is no shortage of both shoreline and city attractions. The arrival of Croatia Airlines to Finland is indeed a good news for people travelling to South-eastern Europe, because the airline's onward flight possibilities from Zagreb make new destinations available. We wish Croatia Airlines a warm welcome to Finland," says Helsinki Airport director Ville Haapasaari, SVP at Finavia, the Finnish airport operator. Croatia Airlines will at the same time enjoy access to new flight connections, for example from Helsinki to Asia. Helsinki Airport is one of the most important flight hubs between Europe and Asia, and connections to China and Japan, for example, are world-class. Helsinki Airport has a total of 94 flights a week to Asia. We are glad that Helsinki has become the 39th destination in our network. We are now offering to our passengers the fastest travel option between Finland and Croatia and I believe that many of them will recognise the value of this route. I hope that our flights will help to discover natural, historical and cultural beauties of our capital, but also the whole country, said Kresimir Kucko, President & CEO of Croatia Airlines, at the ceremony organised at Helsinki Airport after the celebratory flight on May 30. The route between Helsinki and Zagreb is open during the summer season until 15thof October. In addition to Zagreb, the other new routes between Helsinki Airport and South-eastern Europe that will be opened in 2017 are Pristina in Kosovo, Varna in Bulgaria, and Bucharest in Romania. "The region as a whole has now clearly become an important area of emphasis for Helsinki Airport. This is a sign both of increased demand and of successful sales work. Greece continues to be a huge attraction, and as an up-and-comer Croatia is in a class of its own. The upswing is not accounted for entirely by Finnish holidaymakers - the demand is on both sides. Finland itself is an attractive final destination, as are the onward destinations that are accessible through the Helsinki Airport," Haapasaari says. Preparations for new passenger records are currently underway at Helsinki Airport, with major extension work being carried out. The number of passengers is estimated to exceed 18 million this year, and by 2020 a total of 20 million passengers a year will pass through the airport. Contributed by Croatia Airlines The official launch of the China-funded and built standard gauge railway in Kenya on Wednesday, which links its port city of Mombasa with the capital Nairobi, marks the beginning of a new era for the East African country's industrialization and economic development. Moreover, it is a pivotal part of China's Belt and Road Initiative that encompasses a grand infrastructure connectivity plan to build a high-speed railway network that will eventually link Kenya with Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. With a designed speed of 120 kilometers per hour for passenger trains and 80 km/h for freight trains, the 480-km railway replaces the narrow-gauge line built more than a century ago during British colonial rule. Thanks to the $3.8 billion new railway, Kenya's largest infrastructure project since independence, cargo transport costs will be reduced by nearly half compared with the cost of road transport, according to Kenya Railways Corp. This will help bring in foreign investments along the route and facilitate the country's quest to become an industrial, trading and tourism hub in Eastern Africa. It is predicted the railway will boost Kenya's GDP by 1.5 percentage points annually. Not to mention how much Kenya has already benefited in terms of jobs created and technology gained. The bonds of friendship between China and Africa in contemporary history have been forged over decades, symbolized by the 1,800-km Tanzania-Zambia Railway built and financed by China in the 1970s in the heat of liberation struggles by African people against Western colonists. If the two peoples were drawn together by common historical sufferings and similar stage of development then, the current momentum of cooperation is being fueled more by their growing interdependence. African countries look to China for support to achieve their aspirations in terms of poverty alleviation, economic growth and sustainable development, while China, after decades of miraculous growth, has rich development experience to share with Africa. Bilateral production capacity cooperation in such fields as manufacturing, electronic appliances and textiles can also benefit African countries. As President Xi Jinping has stated, China is committed to connecting its development with that of Africa, aligning the interests of the Chinese people with those of African people and combining China's development opportunities with those of Africa. It is this sense of shared destiny and future that has laid the foundation for the win-win cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit between China and Africa, as reflected in the Kenyan railway project. Chinese and Ethiopian train drivers shake hands, celebrating a railway station operational in Addis Ababa. [Photo/Xinhua] China is a source of inspiration as Ethiopia modernizes its economy. Arkebe Oqubay, special adviser to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemaraim Desalegn, said he believes the Belt and Road Initiative will bring further tangible benefits to the East African nation through enhanced trade and investment. Building industrial parks and the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway are among the latest examples of how China's businesses in the country can drive economic development and boost employment. "China has long been focusing on fighting poverty," said Oqubay on the sidelines of the Shanghai Forum, an annual international symposium on Asian and world affairs, at the weekend. "It has successfully lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. It also specializes in manufacturingcreating millions of jobs. So it has been a source of inspiration for us." Oqubay pointed out that Ethiopia was not only a participant but a pioneer in the Belt and Road Initiative. He felt the program of rapid development can help transform his country from a low-income agricultural-based economy into a medium-income, export-oriented one by 2030. "The Belt Road Initiative creates a win-win situation for China and Africa," said Oqubay. "The underlying values and principles include nonintervention in internal affairs, mutual benefits and peaceful coexistence, which are all similar to those of the United Nations Charter." With a young population, Ethiopia is banking on overseas investment in industrial parks to create jobs and produce a stable and thriving economy. Chinese companies are major investors in the country and during the past 15 years have financed 20 percent of all manufacturing-related projects. China Communications Construction Co is one of the biggest players and has been involved in a range of activities from building industrial parks, roads and railways to setting up leather factories. The aim has always been to bolster economic growth without causing environmental damage. "Africa is perhaps the last frontier on the earth for textile production," said Oqubay. "We have together built zero liquid discharge systems in these facilities so that up to 95 percent of water is recycled." Oqubay also expected another dividend to come out of the Belt and Road Initiativean extension to the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway to cover the west part of the continent. "This would boost tourism by attracting more travelers," he said. An employee works at the production line of the Airbus helicopter plant in Donauwoerth, Germany. The European aircraft maker is to manufacture the H135 light twin-engine helicopters in China. [Photo provided to China Daily] Airbus Helicopters is moving forward with its strategic partnership with China, with construction now underway of its first helicopter assembly line in the country. Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said the new final assembly line for its H135 chopper in Qingdao, Shandong province, is the first for the company in China. Costing more than 10 million euros ($11.21 million), the plant is expected to be completed by 2018, he said at the weekend groundbreaking ceremony. Under a framework agreement signed in June last year, 100 Airbus H135s will be assembled over the next 10 years and the first aircraft rollout from Qingdao is planned for mid-2019. The production line will have a total installed annual capacity of 18 helicopters, which can be extended for future growth. Faury said the project was a "remarkable milestone" for his company's global footprint and demonstrated its commitment to further enhancing industrial cooperation with China's rapidly growing aviation industry. "We are confident that this project will achieve a win-win solution to fulfill the requirements of local customers while supporting the development of crucial helicopter services," Faury said. The new facility, located in the Jimo Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, will be operated by Airbus Helicopters and Qingdao United General Aviation Co Ltd, a joint venture between China Aviation Supplies Holding Co and Qingdao United General Aviation Industrial Development Co Ltd. Airbus Helicopters holds a majority share of 51 percent in the joint venture. "The H135 final assembly line is another strong example of Sino-European cooperation and will play an important role in further promoting the development of China's general aviation industry," said Li Hai, president of CAS. "We believe in this partnership and are looking forward to seeing the first Airbus helicopter assembled in China." The H135 is a light twin-engine helicopter, mainly operating in emergency medical services, search and rescue, law enforcement, firefighting and tourism. To date more than 1,200 helicopters in the H135 family have gone into operation internationally. In 2016, China became Airbus Helicopters' biggest civilian market in terms of annual orders. Given the rapid development of the helicopter emergency medical services, public services and offshore wind industry in the country, a potential demand for 600 light twin-engine helicopters is expected over the next two decades. E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is penetrating deeper into the offline sector to build its "new retail" model. It spent an estimated but unspecified amount of over HK$630 million ($80.88 million) for an 18 percent stake in Hong Kong-listed Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Co Ltd on Friday. Post the deal, which was announced by Lianhua, Alibaba is the second-largest shareholder in the former. Alibaba bought the Lianhua stake from Shanghai Yiguo E-commerce Co Ltd, a fresh produce marketplace. Incidentally, Alibaba had invested in Shanghai-based Yiguo, having participated in the latter's series A and C funding rounds in 2013 and 2016. Lianhua shares rose 24 percent to close at HK$3.92 on Monday while the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.24 percent. The market was closed on Tuesday for the Dragon Boat Festival. The deal marks the third transfer of Lianhua shares in three years. In September 2015, Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd bought 237 million shares in Lianhua, representing a 21.17 percent stake, for about 751 million yuan. In December 2016, Yonghui sold that stake to Yiguo for 850 million yuan ($125 million), citing operational changes and overlap in the two businesses. Lianhua is the first Chinese mainland retail company to have listed in Hong Kong. It has three business lines: hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores. By the end of last year, it had 3,618 physical stores across China, including the 2,286 outlets in Shanghai. However, Lianhua's business performance has been declining since 2011, mainly due to competition from online players. Sales touched a historic low of 26.67 billion yuan last year, causing a loss of 450 million yuan. Its profit has been dropping tooby 37 percent in 2012, 70 percent in 2013 and 11 percent in 2014. For Alibaba, Lianhua's store network represents value. Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder and executive chairman, floated the idea of "new retail" during a conference in Hangzhou in October. He said the era of e-commerce would end in 10 to 20 years to give way to new retail, a combination of online and offline sales and logistics services. Toward this end, Alibaba announced a partnership with Shanghai retail conglomerate Bailian Group Co in February. In June last year, Alibaba also became the biggest shareholder in Intime Retail Group. Prominent international and Chinese economists and experts called for more inclusive development models to sustain globalization and deepen trade ties over the weekend. They added the Belt and Road Initiative served as the remedy to address the growing inequality within and across nations. Attending the 12th Shanghai Forum at Fudan University held from Saturday to Monday, the economists cited empirical studies to show that trade wars benefit no one and a more effective global governance system is needed to protect fairness and promote inclusiveness in the global economy. The burden of a potential trade conflict between Washington and Beijing would be "unbearable"especially for the United Statesaccording to Yu Miaojie, deputy dean of the National School of Development at Peking University. Yu said that should such a clash occur, real wages would drop 0.66 percent in the US and a milder 0.042 percent in China, coupled with more significant fall in welfare in the US. "Bolstered by the Belt and Road Initiative, China's imports are projected to reach $2 trillion in five years, with Beijing poised to provide various kinds of training to tens of thousands of workforces," Yu noted. Peter Petri, a professor of international finance at Brandeis University in Massachusetts in the US, said the Initiative would add $1.6 trillion to the global economy by 2030, by effectively reducing trade costs through infrastructure investments. Regional integration could be an important step to forging extra regional agreementsby enabling a broader section of the population to experience the gains from trade, said Amelia Santos-Paulino, a Geneva-based economist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. "For instance, 10 percent greater regionalization through participation in or exposure to free trade agreements would lead to a 5.6 percent higher GDP per capita growth," she said, citing studies conducted in Asia and Latin America. The trend of globalization was "unstoppable and irreversible", but a fairer and more inclusive global governance system was needed to bridge the expanding income gap among countries, said Quan Heng, deputy director of the Institute of World Economy at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. He added that because the Initiative did not set any prerequisites for participation, it would help narrow that gap by increasing international connectivity, enhancing communications and contributing to more even distribution of the global value chain. Sheng Bin, an economics professor at Nankai University, said the Initiative will also encourage emerging forces in global trade to play a bigger role, such as small and medium-sized enterprises, e-commerce and digital trade, among others. CIRO REDONDO, Cuba Sugar cane has long been Cuba's cash crop, with the country becoming the largest sugar producer in the world and using it to bankroll its economy stretching back to the 19th century. However, a deep economic crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s caused the Cuban sugar industry to lose its main market, with many mills slowly falling into obsolescence. Years later, Cuba has a restructured industry adapted to its economic and production possibilities, and the Caribbean nation is seeking new alternatives for the sugar industry to be less reliant on fossil fuels to generate electricity. The island now plans to produce 24 percent of its electricity by 2030 from renewable and clean energies. In this sense, the island's sugar mills will begin to play an essential role in helping the country achieve energy independence. In the coming years, 25 bioelectric plants with Chinese technology will be built throughout the country. These will process biomass from the industry during the sugar harvest and Marabou weed, a plant that proliferates in Cuban fields, for the rest of the year. "This program consists of generating electricity for the sugar mills and the country with the leftovers of sugar cane or what we call biomass. It is a clean source of energy and part of the national renewable energy program," Francisco Lleo, CEO of ZERUS, a state company in charge of the project, told Xinhua. A few weeks ago, the first stone was placed on what will become a modern bioelectric plant next to the Ciro Redondo sugar mill, one of the largest in the island located in Ciego de Avila, about 450 kilometers east of Havana. It will feature state-of-the-art technology from Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd and will be built by the British-Cuban joint venture, Biopower S A, which will also build four more plants of this kind. "We attach great importance to the Cuban market. Renewable energy is one of the directions we are committed to and Cuba, with its special geographical and natural environment, offers great opportunity to the development of renewable energy," Qin Yi, executive director of Shanghai Electric Group Co Ltd, told Xinhua. The Chinese firm will be in charge of installing the technological and industrial equipment that will process the sugar cane or Marabou biomass to generate electricity, not only for the plant but also for the Cuban electrical system. "Electricity generation through biofuels not only protects the environment, but also helps the economic development in Cuba, not to mention the fact that it will provide the town where the factory is with many jobs and the possibility for development," said Qin. This is an alternative energy which is gaining ground around the world, particularly in countries that produce sugar, soy or corn. "During the sugar harvest, we will deliver 32 megawatts to the national electrical system. Once it concludes, we will be generating more than 50 mW. It is a considerable amount of energy and comparable with the use of the whole province on a daily basis," Carmen Toboada, vice president of Biopower S A, told Xinhua. According to the official, the plant will have a positive environmental impact as it will stop using fuel to generate electricity and clear thousands of hectares of Marabou to be planted with sugar cane or other crops. For the community, this new facility will also bring numerous advantages as it will diversify available jobs, with the area being largely reliant on sugar cane plantations and the Ciro Redondo sugar production mill. "It will be a source of jobs with good salaries for the community around the plant. There will be about 50 employees in the bioelectric plants and about 10 groups of five farmers dedicated to clearing out Marabou," added Taboada. The gradual implementation of this type of technology also allows Cuba to boost foreign investment in the sector, not only for the generation of electricity but to increase sugar production. "One of the objectives of the industry is to guarantee renewable energies for sugar production. That is why we are looking for foreign partners to strengthen this plan in the coming years," Camilo Hernandez, external finance director of the Azcuba business group, told Xinhua. The entity, which replaced the Ministry of Sugar in 2011, is responsible for the production of sugar and its derivatives on the island, as well as the generation of electricity for the sector. "We are looking for partners who will participate together with Azcuba for the integral development and modernization of our industry, because we have very old plants that need to be upgraded," explained Hernandez. The Cuban official said there are 56 investment projects with renewable energies, one for each active mill in the country, and 25 of these include bioelectric plants. "The objective is to cover 24 percent of the country's energy production by 2030 with renewable energies and 14 percent of it will be produced from sugar biomass," he said. With the program to build bioelectric plants next to Cuban sugar mills, Havana will save about 960,000 metric tons of fuel per year and avoid the emission of 3.65 million tons of carbon dioxide per year by 2030, according to official figures. ZHENGZHOU A chartered plane carrying metric tons of California cherries arrived Monday evening in Zhengzhou, capital of the central province of Henan. This is China's first chartered air freight delivery of imported fruit this year. It took the plane 32 hours to carry its cargo of 88 tons of cherries from the United States, to the transportation hub of Zhengzhou. Officials with the Henan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said the department had provided swift customs clearance on the fresh imports, which will be distributed from Zhengzhou to Shanghai and Beijing. Industry forecasts suggest that Zhengzhou will import around 10,000 tons of fruit in 2017, making the city the largest distribution center for air freighted imported fruit in the country. The airport in Zhengzhou posted 275,000 tons of throughput of cargo in 2016, up 20.9 percent year-on-year. This included imported fruit, aquatic products and meat. HANOI Vietnam is expected to welcome 1.57 million person-times of Chinese tourists, up 55 percent year-on-year in the first five months of 2017, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO) on Tuesday. China is the largest market for foreign visitors to Vietnam, accounting for nearly one third of all international arrivals to Vietnam in the five-month period, said GSO. China is followed by South Korea with 889,200 person-times of visitors to Vietnam, up 40.9 percent year-on-year. In total, in the first five months, Vietnam is forecast to receive 5.25 million person-times of international tourists, up 29.6 percent year-on-year, said GSO. Among the figure, some 4.35 million visitors travel to Vietnam by air, around 730,000 come by road while the rest of 167,800 arrive by sea. SANTIAGO China's wine company, Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine, has signed an agreement with Chile's Bethia group to buy three vineyards in the South American country for over $50 million. According to the Chilean El Mercurio Daily, the operation will be concluded at the end of June, once the relevant authorizations have been obtained from China. "Through these acquisitions, Changyu, which has operations in China, France, Italy and New Zealand, wants to increase its presence in the Latin American market through Chile," the report said. In a statement, Bethia said that it entered the industry in the middle of 2006. "By the end of 2016, the group reached sales of 1.5 million boxes, reaching seventh place on the national level." Changyu is a large wine company in China, with its origins going back to 1892. KATHMANDU Nepali former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has called on the country to identify projects to be developed under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Oli made the call while addressing a one-day conference which focused on enhancing connectivity here on Tuesday. Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road. "It is a matter of pleasure that Nepal and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month to ensure Nepal's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative," Oli said. Nepal believes this partnership will be mutually beneficial to both the countries and crucial to meet the long-term development needs of Nepal, he said, adding that it will help to build peace, social harmony and achieve prosperity in the region and beyond. Ramsharan Mahat, a senior leader of the ruling Nepali Congress said, "Nepal should now focus to develop cross-border railways, highways and other connectivity projects with China under the Belt and Road framework." Former Nepali diplomat Hiranya Lal Shrestha said Nepal's involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative has further strengthened age-old bilateral ties between the two countries. The entry has opened massive new opportunities for Nepal to carry out third country trade via China, he said, adding, "In future, Nepal can set up economic corridors with Pakistan and other countries via China, thus enhancing its connectivity." On the occasion, experts from Nepal and China stressed the need of cooperation between the two countries under the Belt and Road Initiative. BEIJING China should explore the establishment of a fund to support green development along the Belt and Road, a China-proposed trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, according to an official plan. Efforts will also be made to set up special funds for resource exploitation and environmental protection, said the plan for environmental cooperation on the Belt and Road released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. These funds should be used to support environmental infrastructure, capacity building and green industry development in Belt and Road countries, according to the plan. It set the goals of working to achieve the environmental goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and enhancing environmental cooperation in an all-round manner by 2030. To realize these goals, China will strengthen policy communication with the Belt and Road countries, share its green development concept and practices, build an environmental cooperation platform, and promote exchanges between think tanks and environmental organizations. A big data service platform on environmental protection and an environmental monitoring system will be established, according to the plan. Qi Bin, executive vice president of China Investment Corporation, speaks on China's transnational investment at Dialogue between Zhongguancun and Silicon Valley Summit in Beijing, May 26, 2017. [Photo by Yang Yang/chinadaily.com.cn] China Investment Corporation (CIC) will step up its support for innovative industries, a senior executive said in Beijing. CIC executive vice president Qi Bin said on the Dialogue between Zhongguancun and Silicon Valley Summit on Friday that the corporation will focus on advanced technology, new business models and services. Such a move will be in line with the essence of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Qi added. "The core of the initiative is economic integration. China's prosperity must benefit the world to achieve sustainable development," Qi said. Liu Li, from the China Equipment Management Association, echoed Qi's remarks, saying that the initiative should drive innovation and cooperation in the digital economy, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computers, and big data, cloud computing and smart cities. He said China has 1.3 billion consumers, who are not only important to the country and the United States, but also to the world economy. He added that the US market is almost fully penetrated, while India's 1.3 billion customers are not strong in purchasing power. Although a gap still remains compared with developed countries, China's industries have developed into a relatively good condition, Qi added. Consumption demand is robust in China, as its GDP per capita and savings per capita has skyrocketed 44 and 3000 times respectively since 1979, according to a CIC report. The fast-growing demand has also called for supply-side reform. "The reform relies on self-innovation, research and overseas investment," Qi said. While technology supports innovation-driven transformation and upgrading, finance should serve the real economy, Qi said. "When combining the two, miracles can happen and we could see it from the development of Silicon Valley and China's Zhongguancun." "Thanks to the marriage of capital and technology and China's 1.3 billion consumers, it took Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei only 15 years to take up the market. China has found the right way," Qi said. Guizhou and Yunnan provinces can learn from Zhongguancun's model as they seek to transform into data centers, Qi said. Bound for the North Atlantic trade, 96 new reefer container were delivered to Samskip in Rotterdam with additional reefers to be delivered by June 5. Rotterdam based multimodal container transport and logistics company Samskip has acquired 150 new 40-foot refrigerated (reefer) containers for use in the North Atlantic. Built by Chinese box-builder CIMC Taicang, 96 of the new containers were delivered to the Rotterdam Shortsea Terminals via the Danser Benelux barge Vectura. The remaining containers are due to arrive in Rotterdam by June 5. Each of the new units includes a Thermo King Magnum Plus generator set, designed for long-distance transportation of deep frozen, frozen, chilled or heated cargoes, within temperatures ranging between -30 degrees and +30 degrees Celsius, said Samskip. The new containers are bound for Reykjavik, for introduction into Samskip service rotations connecting Iceland and the Faroe Islands to the UK and North Continental Europe, said the company. In addition to these 150 new reefer units, Samskip recently received 51 45-foot reefer containers and deployed them in its multimodal service network earlier this month. The company also invested in new reefer container capacity last year and introduced web-based track and trace for temperature-controlled cargoes. MOSCOW Roughly three months ahead of a BRICS summit to be held in China, Russian analysts saw immense potential to increase and diversify economic cooperation between Russia and China. Vast opportunities can be created during the development of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the process of Russia's import substitution industrialization, experts said, adding that closer economic ties between the two strategic partners will be mutually beneficial. They also believe China-Russia trade should be expanded to more non-energy sectors so that bilateral economic cooperation can develop in a sustainable way. These remarks were made at a time when BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are busy preparing for the ninth summit of the bloc's leaders on Sept 3-5 in Xiamen City in East China's Fujian province. Infrastructure, industrial investment The development of transport facilities is one of the key problems Russia faces, given its vast territory and low quality of roads and railways. "Chinese investment and joint projects will play a major role in the vast areas of Siberia and the Far East, as well as in other parts of Russia," said Sergei Luzyanin, director of the Far Eastern Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Luzyanin pinned high hopes on the Belt and Road Initiative, which can "greatly stimulate the development of infrastructure." To finance infrastructure construction, the BRICS New Development Bank should play a bigger role, said Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist of the Eurasian Development Bank. Russia responded to Western sanctions following its annexation of Crimea in 2014 with a so-called "import substitution" policy in various sectors in a bid to boost domestic industrial production. The process of import substitution industrialization creates opportunities for Chinese direct investment in Russia, said Vitaly Monkevich, president of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RAUIE). "This is beneficial for both sides as Chinese businesses will achieve a higher profit rate and the ability to sell products to China, and Russia will get investment and new jobs," said Monkevich. According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese companies invested more than $100 million in Russia between January and April this year. "We see a serious interest in Russia-China cooperation from business circles of both countries," said Monkevich. Non-energy sector partnership Trade between China and Russia jumped 26.2 percent year-on-year to $24.7 billion dollars in the first four months of 2017, according to China's General Administration of Customs. In addition to oil and gas, Russian analysts saw the possibility of expanding bilateral trade to more areas. "RAUIE members often turn to us with requests for export of sunflower oil, honey, ice cream, confectionery and alcohol ... We see a great potential for the development of exports other than raw materials," said Monkevich. As for space cooperation between Russia and China, Luzyanin expects joint manned space stations and joint space missions in the future. Furthermore, Luzyanin and Lissovolik, who are also members of the Russian think tank Valdai Discussion Club, suggested Chinese and Russian programmers cooperate in ensuring cybersecurity and developing Internet-based business. "All this together creates a new quality for the growth of Russia-China cooperation. We can deal with oil and gas and talk about diversifying cooperation at the same time," said Luzyanin. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that both countries should maintain the development of pragmatic cooperation. Wang echoed Putin's appeal, saying that Russia and China should further deepen cooperation in such fields as trade and investment and explore new sources of economic growth. SYDNEY Australian experts have lauded the move by the Chinese government to begin the process of easing the laws for foreign investment into China, after a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform took place on Tuesday. China's Ministry of Commerce figures outlined that during the first four months of the year, foreign capital utilized in China was $41.6 billion, with that number constituting a tiny dip of 0.1 percent over the corresponding period. The key party meeting revised the guidance catalogue for foreign investment in China, in order to ensure that more opportunities were created for overseas investment to make its way into China. This is a very positive move towards improving many vital sectors in China's economy, according to James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. "Greatly reducing the number of sectors in which foreigners are barred from participating would be viewed extremely positively by foreign investors," Laurenceson told Xinhua. Dr Alice de Jonge, senior lecturer in Business Law and Taxation at Monash University agreed, saying that this move is part of a process to open and expand China, in a number of key sectors. "It will be a great thing for global economies, like Australia," said Alice de Jonge. The field of education is one area in which these reforms will be crucial, according to Professor Jiang Fuming, head of the School of Management at Curtin University, who explained to Xinhua that the impact of increased foreign investment in that particular sector will be immense. "It will have a huge impact on people and organizations to become more innovative, efficient, and effective," Jiang said. Jiang said that the leadership decision was pivotal, as it also indicated a strong message that will reverberate at all levels of the Chinese economy. "It is a signal of change, from quantity to quality, substantial development," Jiang said. Aside from the clear and defined benefits to the domestic economy in China, the reforms will play a complementary role in enhancing the Belt and Road Initiative, and Jiang said this will lead to mutually beneficial partnerships across the globe. The furthering of the successful strides towards globalization that will result from the investment reform is, according to Jiang, tied into the Belt and Road Initiative. Globalization is the true crux of the reforms, and Laurenceson said that he hopes the outcomes of the key meeting are able to be achieved on the widest scale possible. "Countries like Australia that support open markets would come out in loud support of Chinese moves in this direction," Laurenceson said. BEIJING The Belt and Road is starting a new journey, with an international gathering earlier this month charting its future course. As a priority for the next stage, financial cooperation and connectivity are seen as a key to success. Looking into the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, there is much waiting to be explored to facilitate development along the route. Large investment demand A joint communique was issued at the forum, vowing to work on a long-term, stable and sustainable financing system, as well as to enhance financial infrastructure connectivity, by exploring new finance models, platforms and services. The investment needs will be large due to the initiative's sheer size, according to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at the forum, who said that the benefits of the initiative were broader than one project or country. The projects will require innovative financing mechanisms - a mix of public and concessional finance and commercial capital, Kim said. One of the eye-catching outcomes of the forum was China's hefty financial support to advance the initiative, including an additional 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) to the Silk Road Fund. Yi Gang, vice governor of Chinese central bank, said that the expansion of the Silk Road Fund was necessary and that he believed the funding would further attract resources and funds from Belt and Road countries and international organizations. Cao Honghui, a renowned economist, said the additional funding would help improve the investment environment along the Belt and Road and be a good example to attract other funds. Stronger connectivity Meanwhile, besides the actual fund injection, economists said future cooperation would gradually extend from the building of hardware such as roads and ports to softer sectors such as management and services. Zhao Jinping, from the Development Research Center of the State Council, said funding services and financial support would be one of the service and institutional improvements that would take more shares in the next round of Belt and Road construction. Nine Chinese-funded banks have set up 62 direct branches and representative offices in 26 countries along the Belt and Road as of the end of 2016, offering tailored services to local clients. At the same time, 54 commercial banks from 20 countries and regions along the Belt and Road have established branches, financial companies or representative offices in China, seeking opportunities with the initiative. According to the Guiding Principles on Financing the Development of the Belt and Road, governments along the Belt and Road should coordinate to provide favorable policy environments for financing. The guiding principles also suggest letting the private sector play a larger role in the initiative, and encouraging financial innovation while enhancing cooperation on financial regulation. Innovation drive To help the construction of financial arteries along the Belt and Road, a new financing model should be created to support strong investment and financing demand, according to a research note from Bank of China (Hong Kong). The bank suggested ways of leveraging public-private partnerships, syndicated loans and infrastructure bonds, as well as creating integrated financial services for industrial parks and economic corridors along the Belt and Road. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has stressed the power of financial technology in promoting the initiative, such as mobile banking and cross-border payments based on virtual currencies. In a recent move, an additional 11 Chinese commercial banks joined a payments innovation initiative launched by SWIFT, a global financial messaging service provider, to offer faster, more transparent and traceable cross-border payments. This brings the number of Chinese banks taking part to 13, joining 110 banks operating across more than 200 countries and regions, including almost all Belt and Road countries. However, Lagarde also noted significant challenges in financial innovation, including the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. "Fintech providers, financial regulators, central bankers, and international organizations will need to work together to ensure that financial systems are safe and inclusive," she said. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Employees at an assembly line of the Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co Ltd plant in Chengdu, Sichuan province. More European businesses reported rising earnings last year than at any other time since 2010. [Photo/China Daily] European companies are hoping that a bilateral investment treaty between China and European Union can be concluded within 12 months to sustain their robust growth momentum in China, a key European business body said on Wednesday. "The key to growing bilateral trade and investment is a successfully negotiated comprehensive agreement on investment with a strong market-opening component," said Mats Harborn, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. China and the EU completed the 13th round of BIT talks last month in Beijing. Eager to deepen their mutual trust, the Chinese government in March pledged to further open its market to European companies and treat them the same way as domestic ones, even before a formal agreement is in place. Harborn said there are expectations regarding a treaty concerning the negative list, which shows areas where investment is prohibited, with all other areas presumed to be open. "Our expectation is that China will take a leading role in globalization and free trade," Harborn said. "European businesses wish to get an offer of a negative list as soon as possible, and we would like the negative list to be as short as possible and ideally single digit." Zhang Yunling, director of international studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said the EU should accelerate the pace of easing its high-tech export restrictions on China. The chamber released its Business Confidence Survey 2017 on Wednesday, saying European companies reported that their business in China improved in 2016, with more than 50 percent of companies experiencing higher sales than the previous year. Among the respondents, information, communications technology, automobile, machinery, cosmetics, environmental protection and retail companies all reported growth in sales. More European businesses reported rising earnings than at any other time since 2010. Sectors such as travel, education, pharmaceuticals and engineering saw sharp annual increases in profits that ranged from 70 percent to 100 percent in 2016. Harborn said European companies were also hunting for the best innovation and technologies, wherever they could find it in China. In the financial and technology sectors, for example, many foreign banks had sent experts to China to learn about how to enter these areas. European companies also found that Chinese firms' strengthened performances were currently perceived as primarily related to innovative marketing strategies. However, the survey said in professional services and consumer goods, Chinese companies were also believed to have enhanced their abilities in products, service and processing innovation. This should serve as a wake-up call for European companies. "Rather than a challenge, this should be perceived as an opportunity," said Denis Depoux, co-head of Asia of business consultancy Roland Berger. Depoux said European companies could become key contributors to the innovation required from Chinese businesses to climb up the value chain. A monthlong environmental inspection of seven provincial regions, including Shanxi and Liaoning provinces and Tianjin, found more than 28,900 pollution problems and led to the detention of 355 people by the time it finished on Sunday, authorities reported on Tuesday. It was the third round of inspections headed by the State Council, China's Cabinet, since 2016. Additional inspections will be conducted this year around the country. Among the provincial regions to be covered in the next rounds are Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces. In the most recent inspection, central government inspectors received 35,523 reports from the public, of which some 82 percent, or 28,966 reports, were found to involve pollution problems and transferred to the involved provinces and city governments for further investigation, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Tuesday. "The governments involved have required more than 20,000 polluting companies to halt excessive levels of pollution and improve technologies and equipment. The total fine has reached 336 million yuan ($49 million)," the ministry said in a statement. It said the 355 people detained were accused of contaminating the environment, and some received administrative detention while others involved more serious cases. Also, 4,018 officials from the governments in those areas were held accountable for their ineffective performance in protecting the environment, it added. In the seven inspected regions - Liaoning, Shanxi, Fujian, Anhui, Hunan and Guizhou provinces and Tianjin - it was Shanxi, where coal and heavy industries are a key economic pillar, that had 88 million yuan in fines, the largest amount for one region, the ministry said. High-level environmental inspections are especially effective because the inspectors have sufficient clout to talk directly with provincial leaders about the problems, unlike inspectors led by the ministry, officials said. Chai Fahe, a researcher at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, said previous inspection rounds pushed provinces to deal with long-standing problems such as upgrading the industrial structure to control the expansion of heavily polluting industries in Hebei province. Hebei, the first province to be put under central environmental inspection, in January 2016, has stopped releasing reports on the estimated economic costs of environmental protection since the environment has been given a priority position in the province. The environmental improvements made by the province following the central inspections were listed among its achievements last year. Editor's note: In the run-up to the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress, China Daily sent six reporters to villages nationwide to live for a month and take a look at how people are working under China's poverty eradication plan. Xiao Chuanguo, a resident of Fazi village in Chongqing's Wulong district, uses Agricultural Bank of China's integrated financial services on a bank terminal.[Photo by Tan Yingzi/China Daily] Financial services include access to cash, with help of tiny supermarket In a tiny supermarket in the poor mountain village of Fazi in Chongqing's Wulong district, Xiao Chuanguo inserted his Agricultural Bank of China card into a green and white machine with a touch screen and entered the password and the amount of money he wanted to withdraw - 500 yuan. The machine printed out a receipt and Xiao took it to the cashier, who checked it and gave him the cash. Xiao left with a pack of cigarettes and a dozen rolls of toilet paper. "It's so convenient," he said. "What a surprise we now can withdraw money right in the village and buy things from a supermarket." In the past, the village's 550 families had to descend from the mountains to the Huolu town center to buy daily necessities and conduct bank business. Last month, the village built a small supermarket and set up a bank service center, the first of its kind in Chongqing. Developed by the ABC Chongqing Wulong Sub-branch, the green and white computer terminal provides integrated financial services to farmers living in a distant rural area who usually have difficulty accessing bank services in towns and cities. In addition to cash withdrawals, people can use a range of services, including making money transfers, applying for small loans, paying electrical and phone bills, buying train and air tickets and even making an appointment at a nearby hospital. The terminal is also connected with the bank's e-business service, which can help farmers buy and sell agricultural products nationwide. The Chinese government has pledged to enact more support policies, including financial tools, to lift the country's poorest 70 million people above the poverty line by 2020. In China, as in so many places around the world, a lack of opportunity, along with disabilities, disease and natural disaster, can push a family into poverty or make it hard to climb out. But many people in rural areas, especially the poor, cannot get easy access to financial services. ABC, one of the four largest banks in China, has come up with some innovative ways to solve the problem. "The supermarket and the bank machine is a way to bring poverty relief programs to farmers' doorsteps," said Li Song, head of the ABC Huolu town office. It is not practical for the bank to install regular ATM machines, supported by employees, in such a remote place, Li said, but a small supermarket can help manage the business in the village. The supermarket is run by the village committee, which was given 30,000 yuan ($4,400) in seed money from the Huolu government as part of its poverty relief effort. The bank trained the committee members to operate the terminal so that they can help villagers use it. "When someone wants to withdraw less than 2,000 yuan, we transfer the money to the bank account of the supermarket and its cashier can give cash to the customer," Li said. The bank pays a service fee to the supermarket based on the number of financial transactions conducted at the terminal each month. All the income from the retail and financial business will go to the committee to help improve the impoverished village's public services. "It is estimated the ABC integrated service terminal can bring steady income to the village committee of 200 to 1,500 yuan a month," Li said. Community inspired Fazi village, with more than 2,000 people, averages 975 meters above sea level. Its 550 families are scattered across 20 square kilometers. According to a government survey in 2014, nearly 10 percent of the people in Fazi had incomes below the national poverty line - which was 3,000 yuan annually per capita in Chongqing. Peaches, plums, tobacco and animal husbandry are the main income sources for the villagers. Shen Jianzhong, 46, has grown peaches in Fazi since 1996. His success inspired many of his neighbors to follow suit. In 2012, he started the first farm cooperative in the village. It includes 10 poor families. In 2015, Shen wanted to expand the rain shelter at his plantation to increase the quality and quantity of the peaches. Lacking sufficient collateral, he failed to get a loan from the bank. He borrowed from family and friends, but he was still 800,000 yuan short. When Li, ABC's local head, learned of Shen's situation, he sent staff to evaluate the plantation and immediately approved a loan. In just one week, Shen got the 800,000 yuan he needed for the shelter expansion. "We created a new type of agricultural loan based on Shen's situation," Li said. "Under his leadership, peach farming has become a pillar industry in our area." Low-interest loans For the poor families who have no valuable property or cash flow, borrowing money from a bank used to be out of the question. Now, if they want to apply for a low-interest poverty relief loan to develop their farms or refurbish their houses, the bank staff will visit the village to evaluate their credit history. The credit evaluation usually reviews four main points: personal integrity, number of laborers in the family, labor skills and net income. Based on their credit record, the families will be given a loan of 3,000 to 100,000 yuan without any collateral. As of the end of 2016, the bank had extended loans totaling 750,000 yuan to 43 poor families to support their pig and poultry farms. The average annual income per capita in Fazi village has increased from 1,425 yuan to 3,920 yuan. "With help from those financial programs, our villagers expanded their industries, built new homes and got clean drinking water and better roads," said Xiao Dejun, head of Fazi village. "It has really made a big change here." Central ministries and departments responded to a series of public concerns in the past week, including whether passports can be used to take domestic flights, management of bike sharing, gaokao, or the national college entrance examination, and poverty reduction. Passports for domestic flights There have been rumors recently that passports will no longer be used for passenger identification on domestic flights. The Ministry of Public Security ruled out such rumors and said that like identity cards, passports can be legitimately used to identify passengers on domestic flights. According to the ministry, an effective identifying certificate, including passports, should be used for ticket purchases, check-in and the security process. If the identifying certificate, such as the ID card, expires, passengers can use a temporary ID card obtained from their local public security department to go through the procedures, the ministry said. Legal certificates for taking a domestic flight include an ID card, temporary ID card, passport, certificate for military officers, certificate of compulsory military service, certificate of police officers, seaman's book, and other documents, such as certificates for diplomats issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a permanent residence certificate held by foreigners in China. Those who are under 16 can also use their birth certificates, permanent residence certificate, student certificate or an identifying document issued by local police departments. Management of bike sharing The Ministry of Transport held a news conference on May 23 and introduced the country's policy of managing online platform-based bike-sharing services. China's online bike-sharing platforms have increased rapidly, with more than 30 service providers nationwide, according to a spokesman of the Ministry of Transport. More than 10 million bikes have been put onto the market and more than 100 million people have registered to use the services. The booming industry has benefited short-distance transportation, facilitated connections between bus and subway services in the cities, and better satisfied public demand. It has also helped ease traffic jams and contributed to the country's building of a green transport system. However, disorderly management has also brought some problems and potential safety risks, the spokesman said. To tackle those problems, some local governments, such as in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Hangzhou, have released documents on regulation of bike-sharing services to ensure its healthy development. On the basis of collecting public opinions on the services and the existing management rules of local governments, the Ministry of Transport has issued a guideline on encouraging and regulating bike-sharing services. To tackle the problem of excessive supply of bikes in certain areas, the spokesman suggested that local governments should be encouraged to strengthen industrial management and properly guide enterprises to provide bikes in accordance with local market demand to avoid a waster of resources. The government will increase funding to build bike-based transport networks and regulate the parking areas of bike-sharing services more strictly to solve the problem of disorderly parking. Punishments will be meted out for enterprises that have failed to abide by relevant management rules. Education campaigns will also be carried out to raise the awareness of bike users of abiding by bike parking rules. Security check ahead of gaokao The Ministry of Education has sent seven inspection teams nationwide to conduct security check of testing centers for the annual gaokao, or national college entrance examination, scheduled for June 7 and 8. The inspection teams will focus on the examination of question secrecy and computer system security as well as coordination of relevant departments in ensuring the smooth operation of the test, the ministry said. Poverty reduction inputs The Ministry of Finance said that the country has increased financial input in poverty reduction efforts. This year, the central and local government fiscal funds for poverty reduction exceeded 140 billion yuan ($20.4 billion), it said. Of the total, the central government earmarked 86.1 billion yuan, 20 billion yuan more than last year, while the local provincial fiscal funds amounted to 54 billion yuan. Move to simplify administrative procedures, reduce costs for enterprises, and benefit world economy Cargo clearance procedures will be streamlined to smooth foreign trade and improve the business environment. The State Council's executive meeting on May 24 announced that a "single-window system" will be adopted at all ports nationwide by the end of the year, according to a statement released on Wednesday after the meeting, which was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. The "single window system", a metaphor to describe streamlined administration efforts, means that all export and import procedures can be done at one stop, a trade facilitation policy that enables faster and easier cargo clearance. An information-sharing platform will also be set up to reduce documents needed from traders and help realize paperless customs declarations, examinations and tax payments, according to the statement. Tu Xinquan, a professor at the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the new measures are the latest move by China to stimulate imports and exports amid a sluggish global economy, and is also part of the world's major trading nation's relentless efforts in streamlining administration in recent years. "The government has been working out measures to reduce costs for enterprises in recent years, and the new move also aims to reduce costs for enterprises, especially since foreign trade started to face difficulties in recent years," Tu said. "Once fully implemented, it will save huge amounts in terms of finance, time and human resources for companies." Tu calls the "single-window system" a key step toward realizing trade facilitation, adding that the current cargo clearance procedures in most cities are time consuming. For example, he said, companies need to get their goods to both cargo as well as the inspection and quarantine department to finish two examinations before the goods are exported. "Sometimes companies need to wait in line to get their goods examined, which reduces trade efficiency," Tu said. So far, a total of 17 cities in China have realized the "single-window system" in cargo clearance services, including Shanghai, which was the first one to adopt such services, in line with building the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in 2013. Tu said the simplified procedures have greatly helped companies in Shanghai, but he believes the system must become nationwide to deliver tangible results. "Currently, companies in many inland cities in China still have to bring their goods to harbor cities to finish all the required examinations," Tu said. The May 24 meeting set the goal to expand the "single-window system" from the current 17 cities to a nationwide one. Tu points out that the key is to establish a comprehensive online data system to track all kinds of information related to trade of goods. "For example, once the goal is realized, companies in an inland city, such as Guiyang, can finish all the required examinations in their local city. Customs in Shanghai will only have to track all their examination results before export clearance through the online system," Tu said. He added that while the move will boost foreign trade, China is also embarking on measures to fulfill its obligation to investment convenience. WTO members concluded negotiations at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference on the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which came into effect in February. "China, as a WTO member, needs to fulfill its obligations in effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues required by the treaty." Figures from the WTO in April showed that China was still the world's largest exporter of goods last year. It marked the eighth consecutive year China has kept its position as the world's largest exporter of goods and the second-largest importer. Experts called for Chinese people to make more investments in African countries during the 2017 China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services. Cheng Zhigang, secretary-general of the China Africa Industrial Forum, said he is confident in future cooperation between China and Africa. There are three major advantages for Chinese enterprises investing in Africa at present, according to Cheng. First is the low-cost resources of labor and land in Africa; second, the continent's exclusive beneficial policies for Chinese investors; and third, the deep friendship between African and Chinese people. "I think that entrepreneurs need to have a long-term vision and extraordinary courage when investing in Africa because the industries in most African countries are in the rising stage, like China in the 1980s," Cheng said. Businesses in construction materials, furniture manufacturing, printing and fisheries all have good prospects in Africa. In addition, the vehicle maintenance and spareparts manufacturing industries also have high demand, as secondhand cars are preferred by a large portion of African people, but are more prone to breaking down, Cheng said. The China Africa Industrial Forum was founded in 2000 under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Its mission is to facilitate exchanges and cooperation in politics, economy, culture, business and trade between China and Africa. "Most Chinese companies want to step out of China, but what they are concerned about is the security of foreign countries and investment risks," Cheng said. The China Africa Industrial Forum has set up a legal affairs department and gathered experts to provide enterprises with advice on avoiding risks. In addition, if Chinese enterprises encounter problems in the process of investing in Africa, the forum will help resolve the case. According to Cheng, the 2017 CIFTIS will show more than 1,000 projects in the Africa-themed exhibition. Those projects will cover the industries of manufacturing, new energy, logistics, healthcare, finance and tourism. Some of the projects will highlight agricultural industries. Due to adverse climates and technical shortages, agriculture in some African countries is struggling. The forum hopes China can provide those areas with knowledge and advanced agricultural technology. The China Africa Industrial Forum has also invited ambassadors of these countries to illustrate the development and investment environment of their countries at the fair. The forum will provide Chinese entrepreneurs with opportunities to have face-to-face exchanges with African experts and leaders, and advocates orderly development of competition for Chinese companies. More detailed information will be announced at the fair to provide more choices for Chinese investors. In recent years, trade volume between China and Africa has been sluggish. Since 2015, the trade volume has continuously dropped, Cheng said. "But in 2017, I believe that Chinese-African trade will catch up with the volume seen in 2014. I hope that Chinese investors will have a specific target," Cheng said. Set to commence in July, the new route operated by Virgin Australia will offer bellyhold capacity on five Airbus A330-200 flights a week between Asia and Australia. Virgin Airlines is launching a new Melbourne-Hong Kong route this summer through its partner, Virgin Australia. The route, scheduled to commence July 5, will operate via five Airbus A330-200 flights a week, with each offering 14 metric tons of cargo capacity. Virgin Atlantic Cargo will also extend its original long-haul international sales contract with Virgin Australia to include its operations connecting Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne with Los Angeles in the U.S., the company said in a statement. In addition to general cargo, perishables will make up a sizable percentage of traffic out of Melbourne, while e-commerce shipments are expected to help boost volumes from Hong Kong, according to the airline. Virgin Australia in April launched five Boeing 777-300ER flights per week from Melbourne to Los Angeles. We expect a good level of growth this year with the addition of our new routes from Melbourne to Los Angeles and Hong Kong, said Virgin Australia Cargo Chief Executive Merren McArthur. We have great confidence in Virgin Atlantics ability to maximize the potential of our growing long haul international network. BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang left Beijing on Wednesday morning for official visits to Germany and Belgium, as well as meeting with European Union leaders. During his stay in Berlin, Li and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will have the annual talks between the two prime ministers. Li will also hold the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with President of European Council Donald Tusk and President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker during his Belgian trip. BEIJING -- The Central Military Commission (CMC) will terminate all paid services provided by the military by the end of June 2018, according to a military professor. In the first stage, services in 10 fields should stop by the end of this June, said Jiang Luming, professor at the National University of Defense Technology in an interview with Xinhua. The 10 fields are nursery education, press and publications, culture and sports, communications, personnel training, barrack projects, storage and transportation, militia armament repair, repair technology and driver instruction, he said. Projects in another five fields -- real estate rentals, agricultural products, accommodation services, medical care and scientific research -- should be ceased by the end of June 2018, he added. In February 2016, the CMC issued a circular urging the end of all paid services by the armed forces and the armed police. Jiang said that the military has received support from local governments and courts. BEIJING -- China's cyber security law, which will go into effect from Thursday, is not aimed at limiting foreign companies' access to the Chinese market, the country's internet regulator said Wednesday. The law is designed to safeguard sovereignty in cyberspace, national security, the public interest, as well as the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, according to the the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) in a statement. "It does not restrict foreign companies or their technology and products entering the Chinese market, neither does it limit the orderly, free flow of data in accordance with the law," the statement said. "It is within sovereignty to make laws and rules to regulate cyberspace based on the reality of the country while following international practice." The law was passed in November 2016 at the bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee after a third reading. According to 2014 data from CAC, China is a frequent victim of cyberattacks. More than 10,000 websites are tampered with every month, with about 80 percent of government websites suffering attacks, mainly originating in the United States. BEIJING -- Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Telecom, was sentenced to six years in prison for graft Wednesday. The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Baoding city in northern China's Hebei province. The court also fined Chang 500,000 yuan (around $72,850) and ordered his illicit gains to be confiscated. Chang confessed to his crimes in court. It found Chang guilty of taking advantage of his positions as a telecom official and chairman of China Unicom to seek benefits for various institutions between 1998 and 2014. In return, he accepted money and valuables worth more than 3.76 million yuan. China Unicom and China Telecom are two of China's top three telecom service providers. The court decided to be lenient as Chang pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, returned his illegal gains and offered information on other crimes. China will ramp up resources to accelerate the approval process for C919, the country's first large domestic passenger plane, to obtain an airworthiness certificate, which may require thousands of test flight hours, the industrial regulator and the aircraft's maker said. The C919 is scheduled to go through about 729 test projects and 4,200 hours of flight before it obtains the certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Such a step is imperative for it to enter the commercial market, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, the C919's manufacturer. Li Dong, director of the industrial equipment department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that after C919's successful maiden flight in May, more effort will be made to boost its flight performance, beef up maintenance support and lower its operating cost. The ministry said it also will leverage the experience China has accumulated in certifying the ARJ21, the nation's first domestic commercial regional aircraft, to help accelerate the process for the C919. No specific timetable was discussed. Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst at CARNOC, a major Chinese civil aviation website, said by taking multiple test flights, the C919 aircraft needs to prove it is safe to fly and can meet the operational requirements for commercial use. The ARJ21, for instance, has 3,418 reports showing it meets operational requirements. Lin said it took six years for the ARJ21 to obtain its airworthiness certificate because it was something no Chinese company had never before attempted. The aviation authority had to design the aircraft approval system from scratch. "But now, both the manufacturer and authorities have experience, relevant technology and talent. The process for the C919 will take less time," Lin said The twin-engine, single-aisle C919, which can carry 158 to 174 passengers, made its first flight in early May. It is part of China's broad effort to meet soaring domestic travel demand and break the global market duopoly of Boeing and Airbus. "Since launching the C919 project, China has made more than 100 technological breakthroughs in areas including the integrated design of engines and systems control," said Li, from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. He refuted foreign media reports that China was assembling rather than making an airplane. He said it is a common international practice in the aviation industry to source components from other companies. Boeing said 65 percent of the cost of its civilian planes goes to paying suppliers. Aviation Industry Corp of China, a domestic aircraft maker, has set up 16 joint ventures with foreign companies to supply products such as electric power system and braking systems to the C919. Steven Lien, president of Honeywell Aerospace Asia Pacific, said in an earlier interview that the C919 program represents a $15 billion to $16 billion opportunity for Honeywell over the life of the aircraft program. French student Corinne Zelman wins the first place in the Laowai Idol contest at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. The Team Sauce performs at the same event. [Photo by Akash Ghai/provided to China Daily] In a packed auditorium, the spotlight shines down on a young woman with Afro hairstyle standing at the stage center. She sings Schubert's Ave Maria while making hand gestures as if telling a story. As the operatic song concludes, she runs backstage to don another outfit, and comes back onstage again with a dance team to wow the crowd with pop icon Beyonce's dance Flawless. This was a scene from the 8th Laowai Idol competition at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing on May 17. The performer was Corinne Zelman, a French student who has been performing onstage since she was a child. Among 10 outstanding performances ranging from hiphop dance to classical, Zelman's team stood out and grabbed first place. "I have to do what I can do the best and what I love the most-so opera and Beyonce," says the 20-year-old international-business major. "Everywhere in the world, the audiences are the same. They like charisma onstage and good voices." Hosted by the UIBE's School of International Education, this year's event attracted about 100 international students from a dozen universities, including Renmin University of China, Minzu University of China and Beijing Language and Culture University, to take part in the preliminary competition. "It's a good chance for people from different countries to come together and see some good talent," says the event's host, Donnie Brunette, a US student majoring in international business Chinese at the UIBE. "I feel like it brings everybody together right here in China." Tran Dirhh Hoang, 28, and Tran Thao Van, 21, jointly won third place for performing the traditional dance Yue Wang, a popular love story from Vietnam. They are studying at Minzu University of China. "We wanted to depict the loyalty of Vietnamese women in our dance," says Hoang. "The competition is also a great chance to show our culture to people from other countries." Li Wenjie, a scholar of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. [Photo/gdufs.edu.cn] While pieces like The Little Match Girl and The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen are all too familiar to Chinese families, the translation and understanding of the Danish writer's fairy tales has evolved in stages in the past century. Li Wenjie, a Yunshan Youth Scholar of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in April for her research into the Chinese translation and dissemination of Andersen's fairy tales, following Chinese scholars Lin Hua, who received the award in 1997, and Shi Qin'e in 2006. Lin and Shi both translated Andersen's fairy tales. Founded in 1996 to mark outstanding research and promotion of Andersen's works, the award has been presented to about 60 individuals and organizations from 18 countries and regions. Li's interest in Andersen's fairy tales was triggered when she attended a Danish language school in Copenhagen eight years ago. "In the Danish language class, I read again several Andersen's fairy tales, including The Little Match Girl, which was widely read in China. The language and the way the teacher guided in reading were both somewhat different from the Chinese version and how my Chinese teacher interpreted it in primary school. "I started to think about the Chinese translation of Andersen's fairy tales and what happened during the dissemination of those fairy tales in China and what factors affected the process," Li says. The translation and introduction of Andersen's fairy tales was initiated by some members of the Literary Research Society, which was founded in 1921, and some intellectuals in China who led the New Culture Movement. The initial translation was recommended as outstanding literary work for Chinese writers to study. With more efforts in the translation afterward, the fairy tales gained recognition and acclaim among ordinary readers and children, Li says. Chinese versions of Andersen's fairy tales designed for young readers appeared in the early 1930s. Starting in late 1930s when the country was in turmoil, however, such Western fairy tales drew skepticism, seen by some critics as distant from the real society and preventing children from taking up their responsibilities for the country. In the 1950s, under the influence of the literature of the former Soviet Union and the literary theory with a historical-materialism approach, Andersen was being interpreted as a realism or even critical-realism writer and speaking for the poor. "The emperor's new clothes" and "the ugly duckling" even became household colloquial phrases thanks to textbooks of that time. After the reform and opening-up of China in the late 1970s, Andersen's fairy tales were retranslated by many and were enthusiastically received by Chinese readers in the 1980s. "Andersen has remained one of the rather few Western writers to maintain and even increase his popularity among Chinese readers to such degree that today, many Chinese may actually have a better knowledge of Andersen than most of his compatriots," Eric Messerchmidt, director of Danish Cultural Center in China, said in his congratulatory speech on the presentation of the award to Li. "The Chinese reading of Andersen has grown completely independent of his native Danish settingdue to our different social and historic conditions." Li's examination of a wide range of translations documents the challenging task of bringing relevance and meaning into the context of the times they belong to. She opens people's eyes to how the linguistic subtleties of Andersen's universe have been transformed into the subtleties of Mandarin and the subtleties of Chinese thinking without diluting their artistic uniqueness, Messerchmidt says. Chinese research into Andersen has yet to extend into his other literary works, especially his travel notes, which would help people better understand his fairy tales. The interpretation of Andersen's fairy tales needs to be enriched and broadened, Li says, adding that she plans to continue her research in this field. Huang Zehui contributed to this story. Yoko Morishita (front) in The White-Haired Girl [Photo provided to China Daily] Japan's Matsuyama Ballet Troupe has wrapped up its 15th tour in China by staging the classic ballet The White-Haired Girl in Beijing and Shanghai as well as visiting former premier Zhou Enlai's hometown in Huai'an, Jiangsu province. At 68, the famous Japanese ballerina Yoko Morishita, who is the director of Matsuyama Ballet Troupe, played the lead role in the ballet's recent China tour. The White-Haired Girl premiered in Tokyo in 1955 and was staged in China in 1958. The troupe has visited and performed in China for decades. Besides The White-Haired Girl, the troupe has staged other classic ballets in China, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. In 2009, Matsuyama launched a ballet training school in Beijing, bridging the cultures of the two countries as well as promoting classical ballet education. During the troupe's recent visit to Beijing, it also collaborated with Chaoyang Cultural Center to launch an amateur ballet troupe, which plans to recruit local residents living in the district. Media are briefed about the upcoming exhibition of Chinese modern artists Qi Baishi at a news conference in Seoul on May 25, 2017. [Photo/Chinaculture.org] South Koreans will get their first chance to have a close look at the artwork of Chinese modern art master Qi Baishi, hailed as China's Pablo Picasso. Qi's masterpieces will go on show at the Seoul Arts Center from July 31 to Oct 8, as part of the cultural events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and South Korea. It will also be the first time Qi's works have been showcased in South Korea. The exhibition, From a Carpenter to a Master, will feature 50 works, including scroll paintings, calligraphy and wood carvings. More than 80 antiques Qi collected during his lifetime will also be displayed, together with over 30 calligraphy works by both Chinese and South Korean calligraphers to remember the late master. Qi Baishi (1864-1957), born into a farming family in Central China's Hunan province, became a carpenter at the age of 14 and began studying art at 27. After traveling throughout China, he settled in Beijing in his late 50s and developed a unique style, boldly blending his mark as an individual with traditional Chinese painting methods. A photo by French photographer Valerie Belin is on display in Beijing, May 26, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] A collection of photos taken by Valerie Belin, one of the best-known artists on the French contemporary art scene, are on show at the Three Shadows Photography Art Center in Caocangdi, an art hub in Beijing. The Meta-cliches exhibition ranges from statuesque faces of models and shop-front mannequins that appear alive, to vintage cars that shine over time. The exhibition, which will go to Shanghai after Beijing, is a retrospective of the photographs Belin created from 2007 to 2016. Portrait of a Lady, Seated with a Music Book on her Lap, Dou [Photo/Courtesy of The Leiden Collection] The 17th-century Dutch Golden Age produced several master painters and great pieces such as Jan Vermeer's Young Woman at Virginal, Jan Lievens' Boy in a Cape and Turban and Rembrandt's Self-Portrait with Shaded Eyes. Some of the most refined examples of the period, including those three paintings, will make their debut in China as part of a world tour of The Leiden Collection. The collection has been assembled by American collector couple Thomas S. Kaplan and Daphne Recanati Kaplan during the last decade. It includes some 250 artworks, making it to one of the world's largest and most important accumulations of 17th-century Dutch paintings in private hands. About 70 works from the collection, including 11 Rembrant pieces, will be on show at the National Museum of China in Beijing from June 17 through Sept 3. Li Tian mixes with local people in a store during Florida on her six-month trip to the United States and Cuba. [Photo provided to China Daily] Wearing a loose, white tank top, skintight trousers and a pair of flip-flops, 26-year-old Li Tian presents the aura of a hippie, with long black hair casually flowing past her shoulders. But when she starts talking, the good logic and serious attitude that came from two-and-a-half years of training as a student of life science starts showing. Last July, she gave up her five-year doctorate study at Tsinghua University after careful consideration and negotiation with her parents and supervisor. "There was too much dull, repetitive physical work in the lab. I didn't like it. Besides, I've been fully trained as a scholar at Tsinghua," she says. "I love life science and academic work, but I want to experience something different. I know I want to do things related to education, so I quit." She then started a six-month trip abroad, which could be described as anything but smooth. As a well-trained student, Li used to make detailed plans for life and work. "But after the trip, I think I can face anything unexpected and accept any kind of people, who are considered strange by many others," she says. Last August, she packed a big bag with clothes and enough food and water for eight days in a US desert. Li arrived at the Burning Man Festival in Black Rock Desert in Nevada to experience "a utopian society built based on love and barter and formed by hippies". It was the first stop of her trip. Temperatures can climb to more than 40 C at noon and drop below zero at night. Enormous sandstorms hit the campsites every day. But Li had a good timeevery day, she experienced things that had never happened around her before. "Every kind of strange thing occurred," she says. "There were naked people walking around, but it seemed very normal there." None of the unusual behaviors harmed anyone, she points out. She joined a camp and volunteered to help others repair bicycles. There, she made a lot of friends who helped her in the United States. "The craziest thing that I did there was 'getting married'," she says with a laugh. Her "husband" was a middle-aged man from San Francisco. The "marriage" was effective only during the festival. Eight days later, three other Chinese people who came to the festival drove Li to San Francisco. Before they parted, they went downtown, parked and went sightseeing. When they came back, the rear window of the rented car was broken and every bit of luggage was gone, including Li's passport, credit cards, cellphone and clothes. "Originally, I'd planned to travel around the world, first to the US, and then to Britain, where I had applied for an education program. But all of a sudden, I had to change all my plan," she says. She needed to stay in San Francisco for one month to apply for the permit to travel around the US. "I wrote to the best friend I made at the Burning Man Festival, telling her that I lost my phone in case she would try to contact me," she recalls. "She immediately told my situation to all the members of the volunteer camp, and they all offered to help me, hosting me and giving me clothes. They even raised $500 for my trip. I was so moved." Li also decided not to make so many plans and to instead follow her heart. But she had a principle: to not merely see the most famous tourist attractions but also to experience local people's lives. So she spent at least three weeks in each city, sleeping on locals' couches or booking rooms on Airbnb, the popular online marketplace and hospitality service. From San Francisco, she went on to Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Boston and, finally, New York. At airports, she was always questioned by security about her identity because she had just a permit but no passport or visa. "At first, I was very nervous. But gradually, I could argue with them easily," she says. After more than four months of traveling, she went to Florida and worked on a green farm in Tampa in exchange for room and board. All the animals on the farm had names, she says. Humans were just part of the whole ecosystem and lived in a room with animals: rabbits, chicken, sheep, pigs and even snakes. "When we fed them, we called their names and talked to them just like family members," she says. She left the US and went to Cuba, where she stayed for over one month. After six months abroad, she returned to China via Russia, where she spent three days exploring. Her experiences were invaluable, she says. "Now, I can deal with any kind of accident with a clear head. I've learned not to judge other people's lives. The travel has strengthened my determination to do what I really want to do," she says. She now lives in Beijing on her own savings from scholarships and part-time jobs. Li is preparing to apply for overseas programs in cognitive psychology. A service station for the Beijing-Xinjiang expressway (G7) at Mesozoic-cenozoic in Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo by Deng Hua/Xinhua] The Beijing-Xinjiang expressway (G7), which links Beijing and Urumqi of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is expected to open to traffic by June 30. The new expressway has a length of 2,582 kilometers and crosses Inner Mongolia autonomous region. After put into use, the expressway will shorten the existing route by 1,300 km. It will become the fastest and most convenient access to the sea for the northwestern inland region, connecting Xinjiang Khorgas Port and Tianjin Port in the east. It is designed to be an important component of the New Asian-European Land Bridge. That Beijing and Tokyo both underlined the need to take each other as a potential partner rather than a threat was an important outcome of their just concluded fourth high-level political dialogue. Amid their seemingly endless impasse, that both sides have taken note of the damaging potential of mutual distrust and aspire to improve bilateral relations represents a step toward breaking the deadlock. Many are accustomed to attributing the troubled bilateral ties to Japan's inability to adapt to the new reality of a rising China. But Beijing, too, is in the process trying to figure out what is the best approach to its growing impacts on regional and global affairs and the outside perceptions of them. In that sense, how Beijing and Tokyo see and approach each other will to a great extent determine the geopolitical landscape of Northeast Asia, if not the entire Asia-Pacific. As everybody knows, there is a long shadow of history that prevents the countries from getting really close, especially under the current leadership in Japan which is unwilling to let the past rest in peace. But that does not mean there is no way out. The generally warm relationship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalization of diplomatic ties, which existed until a few years ago, is telling proof that there are ways to prevent the specter of the past from haunting ties. Even if the past cannot be completely laid to rest, properly managing divergences may at least release some positive energy to restore some warmth into bilateral ties. But despite Beijing and Tokyo claiming a shared commitment to regional peace and stability, as well as good global governance, there has been no indication they are willing or able to collaborate. More often than not, Beijing has found Tokyo working against it, whether that is Tokyo's ongoing endeavors to resurrect the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement or its putting what are regional maritime issues on broader international agendas. Relations between the two countries are at an important juncture, and experience shows ties can escape the dark shadows of the past with the joint efforts of people with vision in the two countries, and in so doing bring tangible benefits to the two nations and both peoples. To build on the positive signals that have emerged from Monday's dialogue, the two sides should remind themselves of their original intention for normalizing ties, and pursue the continuous enhancement of bilateral relations based on the four political documents and the four-point agreement reached between them. In this way, the outstanding challenges can be overcome and new opportunities seized. Hideo Onishi, a lawmaker from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has taken a lot of heat for his remark denigrating cancer patients. LDP lawmaker Junko Mihara had said passive smoking causes pain to employees with cancer during a party discussion on May 15 to regulate passive smoking in Japan's restaurants. In an apparent response, Onishi said cancer patients "do not have to work". Drawing fire from lawmakers from the opposition as well as his own party, Onishi apologized several days later for "hurting the feelings" of cancer patients. Onishi is the latest in a long line of gaffe-prone Japanese politicians. Some have walked away scot-free by retracting and apologizing for their slips of the tongue. Japan's Regional Revitalization Minister Kozo Yamamoto apologized after being criticized for calling curators in museums "the No 1 cancer" that needs to be "wiped out" at a seminar on April 16. But when a politician makes a faux pas, the damage can be huge. At a gathering of the LDP lawmakers in April, Japan's Reconstruction Minister Masahiro Imamura said that thankfully the 2011 devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the country's northeast instead of Tokyo. The remark was so outrageous that it prompted an apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said they were "hurtful toward people in disaster-stricken areas and incredibly inappropriate". Imamura later retracted his remark, but it failed to save his job. Abe replaced him with a lawmaker from Fukushima prefecture to minimize the damage. There is no dearth of Japanese politicians making such faux pas. Within weeks of taking office in 2000, former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori stirred up a hornet's nest by describing Japan as a "divine country" centered on the emperor. The remarks evoked memories of Japan's militarism before and during World War II. Among former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara's many verbal gaffes was one calling French a "failed" language in 2005 because it "cannot count numbers". A group of French speakers in Japan sued him for "insulting" the language. At a government meeting on social security reform in 2013, Japanese Vice-Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso said the elderly "should hurry up and die" as they are costing taxpayers huge sums of money in the form of medical care. Aso also said the Nazis provide a suitable model for efforts to revise Japan's pacifist Constitution. "We should proceed quietly," Aso said. "One day people realized that the Weimar constitution had changed into the Nazi constitution. No one had noticed. Why don't we learn from that approach?" Aso took a swipe at the country's elderly again in 2016, saying he wondered how much longer a 90-year-old person intends to live. A politician's gaffe does disservice to foreign relations, too. In 2016, LDP lawmaker Kazuya Maruyama apologized for calling former US president Barack Obama a descendant of slaves at a meeting of Japan's upper house while trying to make a point about the "dynamic reform" in the United States during a debate on constitutional revision in Japan. Maruyama's statements were widely perceived as racist. Though gaffes know no political parties, people in the Abe administration and the ruling LDP, which has no immediate rivals, are getting too big for their breeches. After Japan's reconstruction minister Imamura resigned, LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai complained that the country's media "meticulously" record all the remarks made by politicians and demand their resignation if they utter even one improper sentence. "What a situation. We would be better off without them (media)," Nikai said. Michael Kinsley, the founding editor of the online magazine Slate, once famously defined a gaffe as when a politician tells the truthnot the truth about the world, but a true version of what he/she believes. By this definition, the spontaneous truth blurted out by some Japanese politicians betrays arrogance and complacency, as the Asahi Shimbun's editorial said, which is the hallmark of Abe's leadership. The author is China Daily Tokyo bureau chief. caihong@chinadaily.com.cn The digital economy is carving out new divides between capital and labor, by allowing one company, or a small number of companies, to capture an increasingly large market share. With "superstar" companies operating globally, and dominating markets in multiple countries simultaneously, market concentration in G20 economies has increased considerably in the past 15 years. To address this phenomenon, that is, to restore competition and reduce income inequality between capital and labor, the G20 should create a "World Competition Network". As a larger share of total income shifts to capital across many G20 countries, the World Competition Network would seek to reverse the decline in labor's share of GDP. For a period after World War II, 70 percent of national GDP accounted for labor income, with the rest being capital income. John Maynard Keynes described the stability of the labor share as something of a "miracle". But the rule has since broken down. Between the mid-1980s and today, labor's share of world GDP declined to 58 percent, while that of capital rose to 42 percent. Two forces in today's digital economy are driving the global decline in labor's share of total income. The first is digital technology itself, which is generally biased toward capital. Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning have accelerated the rate at which automation is displacing workers. The second force is the digital economy's "winner-takes-most" markets, which give dominant companies excessive power to raise prices without losing many customers. Today's superstar companies owe their privileged position to digital technology's network effects, whereby a product becomes even more desirable as more people use it. The digital economy has given rise to large companies that have a reduced need for labor. And, once these companies are established and dominate their chosen market, the new economy allows them to pursue anti-competitive measures that prevent actual and potential rivals from challenging their position. And, as economists David Autor, David Dorn, Lawrence F. Katz, Christina Patterson, and John Van Reenen show, the US industries with the fastest-growing market concentration have also seen the largest drop in labor's share of income. This increased market concentration is widening the gap between the companies that own the robots (capital) and the workers whom the robots are replacing (labor). But confronting it will require us to reinvent antitrust for the digital age. As it stands, national competition authorities in the G20 economies are inadequately equipped to regulate corporations that operate globally. Moreover, the G20 cannot simply trust that global competition will correct on its own the tendency toward increased market concentration. As Andrew Bernard has shown for the United States and Thierry Mayer and Gianmarco Ottaviano have demonstrated for Europe, international trade favors large superstar companies. Indeed, globalization may provide advantages to the largest and most productive companies in each industry, causing them to expandand forcing smaller and less-productive companies to exit. As a result, industries become increasingly dominated by superstar companies with a low share of labor in value added. The US is a case in point. It is host to many of today's superstar companies, and yet US antitrust regulators have not been able to restrain those companies' market power. As the G20 looks for ways to address the problem of market concentration, it should take lessons from the US experience, and look for ways to improve upon the US' failures. Rather than starting from scratch, we will need to build on national-level competition authorities' institutional knowledge, and include experienced personnel in the process. The European Competition Network can serve as a blueprint for a G20-level network. The objective of a world competition network is to build an effective legal framework to enforce competition law against companies engaging in cross-border business practices that restrict competition. The network may coordinate investigations and enforcement decisions and develop new guidelines for how to monitor market power and collusive practices in a digital economy. In the past, the G20 has focused on ensuring that multinational companies are not able to take advantage of jurisdictional differences to avoid paying taxes. But the G20 now needs to expand its scope, by recognizing that digital technologies are creating market outcomes that, if unchecked by a new World Competition Network, will continue to favor multinational companies at the expense of workers. The author is chair of international economics at the University of Munich and a senior research fellow at Breugel, the Brussels-based economic think tank. Project Syndicate Waitresses clear tables, where plenty of food was left over, after a dinner for staff members from a State-owned enterprise at a five-star hotel in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Sunday. The dinner included more than 70 tables at a cost of 3,900 yuan ($627) per table. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese people traditionally dine out with relatives and friends during festivals, but on such occasions a lot of food can be easily wasted as people order too many dishes. However, since the "clear your plate" campaign was launched throughout the country in 2013, such waste has remarkably declined, and a series of activities organized nationwide themed "eating up" have received a positive response from the public. At the entry to some restaurants, signs can often be seen reminding customers not to order excessive food. Some restaurants even offer discounts or minor gifts to customers who do not waste any food. As a result of all this, waste of food has been considerably checked in recent years, but there is still no room for complacency. According to a 2016 study from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, between 17 million to 18 million tons of food were wasted each year from 2013 to 2015, equivalent to yearly grain ration for 30 million to 50 million people. Such a huge waste of food indicates that the "clear your plate" campaign on its own is not enough and more effective measures are needed. Governments at various levels should strengthen people's awareness that frugality is a virtue and waste is shameful. Restaurants, meanwhile, should make greater efforts to optimize their operations to reduce any waste resulting from their food preparation and production. And everyone, whether dining at home or in a restaurant, should embrace the "clear your plate" campaign and not waste food. The building of a frugal society and a society without waste of food depends on the efforts and participation of all people. -Xinhuanet.com Chinas One Belt One Road promises to improve global growth, as economic uncertainty runs high and growth remains at relatively lower levels. China has acted as the worlds engine of growth, and its contribution to the global economy through the One Belt One Road initiative has the potential to act as a stimulus for other nations across its wide reach. One Belt One Road (OBOR) has been in existence for less than four years, and strives to undertake projects to connect China and Iran, Laos, Thailand, and Indonesia by rail, to set up economic corridors that promote industry and infrastructure, and to create a network of sea ports in the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, and Eastern Africa. Much of the OBOR project allows for greatly enhanced transportation of people and cargo, promoting economic efficiency. OBOR also aims to promote industrialization in underdeveloped countries. Some of the projects within OBOR have already been completed or are almost finished. For example, China has funded and engaged in construction in the port of Gwadar in Pakistan and on the Gwadar Special Economic Zone. China has already developed Myanmars hydroelectric power sector and constructed a natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries. The longest railway tunnel in Central Asia, the Kamchiq Tunnel,has already been completed by China Rail Group Limited. This means that transportation and production along these new routes has the opportunity to arise now or in the near future. New construction projects have been consistently announced. When President Xi traveled to the Maldives in 2014, for example, the Maldives-China Friendship Bridge project that will link the airport island with the capital was announced. China agreed on a deal with Sri Lanka in late 2016 to develop the port of Hambantota and construct an industrial zone in the vicinity. Many of the countries receiving funding and construction capacity from China are in dire need of economic growth. These include Indonesia, Mongolia, and Bangladesh, where China is constructing high speed rails, Pakistan, where China is building an expressway linking the two largest cities, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Kenya, where China is creating ports, and other low income countries. In these countries, the standard of living is low, decent jobs are often hard to come by, and industrialization remains at low levels. Such poor countries lack public or private funds for infrastructure investment, which generates a vicious cycle of poverty because there are no means to transport goods abroad to produce much-needed growth. As developing countries gain access to international markets, they will also bring about growth in China and among developed countries. China stands to gain as project investments yield returns and provide jobs for construction industry workers. OBOR will also support production of commodities like steel and cement, buoying producer prices and potential domestic investment. Developed countries will benefit from Chinas increasing wealth and rising imports, as well as from expanding opportunities in OBOR countries, as infrastructure in low income countries builds. While developed countries like the United States have turned inward, China is on the forefront of expanding investment and trade across many world regions. Chinas growth machine is therefore spreading to Africa, Asia, and Europe. This is not an easy task, and faces political and economic risks in other countries. However, as part of President Xi Jinpings vision, One Belt One Road has strong momentum behind it, with sufficient financial, logistical, and practical backing to overcome many obstacles. Construction is being carried out rapidly, in time to prompt much-needed global growth in a period of economic challenges. 2017, the year of the Rooster, is also the year that Australia and China celebrate 45 years of diplomatic relations. The last 45 years has seen significant changes in both countries. How will Australias future look in another 45 years? When I talk to my friends about how Australia will fair with the rise of China, I can only see a tremendous amount of opportunities and optimism, not only because we have a large amount of commonalties but because of our culture. Our openness, humour, honesty and our love of sport and food are underlying factors to our strengthening of ties. I prefer to look at the similarities rather than the differences. I see Australian traditional manufacturing still finding it difficult to remain competitive despite the adoption of worlds best practises including Lean Six Sigma and automation. This is without the effect of the Australian dollar. A lot of Australian companies have taken different steps to remain competitive while still trying to keep the major components of production in Australia. Like having some of their labour intensive component manufactured in China while keeping the main production process based here in Australia. Also a lot of Australian companies have taken the plunge and just moved their whole manufacturing operation to China. Unfortunately, when we do this, we let go of our innovation, as we all know it comes from the factory floor as we continue to look for improvements. In saying this, good companies with live manufacturing systems can also counteract this. These can be seen as some of the negatives in our two-way relationship but I believe this is where it ends. I have also seen Australian business turn full circle from out sourcing to on shoring as their international sales have surpassed their Australian sales. As China continues to build One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiatives, this only enhances Australian companies manufacturing in China. The more China opens paths, the more Australian companies can take advantage by riding on the camels back. The facts are simple, Australia has a small population with a low PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) compared to the other G20 countries. So Australia needs to trade. Australia has a good opportunity to take advantage of the initiatives that China is making, by utilising low cost manufacturing, allowing Australian designed and developed products to be competitive globally. By opening up, these trade routes only helps. Combined with our other markets that remain competitive such as education, tourism and agriculture, they allow Australia to have a two-way-income stream that is dependent on OBOR initiative more market exposure for Australian products manufactured in China and more money for the Chinese people to spend on Australian products or in Australia. Australia's two-way trade with China pushed past $140 billion for the first time in 2016. The Australia-China Business Council has shown that trade with China generated the equivalent of $10,000 per Australian household in the past year alone. So these are, by any measure, important relationships. Australia's outgoing ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, recently said that: "Arguably, no country has benefited more from China's rise than Australia. And no country wants to see China's economic growth sustained more than Australia." As countries develop and engage more closely with the world around them, they tend to do this in three broad phases: the first consists of trade in goods, the second in services, and the third sees increased investment flowing in both directions. This is a dynamic we're watching play out between Australia and China right now, and Australia needs to view investment from China as an opportunity, not a threat. Trade in goods between China and Australia is booming. China now takes a quarter of Australia's exports, and there are only six other countries in the world that import more from China than we do. The figures are astounding: China represents almost 48 per cent of global iron ore demand, 41 per cent of zinc, 39 per cent of copper, and 36 per cent of nickel. It is also a collaboration partner in research and innovation in the automotive, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Australia is also finding success in the delivery of services. The two heavy hitters are education and tourism. There are currently 136,000 Chinese students studying across Australia. A decade ago, there were just 9000. As for tourism next year, visitors from China are set to outnumber those from anywhere else. The third phase of development lies in increased investment. The US has invested almost $550bn in Australia, the UK $472bn, and Japan $117bn. China, on the other hand, already the second largest economy in the world, which ranks 7th has only invested just $74.9bn. In my humble view, China should be number one. Australia needs a National Water Scheme, could China be the investor? This is only the tip of the iceberg as our Chinese neighbours become richer having more expendable income while also getting a better handle on the English language. It is being stated that China will become the largest English speaking nation in the world in two decades. This will mean they will be more open to new leisure time activities that we take for granted in Australia such as camping, fishing and all the other crazy stuff we do. I think Australians have the best ability to show the Chinese how to have fun. Lets face it we are good at it and we enjoy seeing others have fun also, especially if its their first time. Its just plain common sense if China expands its trade routes, Australia will benefit! It could be said that Australia more than any other country wants to see these opportunities succeed. Put it simply, its a win-win for Australia and China. As China grows by default other Asian neighbours will also benefit increasing the prosperity of the region a by-product of this is peace. Its true we are in the best place geographically and we have a fantastic culture that we can exploit to our mutual benefit. Our culture has been influenced by our Chinese immigrants that have been in Australia since the 1800s truly an important ingredient in the makeup of our great country. French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) give a joint press conference at the Chateau de Versailles before the opening of an exhibition marking 300 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries in Versailles, France, May 29, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron met Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Versailles, wherein they discussed the fight against terrorism, as well as the Ukrainian and Syrian conflicts, the two leaders said during a joint press conference held at the end of their exchange. "On Syria, I remind you...our priority is the fight against terrorism, in particular Daesh or the Islamic State (IS)," Macron said, underling that France must "reinforce" its partnership with Russia in order to "assure stability, democratic transition with a red line: the use of chemical weapons by whoever it may be." For his part, Putin affirmed that where Syria was concerned "we have judged that we cannot fight against the terrorist threat in destroying the (Syrian) state." "What is more important is the fight against terrorism. The French president proposed to put in place a working group that the experts can go to Moscow as they can to Paris," he added. Concerning the conflict in Ukraine, Macron reasserted his will to reach a de-escalation of the conflict. "Our wish is that an exchange with Germany and Ukraine can be held as soon as possible, and that a full report can be established," he indicated. He confirmed that "at this stage, the G7 had discussions which didn't exclude an escalation if necessary. My wish is that there would not be an escalation. We will have a Normandy format discussion in the coming days." The French president also spoke about the persecutions of homosexuals in Chechnya. "I reminded President Putin of the importance for France of the respect of all people. We have evoked the case of LGBT people in Chechnya and NGOs in Russia. We have agreed to have extremely regular monitoring," he said. Putin affirmed for his part that the two had tried to find common ground. "I am persuaded that the first interests of France and Russia go beyond these points of friction. Economic relations are growing," he said. LOS ANGELES -- The United States launched a missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California Tuesday afternoon in a test meant to intercept an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) over the Pacific. According to report of ABC, the US fired the ballistic missile with a mock warhead from Marshall Island, located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, then launched an interceptor from Vandenberg Base, 250 kilometers northwest to Los Angeles. The last time the US launched an intercept test was in June 2014 and it was successful. Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis was quoted as saying that US military could improve and learn from each test. "The system that we test today is a developmental system that's being flown for the first time," he told ABC before the test. "We look forward to understanding the results so we continue to mature the system and stay ahead of the threat." The Little Mermaid statue is seen painted in red in what local authorities say is an act of vandalism, in Copenhagen, Denmark May 30, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] COPENHAGEN, Denmark Danish officials on Tuesday hosed down Copenhagen's famed Little Mermaid after the statue was found doused with red paint. On the ground in front of the statue was written in red, in English, "Denmark defend the whales of the Faeroe Islands" likely a reference to the hunting of pilot whales in the North Atlantic islands during the summer months, Danish media say. Authorities on the Faeroe Islands allow islanders to drive herds of pilot whales into shallow waters, where they are stabbed to death. The meat and blubber are shared afterward in the non-commercial slaughter, a practice that dates from the late 16th century. The whales are not an endangered species. Island officials say that the pilot whale population in the eastern North Atlantic is abundant with about 778,000 whales, with approximately 100,000 around the Faroe Islands. Islanders hunt and kill on average 800 pilot whales each year. The Little Mermaid was created by Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen in tribute to the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. Sitting on a rock at the entrance of the Copenhagen harbor since 1913, she also been a popular target for vandals, who have blown her off her perch, beheaded her, and painted her. AP LOS ANGELES - US military officials said an interceptor missile launched Tuesday from a California military base shot down a simulated incoming warhead as part of a US defense system test. The ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California, 250 km northwest to Los Angeles, at a mock-up of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Officials said the interceptor missile travelled at 16,000 miles (27,040 km) per hour and hit its target over the Pacific Ocean. The test came a day after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) tested its ninth ballistic missile this year that travelled 280 miles (473 km) before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the test had been planned for some time and was not timed specifically as a response to the DPRK. "In a broad sense, North Korea is one of reasons why we have this capability," Davis said. "North Korea has expanded the size and the sophistication of its ballistic missile forces," he said in a statement. The US interceptor has an uneven track record, having succeeded nine times out of 17 attempts against missiles in test since 1999, although the most recent test in June 2014 was a success. "They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland," Davis said. The United States has 26 interceptors based at Fort Greely in Alaska and four at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Last week, the Pentagon presented its 2018 budget to Congress, proposing spending 7.9 billion US dollars on missile defense, including 1.5 billion dollars for the ground-based mid-course defense program. Kenyan students receive training on how to drive the train during a lesson with their Chinese teacher. The women will be among the first female train drivers in the African country's history. Xinhua China takes key role in African country's rail development NAIROBI - A railway built by the British government to tighten control over its African colony eventually played a part in ending its rule. This is one oddity Kenya's meter gauge railway has left for historians. In Nairobi's Railway Museum, Kenya's fond memories of its only operating railway are on display. The museum received more visitors recently as news of a Standard Gauge Railway to be opened soon sent curious locals here to find out "where they were, and where they are going" Curator Maurice Barasa said. The meter gauge, initially called the Uganda Railway, was built between 1896 and 1901, a time when the land had yet to acquire the name Kenya. For British colonists, it was a vast yet insignificant land that stood between them and the rich resources in Uganda. To open up Uganda, to tighten control over the "British East Africa" and to the then notorious slave trade, the British government decided to lay a rail line to link the port of Mombasa and Uganda. Yet investing heavily on a railway in Africa was deemed crazy by some British parliamentarians, one of whom wrote a poem calling the railway a "lunatic line". So this is how the nickname "lunatic line" came into being - created by misinformed British politicians, some of whom had never been to Africa and underestimated the continent's potential, said Barasa. Yet the sobriquet passed on for a number of reasons, including its extremely difficult construction by Indian workers sent to Kenya by the British authority. "It was a very hard process. There was no machinery to do the construction as we see now. They (workers) often used their bare hands to carry the rails and do the actual building," Barasa said. According to the museum, 2,493 workers had died by the time the 931-kilometer line finished construction, often prey to lions wandering in the savanna, tropical diseases like malaria and attacks by locals resisting the "iron snake" invasion. Chasing fun This would probably have surprised the British noblemen who later boarded the trains to chase fun as depicted in railway advertisements in the 1920s, one of which bid East Africa as "winter home for aristocrats" with a caricature showing a passenger playing with a lion like a pet cat. They may be even more astonished to learn of the railway's association with Kenya's independence. "Using the railway, nationalists were able to travel from one end of Kenya to the other to join political rallies to encourage Kenyans to fight for independence. It was also said people were using the railway to transport guns to those fighting for independence." Now, more than a century later, the East African country is expecting another railway to oil its economic take-off. The 480 km SGR, built by the China Road and Bridge Corp, began construction in 2014 with an investment of $3.8 billion, which is 90 percent funded by China's Exim Bank. The curator has high hopes for the faster new trains. "Quick movement of people and goods will help grow the economy by making it easier to sell and import goods. The SGR will also create many job opportunities, like signalers, drivers, engineers and crews ..." Barasa said. "This time, it is not a lunatic line. It is instead a very sane and intelligent line," he said. Xinhua MOSUL, Iraq - It is the early days of the holy month of Ramadan. Everybody seeks for pleasure of Ramadan's traditional games, buying new clothes and different kinds of food for Iftar (break the daylight fasting). Ramadan is an Islamic religious observance of the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It begins with the sight of the new moon and continues for 30 days. For Muslims, Ramadan is considered the holiest month of the Islamic year. They all respect Ramadan which is characterized by fasting through the entire month from dawn until sunset, as they refrain from eating, drinking and all sinful thoughts and deeds. However, for the people of the battleground city of Mosul, Ramadan's traditions are still luxuries although many of the residents feel they have somehow regained the special taste of the holy month as life is returning to normal. "No way to compare Ramadan this year with the previous Ramadan. We were living in prison. Everything was forbidden; I can't go to market alone and I must wear hijab," said Um Karam, in her 40s, as she was walking without hijab at a popular market in one of the newly-liberated neighborhoods from the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants. The fasting month of Ramadan has its special taste and smell with Iraqis, who used to spend its long nights with much of fun and traditional activities. "I love Ramadan because it makes me feel connected in myself, with my family and with my people. I am happy to bring my life back, like before Daesh (IS group), and I will be happier if the security forces free all the remaining areas in Mosul and all Iraq from the rule of the terrorist group," Karam told Xinhua while shopping for food and juices for Iftar table of her family. Traditionally, the life in Ramadan used to be more like celebrations, when all family members and sometimes friends would gather to break their fast at Iftar, which is normally a rich evening meal for breaking the dawn-to-sunset fast, with a variety of dishes. Also in Ramadan tradition, families sometimes go for a walk to the crowded thoroughfare in their neighborhoods, and some youngsters would gather at ice cream shops or at coffee houses to play games only played in Ramadan. In Mosul, the residents were deprived from Ramadan's traditions and relaxation and were forced to follow the brutal rules of the extremist IS group. Nowadays in the liberated areas people have started to regain their old nights of fun in Ramadan. Not exactly like they wish, but this is the beginning. The month of May is more enlightening than the others of the year: It's a time when millions of young men and women bid farewell to their alma maters and get ready for the next chapter of their lives; it's a time that iconic and pioneering people are invited to talk at commencement ceremonies and try to impress and influence future movers and shakers. Among the many speakers addressing graduates at universities such as Columbia, UC-Berkeley, Maryland and Harvard, founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has provoked thoughts and created social buzz around his address on May 25 at Harvard's 366th commencement. Beyond the billionaire's role in social media and connecting people around the world, the Harvard dropout told his fellow alumni that, "I'm here to tell you finding your purpose isn't enough. The challenge for our generation is creating a world where everyone has a sense of purpose." He went on to say that "purpose is that sense that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we are needed, that we have something better ahead to work for. Purpose is what creates true happiness." Coincidentally, a group of college graduates from Renmin University, one of the most prestigious higher-learning institutions in China, are fiercely debating the purpose of life and education. In early May, local media published a profile story depicting the ups and downs of Wu Jihong, 43, who was enrolled at Renmin in 1994, studying information management. Now a poverty-stricken rural woman, she is a mom of six living on social assistance in an impoverished mountainous region of Jiangxi province. Upon her graduation in 1998, Wu began job-hunting in Beijing, competing against approximately 1 million graduates the same year. She managed to pass the national civil servants' entrance exam but failed in her interview. She then applied to several management positions in the capital city and suburban towns, with no luck. She finally left Beijing for familiar places such as Guangdong and Jiangxi and tried a few temporary positions. In the past 19 years, Wu married twice, ended up living with a farmer in her remote hometown and gave birth to five children in her second marriage. The news, besides its description of Wu's everyday struggles and her heart-wrenching challenges to feed her children, ignited a heated discussion among people from all walks of life in China. Some said an outdated education system should be blamed for its disconnect with society, teaching something not applicable in the real life. Some said Wu herself should take full responsibility for her own life. "She seemed to stop dreaming at some point," one said. Several weeks ago, Wu's teachers and classmates at Renmin University visited her, offering her assistance on updating her job-hunting and interviewing skills. What has gone wrong? People around Wu are asking. Maybe Zuckerberg knows the answer. "When our parents graduated, purpose reliably came from your job, your church, your community," he said. "But today, technology and automation are eliminating many jobs. Membership in communities is declining. Many people feel disconnected and depressed and are trying to fill a void," he said. "Change starts locally. Even global changes start small - with people like us. In our generation, the struggle of whether we connect more, whether we achieve our biggest opportunities, comes down to this - your ability to build communities and create a world where every single person has a sense of purpose," he added. Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com Smoke rises from the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan May 31, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] Latest: At least 80 killed, over 350 wounded in Kabul blast - Afghan Public Health Ministry KABUL - A powerful car bombing rocked a diplomatic district in the central part of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Wednesday morning, leaving casualties and damage, sources and witnesses said. "The blast occurred roughly at 08:25 am (local time) at 17th street of Wazir Akbar Khan locality. The huge explosion left tens of people killed and injured and damaged dozen vehicles running and nearby buildings," witness Ahmad Fahim told Xinhua. About 60 injured people were admitted to nearby hospitals after the blast, local TV channel Tolo News quoted health officials as saying. Local TV channels showed the damaged buildings and cars on the blast site. "Among other office buildings located at the area are an intelligence agency office, a local TV channel, a mobile phone company as well as German Embassy building," the witness said. Security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures. Several warning shots were also fired by the security forces. The blast caused a plume of grey smoke to rise above the scene. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. WASHINGTON - An armed man was taken into custody Tuesday night at Orlando International Airport in the US southeastern state of Florida, authorities said. "Gunman in custody," Orlando Police tweeted at 10:08 pm (1508 GMT). "Everyone is safe." The airport was closed hours earlier after reports of a man with a weapon found in a rental car area. "There is a guy out there with a gun. Take cover. He has a huge gun," local media quoted a witness as saying. "There is no active shooter. No shots fired. Suspect is contained. Will post updates as we receive them," Orlando Police tweeted 40 minutes later. At 09:27 pm (1427 GMT), Orlando Police tweeted that a crisis negotiator was speaking with the gunman. Travelers posted photos and videos to social media that showed the police presence at the airport. There was minimal impact to airport operations, the airport wrote on Twitter. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye sits as her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil arrives for her trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, May 23, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] SEOUL - South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday demanded seven years in prison against Choi Soon-sil, a decades-long confidante of the ousted president Park Geun-hye, over corruption allegations. Choi was taken into custody and stood trial over a string of corruption allegations, including bribery and closed-door intervention in state affairs. The imprisonment demand was for Choi's wrongdoing to allow her daughter to receive illegal academic favors at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. A Seoul court, tasked with the trial of Choi's case, decided to combine Choi and Park's cases together. Prosecutors had yet to demand the penalty against other corruption charges of Choi and Park. If convicted of bribery, Choi and Park would face at least 10 years in prison. Chung Yoo-ra, Choi's daughter, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Wednesday afternoon. The 21-year-old was extradited from Denmark where she was in custody for about five months. She repeatedly refused the summons by South Korean prosecutors for her alleged involvement in the corruption allegations surrounding her mother. The Danish court decided to extradite Chung, but she appealed the ruling. She withdrew the appeal last week. Prosecutors were expected to seek an arrest warrant for Chung for questioning. Chung was suspected of receiving illegal finance assistance from Samsung Group, the country's biggest conglomerate, for her equestrian training. MOSCOW - The Russian Navy successfully struck all Islamic State targets in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The Admiral Essen frigate and Krasnodar submarine launched four Kalibr cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean against the IS positions with heavy equipment and militant manpower transferred from Raqqa, the IS stronghold in northern Syria, the ministry said in a statement. The statement also said Russia had informed the US, Turkish and Israeli military forces of the strike in advance. Two female engine drivers gesture before the operations of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Mombasa, Kenya, on May 31, 2017. Kenya began operations on the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Wednesday. [Photo/Xinhua] Kenya launched a major Chinese-African project, the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway (SGR) on Wednesday, just a day before the June 1 national holiday that commemorates the 54th anniversary of the country becoming a sovereign state. President Uhuru Kenyatta said the $3.80 billion infrastructure will be called the "Madaraka" Express, which means freedom in Swahili. "We celebrate a new beginning, a new chapter to Kenya's history by building an infrastructure more than a century after the Kenya-Uganda meter-gauge railway was laid down by the colonialists," he said during the launch ceremony in Mombasa, the country's second largest city. "It formed the basis of a new nation and we are building on that." Wang Yong, special envoy of President Xi Jinping and a State Councilor of China, spoke at the ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of Kenyans, and said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is excited that the railway is now operational. "This railway connecting Mombasa and Nairobi is an important early-harvest outcome of the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by Xi, as well as the 10 cooperation plans of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit. It is also a landmark project in China-Africa cooperation on regional networks of high-speed rail, expressway and aviation, African industrialization and industrial capacity," Wang said in Mombasa. "The launch of this regional transportation artery is a testament that the China-Kenya friendship has entered into a new era of mutually beneficial cooperation," he said. It will stimulate the economic and social development of Kenya and the region, facilitate connectivity in East Africa, accelerate African industrialization and promote "Belt and Road" cooperation in Africa's inland areas to benefit local people, and hence is of high and profound significance, Wang added. He noted that with a commitment to quality, the Chinese company involved has demonstrated, with concrete actions, Chinese quality, Chinese speed, Chinese solution and Chinese spirit. That sets an example in implementing China's policy of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith in developing relations with African countries and in upholding the values of friendship, justice and shared interests, as set out by Xi. During the construction of the $3.8 billion project, China provided 44,000 training opportunities to local employees, helped train over 3,000 railway technicians, and laid out a plan for building a railway technical academy, indicating the Kenyan people are fully involved in building, promoting and benefiting from railway development. The railway's launch will make transport between the capital city and its largest port city more convenient, significantly lower the logistics cost and boost industrial development and economic prosperity along the route. The passenger train will run at speeds of 120 kilometers per hour while freight will move at 80km/h. Contact the writers at Panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn and Lucymorangi@chinadaily.com.cn WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the world would know his decision on the Paris climate agreement over the next few days. "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. Citing senior US officials familiar with Trump's plan, several US mainstream media reported Wednesday morning that Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris Accord adopted by 196 nations in 2015. However, CNN quoted US officials speaking on condition of anonymity as saying that Trump's position on the Paris Accord could still change until he makes his decision public. The Trump administration was initially planning to make a final decision on the Paris Accord early this month. However, the decision was delayed till the G7 meeting in Sicily, Italy. However, Trump left the G7 summit without agreeing to endorse the Paris Accord to cut global carbon emissions, raising eyebrows among leaders of US key allies in the group. A proper approach to historical issues and the Taiwan question is needed as the political basis of China-Japan ties and is crucial for its steady, lasting development, State Councilor Yang Jiechi said on Wednesday. Yang, who visited Japan from Monday through Wednesday, told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of his concerns in a Tokyo meeting. Abe said regarding the Taiwan question, Japan will continue to adhere to principles stated clearly in the bilateral joint statement issued in 1972 for normalizing ties, and there is no change of such a position. Observers noted that Yang highlighted the major issues at a time Tokyo has recently raised concern in China on these matters, particularly regarding the one-China policy, adding worries to the improvement of the ties. At the meeting, Yang said Beijing values its ties with Japan. The two countries should make joint efforts to enhance the positive factors and control the negatives in their relations while encouraging the momentum behind improving ties and development, Yang said. Yang said China hopes Japan comes up with concrete policies and actions to honor its commitments and the consensus that the two countries are each other's cooperative partners rather than threats, Yang said. Abe said Japan hopes to improve and develop its relations with China, and it seeks close contacts with Beijing at all levels. Tokyo hopes to properly manage and control the divergence between the two countries and boost their communication and coordination on global and regional affairs, Abe added. Yang also reiterated Beijing's position and proposals on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. During his stay in Japan, Yang met with other senior Japanese officials, when he also urged Tokyo to honor its commitments on historical issues and the Taiwan question. Yang also spoke about the East China Sea situation and urged Tokyo to cautiously comment or take actions over the issue. Zhou Yongsheng, professor on Japan studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said Yang's trip has been made to see whether Japan is sincere or at what level its sincerity is regarding improved relations with China The trip also helps Beijing get to know what areas Tokyo wants to cooperate on more in the near future, he said. Liu Jiangyong, vice-dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said although the two sides have made some efforts to help improve their relationship, Tokyo has not totally broken away with its behavior regarding maritime issues. People take pictures of female giant panda Wu Wen as she explores her new enclosure during an official unveiling ceremony at Ouwehands Zoo on Tuesday in Rhenen, the Netherlands. EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP RHENEN, Netherlands The two giant pandas living at Ouwehands Zoo enchanted hundreds of admirers in their long-awaited debut on Tuesday. Six weeks after their April 12 arrival, Wu Wen, the female, tentatively stepped outdoors after being cleared from quarantine. Nonchalant at the gaze of dozens of children, she threw herself at the first bamboo plant she saw and started to eat. "What an appetite! Will she eat up all the bamboo planted in the enclosure in one week?" one child asked. "Don't worry," his pal answered. "She has plenty of bamboo stocked in her room. This is just for fun." Xinhua BERLIN - China and Germany can forge ahead and upgrade their existing cooperation in the new international circumstances, Chinese ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde said in a recent interview with Xinhua. Shi noted that the year 2017 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang kicks off his visit to Germany and Belgium on Wednesday. During the three-day visit, he will meet with European leaders in an effort to enhance mutual political trust and expand pragmatic cooperation between the two sides, to inject fresh impetus into China's relations with the two countries. During the years, great changes have taken place in the two countries, as Germany rose from a divided state into a unified and top European country. Meanwhile China, from a poor and backward country, has become the second largest economy and a responsible world power, Shi said. Ties between the two countries have weathered global upheavals and sustained a growing momentum, bringing tangible benefits to peoples of the two countries, enhancing the development of China-EU relationship and peace and stability of the world, Shi said. He called the ties a "genuine, win-win, all-around strategic partnership." Shi said that China-Germany ties play a leading and stabilizing role in the China-EU relationship when Europe is facing a complex situation with great uncertainties brewing in the world. On scientific innovation collaboration, Shi called on governmental departments in charge of science, enterprises, universities and research institutes of the two countries to show the great foresight to innovate ways of cooperation and deepen cooperation so as to facilitate economic restructuring and industrial progress. German enterprises have the edge in science and technology but face a limited size of market. Nevertheless, if they take advantage of China's market, talents, capitals and policies, there will be infinite possibilities, he said. Talking on the threats of protectionism, Shi called on China and the EU to join hands in the fight against it and promote free trade. Shi reiterated China's stance on facilitating free trade and investment and voiced hope that Germany can also continue to wield its influence in this respect. According to Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China invested over 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in Germany in 2016, a 258.6-percent increase year-on-year. In the same year, Germany pumped 392 projects in China with an investment volume of 2.71 billion dollars. Ministries of China and Germany set up a dialogue mechanism in 2015 and signed a trove of memorandums of understanding and cooperative agreements to promote bilateral exchanges in intelligent manufacturing. The two countries have also established work teams to cooperate in rule-making and criteria-setting for intelligent manufacturing and Industry 4.0. BEIJING - Premier Li Keqiang's upcoming visit to Europe from May 31 to June 2 is expected to further deepen and enrich China's relations with the European Union (EU) at a time of increasing global uncertainty. During the three-day visit, Li will travel to Germany and Belgium, where he will meet with European leaders in an effort to enhance mutual political trust and expand pragmatic cooperation between the two sides, to inject fresh impetus into China's relations with the two countries. Root for a multipolar world This will be Li's ninth visit to Europe and third to Germany since he took office as the premier in 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a frequent visitor to China. Both European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel visited China last year. Such frequent high-level exchanges between China and the EU testify the common grounds and interests shared by the two sides despite an ever-changing international landscape, and showcase their common desire for cooperation and development. One of the most prominent features of China-EU interaction is their regular meetings, which have served as an important platform for Chinese and European leaders to work together and steadily promote the China-EU ties, noted Mei Zhaorong, former Chinese ambassador to Germany. In Berlin, Li is scheduled to attend an annual meeting between the Chinese premier and the German chancellor, a mechanism that has been in place since 2004. In Brussels, the Chinese premier will attend the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting. "These regular meetings have played a very positive role in strengthening mutual political trust and deepening practical cooperation between the two sides, and have kept pushing forward the China-EU relationship," said Mei. Currently, Europe is facing a multitude of challenges such as the debt crisis, terror threats and the refugee crisis. With the isolationism signaled by US President Donald Trump, the United States has yet been clear on its policy towards Europe. Despite these challenges, China has been pursuing a consistent and positive policy towards the EU, and has remained confident in its cooperation with the bloc, noted Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of China Institute of International Studies. China is a supporter of European integration - the basis for a united, prosperous and stable EU and a strong euro - which is conducive to the development of a multipolar world featuring economic globalization and cultural diversification. Chinese premier arrives in Germany for official visit Xinhua | Updated: 2017-05-31 22:02 BERLIN - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived Wednesday for an official visit to Germany. Li is in Berlin to attend an annual meeting between the Chinese premier and German chancellor, a mechanism that has been in place since 2004. This is Li's third Germany visit since he took office as the premier in 2013. Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Berlin on Wednesday at the start of his official visit to Germany, which will highlight cooperation around innovation and which came at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Chinese premier Li Keqiang arrives in Berlin for his official visit to Germany May 31st, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Li and Merkel will meet several times, and hold the yearly meeting between the two heads of government. The leaders will attend a forum on innovation cooperation and talk with business executives from both countries. Upon his arrival, Li said his visit to Germany will "consolidate and develop bilateral ties, bringing the China-Germany relationship to a new height, which will also contribute to global stability and growth". He said China and Germany should enhance communication and cooperation, particularly at a time when growth in the global economy remains sluggish and trade protectionism is growing. During his stay, Li and Merkel will jointly witness the signing of a number of documents and meet the press. In addition, Li will speak at a China-Germany forum on innovation. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. Ties between the countries have developed steadily, Li said. Gu Junli, a German studies expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The synergy of the Made in China 2025 strategy and Germany's Industry 4.0 campaign is likely to be a major topic of the premier's meetings. "Germany is seeking intelligent manufacturing, while China is trying to deeply integrate manufacturing with the internet, to have the power of the market improve the pattern and quality of the manufacturing industry," Gu said. The nations' different approaches provide a huge opportunity for cooperation, and Li's visit is expected to expand and deepen the cooperation, he added. Gu said key areas of cooperation may be renewable energy and environmental protection, both growing pillars of German industry. Shi Mingde, China's ambassador to Germany, welcomed Li at the airport, along with high-level officials from the German government. Shi said in an interview before Li's visit that 8,000 German companies are operating in China, with a total investment of more than 60 billion euros ($67 billion), while nearly 2,000 Chinese enterprises operate in Germany. Those companies will be a key part of advancing cooperation. Two strong nations joining hands will have an impact far beyond their boundaries, Shi added. He cited the potential for German involvement in construction projects that will be started under the Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative incorporates the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and aims to increase infrastructure connections between Asia, Europe, and other areas. Shi also mentioned the possibility of Beijing and Berlin jointly influencing the establishment of global standards for intelligent manufacturing. The innovation forum that Li will attend is expected to offer a platform for the forging of new, innovative ways to cooperate in fields including smart manufacturing, electric vehicle technology, and innovation by young people, he said. Hubertus Troska, a member of Daimler AG with special responsibility for China, said the trends of connectivity, autonomous driving, sharing, and electric mobility are revolutionizing the auto industry, "perhaps nowhere faster than in China". Li Xiaokun and Zhou Wa in Beijing contributed to this story. Premier meeting with German chancellor and business leaders Chinese premier Li Keqiang arrives in Berlin for his official visit to Germany May 31st, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Berlin on Wednesday, starting a two-day visit highlighting cooperation on innovation. Li and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the two nations' yearly prime ministers meeting that same day, with innovation high on the agenda. The two leaders also planned to attend a forum on the topic and talk with business executives from both sides. On his arrival, Li said his visit is meant to build on the Sino-German friendship, and to promote innovation while enhancing cooperation between the two countries. Gu Junli, a German studies expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The synergy of the Made in China 2025 strategy and Germany's Industry 4.0 campaign is likely to be a major topic of the premiers' meeting. "Germany is seeking intelligent manufacturing, while China is trying to deeply integrate manufacturing with the internet, to have the power of the market improve the pattern and quality of the manufacturing industry." The nations' different approaches provide a huge opportunity for cooperation, and Li's visit is expected to expand and deepen the cooperation, he said. Gu said key areas may be renewable energy and environmental protection, which are growing pillar industries in Germany. Ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde said in an interview with Chinese media before the visit that "manufacturing industries of the two nations are highly complementary. China is a big manufacturing country, while Germany is a strong one. "A new round of industrial revolution is speeding up, gaining momentum ... which has brought an unprecedented opportunity for strategic cooperation." Shi said there are 8,000 German companies operating in China with a total investment volume of more than 60 billion euros ($67 billion), while nearly 2,000 Chinese enterprises are operating in Germany. Those companies will be a key strength in advancing cooperation, he said. Two strong nations joining hands will have an effect far beyond their boundaries, Shi said. He cited the potential for construction under the Belt and Road Initiative. That refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which aim to increase connections between Asia, Europe and other areas. He also mentioned the possibility for Beijing and Berlin to jointly influence the establishment of global standards for intelligent manufacturing. The forum during Li's visit is expected to forge new, innovative ways to cooperate in fields such as smart manufacturing, electric vehicles and innovation by young people, he said. Hubertus Troska, a member of Daimler AG's board who is responsible for China, said the trends of connectivity, autonomous driving, sharing and electric mobility are revolutionizing the auto industry, "perhaps nowhere faster than in China". "In line with China's economic development plan, we will meet both opportunities and challenges head-on with further innovations and upgraded manufacturing," he said in a written interview with China Daily. Contact the writers at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn Zhang Yue in Berlin contributed to this story A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression. Hotel Kartli, as Salakaias current home is called even though it hasnt been a hotel for many decades houses roughly 300 families uprooted by war more than two decades ago. In 1992, in the chaotic aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the western region of Abkhazia, a 3,000-square-mile chunk of land along the Black Sea, declared independence from Georgia. Over the next 13 months, battles raged between Georgian and Russian-backed Abkhaz forces, devastating the resort region. Some 300,000 ethnic Georgians, including Salakaia and his family, were forced out of their homes. Kartli sits on the edges of a man-made reservoir, a 20-minute taxi ride from the bustle of downtown Tbilisi, but feels much farther away. In Tbilisis city center, commuters jostle their way onto the metro and young people crowd into smoky cafes serving artisanal teas. Plaza, downtown Tbilisi, Georgia At Kartli, cows bed down in makeshift pens inside the stripped concrete shell of what was once an outbuilding, and people maintain small plots of land for subsistence farming. On cold days, the smell of wood smoke lingers in the air, emanating from rogue stovepipes jutting from the walls of the eight-story building one of many modifications over the years. Graffiti in Georgian on Kartlis crumbling facade reads, I Love Sokhumi the capital of Abkhazia, just 260 miles west, where Salakaia and most of his neighbors lived before the war. At 16, Irakli Salakaia fled with his mother and sister over mountains when fighting reached their hometown, Sokhumi, in the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Eventually, they settled in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi. Today, Salakaia lives in two rooms with his wife, two daughters and his mother. He works in construction when theres work and his wife, Nana Bigvava, a cheerful 33-year-old with dimpled cheeks, works at a factory that manufactures sausage. Theyve been married since 1998 and met in Kartli, where they both ended up after the war. (Top) Salakaia; his wife, Nana Bigvava; and their two daughters, Lizzie and Salome, share meals around a squat table in the one common space of the family's apartment. (Bottom left) Salome and Lizzie hang out in the kitchen with their mom, cooking borscht. (Bottom right) Salakaia's mother, Nunu Dzidzvava, looks for him through the window of the apartment she shares with the family. Back in Sokhumi, before the war, Salakaias mother had been a biology teacher and his father managed a chicken factory. Salakaia was 16 and had just finished high school when war broke out. When Abkhaz forces took control of the city on Sept. 27, 1993, the choice was clear: flee or die. Salakaias father refused to leave, insisting on staying where his other son Salakaias brother, who had died young of an illness was buried. But Salakaia, his mother and his sister joined thousands of others streaming out of the city toward the snowy Caucasus Mountains the only available escape route. We had only what we were wearing, and strong hearts, he says. Many people fleeing over the mountains didnt survive the journey. But Salakaia and his family eventually made it to Zugdidi, a city inside Georgian-controlled territory. From there, they boarded a Ukrainian military helicopter providing humanitarian evacuations and landed in Tbilisi, where they found shelter with two dozen other people in the two-bedroom apartment of a distant relative. By the time they finally made it to Kartli, they had been on the move for six months. (Photo : USMDA) EKV and its major components (left) and a GBI mounting an EKV. Advertisement An "ICBM-class target" fired toward the U. S. mainland from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands was destroyed over the Pacific Ocean by an "Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle" (EKV) in a test meant to demonstrate the effectiveness of U.S. anti-ballistic missile defenses. The target fired from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, 6,600 km from the mainland, was "successfully intercepted" at 3:30 p.m. ET today by a Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The GBI consists of the boost vehicle (or the rocket itself) and an EKV. The U.S. should have about 44 GBIs deployed by the end of this year. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency a few days announced this missile intercept test, which has been compared to bullet hitting a bullet in flight. Some analysts warned, however, this test was precisely that, a test in which the ICBM target flew along a pre-programmed path known to the operators of the GBI. No such foreknowledge will be available if North Korea launches a nuclear warhead-armed ICBM at the continental U.S. The successful intercept, however, was welcome propaganda for the U.S. A failure would have been a severe embarrassment and would have emboldened North Korea to stay the course in its nuclear weapons development program. U.S. anxiety over the outcome of the test is understandable because the EKV has a less than sterling success record. EKV is saddled with accuracy problems and posted a string of test failures in 2016. In all, the EKV has succeeded in destroying only nine of 17 targets since 1999, a success rate of only 53 percent. Today's successful intercept raises EKV's success rate to 56 percent, or 10 success in 18 tests. It was the first successful EKV intercept since 2008. This problem-plagued kill vehicle is due to be replaced by the new Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV). The U.S. plans to field the RKV around 2020 and conduct an intercept test for this kill vehicle in 2019. The U.S. is showing a combination of irritation and concern at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's persistence in developing an ICBM capable of being armed with a nuclear warhead. Pentagon officials say Kim has ordered his scientists to accelerate the development of a nuclear-armed ICBM. Kim will eventually succeed if "left unchecked," said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Both the RKV and EKV are ground-based interceptors for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency designed to defend the U.S. mainland against ICBM attacks. Advertisement TagsICBM-class target, Kwajalein Atoll, Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, EKV, Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (Photo : USCG) USCGC Healy (WAGB-20), a medium icebreaker. Advertisement The United States Coast Guard will meet fire with fire and will build a new generation of combat icebreakers armed with anti-ship missiles and heavier gun armament in response to similar plans by Russia. The battle for dominance in the now more accessible Arctic Circle is leading to an "Arctic Arms Race" that will soon involve NATO, and probably China, as well. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Current plans call for the Coast Guard to build three medium and three heavy icebreakers with accelerated delivery of the first heavy icebreaker in 2023, said Admiral Paul Zukunft, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. He said the growing threat from Russia calls for more icebreakers and heavier weapons for these ships. "We need to look differently ... at what an icebreaker does," he said. "We need to reserve space, weight and power if we need to strap a cruise missile package on it." The Coast Guard last February awarded contracts worth $ 20 million to five firms for design studies expected to be completed within 12 months. The Coast Guard plans to award contracts for the first of the new icebreakers in 2019. Russia recently laid the keel for its first heavily armed "combat icebreaker" designed to break Arctic ice and sink warship of the U.S. Navy. The lead ship of this new class called Project 23550 -- the RFS Ivan Papanin -- will be launched in 2019. Work on the second ship, RFS Nikolay Zubov, is expected to begin in 2018. Russian state controlled media claims the Papanin will have more features than its foreign icebreakers, none of which are as heavily armed as the new Russian icebreaker. It said the Papanin's weapons "will be able to inflict strikes on groups of ships and ground targets." Project 23550 combat icebreakers will combine the capabilities of a warship with the qualities of an icebreaker, cargo and rescue ship. Papanin will deploy at least eight 3M-54TE Club-N anti-ship cruise missiles with a range of 220 km. Her gun armament will be the AK-176MA 76.2 mm automatic naval gun capable of firing up to 125 rounds per minute. USCG has just one heavy icebreaker, the 40-year-old USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10), and one medium icebreaker, the USCGC Healy (WAGB-20), used primarily for research expeditions. In contrast, the Russian Coast Guard (officially the Coast Guard of the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of Russia) operates 40 icebreakers and is building more ships, including two ships that will be armed with cruise missiles and fast-firing deck guns. Advertisement TagsUnited States Coast Guard, Russia, Arctic Circle, Admiral Paul Zukunft, Russian coast guard The Barents 2017 Russian-Norwegian rescue exercises have got underway in the Barents Sea. Search and rescue units of the Russian Northern Fleet are taking part in the drills during which the sides will team up for the first time ever to rehearse an oil spill emergency cleanup operation, RIA Novosti reported citing the Northern Fleet's official spokesman Captain First Class Vadim Serga. The Nikolai Chiker rescue and tow vessel, an IL-38 plane and a Ka-27 search and rescue helicopter will represent the Northern Fleet at Barents 2017. This year, general command of the maneuvers is being exercised by the sea rescue and coordination center of the Administration of the Murmansk Sea Port. "Today, the search and rescue forces of the Northern Fleet involved in the Barents 2017 Russian-Norwegian maneuvers sailed off to the Barents Sea from the Northern Fleet's main base in Severomorsk. The main aim of the drills is to practice joint efforts in searching for and rescuing people in distress at sea and preventing the pollution of a water area by oil products in the context of the intensive industrial development of the Arctic. For the first time ever, search and rescue units of the Northern Fleet will participate in rehearsing emergency response and cleanup efforts for a fuel spill," Captain Serga said. Joining Barents 2017 will be units of the Murmansk branches of the Administration of Western Arctic Sea Ports rescue and coordination center, the Sea Rescue Service of the Russian Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot), the State Air Traffic Management Corporation and other organizations. The Norwegian side will send ships, vessels and planes of the Joint Rescue and Coordination Center of Northern Norway, the coastal administration, the coast guard, units from air traffic management centers and services in the cities of Vard, Bod, Vads and Kirkenes, and other government structures. The Barents exercises are the only joint search and rescue drills conducted by Russia and Norway in the Arctic region on an annual basis. They are held under a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in searching for missing people and people in distress at sea, which was signed on October 4, 1995. Russia and Norway exercise command of the maneuvers by rotation. The Northern Fleet's Pamir tow vessel and Russian planes and helicopters participated in last year's Barents drills under Norway's command. At least 80 people are dead and hundreds are wounded after a deadly bombing in Afghanistans capital of Kabul. According to USA Today, the Islamic State has taken responsibility for the blast which occurred outside the German Embassy in the busy, central part of Kabul. The bomb was reportedly hidden in a sewage tanker and when it detonated, the surrounding area was thrown into chaos. The blast shook my taxi. At first, I thought Kabul has been hit by an earthquake, said a witness to the blast, taxi driver Mohammad Yasin. But the chaos and screams that followed suggested something more sinister. When the smoke cleared, I saw body parts and charred bodies strewn all over the road. Some of the survivors were running for help, covered in their bloodied clothes while those who could not move were screaming for help," he added. "I had just opened the shop and was settling down with three of my employees when there was a bang. A huge bang. It felt like a thunder. The glass on the shop's windows broke, there was fire and dust everywhere, testified another local, Masood Toarozai, who owns a tailoring shop in the area. It is currently the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, when the Islamic State and other terrorist groups have historically increased their attacks. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack, stating, "the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, as well as the head of NATO, also condemned the attack. Photo courtesy: Thinkstock/Pontus Edenberg Publication date: May 31, 2017 A 7.62 mm PKT machine gun is mounted coaxially to the right of the main armament but the manual 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on the standard T-72 has been replaced by a remotely operated weapon station armed with the NSVT anti-aircraft heavy machine gun. The ballistic protection of the To keep its mobility, the T-72 Scarab is motorized with the V-84 engine developing 618 kW replacing the original engine V-46-6. It can run at a maximum road speed of 60 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km. In addition the observation and sighting instruments have been upgraded in order to be able to operate in the passive mode and the single observation prisms have been added laser filters. The T-72 Scarab of the Czech Company Excalibur keeps the main armament of the standard Soviet-made T-72 main battle tank which consists of one 125 mm (2A46) smoothbore gun fitted with a light-alloy thermal sleeve and a bore evacuator. The turret is fitted with a carousel automatic loader mounted on the turret floor and also on the rear wall of the turret.A 7.62 mm PKT machine gun is mounted coaxially to the right of the main armament but the manual 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on the standard T-72 has been replaced by a remotely operated weapon station armed with the NSVT anti-aircraft heavy machine gun.The ballistic protection of the T-72 was substantially increased while maintaining its outstanding mobility. For the T-72 Scarab, the front of the hull is fitted with ERA Explosive Reactive Armour, front and sides of the turret are equipped with passive armour and rear part of the turret is protected with wire cage armour.To keep its mobility, the T-72 Scarab is motorized with the V-84 engine developing 618 kW replacing the original engine V-46-6. It can run at a maximum road speed of 60 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km.In addition the observation and sighting instruments have been upgraded in order to be able to operate in the passive mode and the single observation prisms have been added laser filters. The Pentagon has announced that an American rocket shot down a mock warhead over the Pacific yesterday. It was the first such test to target an intercontinental missile like North Korea is developing. The test came the same day North Korea claimed that it had successfully launched a precision-guided ballistic missile. Analysts believe the missile is being prepared to attack American aircraft carriers. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration is alleging that United Airlines operated a plane that was not in airworthy condition during twenty-three international and domestic flights. It proposes a $435,000 civil penalty against the airline. You likely wont die from a North Korean missile or an unsafe airplane today. But tomorrow is promised to no one. A truck bombing near the Afghan presidential palace killed at least eighty people this morning. A young woman who survived last years Orlando nightclub massacre died in a highway car crash last Sunday. A four-year-old girl fell into a Utah river on Memorial Day and drowned. Her mother and a bystander who jumped into the river to save the girl also drowned. We are all one day closer to eternity than ever before. Thats why now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). This Time headline caught my eye: Extreme Ways Man Has Tried to Cheat Death. Among them: Cleopatra supposedly bathed in donkeys milk. Romans drank blood from gladiators. An alchemist claimed that medicine from a monkeys brain would lengthen life up to five hundred years. A future Nobel laureate promoted drinking sour milk. A doctor tried to rejuvenate the elderly by performing blood transfusions from young donors. Medical science is more advanced than ever before, but its still true: the only safe way to face tomorrow is to be ready to meet God today. Consider Panamas Gen. Manuel Noriega, who died Monday at the age of eighty-three. His 1990 conversion to Christianity while in prison made headlines. Yesterday, The Washington Post ran an article on his faith. Despite its skeptical tone, it reported Noriegas testimony: I received Jesus Christ as my Saviour the 15th May of 1990 at 11 a.m. Noriega later told my friend Luis Palau, Ive found a new commander in chief: Jesus Christ. He pointed to the Bible in his prison cell and said, Theres the book that tells me what his will is for my life. It has changed me. For a species that is so afraid of death, youd think more of us would be more inclined to follow Noriegas example. But our culture suffers from opposing deceptions: were so self-righteous that we dont think we need Jesus to save us, or were so guilt-ridden that we dont think he can. In Break Open the Sky: Saving our Faith from a Culture of Fear, Stephan Bauman writes: Accepting that we are loved for no other reason than the God of the universe loves usits in his very being and nature to do sois the hardest thing you and I will ever do. Grace is nonreciprocal. However uncertain tomorrow seems, this fact is still true today: you cannot make Jesus love you any more than he does right now. Or any less. Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com Publication date: May 31, 2017 For more from the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, please visit www.denisonforum.org. Do you want to live a life in whole-hearted pursuit of loving God and others? Read today's First15 at www.first15.org. Khmer is not an easy language, Kate Shellnutt told me after her reporting trip to Cambodia for this months cover story. English transliteration doesnt really resemble the Khmer pronunciation. And the words for hello, thank you, and yeah only get you so far when attempting to give directions. Still, her tuk-tuk driver smiled, nodded, and indicated that he knew where she wanted to go. And then, every day, hed just take me somewhere Christian: a church, a Christian daycare, a Christian NGO, she said. He had picked up that I kept going to Christian places for my reporting. Hed point to the sign and be like, Here it is! Christian! I kept having to say, actually its not this church or this NGO, and had to get someone to explain to him. But the driver understood that those churches and ministries were all one big thing. Soon enough, Kate understood it, too. I attend a Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Augusta, Georgia, and (as I mention in the article) the CMA is a big deal in Cambodia because of its long missionary history and its evangelism at the refugee camps. Several times, Id ask a Cambodian where they went to church or how they came to Christ. When theyd say, CMA, it was so special to say, Me too! and have that moment of connection with people half a world away. I didnt meet too many American NGO workersmaybe 12 to 15 totalbut two of them had connections with my former church back in Houston and we had mutual friends! A world of hundreds of millions of Christians can seem remarkably small at times. The nerves and sinews of the Body of Christ ... 1 You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access. Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. Four years ago, eight Indonesian Christians living in a New Jersey church received some encouraging news: despite overstaying their visas for more than a decade, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would not be deporting them. This year, ICE changed its mind. Four of the men attended an annual check-in meeting with ICE officials in Newark in March, and authorities asked them to return with their passports in May. But when the men returned last week, this time joined by a lawyer, they were arrested and sent to an immigration detention center. Yesterday, one was deported back to Indonesia. "His attorney got a call at 10 a.m. that his stay of removal was denied, stated Seth Kaper-Dale, Arino Massies pastor. Almost two hours later, Kaper-Dale heard from Massie. Arino called to say, Pastor, Im already on the plane. Im headed for Japan. Thanks for all the efforts of the community. Tell the community I love them. Tell my son I love him, ... 1 Hundreds of Lutherans gathered this week for a global commemoration of the Reformation. But they didnt do it in Germany, where their namesake Martin Luther was born and where he hammered out his 95 theses. Instead, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) gathered in Namibia, a country of just 2.5 million in southern Africa. Assemblies of the LWF move between regions, spokesperson Pauline Mumia told CT. Africa was up in 2017, and while LWF is very much aware of the roots of the Reformation in Wittenberg, Germany, the organization has also been commemorating the anniversary for three years now. The focus of the commemoration includes recognition of the global nature of the Reformation through the places where we meet, Mumia said. The June 2016 LWF Council meeting was in Wittenberg, while the joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration in 2016 was held in Sweden. In the venue we express both the dynamism and the global nature of the Reformation, ... 1 Ask Americans about their personal views on moral issues, and they are more likely than ever to hold a liberal position. Ask them about the countrys moral values, and theyre becoming more and more pessimistic. The church today finds itself in a precarious position, as an ethical shift pushes public opinion in favor of stances that Christians have traditionally sided against. Meanwhile, Americans from all political and theological stripes have their own reasons to be concerned over moral decline. In a recent poll, Gallup found a widening embrace for more than a dozen moral issues, including record-high acceptance for gay relationships, divorce, pornography, polygamy, and physician-assisted suicide. Of the 19 issues queried about, Americans have become more liberal on 13 of them (with 10 hitting record highs) and stayed consistent on 6most notably abortion, which 43 percent of Americans and 34 percent of Protestants deem morally acceptable. Americans have not shifted more ... 1 Believing and belonging, without behaving. This is how the Pew Research Center summarizes the surge of Christianity in Europe around the fallen Iron Curtain roughly 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The comeback of religion in a region once dominated by atheist regimes is striking, states Pew in its latest report. Today, only 14 percent of the regions population identify as atheists, agnostics, or nones. By comparison, 57 percent identify as Orthodox, and another 18 percent as Catholics. In a massive study based on face-to-face interviews with 25,000 adults in 18 countries, Pew examined how national and religious identities have converged over the decades in Central and Eastern Europe. The result is one of the most thorough accountings of what Orthodox Christians (and their neighbors) believe and do. Pew surveyed citizens in Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, ... 1 [Updated at 11:15 a.m. Sunday, May 28] Terrorists ambushed a Coptic church bus trip on Friday near Minya in Upper Egypt, killing at least 28 and injuring 23, including many children. Egypts interior ministry reported that three vehicles of 8 to 10 gunmen dressed in military uniforms opened fire on the Christian convoy, which was on its way to the fourth-century St. Samuel the Confessor Monastery in Samalout, 140 miles south of Cairo. Reuters reported that the terrorists boarded the bus, stole jewelry from the women, and filmed the executions. They also left behind leaflets celebrating the start of Ramadan, the month-long observance of Muslim fasting and prayer that began that night. The attack was later claimed by ISIS, and follows church bombings by its affiliates on Palm Sunday and in advance of Christmas. Last week, Egyptian authorities arrested 48 individuals, securing confessions of belonging to an ISIS-linked terrorist cell. Survivors of the bus attack reported that the terrorists ... 1 Update (June 20): Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law on Thursday, June 15. ----- Christian adoption agencies in Texas are awaiting their governors signature on a new law safeguarding the option to use faith-based requirements in placing children in adoptive and foster homes. About a quarter of child welfare providers in the Lone Star State are religiously affiliated groups. But over the past few years, these organizations began to reduce their involvement, fearing legal backlash over policies that restrict prospective parents by faith, sexuality, or marital status. Almost all Catholic Charities offices in the state have stopped taking on children in state custody. Republican Governor Greg Abbotts signature on the law, which passed in the state legislature last week, would give them the go-ahead to resume and expand their efforts. The Lone Star State would become the second in the country to authorize state-funded agencies to discriminate on the basis of their ... 1 The recent arrest of two American citizens working in North Korea has brought attention to the curious case of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), an American-founded, evangelical-affiliated school in the capital city of the worlds most notorious dictatorship. Its hard to think of a less likely place for American Christians to teach than North Korea, a country the United States has not had diplomatic ties with for over 60 years and where religious freedom does not exist. Kim Hak Song and Kim Sang Duk, both Christians and professors teaching at PUST, the only private university in North Korea, were detained last month on charges of hostile acts or intent against the North Korean governmentthe same allegation that kept Youth With a Mission missionary Kenneth Bae in prison for more than two years, longer than any other American arrested in the country. (Bae was finally released, in ailing health, in 2014.) PUST, which CT featured in 2012, ... 1 If youre an evangelical entering Americas militaryand about 4 out of 10 service members areyoure going to have to get more specific than that. The general categories of Protestant, no denominational preference and Protestant, other churches have been removed from the Department of Defense (DoD) list of recognized religions as the US military seeks out more detailed designations for its 1.3 million service members. This spring, the DoD doubled the religious identities that military personnel can declare on official paperwork and dog tags. The list now totals 216 different affiliations [full list below]. About 150 of them are Protestant groups, with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) remaining the most popular individual denomination in the Armed Forces. Evangelicals without denominational ties can choose from options including Reformed churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, Evangelical Church Alliance, evangelical ... 1 This year's edition is taking place at a time of growing security risks and rising governments' willingness to invest in defence technology. At IDET 2017, a total of 390 national and international companies present latest products for military and security forces. The IDET event is very important for the domestic defence and security industries, a traditionally very strong sector that exports around 40 to 50 % of their productions. The Brno Exhibition Centre is attended by NATO military delegations as well as NATO Support Agency and EDA, Foreign Ministries and Security Delegations. The largest exhibitors for this year include companies such as Czechoslovak Group, British BAE Systems International, Omnipol, STV Group, VOP, Agados, ERA and the German Company Rheinmetall. Eleven companies and two government institutions represent Turkey at IDET this year. Their goal is to strengthen the relationship between Czech and Turkish companies in the defence industry as well as cooperation between the two governments. "This is the reason why we have prepared a Czech-Turkish Industrial Forum on IDET's first day." said the First Secretary of the Turkish Embassy in Prague and Deputy Ambassador Fethi Etem. He added that the opportunity for the Turkish defense industry to participate to defense fair as IDET defense industry is very important fair and at the same time, it is a great honor for Turkey to be the honored guest for edition 2017 of IDET. home World British spies say 23,000 jihadists remain at large in the UK British intelligence officers have said that there may be as many as 23,000 jihadist extremists living in the U.K. Government officials have stated that 3,000 people from the group have been deemed as a threat and are under investigation or active monitoring, while the other 20,000 have been featured in previous inquiries and were categorized as posing a "residual risk," according to The Australian. Ben Wallace, the UK Security Minister, said that the existence of a database of 23,000 potential terrorists "reveal the scale of the challenge from terrorism in the 21st century." "Never has it been more important to invest in intelligence-led policing," he remarked. The Australian noted that MI5 is only capable of investigating about 3,000 individuals at a time. People are added to and removed from the list of "live" suspects based on assessments of who poses the greatest risks. Sources say that the pool of former suspects has grown to 20,000 during the years of Islamist threat since 2001. There is concern that the efforts of intelligence agencies to detect former subjects of interest who have returned to extremism have been inadequate. The revelation comes as the authorities released new photos of 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who carried out the suicide bombing in Manchester that claimed 22 lives and injured 119 others. The newly released images were the first to show what the bombing suspect looked like when he carried out the attack. The police are searching 14 locations in connection with the attack, while 11 men are being detained on suspicion of terror offenses. "We have made significant progress in this fast moving and complex investigation, working with the national counter terrorism policing network and UK intelligence partners and securing the arrests of 11 people who remain in custody," said a statement from Greater Manchester Police. "The level of resources we have available to us remains the same as we continue to take positive action so you will notice additional officers, including armed officers, on patrol especially at a number of events this weekend to ensure the security and safety of everyone but it's important that people remain alert and vigilant," it continued. The British government has lowered the terror threat level from "critical" to "severe" on Saturday following the arrests, which means that an attack is still highly likely if not imminent. home World Chinese authorities cut off power supply of churches for refusing to install surveillance cameras Chinese authorities cut off the power supply of two churches in Zhejiang province after they refused to install surveillance cameras in their buildings. According to China Aid, the authorities have cut off the power and water supply of Gesancun Church in Wenzhou, Zhejiang on Wednesday, claiming that the 400a500-member church is overly crowded and poses a fire hazard. The government has barred the church from using the building until the issues were resolved. Despite the claim that the power supply was terminated for safety reasons, Christians suspect that it was done in retaliation against churches who refused to comply with the order to install surveillance cameras in their buildings. The authorities have stated that it will improve the security of the churches, but there were concerns that it will make it easier for them to monitor religious activity. Government officials also cut off the power supply of an unnamed church, according to reports. China Aid noted that Gensancun Church and the unnamed church were the only places of worship in the vicinity without surveillance cameras. Gensancun Church has purchased a diesel tank to continue conducting its religious services, but churchgoers fear that it is only a matter of time before the government decides to use force against the church. "We are trying our best to avoid the installation, but the church is too weak to fight against the government. We can't do anything if the government decides to take violent measures," a church member said. In late March, hundreds of police officers stormed the Changlin Church in Wenzhou, Zhejiang and forcibly installed surveillance cameras. Some Christians who tried to resist their efforts were beaten and arrested, and some parts of the church, including the gate, were destroyed so that they could enter the building. South China Morning Post reported that the government issued the order to install surveillance cameras in churches in Wenzhou late last year and began implementing it before the Lunar New Year holiday in January. A Christian in Wenzhou said last month that some churchgoers had to be hospitalized after trying to fight the government officials who were forcibly installing the cameras. Pastor Yan Xiaojie, a missionary in the city, said that the installation of the cameras reminded him of the "cross demolitions" in 2014. During the cross removal campaign, about 360 crosses were removed and one church was demolished, drawing criticisms from international religious rights organizations. home World Chinese authorities impose $1 million fine on banned house church Chinese authorities have imposed a fine amounting to 7 million yuan ($1,020,200 USD) on a banned house church in China's central Guizhou province. On the evening of May 19, Su Tianfu, one of the pastors of Huoshi Church, had received a notice from officials of the Nanming District Religious Affairs Bureau, claiming he and another pastor owed a fine of over 7 million yuan. The other pastor, Yang Hua, has been convicted of "divulging state secrets" and was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by a court in Guizhou in January. According to Su, the original fine on the church was 100,000 yuan ($14,500 USD), but the government raised it to more than 200,000 yuan ($29,000 USD). He said that the authorities confiscated the private property of the church officials, including his private residence and the car of Huoshi Church accountant Zhang Xiuhong, because they did not have enough money to pay the fine. Zhang was sentenced to five years in prison in February after she was found guilty of "illegal business operations." The administrative penalty notice claimed that Su and Yang violated the law because they established religious sites without authorization. The bureau's investigation had concluded that the two pastors had received donations totaling 7,053,710.68 yuan between April 2009 and November 2015, when the church was shut down. "By this 7 million yuan total, the government meant the total sum of donations the church received from the very first gathering on April 10, 2009 to the last one on Dec. 9, 2015, when the church was banned," Su told China Aid. "The [officials] confiscated the church's account book after arresting Zhang Xiuhong. They used that to calculate the donation money we have received," he added. Su fears that the authorities may attempt to confiscate the private properties of church members since the church is not able to pay the 7 million yuan fine. The donations received by the church have been spent on operating costs and daily expenses, including helping church members in trouble. Yang's wife, Wang Hongwu, also shared Su's concern that the government might confiscate the houses of church members. "It's certain that the government will take everything away. I have no idea how this happened. This penalty does not make sense," she said. Su is now planning to apply for administrative review and to ask the government to revoke the fine. home World Christian persecution in North Korea is 'on Par With Nero's Rome,' says human rights activist A prominent human rights activist has said that the level of persecution experienced by Christians in North Korea is comparable to the persecution faced by the Early Christian Church in ancient Rome under Emperor Nero. At a conference organized by the religious freedom advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC), a North Korean defector and some activists recounted the human rights abuses committed by the Communist Kim regime against its citizens. During a morning introduction at the Rayburn Office Building, human rights advocates with years of experience in dealing with North Korea detailed how the Communist regime nearly wiped out Christianity in the nation which was once known as the "Jerusalem of the East." Greg Scarlatoiu, the executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, noted that North Korea was once the "cradle of the Korean Presbyterian Church," and it was once common to see two churches on the same street corner. He narrated that the regime began its crackdown on Christianity in 1946, when the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea forced closure of churches with congregations that did not meet a predetermined required number of people. "The committee began to forbid Protestant and Catholic in-house assemblies and made Sunday a work day and Monday a rest day. And, this was just the beginning," Scarlatoiu said, as reported by The Christian Post. "Under the pretext that the sound of religious songs disturbed public life, the same committee asked churches to relocate. Communist Party agitators were inserted into Christian communities and church assemblies. They began criticizing the sermons as being unprogressive," he added. In 1962, then-leader Kim Il-sung told the regime's security agency that North Korea "cannot move toward a common society with religious people," according to the human rights advocate. Scarlatoiu said that the Communist leader then told government officials that deacons and other church officials have to be put on trial and be punished. He further noted that about a quarter of the North Korean population held some religious belief in 1948, but the statistical data today indicate that the number is below one percent. He explained that Kim Il-sung and his successors have rejected religion as the "opium of the people" and have killed hundreds of thousands of North Koreans over the years. North Korea has been ranked by Open Doors USA as the top persecutor of Christians for the past 15 years. Scarlatoiu noted that there are state-run churches in North Korea, but he asserted that they are being run by government officials disguised as pastors and priests. "One can confidently say that it is the Kim family regime that has taken religious persecution, in particular the persecution of Christians, to a level, perhaps, on par with Nero's Rome as well as the Assyrian, Greek and Armenian genocide of World War I or the Yazidi genocide today," he said. North Korean citizens are split up into social classes according to their political risk to the regime. According to Liberty in North Korea, about 27 percent of the population are assigned to the "hostile class," which is composed of political dissidents, religious people, capitalists and their descendants. Despite the lack of access to the isolated nation, it is estimated that at least 120,000 people are being tortured, beaten and forced to do hard labor in the regime's prison camps. home US Christian school says student was banned from graduation not for her pregnancy but for immorality Heritage Academy, a Christian school in Hagerstown, Maryland, has clarified that the pregnant student who was banned from the school's graduation ceremony was not being punished because of her pregnancy but for "immoral" sexual behavior. Maddi Runkles, an 18-year-old student at the academy, had served as the president of the Student Council and an officer in the Key Club at the school. But she was removed from her position and barred from attending her graduation ceremony after the school discovered that she was pregnant. After her situation received media attention, the school received criticisms from pro-life advocates, who said that she should not be punished for her decision to choose life for her unborn baby. On Tuesday, David R. Hobbs, the school's administrator, stated in a letter to the school community that Runkles was not being punished because of her pregnancy. "Let me clarify some facts. Maddi is being disciplined, not because she's pregnant, but because she was immoral," said Hobbs, according to The Christian Post. The school administrator noted that every student from 5th through 12th grade have signed a pledge to abstain from pre-marital sex, drugs and alcohol. Runkles complained that while the other students have been caught breaking some of the school's rules, she was treated differently. "We sign a student code at the beginning of each school year that we'll refrain from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and pre-marital sex, stuff like that," she told Breitbart News. "And other kids at my school have been caught drunk, defacing public property, and other things like that, but they've never suffered a punishment as severe as mine," she added. Hobbs stated in his letter that the school is "pleased that she has chosen to not abort her son. However, her immorality is the original choice she made that began this situation." Runkles said that Hobbs initially wanted to announce to the entire school that she had broken her pledge to avoid premarital sex, but she decided to publicly confess her pregnancy to the school herself. The student was told earlier that she has to finish her studies at home, but the school decided to let her attend classes after her parents, along with her classmates and other parents, appealed to Hobbs to let her remain in school. Runkles is still not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony, but she will still receive her high school diploma. She has expressed her plans to attend community college to earn a business degree. She noted that the father is involved in her pregnancy, but they have no plans to marry at this time. home World Church of England considers holding 'baptism-style' services for transgender people The Church of England has announced its plans to vote on holding a "baptism-style" service for members who have changed their gender. The controversial motion will be debated at the forthcoming General Synod meeting in July, which is the Church's first meeting since the rejection of a bishop's report recommending to uphold the traditional teaching that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. The Church's parliament will also debate on whether to condemn gay conversion therapy and re-examine its teaching on marriage. According to Christian Today, the motion to condemn gay conversion therapy has received strong support from synod members, and proponents say it will likely face opposition from a small segment of hardline conservatives. But opponents have suggested that many middle-of-the-road synod members will also raise their concerns about the motion. If passed, the Church would co-sign a statement from several professional bodies, including the UK Council for Psychotherapy and The Royal College of General Practitioners, to declare that sexual orientations and gender identities are not mental health disorders. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has backed the church's traditional teaching on marriage, but he had also urged Christians to repent for the "hurt and pain" the Church has inflicted on homosexuals. The General Synod will hold a question and answer session in an effort to probe the direction the Church is taking and what Welby means by his call for "radical Christian inclusion." Meanwhile, the Church's most senior transgender priest, Rev. Rachel Mann, welcomed the proposal to hold special services to mark a transgender person's transition. "Trans people feel powerfully called to be recognised in their 'chosen' name. An opportunity to be publicly introduced to God is therefore significant. I think this is what the proposed liturgy aims to do," said Mann. "It will be symbolically powerful. The extent to which it is [a form of] baptism will be debated by General Synod of course, but this liturgy is a welcome move to affirm Trans people," she continued. Conservative Synod member Andrea Williams has expressed her dismay that the motion will even be debated by at the General Synod. "We are sensitive to people who feel uncomfortable with their sex, but Christian teaching is that God made us man and woman. The Church should help people to see the beauty of their God-given sex instead of confusing them," said Williams, who also serves as the director of the pressure group Christian Concern. home World Coptic Christians in Ramadan bus attack were killed for refusing to renounce their faith The 29 Coptic Christians who were killed by the Islamic State at the start of Ramadan on Friday were reportedly asked to renounce their faith but they refused. The Coptic Christians were on their way to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor when ISIS militants stopped their bus and opened fire on them. But survivors of the attack said that the militants made the victims descend from the bus and asked them one by one whether they were Christians before they were shot by the assailants. Father Rashed, one of the group's chaplains, recounted that the victims were asked to renounce their faith and profess belief in Islam, but all of them, including the children, refused. He said that the victims were then killed with a gunshot to the head or the throat. Two girls, aged 2 and 4, were among the victims, according to a list released by the local government in Minya, where the attack took place. Another 26 people, including nine children, sustained injuries, but only 11 of them remained hospitalized on Sunday. A young woman, who was one of the injured, said that the attackers told the women to surrender their jewelry before they opened fire, killing the men first before shooting some of the women. She noted that the gunmen wore masks and military uniforms. A video clip that was purportedly taken shortly after the attack showed at least four or five bodies of men lying on the desert sand, as women and other men screamed and cried next to the bodies. Egypt responded to the attack by launching a series of airstrikes against suspected militant bases where the perpetrators were said to have trained, according to The Associated Press. The police and soldiers are conducting a large-scale manhunt, backed by helicopters, in the vast deserts to the west of the site of the attack, but no arrests have been made as yet. During the funerals for the victims that were held over the weekend, there were some chants demanding retribution. There were also people who chanted, "With our lives and blood, we sacrifice ourselves for the cross" and "Oh, God!" After learning the details of the attack, Pope Francis declared the victims as "martyrs," telling the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square on Sunday that the murdered Coptic Christians, "were killed after having refused to renounce their Christian faith." "May the Lord welcome these courageous witnesses, these martyrs, in his peace and convert the hearts of the violent ones," the pope said. home World Egypt launches air strikes in Libya following deadly bus attack against Coptic Christians Egypt has launched air strikes targeting terrorist bases in Libya on Friday in response to the killing of 29 Coptic Christians in the south of Cairo earlier that day. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the shooting attack on two buses and a truck carrying Coptic Christians in the Egyptian province of Minya. The Copts were on their way to the monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, 85 miles south of Cairo, when the convoy was stopped by up to 10 armed men dressed as soldiers. At least two children, aged two and four, were among those who were killed after the gunmen opened fire on the Copts. Just hours after the incident, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi ordered the air strikes on what he called terrorist camps in Libya. "Egypt will not hesitate to strike terrorist camps anywhere," he said. According to CBC, six air strikes were carried out near Derna in eastern Libya at around sundown. The Egyptian military said that the operation had been conducted after it was determined that the camps had produced the gunmen who were responsible for attacking the Coptic Christians on Friday morning. "The terrorist incident that took place today will not pass unnoticed. We are currently targeting the camps where the terrorists are trained," Sissi said. East Libyan forces, who are close allies of Egypt, said they participated in the air raids, which had targeted a number of sites used by forces linked to al-Qaeda. A resident in Derna said that the camps targeted in the attacks have been used by fighters belonging to the Majlis al-Shura militant group. Majlis al-Shura spokesperson Mohamed al-Mansouri claimed in a video that the raids did not hit any of the group's camps, but instead hit civilian areas. According to the Guardian, more air strikes were conducted against Libyan terrorist bases on Saturday, with a warning that there may be more raids coming, possibly including groundstrikes. Sissi had declared a state of emergency in Egypt in April following the suicide bombings that killed 45 people on two Coptic churches on Palm Sunday. Some say the attack on Friday has undermined the Egyptian government's efforts to boost its security after the Palm Sunday bombings. "This proves that applying the state of emergency doesn't provide safety and Coptic Christians are still heavily targeted," said Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher on religious affairs at the Cairo-based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. ISIS has described Coptic Christians as its "favorite prey" when the group took credit for the attack that killed 29 worshippers in a Coptic cathedral in Cairo in December 2016. Sissi had promised Pope Towadros II, leader of the Coptic church in Egypt, that the government will not rest easy until the perpetrators of Friday's attack were punished. home US Franklin Graham warns jihadists that there are no 70 virgins waiting for them in afterlife Evangelist Franklin Graham has warned suicide bombers, following the terrorist attack in Manchester, England on Monday, that they will be greeted with hellfire in the afterlife rather than 70 virgins. The Islamic State terror group has taken credit for the suicide bombing that left 22 dead and 59 injured. The blast occurred as thousands of people were leaving the Manchester Arena at around 10:30 p.m. after an Ariana Grande concert. "One of the soldiers of the Caliphate was able to place an explosive device within a gathering of the Crusaders in the city of Manchester," a statement from ISIS said. In a Facebook post on Monday, Graham condemned the suicide attack and urged his followers to pray for the victims and their families. "Islam targets the weak. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the horrific carnage of Monday night's bombing in Manchester, England, targeting children, teens, and their parents who were attending a concert. They're proud of this despicable and cowardly act," the evangelist wrote. Graham, who has been criticized in the past for denouncing the religion of Islam, did not hold back in his commentary on the terrorist attack. The evangelist went on to describe Islam as a "threat to our very way of life" and warned that there might be more attacks in the future. He urged U.S. politicians to find ways to secure the nation's border to ensure that those who are entering the country "support the freedoms and liberties we hold dear." The suicide bomber had been identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who was born in Manchester in 1994 to parents who fled from Libya to Britain at the height of Muammar Gaddafi's regime. The police have confirmed that a "network" of suspects are under investigation and a total of six people have already been arrested. In a follow-up post, Graham said he agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump, who described terrorists as "evil losers." The evangelist noted that jihadists are being taught that killing nonbelievers would get them to paradise where 70 virgins await them. However, he warned that this is not what they will find in the afterlife. "I've got news for them a Hell awaits, with real flames and real fire," Graham wrote. Graham stated that Heaven is also a real place, and he contended that there is only one way to reach it. He said that he is praying that Muslims around the world would "come to know the truth and put their faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone." home World Homo naledi fossils are said to be inconsistent with current evolutionary theory The fossils that were recently discovered in South Africa have reportedly surprised academics because its dates are said to be at odds with the current evolutionary theory. Earlier this month, a team of paleoanthropologists released three linked papers describing new fossils belonging to Homo naledi, a species said to stand about five feet tall. The species was said to have lived between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago, which is believed to be the period when early humans were just starting to evolve modern traits. Professor Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand recently announced that he and his team have discovered another chamber that contains abundant remains of Homo naledi. He believes that the remains were deliberately buried, and he asserted that Homo naledi were able to control fire and use it for illumination because the fossils were located in deep underground chambers. A Southern Baptist paleontologist is claiming that the fossils are consistent with biblical chronology, representing a human species that were alive after the dispersion of people from the Tower of Babel as narrated in Genesis 11:1-9 Kurt Wise, professor of natural history at Truett-McConnell University and a Harvard-trained paleontologist, believes that Homo naledi were humans who descended from Adam and Eve. He claimed that "radiometric dates" calculated by scientists to be 100,000a800,000 "radiometric years are found on fossils actually dating" more recently. Wise, who believes that the universe was created by God approximately 6,000 years ago, argued that Homo naledi were humans "because humans are the only organisms known to cache or bury the bodies of their dead." He contended that it is highly unlikely for humans to make the e4foort to bury non humans in a cave, which he says are "almost certainly burial chambers." He surmised that the fossils must date from after the dispersion of the people from Babel because the remains were found in South Africa, which he says is a very long way from wherever Babel was located. Wise suggested that the human population during the time of Babel and afterward was more diverse than the human population today because the skeletal structure of Homo naledi is "markedly different from modern humans." Jonathan Wells, a biologist at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, which advocates the theory of Intelligent Design, contended that the evolutionary scientists' surprise at the fossils is a significant aspect of the discovery. "Human origins are as mysterious now as they have ever been. Science educators tell materialistic stories about how we are accidental byproducts of unguided evolution, and the stories are illustrated with iconic drawings of apes morphing into humans," Wells told the Baptist Press. "But the stories came first; fossils were plugged in later. As Yale paleoanthropologist Misia Landau once wrote, stories of human evolution 'far exceed what can be inferred from the study of fossils alone,' so fossils are placed 'into preexisting narrative structures,'" he added. The fossils of Homo naledi were featured in the exhibit titled "Almost Human," which opened on Thursday at the Maropeng Cradle of Humankind in Johannesburg, South Africa. home World ISIS-inspired group in the Philippines takes Christian hostages and kills 9 civilians at checkpoint A militant group inspired by the Islamic State has taken several Christian hostages and killed nine civilians at a militant-run checkpoint in the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines. Local residents said that nine civilians have been pulled by members of the militant group from a truck and bound their hands before they were riddled with bullets and left in a field. The residents have identified the victims as Christians, according to World Watch Monitor, citing Filipino news site, GMA News Online. The militants also raided a church and took a local priest hostage, along with an unspecified number of other people, the Catholic Church said on Wednesday. "They have threatened to kill the hostages if the government forces unleashed against them are not recalled," said Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, according to Manila Times. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the southern region of Mindanao on Tuesday after the militants, who have pledged allegiance to ISIS, clashed with security forces and burnt several buildings. On Tuesday, the militants erected the black flags of ISIS and set fire to a cathedral and three buildings belonging to a college established by the Protestant United Church of Christ. The militants were reportedly composed of rebels from three extremist groups, namely, Maute, Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. According to Reuters, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the activities of the rebel group on Wednesday via its Amaq news agency. At least 15 security forces and 31 rebels have been killed in the clashes between the government and the militant group. Some religious leaders have noted that the militants were using Christian hostages as human shields during the fighting. Duterte has vowed to crush the rebels saying: "Anyone now holding a gun, confronting government with violence, my orders are spare no-one, let us solve the problems of Mindanao once and for all." "If I think you should die, you will die. If you fight us, you will die. If there's an open defiance, you will die, and if it means many people dying, so be it. That's how it is," he added. The president said that the martial law in Mindanao, which has a population of about 20 million, could last up to a year. His critics have raised concerns that he may use various security threats as an excuse to impose a form of authoritarian rule. home US Legal group fights to restore off-site voluntary Bible class for Michigan students A legal group is fighting to restore an off-site Bible class in Michigan after it was canceled by a school district due to complaints from a secular group. The law office of Rickard, Denney, Garno & Associates, which is affiliated with the religious liberties organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), is calling on Fremont Public Schools to restore the Bible Release Time program, which has been offered to students for about 10 years. The Fremont Wesleyan Church has been conducting the optional 45-minute class each month for fourth-grade students at Daisy Brook Elementary School during the noon hour. Parents are required to sign a written permission form before their children could attend the classes. However, the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) had complained to the school district about the Bible classes, saying it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by unlawfully promoting Christianity. MACRA argued that Pastor John Perkins, who leads the program each month, would not have access to students without the school's assistance. "Handing out Pastor Perkins' form from the school office is a violation," MACRA explained. "[T]he school is involved in facilitating the Bible classes by announcing the class and herding the kids to the exits and busathis is also a violation," the group added. MACRA also noted that both the superintendent and principal refer to Bible Release Time as "our program," which the secular group insists is another violation because no public school is allowed to have a program that involves religion. Fremont Superintendent Ken Haggart told The Christian Post last week that the school district had been advised by its lawyers to cancel the program, at least for the time being. "Our goal is to examine what we are doing, make sure it follows the guidelines of the law, and bring the program back next fall," he said. On Friday, the Rickard, Denney, Garno & Associates law office sent a letter to Haggart, urging him to reverse the school district's decision. "[W]e believe the school's decision is unlawful and we respectfully request it to be reversed immediately," the law office stated, as reported by Christian News Network. The law group pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of religious release time classes in the 1952 case of Zorach v. Clauson. The court ruled that prohibiting such programs for religious students would wrongfully prefer "those who believe in no religion over those who believe." The legal organization also noted that several secular groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have signed a statement upholding the rights of students to attend release time offerings. Attorney Timothy Denny argued that the school district's decision to cancel the program violated federal and state law, and he urged the officials to reinstate the classes immediately. home World Majority of women in the UK are in favor of stricter abortion laws, says new poll A new poll has revealed that a majority of women in the UK are in favor of reducing the time limit for abortions. According to the study commissioned by the pro-life group Where Do They Stand, seven in 10 women want to reduce the limit from the current 24 weeks to 20, while six in 10 want it reduced to 16 weeks. The survey also found that nine out of 10 people wanted to outlaw sex-selective abortions. A total of 2,008 British adults were interviewed online by ComRes between May 12 and 14 for the study, and the data was weighted to be representative of all adults in the UK. The survey results further indicated that only one percent of the British public are in favor of extending the abortion limit up to birth. In March, British MPs voted narrowly in favor of a bill that would allow abortion up to birth for any reason. Dr. Anthony McCarthy of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said that the new poll reveals "how out of touch are those seeking to make abortion still more widely available." "The abortion industry wants us to believe that abortion is a 'right' and should be decriminalised, but it is becoming increasingly clear that most people know better in their hearts. In fact, the public in Britain is uneasy about abortion, and women are particularly uneasy," he said in a press release, according to Life News. The findings also indicated that nine in ten people believe that a woman who is considering an abortion should have a legal right to independent counseling from someone who does not have a financial interest in her decision. Simon McCrossan, the Head of Policy with the Evangelical Alliance, said he believed that the survey reflects the people's response to technology that allows people to view the fetus in the womb. "For many people, it's now becoming difficult to reconcile a six-month cut-off point when you have images of foetuses at 12 weeks, which whilst not viable outside the womb, to many people look palpably human," he said, as reported by Premier. McCrossan said the survey shows that the media needs to change its narrative that the current abortion limit of 24 weeks is fine because it is no longer reflective of the views of women and society in general. home World Many Indonesians are turning to Christ despite rise of radical Islam, says pastor A Baptist pastor from Jakarta has claimed that Christianity is growing in Indonesia even as the influence of radical Islam continues to spread across the country. In a phone interview with The Christian Post on Thursday, the pastor who goes by the name Kongkin said that more and more people in Indonesia are turning to Christ. He maintained that he is not saying this "because I am a Christian, just to excite the Christian body, but this is what I personally see happening." Kongkin, whose ministry in Jakarta helps persecuted Christians, noted that he has heard many stories of former Muslims who decided to follow Jesus during his experience as a pastor in the field. "The numbers are getting bigger and bigger in many parts of Indonesia. There is steady growth," he said, while noting that some parts of the Islamic community have raised concerns about the rise of Christianity. "Yes, the number is growing. I think a lot of Muslims are realizing that Islam is false; they see the bombings and terrorist attacks done in the name of Islam, and they wonder 'Is this it? Is this what I want?'" he stated. "They realize there has to be a better way, and then they find Christ," he added. Kongkin narrated that he was a former Muslim who started to follow Jesus after he heard the Gospel message. He said that the main reason for his decision to convert was the "call of Salvation by Christ." The pastor recounted that he heard the Gospel from his friend, and he saw the "peace and joy" that came with his friend's Christian walk. He said that it was also what he wanted, so he decided to accept Jesus Christ as his savior. He noted that his Muslim did not beat him or cast him out, but other relatives who adhered to a stricter version of Islam treated him differently. He said that they still wanted to have a relationship with him, but they made it clear that they were on "different sides" by doing things such as refusing to greet him during Christmas. Kongkin explained that the biggest threat to Christians in Indonesia comes from the government's laws as well as radical Islamic elements, which are attempting to influence the policies of local governments. He said that hardliners are pressuring local representative bodies to create bylaws that reflect Sharia law. International groups have raised concerns about human rights and religious tolerance in Indonesia after the outgoing Christian governor of Jakarta was convicted of blasphemy earlier this month. Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who lost his re-election bid in April, was sentenced to two years in prison following a lengthy trial. The case stemmed from an incident in September when he said that his opponents are using some passages in the Quran to deceive people into voting against him. Last week, Purnama decided to drop his appeal against his prison sentence, saying he is making the decision "for the sake of our people and nation." Kongkin said that many people in Indonesia are now seeing the governor's case as an injustice carried out by the court, which has been "influenced by people who have agendas." home World Mariam Ibraheem on why she never gave up while she was on death row: 'Jesus was with me' Texas Sen. Ted Cruz recently recounted his conversation with a Sudanese Christian mother who refused to renounce her faith in Christ even while she was imprisoned and put on death row. Speaking at International Christian Concern's (ICC) annual policy day on Capitol Hill last week, Cruz narrated his encounter with Mariam Ibraheem, who was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death in Sudan after she married a non-Muslim. According to The Christian Post, Ibraheem has always identified as a Christian, but the government considered her to be a Muslim under law. When she married a Christian man, she was sentenced to 100 lashes and execution by hanging. She was eight months pregnant when she was imprisoned, and she was forced to give birth to her daughter, Maya, while her legs were shackled to the floor. Cruz narrated that Ibraheem's captors told her that she would be released if she would renounce her faith in Christ. "Now, I ask of the people here, have any of us had our faith tested like that?" the senator asked. "I know what every one of us hopes, wishes and even would like to believe what we would say in that circumstance. But when you are in mud and grime facing your captors [who are] threatening to murder you and your children if you won't renounce your faith, how would each of us fare in those circumstances?" he continued. The senator noted that Ibraheem refused to renounce her faith until she was finally released from prison due to huge international outcry. She was able to escape from Sudan in July 2014 and is now living in the U.S. with her husband, Daniel Wani, who is an American citizen. Cruz told the audience gathered at the Rayburn House Office Building that he was able to meet with Ibraheem after she was released. "I asked her at the time, 'How did you not despair? How did you not give up?' She just said with a simple, quiet peace, 'Jesus was with me,'" Cruz recounted. Ibraheem has previously stated that she was able to read the Bible secretly with the help of her Muslim cellmate, who helped her hide it from the prison guards. She said that she was already in labor at the medical clinic in the Omdurman Federal Woman's Prison when the guards asked her to renounce her faith in Christ and recite the Islamic declaration of faith so that she could be sent to a hospital. The Sudanese mother refused their request fearing that she would not be respected by her children if she did as they asked. Cruz concluded his speech by praising her powerful testimony, saying: "This young woman from Africa, this scared mom, had the peace to stare down torture and death because of the reality of her Savior." home US Michigan school district vows to reinstate Bible classes despite complaint from secular group A school district in Newaygo County, Michigan has vowed to reinstate an optional Bible study that was canceled recently following complaints from a secular group. Fremont Public Schools had suspended the Bible Release Time program for Daisy Brook Elementary students earlier this year after it received a complaint from the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA). The group argued that the Bible classes violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by unlawfully promoting Christianity. However, Fremont Superintendent Ken Haggart said that there has been an overwhelming demand from parents to bring the Bible study program back, and he promised to reinstate the classes this coming fall. "We temporarily canceled the program while we reviewed parts of the program," said Haggart, according to MLive. "We believe that we were doing nothing wrong," he added. Haggart said that there will be some adjustments to the Bible study program, including making sure that the flier that advertises the classes is correct as well as changing how the flier is distributed. Bible Release Time was initially canceled in 2015 after a complaint from MACRA because the classes were held during school hours in the elementary school's gymnasium. Haggart said that some adjustments were made to the program, and there had been no complaints until the district received another complaint from MACRA earlier this month. This year, the classes were held each month during the students' lunch period at Fremont Wesleyan Church. A pastor and an assistant transport the students to the Bible class in a church-owned bus. Parents are required to sign a permission slip before their children could attend the classes. "Bible Release Time is a program permitted by Michigan law, whereby children are released from school classes during school hours to attend religious instruction at a nearby location. Pastor John Perkins will be conducting the Bible Release Time Class in Newaygo and Kent Counties," the permission slip states. Under state law, public schools are not allowed to administer, create, organize or promote "Bible Release Time" class or any program that serves a religious purpose. However, the law allows for two hours a week of "released time Bible study" during school hours as long as it is not conducted on school grounds and only provided to students with parental permission. Haggart said that the program has been going on for several years, and some parents were dismayed when they heard about its suspension. "We're excited to bring the program back. It's a great program for many of our kids who live in Fremont," he remarked. home US Minnesota mom loses lawsuit against health care providers who gave hormone treatment to her son without permission A federal judge has dismissed a mother's lawsuit against her teenage child along with school officials and health care providers for giving hormonal treatments to her son to help him "transition" to a girl without her consent. Last November, Annmarie Calgaro filed a lawsuit against St. Louis County, the St. Louis County School District, the county's Health and Human Services (HHS), Fairview Health Services and Park Nicollet Health Services, claiming that the parties had violated her constitutionally protected parental rights by granting her 17-year-old son de-facto emancipation. Calgaro said that the notice of emancipation that was issued by a legal aid group contained false claims, and she maintained that she had not been contacted to verify any of her son's assertions. Because of the emancipation notice, she was not allowed to receive any information about her son, who was consequently treated as an adult by the HHS and provided with public services, such as assistance with food, housing and medical services. The mother sought to obtain her son's medical and educational records from Park Nicollet and his school, but her requests were denied. Furthermore, she was not consulted when the HHS paid Park Nicollet for her son's hormone replacement treatment. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnusen noted that the teenager was not legally emancipated without a court order and that Calgaro's "parental rights over [her son therefore] remain intact." However, the judge dismissed the lawsuit against the sued parties, saying they "cannot be held liable ... because they did not act under color of state law." Magnusen argued that the government agencies that were sued could only be held responsible if acting under a specific "policy or custom," which was absent in the case. He explained that Calgaro did not have a legal claim because the entities did not act in accordance with any law or established practice. Calgaro's lawyer, Erick Kaardal, said that his client is now considering an appeal. He argued that the agencies' actions constituted a form of "administrative emancipation" that violated the parental rights of his client. "On the legislative front, people on the left and on the right believed that emancipation procedures in Minnesota should be put in statutes and codified," he said, according to The Christian Post. "But until then, it's confusing and the court's decision hasn't cleared up that confusion," he added. home US MSNBC host Joe Scarborough questions Trump's Christian faith Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," has implied that President Donald Trump is not a Christian just before a discussion about the leader's recent meeting with Pope Francis. After the hosts of the show spent some time discussing Trump's proposed budget, co-host Mika Brzezinski introduced the next segment on the president's meeting with the pope. "They didn't actually see eye to eye during the presidential campaign, so what happened during Donald Trump's meeting today with Pope Francis? We'll go through that and what drove them apart in the first place," said Brzezinski, just before the show went on a commercial break. When Brzezinski finished speaking, Scarborough appeared to criticize Trump, suggesting that he is not a Christian. "Oh, the Pope's Christian," said Scarborough, who appears to be hinting at the differences between Trump and the pope. Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, had been an outspoken critic of Trump and had often referred to the president as a Democrat because of his track record of changing political parties. The MSNBC host was not the first person to question the faith of Trump, who identifies as a Presbyterian. The pope himself had criticized Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign for his plan to put up a border wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel," Francis said, as reported by AOL News. Trump immediately responded by saying, it was "disgraceful" for a religious leader to question another man's faith. The Vatican later clarified that the pope's remarks were not a personal attack against Trump. During their meeting on Wednesday, the pope and the president spoke in private for 30 minutes and vowed to fight together for life, peace and religious freedom. "Honor of a lifetime to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. I leave the Vatican more determined than ever to pursue PEACE in our world," Trump tweeted after the meeting. The pontiff presented the president with a split medallion held together by an olive tree, symbolizing peace. Trump, on the other hand, gave Francis a box containing five of Martin Luther King Jr.'s books, including a signed copy of The Strength to Love. The Vatican stated that the two leaders expressed their hope that they can collaborate "in service to the people in the fields of healthcare, education and assistance to migrants." home US New Jersey township agrees to pay $3.25 million to Islamic Society to settle discrimination lawsuit A New Jersey town has agreed to pay $3.25 million to an Islamic Society to settle a discrimination lawsuit over its refusal to issue a permit to allow the group to build a mosque. The Department of Justice announced Tuesday morning that Bernards Township will now allow the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge to build a mosque and has agreed to pay $3.25 million in damages and attorneys' fees. The township also pledged to limit the zoning restrictions placed on houses of worship, according to CBS New York. The Islamic Society's application to build a mosque was rejected by the township in December 2015. Last year, the society sued the town, alleging that it violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000. In May 2016, a diverse coalition of religious groups, including the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, filed an amicus brief in support of the Islamic Society. At the end of 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Shipp ruled in favor of the society, saying the township had indeed violated RLUIPA by rejecting the mosque building plan. The Justice Department also filed a lawsuit against the town, claiming that it changed its zoning ordinances to deny the society's proposal to build a mosque. In the lawsuit, the Justice Department noted that the town changed its zoning laws to require houses of worship in residential districts to be at least six acres, which is larger than the lot purchased by the society in 2011. The complaint pointed out that eight of 11 other houses of worship built before the laws were changed are on lots smaller than six acres. The township committee denied that it discriminated against the Islamic Society and noted that it has allowed the group's members to use other township facilities to practice their religion for years. "We remain a united township where all are welcome," spokesman Michael P. Turner stated in an email to CBS New York. "This is the end of a long engagement on the application and opinions may still be varied, but it is in the best interest of the township to conclude the litigation," he added. The society's attorney Adeel Mangi said that the federal court decision and the settlement will serve as a reminder to towns across the U.S. "that if they give into community animists and deny Muslims their constitutional rights there is a significant financial price that will follow." "There is an epidemic of cases around the country where townships are unjustly denying Muslims the right to worship using contrived and pretextual land-use regions. Townships and cities around the country should be paying very close attention to what happened here in Bernards Township," Mangi added. home US New York considers legislation that would allow late-term abortions New York is reportedly considering a measure that would allow late-term abortions if the fetus was deemed unviable or when there is a danger to the mother's health. Slate reported that the state Assembly has passed a legislation earlier this year that would allow abortions to be performed after 24 weeks' gestation in cases of fetal nonviability or when the mother's health is at risk. The measure would also allow advanced practice clinicians like nurse practitioners and physician's assistants, not just doctors, to offer certain kinds of abortion care if the proposal is passed by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. According to Life News, the current law allows abortion up to 24 weeks for any reason, and later if the woman's life is at risk. Last September, state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued a legal opinion arguing that the state law conflicts with more recent Supreme Court decisions about abortion. He expressed his belief that late-term abortions should be allowed in the state in cases when the fetus has a potentially fatal disorder or when the mother's health is in danger. There are concerns that the "health" exceptions are defined so broadly that they would basically allow any abortion. "The use of 'life and health' of the mother really means abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy," said Dennis Poust, a spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, in his reaction to the attorney general's opinion. The New York Times noted that the legal opinion does not overturn the law but it provides hospitals and abortion facilities legal grounds to start performing late-term abortions and challenge the current law. New York State Right to Life spokeswoman Lori Kehoe has previously disputed the claim that late-term abortions are necessary to protect the life of the mother. "If a mother needs to end her pregnancy in the third trimester, it can be safely ended with a C-section. A C-section takes minutes and results in a newborn baby. No one has to die. A third trimester abortion takes days, endangering a mother's life, and results in a dead baby," she explained. According to statistics from the Center for Disease Control, New York has the highest abortion rate in the nation, with 101,674 abortions conducted in 2012. In New York City, approximately 40 percent of pregnancies end up in abortion, and the number rises to 60 percent among African Americans, according to city health department data. home World Only half of young people in Britain believe that Jesus was a historical figure A new survey has indicated that only half of young British people believe that Jesus Christ really existed, and less than half believe that he was real but not God. The study, conducted by London-based market research company ComRes among 2,000 respondents, aged 11 to 18 years, in England, also revealed that a third of Christian teenagers do not know how to talk about Jesus with their peers. On the other hand, 56 percent of non-Christian teenagers said they are open to having a friend talk to them about their faith. Jimmy Dale, the Church of England's Youth Evangelism Officer, said that the findings present a big challenge to the Church. "How do we help young people to see that actually firstly that they have something which is worth sharing but then secondly, what they are wanting to share, people are actually willing to listen to?" Dale told Premier's News Hour. The report noted that more than half of young people in Britain said they knew someone who is a Christian. As many as 67 percent described their relationship with Christians as friendly, while 33 percent of the same group described the relationship as fun. A quarter of young people admitted to being afraid of offending others when evangelizing. Dale said that the number could be reduced if the Church raises their confidence to share their faith with others. Another recent survey conducted by ComRes indicated that only 25 percent of British people who describe themselves as Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus. However, the figure rose to 57 percent among Christians who attend religious service at least once a month. As many as 37 percent said they never attend religious service, while only 20 percent said they attend once a week. Overall, half of British people do not believe in the resurrection, and only 17 percent believe the Biblical account of the event word-for-word. Surprisingly, nine percent of non-religious people believe in the Resurrection, one percent of whom say they believe it literally. The survey respondents are evenly split at 46 percent between those who believe in life after death and those who do not. Twenty percent of non-religious people said they believe in some form of the afterlife. The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend David Walker, said that the findings indicate that many British people still hold core Christian beliefs, despite not attending church regularly. "This demonstrates how important beliefs remain across our society and hence the importance both of religious literacy and of religion having a prominent place in public discourse," said the bishop. home US Parents sue San Diego school district over its anti-Islamophobia program Parents have sued a school district in San Diego over its plan to teach about Islam as part of an anti-Islamophobia campaign. The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund (FCDF) filed a lawsuit against the San Diego Unified School District on Monday over its decision to grant special provisions to Muslim school students in an effort to protect them from bullying. The organization said that the move was "blatantly unconstitutional" and that it runs "contrary to America's enduring belief in religious equality." According to Church Militant, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit include six parents who are suing on behalf of their children, the school watchdog group Citizens for Quality Education San Diego and the San Diego Asian Americans for Equality Foundation. The school district is being accused of granting special religious accommodations to Muslim students and forcing teachers to undergo training on advocating for Muslims. According to ABC 10 News, the Council on AmericanaIslamic Relations (CAIR) pushed for the anti-Islamophobia program, which was approved by the school board by a vote of 4a0 on April 4. The lawsuit argued that CAIR's definition of bullying is different from the school district because the group considers a "preference" against Islam as an act of bullying. "Plaintiffs do not wish for their children, as non-Muslims, to be accused of bias and bullying by the School District and CAIR if they express viewpoints or beliefs that may conflict with the School District's and/or CAIR's arbitrary, de facto interpretations of 'bias' and 'bullying,'" the lawsuit stated. The district noted in its "Protected Classes" report that there were seven reported cases of bullying or harassment of students based on religion between July and December 2016. However, FCDF President and Chief Counsel Charles LiMandri pointed out that the report does not break down the religious affiliation of the victims, and it is not clear whether any of those students were Muslims. LiMandri said that the school district appears to be showing a preference for one religion over another. He noted that the lawsuit will be dropped if the district treats all religions equally. "You have to treat all major religions equally or just not give any of them any type of special privileges," he stated. "Quite frankly, Christians are getting tired of being kicked around. You can't call Christmas vacation 'Christmas vacation' anymore. It's got to be called 'winter holiday,'" he went on to say. home US Saddleback Church youth mentor arrested for allegedly engaging in lewd conduct with 2 teenage boys A 32-year-old youth mentor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Orange County has been arrested on Thursday on after he was accused of committing lewd acts on two teenage boys. Ruven Meulenberg, who volunteered as a junior high youth mentor at the California megachurch, has been arrested on Thursday on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, CBS LA reported. The police started investigating Meulenberg after a 14-year-old boy told his parents that the youth mentor molested him, according to Lt. Lane Lagaret. The parents then informed the church's youth pastor, who called the Sheriff's Department. Lagaret noted that the detectives identified a second victim, also a 14-year-old boy, during the investigation. One of the victims attended Saddleback Church while the other boy was part of the Junior High Ministry program. Both victims told the investigators they engaged in lewd conduct with Meulenberg over the past year, and some of the incidents took place on Saddleback Church property. Meulenberg and his twin brother are known in the youth ministry circle as the "Tornado Twins." They operate a website called Kids Want Answers and they were instrumental in creating a video game about the Bible. A former church employee has said that the suspect's father is a pastor from Holland and some of his relatives have worked or still work at Saddleback. Meulenberg, who volunteered at the church for approximately six years, is being held in Orange County Jail on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. Authorities believe that there could be more victims based on the suspect's "leadership role and access to children." Saddleback Church has released a statement saying it was "shocked and grieved to share that this week a Saddleback member reported that a student ministry volunteer had acted inappropriately with two 14 year old boys." "We ask you to do two things: First, please pray for the Saddleback families who are involved in this sad matter. Second, please pray for the investigators as they determine the facts. As followers of Jesus, we always want the whole truth to come out because Jesus taught us that lies enslave us, but the truth sets us free," the statement continued. Saddleback Church has been ranked as the seventh-largest congregation in the U.S., with more than 22,000 people attending on a weekly basis, according to data released in 2015. home US Texas Senate passes bill aimed at banning sharia law from courts The Texas state Senate has approved a bill that is aimed at banning foreign code of law, including sharia law, from being applied in the state's courts. HB45, the Texas Foreign Law Procedural Protection Act, was passed by the House on May 6, and the Senate on May 22. According to CBN News, the bill is currently awaiting the governor's signature. The legislation would ban aspects of sharia that conflicts with American laws, including child marriages and other "family law" cases. The bill has come under fire from pro-Muslim groups such as the Center for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which described it as "anti-sharia." The group has encouraged its supporters to protest against the bill and it has listed the names and phone numbers of representatives on its website so that people can call to complain. The group contended that HB45 is "designed to negatively impact Muslims' civil rights and to demonize their faith." "We believe it aims to prevent Muslims from practicing their faith in areas such as Islamic marriage, divorce, funeral procedures and civil agreements," the group went on to say. Texas was not the first state to pass a bill that bans the implementation of foreign laws. CBN News noted that 13 other states have introduced similar legislation this year alone. In Michigan, lawmakers introduced HB 4499, which is intended at partially stopping foreign laws from being used and "provide for modification or voiding of certain contractual provisions or agreements that would result in a violation of constitutional rights." In March, the Montana House of Representatives advanced Senate Bill 97, which would prohibit the state's courts from relying on foreign laws that conflict with the Montana or U.S. constitutions. Supporters of the bill noted that the language contains no reference to religion, but Democrats argued that the measure was intended to target a specific religion in contradiction of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Rep. Brad Tschida (R-Missoula) argued that the bill would simply safeguard the primacy of rights guaranteed under state and federal law. "Our constitution is constantly under assault. Some of it is small and subtle and some of it is major," he said. The bill passed its second reading in the Montana House by a vote of 56a44 in March, but it was vetoed by the governor in April. home US Trump administration's proposed budget drops federal funding for Planned Parenthood The budget proposed by the administration of President Donald Trump would cut off federal funding from Planned Parenthood and prevent the abortion organization from participating in any federal health program. According to the Huffington Post, the Trump administration's proposed fiscal 2018 budget would prohibit funding for organizations that provide abortions, including Planned Parenthood. The proposal would prevent the abortion chain from participating in federal health programs such as cancer screening, prevention of the Zika virus, HIV, AIDS testing, programs funded by the Centers for Disease Control, as well as programs to prevent sexual assault. The language in the proposal goes beyond the legislation pending in the Senate that only excluded Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements. Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, described the proposal as the "worst budget for women and women's health in a generation." "It guts programs designed to help women and their families put food on the table, get the medical care they need, and make ends meet. Gimmicks and misdirection cannot cover up a deadly agenda that would hurt women and prevent access to basic health care in the U.S. and across the globe," she said in a statement on Monday. The proposal was hailed by the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), which noted that the proposed budget would result in a $422 million increase in federal funding for community health centers that do not perform abortions. "We're encouraged to see that the budget released today prevents federal funds from going to the nation's largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood," said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser, according to Life News. "Taxpayers should not have to prop up Planned Parenthood's failing, abortion-centered business model," she added. Dannenfelser noted that Planned Parenthood had recently announced that it will close down 10 facilities in four states. She argued that women will be better served by community health centers and rural health centers that offer preventative care services but not abortions. Planned Parenthood receives about half a billion dollars from the government each year, but it is prohibited from using the taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney noted that the new budget proposal would only defund Planned Parenthood if the new Republican healthcare legislation passed recently by the House is also approved by the Senate and signed into law. Collecting Guide: 15 things you need to know about Faberge A guided tour of the legendary jewellery house, looking at everything from the iconic imperial eggs to flowers, figurines and snuff-boxes, and the distinct styles of its various branches and workmasters 1 Its not just about the eggs While it was the magnificent jewelled enamel Easter eggs that made the House of Faberge so famous, they represent only a fraction of its artistic creation. The head workmasters of Faberge transformed everything from cigarette cases to mantel clocks into imaginative works of art. It was this trademark ability to enhance everyday objects through the application of sophisticated enamelling techniques, goldsmithing and stone-setting that made Faberge internationally famous throughout the royal courts of Europe. Even its rivals during the period, such as Cartier and Tiffany, clearly drew inspiration from the great Russian jeweller. By studying the range of objects created by Faberge including frames, hardstone animals, flowers, bell-pushes and jewellery we can gain insight into the ways in which they were exchanged as imperial gifts and personal tokens. 2 That said, the eggs are pretty incredible The imperial family were Faberges most important clients, and the Easter eggs were its most important commissions. Peter Carl Faberge also known as Karl Gustavovich Faberge first attracted the attention of the Russian imperial family at the Pan-Russian Exhibition in Moscow in 1882, where he exhibited a replica of a 4th-century B.C. gold bangle from the Scythian Treasure in the Hermitage Museum. Emperor Alexander III was so impressed by the accuracy of Faberges copy that works by the jeweller were put on view at the Hermitage as representations of Russias great craftsmanship. In 1885 the House of Faberge received the title of Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty and received its first commission for an imperial Easter egg. Just over 50 Faberge eggs were made and the design and creation of each took the firm more than a year to complete. It is exceptionally rare, and therefore very exciting, when one of these objects comes on to the market. 3 Beware of imitations The great success of Faberge meant that works were copied from very early on. The prevalence of fakes makes it important to see as many pieces as possible offered by reputable auction houses, reputable dealers and in museum collections. In particular, we examine the quality of enamelling, the crispness of chasing and the overall design of works. Works that imitate Faberge are often over-decorated with imperial symbols, such as the double-headed eagle. Even the age of a piece can be deceptive, because we also see turn-of-the-century continental objects that have been retouched with Russian Faberge marks to enhance value. The marks on a piece should be the last thing you examine, because it is suspicious when they have been heavily struck. 4 Faberge was a pioneer of enamelling techniques Following a grand tour of the treasuries of Europe and his experience of repairing objects of vertu in the Hermitage Museum, Faberge revived various enamelling techniques and expanded their design possibilities. Faberge went on to invent more than 145 new shades of enamelling. Faberge created varied designs on the surface of precious metals and covered them with richly pigmented layers of glass enamel. Most notably, he perfected the extremely challenging technique of enamelling en ronde bosse (in the round), which can be seen on the firms most impressive eggs. Faberge enamels are often created by layering enamel in a variety of colours to create depth. The result is a surface that captures the moving light. When looking for works with Faberges signature technique, it is important to study the layers of enamel. The surface should have a smooth polish and there should be minimal firing flaws or bubbles in the glass. 5 Head workmasters had their own styles When Carl Faberge and his brother Agathon took over their fathers jewellery business in 1882, its output increased so rapidly that they could not manage all the workshops themselves. Carl Faberge decided to employ highly skilled goldsmiths to run their own workshops under the name of Faberge. These head workmasters developed their own characteristic styles, with the finished product ultimately approved by Carl Faberge or one of his deputies. When looking at a piece it can be very helpful to understand the types of objects in which each workmaster specialised, and their specific idiom. For example, Michael Perchins trademark styles are often considered to be the Neo-Rococo and Renaissance. He is also known for the high quality of his enamelling, chasing of gold mounts, and use of vari-coloured gold. 6 Imperial and royal provenance excite the market Works with established provenance are the most valuable. For a specialist, it is always exciting to discover a piece that has descended directly through the family of one of Faberges notable patrons. Over the past 10 years, collections with imperial and royal provenance are those that have most excited the market. The provenance of works can be researched further when they have an original scratched inventory number. This number can sometimes be used to find the original Faberge invoice for a work, which tells us who purchased the piece, when and for how much. 7 The Russian court loved lavish gifts Faberge imperial presentation pieces represent another important collecting area, and they often have diplomatic provenance. The imperial Russian court was renowned for presenting lavish gifts to Russian and foreign dignitaries, a tradition that flourished during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II. A jewelled presentation snuff-box (tabakerka, from the French tabatiere), set with a portrait of the Emperor, was the most valuable gift awarded. More common gifts include small pieces of jewellery such as brooches, cufflinks and stickpins decorated with imperial symbols. We can sometimes match the scratched number on these pieces to the Imperial Cabinet ledgers, which contain the description of each item, its cost, the name of the court supplier, and the name of the recipient. 8 Faberge was a fan of holly wood As many as 500 diverse craftsmen were employed by Faberge in every aspect of the firms creations including the boxes that housed pieces. Although Faberge sometimes varied the type of wood used and the colour of the velvet lining, original boxes are most often made of holly wood and lined with cream silk and velvet. The silk is stamped with the imperial warrant, the name of the firm and a listing of the locations in which it had branches: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa and London. As with most jewellery boxes, it is easy for the original case to become disassociated, so finding a piece that fits perfectly in its original bespoke box is particularly exciting. 9 Carl Faberge himself oversaw the designs for many flowers and animal figures Faberge flowers are not always marked and can vary greatly in terms of style. Again, established provenance is very important for these pieces. The value of Faberge flowers is enhanced by the fact that only around 80 flower and fruit studies are known to have survived; their creation was a particularly collaborative process, involving many skilled artists and goldsmiths. Designs were often executed by Carl Faberge himself. The work was then carried out in stages: setting the precious stones, enamelling the flowers, adding the gold stalks and grasses, and finally assembling the flowers. The quality of the mounts on the flowers, the individuation of its parts and the thoughtfulness of the design are important indicators that the work is by Faberge. Perhaps the hardest area of Faberges production to authenticate is carved hardstone models of animals and figures. Faberge worked with a number of talented lapidaries, such as the Imperial Peterhof Lapidary works and factories in Idar-Oberstein in Germany, sourcing hardstones for vases, boxes and whimsical models of animals. As a result it can be very difficult to differentiate works by Faberge from the lapidaries own productions. Faberge would often repolish the figures they sold and was completely responsible for mounting them, so key elements to study can be the finish of the polish and the mounts around eyes or other jewelled elements of works in hardstone. 10 The Moscow branch specialised in silver Following its success in St. Petersburg, in 1887 the firm established a branch in Moscow. As the historical centre of the Russian silver trade, Moscow presented new opportunities for Faberge to expand the range of its designs. Faberges monumental works in silver were made exclusively in Moscow and were often designed in the Neo-Russian style. These imaginatively designed works are among the finest objects produced by the firm and were usually given to commemorate important anniversaries, as diplomatic offerings, and as trophies. The eclectic range of designs seen in Faberges Moscow production reflects the diversity of its clientele and differs greatly from St. Petersburg works, which are what we more typically associate with Faberge. Works that epitomise the branch of Faberge in which they were made are highly collectable and often can be recognised without looking at the marks on the piece. 11 Original designs offer invaluable insights Records of Faberges original designs can be tremendously helpful when studying a work. In 1989 Christies notably sold a collection of original designs from the house of Faberge, which included designs for jewellery and works in silver, hardstone and enamel. It is very exciting when we can connect an extant work by Faberge to its original design; the insight it gives us into the creative process is invaluable. Dated to 1904, surviving correspondence between the Grand Ducal Cabinet of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Eugene Faberge reveals how the Duke deliberated over the commission and design of an important jewel. The jewel in question is likely to be the aquamarine and diamond tiara (above), which was offered to Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland (1882-1963) as a wedding gift. Scholarship in the field of Faberge was advanced by the publication of two important books on the designs. In 1993, Faberge: Lost and Found by Kenneth Snowman, a lost album of Faberge jewellery designs for works by Albert Holmstrom, offered excellent insight into Faberges most talented jewellers work. A further album of designs was published in 2000 (Golden Years of Faberge: Drawings and Objects from the Wigstrom Workshop by U. Tillander-Godenhielm, et al), which includes a variety of coloured original designs from the workshop of Faberges head workmaster, Henrik Wigstrom. Studying these albums is very good way to familiarise yourself with the hallmark details of works by Faberge. 12 Different workshops used different hallmarks in Cyrillic or Latin The Russian system of hallmarks includes a mark for the city of production, the date of the piece, the standard of gold or silver used and the name of the maker. A variety of marks can be seen on works by Faberge, associated with the different branches of the firm. For example, works from St. Petersburg are marked Faberge in Cyrillic, while Moscow pieces are marked K. Faberge in Cyrillic and include the double-headed eagle of the imperial warrant. Objects that were produced for the London branch were hallmarked with Faberge in Latin. The House of Faberge had a number of workshops, including Moscow, St. Petersburg and Odessa, each supervised by a workmaster such as Michael Perchin, Erik Kollin, Henrik Wigstrom, August Holmstrom and Julius Rappoport. The city and assay marks on a piece should always be consistent with the workmasters initials. 13 After more than 100 years, some light wear is to be expected Given that works by Faberge are more than 100 years old, it is rare to find them in pristine condition. General surface scratching and light wear are to be expected and do not have a great impact on value. Damage to Faberges signature enamelling is more problematic, however, because it is very difficult to restore effectively. Other points of condition to look for are cracks to hardstone objects, damage to the functional parts of frames and clocks, and missing or replaced gold mounts. 14 Other imperial jewellers, notably Bolin and Hahn, rivalled and sometimes surpassed Faberge As Faberge scholarship has advanced, so has interest in the firms competitors important imperial presentation pieces were made not only by Faberge, but also by a handful of other Russian jewellers whose works rival those of Faberge, sometimes even surpassing them in quality. One of Faberges most significant competitors was the firm of Bolin. At its peak, Bolin supplied more to the Imperial Court than all other jewellers put together. The firms most valuable works include imperial tiaras and snuff-boxes. Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle Two burglars clad in masks and fake beards used a sledgehammer early Wednesday to break into a south Houston convenience store, but failed to steal anything of value, local television stations report. The burglars - described only as men, possibly in their mid-20s - arrived around 3:35 a.m. at the convenience store in the 6900 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard, said Victor Senties, spokesman for the Houston Police Department. The Houston Police Department is asking for the public's help to track down a person who hit and killed a 36-year-old pedestrian on March 26. This latest unsolved hit-and-run comes weeks after police announced they had solved two April hit-and-runs because of residents' tips. "All we want is justice," said a brother of the victim in the March 26 hit-and-run at an HPD news conference on Wednesday. "We know somebody knows what happened. It was 6 p.m. in the afternoon." The victim - Courtney Simms - was crossing Bissonnet Street near Beltway 8 just after 6 p.m. on March 26 when a dark pickup truck slammed into him. Simms' body fell on top of the truck for a few seconds, then fell off. The driver of the truck fled the scene. Police had not identified Wednesday the make and model of the truck or its license plate number. Police also lacked a suspect. "We're almost at our end on this case, in regards to leads," said Sgt. Derrick Hall, with HPD's vehicular crimes division. Hit-and-run cases are nearly impossible to solve without tips from the public, said prosecutors and police during a May 19th news conference. During 2016, there were 179 hit-and-run crashes in Houston that left victims dead or seriously injured. On May 19, HPD announced two arrests connected with fatal hit-and-runs on April 27 and April 28 that were only solved because of tips from witnesses. "We've recently solved several cases by this method," said Capt. William McPherson, chief of HPD's vehicular crimes division. "Those of you who don't think your tips are important to us, you're wrong." HPD is asking anyone with information about the March 26 hit-and-run to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. Andrew Kragie contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Mustang Island/Port Aransas, dubbed the "Fishing Capital of Texas," has a packed calendar of upcoming fishing tournaments this summer. >>See the gallery above for a historic look back at Port Aransas in the 1930s. These are some of the upcoming events: - Texas CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) Take-A-Kid Fishing Tournament, June 2 to 3 - Ladies Powder Puff Tournament, June 17 - Hope Devlin Kids' Tournament, June 30 to July 1 - 82nd Annual Deep Sea Roundup, the longest running fishing tournament on the Texas coast, July 6 to 9 OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Unique places to vacation in Texas The historic coastal city features deep-sea fishing classes, bay fishing excursions and ample bays for kayaking. "We are so fortunate that our destination can offer a fishing experience for all ages and experience levels," said Jeff Hentz, president and CEO of the Port Aransas & Mustang Island Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. "There is no better option than Port Aransas to bring your son or daughter to and learn the joy of fishing and have the opportunity to catch snapper, drum, trout or big game fish like marlin and kingfish." A woman bit a Family Dollar employee in her alleged attempt to steal merchandise from the store, according to Laredo police. Valeria Zavala, 22, was served with a warrant charging her with robbery in the 2900 block of South Martin Avenue. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Months after a federal judge ruled that the city of Pasadena intentionally diluted the Hispanic vote in the northern part of the community, a municipal runoff election has exposed divisions and raw emotions. But some residents are staying out of the debate, devoting attention to other things than electing a mayor or filling a City Council post. "I don't care who wins," said Jose Ayala, owner of Pepe's Taco House on Pasadena Boulevard. Ayala, 63, said that business is up and down at his small restaurant located off Texas 225. Ayala said he doesn't vote, never has and likely never will because that won't affect the way he provides for his family. He has been an independent restaurant owner in Pasadena for 18 years and before that was a steelworker in Chicago for nearly 30 years. "The mayor isn't going to pay for my license, my light bill and electricity. I pay," Ayala said, "I take care of my own business, and whoever is elected won't change anything for me. I don't need a politician." Ayala's indifference wasn't unusual in north Pasadena. "It doesn't matter," said Ami Davis, an employee at Choice Meat Market on Richey Street. "The city is going to be run the way it always has." Davis, 37, believes recent accusations that campaign signs were being stolen typify why many remain disengaged. "If candidates are going to be talking about stealing pieces of each other's bubblegum - campaign signs - they don't need to be running the city," she said. "It's just childish." Shadow of Senate Bill 4 However a May 28 event suggested that not all residents in Pasadena feel apathetic about city politics. The town hall-style format, hosted by the non-partisan Metropolitan Organization, at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 705 Williams St., was held to allow residents to question candidates for District A (Felipe Villarreal and Daniel Vela) and for mayor (Jeff Wagner and John Moon Jr.) on issues such as immigration, infrastructure, security, air quality, workforce training and quality of life. Some of the more than 100 residents who attended were vocal on issues and the election. Villarreal and Wagner were not present. Villarreal, who originally confirmed that he would attend, blamed a mix-up with his calendar. "This is not an excuse," he said later. "This is the first time I've run for elected office and it's hard to get to every event. But I do care about the opinion of voters on the north side." Wagner told organizers he had a previous commitment. Wagner's absence was a sore spot with some voters. "We have a person that is running for mayor that we wish would understand the undocumented community," said Jessica Rangel, 26, a resident in District B. "We definitely saw that disconnect. If we have a person who wants to represent our community, why aren't you coming out and making it a point to talk to residents?" Jose Diaz, a resident of District B, was also frustrated. "The fact that one of the candidates didn't show up is insulting," said Diaz, 27. "Why? Just because it's north Pasadena? I think everyone should be offended. It's a Sunday. How busy is your schedule that a candidate doesn't have time to come to a church and listen to the concerns of voters? If you care enough to run but you don't care enough to come to talk with us, you don't really care about north Pasadena residents." One topic at the forum was Senate Bill 4, the "Sanctuary City Bill" awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott's signature that will require Texas Law enforcement agencies to comply with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officials who detain people living in the country illegally. The bill has been criticized by some who believe the legislation could potentially open the door for law enforcement to detain individuals based on ethnicity. "In Pasadena, we have 64 percent that are Latino," Rangel said. "This doesn't just affect the undocumented community. This affects the entire Hispanic community in general because of racial profiling I would like to know exactly what the plan is to stop SB 4, to hold police officers accountable that are doing racist actions against the community." Speaking of the bill at the forum, Moon said, "I want to build better relationships with the community. I want the citizens and residents of this community to feel safe." Rangel wasn't satisfied with that answer. "There was no sense of ease provided to the community and many people were here specifically to hear about this," she said. The response also disheartened Diaz, which he said foreshadows what he believes the next administration will look like, regardless of who wins. Moon later said that he wants to study the legislation and that's he worried about the city adding to its legal fees by actions such as filing a lawsuit against the state regarding the bill. Wagner provided written answers to the event organizers including his position on SB 4. In response to a question on if as mayor he would have the city sue the state to contest the bill, he wrote: "No, we will enforce federal, state, county and city laws." Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has joined chiefs in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Arlington in opposing the bill, though reaction has been mixed among other peace officers and law enforcement associations. Some law enforcement leaders say the bill will hinder police by increasing distrust among immigrant communities. Diaz wants the city of Pasadena to take a stand against the bill. "But with the candidates we have, I don't necessarily see that happening, which makes me think the next administration will just be more of the same," he said. GOP Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock, the bill's author, has said SB 4 has does not force a police officer to inquire about a person's immigration status nor allow an officer to stop someone merely to ask about their status. Air quality was another topic residents at the forum wanted candidates to address. "I want to stop polluters and reduce emissions and have cleaner air so we can breathe better," Moon said, and Vela's plans to improve air quality involve potential penalties for violators. "I used to work for a chemical plant. I retired from there. So, I know the law. We need to do what we do with criminals," he said. "Strike one, strike two, strike three and you go to jail. Polluters should be the same thing. Strike one, strike two, strike three: you don't want to learn your lesson? We'll shut your plant down." 'Why people don't vote' People like Percy LeBlanc, another employee at Choice Meats and a longtime area resident, believe that the divide between candidates and their constituents has become too great. "Nothing the politicians say about making a change makes any real difference because once they get in office; they always compromise anyway," he said. "That's why people don't vote." LeBlanc, 53, doesn't think the city's politics work from a racial or cultural divide but that they reflect where the politicians can find a niche in the power structure. "I think (the cultural divide) is overblown because they don't care what the little people have to say whether we're Anglo, black or Hispanic," he said. "It's not about race at all; it's about their position and what they can achieve and get for themselves." Like Ayala, Davis and LeBlanc, Angel Romero doesn't vote. He is too busy, he said, trying to make a living to worry about political games he believes won't change his daily life. "Whoever wins might make a little change for a while, but then everything goes back to normal once they're in office," Romero said. "I think we make our own difference. If we want to move up, we move up, and if we want to go under and not work then we go under. I can't worry about all this." Lynn DePaul, 68, is leaning toward voting for Wagner. She said she hasn't been closely following the elections, but will trust her faith on May 10. "I think we need a Christian in office," she said. Mary Vargas, however, who lives in District B and attended the forum, thought Moon might be a good choice. "I think Mr. Moon seems very fair. He made a good impression, and it seems like he is for the people," she said. "So far, I've been to a couple of different forums for the mayoral candidates on the north side and Mr. Wagner has never shown up. That shows me there's favoritism there because he already has his focus on one particular group. Maybe he thinks, 'I already have my name in the hat and I don't need this particular group,' which is unfair. He needs to be out there for the entire community no matter what happens so the residents can see he is not one-sided." Rangel also saw significance in the absence of two candidates at the May 28 forum. "They might not care about our community or they may push us to the side because they think they've already got the votes they need," Rangel said. Either way, Angela Barbosa, a high school student who attended the forum, felt that the most probable outcome for this election is that Pasadena politics will be difficult to change. "I wish that both candidates for mayor had been here so we could hear both sides. But, I really don't think (the new mayor) will be any different than before," she said. During Senior Signing Day 2017, Gulfton YES Prep student Maria Gonzales-Zapata proudly told her classmates and her family that she planning to attend Sul Ross University in the fall. It is a major accomplishment for her, because just a few years ago, she didn't even think college was in her path. Gonzales-Zapata started attending Gulfton YES Prep in the sixth grade and soon thereafter received a diagnosis of dyslexia after years of struggling with reading. "It was challenging. It was frustrating at first because I thought that something was wrong with me, but then I realized that it was normal," Gonzales-Zapata said. According to Gonzales-Zapata's mom, Davinna Zapata, it was a long road to get her diagnosed. "We went to doctors and we found out that it wasn't her eyes," Zapata said. "We were told to go see a specialist, but the expenses were out of pocket, so we couldn't afford to go right away. I kept on fighting for her though. I kept on telling her we were going to get her help. "It hurt that she was hurting. I was disappointed because her teachers kept passing her on to the next grade, even though she was struggling. She would come home crying saying that she was dumb. I would tell her, 'You're not dumb, you're just different.'" Zapata heard about YES Prep and admits that she was skeptical at first about the school, but she said that she was willing to do anything - including a long commute to the school every day - to help her daughter accomplish anything she wanted. According to www.yesprep.org, YES Prep is an open-enrollment public charter school system serving students in grades six through 12 in Houston's most underserved communities. After getting diagnosed, everyone in the family was relieved. The teachers at YES Prep helped Gonzales-Zapata find ways of working around her dyslexia, including using a colored overlay in books that changes the way the light refracts off the paper, because bright paper is often hard to read for those with dyslexia. Gonzales-Zapata said attending YES Prep paved the way for her younger siblings to attend as well, who also have dyslexia. "It proved to me that I can overcome it and read better," she said. "Now I enjoy being at school with my friends. I am really close to a lot of my teachers, as if they are family. I am also on the dance team and do other activities." "We had to work really hard to find some techniques and tools that she can use," said YES Prep Gulfton Teacher Stephanie Davidson. "She knows she needs to advocate for herself in order to get the help she'll need in college. It is hard for her to read long multisyllabic words but with dictionary.com online, she can quickly get the meaning and hear how that word is said. She can get things read to her at college too." Gonzales-Zapata said she never thought of college until she got to YES Prep, and at YES Prep they like to start college preparation early. "We take the students to several colleges every year, starting in the 6th grade, so they can see what is available to them," Davidson said. "It really opens a lot of eyes. We have gone to UT Austin, Tulane, University of North Texas and more. Everyone can go to college. They earned their spot." By the time Senior Signing Day arrives, a tradition for YES Prep schools, it has been a long time coming for many students. All YES Prep students attend the event at the Toyota Center. There, school directors read each name of the seniors, and the students show a hat, T-shirt or pennant and they announce where they have decided to go to college. "It is exciting for the kids because they have been seeing it since sixth grade and now it's their turn," Davidson said. "When I got into the stadium, I felt really nervous, just about how many people were going to be there," Gonzales-Zapata said. "As I went up there my heart was beating, and I announced my college, I was just relieved and excited to see all of my friends and family there cheering me on and be proud of my achievements." According to Davidson, all YES Prep seniors at all 17 campuses as a whole were offered more than $18 million in scholarships, some of that offered to Gonzales-Zapata as well. "I like Sul Ross because it is out of Houston, because I want to experience new places, but also because they have a great program in pre-veterinarian medicine, which I am interested in. I love animals and I love taking care of them," Gonzales-Zapata, said. She is the first to go to college on her father's side of the family. She has even inspired a cousin, who previously wasn't thinking about college, to enroll at Houston Community College. "No limits will hold you back to achieve what you want to achieve. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it and are motivated," Gonzales-Zapata said. "She was really shy and quiet when she first came, but she is a very confident young woman now," Davidson said. "She will go far." CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE: Two young pranksters hypnotize their principal into believing he is an absurd superhero in this animated family feature. (PG) CHURCHILL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF D-DAY: The British prime minister suffers doubts leading up to the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. (PG) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Houston's chef-owned independent restaurants do their part to promote the flavors of the city by sourcing produce from area farms and using local beef and pork as well as Gulf seafood. But you don't expect that practice from chain restaurants or even boutique, multi-unit brands. And that's where Cane Rosso is different. The Dallas-based pizza restaurant, with two stores in Houston (five in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and one in Austin), has taken the unusual step of hiring Houston chefs to make the pizzeria reflect local flavor and dining preferences. On Friday, June 2, Cane Rosso's first Houston-ified menu makes its public debut at the Montrose store (4306 Yoakum) to be followed by sister property in the Heights (1835 N. Shepherd) in a few weeks. The menu is the work of chefs Jonathan Jones and Matt Wommack. Jones was hired recently as executive chef of Cane Rosso's South Texas restaurants that include Houston and Austin; he brought Wommack on the team soon after his hire. Cane Rosso owner Jay Jerrier hired Jones specifically to inject some Houston focus in the restaurant's lineup of signature Neapolitan pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salads. "The original menu had very little to no vegetable presence," Jones said. "There was no Gulf seafood on the menu. It didn't speak to Houston." Jones said that Jerrier was committed to providing local flavor in Houston. "He didn't want to be a 'Dallas restaurant' in Houston," he said. With Wommack (formerly of Goro & Gun and Prohibition Supperclub), Jones used the Montrose kitchen, which is larger than Heights store, to start testing dishes that would work with Cane Rosso's popular pizza lineup. Their collaboration led to more than a dozen dishes that diners can begin enjoying in Montrose on June 2. Local farm produce, locally-sourced cheese, Gulf fish and seafood, pork from Black Hill Meats, and beef from 44 Farms are represented on the new menu items. Starters include fire-roasted cauliflower (yellow, green and purple) on a white cauliflower puree with bagna cauda sauce and anchovy vinaigrette; shaved heirloom carrot salad with pickled golden raisins, pistachios and spiced vinaigrette; shaved asparagus on a bed of prosciutto drizzled with citrus and topped with grana Padano and sesame seeds; marinated cold-poached Gulf seafood tossed with citrus and shaved fennel; and local ricotta with habanero honey and crushed pistachios served with grilled bread. Salad? A jumble of chopped heirloom tomatoes, shaved cucumber and pickled yellow beans rest on a healthy schmear of creamy, herbed crescenza cheese. To the pasta roster the chefs have added baked rigatoni (multiple cheeses and Bolognese sauce cosseting pasta and capped with crispy ragusano cheese), and a carbonara made with bucatini, spicy guanciale, egg, pecorino and barricato al pepe cheese. Even the pizza menu bears a local stamp. Witness the Tall Texano pizza (porchetta, tomatillo salsa, pickled red onion, chile, fresh mozzarella and cilantro) and the My Block pie (fire-roasted sweet potatoes, pickled salumi greens, spicy n'duja, and quadrello di bufala cheese). "It's nothing too crazy," Wommack said of the menu. "Just good, simple, and clean flavors." Jones said that the new menu allows local diners to see Cane Rosso through new foodie eyes. "We're really just trying to offer something different," said Jones, adding that both he and Wommack are local and know local dining habits. There's also some new and local at the bar. Bartender Chris Frankel, well known to the city's drinking crowd, is also newly on board as consulting beverage director. That means there are tasty new cocktails on the menu including Cloud City (a merger of bourbon, pear liqueur, blood orange juice and red wine, inspired by "The Empire Strikes Back"); Patio Weather (white rum, lime juice, habanero-infused honey, basil a nod to Houstonian's love for outdoor dining); and The Grandest Prize (bourbon, sweet vermouth, amaro, and orange curacao, a shout out to one of Frankel's favorite bars, Grand Prize Bar). Cane Rosso Heights: 1835 N. Shepherd, 713-868-0071; Cane Rosso Montrose, 4306 Yoakum, 713-447-1155. A state representative from The Woodlands plans to run for Montgomery County judge in the March 2018 Republican Party primary election. Mark Keough, who represents District 15, announced his intentions Wednesday, just two days after the legislative session ended and with a potential special session looming. His second term as representative expires in 2019. "I am very excited about this," Keough told The Courier. "The reason I pulled the trigger on this deal is two reasons. I feel in the House of Representatives I have done a good job ... and what can I do for the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time? "This county is in a difficult situation and it seems like it is not going away." Keough said he know the community is divided on issues including the county financial situation and ethics and said he want to address those as well as focus on law enforcement and mobility. He added his already getting "lots of support" and said it will be a "very exciting race." County Judge Craig Doyal's term is up at the end of 2018, but he has said his intentions are to run for re-election. Doyal won the county judge's race in 2014 and took office in January 2015 after serving as Precinct 2 commissioner from 2001-14. On the heels of Keough's announcement, Steve Toth confirmed he will seek his old office in District 15. Toth was state representative prior to Keough but vacated the position to run for state Senate in 2014. During the 2014 Republican primary, former Montgomery County Infrastructure Director Mark Bosma edged out Doyal with 17,228 votes to his 17,133 votes but, with a third candidate, did not receive more than 50 percent of the votes, forcing a runoff. During the May 27, 2014, runoff, Doyal topped Bosma with 18,104 votes (54.67 percent) to Bosma's 15,010 (45.33 percent). In February, Doyal confirmed to The Courier his plans to seek re-election as county judge. Toth and The Woodlands Township Board Chairman Gordy Bunch, who had been asked to challenge Doyal, said in February the turmoil surrounding Doyal could motivate even more people "off the bench" to file for the seats. Both Bunch and Toth said in a previous Courier article they did not have plans to run for county judge. Doyal, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark and Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley were indicted June 24, 2016, on the charge of conspiring to circumvent the Texas Open Meetings Act, relating to the November 2015 $280 million road bond passed by voters. In addition, political consultant Marc Davenport also was indicted on the same charge. Clark and Riley also are up for re-election in 2018 and plan to run. Bob Bagley, who lost to Clark in a runoff in 2014, has announced his plans to challenge Clark. In the TOMA case, Doyal's attorney, Houston-based Rusty Hardin, challenged the constitutionality of part of the Texas Open Meetings Act the four were charged under. On April 5, 329th state District Court Judge Randy Clapp, of Wharton County, ruled at least part of the act is unconstitutional because it is vague, overbroad and violates free speech. With his ruling, Clapp, who was acting as visiting judge in the 221st state District Court in Montgomery County, dismissed the charges against Doyal, Riley and Davenport. In March, Clark agreed to pretrial diversion to have his case dismissed if he testified for the state against the other men. The state has since filed notice to appeal Clapp's decision. That issue is pending in the 9th Court of Appeals. According to his campaign site, Keough received a bachelor's degree from Cedarville University, a private institution in Cedarville, Ohio. He obtained master's degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary and Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. He also attended the University of Cincinnati. For more than two decades, Keough was in automobile sales, including 14 years as the general sales manager of Northside Lexus in north Harris County. He left the automobile business to establish Mark Keough Ministries, which includes the Pathfinders Fellowship of The Woodlands. In addition to his continuing work as a pastor and radio host, he has been the headmaster of a private Christian school. Keough and his wife Kim have four children. On March 4, 2014, Keough won the Republican primary election to replace Toth. Keough received 57.4 percent of the votes against former The Woodlands Township Board Chairman Bruce Tough. Keough was then unopposed in the Nov. 4, 2014, general election. "It's been an honor to serve (as representative)," Keough said. Doyal could not be reached for comment. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO A firefighter with the San Antonio Fire Department has been terminated following a January arrest in Boerne, according to new documents obtained by mySA.com. Firefighter Ryan Prather was indefinitely suspended effective April 20 following an internal investigation by the fire department following his Jan. 14 arrest in Boerne, according to suspension paperwork obtained by mySA.com. RELATED: San Antonio firefighter suspended following public intoxication arrest in La Vernia During a traffic stop Jan. 14, Prather was allegedly found with two bags of methamphetamine weighing 5.2 grams, five straws, five paraphernalia baggies, three glass pipes, a bong and a Smith and Wesson handgun, according to his suspension paperwork. He was formally charged with a second-degree felony charge of possession of a controlled substance between 4 and 200 grams, a Class A misdemeanor charge of unlawful carry of a weapon and a Class C misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. The Jan. 14 traffic stop happened in the 1600 block of River Road, just outside the Ranch at Cibolo Apartments, after police noticed his vehicle's broken brake light. During the traffic stop, police officers learned Prather, the driver, was with a woman he just met that night from Craigslist. He was going with her to meet another woman at the apartment complex where police pulled the vehicle over. Prather was wearing San Antonio Fire Department attire at the time of the traffic stop, and identified himself as a firefighter to police, documents state. RELATED: 8 police officers, one firefighter suspended in August Police said the woman with him had slurred speech and was found in possession of marijuana, which prompted a vehicle search. Prather told police he was going through marriage issues and had just met the woman on Craigslist that night, according to the arrest report. Prather allegedly became nervous with police and told them he had stuff in the vehicle, and said if they searched his vehicle was going to be f----d, the affidavit said. During the search, officials found meth and the other items. Police also found syringes, one of them used, according to the affidavit. If convicted of the drug charge, Prather faces up to 20 years in prison. RELATED: San Antonio firefighter suspended after 3rd DWI arrest The San Antonio Fire Department declined to comment on Prathers indefinite suspension, which they clarified as being equivalent to a dismissal from the department. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com twhite@mysa.com Twitter: @tylerlwhite This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Fort Bend ChildrenAs Discovery Center Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Fort Bend ChildrenAs Discovery Center Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Fort Bend ChildrenAs Discovery Center Show More Show Less 5 of 5 The Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center - a project of the Children's Museum of Houston - celebrated its first birthday on May 20. Baird, a global financial services firm with offices in Houston, served as birthday bash sponsor and offered free admission to kids one year and younger and anyone with a May 20th birthday. After winning re-election to a second three-year term, Fort Bend Independent School District trustee Kristin Tassin was re-elected as board president for the second consecutive year. Trustees Jason Burdine and KP George also were sworn in to serve another three-year term after winning re-election and Burdine was re-elected for the second consecutive year as board vice president. Tassin, Burdine and George were first elected to the board in 2014. Also elected to board office at the May 15 meeting was trustee Addie Heyliger, who will serve another year as secretary. Tassin was elected to Position 4 and has lived in Missouri City for 17 years. She is an attorney at Dry & Tassin and is co-founder/director of the charitable organization, Father's Joy. She belongs to the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, Houston Young Lawyers Association and the Exchange Club of Sugar Land. She and her husband have three children, all of whom are enrolled in Fort Bend ISD schools. Burdine was elected to Position 1. Burdine's family has called Fort Bend their home for the past nine years. He is a financial adviser and was recently appointed to the Texas School Safety Board by Gov. Greg Abbott. Jason and his wife have two young children who attend FBISD schools. George was elected to Position 5. George grew up in a tiny village in South India and arrived in the United States in 1993 to work for a financial firm, having earned multiple financial certifications and licenses since. He is self-employed as a board-certified financial planner and owns and manages an independent financial planning practice with six other advisers. Since 1999, KP and his wife, an FBISD educator, have raised their three children in Sugar Land. One of his children is a recent college graduate, and two are currently attending Fort Bend ISD schools. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Living in The Woodlands area has good and not so good qualities. While crime rates are marginally lower than surrounding areas and nature preservation is of high priority, there are a minuscule amount of late-night dining options. However, this is not particularly alarming or surprising in an area where the population's largest age group is 45- to 54-year old's (15.6 percent), according to a 2016 report from The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership. Moreover, those between the ages of 25 and 64 combine to make the largest slice of the population, or roughly 66 percent. Not to say those ages 25 and up are tucked nicely into bed by 7 p.m., but business hours are made to reflect the need and demand of residents, therefore, if few are demanding it, a need is not interpreted. STAY FOREVER: Woodlands named one of the best places to live the rest of your life But in a community pushing large-scale events, like the Waterway Arts Festival and performances at The George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, late-night dining options should not be so few and far between. Longtime tenant of Shenandoah Katz's Express recently revamped its hours of operation, menu and style to accommodate the areas growth. By morphing into Katz's Deli and adopting the local restaurant's mantra "Katz's Never Kloses," Katz's Express can now offer what many establishments do not: nonstop service. Some bars and restaurants along The Woodlands Waterway do their part, providing alcoholic libations until 2 a.m. and keeping food flowing until midnight or 1 a.m. on some evenings. However, outside of the Waterway, chances of finding an open, full-service restaurant is unlikely, with most businesses closing their doors by 10 p.m. (even on weekends). PRACTICE SAFE EATING: Houston restaurant violations for May 22-30 Aside from fast food drive-thru's or national-chain diners like Denny's and IHOP, residents living in this area do not have late-night dining options-until now. The Villager sat down with owner of Katz's Deli Barry Katz to learn about Katz's Express officially transitioning to Katz's Deli on May 12, as well as the sustainability of never closing. Katz's father opened the original restaurant on Austin's 6th Street in 1979, and the New York-style diner quickly became an icon. When Katz moved to Houston in 2000, he opened Katz's Deli in lower Westheimer, followed by Katz's Express in Shenandoah in 2007. Katz's Express served a condensed menu and walk-up counter service. Katz said having limited hours was the right choice when it premiered in what was then a heavily suburban market, but with an area that is transforming and growing around the store, it was time for a change. "When we opened the (Austin) store, it also was open for limited hours, but in 1984 we went 24-hour due to customer demand," Katz said. "Then here we were (in Shenandoah) closing at night and people were knocking on the door saying, 'Katz's Never Kloses!'" Katz said his company listened to customer feedback, studied market research and digital data, as well as accounted for the restaurant's prime location off Interstate 45. On May 12, Katz ceremoniously removed the locks from doors, leaving a hole in its absence. Looking at his overnight dining competitors, Katz is aware of their presence and is confident Katz's Deli offers qualities competing restaurants do not. "What we've done as a point of difference is we offer the entire menu 24/7," he said. "People can come in at night and get chicken and waffles, someone else can get a Reuben sandwich and another person can get a steak dinner if they want." The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert constantly; alcohol is served until midnight Sundays thru Fridays and until 1 a.m. Saturdays. To give it a local edge, Katz's Deli features Houston-based beverages like Katz's Coffee (no relation), 8th Wonder, Saint Arnold and Karbach Brewing Company. As for volume of late-night guests, Katz does not equate quantity of customers to whether the doors will stay open. He ensures there is "always stuff to do in the restaurant," with chefs prepping food in the kitchen, employees cleaning the red leather booths and polishing custom-made light fixtures. But thankfully, Katz has not had to worry, as the restaurant receives a steady influx of overnight customers, including hospital employees, those in the service industry and bar and clubgoers. He said the response to Katz's Deli's rebranding is "the most positive opening [he's] ever felt." "They just love the 24-hour aspect, because there's nothing like it out here," he said. "They want it to feel the same as the Westheimer store, they don't want mini service-they want the full deal. That's the customer feedback we got over the last 10 years." Katz's Deli is located at 19075 Interstate 45 in the Portofino Shopping Center. For menu and location information, call 936-321-1880. An effort to find a permanent home for a scale model of The Woodlands formerly housed at the Home Finder Center has been put on hold by The Woodlands Township Board of Directors. However, the board's discussion on the model ended with The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau potentially getting new office space and more visibility. In December, The Woodlands Development Company donated the model to the township. According to Assistant General Manager John Powers, the cost to disassemble the model and move it to storage was about $20,000. The township had budgeted $50,000 for that effort. The staff provided a cost estimate to the board on a project to build-out unoccupied space at the township building on Technology Forest Drive. The tentative cost for that project was about $150,000. "The plan is to remodel the area to house this display, and potentially a replica of the Town Center model, and make the exhibit available to residents, realtors, site selectors and others such as scout groups and school groups," Powers stated in information provided to the board. "These displays are part of the history of the community and should be preserved and re-established as an active display." Since then, however, Powers said there has been discussion by the CVB about possibly relocating its offices to space adjacent to the model. That plan he said, would include relocating the office of the township's transportation and infrastructure staff. "The idea is to relocate (transportation and infrastructure staff) to where the CVB employees are now and the CVB would move into (their) area," Powers said. The cost, Powers explained, would be about $321,250 with the CVB funding its portion of $116,760 for the remodel of the space it would occupy. While Chairman Gordy Bunch was in favor of a place for the model, he was hesitant to invest money into the township building. "My only problem going down this route is we haven't identified the use of our 11 acers that we have over on Grogan's Mill," he said. "If we are going to be constructing a more permanent facility, I think that would be a better location for our permanent display because that will be a permanent home." In 2015, the township purchased 11.6 acers from GE Betz for future development, more specifically a municiple complex. Since then, the township has leased the campus, located at 9669 Grogan's Mill, back to GE Betz. The property, which includes both office and warehouse space, originally was purchased by Betz Laboratories in 1982 from The Woodlands Land Development Company, according to the Montgomery Central Appraisal District. The lease with GE Betz expires in September 2018. President and General Manager Don Norrell said the planning for the 11-acre site was "put on hold" until the cultural art study was complete. "At that point the board wanted to make the decision on how we move forward," he said. "We can reactivate that at any time." Township Board member and CVB Chairman Bruce Rieser was concerned about delaying the project since the CVB is not easily accessible by the public. "The CVB right now is stuck in the middle of the township offices," he said. "It's not really a place for us to bring anybody in to visit." Rieser added he was OK with a 1 year to 18-month delay but said waiting five years to move the CVB is not possible. "We are almost invisible in the community so the idea was to increase visibility by placing us in the location where people could get to us," he said. Rieser suggested putting off the effort to build the exhibition hall for the model and asked the staff to come back at a future meeting with a plan, including any costs, to swap the offices of the CVB and the transportation and infrastructure department. The board agreed and tabled the issue. Woodlands Township Director Laura Fillault is spearheading an effort to have an event in the community to honor first responders on Sept. 11. Fillault first asked about an event during the township's May 18 meeting. John Powers, assistant general manager for the township, gave the board four options before Fillault announced she had recently learned House Bill 1937, signed into law in 2003, designated Sept. 11 of every year of Texas First Responders Day. Powers suggested several options for an event including a day of remembrance at Town Green Park, a proclamation by the board, a national day of service that would organize community service projects on that day and coordinate students to write letters to those serving in the military. He added the cost with a potential event would be about $3,800. "I want to do an event, but that's me," Fillault said specifying the event should be in coordination with Texas First Responders Day and recognize local first responders. Board member Bruce Rieser agrees adding the township should do more than a proclamation since it "doesn't pay enough attention to it." The event, Rieser said, should be done the morning of Sept. 11. "It needs to be in the morning," he said. "It was that time in the morning that so many first responders lost their lives when the towers came down." Fillault asked the staff to bring the issue back at the board's next meeting. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An hour after he was forced to resign last Tuesday to avoid an internal investigation, Kirbyville principal Dennis Reeves apparently made good on a threat to kill himself if an affair with a district employee was discovered, Kirbyville police said Monday. Superintendent Tommy Wallis said in a statement to Kirbyville police that he and Assistant Superintendent Georgia Sayers confronted Reeves about the possible affair last Tuesday after meeting with the employee. According to the woman, who was not identified, Reeves said he would kill himself if the "relationship was uncovered." According to Wallis' statement, the employee, who at one point had been Reeves' secretary, said Reeves told her he would make it look like an accident so his family would receive insurance money. Reeves denied the affair, according to Wallis' statement. In the statement, Wallis said he told Reeves he would be put on administrative leave while the claim was investigated and that if he was lying, Reeves would be terminated. Wallis said if the affair had taken place and Reeves resigned, the district would not investigate, according to the statement. Reeves chose to resign, according to Wallis' statement. Wallis said Reeves was visibly upset and his hands were shaking as he signed his letter of resignation. Reeves was escorted to his truck at 4:15 p.m. but walked back to the outside door of the school to return welding tools. "As he began walking off, I heard him tell Mrs. Sayers, "I am not good, twice," Wallis said in his statement. "Mrs. Sayers responded 'I know Dennis' and he walked off." Wallis called the district maintenance director at 4:30 p.m. to change the locks on Reeves' office. He noticed Reeves still in his truck, according to his statement. Kirbyville Police Chief Paul Brister said in a statement that Wallis knew Reeves had a concealed handgun license and was "concerned." Wallis said in his statement that he was worried Reeves was waiting in his truck to confront them. When Brister arrived to the campus at 5 p.m., he and another officer found Reeves sitting in his truck, which was locked and running in reverse with his foot on the brake pedal. "Mr. Reeves had what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the right side temple area of the head," Brister said in his statement. "We unlocked the vehicle and upon entry found a small caliber .380 semi-automatic handgun in Mr. Reeves' right hand which was removed." Wallis said he was told by Brister shortly after that Reeves was found dead and "had shot himself." Brister said Tuesday that he was "99.5 percent" sure Reeves' death was a suicide, "but was not ready to make that determination." Wallis said he felt the situation was "handled the best way possible." "We have a community that is grieving right now," Wallis said. "Normalcy is not something that takes place overnight. I don't think the typical norm will ever be the norm again." Assistant Principal Charles Simmons, who was hired by Reeves, resigned Tuesday morning via an email. In the email, he said he was resigning out of loyalty to Reeves. "I'm not sure where I will end up, but I do know that If I were to stay under the present circumstances it would compromise my integrity and it would not be loyal to Dennis," Simmons said in the email. "For me to keep silent would also be disloyal to our school and our entire district. It's not what I want to do... it's the right vs. wrong." He added, "I am confident that many of your questions will be answered soon." Simmons submitted his resignation prior to Brister's statement on Reeves' death. Wallis said Tuesday that both the assistant principal and principal positions have been posted. Debbie Brockman, a lead counselor at the high school, has been put in charge of the day-to-day activities at the high school, according to Wallis. DThompson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/DaveTh89 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate "It's coming," he says. "It's time this country knows God is coming." A rifle is slung across his back and a gun belt around his waist holds a revolver and extra cartridges. A knife is strapped to the other side of his lean torso. A battered felt hat frames a deeply lined face and bushy beard. Dangling from a nearby tree, a hangman's noose strangles a weathered sign that sums up his stance: "Solution to tyranny." Warily covering Gray's flanks are two of his six children, sons Jonathan, 39, and Timothy, 33. The dark-bearded, fit and tanned brothers are as well-armed as their 62-year-old father. Ten feet behind her brothers and father, long-haired Ruth Gray, 31, stands solemn and silent. She, too, is armed to the teeth. Next to her is teenager Jessica Gray, "who is old enough," according to her father, Jonathan. She has on a cowboy hat that the wind keeps blowing off, a long denim skirt, a sequined denim vest and cowboy boots. She's packing a pistol and binoculars. Law is ignoring him This is one stubborn side of what has been called America's longest-running standoff with law enforcement. But it's been a single-sided siege. Henderson County authorities have pointedly ignored the would-be war. For more than 11 years, John Joe Gray and his country clan have been holed up inside their own private prison, a 47-acre strip of Trinity River bottomland about 100 miles southeast of Fort Worth in Henderson County. They've scraped out a harsh life here ever since Gray was bailed out of jail in January 2000 after he was charged with assaulting a state trooper on Christmas Eve 1999. During a traffic stop, Gray and the driver of the car told two Department of Public Safety troopers that they were armed. When ordered to get out, the driver did but Gray wouldn't budge. One trooper pushed Gray out, and he then lunged for the other officer's sidearm. Gray bit the trooper as they struggled for control of the weapon, according to investigators. An Anderson County grand jury indicted him on two felony counts - assaulting a public servant and taking a peace officer's weapon. "We're here because two highway patrolmen lied about what happened," Gray said last week. "Land of the free and home of the brave? That's a bunch of bull." He has refused to be taken alive and in a long-ago letter to authorities, the family warned officials to "bring extra body bags," if they come for him. Authorities kept tabs on the compound for months but haven't maintained an active presence for years. "We fear no man," John Joe Gray maintains. "We believe in an eye for an eye and a bullet for a bullet." But nobody's storming the gate. Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt, who is the fourth lawman in the post since 2000, says, like his predecessors, that he's not willing to risk a gunbattle just to arrest Gray. "John Joe Gray is not worth it. Ten of him is not worth going up there and getting one of my young deputies killed," he said. Living off the land The hardscrabble compound has no phone, no refrigeration, no power. Contact with the outside world is through a handful of "supporters" and via shortwave radio, John Joe Gray said. Drinking water comes from springs, and Gray and his sons say they subsist by growing beans, potatoes, corn, squash, tomatoes and peppers on fields they plow with donkeys. They can vegetables and dry meat to get through the year, they said. They also raise goats and chickens and catch catfish, carp and drum from the Trinity and hunt deer on the wooded property. Friends bring them staples they can't produce themselves. Last year, they harvested their first crop of peaches. One supporter, who frequently visits the farm, said eight children are inside the compound. The kids are armed at an early age, she said. They are equally adept at reciting the Constitution or Scripture. "It's sort of Wild West. It's what a traditional American family looked like 100 years ago," said Dolores McCarter of Arlington, who says she once worked for Homeland Security and now operates a small nonprofit called Dee's House that helps battered women and children. "John is standing as a free man. He loves his family. They are prepared to live out their lives there," McCarter said. "Some people pity them and they ... pity us." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Lyft has returned to Houston. One look at the ride-hailing company's layout of the Bayou City though may make people ask their drivers if they know where they're heading before accepting a ride. LYFT VS. UBER: Which ride-sharing company costs more? According to a Lyft press release, Galveston and Katy are within city limits. From what we can gather, Lyft has meshed two maps together, one of east Texas over a street map of Houston. Either way, it has people questioning if they'll get to where they need to go if this is the map Lyft is using for all its drivers. Lyft returned to Houston after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed a law that bans the finger printing requirement for ride-sharing companies. Here's to welcoming Lyft back to the city and hoping they get this whole geography thing down soon. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In the midst of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Byiringiro Mupenzi fled to the United States, establishing a new life in Houston. But four years after escaping his native land, friends and family are trying to make sense of how he ended up dead early Monday morning, lying naked with lacerations in the parking lot of his southwest apartment complex, according to Houston Police. "We don't know anything," said his older brother Nganizi Kayishema, 36, through a translator. "We are waiting to see what's going to come from the police investigation." The family is also waiting to see their beloved relative's body. The 25-year-old was last seen by his best friend around 4 p.m. on Sunday when they went shopping together, his brother said. The dead man's best friend headed to a graduation party afterwards and Mupenzi went to visit an unidentified person, the brother recalled outside a small family gathering on Tuesday at the apartment complex. Mupenzi was supposed to meet his friend back at the party, but he never showed up. Instead, the next time the family heard about Mupenzi was when police officers knocked on their apartment door in the early morning hours of Memorial Day. He shared the home with his mother, sister and his sister's son. A tenant at the southwest Houston apartment complex in the 6200 block of Marinette had called 911 around 1:50 a.m. after seeing a naked man in the parking lot who looked deceased, according to police. When HFD paramedics arrived, they pronounced Mupenzi dead at the scene. Police said that Mupenzi suffered from severe lacerations, and Kayishema said he's heard reports that his brother was apparently decapitated. When he learned about the violent death, Mupenzi's brother was in San Antonio over the weekend for a wedding. He rushed back to Houston. On Tuesday, he gathered with other friends and family as they shared food and drinks just one day later to mourn the loss of their loved one. He describes his younger brother as a simple man who took care of his family and also wanted to pursue his education. He worked for Goodman Manufacturing Company but wanted to go back to school for construction or engineering. Houston police are still investigating the death but so far have no suspects or witnesses to the crime. The mother, who Mupenzi looked after, has been sleeping mostly since she heard the news, her son said. He described her as emotionally exhausted. His brother has no idea who would act so brutally, but because of his Christian faith, he said he has no hate for the person. "I know crime can happen," Kayishema said. "There's nothing we can do." Police in Euless, Texas are investigating the theft of 39 handguns stolen from a gun store that neighbors that city's police department. Euless Guns and Ammo at 1200 West Euless Boulevard was broken into Saturday morning. Surveillance footage captured five robbers rush in and out of the store. The group pulled up, exited a Ford F250 pickup truck and proceeded to tear off metal bars before rushing in and taking several firearms. Houston's firefighters pension fund sued Mayor Sylvester Turner and numerous city officials late Tuesday over the pension reform plan that passed the Legislature last week, arguing the landmark legislation is unconstitutional. The Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund argues the reform plan unlawfully undercuts the board's legal authority to "select legal counsel and an actuary and adopt sound actuarial assumptions" and seeks to have a court permanently block the city from acting as though the reforms will become law. AUSTIN Gov. Greg Abbott called Wednesday for a federal judge considering court supervision of Texas' long-troubled child-protection system to drop the case, insisting that landmark reforms he just signed into law will fix chronic problems. "The case should be dismissed," he said at a morning ceremony where he signed the sweeping reform bills into law. The sweeping changes approved by the Legislature, Abbott said, will allow Texas to "not only focus, number one, on the children but we are going to be on a pathway for Texas to be a national leader." "We wanted to do more than just put a Band-Aid on a problem ... We knew that was not going to work," he said, flanked by state officials and nearly a dozen lawmakers who authored the bills. "We needed a complete overhaul . . . reform top to bottom." In addition to the new laws, the Legislature also approved putting more than $500 million in additional funds into the state's programs for abused and neglected children. An emergency appropriation of approximately $150 million was added last fall to begin hiring hundreds of additional caseworkers to curb high turnover rates, and increase salaries of low-paid front-line employees. Abbott, signing the four reform bills at the headquarters of the state Health and Human Services Commission, said the changes will go a long way toward correcting past operational lapses that led to deaths of children in state custody, long waiting lists for kids awaiting care and administrative disconnects that plagued Texas' system for more than 20 years. To the families of children who died in state custody, Abbott said: "Their family now has a lasting legacy knowing that they played a role in these changes." Under the bills, the state Department of Family and Protective Services will spin off into a separate agency from HHS, non-profit agencies will take a greater role in assisting the state in placing foster-care children and in adoption services, and supervision and operations will be streamlined to better focus on positive outcomes for abused and neglected children. DFPS Commissioner Henry "Hank" Whitman said the agency's most recent statistics show it is doing much better at seeing children reported for abuse and neglect faster, and in caseworker hiring and retention. "We are going to keep on moving forward for further improvements," he said. Despite Abbott's optimism about the reforms, Dori Goldman, a Houston attorney representing plaintiffs in the federal case against the state, said "court oversight absolutely remains necessary and critical." At the same time, the legislative reforms are "a step in the right direction," she said. An alleged Gulf Cartel leader managed to escape from house arrest earlier this month, according to media reports out of Mexico. El Blog del Narco reported that Guillermo Rene Escamilla Cabriales or "El Memito," was under house arrest in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, located about 130 miles southwest of McAllen. 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. This is the third in a series of stories on Flagstaff-area graduating high school seniors. Coconino High School senior Sangeun Han, known as Jessica among her friends, received letters of acceptance to Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shes leaning toward MIT because the college has offered her a full-ride scholarship and because she likes the atmosphere. Hans favorite subjects at Coconino High School were AP math and particularly calculus. She got a look at MIT last summer while attending its MITES summer program. She is a Questbridge finalist. Questbridge is a nonprofit group that helps low-income, minority students get to college. Before heading to college in the fall, Han plans to return to South Korea to visit her grandparents. Adam Carl Adam Carl, a senior graduating from Coconino High School, is taking a different route to becoming a pediatrician. Carl plans to attend the University of Arizona and study biomedical engineering with the end goal of becoming a pediatrician. Carl said he wanted a career that would let him mix a bit of engineering and working children. I wanted something fun that helps little kids, he said. Hes volunteered for the last few years as part of the Special Friends program at local elementary schools. The program provides a mentor, usually an older student, to elementary school students who have troubles at home. Carl also volunteered as a Link Leader at CHS. Link Leaders are upperclassmen who mentor incoming high school freshman. Hes used the dual enrollment pre-health program at Flagstaff Unified School District and Coconino Community College to collect 48 college credits toward his degree over the last two years. Taking the dual enrollment path has helped him to learn what to expect when he gets into college and how to manage his time, he said. Flagstaff High School Karl Boerwinkle Flagstaff High School senior Karl Boerwinkle is one of the lucky few who has made it into the U.S. Air Force Academy. He will have three short weeks of freedom after graduation before having to report to the academy on June 29. Boerwinkle follows his father, who is a retired Air Force officer, and his older brother, who is a senior at the academy. Boerwinkle attends the Advanced Placement Academy at Flag High. He said he plans to study engineering and become a pilot. Being accepted into the academy is no easy process. The academies are ranked in the top 10 most rigorous and selective schools in the nation. Potential cadets have to fill out an application, get recommendations from three teachers, get a recommendation from at least one of their U.S. representatives or senators, rank within the top 40 percent of their high school class and show an impressive record of extracurricular activity in clubs and sports. Each member of Congress and the vice president are allowed to nominate 10 candidates but can only have five cadets attending the academy at one time. The average student entering the academy ranks in the top 3 percent of their class. They also have to pass a physical and medical fitness test. Kylee Rowsell Kylee Rowsell, the student body president at Flagstaff High School, is working on her own nonprofit organization while preparing to attend Arizona State University West. She plans to study elementary education and hopes to teach fourth and fifth-graders. Her nonprofit Brennons Heart Foundation is named after her brother, who passed away at the age of 9 because of a heart defect. The organizations volunteers write letters and visit hospital patients who may not have the support of family and friends while they are hospitalized. Rowsell said the idea came to her while visiting her brother in the hospital and seeing how much that support meant to him and her family. Ed. Note: This story has been changed from its original. BNM anunta concurs pentru postul vacant de expert principal, pe durata determinata, responsabil de elaborarea/actualizarea cerintelor metodologice de reglementare a procesului de raportare la BNM Senate Democrats made good Friday on their pledge to pick apart the workers compensation system at the behest of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, but the measures they approved brought only derision from the GOP. Majority Democrats endorsed one proposal that would require companies writing workers compensation insurance to get state approval for the rates they charge, and another that creates a nonprofit company with government oversight to write competitive policies. A Progressive Era reform, Illinois was on the ground floor when it adopted the law in 1912. Workers previously had little recourse if they were hurt on the clock. Workers compensation created limited liability for employers and set speedy payment for an injured worker who agreed to forgo an uncertain court remedy. Rauner has made cost-cutting workers comp changes a must before hell agree to an annual budget something Illinois has been without for two years, longer than any state in modern history. Frustrated Democrats say theyre making major concessions because they overhauled the compensation system in 2011. Rauners demand for workers comp reform goes back to when he was a gubernatorial candidate. After he became governor, Democrats told him their 2011 changes meant that medical and replacement-wage payments in Illinois dropped 20 percent, to $1.33 billion, from 2011 to 2015, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance , an industry observer. Quoting state statistics, the Midwest Region of the Laborers International Union of North America reports that insurance premiums that Illinois employers pay for workers compensation coverage have gone up nearly 15 percent. An expert, Democratic Rep. Jay Hoffman of Swansea, notes that NCCI has recommended a 29 percent reduction in workers comp insurance rates during the past seven years. But theres no requirement that companies adopt lower rates. A Hoffman-initiated measure sponsored by Chicago Democratic Sen. Kwame Raoul requires state Insurance Department-approved rates based on market need. It won approval 32-20 but must return to the House for concurrence. The other measure, sponsored by Glenview Democratic Rep. Laura Fine and Evanston Democratic Sen. Daniel Biss, creates a nonprofit insurance company with oversight from a government board to push down rates by competing for policies like ones in other states. That proposal now heads to Rauner. Senate Republicans derided the workers compensation legislation as delay and distraction but not reform. Rauners office declined comment. The Illinois Manufacturers Association issued a statement in opposition. Republicans want arbitrators who determine awards to solely consider American Medical Association guidelines addressing impairment. Currently, an arbitrator may consider a workers age, occupation, future earning capacity and other factors. Using only AMA, Democratic Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago says a bus driver and a concert pianist who both lose a finger would get the same award. Mark Denzler, vice president of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, says his organizations compromise was that AMA guidelines be the sole guide unless a preponderance of evidence calls other factors into play. He says applying AMA guidelines provides for fair, clearly delineated compensation decisions. Theres now a cost-saving, GOP-proposed list outlining eligible prescription drugs. A Republican suggestion speeds up the process for injured first responders. It includes a Rauner-recommended change that allows a company or worker to forgo the cost of an injury report. (The bills are HB2622 and HB2225.) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Everything is big in Texas, including hailstorms. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reported that insurance claims for hail damage in Texas last year exceeded the previous two years combined. Hail damage fluctuates year-to-year, but 2016 was a particularly devastating year across the country. An analysis of insurance claims from the Insurance Services Office (ISO) ClaimSearch database showed that after decreasing by 21 percent from 2014 to 2015, the number of hail claims nationwide jumped 48 percent to more than 965,000 in 2016. Hail Loss Claims Nationwide 2016 965,153 2015 654,121 2014 831,469 Hail Loss Claims Top 10 States 2014-2016 State 2014 2015 2016 Total % of U.S. claims Texas 135,927 161,099 378,652 675,678 28% Colorado 100,127 56,773 90,002 246,902 10% Nebraska 80,733 23,791 58,142 162,666 7% Missouri 45,478 37,823 56,736 140,037 6% Illinois 63,853 40,246 26,502 130,601 5% Kansas 39,415 39,000 49,864 128,279 5% Minnesota 16,786 34,324 20,759 71,869 3% Pennsylvania 49,402 10,233 4,836 64,471 3% Indiana 22,102 14,291 21,750 58,143 2% Oklahoma 11,889 28,788 15,925 56,602 2% Texas totaled more than four times as many hail claims as the second leading state, Colorado, and had 39 percent of all the claims filed last year. San Antonios devastating hailstorms in 2016 resulted in 68,778 claims with Colorado Springs reporting 33,595. Across the nation, most hail claims, 55 percent, were for home damage with personal auto damage representing 32 percent of all hail claims. Source: NICB Insurance groups breathed a sigh of relief this week after legal scholars delayed a vote on a controversial restatement of liability insurance law. As reported by Insurance Journal, the American Legal Institute (ALI) on Tuesday formally decided to postpone a final vote on its full liability insurance restatement until next year. The authors in charge of the Restatement of the Law, Liability Insurance agreed to spend some more time working on the document, with an eye to bringing a new final draft before the 2018 annual meeting for consideration. The proposed controversial restatement would give policyholders more clout in disputes with insurers over policy language, claims settlements, application misrepresentations, an insurers duty to defend and other matters. Insurance groups have been calling for a vote delay and reconsideration of key sections of the restatement. The industry associations also claim that significant changes were made to the proposal since an earlier draft version was approved by the ALI membership but those changes have not been discussed in any meetings. Given our serious concerns about the unfairness and uncertainty this restatement would likely lead to, we are pleased ALI did not take a vote for final approval yesterday. We look forward to working over the next year to ensure this restatement is improved for everyone insurers and policyholders, commented J. Stephen Zielezienski, general counsel and senior vice president for the insurer trade group, American Insurance Association. The ALI, a group of legal scholars that provides summaries of the current state of case law and statutes that courts use as a guide, had been scheduled to vote on the full restatement on Tuesday. However, after what ALI termed a thought-provoking discussion, ALI members voted to approve some new sections but the authors Tom Baker, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Kyle Logue, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School agreed to do further work on the complete document. They said they hope to have a revised draft ready in the fall and a new final draft of the full restatement ready to be presented for consideration at next years ALI annual meeting. Insurers, defense lawyers, regulators and lawmakers have expressed concerns about numerous sections of the redrafted document, arguing that they go beyond summarizing current legal thinking and adopt minority opinions on certain issues. They fear the changes will tip the scales in favor of policyholders in ways that could raise premiums and hurt the availability of insurance. Tom Considine, CEO of the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), also welcomed the reconsideration. NCOIL legislators are pleased that the ALI heeded our advice, said Considine in a written statement. We continue to call for an immediate dialogue with the ALI to ensure their restatements do not creep into the realm of legislative prerogative. Tom Karol, general counsel for the National Association of Mutual Insurers (NAMIC), applauded ALI for listening to critics and being willing to weigh amendments. NAMIC is grateful that its serious concerns regarding the Restatement of Insurance Liability, which are shared by an array of legal experts, has helped convince the ALI to delay the approval on the full proposed final draft and consider several important amendments. Restatements that create new legal standards rather than restate the common law could have direct and serious impact on the availability of insurance coverage and increase premiums for policyholders, Karol said. Among the provisions being criticized is one that would limit an insurers defense when an applicant misrepresents information to only misrepresentations that were intentionally or recklessly committed. Critics have also questioned changes affecting an insurers breach of duty to defend and breach of duty to settle claims. The restatement also carves out an exception to the traditional plain meaning rule governing contracts for cases where extrinsic evidence shows that a reasonable person in the policyholders position would give the term a different meaning. Baker and Logue, the authors of the draft, have defended their work. They have rejected the criticisms that the changes are not grounded in solid legal opinion. They maintain that the industry has not proven that the changes will harm insurance markets. They also maintain their work is informed by and consistent with modern economic and psychological research on how insurance markets work. As auto accidents and fatalities increase on Americas roads, 9 states enacted laws and three states have legislation on the governors desk to combat distracted driving by strengthening enforcement, increasing penalties and fines, and focusing on education and awareness efforts particularly for teens, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Even though most states have put in place laws that restrict texting while driving, more action is needed to address distracted driving and the sharp spike in crashes and traffic fatalities that have occurred over the past few years, said Robert Passmore, PCI assistant vice president for personal lines policy. While there is no single answer to addressing the problem of distracted driving, the new laws passed in 2017 are important because finding the solution to this epidemic involves enacting stronger laws, increasing enforcement, raising public awareness and creating a culture of personal responsibility. This is the roadmap to safer roads and fewer distracted driving accidents, injuries, and deaths. The states enacting laws in 2017 against distracted driving are taking a variety of approaches to the problem. Iowa and Washington have enacted two of the strongest laws against distracted driving in 2017. Iowas law moves from secondary to primary enforcement of the states texting ban law. Now police wont need to wait to witness another driving infraction before they can pull over a texting driver. Laws in Washington and Arkansas broke new ground by expanding the definition of distracted driving to include many more dangerous behaviors that drivers engage in such as using Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and even Netflix, said Passmore. We need to make sure our laws are keeping up with the new behaviors that are making our roads deadlier. Texas was one of a handful of states without a ban on texting, but the Legislature recently sent a bill to Governor Abbot that would establish a statewide texting ban with primary enforcement. The bill would make the offense a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $99 for a first time offense or $200 for repeat offenders. If the Texas bill is signed 43 states and the District of Columbia will have primary enforcement of texting bans leaving only Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota with either secondary enforcement or no texting law. Arkansas, District of Columbia, North Dakota and Washington are cracking down by increasing fines for distracted driving. In Arkansas fines for texting will now be up to $250 for a first-time offender and $500 for a repeat offender. Additionally, fines will double if a driver involved in a crash is texting. Colorado also has legislation on the governors desk that increases penalties for texting while driving from $50 to $300. These fines reflect the seriousness of the violation. Protecting teen drivers was the focus of legislation approved in Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Vermont. Arizona banned teenagers with a learners permit from driving while using a wireless communication device, Oklahoma mandated all driver education courses to include education regarding the dangers of texting while driving while Tennessee and Vermont passed laws to prohibit the use of handheld devices in school zones. The Vermont legislation is awaiting the governors signature. Virginia also took action to further the educational activities of DRIVE SMART Virginia. Drivers will be able to make contributions to DRIVE SMART Virginia Education Fund through their EZ Pass electronic toll collection account. The funds will be used to educate the public on issues related to safe driving, distracted road users, and other issues. The 14 percent increase in traffic fatalities over the past two years the largest two year increase in more than 50 years highlights the importance of motorists, policymakers, and insurers working together to avoid unsafe driving behaviors and strengthen distracted driving laws, said Passmore. The tougher laws and awareness efforts passed this year are part of that effort to curb distracted driving and reverse the disturbing and dangerous trends on our highways and neighborhood streets. Click here to learn about the new distracted driving laws approved and enacted in 2017. Source: PCI AKRON, Ohio -- The City of Akron will partner with Akron Public Schools and Summit Education Initiative to host its annual summer reading program starting June 12. The 2017 Summer Slide Program will run through Aug. 11. The program will help Akron students in kindergarten through second grade practice reading with one-on-one support from a community volunteer. Summit Education Initiative Executive Director Darran Wimer said the largest gains and gaps in reading occur prior to third grade. Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said the "summer slide," or learning loss that affects students during the summer months, contributes to the achievement gap. This can hold students back from realizing their full potential. "Our summer reading program, which includes one-on-one sessions with volunteer tutors, helps stem the tide of reading loss and sends students back to school in the fall ready to hit the ground running," Horrigan said in a news release. "There is no more important cause than ensuring that our young people have the tools they need to succeed." Summer reading sessions will be held weekly at the Firestone Park, Kenmore, Lawton, Mason Park, Northwest and Patterson Park Community Centers. The Summer Slide Program times and locations are below. Firestone Park, 1480 Girard St. Lawton Street, 1225 Lawton St. Mason Park, 700 E. Exchange St. Northwest, 1730 Shatto Ave. Patterson Park, 800 Patterson Ave. Parents are encouraged to contact the center closest to their home to enroll their children for free. The City of Akron will provide incentives for participating students. All volunteer tutors with be trained prior to the beginning of the program. Akron City Council President Marilyn Keith, a former school teacher, and Akron Councilman-at-Large Jeff Fusco supported the initiative in its first year. They have helped recruit community volunteers for this year's program. "We saw great results with the Summer Slide Program last year, and we wanted to make the program even more successful in 2017," Keith said in a news release. Keith said City Council gave extra money toward the reading program this year. "This program is critical. We're grateful for the city's help and SEI's assistance in this project," Akron Public Schools Superintendent David W. James said in a news release. "They strengthen the resources needed so we may reach more students." Summer Slide Program times and locations, community center contact information and upcoming volunteer training sessions can be found online at http://tinyurl.com/SummerSlideAkron. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. AKRON, Ohio - Dirty River Bicycle Works, a new specialty bicycle shop, is opening in Akron's North Side Arts District. The shop, located at 21 Furnace St. in the Cascade Lofts, is one of the first to move into a large interior space at the Lofts set to become an urban market, said store owner Ryan Adams. To see the space, you can attend Dirty River's grand opening with ribbon-cutting on Friday, June 2, at 11 a.m. A party with a DJ, giveaways, test rides, races and games will start at 4 p.m. What's different about Dirty River Bicycle Works? Its test-ride approach, which means customers can try out almost everything in the store before buying. "We've got all kinds of unique and interesting stuff, not things you normally see," said Adams, whose business card reads "Chief Tread Officer." "We're setting up systems and ways for people to try almost anything. We have a test-ride saddle system. Come and try stuff out. If you like it, take it home." The shop also offers full-service bike repair. Adams worked as a mechanic for 17 years and later, driven by a passion for bikes, served as service director at Eddy's Bike Shop, considered the largest trek and specialized bike shop in Ohio. Still, he researched the viability of a specialty bike store in Akron, consulting the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study's 2016 bike plan, which takes an in-depth look at Greater Akron's 108 miles of hike-and-bike paths. Adams found that despite the Towpath Trail cutting right through town, Akron lacks a nearby bike-gear vendor with strong mechanical skills. And, with Akron's push to make its neighborhoods more walkable and bikeable, Adams and his wife, Kelley, got to work. Adams chose the name Dirty River Bicycle Works as a nod to the Cuyahoga River, which is still among the dirtiest rivers, but also to the positive connotation the word "dirty" has in off-road and gravel biking. To avoid contributing to the river's pollution, the store will carry green, biodegradable lubes and solvents. It will cater to three popular biking styles: casual cruising; fast and far, for all types of surfaces down and dirty, for fat bikes (with oversized tires for riding on soft terrain) and all terrain-bikes. The couple handpicked everything in the store, which includes specialty handle bars, seats, peddles, helmets, gloves, clothing, shoes and more. Dirty River's clothing line is spandex-free, featuring breathable technical clothing -- including underwear called "liners" -- that looks like everyday wear. "It's kind of a newer concept," Adams said. "You can be ready for a 100-mile ride and then walk into a store and not look like a shrink-wrapped sausage." In addition to the grand opening, Dirty River is partnering with two relatively new downtown businesses to host an unusual bike ride. The Downward Spiral, set for 5:30-8:30 p.m. June 8, begins at Do Good Yoga at 106 N. Main St. at North Side, where attendees will participate in 45 minutes of yoga. They'll then saddle up their bikes across the street at Dirty River and Adams will lead a 10-mile off-the-beaten-path, nooks-and-crannies tour of downtown Akron, riding on- and off-road. The tour ends up at High St. Hop House, where riders will enjoy a complimentary, cold, craft brew and hear live music. Tickets run $15-$31 and are available here. "It's a more interesting night than you usually get, and you'll go to at least one place you've never been before," Adams said. Dirty River Bicycle Works will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. throughout the summer. For more information, visit Dirty River Bicycle Works or call 330-990-9300. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. MANTUA TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Twenty-seven years ago, Robert Gondor and Randy Resh stood in the driveway of Gondor's father's house, both awaiting trial for the murder and attempted rape of a woman in 1988. Both knew they were innocent, but they were offered plea deals that would result in shorter prison stints than the ones they risked if they went to trial. Taking stock of their situation, they shook hands and agreed to fight the charges. In November 2016, after 16 1/2 years in prison, two criminal trials and a just-finished, decade-long battle to prove their innocence, they shook hands again. They knew their struggle was over. Gondor, friends with his co-defendant since first grade, looked at Resh and said, "you don't get it?", referring to the meeting they had in the same spot in 1990. It was a beginning and an end. "And he looked around and he went 'oh, s**t,'" Gondor recalled Resh saying. Gondor and Resh, both 53, have now been out of prison for more than a decade, re-adjusting to life after being convicted and exonerated for the killing of 31-year-old Connie Nardi, who was strangled and left in a pond in Geauga County. Their co-defendant Troy Busta implicated the pair, and investigators said all three and Nardi were at a bar in the small Portage County township of Mantua the last time she was seen alive. In March of this year, a judge approved a nearly $3 million settlement between Gondor, Resh and the state of Ohio to resolve their wrongful incarceration claims. That is in addition to the more than $420,000 they each received from the state in 2015. Gondor and Resh said the newest settlement represents a sense of finality for a case that consumed their lives. Both men said in recent interviews that their differing personalities complemented each other well in their fight. "When I look back on it, I'm really proud of what we accomplished," Gondor said. "We laugh about it now, about all those decisions we made, not knowing what the hell was going to happen. There were a few times we were just flying by the seat of our pants." Gondor and Resh's release came at a time when the spotlight didn't shine as bright on such cases. Since their release, groups such as the Ohio Innocence Project have worked toward freeing many others who spent years in prison for crimes they didn't commit. The Ohio Innocence Project's website lists 23 people who were freed based on its work after Gondor and Resh were cleared. The settlement lifts another roadblock to living a normal life, even if the money cannot fully compensate them for the years they lost. They think about their time in prison every day. "This finally being over, you can actually start looking forward, just looking at things a little differently," Resh said. The crime and case A fisherman found Nardi's body in a pond on Aug. 16, 1988. Several witnesses said she was last seen with Busta, then 21, two days earlier. The two drank and danced at a bar called the Upper Deck in Mantua. Busta, who drank and used cocaine, left with Nardi on his motorcycle at about 7 p.m., according to court documents. Investigators tracked down Busta and charged him with capital murder. Prosecutors later offered Busta a plea deal that would spare him from the death penalty if he implicated Gondor, then a carpenter, and Resh, a roofer. Lead investigator David Easton thought the pair was involved in Nardi's slaying. Both men, 24 years old at the time, had alibis and didn't know Busta or Nardi very well. Nevertheless, detectives said they thought Busta, Gondor and Resh planned to meet to have sex with Nardi and that Resh strangled her during a struggle. Busta gave inconsistent statements to investigators. He testified at Gondor and Resh's trials and was the main thing tying either man to the case. A jury convicted Gondor in 1990 of involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping and obstructing justice. He was sentenced to 21 1/2 to 50 years in prison. Resh was convicted of murder and attempted rape at a separate trial the same year and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Gondor and Resh were housed in the same cells for much of their 16 1/2 years in prison. Boxes upon boxes of trial materials, evidence and reports were in their cell, and Gondor spent much of his time in prison law libraries and wearing out one typewriter after another. Gondor, with his boisterous and stubborn personality, charged ahead, tracking down every lead he could to clear their names. It consumed him in prison, he said. Resh helped but said he did his best to steer his partner in the right direction. They found materials that weighed in Gondor and Resh's favor that prosecutors claimed they turned over to defense attorneys. Both men said their attorneys, Gary Levine and James Draper, never received the materials, which included witness statements and results from a DNA test. Nevertheless, the exculpatory information was never presented at trial. With new attorneys Steve Bradley and Mark Marein, they had a challenge to their case. In December 2006, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the attorneys who represented Gondor and Resh in the 1990 trials were ineffective. New trials were ordered and the pair were released on bond. In April 2007, following a trial in which Busta again testified, a jury acquitted Resh. Nine days later, prosecutors dropped their case against Gondor. But the legal fight was not over. To collect any money from the state, a judge had to declare them "wrongfully incarcerated." Litigation dragged on for several more years, and in 2014 retired Summit County Common Pleas Judge Marvin Shapiro gave Gondor and Resh that designation following a nine-day trial. Styling it in all caps, Shapio wrote in his opinion that "THERE IS NO PHYSICAL OR FORENSIC EVIDENCE OF ANY KIND IN THIS CASE THAT WOULD LINK EITHER OR BOTH PLAINTIFFS TO THE NARDI HOMICIDE." Victor Vigluicci, the Portage County prosecutor since 1994 who oversaw the retrial, did not return a phone call. Readjusting Gondor, who now lives in Chardon with his girlfriend and her daughter, said he has come a long way mentally from where he was upon his release. He said he didn't know how to handle it. He recalled a point in 2007, after the parties and well-wishes died down, that he sat on picnic table outside his house and realized he was alone. "After all this time of fighting and going 100 miles an hour, you stop and just sit there and go, 'now what do I do?'" Gondor said. His life zig-zagged for the next few years, as the singular mindset he employed in prison -- always working toward getting out -- still consumed him. He got married and divorced during that period. In 2009, he was arrested for drunken driving. That arrest led him to a therapist, who told him he didn't have a drinking problem, but rather a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. Treatment helped him quite a bit, he said. "What I learned was I could talk about it. Just because you and I are talking about what I went through, I'm not going to go run to the bar, run to the cabinet and grab a bottle of whiskey and start drowning myself," Gondor said "That's not what it is anymore. Now I can just think, and it kind of slows your head down." Resh, who lives with his wife and her daughter in Garfield Heights, said his struggles weren't as pronounced. He recalled, with a laugh, seeing a cellphone for the first time when his brother handed him one to call Gondor. "It was a flip phone and he hands it to me and I'm looking at it like, 'what do I do with this?'" Resh said. Some adjustments were bigger, though. "I remember laying down the first night to go to sleep and all the curtains were closed and it was pitch black. I just laid there, like 'this is weird.' I actually had to open a window and let some light in." Resh said. He said he would go to Walmart and immediately became hyperaware of his surroundings, a holdover mentality from prison when he would always need to know what was happening around him. That feeling subsided but it never completely went away. Re-marrying his ex-wife and finding a full-time job within six months of his release also helped steady his life. He still works at the Solon company that hired him in 2007, a job his brother-in-law helped him obtain. "The human resources guy, I talked to him for like two hours. All we talked about was my case," he said of his job interview. "We didn't talk about the job or nothing." What's next On a warm April afternoon, Gondor walked into the Mantua Corners Bar & Grille, the same but now-renamed bar that tied him and Resh to Nardi's killing. The building is larger than it was then, with an addition expanding what was once a cramped community hangout. Gondor went in to show a reporter an aerial photo of what the area looked like in 1988. The picture was used at their wrongful incarceration trial in 2014 and now hangs on a wall. Gondor said he autographed it at the request of the current owner. As he made his way to the front of the bar, a bartender poured him a tall beer. He figured he couldn't leave without polishing it off. Both men both frequently travel back to Mantua. Resh and his wife plan to move back. Gondor frequently stops in at the bar. Neither have had issues, they said. "I don't walk around with this on my shoulder and say, 'oh, it's me, it's me.' I don't do that." Gondor said. As their case concludes, the only loose end is Busta, now 49 years old and still in prison. In addition to testifying in all the criminal trials, he also testified against Gondor and Resh at the 2014 wrongful-incarceration trial. Both said they blame him more than anybody for the time they lost in prison. A parole board at the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster heard Busta's case earlier this month. As of this week, the board has not made a decision, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said. Resh said he wrote a letter to oppose Busta's release. Busta's family still lives near Mantua, though even that is not a concern to Gondor or Resh. Neither man has spoken to Nardi's family either. "I think they know the truth, so I don't worry about them at all," Resh said. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. ELYRIA, Ohio -- A 31-year-old mother overdosed on $20 worth of heroin while her child and his cousin were in another room, Elyria police said. Kennisha Smith faces an endangering children charge after the incident that happened just before 5 p.m. Tuesday on Baldwin Avenue near Prospect Elementary School, according to an Elyria police report. Smith told police she snorted the heroin in her living room while her 8-year-old son and his cousin were in a bedroom, the report says. Smith's child and his cousin eventually found Smith face down on the living room floor. Elyria police Capt. Christopher Costantino said it is still unknown who called the police and how old the child's cousin is. LifeCare, which provides 911 EMS services, administered four doses of Narcan, a drug that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose. Officers found Smith sitting on the couch alert and conscious when they arrived, the report says. When asked what happened Smith told police, "I snorted heroin and passed out," according to the report. She was taken to University Hospitals where she was later released and taken to Lorain County Jail. The child's grandmother came to the house and told police she would take care of the children, the report says. Smith is scheduled for a court hearing at 9 a.m. June 12, jail records show. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. Assault, Richmond Road: At 1:35 p.m. May 22, police observed a Cleveland man, 21, riding his skateboard in the lane of travel on Richmond Road. The suspect was not cooperative with police and a struggle ensued. The suspect suffered a cut to his face during the scuffle and was taken to Hillcrest Hospital. Police charged the suspect with assault, resisting arrest, obstructing official business, falsification, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance. Ambulance call, Bromton Drive: At 10 p.m. May 27, a woman, 31, came home after having had drinks at a Cleveland Heights location. The woman believed that someone put something in her drinks as she became ill and vomited. The woman told her husband that she felt so ill she was afraid to close her eyes. After 35 minutes, police were called. The woman was taken to Hillcrest Hospital. She told hospital personnel that she usually does not drink and had several shots of alcohol that night. It is believed the woman may have had a case of alcohol poisoning. Drug abuse, Mayfield Road: At 4:05 p.m. May 27, police made a traffic stop of a car driven by a man. The man was cited for a traffic violation, while his two passengers were cited for marijuana possession. Burglary, Croyden Road: At 1:10 p.m. May 27, a woman reported that her mother has been out of town since May 24 and that a neighbor of her mother told the woman that someone had broken into the mother's locked home. Police found signs of forced entry through the attached garage, and then into the home. Burglars were found to have rummaged through the house. It was not immediately known what, if anything, was missing. OVI, Richmond Road: At 12:30 a.m. May 25, an officer stopped a car that was not driving continuously in its lane. The driver, a Richmond Heights man, 30, was found to be intoxicated. He was charged with OVI and his car towed. Assist resident, Cedar Road: At 11:50 a.m. May 24, a woman called police from her car, parked in the lot of Crate & Barrel, 24405 Cedar Road. The woman told dispatch that her ex-boyfriend would not get out of her car. The day before, she reported, the couple had been involved in a domestic disturbance at their Cleveland home. Neither party had been arrested during the Cleveland incident, but the man was told by police to stay away from the woman. When Lyndhurst police arrived to meet the woman, her former boyfriend had left the scene. Police stood by as the woman safely drove from the lot. Drug abuse, Ridgebury Boulevard: At 3:05 p.m. May 23, police stopped a car that was being driven with a heavy window tint. It was found that the car's owner was wanted on a warrant, but the man driving, 26, of South Euclid, was found to be driving his friend's car. Officers smelled the odor of marijuana coming from inside the car, and it was discovered that the man was driving with a suspended license. The man was cited for the traffic violation, DUS and marijuana possession. Suspicion, Ridgebury Boulevard: At 7:15 p.m. May 22, a resident reported that a man wearing a bow tie and apparently soliciting had tried to pull open his home's front door. When the resident objected, an argument ensued. The solicitor had left the house by the time police arrived. Officers located the solicitor, 26, of Illinois. Police spoke with him, but he was not cited. If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has validated signatures on nominating petitions from a second candidate for mayor of Cleveland. Brandon Chrostowski, founder and leader of the nonprofit Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute, an East Side restaurant that helps ex-inmates learn a trade and launch careers, submitted more than 3,400 valid signatures. Cleveland's charter requires mayoral candidates submit 3,000. "This should put everyone on notice that I have no intention of going away quietly," Chrostowski said in a statement. "I'm excited to offer Clevelanders something new for a change; a mayor who truly represents the interests of the residents." Chrostowski joins Cleveland Councilman Jeff Johnson as the only two candidates who have submitted their petitions to get on the ballot and had signatures validated. There are many more candidates out there, though. Mayor Frank Jackson has said he is running Ward 2 Tony Madalone, the founder of Cleveland-based Fresh Brewed Tees shirt company, has announced his intent to run. Brahim Ayad has filed to be a write-in candidate, according to the elections board. Fifteen other candidates have taken out candidacy petitions. Candidates have until June 29 to submit their petitions to the Cuyahoga County elections board. Here's a look at potential candidates who have pulled petitions, along with some biographical information on candidates for whom it was available. Cleveland.com will update this list periodically as the filing deadline nears. Brahim Ayad: Filed as a write-in candidate. James Jerome Bell: Self employed. Ran as Brandon Chrostowski: Founder, president and CEO of Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute on Shaker Square. He has filed his petitions and the Board of Elections has validated that he collected at least 3,000 signatures. Brian S. Costa: Lists his occupation on Facebook as an Kevin Cronin Angela Y. Davis: A woman by the same name Barbara A. DeBerry: A woman by that name Ja'Ovvoni Garrison: His Facebook page introduces him as a "Future Mayor for the City of Cleveland." Bills himself as Marcus Henley Jeff Johnson: Councilman from Cleveland's 10th Ward. He has filed his petitions and the Board of Elections has validated that he collected at least 3,000 signatures. Robert Kilo: A Republican from Cleveland's West Side who finished 3rd in the 2009 mayoral primary. Camry Kincaid Robert Owens: Also has pulled petitions as a council candidate from the 2nd Ward. Bill Patmon: The former member of City Council is serving his third term in the Ohio House of Representatives. Ricky L. Pittman: An underdog candidate in three previous mayoral races. Renee Saunders: A woman by that name Landry M. Simmons Jr.: Flint J. Williams Jr. A non-partisan primary will be held Sept. 12. The top two vote-getters advance from the primary to the Nov. 8 general election. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Years before cleveland.com conceived its Western Reserve project to push for fair representation in northern Ohio, a grassroots group drafted its own declaration of self-governance to launch a fight for local control. "We declare," the Columbus Declaration states, "that the political, legal, and economic systems of the United States and the State of Ohio allow a privileged minority to impose policy and governing decisions upon the people living in incorporated and unincorporated communities of Ohio and that these policies and decisions violate the rights and threaten the very survival of people and ecosystems." Ever since, the network has campaigned for county charters, community bills of rights and referendums that declare the will of the local government trumps the law of the state. That goes hand-in-hand with the point of the two-week Western Reserve series, which examined how northern Ohio differs from southern Ohio, and how we could restructure a government to eliminate gerrymandering and force more collaboration between political parties. The community network has tried to put more than 30 self-governance issues on ballots statewide. In Meigs, Medina and Portage counties, it pushed for home-rule county charters. In Medina, the group wanted to protect residents from the Nexus pipeline. But Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted pulled the issues from the ballot, and the Ohio Supreme Court upheld his ruling last year, saying the charters did not sufficiently spell out the roles of county officials. Network state coordinator Tish O'Dell, of Broadview Heights, is also the leader of Mothers Against Drilling in Our Neighborhoods. Broadview Heights voters in 2012 approved a bill of rights, not that it's kept gas drillers out, since the Supreme Court has sided with the state's authority. "We have been stripped of the right to be able to participate in a basic piece of democracy - writing the laws," O'Dell said in an interview. That job has fallen into the hands of corporations and other outside influencers who have the cash to drastically influence laws to be made in their favor, she said. The network's goal is to "start a grassroots movement in the state, starting locally and educating residents how to assert their right to alter, reform and even abolish their current form of government," O'Dell said. "Our inalienable rights are higher law than any law passed by a legislature," she said. In northern Ohio, the network is focusing on four initiatives: Youngstown - A Fair Election and Access to Local Government charter amendment: This amendment intends to prevent corporations, unions, PACs and political parties from dumping large sums of money into a ballot issue that would unfairly influence the outcome of the vote, O'Dell said. Youngstown - Drinking Water Protection charter amendment: This amendment is an effort against continued fracking and its subsequent actions in the city. Bowling Green - A Right to A Livable Climate charter amendment: This amendment, led by many Bowling Green State University students and faculty in the environmental department, is similar to the Youngstown fracking amendment. In particular, it seeks to have the city stop any further gas pipeline construction. Toledo - Lake Erie Bill of Rights charter amendment: This amendment is the first of its kind in Ohio, O'Dell said. It would establish rights for nature, which is being "treated like communities and used as property to be exploited for profit," she said. O'Dell recognizes the network won't change anything overnight. She calls the issues a "movement and struggle for change," and noted that small cracks have already begun to show in various appeals lawsuits that have been filed in the past. One of those "cracks" came when Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill dissented on the ruling that kept county charters off of the ballot. "The citizens of all 88 counties have the right to choose their form of county government," O'Neill wrote. "To be clear, I dissent." "It's going to take time," O'Dell said. "The way I see it is the people have to continue to challenge and the more that happens, eventually the courts cannot keep denying the people's rights." PHOENIX A judge is refusing to force the state's largest electric company to turn over its records of political spending to a utility regulator, at least not yet. In a new order, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Kiley did not address the assertion by Bob Burns that he has powers as a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission to compel the production of documents by Arizona Public Service and parent company Pinnacle West Capital Corp. But the judge said it is premature for him to rule on Burns' request that he order the records produced. Instead, he said that Burns first needs to ask the full commission to compel the utility and its parent to produce the documents. Only after the commission rules on that request, Kiley said, will it be appropriate for him, as a judge, to intercede. The ruling is at least an interim victory for APS and Pinnacle West who have objected to giving Burns the documents he wants documents he said will show whether the companies were behind more than $3 million in anonymous donations that led to the 2014 election of Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little to the commission. But Kiley also rebuffed a bid by APS attorney Mary O'Grady to dismiss Burns' lawsuit outright. Instead, the judge simply put the case on the back burner to see what happens next. An order staying these proceedings would respect the commission's authority to consider enforcement of the subpoenas in the first instance just as much as a dismissal would, he wrote. Anyway, Kiley said, keeping the case alive would be more efficient for all sides rather than forcing Burns to have to start over again, from scratch, if his plea to his colleagues goes nowhere. There's a decent chance that will end up being the case. Other commissioners appear anxious to put the whole question of what happened in 2014 in the rear-view mirror. His fight with APS is an obsession, Forese told Capitol Media Services on Tuesday, calling it misdirected given everything else going on at the commission, notably the indictment of former regulator Gary Pierce and accusing him of accepting money from the manager of Johnson Utilities in exchange for his vote on some rate-hike matters. I haven't changed my position on this at all, said Commissioner Andy Tobin, who has opposed Burns' subpoena efforts. No one's been able to convince me of a better argument to agree with Bob. Burns, for his part, said he wants to consult with both his attorney and his policy adviser and find out what my next move is. He said he understands why Kiley does not want to intercede, at least not at this point. You have to establish a record, Burns said. But Burns said he remains adamant that he will get the information he wants, sooner or later. He is specifically questioning how APS and Pinnacle West, which is pretty much wholly dependent on APS customer revenues for its profits, are spending money not only to influence elections but also to hire lobbyists and even charitable contributions. I want to know whether it benefits ratepayers and when it benefits the company, Burns said. The difference is crucial: Expenses that benefit ratepayers, in general, can be passed along in the form of higher bills; those that do not have to be paid out of shareholder earnings. Central to the legal dispute are questions about what role Pinnacle West and APS played in that 2014 election. What is known is that the Free Enterprise Club and Save Our State Now together put $3.2 million into getting Forese and Little elected. What is not known is the source of those funds as the two groups claim their status as social welfare organizations exempt them from Arizona laws compelling them to disclose their donors. APS has repeatedly refused to confirm its role in that election, with a company spokesman saying only that the utility has a right to defend itself against what it saw as unfair charges. Unable to get donor records from either organization, Burns instead subpoenaed documents from APS and Pinnacle West. APS, as a regulated utility, did supply some information that Burns dismissed as just some public records, things he said the company already files with the commission or that Pinnacle West, as a publicly traded corporation, must make available to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a formal opinion last year, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said individual commissioners have the constitutional right to subpoena the records of regulated utilities, like APS. But O'Grady, in fighting Burns' demand, contends that power is limited can be exercised only in connection with an investigation, inquiry or hearing authorized by the commission. The records of Pinnacle West are another question. Brnovich, in that opinion, said going after the records of affiliated companies not directly regulated by the commission would require the consent of a majority of the five-member commission. And to this point only Burns has shown an interest in doing that. APS and Pinnacle West were more above-board last year, publicly disclosing putting more than $4 million into the race to ensure the commission remained an all-Republican affair. That helped Tobin, Boyd Dunn and Burns. But Pinnacle West CEO Don Brandt said that, even with the public fight with Burns, he found him preferable both Democrats Bill Mundell and Tom Chabin. KENT, Ohio - Kent State University will offer buyouts to full-time faculty with 15 years of service or who are eligible to retire in an effort to save money and hire new faculty. Those who apply and are accepted would leave on May 31, 2018. The university said 606 faculty members are eligible. "The plan will give eligible faculty the option of taking advantage of a separation package while providing the university with greater flexibility to respond to current budgetary priorities and continue to move forward in implementing strategic initiatives," according to the resolution approved by trustees on Wednesday. Faculty would receive one year's pay, which would be paid monthly over five years. The university could retain certain faculty up to a year if their position was difficult to fill. The estimated cost of the plan would be $6.9 million, the university said. But it expects to save $18.6 million, and the money will be redirected to hiring research-active tenure track faculty over an eight-year period to further pursue the Strategic Roadmap to a Distinctive Kent State, the university said. The move follows the board's approval in March of a "voluntary separation plan" for full-time staff who have at least 15 years of service or are eligible for retirement. The due date for staff to notify the university was Wednesday, but employees could rescind their request up to June 8. Kent officials said they would not have information on how many accepted the offer until then. Those who take the buyout would leave on July 1. When the March announcement was made, professors were not included. Members of Kent State's chapter of the American Association of University Professors said they also wanted a buyout option. The university said one would be offered in the future. Kent State last offered buyouts to faculty and staff in 2009. Employees could receive up to $65,000, paid over five to eight years. A total of 150 faculty and staff accepted the proposal, officials said. In other action trustees: Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. COVENTRY TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office has identified two 14-year-old girls killed Sunday in a Coventry Township car crash. Amber Thoma, of Coventry Township, and Taylor Galloway, of Akron, died after a car struck them on South Main Street near Leicester Drive, the medical examiner's office said. A 14-year-old boy was also seriously injured in the crash. Officials have not yet provided an update on his condition. The children, as well as a fourth child who was uninjured, are students at Coventry Middle School, Principal Tina Norris said in a Facebook post. A New Franklin woman was driving a 1999 Ford Escort when she drifted over the fog line and struck the three children, who were walking on South Main Street, the Summit County Sheriff's Office said. The crash remains under investigation, the sheriff's office said. The Coventry Local School District offered condolences to the family in a statement posted on its website. Classes were not canceled Tuesday, but the district offered counselors at each of its buildings. "Foremost, we would like to give our sincere and deepest condolences to the families of the two young ladies who have lost their lives," the district said in the statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the young man who is currently in critical condition and we are extremely grateful for our fourth student who was uninjured." If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A spate of weekend shootings that killed three people and left several more injured throws into sharp focus Cleveland's increase in homicides and gun violence. Last year marked one of the deadliest years in the city in a decade with at least 136 homicides documented by cleveland.com. But 2017 is on pace to beat out those numbers by a significant margin. City police have investigated 48 suspected homicides to date this year, compared to just 40 at this time last year, according to Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia. Those numbers break down to roughly a 20 percent increase in homicides over the same five-month period. The increase continues a trend that began in 2014 and has intensified every year since. So why the uptick in violence? It's an easy question to ask, but a hard question to answer because there's more than one variable that affects increased rates of violence. Cleveland is not alone as major metropolitan areas in the US have experienced similar upswells in homicides, despite violent crime remaining at historic lows. "Violent crime and gun violence is up across the country. It's bigger than just Cleveland," Ciaccia said. Ohio leads the country in fatal opioid overdoses, and the drug trade is often synonymous with increases in violent crime and property crime. However, most evidence linking the heroin epidemic with homicide rates is anecdotal. "There's always concern about that. Drug trafficking and gun violence definitely go hand-in-hand," Ciaccia said. Peace in the Hood activist Khalid Samad believes drug trafficking plays a part in the problem, but he attributed a large swath of the violence to a shift in culture. "Violence is glorified, put on a pedestal, and glamorized," Samad said. "You've got more people who are more impulsive and have less self-control." Samad spoke to cleveland.com from the scene of East 28th Street and Cedar Avenue, where two women, ages 21 and 22, were shot and killed on Monday evening. "I'm out here trying to find out why two young (women) got shot to death. It doesn't make any sense," Samad said. The killings of Shonna Adams and Jamilia Carter have one thing in common with the majority of this year's homicides in the city: both were victims of gun violence. Of the 42 homicides this year in which a likely cause of death has already been determined, 38 of those victims suffered gunshot wounds, according to data compiled by cleveland.com. Blunt force trauma, asphyxiation, stab wounds and other injuries account for the other victims. The overwhelming majority of those killed in the city this year were black males, of which there were 34 fatalities. The average age of those killed is 32.5 years, according to the data. Eight homicide victims were children, according to the data. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge on Tuesday dismissed all charges against two East Cleveland brothers on the morning they were set to face trial in a deadly 2016 East Cleveland robbery. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Friedland tossed out the case against Melvin Deramus, 24, and Lawrence Deramus, 19, after it was revealed that East Cleveland police did not turn over evidence to prosecutors and defense lawyers, including written statements from key witnesses to the killing. An assistant county prosecutor found the records late Friday during a search of the East Cleveland police department records room, but asked Friedland on Tuesday to postpone the trial to give the office more time to review a batch of cellphone records it received late Monday, the office said. Friedland chose to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley's office can refile the charges in the future. Prosecutors, who were taken aback by Friedland's decision, said they plan to do so. For now the move meant Lawrence Deramus walked out of the Cuyahoga County Jail on Tuesday, more than a year after the then-high school senior was first arrested. Melvin Deramus is being held on robbery charges in an unrelated case. "This is a victory for justice," Deramus' attorney Craig Weintraub said Tuesday. "This was a case of mistaken identity from the beginning." A grand jury charged the East Cleveland brothers last May with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and multiple other charges in the April 30, 2016 killing of Chavon Smith. Smith, 32, was visiting her brother's house on Euclid Avenue near Eddy Road when several men forced their way into the home about 5:30 p.m. in what police said was a robbery attempt. A struggle culminated when one of the robber's guns went off and struck Smith in the head, police said. The assailants ran away, and Smith died the next day at University Hospital. Investigators turned up no weapon, no ballistics reports matching bullets to casings and no DNA evidence. Instead, the case hinges on on eyewitness testimony from three people who identified the Deramus brothers, prosecutors say. One of the people at the home at the time of the attack had done previous production work on videos with the Deramus brothers and got into a disagreement over when the video would be released, prosecutors say. The assailants burst into the home with guns and started asking "where's the video," prosecutors said. A witness who was walking up the stairs to the apartment as the assailants fled came forward to police with a homemade hip-hop video posted to YouTube and Facebook photographs that he said showed the gunmen. Investigators determined the men in the photos were the Deramus brothers and asked the eyewitnesses to identify the attackers in a photo lineup. They identified the brothers and police arrested them on May 2, records say. Lawyers for the brothers sought to suppress the eyewitness identifications. They argued in court filings that seeing the video and the Facebook photographs before police asked the witnesses to identify the suspects from a police lineup swayed their decision. The attorneys asked to question the witnesses under oath. During a hearing last week, one witness said that both attackers wore masks. A second witness said that only one of the assailants wore a mask, and the witness who confronted the attackers on the stairs said that both robbers were about 5-feet 8-inches tall and said one of them was wearing a "cloth" over his face, Weintraub said. Lawrence Deramus stands 6-feet 1-inch tall, and his brother is 6-feet 3-inches tall, Weintraub said. Prosecutors say the witness was coming up the steps as the two were coming down, making it hard to determine their exact height. Friedland denied the lawyers' requests to keep the identifications out of trial. But Weintraub also discovered that police body camera video from one of the officers at the scene was never downloaded into the system, and the body camera footage they did obtain showed the witnesses giving East Cleveland police written statements. Police had not provided any written statements to attorneys on both sides during discovery. East Cleveland police also did not have the copy of the YouTube video that was used to identify Lawrence Deramus, Weintraub said. Weintraub asked Friedland to dismiss the case last week. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Aqueelah Jordan asked for more time, and spent Thursday and Friday night at the East Cleveland police department looking for the written statements and the video. She found the written statements and turned them over to the Deramus's brothers on Tuesday morning. Prosecutors and police detectives also subpoenaed cellphone records for three numbers they think are connected to Deramus brothers, and one of the subpoenas was returned late Monday night, prosecutors said. Jordan filed a motion Monday to delay the trial to give prosecutors time to go over those records. Prosecutors had planned to dismiss the case themselves if Friedland did not grant them more time and ordered the trial to continue, the office said. Prosecutors would not have had enough time to use the phone records at trial if Friedland ordered it to proceed. If the state lost the case, it would not have the ability to re-file charges in the future. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. OBERLIN, Ohio - While other Northeast Ohio cities have backed off "poking the bear" by enacting legislation that would make them, in effect, sanctuary cities, Oberlin has doubled down. While not declaring itself a "Sanctuary City," Oberlin has enacted many of the principles. In March, Oberlin City Council unanimously passed legislation that says it will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities, except when required by federal law. In other words, if Oberlin police become aware that a local resident is in the country illegally, they will not contact Immigration officials and alert them. Further, if they are asked to help immigration agents arrest persons who have committed no other crime other than being in the country without documentation, they will decline. The resolution that unanimously passed March 7 was an updated version of a similar resolution passed in 2009. City officials and immigration lawyers believe it is the one of the first resolutions of its kind in the state. The city of Cincinnati adopted a "Sanctuary City" ordinance, using that title in February. Recently, Oberlin voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, in keeping with its centuries-old stand on human rights issues. In Shaker Heights, in response to numerous requests from residents, city council considered adopting a resolution on immigration similar to Oberlin's. By a narrow vote, council rejected the idea for fear of damaging relations with federal officials. Mayor Earl Leiken said he did not want to jeopardize the relationship between police and federal agencies like the FBI. The measure, which would have been very similar to what Oberlin passed, was defeated 4 to 3. Law Director Bill Gruber said he believes the police department does not routinely ask residents about their immigration status. Much of the reluctance to adopt such legislation stems from statements made by President Donald Trump when signed an executive order earlier this year that warned communities adopting such resolutions that they could face consequences, including the loss of federal funds. Oberlin officials said they understand that possibility, and are willing to accept it. Hundreds of other communities across the nation have adopted similar resolutions. Steven Volk, a professor of history at Oberlin College who helped council craft the 2009 resolution and the recent revision, was more direct in his criticism of Trump's action. "Trump is trying to frighten communities, trying to make them stop supporting their residents," he said. "I think it's important to say that we will not be bullied. These people are our neighbors, they live among us and they are entitled to be protected." He has spoken with many communities in Ohio and said many want to enact similar legislation, but are intimidated. "Many of these communities already follow what would be considered sanctuary city guidelines, but they are frightened to say it publicly," Volk said. "But we in Oberlin think it's important to call Trump's bluff." The state of Washington and the city of San Francisco have challenged Trump's executive order and the issue is in the courts. "They both maintain that threatening to withhold funding for not doing what Trump wants is unconstitutional," Volk said. "There is a strong legal opinion out there that they (Trump's White House) just can't do this. Meanwhile, Oberlin is taking a stand." Oberlin City Manager Rob Hillard said the city feels it needs to protect its residents. "It's an issue of public and community trust," said Oberlin Acting Police Chief Michael McCloskey. "We don't want the victim of a crime, or someone who wants to report a crime, to not do so because they fear that they will be turned in to federal authorities if there is some problem with their immigration status. We provide help regardless of such status." McCloskey said the International Association of Police Chiefs agrees that the federal government should not influence the way local police chiefs run their offices. "We have enough to do to handle what goes on in our communities than to also try to do when federal immigration authorities do," McCloskey said. "ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) would allow us to hold a prisoner suspected of having immigration issues for 48 hours for them. We choose not to avail ourselves of that option. We will not inform ICE." But once they are sent to the Lorain County Jail after 12 hours, things change. Lorain County Jail Administrator Andy Laubenthal said they will notify ICE if they take in a person who is undocumented. He said they will not hold the suspect solely for being in the country illegally, but they will hold the suspect for crimes he was arrested for. Oberlin police were surprised in April when ICE agents showed up at Oberlin Municipal Court and arrested an undocumented immigrant who was scheduled to appear in municipal court on an assault charge. What about those federal funds that might be held back? "We are walking a line here," said Hillard. "Our city receives very little in the way of federal funds. "Most comes from the state. The federal money comes in the form of grants for things like bulletproof vests or fire trucks. That's what is at stake. We can accept that." Steve Hammond and his wife, Mary, have been the co-pastors of Oberlin's Peace Community Church for 37 years. He said the city is doing what a true Christian should. "This is exactly what true Christians should be about," Hammond said. "Christians welcome strangers and they call out evil when they see it. It is possible to secure our borders without breaking up families." Hammond said everyone knows that Oberlin was a hub of the Underground Railroad that helped escaped slaves flee the South in the 1800s, but few know about the "Overground Railroad" that the city was part of in the 1980s. "Reagan was being hard on people from Guatemala and El Salvador who were fleeing from the unrest and revolution in those countries," Hammond said. "They came here and applied for refugee status. But we knew they would not get it, Reagan was not letting it happen. So while these five or six families were here, we quietly applied to Canada and got them refugee status there. The important thing was that they were kept safe." CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Ohio Lottery planned to extend its gaming system contract for an additional six years, without a bid. But the contract has been questioned by legislators. The agency pulled an item from the state controlling board's May 22 agenda seeking the release of $71 million over the next two years under the current contract with Intralot USA. The measure also included a request to extend the contract from 2021 to 2027. "In short, there is a real risk that no vendor, including Intralot, will beat or even match the existing commission rate and services," the agency said in its request. "Negotiating an extension, on the other hand, allows the Ohio Lottery Commission to both retain its current favorable rate and secure additional savings." The lottery has to submit a similar or revised request for the June 12 controlling board meeting because the next two-year contract begins July 1. Byron Boothe, vice president of government relations at Intralot, said senators had questions about the proposal, which was why the lottery pulled it from the agenda. "They wanted to see what Intralot has done, what it is doing now and what it is promising in the future," he said. He said the company has invested $175 million in the state in the last 10 years and the contract expansion is a good deal. "Ohio remains the lowest-cost central system contract of any state," he said. What is the gaming contract? In 2008 the lottery awarded the contract to run the state lottery to Intralot USA. Intralot operates and maintains the lottery's traditional gaming system and the video lottery terminal central monitoring system, including a communications network, associated gaming products and support services. The 10-year contract began in 2009. Intralot's bid was more than $24 million lower than GTECH Corp., which had held the contract since 1985. GTECH, an Italian company with a U.S. headquarters in Providence, R.I., launched a public relations, political and legal battle but did not sway the controlling board. The board is comprised of one Democratic and one Republican member from both the state House and Senate, the two finance committee chairs and a representative of the state department of budget and management. What has occurred since then? The lottery's gaming system contract with Intralot was for two years, with four two-year renewal options. That was required because according to state law appropriations must be approved by the controlling board every two years. Intralot, a Greek company with U.S. headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, built a manufacturing facility in Mason, Ohio. In 2013, the controlling board approved the lottery's request for an additional two-year renewal option that extended the contract to 2021. In 2014 the company reached an agreement with the lottery to manufacture interactive lottery terminals and games. The request before the controlling board in May was for three additional two-year renewal options. "In exchange for these additional renewal options, the lottery negotiated with Intralot to lock in the current vendor rate, which is the best in the country, and secured $70 million in additional equipment, upgrades and savings," lottery spokeswoman Daneille Frizzi-Babb said in an email. The lottery and Intralot negotiated in good faith to reach the best possible offer with the assistance of Rossi Enterprises, a Michigan consulting company hired by the lottery in March, the lottery said. Why should the lottery bid? An independent assessment of the lottery, sought by the state agency, determined that the agency should seek bids on contracts. In its report last September, Spectrum Gaming Group said "allowing vendors to maintain long-term contracts without re-bidding is an ineffective management practice." The lottery should seek bids instead of extending its gaming system contract with Intralot, the research firm said. "Extending the current contract without a competitive bid does not ensure that the Lottery is receiving its best value," the Spectrum report said. "We clearly recognize that, in matters such as the operation of a gaming system, significant resources and capital investment are required, and that requirement justifies a long-term contract, which built-in potential for extensions." But extensions must have reasonable limits, the report said. "Quite simply, competition in public procurement tends to boost value." What did the Rossi report say? Rossi issued a report comparing gaming contracts in Ohio and other states and recommended the Intralot contract be extended. See the report below or click here if on a mobile device. "When a contract is one of the least expensive in the industry, as in this case, going out to bid should be considered carefully," the report said. "A vendor incurs substantial upfront costs to plan, implement, and customize a gaming system and the associated infrastructure, equipment, and services. This makes it extremely difficult for non-incumbent vendors to underbid an incumbent. Without realistic competitive pressure, opening an existing contract for bid also opens the possibility of the incumbent vendor increasing its commission rates and still submitting the best value bid. Here, it is worth noting that the OLC is paying the lowest commission rate charged by Intralot to a US lottery. In short, there is a real risk that no vendor, including Intralot, will beat or even match the existing commission rate and services. " Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio is suing five drug companies for flooding the state with prescription painkillers that gave rise to the state's opioid addiction and overdose crisis. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the lawsuit during a Wednesday news conference. Ohio is the second state to sue drug manufacturers, following Mississippi. The lawsuit, filed in Ross County Common Pleas Court, seeks an injunction and damages from five major opioid manufacturers: Purdue Pharma. Endo Health Solutions. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and subsidiary Cephalon. Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Allergan, formerly known as Actavis. The lawsuit alleges the companies overstated benefits of prescription opioids and understated the risks. DeWine said the evidence will show the companies did so to boost profits and deceived physicians who prescribed the drugs. "This lawsuit is about justice, it's about fairness. It's about what is right," DeWine said during a news conference. "It is just and it is right that the people who played a significant role in creating this mess in the state of Ohio should pay to clean it up." That includes hundreds of millions of dollars spent by Medicaid, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and other state programs, as well state spending to mitigate the effects of the epidemic. For example, DeWine said, increased foster care placements for children of addicted Ohioans costs about $45 million a year. Ohio led the nation in overdose deaths in 2014 and a reported 3,050 people died in 2015. Early 2016 numbers from some counties indicate the death toll climbed at least 30 percent in 2016. The opiate epidemic claimed 666 lives in Cuyahoga County last year, and officials project that number to climb to 775 deaths in 2017. State officials have taken steps to crack down on opiate prescribing by requiring doses be logged in the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System and shutting down "pill mill" operations that dispensed a large number of opioids. Between 2012 and 2016, the total number of opioid doses dispensed to Ohio patients declined by 20.4 percent -- from a peak of 793 million pills to 631 million pills, according to the State Board of Pharmacy. But overdose deaths have continued to increase because of greater heroin and fentanyl use. A Janssen spokeswoman said the lawsuit's allegations are "legally and factually unfounded." "Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label," spokeswoman Jessica Castles Smith said in an email. In a statement, Purdue Pharma said it shared DeWine's concerns about the opioid crisis and is committed to working collaboratively to find solutions. "OxyContin accounts for less than 2 percent of the opioid analgesic prescription market nationally, but we are an industry leader in the development of abuse-deterrent technology, advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and supporting access to Naloxone -- all important components for combating the opioid crisis," the company said. DeWine said 80 percent of heroin users report first using prescription opioids. Officials in several cities, counties and Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma have sued drug companies for making and widely distributing the addictive drugs. Ohio's lawsuit does not target drug distributors, but DeWine did not rule out future legal action. Mobile readers, click here to read the complaint. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state of Ohio sued five pharmaceutical manufacturers Wednesday, arguing the companies fraudulently marketed addictive prescription painkillers and seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to address Ohio's opioid crisis. Ohio is among the first states to sue drug companies in the middle of a growing national battle with opioid addiction and overdose deaths, with Ohio at the epicenter. Ohio led the nation in overdose deaths in 2014, and a reported 3,050 people died in 2015. Early 2016 totals from some counties indicate the death toll climbed at least 30 percent in 2016. The opiate epidemic claimed 666 lives in Cuyahoga County last year. County officials are projecting 775 deaths in 2017, exceeding the number of murders last year in Chicago, a city with twice the population as Cuyahoga County. Attorney General Mike DeWine said the drug manufacturers knowingly misled physicians and patients into thinking OxyContin, Percocet and other opioids were nonaddictive and safe in large quantities. Although the state has cracked down on prescribing the drugs, DeWine said, they were and are a gateway to more dangerous heroin and fentanyl, street drugs now responsible for most opioid overdoses. "They knew all of it was wrong and they did it anyway, unleashing a health care crisis that has unfurled far-reaching financial, social and deadly consequences for the people and families of the state of Ohio," DeWine said. Here are six things to know about the lawsuit. The major claim: Companies downplayed or didn't disclose addiction risks. The state is suing: Purdue Pharma Endo Health Solutions Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and subsidiary Cephalon Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Allergan, formerly known as Actavis. Between 2011 and 2015, more than 3.8 billion doses of opioid medication were prescribed in Ohio. The complaint alleges the companies overstated the benefits and understated the risks of opioid use, and used brochures and seemingly unrelated third parties and front groups to push information contrary to scientific evidence. For example, Endo sponsored a website called painknowledge.com that claimed in 2009 that "people who take opioids as prescribed usually do not become addicted." The complaint also alleges the companies: Overstated the benefits of chronic opioid pain therapy. Targeted susceptible prescribers and vulnerable patient populations such as veterans and elderly patients. Violated state anti-fraud and consumer protection laws. A Janssen spokeswoman said the lawsuit's allegations are "legally and factually unfounded." "Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label," spokeswoman Jessica Castles Smith said in an email.v Ohio is among the first to challenge the drug companies. Mississippi sued the same companies in 2015, alleging similar claims under the state's Medicaid fraud and consumer protection laws. In 2015, Kentucky settled with Purdue for $24 million in a lawsuit accusing the Connecticut-based company of marketing painkiller OxyContin as nonaddictive because it slowly released the dose over 12 hours. However, the pills could be crushed for an instant high. Kentucky also settled with Janssen, which sold fentanyl under the name Duragesic, for $15.5 million. Neither company admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlements. Several cities, counties and Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma have recently sued drug companies for distributing mass quantities of the drugs despite their wide abuse. Democrats suggested a lawsuit years ago. DeWine's 2014 Democratic opponent, David Pepper, floated the idea during the campaign. Pepper, now the state's Democratic Party chairman, blasted the lawsuit as too little, too late. "We have the nation's worst heroin crisis, and Mike DeWine has had his head firmly planted in the sand for the past six years as Ohio's top law enforcement officer," Pepper said in a statement. DeWine is expected to run for governor as a Republican in 2018. Two of his potential Democrat challengers have pushed to hold drug companies accountable. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley released a campaign video pledging to take on the drug companies. Last week, Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman sent DeWine a letter asking him to seek damages to pay for addiction treatment. DeWine, who is expected to announce his candidacy soon, said he and his staff had been examining the issue for some time. DeWine said there wasn't any tipping point for filing the suit. "I think it's my moral obligation to do this," DeWine said. "I don't want to look back 10 years from now and say we should have had the guts to file, have the guts to call a spade a spade, to say what really happened -- no matter how unpleasant that is." The price tag could be huge. The complaint seeks damages for overspending on drugs and for costs associated with drug addiction prevention and treatment. That includes hundreds of millions of dollars spent by Medicaid, the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and other state programs, as well state spending to mitigate the effects of the epidemic. For example, DeWine said, increased foster care placements for children of addicted Ohioans costs about $45 million a year. Babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome cost the state at least $105 million a year, he said. The Ohio Department of Medicaid spent nearly $175 million on opioids from the companies between 2006 and 2016, mostly for chronic pain, according to the complaint. State spending on medication assisted drug addiction treatment has risen from $40 million in 2014 to more than $110 million in 2016. "The state would not have paid for them had [the companies] told the truth about the risks and benefits of their drugs," the complaint says. The BWC paid for 248,712 opioid prescriptions in 2016, and one in six lost-time claimants have an opiate addiction, according to the agency's annual report. The lawsuit draws comparisons to a 1990s lawsuit against tobacco companies. The complaint accuses the companies of "borrowing a page from Big Tobacco's playbook," paying doctors, funding front groups and buying unmarked ads to push its message through "unbiased" sources. In the 1990s, dozens of states sued U.S. tobacco manufacturers seeking damages for health care costs associated with smoking. The states claimed the companies knew their products caused illnesses but went to great lengths to conceal scientific evidence. The cases culminated in the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between tobacco companies and 46 states. Tobacco companies have paid more than $112 billion since then, with Ohio receiving more than $5.4 billion. The lawsuit was filed in Ross County for a reason. DeWine said southern Ohio was likely the first and hardest hit area by opioid addiction "scarring communities already wounded by the loss of jobs and years of economic decline." "Small towns were rocked as men, women and children succumbed to addiction," DeWine said. "From there the fire spread out across Ohio, touching every community and every county, no matter how rich or how poor. It was a fire stoked by greed, fueled by deceit and tended by a multi-billion dollar industry." Mobile readers, click here to read the complaint. RAVENNA, Ohio -- A major with the Portage County Sheriff's Department has resigned after he was accused of sexually harassing two women he worked with, reports say. The Record-Courier says Maj. Dennis Missimi, 62, resigned on May 26 after an internal investigation conducted by Sheriff David Doak. The investigation began earlier in May after two women lodged complaints against Missimi, who was the second-highest ranking officer in the department, according to WKYC Channel 3. Doak tells the Record-Courier that sexual harassment is a violation of internal department policy, but he would not detail the allegations against Missimi. "Issues like this, unfortunately, come up in agencies and I have a duty, an obligation, to investigate those," Doak tells WKYC. "(But) I'm not going to get into the allegations made. It's an open investigation." Unnamed sources tell WKYC that Missimi made sexually suggestive comments to the women and also sent them text message of a sexual nature. He also is accused of stalking one of the women outside of work, WKYC reports. Missimi had worked with the sheriff's department since 2008, hired after Doak was elected. Missimi and Doak reportedly are longtime friends. Doak tells WKYC he is "disappointed" by the accusations against Missimi. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- A 33-year-old North Ridgeville man has been indicted on charges related to the rape of a girl under the age of 13. Jessee Sink is accused of rape, pandering obscenity involving a minor, pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and gross sexual imposition. Records do not say when Sink will appear in court. He was arrested in April and is currently being held in Lorain County Jail. The indictment is connected to a February incident, Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will said. Investigators say the incident happened at Sink's home on Maddock Road just south of Center Ridge Road. North Ridgeville police Capt. Marti Garrow said the additional charges reflect that police found a "fair amount" of child pornography on Sink's phone. Police said they don't know if there are other victims. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. Bryan R. Drost is director of curriculum and instruction for the Summit Educational Service Center. Ohio's statewide testing window has come to a close, and, as educators, we think it's important to address some of the misconceptions regarding annual statewide assessments. Understanding five facts about Ohio's state assessments can help us all focus on one of the key values of state assessments: documenting students' learning progress. 1. State assessments help teachers improve. While state tests assess students' skills and understanding of the standards at the end of each school year, teachers also use them as a tool for improvement. Many teachers use the assessment results to reflect on their practice over the previous school year and address gaps in students' performance. If gaps are widespread, they work to modify how they address those particular standards with their students during the next school year. Secondly, by examining the results of the previous year's tests, teachers can get a snapshot of their incoming students' knowledge and skills. Tricia Ebner is an intervention specialist for gifted students. 2. Kids perform just as well on computer-based testing as they do on paper-and-pencil testing. Over the last year, there has been quite the discussion regarding paper-pencil testing versus electronic testing, and any perceived differences between the formats. Despite the controversy, a study that asked students to answer the same exact questions in computer-based or paper-pencil formats found only small differences at various grade levels - but that, overall, kids do just as well on paper as they do on a computer. In some cases, the reverse is actually true: Particularly in lower grades, data suggest that "math tests administered online were somewhat easier than when administered on paper." 3. Data about individual students are kept private. It is against Ohio's laws to provide individualized data about students to anyone other than the student, his or his parents, and the student's teachers and administrators. In fact, students log into the assessment with personalized numerical codes, and not a name. Administrators and teachers are also prohibited from sharing student names and ID numbers together with the Ohio Department of Education. 4. The assessments do not change significantly when the vendor changes. In July 2015, Gov. John Kasich signed legislation banning use of the PARCC Common Core assessment, which was developed for use across several states. Ohio moved from the PARCC assessment and contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to provide our state-specific assessment. When a state assessment is developed, a blueprint, which identifies the skills and understanding to be assessed in relationship to the standards, is written by a cross-section of educators. Although Ohio switched from PARCC to the AIR, the blueprint remained the same, since the standards remained the same. Think of it this way: You could give multiple contractors a blueprint for a house, and regardless of which contractor builds it, the house will be extremely similar because it was built using the same blueprint. In the same way, as long as the blueprint doesn't change significantly, neither does the test, because it is still measuring the same standards. 5. The writing of Ohio's tests is not secretive, done by people in backrooms wearing trench coats and fedoras. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Each year, the Ohio Department of Education assembles a team of teachers, administrators, and other educators to write draft assessment questions. After questions are approved by a Content Advisory Committee, they are sent to a Sensitivity and Fairness group, which reviews the questions for bias, appropriateness for testing, and accessibility for all students. Any questions that do not meet this group's strict criteria are thrown out. After questions are field-tested and the testing groups meet again to ensure that the questions don't have unintended bias. This entire process can take up to two years and is as transparent to the public as possible, while also protecting the integrity of the exams. It can be easy to fall prey to these misconceptions, especially when we are anxiously awaiting this year's results. Nevertheless, it's important to be mindful of these five critical facts about Ohio's assessments. Despite all the misinformation out there, Ohio's assessment is a critical tool in documenting the learning progress our children are making, and ensuring that they continue to make progress in the future. Bryan R. Drost is director of curriculum and instruction for the Summit Educational Service Center and one of the Ohio Department of Education's Network of Regional Leaders. He is part of the National Council on Measurement in Education's Standards and Test Use Committee and the Math Team Lead for Ohio Standards Advocates, a collaborative network supporting Ohio's teachers in making instructional shifts. Tricia Ebner is an intervention specialist for gifted students, serving students in language arts classes at Lake Middle School in Hartville, Ohio, and the English Language Arts Team Lead for Ohio Standards Advocates. Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts, and stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Notification Settings (in blue) just below. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. Some Ohio Democrats float the idea of Jerry Springer running for governor. Democrat Steve Dettelbach, as expected, enters the race for attorney general. And the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case over whether Secretary of State Jon Husted can purge the registration of inactive Ohio voters. Today's Ohio Politics Roundup is brought to you by Jeremy Pelzer. The Jerry Springer show? The daytime talk-show host and ex-Cincinnati mayor has been talked about for months as a possible 2018 gubernatorial candidate. But now, a number of Ohio Democrats are pushing for him to jump in the race, report Allan Smith and Maxwell Tani of Business Insider. Springer himself reportedly hasn't ruled out a run, and he's discussed the idea with, among others, ex-governor and 2016 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Ted Strickland. The case for Springer running: Backers say that Springer could connect with working-class voters and self-fund his campaign (earlier this month, he bought full-page ads in the Cincinnati Enquirer comparing the GOP health-care bill to 9/11). He's also built up a lot of goodwill among Ohio Democrats in recent years by attending fundraisers for local parties around the state - especially in smaller counties. The case against Springer running: The 73-year-old Springer's name often pops up whenever there's an open Democratic primary for major statewide office. And Smith and Tani's story is more of a trial balloon than anything else: while several unnamed Democrats suggested that Springer "seemed to be more seriously interested in running this time than in years past," no one in the story indicated a Springer gubernatorial campaign is anything more than a possibility at this point. Dettelbach jumps in AG race: Ex-U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach on Tuesday became the first Democrat to launch a run for Ohio attorney general in 2018, cleveland.com's Andrew J. Tobias writes. The native Clevelander's initial campaign rollout indicates he'll highlight his accomplishments as a prosecutor, vow to fight the opioid crisis and scam artists, and make the case that he'd be an independent check on the Republican-dominated state government. No surprise: As Tobias reported last week, Dettelbach wrote Democratic leaders that he planned to make an announcement this week. An incomplete version of Dettelbach's campaign website - with his name misspelled in the URL - also briefly appeared online. Honeymoon's over: In a sign of how contentious the AG's race will likely be against probable GOP nominee (and state Auditor) Dave Yost, the Republican Attorneys General Association issued a release almost immediately after Dettelbach's announcement calling "Do-Nothing Dettelbach" a "far-left ideologue" who "accomplished very little" as U.S. attorney. SCOTUS picks up Ohio voting case: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted's appeal of a lower court decision that rejected the state's policy of purging the registration of voters who fail to vote over a two-year period," writes cleveland.com's Sabrina Eaton. Last September, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state's way of weeding out ineligible voters violates the National Voting Rights Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002. Husted argues that the lower court's opinion is an "unnecessary intrusion" into Ohio's election process. Redistricting ballot issue clears another hurdle: Supporters of an Ohio redistricting reform ballot initiative can begin collecting signatures to put the measure before voters next year, after the Ohio Ballot Board on Tuesday certified the measure as one ballot issue, according to cleveland.com's Jackie Borchardt. The League of Women Voters of Ohio and other supporters, calling themselves Fair Congressional Districts for Ohio, now need to collect at least 305,591 signatures of registered Ohio voters -- meeting a minimum number in 44 of Ohio's 88 counties -- to qualify for the November 2018 ballot. Ted Cruz endorses Josh Mandel: "We need a conservative leader like Josh Mandel in the U.S. Senate," the U.S. senator from Texas (a prominent conservative leader himself) said in a statement Tuesday, according to Tobias. Cruz is the fourth U.S. senator to back Mandel, who's looking to lock up next year's GOP Senate nomination and challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Drug price ballot issue backers hit airwaves: Supporters of the proposed Drug Price Relief Act ballot issue have launched their first statewide TV ad campaign with a 30-second spot featuring Max Cleland, a former Veterans Affairs administrator, ex-U.S. senator from Georgia, and disabled Vietnam War vet, according to Jim Provance of the Toledo Blade. The ad, paid for by Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices, comes a few days after opponents hit the airwaves. In the ad, Cleland accuses opponents of "running false ads deceiving doctors and veterans to stop reform." Charter school wants summer break: "ECOT is trying to block the Ohio Board of Education from voting June 12 on whether to accept a recommendation that the online school repay the state $60 million for inflated attendance figures," reports Jim Siegel of the Columbus Dispatch. "The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow recently filed an injunction with the Franklin County Court of Appeals to prevent state board action until appeals of the school's legal case are exhausted. ...The department has until Wednesday evening to file its response to the injunction." Blow back? In 2014, then-Senate President Keith Faber successfully pushed a budget measure requiring new wind turbines to be at least 1,300 feet or so -- depending on blade length -- from a property line. Three years later, state Sen. Cliff Hite is preparing a budget amendment of his own to loosen those setback standards, which wind-energy proponents claim has blocked up to $4.2 billion in economic activity. As cleveland.com's Peter Krouse explains, Hite, a Findlay Republican, said he expects other GOP senators and Gov. John Kasich to support his amendment. Lawmakers seek to further loosen gun-control laws: The Dispatch's Andrew Keiper has a good overview of a series of gun-rights bills making their way through the Ohio General Assembly. "If all are passed, the bills would greatly ease the ability of individuals to carry a concealed weapon," Keiper writes, though he notes that "the likelihood that all of the measures will pass is slim." Defiance, Ohio: Cleveland.com has wrapped its series on the fictional state of Western Reserve -- composed of 26 northern Ohio counties -- to highlight the differences between our region and the rest of Ohio. But as cleveland.com's Jane Morice writes, the idea lives on: dozens have signed a change.org petition with our Declaration of Independence, spelling out the injustices of state rule in northern Ohio. Get Battleground Briefing, our FREE politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox: Sign up here. Tips or links? Send here. Follow along on Twitter: @JPelzer Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. MB&F is known as the zaniest watchmaker on the planet. Now the company is taking its reputation even further to space. The elite Swiss brand, which has become a cult favorite of billionaire watch-collectors, unveiled the "Horological Machine No. 6 Alien Nation" on Wednesday. Inspired by pop culture versions of aliens and the alleged UFO sightings in Roswell, N.M., in 1947, the watch has six tiny alien figurines inside its mechanics. The company is only making four of the watches one green, one blue, one purple and one turquoise retailing for the otherworldly price of $500,000 each. Sorry rich space fans, all four are already "reserved" for (i.e., sold to) one of the company's top clients. "This should serve as a wake-up call for European companies," the report said. "While this catching up is most likely to occur in services, with breakthroughs in industrial goods taking longer, European business needs to plan accordingly." By 2020, 60 percent of European companies in China expect Chinese firms to have closed the innovation gap, according to the EU Chamber of Commerce in China's annual business confidence survey. China's rapid innovation is the latest headwind for foreign firms doing business in the country. International companies have long complained about the difficulties of operating within Chinese borders, given a murky regulatory environment, and perceived favorable treatment for domestic firms. But the prospect of finding growth in the world's second-largest economy is too great to ignore for many companies. The EU Chamber's latest findings again underscore those same issues, with half of its member firms saying that conducting business in China became more difficult in 2016. Within that, more than 70 percent in hospitality and civil engineering and construction say doing business has grown more difficult, while in aerospace and aviation, the majority say things have stayed roughly the same. "Respondents' doubts over whether China is truly committed to creating a simpler administrative environment and ensuring a level playing field continue to deepen," said the report. "Cumbersome regulations and vaguely-worded laws often subject to arbitrary interpretation continue to pose a range of challenges." There is also still a bilateral trade and investment gap between the EU and China given the challenging regulatory environment and barriers to entry, the report finds. Chinese investment into Europe jumped 77 percent to 35 billion euros in 2016 compared to the prior year, but investment in the other direction fell 23 percent to 8 billion euros. Although more than half of the companies surveyed clocked higher sales in 2016 compared to the year prior, it was largely attributed to large-scale financial stimulus that the Chinese government had unleashed in the first half of the year. That means the bounce is not here to stay, and as such, the top concern for European firms in China remains the health of the economy especially as the country's debt levels have continued to rise. "How sustainable is the growth model? Isn't it time for China to go from talk to action?" said Mats Harborn, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, in an interview with CNBC. "We would want to see China go to more organically driven growth." Following that is an "ongoing struggle to find and retain qualified employees, a problem aggravated by demands for higher compensation among local hires." The main challenge in attracting and keeping foreign employees is the issue of air pollution and an unwillingness to live in China. Harborn said his organization was making proposals that China "deepen and speed up reform," which "should be beneficial also for the Chinese economy." The study had 570 respondents from a wide range of sectors, with 35 percent in professional services, 35 percent in industrial goods and services, 18 percent in consumer goods and services and the remaining 12 percent in other sectors. About half were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 250 employees, 19 percent had up to 1,000 employees, and nearly one-third reported more than 1,000 employees. Moody's Investors Service raised Singapore banks' outlook to stable from negative on Wednesday, citing stabilizing commodity prices and improving growth conditions. The ratings agency said deterioration in the asset portion of balance sheets had peaked, particularly among oil and gas exposure. "Economic growth in Singapore is picking up and growth is also picking up in other parts of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), so this is positive for the banks," Eugene Tarzimanov, a senior credit officer at Moody's, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday. "Another factor is we think new NPL (non-performing loan) formation, or the rate that banks get new problematic assets: This rate is decreasing. So that's a good thing. Banks will get less problematic assets this year and next," he added. Tarzimanov said bank profitability was also expected to improve "mildly" as net interest margins (NIM) could rise as interest rates increase, in line with monetary tightening in the U.S., and the amount of provisions needed should decrease. Moody's said it expected Aaa-rated Singapore's real gross domestic product growth to rise to 2.2 percent this year and 2.5 percent in 2018, from 2 percent in 2016, with credit growth rebounding to mid-single digits after being flat in 2016. The oil and gas sector proved a drag on the sector after the sharp drop in oil prices forced Singapore oil service player Swiber Holdings into bankruptcy. Another Singapore oil-service company, Ezra Holdings, also failed to repay debt. Singapore's three banks DBS , United Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. were required to put aside more money to cover their exposure to bad loans to the beleaguered sector. But after earnings were released earlier this month, DBS CEO Piyush Gupta told CNBC that, although he expected more bad loans from the oil services sector, the worst was likely over. Los Angeles Clippers owner and former CEO Steve Ballmer on Tuesday said that under his leadership Microsoft didn't do enough to develop new capabilities in hardware. The comments come after Microsoft devices like the Surface Studio and Surface Book have been well received under Ballmer's successor, Satya Nadella. Microsoft did develop new capabilities in cloud services under his reign, Ballmer told Recode's Kara Swisher and Kurt Wagner at Recode's Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on Tuesday. But when it comes to hardware, the company was not as proactive. "Companies get successful with an idea, with talent around the idea and with capability as a company to execute on the idea. It turns out if you want to have a second idea that is different than the first, you may need new talent, but you also need new capability. And you don't get new capability overnight," Ballmer said. "So if you're lucky enough to invent the first thing and the second thing before nobody else does, then you can build new capability. But I think I was too slow, in cases, to recognize the need for new capability. And particularly in hardware. I wish we'd built the capability to be a world-class hardware company, because one of the new expressions of software is essentially the hardware, and I think we came to that later than I think the company should have built that under my leadership should have built that capability earlier than we did." During Ballmer's tenure -- from 2000 to 2014 -- Microsoft did introduce the Windows Phone platform, bringing the core operating system into the mobile age, and bought Nokia to try and kickstart a mobile handset business in 2013. However, the Windows Phone platform never took off, and the company has since written down the value of the Nokia purchase and essentially exited the phone business. The company also unveiled the Surface convertible tablet. That product stumbled early on -- in 2013 Microsoft made a $900 million write-down for the Surface RT -- but it has recovered with the release of new versions. With Ballmer as CEO, Microsoft grew its enterprise business from non-existent to about $20 billion in revenue per year, while maintaining high profits on the company's traditional cash cows, Windows and Office. But and 's Google ended up dominating the mobile market, and Amazon is now making strong strides in hardware with its Echo home assistant device. "The thing I would say we missed with Phone is we tried to use the old techniques -- software licensing and blah, blah, blah," Ballmer said. "We tried to use all the same techniques, and the same techniques were never going to get us there. We had the wrong monetization model, we had the wrong delivery model -- all of that, and it's because we didn't build new capability." But the company has since developed that new hardware capability under Nadella, Ballmer said. Tech companies Amazon and Google's Alphabet have the best chance of reaching a $1 trillion market cap, equity analyst Michael Graham told CNBC on Wednesday. The senior equity analyst at Canaccord Genuity spoke a day after Amazon briefly crossed $1,000 per share for the first time ever. Only 14 other U.S. stocks trade above $1,000 per share, according to FactSet. "I think Amazon probably has the best chance of maintaining a high growth rate for the longest time. It also has the longest way to go. It still has to double," Graham said on "Squawk Box." Graham has a buy rating on Amazon and expects the price to reach $1,150 over the next few years. "Google also has a pretty good chance," he added. "It would have to keep its growth rate up for three or four more years." As of Tuesday's close, Amazon is worth $477.5 billion, while Alphabet is worth about $682.4 billion. The two tech stocks will have to compete with iPhone maker Apple, which has a market cap of nearly $800 billion. CNBC has reached out to Apple for comment. Graham, who does not cover Apple, said the growth from the two other stocks will probably be faster over the next few years. "Investors have to ask what's the next huge business that Amazon might incubate internally," he said. A pro-EU protester dressed as Prime Minister Theresa May takes part in a demonstration near Parliament on March 29, 2017 in London, England. A song calling Prime Minister Theresa May a "liar", the week before voters head to the polls in a general election, has briefly topped the iTunes download charts in the country. The piece of music, which dipped back down to number two on Wednesday morning, is an updated version of a reggae single released in 2010 by the London-based band Captain Ska. "NHS (National Health Service) crisis, education crisis, u-turns ... You can't trust Theresa May. Let's get this into the top 40," the band said on its YouTube channel. The song description on Youtube also states: "Download now and force the BBC to play it on our airwaves. All proceeds from downloads of the track between 26th May and 8th June 2017 will be split between food banks around the U.K. and The People's Assembly Against Austerity." Election guidelines in the U.K. do not allow radio stations to play the song because it could be interpreted as affecting their impartiality. Consequently, some stations like Heart and Capital FM - have reportedly banned the song from being played. The BBC has said that it won't be playing the song due to the guidelines - but insists that it hasn't been banned. The Conservative party and Global Radio, who owns Heart and Capital FM, weren't immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Toronto-based Wave, a Canadian financial technology ( fintech ) firm that offers financial management software to small businesses, has received $32 million CAD ($23.8 million) in capital from investors including the (RBC), Exhibition Capital and (NAB). Other investors in Wave include Portag3 and PowerCorp, who joined existing backers Social Capital, BDC Capital, CRV, Omers Ventures, Harbourvest and OurCrowd in this strategic fundraising round. The fintech company says it will use the new money to accelerate product development. It particularly wants to invest further in its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques in order to automate basic accounting functions and give analytics-based insights to its customers about how they can grow. Wave offers small businesses financial management software that can integrate invoicing, payments, loans, payroll and receipt management functions in order to improve oversight, accounting procedures and cash flow and management activities. The seven year old firm now employs 150 people. It claims it has more than 2.5 million end users around the world and is adding 60,000 new firms every month to its platform. "We're proud to support Wave as they continue to bring solutions to market for entrepreneurs in Canada and around the world," said Mike Dobbins, head of strategy and corporate development at RBC. "This investment is part of our commitment to support the scale up of emerging fintech companies in our economy, recognizing the critical role they play in Canada's Innovation agenda." Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. But there's one little hitch that the company management didn't foresee: the name. The carmaker, Guangzhou Automobile Group (also known as GAC), plans to sell these SUVs among other models in the U.S. The Chinese state-run company takes pride that its SUVs are becoming popular among drivers in the medium-to-high-end segment in China. It's also a reminder albeit a surreal one of where some of these vehicles will be headed. Every so often, the American classic song "Top of the World" by The Carpenters blares through the factory an indicator, I'm told, that the robotics on the line have detected a potential issue that needs to be addressed by one of this facility's thousand human workers. GUANGZHOU, China I'm sitting in an auto plant in Guangzhou in southern China watching SUVs made by one of the country's top carmakers come off of a production line every 57 seconds. This article is part of a "Reporter's Notebook" series, wherein CNBC journalists submit tales and observations from the field. A Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. (GAC) Trumpchi GS4 vehicle stands on display at the Auto Shanghai 2017 vehicle show in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, April 20, 2017. "We called it Trumpchi in 2010," GAC Motor President Yu Jun told CNBC in his first international TV interview. "We never imagined that seven years later the name would sound so similar to the name of President [Donald] Trump." In China, Trumpchi (pronounced "Trump-chee") is an English take off the word "Chuanqi" which the president of Trumpchi prefers to translate as "delivering goodness." In case you're getting suspicious that the name is a Donald J. Trump brand rip-off, it's not uncommon for Chinese companies to fashion an English name out of Chinese one. For example in the car industry, Chery Auto is derived from "Qirui" in Chinese. Geely is "Jili." GAC's Yu said he plans to deliver a whole host of Trumpchi goodness to the U.S. when it enters the market in 2019. Trumpchi was the fastest-growing Chinese car brand in China last year and ranked highest among Chinese auto brands in research firm JD Power's 2016 quality survey. Trumpchi's progress in China has given it the confidence to believe it can beat the odds and do what no other Chinese car brand has been able to achieve for more than a decade: conquer the U.S. "GAC Motor has dreamed of becoming a world class brand. We have made great achievements domestically within a short period of time," Yu told me at a showroom in the company headquarters. "American drivers are like Chinese drivers. They both like big sizes, big spaces and luxury interior." For years, the Chinese have been attempting to build a globally competitive auto industry and they've struggled. Chinese car brands have sold in emerging markets, yet exports have recently softened. The U.S. has been an elusive market for them it's fiercely competitive and Americans have established brand loyalty. On top of that, fairly or unfairly, the "made-in-China" label has an image problem. So Trumpchi's efforts will be a gauge to see if Chinese automakers can upgrade themselves and compete on the international stage. President Donald Trump's fancy fingering in a post-midnight and now deleted tweet has stirred up a kerfuffle. Those who saw the presidential tweet at 12:06 a.m. ET Wednesday say it began: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe ..." About six hours later, the tweet was deleted, and the link says: Sorry, that page doesn't exist! At 6:09 a.m., Trump joked about it. Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy! That came too late to dodge a Twitter storm. Late Wednesday morning, #covfefe was still the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter. In case you weren't sure what does #covfefe means. Merriam-Webster was urged to explain in the early hours of the day. Wakes up.Checks Twitter. Of course, it was not the first presidential typo in a tweet. Perhaps the most infamous one was in early March, when Trump raised unsubstantiated allegations that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones during the election campaign. How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! Then there was this deleted tweet from Inauguration Day: "I am honered to serve you, the great American People, as your 45th President of the United States!" And there was the not-to-be forgotten "unpresidented" act by China after it captured an unmanned U.S. Navy research drone in December. But a scan of @realDonaldTrump posts during the merry month of May finds no misspellings other than "covfefe." For example, he spelled Colombia correctly after an Oval Office meeting with the South American country's president. A great honor to welcome President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia to the White House today! He also didn't botch the spelling of the name of Georgia's prime minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili. Honored to welcome Georgia Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili to the @WhiteHouse today with @VP Mike Pence. He even correctly observed the grammatical rules for its/it's in this tweet. Why is it that the Fake News rarely reports Ocare is on its last legs and that insurance companies are fleeing for their lives? It's dead! And no grievances about the "i-before-e rule" here. Dems have been complaining for months & months about Dir. Comey. Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. Phony hypocrites! Still, the kerfuffle over covfefe couldn't have come at a worse time for the 70-year-old president. In suburban Maryland, 10 miles from the White House, the two-day finals of the 90th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee got underway on Wednesday. The winner on Thursday gets $40,000 in cash and a $2,500 U.S. savings bond. The youngest contestant is Edith Fuller, age 6. Last year's winning words were Feldenkrais, spelled correctly by 13-year-old Jairam Hathwar, and gesellschaft, nailed by 13-year-old Nihar Janga. Can you spell them, Mr. President? Marty Steinberg is the copy desk chief at CNBC.com and writes a periodic in-house style memo called "The Style Stickler." Of the rest, 23 were utility companies, an understandable group to be hitting new highs considering the market's worries about a slowing U.S. economy. While the rally may feel tech-driven, Cramer noticed that only 11 of the 70 companies that hit new highs were tech stocks, mostly from the semiconductor space. "I'm looking at the new high list for the today, and you know what I saw? I like what I saw, which is a broad distribution among the 70 companies that hit this august list 70 out of 500 making new highs," the " Mad Money " host said on Wednesday. Though it might look like the FANG stocks Facebook , Amazon , Netflix , and Google parent Alphabet are the market's only driving forces, Jim Cramer has found otherwise. "But that leaves 36 stocks that have nothing to do with tech or utilities rallying today, and those are where I gain solace, solace that perhaps things aren't as narrow or as unhealthy as they seem to so many," Cramer said. First, he turned to 3M , an industrial conglomerate that has consistently delivered strong results for shareholders. "I've often called 3M what I call 'a core holding,' meaning it's a stock you never want to sell if you can avoid it," the "Mad Money" host said. "3M is exactly the kind of stock you want on the new high list if you're concerned about a rally being too narrow." Boeing , the largest aerospace company in the world, also hit a new high. Cramer pointed out that as one of the United States' biggest exporters, Boeing would not be able to sell its products if the economy was dramatically slowing. Cramer also noticed that railroad operator CSX was on the list, which would also not be outperforming if the cargo industry was on the verge of collapse. Even with the appointment of new CEO Hunter Harrison, which gave the stock a boost, Cramer takes CSX's success as a sign of strength in commerce. Consumer strength was illuminated by Carnival Corporation's place on the list. Cramer called the cruise line "the ultimate in discretionary spending," meaning that customers do not need to spend on cruises, but since they are, the consumer cannot be as weak as some may think. "And then there's the clinchers, frankly: McDonald's , Yum [Brands ] and Starbucks . These are three classic growth names that have all the same concerns: labor costs going up, strong dollar liabilities, higher price-to-earnings multiples than we might otherwise expect. But they're all hitting the new high list nonetheless," Cramer said. Some sectors makes the "Mad Money" host uneasy. One is the downtrodden bank stocks, which have been lower on negative effects of trading, and the oil stocks. "The oils? If you own 'em, it's deathly," he said. "The fact is, there's too much oil. On the other hand, though, I think the group has already gotten pretty cheap. The oils represent value here and that's not a sin." And while retail has been a consistent, market-wide concern, Cramer said that Wal-Mart and Costco's successes are at least challenging Amazon's domination. "Sure, it's easy to point endlessly to the coming FANG apocalypse," Cramer said. "I just want to point out that when you look at the new high list, it's about as broad as you could ask, sans the utilities and their safe dividends. That doesn't mean we should break out the party hats. It does mean that we're in less dangerous territory than many people now think after five fabulous months of 2017 market action." Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened Wednesday to stop advising President Donald Trump if the White House withdraws from the Paris climate accords. Asked on Twitter what he would do if Trump pulled out of the landmark global deal to curb emissions, Musk said he would "have no choice but to depart [the] councils in that case." Musk tweet: Will have no choice but to depart councils in that case Trump tweeted Wednesday that he will announce his decision on the Paris deal "over the next few days" as he faces intense pressure from the deal's supporters and detractors. Reports Wednesday indicated that he is expected to withdraw from the climate agreement, though some news outlets cautioned that he had not made a final decision. Musk, who also founded SpaceX, is on Trump's manufacturing jobs council, his strategic and policy forum, and his infrastructure council. Musk has defended his role advising Trump in the face of some criticism from anti-Trump activists, arguing that they should want his voice in the discussions to offer views that differ from those of the president's other advisors. Musk, among other CEOs of major American companies, urged Trump to uphold the agreement. He tweeted Wednesday that he has "done all [he] can to advise directly to [Trump]," through White House officials and advisory councils, to remain in the accord. Since taking office, Trump has started to roll back Obama administration energy regulations that he and some advisors say hold back American energy companies. While officials like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson support the Paris deal, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had pushed against it. A group of top Republican senators including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also urged Trump to withdraw from the agreement. The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment on this article. Asked about Musk's tweet Wednesday, press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters to wait to see what the president does. In 2013, Bruno Aschidamini, Steven Ford and Brandon Leibel were selling life insurance from a call center in San Diego. "It was pretty bad. Half the calls were like, 'Take me off the call list,'" says Aschidamini. The friends had a dream to quit their corporate jobs and build lives where they were in charge. So they did. Today, they are running a beach-towel business, Sand Cloud, that is projecting $7 million in annual revenue in 2017. From the life insurance call-center to Cloud Nine Ford and Leibel, both 26, met as college roommates at San Diego State University. After graduation, they took the first jobs they could find that would allow them to stay in the area. That's where they met Aschidamini, 31 at the life insurance call center. Living in California had given Ford and Leibel an idea for a business: a towel that would help people take better naps on the beach. So the friends ordered a few dozen beach towels and travel pillows from a discount website and had a local seamstress sew the pillows to the towels. They called their product Cloud Nine. Aschidamini bought the first one for $20. Sand Cloud co-founders Bruno Aschidamini, Brandon Leibel and Steven Ford (L to R) Photo by Michael "Blue" Wesley Soon they were selling their product to family and other friends for $20 each, but they were barely breaking even. "Me and Steven, we didn't have the discipline or know how," says Leibel of their early attempts at entrepreneurship. Frustrated, they gave up on building a business. By April 2014, Leibel and Aschidamini quit their jobs at the call center. Leibel spent his time teaching himself how to play the guitar from YouTube videos and driving an Uber to pay the bills. Aschidamini had gone to Thailand for a couple months to detox from corporate-cubical life, then started a one-man life insurance brokerage from his living room in San Diego. During a game of catch on the beach, Aschidamini brought up Cloud Nine. Leibel didn't want to talk about the failure until Aschidamini said he had a better name for the product: Sand Cloud. Inspired anew, the three friends created a business plan that night. "The level of energy and excitement, we were all completely on board," says Ford. So much so that he finally quit the call center, too. "Looking back now, it was crazy how much risk we took because all we had was a name, we had nothing else," says Aschidamini. "We had a vision. That was like the biggest thing we had." They were going to build a towels-with-pillows-attached empire. Driving Ubers and eating rice and beans Committed to building Sand Cloud together, the friends started by getting ultra frugal. Aschidamini gave up his lease and the three moved into a two bedroom with a loft. "We are making rice and beans every single day trying to live as cheaply as possible," says Ford, who had joined Leibel as Uber driver to bring in some money. Aschidamini, the best with technical business paperwork, worked from their home to set up trademarks, the legal framework for the business and other logistics of starting up, like sourcing the towels. Sand Cloud co-founders Steven Ford, Bruno Aschidamini and Brandon Leibel are roommates, friends and business partners. Photo courtesy Sand Cloud To buy their first shipment of towels, the co-founders raised $5,000 each from their families and maxed out several credit cards. So much so, "We stopped getting approved," says Ford. In just a summer, Sound Cloud had burned through $30,000 and had virtually no sales to show for it. "As we are doing all of this, we are not seeing any success," says Aschidamini. "We are giving away product we are not making any money, but the one thing we are seeing which is our version of success is our followers are just jumping up really fast on social media. We are gaining a few hundred followers a day and ... in our eyes that's huge. "In our parents' eyes, who just gave us money, they were very disappointed with us." The towel in the corner and a $20,000 break In January 2015, Sand Cloud went to the Surf Expo trade show in Orlando, Fla., to try and sell the pillow-towel to wholesale retailers. But instead, everyone kept asking about a towel decorated with a mandala they had absent mindedly tucked away in the corner of the booth. The three co-founders had ordered the mandala towel from their manufacturer as a sample but hadn't attached a pillow. A buyer from the surf and snowboard brand Quicksilver placed an order for $20,000 worth of the pillow-free mandala towels. With such a large order, the Sand Cloud team decided they should add it to their regular offering online. Over the next year, sales of decorated beach towels surged, while sales of the pillow-towels driveled into insignificance. "It was the idea that started everything and we had emotional attachment to it," says Leibel of the pillow-towel. "We didn't want to admit that it had to go, but eventually we came to our senses and we realized that for business and for growth we had to get rid of it." In 2015, thanks to the addition of the pillow-less beach towels (which sell for between $44 and $99 each), Sand Cloud did $430,000 in sales. Ford and Leibel finally stopped driving for Uber at the end of that year so all three could focus 100 percent on the business. The three co-founders shipped the first half million dollars worth of inventory out of their two-bedroom apartment before they moved to an office warehouse space in San Diego in February 2016. They rented a 2000-square-foot, nearly move-in ready office in San Diego for a couple grand a month, says Leibel. Sand Cloud's momentum accelerated at an impressive and steady rate. They added accessories, water bottles and jewelry to its product line-up. In 2016 the company did $2.4 million in sales. They were also donating a percentage of profits to marine conservation organizations a mission that was always part of vision. "The marine life, the charity aspect made people keep following us and made people support us," says Leibel. The company now donates 10 percent of profits. "That breeds loyalty having a mission behind your brand is what makes people loyal." Into the 'Tank' and beyond The co-founders still had another milestone to conquer. For years, Leibel had been applying to be on ABC's hit entrepreneur show "Shark Tank." Finally, in 2016, the Sand Cloud application was accepted. "I wanted to be on 'Shark Tank' before we even quit our jobs," says Leibel. "I was obsessed with 'Shark Tank.'" The co-founders took their appearance on the show very seriously. They watched every single episode, read all the judges' books and devoured any interview with the Sharks that they could find. It paid off. Their pitch on the show won them an investment from Robert Herjavec. (The episode aired in Feb. 2017 with a $200,000 investment in exchange for 15 percent of the business.) The three friends used the money to improve the company's website and buy inventory they desperately needed to fuel growth. In part, it was the company's social giveback that won Herjavec over. "I firmly believe you have to have purpose and these three have it in spades," says Herjavec to CNBC about his investment in Sand Cloud. "I'm really proud of their success so far and know they're going to continue to learn and grow this company." Appearing on the show was an immediate benefit for Sand Cloud. The night the show aired, 13,000 people bombarded the website at once. Previously, the high had been about 600. In 2017, with Herjavec on their team, the Sand Cloud co-founders expect to do $7 million in sales. Their goal is to donate $1 million to marine life non-profits. Looking back to where they started, the co-founders say they didn't know how hard the path would be when they first had the idea for the pillow-towel. "We were so inexperienced at the time, we thought we are just going to put up a website and become millionaires" says Leibel. It was a harder journey than they expected, but they were were unshakeable in their determination. "The blind faith that we had to pursue freedom and become an entrepreneur we never questioned it once," says Aschidamini. Canada, the European Union and China have said they will honor their commitments to the pact, with the United States or without it. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Spain's Mariano Rajoy in Madrid on Wednesday, and both countries reaffirmed their Paris commitments, without mentioning the United States. The drive to improve efficiency has prompted many U.S. business leaders to support the Paris accord. In April, the chief executives of 16 big U.S. corporations, including Apple and Wal-Mart, wrote the White House urging Trump to support the Paris treaty. They argued that U.S. participation would make American companies more competitive, create jobs and reduce the risks of future climate-related damage. Fossil fuel producers including Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell have also said the United States should abide by the deal. Reuters and AP contributed to this report Watch: Exxon shareholders reportedly approve measure on climate change The Washington Post reported that BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors and Vanguard Group all voted against Exxon Mobil management and required that the company report on climate change. While BlackRock and SSGA have been vocal in recent years about shareholder activism on social issues like climate change, Vanguard has been a laggard, according to several experts who monitor shareholder votes from institutional investors. The Post's source said BlackRock definitely voted against Exxon Mobil management, and SSGA and Vanguard had "likely" done the same. On the same day the news broke that President Trump will reportedly opt out of the Paris climate change deal, preliminary voting results showed that Exxon Mobil shareholders won a battle against the oil and gas company's management to finally require a report on climate change. A big voice hidden in the victory for Exxon Mobil shareholders, according to one report, was the votes of the world's largest asset managers and ETF companies. In June 2016, Vanguard released a new set of guidelines that would influence its role as a shareholder voting on annual proxies of the companies it holds in its portfolios Vanguard manages more than $4 trillion in assets. Before the Exxon Mobil vote was in, Heidi Welsh who tracks the shareholder voting of institutions for Sustainable Investments Institute cited the fact that as of June 2016, Vanguard itself reported that it voted with management 92 percent of the time , and she said, "This looks likely to increase." BlackRock which for the first time voted against oil and gas company management , Occidental Petroleum , over a climate change proposal earlier this year said it is not making any official statement yet about the Exxon Mobil vote. A Vanguard spokeswoman said, "We're not discussing the Exxon vote, and the annual publication of our votes is the only time we disclose, so we'll do so later this summer." Shareholder activists have been expecting Vanguard to break from its longstanding position of rarely challenging management. It's come under attack for its voting alongside management over issues from executive pay to climate change, and recently was challenged by New York Times muckraking columnist Gretchen Morgenson about its role as a shareholder in activist-targeted Arconic . The role of Vanguard as a shareholder across all of the market's major companies has been brought into greater focus as index funds take in almost all of investor flows: Vanguard took in more than $300 billion last year, while the rest of the mutual fund industry combined had negative flows. And Vanguard has been feeling a little pressure from an influential source its founder Jack Bogle. At the recent Morningstar conference, Bogle was asked about the company's responsibility with ESG (environmental, social and governance) decisions as one of the world's largest shareholders. Bogle said, "I have felt for long time people laughed at first and they are not laughing anymore. Index funds and managers are the key to strong corporate governance." Bogle said index funds specifically lack the option active managers can take to walk away from a stock where they disagree with management. "The index manager can't sell the stock, what can he do? Improve the management," Bogle said. "Index funds, including Vanguard, right now are asking for a lot more information," the Vanguard founder said. More from Global Investing Hot Spots: A global boom that's come from housing crisis poster-child Iceland Shell CEO on climate change and the Trump EPA position Oil industry is headed for another crisis if things don't change Jon Hale, director of sustainability research at Morningstar Research Services, said, "It is your only recourse when you have the amount of assets they do. It's a risk to their portfolios. ... It is a big thing to make sure companies forced to own these stocks, because they own the market, are assessing climate risk." He added that BlackRock and SSGA have historically been much more at the forefront of engaging management, relative to Vanguard. "Vanguard historically has not supported climate change," said Mary Beth Gallagher of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment in an interview with CNBC before the Exxon Mobil vote. In 2016, Vanguard voted with Exxon Mobil management and against a similar climate change measure. "Vanguard has started to come around to the point of view ... of the two other largest passive managers who have explicitly said things about emphasizing corporate engagement efforts," Hale said. "It's getting to be a bit of a sea change; there was very little attention paid to the way mutual funds vote proxies, and the whole greater interest in ESG is potentially changing that," Hale said. "As they own increasingly large amounts of these companies, as shareholders it is their duty." The Morningstar SRI expert said Vanguard may have a more difficult time with this issue than BlackRock and SSGA because it is more U.S.-centric across its investors than global, and represents the largest percentage of buy-and-hold individual investors. "One concern for Vanguard is that the U.S. is the only place in the world where investors are climate change deniers. So it is a tough issue for them to navigate; they can alienate investors, too, by making a big deal," he said. A Pew Research Center survey from last year found that some 55 percent of liberal Democrats say climate research reflects the best available evidence most of the time. By contrast, 9 percent of conservative Republicans say this occurs most of the time. But more than three-quarters of Democrats and most Republicans (69 percent among moderate or liberal Republicans and 48 percent of conservative Republicans) say climate scientists should have a major role in policy decisions related to the climate. Bogle gave a more simple and economic reason for moving with caution as a social activist, telling attendees at the Morningstar conference, "Companies have to be able to make a profit." In its last update on its role as a shareholder in proxy votes in June 2016, Vanguard reported that energy companies represented 11 percent of its engagement efforts, ranking fifth behind consumer stocks, financials, health care and technology-sector stocks. It also noted that the lowest percent of its engagement efforts occur with companies above $50 billion in market capitalization. Exxon Mobil's market cap is $339 billion. But the index giant did offer an example of what it called "deepening discussions on climate change risks," citing engagement with a large oil and gas company to discuss shareholder proposals on environmental issues to understand how the company assesses and manages some of its greatest risks, particularly those related to climate change. "After analyzing the issues underlying the proposal, we have encouraged company management to make specific improvements in how it assesses the severity of these risks, communicates to shareholders about the risks, and works with key stakeholder groups to improve its practices," Vanguard said last June. Welsh at the Sustainable Investments Institute said after the Exxon Mobil vote she couldn't independently confirm Vanguard's decision, but she noted that last week there also were two votes on board diversity that were 80 percent-plus. According to Reuters, the Exxon Mobil climate change reporting requirement received support from 62.3 percent of shareholders, up from 38 percent last year. "Votes like that don't happen without the big mutual funds, which clearly have signaled they want action on both climate change disclosure that they see as a material risk as well as board diversity. This is pushback against the idea that shareholder resolutions only raise frivolous issues that investors don't care about." Watch: Vanguard CEO on the issue of cost A telltale white plume streaked across the sky over Israel Monday morning, revealing the country's latest missile test. No announcement was made on what propulsion system was tested but experts say it was for an intercontinental ballistic missile or a missile defense rocket. Either way, it was a manifestation of Israel's activity in aerospace, a field in which it is developing significant new capabilities, including in the commercial sector. The country has developed missile systems, such as the Jericho and the Shavit, which has been used to launch its own military satellites into space, anti-missile systems such as the Iron Dome and the Arrow, and is dominating the international export market for military drones. One man who sits at the nexus of Israel's space and drone industries is Yariv Bash, co-founder of SpaceIL, the organization that seeks to put Israel on the moon, and CEO of drone startup Flytrex. With the latter he's seeking to put into place complete solutions for automated drone delivery. While the former, SpaceIL, is a finalist, one of only five in the world, in Google's Lunar X Prize competition for a privately funded moon landing. Bash spoke to CNBC about his passion for all things flying and how he expects the aerospace industry in Israel to develop. "I like to say that I found other people to pay for my hobbies. Seeing something hover above you in the air or seeing a spacecraft leaving the atmosphere, these are two of the most amazing feats you can do as an engineer." What does Flytrex do, what are you currently capable of? "Our systems are capable of delivering up to three kilograms up to ten kilometers away. We can deliver everything. We have a complete system that allows you to drop packages from the air in a safe way, hovering at twenty meters above ground and lowering the package on a wire in a completely safe way that enables you to lower a package to someone." Where Flytrex is currently seeking to operate, Bash will not divulge but he says that he expects that within the next quarter the company will be operating in an urban environment and he will seek a new funding round within the next few quarters. At the beginning of this year, Flytrex was reported to have raised $3 million from several angel and VC investors. How do you see the Israeli drone and aerospace industries develop? "It's like cyber[security]. Israel became a superpower when it comes to cyber startups because of the military capabilities and then you had personnel leaving the military and starting their own companies. I think it's a bit the same with the drone industry. We have a very successful military industry and drones are becoming more civilian. You see a lot of people leaving the military or the aviation industry today and beginning their own startups, joining other startups, to accomplish something on the industrial, commercial, civilian level." How does Israel's international reputation in drones help Flytrex? "I have to say that with our clients I haven't seen them think well, the Israelis are great in military drones so Flytrex might be a good company. I think it mostly helps, the reputation, when you approach government officials. If you want to fly in certain countries you need to be in contact with the local civil aviation authorities, like the FAA in the United States. I think that when it comes to that, most of the countries, most aviation authorities already know Israel as a drone exporter and they most likely went through Israeli documentation and have approved Israeli drones before. They're more familiar with Israel, which really helps when you start the process with them." With SpaceIL you've had a setback (when SpaceX's Falcon rocket blew up in 2016, delaying SpaceIL's launch date and possibly ending its X Prize chances). What will that mean? "It is rocket science, things sometimes explode and go off track. It did postpone a bit our efforts but we're building a spacecraft. It's amazing. Even if it's going to take a few more months than we anticipated, it's still an amazing project. In two months from now you'll be able to come to Israel and see the spacecraft being built. We'll be launching in 2018. We don't have a specific date yet but we're getting very close to the launch date, which is making things a lot harder and a lot more exciting." So, SpaceIL will continue, even if it can no longer win the prize? "For us it's all about Israel reaching the moon, planting out flag there and exciting the next generation We're actually an education non-profit. Our main vision is impacting every kid in Israel... We'll be recreating something that in the '60s was called the Apollo effect. After the Apollo program kids went in increasing numbers to be scientists and engineers. Here in Israel that's our main vision and we're working to generate thousands and maybe even tens of thousands of new engineers for Israel a decade or two from now." SpaceIL is a $70 million program that has received much of its funding from two billionaire donors, Israel's Morris Kahn and the US's Sheldon Adelson, says Bash. Will there be commercial spin-offs from SpaceIL? That's why the Israeli space agency donated $1.5 million. They believe SpaceIL could sprout a new industry for Israel, just like the aviation industry or the civilian cyber industry. We're a non-profit. Once we go to the moon it will help our engineers and trainees to open up new companies and start new business, they will not be competing with us. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Netflix is happy to defend its straight-to-streaming movies against the global film industry when necessary, CEO Reed Hastings said Wednesday. "We don't really want a fight with anyone," Hastings said in an interview at the Code Conference on Wednesday. "What we're trying to do is have great movies and have them be shown everywhere. But where someone picks a fight with us, that gets a lot of attention it's been fantastic for us." "Sometimes the establishment is clumsy, and they try to shut out the insurgent, and then the insurgent role is to try to play that up," he said. The comment came after Netflix clashed with the Federation of French Cinemas earlier this month about premiering two of its movies at the Cannes Film Festival. Netflix's monster movie "Okja" and Noah Baumbach's "The Meyerowitz Stories" were allowed to enter the festival despite protests from French distributors, who said it violated a French law that requires distributors to wait for 36 months after a theatrical release before making them available on streaming platforms. In response, Hastings posted on Facebook: "The establishment closing ranks against us. See Okja on Netflix June 28th. Amazing film that theatre chains want to block us from entering into Cannes film festival competition." Still, the festival issued a rule that prevents straight-to-streaming films in 2018. The Associated Press contributed to this report. HP, Asus and Lenovo will build new Windows 10 computers running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips, Qualcomm said on Wednesday. It may sound like something Intel should worry about, but investors shouldn't sound the alarm just yet. First, some backstory: It's the first time Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips have been used to power a full version of Windows, which usually runs on processors from AMD or Intel. Microsoft has tried Qualcomm chips with lighter versions of its OS such as Windows RT, but those efforts failed because the computers couldn't run most apps designed for Windows. That's what changes now. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor, typically reserved for smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S8, will power the new Windows 10 computers and will offer constant connectivity. That means folks who buy a new computer from Asus, HP or Lenovo should expect it to come with the option to add it to their wireless carrier for data service when Wi-Fi isn't available. Qualcomm said the new computers will be "lighter and more portable than any other laptop currently available," while also offering longer battery life than current solutions on the market. It sounds appealing, but here's why Intel shouldn't worry. While the Snapdragon 835 is a powerful-enough chip for smartphones, you shouldn't expect these computers to offer robust support for rendering in Photoshop or video editing, even though Qualcomm promises support for "all Windows applications." Those functions might work in some regard, but don't expect these machines to be the most powerful on the market. Qualcomm's chips are becoming more and more powerful, but they're still not a match for a full-fledged seventh-generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor, the sorts that are used in the latest flagship computers from companies such as Dell and Microsoft, and which we expect to launch in Apple's new MacBooks as soon as next week. These are some of Qualcomm's first steps onto Intel's territory, where Intel has mainly had to worry about AMD as a competitor, so it's still a move worth watching. A final point: we still don't know when the first Qualcomm-powered Windows 10 computers will launch, or how much they'll cost, the latter of which will be important if Qualcomm wants to take share from Intel. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is suing five makers of opioid painkillers for their role in the state's opioid epidemic. The suit, which DeWine said is the second by a U.S. state, after Mississippi, claims the drugmakers violated multiple state laws, including the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act, and committed Medicaid fraud. Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit, Teva Pharmaceuticals and its Cephalon unit, Endo Health Solutions and Allergan are all named in the suit. "In 2014 alone, pharmaceutical companies spent $168 million through sales reps peddling prescription opioids to win over doctors with smooth pitches and glossy brochures that downplayed the risks" of the medicines," DeWine said at a press conference Wednesday. Last year, he said, 2.3 million people in Ohio, or about a fifth of the state's population, were prescribed opioids. In a statement, a spokesman for Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin, said the company shares the attorney general's concerns about the opioid crisis and that it is "committed to working collaboratively to find solutions." "OxyContin accounts for less than 2% of the opioid analgesic prescription market nationally, but we are an industry leader in the development of abuse-deterrent technology, advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and supporting access to Naloxone all important components for combating the opioid crisis," he said. Allergan declined to comment, as did a Teva spokeswoman, who said, "We have not completed review of the complaint." J&J's Janssen unit said the company believed the allegations in the lawsuit were "both legally and factually unfounded." "Janssen has acted appropriately, responsibly and in the best interests of patients regarding our opioid pain medications, which are FDA-approved and carry FDA-mandated warnings about the known risks of the medications on every product label," said Jessica Castles Smith, a Janssen spokeswoman. Endo officials weren't immediately available to comment. PepsiCo is in talks to acquire All Market, owner of coconut water brand Vita Coco, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Multiple parties have expressed interest in making a bid for the company, whose celebrity investors include Madonna and Matthew McConaughey, these people said. A potential deal could be more than a month away, the sources said. Reuters first reported the merger discussions last week. Coconut water has been a growing segment within the beverage category, and Vita Coca is the largest player in the space. According to Euromonitor International, it has a 26 percent share of a market worth $2.5 billion. Pepsi has been working to diversify its portfolio to include beverages with a healthier profile as consumers shift away from sugary soft drinks. In addition to its celebrity investors, Verlinvest, the family office of one of the Belgian families tied to brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev , holds a stake in All Market. T.C. Pharma, owner of Red Bull China, also acquired a 25 percent stake in All Market in 2014. That deal helped bring the Vita Coca brand to China. Officials at Pepsi and Vita Coco weren't immediately available to comment. Samantha, left, and Morgan Elias, twin sisters who founded Vintage Twin, a pop-up secondhand clothing company, at one of their pop-up stores in New York, May 25, 2017. As traditional retail stores close and vacancies mount, landlords across the country appear newly receptive to leases as short as a week, eschewing the typical 10-year time frame, even in locations that once shunned limited stays. The upswing in pop-up stores, as the short-term placements are called, is playing out in all sorts of ways, and in all sorts of places including dark malls, former grocery stores and shuttered art galleries, according to real estate brokers, landlords and tenants. For retailers, the stores can offer lower rents and far less commitment. For the landlords, the reason is just as clear: A short-term tenant is better than no tenant at all. More from New York Times: India's bad debt is looking better to investors Even as wind power rises, it falls under a political cloud China detains activist who worked at manufacturer of Ivanka Trump shoes "Landlords have their backs against the wall right now," said Samantha Elias, the co-founder of the Vintage Twin, a secondhand clothing company whose stores frequently pop up in Manhattan. "I tell them that some money is better than no money, and I promise not to bother you." The rise in pop-up stores is adding another element of change to a retail industry facing upheaval from profound shifts in consumer habits and powerful new competitors, especially online. In the past, short-term tenants focused on holidays like Halloween: Costumes were hot items in October, but sales evaporated once the calendar turned to November. But today, the products go far beyond monster masks, to skin serums, designer handbags and crystal champagne flutes, as brands see pop-ups as an opportunity for quick public exposure or as a possible steppingstone to something bigger. And while some landlords continue to shun short-term deals arguing that the rents, which are generally below market rate, do not justify the trouble and cost involved with preparing a space they are quickly dwindling in number. "The trend has become more prevalent in the last year or so," said Karen Bellantoni, a vice chairwoman of RKF, a retail-focused national brokerage firm. RKF does not specifically track pop-ups, which is also the case with other major firms. But the fleeting boutiques are an increasingly bigger part of agents' business, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and New York. "We're definitely seeing landlords looking for them," Ms. Bellantoni added. Ms. Elias said she had also seen a change. In 2012, when she started looking for physical stores to augment her online business, she had to cold-call landlords directly, she said, because "brokers had never heard of pop-ups." Landlords are finally coming around, she said, but they may have no choice, as stores continue to go out of business. Ms. Elias added that "it must be really scary right now" for owners in SoHo, where most of her pop-ups have been. But the new stores can cause landlords to lose money, said Stephen Summers, the managing director of Highland Park Village, an upscale shopping center near Dallas that is in the midst of a multiyear renovation. In late 2014, Mr. Summers installed Goop, an online retailer founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, for a four-week run in a former grocery store at his historic red-tile-roof complex, a widely copied model for the 20th-century shopping center. Because the store, at 20,000 square feet, was considered too large for Goop's needs, Mr. Summers had to construct a more intimate 1,500-square-foot berth, including dressing rooms. That renovation ultimately caused the deal to be unprofitable, he said, even though Goop drew so many customers that there were lines around the block. But Mr. Summers said he was glad to have a relationship with the company. Goop, which has popped up in multiple spots, is planning to open permanent locations, and Mr. Summers plans to court the company. "Pop-ups are a responsible way to grow," he said. Like Goop, other web-born businesses are seeking a bricks-and-mortar presence as well, aware that most shopping is still done offline, and are turning to pop-ups to get their start. For instance, Daniel Wellington, a six-year-old watch company with a heavy social media presence, has been selling its timepieces in part through department stores like Bloomingdale's and small jewelry shops. But in November 2015, it opened its first temporary store in the East Village of Manhattan. A year later, it opened one in nearby SoHo for two months. Because that location was a success, Wellington signed a more permanent six-year lease for the same space, said Ola Melin, a company spokesman. Wellington also has pop-ups in Boston, Miami and Honolulu, among other cities, Mr. Melin said. In SoHo, where pop-ups are especially popular, the range in rents can be significant. Long-term tenants have been paying in some cases up to $150,000 a month, brokers and tenants say. But pop-ups can get deals for $25,000 a month. They generally pay all their rent upfront and agree to leave with a few days' notice if a longer-term tenant is signed. While some buildings may be hard to get into, others seem more inviting, like 543 Broadway. That is where Vintage Twin which is owned by Ms. Elias and her twin sister, Morgan has been set up since April, and which bustled with shoppers on a recent weekday afternoon. A tie-dyed Grateful Dead concert T-shirt from the 1990s was $244. Several pop-ups have set up camp at the address, a Beaux-Arts edifice, since Carlo Pazolini, a shoes and accessories store, closed in 2015 after a four-year stay. "To keep the neighborhood alive and vibrant, you need to have retailers occupying space, especially in today's day and age," said Jared Epstein, a principal of Aurora Capital Associates, the building's landlord. Similarly, last year, Aurora installed the Broadway Market Company, a pop-up with various vendors who sell handbags, jewelry and stationery, in a vacant building it owns nearby. Its lease is expected to run about 18 months. Likewise, an Aurora-owned building in SoHo in May welcomed Artists and Fleas, another market with tables and racks from different vendors, which replaced a 10,000-square-foot Armani Exchange store that closed in March. Artists and Fleas has committed to a one-year lease, Mr. Epstein said. Swooping in to capitalize on the rash of empty stores in New York and elsewhere are some new brokerage-type businesses, which charge fees to landlords as brokers do and also sometimes market spaces concurrently with other agents. Examples include Space in the Raw, a two-year-old firm that for about a month last fall joined Taco Bell with Sony PlayStation for a SoHo pop-up, in its first New York retail deal. There is also Appear Here, a four-year-old British company that opened a New York office in April. Since then, it has found homes for dozens of pop-ups, said Ross Bailey, its chief executive, including Misbhv, an apparel company, on East 34th Street, in a part of Midtown where empty stores are evident. Mr. Bailey says that contrary to popular belief, young adults want to touch what they buy and also enjoy the physical shopping experience. Besides, "it would be a sad world if everybody was staying at home looking at screens," he said. This month, Appear Here raised nearly $13 million in venture capital, bringing its total in raised funds to about $21 million. But in a way, pop-ups, despite their growing ubiquity, are like Band-Aids on deep wounds when it comes to the problem of stubborn vacancy rates, brokers say. "Rents are just too high, and it's just too cost-prohibitive to be here," said David Barreto, the founder of Cast Iron Real Estate in SoHo and someone who encourages landlords to do what it takes to fill spaces. "It's really just sad." Researchers have succeeded in making an antibiotic a thousand times stronger in a scientific breakthrough which could strengthen modern medicine's arsenal in its fight against drug resistant infections. A team from the California-based Scripps Research Institute have modified the antibiotic vancomycin, deeming the new variation "the first antibiotic to have three independent mechanisms of action" in a press release made public Monday. Dr. Dale Boger, the lead scientist behind the development, said that the adapted vancomycin meant that "doctors would need to use less of the antibiotic to fight infection." The drug was tested on vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), a bacteria which can cause infections in the intestine, urinary tract and wounds. VRE is listed as being high priority on the World Health Organization's ranking of bacteria which most urgently need research and development into new antibiotics. Vancomycin is an antibiotic that has been prescribed for 60 years. Its latest incarnation is yet to be tested on animals or people, though the researchers involved hope that the drug will make it to market within five years. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Boger told CNBC via e-mail that the drug is "not only more potent, but it displays more durable antimicrobial activity." He added that "it is hard to imagine resistance developing toward this variant of vancomycin and it should embody a long clinical lifetime." According to research by the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, the death toll due to so-called superbugs could exceed 10 million each year by 2050 and cost $100 trillion globally. Michael Gardam, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, told CNBC via e-mail that "This kind of work is very important as there are very few new drugs in the pharma pipeline." But, Gardam warned that the developed drug may not be suitable for treating humans, explaining that "Sometimes modifications make the drug more toxic or harder to give to patients." Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. watch now As Russia's economy show signs of improving, its Finance Ministry remains positive on the outlook yet doesn't expect to let its guard down just yet. "We see that the Russian economy has started to develop at a higher rate. It has come out of recession this year and we anticipate annual growth of around 2 percent," Anton Siluanov, finance minister for Russia, told CNBC Tuesday via a translator. This picture however wasn't as buoyant back in 2015, when Russia was struggling to get itself out of a recession and was trying to remain steady despite a sharp decline in the oil price. Fast forward and Russia's economy grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter year-on-year, Reuters reported this month, citing data from the Federal Statistics Service. In recent weeks however, the nation has been caught up in political noise coming out of Washington, in regards to its relationship with the current U.S. administration. Despite any negative headlines coming out from U.S.-Russia relations, the ministry remains "interested in joint investments and partnership(s) with all our Western colleagues and partners, including with American business." "We welcome any investors in Russia and we are sure that these investments in Russia, these investments from business in Russia, will let them attain good yields, strong, reliable yields. So we are interested in the development of our relations with business in any country, including of course with American business." While Russia's economy and government finances could be heading in the right direction, Siluanov admitted that the ministry couldn't "always feel relaxed", even with budget revenues improving. "Our key task now is to prepare a new budget plan for the next three years. It will be no less important or difficult as we have to further reduce the dependence of the budget on the price of oil," said the minister. While Siluanov admitted that some results had already been achieved, including balancing the budget from the expectation of oil prices being at $100 per barrel to $60, the ministry would have to continue this trend to ensure that their "commitments were sustainable", and not let external factors, oil or sanctions deviate from this. "It's no easy one and so we have to be under pressure for a few years to come to get the budget into a balanced position and not dependent on external factors." Russia's future when it comes to sanctions, trade Sanctions continue to dwell on the country's economic and political future, after the European Union and the U.S. imposed sanctions on the nation, when it annexed Crimea from Ukraine back in 2014, and then allegedly backed separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. At last week's G-7 meeting, members stated in a communique that sanctions could be rolled back if Russia meets its commitments in the Minsk Agreements and that the G-7 were willing to work with Russia on regional issues. watch now Whether sanctions will be rolled back anytime soon, the finance ministry continues to factor in that the current regime will be maintained, when looking at their forecasts. Nevertheless, Siluanov said it was in their interest that "any limitation on the flow of capital or trade be lifted." "This would give the opportunity for higher rates of investment, higher rates in the economy and correspondingly in the replenishment of the budget." Sticking with trade, in recent months Russia has seen a growth in its imports, yet when it came to exports, growth had maintained its current level, Siluanov revealed. "Linked with this, we see a certain increase in the outflow of capital in the balance of payments. But this is due to the fact that our export companies have accumulated foreign currency earnings and are holding them in their accounts, so that is also one of the factors in the outlow of capital," he said adding that their balance of payments remained "stable" and didn't see any major risks when it came to changes in currency exchange rates. The predictability of oil prices Oil prices may not be back to the level they once were in 2013, however prices have shown a recovery as of late, as OPEC and non-OPEC members look to find ways of fixing the glut in the market. Following last week's decision by oil producers to extend output cuts by nine months to March 2018, Siluanov told CNBC that OPEC's decisions would give opportunity for prices to stay at present levels, but that both producers and the ministry had to be on alert for any market changes. watch now Americans abroad have just about had it with Uncle Sam's tax filing requirements. Those were the findings from a recent survey of more than 2,100 U.S. expatriates, according to Greenback Expat Tax Services, which specializes in working with American taxpayers residing overseas. Just over 4 in 10 respondents said that while they aren't planning to renounce their U.S. citizenship, they wouldn't rule it out, and 19 percent said they're seriously considering it. Half of those who are either planning or considering giving up their citizenship say the primary reason is the burden of U.S. tax rules. "Tax requirements like the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the report of foreign bank and financial accounts (FBAR) start to become more painful for people and they write to their congressperson, seeking action," said David McKeegan, co-founder of Greenback Expat Tax Services and an American residing in Indonesia. "There's nobody lobbying on the behalf of these people and fighting for your average American living overseas," he said. Here are some of the tax issues facing the estimated 9 million Americans who live abroad. watch now President Donald Trump is struggling to fill hundreds of government jobs, and the task isn't getting any easier in a hectic White House. Just over four months into his administration, Trump has lagged far behind recent administrations in getting executive branch officials confirmed by the Senate or even nominating anyone for the jobs. Those include critical positions, such as deputy and assistant Cabinet secretaries, some of whom would presumably help craft the president's ambitious policy agenda. Trump is early in his first term and has time to fill out the government. But in a lean White House pushing for a flurry of legislative activity and shadowed by an FBI probe, getting skilled individuals nominated and confirmed could prove difficult, according to people who follow the presidential appointment process. "Once you fall behind, it's very hard to catch up ... there are a lot of competing priorities. The urgent can crowd out the important. There are things to deal with like the Russia investigation and health care reform," said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that tracks the pace of presidential nominations. The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment on this story. Falling behind As of Wednesday morning, the president had formally nominated only 110 people to about 1,200 positions that require Senate confirmation, with 40 appointees confirmed, according to the Partnership for Public Service. He lags far behind the pace set by Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, who had all seen at least twice as many appointees confirmed by May 31 of their first terms. "Prior presidents haven't done this [appointment process] well, and Trump is doing worse than they did," Stier said. In the group of 559 jobs that the Partnership for Public Service classifies as higher priority Trump has nominated 63 people and seen 39 of those confirmed. Those figures do not include the more than 100 federal court vacancies Trump is supposed to fill. Trump announced a group of 10 nominees to those seats early this month and is expected to choose more judges in the coming months. Several factors have contributed to Trump's slower pace filling out positions, according to Anne O'Connell, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has studied the presidential appointment process. Some of the struggles relate to "self-harm," such as not taking enough time to vet nominees who later withdrew or ruling out candidates who made critical statements about Trump in the election, she said. Government hiring has also put constraints on Trump that the private sector did not when he worked as a businessman, O'Connell said. Trump also never held elected office. A lack of executive branch experience, in particular, has slowed presidents who did not previously serve there, she said. O'Connell noted, however, that Trump has picked up the pace of appointments since his 100th day in office in April. Not willing to "take the leap" Trump faces another major problem in finding appointees: Candidates are reluctant to take the jobs. The White House is trying to distance itself from the FBI's investigation into Russian interference with the U.S. 2016 election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey and questions about his motives have only complicated matters for his top advisors, many of whom are balancing a slew of responsibilities. That's an environment many top candidates hesitate to enter, experts said. Some candidates who would normally see White House jobs as a gem on their resumes no longer do. watch now "They won't be able to attract the most talented people in Washington, D.C. Nobody in their right mind would jump into this White House at this point. I don't think it's a very positive work environment right now for anybody to take the leap here," said Steven Billet, director of the master's program in legislative affairs at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. A New York Times report Tuesday said the White House has had difficulty finding a replacement for recently departed communications director Michael Dubke. The FBI probe "coupled with the president's habit of undercutting his staff" have "driven away candidates for West Wing jobs that normally would be among the most coveted in American politics," the newspaper reported. The White House's troubles make "what was already really hard even harder," said Stier from the Partnership for Public Service. In another recent example, Goldman Sachs executive Jim Donovan, the nominee for the No. 2 spot at the Treasury Department, dropped out of contention this month. Donovan cited a desire to focus on his family. Trump has not announced a new nominee. The Republican-controlled Senate, which confirms Trump's appointments, also faces a packed legislative schedule, leaving it less time to take up nominations. This year, the chamber will aim to craft plans to overhaul the American health care and tax systems, pass an appropriations bill and raise the federal debt limit. On top of that, Democrats emboldened by resistance to Trump have worked to delay many of his nominees, though their ability to do so is limited. Where it really matters watch now President Donald Trump stands to score political points with his base if he pulls out of the Paris climate agreement, but the move would do little to advance his pro-fossil fuel agenda and could strain relations with trading partners, analysts say. The president is leaning toward leaving the international accord aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change, according to White House sources. The move is no surprise, said analysts, given Trump campaigned on boosting fossil fuel output and reviving the coal industry. "Domestically Trump does probably have quite a lot to gain from his core base by pulling out of something that is seen to negatively affect the prospects of coal," said Paul McConnell, research director of global trends at energy research firm Wood Mackenzie. The notion of a trade battle over climate change is something everyone's tried to avoid for two or three decades. That's why we have an international agreement to put everyone in the same frame Dirk Forrister International Emissions Trading Organization president and CEO But backing out of the deal will do little to increase demand for fossil fuels, he said. In the United States, higher energy efficiency, falling renewable energy prices, abundant natural gas, and the rise of electric vehicles and smart grids will continue to displace coal and oil, McConnell and other analysts told CNBC. watch now "Will pulling out of the Paris Agreement save coal? I suspect that renewables and gas will have more to say about that than anything else," he said. Trump could actually cut off a path to making coal more viable, said Jonathan Elkind, former assistant secretary for the U.S. Energy Department's Office of International Affairs under President Barack Obama. Without the United States at the table, necessary investments in clean coal technology and next-generation nuclear plants could take a backseat to wind and solar energy. A "risk that arises from the U.S. leaving is that people take what I think would be an inefficient and unwise but kind of bumper sticker-friendly approach to the climate issue," said Elkind, who is now a fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Indeed, coal companies like Cloud Peak Energy and Peabody Energy argued for staying in the Paris Agreement to influence coal's role in the global energy mix. A U.S. exit from the Paris Agreement also raises the risk of trade disputes. watch now The United States is the world's second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide. Its trade partners could argue they are at a disadvantage if the United States frees its companies from the burden of climate regulations, analysts said. Many of the biggest U.S. trade partners, including the European Union, Canada, Mexico and China already have or will soon implement carbon trading systems to cap the amount of CO2 companies are allowed to emit. Dirk Forrister, president and CEO of the nonprofit International Emissions Trading Organization, noted that some foreign officials have raised the prospect of imposing a "carbon tariff" on U.S. products, but said that is uncharted territory and would have serious consequences. "The notion of a trade battle over climate change is something everyone's tried to avoid for two or three decades. That's why we have an international agreement to put everyone in the same frame," he said. Rebecca Keller, senior science and technology analyst at risk consultancy Stratfor, said it would be difficult for a big bloc like the EU to reach consensus on such a drastic measure. Instead, she thinks more targeted tariffs on parts of the U.S. economy could gain momentum. But Elkind, the former Obama official, suggested some nations may have little patience for the United States, given that the Paris Agreement gives signatories significant flexibility to set climate policies based on their individual circumstances. "If one of the biggest emitters doesn't wish to take advantage of that flexibility and stay part of the solution, I bet it will only embolden those who want to reach for more punitive approaches," he said. Watch: Will Musk dump Trump over Paris climate deal Hanoi could emerge as a key player in Washington's long-term Southeast Asia push that's aimed at neutralizing Beijing's influence in the South China Sea. On Wednesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be the first ASEAN leader to visit the White House since President Donald Trump's election and the U.S. may look to tap into the emerging market's friction with China. "Vietnam sits in a very interesting position in Southeast Asia," said Rodger Baker, vice president of strategic analysis at geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor. Because Hanoi maintains a strong position against Beijing's activities in the South China Sea, Trump may eye Vietnam as a potential counter to China in the disputed area, Baker explained. The world's second-largest economy claims 90 percent of the sea, home to over 250 islands and rich natural gas reserves, while Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan assert ownership of certain parts. And as Beijing ramps up island-building and military construction in the maritime region reports recently emerged of Chinese rocket launchers in the Spratly Islands Hanoi has not shied away from publicly denouncing the mainland. In 2014, Vietnam witnessed violent protests as demonstrators criticized China's assertiveness in the important waterway while Vietnamese officials lambasted Beijing in March after a Chinese cruise ship visited the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by both countries. China's territorial expansion has also irked Washington, with Trump promising vowing to halt Beijing's construction of artificial islands days after taking office. And while the president's hands are currently tied as he seeks the mainland's help on reigning in a hostile North Korea, the South China Sea issue still looms large last week, the Chinese navy deployed two missile frigates to a U.S. Navy warship that sailed near the China-claimed Spratly Islands. The Vietnamese PM's visit to Washington "adds momentum to a U.S.-Vietnam relationship that is moving in an increasingly strategic direction," Jonathan Stromseth, senior fellow at Brookings, described in a recent note. President Donald Trump is expected to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement. Environmentalists should rejoice! That's right, rejoice. Because by getting the world's largest economy, (that's us), out of yet another amorphous and unenforceable international climate deal, President Trump has likely saved the environmental movement from itself. And now there's also a much better chance that millions of conservative and center/right Americans can rejoin the environmental fold. The green movement in the U.S. and around the world has been off the tracks for decades mostly because of its faulty belief in globalist politics and big government as the solution to environmental challenges. In fact, big government and centrally-planned schemes like the Paris deal are the problem . The first problem with the Paris deal is that, like an OPEC production quota, it's really hard to enforce and cheating is likely to be rampant. As many experts analyzing the agreement have noted, there are no explicit enforcement mechanisms in the accord. So nothing would happen to a country that even just ignored its contribution commitments. That leaves the countries that are more likely to adhere to the climate deal rules, like the U.S., at a distinct economic and political disadvantage. It appears that the supposed triumph of the Paris agreement is that every nation coming into it publicly acknowledged the reality and challenges of climate change coming into the negotiations. Like so many other things in politics, words have become more valuable than deeds. And with no real mechanism to punish countries that cheat on this agreement, there's a chance that the Paris deal could lead to more environmental pollution, not less. People who are really concerned with lowering emissions worldwide need to come to grips with the fact that international agreements where bad actors can't be effectively punished aren't the way to go. It may be intoxicating to see their activism rewarded with the pomp and ceremony of an accord like the Paris climate deal, but they're ultimately meaningless. If the U.S. government wants to do something about the environment, it doesn't need to collude with foreign nations. It would be much better if it started with fixing its own house in a series of moves that conservatives and libertarians could join with liberals to support. They include: Stop having all taxpayers subsidize and otherwise bolster expensive and environmentally harmful home building in coastal areas. The national flood insurance program, long opposed by liberals and anti-crony capitalist conservatives, does exactly that. Government at all levels continues to build more roads when more and more evidence shows that no new roads are needed and money would be better spent on repairing old ones. Liberals have long decried the government's anti-environmental road obsession along with conservatives who oppose the continued deficit spending needed to build them. Excessive regulation has basically killed new nuclear-power plant construction in this country, although nuclear power is safer and pollutes less than many traditional power sources, including coal and natural gas. What's much more meaningful than almost any government program or regulation is the free market's own incentives to clean up the environment. Groups like the Property and Environment Research Center, (PERC) have long explained that less government, not more, is the answer. Their cogent argument is that expanding the amount of privately-owned lands worldwide will increase responsible stewardship as opposed to continued unaccountable government ownership. And they trust the markets to reward and foster more environmentally friendly innovations and practices, as opposed to governments that rely on different levels of taxation and punishment to meet politically-influenced goals. In real terms, America has seen the free market's more effective leadership role time after time. It was the explosion in gas prices, not government rules, that played the biggest role in the auto industry's push to make more fuel-efficient cars in the late 1970s and hybrid cars over the last 15 years. And most experts rank free market innovations and other non-government created developments as the reason why the price of solar panels is now less than half of what they were in 2008, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The Paris climate deal is one of the most prominent liberal/big government vanities in history. There is simply no evidence that it would be any more effective than the Kyoto or Copenhagen deals, and it unnecessarily raises the hackles of conservatives and moderates who fear a loss of American freedoms and sovereignty. It's agreements like these, often enforced by un-elected and even anonymous bureaucrats that fuel Brexit-like sentiments around the world. The real disaster for the ecology is the environmental movement's decision to push for these kinds of shaky international agreements that could end up harming the environment more and angering a great deal of American voters in the process. President Trump is nixing this latest example of a bad deal for the environment and our Constitutional freedoms and both of those precious American treasures are better off for it. Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. WATCH: Vladimir Putin responds to Trump's decision to leave Paris climate accord U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, the Axios news outlet reported Wednesday, citing two unidentified sources with direct knowledge of the decision. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G-7 group of leading industrial nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. He then tweeted that he would make an announcement this week. Governments around the world expressed concern over the reports. "Like you, I've seen the reports but I don't have any information beyond that," German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer told reporters. "So I can only reiterate the well-known position that the German government unequivocally supports the Paris climate agreement and is campaigning for it to be quickly implemented and hopes the USA remains committed to this agreement," she added. Finland's prime minister, Juha Sipila, told parliament on Wednesday that if the United States withdraws from the Paris climate deal, it would be a major reversal. "If this is true, it is a big setback. Then, we must find partners to continue, because this work must not stop," Sipila said. The decision also drew a reaction from the United Nations, with the organization's main Twitter page quoting Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying: "Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable," according to The Associated Press. However, the European Union stands ready to take on the mantle of leadership on this issue, according to the European Commission. "If they decide to pull out it would be disappointing but I really do not think this would change the course of mankind," said European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic. "There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world from Africa, Asia and China that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that," Sefcovic added. The decision to withdraw from the climate accord was influenced by a letter from 22 Republican U.S. senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for an exit, Axios reported. Former President Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord, praised the agreement during a trip to Europe this month. The United States is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a U.S. exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Canada, the European Union, and China have said they will honor their commitments to the accord even if the United States withdraws. A source told Reuters that India had also indicated it would stick by the deal. Trump had vowed during his campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president, as part of an effort to bolster U.S. oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his skepticism of global efforts to police U.S. carbon emissions. After taking office, however, Trump faced pressure to stay in the deal from investors, international powers and business leaders, including some in the coal industry. He also had to navigate a split among his advisors on the issue. -- CNBC.com contributed to this report. Americans should not be concerned about how President Donald Trump is running the White House, billionaire real estate mogul and Trump advisor Richard LeFrak told CNBC on Wednesday. The president "enjoys a little bit of chaos" in his management style, but he has a firm grasp on his administration and personnel, the Trump friend said on "Squawk Box." LeFrak and Steven Roth, chief of Vornado Realty Trust , are leading a new council to oversee the White House's proposed $1 trillion in infrastructure spending and to foster public-private development partnerships. "I had an opportunity to visit the president a month ago. And he ran a very tight, thoughtful meeting," LeFrak said. "He was very focused." Criticism that the White House is a "three ring circus" is "hyperbole," said LeFrak, chairman and CEO of The LeFrak Organization. [The stream is slated to start at 3:30 p.m., ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to talk about President Donald Trump's trade policy on Wednesday afternoon. Ross is expected to address the North American Free Trade Agreement in an appearance at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Earlier this month, the Trump administration notified Congress that it plans to renegotiate the three-country deal that Trump has repeatedly attacked. The U.S. can start renegotiating the agreement 90 days from the notification. Ross also told CNBC on Tuesday that he is open to continuing talks on a proposed trade agreement with the European Union. Read more: Wilbur Ross says he's 'open to resuming' talks on mega-trade deal with Europe China has been invited to participate in next years Rim of the Pacific exercise. The Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been invited to attend next years Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC 2018), the U.S. Navy said in a statement on May 29. All 26 nations that participated in RIMPAC 2016 have been invited to return for RIMPAC 2018, Commander Ryan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S. Third Fleet, told Defense News earlier this week. The U.S. Pacific Fleet-sponsored RIMPAC exercise, the worlds largest international naval exercise, is held biennially in the summer months of even numbered years in waters around the Hawaiian Islands and southern California. The drill usually lasts a couple of weeks. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) granted permission for PLAN representatives to participate in a RIMPAC 2018 planning meeting in June in San Diego, California. Two more such meetings are scheduled prior to the beginning of the naval drill; however, further DoD approvals will be required for China to attend subsequent conferences. The National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2000 (FY 2000 NDAA) prohibits contacts between China and the United States that can create a national security risk due to an inappropriate exposure. The NDAA lists 12 operational areas, ranging from advanced combined-arms and joint combat operations to arms sales or military-related technology transfers, that are prohibited. Should China accept the invitation it would be the third consecutive time for PLAN ships and personnel to participate in the drill. In 2016, the PLAN dispatched five ships and 1,200 personnel including an Anwei-class hospital ship, the Daishandao (or Peace Ark); a Fusu-class replenishment ship, the Gaoyao Hu; a Dalao-class submarine rescue ship, the Changdao; and two surface combatant ships, the Luyang II-class guided-missile destroyer Xian and Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate Hengshui. One of the highlights of last years Chinese participation was a joint PLAN-U.S. Navy submarine rescue drill. The practical exercise involved the Dalao (Type 926)-class submarine rescue ship Changdao of the PLANs South Sea Fleet and U.S. Navy submariners who, aboard the Changdao, participated in launching a LR7 deep submergence rescue vehicle, I explained last July. The PLAN also participated in a forum on providing medical assistance and disaster relief, as well as counterpiracy, diving and salvage, and search and rescue exercises. Russia took part in the exercise in 2012 but has not been invited ever since. During the 2014 and 2016 iterations the Russian Navy dispatched an intelligence ship and a destroyer to shadow RIMPAC participants. Last years five-week long RIMPAC exercise saw the participation of 45 surface ships, five submarines, over 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel from 26 countries. RIMPAC drills and exercises cover the entire spectrum of naval operations ranging from disaster response and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting. Overview There are 29 Parliamentary constituencies in the North East. Currently Labour hold 26 of them, and the Conservatives hold three. In 2015, the Conservatives made some progress in this, their most difficult English region Anne-Marie Trevelyan won Berwick upon Tweed, and James Wharton converted his wafer-thin majority in Stockton South into something more sizeable but there were limited if any advances in some other possible target seats. The Lib Dems, by contrast, suffered a wipeout losing Redcar to Labour, in addition to Berwick. Labour retained their traditional dominance overall. For the first time in many years, the Conservatives are hoping to make several gains here theres talk of doubling or tripling the number of Tory MPs in the region. A number of Labour seats have seen their majorities steadily eroded from safe to marginal over several elections, and the recent Tory victory in the Tees Valley mayoral election shows that things could be changing quite drastically in what was previously Labours most hardened stronghold. The shifts underway make the region more of a battleground than in previous elections. Farrons pro-EU strategy was always going to have a harder time here than in some other regions every local authority area except Newcastle voted Leave, and the Toon was only a very slim Remain victory. But with the Lib Dem campaign struggling nationally, hopes of regaining either of their two lost seats also appear to be fading and they dont seem to be mounting a targeted challenge for any new gains. Method: Welcome back to our series on the election battlegrounds! As in 2015, well be taking a region-by-region look at the seats which could change hands and offering our suggested lists of target seats for each party. These lists arent predictions of gains: rather, theyre just seats which we think could be competitive. They might be official party targets, have a small majority, or be subject to other factors which could leave them open to change. Amongst the resources well be using to steer us through these murky waters are Electoral Calculus, UK Polling Report, Number Cruncher Politics, and Election Polling, whilst all Leave vote share estimations are from Chris Hanrettys very helpful constituency-by-constituency charts. Were also keeping an eye on the work of many other pollsters, psephologists, and analysts, some of whom our assistant editor has collated onto a Twitter list. Battleground rating: 6/10 Targets by party: (NB These are our own suggestions of potential attack seats for each party including those officially designated as targets and others where the incumbent has a relatively small majority, or local factors are at play which may open the seat to change.) Conservatives Bishop Auckland: This County Durham seat has been held by Labour since 1935, but has become increasingly marginal in recent years with the Labour majority falling from an eye-watering 21,064 in 1997 to 3,508 in 2015. Christopher Adams, the 2015 Conservative candidate, has been reselected and local Conservatives are bullish about turning the seat blue. An estimated 60 per cent Leave vote certainly helps, as does the fact that UKIP took over 7,000 votes at the previous election but arent standing this time. Electoral Calculus estimates Adamss chance of recording an historic victory at 59 per cent. Darlington: Held by Michael Fallon from 1983 to 1992, Alan Milburn turned it into a safe Labour seat with a majority of over 10,000 votes. When he left in 2010 there was an opportunity to seize it back, but his replacement, Jenny Chapman, held the constituency by 3,388 votes and her majority was only slightly reduced to 3,158 in 2015. Peter Cuthbertson, the 2015 Tory candidate and ConHome contributor, is back for another go, boosted by the estimated 58 per cent Leave vote and this time Electoral Calculus gives him a 55 per cent chance of winning. Hartlepool: At first glance, this might be a surprising target, given the Conservatives were in third place behind UKIP in 2015. Peter Mandelsons former seat has long been the North Easts capital for the Peoples Army, but local in-fighting and the UKIP candidates dubious decision to register a local B&B as his home address have, Im told, led to its status as a purple target being withdrawn. If Conservative Carl Jackson can capitalise on the estimated 69.5 per cent Leave vote, and thereby combine the 2015 Tory vote of 8,256 with some of UKIPs 11,052, he will be in with a good shot at beating Labour, who won with 14,076 votes last time. Notably, the sitting Labour MP has chosen not to contest the seat again and Electoral Calculus judge the race to be neck-and-neck, with a 49 per cent chance of a Tory gain. Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland: Held by Labour since the constituency was created in 1997, Labours majority fell to 1,677 votes in 2010 before recovering slightly to 2,268 in 2015. Tom Blenkinsop, who had been the MP, has decided not to stand again, and a recent shock Conservative victory in a council by-election their first since the city went unitary over 20 years ago hints at why. With an estimated 65 per cent Leave vote, 6,935 UKIP votes up for grabs (the party isnt standing again, and their 2015 candidate has defected to the Tories) and a 64 per cent chance of victory according to Electoral Calculus, Conservative Simon Clarke is a leading hope for the Party. North West Durham: If Labour lose here, in a seat they have held continuously since 1950 and in which they enjoyed a majority of over 10,000 in 2015, then they will be having an absolutely dire night. Still, with an estimated 55 per cent Leave vote and 7,265 UKIP votes to squeeze, Sally-Ann Hart is in with a 29 per cent chance, according to Electoral Calculus. Sedgefield: Tony Blairs former constituency would be a dream gain for the Conservatives but with a good following wind it might be in reach. The recent local elections saw Tory county council gains in this County Durham seat, which had an estimated 59 per cent Leave vote in the referendum. Young Conservative candidate Dehenna Davison is working the patch hard, has had supportive visits from David Davis and Karen Bradley, and looks set to eat sizeably into Labours 6,843 majority notably reduced since Blairs peak of over 25,000 in 1997. Electoral Calculus gives her a 36 per cent shot. Stockton North: Narrowly won by Labour on its creation in 1983, when they defeated the sitting SDP MP who occupied the predecessor constituency, their majority peaked at over 21,000 here in 1997 a staggering margin of 48 per cent of the vote. After the deselection of Frank Cook in 2010, Alex Cunningham won the seat for the reds in 2010 by 6,676 and held it in 2015 by 8,367. However, three factors could put Conservative candidate Mark Fletcher in the running a sizeable UKIP insurgency in 2015 puts 7,581 votes potentially up for grabs, the estimated 66 per cent Leave vote contrasts with Cunninghams support for Remain, and James Whartons establishment of a more secure majority in Stockton South in 2015 has given the local Conservatives both momentum (with a small m) and a strong campaigning base. As with other seats in the same patch, the Tory victory in the Tees Valley mayoral election has also fired up local activists. Electoral Calculus currently gives Fletcher a 32 per cent chance. Tynemouth: This seaside seat (and, to declare an interest, my home constituency) was solidly Conservative from 1918 to 1997, barring a flirtation with Labour in 1945. By 2005, Alan Campbells 1997 majority of over 11,000 had been cut by almost two thirds, and hopes were high for 2010. However, Campbell unexpectedly increased his majority in 2010 and 2015, and Labour recently held the North Tyneside mayoralty. Seeking to overturn Campbells 8,240 vote majority is Nick Varley, who ran ground operations for Vote Leave. Electoral Calculus currently puts his chances at 35 per cent, presumably in part due to UKIPs inexplicable decision to stand against a confirmed Brexiteer, but there is a sizeable and concerted campaign underway to take the seat back notably, the Prime Minister chose it as the venue of a recent campaign speech. Labour Stockton South: If theres a seat in the North East where Labour might eye a gain in some circumstances, this is it. James Wharton won it on a 332 vote majority in 2010, but in 2015 a combination of hard work and his high-profile proposition of the EU Referendum Bill paid off with a majority of 5,046. Having become a thorn in the side of the Labour Party, they had hoped to target campaigning efforts here but the Tory threat elsewhere in the region appears to have put them on the back foot. UKIP are standing again bizarrely, given Whartons prominence as a Leaver but Labours chance in this Leave-voting seat is rated at just 18 per cent by Electoral Calculus. Liberal Democrats Berwick-upon-Tweed: Losing their 42-year hold on their North East stronghold was a bitter blow for the Lib Dems in 2015 they know their strength is in being hard to winkle out once in place, and had hoped for a secure succession from Alan Beith to Julie Porksen. As it was, Anne-Marie Trevelyan won Berwick for the Conservatives by 4,914 votes on the back of a 9.6 point swing. It was Trevelyans second attempt, which had allowed her to establish good name recognition over a period of years an approach the Lib Dems are mimicking, by putting up Porksen again this time. However, the stuttering national campaign has demoralised local Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives made gains here in Englands most northern constituency in the local elections. Electoral Calculus gives Trevelyan a 92-per-cent chance of holding the seat, on what could be a greatly increased majority. UKIP Hartlepool: As discussed above, Hartlepool delivered UKIPs fourth strongest showing in the whole country in 2015, so ought to be their best prospect in the North East. There was some talk that Paul Nuttall might stand here, but with characteristic confusion he ended up travelling there to announce that he would stand somewhere else. Instead the party has reselected Philip Broughton, who stood in 2015. UKIPs vote held up better here in the mayoral election than elsewhere in the Tees Valley, but Im told their local campaign has run into problems: first with Broughtons decision to claim a local B&B as his home address, and then with a falling out within the local party. In addition to their national polling decline, UKIP high command has, Im told, withdrawn target seat support for the campaign. Electoral Calculus now puts Broughtons chances at just two per cent. Yesterdays News Letter reported that the Conservatives have taken a bold step in their Northern Irish manifesto and ruled out joint rule with the Republic of Ireland. With the Assembly and devolved government still suspended following Springs snap election, so-called joint authority had been mooted as a possible outcome if devolution couldnt be restored. Under such provisions, theoretically, the UK and Republic of Ireland would govern Ulster together as a sort of quasi-condominium. This naturally horrifies Unionists, and the threat of it was cited by the DUP to justify going into coalition with Sinn Fein a decade ago. The manifesto also reiterates that the Conservative and Unionist Party (as the title says in full) will not be neutral on the Union and shall campaign for Northern Irelands place in the UK. After the liberal-flavoured efforts of the Cameroon era to break into Ulster politics think Ulster Conservatives and Unionists New Force and green Union Jacks this is something of a shift in tone. This is the partys unionism in a more traditional aspect, and it will delight capital-U Unionists such as Arlene Foster, with whose Democratic Unionists the May Government has enjoyed an increasingly good working relationship. Naturally, this will provoke a counter-reaction. There is in all our devolved debates a line of thinking which equates wisdom to appeasing the nationalists, and it will doubtless be argued that by toughening their line and moving farther from the role of neutral honest broker the Tories are throwing fresh spanners into whichever parts of the Northern Irish works remain yet spanner-free. However, there are two reasons that this move may have a positive impact on Ulster politics, in the immediate and longer term. In the short term, as Sam McBride points out in his article, it changes the calculation for Sinn Fein. It should be clear to anybody familiar with the concept of danegeld that the Republicans were scarcely likely to restore the devolved institutions whilst they thought they could hold out for more concessions. Some elements on the nationalist side, north and south of the border, also appear to have genuinely believed that London had completely ruled out a return to direct rule, leaving some form of shared administration as perhaps the only long-term alternative to devolution. This announcement changes that calculation. Not only does it take a big reward for Republican intransigence off the table, but it also sends a very strong signal that a British Government led by Theresa May will not be minded to grant the separatists the further shopping list of indulgences theyd need to actually have a shot at breaking Northern Ireland away from Britain. (As I reported in a recent column, the best plan currently being considered by the Irish Government involves London continuing to pay the full costs of running the Province for a full three decades after its absorption into Greater Ireland. The idea that theres an economic imperative to Ulster leaving the UK is a total joke.) This brings us to the potential longer-term benefit of this sort of stance: it might make Northern Irish unionists feel safe, and that would give them the breathing space they desperately need to change their game. Marchs snap elections were a self-inflicted disaster for capital-U Unionism, but in truth it has been trapped in a political cul-de-sac for decades, stuck on defence and reliant on rallying a dwindling core of voters with the singular goal of winning more seats than their nationalist opponents. The trap works thus: Ulsters status is guaranteed by referendum, and enough of the electorate have clocked this that turnout has slumped. But the major parties are still fixated with staying ahead on points. This often requires pacts, so they dont diverge very much on economic or social issues. This lack of choice leads to more pro-UK voters staying at home, and the cycle continues. In part, this fixation is explained by the fact that Unionists do not much trust the British Government. Just read what Foster had to say about it back in 2010 (courtesy of the News Letter): Direct Rule never sided with unionists and was the back-door delivery mechanism for republicans. Devolution, though far from perfect, is immeasurably better than having decisions foisted on us. Because they think that direct rule from London would be almost as bad as a nationalist First Minister, the Unionists feel they have no option but to go all-out at being the biggest bloc in the devolved institutions, winning battles even as their wider strategic position slowly worsens. (All of which is further aggravated by the fact that too many mainland writers and outlets continue to treat Northern Irish elections as border polls-by-proxy themselves, rolling out lots of excited Is a United Ireland coming?! copy with scarcely any easy-to-research No, it really isnt. pieces to balance them out.) Unionism needs to break out of the bunker, both to have any hope of reaching out to the many non-separatist Catholic voters who recognise the economic realities of their situation and to try to reconnect Ulster to wider British political and cultural life. Brexit has already demonstrated how collaborating in a pan-UK campaign has started to build new links across the Irish Sea. But that sort of experimentation will take courage, and time, and will risk defeats along the way. Perhaps, if they can be persuaded that the May Government really is the staunchly pro-Union safety net it it says it is, Unionists may finally be able to leave the politics of the Maginot Line behind. So thats just over two in five Party member respondents plumping for the Thatcher option, and over one in three backing the May approach. Readers will draw their own conclusions. Mine is that the response reflects more than nostalgia for the Thatcher era, though there is undoubtedly some of that in the mix. More pressingly, it demonstrates a residual suspicion among Party members of the Prime Ministers belief in the good that government can do, and instinctive support for rolling back the frontiers of the state. In its rough and ready way, this finding is a sign that May, if she returns to Downing Street on June 9, will have to handle her partys free marketeers and economic liberals very carefully indeed regardless of the size of her majority. Under one in five Party member replies took the view that there is really no divergence of view at all, and that claims to the contrary are media babble. The majority clearly disagree. Elaine Susan (Molden) Sewell, 65 passed away May 19, 2017 at Blue Valley Lutheran Home in Hebron. She was born to Robert and Lillian (Schoenrock) Molden on January 3, 1952 in Fairbury, Neb. Services will be June 3, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. at Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home with Darlene Novotny officiating. Memorials will go to the family's choice. Gerdes-Meyer Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. APPLE HILL, Ontario Congratulations to Diana Murray of Apple Hill, the latest winner of $1,000 a week for life with INSTANT CASH FOR LIFE (Game #1172). My family likes to give lottery tickets as birthday, anniversary and special occasion gifts, shared Diana while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto. My ticket was tucked into a gift from my husband. Diana found out about her big win on her birthday. Amazing! I scratched the ticket and thought it looked like a winner but I really was in disbelief. I kept wondering, Did I scratch it right? Was I reading it incorrectly? My husband looked at the ticket and said, Yup, it looks like a winner! Next, Diana called OLG to find out what steps she needed to take. I was told to go back to the store and have the ticket validated. We were heading out to watch a movie and made a stop at the store. Thats when I realized I really had a Big Winner! Even though I made several photocopies of the ticket, I hugged my purse, with the ticket in it, tightly that night. Plans are underway for Dianas windfall. I would love to travel across Canada with my husband. We will also be paying off our car loans, renovating our house and adding new windows. And of course, we will be celebrating with our children and grandchildren. Winning the lottery is exciting and its nerve racking, concluded Diana. The page may have moved, you may have mistyped the address, or followed a bad link. Visit our homepage, or search for whatever you were looking for The East Billings Urban Renewal District, an area between downtown and MetraPark, will receive a $300,000 federal grant for environmental cleanup, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. Big Sky Economic Development, Yellowstone County's economic development agency, was among six Montana organizations to receive federal grants through the EPA's Brownfields Assessment program, which aims to clean up hazardous waste from industrial operations. The EPA's Brownfield Assessment program aims to clean up former industrial areas and spur economic development. "EPA Brownfields Assessment dollars have been imperative to Big Sky Economic Development's work to encourage and spur economic development within Billings and the East Billings Urban Renewal District, currently a tax increment financing area previously thought to be undevelopable because of contamination perceptions," said Steve Arveschoug, executive director of BSED. "Property owners within the EBURD and Billings are open for business because of funding opportunities with the EPA, and we look forward to continuing our partnership and successes in Billings." Six Montana organizations received more than $1.5 million from the EPA. They were among the 172 organizations across the nation that received Brownfields grants. Other Montana recipients were: Bear Paw Development Corp., northern Montana, $300,000. Snowy Mountain Development Corp., central Monana, $300,000. Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes: $200,000. Confederated Salish and Kooteni Tribes of the Flathead Nation, $160,675. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe, $300,000. Pop culture has given us a wealth of historically accurate World War II properties, from Wolfenstein 3D to Inglourious Basterds. We know literally everything about the war now. Absolutely nothing could surprise us at this point. Now if you'll excuse us, we must take an incredibly long sip of coffee, then pop in our monocles to better read the following article ... 5 The United States Turned Away Hundreds Of Jewish Refugees For Fear Of A Few German Spies Slipping In In May of 1939, the MS St. Louis set off from Germany with Captain Gustav Schroder at the helm and a belly full of Jewish refugees. After being denied entry to Cuba at Havana harbor, the St. Louis set route for Florida, in hopes that the land of the free would be more accommodating. It was not. National Archives and Records Administration "I said we're at capacity! It's the fire code, nothing we can do!" President Franklin D. Roosevelt had recently cracked down on immigration, restricting it to those with the financial means to support themselves. (At that point, the average German Jew's checkbook register read simply "Property of der Fuhrer.") As 1940 approached, and with it news that Nazi Germany was invading ... uh, everything, the American public began to regard Jewish refugees as potential threats to national security. FDR, who had previously canceled the expiration of up to 15,000 Germans' visas rather than, y'know, send them straight to Hell, caved to pressure from Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who rallied Southern Democrats and threatened to remove their support for the president if a certain boatful of refugees didn't disappear real sudden-like. Continue Reading Below Advertisement A day after our great migration from southern California to northern California, my mom asked me, "Do you want to go to grandma's church or the Maughns' church?" This took me about half a second to decide. My grandmother is a beautiful, wonderful, inspiring woman, and her presence feels like home. That said, the thought of going to church with my grandma felt lame, because hello, I'm 5 years old and this is serious business. I can't be seen sitting next to an old person whose job is to shush me by patting my thigh. What would the other 5-year-olds think? By contrast, the Maughns were a party. They'd color with me at church, and nobody ever did the shut-up-you-gremlin thigh pat. Continue Reading Below Advertisement "The Maughns'." That's it. Those are the words that laid the groundwork for the rest of my life. Szalax If only I'd heard the good news about Tammuz. So, we joined the Mormon Church. My mother frequently attended the church's singles mixers (can you think of a sadder thing, besides, uh ... everything else in this story?), and in December 1997, she met Dawn Godman, one of the killers. My mother loved how much Dawn liked her. And the only reason why my mom met Dawn is because I wanted to go to the Maughns' church after we moved to northern California, and the only reason we moved to northern California was so I could be closer to my dad. You see where this is going: I never bashed anybody's head in with a hammer or threw bags full of body parts into a river, but I obviously still have a lot to feel guilty about. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Editor's Note: No, you really don't. The greatest responsibility we ever had as kindergartners was to watch Raphael, the class turtle. He escaped. The turtle. Escaped. That one was on us, because even as 5-year-olds, we probably could have caught that turtle. But that would have been the extent of our 5-year-old abilities. We could not have prevented a mass murder with our tiny, Popsicle-sticky fingers. You're totally in the clear on this one, Talia. Talia Jane is a relatively well-adjusted adult who spends most of her time not writing about murder. You can follow her on Twitter and Tumblr. Robert Evans wrote a book, A Brief History of Vice, in which he drank his own pee to test an ancient tobacco recipe. The least you can do is pre-order it. Related Reading: Cracked spoke with a male porn star recently too, and we learned a lot. We heard the batshit-crazy true life stories of an undercover agent fighting the cartels and heard some shocking tales from a woman raised in a Christian fundamentalist cult. Have some stories to share with Cracked? Reach us here. Components & Peripherals News Partners See Winners And Losers In Supreme Court's Printer Cartridge Ruling Kyle Alspach Share this A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court this week that gives legal blessing to the common practice of using remanufactured printer ink cartridges has potential upsides and downsides for solution providers, depending on what their business model is, partners told CRN. Remanufactured printer cartridges are those that have been refurbished and refilled with ink by a third party, and then resold for a price below that of new cartridges. The Supreme Court ruled against printer vendor Lexmark, which had accused a cartridge remanufacturer, Impression Products, of violating Lexmark's patent rights. "We conclude that Lexmark exhausted its patent rights in these cartridges the moment it sold them," the Supreme Court ruling states. [Related: Partners: Off-Brand Cartridges Are Breaking HP Printers, 'Crap In- Crap Out'] Joe Balsarotti, president of St. Peters, Mo.-based solution provider Software To Go, said that while his firm does tend to use new OEM printer cartridges when serving customers' printer needs, his company does occasionally purchase remanufactured cartridges. "It's like anything elseyou have to find a reputable company that's doing a good job" with remanufacturing printer cartridges, he said. As for the Supreme Court ruling itself, "I'm happy to finally see a decision that clarifies it," Balsarotti said. "The idea of competition [from remanufactured cartridges] is good. It creates opportunities. There are going to be winners and losers," he said. "I would imagine the printer manufacturers will have to rethink their artificially low prices for the hardware with the thought that they'll make it up with the consumables. So it will probably put some common sense in the initial hardware pricing." However, Bob Venero, CEO of Holbrook, N.Y.-based solution provider Future Tech, said the Supreme Court ruling will lead to more printer breakdowns as a result of inferior ink supplies--as well as sowing confusion around warranties. "If I've got a refilled printer cartridge on a $3,000 printer, and that printer blows upgets a 'toner bomb' as we call itwho's responsible for that?" he said. "So Big Brother coming in and setting up a precedent causes more damage than good out there in the market This is definitely going to be a negative impact on the partner community." Venero said the ruling will force many partners to change their pricing methodology around servicing printers. "If [a customer is] using the right equipment for it, then their cost is going to be X, because you know the equipment is going to perform. But you can't have the same level of certainty on non-branded and re-filled cartridges," he said. "There may be a short-term win as far as cost is concerned. But the long-term cost impact, I believe, is going to be higher, based on the fact that you're going to have things go wrong. We see it every week when a customer puts something cheap in." Bruno Tirone, president and CEO of Long Branch, N.J.-based MRA International Inc., agreed that using remanufactured cartridges can often lead to issues with printers, such as toner cartridge leaks inside the printer. "I would not prefer remanufactured toner in a device, because it will shorten the life of your device," he said. "At first, you save some money, but the IT folks are going to wind up paying." But Tirone said companies like his will most likely end up selling more printers and servicing more printers if remanufactured cartridges become more prevalent. "Either way I'm making money," he said. The precedent of the ruling could extend beyond printers to areas such as digital goods. "Today's decision will help on other fronts, as we push back against abusive terms of use and 'end user license agreements' that purport to strip you of your rights on pain of copyright infringement," the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a consumer advocacy group that had backed Impression Products in the Supreme Court case, wrote in a blog post. "The next logical step will be for courts to recognize that people who buy digital goods are owners of those goods, not mere licensees, and can resell and tinker with their digital goods to the same extent as purchasers of tangible property." Mobility News SADA Systems First Google Partner To Bring Jamboard To Market Joseph Tsidulko Share this Google's electronic whiteboard, Jamboard, is finally coming to market, with a pioneering partner preparing to ship the first units to enterprise customers. SADA Systems will deliver the cloud-enabled, 55-inch, 4K, interactive displays through a partnership with Taiwanese electronics giant BenQ, the exclusive distributor of the new Google product, SADA CEO Tony Safoian told CRN. The first resale Jamboards are stocked and waiting to ship in both SADA's Los Angeles headquarters and Washington D.C. offices, Safoian told CRN. [Related: 5 Key Features Of The Google Jamboard] Jamboard mimics the natural user experience of a whiteboard, but ties into Google's G Suite office productivity tools, integrating with Google Drive and enabling users to collaborate from any location. "For the cloud to come alive in its full glory, you have to connect it to the real world in a meaningful way and a way that's intuitive," Safoian said. Jamboard will challenge Microsoft's Surface Hub, as well as a number of other products that have recently hit the market in the emerging category. At $5,000, Google's product is priced extremely competitively, Safoian said. There's also an annual subscription fee for the software licensing. Jamboard is almost entirely going to market through partners; Google wont sell the units direct. BenQ will offer units online, but the company said it has no intent on selling into any Google partner accounts . Google didn't comment on its distribution strategy for the product. "We're excited that Google has chosen this path, emphasizing partner value as opposed to just a race to the bottom," Safoian said. "We can add a lot of value in the ecosystem by implementing this to the 800 customers we already have." Many of those customers have expressed a strong interest in getting at least one unit in their hands and giving it a test run, he said. SADA hopes to eventually see a Jamboard in every corporate conference room. SADA has made a habit of being on the vanguard of bringing to market cutting-edge products. The solution provider was both an inaugural Google Apps (now G Suite) and Microsoft Office 365 reseller, and was a pioneering Google Maps partner. SADA is also among the first group of Facebook Workplace partners. And just two weeks ago, SADA became the first channel partner to use Google's Orbitera cloud commerce platform to service Google's cloud customers. On Tuesday, two days before its grand opening, the new Seva Kitchen restaurant was a hive of activity. As a truck pulled up in front of the U.S. Bank building, workers unloaded brown wooden chairs, stripping off packaging before the chairs were arranged around dozens of wooden tables. Stacks of red metal chairs, another recent delivery, will accommodate customers who choose to dine alfresco. Deliverymen trooped in and out of the kitchen, bottles of wine were racked in glass-fronted coolers, and a dozen or so gleaming taps arranged behind a bar were awaiting the flow of beverages. Chef Josh Cannon and general manager Schuyler Budde have devoted many hours into training the 14 servers and 10 kitchen staff members so that things go smoothly for Thursdays grand opening. The new restaurant is at 313 N. Broadway, site of the former Broadway Deli and Cafe. Seva means selfless service in Sanskrit. The name also provides a clue to a multicultural menu, featuring entrees that one could imagine being served at the United Nations: hanger steak tacos, chicken satay and roasted garlic hummus are some of the offerings. A lot of these are items we like to eat that were found in our travels, Cannon said. Its the kind of food you wont find in a lot of general restaurants in Montana. Instead of steak and potatoes, were just trying to incorporate a lot of fun food into our menu. Asked about how the restaurant evolved from concept to reality, Budde said: About a year ago we started talking about a restaurant. We were talking about traveling and cuisine that we had tried. It got to a point where we were talking about larger cities with a melting pot of cultures. You have different shops like Chinatown, Koreatown and Little Italy, and we thought it would be great to have a place that combined all of that, Budde said. Owner Harvey Singh said the restaurant aims to be a gathering spot that will boost downtown. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; and closed Sundays. Not only will Seva serve quick lunches, it aims to cater to after-work diners and patrons of the Alberta Bair Theater. The restaurant promotes a social dining experience with food thats made for sharing. Along with the varied menu, and the restaurant will feature a more eclectic mix of music, Singh said. The whole purpose is to make different foods accessible to people so that theyll branch out and try other things, Singh said. Its important to educate the staff. If they can give the background on a dish or how a bottle of wine or a beer makes it taste better, its all part of what were trying to do. Singhs career has taken off since he moved to Billings in 2010. After working in construction, he founded Singh Contracting Inc. in 2013 and has steadily boosted his profile in the local construction industry. Seeing another need, Singh also founded Outward Media Group, an advertising and marketing firm that develops videos and provides website design. Security News Cisco, IBM Team Up For Integrated Cybersecurity Products, Threat Intelligence And Managed Services Offerings Sarah Kuranda Share this Cisco and IBM have announced a new agreement under which the two technology giants will work together to integrate some of their security products, services, and threat intelligence. The two companies announced on Wednesday new IBM QRadar integrations with Cisco security offerings, including an agreement that Cisco will build two new applications for the IBM Security App Exchange for Cisco Firepower and Cisco Threat Grid. Cisco and IBM also announced the integration of the IBM Resilient Incident Response Platform with Cisco Threat Grid, an integration to be augmented with other offerings including IBM Watson for Cybersecurity and Threat Grid threat intelligence. IBM Security Vice President of Strategy and Offering Management Jason Corbin said the products integrations will "elevate our partners" to provide joint IBM and Cisco solutions that are integrated out of the box. He said the two companies meet "naturally" in the market with their products, as many customers buy both Cisco and IBM and the security portfolios are largely complementary. [Related: 10 Things Partners Need To Know About Cisco's New Global Gold Certification Level] "This is just the beginning of these integrations and of the relationship at this level," Corbin said. "I think we will be working closer together to figure out what the potential offerings are and the best routes to market for us." Cisco and IBM also announced integrations between the companies' threat intelligence and research arms, IBM X-Force and Cisco Talos. The two companies have already started collaborating around this area, with collaboration between the research teams on emerging threats, such as the recent WannaCry ransomware attacks, and threat intelligence sharing. Finally, IBM and Cisco also extended their partnership to IBM's Managed Security Services team, including enabling the team to manage and support Cisco security solutions. The ultimate goal behind the product, services, and threat intelligence integrations, Dov Yoran, Senior Director of Strategy & Business Development, Cisco Security Business Group, said, is to drive both companies forward in four areas: automation, openness, simplicity and effectiveness. Corbin said the partnerships are part of a recognition by Cisco and IBM that security companies need to work together to fight today's threats. He said that is especially true from companies like Cisco and IBM, which he said have largely complementary portfolios in the enterprise. "I think what we're doing between IBM and Cisco is unprecedented in terms of two pretty large security companies coming together to deliver what we believe is some pretty unique integrations and capabilities in the market," Corbin said. "Ultimately, we are coming together to make the integration of our products and Cisco's products simpler to integrate, to consume and ultimately delivering more value and making our products stickier in the market." Partners said that having Cisco and IBM work together will help them gain a competitive advantage over some of the up-and-coming, disruptive technologies. One Cisco partner executive, who did not want to be named, said the companies can then leverage that scale to innovate in new areas. He said partnering will be key to both companies gaining the credibility in the security industry that they are looking for, especially when competing with industry disrupters. The partner said the combination of IBM and Cisco around threat intelligence was particularly compelling to boost both company's security offerings. Both Cisco and IBM said they plan to continue building their partnership, with Cisco's Yoran adding that the two companies are "beginning on a longer-term outlook collaboration." Corbin said partners can expect to see more announcements between the two companies in the second half of the year. "There's a lot for everybody here to play with. With the size and each of our two organizations, this will definitely take some time, but we think this will have a real impact on the industry," Yoran said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Hunger is an issue across the United States, and while Connecticut is an overall wealthy state, it's not immune to the plight. According to a new report by 24/7 Wall St., New Haven County is the area with the most food insecurity in Connecticut. The county's poverty rate is 13 percent, according to the study. "The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as inadequate or uncertain access to food. People and households who are food insecure report eating lower quality food, disrupted eating patterns, and hunger," the site reports. "An estimated 13.4 percent of Americans live in food-insecure households." The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven supports local food banks and organizations battling hunger in the Greater New Haven area, which extends beyond just New Haven County to include parts of the Valley. Earlier this year, the foundation published The Community Progress Report, which found that "14 percent of Greater New Haven, and nearly one in four New Haven residents, did not have enough money for food in the past year," according to Matthew Higbee, the Research and Communications Officer, Grantmaking and Strategy. "Hunger and food insecurity continues to be a problem in Greater New Haven. Local soup kitchens and food pantries have not seen a decline in the number of people needing their services," Higbee said. The report found that overall, 12 percent of Connecticut residents did not have enough money for food in 2015. This number was 22 percent for the city of New Haven alone, and 12 percent for the Valley. The good news is these numbers are getting smaller, not bigger, as time goes on. The report shows that in 2012, 20 percent of the Greater New Haven population was living with food insecurity; this dropped to 14 percent in 2015. In the city of New Haven, this number dropped from 31 percent to 22 percent in the same time. According to the 24/7 Wall St. report, some of the highest food insecurity rates are found in southern counties like East Carroll Parish, Louisiana where 34.1 percent of the population is hungry and Clay County, Georgia where 29.3 percent of the population is hungry. According to the 2016 Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index, Fairfield County is better off than other area of the state when it comes to poverty. Still, close to 30 percent of of children in Fairfield County live in poor homes. "There are lots of people in Fairfield County who are not aware of the poverty that exists in other parts of the county," Nancy von Euler, one of the co-authors of the study, told Hearst in February 2017. "But we do know that growing up in poverty affects the lifelong trajectory of a person." Children of color are far more likely to live and go to a public school in a high-poverty district than white children, according to the study. Just one percent of white children live in a poor neighborhood, compared to 36 percent of African American children and 30 percent of Hispanic children. Researchers also found that even affluent African-American and Hispanic families are more likely to live in poor neighborhoods, including parts of Bridgeport, and small sections of Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford. But white families who are poor tend to live in high-income neighborhoods. Somewhere, out there, is a $100,000 Cash 5 lottery ticket worth $100,000. The holder of that lucky ticket - sold in Fairfield County - has only until Wednesday, June 7 to claim their $100,000 top prize before their ticket expires. After that the state of Connecticut will get the $100,000. Certainly, not enough to cover the states $5-billion budget deficit. The winning ticket is from a Cash 5 drawing on Dec. 9, 2016. To jar your memory, Dec. 9, is the day astronaut John Glenn and Greg Lake, a prog rock founder, both died. In keeping with the Connecticut Lotterys policy in not disclosing exactly where the ticket was sold, it just says it was sold at one of its lottery agents in one of 24 towns in Fairfield County. The Cash5 winning numbers drawn on Dec. 9, 2016 were: 2 - 3 - 4 - 27 - 28. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 / Danbury Police Department Show More Show Less 2 of 3 / Danbury Police Department Show More Show Less 3 of 3 DANBURY Police arrested two Bridgeport women Friday afternoon for being suspected of stealing thousands of dollars worth of items from the Danbury Fair Mall. Police said Shanan Jordan, 31, and Dorothy Freelove, 29, stole more than 70 items, totaling over $2,000, from six stores. The stores included Pac Sun, Victoria's Secret and Forever 21. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WESTON, Conn. When it comes to owning some of Keith Richards personal possessions, you just might get what you want. The legendary Rolling Stones guitarist and his wife, Patti Hansen, who live in Weston, are donating items from their upper East Side Manhattan apartment to benefit two nonprofits that work with autistic adults. To diehard Stones fans, however, many of the items may not be their cup of tea. None of the 73-year-old Richards guitars, wardrobe from the more than half-century of touring with the band or his trademark skull ring are in the auction. The items do include Italian, French and English furniture, decorations, Persian carpets, paintings, an English silver-plated flatware, Waterford crystal wine glasses, Flemish tapestry pillows and an Edwardian painted satinwood four poster bed. One of the more unusual is a Keith-inspired, skull-motif, china tea set. The image of a skull wearing a royal crown is displayed on dainty teacups, saucers and teapot. The auction is being handled by Stair Galleries in Hudson, N.Y. on Saturday, June 24. Previews of the items begin on June 10. According to the auction house, the high-end antiques came from the Manhattan apartment that was conceived by Patti as a European jewel box, filled with Italian, French and English furniture, decorations, and paintings. Patti worked with designer Carol Perry of Perry Associates in Connecticut to achieve the richly romantic apartment of her dreams. More Information The auction, to be held at the Stair Galleries in Hudson, N.Y., will benefit the Prospector Theater and SPHERE, which work with autistic adults. See More Collapse Family connections The couples connection to the Connecticut nonprofits SPHERE and The Prospector Theater, in Ridgefield is Hansens 24-year-old-nephew, who has received services from the organizations. The Prospector Theater pairs a first-run, commercial movie theater which trains and employs adults with disabilities. One of the films now playing at the theater is the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Richards played Jack Sparrows father in two films in the series. Mike Santini, director of development at the Prospector, said the nonprofit learned of the donation last week and we were ecstatic. The couple are not strangers to the theater, which was founded three years ago to provide jobs for the disabled. He even comes in for movies, Santini said of Keith Richards. This is something near and dear to his heart. SPHERE helps Ridgefield-area adults with disabilities find housing, education, recreation and employment. Included in the auction is a small selection of antiques and table top articles from the Weston, home where Richards and Hansen have lived since 1994. The wooded estate backs up to the Devils Den nature preserve in Weston. The couple have a number of homes including one in the Parrot Cay islet in the Turks and Caicos Islands and another in Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Another is Redlands, a country estate southwest of London that Richards has owned since the 1960s. Richards and Hansen, a model who has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, were married on Dec. 18, 1983, Richards 40th birthday. Since moving to Connecticut, the couple have lent their help to several local charities, including fundraisers at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk and the Silvermine 90th Anniversary Gala in New Canaan. In a book, The Sun & The Moon & The Rolling Stones, author Rich Cohen recalled sitting beside Keith Richards on the Rolling Stones plane to New York after a show. When the plane banked over Long Island Sound, Cohen wrote, Richards looked out the window and smiled. Thats my home down there, he said looking in the direction of Fairfield County. When I see those lights, I know Im close to everything I love. Staff writer Barry Lytton contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SHELTON - The newest Goodwill store in southwest Connecticut will open Friday in the Big Y shopping center in Shelton. Goodwill of Western and Northern Connecticut announced Wednesday that it will open the 17,000-square-foot store and donation station at 397 Bridgeport Ave. Goodwill store hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. With more than 40 employees from the surrounding community, the new Goodwill store in Shelton will also house a state-of-the-art Career Center. The Career Center will help local residents boost their chances of finding and landing a job through assistance in resume writing, job interview practice and access to job leads, Goodwill said in a release. In addition, the new Shelton Goodwill Store will offer more than 8,100 square-feet of retail space providing customers greater variety than the average department store with thousands of one-of-a-kind finds including apparel for the family, home decor, electronics, furniture and more. And customers will appreciate Sheltons covered drive-thru donation station, which makes donating hassle-free with attendants on hand to help unload donations from vehicles and provide donors with a tax receipt for their contribution. Over the last year, Goodwill has opened new stores in Monroe, Oxford and a second store in Stamford. Further north it has also opened stores in Waterbury and Glastonbury. Overall the company operates nearly two dozen stores across the state, including ones in Bridgeport, Norwalk, Danbury and New Milford. There are plans to open another one in Fairfield. The popularity pf Goodwill stores keeps growing, according to recent national surveys of adult female shoppers. Prosper Insights & Analytics March research shows the number of women who chose Goodwill for clothing was higher than Sears, Gap and H&M. Goodwill ranked just after Nordstrom, Amazon and Forever 21 in the survey by Prosper, which conducts research often for the National Retail Federation. The same pattern held true in 2016. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Each year the Norma Pfriem Breast Center invites celebrities with inspiring stories and careers to speak at the annual Rose of Hope Luncheon. This year's special guest is model, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Christie Brinkley. According to a release, Brinkley "is also an ardent philanthropist and the recipient of many humanitarian awards including The USO Merit Award. She has received honors for her work protecting public health and the environment. She sits on the board of The Global Security Institute and Radiation and Public Health Project, whose aim is to promote security through the elimination of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants." Related: Christie Brinkley models for Sports Illustrated at 63 She has also worked with the American Heart Association, South Hampton Hospital and Max Cure Foundation, and was awarded the "Positively Beautiful Award" for her work with Smile Train. The luncheon will take place June 7 at at the Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport. All proceeds benefit the Breast Center, "an innovator in breast care in Connecticut and a model for breast centers throughout the state, provides all women with compassionate, comprehensive screening and treatment, regardless of their ability to pay, the release states. The 2017 Rose of Hope award, which recognizes the charitable work of an individual or organization, will go to Merrill Lynch Wealth Management/Bank of America. "Bank of America and its Merrill Lynch division have supported NPBC for years, through fundraising and community events, because we recognize the tremendous impact NPBC has in Fairfield and surrounding towns," Katie Flaherty, Merrill Lynch Market Executive, said in a release. "I know I speak for many colleagues when I reflect on how proud I am to work for the organization being honored with this year's Rose of Hope award." A genetic test that helps doctors determine how best to treat breast cancer and whether chemotherapy is likely to help is significantly more likely to be administered to white women than blacks or Hispanics, a Yale University study has found. The test, called Oncotype Dx, uses gene expression to gauge how early-stage breast cancer is affecting patients gene activity. It uses the information to determine how likely cancer recurrence would be, and physicians and their patients can use that knowledge to decide how to proceed with treatment. Yale researchers analyzed a group of more than 8,000 Connecticut women who were diagnosed with hormone receptor positive breast cancer between 2011 and 2013, and found significant racial and ethnic disparities in use of this new gene test, said study leader Dr. Cary Gross, a member of Yale Cancer Center and professor of medicine and epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine. It reinforces that, at the same time we are investing in developing new treatments and new testing strategies and were promoting them with great excitement, we really need to double-down our efforts to eliminate disparity, Gross said. Among the Connecticut women for whom the test was recommended, Yale researchers found 51.4 percent of white women received it, compared with 44.6 percent of black women or 47.7 percent of Hispanic women. One local doctor said the findings are disconcerting, but not surprising. Its long been known that women of color have lower rates of breast cancer screening, and are less likely to have mastectomies or breast reconstruction surgery, typically because they dont have access to or cant afford the services, said Dr. Denise Barajas, medical director of Griffin Hospitals Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness in Derby. More Information Breast test disparity Here are some key statistics from a Yale University study about Oncotype Dx, a genetic test for breast cancer patients. The study from that, among the Connecticut women for whom the test was recommended under national guidelines: 51.4 percent of white women received it 44.6 percent of black women received it and 47.7 percent of Hispanic women received it. Among women for whom national guidelines did not recommend the test: 21.2 percent of white women received it 9 percent of black women received it and 9.7 percent of Hispanic women received it. See More Collapse Research has also shown that minority women also are more likely to die from breast cancer. This is just another area where were unfortunately seeing that certain groups dont have the same access, Barajas said. Disparities found The study also found disparity among women for whom national guidelines did not recommend the test. In that group, 21.2 percent of white women, 9 percent of black women and 9.7 percent of Hispanic women received it. The findings were unsurprising not just to Barajas, but also to Dr. K. M. Steve Lo, a hematology oncologist and breast cancer expert at Stamford Hospitals Dorothy Bennett Cancer Center. Its part of the overall problem with our health care system, Lo said. Minority women are less insured, underinsured, and have more out-of-pocket expenses to put out in one way or another. As a result, there will be less use of technology across the board. It needs to change but, unfortunately, I dont see a movement toward that in the near future. Its a systemic problem, and its a problem that we as a society need to address. Barajas said that one of the most upsetting things about the Yale study, is that its first breast cancer-related disparity shes aware of involving a physician-led treatment. Mostly, Barajas said, its patients who opt not to have the treatment. This test is offered by oncologists, for the most part," she said. Youd like to think that an oncologist would treat all women the same. The only reason Barajas could think of for a woman who is eligible for the test not being offered it is that shes said she isnt interested in chemotherapy. Removing guesswork Having access to Oncotype Dx can greatly impact womens outcomes, Gross said. Even after a biopsy or tumor removal, he said, its still difficult to know which patients are at higher risk for their cancer coming back again. There are many, many subtypes of breast cancer. (The test) takes some of the guesswork out of it. The test has become the standard of care for certain types of early-stage cancer, Lo said. It helps physicians narrow down those women who really do benefit from treatments like chemotherapy, he said. That is crucial, he added, because it means many women who would not benefit from chemotherapy no longer are subjected to the process, the expense and the side effects. Oncotype Dx is most frequently used on women who have stage 1 cancer that has not spread to the lymph nodes, Lo said, but its likely it will be used on women whose cancer has attached to lymph nodes. In light of the studys findings, Gross team plans to examine data from a broader group of women to see why the disparities exist. Researchers will look at whether women are more or less likely to get the test depending on which hospital treats them, or whether there are disparities within hospitals. Gross also said research should be done to determine if the tests $4,000 price tag though covered by many insurance companies is a barrier to some patients, and more breast cancer patients should be educated about national guidelines and recommendations. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org) Hearst Connecticut Media staff writer Amanda Cuda contributed to this report. DARIEN A 21-year-old Bridgeport man was hit with a slew of motor vehicle-related charges after being pulled over for not having a front license plate, police said. On May 26 around 10:15 a.m., an officer pulled over a car going westbound on the Post Road that did not have a front license plate. The driver, Kevin Parada-Mendoza of Shelton Street, was also not wearing a seat belt. The officer checked and found there was no record of the vehicle in the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles system. Every 23 hours, a person is raped in Montana. Last year, over 800 sexual assaults and 4,000 domestic violence crimes were reported statewide. However, this accounts for only a fraction of the total number of crimes that actually occur, as most go unreported. What these statistics show is clear: We must improve how we address crimes of this nature in Montana. Fortunately, recent changes to state law will go a long way in reducing the frequency of these crimes, as well as provide victims the justice and support they deserve. The 2017 Montana Legislative Session will go down in history as a turning point for addressing domestic and sexual violence in our state. With overwhelming support, legislators from both sides of the aisle passed bills that significantly change how we address these types of crimes: SB22 Terminating parental rights of a rapist if a child is born as a result of rape. SB29 Revising the definition of consent. SB30 Increase the statute of limitations from 10 years to 20 years for sex crimes involving children. SB153 Making strangulation of a partner or family member a felony. Im honored my office was so closely involved in drafting several of these bills, as well as working to get them passed and signed into law. While each piece of legislation is an important improvement to Montana law, two bills in particular stand out as the most significant: SB29 and SB153. Senate Bill 29, sponsored by Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, was drafted by my office and the Legislative Law and Justice Interim Committee. Prosecutors, law enforcement and victim advocates all largely agree this bill is the most significant update to Montanas sexual assault statutes in decades, removing barriers which frequently prevent prosecutors from charging rape crimes in our state. Prior to SB29 becoming law, Montanas sexual assault laws were antiquated and did not accurately reflect the realities of many instances of rape. Under our old statute, prosecutors had to prove a rapist physically attacked the victim, or threatened to physically attack the victim, and that is what forced submission. SB29 defined consent as most people likely believed it was defined before: Consent means words or overt actions indicating a freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse or sexual contact. In addition to improving Montanas sexual assault statutes, the Legislature also passed an important piece of legislation to protect victims of domestic abuse. SB153, sponsored by Sen. Margie MacDonald, D-Billings, was drafted by my office and the Yellowstone County Attorneys office, and made the act of strangling a partner or family member a felony. When a victim is strangled by a partner or family member, the likelihood of future abuse escalating to fatalities increases significantly. Under the old law, an act of strangulation was only a felony if serious bodily injury occurred, which was often very difficult to identify, as the damage is often internal. If serious injury isnt proven, or if the victim didnt testify that she feared for her life, the act of strangulation was only a misdemeanor crime, and wouldnt have become a felony until the third offense. By making the act of strangulation in the partner and family member context a felony on the first offense, SB153 will help interrupt the cycle of violence, preventing further abuse and even death. I firmly believe this law will save lives. Reducing the frequency of sexual assault and domestic violence crimes must be a top priority for policymakers at all levels of government. Im very pleased to see the Legislature overwhelmingly support important changes to our states sexual assault and domestic abuse statutes this session, and Im proud my office could be a part of it. DALLAS (AP) A Texas nurse who is in prison for the 1982 killing of a toddler has been charged with murder in the death of an infant a year earlier, and authorities said Friday that they think she may have killed up to 60 young children around that time. Genene Jones, 66, is serving concurrent 99-year and 60-year sentences at a Gatesville prison for the 1982 killing of 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan and the sickening of a 4-week-old boy who survived. The girl was given a fatal injection of a muscle relaxant and the boy received a large injection of a blood thinner. Jones was due to be freed next March under a mandatory release law that was in place when she was convicted. But on Thursday, the Bexar County district attorney's office announced that she has been charged in the 1981 death of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer, who investigators say died of a fatal overdose of an anti-seizure drug, Dilantin. During Jones' time working in hospitals and clinics in San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas, children died of unexplained seizures and other complications. At a news conference Friday in San Antonio, District Attorney Nico LaHood said investigators believe Jones may have killed some or all of those children because they died under unusual circumstances during or shortly after her shifts. "She's been suspected in dozens of infant deaths and she's only been held accountable in one," he said. It's not clear why Jones' actions, involving so many suspected victims, were not detected earlier. But Sam Millsap, a previous district attorney in Bexar County, told KSAT-TV in 2013 that medical records at the San Antonio hospital at one point were accidently destroyed, hampering efforts by investigators to prove their suspicions. Chelsea McClellan died after receiving an injection at a clinic in Kerrville, northwest of San Antonio, and prosecutors at Jones' 1984 murder trial said the nurse lethally injected children there to demonstrate the need for a pediatric intensive care unit at a nearby hospital. Other prosecutors theorized that Jones' tactic was to take swift medical action and save some of her victims, making herself appear to be a sort of miracle worker. LaHood said the new murder charge is based on fresh evidence that came to light and a review of old evidence. He also said the deaths of some of the other children are being re-examined and that additional charges could be coming. Jones has been consistently denied parole over the years. She was due to be released next March after serving one-third of her sentence under a mandatory release law adopted in 1977 to help alleviate prison overcrowding. The law was overhauled 10 years later. Jones, whose case has been chronicled in two books, a TV movie and numerous articles, was "emotional" when she was served an arrest warrant Thursday, LaHood said. "We have every reason to believe that she fully expected to get out next year," he said. Because of the new charge, Jones will be transferred to the Bexar County jail and held on a $1 million bond while the case is prosecuted. A murder conviction brings a maximum sentence of 99 years. LaHood said Jones is not eligible for the death penalty because Texas did not have such a sentence at the time of the 1981 death. "We will do our best to ensure that Genene Jones takes her very last breath behind bars," LaHood said. ___ This story has been corrected to show the last name of the child that Jones is in prison for killing is McClellan, not McClelland, and that the killing occurred in 1982, not 1984. ___ Follow David Warren on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WarrenJourno In May of 1856, the national political debate over the extension of slavery into the new territory of Kansas reached a fever pitch. On the floor of the U.S. Senate 161 years ago, the staunchly abolitionist Republican senator from Massachusetts, Charles Sumner, delivered a five-hour speech over two days entitled The Crime Against Kansas. Sumner, a skilled and eloquent orator, railed against a long chain of southern political abuses. Particularly galling was an earlier, clearly rigged and fraudulent territorial election in Kansas in favor of pro-slavery forces. Besides meddling in Kansas internal affairs, the slave power, as Sumner characterized it, a minority in both the country and in Congress, had managed on a number of occasions to suspend or circumvent congressional rules and procedural protocols as a means to squelch anti-slavery debate and votes. Sumner singled out for special condemnation the state of South Carolina and an elderly fire-breathing, pro-slavery senator from there, Andrew Butler, mocking Butlers speech impediment and charging, euphemistically, but damningly, that Butler had taken as a mistress ... the harlot of slavery. Caning in Senate Two days later, a distant relative of Butlers, Preston Brooks, a member of the House (also from South Carolina), sought to avenge this affront to his relatives honor. Brooks approached Sumner on the floor of the Senate and then proceeded to beat him into unconsciousness with a gold-tipped gutta-percha cane. It took three years for Sumner to recover from the traumatic brain injury he experienced and he suffered for most of his life afterward from post-traumatic stress disorder. 'Hit him again' Brooks was charged with, and later convicted of assault and he resigned his seat in the House. Within a few weeks, however, his constituents in South Carolina re-elected him to fill his own vacated seat, and then re-elected him again in the general election in November. Southerners in many areas reacted by sending Brooks new canes inscribed with such phrases as good job and hit him again. While Greg Gianfortes recent alleged assault on a liberal reporter obviously does not mirror the viciousness of the events of 1856, it is, if proven true, unfortunately indicative of a general coarsening of our politics and related behaviors. Some of our politicians, emboldened by the strident, overwrought rhetoric of the last several years, are beginning to cross a dangerous threshold both in words and in deeds. As we know now, the actions on that distant May morning in 1856 on the floor of the Senate were merely a preview of coming attractions. Less than 10 years later, in the wake of the Civil War, 600,000 Americans lay dead and much of the nation in ruins. That national tragedy occurred in no small measure due to the diminution of our ability to conduct civilized political dialogue while confronting and then solving the nations toughest issues without resorting to violence or the threat of violence. Despite our best hopes, history really is no accurate forecaster of the future, but perhaps at some point soon we can all take a collective deep breath and locate, as Lincoln said, the better angels of our nature. The arrest comes after Russia banned the Jehovah's Witnesses and seized the organisation's property earlier this year because of alleged extremism. SBS MAY 30, 2017 Russian security forces have raided a Jehovah's Witnesses service and arrested a Danish citizen in the latest move against the Christian group since Moscow banned it as an "extremist organisation". "Armed officers from the FSB" detained some 50 worshippers during a service Thursday in the town of Oryol, some 350 kilometres (220 miles) south of Moscow, a senior Jehovah's Witnesses official, Yaroslav Sivulsky, told AFP Monday. Dennis Christensen of Denmark was then arraigned before a judge on Friday and arrested on charges of "participating in extremist activities," Sivulsky said. The other worshippers were released without charge, he said. The raid and arrest came after Russia's Supreme Court banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in April over alleged extremism and seized the organisation's property in the country. The ruling sparked fears of a crackdown on religious freedom in Russia, where there are an estimated 175,000 Jehovah's Witnesses. "This is the first time that a Jehovah's Witness has been jailed since the Soviet Union," Sivulsky said. Members of the group - a Christian evangelical movement that was born in the United States in the 19th century - consider modern churches to have deviated from the Bible's true teachings. They reject modern evolutionary theory and refuse blood transfusions. The powerful Russian Orthodox Church spoke out against the group ahead of the Supreme Court ruling, with one church official branding it a "destructive sect". http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/05/30/danish-jehovahs-witness-arrested-after-russia-raid PBS News Hour May 29, 2017 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Decades ago, China began a practice that human rights advocates and medical ethicists condemned: taking organs, such as kidneys and livers, from executed prisoners to transplant into people who needed them. The Chinese government says its reformed the practice. Now they say they only recover organs from volunteers. But some say the practice continues. Hari Sreenivasan and producer Dan Sagalyn have the story. HARI SREENIVASAN: This is when a life is renewed. A transplant surgeon, seen here, removes a kidney from a volunteer donor and inserts it into someone whose kidneys are failing. In most cases, patients who need a new organ have to wait months or years before one is available. But this man, who told us he had end-stage kidney disease 11 years ago, could wait no longer. KIDNEY TRANSPLANT PATIENT (through interpreter): I was on dialysis already two years, and I was constantly going downhill. HARI SREENIVASAN: We met him in Vancouver, Canada. He asked that we conceal his identity by hiding his face and replacing his voice to protect his privacy. KIDNEY TRANSPLANT PATIENT (through interpreter): They called these people the living dead. You just havent died yet, but youre gone. HARI SREENIVASAN: Because of his age and rare blood type, he says he would have died before reaching the top of the waiting list for a new kidney. So, urged by family and friends, he went to Chinas capital, Beijing, in 2006. Within one week, he received a new kidney. He says he paid $10,000 for the transplant. In Canada, it would have been free, since the government pays for health care. In the U.S., the average hospital charge for a kidney transplant is $150,000. Traveling to another country for this kind of surgery is called transplant tourism. KIDNEY TRANSPLANT PATIENT (through interpreter): I went there dead. I came back alive. HARI SREENIVASAN: On average, 22 people die every day in the United States waiting for a transplant. The median wait time for a lung here is four months, a heart almost a year, and a kidney two years. Transplant tourists understandably have been drawn to other countries by promises of little to no wait. Its not just Canada that generates transplant tourists to China. On the other side of the world, at about the same time, an Israeli doctor had a patient who also needed a transplant. DR. JACOB LAVEE, Transplant Surgeon: Back in 2005, a patient of mine came to me one day and told me, doc, Im fed up waiting here in Israel for a suitable heart donor to become available, and I was told thats what he told me by my insurance company that I should go to China because they have scheduled me to undergo heart transplantation. And he specified a specific date two weeks ahead of time. HARI SREENIVASAN: Heart surgeon Dr. Jacob Lavee is president of the Israel Society of Transplantation. While kidney transplants can involve obtaining a kidney from a living donor, that is not the case with a heart transplant. DR. JACOB LAVEE: If a patient was promised to undergo a heart transplant on a specific date, this could only mean that the those who promised that knew ahead of time when his potential donor would be dead. HARI SREENIVASAN: Human rights investigator Ethan Gutmann and lawyer David Matas have testified before Congress about Chinas transplant system. DAVID MATAS, Human Rights Lawyer: It is unconscionable to kill a healthy, innocent person so that a sick person can live. HARI SREENIVASAN: They say they know how organs in China become available with no wait time. DAVID MATAS: They have obviously got a lot of people sitting around waiting to be killed for a transplant. And they are just picking the right person to be killed depending on who the patient is. HARI SREENIVASAN: Matas and Gutmann say Chinese doctors have coordinated with Chinese prison officials, and inmate executions take place when patients are in need of organs. Medical professionals and human rights advocates say this practice violates the prisoners human rights. However, this is how one Chinese doctor justified the practice. This video was produced by the Chinese government. DR. HE XIAOSHUN, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University (through interpreter): To apply the traditional Chinese way of thinking, the prisoners committed sins in their lives. If we let them donate their organs, well, in a sense, they are offering salvation. They can atone for their crime with that opportunity. HARI SREENIVASAN: At a press conference in 2005, Chinas vice minister of health, Huang Jiefu, admitted the government took organs from executed prisoners. But, in 2014, Huang Jiefu, who is now leading the reform efforts in China, declared that, starting in 2015, China would stop using organs from executed prisoners. But Matas and Gutmann believe they have evidence that this practice still continues. They say inmates on death row include prisoners of conscience, such as practitioners of Falun Gong who become unwilling sources for organs. Falun Gong is a form of Chinese meditation and exercise with a spiritual underpinning. Since 1999, the Chinese government has cracked down on Falun Gong, charging it with being an unregistered religion and cult that aims to subvert the state. DAVID MATAS: We interviewed Falun Gong who got out of prison, got out of China, systematically blood-tested, organ-examined, not for their health they were being tortured and only the types of examinations relevant to transplantation. HARI SREENIVASAN: Wang Chunying and Yin Liping practice Falun Gong. Both say they were detained a number of times between 1999 and 2009. WANG CHUNYING, Falun Gong Practitioner (through translator): In 2008, I was forced to take a blood draw. The atmosphere was very tense and horrific. I thought this blood draw must be related to looking for matching organs. HARI SREENIVASAN: The Chinese government might say, we just needed more blood. That is all. We didnt take her organs. We didnt do anything to her body. We just took blood to make sure there wasnt an infection in the yard. How do you know that the government wanted your blood for any other reasons? WANG CHUNYING (through interpreter): Because the living conditions were terrible in the reeducation camp. They didnt care about whether we lived or died. YIN LIPING, Falun Gong Practitioner (through interpreter): Once, I was forced to take a blood draw. There were multiple times of other tests, such as MRI, ultrasound and chest X-ray. HARI SREENIVASAN: Gutmann says hes interviewed ethnic minorities from Tibet and Xinjiang who all tell similar stories about medical examinations while in prison. ETHAN GUTMANN, Human Rights Investigator: When you start to hear the same description of an examination in a completely different language from a completely different group, but its the same examination, this is one of the big tipoffs that this is really directed towards Chinas enemies, its political and religious enemies. HARI SREENIVASAN: Matas and Gutmann say theres another possible motive driving this practice: profit. In the past, some Chinese hospitals even advertised the costs of new organs, $98,000 to $130,000 for a liver, $130,000 to $160,000 for a heart. By reviewing Chinese medical publications, hospital Web site data, and making calls to hospitals, Gutmann and Matas estimate there could be 60,000 to 100,000 transplants still taking place each year in China. The Chinese government rejects these accusations. In 2016, it says there were just over 13,000 transplants performed in the country. Compare that to the United States that had 33,000 transplants last year. In an e-mail to the NewsHour, a spokesman from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., writes: The Chinese government firmly abide by the internationally recognized ethical principles about organ transplantation, and adhere to the voluntary organ donation after the death of Chinese citizens. We asked if political prisoners were singled out for execution for their organs. The embassy didnt respond to this question. Chinese officials do say, since 2015, they no longer recover organs from prisoners. Dr. Huang Jiefu, who is leading reform efforts, acknowledged in an interview with a Chinese newspaper progress has been slow. Our use of death row prisoner organs before the establishment of a citizen organ donation system was an act of desperation to save the lives of patients suffering organ failure. When the citizen donation system was set up, we abolished this source of organs as quickly as possible. In February of this year, at a Vatican conference on organ trafficking, Chinese medical leaders agreed that using organs from executed prisoners is a crime and should be condemned worldwide. A number of American doctors who have been to China say they believe the country has taken major steps to stop the practice of taking organs from executed prisoners. DR. FRANCIS DELMONICO, Adviser, World Health Organization: The reports that we get from Canada or the United States or from the Middle East of individuals undergoing transplantation, thats markedly reduced, but it has not completely stopped. HARI SREENIVASAN: Dr. Francis Delmonico is an adviser to the World Health Organization and former president of the Transplantation Society. Hes leading the international effort to help China establish a new system of organ donation. When did you first become aware that China might be executing people for their organs? DR. FRANCIS DELMONICO: 2005. HARI SREENIVASAN: How? DR. FRANCIS DELMONICO: I was invited to the Peking Union Medical College by Jiefu Huang, who was, at the time, vice minister of health. And he was a liver transplant surgeon. And he said to me, Frank, this is we have got a horrendous problem, and I need your help. Individuals in China were being executed. And those were the they became the source of organs for many people from around the world going to China, as many as 11,000 transplants being performed, and this is in 2006. HARI SREENIVASAN: While some doctors like Huang Jiefu wanted this practice stopped, others who were making money from organ trafficking didnt, according to Delmonico. To put pressure on China, a number of medical associations and journals launched a boycott, beginning in 2006, banning Chinese research papers that relied on data from executed prisoners. At the same time, Delmonico and other doctors helped China build a new and legitimate system for organ recovery, similar to the system in the U.S., requiring consent and only from live or deceased donors in hospitals. Has China stopped harvesting organs from people that they have executed, that they are executing? DR. FRANCIS DELMONICO: I dont know that for certain. So I can say to you that its markedly reduced. But can I assure you or the rest of the world that its completely stopped? I cant. HARI SREENIVASAN: Delmonico says theres a new generation of doctors in China that want and embrace the reforms that are taking place in Chinas transplantation system. But human rights investigator Ethan Gutmann says China is still killing prisoners and taking their organs. ETHAN GUTMANN: Our report shows tremendous continuity over time, even while theyre the Chinese are making completely different statements about this. HARI SREENIVASAN: Leading experts to call for inspections of Chinese hospitals. DR. JACOB LAVEE: What needs to be done now is an international committees of transplant experts that will be allowed to visit China and verify the source of these organs. HARI SREENIVASAN: In his desperation, this man says he didnt think about where his new kidney came from, and, looking back, that he has no regrets. KIDNEY TRANSPLANT PATIENT (through interpreter): Its given me a new outlook on life. I had an opportunity to see my children graduate from universities. I have a happy life with my wife. HARI SREENIVASAN: For the PBS NewsHour, Im Hari Sreenivasan. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/china-still-gathering-organs-executed-prisoners/ Fifty-three years ago, Vida native John Olsen spent three months aboard a U.S. Navy tugboat in the South Pacific as part of a secret U.S. military chemical and biological weapons testing program. After being honorably discharged, Olsen returned to Montana, earned a business degree from Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University Billings), and worked as a manager until he started getting sick. Between 1981 and the present, Olsen has suffered a series of severe and sometimes life-threatening illnesses, including five bouts of cancer, extreme high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. Over the years, Olsen learned that some of his fellow sailors had similar illnesses, but they had been warned not to talk to anyone about what they did in equatorial waters back in 1963-64. "We've got all kinds of problems, breathing and blood problems and cancers," Olsen said in a recent interview at his Billings Heights home. Secret tests Finally, in 2000, the U.S. Department of Defense publicly acknowledged Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense), a series of tests in which U.S. military personnel were exposed to chemical and biological weapons and required to clean their ships with highly carcinogenic chemicals. SHAD was part of the larger Project 112 run out of a Utah military base from 1963 to 1974. It involved both land and shipboard testing of chemical and biological weapons. As recently as last year, the DOD insisted that there was no proof that Project SHAD caused health problems for the sailors and Marines who participated. An Institute of Medicine report reached that conclusion, but the authors also said that their requests for additional information were denied by DOD because SHAD data remains classified. Olsen, who became unable to hold management jobs due to his poor health, has received medical care at the VA. But he and other Project SHAD veterans have been denied VA disability benefits because they are denied access to their service records, which are still classified by the Pentagon. Righting a wrong Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., aim to help veterans like Olsen get the benefits they earned and have been denied for decades. The senators introduced the Gary Deloney and John Olsen Toxic Exposure Declassification Act that now awaits a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Deloney was a U.S. Navy pilot who flew secret missions that exposed him to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Deloney passed away still waiting for declassification of records that would prove his exposure to the toxic defoliant and qualify him for VA disability benefits. Project SHAD alone exposed at least 5,900 U.S. military members to chemical and biological agents, according to DOD. Thousands more may have been exposed in other classified U.S. military operations. S.726 would require declassification only of information necessary for a veteran to prove his or her claim for disability benefits. The bill also would allow the DOD to refuse to release records if the secretary of defense "determines that declassification of those documents would materially and immediately threaten the security of the United States." It's hard to imagine that records proving Olsen's exposure to hazardous substances more than 50 years ago could be a threat to our national security in 2017. Olsen obeyed the order to keep mum about Project SHAD, not even telling his wife, Bertha Olsen, until after the DOD acknowledged the project in 2000. The next year, they attended a reunion of Project SHAD veterans in San Diego. "When we got married, I was not able to tell her anything I had done when I was in the service," Olsen said. Military superiors had told him he was selected for this special project that would involve the very best sailors. He spent nearly two years training for it, including training in how to don hazardous materials suits. But during the actual months of testing, the sailors had no hazmat suits. The did get lots of shots that they were told were vaccinations against biological agents that would be sprayed on their ship. The aerial spraying was always done at night, so the sun wouldn't destroy the biological agents, he said. Five tugboats would be lined up off Johnson Island. A Navy plane would fly over them, spraying them with something. Then the boat crew would clean their ships with gallons of full-strength chemicals, even cleaning the refrigerators so the food was exposed to the cleaner. Olsen was 23 when his tugboat was being bombarded with still-classified substances. He's now 76. Some Project SHAD veterans are deceased. It's not known how many other veterans secretly exposed during their service to toxic substances are living. This wrong should have been righted generations ago. Congress should approve the Toxic Exposure Declassification Act without further delay. Hazardous duty On this Memorial Day, there are American heroes being penalized for hazardous duty. It's time to honor that service. Congress must direct DOD to share information with VA for the sake of U.S. veterans. We commend Tester and Moran for leading this belated effort. We call on Montana's Sen. Steve Danies and Wyoming Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso to actively support the bill named for a Vida native who served in Project SHAD. "Those medical records should not be classified at this time," Tester told The Gazette, just days after meeting with Agent Orange veterans now living in the Kalispell area. "It's a problem we shouldn't have to fix." In the chaos of Washington, D.C., Congress can right this longstanding wrong if Democrats and Republicans work together. Moran and Tester have started the bipartisan drive, time for the rest of the Senate to follow their lead. Nearly 80 PA people have been charged for Jan. 6 riot. Three are dead. news With the polls narrowing, I hear palace flunkeys are nervous. Expecting Theresa May to sweep back into No 10 on June 8, Civil Service transition arrangement discussions with Labour bigwigs are said to have been perfunctory. But they were caught out in 2010 when an inconclusive result led to protracted negotiations over a hung Parliament, which risked dragging the Queen into political horse-trading. So the Palace is said to be asking for guidance notes. Expecting Theresa May to sweep back into No 10 on June 8, Civil Service transition arrangement discussions with Labour bigwigs are said to have been perfunctory Fans have been meeting Sir Cliff Richard at his Portuguese winery Adega do Cantor, where he cheerfully posed for pictures and signed autographs. Hosting 600 admirers, Sir Cliff, 76, enthused: It was fantastic... I got hugs from just about everybody. Hed be even happier if there was one wealthy fan out there willing to buy his property and wine business. Put up for sale last year for 8 million, the price has reportedly been slashed to 5.5 million. The Duchess of Cornwalls daughter, Laura Lopes, 39, has recalled shopping with Camilla at the Chippenham branch of Sainsburys The Duchess of Cornwalls daughter, Laura Lopes, 39, has recalled shopping with Camilla at the Chippenham branch of Sainsburys. They found a parking space near the store entrance but it had a sign saying, Reserved for the Mayor of Chippenham, said Laura, pictured, who adds: When we came out a man stopped her and asked what she was doing in the mayors parking space. 'Mummy smiled and said, Im so sorry, Im the mayors wife and hurried me into the car. 'The man followed us and said, What a joy to meet you for the first time Im the mayor! An amusing tale but Sainsburys say theyve never had a reserved parking space for the towns mayor. Sky's heavyweight political expert, Adam Boulton, remarks on Twitter about the stations big weekend political interviews: Well JC [Corbyn] had the better of that encounter with Jeremy Paxman. He retweets a comment saying: Paxman was very poor... would have been better with Adam Boulton. Meanwhile, Brexit Secretary David Davis, referring to Paxman, tells his Radio 4 inquisitor, John Humphrys: Youre clearly in a different class. Humphrys agrees, replying: Quite. Like feuding ferrets in a sack, arent they? Former Blue Peter producer Biddy Baxter, 84, feuded with the shows popular star, John Noakes, who died Sunday aged 83. She acknowledged on Radio 4s Today that they had had their ups and downs. They fell out after Noakes, who left the show in 1978, was barred from exploiting his famous border collie, Shep, in TV ads. Ms Baxter recalls: He had this marvellous sidekick in Shep. Of course, that appealed to the children. Some of them probably liked Shep more than they liked John Noakes. Apropos the Duchess of Cornwall, Project QC preparing us for Queen Camilla is up and running Apropos the Duchess of Cornwall, Project QC preparing us for Queen Camilla is up and running. It aims for majority public acceptance of her being crowned and anointed in Westminster Abbey, a few yards from where Princess Dianas coffin rested. But the headlines are devoted to Prince William raising the ghost of Diana in GQ. Its reckoned that every time he mentions Diana the prospect of Queen Camilla takes a battering, says a royal source who adds: But the hope is that supportive words from William and Harry, on 17th July Camillas 70th birthday will assist her case. The more you tell teenagers about sex, the more sex they will have. And the more unwanted pregnancies will result. You might have thought that was obvious. But, for decades, the liberal establishment has thought the exact opposite. Tell teenagers about the perils of unprotected sex, and theyll have less of it or so their ill-judged thinking has gone. Well, now an academic study has shown quite how misguided those progressive thoughts were. David Paton, of the Nottingham University Business School, and Liam Wright, of the University of Sheffield, have discovered that teenage pregnancies have actually declined in those areas where councils have cut their budgets for sex education programmes aggressively. In the Journal of Health Economics, the two academics came to the conclusion that spending on projects relating to teenage pregnancy may be counterproductive. An academic study has discovered that teenage pregnancies have actually declined in those areas where councils have cut their budgets for sex education programmes aggressively In other words, where the Government has tried to educate teenagers about sex in an attempt to discourage it, the exact opposite has been achieved. The study examined the effect of dramatic budget cutbacks after the 2008 financial crash by local authorities which had previously been spending millions a year on sex prevention measures such as making the morning-after pill available, hiring teenage pregnancy co-ordinators, and holding sexual health clinics and sex and relationship education classes in schools. Over the five years between 2009 and 2014, pregnancy rates fell by 42.6 per cent to their lowest levels since 1969. What is so striking is that this latest study proves exactly what those of us who have specialised in this area have been saying for years. Specifically, back in 2004, a report by the Family Education Trust an independent think-tank which studies the effect of family breakdown revealed that, in areas with the most teenage pregnancy projects, teenage pregnancies were rising. Specifically, the report entitled Sex Education Or Indoctrination? said that the explicit sex education leaflets and free condoms provided to under-age girls by government schemes had simply encouraged them to have sex. It claimed there was a direct link between giving young people sex education of this nature and the boost to the number of babies born. Today, once more, there is clear evidence of a direct correlation between increased sex education and teenagers having more sex. Yet still, the official approach is to insist that sex education at younger and younger ages is the only answer to the crisis. Only this year, Royal Assent was given to the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which makes it a requirement for all secondary schools in England to teach sex education, and for primary schools to tackle relationships in the curriculum. And while, for some pupils, these kinds of lessons may be helpful at an appropriate age, there is immense pressure from todays progressive sex education industry to continually lower that age. If you start teaching children about sex at a younger and younger age, the inevitable consequence will be that they go out and try it at a younger and younger age A few years ago, an investigation by the Christian Institute charity found that primary schools condoned sex education lessons using graphic images in the form of comic-style books with cartoon explanations of masturbation and orgasm, and crayoned drawings to explain the difference between heterosexuality and homosexuality. Meanwhile, delegates to the National Union of Teachers conference in Cardiff last month called for toddlers to be taught about LGBT issues in nursery schools. Apart from grotesquely robbing children of their innocence, this approach to sex education even for older children flies in the face of sanity. And if you start teaching children about sex at a younger and younger age, the inevitable consequence will be that they go out and try it at a younger and younger age. This is because little of this sex education is accompanied by moral strictures or any message of abstinence or restraint. So all of these various courses end up encouraging teenagers not only to think about sex, but also to think about it as something attractive. Yes, for more advanced teenagers who are going to have sex anyway, there is a chance the free contraception handed out by these programmes may reduce pregnancies. But, for those children who are reluctant or shy about sex, these classes will only exert a pressure to have sex, where previously there was none. And then, when sexual health clinics start handing out condoms with a no-questions-asked policy, everything becomes so much easier. Sex is suddenly high on the agenda for teenagers who would otherwise have been extremely cautious about it. All of a sudden, underage sex becomes a social norm. And this brings us to a much darker side of the normalisation of teenage sex, and one that should trouble us all. As the Family Education Trust revealed earlier this year, some of the girls used for sex by Asian gangs in the abuse scandals in Rochdale and Oxford had visited teenage sex-advice clinics. At the age of only 13 or 14, they were visiting sexual health professionals, not to seek advice about how to avoid underage sex, but in order to get contraceptives, which they were given readily. As Norman Wells, the director of the Family Education Trust, said: The evidence from recent serious case reviews clearly demonstrates that fundamental flaws in professional attitudes towards underage sexual activity have directly contributed to exploitation and abuse. The professionals, rather than investigating these horrors, or advising against underage sex, were completely accepting of the fact that these girls were having underage sex. The taboo wasnt underage sex; the taboo was being judgmental. And so this appalling scandal was allowed to rage on unchecked. For decades, we have failed young teenagers by making sex acceptable and facilitating it. This failed philosophy in curtailing teenage pregnancy began in the Seventies. It coincided with the normalisation of sex outside marriage, combined with the pill and a general attitude that children should be told about the joys of sex, rather than just say no and wait. A protective attitude to children was considered stifling and old-fashioned. The assumption was that, the more they know, the better it would be for them. And the result? A huge rise in teenage pregnancies. In 1999, Britain had the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe, a rate boosted by the easy access to welfare for teenage mothers. The figures coincided with a massive rise in family breakdown, too. Only in recent years have these figures started to subside. To be fair, the teenage pregnancy initiatives were well-meant but they have gone badly wrong, needlessly exposing young girls to harm. In some schools, theyve tried to supply better material, with suggestions to pupils that it would be better to abstain or wait. But that approach is still far from being the norm. In government, they are still clinging to the idea that giving children knowledge about sex is the answer. They are pursuing the line that the more we tell children about sex, the safer theyll be. We have a mountain of evidence that the reverse is the case particularly for the vulnerable, such as the young girls abused in Rochdale. This latest finding, backed up by previous studies, should be a wake-up call to all those who fail to protect our young people by clinging to outdated and damaging ideas. Jill Kirby is a writer and broadcaster specialising in family policy. Supporters portray Jeremy Corbyn as a principled man who speaks for ordinary working people and holds nothing back. As the election moves into its crucial final days, it becomes ever clearer how far this picture is removed from reality. Take mass immigration, about which poll after poll has shown voters are deeply concerned. In public, the Labour leader has said that while he doesnt share those concerns, he will respond by introducing fair rules to manage migration. What he fails to spell out is that in private, his staff have drawn up proposals likely to increase net migration by tens of thousands every year. Exposed by the Mail, a leaked document reveals Labour plans to throw open the UKs borders to low and unskilled workers from around the world, while relaxing asylum rules and extending the rights of migrants relatives to settle in Britain. Supporters portray Jeremy Corbyn as a principled man who speaks for ordinary working people and holds nothing back. As the election moves into its crucial final days, it becomes ever clearer how far this picture is removed from reality If these are Mr Corbyns policies, doesnt he owe it to voters to be open about them? Or take his history of courting terrorists such as the IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah. Again and again, he has protested that his only wish was to bring about peace. Yet the fact is that while he was sharing platforms with murderers and joining demonstrations to support them, Mr Corbyn was a maverick backbencher, in no position to negotiate anything. No, his sole purpose was to show solidarity with the terrorists anti-British, anti-American and anti-Israeli aims, while making it chillingly clear he thought bombs were legitimate means of achieving them. As for his economic policies, he was given an easy ride by an off-form Jeremy Paxman. But where Paxos hectoring was ineffective, Mr Corbyns credibility collapsed under forensic questioning by Emma Barnett on yesterdays Womans Hour. In 20 excruciating minutes of bumbling and consulting his iPad, the Labour leader proved he had no idea how many billions his reckless pledges would cost, or how he would fund them. So ill-informed was he that he couldnt even say if he was still vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (memo to Mr Corbyn: you are)! As for his economic policies, he was given an easy ride by an off-form Jeremy Paxman. But where Paxos hectoring was ineffective, Mr Corbyns credibility collapsed under forensic questioning by Emma Barnett on yesterdays Womans Hour After her self-inflicted wobble over social care, how wise Theresa May is to enter the final straight highlighting the dogs dinner Mr Corbyn would make of Brexit Which brings us to the greatest challenge facing next weeks winner. How could voters trust such a clueless figure to negotiate a good Brexit deal for the UK, when he has made clear he will accept any terms Brussels demands, with no question of walking out of talks? As the Prime Minister said yesterday: This means signing up to Britain being governed by EU laws and EU courts for years to come, so we have no control over our laws, to free movement continuing indefinitely, so we have no control of our borders, and paying what Europe wants us to pay, so we have no control over our money. Indeed, after her self-inflicted wobble over social care, how wise Theresa May is to enter the final straight highlighting the dogs dinner Mr Corbyn would make of Brexit. As for her own fitness for the job, she is resolute and diligent, with sound principles and our countrys interests at heart. Isnt that a great deal more than can be said for the alternative? Whitehall may disagree with a think-tanks finding that Britain lacks the military strength to deploy a division overseas. But with Army numbers down from 102,000 in 2010 to 78,400 today, it is clear cuts have left our defences hugely vulnerable. One other thing is indisputable, too: the vice-president of the CND is the last man on earth to rebuild them. Bearing out everything this paper has long argued, a study finds sex education and advertising birth control may have increased teenage pregnancy rates, while cutting such projects may have brought them down. Isnt this yet another example of well-meaning progressive measures having precisely the opposite of their intended effect? Squabble on the fourth-form table? No, it was seven grown-up politicians well, six plus chirpy little Tim Farron taking part in BBC1's election debate show last night. And then there was the audience. Worse than the mob at a Momentum rally! Where DID they get them? The Beeb insisted the audience members were representative. Bogeys to that. They were no more balanced than a gorilla on a unicycle. Frantic clapping for the Left-wing contestants who demanded higher taxes. Boos and laughter were thrown at the Tories' Amber Rudd when she noted that the deficit was being reduced. But Jeremy Corbyn, evasive on immigration, was rewarded with whoops and wolf whistles. Welcome to the BBC! Scroll down for video Amber Rudd was in such scary-librarian glasses, one kept waiting for her to say sternly 'there'll be a five pound overdue charge on that' Ukip's Paul Nuttall could barely secure even a few yards of open field and was greeted with audience groans when he criticised Islamic fundamentalism. The Leftie panellists all started accusing him of fomenting hatred. There might have been a different reaction if the debate's venue had been in Manchester and not Volvo-socialist Cambridge. Theresa May's judgment has seldom looked sounder than when she decided to stay the heck away from this awful, bent, babyish custard-pie fight. Mr Corbyn, who decided only yesterday to join the line-up (you have to pity the poor understudy Diane Abbott? who had done all the preparation), must have been inwardly aghast. There he stood in the middle of a demeaning brawl. It was like a penalty shoot-out where every player is trying to toe-bang the ball at the same time. At one point, as they were discussing President Trump (more boos from the audience), Corbyn was reduced to yelling, off-camera: 'Wot about air pollution?' What about noise pollution, more like. Ukip's Paul Nuttall could barely secure even a few yards of open field and was greeted with audience groans when he criticised Islamic fundamentalism Had I not been watching it for your delectation I would have turned off half way through. There were moments when all seven of them were shouting at the same time. Fingers are stabbed. Soundbites became inaudible. Mr Corbyn and Scots Nationalist Angus Robertson found themselves sniping simultaneously at Miss Rudd. Two angry men shouting at a woman? Great look, guys. It all went downhill after the opening credits. Caroline Lucas, the Greens' co-leader (they find the concept of a single leader a bit unfair) said 'fearless Green MPs would hold Labour's feet to the fire' in the next Government. If they have more than one. Corbyn did some neck-tweaking, produced his 'for the many not the few' slogan, and kept producing a pub-bore's 'can I finish, please?'. Nuttall narrowed his gaze and spoke of 'the Westminster elite'. Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood used her party's name repeatedly, just in case we didn't have a clue who she was. Jeremy Corbyn, evasive on immigration, was rewarded with whoops and wolf whistles. Welcome to the BBC! Miss Rudd was in such scary-librarian glasses, one kept waiting for her to say sternly 'there'll be a five pound overdue charge on that'. Instead she flourished a phrase that Mr Corbyn thought he had 'a magic money tree' and that the Tories were the only party prepared to tell the electorate harsh facts of economic life. The show's presenter, Mishal Husain, lost control as they all bellowed - Miss Rudd normally being the target of their abuse. Mrs May owes Amber a large gin and tonic, if not five. Mr Corbyn had a lively riff about foodbanks. Mr Nuttall's best moments were on immigration (Corbyn went a bit sotto voce on immigration, parking his head on one side of his neck). Mr Robertson spouted statistics like a cattle auctioneer. Ms Lucas got an almighty cheer from the audience for saying she would scrap our nuclear weapons. The show's presenter, Mishal Husain, lost control as they all bellowed - Miss Rudd normally being the target of their abuse Thumbnail conclusions? Farron: jolly smart in his Child at C&A suit but it was long past his bedtime. The Plaid woman: wanted us to pay a divorce bill for Brexit but she could do as the mum in the next Bisto gravy ads. Scots Nat Robertson: first to start sweating. Ukip's Nuttall: brave victim of professional fouls by the Lefties and the biased audience. Corbyn: regretted that 'innocent lives had been lost' in the recent Manchester bomb. Yes, that's what happens in terrorism, Jeremy. Ask your IRA friends. The equably Miss Rudd probably had the most telling remark of the night. As the prolonged shriekfest came (thank goodness) to a close, she said we had just heard the Babel chaos of what would happen if Corbyn and Co ever formed a coalition. What a truly dreadful debate. It is often referred to as the happiest place on earth, but these Disney Resort employees might argue that isn't always the case. In a new thread on secret sharing app Whisper, people claiming to be Disneyland employees have been revealing behind-the-scenes secrets of the world's best loved theme park. Making use of the app's anonymity the employees, both past and present, spared no detail of the park's inner-workings. In a new thread on secret sharing app Whisper Disneyland employees have shared their secrets of working at the park Many of the confessions came from characters who told how acting in a non-fairytale appropriate fashion - like cursing fellow characters or drug use - swiftly resulted in a one-way ticket out of the park. In other cases the employee's dismissal seemed less reasonable, with people claiming to have been fired for gaining weight or for refusing to serve alcohol to a pregnant woman. 'I work at Disney World and every day before my shift I drink liquor to help make me more cheerful for the children,' revealed one staff member, while another said he played the role of Prince Eric [of The Little Mermaid] in Disney parades for five years until he was fired 'for doing porn on the side'. Another frank confession came from a Disney worker who claimed to have 'smoked pot with Cinderella', while another disgruntled employee's submission was just a straightforward moan: 'I work at Disney, and "have a magical day" is mouse for "go **** yourself"'. From unfair dismissals to drinking on the job many of the submissions make the parks sound less than the happiest place on earth A woman who claimed to have played the role of Princess Jasmine, from Aladdin, at Disney Land, said she had been fired for 'gaining 5 pounds'. Her's wasn't the only tale of terminated employment - others claimed to have been fired variously for 'punching Elsa in the face' and calling Ariel a 'stupid b****'. Another former employee had no regrets after being given their marching orders, posting on the thread that it was 'quite possibly the best thing that ever happened to me #nomoreantidepressants'. 'I made out with one of my coworkers once,' a man revealed on the thread. 'A family with five little kids walked by and one said "Mom, why is the prince kissing Flynn Rider?" We both got fired'. Another said she would occasionally say yes to men who offered her money for 'private meetings' while she was working at Disney Land, 'til I got caught smuggling my costume & was fired'. Other sackings reportedly came after ex-employees were caught accidentally selling alcohol to a minor, giving free churros to their friends, or simply for having too many tattoos. Some people claimed to still be working at the park, but were frank about the reasons it's not exactly their dream job. 'I actually really dislike children and smoke weed frequently,' said one, while a Disney prince told how he and 'one of the princesses get high after work'. MailOnline has contacted Disney for a comment What was supposed to be just a standard bushwalk completely changed Grace De Bruin's life when she contracted Lyme disease four years ago. Just two weeks after she hiked through Boundary Falls in Moogem, Grace had fallen so sick that she couldn't get out of bed for more than half an hour each day. Every step felt like she was walking with broken glass in her shoes, and the ringing in her ears was so loud that Grace thought it would drive her insane. Grace De Bruin, 21, went on a bushwalk four years ago (pictured) with her boyfriend. Just a week later she began to feel the horrifying symptoms of Lyme disease Grace went on that same bushwalk this year (pictured) to commemorate her four-year anniversary with the disease that has left her in a nearly constant state of fatigue and pain When Grace, now 21, first got bitten by more than 150 ticks while bushwalking with her boyfriend in April 2014, she wasn't concerned. 'I've been bitten by ticks my whole life, I didn't think anything of it whatsoever,' she told Daily Mail Australia. And when Grace first began to feel ill a week later, the nursing student thought she was just tired from her studies and had caught a flu that was going around. 'I just thought I'd overdone it,' she said. 'I was very stressed about my exams and my assignments. I thought my body was telling me to rest up.' But by the second week, her symptoms had become far more severe. 'I could barely maintain consciousness,' she said. 'I was so dizzy, I had brain fog and couldn't remember things.' 'My joints were swollen and sore, my muscles burned really bad all of the time. I also couldn't eat anything, I just felt too sick to eat.' Yet when a friend of Grace's mother suggested Lyme disease might be the culprit, the Northern Rivers university student didn't believe it could be true at first. When Grace, now 21, first got bit by more than 150 ticks while bushwalking through Boundary Falls in Moogem in April 2014 (pictured), she wasn't concerned 'My initial response when I did my research was that Lyme disease didn't exist in Australia,' she said. Lyme disease has gained publicity in the US with celebrities like Bella Hadid and Alec Baldwin speaking about their daily struggle, but it is still not recognised in Australia. In fact, a report as recent as November 2016 claimed there was no evidence the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria responsible for the disease was in local animals or ticks. But the research was slammed by Sharon Whiteman, the president of the Lyme Disease Association of Australia. Whiteman said researchers had only attributed the disease to a single North American strain, refusing to expand the definition to additional strains of bacteria. It was the Lyme Disease Association of Australia in Byron Bay where Grace would find her own symptoms confirmed. A doctor had Grace's blood sent to the US for testing. When it came back positive for Lyme disease, her doctor immediately began treatment. Despite her confirmed results, everyone from family members to other doctors have told Grace she is wrong. They all have yet to believe that Lyme disease is in the country, and couldn't understand how Grace could be so sick some days and fine on others. 'Lyme disease fluctuates so much, it's one of those invisible diseases you can't see physically on a person,' she said. 'You can still smile and put on a mask - the fake face - and present well, even if you don't feel well. So they think, "Oh you don't look sick, you can't be that sick"'. And yet every day is a struggle for Grace, who sometimes still can't get out of bed. Just two weeks later Grace (pictured this year) was so sick she couldn't get out of bed for more than half an hour every day. Every step felt like she was walking with broken glass in her shoes 'The fatigue is incredible, even talking is exhausting,' she said. 'I struggle with eating still, the brain fog is still really bad.' Her symptoms became so severe that Grace had to halt her studies, a crushing blow to her nursing dreams. 'I felt like the biggest failure when I had to put university on hold,' she said. Grace no longer has the good months or good weeks that came after her diagnosis. Now she's lucky if she has a good day every once in awhile. 'There's aches, and pains, and burning, and fatigue,' she said. 'I pretty much feel these symptoms every day now.' 'I always get a really bad temperature after I eat, my body tries to reject it instantly. My joints and muscles are always burning.' 'Most days I've got sharp burning in my feet, and numbness and tinging. The swelling is really bad in my hands, and the fatigue is with me all the time.' There are also the mental side effects to disease, namely the anxiety and depression that come from the social stigma of having a condition that few believe even exists. 'I struggle myself because sometimes I can do things and feel alright and think "Oh, maybe I'm not sick"', Grace said. WHAT IS LYME DISEASE? One of the early symptoms of Lyme disease includes a rash (pictured) - which can expand to up to 12 inches wide and often looks like a 'bull's-eye' Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria that is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black-legged ticks. The most common symptoms of the disease are fever, headache, fatigue and a skin rash called erythema migrans. The disease can typically be treated by several weeks of oral antibiotics. But if left untreated, the infection can spread to the joints, heart and nervous symptoms and be deadly. Lyme disease is diagnosed through the symptoms, physical findings - such as rash - and the lieklihood of exposure to infected ticks. To prevent Lyme disease, it is recommended that people use insect repellent, remove ticks promptly, apply pesticides and reduce tick habitat. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE INFECTED? During the first three to 30 days of infection, these symptoms may occur: Fever Chills Headache Fatigue Muscle and joint aches Swollen lymph nodes Erythema migrans (EM) rash The rash occurs in approximately 80 per cent of infected people. It can expand to up to 12 inches (30 cm), eventually clearing and giving off the appearance of a target or a 'bull's-eye'. Later symptoms of Lyme disease include: Severe headaches and neck stiffness Additional EM rashes Arthritis with joint pain and swelling Facial or Bell's Palsy Heart palpitations Problems with short-term memory Nerve pain Source: CDC Advertisement Grace sometimes has to look back at her test results and remind herself that she has solid evidence that the disease is there. In terms of support, Grace has also received no financial aid from insurers and has had to pay $36,000 in treatments over the last four years. The medication is so expensive, and makes her so sick, that Grace decided to stop seeing all her doctors and taking any kind of pills. She has only become more and more sick since, and fears she may not be able to continue working as a nursing assistant for much longer. But Grace hopes that, by speaking out about her daily struggles, more Australians will begin to believe her everyday reality. 'Lyme disease is in Australia, and it's really taxing and devastating for people,' she said. 'And so many people are misdiagnosed and continue to become more and more sick, and the underlying problem is never treated.' Grace is now looking to the future, seeking naturopathy for treatment and even going on the same bushwalk she took four years ago to commemorate her anniversary with the disease. 'I will never be cured, and I think I need to accept that I won't get better,' she said. 'But I can maintain it and still live life - even with Lyme.' A controversial new book about how to 'prevent' autism has sparked online outrage, prompting nearly 3,000 people to sign a petition asking Amazon to remove the upcoming title from its site. In Dara Berger's book, How to Prevent Autism: Expert Advice from Medical Professionals, the documentary filmmaker and mom details everything she did to keep her daughter 'from suffering the same fate' as her older son, who was diagnosed with autism. Although certain lifestyle changes can lower some of your risk, you can't prevent having a child with an autistic disorder, and some critics of the book argue that you shouldn't try to. Controversy: Gillian O'Brien Murray from Ireland created a Change.org petition asking Amazon to ban Dara Berger's book, How to Prevent Autism: Expert Advice from Medical Professionals After learning about the book on Facebook, Gillian O'Brien Murray from Ireland created a Change.org petition asking Amazon to ban the book from its site ahead of its July release. 'Autistic people are not to be feared, hated, cured, abused, humiliated , used as a means to gain money, they are people just like everyone else...' she wrote. Gillian went on to argue that if the book was titled 'How to Prevent Down's Syndrome' or 'How to Prevent Your Child from Being Gay' it 'would not be touched by anyone', but society has yet to change its views on autistic children and adults. Experience: In the book, Berger details everything she did to minimize her daughter's risk of developing autism like her brother 'What right has anyone to change another human from who they were born to be?' she asked. 'I cannot cure/treat/prevent my child from been autistic any more than could if he/she were gay - nor would I want to...' The online petition has been signed by more than 2,700 people since it was posted, and Gillian also shared a screengrab of the email response she received from Amazon UK, which revealed her request had been forwarded to the relevant team. Although researches don't know exactly how many people in the United States have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one out of every 68 school-age children in the U.S. currently has autism. The CDC also noted that parents who have a child with ASD have a two to 18 percent chance having a second child who is also affected. In her book, Berger, 46, details 'everything that went wrong with her son that led to an autism diagnosis' and what she did differently to prevent her daughter from being born with the disorder. She also interviewed eight 'well-known ASD experts' including doctors and scientists about the factors that have led to the growing epidemic of autism. Speaking out: When asked about people wanting to ban her book, Berger (pictured) told Daily Mail Online that people have the right to their own feelings The book received a glowing review from Jenny McCarthy, who claimed her son Evan's autism was cause by vaccination, despite studies showing that there is no link between the two. The 1998 research paper by Andrew Wakefield that formed the basis for the now-discredited claim that vaccination is linked to autism was proven to be based on fraudulent research and manipulated data. Like McCarthy, Berger believes that her son's autism was caused by a vaccination, and in a blog post published on Age of Autism, she wrote that she wished she never vaccinated him. However, Berger claims she's not an 'anti-vaxxer' simply because she doesn't care what other people do aside from those she loves. When asked about her views on vaccinations, Berger told Daily Mail Online: 'I think as with all medical interventions it is a very personal choice, and parents need to decide what is best for their individual child.' Defense: Berger took to her Facebook page last week to hit back at the petition, arguing that you wouldn't tell people not to try and prevent cancer Impossible? Although certain lifestyle changes can lower some of your risk, you can't prevent having a child with an autistic disorder As for people wanting to ban her book, she noted that 'everybody has the right to their own feelings'. 'I respect anybody's position including those that feel their autism is an integral part of their identity. However not everyone feels that way including myself,' she said. 'Many experts and parents believe that environmental factors contributed to their child being diagnosed with regressive autism. 'I love my son more than anything in the world and he has suffered a lot with multiple medical conditions that are very common in children with autism. It is through the help of many wonderful practitioners that I have been able to help my son make an incredible amount of progress and minimize the risk of my daughter developing autism. 'I want to share this information with as many people as possible in the hope that it will help them too. I wrote the book that I wish I had 12 years ago before my son was born.' Berger also provided a statement from her publisher, Tony Lyons at Skyhorse Publishing, who sees the proposed ban as censorship. 'I believe that censorship is an insult to true democracy. America needs debate rather than dogma, now more than ever,' he wrote. 'Whether it's about health or politics, what we need isn't answers to our burning questions. We need the full range of information so that we can weigh the facts, the building blocks of ideas, and then make our own decisions.' She set off for in style from Englefield earlier in the month, and now Pippa Middleton has touched down in Sydney for the second leg of her honeymoon. Pictured around Sydney Harbour on Wednesday morning, Pippa looked every inch the glowing bride as she set off on a sea plane for an exclusive waterfront lunch. She paired a chic black blazer with a white and black striped dress by Kate Spade for the occasion. The dress couldn't be contained by the winds in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, however, when Pippa struggled with her very own Marilyn moment as the full skirt billowed in the wind. The blushing bride giggled as she pushed her dress down in the breeze. Scroll down for video Pippa Middleton's suffered a 'Marilyn Monroe moment' as her Kate Spade dress billowed in the wind after an exclusive waterfront lunch at Cottage Point Inn on Wednesday (pictured) Monroe's dress blew up in this famous scene (pictured) from her 1955 film 'The Seven Year Itch' The 33-year-old struggled with her own Marilyn moment, as she tried to re-board her sea plane (pictured) The honeymooner appeared to be struggling with the chilly Sydney breeze and as she pushed her dress down But in spite of the cool weather, Pippa looked ever-stylish in her monochrome outfit which she paired with espadrilles The Kate Spade dress - which retails for AUD $798 (GBP 464; USD $595) - features 'a luxurious blend of linen and silk, printed with stripes and finished with a tasseled tie at the neck', according to the Kate Spade website. The Kate Spade website also states that it is 'equal parts festive, polished and laid-back'. 'Wear it with sandals, slides or heels, anywhere from the boardwalk to the boardroom,' it reads. Pippa finished off the outfit with black espadrilles - believed to be by the Spanish brand sold on Net-a-Porter, Castaner, Persol sunglasses and a black leather bag by Aspinal of London. For the occasion, the glowing bride was wearing a white dress with black stripes and a black jacket to keep out the cold (pictured) Pippa Middleton was pictured with her new husband, James Matthews, around Sydney Harbour on Wednesday morning (pictured) Pippa was photographed later in the day leaving the exclusive waterfront hideaway where she had lunch (pictured) Her $800 Kate Spade dress was visible for all to see as she exited the restaurant - having removed her jacket from earlier (pictured) The Small Lottie handbag retails for AUD $895 (425 GBP, USD $745), while the Castaner sandals cost around AUD $100 (58 GBP; $74 USD). She also wore a Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch, which features a Mother of Pearl dial. Pippa was grinning from ear to ear as she boarded a water taxi with her new husband, James Matthews, on Wednesday morning. The happy newlyweds touched down in Sydney reportedly on Tuesday night, after disembarking a flight from New Zealand. Pippa finished off the outfit with black espadrilles, sunglasses and a black leather bag by Aspinal of London (pictured) She was grinning from ear to ear as she boarded a water taxi with her new husband, James Matthews, on Wednesday morning (pictured) The 33-year-old looked effortlessly chic - as she channelled a Breton vibe in black and white The 33-year-old looked effortlessly chic - as she channelled a Breton vibe in her black and white outfit sported for a lunch at Cottage Point Inn. Pippa wore her hair straight for the occasion and left her legs bare to bask in the Sydney sunshine. Her arms - which occupied pride of place in her Giles Deacon wedding dress earlier in the month - were covered by a black jacket to keep out the cooling climes. Meanwhile, Pippa's blingy engagement ring and more understated wedding band were visible for all to see for the first time since they were spotted several weeks ago at St Mark's Church. Pippa's blingy engagement ring and more understated wedding band were visible for all to see for the first time since they were spotted several weeks ago at St Mark's Church (pictured) Pippa got married in Englefield earlier in the month (pictured), where she wore a Giles Deacon gown Among the guests were her sister Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Catherine's husband Prince William as well as their two children Prince George and Princess Charlotte Pippa later removed her black jacket as she left Cottage Point Inn with a smile on her face (pictured) Pippa and James are thought to be staying in a waterfront hotel with first class views of Sydney's Vivid Festival (pictured leaving Cottage Point Inn) Pippa and James are thought to be staying in a waterfront hotel with first class views of Sydney's Vivid Festival. They have come on to Sydney from French Polynesia, where they have spent their time island hopping in the sun. The pair's arrival in Sydney comes just days before Prince Harry is expected to touch down in 'early June' to attend events celebrating Sydney's hosting of the 2018 Invictus Games. They spent their first day taking a water taxi and then a sea plane to an exclusive waterfront hideaway. The pair dined at Cottage Point Inn, in the picturesque Ku-ring-gai National Chase Park. The restaurant boasts some exclusive Australian dishes, including kangaroo tartare. James Matthews was spotted chatting to the driver of a water taxi as he and Pippa Middleton kicked off the second leg of their honeymoon in Sydney. The newlyweds walked hand in hand before boarding a bright yellow water taxi in Circular Quay in Sydney Harbour, then hopped on a seaplane from Rose Bay. While on board, James dressed in a blue jumper and jeans - was spotted having a chat with the taxi's driver along with another man accompanying the newlyweds on their trip. Scroll down for video James Matthews was spotted chatting to the driver of a water taxi in Sydney on Wednesday The newlyweds then hopped on a seaplane at Rose Bay for a scenic flight to a romantic lunch Meanwhile, Pippa, in a trendy black blazer over a striped dress, spent the talked with another woman as the cruise took them past the Sydney Opera House. A spokesman for Yellow Water Taxis, which ferried the couple, declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia. Pippa and James then took the seaplane from Sydney Seaplanes at Rose Bay, whose flights start from $200 per person, before heading off for a romantic lunch at the Cottage Point Inn. The couple booked their flight under a pseudonym and chatted happily with the Canadian pilot taking them to their destination, a spokesman for the company told Daily Mail Australia. A grinning Pippa was spotted chatting to another woman aboard the water taxi The couple boarded a bright yellow water taxi in Sydney's Circular Quay on Wednesday The newlywed couple touched down at Sydney Airport on Tuesday night after honeymooning in French Polynesia Famous faces who have flown with Sydney seaplanes include Ed Sheeran and Leonardo DiCaprio. The honeymooners touched down at Sydney Airport late on Tuesday night after island-hopping in French Polynesia. There had been no mention of Australia as a honeymoon destination for the pair who are thought to be staying the five-star Park Hyatt Hotel on the waterfront. Steven Beale, from Sydney, said he spotted the couple near the Harbour Bridge as he was walking to work on Wednesday morning. Pippa Middleton and new husband James Matthews are seen getting on a seaplane at Rose Bay The newlyweds took a scenic flight to Cottage Point Inn for lunch on the waterside Pippa, James and their friends enjoyed lunch at the charming waterfront restaurant The newlyweds are thought to be staying at the five-star Park Hyatt hotel on the waterfront 'I walked past her at the foot of the Harbour Bridge with her husband and, I think, a personal trainer,' he said. They jetted off to Tahiti after their lavish wedding on May 20. They were said to be staying on Tetiaroa Island, a private island Marlon Brando bought in the 1960s where they stayed at The Brando at a cost of around 3,000 (AUD $5,149) a night. She typically wears her brunette mane loose around her shoulders. But Queen Letizia of Spain proved she's keen to experiment with her hairstyle - as well as her wardrobe - as she joined her husband King Felipe VI at a party in Madrid on Tuesday night. The fashion forward monarch attended a party at the Villa Magna Hotel in the Spanish capital with her hair up in a quirky 'bubble' ponytail. More often seen on beauty bloggers than members of a royal family, the style sees the hair in a ponytail gathered at sections along the length to create a bubble effect. Queen Letizia joined her husband King Felipe VI at Madrid's Villamagna Hotel to mark the 60th anniversary of the Europa Press Agency The Queen, 44, chose a light woollen dress embellished with silver stars for the event The 44-year-old Spanish monarch experimented with an unusual gathered ponytail The Spanish King and Queen were at the exclusive hotel in Madrid to mark the 60th anniversary of the Europa Press Agency. Queen Letizia looked dazzling in a light woollen midi-dress in pale grey, embellished with silver stars. She added a pair of metallic strappy sandals and a sparkling clutch, but otherwise kept her accessories to a minimum. Queen Letizia looked stunning in a form-fitting grey midi-length dress with embellishment The mother-of-two was snapped shaking hands and mingling with other guests at the event on Tuesday night, before posing along with her husband for group photographs. It followed her speech at an event to mark the 10th anniversary of the Spanish bank BBVA's microfinance initiative on Monday, during a busy week of engagements in the Spanish capital. The slender Queen accessorised her embellished gown with metallic heels and a clutch bag She posed for group photographs alongside her husband King Felipe, who was dapper as always in a suit and tie A former model has revealed how a devastating disease is slowly turning her body into a human statue. Mother-of-three Helen Rowley, 35, from Cambridge, suffers with Stiff Person Syndrome - a rare disease that causes a person's muscles to stiffen and go into painful spasms. The one-in-a-million illness has left Helen struggling to walk, with poor speech and in near constant pain because of the frequency of the spasms. Former model Helen Rowley, 35, from Cambridge was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome at 24 and now suffers from constant muscle spasms which have left her struggling to speak and walk The one-time model says her days of glamour have been replaced by a life where she can barely leave the house. Rowley, pictured during her modelling days, is currently awaiting a stem cell transplant to try and help her condition 'I am turning into a real life statue as my muscles stiffen': Helen has decided to speak out to raise awareness about the rare condition The pretty 35-year-old was once an aspiring model who enjoyed posing in front of the camera but the disease has left her career and life in tatters. Rowley now says her body has recently been stiffening from head-to-toe like a statue - and her condition has left her housebound. Helen is currently on the waiting list for a stem cell transplant that could save her life and vastly improve her pain. However, if the operation doesn't happen in time, Rowley says she will fly to Switzerland to end her life at an assisted suicide clinic. Helen has decided to speak out in a bid to raise awareness for the tragic disease that has taken over her body. I hope people realise that they should never ever take the little things in life for granted, as it can be ripped away from you in a split second... Helen Rowley She explains the path her condition has taken: 'Since I was 19 I have had spasms that rip through my body head to toe. It took up five years to get a diagnosis as doctors didn't even know what was wrong with me. 'Finally when I was 24 after years of suffering in the unknown, I was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome. 'I have up to 10 spasms in the space of 20 minutes every single day. My life now is far from the glamorous days of modelling and looking my best.' The mother-of-three says she has considered ending her own life if treatment doesn't work Pictured with husband Antony on her wedding day; Helen is now battling the one-in-a-million condition Daily pill intake: Helen says the spasms first began in her late teens but it took nearly five years to get a diagnosis. Right: The concoction of pills that Helen has to take every day WHAT IS STIFF PERSON SYNDROME? What is Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS)? Stiff person syndrome is a rare neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease. It causes a patient's muscles to stiffen over time - typically affecting the torso and limbs. The condition is often triggered subtly by a period of emotional stress and it commonly develops in a person's mid-40s. Sufferers can also experience a heightened sensitivity to stimuli, including noise, touch and emotional distress, which can trigger muscle spasms. People with Stiff Person Syndrome can be too disabled to walk. Abnormal postures - often hunched over or stiffened - are characteristic of the disorder. What causes the rare disorder? Stiff Person Syndrome affects twice as many women as men. It is often associated with other autoimmune diseases including diabetes, thyroditis and the skin condition vitiligo. Scientists do not know what causes the condition, but research has shown it is the result of an autoimmune response that has gone awry in the brain and spinal cord. How is it diagnosed? The condition is often mistaken for Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis. A definitive diagnosis can be made with a blood test. People with Stiff-Person Syndrome have raised levels of an antibody that works against an enzyme involved in the synthesis of an important neurotransmitter in the brain. There is no cure for the disease at present but it can be managed with medication. Advertisement 'Every day I wake up and question why I am even on earth - as this horrible illness is slowly turning me into a statue. 'On the outside I might look okay but on the inside I am in agony. 'I can't walk properly, my speech is basically gone, I have over active thyroids - I can barely leave the house. 'The disease is stiffening all my muscles to the point where I am expected to die at an early age. 'I can't help but think my body has had enough and I need to call it or a day, or I can keep fighting.' Helen, who used to work as a beautician, model and owned a nightclub - can now barely walk. She has help from her husband Antony, 43, and her three children, Olivia, 13, Harry, 9, and Ashleigh, 5. The autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant that Helen is desperately waiting for - costs around 65,000 pounds. She has been on the NHS list for years but it is now a race against time before the illness completely turned her muscles into stone. She added: 'The day I got this illness was the day my life was torn away from me. 'I am already stuck indoors and the prospects for the future aren't looking promising. 'I need to have this stem cell transplant to save me, as I am not ready to die. 'I want to watch my children grow up, and I want to meet my grandchildren. 'But if I don't get the stem cell, I have made the decision that I will get an assisted death in Switzerland where it is legal. 'This condition is going to completely take over my body - I want to die with at least my dignity. 'People may call me selfish to do that but they should put themselves in my shoes so they could understand my suffering.' It is unknown what the real cause of stiff person syndrome is - however it has been linked to people who have diabetes, which Helen has. Rowley says she's considered assisted death at a Swiss clinic if the stem cell transplant doesn't happen in time In her modelling days: Rowley says a 'light, bang or unusual noise' can trigger the spasms Never take anything for granted: The former model admits she feels like she's half way to dying The mum-of-three is now sharing her story to raise awareness for the disease. Helen said: 'I feel like I am half way to dying, some days my medication just does not work and I am stuck in bed. 'The spasms I get sort of look like an epileptic fit - whenever there is suddenly a light, bang, unusual noise then they are triggered. 'One time I was walking down the road when I was pregnant, and I had a spasm and fell to the floor feeling frozen. Not only do I suffer psychically but also mentally, as it is so draining. It's hard to stay positive but I will try for my kids.' She says the condition has taught her to live for each day: 'I hope people realise that they should never ever take the little things in life for granted, as it can be ripped away from you in a split second. 'Life should be cherished, and I would cherish it so much more if I got this stem cell and gain my own life back again. 'I don't know what is going to happen - but I will try fight my hardest for my kids.' A student has revealed how she's been bullied online because she's albino - but has rarely faced similar bullying in real life. Nontobeko Mbuyazi was born with the condition, which results in very pale skin and visual impairment, but has defied the trolls, who call her a 'ghost' to pursue a modelling career. The 20-year-old claims she regularly faces discrimination on her social media accounts for her unusual looks and is often targeted by cyber bullies. Scroll down for video The last laugh: Model Nontobeko Mbuyazi, 20, from Durban, South Africa, says online trolls have bullied her about her unique looks...but that she's never experienced similar vitriol in real life The student, who's hoping to be a Criminologist, regularly posts images of herself in modelling poses on social media, but the reaction hasn't always been positive, with some asking why she's so pale Although she is studying to be a Criminologist at University - Nontobeko frequently shares her photoshoot images on social media. Despite her self-confident captions and hashtags of being proud of her skin, people have tormented the 20-year-old, branding her a 'ghost.' However she is determined not to let any bullies bring her down, and wants other albino people to love themselves too. Nontobeko said: 'I am an albino and despite my differences, I have found the confidence to start modelling. 'People online tell me I look like a ghost online, asking where my eyebrows are, and why am I so pale. 'In real life I have never experienced that kind of bullying before, it's only ever online. Cyber bullying has made me doubt myself at times, it's made me question whether I am beautiful or not. 'But instead of bringing me down, it's actually ended up doing the opposite.. 'It's made me stand up for myself and because of that, it has made me want to be a better person. Albinism causes very pale skin, which burns very easily, meaning Mbuyazi spent much of her childhood covered up Growing up in Ladysmith, South Africa, Mbuyazi didn't face discrimination, thanks, in large parts to her bubbly personality. Right: The young student is hoping to combine her studies with a successful career in modelling She adds: 'Ironically, it has boosted my confidence. I think I am beautiful and my skin is beautiful. 'Many albinos out there are experiencing depression because of being discriminated against and bullied. I refuse to be one, I am the one that is proud of who I am.' Albinos are beautiful and I want them all to know that, they can be whatever they want to be... Nontobeko Mbuyazi The criminology student lives in Durban, South Africa, but was born in small town Ladysmith. Despite a torrent of online abuse being hurled her way on social media - she claims she has come out even stronger. Having booked photoshoots and developed a presence on social media to express herself - the 20-year-old is now more confident than ever. Nontobeko said: 'People on social media who judge me need to know that albinism is not a disease, it is just a skin condition. Beauty: Model agencies have snapped up the chance to work with Mbuyazi Poor vision: The young model is trying to raise awareness to help other albinos remember to stay away from the sun, which can be particularly dangerous for sufferers with the condition 'Since I've started modelling, I think I get the jobs because of my pale skin. 'It doesn't make me any different from anyone else. 'People that are rude to albinos just want to feel better about themselves by making us feel bad. 'A few months ago I was at the hospital with my other albino friend, and we were sat down together and giggling. 'Suddenly some people started calling us a different kind, and asked if we were some sort of other species. 'Other than that one instance at the hospital, I've actually been amazed at how nice people can be to me in real life. 'When I go out I can get kind compliments from strangers. I love the attention I get, especially from children. I think I have a very bubbly personality that people can't help but fall in love with too.' Although Nontobeko is proud to be an albino, she claims it was a struggle growing up as one because of the dangers she faced. Lonely: Growing up,the aspiring model had to watch her friends play in the sunshine while she remained covered up She says the abuse at the hands of trolls has...'boosted my confidence. I think I am beautiful and my skin is beautiful Going places: Mbuyazi, posing with an albino friend, says she's optimistic about her future She was not allowed to play in the sun, as sun burn can cause albinos to have skin cancer and eye problems. She added: 'When I was growing up I wasn't allowed to play in the sun with any of the children, which was extremely hard. 'I also had to wear a hat at all times and I hated it. 'I want all the albinos out there who feel like they are not good enough because of bullying, to know that they are beautiful. 'But they must not forget to keep themselves away from the sun as it can be very dangerous. 'I also have poor vision because of it, but I'm not going to dwell on the negatives. I am what I am, so I just want to continue life. 'I have many people ask to take photos with me, and I actually love that kind of attention, it makes me feel special. 'Albinos are beautiful and I want them all to know that, they can be whatever they want to be.' Resplendent in a turquoise floral ensemble, the Queen was radiant as she arrived at a luncheon in London on Wednesday afternoon. The 91-year-old monarch, who was showcasing a fresh new hairstyle, beamed as she arrived at Drapers Hall. The monarch's locks appeared to have been trimmed and given a stylish and voluminous new shape on Wednesday. Her hair appeared to have a fresher colour than the one she displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show last week. The 91-year-old monarch showcased a fresh new hairstyle as she arrived at Drapers Hall to celebrate 70 years since she received the Admission to the Freedom of the Drapers Company The monarch's locks appeared to have been trimmed and given a stylish and voluminous new shape on Wednesday, left, and the colour appeared to have been enhanced compared to the hair 'do she displayed at the Chelsea Flower Show last week, right The Queen was at Drapers' Hall to attend a lunch, and was welcomed by the 684th Lord Mayor of London, Sir David Wootton The monarch appeared to have paid a visit to the salon, as her hairstyle appeared to have been given a new shape, as well as a colour refresh The Drapers Company, which is one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies in the City of London, was established as a wool and cloth merchant in 1361. The monarch was welcomed by Sir David Wootton, 684th Lord Mayor of London, and was ushered inside to meet members of the company's governing body. The Drapers Company works to inspire youths, and also cares for the elderly and homeless. After lunch, the Queen will attend a ceremony, as well as meet pupils from the Drapers Maylands School. The Queen signed the Instrument, which is a document, written on vellum, and formally records Her Majesty's attendance at the lunch to celebrate the 70th anniversary of her becoming a Freeman of the Company at Drapers' Hall The Queen posed for a photo on her visit to Drapers' Hall on the occasion of the 70th Anniversary of Her Majesty's Admission to the Freedom of the Company The Queen accessorised her outfit with her favourite pearls and a brooch honouring the company she was visiting The Queen, who was greeted by Sir David Wootton, 684th Lord Mayor of London, embraced the warmer weather in turquoise skirt emblazoned with red and green roses The Queen was a vision in a floral skirt and bold blue jacket. After lunch, the Queen met pupils from the Drapers Maylands School The Queen was radiant as she arrived at a luncheon in London on Wednesday afternoon in the city of London The Queen appeared to be in high spirits as she was treated to a tour ahead of lunch The Queen signed the Instrument, which is a document, written on vellum, and formally records Her Majesty's attendance at the lunch to celebrate the 70th anniversary of her becoming a Freeman of the Company at Drapers' Hall The Queen toured the building, which is one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies in the City of London, was established as a wool and cloth merchant in 1361 The Drapers Company works to inspire youths, and also cares for the elderly and homeless Last week, the Queen condemned the Manchester attack as 'very wicked' as she visited young survivors as they recovered in hospital. The Queen, 91, put on another show of solidarity with the families devastated by the suicide bombing, which killed 22 and injured at least 119 people, by attending the church service at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral to pray for those affected. The monarch was joined by her son Prince Edward and his 13-year-old daughter Lady Louise, to whom she is especially close. Despite the solemnity of the occasion, the Queen brought a breath of fresh air wearing a bright pink coat trimmed with white and a matching hat. The Queen was seen on her way to church service at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral this morning to pray for the victims of the Manchester attack Her Majesty made her feelings about the atrocity very clear as she spoke to injured schoolgirl Evie from Harrogate, Yorkshire at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. 'It's dreadful. Very wicked. To target that sort of thing,' she said. She also thanked hospital staff and paramedics who worked tirelessly to keep the children alive in the hours after the tragedy, and told them of her shock, saying: 'The awful thing was that everyone was so young.' The Queen was resplendent in pink and white for church, while Louise and her father Edward also dressed in their Sunday best Millie Robson, from Co Durham, who was wearing an Ariana Grande concert t-shirt in her hospital bed, told the Queen how she had met the pop star backstage before the event after winning VIP passes in a competition. She was on her way to meet her father, David, at the arena exit when the bomb was detonated. Addressing David, the Queen said: 'It's not something you expect at all' and described the atrocity as 'very alarming'. On Tuesday, the Queen released an unusually strongly worded statement condemning the attack. The Queen speaks to Millie Robson, 15, and her mother Marie, from Co Durham, during a visit to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. Millie Read more: The whole nation has been shocked by the death and injury in Manchester last night of so many people, adults and children, who had just been enjoying a concert,' she said. 'I know I speak for everyone in expressing my deepest sympathy to all who have been affected by this dreadful event and especially to the families and friends of those who have died or were injured. 'I want to thank all the members of the emergency services, who have responded with such professionalism and care. 'And I would like to express my admiration for the way the people of Manchester have responded, with humanity and compassion, to this act of barbarity.' As people live longer, the boundaries of what constitutes middle and old age are ever shifting. And now one of the UK's leading social scientists has called for an end to the term 'old age', saying that people in their 60s, 70s and 80s should be referred to as 'active adults'. Sarah Harper, a gerontologist who is director of the Oxford Institute of Ageing told the Hay Festival that people shouldn't be considered old until they reach a stage where they're very feeble and nearing death. Therefore even someone in their 90s may not be considered old if they're still living an active life. 'We should not even be calling people old until they reach what historian Peter Laslett calls the fourth age; that time where we will become frail and enfeebled,' Harper said. 'Old age should be the fourth age. Everything else should be active adulthood.' Sarah Harper, a gerontologist who is director of the Oxford Institute of Ageing says that people in their 60s, 70s and 80s should be considered 'active adults' rather than elderly (stock image) The ageing population will pose huge challenges for society with babies born today now expected to live to 104 on average. She warned that people living longer will trigger huge challenges for society and we will have to rethink how we lead our lives, such as whether marriage should last for a lifetime. People could spend much of their lives as pensioners, while some may not inherit from grandparents until they are in their 80s. AGEING POPULATION According to the most recent figures from the Office For National Statistics, life expectancy at birth has increased by 13.1 weeks per year on average since 19801982 for males and 9.5 weeks per year on average for females in the UK. In 20132015 a man in the UK aged 65 had an average further 18.5 years of life remaining and a woman 20.9 years. The most common age at death in the UK for men was 85 and for women was 89. Advertisement By the end of the century there will be 1.5 million centenarians in the UK. Currently there are 14,500. She added: 'we are pushing back death considerably and half the population now could reach their eighties. She said: We are gaining roughly 2.5 years of life expectancy per decade, or fifteen minutes an hour. 'Predictions suggest that, of the babies that are currently being born, the real life expectancy will be 104. In Japan it is 107. We are really talking about extending lives in a way we havent experienced before. 'We have to start asking ourselves about the worlds we are going to live in with these very long lives. According to Sarah Harper people are gaining extra life expectancy of 15 minutes for every hour (stock image) 'We take it for granted that we will pass power, assets and status down the generations at regular timings. 'What happens when you dont inherit from your grandparents until youre in your eighties? What happens in our workplaces? What happens in our societies, when we have these huge long gaps? She added that divorce rates could rise and that even the institution of marriage and whether we want to stick with a partner for so many decades needs to be thought about.' After marrying Crown Prince Frederick in 2004, the Tasmanian woman became one of the world's most beloved princesses. And Princess Mary appeared to be making strides towards taking the top spot on Wednesday as she stepped out in Stockholm in a pair of sheer white pants. The future Queen consort of Denmark turned heads as she headed towards the Ole Lynggaard jewelry store with Crown Princess Victoria. The look was reminiscent of Princess Diana, who was famously photographed in 1980 while she was working at the Young England Kindergarten in Pimlico, London. Princess Mary turned heads on Wednesday as she stepped out in Stockholm wearing a pair of sheer white pants The image was reminiscent of Princess Diana in 1980, who was photographed working at a London kindergarten in a sheer printed skirt In the image, she is pictured wearing a sheer skirt with her legs slightly spread, posing with two children from the kindergarten. The skirt appears to have been lit up by the sun, giving a glimpse of her toned legs. Similarly, as the sun shined behind Princess Mary, the silhouette of her legs was also distinctly visible. Mary was dressed elegantly for her outing on Wednesday in a white pant suit, with wide cut flowing pants and a fitted top worn under a matching blazer. The former marketing consultant had her brunette locks pulled back and had emphasised her striking face with a dark lipstick. The Crown Princess of Denmark had stepped out to visit a jewellery store with Crown Princess of Sweden Victoria The pair had both donned pant suits for the occasion, which was part of a two-day official visit Her outfit, complete with brooch, was given a daring twist with a pair of snakeskin heels. Victoria of Sweden opted for a more traditional suit in navy with a fitted jacket with gold button detailing and figure hugging trousers. She added a flash of colour to her ensemble in the form of floral shirt with red hues perfectly complementing her scarlet stilettos. The Swedish royal, 39, rarely chooses to wear her hair down and today could be seen sporting her signature scraped back low bun. Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel are hosting Crown Princess Mary and her husband Frederick on a two-day official visit. No matter how confident you are, a cruel comment about your body or appearance will stay with you, and one entrepreneur has inspired hundreds of women to share their own stories after she recalled being body shames by her own father. Seattle-based Sally Bergesen, founder and CEO of the sportswear company Oiselle, is urging women to take to Twitter to recount the first time they were body shamed using the hashtag '#TheySaid'. '"Keep eating like that and you're going to be a butterball." My Dad when I was 12. Pls RT and share a body shaming comment. #TheySaid,' Bergesen, 48, tweeted, kicking off the conversation. Share your story: Sally Bergesen, founder and CEO of sportswear company Oiselle, is urging women to take to Twitter to recount the first time they were body shamed (File Photo) Kicking it off: Sally started the conversation by tweeting about her father telling her she was going to 'be a butterball' when she was 12 years old Joining in: Amanda Smith Wedig recalled weighing 100lbs when she was 12 and having her mother tell her she didn't weight that much until she was pregnant with her second child 'Getty a two for one deal': Coco Renato's father warned her she was going to 'end up looking like' her cousin if she kept eating Start of it all: Bergesen (pictured) inspired both women and men to share their stories using the hashtag #TheySaid After that one tweet, hundreds of women shared their heartbreaking tales of being body shamed from everyone from their family members to strangers on the street. Amanda Smith Wedig shared a similar story to Bergesen, recalling how her mother body shamed before she even became a teenager. '"I didn't break 100lbs until I was pregnant with my second child." My mom when I hit puberty and weighed in at 100lbs at 12,' she wrote. Sadly, many women shared stories about their own family members being the ones who first made them feel self-conscious about their bodies. Coco Renato recalled her father telling her: 'If you keep eating like that you're going to end up looking like your cousin.' Meanwhile, Kristiana Almeida said that when she was a tween her family member told her she has 'horse hips', noting: 'That's the demon that's forever followed me.' 'My dad...getting a two for one deal. #TheySaid,' she added. And Keli Hansen said she was only five years old when her grandmother told her she 'should wear a girdle'. Meanwhile, Cory Benson said she was insulted by her boyfriend who was actually overweight himself. Haunted: Kristiana Almeida noted that when she was a tween her family member told her she has 'horse hips' Cruel comments: A woman named Jasmine said one of her family members told her she looked 'like a Holocaust victim' when she was in middle school Fueling dangerous behavior: Heather Mayer Irvine said she went to her doctor for help and was told that 'all the girls throw up in the bathroom after lunch' Seriously? Cory Benson recalled her overweight boyfriend telling her she would be a 'knock-out' if she lost 15lbs Can't escape it: Kara Goucher, a long-distance runner and two-time Olympian, found herself being body shamed by her former professor. '"You'd be a knock-out if you lost 15 pounds." Spoken to me by my "boyfriend" who was about 30 pounds overweight,' she wrote. Even Kara Goucher, a long-distance runner and two-time Olympian, found herself being body shamed by her former professor. '"Wow, you're still running? You're so much bigger than I remember." An old CU professor I ran into at Safeway...two summers ago. #TheySaid,' she wrote. Plenty of commenters pointed out that they have also been shamed for being 'too thin', with people constantly telling them to eat more. Terrible reward: Kelly Roberts said she was starving herself for a competition when her dance teacher told her she looked 'beautiful' Not alone: Benjamin David pointed out that men can be body shamed too How do you react? Bergesen returned to Twitter to share a follow-up message about ways people should reply to these body shaming comments. A woman named Jasmine tweeted that one of her family members told her she looked 'like a Holocaust victim' when she was in middle school, while someone named Lisa said her male boss told her she 'will gain 10lbs and have a better body' after she has a baby. Of course, women aren't the only ones who fall prey to society's standards of what a body 'should' look like. 'Body shaming doesn't happen to women only,' Benjamin David noted. 'I'm constantly told "eat up, you could use it," even as I eat everything.' Bergesen returned to Twitter to share a follow-up message about ways people should reply to these body shaming comments. 'What replies can we arm our girls? I'll start: "Actually, all bodies are different and I'm just right for me." #TheySaid.' Michaella McCollum, one of the Peru Two drugs mules, has been spotted enjoying several sun soaked holidays since her release from prison in Summer 2016. She's been regularly photographed partying with reality stars and has even enlisted a celebrity manager to kickstart her career and put a glossy veneer over her criminal past. So it was no surprise to see the 24-year-old, from County Tyrone, arriving at the airport today with a packed suitcase in tow. However, rather than jetting off to the Balearics McCollum was today making a rather more mundane journey - the flight home to Belfast following a short stay in Liverpool. Michaella McCollum was spotted making her way to Liverpool airport on Wednesday afternoon after a short stay in the city She made her way into the airport terminal looking casual in a pair of light blue jeans and a distressed band t-shirt. In order to maximise comfort on her flight McCollum wore her blonde tresses in a loose bun and opted for trendy white sneakers for her journey home. As she made her way to the airport McCollum could be spotted sipping on a coffee while enjoying the sunshine. While she has enjoyed sun soaked holidays in Ibiza of late today McCollum will be returning home to Belfast She made her way into the airport terminal looking casual in a pair of light blue jeans and a distressed band t-shirt In order to maximise comfort on her flight McCollum wore her blonde tresses in a loose bun and opted for trendy white sneakers McCollum was spotted leaving her hotel in Liverpool on Wednesday afternoon after a short stay in the city. The one-time drugs mule from County Tyrone was jailed in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 million of cocaine out of Peru with her friend Melissa Reid. The pair were found in possession of 11kg of the drug hidden inside food packets in their luggage, as they tried to board their flight from Lima to Madrid. As she left her hotel the one-time drugs mule could be seen enjoying a takeaway coffee McCollum arrived at the airport alone on Wednesday in order to fly back She could be seen operating a self service check in for her flight home with easyJet MICHAELLA'S MANY HOLIDAYS APRIL 28th- Marbella Was pictured at Malaga airport just days after signing on at the job centre. It is unknown how long she stayed. APRIL 7th - Ibiza McCollum returned to the island where she was first hired for the doomed cocaine smuggling plot. She is thought to have remained there for over two weeks. FEBRUARY 22nd - Marbella Was pictured sunning herself on a beach in the Spanish resort while enjoying her new found freedom. She is thought to have stayed for a week. Advertisement First claiming they were forced into the job by an armed gang, the girls were later sentenced to six years and eight months in jail in August that year, after confessing to the crime. McCollum was released on parole in March 2016 after serving less than half of her sentence, while Reid was released in June, and flew back to Scotland shortly afterwards. Last week McCollum was spotted enjoying her new-found freedom as she took a shopping trip at Birmingham's Bullring. However, unlike most of the shoppers who surrounded her, McCollum,had a unusual companion - a bodyguard who appears on The Jeremy Kyle Show. Looking blonde and tanned, the 24-year-old wandered through the shopping centre while filming a documentary about her life. Last month, Michaella was pictured queuing at a job centre last week, just weeks after a sun-soaked holiday in Ibiza. McCollum could be seen passing the time by playing on her phone as she waited in line to check in her baggage Dakota Access LLC officials will meet with state regulators this summer over two complaints lodged against the company for alleged violations of its permit during construction of its 1,172-mile pipeline. The first complaint filed with the North Dakota Public Service Commission alleges that the company didnt file proper certification or get permission for rerouting of the Dakota Access Pipeline in October. The North Dakota Public Service Commission adopted an order Wednesday requiring the company to provide information on that action. Commission members said last fall the company waited 10 days in October before notifying them of the unanticipated uncovering of cultural artifacts at a construction site. The reroute was in response to the discovery. The other complaint stems from a third-party inspection conducted months ago in which its alleged the company cleared trees and shrubs in violation of its permit at 83 locations along the North Dakota portion of the pipeline route. An investigation has been opened into this complaint, with a day-long hearing to be conducted. Relating to the trees and shrubs being removed, the commission alleges the company violated its permit by removing a number of trees and shrubs outside of the 85-foot range allowed within its 150-foot right-of-way. This is one of the tools the commission has to get more information, Commissioner Julie Fedorchak said. Both hearings will be held in the PSCs hearing room. A decision whether or not to fine the company will be announced at a later date. Fines are determined by the commission; they can be up to $10,000 per day for each violation, with a maximum fine of $200,000 overall per violation. Im pretty eager to wrap this up, Fedorchak said. A message left with a company spokesperson for comment on Wednesdays PSC actions wasnt immediately returned. The $3.8 billion project is being brought into service, which will allow for up to 470,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude from North Dakota to Illinois. The project drew national attention when tribal members and activists across the country converged for months at protest camps near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes reservation boundary. The pipeline passes under the Missouri River near the tribal boundary in southern Morton County. He's set to step down from royal duties in the Autumn, but for the time being its business as usual for The Duke of Edinburgh as he carries on with his hectic schedule of engagements. This afternoon the royal welcomed young people to Buckingham Palace for a reception to celebrate the 130th anniversary of London Youth, the first charity he ever became patron of. The organisation is a network of more than 300 community youth organisations that support people across the capital, and the Duke took on the role of patron in 1947. Philip, 95, looked in typically cheerful spirits as he watched displays of fencing and rock climbing and chatted to guests. And he put on a dapper display for the occasion in a dark grey check suit, teamed with a straw boater. Prince Philip, 95, looked dapper in a grey suit and straw boater as he welcomed representatives of London Youth to Buckingham Palace for a reception to celebrate its 130th anniversary The Duke of Edinburgh speaks to young people during a reception to celebrate the London Youth charity's 130th anniversary The Duke, who will celebrate 70 years of marriage to the Queen in November, will stop carrying out public engagements from this autumn. Palace sources said Philips decision was a personal one, made by him alone, with the full support of the Queen and the royal family. After long conversations with the Queen and other members of the family including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who agreed to move down to London this autumn to take on more royal duties as a result Philip made up his mind. On the day he announced his retirement in early May, he'd completed 22,191 solo public engagements and 637 solo overseas visits to 143 countries. A young woman expertly clambers up a climbing wall as the Duke of Edinburgh looks on And naturally he's had an important role to play as a father and grandfather, particularly after the death of Princess Diana in 1997, leaving her young sons without a mother. In last night's Channel 5 documentary Diana: 7 Days That Shook The World, it was revealed that Prince Philip was instrumental in persuading William to walk behind his mother's coffin in the funeral procession. Initially the young Prince had refused, insisting that he wanted to grieve in private. The Duke of Edinburgh admires a cake during a reception to celebrate the London Youth charity's 130th anniversary In fine fettle! The Duke is clearly enjoying his last few months of work beforeIn fine fettle! The Duke is clearly enjoying his last few months of work He just didnt want to be seen grieving in public,' the Mail's Richard Kay explained. 'He felt it was a private event, he was mourning his beloved mummy and he didnt like the media attention. 'He probably felt that the media had had a hand in his mothers death. He didnt want to perform.' Prince Philip in particular was outraged that the funeral committee, which was made up of representatives from the royal family, Diana's family, the police and Number 10 were trying to insist the boys should walk behind the coffin. But in the end, it was he who persuaded William to walk in the procession right at the eleventh hour on the morning of the funeral. 'He put a grandfatherly arm around him and said "look, if i come too, will you do it?",' Richard Kay explained. A basketball player towers over the royal as they chat at a reception celebrating the charity Philip has been patron of since 1947 She's expecting her second child in the Autumn and today Princess Sofia showed off a blossoming bump for the first time since announcing her pregnancy in March. The royal, 32, who is believed to be around five months' pregnant has kept her bump under wraps until now. But today there was no disguising her blossoming tummy as she arrived at the Medals of Merit presentation in Stockholm, awarded to members of the armed forces for action during combat. Sofia, who is married to Sweden's Prince Carl Philip, 38, stunned in a simple pink dress with a matching belt that highlighted her pregnancy shape. Princess Sofia of Sweden, 32, has been keeping her baby bump under wraps but today there was no disguising her blossoming tummy The royal went for an on-trend clash of red and pink by rocking a fiery crimson manicure against her fuchsia dress The royal took a leaf out of Kate Middleton's book, teaming her outfit with nude heels and carrying a matching clutch. She wore her hair back in a knotted bun and kept her make-up to a minimum, allowing her pregnancy glow to shine through. However, she went for an on trend clash of pink and red, with a fiery crimson manicure. Sofia and Carl Philip announced they were expecting a sibling for their one-year-old son Alexander back in March, just 11 months after he was born. The royal joined the Medals of Merit presentation to members of the armed forces Sofia, who is already a mother to Prince Alexander, is believed to be around five months into her pregnancy and is due to give birth in September Princess Sofia of Sweden is welcomed with a handshake as she arrives at the Medals of Merit presentation in Stockholm The royal showed off her slim pins a knee length dress, teamed with nude heels Glowing Sofia kept her make-up simple for the event and wore her hair scraped back in a knotted bun In an official statement on the Swedish Royal Court's website, the couple said: 'We are happy to announce that we are expecting a child, a sibling to Prince Alexander. 'We are looking forward to welcoming a new little member to our family.' The statement also confirmed that Sofia would continue with her scheduled engagements as planned throughout the spring and summer of 2017. Prince Alexander arrived in April 2016 weighing 7lbs 9oz and measuring 19.3 inches long at Danderyds Hospital in Stockholm. Hours after the birth, Carl Philip held a press conference at the hospital to announce the new arrival. Former glamour model Sofia is expecting her second child with husband Prince Carl Philip in the autum Princess Sofia was welcomed by a representative in an aquatic themed dress, which the royal seemed to be admiring Forget manbags. The latest sparkling statement of male metrosexuality is to sport a mangagement ring. Once the preserve of the gay community, a visible sign of being mangaged is increasingly popular among heterosexual couples, too, with Michael Buble revealing a platinum band following his engagement to Luisana Lopilato in 2010. His other half is from Argentina, where its traditional for both parties to show off their commitment with a bit of bling. Now, legions of grooms-to-be in the UK are also happily putting a ring on it. Once the preserve of the gay community, a visible sign of being mangaged is increasingly popular among heterosexual couples, too, with Michael Buble revealing a platinum band following his engagement to Luisana Lopilato in 2010 Mark Tully, 32, from Glasgow, is one of them. The insurance worker opted for the traditional route when he proposed to Lisa Bain at Edinburgh Castle in February 2016, getting down on bended knee and presenting his future wife with a diamond and emerald white gold band. Lisa, a 39-year-old beauty salon owner, accepted right away. But she, too, had a surprise in store: months later she presented Mark with an engagement ring of his own on the anniversary of their first date. We were getting ready to go out for a meal, and she handed me a small box and said: Id like you to have this, he recalls. I loved it as soon as I saw it. Lisa had hinted about getting me a ring previously and had asked whether Id wear one. I dont see any reason why men shouldnt wear engagement rings to show they are committed to someone. Mark confesses that although hed never heard of the term mangagement, he is proud to wear the 450 ring, which bears the inscription I love you on the inside. But are engagement jewellery options for men a long-awaited marker of true love, or just another way to commercialise romance? But are engagement jewellery options for men a long-awaited marker of true love, or just another way to commercialise romance? Lorna Haddon, a buyer at jewellers Beaverbrooks, says: Responding to increased demand, last year we launched a dedicated Mens Engagement Ring category. And while diamonds may be a girls best friend, Lorna says other factors are far weightier when it comes to choosing a mangagement ring. But are engagement jewellery options for men a long-awaited marker of true love, or just another way to commercialise romance? The practicality of the ring is important, especially for men who work in physical occupations, she says. Platinum is much tougher than gold and will not scratch. Palladium is part of the platinum group of metals and is an affordable alternative. As for Mark, he confesses: It felt funny at first, but now it feels funny not wearing it. At work, Ill look at the message inside. It makes me happy knowing Ive found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. But my friends think its hilarious and are always winding me up by saying that Im under the thumb. Women tend to tell me its cute. And my mum loves it too! However, mangagement rings have been labelled by some as a way for a woman to brand her man with a declaration of hands off, hes mine!. However, mangagement rings have been labelled by some as a way for a woman to brand her man with a declaration of hands off, hes mine! John Foster, a 34-year-old IT manager from Somerset, proposed to Ceri Forsdike, a 37-year-old learning support manager, six months after the pair met online. He popped the question over a romantic home-cooked meal, but instead of dessert, he says: I knelt down and presented Ceri with a diamond solitaire. Not to be outdone, two weeks later they chose a ring for him, too. John doesnt care if people think hes been tagged. Girls have something to show off, so I wanted a sign I was promised to someone, too, he says. When John had been engaged before, his fiancee bought him a PlayStation, so he was keen to make a more meaningful statement of togetherness this time. When John had been engaged before, his fiancee bought him a PlayStation, so he was keen to make a more meaningful statement of togetherness this time The ring cost less than 50 the pair are saving for their wedding but he stresses its symbolic value is greater than any price tag could be. Some guys think its funny and colleagues have asked why Im wearing a ring when Im not married. When I tell them its an engagement ring they reply: Men dont wear those! But I just say Im starting a trend. As wedding season enters full flow, jewellers will be rubbing their hands in glee: from budget to extravagant, silver to classic gold, gem-encrusted to plain, there are engagement rings for every groom-to-be. Whether its a sign of equality, or a warning to others to keep their paws to themselves, this latest trend is likely to set you back considerably more than a tube of manscara. She's a high-powered human rights barrister who manages to look catwalk-ready wherever she is. Hes the debonair career bachelor who, until his 50s, said he had no interest in marriage, let alone children. So to say the world is waiting with bated breath to see how George and Amal Clooneys lives will change when their twins arrive any day is something of an understatement. The world is waiting with bated breath to see how George and Amal Clooneys lives will change when their twins arrive any day ITS A BOY AND A GIRL! The obsessively private pair have been secretive about their new arrivals, sharing details about their due date and gender with only close friends and confidantes. But even they cant be trusted not to let the cat out of the bag. Close friend Cindy Crawford was pictured holding up a pair of tiny baby suits, one with pink lettering and the other blue, apparently confirming that the Clooneys are expecting a girl and a boy. The names Casa and Migos were a tongue-in-cheek reference to Georges Casamigos tequila brand. Others in the know are family, including proud granny-to-be Nina Clooney, who told how her son and daughter-in-law had visited her in the U.S. to break the news. We were with them and they told us together, said Nina, 77. We were all together, and it was lovely. PREGNANCY CUES It was an appearance by Amal, 39, who swapped her usual body-con look for a loose-fitting floral dress at a film screening in January, which sparked the pregnancy rumours. Amal was last seen in March, addressing the UN in New York, and later in London, speaking at Chatham House on war crimes in Iraq and Syria. As ever, Mrs Clooney was immaculately dressed, wearing a Balmain coat and a vintage red Dior dress. In just three months, it is estimated that the garments in her maternity wardrobe have topped 168,000. NO EXPENSE SPARED The Clooneys bought their Grade II-listed manor house, on a private island on the River Thames, after their wedding in September 2014. From the start, the nine-bedroom house, which was on the market for 7.5 million, was earmarked as the ideal family home and they spent an estimated 20 million making it perfect. This included a fence around the waterside property, ensuring it is safer for children. NESTING IN ENGLAND Now theyve got the ideal spot to raise their family, George and Amal arent going anywhere. Theyve spent the third trimester of Amals pregnancy in England, with both eschewing their busy work schedules. Last weekend, George sent his apologies to a humanitarian conference in Armenia saying if he missed the birth of his twins he wouldnt be going home. VILLAGE LIFE George and Amal are fully integrated into village life. George surprised locals with a generous 1,000 donation to the renovation of Dunsden Village Hall. They are likely to be interested in Kingfisher Kindergarten, the venues small, friendly, stimulating and happy nursery for children aged two to five. TIPS FROM JULIA Actress Julia Roberts, a long-time friend of Georges and mother of twins herself (13-year-old Hazel and Phinnaeus), has been on-hand with support. In a TV appearance she insisted George and Amal are a great couple and they dont need advice from me or anybody else. Favourites for godfather include Georges Ocean movies co-stars, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, both dads with ten children between them. Also in the running is pal Rande Gerber, husband of Cindy Crawford CHAMPAGNE ON ICE Although the couple have homes in the U.S. and Italy, theyve opted to have their twins in London. The favoured spot is the private Kensington Wing at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where Cheryl Tweedy gave birth to her son Bear in March. There are 14 private suites, with 75 bottles of champagne available to order. Should Amal need a caesarean, the bill could top 8,500. HANDS-ON DAD Hands-on George has pledged to stay with Amal throughout the birth and hes admitted that hes not entirely clueless around children. I played a paediatrician on ER, so I know how to work on child extras, the actor explained. If there are any accidents, Im there. Im the guy. NURSE TO THE STARS The Clooneys four-acre estate has outbuildings that could house one or even two nannies. But sources insist the couple will not be hiring a nanny, just a maternity nurse for the first six weeks, to help get the babies into a sleep routine. They are said to have chosen A-list favourite Rachel Waddilove who has worked with Zara Tindall and Gwyneth Paltrow. MODERN MUM Boasting a stellar career dedicated to raising awareness of global human rights violations, Amal is not the sort of woman to give it all up for motherhood. The barrister has spoken of how she views her glamorous mother, journalist Baria Alamuddin, 69, as a role model for managing to maintain both her femininity and work-life balance. Amal plans to go back to work about six months after the birth, although she will be spending more time at her home office. Baria, who has a house close by, has promised to babysit. LIKELY GODPARENTS Favourites for godfather include Georges Ocean movies co-stars, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, both dads with ten children between them. Also in the running is pal Rande Gerber, husband of Cindy Crawford. As godmother, Amals lookalike younger sister Tala is the most obvious choice. Then theres Julia Roberts. BRITISH SCHOOLING Any child of the Clooneys can apply for dual British-American nationality. However, George has been clear he plans to raise his family in the UK for the first few years. He values his wifes British education. She won a place at Dr Challoners, an all-girls grammar school in Buckinghamshire, before reading law at Oxford. WHOS THE BOSS? Amal has been calm throughout her pregnancy, while George has been overawed by the prospect of having twins, describing it as an immense responsibility. After the birth, friends joke that Amal better get ready to bear the brunt of the work. Matt Damon predicts a steep learning curve for his close friend George. Hell be great, hell be a mess . . . Amal will take care of everything, he said. Fergie reportedly felt as if she'd lost a son when her daughter Beatrice split from her long-term boyfriend Dave Clarke last year. But at least she has another boy in the family in the shape of Princess Eugenie's long-term boyfriend Jack Brooksbank. Proving he's a firm fixture in the York fold, he joined Eugenie, 27, and her mother Fergie, 57, on the red carpet for Hope and Homes End The Silence Charity Fundraiser at Abbey Road Studios in London this evening. The Princess looked striking in a colourful geometric print dress with an asymmetirc hemline, while her mother was more understated in a simple black dress. Princess Eugenie, 27, was joined on the red carpet by her long-term boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, 30, and mother Sarah Ferguson Fergie looked chic in a simple knee length dress, while Eugenie was striking in a multicoloured patterned dress She added a splash of colour with a silk scarf, which she wore draped over one shoulder. Mother-and-daughter sweetly held hands as they posed up a storm, while Jack placed an arm around his partner's waist. The entrepreneur who has set up a firm distributing alcoholic drinks looked very dapper for the occasion in a traditional tux. Eugenie and Jack, 30, have been going strong since meeting in Verbier in 2010 and rumours of the couple's engagement were rife last December when Eugenie was spotted wearing a band on her ring finger. The smart pair arriving at Abbey Road Studios for the End the Silence charity fundraiser Holly Branson, 35, stunned in a long black dress with gold detailing and daring sheer panels Holly and her husband Freddie Andrews were no doubt enjoying a well-earned night off from caring for their two-year-old twins Artie and Etta Eugenie and Jack attended Pippa Middleton's big day earlier this month, but there's no word on whether there may be wedding bells for them just yet Part of the family: Eugenie and her mother are often seen out as a threesome with Princess Beatrice, but tonight they were joined by her long-term partner Jack However, the only aisle they've walked down recently is that of St Mark's Church in Englefield for the wedding of Pippa Middleton, which they attended earlier this month. The York mother and daughters often hit the town as a threesome, but Beatrice was nowhere to be seen this evening. Fergie was looking incredibly youthful in a knee length dress that showed off her shapely legs However, Eugenie wasn't short of company as her close family friend Holly Branson was also spotted on the red carpet. The mother-of-two looked stunning in a long black gown with a daring sheer panel at the side and a gold geometric pattern and the neckline and hips. She was joined by her husband Freddie Andrews, with the couple no doubt enjoying a well-earned night off from caring for their two-year-old twins Artie and Etta. Tonight's event saw a host of celebrities attend a celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Beatles SGT Pepper in aid of Hope and Homes End The Silence campaign, which aims to prevent the abuse of children in orphanages. Kerry Perkins sits alone in her car ready to drive to work, but she cannot move. The sight of a mother contentedly pushing her baby in a pram nearby has caught her off-guard. Her hands are frozen on the steering wheel as the tears flow. She lets out a low wail of grief and anger. Why me? she sobs. I shouldnt be driving to work. I should be at home with my babies. I should be a mummy. Kerry, 37, is one of the quarter of a million women in Britain each year who suffer the painful loss of a miscarriage. But unlike most of these women, she has endured this agony again and again. Since she started trying for a baby when she was 19, Kerry has seen a staggering 15 pregnancies end in miscarriage including two late ones, both girls, at 16 weeks Since she started trying for a baby when she was 19, Kerry has seen a staggering 15 pregnancies end in miscarriage including two late ones, both girls, at 16 weeks. Although it is still rarely discussed openly, around one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. However, just one in every 15,000 women will suffer as many as five miscarriages. What statistics cannot show, of course, is the impact upon womens mental and physical health of years of expectation, hope and disappointment. Yet, as reproductive medicine advances in leaps and bounds every year, women, like Kerry, quite understandably refuse to give up. In past generations, couples who faced infertility and repeated miscarriages would have resigned themselves to childlessness early in their relationships. Around one in five adults has always remained childless, whether through choice or circumstance. This proportion has been rising in recent years, however, as women delay motherhood to focus on their careers, or decide not to have children at all. A woman in her mid-40s is twice as likely to be childless today as her mothers generation. The difference nowadays, however, is that when women have fertility problems they will often endure decades of gruelling, intrusive, painful and often cripplingly expensive procedures as they cling onto the tiny glimmer of hope offered by science. And who can blame them? She started trying for a family soon after she met her now husband, David, a 43-year-old finisher But couples who have trouble getting pregnant are three times more likely to divorce than other partners. Many women suffer depression; one in five consider committing suicide, begging the question: what is the price of hope? Kerry has spent the past 18 years on this carousel of heartbreak. She doesnt know how much more she can take. But as long as theres a chance, she says shell keep trying to fulfil her dream. She started trying for a family soon after she met her now husband, David, a 43-year-old finisher. She knew that the sooner she started the better, as her chances were not great. She has both polycystic ovary syndrome (a hormonal imbalance which affects ovulation) and endometriosis (a condition where womb tissue grows outside the uterus). Yet she was still shocked at just how difficult things were. She had five miscarriages in four years all of them before 12 weeks and, feeling on the verge of breakdown, took a break for a few years. Kerry and David got married and bought a house in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, while she concentrated on her career, qualifying as an accountant. I needed to change focus, she says. I couldnt take any more losses. When I told them how many miscarriages Id had, I felt as though they recoiled from me, like it was catching. I have felt so isolated in my grief. I feel like a failure as a woman.' Three years ago, David and Kerry decided to try for a family again. She was referred to a specialist at St Marys Hospital in London, but to no avail. She has had ten more miscarriages, including the two late ones, in July 2015 and January last year two girls whose ashes are now enclosed in a pearl necklace which she wears all the time. Kerry tried to find solace by going to support groups such as those held by Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death support charity. I felt like such a fool at these meetings, she recalls. There were women who had lost babies at 40 weeks. The furthest I had ever got was 16 weeks. But I was still grieving and needed help. When I told them how many miscarriages Id had, I felt as though they recoiled from me, like it was catching. I have felt so isolated in my grief. I feel like a failure as a woman. Its been hard as my friends and family have had babies. I cant tolerate it very well. Im OK when theyre older but I cant cope with small babies. Sometimes I feel so angry, it shocks and scares me. Its so unfair. I shouldnt be living this life now. I should have a family. My husband has been amazing but he doesnt speak about it much. He tells me I am a strong woman for wanting to achieve our dream of a family, but that we should stop the moment I decide its too much - Kerry Kerry has undergone treatments including hormone therapy to help carry a child to term. She doesnt drink or smoke, leads a healthy lifestyle and takes vitamins. She has also struggled with her weight not helped by her polycystic ovary syndrome but has lost almost 4st over the past year. The impact has been immense on both David and Kerry. In addition to the mental and physical toll, she has had to take time off work after each miscarriage. I feel like Ive not been allowed to grieve properly. My previous work were not very tolerant. I feel that with each loss, the tolerance levels get lower and lower. So, why doesnt Kerry stop? Or has she considered adoption or surrogacy? As long as I can get pregnant, I will keep trying. My desire to become a mother is so powerful. Many of these women are grieving, trying to cope with a loss that people cannot see, but they have reached the end of their fertility journey - miscarriage support organisation founder, Kelly Da Silva My husband has been amazing but he doesnt speak about it much. He tells me I am a strong woman for wanting to achieve our dream of a family, but that we should stop the moment I decide its too much. Kelly Da Silva knows this feeling all too well. She set up an organisation called The Dovecote to help couples deal with childlessness and live fulfilling lives. She spent seven and a half years trying to get pregnant with her husband Matthew, 37, before reaching the end of her road. Knowing when that moment has arrived is a huge step. There are so many treatments available today and this means that women are having to come to terms with the fact that they may never have children later and later, says Kelly, 35. I thought IVF would be the answer for me. It was hard to let go. We had spent most of our married life trying for a baby and we needed to stop putting things on hold. We needed to start our lives. I was 31 but I knew I needed to find a way to move on. I felt like there had been a huge black cloud hanging over me for so long. I suffered from depression and anxiety. I always thought I would be a mum but when that was taken away I really struggled. Kelly, now works full-time helping to support people unable to have children, while her own infertility remains unexplained. Angie Baker, 40, also struggled to become a mother. She had 18 miscarriages over 13 years before her daughter Raiya was born seven years ago Many of these women are grieving, trying to cope with a loss that people cannot see, but they have reached the end of their fertility journey, she explains. Yet as tragic as Kerry and Kellys stories are, there are the tales of hope that spur them on to give it one last go. In April, 26-year-old Kayleigh Wood made the papers after she gave birth to a healthy baby boy having had a staggering 16 miscarriages. Kayleigh, of March, Cambridgeshire, had never made it beyond the eight-week mark but after an operation to remove scar tissue from her womb left from an abortion she had when she was 15 she carried her son Reggie to term with partner Toby, 38, a butcher, last October. I thought it was my fault for having had the abortion, she says. I could not stand being around babies. Things got so bad I pleaded with my GP to sterilise me. I cant say how relieved I am that Reggie is here with me now. He has made my life complete. The breakthrough came after a friend read a newspaper article about Dr Hassan Shehata. He specialises in treating multiple miscarriages, working at the Miscarriage Clinic in London and at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust Angie Baker, 40, also struggled to become a mother. She had 18 miscarriages over 13 years before her daughter Raiya was born seven years ago. Angie, who runs a martial arts business with her partner Lee Gibson, 38, in Lewes, East Sussex, first started trying to have a baby when she was 20. My priority in life was having children. I was working in a nursery and it was hard being around children but I could get pregnant easily enough, so I kept trying. In fact, Angie carried on trying for more than ten years, at a great cost to her health and happiness. It was really hard, especially when friends and family were having babies as I just wished I could have that as well. We did consider adoption but we wanted to keep trying. I dont know how I found the strength to keep going. I just wouldnt quit. I was desperate. The breakthrough came after a friend read a newspaper article about Dr Hassan Shehata. He specialises in treating multiple miscarriages, working at the Miscarriage Clinic in London and at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. Dr Sehata (pictured with Angie and Raiya) says: Im privileged to do what I do. I get to help women who have endured so much loss. But its very difficult for the partner, too. Its important that we remember them in this. Angie contacted Dr Shehata for help in 2006 and was referred for treatment. A specialist test, available only in three places: Epsom, Surrey, Liverpool and in the U.S., showed she was suffering from a fairly common problem. Like 15 per cent of women, Angie has high numbers of a subtype of white blood cell, known as natural killer (NK) cells, which protect the body from viruses. Because Angies NK cells were too aggressive, whenever she became pregnant they mistook the foetus for a foreign body and attacked it. Dr Shehatas treatment, using high doses of steroids, started before Angie conceived. But during the pregnancy it was discovered that she was diabetic. High sugar levels caused by the steroids led to another miscarriage. However, Angie felt there was light at the end of the tunnel and resolved to try one more time. In 2010 she became pregnant and carried her daughter Raiya to term. Raiya with her father Lee after the couple managed to finally have a child I did not enjoy being pregnant, she says. Right up until I held Raiya, I was in denial. I didnt want to do anything in case it tempted fate. I didnt buy a thing. I was too terrified. Although Angie will always carry a sadness for all of her lost babies, she says Raiya has brought her more joy than she could ever have dreamed of. I do not take a single day for granted with her. She is my little miracle. To all the women struggling, I would say, Persevere with your dream, dont give up. Dr Shehata explains that the most common cause of miscarriage is a chromosomal abnormality. Less common reasons include hormonal imbalances or immune system factors such as Angies. These can be treated with various drugs, including steroids. He says: Im privileged to do what I do. I get to help women who have endured so much loss. But its very difficult for the partner, too. Its important that we remember them in this. NHS administrative worker Marianne Berry, 46, a former nurse, had 12 miscarriages trying to get pregnant with husband Paul, also 46. Ten of these came before their son Samuel was born 12 years ago, then two more before they had daughter Amy, who is now seven NHS administrative worker Marianne Berry, 46, a former nurse, had 12 miscarriages trying to get pregnant with husband Paul, also 46. Ten of these came before their son Samuel was born 12 years ago, then two more before they had daughter Amy, who is now seven. She says: We had not been together very long when I first found out I was pregnant in 1998. However, a few weeks later I was taken to A&E with heavy bleeding and was told I had lost the baby. I had nine more miscarriages, all before 12 weeks, until Samuel arrived in 2004. I had nine more miscarriages, all before 12 weeks, until Samuel arrived in 2004. Marianne got pregnant after being referred to a specialist at St Marys Hospital in London. She was told she had the sticky blood condition known as Factor V Leiden, which means her blood clots too easily. She was prescribed aspirin and the steroid progesterone, and carried a baby beyond 12 weeks for the first time. The whole time I was pregnant with Samuel I was on tenterhooks. I would listen to his heartbeat all day. I would get into a panic if I couldnt find it immediately. I didnt really believe he was here until I took him home. Marianne and Paul decided to try again and, after two further miscarriages, Amy was born. Each year, on Baby Loss Awareness Day in October, I light 12 candles for my babies, she says. But we are so blessed. Samuel and Amy are my whole world. I always have it in the back of my mind that this is too good to be true. Each year, on Baby Loss Awareness Day in October, I light 12 candles for my babies, she says. But we are so blessed. Samuel and Amy are my whole world. I always have it in the back of my mind that this is too good to be true. Paul, a car parts salesman, admits he found it tough seeing his wife go through so much. The years we had all the miscarriages were extremely hard, he says. It was horrible seeing my wife in tears and pain over and over again. At one point I didnt want to keep trying. But she was determined that we would get there in the end, which of course we did. Ruth Bender Atik, director of the Miscarriage Association, says the way other people react is one of the hardest things for couples having repeated miscarriages. Even if you feel you should stop trying, to actively contracept feels counter-intuitive when you want a baby. I would urge anyone going through this to get support - Ruth Bender Atik, director of the Miscarriage Association There can be a tendency to move from trying to cheer you up to suggesting that its time to stop, she adds. This can be very difficult to deal with and may be the kind of questions that couples are having anyway. Can we put ourselves through this again? Should we stop trying? Even if you feel you should stop trying, to actively contracept feels counter-intuitive when you want a baby. I would urge anyone going through this to get support. Meanwhile, Kerry says she is determined to keep trying. There is not a day that goes by when I dont cry. I feel profoundly sad and deeply angry at the unfairness of it. But I believe that one day my dream will come true. I do not accept I wont be a mother. The myth that smoking marijuana with tobacco will make users more stoned has been debunked by scientists. Cannabis users across the world have long believed that sprinkling a handful of tobacco in with the herb improves the high. But in the first study of its kind, researchers delving into how both substances interacted when inhaled together found no such effects. However, they did note that mixing the two together may help to lessen the memory impairment caused by smoking cannabis. The new University College London research suggested this could be because nicotine has previously been proven to sharpen the mind. As legalisation of cannabis becomes prevalent, researchers said it is essential that any changes in its policy consider the interrelationship between tobacco and marijuana. Researchers at University College London have debunked the myth that smoking marijuana with tobacco will make users more high Researchers also found that smoking cannabis and tobacco together can temporarily increase blood pressure and heart rate. Experts said the findings are worrying, considering the long-term health dangers that are already known about smoking tobacco-related products, including heart disease and various forms of cancer. Lead author Chandni Hindocha, of the university's clinical psychopharmacology department, said: 'There's a persistent myth that adding tobacco to cannabis will make you more stoned, but we found that actually, it does nothing to improve the subjective experience. 'Surprisingly little research has been done on how tobacco might alter the effects of cannabis. 'As cannabis gets legalised in more countries, it is essential that any changes in cannabis policy consider their interrelationship.' Professor Val Curran, who was also involved in the research, added: 'There is a clear public health implication here, suggesting that smoking tobacco with cannabis does not improve the stoned feeling but is still worse for physical health.' How the study was carried out For the study, 24 cannabis users took part in four sessions of smoking different joints. They were rolled with cannabis and tobacco, cannabis and a placebo, tobacco and a placebo, or just the placebo of both. Their memory was tested by having to recall passages of prose, which they heard before and after smoking. They also had to complete a small task to assess their spatial working memory. Heart rates and blood pressure was taken both before and after smoking each joint, while volunteers self-reported their mood and experiences. Where do people mix cannabis with tobacco? Many people in Europe choose to mix tobacco and marijuana together when rolling joints in order to make their supply of the drug last longer. Others do so in the belief that they will get a bit of an extra kick from tobacco, which contains nicotine a drug that releases 'feel good' chemicals in the brain. The latest Global Drug Survey showed that up to 90 per cent of European cannabis users smoke it with tobacco. But this method of smoking the drug is less common in the US, with many instead choosing to inhale cannabis on its own. The new finding that tobacco has the ability to reduce the memory-impairing effects of cannabis may be part of why people add it to their joint, the researchers said. Scientists did note that mixing the two together may help to lessen the memory impairment caused by smoking cannabis 'A fascinating piece of research' Ian Hamilton, a cannabis researcher based at the University of York who wasn't involved in the study, told MailOnline: 'This is a fascinating piece of research and clearly the impact of combing tobacco and cannabis needs to be investigated further. 'We don't know why this habit of using these two drugs has persisted for so long, in the past it was believed to be due to making your cannabis joint go that bit further. 'But perhaps this new research offers an insight into more complex reasons for rolling a joint with tobacco. 'Overall even if memory is improved this is offset by the greater risk that tobacco poses to health. There are safer ways of improving memory and recall.' It comes after a Georgia Regents University study in 2015 found that nicotine supported learning and memory ability. This may explain why the new study participants who smoked both substances had an easier time recalling a phrase than when they smoked marijuana alone. However, the experts claim the addition of nicotine can add to the cardiovascular risk of smoking marijuana. CANNABIS-BASED DRUG OFFERS HOPE FOR EPILEPTICS A drug derived from cannabis offers hope for thousands of children living with untreatable epilepsy, a major study has shown. Cannabidiol, a medicine made out of cannabis but with the psycho-active elements removed, halved the seizures suffered by children with a severe form of the condition. Experts at Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London said the results could make a 'considerable difference' to adults and children suffering with epilepsy. The trial, led by Great Ormond Street and New York University, found the syrup, taken once a day, reduced the convulsive seizures by 48 percent in under-18s with Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. In five percent of patients the debilitating fits stopped altogether. In the United States, an estimated three million people have epilepsy. More than 600,000 people in the UK suffer with epilepsy and for a third of them - 200,000 - drugs do not work to control their symptoms. Advertisement Scientists are under no illusion that tobacco use is dangerous, with it being the single most preventable cause of death in the world. Tobacco products caused around 101,000 deaths in the UK in 2010 and around 480,000 deaths annually in the US. But the medical community is still divided over the pros and cons of smoking cannabis as they race to thoroughly understand the drug's long-term effects. Experts taking a closer look on the effects of pot have found both benefits and problems. German researchers claimed cannabis could possibly delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Their study examined elderly mice and found their mental power improved dramatically after they were given THC, the psychoactive part of marijuana that makes users 'high'. A potential downside to marijuana comes from new research by Columbia University. They found smoking weed on a regular basis drives up the risk of severe gum disease - and could cause teeth to fall out. The UCL study authors warn their research should be a warning sign that increasingly relaxed marijuana laws in the US could have serious oral health implications. In the US, cannabis use for both medical and recreational purposes is legal in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, California, Maine and Massachusetts. Marijuana is still not legal in the UK and can carry a five-year prison sentence for anyone found in possession of the substance. Marriage vows may need to be rewritten to exclude 'till death do us part' as our growing life expectancy may make couples reluctant to commit to the long haul, an expert warns. Claims that today's babies are expected to live to 104 may see marriages last up to a century, rather than just mere decades, the expert adds. Professor Sarah Harper of the University of Oxford, believes the institution of marriage may need rethinking as couples may not want to commit to just one person for 80, 90 or even 100 years. This comes after she claimed life expectancy is increasing at a rate of fifteen minutes an hour. Professor Harper, who founded Oxfords Institute of Ageing, also questions how our ever-growing lifespan will impact our inheritance, work life and societies in general. Our growing life expectancy may make couples reluctant to commit to the long haul HUMANS MAY LIVE TO 120 IN JUST 60 YEARS TIME DUE TO NEW DRUGS Humans may live to 120 in just 60 years time, according to a leading expert. Research reveals it is possible to slow down our biological, or 'inner', ageing process, which could help us to live decades beyond the current life expectancy of 81. Drugs that interact with our DNA maintain the function of our bodies for longer, the research suggests. Experts stress, however, this must be combined with a healthy lifestyle for full effect. Yet, how a 120-year-old life expectancy may impact our quality of life is unclear. The side effects of such treatments are also unknown. Several European countries are in talks to start drug trials within the next three years. Professor Vladimir Khavinson, head of the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, said: 'It is important to understand that nobody would want to live a long and unhealthy life. 'The main goal for us now must be to allow people to stay healthy for as long as possible into their old age.' Advertisement Professor Harper said 'We need to re-evaluate ageing and take on board what these very, very long lives will mean. Maybe we have to look, with these very, very long lives, whether we do want to be together for 50, 60, 70, 80, 100 years. 'So even the institution of marriage I think we've got to look at,' The Telegraph reported. Speaking at the Hay Festival, Professor Harper, said we are 'pushing back death considerably' and half the population now could reach their eighties. She said: 'We are gaining roughly 2.5 years of life expectancy per decade, or fifteen minutes an hour. 'Predictions suggest that, of the babies that are currently being born, the real life expectancy will be 104. In Japan it is 107. 'We are really talking about extending lives in a way we haven't experienced before. We have to start asking ourselves about the worlds we are going to live in with these very long lives. 'We take it for granted that we will pass power, assets and status down the generations at regular timings. 'What happens when you don't inherit from your grandparents until you're in your eighties? What happens in our workplaces? What happens in our societies, when we have these huge long gaps?' Professor Harper, who recently led a study for the Government on the effects of ageing, said robotics will be 'very beneficial' for helping older people stay in work, pointing out those in their 60s a generation ago would struggle to make a car but now can sit at computers operating robots. She also noted obesity is not substantially impacting life expectancy, but may be a significant cause of disability in later life. 'Obesity only decreases life expectancy by 1.5 years, but it increases disabled years by six years. That is extraordinary [and] not positive,' she warned. A Pakistani baby with an enlarged head has undergone life-saving treatment in the US after a kind stranger paid to fly him over. Ibtisam Faisal, 20 months, developed hydrocephalus months after birth - causing his skull to swell to 73cm, his family said. Due to his enormous head, also partly caused by craniosynostosis, he was unable to sleep with his eyes closed, or move freely and was confined to his bed. With no resources available in their home country, doctors warned his only chance of survival was treatment abroad last August. Months of campaigning for help led to an anonymous caller offering to fly Ibtisam and his mother over to a leading surgeon in Dallas in March. Two successful brain surgeries were carried out, reducing the size of his head to 61cm, according to his mother Laraib. Ibtisam Faisal, 20 months, developed hydrocephalus months after birth - causing his head to swell to 73cm. Due to his enlarged skull, he was unable to sleep with his eyes closed, or move his head freely and was confined to his bed Experts hope more operations organised for the coming months will allow him to sit up and enjoy a normal childhood. 'It's hard for any parent' Mrs Faisal said: 'It's hard for any parent to see their baby growing up unable to do anything but lay on a bed. 'It's also hard to live a dual life in the same house - behaving totally normal and emotionally available for my healthy son and being cautious, heartbroken and stressed for my ailing son. 'The balance is so hard to strike. A lot of credit for Ibtisam's progress goes to my husband who has looked after his needs and his daily care. 'He has been his strongest advocate, striving to get the best medical help for him and never giving up hope.' When did the parents know something was wrong? Laraib Faisal became a first time parent when she gave birth to Ibitsam and his twin brother in June 2015. Both she and her husband, Kiyani, were 'really happy and excited' to hold and nurture their children. But almost immediately after, they noticed something was wrong with the shape of his head and rushed him to the doctors. Two successful brain surgeries were carried out, reducing the size of his head to 61cm after a kind-hearted stranger offered to pay to send him to the US (pictured after surgery at the Craniofacial Center in Dallas in April) Ibtisam's mother Lairab Faisal said: 'It's hard for any parent to see their baby growing up unable to do anything but lay on a bed' (it is unsure when they were pictured) She said it was 'heartbreaking' for them to both have to see their baby have to go through such aggressive procedures so early on. Doctors diagnosed him with craniosynostosis - a condition that means parts of his skull fused in the womb, causing a misshapen head. When he was just a few months old, he became infected with a form of meningitis, it is believed. It's hard for any parent to see their baby growing up unable to do anything but lay on a bed. Lairab Faisal But the delay he suffered in receiving care led to hydrocephalus, with the swelling in his brain obstructing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. The build-up of this fluid inside his skull could have been deadly if left untreated, as a result of permanent brain damage. In August 2016, when Ibtisam was 14-months-old, doctors told the parents there was no cure for their son's condition in Pakistan and their only option was abroad. Mrs Faisal said: 'We were distraught with fear. There are only about a 100 craniofacial doctors in the entire world. 'Many sleepless nights were spend emailing these doctors only to get rejects from most of these doctors who either found the case too risky or complex and unviable.' Finally the couple found Dr Jefferey Fearon, based at the Craniofacial Center in Dallas, through a friend and began fundraising to cover the costs. With no resources available in their home country, doctors warned his only chance of survival was treatment abroad (pictured with his father Kiyani, but it is unconfirmed when it was taken) Experts hope more operations organised for the coming months will allow him to sit up and enjoy a normal childhood (pictured before the operations) A kind-hearted stranger became aware of the campaign and offered to fly the child and his mother out to the US and even pay for the surgery. WHAT ARE THESE CONDITIONS? CRANIOSYNOSTOSIS Craniosynostosis is a rare problem with the skull that causes a baby to be born with, or to develop, an abnormally shaped head. This can cause headaches, learning difficulties and eye problems. These symptoms usually result from increased pressure within the skull. The problem occurs as a result of the premature fusion of the different sections of the skull. This means the skull is unable to grow in certain areas and when one area is prevented from growing, other areas may 'overgrow' to compensate. Craniosynostosis affects about one in every 1,800 to 3,000 children. HYDROCEPHALUS Hydrocephalus is a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. The excess fluid leads to increased pressure on the brain which can cause damage to the brain tissue. The main symptoms of hydrocephalus are: headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion and problems with vision (for example, blurred or double vision). The key treatment for hydrocephalus is a shunt the drains the fluid away to other parts of the body. It is believed to be one of the most common birth defect, with one in every 500 births resulting in the condition. Advertisement Mrs Faisal said: 'That was the turning point. That renewed our faith in humanity, in God and in ourselves to win this fight against craniosynostosis. 'We will never be able to repay our anonymous benefactor or thank him enough. 'It's hard to stay away from home, my husband and my other twin son, living out of hotels and dealing with medical issues/bills. 'I have gotten a lot of love and support here in the US at the place I live in Ronald McDonald House of Dallas, where it feels like home.' What was the operation? In March 2017, Ibtisam underwent an Anterior Cranial Vault remodeling (CVR) to correct his skull. Medics hope the op will allow him to sit up and help normal childhood developments. However, the family still have to shuttle between Pakistan and Dallas several times over the next few months to complete the surgeries. It is hoped that these procedures will eventually 'correct his malformed head', Mrs Faisal said. Ibtisam has now been reunited with his twin brother and father in Pakistan, ahead of return trips to the US for further surgery. She added: 'We hope and pray to see Ibtisam standing up on his feet with a smile on his face and I want to see him flourish next to his twin brother. 'We have a long road to recovery and normalcy. 'We are requesting prayers for him from all around the world so that he can recover from these surgeries and one day be able to come running into my arms, just like his twin brother does now.' Anyone wanting to donate to the cause can do so here. A Pakistani father-of-three unable to get a job due to his giant hands has been forced to beg on the streets to feed his family. Ashraf-ud-din, 70, from Karachi, has suffered from the rare condition macrodactyly all of his life - a congenital form of gigantism. Despite previously being employed and working in a restaurant, he was sacked as customers refused to accept food off him. Numerous attempts to find himself another job have proved unsuccessful, leaving him desperate for an income to provide for his young children, with the youngest being just 18 months old. His time spent on the streets, where he begs for nine hours a day and earns Rs 400 (3), sees him abused by strangers who ridicule him and shout nasty comments. But his family and close friends have no idea that he has to beg because he is too embarrassed to confess. Ashraf-ud-din, 70, from Karachi, Pakistan, has suffered with the rare macrodactyly all of his life - a congenital form of gigantism WHAT IS MACRODACTYLY? The condition affecting Ashraf's hands is a rare form of gigantism known as macrodactyly. It typically affects the hands. Often, macrodactyly is present alongside syndactyly - the fusing of fingers or feet. Most of the time it only affects one hand or foot, and sometimes it only affects one finger or toe. It is a congenital condition caused by the overgrowth of bone and soft tissue. Surgery is usually required to correct tissues affected by macrodactyly. Source: Boston Children's Hospital Advertisement Unemployed - he's forced to beg Ashraf said: 'People always taunt me. They say Im cursed or Ive been punished by God. People feel disgusted when they look at me. Its very humiliating. 'The size of my hands have stopped me gaining any skill or talent to earn money. 'And people do not give me a job due to the condition so I have no other choice but to beg. It is not my profession by choice, but by helplessness. 'Ive done everything to find a job. I even tried working in a restaurant some years back but people refused to take food off me so I was sacked. 'Since then no one has recruited me. Ive been offered work as a labourer but my hands wont allow me to do such work, they hurt.' Ashraf refuses surgery as he places his hopes in God Ashraf does not want surgery as all doctors have suggested amputation, which he has refused. Instead he believes God will be kind to him one day. He said: 'I pray before my lord that one day I will be fine. 'I wish to open a general store which I could run with my wife and children but it feels like just a dream. 'I wish someone could help me achieve my dream. My children suffer due to my condition and I want them to have better than what I can offer them.' Despite previously being employed and working in a restaurant, he was sacked as customers refused to accept food off him. He now begs for nine hours a day to earn Rs 400 (3) Numerous attempts to find himself another job have proved unsuccessful, leaving him desperate for an income to provide for his children (pictured having tea in a market in Karachi) His family depend on him begging for their income Ashraf was born with hands bigger than normal, but as he has become older his condition has worsened. People do not give me a job due to the condition so I have no other choice but to beg Ashraf-ud-din, 70 During his adult life he has desperately tried to find work but no-one has agreed to employ him. He married his wife, whose name is unknown, five years ago and they have three children together, aged five, three and 18 months. At one point, Ashraf collapsed on the streets after suffering heat stroke from the sheer amount of walking he does each day. But he has since learnt his lesson, after his stay in hospital cost him more money than his family were able to afford. Instead of walking miles in the blistering heat, he chooses to beg between 3pm and 11pm to avoid another instance of heat stroke. His wife provides the family with a small income through domestic jobs, but it doesn't bring in enough money, Ashraf said. But his family and close friends have no idea that he has to beg because he is too embarrassed to confess (pictured having tea in a market in Karachi) Ashraf does not want surgery as all doctors have suggested amputation, which he has refused. Instead he believes God will be kind to him one day (pictured eating food at a roadside vendor) Ashraf never wants his children to know how he makes money He added: 'I beg so that I can educate my children. I want them to go to school and pursue a career of their choice. 'But I want to give up begging before my children grow up so that they never come to know. 'I hope someone can give me a break before my children ever come to know that their father has had to beg.' Dr Jaswan Shakya, medical director of Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital, in Nepal, deals with many cases of abnormalities. He said that Ashrafs hands could only be operated on if the bones have not increased in size as a result of the condition. Dr Shakya added: 'It is not a life-threatening situation but it causes a lot of problems in day-to-day life.' A baby dubbed an 'alien' after she was born with four legs has had her extra pair removed during a complex operation. The five-month-old, who is yet to be named, was born in January with her parasitic twin brother fixed to her spine. Local doctors were originally baffled as to why she had the extra limbs, and insisted that her mother, Surekha Muli, 22, was cursed. But after eventually getting a diagnosis, both she and her husband Pratap, 25, were forced to wait for months before she was allowed to have life-saving surgery. Surgeons finally performed the procedure last Wednesday, with the mother-of-four saying her family is now complete. Mrs Muli said: 'I felt so bad when people came to see my child, as if she was an alien. The five-month-old, yet to be named, was born in January with her parasitic twin brother fixed to her spine (pictured before surgery at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat) 'They would often pass comments and say I deserved it as I was cursed. I was helpless but I didn't lose hope.' 'I cannot even express my happiness in words and I cannot thank the doctors enough for their assistance and effort to save my child. 'I feel blessed to see my child normal now. Our family is now complete and life and can continue.' Mrs Muli, from a small village in Gujarat, western India, was too poor to have an ultrasound during her pregnancy. As a result, she was left completely unaware of her child's condition until they were delivered at a local hospital. Seeing the extra limbs on the girl devastated both Mrs Muli and her husband, Pratap, 25, a farmer who earns only Rs 100 (1) a day. Doctors were unsure if the baby would even survive, forcing the family to seek medical help from various sources. Surgeons finally performed the procedure to remove her extra appendages last Wednesday (pictured: scan of the girl taken before the operation) As weeks passed and the community became aware about the baby, Mrs Muli was called 'cursed' by cruel strangers. The couple eventually visited the government-run Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in February. The diagnosis of a parasitic twin I feel blessed to see my child normal now. Our family is now complete and life and can continue Surekha Muli, 22 Here, doctors diagnosed the extra limbs to be a result of a parasitic twin. Unlike conjoined twins, one is incompletely formed or wholly dependent on some bodily functions of the complete foetus. Cases of parasitic twins are rare and believed to account for just one per one million live births, according to medical literature. Doctors at the hospital examined the baby and eventually decided to operate when the baby was stronger - lowering any potential risk. Dr Rakesh Joshi, paediatric surgeon at the hospital, said: 'We could not have taken any chance with the child as she was too small to undergo such major surgery. Local doctors were originally baffled as to why she had the extra limbs, and insisted that her mother, Surekha Muli, 22, (pictured with her husband Pratap, 25 after surgery) was cursed After eventually being told the extra legs were a result of a parasitic twin, the parents were forced to wait for months before she was allowed to have life-saving surgery (pictured together as a family after the surgery) 'A physically deformed child with four legs could not have survived for too long like that. She could manage until now but she would've struggled later in life.' 'In order to avoid any cardiac issue and loss of the baby, we wanted the child to be at least three-months-old before we could actually take her for surgery.' WHAT ARE PARASITIC TWINS? Parasitic twins are usually a result of a delay in the separation of embryos during conception. They are formed when one embryo maintains a dominant development at the expense of the other. Unlike conjoined twins, one is incompletely formed or wholly dependent on some bodily functions of the complete fetus. Cases of parasitic twins are rare and believed to account for just one per one million live births. Advertisement No need to pay for surgery The parents were sent home and told to return last week, when they decided to remove the extra limbs, free of cost. The infant survived the complex surgery to get the extra limbs removed in a five-hour long surgery by six doctors, on May 24. Dr Joshi said 'it was an extremely complex operation' because the parasitic twin was attached to the spinal cord of the fully grown child. However, he added that the operation to remove the boy who was only partially formed was a complete success. The baby weighed 16.3lbs (7.4kg) before the surgery. But now she weighs 5.6kg (12.3lbs), local reports suggest. Surgeons to discharge her later this week Surgeons said she is currently recovering at the hospital and is expected to be discharged at some point later this week. Dr Joshi, who had never seen such a case before, added: 'We were very shocked by the condition. 'She is doing fine now with two legs and is moving all her four limbs normally. She is taking feeds properly and is responding well to post surgery treatment. We expect to discharge her from the hospital in two days. 'It was a big challenge to operate on her and we are delighted to have done it successfully.' Pregnant women really can't win. They are judged negatively whether they take maternity leave or not, a new study suggests. Research into workers' attitudes found mothers who took time off to care for babies were seen as less committed and competent at work. While those who continued working were viewed as less caring parents, Exeter University scientists discovered. The controversial findings suggest that women are 'damned' either way, according to lead author Dr Thekla Morgenroth. Research into workers' attitudes found mothers who took time off to care for babies were seen as less committed and competent at work 'This is a no-win situation for women,' Dr Morgenroth said. 'Our results show that perceptions of competence, whether in the work or family domain, were never boosted, but only impaired, by the maternity leave decision. 'Both decisions had negative consequences, albeit in different domains. 'It is important to have policies which allow women to balance work and family life, but it's also important to understand people's use of these policies may have unintended consequences.' How the study was carried out The study examined the attitudes of 137 women and 157 men who were employed, mostly from the US and the UK. They were split into three groups and given information about a fictional woman. The only difference between what they were told was whether the woman had chosen to take maternity leave. In one version she had taken it, in another she had continued working, and in a third - a control group - the issue was not mentioned. Participants were then asked to evaluate the woman as a worker and a parent for the study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. What the researchers found The researchers found negative family results for a woman who kept working, and negative working results for a woman who took maternity leave. Dr Morgenroth added: 'These effects occurred regardless of the respondent's gender, age, parental status or nationality, which suggests these attitudes are universal and pervasive in our culture.' The majority of participants were working full-time (70 per cent) and had no children (71 per cent). The average age of participants was 33. People with a slower heart rate are 20 percent more likely to be criminals as they desperately seek a stimulating jolt, a new study claims. Analyzing data on almost 1,000 young people, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found a clear correlation between heart rates and crime rates. Experts claim the research could explain why men - who have a naturally lower resting heart rate - commit more crimes. They concluded that men - and women with slower-pumping hearts - are biologically tuned to seek out stimulating experiences, and have a lower level of fear. Analyzing data on almost 1,000 young people, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found a clear correlation between heart rates and crime rates - and why that makes men more likely to commit crimes (file image) While the study builds on previous research looking at heart rate and thrill-seeking, this is the first to relate the theory to gender and crime. 'We think cardiovascular functioning partly explains sex difference in crime,' co-lead author Professor Adrian Raine, 'because low heart rate is a marker for other mechanisms like lack of fear and stimulation-seeking.' His colleague, Dr Olivia Choy, added: 'One way to get that stimulation is by engaging in antisocial behavior. 'Obviously, you can engage in prosocial behavior, say, for example, like skydiving, but another major theory connects low levels of arousal to low heart rate, reflecting a low level of fear in individuals. 'To commit a crime, you do need a level of fearlessness, so these are two major explanations for why we see this relationship between low heart rate and antisocial behavior.' Their research showed that a person's resting heart rate accounted for up to 17 percent of the gender difference in crime. To test their hypothesis that a low resting heart rate partly mediates the relationship between gender and crime, the researchers examined data from a longitudinal study of 894 participants. Resting heart rate at 11 years of age was examined alongside self-reported and official conviction records for overall criminal offending, violence, serious violence and drug-related crime at 23 years of age. A low resting heart rate partially mediated, or explained, the relationship between gender and all types of adult criminal offending, including violent and nonviolent crime. The mediation effects were significant after controlling for body mass index, race, social adversity and activity level. Professor Raine's work builds on previous research in Sweden on the same topic. In a study of more than 700,000 men, those with the lowest resting heart rate when they were teenagers were 39 per cent more likely to be later convicted of a violent crime than those with the highest pulses. Reacting to the study in 2015, Professor Raine described the results as 'exceptional'. He said: 'We now have knowledge a person's lower resting heart rate raises - albeit weakly - the odds of an individual committing future offences beyond his or her control. 'Can the criminal justice system continue to turn a blind eye to the anatomy of violence?' Before TJ Scanlon, Baltimore doctors had never seen a man come back to life. The medical experts consider the 32-year-old's case a medical miracle because Scanlon was effectively dead for 90 minutes in March 2016. The engineer had fallen 20 feet down a concrete stairwell and was left lying in a pool of his own blood in freezing temperatures before anyone discovered him. Scanlon suffered a cardiac arrest while he was being helicoptered to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma in Baltimore. Doctors said Scanlon was technically dead for more than an hour but he somehow overcame a five percent survival rate and regained full cognitive functions. Now Scanlon is in rehabilitation therapy a year after his accident, which cost him his leg and left him paralyzed from the chest down. TJ Scanlon, 32, fell down a stairwell and was left lying in a pool of his blood for two days in Columbia, Maryland, in March of 2016. While being flown to a Baltimore hospital, he had a cardiac arrest and was technically dead for 90 minutes. Pictured: Scanlon in summer 2016, 66 days after his accident Because of the freezing weather, Scanlon developed hypothermia and had to have some of his fingertips (pictured) removed and his left leg amputated Despite a five percent chance of survival, Scanlon (pictured left and right in May 2017) made it through but is paralyzed from the chest down. He is in rehabilitation therapy a year after his accident The accident occurred last year after Scanlon had returned from a friend's birthday party in Columbia, Maryland. While trying to reach his spare key, his balance was thrown when a neighbor's dog startled him. Scanlon plummeted over a railing and down a set of stairs before ending up at the bottom of a concrete landing. He was so badly injured that he couldn't move for two days in temperatures that dipped below freezing. Scanlon told Daily Mail Online: 'I don't remember being down there at all. I was unresponsive. I was in pretty rough shape. My eyes were rolling back in my head and I was moaning. 'My body was turning different colors because I was going into hypothermia.' Scanlon (pictured at therapy in February) said: 'I don't remember being down there at all. I was unresponsive. I was in pretty rough shape. My eyes were rolling back in my head' The accident occurred after Scanlon (pictured left after the accident and right in April 2016) had returned home from being with friends. While trying to reach his spare key, his balance was thrown and he plummeted down the stairs WHY ICE PACKS SHOULD BE USED AFTER CARDIAC ARREST Groundbreaking research claims cooling a body own into an induced state of hypothermia may reduce brain damage for patients after a cardiac arrest. A cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly. They will lose consciousness and will stop breathing normally. Unless immediately treated by CPR or other life-saving techniques, the person will die in minutes. During this time the heart is still sending blood around the body and the person remains conscious and is still breathing. The survival statistics are bleak: approximately 50 percent of people who arrest are revived and only about 10 percent of these people leave the hospital. Of those who do survive, around half suffer some level of brain impairment from the brain not getting enough oxygen. When the brain does not receive blood or oxygen it results in damage. The longer it goes without, the greater the chance for permanent brain injury or death. Advertisement Scanlon was rushed to the hospital after a coworker and a roommate found him. Medics reported that he had broken a vertebra in his neck, suffered kidney and lung failure, and his limbs were turning black due to frostbite and lack of circulation. Scanlon said: 'I coded in the helicopter. While they were wheeling me in, they had to keep pumping on my chest. 'My body was in hypothermia at 84 degrees so they used ECMO therapy to warm me up until they could see if I had vitals.' Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a treatment that uses a pump to circulate blood through an artificial lung back into the bloodstream, bypassing a person's heart and lungs. A cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly. A person will lose consciousness and will stop breathing normally. The survival statistics are bleak: approximately 50 percent of people who arrest are revived and only about 10 percent of these people leave the hospital. Of those who do survive, around half suffer some level of brain impairment from the brain not getting enough oxygen. When the brain does not receive blood or oxygen it results in damage. The longer it goes without, the greater the chance for permanent brain injury or death. Dr. Kevin OConnor, the medical director of spinal cord injury at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital where Scanlon recovered at, said Scanlon's case was something he never had come across before. He said to the Boston Herald: 'To be found two days later, as well as being outside, plus the number of injuries he had. Its extraordinary he survived that.' Medics reported he had broken a vertebra in his neck, suffering kidney and lung failure, and his limbs were turning black due to frostbite and lack of circulation It took two weeks for Scanlon to come to full consciousness, only then did he learn what had happened to him. Scanlon was at the hospital for 66 days, more than nine weeks, and had 27 surgeries in that time to cut away at his septic leg and reduce internal swelling. Now Scanlon is in out-patient physical therapy and will be starting his job again in July in Maryland. He contributes his positive attitude in helping him with his amazing progress. He said: 'When I woke up in the hospital, I didn't know what was going to happen. It's been a long year but a good year. 'I took it as a challenge. There was a line drawn for me in what I could achieve and I wanted to see how far I could take it.' After eliminating Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat in an encounter last week, the Indian Army now has 12 terrorists including two foreigners on its radar. The Army has a new list of 27 Hizbul terrorists allegedly being trained in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after pictures of the training camp were leaked on social media. Among the dozen terrorists, Army sources said the most wanted is Saddam Paddar - alias 'Zaid' - who is the Hizbul district commander in Shopian and has been active since 2015. Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat with Burhan Wani (right) Zaid was believed to be close to the group's former commander Burhan Wani, who was gunned down by troops last year. The other big-name militant the Army is looking to take out is Abu Dujana, who is a Pakistani and has been operating in south Kashmir since December 2014. Dujana has managed to give security forces the slip twice or thrice in the past but his cellphone was recently confiscated and provided a lot of information about his contacts and hideouts. Zakir Musa is also high on the hit list as he has been quite active in a propaganda war against the forces and has been able to evade capture by using crowds as human shields. Army personnel returning after a fierce encounter with militants at Soimoh village of Tral The completely damaged house where two militants including a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Sabzar Ahmad Bhat were killed in an encounter with security forces at Soimoh village of Tral Military intel also suggest Pakistan is planning to use its special ops BAT to create trouble on the LoC as there is heightened activity of the neighbouring country's special services group commandos in J&K's Poonch sector even as there are talks about deaths of four of them inside Pakistani territory. India has adopted an aggressive strategy to take on Pakistan's ceasefire violations on the border as one Pakistan Army mujahid battalion soldier was killed in cross-border fire exchange on Wednesday. According to information received by intelligence agencies, Pakistan will try and push more terrorists into the Valley over the coming days. Indian Army headquarters sources say there are at present approximately 200 terrorists lying in wait along the LoC. PICTURED: Wanted for questioning Hamstrung by the government's restrictions on sale of cattle, farmers and livestock traders have found greener pastures online. So, a swift search on online marketplaces such as OLX shows that hundreds of cows are up for sale as 'pets'. The environment ministry decreed last week that animal markets could only trade cattle for agricultural purposes, such as ploughing and dairy production. A swift search on online marketplaces such as OLX shows that hundreds of cows are up for sale in the virtual world as 'pets' An employee handles the carcass of a slaughtered buffalo as it hangs from an overhead conveyor at an abattoir operated by Allana Group in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh The rule came as part of a tough new law against animal cruelty, but critics say they are aimed at placating hardline Hindu supporters of the Narendra Modi government. The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday suspended the order for four weeks. Ravi Sharma from Uttar Pradesh's holy city Varanasi, which Prime Minister Modi represents in Parliament, seemed a little wary when spoken to about his online post selling a desi brown cow for Rs 75,000 (902.65). He first wanted to know what this correspondent intended to do with it and what community she belonged to, categorically stating that he has no interest in selling to a certain minority group. Not far away from Varanasi, in Ghazipur, Bheem Singh is keen to get rid of three cows at the earliest. So much so that he is open to a distress sale for as much as 50% less than the market price for cows. Job lot: A listing for 'assorted cows' for sale on OLX as 'pets' 'It's too dangerous keeping cows any more. Anyone can come and beat us,' he said while pushing this correspondent to close the deal over the phone. The past two years have seen a rise in vigilante attacks on Muslims and lower caste Hindus involved in the cattle trade, leading to several deaths. A group of alleged 'cow protectors' thrashed two meat traders on the suspicion that they were carrying beef on May 26. The past two years have seen a rise in vigilante attacks on Muslims and lower caste Hindus involved in the cattle trade, leading to several deaths Pehlu Khan was beaten to death last week after allegedly being suspected of transporting cattle for slaughter Several state governments have appealed to the PM to repeal the ban, which they say was issued without consultations with them Police in Rajasthan's Bhilwara arrested five people, including an alleged member of the RSS - the BJP's ideological mentor - who torched a truck last week that they thought was carrying cows for slaughter. Several state governments have appealed to the PM to repeal the order, which they say was issued without consultations with them. Some have decided to drag the Centre to court. Environment minister Harsh Vardhan had said that cattle bought and sold directly from farms would not be affected by the government's order. 'The aim of the rules is only to regulate the animal market and sale of cattle in them and ensure (the) welfare of cattle' in the markets,' he had said. Cows are revered in the Hindu scriptures as the 'mother' of civilisation and many worshippers equate the slaughter of cows or eating beef as blasphemy But many commentators see the move as a blow to beef and leather exports that will leave hundreds of thousands jobless and deprive millions of Christians, Muslims and poor Hindus of a cheap source of protein. It's not that cows have not been sold on e-commerce websites before. They have been available occasionally under the pets section. But there has been a sudden surge since the BJP swept to power in Uttar Pradesh in March with priest-turned-politician Yogi Adityanath taking the chief minister's post, and the rise of the gau rakshaks, or cow vigilantes. Critics say a sense of fear has been instilled in farmers and cattle owners who feel safer trading within the confines of the internet rather than an open market. A Muslim politician interrupted a parliamentary hearing to declare she was happy to be in an arranged marriage as a child bride expert spoke about honour killings. Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistani-born Greens politician in New South Wales, told the inquiry into human trafficking that she consented to her parents finding her a husband. The feminist MP's intervention came as a violent crime expert said child brides were often afraid of being killed for leaving an arranged marriage. 'Could I very quickly clarify, thank you. Just on that line of questioning, I mean there is a difference between arranged marriages and forced marriages,' said Ms Faruqi, who is also the Greens' spokeswoman for women. Scroll down for video Mehreen Faruqi interrupted a discussion on honour killings to endorse her arranged marriage The Pakistani-born MP campaigns for abortion rights and defends arranged marriages 'Arranged marriages could be forced marriages but not necessarily all arranged marriages are forced marriages. 'Mine was an arranged marriage, it wasn't a forced marriage at all. I just want to clarify that.' Ms Faruqi, a former academic and civil engineer who campaigns in favour of abortion on demand and gay marriage, was cross examining child bride experts from the Australian Institute of Criminology, when she interrupted them to offer her personal testimony about being matched with her husband Omar. Their son Osman Faruqi is a journalist with the left-wing news website, Junkee. Nationals MP Trevor Khan, who is on the upper house inquiry, offered her his apologies about any possible inference about arranged marriages, as she interrupted the proceedings. 'I'm sorry, if I gave that impression, I'm sorry,' he said. Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi wanted to highlight how she was happy in an arranged marriage Australia's first female Muslim MP also campaigns for gay marriage and abortion law reform Samantha Lyneham (right), from the Australian Institute of Criminology, gave evidence Mehreen Faruqi (pictured with Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale) is married to social justice campaigning Samantha Lyneham, a research analyst into violence and exploitation, had been telling the Monday morning hearing that girls forced into arranged marriages were often afraid to leave the abusive relationships. 'They were afraid in many cases of honour-based violence and honour killings in some cases,' she said. A Melbourne man has this month become the first person convicted of breaking federal child marriage laws enacted in 2013. That was also the year Ms Faruqi became Australia's first female Muslim MP. Egyptian-born Anne Aly last year became the first Muslim woman elected to federal parliament as the Labor member for Cowan in Perth. Mehreen Faruqi told a parliamentary inquiry not all arranged marriages were forced marriages Ibrahim Omerdic was sacked as an imam in November after he was charged with conducting a child marriage In a separate case in April, Melbourne man Mohammad Shakir, 34, pleaded guilty to entering a marriage with a 14-year-old bride. As part of the plea, two charges were withdrawn by prosecutors in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court, including allegations Shakir had sex with the girl between September 30 and October 1, 2016, after their wedding. The ceremony was conducted in Noble Park by former imam Ibrahim Omerdic, 61, who also faces charges relating to the illegal marriage. He was stood down from the Bosnian Islamic Society and Noble Park Mosque, after his arrest in November last year, and later sacked. Hate crime suspect: Anthony Hammond, 34, was charged with hate crime and other counts after police in Clearlake, California, say he stabbed a black man with a machete after yelling racial slurs A white man in California was charged Tuesday with a hate crime for allegedly stabbing a black man with a machete after yelling racial slurs. Police in Clearlake, about 80 miles north of San Francisco, went to an apartment complex on Saturday night after residents said someone started shouting racial slurs in the parking lot and then attacked an African-American man. The victim, whose name and age were not released, was stabbed in the shoulder and was seriously injured, police said. After the attack, Anthony Hammond, 34, went back into his apartment and had an hours-long standoff with police. At one point he tried to hide in his refrigerator. He eventually emerged and was arrested. Police later found the machete used in the attack in his apartment. According to a statement from the Clearlake Police Department, the incident began unfolding at around 8.14pm on Saturday when officers responded to the Beach Front Apartments on Lakeshore Drive for a report of a male victim who had been stabbed with a machete. Police arrived on the scene and found a black man suffering from a severe cut to his shoulder. The victim told them that a white man, later identified as Hammond, had been spewing racial epitaphs at numerous people in the parking lot of the apartment complex. Hammond at one point retreated back into his unit, only to return a short time later brandishing a large machete. As he continued yelling racial slurs at the victim, Hammond struck the victim on the shoulder with the machete, causing serious bodily injury, the press release from the police read. The attack took place at Beach Front Apartments on Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, California, 80 miles north of San Francisco The victim was then transported by paramedics to Adventist Health Hospital Clearlake for treatment. Meanwhile, responding police officers set up a perimeter around the building to prevent Hammond from slipping away and proceeded to evacuate all nearby homes. Having done that, police approached the apartment building and caught a glimpse through a window of Hammond trying to hide inside his refrigerator. After being unsuccessful, Hammond ran into the rear bedroom of his apartment, out of sight. Following several hours of negotiations with police, Hammond eventually complied with officers commands and exited the residence, at which point he was taken into custody. Police say Hammond grabbed a large machete and struck a black man on his shoulder with the blade, causing a severe cut (stock image) According to the press release, while he was being taken to the Lake County Jail, Hammond threatened to kill the transporting officer and his family upon his release from jail. Hammond was booked into the jail on charges of aggravated mayhem, battery with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, felony resisting executive officer, hate crime, battery on a person, and two outside agency felony arrest warrants. Hammond was being held on more than $1million bail pending his arraignment, which was scheduled for Wednesday. Edward Savin, a contract public defender in Lake County, said he hadn't seen the case Tuesday and couldn't comment. Former White House press officer Boris Epshteyn has received a request to provide information from lawmakers as part of the Congressional investigation into Russia's alleged interference into the 2016 presidential election. Epshteyn, a Republican political strategist, served as a Trump campaign adviser and briefly worked in the White House press office. ABC News reported on Tuesday night that he has received a long list of questions from the House Intelligence Committee. 'Mr Epshteyn has received a broad, preliminary request for information from the House Intelligence Committee,' Epshteyn's legal counsel said in a statement provided to Fox News. The House intelligence committee has asked former Trump White House staffer Boris Epshteyn for information in connection with its probe into Russian interference in the election 'This is a voluntary request. Mr. Epshteyn has not been subpoenaed nor do we anticipate that he will be. We have reached out to the Committee with several follow up questions and we are awaiting their response in order to better understand what information they are seeking and whether Mr. Epshteyn is able to reasonably provide it.' Epshteyn, 34, recently served as the special assistant to the president in charge of surrogate operations before leaving the role in March, however The White House did not provide a reason for his departure. He has now joined Sinclair Broadcasting working as a political analyst. The Moscow-born attorney who left the White House communications team in March, Epshteyn became friends with Trump's son, Eric, while they were students at Georgetown Also on Tuesday, it was announced that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will provide documents to the Senate intelligence committee as part the probe. Flynn's decision came as President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, rejected a House intelligence committee request for information. Meanwhile, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sounded similar tones as they criticized the ongoing U.S. scrutiny of Russia's attempts to sway the presidential election. Michael Flynn will also now provide some documents to the Senate intelligence committee as part of its probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election Flynn's cooperation was the first signal that he and the Senate panel have found common ground. Congressional investigators continue to press for key documents in the ongoing investigation, and the retired lieutenant general is trying to limit damaging disclosures that hostile Democratic lawmakers could use against him. Flynn had previously invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in declining an earlier subpoena from the committee, which sought a wide array of documents and information related to his contacts with Russia. Flynn's attorneys had argued the request was too broad and would have required Flynn to turn over information that could have been used against him. In response, the Senate panel narrowed the scope of its request. It also issued subpoenas seeking records from Flynn's businesses. John McDonnell has been slammed as a 'thug' over a video showing him praising rioters who 'kicked the 'sh**' out of central London. The shadow chancellor hailed the protesters who wreaked havoc on Conservative Central Office in 2010, smashing windows and hurling missiles at police, as the 'best of our movement'. In another piece of footage, Mr McDonnell - then a lowly Labour backbencher - is seen telling a rally in 2010 that he felt like using 'physical violence' against rival politicians. A video from January 2012 shows John McDonnell praising student rioters who 'kicked the 'sh**' out of central London Police struggled desperately to hold back rioters who stormed the building that housed Conservative Central Office in November 2010 Protesters used chairs to smash windows as they clashed with police at the riot in 2010 As the rioters tried to gain access to the building, Tory chairman Baroness Warsi and staff were stuck upstairs A spokesman for Mr McDonnell said the comment about the rioters being the 'best of our movement' was 'clearly tongue in cheek and taken out of context'. The incendiary remarks contrast sharply with the close Corbyn ally's more moderate language during the election campaign. At the May Day rally in London earlier this month, he urged activists to make the event a 'peaceful protest, so as not to give our enemies in the Tory press the ammunition they need to misrepresent our peaceful intentions' Conservative Philip Davies, who is defending the Shipley seat on June 8, told MailOnline Mr McDonnell the rabble-rousing made a mockery of Mr Corbyn's pledge of a 'gentler kinder politics'. At the Unite the Resistance event in January 2012, Mr McDonnell said the student demonstrations over tuition fees that spiralled into violence in November 2010 showed the 'resources' available to the Left. Hundreds of youths stormed 30 Millbank, the building that housed Tory HQ at the time, smashing windows. As the rioters, many of them masked, traded punches with police, the then-Conservative chairman Baroness Warsi was trapped upstairs with terrified staff. 'Having seen that, gone through that period and that acquiescence... throughout the 90s and in the early 2000s, to see that momentum build up, just showed the best of our movement, and just showed you what there was out there in terms of resources,' Mr McDonnell told the event. 'It just needed the one small spark way back in November before last, of the students kicking the s**t out of Millbank and then that spark lighting all the combustible material - that then brought people out in March, June and then November, and that's the best of our movement and it's still there, you know it's still there.' One student, Ed Woollard, threw a fire extinguisher off the roof during the and was later handed a 32 month jail sentence - which both Mr McDonnell and Mr Corbyn criticised as disproportionate. Another video posted online shows Mr McDonnell addressing a rally in 2010, where he said he sometimes felt like using 'physical force' against rival politicians Another video posted online shows Mr McDonnell addressing a rally in 2010. Railing against plans by coalition government ministers to slash civil service jobs, he said: 'I sat opposite that today and I tell you, sometimes you feel like physical force. You feel like giving them a good slapping. 'The anger that you feel is because these people who tell us that we are all in this together, will go back to their homes tonight, their mansions, they will count their shares, they will receive their bonuses and they will expect us to pay. 'Well the response is straightforward, we will not pay for your crisis.' 'We will resist. We will resist in every form possible... 'We will resist in every form possible. Don't expect any form of reprise (sic) from the building down the road... leave the House of Commons to the debates. Shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell is a close ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn 'Where we will win will be on the streets and on the picket lines, in the demonstrations, and in the strikes and yes in the direct action that will be needed to prevent these cuts. Solidarity.' Mr Davies said: 'John McDonnell has made a career out of advocating political violence and whether it is supporting the IRA, encouraging thugs to smash up London... this is what the militant Labour Party is like. 'People do not have to rely on what I say, they can see it for themselves. It has happened time and time again. 'What they do not like is people drawing attention to it, and these people are bullies and they intimidate people. 'It is no good Jeremy Corbyn talking about gentler kinder politics when he has got a vile thug as his right hand man.' A spokesman for Mr McDonnell said: 'These comments are clearly being taken out of context again by a right wing paper, just as they were last year when they were first reported.' A man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing. Hua Haifeng, who worked for China Labor Watch, which monitors conditions inside sweatshops, was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didn't need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the family's breadwinner. Hua Haifeng, who worked for China Labor Watch, is said to be arrested; another worker, Li Zhao, is missing China Labor Watch was investigating two Chinese factories that make Ivanka Trump branded shoes along with other brands including Marc Fisher, Easy Spirit and Nine West China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: 'They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable.' China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China. The factories were in Ganzhou and Dongguan, according to the New York Times. In 2016, a worker in the Huajian shoe factory in Dongguan puts together a shoe - some of Ivanka's branded shoes are made at the factory Workers on a production line at the Huajian shoe factory in Dongguan, in south China's Guangdong province - workers had complained about excessive hours and low pay Workers on a production line at the Huajian shoe factory in Dongguan; Su Heng had been working undercover at a Huajian shoe factory in Dongguan China Labor Watch's Li Qiang says he hasn't heard from his three workers since Saturday For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investigated working conditions at suppliers to some of the world's best-known companies, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China's state security apparatus. 'Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labor situation,' Li said. 'But now it has become more political.' Walt Disney Co. stopped working with a toy maker in Shenzhen last year after the group exposed labor violations. A worker at the Huajian shoe factory, where about 100,000 pairs of Ivanka Trump-branded shoes have been made over the years among other brands, The workers in the Huajian shoe factory that produces some of Ivanka's branded shoes China Labor Watch has also published reports on child labor at Samsung suppliers and spent years investigating Apple Inc.'s China factories. In the past, the worst thing Li feared was having investigators kicked out of a factory or face a short police detention. That has changed. In May, Ivanka posted about fighting human trafficking and was blasted for being a hypocrite The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of China's ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labor unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has also taken a stern approach to activism in southern China's manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody. Ivanka Trump brand boots for sale at the Century 21 department store February 10, 2017 in New York City Another difference is the target of China Labor Watch's investigation: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trump's brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment for this story. Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter took on a White House role as presidential adviser, has said that the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to 'comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions.' Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the three missing investigators on Monday but received no reply. Ivanka Trump brand is displayed atop a rack of Ivanka Trump brand coats for sale at the Century 21 department store February 10, 2017 in New York City Li added that a friend had tried to file a missing person report on Li Zhao in Jiangxi, where the factory is located, but was told he had to do so in the man's hometown. The workers were last seen in Ganzhou, a large city in southern Jiangxi Province, according to the New York Times. AP was unable to reach the other investigators' families. China's Ministry of Public Security and police in Ganzhou city and Jiangxi province could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China. All three men were investigating Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co.'s factory in Jiangxi province, just north of Guangdong province. Su Heng had been working undercover at the factory since April, Li said. The parent company is known as Huajian Group. G-III Apparel Group has an exclusive license to manufacture the first daughter's clothes since 2012. It also has factories in China, including in Dongguan. In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, told AP the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trump's brand - a fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A spokesperson for Ivanka Trump brand refused to comment on the story of the men disappearing A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday. 'I told you I could not check until tomorrow,' she said. 'If your official letter contains a stamp and signature, we can confirm whether the media is real or not.' Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand shoes in the factory, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit merchandise. 'We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately,' a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment. Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng were blocked from leaving mainland China for Hong Kong in April and May - something that had never happened to his colleagues before, Li said. Hua Haifeng was stopped at the border May 25 and later questioned by police, Li said. During their final phone conversation on Saturday, Hua told Li that police had asked him to stop investigating the Huajian factory - another turn of events that Li said was unprecedented. Li said the men had documented excessive overtime, with working days sometimes stretching longer than 18 hours, and a base salary below minimum wage. They were working to confirm evidence suggesting that student interns - some of whom allegedly quit in protest - were putting in excessive hours on work unrelated to their field of study, in violation of Chinese law, Li said. Workers at sewing machines in the Huajian shoe factory in September 2016; many workers had complained to China Labor Watch about conditions there The use of student workers in China is legal, but meant to be strictly regulated. Rights groups and journalists have documented widespread abuse of the system over the years. 'It is the role of the police to prevent that kind of independent investigation,' said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. 'The threshold is much lower today than it was one year ago, two years ago, and if this is something that has a foreign diplomacy dimension, that would make national security personnel even more willing to stop it.' Hua's wife, Deng, meanwhile, has yet to tell the couple's children, ages 3 and 7, about their father's plight. But they seem to know anyway, she said. 'My son suddenly burst into tears. He said he missed Papa,' Deng said by phone from her home in central China's Hubei province. 'I said Papa would come home soon and buy you toys.' She said the child looked at her and answered: 'Papa was taken away by a monster.' A woman claims she was spied on by a drone which was hovering at the window of her fifth-floor apartment as she walked around half-naked. Anita Grahame says she had just finished showering and had a towel around her waist when she spotted the flying camera outside the window of her Dee Why apartment on Sydney's northern beaches. Ms Grahame and her husband Nick Kriticos believe the drone was filming the pair as it abruptly flew away after he made a rude gesture at it. Ms Grahame and her husband Nick Kriticos believe the drone was filming the pair as it abruptly flew away after he made a rude gesture at it (stock image pictured) 'It is very disturbing. It is a worry that people are using these things to look at houses, possibly to see if people's houses are worth breaking into,' Ms Grahame told the Geelong Advertiser. 'You should be able to sit in your home stark naked without someone looking.' The black-and-white coloured drone had been loitering on the couple's private balcony before it zoomed away. Ms Grahame and Mr Kriticos called the police, however, as most drones are able to fly up to 6km away from the operator, there was little chance of catching the offender. Under Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Regulations, drones cannot fly higher than 121m, 30 metres near anyone not operating it or over a large group of people. Fine for unlawful drone activity range from $900 to $9000. A teenage girl who came close to dying in the Manchester Arena bomb blast has been reunited with the hero stranger who led her to safety. Ella McGovern, 14, suffered shrapnel wounds to her leg, and her family has been told that she might not have survived had she been just two footsteps closer to the explosion. Miraculously, a friend who was with her at the Ariana Grande concert was unhurt, as the teenager had shielded her from the blast. Ella was covered in blood and tried to call her mother and father at home for help amid the chaos. Together again: Ella, 14, and Louise McGovern with hero stranger Jennifer Lee (left) yesterday But she had also suffered perforated eardrums so could not hear her parents at the other end of the phone call. Despite the fear of a second bomb, Jennifer Lee, 24, came to Ellas aid as concert-goers ran for their lives. She said she just wanted to help the stranded girl, who days later put out a social media appeal to help find the young woman who came to her rescue and calmed her panicked mum Louise. Ella, who has struggled to walk since the bombing, described her desperation as she and her mother were reunited with Miss Lee on ITVs Good Morning Britain show. She said: At the time, youve got loads of panic. It was really stressful to deal with. Mrs McGovern, 39, said she felt extremely distressed at home as she was unable to talk to her daughter in her time of need. She recalled: I couldnt get to Ella. She couldnt hear me because her eardrums were perforated. It was a complete lack of communication. Grieving husband Tony Kiss has paid a heart-felt tribute to his beautiful wife Michelle (left), who he believes sacrificed her life to shield their 12-year-old daughter, Millie (right) Ella, who was treated at the Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital, told how Miss Lee calmed me and my mum down and helped arrange a place for them to meet, after putting in an emergency call for help. Mrs McGovern added: To hear Jennys voice down the phone to say, Im with your daughter, shes fine, shes OK and Ive called an ambulance, was amazing for me. It was an instant relief. In turn, Miss Lee said she was also relaxed and reassured by the calmness of her own boyfriend as she dealt with the situation. Child actress Millie touched the hearts of millions when she was pictured after the bomb blast in the arms of a police officer wrapped in an oversized coat being comforted over her loss Asked if she considered the danger to her own life at the time, due to the risk of another explosion, she said: I guess I did but it wasnt a priority at that point. I just wanted to help Ella. Mrs McGovern insisted her family, from Rossendale, Lancashire, regard Miss Lee, from nearby Ramsbottom, as a hero. Very much so - even though shes never thought that. She genuinely is, she said. Meanwhile, grieving husband Tony Kiss has paid a heart-felt tribute to his beautiful wife Michelle, who he believes sacrificed her life to shield their daughter. Mr Kiss, 45, told how his wife had taken Millie and a friend Emily Murrell to the gig, then went for drinks with the other girls mother Ruth before returning to pick the girls up in the arena foyer. Millie Kiss, 12, a child actress, touched the hearts of millions when she was later pictured in the arms of a police officer wrapped in an oversized coat being comforted over her loss. Mr Kiss, from Whalley, Lancashire, said: The girls had a brilliant night full of laughter. They all went to Pizza Express for a meal before the concert. Michelle and Emilys mum Ruth dropped the girls at the Manchester Arena and went to the Hard Rock Cafe for mocktails. She was really happy and she just looked beautiful. My last image of her as she left for the concert was that she was walking on cloud nine. She was so selfless. Even on her way to pick up the girls she was texting a friend to see if she needed help and giving money to homeless people. Ruth and Emily Murrell were injured in the attack and reamain in hospital but are on the mend, added Mr Kiss, who works as a scaffolder. He said he believes Millie, who has been acting since she was seven and appeared in shows including the Wind in the Willows UK tour and in a production of Annie at the Liverpool Empire, miraculously escaped physical injury due to Michelles protection. The heartbroken father, who was married to Michelle for over 20 years, said he first learned of the attack after one of their two sons Elliot, 17, woke him to tell him the news. Mr Kiss said: Id gone to bed as I had to be up early for work and Elliot came in and panicked. He told me thered been a bomb. Your first thoughts are, Its not going to be us. Its going to be all right. Just calm down. Unfortunately, the reality is that it was us. I did numerous trips to Manchester that night trawling around hospitals. When I went to pick Millie up, she gave the police officer a big hug to say thanks for bringing me back to dad. Thats when her picture was taken cuddling the police officer. Millie, Elliot and their older brother Dylan, 20, described their mother as the most loving, kind, giving woman that everyone knows and loves. The kindness of Mail readers in Mobiles for Manchester appeal By VANESSA ALLEN FOR THE DAILY MAIL Generous Daily Mail readers are showing their support for the Mobiles for Manchester appeal. Readers have donated phones and sent money to the Mails appeal to help those affected by the Manchester bombing. Survivors and community leaders have rallied behind the appeal since its launch last weekend. 6 steps to making a real difference If you would like to donate your unwanted phone to the Mobiles for Manchester appeal, please follow this step-by-step guide: 1. Find your local Carphone Warehouse at carphonewarehouse.com/store-locator. Any phone can be donated, no matter how old or damaged, although its value will vary considerably depending on age and condition. 2. Back up any personal data such as photos and social media accounts from your phone to your computer. 3. Unlink your phone from accounts such as iTunes and iCloud, or their Android equivalents, then erase all content from the phone if possible. Carphone Warehouse staff may be able to help you with this. 4. Remove any SIM or SD memory storage cards from the phone. 5. On arrival at the store, tell a Carphone Warehouse sales consultant you would like to donate a phone to Mobiles for Manchester, and they will process it on your behalf. 6. If your mobile phone still turns on, they may be able to delete any data from the phone for you. All phones that cannot be turned on will be destroyed so their components can be recycled. All the money generated from your phone will be donated to charity. Carphone Warehouse stores cannot accept cash donations but if you would like to send a cheque or donate by bank transfer, please see the How You Can Help box below. Advertisement How you can help 1. Take any unwanted phone to your local Carphone Warehouse store. Locations can be found at www.carphonewarehouse.com/store-locator.html 2. If you would like to send a cheque, please make it payable to Mobiles for Manchester. Post it, together with a note of your name and address (or email) to: Mobiles for Manchester Appeal, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT. (Please remember to write your name and address on the back of the cheque.) 3. Use online banking to make a transfer: Sort Code: 50-00-00 Account number: 20769512 Payee name: Mobiles for Manchester Please do not try to email us your credit card details as we cannot process them. Advertisement They include Manchester United legend Bryan Robson, Bishop of Manchester David Walker and survivor Caroline Davis, who was seriously injured and whose best friend Wendy Fawell was among the 22 killed. The Mail has asked readers to donate unwanted mobile phones to be re-used or recycled to raise money for those left injured and bereaved. All the money raised will go to charity, with the bulk going to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund and a portion to be sent to inter-faith groups to help communities unite against terror and tackle prejudice and hatred. The Mail has teamed up with Carphone Warehouse, which has agreed to accept mobiles in its 1,000 stores across the country and to donate all the money raised to the Mails appeal. Any phone can be donated, no matter how old or damaged, although its value will vary depending on age and condition. Carphone Warehouse has generously donated 1,000 phones, with a value of 25,000, and all money generated from donated phones will go to the Mails appeal. Thanks to public support, more than 5.5million has already been donated to the We Love Manchester fund, run by Manchester City Council in conjunction with the British Red Cross. A married Indian taxi driver who repeatedly tried to grab and kiss a female passenger will be deported back to India. Jagdeep Singh, 34, was taken from his home in Lalor, Melbourne's north, on Tuesday night and detained by Australian Border Force officers prior to his deportation. Singh, who arrived in Australia on a student visa in 2008, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a female taxi passenger in December 2015, the Herald Sun reports. Singh assaulted the woman after picking her up from Melbourne's Crown casino and driving her to her house in Clayton, Melbourne's south-east - about a 27 minute trip. Singh picked his victim up in his cab from outside the Crown casino and drove her to her house in Clayton about a 27 minute trip (stock) When the girl asked him to put the cab meter on, Singh told her she should not worry because another arrangement could be worked out. Singh used his left hand to reach behind to the girl, grabbing her leg and touching her hand. She repeatedly told him 'no' before she managed to push him away. When the taxi reached the girl's home she gave Singh money and left the taxi, but the ordeal was not over. Singh jumped out of the taxi and followed her. Singh assaulted the woman after picking her up from Melbourne's Crown casino (pictured) and driving her to her house in Clayton about a 27 minute trip He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, pulling her in towards his body. He refused the money and told her 'please, let's work something out'. The woman again told him 'no' and urged him to take the money. Singh then leaned in to kiss the woman on the neck, before grabbing her from behind and pressing himself up against her. Singh used his left hand to reach behind to the girl in the cab, grabbing her leg and touching her hand (stock) Singh continued his attempts to kiss the woman, pushing her inside and against a staircase, before kissing her neck and face. Singh's harassment only stopped when the girl's screams caught the attention of her housemate. Singh was given an 18-month community service order in December 2015. He was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid community service. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton attempted to deport Singh following the attack but his attempt was foiled. Mr Dutton exercised his power to overrule the AAT decision on Tuesday night and cancelled his visa The Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled against his deportation despite finding 'it was apparent to the Tribunal that the applicant showed no remorse in relation to the criminal offence'. AAT senior member Miriam Holmes reinstated Singh's visa in November last year, noting the cancellation of his visa would have adverse effects to his psychological condition. Ms Holmes said Singh's wife would also suffer emotional hardship should her husband's visa be cancelled. Mr Dutton exercised his power to overrule the AAT decision on Tuesday night and cancelled his visa. Slain policeman Brett Forte was becoming increasingly nervous about the dangers of his job before he was shot dead by a gun-mad cop killer. Rick Maddison murdered the Senior Constable on Monday afternoon during a wild police chase west of Brisbane. Snr Const Forte's best mate Bryce Coventon has revealed his friend had concerns for his safety because of the prevalence of drugs in the area. 'The last few times I saw him, he did let it (be) known that he was a little bit scared about the job,' he told ABC Radio. Slain policeman Brett Forte was becoming increasingly nervous about the dangers of his job before he was shot dead by a gun-mad cop killer Snr Const Forte is pictured with his wife Susan before the officer was murdered by Rick Maddison 'He was getting worried, there was a lot more drugs and things in Toowoomba. 'I know he was concerned but he just didn't know what else to do. But he just passionately loved the job.' Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said Snr Const Forte died trying to protect his partner from a hail of bullets fired by Maddison. He was hit immediately, but still had 'the sense, the fortitude and the courage to try and back out of the situation to try and protect his partner who was sitting beside him in the car', Mr Stewart told Channel Nine. 'I know he was concerned but he just didn't know what else to do. But he just passionately loved the job,' Mr Coventon (pictured) said Maddison had a violent criminal history which included charges of torture and deprivation of liberty Senior Constable Brett Forte (pictured) was shot dead by Rick Maddison on Monday afternoon 'I would call him a hero in every sense of the word,' he said. Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers, who knew Sen Const Forte, said everything was being done for his grieving family. 'I have been in contact with some of Brett's family, I haven't spoken to his wife because she is too distraught. They are really doing it tough at the moment,' Mr Leavers told the Nine Network. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk paid tribute to the slain officer as a 'fine son' of the police service. 'The last few times I saw him, he did let it (be) known that he was a little bit scared about the job,' Snr Const Forte's (pictured) best mate Bryce Coventon said Cop killer Rick Maddison had a long criminal history before he shot dead Senior Constable Brett Forte near Gatton Floral tributes have been left outside the police station where Senior Constable Const Forte served as a member of Toowoomba's Tactical Crime Squad. After shooting Sen Const Forte dead, Maddison went on the run, using an automatic rifle to fire shots at a circling police helicopter from a sheltered position before retreating to a nearby property. Four streets bordering the national park were placed in lockdown and specialist units moved in, as terrified residents listened to the echo of gunshots through the night. Police initially said no officers were injured during the bloody shootout, but later clarified that one officer had suffered minor injuries after a high power round shattered the glass of an armoured vehicle and slashed the man. The sun sets on the field on Tuesday night as the aftermath of Maddison's actions leave the lives of Forte's loved ones changed forever A funeral services van (pictured) arrives at the scene where Maddison was shot dead by police on Tuesday The shooting deaths of both Snr Const Forte and Maddison occurred in Queensland's Lockyer Valley (pictured) Maddison was shot in the chest and died. Local Peter Hills, whose daughter, five, and wife were both behind the police line, said he felt 'utter relief' knowing the gun-crazy man had been killed. 'Justice is done. I'm happy about it. I will not lose any sleep at all over it tonight, I'll sleep really good,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday. Maddison had a violent criminal history which included charges of torture and deprivation of liberty as well as convictions for assault. Snr Const Forte will be honoured with a minute's silence before the start of Wednesday nights State of Origin at Suncorp Stadium. Brussels expects the UK to pay an extra 1billion to the EU next year, documents have revealed. In a controversial move, EU officials have outlined a huge increase in spending, which they expect the UK to help fund despite voting to leave. Calls for British taxpayers to pay even more into the blocs annual budget will infuriate Eurosceptics amid the ongoing row over the huge Brexit bill being demanded by Brussels. A draft budget produced by the European Commission revealed that EU spending will increase by 8.1 per cent in 2018 to 126billion But EU officials said negotiations about the UKs departure from the bloc had no immediate effect and that payments are still expected while it remains a member. A draft budget produced by the European Commission revealed that EU spending will increase by 8.1 per cent in 2018 to 126billion. This would involve a total UK contribution of around 15.1billion after Britains rebate has been deducted compared with projected payments of just over 14billion for this year. EU chiefs yesterday denied that the spending increases were abnormal and said that they were just meeting expectations set out by countries including the UK. The proposed increase will infuriate Downing Street amid claims that the EU is trying to gold plate its budget before the UK leaves. The proposed increase will infuriate Downing Street amid claims that the EU is trying to gold plate its budget before the UK leaves. Pictured above, The Prime Minster Theresa May meeting Italian Prime Minister at the G7 summit earlier last week Next years spending increase will see British funds used to fork out an estimated 12million in additional payments to the gold-plated pensions of eurocrats. But the draft budget says most of the funds will be used to pay for infrastructure and to create jobs across the bloc. EU budget commissioner Gunther Oettinger said the framework for 2018 was realistic and will meet the challenges being faced by the EU. Official Government figures show that the UKs gross contribution to the EU budget in 2016 the latest figures available was 17billion. The overall figure paid fell when the 3.9billion rebate was deducted, as well as a further 4.5billion in EU payments towards projects in the UK. The UKs net contribution for 2016 was 8.6billion. The increased spending laid out in the draft budget does not outline how much the UK will receive back in payments from Brussels. The number of Irish passport applications by UK citizens has soared by 70 per cent this year following the Brexit vote. Between January and March this year, Dublin received a total of 51,079 applications from Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK. In the same period in 2016, some 30,303 applications were received. A man who was taken into custody after pointing a fake gun at a police officer in the Orlando International Airport was having a mental breakdown, according to police. Michael W Pettigrew, 26, has been named as the suicidal man by Orlando Police Chief John Mina Tuesday night. Pettigrew pointed a fake gun at a police officer and one of the suspect's friends called authorities saying Pettigrew wanted to die, according to the Orlando Sentinel. 'He wanted to do the whole suicide by cop thing,' Mina said. 'We knew he was in some kind of mental crisis.' Pettigrew faces one count of aggravated assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer, according to police. Before being taken into custody, Pettigrew was in a standoff with police on the first floor of the airport in one of the rental car areas. Authorities quickly contained the situation and a crisis negotiator spoke with the man, trying to get him to give up his weapon. After the incident, Orlando Police tweeted: 'Gunman in custody. Everyone is safe. We will brief ASAP at media briefing location.' Michael W Pettigrew, 26, pointed this fake gun at a police officer in the Orlando International Airport Tuesday evening A man with a weapon at the Orlando International Airport, pictured, has been taken into custody, according to police Orlando Police tweeted: 'Gunman in custody. Everyone is safe. We will brief ASAP at media briefing location' Authorities were able to quickly contain the situation, but had to bring in a crisis negotiator to have the man hand over his gun Gunman in custody. Everyone is safe. We will brief ASAP at media briefing location. Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) May 31, 2017 One woman tweeted a video from inside the airport where the standoff is happening. In the video, it sounds like the suspect is in hysterics, breathing heavily as he talks with police. An officer responds, saying: 'You're not going to go to prison, Michael. You're going to go to the hospital.' The airport tweeted: 'With ongoing events, FAA has placed a Traffic Management Program in effect for arriving flights. Arrivals may be delayed at departure point.' Police were called to the scene around 7.24pm. The first floor has been cleared and Terminal A has been locked down. Passengers are not being allowed into the parking garage, according to Fox 35. The man has not harmed himself or anyone else and no shots have been fired. The airport originally tweeted that the incident would have minimal impact to operations, but Florida Highway Patrol tweeted that all roads leading to the airport are shut down. For readers seeking support, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or by clicking here. Gunman in custody. Everyone is safe. We will brief ASAP at media briefing location. Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) May 31, 2017 With ongoing events, FAA has placed a Traffic Management Program in effect for arriving flights. Arrivals may be delayed at departure point. Orlando International Airport (@MCO) May 31, 2017 One woman tweeted a video from inside the airport and the suspect can be heard talking with officers One officer tells the suspect: 'You're not going to go to prison, Michael. You're going to go to the hospital' Police were called to the scene around 7.24pm on a weapons call The Orlando International Airport originally tweeted the incident would have minimal impact to operations, but have now said: 'With ongoing events, FAA has placed a Traffic Management Program in effect for arriving flights. Arrivals may be delayed at departure point' The number of days lost to industrial disputes almost doubled last year, as strikes by junior doctors, train staff and teachers wreaked havoc. The Office for National Statistics reported that 322,000 working days were lost in 2016 compared with 170,000 the previous year. There were 154,000 workers involved in disputes last year almost double the 81,000 in 2015. The dramatic increase in industrial action fuelled fresh calls last night for tougher anti-strike laws to protect the public. Crippling: The Office for National Statistics reported that 322,000 working days were lost in 2016 compared with 170,000 in 2015. Pictured: Commuters face one of Southern rails strikes But it is likely to please Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who has close ties with militant union bosses and has helped whip up support for the walk-outs. The junior doctors' bitter dispute with health secretary Jeremy Hunt over new contracts in England accounted for 129,000 lost working days, 40 per cent of the total. This dispute, which continued for much of last year included the first all-out strike by junior doctors in NHS history. It led to the cancellation of thousands of operations and chaos in hospitals. But in terms of the number of strikes, the largest sectors were transport and storage where there were 23 strikes and 49,100 working days lost, and education - with 21 strikes and 105,400 working days lost. Unfair? The dramatic increase in industrial action fuelled fresh calls last night for tougher anti-strike laws to protect the public (such as these Londoners caught up in a Tube strike) Strikes in the transport and storage sector mainly occurred within public transport. They were dominated by a series of crippling walk-outs by train guards and drivers on Southern rail which caused misery for hundreds of thousands of commuters. The dispute, which started in April last year, revolves around the decision by Govia Thameslink Railway, which owns the Southern franchise, to introduce more driver-only trains. These gave responsibility to drivers instead of guards to open and close the train doors. Similar disputes orchestrated by the Rail, Maritime & Transport Union and drivers' union Aslef have since spread across the country, with walk-outs taking place on Merseyrail and Northern rail. Bitter: The junior doctors' dispute with health secretary Jeremy Hunt over new contracts in England accounted for 129,000 lost working days, 40 per cent of the total The industrial action has been backed by Mr Corbyn who has called for the renationalisation of the railways in the Labour party manifesto. But it prompted calls from more than 120 Tory MPs for tougher anti-strike laws to protect commuters. The Tory manifesto has threatened to introduce new legislation unless train companies and their staff can agree to providing minimum service levels during industrial disputes. Chris Philp, Tory parliamentary candidate for Croydon South, who has led calls for a crackdown on strikes said: 'We need to legislate to stop trade unions ruining people's lives whether it' s commuters trying to get to work, patients trying to use the NHS or parents trying to get their children educated. 'The right to strike needs to be balanced with the public's basic rights. At the moment we have not got this balance right.' Chaos: The junior doctor dispute, included the first all-out strike by junior doctors in NHS history. It led to the cancellation of thousands of operations and chaos in hospitals Teachers - spearheaded by the National Union of Teachers - also staged a series of strikes last year over school funding. They accounted for 105,400 working days lost, according to the ONS, causing hundreds of schools to shut down. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has threatened to hold fresh strikes unless schools are given more funding. Christmas of last year was ALSO marked by a flurry of walk outs by staff at British Airways, as well as action by Crown Post Office workers But the ONS said the amount of industrial action has reduced significantly in the last 30 years with the number of days The number of days lost to strikes was the eighth lowest since records began in 1891. More than 1.5 million workers, including miners, dockers, printers and railwaymen, joined the General Strike in 1926. Unite union general secretary Len McCluskey said: 'It is an insult to this nation's traditions of justice and fairness that the Conservatives have done their utmost to portray trade unions and their members as 'the enemy within', introducing regressive anti-worker laws to stop people defending themselves. That is not progress, it's giving bad bosses a free ride.' Australia's chief spy has clarified his controversial statement debunking the link between refugees and terrorism. Duncan Lewis, the director-general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, made the statement last week only two days after a coroner concluded that Iranian refugee Man Monis' 2014 Lindt cafe siege in Sydney was a terrorist act. Monis had also converted from being a Shiite Muslim to a more extremist brand of Sunni Islam, which favours sharia law. Scroll down for video ASIO director-general Duncan Lewis has explained his remarks about refugees and terror Australia's top spy told One Nation leader Pauline Hanson there was no evidence linking refugees and terrorism But despite this evidence, Mr Lewis told One Nation leader Pauline Hanson in a Senate hearing there was 'absolutely no evidence' of any link between refugees and terrorism. On Wednesday the ASIO chief told ABC radio: 'The refugee program is not the source of terrorism in Australia.' It comes after conservative commentators, including Andrew Bolt, cited several cases where refugees had committed terrorist attacks. Tens of thousands of refugees had come to Australia over the past decade or so and 'a very few of them' had become subjects of interest to ASIO or being involved in terrorist planning. 'I'm not denying that,' Mr Lewis said. ASIO boss Duncan Lewis now acknowledges refugees can become terrorists, a week after a coroner concluded Iranian refugee Man Monis' Lindt cafe siege in Sydney was terror related 'I've not said that there are no terrorists who have not been refugees or not being the sons or daughters of refugees born in this country.' The reason they were terrorists was down to the violent extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam that they adopted. In the overwhelming majority of cases, their transition to radicalisation started with them absorbing at a very young age 'very objectionable and brutal' material online produced overseas. 'It's not because they were refugees,' Mr Lewis said. But he conceded 11 of the 12 thwarted terror incidents in Australia since December 2014 involved Muslims. Mr Lewis said he had no intention of being contemptuous - as some commentators have suggested - of Senator Hanson. Farhad Jabar was 15 when he killed accountant Curtis Cheng at Parramatta in 2015 The teenager from an Iranian family had reportedly been radicalised by the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore in Auburn in Sydney's west Numan Haider, who came from a refugee family, stabbed Melbourne police officers in 2014 'The point I was making was we need to stick to the facts with this particular argument,' he said. However, his statements have aroused controversy considering that Monis was a refugee while the teenagers killed by police were the sons of refugees. Farhad Jabar, a 15-year-old boy who killed accountant Curtis Cheng outside the New South Wales police headquarters at Parramatta in 2015, came from an Iranian refugee family. He had also reportedly been radicalised by the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore at Auburn, in Sydney's west, which is run by the hardline Sunni group Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah. Meanwhile Numan Haider, who was 18 when he stabbed two Melbourne police officers in 2014 before being shot dead, was from a Afghani refugee family. Attorney-General George Brandis is standing by ASIO boss Duncan Lewis Attorney-General George Brandis is standing by Mr Lewis, arguing the ASIO chief was asked about Middle Eastern refugees coming to Australia and bringing the threat of terrorism. 'The point he made is that Australia's refugee program is not the source of the terrorism problem,' he told The Australian. Labor is also supporting Mr Lewis, saying he had 'called it as it is'. 'He's making what is absolutely apparent clear,' opposition defence spokesman Richard Marles told Sky News. 'Radical Islam is the driver in respect of terrorism that we have seen - that's where people need to focus.' Mr Marles said some people were seeking to twist facts. 'And that's what's going on here, to demonise refugees, to put them in the frame on this issue, I think is an absolute disgrace.' John Bercow was last night branded a disgrace and a self-serving parasite after he declared that he wants to remain Commons Speaker until 2022 going back on a promise to stand down next year. When elected Speaker in 2009, the controversial figure pledged to serve for nine years, but yesterday he revealed that he plans to cling on for the next five years. Tory MPs, who have long complained about his bias, last night pledged to mount a challenge to oust him when Parliament returns. Mr Bercow, who is campaigning to be re-elected as MP for Buckinghamshire, told Sky News that he was entitled to change his mind just as Theresa May had gone back on a promise not to call a snap election. John Bercow was last night branded a disgrace after he declared that he wants to remain Commons Speaker until 2022 going back on a promise to stand down next year I had originally indicated an intention to serve for approximately nine years, he said. If I may legitimately say so, I made that commitment eight years ago, it was before the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, it was before the EU referendum. Were in a very different situation The Prime Minister, very properly, is entitled change her view about whether the national interest would be served by an earlier election rather than a later one. 'I made no criticism or complaint about that whatsoever. So if people are entitled to change their minds over a relatively short period of time I think Im entitled to take a somewhat different view now to the one I took back in 2009. If Mr Bercow serves a full five-year term it would make him the longest serving speaker since Edward Fitzroy, who held the office for 15 years from 1928 to 1943. A group of Tory MPs attempted to remove Mr Bercow earlier this year after he unilaterally banned Donald Trump speaking to Parliament when the US president visits the UK for his planned state visit, but they failed to get enough support from colleagues. When elected Speaker in 2009, the controversial figure pledged to serve for nine years, but yesterday he revealed that he plans to cling on for the next five years Mr Bercow has repeatedly faced accusations that he has failed in his duty of impartiality, including earlier this year when he boasted of backing Remain in the EU referendum. His Labour deputy, Lindsay Hoyle, is the favourite to take over the Commons chair, but faces a battle to hold on to his Chorley seat. Andrew Bridgen, who is seeking re-election as Tory MP for North West Leicestershire, pledged to lead a challenge to Mr Bercows re-appointment. He can stand, but it will be a decision for the new Parliament not John Bercow, he said. He has ripped up every rule on impartiality in the Speakers rule book. James Duddridge, who led the attempt to get rid of Mr Bercow earlier this year and is seeking re-election as Tory MP for Rochford and Southend East, said: He said he would only serve until June 22, 2018, he has broken his manifesto promise to go at this date. He is a disgrace and should not be re-elected as Speaker if he is returned as an MP. He is a self-serving parasite of the worst order.' It is understandable that many people in U.S. government are unhappy that Donald Trump is the president of the United States. It is also understandable that many people would contemplate constitutional mechanisms that might remove him from that office. But so long as Trump remains the president and even those of us who imagine 25th Amendment remedies would be wise to bet on at least three years and seven months more then ad hoc, partisan and extra-constitutional attempts to strip him of normal presidential powers are a very bad idea. This is basically what we have in the 4th Circuit Courts ruling striking down the administrations controversial travel ban, which seeks to temporarily restrict travel to the United States from six majority-Muslim countries Sudan, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Somalia that are either ruled by terror-sponsoring governments or in the throes of civil war. There are reasons to think this ban overbroad, counterproductive, damaging to U.S. interests. But it is not a Muslim ban under any reasonable legal definition of the term, and on its face it looks entirely constitutional. As the 4th Circuit concedes, the president has broad powers to restrict the entry of noncitizens, and an executive order restricting travel from a specified set of terror-affected countries would normally easily pass muster. But what is different in this case, the 4th Circuit judges argue, is that Trumps campaign-trail rhetoric about Islam, his wild promise to keep all Muslims out until we know whats going on, proves that this executive order is really motivated by a religious animus that conflicts with the First Amendments religious-freedom guarantee. Of course, constitutional guarantees do not normally apply to foreign nationals. But allowing an immigration restriction motivated by religious animus, the opinion argues, would create a strong likelihood that some constitutional harm will redound to citizens as well. And this is enough, it concludes, to make an order that only directly affects foreigners a violation of every American Muslims First Amendment rights. The second half of the argument is a remarkable constitutional bankshot. But its the first half thats most troubling, because it effectively creates what David French of National Review no Trump admirer describes as a kind of Trumplaw, a set of restrictions on presidential action that only apply to Donald Trump. This president cannot do things that would be perfectly legal if any other president did them, under this standard, because the courts will rule against his past demagogy rather than the policies themselves. To some members of the resistance this may sound like a brilliant approach. It is not. First, as the dissenting opinion rightly notes, it establishes a precedent that would further politicize an already-partisan judiciary, by licensing judges to constantly look beyond the law for excuses to rule against politicians (liberal or conservative) they dislike. Second, it effectively tells populist politicians who flout norms on the campaign trail that they neednt bother moderating once in office, because the system has already decided that they cant. So it doesnt matter that Trump has shifted his tone on Islam; it doesnt matter that he spent the days before the ruling palling around with Saudis like a Bush Republican. Once a deplorable, always a deplorable a judgment thats likely to only confirm future populists in their antinomian and extralegal impulses. And not only future populists but this White House, which remains responsible for counterterrorism in an age when the most important terror threats are Islamist, and any move to safeguard Americans is likely to have a disproportionate effect on Muslims. One of the things that Trump critics fear most is his possible response to a Manchester-type terrorist attack (or something even worse). But rather than providing a check on future anti-terror overreach, the 4th Circuits overreaching opinion is likely to encourage it. After all, if you tell the White House that it cannot do things that normal presidents are allowed to do because of Trumps campaign-trail rhetoric, what incentive does the White House have to work carefully within constitutional lines should ISIS or al-Qaida strike? Instead, if the courts are automatically going to rule against Trump on any counterterrorism issue that touches on Islam, the president may feel that he may as well prepare for war with the judiciary, since tailoring his policies to fit existing precedents is clearly just a waste. There was a lot of loose talk about a constitutional crisis in the wake of the firing of James Comey. But its easier to imagine the term applying, as it did in the days of Trumps idol Andrew Jackson, to a direct clash between the White House and the courts. Trumps flaws of temperament and character make such a clash dangerously likely. But so does a judicial activism that cuts down normal legal precedent in order to go after him, and tries to pre-emptively strip away his powers without any warrant save self-righteousness. Data was released in honor of the 90th National Scripps Spelling Bee Those in Massachusetts have problem spelling their own state's name Those in Oregon can't spell 'sense' while Texans Words often don't come easy, especially when it requires writing them down. Google has released the definitive list of search queries that Americans most frequently ask how to spell, and depending on the state they live, some words are more troublesome than others. The search engine giant compiled data from its search trends to reveal the top words with a number of surprising appearances. Words such as 'chaos,' 'pneumonia' and 'diarrhea' which do not sound as they are spelled frequently reach the top of the list. Google gathered data from its search trends to reveal the top words American's ask 'how to spell' in each of the 50 US states - and most are commonly used words However, other words such as 'nanny', 'college' and even 'gray' are problems for a number of states. The release of the data coincides with the 90th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee at National Harbor in Maryland, where nearly 300 students are competing for a trophy and $40,000 cash prize. To honor the event, Google has dug into its own database to see how good Americans are at their own spelling. New offenders include 'appreciate', 'patient', 'surprise' and 'available'. Interestingly, those living Wisconsin have a problem spelling their own state's name. 'Beautiful' appears to be a problem for Californian's while those living in New Mexico can't spell 'banana'. Texas are not a fan of 'maintenance' while 'sense' doesn't make sense in Oregon 'Nanny' is tricky in Mississippi, but 'gray' proves to be a challenge in Georgia. In Tennesee 'chaos' is messy to spell but Rhode Islanders find 'liar' equally as tough to write 'Beautiful' appears to be especially difficult for Californians, while those living in Arizona struggle with 'tomorrow.' 'Chihuahua' is a hard one for South Carolinians while 'sauerkraut' stumps those in Pennsylvania. 'Beautiful' is also troublesome for New Yorkers. Those from Rhode Island find the need to look up 'liar' in order to spell it right. Alaska has trouble with 'schedule' while Hawaiian's find it hard to spell out 'people'. 291 elementary- and middle-schoolers compete in the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee gather at a convention center in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The test determines There were also some odd words that made the cut. New Mexico was found to have the most spelling queries for 'banana', Indianans struggle with 'hallelujah' New Jerseyans stumble with 'February', Tennessee with 'chaos' and North Carolinians with 'angel'. A woman's party was ruined when police were called and she was thrown out of her own 46th birthday celebrations after a row over one of her friends being two pence short to pay for a pint and some cakes. Tanya Powell from Falmouth, Cornwall, was celebrating her birthday with around 40 friends and relatives when Wetherspoon's staff refused to serve Ms Powell's niece because she was 2p short. Staff at the popular Packet Station pub in Falmouth told Paradise Truscott she could not take her pint and the cake away from the bar until she had the correct money. Party poopers: Tanya Powell, pictured with police officers, was celebrating her birthday with around 40 friends and relatives when Wetherspoon's staff refused to serve her niece Strict: Paradise Truscott, a stay-at-home mother, returned with the copper and picked up her drinks and food. But the pub chain, pictured, said she was then threatening and rude to staff Ms Truscott, a stay-at-home mother, returned with the copper and picked up her drinks and food. But the pub chain said she was then threatening and rude to staff. As a result they called police to the pub, who calmed things down and left without making any arrests. Ms Powell, a drug and alcohol counsellor, told the Falmouth Packet: 'It was pretty disgusting, I'm upset about the way we were treated. Sarah Hibbert, above, filmed the moment Ms Powell was told by police to leave the pub and shared it on her Facebook page. She said the way the staff acted was 'petty and pathetic' 'My niece went to the bar to get cakes and she was two pence short, she wanted them for her child who is 18 months old, and she also got me a pint of Thatchers. 'The bar staff said that if she didn't have the money to be in there then she shouldn't be there.' Sarah Hibbert, who filmed the moment Ms Powell was told to leave the pub and shared it on her Facebook page, said: 'It was just terrible customer service. 'To call the police out on something like this was a waste of police time and a something that could easily have been avoided. 'What they did was petty and pathetic.' Ms Hibbert praised the response of police, who she said were friendly and level-headed, but added: 'It should never have escalated. 'It was really terrible customer service which turned the thing into something it shouldn't have been. 'I don't think any of us will be going back there again.' Wetherspoon's said some members of the group threatened the manager - who in their view was right to call the police. Rowdy? Ms Powell admitted that she told one of the bartenders he was making a 'big mistake' and could lose his job - but thought her words didn't warrant being thrown out of the pub as the rest of her group continued celebrations inside Ms Powell admitted that she told one of the bartenders he was making a 'big mistake' and could lose his job - but thought her words didn't warrant being thrown out of the pub as the rest of her group continued celebrations inside. Spokesman Eddie Gershon said: 'The police were called because a group of people involved in this incident threatened the manager and staff. 'The manager made the right decision to call the police and as far as we are concerned the group were out of order. 'They say that the police were called because one of the group was two pence short at the bar. 'They fail to say that the individual was then served when she returned with the correct money for her drink, but was rude and threatening to a member of bar staff.' A woman has been stabbed in the face and a man is fighting for his life following a shocking series of events in Brisbane on Tuesday night. The 30-year-old man suffered stab wounds to the head and forearm and was rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital. The woman, 52, was taken to the same hospital with 'shocking facial injuries' and is in a stable condition. A 40-year-old man was arrested and charged over both incidents that happened in different areas of Moorooka in the city's south. Man, 30, is fighting for his life after shocking attack in Mooroka in Brisbane's south on Tuesday night Woman, 52, was allegedly attacked by the same man, 40, suffering 'shocking facial injuries' Police allege the 30-year-old man was attacked on Keats Street at around 6pm where he suffered the life-threatening injuries. The attacker got in a confrontation with the woman shortly after, where she was also assaulted. Police say the injuries were 'allegedly done with a knife.' The man was arrested a short time later after fleeing the scene by foot. He was charged with two counts of acts intended to maim and one count each of common assault and willful damage. He is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court later today. Police say woman suffered 'shocking facial injuries' as she was taken to a Brisbane hospital An autopsy has confirmed that a Spirit Airlines pilot and his wife died of overdoses of cocaine and carfentanil. The Montgomery County Coroner's Office on Tuesday confirmed the autopsy results in the deaths of 36-year-old Brian Halye and 34-year-old Courtney Halye. The couple's four children found their bodies March 16 at their home in Centerville, Ohio about 50 miles north of Cincinnati. The deaths came about a week after Brian Halye's last flight. The Dayton Daily News reports the autopsy report doesn't indicate if the Halyes knew the cocaine contained carfentanil - a synthetic opioid 100 times stronger than fentanyl and 1,000 times more powerful than morphine. But the autopsy report does show that both Halyes took the drug by injection. Spirit Airlines pilot Brian Halye and his wife Courtney died of an overdose of the drugs cocaine and carfentanil in March, an autopsy report released Tuesday confirmed Injecting a mixture of cocaine and an opioid, as the Halye's did, is known as a speedball (stock image above) Injecting a mix of cocaine and an opioid is known as a speedball, and has been linked to several celebrity overdoses, including former Saturday Night Live star John Belushi more than three decades ago. WHAT IS CARFENTANIL? Carfentanil is an analog of the synthetic opioid medication fentanyl - the pain medication that the musician Prince died of last year. That means that the two drugs have a similar chemical structural. However, carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, and is used legally as a tranquilizer for large animals such as elephants. More and more drug overdoses have been pegged to carfentanil as dealers have started lacing their heroin with drug, or passing it off as heroin itself, since it is easier and cheaper to procure. Labs in China sell the substance online, and it's said that the equivalent of a grain of salt is enough to kill a human. The drug is so powerful that there have been fears it could be used as a chemical weapon in war or terrorist attacks. Advertisement Carfentanil is an analog of the drug fentanyl, which killed Prince last year. It is used legally as a tranquilizer for large animals like elephants. However, dealers have been lacing their heroin with it since it is easier and cheaper to procure, thanks to Chinese labs that sell it online. One of the four children living at the Halye home, ages 13, 11, 10 and 9, found the couple unconscious on the floor of their upstairs bedroom and called police on March 16. The 13-year-old boy told the dispatcher: 'My two parents, I just woke up, and my parents are on the floor. My sister said they are not waking up.' He said his parents had been fine the night before. One of the three girls also called police and told the dispatcher: 'My mom's on the floor and my stepdad ... they're not waking up ... we just woke up for school.' Brian and Courtney Halye each had two children from previous relationships. Courtney Halye's former husband and father of her two children, Jacob Castor, died in August 2007 at the age of 27 from an accidental overdose, according to the Montgomery County Coroners Office. Nancy Casey, Courtney Halye's mother, contacted police in January 2016 because she felt her daughter was abusing drugs and had threatened to harm herself. Halye had been 'hooked on drugs' on and off for about seven years, Casey told police. Halye's mother told NBC News that her daughter was a Type 1 diabetic, being treated for depression and had been prescribed medication. Brian Halye also contacted police in January 2016, this time to report his wife missing. Carfentanil is an analog of the drug fentanyl, which killed Prince last year. It is used legally as a tranquilizer for large animals like elephants. The Halyes pictured above Courtney Halye had struggled with heroin and cocaine addiction in the past. The couple (pictured left and right) were found dead by their four children He found Courtney Halye locked in their home and he worried she might use the two unloaded guns he kept inside so he forced entry. When Brian Halye got inside the house his wife was holding both guns, according to the police report. He took them from her before police arrived. Police said she appeared either intoxicated or having a medical issue related to diabetes. She was taken to the hospital for treatment. Brian Halye told officers that his wife had battled heroin and cocaine addiction 'for quite some time'. Courtney Halye was convicted of a drug possession charge that was later expunged in 2010. The Halyes purchased their home on East Von Dette Circle in Centerville during the summer of 2013. The neighborhood, Pellbrook Farm, is a quiet suburban cul-de-sac, with homes valued around $150,000 to $225,000. Three pilots killed in a light plane crash in South Australia were on a routine crew check flight with a new employee. Wreckage of the Cessna 441 Conquest II was found about 7.10pm on Tuesday, less than three kilometres from the Renmark aerodrome where it took off about 4pm. Inductee pilot Paul Daw, 65, was being assessed by Rossair's chief pilot Martin Scott, 48, to check he knew the charter company's procedures as part of his induction. Rossair's chief pilot Martin Scott, 48, was killed when his plane crashed near Renmark, SA Wreckage of the Cessna 441 Conquest II was found about 7.10pm on Tuesday, less than three kilometres from the Renmark aerodrome where it took off about 4pm Behind them was Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer Stephen Guerin, 56, who was observing as part of CASA's safety duties. The aircraft struck trouble about 20 minutes after departing the Renmark Aerodrome, north-east of Adelaide, at 4.10pm. The 37-year-old plane's emergency beacon was activated just after 4.30pm. Crash investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are on site combing through the wreckage for clues as to what caused the accident. Paul Daw, 65, was flying the plane as part of a routine crew check flight as part of his induction into charter company Rossair Mr Daw (R) was active in the flying community and two days before his death he and his brother Nigel picked up a model P-3 Orion for the South Australian Aviation Museum They may investigate whether the crew were performing simulated engine failures during the flight, which are banned on bigger aircraft for being too dangerous but still done on smaller planes. It is the worst plane crash in SA since eight people on board a Whyalla Airlines flight died when it crashed into the Spencer Gulf on May 31, 2000. Mr Daw was an experienced pilot who was due to retire as chief pilot for the Bruce Hartwig Flying School in Adelaide on Friday. One of several Cessna 441 Conquest II planes owned by the 50-year-old charter company Mr Scott (pictured) was assessing Mr Daw to check he knew the charter company's procedures as part of his induction, when he was killed 'Typical of Paul, at 65 he had no intention of retiring from being a pilot, so he was working with Rossair to continue his unrelenting passion for all things aviation,' the company said. 'Paul was a very well-known, highly experienced and respected senior pilot. We will all miss our dear friend and valued colleague. May he rest in peace.' Mr Daw's friend Maikha Ly wrote a lengthy tribute to the veteran pilot, praising him as a 'legend, a great leader' who flew more than 70 types of aircraft over 50 years. 'A great part of his career was also in Training and Checking, imparting his decades of knowledge, experience and wisdom to many a young fledgling pilot,' he said. Mr Scott joined Rossair in September 2015 as chief pilot and would have been 49 in just over two weeks The aircraft struck trouble about 20 minutes after departing the Renmark Aerodrome, north-east of Adelaide, at 4.10pm Mr Daw was also active in the flying community and two days before his death he and his brother Nigel picked up a model P-3 Orion for the South Australian Aviation Museum. Mr Scott joined Rossair in September 2015 as chief pilot and Mr Guerin worked for CASA since April 2008. CASA described Mr Guerin as a 'true gentleman' was was active in community service. He worked as a flying operations inspector and acted as a team leader on a number of occasions, earning a commendation in 2011. Crash investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are on site combing through the wreckage for clues as to what caused the accident Rossair said it was the first fatal incident for the 50-year-old company, which flies more than 50 flights a week servicing FIFO mining contracts. Rossair said it was the first fatal incident for the 50-year-old company, which flies more than 50 flights a week servicing FIFO mining contracts. 'It is with great sadness that we have to report the loss of our own personnel,' it said, adding that it grounded all flights. 'Our staff are in deep shock at our loss and our deepest sympathies are with the family members concerned. This is an extremely sad event.' 'The role of any chief pilot in an aviation organisation is one that requires leadership, mentoring and robust flying skills and Martin delivered on all those accounts particularly as we are evolving into a larger flying operation.' DETAILS OF THE ROSSAIR GROUP * Established in 1963, Rossair is Australia's second oldest air transport company behind Qantas. * The charter company currently operates a fleet of nine turbo-prop aircraft, including two 30-seat Embraer Brasilia 120 aircraft, two 19-seat Beechcraft 1990 aircraft and five 10-seater Cessna 441 Conquest aircraft. * The plane that crashed near Renmark was a 10-seater Cessna 441 Conquest. * Rossair operates more than 50 flights each week servicing fly-in, fly-out mining workers throughout South Australia and other parts of the country. It also services SA's oil and gas industry as well as tourist operators and the racing industry. Advertisement Prince William has admitted he is following in the footsteps of his father Prince Charles by writing to Government ministers. But the future king insists that he doesn't 'lobby' them and instead writes 'purely to point them towards people I think they should see'. In a wide-ranging interview with Tony Blair's notorious former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, William revealed he is interested in politics and can feel 'frustrated' by the constraints his position places on him. Prince William has admitted he is following in the footsteps of his father Prince Charles by writing to Government ministers The future king insists that he doesn't 'lobby' them and instead writes 'purely to point them towards people I think they should see' Prince Charles has been repeatedly accused of 'meddling' in affairs of state with his 'black spider memos', so-called because of his scrawled handwriting. Campbell said to Prince William: 'I do remember when your father's letters used to come into No 10. Will you go down that route, with his very frank letters to ministers?' Prince William replied, laughing: 'Could you read them?' But he admitted that he had started to do the same. He said: 'I have written to ministers but purely to point them towards people I think they should see. 'So a charity might ask me if I can help with someone and I can help get them access to the people in Government ... There are issues I am interested in and I am happy to connect people to ministers.' When Campbell asked if he was 'perhaps not as robust as your father', William replied: 'My father has always come at this from a depth of knowledge and a desire to help. He only gets involved in anything when he has those two things: knowledge matched to a desire to help. He genuinely cares. 'We can argue till the cows come home about whether what he says is right or wrong, but he lives this stuff every day, goes into minute detail, wants to help inform opinion and provide knowledge. I would love to know what the public really think, whether they feel shocked or pleased he gets involved. 'He has done this for a long, long time, and I think he has used his role really well to raise a lot of questions that people need to ask.' Prince Charles has been repeatedly accused of 'meddling' in affairs of state with his 'black spider memos', so-called because of his scrawled handwriting A ten-year battle using Freedom of Information laws to uncover the extent of Charles's 'lobbying' of ministers revealed that he wrote to Mr Blair to protest about ill-equipped British troops being employed to Iraq and to other ministers on issues as diverse as farming, the environment, homeopathic remedies and even the plight of the Patagonian toothfish. His critics say that his repeated interventions in public policy have made him the country's 'most influential lobbyist' and unfit to become king, but his supporters insist he is a good man who cares about the country and its citizens and fully understands that when he accedes to the throne, his interventions will have to stop. Prince William also speaks in the interview for GQ magazine extracts of which had already been released about the moment he walked behind his mother's coffin at her funeral, describing it as the 'hardest thing I have ever done'. He claims that he and his brother were unaware of the outpouring of grief across the nation, saying: 'All I cared about was that I had lost my mum.' In the full interview, available from today, William says the trauma of losing his mother is still something that haunts him today, although he has never sought professional help, like his brother Prince Harry, and instead prefers to talk to family and friends. The royal, pictured with brother Harry at Princess Diana's funeral in 1997, said he would have liked to have had her advice and meet his family He says: 'If I had mental health issues I would happily talk about them. 'I think the closest I got was the trauma I suffered when I lost my mother, the scale of the grief, and I still haven't necessarily dealt with that grief as well as I could have done over the years. I find talking about my mother and keeping her memory alive very important. I find it therapeutic to talk about her, and to talk about how I feel. 'I have never felt depressed in the way I understand it, but I have felt incredibly sad. And I feel the trauma of that day has lived with me for 20 years, like a weight. 'But I would not say that has led me to depression. I still want to get up in the morning, I want to do stuff, I still feel I can function. Believe me, at times it has felt like it would break me, but I have felt I have learned to manage it and I've talked about it.' Rebel Wilson tearfully accused the publishers of Woman's Day for trying to 'bully and intimidate' and 'sling mud' at her. She cried while giving evidence on the eighth day of her defamation trial against publisher Bauer Media in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday. Wilson is suing over a series of articles published in May 2015 she says painted her as a serial liar and seriously damaged her Hollywood career. Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson returned to the witness box on Wednesday for day eight of her defamation trial against Bauer Media The articles claimed Wilson had been untruthful about her real name, age and childhood. The 37-year-old Pitch Perfect star said accusations that she lied about her age from Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schofield QC were 'disgraceful'. 'I can't even put into words the conduct of these people and the people who work for them,' she said during her third and final day under cross-examination. 'It's shameful and disgraceful.' Wilson's lawyer Matthew Collins QC said the defendant had published a new article about the star on May 22 this year, on the 'eve' of the trial. Wilson said she'd been upset to hear Bauer was still running 'utter rubbish' articles at her expense. Rebel Wilson arrived at court in bright red flannel jacket on her final day of giving evidence Wilson is suing Bauer, the publisher of Woman's Day for a series of articles in May 2015, which she claims portrayed her as a serial liar Further witnesses will be called to give evidence during Wednesday's proceedings. On Tuesday, Wilson was cross-examined by Ms Schoff, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age. Ms Schoff said Australian Women's Weekly journalist Caroline Overington had spoken to the star while she was getting her hair and makeup done and was told she was several years younger than her true age. The actress has been cross-examined by Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schoff QC, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying Wilson denied the claims, saying the only information she gave to Ms Overington was during a formal interview setting, which was attended by a third party. She said there was no informal 'pre-interview'. The Bridesmaids star also denied she had a real age and a 'Hollywood age'. She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying. Snyder, above, went to Lincoln High School and died at the hospital A 15-year-old girl died in a car crash while riding with her high school friend and his father after their vehicle slammed into a parked firetruck. Christina Snyder was riding with her pal, Michelle Horn, also 15, and Michelle's father, Charles Horn, on Monday about 11pm on Interstate 94 when police say their car slammed into a firetruck. The truck had been stopped to block traffic from a rollover crash in Ypsilanti, Michigan, according to MLive. Snyder died at the hospital. Charles Horn, 34, and daughter Michelle remain in critical condition. They were all from Ypsilanti. The teens were freshmen at Lincoln High School, said the outlet. Horn had a lengthy driving record that included failing to stop for a school bus, having no proof of insurance, speeding, failure to display license during a traffic stop, lack of seatbelt, and two instances of disobeying a traffic signal, reported MLive. Christina Snyder, 15, died in the crash in which her friend Michelle's father, Charles Horn, was driving and plowed into a firetruck Monday night In 2013, he was involved in a two vehicle crash in Ypsilanti Township for which he failed to stop, said the outlet. In that case, a car was reportedly stopped and he ran into it while speeding. He fled the scene but a witness got his license plate number. Charles Horn, above, who has a long driving history and a criminal conviction, is in critical condition after crashing into a firetruck with his daughter and her friend, 15, in the car His license was suspended in October 2015 and remained suspended until March 2017. He failed to show up in court on a license hearing at one point. From November 2013 to February 2014, he was in prison after snatching a woman's purse, said the outlet. He also reportedly has an armed robbery conviction, but there were no details on the crime. Police said that all three were wearing seatbelts during the collision and it's not known if alcohol or drugs were involved, but that speed doesn't appear to be a factor. Online, a few people claiming to know Charles Horn claimed that the firetruck had its lights off at the time of the crash, making it difficult to see. But the Ypsilanti Fire Department said it had its emergency lights on at the time, according to Fox 2. Western Australian police have busted Australia's dumbest vandal after he wrote his own name and full home address into wet concrete on Monday night. Police in Kellerberrin, 205km east of Perth, made the damning discovery on Tuesday morning. 'Local charged with criminal damage after writing own name and address into wet concrete overnight,' the Kellerberrin Police wrote on its Twitter page. 'Local charged with criminal damage after writing own name and address into wet concrete overnight,' the Kellerberrin Police wrote on its Twitter page Making light of the event, the police wrote 'concrete evidence' and 'all mixed up' alongside the post. The police received a mixed response online. Some social media users ridiculed the crime, with one saying 'not too bright these crims heh'. 'Well maybe he was lost and had to write the information so he could remember his way home. Only problem was the Kellerberrin Police beat him to it,' another said. Others condemned the police and accused them of wasting their time on petty crimes. 'What a waste of tax payer resources, plus tweeting about it, no shame,' one person said. Some social media users ridiculed the crime, with one saying 'not too bright these crims heh' Others chimed in to the debate and told the police 'your priorities are disturbingly askew,' and 'wow you guys have no chill'. 'What are you, his mother?' another said. The Kellerberrin Police responded to the complaints and reinforced their no tolerance stance. 'No, we are the police responding to a legitimate complaint for a legitimate crime,' it said. Paddy Ashdown yesterday criticised Remoaners for failing to understand that those who voted to leave Europe are just as patriotic as them Paddy Ashdown yesterday criticised Remoaners for failing to understand that those who voted to leave Europe are just as patriotic as them. The Europhile peer and former Lib Dem leader said it was vital that anti-Brexit campaigners accept the result so the nation can move forward. Lord Ashdown, who was once criticised for comparing Brexiteers to Nazi paramilitaries, was responding to jeers from an overwhelmingly pro-Remain audience at the Hay Festival. He said: People who voted for Brexit voted for it because they have the view that that it is best for our country. They are just as a patriotic as the rest of us. I think its really important that we alter the terms of this debate so we can find the framework in which this nation can come back. Lord Ashdown, who led the Lib Dems from 1988 to 1999, admitted it was one of the problems for the Remain campaign that they failed to understand just how much Brexiteers care about the future of the country. His remarks were met with near-total silence from the 1,690 audience members who watched his hour-long interview with journalist Sarfraz Manzoor. Lord Ashdown said he was feeling apocalyptic about the immediate future of Britain, but added he was confident the government was doing all it could to make the best of the situation. He said: Im an optimist really. How can you be a liberal without being an optimist? But I cant dodge the fact that everything Ive fought for 40 years in politics seems not to be succeeding at the moment I fear for my country. The Europhile peer and former Lib Dem leader said it was vital that anti-Brexit campaigners accept the result so the nation can move forward Lord Ashdown revealed he was driving over Salisbury plain with his wife Jane when the Brexit vote was announced. He said: Looking out over Salisbury plain over the hill, with red poppies in the distance, I turned to her, and there must have been tears in my eyes, and I said, its not my country anymore. And I think that sense of depravation and loss was felt by many others as well. In September last year, Lord Ashdown was criticised for saying on social media that the Tory Brexit brownshirts are stirring after predicting that Theresa May would face accusations of betrayal at the Conservative Party conference over her rejection of a points-based immigration system. His use of the term brownshirts - the Nazi Party paramilitary wing that helped Hitlers ascend to power courted controversy. Conservative MP William Wragg, who backed the campaign to leave the European Union, accused Lord Ashdown of hysteria. Councils and funeral directors have refused to deal with Salman Abedi's body as it emerged his corpse is currently being kept at a morgue outside Manchester. Sources have said authorities will do 'everything in their power' to stop him being buried, cremated or laid to rest in the city. The move comes just weeks after councils across the UK refused to deal with the remains of the Moors Murderer Ian Brady, who had wanted his ashes to be scattered in his home city of Glasgow. A source told the Manchester Evening News: 'Just like Ian Brady, every effort is going in to making sure that there is not a chance Abedi can be buried or cremated in Greater Manchester.' Police said they still need to find the blue suitcase which he was seen with hours before he launched the attack on May 22 Abedi's body is believed to be the property of the coroner. Inquest hearings will be held in due course, and any final decision about his remains will be down to a coroner. His body has never been kept in the same place as his 22 victims, the source told the MEN. Abedi's family cannot receive his body as his parents Ramadan and Samia as well as younger brother Hashem, 20, are in Libya. His father and younger brother are still in detention in the country. Detectives said Hashem had links to ISIS and was planning to carry out a terror attack in Tripoli. His elder brother, Ismail, 24, remains in custody in Manchester. This was the scene inside the Manchester Arena after the terror attack at the teen concert The revelations come as counter-terrorism police said last night that Salman may have acted alone. In the four days between travelling to the UK from Libya and carrying out the atrocity that killed 22 people, he bought most of the components and built the bomb by himself, they said. Police said they could not rule out that the Libyan was part of a wider network, but after seven days of investigation involving 1,000 officers and 'hundreds' of witnesses, they concluded that he mostly acted alone. This runs counter to the impression given so far in the investigation, which has seen 16 arrests. Last night three suspects, aged 20, 24 and 37, were released without charge. Officers said a blue suitcase Abedi was seen with hours before he launched the attack remains a focus of their inquiry. It may contain crucial evidence that could allow forensic experts to piece together the gaps in his final movements. Although detectives have no reason to believe the bag contains anything dangerous, they are warning the public not to approach it, and instead call 999 immediately. Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said: 'Our enquiries show Abedi himself made most of the purchases of the core components. Many of his movements and actions have been carried out alone during the four days from him landing in the country and committing this awful attack. 'It is vital that we make sure that he is not part of a wider network and we cannot rule this out yet. There remain a number of things that concern us.' Was his hand on the trigger? Abedi on the night that he travelled to the Manchester Arena and detonated a bomb after the Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and injuring 119 Abedi had a 'relatively minor' criminal record as a teenager but was not known to police for holding extremist views. He appeared on police logs in 2012 over offences of theft, receiving stolen goods and assault, Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins said. However, Abedi had not featured in Prevent, the Government's voluntary counter-radicalisation scheme. Mr Hopkins also said charges of conspiracy to murder could be brought as a result of the huge investigation into Abedi's suspected network. President Donald Trump has been giving out his cellphone number to world leaders and telling them to call him directly. This unusual practice not only breaks diplomatic protocol, but it also raises concerns about the security and secrecy of the US commander-in-chief's communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current US officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macron's victory earlier this month, according to a French official who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. President Donald Trump has been giving out his cellphone number to world leaders and telling them to call him directly, which has raised concerns about the security and secrecy of his communications Trump has given his cellphone number to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured, as well as the presidents of France and Mexico. According to officials, Trudeau is the only one who has called the US President thus far Trump urged Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, left, to call him, though he has reportedly not followed up on that offer. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron, right, after Macron won the presidency All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeau's office responded to requests for comment. The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump - who, before taking office, was long easily accessible by cellphone and viewed himself as freewheeling, impulsive dealmaker. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. 'If you are speaking on an open line, then it's an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so,' said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president 'doesn't carry with him a secure phone,' Chollet said. 'If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything you're saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it.' The caution is warranted even when dealing with allies. Good relations don't prevent some spycraft between friends. German Chancellor Angela Merkel learned that lesson in 2013, when a dump of American secrets leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the US was monitoring her cellphone. By communicating with other world leaders on his cellphone, an unsecured line, Trump puts himself at risk of being listened on, even if the person he is talking with is an ally. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, learned that lesson the hard way in 2013 when it was discovered the US was monitoring her cellphone 'If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, it's reasonable to assume that they'd hand it right over to their intel service,' said Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs in the US State Department. The practice also opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last year's presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. Presidents' phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group - sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less-formal calls with world leaders. Trump's White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. The practice also opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last year's presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes The French official who confirmed that Trump and Macron, right, exchanged numbers, did not say whether the French President intended to use the line Trump's White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels after reports that White House adviser and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, pictured, met with a Russian ambassador in December and tried to establish a back channel for communication between Trump and Russia The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aide's attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met in December with Russia's ambassador to the US and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The White House has said such back channel communications are useful and discreet. Trump has struggled more than most recent presidents to keep his conversations with world leaders private. His remarks to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats have all leaked, presumably after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials. Trump's past conversations with world leaders have been leaked, including a conversation he had with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, pictured. That conversation, and others, presumably leaked after the notes were circulated by national security officials It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. But the law contains 'blind spots' - namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Under Barack Obama, the first cellphone-toting president, worries about cyber intrusions - particularly by foreign governments - pulled the president's devices deep into the security bubble. Many of the functions on Obama's BlackBerry were blocked, and a very small handful of people had his phone number or email address, according to former aides. 'Government sometimes looks like a big bureaucracy that has stupid rules, but a lot of these things are in place for very good reasons and they've been around for a while and determine the most effective way to do business in the foreign policy sphere,' said Deeks. 'Sometimes it takes presidents longer to figure that out.' Slain policeman Brett Forte had served his community for more than 15 years before he was murdered on Monday, but the job had always been in his blood. Following in his father's footsteps, the senior constable joined the Queensland Police Service in the early 2000s and was part of Toowoomba's Tactical Crime Squad. The father-of-three's grieving wife, Susan, is also a senior constable at the Toowoomba Police Division. Policing had always been in Brett Forte's (left) blood. The slain senior constable's father is a retired officer and his grieving wife Susan (right) also serves in the force Ms Forte (pictured left with her murdered husband) is a police officer at the Toowoomba Police Division As domestic and family violence project officer acting sergeant last year, Ms Forte urged victims and witnesses to have the courage to come forward. 'You can come in just for advice, you don't have to make a report in the first instance - we can refer people to support services,' she said at the time, according to The Chronicle. 'If anyone knows someone has been a victim of domestic or family violence, don't wait, seek advice.' Just three weeks ago, Ms Forte's outstanding work was recognised at the inaugural Queensland Police Service Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Awards. As domestic and family violence project officer acting sergeant last year, Ms Forte urged victims and witnesses to have the courage to come forward Just three weeks ago, Ms Forte's (second from left) outstanding work was recognised at the inaugural Queensland Police Service Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Awards Several other members of Snr Const Forte's distraught family also serve in the force. Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said everything was being done for the family - many of whom know all too well the dangers of the job. 'I have been in contact with some of Brett's family, I haven't spoken to his wife because she is too distraught,' Mr Leavers told 9News. 'They are really doing it tough at the moment.' Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart spent time with the Forte family in the hours after his death, including the slain policeman's father. 'As you would well imagine, the whole family is devastated - his own family, the family of his wife and their extended family,' Mr Stewart said. Sen Const Forte joined the Queensland police force in the early 2000s and was part of Toowoomba's Tactical Crime Squad Senior Constable Brett Forte (pictured with his wife) was shot dead by Rick Maddison on Monday afternoon Snr Const Forte was murdered by Rick Maddison on Monday afternoon during a wild police chase west of Brisbane. Maddison then went on the run, using an automatic rifle to fire shots at a circling police helicopter before retreating to a nearby property. Terrified residents listened to the echo of gunshots through the night, before Maddison was shot in the chest and died. Cop killer Rick Maddison had a long criminal history before he shot dead Senior Constable Brett Forte near Gatton The surgeon fighting for his life after being king hit outside a Melbourne hospital when he reportedly told a man off for smoking has been identified as Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann. The father-of-two, aged in his 40s, had gone outside the Box Hill Hospital because he was concerned about people smoking near the front doors, a caller told Melbourne radio station 3AW host Neil Mitchell off air. Dr Pritzwald-Stegman was then allegedly punched before he fell and hit his head on the ground on Tuesday night, according to Seven News. Scroll down for video Dr Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann (pictured) remains in critical condition after he was allegedly punched in the head outside Box Hill Hospital Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann (pictured) is a father-of-two and remains in critical condition He was then rushed to The Alfred Hospital where he remains in a critical condition - with his family reportedly shattered. Police have released closed-circuit TV footage of a man wearing a black jacket seen leaving Box Hill Hospital, in Melbourne's east, after the attack. He was captured on camera carrying two plastic bags and wearing a baseball cap as he got out of a hospital lift and is described by police as being aged in his 20s of medium build. A CCTV image of the man police want to speak to about the alleged assault of a surgeon The front of Box Hill Hospital where a surgeon was king hit on Tuesday night Dr Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann is fighting for his life in hospital after he was allegedly punched in the head outside Box Hill Hospital Victorian police have confirmed they investigating the serious assault of a man aged in his 40s in Melbourne's east, which took place at 7.20pm. 'It's believed a man was walking into the Arnold Street premises when he became involved in a verbal dispute with a male standing in the foyer,' they said in a statement. The man wanted for questioning about that incident left the area and is yet to be found. 'It's a one-punch assault where this person is now seriously injured,' Detective Senior Sergeant Ian Shepherd told The Age. 'We've certainly seen plenty of incidents in the past where people die from these incidents.' Ambulance Victoria confirmed paramedics transferred the victim, who is in a critical condition with head injuries, to another The Alfred Hospital near Melbourne's city centre. Victoria's Acting Health Minister Martin Foley condemned the attack as 'completely unacceptable'. 'Our thoughts are with the doctor so brutally attacked at his place of work - as well his family, colleagues and patients,' he tweeted. The Australian Medical Association's Victorian president Lorraine Baker said attacks on medical staff were sometimes a regular occurrence. 'You should be able to turn up to work and not be abused, threatened or assaulted,' she said. 'Violence and aggression towards healthcare workers must stop.' The surgeon at Box Hill Hospital was reportedly concerned about smoking at the front doors This is the isolated bushland shed that coward cop killer Rick Maddison hid in during a dramatic siege with specialist operation police. Hidden deep in the Lockyer Valley region, an hour west of Brisbane, the property was considered home for the machine gun-obsessed career criminal. On Tuesday morning, after a standoff with police that lasted all night, Maddison emerged from the property and sprayed shots at officers with an automatic rifle. Police returned fire and shot him at least three times in the chest, fatally wounding him and marking a bloody end to a nightmare 24 hours for the force. Cop killer's stronghold: Rick Maddison is believed to have lived in this isolated bushland shed Hidden deep in the Lockyer Valley region, an hour west of Brisbane, the property was considered home for the machine gun-obsessed career criminal Maddison was shot dead by specialist police after emerging from the property on Tuesday Real estate photographs capture Maddison's basic living conditions - including an upended wooden desk and lonely dining table for one Real estate information available online advertises the rural property as having almost 500 acres of ground to 'do whatever you want - well, what is legal.' Photographs capture Maddison's basic living conditions - including an upended wooden desk, tiny dining table with two chairs and a near-empty bookshelf. Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia they would frequently hear loud bursts of automatic gunfire echoing through the valley coming from his property. Local Peter Hills said Maddison would shoot weapons 'on average two or three nights a week'. 'It has tamed off a little bit,' Mr Hills said. 'A month to a month a half ago - he went ballistic one night'. Police have visited him for discharging his firearm several times, he said. 'You wouldn't hear a god damn thing (shots fired) in town because of the wind. '(I don't think) we're going to hear gunshots out there anymore.' Pure isolation: Aerial photographs show just how isolated Maddison's home was. Neighbours said Maddison would shoot weapons 'on average two or three nights a week' A close-up shot of a shipping container, possibly on Maddison's block of land, which he may have hid in during the final standoff with police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said Maddison was firing at police with what was believed to be a SKS rifle (stock image of weapon) It comes amidst revelations that the 41-year-old gun-obsessed criminal had threatened to blow up police officers during the siege. When he finally attempted to flee, Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said he was firing at police with what was believed to be a SKS rifle. One specialist police officer suffered minor injuries after one of Maddison's high power round shattered the glass of an armoured vehicle and slashed the man. Down the road, Lisa Hayden said she and her family were relieved the siege was finally over and she could spend time with her family. Ms Hayden was forced to stay in her home as the siege unfolded - her only company being the family's six-month-old cat and neighbours - while her husband, Terry, and kids stayed outside. A police command post is seen near a location of the shooting in Gatton, an hour west of Brisbane Maddison fired at police first before he was struck down in a hail of bullets from police Down the road, Lisa Hayden (pictured) had the frightening experience of watching as police officers performed CPR on Senior Constable Brett Forte on Monday The Gatton woman had the frightening experience of watching as police officers performed CPR on Senior Constable Brett Forte on Monday after he was shot by Maddison. The cops pulled up right in front of her home and she could be heard exclaiming in a video: 'Jesus Christ!' At her home Monday, Ms Hayden said: 'The kids are back at school, I just wanted things to get back to normal'. The childcare worker and her husband were planning to return to work Thursday. Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said Snr Const Forte died trying to protect his partner from a hail of bullets fired by Maddison. He was hit immediately, but still had 'the sense, the fortitude and the courage to try and back out of the situation to try and protect his partner who was sitting beside him in the car', Mr Stewart told Channel Nine. 'I would call him a hero in every sense of the word,' he said. Floral tributes have been left outside the police station where Senior Constable Const Forte served as a member of Toowoomba's Tactical Crime Squad. Dr Andrew A. Snelling converted to Christianity at the age of nine An Australian scientist is suing the Grand Canyon National Park after claiming he was denied rock samples he was going to use to prove the Earth was made in six days on the basis of his Christian beliefs. Dr Andrew A. Snelling, who received his PhD in geology at The University of Sydney, asked for 60 half-pound rocks from various sections of the canyon in November 2013. Despite never mentioning his Christian beliefs in the initial proposal, Dr Snelling said the park officials reluctance to provide samples was a discrimination of his creationist perspective. He was known to officials prior to his request because Dr Snelling conducted Biblical-themed raft tours through the canyon and had also researched in the area. The religious scientist converted to Christianity when he was just nine years old and he developed an interest in geology shortly after. His deep connection to the scripture led to a fundamentalist Christian view the book of Genesis in the bible, which depicts the Earth and all its creatures being created over a six-day time period, is a factual timeline. Previous scientists have suggested that the Grand Canyon was actually formed over five million years ago when a persistent flow of water ran through the region. But if Dr Snelling's religious theory is correct the rocks should have been formed during the era of the great flood when Noah was forced to build an ark several thousand years ago. Previous scientists have suggested that the Grand Canyon was actually formed over five million years ago when a persistent flow of water ran through the region Dr Andrew A. Snelling, who received his PhD in geology at Sydney University, asked for 60 half-pound rocks from various sections of the canyon in November 2013 A creationist group called Answers in Genesis, of which Dr Snelling is the director of research, outline on their website some of the milestones their executive group had made in the religious and scientific sphere. 'Andrew's research has demonstrated that a global flood about 4,300 years ago explains many rock layers and most fossil deposits found around the world,' the website reads. 'Building from that foundation, he has made predictions as to what should be found if a catastrophic global flood actually happened [for example, the existence of extensive, fossil-bearing rock layers deposited right across continents]. They also suggest Dr Snelling's research proves that methods of carbon dating which scientists have been using for decades are inaccurate. 'Andrew has indicated that radioactive decay rates have not been consistent in the past, having been grossly accelerated, so the radioactive methods for dating rocks at millions and billions of years old are not reliable,' Answers in Genesis wrote on their website 'Andrew has indicated that radioactive decay rates have not been consistent in the past, having been grossly accelerated, so the radioactive methods for dating rocks at millions and billions of years old are not reliable. 'Polonium radiohalos indicate granites and metamorphism of rocks occurred rapidly, and the rock evidence overall is consistent with a young earth. He is currently researching the radioisotope dating of meteorites,' they said. Peter Huntoon, a professor emeritus at the University of Wyoming, said the problem was not so much Dr. Snelling's view, but the park's adherence to its 'narrowly defined institutional mandate predicated in part on the fact that ours is a secular society as per our Constitution.' Dr Snelling's lawyer said they will be conducting a meeting with the national park officials soon. Australian diplomats will now have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for formal clothing as it will no longer be funded by the taxpayer starting from July 1. Besides the tuxedos and cocktail dresses used by diplomats to attend the fancy soirees while on duty abroad, their satellite TV allowances have also been scrapped. The government says the changes were made in line with taxpayers' expectations. The diplomats will lose their formal clothing subsidies from July 1 (stock image) Also off the table is the pre-posting of financial counseling services, which means they will no longer be entitled to free accounting services. These changes will only affect new appointees while 890 staff on current postings will not be affected, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson told the Senate estimates on Wednesday. Also exempted from these changes were the defence forces and federal police on active operations. More perks are due to be removed in line with the taxpayer expectations (stock image) Taxpayer-funded allowances for public servants sent abroad were trimmed in the May budget to save $37 million over four years. Also set to be abolished in the coming days is a child reunion supplement, household maintenance and assistance, and additional home allowance. The husband of a mother-of-two killed during a hit and run says he sensed 'genuine remorse' in the teenager killer's apology and does not hate him. Speaking to 3AW on Tuesday, James Lehane extended great humanity and forgiveness to his wife's killer, saying holding a grudge 'doesn't make any difference to me, it's not going to bring our Andy back.' 'He didn't have intent to do what he did. I'm not trying to stick up for him at all but there are so many crimes that happen in this world where people set out with intent to hurt, damage people and he didn't have that. I know the things he did during and after only rub salt into the wounds but I still don't think that poorly of him, as some other people do.' Scroll down for video James Lehane has extended great humanity and forgiveness to his wife's killer, saying he doesn't hold a grudge against Caleb Jakobsson Mr Lehane says Mr Jakobsson didn't have 'intent to harm' his wife who died during the fatal hit and run incident in Melbourne Lehane said he took Caleb Jakobsson's letter of apology 'seriously' but that it doesn't help the pain he and his family are experiencing. 'I took it seriously, I don't have any doubt that he didn't mean what he said. I don't doubt that he's sorry, I'm sure he's very sorry for himself, I would think he's sorry for the life he's taken unnecessarily.' Mr Lehane said unlike many people in his family, he was able to summon understanding towards Mr Jakobsson's situation. He said the hatred many people have towards Andrea's killer is 'justified' but says 'it's just going to make life worse for everyone involved.' 'He didn't have intent to do what he did. I'm not trying to stick up for him at all but there are so many crimes that happen in this world where people set out with intent to hurt, damage people and he didn't have that. I know the things he did during and after only rub salt into the wounds but I still don't think that poorly of him, as some other people do.' Caleb Jakobsson was sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison on Tuesday with a non-parole period of four years for running down a Melbourne mother-of-two Andrea Lehane (pictured) was badly brain damaged and died when her life support was turned off two days after the hit and run Andrea Lehane's husband James leaves the Melbourne County court after Jakobsson's sentence was delivered Caleb Jakobsson was sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday with a non-parole period of four years. Mr Jakobsson was riding his self-built monkey bike when he ran down Andrea Lehane, 34, at a pedestrian crossing outside a Carrum Downs shopping centre in September 2015. The 34-year-old nurse was badly brain damaged and her life support was turned off days after the crash. He plead guilty in March to culpable driving causing death and failing to stop after the crash. Mr Jakobsson was 18 at the time of the hit and run in September, 2015. 'Your actions were morally reprehensible,' Judge Jane Campton said when delivering his sentence. 'Her husband and two young children have been deprived of a wife and mother and will suffer grief for many years.' Mr Jakobsson was riding the homemade bike without a licence when he struck Mrs Lehane and failed to stop. Mrs Lehane left behind a husband and two children. She is pictured while pregnant with Mr Lehane James Lehane (pictured) leaving court on Tuesday after Jakobsson was sentenced to a minimum four years in prison Pippa Middleton and husband James Matthews took to the air above Sydney as they explored the harbour city on their honeymoon which included dining on kangaroo tartare. The newlyweds touched down at Sydney Airport on Tuesday night, but were up for a morning jog alongside the harbour just hours later. They walked hand in hand before taking a water taxi to Rose Bay, before boarding a seaplane that flew them to a secluded restaurant frequented by the rich and famous. The scenic 20-minute flight took them to the edge of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the equally picturesque Cottage Point Inn, on the Hawkesbury River. Scroll down for video Pippa Middleton reportedly dined on kangaroo tartare at the exclusive Cottage Point Inn The newlyweds spent a few hours at the waterfront restaurant before leaving via seaplane The newlyweds spent a few hours at the waterfront restaurant before leaving via seaplane The inn's new owner, Ally Oleson, said Pippa enjoyed the restaurant's signature dish: kangaroo tartare. After enjoying the raw wild kingfish starter, priced at AUD$32, the brunette beauty then moved on to the AUD$34 raw kangaroo main. Sitting alongside her, James skipped a starter and went straight to the second most expensive meal on the menu - the AUD$48 duck breast. Ms Oleson said she was completely unaware the famous couple were coming to lunch. 'We weren't even aware they were coming until the last minute,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'We had no idea they were coming. They just turned up. 'There are a lot of photographers around trying to get a picture, I don't know how she does it.' 'No one recognised them or approached them for photos... (but) she seems nice, they were very friendly.' Pippa Middleton and husband James Matthews caught a sea plane to a secluded restaurant tucked away in Sydney's beautiful Ku-ring-gai National Park The glowing newlyweds escaped to the idyllic Cottage Point Inn for a three-hour degustation She added: 'It's so exciting that she's come here, she's so beautiful. It's very exciting.' 'We're surprised and flattered they chose us - we're very lucky.' Ms Olesen and her husband, Shane, took over the fine-dining establishment a year ago and are no strangers to having VIP clientele. Jerry Seinfeld, Cameron Diaz and Westfield chairman Frank Lowy have all sat down for a meal in the former boat shed. Gayle Kelly, the ex-executive of Westpac bank is also a regular, Ms Olesen said. 'We had Dustin Hoffmann in a few months ago and no one recognised him,' she said. A beaming Pippa was spotted leaving the Cottage Point Inn, dressed in a stylish striped dress The couple dined with friends and a baby before leaving in a seaplane back to Rose Bay Pippa smiles from her seat on the plane on her way back to Sydney on Wednesday afternoon The fine dining restaurant has reportedly been enjoyed by Cameron Diaz and Orlando Bloom Pippa and James will enjoy seven courses of unique Australian food, including stretched curd, smoked eel, wild kingfish, dusky flathead and cured pork James Matthews (centre) can be seen speaking to friends alongside wife Pippa Middleton (in white) The restaurant offers three-hour degustations at $140 per person with another $75 getting customers paired wines. DEGUSTATION MENU Stretched Curd | Fig | Green Almond | Fennel Pollen Raw Wild Kingfish | Smoked Eel | Shiso | Walnut | Apple Roasted Squid| Cured Pork | Enoki | Tamarillo Dusky Flathead | Currant | Radish | Macadamia | Anchovy Butter Wagyu Beef | Shitake | Onion | Sesame Seeds | Ginger Caramelised Pineapple | Coconut Parfait | Lemon Gel Chocolate | Hazelnut | Prune Three-hour meal, $140 per head Advertisement The seven-course menu includes stretched curd, smoked eel, wild kingfish, dusky flathead and cured pork. But Ms Olesen said she'd recommend the duck to anyone who walked in the door. Pippa and James were pictured beaming after their leisurely lunch before leaving the restaurant and boarding their waiting seaplane. After their flight, a water taxi then took the couple to Woolloomooloo, where a waiting silver Audi A8 sedan picked them up and drove them back to their hotel. Pippa, 33, and hedge fund manager James, 41, said their vows at St Mark's Church at a private estate in Berkshire, west of London, less than a fortnight ago. She is the younger sister of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, who's married to Prince William. After their lavish wedding, the couple initially honeymooned at The Brando, a luxury resort on the private French Polynesian island of Tetiaro. Main meals at Cottage Point range from a $36 vegetarian pine mushroom dish to a $50 wagyu beef special Pippa and James will sit down by the water for a world-class degustation lasting three hours At no point has Sydney been mentioned as a honeymoon destination for the pair - the news leaving their Australian fans thrilled (newlyweds pictured boarding sea plane) Diners are often treated to a display by local kookaburras, with waiters offering the native birds scraps of meat in exchange for affection It's reported they jetted into Sydney on Tuesday night from New Zealand and are staying at the Park Hyatt Hotel in The Rocks. Meanwhile, Pippa's brother-in-law, Prince Harry, is due in Sydney next week. Harry will officially launch the countdown to the 2018 Invictus Games at an event in the harbour city on June 7. The newlyweds are thought to be staying at the five-star Park Hyatt hotel on the waterfront It's likely that the couple will be staying in the hotel's Sydney Suite, which costs guests $19,000 per night Pippa and James are thought to be staying at the stunning five star Park Hyatt waterfront hotel The newlyweds then hopped on a seaplane at Rose Bay for a scenic flight to a romantic lunch A group of men were chided by social media users for choosing to risk their lives by driving through a crocodile-infested river in the Northern Territory two days ago. The Facebook post which has gone viral since shows a group of men desperately trying to push their car, a Ford Falcon, out from Cahills Crossing - east of Darwin -which is notoriously known for its wild crocodiles. The footage uploaded by Facebook user Aaron Dorset on May 29 has since garnered a total of 27,000 views with some labeling the men's actions as stupid. Scroll down for video Group of men risked their lives while driving their car through Cahills Crossings on May 29 Mr Dorset provided some details on the footage adding it was recorded by pure chance. 'I was taking some photos with my good camera when these guys decided to do this, I got some awesome photos with that but had to swap to my phone and video the mayhem,' he said. 'I thought the car may have got swept away if it stayed there as the tide was still rushing in.' Mr Dorset went on to provide more details adding that the men had pulled the crazy stunt successfully before. Facebook post owner explains how he got the footage adding the men have done it before This Facebook post has been viewed more then 27,000 times by social media users 'They thought they could cross it in a shoe box. LOL (laugh out loud). 'The driver admitted he's done it before. 'At one point I bet they were thinking their car was going to join the other one downstream. 'Half an hour more and it would have.' The group of men refused to give up and persisted until their car was pushed out to dry land The ordeal ends when a white Toyota Landcruiser helps bull bar it back to safety to dry land Fortunately for the men, there were no crocodiles seen at the river at the time of the incident but if the event would have happened earlier they would have. 'I saw what I believe was about a four-meter crocodile very close to there about 12 hours before,' he said. Early this year, a 47-year-old man lost his life at the Cahills Crossing river. The last known fatal attack in the river was recorded in 1987. The men's ordeal finally came to an end when a white Toyota LandCruiser came out of nowhere and nudged the Ford with the bull bar back to dry land. FARGO The Richland County Sheriffs Department says its investigating a Catholic priest of the Fargo Diocese after reports of inappropriate activities with youths in his parishes. Investigator Josh Beto said there is more than one potential victim in the case and that hes fielded several calls from the public since the news about Father Thomas Feltman broke over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Beto said anyone who has information or concerns can call the Fargo Diocese or sheriffs office, but added, We would also like them to contact us. The diocese announced on Saturday that it had put Feltman on paid administrative leave after he told church officials about concerns brought to him regarding his interaction with youth. Feltman is 48 years old and from the Minto, N.D., area, according to the diocese. Most recently, he was pastor of St. John the Baptists Catholic Church in Wyndmere, N.D., and St. Arnold's Catholic Church in Milnor, N.D. Diocesan spokesman Paul Braun said after Feltman self-reported the concerns, the diocese reported them to Richland County Social Services for review. The sheriffs office then became involved. Patrick Wall is a former priest and now advocate at Jeff Anderson and Associates, a Twin Cities law firm thats made a name for itself representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Wall said he finds it odd that a priest would self-report. He said it could be that Feltman is naive and doesnt understand what that triggers. Or hes a guy whos very equipped and figures hes going to get in front of this, Wall said. Either way, Wall called it a positive step that Feltman was placed on leave while the claims are investigated. Braun said Feltman won't be performing any priestly duties and won't be living on diocesan property during that time. Feltmans photo remains on the Fargo Diocese website. Messages from The Forum to his diocese email address have not been returned. Bishop John Folda told members of the Milnor and Wyndmere parishes on Saturday that it was the previous week when Feltman told the diocese of the concerns about his dealings with youth. "I want to assure you that the safety of our children and families is and will remain a priority for our Church," the bishop said in a statement released Saturday. Braun said the announcement to the news media was made just a few minutes after it was announced to the parishes. We wanted to give them an opportunity to hear it from us, not through the media, he said. The diocese has said Father Andrew Jasinski will serve as the temporary administrator of the Milnor and Wyndmere parishes. Fugitive: Ramon Michael Hutchinson, 49, was wanted after skipping bond in Minnesota Two bounty hunters and the fugitive they were tracking have died in a furious gun-fight at a busy car dealership. Licensed private investigators Fidel Garcia Jr and Gabriel Bernal were attempting to apprehend Minnesota fugitive Ramon Michael Hutchinson, 49, when all three died Tuesday in Greenville, Texas. Hutchinson was wanted on felony charges of disarming a police officer, fourth-degree assault of an officer and felony first-degree narcotics possession, according to private Minnesota-based company US Fugitive Recovery and Extradition. The fugitive had been sought since he failed to appear for a March court date in Minneapolis, forfeiting a $50,000 bond. Bounty hunters typically take about a 10 percent fee of total bail bond for successful recovery of a fugitive. Scroll down for video Bounty Hunters: Fidel Garcia Jr (left) and Gabriel Bernal (right) were attempting to apprehend Hutchinson when the shooting began at a car dealership in Greenville, Texas Shootout: The bounty hunters learned Hutchinson was in the process of trading in the car at a Nissan dealership, and decided to move in Garcia and Bernal were private investigators in Corpus Christi who'd been hired to bring in Hutchinson after a tip lead fugitive recovery agents to suspect he was in Texas. The bounty hunters placed a tracking device on a car they believed to be Hutchinson's, where he was believed to be staying with a girlfriend, according to CBS DFW. But when they learned Hutchinson was in the process of trading in the car at a Nissan dealership in Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas, the two investigators feared he was trying to shake them and decided to move in. The two men walked into the dealership and announced that they were federal agents, according to Rick Ford, the dealership owner. Bounty hunters working for bail-bondsmen have broad powers of arrest and search under the law, but they are not government agents. 'We were told they were federal agents so we didnt ask them to leave,' Ford told the CBS affiliate. 'They were dressed casual. We thought they were plainclothes officers.' Dead: Private investigator Fidel Garcia Jr was the owner of FNG Security and Investigations Ruse: Garcia and Bernal apparently told dealership employees they were federal agents, which they were not. The two men devised a ruse to lure their quarry back to the dealership Devising a ruse to get the girlfriend back to the dealership, the investigators hoped that Hutchinson would come with her, which he did. The two investigators were reportedly at the dealership for three to four hours before they were successful in luring the girlfriend and fugitive to the location. The trouble began when the two bounty hunters produced handcuffs and tried to take Hutchinson into custody at about 7.30pm. Hutchinson pulled out a gun and bullets began to fly across the crowded dealership, smashing out plate glass windows. When the dust settled, Hutchinson, Garcia and Bernal were dead, but fortunately nobody else was injured. Slain policeman Brett Forte's father Stuart has revealed his son was a third-generation cop whose grieving wife is too distraught to visit his memorial. Brett Forte had served his community in southern Queensland for more than 15 years before he was murdered on Monday, but the job had always been in his blood. Stuart Forte, who is also a police officer, said his daughter-in-law Susie, who is also a serving police officer in Toowoomba west of Brisbane, was too distraught to visit her slain husband's memorial. Scroll down for video Policing had always been in Brett Forte's (left) blood. The slain senior constable's father is a retired officer and his grieving wife Susan (right) also serves in the force Stuart Forte said his slain son Brett was a third-generation police officer in Queensland 'She's still very upset, very emotional and so we're keeping her at home. She's there with her daughter at the moment,' Brett Forte told 7News on Wednesday. Forte senior said his son, who was a senior constable, came from a long line of police officers. 'My wife and I are extremely proud of him. He's a third-generation police officer. My wife's brother is a police officer. Susie's wife is a police officer and the police are a big family,' he said. Following in his father's footsteps, Brett Forte joined the Queensland Police Service in the early 2000s and was part of Toowoomba's Tactical Crime Squad. The father-of-three's grieving wife is also a senior constable at the Toowoomba Police Division. Ms Forte (pictured left with her murdered husband) is a police officer at the Toowoomba Police Division As domestic and family violence project officer acting sergeant last year, Ms Forte urged victims and witnesses to have the courage to come forward. 'You can come in just for advice, you don't have to make a report in the first instance - we can refer people to support services,' she said told The Chronicle at the time. 'If anyone knows someone has been a victim of domestic or family violence, don't wait, seek advice.' Just three weeks ago, Ms Forte's outstanding work was recognised at the inaugural Queensland Police Service Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Awards. As domestic and family violence project officer acting sergeant last year, Ms Forte urged victims and witnesses to have the courage to come forward Just three weeks ago, Ms Forte's (second from left) outstanding work was recognised at the inaugural Queensland Police Service Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Awards Several other members of Snr Const Forte's distraught family also serve in the force. Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said everything was being done for the family - many of whom know all too well the dangers of the job. 'I have been in contact with some of Brett's family, I haven't spoken to his wife because she is too distraught,' Mr Leavers told 9News. 'They are really doing it tough at the moment.' Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart spent time with the Forte family in the hours after his death, including the slain policeman's father. 'As you would well imagine, the whole family is devastated - his own family, the family of his wife and their extended family,' Mr Stewart said. Sen Const Forte joined the Queensland police force in the early 2000s and was part of Toowoomba's Tactical Crime Squad Senior Constable Brett Forte (pictured with his wife) was shot dead by Rick Maddison on Monday afternoon Snr Const Forte was murdered by Rick Maddison on Monday afternoon during a wild police chase west of Brisbane. Maddison then went on the run, using an automatic rifle to fire shots at a circling police helicopter before retreating to a nearby property. Terrified residents listened to the echo of gunshots through the night, before Maddison was shot in the chest and died. Cop killer Rick Maddison had a long criminal history before he shot dead Senior Constable Brett Forte near Gatton For 30 years it has been a 2,400 mile ghost town, but experts now believe the iconic Route 66 is experiencing a turnaround. The two-lane highway established in 1926 and coined the 'Mother Road' by John Steinbeck seemed to encompass the essence of America, threading through eight states from Chicago to Santa Monica. But after it was decommissioned in the 1980s in favor of larger and faster thoroughfares, Route 66 appeared headed for the dustbin of history as the mom and pop stores, kitschy motels, diners and petrol stations that lined the road gradually shut down. After it was decommissioned in the 1980s in favor of larger and faster thoroughfares, Route 66 appeared headed for the dustbin of history Driving today along stretches of the fabled highway - 85 percent of which can still be traveled -- one can see renovated motels with blazing neon signs, newly opened museums, quirky sights and souvenir shops galore 'Entire towns folded up and what had been a 2,400-mile carnival became to a large extent a 2,400-mile ghost town,' explained David Knudson, founder and executive director of the non-profit National Historic Route 66 Federation. In recent years, however, the iconic road that has been immortalized in countless books, movies, music ('Get your kicks on Route 66'), and a TV series has been experiencing a nostalgia-driven revival that is attracting tourists from around the globe. 'Foreigners come to travel the road because it gives them a chance to experience America before we became generic,' said Michael Wallis, a historian and author of 'Route 66: The Mother Road.' Travel experts say the fastest growing groups of tourists on Route 66 are Chinese and Brazilians, as well as Europeans drawn by the idea of the open space and the road trip of a lifetime In recent years, however, the iconic road that has been immortalized in countless books, movies, music and a TV series has been experiencing a nostalgia-driven revival 'It's still the road of adventure because nothing on Route 66 is predictable,' he added. 'I often say, "You know what you are going to get at McDonald's ... but if you are on an old two-lane such as Route 66, you could go into a cafe, a greasy spoon, a pie place, a diner and you don't know what you're going to get."' Wallis said the fastest growing groups of tourists on Route 66 are Chinese and Brazilians, as well as Europeans drawn by the idea of the open space and the 'road trip of a lifetime.' For decades, Route 66 captured the imagination of travelers the world over, offering a glimpse of a bygone era of American history, when people hit the road in search of adventure and a better life The famous route remains popular with tourists around the world, and communities along the route are optimistic of a revival 'I have clients in their 20s and 70s who are fascinated by this road and everyone is looking for convertible Mustangs and Harley Davidsons to experience it,' said Zsolt Nagy, who twice a year organizes Route 66 road trips that cost up to $8,000 per person. 'Business is booming, the roads are better, the signs are better, it's coming back to life,' said Zsolt, who is from Hungary and who fell in love with the open road about 10 years ago when he traveled it. 'I think the legend is growing like crazy.' Bob Russell, the mayor of Pontiac, about two hours southwest of Chicago, said his small community of about 12,000 people is a prime example of the resurgent interest in the road. 'It has been an amazing transformation,' he said of the town which boasts four museums, 27 large murals and is considered one of the jewels of Route 66. Route 66 has long been iconic for riders hoping to see the diverse sights of America Bob Russell, the mayor of Pontiac, about two hours southwest of Chicago, said his small community of about 12,000 people is a prime example of the resurgent interest in the road 'There is a special aura for Route 66 to the overseas people because it represents freedom, the open road, your scarf around your neck and your hair blowing in the wind.' Driving today along stretches of the fabled highway -- 85 percent of which can still be traveled -- one can see renovated motels with blazing neon signs, newly opened museums, quirky sights and souvenir shops galore. There are also half-abandoned communities and crumbling ghost towns that echo Steinbeck's epic 1930s novel of the great depression, 'The Grapes of Wrath,' the story of a family that embarks on a journey along Route 66, fleeing the Oklahoma dustbowl for California. And while the road for many may evoke images of a more innocent America, as encapsulated in Norman Rockwell's paintings, Route 66 had a more sinister side for black travelers. Half of the 89 counties that lined the highway were known as 'sundown towns' where African Americans were banned after dark. The author Candacy Taylor was researching a travel guide on Route 66 when she stumbled on 'The Negro Motorist Green Book,' which listed safe places along the road - and notably revealed that the Ku Klux Klan ran Fantastic Caverns, a popular tourist attraction in Springfield, Missouri, and held cross burnings inside. 'All of the American narratives around what it means to hit the open road and the freedom and the symbolism that comes along with that was a dramatically different story for black people,' said Taylor, who encourages people to 'look beyond the bobby socks, the Chevys and the chrome' to experience the real Route 66. 'It's an American icon, just like Marilyn Monroe or Elvis,' she said. 'But Route 66 is not perfect and shiny, there are a lot of cracks in that metaphor, in that illusion of what America is.' An anxious viewer has phoned triple-zero while watching Question Time on TV over concerns Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce looked ill. The call was just one in a string of absurd calls Canberra emergency worker Ian Roebuck has received during his time in the job. 'They were genuinely concerned that he needed quick medical attention,' Mr Roebuck told the Canberra Times. 'We explained that he's an adult and can request his own ambulance.' An anxious viewer has phoned triple-zero while watching Question Time on TV over concerns Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce (pictured) looked ill Mr Roebuck said he was also caught off-guard when a person claiming to have psychic abilities called triple-zero about a premonition. The person said they foresaw a stranger was about to fall terribly ill. While the call was unusual, Mr Roebuck said he was unable to dismiss it in case there was any actual cause for concern. He said he tracked the person down and after an awkward and somewhat strange conversation, established they were not in any danger or ill-health. Canberra emergency worker Ian Roebuck (left) recounts the most absurd calls received during his time in the job Mr Roebuck was forced to tell the caller that Mr Joyce was a grown man and had the ability to phone for help himself if he needed it Mr Roebuck said he received another call from a very money-savvy punter. He said the call came in from a person watching a horror movie in the cinema. He said they told him they felt ill and asked to be assessed while still sitting in their cinema seat. He said they refused to leave the cinema to make the call because they did not want to waste the money they spent on the ticket. Mr Roebuck recounted one female caller who sounded as if she was just after a visit from some 'nice young men'. Mr Roebuck said ambulances were dispatched when an elderly lady phoned triple-zero after she fell and couldn't stand up He said an elderly lady phoned triple-zero when she fell and couldn't stand up. When paramedics arrived, they treated her, put her in bed and put a movie on for her to enjoy. 'She rang back two hours later and said the movie was finished so can we please send those nice young men back to put another one on,' he said. He said one concerned onlooker phoned triple-zero when they saw a man lying face down in the park. Mr Roebuck said ambulance workers were dispatched to help a man lying face down in the park, only to discover he was just sleeping When paramedics arrived to treat the man, it turned out he was just asleep. Mr Roebuck said he often received calls that were not genuine medical emergencies, but said it was important to treat every call as if it was. He said nine times out of 10, calls were not emergencies, 'but you can never take the risk in case it is that one in 10 scenario'. Investigators are examining the mangled wreck of a light plane that crashed in South Australia, killing three experienced pilots. Wreckage of the Cessna 441 Conquest II was found about 7.10pm on Tuesday, less than three kilometres from the Renmark aerodrome where it took off about 4pm. On board were Rossair chief pilot Martin Scott, 48, inductee pilot Paul Daw, 65, and safety officer Stephen Guerin, 56, who were all killed instantly. Investigators are examining the mangled wreck of a light plane that crashed in South Australia, killing three experienced pilots Photos of the debris showed the downed plane reduced to unrecognisable pieces of twisted metal strewn across the bushland Photos of the debris showed the downed plane reduced to unrecognisable pieces of twisted metal strewn across the bushland. Five crash investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau were on site combing through the wreckage for clues as to what caused the accident. The area was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape and men with surveying equipment seen examining the area. They may investigate whether the crew were performing simulated engine failures during the flight, which are banned on bigger aircraft for being too dangerous but still done on smaller planes. Rossair chief executive Warren Puvanendran would not speculate on the cause of the crash during the investigation and did not know what the training flight involved. 'At this stage we simply don't know what happened,' he said at a press conference on Wednesday, adding he was shocked given the experience of the three pilots. Rossair's chief pilot Martin Scott, 48, was killed when his plane crashed near Renmark, SA Paul Daw, 65, was flying the plane as part of a routine crew check flight as part of his induction into charter company Rossair Wreckage of the Cessna 441 Conquest II was found about 7.10pm on Tuesday, less than three kilometres from the Renmark aerodrome where it took off about 4pm The company grounded all its operations indefinitely on safety grounds, including 20 charter flights every week. Mr Daw was being assessed by Mr Scott to check he knew the charter company's procedures as part of his induction. Behind them was Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer Mr Guerin who was observing as part of CASA's safety duties. The plane was fitted with dual controls allowing Mr Scott to take over from Mr Daw if necessary. The aircraft struck trouble about 20 minutes after departing the Renmark Aerodrome, north-east of Adelaide, at 4.10pm. The 37-year-old plane's emergency beacon was activated just after 4.30pm. The area was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape and men with surveying equipment seen examining the area CASA may investigate whether crew were doing simulated engine failures during the flight, which are banned on bigger aircraft for being too dangerous but still done on smaller planes Mr Daw (R) was active in the flying community and two days before his death he and his brother Nigel picked up a model P-3 Orion for the South Australian Aviation Museum It is the worst plane crash in SA since eight people on board a Whyalla Airlines flight died when it crashed into the Spencer Gulf on May 31, 2000. Mr Daw was an experienced pilot who was due to retire as chief pilot for the Bruce Hartwig Flying School in Adelaide on Friday, and take up a casual flying role with Rossair. 'Typical of Paul, at 65 he had no intention of retiring from being a pilot, so he was working with Rossair to continue his unrelenting passion for all things aviation,' the company said. One of several Cessna 441 Conquest II planes owned by the 50-year-old charter company Mr Scott (pictured) was assessing Mr Daw to check he knew the charter company's procedures as part of his induction, when he was killed 'Paul was a very well-known, highly experienced and respected senior pilot. We will all miss our dear friend and valued colleague. May he rest in peace.' Mr Daw's friend Maikha Ly wrote a lengthy tribute to the veteran pilot, praising him as a 'legend, a great leader' who flew more than 70 types of aircraft over 50 years. 'A great part of his career was also in Training and Checking, imparting his decades of knowledge, experience and wisdom to many a young fledgling pilot,' he said. Mr Scott joined Rossair in September 2015 as chief pilot and would have been 49 in just over two weeks The aircraft struck trouble about 20 minutes after departing the Renmark Aerodrome, north-east of Adelaide, at 4.10pm Mr Daw was also active in the flying community and two days before his death he and his brother Nigel picked up a model P-3 Orion for the South Australian Aviation Museum. Mr Scott joined Rossair in September 2015 as chief pilot and Mr Guerin worked for CASA since April 2008. CASA described Mr Guerin as a 'true gentleman' was was active in community service. He worked as a flying operations inspector and acted as a team leader on a number of occasions, earning a commendation in 2011. Crash investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are on site combing through the wreckage for clues as to what caused the accident Rossair said it was the first fatal incident for the 50-year-old company, which flies more than 50 flights a week servicing FIFO mining contracts. Rossair said it was the first fatal incident for the 50-year-old company, which flies more than 50 flights a week servicing FIFO mining contracts. 'It is with great sadness that we have to report the loss of our own personnel,' it said, adding that it grounded all flights. 'Our staff are in deep shock at our loss and our deepest sympathies are with the family members concerned. This is an extremely sad event.' 'The role of any chief pilot in an aviation organisation is one that requires leadership, mentoring and robust flying skills and Martin delivered on all those accounts particularly as we are evolving into a larger flying operation.' ABOUT THE ROSSAIR GROUP * Established in 1963, Rossair is Australia's second oldest air transport company behind Qantas. * The charter company currently operates a fleet of nine turbo-prop aircraft, including two 30-seat Embraer Brasilia 120 aircraft, two 19-seat Beechcraft 1990 aircraft and five 10-seater Cessna 441 Conquest aircraft. * The plane that crashed near Renmark was a 10-seater Cessna 441 Conquest. * Rossair operates more than 50 flights each week servicing fly-in, fly-out mining workers throughout South Australia and other parts of the country. It also services SA's oil and gas industry as well as tourist operators and the racing industry. Advertisement Advertisement At least 90 people -including a BBC driver - are dead and 400 more are injured after a massive bomb concealed in a sewage tanker ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter this morning. Bodies littered the street and a towering plume of smoke could be seen over the Afghan capital after the truck attack blew out the windows in a number of foreign missions and residences nearby. Officials said most of the casualties this morning were civilians and 'many women and children' were among the victims. The powerful blast left a gaping crater at least 15ft deep. This morning, it emerged that BBC Afghan driver Mohammed Nazir had been killed in the explosion and that four BBC journalists have been wounded. Their injuries are not thought to be life threatening. A number of employees at the German consulate have also been hurt and an Afghan security guard stationed outside the building was killed in the suicide bomb, which was also close to the British, French and US embassies. The Afghan Taliban this morning denied responsibility for the attack, which comes just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. No group immediately claimed to have carried out the atrocity, but both the Taliban and ISIS have staged large-scale attacks in Kabul in the past. Scroll down for video This was the devastating scene after a bomb concealed in a water tanker ripped through the diplomatic quarter of Kabul killing at least 90 Shocking pictures show a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital and people covered in blood near the scene Soldiers were called in as fire from the explosion spread to cars and buildings in the area. More than 350 people were injured An Afghan man reacts at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan this morning. Bodies littered the streets and hundreds were left injured Pictures from the scene show a massive tower of smoke climbing into the sky in the aftermath of a huge truck bomb in Kabul In the devastating aftermath of the bomb, emergency crews arrived to find the mangled, twisted wreckage of cars and buildings with windows smashed out At least 90 are feared dead and hundreds more have been injured in a massive explosion near the British embassy in Kabul Amid the chaos and confusion in the aftermath of the blast this morning, officials initially said 50 had been killed. Reuters later reported the country's health ministry as saying the death toll was at least 90. The blast, which shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of yards away, was unusually strong, with some reports saying it was caused by explosives concealed in a water tanker. A statement from the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Kabul said Afghan security forces had prevented the vehicle from entering the heavily protected Green Zone that houses many foreign embassies as well as RS headquarters, suggesting it may not have reached its intended target. The explosion caused carnage during rush hour when roads are packed with worktime commuters. The interior ministry was calling on Kabul residents to donate blood this morning, saying hospitals were in 'dire need'. A statement from the Ministry of Interior Affairs says it 'condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack' that killed so many, including women and children. 'These heinous acts go against the values of humanity as well values of peaceful Afghans,' the statement added. 'These attacks also demonstrate the extreme level of atrocity by terrorists against innocent civilians.' It appeared to have gone off close to a busy intersection in the Wazir Akbar Khan district but Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, did not have a more precise location. The target of the attack was not immediately known but Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry, said most of the casualties were civilians Afghan security officials inspect the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan this morning which left the area in ruins Emergency crews are still pulling victims from the rubble this morning in the wake of the rush hour explosion The neighbourhood is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. Armed police descended on the scene moments after the blast, which was so powerful it blew doors off their hinges hundreds of yards away A damaged vehicle is removed from the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. It is not yet known who carried out the attack or why Panic: Aid workers run past soldiers towards the scene of the blast this morning as it emerged more than 350 had been injured A woman with bandages on her face walks away from the scene on the blast. Authorities said women and children were among the victims this morning Roshan mobile company employees leave the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Foreign embassies were also damaged in the attack BBC DRIVER DEAD AND FOUR JOURNALISTS ARE INJURED The BBC's Afghan driver was killed and four of its journalists were injured in the truck bomb. 'It is with great sadness that the BBC can confirm the death of BBC Afghan driver Mohammed Nazir following the vehicle bomb in Kabul earlier today, as he was driving journalist colleagues to the office,' the BBC World Service said in a statement. 'Four BBC journalists were also injured and were treated in hospital. Their injuries are not thought to be life threatening,' the statement said. 'Mohammed Nazir worked as a driver for the BBC Afghan Service for more than four years and was a popular colleague. He was in his late thirties and he leaves a young family,' it said. 'This is a devastating loss to the BBC and to Mohammed Nazir's friends and family. We are doing all we can to support them and the rest of the team in Kabul.' The truck bomb killed 90 people and wounded hundreds more. The attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where a military beset by soaring casualties and desertions is struggling to beat back the insurgents. More than a third of the country is outside government control. Advertisement The neighbourhood is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. The German Embassy, the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Palace are all in the area, as are the British and the Canadian embassies. The Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies are also located there. Britain's Foreign Office told MailOnline this morning: 'We strongly condemn this morning's attack which happened in the centre of Kabul during Ramadan. Our thoughts are with all the victims. 'All our staff are accounted for and the embassy remains operational. We are working closely with the Afghan authorities and the area has been secured by security forces.' At the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital a few blocks away, there were scenes of chaos as ambulances brought in wounded and frantic relatives scanned casualty lists and questioned hospital staff for news. 'It felt like an earthquake,' said 21-year-old Mohammad Hassan, describing the moment the blast struck the bank where he was working. His head wound had been bandaged but blood still soaked his white dress shirt. Another lightly wounded victim, Nabib Ahmad, 27, said there was widespread destruction and confusion. 'I couldn't think clearly, there was a mess everywhere,' he said. Later, frenzy broke out outside the hospital as ambulances and police trucks began bringing in the bodies of those killed. Some bodies were burned or destroyed beyond recognition. The blast was so heavy that more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack. Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to half a mile from the blast site. 'There are a large number of casualties, but I don't know, how many people are killed or wounded,' said an eyewitness at the site, Gul Rahim. The current death toll stands at 90 and hospitals have urged people to give blood to help some of the 350 who were injured Explosion: Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to half a mile from the blast site Carnage: There were horrific scenes as workers covered in blood emerged from the scene of the blast. Hospitals have asked people to give blood An Afghan man carries an injured man to a hospital after the massive blast in Kabul, Afghanistan this morning. The explosion happened near embassies in the city Injured people fled from the scene of the attack nursing their injuries in the terrifying aftermath of this morning's attack The Taliban denied responsibility and said they condemned attacks that have no legitimate target and killed civilians The attack provided another clear demonstration that Ramadan, which began at the weekend, would provide little respite from the violence across Afghanistan Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry, said the wounded were admitted to different Kabul hospitals. Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety, with men and woman struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones. More than an hour after the explosion ambulances were still taking the wounded to hospital, as firefighters struggled to control blazes in several buildings. TALIBAN ADVANCES AND A NEW ISIS STRONGHOLD: HOW AFGHANISTAN IS FIGHTING FOR ITS FUTURE The attack in Kabul comes at a time when the security situation in Afghanistan has come under renewed scrutiny. The Taliban have been stepping up their push to defeat the U.S.-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster in a Washington-backed invasion. Since most international troops withdrew at the end of 2014, the Taliban have gained ground and now control or contest about 40 percent of the country, according to U.S. estimates, though President Ashraf Ghani's government holds all provincial centres. Meanwhile ISIS has established a stronghold in Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan, of which Jalalabad is capital, where it fights both the Taliban and Afghan government forces. U.S. President Donald Trump is due to decide soon on a recommendation to send 3,000 to 5,000 more troops to bolster the small NATO training force and U.S. counter-terrorism mission now totalling just over 10,000. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, told a congressional hearing earlier this year that he needed several thousand more troops to help Afghan forces break a 'stalemate' with the Taliban. The Taliban still controls large parts of Afghanistan while ISIS also claims territory in Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan The attack in Kabul (pictured) comes at a time when the security situation in Afghanistan has come under renewed scrutiny A wounded man looks out a window near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan this morning. Afghanistan authorities are still battling for stability in the country Earlier this month, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said the security situation in Afghanistan will further deteriorate even if there is a modest increase in U.S. military support for the war-torn country. Afghan army units are pulling back, and in some cases have been forced to abandon more scattered and rural bases, and the government can claim to control or influence only 57 percent of the country, according to U.S. military estimates from earlier this year. 'The intelligence community assesses that the political and security situation in Afghanistan will almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in (the) military assistance by the United States and its partners,' Coats said in a Senate hearing. In February, Army General John Nicholson, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said he needs several thousand more international troops to break a stalemate with the Taliban. Deliberations include giving more authorities to forces on the ground and taking more aggressive action against Taliban fighters. This could allow U.S. advisers to work with Afghan troops below the corps level, potentially putting them closer to fighting, a U.S. official said. President Ashraf Ghani's U.S.-backed government remains plagued by corruption and divided by factions loyal to political strongmen whose armed supporters often are motivated by ethnic, family, and regional loyalties. Coats said that Afghanistan would struggle to decrease its reliance on the international community 'until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban.' Advertisement Manpreet Vohra, India's envoy to Afghanistan, told the Times Now television channel the blast hit around 100 metres as the crow flies from India's embassy, one of several in the area. 'We are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe. However, the blast was very large and nearby buildings including our own building have considerable damage in terms of broken glass and shattered windows and blown doors etc,' he said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: 'We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured.' Aftermath: The blast was so heavy that more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged at the site of the attack More than an hour after the explosion ambulances were still taking the wounded to hospital, as firefighters struggled to control blazes in several buildings Bodies littered the street and a towering plume of smoke could be seen over the Afghan capital after the suicide car bomb blast blew out the windows in a number of international missions and residences nearby Wounded Afghan women were seen running from the scene of the attack this morning. The target of the attack is not yet known, but officials said most casualties were civilians Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety, with men and woman struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones The explosion also shattered windows at the French and Japanese embassies. 'Two Japanese embassy staffers were mildly injured, suffering cuts', a foreign ministry official in Tokyo told AFP. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of 'another tough year' for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan. Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces. U.S. and Afghan forces have been battling the Taliban insurgency for more than 15 years. The United States now has more than 8,000 troops in Afghanistan, training local forces and conducting counterterrorism operations. In the past year, they have largely concentrated on thwarting a surge of attacks by the Taliban, who have captured key districts, such as Helmand province, which U.S. and British troops had fought bitterly to return to the government. Tad Cummins was indicted on federal charges by a grand jury on Thursday Tad Cummins, the Tennessee teacher who went on the run for five weeks with a 15-year-old girl before being caught in northern California, had pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to federal kidnapping charges. Cummins, 50, has been charged with knowingly transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity and one charge of obstruction of justice. He faces from 10 years to a lifetime sentence in prison. Cummins was arrested on April 21, five weeks after going on the run from Columbus, Tennessee, with 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas, a student he had been grooming for years. The pair sparked a nationwide manhunt and dyed their hair to evade capture. Thirty-eight days after their disappearance, they were found hiding out in a rural cabin near Cecilville in northern California where a groundskeeper tipped off police. Cummins remains in custody in Tennessee. Since his arrest, investigators have revealed their belief that he bought a $1,500 kayak and planned to paddle his way from San Diego to Mexico with Elizabeth in tow. Cummins and Elizabeth were seen on surveillance footage in a Walmart days after they vanished. The 15-year-old girl had already dyed her hair from blonde to brunette Cummins was seen buying hair dye in a different store the day before they vanished The pair were found in a remote cabin, living off the grid in Cecilville, California - above, investigators sift through evidence Tad Cummins was holed up with student Elizabeth Thomas in this cabin above for five weeks Cummins vanished with the girl on March 13 from Columbus Tennessee. He had just been suspended from the school where he taught her after other students reported seeing them kiss in his classroom. Local police had begun investigating the allegations when they disappeared. It has since been revealed that Cummins, a father, grandfather and self-described 'Jesus freak', left a note to his wife before fleeing. In it, he apologized and told her not to call police because it would imply he was guilty of the allegations police were investigating. He made no mention of Elizabeth, who he and his wife had taken to church, and said he was merely going away to clear his head. But prosecutors say he went to great lengths to keep them off-scent. They say he disabled the GPS of his car, threw both of their cell phones in a river and adopted aliases while on the run. The pair were eventually found in a cabin in northern California after 39 days on the run Cummins left his wife Jill a note to say he was leaving to clear his head before he vanished with the girl Within days of going off-grid, the pair were filmed on surveillance footage entering a Tennessee Walmart. Cummins remains in custody and is awaiting his next court date Elizabeth had already dyed her hair, allegedly with the product Cummins was seen buying in a different store days earlier. In the weeks leading up to their disappearance, the teenager changed her Instagram bio to add the title 'wife' and she included a ring emoji. When the pair were found in April, Elizabeth was taken to a rehab facility to be looked after. She is refusing to go back to her family and insists she is in love with Cummins with whom she says she went willingly. His lawyers have argued that at no time did Elizabeth say she was taken against her will. Cummins remains in a Kentucky jail after being deemed a flight risk, reported CBS 12. 'Cummins held a position of trust and authority as a teacher. He has already demonstrated his lack of regard for that position. He has also demonstrated his willingness to evade authorities,' the judge wrote in her decision for Cummins to be held without bond, according to USA Today. He is set to be arraigned on Thursday. A trial date has not been set. Australia's top cop says there has been an 'exponential rise in terrorist activity' over the past two years with a dozen murderous plots foiled. Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said 62 terror suspects were arrested since September 2014 and the number of investigations quadrupled. 'If we simply look at the rise in operations conducted by the AFP and our partners over the past three years, the figure is alarming,' he said a Press Club lunch in Canberra on Wednesday. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin says there has been an 'exponential rise in terrorist activity' over the past two years with a dozen murderous plots foiled Commissioner Colvin said there were 19 terrorism investigations in 2014, rising to 72 by 2016 - with 12 plots foiled in those two years. 'In that same time, of course, there have been four incidents - three innocent Australians have lost their lives due to terrorist acts, and a number of other people have been seriously injured - including two police officers,' he said. The 27-year AFP veteran said extremist were increasingly targeting their attacks on Western countries like Australia as ISIS lost its war in the Middle East. 'It gives law enforcement little room for comfort, as we contemplate the shifting nature of the conflict away from a land battle,' he said. Farhad Jabar, 15, gunned down NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng He shot and killed Curtis Cheng outside the Parramatta police station last October He said the focus was now 'an ongoing and enduring insurgency that will probably be fought out in all of our nations'. Attacks and plots during that time frame included the Christmas Day plot and a plan to behead police officers in Melbourne. In Sydney there was the shooting of police employee Curtis Cheng last year and an electrician arrested in country NSW for helping extremists develop missiles. But Commissioner Colvin rebuffed calls by independent MP Andrew Hastie for the military to step in and deal with terrorism situations. Sevdet Ramadan Besim, 19, pleaded guilty to a single terror-related charge over the 2015 plan to run down an officer and behead him in a rampage Mustafa Dirani, 22, (pictured in November), from Marsfield in Sydney's north-west, was charged with helping provide the pistol used in Cheng's murder Talal Alameddine (pictured in October), 22, from Merrylands in Sydney's west, was also changed as an accomplice to Mr Cheng's murder The former SAS commander suggested the Lindt Cafe siege showed state police were 'not up to the task' after the NSW coroner and victims' families criticised police for not storming in earlier. 'If [police] are going to continue to respond to these sorts of terror threats they need to demonstrate adequate capacity and capability,' he said. 'The most lethal means of statecraft resides with the ADF. Contain and negotiating which was the approach in the Lindt cafe siege isn't going to work (in dealing with Islamic terrorists).' Hamza Abbas, 21, allegedly plotted to use coordinated suicide attacks, bombings, and random stabbings to cause mass casualties across Melbourne on Christmas Day 2016 Ahmed Mohamed, 24, was another of the three men arrested over the murderous Christmas Day plot Australian-born electrician Haisem Zahab was arrested in Young, NSW, for allegedly helping extremists develop missile technology Australian Army commandos practised storming the building by using a replica of the Lindt Cafe on the day of the siege, but were never called upon by NSW police. Commissioner Colvin said a terrorism event was usually over within 15 minutes and the potential to deploy defence or even police tactical teams 'is questioned'. 'I think the arrangements that we have now work and clearly we have shown to be quite successful,' he said. 'The focus needs to be on the first line responders and what they can do.' Independent MP Andrew Hastie suggested the Lindt Cafe siege showed state police were 'not up to the task' of handling terrorism situations The NSW coroner and victims' families criticised police for not storming in earlier before gunman Man Haron Monis killed one of his 17 hostages and another was killed in the crossfire Commissioner Colvin also cautioned the public not to draw a 'direct cause and effect' between migration and terrorism. 'What I can tell you, the majority of person of interests that come across my officers' desks, are first and second generation Australians,' he said. 'Yes, they may be from migrant families but that's an extremely broad brush to paint in our landscape if that's the lens we're looking through. 'I think we have to be careful to draw absolutes in this discussion.' Hollywood star Rebel Wilson's mother says she named her daughter in the spirit of freedom. Sydney teacher Sue Bownds has given evidence in the Supreme Court of Victoria on the eighth day of the star's defamation trial against Bauer Media, the publisher of Woman's Day magazine. Ms Bownds told the court on Wednesday she got the idea for her daughter's name from a little girl in her Year One class who sang The Carpenters' We've Only Just Begun. 'I wanted my kids to be able to do whatever they wanted to do and stand up for themselves,' Ms Bownds told the court. Ms Bownds explained that although she called her daughter Rebel for the first six weeks of her life, she 'bent to the pressure' from her husband and family to use a more 'suitable name'. Sue Bownds (right) and daughter Rebel Wilson (left) spoke at court on Wednesday about the changing of the Hollywood actresses name when she was just six weeks old Sue Bownds, mother of Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson (pictured), says she named her daughter in the spirit of freedom Bowndes says she gave her children unique names to show them they were 'able to do whatever they wanted to do' Wilson is suing Bauer, the publisher of Woman's Day for a series of articles in May 2015, which she claims portrayed her as a serial liar She officially named her daughter Melanie after 1960s songstress Melanie Safka, best known for the song Alexander Beetle. Rebel Wilson legally changed her name from Melanie Elizabeth Bownds in 2002. Her second daughter was named Liberty because, as a dog breeder, she liked to name 'by themes'. Wilson is suing Bauer for defamation over a series of articles published in May 2015 that she says painted her as a serial liar and seriously damaged her Hollywood career. The publisher's claims include that Wilson lied about her real name. On Wednesday, Wilson ended her testimony, tearfully accusing Bauer of trying to 'bully and intimidate' and 'sling mud' at her in court. The 37-year-old Pitch Perfect star has spent nearly three days being cross-examined. The actress has been cross-examined by Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schoff QC, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age She said accusations that she lied about her age from Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schoff QC were 'disgraceful'. 'I can't even put into words the conduct of these people and the people who work for them,' she said. 'It's shameful and disgraceful.' Wilson's lawyer Matthew Collins QC said the defendant had published a new article about the star on May 22 this year, on the 'eve' of the trial. Wilson said she'd been upset to hear Bauer was still running 'utter rubbish' articles at her expense. She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying Rebel wore a red and blue tartan styled jacket with black leggings and boots as she arrived with a bodyguard and lawyers Further witnesses will be called to give evidence during Wednesday's proceedings. On Tuesday, Wilson was cross-examined by Ms Schoff, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age. Ms Schoff said Australian Women's Weekly journalist Caroline Overington had spoken to the star while she was getting her hair and makeup done and was told she was several years younger than her true age. Wilson denied the claims, saying the only information she gave to Ms Overington was during a formal interview setting, which was attended by a third party. She said there was no informal 'pre-interview'. The Bridesmaids star also denied she had a real age and a 'Hollywood age'. She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying. Dr Michael Spence has slammed the College for their 'deep contempt for women' after a vile Facebook post resurfaced University of Sydney's vice-chancellor Michael Spence has slammed St Paul's College for their 'deep contempt for women' after a sexist Facebook post revealed students were referring to 'chicks' as 'whales.' The post, which had been uploaded to the 'St Paul's College 2017' Facebook account in March, gave men simple instructions on how to get rid of a woman after engaging in sexual intercourse. Mr Spence addressed the vile Facebook post and St Paul's warden Ivan Head who said 'some things may resurface just when you need your best CV to work for you' in response to the sexism. 'I have today written to the warden of St Paul's pointing out that the College's response fails to address the deep cultural problems evident in the life of his college,' Dr Spence said. 'The fact that almost 100 people liked this particular Facebook post indicates that a deep contempt for women is not just something that marks the behaviour of an isolated student, but a core feature of the shared culture of the men of the College. The elite St Paul's college, at the University of Sydney, has seen its shocking history of sexism continue, with the revelation of a Facebook post comparing having sex to 'harpooning whales' 'The college should acknowledge that it can no longer pretend that this is not a profound issue in the life of the College, going to its very licence to operate, and they need collectively to begin to own and to tackle it,' he said. St Paul's is Australia's oldest university college and has faced more than one scandal, including giving men awards for gang rape, murders and the creation of 'pro-rape' groups, since it was founded in 1850. This time it was a horrifying post advising other 'lads' on how their peers can help them to 'get rid of some chick' the morning after a sexual one-night stand. St Paul's College is attached to Sydney University (pictured) and has been running since the 1850s It reads: 'G'Day Lads, If you ever want to get rid of some chick who either (a) won't leave your room after a r**t in the morning or (b) if you've harpooned a whale and she's taking the whole bed preventing all chances of sleep, I'll be there with a purposeful c**kblock to rescue you. Simply message me the code word 'argh' and your room number and I'll be there with a well thought-out lie (terrifying lump on penis, broken foot or personal emergency) which requires your immediate assistance and her immediate exit. Happy Slaying.' Among the members of the Facebook group are graduates of the elite college who now work in highly paid careers such as accounting, law and investment banking. The college (pictured) has seen awards given to men for gang rape, murders and the creation of 'pro-rape' groups, since it was founded in 1850. In a statement, the college's warden said he was dismayed by the 'gross' post and confirmed that the student had been suspended The student responsible for posting the message to the Facebook group was given a temporary suspension from the college, News.com.au reports. In a statement, the college's warden said he was dismayed by the 'gross' post. 'St Paul's College does not tolerate unacceptable or offensive behaviour and comments, and takes these matters very seriously,' Dr Ivan Head said. 'The attitudes expressed by the individual on Facebook were grossly offensive and completely contrary to the values of respect and integrity we expect from students. 'The student has been counselled by the College's Officer of Discipline and warned that a repeat of such behaviour will result in immediate expulsion.' In 1977, an 18-year-old female was bashed, raped and killed on St Paul's main oval. No one was ever charged over her murder and it remains a cold case. 'The student has been counselled by the College's Officer of Discipline and warned that a repeat of such behaviour will result in immediate expulsion' Just weeks after that horrific murder, a male student who was one of four to gang rape another student was handed an 'Animal Act of the Year Award' by his peers. Three decades on in 2007, the college was again embroiled in controversy when a post prior to the 'Jazz Dinner Dance (JDD)' surfaced on Facebook. It urged 'gentlemen' to purchase a ticket because it was the kind of event 'at which a College girl dreams of losing her virginity'. In 2009 the college again made headlines when it was revealed students had started a 'Define Statutory: Pro-rape, Anti-consent' group on social media. A woman's officer at the University of Sydney said St Paul's college had a 'r**t-and-boot' culture that she dubbed 'disgusting'. 'It perpetuates the idea that a woman's body is nothing to be respected,' Katie Thorburn said. Possible human remains have been found in the search for missing man Matthew Leveson who vanished after leaving a Sydney nightclub with his ex-boyfriend 10 years ago. Matthew's parents, Mark and Faye Leveson, were seen embracing at the Royal National Park in Sydney's south, where detectives have scoured for remains since November 2016. Excavators stopped working on Wednesday afternoon at the site south of Sydney. Matthew's parents, Mark and Faye Leveson pictured at the Royal National Park south of Sydney NSW forensic services examine an small area in bushland in the Royal National Park south of Sydney A NSW forensic services officer holds a fragment as they examine a small area in bushland in the Royal National Park south of Sydney An AAP photographer reports the Levesons were taken by NSW Police to an area of bushland behind two trees just off McKell Avenue in Waterfall. Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin has requested forensic officers to assist, a NSW State Crime Commander supervisor told AAP. 'They have found items of interest,' she said. Wednesday is the eighth day in the latest search to find the 20-year-old's remains at the site. It's the third time in six months police have searched the bush land after operations in November and January failed to find any trace of Mr Leveson. NSW Police Detectives comfort Mark and Faye Leveson, the parents of Matthew Leveson, after discovering something during excavation work The ongoing inquest into the death of Mr Leveson, (pictured) who was last seen leaving Darlinghurst's ARQ nightclub with Mr Atkins in 2007, is scheduled to resume in August Mr Atkins took detectives to the potential burial site after he was offered immunity from prosecution for perjury and contempt of court (pictured together) Investigators were originally led to the remote site by Matthew's former boyfriend, Michael Atkins, who was acquitted of the younger man's murder in 2009. Mr Atkins took detectives to the potential burial site after he was offered immunity from prosecution for perjury and contempt of court. He had admitted to lying at an inquest into the suspected murder. The ongoing inquest into the death of Mr Leveson, who was last seen leaving Darlinghurst's ARQ nightclub with Mr Atkins in 2007, is scheduled to resume in August. North Korea warned on Wednesday that it was prepared to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at any time, as the US successfully tested a system designed to intercept them. The fresh sabre-rattling from Pyongyang appeared to up the stakes as the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had intercepted a mock-up of an ICMB in a first-of-its-kind test. The success of the test is a watershed moment for the US military's effort to establish an effective - though limited - ground-based defense against ICBMs as the North ramps up its threats. 'We're prepared to test-fire ICMBs anywhere and anytime on orders from the supreme commander (Kim Jong-Un)', the state-run Rodong Sinmun paper said in the article entitled: 'No one can stop the nuclear power state, rocketry master in the East'. North Korea, its leader Kim Jong-Un pictured above, warned on Wednesday it was prepared to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at any time, as the US successfully tested a system designed to intercept them The paper added: 'The United States must know our declaration that we can turn the devil's den into ashes with nuclear weapons is not an empty threat.' Concern among the international community over the North's weapons program was further raised after North Korea test-fired yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyang's quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States. It was the third missile test by the nuclear-armed regime in less than three weeks, defying UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action. Early this month, it test-fired what appeared to be its longest-range ballistic missile yet tested in a bid to bring the US mainland within reach. The North has carried out two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since the beginning of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States - something President Donald Trump has vowed 'won't happen'. The fresh sabre-rattling from Pyongyang appeared to up the stakes as the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had intercepted a mock-up of an ICMB in a first-of-its-kind test. Pictured above, the rocket designed to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missiles is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday The North has carried out two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since the beginning of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States - something President Donald Trump has vowed 'won't happen' Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said Tuesday's trial was not timed specifically in response to tensions with Pyongyang but that 'in a broad sense, North Korea is one of the reasons why we have this capability'. 'They continue to conduct test launches, as we saw this weekend, while also using dangerous rhetoric that suggests they would strike the United States homeland,' Davis said. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor successfully struck its target over the Pacific Ocean in an exercise aimed at helping gauge American ability to counter any potential similar threat from North Korea. US Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm Jim Syring told NBC News the test was a 'critical milestone'. 'This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,' Syring said. I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day,' he added. Concern among the international community over the North's weapons program was further raised after North Korea test-fired yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyang's quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States America's last intercept test, in June 2014, was successful, but the longer track record is spotty. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful. Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticized the missile defense program, calls the interceptor an 'advanced prototype', meaning it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004. The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of US defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile. The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the US, and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the United States deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea. A Queensland priest charged with an historic sexual offence will appear in court in July. Father Michael Joseph McKeaten withdrew from his duties earlier this month after notifying church authorities he had been charged over an alleged sexual offence believed to have occurred in the 1990s. He was not required to appear at a hearing at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday with the matter adjourned to July 3. Father Michael Joseph McKeaten will appear at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday He is charged with one count of procuring a sexual act by false pretence. A lawyer representing McKeaten declined to comment. The priest was ordained 38 years ago and has served in parishes and schools across south-east Queensland, most recently at the Beaudesert parish - south of Brisbane. He left after three years of service and was expected to relocate to Ipswich to oversee four parishes, the Beaudesert Times newspaper reported at the time. Fr McKeaten had also served at Bulimba, St Stephen's Cathedral, Sunnybank, Stafford, Indooroopilly, Surfers Paradise, Booval and Annerley Ekibin parishes. In 2012 he was appointed dean of Brisbane South Deanery and in 2014 was chairman of the committee for the Conference of the National Council of Priests. Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson's mother has confirmed she believes their family are bogans. Addressing the Victorian Supreme Court, Sue Bownds said: 'I accept I'm a bogan, I live in the western suburbs of Sydney'. Ms Bownds denied a suggestion printed in Woman's Day that the family were 'upper middle class', but was also clear that the Castle Hill home Rebel grew up in was not the 'ghetto', reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Sue Bownds (right) told the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday she 'accepts she is a bogan' and that she lives in the western suburbs of Sydney Though the Pitch Perfect star had previously claimed the area was the ghetto when appearing on David Letterman, Ms Bownds insisted her daughter had been joking at the time. Her claims came on the eighth day of the Rebel's defamation trial against Bauer Media, the publisher of Woman's Day magazine. Earlier, the Sydney teacher addressed the issue of her daughter's name, telling the court she named her daughter in the spirit of freedom. Sue Bownds, mother of Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson (pictured), refuted claims her daughter had an upper-middle class upbringing Ms Bownds told the court on Wednesday she got the idea for her daughter's name from a little girl in her Year One class who sang The Carpenters' We've Only Just Begun. 'I wanted my kids to be able to do whatever they wanted to do and stand up for themselves,' Ms Bownds told the court. Ms Bownds explained that although she called her daughter Rebel for the first six weeks of her life, she 'bent to the pressure' from her husband and family to use a more 'suitable name'. She officially named her daughter Melanie after 1960s songstress Melanie Safka, best known for the song Alexander Beetle. Rebel Wilson legally changed her name from Melanie Elizabeth Bownds in 2002. Earlier, she revealed she had changed her daughter's name from Rebel to Melanie when she was just six weeks old after bending to pressure from her husband and family Wilson is suing Bauer, the publisher of Woman's Day for a series of articles in May 2015, which she claims portrayed her as a serial liar Her second daughter was named Liberty because, as a dog breeder, she liked to name 'by themes'. Wilson is suing Bauer for defamation over a series of articles published in May 2015 that she says painted her as a serial liar and seriously damaged her Hollywood career. The publisher's claims include that Wilson lied about her real name. On Wednesday, Wilson ended her testimony, tearfully accusing Bauer of trying to 'bully and intimidate' and 'sling mud' at her in court. The 37-year-old Pitch Perfect star has spent nearly three days being cross-examined. The actress has been cross-examined by Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schoff QC, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age She said accusations that she lied about her age from Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schoff QC were 'disgraceful'. 'I can't even put into words the conduct of these people and the people who work for them,' she said. 'It's shameful and disgraceful.' Wilson's lawyer Matthew Collins QC said the defendant had published a new article about the star on May 22 this year, on the 'eve' of the trial. Wilson said she'd been upset to hear Bauer was still running 'utter rubbish' articles at her expense. She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying Rebel wore a red and blue tartan styled jacket with black leggings and boots as she arrived with a bodyguard and lawyers Further witnesses will be called to give evidence during Wednesday's proceedings. On Tuesday, Wilson was cross-examined by Ms Schoff, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age. Ms Schoff said Australian Women's Weekly journalist Caroline Overington had spoken to the star while she was getting her hair and makeup done and was told she was several years younger than her true age. Wilson denied the claims, saying the only information she gave to Ms Overington was during a formal interview setting, which was attended by a third party. She said there was no informal 'pre-interview'. The Bridesmaids star also denied she had a real age and a 'Hollywood age'. She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying. The Russian military says its warships in the Mediterranean have fired four cruise missiles at Islamic State positions in Syria, the first such strikes announced in months. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement today that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at ISIS targets in the ancient city of Palmyra. It says the missiles successfully hit IS heavy weapons and fighters the group had deployed and moved to Palmyra from its stronghold of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS. The Russian military says its warships in the Mediterranean have fired four cruise missiles at Islamic State positions in Syria The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement today that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at ISIS targets in the ancient city of Palmyra The ministry says it notified the US, Turkish and Israeli militaries before the strike on militants at the UNESCO World Heritage site. 'The Russian Navy's Admiral Esen frigate and Krasnodar submarine performed a launch of four Kalibr cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean against the targets of the IS (Daesh) terrorist groups in the area of Palmyra,' the Ministry statement said. It added: 'All targets have been struck.' Kalibr missiles are surface ship and submarine-launched weapons that have been used by the Russian military since 2012. Pictured, a long-range Kalibr cruise missile is launched by the Russian Navy Admiral Essen frigate in the Mediterranean It says the missiles successfully hit IS heavy weapons and fighters the group had deployed and moved to Palmyra from its stronghold of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS Pictured, the Russian missile strike landing on militant targets near the city of Palmyra The ministry says it notified the US, Turkish and Israeli militaries before the strike on militants at the UNESCO World Heritage site 'The Russian Navy's Admiral Esen frigate and Krasnodar submarine performed a launch of four Kalibr cruise missiles,' the Ministry statement said Pictured, a Russian cruise missile being launched from a warship in the Mediterranean They have been deployed extensively in the Syrian Civil War. The Russian Navy fired Kalibr cruise missiles on Al-Nusra Front positions in Syria last year. Russia has been criticised by the international community for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Just yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is 'convinced' the Syrian government was not behind an alleged chemical attack which killed dozens in the country last month. The unfinished Roman amphitheatre (pictured before it was damaged by ISIS), which dates back to the 2nd century CE, contained low level seating reserved for the elite Palmyra (pictured here before it was captured by ISIS) is an ancient city of Semitic origin that dates back into prehistory. It was known as caravan stop for travellers crossing the Syrian Desert back in the second century BC. The city is mentioned in the Bible as Tadmor in to chronicles Several Western nations have accused Assad of carrying out an attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, in which 88 people including 31 children were reported to have been killed. Earlier this year, IS militants destroyed the historic Tetrapylon and 'significantly damaged' the Roman Theater at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Palmyra. Separately, photographs published on Wednesday by Turkish bloggers for their online Bosphorus Naval News project showed a Russian Syria-bound ship passing through the Bosphorus carrying a consignment of military trucks. The Russian Navy fired Kalibr cruise missiles on Al-Nusra Front positions in Syria last year. Pictured, the commissioning of the Admiral Essen Russia has also been criticised in the international community for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Pictured, the Krasnodar during a parade on Russian Navy Day Falklands veterans have voiced 'horror' at the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn becoming PM after he said reclaiming the islands from Argentina by force was wrong. Major-General Julian Thompson, who led British forces to victory in 1982, raised fears that the Labour leader could do 'some deal' with Buenos Aires over the territory. Simon Weston, the Welsh Guardsman who suffered terrible burns when his ship was bombed by Argentine jets, branded Mr Corbyn's stance 'crassly stupid'. In a TV election programme earlier this week, the veteran left-winger accused Margaret Thatcher of making a 'great deal' of Argentina's invasion. In a TV election programme earlier this week, Jeremy Corbyn (pictured today) accused Margaret Thatcher of making a 'great deal' of Argentina's 1982 invasion Pressed on his previous description of the war as a 'Tory plot' and 'flag-waving nonsense', Mr Corbyn made clear he believed it should have been resolved through the UN - even though that was regarded as diplomatically impossible. 'What I wanted was a stopping of that war.' Asked whether he thought the UK should not have protected the Falklands, the Labour leader said: 'I don't think they should have gone in there but I also think there should have been an opportunity to stop that war happening.' Pressed again on whether it was a 'Tory plot', Mr Corbyn said: 'No. I think it was important that there should be a negotiated solution through the United Nations. 'Margaret Thatcher made a great deal of the whole issue I felt she was exploiting the situation.' The Labour leader has previously called for negotiations over a possible power-sharing deal with Argentina. In a speech recently he said he had not supported any British combat deployment since the Second World War. Major-General Julian Thompson, who led British forces to victory in 1982, raised fears that the Labour leader could do 'some deal' with Buenos Aires over the territory Simon Weston, the Welsh Guardsman who suffered terrible burns when his ship was bombed by Argentine jets, branded Mr Corbyn's stance 'crassly stupid' Major-General Thompson told the Times today: 'Here is a chap who sets himself up as a socialist, and presumably therefore antifascist, who was prepared to see British people consigned to spending their lives under the rule of a fascist junta.' Asked for his reaction to the idea of Mr Corbyn winning the keys to Downing Street, he said: 'Horror, horror, I can't express it more strongly. I am worried at the thought of that guy being in charge. It is very worrying because he could do some deal with Argentina.' Mr Weston said that Mr Corbyn made him 'queasy'. 'It makes me balk. I feel rather queasy,' Mr Weston told the newspaper. 'He is historically, geographically and every other aspect of wrong in every point he makes.' Some 225 British servicemen and 649 Agentines lost their lives in the conflict, which lasted 74 days. Pictured is HMS Sir Galahad ablaze after an Argentine air raid Mr Corbyn said that Mrs Thatcher (pictured talking about the conflict in 1983) had 'exploited the situation' Ian Hansen, chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands, said that islanders were concerned about a possible Labour victory in the general election because of the party leader's 'misguided' views on the territory. 'For us in the Falklands, as it's the 35th anniversary of our liberation, those sort of remarks are totally unsavoury and insensitive,' Mr Hansen said. 'I personally know what it was like to be locked up at gunpoint for 30 days so to say it wasn't a just war, how anybody could say that is beyond me.' Some 225 British servicemen and 649 Agentines lost their lives in the conflict, which lasted 74 days. Thomas Ledward, 26 (pictured) has been cleared of trying to kiss a reality TV star on the London Underground A drunk City worker has been cleared of trying to kiss a reality television star on the London Underground. Thomas Ledward, 26, reeked of alcohol when he sat next to the married woman on a District Line train and tried to strike up a conversation with her. Although the woman ignored Ledward's drunken advances, the 'well- spoken' man - who had been on a night out with colleagues - began to take selfies of them together. Blackfriars Crown Court heard how the woman - who is known by millions across the country due to her work on television - spent her journey 'in fear' when the defendant refused to leave her alone. According to the Evening Standard, it was alleged that, when the train pulled into Whitechapel station, the accounts worker leaned over the woman, grabbed her fur-lined cape and attempted to kiss her. But Ledward - who had drunk up to nine pints - told the court that it had been a misunderstanding. Although he admitted to officers that it was 'probably him' and admitted 'annoying' the woman, he said he only made contact with the woman when he stumbled as he went to get off the train. He claimed he then fell towards the woman's lap and only put his hands out to stop himself. He told Blackfriars Crown Court: 'I was on the Tube on my way home, I do try to talk to people on the Tube, and that's literally all I did. 'I thought I was being a lot more nice but clearly (she) was quite upset about the way that I acted. I apologise for that. But in no way did I try to kiss her.' The judge threw out a charge of sexual assault after hearing the woman's evidence. The jury also found Ledward, of Stepney Green, east London, not guilty of attempted sexual assault at the end of the trial yesterday. It can now be reported that Ledward twice tried to plead guilty to lesser offences over the incident on February 24 last year. He offered a guilty plea to common assault when he first appeared in court in December, but the prosecution rejected the deal and pushed ahead with a sexual assault charge. On the eve of trial, Ledward said he would admit a public order offence, of causing intentional harassment, alarm and distress to the woman, on a 'full facts basis'. It was alleged that, when the train pulled into Whitechapel station (pictured), the accounts worker leaned over the woman, grabbed her fur-lined cape and attempted to kiss her However, legal teams agreed that a charge of sexual assault could not be reduced to a public order offence. During the trial, the woman told the jury how Ledward had walked towards her as they neared Whitechapel station. She told the court: 'As he started to walk towards me, my immediate thought was he was going to apologise but he didn't. 'He leaned in and put his two hands on to the chair he grabbed me by my cape and plunged towards me, holding his thumbs between my neck and the cape and squeezing it tightly. 'I just couldn't believe someone would do something like that. I was in shock and upset.' The woman said that she screamed for other passengers to help her and pushed and kicked the defendant away. He stumbled backwards and Ledward then got off the tube a stop later at Stepney Green. The woman later broke down in tears when she called her husband to inform him what had happened to her. Police later identified Ledward after they obtained CCTV and his Oyster card, before charging him with sexual assault. A Somali-born Dutch national who was arrested at Stansted Airport last week has appeared in court charged with preparing a terror attack in London. Awes Faqey was detained last Tuesday as he tried to board a flight to Istanbul, allegedly in attempt to join ISIS in Syria. The 37-year-old, of Tottenham, north London, was charged today with preparing for acts of terrorism and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court wearing a blue and white check shirt and a grey t-shirt. Awes Faqey was detained on Tuesday as he tried to board a flight to Istanbul, allegedly in attempt to join ISIS in Syria Thomas Halpin prosecuting, said: 'The investigation came alive during the search of a laptop in another terrorist investigation.' Dutch national Faqey, who was born in Somalia has a wife and five children in the Netherlands and another wife and child in Kenya. Faqey, who has lived in the UK since 2013, was remanded in custody until his next court appearance at the Old Bailey on June 9. A model is taking legal action against Hyundai, claiming she was fired by the car giant for having a period at work. Rachel Rickert, 27, claims she was representing the company at the New York International Auto Show when she had to rush to the bathroom to change her tampon. She did not make it on time, and said she needed a new uniform as a result. Instead, her complaint claims, she was told to go home because of her 'period situation'. Rachel Rickert alleges in her lawsuit that she was fired by Hyundai after having her period at work in New York Documents filed with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim she had been at work for three hours when she was allowed a bathroom break. After she was sent home, Rickert says, she received a call saying she was being let go because Hyundai had learned of her 'period situation'. She told the New York Post: 'Im not going to let someone tell me I cant have my period when I work. Its unacceptable.' And she continued: 'Youre not a robot. You have to use the bathroom especially when youre on your period. 'They just act like were not human. Im not going to be ashamed or shamed of having my period.' The lawsuit targets Hyundai and Experiential Talent, which had hired Rickert. Experiential Talent declined to comment when approached by the New York Post, and a Hyundai spokesman said: 'We take any complaint like this seriously and will respond appropriately once we have a chance to investigate the merits of the claim.' A French official has warned of a fresh surge of migrants in Calais trying to get into the UK just six months after the notorious Jungle camp was closed. President of the Regional Council of Hauts-de-France Xavier Bertrand wrote to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to say a summer swell is imminent. It is expected to bring with it a wave of violence, days after British truckers called for increased protection in Calais following the first serious attacks by migrants since the demolition of the refugee camp. Dozens of migrants gather near lorries which head towards the ferry terminal in Calais, France, October 3, 2015 - file image Bertrand, in a letter seen by the Daily Express, said: 'The situation has become worrisome again. 'I am regularly alerted by road hauliers who are seeing an upsurge of degradation on their trucks. 'Every day residents, elected officials and business leaders express their concerns about the return of migrants to Calais. 'The risk is very real. The security forces are not able to prevent migrants present near Calais to prepare their attempts to intrude in the port or tunnel in order to reach the UK.' It is just over six months since the vast shantytown was torn to the ground, and some 8,000 UK-bound asylum seekers dispersed across France. Officially, they are all now banned from the Calais area, but a series of 'extremely violent' incidents last Sunday shows they are slowly returning. The Calais Jungle camp after it was cleared of migrants six months ago. Truck drivers are reporting violence for the first time since it was dismantled 'They set up roadblocks using dustbins, and then tried to stop lorries heading for England so they could get aboard,' said a local police source. 'Two windscreens were smashed, while another lorry had its tyres punctured. One driver was taken to hospital with face injuries.' In turn, Pauline Bastidon, of the Freight Transport Association, said: 'There is a need for urgent action by the French government to ensure that the area is policed adequately, and to protect drivers transporting goods, so that trade can continue to flow freely between France and the UK.' Ms Bastidon's words were echoed by David Sagnard, president of France's National Federation of Road Transporters, who said: 'The state must do everything possible to avoid migrants setting up camps in Calais again, and then putting these roadblocks in place'. The attacks took place just after 4am on Sunday, and were 'extremely well coordinated,' said the police source. The camp was torn down at the end of last year and thousands of migrants were dispersed across France and the rest of Europe 'As well as the road blocks, stones and pieces of wood were thrown at vehicles in an attempt to stop them, and to create tail backs which would enable them to get on to lorries. 'Most of those involved managed to run away by the time police turned up, so we do not know their identifies or nationalities.' Riot police arrived at the scene of the trouble, which was on an interchange between the A16 motorway, and the Calais ring road. Such scenes were routine when the Jungle was full of mainly young men from countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea trying to get to Britain. HGV drivers and other motorists were frequently injured, while there were also gang fights between the migrants themselves. The truck drivers reported smashed windscreens and slashed tyres in an attack on Sunday night in the port of Calais A spokesman for the Pas de Calais prefecture confirmed that it was the 'first time' that migrants had set up improvised barriers in the middle of the road since the Jungle was razed in October. He said a Czech lorry driver had been treated for nose injuries, and he was released from hospital on Monday. The prefecture estimates that some 300 migrants are now in the Calais area, while local aid groups put the figure at being closer to 600. It is feared that many more will now start to arrive as the warm summer weather starts. Measures in place to stop migrants getting into Calais port, and the Channel Tunnel, include a 1.9m wall funded by the British taxpayer. Browsing rows of glasses at a New York optometrist, Chelsea Manning is getting used to life as a private citizen again after six years in a military prison. Responsible for one of the biggest leaks in US military history, she was freed two weeks ago after receiving a commutation in one of Barack Obama's last acts as president. Wearing a grey zip-up jumper and baggy brown pants, the 29-year-old was pictured at the weekend in the Big Apple, where she is believed to be filming an interview on ABC's Nightline, set to be broadcast next month. Scroll down for video Chelsea Manning was pictured walking out of an optometrist in New York on Saturday Manning, 29, was pictured on the phone at the Revolution Eyes branch in New York on Saturday Wearing a grey zip-up jumper and baggy brown pants, the 29-year-old is believed to be filming an interview on ABC's Nightline, set to be broadcast next month Arrested in 2010, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in August 2013 after being convicted of 17 charges, including espionage and theft of military records. The information was published by WikiLeaks. Among the documents she leaked were diplomatic cables, and a video of an airstrike in Baghdad in 2007, during which two Reuters photographers were killed. Manning, who was born Bradley Manning to parents Brian and Susan in Phoenix, Arizona, in December 1987, spent much of her sentence at the maximum security US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. Arrested in 2010, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in August 2013 after being convicted of 17 charges, including espionage and theft of military records Manning was pictured on the phone inside the branch of Revolution Eyes in New York on Saturday Among the documents Manning leaked were diplomatic cables, and a video of an airstrike in Baghdad in 2007, during which two Reuters photographers were killed The transgender former intelligence official, who enlisted in the US Army at the age of 19, was surrounded by bodyguards as she looked at glasses in New York, according to witnesses. One said: 'On this specific day she was going around in a private car with a group of bodyguards.' She was pictured inside and leaving Revolution Eyes in West Broadway holding a piece of paper and her phone. A witness said: 'On this specific day she was going around in a private car with a group of bodyguards' Since being freed - a decision current President Donald Trump said should not have been made - Manning has been active on social media Since being freed - a decision current President Donald Trump said should not have been made - Manning has been active on social media, tweeting pictures of her sneakers making her first steps as a free woman, and of pizza and wine. The day after her release she wrote: 'Here's to freedom and a new beginning.' She is believed to have moved to a new home in Maryland after being freed. Since her release, Manning has been active on social media, tweeting an image of glasses of wine alongside the caption: 'Here's to freedom and a new beginning' Manning tweeted a picture of the first hot greasy pizza she had eaten after her release from prison She also posted a picture of her sneakers making her first steps of freedom following her release In a statement to ABC News following her release, Manning said she appreciated the support she had received from people all over the world. 'The past will always affect me, and I will keep that in mind while remembering that how it played out is only my starting point - not my final destination,' the statement said. Manning said in 2014 that she disclosed the classified information to expose truths about the civil war in Iraq 'out of a love for my country'. In August 2013, Manning released a statement saying: 'I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female' This week a lawsuit filed by Manning over the conditions she faced in prison was thrown out. She had sued in federal court in the District of Columbia in 2014, asking a judge to order the Defense Department to provide hormone therapy and other treatment for her gender identity condition. The Army ultimately allowed her to receive medical treatment for her gender dysphoria. In a statement released in August 2013, she wrote: 'I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female. Given the way I feel and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. 'I also request that starting today you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun.' MATERIAL LEAKED BY CHELSEA MANNING TO WIKILEAKS The first document published by WikiLeaks that Manning admitted to having leaked was a diplomatic cable from the US Embassy in Iceland released on February 18, 2010. Starting in November 2010, five major global news organizations - The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde and El Pais - collaborated with WikiLeaks to partially publish more than a quarter of a million State Department cables from US embassies and consulates dated 1966 to 2010. Manning admitted to the "willful transmission" of a video that showed a US attack helicopter mowing down Iraqi civilians in July 2007. Dubbed 'collateral murder' by WikiLeaks, the video was made public by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during a news conference in Washington in April 2010. Born Bradley Manning, Manning was convicted in 2013 of charges including espionage and sentenced to 35 years in prison Manning also acknowledged transmitting a confidential video of a US air strike on the Afghan village of Granai, where more than a hundred civilians lost their lives in May 2009. More than 90,000 documents linked to the war in Afghanistan were published in July 2010, followed in October of that year by more than 400,000 others connected to the conflict in Iraq. The reports showed US troops ignoring torture by local allies and killing civilians on a number of occasions. Confidential files related to 779 detainees who passed through the military prison at Guantanamo Bay -- leaked by Manning and published in April 2011 - revealed new details about their treatment at the 'war on terror' prison. Advertisement Obama said in January that he commuted Chelsea Manning's sentence because the punishment did not fit the crime. The former president said the 35 year jail term was too long, compared to other leakers. 'I feel very comfortable that justice has been served and that a message has still been sent,' the president said. Obama ordered that Chelsea, who went by the name Bradley at the time of the crime, be released on May 17, 2017, cutting her jail time down to more than six years. Video footage shows an abandoned baby left in an underground car park as traffic sped past. The video shows the child's mother leaving the baby by the roadside in Guiyang City, China's Guizhou province on May 27. The child is then left to fend for itself as traffic passes by. The mother can be seen carrying her child in the car park in Guizhou province The woman can be seen leaving the child behind while looking around to ensure that she isn't being watched. She places the baby on the ground making sure that the child is sat upright. People can be seen walking past the mother and child. The mother looks around before placing her child up against the wall. As she walks away, the child can be seen looking around for her mother. She can be seen placing the child on the floor in a corner before then leaving it alone Tragic: The child is left alone and can be seen looking around for its mother A passerby then comes to the child's rescue, picking it up and taking it to the police station A motorbike passes by and another vehicle stops to look at the child before driving off. The child then tries to crawl. A passerby comes to the child's rescue as the footage cuts. According to reports, the passerby was an employee of the car park who had heard the child's screams. She took the child to the police station. Police are said to be searching for the child's mother. Rebel Wilson tearfully accused the publishers of an Australian magazine of trying to 'bully and intimidate' and 'sling mud' at her while giving evidence during her defamation trial against publisher Bauer Media on Wednesday. Wilson is suing over a series of articles published in Woman's Day magazine during May 2015 that she says painted her as a serial liar and seriously damaged her Hollywood career and led her film contracts to be terminated. The articles claimed Wilson had been untruthful about her real name, age and childhood upbringing in Australia. Wilson is seeking unspecified damages from the publisher. In the eighth day of the ongoing trial on Wednesday, the 37-year-old Pitch Perfect star said in Supreme Court of Victoria that accusations that she lied about her age from Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schofield QC were 'disgraceful'. Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson returned to the witness box on Wednesday for day eight of her defamation trial against Bauer Media Rebel Wilson arrived at court in bright red flannel jacket on her final day of giving evidence 'I can't even put into words the conduct of these people and the people who work for them,' she said during her third and final day under cross-examination. 'It's shameful and disgraceful.' Wilson's lawyer Matthew Collins QC said the defendant had published a new article about the star on May 22 this year, on the 'eve' of the trial. Wilson said she'd been upset to hear Bauer was still running 'utter rubbish' articles at her expense. Also on Wednesday, Wilson's mother confirmed that she believes their family are bogans - the Australian equivalent to the phrase 'chav', which can be used to derogatorily describe a person from a low social status. Addressing the Victorian Supreme Court, Sue Bownds said: 'I accept I'm a bogan, I live in the western suburbs of Sydney'. Ms Bownds denied a suggestion printed in Woman's Day that the family were 'upper middle class', but was also clear that the Castle Hill home Rebel grew up in was not the 'ghetto', reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Though the Pitch Perfect star had previously claimed the area was the ghetto when appearing on David Letterman, Ms Bownds insisted her daughter had been joking at the time. Wilson is suing Bauer, the publisher of Woman's Day for a series of articles in May 2015, which she claims portrayed her as a serial liar The actress has been cross-examined by Bauer's lawyer Georgina Schoff QC, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age Earlier, the Sydney teacher addressed the issue of her daughter's name, telling the court she named her daughter in the spirit of freedom. Ms Bownds told the court on Wednesday she got the idea for her daughter's name from a little girl in her Year One class who sang The Carpenters' We've Only Just Begun. 'I wanted my kids to be able to do whatever they wanted to do and stand up for themselves,' Ms Bownds told the court. Ms Bownds explained that although she called her daughter Rebel for the first six weeks of her life, she 'bent to the pressure' from her husband and family to use a more 'suitable name'. She officially named her daughter Melanie after 1960s songstress Melanie Safka, best known for the song Alexander Beetle. Rebel Wilson legally changed her name from Melanie Elizabeth Bownds in 2002. Her second daughter was named Liberty because, as a dog breeder, she liked to name 'by themes'. Further witnesses will be called to give evidence during Wednesday's proceedings. She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying Rebel wore a red and blue tartan styled jacket with black leggings and boots as she arrived with a bodyguard and lawyers On Tuesday, Wilson was cross-examined by Ms Schoff, who claimed the comic star had frequently misled journalists about her real age. Ms Schoff said Australian Women's Weekly journalist Caroline Overington had spoken to the star while she was getting her hair and makeup done and was told she was several years younger than her true age. Wilson denied the claims, saying the only information she gave to Ms Overington was during a formal interview setting, which was attended by a third party. She said there was no informal 'pre-interview'. She admitted she deflected media questions about her age upon moving to Hollywood by answering 'a lady never tells', but denies lying. A lawyer for has Bauer Media rejected the argument that the articles had harmed Wilson, telling the court that no reasonable reader would have thought any less of the actress by reading them. 'They weren't nasty articles,' lawyer Georgina Schoff said. Schoff also said the articles were factual, telling the court that Wilson did not grow up in the 'ghetto' of Sydney as the actress previously said in interviews. In fact, Schoff said, Wilson attended an elite private boarding school. The British Airways IT shutdown which led to chaos for 75,000 passengers was caused by a power surge following an outage, the airline said. Hundreds of flights were cancelled following the breakdown on Saturday morning and the airline was unable to resume a full schedule until Tuesday. Many passengers who had already checked in when the issue emerged are still waiting to be reunited with their luggage. The GMB union suggested the issue could have been prevented if the airline had not cut 'hundreds of dedicated and loyal' IT staff and contracted the work to India last year. However a BA spokesman said the IT failure had 'nothing to do with outsourcing.' Willie Walsh (left) claimed BA's uninterruptible power source (UPS) protecting one of its two Heathrow data centres broke down - and says Chief Executive Alex Cruz (right) should not resign He said: 'There was a loss of power to the UK data centre which was compounded by the uncontrolled return of power which caused a power surge taking out our IT systems. So we know what happened we just need to find out why. 'It was not an IT failure and had nothing to do with outsourcing of IT, it was an electrical power supply which was interrupted. 'We are undertaking an exhaustive investigation to find out the exact circumstances and most importantly ensure that this can never happen again.' The airline's reputation has been badly damaged after Saturday's computer blackout stranded people across the globe, leaving it with a potential 150million compensation bill. The airline's reputation has been badly damaged after the computer blackout on Saturday morning stranded 75,000 people across the globe (pictured at Heathrow on Sunday), leaving it with a potential 150million compensation bill Company boss Willie Walsh claimed BA's uninterruptible power source (UPS) protecting one of its two Heathrow data centres failed - even though it should work during power cuts, power surges and even natural disasters. BA was investigating whether a member of staff had failed to reboot the system 'gradually', causing 'catastrophic physical damage' to its servers and leaving passengers unable to check in and flights grounded for days. Mr Walsh, chief executive of BA's parent company International Airlines Group (IAG), also offered furious customers a 'most sincere apology' and said that BA would pay them 'full compensation' - but under EU law this is capped at 600 euros (524). Many passengers fear being left out of pocket including victims like Dale Harwood, who needed to pay $4,000 (3,100) for new flights back to the UK after being stranded in California. MailOnline can reveal the UPS system that broke down was from the 1980s and at Boadicea House at Heathrow (pictured) - which once belonged to BOAC 'Significant' number of holidaymakers still without BA luggage A 'significant' number of holidaymakers are still without their luggage as British Airways continues to recover from the chaos caused by a major system failure. The airline said its IT systems are 'back up and running' and it was operating a full schedule on Tuesday but apologised to those who had not been reunited with their bags. Travellers getting away for half-term breaks were stranded at airports over the bank holiday weekend and have been forced to start their holidays without their baggage. In the latest update for passengers on its website, BA said: 'Although we have already flown many bags to the correct airport, there is still some work to do and we know there are still significant numbers of customers who are yet to receive their luggage.' Passengers left without luggage are being advised they can claim money back for essential items. A BA spokesman said: 'We are very sorry for the frustration customers are experiencing and understand the difficulties they are facing. 'We're working round the clock to reunite customers with their luggage. We are delivering bags to customers, at homes or hotels, as soon as the bags arrive at their final destination. 'Customers can update their personal details or check the very latest status of their bag delivery on ba.com.' Advertisement A BA spokesman said: 'We will fully honour our obligations and pay customers EU261 compensation. 'We have worked with 30 other airlines to ensure our customers were able to travel to their destinations as soon as possible. Customers due to travel on Saturday, who were unable to contact us and therefore booked flights with other airlines will be reimbursed for comparable travel'. MailOnline can reveal the UPS system that broke down was at Boadicea House at Heathrow - a building built for state-owned BOAC. The system was designed and installed there in the mid-1980s. Willie Walsh told the Mail last night the crisis was caused by the UPS 'failure' and said that BA's beleaguered chief executive Alex Cruz is right not to resign. He said: 'Alex did all he could in very, very difficult circumstances. It was not a problem of his making. He has worked flat out to fix it. I sincerely apologise to all concerned.' Mr Walsh said that the UTS system was knocked out and when engineers sought to power up the systems again the back-up generators, including emergency diesel and batteries, also failed. Mr Walsh has denied the IT failure had anything to do with cost cutting, redundancies or the outsourcing of IT services to India. The airline's UPS system serving Boadicea House failed on Saturday at around 8.30am. It appears that alternative power sources including batteries and a diesel generator may also have failed. BA's emergency procedures say that the power would then be restored 'gradually' with its other data centre at Heathrow - Comet House - taking 'up the slack'. But a source told the Telegraph that power 'resumed in an uncontrolled fashion', damaging servers containing all sorts of data about flights, passengers and even flight paths. It meant that BA staff needed days to rebuild the servers to get services back to normal. Poor maintenance and recent warm weather may have triggered the disastrous Bank Holiday meltdown in the British Airways computer system. A decision to make key maintenance staff redundant coupled with overheating computers are likely to be factors in the fiasco, say union leaders. Thousands are yet to be reunited with luggage that piled up during the crisis (pictured at Heathrow) As a result of the IT crash, some 75,000 people had their flights cancelled and many more suffered long delays with many bedding down in airports as they waited Poor maintenance and recent warm weather may have triggered the disastrous Bank Holiday meltdown in the British Airways computer system (pictured at Heathrow Terminal 5 on Saturday) The blackout of a BA computer data centre at Heathrow and the failure of a back-up system meant flights across the world were grounded. As a result, some 75,000 people had their flights cancelled and many more suffered long delays. Repercussions are still being felt today, with thousands of people yet to be reunited with their luggage. Yesterday, worried investors wiped more than 500 million off the stock market value of parent company IAG, although it recovered most of this during the day. The company also faces a compensation and refund bill that could reach 150 million. Spanish chief executive Alex Cruz has blamed a power surge at a Heathrow data centre essentially an air-conditioned warehouse holding banks of computers for the collapse of the IT system on Saturday morning. He said a back-up system that should have rescued the situation failed to come online for an unknown reason. However, Mr Cruz's explanation has been called into question by companies supplying electricity to Heathrow, who say they have no record of a power surge. A decision to make key maintenance staff redundant coupled with overheating computers are likely to be factors in the fiasco, say union leaders The GMB union believes the real cause was cost-cutting, leading to a failure of maintenance at the data centre and a lack of staff to re-boot the equipment once it failed. One theory is that the computers overheated because the air conditioning struggled to cope with the recent high temperatures. The Daily Mail has learned that a small team of experienced engineers responsible for maintaining BA's data centres and back-up systems were made redundant last year. They were part of a group of some 700 computer and IT staff let go following a decision to save money by outsourcing work to India and the private firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). GMB national aviation officer Mick Rix said there was a history of maintenance and overheating problems at the BA data centres. He added: 'At the top of the back-up facility are major air-conditioning systems which keep the electrics and computers cool. 'Because of the high temperatures last year, staff were having to hose the top of the building down to keep it cool. The fact that was necessary is evidence of serious under-investment. Yesterday, worried investors wiped more than 500 million off the stock market value of parent company IAG, although it recovered most of this during the day 'BA has been busy getting rid of people, including people working in data centre maintenance who have been doing an extremely vital job, but it has come back to bite them.' Mr Rix said the blame for the fiasco should be put at the door of BA's parent company, IAG, which is run by Willie Walsh, and also owns Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus. 'Over the last year and a half, the company has been going through a succession of redundancies and cuts. That has had a massive role to play in the problems we have seen over the bank holiday weekend. 'The British Airways brand is being trashed which could have serious long-term consequences. No-one wants to see that.' He added: 'The truth is that it is not a British company any more. It is pretending to be a British company and is trading on Britain's brand.' Theresa May was asked yesterday if BA was worthy of being the country's flag carrier. She said: 'It is up to them to sort their IT out and ensure they are able to provide the services people expect them to provide as British Airways. 'I recognise the considerable disruption that it caused for all those individuals hoping to get away for their holiday or break and found themselves stuck in airports and unable to travel. We all feel for those people. 'It's important that British Airways has a compensation scheme for people who were travelling.' BA was unable to comment on the claims made by the GMB union about maintenance problems and staff shortages. Instead, the airline continued to insist the problems were caused by a power surge. This is at odds with evidence from the National Grid, SSE and UK Power Networks, who are responsible for electricity in the Heathrow area and said they were unaware of a power surge. Heathrow airport, which has its own private network, said there was no power surge on its system. A BA spokesman said: 'As we have said the power supply issue caused the collapse of our IT systems. It was not an IT failure. The data centre is manned by UK-based staff.' He said private contractors at TCS were involved in helping to restore BA's computer systems. Advertisement This is the moment 26 double-decker buses queued nose-to-tail on a gridlocked Waterloo Bridge during rush hour. The traffic chaos was sparked yesterday after the bridge in London was closed northbound following an accident. A male cyclist was believed to have collided with the rear of a van shortly before 6pm and was taken to hospital. A huge queue of double-decker buses built up blocking the full length of Waterloo Bridge after an accident yesterday The traffic chaos was sparked yesterday when the bridge in London was closed northbound after a cyclist was injure The Metropolitan Police said the road accident happened outside Somerset House in the capital and no arrests were made But his injuries are not believed to be life threatening and the road was reopened after being closed for two hours. The Metropolitan Police said the road accident happened outside Somerset House and no arrests were made. Transport for London said buses serving Waterloo were 'diverted with severe delays' due to the accident. London Underground accepted bus tickets in zone one as queues built up in the area around Lancaster Place. Twitter users described an 'iconic looking busjam' with 'buses backed up across the whole of Waterloo Bridge'. And Jon Dennis tweeted: 'Londoners, if you were wondering where all the buses are, they're on Waterloo Bridge.' Transport for London said buses serving Waterloo were 'diverted with severe delays' due to the accident during rush hour A male cyclist was believed to have collided with the rear of a van shortly before 6pm yesterday and was taken to hospital A police spokesman said: 'Police were called at 5.55pm on May 30 to a cyclist lying in the road outside Somerset House near Waterloo Bridge. Officers attended and the cyclist, a man, was taken to hospital. 'His injuries are not believed to be life threatening. At this early stage it is believe the cyclist collided with the rear of the van. There have been no reports of any arrests. The road was reopened after two hours.' And a London Ambulance Service spokesman said: 'We were called at 5:50pm on Tuesday, May 30 to reports of a road traffic collision on Lancaster Place. 'We sent a paramedic on a bicycle and an ambulance crew to the scene. We treated a man at the scene for multiple injuries and took him to a hospital in Central London.' Game one of State of Origin is only hours away with the eternal rivals coming into the opening blockbuster with tensions paramount. Nothing unlocks the passion in New South Wales or Queensland quite like State of Origin and with only opening whistle only hours away at Suncorp Stadium, fans and players are already buzzing with nerves and excitement. Looking to put an end a decade long reign of dominance News South Wales have picked a young fruitful team full of running with Boyd Cordner set to lead the Blues out as captain for the first time. Queensland and New South Wales are set to clash in Suncorp Stadium for State of Origin Game One The Burgess brothers and family get behind the New South Wales Blues Fans are filing in for State of Origin Game One on Wednesday Queensland fans on Caxton Street preparing for an intense State of Origin The Blues have handed Origin debuts to Gold Coast Titan's hooker Nathan Peats and Manly Sea Eagles workhorse Jake Trbojevic. While Queensland are claiming the underdog tag - with future immortal Jonathan Thurston, prop Matt Scott and Greg Inglis all ruled out - the Maroons are confident of taking out game one at Suncorp Stadium. Brisbane Broncos five-eight Anthony Milford will step into the furnace of Suncorp Stadium on debut in place of Thurston, while Roosters front rower Dylan Napa will also make his first representative appearance. Cameron Smith will lead the Maroons out and will make his record breaking 40th representative cap for his state. Thurston's omission due to a shoulder injury brings an end to his 36 straight Origin matches. Fans have donned their bright blue wigs, maroon jerseys or even wrapped their pets in their state's colours during the exciting build-up to one of the most intense sporting events on the Australian calendar. Fans are struggling to contain their excitement for State of Origin Fans posing for a photo during the build up for game one of State of Origin A Blues fan brings out the famed cattledog hat for State of Origin game one San Antonio Spurs star Patty Mills donning the Maroon for State of Origin one Fans are already lining Caxton street enjoying a meal before they enter Suncorp Stadium. Odds have New South Wales coming in at favourites paying $1.83 with home team Queensland standing at $2.05, according to Sportsbet. All four wingers, Queenslanders Dane Gagai and Corey Oates and Blues flyers Brett Morris and Blake Ferguson are all paying $11.00 to score first. The conditions in Brisbane are cool and dry, perfect for footy. Rugby League players such as the Burgess brothers and other sport stars including basketballer San Antonio Spurs star Patty Mills have all shared photos in favour of their team. Blues fans arrive at Suncorp Stadium ready for State of Origin one One fervent and pregnant fan wrote: 'Go QLD' on their stomach Lisa Curry enjoying the pre-Origin hype on Wednesday posing with a cardboard cut out photo of Queensland legend King Wally Lewis Queenslander draping their balcony in Maroon colours A high school student has sparked public outcry after using blackface to ask a girl out to senior prom. Nick Haidar, of California, first asked his date using a Bitmoji he made on Snapchat, but was immediately rejected. He then turned up at her house dressed as the emoji - holding the 'prom' sign and putting on blackface - in an image that has now gone viral. Although the Los Gatos High School student insisted he did not 'mock the African American community,' critics have branded the move 'shocking' and 'disgusting'. High school student Nick Haidar, of California, has sparked public outcry after using blackface to ask a girl out to prom He first asked his date using the 'Prom?' Bitmoji on Snapchat (pictured) but was immediately rejected. He then turned up undeterred at her house dressed as the emoji 'My intentions were to just ask a girl to prom, not to be racist,' he told NBC Bay Area on Monday. 'To dress up like my bitmoji, I had no racist intentions. I didn't mock the African-American community at any point.' He also retweeted a comment on Wednesday that read: 'Most of y'all have more malicious intent tryna put down my boy for some simple face paint that included absolutely 0 malicious intent.' In his Snapchat, Haidar sent the unidentified girl the emoji - to which she replied 'Wtf is that?' He then wrote 'My ask' and she penned back 'No'. Parents at the school have said they are 'horrified' by the prom proposal. It comes as a second social media post from a different student caused controversy. The pupil shared a drawing of someone asking if they 'want to be like a n***** and hang at prom' Critics said that they were 'disgusted by the blackface proposal and could not understand the point Pilar Crawford, whose daughter is a student there, told NBC: 'I was shocked, I was horrified. 'But then it also shows me that he doesn't think that's wrong, he doesn't understand, or maybe he does, how black people feel about black face.' 'I am appalled, disappointed, pissed and sickened by the blatant racism and ignorance of this recent incident,' she added on social media. Other critics said: 'Disgusted by this and by the fact that people aren't seeing what's wrong with it. Someone's ethnicity and culture is not a costume. EVER.' 'OK I get the point of his promposal. Why did he think that doing blackface was a good idea?' another wrote. It comes as a second social media post from a different student caused controversy. The posts were exposed by Los Gatos High School's (pictured) newspaper, prompting the school to take action days after prom The pupil made a poster asking if they 'want to be like a n***** and hang at prom'. The drawing appeared to show a lynching. The posts were exposed by the school newspaper, prompting the school to take action days after the prom on May 13. Danika Lyle, editor of the high school newspaper El Gato News, said a 'lack of minorities at the high school has stunted people's ability to understand other cultures'. 'A lot of kids were surprised and upset by the photo, but there's still a large number of people who don't understand the offensiveness or believe it's a large issue,' she told The Mercury News. Danika, who is half black, added: 'It was supposed to be funny, but having a blackface bitmoji for the sake of humor is in itself offensive. 'You're saying something about that skin tone is funny.' The school's principal called the posts 'racially offensive and contrary to the values of inclusion and belonging that are integral to the school culture at Los Gatos High School', in a letter to parents. Students and staff will undergo equity training in the fall, the letter added. A Melbourne man found dead in a wheelie bin has been identified as 44-year-old Ashley Phillips. He was discovered on Saturday morning when a garbage man saw him on truck cameras while emptying the bin at the intersection of Young and Butler Street in Preston Police have previously disclosed that Mr Phillips is from Broadmeadows, more than 10 kilometres away from where he was found. Pictured: 44-year-old Ashley Phillips, who was found dead in a Melbourne wheelie bin on Saturday morning Mr Phillips was discovered when a garbage collector came to pick up the bin (pictured) and a body fell into the truck The mystery surrounding his death is deepened by the revelation that the bin is from out of the area. 'The bin isn't from the immediate area where the pickup was made,' Detective Sergeant Mark Butterworth told reporters on Saturday. It was also not garbage collection day, and a phone call had been placed to the Council for the bin to be picked up. The garbage collector who discovered the body was 'quite distressed' from the whole ordeal, police said. Mr Phillips lives in Broadmeadows, about 10 kilometres from where he was found in Preston, and police believe the bin he was found in came from out of the area They believe the body was dumped in the early hours of Friday morning. Once the body was discovered the surrounding area was cordoned off as a crime scene with the street blocked off to pedestrians. Earlier, officers released a photograph of the shirt he was wearing, featuring the logo of Korean boy band Big Bang's 2015 world tour in the hopes it would help to identify him. He was also wearing grey/blue Everlast tracksuit pants and black Nike runners. Investigations are continuing and police are treating Mr Phillips' death as suspicious. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The PM, pictured campaigning in Somerset today, said leaked plans show Labour wants uncontrolled migration to Britain Theresa May today warned that Jeremy Corbyn wants 'uncontrolled migration' to Britain after leaked plans showed Labour wants to open the borders to unskilled workers. Mr Corbyn confirmed Labour researchers drew up proposals to introduce a visa for migrants seeking 'low skilled, unskilled or seasonal work'. If introduced, the plan could allow many thousands of unskilled immigrants to move to Britain even after Brexit. The PM slammed the proposal and said it showed Labour does not want to regain control over Britain's borders. Speaking while out on the campaign trail in the West Country, Mrs May said: 'What we need to do is have proper control of our immigration and, of course, we are going to be able to put in rules for people coming from the EU to the UK once we leave the European Union. 'Theres a very clear choice at this election, theres a very clear difference between myself and Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party. 'I want to ensure we are controlling migration because too high uncontrolled migration puts pressure on our public services but it also lowers wages at the lower end of the income scale. 'I want to ensure we control migration. Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party want uncontrolled migration.' The PM has re-committed her party to cutting immigration to the tens of thousands if she is re-elected. Labour's proposed policy is likely to enrage many of their traditional working class voters who would be forced to compete with thousands more foreign workers for unskilled jobs. Asked about the policy at an election event in Westminster today, Mr Corbyn confirmed the leaked proposal was genuine and did not rule out introducing the plan if elected on June 8. Jeremy Corbyn, pictured today at a campaign event in Westminster, refused to rule out introducing a visa to allow unskilled immigrants to come to Britain if he is elected He said: 'What you have been reading is a document that was being discussed between researchers in our teams as happens every day of the week in every party all around Parliament. 'Our policy is in our manifesto, that is the policy we will be carrying out.' He made the comments as he launched a Labour dossier attacking the Tory Party over its record on hospitals and schools. Labour's manifesto pledges to introduce a 'managed migration' system which would implement 'fair immigration rules' - but it does not give full details on what this will mean in practice. The internal Labour policy document, leaked to the Daily Mail, reveals the party is considering introducing a visa for migrants seeking low-skilled, unskilled or seasonal work. Labour dossier claims leaking ceilings and power cuts at hospitals have harmed patient care Under-funded hospitals have had to cancel operations and get patients to sleep in their coats because their buildings are in a state of disrepair, a Labour dossier claims. Hospitals are struggling with leaky ceilings, blocked drains and power cuts which have undermined patient care, the party says. The party used a Freedom of Information Act to uncover examples of when infrastructure problems have affected the care of the sick. They found that in one ward within the South London and Maudsley NHS Hospital Trust was so cold patients slept in their jackets. Within the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust a leak form the ceiling splashed straight on to an operating table forcing patients to be sent elsewhere. While blocked drains led to sewage sweeping into a clinical area withing the Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, meaning 15 patients had to be relocated. Advertisement The Labour leader, pictured at the campaign event today in Westminster, confirmed that Labour researchers had drawn up proposals to open Britain's borders to unskilled immigrants The document, drawn up this month by Mr Corbyn's domestic policy adviser, Lachlan Stuart, also proposes axing rules which limit foreign spouses living here unless they can show they will not be a burden on the taxpayer. If implemented, the policy would probably mean many thousands more immigrants a year would come to Britain. Mr Corbyn has repeatedly refused to promise to cut immigration if he becomes Prime Minister. What is the leaked Labour visa plan? Labour would open tier 3 of the immigration system to new applicants for the first time. This route into Britain, which was one of the five original tiers created by Labour in 2008, was never used because of the huge influx of migrants from Eastern Europe. Tier 1 visas are for entrepreneurs and business investors, tier 2 for skilled migrants sponsored by UK businesses, tier 4 is student visas and tier 5 offers temporary visas for young people aged 18 to 30. All four are operating. In March 2013, David Cameron announced tier 3 would be shut down completely in a speech in which he questioned why it was even created. Advertisement Pressed on the issue in a televised election debate on Monday night, Mr Corbyn, said immigration would probably come down under Labour, but added: Dont hold me to that. The document also says Labour would also relax rules on handling asylum claims if it wins power. It reveals the party would open tier 3 of the immigration system - which allows unskilled workers in -to new applicants for the first time. In the policy document, a senior official writes: We envisage a requirement to make continued use of the current five-tiered tiered visa system, including the currently unused tier applicable to those seeking low-skilled, unskilled or seasonal work. The document also proposes scrapping the means test which limits some family migration. Anyone wanting to bring in a spouse or partner from non-EU countries has to meet a before-tax income requirement of 18,600. Introduced by Theresa May when she was Home Secretary, it was designed to stop wives or husbands becoming a burden on the State. The Tories have pledged to increase the minimum amount, but scrapping it entirely could according to official figures add between 14,000 and 18,000 a year to migrant numbers. Jeremy Corbyn, pictured today, has repeatedly refused to put a cap on the number of immigrants allowed into Britain if he is elected on June 8 The basis of Mr Corbyns post-Brexit immigration policy is a green card system. Anyone who successfully applied would have permanent residency rights. All EU citizens living here would be granted a card and applications would be open to anyone with family connections, a job offer, relevant skills for employment and refugee or asylum status. Mr Corbyns advisers admit the proposal would require five entirely new IT systems. On asylum, the document says: We would overhaul our discredited current system in order to uphold our obligations to those fleeing war and persecution. Immigration is driven more by economic requirements of both migrant and host far more than it is regulated by systems of permit control. The numbers might go up or down but not as a consequence of these changes. We are not setting false, misleading, divisive targets. A brave mother reversed her car to escape a gang of teenage carjackers waving a hammer as they attacked outside her home. Clare Dovey, 40, was pulling in to her driveway in Lea Hall, Birmingham, when three masked men jumped out of a blue Toyota, allegedly brandishing weapons including a taser, and sprinted towards her. Quick-thinking Ms Dovey slammed her gears into reverse and backed up around a corner to escape. She said: 'You don't expect it to happen to you but I thought you're not having my car and you're not touching me with those weapons.' Clare Dovey, 40, was pulling in to her driveway in Kitts Green, Birmingham, when three men jumped out of a blue Toyota brandishing weapons and sprinted towards her (pictured) The car pulled up in front of her vehicle and the 'carjackers' began chasing her (pictured) The would-be thieves then ran back to their vehicle and fled, while Ms Dovey drove to a friend's house before contacting police. She said: 'I spotted them before I had even got to my drive way and sensed something was wrong. They were very moody looking. 'I knew they were up to something I just never thought I would be carjacked. 'I nearly hit some other cars but I just knew I had to get away.' 'They looked very young, around 18 I think.' Ms Dovey has now installed 520 worth of protection into her car to stop any further attacks, meaning she now has to verify a code before the vehicle will start. Ms Dovey, a special needs teacher, slammed her gears into reverse and backed her Volkswagen up the usually quiet residential street and around a corner in order to escape The alleged carjackers then ran back to their vehicle and drove away, while Ms Dovey drove to her friend's house before contacting police She said: 'When I look back at the CCTV it was 27 seconds on the video but it all happened in slow motion. 'I've only had the car since February and I refuse to change it. It took me two months to choose the car. 'I've worked hard to buy nice things and it's not fair.' 'I'm not going to let them beat me. West Midlands Police said it is investigating the incident, which happened on May 22. A lot has happened since my last blog post more than seven months ago. In the fall I made several trips - in October to Wyoming for the annual meeting of ... 3 years ago A British couple who sold their under-age daughters to a friend so he could have sex with them have been found in a tiny shed they had been hiding in for months to avoid being sent to prison. The man and woman, aged 54 and 59, used to live in Mallorca but fled the island after their sentencing last year for pimping out their children to the man they knew in offences dating back to 2009. After spending months hunting the couple, members of the Civil Guard found the them living in a small shed on the edge of a farm in the district of Cartama in Malaga. The British couple were hiding out in this shed on a farm in the district of Cartama in Malaga A woman wearing white three-quarter-length trousers and a pink jumper is frogmarched The fugitive pair were arrested under a European Arrest Warrant following their conviction for the sexual abuse of minors They have been identified by the police only as TLD 54 years old and BSD aged 59, both of British nationality. The fugitive pair were arrested under a European Arrest Warrant following their conviction for the sexual abuse of minors. Police believe they had been living in the shed for some time in order to evade justice. A spokesman for the Spanish Civil Guard said: 'The facts go back to the year 2009 when the couple offered their under-age daughters to have sexual relations with a person, known to them, in exchange for an economic benefit, the reason why they were convicted in the year 2016 for the crime of sexual abuses to minors.' 'After the sentence, those now detained fled the island of Mallorca where they lived to avoid their entry into prison, being located by agents after several months of searches.' 'The couple remained hidden during this time in a shed located on a farm on the outskirts of Cartama, Malaga.' The couple have since appeared before a court and were remanded in prison. President Donald Trump and Press Secretary Sean Spicer have attempted to defuse the relentless mocking Trump endured overnight about an incoherent tweet the president sent out late Tuesday. Trump wrote, 'Despite the constant negative press covfefe,' which inspired intense speculation about what 'covfefe' is. The tweet was left up for more than five hours and then Trump chimed in Wednesday morning saying, 'Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!' Yahoo News' Hunter Walker broached the topic at Wednesday's off-camera press briefing asking Spicer if 'people should be concerned that the president posted somewhat of an incoherent tweet last night and it then stayed up for hours?' First Spicer simply answered, 'no.' Then, when Walker prodded him and asked why the tweet stayed up for so long, Spicer implied that it was done purposely. 'The president and a small group of people knew exactly what he meant,' Spicer answered. 'Despite the constant negative press covfefe', the president tweeted after midnight on Tuesday The President tweeted this morning calling on people to figure out the meaning of the word, prompting a fresh round of ribbing Donald Trump (pictured) has been mercilessly mocked online after he posted a rambling and misspelled late night tweet just hours after Press Secretary Sean Spicer's debacle Of course, it prompted a fresh round of ribbing for the commander-in-chief, as Trump was accused of a clumsy attempt to cover up his mistake. Many joked the half-finished tweet was the result of one of Trump's aides ripping his phone from his hands. Others claimed it was a new take on Trump's famous slogan, which is now: 'Make America covfefe again!' The President urged people to speculate on the meaning of the word, and speculate they did Many used it as an opportunity to joke about the size of the President's hand, suggesting this contributed to the blunder Anxious tweeter Rob Szczerba replied to the President suggesting it could be a password or nuclear code Some have suggested it could be a distraction created in order to bury bad news One joker on Twitter suggested it stood for Consistently Obey Vladimir For Everything For Ever Before the tweet was deleted, some expressed concern for the president, suggesting he may have had a 'stroke' mid-type, while others wanted to know why no one at the White House appeared to have noticed the tweet for at least an hour. 'Is everyone in the White House asleep right now???' one user tweeted. 'It's the new upcoming Starbucks drinks. It's orange vanilla with a borscht swirl. They make the whip cream look like a white hood,' another joked. Twitter users attempted to find some meaning behind covfefe - leading to a heated exchange between a wizard and a viking warrior who claimed to have been summoned in order to search for a mythical orb The comment has sparked both confusion and hundreds of memes mocking the bizarre tweet Elyse Johnson added: 'Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's #Covfefe.' Other tweets joked 'covfefe' could be anything from the nuclear launch codes to the title of a new release at cinemas soon, to the thing you make when life gives you lemons. The businessman-turned-politician appears to have been writing 'despite the constant negative press coverage...' but we may never know what then end of that sentence should have been. Of course, it is not the first time someone in Trump's administration has made a Twitter blunder. White House press secretary Spicer posted what appeared to be a random assortment of letters and numbers in January - which many took to be his password or joked it could be the nuclear codes. Trump's rambling tweet on Tuesday night came just hours after Spicer dramatically exited the White House press briefing - his first day back at the podium since the president returned from his overseas trip - amid a reporter revolt over his attack on 'fake news'. Many joked the half-finished tweet, which has not yet been deleted, was the result of one of Trump's aides ripping his phone from his hands The press secretary abruptly ended the briefing after three news outlets the president has called 'fake news' and 'the enemy of the American people' pressed the Trump spokesman on his claims and demanded he provide a list of stories the White House believes to be false. 'What I'm telling you is that the reason the president is frustrated is the perpetration of false narratives, the use of unnamed sources over and over again about things that are happening that don't ultimately happen and I think that is troubling,' Spicer said in his final word on the topic. Packing up, Spicer told the room, 'thank you, guys, very much,' and left amid yelling, and some booing. Spicer appears to be in hiding after the debacle, with Wednesday's press gaggle due to be held off-camera, according to the White House's daily press schedule. A devastated mother has posted a photograph of her son in his hospital bed to highlight the problems of buying medicine from the black market. Callum Maddison Shaw, 22, was admitted to the critical care unit in hospital after taking Xanax - also known as Alprazolam - which he had purchased online to aid his anxiety. His brother, Mason, 16, raised the alarm after he found Callum collapsed at the bottom of their stairs at their home in North Belfast. Callum Maddison Shaw, 22, was admitted to the critical care unit in hospital after taking Xanax Now his mother, Angela Maddison Hutcheson, has published the image of her son on life support to prevent people from purchasing drugs from street dealers. Speaking to Belfast Live, she said: 'These have been two of the worst days of our lives. 'I wasn't going to make this picture public but if it can help a few of the people who are still on these tablets to take a look at how lucky he is to pull through, then it will be worth it.' His sister said he purchased and took the tablets to give him a 'wee life' after a relationship broke down Callum is now recovering at home but still has the drugs in his system. His sister Shaunna, 26, said Callum had purchased the tablets to give him a 'wee lift' after a relationship broke down. She added: 'People need to think before they do this nonsense. They might think that life is hard but things can be fixed and it's always better than being dead. We are relieved but we are angry at Callum for being so daft. I hear the fella who sold him the tablets is in hiding. He cannot hide forever. He cannot get away with this.' Alastair Jeffery, head of enforcement for MHRA, said: 'Fake and unlicensed medicines pose a serious health threat. There is no way of knowing whether they are acceptably safe. 'There are also no guarantees as to what unlicensed medicines contain; there may be impurities or incorrect ingredients which affect their safety and performance. We will continue to target criminals supplying illegal medical products and raise awareness of the harm fake medicines cause. 'You can avoid risking your health, and wasting money, by buying licensed medicines from legitimate high street or online retailers.' Adam Hodgson, 11, suffered blisters to his arms and legs after rubbing a poisonous weed on nettle stings A schoolboy was left in agony with horrific blisters after he came into contact with poisonous giant hogweed in a popular park. Lorna Percival, 32, rushed her son Adam Hodgson, aged 11, off to hospital after he suffered agonising blisters on his leg caused by the plant. The youngster came into contact with nettles while playing with a friend at a park in the Barrhead area of Renfrewshire. But he then rubbed giant hogweed on the sting - causing more damage to his skin. His mother has now demanded that bosses at East Renfrewshire Council take action by removing the plant before another child is hurt. Ms Percival said: 'All the council has done is spray the plant with weedkiller, but that could take weeks to work. 'I'm worried it will grow back and continue to be a hazard for kids here. I want them to dig it up by the roots and take it away.' Adam's ordeal began when he was stung by nettles at the park. He proceeded to rub what he believed was a dock leaf on the wound in the hope that it would take away the pain. The schoolboy mistook giant hogweed - Britain's most dangerous plant - for dock leaves and was left with 'agoising' sores on his legs, pictured left and right His mother Lorna Percival said staff at the hospital had 'never seen anything like his blisters'. He is pictured here with marks on his arm However, what the youngster actually rubbed on himself was giant hogweed, which has recently been dubbed Britain's most dangerous plant. Ms Percival said: 'It was the worst thing he could have done. Things went from bad to worse and he was in a lot of pain. 'When I saw what was happening to his leg I took him to hospital. The staff said they had never seen anything like it.' Giant hogweed is common on riverbanks and wasteland. Toxic components in the leaves, stems, roots and flowers can be transferred to skin by touch. Adam had been playing in a park in the Barrhead area of Renfrewshire, Scotland, pictured His mother has called on the local council to remove the hogweed, pictured, before another child gets hurt The NHS advises anyone who comes into contact with it immediately wash the affected area with hot soapy water. A spokesman for East Renfrewshire Council confirmed that there is hogweed present at a strip of high grass next to a burn at the park and that it has been treated with weedkiller. He said: 'The grass is there to stop children getting close to the water and this has proved successful for a number of years. 'We are scheduled to check and re-spray the area in June and will monitor the area closely this summer,' he added. 'This treatment regime has been carried out in this area for several years and has been successful on each occasion of controlling the hogweed.' A giant panda cub was seen startled after getting a small electric shock at its new enclosure in the Netherlands. Male Xing Ya and female Wu Wen, both from China's Sichuan province, met the public for the first time on May 30 at Ouwehand Zoo in central Holland. Crowds of visitors watched as the started black-and-white bear fled from the scene following the shock. The curious bear, standing on its hind legs, was seen trying to touch the structure attached to an exposed white wire during its public debut on May 30 at Ouwehand Zoo The beginning of the 23-second clip, posted by Ruptly to Youtube, shows one of the pandas examining one of the red structures at its 6 million new home specially designed for the oriental bears. The curious animal, standing on its hind legs, was seen trying to touch the structure attached to an exposed white wire. Without realising the danger, the bear even attempted to bite the structure before it got an electric shock. The pitiful creature immediately fled from the scene and ran to the other side of the enclosure in front of zoo visitors. It's not stated whether the startled bear is Xing Ya or Wu Wen. Without realising the danger, the bear even attempted to bite the structure as shown above The pitiful creature immediately fled from the scene and ran to the other side of the enclosure Xing Ya and Wu Wen, both three-years-old, arrived at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol following a long flight from China on April 12, according to Huanqiu, a publication affiliated to People's Daily. The pandas currently reside in a Chinese-themed three-storey enclosure with indoor and outdoor areas, a veterinary clinic, a keepers' area and even a refrigerator for their favorite food, bamboo. The pair will spend 15 years in the country. Like other pandas loaned by China, the youngsters are intended to be a breeding pair and the zoo has a nursery for their future cubs. The pandas live in a 6 million Chinese-themed three-storey enclosure specially designed for the oriental bears The luxurious enclosure comes with indoor and outdoor areas and even a refrigerator for the bears' favorite food, bamboo For decades, China gifted friendly nations with its national mascot in what was known as 'panda diplomacy.' The country more recently has loaned pandas to zoos on commercial terms. Most loans run from 10 to 15 years. China charges as much as 800,000 per year for a panda. Many zoos are willing to pay the high price in the hope of attracting more visitors boosting zoo revenue, especially if new cubs are born. As part of the project, both of the pandas were granted special visas to increase the publicity behind the special event The three-year-old pandas female Wu Wen and male Xing Ya arrived in Schiphol airport on a special flight from China They were briefly displayed in cages at the airport before being transported to Ouwehand Zoo in Rhenen A fiance tragically died four months before his wedding after doctors missed his deadly sepsis condition three times. Steven Jackson, 37, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest hours after being told by paramedics that he did not require hospital treatment. It was later identified that he was suffering from epiglottitis, regarded as a medical emergency, which can significantly restrict oxygen supply to the lungs and cause sepsis. Steven Jackson, 37, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest hours after being told by paramedics that he did not require hospital treatment. Pictured, with his fiancee Shelly His fiancee Shelly Jackson said her family is still devastated by Mr Jackson's loss - three years after his death. She said: 'Steven died four months before we were due to be married. Sepsis took his life and destroyed our future. 'My two children, Yasmine, 20 and Bryn, 18, Steven's would-be stepchildren, who looked upon him as a father and idolised him, lost an integral part of their lives that day. 'Steven loved life. He was treasured among friends and family and someone we all felt truly lucky to have in our lives. 'How that could come to such an abrupt end has left us all reeling, even three years after his death.' Ms Jackson, who changed her last name following Steven's death in March, 2014, is pushing for more doctors to recognise the symptoms of sepsis. 'I am still very angry about Steven's death, especially when there were opportunities to save him, and I feel that the fact that so many people are dying from such an easily treatable illness is diabolical. Ms Jackson said her two children Yasmine, 20 and Bryn, 18, 'idolised' Mr Jackson. Pictured, the family together 'It is really important that all medical professionals are well versed in identifying sepsis to give patients the very best chance of survival. 'It is too late for Steven, but if lessons can be learned from his death than more lives might be saved.' Mr Jackson had been suffering from a sore throat for several days when his partner took him to A&E at Southend Hospital, Essex. An out-of-hours doctor told him to purchase over-the-counter medication and sent him home. But hours later, an ambulance was called to his house as his condition deteriorated. Mr Jackson suffered from epiglottitis, regarded as a medical emergency, and which can significantly restrict oxygen supply to the lungs and cause sepsis Paramedics spent an hour assessing him before diagnosing a virus and saying he did not require hospital treatment. At 1pm the same day - seven hours after he went to A&E - another ambulance was called but Steven suffered a cardiac arrest and died. Doctors later assessed that he was suffering from epiglottitis, the inflammation and swelling of the epiglottis behind the root of the tongue. Despite it being a serious condition, it can be treated with antibiotics. Specialist medical negligence lawyers were instructed to investigate Mr Jackson's death and secured an admission of liability from the Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which also sent a letter of apology. Ms Jackson described her fiance as someone 'treasured among friends and family' Louise Forsyth, an expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing Mr Jackson's family, said: 'Sepsis is a devastating condition which affects 150,000 people every year in the UK, resulting in 44,000 deaths. 'This number of people dying from sepsis in the UK is extremely troubling as the condition can be treated by a course of antibiotics if diagnosed quickly. 'We have seen numerous cases such as Steven's where the symptoms of sepsis have not been spotted or where patients have not been started on treatment soon enough. 'This has a devastating impact on them, and for the family and friends of those who lose their lives as a result. 'Through our close work with The UK Sepsis Trust we have seen the urgent need to promote the signs of sepsis and provide early care in the UK and hope that this week's Wear Orange and Help Mend Sepsis awareness day will raise vital funds to save thousands of lives and improve the outlook for all of those affected.' Attack: Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at Hillary Clinton who criticized his comments on rape Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte has denounced Chelsea Clinton as he tried to defend a 'joke' he made about his troops raping women. The controversial president - who has overseen the murder of thousands of drug users and has now declared martial law as he fights an ISIS insurgency - used Clinton's father's affair with Monica Lewinsky to attack the former first daughter. Chelsea joined a chorus of condemnation of Duterte's remark that his soldiers could rape up to three women each and he would 'take responsibility' after declaring martial law in the city of Marawi. Duterte said today: 'These whores, they hear "rape". Like, like Chelsea, she slammed me. I was not joking, I was being sarcastic. Listen to the speech. I do not laugh at my own jokes.' 'I will tell her, when your father, the president of the United States, was f***ing Lewinsky and the girls in the White House, how did you feel? Did you slam your father?' The former first daughter had tweeted 'Not funny. Ever' in reaction to the news of Duterte's remarks on rape. In a second post she wrote: 'Duterte is a murderous thug with no regard for human rights. It's important to keep pointing that out and that rape is never a joke.' Duterte's troops are locked in battle with ISIS fighters in the city of Marawi in the south of the country. Fighting: Duterte declared martial law as he battles ISIS militants in the city of Marawi. He told his soldiers: 'Just do your work. I will handle the rest. I will be imprisoned for you. If you rape three (women), I will say that I did it.' Trapped villagers are pictured being rescued Amidst the fighting that has forced 50,000 people to flee, teenage ISIS fighters are said to be shooting people dead for failing to quote the Koran. Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao last week, home to roughly 20 million people, in response to the crisis as he warned that local militant groups were uniting behind ISIS and becoming a major security threat. If you rape three (women), I will say that I did it. President Rodrigo Duterte in a message to his troops in the Philippines Shortly after declaring martial law, he told his troops in a speech: ' 'For this martial law and the consequences of martial law and the ramifications of martial law, I and I alone would be responsible. 'Just do your work. I will handle the rest. I will be imprisoned for you. If you rape three (women), I will say that I did it.' That remark was met with widespread condemnation, and on Wednesday Duterte tried to defend himself. At the end of a long speech to naval officers and their families, Duterte said he was just being sarcastic as he took aim at people who criticized his rape remarks but particularly Clinton. The president who ordered the slaughter of thousands, banned beauty pageants and pushed for women's rights in the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte ran for mayor if Davao City and won in 1988. He was re-elected several times and waged a war on crime in the Philippines. Among his many crackdowns, Duterte banned swimsuit competitions in beauty pageants in Davao City, slashed speed limits, banned cigarettes and firecrackers and also ordered every shopping mall and commercial centre to install CCTV. Duterte also passed the city's Women Development Code, the first and only in the country, which aims 'to uphold the rights of women and the belief in their worth and dignity as human beings' and pushed for the Magna Carta for Women in Davao. More recently, he turned his attention to drug dealers and users in the country. By December, the death toll stood at 5,927 after five months. Duterte said the way to stop the slaughter is to stop taking drugs. The radical leader insists he is not a killer, despite the country's streets being littered with dead bodies due to his crackdown on illicit drugs. He also admitted killing personally. Now, his efforts have turned to ISIS, who are wreaking havoc in Marawi. Advertisement Chelsea Clinton condemned his remarks with a tweet that said 'Not funny. Ever'. Duterte hit back: 'When your father, the president of the United States, was f***ing Lewinsky and the girls in the White House, how did you feel? He then accused American soldiers of raping women in the Philippines and Japan, without giving details, before returning to Clinton. 'It is a crime actually committed by soldiers, mostly Americans in Okinawa,' he said, referring to several rape cases involving U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan, most recently last year. ISIS plan to burn a city General Eduardo Ano, the military chief, said extremists had plotted to set Marawi ablaze entirely to project ISIS' influence. The extremists wanted to kill Christians in nearby Iligan city on Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, to mimic the violence seen by the world in Syria and Iraq, Ano said. Southeast Asian fighters fleeing the Middle East 'could look to Mindanao to provide temporary refuge as they work their way home,' said a report late last year by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, predicting a high risk of regional violence. Marawi is regarded as the heartland of the Islamic faith on Mindanao island. Advertisement "But, we never heard of a Filipino. But I am just warning them that anything they do, I have to answer for it. I take full responsibility for your foolishness. I speak sarcastically." 'You Americans, like Chelsea, be careful because you live in a glass house,' he said. 'I repeat, when President Clinton was f***ing Lewinsky, what was your statement or your reaction?' It was not the first time Duterte has made a joke about rape. He caused outrage in the lead-up to his presidential election win last year when he recalled a 1989 prison riot in which an Australian missionary was killed, and inmates had lined up to rape her. In what was intended as a joke, Duterte said the victim was "beautiful" and as mayor of Davao city where the riot took place, he should have been first in line. He later apologized and said he meant no disrespect to women or rape victims. The Australian and American ambassadors to Manila voiced their disapproval at those comments, but Duterte reacted furiously then while insisting he had been taken out of context. OUTSPOKEN LEADER: PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE IN QUOTES The outspoken President Rodrigo Duterte Comparing his drugs war to the Holocaust - 'Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there is three million drug addicts. I'd be happy to slaughter them. At least Germany had Hitler. The Philippines wouldn't.' Insulting President Obama after he criticised the violence in the Philippines - 'You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a w****, I will curse you in that forum. Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell.' Reacting to an EU resolution condemning his drugs crackdown - 'I say to them, f*** you. They're taking the high ground to assuage their feelings of guilt. But who did I kill? Assuming it to be true, 1,700, who are they? Criminals. You call that genocide. Now the EU has the gall to condemn me. So I repeat it. F*** you.' Criticising Pope Francis after his visit to the country caused heavy traffic in Manila - 'We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the Pope. I wanted to call him: "Pope, son of a w****, go home. Do not visit us again".' Pleading to rid the country of drugs during his election campaign - 'Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I'd kill you. I'll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there.' On admitting to killing a man by throwing him out of a helicopter - 'I've done that, why won't I do it again?' Advertisement Philippine soldiers walk past Islamic State (IS) group graffiti in Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao Rescue workers are escorted by Philippine soldiers as smoke from burning houses rise in the background in Marawi Policemen stand on guard while guarding a main street in Sarimanok village, in Marawi city Duterte also frequently launches obscenity-filled tirades against critics of his drug war, which has seen thousands of people killed and led to warnings from rights groups that he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity. Duterte last year called then US president Barack Obama a 'son of a whore' for criticizing the drug war. An obsessive legal boss who bombarded his ex-girlfriend with calls and camped outside her office with a can of beer was today convicted of harassment. Lawyer Aswiny Uthayakumar, 28, suffered panic attacks after Dan Galvin, 30, hounded her with texts and squeezed her with a bear hug when she dumped him. Galvin, a legal manager at communication firm Helios Towers Africa LLP, turned up to her office in Paddington, London, despite police officers warning him to stop. He even told Miss Uthayakumar she would be arrested for time wasting if she reported his harassment to police, Willesden Magistrates' Court heard. Aswiny Uthayakumar (left), 28, said she was hounded with texts and emails from Dan Galvin (right), 30, who turned up to her office in Paddington Galvin was issued with a prevention from harassment warning but continued to contact his ex, saying he had been 'advised' not to contact her, not 'told' not to. The pair met through the online dating app Happn in April 2016 but she broke it off three months later after becoming concerned about his controlling behaviour. Miss Uthayakumar, an in-house lawyer for consumer watchdog magazine Which?, was left suffering panic attacks that could be triggered by the slightest stressful situation. Giving evidence from behind a screen, she said: 'He didn't seem to understand my reasoning [for ending things] he wouldn't leave me alone. 'He would constantly message me and he was quite aggressive in his text messages. He made me feel quite uncomfortable.' Miss Uthayakumar was forced to block him on all her social media account and eventually went to the police in August last year. She added: 'I said I didn't want to see him again. I didn't think it was working for me - I thought he was a good guy but I had seen a side of him that I didn't want to carry on seeing.' He repeatedly called her using a withheld number, sent messages to her friends, the court heard. When he received the prevention of harassment notice he still turned up at her place of work, with a beer can in hand. Galvin (pictured, arriving at court) denies harassment, assault by beating and common assault Miss Uthayakumar said it was almost like he had 'camped out' waiting for her. She added: 'I said you shouldn't be contacting me. You shouldn't be near from me. We stood about three metres apart but I had a conversation with him because I thought it might give him some closure if he didn't have it already. 'He asked if he could give me a hug, I said 'no' but he said 'I'm going to get my hug' and he embraced me totally - he tried to pat my head.' Later she received an email from Galvin saying he 'had spoken to the head of police' and that she would be arrested for time wasting if she contacted police again. She added: 'He said I wouldn't get my visa for my upcoming trip to Australia, that I wouldn't be able to work in New York and I wouldn't be able to become a fully qualified solicitor.' Miss Uthayakumar said she was left shaking and terrified when Galvin turned up at her new office on Chancery Lane - where she was working a secondment - just a few days later. He found her placement on LinkedIn, the court heard. She added: 'I was so scared I had a panic attack at the bottom of Chancery Lane Station steps and I had to be helped by a member of the public.' Giving evidence, Galvin claimed he bumped into Miss Uthayakumar twice and they had an amicable conversation. He denied waiting outside her office in Paddington with a can of beer. He said: 'I wanted to ask her was it you who went to the police if was it your friends who gave you the idea to do that?' Galvin said he was only on Chancery Lane 10 days later to have an interview and it was pure chance that he saw Miss Uthayakumar. Finding him guilty of harassment and assault by beating, Magistrate Nigel Sears said: 'We found the complainant to be compelling and credible in the account she gave and the personal impact it had on her life and she remained calm under cross-examination. Miss Uthayakumar said Galvin's behaviour left her feeling 'scared' and 'stressed' 'It was agreed there was a hug and touching of the hair, what's in question is whether that conduct was consensual. 'We have no doubt that she said 'no' when Mr Galvin asked if he may give her a hug and he continued to do so. We find the conduct was unlawful. 'She gave a clear account of the chronology of the emails and telephone calls from a withheld number when the harassment notice had already been served. 'There were too many coincidences of importance and no credible explanation was given for calling from a withheld number. 'Mr Galvin continued to contact the complainant by meeting and email and phone calls within 10 days of the notice being served. 'There's no doubt that this behaviour would have caused the complainant harassment and that Mr Galvin knew that the contact was not reasonable.' Galvin, of Kensington, denied but was found guilty of harassment between 9 and 20 September, and common assault. He was further convicted of assault by beating in relation to the bear hug, while an alternative charge of common assault was withdrawn. Galvin will be sentenced at Hendon Magistrates' Court on June 20. A mother and son have pleaded guilty to plotting to fake her death for 140,000. Arafa Nassib pleaded guilty of conspiring with her 18-year-old son Adil Kasim and another man, Yusuf Abdullah, to commit fraud against Scottish Widows for an insurance payout. Nassib, Kasim and Abdullah were released from Birmingham Crown Court on bail this morning until sentencing on July 12. Arafa Nassib pleaded guilty of conspiring with her 18-year-old son Adil Kasim and another man, Yusuf Abdullah, to commit fraud against Scottish Widows for an insurance payout The defendants bail is on the condition that they are prohibited from applying for international travel documents and Nassib is to be stripped of her passport. Nassib, aged 48, Kasim, and Abdullah, 24, all of Walsall, plotted to fake the death between March and December 2016. The charges were brought in April after an inquiry into claims Nassib had died in Zanzibar, off the coast of mainland Tanzania. Nassib was handcuffed on her return to the UK in February having flown from Canada. Arafa Nassib pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of conspiring with her son Adil Kasim and another man, Yusuf Abdullah, to commit fraud against Scottish Widows for an insurance payout City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, started their investigation into the insurance scam in November last year. Weed smokers are not known for being the sharpest tools in the box. So it is perhaps no surprise that New Hampshire police ended up with this mugshot after arresting 27-year-old Selket Taylor for marijuana possession. Taylor was initially pulled over in the town of Hampstead on May 29 for using his cell phone while driving, before cops found a bag of pot in his cup holder. Scroll down for video Selket Taylor, 27, was arrested in New Hampshire for possessing marijuana, and pulled this face when police tried to take his mugshot Confronting Taylor over the drug, he tried to wave it off, claiming he 'only smokes it in Massachusetts' - where it has been decriminalized. But police weren't buying it, and booked Taylor for possession of a controlled drug, transporting a controlled drug in a motor vehicle and use of a mobile device. Hampstead Police Department then issued a warning to other drug users, which said: 'As a Public Service Announcement It is illegal to possess recreational marijuana in New Hampshire, even if you only smoke it in Massachusetts.' The message was accompanied by the mugshot, in which Taylor is seen with his eyes closed and tongue stuck out. He also appears to be wearing black nail polish on his right thumb, and has a tattoo on his hand. USA Today Omits Israeli Peace Offers While Covering Peace Push | Main | CAMERA Featured Letter-Writer May 26, 2017 ABC TV Popular Series Quantico Stops Demonizing Israel As the first season came to an end in May 2016 for ABC TVs Quantico weekly melodrama series, it ceased to demonize Israel. Its Jewish character Simon Asher? (played by non-Jewish actor Tate Ellington pictured above) was used by the fictional series to vilify Israel. Asher asserted that he perpetrated certain acts as an Israeli soldier (I was in the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF]. They sent me into Gaza. I didn't just see things. I did things. Things that haunt me every single day of my life.?). This suggests the image of post-war Nazis excusing their crimes on the grounds they were just obeying orders. Asher claimed that greenhouses were bombed by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip? in the 2014 conflict. In fact, in the real world, there is not a scintilla of evidence of this. There is proof, however, that Gazans themselves vandalized these greenhouses abandoned by departing Israeli farmers. In the real world, contradicting repeated false allegations that Israels military has perpetrated inhumane acts against civilians, General Martin Dempsey, former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that Israel had gone out of its way to avoid civilian casualties. "No army in the world acts with as much discretion and great care as the IDF in order to minimize damage. The U.S. and the U.K. are careful, but not as much as Israel," Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, testified on Sept. 4, 2014. ABC had described the premise of the melodrama as: A diverse group of recruits has arrived at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible that one of them is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York City since 9/11.? Asher had been confronted with the specter of his and Israel's (alleged) crimes by fellow FBI recruit "Nimah Amin" (a Muslim character played by Yasmine al-Massri, a Lebanese actress of Palestinian Arab descent) who accused him of a major bombing. The melodrama showed that Asher had acquired the material for a bomb and created the plan that led to the bombing of New York's Grand Central Station. He was abetted by another Jewish character. Oren, an Orthodox Israeli Jew, bearded and with side-curls (the facial hair of very religious Jewish men), was the bomb builder. Season two running from Sept. 25, 2016 to May 15, 2017 contained neither demonization of Israel nor the Asher character. In fact, viewers were surprised that Asher had been transformed from being an anti-U.S. terrorist into an American hero who sacrificed his life for his country and it was shown that Liam? (Josh Hopkins) was actually the terrorist. It was an amazing reversal for the slickly produced series that began on Sept. 27, 2015, in which only one foreign country, Israel, was defamed. It is noteworthy that Quantico has been written and directed by a large enough team (17 writers, 29 directors) to produce alternative episodes for any of the broadcasts. Who or what might have influenced the reversal? The most potent online exposures of Quanticos anti-Israel propaganda were provided by CAMERA and Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). CAMERAs February 2016 report ABC TVs Quantico Melodrama Demonizes Israel With Falsehoods? (published prior to the undemonizations) includes a 7.5 minute unique video montage of Quanticos first season anti-Israel segments. As CAMERAs 2016 report points out, inevitably some viewers will grant authenticity to false assertions in a fictional drama if it is slickly produced and staged. Accordingly, what Quantico says matters and such dramas, therefore, need to be exposed. Posted by MK at May 26, 2017 05:44 PM I stopped watching the show as soon as they started to demonize Israel and have not watched it since Posted by: Geoff Seaman at June 8, 2017 03:23 PM Guidelines for posting This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material. Post a comment Terminally ill baby Charlie Gard has been saved hours before his life support machine was due to be switched off after his parents took their fight to the Supreme Court. Britain's highest court will sit on June 8 - in eight days time - to consider whether to hear an appeal from Chris Gard and Connie Yates to prolong his life. Until then baby Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, must continue to receive treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. His life support machine was reportedly set to be shut off at midnight tonight but judges have ordered this to be postponed pending next week's hearing. Chris Gard and Connie Yates want nine-month-old Charlie Gard, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, to undergo a therapy trial Charlie's parents (pictured last week) want to 'exhaust all possible options' and will now head to the Supreme Court Last Friday his parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates lost their case at the Court of Appeal and they must now convince the Supreme Court to hear their final appeal or face losing their son. The couple want him to fly to the US for pioneering treatment but Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he is being cared for, has won two court cases after arguing he should be allowed to die because the therapy proposed will not help. The case has caused huge controversy after the public raised more than 1.2million to fund his treatment. But the hospital and judges have blocked his parents' wishes to fly him to America. Speaking before the Supreme Court's intervention Chris Gard and Connie Yates revealed that he was due to die tonight. Miss Yates told ITV News: 'At the moment we have got until midnight. It's absolutely terrifying. 'We have had our parental rights stripped away as if they don't matter at all. 'The way we have been treated by doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital has been inhuman. 'Our son is basically being kept as a prisoner at the hospital'. Three Supreme Court judges will now consider whether to hear their appeal. If they agree a full hearing of the court will sit, prolonging Charlie's life further. His parents say they will try to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if they lose. A Supreme Court spokesman said a panel of three justices aimed to consider preliminary arguments next week and decide whether to give permission for a full hearing. He said the panel of justices would examine preliminary arguments at a court hearing. If permission was granted, a date for a full hearing would be set, he added. The spokesman said appeal court judges had ordered Great Ormond Street doctors to continue providing life-support treatment to Charlie until midnight on June 8. Chris Gard and Connie Yates want permission to take son Charlie (pictured) to America for a therapy trial In the previous ruling, Mr Justice Francis said Charlie should be allowed die with dignity. But Charlie's parents, who are in their 30s and come from Bedfont, west London, had asked three Appeal Court judges to overturn Mr Justice Francis's decision. But Lord Justice McFarlane, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Sales, who analysed evidence at a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Tuesday, have backed the previous ruling. Lawyers representing the couple told appeal court judges that they would like the Supreme Court to consider the case. Lord Justice McFarlane praised Charlie's parents' composure and dignity and said: 'My heart goes out to them.' Mr Gard shook his head as appeal judges announced their decision. Charlie's parents then left court to hold discussions with lawyers. The three judges have yet to outline the reasons for dismissing the couple's challenge. They are expected to do that shortly. Experts at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Charlie is being cared for, say life-support treatment should stop It is understood the couple may now try to take the case to the Supreme Court, the UK's highest. The judge in the previous case, Mr Justice Francis had concluded that life-support treatment should end and said a move to a palliative care regime would be in Charlie's best interests. He said he had made the decision with the 'heaviest of hearts' but with 'complete conviction' for Charlie's best interests. 'All of Charlie's treating doctors at Great Ormond Street are agreed that Charlie has reached the stage where artificial ventilation should be withdrawn, that he should be given palliative care only and that he should be allowed to die peacefully and with dignity,' Mr Justice Francis had said. 'Charlie has been served by the most experienced and sophisticated team that our excellent hospitals can offer.' The judge said experts in Spain had also considered Chaarlie's case and reached the same conclusion. He had added: 'Charlie's condition is exceptionally rare and I am confident that I have had reports from around the world from those who know it as well as anyone can.' Richard Gordon QC, who led Charlie's parents' legal team, told appeal judges that the case raised 'very serious legal issues'. 'They wish to exhaust all possible options,' Mr Gordon said in a written outline of Charlie's parents' case. 'They don't want to look back and think 'what if?'. This court should not stand in the way of their only remaining hope.' Mr Gordon suggested that Charlie might be being unlawfully detained and denied his right to liberty. He said judges should not interfere with parents' exercise of parental rights and added: 'What is really at stake in this case is the State, on a massive scale, intruding in your right to private and family life.' Lawyers, who represented Charlie's parents for free, said Mr Justice Francis had not given enough weight to Charlie's human right to life. They said there was no risk that the proposed therapy in the US would cause Charlie 'significant harm'. Waleed Aly has locked horns with Steve Price in a fiery debate about the link between refugees and terror attacks in Australia. The tense exchange centred on ASIO director-general Duncan Lewis' claims last week there was 'no evidence' linking refugees to local terrorism. Price noted both Sydney's Lindt siege and an infamous knife attack on two policeman in Melbourne were both carried out at the hands of Islamic migrants. But the project host said Price was blowing the comments from Australia's top spy out of proportion and warned him against inflaming tensions with Muslims. Waleed Aly hand Steve Price clashed in a fiery debate about the link between refugees and local terrorism Mr Lewis drew the ire of conservative politicians when he said in parliament last week he had 'no evidence to suggest there is a connection between refugees and terrorism'. 'I think there's a fair difference between 'none' and 'very few' and I think it's right that he clarifies it,' said Price on the Project. 'I think you're over-egging it, there's not really any difference between none and a very few,' Aly hit back. 'There are some refugees who are engaged in terrorism, that's fine,' he said. 'That's not the same thing as saying that there is a connection between being a refugee and being a terrorist.' But Price doubled down by saying lives would have been spared if the refugees behind local atrocities had never migrated. 'If the people hadn't come here as refugees, the people they killed wouldn't be dead. Refugees have come to this country and committed acts of terrorism and for the ASIO boss to say that that hadn't happened is not correct.' He drove the message home by mentioning Afghan-born Numan Haider - who was shot dead after stabbing two policemen- and Iranian born Lindt siege gunman Man Monis. Co-host Carrie Bickmore was forced to step in to bring the heated clash to a halt. ASIO director-general Duncan Lewis' claimed last week that there was 'no evidence' linking refugees to local terrorism Price disputed this by noting Sydney's Lindt siege was carried out by Iranian immigrant Man Monis Afghan-born Numan Haider was shot dead after attacking two police officers a officer outside Melbourne police station in 2014 Man Haron Monis (centre), the gunman behind the infamous Lindt Siege in Martin Place On Wednesday the ASIO chief appeared to backpedal when he to said: 'The refugee program is not the source of terrorism in Australia.' Tens of thousands of refugees had come to Australia over the past decade or so and 'a very few of them' had become subjects of interest to ASIO or been involved in terrorist planning. 'I've not said that there are no terrorists who have not been refugees or not being the sons or daughters of refugees born in this country.' The reason they were terrorists was down to the violent extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam they adopted. He conceded 11 of the 12 thwarted terror incidents in Australia since December 2014 involved Muslims. The heartbroken cousin of a Melbourne girl killed in the car bombing of an ice cream parlour in Iraq on Tuesday has shared her grief and the family's determination to stay strong in the face of evil. Layla Al-Saabary told The Project her cousin, 12-year-old Zynab Al-Harbeya, was a 'cheeky' young girl who took care of everyone and considered her female cousins to be 'the sisters she never got to have'. Ms Al-Saabary said the area her family were travelling to had been 'pretty safe' in the months prior to their trip, which was to visit their ailing grandfather during Ramadan. Scroll down for video Layla Al-Saabary (pictured) the cousin of a Melbourne schoolgirl killed in an ISIS attack in Baghdad has said her family will 'not bow down to extremists' and are 'being strong' in the face of their tragedy Melbourne schoolgirl Zynab Al Harbeya, 12 (pictured), has been named as one of at least 16 people killed after ISIS extremists detonated a car bomb outside a Baghdad ice cream parlour ISIS detonated a car bomb outside this ice cream parlour in Baghdad as it was packed with women and children breaking their Ramadan fast in the early hours of Tuesday morning The family had broken fast for the day and were getting ice cream when a car bomb exploded out the front of the parlour, killing 16 and injuring 32 in an attack ISIS have since taken responsibility for. During Ramadan, Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset, and cafes are often full of people eating long into the night. Zynab, who was a Year 7 student at Sirius College in Broadmeadows, was killed in the attack, and her parents have remained in Iraq to organise her burial, Ms Al-Saabary said. 'They're focusing right now on the burial and they're just trying to keep strong,' she told the program. The grieving woman explained her family would keep going in the face of the tragedy, as that is how they wanted the young girl to be remembered. 'There were attacks in Manchester a week ago, now it's Baghdad,' she said. 'We stand strong. We will never let such people control our lives and I think that's the main message that we hope Zynab is remembered by.' Much of the front of the shop was destroyed in the explosion, with windows blown out and wires torn from the ceiling 'This tragedy underscores the brutality of this terrorist organisation,' Julie Bishop said Zynab was at the counter paying for her treat when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle on Tuesday. The targeted attack against Shiite Muslims tore through the parlour - which was filled with families and young children. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the tragic loss a young Australian girl 'underscored the brutality' of the cruel and violent ISIS regime. 'With great sadness I can confirm that a 12-year-old Australian girl was killed during this car bombing,' Ms Bishop said on Wednesday morning. 'She's a young girl from Thomastown, Melbourne. She was visiting Baghdad with her family, particularly to see her grandfather during Ramadan. 'I extend our deepest sympathies to her family, her loved ones, her fellow students. 'This tragedy underscores the brutality of this terrorist organisation, that shows no respect for religion, nationality, sovereignty, borders, no respect for humanity. 'This is why the Australian government has continued to commit our defence personnel to support the Iraqi security forces so they can fight to defeat this terrorist organisation within Iraq, and prevent its spread to other parts of the world.' Zynab's heartbroken cousin Layla Al-Saabary said the young girl was 'too small to go this early' At least 16 people died after ISIS militant remotely detonated a car bomb outside the shop, which is a popular landmark in Baghdad The ice cream parlour explosion was one of three to rock Baghdad in the early hours of Tuesday after ISIS declared 'all-out war' during the holy month of Ramadan Blood and twisted metal were still visible on the street outside the ice cream shop on Tuesday morning following the blast CCTV footage taken moments before the bomb at the ice cream parlour (pictured) shows traffic weaving through the city centre before a fireball engulfs the street Tuesday's attack comes as Iraqi troops slowly push ISIS fighters out of their last strongholds in the northern city of Mosul A few hours after the first attack, a second bomb exploded by a government-run pension office near the city's Al-Shuhada Bridge, killing a further 11 people. More than 100 people are thought to have been wounded in the two attacks in total. No group has claimed responsibility for the second attacks, but ISIS regularly bombs the city and had called for 'all-out war' during the holy month of Ramadan, which started on May 26. Horrifying footage showed the first explosion tearing through the popular ice cream shop. The bomb was placed inside a parked car and remotely detonated, according to Iraqi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Footage posted on social media showed chaotic scenes on the streets surrounding the blast. A number of bloodied wounded lay on the ground, others propped themselves up on the colorful park benches outside the ice cream shop. Hours after the first attack, another bomb detonated outside a government building elsewhere in Baghdad, killing seven people and injuring 38 (pictured) No group has claimed responsibility for the bomb, which exploded in the early hours of Tuesday in the Karkh district in Baghdad A member of the Iraqi fire brigade helps to clear bomb debris and blood off the street in front of the government building The second bomb was detonated outside a pensions office in the centre of Baghdad during the morning rush hour One traumatised young girl, wearing a ribbon and bow in her hair, wandered the streets dazed. Ramadan is often marked by an uptick in violence in Iraq. Last year, Baghdad was rocked by a huge truck bomb that targeted a popular retail district in the city center. Young people and families were shopping for new clothes ahead of the holiday marking the end of Ramadan when it went off. The blast killed hundreds in the single deadliest event in Baghdad since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. ISIS also claimed responsibility for that bombing, which ultimately led to the resignation of Iraq's interior minister. Tuesday's attack comes as Iraqi troops slowly push ISIS fighters out of their last strongholds in the northern city of Mosul. Police say at least 15 people died in the blast at the ice cream shop, while another 40 were hurt. The bomb is believed to have been stored in a car and detonated remotely Horrifying footage and photos showed the explosion tearing through the packed district in the Iraqi capital at around midnight Passersby crowded around the ice cream parlour in the aftermath of the attack which took place as Muslim flooded the streets to break their Ramadan fast ISIS claimed responsibility for the callous attack, just a few days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when families rush to restaurants and cafes at sundown Iraqi commanders say the offensive, which recently entered its eight month, will mark the end of the ISIS caliphate in Iraq, but concede the group will likely increase insurgent attacks in the wake of military defeats. Iraqi forces pressed forward with the offensive against jihadist-held areas of Mosul as the United Nations warned of grave danger to civilians in the final stages of the battle. Iraqi forces have retaken the city's east and large parts of its western side, but the jihadists are putting up tough resistance in areas they still hold. ISIS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained much of the territory they lost. The bomb was placed inside a parked car and remotely detonated, according to Iraqi officials The jilted ex-wife of a Russian oligarch could bring her 11.7billion ($15 billion) after a court in Moscow refused her a separate multi-billion-dollar claim against her former husband. Natalia Potanina was denied 2.9billion claim by a Russian court because she made the demand too late. But she has already launched a separate legal battle for a world record 11.7billion ($15 billion) against Vladimir Potanin, one of Moscow's most prominent tycoons. The couple divorced in 2014 after a 31 year marriage. The ex-wife says 56-year-old Potanin 'dumped, betrayed and humiliated' her after starting a relationship with an employee 15 years his junior with whom the metals giant Nornickel president had a love child. Natalia Potanina was denied 2.9billion claim by a Russian court because she filed too late, but she has also launched a separate legal battle 11.7billion against ex-husband Vladimir Potanin. Potanina says 56-year-old Potanin 'dumped, betrayed and humiliated' her after starting a relationship with an employee 15 years his junior with whom the metals giant Nornickel president had a love child. The ruling to deny the 2.9billion claim by the Presnensky district court in Moscow is the latest Russian case to go against her, fuelling speculation that she will end up moving her world's biggest divorce claims to London, where she has a home. A Russian legal source said: 'It is clear she will get nowhere in the Russian courts. The Supreme Court has already rejected her earlier claim. Her only hope is to take this to London where she now lives.' She had claimed a 215billion rouble (2.9billion, $3.7billion) slice of his KM Invest fortune, but the closed-door court ruled she should have issued her demand closer to the time of her divorce, it was reported in Moscow. Her lawyer Pavel Konovalov hinted she would appeal. Separately, she filed a 11.7 billion claim in Moscow against her former husband, according to the magazine Forbes. The ruling to deny the 2.9billion claim by the Presnensky district court in Moscow is the latest Russian case to go against her, fuelling speculation that she will end up moving her world's biggest divorce claims to London, where she has a home. The couple divorced in 2014 after a 31 year marriage. Potanina is pictured above with her ex-husband, Potanin, and their son, Vasily Sources close to her have refused to be drawn on speculation that if she continues to fail in her legal claims in Moscow, she will switch her demands to 'divorce capital' London. Potanina asked the Moscow court to recognise as common property shares in foreign companies Pharanco, Bektanco, Decoso and Lovenco, as well as rights to trustee shares of these entities. She also wants to divide rights for shares in metals giant Nornickel and precious metals producer Polyus, and to collect compensation for the stakes from Potanin. The Moscow court is due to begin pre-trial consideration of the giant claim in June. Mr Potanin has previously told Moscow courts that he is no longer a billionaire, and is down to his last millions, living on a salary of 373,000 ($480,000) a month. However, her claim suggests she believes he is worth far more than the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, showing his fortune at 11.7billion ($15.8billion). Her latest claim would be more than three times larger than the current record, estimated to be $4billion ($3.1million) paid by Alec Wildenstein in his 1999 divorce from wife Jocelyn. Sources close to Potanina have refused to be drawn on speculation that if she continues to fail in her legal claims in Moscow, she will switch her demands to 'divorce capital' London. Russian courts have twice rejected Ms Potanina's attempts to lay her hands on the disputed shares, saying that while Mr Potanin - the father of her three children - benefits from them, he does not own them directly. But in new papers filed at the Presnensky District Court of Moscow, she claims she should be entitled to half of the dividends from the shares, even if she cannot have the shares themselves, reported Russian legal agency RAPSI. She has told how Potainin asked her for a divorce over tea in 2013, claimed he called for their settlement to be backdated to 2007. 'I thought this was some kind of a badly-worded tease, a joke,' she said. 'How else would you look at it? 'I sat with him at the end of 2013, and he was saying 'Let's divorce behindhand, so that the divorce and any settlement is dated to 2007.' Pictures on Potanin's luxury yachts prove they were a couple at the time he claimed they had already split, she said. Potanin's Interros Group routinely says it 'never gives any comments on the circumstances of the company founder's private life'. Pippa Middleton and her newlywed husband James Matthews have continued their busy day out, enjoying a night climb of the world famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. After a morning jog, a tour of the harbour by water and air, and an extravagant three-course lunch, the newlyweds could have been excused for having an early night. But the happy couple showed no signs of slowing down, as they donned overalls and walked over the 134-metre tall bridge to get a unique view in their latest honeymoon adventure. Scroll down for video Pippa Middleton (pictured) and her newlywed husband James Matthews have continued their busy day out, enjoying a night climb of the world famous Sydney Harbour Bridge Holding onto the hand rails as she walked along the bridge, Pippa apeared to smile nervously as she looked down at the rushing traffic below At one stage Pippa smiled as she momentarily took her hands off the rail, in what appeared to be a daring show of courage Despite being more accustomed to elegant dresses, Pippa, 33, didn't seemed to be too phased as she donned a jumpsuit for the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. Holding onto the hand rails as she walked along the bridge, Princess Kate's sister smiled nervously as she looked down at the rushing traffic below. At one stage Pippa appeared to smile as she momentarily took her hands off the rail, in what appeared to be a daring show of courage. Walking metres behind her, James Matthews, 41, didn't seem to have any concerns about the height of the bridge. As the couple walked over the bridge, they had a view over major tourist attractions including the Sydney Opera House. Pippa and James also looked over the six lanes of peak hour traffic speeding beneath them. The couple's bridge climb experience cost them a combined $586. Walking just metres behind her, James Matthews (pictured) didn't seem to have any concerns about the height of the bridge Both Pippa and James were sure to hold onto the handrails as they walked over the 134-metre tall bridge, which sits above Sydney Harbour The newlyweds donned overalls and fluorescent harnesses as they climbed the structure The couple joined a large group on the climb, with none of the other tourists appearing to be overawed by the celebrity couple. Earlier on Wednesday, the pair walked hand in hand to a water taxi which took them to Rose Bay. They then boarded a seaplane that flew them to a secluded restaurant frequented by the rich and famous. The new owner of Cottage Point Inn, Ally Oleson, said Pippa enjoyed the restaurant's signature dish: kangaroo tartare. Earlier on Wednesday, the pair rode a boat on the water, took a plane trip above Sydney and also enjoyed an exclusive three-course lunch But the day was almost a disaster for Pippa, as she narrowly avoided her very own Marilyn Monroe moment as a strong gust lifted up her dres After enjoying the kangaroo tartare starter - priced at AUD$34 - the brunette beauty then moved on to a main of mackerel, which isn't on the normal menu. Sitting alongside her, James skipped a starter and went straight to the second most expensive meal on the menu - the AUD$48 duck breast. 'We weren't even aware they were coming until the last minute,' Ms Oleson told Daily Mail Australia. Donald Trump's 11-year-old son Barron reportedly saw his father's severed head on television, courtesy of a shock-value photo shoot starring D-list comedian Kathy Griffin, and thought it was real. First lady Melania Trump said that '[a]s a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing.' 'When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.' People close to the Trump family told TMZ that Barron panicked at the make-believe sight of his beheaded dad and screamed for his mother Melania. 'He's 11. He doesn't know who Kathy Griffin is and the head she was holding resembled his dad,' one source said. The president lashed out at Kathy Griffin on Wednesday morning, saying she 'should be ashamed of herself' for posting video of the photo shoot on social media. 'My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!' Trump tweeted. Scroll down for video President Donald Trump's 11-year-old son Barron (left) was reportedly terrified when he saw a make-believe photo shoot on TV that included a representation of his dad's severed head First lady Melania Trump (right) rushed to protect her son, saying" 'As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing.' President Trump weighed in Wednesday morning on Kathy Griffin's tasteless video and he pronounced it 'sick' Trump was furious and complained that his children 'especially my 11 year old son, Barron' are having to grapple with Internet images of their father's bloody decapitation Griffin apologized on Tuesday for posting the video following a furious backlash and a hint at an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service. The controversial entertainer tweeted: 'I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong.' In the video Griffin is seen slowly raising Trump's head during a photo shoot with infamous photographer Tyler Shields. She also posted a video promising to remove the offending image after she was lambasted by all sides of the political spectrum, including Chelsea Clinton. But the apology was not enough to stop the army of critics, both Trump supporters and Democrats from attacking Griffin on social media for the outrageous stunt. Even her long-time New Years Eve co-host Anderson Cooper said he was 'appalled' by the photo shoot, which he described as 'clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.' Meanwhile, the Secret Service made an oblique reference to the controversy on Twitter, reminding everyone that any threats against the president are taken seriously. Griffin sparked fury from Trump supporters on Tuesday after footage emerged of her holding up a fake severed Donald Trump head The controversial comedian tweeted 'I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong' after the stunt 'On it! @SecretService has a robust protective intelligence division that monitors open source reporting & social media to evaluate threats. Threats made against @SecretService protectees receive the highest priority of all of our investigations. #ProtectionNeverRests.' GRIFFIN'S VIDEO APOLOGY IN FULL 'Hey everybody, it's me, Kathy Griffin. 'I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction to these images. 'I'm a comic. I crossed the line. 'I moved the line. Then I crossed it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. 'I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it. I've made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. I ask your forgiveness. 'Taking down the image. I am going to ask the photographer to take down the image. And I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong.' Advertisement The agency later released a statement saying that '[i]t is always unfortunate when people make statements that could be perceived as threats. We don't have the luxury of knowing a person's intent. Each alleged or perceived threat has to be investigated thoroughly which taxes Secret Service manpower and resources that could be utilized elsewhere.' As the firestorm of criticism surrounding Griffin increased a CNN spokesman said that they are 'evaluating' Griffin's long-time role hosting its New Years Eve coverage but have 'made no decisions at this point' 'We found what she did disgusting and offensive. We are pleased to see she has apologized and asked that the photos be taken down. We are evaluating New Years Eve and have made no decisions at this point,' the spokesman said. Even former first daughter Chelsea Clinton was quick to express her outrage at Griffin tweeting: 'This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president. Griffin, an outspoken opponent of Trump who is best known for presenting the New Year's Eve countdown with Anderson Cooper on CNN, is seen holding the head, which is slathered in fake blood. During footage of the shoot, posted on her own official website, Griffin said: 'Tyler and I are not afraid to make images that make noise.' The shocking images quickly set social media alight, with many calling for her to be locked up for supposedly 'threatening' the president. President Trump's eldest son Donald Jr. also got in on the act, attacking Griffin for posing with a severed fake head resembling his father, saying it was 'disgusting but not surprising. 'This is the left today. They consider this acceptable,' he tweeted. 'Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?' 'It's sad that the left today would rather see America suffer and fail than to see it succeed with @realDonaldTrump at the helm. #maga' The Secret Service - while not citing the video or image - chose this tome to remind its followers on Twitter that the agency monitors social media and took any threats against the president very seriously Griffin's long-time co-host Anderson Cooper also criticized her on Twitter Even former first daughter Chelsea Clinton was quick to express her outrage at Griffin tweeting: 'This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president Sarah Palin, who has long been a target of mockery for Griffin was quick to jump on the bandwagon, branding the post 'sick' Kellyanne Conway joined in, pointing out that the outspoken comic had plenty of time for reflection before she posted the picture In another tweet he demanded to know if CNN would keep Griffin on the air after the stunt. He also tweeted his thanks to Cooper for his condemnation before demanding to know if the TV host would work with Griffin in the future. 'Asking for a lot of people. #LMK,' he added. Kellyanne Conway joined in, pointing out that the outspoken comic had plenty of time for reflection before she posted the picture. 'Kathy Griffin did not misspeak or misstep. She plotted & posed for photoshoot. Ample time for reflection/correction,' she tweeted. While Mitt Romney denounced the comedian for dragging politics 'into an even more repugnant & vile territory.' Sarah Palin, who has long been a target of mockery for Griffin was quick to jump on the bandwagon, branding the post 'sick.' 'No one should be shocked at the sick audacity of sick characters. Kathy is a hurting individual. She needs help,' she tweeted. Meanwhile on Twitter @nancygolliday said 'Parading beheading of POTUS makes @kathygriffing a terrorist and an enemy of the state. She needs to be treated as such.' Mitt Romney denounced the comedian for dragging politics 'into an even more repugnant & vile territory' And Dr J wrote: 'You're disgusting. Honor our military but dishonor our President and Commander in Chief? You'd behead our President? Hypocrite.' Even some self-described liberals got in on the act. CNN anchor Jake Tapper said: 'It's pretty disgusting. I can't imagine how anybody would think that's appropriate.' 'Big time Liberal here - and a Kathy Griffin fan - and I agree,' said Tanya Crosse. 'This is not ok and there is no excuse. She should immediately apologize.' Meanwhile, Simar wrote: 'We can't knock the alt right for promoting hate speech & then support Kathy Griffin for promoting violence against the President.' In footage of the shoot, Griffin is seen joking that she and Shields will have to flee the country once it gets out. 'We have to move to Mexico today,' she said, 'because we're gonna go to prison. Federal prison. 'Call your dad, apologize, then let's you [and me] go to Mexico because we're not surviving this.' She's seen in the footage lifting the grisly 'head' out of a metal bowl, then rotating it towards the camera until it hits a spot that Shields likes. Finally, at Shields' demand, she drops it to the ground. Griffin responded to the outrage with a two-part tweet, the first part of which saw her mocking the imaginary dead president Mocker: Griffin claimed she was 'merely mocking the Mocker in Chief' in the second part of her tweet, and that she wasn't condoning violence In the video Griffin says that 'Tyler and I are not afraid to do images that make noise. And also he often lights me to the point where I look about 15. 'But first I'm an artist. But really it's good lighting.' On Tuesday afternoon Griffin seemed to want to silence some of the 'noise' she'd been so proud of when she tweeted that she didn't condone violence. However, that only came as the second part of a two-tweet message that began: '1/ I caption this 'there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his...wherever' Also @tylershields great Photog/film maker.' The second tweet read: '2/ OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I'm merely mocking the Mocker in Chief.' Griffin had posted a video on Memorial Day in which she invited people to give a moment's silence for those who died fighting for America. Shields had posted the image a few hours before with the message 'Friend text me this 'I hear Tijuana is beautiful this time of year.'' Shields has made a name for himself as a provocative photographer whose images include Lindsay Lohan as a blood-soaked vampire and a KKK member being hanged by a black man. In 2011 he came under fire for a photo shoot with Glee star Heather Morris in which she sported a 'black eye'. Critics said that he made light of domestic abuse. He later apologized after receiving death threats, adding: 'If you are anti-domestic abuse spread the word about it. Threatening to kill me is not going to help anything.' Tyler Shields is famous for taking provocative images of stars such as Lindsay Lohan, He also put this image of Griffin on his blog Griffin was reportedly inspired by Game of Thrones. In 2011 the show featured the severed head of George W Bush (left); producers apologized and the shot was edited in later showings Griffin was emulating the beheadings seen in Game of Thrones, according to Daily Wire. The show came under fire itself in 2011, at the end of its first season, when it featured a shot of George W Bush's head on a stick. The wax head was one of a number of severed heads placed atop a castle's wall; the producers apologized, and said that there was no political intent. Rather, they said, they had used it because it was one of a number of pre-made heads they had lying around. The grisly shot was edited for later airings and DVD releases. Dr Chris Uzoh (pictured) started texting one of his female patients after getting her number from her medical records A family doctor who tried to woo a patient with flowers and cheesy chat-up lines after bragging about being a 'good-looking guy' has been banned from practising in the UK for one year. Dr Chris Uzoh, 40, spent six weeks pestering the woman to try and get a date and told her that he had 'huge earning potential'. He also claimed to be 'the best in his medical school' as well as having written 'several well cited scientific publications'. Dr Uzoh, who is a GP from Great Sankey, near Warrington, Cheshire, also sent her 20 text messages after getting her address and phone number from medical records. Within 30 minutes of the appointment finishing, he texted her saying: 'Sorry for this text message but I saw you and liked you and thought we could go on a date on the future. 'I am single and looking for a serious relationship and not intending to mess about.' He also left the patient a voice mail saying he wanted to 'hear her voice before he went to work'. Dr Uzoh later sent her another text saying: 'I've been feeling like a schoolboy meeting a girl he fancied for the first time. I haven't felt this way in a while.' Later the woman received a card and flowers at her home along with a further message from Uzoh adding: 'I wonder how else I would have met you if not this way. 'My heart is pure, I care, I hope it would be possible to make you mine some day.' The unnamed patient, who lived alone urged, Uzoh to stop pestering her but he pressed on with his chat-up lines saying: 'I was trying to be romantic - I did not mean to be creepy. I was excited about you.' Another text said: 'How is it possible that a good looking guy who is a doctor, who has a job with huge earning potential, who was the best graduating doctor in his medical school, who started out as a urological surgeon with several well-cited scientific publications, who thinks you beautiful and special, who wants you - and you wouldn't give him a chance? I've been in a Toronto and I couldn't stop thinking about you.' The patient eventually complained to Uzoh's colleagues at the Murdishaw Health Centre in Runcorn and he was reported to the General Medical Council. The father of two has since quit the UK and is now working in Toronto, Canada. At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester, Uzoh was suspended from practise in Britain for 12 months after he was found guilty of misconduct. At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester (pictured), Uzoh was suspended from practise in Britain for 12 months The incidents began between March and May last year when the woman was booked in for an appointment with Uzoh after complaining of abdominal pain. The woman - known as Patient A - told the hearing: 'I was really shocked to get that initial message from him because I trusted him as a doctor. 'If I got that message now there is no way I would respond. I was in a difficult position particularly at that point so seeing him taking an interest was a nice thing. 'The next morning I woke up and there was a further text message and voicemail message. 'I remember I was doing my make up and getting ready for work and I saw that he was calling but I didn't want to pick up. He left a message saying: 'Hi, I just wanted to hear your voice before I start my day'. 'Everyday I looked at my phone there was something from him whether it be a text message, missed call or a voicemail message. 'As soon as I knew the flowers had been sent I knew that they would be from Dr Uzoh - there weren't many people who knew my address at the time. You're being too full on - I've only met you once and I was your patient!' Message from Patient A to Dr Uzoh 'I felt sick because I live on my own and nobody knew my address apart from my family and I was scared because he had got my records so what was to say he wouldn't turn up at my door. 'That feeling lasted several months. It wasn't long after that I text him to tell him not to contact me but then five months later he contacted me again. Christopher Hamlet, the lawyer for the GMC, said: 'She had not given him her number or any indication that she wished to be contacted by him. 'He obtained her number by looking at her medical records and sent a series of text messages, some consecutive in number and all sent in pursuit of a personal relationship which was sexually motivated. 'Patient A was at the time vulnerable. She claims at first she was flattered by these messages, however, in due course he went on to bombard her with messages, voicemails and even sent flowers to her home address. 'She said she felt sick about what happened and was concerned and scared that he had accessed her records and sent flowers to her home.' One message sent by Patient A to Uzoh said: 'As flattered as I was at the time it all got too much too quickly. The patient eventually complained to Uzoh's colleagues at the Murdishaw Health Centre in Runcorn (pictured) and he was reported to the General Medical Council 'I feel you went too far with getting my address without my permission and it scared me a little and the thought of someone getting it so easily when I have put my trust in doctors is unnerving. 'Thank you for the flowers but I would appreciate it if you didn't do that again.' Another to him said: 'You're being too full on - I've only met you once and I was your patient!' Uzoh was not at the tribunal but he filed a written submission claiming his intentions towards the woman were 'noble.' He added: 'My intention was not to prey on the patient or the patient's vulnerability. I have always been professional toward my patients and never had any issues with NHS England or the GMC. 'I regret my actions and I apologise for all the stress this may have caused the patient.' Panel chairman Mrs Jayne Wheat said: 'It is important that patients have trust in their doctors and in the confidential nature of their medical records, and it is seriously improper for a doctor to seek to pursue a relationship of this kind with a patient, the more so when he persists in it beyond the point when the patient has made clear that his approaches are unwelcome. 'While the tribunal has found that Dr Uzoh's behaviour was sexually motivated, there was no evidence that his intentions were obscene or unlawful.' Theresa May was struggling to soothe Tory nerves over the election today amid a backlash over skipping a TV election debate. The Prime Minister appealed for voters to have 'faith' in her as more polls showed Labour gaining ground with just a week to go until the vote. One showed the Conservatives' national advantage down to just three points - not enough for an overall majority. Another put Mrs May's ratings in London below those of Jeremy Corbyn for the first time. Speaking in the North East, the premier tried to stop the rot by arguing that only she was able to conduct crucial Brexit negotiations. She pledged to 'fight to earn every vote' and questioned Mr Corbyn's patriotism, saying he did not 'believe in Britain'. Theresa May (pictured today in Pontefract) has appealed for voters to have 'faith' in her in the election next Thursday The Prime Minister has warned even small set backs next week would weaken her hand in the Brexit negotiations The Tories' initially huge advantage in the polls has been whittled away during the campaign 'People can have faith in me because I have faith in them,' Mrs May said. 'You can only deliver Brexit if you believe in Brexit. You can only fight for Britain if you believe in Britain. You can only deliver for Britain if you have the strength, the plan and the determination to see it through. 'And what we know in this election is that the only other person that can be prime minister in seven days' time is simply not up to the job. He doesn't believe in Britain. He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't have what it takes.' Political opponents leapt on Mrs May's decision to swerve the BBC debate last night, claiming that the premier was 'complacent' and taking the public for granted. But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson insisted the PM was right to sit it out and send Home Secretary Amber Rudd in her place - dismissing the seven-way event as a 'great yammering cacophony' that 'elucidated nothing'. Tory nerves over the increasingly tight race have been further frayed by a poll showing the party is just 3 points ahead of Labour - not enough for an overall majority. Jeremy Corbyn tried to turn the screw on Mrs May last night by making an eleventh hour decision to turn up for the BBC debate. However, he did not emerge unscathed - with Ms Rudd lashing the veteran left-winger over his refusal to promise lower immigration if he upsets the odds to win next week. She also slammed Mr Corbyn's 'chilling' boast he had opposed anti-terror laws for 30 years. Scroll down for video Mrs May delivered her speech today near Middlesbrough, insisting she was the only leader able to deliver Brexit Amber Rudd warned Britain it had 'seen the coalition of chaos in action' at a furious seven-way debate on live TV as she faced off with Jeremy Corbyn The Home Secretary lashed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn over his refusal to promise lower immigration if he upsets the odds to win next week Boris Johnson was sent out this morning to defend the PM over her absence from the debate A YouGov poll for the Times today suggested the Tory lead was down to just three points But the Tory minister faced ridicule as she stood in for Theresa May, who insisted she had better things to do than 'swap soundbites' on TV. Some 3.5million watched the BBC primetime programme, less than half the figure who tuned into Britain's Got Talent on ITV at the same time. The SNP's Nicola Sturgeon also did not feature, but Mr Corbyn made a last minute decision to turn up and used the unruly bout to try and press the case for his 'transformation' of Britain. Reaction to the debate was dominated by questions over the BBC audience which despite being selected by pollster ComRes to ensure balanced appeared to heavily favour the left-wing panellists. MORE POLLS SET TORY NERVES JANGLING The election could be on track for a nailbiting finish, according to more polls released today. A Panelbase survey found the Tories had dipped four points in a week, to 44 per cent, while Labour was up three on 36 per cent. A national YouGov poll for the Times put the Tories on 42 per cent, with Labour on 39 per cent. The same firm conducted research for Queen Mary University said Mr Corbyn's party had gained ground in London. Labour is now on 50 per cent, up from 41 per cent a month ago, while the Tories are on 33 per cent, down from 36 per cent. Asked who would make the best Prime Minister, 37 per cent picked Mr Corbyn and 34 per cent Mrs May. The findings suggest instead of picking up seats in the capital the Conservatives could face losing some. Those at risk would include housing minister Gavin Barwell in Croydon Central, who has a majority of just 165. Advertisement ComRes insisted today the audience had been carefully chosen to align it with the 2015 results and polling trends since. A Panelbase survey found the Tories had dipped four points in a week, to 44 per cent, while Labour was up three on 36 per cent. A national YouGov poll for the Times gave Mrs May's party a tiny three-point advantage - on 42 per cent with Labour on 39 per cent. The same firm conducted research for Queen Mary University said Mr Corbyn's party had gained ground in London. Labour is now on 50 per cent, up from 41 per cent a month ago, while the Tories are on 33 per cent, down from 36 per cent. The findings suggest instead of picking up seats in the capital the Conservatives could face losing some. Those at risk would include housing minister Gavin Barwell in Croydon Central, who has a majority of just 165. Ms Rudd and Ukip leader Paul Nuttall were jeered by the audience in Cambridge while Mr Corbyn, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, Plaid's Leanne Wood and SNP Angus Robertson won frequent applause. Mr Johnson today branded it the 'most left-wing studio audience the BBC has ever brought together' and an 'echo chamber' for 'left-wing nonsense'. The Home Secretary closed the debate with a warning to Britain not to let Mr Corbyn into No 10 at the election, which is now just eight days away. At a speech earlier (pictured), Mrs May warned Jeremy Corbyn was not up to the job of negotiating Brexit She said: 'You heard the squabbling and discord of disagreement tonight. You saw the coalition of chaos in action. 'But in the quiet of the polling booth you have a clear choice. A vote for anyone other than Theresa May is a vote for Jeremy Corbyn and that coalition. 'Our government needs to be at its strongest to take us through Brexit. It is only Theresa May that can deliver that leadership.' Mr Corbyn did not directly attack Mrs May's absence but said the debate showed the 'real choice facing the country' as he promised a tax raid on business and the rich to pay for a lavish manifesto of public spending, free tuition and nationalisation. Mr Farron had no such qualms about attacking the PM and suggested viewers change the channel to miss Ms Rudd's closing remarks. He said: 'The Prime Minister is not here tonight. She can't be bothered. So why should you?' The official House of Cards account piled in to mock Mrs May over the BBC debate row Reaction to the debate was dominated by questions over the BBC audience which despite being selected by pollster ComRes to ensure balanced appeared to heavily favour the left-wing panellists. Amber Rudd (left at last night's BBC Tv debate) slammed Jeremy Corbyn's 'chilling' votes against every anti-terror law he has considered over 30 years Tory grandee Nicholas Soames led irritation at the audience selection. He said: 'Theresa May absolutely right not to attend debate with typically rigged audience by BBC.' Nadine Dorries, who is running for re-election in Mid Bedfordshire, said: 'Balanced audience my backside. All the Green Party members in there?' PM DUCKS QUESTIONS ON RUDD BECOMING CHANCELLOR Theresa May dodged a question about whether she will appoint Amber Rudd as chancellor if she wins the election. Rumours have been swirling about tensions between the PM and Philip Hammond. Pressed if she thought Ms Rudd would make a good replacement in the wake of her showing in the BBC debate last night, Mrs May laughed nervously. She said she was 'focused on the election'. Advertisement Mr Johnson said today that he thought the debate 'validated and confirmed' Mrs May's decision to not feature. 'It elucidated none of the issues, it was seven people speaking to probably the most left-wing studio audience the BBC has ever brought together,' he said. 'It was all the supporters of Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats, the Scots Nats - when you put them together you had this incredible echo chamber for all sorts of left-wing nonsense.' Ms Rudd, appearing days after the death of her father, took to the lectern as the Tory representative during the debate. Pressed on what he thought of the Home Secretary's performance, Mr Johnson said: 'I thought Amber ... did an absolutely heroic job of trying to injection some common sense. 'On the key points with Jeremy Corbyn she landed some powerful blows, and she made it absolutely clear that he has no plan to deal with immigration. 'Immigration, as she pointed out, would go up under Jeremy Corbyn; secondly, she said he was addicted to a magic money tree.' Ukip deputy leader Peter Whittle claimed the bias in the audience was 'beyond the joke'. Tory grandee Nicholas Soames led irritation at the audience selection as he claimed the gathering was 'rigged' Nadine Dorries, who is running for re-election in Mid Bedfordshire, said: 'Balanced audience my backside. All the Green Party members in there?' Ukip deputy leader Peter Whittle claimed the bias in the audience was 'beyond the joke'. Ukip leader Paul Nuttall and the SNP's Angus Robertson clashed during last night's debate on the BBC During the debate, Ms Rudd slammed Jeremy Corbyn's 'chilling' votes against every anti-terror law he has considered over 30 years. The Tory Home Secretary revealed she spends two hours every day reviewing warrants sought by the security services as she outlined the 'severe' terror threat to Britain. RUDD UNDER FIRE ON 'DEMENTIA TAX' AND PENSIONS Amber Rudd was slammed by her opponents over Tory plans for social care and the planned end to the triple lock. SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson began the attack on Ms Rudd over pensioner benefits telling her 'I think those people deserve to know by how much' they will lose out. 'The Prime Minister didn't have the guts to come along this evening to tell us,' he said. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Lib Dem chief piled in behind the attack. The Tories have vowed to means-test the winter fuel payment, but have not set out how many older people would continue to receive the benefit, worth up to 300. The Conservatives have also said they will consult on a cap on social care costs, but will not reveal further details until after the General Election. Ms Rudd said the plans would mean winter fuel payments will not be paid to millionaires but would not give specific figures. She added: 'We will always look after pensioners, ensuring they have dignity and security in retirement.' Advertisement And amid a heated live TV debate a week ahead of the election, she said: 'I am shocked that Jeremy Corbyn in 2011 boasted that he had opposed every piece of anti-terror legislation in 30 years. 'I find it chilling.' The Labour leader defended his record and insisted he wanted Britain kept safe. He said: 'My opposition to anti terror legislation is not opposition to protecting us from terrorism - it's saying there must be judicial oversight over what is done in our name.' Ms Rudd refused to apologise for defending the UK and vowed to ensure armed forces and security services were properly funded. On tackling extremism, Ms Wood said cuts to the numbers of youth workers had made Britain 'less safe' as there were fewer people to challenge extremism in young people. Mr Nuttall said radical Islam was 'a cancer that needed to be cut out' to prevent other attacks. Asked whether he would lock up suspected terrorists without trial, he said: 'I've said nothing should be taken off the table. 'As far as I'm concerned, when MI5 tell us there are 23,000 jihadis out there who want to do us harm, I will always put British lives over the human rights of any jihadi any day.' He was attacked for 'going straight for Muslims' by Mr Robertson, who prompted applause when he pointed out that a white neo-Nazi was responsible for the murder of MP Jo Cox. Mr Corbyn said he 'utterly deplored' the language Mr Nuttall used, to which the Ukip leader retorted: 'You invited Hamas to the House of Commons.' Jeremy Corbyn repeatedly refused to promise immigration would be lower if he wins power at last night's TV debate. Green leader Caroline Lucas (left) and Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood (right) urged voters to set aside the mainstream parties on June 8 Jumping... for joy? Lib Dem leader Tim Farron leaps from the stage in the moments after filming finished Earlier, Mr Corbyn repeatedly refused to promise immigration would be lower if he wins power. The Labour leader faced a series of demands from Home Secretary Amber Rudd to say if new arrivals to Britain would fall as he outlined his policies. Mr Corbyn ignored her shouts as he set out a 'fair' system that prioritised the needs of the economy and recruitment into public services over cutting numbers. He insisted: 'Fair is where you bring people in when they have got jobs to come to or it is necessary for them to be working here or we need them to assist in the economy. That is fair.' Mr Farron accused the Conservatives of running an immigration policy to 'appease Ukip', and drew applause when he highlighted the case of an Asian doctor who was spat at and abused as he returned home after treating the injured in the Manchester bomb attack. 'That is what happens if you demonise immigrants,' he said. 'Do we need, as I'm afraid the Prime Minister has done for the last seven years, to set completely barmy, bogus targets that she fails to meet every year. No we don't.' Mr Nuttall said current levels were 'unsustainable' and that Ukip would take action to bring the numbers coming into the country under control. 'We would do it by having an Australian-style points system so that if you've got the skills this country needs, yes, please come here and work, but beyond that we have to get the population under control,' he said. Ukip leader Paul Nuttall was accused of using 'hate filled rhetoric' and 'lying' after he demanded an immediate halt to new arrivals. The politicians on stage with host Mishal Hussein were (from left) Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Caroline Lucas for the Greens, Leanne Wood for Plaid Cymru, Tory Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Ukip chief Paul Nuttall, and the SNP's leader at Westminster Angus Robertson Home Secretary Amber Rudd accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of believing in a 'magic money tree' at last night's BBC debate As the debate began Home Secretary Ms Rudd went straight on the attack to blast Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for believing in a 'magic money tree'. Mr Corbyn won applause from the audience for demanding to know if Ms Rudd had visited a food bank or seen homeless people sleeping in Britain's train stations. NEVER PLAYED THE GAME? RUDD MAKES BIZARRE MONOPOLY ATTACK ON LABOUR Amber Rudd gave a bizarre account of the Monopoly rules in an attempt to slam Jeremy Corbyn's spending plans. The Home Secretary suggested the game involved different coloured money for different sorts of property. Launching a furious attack in the live TV debate, Ms Rudd: 'It's as though he thinks it's some sort of game - a game of Monopoly perhaps where you ask the banker for the red money to pay electrics, the green money to buy the railways and the yellow money to buy the gasworks. 'It's not like that. This is people's hard-earned money. We will protect that. We won't roll the dice.' The game involves coloured properties and different denominations of cash. Advertisement In his opening speech Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron jibed that voters should peer out the window to look for Mrs May, quipping 'she might be out there sizing up your house to pay for your social care'. SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson insisted his party was the only one who could stand up for Scotland. Mrs May earlier dismissed claims she was running scared of her opponents today as a huge anti-Tory crowd gathered outside a TV showdown featuring other party leaders. The Prime Minister insisted she was focused on talking to voters instead of 'swapping soundbites' on TV. But Mrs May's absence was conspicuous at last night's BBC's clash, which is set to feature Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after a last-minute decision to take part. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, Ukip chief Paul Nuttall, Caroline Lucas for the Greens, Leanne Wood for Plaid Cymru, and the SNP's leader at Westminster Angus Robertson will all be on stage. Mr Corbyn had previously insisted he would only attend alongside his main rival but was persuaded to contest the TV bout after winning good reviews for Monday night's leaders' programme. A large crowd of anti-Tory demonstrators gathered outside the BBC venue in Cambridge ahead of this evening's debate The protestors greeted the seven senior politicians as they arrived for the debate in Cambridge The Tories will be represented by Home Secretary Amber Rudd during the 90-minute debate. As the debate began, Ms Rudd insisted the other parties would offer 'bluster' and 'shiny promises' but offer few answers on Brexit. Mr Corbyn insisted he would 'transform Britain for the many not the few'. Ahead of the debate, Mr Corbyn today refused to rule out doing a deal with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to become PM if there is no clear winner in the election. Pressed on whether he would forge an alliance with the SNP and the Lib Dems to win the keys to Downing Street, the Labour leader said: 'You'd better ask me that on June 9.' The comments will fuel fears that failure by Theresa May to secure outright victory next week could open the door to a 'coalition of chaos'. Mr Corbyn has already said that in No10 he would 'open discussions' with Miss Sturgeon about her demand for a fresh independence referendum. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured arriving at the debate in Cambridge last night) made a eleventh hour decision to take part in the TV clash, which Theresa May is missing Announcing his decision, Mr Corbyn said: 'I will be taking part in tonight's debate because I believe we must give people the chance to hear and engage with the leaders of the main parties before they vote. 'I have never been afraid of a debate in my life. Labour's campaign has been about taking our polices to people across the country and listening to the concerns of voters. 'The Tories have been conducting a stage-managed arms-length campaign and have treated the public with contempt. 'Refusing to join me in Cambridge tonight would be another sign of Theresa May's weakness, not strength.' The Prime Minister refused to take part in head-to-head debates with any other party leaders during the campaign for the June 8 election. The Labour leader and the PM both appeared on a Channel 4 / Sky debate last Friday - but they were interviewed separately and never appeared on stage together. Mr Corbyn's decision comes after he used a campaign even in central London to challenge the PM to debate him head to head on TV. The Labour leader said it was 'ridiculous' that the PM is refusing to debate him directly on the same stage. He said: 'How ridiculous is that? Theresa May, pictured out on the campaign trail today in Somerset, has refused to take part in nay live head to head with other party leaders The Tories have raised fears that Mr Corbyn could make significant concessions to Nicola Sturgeon (pictured campaigning in Anstruther today) to become PM if there is a hung parliament 'Come on, Prime Minister, come and have a chat, come and have a debate. I can be ever so polite, but there are a number of questions I want to put to you.' His decision piles pressure on the PM to follow suit and appear on the show. Bookmakers Ladbrokes have shortened the odds of Mrs May taking part from 10/1 to 3/1, although she is still odds-on to stick with her boycott. But out campaigning in Bath today, Mrs May said: 'I think debates where the politicians are squabbling among themselves doesn't do anything for the process of electioneering. FALKLANDS VETERANS VOICE 'HORROR' AT IDEA OF PM CORBYN Falklands veterans have voiced 'horror' at the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn becoming PM after he said reclaiming the islands from Argentina by force was wrong. Major-General Julian Thompson, who led British forces to victory in 1982, raised fears that the Labour leader could do 'some deal' with Buenos Aires over the territory. Simon Weston, the Welsh Guardsman who suffered terrible burns when his ship was bombed by Argentine jets, branded Mr Corbyn's stance 'crassly stupid'. In a TV election programme earlier this week, the veteran left-winger accused Margaret Thatcher of making a 'great deal' of Argentina's invasion. Pressed on his previous description of the war as a 'Tory plot' and 'flag-waving nonsense', Mr Corbyn made clear he believed it should have been resolved through the UN - even though that was regarded as diplomatically impossible. 'What I wanted was a stopping of that war.' Asked whether he thought the UK should not have protected the Falklands, the Labour leader said: 'I don't think they should have gone in there but I also think there should have been an opportunity to stop that war happening.' Advertisement 'I think it's about getting out and about, meeting voters and hearing directly from voters.' She insisted she had been taking on Mr Corbyn 'week in week out' at PMQs. 'Public scrutiny is for an election campaign. That's why taking questions from members of the public who are going to be voting on 8 June is so important,' the PM said. 'That's what I enjoy doing during the campaigns. And I think that's really important. That is why I've been doing that up and down the country. In an interview with ITV this afternoon, Mr Corbyn was repeatedly challenged on how he would respond if there was a hung parliament. Initially he insisted Labour was 'fighting to win this election'. But asked for a third time Mr Corbyn said: 'Well, you'd better ask me that on June 9.' Mr Corbyn cancelled planned appearances at stump events in Swindon and Stroud, and a rally in Bristol. The events will go ahead with shadow education secretary Angela Rayner and shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth filling in, a Labour source said. The PM and Mr Corbyn both boycotted the first televised leaders election debate of the campaign, held on ITV earlier this month. The show was widely mocked and branded a borefest by viewers, who pointed out that no one taking part stood a chance of leading a government after June 8. It was most notable for Ukip leader Paul Nuttall repeatedly calling Plaid leader Leanne Wood 'Natalie'. Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: 'Jeremy Corbyn has made clear that he will do a deal in order to get the keys to Downing Street. 'Corbyn propped up by the Lib Dems and the SNP in a coalition of chaos would be a disaster for Britain and would mean a bad Brexit deal, higher taxes, more borrowing and weaker defences. 'If you don't think Jeremy Corbyn is fit to be Prime Minister, if you don't think he's up to negotiating Brexit, if you oppose a second referendum vote for Theresa May and her Conservative team.' A university in New Zealand has banned alcohol in a student residence after a wild party saw chairs thrown through walls and doors ripped from hinges. Victoria University of Wellington indefinitely banned alcohol and visitors from Joan Stevens Hall, after thousands of dollars worth of damage was done to the dormitory, reported TVNZ. Footage shows students funneling straight vodka and in some cases a variety of different alcoholic beverages all at once, before the destruction took place. Victoria University in New Zealand has banned alcohol in a student residence after a wild party saw chairs thrown through walls and doors ripped from hinges Photos of the damage reveal chunks and pieces of wall missing, broken chairs, piles of broken glass and doors hanging off hinges. There were reportedly 40 separate cases of property damage at the student residence in the past week. The incident has pushed one student, who has not been identified, to leave the student residences altogether. 'It was feral, really, really bad. My common room was covered in vomit, the toilets were broken or the doors were broke,' she told TVNZ. 'It's not a fun place to live. You don't feel safe sometimes.' Victoria University in Wellington has banned alcohol and visitors from Joan Stevens Hall, after thousands of dollars worth of damage was done to the dormitory (right). Pictured left is a still from footage of students funneling alcohol There were reportedly 40 separate cases of property damage at the student residence in the past week. Pictured is damage to some of the walls in the student residence Another student said: 'There were chairs thrown through walls, broken glass, we've got three doors gone. Apparently the RA's said we've done the most damage compared to any other year.' If no one claims responsibility the residents will be splitting the bill for thousands of dollars of damage. In a statement, Victoria University's Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford told TVNZ the university has strict expectations regarding student behaviour which are outlined in the Student Conduct Statute. 'When an individual or group of students breaks the rules, robust and clear disciplinary processes are in place,' he said. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Victoria University for additional comment on the incident. South Korean president Moon Jae-In was 'shocked to learn the rocket launchers were in the country, his spokesman revealed South Korea's new president has accused military officials of not telling him that four new US rocket launchers had arrived in the country, despite knowing about it. Moon Jae-In was 'shocked' to learn the components of a controversial US anti-missile system were on South Korean soil. He has ordered an investigation into why he was not told. It has emerged that after Moon became president, documents presented to him were redacted and omitted to mention the four launchers, which are part of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. During his campaign to become president, he had called for a review in parliament into THAAD, which is strongly opposed by China. The president's spokesman, Yoon Young-chan told reporters that Moon had found it 'very shocking' to learn the launchers were on South Korean soil. But the Pentagon has said it was 'very transparent' with South Korea's government about THAAD deployment. The THAAD defense system has proved controversial in South Korea, and is strongly opposed by China 'We continue to work very closely with the Republic of Korea government and we have been very transparent in all of our actions throughout this process,' Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told a news briefing. 'These parts... were included in the original briefing report written by a working-level official but later deleted by his supervisors,' Yoon told reporters. All military officials involved in the production of the report admitted these key parts were removed in the editing process, Yoon added. Rocket launchers used by the THAAD defense system arrived in South Korea before Moon took office, but he was not informed Defense Minister Han Min-Koo eventually admitted the presence of the new launchers when pressed by Moon in a phone conversation on Tuesday, according to Yoon. The new launchers arrived in the South before Moon took office on May 10 and are currently stored at a US military base in the country, Moon's office said, without elaborating further. The US has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea - a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. No specific reason was given for the omission by military chiefs, but the left-leaning Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over THAAD. The conservative government of Park greenlighted the installation of the THAAD system despite strong objections - and political and economic retaliation - from China. Moon wants to put the deployment on hold, saying it should be discussed and approved by parliament before being fully rolled out. Police say a Pennsylvania man repeatedly called 911 while he was drunk because he just wanted to chat with someone. Larry Keiser, 51, first called 911 around 10.30pm on May 26 because he wanted to speak with a police officer. When asked if he needed an ambulance, he said he didn't need one. The trooper who answered the call told him not to call 911 unless he had an emergency to report, according to The Morning Call. Keiser then called five more times in 22 minutes, leading police to show up at his home in North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania after midnight. Larry Keiser, 51, reportedly called 911 multiple times in one evening purely for conversation's sake. He was arrested later that evening and faces charges including harassment Police reported that Keiser reeked of alcohol and slurred his words. Each of the calls, police told The Morning Caller, appeared to be only 'for the purpose of annoying the police' and preventing the 911 operators from doing their normal work. He told officers he drank several beers because he was upset about a family situation. When queried about whether he wanted them to call an ambulance for him, Keiser reportedly said, 'F*** no.' Troopers responded by telling Keiser not to call 911 again unless there was an emergency, and he said he wouldn't call again and was going to sleep. Troopers say he called 911 exactly one minute after officers left his house. Keiser has been arrested and is facing charges that include intentionally calling 911 for other than emergency purposes, as well as disorderly conduct and harassment. He was released from prison after posting bail of $5,000. A 70-year-old woman was rescued after being trapped in her car for five days with only two bananas and two bottles of water to subsist on. Sharon Lee Leaming was reported missing by her family last Tuesday after she failed to appear at a family house. Her vehicle had gone over a 40-foot embankment on US Highway 12, just north of Oakville in Washington, according to police, where she was stuck before being found on Sunday. Sharon Lee Leaming, 70 (pictured right), from Rochester, Washington, was found on Sunday after being trapped in her car for five days Leaming (pictured in the hospital) only had two bananas and two bottles of water to subsist on before she was found. She sustained extensive injuries to her left knee, a broken ankle, and a broken heel, along with a rupture in her chest, according to her family Leaming was last seen on the morning of May 24 when she left her home to drive to a family property in North Cove, Washington. When she never showed, her family and police began a search from Grays Harbor, where Leaming was on vacation, to her home in Rochester. The great-grandmother was, in fact, almost 63 miles away from her destination after her 1993 Chevrolet Lumina went over a cliff and crashed into a tree. Her cellphone was lodged in the dashboard where she was unable to reach it. All Leaming had on her were two bananas and two bottles of water. She also had Pop-Tarts, but didn't eat them for fear of choking. On Sunday afternoon, her nephew, Bob Stewart, was walking along the highway when he noticed a spot where the grass was tamped down and followed the flattened shrubbery to Leamings car. Leaming (pictured) was driving to a family property in North Cove, Washington, when her car went over a 40-foot embankment on US Highway 12 The 1993 blue Chevrolet Lumina crashed into a tree (pictured left and right), leaving Leaming trapped. On Sunday afternoon, her nephew, Bob Stewart, noticed a spot along the highway where the grass was tamped down and followed the flattened shrubbery to Leamings car Leaming was so severely dehydrated and unable to walk that she had to be airlifted (pictured) to St Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. Her family has set up a GoFundMe to help with her recovery 'My cousin Bob was walking the road, instead of driving the road, and saw the grass was down and so he called my cousin Jerry and went searching down the ravine,' Leaming's niece, Tiffany Kolb, told KIRO. She sustained extensive injuries to her left knee, a broken ankle, and a broken heel, along with a rupture in her chest, according to her family. Leaming was so severely dehydrated and unable to walk that she had to be airlifted to St Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover medical expenses and care post-hospitalization that includes a ramp to their home. So far, $1,880 has been raised out of the $3,000 goal. A Thai bar worker who was murdered, cut in half and buried in a shallow grave was killed after a having a string of lesbian affairs and reporting a colleague's husband for drug dealing, police believe. Warissara Klinjui, 23, was found murdered and stuffed into two black bins in Khon Kaen Province, in northeast Thailand, last Thursday. Before her arrest, Klinjui, who worked at a karaoke bar, reported a colleague's husband for dealing drugs and led to his arrest, which sparked fury from the co-worker, who is said to have murdered her in a revenge plot with three others. Police said they were led to ex-colleague Preeyanuch Nonwangchai, 24, - whose boyfriend had been reported - Kawita Ratchada, 25, and Apiwant Satayabundit, 28, who are now believed to have fled to neighbouring Burma. Warissara Klinjui, 23, was found murdered and stuffed into two black bins in Khon Kaen Province, in northeast Thailand, last Thursday. Before her arrest, Klinjui, who worked at a karaoke bar, reported a colleague's husband for dealing drugs and led to his arrest, which sparked fury from her friend, who is said to have murdered her in a revenge plot with three others Police said they were led to ex-colleague Preeyanuch Nonwangchai (pictured), 24, whose boyfriend was arrested, as fled to Burma following the murder. She is believed to be with two others who are believed to be part of the murder plot Officers caught suspect Wasin Namphrom, 22, in neighbouring country Laos and on Wednesday staged a recreation at the spot where he and other suspects allegedly buried Klinjui Officers caught fourth suspect Wasin Namphrom, 22, in neighbouring country Laos and on Wednesday staged a recreation at the spot where he and other suspects allegedly buried Klinjui. Suspect Namphrom told police that former colleague Nonwangchai, who worked at the same bar as the victim, had killed and dismembered her and that he was only driving. He said that he and three female friends lured Klinjui into a car in the early hours of May 23. They had planned to carry out a revenge plot on behalf of Nonwangchai, who believed Klinjui had snitched on her boyfriend who was then arrested on a drug-related charge, he claimed. Meanwhile, Nonwangchai's sister told officers that the gang only planned to 'attack her in revenge for snitching to police'. She said: 'Preeyanuch said she and her friends only planned to lure her somewhere to assault her in revenge. Suspect Namphrom (center) told police that former colleague Nonwangchai, who worked at the same bar as the victim, had killed and dismembered her and that he was only driving Namphrom (center) said that he and three female friends lured Klinjui into a car in the early hours of May 23 Namphrom, 22, leads police to the spot where he is accused of burying the sawn-in-half body of murdered bar girl Warissara Klinjui, 23, last week 'But then the woman said, "If I survive, then you die", so she became enraged.' Lt Gen Suan Khamai from the Khao Suan Kwang district police, said: 'Arrest warrants have been issued for three suspects who police need to find. 'We believe we have all of the details of the case and the timeline of what happened. 'The three suspects are still on the run and they were last seen in Burma at the border town of Tachileik. They have not been arrested but we will find them. 'The victim is believed to have been killed after reporting a suspected drug dealer.' Police officers initially arrested and released Klinjui's husband Sakchai Batthongdee, 35, who travelled for work and was unaware of his wife's double life in her hometown, where she told him she was living with her grandmother. Bisexual Klinjui had actually been seeing a former female schoolfriend and other women who she met online while working as a hooker and waitress at a karaoke bar. Suspect Namphrom staged a recreation of the murder for police and media on Wednesday following his arrest Nonwangchai's sister told officers that the gang only planned to 'attack her in revenge for snitching to police' Lt Gen Suan Khamai from the Khao Suan Kwang district police said arrest warrants have been issued for three remaining suspects, who are believed to have fled to Burma The alleged killers are believed to have planned to carry out a revenge plot on behalf of Nonwangchai, who believed Klinjui had snitched on her boyfriend who was then arrested on a drug-related charge Klinjui's mother Sairung Klinjui, 42, said that her daughter had a history of relationships with women. Police initially arrested her girlfriend but she was later released. Following the murder, Nonwangchai posted several pictures online of cartoon character Chucky holding a knife. Other pictures of Nonwangchai on social media show her posing with money, having naked bubble baths and showing off expensive handbags. Police are now switching the hunt to Burma where the three remaining suspects are believed to be in hiding. Horrified farmers discovered the corpse in the middle of the afternoon before alerting police. Officers said they believed the killer had a 'personal grudge' with Klinjui. Horrified farmers discovered Klinjui's corpse in the middle of the afternoon before alerting police. Officers said they believed the killer had a 'personal grudge' with Klinju Lt Gen Suan Khamai from the Khao Suan Kwang district police, said: 'Villagers were walking and approached the area where the body was found. 'There were black sheets and they began digging. When they opened the bag they found body parts. Police immediately rushed to the scene. ' Lt. Gen. Suan said that Warisara had worked nights in a city bar complex where she was a drinks hostess entertaining customers. They identified her by distinctive tattoos on her back and a tattoo on her left chest which read 'Poppy'. He added: 'The dead girl was killed elsewhere, cut somewhere else, then put into a bag and transported in a car to be buried in the area. 'We believe this was a personal vendetta. When the opportunity arose they killed her and sliced the body into two pieces. 'We expect it to be a person issue related to sex and relationships.' Bernie Sanders delivered a fiery commencement speech at Brooklyn College in which he told students that they must 'stand up [and] fight back' against the Trump administration. The Vermont Senator said it was understandable that many students felt the system was 'rigged' against them, and felt like throwing their hands up in despair. But he added: 'The issues that we deal with today... do not just affect your lives, but also the lives of future generations, and you do not have the moral right to turn your back on [them].' Bernie Sanders spoke to students at Brooklyn College, his hometown, telling them to 'stand up, fight back' against the Trump administration The Vermont Senator used his speech to attack politics as 'corrupt', the justice system as 'broken' and said it was understandable if students were in 'despair' at the state of society For much of the speech Sanders returned to his campaign trail rhetoric, tackling the familiar topics of wealth inequality, the prison system and political corruption. He said Republican proposals to cut healthcare and public spending were the result of billionaires being allowed to dictate public policy in a way that suits them. 'I remember my social sciences teacher talking about how there were small countries around the world that were "oligarchical" societies,' he said, 'where the social and political life of the nation were controlled by a handful of very wealthy people. 'It never occurred to me as a kid in Brooklyn, that the United States of America, our great nation, could move in that direction, but that is precisely - in my view - what is happening today.' While Sanders said it would be understandable for people to throw their hands up in despair and refuse to act, he said doing that 'would be wrong' 'The top 1 per cent' received a familiar bashing from the Senator, as did proposed tax breaks contained in Trump's budget that would help some of the wealthiest Americans Sanders also spoke about right-wing extremism and nationalism, saying that for his Jewish father fleeing the Nazis, 'they were not "political issues", they were issues of life and death' Sanders, who grew up the son of Polish immigrants in Brooklyn, also spoke passionately about his own father's flight from the Nazis and his fears about the rise of right-wing extremism. He said: 'While my father escaped from Hitler and the Holocaust, many in his family did not. For them racism, right-wing extremism and ultra-nationalism were not "political issues" they were issues of life and death, and some of them died horrific deaths. 'From that experience, what was indelibly stamped on my mind was that we must never allow demagogues to divide us up by race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual orientation.' The politician also recalled his own life growing up poor in Brooklyn, saying he has never forgotten 'millions of people throughout our country' who struggle 'to live with dignity' While much of Sander's speech was bleak, he ended on a positive note, saying that America is 'the wealthiest country in the history of the world' and there is 'nothing we cannot accomplish' His commencement message to students was simple, he said. 'Think big, not small and help us create the nation we all know we can become' He also branded the criminal justice system 'broken', saying black, Latino and Native American people were disproportionately represented in the prison population. While Sander's message was bleak, he decided to end on a positive note, saying: 'We live in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we are seeing an explosion in technology which if used well has extraordinary potential to improve life. 'We are an intelligent and hard-working people. If we are prepared to stand together, if we take on greed and selfishness, if we refuse to allow demagogues to divide us up, there is no end to what the great people of our nation can accomplish. 'Today as you graduate, Brooklyn College, my message is very simple. Think big, not small and help us create the nation we all know we can become.' Theresa May said she was determined expats' rights would be protected Theresa May vowed to fight for the rights of expats in Brexit talks today amid warnings the NHS could face a 1billion-a-year bill if they have to return to the UK for treatment. The Prime Minister pointed out that the UK's negotiating position with Brussels would be much weaker if she had caved into demands from Labour and the Lib Dems. A report from the Nuffield Trust has assessed the potential costs if all the UK pensioners living in EU countries had to return for care. The health charity estimated the bill at 1billion - twice the amount currently spent for them to receive care abroad. Mrs May said the findings demonstrated the need for a reciprocal deal, and showed 'why it is so important we haven't just given those rights to EU citizens here in the UK'. During a visit to Plymouth, Mrs May said: 'From day one as Prime Minister I've been clear that I want to ensure that we are supporting and looking after British people. 'If we look at people who are living in the European Union, I'm clear that I want to see agreement where their rights are protected. 'Of course, it is reciprocal for EU citizens living here in the UK. 'But it is why it is so important we haven't just given those rights to EU citizens here in the UK. 'We are looking after UK citizens living in the European Union. 'I want to see reciprocal arrangements so their rights are protected and we can look after them. 'As British Prime Minister, I have a care for the British people living in the EU.' Both Labour and the Lib Dems have said they would guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK ahead of negotiations. Under the current EU reciprocal 'S1' scheme, British pensioners have the right to go to any other EU member state and receive the same health care rights as the local population. The agreement protects around 190,000 British pensioners. Mrs May, pictured at the Bath and West Show today, said the findings demonstrated the need for a reciprocal deal, and showed 'why it is so important we haven't just given those rights to EU citizens here in the UK' The Prime Minister pointed out that the UK's negotiating position with Brussels would be much weaker if she had caved into demands from Labour and the Lib Dems The Nuffield Trust report also says that if the NHS needed to care for those who currently receive care abroad, it would need a significantly higher number of hospital beds - the equivalent to two new hospitals. And it highlights how health and care services are dependent on EU migrant workers. Report author Mark Dayan, policy and public affairs analyst at the Nuffield Trust, said: 'The NHS and social care were already under pressure from tight funding settlements and growing staffing problems well before the EU referendum last year. 'But if we handle it badly, leaving the EU could make these problems even worse, given the potential impact on both the strength of the UK economy and the supply of overseas staff to both health and social care services. 'It is possible that extra funds could be found for the NHS from any cancellation of Britain's EU membership fees - but whether or not these benefits will outweigh the significant staffing and financial costs Brexit may impose on already stretched services remains to be seen. 'That depends largely on the NHS being recognised as a significant priority as we enter some of the most important negotiations in Britain's history.' President Donald Trump says he will be making a decision 'very soon' on the Paris climate change accord and he continues to entertain arguments on both sides of the issue. 'I'm hearing from a lot of people, both ways,' Trump said Wednesday afternoon of the politicking. The president would not say which way he was leaning, telling a reporter who asked if he was likely to get out, 'Youre going to find out very soon.' He offered a similar response to a reporter who caught him outside the White House an hour later. 'We'll be talking about Paris very soon,' he said of an announcement. After a period of intense lobbying that spanned the globe - and his administration - White House officials told several news outlets earlier in the day that Trump was pulling the US out of the international agreement. President Donald Trump says he will be making a decision 'very soon' on the Paris climate change accord and he continues to entertain arguments on both sides of the issue Hours later, after the initial reports ran, an official told AP the administration was looking for 'caveats in the language' and Trump's mind was not fully made up. A source close to the talks who favors withdraw told DailyMail.com the situation was fluid, too. 'It's it's looking good but we're not totally out of the woods yet,' said the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Myron Ebell. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer would not say whether the earlier reports were true in an off-camera briefing, telling a reporter at one point that he 'obviously' would not know if Trump had arrived at a decision. 'I think the president's comments on this, that he'll be making a decision in the next few days, stand,' Spicer said in a shorter than usual session with the press. European allies had begged Trump not to ditch the pact last week, and the White House said the president was considering their position. Wednesday morning, White House sources said he was pulling out - setting off worldwide condemnation led by the United Nations secretary general. Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, had advised her father against an exit, as well as a series of world leaders, including the Pope and France's new president, Emmanuel Macron. Billionaire Elon Musk said he would end his role advising Trump on manufacturing if the White House went ahead with quitting the Paris deal. After a period of intense lobbying that spanned the globe - and his administration - White House officials told several news outlets earlier in the day that Trump was pulling the US out of the international agreement The president said Wednesday morning in a tweet that he would be making an announcement 'over the next few days' following a report that he was moving forward with plans to pull the US from it Ignored: Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner spent the day away from the White House and with their children as they observed the Orthodox Jewish holiday of Shavuot Pulling out will mean the U.S. joins Russia, Iran, North Korea and a string of Third World countries in not putting the agreement into action. Just two countries are not in the deal at all - one of them war-torn Syria, the other Nicaragua. The president said Wednesday morning in a tweet that he would be making an announcement 'over the next few days' after Axios said he was moving forward with plans to pull the US from it. PRIME MINISTERS AND PRESIDENTS LINE UP AGAINST TRUMP Countries which have decided to stay in Paris were swift to speak out about the impending move to pull out of the climate accord including: United Nations: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: 'Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. 'Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable.' Finland: Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said climate change won't be reversed 'by closing your eyes' and called the expected withdrawal 'a big setback'. China: Will reiterate support for Paris agreement this week during visit by prime minister Li Kequiang to Europe, European Union official told Reuters European Union: President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said: 'Climate change is not a fairy tale. It is a tough reality which affects peoples' daily lives.' Advertisement The news outlet said Trump had decided to stick with a campaign promise to pull the US out of the accord that commits participants to drastically reducing greenhouse gases, siding with conservatives in his party over his daughter. Reuters similarly reported that Trump had tasked his EPA administrator with finding a way out. Trump said after his foreign trip that he would make an announcement this week about Paris. He teased his plans again in a Wednesday morning tweet that said, 'I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' Axios reported that Trump has taken a position - it's the method of withdraw that's still being worked out. The administration is determining between a formal exit from just the Paris Agreement, a process that could take years, and a total rejection of the United Nations climate change framework that serves as the basis for the pact. Asked by DailyMail.com whether that report and others like it were wrong - and the president hasn't made a decision yet, Spicer hedged at his Wednesday afternoon briefing that the White House kept off camera. 'No, what I am saying is that when the president has a decision to make he'll let it be known. I don't think whether it's a personnel decision or any other action that we tend to get ahead of the president, he's the ultimate decider and when he has a decision to make, I'll let you know.' Ebell, the energy expert at CEI who was also the head of Trump's EPA team during his transition, said just before Spicer's 'gaggle' that it was his belief that Trump will say he's getting the US out, 'but we're not celebrating yet.' He told DailyMail.com he was advised by a White House official, 'Don't t take this as a done deal until announced.' 'The other side is making a furious counter attack now,' Ebell said. Trump told a reporter who caught him outside the White House: 'We'll be talking about Paris very soon' US officials have insisted that Trump has kept an 'open mind' on the agreement that 147 nations consented to and wanted to hear from world leaders on the topic as he traveled through Europe. As his nine days abroad came to a close, Trump's advisers claimed he had not taken a firm position on Paris and would not until he returned to the US. The president is thinking about what his options are and has taken in what he learned from world leaders today,' Trump's chief economic advisor, Gary Cohn, said Friday. I think his views are evolving, and he came here to learn and he came here to get smarter and he came here to hear peoples' - world leaders' - views.' Spicer on Wednesday said Trump had 'listened to a lot of people both here and industry leaders.' 'As Director Cohn mentioned last week he's consulted with foreign leaders, he's talked to industry leaders, he's had a lot of input and ultimately he'll make a decision. ' Emmanuel Macron, the newly elected French president, said at a weekend summit in Italy he was sure Trump would back the deal after listening to his G7 counterparts. That hope appeared to have been quickly dashed. At a Wednesday news conference, a government spokesman said Macron had told a cabinet meeting France would be very pro-active in working to ensure the Paris accord was implemented. Depending on the stance some people or others are taking, we'll have to be very pro-active for France to be the homeland of the (fight against) climate change, the spokesman said. Macron had asked his ministers to take a number of initiatives, with our European partners or directly in France. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said of a U.S. pullout: It would be disappointing but I really do not think this would change the course of mankind. There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world from Africa, Asia and China that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that. Intervention: Billionaire Elon Musk said that he would end his connection to the White House if the president went ahead with ending the Paris agreement WHAT IS THE PARIS AGREEMENT? The Paris Agreement is the first large-scale global agreement to combat what scientists say is climate change, coming together at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015 and adopted on December 12. On Earth Day of 2016, April 22, it was opened for signatures and enough European countries signed on so that the agreement entered into force on November 4, 2016, four days before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. China and the United States had already committed to backing the deal in September 2016, with their greenhouse gas output accounting for nearly 40 percent of the world's emissions. To go into legal force, countries accounting for 55 percent of the world's emissions had to sign on. The deal asks that the countries signing on reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Right now 147 countries have ratified the agreement to the 197 who attended the convention. The aim is to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius - 3.6F - this century. Part of the reason the Paris Agreement was successful was that ratifying countries can decide independently how to reduce their emissions rather than being told how much to cut by. Counties, instead, put forward their best efforts through 'nationally determined contributions.' The binding part of the agreement makes countries report on their progress decreasing emissions, while the actual setting of emission-reduction targets is non-binding. The United States said it would try to reduce emissions from its 2005 level by 17 percent in 2020 and 26 to 28 percent by 2025. Advertisement Trump's most senior aides and cabinet secretaries have lined up on either side of the issue. Cohn joined Trump's daughter and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advsior HR McMaster in a campaign to remain in the accord that Barack Obama's administration negotiated. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and Vice President Mike Pence were strongly against staying in the pact that requires the US to cut emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Domestic Policy Council director Andrew Bremberg, and three senior advisors to the president - Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller - came in behind the Environmental Protection Agency head and the vice president. A senior official told DailyMail.com as Trump prepared to make his first trip abroad that administration lawyers was battling over a proposal that would allow the US remain in the agreement, even if it does take steps to meet its nationally determined contribution to emissions reduction. 'That is not something that we can support, obviously,' the source said of the Obama-negotiated NDC that starts at 17 percent in 2020 and ramps up. Some administration lawyers said a strategy like the one that was being debated would create significant legal risk for the United States and it would be better for Trump to stick to his campaign plan of full withdraw. Kushner is said to be leaning in that direction now, too. 'His basic position is that the standards need to be changed and the question is can you stay in the Paris agreement and can you stay in the Paris agreement with the changes?' an administration official familiar with the situation told DailyMail.com. The United States European allies argued in private meetings with Trump that the US, the world's largest polluter after China, must remain in the agreement that urges aggressive action to protect the environment. They signed a communique at the end of the G7 summit that excluded the United States so they could reiterate their position. Hoping, perhaps, that a divine intervention would do the trick, the Pope also tried to sway Trump when they met at the Vatican last Wednesday. The head of the Catholic Church presented the president and first lady with a copy of his 184-page encyclical on the environment during a gift giving ceremony. Trump promised the religious leader that he'd 'be reading' it. Even Pope Francis got involved in the decision with worldwide repercussions. He presented Trump with with his encyclical on the environment during a customary gift exchange last week at the Vatican Deal's off: This was how Barack Obama signed the United States up to the Paris agreement WHO ELSE ISN'T IN PARIS DEAL? Just two countries did not sign up to the Paris deal at all - Syria and Nicaragua. Whether the United States joins them or the larger group of 195 countries which signed the Paris Agreement but have still to ratify it or bring it into force remains to be seen. The 50 countries which have yet to fully implement it are: Angola Burundi Colombia Democratic Republic of the Congo Dominican Republic Egypt Eritrea Haiti Iraq Kyrgyzstan Liberia Lichtenstein Montenegro Myanmar Oman Moldova Russian Federation San Marino South Sudan Suriname Macedonia Togo Turkey Uzbekistan Yemen Bhutan Cape Verde Czech Republic North Korea Ecuador Equatorial Guinea Guinea-Bissau Iran Kuwait Lebanon Libya Malawi Mozambique Netherlands Qatar Romania Samoa ( ratified only ) Serbia Sudan Switzerland East Timor Trinidad and Tobago Tanzania Venezuela Zimbabwe Advertisement As Trump waffled on the issue ahead of a self-imposed deadline to make a decision before the G7 summit that was shot after Trump bumped up his departure date to add a Middle East swing to his trip, conservative organizations prodded the Republican president to stay on track. A group of heavyweights sent the president a letter reminding him that withdrawal is a 'key part of your plan to protect U.S. energy producers and manufacturers from regulatory warfare.' The Competitive Enterprise Institute followed up with ads that ran in nearly 70 markets the day before Trump departed for Saudi Arabia, urging him to keep his campaign promise to 'cancel' the environmental accord. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and 17 other Republican senators sent Trump a letter of their own last Thursday, putting additional pressure on him to yank the US out. The missive tipped the scales, according to Axios. Foremost was the claim of 'significant litigation risk that could upend your Administrations ability to fulfill its goal' of rescinding Obama-era regulations like the Clean Power Plan. Trump rescinded his predecessor's plan to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent by the year 2030 in a March 28 executive order that was highly celebrated conservatives. European allies had begged Trump not to ditch the pact last week in a series of meetings, and the White House said the president was considering their position. Ultimately he sided with conservatives in his party who were demanding he drop it The United States' ability to meets its nationally determined contribution to the Paris Agreement hinged on the implementation of carbon reduction plan that Trump said he'd work to toss out. CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENTISTS GO TO WAR ON TRUMP Scientists who have campaigned for the Paris accord rushed to condemn the White House on Wednesday. 'Today's rumors from unnamed sources at the White House are an indication that some of President Trump's ideology-driven advisers are trying to bounce him into withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. 'A withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is likely to make it more difficult for the United States Government and companies to make trade and business deals with their counterparts in other countries where there is greater understanding of the risks of climate change and of the benefits of low-carbon economic growth.' Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, England. 'If Paris is abandoned or weakened, I fear for the future of our children. 'Even more, I fear for the future of children in developing countries, who have contributed little to the problem and will feel the impacts first. Where will they go?' Gabi Hegerl, professor of climate system science, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. 'While it would be unfortunate if Trump pulled the US out of the Paris agreement, the momentum is so great and supported by so many nations that it will be no more than an unwelcome bump in the road rather than anything more serious. 'Individual states such as California will carry on doing what the rest of the world knows is the right thing to do on combating climate change.' Jonathan Bamber, director of the Bristol Glaciology Centre at the University of Bristol,England. Advertisement Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, warned Trump on Wednesday that his actions are likely to have long-lasting repercussions on the US economy and the United States' standing internationally. 'I think that our credibility will be undermined,' he said on CNN. Other countries like China will fill the gap with green energy jobs and 'surpass us' in those industries, he argued on the network's New Day program. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi also argued that withdraw would send a 'strong message to the marketplace to direct innovative, entrepreneurial investments in the clean energy economy elsewhere.' 'The majority of Americans in both parties know that climate change is real, and want clear, decisive action to arrest its dire effects,' she said in a jab at the president who once claimed climate chance is a 'hoax.' Democratic lawmakers hammered Trump in statements that called the impending retreat 'catastrophic' and 'dangerous.' Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat, asked Trump to reconsider before he makes a 'reckless mistake that will have serious and dire consequences.' Putting the argument in the context of the Syrian refugees Trump has tried to keep out of the US, Feinstein said, 'The world was not prepared for 5 million refugees from Syria. What will we do when many millions more are displaced by sea level rise, agricultural failures or disease pandemics?' The Sierra Club, a liberal environmental group, said the Paris Agreement would hold fast, regardless of what Trump does in a statement that slammed him as the nation's 'climate denier-in-chief.' 'Make no mistake: the Paris Agreement was adopted after decades of climate advocacy by concerned citizens across America and around the world, and it certainly will not be derailed by the ignorance of one man,' said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. Republicans like Lee who'd cheered Trump on not surprisingly came to his defense as he took fire from the left for the expected announcement. 'The decision to withdraw will afford Americans greater economic opportunity and cheaper, more flexible energy choices in the future,' the Utah senator said. Angry investors in medical company Mylan are trying to block the re-election of a number of board members after they received huge payouts last year. Their windfalls came despite the company being roasted by the US government for increasing the price of its EpiPens - which are used to treat potentially fatal allergic reactions - by more than 500 per cent since 2007. Now investors say they want Mylan NV to be held accountable for a 'costly record of compensation, risk and compliance failures.' Targets of their fury include chairman and former CEO Robert Coury, who was paid $98 million last year, even as lawmakers challenged Mylan for its EpiPen pricing. He also received an additional $59 million in retirement benefits and other pay, and will now get $1.8 million a year in a cash retainer, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch (left) and chairman Robert Coury (right) have come under fire from investors angry that they got huge bonuses in a year when the company's reputation took a hit Coury is one of whose re-election the group is hoping to stop. The New York City and New York State comptrollers both signed the letter sent to shareholders, as did a representative of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, and PGGM, a Dutch pension fund. The funds control around 4.3 million Mylan shares. Current CEO Heather Bresch and President Rajiv Malik also came under fire in the letter. Bresch was paid $13.3 million last year according to Equilar and AP analysis, down from $18.9 million last year. They received annual bonuses that exceeded their base salaries for last year - even as the company 'suffered significant reputational and financial harm,' the letter said. Shares are up four-fold since 2002, but the harsh spotlight over spiking drug prices has taken a toll. CVS has begun to sell a rival, generic version of EpiPen for about a sixth of the price of the brand-name version. And in the past 12 months - during which time Bresch had to appear before Congress to explain Mylan's decision to hike prices on some drugs - shares have fallen ten per cent. The shares have fallen more than six per cent in the three months leading up to the annual shareholders meeting, which will take place in three weeks. They are still up slightly for the year, however. Bresch was made to appear before Congress after it emerged that the cost of EpiPens, which can stop fatal allergic reactions, increased by 500 per cent from 2007-2016 Mylan, which has its US headquarters just outside Pittsburgh, said in an emailed statement Wednesday that its board has overseen a consistent strategy that creates long-term value for its shareholders. It noted that the company's market capitalization has swelled to more than $20 billion from about $3 billion over the past 15 years, and its stock price also has soared over the longer time frame. 'During Mr Coury's long tenure, Mylan has delivered strong financial performance and shareholder growth, and his new compensation structure continues to be aligned with the [company's] stock performance while providing shareholders with the benefit of his continued leadership and guidance in setting Mylan's strategic direction,' the company said. Shares of Mylan slipped 27 cents to $39.09 in afternoon trading with all major US markets trading down on rising political turmoil. Dramatic video has been released showing the moment a man was arrested outside a mosque by a group of at least six officers as police seized a 13-inch knife after reports of a stolen car. Another man was also arrested after officers traced the reportedly stolen vehicle, near Stoke Newington station, on Sunday. The two men were chased by police through nearby streets and subsequently arrested. Police released images of a smashed up blue Mercedez and an enormous 13-inch blade seized during the operation. A Met police spokesman told MailOnline: 'Dwane Mattison, 26, was charged with dangerous driving, failure to stop and possession of an offensive weapon. 'He was kept in custody to appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.' The spokesman added: 'Anthony Williams, 23, from Waltham Cross, was kept in custody to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Tuesday for two non-payment of fines.' Police were first called to the Stamford Hill area on Sunday following reports of a stolen car. Police released images of an enormous 13-inch blade (pictured) seized during the operation Another man was also arrested after officers traced a reportedly stolen car (pictured), near Stoke Newington station, on Sunday The vehicle was found and the driver and passenger fled the scene. They were pursued, arrested by officers and taken to an east London police station. The video shows at least six officers apprehending one of the suspects and restraining him on the floor outside the mosque. Support for having Congress impeach President Trump rose to 43 per cent in a new poll, nearly equal to the 45 per cent who don't favor impeachment. Support for impeachment rose 5 percentage points from last week, when it stood at 38 per cent. The uptick occurred withstanding the president's first overseas trip, which offered visual images of the president interacting with other leaders on the world stage and touring religious holy sites a trip White House press secretary Sean Spicer praised as 'extraordinarily successful.' It also coincided with a drumbeat of reports about an contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates, including son-in-law Jared Kushner. Support for Congress impeaching President Trump rose to 43 per cent in a new poll 'If President Trump was hoping his foreign trip would shift the conversation away from scandals, he may be out of luck,' Morning Consult Chief Research Officer Kyle Dropp said, Politico reported. 'Over the last week, support for beginning impeachment proceedings among voters rose from 38 percent to 43 percent.' Those who don't want impeachment dropped slightly from 46 per cent during the same period. The poll also provides a window into the fervor of the pro-impeachment group. Of those, 54 percent believe Trump 'has proven he is unfit to serve and should be removed from office, regardless of whether he committed an impeachable offense or not.' Of the group that wants Congress to pursue impeachment, 43 per cent think the president has committed an offense at this stage that should get him kicked out of office. Just a few elected Democrats have called for President Trump's impeachment. He is pictured here with Vice President Mike Pence Support for impeachment rose despite Trump's overseas trip. In this handout photo provided by the Israel Government Press Office (GPO), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with US President Donald Trump prior to the President's departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017 Elected Democrats have mostly resisted calls for impeachment. Two lawmakers, Rep. Maxine Waters of California and Rep. Al Green of Texas have called for impeachment to be pursued. Green has noted that impeachment is a process that weighs guilt, rather than presupposing it. Defeated 2016 rival Hillary Clinton pointedly referenced impeachment during a commencement speech at Wellesley on Saturday. Hillary Clinton mentioned impeachment in her speech at Wellesley College Saturday Speaking at her alma mater, Clinton referenced the resignation of President Richard Nixon and a House committee's impeachment investigation. 'We were furious about the past presidential election of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with his impeachment for obstruction of justice,' the defeated presidential candidate said as members of the crowd at the liberal campus erupted into cheers. Then she brought up Nixon's 'firing the the person running the investigation into him at the Department of Justice' another veiled reference to Trump's sacking of FBI Director James Comey. Seven men have been sentenced to death for raping a disabled boy in Kuwait and threatening to leak footage of the horrifying assault on social media. The sick thugs, aged between 18 and 23, abducted the ten-year-old victim last September and took him to a chalet where they sexually assaulted him. The convicts, four Kuwaitis, a Yemeni, an Iraqi and a stateless person, filmed part of the rape and threatened to post it on social media if the boy spoke of his ordeal. Seven men have been sentenced to death for raping a disabled boy in Kuwait (file photo) and threatening to leak footage of the horrifying assault on social media A Kuwaiti appeals court on Wednesday sentenced the men to death, the victim's lawyer Ibrahim al-Bathani said. He told AFP that the court overturned a 10-year jail term handed in April by a lower court against the seven accused. The victim is a Kuwaiti citizen and has a partial mental disability, Bathani said. 'This is a historic verdict,' he added. Prosecutors found the sickening videos on the phones of some of the defendants. The sick thugs, aged between 18 and 23, abducted the ten-year-old victim last September and took him to a chalet where they sexually assaulted him. They have been sentenced to death by hanging after an original 10-year jail term was overturned The ruling is not final as the case must go to the Kuwaiti supreme court whose verdicts are final. The death penalty in Kuwait is carried out by hanging. Kuwait resumed executions in 2013 after a moratorium of six years. In April 2013, authorities hanged three men convicted of murder. Two months later, two Egyptians, convicted of murder and abduction, were executed. One of them, Hajjaj Saadi, was convicted of abducting and raping 17 children below the age of 10. He denied the charges in court. Kuwait has executed 74 men and six women since it introduced the death penalty in the mid-1960s. Most of those condemned have been murderers or drug traffickers. Saudi Arabia is to behead a deaf and visually impaired man to death for taking part in a protest, it has emerged. Disabled Munir Adam, 23, was arrested in the wake of political demonstrations in the Shia dominated east of the Kingdom in 2012. A court in Saudi Arabia has upheld his death sentence and Adam has just one appeal left before the King signs an execution warrant. It comes as campaigners complained that US President Donald Trump failed to raise human rights abuses on his recent visit to the Kingdom. Disabled Munir Adam, 23, was arrested in the wake of political demonstrations in the Shia dominated east of the Kingdom in 2012 and now faces the death penalty According to the human rights group Reprieve, Adam had medical records proving his disability. He already suffered from impaired sight and hearing, following an accident as a young child. Adam was arrested for violent acts at a protest and accused of 'sending texts', according to Reprieve. But activists claims a 'forced statement' was used as the sole piece of evidence against him in a secretive trial at the Specialised Criminal Court. Campaigners have complained that US President Donald Trump failed to raise human rights abuses on his recent visit to the Kingdom Reprieve said it had urged Trump to use his visit this month to raise the cases of protesters who face the death penalty. But director Maya Foa claimed that by failing to raise the human rights issue, the Trump administration had effectively 'emboldened' the Kingdom to continue its clampdown on demonstrators. Foa added: 'The Trump Administration must now urgently stand up for American values they must call for the release of Munir, and all others who face execution for simply exercising freedom of expression.' Summer Sparrow, 41, was spared jail despite having sex with an underage male teacher last year A teacher who had sex with a 17-year-old student has avoided jail and may never be formally convicted of sex offences. Summer Sparrow, 41, agreed to give up her teaching license as part of an agreement with prosecutors in Cherryville, North Carolina. The mother-of-two had sex with the boy in October last year after picking him up from a car wash and taking him to her home. He photographed her naked then shared the images with his friends. The boy's parents discovered their relationship and together they alerted police. Sparrow was arrested last year and charged with sexual activity with a child. She was in a relationship with her current partner, 27-year-old Alan Cobb, at the time. On Tuesday, she accepted a deferred prosecution agreement which means she may never be convicted. Video courtesy WSOC The agreement demanded that she permanently give up her license and stay away from anywhere that the students could be in a large group for one year. If she sticks to it, she could see the charges against her dropped, The Gaston Gazette reported. Sparrow was an AP English teacher at Cherryville High School. On October 22, she collected the boy in her car after dropping her teenage daughter at a party. The mother-of-two agreed to give up her teaching license as she accepted a deferred prosecution agreement at court on Tuesday Sparrow was fired from Cherryville High School in North Carolina last year after authorities learned of her inappropriate encounter with the boy Sparrow (above with her 27-year-old partner and children) must also stay away from her former students for a year They had been speaking on Snapchat beforehand and their messages turned flirtatious. Sparrow was arrested last October after the boy showed photographs he took of her while she was naked to his friends After having sex with him in her home, she allowed him to photograph her nude on the bed but told him not to share the images with anyone. She then dropped him off at a pizza restaurant and urged him not to speak of their meeting. He showed friends the photographs and his parents became aware of what had happened. During police interviews, he described the layout of their home and mentioned the images. On Wednesday, Sparrow smiled as she stood for the hearing. She said nothing on her way out. The woman, who now goes by Summer Dellinger, has since attempted to launch a freelance writing career. She refers to herself as 'Dirty Bird' on social media. The scandal doesn't appear to have affected her relationship with her two teenage children or her partner. This is the shocking moment hit-and-run robbers sent a father of two flying into the air after he tried to stop them from stealing his van. Marcus Ambrose, 37, was attending a training course in Cuffley, Hertfordshire, when he spotted the men try and break into his white van through the classroom window. He instinctively sprinted outside to try and stop them but heard the sound of a car loudly revving its engine behind him. The renewable energy specialist was mowed down by a silver car thought to be carrying the robbers and flung through the air. Marcus Ambrose (right and at the back, left) sprinted into the road after seeing men try and steal his white van He ended up on the pavement and he was left with a fractured skull and a bleed on his brain. The father of two also suffered back and leg injuries following the incident on Wednesday November 2 last year. Mr Ambrose spent eight days in hospital, including time at the Royal London Hospital intensive care unit. He said: 'I was furious when I looked out the window and saw the men trying to break into my van. I dashed outside to see what was going on. 'Suddenly I heard an engine revving and before I had time to move it raced towards me. 'Looking at the CCTV footage he had enough distance and time to stop but he hit me with such force I flew up into the air, flipped backwards and landed on the ground, unconscious.' He is now appealing for witnesses in the incident in Sopers Road as the crime is still unsolved, following a Crime Watch appeal on March 20. When he was in the middle of the road he described hearing a car revving its engine before it approached him He ended up on the pavement (pictured) after being flung into the air following the hit-and-run incident Mr Ambrose, from Northamptonshire, said: 'From the CCTV footage of the impact, it looks like I landed about five metres away from the vehicle. 'It was really shocking to watch the footage. I couldn't quite believe the force of the collision and you can visibly see that I had literally had nowhere to go. He could have stopped or swerved to avoid me and that is tough to take. 'Although I was released from hospital after eight days, this has been an on-going battle for me that has really affected mine and my family's life. 'The doctors said it will take up to six months for the swelling on my brain to subside and they are still unclear whether I will be left with permanent damage. 'There is no doubt in my mind that these guys have zero remorse for what they did. I could have died. 'As far as I am concerned, unless they are caught there is nothing stopping them doing this to someone else. And who knows how lucky the next guy will be.' He was left on the pavement - around five metres away from where the car hit him in Hertfordshire People rushed over to try and help him but the car was nowhere to be seen after it smashed into him Andrew Zajac, a personal injury specialist lawyer from Slater and Gordon, who is representing Mr Ambrose, said: 'This is a shocking case of a petty crime gone wrong. 'My client, a hard working father of two, was critically injured and left by the perpetrators. 'He was just trying to protect his own property when he was run down by the robbers. 'These sorts of crimes need to be stopped so we are appealing for help in finding the culprits and bringing them to justice. 'Any little bit of information, big or small, could make all the difference in bringing these callous individuals to justice.' If you have any information regarding this incident please contact Slater & Gordon (UK) LLP. A man who carved 666 backwards into his own forehead has been sentenced to death for murdering four people in a brutal Nebraska shooting spree. Nikko Jenkins, 30, showed no emotion as he was handed the death penalty sentence on Tuesday over the August 2013 shooting deaths in Omaha. Jenkins, who was described by one prison psychiatrist as a 'psychopath', has made a habit of tattooing his face with hieroglyphics and self-mutilating his body while in prison to worship the Egyptian serpent god. Nikko Jenkins, 30, showed no emotion as he was handed the death penalty sentence on Tuesday for murdering four people in a brutal Nebraska shooting spree in 2013 (pictured in court on Tuesday) Jenkins once sliced through his tongue to make it look like a snake before smearing the blood over his cell walls and also sliced his penis, which required 27 stitches. He also carved '666' into his forehead in 2015 but used a mirror so the numbers came out backwards. Jenkins pleaded no contest to the murder charges in 2014 but his sentencing has been delayed because of concerns about his mental state. His defense psychiatrist said Jenkins suffers from schizophrenia and perhaps a bipolar disorder, while his lawyers tried to argue his self mutilation was proof of a deteriorating mental state. State psychiatrists have repeatedly testified that he is faking psychosis. Jenkins went on a killing spree just 11 days after he was released from prison in August 2013 where he had been serving a 10 year sentence for two carjackings. Video courtesy of KMTV Jenkins, who was described by one prison psychiatrist as a 'psychopath', has made a habit of tattooing his face with hieroglyphics and self-mutilating his body while in prison. He is pictured above in 2014 Jenkins pulled Andrea Kruger from her SUV as she drove home from work on August 21, 2013 and shot her four times before speeding off in her vehicle He killed one-time prison acquaintance Curtis Bradford (left) and Jorge Cajiga-Ruizon (right) just days after being released from prison in 2013 He shot and killed Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge Cajiga-Ruizon using a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun. Their bodies were found inside a pickup truck in southeast Omaha. Eight days later, Jenkins and his sister killed Curtis Bradford, a one-time prison acquaintance. Jenkins pulled Andrea Kruger from her SUV as she drove home from work on August 21 and shot her four times before speeding off in her vehicle. Jenkins had insisted an Egyptian god ordered him in a foreign language to kill the four as human sacrifices. Jenkins was ultimately found competent to stand trial and allowed to represent himself for much of it. He was then allowed in 2014 to plead no contest to the murder charges. He is now the first to be given the death sentence in Nebraska since the state's voters reinstated the punishment last year. The last execution in Nebraska was carried out in 1997, when Robert Williams died in the state's now-defunct electric chair for killing two women in 1977. Jenkins (pictured on Tuesday) is now the first to be given the death sentence in Nebraska since the state's voters reinstated the punishment last year Velita Glasgow, the mother of victim Curtis Bradford, cried quietly as she left the courtroom on Tuesday saying the sentence brought much-needed closure for her The judicial panel had the option of sentencing Jenkins on Tuesday to death or life in prison. The judges cited the heinous nature of the killings in their decision and said they believed state psychiatrists who testified that while Jenkins does have narcissistic and anti-social personality disorders, he knew right from wrong when he committed the crimes. The mother of one of Jenkins' victims cried quietly as she left the courtroom on Tuesday following the sentencing. Velita Glasgow, the mother of Curtis Bradford, said Tuesday's sentence brought much-needed closure for her. 'It's time for me to heal,' she said. 'I'm ready to put this behind me.' A Texas man who, was photographed on a motorcycle with his toddler, was arrested on an outstanding warrant. Anthony Welsh, 30, who was identified by the Liberty County Sheriff's Department, and his little boy were sitting on the motorcycle at a gas station in Liberty County, Texas, on Sunday when another man snapped a photo of them. The witness then posted the photo to his Facebook page in an attempt to initially identify Welsh. A Texas man (pictured) who was photographed on a motorcycle with his toddler was arrested on an outstanding warrant Anthony Welsh, 30, who was identified by the Liberty County Sheriff's Department, and his little boy (in red) were sitting on the motorcycle at a gas station in Liberty County, Texas, on Sunday when another man snapped a photo of them 'Any one of my friends know this (expletive) idiot?!?!' the post read. The post sparked immediate outrage from several people concerned with the child's safety. One user commented: 'I mean common sensethat baby falls or someone hits that bike on accident that baby's dead.' 'That's some hardcore child endangerment right there,' another user posted. The man who posted the photo wanted to remain anonymous, but he told CBS 46: 'I'm not looking to get the guy thrown in jail, but he needs to get the hint that the kid's life is in danger.' Welsh, who was arrested Tuesday for an outstanding traffic warrant, could face more serious charges over the motorcycle incident. According to Texas law, it's illegal for a child younger than five years of age to be a passenger on a motorcycle. Welsh, who was arrested Tuesday for an outstanding traffic warrant, could face more serious charges over the motorcycle incident The law also states that an operator of a motorcycle may not carry another person on the motorcycle, and a person who is not operating the motorcycle may not ride on the motorcycle, unless the motorcycle is: designed to carry more than one person; and equipped with footrests and handholds for use by the passenger. Welsh has only one seat on the motorcycle he was photographed on. Witnesses also told CBS they saw Welsh driving the bike with the little boy not sitting in an approved seat required by the law. An additional charge that Welsh could face is endangering a child, which in Texas is considered a state jail felony with a punishment of up to two years behind bars and a fine of up to $10,000, but the fine amount would be at the discretion of a judge. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing as they interview more witnesses. Welsh has been turned over to the Deer Park Police Department for his outstanding traffic warrant. A man who claimed he was missing his dead brother dug up his coffin and took him on a ride around town on his bike, it was reported today. Elderlandes Rosa, 29, told police he had dreamed that his brother Eri Erisberto, who died more than a year ago aged 30, had asked him to go with him for a ride like they used to when he was alive. So he went to the town's cemetery and dug up his sibling's remains, laying his coffin on the back of his bike. Residents of Prata, in southeast Brazil, called police after noticing the strong stench coming from the coffin as Rosa walked around the streets on Sunday night. Elderlandes Rosa , 29, told police he had dreamed that his brother Eri Erisberto, who died more than a year ago aged 30, had asked him to go with him for a ride like they used to when he was alive Photos and videos of the scene quickly spread on social networking sites. Rosa at first refused to obey the orders of police trying to stop him, who had to contain and handcuff him, according to reports. He later reportedly told officers that he dug up his brother because he was 'missing him' and that before taking him for the ride he had taken him out of the coffin for a 'chat'. Police officer Luciano Goncalves said: 'We received phone calls from the public and went to investigate. The man said he was missing his brother a lot. So he went to get the coffin, broke the lid and took him out to have a chat.' He was arrested for the crime of abuse of a corpse, which carries a maximum sentence of three years' jail, and released pending a court hearing. So he went to the town's cemetery and dug up his sibling's remains, laying his coffin on the back of his bike Residents of Prata, in southeast Brazil, called police after noticing the strong stench coming from the coffin (pictured) as Rosa walked around the streets on Sunday night Following the incident, Rosa told Brazil's Vitoriosa TV that it was a 'promise' he had made to his brother. He said: 'I said that if he died first, I would take him out on the streets, to the places where he liked to go. 'Now I've kept that promise I'll stay calm and carry on. Those who want to laugh at me or joke, you can do what you want. I think like this, if I have to do something I do it. 'I going to look for help, something that can help me keep calm and get my head in the right place.' His family later claimed that he had taken his brothers death badly and had been unable to accept that he was gone. His brother's coffin was returned to his grave the following day. Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz has been caught on a leaked video from a staff meeting telling employees Donald Trump is creating 'chaos' for the economy. The billionaire was speaking to staff members at a meeting in Seattle in February, two months before he stepped down as CEO, when he unloaded on the president's performance. 'The world is screwed up,' he said in the video, obtained by Business Insider and published on Tuesday. 'People are unsettled. There's tremendous amount of pressure and anxiety in America. Scroll down for video Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz has been caught on a leaked video from a staff meeting telling employees Donald Trump is creating 'chaos' for the economy. Schultz is pictured in March 2015 'We have a president who is creating an episodic chaos every day, and it is no doubt affecting consumer behavior and consumer sentiment.' But the longtime CEO, who stepped down in April, added the coffee chain is uniquely positioned to deal with the troubles presented by Trump. 'We have an antidote, We always have,' he said. 'And that's the sense of community, the third place, and the environment that we create around family.' Schultz (pictured) was speaking to staff members at a meeting in Seattle in February. Footage of his remarks was leaked to Business Insider 'We have a president who is creating an episodic chaos every day, and it is no doubt affecting consumer behavior and consumer sentiment,' the former CEO said about Trump The 63-year-old has been a vocal critic of Trump, and during the campaign last year said it was 'obvious Hillary Clinton' needed 'to be the next president'. ''I think we're all rightfully concerned about the promise of the country and the American dream,' he told CNNMoney. 'I think this election cycle has unfortunately created such divisive and vitriolic behavior, the likes of which we have probably never seen before. 'I'm hopeful that after the election, and hopefully Hillary Clinton will be elected president, that we will begin to see a level of unity and people coming together.' A lawyer who raped a passed-out tourist at the Oktoberfest beer festival walked free from court with a suspended sentence claiming he developed a 'spontaneous affection' having guzzled at least 10 pints of beer. The 38-year-old himself upon the holidaymaker at the famous beer festival in Munich while the man was in a drunken state, and told the court he could not explain his actions and that he was not homosexual despite sexually abusing the man. A court heard how the sex attacker also forced his victim to give him oral sex at the world famous event in the German state of Bavaria. A lawyer who raped a passed-out tourist at the Oktoberfest beer festival walked free from court with a suspended sentence claiming he developed a 'spontaneous affection' having guzzled at least 10 pints of beer He targeted a 32-year-old American man on the Kotzhugel, an infamous hill beside the beer tents where many drinkers go to sleep off a day's boozing. The rapist, known only as Sergeii C due to German's strict privacy laws, was filmed by a pair of Spanish festival-goers though the footage was not made publicly available. At first they thought he was robbing his sleeping victim during the attack at around 10pm on October 1 last year. One of them told the court: 'He grabbed the victim in the leather pants at the front. 'We thought at first it was a robbery. But then he made clear movements that surprised us.' The Ukrainian-born attacker confessed his crime in court but said he could not actually remember the incident. He told the court: 'I had drunk at least six litres of beer. I cannot explain it to myself. I am not homosexual.' The Ukrainian-born attacker confessed his crime in court but said he could not actually remember the incident (file photo) Sergeii C claimed he had developed a 'spontaneous affection' due to the amount of alcohol he had drunk. He added that he believed the victim had agreed, otherwise he 'would have never done it'. The American victim, who cannot be named to protect his privacy, did not appear in court. But according to the police the attack had been 'incredibly embarrassing' for him. Sergeii C, who testified at the district court with the aid of a translator, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence. Advertisement A rare insight into the ancient profession of blacksmithing has been revealed as the skilled craftsmen open up their forgotten forges. Britain's master blacksmiths have opened up their workshops for US TV programme Forged in Fire, showcasing their expertise as they create replica weaponry, including pirate cutlasses and medieval axes. Hammering and moulding, Alec Steele, Joshua Burrell, Owen Bush, Rod Hughes and Grace Horne are the tradesmen and women showing off traditional techniques for viewers across the Atlantic. Pictured: Blacksmith Josh Burrell, 26, holds up the English carpet axe he created at his forge in Loughborough Owen Bush, who runs his own school on blacksmithing, goes to work on his latest project - a Saxon sword in Kent Bladesmith Rod Hughes, 60, holds up his latest creation inspired by a pirate cutlass, in his traditional viking forge in Surrey Alec, 19, is the youngest of the blacksmiths taking part and described his job as 'badass'. Based in Norwich, he runs his own forge and is the only blacksmith who 'vlogs' his crafting work on a daily basis. His YouTube channel has more than 200,000 subscribers and receives seven million views a month. He said: 'I started blacksmithing at a very young age and when I was just 16 I left school because I was so entrenched in this passion. 'I was completely convinced and knew I would make it work honestly, it was the best decision I've ever made. Blacksmithing is something that is surging in popularity, I would argue, faster than ever.' Father and son partnership, Joshua and Graham Burrell, specialise in forging woodworking axes and other traditional British edged tools. Working from his forge in Loughborough, Josh is very much following in the family footsteps and is trying to revive the industry with his knowledge of past times - his father has been working in the trade since 1983 and has taught him everything he needs to know. Alec Steele, 19, is the youngest blacksmith to take part in Forged in Fire and pictured, he works on a Damascus cleaver Alec, who video blogs his work, shows off his Union Jack styled cleaver, made from high carbon as well as high nickel in his forge in, Norwich BLACKSMITHING: AN ANCIENT CRAFT Blacksmithing dates back thousands of years with evidence of tools being made of copper and bronze found in Ancient Egyptian tombs. In medieval Britain the blacksmith was an important figure in the community and each village was not complete without a forge. However, they were not only responsible for creating weapons and shoeing horses - blacksmiths were also known to act as dentists, doctors or undertakers. The role of the blacksmith declined in the UK after the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th Century, when machines began to take on work that had previously been left to skilled craftsmen. Advertisement Josh said: 'Forged in Fire has shown people that bladesmithing and blacksmithing can be a viable career. 'It's a continuation of tradition and heritage.' Two of Britain's more experienced blacksmiths, Owen Bush and Rod Hughes, are also passionate about trying to galvanise the trade in the 21st century. Owen, 45, runs his very own school on the London - Kent border and is hoping to pass his knowledge to the youth of today. The full-time bladesmith and swordsmith specialises in making Saxon pattern welded swords, the seax (Saxon long knife), Viking axes and kitchen knives. Former engineer Rod dons an impressive fur apron as adds the finishing touches to his pirate cutlass at his forge Owen holds up a sword he forged based on the design of traditional Saxon swords found in Kent, where he works Pictured: Rod's pirate cutlass glows as the scorching hot blade is crafted into shape at his forge in Surrey Appearing as an expert on various television networks over the years, Owen is widely regarded as one of the best blacksmiths in the country. He said: 'I've been a bladesmith for 22 years. For me, it's really important that I'm still an active maker, so that every year I'm setting myself challenges and walking the walk. 'I love hammering hot metal, as a bladesmith it's the best part. 'It's dangerous in all sorts of ways; we've got fire and power hammers and sharp edges. To work successfully with these dangerous things you have to have a combination of having confidence and then also respect. Owen inspects the glowing hot blade of his Saxon-inspired sword as he works on the weapon at his forge in Kent Owen, who has been a blacksmith for 22 years and is regarded as one of the best in the UK, gets to work on his Saxon weapon Pictured: Josh hammers down on the carpet axe in the forge he shares with his father, Graham, in Loughborough 'It's very, very easy to become completely obsessed, you can get absolutely lost in the craft.' Rod Hughes, 60, describes himself as a bladesmith and has been practising the trade for the last 10 years he has now earned a reputation as a master craftsman of 'historical original' reproductions. Rod works from his very own Viking-style forge in Surrey that he constructed from local timber on the side of the Golden Valley. His swords, ranging from the Bronze Age to the fourteenth century, are showcased in a selection of museums throughout the country. Pictured: Mother-of-two Grace Horne who specialises in knife making and has been working in the trade for 23 years Grace works on crafting the blade of a knife, the expert blacksmith said she enjoys making items that are 'useful' to people Josh and Graham work together to create the English carpet axe at the forge they operate out of in Loughborough And bringing a different spin to proceedings is 46-year-old mother of two, Grace Horne who specialises in knife making. Living in Sheffield, the one-time centre of British steelmaking, Grace identifies with the city's long-standing tradition of women working in the industry whilst also dealing with the responsibility of being a wife and mother. Grace added: 'I've been a knife maker for the last 23 years; I like making objects that are useful. 'Forged in Fire is great. I think the programme introduces a whole new audience to the complexities and intricacies of working in steel.' A reality TV star has been subjected to a torrent of vile abuse from extremist Muslims while eating lunch with a moderate imam. Imam Mohammad Tawhidi and Kim Vuga, who was the star of hit SBS reality show 'Go Back To Where You Came From', were eating in Adelaide when they were targeted. Footage from Mrs Vuga, who is now pursuing conservative politics, shows a Muslim man subjecting the pair to an expletive-laden rant as he spits at them. Now, it has been revealed she faced a stream of ominous text messages from a man warning her impending doom in the wake of the the venomous attack. The shia imam and Kim Vuga were having lunch at an eatery in Adelaide when they were targeted (pictured) 'You haven't seen nothing yet just wait you s**T your times coming to an end,' one of the confronting messages reads. 'I speak like to prostituts (sic) like you, it's none of your concern what caliphate I believe in you infidel pig,' reads another. 'Like I said, get used to us. Tell Tahwidi the f******g times ticking and keep hiding.' Sheiki Tawhidi, a self-proscribed 'imam of peace', has been forced into hiding from an avalanche of abuse from Muslims over his controversial views on Islam. Opening up about his recent restaurant ordeal, the imam told Today Tonight the attack against him and Mrs Vuga was the latest sign of what he's previously called 'a serious problem' with the Muslim religion. He told Daily Mail Australia the incident captured on camera occurred the day before Ramadan, when Muslims refrain from food and water for the holy month. 'Instead of dealing with the message that needs reformation, they attack the messenger,' he said. 'They want to rip you apart - since when did we accept this type of attitude in Australia?' Mrs Vuga (pictured), , claimed she was scared the Muslim man would launch a radical attack on them Yelling and swearing at the pair, the man calls Mrs Vuga a 'b***h' and stomps his foot on the ground, before being escorted from the eatery by two men who intervene. He then moves outside where Sheikh Tawhidi seemingly tries to attempt to calm the situation, only to be spat at by the man Describing the moment she came under attack Mrs Vuga, a former candidate for the Senate in Queensland, said she feared what the aggressive man would do. 'What we could've had is a radical attack in a family restaurant,' Mrs Vuga claimed. The confrontation comes just weeks after Sheikh Tawhidi was spat at and called a pig as he walked down the street in the Muslim heartland of Sydney. The moment he was verbally abused as he walked along Haldon Street in Lakemba - home to Australia's largest mosque - was captured on video by the man who spat at him. Muslim sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi (pictured) has opened up on the shocking moment they were abused by an angry Muslim man 'What we could've had is a radical attack in a family restaurant,' Mrs Vuga claimed A taxi driver is accused of raping a female passenger, after a Good Samaritan heard her cries for help and intervened. Washington, DC taxicab driver Yared Geremew Mekonnen, 24, was arrested early Sunday and charged with second-degree sexual abuse and kidnapping after a passenger said he assaulted her. The shocking allegations unfolded around 3.15am on 16th Street Northwest, a thoroughfare that runs from downtown Washington to Silver Springs, Maryland. The woman told police that she and her boyfriend had been out drinking that evening on U Street when they decided to take a cab home, according to court documents reported by NBC Washington. Washington, DC taxicab driver Yared Geremew Mekonnen, 24, was arrested early Sunday and charged with second-degree sexual abuse and kidnapping (file photo) The woman said she blacked out and that when she awoke, her cab driver was raping her in the back seat of the taxi. It's unclear what happened to the boyfriend, whether he had been dropped off separately or taken another cab. But a man driving down 16th St heard the woman's cries and saw her waving for help from the back of the vehicle. He took immediate action, parking his car in front of the taxi to block the driver in and calling 911. Mekonnen denied the allegations, saying the woman had become hysterical in his cab and scratched his face, demanding to go to Silver Springs, Maryland. The woman told police that she lives in Virginia and doesn't know anyone in Silver Springs, but police noted that Mekonnen himself lives in Silver Springs. DC records show a taxicab driver named Yared Mekonnen with a license that expires on March 19, 2019. A mugshot of the suspect was not immediately available. Mekonnen is due back in court on Thursday. Jessica Lazzara, 42, allegedly abused two young girls, aged 11 and 13 in Polk County, Florida A therapist has been accused of sadistic torture techniques, with prosecutors claiming she used spray paint and a lighter on children, as well as a bow and arrow. Jessica Lazzara, 42, allegedly abused two young girls, aged 11 and 13 in Polk County, Florida. Both girls had been victims of sexual abuse, and Lazzara was sent to their home as a trauma therapist. When the older girl would not get out of bed, deputies said Lazarra pointed a bow and arrow at her, hitting her with the arrow. On another occasion, it is alleged, exposed her breasts, rubbing herself on one of the girls, and said she was going to kill herself and her victims. The carer has been charged with lewd molestation, lewd and lascivious conduct, child abuse, battery and indecent exposure. Prosecutors claim asked the younger girl if she wanted to be spanked, and then stuck a lighter between the 11-year-old's legs. She is also accused of spraying the girl's legs and her mother's crotch area with paint, WFLA reports. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he had serious questions for Lazzara's employer, Big Bear Behavioral Health. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he had serious questions for Lazzara's employer, Big Bear Behavioral Health She has previously been arrested, the sheriff said, for providing alcohol to a minor, and driving under the influence. She also lost her children during a divorce proceeding because of mental health issues, Sheriff Judd said. He stated: 'I dont know if its her conduct that upsets me the most, or the fact that Big Bear put somebody with a history, in a home, counseling by herself.' In a statement released after the arrest, WFLA reports, Big Bear stated: 'Big Bear was notified of the incident and took immediate action to address the concerns reported to us. 'Big Bear places great value on the confidentiality and safety of our clients and staff, and are dedicated to serving our community with caring, competent strength. 'We pride ourselves in working with clinicians of the highest caliber, and exceed all local, state and federal guidelines in qualifying our employees prior to hire.' A suspected child abuser has been jailed for refusing to give police the password to his iPhone. Christopher Wheeler, 41, was sentenced to 180 days in prison on Tuesday by a Broward County, Florida judge. The Hollywood man has been accused of hitting and scratching his young daughter, and police believed he had pictures on the phone documenting the alleged abuse. A Broward County, Florida judge sentenced Christopher Wheeler (pictured) to 180 days in jail on Tuesday for refusing to give up his iPhone pass code Wheeler was taken into custody in court yesterday. He claimed that he gave police his password, but it didn't work. 'I swear, under oath, I've given them the password,' Wheeler said, distraught, as he was handcuffed, according to the Miami Herald. When the number Wheeler gave police didn't work earlier this month, the judge ordered him in contempt of court. In Florida, an appeals court decision has given police the power to demand passwords from suspects in criminal cases. However, the state's Supreme Court has yet to rule on the issue, leaving that power's future uncertain. Wheeler will be able to post bond pending an appeal of the decision. He can also get out of jail if he gives police a pass code that works. A mistrial has been declared in the case of a New Jersey man accused of killing his three-year-old son after the jury failed to reach a verdict. David Creato, 23, is accused of murdering his toddler son, Brendan Creato, in October 2015 allegedly so his teenage girlfriend wouldn't leave him. Creato, known as D.J., has maintained the boy - who would have turned five on Thursday - wandered away from his Haddon Township home. Judge John Kelley declared a mistrial in the murder case on Wednesday after jurors said they couldn't reach a verdict after five days of deliberations. David Creato, 23, (pictured in a New Jersey court on Wednesday) is accused of murdering his son, Brendan Creato, in October 2015 allegedly so his teenage girlfriend wouldn't leave him Prosecutors said they plan to retry the case. Creato's attorney, Richard Fuschino Jr., said that he will make a motion for bail. He said Creato is upset and wants to go home to see his family. He added that the jury's decision showed that prosecutors couldn't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt with the circumstantial evidence they presented. 'I am so appreciative of what the jury did. This is such a tough job. There's such sensitive facts,' Fuschino said. 'I wouldn't say that I was surprised, but I certainly was not shocked.' Creato called 911 to report his son missing, and the boy's pajama-clad body was found hours later in a wooded area by the Cooper River about a mile from the home. Creato has maintained his son Brendan wandered away from his Haddon Township home before his body was found in a wooded area about a mile away A medical examiner testified Brendan died from 'homicidal violence' but couldn't determine where or when he died Brendan is pictured with his mom Samantha. His father reported Brendan missing from his home. The boy was wearing only his pajamas, neon socks and Mickey Mouse slippers During the trial, Camden County prosecutors said the boy's neon green socks were clean, which would be impossible if he had wandered away from home. Prosecutors had argued that Creato killed his son because he feared his then-17-year-old girlfriend, who was away at college, was going to leave him. She had made it clear she didn't want to be around his child and wanted him to give up custody. They also noted that about a month after the slaying, in a conversation secretly recorded by the boy's mother, Creato spoke about 'a spirit' drawing his son to the woods where he was found dead. A medical examiner testified Brendan died from 'homicidal violence' but couldn't determine where or when he died. Samantha Denoto, the mother of 3-year-old Brendan Creato, leaves the Camden County after a mistrial was declared in the murder trial of David Creato on Wednesday Lisa Creato, the mother of David Creato, cried in court after Judge John Kelley announced the jury was unable to reach a verdict on Wednesday Brendan's brain showed an abnormality consistent with oxygen deprivation that can be caused by asphyxiation, drowning or strangulation, but it couldn't be determined which of those led to his death. Prosecutors spent nearly 10 days presenting their case, but the defense took just 20 minutes before resting. Fuschino then sought to have the charges dismissed, claiming prosecutors had 'put on no evidence to say that Brendan Creato was killed or that D.J. Creato was the person who killed him.' Judge Kelley rejected the motion, saying that prosecutors had showed motive and enough evidence for jurors to decide whether Creato was guilty. Creato's then-girlfriend, who's now 19, was never charged, and they've broken up. The partner of a gay policeman gunned down by a jihadist on Paris's Champs-Elysees avenue in April has married him posthumously. Former president Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo attended the wedding on Tuesday of the late Xavier Jugele and Etienne Cardiles. The ceremony took place in the mayor's office of the XIVth arrondissement in front of a small group of officials, the daily Le Parisien reported Wednesday. Prior to Jugele's death, he and Cardiles were already in a civil partnership. Jugele, 37, was shot dead on April 20 while on duty on the famous Parisian avenue, three days before the first round of France's presidential election. French law states that posthumous marriages are allowed if there are 'significant grounds' for the marriage, and terror attacks fall under that category, according to the government's website. Etienne Cardiles (left) wed the late Xavier Jugele (right) in a ceremony on Tuesday attended by former president Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Jugele, 37, was shot dead on April 20 while on duty on the famous Parisian avenue Jugele was gunned down by a jihadist on Paris's Champs-Elysees avenue in April, days before the first round of France's presidential election The living spouse must show that the deceased had 'unequivocal' desire to get married. If the qualifications are met, the president of France can approve of the marriage by decree. Prior to his death, Jugele had campaigned for gay rights within the police force. At a moving remembrance ceremony led by then president Hollande on April 25, Cardiles said the killer would 'not have my hatred', echoing the words of the husband of a victim of the November 2015 attacks in the French capital. 'I have no hatred, Xavier, because it is not like you and does not fit with what made your heart beat nor what made you a guardian of the peace,' he said. At a moving remembrance ceremony (pictured above) led by then president Hollande on April 25, Cardiles said the killer would 'not have my hatred', echoing the words of the husband of a victim of the November 2015 attacks in the French capital Former President Francois Hollande attended the wedding ceremony on Tuesday, as well as the remembrance ceremony in April (pictured above) ISIS claimed Jugele's killing by 39-year-old Karim Cheurfi, who was shot dead by police in a gun battle. Two other officers were injured in the attack. Addressing hundreds of mourners at a ceremony at Paris police headquarters, Jugele's partner Cardiles spoke of his 'extreme pain' at the death of the officer, who had campaigned for gay rights within the police force. 'This pain makes me feel closer to your comrades who suffer in silence like you and me,' he said in a trembling voice, describing Jugele as a cinema and theatre buff who lived 'a life of joy and huge smiles'. Jugele was the fifth policeman slain by jihadists in attacks that have claimed more than 230 lives across France since January 2015. Addressing hundreds of mourners at a ceremony at Paris police headquarters in April, Jugele's partner Cardiles spoke of his 'extreme pain' at the death of the officer, who had campaigned for gay rights within the police force President Emmanuel Macron (right) also attended the remembrance ceremony in April, where he spoke to Cardiles (pictured above) Hollande posthumously made him a knight of the Legion d'Honneur, one of France's highest honours. Shortly after Jugele's death it emerged that he had been among the first responders at the Bataclan theatre in Paris on November 13, 2015, where IS gunmen massacred 90 concertgoers. He returned to the venue a year later when it reopened for a concert by British star Sting, telling a BBC interviewer he wanted 'to celebrate life and say 'no' to terrorism'. Before leaving office, Hollande, had appealed to the country's next leader to show 'constancy, perseverance and coherence in the fight (against extremists), rather than escalation and divisiveness'. A Michigan father and his toddler son drowned in their apartment complex swimming pool while they were playing with toys on the surrounding concrete deck. Police found an unconscious man, 31, and his three-year-old son floating in the water while responding to a 911 call on Tuesday. First responders found a child's tricycle at the bottom of the pool, leading police to believe that the father tried to rescue his son after he rode into the pool, according to the Detroit Free Press. The pair were rushed from The Glens of Northville complex in Novi, Michigan to the hospital, where they died after an hour of lifesaving attempts failed, reports FOX 2. Scroll down for video A man and his three-year-old toddler son mysteriously drowned in their apartment complex pool. Initial reports indicate that the boy was riding this tricycle and fell into the water Witnesses said the father and son brought toys to play by the pool. Cops are uncertain if the father knew how to swim, but don't suspect foul play was involved in their drowning deaths Apartment complex dwellers watched investigators remove evidence from the pool's deck Witnesses told police that the father and son brought assorted toys to the pool at about 3pm that day, intending to play on the concrete deck rather than go into the water. The 911 call came in about an hour and a half later, at 4.24pm. Police are not yet sure how long the father and son were in the pool which ranges in depth from three to five feet deep or how they ended up unconscious in the water. It's thought that the toddler fell into the pool and the father went in to try to help him. Initial reports seemed to indicate that the toddler was riding a tricycle and that both fell into the water. Authorities were seen removing a red tricycle from the pool area later that day. 'We are just wading through the reports and eyewitness interviews to see if the tricycle was in the pool or not,' Novi Police Department assistant chief Jerrod Hart told FOX 2. Police have not determined whether the father knew how to swim, reports Click on Detroit. A posted sign warns apartment complex residents no lifeguards are on duty at the pool. The father and son leave behind a wife and mother. The family of three, identified by police as having been from India, do not have immediate relatives in the US. Authorities do not suspect foul play, but an autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday. A former European judge has slammed the EU's 'dangerous' demands over Brexit describing the bloc's quest for an 85million divorce fee as 'indefensible'. Belgian Franklin Dehousse, once a judge at the European Court of Justice called the EU's settlement demands 'exaggerated'. The legal expert, who retired from the bench in October, also warned Brussels against involving the Luxembourg-based court extensively during Brexit negotiations saying it was 'hardly the best setting to deal with such litigation'. A former European judge has slammed the EU's 'dangerous' demands over Brexit describing the bloc's quest for an 85million divorce fee as 'indefensible' (file picture) Writing for the Egmont Institute think tank he mocked claims Britain owed 100 billion euros (85million) and joked: 'Never have the British been so loved as for their net contribution to the EU budget.' Dehousse, a professor at the University of Liege who has previous experience of negotiating EU treaties, said of the bloc's position: 'It is dangerous, for two very different reasons. First, of course, loading the boat excessively broadens the scope, increases expectations, generates conflicts and makes a final deal less likely. The EU, like the UK government before, needs to adjust to reality. He added: 'It must compare the limited immediate benefits of this drastic approach with the global benefits of a new deal. 'Second, and this is more important, the EU must be extremely careful about the precedents it is creating now. Most people do not see it, as they did not believe before that Article 50 would ever be used, but there will be other exits from the EU. 'We thus need reflect carefully to create future incentives for fair deals, and not systematic clashes. Article 50 was invented, after all, to show that the EU was not a prison. We must apply it accordingly.' Dehousse warned against extensive use of the ECJ in the Brexit process because of its 'very heavy procedures and very high costs'. He also described the involvement of the court as an 'incredible legal vipers nest'. In conclusion, the professor said the EU had 'rightly insisted on settling all the legal, institutional and financial consequences, of more than 40 years of UK presence.' The former judge spoke out as German chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured) said her country will approach Brexit negotiations on the understanding that Britain will continue to be a partner 'It has rightly demanded a balanced participation to the single market. But it must also take into consideration the common need of all to maintain a deep cooperation, and most of all the need for the European Union to be, and to appear, fair in this procedure. 'This is not a war, but a divorce, and all of us should strive to make it an amiable one.' The former judge spoke out as German chancellor Angela Merkel said her country will approach Brexit negotiations on the understanding that Britain will continue to be a partner. 'We will conduct departure negotiations in the spirit of Britain remaining a good partner,' she said in the southern city of Nuremberg. 'But we must also look to things that strengthen the EU, and not be focused exclusively on EU exit talks.' British Prime Minister Theresa May said earlier this week that Britain would leave the EU without an agreement if it was unable to achieve a satisfactory agreement with the bloc. Advertisement Its predecessor built more than 100 years ago by British colonialists was notorious for its costly and dangerous construction, earning it the nickname of the 'Lunatic Express'. But the days of long and unreliable journeys through Kenya could now be over after a 2.5billion Chinese-backed railway was opened to eventually link a large part of East Africa to a major port on the Indian Ocean. In the country's largest infrastructure project since independence in 1963, the newly opened stretch will dramatically reduce travel time from the capital of Nairobi to Mombasa from more than ten hours to just four. The Standard Gauge Railway cargo train rides from the port containers depot in Mombasa to Nairobi as Kenya's president Uhuru Kenyatta opened the country's largest infrastructure project since independence Lions struck fear into the thousands of workers laying tracks from Mombasa to Nairobi through what was then the Kenyan wilderness Kenya Railways train attendants pose for a photograph inside one of the new passenger trains using the new Mombasa to Nairobi railway, constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and financed by Chinese government President Mr Kenyatta (left) flags off the new cargo train using the new Kenyan train line during its official launching at the Port Reitz in Mombasa. It is hoped that the newly constructed line will enhance business between the two cities The Chinese-backed railway costing 2.5billion will eventually link a large part of East Africa to a major port on the Indian Ocean as China seeks to increase trade and influence. It is pictured during a launch event in Mombasa It will replace part of the 660-mile track built by the British more than a century ago which linked Lake Victoria with the port city of Mombasa and was known for lengthy delays and breakdowns. The 'Lunatic Express' saw workers face the perils of hungry lions, malarial swamps and hostile tribal territory - and British colonialists sacrificed more than 2,500 lives to lay the original track between 1895 and 1899. But the new project - funded and constructed by the Chinese - has drawn criticism from some observers who call it overpriced, with its cost representing about 5 per cent of Kenya's gross domestic product. Activists have blocked the railway's second phase with a court order because of concerns about the impact on wildlife as it cuts across Nairobi National Park. The newly opened railway - funded by China seeks to increase trade and influence - is the first phase of a project to connect Kenya's landlocked neighbours Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan to Mombasa. Construction of this 378-mile section was scheduled to be completed in December, but observers said President Uhuru Kenyatta's government hastened its launch to boost his re-election bid in August. East Indian labourers sit on the fender of a locomotive crossing a viaduct on the 'Lunatic Express' while it was being built from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to the interior of Kenya and Uganda in what was then British East Africa in around 1900 The project - funded and constructed by the Chinese - has drawn criticism from some observers who call it overpriced, with its cost representing about 5 per cent of Kenya's gross domestic product Dancers and a military band entertained passengers and dignitaries from Kenya and China shortly before they, and Mr Kenyatta, took the maiden journey from a gleaming new terminal in Mombasa to Nairobi. 'Today we celebrate one of the key cornerstones to Kenya's transformation to an industrialised, prosperous, middle-income country,' Mr Kenyatta said at the launch. Speaking before the train set off, onlooker Rahab Wangui added: 'This is the best thing that has happened to our country. I am happy to witness it and be part of the first passengers on the first train.' Transport Minister James Macharia said the Government expects the railway to boost GDP by 1.5 per cent, allowing them to pay back the loan 'in about four years'. But economist Kwame Owino said this was 'a little bit of wishful thinking', questioning assumptions on the volume of cargo available to be carried, while warning high growth rates in East Africa were beginning to moderate. The new line will significantly cut journey times between Nairobi and Mombasa - and it is hoped it will boost Kenya's economy Dancers and a military band entertained passengers and dignitaries from Kenya and China shortly before they, and Mr Kenyatta, were to take the maiden journey from a gleaming new terminal in Mombasa to Nairobi The new railway should benefit tourism, said Mohammed Hersi, chairman of Kenya Coast Tourism Association. But a concern is Kenya's ability to maintain it once the Chinese hand it over, he said The new journey will take less than half the time to drive between the two cities, a hair-raising trip on a one-lane highway clogged with lumbering trucks and where accidents claim dozens of lives each year. Uganda, Kenya's main trading partner, is expected to start construction of the link between its capital, Kampala, and Kenya's Malaba border post later this year. Construction is expected to take four years, during which time Kenya is expected to extend its line to Malaba. China is Africa's top trade partner and the world's second largest economy. Last year, a largely Chinese-financed and Chinese-built railway opened between landlocked Ethiopia, one of the continent's fastest-growing economies, and a major port on the Gulf of Aden in Djibouti. And China has more planned for Africa as part of its 'Belt and Road' project, its largest foreign initiative to date with multibillion-pound investments in ports, railways and other facilities. Mr Kenyatta was one of many heads of state attending China's forum on the project earlier this month. Over the years the line has been blighted by bandit raids, corruption and neglect. Trains in recent decades have been infrequent and slow, running at little more than around 15mph There have been numerous derailments and delays in recent years, sparking serious safety fears and a resulting passenger exodus. One crash in March 1999 killed at least 32 people, including five tourists, and injured more than 100 A park warden views wreckage at the scene of the Kenyan train accident in 1999. The overnight passenger train from Nairobi to Mombasa derailed at about 4am on March 24 that year near the town of Voi Princess Margaret is pictured outside the driving cab of a locomotive during her visit to the East African Railways and Harbours Administration Mechanical Workshops in Nairobi while on a visit to Kenya in October 1956 Kenya looks forward to the effects on trade. 'I expect significant and positive economic spillover effects,' said Aly Khan Satchu, a Nairobi-based investment consultant. 'There has been a lot of chatter about the need to move 100million low-cost manufacturing jobs out of China, and this positions Kenya as a possible beneficiary and recipient of that transfer.' Poor infrastructure has hurt economic activity through much of Africa. As Kenya's old railway fell behind on repairs due to corruption, the main road from Nairobi to Mombasa became the main link to the port. The two-lane road has become clogged with vehicles and accidents. The new railway should benefit tourism, said Mohammed Hersi, chairman of Kenya Coast Tourism Association. But a concern is Kenya's ability to maintain it once the Chinese hand it over, he said. Kenya Railways has said the railway will be managed by the Chinese contractor for five years, with 610 Chinese workers in charge, while Kenyans are trained to take over. How the 'Lunatic Express' built by British colonialists cost 2,500 lives and why they wanted to construct it British colonialists sacrificed more than 2,500 lives to lay the original track of what was known as the 'Lunatic Express'. Construction of the original line began in Mombasa 1895 and the railway reached Nairobi in 1899. By December 1901, it had reached the shore of Lake Victoria, but building the line proved no easy task for the British. Construction began in Mombasa in 1895. Work on the line was hampered by storms, strikes, local hostility, disease and lion attacks Construction of the original line began in Mombasa in 1895 and the railway reached Nairobi in 1899. By 1901 it had got to Lake Victoria The aim then was to create a route linking Mombasa to Uganda, the source of the Nile and to open up Africa's 'interior'. But huge costs - both financial and in human life - drew strong opposition and the project was soon given its nickname. Disease and attacks by wild animals killed some 2,500 workers, many of them labourers imported from India. They famously toiled in the heat to meet their imperial masters' ambitious timetable. Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson oversaw the construction of a railway bridge over the Tsavo river in 1898. Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson (pictured with one of the two dead Tsavo Man-Eaters) described how he and his workers became drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with two lions, claiming they ate 135 men before he killed them For a brief period, the 660-mile track proved a success, despite its massive cost, opening up Africa's 'interior' to tradesmen and colonists and transforming the region. In this photograph, former US president Theodore Roosevelt inspects a train on the track Railway men pose for a photo on a railway trolley on a bridge in 1885. The aim then was to create a route linking Mombasa to Uganda He told how he and his workers became drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a local pride of lions. Lt Col Patterson's story was dramatised in 1996 movie The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Val Kilmer, as Patterson 'Our work was soon interrupted in a rude and startling manner,' he wrote. 'Two most voracious and insatiable man-eating lions appeared upon the scene and for over nine months waged an intermittent warfare against the railway and all those connected with it in the vicinity of Tsavo.' One of the lions' many victims was the unfortunate superintendent Charles Ryall, who was dragged from his carriage and killed by one of the beasts. Lt Col Patterson's story was later dramatised in the 1996 movie The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Val Kilmer, as Patterson, and Michael Douglas. For a brief period, the 660-mile track proved a success, despite its massive cost, opening up Africa's 'interior' to tradesmen and colonists and transforming the region. Tellingly, Winston Churchill, who later shot zebra from the train, called it 'one of the finest expositions of the British art of muddling through'. But over the years it was blighted by bandit raids, corruption and neglect. Trains in recent decades have been infrequent and slow, running at little more than around 15mph. There have also been numerous derailments and delays in recent years, sparking serious safety fears and a resulting passenger exodus. Advertisement The five-hour journey will take less than half the time to drive between the two cities, a hair-raising trip on a one-lane highway clogged with lumbering trucks and where accidents claim dozens of lives each year Construction of this 378-mile section was scheduled to be completed in December, but observers said President Kenyatta's government hastened its launch to boost his re-election bid in August The newly opened railway is the first phase of a project to connect Kenya's landlocked neighbours Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan to Mombasa Kenya Railways train attendants are silhouetted as they walk to their buses after arriving at the Mombasa passenger station with one of the new passenger trains, using the new Mombasa to Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway Michigan cops have released footage of a shootout in suburban Grand Rapids that led to the death of an 18-year-old felon. Malik Carey had been stopped on May 3 by three police officers after his probation officer said he had absconded; he had previously been convicted of firing on a car with civilians in it. Carey and an officer chatted until his identity was confirmed - at which point he pulled a gun on the cops, leading to an intense shootout culminating in his death, MLive reported. Scroll down for video Malik Carey (left), 18, was shot on May 3 after cops spotted him breaking probation. Bodycam footage shows him reaching into his pants for a gun (right) before opening fire on police The footage, released by the Kent County prosecutor, shows the cops with Carey on the 1300 block of Dickinson, where one of them had recognized him as a probation absconder. It shows the scene from the viewpoints of several different officers, three of whom would eventually be forced to fire on Carey. Carey, who is sat in the back of a white car, is initially approached by officer Benjamin Hawkins, who asks him his name. Carey is reluctant to reply, and eventually gave his name as Willie Walton III. The youth opens up a little as Hawkins engages him in a conversation about his dreads. Minutes later - in a moment cut from the footage - Hawkins left to inspect a photo of Carey that had been sent to a cruiser. He is then seen returning to the car and opening a rear door to enter it, then telling the youth to put his hands on his head. Carey reaches into his pants and pulls out a gun, opening fire on Hawkins and officer Tony Gamez, who is stood behind him. He fired at least four shots, police said. They scramble around the car and return fire; Officer David Lilly manages to taze Carey but a couple of seconds later he bolts from the car, is struck and falls. Carey (circled) was hit two times as he fled his car. The youth died in hospital after the shooting. None of the police were harmed Carey was hit two times and is seen raising his arms for police at the end of the video. He died in hospital. None of the cops were harmed. The young man was found to be lying on top of a .38 revolver. The shooting was ruled justified. State police said Hawkins fired 11 shots. Gamez fired seven. Lilly did not fire his gun. 'Mr Carey was the person who initiated the violence,' said Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker. 'He drew his gun, pointed his gun, and fired his gun at least four times before any police officer could even draw their firearm. 'This was a classic case of "a sudden, fierce and violent attack."' Had he survived, Becker said, Carey would likely have been charged with assault with intent to murder. The body of a 25-year-old hiker from Washington state was discovered by divers on Tuesday, a day after officials said he plummeted to his death from a cliff while posing for a selfie with his girlfriend. The victim, identified by local news outlets and friends on Facebook as Cade Prophet, slipped and fell from a rocky ledge into the river at Palouse Falls State Park on Monday. According to officials, Prophet and his girlfriend spending Memorial Day hiking the picturesque park and taking selfies in an area deemed 'unsafe' for visitors. Life lost: Friends identified 25-year-old Cade Prophet (pictured with his girlfriend) as the hiker who slipped and fell to his death at Palouse Falls State Park in Washington state on Monday Treacherous terrain: Prophet, of Spokane, Washington, lost his footing while trying to take a selfie with his girlfriend during a Memorial Day hike Prophet, a native of Idaho who worked for a car dealership in Spokane, according to the station KREM2, lost his footing and plunged 40 feet, slamming into the side of the cliff before rolling into the river. KXLY reported that at around 1pm on Tuesday, Day 2 of a search and recovery operation, divers located Prophets body in a pool of water above the waterfall, and it was retrieved later that afternoon. The Franklin County coroner will perform an autopsy and release the victims identity and cause of death. Prophet posted this photo of a blue sky just a couple of hours before his death Final photo: Prophet shared this selfie of himself riding in his girlfriend's car on the way to the state park less than two hours before his death Shortly before noon on Monday, just hours prior to his death, Prophet posted a status update on his Facebook page that read: 'Beautiful morning for a trip to Pallouse Falls!' About an hour later, he shared what was to become his final photo - a selfie showing him riding in a car with his girlfriend. The couple had been together for a year and a half. At around 2.30pm, another park visitor said that he saw a woman climbing in a steep area of the park and shouting that her boyfriend had fallen off the cliff, reported the Tri-City Herald. Emergency and rescue teams arrived at the falls a short time later and spent several hours searching for Prophet without success. The man's girlfriend told authorities that he hit a rock on his way into the water, before being swept downstream by a swift current, according to CBS News. Prophet was a native of Idaho who lived in Spokane and worked there at a car dealership The water is said to be very cold and high at the moment. According to social media postings, Prophet is survived by his mother, father and two siblings, a brother and sister. Washington State Parks has expressed concern about the safety of unmarked trails near the visually arresting but treacherous falls. In late 2015, park officials erected temporary fencing to prevent hikers from attempting potentially dangerous trails near Palouse Falls. The fencing was removed in 2016, however, and replaced with new signs warning hikers of the perils of using unmarked trails. Prophet's girlfriend told park officials he struck a rock on the way down into the water Authorities have been concerned about hikers' safety along unmarked trails at the state park 'Travel beyond this point is on potentially hazardous trails,' read the warning on the signs. 'Users assume all risk associated with travel beyond this point. Rescue costs will be at the expense of the injured party.' In April 2016, a person drowned while swimming below the falls, reported The Spokesman-Review. In June 1975, a woman slipped and fell 500 feet to her death during a hike, and a decade later, a 22-year-old man drowned after jumping from a rock at the top of the cascade into the river below. The death toll in the besieged city of Marawi has soared to 129 as President Rodrigo Duterte's troops bombard ISIS militants from the sky. As the government's soldiers attempt to flush out the militants linked to Islamic State, the terror group has started taking hostages with 1,000 residents still trapped in the city. Almost the same number of people have been rescued and Philippine troops are said to have cleared 90 per cent of Marawi amid intense gunfire, but the rebels still hold about a tenth of the city, the army said. The priest, filmed in front of a war-scarred building, said he is being held with 200 other captives including children. Trapped Filipino villagers are escorted by government troops during a rescue operation as fighting between Islamist militants and government forces continues in Marawi city, Mindanao island, southern Philippines Philippine soldiers walk past Islamic State group graffiti in Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao In the video apparently taken under duress by militants, Father Teresito Suganob said his captors wanted the military to withdraw its forces from Marawi, where Islamic militants still hold pockets of territory after a week of gunbattles with the army A policeman stands on guard at a main street in Sarimanok village, in Marawi city, Philippines Heavily-armed soldiers in camouflage and carrying huge assault rifles stand guard in Marawi In the video apparently taken under duress by militants, Father Teresito Suganob said his captors wanted the military to withdraw its forces from Marawi, where Islamic militants still hold pockets of territory after a week of gunbattles with the army. A colleague of Suganob confirmed the man in the video is the priest. It was not clear when the video was taken or who released it online, and whether Suganob believed what he was saying or was forced to say it. Suganob, standing in front of debris and partially burned buildings, said: 'We want to live another day, we want to live another month,'Directing his remarks to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. ISIS plan to burn a city General Eduardo Ano, the military chief, said extremists had plotted to set Marawi ablaze entirely to project ISIS' influence. The extremists wanted to kill Christians in nearby Iligan city on Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, to mimic the violence seen by the world in Syria and Iraq, Ano said. Southeast Asian fighters fleeing the Middle East 'could look to Mindanao to provide temporary refuge as they work their way home,' said a report late last year by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, predicting a high risk of regional violence. Marawi is regarded as the heartland of the Islamic faith on Mindanao island. Advertisement 'We want to live few years and in your generosity, Mr President, in your heart, we know you can make something happen.' Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Pena confirmed that it was Suganob in the video. 'I was glad to see that he is alive but we were also saddened because the fact that the terrorists are ready to negotiate means they are pressed against the wall and they are also desirous to get away from the situation and their bargaining chip are the hostages,' he said in a telephone interview. 'It was taken in Marawi and it was him, and the emotions that came out I think were really authentic,' he said, adding that Suganob looked truly afraid when an explosion was heard in the background. He said Suganob's mention of people with him made it appear that they are also alive. 'It gives us a lot of hope that these people are worth saving, because they are still alive,' he said. 'If the air strikes continue, they will really be in danger.' Suganob said in the video that he was taken prisoner along with a professor from Mindanao State University, two female church workers and seven teachers. 'Along with us are about 200 carpenters, household helpers, children and youth, and ordinary Christian settlers,' he said. A government soldier carries a boy who was rescues along with twenty other residents as the government troops continue to assault the Maute group in Marawi city, Philippines Government soldiers help two boys board a public vehicle along with twenty other residents who were rescued as the government troops continue their assault on ISIS in the Philippines The bloody week-long assault by Islamist rebels in the southern Philippine city is being fuelled with stolen weapons and ammunition and fighters broken out of jails, the military said on Wednesday, as troops battled militants resisting ground and air attacks. The pro-Islamic State Maute group has proven to be a fierce enemy, clinging on to the heart of Marawi City through days of air strikes on what the military called known rebel targets, defying expectations of a swift end to their occupation. The military on Wednesday deployed for the first time SF-260 close air support planes to back attack helicopters and ground troops looking to box rebels into a downtown area. Military spokesman Restituto Padilla said the hardline Maute had kept up the fight with rifles and ammunition stolen from a police station, a prison, and an armoured police vehicle. 'They were able to get an armoured vehicle of the police,' Padilla added. 'Inside, there is a supply of bullets,' he said, adding that the ammunition was among the stolen items the rebels were using to resist the forces being poured into the area. The militants, who freed jailed comrades to join the battle, opted for urban warfare because arms were available in the city and homes and shops provided ample supplies of food, Padilla said. 'Yes indeed, there was planning involved,' he added. Rescue workers are escorted by Philippine soldiers in their respective vehicles as smoke from burning houses rise in the background Government soldiers inspect residents' suitcases after going past a military checkpoint in Marawi city Yesterday it was revealed teenage ISIS fighters were said to be shooting people dead for failing to quote the Koran in a besieged Philippines city. As 50,000 people fled the city of Marawi in the south of the country, some reported the terror they had left behind. Terrified residents reported young jihadis taking orders from commanders in their early 20s to force people to recite verses of the Islamic scripture, but when they failed, they would be shot dead to a chorus of laughter. Philippine authorities on Tuesday warned Islamist militants occupying parts of a southern city to surrender or die, as attack helicopters pounded the gunmen's strongholds where up to 2,000 residents are still feared trapped. The militants had killed at least 19 civilians, while 20 security forces and 65 gunmen had died, according to the military A government soldier points to graffiti on some metal shutters which reads, 'Welcome ISIS,' with a crown painted over it Confiscated ISIS paraphernalia and heavy duty weapons being guarded by a Philippine marine A Philippine Marine guards communication equipment, high-powered firearms, including a 50-caliber machinegun, ammunitions, uniforms, and black ISIS-style flags Tuesday, May 30, 2017 in Marawi city southern Philippines Philippine Marine Major Rowan Rimas holds one of several high-powered firearms, which were recovered by Government forces in the fighting against Muslim militants Communications devices, rifles, grenade launchers, assault rifles and ammunition belonging to ISIS laid out on a table having been confiscated A woman calls out to her relatives after identifying bodies dumped off a cliff along the highway leading to Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao on May 28, 2017 The conflict began last week when gunmen waving black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group rampaged through the mostly Muslim-populated city of Marawi. Tens of thousands managed to flee and one woman told The Telegraph her decision to leave was sealed when she witnessed teenage jihadis laughing at innocent people being shot. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao, home to roughly 20 million people, in response to the crisis as he warned that local militant groups were uniting behind IS and becoming a major security threat. But the militants, initially estimated by the nation's defence chief to number just 100, have withstood eight days of intense air assaults and street-to-street combat, prompting the government's threats on Tuesday. 'We call on the remaining terrorists to surrender while there is an opportunity,' military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said in a statement. 'For the terrorists, not surrendering will mean their sure death.' Padilla also said the surrender call warning was aimed at limiting the loss of more lives and property. Up to 2,000 residents were trapped in areas held by the militants, according to the local government, and the International Committee of the Red Cross had voiced alarm they would be caught in the bombing raids or crossfire. The militants also took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage at the start of the crisis, and their fate remains unknown. The militants released a video in which they threatened to kill the hostages, according to a report by the SITE Intelligence Group on Monday that could not be verified. And clashes on Tuesday appeared to be as intense as previous days as military helicopters fired rockets repeatedly on that part of the city and black smoke rose from the buildings that were apparently hit. The gunmen were being backed by foreign fighters, including those from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, authorities said. Government troops head to the frontline as fighting with Muslim militants in Marawi city enters its second week on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in southern Philippines A Filipino villager (left), who was trapped inside the Maute stronghold, is assisted by a government troop after she escaped in Marawi City, Mindanao Island, southern Philippines Philippine forces pressed their offensive to drive out militants linked to the Islamic State group after days of fighting left corpses in the streets and hundreds of civilians begging for rescue from a besieged southern city of Marawi A Philippine Marine fires his weapon towards the stronghold of Maute group in Marawi city A Philippine Marine runs for cover near the stronghold of Maute group in Marawi City, southern Philippines A soldier points his gun over a wall as troops walk through the streets in a bid to remove ISIS Government troops take positions as fighting with Muslim militants in Marawi city enters its second week Government troops line the streets of Marawi in the south of the Philippines amid ISIS tension Government troops cross a bridge after securing a village outside Marawi city on Tuesday The militants had killed at least 19 civilians, while 20 security forces and 65 gunmen had died, according to the military. The death toll looked likely to climb, with soldiers reporting the smell of corpses in a public market still being held by the militants. Martin Thalmann, deputy head of the ICRC's Philippine delegation who is in Marawi, also said on Monday his staff had received reports from people trapped inside the militants' areas that residents had died from stray bullets and sickness. President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law in the Philippines The violence began when dozens of gunmen went on a rampage in response to an attempt by security forces to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as the local leader of ISIS. Hapilon, a senior member of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom gang, is on the US government's list of most-wanted terrorists. He was being protected in Marawi by the local Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS. Hapilon, the Maute and other militants had been planning a major attack on Marawi, one of the few Islamic cities in the mainly Catholic Philippines with a population of 200,000 people, armed forces chief General Eduardo Ano said. He said they were planning to launch the assault to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on the weekend, but the raid on Hapilon triggered them to attack earlier, according to Ano. Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines has claimed more than 120,000 lives since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging a final peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. The Maute, the Abu Sayyaf and other hardline groups are not interested in negotiating and have in recent years looked to IS to help them. The Marawi violence was intended to highlight their credentials to IS, security analysts have said. Duterte said Saturday he was prepared to enforce martial law for as long as was necessary to end the terrorist threat. Filipino troops inspect graffiti outside a parade of shops which reads, 'I love ISIS' with the date under it as well as 'ISIS fighters' written on the ground Up to 2,000 residents were trapped in areas held by the militants, according to the local government, and the International Committee of the Red Cross had voiced alarm they would be caught in the bombing raids or crossfire Philippine Marines aim their weapons towards the stronghold of Maute group in Marawi The Islamic fighters are said to be well-armed and resilient and experts have warned that with ISIS weakened in Syria and Iraq, battered by years of American-led attacks, Mindanao could become a focal point for regional fighters. The fighters' support network in Marawi remains unclear, though the power of one militant group - the Mautes - has grown in recent years. Led by members of the city's Maute clan, the group has become increasingly active across Lanao del Sur province, where Marawi is located, and has been instrumental in the fighting this past week. A woman who may have been trying to reach Canada on foot from the United States was found dead in a remote part of northwestern Minnesota, authorities said. The body of 57-year-old Mavis Otuteye, who authorities believe was a citizen of Ghana in western Africa, was found Friday in a field a half-mile from the Canadian border near the tiny town of Noyes, Minnesota, according to the Kittson County Sheriff's Office. The day before her body was discovered by US Customs and Border Patrol, she was reported missing as of May 22, according to the Star Tribune. Mavis Otuteye, 57, was found dead in a field near the town of Noyes, Minnesota. Authorities believe she was trying to cross the border into Canada on foot to join her daughter living there Otuteye was likely headed to Canada on foot to try to reunite with her daughter, Chief Deputy Matt Vig told WDAZ. He said Otuteye had been living in Delaware for the past several years. Final autopsy results are pending, but Vig said the preliminary results indicate she died of hypothermia. The officer said that when she was found, part of her body was in a shallow pool of water in a drainage ditch. 'The temperatures that night were in the 40s,' Vig told WDAZ. 'Just tough weather for her to make that journey.' Otyteye's body was found partially submerged in a shallow pool of water in a drainage ditch. Preliminary autopsy reports suggest that Otuteye died of hypothermia. Otuteye's immigration status in the US was not immediately clear. Vig did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Wednesday, nor did a local spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Otuteye's sister-in-law, Regina Otuteye, told the Star Tribune that Otuteye did not mention traveling from Delaware to Canada to see her only child the last time they spoke, back in March. There's been a surge in immigrants trying to illegally cross the US border into Canada on foot from Minnesota and North Dakota since Donald Trump became president. Officials say most of the immigrants have been natives of Somalia, which was one of the countries named in Trump's attempted travel ban, but they've also come from Ghana, Djibouti, Nigeria and Burundi. Many of them risked brutal winter weather to avoid border posts because official Canadian entry points turn back asylum seekers arriving from countries considered safe, such as the US. But, that policy doesn't apply to people who reach Canadian soil first, resulting in many people crossing fields and ditches to avoid the official checkpoints. The most recent Royal Canadian Mounted Police figures show that 859 people were stopped between official border points in April. So far this year, there have been 1,993 interceptions in Quebec, 477 in Manitoba and 233 in British Columbia. Otuteye's death remains under investigation by Kittson County sheriff's officials and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Advertisement Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump took the day off from work on Wednesday as the couple observed the Jewish holiday Shavuot. The two were seen heading to American Friends of Lubavitch with their two older children, Arabella and Joseph, and the family walked the half-mile to shul from their home. Baby Theodore meanwhile joined in his stroller, which was being pushed by his uncle Joshua. Jared and Ivanka's absence from work comes as both are facing mounting criticism and questions in their professional lives. It was less than a week ago that a report emerged revealing that Jared had sought to open a secret back channel with Russia, while three labor activists investigating Ivanka-brand shoes in China disappeared last week according to their family members. Both Jared and Ivanka have refused to address those reports. Away they go: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump skipped work on Wednesday to observe Shavuot Smile and a wave: The couple were seen heading to shul with their children Arabella and Joseph Emerging from the backgorund: The three were also joined by Jared's brother Joshua, who pushed baby Theodore in his stroller Day of change: Jared and Ivanka's day off comes as President Trump is reportedly preparing to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement against his daughter's wishes Rare visit: Joshua has made few visits to Washington DC in the months since his brother moved to the nation's capital Heavy lifting: Joshua carried baby Theodore and his stroller into shul on Wednesday morning For the family outing on Wednesday, Ivanka kept things simple in a black short-sleeved blouse and pleated skirt while Arabella wore a $500 dress from Oscar de la Renta with an over-sized hair bow. Jared meanwhile was looking particularly colorful, swapping out his usual charcoal suit for a navy blue look, which he paired with Ray Bans and a maroon tie. Joseph rounded things out in a black suit and white shirt. Make way for uncle: After church the family headed home while Jared stayed behind at shul Horsing around: Joshua walked the children home and spent some time playing with Arabella and Joseph On trend: Arabella held a fidget spinner in her hand, which she played with during the walk home Back to basics: Joshua kept things old school and was seen carrying around a clear bouncy ball Safety first: Joshua held Arabella and Joseph's hands as they crossed the street on their half-mile walk back home Helping hand: Ivanka pushed Theo in his stroller while Joshua walked ahead with her two older children Hello handsome: Joshua has only been to DC a handful of times since his brother moved back in January Ticket to ride: Theodore enjoyed the warm swing weather while being carted around in his stroller on Wednesday Shavuot is a two-day holiday that began at sundown on Tuesday and lasts through Thursday, marking the day that the Torah was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. Jared and Ivanka's day off also came as reports began to circulate claiming that President Trump would be withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement, despite protests from his own daughter. Should he in fact pull out, the United States would be one of only three countries not part of the sgreement, alongside Nicaragua and Syria. Sibling time: Arabella entertains Theodore as the family walks home after shul on Wednesday Grown-up talk: Joshua and his sister-in-law Ivanka chatted while the children played together on the walk home Hip knapsack: Ivanka lugged around an orange backpack on Theodore's stroller during the family outing on Wednesday Throwing it down: Joseph lost control of his fidget spinner on his first attempt to use the toy Loving life: Theodore sat back and relaxed in his carriage while Joseph tried to figure out how to work his new fidget spinner Formal wear: Theodore wore a pair of crisp white pants for the trip to shul on Wednesday Back to wotrk: Jared was later back at the White House as part of the delegation to meet with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc President Trump has come to the defense of his son-in-law over reports of his Russian dealings, calling the news 'fabricated.' After eschewing Twitter during his nine-day trip abroad to the Middle East and Europe last week, President Trump furiously dismissed the allegations of Russia ties as 'fake news' and 'fabricated lies.' 'It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media,' tweeted President Trump upon his return. Shul simplicity: Ivanka kept things basic in a black short-sleeved blouse and pleated skirt on Wednesday Dollar, dollar bills: Arabella wore a $500 dress from Oscar de la Renta with an over-sized hair bow Blinded by the light: Jared was looking particularly colorful, swapping out his usual charcoal suit for a navy blue look, which he paired with Ray Bans and a maroon tie. Carried away: Joseph rounded things out in a black suit and white shirt on Wednesday Abbey Road: Shavuot is a two-day holiday that began at sundown on Tuesday and lasts through Thursday Keeping watch: Shavuot marks the day that the Torah was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai 'Whenever you see the words 'sources say' in the fake news media, and they don't mention names it is very possible that those sources don't exist but are made up by fake news writers. #FakeNews is the enemy!' Joshua's girlfriend Karlie Kloss welcomed Kendall Jenner to the Adidas family on Wednesday (above) In yet another tweet, amid criticism of his frequent Twitter rants, Trump wrote: 'the Fake News Media works hard at disparaging & demeaning my use of social media because they don't want America to hear the real story!' He later tweeted a Fox News story defending Jared, despite the fact that the piece cited an unnamed source. And that's not Jared's only problem these days. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee called for an investigation into 'potentially fraudulent statements and misrepresentations' made by companies promoting investment in a property development involving the Kushner family last week. Chuck Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa, requested a review of claims made by Chinese migration agency Qiaowai and the U.S. Immigration Fund in the marketing of the One Journal Square project in Jersey City, New Jersey to potential investors in China. Grassley flagged his concerns to the Department of Homeland Security and the Securities and Exchange Commission in a May 24 letter that was later posted on his website. Private eyes: President Trump has come to the defense of his son-in-law over reports of his Russian dealings, calling the news 'fabricated' Walk and talk: Ivanka walked the half-mile to shul in a pair of four-inch heels, carrying Joseph part of the way Keeping quiet: Jared has yet to speak publicly about his Russia scandal in the week since he return from his trip overseas with President Trump Scandal loves company: Ivanka is facing her own professional troubles after two activists investigating her company went missing Nicole Kushner Meyer, the sister to White House adviser Jared Kushner, spoke at an event earlier this month in Beijing where she was marketing a property owned by their family in New Jersey. She made a pitch to attract $150million in financing for the housing development known as One Journal Square, a $976.4million project that's currently underway, to the more than 100 Chinese investors who attended the event at the Ritz-Carlton. The money would be provided though EB-5, a government program that provides foreign investors a path to citizenship in exchange for investments of at least $500,000 in U.S. development projects. The company has stated about 15 per cent of the nearly $1billion project will be funded through the EB-5 program. A car dashcam captured the moment two thugs ran from a home after threatening a family with a machete. The men burst into the property in the Hall Green area of Birmingham at around 5pm on Monday night before making off empty handed. Footage shot from a nearby car shows the pair, both dressed in grey with one armed with a long knife, running away. A car's dashcam captured the shocking moment a would-be robber ran past with a machete As well as the machete, one of the pair was wielding a wooden pole as the pair knocked on the door and forced their way into the property. They demanded money before two of the occupants managed to get them out of the house leave empty-handed. DC Tom Lyons, from West Midlands Police CID, said: 'This was a nasty incident where weapons were brandished to threaten the family. 'Thankfully no-one was seriously injured but we are keen to catch those responsible as soon as we can and we are asking the public for their help.' Police are hunting these who suspects after the shocking incident in Birmingham this week Anyone with information can contact DC Lyons on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Foreign property buyers will soon be forced to pay more than double the current taxes when they purchase a property in New South Wales. The increase is part of a $1.9 billlion plan set to be announced by New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday, reported the Daily Telegraph. The plan will see international buyers pay 8 per cent of property's worth in extra stamp duty charges, an increase from the current rate of 4 per cent. Foreign property buyers will soon be forced to pay more than double the current taxes in stamp duty when they purchase a property in New South Wales (stock image) The increase is part of a $1.9 billlion plan set to be announced by New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) on Thursday The annual land tax surcharge for foreign buyers will also increase from 0.75 to 2 per cent a year. The extra money is expected to fund help for NSW's struggling first-home buyers. Increases to the stamp duty surcharge and the land tax surcharge are expected to raise $1.9 billion over the next four years. Stamp duty charges on existing homes for first-home buyers were removed by former premier Mike Baird, but are now set to be reintroduced by the current state government. The plan will see international buyers pay 8 per cent of the worth of the property they purchase in extra stamp duty charges (stock image) The Foreign Investor Surcharge Duty (stamp duty surcharge), which will double to 8 per cent from July 1, 2017, is in addition to the transfer duty of up to 7 per cent that foreign investors already face. This means foreign buyers could soon face paying 14.5 per cent of the total purchase price of the most expensive properties in NSW. The new measures are tougher than any other state in Australia, including Victoria which charges foreign buyers 7 per cent stamp duty and 1.5 per cent land tax. The announcement compares with others in Hong Kong and Singapore, where governments charge 15 per cent stamp duties to foreign buyers. In the Canadian states of British Columbia and Ontario the governments have also implemented 15 per cent foreign buyer transfer taxes. The annual land tax surcharge for foreign buyers is also set to increase from 0.75 to 2 per cent a year (stock image) A 25-year-old man claiming to be carrying a bomb attempted to hijack a flight and force his way into the plane's cockpit, before other passengers wrestled him to the ground. Images from inside Malaysia Airlines flight MH128, travelling from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, show flight staff using makeshift handcuffs to restrain the attacker and keep him pressed to the ground. People on board witnessed the man attack an air hostess just minutes after take-off at 11.11pm on Wednesday, before he was heard shouting 'I'm going to blow up this plane'. Passengers then confronted the man and tackled him down to the ground, allowing the pilot to make a dramatic u-turn back to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport. Superintendent Tony Langdon said the person, an Australian citizen from Dandenong in Melbourne's southeast, was in police custody and being interviewed. Scroll down for video Images of the terrifying moment the attacker was subdued by passengers onboard the flight have been shared to social media. Having been tackled to the floor, photos appear to show a Malaysia Airlines flight attendant placing makeshift keeping him pressed to the ground Gun-wielding special operation officers wearing camouflage outfits and bullet-proof vests boarded the MH128 flight as it sat on the tarmac at Melbourne Airport, before detaining the attacker According to witnesses, the man yelled 'I'm going to blow up this plane' as he attempted to enter the cockpit Gun-wielding special operation officers wearing camouflage and bullet-proof vests boarded the plane and detained the attacker, with all passengers disembarking the flight shortly before 2am. Former AFL star Andrew Leoncelli was sitting in business class on the flight and was just metres from the man as he launched his attack. Mr Leoncelli told The Age the man began attacking an air-hostess, 'screaming' at her that he 'needed to see the captain'. 'I've got a bomb and I'm going to f***ing blow the plane up,' Leoncelli quoted the man as saying. 'Literally he was eyeball to eyeball with me saying he was going to blow the plane up... he looked like a lunatic.' Mr Leoncelli said the man, who was tall and had dark skin, was holding a 'huge, metallic, unusual' object the size of a watermelon with two short antennas. 'We spent an hour and a half sitting on the plane sh***ing our dacks that this thing might blow up,' he told Triple M radio. Passengers on board the plane said the man was holding a 'huge, metallic' object with antennas coming out of it After making an emergency landing the plane sat on the Melbourne Airport tarmac for more than two hours After making an emergency landing the plane sat on the tarmac with passengers still onboard for more than two hours, with passengers disembarking (pictured) shortly before 2am Superintendent Langdon said the man had a history of mental illness and was not carrying an explosive device. 'It's quite heroic for the passengers and crew to restrain this person,' he said. The Malaysian Government claimed the suspicious object the man was holding was likely a powerbank used to charge mobile phones. 'It is believed that the suspect is a Sri Lankan national, and that he was drunk,' Malaysias Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Aziz Ab Kaprawi told The Star. After making an emergency landing the plane sat on the tarmac with passengers still on board for more than two hours. All flights out of Tullamarine were grounded, while incoming aircraft have been diverted to nearby Avalon Airport, or as far away as Tasmania. The plane has been moved to a secure location for further checking before it is brought back to the tarmac. Passenger Arif Chaudhery said he believed the man was drunk or on drugs when he threatened to blow up the plane A woman named Vanessa, whose boyfriend Andrew was a passenger onboard, said the man threatened to detonate the explosives on the plane. The guy said 'I'm going to blow up this plane',' she said All flights out of Tullamarine (pictured) have reportedly been grounded, while incoming aircraft have been diverted to nearby Avalon Airport, or as far away as Tasmania Police have set up a perimeter around the airport, but insist there is no imminent threat A woman named Vanessa, whose boyfriend was a passenger onboard, told radio station 3AW the man threatened to detonate the explosives on the plane. 'He was the one who first confronted him when an air hostess was getting scared of this guy and that's when the guy said 'I'm going to blow up this plane',' she said. Vanessa said the man then ran to another part of the plane where he was tackled to the ground by passengers. Saiqa Chaudhery, whose husband was on the flight, described the horrifying scenes. 'He heard a lot of screaming and (an) airhostess calling out for help as a passenger attacked her,' Ms Chaudhery told News.com.au. 'Some other passengers and crew tied the man down and (the) flight landed back at Melbourne Airport 25 minutes after takeoff.' MALAYSIA AIRLINE'S CALAMITOUS HISTORY - December, 4, 1977: Malaysian Airline System Flight 653, a Boeing 737-200, is hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, killing all 100 people on board. - December 18, 1983: Malaysian Airline System Flight 684, an Airbus A300B2, crashed 2km short of the runway at Subang Airport. All 247 passengers and crew survived. All 247 passengers and crew miraculously survived when Airline System Flight 684 crashed 2km short of the runway at Subang Airport - September 15, 1995: Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 touched down too far along the runway at Tawau Airport, Sabah. It crashed into a shanty town and killed 34 of the 53 people on board. - March 8, 2014: The infamous flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. The plane has never been located but satellite date suggested it disappeared somewhere over the Southern Indian Ocean and all 239 people on board most likely perished. Wreckage from the infamous flight MH370, which disappeared over the Indian Ocean with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, has been washing up ever since it vanished in 2014 - July 17, 2014: Flight MH17, a Boeing 777-200ER, was shot down over Ukraine by a missile on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members aboard were killed. Flight MH17, a Boeing 777-200ER, was shot down over Ukraine by a missile, killing all 298 people on board - April 8, 2017: Malaysia Airlines Flight 2718 overran the runway on landing at Sibu Airport. The nose gear collapsed but all 67 people on board survived. No one was killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 2718 overran the runway on landing at Sibu Airport Advertisement Malaysian Airlines flight MH128 travelling to Kuala Lumpur, took off from Melbourne Airport at 11.11pm on Wednesday, before being forced to turn around only minutes later 'Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft 'hijacked',' a statement from the airline read Malaysia Airlines has released a statement confirming the incident. 'Malaysia Airlines flight MH128 of 31 May from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was forced to turn back to Melbourne due to a disruptive passenger,' it read. 'MH128, which had departed Melbourne Airport at 11.11 pm and was scheduled to arrive Kuala Lumpur at 5.28am on 1 June, made a turn back to Melbourne after the operating Captain was alerted by a cabin crew member of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit. 'Malaysia Airlines would like to stress that at no point was the aircraft 'hijacked. MH128 safely landed in Melbourne airport at 11.41pm. 'Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security. Malaysia Airlines together with the Australian authorities will be investigating the incident. 'Safety and security are of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines. The airline wishes to apologise for the inconvenience caused. Passengers have safely disembarked the aircraft and will be screened by Australian authorities. 'Affected passengers will be accommodated at hotels. They will be offered travel on the next available flight or on other carriers.' Victoria Police Senior Constable Adam West said that Malaysia Airlines had called for assistance at 11.40pm. 'It is alleged that a man tried to enter the cockpit and threatened the safety of passengers and staff,' 'The man did not gain entry to the cockpit. The man was subdued and a safety plan was enacted. 'There appears to be no imminent threat to passengers, staff or public and the investigation is ongoing.' Veronica Mejia was arrested after police said minors were drinking at her son's party A mother has been arrested after cops said they busted as many as 30 underage drinkers at a party in her home for her son's graduation. Veronica Mejia was charged with hosting an illegal house party and allowing minors to consume alcohol, both misdemeanors, on Saturday at her Fort Payne, Alabama home, AL.com reported. Fort Payne is a small town of about 14,000 residents in the northeast corner of the state. Police say they responded to complaints of traffic disruption and found a party of about 100 people, 30 of whom were allegedly under the legal drinking age. Police said 30 people ages 15 to 20 were taken into custody. Mejia told police that the party had 'kind of got out of hand', Fort Payne police chief Randy Bynum said. Mejia (left) told police that that the party on Saturday night had 'kind of got out of hand' The party took place at Mejia's home. Police said around 100 people were in attendance, many of them minors who were allegedly drinking alcohol Bynum noted that Mejia had a reputation as an upstanding citizen. 'She's always been respectable,' the police chief said. Mejia owns a car customization business in the area call TOY Store Customs. Bynum said that her previous business venture, an event venue, had always followed laws regarding parties. 'She always did everything by the book, like getting officers to work security and dealing with alcohol,' he said. Mejia is currently free on bond and faces up to six months in jail on the misdemeanor charges. A Tennessee teenager's love for pizza earned her an acceptance letter from Yale University after she wrote about ordering from Papa John's in her application essay. Carolina Williams, who was accepted to the Ivy League school in March, won praise from admissions officers for her standout essay answer. When she was asked to write about something she loves to do, Carolina took a risk and opted for the first thing she could think of - ordering pizza from Papa John's. Carolina Williams' love for pizza earned her a place at Yale University after she wrote about ordering from Papa John's in her application It paid off for the Ravenwood High School graduate. 'Accepting those warm cardboard boxes at my front door is second nature to me, but I will always love ordering pizza because of the way eight slices of something so ordinary are able to evoke feelings of independence, consolation and joy,' she wrote. A Yale admissions officer wrote to her following her acceptance, saying: 'As a fellow lover of pizza, I laughed out loud (then ordered pizza) after reading your application.' Carolina then tweeted Papa John's to let them know of her success. Carolina Williams was accepted to the Ivy League school in March after writing about her love of ordering pizza from Papa John's in a short-essay When she was asked to write about something she loves to do, Carolina took a risk and opted for the first thing she could think of - ordering pizza from Papa John's 'I just want @PapaJohns to know that I wrote a college essay about how much I love to order their pizza and it got me into Yale,' she wrote. In addition to her standout essay, Carolina also ranked in the top 10 of her graduating class and participated in multiple extracurricular activities, The Tennessean reports. She will be the first in her family to go to college. Despite her successful application, Carolina has decided not to attend Yale. She will study business at Auburn University in Alabama because she liked the scholarships. The risky essay paid off for the Ravenwood High School graduate after she was accepted to the Ivy League school Amid daily news revelations sourced to the White House and national security officials, a majority of Americans consider leaking information to the media to be treasonous, according to a new poll. The Trump administration has been buffeted daily by leaks, and the president has taken to blasting the 'fake news' media and called for prosecuting leakers. There are deep divides on the seriousness of the leaking along partisan lines. Among Republicans, 73 per cent considering leaking classified information to be treasonous, while only 36 per cent of Democrats feel the same way. Voters who are unafilliated consider leaking classified information treasonous by a margin of 50 per cent to 27 per cent. The survey was among likely voters. In total, 53 per cent of likely voters consider leaking classified government information an act of treason. Thirty per cent say leaking classified information isn't treason. 53 per cent of likely voters consider leaking classified information to the media to be an act of treason, according to a new poll The survey asked likely voters: 'When media outlets release secret government information, are they providing a public service or hurting national security?' before asking asking whether leaking classified information was an act of 'treason.' The Constitution states that treason against the United States 'shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.' People can't be convicted unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. The penalties are stiff. Under the U.S. Code, 'Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.' White House press secretary Sean Spicer has called leaks 'frankly dangerous,' and complained Tuesday about use of unnamed sources President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak during talks with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (not in picture) in the Oval Office at the White House. Alexander Shcherbak/TASS. Trump passed on secret information about a terror threat during the meeting. Trump defended his decision White House press secretary Sean Spicer has called leaks 'frankly dangerous.' At Tuesday's White House briefing, Spicer vented about leaks. 'What I'm telling you is that the reason the president is frustrated is the perpetration of false narratives, the use of unnamed sources over and over again about things that are happening that don't ultimately happen and I think that is troubling,' he said. Trump has been the subject of damaging leaks, which have included intercepts of some of his phone calls with world leaders. A leak revealed undisclosed contacts between former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and Russia's ambassador to the U.S. The president himself has been accused of divulging U.S. secrets when he reportedly told top Russian officials about a potential terror threat during an Oval Office meeting. Trump seemed to confirm the disclosure when he said on his overseas trip when he said: 'I never mentioned the word Israel,' in what appeared to be a reference to the source of the information. The president has the authority to declassify information. There have also been repeated reports based on internal White House leaks about turf, ideology, and personnel battles within the Trump White House. Leaks forecast the departure of White House communications director Mike Dubke, who released a resignation letter Tuesday. As human bones were dug up from the dirt Matthew Leveson's parents broke down, knowing the decade-long search for their missing son was most probably over. Mark and Faye Leveson have stoically searched for answers about their son's disappearance, ever since he failed to come home from a Sydney nightclub in 2007. In the decade since he vanished, the couple have used their own hands to dig in the bushland of the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, hoping for a breakthrough. And that moment finally arrived on Wednesday, with Mr and Mrs Leveson embracing as police unearthered a skeleton described as 'consistent' with that of the 20-year-old. Scroll down for video Mark and Faye Leveson embrace a detective after the discovery of bones believed to be their missing son Matthew were made on Wednesday In the decade since he disappeared, the couple have used their own hands dig in the bushland of the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, hoping for a breakthrough That moment arrived on Wednesday as bones 'consistent' with those of Matthew Leveson (right) were found. Incredibly, his ex-boyfriend Michael Atkins (left) may not spend a day in jail despite leading police to the area where the bones were found Incredibly, the discovery of the remains means that Michael Atkins, the ex-boyfriend of Matthew and the man once acquitted of his murder, may not spend a day behind bars despite, leading police to the body. Atkins was found not-guilty of murdering his former partner in 2009, but admitted to lying to an inquest into Leveson's disappearance last year. Leaving himself open to prosecution after lying, police cut an immunity deal - with the approval of Mr and Mrs Leveson - provided he gave them information that led to the discovery of a body. However a long search that began last year failed to discover any bones or remains, leaving the 53-year-old Atkins open to potentially spending up to a decade in jail. But it seems that should the bones, which were found 500 metres down the road from the site searched heavily last year belong to Leveson, Atkins will continue to walk free. Forensic officers are continuing to investigate whether the 'items of interest' found on Wednesday are the remains of Mr Leveson. Throughout the search for their son, Mr and Mrs Leveson's determination has been unwavering. Atkins (left) was found not-guilty of murdering his former partner in 2009, but admitted to lying to an inquest into Leveson's disappearance last year, leading police to cut an immunity deal Forensic officers are continuing to investigate whether the 'items of interest' found on Wednesday are the remains of Mr Leveson In the decade since he vanished, the couple have used their own hands dig in the bushland of the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, hoping for a breakthrough NSW forensic police dig the site where the remains believed to be Leveson's were discovered A detective brushes aside dirt over the area where they discovered 'items of interest' Mark and Faye Leveson, the parents of Matthew Leveson, stand together in bushland in the Royal National Park south of Sydney, Monday, May 29 Faye Leveson is seen with her arm around a detective at the search site on Wednesday Faye and Mark Leveson have showed a united front since the beginning of the search for their son The couple have been pictured working tirelessly alongside police officers since the search for their son began in November 2016. The couple have showed a united front since the beginning. Pictures show the couple with digging equipment including shovels, pickaxes and metal detectors to aid in the search for their son who has been missing since 2007. Other pictures taken during the six-month-long search show the couple hand-in-hand at the Royal National Park. After the shock discovery was made on Wednesday, the pair were pictured downcast and leaning on each other for support. One photo shows a New South Wales police detective comforting the couple as they wrap their arms around each other. Investigators were originally led to the remote roadside site late last year by Mr Atkins, late last year, after he took them there following the offer of immunity from prosecution for perjury and contempt of court after admitting to lying at the inquest. NSW Police Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin (centre) comforts Mark and Faye Leveson (left) Mark and Faye Leveson, the parents of Matthew Leveson, speak to police officers in bushland in the Royal National Park south of Sydney Police Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin (pictured centre) shows the Leveson's a spot during their search for possible human remains He was seen using the pickaxe to hack away at dense shrub at Royal National Park in Sydney's south on Friday, May 26 Despite not finding anything during the extensive searches over the past decade, the pair's resolve was never affected. 'We'll keep searching the national park, yes, but whether we search that exact site I don't know yet,' Mark Leveson told Daily Mail Australia last year. 'They have searched every square centimetre looking for Matt. They cannot be accused of being incompetent or not doing their job. 'They've exhausted this site which is frustrating because you could be so close, but you just don't know.' On Wednesday, they seemingly finally got their reward for not giving up on their son. The parents of Matthew Leveson, use a metal detector as they search bushland in the Royal National Park In a note sent Wednesday to reporters, the Republican National Committee whacked Morning Joe, an MSNBC program co-hosted by one of their own. Before his career in media, Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough was a GOP member of the House of Representatives, riding the Republican wave to power in 1994, President Bill Clinton's first set of midterms. 'If there is a leader of the pack for the worst case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, look no further than MSNBC's Morning Joe,' wrote Michael Reed, the Republican National Committee's research director and deputy communications director. Scarborough quickly hit back on Twitter saying, 'This is funny stuff. Interesting to see Trump still obsessed with our show.' 'He should get a hobby or new job that keeps him focused,' added Scarborough, a former pal of the president, who in August wrote an op-ed advising the GOP to dump Trump. The Republican National Committee attacked Morning Joe Wednesday, hosted by the liberal Mika Brzezinski (left) and Joe Scarborough (right), formerly a GOP House member The Republican National Committee sent out a note to reporters bashing Morning Joe, calling it the 'leader of the pack for the worst case of Trump Derangement Syndrome' The Republican National Committee attacked the content of Morning Joe on Wednesday, mocking the hosts for paying attention to President Trump's misfired Tuesday night tweet Morning Joe features Scarborough alongside Mika Brzezinski, a liberal who's also his fiancee for what's supposed to be a bipartisan back-and-forth. But Reed pointed out that that's no longer the case, saying the show went from 'a respected forum for intelligence discourse' to 'three hours of far-left hysteria, filled with more faux scandal and innuendo than a bad episode of Gossip Girl,' he said, referencing the colorful CW series, featuring Upper East Side youths. The RNC spokesman added that a 'rough review' of Wednesday morning's program had Scarborough and Brzezinski discussing 'misspelled tweets, White House staffing plans, uncorroborated Russian stories, and the supposed horror of President Trump giving his cell phone number out.' Tuesday night, President Trump made a late night Twitter mistake, writing, 'Despite the constant negative press covfefe,' and leaving it there. The Morning Joe team discussed that, alongside an Associated Press report that said Trump was handing out his private cell phone numbers to world leaders, which raised security concerns and went against diplomatic protocol. Trump's White House team has also been a constant theme on the morning shows, including Morning Joe, as news broke Tuesday that White House Communications Director Mike Dubke had already resigned. The RNC suggested that this time was wasted when the morning show hosts could have discussed 'how multiple former intelligence heads and members of the left have now indicated there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, how illegal leaks are threatening national security, or the fact that backchannel communications are normal practice.' 'And, if you were tuning in to get a substantive update on health care or tax reform negotiations, good luck,' Reed added. Reed also complained that one of Morning Joe's guests, Democratic Sen. Al Franken, said he still planned to appear alongside comedian Kathy Griffin, whose bloody decapitated Trump head stunt led to fierce public outcry. Earlier Wednesday, CNN announced Griffin would no longer co-host the network's New Year's Eve show alongside Anderson Cooper. Franken, the RNC argued, 'didn't receive a single question on the biggest issue in front of him today' on Morning Joe, that of his decision to still support Griffin. It was on CNN where Franken was asked his thoughts on the controversy. Later, back on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell, the Minnesota Democrat called Griffin's antics 'wrong-headed.' 'Just trying to keep them honest,' Reed said to conclude his note. Scarborough found this laughable. 'The party hack's Dear Leader attack of our news coverage is obsequious, slanted and embarrassing. Try that in North Korea or Russia, Comrade,' the Morning Joe co-host wrote. The ex-Republican congressman also waded into the Griffin controversy. 'If the GOP really thinks a failing comic's pathetic attempt at grabbing headlines is the biggest issue of the day, they are fools,' Scarborough said. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has revealed just how unpopular the former Health Secretary is at Westminster, admitting this will 'not be a good thing' for the West Suffolk MP. Mr Hancock, who has been thrown out of the Tory Parliamentary Party for going 10,000 miles away from his constituency to appear on the ITV show, got covered in slime, cockroaches and spiders last night. H e was also picked by the public to endure a second Bushtucker trial tonight, called Tentacles of Terror. And in a hint that his colleagues at Westminster have played their part, Mr Heaton-Harris said: 'I know the format of the show. There's a lot of people in the House of Commons & House of Lords who've downloaded a certain app [I'm a Celeb] so they can vote'. He added that he believed that "hundreds" of MPs and peers have downloaded it. Mr Hancock received an icy reception from his fellow campmates when he arrived yesterday - with Boy George threatening to walk out and Chris Moyles asking 'what about his constituents?' ITV newsreader Charlene White also gave him a grilling about his motives and Mike Tindall said: 'All I heard him say was bulls**t bulls**t bulls**t!!'. The former Health Secretary tried to reassure the camp that 'Rishi's great, he'll be fine' and 'stability' has been restored in politics when they grilled him on his reasons for entering the jungle. Campmate Charlene White told him: 'We've had stability for all of five minutes Matt'. As Hancock prepares for his second Bucktucker trial tonight, crew are reportedly holding a backstage sweepstake including taking bets on how many trials he will have to endure, according to the Sun . A 20-year-old mother-of-two has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after she admitted to luring an 18-year-old boy to a park where he was ambushed by four MS-13 gang members and stabbed 153 times. Vanesa Alvarado was 19 when prosecutors say she cheered on four MS-13 assassins as they slaughtered Christian Villagran Morales in a Gaithersburg, Maryland park on June 16, 2016. Alvarado, who previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, lured Morales into the MS-13 deathtrap in Malcolm King Park with the promise of sex, said prosecutors. 'This was utterly brutal,' Judge Anne Albright said at the Tuesday sentencing hearing, agreeing with prosecutors to impose the maximum penalty under the terms of Alvarado's plea deal. Femme fatale: Vanesa Alvarado, 20 (left), was sentenced to 40 years in prison for luring Christian Villagran Morales, 18 (right) into a deadly MS-13 ambush with a promise of sex Crime scene: Villagran Morales, a landscaper from Maryland, was found dead inside Malcolm King Park in June 2016, having been stabbed 153 times Jose Coreas-Ventura (left) and Jose Cuadra-Quintanilla (center) are awaiting trials in Villagran Morales' murder. Oscar Delgado-Perez (right), who had been deported twice, faces federal charges related to immigration violations. A fourth suspect not pictured is a minor 'Montgomery County cannot be a community that tolerates violence of this kind,' the judge said, according to WTOP. Alvarado declined to speak at the sentencing hearing, and looked away from the family and friends of Morales as they delivered victim-impact testimony. WHO ARE MS-13? The ultra-violent street gang MS-13 was the first to be designated as an international criminal group. With as many as 20,000 members in 46 states, the gang has expanded far beyond its initial roots. Members are accused of major crimes including murder, kidnapping, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking. Major roundups of MS-13 members have taken place across the country since the early 2000s. In Charlotte, N.C., 53 gang members were arrested as part of Operation Fed Up, which targeted MS-13 members. In 2016, 58 members of MS-13 were rounded up as part of 'Operation Mean Streets'. Previously, two of their most notable killings include stabbing to death a federal witness in 2004 and chopping the hands off of a 16-year-old boy in 2005. Advertisement Morales was born in Guatemala, worked in Maryland as a landscaper and was not involved in gangs, prosecutors said. Alvarado was born and raised in Maryland. The four MS-13 gang members suspected in the brutal slaying are all recent immigrants from Central America, and all are in custody on various charges. Alvarado was arrested just two weeks after the murder along with one of the four suspected attackers, then-16-year-old Juana Gutierrez Vasquez, who also later admitted to his role in the ambush attack, claiming that the victim was a rival gang member. According to prosecutors, however, victim Villagran Morales did not belong to any criminal enterprise, but rather was a hardworking landscaper who had relocated from New Jersey, where his mother lived, to Maryland for work. He dreamed of eventually moving back to his native Guatemala to start a small farm. In the months after his stabbing, police in Montgomery County arrested three other suspects in the murder, among them Jose Coreas-Ventura, Oscar Delgado-Perez and Josue Cuadra-Quintanilla. Coreas-Ventura and Cuadra-Quintanilla are awaiting trials. The case against Delgado-Perez was dropped to clear the way for federal prosecutors to bring him up on charges related to immigration violations, to which he has pleaded guilty, reported the Washington Post. By the time of Villagran Morales' murder, Delgado-Perez had been deported back to his native El Salvador twice, in October 2014 and February 2015, according to federal authorities. Details of the violent attack on Villagran Morales were laid bare in court documents filed as part of Alvarado and Gutierrez Vasquez's guilty pleas. According to the filings, not long before his violent death, the landscaper had a chance encounter with Gutierrez-Vasquez, Cuadra-Quintanilla and Coreas-Ventura at a store where he would usually go to pick up candy or juice after work. Mistaken identity: Prosecutors said Villagran Morales (pictured) had been accosted by three MS-13 gang members shortly before his death and flashed at them hand signs associated with a rival gang, to which he did not belong The trio asked the 18-year-old if he belonged to a gang, to which Villagran Morales replied that he did but refused to state his gang affiliation. When asked by the trio of suspected MS-13 gang members to show hand sings for any gangs, according to the documents, the 18-year-old landscaper responded by flashing signs associated with the 18th Street gang, which is a rival of MS-13, an international gang founded in Los Angeles, California, with factions throughout the US as well as Central America. Following the meeting with Villagran Morales, one of the three men called the leader of the local MS-13 gang, who immediately put out a hit on the perceived rival, according to prosecutors. The gang then allegedly devised a plan in which Vanesa Alvarado, a high school dropout with a history of heavy drug use who was friends with the local MS-13 gang, and who also knew Villagran Morales, would act as a honey trap. On June 16, 2016, Alvarado texted Villagran Morales, saying she wanted to have sex with him and asked him to meet her in the densely wooded Malcolm King Park. Police said she was in on the murder plot as a 'known associate of MS-13.' Prosecutors said Villagran Morales (left and right) did not belong to any criminal enterprise. He was a hardworking landscaper who dreamed of eventually moving back to his native Guatemala to start a small farm Four MS-13 members accosted the pair in the Gaithersburg park and asked Villagran Morales if he wanted to smoke marijuana before they fell upon him, knives drawn, and proceeded to stab him 153 times. Despite his small stature, Villagran Morales had a powerful built owing to weightlifting, and at first he was able to put up a fight, but eventually he became overwhelmed and pleaded his attackers to spare his life, but to no avail. According to prosecutors, Alvarado not only witnessed the slaying but egged on the killers and laughed at the victim, and after the murder she led her friends to the scene of the crime to look at Villagran Morales' body. Alvarado's defense attorney had asked for a sentence of 25 years, writing in a court document that his client, who has two young children, is 'certainly remorseful' over her role in the killing. 'He was a great person,' the victim's mother said at a press conference following Tuesday's sentencing. 'I feel very sad because my son isn't here with me.' A young British girl is lucky to be alive after she was sucked into a swimming pool filter while on holiday with her family in Lanzarote. Little Darcey Morgan, six, was swimming underwater at the H10 Rubicon Palace in Playa Blanca when she got caught in a filter which operates the artificial waterfall. She was held underneath the pool surface for more than two minutes after her hair became tangled in the mechanism, her mother Alex explained in a harrowing Facebook post. Darcey Morgan, six, was swimming underwater at the H10 Rubicon Palace when she got caught in a filter which operates the artificial waterfall Her hair was pulled and ripped from her head until nearby holidaymakers leaped in and pulled her to safety. 'Darcey was unconscious and had to be given CPR at the poolside,' her mother Alex wrote on Facebook. Darcey, who was due to fly home to Leeds in three days, was rushed to the nearby Arecife Hospital where X-rays and tests revealed her oxygen levels were dangerously low and she had lots of fluid in her right lung. She was held underneath the pool surface for more than two minutes after her hair became tangled in the mechanism, her mother Alex said Alex went on: 'This was the worst day of our lives. We are still suffering to come to terms with it all now but also feel incredibly lucky to still have our beautiful, brave little girl.' 'Darcey lost four large clumps of her hair in total but she luckily never saw it and it all grows back.' Alex went on to attack the hotel foe dealing with the incident 'poorly', adding: 'They firstly tried to say that Darcey had slipped at the poolside, hit her head and knocked herself unconscious before falling into the pool. Darcey's hair (left) was pulled and ripped from her head until nearby holidaymakers leaped in and pulled her to safety 'A large amount of Darcey's hair was taken out of the filter after the incident and the management of the hotel tried to hide this in his pocket. 'They didn't close the swimming pool, turn off the waterfall and filter or investigate in any way.' Alex claimed a young boy, nine, got his swimming trunks sucked into the same filter a few days before Darcey's accident. She said four similar incidents were reported to the lifeguard before Darcey's, but it was never logged or investigated. Alex claimed she was shocked to learn from other staff members that lifeguards are not properly trained. In a Facebook post entitled, 'hoping this post can save someone's life', Alex said she wanted to make people aware of the dangers in holiday swimming pools. She also said First Choice had done anything to investigate the matter, as they promised. Alex claimed a young boy (pictured), nine, got his swimming trunks sucked into the same filter a few days before Darcey's accident (left, Darcey on holiday) Alex added: 'Myself and [husband] Gareth don't want any other parents / family members to go through what we experienced that day. 'We will never get over what happened but if this post can raise some awareness, save someone's life, then we will be happy. 'We will fight this as much as we can so any suggestions or help on how to escalate it further would be massively appreciated.' A FirstChoice spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We were extremely concerned to hear of this incident which is the only one of its kind which was reported directly to us in resort and as soon as we were made aware we started a full and thorough investigation together with relevant external pool experts and our hotel partner. 'We also took immediate action to resolve the issue. At the same time we contacted the family to offer our support, which remains available to them, and we have been back in touch with them directly very recently to update and reassure them on the steps we have taken. We continue to ensure that the health and safety of all of our holidaymakers is our top priority.' A Massachusetts coffee shop owner was shocked to receive a cease-and-desist letter from Dunkin' Donuts claiming his was infringing on the company's catchphrase. Steve Copoulos, who owns Mike's Coffee in North Attleboro, about 40 miles south of Boston, recently added a slogan to the front window of his small store. 'Plainville and North now runs on Mike's,' his window read, seemingly poking fun at Dunkin' Donuts famous line: 'America runs on Dunkin'.' Copoulos explained to the Sun Chronicle he expected the new tagline to get a few laughs from his loyal customers, but he never could have predicted what was coming next. A Massachusetts coffee shop (pictured) owner was shocked when he received a cease-and-desist ltter from Dunkin' Donuts for allegedly infringing on the company's catchphrase The owner, who recently reopened the coffee shop business after his father, Mike, closed it 30 years ago and leased the space to Dunkin' Donuts, told the newspaper he received a cease and desist letter on May 19. The letter stated the chain has owned: '"America Runs on Dunkin'" since 2006 and found his use of a variation of the phrase a direct infringement on their rights. 'Displaying "Plainville & North now runs on Mike's" creates a likelihood of confusion among consumers by implying that you are an approved vendor of ours. 'Your actions are clearly designed to trade on the goodwill and reputation associated with the "America Runs on Dunkin'" trademark and constitutes both trademark infringement and trademark dilution.' Steve Copoulos posted this picture online shortly after his store reopened. He has since been accused of copyright infringement by Dunkin' Donuts The giant chain said Mike's Coffee shop was infringing on its 'America Runs on Dunkin'' slogan But Copoulos denied the claim, telling the Chronicle he doesn't 'want to be anything like Dunkin' Donuts'. 'I want to be the exact opposite: A friendly and happy place where you can talk to the owner,' he said. 'I want my customers to come in here knowing they can get a good cup of coffee in a comfortable environment.' He then accused the coffee giant, which is worth an estimated $10billion according to recent reports, of having an ulterior motive. Copoulos explained how his father decided to lease the land to Dunkin' when he decided to shut up shop 30 years ago, but never had an intention of selling it to the chain. Dunkin' Donuts had leased the space where Mike's Coffee is from Copoulos for many years, however they recently opened a store nearby after failed attempts to purchase the land However, in recent month the company began making offers to purchase the property, according to Copoulos, who rebuffed the attempts. He added the offers also came with a warning: 'If you dont sell to us, were going to move down the street.' He didn't sell, and a Dunkin' Donuts opened nearby, he told the newspaper. Then he reopened Mike's Coffee in its original place. 'They want every corner and they dont want any competition,' he said. 'Because with no competition, you can do anything you want. They always said theyre not afraid but according to this letter, Im a threat to them.' And while it appears he may still have a war on his hands, Copoulos surrendered in the slogan battle. He washed off what was on his shop window, and has replaced it with: 'Plainville & North powered by Mikes.' Dunkin' Donuts did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Three minors were arrested after a massive brawl involving about 300 teens broke out at a Jersey Shore beach this weekend. Authorities say the fight broke out at the Washington Avenue Beach in Margate around 2pm, near the Lucy the Elephant landmark. The three people who were arrested were charged with assault and disorderly conduct. Video has emerged showing cops taking three teens into custody after a massive fight broke out at a Jersey Shore beach on Saturday The fight broke out at Washington Avenue Beach in Margate. Above, officers throw a suspect to the ground The three minors who were arrested were charged with assault and disorderly conduct. They were not identified but appear to be three males in the video Local police say one of their officers was also struck with a Gatorade bottle while breaking up the fight A bystander took video of police officers wrestling suspects - who all appeared to be male - to the ground, as unruly youths gathered around and threw sand at the cops. 'Stop throwing sand!' one young woman can be heard in the video. Local police say one of their officers was also struck with a Gatorade bottle while breaking up the fight. 'There were so many people fighting, they had to get help from Ventnor and Longport,' Capt. Ken Bergeron of the Margate Police told Philly.com. 'They're really disrespectful.' The three teens who were arrested were all from out of town. They were among a total of 12 minors arrested in Atlantic County over the weekend In the video, bystanders are seen throwing sand at the officers as they are trying to arrest the suspects It's unclear what caused the massive fight to break out. All of the minors arrested in Atlantic County this week were from either Pennsylvania of the Cherry Hill, New Jersey area The three who were arrested were among 12 people under the age of 21 who were arrested in Atlantic County over Memorial Day Weekend. All were charged with either underage drinking, marijuana possession or fighting. Three adults were arrested too, for drunk driving. All were from out of town - either Pennsylvania or the Cherry Hill, New Jersey area, a suburb of Philadelphia. 'We welcome all visitors, but we cant tolerate this behavior,' Margate Mayor Moke Becker said. 'It was a mess. This is probably the third year weve had the same thing over Memorial Day weekend: total lack of respect for other people.' Above, the crowds at the Washington Ave beach this weekend A 16-year-old girl was charged Wednesday as an adult with first-degree murder and accused of stabbing her Uber driver to death in suburban Chicago. Eliza Wasni allegedly stole a knife and machete from a Walmart in Skokie, asked for a ride using the Uber app and within minutes started attacking her driver. The driver, Grant Nelson, managed to stop his car and run into a condominium building lobby where he sought help but later died of his wounds. Wasni allegedly drove off in Nelson's car, struck a median and then ran off. She was apprehended moments later after removing a bloody shirt. Lincolnwood police said they responded to a report of a man screaming for help at about 3:20am Tuesday when they found Nelson, 34, of Wilmette with multiple stab wounds. Nelson told them he was a driver for the ride-sharing service Uber and that his passenger stabbed him, police said. He was dropping off the girl when the attack occurred, police said. Scroll down for video Sixteen-year-old Eliza Wasni (left) has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Uber driver Grant Nelson, 34 (right) Nelson was dropping Wasni off at a suburban Chicago apartment building early Tuesday when he was attacked. Above, his blood spattered car Officers located Wasni - who lives with her single mother - behind a building near the crime scene in possession of two weapons they believe she used in the stabbing, Lincolnwood police said. They said she declined to make a statement. Uber states that customers must be 18 years or older to use the service. It's unclear how that is enforced. It's also unclear what prompted the attack. Nelson died at a nearby hospital a few hours later. Chicago-area TV stations reported that Nelson's blood-splattered silver sedan remained in the intersection as police investigated his killing. Grainy surveillance footage shows a car driving up to the apartment complex and dropping someone off. The car then exits the parking lot back out onto the main road where Nelson was attacked. It's unclear what prompted the attack. Nelson was rushed to the hospital but died several hours later Cops found the suspect hiding behind a nearby building with two weapons believed to have been used in the attack Nelson was a waiter who worked part time as a driver for Uber and Lyft to make extra money Nelson had dinner with his family Monday night and then decided to go out and drive for a few hours Nelson is pictured on the far left with members of his family in a photo shared to Facebook Wasni was ordered held without bond at her first hearing Wednesday afternoon in Skokie court. Uber officials said the company was working with police to provide information relevant to the investigation. 'We are heartbroken by the loss of one of our partners,' Uber said in a statement. 'Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.' Nelson lived with his parents and worked as a waiter, while driving for Uber and Lyft after his shifts. He had reportedly finished Memorial Day dinner with his family on Monday when he decided to go out and earn some extra cash by driving. Nelson's sister, Alex Nelson, told WMAQ-TV in Chicago that her brother was a good person. Grainy surveillance footage shows Nelson's car pulling up the apartment building where he dropped the rider off at 'He was not a vindictive person,' Alex Nelson said. 'He was not a cruel person. He didn't deserve this fate.' Alex said that her brother was a pianist who loved classical music, films and the family dog Lilly. 'You know, I think Grant was the kind of man who never knew his true lifes calling,' she told CBS Chicago. 'Unfortunately, now he never will get to find that.' 'If he had been given the chance to live, he would have continued to fill the world with good thoughts, good music, and intelligent conversation. We will all miss that without him here,' she added. Mike Foley, a friend who worked with Nelson in the restaurant industry, said he would sometimes speak about the dangers of ride-sharing. 'I remember him mentioning that he once had to stop and get gas in a really sketchy neighborhood. He might not have really thought anything of it,' Foley told ABC 7. Mike Foley (left) and Colleen Milner (right) are two of Nelson's former coworkers in the restaurant industry Colleen Milner, another former coworker, said that Nelson was the last person who would be in a deadly confrontation. 'It's pretty heartbreaking to hear that. That guy is super nice. One of the nicest guys you'll know. Quiet, shy, but he wouldn't do anything to anybody,' Milner said. A service has been planned for Friday at Chicago's Jewish Funerals in Skokie. The family has asked that donations be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness's Cook County North Suburban chapter and the nNti-Cruelty Society. It is the first homicide in Lincolnwood since 2006, police said. CNN has fired comedian Kathy Griffin from her annual gig co-hosting its New Year's Eve program with network anchor Anderson Cooper, following a shock-value photo shoot that depicted her holding President Donald Trump's blood-gushing severed head. 'CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program,' the network's PR department tweeted. Trump's 11-year-old son Barron reportedly saw his father's decapitated head on television after news of the D-list celebrity's publicity stunt became news and thought it was real. First lady Melania Trump said that '[a]s a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing.' 'When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.' Scroll down for video CNN has fired Kathy Griffin from bo-hosting its New Year's Eve program with Anderson Cooper Griffin co-hosted the CNN New Year's Eve countdown show in recent years with Anderson Cooper. The two are seen on-camera five months ago President Donald Trump's 11-year-old son Barron (left) was reportedly terrified when he saw a make-believe photo shoot on TV that included a representation of his dad's severed head First lady Melania Trump (right) rushed to protect her son, saying" 'As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing.' President Trump weighed in Wednesday morning on Kathy Griffin's tasteless video and he pronounced it 'sick' The president lashed out at Kathy Griffin on Wednesday morning, saying she 'should be ashamed of herself' for posting video of the photo shoot on social media. 'My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!' Trump tweeted. The Trumps' anger, and public pressure, became too much for CNN to withstand. But one liberal politician has decided to stay with Griffin, refusing to cancel a joint appearance in July. Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken told CNN 'Yes,' when asked if he plans on appearing with Griffin in his home state. 'I think she did the right thing, Franken said of Griffin's eventual apology. 'I think asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that this, this was a horrible mistake.' The Route 66 Casino near Albuquerque, New Mexico was less forgiving. 'The performance by Kathy Griffin on July 22nd has been cancelled,' the company wrote on its Facebook page. 'Any guests that did purchase tickets will receive a full refund.' The Route 66 Casino Hotel near Albuquerque, New Mexico canceled Griffin's planned stand-up appearance on July 22 shortly after she released the damning photographs Griffin also lost an endorsement deal with 'Squatty Potty,' an ergonomic footstool designed to be used while sitting on the toilet Griffin also lost an unconventional endorsement deal with Squatty Potty, a company that makes ergonomic footstools designed to ease bowel movements. 'We were shocked and disappointed to learn about the image Ms. Griffin shared today, it was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our company stands for. In response, Squatty Potty has suspended its ad campaign featuring Ms. Griffin,' company CEO Bobby Edwards said in a statement. 'We have acted swiftly and decisively to demonstrate our commitment to a culture of decency, civility, and tolerance,' the toilet aid company's statement continued. White House press secretary Sean Spicer resisted the temptation to pile on during his Wednesday press briefing, which was conducted off-camera. He allowed the president and first lady's statements, and one from the Secret Service, to speak for themselves. People close to the Trump family told TMZ that Barron panicked at the make-believe sight of his beheaded dad and screamed for his mother Melania. 'He's 11. He doesn't know who Kathy Griffin is and the head she was holding resembled his dad,' one source said. Trump was furious and complained that his children 'especially my 11 year old son, Barron' are having to grapple with Internet images of their father's bloody decapitation Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken (right, with retired TV host David Letterman) said he isn't canceling a planned public appearance with Griffin in July Griffin apologized on Tuesday for posting the video following a furious backlash and a hint at an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service. The controversial entertainer tweeted: 'I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong.' In the video Griffin is seen slowly raising Trump's head during a photo shoot with infamous photographer Tyler Shields. She also posted a video promising to remove the offending image after she was lambasted by all sides of the political spectrum, including Chelsea Clinton. But the apology had little effect on an army of critics, both Trump supporters and Democrats from attacking Griffin on social media for the outrageous stunt. Even her long-time New Years Eve co-host Anderson Cooper said he was 'appalled' by the photo shoot, which he described as 'clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.' Meanwhile, the Secret Service made an oblique reference to the controversy on Twitter, reminding everyone that any threats against the president are taken seriously. Griffin sparked fury from Trump supporters on Tuesday after footage emerged of her holding up a fake severed Donald Trump head The controversial comedian tweeted 'I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong' after the stunt 'On it! @SecretService has a robust protective intelligence division that monitors open source reporting & social media to evaluate threats. Threats made against @SecretService protectees receive the highest priority of all of our investigations. #ProtectionNeverRests.' GRIFFIN'S VIDEO APOLOGY IN FULL 'Hey everybody, it's me, Kathy Griffin. 'I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction to these images. 'I'm a comic. I crossed the line. 'I moved the line. Then I crossed it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. 'I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it. I've made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. I ask your forgiveness. 'Taking down the image. I am going to ask the photographer to take down the image. And I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong.' Advertisement The agency later released a statement saying that '[i]t is always unfortunate when people make statements that could be perceived as threats. We don't have the luxury of knowing a person's intent. Each alleged or perceived threat has to be investigated thoroughly which taxes Secret Service manpower and resources that could be utilized elsewhere.' As the firestorm of criticism surrounding Griffin increased a CNN spokesman said that they were 'evaluating' Griffin's long-time role hosting its New Years Eve coverage but have 'made no decisions at this point' 'We found what she did disgusting and offensive. We are pleased to see she has apologized and asked that the photos be taken down. We are evaluating New Years Eve and have made no decisions at this point,' the spokesman said at the time. Even former first daughter Chelsea Clinton was quick to express her outrage at Griffin tweeting: 'This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president. Griffin, an outspoken opponent of Trump who is best known for presenting the New Year's Eve countdown with Anderson Cooper on CNN, is seen holding the head, which is slathered in fake blood. During footage of the shoot, posted on her own official website, Griffin said: 'Tyler and I are not afraid to make images that make noise.' The shocking images quickly set social media alight, with many calling for her to be locked up for supposedly 'threatening' the president. President Trump's eldest son Donald Jr. also got in on the act, attacking Griffin for posing with a severed fake head resembling his father, saying it was 'disgusting but not surprising. 'This is the left today. They consider this acceptable,' he tweeted. 'Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?' 'It's sad that the left today would rather see America suffer and fail than to see it succeed with @realDonaldTrump at the helm. #maga' The Secret Service - while not citing the video or image - chose this tome to remind its followers on Twitter that the agency monitors social media and took any threats against the president very seriously Griffin's long-time co-host Anderson Cooper also criticized her on Twitter Even former first daughter Chelsea Clinton was quick to express her outrage at Griffin tweeting: 'This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president Sarah Palin, who has long been a target of mockery for Griffin was quick to jump on the bandwagon, branding the post 'sick' Kellyanne Conway joined in, pointing out that the outspoken comic had plenty of time for reflection before she posted the picture In another tweet he demanded to know if CNN would keep Griffin on the air after the stunt. He also tweeted his thanks to Cooper for his condemnation before demanding to know if the TV host would work with Griffin in the future. 'Asking for a lot of people. #LMK,' he added. Kellyanne Conway joined in, pointing out that the outspoken comic had plenty of time for reflection before she posted the picture. 'Kathy Griffin did not misspeak or misstep. She plotted & posed for photoshoot. Ample time for reflection/correction,' she tweeted. While Mitt Romney denounced the comedian for dragging politics 'into an even more repugnant & vile territory.' Sarah Palin, who has long been a target of mockery for Griffin was quick to jump on the bandwagon, branding the post 'sick.' 'No one should be shocked at the sick audacity of sick characters. Kathy is a hurting individual. She needs help,' she tweeted. Meanwhile on Twitter @nancygolliday said 'Parading beheading of POTUS makes @kathygriffing a terrorist and an enemy of the state. She needs to be treated as such.' Mitt Romney denounced the comedian for dragging politics 'into an even more repugnant & vile territory' And Dr J wrote: 'You're disgusting. Honor our military but dishonor our President and Commander in Chief? You'd behead our President? Hypocrite.' Even some self-described liberals got in on the act. CNN anchor Jake Tapper said: 'It's pretty disgusting. I can't imagine how anybody would think that's appropriate.' 'Big time Liberal here - and a Kathy Griffin fan - and I agree,' said Tanya Crosse. 'This is not ok and there is no excuse. She should immediately apologize.' Meanwhile, Simar wrote: 'We can't knock the alt right for promoting hate speech & then support Kathy Griffin for promoting violence against the President.' In footage of the shoot, Griffin is seen joking that she and Shields will have to flee the country once it gets out. 'We have to move to Mexico today,' she said, 'because we're gonna go to prison. Federal prison. 'Call your dad, apologize, then let's you [and me] go to Mexico because we're not surviving this.' She's seen in the footage lifting the grisly 'head' out of a metal bowl, then rotating it towards the camera until it hits a spot that Shields likes. Finally, at Shields' demand, she drops it to the ground. Griffin responded to the outrage with a two-part tweet, the first part of which saw her mocking the imaginary dead president Mocker: Griffin claimed she was 'merely mocking the Mocker in Chief' in the second part of her tweet, and that she wasn't condoning violence In the video Griffin says that 'Tyler and I are not afraid to do images that make noise. And also he often lights me to the point where I look about 15. 'But first I'm an artist. But really it's good lighting.' On Tuesday afternoon Griffin seemed to want to silence some of the 'noise' she'd been so proud of when she tweeted that she didn't condone violence. However, that only came as the second part of a two-tweet message that began: '1/ I caption this 'there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his...wherever' Also @tylershields great Photog/film maker.' The second tweet read: '2/ OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I'm merely mocking the Mocker in Chief.' Griffin had posted a video on Memorial Day in which she invited people to give a moment's silence for those who died fighting for America. Shields had posted the image a few hours before with the message 'Friend text me this 'I hear Tijuana is beautiful this time of year.'' Shields has made a name for himself as a provocative photographer whose images include Lindsay Lohan as a blood-soaked vampire and a KKK member being hanged by a black man. In 2011 he came under fire for a photo shoot with Glee star Heather Morris in which she sported a 'black eye'. Critics said that he made light of domestic abuse. He later apologized after receiving death threats, adding: 'If you are anti-domestic abuse spread the word about it. Threatening to kill me is not going to help anything.' Tyler Shields is famous for taking provocative images of stars such as Lindsay Lohan, He also put this image of Griffin on his blog Griffin was reportedly inspired by Game of Thrones. In 2011 the show featured the severed head of George W Bush (left); producers apologized and the shot was edited in later showings Griffin was emulating the beheadings seen in Game of Thrones, according to Daily Wire. The show came under fire itself in 2011, at the end of its first season, when it featured a shot of George W Bush's head on a stick. The wax head was one of a number of severed heads placed atop a castle's wall; the producers apologized, and said that there was no political intent. Rather, they said, they had used it because it was one of a number of pre-made heads they had lying around. The grisly shot was edited for later airings and DVD releases. Playboy model Dani Mathers has tearfully told of how she had to hide out at her mother's home after facing backlash for body-shaming a naked elderly woman in an LA gym. The 30-year-old model pleaded no contest to invasion of privacy charges last week and agreed to carry out 30 days of community service as punishment for posting a nude photo of the 70-year-old woman on Snapchat. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Mathers teared up as said being the target of online backlash had taught her a lot about privacy. 'I've lost a lot of that myself as well. We've had a lot of paparazzi involved in my family life. I had my privacy taken away after I took someone else's,' she said. Scroll down for video Playboy model Dani Mathers has tearfully told of how she had to hide out at her mother's home after facing backlash for body-shaming a naked elderly woman in an LA gym in a TV interview on Wednesday 'To hide out at my mother's house at age 30 because of something I've done. It just felt really low.' Mathers said she had tried to reach out to the woman in her Snapchat post to apologize directly, but had failed to do so. 'I haven't been able to actually meet the woman involved, although I've wanted to. So there's just been a lot of unresolved issues,' Mathers said. 'I never meant to hurt her. I never ever intended on showing the world this photo. And that I hope that she could forgive me. I don't expect her to forget. I don't expect her to like me. I just, I really want her forgiveness.' In sentencing her last week, the judge ordered Mathers to stay 100 yards away from the victim and all LA Fitness premises. The model was last week given the option of serving 45 days in jail or agree to 30 days community labor after striking a plea deal in court. Mathers looked solemn in court as she accepted the plea deal of three years probation and 30 days of graffiti removal in Los Angeles Mathers sparked widespread outrage after she shared the naked photo on Snapchat last July with the derisive caption: 'If I can't unsee this then you can't either' She opted to carry out 30 days of community labor in the form of graffiti removal and will be placed on three years probation. Mathers sparked widespread outrage after she shared the naked photo on Snapchat last July with the derisive caption: 'If I can't unsee this then you can't either.' The picture which caused the controversy showed an unsuspecting senior as she was getting changed in the women's locker room at a branch of LA Fitness in Los Angeles. Mathers also appeared in the image, smirking with her headphones on. She faced a global backlash for her actions, and was lambasted for body shaming the woman, who has not been identified. The model was charged with misdemeanor invasion of privacy under a California law that prohibits the secret recording or photographing of an 'identifiable person' in a home, changing room or tanning booth without the subject's consent. Mathers did eventually apologize for body-shaming the elderly gym member and deleted her social media accounts in July last year. She tweeted: 'I'm sorry for what I did... I need to take some time to myself now to reflect on why I did this horrible thing.' Race-faker Rachel Dolezal has been uninvited from appearing at the Baltimore Book Festival. The disgraced former NCAA chapter head, who pretended to be black for more than a decade, was scheduled to do a reading from her autobiography, 'In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World,' at the September event. But festival organizers announced on Tuesday via Facebook that they decided 'it is appropriate to remove Ms. Dolezal from the festival lineup.' New author Rachel Dolezal (seen in 2009) has been uninvited from appearing at Maryland's Baltimore Book Festival following heavy criticism about her inclusion in the author lineup The Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, which throws the annual festival, apparently made the decision after 'after hearing from a cross-section of opinions' about Dolezal's participation and having to 'consider' how having her appear at the festival would impact both attendees and the other authors in the lineup. The decision is reversal of the festival's previous stance, less than a week prior. In response to growing criticism over her invite, organizers wrote on Facebook on May 25 that the festival 'provides an open forum for dialogue and topical discussion of various issues' and that 'we do provide a platform for relevant and multi-layered conversations.' That post was met with a slew of criticism and prompted several one-star reviews of the festival. Festival organizers initially stood by their decision to invite Dolezal because the festival was an 'open forum' for discussion, but cancelled the invite after hearing a 'cross-section of opinions' Dolezal was invited to read from her recently released autobiography, 'In Full Color' Dolezal as a freckled blonde in her youth (left), as compared to her transformed appearance A photo from Dolezal's (center) marriage in 2000, when she was still living as a white woman The news that she would be appearing at the festival was meet with immediate criticism last week. In addition to negative commentary on the festival's Facebook page, an online petition was circulated, asking organizers to dump Dolezal from the lineup. Baltimore middle school Spanish teacher Kimberly Mooney told the Baltimore Sun that she was compelled to start the petition because she thought the invitation was 'a bad publicity stunt' and that it was 'really hurtful' to the community that has history of racial tension. Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts executive director Bill Gilmore told the Baltimore Sun that the decision to revoke Dolezal's invitation occurred during a staff meeting on Tuesday. He did not explain why an invitation was extended to Dolezal in the first place. Dolezal, the one-time president of the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP in Washington, made headlines recently when she admitted that she saw herself as being 'trans-black.' In Dolezal's memoir, which hit bookshelves in March, she likened being forced to do household chores as a child to indentured servitude and noted that she developed a 'similar resourcefulness' to what slaves were forced to develop in order for her to complete her chores. She claimed that the mere act of forcing kids to do household chores was similar to 'the institution of chattel slavery in America.' Dolezal also wrote about how her first marriage ended because she was 'too black' for her African-American husband, detailed the way she evolved over the years from being a blonde white girl with freckles into her current state of 'Blackness' and revealed the myriad ways that being 'outed' as a white woman while she was passing as a black woman has impacted her life. In 2015, Dolezal's parents with whom she has long feuded revealed to the media that she was born white, but presenting herself as a black activist in Washington's Spokane region. After the story became an international sensation, Dolezal was fired from her job at the NCAAP, kicked off a police ombudsman commission and lost her job teaching African studies at Eastern Washington University in nearby Cheney. She has not been able to find regular employment since the bombshell reveal. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As we observed Memorial Day Monday and reflected on U.S. veterans who gave their lives in order that our cherished freedoms remain free, members of the Marine Corps League saluted soldiers -- past and present -- during a heartwarming ceremony at their Sunnyside headquarters. In speaking of the men and women on the battlefield, U.S. Marine Corps League Senior Vice Jack King, asked that we "Remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice on this Memorial Day. He added: "I know they would have encouraged us to live every moment to the fullest on this earth." Issuing welcoming remarks were Marine Corps League Commandant Butch Sarcone who acknowledged all in attendance including US Marines and military personnel -- as he stressed the importance of the special remembrance. With dignity and grace Past Commandant Al King read the names of members of the Marine Corps League who passed during the year as a bell was rung in memoriam. King added: "And we still have members of the military serving in harm's way. Please keep them in your prayers." Chief of Staff, Frank Montella and First Lt. William Butler presented the wreath followed by the recitation of prayers by US Marine Corps Chaplain Carmela Montella, the first female chaplain in the league, who asked all to remember US Marines and servicemen and women everywhere. There were several moments of silence after stats were read listing the war dead from every war since World War I, and a bell sounded once again -- as "Taps" bugle call reverberated in the background -- and "Amazing Grace" followed with Kelter Cross on bagpipes. To remember the war dead, a spine chilling 21-gun salute was conducted by seven US Marine veterans. Also present during the ceremony were United State Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C. who came to New York for Fleet Week, to march in the Memorial Day Parade and to be part of the Memorial Day commemorative at the Marine Corps League. Members of Monsignor Farrell High School's "Hearing Our Heroes" were presented with a Marine Corps certificate and a check for $500 from the "Devil Dogs." And for those who may not be familiar with the term, according to the United States Marine Corps legend, the term "Devil Dogs" was first used by German soldiers to describe U.S. Marines who fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood back in 1918. The Marines fought with such ferocity that their enemies likened them to "Dogs from Hell." Advertisement Newly released footage shows the moment that the Pentagon took out a mock nuke above the Pacific Ocean in a dramatic test of America's defensive capabilities, amid growing fears over North Korea's weapons capability. The footage, released Thursday by the Missile Defense Agency - and following up earlier video released on Tuesday - shows an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being launched from the Ronald Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. A Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor is then shown roaring up from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, ready to meet the 'warhead'. The footage then switches to a heavily pixelated heat vision image showing two angles of the collision over the Pacific, as the warhead detonates in a stunning flash of light and heat. The test, which cost $244million to execute, occurred on Tuesday amid growing fears over North Korea's nuclear capabilities. Scroll down for video An incredible new video released on Wednesday shows a fake intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being launched by the US from the Ronald Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on Tuesday The video then shows silo doors opening (left) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor (right) is then shown launching from the silo and roaring up to meet the 'warhead' The final shots of the video show the collision in infra-red, as the fake nuclear missile goes up in a flash of light and heat. The whole test cost $244m and comes as North Korea continues to threaten the US with nuclear devastation US Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Admiral Jim Syring told NBC News the test was a 'critical milestone'. 'This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,' Syring said. 'I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day.' The test came amid heightened tensions between the US and Pyongyang over North Korea's continued provocations. On Monday North Korea fired at least one short-range ballistic missile that landed in the sea off its east coast, in Japan's maritime economic zone - the latest in a fast-paced series of missile tests defying world pressure and threats of more sanctions. And on Wednesday, following the successful test, North Korea threatened that they could launch missile toward the US at any time. 'We're prepared to test-fire ICMBs anywhere and anytime on orders from the supreme commander [Kim Jong-Un],' the state-run Rodong Sinmun paper said in an article titled 'No one can stop the nuclear power state, rocketry master in the East'. The paper added: 'The United States must know our declaration that we can turn the devil's den into ashes with nuclear weapons is not an empty threat.' Kim claimed his own test missile, launched on Monday, landed just seven meters from its target in Japanese waters. It was equipped with an advanced automated pre-launch sequence compared with previous versions of the 'Hwasong' rockets, North Korea's name for its Scud-class missiles, KCNA said. That indicated the North had launched a modified Scud-class missile, South Korea's military has said. President Donald Trump has warned that while he prefers peace, he is prepared to take military action against North Korea which 'has been a flagrant menace for far too long.' He also described Monday's test as showing 'great disrespect' for Pyongyang's only ally, China. As a result, South Korea conducted a joint drill with a US supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber, prompting the North's dictator to claim the allied countries were practicing dropping nuclear bombs. The US Navy said its aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, also planned a drill with another US nuclear carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, in waters near the Korean peninsula. North Korea calls such drills a preparation for war. The North Korean test fire came on the heels of two previous successful tests of medium-to-long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States. A man and a child watch as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the US ballistic missile defense system launches during a flight test from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California The US military has shot down mock warhead over the Pacific in a key success for it missile defense program (the rocket is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday) From Harris Grade Road north of Lompoc, California, spectators watch an interceptor missile launch from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor successfully struck its target over the Pacific Ocean in an exercise aimed at helping gauge American ability to counter any potential similar threat from North Korea The Pentagon announced the first missile defense test was taking place today involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, firing off an interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Kim said the reclusive state would develop more powerful weapons to defend North Korea against the United States. State media quoted him as saying: 'He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger "gift package to the Yankees" in retaliation for American military provocation'. Today's $244 million US test has been heralded as a success after it brought down the mock intercontinental ballistic missile. However, that missile is just one weapon among North Korea's arsenal. It does not prove that America can defend itself against one of Pyongyang's intercontinental-range missiles. While the dictatorship is also understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such a missile, it could have developed decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of a new anti-aircraft weapon system on Monday This release from Korean Central News Agency shows the new weapons system being fired President Trump tweeted about North Korea Monday, a day after from his first overseas trip America's last intercept test, in June 2014, was successful, but the longer track record is spotty. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful. Donald Trump has been accused of practicing dropping nuclear bombs North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are a defense against perceived US military threats. Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticized the missile defense program, calls the interceptor an 'advanced prototype.' That means it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004. The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of US defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile. The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the US, and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the US deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea. Ships have been warned to steer clear of Gibraltar as 'hazardous materials' are moved around a British nuclear submarine. HMS Torbay has been in the Bay since Saturday on a 'routine' visit to the territory. Although it has no nuclear weapons, the hunter-killer submarine is powered by a nuclear reactor which heats water to drive turbines. Today, objects resembling the shape of a torpedo were seen being loaded around the submarine on a crane, as teams of workers in hard hats oversaw the project. Scroll down for video Crews use a crane to move a torpedo-shaped object as the HMS Torbay sits in dock at Gibraltar Sailors work on HMS Torbay as the submarine sits docked at Gibraltar today Pictured: A crane works on the HMS Torbay as a cruise lines comes into port at Gibraltar today As well as crews working on the port, sailors were also seen on top of the submarine, with a temporary hut erected. The Port has issued a warning that the MoD will be moving hazardous materials - and experts say this is likely to be waste from HMS Torbay's reactor. Nuclear safety expert John Large told MailOnline: 'These nuclear-powered submarines routinely have low-level radioactive waste removed about every six months. 'HMS Torbay normally does this in Devonport, Plymouth but if she's heading off on another deployment then she won't be heading home first. The waste - which could be either solid chemicals or parts of the reactor - will likely be stored in drums in a storage centre on the quayside, which is about the size of two garages, he added. A notice from the Port of Gibraltar's captain reads: 'Mariners, owners, agents and charterers are advised that the Ministry of Defence will be conducting the movement of hazardous materials on the South Mole between 08:00 and 17:00 hrs on Thursday 1st June 2017. Crews move what looks like a torpedo or a container as they work on the HMS Torbay The Port of Gibraltar is warning ships to steer clear of a British nuclear submarine (pictured) when 'hazardous waste' is removed tomorrow HMS Torbay has been in the Bay since Saturday on a 'routine' visit to the British territory 'During these periods a Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) of 200 metres around No.50 berth will be established and the southern entrance to the Inner Harbour will be closed to civilian vessels. 'The MEZ will be maintained by the Gibraltar Defence Police launch, callsign Victor Charlie on VHF Ch 08.' An MoD spokesman refused to comment on the operation, only telling MailOnline: 'HMS Torbay is on a routine visit in Gibraltar before continuing her deployment.' Antonio Javier Baltazar-Hernandez, 65, held back tears in his mugshot after being arrested on suspicion of molesting a six-year-old girl on his school bus A school bus driver has been charged with molesting a six-year-old girl who police say he forced to touch his groin after pulling over on the side of the road when she was the last student on the bus. Antonio Javier Baltazar-Hernandez cried as he had his mug shot taken after his arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday. The little girl told her mother how she was the only young student left on the bus on April 28 when he suddenly pulled over somewhere he would never ordinarily stop. She said he beckoned her from her seat and forced her hand onto his 'pee pee' once she was standing next to him. Police asked the child to point to the body part he'd made her touch on a human anatomy diagram when they interviewed her. They later verified by checking the bus's GPS that he had made the unscheduled stop as she described. He was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct against a victim under 13 and remains in custody. Bail was set at $75,000 but has not been met. Baltazar-Hernandez works for Septran, a contractor that is hired by the Minneapolis Public School district. The company carries out extensive third-party background checks when hiring new drivers. His brought up no prior convictions or cause for concern. 'All employees in Minnesota must pass criminal background checks conducted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. 'In addition, we conduct another third-party background check on all employees. Both background checks were clear for the driver,' a spokesman told DailyMail.com. Minneapolis Public Schools spokesman Dirk Tedmon said the checks were a basic requirement across the district. 'The safety of our students is our highest priority, which is why we require thorough background checks and extensive training for our contract bus providers and school staff,' he told The Star Tribune. Israeli actress Gal Gadot plays the lead role in action movie Wonder Woman Lebanon has banned the blockbuster Wonder Woman because lead actress Gal Gadot is Israeli. Lebanon's Ministry of Economy issued the ban just before the film was scheduled to premiere in Lebanon, which is officially at war with Israel. It was blocked by the government because of the star's nationality and her support for Israel's army. Lebanon's Grand Cinemas movie theater chain announced the ban on its Twitter page. The film had passed the country's standard screening procedures but lobby group 'Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon' put pressure on the government urging them not to screen it. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and has a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from travelling or having contacts with Israelis. Moreover leading actress Gadot was a soldier in the Israeli army, and has expressed support for Israel's military policies against the Gaza Strip, a coastal Palestinian territory run by the militant Hamas group. In a widely shared posting on her Facebook page, Gadot had praised Israel's military during the Gaza-Israel 2014 war, sending prayers to Israeli soldiers 'who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas'. Campaigners lobbied for the movie to be banned because of Gadot's nationality and support for the Israeli army Wonder Woman: Gadot was an unpopular choice among campaigners in Lebanon Even though Lebanon enjoys a greater margin of freedom of expression than other countries in the region, prior censorship remains in place, particularly with content relating to Israel, religion and homosexuality. Reflecting tightening of censorship, an Egyptian movie about a celebrity Muslim cleric, Mawlana, and a Lebanese movie, Beach House, about friends discussing their identities were banned in Lebanon earlier this year. Mawlana was later shown after cuts were made, said one cinema manager, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing controversy. The two movies were approved in Egypt. The movie is based on the DC Comics character, Wonder Woman. It has earned Gadot acclaim, as a rare leading female role Crowned Miss Israel, Gadot went on to serve the mandatory two-year military service in Israel, before starting her acting career and was cast in a series of Hollywood movies and shows Despite the controversy in Lebanon, Wonder Woman is set to open as scheduled during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan across theaters in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait on Thursday. It is scheduled for release June 22 in Oman and June 29 in Bahrain. The movie is based on the DC Comics character, Wonder Woman. It has earned Gadot acclaim, as a rare leading female role. The Israeli actress appeared in reprisals of the Fast and Furious, none of them were banned in Lebanon. Crowned Miss Israel, she then went on to serve the mandatory two-year military service in Israel, before starting her acting career and was cast in a series of Hollywood movies and shows, before landing the role of Wonder Woman in last year's Batman Vs Superman. That is when the campaign against her movies in Lebanon began, as the same campaigners sought to bar Batman Vs Superman, which was shown in Lebanese theaters. Georgia's peach crop suffered much worse than expected after an overly warm winter and a hard freeze in early spring. Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday that nearly 80 per cent of the state's peach crop has been wiped out because of the weather. Black says the lack of peaches could mean a shorter season for Georgia consumers. He says farmers probably won't ship out of state. Initially, farmers hoped to salvage about 70 per cent of the crop. The loss, combined with a blow to this year's blueberry crop, could mean a $300 million hit to farmers. Georgia's peach crop is suffering much worse than expected after an overly warm winter and a hard freeze in early spring. The lack of peaches (file) could mean a shorter season for Georgia consumers and farmers probably won't ship out of state Earlier this month, scientists with the United States Department of Agriculture, told WMAZ that this year's peach crop is one of the worst in more than eight decades. 'The closest comparison we have right now is, looking back at the historical records has to go back all the way to the 1930s,' research horticulturist Tom Beckman, said. Poor production is due to the not enough cold temperatures in the winter and an unexpected three-day freeze March. Experts said because of the freeze not many peach buds survived the freeze this year. Beckman said the peach shortage will affect the price of peaches at grocery stores. In South Carolina, which is second only to California in peach production, the numbers are as bad or worse, according to the New York Times. As much as 85 to 90 per cent of the state's peach crop is gone, according to the state's agriculture department. The state's peaches usually bring in about $90 million a year, and their impact on the greater economy is three times that much. Peach trees (pictured) require about 850 hours of temperatures below 45 degrees between October and February, but this past winter brought only 500 hours of those cooler temperatures Peaches in South Carolina provide about 1,500 jobs per year. Peach trees require about 850 hours of temperatures below 45 degrees between October and February, Mark Sanchez, the CEO of Lane Southern Orchards in Fort Valley, told the AJC. This past winter brought only 500 hours of those cooler temperatures, he said. Without that cool weather, Sanchez said, 'you'll have sporadic bloom, poor quality'. For Georgia, the peach shortage means a shorter season. And farmers, who are dealing with the loss, will likely not spend the money to ship their product out of state. There will be greater supply in Georgia stores, but those supplies won't last nearly as long. A political feud erupted on Wednesday after the House Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas to the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency without telling Democratic members. Three subpoenas demanded that the intelligence agencies hand over any requests made by two top Obama aides, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, as well as former CIA Director John Brennan, to 'unmask' the names of Trump campaign advisers. However, Democrats complained that chairman, Representative Devin Nunes, who reclused himself from the Russia probe in April, failed to consult them before issuing the subpoenas. Another four subpoenas were issued by the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), in relation with the Russia probe, the Wall Street Journal reported. Targets included retired Army General Michael Flynn, who was sacked as national security adviser by Trump in February, and the president's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, the sources said. Among seven subpoenas issued are those seeking information about former Obama National Security advisor Susan Rice Cohen this week blasted a Senate Intelligence panel's request for information as 'poorly phrased' and over-broad. The subpoenas to the Obama-era aides signals that the committee is stepping up its investigation into allegations they improperly demanded the 'unmasking' of Trump associates who were inadvertently picked up in top-secret foreign communications intercepts - whose identity was protected with code names - before the documents were leaked to the media. 'Subpoenas related to the 'unmasking' issue would have been sent by Chairman Nunes acting separately from the committee's Russia investigation. This action would have been taken without the minority's (Democrats') agreement,' a senior committee aide said. 'Any prior requests for information would have been undertaken without the minority's knowledge.' But another congressional source, who also requested anonymity, argued Democrats were 'informed and consulted' before the subpoenas were issued. Intelligence agencies, surveilling the communications of foreign individuals, will often inadvertently monitor the communications of a US citizen to whom they are speaking with. In these cases, the American's name is normally redacted in intelligence reports. Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill,,where he spoke about the presidential election and possible ties to the campaign of President Donald Trump However, the identities can be 'unmasked,' or revealed to certain government officials at request. Republicans on the panel have sought information about who requested 'unmasking' of officials in secret government documents. The Rice subpoena seeks information about Trump officials who were unmasked after their names appeared in intelligence documents. The Brennan and Power subpoenas also relate to unmasking. Rice has denied doing anything 'untoward' with the intelligence she saw as Obama's security advisor. 'I did my job, which was to protect the American people, and I did it faithfully and to the best of my ability, and never did I do anything that was untoward with respect to the intelligence I received,' she told CNN. The CIA declined to comment on the subpoenas and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and NSA did not immediate respond to requests for comment. The spy agency subpoenas were not mentioned in a bipartisan announcement on Wednesday that the panel approved subpoenas for Flynn, and Cohen, in connection with the Russia probe. The committee also approved subpoenas to the two men's firms, Flynn Intel Llc, and Michael D. Cohen and Associates PC, the committee statement said. 'As part of our ongoing investigation into Russian active measures during the 2016 campaign, today we approved subpoenas for several individuals for testimony, personal documents and business records,' Republican Representative Mike Conaway and Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, who are leading the committee probe, said in a joint statement. Another four subpoenas were issued in relation with the Russia probe, which target retired Army General Michael Flynn, who was sacked as national security adviser by Trump in February Michael Cohen, an attorney for Donald Trump, is another target of the subpoenas issued today Conaway assumed Republican leadership of the probe after Nunes recused himself. Nunes retained his power to issue subpoenas. U.S. intelligence agencies reported in January that Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a campaign of computer hacking, fake news and propaganda intended to swing the election to Republican Trump over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Putin has denied conducting such a campaign. Trump denies any collusion between Russia and his campaign and has questioned the veracity of the U.S. intelligence finding. Trump fired Flynn in February for failing to disclose the content of his talks with Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States, and misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. The retired Army general is the subject of congressional, Justice Department and Defense Department investigations into his apparent failure to disclose payments he received from Russian and Turkish entities. Cohen is one of several Trump associates under scrutiny in an FBI examination of possible contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia, according to the New York Times. It reported that Cohen was involved in a back-channel plan, which never came to fruition, that would have involved a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and the lifting of U.S. sanctions against Moscow. Congressman Adam Schiff is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel CNN reported on Wednesday night that congressional investigators were looking into whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions had an undisclosed private meeting with Kislyak during the campaign, citing Republican and Democratic sources in Congress and intelligence officials briefed on the probe. The focus of the probe is on whether such a meeting took place on April 27, 2016, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, where Trump delivered his first major foreign policy address, CNN reported. During his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions testified that he "did not have any communications with the Russians" during the campaign and said in a written statement given to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he was not in contact with anyone linked to the Russian government during the campaign. It was reported in March that he met with Kislyak twice during the campaign, once at the Republican National Convention in July and once in his Senate office in September. Sessions later admitted having the meetings but said they were part of his Senate duties and were unrelated to the campaign. He later recused himself from the Russia probe. For the first time on Wednesday, White House press secretary SeanSpicer directed all questions on the Russia matter to outside counsel. Among seven subpoenas issued are those seeking information about former Obama National Security advisor Susan Rice 'Our job - we are focused on the president's agenda and all, going forward, all questions on these matters will be referred to outside counsel, Marc Kasowitz,' he told a reporter who asked him point blank if the president obstructed justice in his talks with Comey. Trump tapped Kasowitz last week as his lead defender in matters relating to Russia. Kasowitz's New York City law firm has represented Trump for 15 years. David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, was a partner at the firm until he joined the Trump administration earlier this year. Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is a lawyer at the firm, too. He cited Trump's retention of Kasowitz as his defender in governmental probes into Russia and the 2016 election as a reason he was withdrawing his name from consideration for FBI director. A Canadian serial killer who was jailed for the rapes and murders of three teen girls - including her sister - in the 1990s has been spotted volunteering at her children's elementary school. Karla Homolka served 12 years in prison after being convicted in 1993 of raping, torturing and killing schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy with her then-husband Paul Bernardo. She also played a role in the death of her 15-year-old sister Tammy after she helped Bernardo drug, rape and ultimately kill her. Homolka, who split from Bernardo while in jail, was released in 2005 and married her lawyer's brother Thierry Bordelais. Canadian serial killer Karla Homolka who was jailed for the rapes and murders of three teen girls - including her sister - in the 1990s was spotted outside (above) her children's elementary school in Montreal this week Homolka (pictured in 1993) was jailed for 12 years for the rape and murder of the three teenage schoolgirls in the early 1990s The 47-year-old, who has three children from her second marriage, now sometimes volunteers at the private Christian school in Montreal where her kids are enrolled. She was pictured outside Greaves Adventist Academy by the Montreal Gazette this week - much to the outrage of concerned parents. The convicted killer recently helped supervise a group of kindergarten students during a field trip, and on another occasion was invited into a classroom to show the children how to knit, City News reports. Homolka also brought in a dog for a show-and-tell class and has been seen dropping and picking her children up from the school.'We don't want her here,' one parent said. 'How would you feel knowing that your child is interacting with a person who is a serial killer? It's not right.' Homolka was convicted in 1993 of raping and killing schoolgirls Kristen French (left) and Leslie Mahaffy (center). She also played a role in the death of her 15-year-old sister Tammy (right) Karla Homolka was convicted in 1993 of carrying out the murders with her then-husband Paul Bernardo (above). He is serving an indefinite sentence for the brutal killings A Seventh-day Adventist Church spokesman said the school board was fully aware of Homolka's history. 'She is not a regular volunteer and can never be alone with any children, either in school or churches,' the spokesman said. 'It is protocol for all of our schools across Canada, and most of the world, to do background checks, not only on teachers, but volunteers as well as clergy. 'As I said, she is not a regular volunteer. Rarely would she have cause to go into the school, and when she is, she is never alone.' Homolka lived in Quebec immediately after she was released from jail, before moving to the Caribbean with her children to avoid media scrutiny. A Seventh-day Adventist Church spokesman said the school board at Greaves Adventist Academy (above) was fully aware of Homolka's history Homolka dodged photographers outside the private Christian school this week Homolka struck a controversial plea deal in the 1990s in which she pleaded guilty to manslaughter to have her sentence reduced to 12 years She has been living in the Montreal suburb of Chateauguay for the last two years. The murder trials of both Homolka and her then-husband Bernardo were high-profile cases in the early 1990s. Homolka struck a controversial plea deal in which she pleaded guilty to manslaughter to have her sentence reduced to 12 years. She had claimed that Bernardo had abused her and forced her to murder the teenage victims. Video footage of the crimes that surfaced later showed Homolka as a more willing participant. Homolka was convicted of manslaughter for her role in the slayings of French and Mahaffey. She wasn't charged in the death of her sister but her sentence took the incident into account. An NRA lobbyist has told a Wisconsin legislative considering a loosening of regulations about concealed weapons that guns were a 'great equalizer' for 'the blacks'. Scott Meyer, a lobbyist for the gun group, made the remarks while advocating for the passing of a Republican bill that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without permits or any training whatsoever. The lobbyist made the comment while attempting to argue the reason to scrap licenses or training was that those safeguards were too expensive for minorities and prevented them from being able to have guns. Meyer then, according to the Wisconsin State Journal, said firearm ownership was a 'great equalizer' for 'the blacks' after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. An NRA lobbyist has told a Wisconsin legislative considering a loosening of regulations about concealed weapons that guns were a 'great equalizer' for 'the blacks'. Pictured is a stock image of a man with a gun behind his back Senator Lena Taylor, a Milwaukee Democrat who is black, was quick to chastise Meyer for the remark. She told him calling African-Americans 'the blacks' doesn't help cultural diversity. 'Don't say "the blacks" - don't say that,' Taylor told the NRA lobbyist. The bill Meyer was arguing in support of, authored by Republican Congresswoman Mary Felzkowski and Republican Senator David Craig, would also scrap the state's gun-free school zone - allowing anyone with a license to carry a concealed weapon onto a campus unless there was a sign specifically stating they could not. It would also drastically reduce penalties for violating school rules regarding guns from a felony to a fine or misdemeanor. The two Republicans who wrote the bill earlier told the judiciary committee during a packed public hearing doing away with the permit and training would eliminate the $40 application fee and administrative hurdles. The bill Meyer was arguing in support of, authored by Republican Congresswoman Mary Felzkowski (right) and Republican Senator David Craig (left, with Scott Walker), would also scrap the state's gun-free school zone They both added it would strengthen Second Amendment rights for citizens. Felzkowski then argued how the bill would allow 'law-abiding citizens who can carry weapons openly to now "throw a sweater on",' the State Journal reports. 'Right now I can go to Gander Mountain and buy (a handgun) and strap it to my hip - what I cannot legally do is throw a sweater on,' Felzkowski said. 'Thats what we change.' Craig then argued against criticisms from Democrats who were concerned about the bill scrapping a method designed to ensure only 'responsible' people are able to get their hands on a weapon. 'I don't think passing legislation would make people responsible,' Felzkowski said, which prompted Democrat Fred Risser to respond: 'I'm not worried about the responsible people, I'm worried about the irresponsible people.' According to the State Journal, Risser then raised the idea of safety locks being required for guns to try to eliminate the possibility of any accidents involving children. Senator Lena Taylor, a Milwaukee Democrat who is black, was quick to chastise Meyer for the remark, telling him: ''Don't say "the blacks" - don't say that' But the Republicans had an answer for that as well. 'We don't need government restricting further accessibility to what might be a timely need to defend yourself,' Craig said. A lobbyist for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards then spoke out against the bill and its potential ability to see concealed weapons in the classroom. 'Simply put, the majority of my members believe that guns and children are not a good mix,' Dan Rossmiller said, according to the State Journal. 'I think there are ways to address many of the concerns of law-abiding citizens without completely repealing the state's gun-free zone law.' The bill was backed by Attorney General Brad Schimel, who issued a statement describing it as: 'a reasonable policy decision by the legislature'. A report published last year found the number of gun deaths among children in Wisconsin increased by 34 per cent from 2008-10 and 2012-14. It also found that black children were five times more likely to be killed by a gun than white children. The uptick in gun-related deaths coincided with background checks and a 48-hour waiting period before purchasing a gun being scrapped. Advertisement Coaxing a new-born into their first bath is one of parentings big hurdles. But this curious Dartmoor pony just two days-old needed no encouragement as he jumped hoof-first into a muddy brook. In a series of delightful pictures, the adventurous chap is seen wading into the water for a refreshing drink under the watchful eye of his mother. Although hesitant at first, it is not long before he has dropped to the riverbed for a thorough soaking on the warm afternoon. This curious Dartmoor pony just two days-old needed no encouragement as he jumped hoof-first into a muddy brook In a series of delightful pictures, the adventurous chap is seen wading into the water for a refreshing drink under the watchful eye of his mother Foals can often walk just 30 minutes after being born, happily galloping alongside their mothers within 90 minutes After dipping his front legs in the muddy water, he topples nose-first into the brook. Rolling on to his back, he then paddles playfully albeit carefully observed by his mother and another mare as he tosses and turns to ensure every inch of his glossy brown coat is covered. Foals can often walk just 30 minutes after being born, happily galloping alongside their mothers within 90 minutes. But typically they would not take a bath until they are around three weeks old, with many youngsters being shocked, or even upset, by their first aquatic experience. However, bucking the trend, this foal seemed to thoroughly enjoy his bath. Just minutes after entering the brook he drags himself up from the cool waters to bound off through the long grass on the moor. Water dripping from his coat, he was captured prancing into the air as his mother grazes peacefully nearby. Though clearly pleased with the results his bathing antics, the foal was left looking somewhat dishevelled after his adventure until he had dried off. The young pony is one of number of foals born in Dartmoor National Park between May and August. They spend most of the time in small herds of mares with one adult stallion on the moors. However the animals are not are not truly wild, as they are all owned by farmers who let them out on to the commons to graze for most of the year. Although hesitant at first, it is not long before he has dropped to the riverbed for a thorough soaking on the warm afternoon Typically they would not take a bath until they are around three weeks old, with many youngsters being shocked, or even upset, by their first aquatic experience Historically, all Englishmen had a right to graze on the Commons of Devon, with many people using the opportunity to graze their cattle up until the 1920s. Archaeologists believe ponies roamed Dartmoor as far back as 3,500 years ago. Still one of the areas most beloved animals, they were first officially record in AD 1012, when a reference was made to the wild horses of Ashburton. The breed reached the height of their fame in the 1920s, when Prince Edward later Edward VIII started to breed ponies near Princetown, a village nestled in the national park. A century ago, there were 30,000 Dartmoor ponies roaming the moors. However, now there are just 1,500 mares left. Financial woes have also meant that hundreds of foals are being culled. The ponies falling numbers last week prompted a local farmer to controversially suggest that the public should start eating pony meat to save them from extinction Archaeologists believe ponies roamed Dartmoor as far back as 3,500 years ago. Still one of the areas most beloved animals, they were first officially record in AD 1012 Historically, all Englishmen had a right to graze on the Commons of Devon, with many people using the opportunity to graze their cattle up until the 1920s The ponies falling numbers last week prompted a local farmer to controversially suggest that the public should start eating pony meat to save them from extinction. Charlotte Faulkner, a volunteer for the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association, said: Its the most beautiful place in the world but it wont be here if we dont have our ponies. The whole structure of the moor depends on the way its grazed and managed. However for this pony and his mother, theres still plenty of time to enjoy the delights of the moor together. As summer approaches, the Dartmoor ponies begin to shed their trademark thick coat to enjoy the balmy weather. In the autumn they are herded onto farms in a process called the Drift. This gives locals time to check over their herds and decide which foals are strong enough to be weaned. Those ready to be sold are sent to pony sales, where people raise the money needed to keep their herd. Just minutes after entering the brook he drags himself up from the cool waters to bound off through the long grass on the moor As summer approaches, the Dartmoor ponies begin to shed their trademark thick coat to enjoy the balmy weather Washington Plans to expand school choice from President Donald Trump may be generating a lot of attentionbut they should be taken with a dose of political reality, and not obscure other key issues. That was one of the main messages from a panel of K-12 advocates discussing the changing politics of education at the annual conference of the Education Writers Association here on Wednesday. Left- and right-leaning advocates sparred about the hypothetical impact of $9.2 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Education proposed by Trump last week, and whether the Republican-controlled Congress is interested in the GOP presidents pitch for a $1.4 billion school choice initiative. There was a general consensus, however, that in the age of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, education reporters would do well to see howor ifnational debates impact things such as school choice and spending in states and local communities. After all, only about 10 percent of funding for public schools comes from the federal government. While states and local communities should offer as many quality choices to parents through things like education savings accounts and vouchers, that doesnt mean choice advocates should welcome federal initiatives to expand choice, said Lindsey Burke, the education policy director at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that backs limited government. States are moving at their own pace and should be left to do so, she added. Its hard to reconcile the creation of a new program with reducing federal intervention in education, Burke said. And separate from the merits of the Trump school choice proposals, they face uphill battles in Congress, where Republicans are eager to assert their prerogatives over the budget, said Martin West, an associate professor of education at Harvard University and a former K-12 adviser to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. There is not overwhelming Republican support for major federal efforts to expand school choice from Washington, West said. Shavar Jeffries, the president of Democrats for Education Reform, said there might be too much focus on school choice even in this environment, given the relatively small number of children choice programs serve. But he did say that low-income children in communities that many wealthier families have abandoned have the moral and education right some forms of appropriate choice, specifically charter schools: You can have choice and accountability. Burke and Jeffries also disagreed about how to think about private schools with respect to civil rights and special education. Burke emphasized that religiously affiliated private schools should have certain prerogatives with respect to the students they admit, even as they obey civil rights laws on the books. But Jeffries argued that in theory religious schools could find various justifications to discriminate inappropriately against various students. I think this administration is going to be a disaster for civil rights, Jeffries said. DFER is a major proponent of charter schools, but is more guarded when it comes to vouchers. (When asked recently by Chalkbeat about its stance on vouchers, Jeffries said: We just dont do a lot on vouchers, and in a lot of ways vouchers are really a sideshow.) He and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten focused many of their remarks during the panel on Trumps proposed budget cuts, which would eliminate federal aid to teacher development and after-school programs, and also make relatively small cuts to Title I funding for disadvantaged students and for special education. The proposed cuts from Trump would have a very tangible impact on children seeking to go to college and teachers seeking to get trained, Jeffries said. (Trumps budget, however, is likely to be largely ignored by Congress, even beyond the choice proposals.) And Weingarten said the proposals from the Trump administration to expand choice are really about changing the nature of public education from a public to a private commodity. Are we actually going to make this an unregulated market? she asked. But Burke argued that many students are being failed by traditional public schools, and that they deserve new options for schooling. With ESSA on the books, prospects for Congress to enact major education legislation in the foreseeable future are pretty slim, outside of a potential reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. And given the control ESSA gives to states and districts over many key policy areas, a key focus now is how they carry out the law, approved in 2015 with strong, bipartisan support. Important questions to consider include whether states will set high standards holding schools accountable, Jeffries said, and whether states and districts will intervene wisely when schools fall short. Are they are just going to put a letter up somewhere and say, This school is a C? Or are they going to actually do something? Jeffries asked. Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . Fashions may have changed, but a child's joy in going down a slide is the same today as it was nearly a century ago. However, the youngsters who messed around on what is said to be the world's first public playground slide faced a rather more hazardous experience. With no sides to hold on to or stop them falling off, a tumble on to steps or hard ground was a risk they had to take. An exact replica of the historic 1921 pioneering wooden slide was unveiled where the original was built almost 100 years ago Yesterday an exact replica of the historic 1921 pioneering wooden slide was unveiled at Wicksteed Park in Kettering, Northamptonshire, where the original was built almost 100 years ago. There was no shortage of youngsters keen to give it a try - but to keep health and safety officials from having a coronary, rubber matting has been put down to prevent injuries if children tip off. The original slide with wooden steps and 30ft long timber planks has been re-created as part of the park's project to bring the history of children's play to life. Back in 1921 owner Charles Wicksteed had a vision to encourage play and made the slides for his park before manufacturing and selling them around the world. After the misery of World War One, his park allowed children to play freely and for families to enjoy outdoor life together. Public parks were previously formal places where children had to keep off the grass. These days Wicksteed Park has rollercoasters and other hi-tech and high speed rides for children to have fun on. But the traditional swings and slides remain relatively unchanged and are as popular with younger children as they were decades ago. Oliver Wicksteed, Charles Wicksteed's great-grandson and the chairman of Wicksteed Charitable Trust, led a fundraising effort to pay for the new slide. He said: 'This iconic structure will help us to tell the story of the development of children's play, for which Wicksteed Park has been identified as of international significance. 'The story of the park and the man behind it has had a huge impact, not just locally, but in the whole way we treat parks and children's play as a nation.' The world's first slide at Wicksteed Park in Kettering, Northamptonshire in 1922 Initially, Charles Wicksteed made separate slides for boys and girls, which were labelled to avoid confusion. The children had to sit astride the wooden planks and hold onto the edges to stop themselves falling off. The division of the genders was common in early playgrounds, but Charles Wicksteed later became pioneering in breaking down the boundaries. He wrote in 1928: 'I thought I would make a slide: first for the boys. This was so much appreciated that I made a better one for the girls: the boys got jealous of this, so I made a still better one for them. He soon developed the design to include steel and a flat length at the end to stop children shooting off the end. He boasted it would 'accommodate children at the rate of 20 a minute'. By 1934 his slides were completely made from metal with the added safety measure of handlebars, sides and a cabin at the top. 'If a child becomes nervous it need not go down the chute, but can remain on the platform until the steps are clear,' he said at the time. Outlining his vision in his 1928 book, A Plea for Children's Recreation after School Hours and after School Age, Charles Wicksteed proclaimed: 'I have direct evidence from mothers how whining, pale-faced children, complaining of any food they get, have come back with healthy faces and rosy complexions, ready to eat the house out after a good play in the playground.' As well as creating the first publicly accessible park playground slide, Wicksteed Park also introduced one of the world's first water chutes in 1926, which is now listed. It is one of only three still remaining in operation in the UK and was described as 'being a bit like sitting in a skip and being thrown into a river'. These are the elite forces that stormed a plane at Melbourne Airport after a man allegedly claimed to have a bomb and tried to force his way into the cockpit. Formed in 1977 in response terrorist activity, Victoria's Special Operations Group (SOG) were called in amid the terrifying incident on Malaysia Airlines flight MH128 on Wednesday night. Dramatic footage shows gun-wielding officers wearing the SOG's iconic black coveralls and bullet-proof vests storm the flight as terrified passengers watched on. The elite unit deals with critical incidents such as sieges and hostage situations - and also acts as Victoria's bomb squad. These are the elite forces that stormed a plane after a man allegedly claimed to have a bomb and tried to force his way into the cockpit SOG officers were seen bursting through the doors after the plane was forced to return to Melbourne Airport just minutes after take off. Dramatic video shows them pulling the suspect from the floor before escorting him off the aircraft. The Kuala Lumpur-bound flight made a u-turn after the man allegedly shouted 'I'm going to blow up this plane'. Passengers confronted the man and tackled him down to the ground, with airline staff using makeshift handcuffs to restrain him. Two officers (one pictured) pulled the man from the floor and escorted him off the aircraft Other armed officers stormed the plane wearing camouflage as terrified passengers watched on Former AFL star Andrew Leoncelli was sitting in business class on the flight and was just metres from the man as he launched his attack. Mr Leoncelli told The Age the man began attacking an air-hostess, 'screaming' at her that he 'needed to see the captain'. 'I've got a bomb and I'm going to f***ing blow the plane up,' Leoncelli quoted the man as saying. 'Literally he was eyeball to eyeball with me saying he was going to blow the plane up... he looked like a lunatic.' Having been tackled to the floor, photos appear to show a Malaysia Airlines flight attendant placing makeshift keeping him pressed to the ground Former AFL star Andrew Leoncelli was sitting in business class on the flight and was just metres from the man as he launched his attack Mr Leoncelli said the man, who was tall and had dark skin, was holding a 'huge, metallic, unusual' object the size of a watermelon with two short antennas. 'We spent an hour and a half sitting on the plane sh***ing our dacks that this thing might blow up,' he told Triple M radio. Superintendent Tony Langdon said the person, a Sri Lankan national, was in police custody and being interviewed. He said the man had a history of mental illness and was not carrying an explosive device. After making an emergency landing, the plane sat on the tarmac with passengers still onboard for more than two hours Police set up a perimeter around the airport, but insisted there was no imminent threat A Malaysia Airlines spokesperson stressed that the plane was not 'hijacked' and returned safely to Melbourne. They said the airline will be working with Australian authorities to investigate the incident. 'Safety and security are of utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines. The airline wishes to apologise for the inconvenience caused,' the airline said in a statement. 'Passengers have safely disembarked the aircraft and will be screened by Australian authorities. 'Affected passengers will be accommodated at hotels. They will be offered travel on the next available flight or on other carriers.' The BBC was last night accused by a prominent Labour supporter of picking 'the most Left-wing' election debate audience ever. Senior Tories reacted furiously after the supposedly 'balanced' group jeered criticism of Jeremy Corbyn on the programme. Even BBC presenter Mishal Husain was heckled when she pointed out that he had been unable to set out the cost of his flagship child care policy the previous day. The Labour leader was repeatedly cheered despite a meandering performance in which he was accused of treating taxpayers' cash like 'Monopoly money'. George Eaton, political editor of the Labour-supporting New Statesman magazine, said: 'This feels like the most Left-wing audience in any TV debate.' A senior Conservative source attacked the BBC saying it was 'quite astonishing just how badly they picked the audience'. And Boris Johnson said today: 'It was seven people speaking to probably the most left-wing studio audience the BBC has ever brought together'. Senior Tories reacted furiously after the supposedly 'balanced' group jeered criticism of Jeremy Corbyn on the programme Reaction: Journalist George Eaton said it felt like a left-wing audience and many viewers accused the BBC of bias and pledged to complain to watchdog Ofcom Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: 'Obviously there are questions for the BBC to answer It's quite clear there was an anti-Tory bias in the audience, which wasn't there in the Channel 4 programme on Monday.' As the show went out, readers contacted the Daily Mail to express their objections. The Labour leader was cheered loudly after discussing his policy to scrap tuition fees Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames said the reaction of the audience vindicated Theresa May's decision to delegate the debate to Home Secretary Amber Rudd. He said the Prime Minister was 'absolutely right not to attend debate with typically rigged audience by BBC'. Even some Labour supporters and independent commentators voiced concern about the make-up of the audience. Robert Peston, political editor of ITV News said it was 'odd that this 'balanced' BBC audience is clearly much keener on immigration than much of UK'. The row came as: Mr Corbyn was accused of 'fantasy economics' over plans to hit wealthier families with a wealth tax and inheritance tax raid; The Labour leader refused to rule out a 'coalition of chaos' deal with the SNP; Mrs May prepared to warn voters they have just seven days to ensure the 'promise of Brexit' is not squandered by Mr Corbyn; Senior Labour figures suggested they intended to rip up trade union laws with a plan to bring back flying pickets; The pound fell after a shock analysis found Mrs May could be on course for a hung parliament. Even BBC presenter Mishal Husain was heckled when she pointed out that he had been unable to set out the cost of his flagship child care policy the previous day Mr Corbyn's mention of a foodbank also produced clapping and cheers from the audience The row over the BBC audience overshadowed the debate in which Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP and the Green Party repeatedly teamed up against Amber Rudd, who was standing in for Theresa May. Presenter Miss Husain stated at the beginning of the programme that the audience had been selected to be 'representative of the country as a whole'. At one stage, when Miss Rudd, urged the audience to 'look at our record', she was met with mocking laughter. When the Home Secretary defended the Government's record on creating jobs, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said: 'That doesn't pay nurses who need to go to foodbanks.' The audience erupted into applause. Mr Corbyn's mention of a foodbank also produced clapping and cheers from the audience. 'Have you been to a foodbank, have you seen people sleeping rough around the station?' he said after mentioning Miss Rudd. The Labour leader was also cheered loudly after discussing his policy to scrap tuition fees. SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson prompted applause for saying the debate on immigration 'shames us all' adding that everyone understands immigrants make a positive contribution to the country. Miss Lucas was clapped when she said that migration should not be blamed for strained public sector services. Mr Corbyn decided to attend the debate yesterday to turn up the heat on Mrs May, having previously ruled out taking part. But the last-minute U-turn appeared to have backfired as he faced tough questions over the economy, immigration and security. The debate was held in Cambridge, one of the most pro-Remain parts of the country. The BBC insisted the audience had been scrupulously vetted. In a statement, the corporation said: 'The BBC commissioned polling company ComRes to recruit an audience that is representative of the country demographically and politically. They have lots of experience doing this. This covered age; gender; ethnicity; socio-economic; party politics; how they voted in EU referendum; and some undecided.' The debate was held in Cambridge, one of the most pro-Remain parts of the country But critics were unimpressed. Philip Davies, Tory candidate for Shipley, said: 'You only have to watch Question Time to realise that the BBC's idea of an impartial audience is 80 per cent Labour supporters. 'This is what we have come to expect from political BBC programmes.' Andrew Bridgen, Conservative candidate for North-West Leicestershire, said: 'Who would be surprised by another handpicked left-wing audience? Jeremy Corbyn won't be short of votes in the BBC but he should be short of votes in the ballot boxes. I'm not surprised in the slightest.' Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, who was repeatedly heckled, wrote on Twitter: 'Enjoyed tonight's debate particularly having the chance to speak to [hard-Left group] Momentum sorry I meant the audience.' Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: 'This is deja vu. In 2015 I called out the BBC audience for being hard-Left-wing. It's even worse this time.' A father who told police that he shot his own son dead during an argument over biscuits and gravy because his child was a 'bully' and he 'snapped' has been given a probationary sentence. Fred Fleener III, 46, shot Fred Fleener IV, 22, on November 14, 2015, at their home in Indianapolis, Indiana, after the younger Fleener became angry at his father for not bringing him enough breakfast. On Tuesday he was sentenced to two years of probation after admitting voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal, the Indy Star reported. Probation: Fred Fleener III (left) was given two years' probation on Tuesday as punishment for shooting his son, Fred Fleener IV (right) in 2015. He told police his son had been very abusive Dispute: Fleener III (far left) shot Fleener IV (second from left) after the 22-year-old became angry because he felt sister Krystalen (top-right) didn't give him enough breakfast. Fleener IV threw something at his cousin (not pictured) and when Fleener III stepped in, they fought Police said they entered the Fleeners' home to find Fleener IV lying on the living room floor with a wound to his chest. He died around 25 minutes later in hospital. Fleener III handed himself over to police, but he and his daughter Krystalen told cops that the young man was a 'bully' who had been physically abusive towards them for years. 'This has gone on for a long time. We're so tired of this. He's always beating on us,' they told police, according to the Indy Star at the time. The father told investigators that Krystalen had gone out and brought back breakfast trays for herself, her father, her brother and a cousin that morning. But Fleener IV, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and had anxiety and depression issues, became angry that he only had one tray, not the two he wanted. Krystalen told detectives that her brother had thrown something at the cousin, who is wheelchair bound with multiple sclerosis, and when Fleener III stepped in the pair started fighting. Both the cousin and Krystalen said the fight ended with one or two gunshots and Fleener IV saying 'Dad, you shot me.' Police were informed while they were en route that the father would hand himself over without a fight. Fleener III was initially charged with voluntary manslaughter and reckless homicide, but the homicide charge was dropped as part of the plea deal. Passengers on board a Melbourne flight 'hijacked' by a man claiming to have a bomb have described the heroic moment two young Australian men tackled the 'lunatic' Sri Lankan national to the floor and hogtied him until special operations police arrived. Former AFL star Andrew Leoncelli was on board the Malaysia Airline flight MH128, travelling to Kualu Lumpur, when the man threatened to 'blow the f***ing plane up'. Mr Leoncelli, who was sitting four rows from the front of the plane in business class, said he confronted the man who was holding a 'huge, metallic object with two antennas'. Scroll down for video Former AFL star Andrew Leoncelli (pictured on plane) has described the terrifying moment he confronted a man claiming to be carrying a bomb on a Melbourne flight to Kuala Lumpur Mr Leoncelli said a group of young Australian men tackled the man to the floor and hogtied him until the plane landed and police boarded. Photos posted to social media appear to show a Malaysia Airlines flight attendant keeping him pressed to the ground 'I could hear this idiot saying he wanted to go in and see the pilot,' the ex-Melbourne FC Demons player told 3AW radio. 'Staff were saying "Sit back down, sit back down" and he said: "No, Im not going to sit down, Im going to blow the plane up".' 'I said, "Mate, what are you effing doing?" And he said, "I'm going to blow the f***ing plane up". And I was going, "Oh my god, he's f***ing insane". 'So, I approached him and he ran down the side and then he ended up going down the back of the plane. 'And then two lads grabbed him and disarmed him and bashed the crap out of him and put hogties on him. '(They) basically jammed his head into the carpet and put the restraints things on him and then sat on him,' he told the ABC. According to witnesses, the man yelled 'I'm going to blow up this plane' as he attempted to enter the cockpit Passengers on board the plane said the man was holding a 'huge, metallic' object with antennas coming out of it Mr Leoncelli said the man, who was tall and had dark skin, was holding a 'huge, metallic, unusual' object the size of a watermelon with two short antennas. 'It was huge, it was black and it had two black antennas coming off it, but it also looked like an iPhone jack. So it could have been just a beat box thing,' he said. 'I don't know whether that was a speaker system or not but there's no chance he got this on the plane without taking it through security, because this was the size of a giant bowling ball.' Victoria Police later confirmed that the man, a 25-year-old from Dandenong, had a history of mental health and did not have an explosive device. He was arrested after questioning from Australian Federal and Victorian Police. Passenger Arif Chaudhery (pictured) said he believed the man was drunk or on drugs when he threatened to blow up the plane After making an emergency landing, the plane sat on the tarmac with passengers still onboard for more than two hours. They disembarked (pictured) shortly before 2am 'It's quite heroic for the passengers and crew to restrain this person,' Superintendent Tony Langdon said. The Malaysian Government claimed the suspicious object the man was holding was likely a powerbank used to charge mobile phones. 'It is believed that the suspect is a Sri Lankan national, and that he was drunk,' Malaysia's Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Seri Aziz Ab Kaprawi told The Star. After making an emergency landing the plane sat on the tarmac with passengers still on board for more than two hours. The 300-odd passengers on board the international flight will reportedly be interviewed by police before they are released. Jeremy Corbyn was accused of 'fantasy economics' last night over plans to hit wealthier families to fund his manifesto giveaways. The party is looking at a 'wealth tax' on the middle classes and an inheritance tax raid that could hit 26,000 families a year, it emerged yesterday. Under other spending commitments, Mr Corbyn also suggested he may cut or even cancel student debt for anyone who has been to university in the past decade as well as pledging to slash the price of rail tickets for commuters. Jeremy Corbyn was accused of 'fantasy economics' over plans to hit wealthier families to fund his manifesto giveaways It came just a day after the Labour leader admitted he couldn't remember the cost of a key childcare policy. Asked in last night's BBC TV debate whether his party's manifesto sums on public services add up, Mr Corbyn replied: 'I'm absolutely sure that they add up.' But Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who appeared instead of Theresa May, said: 'I just have to take on some of Jeremy Corbyn's fantasy economics.' She said he was spending a 'magic money tree' while handling Britain's finances like Monopoly money. It emerged yesterday that a Labour government would consider hitting the middle classes with a 'wealth tax' to pay for social care Andrew Bridgen, Tory candidate for North West Leicestershire, said last night: 'It has been shown time and time again that Jeremy Corbyn's funding commitments don't add up. When it comes to inheritance tax and wealth taxes, how many times do Labour want to tax people on the same assets? As always, it is La La Land Economics for the Corbynistas.' It emerged yesterday that a Labour government would consider hitting the middle classes with a 'wealth tax' to pay for social care. The party's manifesto said Mr Corbyn who this week appears on the front page of music paper NME would look at the idea of imposing the levy on higher earners to raise an extra 3billion a year. The term 'wealth tax' means a charge upon the value of investments, including property. A leading think-tank said the plan could affect hundreds of thousands and could see some homeowners having to sell their home to pay huge tax bills. Last night Labour said that even though it is listed as an 'option' in the manifesto, a wealth tax was not official party policy and that it would only be introduced if there was cross-party consensus. Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who appeared instead of Theresa May, said: 'I just have to take on some of Jeremy Corbyn's fantasy economics' The manifesto lists a series of other options, including asking businesses to pay more to pay for care, or the imposition of a new 'social care levy'. Any wealth tax would be on top of Labour's plans to hit those earning 80,000 or more with higher income tax. The manifesto gives no indication of the rate that would be considered for a wealth tax or how many would be affected. But in France an annual tax of between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent is charged on anyone with assets worth more than 1.1million which can include property, cars, jewellery and even furniture. Five years ago, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell suggested a one-off 20 per cent wealth tax on the richest 10 per cent in Britain. Julian Jessop, of the Institute for Economic Affairs, yesterday said that around 35 per cent of wealth is tied up in property, meaning the burden of a wealth tax would fall largely on homeowners. He said: 'Wealth taxes might appeal to some on principle but they are a bad idea in practice. 'Most wealth is tied up in property or pensions, meaning that many people would find it hard to pay a large tax bill without selling their homes or having less money to live on when they retire. 'Anyone with shares in their own business may be forced to cash in earlier too.' The Labour manifesto said cash raised from a wealth tax would be used to fund a cap on the cost of social care, as well as free care for the terminally ill. A party spokesman said: 'A wealth tax is not Labour policy and we have no plans to introduce a wealth tax. The Tories are levying a bigger wealth tax in the dementia tax.' Last night the party also admitted it plans to hit tens of thousands more families with inheritance tax. The Tory budget of 2015 raised the threshold for couples to 1million by 2021 from its previous level of 650,000. But Labour has pledged to 'reverse tax giveaways' and last night confirmed it meant the threshold would return to 650,000. David Gauke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said last night: 'Jeremy Corbyn has made endless spending promises pretending there is a magical money tree, but the truth is families would pay for his hard-left manifesto through higher taxes, more debt and a broken economy.' Legendary film producer Harvey Weinstein was rushed by police in Cannes as he sidestepped several security checkpoints at the AmFAR gala. Though the event is sponsored by Weinstein himself, police apparently didn't recognize him when, distracted by jabbering on his cell phone, he walked right through security points as he headed to the gala at Hotel du Cap on Thursday night, a source told The Hollywood Reporter. Security has been extra tight at events in Europe given the fear of terrorist attacks. The producer, who was a force behind such indie hits as Pulp Fiction, Scream, and Shakespeare in Love, and numerous hit TV series such as Project Runway, was finally rushed by four French cops, says the outlet. Producer Harvey Weinstein, one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, above at the AmFAR gala with Formula One racer Nico Rosberg, was supposedly rushed by four cops before he could make it to the party Realizing they had the most important man at the event on their hands, the police then chaperoned him to the venue. The sources says Weinstein's wife, designer Georgina Chapman, was overheard chastizing him for keeping her waiting. The AmFAR gala, which raises money for AIDS research, raised $20million in one night. One million of that came from Weinstein himself, in honor of his mother, reported Deadline.com. Weinstein, above with his wife Georgina Chapman, finally made it to the bash As usual, the gala attracted the creme de la creme of Hollywood, including Salma Hayek, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, Tobey Maguire, Eva Longoria, Nicole Kidman, and Uma Thurman. The celebs and other guests bid on a range of astonishing items that included a private dinner with David Beckham, a private meeting with the Dalai Lama, and a week in the Maldives for one lucky and wealthy person and 60 of his or her friends. The theme of the bash was the Golden Age of Hollywood. AmFAR was founded by Elizabeth Taylor. Comedian Matt Lucas (pictured) branded the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher a murderer Comedian Matt Lucas has somewhat dramatically branded the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher a murderer for discriminating against gay people. The Little Britain comic criticises Mrs Thatcher for her part in introducing the notorious Section 28 amendment in 1988, which banned schools and local authorities from promoting homosexuality. I regard Margaret Thatcher and the people who created and endorsed Clause 28 as murderers, he says in a new documentary. They prevented young men from learning how not to contract AIDS and die. You have to remember, there was a moment when there wasnt Clause 28 and then it came in. It wasnt something that they inherited, it was something they initiated. F*** em. Section 28 was repealed in 2003. Lucas makes the accusation in 50 Years Legal, a new film commemorating the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised sex between two men. Ruby Wax's double act Ruby Wax's daughters Maddy (right), 26, and Marina Bye (left), 23, re performing their debut show, aptly called Siblings, at the Brighton Fringe The apple doesnt fall far from Ruby Waxs tree her daughters have launched as a comedy duo. Maddy, 26, and Marina Bye, 23, whose father is TV director Ed Bye, are performing their debut show, aptly called Siblings, at the Brighton Fringe. Marina (far right) recently graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Maddy (left) from Parisian theatre and clown school Ecole Philippe Gaulier. Unlike many aspiring comics, theyve already got plugs from Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Miranda Hart who just happen to be friends of their mum. Intrigue ahead of Ronnie Corbetts memorial next week. According to my source, four men will each carry a candle into Westminster Abbey just ahead of the clergy procession in honour of one of the most famous sketches by the Two Ronnies. The black chair Ronnie used for his story-telling will also play a role, in a first for the Abbey. One suggestion is that the chair will be carried in by two men just behind the clergy. Am I funny - who knows, says Cleese John Cleeses new comedy, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this month, failed to impress When John Cleeses new comedy was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this month, it failed to impress. Now the 77-year-old admits he cant tell if his work is funny. In my experience, you still never know whats funny. I mean, I think Im unlikely to produce something completely unfunny, but I really cant tell sometimes whether its going to be hugely funny or reasonably funny. 'And that continues to this day. Even former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had her own take on what President Trump meant when he tweeted the word 'covfefe' late Tuesday night. 'People in covfefe houses shouldn't throw covfefe', the former first lady tweeted on Wednesday evening. Her hilarious tweet appears to be in response reply to Trump's earlier statement on Twitter, when he remarked that: 'Crooked Hillary Clinton now blames everybody but herself, refuses to say she was a terrible candidate. Hits Facebook & even Dems & DNC.' She was of course referencing the president's incoherent, late-night tweet on Tuesday, which stated: 'Despite the constant negative press covfefe.' 'People in covfefe houses shouldn't throw covfefe', the former first lady tweeted on Wednesday evening Hillary Clinton had her own interpretation of President Trump's 'covfefe' gaffe - and of course it had something to do with the Russians 'Despite the constant negative press covfefe', the president tweeted after midnight on Tuesday The tweet triggered a Twitter meltdown with thousands of mocking memes, and left many trying to work out the meaning of the mysterious 'covfefe.' Earlier on Wednesday, Clinton - who refused to let such a good opportunity to mock her formal presidential candidate rival - also cracked a joke about the misspelled tweet while speaking at the Code Conference in Los Angeles. 'I thought it was a hidden message to the Russians,' Clinton said chuckling from onstage Recode's Code Conference. She was sitting down with the publication's Kara Swisher, who brought up the Trump tweet briefly before moving on to audience Q&A. Hillary Clinton (right) attended Recode's Code Conference and, again, talked about the Russians' role in the 2016 election The President tweeted this morning calling on people to figure out the meaning of the word, prompting a fresh round of ribbing 'So we have to get to questions from the audience so I don't think we can get into covfefe right now, it's a longer thing,' Swisher said. Clinton jumped in and pointed a finger at the Russians, as she had earlier in the program when she again rehashed her election loss, suggesting that they had, indeed, colluded with President Trump and his associates. 'The Russians in my opinion and based on intelligence and counterintelligence people I have spoken to could not have known best how to weaponize that information unless they had been guided by a specific group of people. By Americans.' Swisher prodded and asked who was doing the guiding. 'Yes, I am leaning Trump. It is pretty hard not to,' Clinton replied. She then joked that Trump's bizarre tweet must have been a message to the Russians. Donald Trump (pictured) has been mercilessly mocked online after he posted a rambling and misspelled late night tweet just hours after Press Secretary Sean Spicer's debacle 'That is perfect. Thanks for that. That is going to be on our side in about five seconds,' Swisher responded. Nearly at the same time, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was defending Trump's strange tweet, which read, 'Despite the constant negative press covfefe.' Yahoo News' Hunter Walker broached the topic at Wednesday's off-camera press briefing asking Spicer if 'people should be concerned that the president posted somewhat of an incoherent tweet last night and it then stayed up for hours?' First Spicer simply answered, 'no.' Then, when Walker prodded him and asked why the tweet stayed up for so long, Spicer implied that it was done purposely. 'The president and a small group of people knew exactly what he meant,' Spicer answered. Trump, himself, had made a joke about it, as the tweet had been left online for more than give hours. The President urged people to speculate on the meaning of the word, and speculate they did Many used it as an opportunity to joke about the size of the President's hand, suggesting this contributed to the blunder Anxious tweeter Rob Szczerba replied to the President suggesting it could be a password or nuclear code Some have suggested it could be a distraction created in order to bury bad news One joker on Twitter suggested it stood for Consistently Obey Vladimir For Everything For Ever 'Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!' he tweeted in the early a.m. hours on Wednesday. Of course, it prompted a fresh round of ribbing for the commander-in-chief, as Trump was accused of a clumsy attempt to cover up his mistake. Many joked the half-finished tweet was the result of one of Trump's aides ripping his phone from his hands. Others claimed it was a new take on Trump's famous slogan, which is now: 'Make America covfefe again!' Before the tweet was deleted, some expressed concern for the president, suggesting he may have had a 'stroke' mid-type, while others wanted to know why no one at the White House appeared to have noticed the tweet for at least an hour. 'Is everyone in the White House asleep right now???' one user tweeted. 'It's the new upcoming Starbucks drinks. It's orange vanilla with a borscht swirl. They make the whip cream look like a white hood,' another joked. Twitter users attempted to find some meaning behind covfefe - leading to a heated exchange between a wizard and a viking warrior who claimed to have been summoned in order to search for a mythical orb The comment has sparked both confusion and hundreds of memes mocking the bizarre tweet Elyse Johnson added: 'Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's #Covfefe.' Other tweets joked 'covfefe' could be anything from the nuclear launch codes to the title of a new release at cinemas soon, to the thing you make when life gives you lemons. The businessman-turned-politician appears to have been writing 'despite the constant negative press coverage...' but we may never know what then end of that sentence should have been. Many joked the half-finished tweet, which has not yet been deleted, was the result of one of Trump's aides ripping his phone from his hands Spicer abruptly ended his Tuesday afternoon briefing after three news outlets the president has called 'fake news' and 'the enemy of the American people' demanded that he provide a list of stories the White House believes to be false Of course, it is not the first time someone in Trump's administration has made a Twitter blunder. White House press secretary Spicer posted what appeared to be a random assortment of letters and numbers in January which many took to be his password or joked it could be the nuclear codes. Trump's rambling tweet on Tuesday night came just hours after Spicer dramatically exited the White House press briefing - his first day back at the podium since the president returned from his overseas trip amid a reporter revolt over his attack on 'fake news'. Scotland, Wales and English regions could be given powers to demand higher levels of immigration under Labour policy plans. The party's secret immigration blueprint contains a controversial 'override mechanism' to be handed out when parts of the UK want more migrants. The leaked document, which was written by Mr Corbyn's domestic policy adviser, prompted Theresa May to accuse the Labour leader of planning 'uncontrolled immigration' if he wins power. The Prime Minister warned this would heap pressure on public services and lower workers' wages. She promised 'proper control of our immigration' under a Tory government. Scotland, Wales and English regions could be given powers to demand higher levels of immigration under Labour policy plans. Pictured: Migrants climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel The leaked document, which was written by Jeremy Corbyn's domestic policy adviser, prompted Theresa May to accuse the Labour leader of planning 'uncontrolled immigration' if he wins power Speaking on the campaign trail in Plymouth, Mrs May said: 'There's a very clear choice at this election there's a very clear difference between myself and Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party. 'I want to ensure we are controlling migration because too high uncontrolled migration puts pressure on our public services, but it also lowers wages at the lower end of the income scale. 'I want to ensure we control migration. Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party want uncontrolled migration.' The five-page policy paper showed Labour is considering a visa for 'low-skilled, unskilled or seasonal work', it was revealed yesterday. It also proposes scrapping rules which restrict foreign spouses coming to Britain unless they can show they will not be a 'burden' on the taxpayer. The document which was marked 'confidential' suggests Scotland, Wales, English regions, and businesses, could be given their own powers to request more migrants. It states: 'The system we propose does provide government with the tools to manage the system better, to focus better on our economic and social needs and to provide employers and regions with an override mechanism when we get it wrong. The Prime Minister warned Labour plans would heap pressure on public services and lower workers' wages 'We would work with national, regional and local administrations, as well as established and emerging businesses to identify skillset shortages in the British labour market.' Think-tank Migrationwatch warned the plans would 'very likely mean losing control over immigration altogether'. Its chairman, Lord Green of Deddington, drew parallels with 1997 when Labour promised reform but allowed migrant numbers to explode. He accused the party of keeping secret plans to increase immigration until after the election. 'We have been here before Labour are low-key about immigration before they get into power but very different in office,' Lord Green said. 'The last time they came to power in 1997 they also promised to reform the system. 'Within three years immigration had trebled from 50,000 to 150,000. That was even before they opened the gates to Eastern Europe. 'These proposals are very likely to result in losing control over immigration altogether.' Mr Corbyn was confronted over the leaked policy plan at a press briefing in central London. The five-page policy paper showed Labour is considering a visa for 'low-skilled, unskilled or seasonal work'. Pictured: Migrants try to stay afloat on a dinghy in the Mediterranean LABOUR WOULD 'LET UNIONS RUN RIOT' Union militants will be given the right to 'determine the agenda' of companies they work for, under Labour plans to rip up anti-strike laws and bring back flying pickets. The party's manifesto commits to enhancing workers' rights, including setting up a Ministry of Labour and scrapping the Trade Union Act which makes it harder for unions to stage irresponsible walkouts. But comments made by Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell suggest they would go much further to appease the unions if they win power next week. The Labour leader last year said he would tear up the legal ban on secondary picketing, allowing the return of the so-called 'flying pickets' which wrecked industrial relations in the 1970s and 1980s. And in a previously unpublicised speech in August last year Mr McDonnell said: 'We will give trade unionists, as a right, the ability to influence the agenda and determine the agenda of the companies that they work for.' Last night Tory minister Priti Patel said: 'Jeremy Corbyn wants to let his union paymasters run riot, dragging Britain back to the 1970s.' Advertisement He admitted it had been discussed by his team but claimed the party's policies were in its manifesto. He made no attempt to claim migration numbers would fall. Mr Corbyn said: 'What you've been reading is a document that's been discussed between researchers in our teams Our policy is in our manifesto that is the policy that we will be carrying out. 'Under managed migration which would come after we leave the European Union it would be based on the needs of our economy and the rights of family reunion.' A Labour spokesman said: 'After Britain leaves the EU, free movement of labour will come to an end. Labour will introduce fair rules and managed migration, based on the needs of our economy. 'As part of our work in exploring the options, a number of discussion papers have been produced. This is part of one such document. It is not a statement of Labour policy, which is set out in our manifesto.' Theresa May defiant on '1billion NHS bill for expats' Theresa May defended her decision not to trade away the rights of British expats in Europe yesterday, as a report warned they could rack up health costs of 1billion a year. The Nuffield Trust warned that if all the British pensioners who currently receive health care in other countries through EU agreements had to return, caring for them would hit the NHS with a major bill. The health charity said the 1billion cost is twice the amount currently spent for them to receive care abroad. Theresa May defended her decision not to trade away the rights of British expats in Europe yesterday The Prime Minister has faced criticism from Labour for failing to unilaterally guarantee the rights of 3.2million EU citizens living in this country. But yesterday, she said the report underlined the need to get a deal that also protected the rights of 1.2million Britons living in Europe. Mrs May said it showed 'why it is so important we haven't just given those rights to EU citizens here in the UK'. During a visit to Plymouth, she said: 'From day one as Prime Minister I've been clear that I want to ensure we are supporting and looking after British people. 'If we are looking at people who are living in the European Union, I'm clear that I want to see an agreement where their rights are protected. 'Of course, it is reciprocal for EU citizens living here in the UK. The Nuffield Trust warned that if all the British pensioners who currently receive health care in other countries through EU agreements had to return, caring for them would hit the NHS with a major bill (file photo) 'But it is why it is so important we haven't just given those rights to EU citizens here in the UK. 'We are looking after UK citizens living in the European Union.' The Nuffield Trust report also said that if the NHS needed to care for those who currently receive care abroad, it would need a significantly higher number of hospital beds the equivalent of two new hospitals. Since President Donald Trumps proposed budget for fiscal 2018 was released last week, a lot of attention has been paid to a $250 million plan in the U.S. Department of Educations budget that would pay for, and study the impacts of, private school vouchers. But if you listen to the departments description of that plan, how you talk about the program matters a great deal. In an email, department spokeswoman Liz Hill told us last week that, To be clear, there is no federal voucher program. The [private school voucher] grant program would support states who apply for funding to develop school choice programs, and those States plans must adhere to Federal law. Heres where the budget proposal isnt strictly a direct voucher plan: The proposal in the budget blueprint would not send money directly from Washington to use for tuition vouchers at private school. That makes it different than state voucher programs. Instead, it would be run through a competitive grant program, as my colleague Sarah Sparks described here . Still, on another level, Hills distinction might be confusing. Federal money under Title I, for example, flows by a set of formulas (approved by Congress) to local districts, who then spend that money on their schools, within certain federal requirements. Yet you might be hard-pressed to find an education funding expert who says Title I isnt a federal program just because the federal money doesnt go directly from Washington to students. The grants would also be subject to federal oversight, since the Education Department would have the responsibility of monitoring the use of the federalg grant money. (The Government Accountability Office had something to say about this general issue for grants in fiscal 2015.) During her testimony last week before a House subcommittee, when Democratic lawmakers aggressively questioned Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos about whether private schools receiving federal funds through vouchers could discriminate against certain groups of students, DeVos repeatedly stressed that states and parents ultimately have the important prerogatives when school choice programs are being set up. Her testimony wasnt entirely clear with respect to federal issues , since she focused mostly on existing state school choice programs like the McKay Scholarships for students with special needs in Florida. And DeVos did pledge her commitment to investigating alleged civil rights violations. But her focus on state power and parental choice, combined with Hills comments, might provide some clues about the departments view of its role with respect to these grants. We asked Hill for any additional comments the department had on this issue and how it views funding streams like Title I. Well update this post if we hear back. Image: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks at the American Federation for Childrens national summit in Indianapolis on Monday, May 22. Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . Advertisement Photos show almost 200,000 people crammed onto a beach in China as the country celebrated the dragon boat festival. 190,000 people visited the beach in Haikou, China's Hainan province on May 30, reports the People's Daily Online. Many locals believe that they are blessed with health and safety by the dragon god if they take a dip on that day. Looks busy! An aerial view of people bathing in the water in Haikou on the island province of Hainan, China According to reports, almost 200,000 people visited the beach in just one day leaving the area packed with people There's no room for privacy on this beach: People take part in the tradition of bathing in 'dragon water' The visitors were bathing in 'dragon water' as part of a local custom to mark the Dragon Boat Festival also known as Duanwu Festival. Hainan province, an island region in the south of China has a tradition in bathing in the water to keep oneself safe and happy during an entire year. People believe that Qu Yuan, a patriot poet during 475-221BC became a dragon after he committed suicide in the river. During the holiday, it is tradition to eat zongzi which are rice dumplings stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. This isn't the only time that beaches in China become busy. Every year over the May bank holiday, beaches in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen are packed prompting authorities to introduce an online booking system to help curb the number of people visiting. Colourful beach: The visitors were bathing in 'dragon water' as part of a local custom to mark the Dragon Boat Festival Hainan province, an island region in the south of China has a tradition in bathing in the water to keep oneself safe and happy The tourists were bathing in the water to give themselves luck following the dragon boat festival Russia has launched five successful flights of a hypersonic jet that is capable of destroying an aircraft carrier with a single impact, according to a new report. The Zircon cruise missile travels between 3,800mph and 4,600mph - five to six times the speed of sound - and puts Russia 'half a decade' ahead of the US', the report says. This makes it faster than any anti-missile system, including those that are expected to appear in the next two decades. Scroll down for video Russia has reportedly already successfully launched the Zircon hypersonic missile which is capable of travelling up to six times the speed of sound, making it 'unstoppable' HYPERSONIC JETS Russia has launched five successful flights of a hypersonic jet that is capable of destroying an aircraft carrier with a single impact, according to a new report. The Zircon cruise travels between 3,800mph and 4,600mph - five to six times the speed of sound and puts Russia 'half a decade' ahead of the US', the report says. Military analyst Vladimir Tuchkov said 'In Russia, the testing of actual weapons is already underway. 'It is expected to be added into Russia's arsenal between 2018 and 2020', he told state media outlet Sputnik. Advertisement Russian military analyst Vladimir Tuchkov said: 'In Russia, the testing of actual weapons is already underway. 'It is expected to be added into Russia's arsenal between 2018 and 2020', he told state media outlet Sputnik. 'A speed of Mach 6 is more than enough of a guarantee to overcome any anti-missile system', he said. Experts warn the 'unstoppable' projectiles could spell disaster for the Navy's 6.2 billion ($7.9 billion) aircraft carriers, the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. The US spends almost $600 billion (469 billion) a year on its defence budget and boasts the most powerful military in the world. However, its 19 aircraft carriers would be powerless to stop Zircon cruise missile missiles, according to the report. Current Navy anti-missile defences are only equipped to shoot down projectiles travelling 2,300mph, meaning they would be useless against the Zicron. This would force aircraft carriers to anchor outside of their estimated 500 mile range The Zircon is capable of travelling twice as fast as the Royal Navy's Sea Ceptor missile (pictured) which would be responsible for shooting it down 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. 'This includes not only systems that exist today, but those expected to appear over the next two decades. 'The results that the Americans reached in 2013 were achieved, and even exceeded, by the Soviet Union a long time ago', he said. The new weapon has been launched five times, according to reports, and could be fitted to Russian carrier Pyotr Velikiy (pictured) by 2022 The missile could render the Navy's new 6.2billion ($7.9billion) aircraft carriers the HMS Queen Elizabeth (pictured, artist's impression) and HMS Prince of Wales redundant, experts have warned The weapon could be fitted to nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Velikiy as soon as 2018, Russian state media reports. It can be fired from land, sea and submarines carrying payloads ranging from high explosive to nuclear. 'American scientists and engineers will have to strain every nerve just to avoid lagging too far behind Russia in this area', said Mr Tuchkov. The US spends almost $600 billion (469 billion) a year on its defence budget and has 19 aircraft carriers. However, carriers such as USS Carl Vinson (pictured), would be powerless to stop Zircon cruise missile missiles, according to the report The Zicron uses Scramjet technology which mixes fuel with air and allows it to burn at hypersonic speeds. That means the projectile can travel at astonishing speeds - covering 155 miles in 2.5 minutes, which is faster than a sniper's bullet. The setback is just the latest in a long line of problems with the Royal Navy's new carriers after a report earlier this month found they were beset with technical issues, facing delays and could go over-budget. ZIRCON MISSILE Role: Offensive, capable of carrying explosive or nuclear payloads Speed: 3,800mph to 4,600mph Range: Up to 500 miles Status: In testing, deployed by 2022 Advertisement A Russian search firm is the latest to join the race to build a self-driving car. Yandex, which already operates a rideshare scheme to rival Uber in Moscow, has released footage of its first demonstration of the vehicle. And while the company may be late to enter the contest compared to its international opponents, it appears it may have what it takes to be a contender. Scroll down for video Russia's largest technology firm Yandex, which already operates a rideshare scheme to rival Uber in Moscow, has released footage of its first demonstration of driverless technology (pictured) SELF-DRIVING TAXI Yandex, which already operates a rideshare scheme to rival Uber in Moscow, has released footage of its first demonstration of driverless technology. In a video released yesterday a modified Toyota Prius can be seen picking up a passenger before winding its way through narrow streets to drop them off a their destination. In a later test the car takes on various obstacles including winding in and out of barrels,unexpected pedestrians and a reversing lorry. How the car will perform in the real-world remains to be seen, but Yandex is hoping to test out their vehicle on public roads within the next year. Advertisement In a video, a modified Toyota Prius, with no driver behind the wheel, can be seen picking up a passenger before winding its way through narrow streets to drop them off at their destination. In a later test, the car takes on various obstacles, this time with a backup driver onboard, including a barrel obstacle course. But unexpected pedestrians and a reversing lorry appear to present little challenge to the automated vehicle. How the car will perform in the real-world remains to be seen, but Yandex is hoping to test out their vehicle on public roads within the next year. And the Moscow-based firm plans to team up with car manufacturers and others to bring the final version to mass market. In a statement on the company's blog, Dmitry Polishchuk, head of the project, said: 'Self-driving cars are set to revolutionise the way we commute within a matter of a decade. 'At this point in time, there are dozens of companies around the world building their own driverless cars, but only a few of them have components crucial for turning this project into reality. 'These components include a stack of reliable technologies and algorithms, engineering expertise and resources, and access to the market for self-driving vehicles. In a video released yesterday a modified Toyota Prius, with no driver behind the wheel, can be seen picking up a passenger before winding its way through narrow streets to drop them off a their destination (pictured) 'Yandex.Taxi, with the backing of Yandex, is one of the few players who can boast of possessing all of the above.' Yandex is best known as Russia's equivalent to Google, starting life as a search engine that went on to become the largest in the country. But like its Silicon Valley rival, Yandex has expanded to take on other technological challenges, including mapping, navigation, and object recognition, as well as its Yandex.Taxi brand. Yandex is best known as Russia's equivalent to Google and has expanded to take on technological challenges including mapping, navigation, and object recognition. The company says it has used this experience to help develop its self-driving car (pictured) It has also developed proprietary computing algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company says it has used its experience in these areas to help develop its self-driving car. This is not the first time that the idea of ride-sharing has been paired up with self-driving cars. Yandex has developed proprietary computing algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning which are all put to use in its self-driving taxi (pictured) In a later test the car takes on various obstacles, this time with a backup driver onboard, including a barrel obstacle course (pictured). Unexpected pedestrians and a reversing lorry appear to present little challenge to the automated vehicle Earlier this month Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google parent Alphabet, reached an agreement with Lyft to test self-driving car technology. Waymo has undergone 200 hours of extreme-weather testing and plans to have the vehicles on public roads in 2017. And while Uber is also racing to develop its own self-driving vehicles, the firm appears to have hit a bump in the road. Yesterday, the firm announced that it has fired Anthony Levandowski, the ex-Google engineer at the centre of a major self driving lawsuit. Researchers have discovered a haul of green stone objects made of jade and serpentine in Guatemala that date back to about 1,000 to 450 BCE. The long stone objects, called 'celts' are thought to have been used by the early Mayan civilisation in public ceremonies and rituals. The scientists hope that the findings could shed light on this mysterious early civilisation and their ceremonies. Scroll down for video Researchers have discovered a haul of green stone objects made of jade and serpentine in Guatemala that date back to about 1,000 to 450 BCE THE JADE ARTEFACTS Researchers discovered 72 celts made from jade, metagabbro, serpentine and other metamorphic greenstone. The findings represent the largest single haul of the precious artefacts ever found dating back to the early Mayan era. The celts were found next to a large ceremonial structure in the central plaza in Ceibal, suggesting that they may have been used in ceremonies or rituals. Using microscopes to look at the celts in further detail, the researchers found that the surface of the artefacts did not seem to have been worn down by fabrics, indicating that they weren't worn as jewellery or ornaments. The findings also reinforce the idea that the Sun was of extreme importance to the Mayans, as many of the celts were buried aligned with the points of the compass. Advertisement Researchers from Ibaraki University in Japan, discovered 18 cross-shaped holes Ceibal, Guatemala. Within these holes, known as caches, they found a total of 72 greenstone celts the largest single haul of the precious artefacts ever found dating back to the early Mayan era. In their paper, published in Antiquity, the researchers, led by Kazuo Aoyama, wrote: 'Among the items highly prized by pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people were objects carved in hard greenstone. 'The polished greenstone celts from Ceibal were manufactured from jade, metagabbro, serpentine and other metamorphic greenstone.' The caches were located next to a large ceremonial structure in the central plaza in Ceibal. This suggests that the celts may have been used in ceremonies or rituals. Using microscopes to look at the celts in further detail, the researchers found that the surface of the artefacts did not seem to have been worn down by fabrics, indicating that they were not worn as jewellery or ornaments. The polished greenstone celts from Ceibal were manufactured from jade, metagabbro, serpentine and other metamorphic greenstone The researchers wrote: 'Many of the celts were made specifically for ritual purposes, although a smaller number of them were used for wood carving.' While the nature of these rituals remains unclear, the researchers believe that they may have been ceremonies to integrate the wider community with the elite. The researchers wrote: 'The emerging elite probably played a primary role in these rituals, setting a template for later public events centred on rulers.' The caches were located next to a large ceremonial structure in the central plaza in Ceibal, suggesting that the celts may have been used in ceremonies or rituals The findings also reinforce the idea that the Sun was of extreme importance to the Mayans, as many of the celts were buried aligned with the points of the compass The findings also reinforce the idea that the sun was of extreme importance to the Mayans, as many of the celts were buried aligned with the points of the compass. The researchers added: 'The emerging elites at Ceibal were probably actively engaging with concepts associated with cardinal directions and the Maya cosmos during the Middle pre-classic period. 'Ideology, expressed in material form and through aspects of public rituals and public ceremonial structures, played a significant role in the development of Maya rulership.' The objects were found in Ceibal, in the north of Guatemala. Researchers believe that the celts could provide invaluable insights into Mayan culture Ice cores from the era of the Black Death have revealed for the first time how human industry has triggered the release of toxic lead into the air. Scientists previously assumed that there was a natural level of lead in the air, caused by earthy processes including volcanic eruptions. But a study of ice cores holding information about our atmosphere stretching back 2,000 years has identified a short period of time when no lead was released into the air. The time period, from 1349 to 1353, coincides with the spread of the Black Death, when British industry reached a standstill because of widespread worker death. This has led scientists to conclude that there is no natural amount of lead pollution in air and that harmful levels of the toxin are the result of human activity. Ice cores from the era of the Black Death have revealed for the first time how human industry has triggered the release of toxic lead into the air. Pictured is a Swiss ice core HOW DID THEY DO IT? Researchers extracted a column of ice, known as an ice core, from a glacier in the Swiss Alps as part of the study. They have analysed 43 metres of 72-metre core, allowing them to look 2,000 years into the past. Ice cores contain ancient bubbles of gas that can enable scientists to figure out what our air was composed of throughout our history. Using mass spectrometry and radiocarbon dating techniques, the team were able to record the levels of lead in atmosphere from month to month for the last 2,000 years. Advertisement 'We have basically been poisoning ourselves for about 2,000 years,' Alex More, a climate scientist at Harvard University and author of the study, told the Guardian. Lead is known to cause damage to the brain, liver, kidney and bones, and no level of exposure is safe, according to the World Health Organisation. 'We have for the first time a lead reading of what it would look like without humans on this part of the planet,' Chris Loveluck, an archaeologist from the University of Nottingham, told the Guardian. The analysis of ice cores suggests even before the industrial boom of the 19th century, lead pollution was caused by human activity. Researchers extracted a column of ice, known as an ice core, from a glacier in the Swiss Alps as part of the study. They have analysed 43 metres of 72-metre core, allowing them to look 2,000 years into the past. Ice cores contain ancient bubbles of gas that can enable scientists to figure out what our air was composed of throughout our history. Using mass spectrometry and radiocarbon dating techniques, the team were able to record the levels of lead in atmosphere from month to month for the last 2,000 years. The ice core chosen for this study offered unprecedented insight, researchers said. Researchers extracted a column of ice, known as an ice core, from a glacier in the Swiss Alps (pictured) as part of the study 'Because it is geographically precise and located right in the middle of civilisation, the major contribution [of lead] is going to come from Europe,' said Dr More. The scientists compared their data to historical records of when mining and smelting works opened and shut in Europe over the last few centuries. 'We looked at every piece of archaeological evidence for mining and the end of mining in that period across western Europe,' said Professor Loveluck. The analysis revealed that British mining and smelting were likely to have led to the release of atmospheric lead. 'For at least the past two millennia human mining and smelting activities have been the originator of detectable lead pollution in the European continent,' the authors said in a research paper published in journal GeoHealth. Parents who have tried in vain to prise a bag of sweets from their child's sweaty fist may disagree. But children are actually happier when they are sharing with others provided it is their own idea. When they feel pressured into it, children are less cheerful about giving away their treats, psychologists have found in a new study. Scroll down for video Children are actually happier when they are sharing with others provided it is their own idea. When they feel pressured into it, children are less cheerful about giving away their treats, psychologists have found in a new study (stock image) THE STUDY Researchers looked at the responses of three and five-year-old children during a sharing task. The experiment was set up so that the children were in two sharing groups - one group that shared voluntarily, and the other because they felt obligated to do so. Both three and five-year-olds shared more when they were obligated to share than when it was voluntary. But obligated sharing did not make them happy, And both age groups showed greater happiness when they shared voluntarily, than when keeping things for themselves. Advertisement Researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing examined the emotional benefits of sharing in a group of preschool children in China. The team looked at the facial expressions of three and five-year-old children during a sharing task, in which children were asked to share stickers with their friends. The experiment was set up so that the children were in two sharing groups - one group that shared voluntarily, and the other because they felt obligated to do so. Results showed that both three and five-year-olds shared more when they were obligated to share than when it was voluntary. But obligated sharing did not make them happy, and both age groups showed greater happiness when they gave stickers away voluntarily, than when kept for themselves. Dr Zhen Wu, lead author of the study, said: 'So, it seems that the motivation to give does count, and it also suggests that it is unrealistic to expect a very young child to share under pressure and be happy about it!' The findings suggest that because sharing makes us feel happy, we want to share more, explaining why psychologists consistently find that people like to 'give' more than they like to 'have'. And the results could prove to be valuable to preschool teachers guiding their students on how to share. Obligated sharing does not making children happy, and they are happier when the choice to share is their own (stock image) But Dr Wu added that the study was not without its drawbacks. He said: 'For instance, it is difficult to entirely rule out the influence of social norms even in the voluntary giving mode. The giver might have felt pressure to give even when told they were not obliged to.' The team now hopes to replicate the study, but with more controls, to get more accurate results. Dr Wu added: 'We need to examine how an act of generosity leads to happiness that in turn prompts another act of giving.' Nasa is set to announce its ambitious plans to launch a probe mission directly into the atmosphere of the sun in a world first. Dubbed the Parker Solar Probe (PSP), the mission will launch a spacecraft from Earth in the summer of 2018. It will reach an orbit within four million miles (6.5 million km) of the sun and will measure activity at its outer surface, known as the 'corona'. Travelling at speeds of up to 430,000mph (692,000kmh), the craft will collect vital information about the life of stars and their weather events, and will help scientists improve how we predict dangerous solar flares. Scroll down for video The spacecraft, dubbed the Parker Solar Probe, will see a spacecraft launched from Earth in the summer of 2018, to reach an orbit within four million miles (6.5 million km) of the sun's surface. This will be seven times closer than any spacecraft that has ventured before it THE PARKER SOLAR PROBE MISSION - The mission launch in the summer of 2018 - It study the outer atmosphere of the sun, known as the corona - To measure the corona, the probe will reach an orbit within four million miles (6.5 million km) of the sun - The craft will collect vital information about the life of stars and their weather events - It will focus on how solar flares are formed, which can disrupt communications on Earth Advertisement Nasa announced its plans during a live stream event, which was held at the University of Chicago's William Eckhardt Research Centre Auditorium and broadcast on NasaTV. To start the event off, Professor Rocky Kolb, dean of the Division of the Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago, explained how the idea to study the sun up close was first explored at the University of Chicago in 1958. 'So many fundamental questions about solar wind remain unanswered,' he said. We wanted to take the challenge of going to the worst thermal environment in the solar system - and surviving it,' added Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of Nasas Science Mission Directorate in Washington. 'We want to measure the environment there and find what the heating processes are that make the corona hot, and what processes accelerate the solar wind.' Dr Zurbuchen then announced, live on air, that the probe - originally dubbed the Solar Probe Plus - was to be renamed the Parker Solar Probe after University of Chicago scientist Eugene Parker, who pioneered solar wind science. Dr Parker, who was also speaking at the event, responded: 'I am extremely honoured to be associated with this heroic space mission.' Dr Nicola Fox, mission project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, then took to the stage. Nasa announced its plans during a live stream event, which was held at the University of Chicago's William Eckhardt Research Centre Auditorium and broadcast on NasaTV She said that until now, Nasa didn't have the advanced materials needed to make such a close trip to the sun's corona. She added that the corona is actually hotter than the sun's centre, and that finding out why is a key part of the probe mission. 'I like to think of this as the coolest, hottest mission,' she said. Dr Fox said that Dr Parker's original 1958 paper on solar winds will travel on the probe along with pictures of him and a plate with a comment of his choice. She presented Dr Parker with a model of the new probe to thank him for his work. Dr Fox said that Dr Parker's original 1958 paper on solar winds will travel on the probe along with pictures of him and a plate with a comment of his choice. She presented Dr Parker with a model of the new probe to thank him for his work She explained that Parker Solar Probe will gradually 'surf' closer and closer to the sun, into its corona. The craft will to withstand higher temperatures than any probe that has come before it. 'We will finally touch the sun,' she said. Answering questions from the audience, Dr Fox described some of the state-of-the-art equipment that the Parker Solar Probe will carry. The craft's kit includes a white light imager called Whisper, which will take images of solar waves as the craft propels through them at high speeds. To measure the 'bulk plasma' of solar winds - which Dr Fox described as the 'break and butter' of the flares - a set of magnetic imaging equipment will also be stored on board. To conclude the conference, Dr Fox added: 'We've really come as far as we can with looking at things and it's time to pay it a visit.' The SSP will need to withstand temperatures outside the spacecraft of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,377 degrees Celsius) WHY STUDY THE SUN'S CORONA? The corona is the sun's outer atmosphere. It is unstable and produces solar wind and flares. Millions of tons of highly magnetised material can erupt from the sun at speeds of several million miles an hour. We need to get closer to it in order to understand how it works. Advertisement While minor details of the groundbreaking mission had surfaced earlier this year, the agency's press event will reveal a host of new information about the mission. The spacecraft will swoop within 4 million miles (6.5 million km) of the sun's surface next year - bringing it seven times closer to the sun's surface than any spacecraft before it. The craft will face extremes in heat and radiation and will reach speeds of up to 450,000 miles per hour (725,000 kph) at its closest flyby of the star. It is hoped that PSP can help scientists to better understand solar flares - brief eruptions of intense high-energy radiation from the sun's surface that can knock out communications on Earth. This image shows the planned route and flybys of the PSP craft on its six-year mission According to Nasa, observations from this new vantage point will help to uncover the physics of how stars work, and could improve our ability to predict space weather. These events have impacts on Earth as well as the satellites and astronauts in space. Scientists have long wanted to send a probe through the sun's corona to better understand the solar wind and the material it carries into our solar system. The probe will study the sun's outer atmosphere, otherwise known as its corona, which is labelled in the artist's impression above. The corona is unstable and produces solar wind and flares, phenomena that Nasa are trying to get a better understanding of 'This is going to be our first mission to fly to the sun,' Eric Christian, a Nasa research scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said of the mission earlier this year. 'We can't get to the very surface of the sun,' but the mission will get close enough to answer three important questions, he said. To survive its mission, the spacecraft will need to withstand temperatures outside the spacecraft of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,377 degrees Celsius). It will be made of a 4.5 inch-thick (11.43 cm) carbon-composite shield. HOW SOLAR FLARES IMPACT EARTH Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost. Astronauts are not in immediate danger because of the relatively low orbit of this manned mission. They do have to be concerned about cumulative exposure during space walks. The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing the Earth's magnetic field. Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies. A positive aspect, from an aesthetic point of view, is that the auroras are enhanced. Geomagnetic storms are more disruptive now than in the past because of our greater dependence on technical systems that can be affected by electric currents. Artist's impression of a solar flare erupting from the sun's surface. The flares are dense bursts of energy that can disrupt communications on Earth Advertisement Until scientists can explain what is going on up close to the sun, they will not be able to accurately predict space weather effects that cause havoc at Earth. The latest mission could help predict a 'huge solar event', NASA says. The sun is the source of the solar wind; a flow of gases that streams past Earth at speeds of more than a million miles per hour (1.6 million km per hour). Disturbances in the solar wind shake Earth's magnetic field and pump energy into the radiation belts. One recent study by the National Academy of Sciences estimated that without advance warning a huge solar event could cause two trillion dollars in damage in the US alone. The PSP will be protected by the sun's heat by a 4.5 inch-thick (11.43 cm) carbon-composite shield It could leave the eastern seaboard of the US could be without power for a year. Millions of tons of highly magnetised material can erupt from the sun at speeds of several million miles an hour. 'This mission will provide insight on a critical link in the sun-Earth connection. Data will be key to understanding and, perhaps, forecasting space weather,' said NASA. 'Until we can explain what is going on up close to the sun, we will not be able to accurately predict space weather effects that can cause havoc at Earth.' 'At its closest point, the PSP will be travelling at 450,000 miles per hour.' In a world of touchscreens, one smartphone maker has dared to bring back the physical keyboard. BlackBerry has officially released its KEYone handset that boasts a QWERTY keyboard alongside a touchscreen display, in the hopes of making the phone easier to use than standard touch-controlled phones. The device is now available in the US market on the firm's website, Amazon and Best Buy online or at select Best Buy stores for $549.99 (428.21). Scroll down for videos BlackBerry has officially released its BlackBerry KEYone handset that boasts a QWERTY keyboard alongside a touchscreen display, in the hopes of making the phone easier to use than standard touch-controlled phones KEY SPECIFICATIONS - Aluminium frame and soft textured back - 4.5-inch display with touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard - Runs on Android 7.1 - Pre-loaded with BlackBerry Hub - Pre-loaded with DTEK security monitoring - Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor - Turbo-charge feature - 12MP rear camera and 8MP front camera - Cost: $549.99 (428.21) Advertisement TCL Communication, a smartphone manufacturer based in China, launched the BlackBerry KEYone, under a new brand licensing agreement signed with BlackBerry in December. And the phone was revealed in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress in February. 'This is an extremely exciting and humbling moment as we introduce a new BlackBerry smartphone to customers here in the U.S. with the launch of our BlackBerry KEYone,' said Steve Cistulli, President and General Manager for TCL Communication, North America. 'The KEYone is unlike any other smartphone available to consumers today, offering a premium communication experience, ensuring that our customers enjoy the security, long battery life and great functionality that have made BlackBerry mobile devices so iconic.' The BlackBerry KEYone will be available in two unlocked variants for U.S. customers, optimized for GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as a CDMA variant optimized for Verizon network support with the CDMA variant available via Amazon at launch. Additional carrier availability of the BlackBerry KEYone including Sprint retail availability is expected to start this summer. Nicolas Zibell, CEO for TCL Communications said at the event in February: 'Impressively designed to be distinctly different, the BlackBerry KEYone reimagines how we communicate by offering unmatched productivity and the world's most secure Android smartphone experience.' TCL Communication first unveiled the BlackBerry KEYone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in Feb. The device is now available in the US market for $549.99 (428.21) on the firm's website, Amazon and Best Buy online or at select Best Buy stores The phone has an aluminium frame and soft textured back, making it durable yet easy on the eyes. Featuring a 4.5-inch display, the KEYone brings together a touch display and a physical keyboard. And was manufactured with scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 4, which the firm has said 'offers the best in resilience and durability'. But unlike most physical keyboards, the KEYone's smart keyboard features some new functions, including response to touch gestures. The keyboard can be programmed to launch up to 52 customizable shortcuts, such as pressing 'I' to access your inbox, or 'M' to access maps. The phone has an aluminium frame and soft textured back, making it durable yet easy on the eyes. Featuring a 4.5-inch display, the KEYone brings together a touch display and a physical keyboard The device is also the first smartphone to provide the security of fingerprint sensor built directly into the keyboard space bar for added security. Beyond the keyboard, the KEYone comes with a number of new features and security enhancements. RETURN OF THE KEYBOARD Featuring a 4.5-inch display, the KEYone brings together a touch display and a physical keyboard. But unlike most physical keyboards, the KEYone's smart keyboard features some new functions, including response to touch gestures. The keyboard can be programmed to launch up to 52 customizable shortcuts, such as pressing 'I' to access your inbox, or 'M' to access maps. The device is also the first smartphone to provide the security of fingerprint sensor built directly into the keyboard spacebar for added security. Advertisement The device runs on Android 7.1, giving users access to the entire Google Play store and apps. And will also receive the regular monthly security updates It also comes loaded with BlackBerry Hub an app that consolidates all messages, texts and emails into one easy-to-access folder. In terms of security, the KEYone come preloaded with DTEK a program that constantly monitors and protects the phone by providing alerts if a privacy breach is detected - it will also receive regular monthly Android security updates A Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor provides long battery life and super quick charging according to the firm, the battery can reach 50 percent charge in just 36 minutes. And for when you only have a few moments to grab a fast charge, the battery can be turbo charged to get you the most charge with the limited time you have. Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and president at Qualcomm EMEA, said: 'We are proud to be working with TCL on the BlackBerry KEYone. 'The Snapdragon 625 mobile platform is purpose-built for users who demand superior performance and connectivity coupled with outstanding battery-life.' The phone has two cameras a 12MP rear camera with auto focus, and an 8MP front camera with fixed focus. It has already sent a previously flown rocket into orbit - and now Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to do the same with a spacecraft. Liftoff is targeted for 5:55 p.m. EDT on June 1, 2017, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company's 230-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket will boost a 20-foot high, 12-foot-diameter Dragon capsule filled with supplies and experiments - which was first was sent to the International Space Station in September 2014. Scroll down for video The payload will include important materials to support more than 250 science and research investigations taking place during Expeditions 52 and 53.. Pictured, a Dragon capsule being mated to the tope of a rocket ready for launch The mission to the Earth-orbiting laboratory will be the eleventh commercial resupply services flight for SpaceX. The payload will include important materials to support more than 250 science and research investigations taking place during Expeditions 52 and 53. When the Dragon arrives at the space station, U.S. astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer will grapple Dragon using the station's 57-foot-long robotic arm. Ground commands then will be sent from mission control for the station's arm to rotate and install the Dragon capsule to the station's Harmony module. In September 2014, and it delivered nearly 2.5 tons of cargo to the orbiting laboratory. The Dragon returned to Earth about a month later, splashing down into the ocean. The Dragon capsule to be blasted off first flew in September 2014, and it delivered nearly 2.5 tons of cargo to the orbiting ISS laboratory In a presentation at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflightlast year, Benjamin Reed, director of commercial crew mission management at SpaceX, revealed the mission. 'We will be reflying our first Dragon capsule on CRS-11,' he said, using the company's designation for that cargo mission, known as SpX-11 by NASA. SPACEX'S DRAGON V2 SpaceX hopes to soon end production of the cargo Dragon spacecraft to focus on a next-generation version of the Dragon being developed for commercial crew missions. Those CRS-2 Dragon missions will use 'propulsive' landings, where the capsule lands on a landing pad using its SuperDraco thrusters rather than splashing down in the ocean. That will allow NASA faster access to the cargo returned by those spacecraft, and also build up experience for propulsive landings of crewed Dragon spacecraft. Advertisement While SpaceX designed Dragon to be reusable, the company's CRS contract with NASA required the use of a new Dragon spacecraft for each cargo mission. According to SpaceNews, Reed said SpaceX has been working with NASA to demonstrate that the spacecraft can be safely reused for additional cargo flights. 'It's a great example of the partnership we have with NASA,' he said of that effort to win approval for the reuse of Dragon spacecraft. 'We've carefully gone through a process of proving that you can reuse various components all the way up to a whole system, and how you certify that.' OTHER REUSABLE SPACECRAFT Orbiters Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour (Pictured), flew dozens of missions In almost six decades of spaceflight, only a handful of spacecraft have been blasted into orbit multiple times. The Space Shuttles are the most famous, and orbiters Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour, flew dozens of missions. According to Ars, only two other kinds of spacecraft, besides the space shuttle, have flown more than one time into orbit: The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle taxis on the flightline at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Florida, USA. X-37B: The US Air Force has two of these autonomous, orbital test vehicles built by Boeing. Each of these spacecraft has made two flights, the second of which recently returned to Earth after a record 718 days in space. This mini space shuttle launches on an expendable Atlas V rocket and lands on a runway. Soviet VA spacecraft: First developed to fly cosmonauts around the Moon, the VA capsule flew an uncrewed test flight in Earth orbit for 30 days in 1977. Less than a year later it was launched again, but this test flight made just one orbit around the Earth, according to CollectSPACE. A single Gemini spacecraftwhich was an orbital class vehicledid make two suborbital flights. Advertisement The biggest challenge to reuse, he said, was stopping saltwater from getting inside the capsule after it splashes down. 'We've been working hard to update the capsule, to ensure that you don't have to worry about the seawater issue,' he said. SpaceX plans to reuse Dragon spacecraft through the remainder of its current CRS contract, which runs through SpX-20. He did not discuss how many Dragon spacecraft are available to be reused, or how many times SpaceX believes a Dragon capsule can be flown. SpaceX hopes to be able to end production of the cargo Dragon spacecraft. 'We'll be reflying Dragons going forward, and be able to close down the Dragon 1 line and move all the way into Dragon 2,' he said, referring to the next-generation version of the Dragon being developed for commercial crew missions. Earlier this month SpaceX completed a record breaking launch. Those CRS-2 Dragon missions will use 'propulsive' landings, where the capsule lands on a landing pad using its SuperDraco thrusters rather than splashing down in the ocean. That will allow NASA faster access to the cargo returned by those spacecraft, and also build up experience for propulsive landings of crewed Dragon spacecraft. 'That's a perfect step in the pathway to crew,' he said. 'We'll get very comfortable with doing propulsive landings with cargo first, and then with crew.' Earlier this month SpaceX completed a record breaking launch. THE KENNEDY LAUNCH PADS This July 16, 1969 shows the huge, 363-foot tall Apollo 11 Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module S/Saturn 506) space vehicle launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39. Since the late 1960s, Pads A and B at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39 have served as backdrops for America's most significant manned space flight endeavors - Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and space shuttle. Located on Merritt Island, Fla., just north of Cape Canaveral, the pads were originally built for the huge Apollo/Saturn V rockets that launched American astronauts on their historic journeys to the moon and back. Following the joint U.S.-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission of July 1975, the pads were modified to support space shuttle operations. Both pads were designed to support the concept of mobile launch operations, in which space vehicles are checked out and assembled in the protected environment of the Orbiter Processing Facility and the Vehicle Assembly Building, then transported by large, tracked crawlers to the launch pad for final processing and launch. During the Apollo era, key pad service structures were mobile. For the space shuttle, two permanent service towers were installed at each pad for the first time, the fixed service structure and the rotating service structure. On April 12, 1981, shuttle operations commenced at Pad A with the launch of Columbia on STS-1. After 23 more successful launches from A, the first space shuttle to lift off from Pad B was the ill-fated Challenger in January 1986. Pad B was designated for the resumption of shuttle flights in September 1988, followed by the reactivation of Pad A in January 1990. The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center Friday, July 8, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis was the 135th and final space shuttle launch for NASA. Advertisement Elon Musk's space firm launched its Falcon 9 rocket to deliver Inmarsat-5 F4, a commercial communications satellite in iots first launch for the company. The payload was so heavy (13,448lbs) and going into such a high orbit (22,000 miles) that the Falcon 9 rocket didn't have enough propellant left to land, SpaceX said before the flawless launch. 'All systems and weather are go,' it said at 6:35pm. The satellite was deployed approximately 32 minutes after launch when it will come under the command of the Boeing and Inmarsat satellite operations teams based at the Boeing facility in El Segundo. 'From here I-5 F4 will be manoeuvred to its geostationary orbit, 35,786km (22,236 miles) above Earth, where it will deploy its solar arrays and reflectors and undergo intensive payload testing before beginning commercial service,' Inmarsat said. JetBlue has announced a new method that lets its passengers 'board in a snap'. The New York-based airline is set to let passengers opt to have their photo taken at the gate instead of using traditional boarding passes. The setup will use data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to instantly match the image to passport, visa or immigration photos in the database and verify flight details. JetBlue is set to take selfies of people at the gate with facial recognition technology, in place of traditional boarding passes. The new program will start in June with flights from Boston's Logan International Airport to Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport. Stock image HOW DOES IT WORK? Instead of handing crew members a paper or digital boarding pass at the gate, passengers will stand in front of a custom designed camera station that will snap their photo. The camera station will use data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to instantly match the image to passport, visa or immigration photos in the database and verify flight details. The idea of the setup is not just to make boarding easier, but to encourage crew members at the gate to interact more with customers. Advertisement The program is set to launch next month, starting with flights from Boston's Logan International Airport to Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport. Customers who opt in during the boarding process can put away their boarding passes and devices and simply step up to the camera for a quick photo. The camera is equipped with biometrics and facial recognition technology to analyze the passenger. And the customer will then be notified on an integrated screen above the camera when they are cleared to board the plane. The firm hopes the new setup will enable crew members to interact more with customers, as they will be assisting them throughout the process. Crew members will also be issued iPad minis, which will allow them mobility to monitor and manage the boarding process. 'We hope to learn how we can further reduce friction points in the airport experience, with the boarding process being one of the hardest to solve,' said Joanna Geraghty, executive vice president customer experience, JetBlue. The camera station will use data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to instantly match the image to passport, visa or immigration photos in the database and verify flight details 'Self-boarding eliminates boarding pass scanning and manual passport checks. Just look into the camera and you're on your way.' If successful, the program will show how technology can make the boarding process simple and seamless for the traveler while enhancing U.S. national security through the implementation of biometric exit. 'CBP looks forward to engaging closely with air travel partners, like JetBlue, to better understand how CBP's biometric exit program will support their efforts to streamline the travel process by using advanced biometric technology,' said CBP's Office of Field Operations, Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner, John Wagner. 'By transforming current business operations, airlines and airports will have the opportunity to use verified biometrics to ensure a seamless and consistent process for travelers.' The firm hopes the new setup will enable crew members to interact more with customers, as they will be assisting them throughout the process Self-boarding builds on JetBlue's efforts to innovate the airport travel experience. JetBlue recently debuted its self-service 'line-less' lobbies with new interactive kiosks featuring the latest personal, helpful and simple technology, including self-bag tagging and self-bag drop capabilities that increase efficiency and reduce frustrating airport lines. JetBlue's new lobby launched at New York-JFK last year and based on positive customer response, JetBlue has brought the new lobby design to Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, San Juan, Newark and Atlanta with more coming in 2017. Betsy DeVos is attempting to reverse the federal position on civil rights by allowing states to decide whether private schools can accept federal dollars and discriminate against any students for any reason. Beware the rights of the disabled students. If she has her way, those private schools accepting federal dollars may not have to follow IDEA; again, leaving those decisions up to states. Regarding Title I funding, she answers in a confused manner. In her first answer, the secretary said she believed high-poverty school districts do get more funding than wealthier districts, which is most often not true. In the second response, she said she believes high-poverty school districts get more federal funding than wealthier districts. That is not always true (Washington Post ) She also denied that shifting money from public schools as proposed in the budget to fund school choice trials will take money away from public schools. Obviously, it will. And finally, she refused to commit to a statement about whether private and religious schools that accept public funds would have to be accredited and/or be accountable in the same manner as public schools. In general, her go to answer seemed to be the states should decide the rules and laws and the parents should decide which schools their children attend. Throughout our nations history, education was, indeed, mostly handled by the states. But, civil rights decisions and laws were a major factor in changing that. So, a return to the states would, naturally, provoke a direct conflict between the two. Is This Public Schools? Her position appears clear and consistent. What will we be doing while these disconnected, unrealistic, unfair, backward facing ideas are discussed, or even worse, put into place? The laws that have come to define what public education is are reflected in the actions of public educators and their leaders each and every day. In the past decades, public schools have increasingly welcomed and supported students who have developmental and mental health challenges. Students and parents who are gay or transgender have been offered a safe place to learn...or at least there is an effort to do so. Students who enter schools from other countries are helped to understand a new culture and learn a new language. Whether neighborhood or regional, schools over time represent the American melting pot history. Public schools have created the culture of welcome, inclusion, acceptance, and support that allows for all children to learn and learn well. They have held the key to realizing the American dream. At least, that was the story we told. In DeVos model, parents should be able to choose if a child attending a failing school can allow the child to attend a religious school or a private school. But what if the parent has a gender questioning child or a developmentally challenged child and the schools available either reject them or do not serve them because they dont have to. This is not a new issue but it is still a problematic one. Choice for all children really belongs only to some. Poverty and Failure DeVos target is failing schools. Where are those failing schools? Does anyone know of a failing school in a high income area? No. Failing schools are in high poverty areas. Her administration colleague had a recent thought to offer on poverty. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson in a recent town hall meeting. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson -- whose budget to help low-income households would be cut by more than $6 billion next year -- added his own thoughts. He said in a radio interview that poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind. So is the administration proposing school choice as a cure for the state of mind? Educators know that poverty is a state of life that traps children and families in its grasp and holds on with unrelenting force. Yes, it can take hold of generations. It is characterized by a lack of work, of money, of appropriate housing, of food, and for children, of preparation for entering schools. Educators know that children who live in poverty also too often live with violence in their midst and family members who are incarcerated. Yet, these communities are also places where the bonds of family and of faith take root and grow powerfully to support a resilience that allow some to escape. One person makes a difference to a child and a whole system makes a difference to a community. This is the place for public schools and their teachers and leaders. But, it is true poverty persists. No Excuse for Failure Educators will never toss up their hands and say, We cant educate these children. We simply do not have enough money. Just as with shifting from 20th to 21st century teaching and learning, we need to look for those who are ahead of us on the path. Find schools in high poverty areas that have found success. Learn from them. Find business and higher education partners and develop meaningful partnerships. If there is physical space in the buildings, bring local social services into the building, perhaps health clinics as well. We cannot allow the new philosophy in Washington to change our state of mind. We believe in our purpose and in every child. *** Representative from Massachussetts Katherin Clark questions Betsy DeVos 00000176-1ef3-d068-ab77-3ef70f160002 Ann Myers and Jill Berkowicz are the authors of The STEM Shift (2015, Corwin) a book about leading the shift into 21st century schools. Connect with Ann and Jill on Twitter or Email . Photo by HONGQI ZHANG courtesy of 123rf Researchers have warned that millions of human workers will be replaced by robots over the next few decades, leaving many to wonder what sectors are most at risk. Now, a website powered by machine learning has gathered data from an Oxford University report to uncover which positions are likely to be replaced by machines. Called 'Will Robots Take My Job', the tool lets users type in their occupation and provides them with a replacement estimate and automation risk it also reveals if 'you are doomed' or are 'totally safe'. Scroll down for videos A website powered by machine learning has gathered data from an Oxford University report to uncover which positions are likely to be replaced by machines. Called ' Will Robots Take My Job ', the tool lets users type in their occupation and provides an estimate and automation risk HOW DOES IT WORK? 'Will Robots Take My Job' is a machine learning tool that gathers data from a 2013 Oxford University reported entitled, 'The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization'. Users interested in learning the fate of their careers type in their occupation in the provided box and hit enter. In seconds, the system provides a percent of how likely they are at being replaced by a machine, the automation risk level, projected growth, median annual wage and how many people are currently employed in the field. Advertisement The new tool is based on a 2013 report from Oxford University entitled 'The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization'. In the report, the researchers noted that 'about 47 percent of total US employment is at risk' of being replaced by robots. Using this information, Mubashar Iqbal and Dimitar Raykov, the creators of Willrobotstakemyjob.com, wanted to provide the public with insight into what the future may hold for them. 'We extracted the jobs and the probability of automation from the report and have made it easy to search for your job,' the team shared on the website. 'We've added some additional information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to provide some additional information about the jobs.' Users interested in learning the fate of their careers type in their occupation in the provided box and hit enter. In seconds, the system provides a percent of how likely they are at being replaced by a machine, the automation risk level, projected growth, median annual wage and how many people are currently employed in the field. JOBS THAT PAY LESS THAN $20 ARE AT RISK OF ROBOT TAKEOVER There is an 83 percent chance that artificial intelligence will eventually takeover positions that pay low-wages, says White House's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). A recent report suggests that those who are paid less than $20 an hour will be unemployed and see their jobs filled by robots over the next few years. But for workers who earn more than $20 an hour there is only a 31 percent chance and those paid double have just a 4 percent risk. To reach these numbers the CEA's 2016 economic report referred to a 2013 study about the 'automation of jobs performed by Oxford researchers that assigned a risk of automation to 702 different occupations'. Those jobs were then matched to a wage that determines the worker's risk of having their jobs taken over by a robot. 'The median probability of automation was then calculated for three ranges of hourly wage: less than 20 dollars; 20 to 40 dollars; and more than 40 dollars,' reads the report. The risk of having your job taken over by a robot, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman told reporters that it 'varies enormously based on what your salary is.' Furman also noted that the threat of robots moving in on low-wage jobs is, 'another example of why those investments in education to make sure that people have skills that complements automation are so important,' referring to programs advocated by President Obama. Advertisement Cashier was ranked as one of the highest at risk, with a 97 percent likelihood and automation risk level of 'you are doomed'. Cooks are also at the top with 94 percent, followed by retail sales persons with 92 percent. However, on the other side sits choreographers at 0.4 percent, pharmacists have a 1.2 percent chance and engineers have a 1.4 percent chance of a robot takeover - all of which are 'totally safe'. A study released by Cornerstone Capital Group earlier this month also found that Americans who work in retail could soon find themselves out of a job. The tool is based on a 2013 Oxford University report. Mubashar Iqbal and Dimitar Raykov, the creators of Willrobotstakemyjob.com, wanted to provide the public with insight into what the future may hold for them The analysis into the issue had revealed that up to 7.5 million jobs that deal with merchandise are set to be automated over the next decade and a majority of them are cashiers. 'The retail landscape is changing rapidly and investors need to understand the social and governance issues impacting valuations for public companies in this sector,' said Erika Karp, Cornerstone founder and chief executive officer. 'Retailers are facing a perfect storm: they need to balance demand for wage increases with the negative optics of future job losses. The winners in retail will be companies that provide recruitment, retention and training for workers and innovate with forward-thinking future store strategies.' The Large Hadron Collider is the biggest, most powerful particle accelerator in the world but, not for long. Scientists are now discussing plans for the machine that will one day replace the LHC, and they say it will be seven times stronger, and three times the size. As the LHC took nearly 30 years to bring to life, its expected that the development of its successor will likewise take decades to complete. And, when finished, it will crash high-energy particle beams into each other with the power of roughly 10 million lightning strikes. Scroll down for video The Large Hadron Collider (pictured) is the biggest, most powerful particle accelerator in the world but, not for long. Scientists are now discussing plans for the machine that will one day replace the LHC, and they say it will be seven times stronger, and three times the size CERN'S LARGE HADRON COLLIDER The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the worlds largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It first started up on 10 September 2008, and remains the latest addition to CERNs accelerator complex. The LHC consists of a 17- mile ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way. Inside the accelerator, two high-energy particle beams travel at close to the speed of light before they are made to collide. Nobody knows what the facility might reveal with its collisions, which are mini-versions of the Big Bang that created the universe 13.8 billion years ago. Advertisement Hundreds of scientists met in Germany this week in an event organized by the Future Circular Collider (FCC) Study to discuss plans for the next LHC, Horizon Magazine reports. The LHC recently started back up after its annual winter break, during which a longer-than-usual pause allowed technicians to replace the superconducting magnet and install a new beam dump. It will continue to operate until the mid-2020s, when it will likely need a 10-year upgrade that will boost the collision rate, according to Horizon. Scientists with the four-year study EuroCirCol are looking into the technology that will pave the way for the LHCs successor. Not only will the machine be larger, but it will be equipped with double strength magnets for more powerful collisions. This could ultimately help to solve many of the universes unanswered mysteries, including dark matter. When you look into things like the movement of galaxies, we see that we can only understand and explain about 5 percent of what we observe, Professor Michael Benedikt, leader of the FCC, told Horizon Magazine. But with questions like the so-called problem of dark matter, which is linked to the fact that galaxies and stars are not moving as you would expect them to, the only explanation we have is that there must be matter we do not see which distorts the movement accordingly. Scientists with the four-year study EuroCirCol are looking into the technology that will pave the way for the LHCs successor. The proposed site of the Future Circular Collider is pictured The LHC is known for detecting the Higgs Boson, an elusive particle predicted by the Standard Model, which helps to explain how the universe got its mass. But, it has also helped in cancer treatment and medical imaging. The next generation machine could lead to even more substantial breakthroughs in physics and medicine, as well as other fields. Researchers are now testing a prototype of the advanced cryogenic beam vacuum system, according to Horizon. As the LHC took nearly 30 years to bring to life, its expected that the development of its successor will likewise take decades to complete. And, when finished, it will crash high-energy particle beams into each other with the power of roughly 10 million lightning strikes The plan will require enormous amounts of international cooperation and funding, and will take decades to bring to life. At the start of this month, the LHC started up again after 17 weeks inactive. Maintenance work began in December 2016, marking the beginning of the LHCs extended technical stop. Since completed, each of the machines in the chain have been turned back on and checked, one by one, ahead of the switching on of the final component the LHC. SUBATOMIC PHYSICS, IN BRIEF Atoms are usually made of protons, neutrons and electrons. These are made of even smaller elementary particles. Elementary particles, also known as fundamental particles, are the smallest particles we know to exist. They are subdivided into two groups, the first being fermions, which are said to be the particles that make up matter. The second are bosons, the force particles that hold the others together. Within the group of fermions are subatomic particles known as quarks. When quarks combine in threes, they form compound particles known as baryons. Protons are probably the best-known baryons. Sometimes, quarks interact with corresponding anti-particles (such as anti-quarks), which have the same mass but opposite charges. When this happens, they form mesons. Mesons often turn up in the decay of heavy man-made particles, such as those in particle accelerators, nuclear reactors and cosmic rays. Mesons, baryons, and other kinds of particles that take part in interactions like these are called hadrons. Advertisement Its like an orchestra, everything has to be timed and working very nicely together, said Rende Steerenberg, who leads the operations group responsible for the whole accelerator complex, including the LHC. Once each of the parts is working properly, thats when the beam goes in, in phases from one machine to the next all the way up to the LHC. Along with replacing a superconducting magnet at the LHC, and installing a new beam dump in the Super Proton Synchrotron, the CERN team also conducted a massive cable removal campaign. These upgrade will push the collider to a higher luminosity, allowing researchers to gather more data. Advertisement Endlessly jabbed with metal sticks as visitors pose with them for pictures - for some of these tigers, this is the grim reality of everyday life. Undercover tourists have secretly filmed two controversial parks in Thailand for a new BBC documentary that lifts the lid on animal exploitation abroad. With hidden cameras, two Brits captured tiger cubs in minute cages at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, and adults chained up and being forced to roar for photos with tourists at the Million Years Stone Park, both close to Bangkok. With hidden cameras, two Brits posing as tourists in Thailand filmed tigers like this one chained up and being jabbed with metal sticks until they roar, all so visitors can get a 'roaring tiger selfie' at the Million Years Stone Park Katie Stacey, a writer, and her boyfriend Luke Massey, a wildlife photographer, posed as tourists and were shocked by what they witnessed at both parks. There are only 250 tigers left in the wild in this area of the world, Katie explains, and around 1,500 in captivity at these operations. Million Years Stone Park, their first stop, specialises in the 'roaring tiger selfie'. Footage shows magnificent adult tigers with chains around their necks on a platform as a seemingly endless stream of tourists take turns to have their photo taken with them. Just before the snap is taken, a handler is seen repeatedly jabbing the big cat with a metal stick on its neck and chest until it roars. One tourist leaps away with fright as the creature jerks its head back and snarls in protest. Katie (pictured) also captured tiger cubs living in minute cages at the nearby Sriracha Tiger Zoo being passed from lap to lap for tourist photos Elsewhere in the park, Katie points out several 'super skinny' looking tigers pacing their concrete enclosures. Tourists need to realise that their once-in-a-lifetime experience of being pictured with a tiger means a lifetime of cruelty for the tiger Speaking about the conditions Dr Jan Schmidt-Burbach, a vet and wildlife expert who works for non-profit World Animal Protection, explains: 'There's no benefit of having those tigers for any conservation purposes. 'There's a lack of hygiene, a lack of good food. It's totally unacceptable.' Things are no better at the second park the team visit, the infamous Sriracha Tiger Zoo, which houses 350 of the big cats. Fully-grown tigers here are filmed is small concrete pens with nothing to stimulate them. One pair are fighting. But the focus here is on their cubs. A handler is seen at the Million Years Stone Park with a stick in his hand. The tiger's flattened ears are displaying a clear sign of fear and aggression According to Dr Schmidt-Burbach, this zoo is in the business of 'speed-breeding', during which the baby tigers are 'forcibly removed' from their mother and placed in small cages so that tourists can bottle feed them. For 200 baht (4.50), visitors to the park can hold the tiger and give it milk for a few moments as their photo is taken, before they are required to move on and the cub is passed to the next in line. 'They're being man-handled,' Katie observes. 'Just thrown from lap to lap.' In what will be a grim encounter, Katie takes her turn as Luke films. As soon as her photo is snapped, the handler yanks the cub off her lap and tells her it's full. 'He doesn't look full, he looks really hungry,' she tells him, as the cub scrabbles to hold onto the bottle. It's a dismal end to a dismal day. The infamous Sriracha Tiger Zoo houses 350 of the big cats, some of which perform in circus shows (pictured) Dr Schmidt-Burbach concludes: 'Tourists need to realise that their once-in-a-lifetime experience of being pictured with a tiger means a lifetime of cruelty for the tiger.' Speaking more broadly about the animal tourism business as a whole, he remarks: If you can ride it, pose with it or hug it, chances are there's cruelty involved. 'Just don't do it.' Advertisement The most mind-blowing natural wonders of the world have been hand-picked by a team of globetrotting travel experts over at Lonely Planet. In a new guide, 50 must-see spots on the map are highlighted with the vast Grand Canyon in Arizona making the cut along with the arid salt flats of Bolivia. Heading to chillier climates, the Perito Moreno glacier is deemed a top destination, with the cracking expanse of ice luring thousands of tourists every year. It is one of only three glaciers worldwide that is actually growing rather than retreating, with the frozen mass moving at a rate of almost 6.5 feet every day. A less visited spot is the Darvaza gas crater in Turkmenistan - also known as the Gate to Hell - which is a giant pit of natural gas that has been burning for more than 40 years. Its location, in the middle of the Karakum Desert, makes it a tricky trip to plan. In total there are six different categories in Lonely Planet's new guide titled 50 Natural Wonders to Blow your Mind, including 'strange landscapes', 'national parks', 'mystical and mythical', 'mountainous wonders', 'deep down' and 'beach idyll'. So if you're keen to visit some of the most wacky and wonderful places on the planet, scroll down for MailOnline Travel's sneak preview... Watery grave: The Grand Prismatic Spring in America's Yellowstone National Park measures more than 360 feet across and 131 feet deep. At the centre of the spring, the temperature is too hot to sustain any life so you get clear blue tones, but as the water cools and spreads, different photosensitive bacteria move in and create different colours Flaming hot: Despite the fiery appearance of the Darvaza gas crater in Turkmenistan, which also has the less inviting monikers of the Door to Hell and the Crater of Fire, it's actually possible to walk right up to the edge and peer over into the abyss Lunar-like: The White Desert in Egypt is the result of hundreds of years of erosion coupled with wild, white-sandstorms that carve out crazy looking statues made from calcium rock Gushing greenery: Plitvice Lakes National Park is a 295-square-km forest reserve in central Croatia. It's known for a chain of 16 terraced lakes, joined by waterfalls that extend into a limestone canyon Stepping stones: The Giant's Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, features interlocking basalt columns that are the result of an ancient volcanic eruption Tangled web: The Living root bridges of Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber trees by the Khasi and Jaintia peoples of the mountainous terrain along the southern part of the Shillong Plateau Nature at its best: Yosemite National Park offers everything, from giant sequoia groves to soaring granite cliffs, and gorgeous mountain lakes to slowly advancing glaciers Deep freeze: Perito Moreno is one of only three glaciers worldwide that is actually growing rather than retreating. The giant ice mass in Argentina moves at a rate of almost 6.5 feet every day Sea of salt: Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat, located in Bolivia. Photographers flock here to capture the unique landscape A photo contest intended to highlight the beauty of one rural community in America has attracted mocking responses, with entrants submitting shots of traffic chaos instead of natural beauty. The tourist board for Lake Norman in North Carolina asked people to send in shots summing up the area. But many fed-up residents saw the competition as a way to voice their frustrations, and they started submitting snaps of jam-packed roads and crashed vehicles. That's one way to beat the queues! A photo contest intended to highlight the beauty of one rural community in America has attracted mocking responses, with entrants submitting shots of traffic chaos instead of natural beauty (above, Jenna Schmidt's entry to the competition) Crash, bang, wallop: The tourist board for Lake Norman in North Carolina asked people to send in shots summing up the area and photos of road woes quickly hit the uploading portal on Facebook. The image on the right has so far garnered more than 500 votes One photo, submitted by Amanda Mandy and sarcastically titled 'Beautiful [Lake Norman]', has garnered more than 500 votes putting it on the leader board. The image shows long tailbacks with a caption reading: 'Crawling on molten lava to work would be better than [the Interstate 77].' Other equally mocking photos are titled 'Puffy Clouds! Nope! Dust clouds on I-77' and 'Highway to Hell #I77'. One shot captures a car crash, with an accompanying title reading 'Daily Adventure on the I-77 at Exit 30'. Warning signs: Many fed-up residents saw the competition as a way to voice their frustration, and they started submitting snaps of jam-packed roads and crashed vehicles. One sent in this 'expect delays' sign Mixed opinions: Some people have complained about the tongue-in-cheek images appearing on the Visit Lake Norman Facebook page. However, others said they should remain in the gallery as they offer a 'true representation' of the neighbourhood Grey day: This rather dismal shot shows a long tailback of cars in the rain Some people have complained about the tongue-in-cheek images appearing on the Visit Lake Norman Facebook page. However, others said they should remain in the competition gallery as they offer a 'true representation' of the neighbourhood. One local resident commented: 'These traffic images deserve equal spotlight as the rest of the photos, it's sad but it's a part of living north of Exit 19.' It is the third year VisitLakeNorman.org has sponsored a photo contest. Prizes will be awarded to the top three entrants who attract the most votes, with a $200 Visa gift card and Oakley sunglasses given to the overall winner. The contest runs till June 20 with people able to submit and vote for entries via Facebook. Rumors flew lately that on-off couple Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna were on a break. But the sock mogul was certainly affectionate about her on Instagram this Tuesday. Rob, 30, posted two childhood photos of Chyna - born Angela Renee White - and in the caption to the first one, he's referred to the grown Chyna as 'the woman I love.' He'd begun dating Chyna last January, ultimately getting engaged to her that April and welcoming their daughter, whom they've called Dream, that November. Scroll down for video 'The woman I love': Rumors flew lately that on-off couple Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna were off, but he was certainly rather affectionate about her on Instagram this Tuesday Rob's caption for the first photo he posted of Chyna on Tuesday began: 'On my first episode of Rob's Random Cornball Thoughts is This young lady who grew up to be the woman I love and the mother of my child.' He went on to write that 'She is beautiful and gave me my first child,' before tagging the Washington, DC-born 29-year-old with her Instagram handle: '@blacchyna.' In the caption for the second photo he uploaded of her that day, Rob effervesced: 'Awww look at my little Angela at 14!!!!!! Hahaha I LOVE YOU !!!! @blacchyna'. Throwback: In the caption for the second photo he uploaded of her that day, Rob effervesced: 'Awww look at my little Angela at 14!!!!!! Hahaha I LOVE YOU !!!! @blacchyna' They'd split in December, Rob posting a Snapchat video bewailing her absence while wandering through their empty house, but reportedly reunited soon after. Near the end of last month, however, E! News quoted a source who'd gossiped that Rob and Chyna 'are co-parenting and independently working on themselves but they're more cordial now than they have been, which is why they hung out recently. But by no means are they back together.' Chyna's also got a four-year-old son called King Cairo by way of 27-year-old Tyga - who, in a bizarre twist, used to date Rob's 19-year-old half-sister Kylie Jenner. In a family way: Rob had begun dating Chyna in January, ultimately getting engaged to her that April and welcoming their daughter Dream that November On Mother's Day, Rob had posted a sweet Instagram montage of Chyna with her two children, including footage and photos taken during her pregnancy with Dream. 'And happy mama's day to the mother of my only child @blacchyna :),' Rob began his caption, having recently paid an Instagram tribute to his own mother Kris Jenner. 'I am so Thankful for our beautiful baby girl and so Thankful for YOU and never thought I could be this Happy so thank you for giving me Her,' he gushed of Chyna. The 'Man Cave' is long considered a room dedicated to husbands in the family home. But Rebecca Judd has revealed there's also a version for women, which she calls the 'GFR', or 'Good Front Room'. Speaking on her radio show, KIIS FM's 3pm Pick-Up, the 34-year-old admits she has a special room in her home which looks fancy but isn't used much. 'It's like the female equivalent of a Man Cave': Rebecca Judd says she's put a lot of effort into styling her 'Good Front Room', which contains two Italian chairs that no one's allowed to sit on 'It's like the female equivalent of a Man Cave,' the AFL WAG told co-hosts Monty Diamond and Yumi Stynes. The mother-of-four explained the room has two pink chairs that no-one is allowed to sit on - but that rule doesn't always go to plan. 'We got this friggin' cat who decided those two good pink chairs which I waited six months for when I imported them from Italy would be her scratching post,' she said. 'Safe to say, the cat is gone.' The Good Front Room: Speaking on her radio show, KIIS FM's 3pm Pick-Up, the 34-year-old admits she has a special room in her home which looks fancy but isn't used much. Whoops! The mother-of-four also revealed a 'baby poo' incident left her velvet cushions soiled Bec's 'GFR' is in the house she shares with her husband, Chris Judd, and their four children - Oscar, five, Billie, three, and eight-month-old twins Darcy and Tom. The room features immaculately styled decor and is the type of space used for special occasions or when they have guests over. However, the Postcards host admits she also uses the room for another, less glamorous purpose - changing nappies. Happy couple: The 'GFR' is in the house Rebecca shares with her husband Chris Judd (left) Unfortunately, that hasn't ended too well at times - as Bec revealed she once spent a lot of effort furnishing the room, only for it be soiled during a 'sharting' incident. She could only afford to upholster velvet to one side of her cushions, which ended up getting ruined by one of her young children. 'The velvet is now covered in baby poo and I couldnt even flip it over because its just the cheap stuff on the other side,' she said. She allowed her relationship troubles with partner Mark Pisani to be shown on television screens across Australia. Now, Seven Year Switch star Kaitlyn Isham is taking to social media to thank those who supported her in the show. Posting to her Instagram account on Wednesday, the 28-year-old paid tribute to viewers of the Channel Seven program in a lengthy caption. 'That's all!' Seven Year Switch's Kaitlyn Isham (pictured) took to Instagram on Wednesday to thank fans, while remaining 'nervous but hopeful' about her future with Mark Pisani 'And that's a wrap. thank you Australia for warming up to me,' the reality star wrote alongside an image of herself smiling under the words 'That's all!'. 'Your support has kept a big smile on my face through this emotional but eye opening experience. I'm grateful for the life long friends I've made,' she added. However, the the university student also hinted she may be slightly worried about her future with Mark after the show, but is keeping positive. 'We had a lot of fun and learnt so much about our selfs. [sic] I'm nervous but hopeful about my journey ahead,' she wrote. Troubled relationship: Mark (pictured left) and Kaitlyn (pictured right) took part in Seven Year Switch in a bid to try to repair their relationship Controversial character: In one episode, the 28-year-old blonde told Mark that her vibrating sex toy would keep her faithful during the experiment It comes after sexually explicit footage of Kaitlyn began circulating in April, taken from her past life as a webcam model. Channel Seven released a statement at the time, claiming the footage was filmed during a 'low point' of Kaitlyn's life after she suffered the loss of her 19-year-old brother, Eric Lind Isham, in 2010. As she rebuilt her life and came to terms with the heartbreaking loss of a treasured family member, Kaitlyn took control of mistakes she had made and tried to remove the offending vision that was no longer a truthful representation of her or her life,' the statement read. Past life: Explicit footage of Kaitlyn's former experience as a webcam model surfaced in April with Channel Seven releasing a statement saying it was a 'low point' in her life The American native, who signed up to Seven Year Switch to repair her relationship with IT professional Mark, was a controversial character on the show. In one episode, Kaitlyn told Mark her vibrating Hitachi sex toy would keep her faithful during the experiment. She also courted controversy in another episode when she gave her experimental partner Michael an intimate massage, tweaked his nipples and flashed him in the swimming pool. The other man: In one episode, the university student gave an intimate massage to her experimental partner Michael (pictured) Only two months before his sudden passing on December 13 from a ruptured aorta, Alan Thicke had sat down with Hollywood Medium star Tyler Henry, who had forebodingly told him to get his heart checked. The warning was enough for the 69-year-old Hollywood star to consult a doctor, according to his widow, Tanya Callau, who said all of his health checks came back clear. 'My husband went in for a full physical two months earlier and he had the cleanest bill of health,' she told Us Weekly on Tuesday. No signs: 'My husband went in for a full physical two months earlier and he had the cleanest bill of health,' Alan Thicke's widow, Tanya Callau, said of his sudden passing During an ominous reading with the 21-year-old celebrity medium in October, Tyler was heard repeatedly telling Alan to 'keep in mind your own heart' and to 'be proactive' when it came to his health. Following Alan's shock death, the 41-year-old once again caught up with Tyler, who she has credited with helping her find closure in the wake of his passing. 'I think what was really the most important thing for me was to know if my husband was OK,' she said. 'Just the way that he just died, just dropped dead, and so I just wanted Tyler to connect with him and have Alan tell me its OK and that hes in a good place.' Closure: Following Alan's death, Tanya appeared on Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry. 'What was really the most important thing for me was to know if my husband was OK' Moving on: Tanya said appearing on a recent episode of the show, and watching back the footage Tyler had filmed with her late husband, helped her come to terms with his passing Warning: Just two months before his death from a ruptured aorta, Tyler had forebodingly told Alan to get his heart checked She said appearing on a recent episode of the show, and watching back the footage Tyler had filmed with her late husband, helped her come to terms with his passing. 'This episode was just a really, really big step for me in my recovery,' she confessed. 'Theres a part of you when you lose someone that you love so much and that youve been with for so long, your brain plays tricks on you and you dont really want to believe that theyre gone.' Getting checked: Following his appearance on the show, the actor consulted a doctor, but according to his widow, all of his health checks came back clear Ominous message: Tyler was heard repeatedly telling Alan to 'keep in mind your own heart' and to 'be proactive' when it came to his health Healing: 'This episode was just a really, really big step for me in my recovery,' Tanya told Us Weekly in a new interview And Tanya also credited good friend Kris Jenner, 61, with helping her overcome the loss. 'I have an amazing group of girlfriends, including Kris Jenner, who is like the busiest woman in the world,' she added. 'She showed up the day after Alan passed away. She showed up here, brought food, brought me a blanket, brought me a Bible and was trying to calm me down.' She was forced to defend herself after being branded 'too thin' during her role in Cinderella. But Lily James has defended her figure, and expressed her disdain over actresses being told to lose weight. In a candid interview with GQ, the British Downton Abbey star, 28, opened up about dealing with criticism, and her hopes for the acting industry's treatment of women. Scroll down for video 'I do have a tiny waist and quite big hips so it looks in proportion, you know?' Lily James has defended her figure, and expressed her disdain over actresses being told to lose weight Posing in a glamorous ensemble, she spoke about criticism of her Cinderella costume, revealing: 'The press were saying I'm a bad role model. I've always been healthy. I eat! 'I do have a tiny waist and quite big hips so it looks in proportion, you know? I have an hourglass shape.' And sadly she confirmed that actresses are still told to lose weight for roles, adding: 'Yeah, I've heard that story. And you hear those stories all the time. 'I have an hourglass shape': In a candid interview, the British Downton Abbey star, 28, opened up about dealing with criticism, and her hopes for the acting industry's treatment of women 'I love Michelle Williams. I've watched every film Michelle Williams has ever done. I probably love her because she's the opposite of me, such stillness, such mystery,' she told GQ Read the full interview in this month's issue of GQ- in stores now 'It's so disheartening. I hope it's not getting worse, because people are talking about it and people are aware.' Opening up about her female role model , she gushed: 'I love Michelle Williams. I've watched every film Michelle Williams has ever done. I probably love her because she's the opposite of me, such stillness, such mystery.' In 2015 Lily was 'thin-shamed' for her appearance as Cinderella, accused of being 'too slim' and a 'bad role model'. However the actress hit back at trolls, saying at the time:'On one hand its upsetting and one the other hand it's just boring,' she said. 'I mean, why do women always get pointed at for their bodies? 'This whole thing happened and I'm constantly having to justify myself. I'm very healthy and I always have been.' A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an injunction requiring a Wisconsin school district to allow a transgender high school student to use the boys restroom, ruling that Title IX and the U.S. Constitutions equal-protection clause support the student who was born female, but now identifies as male. A policy that requires an individual to use a bathroom that does not conform with his or her gender identity punishes that individual for his or her gender nonconformance, which in turn violates Title IX, said the opinion for a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Chicago. The decision is the latest on an issue that has percolated around the country and came close to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court before the court returned a Virginia case to another federal appeals court for further consideration. The 7th Circuit court ruled in favor of Ashton Whitaker, a 17-year-old senior at Tremper High School in Kenosha, Wis., who began to identify as a boy in 2013. In fall 2014, at the beginning of his sophomore year, Whitaker told classmates and teachers about his transition and in 2016 began hormone replacement therapy, court papers say. Whitaker was widely accepted in his school, but administrators refused his requests to use the boys restrooms, offering instead a general-neutral restroom that was a distant walk from most of his classes. The student began restricting his fluid intake, which caused medical problems and even thoughts of suicide, his suit says. School officials at one point told Whitakers mother that the student would need to complete a surgical transition to be allowed to use the boys restroom. Whitaker often used the boys restroom in violation of the restriction. Whitaker and his mother, Melissa Whitaker, sued the Kenosha Unified School District in 2016 alleging that his treatment violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded schools, and under the 14th Amendments equal-protection clause. A federal district court rejected the school districts motion to dismiss and granted Whitaker a preliminary injunction that bars the school district from denying the student the use of the boys restroom, as well as from disciplining him for or monitoring such use. The school district appealed, and in its May 30 decision in Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 , the 7th Circuit panel ruled for the student on one point after another. The school district actually exacerbated the harm, when it dismissed [Whitaker] to a separate bathroom where he was the only student who had access, Judge Ann Claire Williams wrote for the panel, going on to use the students preferred first name. This action further stigmatized Ash, indicating that he was different because he was a transgender boy. Although the Whitakers had also filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Educations office for civil rights, the 7th Circuits decision did not turn on any federal interpretation of Title IX, as had the high-profile case involving Virginia transgender student Gavin Grimm. Williams said there is much support in federal anti-discrimination law for reading Title IXs prohibition on sex discrimination in education to include disparate treatment of a transgender student. The school districts policy ... subjects Ash, as a transgender student, to different rules, sanctions, and treatment than non-transgender students, in violation of Title IX, Williams said. Providing a genderneutral alternative is not sufficient to relieve the school district from liability, as it is the policy itself which violates the act. As for the equal-protection clause, the court said Whitaker was subject to a form of sex stereotyping that had to be given heightened scrutiny. Here, the school districts policy cannot be stated without referencing sex, as the school district decides which bathroom a student may use based upon the sex listed on the students birth certificate, the court said. This policy is inherently based upon a sexclassification and heightened review applies. The school district did not meet its burden to justify the policy, said Williams, who said the districts arguments about guaranteeing student privacy in the restroom were based on sheer conjecture and abstraction. Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Ash Whitaker said his case had been an emotional roller coaster but the 7th Circuit decision meant his senior year was ending on a high note. This helps other trans kids to live authentically, he said. He will graduate from Tremper High on Saturday, with school officials expected to call him by his preferred name in the graduation line, he said. Because the case includes a claim for damages, it will remain active after Whitakers graduation, with the school district possibly appealing the 7th Circuit ruling and the merits of the case moving forward in the trial court, said Joseph Wardenski, one of Whitakers lawyers. Still, the 7th Circuit decision sends a clear message to schools across the country that they should be protecting all students, he said. [UPDATED Wednesday 7:45 a.m.] The school district early Wednesday released a statement by its private lawyer, Ronald S. Stadler, expressing disappointment in the decision. The 7th Circuit court expanded the sex-stereotyping theory from a recognition that one cannot be discriminated against because of gender non-conformity, such as not wearing clothing typically associated with the individuals sex, and instead created a new right extending discrimination because of sex to now include the status of being transgender, he said. The court also rejected the districts position that there is a rational basis for requiring men to use mens rooms and women to use womens rooms, Stadler said. Instead, the court believes there is no harm in allowing men and women to use the same restroom. He noted that the case still faces proceedings at the trial stage, but that the district will analyze whether to seek a rehearing of the panels decision before the full 7th Circuit or appeal it to the Supreme Court. Lisa Kudrow has paid tribute to 'good soul' Robert Michael Morris following his death aged 77. The Friends favorite made an emotional tweet about her The Comeback costar on Tuesday. The former theater professor had played her character Valerie Cherishs hairdresser for the programme's two seasons. Dead: Lisa Kudrow has paid tribute to co-star Robert Michael Morris on Tuesday The 53-year-old said: We lost Robert Michael Morris today. He left us with many wonderful gifts, most importantly, an example of what a truly good soul looks like. Educator Robert earned his role on the popular HBO comedy in what was his first professional audition. The character of Mickey was penned with him in mind by the show's creator Michael Patrick King, who was one of his former students. Michael said: 'Robert Michael Morris was an inspiration to write for and to be around. Emotional: She took to Twitter to make her moving statement 'His creativity was only matched by the joy and gratefulness he felt for each day he got to live his life as an artist.' Robert played the character in both the original show and the revival. It premiered in 2005 but was canceled after just one first season, before being revived nine years later. He went on to land parts in also had roles in hit shows including How I Met Your Mother, Will & Grace, The Middle and 2 Broke Girls. She jets to Barbados with her family every year. And Coleen Rooney, 31, seemed to be loving her latest trip to the hotspot as she joined husband Wayne and their adorable elder sons Kai, 7, and Klay, four, for a day on the beach. Also out for the day were her parents, Colette and Tony McLoughlin, as the group strolled along the sand after spending the morning out on a boat. Scroll down for video Happy families: Coleen Rooney, 31, seemed to be loving her latest trip to the hotspot as she joined husband Wayne and their adorable sons Kai, 7, and Klay, four, for a day on the beach Highlighting her svelte frame, Coleen dazzled in a chic white beach dress which she wore over a yellow bikini. With the garment skimming over her lithe frame, the mother-of-three looked sensational on the outing. Wayne also seemed in great spirits as he chatted away with his wife's parents and herded his children along. Family fun: Also out for the day were her parents, Colette and Tony McLoughlin, as the group strolled along the sand after spending the morning out on a boat Dazzling: Highlighting her svelte frame, Coleen dazzled in a chic white beach dress which she wore over a yellow bikini whilst she carried her flip flops in hand Wayne has, in the past, missed out on family holidays, having had to stay back home due to work commitments, so he was no doubt grateful to be enjoying the idyllic scenery with his brood. The day before, Coleen gathered the family together for a group photo, with the clan all beaming widely as they huddled close together for the snap, which she later posted to Twitter for her 1.2million followers. Slipping a pair of large mirrored shades over her face, doting mum Coleen could not contain her joy in the image, which she captioned: 'Our Dad's here!!! Let summer time begin .... family time'. Turning heads: With the garment skimming over her lithe frame, the mother-of-three looked sensational on the outing Taking the lead: Wayne also seemed in great spirits as he chatted away with his wife's parents and herded his children along Cruising along: The group were seen huddled around a jet ski on the shore Loving life: The family all seemed in great spirits on the outing But unbeknownst to the Liverpudlian native, her choice of colour scheme could actually land her in trouble. In Barbados the wearing of camouflage of any form is illegal unless by a member of the military. Tourists are warned to not wear the style in any fashion before arriving but Coleen took no head in her stunning two piece and risked arrest. Cheers: Wayne shook the hand of the captain who had taken them out on one of the boats Lads' outing: Wayne chatted away with Coleen's father Tony as they headed home Coleen has been looking truly sensational on the getaway - showing off her impressively slim figure just sixteen months after welcoming her third child. However, the Liverpool native recently admitted to Now magazine that she is more focused on being healthy and caring for her three children, rather than worrying about her figure or exercising. She explained: 'The more children I've had, I've been in less of a rush to get back in shape because after three births, your body is going to change. Covered up: Whilst Tony just wore trunks, Wayne teamed a grey T-shirt with green shorts 'I think once you've had kids, they're more important than how you look.' She went on to urge women to embrace their bodies for what they are and not focus on the insecurities, adding: 'After having kids, if youve got a bit of a wobbly belly thats just part and parcel of who you are. 'Its not the end of the world you just have to be confident.' It seems they wanted to make a meal of things. For Heidi Klum and her toyboy lover Vito Schnabel ended up going for a meal after enjoying a romantic cruise in Greece on Tuesday. The dynamic duo seemed to be having a great time bobbing on the waves on Mykonos Island. Ahoy there: Heidi Klum went for a cruise with toyboy Vito Schnabel in Greece on Tuesday Salty seadog: She looked like an old hand as she sat on the boat Indeed they were having so much fun that health-conscious Heidi was spotted guzzling from a bottle. But it seems that was not enough refreshment for the German model, as the couple were later spotted heading for dinner at a tavern on the island. Mother-of-four Heidi looked footloose and fancy free as she made the most of her time with her much younger lover. And she had dressed to impress in a black dress, while she cunningly went barefoot as she found her sea legs. She'll drink to that: Heid was guzzling from an open bottle as her man spoke to the captain Love boat: She seemed to be loving every moment of her romantic cruise Are you sitting comfortably: She made a spot for herself All hands on deck: Her lover was manhandled by the burly captain She has certainly been trying to keep up with her man as they enjoy a flurry of evenings out. However she appeared to lose her renowned grace on Saturday night as she left The Crown Aspinalls Casino in Mayfair, London looking bleary-eyed. The wobbly German seemed worse for wear as she left the venue holding hands with her boyfriend of three years Vito Schnabel, 30. Shady behaviour: Vito put on some glasses to protect his eyes from the glare Shall we dance: Heidi and the sailor seemed to be getting on famously Lending a hand: She seemed excited to be partaking on a maritime adventure She's avoided the spotlight since her arrival in Australia this week, after spending almost a decade in a Bali prison and three years on parole for drug smuggling. And Schapelle Corby's long-awaited return home has sparked speculation about when the reclusive former beautician will finally make her first public appearance. While her sister Mercedes denied rumours Schapelle will be the next Bachelorette, her popularity on Instagram does suggest plans to enter the celebrity scene. From the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival to the Maxim Hot 100 party, Daily Mail Australia looks at the events where Schapelle could possibly make her society debut. Stepping onto the social scene? Schapelle Corby's long-awaited arrival in Australia has sparked speculation about when the reclusive drug smuggler will make her public debut Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival Celebrities from across Australia descend upon Flemington Racecourse to celebrate Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival every year. And with the springtime festivities taking place in November this year, Schapelle will have plenty of time to prepare for the big event. Models, reality TV stars, and elite athletes are known to be among the crowds - with the likes of Jennifer Hawkins and Jodi Anasta typically leading the fashion stakes. Red carpet ready? With the festivities taking place in November, Schapelle will have plenty of time to prepare for the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Pictured: Jennifer Hawkins in 2016 If she were to attend the event, Schapelle would most likely be joined by her sister Mercedes, who has made no secret of her love for the races. Mercedes has documented her Melbourne Cup celebrations on Instagram over the past few years - and she always dresses up in a fancy frock and flowery fascinator. The restaurant owner also runs a fashion store in Bali, Blaster Boutique, offering a variety of outfits Schapelle could wear to such a high-profile society event. Giddy up! If she were to attend the Melbourne Cup, Schapelle would most likely be joined by her sister Mercedes (second from right), who has made no secret of her love for the races Magic Millions Carnival If travelling to Melbourne proves too difficult for Schapelle, she may decide to make her social debut at the racing carnival on the Gold Coast, where she is based. Each January, Magic Millions holds its flagship events - the internationally renowned Jeep Magic Millions Carnival, Raceday and Yearling Sale. The 10-day festival sees celebrities and VIP guests walk the red carpet, with local stars Erin Holland and Melina Vidler previously making appearances. Could it be Magic Millions? If travelling to Melbourne proves too difficult, Schapelle may make her social debut at the Gold Coast's own racing carnival. Pictured: model Erin Holland in 2017 Maxim Hot 100 Party According to Maxim, the annual Hot 100 party brings together 'the most gifted and gorgeous Australian women who have impressed and undressed this year.' After controversial politician Pauline Hanson was included in the magazine's 2016 end-of-year list, there is a real possibility that Schapelle could be included this year. If Schapelle does attend the annual extravaganza, she will join Australia's most beautiful and successful women - as well as plenty of reality TV stars. Her sister Mercedes could also possibly receive an invitation, given her past experience as a lads' mag cover girl. In 2008, Mercedes posed in a bikini for the now-defunct magazine Ralph. How naughty! If Schapelle attends the Maxim Hot 100 Party, she will join Australia's most beautiful women. And it's likely sister Mercedes, a former lads' mag model, will be invited too Charity gala red carpet Since being deported from Bali, Schapelle has wasted no time in using her fame to draw attention to unsolved missing children cases. Over the weekend, Schapelle greeted the media outside her Bali villa with a handbag emblazoned with the face of William Tyrell. Later on, she used her popular Instagram account to highlight his case and that of other missing children. It stands to reason Schapelle could make her debut at a children's charity event, such as those held by Variety Australia Children's Charity or the Starlight Foundation. 'Missing children is something that she's compassionate about. She really liked the Daniel's Law, that's something that she's always following,' Mercedes told KIIS FM. For a good cause: Schapelle could make her debut at a children's charity event, such as those held by Variety Australia Children's Charity or the Starlight Foundation Cosmopolitan Women Of The Year Awards As of Wednesday afternoon, Schapelle has garnered an impressive 181,000 Instagram followers since her release from prison. With her numbers still rising by the hour, it is possible Schapelle may find herself up for a prize at the Cosmopolitan Women Of The Year Awards. Last year, the award for Social Media Star Of The Year was taken out by fitness blogger and trainer Emily Skye, who boasts two million followers. While Schapelle has a way to go before reaching those numbers, Cosmopolitan may reward her for using social media to bring attention to important causes. She admitted to having breast implant surgery six years ago. And former Bachelor contestant Tiffany Scanlon certainly put on a busty display in a new photo posted to her Instagram on Wednesday. The 30-year-old reality star flaunted her very prominent assets in a red bikini, as she sat on the sand in an image which was captured in her hometown of Perth. Scroll down for video Red hot: Former Bachelor contestant Tiffany Scanlon flaunts her surgically enhanced cleavage and six-pack abs in sizzling beach snap The blonde beauty's cleavage appeared much more pronounced than in other photographs posted to her social media in recent months. Tiffany's most recent social media shares have followed her revelation about procedures she has undergone to refresh her look. The socialite has openly admitted to having Botox treatments, facial and lip fillers, hair extensions and eyebrow tattoos. She has also previously revealed she had breast implants six years ago. Busty! The blonde beauty's cleavage appeared much more pronounced than in other photographs posted to her social media in recent months Busty: The Perth-born knockout's cleavage appeared much more prominent than it has in other recent photographs More up top: Tiffany has said in the past that she wanted to tackle the 'stigma' attached to having cosmetic surgery In April the blonde took to her blog and social media to document her Botox treatments, facial and lip fillers, hair extensions and ten kilo weight loss. She wrote: 'I'm glad I broke my Botox virginity, and I definitely intend to have it done again when my frown starts to return. My only regretnot having it done sooner! Tiffany said she wanted to tackle the 'stigma' attached to having cosmetic surgery. Defending herself: In April the blonde took to her blog and social media to document her Botox treatments, facial and lip fillers, hair extensions and ten kilo weight loss Changes: Tiffany also confessed to having gotten breast implants in the past when questioned by a fan on Instagram She wrote: 'At the end of the day it's my body, my face, my life and if this makes me happy and more confident then it really isn't anyone's business or concern. Tiffany also confessed to having gotten breast implants in the past when questioned by a fan on Instagram. She answered honestly, 'Not at these appointments but around 6 years ago I had my boobs done'. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Tiffany Scanlon for comment. The good work carried out by charitable organisation The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was credited on Tuesday evening as a reflective Kate Mara shared a series of posts on social media. Taking to Instagram, the 34-year old actress posted a number of images from a recent expedition to West African country Liberia, where she checked on the welfare of 60 abandoned chimpanzees with younger sister Rooney, 32. The images capture the pair sitting aboard a small boat as they make their way across a large winding river during the early stages of their trip, carried out on behalf of the Washington based animal protection organisation. Scroll down for video Making a difference: Taking to Instagram, Kate Mara posted a series of images from a recent expedition to West African country Liberia, where she checked on the welfare of 60 abandoned chimpanzees with younger sister Rooney Another finds them locked in an embrace as they make their way towards dry land, where a handful of curious primates sit close to the shoreline. The chimpanzees were originally used for research purposes by the New York Blood Centre (NYBC), but a lack of funding resulted in them being abandoned in 2016. Actress Kate has since been helping advance efforts for chimpanzee conservation in the African nation. Captioning the set, she wrote: Thank you @humanesociety for everything youve done in facilitating the agreement with NYBC for our chimps future. Deeply grateful and moved. For a good cause: The images capture the pair sitting aboard a small boat as they make their way across a large winding river during the early stages of their trip, carried out on behalf of The Humane Society of the United States Loving: Another finds Kate locked in an embrace with HSUS Vice President Michelle Cho as they make their way towards dry land Speaking in a joint statement, Kate and Rooney expressed their delight at successfully securing provisions and shelter for the endangered chimps during their trip. They wrote: 'We are thrilled that HSUS and NYBC have reached an agreement to ensure the lifetime care including nutritious food and water, medical care, basic shelter, and care facilities for the more than 60 chimpanzees in Liberia. 'Observing these amazing, resilient animals last year was such a gift and we remain committed to HSUSs ambitious plans to create a sanctuary where the chimpanzees future will never again be filled with uncertainty.' For a good cause: The trip was to help advance efforts for chimpanzee conservation in the African nation Shortly before sharing her throwback snaps Kate was spotted squeezing in a workout at a Ballet Bodies class in Santa Monica. The former House Of Cards actress appeared serious as she exited the workout while chatting on her cell phone. Dressed casually, the redheaded star sported a pair of ripped black jeans as she made her way down the street. Heading home: Kate was seen leaving a Ballet Bodies class in LA's Santa Monica on Tuesday Taking a call: The former House Of Cards actress appeared serious as she exited the workout while chatting on her cell phone She also wore a cropped white T-shirt, which showed off a hint of her midriff. The chic actress also donned a black and white patterned bomber jacket. Her bobbed hair was swept back into a high ponytail, and she wore a pair of black sunglasses. Street style: Dressed casually, the redheaded star sported a pair of ripped black jeans as she made her way down the street Spot the difference: Although she was seen toting a black and white Celine handbag as she headed into the workout, she inexplicably left it behind following her dance class Future husband: Kate is engaged to Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell, now 31, who first found fame playing the talented child ballet dancer in the hit 2000 film Casual cool: The stunning starlet also wore a pair of black slip-on ATM loafers and was seen carrying a bottle of water Natural beauty: Her bobbed hair was swept back into a high ponytail, and she wore a pair of black sunglasses The stunning starlet also wore a pair of black slip-on ATM loafers and was seen carrying a bottle of water. Although she was seen toting a black and white Celine handbag as she headed into the workout, she inexplicably left it behind following her dance class. Kate was later seen leaving the class with a small studded black handbag instead. Twice as nice: Kate was later seen leaving the class with a small studded black handbag instead Kourtney Kardashain reportedly has become 'worried' for Scott Disick following his Lothario behavior in France. The 38-year-old reality star recently returned from Cannes on the French Riviera with her new rumored model boyfriend Younes Bendjima, 24. Scott, 34, meanwhile has been partying in Cannes with a string of women including 19-year-old Bella Thorne, 18-year-old Sofia Richie, 23-year-old model Chantel Jeffries as well as model Maggie Petrova and ex-girlfriend Chloe Bartoli. Cause for concern: Kourtney Kardashian, shown Friday leaving Cannes, France, reportedly is 'worried' for her ex Scott Disick 'Kourtney is worried for Scott, as are Scotts friends and the whole Kardashian family. They are really worried for him,' a source told Us Weekly in an article Tuesday. 'They aren't angry - just concerned - because he's clearly going through something,' the insider added. Scott and Kourtney have seven-year-old son Mason, four-year-old daughter Penelope and two-year-old son Reign together. Kourtney spent time with Younes while in Cannes and also met up with her younger sister Kendall Jenner. French getaway: Scott is shown Thursday leaving a nightclub in Cannes Scott and Kourtney started dating in 2006 after meeting at a house party in Mexico hosted by Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, 44. The highs and lows of their relationship have been thoroughly documented on the family's reality shows including their 2010 split and reconciliation. They separated in July 2015 after Scott was photographed canoodling with Chloe in Monte Carlo. Headed home: Kourtney headed home from Cannes after hanging out with toyboy model Younes Bendjima New flame: Younes is shown last week in Cannes getting aboard a private jet after spending time with Kourtney in the French Riviera Kourtney returned Saturday from Cannes and enjoyed her getaway with her toyboy model Younes. 'Kourtney is having fun and he makes her happy,' a source told People on Saturday. 'After all the drama with Scott, Younes is a great distraction. Scott is an absolute mess. Kourtney is aware, but seems less bothered by it.' Kourtney also has reportedly banned Scott from seeing their young children until his 'cleans up his act', according to TMZ. Family time: Scott and Kourtney are shown in July 2016 with their children in La Jolla, California She gave birth to her second son last December. And Teresa Palmer was every bit the glowing mother, cutting a stunning figure as she stepped out for an interview in New York on Tuesday. The 31-year-old actress brought her six month old son Forest Sage along for the media appearance. Hot mama! A glowing Teresa Palmer stepped out with adorable six month old son Forest Sage for interview in NYC on Tuesday The Australian-born beauty made her way to the interview with Build Series NYC, clutching her youngest child in her arms. Teresa kept things casual in a pair of skinny jeans and a white T-shirt, adding a touch of boho glamour with a stunning floral coat. The actress showed off her glowing complexion by wearing very little makeup, sporting her long blonde locks out in waves. Not bothered: The tiny tot was dressed adorably in tree-patterned pants, appearing oblivious to the attention his famous mother was getting as she was recognised by fans You beauty! Teresa kept things casual in a pair of skinny jeans and a white T-shirt, adding a touch of boho glamour with a stunning floral jacket Keeping it natural: The actress showed off her glowing complexion by wearing very little makeup, sporting her long blonde locks out in waves Hi there: Teresa greeted fans enthusiastically as she made her way into the media appearance, before heading inside with Forest Sage Teresa greeted fans enthusiastically as she made her way to the media appearance, before heading inside with Forest Sage. The tiny tot was dressed adorably in tree-patterned pants, appearing oblivious to the attention his famous mother was getting as she was recognised by fans. The blonde beauty is currently in the United States on the promotional trail for her new movie Berlin Syndrome. Doing interviews: The blonde beauty is currently in the United States on the promotional trail for her new movie Berlin Syndrome Loves scary stuff: During an appearance on Good Morning America on Monday, Teresa revealed she is a fan of the horror genre Doting mum: The Australian-born beauty made her way to an interview with Build Series NYC on Tuesday clutching her youngest child in her arms The thriller tells the story of an Australian backpacker held captive by a German man she meets in Berlin. During an appearance on Good Morning America on Monday, Teresa revealed she is a fan of the horror genre. 'I'm obsessed with them... my husband thinks I'm really weird!' She told the breakfast show's hosts. Teresa married filmmaker Mark Webber in 2013 and they share two children together - newborn son Forest Sage and three-year-old son Bodhi Rain. Jennifer Lopez stunned in a sexy red dress Tuesday for the premiere of her World Of Dance television show. The 47-year-old entertainer was joined by Derek Hough of Dancing With The Stars, R&B star Ne-Yo and Jenna Dewan Tatum on the first night of the NBC dancing competition series. A pair of Beyonce's backing dancers, French twins Laurent and Larry, stole the first show with a stunning and emotional dance that wowed the judges. Lady in red: Jennifer Lopez stunned in a sheer red dress for the premiere Tuesday of her new show World Of Dance Laurent and Larry, both 28, told the cameras they were raised in Paris by a single mother. They toured for Beyonce as her dancers for six years after she saw them perform on YouTube and did more than enough to impress the judges, who gave them a standing ovation. 'That was so good,' said Derek as he called them 'special.' 'I'm familiar with you guys but that was more emotional than I have seen you,' said Ne-Yo. French twins: Larry and Laurent wowed the judges and audience with their performance Backup dancers: The French twins were backup dancers for superstar Beyonce for six years 'This is a testament that the best dancers in the world are here tonight. Your style is so unique but the fact you are twins, and I have twins, there will be nobody like you guys ever again,' Jennifer said. 'This is such a beautiful thing to watch in the world of dance,' added Jennifer who also is an executive producer of the series. Ne-Yo gave Les Twins a score of 95, while Jennifer and Derek gave them both 96 for an average of 95.7. Talented twins: Larry and Laurent have become well known in dance circles and showed why Next round: The twins easily advanced to the next round The judges score the dancers, many of whom are already professionals, on their performance, technique, choreography, presentation and creativity. First up were the multi-national Super Cr3w of B Boys breakdancers from Las Vegas. 'I tell you what I've worked with a lot of B Boys over the years and one of the challenges in choreographing them is that it can get repetitive or people don't know what to do with them,' said Jennifer. Break dancing: Super Cr3w from Las Vegas brought their break dancing skills to the show 'I was afraid to look away and miss something, that is how exciting you made it,' she said. Ne-Yo told them they had made very difficult moves 'look easy.' 'Super smooth and super together,' said Ne-Yo as the judges locked in their scores with each group requiring more than 80 to go through. The judges: Ne-Yo, J-Lo and Derek Hough scored the dancers Ne-Yo gave them 87, Jennifer 89 and Derek 88 for a score of 88 to send them through to the next round. 'You could not have done that any better,' Jenna told them backstage. Miami ballroom dancers D'Angelo and Amanda have been dancing together for ten years since she was seven and he was six. Ballroom dancers: D'Angelo and Amanda have been dancing together for 10 years 'It's like Aladdin and Princess Jasmine,' said Jennifer as they took to the dance floor. 'Wait a minute, these are juniors,' said an impressed Jennifer. 'You obviously have a connection, it was a very tight and clean performance.' Junior dancers: The young dancers impressed Jennifer with their 'tight and clean performance' Show presenter: Jenna Dewan Tatum serves as the presenter on the show Derek gave his fellow ballroom dancers a standing ovation as he urged Amanda to use her hips. And at Jenifer's urging Derek got up and showed the youngsters what he meant with a hip-thrusting demonstration. Ne-Yo called it a 'standard-setting' performance and they had earned his attention. Dance tip: Derek at Jennifer's urging demonstrated a hip-thrusting technique Derek gave then an 87, Jennifer an 88 and Ne-Yo a 90 for an average of 88.3, sending them through. Next a clogging group who perform in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, called 'NXT LVL' impressed Jenna Dewan Tatum who danced with them backstage. 'You guys seem like the sort of guys I want to grab a beer with. The footwork was amazing and fantastic. I loved it,' said Derek. Clogging group: The clogging group NXT LVL failed to advance to the next round Bar buddy: Derek said that NXT LVL was the type of guys he'd grab a beer with Ne-Yo told them they were not what he had pictured clogging 'which is a great thing.' 'I personally think it needed a little more,' said Ne-Yo. Jennifer told them the performance was 'clean' but she felt the style of dancing 'could get repetitive after a while.' Low score: Jennifer gave the clogging group a 78 score and they failed to advance 'Is it at that level where you guys could take the whole competition? I don't know we'll see if you make it through to the next round and can up the routine ideas a little bit, you know.' Jennifer gave them a 78, Derek an 80 and Ne-Yo just 73 for a total of just 77, which was not high enough to advance. 'They won't be competitive,' Derek told Jennifer as the group walked off. She's got it: Jenna showed her clogging skills to the dance group 'They needed just a little more oomph,' she agreed. Married urban dancers Keone and Mari told the cameras they are best known for their YouTube videos with one to Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself' having been viewed more than one billion times. 'You guys are so lovable and likable and your musicality is mazing, I love you guys and cannot wait to see more,' aid Derek. Close couple: Keone and Mari have been best known for their YouTube videos Jennifer praised their story telling and expressiveness and Ne-Yo said you could tell how much they loved dancing together. The couple said they wanted to start a family and would love to win the competition to help with that, which gave Jennifer the goosebumps. Jennifer gave them 83, Ne-Yo 85 and Derek 87 for an average of 85 and a place in the next round. Married dancers: The couple said they wanted to start a family and winning the $1 million prize would help Los Angeles-based urban dance group Kinjaz told the cameras they were a brotherhood of ninjas and most had martial arts backgrounds. And their dance drew inspiration from movies and anime as they performed an intricate routine in red outfits, black hats and masks. 'I am kind of lost for words. Man, like the opening was like a movie, it was so cool, every movement was intended, everything was very carefully thought through, it was incredible,' said Derek. Intricate routine: Kinjaz drew inspiration from movies and anime for their dance Strong opening: The dance group started out strong and only got better Hands to head: Ne-Yo was impressed with the coordinated finger movements Ne-Yo was impressed they had even coordinated their finger movements and had kept it interesting without needing any tricks. 'For me it just wasn't enough, I want more, it was too short. It was so damn good,' said Jennifer. Ne-Yo gave them 89, while Jennifer and Derek both gave them 92 for an average of 91. In sync: The group had their finger movements perfectly synchronized Miami contemporary dancer Diana Pombo, 11, told the cameras she was 'naturally hyper' and hoped the competition 'could change her life forever.' Jennifer clutched her hand to her chest as she watched the youngster go through a complicated and technical performance, before giving her a standing ovation. 'You have that Latin fire, I can see it in you. It wasn't just the flexibility and strength you have it was the passion you put into all of it,' said Jennifer. Leaping power: Diana Pombo, 11, showed amazing flexibility and leaping ability Forehead wipe: The young dancer wiped her forehead with her foot during the dance Standing ovatin: Ne-Yo, Jennifer and Derek stood up in applause 'It was incredible, you checked all the boxes,' said Derek as Ne-Yo told her 'you are all passion.' Diana then told Jennifer that she was inspired by the superstar and Jennifer got up to give the youngster a huge hug. 'Don't make me cry,' said Jennifer as she gave Diana a kiss on the cheek that left her in tears. Inspiring star: Diana told Jennifer that she was inspired by the superstar Ne-Yo gave her an 88, Derek an 89 and Jennifer a 92 for an average of 89.7. Jennifer needed a comforting pat on the back from Ne-Yo as she became emotional as Diana skipped off the stage. World Of Dance will return next week as the qualifying rounds continue. Big hug: Jennifer took to the stage and gave Diana a big hug In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of New Orleans teachers were summarily dismissed after the Louisiana legislature voted to turn over all but a handful of the citys schools to the state-run Recovery School District. The Recovery District eventually converted the schools into public charter schools. This decision not only fundamentally altered how the citys schools are run but also upended a profession that launched thousands of black New Orleanians into the middle class. A new study from the Education Research Alliance at Tulane University shows that half of the teachers fired never worked in Louisiana public schools again. Pre-Katrina New Orleans schools were a bit of an anomaly. In 2003, just 15 percent of teachers in large urban districts across the country were black. But in New Orleans, teaching was largely a job done by black women: 71 percent of teachers were black and 78 percent were women. The demographics of the citys teacher workforce have changed drastically since: By 2014, black teachers comprised a little less than half of the citys teacher corps. In the years following Katrina, New Orleans became a mecca for new teachers. Before Katrina, the citys teachers had an average of 15 years of classroom experience. Now the majority of teachers have less than five years of experience. Jane Arnold Lincove, a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the studys lead author, said that the study suggests that the prospects for those veteran teachers fired after Katrina only got worse over the years, as more schools went charter and those schools embraced younger teachers recruited through programs like Teach for America. The study highlights two years of employment records to show how pre-Katrina teachers fared as the reforms took hold. In 2007, the second full school year after Katrina, those teachers made up a large share of the citys educators, but they subsequently started to leave the citys schools in large numbers. Some of that could be teachers retiring, but it could also be that even if they got hired. they might not have been the kinds of teachers the charters wanted, said Lincove. Veteran teachers get paid more, they might have been cut to help schools meet their budgets. We dont know if a teacher left a school voluntarily or because they were forced out, but what we do know is that when exiting teachers were replaced, they were replaced with teachers who were paid less, had less experience, and were more likely to be white and from out of state. In the fall of 2007, about a third of the 4,300 teachers fired after Katrina were working in New Orleans public schools again. Another 18 percent were working elsewhere in the state. But by the fall of 2013, just 22 percent of those educators were still working in New Orleans. Thats a much larger drop than seen elsewhere in the state, where 15 percent of the Katrina cohort was still employed by schools in other parishes. Some of the turnover can be explained by natural attrition. Nearly a third of the teachers fired in 2006 were already eligible for full retirement benefits. But when comparing pre-Katrina New Orleans teachers to similar educators in other parishes devastated by the 2005 hurricanes, the researchers estimate that the attrition rate was at least 16 percentage points higher for the citys teachers. While the black community was hit harder by the firings because so many teachers were African-American, the researchers did not find a racial disparity in who was rehired after the storm. In fact they found that black teachers were slightly more likely to return to New Orleans schools than their white peers. But the researchers found that the white teachers fired after Katrina were more likely to be hired by charter schools than black teachers were. Returning black teachers were more likely to be hired by the few schools still run by the Orleans Parish School Board. Lincove said its unclear if this trend emerged due to hiring practices at charter schools or because teaching in the city just became less attractive to black teachers. One important difference that Lincove points out between OPSB schools and charters is that the district still offers teachers a pension. A lot of people have been talking about the effects of these reforms on the black middle class, said Lincove. While we saw more rehiring than we expected, I think we need to look at the long term effects of falling out of the pension system. Teachers now have to accept a job without a pension, so we are going to see a different type of teacher. Lincove added that charter leaders worried about teachers not viewing the profession as a long-term career should think systematically about what kinds of long-term retirement benefits and long-term job security might need to be offered to avoid this. Brian Beabout, a professor at the University of New Orleans, said that its going to take more than changing benefits to make New Orleans a town for career teachers again. I think we want to fight this fight on two fronts, said Beabout. We want to make sure career teaching is a viable pathway. Thats good for our students, particularly for getting some consistency for students that have gone through a lot of trauma. But the pressure of accountability makes teaching a very different practice than it was before. The use of standardized tests to evaluate schools and individual teachers has been harder for veterans to adapt to, Beabout argued. " Theres a lot of pressure on teachers that wasnt there before, he said. Charter leaders have to recognize they are not going to get 25 years from everyone, so the question is how do we get from four years to staying eight or 10 years. There is currently a concerted effort by several charter leaders to recruit teachers with local roots, particularly black educators, in large part because those teachers are more likely to stick around for the long haul. This local initiative is part of a larger national push that is responding to a bevy of research showing that black kids benefit from having black teachers. Black students tend to be disciplined less, graduate at higher rates, and get referred to advanced classes more when they have black teachers. There are several limitations to the study. Researchers utilized Louisiana Department of Education employment records, so the study can only speak to whether or not fired teachers ever worked in a Louisiana public school again. Some of these teachers could now be working in private schools or in other states. The data also only runs through 2013, largely before the local hiring push, so it remains unclear whether teachers fired after Katrina have benefited from more recent hiring initiatives. This story was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read more about New Orleans here and here . Not only did Emmy Rossum get hitched over the weekend, she also made someone else's day a little bit brighter. The 30-year-old Shameless star repurposed her wedding flowers by donating them to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Enlisting the services of company Repeat Roses, Emmy's gorgeous wedding blooms were turned into bouquets and donated to patients throughout the hospital. For a good cause... Emmy Rossum 'repurposed' her wedding flowers by donating them to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City Charitable: Enlisting the services of company Repeat Roses, Emmy's gorgeous wedding blooms were turned into bouquets and donated to patients throughout the hospital 'The Repeat Roses service allows you to enjoy your wedding, special celebration or corporate event knowing that at least a part of it will live on and bring joy to many others,' the company writes on its website. The charitable star later took to Instagram to share photos of her pink, purple and red wedding flowers after they'd been delivered to the Manhattan hospital. '@repeatroses brought these and many more to Mount Sinai hospital,' she captioned one of the photos. Another photo shows a close up of the gorgeous bouquets. In bloom: The charitable star later took to Instagram to share photos of her pink, purple and red wedding flowers after they'd been delivered to the Manhattan hospital Recycled gifts: 'The Repeat Roses service allows you to enjoy your wedding, special celebration or corporate event knowing that at least a part of it will live on and bring joy to many others,' the company writes Just married: The stunning star married Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, 39, in an intimate ceremony in New York City on Sunday '@repeatroses repurposes flowers from weddings and events so they don't go to waste,' she captioned it. The stunning star married Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, 39, in an intimate ceremony in New York City on Sunday. The glowing bride wore a custom-made off-the-shoulder Caroline Herrera wedding gown. Newlyweds: Following their ceremony at the Central Synagogue, the couple held their reception at the Guggenheim museum Dressed to impress: The glowing bride wore a custom-made off-the-shoulder wedding gown by designer Caroline Herrera Following their ceremony at the Central Synagogue, the couple held their reception at the Guggenheim museum. The pair first met in 2014 and got engaged in August 2015. And the bride was incredibly relaxed in the lead up to her big day. 'The only thing thats really important to me is that we get married and theres some kind of party,' she told E! News in February. She was attending a glittering event plugging her new standup special. But that did not stop comedienne Sarah Silverman from indulging her love of casual cool at the A Speck of Dust screening in Beverly Hills on Tuesday. The small screen beauty would not have looked out of place on a college campus as she paraded her figure at the Netflix For Your Consideration event in the well-heeled area of Beverly Hills. Casual: Sarah Silverman did not dress up for an event promoting her new special in Beverly hills on Tuesday She certainly did not look like someone who was the star of the show at a glittering event in the wealthy area. Sarah, 46, looked great for her age in a grey hooded top, tight jeans, black T-shirt and boots. The funnywoman has dedicated her new special to Garry Shandling, who is best known for his hit The Larry Sanders Show, as well as Harris Wittels and her mother. She told the Hollywood Reporter: 'In the time between my last special and this special, actually in the span of under two years, I lost three of the closest people in my life and almost died myself. Beauty: it is hard to believe the evergreen comedy stunner is really 46-years-old Grin when you're winning: She is the star of a money-spinning new Netflix special Campus queen: She would not have looked out of place ambling around a community college 'In a lot of ways, even if not on the surface, it really informed what the special was and it was kind of a no-brainer to dedicate the special to the people I lost. ' It is the comedienne's first the special since HBO's We Are Miracles in 2013, which went on to win an Emmy. With her new show she has become the latest big name comic to jump on the Netflix bandwagon, with Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock following suit. The streaming service has already aired specials by Amy Schumer, Tracy Morgan and Dave Chappelle. At last: It is the comedienne's first the special since HBO's We Are Miracles in 2013 Dedicated follower of fashion: She is the latest comic to jump on the Netflix bandwagon He's preparing for a much-hyped guest stint on MasterChef Australia. And Yotam Ottolenghi has a strong message for the reality show's contestants involving the 'ethos' that has developed for an aspiring chef to be 'good'. In a possible swipe towards fiery peers, he told the Herald Sun on Wednesday chefs don't have to be 'bastards' to be successful. Scroll down for video Powerful: Yotam Ottolenghi has a strong message for MasterChef Australia contestants involving the 'ethos' that has developed for an aspiring chef to be 'good' The 48-year-old, who initially studied philosophy and literature, compared himself to many of the show's contestants who come 'into cooking from a different field in life'. 'There is an ethos that you have to go through a lot of misery and torture to be a good chef,' he described. The Israeli-born restaurant owner explained how he 'tried that for about three weeks in the 1990s' and the process 'completely broke' him. 'There is an ethos that you have to go through a lot of misery and torture to be a good chef,' he described 'You can make a great career in food, be creative and even famous without being a complete bastard,' he stated. While he didn't mention names, his contemporaries like Gordon Ramsay have been noted for foul-mouthed tirades and feuds with fellow chefs like Mario Batali. French chef Jacques Pepin expressed issues with Gordon in an interview with The Washingtonian back in 2011 that lambasted his behaviour on his Hell's Kitchen show. 'You can make a great career in food, be creative and even famous without being a complete bastard,' he stated Tantrum: While he didn't mention names, his contemporaries like Gordon Ramsay have been noted for foul-mouthed tirades and feuds with fellow chefs like Mario Batali 'When I saw a show like that where everyone is yelling, everyone gets terrorized, there is no way you can produce great food under that type of condition,' he said. MasterChef judge Marco Pierre White famously feuded with Gordon and 'exposed [him] to rituals of humiliation, foul language and almost unbearable pressure' when he first trained him, according to an interview with The Telegraph in 2006. Another fiery celebrity chef is Colin Fassnidge, who said earlier this year he went into judging My Kitchen Rules in 2013 'very blase' but nowadays 'I just say what I want'. Darren Criss pulled out all the stops while plugging his forthcoming show Versace: American Crime Story on Twitter of a Tuesday evening. The 30-year-old uploaded a mirror selfie in which he was completely naked except for a speedo that, instead of wearing, he held and let dangle between his thighs. 'So what's more red? My sunburn, my speedo, or YOUR FACE??? #ACSVersace,' wrote Darren, who on the show's portraying Gianni Versace's killer Andrew Cunanan. Scroll down for video Scenes of a Tuesday evening: Darren Criss pulled out all the stops while plugging his forthcoming show Versace: American Crime Story on Twitter The Hollywood Reporter revealed on February 15 both that Darren's playing Andrew and that Edgar Ramirez will take the title role of the murdered fashion designer. Gianni, who launched his eponymous company in 1978, was shot dead outside his mansion in Miami Beach in on July 5, 1997 when he was only 50 years old. Eight days later, Andrew, the California-born serial killer who'd cut Gianni down, committed suicide by gunshot on a houseboat when he himself was 27 years of age. Spotted on set: 'So what's more red? My sunburn, my speedo, or YOUR FACE??? #ACSVersace,' wrote Darren, who on the show's portraying Gianni Versace's killer Andrew Cunanan Likeness: The Hollywood Reporter revealed on February 15 both that Darren's playing Andrew and that Edgar Ramirez (left) will take the title role of the murdered fashion designer (right) After Gianni's death, his shattered younger sister Donatella - played by Penelope Cruz on the show, per Variety - rose to become Versace's creative director, while Gianni and Donatella's brother Santo assumed the position of CEO. The new TV version's based on the 1999 Maureen Orth book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, And The Largest Failed Manhunt In U.S. History. American Crime Story kicked off with an smash hit first season last year covering O.J. Simpson's media-frenzy trial - and hotly controversial acquittal - for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her reputed boyfriend Ron Goldman. The man himself: Gianni, who launched his eponymous company in 1978, was shot dead outside his mansion in Miami Beach in on July 5, 1997 when he was only 50 years old Criss as Cunanan: Eight days later, Andrew, the California-born serial killer who'd cut Gianni down, committed suicide by gunshot on a houseboat when he himself was 27 years of age That season won nine Emmy Awards, including for performances by Sarah Paulson and Sterling K. Brown as Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden of the prosecution, respectively, and by Courtney B. Vance as defense team chieftain Johnny Cochran. Its second season will be related to Hurricane Katrina, and will - like the third season revolving about the Versace murder - be broadcast on FX sometime next year. Per WWD, the Versace brand have insisted that they've 'neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming series about Versace. The series should only be seen as a work of fiction.' Seen at Gianni's memorial service: After Gianni's death, his younger sister Donatella rose to become Versace's creative director, while Gianni and Donatella's brother Santo became CEO Her most famous hour came when she won the third series of The X Factor in 2006. But Leona Lewis proved there is still plenty of life left in the old dog yet as she put on a sartorial display in a revealing catsuit in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The leggy lovely was turning heads for all the right reasons as she went for a stroll in the California sunshine. Belt up: Leona Lewis looked trendy in a belted catsuit in Los Angeles on Tuesday The 32-year-old Bleeding Love favourite showcased her curvy figure in her grey striped outfit, which boasted a plunging neckline, and rounded off her look with platform shoes. Leona recently revealed she learned to love her naturally curly hair after being diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease, which led to her adopting a beauty routine as free of toxic substances as possible. She said: 'I just got to a point where I wanted to start over physically and emotionally. I started eating better, and I stopped straightening my hair," 'I had kind of forgotten what it looked likeor what to do with it. I spent some time finding ways to style it differently.... It was a rediscovery for me that curly hair is actually so versatile. Bleeding Lovely: The X Factor winner looked in fine form indeed on her outing She's got bottle: The health conscious star was making sure she stayed hydrated Now she says she would feel 'like an alien' if she straightened her hair. Leona is also one of a host of stars who is a big fan of the French Bulldog breed, which is now the pet of choice for celebrities from the Beckhams to Lady Gaga and Leonardo DiCaprio It is set to overtake the Labrador retriever as the UKs most popular dog breed by the end of 2018. This is despite the fact their sweet, squashed faces results in an awful lot of snorting and snuffling. Perhaps more importantly they swallow a lot of air, which leads to flatulence. And off she goes: No doubt she had important appointments ahead Amanda Keller went in search of the perfect lipstick shade this week and it led to the radio host flashing her breasts in an Oxford Street, Sydney store. The 55-year-old was inspired by an episode of American daytime talk show The Doctors, in which host and physician Dr. Travis Stork proclaimed that the perfect shade can be found by finding a lipstick that matches your nipples. And so Amanda intrepidly headed to the Lip Lab in Paddington, a boutique which specialises in mixing custom lipstick colours, and flashed the attendant. Good match? Amanda Keller went in search of the perfect lipstick shade this week and it led to the radio host flashing her breasts in an Oxford Street, Sydney store Discussing the experience on the Jonesy & Amanda show on WSFM101.7 on Wednesday, the TV host quickly learned that showing off her nipples was a faux pas. In audio of the encounter, Amanda is heard showing the shocked store keeper her nipple before realising that she's the first to make the request in such a bold way. 'No one has been brave enough to bring the nipple out Am I the first one? That's embarrassing. I thought that's what you're meant to do,' Amanda is heard saying. She then joked, 'You should see what I do when I go to the chemist with hemorrhoids'. First to flash: ' No one has been brave enough to bring the nipple out Am I the first one? That's embarrassing. I thought that's what you're meant to do,' Amanda said Other women had gone into Lip Lab to create shades based on their nipples, but usually just described the colour, Amanda was told. Her resulting shade, which the radio host dubbed 'Lipple,' is a pale pink she described as paler than she would normally wear. Earlier this month, Dr. Travis Stork reignited the trend on an episode of The Doctors, revealing 'nature knows best' when it comes to what will complement your skin tone. It's science! The 55-year-old was inspired by an episode of American daytime talk show The Doctors, in which host and physician Dr. Travis Stork proclaimed that the perfect shade can be found by finding a lipstick that matches your nipples Perfect shade: On a recent episode of The Doctors, Dr. Stork chooses a caramel shade from a tray of lipsticks before peeking down into his sweater to compare Dr. Stork chooses a caramel shade from a tray of lipsticks before peeking down into his sweater to compare. Unsurprisingly, when he swipes the lipstick onto his mouth with the 'nipple' inspired shade, it's a highly accurate match. New shade: Amanda's resulting shade, which the radio host dubbed 'Lipple' is a pale pink she described as paler than she would normally wear Matching your lipstick to what Mother Nature gave you is not an entirely new concept. Back in 2015, now-defunct beauty blog xoVain tested the idea on a variety of different women. He's the Hollywood superstar beloved by fans for his down-to-earth ways. And Chris Hemsworth has given supporters another reason to fawn over him, this time assisting children on how to deal with the earliest stages of trauma and stress. The 33-year-old has loaned his voice to an app launched by the Australian Childhood Foundation to aid children impacted by abuse, neglect and family violence. Scroll down for video Inspiring: Chris Hemsworth has given supporters another reason to fawn over him, this time assisting children on how to deal with the earliest stages of trauma and stress The A-list actor voices the character of Morten the Monster for the Big Tree app alongside his mother Leonie and actress Nadine Garner, who also lend their talents. The father of three has been a patron of the Australian Childhood Foundation since 2014 and proceeds from the app go directly to the charity's community work. 'Research tells us all children need a strong sense of belonging and connection with carers and family to develop important regulation as they grow up,' the Foundation's CEO Dr Joe Tucci told The Daily Telegraph. Dedicated: The 33-year-old has loaned his voice to an app launched by the Australian Childhood Foundation to aid children impacted by abuse, neglect and family violence 'Research tells us all children need a strong sense of belonging and connection with carers and family to develop important regulation as they grow up,' says foundation CEO Dr Joe Tucci 'The central stories about trust, respect and love show children challenges can be overcome and seeking out people who care about you when you are unhappy, stressed or confused can help you feel calmer,' he continued. According to the publication, the app uses narratives and games to teach young children problem solving strategies and calming techniques. It also provides simple 'breathing relaxation' methods and 'playful activities' for both the children and their carers. Advocate: The father of three has been a patron of the Australian Childhood Foundation since 2014 and proceeds from the app go directly to the charity's community work Encouraging: According to the publication, the app uses narratives and games to teach young children problem solving strategies and calming techniques 'Child abuse is a really tough topic but if we want to do something about it, it's one we have to face,' the actor described in a video filmed for the Foundation. 'It robs children of their childhood and can leave them unable to learn, trust, or build good relationships,' he continued. 'The bottom line is the loss that abused children experience is too tough for them to handle alone and they need our help,' he finished. Erstwhile Real Housewife Of Miami Joanna Krupa bared a bit of cleavage in a recent photo-shoot for the Coobie Seamless Bra. She'd slid on a hot pink version of the undergarment, clashing it elegantly against grainy skintight sweats that showcased her chiseled legs. The Warsaw-born 38-year-old's impressively flat midriff was on display as she lifted a large pink exercise ball above her head, tilting a bit to one side. Scroll down for video A place in the sun: Erstwhile Real Housewife Of Miami Joanna Krupa bared a bit of cleavage in a recent photo-shoot for the Coobie Seamless Bra Another pose saw her leaning against the ball as it lay on the ground, stretching her legs outward and reaching upward over her head with her right arm. Sun streamed into the photographs through a set of wood-framed glass double doors that opened onto a balcony, and in the third photo, Joanna sat on the ball. The onetime Dancing With The Stars contender married Romain Zago in 2013, but E! News reported on May 8 that the pair of them separated this past December. Stretching: She'd slid on a hot pink version of the undergarment, clashing it elegantly against grainy skintight sweats that showcased her chiseled legs A report US Weekly ran this May 17 alleged she's got a burgeoning romance with businessman Nico Santucci, and the magazine's quoted a source who's gossiped: 'Joanna and Nico are feeling it out and like each other. Theyve been hanging out.' Quoth another source of Nico and Joanna: 'They've been inseparable and enjoying their time together, and they spent Mother's Day together.' In an interview Express.co.uk ran this past December, Joanna brushed off Internet sniping about her penchant for showing off her body on Instagram or in magazines. Emphasis: The Warsaw-born 38-year-old's impressively flat midriff was on display as she lifted a large pink exercise ball above her head, tilting a bit to one side Said she: 'I'm very proud of my body, I work really hard, I workout and try to stay in shape and eat healthy. I'm super proud of it and I believe if you have it you flaunt it! No matter what shape or size you are you should feel confident.' She's trumpeted that 'You should feel like a beautiful woman, no matter what and what I do on my Instagram is my business,' pointing out that 'It's my personal Instagram, if somebody feels like they shouldn't be looking at the photos that I'm posting then they shouldn't be following me.' Moreover, 'I'm a model, that's my background, if you look at the biggest top models in the world they've all posed super sexy and naked and in lingerie, so I just think it's part of the industry we are in.' The former Bachelor star announced she was expecting a baby with fiance Sam Wood earlier this month. And it appears Snezana Markoski treated her pregnancy cravings with a delicious luncheon on Wednesday in Melbourne. The brunette beauty took to Instagram in front of numerous plates of Japanese food and mocktails, writing she was 'busy eating' and had chose 'healthy foods.' 'Busy eating': Pregnant Snezana Markoski chows down on healthy Japanese feast with mocktails on Wednesday after revealing she conceived baby with fiance Sam Wood on a PLANE BIG NEWS! The engaged couple announced their pregnancy with a cute Instagram stop-motion video with Snezana showing off her bump with a bowl of pasta As Snezana looked down at her feast with her chopsticks ready, she captioned the picture: 'I'm sorry, you were saying....? I'm a little distracted @tokyotina_.' The mother was dressed in a black cardigan with her makeup flawlessly applied and her hair worn down around her face. Snezana has previously stated she had been 'busted raiding the @28bysamwood office fridge' full of Sam's healthy meals because of her pregnancy cravings. Healthy cravings! Snezana has previously stated she had been 'busted raiding the @28bysamwood office fridge' full of Sam's healthy meals because of her pregnancy cravings Brunette beauty! Snezana has also posted snaps from the bedroom as she deals with being tired and cold during her pregnancy, describing it as 'the struggle is real' The pregnant star has also been keeping healthy and active by heading to the gym with her personal trainer beau. Snezana sported tight black activewear as she uploaded a picture passionately kissing Sam in front of a gym mirror on Tuesday. She captioned the snap: 'Baby bump workouts with my @samjameswood @28bysamwood.' Keeping fit throughout her pregnancy, the reality star added the hashtags: '#workoutime #pregnancyfitness #fitnessmotivation.' Bumps and biceps! Snezana and her personal trainer beau Sam sported all-black activewear as they hit the gym for a joint workout on Tuesday Pointing the finger? Sam appeared to suggest Snezana was the instigator behind having sex on an airplane, to which the engaged couple hinted to Kyle And Jackie 'O' on Monday as the moment their unborn baby was conceived The engaged couple revealed their unborn baby was conceived during a flight while speaking to KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie 'O' about their pregnancy news on Monday. Co-host Kyle Sandilands asked about the twosome's 'night of conception' and if they knew exactly when it happened. 'It might have happened up in the air,' Sam answered. 'Where were you? What plane?' prodded co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson. 'I think she said far too much already,' Sam responded. 'Whose idea was that [to have sex on a plane]?' Kyle asked. 'You just know that look,' Sam described, to which Kyle agreed. Loved-up reality stars! The couple met on the third season of The Bachelor in 2015 and got engaged three months after the show's finale The couple met on the third season of The Bachelor in 2015 and got engaged three months after the show's finale. In July 2016, Snezana and her 11-year-old daughter Eve moved from Perth to Melbourne to live with personal trainer Sam. Over the past two years, Sam has taken on a stepfather role to Eve and the couple had previously talked about having children together. He's one of Hollywood's biggest heavyweights - but Dolph Lundgren might want to look away now. The 59-year-old's model daughter Ida, 21, has posed topless, wearing nothing but a pair of black bikini briefs for a sultry new shoot on the beach. With her tousled wet hair falling down past her shoulders and covering her modesty, her resemblance to the action man was plain to see. Scroll down for video Look away Dolph! Muscleman's model daughter Ida Lundgren went TOPLESS in nothing but bikini briefs for a very sultry snap on the beach Wearing minimal make-up, her natural beauty was clear to see as she posed in front of a cliff face. Dolph is also father to Greta, 15 - their mother is jewellery designer Anette Qviberg but she and Dolph split in 2011. Despite his reputation as a hard man, he previously said that he is in touch with his softer side. Family: Dolph is also father to Greta, 15 - their mother is jewellery designer Anette Qviberg - pictured in 2012 He told The Guardian, I cry a lot. It makes me feel good. I had a bit of a cry this morning, in fact. 'It was the feeling of loss and not being around my family that set me off.' He also said he feels he is more intellectual than some give him credit for. Sweet: Dolph is very close to his children and shared a picture of himself with Ida at the Gumball rally 'I am a beefcake in some ways: I like to work out and I'm fairly simple, but I'm also analytical, contemplative and sensitive people don't see that.' Dolph is very close to his children and shared a picture of himself with Ida at the Gumball rally. He captioned the snap with the words: 'With my daughter Ida during the Gumball 3000 Race. In a Ferrari FF!' SCOTUS Refuses to Deport Immigrant Convicted of Statutory Rape in California The US Supreme Court decision issued Tuesday confused countless people who read headlines much like the one above. Many people were in disbelief that a convicted rapist was saved from deportation by the Supreme Court. However, like most legal matters that reach the Supreme Court, the actual issue was much more nuanced than the click-baiting, rabble rousing portrayal in the popular media. It basically boiled down to the difference between the way California and the federal government sees statutory rape. To the surprise of many, California law is actually stricter than federal law. Details of the Case Juan Esquivel-Quintana, a legal immigrant from Mexico, was convicted of statutory rape in California in 2009. He pleaded out to the charges. The charges were based upon him being 20 years old when he had consensual sex with his 16 (almost 17) year old girlfriend. There was no coercion, force, intimidation, threats, undue influence, or other facts indicating any illicit motivation. After the conviction, deportation proceedings were brought against him, and both the immigration board and district courts ruled that he should be deported. Under federal law, when an immigrant is convicted of an aggravated felony, the conviction can be used as a basis for deportation, and permanent removal. Difficult Decisions After SCOTUS reviewed the matter, the justices voted unanimously to reverse the deportation. The court found that California's standard for charging a defendant with statutory rape was not in line with the federal standards, and as such, the California statutory rape conviction did not merit deportation under federal law. The Court explained that California considers it statutory rape when a minor under the age of 18 consents to sex with someone over three years older than them. However, as noted in the opinion, the federal definition for sexual abuse of a minor requires the minor to be under the age of 16, which was not the case here. The court noted that under special circumstances, the outcome could very well be different, but noted that those circumstances weren't a factor in this case. Notably, new justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate in the ruling as he was not confirmed when the oral arguments occurred, and as such, not qualified to rule on the matter. Even if he was allowed to vote, it would have been insignificant, given there were already eight votes in favor of reversing the deportation. Related Resources: She was forced to defend herself after a wild night out in Austria resulted in a game attempt at performing on a stripper's pole. But it was a comparatively subdued Jennifer Lawrence who paid a visit to a local dermatology clinic in Beverly Hills on Tuesday afternoon. The Academy Award winning actress, 26, looked relaxed in a white vest top and loose fitting summer trousers as she idled on the sidewalk, her eyes shielded behind a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses. Low key: Jennifer Lawrence looked relaxed in a white vest top and loose fitting summer trousers as she stepped out in Beverly Hills on Tuesday A collarless patterned jacket added to look, while heavily embellished sandals gave the overall look a distinctive flourish. Reflecting the low key nature of her ensemble, the actress opted to go make-up free for her latest appearance in Los Angeles. Jennifer recently spoke out after video footage emerged of the actress writhing on a pole dancing pole during a wild night out at Austrian nightspot the Beverly Hills Club. Keeping it simple: Reflecting the low key nature of her ensemble, the actress opted to go make-up free for her latest appearance in Los Angeles Responding on Facebook, the Hunger Games star revealed she was celebrating one of her best friend's birthdays during the night the video was taken and dropped her "paranoia guard" to have fun. 'Look, Nobody wants to be reminded that they tried to dance on a stripper pole by the internet,' she wrote. 'It was one of my best friend's birthdays and I dropped my paranoia guard for one second to have fun. I'm not going to apologize, I had a BLAST that night. Hitting back: Jennifer recently spoke out after video footage emerged of the actress writhing on a pole dancing pole during a wild night out at Austrian nightspot the Beverly Hills Club Reports suggested the Hunger Games star was dancing in just her bra but J-Law quickly shot the speculation down. 'Ps that's not a bra it's an Alexander Wang top and I'm not gonna lie, I think my dancings pretty good. Even with no core strength (sic).' she quipped. In the footage obtained by Radar Online, the actress is seen crawling around on all fours in a tight skirt and waistcoat. Caught up in the moment she appears to spank herself with some dollar/euro bills she finds on the stage. 'Jennifer seemed drunk, crawling on all fours around the stage and bending over for men to ogle' a fellow reveler told the website. Sporting everything from a penis bra top to hot-pink Barbie girl ensembles, Imogen Anthony didn't disappoint at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week earlier this month. And now the 26-year-old has announced she's headed to the United Kingdom in pursuits of furthering her fashion career. Imogen took to Instagram on Wednesday to announce she'll be 'having meetings and filming' in the UK very soon to her 133k followers. 'Any label owners or designers wish to collaborate?': Imogen Anthony reveals she's heading overseas for fashion meetings after being labeled 'a nobody who ambushed Australia's most prestigious fashion event' The outspoken glamour model and emerging fashion designer has stripped down in lingerie for Maxim Magazine TWICE since 2014 The outspoken glamour model and emerging fashion designer has stripped down in lingerie for Maxim Magazine TWICE since 2014. Imogen reached out to like-minded labels in her post: 'If any label owners or designers wish to collaborate on outfits and looks while I'm over there, please feel free to send me a DM or email directly.' Her fans were intrigued by the upload, asking 'What are you filming?', but Imogen is yet to respond. 'please feel free to send me a DM or email directly': Imogen used her social media account to reach out to potential collaborators in the UK and beyond 'What are you filming?': While intrigued fans questioned the model, Imogen has kept the overseas trip under wraps Meanwhile, her shock jock partner Kyle Sandilands rushed to the defence of girlfriend Imogen this month after journalist Andrew Hornery called her a 'nobody who ambushed Australia's most prestigious fashion event' in his column. On KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie O Show the 45-year-old radio host took aim at the Fairfax writer, branding him a 'bully'. 'What a hater this clown is,' Kyle began his rant. What a hater! Shock jock Kyle Sandilands took aim at the Fairfax gossip columnist Andrew Hornery over his unflattering article about his 26-year-old girlfriend Imogen Anthony's appearance at Fashion Week in Sydney this month In his story, gossip columnist Hornery wrote that Imogen's 'greatest claim to fame is that she dates radio's King of the Kids, middle-aged shock jock Kyle Sandilands'. Kyle hit back on air, calling Hornery a 'no one' who should not have an 'opinion on fashion'. 'I can't understand why journalists give any opinion on fashion. I don't even know why he's commenting,' he said. 'You're a no one.' 'A bully': Gossip columnist Hornery wrote that Imogen's 'greatest claim to fame is that she dates radio's King of the Kids, middle-aged shock jock Kyle Sandilands' Making headlines: Imogen made headlines throughout fashion week wearing outrageous outfits, including a phallic top with a mini skirt and thigh high boots 'You're older than me Andrew. Why are you talking about a 'nobody' so much in your article? I don't get it,' he added. Imogen made headlines throughout fashion week for her outrageous outfits which included a black sleek maxi dress matched with a bejeweled gimp-like mask, a bright pink mini dress and a phallic top with a mini skirt and thigh high boots. Andrew made light of a specific situation that saw the Maxim cover girl sashay her way to the front row of a TAFE students' work, but was asked to move to the back. He suggested in his article that she had a 'diva moment' and stormed out swearing after she was told to move to the fifth row. Moment: In his article, Hornery made light of a specific situation that saw the Maxim cover girl sashay her way to the front row of a TAFE students' work, but was asked to move to the back Upset: He suggested that she stormed out swearing after being told to move to the fifth row However, Kyle revealed that it was at that moment Imogen received a phone call with bad news that her grandfather had suffered a heart attack at her family farm, and sadly later passed away. Over the weekend, Imogen herself hit back at Hornery for his harsh article. She wrote: 'Maybe Kyle and I should just break up now after six years and be unhappy without each other so I have a fighting chance at 'being my own person' ey?' Sad news: But Kyle revealed that it was at that moment Imogen received a phone call with bad news that her grandfather had suffered a heart attack 'If only you truly knew': Imogen took to Instagram to hit back at Hornery and his 'scathing' article 'This post might mean absolutely jack s**t to you, but if only you truly knew,' Imogen concluded. Imogen took to Instagram again on Sunday night and revealed to her fans that she and her family had received heartbreaking news. 'This weekend had really hit me for six. Just remember to tell those closest to you that you always love them. Life is way too short, and you never know what could happen tomorrow xx' she said. Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe accidentally burned down a friend's cottage, after helping her with some DIY. The 58-year-old was treating crown moulding with linseed oil at the property in Vermont, when she decided to take a break. However, she had left a rag soaked in the highly-flammable oil inside the cottage, which later spontaneously combusted. Oops: Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe accidentally burned down a friend's cottage in Vermont, after helping her with some DIY According to TMZ, Debbie - who was luckily in the main house at the time - did not realise the fire had broken out, as she could not hear anything due to the wind. Her friend was reportedly just 'grateful' that she was not hurt in the accident at the cottage, which dated back to 1937. Linseed oil, which is used to create a glossy finish on wood, easily oxidises, letting off heat during the process - which can lead to spontaneous combustion. Unhurt: Debbie, the mother of Paris Jackson, was helping the owner treat crown moulding with linseed oil when the accident happened Debbie, who is mother to Prince and Paris Jackson, has had a difficult time of late, recently undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer. The former nurse described daughter Paris, 19, as being her 'rock' during the treatment. Debbie, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer, told ET: 'She's my rock, she's amazing. She's been with me the whole time. Unaware: Debbie - who was luckily in the main house at the time - reportedly did not realise the fire had broken out 'She was there. First phone call, [it] took her 30 seconds [to reach out] when she found out.' Paris shared a picture of Debbie - who was married to the King of Pop from 1996 to 1999 - on Instagram after she completed her chemotherapy treatment in January. Praising her mother, who is pictured holding a 'Chemo Done' sign, she captioned the snap with the words: 'My badass mom, kickin butt n takin names. ain't she f***in fabulous????' Difficult time: The former nurse has had a difficult time of late, recently undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer She recently took a luxury sojourn to Turks and Caicos. And mother-of-two Lara Worthington (Bingle) was spotted cutting a radiant figure as she returned to Sydney airport on Wednesday. The 29-year-old showed off her glowing complexion and freshly styled signature Bingle bob as she sauntered through airport lounge. That holiday glow! mother-of-two Lara Worthington (Bingle) was spotted cutting a radiant figure as she returned to Sydney airport on Wednesday Dressed in an all-black ensemble, the wife of Sam Worthington cut an elegant figure. Accessoring with oversized sunglasses and a black handbag, Lara clutched her laptop as she made her way to the car. Wearing very little makeup, Lara's complexion sported a fresh holiday glow as she appeared relaxed from her luxury vacation. Radiant: The 29-year-old showed off her glowing complexion and freshly styled signature Bingle bob as she sauntered through airport lounge Lara appeared happy as she broke into a large grin. As she made her way outside and an air hostess followed her with a trolley to help her with her baggage. Clearly grateful, Lara gave the woman a huge hug as she escorted her to the vehicle and said her farewells. Elegant: Dressed in an all-black ensemble, the wife of Sam Worthington cut an elegant figure Taking to her Instagram story to document her trip last Sunday, Lara flaunted her amazing physique in new black Mattheau two-piece. Makeup free, the blonde was simply glowing and working up quite the golden tan. Strolling along the shore, Lara dipped her toes in the water before going for a swim in the clear ocean. Lara has been having a ball during her trip on the luxurious island, with snaps of her relaxing in the sun also appearing on her Instagram account. Makeup free: Wearing very little makeup, Lara's complexion sported a fresh holiday glow as she appeared relaxed from her luxury vacation Stylish: Lara's style is timeless The day before, the model was pictured covered in sand - and her first son Rocket, two, was seemingly the culprit. In the image, Lara's her famous figure is hidden underneath the sand while her head peeks out. Happy: Lara appeared to be in good spirits as she smiled for the camera Woman in black: Lara looked picture perfect Meanwhile, a cheeky little hand (presumably Rocket's) can be seen digging with a bright yellow shovel. The images come just days after Lara, who wed Avatar star Sam Worthington in 2014, appeared to have reverted to her maiden name, despite still using her husband's last name in her Instagram handle. Freshly cut? Lara appeared to sport a freshly cut Bingle bob Working woman! Accessoring with oversized sunglasses and a black handbag, Lara clutched her laptop as she made her way to the car During a family outing to explore Pandora - The World of Avatar in Florida, the media personality proudly flashed a pass which had her name written as 'Lara Bingle'. With her actor husband and Rocket in tow, Lara explored the new land in the Disney theme park. The area is based on the James Cameron film, released in 2009, in which her husband starred. A little help: As she made her way outside and an air hostess followed her with a trolley to help her with her baggage Chauffeur is here! Lara makes her way to the car Big hugs! As she made her way outside, Lara hugged the hostess that helped her with her bags It seems the family have been spending some quality time together recently. Earlier this month, Lara and Sam were spotted enjoying a lavish getaway in the South of France. The Cronulla native has also opened up in the past about how she's dealing with motherhood. 'It's amazing,' she previously told Fairfax. 'Two children under the age of two definitely keeps us busy, but it's the most rewarding thing ever.' Abs-olutely incredible! Mother-of-two Lara Bingle showed off her trim and toned stomach in a bikini during her latest holiday in the Turks and Caicos on Sunday Buried alive! Lara (pictured) posted an adorable Instagram Story over the weekend of herself covered in sand - with her two-year-old son Rocket seemingly the culprit She has been at the centre of the drama in Essex ever since she joined the TOWIE cast earlier this year. But Amber Turner commanded attention for all the right reasons on Friday, as she showed off her sensational figure in Marbella, Spain. The reality star, 23, displayed her enviably toned stomach and tiny waist in a glittering peach bikini as she hit the sun-soaked beach with a pal. Scroll down for video Bikini babe: Amber Turner commanded attention for all the right reasons on Friday, as she showed off her sensational figure in Marbella, Spain The blonde beauty confidently flaunted her svelte physique for all to see as she spent another day tanning in the skimpy two-piece. Plunging into a V neckline, the saucy top, adorned with shimmering silver embellishments on the straps, gave a glimpse of her ample cleavage as she paraded along the sand. Paired with nothing but matching peach bottoms, which tied into girly bows at the side, the TV star then left her toned stomach and tiny waist on show as she caught some rays in the holiday hot spot. Say cheese! The saucy plunging top, adorned with shimmering embellishments on the straps, gave a glimpse of her cleavage as she snapped a selfie with a pal on the sand Falling into a low-rise fit, the briefs only served to lengthen her already long and lean legs as she crouched on the sand to snap a few selfies with her bikini-clad friend. Never without a hint of her trademark Essex glamour however, Amber was sure to accessorise with oversized mirrored shades and a shining gold bangle during her relaxing day by the coast. Her trip comes after her ex Jamie Reed admitted he found it hard being around her following their dramatic split - and even wanted her to move to Australia. Envy-inducing: Her relaxing trip comes after her ex Jamie Reed admitted he found it hard being around her following their dramatic split - and even wanted her to move to Australia After leaving TOWIE back in 2012, Jamie made a return to the show this year with Amber, who had been his girlfriend for four years at the time. However making a comeback as dramatic as his departure, Amber kicked off the series by cheating on him with show favourite Dan Edgar - bringing their relationship to an abrupt end. While the pair were at loggerheads for the duration of the series, the 34-year-old now admits that the tensions between them had fizzled out. Over: Amber and Jamie (R) joined TOWIE earlier this year, where their dramatic split played out for viewers - following the blonde's tryst with show regular Dan Edgar 'Its all kind of settling down now,' he told Simon Gross, speaking on The Showbiz Show. 'With my ex girlfriend and what she did - the Twitter response has been so nice; the people on the streets have been so nice. 'I dont want to say that it has wasted 4 years... I just hope that she is happy.' However, the reality star wasn't shy about expressing his feelings for Amber now that the dust has settled - namely that he would like to see her flee the country. 'I would like Amber to spend a couple of years in Australia,' he told Simon in the one-to-one. 'In the nicest possible way! So in a couple of years time we could meet and say what happened.' They play love interests in the reboot of DC Comics' Wonder Woman. And lead stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine cheekily spoke about their on-screen chemistry during an interview with The Project on Wednesday. Giggling and locking eyes with one another, they insisted it was all show, adding: 'I guess we're good actors.' 'I guess we're good actors': Wonder Woman stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine discuss their on-screen chemistry and THAT nude scene during interview with The Project on Wednesday Hunky star! Chris appeared 'nude' in one scene during the superhero film Gal married Israeli real estate developer Yaron Varsano in 2008 and shares two daughters with her husband. The actress joked with Chris, saying: 'I guess we're good actors because you know, this thing is not really working!' Quickly making sure the interviewer picked up on her sarcasm, she added: 'No, it was great. It was very... It was a lot of fun working together.' 'It was a lot of fun working together': The stars appeared comfortable with each other in the interview, laughing and smiling as they discussed the film 'Red Speedos!' While Chris discussed his 'nude' scene wearing 'weird'brief-like 'things', his co-star laughed as she revealed he had to wear red Speedos during the 'nude' cave scene The journalist pressed further on their intimate scenes, including one where Chris appeared 'nude'. 'Yeah, I wasn't clothed in one scene too much. I had the old briefs, the weird things that you have to wear,' the actor said. Gal laughed as she interrupted to dob in Chris for wearing 'red Speedos.' 'I'm so proud': Gal, the star of the first female superhero movie in 17 years, said she was proud she could be a part of telling Wonder Woman's origin story Chris let out a chuckle as he looked at her and said: 'Thank you for reminding me!' Gal, the star of the first female superhero movie in 17 years, said she was proud she could be a part of telling Wonder Woman's origin story. 'I'm so proud that after 75 years, that this character has been around, finally we get to tell her story,' she said. Wonder Woman is released in Australian cinemas from June 1 She's the fashion-forward WAG, known for her statuesque frame and glamorous lifestyle. And despite being pregnant with her third child, Clementine McVeigh is still on top of her fashion A game. The brunette beauty took to the streets of Sydney on Wednesday to showcase her burgeoning baby bump while sporting a chic Camilla winter coat in a busty snap shared to Instagram. Yummy mummy! Clementine McVeigh took to the streets of Sydney on Wednesday to showcase her burgeoning baby bump while sporting a chic Camilla winter coat in a busty snap shared to Instagram The pregnant model, who is the wife of Sydney Swans player Jarrad McVeigh, stepped out in a black bodycon dress which showed off her pregnancy curves. She paired the look with black studded boots and a bright green designer handbag while dark shades added an element of mystery to the overall look. Clementine recently announced that she is expecting her third child. Baring her bump: The pregnant model is the wife of Sydney Swans player Jarrad McVeigh 'ROUND #3 LUELLA + LOLITA + #anothergirl #girlnumberthree #blessed #virgo #dreamsdocometrue,' she wrote alongside a sweet snap of her husband kissing her growing baby bump and her daughter Lolita-Luella kissing her on the lips. Clementine and Jarrad suffered a tragic loss in 2011 when their first child, a daughter named Luella, died from serious heart complications just four weeks after she was born. 'We walked her to the surgery area and before she went in, she opened her eyes to us, just to say,"'I'll be all right',' McVeigh said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Round Three! Clementine recently announced that she is expecting her third child 'There isn't a day goes by when I don't think about her.' During a game against Geelong, two months after Luella's death, the entire Sydney Swans team wore black armbands 'as a mark of respect for their absent co-captain Jarrad McVeigh and his wife Clementine'. Clementine fell pregnant again two months after Luella's death, and the couple's second daughter, Lolita-Luella McVeigh, was born on 8 July 2012. Tragic: Clementine and Jarrad suffered a tragic loss in 2011 when their first child, a daughter named Luella, died from serious heart complications just four weeks after she was born. The couple are pictured here in 2015 Happiness: Clementine fell pregnant again two months after Luella's death, and the couple's second daughter, Lolita-Luella McVeigh, was born on 8 July 2012 In an interview with The Grace Tales last year, Clementine gushed: 'Motherhood has taught me that there is nothing more important in life than family, friends, and happiness.' Starting out as a model aged just 16 in her native New Zealand, Clementine has gone on to forge a successful career, featuring in a string of campaigns. Meanwhile, her husband Jarrad has played for the Swans for 13 years in 287 games. Advertisement Chanel muse Lily-Rose Depp took centre stage as the iconic French brand launched their 2017 Metiers D'art Collection Paris Cosmopolite runway show in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon. Dominating the runway at the Japanese capital's Tsunamachi Mitsui Club, Lily-Rose, 18, further cemented her status as one of the fashion world's most promising young models while parading the latest range from the label's celebrated designer, Karl Lagerfeld. Catching the eye in a gold sequinned co-ord, the teenage daughter of Hollywood veteran Johnny Depp and French star Vanessa Paradis was joined by Sistine Stallone and Willow Smith at the intimate show. Scroll down for video Hollywood rich kids: Chanel muses Lily-Rose Depp (L) and Sistine Stallone (C) and Willow Smith (R) took centre stage as the iconic French brand launched their 2017 Metiers D'art Collection Paris Cosmopolite runway show in Tokyo on Wednesday Revealing her toned belly beneath a cropped and delicately cinched upper half, the outfit ensured she commanded attention at an event dedicated to the very best of haute couture. Deftly applied foundation and subtle blue eye-shadow further accentuated her delicately proportioned features, while a distinct lack of accessories guaranteed her striking ensemble was not overshadowed. Effortlessly switching things up, the model also debuted a form-fitting black evening dress embellished with a distinctive ruffled hem-line. Here she comes: Dominating the runway at the Japanese capital's Tsunamachi Mitsui Club, Lily-Rose, 18, further cemented her status as one of the fashion world's most promising young models Centre stage: The teenage daughter of Hollywood veteran Johnny Depp and French star Vanessa Paradis looked typically stunning n a variety of outfits, amongst them a gold sequinned co-ord and a an elegant, form-fitting evening gown Turning heads: Ellie Bamber walked the runway in a plunging, floral embellished dress that accentuated her voluptuous figure Lily, who serves as the face of Chanel fragrance No.5 L'Eau, celebrated the launch with an equally stylish photo-shoot earlier that day. Posing backstage in a vibrant orange sweater and skinny black jeans, the model was an engaging sight as she posed for a series of glossy images. Lily was joined by Willow Smith, daughter of Hollywood actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett. The singer and actress showed off her quirky style, wearing her delicate dreadlocks in bunches and injecting a splash of colour with fuchsia pink lipgloss. Rocking a sheer black chiffon blouse, the 16-year-old worked biker chic in a statement leather jacket and flared satin trousers. Meanwhile Sistine Stallone rocked a grey tweed peacoat with a frill-embellished border and bright orange and black ankle boots. She had good company in the form of actress Ellie - a favourite with designer Lagerfeld and a familiar front row presence during Chanel's various Fashion Week presentations. Whip my hair back and forth: Willow Smith, daughter of Hollywood actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, showing off her quirky style, wearing her delicate dreadlocks in bunches and injecting a splash of colour with fuchsia pink lipgloss Standing out: Sistine Stallone rocked a grey tweed peacoat with a frill-embellished border and bright orange and black ankle boots All eyes on me: Lily-Rose, who serves as the face of Chanel fragrance No.5 L'Eau, celebrated the launch with an equally stylish photo-shoot earlier that day Looking good: Posing backstage in a vibrant orange sweater and skinny black jeans, the model was an engaging sight as she posed for a series of glossy images Pretty in pink: Meanwhile actress Ellie caught the eye in a baby pink top and matching skirt with lace underlay, casually teamed with retro Nike trainers Eyes down: Lily-Rose struck a series of coquettish poses as she prepared for Wednesday's show Popular: Lily-Rose has been making waves in the fashion world thanks to her ambassadorial work with Chanel The 20-year old actress caught the eye in a baby pink top and matching skirt with lace underlay, casually teamed with retro Nike trainers. Adding an extra splash of colour to her ensemble, Ellie opted for liberally applied red lipstick, while glittering accessories - amongst them a distinctive Chanel hanbdbag - rounded things off. She later joined Lily on the catwalk, where she accentuated her figure in a plunging, floral embellished dress. Stylish ankle boots completed the look, while a subtle hint of red lipstick proved to be the perfect contrast to her porcelain skin tone. Say Chanel: She was at her sultry best while posing for pictures backstage at the event These boots are made for walking! Sistine put on a leggy display as she posed for pictures In an unusual move on Wednesday, Jennifer Garner took to Facebook to clear up a press matter. The 45-year-old beauty said she did not participate in a People magazine cover story - which came out earlier that morning - specifying she did not pose for the magazine nor did she give the publication quotes. The star added she has 'three wonderful kids and my family is complete.' The story focused on her split from Ben Affleck and how she has had difficulty moving on since losing the great love of her life. That same morning the Miracles From Heaven actress was seen laughing with her two daughters Seraphina, 11, and Violet, eight, in Los Angeles. Happy lady: Jennifer Garner looked to be having fun with her daughters Violet, left, and Seraphina, right, on Wednesday morning in LA; the same day she took to Facebook to shoot down a People cover story Hee hee: The 45-year-old actress held onto two books, a cup of coffee and some cash as she laughed with her girl Unusual: Garner's note began: 'It has been brought to my attention that there is a People magazine cover and article out today that appear to be coming from me' 'I did not pose for this cover': Garner took to social media to set the record straight over the latest issue of People magazine Garner's note read: 'It has been brought to my attention that there is a People magazine cover and article out today that appear to be coming from me. 'It isn't unusual for me to receive calls from loved ones thinking I forgot to tell them I am pregnant--with twins!--(Geez Louise), but those are so ridiculous they're easy to ignore.' The 13 Going On 30 actress continued: 'This isn't a tragedy by any measure, but it does affect me and my family and so, before my mom's garden club lights up her phone, I wanted to set the record straight: I did not pose for this cover. I did not participate in or authorize this article.' The star ended with: 'While we are here, for what it's worth: I have three wonderful kids and my family is complete. Have a beautiful day, Love, Jen.' Not happy: The beauty may have shot down the People story because it depicted her as not being able to let go of the A lister who had romanced their nanny in 2015 In the cover story, sources claimed the beauty is still not ready to date almost two years after she separated from Affleck. 'She still says Ben was the love of her life,' a friend told the publication. 'Shes certainly not jumping up and down and screaming, "Im single!" and planning dates.' But Ben has been dating already, People alleged. The women he has been squiring have not been named. 'He is not seeing anyone seriously,' added an insider. Good friends: The two, seen here in April in LA<,went to couples therapy 'for years' It was stressed that Garner is a catch as she has a thriving career (her new film Wakefield co-stars Bryan Cranston). But one day she will think of romance again, it was alleged. 'She will eventually [date], but it will be a while before she does,' added a source. 'This has really been the most difficult decision for her. But its time to focus on the future.' Children first: Together they have three kids: Violet, 11, Seraphina, eight, and Samuel, five. Here she is seen on May 25 with her son and her mother Patricia But marriage could happen once again, said a friend, because she loves the idea of a grounded family. 'She seems happy to be single and able to move forward. She has a very positive attitude about the future,' it was added. The cover story also claimed that Ben and Jen tried hard to work it out, even going through couples therapy for years. Together they have three kids: Violet, Seraphina and Samuel, five. No longer housemates: Garner split from Affleck nearly two years ago (seen here in 2014). But lately their split has become more serious. She filed for divorce in April and on May 1 the Argo director finally moved out of their Pacific Palisades, California mansion The stars have joint custody. 'They want to be sure the kids are comfortable, says a source close to both. 'Its all in step with what theyve always said was the most important thing: their children.' Jennifer has been promoting her film Wakefield; she also has the moviesThe Tribes of Palos Verdes and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda to chat up. Her entire Instagram feed is littered with scantily-clad images. And Ashley James was up to her old tricks once more on Wednesday as she shared a sexy snap while posing alongside her pal and housemate Charlotte De Carle as they lived it up on a trip to Marbella. The 30-year-old took to Instagram to share yet another titillating snap, which saw her strip down to a sexy pink one-piece adorned with the words 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' while Charlotte's read 'Brunettes Do It Better'. Scroll down for video Pretty in pink: Ashley James was up to her old tricks once more on Wednesday as she shared a sexy snap with her pal and housemate Charlotte De Carle as they lived it up on a recent trip to Marbella Ashley looked simply sensational in the pink number which flaunted her eye-popping curves while Charlotte went for a cheeky red number. While they looked incredible from the front, the blonde beauty revealed the back of the suit was cut into a thong style - so she admitted they were feeling coy with regard to those standing behind them. The former Made In Chelsea star penned: 'Charlotte is a liar, we all know blondes have more fun... but for real how good are these swimsuits? Apart from they are thongs, so sorry to the people who had the witness us from behind!' In another sexy snap, Ashley was seen to be posing sultrily against the wall of her villa, the blonde's enviably slender figure was clear for all to see as she posed in nothing but the saucy bra top. Bikini babe: In another sexy snap, Ashley was seen to be posing sultrily against the wall of her villa, the blonde's enviably slender figure was clear for all to see as she posed in nothing but the saucy bra top Feeling fruity: Not stopping there, the bombshell then used the opportunity of her lost luggage to stock up on clothes - posing in a brand new bikini printed with pineapples all over (above) Plunging into a deep V at her chest to give an ample glimpse of her assets, the look was then made even sexier by its mesh panels - before it cut off beneath her bust to leave her petite waist on show. Not stopping there, the bombshell then used the opportunity of her lost luggage to stock up on clothes - posing in a brand new bikini printed with pineapples all over. Soaking up the sunshine in the skimpy triangle top and tie-side bottoms, Ashley's impressively toned stomach took centre stage as she posed seductively for fans. Having lost her suitcase en route, she was embracing the lighter side of her suitcase situation, she revealed in the caption: 'The one good thing about not having a suitcase is that I got to go shopping and found this cute pineapple bikini.' Oops: Taking to the social media site to reveal her luggage woes, the stunning blonde had already posted a rather cheeky snap of her in the bath naked with her friend Ashley had first revealed her luggage woes on Saturday, when she took to the social media site to post a rather cheeky snap of her in the bath naked with her friend, soon after touching down in the Spanish hotspot. She captioned the raunchy photo: 'When your suitcases don't arrive and you have no clothes. Cheers Gatwick!' She jokingly added: 'Very excited to DJ tomorrow, let's hope my luggage turns up before then!' The siren has been enjoying a lengthy holiday over the last few weeks - having shared snaps from Dorgali, Italy earlier this week. Stunning: The siren has been enjoying a lengthy holiday over the last few weeks - having shared snaps from Dorgali, Italy earlier this week (above) In a scintillating Instagram holiday snap, Ashley spoke to fans about feeling confident in her own skin - after openly discussing her battle with body dysmorphia in the past. The stunning blonde left little to the imagination in a black lace bodysuit with oblique detailing. Holidaying in the picturesque Dorgali commune in Sardinia, Ashley posed seductively with her ample assets on display. The radio host completed her look with subtle gold jewellery and shades of dark eye shadow. Red hot: Ashley James gave Pamela Anderson her run for her money in a modern take on that red one-piece The former Made In Chelsea beauty, 30, has given the Baywatch slow-motion run her best go in a new video Continuing to promote body confidence she wrote: '"Even the models we see in magazines wish they could look like their own images." Cheri K. Erdman Trust me. Wearing @bluebellaofficial #noretouchig [sic].' The seductive pics come a day after Ashley channeled Pamela Anderson in Baywatch with her very own red bikini snap. The buxom blonde came close to popping out of the extremely plunging swimsuit as she walked sexily out of the sea. Sharing the seductive footage online, she told fans: 'BAE WATCH! Found a red swimsuit so naturally I had to be really basic and give my best Pamela Anderson impression, especially as we're DJ'ing in Marbella this weekend at a beach party she's attending!' The buxom blonde came close to popping out of the extremely plunging swimsuit as she walked sexily out of the sea Sharing the seductive footage online, she told fans: 'BAE WATCH! Found a red swimsuit so naturally I had to be really basic and give my best Pamela Anderson impression Back home in London last week, the star was much more covered up than usual as she parted ways with her normal bikini-clad looks. She looked super funky for her outing in the figure-hugging black top which was clad in the logo 'Goal Digger' in large green lettering. The DJ teamed the look with a pair of high-waisted slim-leg blue denims, which were slightly rolled up underneath. Strolling along in a pair of comfortable black trainers, Ashley looked very much trendy as she also sported a pair of rose gold headphones around her neck. Statement style: Back home in London last week, the star was much more covered up than usual as she parted ways with her normal bikini-clad looks Fashionista: The DJ teamed the look with a pair of high-waisted slim-leg blue denims, which were slightly rolled up underneath Taking into consideration the low-key aspect to the day, Ashley wore her blonde locks in a messy bun - complementing her bronzed make-up look. Ashley regularly puts out unretouched images of her slim bikini body out on her social media as part of a fight against unrealistic body image. But even she was shocked at her immediate reaction to the now-famous unairbrushed Kim Kardashian bikini photos which were taken during her recent trip to Mexico. Posting a lengthy caption with a sexy shot of her in a revealing red swimming costume, Ashley admitted that she had to scold herself over judging Kim's 'cellulite'. Style star: Strolling along in a pair of comfortable black trainers, Ashley looked very much trendy as she also sported a pair of rose gold headphones around her neck Wistfully penning a memory of her time on holiday in Holbox Island, Ashley turned her commentary to the subject of Kim's derriere. 'To be honest, when I first saw the photos I thought two things. Firstly, I loved seeing cellulite because I thought it was great that she could of edited images and she didn't,' the model began. 'Secondly, my immediate subconscious reaction was to be judgmental of her body, and I had to stop myself because I realise - why do we do this or care about how another woman's body looks?' Ashley's post then became philosophical in nature, and she proffered some advice for her fans that she follows herself. Having her say: Ashley regularly puts out unretouched images of her slim bikini body out on her social media as part of a fight against unrealistic body image 'Does judging Kim Kardashian make me feel better about myself? I think judgement is natural, but I always to train myself not to think it and I never say it out loud to others.' Ashley is herself a victim of body shaming, claiming last month that a taxi driver 'slut-shamed' her for wearing a plunging black crop top. Penning another commentary on an Instagram post about the incident, she revealed that she 'broke down in tears' and 'was made to feel like a cheap whore'. Luckily, she decided to ignore the taxi driver, and bravely went on with her evening in the revealing top after deciding she shouldn't feel ashamed about her 'natural, God-given body'. Fake Person, Real Injury? Man Claims He Was Hurt Fleeing Mannequin The Planet Hollywood casino-hotel in Las Vegas is known for its memorabilia. Autographed wardrobe items, set pieces, and other film collectibles line the casino and adorn hotel room walls. But apparently one of those relics got a little too real for one guest. Kent Jacobs Boutwell thought a life-sized mannequin wearing a "Miller Lite" racing suit was a life-threatening intruder and sent him racing from his room, suffering injuries to his "body, limbs, organs and nervous system," that might be "permanent and disabling." The Reasonable Man Boutwell is suing Planet Hollywood, claiming that "the presence of a life-sized human figure in a darkened room was a dangerous and/or hazardous condition," and that the hotel "failed to place signs, caution, warn, or otherwise make safe, the Dangerous Condition existing on or about the Premises." Not only is Boutwell suing for negligence, he also claims Planet Hollywood is liable for assault, because it "intentionally placed a mannequin dressed in human clothing in the guest room assigned to plaintiff" and "created the situation that caused plaintiff to feel apprehension of harmful of offensive contact." Though the mannequin was encased in a glass cabinet, Boutwell claims he "reasonably believed that the human figure placed in the guest room by defendant would cause him bodily injury and harm." Malicious Mannequin While the lawsuit doesn't list his injuries specifically, Boutwell is asking for at least $10,000 in general and special damages, based on medical treatment, loss of earning capacity, lost wages, and loss of enjoyment of life. The suit also requests over $10,000 in punitive damages against Planet Hollywood, claiming the hotel's conduct was "willful, intentional, oppressive, malicious, and done in a wanton and reckless disregard" for his rights. Boutwell is also seeking attorneys' fees. "I've got some experience handling hotel casino cases," Boutwell's lawyer, Richard Johnson, told the AP. "This was certainly a new set of facts." Related Resources: She's left the status of her relationship with Mark Pisani up in the air since they wrapped up season two of Seven Year Switch. And things were still unclear this week when Kaitlyn Isham took to Instagram to share a bizarre photo of herself dressed up as a mermaid with Mark, accompanied by a long caption about their troubled romance. 'Will @mark_piza and I live happily ever after? No because happily ever after is unrealistic,' she wrote. 'Will Mark and I live happily ever after? No!' Seven Year Switch's Kaitlyn Isham dressed up as a mermaid to address her relationship status in a bizarre Instagram post 'This experiment was definitely a compromise for Mark. He is a pretty private person and putting himself out there was way out of his comfort zone,' she explained. The fame-hungry blonde added: 'He did this for me which is a huge step.' She finished the lengthy post by writing: 'No matter what our outcome is I will always love and respect Mark. 'This experiment was definitely a compromise for Mark. He is a pretty private person and putting himself out there was way out of his comfort zone,' she explained 'He pushed me to work hard and make goals for myself and I pushed him to let loose a little.' In a separate post, the blonde bombshell thanked her fans for their support through the airing of Seven Year Switch. Posting to her Instagram account on Wednesday, the 28-year-old paid tribute to viewers of the Channel Seven program in a lengthy caption. 'That's all!' Kaitlyn took to Instagram on Wednesday to thank fans, while remaining 'nervous but hopeful' about her future with Mark 'And that's a wrap. thank you Australia for warming up to me,' the reality star wrote alongside an image of herself smiling under the words 'That's all!'. 'Your support has kept a big smile on my face through this emotional but eye opening experience. I'm grateful for the life long friends I've made,' she added. However, the the university student also hinted she may be slightly worried about her future with Mark after the show, but is keeping positive. 'We had a lot of fun and learnt so much about our selfs. [sic] I'm nervous but hopeful about my journey ahead,' she wrote. Troubled relationship: Mark (pictured left) and Kaitlyn (pictured right) took part in Seven Year Switch in a bid to try to repair their relationship Controversial character: In one episode, the 28-year-old blonde told Mark that her vibrating sex toy would keep her faithful during the experiment It comes after sexually explicit footage of Kaitlyn began circulating in April, taken from her past life as a webcam model. Channel Seven released a statement at the time, claiming the footage was filmed during a 'low point' of Kaitlyn's life after she suffered the loss of her 19-year-old brother, Eric Lind Isham, in 2010. As she rebuilt her life and came to terms with the heartbreaking loss of a treasured family member, Kaitlyn took control of mistakes she had made and tried to remove the offending vision that was no longer a truthful representation of her or her life,' the statement read. Past life: Explicit footage of Kaitlyn's former experience as a webcam model surfaced in April with Channel Seven releasing a statement saying it was a 'low point' in her life The American native, who signed up to Seven Year Switch to repair her relationship with IT professional Mark, was a controversial character on the show. In one episode, Kaitlyn told Mark her vibrating Hitachi sex toy would keep her faithful during the experiment. She also courted controversy in another episode when she gave her experimental partner Michael an intimate massage, tweaked his nipples and flashed him in the swimming pool. She famously lost a whopping 12 stone after having a gastric band. And Tina Malone has managed to keep the weight off her physique as illustrated when she stripped down to a scanty bikini during her trip to Cyprus to meet Consultant Gynaecologist Dr. R. Gazvania at an IVF clinic. The 54-year-old Shameless star slipped down to a barely-there bikini to best show off her slender frame, as she enjoyed the trip with her husband Paul Chase and their three-year-old daughter Flame. Scroll down for video Out and a pout: Tina Malone has managed to keep the weight off her physique as illustrated when she stripped down to a scanty bikini during her trip to Cyprus to meet Consultant Gynaecologist Dr. R. Gazvania at an IVF clinic Tina soared to fame playing Mo McGee in Channel 4 soap Brookside before making her name in 2005 starring in Shameless until its conclusion in 2013. While her acting career has quietened down, she has since made a career out of her evolving body shape and is now voicing her plans for baby number two - at 54. As she took some time off consulting about her child, she opted to put on a playful display poolside while stripping down to her funky yellow two-piece. The stylish number had an orange trim along with a funky pattern - with the style helping show off the entirety of her frame. Stretchy! The 54-year-old Shameless star slipped down to a barely-there bikini to best show off her slimmed down frame, as she enjoyed the trip with her husband Paul Chase and their three-year-old daughter Flame Stretch it out: The stylish number had an orange trim along with a funky pattern - with the style helping show off the entirety of her frame Legs eleven: Clearly feeling playful, Tina cheekily raised her legs in the air while prancing around playfully and also showing off her cleavage Legs eleven: Tina is revisiting, Dr. Gazvania - the man she credits for helping her fall pregnant with her three-year-old daughter Flame at 50 Cosying up: The blonde actress looked chic in her brightly coloured bikini Clearly feeling playful, Tina cheekily raised her legs in the air while prancing around playfully and also showing off her cleavage. She peeled on a pair of sunglasses for a superstar touch while pulling her hair into a black bandana to help show off her pretty features. Tina is revisiting, Dr. Gazvania - the man she credits for helping her fall pregnant with Flame at 50. Just a day before flashing her stomach at the doctor, who is expert in IVF and egg donation abroad, the star appeared to be having an intent conversation with him at the Merit International Hotel in Northern Cyprus. Out and about: Just a day before flashing her stomach at the doctor, who is expert in IVF and egg donation abroad, the star appeared to be having an intent conversation with him at the Merit International Hotel in Northern Cyprus Leggy: She pulled a pretty pose as she lay down while popping her leg in the air Sizzling: The doctor was later seen to accompany the family on an outing, with her toyboy husband Paul, 35, and Flame in tow Posing: Tina, who also achieved the seemingly impossible by losing a staggering 12 stone over six years, looked slimmer than ever in a pair of form-fitting patterned trousers Look at me: The sighting comes after Tina spoke of her desires for a third child last year, as the deadline for keeping her eight embryos frozen rapidly approaches their 10 year mark The doctor was later seen to accompany the family on an outing, with her toyboy husband Paul, 35, and Flame in tow. Tina, who also achieved the seemingly impossible by losing a staggering 12 stone over six years, looked slimmer than ever in a pair of form-fitting patterned trousers. The sighting comes after Tina spoke of her desires for a third child last year, as the deadline for keeping her eight embryos frozen rapidly approaches their 10 year mark. Cheeky! The stunning star launched her legs in the air Strutting her stuff poolside: Speaking of her dreams on Loose Woman last year, the actress said that Paul was reluctant to allow her to follow through with her plans - but could be swayed if she bought him an Aston Martin car Beaming: She said: 'Ive got to be honest, its a big debate People speak about the sleepless nights - sometimes I wake up and wait for her to wake up at 2 in the morning' Speaking of her dreams on Loose Woman last year, the actress said that Paul was reluctant to allow her to follow through with her plans - but could be swayed if she bought him an Aston Martin car. She said: 'Ive got to be honest, its a big debate People speak about the sleepless nights - sometimes I wake up and wait for her to wake up at 2 in the morning. 'The doctor told me I am fit and healthy enough to have another child. My husband says if I buy him an Aston Martin, I can have another one. I told him Id want triplets for that!' All smiles: 'The doctor told me I am fit and healthy enough to have another child. My husband says if I buy him an Aston Martin, I can have another one. I told him Id want triplets for that!' Cheeky! She tossed her hair in the air as she laughed away to herself A moment to herself: Enjoying some alone time she sunned herself happily It was announced on Tuesday that his former Bond girl Molly Peters sadly passed away, aged 75. And Sean Connery appeared somewhat sombre on Wednesday morning, as he headed out in New York City with his wife Micheline Roquebrune. The iconic actor, 86, cut a casual figure in a simple chinos and shirt combo as he embarked on his relaxing stroll in the Big Apple. Stepping out: Sean Connery appeared sombre on Wednesday, as he headed out in New York City with his wife Micheline Roquebrune, following the news ex co-star Molly Peters had died The first ever man to play James Bond in film proved he was still in good health despite his 86 years of age, as he strolled the city streets with his wife of more than forty years. Keeping casual for the outing, the Indiana Jones actor opted for loose-fitting camel strides and a matching bomber jacket as he headed for a hair cut, with an old-fashioned baker boy cap in hand. Joined by his Moroccan-French painter wife, who stood out in a bright yellow top and green leggings, the pair looked more than comfortable together after so many years together as they spent a day in the city. In good nick: The first ever man to play James Bond in film proved he was still in good health despite his 86 years of age, as he strolled the city streets with his brightly-clad wife (above) Back in the day: Sean and Moroccan-French painter Micheline have been married since 1975 Sean cut a more melancholy figure than usual however, following the news that his former co-star Molly Peters had sadly passed away. It was revealed on Tuesday that Molly had sadly passed away aged 75, with the cause of death as yet unknown. The British actress was more famous for starring as nurse Patricia Fearing opposite former 007 Sir Sean in 1965's Thunderball. RIP: Sean cut a more melancholy figure than usual however, following the news that his former co-star Molly Peters (above) had sadly passed away, aged 75 A statement on the official James Bond Twitter page confirming the sad news, read: 'We are sad to hear that Molly Peters has passed away at the age of 75. Our thoughts are with her family.' The blonde bombshell was the first ever Bond girl to strip off her clothes in one of the movies and even sparked controversy leading to the film almost being slapped with an 'X' rating for nudity. Several scenes from the movie had to be cut at the request of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) because they were deemed to risque. Making a statement: The blonde bombshell was the first ever Bond girl to strip off in one of the movies and sparked controversy when the film almost received an 'X' rating for nudity Molly's death comes a week after former James Bond Sir Roger Moore passed away in Switzerland, after losing a short battle with cancer. Sean had been the one to lead the tributes to the iconic British actor, who proceeded him as the secret service spy agent in 1973's Live and Let Die. He said: 'I was very sad to hear of Roger's passing. We had an unusually long relationship by Hollywood standards, that was filled with jokes and laughter. I will miss him.' The future for her EastEnders spin-off Kat & Alfie: Redwater looks to be in doubt, after ratings for the second episode flopped. But Jessie Wallace looked happy and relaxed nevertheless as she walked her dog in north London on Wednesday. The 45-year-old dressed down in her gym gear as she took a stroll in the sunshine with her German Shepherd puppy. Keeping it casual: Jessie Wallace dressed down in her gym gear as she walked her dog in north London on Wednesday Opting for a sporty look, Jessie teamed a black hoody with a pair of tight-fitting leggings as she enjoyed a break from her busy schedule. The soap star completed the off-duty look with a khaki tank top, adding a pair of purple trainers on her feet. Tying her raven tresses off her face, she kept a low-profile with a pair of large shades, while displaying her glowing complexion with a minimal make-up look. Relaxed: Opting for a sporty look, the 45-year-old teamed a black hoody with a pair of tight-fitting leggings as she enjoyed a break from her busy schedule Her appearance comes after it was reported that ratings for the second episode of Kat & Alfie: Redwater had dropped by more than two million. A source told The Sun: 'Everyone thought Redwater would be a huge hit given the massive, loyal fanbase EastEnders has. 'EastEnders draws in over six million viewers each episode so producers thought Redwater would follow suit and get at least three quarters of the audience. 'It got off to a brilliant start with five million so their hopes were up, but the ratings for episode two are bleak.' Spin-off: Her appearance comes after it was reported that ratings for the second episode of Kat & Alfie: Redwater had dropped by more than two million Jessie shot to huge fame playing Kat, a member of the popular Slater family, in 2000 and has appeared on the soap on and off ever since. With her romance with Alfie being a focal storyline for Kat throughout the soap, the duo have now reunited for spin-off Redwater. The series sees the couple head to Ireland to attempt to find a child Kat never knew she had - a far-fetched tale that has left viewers and critics divided. The twist in the pilot episode was that Kat's son's identity was revealed - which fans said they considered to be one of the draws of the show in the first place. The Australian actress is set to make her major film debut in the anticipated Hotel Mumbai, where boyfriend Dev Patel has the lead role. And Tilda Cobham-Hervey is hopeful she'll be announced as the winner of the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship this week in Los Angeles. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Tilda spoke highly of the late actor: 'He was just such a bold and inspiring performer... He had such integrity and authenticity.' Scroll down for video 'He was just such a bold and inspiring performer': Dev Patel's girlfriend Tilda Cobham-Hervey, 22, gushes over late actor Heath Ledger as she revealed hopes to score his prestigious acting scholarship to launch Hollywood career in an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday In his honour: The scholarship was established in 2008 in memory of the Australian actor, who died at just 28 years of age of accidental intoxication from prescription drug that year The 22-year-old is one of 10 nominees up for the scholarship worth more than $30,000, designed to give 'a huge boost' to an upcoming talent from Australia. The scholarship was established in 2008 in memory of the Australian actor, who died at just 28 years of age of accidental intoxication from prescription drug that year. The young star appears keen to use the potential win to launch an overseas career with her beau: 'As much as I am committed to the Australian industry, there are more opportunities in America and I am ready to think about living somewhere else and go for it a bit more and to be a part of a more global conversation.' While it's an honour to have been nominated, Tilda admitted to the publication that she has often felt undeserving of calling herself an 'actor' in the past. Up and coming: Tilda Cobham-Hervey's career appears to be on the rise, with the young star recently announced as one of the finalists for the Heath Ledger Scholarship 'I keep my private life private and I think it is important to focus on the work,' she said of keeping her private life and professional life separate. Tilda has also starred in Australian television series like The Kettering Incident and Barracuda and local films like Girl Asleep and 52 Tuesdays. The Adelaide-born actress was first seen in public with Dev and his mother Anita at the Weinstein Company's pre-Academy Awards bash at Montage Beverly Hills in March. On the rise: The 22-year-old is one of 10 nominees up for the prestigious award, created in honour of the late actor to give 'a huge boost' to an upcoming talent from Australia They were then seen holding hands as they strolled in Los Angeles the day after the Oscars. Tilda, who was dubbed the 'Aussie actress you need to know' by Marie Claire magazine last year, is one of a group of local actors up for the scholarship. Previous winners include Bella Heathcote, who went on to star in the big-budget Fifty Shades Darker. Accolade: Previous winners include Bella Heathcote, who went on to star in the big-budget Fifty Shades Darker Founding patrons of the scholarship include powerhouse exports Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts. Naomi selected this year's finalists, announced on Tuesday, alongside Gary Oldman, Ryan Murphy, Bruna Papandrea, Emile Sherman and a team of esteemed judges. The winner will be revealed at a star-studded event in Los Angeles this week, hosted by Australians in Film and the Ledger Family. She has been married to Keith Urban for nearly 11 years. But Nicole Kidman still hasn't gotten sick of hearing the country crooner's voice. The 49-year-old actress opened up about her communication preferences with the fellow Aussie, also 49, in the pages of her upcoming July cover for InStyle. Wow factor: Nivcole Kidman opened up about her communication preferences with Keith Urban as she showed off her legs in a racy pictorial She said that when people text her she often tells them to just ring her instead even when it comes to Keith despite how busy they are. Nicole explained: 'I like the voice. Keith and I dont ever text. We call. Thats just what weve always done. Were old-school.' In the accompanying pictorial for the feature, the Moulin Rouge! star put on quite a leggy display as she rocked a sheer black mini skirt. Leggy lady: The 49-year-old also showed off her lithe legs on one of the covers of InStyle's upcoming July issue She posed with her foot propped up on a side table as she also wore a matching blazer with no top on underneath. Nicole showed off her slim pins once again in one of the covers of the publication as she wore nothing but a black knit sweater. No doubt it is an exciting time for the A-lister as she will be turning 50 on June 20. As she has no set plans as of yet, she does plan on enjoying it with her loved ones including longtime friend and fellow Australian actress Naomi Watts. 'We're old school': She revealed that she likes to hear 49-year-old Keith's voice over the phone as they never text, as they are pictured at The Oscars back in February Nicole said: 'Keith and I might go on a hike with the girls. Or just go to the beach, swim, and be together. 'Naomi is trying to get me to have a party. Ill probably go to Australia and see her and my mom.' In another snap from the shoot Nicole could be seen rocking a long beige coat as she sat with her lithe legs once again on display. Nicole shares 24-year-old daughter Isabella and 22-year-old son Connor with ex-husband Tom Cruise in addition to daughters, Sunday, nine, and six-year-old Faith with Keith. Stunner: In another snap from the shoot Nicole could be seen rocking a long beige coat as she sat with her lithe legs once again on display She opened up to InStyle writer Laura Brown about her views on relationships as she said: 'I suppose the basis of who I am is maternal. Im the oldest child in my family, which probably has a lot to do with nurturing and taking care of people. 'So, yeah, a lot of my forces are maternal. I mean, theyre romantic too. Ive always chosen to have really deep, intense romantic relationships. I dont flit around, Laura. I dont dabble. 'Thats who I am, and my mother's always said it: "Youre just a child who attaches."' She also talked about her passion and tenacity for being an entertainer as she said: 'Art has given me so much. Its saved my life at times.' The InStyle featuring Nicole on the cover is set to hit newsstands on June 9. Sofia Richie looked forlorn as she exited a super yacht in the South Of France on Tuesday. With a black beanie pulled low and her sculpted figure covered by a white sweat outfit, the 18-year-old model looked quite different from when she was flashing her swimsuit body when partying with 'homie' Scott Disick days prior. This sighting comes just before she tweeted that she knows her father Lionel Richie has been checking up on her. 'My dad tracks my phone once a day,' she wrote. No smiles here: Sofia Richie looked forlorn as she exited a super yacht in the South Of France on Tuesday Hiding her sexy: With a beanie and sweat outfit, the 18-year-old l looked quite different from when she was flashing her swimsuit body when partying with 'homie' Scott Disick days prior So close: The beauty has been partying with self-titled Sex Addict Scott Disick The blonde added: 'Awkwardly enough I get a notification every time. I think it's funny so I don't tell him I know.' The Eighties soft rock hitmaker - know for All Night Long and Endless Love - most likely is aware that she is aware as she posted the note for all to see. And if he's tracking her, he most likely read the note. Sofia has said in the past that her dad, 67, is especially careful with her because her older half sibling Nicole Richie was such a party animal. Funny: This sighting comes just before she tweeted that she knows her father Lionel Richie has been checking up on her. 'My dad tracks my phone once a day,' she wrote Her pops: Lionel seen with James Corden in a spoof video last week for The Late Late Show Shy: The Complex cover girl also covered up her face as she talked on the phone Barefoot and happy: The teen did not have shoes on as she walked the deck of the mega yacht A lot of luxury already: The star looked at an incredible floral arrangement as she walked down the stairs; her dad is reportedly worth $150m 'My dad is more strict because of my sister. I feel like now he's on the preventative side,' she told Elle magazine in 2014. She added: 'It's not like I'm doing anything bad, but he went through all that with Nicole, so he's just strict to prevent it from happening again.' But he has also been a great mentor: 'I'm always in the studio with my dad. I've written a few songs. I'll start off writing rhymes, then freestyles, then I add in beats,' she told Teen Vogue. Her mother is fashion designer Diane Alexander; Lionel and Diane divorced in 2004. Sofia's tweet comes after she was seen face timing Lionel on her iPhone as she walked in Monaco with Disick and a group of friends on Sunday. She gets tougher treatment: Sofia has said in the past that her dad, 67, is especially careful with her because her older half sibling Nicole Richie was such a party animal He's protective: That means he is much more protective and checks up on her often, she explained Bye bye: The siren was then seen walking to the top deck of the fancy vessel Just as the gang - clad in matching white outfits - ventured off their yacht and out on The town to enjoy the local nightlife, Lionel decided to touch base with the youngest of his three children. And it looked to be a serious conversation, with Lionel's face filling the screen as he chatted with Sofia. The teen held a drink in the other hand - at 18 she is of legal drinking age in Europe. For her part, the young model concentrated on her father as she walked alongside Disick - who seemed to be listening in - and her friends. Rager: Here Sofia is seen with Scott and friends on the same yacht Ready for her Vogue cover: The beauty stared into the cameras as she wore a zip-up jacket No hanky panky: She denied she was dating the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star While Sofia has been pictured living it up with Scott in France, she made it clear to her fans that she wouldn't dream of dating the 34-year-old father-of-three. In fact the teen seemed disgusted at the very idea, as she tweeted earlier on Sunday: 'Just so everyone can get their panties out of their asses, Scott and I are just homies.' Her comments came just hours after the two were pictured playfully wrestling on the deck of their luxury yacht, Scott lifting a squealing Sofia as he flirtily manhandled her. Looking good: Sofia wore this sheer dress as she posed on the yacht; here caption read: 'Let summer begin' Also on the yacht was his ex, Chloe Bartoli, who has worked as a stylist for Sofia and has been pictured with Scott this week. The girls were not the only two to spend time with Scott - with a series of women spotted at his side over the past few days. They included Bella Thorne, 19, who has made it clear she was thrilled to have ditched him in Cannes. The actress flew to France with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star but was said to be enraged at Scott for 'using' her after he was spotted getting close to Chloe just hours after he was photographed cuddling up to Bella by the pool. The ex: On Tuesday Kourtney Kardashian posted an Instagram snap of herself with her boy toy model lover Younes Bendjima, 23 After returning to the US, Bella wrote on Instagram: 'Couldn't be happier to be back home.' Meanwhile, on Tuesday Kourtney Kardashian, Scott's ex-girlfriend and the mother of his three children, showed him exactly what he was missing. She posted an Instagram snap of herself on what appeared to be a yacht in the harbor at Cannes with her boy toy model lover Younes Bendjima, 23. The couple were pictured on recliners with a topless Younes showing off his impressive pecs as her assets were barely contained in a red swimsuit. The father of the Jonas Brothers, Kevin Jonas Sr, has revealed he is battling colon cancer. The 52-year-old patriarch recently opened up to NBC affiliate WCNC in Charlotte, North Carolina about the tough news. Regarding his famous sons' reactions - 29-year-old Kevin Jr, 27-year-old-Joe, 24-year-old Nick, and 16-year-old Frankie - the father said: 'They were shaken.' Tough times: The father of the Jonas Brothers, Kevin Jonas Sr, has revealed he is battling colon cancer as he is pictured with his famous sons back in March 2009 Upon his diagnosis in March, he said his children all dropped what they were doing in order to be at his side. 'Frankie came home from school, Nick came from L.A., Joe flew directly from Japan,' Kevin said. 'They canceled their schedules, moved important things.' He shares the four boys with wife since 1985 Denise Miller-Jonas. The patriarch was then treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Much love: The 52-year-old pictured with his three sons 29-year-old Kevin Jr, 27-year-old-Joe, 24-year-old Nick, and 16-year-old Frankie - at Christmas last year Tightknit: Upon his diagnosis in March, he said his children all dropped what they were doing in order to be at his side, as they are pictured together in June 2010 'They stayed with us, last meal before surgery,' Kevin said. 'They walked me into Sloan Kettering, which created a little bit of a stir.' The father-of-four still has yet to undergo chemotherapy but he says his prognosis is good. He chose to remain mum about his diagnosis up until this point. 'There's also a feeling of responsibility to others,' Jonas said. 'I waited two years past that 50 year mark.' Bond: He shares the four boys with wife since 1985 Denise Miller-Jonas Last year Kevin is living in his hometown of Belmont, North Carolina with Denise, 50, as they opened their restaurant Nellie's Southern Kitchen a year ago. Their youngest Frankie even works in the kitchen at the establishment. Last year Joe took to his Twitter to post a cute photo of his father in front of the eatery with the caption: 'Congrats to my dad @papakjonas on opening #nelliessouthernkitchen go try the amazing food!' They welcomed their first child together in January. And Geri Horner- formerly Halliwell, and husband Christian Horner looked as loved-up as ever as they attended the End The Silence charity gala for Hope and Homes at Abbey Road Studios in London on Wednesday. The former Spice Girl, 44, put on a head-turning display in a scarlet cocktail dress as she cosied up to her beau. Scroll down for video Going strong: Geri Horner- formerly Halliwell, and husband Christian Horner looked as loved-up as ever as they attended the End the Silence Charity Fundraiser at Abbey Road Studios in London on Wednesday Making the most of her hourglass physique, the dress clung to her every curve. Framing her decolletage perfectly, the piece skimmed her slender midriff and shapely legs. Accentuating her petite stature, she teamed it with a pair of nude patent skyscraper heels and a coordinating chain clutch. On fire! The former Spice Girl, 44, put on a head-turning display in a scarlet cocktail dress as she cosied up to her beau Sizzling! Making the most of her hourglass physique, the dress clung to her every curve Details: Accentuating her petite stature, she teamed it with a pair of nude patent skyscraper heels and a coordinating chain clutch Leaving her brunette hair in loose waves, she fixed Christian's bow tie before they posed together happily. The F1 team principle looked dapper in a crisp white shirt and black tuxedo. The duo married in 2015 after a year of dating, and welcomed Montague George Hector Horner at the end of January this year. Loved up: The duo married in 2015 after a year of dating, and welcomed Montague George Hector Horner at the end of January this year Royalty: Adding a splash of blue blood to the bash were Sarah Ferguson and Princess Eugenie Pins for days: Jodie Kidd (L) was also in attendance, putting on a very leggy display in a thigh-skimming monochrome frock as Natalie Pinkham (R) put on a floral display in a rose-embellished dress by Suzannah Proud parnets: Boyzone singer Ronan Keating, and his wife Storm Keating attended, after recently welcoming their first baby boy Cooper Happy days: Ronan put his arm around Mike Tindall on the stage A dazzling display: The group were looking extremely sharp Geri is also mum to daughter Bluebell, 11, from her relationship with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi. Back at the party, adding a splash of blue blood to the bash were Sarah Ferguson and Princess Eugenie. Sarah, Duchess of York, showed off her classic style in a classic black cocktail dress. She arrived alongside Princess Eugenie, who opted for a tribal inspired tea dress, cinched in at the waist to reveal her enviably slender midriff. A touch of class: Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank Classic in black: Carmen Jorda, Spanish race car driver, showed off her enviable figure in a sequin-encrusted high-low dress as presenter Kirsty Gallacher opted for a Gothic semi-trans All that glitters! Ellie Goulding showed off her unique style in a sequin-encrusted frock Looking al-white! English Soprano Laura Wright showcased her slender midriff in a crop top ensemble (L) Autumn Phillips and Peter Phillips looked suave (R)Natalie Pinkham and Owain Walbyoff beamed at cameras Model Jodie Kidd was also in attendance, putting on a very leggy display in a thigh-skimming monochrome frock. And adding a touch of summer was presenter Natalie Pinkham, who put on a floral display in a rose-embellished dress The were joined by former Boyzone singer Ronan Keating, and his wife Storm Keating, who recently welcomed their first baby boy Cooper. Feeling floral! Natalie Pinkham and Sarah-Jane Mee put on a glamorous display Sending pulses racing: Ellie posed alongside a racing car Mingling: Ellie Goulding and Sarah Ferguson Duchess of York rubbed shoulders Partying into the night: Gethin Jones, Sarah-Jane Mee and Peter Phillips enjoyed the festivities The duo looked in goods spirits as they enjoyed a rare night off parenting duties, a month after welcoming little Cooper Archer. Carmen Jorda, Spanish race car driver, showed off her enviable figure in a sequin-encrusted high-low dress as presenter Kirsty Gallacher opted for a Gothic semi-transparent piece. Entertaining the crowd was Ellie Goulding, who showed off her unique style in a sequin-encrusted frock and platform killer heels as she enjoyed some time out of her busy schedule. Outfit change: Ellie slipped into a sparkling princess number embellished with sequins Night off parenting duties: Ronan and Storm made a suave couple at the event No rest for the wicked: Ellie took to the stage to perform for the gala Mingling: Ronan Keating, Storm Keating looked in good spirits as they cosied up to Mike Tindall, husband of Zara Phillips After enjoying dinner with the party goers, the songstress took to the stage in a second outfit, belting out her chart-topping hits for the occasion. In keeping with the night's theme, celebrities ended the night by 'making noise' to celebrate the impressive figure raised for the cause. DJ Trevor Nelson was spotted getting into the spirit of things, as he got the party going with his classics. The End The Silence charity gala for Hope and Homes helps raise funds to help children stuck in institutions across the globe, and raised an astounding 630,000 on Wednesday night. Taking to the stage: Ronan made a speech at the end of dinner, promoting the cause Getting the party started! DJ Trevor Nelson was spotted getting into the spirit of things, as he got the party going with his classics Making some noise! Natalie, Ronan and Storm danced up a storm (literally) to break the 'Silence' Ellen Pompeo opens up her beautiful Sag Harbor, New York vacation home for Architectural Digest this week. The Grey's Anatomy star bought her Hamptons hideaway eight years ago, transforming it from a simple cabin into a 'modern barn'. The 47-year-old had originally planned to make it into a guest house and build a larger home next door. Design project: Ellen Pompeo discusses her 'modern barn' Hamptons retreat in Sag harbor, New York with Architectural Digest this week 'I loved the history of the property. There was a cabin, which was built by a woman who was a civil rights activist lawyer. She actually built it with her own two hands,' Ellen gushed. But her plan changed when she fell in love with a property on the West Coast. 'A house in Malibu that I had fallen in love with became available, so I abandoned the original plan, and I dont know if I will ever end up building the main house in Sag Harbor.' she explained. Once she'd decided on making the cabin a standalone home, Ellen was faced with the challenge of rebuilding it and brought in an architect, who doubled up as a decorator, to assist with the project. 'Originally, I was given the advice to build on the original footprint of the cabin, because it would save time and money,' she told the magazine. 'Well, it didnt save either.' When it came to the interior design, the actress parted ways with her first designer as they just didn't jive well. Fresh modern look: The Grey's Anatomy star bought a small cabin eight years ago, planning on it just being a guest house but then decided to rebuild it into a vacation retreat She then teamed up with celebrity favorite duo Estee Stanley and Brigette Romanek of California-based Hancock Design, who count Ellen's former co-star Patrick Dempsey as a client. 'It was clear she needed it to be easy, breezy, light, comfortable, and beautiful, with not a lot of pieces, but every piece needed to say something' Romanek explained. 'She loves throw pillows,' Stanley said, 'Were not exactly on the same page with them, but we laugh about it. Shes literally so fun to work with.' The mother-of-three is happy with how her Hamptons retreat turned out and loves the modern aesthetic. 'Its decorated in a way thats a fresh look compared to those Hamptons places that all look like theyre owned by 60-year-old Hamptons billionaires, with the shingles and the light columns,' Ellen said. 'They all put me to sleep.' Supreme Court Tightens Injury Lawsuit Rules Beyond the decision whether to sue a company or corporation for injuries, there is the decision of where to sue a company or corporation. Is it where you live? Where the company is headquartered? Where the injuries occurred? Those options got whittled down considerably yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled that a Texas-based railroad company couldn't be sued in Montana for injuries that were sustained elsewhere. The decision could have a significant impact on future personal injury cases. The Wrong Side of the Tracks Two different plaintiffs were suing the BNSF Railway Company on unrelated injury charges: Robert Nelson, a North Dakota resident and former BNSF truck driver, sued the company in 2011, claiming he injured his knee in a slip-and-fall while on the job; and Kelli Tyrrel, of South Dakota, sued BNSF in 2014 alleging her late husband developed a fatal kidney cancer while working for the company. Nelson's injury occurred in Washington State, Tyrrel claims her husband was exposed to carcinogenic chemicals in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. Yet both sued in Montana, ostensibly a friendlier venue to plaintiffs that allowed state courts to exercise jurisdiction over "persons found" in Montana also does not help the plaintiffs. According to the lawsuits, BNSF conducts quite a bit of business in Montana, operating trains on more than 2,000 miles of railroad track, employing 2,000 Montanans, and investing $470 million in the state over the last four years. But that wasn't enough for the Supreme Court, who ruled that exercising jurisdiction over BNSF must still be consistent with the Constitution's due process clause, and that merely doing business in-state "does not suffice to permit the assertion of general jurisdiction over claims like Nelson's and Tyrrell's that are unrelated to any activity occurring in Montana." Beyond the specific BNSF lawsuits (of which there are 33 pending in Montana courts), the Court's ruling means state courts cannot hear injury claims if the companies are not based in the state or the alleged injuries did not occur there. The Wrong Side of the Law? The Court's ruling, the first in which new justice Neil Gorsuch participated, was not unanimous. The lone dissenter, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, described the decision as a "jurisdictional windfall" for large multistate or multinational corporations. "It is individual plaintiffs," Sotomayor wrote, "harmed by the actions of a farflung foreign corporation, who will bear the brunt of the majority's approach and be forced to sue in distant jurisdictions with which they have no contacts or connection." This will likely make filing an injury claim even more complicated, so if you're thinking about filing an injury lawsuit against a company or corporation, contact an experienced personal injury attorney first. Related Resources: She may be a busy mother, actress and lifestyle entrepreneur with her own Draper James brand. But Reese Witherspoon always makes time for her regular yoga sessions. And on Wednesday, the 41-year-old star was seen leaving the studio in Santa Monica with a huge smile on her beautiful, make-up free face. Huge smile: Reese Witherspoon looked very happy with herself after a yoga session in Santa Monica on Wednesday Indeed, with all those feel-good exercise endorphins flooding her petite body it's little wonder that the blonde looked so happy. Reese had her hands full, juggling two cold-pressed juices, a towel, a yoga mat and her water bottle as she walked back to her car. The mother-of-three showed off her slender figure in skin-tight blue leggings and a dark blue sweatshirt that she wore over a grey T-shirt. Exercise high: With all those feel-good exercise endorphins flooding her petite body it's little wonder that the 41-year-old looked so happy She's got her hands full: Reese juggled two cold-pressed juices, a towel, a yoga mat and her water bottle as she walked back to her car She pulled a blue cap over her hair, which she smoothed back into a low ponytail, and strutted her stuff in pink and white sneakers. Reese has just returned from a Memorial Day long weekend break with her husband, CAA agent Jim Toth and their four-year-old son, Tennessee. She also shares daughter Ava, 17, and son Deacon, 13, with her first husband, actor Ryan Phillippe Athleisure wear chic: The mother-of-three showed off her slender figure in skin-tight blue leggings, a dark blue sweatshirt that she wore over a grey T-shirt plus pink and white sneakers The New Orleans-born star will next be seen on the big screen in dramedy romance Home Again. She plays a newly single mom in Los Angeles whose life takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her. Co-starring Michael Sheen, the movie is due out on September 8. The London premiere of the new Wonder Woman film was cancelled due to the devastating Manchester terror attack, which left 22 dead when a suicide bomber struck at an Ariana Grande concert. And the film marked its debut in the capital without its main star Gal Godot on Wednesday in a more understated fashion, with a small scale screening in Leicester Square. The likes of former Made In Chelsea stars Lucy Watson and Ianthe Rose were in attendance at the event. Scroll down for video Screening: Wonder Woman marked its debut in the capital without its main star Gal Godot on Wednesday in a more understated fashion, with a small scale screening in Leicester Square Metallic: The likes of former Made In Chelsea stars Lucy Watson and Ianthe Rose were in attendance at the event, with Lucy leading the glamour in a silver blazer Lucy looked lovely in a futuristic ensemble, sporting a metallic blazer style dress that showed off a lot of leg. She wore her dark hair pinned back and highlighted her pretty features with heavy make-up. Callum Best's ex Ianthe towered over her friend, putting on a leggy display in a red silk playsuit. Chic: Lucy looked lovely in a futuristic ensemble, sporting a metallic blazer style dress that showed off a lot of leg Joining forces: Callum Best's ex Ianthe towered over her friend, putting on a leggy display in a red silk playsuit The glamorous ensemble, a bit overboard for watching a film, was set off with a black blazer and coordinating accessories. The screening was a subdued affair after the European premiere of Wonder Woman was cancelled following the devastating terror attack. The news came a week before stars of the film including Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and Robin Wright, as well as director Patty Jenkins, had been due to walk the red carpet. Turning heads: The glamorous ensemble was a bit overboard for watching a film Stunning in silver: Lucy wore her dark hair pinned back and highlighted her pretty features with heavy make-up Warner Bros said they are cancelling the event out of respect for the Manchester Arena victims, following the suicide bombing at Ariana Grande's concert on Monday, which killed 22 people. A Warner Bros spokesperson told MailOnline: Our thoughts are with those affected by the recent tragedy in the UK. 'In light of the current situation, we will not be proceeding with our plans for the Wonder Woman premiere and junket activities in London.' Wonder Woman - which stars Gal Gadot as the titular character - is due to hold a premiere in Los Angeles on Thursday. Event-goers: Instead of Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and Robin Wright walking the red carpet, guests arrived at the cinema without a grand fanfare Legs eleven! Ianthe dazzled as she strolled into the cinema in a tiny satin dress Sassy in silver: Lucy looked in good spirits as she strolled out of the venue Legs eleven! Lucy donned a short silver blazer style dress for the star-studded screening The superhero film, based on the DC Comics, tells the story of Wonder Woman before she discovered the full extent of her powers, and was living as Diana, princess of the Amazons and a trained warrior. It will be released in UK cinemas on June 1. The cancellation comes after a suicide bomber targeted Ariana Grande's sell-out concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday night, leaving at least 22 dead and 119 more injured after the explosion rang out through the venue's lobby. Cancelled: The European premiere of Wonder Woman was cancelled 'out of respect' following a terrorist attack in Manchester last week Not appearing: The news comes a week before stars of the film (L-R) Connie Nieslen, Gal Godot, director Patty Jenkins and Chris Pine had been due to walk the red carpet in London After the devastating attack by British-born suicide bomber Salman Abedi, who detonated a device filled with nails and bolts in the packed foyer of the venue, Ariana tweeted her followers to say she was 'broken' by the news. She has since suspended her Dangerous Woman tour and jetted home to the US. Following the attack, the UK have stepped up the threat level to critical, with almost 1,000 soldiers deployed to protect key buildings around the country, and heightened security checks taking place at various events and public facilities. Ariana later said she had been left 'broken' by the tragic events. She tweeted on Monday night: 'broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words. (sic)' Chloe Lattanzi has thanked fans for their support and kindness following her mother Olivia Newton-John's second breast cancer diagnosis. The 31-year-old revealed on Wednesday that the Grease star will be using cannabis oil and 'other natural healing remedies', in addition to modern medicine. Chloe, who is based in Oregon, wrote on Instagram: 'I want to thank all of you for your love and support. My mom and best friend is going to be fine!' Family battle: On Wednesday, Chloe Lattanzi has thanked fans for their support and kindness following her mother Olivia Newton-John's second breast cancer diagnosis She continued: 'She will be using medicine that I often talk about. CBD oil! (Cannabis has scientifically proven properties to inhibit cancer cell growth) and other natural healing remedies plus modern medicine to beat this. 'Cancer is the disease of our generation and it is part of my and my mother's quest to beat this insidious monster. 'We both love you all, and anyone fighting this disease you can beat it. Look for natural remedies as well as what modern medicine can offer. 'My mom is so powerful she will beat this in no time. All my love to you. And I wish you health wealth and happiness,' Chloe concluded. Natural approach: Chloe (right) revealed on Wednesday that the Grease star, 68, will be using cannabis oil and 'other natural healing remedies', as well as modern medicine Chloe, who has battled drug addiction and eating disorders in the past, owns a legal marijuana farm in Oregon with fiance James Driskill. In December last year, DailyMail.com reported the couple set up their business after Olivia gave her daughter loan for a 'fresh start'. On Tuesday, Olivia confirmed she had postponed her North American tour dates in June after learning her breast cancer had returned and spread to her back. She previously battled breast cancer in 1992 at the age of 43, undergoing a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and breast reconstruction. Business venture: Chloe, who has battled drug addiction and eating disorders in the past, owns a legal marijuana farm in Oregon with fiance James Driskill. Pictured in August 2015 Health struggle: On Tuesday, Olivia confirmed she had postponed her North American tour dates in June after learning her breast cancer had returned and spread to her back Olivia's longtime friend John Farnham told News Corp Australia on Wednesday the star was feeling 'very positive' following the diagnosis. He said: 'I've spoken to Olivia in the last few days, and, as always she is very positive. She told me she is feeling good and confident of a total healing. 'The love and support from family and friends as well as people in general is enormous comfort to her. 'I've also spoken to Doctor Cebon at Olivia's Wellness Center, and he tells me that her positivity is a great asset to her and if anyone can beat this she can.' Fighter: Olivia previously battled breast cancer in 1992 at the age of 43, undergoing a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and breast reconstruction. Pictured with Chloe in 2006 As her ex and father of her three children Scott Disick continues his partying antics in Europe, Kourtney Kardashian was on parenting duty on Wednesday. The 38-year-old reality star was pictured taking their daughter Penelope to a Color Me Mine pottery class in Los Angeles showing off her Cannes tan. Kourtney wore a black velour tracksuit with cropped top which showed off her toned tummy as she held her little girl's hand. Scroll down for video Kourtney Kardashian flashed her toned tummy in Los Angeles on Wednesday as she took daughter Penelope, four, to a Color Me Mine class She completed her casual look with circular shades and a Louis Vuitton handbag. The KUWTK star also grabbed a couple of coffees on the go on the morning outing. Meanwhile, Penelope's dad Scott boarded a private jet out of France on Tuesday with a mystery brunette, his eighth female companion in a week. He arrived to the French city with 19-year-old Bella Thorne last week and was then pictured looking very affectionate with ex Chloe Bartoli, UK model Maggie Petrova and another ex, Ella Ross. Showing off her Cannes tan: The 38-year-old reality star donned a black velour tracksuit and sneakers for the outing Caffeine fix: During the outing Kourtney picked up some coffees He also hung out with Sofia Richie (who claims they're just friends), London-based model Bridget Satterlee, 19 and Justin Bieber's ex Chantel Jeffries. Scott, 34, spent his time on the French Riviera surrounded by scantily-clad women whilst Kourtney, was holidaying across town with her toyboy beau, Younes Bendjima, 24. But Kourtney is now back in California looking after the duo's three young children. On Tuesday, it was reported the Kardashian clan have cut ties with Scott after his very public flirtations. Designer darling: Kourtney accessorized with a Louis Vuitton bag Responsibilities: Kourtney is back on mom duty while her ex Scott Disick parties in Europe with an endless string of scantily clad women According to TMZ, the famous family are convinced his actions are part of a plan to make his ex Kourtney jealous, following her new romance with Younes. The reality dynasty are said to be outraged by his steamy displays with Bella, Sofia and a number of other models, as they fear the photos of his antics will one day be seen by his and Kourtney's three children. Kourtney is now believed to have banned Scott from seeing their children Mason, seven, Reign, two and Penelope, four - as she is ashamed the photos of him courting the girls will likely be seen by the kids one day. Having too much fun: Scott, 34, has been going wild in Cannes this week and pictured with numerous scantily clad women Trevor Noah on Wednesday opened up about the shooting of his mother Patricia Noah at the hands of his stepfather, mechanic Abel Shingange, saying that 'all [he] felt was rage' in the wake of the horrifying incident. The Daily Show host, speaking with People, said that his brother initially told him about the 2009 incident, in which his mother thankfully survived, after the bullet averted hitting her brain and arteries. 'I remember after the shooting, my mother was in the hospital, and all I felt was rage,' the 33-year-old said. Looking back: Trevor Noah, 33, told People Wednesday about the rush of emotions he experienced after learning that his mother had been shot in 2009 Noah's stepfather was subsequently placed on probation after he was convicted of attempted murder in the attack, which occurred after the couple was divorced. The Johannesburg, South Africa-born funnyman recalled how his mother looked to calm his temper in the wake of the incident. He told People, 'My mother said to me: "Dont hate him for doing this, but rather pity him because he too is a victim, in his own way, of a world that has thrust upon him an idea of masculinity that he has subscribed to and is now a part of. As for myself, I do not wish to imbue myself with a hatred that only I will carry."' A mother's love: Noah said that his mom Patricia 'really became the example that [he's chosen] to live by' Open book: Noah previously revealed some of his harrowing experiences in his 2016 book Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood Rough time: The entertainer said that he felt nothing but rage after hearing about his mother's shooting Noah, who authored last year's Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, said that his mother's upbeat and forgiving nature strengthened his family and 'really became the example that [he] chose to live by.' He added, 'Thats really what Ive stuck to, and thats how I try to live my life every day.' Noah said he had previously asked his mother why she didn't leave the abusive spouse. Going strong: Noah, who was snapped in Hollywood earlier this month, has been a stellar replacement since filling Jon Stewart's chair on The Daily Show two years ago Face of the network: Noah was snapped at a Comedy Central event in LA last week 'She said, "Because if I leave, he will kill us,"' said Noah. 'I said to her, "Thats extreme. I dont think thats real."' Patricia told the Daily Mail in a 2015 interview that she's 'lucky to be alive' and was 'very grateful' for the first-class medical care her son financed in the wake of the tragic attack. 'The doctor's said it was a miracle that I was alive,' she said, adding, 'Trevor was by my bedside holding my hand the whole time.' Bravo dropped the first trailer for season six of its reality show The Shahs Of Sunset on Wednesday. The cast of Asa Soltan Rahmati, Golnesa 'GG' Gharachedaghi, Mercedes 'MJ' Javid, Mike Shouhed, Reza Farahan, and Shervin Roohparvar return for another drama-filled run. And the friends are facing changes in their lives. Scroll down for video The Shahs Of Sunset are back for a sixth season - (l-r) Mike Shouhed, Golnesa 'GG' Gharachedaghi, Mercedes 'MJ' Javid, Reza Farahan, Shervin Roohparvar, Asa Soltan Rahmati The new series follows Asa who is pregnant at 40 with her first child. She did in fact welcome a son in January with partner Jermaine Jackson Jr. The reality show gives fans a glimpse into how she approaches motherhood, and how the other cast react. Birth: The new series follows Asa who is pregnant at 40 with her first child with partner Jermaine Jackson Jr. Rumors: GG continues to spread gossip and stir things up among the group of friends Returning divorcee: She even invites Mike's ex Jessica back into the fold Meanwhile, Mike is having to face up to life without Jessica, from whom he split due to a cheating scandal. Or is he? She's seen being invited by GG to meet up with the gang. MJ's love life, by comparison, is on the up and she's preparing to spend her life with beau Tommy. But she's also having to deal with her father's declining health. Romance: MJ's love life i son the up as she prepares to spend her life with beau Tommy Funnyman: Reza continues to be the in-house comedian, joking he can't believe how good he looks after six years on TV Wedded: The show follows Reza and spouse Adam during their first year of marriage and their discussions about a fmaily The series also follows Reza as he embarks on his first year of married life with spouse Adam. The two are keen to start a family together and exploring ways to do that. Meanwhile, it seems Shervin is seriously considering a future with long-distance girlfriend Annalise. And GG is in New York pursuing romance and a part in a play. Travels east: GG heads to New York where she embarks on a new romance and pursues a part on a play Pulled aside: The cast also take a trip to Israel but it doens't go quite according to plan Bored: GG looked fed-up after the group was detained at the airport after landing in Tel Aviv The cast also take a trip to Israel. But it doesn't quite go off as planned. They are seen looking glum as they are detained at the airport. Shahs of Sunset returns Sunday, July 16 at 8/7c. Asa Soltan Rahmati Mike Shouhed, left, and Shervin Roohparvar, right Golnesa 'GG' Gharachedaghi, left, and Mercedes 'MJ' Javid, right Undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on May 28, 2017 shows leader Kim Jong-Un watching the test of a new anti-aircraft guided weapon system at an undisclosed location North Korea said Tuesday its test-firing of a precision-guided ballistic missile was a success, a day after the projectile landed in waters provocatively close to Japan. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un had supervised the launch of the "new-type precision-guided ballistic rocket", the official KCNA news agency reported. It was the third missile test by the nuclear-armed regime in less than three weeks, defying UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action. "The ballistic rocket flew toward the east sky where the day broke and correctly hit a planned target point... after flying over the middle shooting range," KCNA said. South Korea's military has said the Scud-type missile travelled eastward for 450 km (280 miles). Japan said it believed it had fallen into its exclusive economic zone, extending 200 nautical miles from the coast. The missile test triggered swift condemnation from US President Donald Trump who said it showed "disrespect" for neighbouring China, the North's sole major ally, which has sought to ease tensions over Pyongyang's weapons programme. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un supervised the launch of the guided ballistic rocket -- the third missile test by the nuclear-armed regime in less than three weeks and carried out in defiance of US threats of military action and UN sanctions The launch was aimed at testing a weapon "capable of making ultra-precision strike on the enemies' objects at any area", the North Korean report said. "It also verified ultra-precision guidance correctness in the re-entry section," it said. "Whenever news of our valuable victory is broadcast... the Yankees would be very much worried about it and the gangsters of the south Korean puppet army would be dispirited more and more," the report quoted Kim as saying. It added that the projectile was showcased for the first time last month as part of Pyongyang's annual military parade to mark the 105th birth anniversary of the regime's founder Kim Il-Sung. Following North Korea's test-firing earlier this month of what analysts said was its longest-range rocket yet, the UN Security Council vowed to push all countries to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Tuesday for "strong action" during telephone talks with South Korean President Moon jae-In about the latest launch. "Prime Minister Abe said dialogue for the sake of dialogue is meaningless and it is necessary now to put pressure on North Korea," a Japanese foreign ministry statement quoted him as saying. "He also said China's role is extremely important." North Korea's missiles and nuclear tests But China has made it clear that the push for talks -- and not more sanctions -- is its priority. On Monday it pleaded again for dialogue. "We hope that related parties can remain calm and restrained, ease the tension on the peninsula, and bring the peninsula issue into the right track of peaceful dialogue again," the Chinese foreign ministry said. Several rounds of UN sanctions have done little to stop the isolated regime from pushing ahead with its ambition to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental US. Smoke rises from buildings in the rebel-held Syrian city of Daraa following a reported May 2017 air strike With oil production at its lowest in years, a total halt in phosphate exports and power generation sharply reduced, Syria's economy is on its knees, government ministers have said. The ministers were speaking at a conference hosted by the British Syrian Society in Damascus this week titled "The War in Syria: Challenges and Opportunities." "The war has reached all economic resources, but has most systemically hit the petrol sector," said Energy Minister Ali Ghanem. "We used to produce and export petrol, but today we import all our needs," he said. Crude oil production dropped 98 percent between 2010 and 2017 from 385,000 barrels per day to just 8,000, he said. The government has lost control of many of the country's most important oil and gas fields to rebels, the Islamic State group or Kurdish fighters. Natural gas production has fallen 52 percent from 21 million cubic metres (657 million cubic feet) per day in 2010 to just nine million (282 million) in 2017. Before 2011, Syria was the fifth largest phosphate exporter in the world, producing 3.5 million tonnes a year, but now it produces none. Ghanem said recent government victories, including the recapture of the Shaer oilfield last month, gave some cause for hope. He predicted a modest increase in crude output over the next few months to around 12,000 bpd and an increase in natural gas output to 11.5 million cubic metres (360 million cubic feet) per day. He said he also hoped to see a significant resumption of phosphate production by the end of the year. The sharp reduction in oil and gas output has had a knock-on effect on power generation. Electricity Minister Mohammed Zuhair Kharboutli said the government had supplied 97 percent of needs before the war. That proportion is now down to 27 percent because of the shortage of fuel. Syria generated about 49 billion kilowatts per hour before the war, but is now producing just 19 billion. "The total losses for the electricity ministry since the beginning of the war amount to 2 trillion Syrian pounds (just over $3.8 billion)," Kharboutli estimated. An Air India Boeing 777 in Hyderabad on March 15, 2016 India's civil aviation ministry said Tuesday it would cooperate with a federal inquiry into alleged irregularities in the purchase of 111 planes by state-run carrier Air India and its merger with Indian Airlines. The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed three cases against Air India and launched an investigation into what it termed "unknown officials" at the ministry. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the ministry would cooperate with the CBI investigation, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. The three cases relate to decisions and deals made under the previous Congress Party-led government. Air India bought 111 aircraft for about 700 billion rupees ($10.8 billion), a transaction that benefited foreign aircraft manufacturers and caused losses at the state carrier, the CBI has alleged. The second case pertains to Air India's decision to lease airplanes while the acquisition of the new aircraft was underway, "without due consideration, proper route study and marketing or price strategy", according to the CBI statement. The third case alleges that the national carrier gave up profitable routes and flight timings to private and foreign airlines, thus causing "a huge loss to the national carrier". The federal agency is also probing the 2011 merger of Air India and its domestic sister airline Indian Airlines, alleging it caused a "loss to the national exchequer". India is one of the wold's fastest growing airline markets but the once-dominant Air India -- hit by delayed and cancelled flights and a generally poor service record -- has lost market share to new private players, especially low-cost carriers. Jeremy Joseph Christian is accused of killing two men during an anti-Muslim rant against two girls on board a train in Oregon A murder suspect accused of killing two men during an anti-Muslim rant against two girls on board a train in Oregon appeared in court, shouting slogans and defending his act as "patriotism." Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, did not enter a plea during his brief arraignment on charges including two counts of aggravated murder, which carry the death penalty. "Get out if you don't like free speech" and "You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. You hear me? Die," he shouted in the courtroom, flanked by two deputies. "Death to the enemies of America. Leave this country if you hate our freedom," he added. Christian is due back in court on June 7. Attending the hearing on Tuesday was Micah Fletcher, who was wounded as he tried to defend a black 16-year-old and her Muslim friend as they rode on a crowded train on Friday. Christian allegedly targeted the teens, one of whom wore a hijab, with racial and religious insults. Two other men who tried to intervene were fatally stabbed. Fletcher told the local NBC station on Tuesday that he was trying to come to terms with the tragedy. "I got stabbed in the neck on my way to work, randomly, by a stranger I don't know, for trying to just be a nice person," said the 21-year-old university student. "Like, I don't know what to do after that, you know. "I'm healing. That's what I'm doing. As much as I can, in whatever way I can." According to reports, Christian was a known white supremacist and had appeared at an "alt-right" rally in Oregon in April during which he had yelled racist slurs while giving a Nazi salute. He was also previously convicted for robbery, kidnapping and weapons-related charges, according to media reports. One of the teenage girls targeted by Christian said she was with a friend who was wearing a hijab when he approached them and began hurling abuse. "He told us to go back to Saudi Arabia, and he told us we shouldn't be here, to get out of his country," Destinee Mangum told KPTV. "He was just telling us that we basically weren't anything and that we should kill ourselves." President Donald Trump described the attack as "unacceptable" in a tweet on Monday. Does the First Amendment Protect Reporters From Assault? The First Amendment ensures that the government cannot pass any laws preventing the dissemination of news. However, reporters, journalists, and other members of the press corps, are not considered any differently than regular citizens despite the freedom of the press. This means that when a reporter is assaulted while trying to get the scoop, the perpetrators are not going to be charged with a hate crime. Regardless of the criminal charges an attacker could face for assaulting a reporter, there are several civil actions, including potential civil rights claims, a reporter, or even just a blogger, can pursue against an attacker. When pursuing a civil action, however, the First Amendment can play a significant role, depending on the attackers identity. Government Attacker If a reporter is attacked, assaulted, intimidated, or threatened by a government official or representative trying to prevent information from being published, there are potential civil rights claims, in addition to the usual tort injury claims. Under 42 USC 1983, a rather broad civil rights statute, an individual can sue government officials when the officials deny the individual their constitutionally protected rights. Traditionally, under 42 USC 1983, any individual that is attacked by a public official could potentially have recourse for a violation of their Fourth Amendment Rights. If the attack is an attempt to suppress a reporter, then the reporter will have a 42 USC 1983 claim based upon the First Amendment. Private Citizen Attacker When a reporter is attacked by a private citizen, the reporter will only be left with the typical tort injury claims. This includes suing the individual attacker for the intentional assault and/or battery, as well as potentially the owner or controller of the premises where the attack happened. In certain circumstances, a venue, promoter, or organizer, can be held liable for a personal attack if it can be shown that the security provided was negligent. In addition to organizer liability for negligent security, there could also be liability against individuals that incite others to act out violently. For instance, if a presidential candidate yelled out to large rally for certain people to be forcibly removed, then people from the crowd acted and injured the victim of the removal, the speaker giving the order could potentially be held liable for the injuries. Related Resources: Those who survive the perilous trips from Nigeria's Calabar port, such as these passengers who survived a capsizing off the Gabonese capital Libreville, face an uncertain future They travel thousands of kilometres across west Africa to get to the southeast Nigerian city of Calabar where small boats are supposed to take them to a better life. But these migrants aren't about to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. They're aiming for a closer -- and less risky -- promised land: rich oil-producing African countries. Symphorien Hounkanrin, 35, is originally from Ketenou, an impoverished village in Benin, and left school at the age of 11. Other than fishing, he says "there's nothing to do there" for young people like him. His brothers and cousins all left for oil hubs, Libreville in Gabon, or Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. Now he wants to join them. "There's work. You can earn a lot there," he told AFP, his eyes lighting up. "You can come back and build a nice house in the village like those who go to Europe." The United Nations has said that contrary to common belief, more than half of all African migrants actually look for work elsewhere on the continent. Like Gabon, which is home to just 1.8 million people, sparsely populated oil-producing countries attract a plentiful supply of foreign workers every year. They come from Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria and Benin, disregarding the risks for the prospect of opportunities. "No-one knows how many leave nor how many die" en route, said Nassirou Afagnon, from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Benin. Few statistics are available. Because there is free movement between member states of the west African regional bloc ECOWAS, it is easy for would-be migrants to reach Calabar by road. The peaceful port city off the Gulf of Guinea lies only a few miles by sea to their intended destinations. - Slave-trading port - Standing in front of a small jetty scattered with rubbish, an employee of the Maritime Union promises potential clients a safe trip and no identity checks. Seven thousand naira ($22, 20 euros) is enough to get to the port of Limbe in neighbouring Cameroon. From there, another boat to Gabon costs 15,000 CFA francs ($25, 23 euros). For the same trip from Calabar, some operators charge up to 350,000 CFA francs per migrant, according to those who have made the journey in Gabon. Traffickers are well-established along Marina Bay in central Calabar, where they're called "businessmen". During the day, they take fishermen and merchandise to other Nigerian ports legally. But during the night, their boats carry a silent human cargo. At the end of February, Joe Abang, the justice minister of Cross River state, of which Calabar is the capital, raised the alarm. These migrants were among countless others making a risky journey organised by traffickers in the hope of a better life in an oil-producing African country -- but just escaped with their lives after their crowded vessel capsized off the Gabonese capital Libreville He said Calabar had become "the transit haven for traffickers" to "perpetrate their nefarious activities" because of a crackdown against smuggling in neighbouring states. "They use the ports and various creeks in the area to transport their victims to countries like Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon among others," he added. "But I have bad news for them. Cross River State has never been, and will never be, a hiding place for criminals." Overlooking the lagoon, the city's museum has a reminder about where Calabar's wealth came from in times gone by. Ironically, the city was a major trading port for slaves to the New World between the 17th and 19th centuries. The local Efik people captured men from tribes in the interior and sold them to Europeans. At the city's museum, the Efik are described as skilled negotiators. "We used to sell our people to Caucasians for centuries, we have integrated slavery in our mindset," said Bassey Ndem, a former minister in Cross River. "But now, they are begging to enter the boats." - Lost at sea - The trip from Calabar to Gabon and beyond takes several days and according to the IOM's Afagnon is "very well organised by unscrupulous 'agents' who meet the migrants at every stage". But it is also fraught with danger, even if it is not publicised as much as the Mediterranean crossings. Overcrowded boats frequently capsize. One night last January a young man from Symphorien's village was lost at sea. His parents, who were waiting for him in Gabon, have not heard from him since. "His mobile lost its signal not long after leaving Calabar and there's been nothing since. The boats break often," said Symphorien, sounding matter-of-fact. The local immigration department is often powerless against the trafficking of migrants, which is helped by porous maritime borders. "In most cases they are not detected," admitted one officer, asking not to be identified. "They adapt their routes and we don't have enough boats to stop the smugglers in the creeks." Children are targets of the people smugglers, who come to find them in their country of origin and promise their families they will be sent to school. But once arrived at their destination, so-called "aunties and uncles" make them work as domestic helps or street vendors, said the immigration agent. "Actually," he said, "it is slavery" -- and a subtle reminder of the not-too-distant past. Israeli Tamar Paikes sits next to a picture of her father, lieutenant colonel Michael Paikes (2-R), who was killed during the Six-Day war in 1967, at her home in Jerusalem on May 11, 2017 Some use photographs, others seek global solidarity or throw themselves into campaigning for peace. Fifty years after the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has left scores of families bereaved and searching for ways to keep loved ones' memories alive. Israeli Tamar Paikes, 49, feels she lost her father twice. In 1967, a few months before she was born, her father was killed in Jerusalem in the Six-Day War, which saw Israeli forces defeat Jordanian, Egyptian, Syrian and Palestinian militaries in less than a week and claim large swathes of territory. Six years later her brother, who had become the head of the family, was killed fighting in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. She preserves the memory of her father Michael, a lieutenant colonel, through a particular picture. In it he is pointing at a map, planning the takeover of Jerusalem with others, days before he was later stabbed to death by a cornered Jordanian soldier. The picture was in her mother's family home for years and now hangs on Paikes's wall. She says the family was encouraged to lionise him, but not really to grieve. "(My family) wanted to remember him as a hero," she told AFP. "We knew he was a brave man but we were victims of that heroism." "We used to camp with other families (of the bereaved) but there was nothing like psychological support." Ali Ishtiwi's father Salah died on the opposite side of the same war -- fighting against the Israelis in Gaza. For decades he carried a faded passport-sized picture of his moustached father in traditional Palestinian headdress in his wallet. Now his son does. Like Paikes, he says he was taught to see his father as a hero, but not to talk about him much. The religious family explained his death as part of God's plan, but rarely discussed sadness. "I was always certain he died as a hero," he told AFP. Daniel Bar-Tal from Tel Aviv University says victims of violence are often venerated in Israeli and Palestinian societies. "When people are killed by the other side you can show you are the victim," he told AFP. "Each society persists as the exclusive victim of the conflict." - 'Anger is there' - Palestinian Ali Ishtiwi holds a faded picture of his father Salah, who died during the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six-Day war, in his garden in Gaza City on May 30, 2017 Around 9,000 Israelis have died in conflict-related violence since 1967, according to the Jewish Virtual Library. Reliable figures for Palestinians are difficult to find, but since the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 1987 more than 10,000 have died, according to rights group B'Tselem. The rate of deaths spiked during the two intifadas, which spanned from 1987 to 1993 and 2000 to 2005. Thousands died in a vicious circle of Palestinian attacks and violent Israeli crackdowns. Israeli Rami Elhanan's daughter was killed in a 1997 suicide bombing. He says he dealt with the grief not through specific memorials but by forming an organisation trying to bridge the gap between Israelis and Palestinians. "The anger is there, it is natural. The anger is an outcome of great pain. The question is how do you use it," he told AFP. "Are you using it to create more bloodshed and more anger or the other way -- to try to find a way to stop it?" His organisation, The Parents Circle, brings together family members of Palestinians and Israelis killed. Others see things differently. Ron Kehrmann, whose 17-year-old daughter Tal was killed in a 2003 bombing in northern Israel, said his daughter's death convinced him of the need for tougher measures. "The first right of my daughter to life was taken," he told AFP. "If the price I have to pay to protect my other kids is a little bit less human rights and privacy I will take that." He memorialises his daughter through a campaign to encourage people to colour in and send him camels -- Tal's favourite animal. Thousands did and he wears a pin of a camel every day. "When I change my shirt I pin it on top of my heart," he said. - Not ready - While the intifadas ended in the mid-2000s, deaths spiked again in 2008 when Israel fought a war with Hamas in Gaza. Two more followed -- in 2012 and 2014 -- with 93 Israelis killed and more than 3,500 Palestinians dead, according to the United Nations, in all three conflicts. Not all victims feel ready to grieve. An infamous moment from the 2014 Gaza war was the killing of four children on a beach by an Israeli missile. The boys, aged between nine and 11, were from the same extended family. Zakaria Bakr, an uncle, says they have photos of the boys on their walls but with so much violence they can't properly grieve. "Every year there are incidents, every year there are deaths," he told AFP, listing family members killed or injured in the past decade. "It's impossible to forget." He was speaking in central Gaza City at a funeral tent. Three days earlier, his cousin was shot dead by Israeli forces after allegedly breaching the blockade on the Gaza Strip while fishing. Italian seaman Carmelo Cuzzolino spent two testing days at the helm with more than 1,000 distressed African migrants crowded onto the tug boat he skippers in his role as head of security for a major oil platform in waters off troubled Libya It is not an experience he's keen to repeat but Carmelo Cuzzolino is resigned to the inevitable as stretched resources mean more merchant ships get caught up in the Mediterranean migrant crisis. The veteran Italian seaman has just spent two testing days at the helm with more than 1,000 distressed African migrants crowded onto the tug boat he skippers in his role as head of security for a major oil platform in waters off troubled Libya. "I've been a captain around here for 30 years, I've seen migrants go by... But this, this was a first" the 60-year-old told AFP in a phone interview from the southern Italian island of Sicily. The Vos Thalassa, his 60-metre (200 foot) vessel, usually spends its time patrolling an oil field about 70 nautical miles off Libya. On Friday afternoon he spotted a vessel carrying about 40 migrants, who were waving a white flag signalling distress, and when he contacted the Italian Coastguard, they asked him to intervene. The coastguard said two patrol boats would soon arrive from the island of Lampedusa to recover the migrants. Instead, those boats rescued other migrants at risk of drowning, and brought them to Cuzzolino's boat before heading off for other rescue operations. "At half past midnight I had 1,042 people aboard, including about 50 women, 15 children and seven bodies that were already in sealed bags when they brought them to me," he said. He does not know how they died, but many of the migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean for Europe succumb to hypothermia or dehydration, choke on engine fumes, or are smothered on overcrowded vessels. Some 3,400 migrants were rescued in the waters off Libya last Friday alone, bringing the total for last week to more than 10,000 people. - Boats filling up fast - Without food or water, the migrants packed on the Vos Thalassa's broad flat deck were on edge, and many became threatening and at times aggressive toward the 14 crew members. "We barricaded ourselves inside," the captain said, letting only women and children enter to use the toilets. An Italian coastguard ship, itself loaded with migrants, was able to drop off food and water on Saturday. But Italy's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre had no more boats available, so the Vos Thalassa had no choice but to head for Sicily itself. Global leaders, however, were still gathered on the east coast of the island for their G7 summit at Taormina. So Cuzzolino was told to chart a course to Palermo, in the northwest of the island, where he was finally able to unload his passengers on Sunday afternoon. It was 3:00 am by the time all the migrants were brought off the boat, and the captain and his crew then spent several hours cleaning up. Italian media reported that police arrested a 39-year-old Moroccan wanted on suspicion of drug trafficking and a 22-year-old Nigerian accused by many on the ship of being a people trafficker. Many of those onboard said they had crossed the Sahara in the back of refrigerated freight trucks before spending months at camps in Libya, often subjected to violent abuse by their handlers, according to the reports. "Save lives at sea, bring 150 people to safety, feed and take care of them while waiting for someone to come and get them, this we can do," Cuzzolino said. "But become a storage vessel for 48 hours, that's putting everyone's lives in danger: the boat, the crew and the migrants," he said. With milder weather coming, though, encouraging even more migrants to attempt the perilous crossing, the captain knows that when the coastguard, military and NGO boats are full, the authorities will be calling again. Total sales of beer in the United States came to $107.6 billion in 2016, almost three times more than was spent on water Beer sales in the United States come to more than $100 billion a year, partly thanks to the exponential growth of craft beer. Here's a snapshot of the industry in a country that spends three times more on beer than water. - 206.7 million barrels - Some 206.7 million barrels of beer were distributed in the United States in 2015, the last full year for which official figures are available, according to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Fourteen percent of the total was imported. - $107.6 billion market - Total sales of beer in the United States came to $107.6 billion in 2016, according to the Brewers Association. - $34.1 billion retail sales - Americans spent $34.1 billion on beer in stores, according to Nielsen, which measured sales to retailers over one year to February 25, 2017. That's almost three times what they spent on water -- $12.5 billion -- and more than they shelled out for wine. - Bud Light the undisputed king - Among America's behemoth beer producers, Anheuser-Busch InBev -- which markets its Budweiser brand as "The King of Beers" -- remains the leader, accounting for almost half of total sales volumes at 44 percent. Its flagship beer, Bud Light, reigns supreme. Nearly one beer in five (18 percent) sold in the United States is a Bud Light. - Craft beer on the rise - Craft beer breweries accounted for $23.5 billion in sales in 2016, an increase of 10 percent over the previous year, according to the Brewers Association. Those figures have been driven by an explosion of micro-breweries in recent years. They now produce 20.4 percent of the craft-beer segment. Appearing in China at the end of the 19th century, rickshaws originally had two wheels and were pulled by their driver on foot, with passengers seated at the back. They have modernised but remain a fixture on Beijing's streets. The makeshift red-canopied vehicles are ubiquitous in Beijing: rickshaws traversing narrow alleyways and skyscraper-lined avenues alike. A historic mode of transport, they have survived China's modernisation, and remain an integral part of city living -- but for the drivers, life remains a struggle. Near the lofty Forbidden City, where emperors once lived, a man surnamed Guo has worked as a rickshaw driver for 10 hours every day for the last 30 years. Some of Beijing's rickshaw drivers are unlicensed, which comes with great risks: if caught fines are 1,000 yuan ($145) or having the vehicle confiscated. The boom of cars, electric scooters, and, more recently, shared bikes, has not managed to kill his business. "It hasn't changed anything," Guo said with a smile. Appearing in China at the end of the 19th century, rickshaws originally had two wheels and were pulled by their driver on foot, with passengers seated at the back. Today, most of Beijing's rickshaws are tricycles -- some still have pedals and are propelled by physical force, but the majority are equipped with electric or gas engines. Today, most of the vehicles are tricycles. Some still have pedals and are propelled by physical force, but the majority are equipped with electric or gas engines. The drivers must be licensed and operate within government-defined zones, mainly around scenic downtown lakes. But others tinker with their own vehicles and work illegally, without licenses. They are targeted by police officers who accuse them of dangerous driving, traffic disruptions, and tourist scams. Beijing's rickshaw drivers must be licensed and operate within government-defined zones, mainly around scenic downtown lakes, though some run illegal operations. Li Wei is among them. A young father hailing from the impoverished central Henan province, he drives from 8:00 pm until dawn. Working in constant fear of being caught by the traffic police, Li speeds up when he sees a uniformed officer. The 29-year-old has been caught six times in four years, each time having to pay a fine of 1,000 yuan ($145). Beijing rickshaw drivers can earn a reasonable wage for China but due to the high cost of rent, many can still only afford tiny, dilapidated apartments. Unlicensed work also carries the risk of having the rickshaw -- worth 2,000 yuan ($290)-- confiscated. But for Li the rewards are worth the gamble. On weekends, he takes home partygoers spilling out of bars, earning 500 yuan ($73) a night. Though this is a hefty sum in China and his wife also works -- she is an assistant at a clothing store -- but they can still only afford a tiny, dilapidated apartment in Beijing. Beijing's rickshaw offer an alternative to passengers wanting to avoid car journeys in gridlocked traffic. His father, also a rickshaw driver, lives with them. It has been four years since Li first took the job, and he confesses he is already tired of earning a living this way. But having worked in factories and restaurants in Shanghai, he concedes that driving for a living is far better. Asked what he would do instead, if he could, he shrugs his shoulders in defeat. Despite the long working hours, for many of Beijing's rickshaw drivers their job is preferential to working in factories or kitchens. He explains: "I have no idea how I would make a living otherwise." -- This story accompanies a photo essay and video by Fred Dufour -- An Indonesian hamlet dubbed "the rainbow village" after being given a makeover in a kaleidoscope of colours is attracting hordes of visitors and has become an internet sensation. An Indonesian hamlet dubbed "the rainbow village" after being given a makeover in a kaleidoscope of colours is attracting hordes of visitors and has become an internet sensation. The collection of about 200 modest homes on a hillside above a river used to be a typical, low-income Indonesian neighbourhood that was filthy and gloomy. The collection of about 200 modest homes on a hillside above a river used to be a typical, low-income Indonesian neighbourhood that was filthy and gloomy. But residents of the Wonosari community in Semarang decided an extreme makeover was needed. But residents of the Wonosari community in Semarang decided an extreme makeover was needed, and received money from the local government and several companies to carry out the project. The houses were re-painted in a dizzying array of colours during a month-long overhaul which cost about $200,000, and the polluted river nearby was also cleaned up. The houses in the Indonesian hamlet of Semerang were re-painted in a dizzying array of colours during a month-long overhaul which cost about $200,000. The local mayor opened the newly decorated hamlet on Java island to the public in mid-April and the community quickly became a local landmark known as "the rainbow village". The buildings -- many of which are decorated with art such as pictures of angels' wings and whales -- can be seen for miles around, climbing up the hillside like a gigantic staircase. The brightly coloured buildings in Semerang, Indonesia -- many of which are decorated with art such as pictures of angels' wings and whales -- can be seen for miles around. Domestic and foreign visitors have been flocking to the village to snap pictures, which have been rapidly spreading on Instagram and Facebook. "This is very special, extremely creative," Maya Susanti, an Indonesian visitor who came to the village with her friends told AFP. "The village used to look plain but now there are so many good spots for taking pictures." Domestic and foreign visitors have been flocking to the so-called "Rainbow Village" in Indonesia to snap pictures, which have been rapidly spreading on Instagram and Facebook. Community leader Yosep Tri Prawoko added: "Every single alleyway has become a favourite spot for a photoshoot, it's great." Villagers are enjoying the tourism boom sparked by the makeover. Surani, a local flower seller who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said local people were feeling the benefits: "I hope our livelihoods keep on getting better." The makeover and flow of visitors has also encouraged residents to keep the community clean, and rubbish bins have been put up around the hamlet. Government forces are using helicopters to attack pockets of Marawi city, where officials say 89 Islamist militants have been killed but remaining gunmen are putting up strong resistance and holding hostages Philippine troops have killed 89 Islamist militants during more than a week of urban battles but a final showdown is expected to be fierce as the gunmen protect their leaders and hold hostages, authorities said Wednesday. Attack helicopters fired rockets on Wednesday morning into parts of Marawi, a Muslim city in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines, that were still controlled by the militants fighting under the black flag of the Islamic State (IS) group. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao in response to the crisis, which he described as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Eighty-nine militants had been killed in the fighting and the amount of territory in the city that the remaining gunmen controlled had been cut to just 10 percent, military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said Wednesday. However Padilla warned of more intense battles ahead, with the military believing three of the militants' main leaders were likely still in the city. "That 10 percent is most likely the area that is heavily guarded and defended by any armed men if they are protecting any individual of high value," Padilla said. The militants are also holding an unknown number of civilians hostage, according to Padilla and other authorities. They initially took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage at the start of the crisis. A video of the priest appeared on social media on Tuesday, in which he repeated the militants' demands to withdraw and said his captors were holding 240 people hostage. Padilla said the number of people cited in the video as being held hostage could not be verified. He insisted the release of the footage showed the militants were becoming increasingly desperate and said security forces would not back down. "They are trapped, they are contained, they are in areas that they will never come up alive unless they surrender," Padilla said. - 'Terrible' ordeal - Another major complicating factor was the safety of about 2,000 residents who the local government said remained trapped in the militant-controlled areas, with troops, police and aid workers trying to rescue them. "It was a terrible situation. We did not have anything to eat," Jenita Abanilla, 47, a laundrywoman, told reporters at an evacuation centre in Marawi on Wednesday shortly after heavily armed police brought her to safety. Abanilla said she, her eight-year-old son, her husband plus eight other neighbours and relatives had often hid kneeling with their faces on the floor of her house. "We covered the mouths of our children. We were afraid the gunmen would come in and kill us," she said, adding they were also scared of being hit by military bombs. Padilla said Wednesday the militants had murdered 19 civilians but insisted that the military's "precision airstrikes" had not killed any of the trapped residents. Twenty-one security forces had also died, Padilla said, bringing the combined death toll to 129. The clashes erupted when security forces raided a house to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as IS's leader in the Philippines and who is on the US government's list of most-wanted terrorists. Authorities said they were taken by surprise when dozens of gunmen emerged to protect Hapilon and then went on a rampage through Marawi, the Philippines' main Islamic city with a population of 200,000. Hapilon was being protected by members of the local Maute group, a small band of militants who has declared allegiance to IS, according to the government. Malaysians, Singaporean, Indonesian and other fighters had been involved in the unrest, according to the military. Hapilon and the two Maute leaders -- brothers after whose surname the group is named -- were still believed to be in Marawi, local military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera told reporters. A Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. The Maute and other hardline groups have rejected the peace process. A massive blast struck Kabul's diplomatic quarter during morning rush hour, officials said, in the latest attack to reverbate across the Afghan capital At least 90 people were killed and hundreds wounded Wednesday when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter during rush hour, in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001. Bloodied corpses littered the scene and a huge cloud of smoke rose from the highly-fortified area which houses foreign embassies, after the explosion tore a massive crater in the ground and blew out windows several miles away. No group has so far claimed the powerful blast, which officials said was caused by 1,500 kilograms (1.6 US tons) of explosives hidden inside a sewage tanker, in what appeared to be a major intelligence failure. Rescue workers were digging bodies from the site hours after the explosion, many of them disfigured and charred, as anguished residents searched for missing relatives. "They were going to their work like any other day and now they are lost," a young Afghan man said of his missing uncle and cousins, sobbing quietly outside Kabul's Emergency hospital. "I have searched in three hospitals and haven't found them." Kabul blast The attack, just days into the holy fasting month of Ramadan, underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where the NATO-backed military, beset by soaring casualties and desertions, is struggling to beat back insurgents. "In this powerful attack 90 people have been killed and 400 wounded, including many women and children," said the government's media centre, with health officials warning the toll could climb further. At least 11 Afghan guards working for the US embassy were among those killed and 11 American citizens working as contractors in Kabul were among the wounded, US officials said. President Ashraf Ghani slammed the bombing, the deadliest single attack in Kabul since the Taliban were toppled from power in a 2001 US-led invasion, as a "war crime". Afghanistan's intelligence agency blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network for the attack. The Taliban -- currently in the midst of their annual "spring offensive" -- denied they were involved, while strongly condemning the blast. The insurgent group rarely claims responsibility for attacks that kill large numbers of civilians. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting a NATO convoy that killed eight people earlier this month. - Embassies damaged - The sound of the bomb, which went off near Kabul's busy Zanbaq Square, reverberated across the Afghan capital, with residents comparing it to an earthquake. Most victims appear to be civilians. Ambulances rushed survivors to hospital after a huge blast, which struck during Kabul's rush hour "The vigilance and courage of Afghan security forces prevented the VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) from gaining entry to the Green Zone, but the explosion caused civilian casualties," NATO said in a statement. The BBC said its Afghan driver Mohammed Nazir was killed and four of its journalists wounded. Local TV channel Tolo TV also tweeted that a staff member, Aziz Navin, was killed. The explosion damaged several embassies in the area, which houses diplomatic and government buildings and is a maze of concrete blast walls, vehicle barriers and armed security guards. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the "despicable" attack killed an Afghan guard from the German embassy, and added that some employees had been injured, though he did not give further details. He said the bomb had gone off "in the immediate vicinity" of the German embassy. France, India, Turkey, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria similarly reported damage to their embassies, including shattered windows, as the blast drew an avalanche of international condemnation. The White House issued a scathing statement condemning the "atrocious" attack. "That this attack would occur during the holy month of Ramadan underscores the senseless and barbaric nature of this attack," a White House spokesman said. Amnesty International said the bombing shows that the conflict in Afghanistan is "dangerously widening in a way that should alarm the international community". Germany was forced to postpone a scheduled deportation flight of rejected Afghan asylum-seekers in the wake of the attack. The European nation has drawn criticism for sending back Afghans to an increasingly dangerous country. Wednesday's blast was the latest in a string of attacks in Kabul. The province surrounding the capital had the highest number of casualties in the country in the first three months of 2017 due to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the White House is considering sending thousands more soldiers to break the deadlock in the battle against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 now, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies. They mainly serve in an advisory capacity -- a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. burs-emh-us-ac/mtp Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, faced fierce criticism in Taiwan after it reportedly banned cabin crew from wearing the island's flag on their uniforms due to pressure from China. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had lodged protests with Emirates in both Dubai and Taipei. The airline's cabin crew traditionally wear the flag pin of their own country on their uniforms. Cabin crew on Emirates traditionally wear their national flag pin on their uniforms - but a leaked internal email apparently from an Emirates manager ordered Taiwanese airline staff to replace the island's flag with a Chinese pin 'We have been instructed by the Chinese Government that with immediate effect, Emirates airline cabin crew are to follow the One China policy,' the email read But a leaked internal email, apparently from an Emirates manager and circulated by local media, ordered Taiwanese Emirates staff to replace the island's flag pin with a Chinese one. 'We have been instructed by the Chinese Government that with immediate effect, Emirates airline cabin crew are to follow the One China policy,' the email read. China still sees self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory waiting to be reunified. Tensions have rapidly worsened since Beijing-sceptic Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen took office last year. Beijing has stopped all official communication with Taipei, increased military drills and sought to isolate the island internationally. Beijing says Taiwan is part of 'one China', but Tsai refuses to acknowledge that concept. Her Beijing-friendly predecessor Ma Ying-jeou recognised the policy, which led to an unprecedented cross-strait rapprochement. The foreign ministry said it 'cannot accept' Emirates' decision. 'China is sparing no effort to suppress us on the international stage,' it added. Taiwanese Emirates workers were outraged by the move. Emirates later apologised in a follow-up internal message, asking Taiwanese crew to 'refrain' from wearing their flag pins until further notice, the report said 'My initial reaction was shock, indignation, and anger,' an employee at the airline told news website Taiwan Sentinel. Apple Daily cited an unnamed staff member who believed the decision was made because Emirates was seeking to add more Asia routes, especially in China. Angry social media users took to Emirates' Facebook page, flooding it with the Taiwanese flag in the comment section. 'Taiwan is Taiwan! How dare you force them to wear another (country's) flag. I along with many Taiwanese will never ride with this airline,' one comment said. The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union said Wednesday it hoped Emirates would 'respect the national identity of crew members from different countries and should not take a coercive or threatening approach'. According to Apple Daily, Taiwanese cabin crew on China flights were also requested to write 'Chinese' as their nationality rather than 'Taiwanese'. Emirates later apologised in a follow-up internal message, asking Taiwanese crew to 'refrain' from wearing their flag pins until further notice, the report said. The airline made no immediate comment when contacted by AFP. Emirates was also criticised last year when it asked Hong Kong cabin crew to wear the Chinese national flag as well as the semi-autonomous city's own emblem. The corpses of the three men were discovered about three miles away from northeast of military command in Mai Khaung village in Kachin State, where thousands of people have been displaced by recent fighting. Local activists and media reported the men had been tortured and stabbed before they were killed, citing local officials. "Responsible authorities started investigating on May 29th whether soldiers from military command were involed in the case," the office of the commander-in-chief said in a statement. Kachin activist Khon Ja said the men were from nearby internally displaced person (IDP) camps run by Christians. "They were last seen arrested by (the) Tatmadaw," she said, using another name for Myanmar's army. The military ran Myanmar for 50 brutal years, rife with rights abuses, including against the many ethnic minorities that have been battling the state since independence in 1948. Since handing over power to a quasi-civilian government in 2011 the army has been working to spruce up its image as the country opens up to foreign visitors and investors. Last year seven soldiers were sentenced to five years of hard labour for killing villagers during an interrogation, in a rare show of military accountability. The probe announcement comes the day after the end of peace talks between the government, army and dozens of ethnic insurgent groups. The talks, chaired by new civilian de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ended with a piecemeal agreement on some aspects of a new federal state but no substantial moves toward a nationwide ceasefire. Fighting in Myanmar's borderlands has reached its worst point in decades in recent months, sending tens of thousands fleeing their homes in Kachin and neighbouring Shan State. The army's announcement of an investigation also comes days after a video showing men in military uniforms viciously beating and threatening to kill handcuffed detainees sparked outrage on social media. The footage shows several men dressed in army uniform kicking and beating three handcuffed men, asking whether they belong to the Ta'ang National Liberation Army ethnic armed group. Demonstrators in Morocco's neglected northern Rif region hold pictures of arrested protest leader Nasser Zafzafi during a night-time rally in the city of Al-Hoceima on May 30, 2017 Several thousand people took to the streets in Morocco after dark on Tuesday to demand the release of the leader of months of protests in the neglected northern Rif region. The region has been shaken by social unrest since the death in October of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri, 31, who was crushed in a rubbish truck in the fishing port of Al-Hoceima as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season. Nasser Zefzafi, who has emerged as the head of the grassroots Popular Movement, was arrested on Monday after three days on the run. Demonstrators came out near the centre of Al-Hoceima for a fifth straight night at around 10 pm (2200 GMT), after the breaking of the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. The protesters shouted slogans including "We are all Zefzafi" and "End militarisation", with hundreds of them brandishing photographs of the detained leader. Anti-riot police attempted to disperse the protest, but pulled back following a tense but non-violent standoff with the demonstrators. A similar demonstration took place in the neighbouring town of Imzouren, with a strong police presence, images on social media showed. Demonstrators in Morocco's neglected northern Rif region crowd the streets of the northern city of Al-Hoceima on May 30, 2017 Smaller protests were held in the capital Rabat and the commercial capital Casablanca but were broken up by police, Moroccan media reported. Zefzafi's arrest was ordered after he allegedly interrupted a preacher at a mosque on Friday and called for further demonstrations. Prosecutors charged that he had "obstructed, in the company of a group of individuals, freedom of worship" at the mosque in Al-Hoceima. He was arrested on Monday "along with other individuals" and transferred to Casablanca, prosecutors said. As of Monday evening police had arrested 40 people in connection with the disturbances in Al-Hoceima, according to officials. Human rights groups gave higher figures. The mainly ethnically Berber Rif region has long had a tense relationship with Morocco's central authorities, and was at the heart of Arab Spring-inspired protests in 2011. Demonstrators in Morocco's neglected northern Rif region crowd the streets of the city of Al-Hoceima on May 30, 2017, gathering for a fifth straight day The protests subsided following a series of political reforms including constitutional changes that saw King Mohamed VI give up some of his wide-ranging powers. A Sri Lankan child and man rest at a relief camp after being evacuated following flooding Sri Lanka that killed more than 200 people Sri Lanka pledged Wednesday to tighten construction laws as the toll from heavy rains rose to 203, saying many landslide victims would have survived had their homes not been built on slopes. The government will also prosecute anyone violating existing rules by building on landslide-prone slopes, said Disaster Management Minister Anura Yapa. "If we don't stop this madness, we are going to end up with a bigger disaster very soon," he said, pledging to demolish all illegal structures including 10,000 in the capital alone. "About 30 to 40 percent of this disaster is due to illegal constructions," Yapa said. "The local councils should never have allowed homes to be built on (landslide-prone) mountain slopes." More than 1,500 homes were destroyed and another 7,600 suffered structural damage in landslides triggered by heavy rain on Friday, according to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC). As the official death toll rose to 203 with another 96 still missing, Yapa said residents in the worst-hit Ratnapura and Kalutara districts had ignored persistent warnings to evacuate. "We have a cultural issue where people don't accept that they are at risk," Yapa said. "We are also considering laws to force people to leave when evacuation warnings are issued by the DMC." The minister said decades of illegal construction had worsened the flooding by blocking drains and eliminating natural rainwater stores, including marshland. More than 600,000 people remain temporarily homeless after the landslides and floods, the worst to hit the island in 14 years. As the waters recede, hundreds of volunteers have begun work on cleaning wells to bring fresh water to survivors, officials said. Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said additional medical teams were also being deployed to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases. Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had rushed relief supplies and medicine to assist those driven from their homes following Friday's monsoon deluge. "We also have a lot of enquiries from other countries and organisations wanting to know our immediate needs. We are moved by the spontaneous response," Karunanayake told reporters. India and Pakistan also deployed medical teams on the ground in some of the worst-hit areas, he said. The flooding is the worst since May 2003 when 250 people were killed and 10,000 homes destroyed after a similarly powerful monsoon, officials said. Monsoon rains last year also caused flooding and landslides, killing more than 100 people. The second round of voting in Nepal's first local elections in 20 years has been postponed until June 28 Nepal on Wednesday postponed local elections for a third time after its tiny Muslim community expressed concerns about the polls clashing with the holy month of Ramadan. The elections -- the first at local level in 20 years and a key step in Nepal's drawn-out peace process that ended a civil war in 2006 -- have been beset by delays. They were originally supposed to be held on one day but were split into two phases upon objections from the Madhesi, a minority group living along the border with India. The first phase went ahead in mid-May but the second was delayed earlier this week in an attempt by the government to appease Madhesi parties threatening to boycott the process. The government has now been forced to push back the date a third time to avoid a clash with the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. "The government has decided to postpone the polls to June 28 upon the request of the Muslim community, because June 23 was a major event of the Ramadan festival," Kumar Khadka, a government minister, told AFP. Muslims make up little more than four percent of the population in Hindu-majority Nepal. The new date puts the polls at the height of the monsoon season, raising further concerns that voters in remote areas could struggle to reach polling stations. The monsoon in Nepal lasts for nearly three months from early June to late August, and travel is frequently disrupted. Chronic underinvestment and poor maintenance has left the impoverished Himalayan nation with a limited network of paved roads. Many remote villages are served only by trails, which are often impassable during the monsoon when landslides are common. The government acknowledged the threat posed by poor weather but assured voters that long-term forecasts had been consulted ahead of the decision. "The only challenge to delaying the polls is the monsoon. But according to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal the department of meteorology informed him that the monsoon will not be strong until June 28 this year," Khadka said. Rohingya refugee children fix the damaged roof of a hut in a makeshift camp in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district on May 30, 2017 Aid workers warned Wednesday of an "acute crisis" in Bangladesh after a cyclone destroyed thousands of homes and devastated camps housing Rohingya refugees, leaving many without food or shelter. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya live in the overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar on the southeast coast after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar. Cyclone Mora battered the area on Tuesday, killing seven people, destroying 20,000 homes and forcing the evacuation of 600,000 residents. India's Navy said it had pulled 33 Bangladeshi survivors and a body from the Bay of Bengal Wednesday during search and rescue operations following the cyclone. Some of the worst damage was at the camps housing the 300,000 Rohingya, whose numbers swelled last year following a military crackdown on the stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. "There is an acute crisis of food, shelter, health services, water and sanitation facilities in the makeshift settlements following the storm," said Sanjukta Sahany, local head of the International Organisation for Migration which coordinates relief in some of the camps. "The drainage and toilet system have been fully broken," she told AFP. - Risk of disease - Sahany said the storm had destroyed or damaged at least 16,010 homes in the makeshift camps and also seriously damaged clinics run by aid agencies for the Rohingya and the local community. Aid workers scrambled to get food to the camps, which house around 300,000 Rohingya, many of whom were observing the Ramadan fast when the cyclone struck. "We are also repairing community structures and schools so that families that are sleeping in the open can move inside until their sheds can be repaired," said John McKissick, who heads the Cox's Bazar office of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Rohingya refugees walk next to huts in a makeshift camp in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district after Cyclone Mora made landfall in the region Refugees have said they were given no official warning of the storm and were unable to salvage stockpiles of food for the breaking of the fast when it hit. "No charities came to offer food. Some people shared a small piece of bread between a group of four," community leader Mohammad Rafique Habib told AFP. "Pregnant women, children and the elderly are suffering most." Abdul Matin, who lives in a camp for unregistered Rohingya refugees, told AFP many had crowded into schools and mosques for the night, while others were forced to sleep in the open. Haji Abdus Salam, who lives in Nayapara camp with his 13 children, two wives and 10 grand-children, said the family had not eaten since Tuesday. Outside the camps, Bangladeshi authorities say 20,000 homes were destroyed and another 39,000 damaged by the cyclone, which brought winds of up to 135 kilometres (84 miles) per hour. The charity Save the Children said it was particularly concerned about the impact on minors. "Making matters worse, there is also an increased risk of disease, especially for those living in temporary or basic housing and with poor water and sanitation facilities," said country director Mark Pierce. Bangladesh had earlier evacuated nearly 600,000 people from vulnerable areas and many low-lying villages were inundated by a storm surge reaching four feet (1.3 metres). Most have since returned to their homes. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told parliament her government's swift response, coupled with the fact that the cyclone made landfall during an ebb tide, had averted disaster. Hasina has said her government would rebuild all property damaged by the storm and has sent two Bangladesh Navy ships to two of the worst-hit areas. Bangladeshi villagers and their livestock evacuate to a storm shelter on the coast in Cox's Bazar district It was not immediately clear how the 33 rescued on Wednesday came to be in the sea, although some reports said they may have been swept from the shore. The Fishing Boat Association said an estimated 200 fishermen had failed to return to port. They were thought to be stranded, or to have anchored, on far-flung islands. Cyclone Mora comes after heavy rains in Sri Lanka caused the worst flooding the island has seen in well over a decade, killing more than 200 people. South Asia is frequently hit by flooding in the summer with the arrival of the annual monsoon rains. The equestrian daughter of South Korea's 'Rasputin', whose lavish lifestyle in Europe was allegedly funded by millions of dollars in bribes, returned home today to face questioning. Chung Yoo-Ra is the daughter of Choi Soon-Sil, the close confidante of impeached ex-president Park Geun-Hye and the woman at the heart of the scandal which toppled Park. Choi - dubbed 'the female Rasputin' for her strong influence over Park - is on trial along with the former-president. Chung Yoo-Ra (pictured today) is the daughter of Choi Soon-Sil, the close confidante of impeached ex-president Park Geun-Hye and the woman at the heart of the scandal which toppled Park Prosecutors say cash for 20-year-old Chung's equestrian training came from electronics giant Samsung, which had handed over the money as part of an attempt to curry favour with her powerful mother. Chung, who was arrested by Danish police in January for overstaying her visa, dropped her appeal against extradition from Denmark last week. She was arrested on a Korean Air flight from Amsterdam early Wednesday and was escorted off the plane at Incheon by a team of prosecutors to face a handful of journalists and television cameras. She is accused of receiving bribes from Samsung, illegally moving money abroad and violating South Korean laws on the handling of foreign currency during her stay in Europe. 'I thought it was best to tell my side of the story and resolve the misunderstandings,' said Chung, 20, adding she had no knowledge of the 'special treatment' she allegedly received. 'I know nothing about what went on between my mother and the former president, but I feel I was wronged.' Park was kicked out of office in March amid public disgust at the influence of money on South Korean politics. Park was kicked out of office in March amid public disgust at the influence of money on South Korean politics Park and Choi are on trial for allegedly accepting or seeking millions of dollars in bribes from the country's huge conglomerates, including Samsung. Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong is being tried separately while Shin Dong-Bin -- the chairman of retail giant Lotte, the South's fifth-biggest conglomerate -- also stands accused. The spiralling investigation has now caught up with Chung, who was also allegedly granted a place at the prestigious Ewha Womans University and given top grades thanks to her mother's intervention. In highly competitive South Korea, admission to one of a handful of elite universities is seen as vital to a student's future and any perceived unfairness in the procedure sparks anger. Following months of protest by Ewha students, the school cancelled Chung's admission. 'I never attended classes so I accept the cancellation of my admission,' said Chung, who is also accused by prosecutors of obstructing business at the school. Choi - dubbed 'the female Rasputin' for her strong influence over Park - is on trial along with the former-president 'I don't even know what my major is and I never wanted to go to university so I have nothing to say about it but I'm sorry,' she added, before being taken to Seoul Prosecutors' Office for questioning. Prosecutors said Wednesday they intend to seek a seven-year jail term for Choi for her involvement in Chung's illicit admission, while they said the former dean of Ewha - who has been arrested - could serve five years in prison. Sentencing for Choi on this charge was set for June 23. Choi could face decades in jail if convicted of other charges against her in a separate trial. These include abuse of power, coercion and bribery. Choi told a court Wednesday she hoped people would forgive her daughter, saying: 'Yoo-Ra is not such a bad person. I hope people forgive her so that she may live the rest of her life in a right manner.' Cosy and corrupt ties between South Korea's business and political elites have endured for decades. But the trial of Park and Choi could shed new light on the links between Park and the bosses of the family-run conglomerates that dominate Asia's fourth-biggest economy. Two Filipino seamen who mysteriously disappeared or died in separate incidents on a Japanese coal ship in Australian waters were killed, a coroner ruled Wednesday Two Filipino seamen who mysteriously disappeared or died in separate incidents on a Japanese coal ship in Australian waters were killed, a coroner ruled Wednesday. In 2012 Cesar Llanto, 42, chief chef on the Sage Sagittarius, vanished as it steamed to Newcastle on Australia's east coast. Some 15 days later, chief engineer Hector Collado, 55, fell to his death from a deck. The New South Wales state Coroner's Court found they were victims of "foul play", following an 18-month inquest. "Mr Llanto was either thrown overboard or killed on the MV Sage Sagittarius and his body disposed of at a later time, by a person or persons unknown," said coroner Sharon Freund. Collado's death was from "multiple injuries which I am satisfied he sustained as a result of being struck over the head by some kind of weapon or instrument by a person or persons unknown and then he was either thrown over the handrail outside the storeroom on the second deck or fell over the handrail to his death". "In my view it would be an extraordinary coincidence if the person(s) who caused Mr Llantos death were not also responsible for Mr Collados death," she added. Less than a month after Collado was killed, a Japanese policeman investigating Llanto's disappearance was crushed by a conveyor belt while the ship was docked in a Japanese port. His death was outside of the NSW coroner's jurisdiction but was a consideration in the investigation of the other men. The Sage Sagittarius is a large carrier used to ship coal between Australia and Japan. At the time of the incidents 25 crew were aboard, all Filipino men. Freund found a culture of bullying and mistrust aboard the vessel, describing the leadership of Captain Venancio Salas Junior, who sold guns to crew members, as "unorthodox". The captain admitted assaulting one seaman who had been regularly humiliated for being gay. The inquest said it was hampered by the crew's reluctance to speak out, fearing for their safety or jobs. "The crew where aware that the police interviewing them could not offer them any adequate protection if they either returned to the vessel or returned to Manila," the coroner said. "It is abundantly clear from the evidence gathered for this inquest that a number of crew members did not disclose everything they knew to authorities." Freund made several recommendations, including establishing a joint group of national and state police and maritime authorities to better investigate crimes on foreign vessels. The findings will be handed to Japanese police to help their probe into their officer's death. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (right) poses with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi moments before a meeting in Madrid on May 31, 2017 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged Spanish firms to invest in India, saying the fast-growing country's massive infrastructure programme offered them "many opportunities". "India is an enormous country and it offers many opportunities to Spanish firms in all sectors," he said before holding talks with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Madrid. The two countries notably signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of cyber security during Modi's visit as well as a prisoner exchange agreement. Spanish firms are well positioned to take advantage of a massive infrastructure programme which his government has launched, Modi said in an interview published in Spanish business daily Expansion. India plans to build six large ports, 250 new airports and 27,000 kilometres (16,800 miles) of highway, and modernise 400 train stations by 2025, he said. The country has also bet strongly on renewable energy. As a signatory to the Paris Agreement on climate change, India is committed to ensuring that at least 40 percent of its electricity will be generated from non-fossil-fuel sources by 2030. "Spanish firms are global leaders in sectors that are a priority for us. We want to attract tourism, infrastructure, energy and defence firms," he told the newspaper. After holding talks with Rajoy, Modi met with the heads of top Spanish firms behind closed doors to encourage them to explore investment opportunities in India, the world's fastest-growing major economy. Renewable energy groups Abengoa and Gamesa, infrastructure firm Acciona, train maker Talgo, state-owned shipbuilder Navantia and technology company Indra were among the firms represented. Modi, who arrived in Spain late on Tuesday from Germany, his first stop on a four-nation Europe tour, also met with King Felipe VI before departing for Russia. His tour also leads him to France -- but not to former colonial power Britain. Britain, which is set to leave the EU by 2019, wants to boost trade with India, which is meanwhile also trying to revive stalled, decade-old trade talks with the EU. Spain is India's seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. Two-way trade totalled 4.72 billion euros ($5.27 billion) in 2016, an 8.5 percent increase over the previous year, of which Spanish exports made up nearly 1.26 billion euros. The number of Spanish firms that operate in India has risen to over 230 currently from just 70 in 2008. "Our bilateral relations are becoming more and more intense. I hope this visit spurs deeper ties between our two countries," Rajoy said. It was the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Spain since the late Narashima Rao travel to the country in 1992. Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign against IS group in Syria since 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad and has a naval contingent deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster its firepower A Russian warship and submarine have fired cruise missiles at Islamic State group targets around Palmyra in Syria from the Mediterranean, Moscow said Wednesday, the first such strikes announced in months. The frigate Admiral Essen and submarine Krasnodar carried out four strikes against military hardware and fighters from the jihadist group who had left its de-facto capital Raqa, the Russian military said in a statement. "All the targets were hit," the statement said, without specifying when the strikes happened. Moscow said that the US, Turkish and Israeli military "were informed in a timely manner of the missile launches through existing communication channels." President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the successful strikes by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Kremlin said. Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign since 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad and has a naval contingent deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster its firepower. Moscow has, however, not announced any strikes from the sea in recent months as it focuses on pushing a fragile truce between the government and rebels. Islamic State is not included in the ceasefire. Wounded Afghan women at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul that killed scores of people on May 31, 2017 A massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quater on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people and wounding over 300. Here are some of the worst attacks in the Afghan capital over the past year and a half: - 2016 - - January 20: A Taliban suicide bomber rams his car into a minibus belonging to television channel Tolo, killing seven of its employees, in the first major attack on the Afghan media. - February 1: Twenty police officers are killed and 29 people injured in a Taliban suicide attack on a police base in Kabul. - February 27: A suicide bomber blows himself up outside the defence ministry, killing 12 in an attack claimed by the Taliban. - April 19: A truck bomb followed by a shootout leaves 64 people dead and more than 340 injured in central Kabul in a Taliban-claimed attack. - May 25: Ten people are killed in a Taliban suicide attack targeting a minibus carrying court employees in a western Kabul suburb. - June 20: Fourteen Nepalese security guards employed by Western embassies are killed on the outskirts of Kabul, in a Taliban assault. - June 30: A double suicide attack by the Taliban against a convoy of police recruits leaves 30 dead. - July 23: Islamic State jihadists claim responsibility for twin explosions that rips through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 400. - August 25: Sixteen people are killed after militants storm the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, in a nearly 10-hour raid that was not claimed. - September 5: A double Taliban attack near the defence ministry leaves 41 dead and more than a hundred injured. Overnight a third attack, which was not claimed, targets aid group CARE International in central Kabul. Six are injured. - October 12: Islamic State claim responsibility for an attack on a shrine that kills at least 18 people gathering to mark Ashura, one of the most important Shiite festivals. - October 19: Two Americans including a civilian are killed when a gunman opens fire near a NATO base in Kabul, with Afghan officials calling it an "insider attack". - November 21: A massive suicide blast targeting Shiites kills at least 27 people and wounds 64 at a Kabul mosque in another sectarian attack claimed by IS. - 2017 - - January 10: Twin blasts near the Afghan parliament kill 38 people and wound 86. - February 7: A suicide bomb rips through a crowd of Supreme Court employees, killing at least 20 and wounding 41. No group claims responsibility. - March 1: Sixteen people are killed in simultaneous Taliban suicide assaults on two security compounds. - March 8: Gunmen disguised as doctors storm Afghanistan's largest military hospital in a six-hour attack officially claimed by IS. The official death toll is 50 but security sources and survivors say it exceeded 100. - May 3: A powerful blast targeting a foreign forces convoy near the US embassy and NATO headquarters kills at least eight people and wounds 28 during morning rush hour. - May 31: At least 80 people are killed and hundreds wounded when a massive truck bomb rips through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, shattering windows hundreds of metres away. The Geneva-based human rights council voted in March to create a Myanmar fact-finding mission, in a politically sensitive move that faced fierce resistance from the civilian-led government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The mission was ordered to "urgently" investigate abuses reportedly committed by the security forces, particularly in Rakhine state where troops have been accused of raping, torturing and murdering members of the Rohingya community. Decorated Indian lawyer and women's rights campaigner, Indira Jaising, Sri Lanka's former human rights chief Radhika Coomaraswamy and Christopher Dominic Sidoti, a prominent human rights advocate from Australia, were appointed to lead the probe. The group is scheduled to meet soon in Geneva to chart a work plan, a rights council statement said. But it is not yet clear if they will be granted access to Rakhine, or even be permitted to land in Myanmar. Speaking in Brussels earlier this month, Suu Kyi made clear that her government had "disassociated" itself from the resolution setting up the probe, calling it out of touch "with what is actually happening on the ground." The north of Rakhine state has been under lockdown since October, when the military launched a campaign to hunt down Rohingya militants who staged deadly attacks on police posts. Some 100,000 people from the Muslim minority were displaced by the violence, most of them fleeing to Bangladesh. An earlier UN rights office report based on testimony from Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said Myanmar's security forces may be guilty of crimes against humanity. Myanmar has rebuffed those charges and has refused to allow international observers into the area. The rights council called on the government to give investigators "full, unrestricted and unmonitored access to all areas". Matthew Smith, who heads the Fortify Rights watchdog in Bangkok which closely tracks the Rakhine situation, told AFP the government had "no defensible reason to not cooperate with this mission." He said investigators appointed Tuesday were a strong team thats certainly up to the task. The mission is scheduled to give the rights council an oral update of their findings in September. Bangladeshi villagers evacuate to cyclone shelters on the coast in Cox's Bazar district An Indian navy ship has plucked 33 people and a body from rough seas off Bangladesh, officials said Wednesday, a day after Cyclone Mora battered coastal areas with violent winds and rain that left six dead. The INS Sumitra found the survivors, including women and children, floating in the Bay of Bengal roughly 160 kilometres (100 miles) off the coast of Chittagong. "Our navy have found 33 survivors and one dead body from the sea. They were floating in the waters when they were found," Dhaka's Indian High Commission spokesman Ranjan Mondol said. The Indian embassy's Facebook page showed pictures of survivors floating in the Bay of Bengal as well as of rescued people covererd in blankets. Eastern Naval Command spokesman Commander C.G. Raju said the rescued Bangladeshis were given medical treatment. "We are planning to send a rescue aircraft to look out for more survivors," he told AFP. Cyclone Mora smashed into Bangladesh's coastline around Cox's Bazar district early Tuesday, packing winds up to 135 kilometres per hour (83 mph). Officials said the cyclone killed at least seven people, including the person found by the Indian Navy, and destroyed or damaged more than 20,000 homes. Nearly 600,000 residents have been evacuated from coastal areas. The Indian Navy had reportedly kept its Eastern Fleet on the highest alert level to assist Bangladesh if needed. As the cyclone advanced on Bangladesh, local authorities increased the maritime threat to its highest level and ordered all fishing vessels to remain at port. The Fishing Boat Association said an estimated 200 fishermen had not returned to port since the cyclone slammed into the coast. "We think they could be stranded or have anchored in far-flung islands or villages," association secretary Abdul Khalek told AFP. In the past many fishermen reported missing during cyclones return to their villages after the storm has subsided. The Bangladeshi navy has said it was sending ships to assist the tens of thousands affected by the cyclone, and to comb the seas for any stranded survivors. "Our ships are also actively working on search and rescue operations in the region," said Taposhi Rabeya, a spokeswoman at the armed forces division. Indian attendants use a trolley to move the body of Irish tourist Danielle McLaughlin from the mortuary at Goa Medical College at Bambolim in Goa from where it will be transported to Ireland, after her murder in the western Indian state Relatives of 10 foreigners alleged to have been murdered in Goa, including British teenager Scarlett Keeling, have written to India's prime minister demanding an investigation into what they claim are cover-ups by police. Minna Pirhonen -- the mother of Finnish national Felix Dahl, who was found dead in the tourist state in January 2015 -- said Wednesday that the families had couriered a letter to Narendra Modi's office last week. In it they demand an "unbiased and independent" probe by India's Supreme Court, the highest judicial body, into the Goa police's handling of the 10 deaths that all occurred since 2005. "The quality of the work of the police in Goa should be investigated. Instead of investigating the murders and killings, the local police want to cover up the truth," read the letter, a copy of which has been seen by AFP. The open letter, dated May 21, claims the investigation "is needed to reveal the connections between the locals, the police in Goa, drug mafia and politicians and their involvement in the deaths of tourists and locals in Goa". The deaths of several foreigners in Goa over the last decade or so, many in suspicious circumstances or from drug or alcohol abuse, have blighted the picturesque state's reputation as a tourist haven. The most high profile was that of 15-year-old Keeling, whose bruised and semi-naked body was found in shallow water on a beach in 2008. Her case made international headlines and cast a spotlight on the seedy side of Goa. It also drew attention to India's sluggish justice system. Last September, eight years after Keeling's death, two Indian men were cleared of raping and murdering her. Police initially dismissed her death as an accidental drowning but opened a murder investigation after Keeling's mother, Fiona MacKeown, pushed for a second autopsy. That further examination proved her daughter had drugs in her system and had been sexually assaulted, and revealed Keeling had suffered more than 50 injuries. Pirhonen, whose22-year-old son Felix was found with skull wounds and whose death was attributed to an accidental fall by local police, signed the letter on behalf of relatives of nine other victims, including Keeling. The others were Caitanya Holt, James Durkin, Kyle Arndt, Denyse Sweeney, Stephen Bennett, Martin Neighbour, Michael Harvey and Jonathan Burbank. A right to information request revealed last month that 245 foreign tourists have died in Goa over the past 12 years, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. Deaths are often classified as accidental -- usually drowning -- or natural. In 2016, Goa police said Holt, an American, had died when he fell into a rice paddy and inhaled muddy water while being chased by locals. In March, the body of 28-year-old Danielle McLaughlin, a dual British-Irish citizen, was discovered naked in a field. Police have charged 23-year-old Indian man Vikat Bhagat with her rape and murder. Goa police and tourism officials were not immediately available for comment on the letter to Modi. Priyanka Chopra has hit back at critics who accused her of being disrespectful for wearing a knee-length dress in her meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra hit back at critics Wednesday for trying to shame her over a dress she wore during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The actress was accused of "disrespecting" the prime minister by wearing a knee-length dress revealing her lower legs during an audience with Modi in Berlin. Chopra was attacked on social media by critics who found the outfit unsuitable for the occasion, with many offended the 34-year-old star had not chosen to wear Indian attire. But the star of the hit American spy thriller "Quantico" was unapologetic, hitting back with a photo showing her and her mother wearing short dresses with the caption "legs for days....#itsthegenes". The former Miss World describes herself as a "strong-willed feminist" who has campaigned to close the gender pay gap in Bollywood and change attitudes towards women in her home country. "For so many years women were told to act a certain way, to dress a certain way, to think a certain way, even not to think at all," Chopra told AFP in an interview last year. "People misconstrue the word feminism. It is not hating men, or making men small. It is just saying, 'We want our independence to make our own choices the way men have done for so long.'" Chopra has been landing bigger roles in Hollywood since boosting her international profile through "Quantico". The actress has been cast as a villain in the newly-released "Baywatch" film. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte angrily hit back Wednesday at Chelsea Clinton for criticising remarks he made about rape, using vulgar language while referring to her father's infidelities as American president. Duterte on Friday told soldiers they could rape up to three women, in a speech aimed at reassuring them of his full support as they enforced his newly imposed martial law on the south of the Philippines. "Not funny. Ever," wrote the daughter of ex-US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton on her Twitter account. In a second post she wrote: "Duterte is a murderous thug with no regard for human rights. It's important to keep pointing that out & that rape is never a joke." At the end of a long speech to naval officers and their families on Wednesday, Duterte said he was just being sarcastic as he took aim at people who criticised his rape remarks but particularly Clinton. "These whores, they hear 'rape'. Like, like Chelsea, she slammed me. I was not joking, I was being sarcastic. Listen to the speech. I do not laugh at my own jokes," said Duterte, 72. "I will tell her, when your father, the president of the United States, was screwing Lewinsky and the girls in the White House, how did you feel? Did you slam your father?" Duterte was referring to Bill Clinton's acknowledged affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Duterte then accused American soldiers of raping women in the Philippines and Japan, without giving details, before returning to Clinton. "You Americans, like Chelsea, be careful because you live in a glass house," he said, as he asked the Clinton scion what her reaction was when she first heard of the Lewinsky scandal. Duterte, who uses profanities regularly, also attracted controversy last year when during an election campaign speech he said he had wanted to rape a "beautiful" Australian missionary who had been murdered in a Philippine prison riot. The Australian and American ambassadors to Manila voiced their disapproval at those comments, but Duterte reacted furiously then while insisting he had been taken out of context. Duterte also frequently launches obscenity-filled tirades against critics of his drug war, which has seen thousands of people killed and led to warnings from rights groups that he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity. Duterte last year called then US president Barack Obama a "son of a whore" for criticising the drug war. Kenyan police have been warned to expect more attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began last week Seven police officers and a civilian were killed when an armoured vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in southeastern Kenya, a week after 14 others died in similar attacks claimed by Shabaab Islamists, a police source said Wednesday. "It's unfortunate, we lost all the seven officers who were in the vehicle," a senior police officer in the coastal Lamu district near the Somali border, told AFP. "All the bodies were found scattered in the thicket possibly thrown out on impact." A police report seen by AFP noted that "seven administration police officers and one civilian died" as a result of the explosion. It was not clear whether the civilian was in or near the vehicle at the time of the explosion. Last week 14 officers were killed in three separate blasts involving roadside bombs in different regions of northeastern Kenya along the border with Somalia. The Shabaab, a Somali-led jihadist group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for those attacks. Inspector General Joseph Boinnet of the Kenyan police warned that more such attacks were likely during the holy month of Ramadan. Since 2007, the Shabaab has fought to overthrow successive internationally-backed governments in Somalia but began attacking Kenya in 2011 after Nairobi ordered its troops into Somalia to fight the militants. Kenyan soldiers are now part of a 22,000-member African Union mission fighting there. In 2013, Shabaab gunmen raided a shopping mall in the capital Nairobi killing 67 people, and in 2015 a similar attack on a university in Garissa left 148 dead. US President Donald Trump meets Bahrain's King Hamad in Saudi Arabia on May 21, 2017 A Bahraini court dissolved a secular opposition party on Wednesday, a judicial official said, as authorities in the Gulf state kept up a crackdown on dissent. The decision by the administrative court, just months after the main party representing the kingdom's Shiite majority was also banned, was swiftly condemned by human rights groups. The justice ministry had requested the dissolution of the National Democratic Action Society (Waed) in March. It accused the party of "serious violations of the principle of respect for the rule of law", "support of terrorism" and "promotion of political change by force." Bahrain has been rocked by unrest since 2011, when its Sunni minority rulers crushed Shiite-led protests demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister. Last week, police shot dead five demonstrators in the home village of the spiritual leader of the kingdom's Shiite majority. The Sunni left-leaning former head of Waed, Ibrahim Sharif, was released from prison last July after serving a one-year sentence for incitement against the government. He had already served four years of a five-year sentence over the 2011 protests before being released under a royal amnesty in June 2015. Last year, a court ordered the dissolution of the country's main opposition party, Al-Wefaq, for "harbouring terrorism". Its leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, has been behind bars since 2014. Shiite Al-Wefaq was the largest bloc in Bahrain's elected lower house of parliament. Its members resigned en masse in protest against the state crackdown on the 2011 protests. Amnesty International said dissolving Waed was a "flagrant attack on freedom of expression and association." "By banning major political opposition groups, Bahrain is now heading towards total suppression of human rights," the director of research at its Beirut office, Lynn Maalouf, said. The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said Western inaction was emboldening the authorities to intensify their crackdown on dissent. "Shutting down the last opposition party is a declaration of a de facto ban on all opposition," its director of advocacy, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, said. "This was allowed to happen because Bahrain feels zero geopolitical and international pressure from 'champions of democracy' in the West." Tiny but strategic Bahrain, which lies just across the Gulf from Iran, is a key regional ally of the United States and home to its Fifth Fleet. Manama has come under frequent criticism from international human rights groups and the administration of Barack Obama often criticised Bahraini authorities for not doing more to reconcile with the opposition. However President Donald Trump made a clear break from that policy during a visit to the region earlier this month, telling Bahrain's King Hamad in neighbouring Saudi Arabia "there won't be strain with this administration". Saudi Arabian King Salman may not tweet often, but he gets a bigger response than Donald Trump's regular posts Donald Trump may be lighting up Twitter with strange new words and attacks on allies but in the battle for most attention per tweet the US president is losing. The world leader whose original tweets generate the most retweets is Saudi Arabia's King Salman, according the latest "Twiplomacy" study by communications firm Burson-Martsteller. In terms of output, there is no contest: the Saudi king only tweeted 10 times during the period covered by the study -- April 2016 to May 20 of this year. But those 10 tweets were each retweeted more than 147,000 times on average, dwarfing Trump's 13,100 average retweets per tweet, said the study, the sixth of its kind by Burson-Martsteller. "He (King Salman) posts exclusively in Arabic and without any visuals, but every tweet is a digital home run," said the report, which was based on analysis of 856 official and personal Twitter accounts of leaders in 178 countries. Retweets are only one measure of influence on the social media platform and Trump is gaining ground elsewhere. With the internet poking fun at his use of the word "covfefe" in a post on Wednesday, which followed his assertion on Twitter that US-German trade was "very bad" for Americans, the report found that @realDonaldTrump could be the most followed world leader account by August. Pope Francis is currently in the lead with a combined 33,716,301 followers over his nine language accounts. Trump lags by about 3.5 million followers but his account has grown by 5.7 percent per month during the US election and start of his presidency, putting him on track to overtake the pontiff, the report said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood in third place with 30,058,659 followers. For all of the news that Trump has generated on Twitter, Burson-Martsteller found that other leaders rarely engage with him on the platform. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Marshall Islands leader Hilda Heine and Puerto Rico's governor Ricky Rossello and the only three who have directly addressed @realDonaldTrump, the report said. The pope and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have however engaged with Trump via subtweets, a form of posting typically used for criticism, it added. British Prime Minister Theresa May meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Nayef in Riyadh on April 4, 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May held talks with Saudi officials on Tuesday, hoping to tap the oil-rich kingdom's "immense potential" as she looks to secure post-Brexit investment and trade. May has come under harsh criticism over her Saudi visit, facing calls at home to raise rights issues with local leaders. The visit also comes less than a week after Britain officially started a two-year countdown for quitting the European Union. May has said that economic issues were a priority on her trip, but maintains she will not shy away from addressing "hard issues" on foreign visits. The British premier on Tuesday met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the country's interior minister and first in line to the throne, and discussed "joint cooperation in combating extremism and fighting terrorism", state news agency SPA said. She is scheduled to meet King Salman on Wednesday. May began her three-day Middle East tour on Monday in Amman, where she touted cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group. Jordan and Britain are part of the US-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes and supporting local forces against IS in Syria and Iraq since mid-2014. May has said she would be looking to use the "immense potential for Saudi investment to provide a boost to the British economy" during her trip to the region. Britain is looking to strike new trade deals as it prepares to leave the EU, with a major focus on longtime partners such as the energy-rich Gulf states. Qatar, a longtime investor in Britain, announced plans last month to invest 5 billion ($6.23 billion/5.8 billion euros) within five years. Saudi Arabia is Britain's largest trading partner in the Middle East, with exports of more than 6.5 billion in British goods and services to the country in 2015. Riyadh is also looking at boosting its foreign investments as part of a long-term plan known as "Vision 2030", which aims to diversify the economy and reduce dependence on oil revenues. - Call to halt arms sales - May came under fire ahead of the visit, with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn demanding she raise concerns about "the dictatorial Saudi monarchy's shocking human rights record". He called on Britain to halt arms sales to Riyadh immediately and to push for a ceasefire in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has for two years led a Gulf military campaign against Iran-backed Huthi rebels. More than 7,700 civilians have been killed and a further 42,500 wounded since the start of the campaign, according to the United Nations. Seven million Yemenis face starvation. Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for an end to arms sales from Britain and the United States to Saudi Arabia over the coalition's actions in the Arabian Peninsula state. Saudi Arabia has bought more than $5 billion (4.7 billion euros) worth of arms from the US and Britain, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank. - 'Woman's role in society' - May, who eschewed the local custom of women wearing headscarves in public upon arriving in Riyadh, has also faced questions around her stance on women's rights in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia -- the only country where women are not allowed to drive. She has said she hopes to be an example of the role women could play in any society. "I hope that people see me as a woman leader, will see what women can achieve and how women can be in significant positions," May told the BBC ahead of her trip. Rania Nashar, chief executive of Samba Financial Group, with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Riyadh on April 4, 2017 May on Tuesday met Sarah al-Suhaimi, head of the Saudi stock exchange Tadawul. Suhaimi, also CEO of NCB Capital, is the first women to head a Saudi investment bank. On Wednesday, May is slated to meet Princess Reema bint Bandar, head of the women's section at the General Authority for Sports. Saudi Arabia recently announced it planned to increase women's participation in the workforce from 22 to 28 percent by 2020. Local media outlets have also reported that the kingdom will open women-only gyms. burs-mm-ny/srm A 'disgruntled' ex-employee of a Saudi private school shot dead two staff members and injured a third, the school's chairman said. The rare shooting happened at Kingdom School, which is owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Police were hunting a suspect of Iraqi origin, a security source told AFP, describing the man as a teacher. The rare shooting happened at Kingdom School, which is owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal The man 'who was dismissed from the school four years ago on the basis of anger issues and an unstable personality' opened fire at the administration offices, Talal Al Maiman, the school chairman, said in a statement. Maiman gave no further details of the victims or suspect but called the gunman 'disgruntled'. There were no children present at the time. The security source identified the victims as a Saudi and a person of Palestinian heritage. 'A teacher took a gun and then he went to the school room and he killed the assistant school principal and one of the employees,' said the source who asked not to be identified because a formal statement would come later from Riyadh police. Investigators were treating the case as a criminal matter and 'not a terrorist incident,' the source said. Saudi media spoke of 'disagreements' between the suspect and victims. 'There has been a shooting at Kingdom School in Riyadh,' the US embassy said in a Twitter post, urging people to avoid the area. 'School (is) closed, no children present,' it added. By late afternoon an AFP photographer observed only one police car entering the school grounds, which were quiet. Most schools in Saudi Arabia are on holiday. Nobody answered the school's main phone line, and mobile numbers listed in the school handbook were either off or unanswered. Kingdom School is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co. whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner. The school, which has several buildings, opened in 2000 and offers boys' and girls' education from kindergarten to high school, according to its website. The school has both a Saudi curriculum and an international programme leading to an American diploma. Kingdom Holding says on its website that the schools group has more than 4,000 students and 300 teachers at various locations in Riyadh. Since 2014 ISIS has claimed bombings and shootings that killed dozens in Saudi Arabia, targeting minority Shiites and members of the security forces. But criminal shootings with multiple victims are unusual. In February last year a teacher reportedly killed six people at an education department office in the southern region of Jazan. Valar Morghulis. (And spoilers, obviously.) Creator HansoArt says, "All the characters were drawn with hand by me, I really have no a clue, but I'd say took 150 hours to do all of this." In related Game of Thrones news: This Los Angeles Times story on the forthcoming season 7 describes it as "an unlikely tale of female empowerment." Protestors hold berber flags during a demonstration against corruption, repression and unemployment in Morocco's northern city of al-Hoceima on May 30, 2017 Thousands staged demonstrations for a fifth night running in northern Morocco to demand the release of the leader of a months-long protest movement in the neglected Rif region. The region has been shaken by social unrest since the death in October of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri, 31, who was crushed in a rubbish truck in the fishing port of Al-Hoceima as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season. Initial protests triggered a wider movement demanding more development in the region and railing against corruption, repression and unemployment. Nasser Zefzafi, who has emerged as the head of the grassroots Al-Hirak al-Shaabi, or "Popular Movement", was arrested on Monday after three days on the run. On Tuesday night, shouting slogans such as "We are all Zefzafi" and "dignity for the Rif", the protesters took to the streets of central Hoceima after breaking the dawn-to-dusk Muslim fast of Ramadan. The protesters, including women and children, held aloft hundreds of pictures of Zefzafi. Others held up berber flags, the symbol of a strongly-felt regional identity in an area many claim has long been neglected by central authorities. One brandished a sign saying "Free the prisoners or put us all in prison!" A demonstrator holds a sign saying "we are all Nasser Zafzafi" with an image of the leader of the Rif region's protest movement, during a demonstration in the town of Al-Hoceima on May 30, 2017 Anti-riot police attempted to disperse the demonstrators, but pulled back following a tense but non-violent standoff. - 'Proud of my son' - Zefzafi was arrested on Monday morning for "attacking internal security". A warrant for his arrest issued Friday sparked turmoil in Al-Hoceima, a city of 56,000 inhabitants, sparking clashes between demonstrators and security forces over the weekend. "I'm proud of my son, he acted like a man," Zefzafi's tearful mother told AFP. "He has done nothing but protest peacefully for legitimate demands." The father of fishmonger Fikri, also at the scene of the demonstrations, urged protesters to "carry on their peaceful movement." Many demonstrators raised their hands and declared "loyalty to the Rif." Moroccan police face protestors during a demonstration in Morocco's neglected northern Rif region on May 28, 2017 Handcuffed and hooded, three of them mimed a scene of arrest and torture. The protests broke up before midnight without further incident. Images shared on social media showed large demonstrations in other parts of the province, and activists posted videos they said showed security forces violently breaking up demonstrations. - 'Serious situation' - In Rabat, around 200 people staged a sit-in outside the parliament building which was violently dispersed by the police as soon as it began. A similar scenario played out near the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ) in Casablanca, where it is believed Zefzafi is being held. Protests were held elsewhere across Al-Hoceima province. State media outlets and politicians have remained largely silent on the events, but the local branches of three parties including the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) issued a joint statement warning of a "serious situation" and criticising the state's response. Out of around 40 people authorities say they arrested Friday, including core members of Al-Hirak, 25 have been referred to the prosecution. Their trial began Tuesday but has been pushed back to June 6 at the request of their lawyers, who have complained their clients were ill-treated during their detention. Protestors wave the berber flag during a demonstration against corruption, repression and unemployment in Morocco's northern city of al-Hoceima on May 29, 2017 Seven suspects were released on bail while another seven were released without charge. 'He is in very competent hands and there is no cause for alarm," Nigeria's information minister said, of the ailing president Nigeria's information minister on Wednesday said fears for President Muhammadu Buhari's health were unfounded, despite more than three weeks with no word about his condition. Lai Mohammed was asked about the latest situation after the weekly cabinet meeting of senior ministers in the capital, Abuja. "Once again, I want to make myself very, very clear. On the issue of Mr President, he is in very competent hands and there is no cause for alarm," he told reporters. Buhari, 74, has spent a large part of this year in London receiving treatment for an unspecified medical condition. He left Abuja on May 7 for what his office said was a "follow-up medical consultation" in the British capital and has not been seen or heard from since. His wife, Aisha, has left Abuja to be with her husband. She previously played down rumours he was too ill to rule but said nothing on her departure from the capital on Tuesday. Buhari, a former military ruler, has been dogged by speculation about his health even before the election win in 2015 that brought him to power. During that election campaign, the then-ruling party claimed he was seriously ill with prostate cancer and even put out advertisements insinuating he would die in office. Buhari rejected the claims as unfounded and designed to portray him as unfit for office. He first sought treatment in London in June last year for what his aides said was a persistent inner ear infection, returning six months later for check-ups that was later said to be "a long period of treatment". Buhari himself admitted on his return to Abuja in March that he had undergone blood transfusions and a barrage of tests. "I couldn't recall being so sick since I was a young man," he added. He made few public appearances until May 7, when he was seen looking painfully thin at a photocall with 82 schoolgirls released after spending over three years as Boko Haram hostages. CEO of Euronews Michael Peters (L) and President of NBC News International Deborah Turness, pose at the headquarters of Euronews in Lyon, after announcing a new partnership NBC News has finalised its deal to take a 25 percent stake in Euronews as it seeks to compete on a more global scale, the European broadcaster said on Wednesday. NBC will pay 25 million euros ($28.1 million) for the stake and its familiar "peacock tail" will feature in the logo of the newly renamed EuronewsNBC channel. The US company, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal, will bring resources and know-how to help Euronews, based in the eastern French city of Lyon, revamp its production model from top to bottom. Since its creation in 1993, Euronews has broadcast the same stories on all of its different language channels, redubbed for local audiences. But now it will switch to running 12 national channels, each with its own editorial processes. Under the transformation plan, Euronews will also launch morning and evening programmes and talkshows, and move towards using more on-screen presenters. The channel will also create "a network of correspondents in all the major European capitals," Euronews chief Michael Peters told AFP. Egyptian telecom and media magnate Naguib Sawiris, will see his controlling stake in Euronews increase from 53 to 60 percent with the injection of "several million euros". Older shareholders, largely public broadcasters who did not want to boost their investment, will see their stake fall from 47 to 15 percent. "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" Even President Donald Trump joined the internet fun after his latest late-night tweet blooper President Donald Trump's cryptic tweet of a non-existent word -- "covfefe" -- sparked a flood of humor and ridicule on the internet, but it also highlighted the inability of his communications team to control White House messaging. It may have been a simple keyboard slip, or a "senior moment"; the soon to be 71-year-old Trump's huge catalog of Twitter bloopers regularly offer evidence that a spelling-challenged speed-tweeter occupies the Oval Office. It also shows that four months into his administration, the US president's unfiltered use of the medium remains unchecked. The consequence is deep turmoil in his communications staff: the White House is rife with rumors that the boss is preparing mass firings, and this week, communications director Mike Dubke resigned just four months into the job. - Silly or serious? - Trump's tweets -- complete with spelling errors, rants about "fake news" and even a mistweet at a British woman instead of his own daughter -- often result in a collective sigh from both critics and backers, who wonder, "What next?" That's what happened after his nonsensical tweet in the early hours of Wednesday: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." The word doesn't exist in English, or apparently any human language. Mock interpretations said it was Russian for "I resign," ancient Egyptian for "media witch hunt," or more unprintable things. The Regent's English Language Center in London wrote: "We can confirm that 'covfefe' is not an English word. Yet." Newsweek declared it the "word of the year -- or century." Trump -- who declared during the election campaign last year that "I'm very highly educated. I know words; I have the best words" -- even jumped into the fun. After deleting the original tweet, he put out a new one: "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" Pressed later on the issue, White House spokesman Sean Spicer held tight to the "secret," quipping: "The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant." But coming amid reports Trump will pull the United States out of a global climate deal, the "covfefe" phenomenon illustrated how his Twitter habit can divert attention from his policy agenda. His off-the-cuff tweets can have real impact, influencing relations with key allies like Germany, sending a major company's stock plummeting, or riling Washington on issues like the FBI probe into Russian meddling in US politics. - Tweets 'speak for themselves' - The White House team has repeatedly fallen prey to embarrassing errors -- a list of global attacks released in February included "Denmakr" (Denmark) and "San Bernadino" (San Bernardino). When British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Washington, the presidential and vice-presidential agenda both spoke about "Teresa," and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was referred to as the president of his country. For reporters as well as observers, these mistakes are symptomatic of the collective lack of experience and discipline in the White House. Trump himself appears frustrated that he can't get out the message he wants, privately and publicly expressing fury over a litany of bad headlines that he blames on his staff. The communications team appears to have given up. Rather than try to spin Trump's sometimes contradictory views, they have turned to just praising the president and repeating what he says. In early May, Spicer -- whose job is believed to be in the balance -- began responding to journalists' questions by saying things like "The tweet speaks for itself. I'm moving on." And rather than try to interpret Trump's controversial remarks in Riyadh, Jerusalem, Brussels and Sicily last week, White House aides took to simply lauding his first trip abroad as "extraordinary" and "historic." "It shows how quickly and decisively the president is acting to strengthen alliances, to form new partnerships, and to rebuild America's standing in the world," Spicer said. Smoke rises from buildings following a reported air strike on a rebel-held area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, on May 22, 2017 A US-led coalition air strike on eastern Syria has killed a founder of the Islamic State group's notorious Amaq propaganda agency, Syrian opposition activists said on Wednesday. Rayan Mashaal, also known as Baraa Kadek, was reportedly killed in coalition bombardment on the IS-held town of Mayadeen, near Syria's border with Iraq, on Monday. Several Syrian activist Facebook pages, including the prominent media collective Eye on the Homeland, shared the news of his death. "Mashaal was one of the founders of Daesh's Amaq news agency," Eye on the Homeland said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. "He and his daughter were killed in a coalition air strike on Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province," the collective wrote. A Facebook post reportedly written by Mashaal's brother was also being circulated as confirmation of his death. Neither the US-led coalition nor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group could immediately confirm the news. Mohammad Khaled, the executive director of opposition news network Aleppo24, told AFP that Mashaal, 31, had been a well-known media activist before joining IS. "I met him in 2012. Baraa (Mashaal) was one of the old revolutionaries of Aleppo," he said. According to Khaled, Mashaal worked as a media activist in Aleppo until late 2013, when he announced he was moving to "the land of the caliphate" in IS-held Al-Bab. He went on to move to IS's Syrian bastion Raqa, but fled to Mayadeen four months ago as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces drew near to the northern city, Khaled said. "We knew that he was founding this (Amaq) agency in 2014 because he invited all the activists in Aleppo to join him," Khaled said. Amaq is IS's self-styled news outlet. Its channels on social media application Telegram are often the first place that IS publishes its claims of responsibility for attacks around the world. The US-led coalition has been bombing IS targets in Syria since September 2014 and has been heavily bombing Mayadeen since last week. The Britain-based Observatory said on Friday that at least 80 relatives of IS fighters were killed in coalition strikes on the town. More than 320,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by Syria's conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Parker Solar Probe is set to orbit within 3.9 million miles of the sun's surface, where temperatures exceed 2,500 Fahrenheit (1,377 Celsius) A new NASA mission aims to brush by the sun, coming closer than any spacecraft in history to its scorching heat and radiation in order to reveal how stars are made, the US space agency said Wednesday. After liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in July 2018, the Parker Solar Probe will become the first to fly directly into the sun's atmosphere, known as the corona. The plan for the unmanned spacecraft is to orbit within 3.9 million miles (6.3 million kilometers) of the sun's surface. Temperatures in that region exceed 2,500 Fahrenheit (1,377 Celsius), for which the spacecraft is equipped with a 4.5-inch-thick (11.43 cm) carbon-composite shield. Roughly the size of a small car, the probe will make seven flybys of the sun over a seven-year period, in what NASA described as a "mission of extremes." Traveling at a speed of 430,000 mph, the spacecraft will move fast -- like going from New York City to Tokyo in less than a minute. Scientists hope its data will improve forecasts of solar storms and space weather events that affect life on Earth, satellites and astronauts in space. - Time for a visit - The spacecraft will measure plasma waves and high-energy particles, and carry a white light imager to capture images of the structures through which it is flying, according to Nicola Fox, mission project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. "We will brush closely by it," she said at an event in Chicago to unveil the mission, which NASA has touted as promising to provide humanity's closest-ever observations of a star. "You can learn so much from looking out the window," Fox said. "You can see the sun is shining, you can see the birds are singing. But until you actually go out, you have no idea quite how hot it is out there or how windy it is, or what the conditions are like." "I think we have really come as far as we can with looking at things and now it is time to go up and pay it a visit," she added. A 20-day launch window for the spacecraft's liftoff atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket opens July 31, 2018. - Re-named after astrophysicist - Initially called Solar Probe Plus, the mission was renamed after the astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 89, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. He published the first paper to describe solar wind -- the high-speed matter and magnetism constantly escaping the sun -- in 1958. "This is the first time NASA has named a spacecraft for a living individual," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "It's a testament to the importance of his body of work, founding a new field of science that also inspired my own research and many important science questions NASA continues to study and further understand every day." Parker, who is days away from his 90th birthday, described the mission as "very exciting." "One would like to have some more detailed measurements of what's going on in the solar wind," he said. "I'm sure that there will be some surprises," he added. "There always are." Members of the Sri Lankan Navy and local residents rescue a pod of about 20 stranded pilot whales off the island's northeastern coast, near the port of Trincomalee Sri Lanka's navy and local residents rescued a pod of about 20 stranded pilot whales off the island's northeastern coast on Wednesday, an official said. Navy spokesman Chaminda Walakuluge said sailors with the help of residents pushed the whales back in to deeper waters after they washed up on the Sampur coast near the port of Trincomalee. "It was a delicate task to push them back without hurting them," Walakuluge told AFP. "But there was a happy ending when all of them could be sent back to deeper waters." He said it was not clear why the mammals got stranded in the area, but noted that the sea was rough due to the effects of Cyclone Mora in the Bay of Bengal and which hit Bangladesh on Tuesday. In April 2011, a sperm whale was stranded inside the Trincomalee harbour and two navy boats were deployed to guide the mammal out into deeper waters where it was reunited with waiting whales. Trincomalee, 260 kilometres (160 miles) northeast of Colombo, is a natural harbour and is also a popular tourist spot for whale watching. Sri Lankan Navy and local residents rescue a pod of about 20 stranded pilot whales off the island's northeastern coast Trincomalee is also known as the location where both of the world's two largest mammals -- elephants and whales -- can be seen. The waters around Trincomalee, which was used by Allied forces as a staging post during World War II, have a high concentration of blue and sperm whales while the surrounding jungles have herds of wild elephants. Scientists measure bonding in voles by how soon they start cuddling with a new partner, which they will most likely stick with for life It's a tale as old as time. Meet someone you like, spend time together, get physical, settle down. This is a normal pattern for the hopelessly romantic prairie vole, a rare monogamist among mammals, whose tiny brain has now yielded a sneak peak into the neurobiology of partnering up. When choosing a mate for life, the decision-making part of the vole's brain -- the prefrontal cortex -- activates another area that controls how the creature experiences pleasure and reward, neuroscientists reported on Wednesday. Not only does the cortex switch on the reward centre -- called the nucleus accumbens -- but also controls how active it becomes, which in turn determines how quickly the rodent falls in love. Bonding in lab voles is measured by how soon they start cuddling with a new partner, which they will most likely stick with for life. It is possible that the newly-discovered mechanism works by allowing a new partner's features, such as odour and sound, "to become stamped into the reward system (of the brain) so that the partner becomes rewarding," said study co-author Robert Liu of the Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. And the entire process is accelerated by sex. "We showed that the change in (brain) activity around the first mating event was correlated with how quickly animals began huddling," Liu told AFP. The scientists sought to recreate this effect by stimulating female voles' cortical neurons with light while in the company of a potential male partner, but without allowing them to copulate. It worked. - Remote control - A male and female vole huddle together over a nest of vole pups, at a laboratory in Atlanta The next day, light-stimulated voles showed a clear preference for their experimental partners than for strangers -- to a similar degree than if they had had intercourse. "By simply recreating the control by the cortex of the reward area when the female was near the male, we influenced how affectionately she acted towards him," Li told AFP by email. "It's like remote control of the brain circuitry to influence pair bonding." The research has implications for the study of human social behaviour, and may aid treatment of conditions, such as autism or schizophrenia, which prevent sufferers from forming social bonds, said the team. This could include stimulating communication between the two brain areas, for example, to allow afflicted people to experience the enjoyment normally gotten from spending time with loved ones. "Pair bonding in voles likely shares many of the underlying neural mechanisms as falling in love in humans," said Liu. It was already known that similar parts of the reward system studied in voles light up when humans look at pictures of their romantic partners, smell their scent or hear their voice. "But, until now, we haven't known how the brain's reward system works to lead to those feelings," said Liu's colleague Elizabeth Amadei. Signalling a new level of cooperation The European Union and China will throw their full weight behind the Paris climate accord The European Union and China will throw their full weight behind the Paris climate accord at a summit on Friday, EU officials said, in a bid to fill the void if the US quits the pact. The summit in Brussels could mark a dramatic shift in global politics, with the EU taking over from the United States in working with China to fight climate change. Signalling a new level of cooperation, the two sides will stress the "highest political commitment" to implement all aspects of the historic 2015 agreement, according to a copy of a draft joint statement seen by AFP on Wednesday. The EU-China summit follows a tense international tour by US President Donald Trump in which he spurned pleas by his European counterparts to adhere to the deal. US media reported Wednesday that Trump had decided to pull his country out of the accord but the unpredictable US tycoon indicated he would keep the world guessing for another few days. "We will issue a joint statement on climate change that will stress that China and the EU... will implement the agreement," a senior EU official told reporters on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity. "The Paris Agreement will continue with full force of implementation even if the US pulls out," he added. Paris climate agreement Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will arrive in Brussels late Thursday for talks with EU president Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, with climate change at the top of the agenda. "The EU and China consider the Paris Agreement as an historic achievement further accelerating the irreversible global low greenhouse gas emission and climate resilient development," the draft joint statement said. "The EU and China underline their highest political commitment to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement in all its aspects," according to the nine-page draft. They will "significantly intensify" their political, technical, economic and scientific cooperation on climate change and clean energy to help the world shift to an economy based on low greenhouse gas emissions. - 'New driver' - Hoping to make the climate fight a "main pillar" of their bilateral partnership, including economic relations, the two underlined that their cooperation will fuel job creation, investments and economic growth, the statement said. Europe and China will also expand their cooperation on developing carbon markets, so-called emissions trading systems. "If US-China climate cooperation gave birth to the Paris Agreement, now it is up to EU and China to defend and enhance it," said Li Shuo, climate policy advisor of Greenpeace East Asia. "The pair has the potential to become the new driver for international climate diplomacy," Li said in a statement. Former US president Barack Obama and the Chinese leadership were instrumental in building momentum toward the climate deal Former US president Barack Obama and the Chinese leadership were instrumental in building momentum toward the climate deal. It was signed by 196 countries that set themselves goals to minimize carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. If the United States, by most measures the world's second-biggest polluter after China, were to pull out or reduce its goals, efforts to reduce the global temperature increase might fail. But European officials insisted that the deal would remain on track. "I understand that if they decide to pull out it will be disappointing but I really don't think this will change the course of mankind," European Commission vice president for energy, Maros Sefcovic, said at a briefing. "Despite this possible rollback of the US administration, Europe is ready for the leadership (on climate change) and we will definitely provide it," he added. EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete said the world could count on European climate leadership. "No one should be left behind, but the EU and China have decided to move forward. More on Friday," Canete tweeted. People watch as an interceptor missle launches from Vandenberg Air Force base, California in what the military said was a sucessful test of its ground-based missile defense system The US military will follow up its experimental shoot-down of an intercontinental ballistic missile by firing two interceptors simultaneously at an incoming dummy warhead in a "real world" test next year, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. The high-tech, extremely costly tests of US missile defenses come as North Korea continues to push ahead with development of potentially nuclear-tipped ICBMs. Wednesday's first-ever success at knocking a mock-up ICBM out of the sky as it headed toward the United States was called a "critical milestone" in firming up the country's missile defenses. But, with only 44 of the expensive ground-based interceptor missiles expected to be in service at the end of this year, the next test will not take place until late 2018, Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, said. "We want to exercise the GMD (ground-based missile defense) system with more than one interceptor to gather data," Syring said in a Pentagon press briefing. Shooting two interceptor missiles at one incoming ICBM target would help understand what the second one does after the first destroys the target, he said. This scenario is "the next step in ever increasing operational realism," he told journalists. Tuesday's successful test saw an interceptor missile blast into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and then deploy its "exo-atmospheric kill vehicle," which smashed into the dummy ICBM, destroying it. The US military describes the interception as akin to hitting a bullet with another bullet -- though at far higher speeds. Syring said after the test that it "demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat." - North Korea threat - As a North Korean missile threat looms, the Pentagon is stepping up tests of its ground-based missile defense system, scheduling the next one for 2018 The missile defense trial came a day after North Korea test-fired yet another ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches that have ratcheted up tensions over Pyongyang's quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States. So far North Korea's tests have involved short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. But on Wednesday, after the US test, Pyongyang suggested it was prepared to launch a long-range ballistic missile in the near future. "We're prepared to test-fire ICBMs anywhere and anytime on orders from the supreme commander (Kim Jong-Un)," the Rodong Sinmun paper said in an article entitled: "No one can stop the nuclear power state, rocketry master in the East." The paper added: "The United States must know our declaration that we can turn the devils' den into ashes with nuclear weapons is not an empty threat." Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said Tuesday's trial was not timed specifically in response to Pyongyang but that "in a broad sense, North Korea is one of the reasons why we have this capability." He also pointed to Iran's increasing missile capabilities. With its interceptor missiles based in California and Alaska, the GMD system remains highly experimental and expensive. Tuesday's test alone cost some $244 million to carry out. It showed that under certain conditions it can stop a fast-moving, high-altitude single ICBM threat. But the interceptors would be overwhelmed by a full-scale attack from countries like Russia or China, which could fire dozens of missiles at a time. The former FBI director James Comey will testify in open Senate hearings as early as next week "to confirm bombshell accusations that President Donald Trump pressured him to end his investigation into a top Trump aide's ties to Russia," CNN reports Wednesday. What must Trump be thinking right now? https://t.co/NKimf77czW Eric Geller (@ericgeller) May 31, 2017 "The bottom line is he's going to testify," a source told CNN. "He's happy to testify, and he's happy to cooperate." Snip: Final details are still being worked out and no official date for his testimony has been set. Comey is expected to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia during last year's presidential election. Comey has spoken privately with Special Counsel Robert Mueller III to work out the parameters for his testimony to ensure there are no legal entanglements as a result of his public account, a source said. Comey will likely sit down with Mueller, a longtime colleague at the Justice Department, for a formal interview only after his public testimony. When he testifies, Comey is unlikely to be willing to discuss in any detail the FBI's investigation into the charges of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign the centerpiece of the probe, this source said. But he appears eager to discuss his tense interactions with Trump before his firing, which have now spurred allegations that the president may have tried to obstruct the investigation. If it happens, Comey's public testimony promises to be a dramatic chapter in the months-long controversy, and it will likely bring even more intense scrutiny to an investigation that Trump has repeatedly denounced as a "witch hunt." WSJ confirms: Comey will say Trump asked him to back off Flynn probe in expected testimony before Senate panel https://t.co/Mf79GgxhLQ Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 31, 2017 The Eiffel Tower had already turned its lights off on Tuesday night after a series of suicide blasts in Baghdad killed at least 42 The lights at the Eiffel Tower will be switched off Wednesday night to honour the scores of victims from the huge truck bomb that struck Afghanistan's capital, the Paris mayor said. "The Eiffel Tower will again go dark from midnight tonight to show Paris's solidarity with Kabul," Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a Twitter post. "After Baghdad, Kabul has been the victim of a barbaric attack. Solidarity and thoughts for the victims and their loved ones," she wrote. The iconic monument's lights had already been turned off on Tuesday night after a series of suicide blasts in Baghdad killed at least 42 as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan got underway. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack which struck Kabul's diplomatic quarter Wednesday at rush hour, which left at least 90 people dead and hundreds more wounded. Paris regularly dims the Eiffel Tower, an emblem of the city, to show its solidarity with victims of terror attacks. The Indian Air Force has declared two of its pilots dead a week after their Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet crashed in the remote northeastern state of Assam The Indian Air Force Wednesday declared two of its pilots dead a week after their Sukhoi fighter jet crashed in a remote northeastern state. The Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 was on a routine training mission when it went missing after taking-off from Tezpur airbase in Assam state on May 23. Its wreckage was found three days later in a remote dense forested area of the state that borders China. The two pilots were unable to eject and sustained fatal injuries when the plane crashed about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Tezpur airbase, the air force said in a statement. In March, two pilots survived a crash when their Su-30 crashed in western Rajasthan state. India inducted the Russian-made aircraft in 2002 and currently has 230 in service, making it the backbone of the country's air defence. The Indian Air Force has a high rate of crashes owning to its ageing fleet, with more than 170 pilots losing their lives in more than three decades. Most of the accidents involve Soviet-era MIGs earning them the sobriquet "flying coffins". India is investing billions of dollars to modernise its its decades-old fleet, with the government last year signing a deal with France to buy 36 Rafale fighters. Uganda has announced a probe into possible collusion between wildlife officials and Chinese diplomats in the trafficking of ivory Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has ordered an investigation into possible collusion between the country's wildlife agency and two Chinese diplomats in the trafficking of ivory. Poaching has risen sharply in recent years across Africa, fuelled by rising demand in Asia for ivory and rhino horn, coveted as a traditional medicine and a status symbol. Uganda is a major transit country for the illegal trade. The Chinese embassy officials are suspected of colluding in the movement of ivory from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, using Uganda as a transit point, a government official said. Ali Munira, spokeswoman for the Inspectorate General of Government (IGG) ombudsman, did not name the Chinese diplomats but said the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) was under suspicion. The Chinese embassy could not be reached for comment. Museveni has also ordered a new probe into the theft of ivory worth more than $1-million in November 2014. "The president's directive to the IGG is to have all these accusations investigated and if there is a prima facie case, the executive director (of the UWA) should be suspended alongside other officials," said Munira. Five top officials were suspended from the UWA after the disappearance of the 1,335 kilogrammes (2,943 pounds) of ivory from supposedly secure stockpiles. The outcome of the initial investigation, which involved Interpol, was never made public, although the international police network did carry out sting operations on trafficking networks throughout East Africa in 2015. A police source involved in earlier investigations said it appeared Museveni was not pleased with the prior probe and that new intelligence showed the likely involvement of Chinese officials. More than 35,000 elephants are killed across Africa every year for their tusks. Afghans wounded in a truck bombing receive treatment at a hospital in Kabul. The bomb, hidden in a sewage tanker, killed at least 90 people and wounded hundreds Anguished Afghans scoured hospitals and morgues in Kabul Wednesday, sifting through disfigured and charred bodies for missing relatives after a catastrophic truck bombing left at least 90 people dead and hundreds wounded. The bomb, hidden inside a sewage tanker, detonated close to the presidential palace and a number of foreign embassies, but in what has become a woefully familiar pattern ordinary civilians bore the brunt of the carnage. A young Afghan man sobbed quietly outside Kabul's Emergency Hospital as he struggled to locate his uncle and cousins. "They were going to their work like any other day and now they are lost," he told AFP. "I have searched in three hospitals and haven't found them. I don't know where else to look." Some more fortunate wept and hugged blood-stained relatives after tracing them inside. Others gathered anxiously around medical staff as they read out names of the victims. Some of the mutilated bodies, the staff announced, were unrecognisable. But many teary relatives still insisted on sifting through them for identification. As the wounded poured into hospitals, mainly of them critical, the interior ministry issued urgent appeals for blood, drawing dozens of volunteers from across Kabul. "My two sons are severely wounded. I saw them, they are bleeding, they are dying," said a woman, breaking down into tears. "I can't live without them. I will die without them." The Emergency Hospital also sustained damage, but tweeted that its staff were nevertheless treating scores of wounded patients. The nearby Wazir Akbar Khan hospital was packed beyond capacity, with doctors forced to treat two patients on one bed, many of them critically wounded by shrapnel and shards of glass. President Ashraf Ghani slammed the attack as a "war crime", as health officials warned that the toll could rise still further. "Today's bombing in a crowded area of central Kabul was yet another reminder of how deadly the war has become for ordinary Afghan civilians," said Patricia Gossman, a researcher with Human Rights Watch. "Civilian casualties have reached record levels as the Afghan conflict has intensified this past year. Attacks of this kind that deliberately or indiscriminately target civilians are war crimes." Two Afghan media workers were among those killed in the bombing, which also caused extensive damage to 1TV, a private news channel located close to the bombing site. But in an act of defiance, the news channel managed to resume operations within a few hours. "We are live and on air again," tweeted 1TV's editor-in-chief Abdullah Khenjani. "Terror can't stop us." No group has claimed responsibility for the truck bomb in Kabul's diplomatic quarter, which killed at least 90 and wounded hundreds At least 11 Afghan guards working for the US embassy in Kabul were among those killed in a massive truck bomb attack Wednesday and 11 American contractors were hurt, officials said. The US citizens' wounds are not thought to be life threatening, a senior administration source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity while the final toll is verified. In all, at least 90 people were killed and hundreds more wounded when a truck rigged with explosives detonated in the Afghan capital's diplomatic quarter. "We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed and injured, including our Afghan partners, members of the diplomatic and international communities, and many innocent Afghan citizens," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement. "We pray for a speedy recovery to the American and Afghan members of our mission staff and others who were injured in this attack, and we praise the Afghan Security Forces, police, and medical professionals who were the first responders to the scene." No group has claimed the blast, which officials said was caused by 1,500 kilograms (1.6 US tons) of explosives hidden inside a sewage tanker, but Afghan intelligence blamed the Haqqani Network, an extremist group allied to the Taliban and opposed to the US-backed government. Ivorian chief of staff General Toure Sekou meets with troops who had mutinied over pay, in a bid to heal deep rifts in the military Ivory Coast armed forces chief Sekou Toure met on Wednesday with troops who had mutinied over pay, in a bid to heal deep rifts in the military. Journalists were allowed to briefly enter the barracks in the city of Bouake, the focal point of a revolt which left four people dead and nine injured, according to government figures. After the talks, which were closed to the press, Toure said his message had been that the armed forces had to end the current three-way split between the 8,400 former rebels who have been integrated into the army; regular troops loyal to ex-president Laurent Gbagbo; and those supportive of current President Alassane Ouattara. "I reminded them that in the army there are three categories; officers, sub-officers and the rank and file. These are the three categories I would like to hear about," he said. A first revolt broke out in January and flared again in May before being calmed by promises of a bonus. Many of those who mutinied were former rebels who joined the army in 2011, as peace returned after a decade-long war that had split the country in two. Ivory Coast has an army numbering around 22,000 soldiers, but falling cocoa prices have severely crimped the government's finances. Last year, the government unveiled an ambitious plan to modernise the military, part of which would involve the departure of several thousand men, particularly ex-rebels, who will not be replaced. Artist Annie Saunders performs "Cleaning" in the Holoscenes installation in Times Square. The event was created by artist Lars Jan and his company Early Morning Opera with the aim of connecting everyday actions to climate change Performance art in a giant water tank is bringing climate science to New York's Times Square as Donald Trump has the world guessing on whether the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord. The transparent aquarium, in which performers somersault, dive and react as the tank rapidly fills, empties and re-fills with water, cost upwards of $750,000 and is the brain child of an artist wanting to raise awareness about climate change. The 12-ton glass unit will periodically flood and drain from Thursday to Saturday as part of the World Science Festival, as a rotating cast of performers respond creatively to the changing levels of water. The "Holoscenes" installation has already exhibited in London, Miami, Sarasota and Toronto, but its creator said Times Square -- "the most famous public space in the world" -- was the perfect setting. "I wanted to actually move 3,500 gallons of water very fast with a human body in the midst of it, because I think that makes people feel something in their gut," said Lars Jan, artistic director of the Early Morning Opera performance and art lab. With nearly 450,000 people a day estimated to pass through Times Square, the beating heart of Manhattan crammed with advertising boards next to New York's famed theater district, the organizers are hoping for a big response. "Climate is the focus of our footprint here this year," said Brian Greene, co-founder of the World Science Festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary and designed to change public perception of science. US media reports saying that Trump intends to pull the United States out of the Paris Accord are "very disturbing," Greene said. "Science is something that should unite the world," he said. "And for people to not feel connected to these vital ideas, that is disastrous for the future," he added. Jan said he was inspired by images of flooding from around the world and paid tribute to hydraulic engineers, performers, designers, artists and scientists who had collaborated for years on the project. "I think it's short-sighted to think too much about the Trump administration," he told reporters. "On whatever side of the political aisle you happen to be on, we need to think about changing fundamentally our habits in order to adapt to the realities of climate science. So I hope this is a small part in that conversation," he said. The festival also features an interactive dance floor in Times Square that translates human movement into electrical power, lighting up a monitor depending on how much energy the dancers put into their performance. Government data obtained by The Associated Press show more cases of opioid drug theft or missing prescriptions at Veterans Affairs health facilities despite new prevention efforts. The VA inspector general's office opened 36 new criminal investigations into possible drug theft from Oct. 1 to May 19. Doctors, nurses or pharmacy staff in the VA's network of more than 160 medical centers and 1,000 clinics are suspected of siphoning away controlled substances for their own use or street sale - sometimes to the harm of patients. The number of newly opened criminal probes is on track to match or surpass the figure in the previous year. In February, the VA pledged "zero tolerance" in drug thefts. Some recently prosecuted cases: ___ VIRGINIA A registered nurse in the Spinal Cord Injury Ward at the VA medical center in Richmond was sentenced to four months' home detention and three years' probation after admitting to stealing 20 to 30 oxycodone 5 milligram tablets and 8 to 10 fentanyl patches from VA medication dispensers. The nurse said she would sometimes shortchange the amount of pain medication prescribed to patients, taking the remainder to satisfy her addiction. ___ TENNESSEE A staff nurse at the Murfreesboro VA medical center was sentenced to 2 years' probation after pleading no contest to charges of fraudulently obtaining controlled substances. The IG's investigation found the nurse on at least 18 occasions took for her personal use oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine and lorazepam that were intended for Community Living Center geriatric patients. ___ CALIFORNIA: An employee at the VA medical center in Long Beach was sentenced to three years in prison for selling heroin onsite to an undercover officer on multiple occasions. An investigation by the IG as well as law enforcement authorities determined the employee and others had been improperly selling oxycodone, Percocet, fentanyl and other drugs at the medical center. Separately in Livermore, a VA medical center employee was sentenced to 3 years' probation after admitting that he stole narcotics from the U.S. Postal Service. While investigating the possible theft of prescription medication packages, the IG's office observed the VA employee at his work desk smashing pills into powder form that he then inhaled. ___ MISSOURI: A licensed nurse at the Columbia VA medical center was sentenced to five years' probation and five years' prison time after pleading guilty to stealing more than 340 controlled substances for her personal use over a period of six months. ___ Sources: Justice Department and VA inspector general's office JERUSALEM (AP) - The U.N. has stopped supporting a Palestinian community center in the West Bank that was named for a woman who participated in a deadly 1978 attack in Israel. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's office said in a statement Sunday that the U.N. withdrew its support after learning the center was named for Dalal Mughrabi. "The glorification of terrorism, or the perpetrators of heinous terrorist acts, is unacceptable under any circumstance," Guterres's office said. "The U.N. has repeatedly called for an end to incitement to violence and hatred as they present one of the obstacles to peace." Sorida Hussein, head of the organization behind the women's center that received the funds, said she was "happily surprised that the U.N. secretary-general has the time to mention a small Palestinian village under Israeli occupation." She emphasized "how good this center has been for the community regardless of the name." Hussein said members of the center chose the name after the U.N. completed the project last year. Mughrabi, a member of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), participated in a 1978 bus hijacking on Israel's main coastal highway in which 38 civilians were killed. The U.N. announcement, which entailed the removal a sign from the site, came a day after Norway pulled its funding. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Norway and the U.N. for their actions. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry on Sunday demanded the Palestinian Authority reimburse funds given to the women's center, saying Oslo "will not allow itself to be associated with institutions that take the names of terrorists." MOSCOW (AP) - The leader of Russia's Chechnya has invited the French president and the German chancellor to visit his region and check for themselves the reports about gay people being killed and tortured there. The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported in April that gay men in Chechnya had been tortured and killed by police. The Associated Press last month spoke to two victims of the crackdown who backed the reports. On Monday, after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters he had raised these reports with Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin visit an exhibition about Russian emperor Peter the Great at the Grand Trianon after a working meeting at the Versailles Palace near Paris, France, Monday, May 29, 2017. (Etienne Laurent/Pool Photo via AP) Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov in a social media post Tuesday accused European leaders of relying on "false information." Kadyrov said Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were welcome to visit Chechnya "in a search for the truth." Over the past year, I've bought a lot of extraordinary bottles of spirits a move from London to the wide-open spaces and warm climes of Burbank have afforded many more opportunities to entertain and thus to sample the output of the world's distilleries. Three bottles stand out, and as I top up my flask for this week's continuing travel for the Walkaway tour, I realized that it had been a long time since I'd mentioned my poison of choice here. The Bourbon: Jefferson's Reserve Pritchard Hill Cabernet Cask Finished. Jefferson's bottles a lot of really good bourbon, sometimes hilariously gimmicky stuff (though the stuff they age by strapping it to the deck of a ship and sailing it around the world is surprisingly good!). The Cabernet Cask Finish is, as the name implies, a great, 15-year-old bourbon made even better by sticking it in an old cabernet cask for a couple years at the end. I like a bourbon that's dry but not peppery, with a long, complicated finish, and this is that. The Scotch: OCTOMORE 07.3/ 169 PPM ISLAY BARLEY 2010. I tried this at a Liverpool whisky bar last week while I was on the UK Walkaway tour, at the barman's insistence. This is literally the peaty-est whisky I've ever tasted, putting other Bruichladdich Islays in the shade. I literally ordered a bottle online to be delivered to my home before I left the bar and it was waiting for me yesterday when I got back. I had a drink before bed and I can still taste it this morning. Like drinking a cigar. The Tequila: Expresiones del Corazon Barrel-Aged Tequila (Blanco, Buffalo Trace Reposado & Old Rip Van Winkle Anejo) 2015. My wife loves good tequila, while I can take it or leave it. But a fresh-but-smooth tequila that's finished in Old Rip Van Winkle casks, imparting the kind of finish that makes Old Rip Van Winkle blisteringly expensive and highly fetishized? Yes please. Some honorable mentions: for Irish whiskey, I continue to follow Spider Robinson's recommendation and drink Writer's Tears, which is gorgeous. My rum of choice remains Plantation Rum, which has all the grace notes of a superb bourbon at a fraction of the price (even better: Havana Club, especially the 7-year-old, but only when I'm outside of the USA thanks to the embargo). ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Latest on the trial of Minnesota officer accused of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a black motorist (all times local): 11:15 a.m. Jury selection has wrapped up for the day in St. Paul in the trial of a Minnesota police officer charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting a black motorist. FILE - This Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, file photo provided by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office shows Jeronimo Yanez. Jury selection begins Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in the manslaughter case against Yanez, a St. Anthony police officer who is accused in the fatal shooting Philando Castile during traffic stop July 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minn. (Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) A pool of 50 potential jurors was called Tuesday for the trial of St. Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who is Latino. The aftermath of the shooting of Philando Castile was streamed live on Facebook last July, thrusting his death into the national spotlight. The potential jurors were given instructions, sworn in, given questionnaires to fill out, then released for the day. They will return to court Wednesday to be questioned individually. Twelve jurors and three alternates will be selected to hear the case. The pool is mostly white with a handful of people of color including at least five blacks. ___ 10:15 a.m. The process of selecting a jury is underway in Minnesota in the trial of a police officer charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting a black motorist. The aftermath of the shooting of Philando Castile was streamed live on Facebook last July, thrusting his death into the national spotlight. St. Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez is charged with second-degree manslaughter. Protests over Castile's death shut down highways in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and surrounded the governor's mansion. Castile's family claimed he was profiled because of his race. The shooting renewed concerns about how police officers interact with minorities. ____ 7:30 a.m. Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of a police officer accused of fatally shooting a black motorist, a death that generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. The selection process begins Tuesday and is expected to last at least a couple of days. St. Anthony Officer Jeronimo Yanez is on trial for second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. Prosecutors say Yanez shot Castile, a 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker, after Castile told him he was armed. Authorities later found Castile had a permit to carry. Yanez, who is Latino, is also charged with two counts of endangering safety because girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her young daughter were in the car. ____ 12:08 a.m. The graphic video showing Philando Castile's final moments after he was shot by a Minnesota police officer made headlines nearly a year ago and led to calls for changes in policing. But squad car video could emerge as key evidence in the case against St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, who goes on trial for manslaughter this week. Jury selection begins Tuesday. Castile, who was black, was killed July 6 during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. His death got instant attention as the shooting's gruesome aftermath was streamed live on Facebook by Castile's girlfriend, who was in the car along with her young daughter. Prosecutors say Yanez, who is Latino, shot the 32-year-old Castile after Castile told him he was armed. Authorities later found Castile had a permit to carry. MILAN (AP) - Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni says he shares German Chancellor Angela Merkel's sentiment that Europeans must take their future into their own hands. During a press conference Tuesday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Gentiloni affirmed the importance of ties with the United States, but said: "We have fundamentally different goals which we cannot renounce, such as climate." Gentiloni was responding to a question about German Chancellor Angela Merkel's weekend remark that "we Europeans must really take our destiny in our own hands." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni shake hands at the end of a press conference following their meeting, in Rome's Villa Madama, Tuesday, May 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) The comments underline the shift in the relationship between the United States and Europe following a NATO meeting in Brussels and Group of Seven summit in Sicily with President Donald Trump. Trudeau is in Italy to promote trade and cultural ties. ___ This story has been corrected to change Trudeau's title to prime minister not premier. In Italy, the two titles are used interchangeably. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni talk to the media during a press conference following their meeting, in Rome, Tuesday, May 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shares a word with Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni, left, as they review the honor guard ahead of their meeting in Rome's Villa Madama, Tuesday, May 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) ONITSHA, Nigeria (AP) - Members of Nigeria's Biafran separatist movement on Tuesday marked 50 years after civil war saw more than one million people die trying to create a state for the Igbo people. Residents in Onitsha in the southeast staged a "stay home" to reflect on those who died fighting from 1967 to 1970. The action also was meant to disrupt economic activities in the commercial hub. The Igbo are one of Nigeria's largest ethnic groups but remain largely marginalized in politics. Some still call for a separate state. In this photo taken Sunday, May 28, 2017, members of the Biafran separatist movement gather during an event in Umuahia, Nigeria. The members are commemorating their fallen heroes 50 years after Nigeria's civil war saw more than 1 million die to create the state for the Igbo people. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi) "People are really suffering, we have been marginalized so much, so that is why we are agitating for the sovereign state of Biafra," said one street trader, Elebo Nicholas. Posters showed images said to be starving children during the conflict. Hunger became a weapon, as the region long had relied on other parts of the country for food. On Sunday, Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of The Indigenous People of Biafra, spoke to cheering supporters in Umuahia city. "The injustice is still there, the deprivation is still there, the subjugation is still there," he said. "Unfortunately it's not been addressed, so we wish to deal with it once and for all." Kanu's arrest in 2015 led to protests. Amnesty International has said Nigeria's military killed at least 150 peaceful protesters between August 2015 and August 2016 and detained hundreds demonstrating in support of the breakaway state. The roots of Biafra came from a 1966 failed coup led primarily by Igbo army officers who killed the prime minister, who came from Nigeria's north. Angry northerners attacked Igbos living there. The declaration of the largely Igbo region that includes part of the oil-rich Niger Delta as the Republic of Biafra then sparked civil war. ____ Associated Press writer Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal contributed. In this photo taken Sunday, May 28, 2017, a member of the Biafran separatist movement wears a badge supporting their cause during an event in Umuahia, Nigeria. The members are commemorating their fallen heroes 50 years after Nigeria's civil war saw more than 1 million die to create the state for the Igbo people. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi) In this photo taken Sunday, May 28, 2017, members of the Biafran separatist movement sing and clap their hands as they gathered during an event in Umuahia, Nigeria. The members are commemorating their fallen heroes 50 years after Nigeria's civil war saw more than 1 million die to create the state for the Igbo people. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi) In this photo taken Sunday, May 28, 2017, Uboha Damia, a 75-year -old Biafra veteran, holds a Biafra flag as members of the Biafran separatist movement gathered during an event in Umuahia, Nigeria. The members are commemorating their fallen heroes 50 years after Nigeria's civil war saw more than 1 million die to create the state for the Igbo people. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi) In this photo taken Sunday, May 28, 2017, members of the Biafran separatist movement gathered during an event in Umuahia, Nigeria. The members are commemorating their fallen heroes 50 years after Nigeria's civil war saw more than 1 million die to create the state for the Igbo people. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi) MEXICO CITY (AP) - Gunmen have killed a police chief in the western Mexican state of Jalisco and wounded a woman who was traveling with him. The Jalisco state's attorney's office says that the police chief of Huejuquilla El Alto was driving in a Ford Mustang downtown late Monday night when gunmen in multiple vehicles fired on the car. The woman received only a minor wound to her hand. The statement Tuesday said authorities are investigating the motive. It did not name the victim. The state is home to one of Mexico's fastest growing drug cartels, the Jalisco New Generation cartel. TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - A Canadian company is standing by its proposal to store waste from nuclear power plants underground less than a mile from Lake Huron. Ontario Power Generation has submitted a 145-page document with answers to questions raised by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Most of them involved whether there's a better place to put the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The company wants to bury it 2,230 feet deep at the Bruce Power complex near Kincardine, Ontario. More than 200 communities object to putting it so close to Lake Huron, fearing water pollution. The company says the waste would be encased in rock and would pose no threat to the lake. It says other sites would delay the project 15 years or more without improving safety. Canada's environment minister is expected to decide this year whether to approve the plan. WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats aren't letting President Donald Trump forget his White House meeting with top Russian diplomats, even as he tries to move past allegations of possible collusion between Moscow and his presidential campaign. They're peppering his national security team with questions about damage they believe Trump caused by sharing top-secret intelligence with the Russians on May 10. They're asking whether Trump's guests tried to bug the Oval Office, and what was done to ensure Russia didn't distribute the information elsewhere. They want to know if Trump consulted with government information security experts. It's a 180 from a year ago when Trump and Republicans made Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server the centerpiece of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump says it was his "absolute right" to share information with Russia. MIAMI (AP) - Mexico's foreign minister says the country is "inevitably" set to review rules of origin when renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, giving a boost to President Donald Trump's manufacturing push. Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray said on Tuesday at an event in Miami that NAFTA has allowed Mexican industry to enter the U.S. market with lax rules of origin. The rules dictate how much U.S. content a product assembled in Mexico must have in order to escape tariffs when being imported into the United States. Currently set at 62.5 percent for the auto industry, that number could increase. "One part that must inevitably be reviewed is the chapter on rules of origin," Videgaray said at the University of Miami. "Over time, the free trade agreement has sometimes been used, not always of course, but sometimes as a way to access the U.S. market perhaps with laxity in some ways of rules of origin." The Trump administration told Congress earlier this month there would be 90 days of consultations on the renegotiation of the 23-year-old pact before beginning talks with Canada and Mexico. Annual trade of goods between Mexico and the U.S. was at $525 billion in 2016, with the U.S. running a trade deficit of more than $63 billion. The foreign minister said Mexico won't entertain any talks on building a wall along the border. Videgaray maintained it is seen as an unfriendly sign and questioned its efficiency. Trump's budget seeks $2.6 billion for border security technology, including money to design and build a wall along the southern border. Trump repeatedly promised voters during the campaign that Mexico would pay for a wall. SAN DIEGO (AP) - Nine members of a motorcycle gang known as the Hooligans have been indicted in the high-tech theft of more than 150 Jeep Wranglers in San Diego County, authorities said Tuesday. The Tijuana, Mexico-based Hooligans Motorcycle Club used handheld electronic devices and stolen codes to make copies of keys and disable alarms on the vehicles that were then taken to Mexico to be sold or stripped for parts, the U.S. attorney's office said. Authorities say the ring has stolen Wranglers valued at $4.5 million since the scheme began in 2014. "The joy ride is over for these Hooligans," Deputy U.S. Attorney Mark Conover said. Three members of the gang have been arrested so far: Reynaldo Rodriguez, 33, of San Diego; Henry Pulido, 24, of Imperial Beach, California; and Alejandro Guzman, 23, of Tijuana. They were expected to be arraigned Tuesday or Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to steal vehicles and transport them across the border. Six more members of the gang are fugitives believed to be in Mexico. Authorities could not immediately say whether any of them had retained attorneys. The surge in late-night thefts began in the summer of 2014 and perplexed investigators because no windows were broken or alarms triggered. Surveillance camera video from the home of one victim eventually revealed the techniques used. Investigators learned that copies of key codes had been requested for 20 of the stolen vehicles by a Jeep dealer in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. That led to arrests and the targeting of the Hooligans by a multi-agency task force. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking a $435,000 penalty against United Airlines, saying the carrier failed to inspect a repair job before putting a plane back into service. The FAA said Tuesday that United mechanics replaced a fuel pump pressure switch on a Boeing 787 in 2014, and the plane was used on 23 flights before the required inspection was performed. The FAA said United used the plane on two flights after being told the inspection had been skipped. Airlines can appeal proposed penalties. A spokesman for Chicago-based United says the airline took action after identifying the issue and is working with the FAA to review the matter. CRANFORD, N.J. (AP) - Republican U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance told his constituents, at times to applause, that he opposes President Donald Trump's budget proposal, rejects the GOP-led House's health care overhaul and strongly supports NATO. Lance, a five-term congressman, contrasted himself with the Republican president on Tuesday during a town hall at Union Community College in northern New Jersey's 7th District, where Trump lost the vote last year. It was Lance's first town hall since a special counsel was appointed to investigate Russian interference in the presidential contest and since the House narrowly passed a Trump-backed health overhaul bill, which Lance opposed. FILE- In this March 24, 2017, file photo, Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., is interviewed on Capitol Hill in Washington. Lance met with constituents on Tuesday, May 30, for the first town hall in his district since a special counsel began investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and the GOP-led House passed health care overhaul legislation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) "I always vote my conscience, and I will support President Trump where I agree with him and will not support him where I disagree with him," he said. Tuesday's meeting contrasted with earlier events at which protesters picketed outside and Lance faced regular, angry interruptions. Lance attributed the difference to his regular meetings with voters and his no vote on the American Health Care Act. Mary Herald, a retired physician from Summit and a Democrat who previously voted for Lance, said she's seen a "dramatic" change in Lance over the years, from centrist to more conservative. Now he's shifting back to the middle, she said. "I think he wants to be a good congressman but gets caught in the machine of the Republican Party," Herald said. Voters expressed anger toward Trump throughout the meeting. One of the biggest reactions came when Alan Gilson, an engineer from Somerville who said he had been a Republican, called the president "morally bankrupt." "I cannot see myself voting for any Republican for any office for the foreseeable future," he said. Lance responded, saying he backs the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel investigating Russia's influence in the election. Trump has derided the Russia investigation and said there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russians. Voters applauded when Lance discussed the president's recent trip abroad, including an address to NATO allies. Critics said the president didn't specify his support for a provision in the NATO agreement requiring mutual defense. Lance said he's a strong backer of the alliance and believes in Article 5, the mutual-defense provision. But it wasn't all applause for Lance. The audience booed him when he said he opposed single-payer health care and supported a ban on federal spending on abortion. The meeting came after Lance's GOP colleague Tom MacArthur, of New Jersey's 3rd District, hosted a lengthy town hall this month. Angry voters shouted at MacArthur over his amendment that revived the Republicans' American Health Care Act, which aims to replace Democratic former President Barack Obama's health care law. The GOP health care bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office delivered a damaging critique for the GOP-written bill last week. It concluded the measure would create 23 million additional uninsured Americans by 2026 as well as lower premiums for younger and healthy people by letting them buy sparser coverage. It said the measure would confront unhealthy, poorer and older consumers with high out-of-pocket costs. Lance, an attorney and former state lawmaker known for an amendment to the state constitution calling for voter approval of public debt, has highlighted his differences with Trump and followed that approach on Tuesday. Trump's $4.1 trillion budget proposal calls for a number of cuts, including to programs for low-income Americans. Lance said he opposed the blueprint and predicted it would not get passed. Lance and MacArthur have stood out for holding town hall meetings while other New Jersey Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith have avoided holding them. "I think my constituents realize I engage in town hall meetings regularly," Lance said, when asked whether the meetings have served as a "pressure release valve" for voters. ___ Contact Catalini at https://www.twitter.com/mikecatalini When MEP Julia Reda conducted a wide-ranging and open consultation on updating EU copyright, she came up with some great, sensible reforms: making it legal to take pictures of buildings, making it legal to link to newspapers, creating a Europe-wide set of fair dealing exceptions to copyright, capping copyright terms at life-plus-50 years, and making sure that the rights you get to analog media (like the right to give your books and music to your kids when you die) carries over to digital media. Naturally, the copyright lobbyists and their friends in the Europarl and Commission hated these ideas and have been running a dirty trick campaign ever since to sabotage them, and make copyright in Europe into a way for giant corporations to extract rent from the public and creators. Now there's only nine days until a key vote that will determine which direction Europe goes. On the one hand there's a proposal to force online spaces to continuously surveil all user-posted material and censor anything an algorithm thinks might infringe copyright and to allow companies to decide who gets to link to their websites; on the other hand, well, there's the sensible stuff. The advocates of copyright maximalism are running the dirtiest of dirty-trick campaigns to get their way, armtwisting Parliamentarians behind the scenes. Europeans can call their MEPs for free and tell them to reject the dirty tricks and corporatisation! Today it was revealed that MEP Pascal Arimont from the European People's Party (EPP) is trying to sabotage the Parliamentary process, going behind the negotiators of the political groups and pushing a text that would make the Commission's original bad proposal look tame in comparison. This is a tactic he recently already successfully applied to prevent the committee from adopting a progressive position on overcoming geoblocking. If he succeeds again, the result would once more do the opposite of what the Committee is tasked to do: Protecting European consumers. In this committee, Social Democrat MEP Catherine Stihler was appointed to take everyone's proposed changes and develop a compromise that a majority of MEPs can stand behind. To do this, she is regularly meeting with representatives of all the other political groups (including myself, for the Greens/EFA group). Just 9 days left to reject the worst version of EU copyright expansion plans yet [Julia Reda] LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The top two officials for a judicial ethics panel removed themselves Tuesday from investigations involving an Arkansas judge who participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration the same day he effectively blocked executions in the state. David Sachar, executive director of the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, and Emily White, the commission's deputy director, announced they would recuse themselves from the cases involving Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, who lay on a cot outside the governor's mansion last month after blocking the state from using a lethal injection drug. The panel is investigating Griffen as well as his complaint against the state Supreme Court over its decision to bar him from death penalty cases. Justices, who also lifted Griffen's order on the execution drugs, referred the judge to the commission. The recusal decision came at the recommendation of Howard Brill, a law professor at the University of Arkansas and former interim chief justice for the state Supreme Court, who Sachar and White had sought counsel from over the disqualification issue. White said there had not been a request for the two to step away from the cases. Brill cited several issues with the two simultaneously investigating complaints against and by Griffen. FILE - In this April 14, 2017, file photo provided by Sherry Simon, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, is shown on a cot at an anti-death penalty demonstration outside the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock, Ark. The top two officials for a judicial ethics panel removed themselves Tuesday, May 30, from investigations involving the Arkansas judge who participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration the same day he effectively blocked executions in the state. (Sherry Simon via AP, File) "It is my belief that both of you are caught in an unacceptable dilemma with these competing allegations," Brill wrote in a letter dated Friday. "Although public servants should be properly cautious to avoid any hint that they are shirking their duties, unique circumstances are present in this situation." The commission will be responsible for hiring special counsel for the cases involving Griffen. Griffen has said he was portraying Jesus and participating in a Good Friday vigil when he lay on the cot. He was photographed wearing an anti-death penalty button and surrounded by people holding signs opposing Arkansas' executions. He has called the investigation into him an attempt to punish him for exercising his First Amendment rights. "Recusal is definitely warranted for the reasons stated by Professor Howard Brill, himself a former chief justice," Mike Laux, an attorney for Griffen, said in a statement. "While this is the prudent course of action at this time, Judge Griffen and his legal team hope the JDDC will select fair and independent replacements to Mr. Sachar and Ms. White going forward." Arkansas put four inmates to death last month, the state's first executions since 2005. ___ Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - The death of an Australian girl in a Baghdad bombing underscored why Australia was fighting Islamic State militants in the Middle East, the Australian foreign minister said Wednesday. Zynab Al-Harbiya, 12, from Melbourne, went with her family to Baghdad to visit her sick grandfather when she was killed early Tuesday local time when a car bomb exploded outside a popular ice cream shop, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. More than 30 others were killed, Australian official Frances Adamson said. Dozens more were injured, including Al-Harbiya's mother and an uncle, according to lawmaker Bill Shorten. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iraqi officials said involved apparently remotely detonated explosives inside a parked car. "This tragedy underscores the brutality of this terrorist organization. It shows no respect for religion, nationality, sovereignty, borders, no respect for humanity," Bishop told reporters. She said it shows why the Australian government has continued to commit defense personnel to support the Iraqi security forces "so that they can fight to defeat this terrorist organization within Iraq and to prevent its spread to other parts of the world including in our region." The girl's cousin, Layla Al-Saabary, said the family had only been in Baghdad for a few days when the tragedy occurred and Zynab had been "scared of the bombs." "She wanted to go and buy ice cream, so she insisted. Her mother gave permission and so they went to the main square and she was going to go buy ice cream and she went and she never came back," Al-Saabary told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Shorten told Parliament that Zynab, the Australian-born daughter of Iraqi refugees, had gone with her mother and an uncle to Baghdad while her father stayed in Melbourne. He said the mother's wounds were not life threatening but the girl's uncle was hurt seriously. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described Zynab as "another innocent killed by this violent tendency, this violent terrorist movement that is gnawing away, seeking to destroy and pervert and blaspheme one of the great regions of the world." Australia is one of the biggest contributors to the U.S.-led military campaign against IS militants in Iraq and Syria, with 780 Australian military personnel in the Middle East and aircraft including six jet fighters striking Islamic State targets. The holy Muslim month of Ramadan is often marked by an increase in violence in Iraq. Last year, a huge truck bombing claimed by IS killed hundreds in a retail district in central Baghdad where people were shopping for clothes ahead of the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. It was the single deadliest event in Baghdad since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Courts in Vietnam have sentenced six men to death for drug-related offenses in two separate cases. State-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported a court in central Nghe An province on Tuesday convicted ring leader Phan Dinh Tuan and four other men on charges of trafficking 102 kilograms (224 pounds) of heroin. Tuan was found guilty of masterminding parts of the ring's operations from his prison cell with a smuggled cellphone. Meanwhile a court in southern Dong Nai province sentenced another man to death for transporting 14 kilograms (31 pounds) of methamphetamine. Court officials are unavailable for comment Wednesday. Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Possessing or trafficking 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of heroin or 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of opium is punishable by death. Trump to announce decision on Paris climate pact Thursday WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump says he will announce his decision on whether to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord during a Rose Garden event Thursday afternoon. Trump promoted his announcement Wednesday night on Twitter, after a day in which U.S. allies around the world sounded alarms about the likely consequences of a U.S. withdrawal. Trump himself kept everyone in suspense, saying he was still listening to "a lot of people both ways." The White House signaled that Trump was likely to decide on exiting the global pact - fulfilling one of his principal campaign pledges - though top aides were divided. And the final decision may not be entirely clear-cut: Aides were still deliberating on "caveats in the language," one official said. Everyone cautioned that no decision was final until Trump announced it. The president has been known to change his thinking on major decisions and tends to seek counsel from both inside and outside advisers, many with differing agendas, until the last minute. Abandoning the pact would isolate the U.S. from a raft of international allies who spent years negotiating the 2015 agreement to fight global warming and pollution by reducing carbon emissions in nearly 200 nations. While traveling abroad last week, Trump was repeatedly pressed to stay in the deal by European leaders and the Vatican. Withdrawing would leave the United States aligned only with Russia among the world's industrialized economies. ___ Analysts: Leaving climate deal likely wouldn't add US jobs WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump has declared that abandoning the Paris climate agreement would be a victory for the American economy. Many economists have big doubts. They say the agreement would likely help create about as many jobs in renewable energy as it might cost in polluting industries. Should the United States pull out of the pact and seek to protect old-school jobs in coal and oil, it would risk losing the chance to lead the world in developing environmentally friendly technology - and generate the jobs that come with it. What's more, over the haul, climate change itself threatens to impose huge costs on the economy. "Withdrawing from the Paris agreement is hardly going to create jobs in the U.S.," says Cary Coglianese, professor at the University of Pennsylvania and editor of the book "Does Regulation Kill Jobs?" ''While specific environmental regulations can sometimes lead to job losses, they also can and do lead to job gains - with the result being roughly a wash." The Paris agreement has drawn surprising support from major companies, from oil giants like Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell to other corporate giants like Walmart and Apple. ___ 10 Things to Know for Thursday Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Thursday: 1. KEY PLAYER COULD EXIT GLOBAL WARMING PACT The White House signals that Trump is likely to pull the U.S. out of the landmark Paris climate accord. 2. TROUBLING QUESTION TRAILS DEADLY ATTACK IN KABUL Investigators will seek to understand how insurgents managed to get an explosives-packed tanker truck into one of the best-protected areas of the Afghan capital. ___ House committee issues subpoenas; Comey OK'd to testify WASHINGTON (AP) - The House intelligence committee said Wednesday it is issuing subpoenas for former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as well as their businesses, as part of its investigation into Russian activities during last year's election. In addition to those four subpoenas, the committee has issued three others - to the National Security Agency, the FBI and the CIA - for information about requests that government officials made to "unmask" the identities of U.S. individuals named in classified intelligence reports, according to a congressional aide. The subpoenas were announced as the special counsel overseeing the government's investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia has approved former FBI Director James Comey to testify before the Senate intelligence committee, according to a Comey associate. At a Wednesday briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer said inquiries about the Russia investigation must be directed to Marc Kasowitz, another of Trump's personal attorneys. It marked the first time the White House had officially acknowledged that outside counsel had been retained. Calls and emails to Kasowitz's New York firm were not immediately returned Wednesday. The Comey associate, who wasn't authorized to discuss details of the testimony and spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to discuss the content of Comey's planned testimony. The associate did say that Robert Mueller, whom the Justice Department appointed earlier this month to lead the government's inquiry, is allowing Comey to make certain statements. ___ Painful words: How a 1980 letter fueled the opioid epidemic Nearly 40 years ago, a respected doctor wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine with some very good news: Out of nearly 40,000 patients given powerful pain drugs in a Boston hospital, only four addictions were documented. Doctors had been wary of opioids, fearing patients would get hooked. Reassured by the letter, which called this "rare" in those with no history of addiction, they pulled out their prescription pads and spread the good news in their own published reports. And that is how a one-paragraph letter with no supporting information helped seed a nationwide epidemic of misuse of drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin by convincing doctors that opioids were safer than we now know them to be. On Wednesday, the journal published an editor's note about the 1980 letter and an analysis from Canadian researchers of how often it has been cited - more than 600 times, often inaccurately. Most used it as evidence that addiction was rare, and most did not say it only concerned hospitalized patients, not outpatient or chronic pain situations such as bad backs and severe arthritis that opioids came to be used for. "This pain population with no abuse history is literally at no risk for addiction," one citation said. "There have been studies suggesting that addiction rarely evolves in the setting of painful conditions," said another. ___ A new balance of terror: Why North Korea clings to its nukes PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Early one winter morning, Kim Jong Un stood at a remote observation post overlooking a valley of rice paddies near the Chinese border. The North Korean leader beamed with delight as he watched four extended range Scud missiles roar off their mobile launchers, comparing the sight to a team of acrobats performing in unison. Minutes later the projectiles splashed into the sea off the Japanese coast, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from where he was standing. It was an unprecedented event. North Korea had just run its first simulated nuclear attack on an American military base. This scene from March 6, described in government propaganda, shows how the North's seemingly crazy, suicidal nuclear program is neither crazy nor suicidal. Rather, this is North Korea's very deliberate strategy to ensure the survival of its ruling regime. Back in the days of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's "eternal president" and Kim Jong Un's grandfather, the ruling regime decided it needed two things to survive: reliable, long-range missiles and small, but potent, nuclear warheads. For a small and relatively poor country, that was, indeed, a distant and ambitious goal. But it detonated its first nuclear device on Oct. 9, 2006. ___ Train stabbing survivor: Portland has 'white savior complex' PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A man who was stabbed in the neck while trying to stop a man from shouting anti-Muslim insults at two young women on a Portland, Oregon, light-rail train said Wednesday that the city should focus on the girls, not him. An emotional Micah Fletcher said in a six-minute video on his Facebook page that Portland has a "white savior complex" and residents are heaping praise on him, but the real victims are the women. He says they must be traumatized from being targets of hate and from the deaths of two other men who also tried to intervene Friday. "These people need to be reminded that this is about them, that they are the real victims here," he said. Jeremy Joseph Christian is accused of stabbing to death Ricky Best, 53, and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23. Prosecutors say he attacked them after they confronted him for harassing two young black women, one of whom wore a Muslim head covering. Fletcher, a 21-year-old student at Portland State University and a poet, also stood up to Christian. His wound was within millimeters of being fatal, court documents say. He has been released from the hospital and attended Christian's first court hearing, where a scar on his neck was visible. ___ Police release Tiger Woods' DUI arrest video JUPITER, Fla. (AP) - His speech slow and slurred, Tiger Woods couldn't follow simple instructions or keep his balance during a dazed and disoriented encounter with police before he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. The video images came from dash-cam footage that Jupiter police released Wednesday night, and they show Woods with little capacity to stand still without swaying, repeat simple instruction or put one foot in front of the other. The footage came from his arrest Monday in the dark of early morning when Jupiter police noticed his Mercedes parked on the side of a six-lane road, part of it in the road and part of it in the bicycle lane. Police found the Woods sound asleep behind the wheel, according to an incident report. The engine was running, the brake lights were on and the right turn signal was blinking. Police also released photos of his car that showed both tires flat with minor damage around the bumpers. When the officer asks Woods where he had been, the 14-time major champion says, "LA." He says he was headed down to Orange County. ___ LeBron James' Los Angeles home vandalized with slur OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - LeBron James wanted to be with his family, to hug his wife and three kids back in Ohio. Visibly shaken by an event he couldn't control, Cleveland's star struggled Wednesday to focus on his seventh straight NBA Finals or the Golden State Warriors. For the game's best player, basketball was overshadowed by racism. On the eve of the Cavaliers and Warriors meeting for the third straight year, police said James' mansion in Los Angeles was vandalized in the morning with a racial slur spray painted onto the front gate. Nearly a year since he sat at the same podium inside Oracle Arena and addressed Muhammad Ali's impact as an activist following the heavyweight champion's death, James discussed the daily challenges of being black in the U.S. ___ Jerry Garcia's guitar fetches $1.9M at New York auction NEW YORK (AP) - A guitar that Jerry Garcia played everywhere from San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom to Egypt's Great Pyramids fetched over $1.9 million at an auction Wednesday night. The Grateful Dead frontman's guitar - named Wolf - was sold at the Brooklyn Bowl, a bowling alley, restaurant and music venue. The sale price includes the buyer's premium. The proceeds are earmarked for the Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center. The guitar was owned by devoted Deadhead Daniel Pritzker, a philanthropist, musician and film director who bought the instrument in 2002 for $790,000. "I've been a fan of The Dead since I was a kid, and playing this iconic guitar over the past 15 years has been a privilege," said Pritzker. "But the time is right for Wolf to do some good." SPLC President Richard Cohen said the organization is grateful Pritzker "is willing to part with this piece of music history to support the SPLC's mission fighting hate and bigotry." PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Early one winter morning, Kim Jong Un stood at a remote observation post overlooking a valley of rice paddies near the Chinese border. The North Korean leader beamed with delight as he watched four extended range Scud missiles roar off their mobile launchers, comparing the sight to a team of acrobats performing in unison. Minutes later the projectiles splashed into the sea off the Japanese coast, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from where he was standing. It was an unprecedented event. North Korea had just run its first simulated nuclear attack on an American military base. FILE - In this April 15, 2017, file photo, a submarine-launched "Pukguksong" missile are displayed in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. The message of the parade is clear: North Korea is, or is near to being, able to launch a pre-emptive strike against a regional target. It is preparing to withstand a retaliatory follow-up attack if it does, and it is building the arsenal it needs to then launch a second wave of strikes, this time at the U.S. mainland. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) This scene from March 6, described in government propaganda, shows how the North's seemingly crazy, suicidal nuclear program is neither crazy nor suicidal. Rather, this is North Korea's very deliberate strategy to ensure the survival of its ruling regime. Back in the days of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's "eternal president" and Kim Jong Un's grandfather, the ruling regime decided it needed two things to survive: reliable, long-range missiles and small, but potent, nuclear warheads. For a small and relatively poor country, that was, indeed, a distant and ambitious goal. But it detonated its first nuclear device on Oct. 9, 2006. Today, North Korea is testing advanced ballistic missiles faster than ever - a record 24 last year and three in just the past month. With each missile and each nuclear device, it becomes a better equipped, better trained and better prepared adversary. Some experts believe it might be able to build a missile advanced enough to reach the United States' mainland with a nuclear warhead in two to three years. So forget, for the moment, how erratic Kim Jong Un and his generals may seem. North Korea conducted two nuclear tests last year; one was of the strongest nuclear device it has ever detonated and the other, Pyongyang claims, of its first H-bomb. The U.S. for its part is also escalating - in an explicit warning to Pyongyang, it successfully shot a target ICBM launched from a Pacific island out of the sky with a California-based interceptor missile on Tuesday. The question is this: if war breaks out and North Korea launches a pre-emptive nuclear strike on an American military base in Japan - for real - would the U.S. recoil and retreat? Would it strike back, and risk losing Washington DC in a second wave of nuclear attacks? For Pyongyang, forcing Washington to seriously weigh that calamity is a win. And it may become a real-world possibility on President Donald Trump's watch. ___ RISING FROM THE RICE PADDIES The 7:36 a.m. launch on March 6 was conducted in North Pyongan Province near North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Center. It sent the four Scuds into the ocean 300 to 350 kilometers (185 to 220 miles) from the coast of Japan. Reporting on it the next day, North Korea's Rodong Sinmun, the ruling party's newspaper, stated it was not a test to see if the missiles would work, but rather a "drill" to train the troops who will "strike the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in Japan in a contingency." To back that up, the North released several photos of Kim in a black overcoat holding a plastic pointer to a map laid out on a wooden table that showed the missiles' flight path and other data. Analyst Jeffrey Lewis and his colleagues at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, quickly realized the Scuds were on a trajectory that, with a simple southerly tweak, would have sent them raining down on Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni. Iwakuni, located 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Hiroshima on the southern tip of Japan's main island, is home to some 10,000 U.S. and Japanese personnel. It was used as a staging area during the 1950-53 Korean War, when it was called the "Gateway to Korea" by U.S. and U.N. forces, and continues to be one of the largest and most important U.S. military facilities in Japan. Such an attack wouldn't need to be nuclear to be effective. The deadly Sarin nerve agent or some other chemical weapon could also cause tremendous casualties. But training a nuclear attack on Iwakuni had a special psychological twist for those who follow the ceaseless military game of cat and mouse in the region. North Korea's media stressed Kim was accompanied at the launch by nuclear weapons specialists. "Before the Iwakuni simulation strike, U.S. and South Korean forces were conducting joint military drills, which involved F-35s based out of Iwakuni," said analyst David Schmerler, who works with Lewis. "As the U.S. and South Korea were practicing their military drills in the event of a conflict on the peninsula, the North Koreans, in turn, practiced their strike plans." The U.S.-South Korea drills reportedly included an F-35 stealth fighter "decapitation strike" on Kim Jong Un and his top lieutenants. Kim, apparently, was practicing how to take them out first. ___ WHY THIS COULD ALL GO NUCLEAR: THREE SCENARIOS The Cold War concept of "mutually assured destruction" that kept the United States and the Soviet Union from attacking each other requires a "balance of terror" to encourage restraint: Once each side has attained a certain level of destructive power, neither will attack because they are convinced that neither will survive. North Korea doesn't have that assurance. If a war were to break out now, it could very well be destroyed. That's the way things have been for decades. But here's where the urgency comes in for the United States and its allies. If North Korea succeeds in building nuclear-tipped ICBMs that can reach the U.S. mainland, the dynamic in a contingency would be highly volatile. A nuclear-armed North Korea would have a strong incentive to go nuclear quickly and go nuclear first if it believed, correctly or not, that it was about to be attacked. But that also would increase Washington's first-strike incentive, since it doesn't want its strategic advantage taken away by a surprise attack on its own cities or military bases. So both sides have good reason to be trigger happy. Bruce Bennett, a leading North Korea expert and senior defense analyst with the RAND Corporation, offers these possible scenarios: - Consider a case in which North Korea has a stockpile of nuclear warheads and the ability to launch them from submarines or remote, hard-to-detect sites on land. Fearing an attack from the U.S., it launches a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the South Korean port of Busan, then tells the United States that if there is any nuclear retaliation, it will fire nuclear weapons at U.S. cities. Would Donald Trump, or whoever follows him, back away? Would he risk losing Los Angeles, or Chicago, to defend America's allies? - Or North Korea tries another ballistic missile launch like the one on March 6. This time, just before the missiles hit the water near Japan, a nuclear weapon on one or more of the missiles detonates, downing a few commercial aircraft or sinking some cargo ships. This would convince the world that Kim Jong Un has a real nuclear arsenal and isn't shy about using it. Would Trump react with a nuclear attack on North Korea? - Now, picture war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea, to convince the United States not to intervene, launches an ICBM that appears to be coming down short, well west of California. But on the way down it bursts in a nuclear explosion, possibly causing some damage to U.S. territory. Pyongyang then threatens more serious damage to the United States if there is any nuclear retaliation or U.S. intervention in the conflict. Is the U.S. president going to risk millions of people dead and major cities destroyed? "With the weight of history on his shoulders, how would a U.S. president respond?" Bennett asks. "How should he respond?" ___ GOOSE-STEPPING TO THE 'FINAL VICTORY' It's mid-morning on April 15, the "Day of the Sun," the 105th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth. Some 100,000 North Koreans are amassed in Kim Il Sung square waving plastic bouquets and holding up lettered cards to create designs like the ruling party's hammer, sickle and brush logo when seen from the balcony of the Grand People's Study House. That's where Kim Jong Un is standing. Kim watches as military units from each branch of his million-man armed forces goose-step by in what North Koreans like to call "single-minded unity." He then smiles and applauds at the most varied array of missiles and their transport vehicles the North has ever displayed. The message of the parade, held before reporters from all over the world, is clear. North Korea is, or is near to being, able to launch a pre-emptive strike against a regional target. It is preparing to withstand a retaliatory follow-up attack if it does, and it is building the arsenal it needs to then launch a second wave of strikes, this time at the U.S. mainland. Unlike the Soviet Union, North Korea can't annihilate the United States. But if it can clear those three steps, it could conceivably destroy a major U.S. military base in the region or a city on the U.S. mainland. This vision of a new "balance of terror" built to its crescendo as six submarine-launched "Pukguksong" missiles and their land-based cousin, the "Pukguksong 2," rumbled through the square. Submarines are the ultimate stealth weapon, mobile and notoriously hard to find. North Korea is believed to have one experimental ballistic missile submarine, and this missile would go in its silos. The Pukguksong 2, meanwhile, represents advances on the ground. It uses solid fuel, which means it can be stored and hidden, is ready for rapid launch and fits on a transport vehicle that can be deployed off-road in rough terrain. Kim Jong Un has ordered it be mass produced. The big reveal came next. No one really knew what it was until, in its first flight test a month later on May 14, it was sent an astounding 2,111 kilometers (about 1,240 miles) in altitude - higher than satellites in low Earth orbit. It remained airborne for 30 minutes before plunging to the Pacific. With great fanfare, the North's media declared it the "perfect weapon system" capable of carrying a "large-size heavy nuclear warhead." Many analysts believe the missile - which the North calls "Hwasong 12" - could be a stepping stone to the ICBM North Korea needs to attack the U.S. mainland. Kim Jong Un was on hand for its early morning launch, too. He hugged his elated rocket scientists and, according to his official media, claimed he can now hit the United States with an "all-powerful means for retaliatory strike." That is bravado. For now. The missile's estimated striking range is 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles), give or take. But, put another way, it's halfway to Chicago. ___ Talmadge has been the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief since 2013. Follow him on Twitter at @EricTalmadge and on Instagram at erictalmadge. In this March 6, 2017, photo distributed by the North Korean government, leader Kim Jong Un, center, smiles at an observation post to watch the launching of Scud missiles in Tongchang-ri in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The ruling party's newspaper stated it was not a test to see if the missiles would work but rather a "drill" to train the troops who will "strike the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in Japan in a contingency." Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) In this March 6, 2017, photo distributed by the North Korean government, four extended range Scud missiles lift off from their mobile launchers in Tongchang-ri in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The four Scuds fell into the ocean 300 to 350 kilometers (185 to 220 miles) from the coast of Japan. The ruling party's newspaper stated it was not a test to see if the missiles would work but rather a "drill" to train the troops who will "strike the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in Japan in a contingency." Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) In this March 6, 2017, photo distributed by the North Korean government, leader Kim Jong Un looks through a scope at an observation point to watch the launching of Scud missiles in Tongchang-ri in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The ruling party's newspaper stated it was not a test to see if the missiles would work but rather a "drill" to train the troops who will "strike the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in Japan in a contingency." Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) FILE - In this July 27, 2013, file photo, North Korean soldiers carrying packs marked with the nuclear symbol turn and look towards leader Kim Jong Un during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. The question is this: if war breaks out and North Korea launches a pre-emptive nuclear strike on an American military base in Japan, would the U.S. recoil and retreat? Would it strike back, and risk losing Washington DC in a second wave of nuclear attacks? (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) FILE - In this May 27, 2016, file photo, U.S. military personnel at Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan, greet then-U.S. President Barack Obama. On March 6, 2017, North Korea test launched four extended range Scud missiles that analysts believe were on a trajectory that, with a simple southerly tweak, would have sent them raining down on Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, home to some 10,000 U.S. and Japanese personnel. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) FILE - In this March 6, 2017, file photo, U.S. Army soldiers prepare for military exercises in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. According to foreign analysts, as U.S. and South Korea were having their military drills on the Korean peninsula, North Korea practiced their strike plans by launching four extended range Scud missiles. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) FILE - In this April 15, 2017, file photo, soldiers goose-step across Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, during a parade to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. The message of the parade is clear: North Korea is, or is near to being, able to launch a pre-emptive strike against a regional target. It is preparing to withstand a retaliatory follow-up attack if it does, and it is building the arsenal it needs to then launch a second wave of strikes, this time at the U.S. mainland. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) FILE - In this April 15, 2017, file photo, missiles believed to be the Pukguksong 2 are displayed in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. The Pukguksong 2 uses solid fuel, which means it can be hidden and ready for rapid launch. Kim Jong Un has ordered it be mass produced. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) FILE - In this April 15, 2017, file photo, soldiers goose-step across Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, during a parade to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. The message of the parade is clear: North Korea is, or is near to being, able to launch a pre-emptive strike against a regional target. It is preparing to withstand a retaliatory follow-up attack if it does, and it is building the arsenal it needs to then launch a second wave of strikes, this time at the U.S. mainland. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) FILE - In this April 15, 2017, file photo, an unidentified missile that analysts believe could be the North Korean Hwasong 12 is paraded in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. Many analysts believe the missile could be a stepping stone to the ICBM North Korea needs to attack the U.S. mainland. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) This May 14, 2017, photo distributed by the North Korean government shows the Hwasong 12, a new type of ballistic missile, as it is launched from an undisclosed location in North Korea. Many analysts believe the missile could be a stepping stone to the ICBM North Korea needs to attack the U.S. mainland. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this photo. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - When Gaza's 2 million residents break their dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, much of the territory is engulfed by darkness and homes have to rely on generators or batteries for the post-sundown family meals. Rolling power cuts, a mainstay of life in a decade of Hamas rule in the blockaded Gaza Strip, have never been worse. Power is only on for four hours at a time, followed by 14 to 18 hours of outage - and the blackouts could grow even longer amid an escalating struggle for dominance between the Islamic militant Hamas and its West Bank-based rival, the Palestinian Authority of internationally backed President Mahmoud Abbas. FILE -- In this Jan. 16, 2017 file photo, Palestinians walk on a dark street next to a grocery shop lit with battery-powered lamps, during a power cut in Gaza City. Gaza's 2 million people endure daily electricity cuts of 14 to 18 hours at a time and now face even longer blackouts because of an escalating power struggle between Palestinian governments. This comes as Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan, when electricity consumption increases as the dawn-to-dusk fast is followed by elaborate meals and the devout stay up late into the night. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra, File) Abbas, whose government pays Israel for the electricity, has stepped up financial pressure on Hamas in recent weeks by threatening to reduce its funding in hopes of forcing his rivals to cede ground. But in a new twist, Israel's energy minister said he would block any additional electricity cuts until further review. Yuval Steinitz argued that Israel should not be drawn into an internal Palestinian problem, a decision that also effectively shields Hamas, Israel's enemy, against Abbas. Gaza's residents have adapted to worsening hardships with ingenuity and stoicism. In some apartment buildings, residents have pooled resources to buy communal generators. Most Gazans buy food daily because they can no longer use refrigerators. Formerly routine activities such as showering or running a washing machine are done at odd hours, when power is on. Gaza City resident Raed Ashour, 31, said he believes the situation is allowed to fester, in part, because people are afraid to speak out. The security forces of the authoritarian Hamas quickly quelled a rare mass protest over the power cuts in January. "Now we are entering the second or third month of four hours of electricity, yet there is no sign of public protest," said Ashour, a pharmacist. "It's a political problem." Gaza resident Wissam Helo, 35, said his pregnant wife cannot leave their 13th floor apartment when power is out because she cannot climb the stairs to get back home. "We are with the president," he said, meaning Abbas, when asked whom he backs in the power struggle. He said he did not want to say more for fear of repercussions. Gaza hasn't had full-time electricity in more than a decade, largely because of the international isolation of Hamas. Israel and Egypt, which border the coastal strip, imposed a blockade on the territory after Hamas' takeover in 2007. Since 2008, Israel and Hamas have fought three cross-border wars. Since April, Gaza's power crisis worsened, in part because of Abbas' new strategy. After years of failed reconciliation efforts, he began cutting back Gaza support payments to pressure Hamas. The group says it will not yield. Gaza's sole power plant stopped working in April, after it ran out of fuel that had partially been paid for by Qatar and Turkey, one-time regional backers whose support appears to have cooled off. Hamas could not afford to buy new fuel, leaving Gaza with 10 power lines from Israel as the main source of electricity - about 30 percent of the territory's needs. The Israeli electricity is funded by the Abbas government at a cost of about $11 million a month. The monthly payment is deducted by Israel from customs and tax reimbursements it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority every month. In May, the Palestinian Authority informed COGAT, a branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry that deals with Palestinian affairs, that it would only cover up to $7 million of the monthly electricity bill. In response, the head of COGAT, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said last week that electricity in Gaza would have to be scaled back further. This elicited a sharp response from Steinitz, the energy minister. In a letter published by the Israeli media last week, Steinitz wrote to Mordechai that "we should be the ones to decide where to cut electricity," sarcastically suggesting the Abbas headquarters in Ramallah as a starting point. Israel should "not become a pawn in their hands," Steinitz wrote to Mordechai, referring to the Palestinians. The minister's office said Steinitz will seek a broader review of the issue. Israel may be concerned the international community could blame it for further deterioration of conditions in Gaza. There are also fears that more instability in Gaza could lead to renewed rocket fire by militants. In a veiled warning that Gaza-Israel tensions might flare up again, Hamas spokesman Salah Bardaweel said on Tuesday that in the event of further power cuts, "no one can ensure the (current) relative stability" of the region. Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, arguing that this ended its military occupation of the territory. The international community, however, has a different view. The United Nations considers the lands Israel captured in 1967 - the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem - as a single unit and holds Israel, as the occupier, responsible for the welfare of more than 4 million Palestinians living there. Since the 2005 withdrawal, Israel has continued to control access to Gaza by land, sea and air. Last week, the U.N. coordinator for the region, Nickolay Mladenov, said Israel, Hamas and the Abbas government "all have obligations for the welfare of Gaza's residents." Speaking from Jerusalem to the U.N. Security Council, Mladenov warned of a "humanitarian crisis" if power is cut further. MOSCOW (AP) - Russians warships in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles at the Islamic State group's positions in Syria, the Russian defense ministry said on Wednesday. The announcement came as Syrian government troops pushed ahead in their offensive against IS and militants in central and northern Syria. Moscow said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at IS targets in the area of the ancient town of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched. FILE- In this Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, file frame grab provided by Russian Defense Ministry press service, long-range Kalibr cruise missiles are launched by a Russian Navy ship in the eastern Mediterranean. The Russian Defense Ministry says in a statement on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at IS targets in the area of the ancient city of Palmyra. (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File) Syrian troops have been on the offensive for weeks in northern, central and southern part of the country against IS and U.S.-backed rebels under the cover of Russian airstrikes, gaining an area almost half the size of neighboring Lebanon. Most recently, Syrian troops and their allies have been marching toward the IS stronghold of Sukhna, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of Palmyra. The strategic juncture in the Syrian desert aids government plans to go after IS in Deir el-Zour, one of the militants' last major strongholds in Syria. The oil-rich province straddles the border with Iraq and is the extremist group's last gateway to the outside world. Russia, a staunch Damascus ally, has been providing air cover to Syrian President Bashar Assad's offensive on IS and other insurgents since 2015. Moscow had fired cruise missiles from warships in the past, as well as from mainland Russia against Assad's opponents. As the fighting against IS militants is underway near Palmyra, Syrian troops clashed with U.S.-backed rebels in the country's south on Wednesday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Mozahem al-Salloum, of the activist-run Hammurabi Justice News network that tracks developments in eastern Syria. The fighting came days after the United States told Syrian government forces and their allies to move away from an area near the Jordanian border where the coalition is training allied rebels. The warning comes less than two weeks after the Americans bombed Iranian-backed troops there after they failed to heed similar warnings. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Tuesday that the U.S. dropped leaflets over the weekend telling the forces to leave the established protected zone. In the northern city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of IS, warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition destroyed the main telecommunications center in the city, the IS-linked Aamaq news agency said. The Sound and Picture Organization, which documents IS violations said land telecommunications were cut in most parts of the city after the center was hit. The bombing came a day after U.S.-backed Syrian fighters reached the northern and eastern gates of Raqqa ahead of what will likely be a long and deadly battle. The city has been subjected to intense airstrikes in recent days. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces militia that is fighting IS in northern Syria had struck a deal with the IS offering it a safe corridor out of Raqqa. He added that soon after the Russian Defense Ministry had spoken about the agreement, some IS fighters started moving toward Palmyra. The SDF has denied reports that it allowed IS fighters to leave the city. "The Russian military spotted the movement and struck the convoy so it never reached Palmyra," Lavrov said. "And so it will be in all situations when the IS is spotted anywhere on the Syrian territory. It's an absolutely legitimate target along with all its facilities, bases and training camps." "The current situation shows gaps in coordination between all those who are fighting terrorism in Syria," Lavrov added, voicing hope that the U.S.-led coalition wouldn't allow the IS to escape from Raqqa. Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured Palmyra in March last year and Moscow even flew in one of its best classical musicians to play a triumphant concert at Palmyra's ancient theater. IS forces, however, recaptured Palmyra eight months later, before Syrian government troops drove them out again in March this year. Russia's defense ministry said its Wednesday statement that the strikes successfully hit IS heavy weapons and fighters whom the group who had deployed and moved to Palmyra from the IS stronghold of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Sunni militant group and its self-proclaimed caliphate. Moscow said it had notified the U.S., Turkish and Israeli militaries beforehand of the upcoming strike. It added that the Russian strike was promptly executed following the order, a testimony to the navy's high readiness and capabilities. Russia has been busy mediating between Assad and Turkey and the West who seek his removal. Earlier this month Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish safe zones in Syria, signing on to a Russian plan under which Assad's air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country. Russia says maps delineating the zones should be ready by June 4. ___ Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide attacker struck the fortified heart of the Afghan capital with a massive truck bomb Wednesday, killing 90 people, wounding 400 and raising new fears about the government's ability to protect its citizens nearly 16 years into a war with insurgents. The bomber drove into Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic quarter during the morning rush hour, leaving behind a bloody scene of chaos and destruction in one of the worst attacks since the drawdown of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014. Most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children, said Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry. But the dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including the U.S. Embassy, while 11 American contractors were wounded - none with life-threatening injuries, a U.S. State Department official said. Security forces inspect near the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) "I have been to many attacks, taken wounded people out of many blast sites, but I can say I have ever seen such a horrible attack as I saw this morning," ambulance driver Alef Ahmadzai told The Associated Press. "Everywhere was on fire and so many people were in critical condition." There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came in the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban flatly denied any involvement in an email to news outlets and condemned all attacks against civilians. The explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior minister. The number of dead and wounded was provided by the Afghan government's media center, citing a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the country's top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law. The blast gouged a crater about 5 meters (15 feet) deep near Zanbaq Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, where foreign embassies are protected by a battery of their own security personnel as well as Afghan police and National Security Forces. The nearby German Embassy was heavily damaged. Also in the area is Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry, the Presidential Palace and its intelligence and security headquarters, guarded by soldiers trained by the U.S. and its coalition partners. "The terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people," said President Ashraf Ghani. President Donald Trump spoke with Ghani after the attack, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned it as a "senseless and cowardly act." "The United States stands with the government and the people of Afghanistan and will continue to support their efforts to achieve peace, security, and prosperity for their country," Tillerson said in a statement. Afghanistan's war, the longest ever involving U.S. troops, has shown no sign of letting up, and the introduction into the battle of an Islamic State affiliate has made the country only more volatile. Although they are small in number, militants from the Islamic State in Khorasan - an ancient name for parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia - have taken credit for several brazen assaults on the capital. "Let's be clear: This is an intelligence failure, as has been the case with so many other attacks in Kabul and beyond. There was a clear failure to anticipate a major security threat in a highly secured area," said Michael Kugelman of the U.S.-based Wilson Center. "The fact that these intelligence failures keep happening suggest that something isn't working at the top, and major and urgent changes are needed in security policy," he said by email. Still, there are questions about whether a U.S. pledge to send more troops to Afghanistan will curb the violence. "The sad reality is that more foreign troops would not necessarily ensure these attacks happen less," Kugelman said. "But they could help by supplementing training programs meant to enhance Afghan intel collection capacities, which have long been a deficiency in Afghanistan." There are currently 8,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan with a U.S. promise of more to come. Afghan lawmaker and analyst Nasrullah Sadeqizada bemoaned the abysmal security, saying "the situation is deteriorating day by day." In an interview, Sadeqizada criticized U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, saying they have done little to improve protection in the country. "If the situation continues to deteriorate, Afghans will lose all trust in the foreigners who are in Afghanistan as friends," he warned. Gen. Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, former deputy interior minister, said more troops won't help, although he urged the global community to stay committed to Afghanistan. "I don't think that more U.S. or NATO soldiers can solve the security problems in Afghanistan," he said. "When we had more than 100,000 foreign soldiers, they were not even able to secure Helmand province" in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban controls roughly 80 percent of the area, he said. In the past year, U.S. troops have largely focused on thwarting a surge in Taliban attacks. The stricken neighborhood was considered Kabul's safest, with the embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices guarded by security forces. More than 50 cars were either destroyed or damaged. "I've never seen such a powerful explosion in my life," said Mohammad Haroon, who owns a nearby sporting goods store. All the windows in his shop and others around him were shattered, he added. Shocked residents soaked in blood stumbled in the streets before being taken to hospitals. Passers-by helped them into private cars, while others went to the nearby Italian-run Emergency Hospital. Besides the German Embassy, damage was reported at the embassies of China, Turkey, France, India and Japan, according to officials from those countries. Other nearby embassies include those of the U.S., Britain, Pakistan and Iran, as well as the NATO mission. Nine Afghan guards at the U.S. Embassy were killed and 11 American contractors were wounded, with one Afghan guard missing, according to a U.S. State Department official, who was not authorized to talk publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. None of the wounded Americans appeared to have life-threatening injuries, the official said. The BBC said one of its drivers was killed and four of its journalists were wounded. Afghanistan's private TOLO Television also reported a staffer killed; Germany said an Afghan security guard outside its embassy was among the dead. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that along with an Afghan guard who was killed, a German diplomat was slightly wounded and an Afghan staffer had severe injuries. Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack, saying that "terrorism has no borders." It "targets all of us - whether in Manchester or Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, St. Petersburg or today in Kabul," she said in the southern German city of Nuremberg. "Today we're united in shock and sadness across all borders," she added. She vowed: "We will lead the fight against terrorism, and we will win it." Germany has had troops in Afghanistan for 15 years, primarily in the north in and around Mazar-e-Sharif. It is one of the biggest contributors to the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, with about 980 soldiers supporting and training Afghan forces. Neighboring Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the bomb damaged residences of some of its diplomats and staff and caused some minor injuries. ___ Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez reported this story in Kabul and AP writer Kathy Gannon reported from Islamabad. AP writers Amir Shah in Kabul, Matthew Lee in Washington and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report. People carry an injured man after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) Security forces stand next to a crater created by massive explosion in front of the German Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. The suicide truck bomb hit a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul killing scores of people and wounding hundreds more. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) An injured man is seen after an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) Afghan Municipality workers sweep a road in front of the German Embassy after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing a big number of casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) A medic runs to the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a high security diplomatic area of Kabul Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) Wounded men lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing a big number of casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) People carry an injured man after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) An Afghan man drives his damaged car after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing a big number of casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) Roshan mobile company personal walk away near the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) Security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack where the German Embassy is located in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) Roshan mobile company employees leave the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) A wounded cameraman from 1TV channel, a local TV channel, receives some assistance near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) Civilians walk near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) Some states that have legalized marijuana are encouraging minorities to enter the growing cannabis industry after years of drug enforcement that had a disproportionate effect on black and Hispanic communities. A look at some of the efforts nationwide: ___ CALIFORNIA In this photo taken Thursday, May 11, 2017, Andre Shavers, who runs a marijuana delivery business, poses in Oakland, Calif. Shavers was sentenced to five years on felony probation after authorities burst into the house where he was living in one of Oakland's most heavily policed neighborhoods and found a quarter ounce of marijuana. Oakland and other cities and states with legal pot are trying to make up for the toll marijuana enforcement took on minorities by giving them a better shot at joining the growing marijuana industry. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) California voters legalized recreational marijuana in November. The first retail sales are expected in January. Oakland officials approved a program that initially sets aside half of the city's marijuana licenses for low-income residents who have been convicted of a cannabis crime or who live in a specified neighborhood where drug enforcement has been intense. Advocates are urging similar programs statewide, including in San Francisco and Los Angeles. African-Americans made up 5.6 percent of the state but 16 percent of marijuana arrests in 2015, according to an AP analysis of statistics collected by the FBI. ___ COLORADO The first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use does not track industry demographics. A spokesman for the Denver department that oversees marijuana policy, Daniel Rowland, said individual businesses have programs to employ minorities, but nothing is mandated by the city. A report by the Colorado Public Safety Department found that arrest rates for African-American and Latino juveniles increased after legalization, while the rate for white juveniles went down. African-Americans made up nearly 4 percent of the Colorado population in 2015 and 11 percent of arrests. ___ FLORIDA Florida lawmakers passed a bill last year to address issues that arose with the state's 2014 medical marijuana law, including provisions to favor black farmers. The provisions ensure that once the state's medical marijuana patient registry reaches 250,000, three additional cultivation licenses will be made available, with one of them designated for a member of the Florida Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association. Black farmers in Florida were among thousands across the country who sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture for racial discrimination, saying they had been unfairly denied government loans and subsidies in the 1980s and 1990s. The case ended with an historic settlement in 1999. ___ MARYLAND The state's rollout of medical marijuana has been marred by lawsuits filed by groups that were not among the 15 chosen by the state for cultivation licenses. None of the 15 was minority-owned, despite language in the law that requires regulators to seek "racial, ethnic and geographical diversity" in the awarding of licenses. The General Assembly ended its legislative session last month without acting on a bill designed to create diversity by allowing up to seven more licenses to grow marijuana, with two going to companies that are suing the state and five others for minority-owned companies after a disparity study is conducted. The Legislature's Black Caucus has called for a special session to consider the bill. Minority groups comprise about 48 percent of Maryland's population, including nearly 30 percent African-American. Blacks made up roughly 57 percent of cannabis arrests in 2015. ___ MASSACHUSETTS The 2016 ballot question that legalized recreational marijuana included language to encourage participation in the cannabis industry by people who were "disproportionately harmed" by enforcement of marijuana laws in the past. The law does not exclude people with past marijuana convictions from applying for a retail license or working in a cannabis business. Boston City Council member Ayanna Pressley has drafted proposed legislation that would direct 20 percent of unexpended revenue from state and local marijuana taxes toward programs to assure racial equity, including efforts to reduce financial barriers to ownership of businesses. In 2015, African-Americans made up nearly 7 percent of the state's population but 34 percent of cannabis arrests. ___ OHIO The state's 2016 medical marijuana law included some licenses set aside for minority businesses, but it's questionable whether that provision would stand in court. The benchmarks require at least 15 percent of Ohio's marijuana-related licenses to go to the businesses of one of four economically disadvantaged minority groups - blacks, Hispanics, Asians or Native Americans - so long as an adequate number apply. Legal experts have questioned whether the racial-preference provision would stand up in court, though no legal challenge has been filed to date. African-Americans made up 12 percent of the state's population in 2015, but 35 percent of arrests. ___ PENNSYLVANIA Lawmakers passed a medical marijuana law in 2016, and subsequent regulations written by the Pennsylvania Department of Health included policies to ensure that medical cannabis organizations "foster participation of diverse groups in all aspects of their operations." Specifically, the rules require that applicants for cultivation and dispensing permits include in their initial applications a diversity plan that spells out how they will achieve racial equity through ownership, employment and contracting. The agency is also required to make special efforts to help minorities learn how to apply for cultivation and dispensing permits. At least four predominantly minority groups have applied for medical marijuana permits, according to Philadelphia City Councilman Derek Green. African-Americans were nearly 11 percent of the state in 2015 and made up 35 percent of arrests. ____ WASHINGTON Recreational pot was legalized in Washington in 2012. The state has nearly 500 licensed retail stores. Nearly 3 percent of retail license holders are African-American in a state where black people are 3.5 percent of the population . In 2015, African-Americans made up 11 percent of marijuana arrests. Brian Smith, spokesman for the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, said the board is interested in diversifying licensees and may use targeted outreach to ethnic communities if they decide to license more people in the future. ___ WEST VIRGINIA The state in April became the 29th in the U.S. to approve of marijuana use for certain medical conditions. The new law includes a provision requiring state regulators to seek ways of encouraging minority-owned businesses to apply for growing licenses. African Americans were nearly 4 percent of the state in 2015 and made up 19 percent of arrests. ___ The black share of arrests for Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia were based on crime statistics that covered about 80 percent of each state's population. Shares for other states were based on statistics covering at least 90 percent of each state's population. ___ AP Data Journalist Angeliki Kastanis contributed to this report. A pod of orcas, aka the a-holes of the ocean, got recorded by a drone as they harassed a blue whale that was minding its own business. Monterey Bay Whale Watch was operating the drone and observing an orca pod led by Emma: While watching Emma's family group they suddenly came across a Blue Whale in their path! Although Humpbacks stand up to Killer Whales and trumpet blow at them, Blue Whales are easily startled by Killer Whales, and flee the scene! If you watch closely in the second clip you can see the adult Blue Whale porpoising away, swimming at full speed out of the water on the other side of our boat in the upper left hand corner. 5/18 Drone: Killer Whales Harass a Blue Whale in Monterey Bay, California (YouTube / Monterey Bay Whale Watch) OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Andre Shavers was sentenced to five years on felony probation after authorities burst into the house where he was living in one of Oakland's most heavily policed neighborhoods and found a quarter ounce of marijuana. After the 2007 raid, Shavers couldn't leave the state without permission. He was subject to police searches at any time. He walked to the corner store one night for maple syrup and came back in a police car. Officers wanted to search his home again. All the while, cannabis storefronts flourished elsewhere in a state where medical marijuana was authorized in 1996. In this photo taken Thursday, May 11, 2017, Andre Shavers, who runs a marijuana delivery business, walks up a street in Oakland, Calif. The City of Oakland is prodding cannabis businesses to pair with minority applicants if they want a license to sell, manufacture, cultivate or distribute weed in 2018 as part of California's massive expansion of legal cannabis. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) Now Oakland and other cities and states with legal pot are trying to make up for the toll marijuana enforcement took on minorities by giving them a better shot at joining the growing marijuana industry. African-Americans made up 83 percent of cannabis arrests in Oakland in the year Shavers was arrested. "I was kind of robbed of a lot for five years," Shavers said. "It's almost like, what do they call that? Reparations. That's how I look at it. If this is what they're offering, I'm going to go ahead and use the services." The efforts' supporters say legalization is enriching white people but not brown and black people who have been arrested for cannabis crimes at far greater rates than whites. Recreational pot is legal in eight states and the nation's capital. California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada approved ballot questions in November. They join Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia, which acted earlier. Twenty-nine states permit medical marijuana. Massachusetts' ballot initiative was the first to insert specific language encouraging participation in the industry by those "disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement." The law does not specify how that would be accomplished. In Ohio, a 2016 medical pot law included setting aside 15 percent of marijuana-related licenses for minority businesses. In Pennsylvania, applicants for cultivation and dispensing permits must spell out how they will achieve racial equity. Florida lawmakers agreed last year to reserve one of three future cultivation licenses for a member of the Florida Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association. There have been setbacks as well. The Maryland General Assembly adjourned last month without acting on a bill to guarantee a place for minority-owned businesses after the Legislative Black Caucus complained that no black-owned companies were awarded any of the state's initial 15 medical marijuana cultivation licenses. There's no solid data on how many minorities own U.S. cannabis businesses or how many seek a foothold in the industry. But diversity advocates say the industry is overwhelmingly white. The lack of diversity, they say, can be traced to multiple factors: rules that disqualify people with prior convictions from operating legal cannabis businesses; lack of access to banking services and capital to finance startup costs; and state licensing systems that tend to favor established or politically connected applicants. "It's a problem that has been recognized but has proven to be relatively intractable," said Sam Kamin, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law who studies marijuana regulation. In 2010, blacks constituted 14 percent of the U.S. population but made up more than 36 percent of all arrests for pot possession, according to an American Civil Liberties Union study released in 2013 . The report found African-Americans were nearly four times more likely than whites to be arrested for cannabis possession. That study did not report Latino arrests because the FBI data on which it was based did not track Hispanics. But a 2016 study by the ACLU of California and the Drug Policy Alliance found Latinos were cited at 1.4 times the rate of white people for marijuana infractions in Los Angeles and 1.7 percent the rate in Fresno. The Minority Cannabis Business Association has drafted model legislation for states considering new or revised marijuana laws, including language to expunge pot-related convictions and to encourage racial and gender diversity among cannabis businesses. "The people who got locked up should not get locked out of this industry," said Tito Jackson, a Boston city councilman and mayoral candidate. He suggests Massachusetts give licensing preference to groups that include at least one person with a marijuana conviction. The Oakland City Council in April voted to set aside half of medical cannabis licenses for people who have been convicted of a marijuana crime or who lived in one of 21 police districts with disproportionately high marijuana arrests. Candidates must meet income restrictions. Complicating matters is that marijuana remains illegal under federal law - a fact seen as unlikely to change under President Donald Trump. That makes most banks reluctant to lend money to startup cannabis businesses, which often must rely instead on personal wealth. An Oakland-based nonprofit known as The Hood Incubator provides training and mentoring to minority cannabis entrepreneurs. "Maybe they lack the money to get into the industry or they might have, you know, gotten arrested in the past for oh, what do you know? Selling weed. And now they can't actually get into the legal industry," said Ebele Ifedigbo, one of the group's three co-founders. Under Oakland's program, applicants who don't qualify for a so-called equity license can still get preference if they "incubate" a minority-owned business with free rent or other help. Dan Grace, president of Dark Heart Nursery, is nervous about finding a partner but ready to make the program work. Debby Goldsberry, Magnolia Wellness dispensary's executive director, said the industry is primed to change and expand. "Why? Because there's a prohibition that's been out there targeting people in our communities in Oakland, and it's very unfair," she said. Oakland hosted a business mixer this month that attracted several hundred people, including retirees who have never smoked a joint and people who served time for marijuana offenses and established cannabis businesses. That group included Shavers, who hopes his drug-related record helps him get office space and investors to grow his delivery service, The Medical Strain. "It's a blessing in disguise," he said, "but not the blessing I would recommend." ___ Salsberg reported from Boston. Associated Press writers Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report. ___ This story has been corrected to show that no black-owned businesses were among the initial 15 medical marijuana cultivation licenses in Maryland, according to the Legislative Black Caucus, not minority-owned businesses. In this May 11, 2017, photo, Andre Shavers, who runs a marijuana delivery business, checks his delivery bag in Oakland, Calif. The City of Oakland is prodding cannabis businesses to pair with minority applicants if they want a license to sell, manufacture, cultivate or distribute weed in 2018 as part of California's massive expansion of legal cannabis. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) In this photo taken Thursday, May 11, 2017, Andre Shavers, who runs a marijuana delivery business, poses in Oakland, Calif. Shavers was sentenced to five years on felony probation after authorities burst into the house where he was living in one of Oakland's most heavily policed neighborhoods and found a quarter ounce of marijuana. Oakland and other cities and states with legal pot are trying to make up for the toll marijuana enforcement took on minorities by giving them a better shot at joining the growing marijuana industry. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) In this May 2, 2017, photo, Ebele Ifedigbo, center, co-director, Lanese Martin, right, co-director and Biseat Horning, left, 32, fellow, pose at the offices of The Hood Incubator in Oakland, Calif. The City of Oakland is forcing cannabis businesses to pair with minority applicants if they want a license to sell, manufacture, cultivate or distribute weed in 2018 as part of California's massive expansion of legal cannabis. The Oakland-based nonprofit provides training and mentoring to minority cannabis entrepreneurs. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) In this May 3, 2017, photo, Dan Grace poses for a photo in the marijuana production facility of the Dark Heart Nursery in Oakland, Calif. The City of Oakland is prodding cannabis businesses to pair with minority applicants if they want a license to sell, manufacture, cultivate or distribute weed in 2018 as part of California's massive expansion of legal cannabis. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - An independent Azerbaijani journalist has been abducted from near his home in Georgia and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan, his lawyer said Wednesday. A court in this former Soviet republic ruled that Afgan Mukhtarli, who is facing charges of smuggling, crossing the border illegally and violently resisting arrest, should remain in custody for three months pending an investigation. Mukhtarli, who is also a civil rights activist, had been living in neighboring Georgia for two years. His lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, told The Associated Press the journalist was abducted outside his home Monday evening, beaten up and taken to the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Sadigov claimed that the journalist's captors planted 10,000 euros ($11,180) on him, which led to the charges. Journalists attend a rally Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, to support an Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was abducted in Tbilisi on May 29 and now is in detention in the Azerbaijan capital Baku. A lawyer for independent Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli says his client who has been living in Georgia for three years has been abducted and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) According to the lawyer, Mukhtarli said that his abductors were clad in Georgian police uniform and that they drove him through Georgian and Azerbaijani border checkpoints. He said he would appeal the court's verdict. Eldar Sultanov, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office, said the journalist was detained late on Monday "after illegally crossing the Azerbaijani border" with a large sum of money and resisting arrest. Mukhtarli left Azerbaijan in 2015, around the time when several Azerbaijani journalists working for foreign or local independent media faced charges of tax evasion. International rights groups have repeatedly criticized the ex-Soviet Caspian Sea nation for cracking down on independent media and opposition activists. Mukhtarli's wife, Leila Mustafayeva, told the AP she was waiting for her husband at home Monday evening but he never showed up. Mustafayeva said her husband had been investigating Georgian business ties of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's family. "Naturally, this created resentment in the presidential family," she said, insisting that her husband's disappearance is connected to his investigation. Giorgi Gogia, Human Rights Watch director of South Caucasus, in a statement described Mukhtarli's disappearance as another step in the Azerbaijani government's "relentless crackdown on critics." About 100 rights activists and journalists rallied in the capital, Tbilisi, demanding that Georgian authorities explain how they allowed the reported abduction to happen. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili called for a probe into Mukhtarli's alleged abduction, saying it dealt a blow to Georgia's image as a regional leader in media freedom and human rights. He described it as a "serious challenge to our statehood and sovereignty." Georgia's chief prosecutor, Irakli Shotadze, said an investigation is already underway to determine how Mukhtarli ended up in Azerbaijan. ___ A previous version of this story has been corrected to show that the alleged abduction was on Monday, not Tuesday. ___ Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili contributed to this report from Tbilisi, Georgia. Leyla Mustafayeva, wife of an Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was abducted in Tbilisi on May 29 and now is in detention in Baku, attends a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A lawyer for independent Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli says his client who has been living in Georgia for three years has been abducted and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) Protesters put plastic bags over their hands in gesture of solidarity with journalist Afgan Mukhtarli who reportedly had a sack over his head when he was abducted in Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A lawyer for independent Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli says his client who has been living in Georgia for three years has been abducted and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Two Filipino seamen who died two weeks apart during a Japanese coal carrier's voyage to Australia in 2012 were killed by one or more assailants, an Australian coroner said Wednesday. New South Wales state Deputy Coroner Sharon Freund recommended that her report on the two deaths be sent to Japanese authorities who investigated a third death discovered when the same Panama-flagged carrier, the MV Sage Sagittarius, returned to Japan. The series of the deaths over five weeks has led to the Sage Sagittarius being dubbed the "Death Ship" by the media. The extraordinary events highlighted difficulties in criminal investigations involving so-called flag of convenience ships, which are registered in countries foreign to their owners, operators and crews. No one has been charged over any of the deaths. The Filipinos - head chef Cesar Llanto, 42, and chief engineer Hector Collado, 55 - were part of a 25-member all-Filipino crew that left the Japanese port of Kudamatsu aboard the carrier operated by one of the world's biggest shipping companies, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, on Aug. 20, 2012, bound for the Australian port of Newcastle. Llanto vanished in international waters 10 days later. Freund found that he was either thrown overboard or killed on the ship and his body disposed of later by one or more unknown assailants. His body was never found. Two weeks after the chef's death, Collado died after falling 11.5 meters (38 feet) from one deck to another as the ship entered Newcastle Harbor. The coroner found Collado, who was second in charge of the ship and potentially a key witness in Llanto's disappearance, had been struck over the head with a weapon by one or more culprits. The third fatality was Kosaku Monji, a 37-year-old supervisor employed by the ship's Japanese operator who joined the Sage Sagittarius with two security guards four days after the chef disappeared. Monji was found dead on Oct. 6, three days after the ship returned to Kudamatsu. His body was trapped between a conveyor belt and roller that was unloading coal. The Japanese coast guard concluded his death was accidental. The coroner said the evidence "suggests strongly" that the ship's captain, Venancio Salas, caused or authorized Llanto's disappearance or had more knowledge about the circumstances than he revealed during his testimony at the coroner's 11-day hearing. She said Salas ran his ship "through bullying and intimidation," illegally sold handguns to crew and had been in conflict with Llanto, who was on his first voyage as chief chef and knew of a crew plot to report Salas for misconduct. "The evidence is overwhelming that there was a climate of fear on board the vessel after the disappearance of Mr. Llanto," Freund wrote. "It would be an extraordinary coincidence if the person(s) who caused Mr. Llanto's death were not also responsible for Mr. Collado's death." Freund did not investigate Monji because he died outside Australia's jurisdiction. Australian coroners hold court-like hearings into unusual deaths and only the Filipino deaths were investigated by Australian police. Coroners cannot be sued for defamation for their findings. The International Transport Workers' Federation, a seafarers' union, pointed to the coroner's finding that there were "very significant practical impediments created by a disappearance or death on board a foreign-flagged vessel" in forensic investigations. "Flag of convenience ships are registered in countries prepared to prostitute their flags, like Panama and Mongolia - in return for tax avoidance, minimum regulation and little or no responsibility, like what we have seen exposed here today," the union's Australian coordinator, Dean Summers, said in a statement. The ship's Japanese operator said in a statement: "We need time to examine the coroner's findings in detail before commenting further. What we can say is the welfare of our ships' crews is always of the utmost concern to us and we will continue to take all steps to provide a safe working environment." The Australian government said it would review the coroner's findings. Salas could not be immediately contacted for comment. WASHINGTON (AP) - A midnight tweet from President Donald Trump has social media trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term "covfefe." Trump tweeted just after midnight Eastern time on Wednesday: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." The tweet immediately went viral and became one of the president's more popular posts. Trump poked fun at the typo, tweeting around 6 a.m., "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!" President Donald Trump speaks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 29, 2017, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Many on Twitter have supplied tongue-in-cheek meanings. One user joked that "covfefe" is already a popular name for babies in states that voted for Trump. Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster checked in with an eye-rolling tweet about people looking up "covfefe" on its website. Dozens of definitions have been submitted the Urban Dictionary website, which crowdsources meanings for slang terms. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Walt Disney World employee is accused of impersonating an FBI agent while stopping a woman on a Florida road. Orlando television station WKMG (http://bit.ly/2rTRPeI ) reports an Orange County Sheriff's deputy responded when he saw 26-year-old Brett Michael Smith pull over the woman near SeaWorld's Aquatica waterpark Saturday. The woman didn't initially stop after hitting an orange traffic cone when she realized the Aquatica parking lot was full. An arrest report says Smith walked up to her car at a red light and flashed his badge, saying he "worked for the FBI." The deputy, who was nearby, turned on his lights and parked his cruiser. The report says at first he thought the badge was real. Authorities say Smith bought the badge for Halloween. A lawyer wasn't listed for Smith. ___ Information from: WKMG-TV, http://www.local6.com/index.html COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - A Danish prosecutor says she is appealing a six-year prison sentence given to a Danish teenage girl convicted of attempted terrorism, saying she should be incarcerated in a mental institution instead. Natascha Colding-Olsen, now 17, was found guilty earlier this month of planning bomb attacks on her former school and on a Jewish school in Copenhagen, and of possessing chemicals, two years ago. Prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said Wednesday the case was "totally unusual and serious." Earlier a medical report concluded that the girl was dangerous to others. During her trial, Colding-Olsen, who converted to Islam in 2015, admitted the plans and making contact with people whom she thought were radical militants. It was not clear when the appeals case would start. LONDON (AP) - A judge sentenced a British breast surgeon whose victims accused him of playing God to 15 years in prison Wednesday for carrying out unnecessary operations that maimed patients and left some in constant pain. A jury in the central English city of Nottingham found Ian Paterson guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and three counts of unlawful wounding. Prosecutors say the 59-year-old lied to patients to persuade them to have surgery. "You deliberately played upon their worst fears, either by inventing or deliberately exaggerating the risk that they would develop cancer," Judge Jeremy Baker said. The judge said Paterson was driven by "self-aggrandizement" and material rewards. The surgeon owned a luxury home in Birmingham as well as properties in Cardiff, Manchester and the United States. Hundreds of Paterson's patients were recalled in 2012 after concerns about unnecessary or incomplete operations. Ten victims testified about surgeries between 1997 and 2011. One victim, Carole Johnson, described Paterson as a "monster" who performed six surgeries on her in seven years. All but one were unnecessary. "I do not think I can find it within my heart to ever forgive him," Johnson said. Prosecutor Pamela Jain said Paterson abused the trust between patient and doctor and called his impact devastating. A mother has lost a battle to gain access to her deceased daughter's Facebook account. The court in Berlin ruled German privacy laws outweigh her rights as a parent. Facebook welcomed the decision, but says it will try to find a solution 'that helps the family and at the same time protects the privacy of third parties.' A mother has lost a battle to gain access to her deceased daughter's Facebook account after a court ruled in favour of German privacy law (stock image) WHAT HAPPENS TO A DEAD PERSON'S FACEBOOK PAGE? In its official guidelines Facebook says when a user passes away it is their policy to memorialize all user's accounts to protect their privacy. Memorializing an account automatically gives privacy settings which means only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in a search. Family and friends can still leave posts in remembrance but memorializing an account prevents anyone from logging into it. Verified next of kin can submit a special request for a deceased user's account to be deleted. In this case Facebook will require the family member to provide documentation such as a death certificate. Advertisement The mother sued for access to her daughter's Facebook account after the 15-year-old died as a result of being hit by a subway train in 2012. She believed logging on to her daughter's Facebook account would help her to determine if the incident was an accident or if she took her own life. But Facebook had refused access to the account, which had been memorialized, meaning it was effectively locked and served as a message board for friends and family to share memories. The regional court said Wednesday that the mother's wish was understandable, but that granting it would set a dangerous precedent. Privacy remains a sensitive issue in Germany due to extensive surveillance by Communist East Germany's Stasi secret police and by the Nazi era Gestapo. Memories of espionage were stirred anew by Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations of prying by the United States. Facebook says when a user passes away it is their policy to memorialize all user's accounts to protect their privacy. Pictured is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg A regional court in Berlin had ruled in favour of the mother in late 2015, saying that the daughter's contract with Facebook passed to her parents according to German laws on inheritance. It had also said that the girl's right to privacy was not protected because she was a minor and it was up to her parents to protect her rights. The appeals court said on Wednesday that the right to private telecommunications outweighed the right to inheritance, and that the parents' obligation to protect their daughter's rights expired with her death. In its official guidelines Facebook says when a user passes away it is their policy to memorialize all user's accounts to protect their privacy. Memorializing an account automatically gives privacy settings which means only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in a search. Family and friends can still leave posts in remembrance but memorializing an account prevents anyone from logging into it. Verified next of kin can submit a special request for a deceased user's account to be deleted. PARIS (AP) - France's new government has issued a thinly-veiled warning that its citizens who become fighters for the Islamic State group could be killed. Asked Wednesday about a report that French forces are involved in targeted killings of French IS militants in Iraq, government spokesman Christophe Castaner neither confirmed nor denied The Wall Street Journal's findings. He simply replied: "I say to all fighters who join the Islamic State group and then go abroad to wage war: waging war brings risks, and they must assume those risks." The lights of the Eiffel tower falls dark at midnight in Paris, France, Wednesday, May 31, 2017 to honor the victims of a deadly bomb attack, in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of civilians, hospital and police officials said. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) President Emmanuel Macron, elected May 7, says crushing IS is a top priority. Citing Iraqi officers and current and former French officials, the Journal said French special forces have enlisted Iraqi soldiers to hunt and kill French nationals who have joined ISIS' senior ranks. PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A flight headed to Iceland with Philadelphia's mayor on board has been diverted to Boston after experiencing a technical problem over Canada. Philly.com reports (http://bit.ly/2rj8d5H ) Mayor Jim Kenney was on Icelandair's first flight from Philadelphia to Reykjavik (ray-KYA-vick), Iceland. It was marking the beginning of direct flights between the cities. The website reports that a rubber smell was detected in the airplane, the company told people on social media asking about the diversion. A website tracking commercial flights shows the plane was diverted around 10:45 p.m. and landed in Boston around 12:30 a.m. Airport officials in Philadelphia and Boston did not respond to requests for comment. Icelandair tweeted an apology for the "inconvenience" in response to a reporter on board the flight. Kenny's spokeswoman says it is tradition for mayors to visit each other's cities when new international routes are established. Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson spent two days touring Philadelphia. Kenney is to return Saturday. ___ Information from: Philly.com, http://www.philly.com/ DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Two people were killed in a school shooting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday, prompting the U.S. mission there to advise Americans to avoid the area. No children were present at the time of the shooting due to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan's school schedule and no U.S. citizens appear to have been caught in the shooting. The Kingdom School in Riyadh said the shooter was a former employee who had been fired four years ago "on the basis of anger issues and unstable personality." "This is a case of a disgruntled employee who fatally shot two of our staff members and wounded a third," Chairman of Kingdom School Talal al-Maiman said in a statement. State-linked Saudi news websites Okaz and Sabq reported the two faculty members were a Palestinian and a Saudi national. Okaz said the shooter was an Iraqi national. The school is part of the GEMS global network of schools and is owned and operated by Kingdom Holding Company, whose chairman is billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Its website says it is a girls' and boys' school from kindergarten through grade 12. The school segregates males and females by grade 4 as is customary throughout the deeply conservative kingdom. An Interior Ministry official described it as a "criminal case," suggesting this was not a terrorism-related incident. BERLIN (AP) - Germany wants the European Union to cut funding for countries that don't meet the bloc's principles when it comes to human rights and democracy. A spokeswoman for the economy ministry says it has written a proposal to make adherence to the rule of law a factor when deciding whether countries get money from the EU's cohesion fund. The fund is intended to help poorer countries attain the same standards as the rest of the EU and has a budget of 63.4 billion euros ($71.1 billion) for the period 2014-2020. Tanja Alemany told reporters Wednesday "the foundation of the EU's credibility is adherence to its basic values." Both the Polish and Hungarian governments have been criticized by the European Commission for eroding the independence of the media, courts and other institutions. SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonia's parliament has elected a new center-left coalition government led by former opposition leader Zoran Zaev, ending a six-month political stalemate. Lawmakers voted 62-44 just before midnight Wednesday to confirm a 26-member Cabinet proposed by Zaev, who leads the Social Democrat party. Five lawmakers abstained and nine were absent. Zaev was sworn in as prime minister by the parliament speaker immediately after the vote. Zaev formed an alliance with two small ethnic Albanian parties to control 62 of parliament's 120 seats after his party finished second in December elections that produced a hung parliament. About a quarter of Macedonia's population is ethnic Albanian, and inter-ethnic tensions brought the former Yugoslav republic near civil war in 2001. Under the coalition deal, nine Cabinet portfolios are held by ethnic Albanians, including justice and European integration. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Health officials have now confirmed a dozen cases of H3N2 canine influenza in Florida, where they say the flu was spreading among animals at two dog shows. Rossana Passaniti of the University of Florida said Wednesday that the dogs testing positive for the flu were either at a Perry, Georgia, dog show from May 19 to 21 or the Deland, Florida, dog show the next weekend - or were exposed to dogs that had been at those shows. She said there have been no dog deaths at UF veterinary hospitals. There is no evidence that the virus infects people, and all the dogs being treated are in stable condition, according to a news release from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The mortality rate for dog flu is low and most dogs recover at home without any complications. A news release from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville said common symptoms of dog flu include sneezing, nasal discharge and frequent coughing. Symptoms can last for two weeks and be contagious for longer. "Veterinarians in central and north Florida are treating many dogs that are suspected to have dog flu," the release said, adding that all of the dogs under treatment are in stable condition. Vaccines do exist for dog flu, and a 21-day quarantine is recommended for dogs with H3N2 strain. One Deland veterinary clinic wrote on its Facebook page on May 25 that if any clients were at the shows to avoid dog parks, shows or "areas where your dog would have nose to nose contact with other dogs" for the next four weeks. FloridaWild Veterinary Hospital warned clients with dogs exhibiting symptoms to call ahead so that staff can evaluate the animals in their owners' cars, to avoid spreading the contagion. "More severe cases will be referred to the University of Florida for hospitalization and isolation," the clinic wrote. It was first detected in South Korea in 2007 before making its way to the United States in 2015. H3N2 made headlines that year after an estimated 1,000 dogs in Chicago contracted the virus. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Authorities say a 5-year-old girl has received a rabies shot after being bitten by a coyote at an Arizona park. Arizona Game and Fish officials say a coyote was later found and killed near Scottsdale's Thompson Peak Park and its body sent to a lab for testing. Officials say they're not certain that the killed coyote was the one that bit the girl Tuesday so they will continue searching the area. The girl was bitten as she held a granola bar while sitting on a slide. She didn't know the coyote was under the slide. After biting the girl, the coyote chased her and family members until they were able to get into their car. Officials say people reportedly had fed a coyote and it might have become used to being around humans. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Saving up for a down payment is the biggest hurdle for many would-be homebuyers, particularly those looking to make the leap from renting to owning. More than two-thirds of renters consider setting aside money for a down payment the No. 1 obstacle to buying a home, according to a recent survey by real estate data provider Zillow. That edged out other concerns, including job security and a thin supply of homes on the market. While there are home loans that require as little as 3 percent down, rising home prices, especially in expensive coastal states, keep driving up the amount of money buyers need to come up with for a down payment. In this Tuesday, May 16, 2017, photo, a sign advertises that an existing home for sale is under contract in Roswell, Ga. Saving up for a down payment is the biggest hurdle for many would-be homebuyers, particularly those looking to make the leap from renting to owning. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) Even so, many first-time buyers are managing to save enough on their own. Some 76 percent used their savings to fund their down payment last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Here are some tips to consider when working toward that down payment on a home: START SOON Begin saving now. Renters may want to calculate what their extra monthly costs would be as a homeowner and then set aside that amount, minus rent and utilities. This accomplishes two goals: Saving money for a down payment and getting you accustomed to the financial constraints of living with the costs of homeownership. Another strategy that may help: open a separate savings account just for your down payment. That will help lessen the temptation of using the funds for something else. You'll also have to set aside money for closing costs, which can run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars. WEIGH LOAN OPTIONS The type of home loan you get may determine how much of a down payment you need. For many years, buyers sought to put down 20 percent of the purchase price. That would lower their monthly mortgage payment and allow them to avoid having to pay for private mortgage insurance, or PMI. But as home prices have risen, that trend has waned. Loans that require as little as 3 percent up front have become more common. As a result, the median U.S. down payment has declined to 10 percent the past four years, according to the NAR. "The housing market is not a matter of 20 percent down payment or bust," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "You can get into a house with a low down payment, but you're going to have to come up with the money for closing costs." Lenders offer loans backed by government mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that require only a 3 percent down payment. Borrowers can ask to have their PMI waived once the equity in their home reaches 20 percent. Borrowers with less-than-sterling credit may have a better shot qualifying for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA's program requires 3.5 percent down, but borrowers have to refinance once their equity grows above 20 percent in order to get out of paying PMI. Buyers may not need to save for a down payment at all if they are U.S. military veterans, servicemembers or residents of certain rural areas. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have zero-down payment loan programs for qualified borrowers. EXPLORE OTHER OPTIONS Saving for a down payment sometimes takes more than cutting back on dining out or travel. A quarter of first-time homebuyers in 2016 used gift money from relatives or friends to round out their down payment, according to the NAR. And more than 10 percent tapped their retirement savings without the usual hefty penalties for an early withdrawal. Of course, before withdrawing money from your 401(k) or IRA accounts consider that a big withdrawal will mean your retirement savings won't grow as swiftly. Borrowers with low or moderate income, and teachers, firefighters or other public service job holders may also qualify for down payment assistance through thousands of federal, state or local programs aimed at helping homebuyers. There are more than 2,100 funded programs, many of which help cover the down payment and closing costs through loans that can sometimes be forgiven over time, or paid back only once the buyer sells the home, according to Down Payment Resource, a tracker of homebuyer assistance programs. CONSIDER USING HOME EQUITY A newer approach to coming up with a down payment involves letting investors put up some of the money in exchange for a slice of the potential value in the home. San Francisco-based Unison now has a program available in 12 states and the District of Columbia that offers to match up to half of a 20 percent down payment on a home. The match isn't a loan, in that the buyer doesn't have to make payments, but still benefits from the lower cost of making a 20 percent down payment. There are several payback scenarios, but essentially the company collects a 35 percent share of the gain, if any, in the sale of the home. Should the home decline in value, the company also shares in the loss, potentially receiving less money back on its original investment. If the homeowner hasn't sold the home after 30 years, a property appraisal is used to determine how much Unison gets paid. The homeowner also has the option to buy out Unison any time after their third year in the home. Unison also doesn't share in the equity that the homebuyer builds as they pay down their mortgage or from investments, like a kitchen remodel. "There's a very clear trade off here in that you are surrendering future equity," said McBride, noting that home equity is increasingly becoming Americans' principal way to fund their retirement. "So, look yourself in the mirror and make sure that you're not potentially shortchanging your future financial security just to get into a slightly more expensive home now." The possibility of losing a big slice of her home's future value didn't put off Courtney DeAnda from using Unison to double the $52,000 down payment on a home this month. She and her husband, James, who have three kids, recently entered escrow on a five-bedroom, three-bath house in Vacaville, California, for $468,000. The couple expects to save $417 a month on their mortgage payment by using the Unison program. "It's a price to pay to help us get into a home that we really love," said DeAnda, 28. "We really don't see much of a negative with using it." ___ This story has been updated to remove the reference to private mortgage insurance being tax deductible. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - A court in Bahrain ordered the country's last main opposition group dissolved and its property confiscated on Wednesday in the latest blow to reformers and dissenting voices in the Middle Eastern island-nation. The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said the political society known as Waad plans to appeal the ruling. Waad confirmed the court order for its dissolution on its official Twitter account. The Justice Ministry had launched proceedings to dissolve the 15-year-old group, alleging that Waad incited acts of terrorism, promoted the violent overthrow of the Sunni-led government and "glorified convicted terrorists and saboteurs." The government used similarly broad wording to dissolve the country's largest Shiite opposition group, al-Wefaq. FILE- In this Friday, Sept. 20, 2013 file photo, Leaders of opposition groups, including Sheik Ali Salman, head of the largest Shiite Muslim opposition society Al Wefaq, front row fourth left, participates with thousands of Bahrainis carrying national flags and posters of jailed political and religious opposition figures in a rally in Muqsha, Bahrain. A court in Bahrain has the ordered the country's last functioning opposition group dissolved and its property confiscated. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File) Bahrain is a majority Shiite nation ruled by a Sunni monarchy with close ties to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which sent forces to help quell an Arab Spring style uprising in 2011. An official at the State Department in Washington said the U.S. is "deeply concerned" by the court decision to dissolve Waad and urges the government to reconsider its judicial action against the group. "As we have consistently maintained, opposition parties that peacefully voice criticism of the government play a vital role in encouraging societies that are tolerant, inclusive, and pluralistic," said Edgar Vasquez, a spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Earlier this month, however, President Donald Trump touted Washington's "wonderful relationship" with Bahrain, which hosts the U.S Navy's 5th Fleet. His administration has also notified Congress it planned to approve a multi-billion dollar sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain without the human rights conditions imposed by the State Department under President Barack Obama. Bahrain accuses Shiite-ruled Iran, which lies across the Persian Gulf waters, of arming and training some protesters to destabilize the country. Shiite militant groups have claimed responsibility for some deadly attacks on police, however Iran denies it has trained or assisted groups in Bahrain. Waad's dissolution comes a week after five people died in a police raid on the hometown of a prominent Shiite cleric who was stripped of his nationality and faces possible deportation. Police arrested 286 people in the raid, adding to the hundreds more who have been jailed, forced into exile or stripped of their nationality in recent years. Two smaller opposition groups remain active, however Waad was seen as the last major opposition group still functioning in Bahrain. The secular group included both Shiite and Sunni activists and political figures. Its offices were set ablaze twice before by vandals. "Today matters because it says the government won't just not tolerate Shiite opposition, it won't tolerate any opposition," Brian Dooley, a senior adviser at Human Rights First told The Associated Press. Rights group Amnesty International said "Bahrain is now heading towards total suppression of human rights" with Wednesday's court ruling. The case stems from a statement Waad made in February on the anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising in which the group criticized the Bahraini constitution. "Their only so-called 'crime' is exercising their right to freedom of expression and association," said Lynn Maalouf, director of research at Amnesty International's Beirut regional office. Separately, Amnesty International reports that human rights activist Ebtisam al-Saegh says she was tortured for seven hours in Bahrain during an interrogation last month. She says she was blindfolded, beaten, kicked and kept standing for most of the time, and that she was threatened with the rape of her daughter and the torture of her husband. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. ADAMSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - If home is where you hang your hat, Kangol is struggling to afford its pricey new U.S. digs. When the famous hat brand worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Gwen Stefani moved into a Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as labor costs went up, profits went down. Way down. The 149-year-old company behind Kangol says it's losing money on every kangaroo-logo cap knitted at its factory in Adamstown, 60 miles west of Philadelphia. A worker takes part in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. When the famous hat brand worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Gwen Stefani moved into the Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) "It has been certainly a bigger challenge than what we could've ever dreamed," said Don Rongione, Bollman's fedora-wearing president and CEO. The nation's oldest hatmaker expects a relatively quick turnaround once U.S. workers get better at making the popular Kangol caps. But Bollman's early struggles with Kangol illustrate why the labor-intensive garment industry left the United States in the first place. Employment is down 85 percent since 1990 - the biggest decline of any manufacturing sector - as cost-cutting apparel companies shifted production to Asia in search of cheaper labor. Bollman spends about $11 an hour per worker in Pennsylvania vs. $2.60 in China. So why move? In an industry where trends come and go quickly, "it's incredibly important to incorporate speed into the delivery of the product," Rongione said. Other apparel companies are also trying to be more nimble. U.S. apparel production has increased 50 percent since 2009, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as some footwear and clothing makers decided to accept higher labor costs in exchange for greater inventory control and proximity to U.S. customers. KEEN, for example, began assembling footwear at a plant in Portland, Oregon, in 2010. Sportswear giant Under Armour opened a high-tech facility in Baltimore last year. "Obviously, if you have a plant in the United States, it's much easier to respond to trends, produce small runs and get product to market really quickly," said Nate Herman, the trade group's senior vice president of supply chain. Last year, for the first time in decades, the number of manufacturing jobs created by U.S. companies that moved operations back to the nation and by foreign companies investing in America exceeded the number of jobs lost by companies moving overseas, according to the Reshoring Initiative, a nonprofit set up to bring factory jobs back to the United States. Yet the U.S. garment industry's production gains also show why President Donald Trump's campaign pledge to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. could prove difficult. Increased automation is making it cheaper to sew and knit in the U.S. but requires fewer workers. So, even as apparel makers crank out more U.S.-made shirts and shoes, the industry is losing more jobs than it's creating. Employment stood at more than 131,000 workers last year, down from a high of 1.4 million in 1973. Moreover, more than 97 percent of America's wardrobe still comes from abroad. "It's not going to be what it once was," said Steven Frumkin, of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. "We're never going to employ as many people because of efficiencies and equipment." Bollman is betting it can succeed with U.S. workers - and by making Kangol, its most important brand, the old-fashioned way. The employee-owned company raised more than $100,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to ship dozens of knitting machines from China to Pennsylvania, then got to work refurbishing the ancient, clattering workhorses that have been knitting the fabric used in Kangol caps for nearly 80 years. American workers also had to learn how to sew, shape and embroider the distinctive headwear, a popular style of which, the Wool 504, retails for $48. Nearly a year later, Bollman's overall cost per hat is still twice as high as it was in Asia, partly because the Pennsylvania crew can't yet produce as many hats in a day as their more experienced counterparts at the now-shuttered factory in Panyu, in southern China. But the cost per hat was three times as high initially, and the company says it expects continued improvement. Inside Bollman's 19th century, red-brick factory in Pennsylvania Dutch country, Amaryllis Garman, 38, carefully places a piece of knitted fabric on a machine that joins both ends to form the familiar Kangol flat cap, taking care to ensure a straight line. The job requires patience and hand-eye coordination, and comes with a steep learning curve. When Garman started, she could make 10 hats a day. She's up to about 250 now and hopes to become still more efficient. "I was ready to give up," Garman said with a rueful laugh. "Very difficult, but once you accomplish it, it's a good feeling." Bollman has spent more than $1 million to shift production to Pennsylvania, putting a financial strain on a company whose brand lineup also includes Helen Kaminski and Country Gentleman. There was no profit sharing in 2016, and, for the first time in 31 years, the company did not make a contribution to its employee stock ownership plan. The Adamstown factory is responsible for about 20 percent of Kangol production, with the rest coming from plants in England, Italy, Taiwan, China and Vietnam. The venerable hatmaker, which has produced just about every style over its long history, from trilbies and pork pies to bowlers and berets, is no stranger to adversity. Foreign competition forced painful layoffs at the Pennsylvania factory last decade as Bollman's domestic production declined from 3.2 million hats in 2005 to about 460,000 last year. The experience prompted Rongione to start American Made Matters, an advocacy group that encourages consumers to buy U.S.-made goods. Bollman acquired Kangol, an English brand that gained cachet in the U.S. when hip-hop pioneers like Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J began sporting it, in 2001. By then, production had already moved to China. Bollman has to start making money on its U.S.-made Kangol headwear or it'll eventually have to ship production back overseas, Rongione said. But the CEO said he remains optimistic. "This is not yet a success story," Rongione said, "but we have great confidence we're going to get there. ... This is near and dear to our hearts." ___ Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report. Amaryllis Garman takes part in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. U.S. apparel production has increased 50 percent since 2009, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as some footwear and clothing makers decided to accept higher labor costs in exchange for greater inventory control and proximity to U.S. customers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Jeff Geletka operates a knitting machine used in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. When the famous hat brand worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Gwen Stefani moved into the Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Kangol hats are displayed at the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. The nation's oldest hatmaker expects a relatively quick turnaround once U.S. workers get better at making the popular Kangol caps. But Bollman's early struggles with Kangol help illustrate why the labor-intensive garment industry left the United States in the first place. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Hien Nguyen works on a knitting machine used in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. U.S. apparel production has increased 50 percent since 2009, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as some footwear and clothing makers decided to accept higher labor costs in exchange for greater inventory control and proximity to U.S. customers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Kangol hats are shaped during the manufacturing process the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. When the famous hat brand worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Gwen Stefani moved into the Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Don Rongione, President and Chief Operating Officer of Bollman Hat Company poses for a photograph with knitting machine used in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. The 149-year-old company behind Kangol says it's losing money on every kangaroo-logo cap knitted at its factory in Adamstown. "It has been certainly a bigger challenge than what we could've ever dreamed," said Rongione. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) A worker takes part in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. U.S. apparel production has increased 50 percent since 2009, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as some footwear and clothing makers decided to accept higher labor costs in exchange for greater inventory control and proximity to U.S. customers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) A worker takes part in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. U.S. apparel production has increased 50 percent since 2009, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as some footwear and clothing makers decided to accept higher labor costs in exchange for greater inventory control and proximity to U.S. customers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Workers take part in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. U.S. apparel production has increased 50 percent since 2009, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as some footwear and clothing makers decided to accept higher labor costs in exchange for greater inventory control and proximity to U.S. customers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Don Rongione, President and Chief Operating Officer of Bollman Hat Company displays a Kangol hat at the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. Bollman's early struggles with Kangol help illustrate why the labor-intensive garment industry left the United States in the first place. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Amaryllis Garman, top, takes part in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. When the famous hat brand worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Gwen Stefani moved into the Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Don Rongione, President and Chief Operating Officer of Bollman Hat Company poses for a photograph with knitting machine used in the manufacturing of Kangol hats the Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. When the famous hat brand moved into the Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. "It has been certainly a bigger challenge than what we could've ever dreamed," said Rongione. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Shown is the Bollman Hat Company that manufactures Kangol hats the in Adamstown, Pa., Monday, May 1, 2017. When the famous hat brand moved into the Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) WASHINGTON (AP) - A State Department official says nine Afghan guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul were killed in the massive suicide truck bomb attack that rocked the diplomatic quarter in Afghan capital, and 11 American contractors are wounded. One Afghan guard is missing. The official was not authorized to speak to the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A foreign security guard, center, and Afghan forces patrol near the site of a massive explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. The suicide truck bomb hit a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul killing scores of people and wounding hundreds more. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) The official said none of the wounded Americans appears to have life-threatening injuries. Afghan officials say at least 90 people were killed and 400 wounded in Wednesday's attack. Milwaukee officials approved a $2.3 million payout for the family of a mentally ill black man who was fatally shot in a 2014 confrontation with a white police officer. The Milwaukee Common Council gave its approval to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Dontre Hamilton, who had been sleeping in a downtown Milwaukee park when Officer Christopher Manney approached him. One alderman abstained, saying he didn't believe Manney did anything wrong. Mayor Tom Barrett is expected to sign off on the settlement within the next 10 days, spokeswoman Jodie Tabak said. Milwaukee officials approved a $2.3 million payout for the family of Dontre Hamilton (left) who was fatally shot in a 2014 confrontation with Christopher Manney (right) Manney said Hamilton attacked him as he frisked him for weapons and that he shot the 31-year-old 14 times in self-defence. Manney said Hamilton grabbed his police baton, prompting him to open fire. The attorneys for Hamilton's son said in a statement that they plan to put the settlement money in a fund for him to receive when he becomes an adult. The statement goes on to say Hamilton's family still wants Manney to face criminal charges if additional evidence in the case surfaces. 'We still want justice,' Dameion Perkins said at the news conference. 'And receiving a settlement is not justice.' Police Chief Edward Flynn said at the time that Manney's pat-down wasn't necessary, and he fired Manney for failing to follow department rules. The shooting happened next to City Hall, where the Common Council meets. The Milwaukee Common Council gave its approval to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Dontre Hamilton. 'We still want justice,' Dameion Perkins (right) said at the news conference The attorneys for Hamilton's son said in a statement that they plan to put the settlement money in a fund for him to receive when he becomes an adult Alderman Cavalier Johnson recalled walking past Hamilton as he slept on a park bench and said he wonders whether things would have turned out differently if he had woken him. 'I walked right past him,' he recalled before the council approved the settlement. 'For me, it's always weighed on me.' Alderman Bob Donovan abstained from voting. 'For me to vote in favor of this, I'd feel that somehow I would be saying, and I would be contributing to the belief, that officer Manney did something wrong,' he said. The Milwaukee County district attorney did not charge Manney in the death, and the US Justice Department decided against pursuing any civil rights charges. The federal agency cited eyewitness accounts, physical evidence, Manney's testimony and input from use-of-force experts. Since Hamilton's death, his mother, Maria Hamilton, and two brothers Nate Hamilton and Dameion Perkins, have been outspoken activists in the community, helping organize protests and successfully lobbying the mayor to better train police officers dealing with the mentally ill. Police Chief Edward Flynn said at the time that Manney's pat-down wasn't necessary, and he fired Manney for failing to follow department rules. Pictured, Maria Hamilton, the mother of Dontre Hamilton, speaks at a news conference Since Hamilton's death, his mother, Maria Hamilton, and two brothers Nate Hamilton (speaking in floral shirt) and Dameion Perkins, have been outspoken activists in the community 'We don't forgive the city of Milwaukee,' Nate Hamilton said during a tearful news conference in the park where his brother was killed. 'This settlement doesn't make us sleep better at night.' The proposed settlement follows a $2.5 million payout the Milwaukee council approved in February to a woman raped by a police officer who was responding to her 911 call in 2010. Flynn fired the officer, Ladmarald Cates, who is serving 24 years in prison for the rape. The city also has paid $5 million to be divided among 74 black residents who claimed police illegally strip-searched them between 2008 and 2012. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Courts cannot routinely shackle defendants "like a bear on a chain" and must instead decide on a case-by-case basis whether the restraints are necessary to prevent violence or escape, a divided federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco previously ruled that defendants have a right to be free of shackles and handcuffs in the presence of jurors in part to maintain the presumption of innocence and prevent bias. The ruling Wednesday extended that right to all court proceedings with or without a jury. "Criminal defendants, like any other party appearing in court, are entitled to enter the courtroom with their heads held high," 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski wrote in the 6-5 decision. At issue was the practice of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California of shackling almost all defendants during pretrial hearings. The court - based in San Diego - implemented the policy in 2013 after the U.S. Marshals Service highlighted security concerns. Defendants - regardless of their individual characteristics - appeared before judges in leg shackles and handcuffs connected by a chain to a waistband, according to the 9th Circuit opinion. It said one defendant had a fractured wrist but appeared in court wearing full restraints. Another who uses a wheelchair was also shackled. A majority of judges on the 9th Circuit panel said the practice is unconstitutional and courts cannot delegate decisions on using shackles to those who provide security, such as the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, which defended the shackling policy, had no comment, spokeswoman Kelly Thornton said. A three-judge 9th Circuit panel invalidated the policy in 2015, saying the Southern District court had failed to provide adequate justification for it. The U.S. attorney's office asked a larger panel of judges to review the case. The ruling protects the right to liberty that has been part of the law since before the nation's founding, said Reuben Cahn, executive director of Federal Defenders of San Diego Inc., which challenged the shackling policy. Cahn said he knew of a few other federal district courts that had similar policies. In a dissenting opinion, 9th Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta said the majority decision ignored U.S. Supreme Court direction on the issue, split with other federal appeals courts and put federal district courts at risk. In 2013, there were two separate assaults involving inmates inside courtrooms in the Southern District. In addition, the U.S. Marshals Service determined it couldn't predict which detainees would present a danger. Additionally, the agency dealt with a high volume of criminal defendants with reduced resources for courtroom protection, Ikuta said. SAO PAULO (AP) - Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS has agreed to pay a fine of more than $3 billion for its role in a corruption scheme involving pension funds. The Federal Prosecutor's Office says the agreement was reached Tuesday night and that the fine will be paid over 25 years. JBS executive Joesley Batista is at the center of the political crisis engulfing President Michel Temer. In a secret recording Batista made in March, Temer appears to be condoning the payment of hush money to the imprisoned former Speaker of the House Eduardo Cunha. The recording and the revelation of kickbacks to more than 1,800 politicians are part of the plea bargain signed by the Joesley Batista and his brother Wesley, also a top executive at JBS. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico and Georgia - two states with some of the nation's largest percentages of minority residents in the United States - had the nation's highest rates of inmates in county jails, according to a report made public Wednesday by a non-partisan criminal justice reform group. The study by the Massachusetts-based Prison Policy Initiative that lobbies for reducing U.S. jail and prison populations showed that New Mexico had a jail incarceration rate of 340.8 per 100,000 residents in 2013 - the latest year of federal data tracking all local jail populations. Georgia had the second highest rate that year with 317.3 per 100,000 residents. County officials who oversee jails in New Mexico and Georgia say they have since enacted reforms that have significantly decreased the number of people held in those jails. FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2008 file photo instructor Kimberlee Hanson discusses an assignment with student inmates at the Gordon Bernell Charter School in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque, N.M. The Massachusetts-based Prison Policy Initiative, a criminal justice reform group, said in a study released Wednesday, May 31, 2017, Georgia and New Mexico, two states with some of the nation's largest percentages of minority residents, also had the country's highest jail incarceration rates in 2013. (AP Photo/Heather Clark,File) The study found that pre-trail detentions tripled jail population growth nationwide over since 1978, said Joshua Aiken, the report's author. He blamed most of the increase on inmates too poor to post bail after their arrests on minor infractions. New Mexico has the largest percentage of Hispanic residents in the United States at 48 percent. Around 31 percent of Georgia residents are black - one of the highest percentages in the country. New Mexico state Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas, an Albuquerque Democrat and outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform, was not surprised that New Mexico and Georgia had the highest rates of inmates in county jails. Both states struggle with poverty and have minority populations that are disproportionately stopped by law enforcement agencies, he said. "But it's not just the arrests and the jails. It's the whole criminal justice system, including the courts," Maestas said. "The inefficiency is mindboggling." For example, Maestas, a defense attorney, said he often comes across cases of poor inmates being held on small crimes for four to six months after a trial date has been delayed. Aiken said people who are incarcerated for lengthy periods before they face trial run a high risk going to prison later for more serious crimes. "Jails are an entry point to the criminal justice system because being held in jail for a something small can have big effects later in life," he said. The study's results were drawn from statistics in the federal Census of Jails compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Excluded from the study were counts of people held in local jails for state and federal authorities. Grace Philips, general counsel for the New Mexico Association of Counties, said the report is no longer reflective of the state's jail populations because many counties have reported a reduction in inmates since 2017. New Mexico's largest county, which includes Albuquerque, has instituted reforms to reduce its jail population that helped decrease it 48 percent from 2013 to 2017, according to data from Bernalillo County's Metropolitan Detention Center. The changes include efforts to allow people charged with crimes to enter pleas earlier than they did in the past and earlier resolution of hearings for suspects facing detention. In some cases, judges are allowed to seek hearings for suspects on charges to avoid having them face indictments by grand juries, which can lead to faster plea agreements. Schuyler Harding, a spokesman for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, said county jail inmate populations in Georgia also have dropped since 2013 as a result of the state's criminal justice reforms. Georgia Bureau of Investigation reports that the jail population fell 3 percent from January 2013 to January 2017. In 2015, American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed a federal lawsuit against DeKalb County on behalf of a black teenager who was jailed because he could not afford to pay court fines and probation company fees stemming from a traffic ticket. DeKalb County agreed in a settlement to changes for people who could not afford to pay fine and fee payments, including training for court staff and instructions for judges aimed at prompting them to avoid sending people to jail who owe court fines but cannot pay. The Prison Policy Initiative recommended that states turn misdemeanor charges that do not threaten public safety into "non-jailable" infractions and to offer treatment programs instead of jail for low-level offenders struggling with drug addiction or mental illness. ___ Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras COVINGTON, La. (AP) - Skeptics of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy's alternative to the Affordable Care Act moaned and jeered at him during a town hall in Louisiana Wednesday, and when he said he's "neutral" on the Paris Accords to combat climate change, members of the audience groaned. One shouted, "Take a stand." The Republican senator had his supporters among the more than 200 people who jammed a meeting hall in Covington, north of New Orleans. They applauded loudly when he said insurance premiums and deductibles for health insurance have skyrocketed for some under President Barack Obama's health care law. But many of his constituents were doubtful that the replacement bill he is pushing will sufficiently protect Louisiana residents. "First do no harm," a New Orleans physician said as she questioned Cassidy, who also is a physician, referring to the doctors' traditional Hippocratic oath. Outside, meanwhile, a few dozen people who couldn't get into the packed room chanted "Health care, not wealth care." While the Senate considers what to do about the House-passed bill promoted by President Donald Trump as an "Obamacare" replacement, Cassidy has co-sponsored an alternative with Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican. Their proposal would allow states to retain Obama's law, but with fewer protections and less funding. States that choose not to would automatically enroll people in low-cost, high-deductible plans covering extreme emergencies and generic drugs. Anyone seeking more coverage would have to buy more expensive policies. Money states would get under existing law would instead go to patients, in tax-advantaged health savings accounts to be used for care. States could also design their own programs, but would receive no federal payments if they did. Cassidy has deep experience in health care - he worked for years in Louisiana's Charity hospital system. But he didn't sway Dr. Kiersta Kurtz-Burke, the New Orleans physician who questioned him during the meeting. She said afterward that she doesn't believe many states - including Louisiana - will provide for adequate coverage if the Cassidy-Collins plan passes. The liberal activist group MoveOn.org was among organizations that had encouraged participation in the town hall. Louisiana is usually a reliably conservative state, where Cassidy ousted three-term Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in 2014. But Trump's presidency has energized liberal opposition. Wednesday's forum was more sedate than a raucous one in February in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. Cassidy read hand-written questions submitted by the audience and then invited follow-ups from those who submitted them, including his critics. While the crowd was vocally critical of some of his answers, there were no prolonged outbursts and Cassidy, who faced the opposition calmly, was rarely interrupted. Asked whether he would support Trump if the president withdraws the United States from its commitments under the Paris Accords to combat climate change, Cassidy said he believes the nation is already increasingly using cleaner energy sources. His declared neutrality on the Paris agreement prompted groans from some in the crowd. Cassidy also avoided saying whether or not he would vote against the House-passed American Health Care Act, although he did say that the bill fails to fulfill Trump's pledges of better coverage and lower costs. Cassidy took questions for more than an hour, and then held a news conference for reporters, where he said the House bill, as written, won't come to a vote in the Senate. "I always avoid answering questions on that which I know will never occur," he said. Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ May 31 The New York Times on Donald Trump working with world leaders: The tectonic plates of Europe are shifting, and President Trump is at the heart of this upheaval. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany bluntly made that point on Sunday when she said, "The times in which we could rely fully on others - they are somewhat over," and the result is that "we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands." With that line, it became clear that the United States is no longer the reliable partner her country and the rest of Europe have long depended on. Since World War II, the United States led the way in building a new international order rooted in NATO and the European Union as well as a belief in democracy and free markets. Britain, France and Germany were central to that effort, which for 70 years kept the peace and delivered prosperity to millions of people while standing firm against the Soviet threat, helping end the Bosnian War and combating extremism in Afghanistan. This trans-Atlantic partnership is still vital. But how, and how well, it will function as American leadership recedes is unclear. So far, no one is talking about dissolving NATO; Europe still depends for its security on America's nuclear and conventional arsenals. But Ms. Merkel's remarks underscored profound divisions between Europe and the United States that have one clear beneficiary, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who has longed for the alliance, Moscow's Cold War adversary, to unravel. Before Mr. Trump attended his first meetings of NATO and the Group of 7 last week, European leaders hoped they could bring him around on critical issues. That now seems like a pipe dream. Mr. Trump doubled-down on his most destructive campaign impulses by hectoring the other members at length for what he called their insufficient levels of military spending, and by refusing to reaffirm NATO's bedrock mutual defense commitment. He also broke with the allies on other issues. He offered a more conciliatory line on Russia and refused, despite their entreaties, to endorse the Paris agreement on climate change. When he returned home, Mr. Trump stoked the fires more, complaining in a tweet that Germany pays "far less than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change." His remarks showed no appreciation for how NATO works, how Ms. Merkel is in fact pushing her country to spend more on defense - and, more generally, how comments like this insult a trusted ally. Europe's dismay could only have deepened when Congress seemed to cheer Mr. Trump on. Republicans, who once prided themselves as stewards of national security, have shown little concern about the way Mr. Trump treated NATO members or the links between Mr. Trump's aides and Russia. In a statement, Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gushed over Mr. Trump's trip to Europe and the Middle East, saying it was "executed to near perfection." These new stresses in the alliance come at a bad time. Europe has been battered by the Greek financial crisis; the rise of authoritarianism in Turkey, Hungary and Poland; Britain's decision to withdraw from the European Union; and the flow of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. Meanwhile, Mr. Putin, always eager to expand Russian influence, has exploited every weakness and crisis, along with instigating a few of his own. Russia invaded Ukraine and has interfered in electoral campaigns in the United States, France and Germany. Mr. Putin has meddled in the Baltic States, cultivated far-right-wing allies in Hungary and wooed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on NATO's eastern flank. He is now courting Italy with a savvy ambassador to Rome and financing for anti-establishment parties. There are some bright spots. One is that Ms. Merkel seems committed to playing a lead role as the United States pulls back; another is France's election of President Emmanuel Macron, who has demonstrated a willingness to work in partnership with Ms. Merkel. The two won't always see eye-to-eye, but Germany needs France and Mr. Macron is a good fit. Mr. Macron's first foreign visit was to Berlin. And just days later, he has showed that he is not afraid of taking charge. After greeting Mr. Trump, Mr. Macron acknowledged deliberately keeping their handshake going to make a political point: I'm not your patsy. He made an equally strong point when he met in Versailles with Mr. Putin, who had probably worked to aid his rival, the far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. Mr. Macron gave Mr. Putin full honors but did not mince words on Russia's destructive role in the Syrian conflict, in Ukraine and in its dissemination of fake news. The message was one Europe should stick to in the future: No major issue can be resolved without talking to Russia, but differences with Moscow should not be swept under the rug. For now, it looks as if it is up to Ms. Merkel and Mr. Macron to keep the alliance alive and relevant, at least until Mr. Trump wakes up to the need for American leadership or until another, wiser president replaces him. Online: https://www.nytimes.com/ ___ May 27 The Chicago Tribune on gerrymandering heading to the U.S. Supreme Court: Roughly 30 percent of North Carolina's voters are registered Republicans, but the GOP holds 10 of the state's 13 seats in Congress. How did that happen? Republicans drew the electoral map, that's how. As lawmakers huddled to craft the current boundaries, state Rep. David Lewis suggested the goal should be to stack 10 districts to favor Republicans, leaving three to the Dems, "because I do not believe it's possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats," according to a transcript of the meeting. Lewis didn't bother to disguise the naked partisanship that guided mapmakers' hands, and no wonder. Across the country, brazen gerrymandering has flourished as federal courts shrugged off legal challenges from voters who were cheated by such lopsided maps. In 2011, a panel of federal judges called Illinois' newly drawn map "a blatant political move to increase the number of Democratic congressional seats" - and upheld it anyway. That masterful gerrymander prompted Politico to declare that House Speaker Michael Madigan, the state's top Democrat, had "punched his ticket to the partisan hall of fame." It flipped the balance of the state's congressional delegation from 11 Republicans and eight Democrats in 2011 to 12 Democrats and six Republicans in 2013. (Illinois lost one seat because of declining population.) Courts have acknowledged that extreme partisan mapmaking isn't consistent with democratic principles - one man, one vote, remember? - but they've also recognized that redistricting is inherently political. The majority party can always be counted on to manipulate the maps in its favor. When does it cross the line? The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to make that call, saying it's up to the aggrieved party to propose a constitutional standard that can be applied. The justices have never rejected a map for being too partisan. They will soon have another chance to do so. On Monday, the justices threw out North Carolina's map - not because it cheated Democrats, but because it cheated African-Americans. A 1995 ruling declared it unconstitutional to sort voters into districts based on race without a compelling reason, such as to promote minority representation under the federal Voting Rights Act. Since then, several maps have failed that test. Lewis, whom we've come to think of as North Carolina's Mike Madigan, had argued that the GOP's map was acceptable because it's a partisan gerrymander, not a racial one. True, the Republicans had secured their advantage by concentrating blacks into two districts, but mapmakers said they based the decisions on voting history, not skin color. The Supreme Court didn't buy it. The tactic, known as "packing," minimizes the impact of the targeted voters by containing them in as few districts as possible. The opposite is "cracking" - scattering them into many districts, so their votes never add up enough to make a difference. Both are employed ruthlessly for partisan advantage. And this fall, they could provide the Supreme Court with the metric it has been asking for to gauge how badly a map is rigged to favor one party. The justices have agreed to consider whether Wisconsin's State Assembly map violates the 14th amendment's equal protection clause because it was drawn to neutralize the votes of Democrats, depriving them of representation. The standard proffered by a bipartisan group of voting advocates is a straightforward mathematical calculation. It tallies the number of votes that are "wasted," or assigned to a district in which they could not affect the outcome of an election. A handful of Democrats carved into a Republican stronghold, for example, or the redundant Republicans crowded into a district where half as many would have constituted a majority. A map drawn without bias would "waste" about the same number of Republican and Democratic votes. The difference, or the "efficiency gap," is a measure of partisan imbalance. The larger the gap, the harder it would be for mapmakers to convince a court that the lines weren't drawn to disenfranchise the opposing party. That makes sense to us. It made sense to the panel of federal judges whose decision is now before the Supreme Court. We hope the justices are impressed as well. The current maps were based on population shifts as measured by the 2010 U.S. census - and here we are, still arguing about them in 2017. The Wisconsin case is an opportunity for the Supreme Court to take a stand against partisan election rigging, before the 2020 census rolls around. Online: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ ___ May 31 The Dallas Morning News on censoring alt-right rallies: The suffering city of Portland, Ore., could use a break from ugly rhetoric and political extremism, from the kind of angry activism that too often begets violence. The community is in shock. Last Friday, an abusive man began screaming racial and religious insults at two young women, one of whom was wearing a Muslim headscarf, aboard a commuter train. When three male passengers tried to intervene, the aggressor pulled a knife, killing two of the men and injuring a third. The alleged killer shows zero regret. During his arraignment Tuesday on nine criminal charges, including two counts of murder, Jeremy Joseph Christian bellowed nonsense, calling himself a "patriot" and ranting about "death to enemies of America." Police documents show that shortly after his arrest, Christian bragged about the stabbings and expressed his hope that all three victims would die. It's perhaps understandable, then, that Mayor Ted Wheeler is dismayed at plans for two public "alt-right" rallies to take place over the next two weekends: a Sunday "Trump Free Speech" gathering and a June 10 anti-Muslim-themed "March Against Sharia." Christian had attended a similarly themed "free speech" event last month. Wheeler has asked that organizers voluntarily cancel their plans, which is reasonable. And he has demanded that the events be banned, which is not. In a drama that has played out this week on Twitter, Wheeler called on the U.S. government to revoke or refuse use permits for a federally owned downtown plaza near Portland City Hall where the alt-right events are scheduled. A spokesman for the mayor said Tuesday that the intent is to prevent violence, not to shut down free speech. But, intended or not, a shutdown of free speech would be the result. The mayor does not have the authority to stop these events, even if his motivations are valid. Dallas witnessed a public-assembly quandary of its own last summer: After the devastating ambush murders of five police officers by a lone gunman during a downtown "Black Lives Matter" protest, Police Chief David Brown asked organizers to relocate other protest marches scheduled downtown in the following weeks. But the protesters followed through on their plans, and a small march was held without incident. Brown asked; the marchers said no. Likewise, Wheeler can ask. He may have good reason to ask. But he cannot ban the events. The American Civil Liberties Union has been uncompromising in its view of the situation. In a statement addressing Wheeler's comments, the ACLU of Oregon said: "The government cannot revoke or deny a permit based on the viewpoint of the demonstrators. Period." Yes, nerves are frayed in Portland. The community is weary - and wary - of overheated rhetoric. But court rulings are clear. Free speech, obnoxious and offensive as it can be and too often is, is protected as an inviolable and fundamental right. "If we allow the government to shut down speech for some, we will all pay the price down the line," the ACLU's statement said. Yes, we will. Free speech is not, as Wheeler mistakenly believes, beside the point. It is the point, and it must be safeguarded. Online: http://www.dallasnews.com ___ May 31 The Los Angeles Times on potential consequences of President Trump withdrawing from the Paris agreement: This is one campaign promise that President Trump should have let slide. According to news reports, Trump is on the verge of announcing that yes, he will withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement among nearly 200 nations. If that comes to pass, the move will just make it more difficult for the world to counter the worst effects of the global warming that's already underway. The more level-headed and reality-based members of Trump's inner circle need to redouble their efforts now to turn their boss around. Granted, it won't be much of a surprise if Trump reneges on the accord. As a candidate, he assailed the non-binding pact as a "bad deal" for the U.S. Nevertheless, White House aides had said before Trump left for his recent nine-day foreign trip that he was keeping an open mind. That fueled hope that Trump might recognize the folly in rejecting the overwhelming consensus of climate scientists that human activity is dangerously increasing global temperatures. If the latest reports are true, though, he must not have listened to what every other leader at the G-7 summit in Sicily was saying. The withdrawal would also send a troubling signal that the nationalists on his team have won out over the realists, which means the administration is becoming more inwardly focused as the world is growing more globally connected. Trump already has been pursuing policies aimed at expanding U.S. production of fossil fuels to achieve what he called "American energy dominance," rather than mere "energy independence." He proposed slashing the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by 31% (the enforcement section alone would be cut by 40, appointed climate skeptic Scott Pruitt to dismantle - er, run - the agency, and has taken steps to end President Obama's Clean Power Plan, a framework for compelling states to effect significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. These steps will make it harder to meet the commitment Obama made in Paris to reduce U.S. carbon output 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. Trump also wants deep cuts in climate-change research, and would slash the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 69% - a move that critics say would hamstring government investment in renewable energy research. How Trump intends to ride fossil fuel production into dominance of an energy sector increasingly shifting to renewables is perplexing. Oil companies themselves are planning for the day when global oil consumption begins to ebb and becomes supplanted by less-harmful natural gas - an already profitable portion of their overall business. But they're also expanding their portfolios to include renewable energy sources. It's telling that CEOs of Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP all urged Trump to keep the U.S. in the accord. New ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods recently wrote that "we're encouraged that the pledges made at last year's Paris Accord create an effective framework for all countries to address rising emissions; in fact, our company forecasts carbon reductions consistent with the results of the Paris accord commitments." But Trump thinks he knows better than the scientists or the energy sector. He has no expertise in either, and has exhibited little curiosity about the interconnections between carbon emissions and global temperatures. Remember, his business background is in real estate, television shows and branded products. He has no science background, yet hubristically clings to his disbelief that human activity is pressing global temperatures higher - he infamously has referred to climate change as a hoax concocted by the Chinese to undercut U.S. manufacturing. The irony here is that by backing out of the Paris agreement, Trump would cede international climate leadership and most of the benefits of a transitioning energy sector to the Chinese, which, along with India, is making surprisingly strong gains in reducing emissions. It's remarkable that a president who has put so much emphasis on creating jobs is so willing to let other nations reap the financial gains from leading the world to a better, cleaner energy future. Trump's position also flies in the face of public sentiment - 71% of Americans believe the science, and 59% say that protecting the environment is more important than protecting jobs. The frustrating part of this is that even Obama's goals were insufficient if the world is to avoid the worst repercussions of global warming. The polar ice sheets are already shrinking, glaciers are melting, ocean levels are rising, storms have intensified, and droughts and downpours have become stronger and more erratic as species become stressed and trees that once thrived in places like the Sierra Nevada die by the millions. The world needs to go in one direction, and Trump wants to point the United States the wrong way. Strong science-influenced and clear-eyed leadership - both nationally and internationally - are required if we're to keep the worst of it from happening. And in Trump, we don't have that. Online: http://www.latimes.com/ ___ May 31 The Seattle Times on the new U.S. education budget: The proposed federal-education budget for the next fiscal year flouts the values of our nation and also appears to threaten Washington state's education budget. Just the numbers tell a surprising story: Program cuts totaling $9 billion from the Education Department's $68 billion budget and $1.4 billion for school choice, including new money for states that embrace vouchers. Families could use the vouchers to offset tuition at private schools. The budget proposal would eliminate more than 20 education programs that benefit children from low-income families and those with disabilities. The proposed cuts include an after-school program that serves mostly low-income students, would take money away from career and technical education, cut Special Olympics education programs and a number of other programs. Many of these make up a small part of Washington's education budget. But the real danger in the Trump administration's education budget is that it shows where President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would like tax dollars increasingly to go in the future - toward private schools, including religious institutions. The Washington state Constitution specifically prohibits state dollars going to religious schools, so Washington could not benefit from this program even if the citizens thought it was a good idea, which it is not. When testifying before Congress last week, DeVos was asked if she would stop federal money from being spent at a private school that discriminates against LGBT students. She said states would determine the rules about how school vouchers would be used. "This isn't about parents making choices, this is about the use of federal dollars," Rep. Katherine M. Clark, D-Massachusetts, said as a preamble to asking about vouchers. Clark is correct. Federal dollars should not and cannot be used to discriminate. Just like the rest of the first Trump administration budget, the education-budget proposal is likely dead before the debate is finished. Congress will set the national budget and therefore the education priorities. The new education secretary is asking lawmakers to give her the flexibility to use federal dollars in an innovative way, just like Congress gave the previous education secretaries latitude to experiment with some money. The problem is where she wants to do that experimenting. Online: http://www.seattletimes.com/ ___ May 30 The Khaleej Times on relations between the U.S. and Russia: Germany feels the US administration under President Donald Trump 'chatters too much' and Russia is the beneficiary of his loose talk. How can you share intelligence with an unreliable partner across the Atlantic if it falls into Russian hands? Russian President Vladimir Putin would only be too happy to use it against members of the EU and the bloc itself, European leaders fear. It's a known fact that Trump's personal ties with German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been frosty at best. They got off to a wrong start during Merkel's visit to Washington early this year. A grumpy Trump even refused to shake the chancellor's hand after their cold meeting. Trump's maintained that European countries must pay their fair share for Nato's upkeep. The US alone cannot foot expenses and provide security cover to the continent is his argument. Putin, meanwhile, appears to be enjoying this split in the Western military alliance that was set up as a counter to communist expansion after World War II. For Russia, this could be payback for the West's role in the break up of the USSR, East Germany and other East European states. Germany united and Soviet satellites became independent states. Political ramifications began soon after Soviet troops pulled out from Afghanistan. The US-backed Mujahideen made the Soviet military machine eat humble pie in the late seventies and early eighties. Putin's grand plan is now taking shape with a wobbly Nato making it easier for his European foray. Without US support, the alliance lacks strategic firepower to take on Russia that is still gloating over its conquest of Crimea. The US under Barack Obama was solidly behind Nato in 2014, yet did nothing militarily to intervene. Under Trump, Nato has become weaker; the EU as an economic bloc will soon be weakened without Britain. Germany, however, has been a standout country in these times of geopolitical and social upheaval. Europe's largest economy has been ably led by Merkel who is giving the bloc new direction. Trump, on the other hand, is fuelling suspicions by going soft on Moscow. His rants against Germany, trade and Nato put Russian interests first. In this scenario, Merkel has shown wisdom by seeking new trade partners and military allies. The US under Trump has a lot of explaining to do. Twitter tirades by the president are only making matters worse. What he needs is a lesson in history. Online: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/ BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - An investigation into the misuse of funds by an outgoing chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley cost 10 times more than the misspending. UC spokesman Ricardo Vazquez told The Associated Press on Wednesday that UC spent $57,671 on the probe. The investigation found that Chancellor Nicholas Dirks used university resources for part of a gym membership, personal training sessions and an elliptical machine. The services and equipment cost roughly $5,000. Vazquez said the aim was to conduct a fair and thorough investigation. Dirks is stepping down on June 30. He has not commented on the spending, but UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein has said he has apologized and repaid the money. The cost of the probe was first reported by the Daily Californian campus newspaper. JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A district attorney who helped prosecute a high-profile civil rights cold case known as "Mississippi Burning" is becoming a state court judge. Gov. Phil Bryant said Wednesday that he is appointing Mark Duncan to succeed a retiring circuit judge. Duncan has been district attorney since 2003 in four central Mississippi counties. The judgeship covers the same counties. In 2005, Duncan and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood prosecuted Edgar Ray Killen in the 1964 abduction and slaying of civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman in Neshoba County. A mixed-race jury in Neshoba County convicted Killen of manslaughter on the 41st anniversary of the killings. Killen was sentenced to 60 years and remains in prison. Duncan succeeds Vernon Cotten as circuit judge. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A pending state Senate bill would provide government-funded universal health care for California's 39 million residents. The bill faces a Friday deadline for passage out of the Senate if it is to be considered by the state Assembly. Here's how University of Massachusetts-Amherst researchers, in a study commissioned by the influential California Nurses Association, suggest the state pay for it: - The total annual cost is estimated at about $406 billion a year. - Existing state and federal health care funding could provide $225 billion. - Researchers say better efficiency and lower negotiated pharmaceutical drug costs could save $75 billion. - The remaining $106 billion could be paid for with a sales tax increase and a new tax on business revenue. - The researchers suggest a 2.3 percent sales tax and a 2.3 percent gross receipts tax, which would apply to all corporate revenue. - The plan would eliminate out-of-pocket health care costs, like copays and deductibles, for consumers. - Poor residents would get a tax credit to offset the higher sales tax. - Critics say the plan is unrealistic, including its expectation that President Donald Trump's administration would waive rules about federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars. The future of the NHS and English schools are at stake in the General Election, Jeremy Corbyn has said, as he attempted to steer the campaign away from Brexit and onto Labours favoured battleground of the public services. The Labour leader turned Theresa Mays election slogan against her, claiming that after seven years of Conservative-led administrations, the state of health, social care and education were anything but strong and stable. Five more years of Tory government would be disastrous for public services, while Labour would be willing to ask the richest to pay a little bit more to fund them, he said. Patients are suffering ever longer waits and overcrowded wards. It has to change, and with @UKLabour in government, it will. #ForTheMany pic.twitter.com/GiXRCsfHyg Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 31, 2017 Mr Corbyns attack comes after Mrs May attempted to force the campaign focus onto her core messages of leadership and Brexit, saying the Labour leader was unprepared for crunch Brexit talks and would find himself alone and naked in negotiations. Labours analysis claims that under Tory plans, 5.5 million people will find themselves on NHS waiting lists in England by 2022, the scheduled end of the next parliament, a 1.8 million increase from now. Seeking to exploit perceived Tory weakness on social care, Mr Corbyn also said 1.5 million older and vulnerable people will not have their social care needs met. In addition, 650,000 school children will be "crammed" into primary school classes larger than 30 pupils and families will be almost 450 worse off per child as a result of Tory plans to scrap free school meals for 1.7 million children. This election is vital for the future of the NHS and our schools. Take a look at what could happen after five more years of the Tories pic.twitter.com/feVbEHm9Kf The Labour Party (@UKLabour) May 31, 2017 Mr Corbyn highlighted Labour plans to invest 37 billion in the NHS and 8 billion in social care, with moves towards creating a National Care Service. And he stressed the partys plans to cap class sizes at 30 for five, six and seven-year-olds. Giving a speech in Westminster, the Labour leader will say: "The future of the NHS and our schools are at stake in this election. The state that the Conservatives have left our NHS and our childrens schools in is anything but strong and stable. Over the past seven years, they have starved the public services we rely on of resources, because at every turn, the Conservatives have chosen tax giveaways for the few over public services for the many. "Patients are suffering ever-longer waits and overcrowded wards, those who need care have been left without it. A&E units and whole hospitals are threatened with closure. Children are crammed into overcrowded and crumbling classrooms. Schools are sending home begging letters to the parents. It has to change. Jeremy Corbyn meets supporters in Reading (Andrew Matthews/PA) Mr Corbyn said analysis from the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that the Conservative manifesto for the June 8 General Election showed they were offering no new money for the NHS and a real-terms cut in per-pupil funding for schools. Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said: Brexit negotiations start 11 days after people vote and are crucial to our economic security and the future of public services. Made-up numbers from Corbyn cannot hide the fact hes not up to the job of getting the deal we need. A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of a woman and two children were discovered following continuous female screams at a former home of John Lennon. Merseyside Police were called to a ground-floor flat in Falkner Street, Toxteth, at around 7.30pm on Tuesday after concern for the safety of the occupants. Officers said the investigation was in its early stages, but believe it is domestic related. The scene in Falkner Street, Liverpool The arrested man, 30, was taken to hospital but discharged on Wednesday afternoon. He is being questioned by officers. One neighbour described hearing a scream like no other coming from inside the home at around 7pm. The man, who did not wish to be named, told the Press Association: I heard screams it was screams that make you sit up and go outside to see whats going on. It wasnt a scream of joy. Man arrested following deaths of three people in Toxteth https://t.co/tFxTV81CXd pic.twitter.com/3QZwZoiGNP Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) May 31, 2017 He added: They were female screams and it was continuous, thats what made me go outside. It was a scream like no other. It will stay with me for a while, to be honest. He described seeing one man being rushed out into an ambulance, shortly before police evacuated part of the street. Emergency services are attending an incident at Falkner St, Toxteth. Falkner St is closed to traffic from Catharine Street to Hope Street. Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) May 30, 2017 We would like to thank the public for their patience while we deal with an incident on Falkner Street, Toxteth. Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) May 30, 2017 The property is regularly visited by Beatles fans on tours of the city because the bands manager, Brian Epstein, had owned a flat there, where Lennon lived with his first wife Cynthia shortly after they married. Driver Jay Riley, 67, stopped outside the property while taking tourist David McGann, 35, from Melbourne, on The Beatles Fab Four taxi tour on Wednesday morning. He said: This is where John and Cynthia, his first wife, spent their honeymoon and this is where he wrote the song Do You Want To Know A Secret. the scene in Falkner Street, Liverpool The reason he wrote the song Do You Want To Know A Secret is because this was Brian Epsteins secret apartment. Brian Epstein was gay and up until 1967 in England it was illegal to be gay. This is why it was called his secret apartment. One man said a family with two toddler-age children had lived in the flat. Residents on the street were evacuated from their homes at about 7.30pm on Tuesday due to concerns over a gas leak. Police have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths at this stage. The force said a post-mortem examination will be carried out and tests were being carried out on a substance located at the scene. Forensics officers wearing gas masks were seen in the property on Wednesday morning. A Toyota Yaris with a smashed passenger window, which had been parked in the street, was towed away from the area. On the campaign trail today The Prime Minister has appointed a stand-in to take part in the latest seven-way TV debate on the BBC. Amber Rudd will step up to the plate to bat for the Tories and will square off against a representative from Labour later revealed to be leader Jeremy Corbyn Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, Ukips Paul Nuttall, the SNPs Angus Robertson, Green co-leader Caroline Lucas and Plaid Cymrus Leanne Wood. Pm is absolutely right, we can only fund the NHS properly if we have a strong economy #GE2017 Amber Rudd (@AmberRuddUK) May 22, 2017 Before the prime-time debate, PM Theresa May will be heading to Somerset, while Jeremy Corbyn will start the day in London before also heading west. Mr Farron will be in London, while the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Ukip will be launching their manifestos in Edinburgh at lunchtime. Whats in the news? Jeremy Corbyns floundering when pressed for figures on the cost of his partys childcare policy has given newspaper columnists a tasty morsel to chew over in todays editions. Michael Deacon in the Telegraph said Mr Corbyns performance had shades of his shadow home secretary Diane Abbott when she could not recall how much it would cost to recruit 10,000 police officers. The paper refers to the interview with Emma Barnett on Womans Hour as a car crash, while the Sun labels him calamity Corbs. The Mirror, perhaps expectedly, generously suggested the Labour leader stumbled briefly. Other stories making the headlines include a secret plan by Labour to increase migration, as covered by the Telegraph and Daily Mail, while Guardian columnist Rafael Behr takes down the Prime Minister for repeating her mantra about no deal is better than a bad deal on Brexit, suggesting that while it appears popular, its also a nonsense. Whos saying what? Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn The futures of our NHS and schools are at stake in this election. Another five years of the Tories would be disastrous for our public services Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from a speech he is due to deliver on Wednesday. Made-up numbers from Corbyn cannot hide the fact hes not up to the job of getting the (Brexit) deal we need Work and Pensions secretary Damian Green This is just a snapshot based on data from the past seven days and people can and do change their minds in the closing days of a general election campaign YouGov chief executive Stephan Shakespeare, after his company issued a seat projection poll suggesting a hung parliament. Far from being a dull election, I think this one may come to be seen as the beginning of a realignment in politics that changes the political map and our concepts of right and left Daniel Finkelstein in the Times. A YouGov analysis has suggested the UK faces a hung parliament. Here are the key questions: YouGov's chief scientist Doug Rivers sets out how our general election model - reported in The Times today - works https://t.co/sn4HLwpNfP YouGov (@YouGov) May 31, 2017 The polling companys seat projection study for the Times has resulted in a constituency-by-constituency estimate, which indicates what could happen on a good night and bad night for the Conservatives. The seat range for the Tories is 274 to 345, with the central estimate being 310 seats down from the 330 they had before the snap election campaign. Labours central estimate is 257, up from 229. (Danny Lawson/PA) It is difficult to say, with any study merely a guide ahead of the big day. YouGov used a model which analysed data from around 50,000 panellists interviewed on their voting intention over the course of a week. The pollster said the approach was used during the EU referendum and consistently showed voters backed Leave. But YouGov has also acknowledged the data could change dramatically before polling day on June 8. The headline figures certainly stand out given previous assumptions and polling data pointing to the Conservatives securing a majority. (Steve Parsons/PA) Prime Minister Theresa May has said the only poll that matters is the one on June 8 while Labours Angela Rayner dismissed the research, insisting Labour is in it to win it. (PA graphic) A collective poll of polls by the Press Association, based on a seven-day rolling average of all published polls, places the Tories on 44%, Labour 35%, the Liberal Democrats on 8%, Ukip on 5% and the Green Party on 2%. Such a lead indicates the Tories would secure a majority. (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Following the 2015 general election, an independent inquiry was commissioned by the British Polling Council and the Market Research Society. This emerged after the Tories secured a majority and a 6.5% margin of victory despite polls suggesting a close race. The inquiry cited unrepresentative sampling with over-representation of Labour voters and under-representation of Tories as contributing to the polling failures. Remain was also largely predicted to win at last years EU referendum before Leave emerged victorious with almost 52% of the vote. (Clive Gee/PA) ICM director Martin Boon told the Guardian that his polling company gives the Tories higher leads than others as its methodology assumes young people will be less likely to vote than older, and less affluent people will be less likely to vote than the wealthy. He added: This has been the general pattern of general elections for an age, and whether you believe our poll findings or those of others will depend on whether or not you think Jeremy Corbyn can actually buck that trend. Northampton have confirmed that France international Louis Picamoles has rejoined Top 14 club Montpellier. Saints have accepted a significant transfer fee for number eight Picamoles, who has fallen in line with the French Rugby Federations desire for all its internationals to be playing in the Top 14. The 31-year-old has received a proposal from Montpellier which will underpin the future financial stability for his family, Saints said in a statement. Louis Picamoles The club has therefore reluctantly agreed to the transfer and accepted a significant transfer fee for his services. Louis Picamoles is leaving Saints this summer for Montpellier https://t.co/JPXUf3TQ2O Northampton Saints (@SaintsRugby) May 31, 2017 This fee will be reinvested into the playing squad to ensure Northampton Saints continues to strive for success on the pitch. To achieve this, the Saints is looking to further strengthen the squad with new signings in addition to the world-class talent already confirmed for 2017/18. The Saints management would like to thank Louis for his contribution to this season and wish him all the best for the future. Picamoles, voted Saints player of the year, was reported earlier this month to have signed a pre-contract agreement to rejoin Montpellier, where he began his career, after Frances tour of South Africa this summer. He has made more than 60 appearances for France after making his international debut against Ireland in the 2008 Six Nations and joined Northampton from Toulouse on a three-year contract in 2016. The Queen has celebrated her 70-year association with the prestigious Drapers Company - believed to be only the third institution that has the Queen as a member. It is thought only the Church of Scotland and the Sandringham branch of the Womens Institute (WI) can boast a similar connection to the monarch. The Queen followed in the footsteps of her father George VI, who was a draper before her, when on May 20 1947 she was admitted to the freedom of the company. The Queen At the companys impressive headquarters in the City of London she met members of its Court of Assistance, or governing body, and their partners before joining them for a celebration lunch. The Queen receives a posy from pupils of the Drapers Maylands School following today's visit to Drapers' Hall pic.twitter.com/9AZrBVoMy3 The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 31, 2017 Penny Fussell, the companys archivist, showed the Queen documents, letters and photographs illustrating the monarchs long association with the Drapers, a company whose roots date back to the 13th century. Ms Fussell said she believed the Queen was only a member of the Drapers, the Church of Scotland and Sandringham WI. She added: The fact that the Queen is a draper is something were immensely proud of and today shes been made a member of our Court shes the only sovereign who has ever been a member of our governing body. Two men have been arrested over the murder of a 20-year-old woman who was shot dead by masked men in broad daylight. Mohanna Abdhou, known as Montana, was out with friends when two attackers cycled up and opened fire in Brent, north west London, last Friday. A 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old man were arrested in west London on suspicion of murder in the early hours of Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police said. They remain in custody at north London police stations. A 21-year-old man who was arrested at the scene has since been released pending further inquiries, the force added. Two men arrested today in connection with the murder of Montana Abdhou #Kilburn #Brent https://t.co/6KZ9LKjyZb pic.twitter.com/bmv5O8Pbh4 Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) May 31, 2017 Ms Abdhous family called for answers as to why she was gunned down and said they were truly saddened, heartbroken and still in complete shock. They said in a statement released on Tuesday: She was a loving daughter, sister and friend. She was loved by everyone and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly. The thought that anyone can go out there and murder an innocent person is truly heartbreaking and we wish that no other family ever goes through such distress. She will always be in our minds and in our hearts. Our family need answers as to what happened to our beloved Montana, someone must know something, or have suspicions about someone being involved. The senseless killing took place outside a block of flats near a childrens playground in Malvern Road at around 9pm on May 26. Police are appealing for any witnesses to come forward. Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge said: Montana was enjoying an evening out with a number of female friends when they were approached by the suspects close to a childrens playground. A number of shots were aimed at the group; sadly Montana was shot and died from her injuries at the scene. Montanas family are devastated by her senseless killing, and I and my team are committed to finding those responsible and the reasons behind it. Whilst arrests have been made, this investigation is still in its early stages and I believe the public can provide further information to assist the investigation. In particular I am keen to trace anyone who saw the two masked suspects together on bicycles, either in Malvern Road, or nearby before or after the attack. He said the suspects headed towards Shirland Road after the attack before entering Shirland Mews. They were both wearing dark coloured clothing and had their faces covered. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a single gunshot wound. Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8358 0300 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. England flanker Tom Wood has been handed a six-week suspension after pleading guilty to stamping at an independent disciplinary hearing. Wood trampled on the head of Stade Francais full-back Djibril Camara while playing for Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup play-off final and was sent off. The sanction is not unexpected and he was left out of Englands two-Test tour to Argentina this summer due to his likely unavailability. Wood, 30, will be able to take the field again on August 28. Tom Wood A statement read: The committee upheld the red card decision and found that Woods stamp resulted in reckless contact with Camaras head. The committee then decided that the offence was at the top end of World Rugbys sanctions and selected 12 weeks as the appropriate entry point. Taking into account Woods guilty plea, expression of remorse and good disciplinary record, the committee reduced the sanction by the maximum of 50 per cent before imposing a six-week suspension. Woods Saints team-mate Rory Hutchinson has also been banned for two weeks after he tackled Will Genia while jumping in the same game. The Duke of Cambridge has said the nations reaction to the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales has changed the UK for the better. But William, who will mark the 20th anniversary of Dianas death later this year, spoke of the personal anguish he felt when he walked behind the Princess coffin on the day of her funeral. The national outpouring of grief following Dianas death in a Paris car crash on August 31 1997 was unprecedented. Prince William discusses Diana's death, mental health and Lady Gaga with @campbellclaret in our July issue. https://t.co/cyiUjZXTGP pic.twitter.com/u0tLeBxiGV British GQ (@BritishGQ) May 29, 2017 Her Kensington Palace home became a place of pilgrimage for thousands of mourners who covered the ground in a sea of floral tributes, and her funeral service was the climax of emotions. Interviewed by Tony Blairs former spin doctor Alastair Campbell for GQ magazine, William said: The massive outpouring around her death has really changed the British psyche, for the better. When Campbell asked the Duke whether the death of David Bowie last year would have sparked a public response without the reaction to his mothers death, the Duke replied no it wouldnt. Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and the Prince of Wales William was 15 and Harry just 12 when their mother was killed and they made the decision to walk behind the Princess funeral cortege joined by the Prince of Wales, Duke of Edinburgh and their uncle Earl Spencer. When Campbell asked how the Duke could have walked behind Dianas coffin without crying, he replied: It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But if I had been in floods of tears the entire way round how would that have looked? The second-in-line to the throne went on to say: In the situation I was in, it was self-preservation. I didnt feel comfortable anyway, having that massive outpouring of emotion around me. I am a very private person, and it was not easy. The coffin of the Princess of Wales inside Westminster Abbey ( John Stillwell/PA) There was a lot of noise, a lot of crying, a lot of wailing, people were throwing stuff, people were fainting. William added: It was a very unusual experience. It was something I dont think anyone could have predicted. Looking back, the outpouring of grief and emotion was very touching but it was very odd to be in that situation. The former spin doctor questioned the future king about the argument his mother cultivated her own friends in the media and fed the interest in her private life. The Duke of Cambridge says the outpouring grief for his mother's death was good for the UK (Paul Barker/PA) The Duke replied: I know some games and shenanigans were played, but she was isolated, she was lonely, things within her own life got very difficult and she found it very hard to get her side of the story across. But he went on to say: This was a young woman with a high profile position, very vulnerable, desperate to protect herself and her children and I feel strongly there was no responsibility taken by media executives who should have stepped in, and said, morally, what we are doing, is this right, is this fair, is this moral?' The Duke said he still feels angry that he and Harry were not old enough to do more to protect her and that he still holds a lot of people to account that they did not do what they should have done, out of human decency. The full interview appears in the July 2017 issue of British GQ, which goes on sale on June 1. Despite not being at the BBC Election Debate, Theresa May still found herself taking multiple hits from the other party leaders as they debated the topics of Brexit, public services, security and leadership. Here is a round-up of some of the more entertaining points from the seven-way live TV battle. Amber Rudd accidentally let her poor knowledge of the rules of Monopoly slip when criticising Jeremy Corbyn over his fantasy economics. The Home Secretary said: Its as though he thinks its some sort of game, a game of Monopoly perhaps. Where you ask the Banker for the red money to buy the electrics, the green money to buy the railways, and the yellow money to buy the gas works. People on Twitter were left feeling very confused, since the colours represent the value of the money and not what can be bought with it, though some expressed their keenness to make the most of her misunderstanding of the classic board game and challenged her to a game. Paul Nuttall clashed with Jeremy Corbyn (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The discussion got heated between Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Ukips Paul Nuttall on the topic of terrorism and the Manchester concert attack. Mr Nuttall argued that Muslims should do more to combat terrorism while Mr Corbyn attacked him for singling out the community. The Labour leader said: I utterly deplore the language that Paul Nuttall uses and the subliminal attack the whole time on people of Muslim faith. But Mr Nuttall rebuked by shouting You invited Hamas, you invited Hamas to the House of Commons, referring to when Mr Corbyn called the members friends. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron got off to a strong start with his opening statement of the debate. He said: Where do you think Theresa May is tonight? Take a look out your window, she might be out there sizing up your house to pay for social care. He also delivered a similarly dig at Mrs May in his very British closing statement that garnered a big laugh from the studio audience when he advised viewers to make a brew and watch Bake Off because you are not worth Theresa Mays time, dont give her yours. What you're missing in #BBCDebate - Shouting - Interruption - And here's another thing - NHS - Let him speak - Definite plan - Not true Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) May 31, 2017 For many, the debate went exactly as expected lots of arguing, shouting and put-downs.One tweet, from user Jim Pickard, neatly summarised the key themes and statements for those who were not watching. The audience were very vocal when Ms Rudd asked voters to judge (the Conservatives) on our record. She went on to list her party cutting the deficit and investing in the NHS but not before she had to pause as the audience erupted into laughter. Caroline Lucas and Angus Robertson appear to have been the stand-out speakers in the eyes of Twitter users. The Greens co-leader was praised for challenging Ms Rudd about why the UK is the second biggest arms dealer in the world, while Mr Robertson was commended for accusing Labour of aping Ukip on immigration. Plaid Cymrus Leanne Wood also came out of the election battle fairly unscathed, after earning particular praise for her cutting Brexit line to Mr Nuttall when asking if would refuse to pay up if he was going through a real divorce: We all know about blokes like you. By Greg Roumeliotis May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. coatings maker PPG Industries Inc said on Tuesday that the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) did not grant its request to extend a June 1 deadline for making a tender offer for Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel NV. The Dutch regulator did not comment on reasons for rejecting the request. AFM's decision ratchets up pressure on PPG to decide whether to take its offer directly to Akzo shareholders by filing formal tender offer papers with Dutch regulators by Thursday, or walk away for at least six months. Akzo has rejected three cash-and-stock offers from PPG since March. It turned down PPG's latest offer of 26.3 billion euros ($28.8 billion) earlier this month. PPG's board met on Tuesday to discuss its options, according to sources, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. "PPG will continue to assess all of its options including whether or not to file a preliminarily draft offer memorandum with the AFM by no later than June 1," the company said in a statement after Reuters reported on AFM's decision. Akzo Nobel declined to comment. Akzo has argued a PPG takeover would be bad for employees and that the two companies' cultures do not mesh. It has also said a deal faces antitrust hurdles, would be bad for the environment, and that Akzo should remain under Dutch ownership. PPG has countered that its offer represents more value for Akzo shareholders than the company's standalone plan. It has sought to provide assurances it can close the deal and that it will uphold Akzo's commitments to communities in the Netherlands. A Dutch court on Monday rejected a request by Akzo investors, led by activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors, for an extraordinary general meeting to remove Akzo Chairman Antony Burgmans over his reluctance to engage in talks with PPG. An unsolicited bid by PPG would be considered hostile by Akzo, which has protective measures against hostile takeovers. One of its ownership entities is a foundation that holds sufficient voting power to block any deal. Akzo has unveiled its own standalone plan, which calls for operational improvements and cost savings, as well as exploring a spin-off or sale of its specialty chemicals business. Akzo's specialty chemicals business makes ingredients used in industrial processes and products, including polymers, salt and chloralkalines used for making everything from foodstuffs to household products, paper, vehicles and constructing buildings. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Matthew Lewis) By Tom Finn and Oleg Vukmanovic DOHA/LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Qatar Petroleum is warning Japanese natural gas buyers not to press too hard in long-term supply talks or Japanese companies could be squeezed out of Qatar's LNG projects, sources have told Reuters. Qatar faces rising competition from a tide of new LNG from sources including Australia, which is expected to surpass it as the world's top exporter by 2019. That has emboldened buyers as they look for lower prices and more control via shorter contracts and the rights to divert or resell unwanted cargoes, for example. In Japan, QP, which owns producers Qatargas and Rasgas, counts on customers led by JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric and Chubu Electric. In the current contract negotiations with Japan, at stake are annual supplies of 7.2 million tonnes of gas expiring in 2021 worth some $2.8 billion, or 10 percent of QP's output. Underscoring the depth of Qatar's ties to Japan, Marubeni Corp and Mitsui & Co each own 7.5 percent stakes in the three-train Qatargas I project. Mitsui also holds a 1.5 percent stake in Qatargas 3. "If Japan pushes too hard or decides to buy LNG from other buyers like Australia, Qatar has said it could force Japanese companies out of their stakes in Qatargas projects," a Japanese diplomat told Reuters. A QP official confirmed supply renewal talks may impact Japanese ownership stakes in Qatar's LNG projects. Marubeni and Qatargas did not return requests for comment. JERA declined to comment. Losing its foothold in Japan would force QP to seek sales among less creditworthy buyers in Africa, the Middle East and south Asia which are riskier to deal with. Its status in Japan is already under threat, with its market share falling 17 percent last year while Australia's jumped by 20 percent, customs data showed. One advantage Qatar still possesses is as the lowest cost producer it can undercut on prices. "Chubu (Electric) has enough contracted supply from Australia and the United States to manage without Qatari supply if they wanted," a source at a Japanese trading house said. TOUGHER TERMS Japanese importers value longstanding business ties with Qatar and are unlikely to drop deals altogether, but the utilities are insistent on introducing more buyer-friendly terms, a Japanese trading source said. "The flexibility to divert and cancel shipments will be one of the main demands from Japanese buyers who see themselves becoming more like traders in the years ahead," the source said, in particular reference to JERA. Reducing volumes, shortening deals from the current 25 years, and aligning pricing formulas with market conditions will also be important, he said. Pakistan recently struck a 15-year deal with Italy's Eni , showing how buyers are driving changes to long-term contracts. Long-term pricing is closely tied to the price of crude oil, expressed as a percentage of a barrel's worth. Pakistan was able to force Eni down to a price of about 11.8 percent, far lower than the 14.2 percent Japan buyers pay Qatar, industry sources said. Slashing the premium on Japanese deals could add up to billions of dollars over a contract's lifespan. Qatar could also be forced to offer contractual devices like those offered by some producers in Australia which protect buyers from oil price spikes. Aside from Australia, Qatar faces an unlikely source of competition for Japanese market share from Nigeria. Sources say the world's fourth-biggest LNG producer is courting Japan's city gas companies, power utilities and trading houses as many of its own supply deals with Europe wind down in 2021-2023. Up to eight million tonnes of annual LNG output from Nigeria is coming off contract at that time and Japanese buyers are being targeted, according to traders. Nigeria has LNG projects that are fully depreciated, allowing them to offer more flexible terms such as diversion rights and shorter contracts, sources said. (Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick and Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; editing by Jason Neely and David Evans) By Ruma Paul COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, May 31 (Reuters) - Left drenched and near destitute by a cyclone that hit Bangladesh a day earlier, thousands of Rohingya refugees hunkered down in the ruins of their camps on Wednesday, waiting for help after a night in the rain. At least seven people were killed and 50 injured by Cyclone Mora, according to Mohammad Ali Hussain, the chief administrator of Cox's Bazar district, a sliver of land in southeast Bangladesh bordering Myanmar. The border area that bore the brunt of the storm is home to refugee camps for Muslim Rohingyas who have fled from their homes in northwest Myanmar to escape communal violence and Myanmar army crackdowns. "Initial reports suggest damage to shelter in camps sheltering Rohingya refugees, is severe," the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator for Bangladesh said. The Bangladeshi government has estimated that in all, there are about 350,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh following a new influx last October, when the Myanmar army launched an offensive in response to insurgent attacks. Authorities in Cox's Bazar and neighbouring Chittagong district evacuated 350,000 people from low-lying areas before the storm roared in from the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday. But most Rohingyas remained in their flimsy shelters in the camps when the storm struck, with priority given to evacuating only the most vulnerable, like heavily pregnant women. Omar Farukh, a community leader in Kutupalong camp - one of several camps for Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar - described the misery of those left behind. "We have passed a difficult time. We had no tin or plastic sheets above our heads and almost all of us passed the night in the rain," Farukh told Reuters by telephone. "We tried to save our belongings, whatever we have, with pieces of plastic sheet." A senior U.N. official working in Coxs Bazar said there had been no reports of deaths in the camps, only some injuries. STILL WAITING The cyclone formed after monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, off India's southern tip, killing 202 people in recent days, authorities said, adding 96 people were missing. An Indian navy boat rescued 33 Bangladeshis at sea off Chittagong, and recovered one body, the Indian mission in Dhaka said. It was not clear if the people had been on a boat that sank or were washed into the sea by a storm surge. Transport and communications were in chaos in northwest Myanmar, state media there said. Camps for internally displaced Rohingya in Myanmar suffered extensive damage, and there were pockets of damage in the broader community, but no reports of casualties, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. When the storm hit Bangladesh it brought wind gusting up to 135 kph (85 mph) and heavy rain. By daybreak on Wednesday the storm had died down with only a steady rain falling. Airports and ports reopened. Rohingya community leader Farukh said aid agency officials had visited the Kutupalong camp to see what was needed. A relief worker who had visited the Balukhali camp estimated that one in four huts there had been damaged but there were no serious injuries and people had begun repairs. Beyond the camps, officials were also assessing the damage elsewhere in Cox's Bazar. The chief administrator said 17,500 houses had been completely destroyed and 35,000 partially damaged in the district. "Almost all rickety houses in the district were completely or partially destroyed by the cyclone. Not only Rohingya houses," Hussain said. The cyclone lost some of its force as it moved inland and across the eastern border into India. Strong wind and heavy rain battered houses, brought down electricity lines, and damaged telecommunication towers in India's Mizoram state, cutting communications and power. The Meteorological Department said the weather system was very likely to continue to move north-northeast and weaken into a cyclonic storm and later into a depression. Other northeastern Indian states had received heavy to very heavy rainfall since Tuesday evening. (Additional reporting by Serajul Quadir in DHAKA, Zarir Hussain in GUWAHATI, India, Yi-Mou Lee and Antoni Slodkowski in YANGON; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Robert Birsel) By Luke Baker JERUSALEM, May 31 (Reuters) - Within days of capturing East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, Israel was examining options about their future ranging from Jewish settlement-building to the creation of a Palestinian state. As the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the war nears on June 5, recently unearthed documents detailing the post-war legal and diplomatic debate have a familiar ring, and underline how little progress has been made towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Akevot, an Israeli NGO researching the conflict, has spent thousands of hours over two years gaining access to declassified, often dog-eared, documents and building a digital record of them. The group's aim in obtaining the files, at a time when the Israel State Archives has restricted access to its resources as it conducts its own digitisation project, is to ensure that primary sources of conflict decision-making remain accessible to researchers, diplomats, journalists and the wider public. "One of the things we realised early on was that so many of the policies related to current day Israeli government activities in the occupied territories have roots going back to the very first year of occupation," said Lior Yavne, founder and director of Akevot. "Policies that were envisaged very early on, 1967 or 1968, serve government policies to this day." In six days of war, Israel's army seized 5,900 square km (2,280 square miles) of the West Bank, the walled Old City of Jerusalem and more than two dozen Arab villages on the city's eastern flank. On other fronts it conquered the Golan Heights from Syria, and Sinai and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. But for the Israeli prime minister's office, the foreign ministry and assorted legal advisers, the thorniest questions surrounded how to handle the unexpected seizure of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the 660,000 Palestinians living there. "THE WAR NEVER ENDED" A little over a month after the war ended on June 10, 1967, senior foreign ministry officials had drafted a set of seven possibilities of what to do with the West Bank and Gaza. They considered everything from establishing an independent, demilitarised Palestinian state with its capital as close as possible to Jerusalem, to annexing the entire area to Israel or handing most of it over to Jordan. The authors explained the need to move rapidly because "internationally, the impression that Israel maintains colonial rule over these occupied territories may arise in the interim". While the document analyses in detail the idea of an independent Palestinian state, it presents most positively the case for annexation, while also making clear its "inherent dangers". Option four, listed as "the graduated solution", is the one perhaps closest to what exists to this day: a plan to establish a Palestinian state only once there is a peace agreement between Israel and Arab nations. "The Six-Day War actually never ended," said Tom Segev, a leading Israeli historian and author of "1967 - Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East". "The seventh day has lasted ever since for the last 50 years. And it is affecting both us and the Palestinians ... every day, every minute." SETTLEMENTS Perhaps the trickiest and most legally nuanced discussions were around Israel's responsibilities under international law, and whether it could build settlements. Palestinians and many countries consider Israel's settlements on occupied land they seek for a state as illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical, biblical and political links to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as security considerations. After the 1967 war, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and considers all of Jerusalem as its "indivisible and eternal capital", a status that has not won international recognition. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestine. Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Israel has consistently violated U.N. resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Convention in its actions in occupied territory, particularly in Jerusalem. "All these measures ... can't change the fact that Jerusalem is an occupied city, just like the rest of Palestinian lands," he said. Theodor Meron, one of the world's leading jurists who was then legal adviser to the foreign ministry, wrote several memos in late 1967 and early 1968 laying out his position on settlements. In a covering letter to one secret memo sent to the prime minister's political secretary, Meron said: "My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention". Meron, who now lives in the United States, set his arguments out over several pages, but they boiled down to the fact that Israel was a signatory to the Geneva Convention which prohibits transferring citizens of an occupying state onto occupied land. "...any legal arguments that we shall try to find will not counteract the heavy international pressure that will be exerted upon us even by friendly countries which will base themselves on the Fourth Geneva Convention," he wrote. The only way he could see settlements being legally justified - and even then he made clear he didn't favour the argument - was if they were in temporary camps and "carried out by military and not civilian entities". While in the early years settlements were militaristic and often temporary, the enterprise now has full government backing, houses some 350,000 civilians in the West Bank and has all the hallmarks of permanence. Meron declined to respond to specific questions from Reuters. But in an article this month in the American Journal of International Law, he expressed concern about "the continued march toward an inexorable demographic change in the West Bank" and the appointment by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration of an ambassador to Israel who has raised funds for settlements. There is, Meron wrote in the journal, a growing perception in the international community that "individual Palestinians human rights, as well as their rights under the Fourth Geneva Convention, are being violated." NAMES Immediately after the war, almost no element of Israel's land seizure went unexamined, whether by the military, the prime minister's office, the foreign ministry, naming committees or religious authorities. In a memo on June 22, 1967, Michael Comay, political adviser to the foreign ministry, wrote to the ministry's deputy director-general saying they needed to be careful about using phrases like "occupied territories" or "occupying power" because they supported the International Committee of the Red Cross's view that the local population should have rights under the Fourth Geneva Convention. "There are two alternatives: Using the term TERRITORIES OF THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT or TERRITORIES UNDER ISRAEL CONTROL," he wrote. "Externally, I prefer the second option." Even now, the government avoids talking about occupation, instead suggesting that the West Bank is "disputed territory". (Additional reporting by Rinat Harash in Jerusalem and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mike Collett-White) By Stephen Jewkes and Giancarlo Navach MILAN, May 31 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest gas distributor Italgas will bid for the Italian assets of Spain's Gas Natural and buy other smaller companies to help it boost its market share by a third, its chief executive said on Wednesday. Italgas, ranked the third largest gas distributor in Europe, aims to increase its share of the Italian market to about 40 percent from 30 percent. The Italian gas distribution sector is highly fragmented with more than 220 operators. New rules were introduced to streamline the industry by cutting concession areas to 177 from almost 7,000, but awards of concession areas have been delayed. "Gas Natural issued an information memorandum last Friday. We'll be participating in the bid," Italgas Chief Executive Paolo Gallo told analysts in a call on the group's 2017-2023 plans, adding that his firm was only interested in the Spanish firm's distribution assets. Sources have said the Gas Natural's Italian distribution assets could be worth up to 550 million euros ($618 million). "Non-binding bids are expected by June 23, binding bids in September," Gallo said. The CEO said the group would also consider buying smaller players in the industry to add about 200,000 users by 2018-2019. More mergers and acquisitions (M&As) were needed to help offset delays in Italy's new tendering process for distribution concession areas, Gallo said, adding he now expected that reforms to concessions areas would not be completed until 2021. "There are a lot of M&A opportunities since many operators can't meet the new conditions and investment requirements for bidding but we just don't know when," he said. To help build market share in Italy, Italgas plans to invest 5 billion euros in the next seven years, with 3 billion euros to upgrade and digitise its network and a further 2 billion euros to fund the tender bids. The company, spun off last year from gas transport group Snam, said it would increase its dividend by 4 percent a year to 2019 from 0.20 euros per year on 2016 results. It previously targeted annual dividend growth of 2-3 percent. "The targets are slightly better than our expectations ... we will increase our estimates," local broker Equita said. Core earnings this year are forecast in a range of between 720 million euros and 740 million euros, against 685 million euros in 2016. Italgas shares, which have risen 23 percent since the start of the year compared to a 12 percent rise for the European utility sector, ended up 2.1 percent. ($1 = 0.8900 euros) (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by David Goodman and Edmund Blair) MOSCOW, May 31 (Reuters) - A Russian warship and submarine have fired four cruise missiles from the Mediterranean at Islamic State targets near the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. The strike, which Russian news agencies said was the first of its kind since November, was carried out by the frigate "Admiral Essen" and the submarine "Krasnodar," and targeted militants and equipment in an area east of Palmyra. The defence ministry said the hardware and forces struck had previously been deployed by Islamic State in Raqqa. "All targets were destroyed," it said in a statement. Russia had warned the United States, Turkey and Israel before launching the missiles, the ministry said. It did not say when the strike took place, but Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had personally told President Vladimir Putin about the military action late on Tuesday. The last time Russia fired Kalibr cruise missiles from its ships at militant targets in Syria was in November last year, the RIA news agency said. Separately, photographs published on Wednesday by Turkish bloggers for their online Bosphorus Naval News project showed a Russian Syria-bound ship passing through the Bosphorus carrying a consignment of military trucks. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova/Dmitry Solovyov/Jack Stubbs; Editing by Andrew Osborn) BAKU, May 31 (Reuters) - British oil company BP expects to sign a contract at the end of June extending its production sharing deal for Azerbaijan's biggest oilfields until 2050, the company's regional head said on Wednesday. The existing deal is due to expire in 2024 and BP-led consortium and Azeri state oil firm SOCAR signed a letter of intent in December to continue developing the giant Azeri-Chirag-Guneshly (ACG) offshore fields until 2050. "End of June is a very reasonable time for it," Gary Jones, BP's regional head for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, told reporters when asked when the contract was due to be signed. "It's a big deal. We want to get it right." The shareholders in the consortium include BP, SOCAR, Chevron, INPEX, Statoil, ExxonMobil , TPAO, ITOCHU and ONGC Videsh. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said on Wednesday he expected the contract to be signed soon. "We are thinking about development of the ACG bloc and I think we will reach a final agreement with investors," Aliyev said at the annual Caspian Oil & Gas conference in Baku. BP came under fire from Aliyev earlier this decade when the country's leader criticised the oil firm for lower than promised output levels. Oil output at ACG totalled more than 7.1 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; writing by Margarita Antidze; editing by David Clarke) By Chris Arsenault BOCA DO ACRE, Brazil, May 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - E nvironmentalists are urging Brazilian President Michel Temer to veto a plan to remove land the size of Puerto Rico from the country's protected areas in the Amazon rainforest, fearing the move would hurt local land rights and exacerbate climate change. The proposal to remove nearly 600,000 hectares of forest from three protected areas in the Amazon and Atlantic rainforest has been approved by Brazil's Senate. The plan is awaiting ratification from the president. Supporters of the proposal say recession-hit Brazil needs to open up more land in the Amazon for farming, cattle ranching and mining to create jobs, alleviate poverty and spurn growth. But critics say the move will make it harder for Brazil to meet its international climate change commitments and could worsen conditions for indigenous groups and other traditional communities living in Brazil's protected areas. "If this legislation passes it will be extremely damaging for the country," said Roberto Vamos, coordinator of the Climate Reality Project in Brazil, an environmental group in Rio de Janeiro. Vamos told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that he was concerned that eliminating protected area status would make it easier for economic interests to exploit the territory. "People will invade, clear and start farming the land and then start faking property titles to it," he said. The plan would reduce the size of the Jamanxim National Forest in the Amazonian state of Para in central Brazil by 486,000 hectares, and the neighbouring Jamanxim National Park by 102,000 hectares. The measures also include cutting 10,000 hectares from the Sao Joaquim National Park in southeastern Brazil in the Atlantic forest, a ecosystem which has been particularly hurt by logging. Lawmakers who back the move say South America's largest country has plenty of protected areas and the country needs to open up land for development. Brazil's government has pledged to reduce net deforestation to zero in the Amazon by 2030. But environmentalists say cutting protected areas will make that goal difficult as the world's largest rainforest is viewed as one of the best natural defenses against global warming. Amazon deforestation is rebounding from a record low in 2012. (Reporting by Chris Arsenault, Editing by Paola Totaro; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org) WARSAW, May 31 (Reuters) - Proposals to stop certain European Union members from receiving the bloc's funds contradict the treaties governing the bloc, Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Wednesday. Germany's government has set out proposals to freeze access to EU funds for countries that fail to meet EU standards on the rule of law, according to a document seen by Reuters. The seven-page document aims to guide Berlin's approach to upcoming Brussels negotiations on post-2020 changes to the system by which the EU supports development in its poorer members. [ID: "Proposals to withhold structural funds for selected member states is simply contradictory to EU treaties," Szydlo told journalists, answering a question about the proposal. The European Commission, the EU executive arm, has launched a probe into Szydlo's government's adherence to rule of law standards. (Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Lidia Kelly, editing by Justyna Pawlak) By Ahmed Aboulenein and Giles Elgood CAIRO, June 1 (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was quick to launch air strikes on militants in Libya in response to a deadly attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt - but the attacks do not seem to be targeting those responsible. The response was popular with many Egyptians. The country's state-owned and private news media celebrated it as swift justice, but the president has been vague about exactly who he is attacking. The strikes have been directed at Islamist groups other than Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for Friday's massacre of dozens in the southern province of Minya, and seem to be intended to shore up Sisi's allies in eastern Libya. "The attacks in Minya were claimed by Islamic State, and there are Islamic State elements active in Libya, but the reports coming indicate Cairo is targeting other groups," said H.A. Hellyer, senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council. In any case, analysts say the strikes will not do much against Islamists in Cairo, Sinai and Upper Egypt, where they have had a stronghold since the 1990s and have been attacking tourists, Copts and government officials. Bombing the camps in Libya is seen as a diversion for a failure to defeat Islamists inside Egypt. "It's easier to strike a terrorist camp in Libya by air than it is to clean up serious problems inside Egypt; sectarianism, radicalisation, that led to this and other attacks," said Michele Dunne, director of Carnegie's Middle East programme. "All the horrific terrorism that is happening inside Egypt has purely domestic drivers and probably would be happening if Islamic State did not exist. It is not all that different from the home-grown terrorism Egypt experienced in the 1990s, before Al Qaeda or Islamic State even existed," she said. LIBYAN ALLY Egyptian and Libyan officials said strikes had been launched on camps and ammunition stores belonging to the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council (DMSC). Areas targeted include the western entrance to Derna, Dahr al-Hamar in the south, and al-Fatayeh, a hilly area about 20 km (12 miles) from the city. Yet the DMSC has never been involved in attacks outside Libya and in fact mostly limits its activities to Derna, rarely fighting in larger conflicts within Libya, according to Mohamed Eljarh, an Atlantic Council political analyst in Libya. The group has denied taking part in attacks inside Egypt. In fact, many suggest the air strikes had been planned in advance to shore up support for Sisi's main Libyan ally, Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), and that the Minya massacre was used as a pretext to launch them. Forces loyal to Haftar, a military strongman like Sisi, have long been fighting the DMSC, cutting off supply routes to the city and hitting it with occasional air strikes. Despite the LNA's siege, the military situation in Derna has been in stalemate for months. Egypt has also carried out strikes in Jufra, where the LNA has been fighting Islamists who fled Benghazi as well as forces linked to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli. The LNA lost dozens of men there in a surprise attack on an air base earlier in May, but has since consolidated control. The Minya attack was a catalyst for those inside the Egyptian government and military who are in favour of military intervention in Libya, said Mokhtar Awad, who researches extremism at George Washington University. "This is Egypt taking action not because of the Minya attack but ... to drive out as many extremists as possible from the east," he said. 'THEY ARE ALL TERRORISTS' Egypt says it does not target specific groups but that it goes after all militants who could be a threat to its security. A military spokesman told state media on Monday that all the groups targeted have the same ideology as those who carried out the Minya massacre, which is reason enough to bomb them. "Names are not important for us, they are all terrorists. Those who carried out the Minya operation do not necessarily have to be in these camps but their followers are," an Egyptian intelligence source told Reuters. Eljarh also said it was likely the air strikes has been planned in advance and that the Minya attack was an opportunity to carry them out, as part of a larger policy towards supporting Haftar, with Egypt bombing groups that constitute the strongest opposition to him. Egypt sees any militant activity in eastern Libya, which is near its border, as a threat to its national security. One of the reasons Sisi has supported Haftar since 2014 is to ensure that all Islamists are driven out of eastern Libya. Sisi is getting more involved now because of improved relations with Washington, Eljarh said. He believes U.S President Donald Trump has given him the green light to fight jihadists in Libya and elsewhere. When Sisi announced the first round of air strikes on television on Friday, he implored Trump to support him. Trump, who has made a point of improving relations with Cairo, said his country stood with Sisi and the Egyptian people. (Additional reporting by Eric Knecht, Amina Ismail and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in Cairo and Aidan Lewis in Tunis; editing by Andrew Roche) By Robert-Jan Bartunek BRUSSELS, May 31 (Reuters) - European and Chinese leaders will on Friday voice strong support for the Paris climate accord and present a series of joint plans to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, according to a document seen by Reuters. The statement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is set to withdraw from the Paris Agreement which aims to phase out net greenhouse gas emissions by the second half of the century and limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. "The EU and China consider climate action and the clean energy transition an imperative more important than ever," according to the statement, which will be presented at a meeting of EU and Chinese officials in Brussels on Friday. China and the EU will work together on a joint strategy to reduce greenhouse gases, implement emission trading schemes, and promote energy efficiency and the reduction of emissions from maritime transport and aviation. They will also call on other global leaders to respect the commitments made in the Paris climate deal. "The EU and China consider the Paris Agreement as an historic achievement further accelerating the irreversible global low greenhouse gas emission and climate resilient development," the statement says. Trump, who has expressed his doubts about climate change being man-made in the past and made a campaign pledge to "cancel" the 2015 Paris Agreement, has so far postponed a decision on whether to stick to or abandon the global deal. China has been the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases stoking global warming since 2007, when it surpassed the United States, the world's top emitter for the 20th century. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Robin Emmott) By Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov SOFIA, May 31 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's central bank is considering measures to reduce the level of non-performing loans (NPL) that have been falling but still weigh down the Balkan nation's well-capitalised banking industry, Governor Dimitar Radev said on Wednesday. Bulgaria's financial system has steadied since the collapse of its fourth largest lender in 2014, but bad loans remain a challenge, according to reports by the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission. Radev was appointed a year after Corporate Commercial Bank collapsed due to fraud and insider abuse, triggering the biggest financial turmoil in the European Union member since the 1990s. An asset quality review and stress tests last year, which the central bank carried out to restore trust in the industry, had helped banks better assess credit risks and limit bad loans, the governor told Reuters. "We will create the right incentives to cut the NPLs, the banks will have to do that," Radev said in an interview. The NPL ratio eased to 13.2 percent at the end of 2016 from 14.6 percent at the end of 2015. By the end of March, it had fallen further to 12.6 percent. But that is still well above an EU average of about 5.5 percent. "There is a clear downward trend in the past year. I do believe that we will consolidate the trend to generally safe levels," he said, without giving a timeline. The central bank was preparing regulatory steps and guidance to strengthen loan-loss provisions, increase NPL write offs and encourage more conservative loan and collateral valuation, Radev said, adding provisions and capital were adequate to cover NPLs. He said the bank would support development of a secondary market for bad loans and would enforce more transparency. Central bank health checks on lenders in August showed the banking sector was well capitalised and liquid, but pointed to vulnerabilities at some domestic lenders, including Bulgaria's third largest bank, First Investment Bank (Fibank). Fibank has said it has met a central bank recommendation to boost capital by about 206 million levs ($118.39 million). It also announced plans to seek new core investors among other options to raise new capital. "The banks are implementing the measures we prescribed. In fact, their capital enhancement plans are well-advanced," Radev said. "We fully use instruments under our control to keep up the momentum." The central bank forecast economic growth of 3.0 percent for this year, but Radev said this could be adjusted higher next month, given a pick up in domestic demand and exports. He said the central bank was supporting Bulgaria's efforts to adopt the euro after the country joined the EU 10 years ago. Bulgaria, whose lev is pegged to the euro in a currency board regime, has yet to set a date for joining. While Bulgaria meets most formal entry criteria on keeping stable public finances, Western diplomats and bankers say it needs to align its economy and living standards more closely to its wealthier EU peers before applying. "The central bank is delivering on its mandate, it means maintaining price stability and stability of the currency board. Without the stability the remaining steps (towards the euro zone) would not be very productive," Radev said. ($1 = 1.7400 leva) (Editing by Radu Marinas and Edmund Blair) ABG Secretary Removed. Anthony Kaybing 310517 The Autonomous Bougainville Government has removed its Secretary for Department of Presonnel Management and Administration, Paul Kebori after several allegations of misconduct were levelled against him. Chief Secretary to the ABG Joseph Nobetau said that On Wednesday, 24 May 2017, he delivered a petition to Mr President Momis, in his capacity as Chair of the Bougainville Senior Appointments Committee. I asked that the allegations to be investigated and, if substantiated, that appropriate disciplinary action be taken against the officer concerned, Mr Nobetau said. Under the Bougainville Constitution and the Bougainville Senior Appointments Act 2014, responsibility for dealing with disciplinary matters involving constitutional and senior officers rests with the Bougainville Senior Appointments Committee. This is to ensure that the process is fair and impartial, and free of political interference. Where allegations of misconduct are raised against a senior officer, the Committee is required to follow strict procedures. If the Committee considers that the allegations should be investigated, it must appoint a board of inquiry to conduct the investigation and report back. If the board of inquiry is satisfied that misconduct has occurred, there are range of punishment options available to the Committee, including removal from office. I understand that the Senior Appointments Committee has provided Mr Kebori with a copy of my petition, and invited him to the respond to the allegations against him, Nobetau said. This is the first step. Mr Kebori has not been suspended there is no power to suspend at this stage a senior officer can only be suspended by the Senior Appointments Committee once it decides to appoint a board of inquiry, Nobetau added. People will be curious to know the details of the allegations set out in my petition, but it would not be fair to Mr Kebori for those details to be made public at this stage, the formal procedures should be allowed to take their course. It should be sufficient for me to say that I found the allegations very concerning, requiring me to take this action, Nobetau said. As the Chief Secretary, I will not tolerate corruption and misconduct within the Bougainville Public Service. Bougainvilleans are entitled to expect the highest standards of integrity from their public servants, he said. Mr Nobetau has now made a call on any person with evidence of misconduct on the part of any public servant to come forward so that appropriate action can be taken in his efforts to rid the public service of corruption. Ends//// By Kieran Guilbert BAMAKO, Mali, May 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - One in four of the world's children - at least 700 million - have had their childhood cut short by factors ranging from illness and conflict to child marriage and being out of school, Save the Children said on Wednesday. The hardest-hit children live in West and Central Africa - which accounted for seven of the 10 bottom-ranked countries in Save the Children's first 'End of Childhood' index, ranking 172 nations by where childhood is most intact or eroded. Niger, Angola and Mali were the worst-ranked countries for children in the annual index, which was topped by Norway, Slovenia and Finland. Most of the affected 700 million children live in disadvantaged communities in developing countries, where they have been bypassed by progress in health, education and technology that has improved the lives of many of their peers, the charity said. "Many of these children suffer from a toxic mix of poverty and discrimination, and experience several childhood enders," Save the Children International's Chief Executive Helle Thorning-Schmidt told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Here are some facts about the plight of children worldwide: * More than one in six school-age children - 263 million - are out of education * An estimated 168 million children are involved in child labour, half of whom are doing hazardous work such as mining, scavenging and working in textile factories * A quarter of the world's children aged under five - about 156 million - have stunted growth due to malnutrition * At least 15 million girls are married each year before the age of 18, four million of whom are wed before turning 15 * Conflict and persecution have forced 28 million children to flee their homes, with 11 million living as refugees or asylum seekers, and 17 million internally displaced * About 16 million girls give birth between the ages of 15 and 19 each year, and one million deliver when younger than 15 * At least six million children aged under five die each year * More than 75,000 children aged under 20 were murdered in 2015. Sources: Save the Children, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org) By Fabian Cambero SANTIAGO, May 31 (Reuters) - Ten consortiums including companies from China and Europe formally expressed interest on Wednesday in building a landmark $1.5 billion tunnel under the Andes mountains to connect Argentina and Chile. Chinese companies Power China and the Chinese Communications Construction Company, Spain's OHL and FCC, and Italy's Astaldi and Salini Impregilo are among the interested parties, Chile's minister of public works Alberto Undurraga said. The planned Agua Negra tunnel would be over 13 kilometers (8 miles) in length and would connect Chile's Coquimbo region with the Argentine province of San Juan, both mining regions. The tunnel would be able to operate year round, unlike existing cross-border roads that pass over the Andes and often must close during winter snowstorms. Both Chile and Argentina are revamping their infrastructure, drawing interest from Asian companies for the first time. Infrastructure in the area has traditionally been dominated by Spanish and Italian companies. On Tuesday, Chile said it received five offers to build a new highway in Santiago, including the first bid by a Chinese company for a metropolitan highway concession in Latin America. Building the tunnel would be an ambitious and complex project that would likely take more than 10 years to complete, Argentine Transport Planning Secretary German Bussi said at the event. The tender for the project is due to start in September or October, said Undurraga. (Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Gram Slattery, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and David Gregorio) UNITED NATIONS, May 31 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet with the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders in New York on Sunday, his spokesman said, after the rival sides failed to agree on conditions for further peace talks. Guterres will meet with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci "to discuss the Cyprus talks and the way forward," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. U.N. Cyprus adviser Espen Barth Eide said last week that he was ending a shuttle diplomacy bid to continue peace talks in Geneva because rival sides had failed to agree on conditions. Greek Cypriots wanted a conference in Geneva to first focus on clinching a deal on security arrangements post-settlement, while Turkish Cypriots sought a more inclusive give-and-take process. Failure to agree on further negotiations effectively throws a two-year process of Cyprus peace talks into limbo, though the U.N. said talks had not collapsed. The island was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup, and is a key source of tension between Greece and Turkey. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Sandra Maler) By Kieran Guilbert DAKAR, June 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world pays the least attention to humanitarian crises when they force Africans from their homes, dashing hopes of peace, hindering reconstruction and increasing the risk of radicalisation, an aid agency said on Thursday. Central African Republic topped the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) annual list of neglected displacement crises. It was followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Yemen, the Palestinian territories, Ukraine, Myanmar and Somalia. "The fact that most of these people do not turn up at our doorsteps gives us no right to close our eyes to their suffering, and does not remove our responsibility to assist," the NRC's Secretary General Jan Egeland said in a statement. "Economic support to alleviate humanitarian crises must be given based on needs, and not ... geopolitical interests." BLIND EYE Limited political will to achieve peace, scant media attention and a lack of aid funding mean crises are likely to worsen and trigger even more displacement, the NRC said. Chronic conflict involving militias in countries such as Central African Republic and Congo could drive more and more people into armed groups, said Richard Skretteberg of the NRC. "When you combine limited state presence in much of these countries, mass displacement, and a lack of protection and aid for civilians, this creates a fertile breeding ground for radicalisation," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Rebuilding and working towards peace are difficult when so many people are displaced," the NRC senior adviser added. One in five Central Africans - about a million people - is displaced, and at least 100,000 were newly uprooted last month in some of the worst violence between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian militias since conflict began in 2013. Spreading ethnic violence in Congo has forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes within the country this year - more than triple the number uprooted within Syria and five times the number within Iraq, according to the NRC. The United Nations has received just a fifth of the $812.5 million sought in the humanitarian appeal for Congo this year, and 25 percent of the $400 million requested for Central African Republic, the U.N.'s Financial Tracking Service (FTS) shows. Africa's arid Sahel belt, which stretches from Senegal to Eritrea and lies south of the Sahara desert, topped the NRC's index last year, followed by Yemen and Libya. (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org) Revolutionising the world of technology Eyes were opened, minds blown and the unimpressionable impressed by the talents of the young inventors of the Moratuwa University at EXMO 2017 which was held at the Civil Engineering Department Auditorium on April 28 and 29. Nathan Sivagananathan, Chief Growth Officer of MAS Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and Nihal Rupasinghe, Secretary to the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry as Guest of Honour. Professor Kapila Perera started the opening ceremony by welcoming the various parties who had attended the event. He explained how EXMO came to being and what these projects were all about. The main purpose of this event is to showcase the talents of the final year undergraduates. Every student attending one of the ten departments in the universitys engineering faculty have a mandatory project in their curriculum. They have to research and come up with a product or service to present as their final year project. Most of the projects are centred around resolving social problems, and the undergraduates have to submit a synopsis and formulate their project. They need to take up leadership and develop organisational and analytical skills. They identify the problem, choreograph a research methodology through a survey, solve the problem and come up with a final product. He said the projects should not be limited to those attending the university. Most of the time, these projects are showcased within the university to different departments. However, four years of effort and experience cannot be limited to the departments but should be criticised and critically evaluated by others. But this too does not do justice to their efforts, we have other university deans, students, people working in industries and those who are aspiring to become future engineers who need to get their queue from these products. At the end of the day, it is the general public who will be the beneficiaries because they are the investors. The main objective of EXMO is to showcase and gift the country with the undergraduates efforts. It is to open the minds of students and the general public to a world of engineering, he added. Mr. Nihal Rupasinghe, Secretary to the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry, addressed the event as the Guest of Honor. He briefed on how the future of the country and megapolis depended on the inventions of the engineering graduates. The future of our country and megapolis depend on engineering graduates. People are expecting new feats, new ideas and new facilities. These kinds of ideas coming to the young mind prove that when they go out into the industries, they will create a great impact on the industries. Next in line to address the gathering was Ananda Jayawardene, Vice Chancellor of the Moratuwa University. He started off by expressing his heartfelt gratitude to all those who extended their support to make the event a resounding success. You will see award-winning exhibits, inventions and innovations of the students, the start-up and spin-off companies of the university, undergraduate and postgraduate displays in this exhibition, said Mr. Jayawardene.He stated that EXMO 2017 was a wonderful platform with educational and learning experiences for schoolchildren. We invited over 10,000 schools and through the exhibition, we wish to create an interest in the minds of the students to study engineering at the Moratuwa University. It is a tremendous learning experience for the kids. The exhibition is not targeted at children alone. It will raise awareness of the technological advancements in our country and empower potential investors of the prototypes on display and the commercialisation of products. Mr. Jayawardene also mentioned about the future he envisions for the Moratuwa University. Our mission here at the university is to be the most globally-recognised knowledge-enterprising nation in South Asia and EXMO 2017 is therefore a tremendous boost in approaching our mission. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Sivagananathan said, It is fascinating to imagine what the future holds. The timing of this exhibition with the objectives of strengthening the relationship with the industry and collaborating with them on research and innovation and showcasing what they have excites us all. Mr. Sivagananathan stated that developing the national economy was one of the main results that will come about from supporting this exhibition. MAS is focused on innovation and I am proud that we are partnered with the university on this occasion. It is not about sponsorship, but about supporting Sri Lanka, the entrepreneurship spirit, developing the future and increasing our GDP as a country. I am confident that the youngsters here, aspiring to be future leaders through engineering, will be inspired by what they see at this exhibition. He said the Moratuwa University could be compared with several other universities MAS had worked with. These include MIT, Oxford and Stanford. The science and engineering faculties in Sri Lanka truly exceed their expectations as more students are developed here. Mr. Sivagananathan believes that our economy depends on three things: Education, entrepreneurship and innovation. First and foremost is education. Due to the limited number of seats in universities, a lot of students are missing the opportunity of receiving a higher education. On average, some 242 000 students sit for the A/L exam out of which 141 000 qualify. Unemployment rates between the age of 20 and 24 is at the highest at almost 19%. There is an urgent need for graduates in certain industries. There are industries such as automation, agriculture, tourism and transport that will determine the opportunity in Sri Lanka. Secondly, it is entrepreneurship. There is an abundance of talent in this country. Students who are graduating from this university are in demand. We ourselves have a considerate number of graduates from this university. However, we dont see a trend of graduates moving on and starting their own businesses as opposed to being employed. MAS is willing to fund these undergraduates businesses and projects. Only 0.7% of our final year projects get commercialised in Sri Lanka. The percentage of university projects in other countries goes up to 10-20%. Thus, there is a lack of incubators and accelerators to help inspire growth, he added. Finally, he spoke about innovations. If you look at global innovation in depth, Sri Lanka is ranked 91. This amazes me because every student I have met in this university and many other universities in Sri Lanka far exceed the expectations we have. They have the opportunity to be global individuals with the opportunity to take their ideas to the market. Sri Lankans are generally conceived as conservatives and when you dont take risks, we cannot innovate. It has not become a part of our culture, but we need to take risks. Mr. Sivagananathan concluded his speech by saying MAS was ready to support and encourage all innovators in their endeavors. My advise for aspiring young students is to be focused, be willing to learn new things and be brave, listen to your mentors, understand your consumer keeping the commercial value in mind and also move away from an innovators lens to an inventors lens, be a changed agent and I hope that we can support you globally when you want to take your idea to the market. Prasath Nanayakkara (Chairman, CEO and Founder of Auxenta) lighting the electronic oil lamp alongside Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs) Auxenta Inc, a Silicon Valley based IT company, recently moved to a new state-of-the-art office at 61, Level 1, Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo 1. The modern workspace was designed to create an exciting work environment for nurturing new ideas and is dedicated to the companys product innovations, one of which is to be launched soon - MillionSpaces. The chief guest for the launch event was Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs who commended Auxentas vision and strategy to constantly innovate and up the ante. Also in attendance was the Vice Chairman of SLASSCOM Ruwindhu Peiris and the CEO of Great Place to Work Kshanika Ratnayaka. The electronic oil lamp commemorating the opening of the office was lit in the presence of the Minister, special invitees, the leadership team in Colombo, and a virtual team comprising of a senior advisor/serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, Riz Virk, and Auxentas Creative Director in New Zealand, Diresh Dodanduwa. Commenting on the new office, Prasath Nanayakkara, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Auxenta, said, This new space is a testament to our hard work and stellar performance that have enabled us to grow tremendously over a short period of time. It will help us propel the company to greater heights and allow us to reflect, learn and have fun while ensuring great service is delivered to our clients. Auxenta has drawn on the examples of other Silicon Valley tech companies that emphasize collaboration and employee satisfaction to boost productivity. Designed for their product innovation teams, the new office boasts an open floor plan with a breakout area, which facilitates employee interaction. Strategically having these teams work in close proximity to each other will have a significant positive effect on their ability to solve problems in real-time, directly impacting delivery excellence. The champion team behind MillionSpaces The event also commemorated the addition of the companys 150th employee marking its continued fast-paced growth in the industry. Highlighting this growth are the major milestones the company has achieved in a period of three short years, which includes being the first company to develop a Bitcoin trading engine for a Silicon Valley customer; being recognized as one of the 20 most promising companies in Quality Management Systems for 2015 by US-based CIO Review magazine; awarded the Best Startup of the Year 2016 by the Computer Society of Sri Lanka; and bagging an international Innovation Award for their product Assetminder. Auxenta also used the occasion to unveil their new corporate values, which were designed in collaboration with Great Place to Work, based on the importance of community, consistency, moral behavior and learning. They represent the importance Auxenta places on the human aspect of technology and will form the basis of their unique approach to software engineering. These values have always been a part of our culture and now we just made it official. They are a reflection of what we believe Auxenta should be and what everyone who works here should represent. We want to be a positive force in the world and that must happen organically from the ground up, said Chandana Ranasinghe, COO and VP of Quality Assurance of Auxenta. Ultimately these values and approach to business create a corporate culture of inclusivity that truly encourages collaboration and enables innovation. The reason behind Auxenta's meteoric rise is primarily due to the attention they pay to their corporate culture for their ability to draw top talent. Hence in opening the new office, Auxenta wanted to reinforce its culture and ensure it embodies the same ethos throughout the companys exponential growth. REUTERS, 30th MAY, 2017- Colombia and the Marxist FARC rebel group have agreed to extend a weapon hand-in deadline for guerrilla fighters by 20 days, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday, after logistical delays slowed parts of the groups demobilization process. The Andean country and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels signed a peace deal late last year to put an end to more than 52 years of war. The conflict, which also includes a smaller rebel group and paramilitary gangs, has killed more than 220,000 people. Under the accord, rejected in a public referendum but pushed through by congress, all rebels are required to live in special camps around the country and hand in all their weapons to the United Nations, which is overseeing the demobilization process. Rebel commanders, however, complained that the 180-day hand-in period, which expires May 30, would not be sufficient because of camp construction delays, including setting up sanitation and housing. In a joint agreement with the United Nations and the FARC we have agreed that the arms hand-over will not end tomorrow as had been planned, but instead within 20 days, Santos said in a televised speech. The change in date does not in any way affect the firm decision and clear commitment of the government and the FARC to comply with the accord, he said, adding the rebels stay in the demobilization camps would also be extended until August 1. Sri Lankas largest and most focused constriction-related exhibition, Construction Expo 2017, featuring all aspects related to the construction and building industry, will be held on June 2, 3 and 4, at the BMICH. This event showcases products and services that help the participants to interact with all the stakeholders and key service providers within the building and construction industry, Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB) Chairman Dr. Rohan Karunaratne said. Construction Expo 2017, happening for the sixth consecutive year, will once again showcase the best of what the industry has on offer. The theme of the event would be Towards a green Sri Lanka. He said at present the construction sector is picking up after going through a bad period. This major event would enable to promote and disseminate new trends and technology developments in the sector. The event was endorsed by the construction fraternity as the premier construction and building materials exhibition to be staged in Sri Lanka. Visitors include professionals, key decision makers, buyers, suppliers, traders, distributors and many more. We are this year expecting more than 15,000 to 20,000 visitors for the exhibition. This would benefit all stakeholders including contractors, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers and other related parties in the sector, he said. Dr. Karunaratne said that apart from the local construction sector stakeholders, they are also expecting foreigners as well to setup stalls at the venue like previous years, which will be one of the striking features of the event. The construction industry specialists from China, Singapore, Malaysia, the UK and Japan will be exhibiting their latest trends and technologies as well, he said. Over the years, the exhibition has been the most sought-after gathering place for consumers on the lookout for different facets related to the construction industry in terms of product and service providers. The exhibitors have found the exhibition to be the most potent and comprehensive platform to meet new customers and network, Dr. Karunaratne said. This year, Construction Expo 2017 will feature numerous concurrent and new events to supplement the main exhibition, Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (LECS) CEO Aasim Mukthar said. He said that the unique feature of the event was that it features on the latest green building, which is now one of the most needed and prominent trends in the sector. Since the event is the only green exhibition in Sri Lanka we have a separate exhibition stall area for green building, Mukthar said. Apart from the exhibition, they will be having seminars and discussion and meeting with foreign and local construction experts. This would enable local contractors to know and understand the trends and new technology available in the sector, he said. The exhibits will be based on construction suppliers, construction equipment, construction machinery, construction technology, construction material, construction service, building material, building supplies, building developing service, building machinery, building equipment, cement, sand, brick and plywood. The Platinum sponsor is Orel Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd and Gold sponsor is Elite Radio & Engineering Co. (Pvt.) Ltd. Abans PLC, Admo Solar and MN Homes Developer (Pvt.) Ltd are coming as Silver sponsor for the event. The main sponsor is CME Asia-RCB Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd, official online partner - Techcube Global (Pvt.) Limited, Sinhala magazine partner - Kedalla Magazine, media partner ANCL, digital media partner - Multi Creative Solutions and logistic partner - Famous Pacific Shipping Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. Large Chinese delegation to attend Construction Expo and China Commodities Fair A 50-member high-profile delegation, led by the Business Department of Liaoning Province and Shenyang Zhongqiao International Exhibition Co.Ltd, will arrive in Colombo on June 1 to attend Construction Expo & Chinese Commodity Fair 2017, scheduled at the BMICH. The objective of the visit is to actively promote economic and trade cooperation between Sri Lanka and the Liaoning region of China. A powerful group with large enterprises in the subordinate seven cities from the Liaoning Province will be showcasing construction materials, hardware fitting, ceramics, garment, aluminum alloy material, textile, bedding and so on in Construction Expo & Chinese Commodity Fair 2017. The group is led by the Shenyang China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The Shenyang Wuai group with 20 stalls in more than 100 kinds of products and Liaoning Zhonghe Co., Ltd will be represented for Shenyang Faku with 10 stalls and a dozen of fine ceramic will be exhibited as well. Construction Expo & Chinese Commodity Fair 2017 is a boost to strengthen ties between Sri Lanka and China and can be considered a significant event when the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them. Simultaneously, the event offers a great opportunity for visiting Sri Lankan enterprises to obtain a first-hand view of the Chinese production and also to pursue opportunities for establishing fruitful partnerships with Sri Lankan enterprises. The Liaoning Province is an important part of China. The provincial capital is Shenyang. It is also an important junction in northeast China economic zone and the Bohai Economic Zone. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has offered prayers for the victims of floods in Sri Lanka and financial assistance for the relief and rescue work, the IANS today said quoting a statement. In a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Dalai Lama had expressed sympathy for the loss of life and damage to the property. I offer my condolences and prayers for all the families who have lost loved ones or have been affected by this devastating natural disaster. As a token of my sympathy and concern, I have asked the Dalai Lama Trust to make a donation to the relief and rescue work, he said. The Organised Crimes Division (OCD) today informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate that a broad investigation has been initiated over a complaint received from Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), regarding death threats received by Galagoda Athe Gnanasara Thera. The BBS Chief Executive officer Dilantha Kumara Vithanage had lodged a complaint with the prosecution, over the alleged unknown death threats received to the Thera, and subsequently OCD initiated the investigation. Filing a facts report before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara, the prosecution sought a few appropriate court orders to conduct the investigation broadly. (Shehan Chamik Silva) By Chandeepa Wettasinghe John Keells Hotels PLC (KHL), a subsidiary of the countrys largest conglomerate, John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) will be demolishing the Bentota Beach Hotel, one of the masterpieces of the legendary Sri Lankan Architect Geoffery Bawa, next month, for recreation at a cost of around Rs.4 billion. The hotel was getting old. (But) the centre block, which is the Bawa block, will be rebuilt in exactly the same way, JKH Executive Director and JKH Leisure Industry President Krishan Balendra told Mirror Business yesterday. He said following consultations with experts, who also advised against refurbishing since the structure is too old, Bawa protege Channa Daswatte has been selected to design the new hotel. We will be using internally generated funds, and it would cost approximately Rs.4 billion, Balendra added. JKH currently has Rs.84.28 billion in short-term investments and cash, although it has commitments for three other hotel constructions, including the mega-project Cinnamon Life, which exceeds Rs.100 billion, for which around half the funds were raised through a syndicated loan in 2015. The current Bentota Beach Hotel, a 4-star 133-key property will become a 5-star establishment with 150 rooms once it is reconstructed in two and a half years. The existing hotel, currently branded as Bentota Beach by Cinnamon, will close on July 1, 2017. The Bentota Beach Hotels iconic central building designed by Bawa gives nods to both ancient Sinhalese architecture as well as the colonial Dutch fortification which had stood in the premises earlier. The hotel was commissioned by the Sri Lankan government in the 1960s to replace an old rest house and was completed in 1969. The John Keells Group acquired the hotel in the 1980s from the government, and conducted major refurbishments in 1998. The neighbouring Serendib Hotel, now named Avani Bentota and owned by the Hemas Group, was also designed by Bawa, who designed dozens of hotels, resorts public sector buildings, houses and educational institutes both locally and abroad. KHL March net up 15% to Rs.1bn KHL, which operates JKH resorts and non-city hotels in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, posted Rs.1.04 billion net profit for the Januyary-March quarter (4Q17), up 15 percent year-on-year (YoY), which helped more than doubling the net profit for the 2017 financial year (FY17). Revenue for 4Q17 increased 5 percent YoY to Rs.3.79 billion, while cost of sales increased 12 percent YoY to Rs.1.02 billion. Although the slow growth in tourism arrivals to Sri Lanka during the 4Q17 resulted in a negligible revenue loss, leaner operations resulted in profits after tax (PAT) edging up to Rs.514.99 million from Rs.512.94 million YoY. The Maldivian operations gained ground with PAT of Rs.512.49 million, up from Rs. 385.54 million YoY. Net assets per share increased to Rs.17.02 from Rs. 15.72 at the start of FY17, while the asset base expanded to Rs.32.08 billion from Rs.28.90 billion as well. Net profit for FY17 increased 6 percent YoY to Rs.1.85 billion, while sales increased 6 percent YoY to Rs.12.31 billion, and cost of sales increased 10 percent YoY to Rs.3.77 billion. JKH owns 80.32 percent of KHL shares while the government holds 10.88 percent of the shares through various state-owned institutions. People these days are too busy to remember to wash their hands, believing there will be no drastic consequences. However according to Dr. Kushlani Jayatilleke, Consultant Microbiologist at the Sri Jayawardanapura General Hospital, maintaining good hand hygiene can stop the spread of infections and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We make a lot of contact with our hands. Whenever we handle something, we handle it with our hands. So theres a higher chance of contaminating ones hands and theres a higher chance of contaminating and spreading micro-organisms to somebody else through our hands, said Dr. Jayatilleke She further said, Maintenance of good hand hygiene is important in order to prevent the spread of infections. Many infections are transmitted through the hands. Infections are caused by micro-organisms. Some people may not have an apparent infection, which means theyre not sick but they still they may harbour micro-organisms, especially bacteria, which can sometimes be harmful to other people. Speaking of places where infections and bacteria can easily spread she said, When you visit patients in hospital or if you come to get treatment, be very careful. Its not only the fact that people with infections are everywhere in hospitals but that there is antibiotic resistance. This means that bacteria and other micro-organisms develop a resistance to antibiotics and other drugs which we are using to treat people. Thus these drugs will not be effective any longer because the bacterias genes are changing. This is more so in hospitals. So when going to the hospital, we must be aware of this. Such bacteria can be found on peoples or the patients skin, beds and other environments in the hospital. Citing that antibiotic resistance was a major problem in the world today, Dr. Jayatilleke said, This year the theme for Global Hand Hygiene Day held on March 5 was Fight Antibiotic Resistance, Its In Your Hands. Hand hygiene is very very important, especially for health staff and health care workers. When they touch a patient they should not touch another without first cleaning their hands. Thats the requirement. Sometimes they forget when theyre busy, so this is what we are trying to practice and advocate, she added. She said infections too could be spread through the hands. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be transmitted from one person to another through hands. Infections are more likely to spread in a community setting. For example influenza, which is a respiratory infection. At times it can be severe and can even result in the death of a patient when they have an immunity problem. Prevention is important, because treatment-wise we dont have much, we have a few drugs but those may not be effective because resistance is developing against these. She further said, Although its a respiratory infection, when you sneeze and cough into your hands, you can contaminate your hands and if you shake hands with another person, you can transfer the virus to them. Therefore even in respiratory infections, hands hygiene is important. Its better to use a tissue and discard it immediately. We also recommend you to use your upper arm when coughing and sneezing so that transmission is less as contact with the hand is less. There are other infections like gastrointestinal infections including diarrhoea. For example, if you have loose motion and go to the toilet and dont clean your hands properly, the organisms can remain in your hand. These intestinal infections can be transmitted to another person if you dont wash your hands and you can even contaminate your food, she added. Speaking of hand hygiene at home she said, At home, infections or infective agents like bacteria can be transmitted from things like food. Especially through raw food such as meat and greens. From how we clean and cook our food in Sri Lanka, we can kill the bacteria. But if you dont wash your hands properly after you prepare the food and if you eat with the contaminated hand, you can get the infection. So it is important to clean and wash your hands after preparation and after touching raw food. Dr. Jayatilleke further said the methods used to maintain proper hand hygiene too was important. There are two ways of maintaining this. One is washing your hands with soap and water. It is better to use liquid soap over cake soap. When using a cake of soap, theres a higher chance for contamination. You need to keep it in a proper soap tray where the water will be drained, otherwise the water will be a culture medium for bacteria. Its important to keep the soap dry. When using liquid soap, theres a lower chance of contaminating the bottle. You also need to dry your hands properly. If you have a towel, the chances of contamination are higher if it is not washed properly. So it is better to use a single-use tissue or a clean, dry towel. Secondly, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer which is equally as good as washing your hands with soap and water. It is user-friendly and accessible. It is also important to use it in supermarkets because when buying raw meats and vegetables, you can contaminate your hands with the micro-organisms on the surface. In order to prevent the spread of infection and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it is important to maintain good hand hygiene, she concluded. REUTERS, 30th MAY, 2017 French President Emmanuel Macron rolled out the red carpet for Russias Vladimir Putin on Monday, but past suspicions of Russian meddling in the French election resurfaced with Macron denouncing Russian media and Putin denying hacking allegations. The newly elected Macron hosted Putin at the sumptuous 17th century palace of Versailles outside Paris for his first meeting with the Kremlin leader which he had earlier said would be marked by some straight talking. The 39-year-old French leader and Putin exchanged a cordial, businesslike handshake and smiles when the latter stepped from his limousine, with Macron appearing to say welcome to him in French. When they emerged from talks, which went on for almost an hour longer than scheduled, Macron said they had had a frank exchange and both men stressed they had agreed on the need to move forward on divisive issues such as Syria and Ukraine. But at a joint news conference after their talks, ill-feeling came to the surface over past allegations made by Macrons camp that state-funded Russian news outlets had sought to destabilise his campaign. German Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined her doubts about the reliability of the United States as an ally on Monday but said she was a convinced trans-Atlanticist, fine-tuning her message after surprising Washington with her frankness a day earlier. In a speech in Berlin, Merkel showed how seriously she is concerned about Washingtons dependability under President Donald Trump by repeating the message she delivered a day earlier that the days when Europe could completely count on others were over to a certain extent. She made those comments, which sent shock waves through Washington, after Trump criticized major NATO allies over their military spending and refused to endorse a global climate change accord at back-to-back summits last week. Recent days have shown me that the times when we could rely completely on others are over to a certain extent, Merkel said. While she made clear Berlin and Washington would of course remain close partners, Merkel stuck to her language from Sunday. We also know that we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands, she added, underlining Europes frustration with Trump on climate policy in particular. The American tycoon-turned-president backed a pledge to fight protectionism at the end of a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday. But he refused to endorse the climate pact, saying he needed more time to decide. Merkel added that ties with the United States were of paramount importance, but she otherwise stuck to the thrust of her Sunday message, when she spoke in a packed Munich beer tent. REUTERS, 30th MAY, 2017 Redefining the skylines of Wattala, Mitko Homes launched its luxury apartments project Bricksgate to cater to the needs of modern city dwellers looking for the comfort and tranquillity of a life away from the busy metropolis. Located in the heart of the Wattala town, Bricksgate offers residents the urban haven city living concept, which combines the comfort of convenience of city living with that of the peace and serenity of a homely haven. The apartment complex provides residents with easy access to the city and essential infrastructure facilities such as schools, hospitals, supermarkets, banks, the airport expressway, places of worship and restaurants. At the same time, the aesthetically alluring apartments can be customized to reflect the tastes and lifestyles of residents to create an idyllic home based on values of family, recreation and wellbeing. Speaking on the launch of the new apartment complex Mitko Homes Director Udaya Sri said, With Bricksgate, our focus is to weave an ideal home for the city-dweller. We picked a location which has easy access and conveniences of a city-centre home coupled with the peace of mind and tranquillity that many city dwellers of today are looking for. Our aim is to offer our customers the best of both worlds. The comfort of convenience is created by all essential infrastructure facilities that are just a few minutes away. While the apartments are modern, homely and tranquil, each unit can be customized according to the preferences of the residents. Further, the complex is inspired by British colonial architecture and is built to suit the local conditions and lifestyles. The interiors of the apartments are spaciously designed and thoughtfully planned. All units come with separate maids quarters that have access from the outside, he added. The nine-storied building constructed on a land plot of 87.4 perches comprises of a total of 56 units. This includes 33 three-bedroom units, 21 two-bedroom units and two exclusive duplex penthouses. It is also equipped with recreational facilities such as a roof-top infinity pool and gymnasium and other facilities such as a club house, ample parking for both occupants and guests and 24-hour security within the compound. In conceptualizing Bricksgate, Mitko Homes draws inspiration from their experience of building town houses in Victoria, Australia since 2014. Mitko Homes is part of the Mitko group, a dynamic entity operating in multiple sectors. It consists of Mitko International, Mitko Construction, Mitko Trading and MitkoSkyswitch. The group which was initiated over 10 years ago aims to build better planned communities with a focus on civil engineering, infrastructure, earthworks, construction and building development. Mitko Construction has been involved in the construction of several other projects in the country for other developers. (L-R) Channe Wijemanne - newly elected President, IATA/AASL, Ihab Sorial Senior Vice President (International) Oman Air, Gihan Karunaratne Country Manager, Sri Lanka and Maldives, Rizmi Reyal - newly elected Vice President, IATA/AASL Oman Air stepped forward to facilitate the 2017 IATA Annual General Meeting as the Exclusive Airline Pared and much anticipated event amongst the IATA tner for the event. A highly-covetfraternity, the AGM was held at the Al Falaj hotel in Muscat on 19th May this year and was followed by a Gala Dinner. A total of 107 IATA agents and some spouses participated. They were treated to several tours to experience Omans natural beauty and heritage which made for an unforgettable experience. Sri Lanka has increasingly become one of Oman Airs prized destinations in the region, reflected in the increased frequency of flights between Muscat and Colombo. Omar Air is highly invested in furthering Sri Lankas travel and tourism community and coming onboard as exclusive airline partner for the event was a testament to its long term plans for the destination. Oman Air has been steadily carving out significant share in Sri Lankas aviation industry and has built a strong customer base and brand presence in the local market, successfully fulfilling the evolving travel needs of business and leisure travellers as well as Sri Lankan expatriate workers based in Oman. Oman Air now operates double flights daily between Colombo and Muscat. The airline currently offers flights from Colombo to a variety of destinations around the world and also many countries in the Gulf region. REUTERS: Sri Lankan rupee ended slightly firmer yesterday due to dollar selling by a foreign bank, but the rupee is expected to weaken as floods and landslides brought damage and dented market sentiment, dealers said. The extent of the damage is yet to be assessed, with Sri Lankas main agricultural exports - tea and rubber - hit by the worst torrential rains in 14 years due to the cyclone Mora formed in the Bay of Bengal. The floods would have an adverse impact on agricultural exports, putting pressure on the rupee, currency dealers said. Analysts said hospitality and manufacturing sectors are likely to be the worst-hit industries. Rupee forwards were active yesterday, with spot-next forwards ending at 152.85/95 per dollar, compared with Tuesdays close of 152.95/153.00 per dollar. We saw some dollar selling by a foreign bank in the latter part of the day, probably from inflows into government securities, said a currency dealer. The floods could also put pressure on the overall GDP and government budget deficit with high infrastructure spending, dealers said. The rupee has been under pressure after the Central Bank Governor on May 18 said the bank would allow gradual depreciation of the currency. The spot rupee did not trade yesterday. The Central Bank fixed the spot rupee reference rate at 152.50 on May 5. Foreign investors bought a net Rs.14.6 billion (US$95.61 million) worth of government securities in the two weeks ended May 24. They have sold a net Rs.42.1 billion worth of securities so far this year. From left: SBI Holdings Executive Vice President Arno de Vette, FMO Senior Investment Officer Private Equity Alwin B. Kool, SDB bank General Manager/CEO Nimal C. Hapuarachchi, SDB bank Chairperson Samadanie Kiriwandeniya, IFC Country Manager Sri Lanka and Maldives Amena Arif, SDB bank Senior Director Lakshman Abeysekara and SDB bank Head of Finance Terrance Kumara Sanasa Development Bank PLC (SDB bank) has secured US $ 22 million (approximately Rs.3.3 billion) from international lenders through a private placement deal in order to expand its capital base to meet the regulatory requirements. SDB bank shareholders consent was given at an extraordinary general meeting held on March 21, 2017 enabling the SBI-FMO Fund and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to invest in the bank. The regulatory approvals for these substantial investments have already been secured. SDB bank is the first licensed specialized bank to respond with an immediate strategy to expand its capital to meet the regulatory requirements. The new investment will increase IFCs stake in the bank to 8.9 percent making them the fourth largest shareholder to date. IFC has been a long-term partner of SDB bank since 2009 and is currently supporting the banks expansion to include more micro and small businesses, co-operatives and retail clients. This will help the bank to reach more small businesses across the country, boosting financial inclusion. FMO is a Dutch development bank. It is its mission to empower entrepreneurs to build a better world. FMO has an AAA rating with a stable outlook from both Fitch and Standard & Poors. It is a public-private development bank supervised by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) with a clear governance structure and reporting lines. FMO offers a dedicated facility to financial institutions to be on-lent to women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Besides long-term finance for these businesses, they also provide technical assistance to support financial institutions and female entrepreneurs. The SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund Pte. Ltd (SBI-FMO Fund) is a growth strategy private equity investment fund based in Singapore, which invests in financial services and fintech sectors across Asia. The fund leverages on the combined strengths of the funds sponsors, SBI Group, a leading Internet-based financial services conglomerate in Japan and FMO Dutch Development Bank. The SBI Holdings Group is the leading online financial services conglomerate in Japan and one of the best performing Japanese private equity/venture capital asset managers with an AUM in excess of US $ 5 billion. FMO and SBI-FMO Fund will jointly take up a 12.9 percent equity stake in the bank. This breakthrough partnership will boost the capital base of the bank to be well within the regulatory limits. In addition to the infusion of equity, FMO and SBI-FMO Fund will also jointly extend long-term Tier II funding of US $ 6.5 million (approximately Rs.1 billion) to support new business opportunities including SME lending, cooperative and retail sector. The bank has already made a substantial investment in organisation realignment, strengthening and improving systems and processes and is shifting to a digitalized environment with strong capabilities across these main business segments. SDB bank GM/CEO Nimal C. Hapuarachchi stated, With this new infusion of capital and long-term funding, we will consolidate on gains of past performances and proactively respond to future market requirements, in order to deliver strategic objectives. Chairperson Samadanie Kiriwandeniya said, We are well geared both strategically and operationally to undertake the next phases of our journey. We have become a more focused business, striving for long-term, responsible growth that will amalgamate profitability with nation`s development. She further added, Sanasa Development Bank, which is a product of the pioneering microfinance movement in Sri Lanka has been branded in the market over 20 years, as a leader in the microfinance industry. However, recent market studies and our own engagements with the customers led us to realize that our customers are ready to expand their frontiers and enter into real wealth creation. IFCs long-standing partnership with SDB bank is providing more formal financial services to underserved segments within rural micro and small businesses across Sri Lanka, said IFC Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Amena Arif. This investment will help the bank further extend their reach across the country. SBI-FMO Fund Fund Manager Suramya Gupta stated, We are honoured to have partnered with Sanasa Development Bank in Sri Lanka. Sanasa is a 100-year-old movement touching the lives of a large section of Sri Lanka`s population. Asia is going through sweeping transformations that have altered its economic landscape in fundamental ways. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is shifting from export-led to consumption-led growth. The opposite is happening in India, where the Make in India campaign hopes to create a new growth model driven by manufacturing and exports. The 2015 establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community seeks to facilitate greater movement of goods, services, and labor within Southeast Asian countries. Japan is embracing structural reforms to enhance competitiveness. These trends are accelerating the pace of cooperation and integration among the regions economies. They are also helping to drive 6 paradigm shifts, each of which has profound implications for the regions economic prospects. 1. Direction of trade. The rise of new middle and upper middle income countries especially the PRC means that Asia will become a major global import market for final goods, just as the US and the EU are now. While intraregional trade in Asia and the Pacific increased to 57.1 percent in 2015, up from an average 55.8 percent during 20102014, in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) it doubled to 8 percent (US$400 billion) in the same period. Although relatively modest until recently, inter-regional trade is expected to take off as Asian supply and value chains become more specialized. The ASEAN Economic Community might be the first step toward creating an Asia-wide single market within a few decades. 2. Investment flows. Intraregional investment is growing, and will rise further. Intraregional foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased over time to 52.6 percent of total FDI inflows to the region in 2015. In GMS countries, most FDI in Cambodia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic and Myanmar comes from the PRC, Thailand, and Viet Nam. PRC companies are driving regional mergers and acquisitions that totaled about $50 billion in 2015, accounting for a remarkable 40 percent of Asias total. 3. Supply and value chains. Regional supply and value chains are being reconfigured. Faced with higher wages in the PRC, Japanese firms are eyeing relocations to ASEAN countries. PRC companies are also expanding into Central, South and Southeast Asia. If this trend continues, Asian economies will soon be woven together in a network of regional supply and value chains that will deepen the interconnectivity and interdependence of their economies. 4. Cross-border mobility. Increased movement of people across borders is also deepening Asias economic interdependence. Although Asias intraregional migration as a proportion of its total outbound migration decreased from 38 percent in 2010 to 36.7 percent in 2015, it remains substantial at 30.6 million. The surge of tourists in Asia is impressive; international tourist arrivals to GMS alone reached nearly 60 million in 2015, from 26 million in 2008. These figures put pressure on Asian governments to step up collective efforts on cross-border mobility of people. 5. Transport infrastructure. Asian governments need to develop a regional multimodal transport infrastructure network to move goods, services, and labor within the region and beyond. This is happening with construction of transport and economic corridor networks in the GMS and other subregions. Connections within regions are taking shape, but connections between regions are occurring slowly, as they require greater collective efforts and stronger political commitment by governments. The next challenge is opening up Asian regional transport and logistics services, including software such as a regional framework to liberalize transport and logistics services that Asia currently lacks. The GMS Cross-Border Transport Facilitation Agreement is a positive development, but its scope is too narrow. 6. Capital flows. Over the past decade, Asia has overcome its capital deficit and now enjoys capital surplus. Foreign exchange reserves in emerging Asian economies have skyrocketed from less than US$700 billion in the early 1990s to more than US$4 trillion in 2014. Capital flows have increased not only within Asia, but also to other regions, changing the regional and global development financing landscape. While international financial institutions remain important for Asias development prospects, they should review and improve their business model to become more competitive; they are no longer the only or even the main source of development finance. Economic transformations have accelerated regional cooperation and integration among countries in Asia. At the heart of these changes is rising economic interdependence and the increasingly fluid cross-border movement of people, goods, and investments. The vision of an Asian single market and integrated production base, at the core of the ASEAN economic community, connected through an efficient regional multimodal network, is within reach in the coming decades. But for that to happen, governments need to work together, and with their development partners to build a socially inclusive, environmentally friendly, and economically sustainable region. (The writer is Principal Regional Integration Specialist, Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank) The world is moving faster than we ever thought it would a few decades back. Similar to everything else, methods of enhancing beauty, therapeutic procedures and medications are rapidly advancing, probably due to the higher customer demands and competition in the market. Beauty-conscious people who can afford it nowadays use vampire face-lifts, facial creams made from placentas and many other cosmetic products made from platinum to gold to clay to human urine, not gross at all! Do you know about the latest product introduced to the market already full of beauty enhancers? It is none other than bee venom! What is all this buzz about bee venom? Honey is a substance extracted from bees which has been used by our ancestors for hundreds of years due to its proven benefits and antimicrobial and antibacterial effects. This valuable gift from nature, also a powerful moisturizer, can be used to clean, hydrate and heal damaged skin. Healthcare professionals as well as Ayurveda experts tend to suggest products containing honey or direct application of honey with turmeric powder for the treatment of acne. So, moving on to bee venom, the latest advancement in the cosmetic field. This has some additional features along with what is already possessed by honey. While some of it is easy to apply, most of it can be a sluggish and murkier in contrast to its soft and sweet counterpart. Moving back to the golden days During ancient times, this substance was extracted through a very different procedure and according to American Apitherapy Society, bee-venom therapy has been widely practised in the field of medicine in ancient Egypt, Greece, India and China. Furthermore, latest research results have proven an increased incidence in the recovery of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, enlarged prostates and some cancers, following this bee venom therapy. Bee venom, when included in the chemical composition of a certain cream, lotion, mask or lip serum, will more or less irritate your skin as a sting or an insect bite will. Yes it is quite similar, resulting in a local inflammatory reaction, with a plumping and burning sensation which will have an effect on diminishing signs of aging- leading to an outcome similar to an anti-aging chemical. As you get older, the skin will gradually age, losing its naturally occurring collagen, giving rise to various cosmetic issues like sagging skin, fine lines and wrinkles. Bee venom, the skin magic, consists of a potent combination of enzymes, peptides and amino acids says Ayona De Mel, Consultant Dermatologist, South Wales, MD. It is further enhanced by being combined with popular brands, giving rise to an effect similar to that of natural botox which gets absorbed into the skin without any invasive procedures or the involvement of needles. According to Natalie Zinder, a product experimenter who works for Venofye, one of the most popular brands which is known to be capitalizing on the powers of bee venom, the components of this substance are able to fool the skin by giving a false alarm on intoxication by stings, which make the body react by increasing blood circulation, perfusion of the skin and production of collagen- strengthening the body, eventually causing the skin to become rejuvenated-fresh, younger and more alive! It is also known to act effectively in reducing negative menopausal effects such as wrinkling, puffiness, dryness and skin-tag formation, while acting on relaxing body muscles to a greater extent. Case studies In a trial done by a set of scientists in Perth involving 14 women between the ages of 50 and 59, the participants claimed that honey bee venom had improved the texture of their skin, decreased lines, wrinkles and dryness, making them look almost 10-15 years younger. In contrast, some scientists hold that bee venom should not be used on skin, since it could lead to life threatening allergic conditions, not just resulting in swelling or itching but even leading to Anaphylactic shock. Allergies too can occur, even after being exposed to cows milk and vaccinations. If you are exposed to the venom of a potentially serious or toxic bee, this can lead to a very serious situation. So it is all about taking a risk for beauty or else choosing to safeguard ones health. A few years back, Kate Middleton and Gwyneth Paltrow made news, when they revealed their secrets of beauty and anti-aging thanks to this miracle substance of nature. Since then, many products containing bee venom have flooded the market, with numerous additive effects. Is it cost-effective? Bee venom is not a cheap agent for sure, even though it is becoming as popular as eau de cologne. Its costs can range from several hundreds of dollars to hundred thousands, depending on the brand. If you are more up to date on the latest information available, it will definitely help you find a cost-effective product with a considerable range of beneficial effects. There are some brands containing bee venom which are extremely expensive, as there are procedures involved in extracting venom in a cruelty-free manner and an eco-friendly process definitely requires multiple, high-quality resources and advanced technology. In supporting that fact, The Wall Street Journal 2012 mentions that 1g of venom from New Zealand- a country rich in products containing bee venom-with an equivalent of 10,000 bee stings, will approximately cost about $304. Are there any alternatives? However, if you are looking for something with effects similar to plumping and revitalization of skin, the best alternative would be salicylic or glycolic acids which have a minimum or no-health risk with a comparatively cheaper price tag. Also, the mild burning sensations they cause will only result in a small swelling, yet are known to give a safe plumping effect. Does it harm bees-will they die? Extracting venom from bees is neither harmful nor stressful to bees. The whole procedure is done in an eco-friendly manner, where a glass sheet is placed in the beehive with a mild electrical current generated through it. As soon as the bees sit on the glass, this current will make them stick their stingers and pump out a small amount of venom. Furthermore, when this venom is released, bees will secrete a pheromone which will attract other bees to the glass sheet who will act in the same manner. Once a considerable amount of venom is collected, it will be purified in special machines and the bees will be released back to their natural habitat. Considering these points, why not give a chance to these popular beauty products made from bees venom, a rapidly growing skincare trend which is already causing a bit of buzz globally? The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) described as a break-away Sinhala Buddhist nationalist organisation, made themselves popular for creating anti-Muslim attacks during the recent past. Just after the Sinhala and Tamil New year, a sudden spate of attacks on mosques and business establishments owned by Muslims has created much tension among the community once again. During the time the Muslim community is observing Ramadan, which is considered as one of the five pillars of Islam, such upheavals would have been least expected. While the blame game still continues, quite surprisingly the government seemed to have turned a blind eye as opposed to the remarks made by the President when he came in to power. In an attempt to shed light on this matter, Daily Mirror the recollects the sudden outbreak of incidents while inquiring the matter from both ends. The Govt. is not interested in finding a solution to this matter - MCSL President Six to seven business establishments came under arson attack recently Instead of observing Ramadhan fast, we live in fear of attacks It is surprising to see the police continue to be silent and take no action President of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL), N.M. Ameen says that Sinhalese and Muslims have had a strong friendship over centuries. But these groups are now trying to destabilise the Muslim economy. During the recent attacks, six to seven business establishments came under arson attack, that includes a factory in Wennappuwa. In addition to that even mosques had been attacked. This is a period where the Muslims in Sri Lanka and all over the world observe Ramadhan, a fast that lasts 30 days. But instead we have to live in fear. I see that the government is also not interested in finding a tangible solution to this matter. If it is dialogue what the BBS really need, then we are happy to sit down and talk with them but that doesnt seem to be the case either. If I recall correctly, the Sri Lanka Police is quite an efficient and a powerful force. But why have they backed out only in this situation? queries Ameen, who is worried about the actions taken by the authorities. Not a single person was arrested or taken in for questioning. We have made several appeals but still we havent got any good news. It is quite hilarious to know that they are denying all allegations, Ameen said in his concluding remarks. Nobody in their right mindset would burn down their own property, would they? The age old friendship that the Muslims and Buddhists have had, had been tarnished by these groups. The majority community has spoken in favour of us. At least a few groups have protested against these recent turnout of events but we hope and pray that they would stop this menace. We categorically deny all allegations on the recent attacks - BBS spokesperson Speaking to the , BBS spokesperson Dilantha Withanage said that the global Sinhala Buddhist community has become a minority. Sinhala Buddhists have had threats right from the beginning. This is because they only represent close to 15 million of the global population, while there are approximately 1,600 million Muslims live globally. Various global forces such as economy, media and politics have a major impact on this break down. Back in the day there was an International Christian agenda. Sinhala Buddhists were under threat from the beginning We are branded as a militant organization The episode fabricated by certain politicians for political gain This was at the time of the Dutch when they burnt down temples and other places which belonged to the Buddhist faith. Several Evangelical groups too were on the rise but this trend has now died down and is not as bad as in the yesteryears. There were instances when people gave up their religion for money. In his further remarks, Withanage said that in the case of most religions, theres a global community. Take for example the case of Tamils. They too have a Global Tamil Agenda. One of their main concerns is that they dont have a country of their own. They wanted to settle down in India but this didnt work out as expected. So they are trying to find their ground in Sri Lanka. Likewise there is a Global Islamic Agenda and this is funded by wealthy nations such as Saudi Arabia. During Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathungas regime she requested to set up a Presidential Commission on Buddha Sasana and she wouldnt have wanted to set up such a committee if not for any underlying issue. People think that Buddhism is our state religion but that is not the case either. The report was published when Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister. These groups allegedly went on destroying Buddhist archaeological sites and created a crisis situation and this may have been one reason to setup this Commission. That was a political stunt by the UNP. If I refer to a lone incident, we invited Gotabhaya to one of our events in Galle along with the then Mayor M.J.M. Muzammil. The media published photos of Ven. Gnanasara and Gotabhaya and not Muzammil. So what are we to do? The media have a huge role to play in giving us the appropriate backing. But it was not up to our expectations, says Dilantha, referring to several reports which were published in various print media. We have been described as a militant organization, and I dont think that is the correct adjective to describe us. Dilantha further challenged the relevant groups to present evidence and prove that it was the BBS supporters who were involved in the recent turnout of events burning down shops owned by Muslims and destroying their property. If I refer to the attack on the mosque, they obviously have CCTV cameras there. But what I heard was that these cameras too didnt work when collecting evidence. So there is something wrong in the process. Hence, we categorically deny all the allegations on the recent attacks. The BBS was known to have been supported by certain groups in Norway but when asked about this, the BBS spokesman again denied it. This was a story fabricated by Asad Salih and Wimal Weerawansa. When Weerawansa told this at the beginning, Ven. Gnanasara asked him to prove it. But they failed. These allegations do not have any solid base and they are mere rumours. There were also speculations that we had a link with Gotabhaya Rajapakse. That was a political stunt by the UNP. If I refer to a lone incident, we invited Gotabhaya to one of our events in Galle along with the then Mayor M.J.M. Muzammil. The media published photos of Ven. Gnanasara and Gotabhaya and not Muzammil. So what are we to do? Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is going all out to woo the BJP. That is the message he sent out to the party rank and file just before they concluded the three day annual mahanadu (party convention) in the port city of Visakhapatnam on May 29. Do not criticise the BJP even if it does, declared the TDP supremo. We have been a disciplined partner in the (National Democratic) alliance and supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modis government at every step. The alliance is meant to protect the interests of the TDP, he emphasised before clarifying about future options. Any decision on the continuance of the alliance will be taken before the elections. With less than two years to go for the next Assembly polls, Naidu is firm that while his government drives policy, the yellow shirt TDP activists brace themselves to ensure that the party is triumphant. When we are doing everything for the people right from the birth of a child to welfare of the sections of society, they will not go for other parties. The party and the government will track the work you are doing and by next year, the cadre should ensure that 100 per cent of the voting is in favour of the party, the TDP chief said. He raised it from 80 per cent that he mentioned on the opening day. What he has prescribed is a tall order but it is intended to galvanise the TDP cadres. Naidu is acutely aware that the TDP cannot go alone in the next Assembly elections. The party has never done that under his leadership. The TDP is a partner in the BJPled NDA government at the Centre while the BJP is an ally of the TDP in the ruling coalition in Andhra Pradesh. Photo: Mail Today Naidu is wary about losing the BJP to the rival YSR Congress party of YS Jaganmohan Reddy. The debate on the TDPBJP alliance has intensified in the party after Reddy called on the Prime Minister recently. There is speculation that Reddy may extend the support of the YSR Congress to the NDAs presidential nominee, following his meeting with the Prime Minister. The relations between the two allies came under pressure when some TDP leaders criticised the BJP for allowing Reddy to meet Modi. So, Naidu went all out to entertain BJP president Amit Shah who visited the state, on May 25, just before the TDP mahanadu. He urged Shah to ensure that the Centre takes early steps to fulfil all the commitments made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. The mahanadu has also, in a resolution, requested the central government to implement the Union Cabinet decision to accord legal sanctity to the special package announced for Andhra Pradesh and fulfil all commitments made in the Reorganisation Act of 2014. There were many issues and provisions in the Act that had not been implemented so far, says Naidu. Even as he strives for the development of Andhra Pradesh, Naidu is conscious of the fact that in a federal polity the cooperation of the central government is crucial for any fresh impetus for growth. With Jaganmohan Reddy baying at his heels (the YSR Congress termed the mahanadu a food festival) and incumbency diminishing glitter, Naidu believes that it will be opportune for his party to sail with the BJP to make it a win-win situation for both. In 1787, as Benjamin Franklin, the founding father of the United States, was leaving the Independence Hall, he was questioned by a woman about the kind of government the founding fathers were giving its people. He replied, A Republic, if you can keep it! India is not just a democracy but a republic too. There are minor but nuanced and critical differences between democracy and republic. In a democracy, the majority has unfettered powers, but in a republic, power of the majority as exercised by the elected representatives is regulated by several institutions like judiciary, auditing and investigating agencies, and information commissions. Such institutions, by means of checks and balances that they impose on each other, play an extremely critical role in keeping the democracies and its governments focused on the citizens and their welfare. The strength of these institutions is directly related to the quality of our republican character. Alternate dispute resolution has emerged as an important development under Narendra Modi-led BJP government and deserves appreciation. Photo: Reuters Therefore, I examine the performance of the Modi government as it completes its third year in power with regard to the health of these institutions. Law and justice: In a country like India, justice is a distant dream given that nearly 8 lakh cases in high courts and another 20 lakh cases in district courts have been pending for more than 10 years. Justice delayed is not just justice denied, but also justice killed at the altar of fairness. This is not the doing of Modi government since it is the mess his government inherited because of apathy of the 10 years of misrule by the Congress. It is in this context that Modi and his party BJP committed to the nation to reduce this backlog and ensure that justice is not only delivered but also delivered in time. However, three years in the governance, evidence suggests otherwise. 10 per cent judges posts are lying vacant in the Supreme Court, 41 per cent in high courts and 20 per cent in district and sub-courts. This despite the promise of according high priority to filling judges vacancies. Against the promise of a 100 per cent increase in the number of district courts, a mere 8 per cent increase has been registered in the number of district judges. However, the alternate dispute resolution has emerged as an important development under Narendra Modi-led BJP government and deserves appreciation. Nearly 3.5 lakh cases have been settled by means of arbitration, reconciliation and Lok Adalats and nearly 11 lakh pre-litigation matters have been resolved since Modi government has come to power. Similarly, new courts have been set up for resolving commercial matters, making litigation less of a burden in the operations of business in India. This means that this government is focused on resolving small, petty and commercial matters, thus making aspects of citizens' lives easier. However, on important constitutional matters, and matters of national or state importance, the performance of the government threatens one of the most important institutions in our country the judiciary. Transparency: One of the most important promises made by BJP with regard to transparency was to mandate the digitsation of all government work in order to improve transparency and reduce any corruption and delays. This could have been a significant step forward to make governance transparent, accessible and efficient. However, no legislation or executive order has been issued by the government mandating the digitisation of government work. A progressive democracy needs such measures and I would hope that a prime minister with such a vast social media presence and his relentless focus on digital India would indeed take this step forward before the end of this tenure. He owes this to the nation. To be fair to the current regime, some efforts have indeed been made to digitise important government records. In an unprecedented move towards transparency, Modi government announced the uploading of all RTI responses online. However, three years hence, only two responses have been uploaded, falsifying the entire initiative. The programme for digitisation of land records, an initiative of UPA-II government, has the capacity to significantly resolve land/property disputes and enhance transparency. The programme has received a financial boost under this government, but the implementation has seen slow progress. Watchdogs of the republic: The principal bodies like Central Information Commission, the Central Vigilance Commission and the Lokpal play an important role in checking the powers of the government by means of maintaining information accessible to ordinary citizens and their role in disciplinary and criminal actions against the corrupt public servants. However, the three institutions have come under severe assault from the present government making them nearly defunct at some stage of its tenure. The position of Central Information Commissioner (CIC) has been kept vacant by the Modi government for a substantial part of the governments tenure. The governments excuse that that the appointment of CIC required the Leader of Opposition is a farce as the Right to Information Act, 2005 in its Section 12 (3), explicitly mentions: For the purposes of removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that where the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People has not been recognised as such, the Leader of the single largest group in opposition of the Government in the House of the People shall be deemed to be the Leader of Opposition. It is then no surprise that the Modi government has rejected the highest number of RTIs since the act came into force. Similar rationale has been cited by the government for non-appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) even though Section 4(1) of Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 clarifies, explicitly, that in case of no Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the leader of the single largest party in Opposition shall be deemed as Leader of Opposition. After a long gap of more than nine months, the government relented and made appointments to the posts of CIC and CVC. The governments stand in the matter of the appointment of the Lokpal and the CVC has been equally disheartening. On one hand, the government is arguing that the appointments to Lokpal cannot be made in the absence of Leader of Opposition or unless the Parliament passes the proposed amendment, making the leader of the largest party in opposition the Leader of Opposition. On the other hand, the government hasn't pushed the amendment in Parliament three years since it has come to power. Conclusion: A day after he skipped a luncheon meeting called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, an event called primarily to project Opposition unity, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was in the company of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a lunch hosted in honour of visiting Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on May 27. He later held a one-on-one meeting with the PM. It set tongues wagging, sparking speculations about a political realignment just when Nitishs key ally in Bihar, the RJD, is seen on the back foot by allegations of inappropriate financial behaviour by Lalu Prasad and his family members. As in the past, Nitish has rejected such speculations, asserting that no political meaning should be attached when a CM meets the PM. Though the BJP too internally admits that theres a remote possibility of Nitish breaking off with the RJD, they are leaving no stone unturned to woo him. When Nitish held a separate meeting with the PM, seeking his intervention on the burning issue of Ganga siltation, Modi showed alacrity and promised to send a team of experts to Bihar to examine the issue before June 10, as Nitish had desired. The BJP sees a silver lining in the fact that Nitish, despite sharing a good relation with RJD boss Lalu, has distanced himself and his party from the corruption charges levelled against RJDs first family. Incidentally, the income tax department has summoned Lalus MP-daughter Misa Bharti to explain several property deals which are alleged to be benami. Nitishs key ally in Bihar, the RJD, is seen on the back foot by allegations of inappropriate financial behaviour by Lalu Prasad. For now, Nitish has offered a straight bat. These are all allegations. Im unaware about the facts of the case and dont comment on allegations and counter-allegations, the CM told mediapersons. You need to know the politician that Nitish is to understand why hes doing what he is, says a former JD(U) minister considered close to him. Its a strategy that has always paid dividends. Combining it with his credentials of man of good governance, Nitish has carved a national stature for himself, which is hugely disproportionate to his individual legislative strength. "Nitish heads a party with only two Lok Sabha MPs and just 71 MLAs in 243-Member Bihar House. Yet, he is considered prime ministerial material because he sharply differs from all other frontline socialists. Nitish does not promote family in politics, nor does he face any corruption allegations. To top it all, he is perhaps the only one among the socialists who has delivered good governance and initiated path-breaking measures like total prohibition, he said. During his 17 years of fruitful alliance with the BJP, there were numerous occasions when Nitish refused to toe to the NDA script. Nitish greatest act of defiance was seen when he refused to back the NDA nominee and made his party vote for Congress nominee Pranab Mukherjee in the 2012 presidential polls. He even opted to risk his government in Bihar and broke off ties with the BJP when his insistence on a secular and liberal NDA PM candidate yielded him Narendra Modi. Nitish also broke out from the Mandal club and left the socialists squirming in March 2010 by backing the progressive Womens Reservation Bill without demanding a quota within quota and ignored the fact that his stance angered fellow Mandal politicians, including then JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad. Barring the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when the Modi wave swept everyone away, Nitish has stood tall among the socialists in an era when other Mandal politicians like Lalu, Mulayam and Sharad have struggled to stay relevant because their caste-alone policy suffered diminishing returns, said the JD(U) man. Contrary to them, Nitish understands contemporary trends better and balances his Mandal methods with a boost of caste-neutral messages like prohibition and demonetisation, to win political goodwill. The BJP knows it will be difficult to repeat their 2014 performance in Bihar the NDA had then won 31 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats without Nitish by their side. Besides, the coming together of Nitish and Lalu and their combined performance in the 2015 Assembly polls has already left the BJP pondering in Bihar. The party is clearly hoping that Nitish having already extended issue -based support (on demonetisation) to the Modi government in the past may finally think of coming back to the NDA instead of carrying on with Lalu, whose past is always a baggage for an alliance partner like Nitish. But its easier said than done, as Modi is the person whose elevation as BJPs prime ministerial candidate had once forced Nitish to severe his 17-year-old links with the BJP in June 2013. No wonder, the BJP is targeting Nitishs clean credentials since the allegations against Lalus family surfaced. The BJP internally believes that Nitish may find it difficult to sustain ties with Lalu. Apparently, wishing a storm on a sea gone placid, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has insisted that the BJP was closer to Nitishs heart than Lalu is. A section of JD(U) leaders also admit that while Nitish will never be the one to snap ties with Lalu unless it becomes inevitable, he expressed dismay with RJD leaders like Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and others whove been allowed to target Nitish. The irony is that it doesnt look like Lalu is making a serious attempt to restrain his party leaders. A crafty politician that he is, Nitish has kept everyone guessing. Though he may participate in the anti-BJP rally that Lalu is likely to hold in August, Nitish has not committed anything. Those who know Nitish believe that he may not be inclined to give the secular leadership position to Lalu, who is unilaterally taking the lead without holding any consultation with the JD(U) and the Congress. But, dismissing all speculations about Nitishs warmth for Modi can still be oversimplification. In May 2013 when Nitish took the trouble of personally dropping then Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, at the gate of Bihar Congress headquarters "Sadaquat Ashram" in his car, it triggered speculations about him getting closer to Congress. But, Nitish had then trashed the gossip, saying he only played a good host. A month later, Nitish stormed out of the NDA. That Nitish seems refrained from saying many things is understandable. But, his silence is no less loud than his actions. Democracy is dwarfed without a vibrant Opposition. Such an Opposition must fulfil three critieria. One, it should be constructively adversarial to the government, not merely disruptive. Two, it must articulate cogent alternative polices to those the government is currently pursuing. And three, it must have the numbers to present voters with a real alternative at the next general election. Last Friday (May 26), Congress President Sonia Gandhi hosted a lunch to stitch together an Opposition front. Heres who attended: Lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Sitaram Yechury (Left), Deve Gowda (JDS), Sharad Yadav (JDU), Mayawati (BSP), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Omar Abdullah (NC) and Kanimohzi (DMK). A less impressive guest list would be difficult to invent. Several have criminal cases against them. That apart, they have neither cogent alternative policies nor the numbers to challenge the NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. That may be good news for the BJP-led NDA. Its not good news for democracy. Without a strong, coherent Opposition, democracy is diminished. Both policies and numbers matter. Lets look at the empirical possibility of a non-NDA government taking office after the 2019 Lok Sabha election. How do the numbers stack up for a national mahagathbandan that Sonias lunch was exploring? Consider the total number of Lok Sabha seats the main attendees at Sonias lunch won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election: Congress 45 TMC 34 NCP 6 RJD 4 BSP 0 SP 5 Left Front 9 JD(S) 2 NC 1 DMK 0 Total 106 What about the JD(U)? Nitish Kumars lunch meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi one day after Sonias lunch may mean nothing or everything. The lunch was in honour of the visiting prime minister of Mauritius. Nitish skipped Sonias anti-NDA lunch on Friday (sending Sharad Yadav instead) but made time for a diplomatic engagement that hardly ranks as top-tier. Nitish himself was typically coy: If any chief minister meets the prime minister, you make a political interpretation. This (the apparently increasing closeness with former alliance partner BJP) is your interpretation, and it is far from the truth. Where is the comparison between the two meetings? One of them was a political meeting. I had already met honourable Soniaji on April 30 at her invitation. We had already discussed the issues of Opposition unity and the Presidential election. This (the Opposition meeting hosted by Sonia) was a lunch meeting and it was decided five days in advance that Sharad Yadavji will attend from our party. Today it was an invitation to a chief minister, not to the president of the JD(U). That (Fridays invitation) was to the president of the party. Making a comparison between the two is misinterpretation. Nitish has also dismissed speculation of an imminent break-up with Lalu Prasad Yadavs RJD in Bihar. But with Lalu fatally tainted by his association with co-convict Shahabuddin who has terrorist links, Nitish is finding it increasingly hard to hide his discomfort. The antics of Lalus two minister-sons are an added aggravation. Even if a JD(U)-RJD split in Bihar is not imminent, it is unlikely Nitish will join a Congress-led anti-BJP front. His term as chief minister ends in 2020. A modus vivendi with Modi to increase central assistance to Bihar is a more attractive option than political suicide by allying with a Congress-led front. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the UPA won just 60 seats. It is now hoping to beef up the numbers with regional parties. The biggest contribution to a UPA-led national mahagathbandan is Mamata Banerjees TMC. It already has 34 out of 42 seats in West Bengal. The headroom for further growth is therefore limited. Other UPA partners and leaners like the NCP, SP, BSP, the Left and RJD are in poor electoral shape. The 10 main attendees at Sonias lunch might be hard pressed to match their collective 2014 tally of 106 parliamentary seats reflected in our chart above. What about the fence-sitters? The BJD and YSR Congress lean towards the BJP. Jaganmohan Reddys YSR Congress has publicly announced support for the BJPs presidential candidate whoever he or she may be. The BJD may follow suit. The TRS is trickier but will probably hew to a neutral line. Other UPA leaners like Ajit Singhs RLD and Assaduddin Owaisis AIMIM are too small to matter. Grim truth Beyond the sagging numbers lies a grimmer truth: the lack of coherent policies. A putative UPA mahagathbandhan has parties with sharply conflicting ideologies and vote banks: TMC and the Left; BSP and SP. The Congress, as leader of this inchoate pack, has not articulated coherent policies except to excoriate the BJP which as the principal Opposition it is entitled to do. But neither Sonia nor Rahul Gandhi has proposed a single constructive policy on economic, tax and labour reforms, tackling Chinas bellicosity, neutralising Pakistans proxy terror war, fighting Maoism and improving law and order. A responsible Opposition party should have constructed a shadow cabinet immediately after the May 2014 general election. Every shadow minister from home and defence to external affairs and environment should be proposing domain-specific policies on a regular basis instead of disruptive, ad hoc criticism. The failure to do this belongs to the Gandhis. They have exhibited mediocre leadership. Most of their former ministers are busy in the Supreme Court fighting lucrative private cases instead of constructing specific policies within a shadow cabinet framework. Business / Companies by Staff reporter The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says it will not issue bond notes beyond the Afreximbank limit of US$200 million to maintain stability and confidence in the economy.The retailers international indaba in the capital saw local and global investors being concerned with the impact of bond notes in the economy.It also provided a platform for players in the sector to understand measures being made by the central bank to increase confidence in the economy.RBZ Deputy Governor Dr Khuphukile Mlambo, however, confirmed to the ZBC News monetary authorities have no plans to increase more bond notes.The central bank also assured retailers there are no plans to replace the United States dollar as a medium of exchange in the economy. News / National by Staff reporter A 29-YEAR-OLD Harare businessman is alleged to have fraudulently acquired company documents, thereby changing ownership of a local firm, Norwich Trading Company (Pvt) Ltd, and registering it together with its properties into his name.Nathan Mnaba on Monday appeared at the Harare Magistrates' Court charged with fraud, but his trial did not commence after he applied for an exception to the charge, arguing the facts contained in the State outline did not disclose an offence.Regional magistrate Elijah Makomo postponed the matter to Monday next week for his determination on the application.According to the State case, on October 10, 2011, the complainant in the matter, Nighert Parween Savania, allegedly entered into an agreement of sale of shares for Norwich Trading Company with Mnaba.It is alleged the total purchase price of the said shares was pegged at $380 000 for 100 shares and the terms of the agreement were that an initial sum of $250 000 was to be paid on January 6, 2012, while the balance of $130 000 would be paid on or before August 2012.However, Mnaba reportedly failed to pay the balance as agreed, prompting the complainant to engage her lawyers to resolve the issue.The State alleges sometime in September 2012, the agreement of the sale of shares was eventually cancelled by Messrs Samukange and Partners Legal Practitioners, who were acting on behalf of Savania.On October 29, 2014, Mnaba is alleged to have proceeded to forge the annual company returns document and a special resolution purporting that Savania had surrendered her issued share capital in Mnaba's favour and other documents indicating that the Norwich director, the late Mahendra-Kumar Jivan, had resigned.The State alleges Mnaba did that despite knowing it was false and that Jivan had actually died on October 9, 2010.After falsifying the documents, it is alleged Mnaba then proceeded to lodge the fake papers with the Registrar of Companies, misrepresenting that they were genuine documents.The State also alleged that sometime in 2014, Mnaba, well-knowing that he had breached the terms of the agreement of sale for shares in Norwich Trading and had not acquired any shareholding, misrepresented to the Registrar of Deeds Office that he had lost the original title deeds, thereby applying for a replacement.When Mnaba made the application, the State alleged he knew well that the original title deed was in Savania's possession, but after obtaining the title deed, he went on to mortgage Savania's house in Greystone Park with the Stanbic Bank, where he acquired a $138 500 loan.The State alleges Savania suffered a $518 500 prejudice. News / National by Staff reporter THE MDC-T's Bulawayo provincial executive has ordered the city's mayor, Martin Moyo to dispose of the second mayoral car he received recently to avoid attracting negative publicity and confrontations with residents.Moyo has been accused of double dipping after he recently received a second mayoral car, a Chevrolet Trailblazer worth $65 000, shortly after taking delivery of another official vehicle, a Mercedes Benz GLE 250 valued at $118 000.It has since emerged that council ordered the Chevrolet while awaiting government approval to purchase the Benz, which was, however, delivered earlier.The MDC-T Bulawayo provincial executive was not amused and last Thursday summoned Moyo and Bulawayo councillors and ordered them to sell the second mayoral vehicle and channel the money towards improving service delivery.Acting provincial spokesperson, Felix Magalela Sibanda confirmed the resolution yesterday, adding the meeting was chaired by MDC-T provincial chairperson, Gift Banda."Following an outcry from residents, it was resolved (during the meeting) that the council must let the mayor use the Benz G Class as part of his working conditions, but park the Trailblazer forthwith so that it can be sold and its proceeds used for service provision," Sibanda said."It was thought to be very expensive for the poor council to spend $118 000 for the G Class Benz and a further $65 000 for the Trailblazer."The MDC-T is a social democratic party, which requires decisions, resolutions and projects by the council to be pro-poor and people-oriented. Our councillors and administration must put people first and themselves last."He urged the local authority to avoid splurging on expensive cars, when most of the city's residents were unemployed and the economy was malfunctioning."There must be a difference between MDC-T and Zanu PF, as the latter is known for killing the economy with its corrupt DNA."The purchase of the two mayoral vehicles torched off a storm, with the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) accusing councillors of engaging in a wealth accumulation rush before leaving the local authority. News / National by Staff reporter THE 21st St Petersburg International Economic Forum starting in Russia tomorrow presents a huge opportunity for Zimbabwe to establish vital economic linkages that will boost industrialisation.Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Mike Bimha told journalists yesterday that the economic forum was an opportunity for the country to grow its industries through engagement with large corporates and small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).Dr Bimha is part of the delegation headed by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, which will attend the three-day forum."We have a programme within the purview of Sadc, which is industrialisation through value addition and beneficiation and we also want to build linkages between corporates and SMEs," said Dr Bimha.He said the forum therefore presented an opportunity for Zimbabwe to engage its counterparts and find ways or areas where it can work together to further the interests of Zim-Asset.Dr Bimha said areas of interest included agro processing, steel processing and glass manufacturing in line with the country's economic blueprint."Our economic blueprint, Zim-Asset feeds into the industrialisation strategy and roadmap of Sadc which in turn also feeds into the tripartite free trade area within Comesa and the continental free trade area of the African Union."We have a number of areas that we wish to find possibilities of co-operation. These areas include agro processing, steel processing, glass manufacturing and other such sectors that should benefit from value addition and beneficiation," said Dr Bimha.He said as part of its efforts to retool and re-equip its industries, Zimbabwe will also establish linkages between its private sector and private sectors from other countries."We're looking at retooling and re-equipping our industries through lines of credit or direct linkages between companies that manufacture industrial equipment and machinery."The areas of cooperation are quite vast and we will take advantage of our interaction during the forum to hold side meetings with delegates to explore areas of co-operation," said Minister Bimha.The forum, Dr Bimha said, was an opportunity to prepare for another meeting planned for July where Zimbabwe will participate and again engage global economic partners.Possible areas expected to be discussed during the forum, which is running under the theme 'Achieving new balance in the global economic arena', include international integration and industrialisation, mining, commerce, agriculture and health.VP Mphoko is expected to present a global pitch for Zimbabwe's investment opportunities in his keynote address. RICHMOND Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. and Virginia's information technology agency have reached divorce court. The McLean-based corporation filed suit Friday against Virginia and its information technology agency over the state's attempt to disentangle itself from the 13-year, more than $2 billion contract and replace it with deals for specific services with multiple other vendors. The 35-page complaint Northrop Grumman filed in Richmond Circuit Court seeks damages of more than $10.2 million and accuses the state of sabotaging a mediated settlement agreement that was reached with top officials in Gov. Terry McAuliffe's administration. The company said it has attempted to resolve differences "in a transparent, business-like" manner under the public-private partnership established in 2005 under then-Gov. Mark Warner and extended in 2010 under then-Gov. Bob McDonnell. "Unfortunately, the commonwealth appears intent on avoiding its obligations under the partnership and needlessly causing a material risk that the citizens and employees of the commonwealth will incur significant IT security and service disruptions, and worse," the suit states. "As a company headquartered and among the largest private employers in a state portrayed to be 'good for business,' Northrop Grumman expects and deserves that the commonwealth will abide by its contractual obligations, including its obligation to conduct business in good faith, and not renege on specific terms to which it has agreed.' McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy shot back that "the governor is disappointed in Northrop Grumman's performance on this contract and the company's refusal to honor its contractual obligation to lead the transition to another vendor." "This lawsuit is completely without merit and the commonwealth will defend taxpayers vigorously," he said. Coy also responded to allegations by Northrop Grumman that the governor had refused to approve a settlement agreement that the company said it had reached with top state technology officials, including Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson, in mediated negotiations. "We worked to reach an agreement with the company through mediation but could not come to terms that the governor thought properly protected taxpayers," he said. The lawsuit caps a year of dueling accusations between the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and Northrop Grumman over how to end their partnership and ensure the safety of the government's IT network in the transition to multiple companies providing services instead of one. Northrop Grumman notified the state a year ago that it would not compete for the new contracts because it considered Virginia's approach misguided, risky, and costly to taxpayers who could bear up to $200 million in payments to the company for its investments in creating an IT network for the state under the deal. In September, VITA accused Northrop Grumman of defaulting on the terms of the contract and undermining the transition of messaging and mainframe services to new vendors. The company fired back weeks later that the state had breached the contract by refusing to pay more than $5.2 million in Microsoft licensing fees that VITA disputes but the company said the agency had agreed to pay. The company also contends the state owes it more than $4.2 million for extending the service of the Unisys mainframe computer after failing to properly plan the transition to a new vendor. VITA has blamed Northrop Grumman for delays in transition to new contracts for messaging and mainframe computer services that it says has run up the state's costs. The litigation was expected by state legislators monitoring the messy disentanglement process. They urged VITA last year to "lawyer up" with private attorneys in addition to the Attorney General's Office to protect the state's interests in what Del. John M. O'Bannon III, R-Henrico, predicted would be "an ugly divorce." Northrop Grumman Vice President Tim Paynter said Tuesday that the company had lived up to its commitments to the state under the contract but said it had "no choice but to seek judicial recourse" to enforce the contract after the state "abandoned" the settlement agreement reached in mediation. Paynter also repeated the company's warnings about what it terms the dangers of Virginia's new plan for providing IT services to state agencies. "While Northrop Grumman maintains its commitment to support the transition, we feel strongly that this is a poor architectural decision, and the issues it poses for the commonwealth are already evident in the problems VITA is experiencing in making this transition effective," he said. The governor has pardoned an undocumented immigrant for a driving offense, and why not? The pardon wont necessarily stop the deportation of Liliana Cruz Mendez, but it could work in her favor. Were all for the pardons particularly in the case of Mendez, whose American-citizen children were born in the U.S. Little good would seem to come from kicking her out of the country. Besides, her crime was victimless: She drove without a license. Thats a far cry from the actions of Carlos Montano, the illegal immigrant who killed a Richmond nun in a drunken-driving incident several years ago. Whats more, its jarring to hear conservatives demand the expulsion of illegal immigrants who commit traffic offenses in one breath, and then rail against returning convicted murder Jens Soering to his native Germany in the next. Are foreigners who commit crimes supposed to be kicked out of the country, or not? (The concern about Soering is that Germany might treat him with leniency. But then many deported aliens are likely to be, since their governments have no incentive to spend scarce resources keeping them locked up for crimes committed elsewhere.) Theres a bit of cognitive dissonance on the other side of the political aisle as well. The impulse behind the sanctuary city movement in liberal enclaves around the country is understandable. All the same, local efforts to thwart federal immigration policy bring to mind the word interposition the discredited idea that states have the authority to defy federal directives. How times do change. Excerpted from the Richmond Times-Dispatch. News / National by Staff reporter FAMILIES of three MDC-T activists who are incarcerated at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison for killing a police officer in Glen View 3 in 2011 say they are struggling to cope without their jailed relatives.This was revealed during visitations by members of the MDC-T welfare department led by Concillia Chinanzvavana and the Concerned Citizens Support Network of Zimbabwe (CCSNZ), which was giving out food hampers to the families.The three MDC-T activists - Tungamirai Madzokere, Yvonne Musarurwa and Last Maengahama - are each serving 20 years in jail for the death of Police Inspector Petros Mutedza.CCSNZ also pledged to pay school fees for the children of the activists."Since last year in September, we are struggling to make ends meet. The biggest challenge I started to face was that the children failed to accept the fact that their father was jailed," Maengahama's wife, Georgina, said."The challenge of explaining all this to children is overwhelming. This is worsened by the fact that the children are not allowed to visit their father at Chikurubi so that they will understand. I only have to carry messages."She added: "The family is now staying away because of fear. Right now, I am alone. No one is willing to come in because of fear. At Chikurubi, I think I need about $50 to $60 to buy the stuff that is required there and this is twice a month. It's difficult for me to be a mother under the circumstances. I am leaving everything to God. He is the answer."Georgina said although the lawyers did their best to defend the case, she, however, felt more needed to be done so that all the three activists would be freed.She said within MDC-T, some officials seemed to have lost interest following the 2014 split.The other two families chronicled how they were also struggling, while thanking CCSNZ for the gesture.Chinanzvavana thanked the organisation for the support, adding the bigger war was not for the family alone, but the entire nation, which was seeking a new Zimbabwe.CCSNZ representative Assan Mtembo said they would give monthly groceries to the families as well as paying school fees for the children.He said CCSNZ was apolitical, but only sought to help families of politically-motivated persecution. WASHINGTON A sizable majority of rural Americans backed Donald Trumps presidential bid, drawn to his calls to slash environmental rules, strengthen law enforcement and replace the federal health care law. But many farmers are nervous about another plank in Trumps agenda: His vow to overhaul U.S. trade policy, including his intent announced this month to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Trumps message that NAFTA was a job-killing disaster had never resonated much in rural America. NAFTA had widened access to Mexican and Canadian markets, boosting U.S. farm exports and benefiting many farmers. Farm Country went on red alert last month when it looked as if Trump wasnt even going to pursue a NAFTA rewrite: White House aides had spread the word that the president would simply withdraw from the pact. Mr. President, Americas corn farmers helped elect you, Wesley Spurlock of the National Corn Growers Association warned in a statement. Withdrawing from NAFTA would be disastrous for American agriculture. Within hours, Trump softened his stance. He wouldnt actually dump NAFTA, he said. Hed first try to forge a more advantageous deal with Mexico and Canada a move that formally began Thursday when his top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, informed Congress of the administrations intent to renegotiate NAFTA. As a candidate, Trump defined his America First stance as a means to fight unfair foreign competition. He blamed unjust deals for swelling U.S. trade gaps and stealing factory jobs. But NAFTA and other deals have been good for American farmers, who stand to lose if Trump ditches the pact or ignites a trade war. The United States has enjoyed a trade surplus in farm products since at least 1967, government data show. Last year, farm exports exceeded imports by $20.5 billion. You dont start off trade negotiations ... by picking fights with your trade partners that are completely unnecessary, says Aaron Lehman, a fifth-generation Iowa farmer who produces corn, soybeans, oats and hay. Many farmers worry that Trumps policies will jeopardize their exports just as they face weaker crop and livestock prices. It comes up pretty quickly in conversation, says Blake Hurst, a corn and soybean farmer in northwestern Missouris Atchison County. That countys voters backed Trump more than 3-to-1 in the election but now feel it would be better if the rhetoric (on trade) was a little less strident, says Hurst, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau. Trumps main argument against NAFTA and other pacts was that they exposed American workers to unequal competition with low-wage workers in countries like Mexico and China. NAFTA did lead some American manufacturers to move factories and jobs to Mexico. But since it took effect in 1994 and eased tariffs, annual farm exports to Mexico have jumped nearly five-fold to about $18 billion. Mexico is the No. 3 market for U.S. agriculture, notably corn, soybeans and pork. The trade agreements that weve had have been very beneficial, says Stephen Censky, CEO of the American Soybean Association. We need to take care not to blow the significant gains that agriculture has won. The U.S. has run a surplus in farm trade with Mexico for 20 of the 23 years since NAFTA took effect. Still, the surpluses with Mexico became deficits in 2015 and 2016 as global livestock and grain prices plummeted and shrank the value of American exports, notes Joseph Glauber of the International Food Policy Research Institute. Mexico has begun to seek alternatives to U.S. food because, as its agriculture secretary, Jose Calzada Rovirosa, said in March, Trumps remarks on trade have injected uncertainty into the agriculture business. Once word had surfaced that Trump was considering pulling out of NAFTA, Sonny Perdue, two days into his job as the presidents agriculture secretary, hastened to the White House with a map showing areas that would be hurt most by a pullout, overlapped with many that voted for Trump. I tried to demonstrate to him that in the agricultural market, sometimes words like withdraw or terminate can have a major impact on markets, Perdue said in an interview with The Associated Press. I think the president made a very wise decision for the benefit of many agricultural producers across the country by choosing to remain in NAFTA. Trump delivered another disappointment for U.S. farm groups in January by fulfilling a pledge to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the Obama administration negotiated with 11 Asia-Pacific countries. Trump argued that the pact would cost Americans jobs by pitting them against low-wage Asian labor. But the deal would have given U.S. farmers broader access to Japans notoriously impregnable market and easier entry into fast-growing Vietnam. Philip Seng of the U.S. Meat Export Federation notes that the U.S. withdrawal from TPP left Australia with a competitive advantage because it had already negotiated lower tariffs in Japan. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports, thereby raising fears that those trading partners would retaliate with their own sanctions. Farmers know theyre frequently the first casualties of trade wars. Many recall a 2009 trade rift in which China responded to U.S. tire tariffs by imposing tariffs on U.S. chicken parts. And Mexico slapped tariffs on U.S. goods ranging from ham to onions to Christmas trees in 2009 to protest a ban on Mexican trucks crossing the border. The White House declined to comment on farmers fears that Trumps trade policy stands to hurt them. But officials say theyve sought to ease concerns, by, for example, having Agriculture Secretary Perdue announce a new undersecretary to oversee trade and foreign agricultural affairs. Many farmers are still hopeful about the Trump administration. Some, for example, applaud his plans to slash environmental rules that they say inflate the cost of running a farm. Some also hold out hope that the author of The Art of the Deal will negotiate ways to improve NAFTA. One such way might involve Canada. NAFTA let Canada shield its dairy farmers from foreign competition behind tariffs and regulations but left at least one exception an American ultra-filtered milk used in cheese. When Canadian farmers complained about the cheaper imports, Canada changed its policy and effectively priced ultra-filtered American milk out of the market. Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult, Trump tweeted last month. We will not stand for this. Watch! Some U.S. cattle producers would also like a renegotiated NAFTA to give them something the current version doesnt: The right to label their product Made in America. In 2015, the World Trade Organization struck down the United States country-of-origin labeling rules as unfair to Mexico and Canada. Many still worry that Trumps planned overhaul of American trade policy is built to revive manufacturing and that farming remains an afterthought. So much of the conversation in the campaign had been in Detroit or in Indiana and focused on manufacturing jobs, said Kathy Baylis, an economist at the University of Illinois. The importance of American farm exports never made it into the rhetoric. News / National by Staff reporter A Malawian born Harare based traditional healer, Kamwelo Banda has caused a stir at his Cranborne shrine where surprisingly hundreds are flocking daily.The art of black magic and voodoo practices usually makes unbelievers of traditional medicinal practices cringe, but the promise of good fortune is luring many.As early as 0900hrs when the ZBC News visited Sekuru Kamwelo band shrine in Wilmington Park in Cranborne, scores of people, most of who however denied being captured on camera, were queuing up booking for an appointment.The shrine is replete with traditional medicine and hideous looking ornaments mainly red, black and white in colour.Sekuru Kamwelo through his assistant, Sambiri said he hails from Mangoli Katuli village in Malawi and confesses to have been refined in the traditional spiritual craft at Ghana's Gemesa University for 4 years.He claimed that the profession of traditional medicine has been passed on in their family from generation to generation, hence his capability to converse with marine and ancestral spirits to solve people's problems.While the claims are difficult to verify scientifically, the bizarre rituals have a following moreso with the traditional healer claiming that among his areas of specialisation is making thieves to return property to its rightful owners and reining in cheaters in relationships.Another shocking claim by the sorcerer is that some church leaders of different denominations book appointments to be schooled in the traditional practice of using herbs to reign in errant husbands and wives. News / National by 263chat HIGH Court Judge Justice David Mangota presided over a pre-trial conference meant to determine the issues for trial in a lawsuit in which 63-year-old Gogo Lillian Chinyerere is demanding $13 500 in compensation from Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri for damages arising from the brutal assault she suffered at the hands of ZRP officers last year.Gogo Chinyerere, a resident of Chitungwiza, about 25 kilometres outside Harare was brutally assaulted by armed riot police officers while sitting near the court entrance at Harare Magistrates Court on 26 August 2016.The ZRP officers kicked her repeatedly with booted feet and struck her several times with truncheons.According to summons filed in the High Court by her lawyer David Hofisi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Gogo Chinyerere, who suffers from high blood pressure and is diabetic, suffered the ignominy of a brutal assault on her aging body in full view of the public and also suffered physical harm as well as harm to her dignity as she was humiliated in full view of the public.Hofisi said the 63 year-old Gogo Chinyerere suffered injuries to her back and shoulder and has been unable to proceed with her job as a tailor due to the injuries sustained and has been relying on well-wishers for her sustenance.As a result of the callous assault, Gogo Chinyerere suffered damages amounting to $13 500 broken down as $5 000 for pain and suffering, $5 000 for contumelia, $2 000 as special damages for loss of income and $1 000 as special damages for past and future medical expenses.In response, the defendants, Hon. Chombo and Chihuri through their lawyer only identified as P.N Mutsvanga from the Civil Division of the Attorney General's Office are denying the allegations levelled against their subordinates that Gogo Chinyerere was assaulted and claim that these are false accusations.Mutsvanga argued that there are high chances that photographs depicting the assault of Gogo Chinyerere which were circulated widely on social media were "doctored" to suit her requirements and to tarnish the image of ZRP. News / National by Staff reporter FOUR teenagers from Mhondoro are standing accused of teaming up with two other men to assault a drunken man leading to his death.Gif Bello, 18, Tawanda Nyamadzapasi, 17, Tafadzwa Muzambi, 17 and Clavis Zvenyika, 18 are standing accused of ganging up with Pardon Zinyengerere, 23 and Edmore Kunonga 23, to assault Freddy Asane leading to his death.The six are said to have found Freddy lying on the ground after having one too many at Murenha Bottle Store at around 11pm on December 5 2015.They reportedly started assaulting him and left him for dead before they disappeared into thin air.But luck ran out for them after investigations by police revealed that they were behind Freddy's death leading to their arrest.They were taken to the Harare magistrates' court charged with culpable homicide.The six denied the charges when they appeared before magistrates Noel Mupeiwa saying they only tried to help him when they saw him lying on the ground.But State counsel Constance Ngombengombe alleges that on December 5 2015 the six were enjoying music at Murenha Bottle Store under Chief Nherera in Mhondoro-Mubayira.They reportedly left the watering hall after it closed at around 11pm.Whilst they were on their way home, they spotted Freddy lying drunk on the ground along Kodhani-Mubayira road.Accusations are that Pardon, Edmore and Clavis started assaulting Freddy and pouring some sand on his head.Gift and Tawanda are said to have urinated in Freddy's face before Tafadzwa picked a stone and struck him on the face leaving him unconscious.It is said that they fled from the scene.Memory Gwatidzo is said to have spotted Freddy lying on the ground and went to inform the police who took him to Chikoro Clinic where he was referred to St Michael's Hospital.Freddy was further referred to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals where he was admitted until December 27 of the same year.Upon being discharged from hospital Freddy was then taken by his sister Elizabeth Kalani to Doxford Farm in Mazowe where he later died after two days.His body was then taken to Concession Hospital before being referred to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospital for a postmortem.The doctor discovered that Freddy had died of meningitis, subdural haematoma and head trauma.Investigations by police led to the six's arrest. Opinion / Columnist Yesterday around 7am two members of uLoyiko Theatre play, Mr Ayanda Manala and Prosper Siza Nkosi, were involved in a car accident in Cape Town, SA."This is the car we usually use and it was in good condition when it was last checked yesterday," Mr Mhluzi their spokesperson said. "It is difficult not to suspect foul play considering the threats and bribery attempts we have recently encountered," Mr Mhluzi continued.uLoyiko is a theatre production about the Matabeleland Genocide which occurred between 1983 to 1987, it was perpetrated by President Robert Mugabe and his 5th brigade army against innocent and unarmed civilians, the genocide was solely aimed wiping off the Matebele from the face of the earth, for simple reason that they were Ndebeles.The play was launched sometime last year around June in Johannesburg where a multitude of people from Matabeleland attended. This did not go down well with the Zimbabwean security forces, it riled them to the extent of making threats against members of uLoyiko. When the threats failed to yield their desired goal, they went further to use a carrot approach, by attempting to bribe the leaders of the Theatre play.This was also widely publicised in the media and most likely angered the security forces. Knowing how vile the security forces can be and how Zimbabwean politician are jittery about the genocide, it was clear that they would not just stop like that knowing that the play was gaining prominence and thereby unveiling the secrecy of the genocide.The risks to the Zimbabwean elite are high because the international community is being sensitised and the Matebele being reawakened. The long arm of the law and justice is slowly moving towards the genocide perpetrators and eventually, it will strangle their fat necks and squeeze bit by bit until justice is squeezed out of their evil deeds.Luckily, the duo did not sustain life-threatening injuries when their car brakes failed to function and they hit another car in front of them. Mr Manala had a twisted arm and Mr Nkosi sustained a knee injury."We won't be cowed into submission, we were not forced to do this play, we had a choice not to do it, but we opted to do it fully aware of the risks, some say this is not our struggle, but we say 'injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere', we will continue regardless of the dangers we are facing and may continue to face in the future," Mr Mhluzi concluded. New Delhi: The CITU today termed the government's proposal to privatise Air India as an exercise with a dubious intent to fritter away a national asset to benefit private airlines. The major trade union also said that the move was against the national interest and ill-timed as it came when Air India has posted an operating profit for the first time in 10 years since its merger with Indian Airlines. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had recently favoured disinvestment of the loss-making flag carrier, saying the airline's market share is just around 14 per cent whereas the debt burden was Rs 50,000 crore. He had also said that the taxpayer's money could be better utilised such as for promoting education rather than in keeping the airline afloat. Following this, the civil aviation ministry yesterday said it has received recommendations from the NITI Aayog and is looking at all possible alternatives to make Air India viable. "The privatisation of Air India is not for saving public money but for frittering away a national asset and exchequer for the benefit of private corporate and private airlines, both domestic and foreign. This is an exercise with a dubious intent, totally against the national interest," a statement issued by the Left affiliated Centre for Indian Trade Uinon (CITU). Air India is surviving on a Rs 30,000 crore bail-out package, spread over 10 years, announced by the Manmohan Singh government in 2012. In 2015-16, the airline posted operational profit of Rs 105 crore on account of low fuel prices and increased passenger numbers. According to CITU, the Air India has accumulated such a huge loss due to the burden of debt servicing. It also said that the successive government's at the Centre, and not the airline's management, were to be blamed for the financial mess of Air India. "Air India which had been a profit making company till 2007, pushed to loss and debt-burdened by the bungling and disastrous experiments by the successive governments at the Centre on the national carrier's organisational structure. For this, the company management cannot be held responsible," the statement said. CITU has also asked that if the government is willing to write off the Rs 30,000 crore debt for the prospective private buyer why it could not make a similar offer to Air India. The CBI has registered three FIRs and a preliminary enquiry (PE) to go into the controversial decisions made by the erstwhile UPA government with regard to the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, purchase of 111 aircraft and surrendering of profitable routes to favour private airlines. New Delhi: Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has acquired land in Bengaluru from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation for an undisclosed sum as part of its plans to start retail operations in India. The 14 acres site in Bengaluru is the third land acquisition by the home furnishing retailer after Hyderabad and Mumbai. Ikea is slated to open its first store in India in Hyderabad early next year. "The IKEA store in Bengaluru is planned to be around 4.5 lakh square feet and is expected to have more than 5 million visitors per year," the company said in a statement. The company has acquired the land located in Nagasandra on Tumkur road from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation. Commenting on the development, IKEA India CEO Juvencio Maeztu said:" Karnataka is a highly strategic and important market for IKEA. Along with retail stores, IKEA's Purchasing team will also grow local sourcing and engage with local artisan and communities in many projects." The store would employ 500 to 700 co-workers in which 50 per cent would be women. Besides, 1,500 people would also be engaged indirectly in services. "Each IKEA store will employ 500-700 co-workers directly and another 1,500 people indirectly in different services. We are committed to inclusion and diversity and having 50 per cent women in our organisation at all levels is non- negotiable," he said. IKEA, which received government approval in 2013 for its Rs 10,500 crore proposal to open retail stores under 100 per cent FDI, plans to open 25 stores by 2025 in nine Indian cities. "The company in parallel is evaluating suitable sites in the cities," the company said. IKEA's first store in Hyderabad will be a massive 4 lakh square feet in size and will include all features of a global IKEA store, including restaurant and play and development area. In July 2015, IKEA had announced purchase of 13 acre land close to the IT hub in Hyderabad's HITEC city and bought land in Mumbai in March last year. Presently, IKEA operates 390 stores in 46 countries with a sales volume of 34.2 billion euros. Mumbai: Private carrier Jet Airways today said it plans to lease 6-8 single aisle aircraft in the fleet this fiscal. The airline has already leased one B-737NG of these planes this fiscal and the rest will be inducted in the fleet by March next year, the Naresh Goyal-promoted carrier said. The city-headquartered airline currently has 103 aircraft in the fleet, with 69 of them B-737s. "Our new fleet of Boeing B737-Max will come from June next year onwards. This year, we plan to take anything between 6-8 aircraft from the open lease market and induct in the fleet, primarily B 737NGs," Jet Airways Chief Financial Officer and acting CEO, Amit Agarwal said during a post- earnings analysts call here. "We have already added one (such) aircraft into the fleet," he added. Jet Airways had, in 2015, announced an order for 75 Boeing 737 Max aircraft as a part of its fleet replacement strategy. Delivery of these planes is to commence from next year. Jet Airways has reported nearly 95 per cent fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 23 crore in the three months ended March 2017 as higher fuel prices and lower fares took a toll on its bottomline. In fact, if the other incomes of Rs 310.45 crore, which include income from transfer of frequent flyer programme, sale and leaseback income and real estate income are removed, then its a net loss of Rs 287 crore. The airline plans to reduce debt by USD 200 million by this fiscal, Agarwal said, adding it was cut by Rs 1,900 crore in the last fiscal. "The company has continued to focus on reducing debt despite challenging situation in the market place. The company has been able to reduce its net debt by Rs 468 crore in Q4FY17 and over all by Rs 1,900 crore during the fiscal 2016-17," the official said. According to Jet Airways, its net debt on balancesheet stood at Rs 9035 crore or USD 1.4 billion at the end of March this year. Agarwal also said that the airline is evaluating its participation in the central Government's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN. "In the first round we had not bid for the RCS routes. In the second round, we will continue to evaluate whether it makes sense for us, especially when we are a network carrier," he said adding the airline has to asses as to see how it benefit its network. Mumbai: India's think-tank Niti Aayog has recommended strategic sale of loss making national carrier Air India, according to a report in The Times of India. The Aayog has submitted its report amidst talks that government may go for divestment of airline. The latest report paves way for strategic sale of the airline whose divestment was mooted by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Union Budget 2017 speech that envisioned sale of India's ailing public sector undertakings or PSUs. Finance Minister had revealed at that time that his government was intending to raise Rs 72,000 crore money by selling portions in troubled PSUs. Air India also falls under the category as it has a whopping Rs 50,000 crore debt of which Rs 30,000 crore was given by government as a bailout package. This was planning think-tank's fourth report submitted recently that gives a clear and detailed framework divestment of Air India. The Aayog has also recommended writing off of Rs 30,000 crore which the government had extended to the carrier as a bailout package. "Air India has debt of around Rs 60,000 crore, which includes around Rs 21,000 crore of aircraft-related loans and around Rs 8,000 crore working capital, said aviation sources," the TOI report said. The proposal is to transfer the aircraft-related loans and the working capital to the new owner, while taking care of half the liability. The Aayog has also proposed in its report that airline's prime properties that include Air India building in Mumbai's Nariman Point and some places in Delhi like Vasant Vihar should be hived off into a separate company. The Aayog further said this should be achieved before offering up to 100 per cent equity to a strategic partner. New Delhi: Drug firm Pfizer Ltd today said it has entered into a pact with AstraZeneca AB, Sweden to acquire the 'Neksium' brand in India for Rs 75 crore to expand presence in gastrointestinal therapy segment. The company is well placed to grow the Neksium brand further through its existing reach, coverage and equity in the gastrointestinal therapy area, Pfizer said in a statement. Commenting on the development, Pfizer Ltd MD S Sridhar said: "The Neksium acquisition is aligned with our stated ambition of portfolio expansion through organic and inorganic growth in our focus therapy areas". With this acquisition, the company will accelerate growth and strengthen its leadership position in the gastrointestinal (GI) therapy area, he added. With brands such as Gelusil and Mucaine, the company has provided effective solutions in the antacid space for over 30 years, Pfizer said. Shares Of Pfizer Ltd closed 3.07 per cent up at Rs 1,697.95 on BSE. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today sought the government's response on Vodafone's plea against telecom regulator TRAI's recommendation to impose a Rs 1,050 crore penalty on it for not providing interconnectivity to Reliance Jio. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva also issued notice to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and sought its reply to Vodafone's plea alleging that despite the DoT asking it to reconsider its recommendation, it did not do so. The court listed the matter for hearing on July 19. Telecom major Vodafone told the court that the TRAI had first made the recommendation in October 21, 2016, following which it was sent back to the regulator by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for reconsideration. However, the regulator on May 24 reiterated its earlier recommendation, the telecom major said and added that this decision was taken without hearing it. It also claimed that while DoT was concurring with it, TRAI was taking a different stand. The court then asked why should there be a stay of the recommendation as the DoT was yet to take a final view on it. In response to the query, Vodafone said that RJIO had used the recommendation to lodge a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging unfair trade practice by telecom majors, including Airtel and Idea. Vodafone, in its application, has also said that pursuant to the complaint, the CCI has reportedly initiated an investigation against it and the other telecom majors. The application has been filed by the telecom major in its main petition challenging the TRAI's October 2016 recommendation. TRAI had earlier told the court that it was not required to give a hearing to Vodafone before it gave its recommendation and admitted that no such hearing was given to the telecom major. TRAI has recommended imposition of a fine of Rs 50 crore for each of the 21 circles of Vodafone, except in Jammu and Kashmir, coming to a total of Rs 1,050 crore. Similar recommendations were issued by the regulator against Airtel and Idea. Mumbai: Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has hinted that that the Left-led government in southern Indian state may lift restrictions on bars. The previous government had constricted the sale of liquor in the state as part of its ten-year alcohol phase out plan. The state has chalked out a fresh excise policy and it expects to make it public by June 30. Minister Isaac has said that earlier government's policy has hit tourism in the state drastically. When asked about chances of reopening some 700 bars, Isaac told NDTV, "that is for the excise policy, which will come out very soon, to reveal. But one thing is certain -- Kerala's tourism has taken a big beating. Something has to be done." Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued an order banning sale of liquor along highways owing to which a number of government outlets had to shut down. It is estimated that the total loss to Kerala's tourism ex-chequer, according to Tourism Director P Bala Kiran, was around Rs 4,000-5,000 crore a year, NDTV report said. Previous Congress-led government had brought in an anti-liquor policy under which bars across the state either downed their shutters or had turned into beer and wine parlours. The then state government had allowed sale of alcohol only at five-star hotels and government-run outlets. More than 700 bars shut down as part of the government's plan for a liquor-free Kerala by 2023, the report said. Link requires a person to punch in his PAN number, Aadhaar number and the exact name as given in the Aadhaar card. New Delhi: The Income Tax Department today urged taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their PAN, using an SMS-based facility. The department issued advertisements in leading national dailies and described how both the unique identity numbers of an individual can be linked by sending an SMS to either 567678 or 56161. It said people can also visit the official efiling website of the department to link the two identities, in both the cases-- identical names in the two databases or in case where there is a minor mismatch. It said linking the two numbers is the key to "seamlessly avail online, a world of income tax facilities." "Aadhaar can also be seeded into PAN database by quoting Aadhaar in PAN application form for new PAN allotment or by quoting Aadhaar in change request form used for reprint of PAN card," it said in the advertisement. The Income-Tax-department had early this month launched a new e-facility to?link a person's Aadhaar with the Permanent Account Number?(PAN), a mandatory procedure for filing I-T returns now. The department's e-filing website has hosted a new link on its homepage to link the two unique identities. The link requires a person to punch in his PAN number, Aadhaar number and the exact name as given in the Aadhaar card. "After verification from the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), the linking will be confirmed. "In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one time password) will be required," the department had said in its advisory to taxpayers and individuals. The OTP will be sent on the registered mobile number in the Aadhaar database. The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of?Income-Tax returns (ITR). Also, Aadhaar has been made mandatory for applying for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017. While Aadhaar is issued by the UIDAI to a resident of India, PAN is a ten-digit alphanumeric number issued in the form of a laminated card by the I-T department to any person, firm or entity. Mumbai: The Reserve Bank today met heads and senior officials of various banks to discuss broad contours of tackling the issue of stressed assets. The meeting was attended by heads of ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered Banks and Canara Bank. Senior officials from SBI and Bank of Baroda were also present in the meeting held at RBI here. "The focus of the meeting was on resolution of stressed loans. The RBI had sought our views and suggestions to tackle the bad loan problem. This is continuation of our past interactions with them (RBI)," a bank official said. When contacted none of the bankers were ready to divulge details about the meeting. Earlier this month, the government gave wide-ranging legislative powers to the RBI to issue directions to lenders to initiate insolvency proceedings for the recovery of bad loans. It has also empowered the regulator to issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed assets. Non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks have risen to about 17 per cent of total loans, the highest level among major economies. They are about 8.4 per cent of the GDP, according to Credit Suisse. The Reserve Bank also came out with a notification which clarified its powers under the NPA ordinance. It also talked about formation of oversight committees (OCs) under RBI's aegis and formation of independent committees to decide a framework for reference for the Insolvency Code (IBC). Global rating agency S&P today said credit profiles of the country's banks are likely to remain weak for the next 12 months, with total stressed assets likely to rise to 15 per cent of total loans by March 2018. Opinion / Columnist The appetite of African Presidents to consume overseas medical treatments remains robust. The latest news is that Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has returned back to Luanda after spending a month in Spain for medical treatment.Angola confirmed for the first time on Monday that 74-year-old President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, its leader of the last 38 years, was in Spain for medical reasons. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has a legendary track record of preferring Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore for medical treatment. Edgar Lungu, Michael Sata, Banda Ruphia, former and current Presidents of Zambia who have all have come to South Africa for medical attention. The report says Bakuli Muluzi of Malawi and opposition leaders from the DRC Moise Katumbi and the late Etienne Tshikeli have also sought medical help in South Africa. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's usually goes to London for medical treatment.Africa has lost a number of heads of state with some dying in foreign countries and corruption and failure in investing in health care systems are reasons attributed to this situation. Only a few of the 54 African states have medical facilities that their leaders can use. The medical tourism industries of the countries that they visit, benefit disproportionally from their expenditure, during the stay at the medical tourism destination. South Africa has a well-developed private healthcare system, which could be used by African Presidents instead of going overseas. Medical tourism is a form of special interest tourism, which has grown in leaps and bounds. Developing countries with their lower costs have attracted customers from developed countries, offering First World treatments at Third World prices.After medical procedures, medical tourists can enjoy the beautiful tourism gems of South Africa, increasing the length of stay, and geographical spread. The growth of medical tourism can drive research and development benefiting innovation. Medical tourism caters for cosmetic surgery, dentistry, organ transplants, cardiology/cardiac surgery, orthopaedic surgery such as hip replacements and joint surgery. Medical tourism has been able to reverse the medical intellectual brain drain that has negatively impacted on developing countries especially Africa.Today, developing countries are benefiting from inward investment that is creating medical facilities that caters for the growth of medical tourism. This increases the pool of health professionals in a country, reversing the brain drain. This is only achieved when operating licenses are granted for medical tourism practitioners, to try and match demand with supply of human resources. Countries such as India, Singapore, Cuba, Dubai and South Africa have grown their share of medical tourism receipts. Many SADC countries use South Africa as their base for medical treatments because of the poor state of their public healthcare systems. East and West Africa's medical tourism to South Africa continues to struggle because of the military operation of the visa system. It remains easier to acquire an American visa than a South African visa.South Africa is one of the few African countries that has legalised abortion, which benefits from inward migration for a procedure illegal in other countries. Switzerland benefits from thousands of visitors that seek to consume active euthanasia, whilst suicide is increasingly performed by those that suffer because active euthanasia is illegal. Cannabis is South Africa's green gold as it is one of the major illegal exports, but South Africa choses to prosecute cannabis production. The Cannabis in Africa report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime acknowledges that 99% of the cannabis consumed in Ireland comes from South Africa. Imagine the benefit to the country if cannabis commercial production was legal.American states benefit from cannabis taxation, increased entrepreneurship and cannabis tourists, whilst our state choses to appeal the decision of the Western Cape High Court. Legalisation of cannabis would lead to widespread production and export that would make unemployment and poverty a rumour. Cannabis oil production would increase, leading to its price reduction, to the benefit of millions of cancer suffers. Amartya Sen in his classical work Development as Freedom noted "that development is the process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoyDevelopment requires the removal of major sources of unfreedom". The promotion of health tourism can benefit destinations by giving them an improved healthcare system, which can be used by African Presidents. Universal healthcare is a form of freedom that the state must provide for its citizens, and African Presidents must be at the forefront of this.-------------Unathi Sonwabile Henama teaches tourism at the Tshwane University of Technology and writes in his personal capacity Mumbai: The most anticipated trailer of Victoria & Abdul starring Oscar-winner Judi Dench and Ali Fazal in the lead roles was released on Tuesday. The trailer is about the little-known story of Queen Victorias relationship with her closest confidant, Abdul Karim. At the trailer launch, Ali said, Victoria & Abdul is a biopic which portrays the relation between Queen of England and Abdul Karim, who went there as a servant, but there was much more to him. Their friendship was such that the royal family hasnt spoken about it yet. Talking about the trailer, it was great to see Ali in every frame of the trailer, unlike other newcomers in Hollywood. The scenes between Judi Dench and him were refreshing as well as humorous. The 'Fukrey' actor began his career in Hollywood with a special appearance in Furious 7. When the 30-year-old was asked how did he get the role of Abdul Karim in this film, he narrated an interesting story of how he was locked for this film. I went through a proper process of auditioning. I gave the audition from India. In fact, I was in a meeting, and one day I wish Ill take that persons name because I owe it to that person. Shes from the industry itself. She told me theres a film happening, but the auditions are done, why dont you try? I called up the casting director and said Ill send you the recording of my audition through phone, and later I completely forgot about it. After 20-25 days, I got a call saying that they really liked it and are coming down to India to see another version, asserted Ali. They were still meeting lots of actors, and knowing that list was fun. I still feel privileged, because there were some of my colleagues whose work I really respect, and to be picked over them, is already a big award for me. He continued, I was sitting with my friends in a restaurant, and I answered their phone call in the washroom because of the chaos in the restaurant. So, I actually said yes for the film in the bathroom. Further speaking about his excitement on sharing the screen space with the Oscar legends Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, and Eddie Izzard, an ecstatic Ali said, I was thrilled with excitement. My happiness knew no bounds. Ive grown up watching Judi Dench. And of course, she is an Oscar-winner. I couldnt have asked for more than this. The film is based on the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu. It is a detailed account of the extraordinary friendship between the monarch and her servant. Directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall, 'Victoria & Abdul' is slated to release on September 22 in the US. Mumbai: A renowned film producer and wife of legendary actor Rajkumar, Parvathamma Rajkumar, died at 4:40 am today. The 78 YO was undergoing treatment for renal problems and difficulty in breathing at MS Ramaiah Hospital. After undergoing Tracheostomy for about six days, which is a medical procedure where a tube is inserted into windpipe in the neck to open up restricted airway, if any, and enable breathing. Admitted on May 14, the veteran producer was on ventilation and caught fever a day after completing the procedure. Parvathamma Rajkumar body is now at her son Ragavendra Rajkumars residence and will be shifted to Poorn Grounds for people to pay their last respects. Friends and colleagues from the film industry have expressed their grief over the news of her demise. Just like her deceased husband, Parvathamma Rajkumar had also donated her eyes. Mumbai: An innocent move on the part of Priyanka Chopra, during a chance meeting with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in a foreign land that has no connection whatsoever with the Indian garment sari, has suddenly turned her into a fallen icon, an object of ridicule for the same Indians who very snobbishly flaunt her to the world, often labelling the self-made actress as this countrys pride. One may wonder as to what could have triggered us to transcend from holding this well-accomplished lady in high regard to stooping down to the level of calling her disrespectful, a disgrace to the nation, in the wink of an eye? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. If logic is let in for a while and nationalism asked to excuse itself, one may see the reason behind her opting for a western dress (never worn by an Indian nari ever, not at all) over its bhartiya counterpart. First, PeeCee was in Berlin to promote her first ever Hollywood project Baywatch, the same film that these hypocrites use as a tool to combat their third world insecurities, and possibly had no idea that she would stumble upon the PM and was clearly in no position to drape a sari around her waist. And secondly, is there a written rule that demands women be fully clothed if and when they meet Indian dignitaries? No. The problem is with us constantly trying to blend in with the more liberated strata of this bigoted society. But what we are actually doing is struggling to shun our misogynistic approach towards life. Sadly, we live in a nation where men turn monsters behind closed doors as well as in broad daylight, where men can flash their buttocks on screen for a senseless romcom but women must hide their ankles and bow down to the powerful. We live in a country where a movie star is considered a national hero for featuring in a biopic that very conveniently twists the plot and tampers with the history to cater to the needs of nationalists but women are not spared for wearing a knee-length, full shoulder, turtleneck dress. At this moment, nobody wants to even mention her acting prowess or go gaga over the reality that Priyanka Chopra has put India on the global map, in ways more than one. All they know is that she sat across the PM cross-legged in a dress that does not reveal any part of her body and is in no way an indication of disrespect. A renowned writer, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, has very aptly captured the functioning of an Indian mind that is used to witnessing male dominance and frowns when women demand for an egalitarian society. She observes,"Isn't it ironic that in a country where a woman is trolled and labelled as disrespectful for wearing a short skirt infront of the Prime Minister, a girl is raped every seven minutes. Where ministers watch porn in Parliament, make the most regressive statements about women; their reproductive rights and their bodies; where children are gruesomely abused even in the protective environs of their schools; where acid is thrown on a woman's face to take revenge for her saying no to a man's sexual advances; where heroines titillate masses with lewd dance movements mouthing obscene, double meaning lyrics; where justice eludes rape victims who are persecuted for their character and their choices, as simple as returning home late. Where husbands carefully selected, tear into their wife's insides in the darkness of their own bedrooms, where a woman's place in a marriage is pleasure provider and procreation and where dowry is seen as reflecting her father's social status. Where a single woman is either a slut or a failure. Where divorced women are characterless and husband snatchers. Where homosexuality in women is seen as a dreaded curse. Where an entire sex is beaten, brandished and berated. Still, all we can pick on, is a popular Bollywood actress who has crossed over and makes her country proud. Who is a global desi icon when it suits our convenience. Never our conscience!" The nozzle of the well-cultured gun has fired in the past; that one time when two-time National Award winner Kangana Ranaut attended the prestigious 63rd National Award Ceremony in an off-shoulder dress. Many tagged her bold move as breaking the dress protocol. Of course, Kangana was not informed well in advance about the gospel code or the fact that anything that is even remotely related to the word nation, must be associated with depiction of our unique culture. And the definition of culture for Indian women should be a drape varying from five to nine yards in length, called sari. Here are some of the hateful messages that came Priyanka's way after she posted a picture of her with the PM on Instagram: But the badass Bollywood diva that Priyanka is, she got back at haters in her signature, classy way- a picture with mother Madhu Chopra, both flaunting their legs without an iota of shame, and rightly so. Mumbai: Sanjay Dutt, who played a crucial role in 'Dhamaal' and 'Double Dhamaal', has decided to back out of the third installment in the franchise, titled 'Total Dhamaal'. A source close to the actor has revealed that he has said no to the upcoming installment because he doesn't want his kids to see him in adult comedies. Moreover, the 57-year-old, who recently finished shooting for his comeback film 'Bhoomi', has his calendar blocked with films like 'Torbaaz', 'Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3' and a collaborative project with actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn. "The reason for moving out is essentially due to the actor's dates coinciding with other projects. The actor has his calendar blocked until the shoot of the third installment in the 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster' film series, followed by 'Torbaaz'," the source adds. However, director Indra Kumar issued a clarification stating, "'Total Dhamaal' is a total family entertainer. While the news is true that we have parted amicably with Sanju for the film, I further want to clarify that Riteish is very much a part of the superhit franchise and there is absolutely no adult content in 'Total Dhamaal.' 'Total Dhamaal' is an out and out family entertainer, just like 'Dhamaal' and 'Double Dhamaal'! Radio personality and television host Ryan Seacrest and his girlfriend-model Shayna Taylor have made their romance official on social media. JustJared.com reports that the couple spent time at the Turks and Caicos Islands over the weekend. Shayna took to Instagram to share photos from their vacation. In one photo that Shayna captioned with hearts, Ryan can be seen giving her a kiss on the cheek. The couple dated several years ago and recently got back together. Gal Gadot in a still from 'Wonder Woman'. Mumbai: On one hand, 'Wonder Woman' has started its journey with rave reviews from around the world. On the other hand, the movie is likely to face a ban in Lebanon because of its lead actress Gal Gadot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lebanon is seeking a ban on Patty Jenkins' upcoming superheroine film 'Wonder Woman' because its lead actress, Gal Gadot, is Israeli. A security official said a formal request for a ban has not yet been received. A ban would require a recommendation from a six-member committee from the Ministry of Economy, a process that has not yet begun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. A group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon launched a campaign to boycott the film to due to the fact Gadot served in the Israeli Army and expressed support for Israeli forces as the country led a military offensive against Gaza. On her Facebook page, Gadot had praised Israel's military during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, sending prayers to soldiers "who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas." It should be noted that Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and has a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. The two countries have been through a number of wars, including a particularly devastating one in 2006 that battered Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds dead. But, the support for the ban was not unanimous. According to a known Lebanese blogger, Elie Fares, said the movie already must have been approved to be allowed in theaters in the first place. He told that the push for a boycott apparently reflects disputes within the Lebanese government. Adding, "Resist what? A movie about an iconic superhero who's been part of pop culture for over 70 years. A movie in which the lead actress happens to be Israeli but who's not portraying ANYTHING related to her 'country' in any way whatsoever." A premiere of 'Wonder Woman' is still scheduled for today in at least one cinema in Beirut. Posters of the movie and digital billboards have sprouted up around the Lebanese capital. As of now, Warner Bros. has declined to comment on the ban. Helmed by Patty Jenkins, ' Wonder Woman' stars Gal Gadot as the titular character alongside Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston and David Thewils. The movie is slated to hit the theatres on June 2. Model-turned-actress Sakshi Agarwal is on cloud nine as she has been roped in to play a brief role in Superstar Rajinikanths new movie Kaala-Karikaalan, a political drama directed by Pa. Ranjith which went on floors in Mumbai recently. An excited Sakshi says, I feel blessed to be part of a Superstar Rajini sirs film even at the beginning of my career. Like every other actor in a Ranjith film who would be tight-lipped, Sakshi was not ready to reveal any information about her role. However, when asked how she got chosen, she quips, I auditioned not once, but thrice, with the given situations. It was a highly energetic and motivating unit. She adds quickly, Irrespective of big or small, any character in Ranjith sirs movie would always stand out. Close sources reveal that though most of the characters speak a particular slang, Sakshi will be speaking normal Tamil. While few of her portions will be shot in Mumbai, most part will be canned in Chennai. Reportedly, Rajinikanths introduction song was recently shot at live locations in Dharavi. According to rumours, it is tipped to be a rap number. Parvathamma's health did appear to be getting back on track, with doctors hopeful of recovery as her blood pressure and vital organs functioned normally when she was admitted. Bengaluru: Parvathamma Rajkumar, founder of the iconic production house, Sri Vajreshwari Combines and wife of the legendary Dr Rajkumar, succumbed to a cardiac arrest at around 4.40 am after a two-week stay in M.S. Ramaiah Hospital. She is survived by her three sons, Shivarajkumar, Raghavendra and Puneeth and two daughters - Lakshmi and Poornima. Her prolonged battle with cancer began after the death of her husband, the legendary Dr Rajkumar in 2006. Her involvement with her thriving production house also began to wane as ill-health took its toll, with her sons taking over the mantle at Sri Vajreshwari Combines. Parvathamma's health did appear to be getting back on track, with doctors hopeful of recovery as her blood pressure and vital organs functioned normally when she was admitted. Her condition deteriorated on Tuesday night, when her BP dropped to alarming levels. She breathed her last early on Wednesday. A Sandalwood behemoth in her own right, Parvathamma was only 13 years old when she married Mutthuraj (Dr Rajkumars real name) in 1953. In the early days of their marriage, she was her husband's anchor during his meteoric rise to demi-God status as Dr Rajkumar as she juggled a household of 12 in Chennai. When producers began taking undue advantage of Dr Rajkumar, tacitly blaming him for their losses, Parvathamma Rajkumar emerged from behind the scenes. Acting with courage in the face of great risk, Parvathamma Rajkumar joined her husband to launch their own banner, Poornima Enterprises. Their first film, Trimurthy, hit theatres 1974, starring Dr Rajkumar in a 'triple' role. The film changed the course of the film industry and the banner, which went on to become Sri Vajreshwari Combines, produced over 80 films, a rare feat for a woman in the Indian film industry. She proved to naysayers and critics alike that her husband would 'earn in crores' at a time when everybody counted their earnings in lakhs. The Rajkumar family Dr Rajkumar and his three sons, Shivarajkumar, Raghavendra and Puneet were usually cast in the lead roles. Parvathamma's singular talent for production, however, arguably lay in her knack for spotting and nurturing young talent. A number of young actors and actresses, as we well as writers, technicians and directors were brought to Sandalwood at her behest. Actresses like Sudha Rani, Malashree, Anu Prabhakar, Rakshitha and Ramya made their forays into Sandalwood through Vajreshwari Combines. From a teenage bride struggling to keep a teeming household in order to becoming the most powerful woman in Sandalwood, Parvathamma's contributions to the film industry will live on through the actors, directors and technicians whose dreams she helped realise. Raghavendra Rajkumar: We never thought we will face this. As my father always said that we are all here like guests and one day we have to depart. She was no one when she was born and now she died as a well-known person recognised throughout the globe for her contribution to the South Indian film industry, especially Kannada film industry. It seems like Appaji wanted Amma beside him and so her soul has gone to rest with him. We believe that Amma is happy up there with Appaji." Parvathammas eyes donated Few dedicate their lives for the greater good and continue to do so even in their death. Parvathamma Rajkumar lived up to the legacy of her late husband Dr Rajkumar by donating her eyes after her death, much identical to his action and values. The legendary Dr Rajkumar, during the inauguration of our eye bank at Narayana Netralaya had pledged to donate his eyes after his death and walked the talk by actually donating them. We have named our Eye Bank as Dr Rajkumar Eye Bank, in dedication to the values exhibited by him and for having encouraged people to pledge eyes by being an example himself. We are extremely thankful to the late couple for their noble deeds in this regard." - Dr. K. Bhujang Shetty, Chairman & Managing Director, Narayana Netralaya Saligrama theatres cancel shows as mark of mourning Villagers in Saligrama, Parvathamma's hometown, held a condolence meeting on Wednesday to mourn her passing. She was born in Saligrama in K.R. Nagar Taluk, on December 6, 1939, to Lakmamma and Appajigowda, who taught music at a local government school. Parvathamma was one of seven children, she had three brothers - Ramegowda, Srinivas and Govindraju and three sisters - Nagamma, Jayamma and Hemavathi. She was married to Dr Rajkumar at a Nanjangud choultry on June 25, 1953. Dr Rajkumar and Parvathamma in their younger days According to her classmate Rathnamma, from Saligrama, Parvathamma continued her education even after her marriage and passed her Class 10 exams through a government school in Saligrama. A pall of gloom descended over Shinganalluru in Kollegal taluk, too, the hometowns of Dr Rajkumar's parents as well. Owners of 15 cinema theatres in Chamrajnagar, from where Dr Rajkumar's mother hailed, cancelled shows on Wednesday. Theatres in Mysuru also cancelled shows as a mark of mourning. A 'novel' approach to films The real and the 'reel' force behind the late Dr. Rajkumar's magnanimity was arguably his wife, Parvathamma. A close relative of the Rajkumar family, Parvathamma, whose father was a schoolteacher married Muthuraj at the age of 13. Despite the fact that her early marriage spelled the end of her formal education, Parvathamma remained a voracious reader with a great love for Kannada literature. When her husbands career hit hurdles, the couple launched their own production house, creating films that are considered some of Sandalwoods timeless classics. During this time, her love for reading came to the fore as she teamed up with new and talented directors to produce remakes of popular novels. She would begin on a new book whenever she had a moment to spare and time, presumably was hard to come by, what with work to be done and a family to be taken care of. Films based on novels had caught her attention long before she founded her production house. Jeevana Chaitra, Rathasapthami, Chiguridha Kanasu, Janumadha Jodi and many others found their way into film thanks to her and adaptations soon became her strong point. Films produced under different banners, starring Dr Rajkumar and based on novels such as Bangarada Manushya, Mayura, Sanadi Appanna are widely considered some of the industrys classics. Parvathamma had been admitted to M.S. Hospital on May 14 after she complained of breathing problems. Bengaluru: All roads on Wednesday, led to the home of the iconic Kannada filmstar of yesteryears, Dr Rajkumar as the rich and the not so famous beat a path to the door of the woman behind the stalwart - Parvathamma Rajkumar, wife of legendary actor, and an iconic film producer in her own right, with more than 80 films under her home banner for over a span of four decades. Parvathamma died here early Wednesday from a heart attack after the cancer she had battled returned. She was 77, and is survived by her three sons and two daughters and their families, and mourned by members from the film industry. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah consoles actor Puneeth Rajkumar, as he arrives to pay his last respects to his mother Parvathamma Rajkumar, in Bengaluru on Wednesday. (Photo: DC) She was laid to rest right next to the memorial of her husband in Kanteerava Studio as per Hindu rituals. She held no official post but in a departure from past practice and in an acknowledgement of her stellar role in Sandalwood, she was accorded full state honours. Parvathamma had been admitted to M.S. Hospital on May 14 after she complained of breathing problems. She was put on assisted ventilation for more than 15 days before her condition deteriorated on Tuesday. She was pronounced dead at around 4.40 a.m on Wednesday morning. Film industry veterans as well as many of the young whose careers she helped shape, paid their last respects alongside Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and several politicians, cutting across party lines. Tollywood Pays final respects to Guruvu Garu As Twoods doyen Dasari Narayana Rao passed away on Wednesday evening, industry bigwigs and political stalwarts came to pay their last respects to the director who was instrumental in revolutionising modern Telugu cinema. With Tamil star Sivaji Ganesan Actor Mohan Babus family, producer C. Kalyan and a few others stayed by the veterans side throughout and also helped to clear the crowd. The celebs also broke down when some of their friends walked in. Dasari on the sets of his debut film Tata Manavadu with S.V. Ranga Rao, Many others including Venkatesh, Pawan Kalyan, Allu Arjun, Jr NTR, Vijayashanti, Trivikram, Allari Naresh, Sai Dharam Tej, Suresh Babu, Sumanth, Ali, Tarun, Roja Ramani and R. Narayana Murthy amongst several others from the industry, also came to pay their last respects to the filmmaker. With superstar Krishna and Sobhan Babu at the shoot location of the film Krishnarjunulu Well-known personalities from the industry visited him at his house and the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce Building to pay their last tributes. Venkatesh,Jr NTR, Sai Dharam Tej, Allu Arjun I made three action films with other producers when Dasari Narayana Rao was my assistant director. He was a very intelligent person and worked hard. So, I promised him a directorial chance if he came up with a good story. When Dasari narrated the story of Tata Manavadu to me, I liked the storyline, although people were surprised when I announced this film. Since I usually made action films and this was a family subject, that too with a new director, many cautioned me against it. The film, released in 1972, ran for 100 days and went on to become a huge hit. I told many people that he would become a top director and he did make a mark. and how. I feel proud that I had introduced him. He always came for my blessings on both our birthdays. The industry has lost a towering personality today. - Raghava Superstar Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala, AP CM Chandra Babu Naidu I am unable to digest the fact that he is no more. He gave me life as an actor. What more can I say? May his soul rest in peace. - Mohan Babu Dada Saheb Phalke awardee K. Viswanath, Naga Babu, Rajendra Prasad It was still shock to me as I can't digest the death of Dasari Narayana Rao garu. He lives like a lion and we lost a lion today. He is a great human being and a great personality. I still can't believe that Dasari is no more. He is a great director and can't produce a director like him in the near future. - Vijayashanti Rallapalli and Babu Mohan, Prakash Raj and Vamsi Paidipally Shocked and saddened by the news of Dasari Narayana Rao Garu's passing away. May his soul rest in peace. His death leaves a void that can never be filled. Prayers and strength with the whole family, tweeted Mahesh Babu. - Mahesh Babu His style of filmmaking and mastery in the 24 crafts of filmmaking is something we may not witness in anyone in the industry again. There may be many stars in this industry now, but the moon itself has bid adieu. And I wish him peace. - K. Viswanath Brahmanandam and Trivikram and Pawan Kalyan He taught me discipline, being steady and the basics of the craft. He inculcated the courage to face anything and move ahead. I recall how we spent many days talking about films at right here where his body lies. I will forever journey on the path he drew for us. - Kodi Ramakrishna What if the heart runs no more? Dasari garus films will keep on running in theatres or on TV. Its only when the world is deprived of cinema that we can say he is no more. He wasnt just a 74-year-old man but a force that excelled in the 24 crafts of cinema. - Krish He was a trendsetter and a revolutionary. There was no craft in filmmaking that he didnt touch. From a middle class family to becoming a Central Minister his hard work took him places. My family, too, shared a very close bond with him. I pray his soul rests in peace. - Pawan Kalyan Some of my really good films were with him. We spent so much time together shooting that he was family away from my family in Mumbai. He was a proactive director, very open to ideas, and very phurtila (agile) on the sets always on the move. Why did he have to go so early? I will never stop missing him. - Jeetendra I had met Dasari garu recently when I handed over the Allu Rama Lingaiah Award to him at his house. We discussed so many things and I spoke to him at length. This sad news comes as a big shock to me. He is a doyen of the Telugu film industry and losing such an esteemed person really makes me sad. His service and his memories will live with us for very long. - Chiranjeevi Dasari trivia Dasari Narayana Rao is the first Telugu director to helm 100 movies in less than 20 years! In Telugu cinema Dasari was the only director who had a huge fan following like a big star alongside NTR and ANR. He directed 13 Hindi films, all remakes of Telugu films, most of which were superhits. Interestingly, most of the films starred Jeetendra as the lead actor. Dasari has also directed two films in Kannada and a film in Tamil. Dasari won two Nandi awards for his acting in the film Mestri and Mamagaru. He holds Limca World Record for directing the most number of films Funeral Features Opinion / Columnist Reputable local car assemblies are lamenting over stiff competition from foreign car dealers. Regrettably, this situation remains unchanged over the years as the country's car import bill continues to escalate each year.According to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), Zimbabweans imported at least 25 000 vehicles last year, with a summation of at least 323 000 vehicles having been imported between 2009 to date. Of that total, one hundred and ninety eight thousand and eight hundred (198 800) are reported to have been imported from Japan and 124 200 having originated from other East Asian countries.Of the 198 800 imported Japanese vehicles, at least US$3 billion was spent on them with at least US$1,8 million being reported to have been spent every month through online Japanese car dealer BeFoward.Such insights leaves a lot to be desired if Zimbabwe is to ease its car import bill, and revive local car assemblies.While calls have been made for Government to come up with measures to enforce the Presidential Procurement Order on purchasing vehicles especially by public institutions which compels those institutions to purchase from local car assemblies, little has been achieved as foreign second hand car purchase still remains attractive.According to BeFoward's payment Solution Team Manager Fujita Kazuhisa, the company sells about 600 cars through their platform into Zimbabwe each month."We sell about 600 cars every month which can average about $3 000 per car. If we multiply that, it becomes $1. 8 million dollars every month," he disclosed.BeForward seems to have managed to acquire a good reputation with the Zimbabwean market, as the car agency's platform is rated the best for purchasing second hand vehicles from Japan to Zimbabwe, followed by SBT Japan which have all set up local agencies and offices in Zimbabwe due to the viability of the business.Local car assemblies such as Willowvale Motor Industries, Quest Motors will certainly require policy support to attain viability if we are to aid the financially distressed entities to get back to their feet, as this will also result in significant savings on the import bill.According to the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara), the country's vehicle population stands at 1,2 million (as of last year, 2016) from 800 000 in September 2014, a figure yet to be reviewed for this year.Government's consideration to assess second hand cars entering the country for conformity, should also be expedited because this could be the next best option to curb the huge import bill which Zimbabwe continue to battle with, at the expense of local car manufactures.If this is to be adopted, it will see all vehicle imports from Japan subjected to evaluation by Bureau Veritas and issued with conformity assessment certificates before being allowed in the country.Trends reveal that Zimbabweans prefer to import cars than use locally available assemblies for vehicle purchase largely due to their affordability compared to locally manufactured vehicles.Recently, Willowvale Motor Industries ventured into a partnership to form Beiqi Zimbabwe (a joint venture between the Beijing Automobile International Corporation (BAIC),Willowvale and Astol Motors) in assembling cars locally. However, there hasn't been a marked uptake by the local market.Instead, between January 2009 and 31 March 2017, a total of 323 600 motor vehicles were imported into Zimbabwe from various countries, said Ms Florence Jambwa, Zimra Board Secretary and Director for Legal and Corporate Services."The Cost, Insurance and Freights (CFI) value for the vehicles imported into the country from Japan during the same period is US$719 271 700," she added.At the same time, Zimbabwe is currently the only country which allows car imports from Japan to enter the country without conformity assessment certificates, subjecting local consumers to sub-standard vehicles.Yet the importation of second-hand vehicles is a contentious issue for local assemblers who feel short-changed over the loss of business to cheap imports. More still needs to be done to revive this industry. The performance was choreographed by internationally acclaimed Odissi dancer Saswat Joshi who trained the dancers during the week in workshops. Many Indians have been making news abroad for their dancing skills and now from the US and Canada it has reached France in a celebratory way. Dancers from Orissa recently danced outside the Eiffel Tower to celebrate the Orissa Dance Week and people love their performance. According to a media report, internationally acclaimed Odissi dancer Saswat Joshi performed Odishas traditional folk dance Sambalpuri along with other artists in front of the iconic structure in France. The performance on May 26th was part of the Orissa Dance Week celebrations in France carried out by the dancer over one week. Interestingly, Saswat held workshops for French students to learn the traditional dance form so that they could also be part of the performance. On Tuesday evening the victim's body, with no clothes, was found in the rest room. (Representational Image) Chennai: A 30-year-old software professional working in Infosys in Mahindra city near Chennai was found dead in the office restroom, police said on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Ilyaraja a resident of Villupuram district. He usually travels from Dindivanam in Villupuram to Mahindra city. Police said that he failed to go home on Monday after work and his wife had lodged a complaint on Tuesday. On Tuesday evening his body, with no clothes, was found in the restroom. Police noted it looked like a murder inside the office. "We are probing all possibilities," police said. New Delhi: The BJP, which has been trying to consolidate its backward votebank, is considering nominating a Dalit candidate in the forthcoming presidential election. In a recent meeting between the RSS and BJP, the Sangh Parivar apparently asked the BJP to consider the names of dalit or tribal leaders for the nations highest office. Going by indications so far, Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu may be the NDAs presidential candidate. The saffron camps thinking is that since Ms Murmu is a woman and a dalit tribal leader, the Opposition "might just find it difficult" to oppose her. Murmu, who hails from Odisha, was a minister of state with independent charge for commerce and transport during the BJP-BJD coalition government in the state. It is learnt that with Ms Murmus name floating, the Biju Janata Dal has so far stayed away from Opposition parleys to select a non-NDA presidential candidate. Another name doing the rounds in the saffron camp is that of backward leader Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union social justice minister. It may be recalled that BJP president Amit Shah had recently met top Sangh leaders, including RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat, in Nagpur to discuss the presidential election. Pranab Mukherjees term ends on July 25, so the presidential election will be held earlier that month. With Modi as PM, the RSS wants a saffron figure at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sources said though Mr Amit Shah has talked of consulting the Opposition parties on the presidential candidate, neither the party nor the wider Sangh Parivar are in any mood to accommodate the Oppositions preferences. New Delhi: Even as Central and state forces battle Maoists in an encounter on Wednesday and weeks after one of the worst Maoist attacks in which 26 CRPF personnel were killed in April, the Narendra Modi government is set to unleash an information offensive against the Maoist extremists by launching 24x7 channels in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand the two states worst affected by Left wing extremism. The government will also begin distributing Doordarshan DTH boxes free in the remote and interior areas of states hit by Maoist insurgency to counter the anti-India rhetoric unleashed by these elements. At the same time there are also plans to increase the power of Doordarshan and All India Radio transmitters broadcasting terrestrial signals to these areas, a step that has been initiated after a gap of almost 15-20 years. The move to step up the airwaves offensive against the Left wing extremists comes days after the Union Information and Broadcasting minister M. Venkaiah Naidu conducted detailed meetings with Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Dr Raman Singh and Chief Minister of Jharkhand Rahgubar Das. It is understood that several states have called for strengthening of Doordarshan and All India Radios reach in the tribal dominated areas to counter the anti-India propaganda. Sources stated that similar meetings are also likely to take place with other states affected by Maoist extremism. The countrys official broadcaster Doordarshan plans to widen its telecast coverage in the Naxal-infested pocket of these states. The minister has also given a go ahead to up grade the transmitter in the DD Kendra of Jagdalpur, the divisional headquarters of Bastar, which is hotbed Naxal violence. The Kendra 1 kilowatt (kW) transmitter is expected to he increased to 10 kW which would enhance DD coverage in Naxal belt almost 10 times. Chennai: A 31-year-old software professional, A. Ilayaraja, working in Infosys in Mahindra city in Kancheepuram district near Chennai was found dead on Tuesday night in the office dormitory with his clothes removed, police said on Wednesday. Ilayaraja, a resident of Tindivanam in Villupuram district, had bloodstains near his mouth and ears, police added. While the family suspects foul play in the death of Ilayaraja, police said that they would certainly investigate the case seriously once they receive the autopsy report. Ilayaraja had left the house on Monday morning and never returned. He remained unreachable till Monday night on his mobile phone. His wife Revathi received a call from his office on Tuesday night around 11 pm saying that her husband was not well and admitted to Chengalpet government hospital. Revathi, mother of two girls aged 4 and 2, told her family and they all rushed to the hospital on Wednesday morning only to find the body of Ilayaraja in the morgue. "When we started looking for him in the ward, the hospital staff told us that he was dead and his body was in mortuary. Hearing this, a shocked Revathi collapsed in the hospital. Later we went to the morgue and found his body there," said Revathi's brother Suresh. Infosys staff told the police that house keeping staff had noticed Ilayaraja sleeping in the dormitory and they decided not to disturb him. On Tuesday at 9 pm the staff found Ilayaraja still there and they tried to wake him up. When their attempts failed, a male nurse in the office advised them to take him to hospital. An office ambulance took him to Chengalpet hospital where doctors declared him dead. According to Ilayarajas brother-in-law, Suresh, the family of the deceased was getting ready for the house-warming ceremony on Sunday. Ilayaraja, hailing from Gingee, had built a house in Tindivanam and the house warming ceremony was scheduled for June 4. He had been running around finalising the function. Now he has died mysteriously. We dont know what to do, Suresh said. Hyderabad: Finance minister Etela Rajender on Wednesday urged the Centre to address the concerns raised by various industry and trade bodies before implementing GST from July 1. Mr Rajender said GST should not be implemented in a hurried manner from July 1 as hotels, restaurants, granite industry etc. are staging protests against higher tax rates in various states. Mr Rajender told reporters here that he will raise these issues in the GST Council meeting to be held on June 3. He emphasised the need for bringing uniform tax regime which should not burden the common man. The Centre can bring more traders and businesses under tax ambit without hampering the interest of the poor and common man, he said. The Centre can address the grievances of the hotels and granite business and then implement GST, besides levying more taxes on luxury items, he noted. Mr Rajender opined that there would be no problem if more taxes were levied on luxury items and other items like liquor, tobacco etc. He expressed hope that Union finance minister Arun Jaitleys meeting on June 3 will come out with a solution to the doubts raised by various quarters. He said GST would not lead to any losses to the state exchequer, and if that happens, there are enough provision in GST Act to compensate states accordingly. TNCC members protest against the new rules that prohibit cattle trade or sale for slaughter (Photo: DC) Chennai: A day after the attack on the research scholar for participating in the beef festival, tension prevailed at IIT Madras campus as students of the premier institution took out a rally in his support and sought expulsion of the students who were involved in the attack while various student organisations protested outside the campus against the attack on Wednesday. Sooraj R, a research scholar from the department of Aerospace Engineering department, sustained severe injuries on his face and to his right eye after he was attacked by a group of students led by Manish Kumar Singh on Tuesday afternoon. The police had booked a case against Manish Kumar Singh and others in four sections including rioting, wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation for assaulting. Strangely, the police also booked a case against the victim Sooraj under two sections of voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraints based on the counter-complaint filed by the main accused Manish Kumar Singh. Demanding the expulsion of students who were involved in the attack, many IIT Madras students took out a procession from Himalaya lawns to the dean of students office inside the campus on Wednesday morning. They also demanded that the institution provide the medical expenses of Sooraj who is currently undergoing treatment at the private hospital. Professor Shivakumar, dean of students, IIT Madras has held talks with two representatives of students. The Dean has reportedly formed a committee to enquire into the issue. After the talks, the students said the administration was very negligent. They have not even gone to meet Sooraj who was injured in the eye. They also not ready to suspend the attackers during the investigation. We will continue our protest and not stand down until our demands are met, said Abhinav Surya, a member of Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC). Various students organisations including Revolutionary Student Youth Front (RSYF), Students Federation of India (SFI) and activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) protested near IIT-Madras gate against the attack. The activists raised slogans against the central government and the cow vigilante groups. One of the placards by RSYF read: This is Jallikattu part 2: We will take the cow rakshaks by their horns. In its recent notification, the central government has banned the sale of cows for slaughter at animal markets. While meeting to debate the ban on Sunday evening in the campus, students of IIT Madras served beef as a token of protest. Chennai: Nine students have been booked for allegedly beating up a PhD scholar from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Madras, for organising a 'Beef Fest' in the campus. The charges under which the accused have been booked are IPC 147- Punishment for rioting, 341-Punishment for wrongful restraint, 323- Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt and 506(1) - criminal intimidation. However, the victim R. Sooraj has also been booked under two Sections - IPC 324 - Voluntarily causing hurt, 341-wrongful restraints, according to accused Manish Kumar's complaint. On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the attack on the students and requested his Tamil Nadu counterpart Edappadi K. Palaniswami to take necessary action. Sooraj was beaten up for conducting 'Beef Fest' in IIT. He has been seriously injured in his right eye. A group of 70 to 80 students held the beef festival on Sunday evening to demonstrate against the Centre's notification. Earlier this week, expressing strong disapproval of the Centre's move, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by attacking the BJP-led government at the Centre and the RSS, saying there was no need for the people of his state to draw lessons from New Delhi or Nagpur on their food habits. Ashish's family said that he was a good swimmer and raised doubts over the claim that he had died due to drowning. (Photo: Representational) New Delhi: A 30-year-old rookie IAS officer drowned allegedly while rescuing a woman colleague who had accidentally fallen into a swimming pool at the Foreign Service Institute in Ber Sarai here on Tuesday. The deceased, Ashish Dahiya, was a Jammu and Kashmir cadre officer and had won the Director's Gold Medal during his IAS training around a fortnight back. He was attending a pool side party with his friends, which they had planned before he joined as an assistant collector in Srinagar from June 1, when the incident happened, according to police. Ashish's family, however, said that he was a good swimmer and raised doubts over the claim that he had died due to drowning. Ishwar Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said, "Prima facie, the team that carried out the post-mortem has said that the death was due to drowning and there were no injuries on the body." Police was informed about the drowning at the institute in south Delhi around midnight after which he was rushed to Fortis Hospital where he was declared brought dead. According to police, Ashish was attending a poolside party with friends from the Indian foreign and revenue services. During the party, they decided to go for a swim in the pool located at the club. Police suspect they had consumed alcohol. A woman officer accidentally fell into the pool and the other officers, including Ashish, jumped in to rescue her, police said quoting eyewitnesses. As the woman was safely pulled out, it was noticed that Ashish was missing. Later, he was found unconscious floating in the pool. He was taken to a hospital where efforts were made in vain to resuscitate him Ashish's family demanded a thorough probe in the matter. His uncle Kuldeep said that he was an ace swimmer and had crossed a five-kilometre stretch across Bhakra Nangal dam. While he was posted as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Himachal Pradesh, he had even won a gold medal in swimming, Kudeep said. He said that Ashish wanted to be an IAS officer and serve people. He appeared for the UPSC examination and qualified for the Indian Revenue Service. He served in the Customs and Central Excise until last year and then qualified for the IAS. He had finished his training from Mussoorie recently and was supposed to join duty in Srinagar. Before going their separate paths, Ashish and his friends had planned to have a reunion in Delhi. He was married for three years. His wife Pragya is a doctor and is preparing for UPSC examination. Police said that a medical board comprising three doctors carried out the post-mortem. The entire procedure was videographed. Police also made the family members talk to the doctors who carried out the autopsy. The doctors told them that the death was caused due to drowning but a final report will affirm the initial findings. The viscera has been preserved in order to ascertain whether he had consumed alcohol. The DMK also crticised the current Edappadi K. Palaniswami government in Tamil Nadu and asked why the government was tight-lipped on the issue. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday jumped on the beef ban protest bandwagon in the state. DMK working president MK Stalin and party leader Kanimozhi led a protest against the Centre on the cattle slaughter ban. Before courting arrest, Stalin slammed the Centre's move and said peoples' individual rights were being snatched away by the Narendra Modi government. "Our individual rights are being snatched away by central government. Our freedom is taken away by Modi government. How could Central government impose restrictions on our food habits? Do we have to eat only what Modi likes," questioned Stalin. The DMK also crticised the current Edappadi K. Palaniswami government in Tamil Nadu and asked why the government was tight-lipped on the issue. "We condemn state government and the Centre for their indifference on people's sentiment, said the DMK leader. At a time when the NDA government is organising M.O.D.I (Making of Developed India) fest to highlight its three-year rule's achievements, Stalin criticised Modi government's rule and said the government only caused misery to people. "We cannot pinpoint any achievement of BJP led Union Government in these three years. They have only caused misery to people. They promised to enact Lokpal and bring black money stashed abroad, but none of these promises were fulfilled," alleged Stalin. He also trained his guns at the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led Tamil Nadu Government along with Prime Minister Modi. "The AIADMK Government is in power for six years. We have seen three Chief Ministers in six years. All these CMs met Modi five times and presented a memorandum of issues concerning Tamil Nadu. But has Modi fulfilled any one of the issues?" said Stalin. There have been protests in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states like Kerala and Karnataka against the Centre's order on the cattle sale in the county. According to the notification under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 that gives the Centre powers over animal welfare, the committees overseeing animal markets will have to take an undertaking from traders that "animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter". Opinion / Columnist In this life timing is everything! I grew up in the rural areas and it was there I learnt timing is everything and I remember my hardest lesson as if it was yesterday.The family had worked hard doing the winter-ploughing ferrying well-rotted cattle manure to the field. The good rains came on time, we planted on time and we had the most health field of maize I had ever seen. The good rains continued and the maize crop continue to flourish with dark green leaves and with steams so thick I had to use both my hands wrap round them.The maize was just beginning to flower when the rains stopped and for the next two weeks the sun baked the land, the heat was so intense that by 10 in the morning the chickens were panting like dogs! The maize crop suffered from the heat and dehydration and their leaves drooped, as if they too were panting.The rains did return and it rained cats and dogs for two or three days and nights, as if making up for the dry spell. Other crops like rapoko and sorghum able to produce multiple stems recovered; not so with maize, the crop was a complete write-off."Timing is everything," said my late mother. "The rains failed when the maize was flowering and the torrent that came were all to late!"My brother Vince Musewe says the right things but his timing is hopeless!"The time for liberation struggle politics is over. As Zimbabweans, I think we have had enough of liberation rhetoric. For far too long we trusted our liberation struggle governments but one thing they have failed and are clearly unable to do, is to bring about economic freedom underpinned by inclusive transformational development," said Musewe.He is right, it President Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs who have dragged the nation into this political and economic mess and they have used their liberation war credentials and rhetoric to justify the establishing and dogged retention of this corrupt and tyrannical de facto one party state. However, it is not President Mugabe, his murderous henchmen or their totalitarian rhetoric that has kept the nation in this hell-hole these last 17 years. It is Morgan Tsvangirai and his corrupt and incompetent opposition band of fools who have done that.Zimbabwe has had many opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship the best chance being during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. SADC spelt out the raft of democratic reforms the nation needed to implement to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship once and once for all. The task of implementing the reforms fall on Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends.The GNU was initially chalked to last 18 months, it lasted 60 months - five long years. And in all those years MDC failed to get even one democratic reforms implemented. Not one!Musewe, you, not even you, cannot blame Mugabe and his Zanu PF "liberation rhetoric" for the fact that not even one democratic reform was implemented during the GNU. The blame is with the corrupt and incompetent Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, David Coltart, Welshman Ncube and all the other MDC leaders.In all you many articles I have yet to read of you admitting that MDC leaders sold-out during the GNU. You have been hobnobbing with Tendai Biti, he being the president of the PDP, a political party of who are one of its leaders, and the rest in the opposition camp. Of course, it is your democratic right to hobnob with whoever you wish including corrupt, incompetent and treasonous sell-out as is the case here.Former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, described Morgan Tsvangirai as "flawed figure, not readily open to advice, indecisive and with questionable judgment."He is an indispensable element for opposition success but possibly an albatross around their necks once in power."The Ambassador was spot on every point except one; Tsvangirai is not just a albatross around the opposition's neck but the whole nation.As if failing to implement even one reform during the GNU was not bad enough Tsvangirai and his band of MDC fools went on to contest the 2013 elections against repeated advice not to contest with no reforms in place. Worse still, the same village idiots are now preparing to contest next year's elections although not even one reform has been implemented still. We know why Tsvangirai and friends are ignoring their own "No reform, no elections!" 2014 party congress resolution."The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious - withdraw from the elections," explained David Coltart as to why MDC contested the 2013 elections."The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."Zimbabwe has been held back this last 17 years and right now stands at the very edge of the abyss to be dragged over if next year's elections go ahead. It is not the corrupt and tyrannical Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs who are to blame for all these things but the corrupt, incompetent and greed Morgan Tsvangirai and the ever-growing army of equally corrupt and incompetent opposition opportunists."There surely must be a new dawn and that new dawn requires the death of moribund struggle politics and its archaic ideas and it's replacement by transformational inclusive politics which creates new developmental states," said Musewe.That is a powerful statement designed to impress those in the opposition camp who have all taken the collective decision to contest next year's election and pretend the problem of Zanu PF rigging the vote has never even existed. Who would ever believe there could be so many ostriches all fluffing their wings but with their heads buried in the sands of stupidity and greed.If we are going to force Zanu PF to implement the democratic reforms, the pre-requisite for free, fair and credible elections, then we must stop Tsvangirai and company contesting flawed elections and thus giving the continued vote rigging the modicum of credibility! Yes, in the past Mugabe has used his liberation rhetoric to justify his continued corruption and tyrannical rule but that was in the past. The tyrant has since changed his strategy, he is now using the corrupt and incompetent opposition to give credibility to his continued vote rigging by allowing them to win a few seats.If we want free, fair and credible elections then we must stop the opposition's madness of contesting flawed elections. Musewe can harp on all day and night about Mugabe's liberation rhetoric it is nothing more than a torrent of rain to a wilted maize crop. Timing is everything, my brother! Since the end of October 2016, armed robbers have struck at various branches of banks in Jammu and Kashmir, looting nearly Rs. 92 lakh in 13 separate attacks. (Photo: ANI/Twitter) Sopore: Terrorists on Wednesday hurled grenade at a Police party near Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Sopore. As many as four police personnel are injured in the incident. Since the end of October 2016, armed robbers have struck at various branches of banks in Jammu and Kashmir, looting nearly Rs. 92 lakh in 13 separate attacks. There have been four incidents in four days this month, beginning with the bloody attack on a cash van on May 1 during which militants shot dead five policemen and two bank security guards, and including two attacks in two hours in adjacent villages in Pulwama. The incidents coincide with the spike in militancy and mass protests that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani last July. New Delhi/Kabul: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday that all staff at the Indian Embassy were safe and not affected by the huge blast in Kabul's diplomatic enclave. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast," Swaraj said in a tweet. India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra told ANI, "Massive VBIED (Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) not too far from our Embassy.Buildings, including ours, suffered considerable breakages, but all our staff are safe." Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday said that at least 60 persons have been wounded in the suspected car bomb blast. Tolo News reported that the blast was close to the German embassy and added that the explosion happened o 14th Street of the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic area of the city. Many foreign embassies are located in the area, including the American and Canadian missions. The Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) has deployed its team in the area for rescue and counter-insurgency operations. Jamshedpur: Ten more persons were arrested in connection with lynching incidents in Seraikela-Kharswan and East Singhbhum districts, police said on Wednesday. Seven persons named in the FIR in connection with lynching of four persons in Shobhapur and Sosomouli villages under Rajnagar Police station of Seraikela-Kharswan district have been arrested today, SP Rakesh Bansal said. With these arrests, the total number of arrests in Rajnagar lynching incident has gone up to 11, Bansal said. Earlier, three persons, allegedly involved in the Nagadih incident in East Singhbhum district, were arrested on Monday, police said. Altogether, 42 persons have been arrested in the lynching incident in Jharkhand, which took place on May 18. The lynchings were allegedly sparked by suspicions that the victims were child lifters. New Delhi: Nandini KR, who hails from Karnataka, has topped the civil services examination, the result of which was declared on Wednesday by the UPSC. She had taken the exam last year. "I always wanted to be an IAS officer," she said. As many as 1,099 candidates have been recommended for various government services. There are 220 other candidates in the waiting list. The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages-- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. Chennai: The M. Karunanidhi birthday cum legislative diamond jubilee bash will be a bit like Hamlet without the Prince. But doctors have advised that the DMK patriarch should not be exposed to a crowded atmosphere to avoid any chance of infection. The DMK headquarters announced that its party president would not be taking part in his 94th birthday celebrations on June 3. A party press release stated that while there has been some progress in his health due to treatment, doctors have still advised him to rest for some more time. The party appealed to the cadre to avoid trying to meet him to convey their greetings. The very fact that cadres would wish to see his face and derive great joy from presenting him with gifts should themselves help the leader get well soon. The best gift by the cadre would be to avoid trying to meet him, the release said even as it sought the cooperation of the party cadre. The DMK inaugurated a website www.wishthalaivar.com to facilitate people from all over the world to greet the party leader on his birthday. Party working president M.K. Stalin who inaugurated the website, recorded his greetings as the first wisher. The police detained the protesters before they could enter the Campus. (Photo: ANI Twitter) Chennai: A group of protestors challenged cow vigilantes by openly eating beef while protesting at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Wednesday against the attack on the institution's research scholar who participated in the beef fest on the campus on Sunday. Various students of Revolutionary Student Youth Front (RSYF), Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), and activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) protested near IIT-Madras gate against attack on an IIT Madras research scholar by some right-wing students for participating in beef fest. Sooraj R, a PhD scholar and a member of Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), was attacked on Tuesday by some students, who are reportedly affiliated with right-wing student bodies. However, the police detained the protesters before they could enter the Campus. While other student bodies raised slogans against Narendra Modi-led Union government's order and demanded the arrest of the students who allegedly attacked Sooraj, activists of the TPDK went a step ahead and openly ate beef during the protest. A TPDK protestor told ANI that "Students wings affiliated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have brutally beaten one of the students of this institution. We condemn this. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is indulging in terrorist acts and the attackers must be booked under Goonda Act." He added that 'beef-eating' was a way to put forward their demand. "Eating beef is a tradition followed by Tamil people and nobody can change this. Therefore, we demand the revocation of Centre's ruling on the sale of cattle ban." Other protestors alleged that the police were beating them mercilessly and also claimed that eating beef for Tamil people is similar to the tradition of drinking cow urine considered to be pure by Hindutva followers. "With regard to consumption of beef, as the union government headed by BJP believes in drinking urine, on the same lines, slaughtering a cow and eating beef is our tradition. We may eat beef or something else, who are these people to stop or question us?" One of the RSYF placards read: "This is Jallikattu part 2: We will take the cow rakshaks by their horns". There have been protests in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states like Kerala and Karnataka against the Centre's order. According to the notification under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 that gives the Centre powers over animal welfare, the committees overseeing animal markets will have to take an undertaking from traders that "animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter". New Delhi: Chief Minister K Siddharamaiah will be the party's face in the Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress on Wednesday said as it asked state Home Minister G Parameshwara to quit the Cabinet and devote himself to his duties as PCC chief. Gearing up for the Assembly polls due next year, the party restructured its state unit while accommodating all castes and sections. "The Congress president and vice president have decided that the coming election of the state will be fought under the leadership of K Siddharamaiah, the present chief minister of Karnataka," a statement from AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said. Parameshwara will devote all his time and energy for the party affairs and will resign from the state Cabinet immediately. The statement also said that SR Patil has been appointed as the working president of KPCC along with present working president Dinesh Gundurao. While Gundurao will take care of the party affairs in southern Karnataka, Patil will take care of northern Karnataka. The party also appointed DK Shivakumar, a minister in the state government, as chairman of the campaign committee for the coming elections. Party MP and former Union minister KH Muniyappa has been included as a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee, a top decision-making body of the party, while another tribal leader from the state Satish Jarkiholi has been appointed as an AICC secretary. The party leadership has come out with a "please all" formula by playing a balancing act by accomodating all castes and communities. While Siddharamaiah is a leader from the Kuruba Gowda community, both Parameshwara and Muniyappa are Dalit leaders from the state. Jarkiholi is a tribal leader. By appointing Patil, a Lingayat leader and Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga leader, the party has sought to reach out to both the dominant communities. Both Shivakumar and Patil were contenders for the PCC chief's post. BJP leader Yeddyurappa also belongs to Lingayat caste. BJP chief Amit Shah has already announced that Yeddyurappa will be the party's chief ministerial candidate for the May 2018 elections. The changes come after Rahul Gandhi held a strategy meet with all top leaders of the Congress party from the state, including Siddharamaiah and party general secretary in-charge, KC Vengugopal. Former Union ministers Mallikarjun Kharge and M Veerappa Moily besides B K Hariprashad and other top state leaders participated in the meet on Monday. New Delhi: The two pilots of the Sukhoi jet that had crashed after taking off from Tezpur in Assam suffered fatal injuries, the Indian Air Force today said five days after the wreckage of the plane was found. Squadron Leader D Pankaj and Flight Lt S Achudev could not initiate ejection before the crash that occurred 60 kms from Tezpur Airbase on May 23, the IAF said. The wreckage of the Sukhoi-30 MKI jet was found on May 26 in a dense forest area in Arunachal Pradesh after a three-day search operation "Analysis of the flight data recorder (black box) of the aircraft and certain other articles recovered from the crash site revealed that the pilots could not initiate ejection before the crash," IAF Spokesperson Anupam Banerjee said. The plane had taken off from Tezpur airbase at around 10:30 am on May 23 and had gone off the radar around 11:10 am. It was on a routine training mission as part of a two-aircraft formation. The wreckage of the jet was spotted from air on Friday, and search teams could reach the crash site only on Sunday due to inclement weather after which the black box was recovered. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident, according to Wing Commander Banerjee. The first batch of the Russia-made fighter jet was inducted by the IAF in the late 1990s. A frontline fighter jet, SU-30 MKI aircraft were deployed in the Tezpur airbase on June 15, 2009 for guarding the Sino-India frontier in Arunachal Pradesh. At present, two squadrons comprising around 36 aircraft are deployed at Tezpur. Ayodhya: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday offered prayers at the makeshift Ram Mandir at Lord Rama's birthplace on his first visit to Ayodhya after taking charge. He also prayed at the Hanumangarhi Temple, another important religious spot in Ayodhya. The visit comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. On Tuesday, a special CBI court in Lucknow framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. In a major setback to Advani, Joshi and Uma, the court on Tuesday rejected their discharge application, framing charges against them and the other nine accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Charges of criminal conspiracy under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been framed. However, the accused will now move the Allahabad High Court against the CBI court's order. Earlier on Tuesday, the court had granted bail to all the accused by signing a personal bond of Rs. 50,000. Hyderabad: The Congress, which has been subjected to severe drubbing at the hands of ruling TRS over the last three years, is for the first time organising a mega public meeting at Sangareddy on Thursday. The party hopes that the meeting will help it regain its lost ground in TS. By all accounts, the meeting will see AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi virtually launching the partys poll campaign for the 2019 elections. When the elections will be held in 2019, the question that naturally comes to mind is: Why the public meeting now? TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy explained this to DC by saying: We still believe Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will go for snap polls in early 2018. Naturally, we have to be cautious about his political moves. We did not properly communicate to the people what we had done before 2014. Mr Reddy continued: Though we are responsible for bringing statehood to Telangana and promised several things in our election manifesto, we did not properly convey this to the people. All this needs a boost and that is why we are organising this mega public meeting with Rahul Gandhi. The Congress had been at the receiving end from the TRS these three years; it lost two Lok Sabha and two Assembly bypolls that were held. Besides, it lost seven elected MLAs and one Lok Sabha Member who defected to the TRS, and five MLCs. The only solace for the Congress was that it was able to win two MLC seats from local body constituencies in Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar. For many months, there has been no consensus among the Congress bigwigs on strengthening the party in the state; it was only over the past few months that the party leaders have realised that unless they rise to the occasion, they will be relegated to the has-beens. However, on its part, the ruling TRS is not giving the Congress to make a big splash in the coming polls. The Chief Minister has been making promises, galvanising the party cadre, conducting periodical surveys on peoples pulse, besides pushing ongoing schemes and projects. The BJP, which has a sizeable presence in urban pockets has also started strengthening the organisation, starting with organising the three-day tour by party national president Amit Shah. Notably, the Congress has only recently started taking up agitations on forcible land acquisitions, remunerative prices for various agriculture produces etc. We will not only expose TRS failures, but will also set various goals and make promises from time to time so that they percolate to the people who will ultimately decide under whose hands they will be safe, Mr Reddy said - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." Ballari: Former BJP minister and beleaguered mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy who was in jail for three and half years for his alleged involvement in the iron ore mining scam, is likely to re-enter the political arena and contest the 2018 state assembly election on a BJP ticket. Reddy who is out on conditional bail, arrived in Ballari on Wednesday having obtained permission from the Supreme Court to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary in his home-town amidst his friends and supporters. Sources said that friends and followers visiting Reddy during his stay and are pressurising him to get back into politics. Reddy reportedly told them that if the BJP top leadership gives the green signal, he would consider the offer. During the meeting with Reddy, BJP leaders are learnt to have invited him back into active politics, since he still wields influence in the state. They told him that the CBI case won't be any hurdle to his return as many businessmen with such cases are continuing in politics. Sources close to the mining baron said Reddy is keen to contest the 2018 assembly elections but is yet to finalise his constituency. It may be recalled that his daughters opulent wedding had triggered speculation that Reddy was planning to make a comeback. On May 10, Reddy confirmed his plans at Gadag stating he will contest on a BJP ticket in 2018. ''Difference of opinion with BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa are resolved now. We are like a family. In a family such small differences of opinion are common," he said. On May 22, while expressing the desire to handle a responsible position in the BJP, Reddy said he was ready to accept any responsibility if the party gives it to him. Otherwise, I shall remain a common worker while strengthening the party for the next Assembly election," he told the media in Raichur. Reddy also made it clear that he had never declared that he would not contest elections again. But, the party has had take a decision on this, he said. Once again, at his Reddy community convention held at Yadgir, Janardhan Reddy asserted that his party-the BJP is like his mother adding that "I will never leave my party till my last breath". Reddy was tourism minister in the Yeddyurappa government and had to resign after then Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde came out with a mining report indicting him. Gadag, Raichur, KR Puram, which will he choose? According to reliable sources, Gadag, Raichur, Chikkaballapur, KR Puram in Bengaluru and his home town-Ballari city are among the constituencies short-listed for Gali Janardhan Reddy in the 2018 assembly election. However, a source from the BJP said he had another strategy as well. His political career had been halted because of his arrest for alleged illegal business ventures.Hence he is now planning to enter politics by becoming an MLC. "He is going to fund the BJP to help it come to power in 2018 so that he can become a MLC," said a source. "It appears clear that Reddy wants to come back to active politics and handle party affairs, but it remains to be seen how the Central leadership will consider his re-entry into electoral politics ahead of 2018 polls, since the party lost power to Congress in 2013 over the mining scam in which Reddy was kingpin", said a BJP leader. Hyderabad: Senior minister T. Harish Rao on Monday asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to talk about the good things that the TRS government had done and warned that the party would not spare him if spoke only about the negatives. Speaking at a function at the Sangareddy district headquarters, welcomed Mr Gandhis visit on June 1. We are whole heartedly welcoming Mr Gandhi. At the same time I am advising him not to rely on the inputs given by local Congress leaders and speak ill of the TRS government. We have done several good things that are being praised by many other states including neighbouring Karnataka that is ruled by the Congress. You must be ready to talk something about our good deeds also, Mr Harish Rao said. Referring to former government whip T. Jayaprakash Reddys statement during the Telangana statehood agitation, Mr Harish Rao said, The same leader who talked against Telangana formation and who threatened to demand the merger of Sangareddy with Bidar district of Karnataka is organising the public meeting. Mr Gandhi should know this and talk with sense. He said any leader from any party was welcome to hold meetings in the state, but they should speak of the good done by the government. For long, economists have been arguing for investment in education. A well-educated workforce drives economic growth. But economists dont take policy decisions. Politicians do. So does investment in education make for good politics? We dont know for sure. But the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi governments experiments with school education is one to watch. The AAP can be legitimately criticised on many fronts, but it is tough to fault it for prioritising education, given the sorry state of basic learning across the country. Survey after survey shows millions of kids in India cant read or count properly even at the end of primary school. The Delhi government spends about a quarter of its budget on education and has initiated a range of reforms in government-run schools. This week, rapturous applause greeted students of these schools. They had done better than their private school counterparts in the Central Board of Secondary Education Class 12 exams for the second year running. In 2017, the pass percentage at government schools in the city stood at 88.27 per cent, compared to 84.20 per cent at private schools. Last year, government schools notched a pass percentage of 88.98 per cent, against 86.67 per cent in private schools. Government schools in the country dont have a pretty image. In many, children squat on uneven floors or torn mats. There are no desks, chairs and teachers are more often absent than present. Can such schools ever be fixed? Is it even worth a try? The latest CBSE results came as a boost to those who have been consistently saying that government schools can be turned around. Unsurprisingly, Delhis education minister Manish Sisodia is beaming even as critics note government schools have done better than private schools in the city earlier too. Many sceptics also point out that nowadays Delhi government schools have better pass percentages than private schools partly because private schools have mushroomed, mostly in far-flung neighbourhoods where there is less scrutiny. But even in absolute terms, there is improvement in government schools, and not just in Delhi. A key part of the reason is a new method called teaching at the right level (TaRL). There is enough evidence now to show that substantial gains in learning outcomes can be achieved by simply reorganising and grouping children by their learning level rather than the usual grouping by age or grade. This has worked not just in Delhi but in several other states. It is clearly having effects beyond board results. This year, 372 students of Delhi government-run schools have cleared the prestigious Joint Entrance Examination to most engineering colleges in India. Only 50-odd students had cracked the JEE last year. What explains the change? The Delhi government has ploughed in a lot of resources to improve school infrastructure and give better incentives to teachers. But money alone doesnt explain the improved performances. What has really helped is a series of measures taken to shore up the motivation levels of students, teachers as well as parents. Teachers conduct reading hours. Students watch educational videos. A special cadre of mentor teachers offers regular supportive supervision to other teachers. There are remedial classes for students of Class 10 and 12; free summer camps where students can have lots of fun plus work on their weak spots; regular interactions between parents and teachers; school management committees comprised mostly of parents; and so on. Students of good private schools take all this for granted. But this is very new to government-run schools. In Delhi, the citys municipal corporations run primary schools while Delhi government schools are from Classes 6 to 12. Children often arrive in middle school with a weak or non-existent foundation. What happens in middle school therefore becomes critical. Teaching to curriculum doesnt help much as not every child can cope under these circumstances. The TaRL methodology has been usually used for younger children in other states, but it has proved very useful to circumvent challenges in Delhi government schools. Dr Rukmini Banerji, chief executive officer of Pratham Education Foundation, one of Indias best-known educational NGOs, says the Delhi governments decision to introduce TaRL was a bold step and the state government should be congratulated for making a major effort to improve the foundational skills of all children. She points out that Prathams work with primary school children in other states using the TaRL method has produced heartening outcomes. The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) report, facilitated by the Pratham network, offers signs of hope. It shows reading ability has improved in India, specially in early grades in government schools. Arithmetic skills have also shown improvement in government schools in primary grades. In the last decade, Prathams work has been rigorously evaluated by researchers affiliated with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a large scale and in collaboration with government schools. The research shows that the TaRL model can achieve significant gains in basic learning outcomes. Just one example: In Haryana, 400 schools participated in an inter-vention implemen-ted by the government and supported by Pratham in 2012-13. Students enrolled in Classes 3, 4 and 5 across 200 schools were randomly assigned to the TaRL model. Students in selected schools were grouped according to their reading level and taught for an hour every day, using attrac-tive methods and ma-terials. Trained govern-ment teachers did the job in school hours, They were monitored and supervised by block and cluster-level educa-tion officials. At the start of this programme, only 34 per cent of students could read a simple paragraph or story (a grade 2-level competency). But by the end, things had changed the number had shot up to 53 per cent for students in schools that took part in the programme, compared to 48 per cent for students in schools that did not participate. Several other states Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal have piloted similar initiatives. Scaling up such evidence-based strategies across the country would not only dramatically improve learning outcomes, it may change the face of Indian politics. The writer focuses on development issues in India and emerging economies. She can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com Not too long ago, at a detention facility of the militant Islamic State group in Syria, there was a quartet of particularly vicious enforcers who stood out not only because of their exceptional penchant for torture and beheadings, but also because all four of them spoke with British accents. Their victims dubbed them The Beatles, after a band whose iconic status as a universal cultural phenomenon remains intact more than 45 years after it disintegrated. That status was more or less set in stone after an extraordinary album that was released 50 years ago tomorrow. Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was greeted in The Times by the theatre critic and writer Kenneth Tynan as a decisive moment in the history of Western civilisation. Not everyone was impressed, though. The New York Times critic Richard Goldstein called it busy, hip and cluttered, decrying a surprising shoddiness in composition and declaring the album fraudulent. It subsequently turned out that Goldsteins stereo was malfunctioning when he initially put the vinyl disc through its paces. Martin deserves the accolade of being the Fifth Beatle. Not only did he, as the head of a relatively inconsequential and esoteric EMI label called Parlophone, in 1962 spot in The Beatles a potential that various other labels had missed, he also kept a stern eye on production values. It could be said that Martins instrumentality in honing the sound of The Beatles reached its apogee with Sgt Pepper. The Beatles had by then decided to stop touring, so whatever they did in the studio no longer required to be reproduced live on stage. This gave them the freedom to take their audio experiments to a new level. Among the earliest songs to be completed in the sessions were Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane. The lads carried on with their album, which was supposedly based on a conceit McCartney had come up with: namely that The Beatles would take on a different persona, as reflected in the albums title. Although the songs segue into one another, the concept did not really work out. Beyond the first two tracks, the rest are unrelated. Many of them nonetheless qualify as stupendous additions to the bands oeuvre, from With a Little Help from My Friends and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to Within You Without You and the utterly unprecedented A Day in the Life, which wraps up the album. Many of the remaining tracks including Shes Leaving Home and Good Morning, Good Morning are standouts too, and the 50th anniversary of the album brings a stereo remix masterminded by Martins son Giles. It can hardly be expected, though, to replicate the effect the album originally had back in the day, on account of not just its content but also its innovative gatefold sleeve and the first instance of printed lyrics. About two months before its release, The Beatles took the acetate to their friend Mama Cass Elliots Chelsea apartment in the early hours of an April morning and blasted it out from the windows. Other windows in the neighbourhood flew open. People peered out with smiles on their faces and stuck up their thumbs. The Beatles had, once again, passed the audition. By arrangement with Dawn Global politics has been in a tailspin since US President Donald Trump stopped in Europe to meet Nato and G-7 allies on his way home from Saudi Arabia and Israel. Its not premature to believe theres been a seismic shift in trans-Atlantic relations. The fear that the White Houses new occupant might be changing the template of global politics forever if hes allowed to have his way cant be shaken off lightly. Not without reason has German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the US, under Mr Trump, can no longer be the trusted ally and partner Germany and Europe leaned on in the decades after World War II. This is how emotive Mr Trumps comments on a range of issues Nato, Russia, climate change and balance of trade have left his European allies. German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel even attacked Mr Trump for weakening the West. Mr Trump is said to be considering withdrawing the US from the landmark climate deal, which his predecessor Barack Obama hammered out after protracted talks over years. In his 100-plus days in office, Mr Trump has not earned a reputation for studying the intricacies of policies. Some of the worlds largest corporations are in favour of the climate accord, but some conservatives in Team Trump simply refuse to accept the science behind the warnings on global warming. The US Presidents decision on this is, however, likely to impact the entire world. It may be pertinent to note here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier pointed out that it would be morally criminal not to act on climate change. India may not be a player in the G-7 league, but for what its worth Mr Modi also expressed his moral support to Germany while praising Chancellor Merkel. When Mr Trump spoke of America First, the world may have tended to dismiss it as election rhetoric. He has walked the talk in treating the Saudi Arabia visit as a means to market American businesses, landing contracts potentially worth $350 billion over 10 years for just arms manufacturers. The intention to prolong the regions religious wars is also clear, that means peace in Europe would be even more at risk with the persisting refugee problem. If a sense of drift is evident in Europe, the sole cause is the change in the White House. While wars erupting around the world may be a common enough phenomenon for Washington, what is really worrisome is where Mr Trumps predilections are taking the US, as he is challenging the very fabric of the alignments of Western democracies, of which Nato is a key instrument. The world will be changing more in the near future if Mr Trumps first overseas trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Europe can shake it up like this. Astronaut Thomas Pesquet has spent half a year in orbit -- a time, he says, that has made him acutely aware of how fragile our planet is. (Photo: AFP) Observing Earth from 400 kilometres (250 miles) away has made astronaut Thomas Pesquet aware of the planet's fragility as never before, he told AFP from the International Space Station days before heading home. While on terra firma politicians argued over a pact to preserve Earth's climate for future generations of humans, the Frenchman had six months to contemplate the planet from an unfamiliar vantage point. "There are things that one understands intellectually, but which one doesn't really get," the 39-year-old said via video link, gently floating around in the zero gravity of space. When it comes to global warming, "we talk of two degrees (Celsius) or four degrees -- these are numbers which sometimes exceed human understanding. "But to see the planet as a whole... to see it for yourself... this allows you to truly appreciate the fragility." Throughout the interview Pesquet drifted in a room full of machines, gadgets and wires -- the French and European Space Agency flags stuck to a wall behind him. Until you see it from far away, "one doesn't really appreciate how thin the atmosphere is, to what extent we are capable of destroying the planet -- to what extent we need to protect it," he insisted. Pesquet, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and American Peggy Whitson arrived on the ISS on November 20 for a six-month mission. Since then, Donald Trump has replaced Barack Obama in the White House with promises of pulling America out of a hard-fought global pact to limit global warming. A jewel The goal, outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, must be achieved partly by curbing greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels -- an industry with a strong voice in US politics. These gases accumulate in the same atmosphere Pesquet observed from afar, and act almost like a blanket to trap the Sun's heat on the surface. Pesquet and Novitskiy are scheduled to return to Earth on Friday. He will be "a bit sad to leave," the Frenchman said, deftly twirling a microphone between his fingers with the aid of weightlessness. But at the same time, he will be happy to hug his girlfriend, see family and friends, go to the beach, walk in the mountains, and feel a breeze on his face. The food in space, he said, "is not great", and going to the toilet "is more camping than five star." "I feel ready" to go home, Pesquet declared. "My suitcase is ready." Pesquet, France's 10th ISS astronaut, has become a bit of a social media celebrity at home, with more than 550,000 followers on Twitter where he frequently posted photographs of Earth from space. "The planet is truly a jewel," he said on Tuesday. "We must not take it for granted." Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. China will implement a controversial cyber-security law Thursday despite concerns from foreign firms worried about its impact on their ability to do business in the world's second largest economy. Passed last November, the law is largely aimed at protecting China's networks and private user information at a time when the recent WannaCry ransomware attack showed any country can be vulnerable to cyber threats. But companies have pleaded with the government to delay the legislation's implementation amid concerns about unclear provisions and how the law would affect personal information and cloud computing. The government appears to still be scrambling to finalise the rules. Just two weeks ago, Zhao Zeliang, director of the cyber-security bureau, gathered some 200 representatives from foreign and domestic companies and industry associations at the new headquarters of the Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) in Beijing. The May 19 discussion centred on a draft of the rules for transferring personal data overseas, participants told AFP. Attendees received an updated version of the document, as well as Zhao's assurance that regulators would remove some of the language that had received strong objections, they said. The new document, obtained by AFP, removed a contentious requirement for companies to store customers' personal data in China. 'Headaches for companies' But concerns remain. "The regulator is unprepared to enforce the law" and it is "very unlikely" anything will happen on June 1, said one participant, who asked for anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. That impression was only strengthened a few days after the meeting, when authorities issued 21 new draft documents describing national standards on topics from cloud computing to financial data, noting they would be available for public comment until July 7. More new drafts, including detailed guidelines on cross-border data transfers, were published Saturday. It is "crystal clear that the regulatory regime is evolving and does not simply switch on like a light June 1", said Graham Webster, an expert on Sino-US relations at Yale Law School. Beijing, he said, is "wrestling with legitimate challenges that every country faces, and ... much of the caution and ambiguity comes from a desire to get things right." But the process is causing "headaches for companies, Chinese and foreign alike". Protecting 'national honour' China already has some of the world's tightest controls over web content, protected by what is called "The Great Firewall", but even some of its universities and petrol stations were hit by the global ransomware attack in May. The draft cyber-security rules provided at the CAC meeting address only one part of the sweeping law. The legislation also bans internet users from publishing a wide variety of information, including anything that damages "national honour", "disturbs economic or social order" or is aimed at "overthrowing the socialist system". Companies are worried that the new law could lock them out of the market. Paul Triolo, a cyber-security expert at the Eurasia Group, wrote in a research note that regulators will likely introduce "new hurdles for foreign company compliance and operations" in industries, such as cloud computing, where China is actively seeking a competitive advantage. As a result, "companies with politically well-connected competitors could see their profile raised for things such as cyber-security reviews". The European Union Chamber of Commerce, among other groups, has urged Beijing to "delay the implementation of either the law or its relevant articles". It "will impose substantial compliance obligations on industry" and "cautious, sound, consistent and fully reasoned supporting mechanisms related to its implementation are essential," the group said in a statement last week. The chamber called on policymakers to follow a "transparent" process that will help eliminate "discriminatory market access barriers". While there is no indication the law itself will be pushed back, the draft rules distributed at the CAC meeting says companies will have until December 31, 2018 to implement some of its requirements. "It's been enormously difficult for our companies to prepare for the implementation of the cyber-security law, because there are so many aspects of the law that are still unclear," said Jake Parker, vice president of the US-China Business Council. "There's not enough information for companies to be able to develop internal compliance practices." Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Angela Merkel said Europe must step up as a player in world affairs, signalling that the EU needs to take control of its destiny in the era of Mr Trump. Washington/Berlin: Relations between the US and Germany veered further toward crisis on Tuesday as President Donald Trump complained about the US trade deficit with Germany and said it must pay more for the Nato military alliance. Meanwhile, in Berlin German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe must step up as a player in world affairs, signalling that the EU needs to take control of its destiny in the era of Mr Trump. The US President tweeted: We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for US This will change. On Sunday, Ms Merkel had made waves when she told a rally that the US and Britain may no longer be completely reliable partners. Transatlantic ties are of paramount importance to us... but the current situation gives more reasons for... us to take our destiny in our own hands, she said on Tuesday, stressing Europe must become a player active in international affairs. Washington: Russian officials had potentially derogatory information about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and some of his top aides, conversations intercepted by US intelligence during the 2016 election showed. According to the CNN, a source described the information as financial in nature and said the discussion centered on whether the Russians had leverage over Mr Trumps inner circle. The source said the intercepted communications suggested to US intelligence that Russians believed they had the ability to influence the administration through the derogatory information. The contents of the conversations made clear to US officials that Russia was considering ways to influence the election, the report said. However, the sources also said Russia may have exaggerated the claims. A White House spokesman told CNN: This is yet another round of false and unverified claims made by anonymous sources to smear the President. Meanwhile, Mr Trump rejected the claims Russia may have influenced the US election and tweeted: Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News. But while Mr Trump may dismiss the leaks as fake news, Russia seems to be taking them seriously. According to The Washington Post, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov complained that the threat of leaks from the White House undermines cooperation between the two countries. He claimed the Kremlin is now conducting only basic level exchanges with the Trump administration out of worry that details could be spilled to the US media. You dont know whats going to happen tomorrow, Mr Ryabkov told journalists. Maybe youll see what you discussed with your counterpart on the pages of Washington Post or on CNN. The Post had last week reported that top Trump aide Jared Kushner had tried to create a back-channel communications with Russia. An rocket designed to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missiles is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calif. on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. The Pentagon says it has shot down a mock warhead over the Pacific in a success for America's missile defense program. (Photo: AP) Washington: The US military on Tuesday cheered a successful, first-ever missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a programme meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat. The US military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters just south of Alaska. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Experts compare the job to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the enormous distances involved. The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co (BA.N), and hailed it as an "incredible accomplishment." "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement. A successful test was by no means guaranteed and the Pentagon sought to manage expectations earlier in the day, noting that the United States had multiple ways to try to shoot down a missile from North Korea. "This is one element of a broader missile defence strategy that we can use to employ against potential threats," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. Prior to Tuesday's launch, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014. North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the US mainland. The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther. Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, described the test as "vital" prior to launch. "We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today," Ellison said. Failure could have deepened concern about a programme that according to one estimate has so far cost more than USD $40 billion. Its success could translate into calls by Congress to speed development. In the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sent to Congress last week, the Pentagon requested USD $7.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, including about USD $1.5 billion for the GMD programme. A 2016 assessment released by the Pentagon's weapons testing office in January said that US ground-based interceptors meant to knock out any incoming ICBM still had low reliability, giving the system a limited capability of shielding the United States. Washington: The White House has said the Trump administration's national security team is putting together a "holistic solution" to defeat ISIS. "When that strategy is complete, we'll have something for you on it," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Tuesday at his daily news conference, the first after the return of President Donald Trump from his maiden overseas trip. The White House press secretary also said the Afghan strategy review is still underway. "On the Afghanistan review, he (Trump) is still reviewing that from the Department of Defense," he said. Spicer said the "common thread" of his overseas sojourn was terrorism and national security. "He wants to defeat terrorism.Throughout the trip, that was the common thread that uniting the Muslim world, talking about it with (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, talking about it even with the Pope, that wherever he went on this nine-day trip, protecting our country, protecting the world's people was at the front of that discussion," Spicer said. Washington: The White House poured cold water on suggestions of a transatlantic rift Tuesday, saying US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel "get along very well." After Merkel seemed to question the durability of the US-EU alliance under Trump, urging Europeans to "take our destiny in our own hands," White House spokesman Sean Spicer tried to scotch talk of any problems. Spicer said that during a recent trip to Europe, Trump had "reaffirmed the need to deepen and improve our transatlantic relationship." The White House also insisted that Merkel's view of a more strategically independent Europe was not incompatible with Trump's demand for more European defence spending. Spicer described Trump's personal relationship with Merkel as excellent. "They get along very well," said Spicer. "He has a lot of respect for her." "He views not just Germany but the rest of Europe as an important American ally." "I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel, he would describe as fairly unbelievable." Washington: The maiden foreign visit of US President Donald Trump to the Middle East and Europe was an incredibly "historic" trip during which he interacted with a record 100 leaders, the White House has said. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the nine-day trip that took Trump to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Vatican, Belgium and Italy set the stage for a much more safe and prosperous America and a more peaceful world for all. "This was an extraordinarily successful and historic nine-day trip the President took. He accomplished the return of a strong America to international affairs, rallied civilised nations of the world against terrorism, took real steps towards peace in the Middle East, and renewed our alliances on the basis of both shared interest and shared burdens," he said on Trump's meeting with nearly 100 foreign leaders. Spicer claimed the visit showed how quickly and decisively the President acted to strengthen alliances, to form new partnerships, and to rebuild America's standing in the world. "We've never seen before at this point in a presidency such sweeping reassurance of American interest, and the inauguration of a foreign policy strategy designed to bring back the world from growing dangers and perpetual disasters brought on by years of failed leadership," Spicer said. Trump began his trip from Saudi Arabia, a nation that is the custodian to two of the holiest sites in Islam. "The President was greeted on the tarmac by the King of Saudi Arabia and received with incredible graciousness by the Kingdom and its leaders throughout his stay," Spicer said. He said Trump's address to the leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations was a turning point that people will talk about for many years to come. Spicer said Trump did exactly as he promised in his inaugural address by uniting the civilised world in the fight against terrorism and extremism. "The President was very direct in calling on the leaders of the region to drive out the terrorists and the extremists from their midst, and to isolate the Iranian regime that supports so much of this violence," Spicer said on Tuesday. "He let American allies know exactly what they can expect from us going forward - what he called 'a principled realism, rooted in common values and shared interests'," he said, adding that the president laid out the case in persuasive detail for why the Muslim world must take the lead in combating radicalisation. The visit also included historic economic development deals for the United States, totalling well over half a trillion dollars and the creation of tens of thousands of American jobs, Spicer said. These deals included an immediate $110 billion investment, which will grow to $350 billion over the next 10 years, in defence cooperation from Saudi Arabia that will enable Muslim troops to take on a greater role in further fighting terrorism, he added. Spicer said Trump also participated in the launch of a new task force to block terror funding in the Gulf, the opening of a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, and more than 30 commercial deals that will result in an additional USD 270 billion of Saudi investment in American businesses and American jobs. Trump went to Israel, where he was received with incredible warmth, he said. "He strengthened America's unbreakable bonds with Israel, made the first-ever visit by a sitting American President to the Western Wall, and gave a highly praised address at the Israel Museum as part of a continuing effort to rally nations together in the fight against terrorism and common enemies," he said. In his meetings with the Israeli and Palestine leaders, Trump advocated for a renewed push for peace - which they both agreed they were prepared to work towards. "He also discussed with both leaders how to increase cooperation against terrorism," he said. "Prime Minister Netanyahu said for the first time in my life I see a real hope for change," he said, adding that a leading Israeli publications wrote that "in the short space ofthree days, Trump carried out a semi-revolution". In Vatican, Trump had a very productive conversation about combating ISIS and other terrorist groups, protecting religious liberty, and numerous other issues with the Pope. "Hardworking Americans saw a leader representing them and their security on the international stage," he said. In his NATO meetings, Trump also urged NATO to adapt the alliance to more effectively combat terrorism, he said. Finally, Trump travelled to the G7 Summit in Sicily, where he and other leaders discussed how to better promote prosperity and security for each of their countries, he said. "Those meetings were marked by outstanding success that we see reflected in the communique that was issued. They include a strong statement that G7 nations will stand against unfair trade practices, and a commitment to fostering a true level playing field," Spicer said. "The G7 leaders also endorsed the right of sovereign nations to control their borders, and endorsed in that communique the policy outlined by President Trump to seek resettlement of refugees as close as possible to their home countries so that they can be part of their eventual rebuilding. This language on migration and refugees was a major shift in policy toward the position of the President," he said. Trump also met with Prime Minister Shinjo Abe of Japan wherein the two agreed on the need for enhanced sanctions against North Korea. North Korea has carried out three missile tests in less than three weeks, defying UN warnings that it faces new sanctions. (Photo: File) United Nations: The United States and China are discussing next steps in response to North Korea's missile tests and could reach a decision on new sanctions this week, Washington's UN envoy Nikki Haley has said. China is pushing Pyongyang through back channels to change its behaviour and discussing with the United States the timing of a possible new sanctions resolution, Haley on Tuesday told reporters. "It's about at what point do we do the resolution... at what test model do we say now is the time to go forward," she said. "We do think they are trying to counter what is happening now and they have the lay of the land," Haley said of the Chinese government. "We are going to keep the pressure on China but we will continue to work with them ... and I think we will decide this week on what that looks like." North Korea has carried out three missile tests in less than three weeks, defying UN warnings that it faces new sanctions. On Monday, Pyongyang test-fired a short-range missile that fell provocatively close to Japan. The United States launched talks on new sanctions with China a month ago with a view to drafting a proposed resolution to present to the council, but no text has been agreed. Haley said the council was not backpedalling but rather carefully considering the next moves. "Nothing is changing North Korea's actions and so it's regrouping and saying okay, what are we going to do if this is going to happen every other day," said Haley. "How should we respond in a way that actually stops these things or slows them down?" she added. China has pushed for a revival of the six-party talks that have been dormant since North Korea walked out on the negotiations in 2009. Haley has said that the United States will open a dialogue with Pyongyang if it halts its missile and nuclear tests. North Korea is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead and has so far staged five atomic tests, two of them last year. The Security Council adopted two sanctions resolutions last year to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang and deny leader Kim Jong-Un the hard currency needed to fund his military programs. In all, six sets of sanctions have been imposed on North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006. One major issue that has been under consideration is the potential safety implications of storing large numbers of laptop batteries in the cargo holds of airliners. (Photo: AP/Representational) Washington: The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not plan to announce an expansion of a ban on laptops in airline cabins this week after Secretary John Kelly spoke to European officials on Tuesday, a department spokesman said. The spokesman, David Lapan, confirmed that Kelly was speaking to European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc on Tuesday. "This is part of our ongoing engagement with various stakeholders on this issue," Lapan said, declining to elaborate. Kelly told "Fox News Sunday" over the weekend that he "might" ban laptops from aeroplane cabins on all international flights both into and out of the United States. "There's a real threat. Numerous threats against aviation, that's really the thing that they are obsessed with, the terrorists, the idea of knocking down an airplane in flight," Kelly said. A European Union official said the call was "good" and "no announcement was made" on Tuesday by the United States on expanding the ban on electronics larger than mobile phones. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States and the EU were working to continue to find a common response to the threat of explosives to flights. After meetings with airlines and European officials, the Department of Homeland Security has declined to offer a timetable for making a decision and instead said it would be made by Kelly on a review of threats. One major issue that has been under consideration is the potential safety implications of storing large numbers of laptop batteries in the cargo holds of airliners. In March, the United States announced laptop restrictions on flights originating from 10 airports, including in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, because of fears that a concealed bomb could be installed in electronic devices taken onto aircraft. Britain quickly followed suit with restrictions on a slightly different set of routes. No one was hurt after the Sriwijaya Air plane overshot the wet runway. (Photo: AFP) Jakarta: A Indonesian passenger plane carrying 146 people skidded off the runway as it landed in the eastern Papua region Wednesday, an official said, the latest mishap to hit the country's aviation sector. No one was hurt after the Boeing aircraft operated by domestic carrier Sriwijaya Air overshot the wet runway at the airport in Manokwari city, said transport ministry spokesperson J Adravida Barata. TV footage showed people being evacuated from the plane, as it rested on its belly on grass next to the runway. The airport will be closed for several hours so that the plane can be removed, Mr Barata added. It is just the latest of many accidents for Indonesia's air transport sector. In February, a Sriwijaya plane carrying 192 people from China to Bali was forced to turn back after the crew realised one of its doors was not properly closed. In the same month, a passenger plane operated by Indonesian flag carrier Garuda skidded off the runway as it landed at the airport serving the city of Yogyakarta in heavy rain. The aviation sector has been booming in recent years as a growing middle class increasingly use planes to get around the vast archipelago, but critics say safety standards have not kept pace with the expansion. File photo of a US missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, is installed on a golf course in Seongju, South Korea. (Photo: AP) Seoul: South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered a probe after his Defence Ministry failed to inform him that four more launchers for the controversial US THAAD anti-missile system had been brought into the country, his spokesman said on Tuesday. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system battery was initially deployed in March in the southeastern region of Seongju with just two of its maximum load of six launchers to counter a growing North Korean missile threat. During his successful campaign for the May 9 presidential election, Moon called for a parliamentary review of the system, the deployment of which infuriated China, North Korea's lone major ally. "President Moon said it was very shocking" to hear the four additional launchers had been installed without being reported to the new government or to the public, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told a media briefing. Moon had campaigned on a more moderate approach to Pyongyang, calling for engagement even as the reclusive state pursues nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and threats of more sanctions. The Pentagon said it had been "very transparent" with South Korea's government about THAAD deployment. "We continue to work very closely with the Republic of Korea government and we have been very transparent in all of our actions throughout this process," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told a news briefing. Separately on Tuesday, the US military cheered a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, a major milestone for a program meant to defend the United States against North Korea. The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), a separate system from THAAD, and called it an "incredible accomplishment." Moon's order of a probe into the THAAD launchers came amid signs of easing tensions between South Korea and China, a major trading partner. China has been incensed over the THAAD deployment, fearing it could enable the US military to see into its own missile systems and open the door to wider deployment, possibly in Japan and elsewhere, military analysts say. South Korean companies have faced product boycotts and bans on Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, although China has denied discrimination against them. On Tuesday, South Korea's Jeju Air said China had approved a plan for it to double its flights to the Chinese city of Weihai from June 2. Also, a Korean-Chinese joint drama production My Goddess, My Mom" starring South Korean actress Lee Da-hae was told by its Chinese partner recently that it will soon be aired, according to Lee's agent JS Pictures. Previously its broadcast had been indefinitely delayed. An official at South Korean tour agency Mode Tour told Reuters it hoped China may lift a ban on selling trips to South Korea, which had been in place since March 15, as early as the second week of June. Although there had been no official orders from the Chinese government to lift the ban, a few Chinese travel agencies have sent inquiries about package tours, he said. However, South Korea's Lotte Group has yet to reopen any of the 74 retail stores in China it was forced to close in March after the group allowed the installation of the THAAD system on land it owned. The United States, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, has a mutual defence treaty with Seoul dating back to the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce that has left the peninsula in a technical state of war. South Korea's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had conducted a joint drill with a US supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber on Monday, which North Korea's state media earlier described as "a nuclear bomb-dropping drill". Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked to Moon by phone on Tuesday and told him that dialogue for dialogue's sake with North Korea would be meaningless, and that China's role in exerting pressure on the North was important, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. North Korea's KCNA news agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un supervised the country's latest missile test on Monday. It said the missile had a new precision guidance system and a new mobile launch vehicle. Kim said North Korea would develop more powerful weapons to defend against the United States. "He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger 'gift package' to the Yankees" in retaliation for American military provocation, KCNA quoted Kim as saying. Zynab Al-Harbiya, 12, from Melbourne, went with her family to Baghdad to visit her sick grandfather when she was killed early on Tuesday local time. (Representational image) The death of an Australian girl in a Baghdad bombing underscored why Australia was fighting Islamic State militants in the Middle East, the Australian foreign minister said on Wednesday. Zynab Al-Harbiya, 12, from Melbourne, went with her family to Baghdad to visit her sick grandfather when she was killed early on Tuesday local time when a car bomb exploded outside a popular ice cream shop, foreign minister Julie Bishop said. More than 27 others were killed, Australian official Frances Adamson said. Dozens more were injured, including Al- Harbiya's mother and an uncle, according to lawmaker Bill Shorten. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iraqi officials said involved apparently remotely detonated explosives inside a parked car. Naval warships, aircraft carriers and submarines from the U.S., India and Japan are conducting joint military exercises off India's east coast. (Photo: AP) Sydney: India has rejected an Australian request to take part in joint naval exercises with the United States and Japan for fear of antagonising China, which has warned against expanding the drills, navy officials and diplomats said. Australia formally wrote to the Indian defence ministry in January asking if it could send naval ships to join the July wargames as an observer, in what military experts saw as a step toward eventual full participation. Four officials from India, Australia and Japan said India blocked the proposal and suggested that Canberra send officers to watch the exercises in the Bay of Bengal from the decks of the three participating countries' warships, instead. New Delhi is worried that China will step up activities in the Indian Ocean where it is building infrastructure in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, feeding India's anxiety about being encircled, Indian military sources and diplomats said. Indian navy officials say there have been at least six submarine deployments by China in the Indian Ocean since 2013 and that Chinese submarines have been docking in Sri Lanka and its long-time ally Pakistan. "India is being careful about China," said Abhijit Singh, a former Indian navy officer who heads maritime studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "India is aware they have upped their maritime engagement in this part of the world and they could just become more brazen with their submarine deployments. We don't want that to happen," Singh said. New Delhi's ties with Beijing have soured in recent years over a territorial dispute in the Himalayas and China's military support of Pakistan. China has also been concerned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's avowedly nationalist government has stepped up the public engagement of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who lives in exile in India and whom it regards as a "splittist". An Indian defence ministry spokesman confirmed there had been a request from Australia for observer status in the July exercises, but he said he was not in a position to provide any details of the Indian response. Both the United States and Japan supported the idea of involving Australia, seeing it as a natural partner in the effort to balance China's growing might, the four officials said. The Malabar exercises started out as India-US drills in 1992 but have included Japan every year from 2014. Dozens of warships, submarines and aircraft take part in the wargames, which are aimed at getting the three powerful navies used to working together. US military officials say this will help in future operations, including joint patrols across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The exercises are now held in waters close to the East and South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean. China, which claims most of the South China Sea, has protested the expansion. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the strategic waterway, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. A spokesman for Australia's Minister of Defence Marise Payne refused to comment on the Malabar exercises. But one Australian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said it was increasingly unlikely Canberra would join the drills although it was keen to do so. Australia has also traditionally been wary of upsetting China, its largest trading partner. It takes no sides in the disputes in the South China Sea and has declined to join naval exercises there, although it does support US-led freedom of navigation activities in the region. Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at Australia National University, expressed frustration that China was effectively wielding veto power over other countries' security cooperation. India, Japan, the United States and Australia already have bilateral security, dialogue and exercise arrangements with each other, including in some three-country configurations, he said. "It should be normal and natural for countries with common interests, high levels of trusts and overlapping capabilities to work together on security issues, without another country imposing a veto on who trains with whom," he said. Berlin: A German court on Wednesday backed online giant Facebook in its battle to reject a demand by the parents of a dead teenage girl for access to her account. The 15-year-old was killed by a Berlin underground train in 2012 and her parents have been trying since to establish if she committed suicide by jumping onto the tracks. They want access to her Facebook account to examine if she had ever mentioned a death wish in chats with friends or in any posts. A first Berlin court had ruled in favour of the parents' request, finding that the contents of the girl's Facebook account are part of her legacy. The panel found that emails and Facebook entries were similar to letters and diaries, which "can be inherited regardless of their content". But on Wednesday, an appeals court ruled in favour of the US online group, which argued that opening up the account would compromise the privacy of the teenager's contacts. Facebook has faced increased scrutiny in Germany, where authorities have proposed heavy fines if online social networks fail to wipe illegal hate speech from their sites. In a recent high-profile court case, the website clinched victory against a Syrian refugee whose selfie with Chancellor Angela Merkel made him the target of racist trolls. The refugee had sought to get the online group to search out and delete defamatory posts, but the court ruled that it was unclear whether Facebook was able to conduct such searches without surmounting major technical hurdles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy speak while walking in the gardens of the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain. (Photo: AP) Madrid: India and Spain Wednesday signed seven agreements, including on cyber security and technical cooperation in civil aviation, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the European country. The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital. The two sides signed agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Five MoUs were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between India's Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1988, praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." Spain is India's seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. Two-way trade totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016. Modi encouraged Spanish infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors in India, saying "It's a great time for Spanish companies to invest in India." Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy, left waves as he shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain. (Photo: AP) Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Spain's President Mariano Rajoy in Madrid and underlined the need for boosting bilateral cooperation in fighting terrorism that has affected both the countries. Modi met Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace, the official residence of the president and the king of Spain this morning in the first engagement during his stay in the country today. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a "fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship". Modi, in a private convesation with Rajoy, called for strengthening bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as "both our countries" have faced the security challenge. Father Teresito Suganob, a Catholic priest in Marawi, Philippines, who was taken hostage by militants linked to the Islamic State group, said he's being held alongside 200 other captives, including children. (Photo: AP) Marawi (Philippines): A Catholic priest who was taken hostage by militants linked to the Islamic State group says he's being held alongside 200 other captives, including children, in what appeared to be a battle-scarred part of a southern Philippine city. In a video apparently taken under duress by militants, Father Teresito Suganob said his captors wanted the military to withdraw its forces from Marawi, where Islamic militants still hold pockets of territory after a week of gun battles with the army. A colleague of Suganob confirmed that the man in the video is the priest. It was not clear when the video was taken or who released it online, and whether Suganob believed what he was saying or was forced to say it. "We want to live another day, we want to live another month," Suganob said, standing in front of debris and partially burned buildings. Directing his remarks to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, he said, "We want to live few years and in your generosity, Mr. President, in your heart, we know you can make something (happen)." Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Pena confirmed that it was Suganob in the video. "I was glad to see that he is alive but we were also saddened because the fact that the terrorists are ready to negotiate means they are pressed against the wall and they are also desirous to get away from the situation and their bargaining chip are the hostages," he said in a telephone interview. "It was taken in Marawi and it was him, and the emotions that came out I think were really authentic," he said, adding that Suganob looked truly afraid when an explosion was heard in the background. De la Pena said he could not tell where in Marawi the video was taken. He said Suganob's mention of some people with him made it appear that they are also alive. "It gives us a lot of hope that these people are worth saving, because they are still alive," he said. "If the air strikes continue, they will really be in danger." Suganob said in the video that he was taken prisoner along with a professor from Mindanao State University, two female church workers and seven teachers. "Along with us are about 200 carpenters, household helpers, children and youth, and ordinary Christian settlers," he said. The siege in Marawi followed an unsuccessful army raid last Tuesday that attempted to capture militant commander Isnilon Hapilon, who has been designated by the Islamic State group as its leader in the Philippines. Marawi is regarded as the heartland of the Islamic faith on the southern Mindanao island. Hapilon escaped and gunmen loyal to him swept through the city of 200,000 people, torching buildings and taking hostages. Soldiers have now taken control of about 70 percent of Marawi, military chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Ano told The Associated Press on Tuesday. About 100 militants, troops and civilians have been killed. He said the militants include foreign fighters and local gunmen who want to establish a regional branch of the Islamic State group. "They wanted to show the world that there is an ISIS branch here which can inflict the kind of violence that has been seen in Syria and Iraq," Ano said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. Ano said the gunmen were prepared to fight because they had been planning to unleash attacks during the holy month of Ramadan to capture the attention of the IS group. The unrest has boosted fears that the violent ideology of the ISIS is gaining a foothold in the restive southern Philippines, where a Muslim separatist rebellion has raged for decades. President Duterte declared martial law in the south through mid-July, but lawmakers on Tuesday asked for a public session of Congress to determine whether it is still necessary. Duterte's declaration unnerved Filipinos who lived through the rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who imposed martial law in 1972 and used it to hold power for more than a decade. The army insists the drawn-out fight in Marawi is not a true sign of the militants' strength because the military has held back to spare civilian lives. Still, the fighters have turned out to be remarkably well-armed and resilient. Experts have warned that as ISIS is weakened in Syria and Iraq, battered by years of American-led attacks, Mindanao could become a focal point for regional fighters. Three Malaysians, an Indonesian and possibly Arab extremists have been killed in the Marawi fighting, Ano said. He said Hapilon was still hiding somewhere in the city and that authorities were working to confirm whether another top militant had been killed. At least 65 militants and 15 Philippine troops have been killed, Ano said. The bodies of 19 civilians have been recovered and local authorities have reported more civilian deaths still to be tallied. The fighters' support network in Marawi remains unclear, though the power of one militant group the Mautes has grown in recent years. Led by members of the city's Maute clan, the group has become increasingly active across Lanao del Sur province, where Marawi is located, and has been instrumental in the fighting this past week. Islamabad: Pakistan's Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali will lead a team to the International Court of Justice at The Hague on June 8 for a meeting of "agents" from India and Pakistan with the court's president to discuss the future proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The decision to send the attorney general was taken at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday to discuss Pakistan's strategy in the case, Dawn reported. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired the meeting. During the meeting of "agents", the dates for subsequent hearings and submission of documents related to the case India has brought against Pakistan over the death sentence given to Indian national Jadhav following a "secret" trial will be discussed, the report said. Pakistan is also likely to indicate its intention to nominate an ad-hoc judge for the case. The ICJ statutes provide for a state party to a case, which does not have a judge of its nationality on the bench, to choose a person to sit as an ad-hoc judge in that case. The parliamentary committee took up the issue after India was granted provisional measures by the ICJ on May 18 restraining Pakistan from executing Jadhav, 46, who had been convicted of espionage and sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court. India approached the ICJ citing that it had been repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav in violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention. The attorney-general also briefed the participants of the meeting about the Pakistan government's strategy for the case. The committee members were reportedly not satisfied by the explanations given by the government's legal team about the case at the last meeting. The National Assembly speaker told the media that he was satisfied with the briefing by the attorney general on Tuesday. Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, however, disputed Speaker Sadiq, saying that everything that was shared with the parliamentary committee members were 'open source' information and the replies were unsatisfactory. "They have committed a lot of mistakes," Rehman said. Tuesday's meeting was the second time the committee had met on Jadhav case. It will meet again on June 15. A major fire broke out in the multi-storied Chennai Silks textile showroom at the busy T-Nagar area in the city this morning. However, no casualties were reported. Police said the fire was noticed at around 5 am and fire tender personnel rushed to the spot and struggling to put off the fire till now. The fire, which broke out on the ground floor of the building, spread even to the seventh floor of Chennai Silks showroom within few hours. Around 15 employees, who were staying on the third floor of the building, were rescued immediately. Police have cordoned off the area and were not allowing the public anywhere near the building, which was affected by the fire. India and Spain should strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism as "both our countries" have faced the security challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Spanish President Mariano Rajoy today. Modi met Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace this morning in the first engagement during his stay in the Spanish capital today. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a "fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship". Modi called for boosting bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as "both our countries have faced the security challenge." Spain, the summer holiday destination of Europe, in a recent government report said that the Islamic State group "has been publishing in Spanish, which means an increase in the risk of its influence on radicals living in our country". In "today's global context", Modi said, the focus of his discussion in Spain will be on the international developments. The prime minister praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." He said railways, smart cities and infrastructure sectors were the priority areas for India and Spain has "enough skills and mastery" to contribute to India's requirements. Modi said he is confident that his visit to Spain - the first by an Indian prime minister since 1988 - will give a new momentum to bilateral ties. Later today, Modi will call on King Felipe VI of Spain and would also have a round-table interaction with Spanish business leaders to attract investment into the country. A special court today adjourned sine die the hearing on BJP MP Subramanian Swamy's criminal complaint against industrialist Ratan Tata and others in connection with the 2G spectrum scam. Special Judge O P Saini was told by Swamy's counsel that more time was required to bring additional material in support of the plea as the politician has requested the probe agencies and filed an RTI to get the information. The court had on March one asked Swamy to bring more material in support of his complaint. It directed the complainant to file the documents "as and when" he receives it while adjourning it sine die (with no appointed date for resumption). The court, which is exclusively dealing with matters relating to the 2G spectrum allocation scam, had earlier said that the complaint was based on "presumption and assumption" and needed to be backed by some "reasonable material". Swamy has filed the complaint against Tata, former telecom minister A Raja, former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and others in the court. He has alleged that the CBI had "purposely" left out Tata, his group companies, Radia and some others in the case. Swamy has also sought action against Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra, other officials of his firm and "erring" CBI personnel who allegedly did not probe the matter seriously. The complaint has sought their prosecution under several sections of IPC including 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 463 (forgery) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday recommended the state government to make cow a legal entity and get it declared as National Animal by representing the case before the centre. Court has also asked the state government to increase the punishment for cow slaughter to life imprisonment from 3 years jail. A single-judge bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma passed the directive on a public interest litigation over the death of more than 500 cows at a government-run shelter at Hingonia, near Jaipur. The order also recommends the appointment of the state Chief Secretary and Advocate General as persons in Loco Parentis to ensure cows conservation and breeding. The order also says that State Chief Secretary and Advocate General to take steps to get the directions implemented. In an unusual style, Judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma told media that India should follow footsteps of Nepal and declare the cow as its national animal, "If Nepal being a Hindu Nation can do it? Why can India not make cow as its national animal? All the 20 point recommendations that I pronounced today inside the court is "voice of my soul", Chandra told media. The High Court also directed the state government to include a provision of life imprisonment under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export), Act, 1995. In a 139-page order, Judge has stated that India is a predominantly agricultural country, based on animal rearing. As per Article 48 and 51A (g) it is expected from the state government that they should take action to get a legal entity for cow in this country. Interestingly the court's recommendations came a day after Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in an interview with a newspaper agency stressed that firm action will be taken against those behind violent crimes, including cow vigilantes. Speaking on behalf of the government Additional Advocate General AS Gill who attended the compliance meeting in court told media, "These are only recommendations and we will read all the twenty points then decide which ones can be implemented", Gill said. Poonam Chand Bhandari who had filed the plea found the directives shocking. He told DH, "The plea was regarding the mismanagement done by the state government. But none of the directives stated here answer those questions." The order was made while the court was hearing the Hingonia Gaushala matter, a government-owned cow shelter situated 35 kilometres from Jaipur. In Rajasthan, where the BJP is in power, over thousands of cows had perished at the government-run cowshed in Jaipur during 2016. Taking a note of this Jaipur Mayor was also asked to resign and fresh elections took place in the month of October. As the initial probe revealed the negligence by government officials at the shelter. Comparing Cow With the Peacock: In a shocking statement Judge Mahesh Chandra while explaining his judgment on why the cow deserves to be given the 'national animal' tag he compared it with the Peacock 'national bird of India' told a TV channel " The peacock is a pious bird as it maintains celibacy as it does not have sex with peahen. In this case, peahen gives birth after it gets impregnated with the tears of the peacock and that's how a peacock or a peahen is then born". Earlier Instances: The recommendation comes two months after two incidences of attacks by cow vigilantes stirred the state. In the first one, Gau Rakshaks attacked a Hotel owner and staff in Jaipur for allegedly selling beef. But the FSL report after a month proved that meat was of chicken. In another instance, Vigilante attacked a 55-year-old cattle trader, Pehlu Khan in Alwar and four others. Pehlu Khan died, his companions were injured. Interestingly Rajasthan is the first state to have a separate Cow Rehabilitation Ministry after the bill was passed in 2014. And a few months ago Education Minister of Rajasthan had said that Cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen. Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow, Indian ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran has allayed apprehension that the Putin regime would not do anything to jeopardise country's national interest. Modi, who is on a foreign tour, will meet President Vladimir Putin on Thursday prior to 18th India-Russia Annual Summit in Saint Petersburg amidst concerns over Moscow's interest in India's immediate neighbour visible in first ever joint military exercise with Pakistan last September. "Our relations with Russia are very old, very deep, based on mutual trust. These relations are based on firm and strong foundation. We have to look at how we can strengthen our own relations and not really focus our attention on what third countries are doing," Saran told ANI in Moscow on Russian-Pakistan ties. The ambassador also expressed confidence that "Russia will not do anything that will affect India's national interests". Despite changing global alliance throwing new equations, Saran said till the two countries respect each other's "core vital national interests", everything else is understood. From Wednesday, the PM will be Russia for three days. He will visit Piskarovskoye Cemetery to honour those who lost their lives during the Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944). The leaders of the two countries will address the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). The PM is on a six-day tour of Germany, Spain, Russia and France which will come to an end towards the weekend. Manjulas laptop and cell phone have been seized by the police for the purpose of investigation. Manjula, a resident of Indore district of Madhya Pradesh and a civil engineer, was pursuing PhD in water resources at the IIT-Delhi. She lived in the Nalanda Apartment with her husband Ritesh Virha who was in Indore when the incident took place. Manjula was married to Ritesh in 2013, police said. Though the exact reasons behind Manjula's death were yet to be ascertained by the police, the incident took place barely a month after the IIT council discussed some recent cases of suicide by students at the IIT-Kharagpur and Kanpur. To check such incidents, the Council also decided to make its induction programme more stronger than what was introduced last year to help students cope up with stress. The meeting was chaired by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar. The IIT-Delhi earlier this month initiated a move to revamp its curriculum to help students cope up with the pressure of their studies. The Institute, which has sought suggestions from its various department on the issue as part of the move, was hoping to introduce a revised curriculum from the next academic session. A woman research scholar of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her room at Nalanda Apartment inside the campus. She has been Identified as Manjula Devak, a final year PhD student of the premier technical institute.Police recovered her body on Tuesday evening, breaking open the door of her room as it was locked from inside. The police team immediately rushed her to a hospital where the doctors declared her dead. Police reached the spot after receiving a call from one of Manjula's friends from the Institute campus.Manjula's friend called the police as she was neither answering any of the phone calls since morning nor opening the door of her room. She was last seen on Monday night, her friends told the police. Doctors conducted an autopsy on her body on Wednesday.According to police, prima facie it appeared to be a case of suicide. However, no suicide note was recovered from her room. While the police are investigating the case, a sub- divisional magistrate will also conduct an inquiry into the incident. Four policemen were injured as militants hurled a grenade towards them in Sopore town of north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday. A police official said, militants, lobbed the grenade near the police station in Sopore, at around 4.20 pm, which exploded with a loud bang. Four policemen sustained splinter injuries due to the blast and were immediately taken to a hospital, where the condition of two of them is stated to be critical. Soon after the attack, a large contingent of security forces, including Army, rushed to the spot and launched a manhunt to nab the attackers. A branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank is also in the vicinity of the attack, reports said. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, late last night militants shot at a ruling PDP worker and his nephew in Khanpora area of Baramulla after they were coming out of a masjid after offering prayers. Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Baramulla Imtiaz Hussain said the militants fired a few pistol shots at Abdul Rashid Lone and his nephew Tariq Ahmad. They were quickly shifted to the hospital where their condition is stable, he said. Lone had retired after serving the Jammu and Kashmir electricity department and according to local media reports is an activist of ruling PDP. Meanwhile, a policeman was found dead in his car at Cheshmahi area on Srinagar outskirts. Police said Head Constable Sheetal Singh was found dead in his personal vehicle and it was not immediately clear how he died. "We are looking into the matter and after medico-legal formalities, his body would be handed over to his family," a police official said. A Border Security Force jawan was injured after he was allegedly attacked by four of his neighbours in Beharampur-Tema village last evening for asking them to not cut a tree, police said today. "Four persons of a family attacked the BSF personnel Rajkumar Verma after he asked them not to cut a tree," district additional superintendent of police Antar Singh Knet told PTI. Verma, who was grievously injured in the attack, has been admitted to the district hospital, he added. The accused, identified as Devendra Verma, Rajendra Verma, Keshav Verma, and Jitendra Verma, have been booked under various sections of the IPC, and efforts are on to arrest them. He said the jawan, posted in Gurdaspur sector, recently came home on leave. A 55-year-old woman who was allegedly sold and tortured in Saudi Arabia today returned to India. Sukhwant Kaur, who hails from Jalandhar, arrived at the international airport here where she was received by her family members, including her husband, and former Punjab ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Anil Joshi. She thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj while narrating her travails to reporters at the airport. "It is a new birth as I have come back home safely from a death trap. It was next to impossible to return from there. If the external affairs minister had not intervened, I couldn't have dreamt of joining my family in India," Kaur said. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, "I had paid Rs 40,000 to an agent to get a job in Saudi Arabia and I went there on a tourist visa. To my utter shock, when I reached there I was sold for Rs 3.5 lakh as a maid to a family." She said she was tortured and maltreated for three months after reaching there in January. One day she landed in a hospital after she fainted on being tortured. She said that her employers used to torture her and forced her to eat meat despite the fact that she was a vegetarian. "It was my good luck I returned to India alive. No one could have thought of coming back in the circumstances which I faced there," she added. Her husband, Kulwant Singh, told reporters that his wife was in contact with him over phone for a week after she landed there. "But a few days later, her phone was switched off and the Delhi-based agent stopped taking calls," he said. Singh said that on May 7, with the help of a nurse from Kerala, his wife called him up from a hospital in Saudi Arabia. "She said the travel agent had sold her to a local resident and she was forced to work as a slave in his house and was being badly treated and even tortured," he said. The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia assured all help to the family after Kulwant made an appeal to Swaraj on Twitter. Observing that the censor board "is not functioning with enough teeth", the Madras High Court has suggested that the central and the state governments bring in appropriate legislation to regulate content in films and also those available on various Internet platforms. "With advanced technology in use in film industry now, the Cinematography Act in its present form, we apprehend, may not be effective. It needs amendments to meet the new kind of situations in the industry arising out of the influence of information technology," a division bench, comprising justices S Nagamuthu, who retired on May 30, and Dr Anita Sampath, said. "The censor board is not functioning with enough teeth," it said. The court made the observations while detailing the plight of a school girl, who was influenced by movies and was sexually exploited by a boy, resulting in her getting pregnant. The judges also closed a habeas corpus petition filed by the girl's mother seeking to produce in court her daughter, hailing from Mayailaduthurai in Nagapattinam district, and directed the state to bring in appropriate legislation to regulate publicity materials such as posters and flex boards. The case relates to the disappearance of the girl along with a boy, who later married her, following which her mother filed the petition. During an inquiry by the court, the girl had disclosed that she was influenced by some Tamil movies, in which heroines were apparently attracted by heroes who stalked them with an intention of winning their love. It was submitted that the girl was a good student and scored 441 marks out of 500 in class X examinations and aimed to become a doctor. Trouble started on May 26, 2015 when she went to school and did not return home. Her mother then approached police, who registered a "girl missing" case. As efforts by police to trace the girl did not yield results, her mother filed the habeas corpus petition. Delay in the proceedings resulted in the division bench directing the Superintendent of Police, Nagapattinam district, to monitor the probe. It was then brought to the court's knowledge that the girl was sexually exploited. Also, the accused (boy) had been arrested for offences under the POCSO Act and remanded to judicial custody. The girl during the enquiry disclosed that she married the boy at a temple in Bhavani town in Erode district. She also said the boy had taken her to Kerala where they stayed for some time before coming to Madurai and that she had been sexually exploited, resulting in pregnancy. The judges, distressed with the statement of the girl, while referring to the influence of films, in their order said, "somehow or the other a few films escape the eyes of the censor board and they are exhibited for public viewing. Such kind of films having the potential to spoil young minds and tend to cause irreparable damage to the well-being of children and ultimately to the society at large." The bench then referred to a film "New", in which there were several vulgar scenes, catering to the baser instincts of the audience. The judges also directed to revoke the certificate issued to the film and also summoned the Regional Officer, Central Board of Film Certification, Chennai, to appear before it. The censor board official, in the counter-affidavit, submitted that the board was strictly implementing the rules and said it was the audio-visual contents of disturbing nature available on media like YouTube and others, which influence young minds. Stating that it is very difficult for government authorities such as police, collectors and censor board officials to visit various places to ascertain if there is any violation of Tamil Nadu Compulsory Censorship of Film Publicity (Materials) Act, 1987, and rules, the bench directed the government to appoint officers with required powers to curtail the menace of showing uncensored scenes in films. The bench made absolute the interim orders passed by it on March 20, handing over custody of the minor girl to her mother and closed the habeas corpus petition. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah feasted on a lunch at the house of a tribal man at Devaliya village in tribal dominated Chhota Udepur district. The BJP chief seems to be banking on lunch diplomacy to woo sections of the society that are traditionally believed to have voted for BJPs opponents. Shah, who began his lunch diplomacy by having lunch with a dalit family at West Bengal and later at Varanasi, on Tuesday decided to break bread with a tribal party worker Popatbhai Rathwa. However, before he could arrive at the pre-identified house, BJP workers had helped Rathwas family put basic infrastructure in place. According to reports coming in, Rathwa household got a new toilet facility, a wash basin, an LPG stove and a couple of coolers to welcome the VIP guest to their humble abode. Perhaps to make the environs comfortable for BJP chief and an entourage of VIPs, including BJP party in charge in the state Bhupendra Yadav, BJP state party chief Jitu Vaghani, the party general secretaries, state minister, Parliamentarian and other party functionaries who joined their party chief for the lunch. The BJP chief arrived at Chhota Udepur to participate in Vistarak programme of the party, that involved each party men in reaching out to as many voters across the state in person, right up to 47,000 plus voting booths. Interestingly, five of the six taluka panchayats as well as district panchayat of Chhota Udepur are ruled by Opposition Congress. Even in last Parliamentary polls, when BJP won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat, it was trailing Congress in Chhota Udepur. Even the local legislator from the district comes from Congress. With BJP facing trouble from several other communities, with socially, politically and economically powerful Patidaars as well as dalits who rose after public flogging of dalit youths by self-styled cow protection group at Una in Saurashtra, BJP appears to be training its guns on communities as tribals to off-set any potential electoral losses. The BJP has for past few months have been holding series of events and rallies in the tribal belt of the state for the purpose. Addressing the newly-inducted booth workers in Devalia village, Shah said that while Gujarat remains a strong fortress for BJP, there was a need to further strengthen its presence. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership and said that if as a chief minister he had helped win around 120 seats, with him as PM party can look to bag at least 150 of the 182 Assembly seats in the state. The BJP chief, who is on a three-day visit to the state, is expected to continue his booth-level programmes in the state and would visit another tribal district of Sabarkantha. Six more airports in the country, including Patna and Chennai, will do away with the practice of tagging and stamping domestic passengers' hand baggage from tomorrow. The four other airports that will usher in the new practice include those at Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati. The CISF, the central security force tasked to secure civil airports in the country, had a few days back declared the operalisation of the new practice from June 1. These six airports will join in ushering the new tag-less security system along with seven others at Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, where the system was initiated by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) begining April 1 this year. The paramilitary force will also begin from tomorrow a trial to do away with the tagging and stamping of hand baggage of domestic passengers at five other airports of Varanasi, Pune, Goa, Bhubaneswar and Vishakhapatnam. Once the three-week trial at these five airports is found successful, they too will join the league of the thirteen others. CISF Director General O P Singh had earlier told PTI that "an enhanced number of new gadgets, CCTVs and security paraphernalia has been put in place at the six airports (where no tags practice will begin tomorrow) so that the process of doing away with the tagging and stamping of domestic air passengers' hand baggage can be initiated from June 1". The CISF is tasked with guarding 59 civil airports in the country. Singh had said that the force proposes to initiate this people-friendly measure at all the airports under its cover, before the year ends. By having the stamped tags on the hand baggage, the security personnel used to assure that no weapon or ammunition-like material enters the aircraft with the passenger. Now with the deployment of smart cameras and repositioning of security paraphernalia at the six new airports, the same objective is being achieved. The procedure remained a major irritant for passengers who had made many complaints in this regard to airport authorities. They said this system posed hassles as it consumed time and in case they forget to get it tagged, security personnel would ask them to go back and get it done. The new protocols are only meant for domestic passengers and those traveling to international destinations will have to get their hand baggage tags stamped as usual. The force is also analysing ways to initiate measures to do away with the tagging and stamping of hand baggage for foreign-bound passengers too. Nandini K R, a young civil engineer from Karnataka, has topped the prestigious Civil Service Exams, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said on Wednesday. Anmol Sher Singh Bedi, a computer engineer who studied in BITS Pilani, came second while GopalKrishna Ronanki, son of illiterate parents, came third. Interestingly, Nandini, a Group A officer in Central Excise and Customs who is presently undergoing training in Haryana's Faridabad, had opted for Kannada as her optional subject while Ronanki had written his exams in his mother tongue Telugu. 26-year-old Nandini, who hails from Kembodi village in Kolar district, pipped 2,961 who appeared for the interview after main exams to emerge the topper in her fourth shot at the exams. Of the 2,961, the UPSC has selected 1,099 for the services. "I am really happy. It is an oppurtunity to serve the poor. I did not expect this but my hard work has not gone waste," Nandini, who did her enginnering from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bengaluru, told DH. Nandini, who worked as a Junior Engineer in Karnataka Public Works Department for two years and posted in Delhi's Karnataka Bhavan, said only hard work could take one to this level. Nandini's father Ramesh is a government primary school teacher in Mudavadi Kolar while her mother is a housewife. Her brother is doing his PhD from Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Ronanki said his entire education was in government school and through distance mode. "It a big achievement for me as I attained this position despite the fact that my parents are not literate," he said. Three women figure in the top 10 list of the 2016 exams in wihch 13.5 lakh submitted applications. Of this, 4.59 lakh candidates appeared for the preliminary exams and only 15,452 candidates qualified for Main Examination. Of the 1,099 selected candidates, 846 are men and 253 women, including 44 disabled candidates. Of this, 500 belong to the General category while 347 are in OBC, SC 163 and ST 89. There are 180 vacancies in IAS, 150 in IPS and 45 in Indian Foreign Service. The UPSC said 603 candidates will be given Group A services while 231 will get Group B services. US President Donald Trump is likely to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate change agreement which was a major foreign policy legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama, media reports said today. In a tweet, Trump said he would be announcing his decision on the 2015 Paris climate deal in the next few days. "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. Make America great again!," Trump said. Two major news outlets Axis and CBS News reported that the US President had made a decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change and the administration has been informing world leaders about it. "Details on just how exactly the US will be withdrawing are still being worked out by a team that includes EPA administrator Scott Pruitt," CBS News reported. "A full, formal withdrawal could take up to three years to execute, unravelling one of former President Barack Obama's major achievements in office to reduce the impacts of climate change," it added. The Pruitt team is deciding on whether to initiate a full, formal withdrawal which could take three years or exit the underlying United Nations climate change treaty, which would be faster but more extreme, Axis reported. "Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could do to unravel Obama's climate legacy. It sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritise climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal," it said. According to 'The Hill' newspaper, the move marks a dramatic departure from the Obama administration, which was instrumental in crafting the deal. "It also makes the US an outlier among the world's nations, nearly all of whom support the climate change accord," it said. A day earlier, Trump on return from his maiden overseas trip met with Pruitt. "One of the topics that they discussed, of course, was the President's upcoming decision on the Paris Climate Accords," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference. This is the subject that the President is spending a great deal of time on, and one that he spoke to the G7 members about during their meetings, he said. "Ultimately, he wants a fair deal for the American people and he will have an announcement coming on that shortly," Spicer said. Meanwhile, influential Republican Senator Ted Cruz yesterday urged the US President to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change. Earlier, a group of 22 Republican Senators including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a letter urged Trump to withdraw from the agreement. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Trump's likely decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal poses a grave threat to the planet's future. "President Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord is a stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet's future," she said. "In walking away from this agreement, the President is denying scientific truths, removing safeguards that protect our health and our environment, protecting polluters and their dirty energy agenda, and threatening our national and global security," Pelosi said in a statement. The Paris Accord honours the collective moral responsibility to leave future generations with a planet that is clean, healthy and sustainable, she noted. The agreement signed by 195 countries deploys the full force of governments around the world to halt the rise in carbon emissions that cause extreme climate events, including record droughts, horrific famines and devastating floods, in addition to thousands of deaths each year from asthma attacks and other air pollution-related diseases, she said. "Rejecting the pact also sends a strong message to the marketplace to direct innovative, entrepreneurial investments in the clean energy economy elsewhere," Pelosi said. "The majority of Americans in both parties know that climate change is real, and want clear, decisive action to arrest its dire effects. Democrats will continue to support the strong action of states, cities and the private sector to halt the march of climate change, no matter how destructive and short-sighted the decisions of this Administration continue to be," Pelosi said. Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said not only did the Trump's decision fly in the face of scientific consensus about the impacts of climate change, it also defied the wishes of the business community, international allies, and religious leaders, including the Pope Francis. "Withdrawing from the Paris agreement would be a global embarrassment and a gross abdication of American leadership. President Trump should know that he can't stop a drought with a wall," Perez said. "He can't ban hurricanes from entering the country. He can't threaten a real storm with a Tweetstorm. He can't dismiss rising tides and temperatures as fake news. And no matter how hard he might try, he can't negotiate with Mother Nature for a better deal," he said. The two pilots of the Sukhoi jet that had crashed after taking off from Tezpur in Assam suffered fatal injuries, the Indian Air Force today said five days after the wreckage of the plane was found. Squadron Leader D Pankaj, 36 and Flight Lt S Achudev, 26 could not initiate ejection before the crash that occurred 60 kms from Tezpur Airbase on May 23, the IAF said. Pankaj's age was 36 and Achudev's 26. The wreckage of the Sukhoi-30 MKI jet was found on May 26 in a dense forest area in Arunachal Pradesh after a three-day search operation. "Analysis of the flight data recorder (black box) of the aircraft and certain other articles recovered from the crash site revealed that the pilots could not initiate ejection before the crash," IAF Spokesperson Anupam Banerjee said. The plane had taken off from Tezpur airbase at around 10:30 am on May 23 and had gone off the radar around 11:10 am. It was on a routine training mission as part of a two-aircraft formation. The wreckage of the jet was spotted from air on Friday, and search teams could reach the crash site only on Sunday due to inclement weather after which the black box was recovered. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident, according to Wing Commander Banerjee. The first batch of the Russia-made fighter jet was inducted by the IAF in the late 1990s. A frontline fighter jet, SU-30 MKI aircraft were deployed in the Tezpur airbase on June 15, 2009 for guarding the Sino- India frontier in Arunachal Pradesh. At present, two squadrons comprising around 36 aircraft are deployed at Tezpur. Chief Minister K Siddharamaiah will be the party's face in the Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress today said as it asked state Home Minister G Parameshwara to quit the Cabinet and devote himself to his duties as PCC chief. Gearing up for the Assembly polls due next year, the party restructured its state unit while accommodating all castes and sections. "The Congress president and vice president have decided that the coming election of the state will be fought under the leadership of K Siddharamaiah, the present chief minister of Karnataka," a statement from AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said. Parameshwara will devote all his time and energy for the party affairs and will resign from the state Cabinet immediately. The statement also said that S R Patil has been appointed as the working president of KPCC along with present working president Dinesh Gundurao. While Gundurao will take care of the party affairs in southern Karnataka, Patil will take care of northern Karnataka. The party also appointed D K Shivakumar, a minister in the state government, as chairman of the campaign committee for the coming elections. Party MP and former Union minister K H Muniyappa has been included as a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee, a top decision-making body of the party, while another tribal leader from the state Satish Jarkiholi has been appointed as an AICC secretary. The party leadership has come out with a "please all" formula by playing a balancing act by accomodating all castes and communities. While Siddharamaiah is a leader from the Kuruba Gowda community, both Parameshwara and Muniyappa are Dalit leaders from the state. Jarkiholi is a tribal leader. By appointing Patil, a Lingayat leader and Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga leader, the party has sought to reach out to both the dominant communities. Both Shivakumar and Patil were contenders for the PCC chief's post. BJP leader Yeddyurappa also belongs to Lingayat caste. BJP chief Amit Shah has already announced that Yeddyurappa will be the party's chief ministerial candidate for the May 2018 elections. The changes come after Rahul Gandhi held a strategy meet with all top leaders of the Congress party from the state, including Siddharamaiah and party general secretary in-charge, K C Vengugopal. Former Union ministers Mallikarjun Kharge and M Veerappa Moily besides B K Hariprashad and other top state leaders participated in the meet on Monday. A Malaysia Airlines flight was forced to return to Melbourne to land late tonight after a "disruptive" Sri Lankan passenger on board the Kuala Lumpur bound flight claimed he was carrying a bomb, Malaysia's deputy transport minister said. "It is not a hijack. One disruptive passenger tried to enter the plane's cockpit," Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP. The passenger, a Sri Lankan national who was apparently drunk, was overpowered by the plane's crew and later arrested at Melbourne's airport, he said. "The passenger... claimed to have a bomb. But it was not a bomb but a powerbank," Aziz added. The passenger was later arrested by Australian authorities in Melboure."Everyone on board is safe," Aziz added. "He was taken out of the plane handcuffed by Australian security officers."Malaysia Airlines confirmed the plane was forced to return to Australia and had safely landed in Melbourne. "MH128 safely landed in Melbourne Airport at 11:41pm," the airline said in a statement. "Safety and security are of Malaysia Airlines' utmost priority. Schoolchildren demanded District in-charge Minister A Manju to provide them biscuits along with milk that is being distributed under Ksheera Bhagya scheme. Interacting with the minister, during the Jana Mana programme, organised at Ambedkar Bhavan in the city on Wednesday, the children requested him to extend distribution of milk for five days a week along with biscuits. When the minister asked a few children whether they drink milk in anganwadis, they said, yes by shaking their heads. When he asked why they are not speaking, the kids replied miss will beat us, sending the audience into peels of laughter. Virupaksha, a BPL card holder of Hassan, said, the government should provide free dialysis for the poor in government hospitals. District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr Venkatesh assured of providing dialysis facility in all taluk hospitals and that the tender process has already been started. BPL card holders will be treated free of cost and APL card holders will have to pay Rs 200 per session, he said. Hanumanthegowda of Dudda requested a hike in the government incentive from Rs 5 to Rs 6 per litre of milk for the benefit of dairy farmers. Manju said, as the government has decided to settle the bills online, the dairy farmers should link their Aadhaar cards to their bank accounts. The beneficiaries of Manaswini scheme urged for a hike in the pension amount to a minimum of Rs 1,000. The minister directed Deputy Commissioner Chaitra to submit a proposal to the government in this regard. Krishi Bhagya The beneficiaries of Krishi Bhagya complained that the Horticulture department officials do not provide any information to farmers and that they do not respond to the queries on the scheme pertaining to the polyhouses, they alleged. The DC said, Krishi Abhiyan is being conducted in every taluk, town and hobli from June 2 and the farmers should make use of the opportunity. Radha from Belur brought to the ministers notice that the BPL card holders are not getting palm oil and salt in the fair price shops. A resident of Alur taluk said, around 20 families at his village are yet to get ration cards and most of them are being denied rice under Anna Bhagya scheme. Manju said, rice is being distributed to make Karnataka hunger-free. But, people should not misuse it. In the coming months, Ali most effortlessly transformed those mundane cab rides into most memorable journeys for me. Sporting a colourful musarr and a spotless, white dishdasha, Ali would unerringly wait at the gate for me every morning. He claimed to himself the charge of educating me on the nuances of Oman, its royalty, their intrigues, Omani food, souqs and almost anything that he thought I ought to know about his country. Effortlessly juggling the roles of chauffer, guide, chaperone and most importantly of an earnest friend, Ali ensured that I learnt and saw enough of his country to survive easily there. In time, I discovered that Ali came from Wakan, a remote, mountainous village in Al Batinah, far away from the city. Every time he returned from his village, I was sure to find a box of succulent Omani dates on the rear seat of the cab. He would mischievously wink at the rear view mirror and quip, Very good for man strength, sir! What Ali consciously did not advert to in our pidgin conversations and interactions was his familys dependence on farming back home and its unfortunate vagaries. After a weeks notice, he one day enthusiastically left for his village much ahead of the kharif season, when the sowing would begin. Without a second thought, I fixed up another cab for my office rides and simply carried on. A couple of months later, just a few days before I was getting ready to leave Oman for good, I was surprised when Ali reappeared at my doorstep one evening. His warm smile had disappeared. He looked miserable standing there, clearly embarrassed in his dishevelled clothes. With deep pain and visible sorrow he told me that the monsoons had failed that year and that he had sold his cab to pay off creditors. He stood there despondently for a few minutes. His despair and loss were evident in the silence of those brief moments. I searched for words to console him. Patting his shoulder, I pulled out those last few riyals from my wallet and thrust them into his pocket. Muttering apologetically, he slowly walked away. Long after he was gone, I noticed a clutch of Omani dates in a ziploc bag lying on one of the settees in my cabin. Ali had left them there for me, I realised. Even in abject poverty and grief, he had not forgotten to carry his usual gift for me from his village. Driving home that day, I couldnt help but regret that our paths would never cross again. I carried those Omani dates with me to India as a sweet token of my brief friendship with Ali, his affection and generosity. I first met Ali when I hailed his cab in Muscat on my first day to work. Sensing that I was a newbie expat in his city, he cleverly played Bollywood tracks on his stereo and drew me into a conversation about Kerala and the Taj and almost everything he knew Indian. Even before we had reached my office, he had deftly struck a deal to ferry me to work every day. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday assured farmers that the state government would soon decide on waiving farm loans. Addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone for various development works in Periyapatna, the Chief Minister said that he would wait for a few days for the Union governments decision on agrarian loans and then announce the states stand. BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa has been stating that he would bring four lakh farmers to Bengaluru to pressure the state government to write off farm loans. First, let him convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to waive farm loans. No BJP MP, including Shobha Karandlaje, has voiced their opinion in front of the Prime Minister, he said. Siddaramaiah said that Yeddyurappa has double standards when it comes to farmers issue. Recalling Yeddyurappas tenure as chief minister, Siddaramaiah said that, When Congress leader V S Ugrappa asked Yeddyurappa, the then chief minister, to waive off farm loans in the Legislative Council, Yeddyurappa said that he had no note printing machine. The document is available in the Council. Yeddyurappa is a liar and is making false and baseless allegations against the state government for political gains. BJP MPs have not raised their voice on farm loan waiver in the Parliament. Farmers in the state have obtained a total loan of Rs 52,000 crore, including Rs 42,000 crore from nationalised banks. Only 22% of the farmers have obtained loans from cooperative societies. If the state government waives the loans, only a few farmers will benefit. So, the Union governments decision would play a significant role in this regard, he said. Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation M B Patil said that nearly 150 lakes have been filled with water only because of the efforts of the MLA and asked the supporters to make sure that Venkatesh wins with a margin of 50,000 votes. Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya promised to release more funds for various projects in the constituency and asked people not to forget to support Venkatesh. Anjaneya also described Siddaramaiah as the second Devaraj Urs. The former chief minister is often described as the champion of backward classes. Minister for Health and Family Welfare K R Ramesh Kumar said that Venkatesh is a proficient man and voters should elect him. Cong will retain power The Chief Minister expressed hopes of the Congress party winning a majority of the seats in the upcoming Assembly elections in 2018 and said that the BJP and the JD(S) cannot win the polls. He called upon voters not to trust both BJP and JD(S). CITU leader Prakash K, who also heads KSTDC Drivers Welfare Association, said, We have repeatedly urged KSTDC not to promote Ola, Uber or other cab aggregators. This is especially wrong since KSTDC has its own brand (City Taxi) of cabs. We do not understand why the government is promoting private players when it already has cabs of its own brand. The issues regarding cab aggregators is not limited to the state. Problems are being raised in all the states. It seems to be the governments policy to promote monopoly in the transport sector. We urge the state government to take a stand to regulate transport aggregators, Prakash said. The BTTOA has gone a step ahead to urge all government agencies not to promote cab aggregators. The associations president Radhakrishna Holla said though the government has failed to bring a rule to regulate cab aggregators, its agencies, like KSTDC and the Railways, are running behind them. We will take up this issue with the government agencies which have entered into an agreement with online cab aggregators, neglecting the interests of the local taxi operators, Holla told DH. He has also written a letter to R S Saxena, Bengaluru divisional railway manager, South Western Railway. Cab aggregators have been violating the transport laws. Several cases are pending against them in many metropolitan cities in the country. It is not worthy to support them as long as they do not follow the central motor vehicle rules, they have said in the letter. Holla said he will write similar letters to KSTDC and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited requesting them to not to have any tie-ups with the online cab aggregators. When we are following all the rules laid down by the government, why cant the agencies provide space for us? he asked. The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporations (KSTDC) move to tie up with Ola for sightseeing tours has not gone down well with the drivers attached to KSTDC and the Bengaluru Tourist Taxi Owners Association (BTTOA). Karl Lutchmayer, Goan-British pianist, will be in the city to launch the Aruna Sunderlal memorial concert series. The purpose of the series is to create a fund to empower talented students who would otherwise have no access to quality music education. Aruna Sunderlal was the founder of the Bangalore School of Music, and passed away last year after gifting the city its first, and Indias third, Western music school. Lutchmayer will present a recital showcasing the works of Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel and Bartok. He will then interact with students and music teachers at the The Bangalore School of Music-Trinity Laban Annual Summer Academy, and give lectures on piano and strings with fellow musician Andrew Sherwood. Violinist Sherwood, who will join Lutchmayer for two duet performances, was born in Kenya and educated in Zimbabwe. Born in London to Indian parents, Karl Lutchmayer started playing the piano when he was just seven. While there was a piano at home which my mother played from time to time, my first love was ballet, which I studied from the age of three, he said. When he was 10-11, he began to focus on music. Playing at Wigmore Hall, London, has been a high point in his illustrious career. It has an amazing history and wonderful acoustics, he said. Lutchmayer is known for his Conversational Concert series, which encourages people to discuss the music they hear. The idea came about after he noticed art galleries were more popular than concert halls. At the galleries, people could discuss art in real time, while they could not discuss music at a concert. Art galleries often provide audio guides to the art. So the Conversational Concert came about in order to provide a guide to the music being heard. We couldn't have real-time conversations, and in London, instead, we have two intermissions, so people can chat, he said. Lutchmayer, named Steinway artiste in 2012, says it is wonderful to be part of the highly regarded piano tradition. The title is given by Steinway and Sons, famed piano manufacturers, to outstanding young pianists. To be the only Indian Steinway artiste is a great honour, although I very much hope that many more Indians will be added to the roster. Lutchmayer is also director at the Trinity London Summer Academy, and will give piano masterclasses in India over two days, while Sherwood, a fellow musician conducts the strings workshop. Teaching sort of crept up on me. I was invited by my alma mater, the Royal College of Music, to take up a fellowship when I was 27, and I started lecturing, Lutchmayer said. His advice to budding pianists is to work hard, and listen to a great deal of music, not just the piano. If you want to take music seriously you need a well-qualified teacher, he said. If he hadn't become a pianist, Lutchmayer believes he would have been a rock God. BTC chairman Y Jagannath, horse trainer Neil Darashah and Lokendra Kumar from the administration section were interrogated by CID officials for three hours in the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) horse doping case. The Criminal Investigation Department had issued summons to seven people in the case. After interrogation, it emerged that all horses are injected with procaine to relieve them of their tiredness and pain due to races. However, race horse Queen Latifa had a swollen throat with an abscess and according to veterinarians, she was treated with procaine from January 27 to February 7, 2017. It was only after 25 days of treatment that Queen Latifa won the race. According to European Horse Race Scientific Liaison Committee, from the routine urine collected from winning horses, every millilitre of urine can contain 10 nanograms of procaine. The procaine levels in Queen Latifas urine samples were low, revealed Mauritius QuantiLAB. BTC officials claim that a few people deliberately raked up the issue to defame the club. Currently, two berths are vacant one created after the death of H S Mahadeva Prasad and another due to the resignation of H Y Meti on charges of his reported involvement in a sex CD. While Prasad was a Lingayat, Meti belongs to the Kuruba community. The Congress high command has asked Parameshwara to resign as minister. Parameshwara is a Dalit, and he is likely to resign as the home minister on Thursday. On Wednesday, the chief minister did not indicate when he would fill up vacancies.P M Narendraswamy, Motamma (both Dalits), P M Ashok, Mohana Kumari, Dr A B Maalakaraddy, D B Inamdar, Basavaraj Shivannavar (all Lingayats), Meti, H M Revanna, Govindappa, C S Shivalli, MTB Nagaraj (all Kurubas), are among the aspirants for the ministerial posts. The CID recently gave a clean chit to Meti on the sex CD issue and hence, he has been trying hard to get back to the council of ministers, sources in the state Congress said. Speculation is rife in party circles that Siddaramaiah may keep the home portfolio as he will lead the party in the 2018 Assembly elections. It is also said that Bengaluru Development Minister K J George is keen on becoming home minister again. He was holding the home department portfolio till October 2015 and made way for Parameshwara. It is also speculated that the chief minister may give one more representation to Vokkaligas in his Cabinet instead of a Dalit as a replacement for Parameshwara. For, Vokkaligas had been complaining that the community had not been given adequate representation in the Cabinet. The late Mahadeva Prasad was a Banajiga Lingayat. Mohan Kumari, widow of late Mahadeva Prasad, and Ashok are Banajiga Lingayats. Siddaramaiah had, during the byelection to the Gundlupet Assembly constituency, said Mohana Kumari will be made a minister if she is elected. He, however, later denied having said it. Parameshwara told reporters on Wednesday he was not hurt that the party asked him to quit the ministerial post. I welcome the partys decision. The high command has reposed faith in me and asked me to continue as the KPCC president, he stated. Congress legislators belonging to Dalit, Lingayat and Kuruba communities are vying for ministerial berths in the council of ministers, which will have three vacancies once G Parameshwara quits as home minister on Thursday. Mukadappa said Yeddyurappa was one of the chief guests at the Balijas conference held in Bengaluru last Sunday. He shared the dais with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda. If Yeddyurappa is allowed to participate in rallies held under caste banners, then why is Eshwarappa taken to task for associating himself with the Brigade, which is trying to make space for the oppressed classes in politics? The Brigade is only trying to help the BJP consolidate Dalits, minorities and backward classes, he said. He also pointed out that Yeddyurappa was only damaging BJPs prospects among the oppressed classes. Asked whether the Brigade would be a closed chapter with Yeddyurappa on Sunday announcing that Eshwarappa would no more participate in the Brigades programmes, Mukadappa said, The Brigade is not running for the sake of Eshwarappa. We will continue with our programmes. The poor and voiceless people are not interested in just free rice and milk given by the Siddaramaiah government. They want political representation. Sangolli Rayanna Brigade working president Mukadappa said on Wednesday that state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa has been attending caste-based conventions while opposing K S Eshwarappas association with the Brigade. Thousands of people from all walks of life, including Sandalwood actors and politicians, paid their tribute to Parvathamma at her Sadashivanagar residence. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who paid their last respects to her at her residence said she was the woman behind Rajkumar's success. Gowda said Parvathamma was the divine force of the Kannada film industry. Union Minister H N Ananth Kumar paid homage to Parvathamma and said, "She is a great producer and was Rajkumar's strength. Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha said, She was a role model for all women. I pray that God gives strength to the family to bear the grief and pain. BJP senior leader S M Krishna, Mayor G Padmavathi, Cabinet ministers D K Shivakumar, K J George, T B Jayachandra and Dinesh Gundu Rao, and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy also visited the Sadashivanagar residence and met the bereaved family. Stars express grief Sandalwood actors visited Parvathamma's residence and some took to Twitter expressing their grief. Actress Sudharani, who visited the Sadashivanagar residence, termed Parvathamma as the mother of Kannada film industry. Actress Leelavathi and her son Vinodraj paid their last respects. "Let her soul rest in peace. I pray that God gives strength to her children to bear the grief and pain, said Leelavathi. Actors Ravichandran, Ganesh, Yash, Sumalatha, Ambareesh, Malashree, music director Hamsalekha, V Harikrishna, Karnataka Film Chamber president Sa Ra Govind and others were present. Shaktidhama, a voluntary organisation in Mysuru, supported by actor Rajkumars family, mourned the death of Parvathamma Rajkumar, who passed away in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The inmates of Shaktidhama were in tears as soon as the news trickled in and they paid a floral tribute to the portrait of Parvathamma, the founder-president and backbone of the organisation. Speaking to DH, Shaktidhama executive secretary G S Jayadev said, It was around Dasara in 1998, when the Police department rescued around 800 women who were involved in prostitution. But, there was no rehabilitation centre to house these women. The then Mysuru police commissioner Kempaiah contacted Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar and explained him about the plight of destitute women and, sought his help. The issue was brought to the notice of Parvathamma, who took the initiative and founded Shaktidhama, he said. Suttur Mutt seer Shivaratri Deshikendra Swami donated 1.5 acres for the purpose. A musical night Rajkumar Sangeetha Rasasanje was organised at the open air theatre of Manasagangotri and Rs 45 lakh was raised. It was used for the construction of the building. Shaktidhama officially came into existence in 2001. Parvathamma took care of the organisation since its inception, he added. Shaktidhama provides shelter to rape victims, those rescued from prostitution, victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and destitutes. The women are given training in life skills to instil confidence. Around 4,000 women have been benefited so far, it is said. Parvathamma used to visit Shaktidhama once a month and also whenever she was on her way to Gajanur, the native village of Rajkumar. She also used to supply groceries and other essential items for the rehabilitation centre. However, due to ill-health, her visits became irregular and her last visit was seven months ago, Jayadev said. Puneeth Rajkumar, son of Parvathamma, is said to have donated his remuneration from Kotyadhipathi programme on a private tevelision channel, to Shaktidhama. The government has so far released Rs 3.5 crore funds, Jaydev added. However, Parvathammas dream of setting up an educational institution for the underprivileged girls could not be realised despite purchasing four acres, due to legal hassles. Parvathamma Rajkumar (78), producer of scores of hit Kannada films and wife of iconic actor Rajkumar, died at M S Ramaiah Hospital here on Wednesday. She was laid to rest with state honours at Kanteerava Studios on Wednesday evening. She was buried next to Rajkumar. Their children Puneeth, Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra followed instructions from chief priest Dasaiah, who supervised the last rites. Poornima, one of Parvathammas two daughters, fainted when she saw the body being covered with earth. Parvathamma was honoured with a gun salute, with the Karnataka Police firing three rounds in the air. Her body was taken in a decorated hearse from her house in Sadashivanagar to Kanteerava Studios in Nandini Layout, a distance of 7 km. Police had stopped traffic and created a green corridor for the procession. Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and Power Minister D K Shivakumar were among those present at the burial. Traffic was blocked at many places from Cauvery junction and Kanteerava Studios via the Yeswanthpur flyover. The procession began at 3.45 pm and reached its destination at 4.30 pm. The police allowed only family members, relatives and close friends, besides media personnel, into Kanteerava Studios. Disappointed crowds Hundreds of people had gathered outside with garlands to pay their respects, but police did not allow them inside. When the crowds became restive, police caned them. The rites were relayed live on a giant LED TV. Doctors at M S Ramaiah Hospital informed the family about Parvathammas cardiac arrest early on Wednesday. The body reached the family residence at Sadashivanagar at 7 am. Initially, the plan was to take the body to Poornaprajna Educational Centre grounds nearby to enable the public to pay homage, but the family eventually decided against it. VIP mourners Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, senior politicians S M Krishna, Mallikarjun Kharge, T B Jayachandra and R Ashoka, besides Mayor Padmavathi, visited the bungalow and paid their respects. Thousands thronged Sadashivanagar for a glimpse of Parvathamma, the woman who had contributed to the success of her iconic husband Rajkumar. A galaxy of film and TV actors, who looked up to Parvathamma, visited the bungalow. Many big stars like Ambareesh and Ravichandran also paid homage there. Sa Ra Govindu, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president, thanked the government for granting permission to conduct the final rites at the Kanteerava Studios. R Hithendra, additional commissioner of police, and Labhu Ram, deputy commissioner of police, ensured free passage for the procession. Shootings cancelled All shootings and film-related work is cancelled for the day. Cinema halls and threatres across the state will not operate until 6 pm on Wednesday, Govindu said. The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday pulled up the Karnataka government for toxic foam spilling onto the road from Varthur lake in Bengaluru. When a lawyer brought to its notice media reports about the foam, the green bench, headed by tribunal chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, said, What is this going on? How are you getting so much of foam? Why cant you remove the factor which generates foam? There are traffic jams which further lead to air pollution. When an advocate representing the government said it would look into the problem and apprise the tribunal at the next hearing, the bench said, First, you put your lakes on fire and now cause traffic jams. You cant do this. Look into this matter and resolve it. The foam had enveloped roads along the lake, a lawyer said. Heavy showers last week got Varthur lake foaming again. With toxic foam spilling onto Whitefield Main Road, motorists had a tough time negotiating traffic. Bellandur pollutants The NGT also refused to give relief to automobile showrooms near Bellandur lake from shutting down. The green bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notices to the state government, Lake Development Authority, Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and central pollution control board and sought their reply on the plea of the car dealers within a week. The bench had earlier ordered the KSPCB to close down 76 polluting industries around the lake and directed them to set up sewage and effluent treatment plant. However, the automobile dealers near the lake filed an application before the NGT, saying the authorities had shut down their units, located more than 15 km away from the lake. An advocate appearing for the car dealers said they were strictly complying with all norms and not discharging any effluent in the Bellandur lake. The audit report by Maruti company shows strict compliance by us. If any of the dealers does not comply with regulations, the dealership is instantly cancelled. We are in no way responsible for pollution in the lake. Those units which have released effluents should be closed, he said. The bench said, You are making it difficult for people to breathe and live their life. People are coming to the court, saying there are deaths taking place due to the pollution. You are not maintaining any record of the hazardous waste generated by you. Show us the mechanism as to how you collect the waste, the bench said. The bench listed the matter for next hearing on June 8. Last week, we got a circular saying that the examination fee has been increased to nearly Rs 1,300 from around Rs 500. How can rural and poor students afford such exorbitant fees? one student asked. The protest was organised by the state unit of ABVP. The students said the university was trying to recover the money it lost to I-T raids by charging high fees. The university is delaying the announcement of regular examinations and revaluation, putting students in a fix, they said. The exams for the 8th semester have been scheduled for June 6 but we dont know the results of revaluation of the previous semester. Now, we dont know if we need to give a re-exam for those subjects and this will be the last chance to clear them, a student in a city college said. University authorities are asking them to pay for both revaluation and re-examination, assuring them that if they pass in the revaluation, the re-exam fee will be refunded. The VTU VC met the students and told them that a syndicate meeting would be called and a decision on these issues will be taken within two days. Students from engineering colleges affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) protested outside the VTU regional office in Nagarbhavi on Wednesday, raising concerns about several issues in the university. The incident exposes the Congress stand on cow protection. Mere suspension of men who slaughtered the gau mata is not enough. They need to be booked under a stricter law and that is why I am going on a fast, he told mediapersons. However, trouble began when a group of Congressmen came to the venue, apparently under the pretext of supporting Maharaj on the issue. They telephoned me and said they wanted to support me. But once they arrived, they displayed some objectionable banners and attacked us, Maharaj said. The two groups threw stones at each other. The situation was brought under control after the police detained several people, including senior leaders. The Congress, on its part, blamed the BJP workers for the trouble. The BJP knows that it is losing ground in the forthcoming Assembly polls and so is trying to clutch the straws by raking up the cow protection issue, Congress leader Indravijaysinh Gohil said. Members of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress came to blows here over the slaughter of a calf in Kerala. VHP leader Shambhu Maharaj had sat on a 48-hour fast here against the calf slaughter, reportedly by Congress workers, in Kerala. The Centres new rules on banning cattle trade for slaughter seems to be on a sticky wicket. The notification issued on May 23 has imposed a blanket ban on the sale of animals from markets for slaughter. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017, makes it clear that livestock (cows, bulls, buffaloes, camels and heifers) from markets would be available for the trading of animals for agricultural purposes only. However, buying of animals for slaughtering can take place from farmers directly. This could be the reason why the Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that there is no ban on the slaughter of cattle. The court noted that the Centres rules prohibited the sale of animals for slaughter from the markets. They have not banned cattle slaughter at all, the court observed, while declining to entertain a PIL on the issue. A day earlier, the Madras High Court stayed the implementation of the Centres notification for four weeks on two pleas contending that the rule went against the federal structure, besides being contradictory to the parent legislation, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. The new rule has been opposed vehemently by states like Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry. With strident voices being heard against it, the notification will go through strict legal scrutiny. Notably, the rules were drafted following a strong push by the apex court while entertaining a PIL by animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi. The top court had in July questioned the Centre over the delay in framing stringent rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to check cattle smuggling. It had directed the Centre to give a definite deadline to ensure the prevention of illegal movement of cattle from India to Nepal for illegal slaughter and sacrifice at the Gadhimai Festival. The court had in July 2015 ordered all states to constitute the Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as stipulated under the act. The key issue, however, is if the Centre has usurped the power of the state government over regulating cattle trade. It is argued that the Centre has under Section 38 of the act just regulated the purchase of animals for agriculture and slaughter. But the power to frame rules for deciding to slaughter animals would be completely vested with the respective state governments. But it is feared that the new notification, nevertheless, would be open to misuse. How hotels or restaurants which serve beef would deal with the situation is another moot question. The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday recommended that the state government regard the cow a legal entity, and declare it a national animal by making a representation to the Centre. The court also asked the state government to enhance the punishment for cow slaughter to life imprisonment from three years jail. A single judge bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma passed the directive on a public interest litigation on the death of more than 500 cows at a government-run shelter at Hingonia near Jaipur. The order also recommended the appointment of the state chief secretary and advocate general as persons in Loco Parentis to ensure cow conservation and breeding. The order also said that the chief secretary and advocate general must take steps to get the directions implemented. In an unusual move, Justice Sharma, who retired from service later in the day, told the media that India should follow Nepals example and declare the cow a national animal. If Nepal, a Hindu nation, can do it, why cant India make cow its national animal? All the 20 recommendations that I pronounced today in the court are the voice of my soul, Justice Sharma said. The court also directed the state government to include a provision of life imprisonment in the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995. In his 139-page order, the judge stated that India is a predominantly agricultural economy based on animal rearing. According to Article 48 and 51A (g), the state government is expected to take action to get legal entity status for the cow. The courts recommendations came a day after Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje stressed that firm action would be taken against those behind violent crimes, including cow vigilantes. Speaking for the government, Additional Advocate General A S Gill, who attended the compliance meeting in the court, told the media, These are only recommendations; we will read all 20 points and decide on which can be implemented. Poonam Chand Bhandari, who had filed the plea, found the directives shocking. The plea was regarding the mismanagement by the state government. But none of the directives answer those questions, he told DH. The order came while the court was hearing the Hingonia Gaushala matter, a BJP government-owned cow shelter some 35 km from Jaipur, where thousands of cows had perished in 2016. Taking note of the incident, the Jaipur mayor was asked to resign, and fresh elections were held in October last. Initial probe revealed negligence by government officials at the shelter. Peacock, national bird In a surprising observation, Justice Sharma, while explaining why the cow deserves to be given the national animal tag like the peacock, the national bird of India, told a TV channel: The peacock is a pious bird as it maintains celibacy and does not have sex with the peahen. In this case, the peahen gives birth after it gets impregnated with the tears of the peacock and that is how a peacock or a peahen is born. Earlier instances The recommendation comes two months after two incidents of cow vigilantism stirred the state. In the first, a gau rakshak attacked a hotel owner and staff in Jaipur for reportedly selling beef. But the forensic science laboratory report proved that the meat was chicken. In the second case, vigilantes attacked a 55-year-old cattle trader, Pehlu Khan, and four others in Alwar. Pehlu Khan died, while his companions were injured. Going by the recent controversial auction of sand mines in Punjab, a truckload of sand in the state may cost around Rs 3 lakh. Thats the arithmetic if successful bidders have to break-even to recover the high price they have paid to bag these sand mines. Consider this: Bidders of the controversial sand mining site in Saidpur pledged a fortune, after which it went down under the hammer for a high price of Rs 26.5 crore. The mine has a capacity of over 31,000 tonnes and each truckload carries 40 tonnes. Now, the bidder will have to sell each truckload for more than Rs 3 lakh to break-even. The cost of machinery, manpower etc., are additional. At the 29,000 tonne capacity Mehadipur site in Nawanshehr, which went for Rs 9.2 crore, the bidder will have to sell each truckload for Rs 1.24 lakh if he has to break-even. Apprehensions are that all this mismatch may lead to over-exploitation and illegal mining. Also, a source said mining business is restricted during the Monsoon. As eyebrows are being raised over the first sand-mining e-auction in the Capt Amarinder Singh regime, the controversy surrounding the stake of a cook and three other employees of senior Punjab minister Rana Gurjit Singh in these mines refuses to die down. The ministers former cook, who has declared an annual income of Rs 1 lakh to the I-T Department, bid a whopping Rs 26.5 crore to win the Saidpur sand mine. The chief minister has ordered a judicial probe. The Aam Aadmi Party has termed the probe an eyewash with party MLA Sukhpal Khaira demanding Justice J S Narang (retd), who will probe the case, to recuse himself as his son was counsel to the ministers nephew. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has served a show cause to Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, seeking his reply on the allocation of a petrol pump to him in the city by the company. The notice was delivered to Tej Pratap, state minister for health, minor water resources, environment and forest in the grand alliance government of Nitish Kumar, on May 29. The show cause gave him 15 days time from the date of receipt for submitting his reply. Tej Pratap is Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasads elder son. The notice followed a complaint that Tej Pratap had acquired the petrol pump at the busy Anisabad bypass road here on the basis of wrong information. A copy of the notice was made available to the media. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had highlighted the issue in a series of allegations levelled against Lalu Prasads family. Tej Pratap had applied for the petrol pump in 2012 and the retail outlet was commissioned to M/S Lara Automobiles, represented by him as its proprietor, on February 27. According to the complainant, Tej Pratap had falsely declared that he has land in his name for the retail allotment, whereas the real owner of the said land is M/S A K Infosystems. The notice further sought an explanation from him as to whether he could spare time to look after the outlets activities. We have observed that you are at present discharging duty of minister for health, minor water resources, environment and forest of Bihar, which may suggest that you are not in a position to carry out obligations contained in the agreement personally, the notice stated. The Cabinet will soon take a call on NITI Aayogs suggestion to privatise Air India, where the government is pumping in money to keep it afloat. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had on Tuesday said all options, including disinvestment, is before the government to take the national carrier to a new high. A source said the Cabinet would soon take a call on the issue. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the government is exploring all options on the national carrier, which has a debt of around Rs 50,000 crore. The talks come against the backdrop of arguments that there is no point in the government pumping in money into Air India as part of its Turn Around Plan and Financial Restructuring Plan (TAP-FRP). Under the TAP-FRP approved in April 2012, the government had committed to infusing equity of Rs 42,182 crore from 2011-12 to 2031-32. The Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) described the governments proposal as an exercise with a dubious intent to fritter away a national asset to benefit private airlines. The CITU said the move was against national interest and ill-timed as it came when Air India has posted an operating profit for the first time in 10 years since its merger with Indian Airlines. The privatisation of Air India is not for saving public money but for frittering away a national asset and exchequer for the benefit of private corporate and private airlines, both domestic and foreign. This is an exercise with a dubious intent, totally against the national interest, the CITU stated. By Justin Gillis 18 May 2017 (The New York Times) We went to Antarctica to understand how changes to its vast ice sheet might affect the world. Flowing lines on these maps show how the ice is moving. Ice sheets flow downhill, seemingly in slow motion. Mountains funnel the ice into glaciers. And ice flowing from the land into the sea can form a floating ice shelf. The acceleration is making some scientists fear that Antarcticas ice sheet may have entered the early stages of an unstoppable disintegration.Because the collapse of vulnerable parts of the ice sheet could raise the sea level dramatically, the continued existence of the worlds great coastal cities Miami, New York, Shanghai, and many more is tied to Antarcticas fate.Four New York Times journalists joined a Columbia University team in Antarctica late last year to fly across the worlds largest chunk of floating ice in an American military cargo plane loaded with the latest scientific gear. []I dont think the biblical deluge is just a fairy tale, said Terence J. Hughes, a retired University of Maine glaciologist living in South Dakota. I think some kind of major flood happened all over the world, and it left an indelible imprint on the collective memory of mankind that got preserved in these stories. [more] Ameriprise Financial advisors, employees, and clients are joining forces to help homeless families on Friday, June 16 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Organized by Tandem Financial Partners, 20 volunteers will work together at Bethel Bible Village, 3001 Hamill Road in Hixson, to help feed the 40 children, teens, and adults living on their campus, along with four infants, in their Promise teen mom program. The event is part of the semiannual national days of service organized by Ameriprise in partnership with Feeding America. On June 19, 4,000 Ameriprise financial advisors, employees and clients will spend the day participating in over 200 events across 43 states. This effort is centered around helping the 49 million Americans, including 16 million children and 5.3 million seniors, who face hunger in the U.S., officials said. Food Drive donations can be dropped off at their offices, 7047 Lee Hwy., Suite 309 in Chattanooga, until the end of June. Check out the website for a list of items needed. To help volunteer, contact Cindy at 423-386-5751, or by email at Cynthia.steele@ampf.com. By Jonathan Watts 28 May 2017 Vila Bela da Santissima Trindade (The Guardian) To understand why the Brazilian government is deliberately losing the battle against deforestation, you need only retrace the bootmarks of the Edwardian explorer Percy Fawcett along the Amazonian border with Bolivia. During a failed attempt to cross a spectacular tabletop plateau here in 1906, the adventurer nearly died on the first of his many trips to South America. Back then, the area was so far from human habitation, the foliage so dense and the terrain so steep that Fawcett and his party came close to starvation.He returned home with tales of a towering, inaccessible mesa teeming with wildlife and irrigated by secret waterfalls and crystalline rivers. By some accounts, this was one of the stories that inspired his friend Arthur Conan Doyle to write The Lost World about a fictional plateau jutting high above the jungle that served as a sanctuary for species long since extinct elsewhere.In their wildest fantasies, however, neither Fawcett nor Conan Doyle are likely to have imagined the modern reality of that plateau, which can no longer be certain of protection from geography, the law or Brazils international commitments.Today, orange dirt roads, cut into the forest by illegal loggers, lead you to the north-western flank of the elevated hilltop. Now called the Serra Ricardo Franco state park, this is nominally a conservation area set up with support from the World Bank. Instead of forest, however, you find swaths of land invaded by farmers, stripped of trees, and turned over to pasture for 240,000 cows. There are even private airfields inside the parks boundaries, which exist on maps only.Far from being an isolated area where a wanderer might starve, this is now despite its dubious legal status one of the worlds great centres of food production. In recent months, it has also emerged as a symbol of the resurgent influence of a landowning class in Brazil who, even more than in the US under Donald Trump, are cashing in on the destruction of the wild.Locals say a member of President Michel Temers cabinet chief of staff Eliseu Padilha owns ranches here on hillsides stripped of forest in a supposedly protected park. The municipal ombudsmen told the Observer the cattle raised here are then sold in contravention of pledges to prosecutors and international consumers to JBS, the worlds biggest meat-packing company, which is at the centre of a huge bribery scandal. [more] Pictured (L to R) Remember the Removal Bike Ride trainer Sarah Holcomb, Remember the Removal Bike Ride cyclists Gaya Pickup, Shelby Deal and Raven Girty, Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Secretary Frankie Hargis, Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr., Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden and Principal Chief Bill John Baker, Remember the Removal Bike Ride Mentor Rider Will Chavez, cyclists Hunter Scott, Macie Sullateskee, Ellic Miller, and Breanna Anderson, Cherokee Spiritual Leader Crosslin Smith, cyclist Susie Q. Means-Worley, Tribal Council Speaker Joe Byrd and cyclists Brian Barlow, KenLea Henson, Skylar Vann and Trey Prtichett. Kaycee Deal hugs daughter and 2017 Remember the Removal Bike Ride cyclist Shelby Deal before Deal and other participants leave for three week, 950 mile journey retracing the Trail of Tears. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker offers words of encouragement to the 2017 Remember the Removal Bike Ride participants during a special send-off ceremony. Pictured (L to R) Remember the Removal Bike Ride trainer Sarah Holcomb, cyclists Gaya Pickup, Shelby Deal, Raven Girty and Macie Sullateskee, Mentor Rider Will Chavez and cyclists Hunter Scott, Ellic Miller, Breanna Anderson, Susie Q. Means-Worley, Brian Barlow, Skylar Vann, KenLea Henson and Trey Pritchett. Previous Next Twelve cyclists participating in the 2017 Remember the Removal Bike Ride left the Cherokee Nation Tuesday to begin a three-week, 950-mile trek retracing the northern route of the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee Nation cyclists will join eight cyclists from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, NC, and will begin their ride in New Echota, Ga. on June 4. The ride spans seven states before concluding in Tahlequah on June 22. Each and every year, the Remember the Removal effort enables some of Cherokee Nations strongest emerging leaders to participate in a unique event that is focused on individual growth, teamwork development and, most importantly, sharing Cherokee history and heritage, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. The journey from Georgia to Oklahoma is mentally and physically challenging, and these young people will return home in a few weeks with a new and profound appreciation of the multitude of sacrifices our ancestors made along the Trail of Tears. The original Remember the Removal Bike Ride was in 1984, with the leadership program resuming in 2009. Participants learn about Cherokee Nation history, language, and culture and get a glimpse of the hardships their ancestors faced while making the journey on foot. "In 1838, Cherokees were rounded up and forced from their homes in Georgia, Tennessee and other southeastern states to the Cherokee Nations current capital in Tahlequah. Of approximately 16,000 Cherokees who were forced to make the trek to Indian Territory, it is estimated that 4,000 died from exposure, disease, and starvation," officials said. Remember the Removal Bike Ride participant Ellic Miller said the ride gives him the opportunity to connect to his ancestors. I want to go and honor our ancestors and retrace their steps from when they were removed to somewhat experience what they felt, but for us, this is voluntary and not life and death, Mr. Miller said. When I first signed up, I wanted to do the Remember the Removal Bike Ride for the physical sport and I thought it would be fun to push myself, but now I really feel like Im doing it to learn about my ancestors. To me, it will be a mental challenge and we just have to keep going. Its going to be hard, but not as hard as it was for our ancestors on the Trail of Tears. This year, riders will be accompanied by Will Chavez, a participant of the original 1984 Remember the Removal Bike Ride. Mr. Chavez was chosen as the programs inaugural Mentor Rider. I did the inaugural ride in 1984 as a 17-year-old kid. The Remember the Removal program means a lot to me because it changed my life as a young man, giving me the confidence to take on the challenges I faced later in life, Mr. Chavez said. Today, the program continues to boost the self-confidence and develop the leadership skills of participants, showing them they are capable of much more than they realize. It has been a great experience for me to take part in this commemorative ride again as one of the riders. Cyclists will also help promote national parks along their journey in honor of a $25,000 grant awarded to the program by the National Park Foundation. Cherokee Nation cyclists include Brian Barlow, Hunter Scott, Ellic Miller and Macie Sullateskee, all of Cherokee County; Trey Pritchett, KenLea Henson and Susie Q. Means-Worley, all of Adair County; Skylar Vann and Gaya Pickup, both of Mayes County; Breanna Anderson, of Tulsa County; Shelby Deal, of Muskogee County; and Raven Girty, of Sequoyah County. Participants from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are Zane Wachacha, Bo Taylor, Israel Rodriguez, Chavella Taylor, Haley Cooper, Taylor Wilnoty, Renissa McLaughlin and Sheyahshe Littledave. Follow the Remember the Removal Bike Ride journey at www.facebook.com/removal.ride or by searching for the hashtags #RememberTheRemoval and #RTR2017 on Twitter. Cyclists will travel through the following cities and states on these dates: Georgia June 4 New Echota to Cleveland, Tennessee Tennessee June 5 Cleveland to Dayton June 6 Dayton to Spencer June 7 Spencer to Murfreesboro June 8 Murfreesboro to Goodlettsville June 9 Goodlettsville to Hopkinsville, Kentucky Kentucky June 10 Hopkinsville to Paducah June 11 Paducah to Cape Girardeau, Missouri Missouri June 13 Cape Girardeau to Farmington June 14 Farmington to Cuba June 15 Cuba to St. Robert June 16 St. Robert to Lebanon June 17 Lebanon to Springfield June 19 Springfield to Cassville June 20 Cassville to Fayetteville, Arkansas Arkansas June 21 Fayetteville to Stilwell, Oklahoma Oklahoma June 22 Stilwell to Tahlequah Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management Training Division will hold graduation ceremonies for those volunteer firefighters who have completed 320 hours of Firefighter I Course and 180 hours of Firefighter II Course. The graduation will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at Middle Valley Church of God, 1703 Thrasher Pike. Nine fire cadets from Firefighter I class and nine fire cadets from Firefighter II class will graduate representing several agencies including Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department, Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department, Lone Oak Volunteer Fire Department, and Soddy Daisy Fire Department. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will host a series of 100th anniversary programs at Chickamauga Battlefield on June 10 and 11 commemorating the opening of military training camps on the battlefield during World War I. Living historians will be at Snodgrass Hill (Tour Stop 8), where they will conduct programs about the trenches dug on the battlefield during World War I. They will also discuss daily life in 1917. Programs will take place at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. Additionally, there will be a 90 minute ranger-guided car caravan tour highlighting some of the areas on the battlefield where soldiers trained during World War I. This tour will begin at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 2 p.m. There are no admission fees for these programs."In the summer of 1917, Chickamauga Battlefield bustled with activity as the first soldiers began arriving at what became three large training depots in the park. By wars end, miles of trenches and rifle pits crisscrossed the landscape, altering this hallowed ground set aside for preservation just a few years earlier. Join us as we explore the purpose and consequences of battlefield preservation at Chickamauga a century ago," officials said.For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423-821-7786, or visit the parks website at www.nps.gov/chch. The Nightfall Concert Series, produced by Chattanooga Presents, continues its 30th season Friday at Miller Plaza with a headline performance by Australian band, JAKUBI, with Trent Williams & the Menagerie to open. Review for JAKUBI: Theres always a party happening somewhere, and JAKUBI provides the perfect soundtrack. Thats why the Melbourne, Australia quintetbrothers Jerome [vocals, keys, talkbox] and Jacob Farah [bass, moog], cousins Jesse Rehaut [drums, guitar] and Adam Kane [guitar, keys] and longtime friend Rob Amoruso [guitar, keys, drums]immediately attracted a growing audience with their swinging, slick and sizzling sonic buffet of pop, R&B, hip-hop, rock and soul since first emerging in 2012. Their 2015 track Couch Potato racked up over 500,000 YouTube/VEVO views and has gained them over 10k monthly listeners on Spotify. Last year brought JAKUBI to Los Angeles to record what would become their debut EP, 61 Barkly. The band has collaborated with everybody from GRAMMY Award winning producer Eric Hudson [Kanye West, John Legend, Dr. Dre] and Harmony Samuels [Ne-Yo, Chris Brown] to Royal-Z [Fifth Harmony] and FRESHM3N III [Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears]. JAKUBI is perfect for your chill funk playlist, but live performances are what they do best. Review for Trent Williams & the Menagerie: Opening for the JAKUBI will be the Chattanooga-based Trent Williams & the Menagerie. Trent Williams is a Florida native, raised by a family of vocalists and musicians. He currently serves as the minister of music at New Monumental Baptist Church. Williams exhibits talent across the musical spectrumclassical and choral vocals, jazz piano, songwriter, actor, and choir director. Trent recorded his first live album Vertical in 2013 and has been sought out for his unique songwriting ability having garnered over seven album placements in one year. His band, The Menagerie, offers jazzy, soulful complements to Trents powerful voice. Held each Friday at Miller Plaza through Aug. 25 (with the exception of June 9 and 16 during Riverbend), Nightfall showcases a broad spectrum of musical genres featuring a local band at 7 p.m., followed by a headline show by a national artist at 8 p.m., many of whom are performing for the first time in Chattanooga. These shows are free to the public and appropriate for a family audience. Nightfall bulk discount beer and wine tickets are again be available this year at each show, offering a 20 percent savings on a packet of 20 beer and wine tickets. Food trucks and non-alcoholic drink concessions are also available on site. No outside food or beverages are allowed to be brought in to Nightfall, therefore coolers are not allowed. Known for its family-friendly environment as well as being recognized nationally for the quality of its musical programming and locally as Best of the Best for Chattanooga Events, Nightfall is a family-friendly concert series with an average attendance of between 2,500-3,000 each night. For more information on this free community concert series, call 265-0771 or visit NightfallChattanooga.com for a complete, interactive website that includes music samples by each headliner, as well as other important information for first-time attendees. The India Mobile Congress was formally inaugurated by Minister of Communications, Manoj Sinha. The event will be India's first and biggest ever, platform to bring together all stakeholders from Telecom, Internet & Mobility ecosystem along with ICT players India will host its own version of a mega mobile event on the lines of the Mobile World Congress held annually in Barcelona, Spain. Called the India Mobile Congress (IMC), the event was inaugurated in a formal ceremony which saw Minister of Communications, Manoj Sinha launch detail out India's maiden attempt at a mobile congregation of this scale. Read the entire press release below. Press Release India Mobile Congress launched by Shri Manoj Sinha, Hon. Minister of Communications India gets its biggest ever platform for Telecom, Internet & Technology Telecom Ministry and DoT take lead with global leaders from the industry Also has the support of Meity & the Ministry of Skill Development Policy Makers, Global Leaders, Industry heads, Academia and Sr. Bureaucrats from Centre and States to participate in the leadership forum, exhibition, conclave & awards recognising the best in technology, innovation and mobility while predicting the future of tech4social good New Delhi, 30th May 2016: Hon'ble Minister of Telecommunication Shri Manoj Sinha today launched the India Mobile Congress 2017 (IMC 2017), the countrys first and biggest ever, platform to bring together all stakeholders from Telecom, Internet & Mobility ecosystem along with ICT players, app developers, innovators and start-ups. COAI along with K and D Communications Limited through India Mobile Congress, has addressed a long standing need which was felt especially in South Asia for a platform, which brings the entire ecosystem together and addresses issues which are more pertinent to this part of the world. With over a billion connections the Industry in India achieved a transformative milestone. The idea to locate an International event par excellence in India is both timely and well placed. The world is now looking at affordable access and seamless connectivity for voice and data and with over 25-50 billion connected devices by 2020 , the future is truly here. The three-day IMC will be held on 27-29 September 2017, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and will see participation of government bodies, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), handset manufacturers, Internet giants, ISPs, Global technology players, AI & VR companies, Mobility leaders, Academia, Start-ups and app providers. While, announcing the schedule of the event and releasing its logo, Shri Sinha said, The India Mobile Congress will be the biggest event of the telecom industry and it will bring together all stakeholders from the industry and government on a common platform. It will be an exciting opportunity for all involved to explore and achieve new heights in the world of Information and Communication Technology. It is a proud moment for all of us and I am sure no stone will be left unturned to ensure the success of this mega event. Government of India congratulates COAI, K and D Communications Limited and the industry and assures its full support for the event. This is a huge step forward towards realising the Hon. Prime Ministers vision of a fully connected and digitally empowered India. IMC 2017 will bring together the global mobile industry, showcase exciting new products & innovation and share the India story, bringing the world to Delhi. He further mentioned that the need for such a mega event was long felt and it will play a big role in taking the Indian telecom industry to the international arena and provide the right platform for development of ideas and new technology. The COAI along with K and D Communication is organising this event to create a world class experience, environment and state-of-the-art platform for the event. Speaking on the occasion, Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, COAI said, COAI along with K and D Communications Limited is working to create a world class environment for this event. India Mobile Congress will be the marquee event of India. We hope that the deliberations will inform global policy and over the years all stakeholders will look forward to this event for launches and release of new technologies. The Government of India along with the Department of Telecommunication are supporting this as an annual, recurring event, just like the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. India has a huge market and apart from that, South-East Asia has immense potential. Terming it as a mega event of the Indian telecom industry, he added, The annual show will see participation of major players in communications sector from different parts of the world. India is on the cusp of a digital revolution and the telecom industry is the backbone to usher in this new era of communication and connectivity which will lie in the palm of the consumers hand. The proliferation of data will enable the spread of financial services and improve access to education governance and health services. The India Mobile Congress brings the best of Mobile, Internet and Technology and is certain to be a must visit event on global calendars. Microsoft doesn't seem finished with mobile devices just yet, but is this the rumoured Surface Phone? It has long been rumoured that Microsoft is working on something it calls the Surface Phone. After discontinuing its Windows Mobile operating system and Windows Phone lines, the company hasnt had a smartphone in a while. However, a new report from Thurrot.com cites two independent sources who told the publication that Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows being tested internally, along with a hardware device to go with it. Further, the report states that Microsoft is pursuing new experiences with this device and the project is in early days of development. Its worth noting that the device in question is not necessarily a smartphone, but its a mobile device nevertheless. The Thurrot.com report says things may change dramatically by the time Microsoft is done with this new device and OS. The project is apparently slightly beyond pure development stage, so it shouldnt be long before Microsoft releases it to the public. Microsoft has been focusing on development of its Windows ecosystem for a while now, but the company has mostly focused on PC-like devices. The company received a lot of accolades for its new Surface Studio AIO, while the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are also part of Microsofts future plans. The company is also going after Googles Chrome OS, with its new Windows 10S operating system. The Moto Z2 Play is expected to offer a thinner design and a smaller battery, along with support for MotoMods accessories Motorola has confirmed that its next smartphone dubbed "next bold phone" will launch on June 1. The Canadian entity of Motorola has confirmed the upcoming launch via Twitter and it is likely that we will finally see the often leaked Moto Z2 series. A recently leaked roadmap revealed Motorola plans to launch multiple smartphones in its 'c', 'e', 'g', 'x' and 'z' series this year. While the company has made the Moto G5 and Moto C series official, the next announcement could be related to either the Moto E4 or Moto Z2 series. A recently leaked retail package of the alleged Moto Z2 Play suggested that the handset will become official on June 1. With the Moto Z series, Motorola has almost nailed the idea of the modular smartphone after LG and Google dropped their own modular smartphone plans. The company announced the original Moto Z series at Tech World in June last year and it now seems that Lenovo owned Motorola is ready to show off the second generation Z series. The 2017 Moto Z series is expected to include the Moto Z2, Moto Z2 Play and Moto Z2 Force. The company is reportedly calling the series as 'Unlimited Capabilities' with support for different MotoMod accessories. While there aren't many details about the Moto Z2 in particular, most rumours suggest the handset will launch with the Snapdragon 835 platform. Moto Z2 Play, the mid-range modular smartphone, has leaked multiple times in the past and has also received TENAA certification confirming specifications. The handset with model number XT1710-08 is expected to feature a 5.5-inch full HD AMOLED display and will be powered by the Snapdragon 626 platform, coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. It is also rumoured to switch to the 12MP dual-pixel autofocus rear camera found on the Moto G5 Plus, while retaining the 5MP front camera found on last year's model. The biggest change here is the use of a smaller 3000mAh battery and the company surprisingly confirmed that the smartphone will feature a 3000mAh battery as opposed to 3510mAh battery found on the Moto Z Play. The Moto Z2 Play is said to be 5.99mm thick. The Moto Z2 Force, on the other hand, is expected to feature a shattershield display and support 1Gbps LTE chipset. At this point, we can expect Motorola to showcase the second-generation Moto Z smartphones at its event on June 1. AMD ropes in all the big OEM brands to increase market penetration of AMD Ryzen CPU and Polaris GPUs At the COMPUTEX 2017 AMD press conference, AMD along with Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo announced new AMD Ryzen based desktops and notebooks. This includes the worlds first gaming laptop based on Ryzen - the ASUS ROG STRIX GL702ZC. Most of the OEMs on stage had demo units ready but except for ASUS, they all had either All-in-Ones (AIOs) or desktop machines. Towards the end of the session, AMD revealed a prototype design for a sub-15 mm Ryzen based 2-in-1 convertible laptop. AMD seems to be gunning for the entire PC portfolio by the looks of it. Lets take a look at what all machines AMD unveiled today. Dell Dell was the first to be called on stage. They announced two all-in-ones and a desktop based on AMD Ryzen CPUs and AMD Radeon GPUs. The Dell Inspiron 27 7000 All-in-One will be the first to have an AMD Ryzen processor powering it. The other unit will be an Inspiron Gaming Desktop. "Dell is excited to implement AMD Ryzen solutions in our new Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop and Computex d&i award winner, the Inspiron 27 7000 AIO," said Ray Wah, senior vice president and general manager, Dell Consumer and Small Business Product Group. "Dell is committed to providing the best Ready for VR and PC Gaming solutions for all budgets and levels of play; AMD's Ryzen processor delivers fast responsiveness and performance at a great price for gaming, VR and other computing needs." ASUS ASUS has multiple units coming in as well, especially under the Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand. They announced the ROG STRIX GL702ZC which will pack an 8-core Ryzen processor and an AMD Radeon RX 580 GPU. ASUS will also have the G11DF desktop machine featuring AMD technology as well. "ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) is dedicated to delivering the most innovative hardcore hardware for truly dedicated gamers," said the Chief Operating Officer of ASUS, S.Y. Shian. "We are excited to announce our brand new powerful ROG mobile platform the Strix GL702ZC. This system, equipped with AMD's latest 8-core Ryzen processor and an AMD Radeon RX580 GPU, is the first ROG product that we've designed around AMD and it is a gaming powerhouse." Acer Acer went for a more fleshed out system with the Acer Aspire GX-281 desktop. Details about the Acer GX-281 desktop were leaked way earlier when a Dutch online retailer accidently listed machines featuring Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 CPUs. At that time, the Acer machines only listed NVIDIA Pascal graphics cards but Radeon RX cards are expected when the products start shipping. "Announcing the Acer Aspire GX-281 desktop with AMD Ryzen processors in late April, we are proud to be on the forefront of AMD's new technology," said Jerry Kao, president of IT Products Business at Acer. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with AMD to bring more exciting products to the market together." HP We didnt see much being revealed about the HP machines with AMD CPUs or GPUs from among the demo units. Well have to keep our ears to the ground for this one. "HP is focused on delivering bold innovation in the gaming space, including virtual reality and eSports, with a portfolio that offers extreme performance and the best possible experience for all gamers," said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager of consumer personal systems, HP Inc. "AMD's recent launch of Ryzen processors has generated great excitement in the market and we believe there is a set of customers who will benefit from devices powered by Ryzen." Lenovo Last on the list is Lenovo with two products, the Lenovo IdeaCentre 720 and Lenovo IdeaCentre 510. IdeaCentre brand is all about desktop machines, so it was a bit surprising that a manufacturer like Lenovo didnt have a laptop ready but ASUS did. Nevertheless, more should be revealed in the coming days. "Desktop PCs are no longer just for work consumers use them for watching their favorite movie on Netflix, editing their digital photo collection and even gaming. They expect top performance and a smooth experience," said Tony Chen, executive director of Lenovo's Consumer PC Product and Portfolio Management. "Our Lenovo IdeaCentre desktops with the latest AMD Ryzen processor give users outstanding multitasking capabilities, alongside the high performance they need for next-gen personalized computing experiences, such as VR and high-quality streaming." Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Photos: Chicago Artist Turns 'Cones Of Shame' Into Glorious Doggie Flair By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on May 30, 2017 10:59PM It's an empirical fact that the sight of a dog shackled with one of those heartbreaking, giant cones around his neck will instantly make you as sad as he looks. Which is why we were so thrilled when a genius Chicago-based photographer brilliantly flipped the script on those so-called "cones of shame," transforming the cumbersome brace into an amazing accessory: the Cone of Fame. The mastermind, Erin Einbender, has been volunteering at one at local rescue One Tail at a Time, since October of last year, while also studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. When time came to put together a final project for her Intro to Photography course, it seemed like a peanut-butter-in-chocolate moment. She had always thought the coneswhich are strapped on to keep dogs from licking or gnawing after surgical procedurescarried negative baggage for the pups despite their utility. And since dogs were already a frequent subject of her photo work, the pimped cones seemed like the perfect idea. (By the way, the photo class was pass/fail; she passed.) It didn't take long for the Cones to unsurprisingly blow up on social mediawhich also had the glorious effect of helping her adoptable subjects find permanent homes. Thanks, Internet! "A good photograph of a rescue dog can go such a long way in helping that dog find a forever family," Einbender told Chicagoist. As Cones of Fame continues to attract more and more eyeballs, it seems like the sky is the limit. Einbender said she wants to keep the focus local for the immediate future (Chicago Animal Control and ALIVE rescue have both contacted her about Cones), but she sees room to push the project much further. "I would love to travel the U.S. and help stray dogs. Maybe we could have children's hospitals help decorate," she told Chicagoist. She also mentions recruiting designers and artists to help with designs and potential auctions to benefit rescues and shelters. "There's a long list of things I'd love to do. Really, the possibilities are endless," she said. A refusal to allow oneself to limited by perceived constraints does indeed seem like an applicable lesson. Scroll through some of Einbender's work above for proof. You can follow Cones of Fame here and check out here already Internet-famous dog Rocco here. A major cross-border built heritage summer school taking place in Donegal, Derry and Tyrone can have a significant cultural, economic and tourism potential of preserving our history. Conservation without Frontiers Summer School is organised by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and Irish Georgian Society in association with Donegal County Council, Derry City & Strabane District Council & The Heritage Council and runs from Wednesday, June 7 until Saturday, June 10. The purpose of the Cross-Border Built Heritage Summer School is to encourage the conservation, heritage-led regeneration and promotion of the built heritage of North West Ulster said Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer. This special event brings together students, experts and enthusiasts to explore, discuss, debate and enjoy issues relating to our built heritage in the context of Donegal, Derry and Tyrone. The opening presentation is by Dr. Barry OReilly on Traditional Settlements in North West Ulster in the Regional Cultural Centre and the launch of an exhibition entitled In Search of the Donegal Vernacular Cottage in the County Museum, Letterkenny. If you would like further details about the summer school and to book a place, please contact the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society on (048) 9055 0213 or by e-mail at summerschool@uahs.org.uk or register at www.igs.ie The summer school will open on Wednesday evening, June 7 with a presentation by Dr. Barry OReilly on Traditional Settlements in North West Ulster in the Regional Cultural Centre and the launch of an exhibition entitled In Search of the Donegal Vernacular Cottage in the County Museum, Letterkenny. Through photographs, illustrations and drawings from local and national collections, the exhibition highlights the distinctive forms and features of Donegals traditional dwellings. The summer school programme includes presentations, fieldtrips, traditional building skills demonstrations and social events in Derry (Thursday, June 8) and Donegal (Friday, June 9). The Director of the Summer School is architectural historian Kevin Mulligan, author of The Buildings of Ireland South Ulster. Speakers include archaeologist Dr. Brian Lacey, Paddy Matthews (Failte Ireland), Dr. Andrew McClelland (Maynooth University), Dr. Edward McParland (Trinity College Dublin), geographer Dr. Fidelma Mullane, Anna Meenan (The Heritage Council), Ronan ODonnell (Townscape Heritage Initiative), Dr. Barry OReilly (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage), Dr. Greg Stevenson (Under the Thatch) and renowned architectural historian Prof. Alistair Rowan. Special guest speaker will be Yaima Gill from RESTAURA an historic preservation project based in Havana, Cuba. There was intense competition for 30 free student places at the summer school that included attendance at the four-day event, three nights accommodation in Letterkenny as well as transport and meals during the event. Architecture, geography, history and planning students from higher education institutions in Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Belfast, Oxford, Cambridge and Scotland were among those successful in securing a free place. The students undertook assignments on Church Lane, Letterkenny and Boom Hall, Derry and the summer school will culminate with a student awards ceremony in Sion Mills, County Tyrone on Saturday, June 10. Yoko Morishita (front) in The White-Haired Girl. Japan's Matsuyama Ballet Troupe has wrapped up its 15th tour in China by staging the classic ballet The White-Haired Girl in Beijing and Shanghai as well as visiting former premier Zhou Enlai's hometown in Huai'an, Jiangsu province. At 68, the famous Japanese ballerina Yoko Morishita, who is the director of Matsuyama Ballet Troupe, played the lead role in the ballet's recent China tour. The White-Haired Girl premiered in Tokyo in 1955 and was staged in China in 1958. The troupe has visited and performed in China for decades. Besides The White-Haired Girl, the troupe has staged other classic ballets in China, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. In 2009, Matsuyama launched a ballet training school in Beijing, bridging the cultures of the two countries as well as promoting classical ballet education. During the troupe's recent visit to Beijing, it also collaborated with Chaoyang Cultural Center to launch an amateur ballet troupe, which plans to recruit local residents living in the district. He: Dani, the Isuzu MU-X probably isn't the first name that springs to mind when it comes to best-selling SUVs is it? But the rugged Japanese seven-seat off-roader has attracted a strong and loyal following that has made it one of the most popular vehicles in its class. What are your first impressions? She: Steve, it's quite a beast but there's something ruggedly handsome about what is essentially a glammed-up ute. The cabin presents well, as the top spec LS-T we're testing gets leather seats and other modern touches such as stop-start engine, air vents for all three rows, roof racks and a new eight-inch infotainment screen with sat nav. However, there are still some cheap plastics and I'm not a fan of the oversized dials for the air-conditioning. It detracts from the infotainment unit and is quite an eyesore. I really like the 10-inch roof-mounted DVD screen, which allows kids in the back to watch a movie together, though I worry the screen may slightly obstruct driver rear vision. Isuzu claims to have made some changes to the MU-X including noise reduction and more torque. It's still noisy to me. He: Yeah, it's extremely loud in the cabin, Dani. And it's not a nice noise either, as it clatters and chugs along like a small truck. But it does get the job done and that kind of sums up the MU-X to me - it's a no-frills off-roader that gets the job done. In recent years we've become more accustomed to these ute-turned-SUVs being better mannered, especially models like the Ford Everest and Holden Trailblazer. But the MU-X is a throwback to the hardcore, rugged machines of the past - the steering is heavy and slow, the suspension can get bouncy and the cabin is noisy. What did you think of the driving experience, Dani? She: It's not the smoothest ride and the diesel engine noise isn't ideal but I had a lot of fun driving the MU-X. I like that rough 'ute-like' feeling about it and the elevated seating position. The new six-speed auto doesn't set any benchmarks but, like you say, it does the job. There is some turbo lag and the steering can feel heavy but it's good over bumps and it thrives off-road. He: Yeah, the appeal of the MU-X is very much its ability to take you off the beaten track. It's rugged manners on-road make it a serious off-road machine. It can also tow 3000kg (braked) which makes it an appealing proposition for those who want to get away with a caravan or boat. The other selling point is the price. The MU-X is usually priced from $56,100 (plus on-road costs) for this top-spec LS-T, but at the moment Isuzu is offering the LS-T for $52,990 drive-away which is a sharp price. The Tain March is a fun, family event, held annually to celebrate the Tain Bo Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), Irelands most famous saga, and the warrior champions Cuchulainn and Ferdia. The march, which began in Roscommon almost two weeks ago, descends into Ardee at approximately 1pm on Thursday. There is a schedule of events to celebrate its arrival being held at Moorehall Lodge. It will then leave Ardee on Friday June 2nd at 9am, travelling through Tallanstown and Louth Village before arriving in Knockbridge at 2:30pm. It will then leave Knockbridge the next morning, Saturday June 3rd at 9am, travelling through Rathiddy and Castletown before arriving in Dundalk. The march arrives at Oriel Park where participating kids will receive face painting and costumes at 12:30 before departing for Market Square, where a re-enactment will take place at approximately 2pm. Later that evening sees the world premiere of The Warrior of the Tain at An Tain Arts Centre with the celebrations starting at 7pm with a wine reception followed by the main event at 8pm. It will then leave Toberona in Dundalk on Sunday morning June 4th at 9am, travelling through Faughart, Kilnasaggart, Jonesborough and Ravensdale before arriving at the Lumpers pub in Ballymakellett at 4pm. It will then complete its final leg on Bank Holiday Monday June 5th when it departs the Lumpers at 9am before travelling through Carnawaddy, Clermont Cairn and on to Omeath where it is expected to arrive at around 3pm. The Bank of Ireland proudly sponsors this years event all funds raised going towards the Jack and Jill childrens foundation. The CSO has revealed today the most popular baby names in Ireland in 2016. We can reveal that the most popular baby boy's name in Louth in 2016 was James. James was actually the most popular name in the whole country in 2016. The most popular baby girl's name in Louth in 2016 was Emily, which interestingly enough was also the most popular baby girl's name across the whole country. The CSO base these results on an analysis of the first names recorded on birth returns for registration and vital statistics, which was begun in 1998. All birth notifications in 2016 included the babys first name when the statistical return was sent to the CSO. Only the first name was used for this analysis. Babies additional forenames were not extracted by the CSO. Different spellings of a name have been treated as separate names. For example, while there were 298 boys across Ireland named Cillian, another 83 had the alternate spelling Killian. Similarly, if you combine the number of girls across Ireland named Anna (288) and Annie (81) then it becomes the 5th most popular name for girls in 2016 Media are briefed about the upcoming exhibition of Chinese modern artists Qi Baishi at a news conference in Seoul on May 25, 2017. [Photo/Chinaculture.org] South Koreans will get their first chance to have a close look at the artwork of Chinese modern art master Qi Baishi, hailed as China's Pablo Picasso. Qi's masterpieces will go on show at the Seoul Arts Center from July 31 to Oct 8, as part of the cultural events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and South Korea. It will also be the first time Qi's works have been showcased in South Korea. The exhibition, From a Carpenter to a Master, will feature 50 works, including scroll paintings, calligraphy and wood carvings. More than 80 antiques Qi collected during his lifetime will also be displayed, together with over 30 calligraphy works by both Chinese and South Korean calligraphers to remember the late master. Qi Baishi (1864-1957), born into a farming family in Central China's Hunan province, became a carpenter at the age of 14 and began studying art at 27. After traveling throughout China, he settled in Beijing in his late 50s and developed a unique style, boldly blending his mark as an individual with traditional Chinese painting methods. The upcoming show in Seoul is jointly organized by the Chinese embassy in South Korea, the Chinese Cultural Center in Seoul, the Hunan Provincial Cultural Department and the Seoul Arts Center. Speaking at the news conference on Thursday, Shi Ruilin, cultural counselor at the Chinese embassy and head of the Chinese Cultural Center, said: "The art of calligraphy and painting is created by artists in Eastern countries including China and South Korea, and admired by people worldwide. The unique art form has made contributions to the development of world culture and the progress of human civilization." "We are hosting this special show of Qi Baishi at this special moment of the year in order to inherit and spread the essence of Eastern arts, to start a dialogue with the world civilization, to promote a healthy and stable relationship between China and South Korea, and to make contributions to world peace," Shi continued. Ko Hak-chan, president of the Seoul Arts Center, said: "We're honored to hold the show at this special moment, in the year of the 25th anniversary of the South Korea-China ties. We hope the show will further promote relations between the two countries. At the same time, we hope to offer an opportunity to help South Korean artists and the general public further understand Qi Baishi's art world. " You are here: Home E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is penetrating deeper into the offline sector to build its "new retail" model. It spent an estimated but unspecified amount of over HK$630 million ($80.88 million) for an 18 percent stake in Hong Kong-listed Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Co Ltd on Friday. Post the deal, which was announced by Lianhua, Alibaba is the second-largest shareholder in the former. Alibaba bought the Lianhua stake from Shanghai Yiguo E-commerce Co Ltd, a fresh produce marketplace. Incidentally, Alibaba had invested in Shanghai-based Yiguo, having participated in the latter's series A and C funding rounds in 2013 and 2016. Lianhua shares rose 24 percent to close at HK$3.92 on Monday while the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.24 percent. The market was closed on Tuesday for the Dragon Boat Festival. The deal marks the third transfer of Lianhua shares in three years. In September 2015, Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd bought 237 million shares in Lianhua, representing a 21.17 percent stake, for about 751 million yuan. In December 2016, Yonghui sold that stake to Yiguo for 850 million yuan ($125 million), citing operational changes and overlap in the two businesses. Lianhua is the first Chinese mainland retail company to have listed in Hong Kong. It has three business lines: hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores. By the end of last year, it had 3,618 physical stores across China, including the 2,286 outlets in Shanghai. However, Lianhua's business performance has been declining since 2011, mainly due to competition from online players. Sales touched a historic low of 26.67 billion yuan last year, causing a loss of 450 million yuan. Its profit has been dropping tooby 37 percent in 2012, 70 percent in 2013 and 11 percent in 2014. For Alibaba, Lianhua's store network represents value. Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder and executive chairman, floated the idea of "new retail" during a conference in Hangzhou in October. He said the era of e-commerce would end in 10 to 20 years to give way to new retail, a combination of online and offline sales and logistics services. Toward this end, Alibaba announced a partnership with Shanghai retail conglomerate Bailian Group Co in February. In June last year, Alibaba also became the biggest shareholder in Intime Retail Group. You are here: Home Wang Baoan, former head of the National Bureau of Statistics, was given a life sentence for accepting bribes Wednesday. The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Zhangjiakou in north China's Hebei Province. Wang was deprived of his political rights for life and all his personal assets were confiscated. He was also ordered to return all his illicit gains. The court found Wang guilty of taking advantage of his various posts in the State Administration of Taxation, Ministry of Finance, Heilongjiang Provincial Government and National Bureau of Statistics to secure projects, contracts or promotions for others. In return, he accepted money and valuables worth more than 153 million yuan (around US$22.4 million). Wang was given relatively lenient treatment as he cooperated with investigators, surrendered his gains, admitted his guilt and repented, the court said. Dontchyoo worry bout a thing While scientists warn us of the coming calamities that will result from the inexorable progression of global climate change, Republican Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-07) isnt worried. Hes not worried about the famines or the loss of coastal cities or the flooding or the droughts or any of that. Why? Because, even though Tim Walberg believes that climate change exists and that humans have a role in climate change, he is convinced that God will take care of that. Thats what he told his constituents at a town hall meeting in Coldwater last Friday: I believe theres climate change. I believe theres been climate change since the beginning of time. Do I think man has some impact? Yeah, of course! Can man change the entire universe? No. Why do I believe that? Well, as a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us. And Im confident that, if theres a real problem, he can take care of it. So dont you all go worrying yer pretty lil heads about global climate change. Theres an app a god for that. Governing through faith. Thats what weve come to in this country. God help us all. P.S. So far as I know, nobody is claiming that man can change the entire universe. There are, however, a lot of scientists, nearly EVERY scientist, in fact, who believe that man can change the climate of Planet Earth. Lets just be very clear about that. Nvidia earlier this month launched a massive new push for intelligent machines, including what is likely the most expensive volume workstation in the world designed for this purpose. IBM, which has a tight relationship with Nvidia, launched a quantum computing processor that has a good chance of massively increasing the speed and intelligence of thinking systems. IBM also has been the most aggressive in promoting the concept that systems such as these could have a dramatic effect on the performance of people who use them. I think that after last week, regardless of your personal political preferences, you likely wish a lot of folks in Washington were wired to these machines, because it feels like the country is being run by partisan idiots at the moment. A deep learning system could have reversed the election results. Its too late for that, but it still could turn Trump from a train wreck into the best president the country has ever had. Furthermore, it actually could provide a healthcare system that is both comprehensive AND affordable. Ill explain and then close with my product of the week: the workstation that has the potential to make you superhuman and it only costs US$70K! President Trump One of the things you learn by going through one of the very few formal CEO training programs that exist in the world is the importance of causality in other words, the understanding that you cant do or fix anything successfully unless you understand deeply the mechanism that will, or did, create it. Many of the foundational skills for effective leadership arent taught they are built through experience. The problem with experience is that we have a tendency to remember selectively the things that had the greatest beneficial impact and that support a view that we dont make mistakes. Also, most of us tend to learn from our own experiences but not from the experiences of others. At the heart of the Trump train wreck is the presidents resistance to accepting his own mistakes or to learning from those of others. Things started out badly, and they now seem to be getting worse and spinning out of control. This is the kind of thing a deep learning system could fix. It not only learns from its own mistakes, but also aggregates the history that has been fed into it and learns from the mistakes and conclusions of its peer machines. Implemented properly, it would showcase in real time, and in gruesome detail, the outcome of any Trump decision. Simply placing it between the president and Twitter would massively change the character of President Trumps tweets. In fact, given the presidents unwillingness to read, study or admit mistakes, he might be the poster child for the type of person who would benefit most from this kind of a system. A deep learning AI system is designed to do best what the president doesnt seem to want to do at all. Hillary Clinton Hillary Clintons campaign was a different kind of train wreck. Early on, I pointed out that I thought she would lose because Bill Clinton would be more successful at causing her to lose than Trump would be at figuring out how to lose without looking like he was doing it intentionally. A few weeks back, the now ex-head of the FBI testified that Bill Clinton was indeed the trigger for his late reporting about Clintons emails, which perhaps played a major part in her loss. What should have been obvious was that despite Bills verbal support, Hillarys win would have been a massive unacceptable loss for him. Being very status-oriented, he couldnt accept going from being remembered as the 42nd President to being remembered as the first guy in a womans job the first male First Lady. There was no way he could bring that up without sounding like a jerk, but someone in the campaign should have flagged it, and the fix would have been easy. Either rename and reposition the role as far more powerful something that would have benefited every presidential spouse that followed him or do what Trump effectively has done: Get someone else to fill it. Bill could have been given the title of president emeritus or something equally impressive-sounding. Trained deep learning systems can see patterns we might miss and in this case, the pattern that should have emerged was that people dont like to take title demotions. Those who are heavily driven by status stand out in this group. How often are people demoted successfully, even if they change companies, and how often does that not work out? The answers are rarely and very. Using a deep learning system to analyze a strategy likely would have pointed out that one of Hillary Clintons biggest assets, Bill, was going to become a liability. It could have helped her make a number of problematic decisions, like resource utilization, more effectively. It also might have flagged that a strategy of disparaging Trumps voters would motivate them to vote while doing nothing to get her own people to the polls, because thats what typically happens. Universal Healthcare The big problem with both the Obama and Trump efforts is that they were founded on several lies that way too many people believe. The three critical lies are these: 1. that you can make something that is unaffordable affordable by getting the government to pay for it; 2. that you can add a very expensive new government service without raising taxes; and 3. that insurance can cover pre-existing conditions. The first is a lie because government oversight adds cost it doesnt remove it. Alone, it is simply another expensive layer of management, and the additional costs still get passed on to you. The second is Economics 101. The money to pay for something has to come from someplace. Obamacare was creative, but because it required people who didnt need insurance to buy it, insurance premiums became a tax that wasnt called a tax. I could call a duck a dog and it would still be a duck. Third, it is clear that most folks dont understand how insurance works. It isnt a service it is gambling. Much like going to Vegas, collectively we lose. What happens is that you bet the insurance company you will get sick, while they bet you wont. The fee reflects the odds plus overhead and profit. It works, because the collective fees cover the costs when the insurance company loses. However, with pre-existing conditions, this would be like having a slot machine that always paid out. That isnt gambling anymore it is like betting on a horse after the horse race is over. To buy the winning ticket, youd likely have to pay the face value plus any overhead for handling the transaction. Now, it isnt uncommon for someone who doesnt have insurance try to buy it after they have a loss that the insurance might have covered. Say you would have paid $5K for house fire insurance, but you didnt get it. Then you have a fire with a $200K loss. Of course, it NOW looks good to pay $5K to get $200K back but from the insurance companys perspective, that would be going-out-of-business stupid. What a deep learning system would do is not only flag that pretty much everyone is misleading you on this topic, but also provide you with examples of where healthcare is working best and recommend that path. It likely would be a single-payer system where healthcare isnt handled through insurance but as a government service and better managed than most DMV offices now are. My best guess right now is that a machine would pick Luxemburg as the example (Australia is ranked 8th). Wrapping Up: Deep Learning One of the shortcomings of humans is that we are very selective about what we choose to retain. The most powerful of us often are more driven to appear right than actually to be right, leading to hosts of avoidable mistakes. Even though we have more information at our fingertips than ever before, we have an aversion to using it choosing to learn by our mistakes rather than taking the effort to avoid them. This is the exact opposite of deep learning systems, and it is why they already are better at driving cars and, on paper, better at flying planes. They lack the creativity and the out-of-the-box thinking that define the best of us, but they can avoid the kinds of mistakes that trip up the best of us. In short, applied properly, a deep learning system could turn any one of us into a huuuuuge success. Lets hope this happens before a big-enough avoidable mistake turns us into fossils. The kind of cloud service that would provide the capability Ive described above likely will come with a relatively affordable monthly cost eventually, but we are at least five and more likely 10 years away from that. If you wanted to create a secure personalized service for someone like Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, then youd likely start with a very unique workstation focused on deep learning and dedicated to them. Until this month, such a thing wasnt available but that changed with the launch of the Nvidia DGX Station. Nvidia DGXStation It isnt a cheap date at nearly $70K yes, that is seventy thousand dollars and youd still need to develop the related AI and train it. However, once trained, this little puppy could be your dont get into jail in the first-place card. What would you pay to become superhuman? For now, this is mostly used for those who want to develop a deep learning system, and prices certainly will come down as more mainstream hardware vendors move to this opportunity. However, a person who, say, was a billionaire, and who could afford to make something like this work oh, and who didnt want to be impeached might be willing to fund the first one. Just saying. In any case, although it likely is the most expensive mainstream workstation in the world, it likely is worth the price, and so the Nvidia DGX Station is my product of the week. 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Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (L) meets with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, Japan, May 30, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] China's stance on the issue is clear and consistent, he said. The two sides should keep their histories in mind and look ahead, pressing continually to improve relations based on the spirit of four important political documents between China and Japan and the four-point principled agreement reached in November 2014, Yang said. Yang said at the meeting that China-Japan relations are at an important juncture, with new opportunities and outstanding challenges in this 45th anniversary year of the normalization of relations between the two nations. Yang urged Japan to honor its words and abide by rules regarding the historical issues between the two, and the Taiwan question. It should work with China to safeguard East China Sea peace and stability. Talking to the heads of seven Japan-China friendship groups and the Japan Business Federation on Tuesday, Yang welcomed Japan to discuss cooperation with China in the Belt and Road Initiative. Yang co-chaired with Japanese National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi the fourth round of high-level political dialogue on Monday. He said China attaches importance to developing its relationship with Japan. He urged the two sides to further enhance communication between local governments and young people to promote mutual understanding between the two peoples. He called on Japan to conform with the trend of the times and implement, with specific policies and concrete actions, the consensus that the two countries are each other's cooperative partners, and that China's development is an opportunity for Japan. Yachi said Japan's stance on the Taiwan question and historical issues have not changed and Japan is dedicated to improving its relationship with China and is willing to work with China to enhance exchanges at all levels, expand positive aspects and properly manage disputes in bilateral relations. Flash The two giant pandas living at Ouwehands Zoo in the Dutch city of Rhenen staged an enchanting debut for hundreds of long-awaited admirers on Tuesday afternoon. After six weeks in quarantine since their arrival on April 12, Wu Wen, the female giant panda, made tentative steps into her outdoor enclosure. Nonchalant at the gaze of dozens of children, she threw herself at the first bamboo plant she saw and started to gormandize. "What an appetite! Will she eat up all the bamboos planted in the enclosure in one week?" one child asked. "No worry. She has plenty of bamboos stocked in her room. This is only for amusement," answered his pal. Xing Ya, the male, strided out of his court like an emperor inspecting his new territory. He patrolled the grassland, tested a shallow rig, pawed the wooden wall and tried to climb up a trunk which defied his heavy body. Abandoning the disobeying tree, he enthroned himself on a rock to enjoy early summer sunshine. With a lofty disdain, he solemnly greeted a full circle of cameras and mobile phones marvelling at him. "Both are in perfect health and adapt well to their new home," said Zhang Hongwen, chief economist of China's State Forestry Administration. Wu Wen and Xing Ya, both three-and-a-half-year-old, will stay at Ouwenhands for 15 years. Native to south central China, they belong to a conservation reliant vulnerable species which count only 1,864 individuals. "I am glad to see that Wu Wen and Xing Ya are so popular in the Netherlands. Living at this wonderful residence in Chinese palace style, they are really treated as emperor and empress," said Zhang. "Their stay will surely boost Sino-Dutch cooperation relating to the protection of forestry and bio-diversity," he added. For Martijn van Dam, Dutch State Secretary for Economic Affairs, "the Netherlands has already enclosed Wu Wen and Xing Ya in its heart". "Through an intensive program, China has succeeded to stop the decline of the number of pandas. China also makes efforts to maintain the natural habitat of the giant pandas. We would also like to contribute to that," he said. "From today on, Dutch children will get to know Wu Wen and Xing Ya....They can get inspired by all the beautiful and powerful things nature has to offer. Hopefully, new nature protectors will arise here at this place." The Dutch official hailed 45 years of good cooperation between his country and China. "Wu Wen and Xing Ya underline these good developments. Let this be a sign of hope that with joint forces we can protect our nature worldwide, and let this be the beginning of a wave of inspiration for the new generation." Jan Peter Balkenende, Former Dutch Prime Minister who played a role in the panda cooperation project, told the audience that "if pandas are lent to a country, it is an expression of friendship and connection." He stressed on "panda-potentials", which will invite old and young people to reflect on the nature, to increase knowledge and to achieve business success. Marcel Boekhoorn, owner of Ouwehands Zoo, beamed with happiness. Following a 16-year period of consultations and preparations, the two pandas were symbolically gifted to the Netherlands by China during the state visit of Dutch Royal Couple in October 2015. "In China where during many trips we learned from our Chinese friends how giant pandas live and how we can protect these endangered animals. Now is the moment to share this dream with the whole of the Netherlands," Boekhoorn told guests invited to the official opening of Pandasia, the special complex "built with lots of love and attention" for Wu Wen and Xing Ya. "A residence for giant pandas has to be giant. Not only because they are enormous animals that like to have enough space inside and outside, but mostly because they are solitary animals. They like to be by themselves. Pandasia therefore has a separate inside and outside area for the male as well as for the female," he explained. During the precious three days of mating time every year, Wu Wen and Xing Ya will be invited to "get together" if they like each other, said the zoo owner. As this academic year comes to a close, teachers and administrators around the country are finding themselves in end-of-year meetings, discussing how to finish the year off strong and starting to plan for the year to come. In these meetings, school leaders often make statements like, We have to prepare these students for jobs that do not even exist yet, echoing reports like this one from the World Economic Forum . I agree that its essential to prepare students for 21st century lives and careers. But to educate well-rounded students who are poised for 21st century success, teachers need to look to the past as well as the future. As one of historys greatest teachers, Confucius gives us insight into how much value the old school placed on education. As we begin to plan for the next school year, lets consider how we can retool some of Confucius old school teachings to serve us in the new school. Cheng Shude, a 20th century philosopher and author, devoted much of his life to trying to understand the ancient teachings of Confucius . He wrote: People today think of learning as the pursuit of knowledge, whereas the ancients thought of learning as cultivating the self. In an effort to prepare students for jobs that may not exist yet, have we forgotten to teach students about themselves? Students of the new school dont just need academic ability to be successful. They also need self-awareness. Global citizens of the new school will engage in some of the most complex interpersonal interactions in history, from navigating global water crises and internet laws to advocating for our worlds most vulnerable populations. As we plan our lessons for the coming year, teachers have a responsibility to make sure our students know who they are and what they stand for. Students will need a strong understanding of who they are as individuals in order to not get lost in the collective. Through knowledge of self, students can begin to understand what they bring to this rapidly connecting world. Now do not get me wrongthere are glimmers of personal growth connected to results on standardized tests. But do we sacrifice leaps in social and emotional growth for improved data points and percentiles? With student engagement on the decline, especially in urban centers and among students of color , teachers are constantly fielding questions from students like, When am I going to use this? and What does this have to do with my life? By excluding the study of self from our teaching, we miss an important opportunity for students to connect with their learning through the one thing they know best: themselves. Old School: A gentlemen studies for his own sake, not in order to impress others, and seeks for it in himself and not in others. (The Analects of Confucius, 1:16) New School: A student studies for his or her own sake, not in order to impress peers or the teacher. The student is a self-starter and does not have to wait on instructions from adults. As we begin to plan next years curriculum, let us pause and ask whether our lessons will encourage students to study and learn for their own self-improvement. Or are we still treating our students like empty vessels to be filled with our wisdom? Across our nation, schools have created cultures that disengage, disenfranchise, and disproportionately hurt our students in an effort to provide the sense of calm that system leaders often assume is best for student learning. But the old school saw it a different way. Old School: If you guide the common people with coercive regulations and keep them in line with punishments, the common people will become evasive and will have no sense of shame. If, however, you guide them with Virtue, and keep them in line by means of ritual, the people will have a sense of shame and will rectify themselves. Rule through the power of Virtue rather than force. (The Analects of Confucius, 2.3) New School: If you try to force students to comply by threatening them with negative consequences, they will find ways to bend and avoid the rules without correcting their behavior. However, if you guide students with virtue, and provide rituals and routines that support and uplift students, they will correct themselves. Instill virtue in students rather than a fear of punishment. Many school systems and structures do not encourage virtue in students, but rather teach them ways to evade punishment. Instead, our lessons should allow students to unpack the idea of virtue together and come to an agreement about the best ways to conduct themselves and hold one another accountable. When teachers invest in virtue, individual students learn critical life skills like personal responsibilityand school communities thrive. Virtuous students take stances against destructive practices in their schools, like bullying, and act as allies for peers who are struggling. Though virtue, integrity, grit, and other soft skills may not align with new school data measurements, the old school was very concerned with developing students who were socially and emotionally aware of themselves and the people around them. Old School: The gentleman is not motivated by the desire for a full belly or a comfortable abode. He is simply scrupulous in behavior and careful in speech, drawing near to those who possess the Way in order to be set straight by them. Surely this and nothing else is what it means to love learning. (The Analects of Confucius, 1.14) New School: Students are not motivated by the desire for a high-paying job or a nice house. They strive diligently to communicate their understanding and work closely with teachers and peers who model the Way in an effort to learn from them. Surely this, and nothing else, is what it means to love learning. I push us to better understand what is happening in the classrooms where students linger after the bell ringsthe classrooms that fill students with ideas they cant help but share with a friend or parent after school. In these spaces, students thrive because they feel successful and comfortable in their discomfort. As much as I admire and wish to learn from the old school, I know Im teaching in the age of the new school. And that means leaders at the school, district, state, and national level want to see numerical data as evidence of student achievement, from the number of students who graduate high school and achieve on standardized tests to the number who are college and career ready. But as we prepare for the coming school year, I am hopeful that we can strike a balance between old and new school. As the old school reminds us, Both keeping past teachings alive and understanding the presentsomeone able to do this is worthy of being a teacher. (The Analects of Confucius, 2.11). Brazil opens market for Russian fish, fish products Brazil is set to open its market to Russian fish and fish products, as it officially approved last week exports from three fish-processing establishments. According to Rosselkhoznadzor, or the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, a meeting between representatives of the Rosselkhoznadzor and the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture was held on May 22-23, during which they discussed issues of exporting Russian products to Brazil, subject to veterinary and phytosanitary control. "The Brazilian party confirmed that the approved establishments can start exporting these (fish) products to Brazil", Rosselkhoznadzor said in a news release posted on its website. The Rosselkhoznadzor, in turn, requested that it extend the list of Russian fish product exporters in the future. The Brazilian party said it was open to such a possibility. The meeting also discussed Russian grain export to the Brazilian market, particularly the difficulties experienced when exporting wheat to Brazil. The Russian party suggested the amendment of the Brazilian phytosanitary requirements, such as the exclusion of several quarantine objects and allowing the presence of Canada thistle in Russian wheat consignments intended for export to Brazil. To settle the issue of Russian wheat export to the Brazilian market, the Rosselkhoznadzor plans to arrange talks between technical experts in the near future.-Rick Alberto Boehringer Ingelheim Malaysia holds business forum with key poultry producer On May 3, 2017, the Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Business Forum was conducted with the theme "Growth of online retailing for food products" in Malaysia. Dr. Kok-yen Kam, Head of Animal Health for BI Malaysia, welcomed the 40 participants from a leading poultry producer in Malaysia. Dr. Kam also presented to the group facts about the newly created BI company with Merial. Professor David Hughes, a food marketing specialist and professor from the United Kingdom, then discussed with the delegates the current trends in the food industry, new developments in food retailing and the growth of online retailing for food products and how it will impact the company's business in Malaysia. Professor Hughes also provided them with some insights on how to further develop the poultry producer's online retailing strategy. The programme was part of BI Malaysia's continuing effort to be a strong partner with its key customers. Ghana broiler meat production to meet only 25% of demand Ghana's broiler meat production in marketing year 2017 is forecast to increase 6% year-on-year to 35,000 tonnes, but this will supply only less than 25% of demand. According to the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) "2017 Ghana Poultry Report", imports are expected to increase by 14,000 tonnes to 158,000 tonnes due to meet rising demand. Government statistics for 2015 showed that the total poultry meat production (including broiler meat and spent layers) was 54,000 tonnes, of which around 33,000 tonnes consisted of broiler meat, which represented 60% of total poultry meat production. Poultry producers have not found broiler production to be profitable, with rising feeds costs representing 60-70% of overall production costs. The report noted that producers are unable to dispose broiler birds at six weeks and must continue to feed them over 10 weeks, which further increases feed and medication costs. "High energy cost also affects overall production. With high production and energy costs, producing domestic broiler birds is becoming more uncompetitive compared to imported poultry products", the USDA report said. The industry has found raising layers to be more profitable than raising broilers, and that there is minimal competition in marketing eggs. Ghana's poultry imports mainly come from the US, Brazil and the EU. However, the US has captured over 40% of market share, while Brazil and the EU have 25% each. The report said that while competition from Brazil and the EU has been increasing, the US poultry enjoys brand-loyalty advantage over them. It should be noted, too, that US poultry exports to Ghana declined from an all-time high export value of $76 million in 2013 to just $41 million last year, due to the lack of transparency of obtaining import permits for poultry products and other technical barriers to trade. To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of a new ballistic missile controlled by a precision guidance system and ordered the development of more powerful strategic weapons, the North's official KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday. The missile launched on Monday was equipped with an advanced automated pre-launch sequence compared with previous versions of the "Hwasong" rockets, North Korea's name for its Scud-class missiles, KCNA said. That indicated the North had launched a modified Scud-class missile, as South Korea's military has said. Sending a big thank you to Camp Lebanon for welcoming our family to a fun-filled weekend at Camp! Well, we just got back from having an amazing time at Camp Lebanons Memorial Weekend Family Camp and I cant wait to share all the details with you! While we had high expectations, we were completely blown away as Camp Lebanon went above and beyond all that we were expecting. Their motto of being Home of the funnest fun definitely held true! Just around this corner and up a hill lies one of Minnesotas hidden treasures called Camp Lebanon! Upon arriving, our eyes are met by the beautiful Chalet, which is the hub of camp. This main building hosts Chapel, Camp Store, Game Room, Bathrooms, Eating Hall, and more. Off to the side we found the camp office and headed over to check in and get our cabin assignment. There are actually several housing options which include: Dorm Style Buildings, Traditional Cabins, or Full Service RV Sites. The cabins are all named after countries from around the world and we were assigned to New Zealand. Each cabin comes furnished with bunk beds, a couple single beds, a chair, heater, and an AC unit. While none are too far away, we were thrilled to be located right next door to the bathrooms and shower house as we made midnight bathroom runs with at least one child per night! After check in on Friday, we had a couple of hours to explore and then Welcome Chapel at 8:30 pm. While we are typically heading to bed at this time, everyone was energetic and excited for our upcoming adventures and we had no problem staying awake late. Chapel is one of the big focuses at Camp Lebanon and it goes hand in hand with their mission to Providing A Meeting Place With God. During Chapel, wed sing some great worship songs. Most were super energetic, included actions, and had adults and kids alike begging for more. The Camp Host, Bill Abeler, as well as the Weekend Speaker, Jim Hinson, took turns offering encouragement, sharing stories, and preaching from the Bible. It was truly a captivating time, each and every day, that really encourages building on faith and focusing on God. One of our main Bible versus for the weekend was 1 John 3:1 How GREAT the love the Father has lavished on us, that we may be called the children of God. For that is what we are! This exuberant verse came fully equipped with actions to help us all remember it and we had a fun time repeating it often. Finally, the perfect way to end our very first day at Family Camp was with a community bon fire right outside of the Chalet. The Canteen was open offering free popcorn as well as a variety of snacks and beverages for purchase. We hung out chatting while some of the kiddos played games with other camp kids. The weather was perfect and our weekend was off to a great start! Stay tuned for my next Camp Lebanon Family Camp Post coming soon! Im a city girl turned country by my awesome husband and we have three busy boys and two darling daughters. I love spending time with my family, reading Karen Kingsbury novels, and catching up with friends while our kiddos have play dates. Im blessed beyond measure and cant wait to see what God has in store. Follow Miranda on Pinterest | Twitter| Blog | Instagram www.emilyreviews.com/category/miranda Samsung SDI hosted a completion ceremony for the state-of-art electric vehicle (EV) battery plant scheduled to open in second quarter of 2018 in Hungary. Samsung SDI celebrated the completion of construction of its EV battery plant in Goed, 30 kilometers north of Budapest, Hungary, on May 29 (Hungarian time). The ceremony was attended by about 150 officials, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Samsung SDI President Jun Young-hyun, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and Korean Ambassador to Hungary Yim Geun-hyeong. Sitting on a 330,000 square-meter site in Goed, the plant is capable of producing batteries for 50,000 electric vehicles annually with operations expected to begin in the second quarter of next year. The company will be able to not only save logistics costs, but also improve customer service in Europe. Samsung SDIs former plasma display panel (PDP) plant has been transformed into a plant equipped with state-of-art technology of Samsung SDI to produce high-power and high-efficiency EV batteries. Through construction of Hungary plant, Samsung SDI sets up a global electric vehicle batteries production tripod with plants in Ulsan, South Korea and Xian, China. Europe is leading the global EV market with its environment-friendly policy. The market for batteries, one of core parts of electric vehicles, is expanding fast alongside the EV market. In the early 1990s, we met capitalism and encountered various kinds of companies and brands. We have learned that Made in South Korea is a warranty check that guarantees quality of a product. Korea was good example to us indeed. We learned that this is the most important key for a diligent small country to build a strong economy and hold a firm position in the world market. Samsung learned from others but it has always walked its own path. Goed wanted Samsung SDI and Samsung SDI wanted to come back to Goed. Thats the reason for Hungarian government to support this project. I would like to thank Samsung SDI executives for choosing Hungary and Goed. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at the ceremony. State-of-the-art technology of Samsung SDI will be applied to batteries to be made in this plant in Hungary. Batteries are one of the most important parts supplied to global car makers. I expect the plant to contribute much to the growth of the European electric vehicle market. Samsung SDI President Jun Young-hyun said. President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, has received harsh criticism on social media for a tweet shared by her brand's Twitter on Sunday. The tweet promoted recipes of champaign popsicles for Memorial Day. For many, this was seen as offensive, as they feel that Memorial Day is not a day of celebration, but rather a day meant for remembering and acknowledging those who died and are still in the military services. Ivanka has not commented on the controversy and the tweet is still up on Twitter. "Make champagne popsicles this #MemorialDay," the tweet said followed by a link to www.ivankatrump.com. Although the tweet has almost 900 favorites and 1,000 retweets, it has also accumulated nearly 6,000 replies. The comments range from mild indifference, to full on outrage. Many of her followers responded with tweets of photos of family members who have served or died fighting for the country. The tweet has been the subject of a lot of scrutiny outside of the Twitter community. However, the controversy has made her tweet a trending topic across social media platforms. Ivanka addressed the issue of her controversial tweet and observed the fallen veterans on her personal account, which she tweeted on Monday, "Today we honor the men and women in our armed forces who have lost their lives to protect our freedom. Thank you for your service #MemorialDay." For months, pundits and political advisers have tried to figure out what Trumponomics really stands for. Even President Trump himself struggled to characterize it, saying, It really has to do with self-respect as a nation. Now that we have the presidents budget in hand, we have a more definitive answer: Trumponomics like Ryanonomics is based on the principle that living in poverty doesnt suck quite enough. That is, more people would be motivated to become rich if only being poor werent so much fun. Presidential budgets should be read as statements of political ideology, not determinations for what will ultimately become law. (Congress, after all, does the appropriating.) In this case, the political ideology is reflected in major cuts to anti-poverty programs and the social safety net, all in the name of not discourag[ing] able-bodied adults from working. And so, with the compassionate goal of making the poor a little less comfortable and a little more motivated, this budget savages nearly every anti-poverty program you can imagine. Were no longer going to measure compassion by the number of programs or the number of people on those programs, but by the number of people we help get off of those programs, said Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, describing massive safety-net program cuts that would not help people get off safety net programs so much as eject them violently and immediately, regardless of where they land. Under the proposed budget, Medicaid loses $610 billion over the next decade, which the administration suggests is on top of the $839 billion expected to be cut from Medicaid by the American Health Care Act. That means Medicaid funding would be cut nearly in half by 2028. The budget not only slashes funding for food stamps by $191 billion over the next decade that is, by more than a quarter but also proposes charging retailers a new fee if they want to accept food stamps from customers. Seems like a good way to discourage grocers from even participating in the program, so food stamp recipients lives can get a little less convenient. Trump proposes to completely eliminate funding for lots of other programs. These include before- and after-school programs for poor students; the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps poor people pay for heat; Community Development Block Grants (which help fund Meals on Wheels, homeless services, blight removal and other initiatives); and the Energy Departments Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps low-income families increase the energy efficiency of their homes. The administration would hobble if not zero out lots of other programs too, such as rental assistance programs that help 4.5 million very low-income, disabled and elderly Americans afford housing, in order to encourage work and self-sufficiency. Note that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has similarly argued that subsidized housing should not provide a comfortable setting that would make somebody want to say: Ill just stay here. They will take care of me. Apparently one way to achieve this goal is to throw people out of affordable housing altogether. Perversely, this budget also includes lots of cuts to job-training and other programs that help people acquire human capital and improve their employment prospects again, in the name of encouraging people to become self-sufficient and find jobs on their own. Funding for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act job training and employment service programs, for example, would fall 39 percent next year. The federal work-study program gets slashed in half. So much for the Republican fetishization of working ones way through college. Or compassionate conservatism, for that matter. The GBP AUD exchange rate has risen to 1.7185 today, following a crash late on Tuesday. This was triggered by a new general election poll, which suggested that the Conservatives might not secure a majority. If the Conservatives were to fall short of the required seat count, this would generate a hung parliament situation. Under such conditions, Labour could form a coalition with another party to secure a coalition majority. The general attitude among traders is that the stronger a Conservative majority, the better the UKs hand will be in Brexit negotiations. This makes talk of a hung parliament particularly concerning. In spite of the clear market unrest caused by the poll, economists have warned that there is a large margin of error on the stats in question. This means that while the Conservatives could make a net loss of seats in June, they could also expand their power across the country. The next UK data to watch out for will be Thursdays manufacturing PMI and Fridays construction PMI for May. Both measures of sector activity are forecast to decline, which could lower confidence in the Pound. The construction figure bears the closest watching, as if it slows from 53.1 to 52.7 as forecast then Sterling could slump on concerns about a worsening UK housing shortage. The Australian Dollar has fallen against the Pound and most other peers today, following concerning news about the national housing market. As with the UK, Australia is struggling with a housing shortage, but the situation could be far worse, according to a Citigroup economist. Willem Buiter has warned that the nation is facing a spectacular housing bubble and that if the situation is not managed then it could triggera cyclical downturn. Buiter has further lowered enthusiasm for the AUD by warning about a Chinese economic downturn, which would supposedly impact Australia more than any other developed country. As with the UK, the next Australian data will focus on manufacturing in May. Economists are uncertain about how manufacturing will print, but as the figure previously showed growth at 59.2, further growth could boost AUD demand. Also out on Thursday will be retail sales results for April. Monthly sales are predicted to rise from -0.1% to 0.3%, which may push the AUD GBP exchange rate up before Friday. The last AU data of the week will be new home sales figure for April, out on Friday. Sales previously fell by -1.1%; if they continued to drop then the AUD could appreciate, as it might mean that housing demand is cooling. This in turn could reduce the risks of a housing market bubble. Traders are worried that the increasing Libyan and US production will dampen the OPEC efforts to rebalance the markets. Libyas state-run National Oil Corporation said on Monday that it expects oil production to rise to 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) this week. This year, Libya has shipped an average of 500,000 bpd of oil, compared to 300,000 bpd in 2016, excluding pipeline exports, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon. Though a member of the OPEC, Libya is exempt from the production cuts. Similarly, the US production has risen to over 9.3 million bpd, on the back of increased shale oil production. "Libyan and shale oil production seems to have occupied the mind of traders overnight. That's consistent with my sense that this is all about inventories and the associated supply overhang in crude oil markets at the moment," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader, reports Reuters. In its recently concluded meeting, OPEC decided to extend the duration of the production cuts to March 2018, however, they failed to deepen the cuts. OPEC has not been able to achieve much in the first five months of the production cuts, which started in January. "The market was just hoping for another surprise," said Emily Ashford, director of energy research at Standard Chartered, "and was just disappointed that they didn't go any further," reports Fox Business. Analyst expects oil to fall further Todd Gordon of TradingAnalysis.com, who correctly went short just before the OPEC meeting last week, expects crude oil prices to fall further. "The resistance level around $52 to $54 in crude successfully held, and we're pressing lower," he said Tuesday on CNBCs "Trading Nation." He expects the oil-tracking USO ETF to fall from the current levels of $10.24 to below $9, a level last touched in April 2016. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate State Sen. Carlos Uresti, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud- and conspiracy-related charges in two separate cases May 16, pleaded not guilty to all charges. The San Antonio Democrat didnt appear in the U.S. District Court in San Antonio as previously scheduled Wednesday. His attorney, Mikal Watts, filed a motion Tuesday waiving Urestis right to appear in court, according to the filing. Senator Uresti has entered a plea of not guilty on all charges, because he is not guilty of all charges, Watts said in an email Wednesday. It is a shame they do not allow a person to plead innocent because thats exactly what he is innocent of every one of these charges. In the first case, Uresti, 53, is facing 11 felony counts relating to his involvement in bankrupt San Antonio oil-field services company FourWinds Logistics. He is accused of steering investors to FourWinds, which prosecutors say was a Ponzi scheme. In the other case, Uresti and Lubbock businessman Vernon C. Farthing III are accused of bribing former Reeves County Judge Jimmy Galindo to secure a contract. The two-count indictment alleges that Farthing paid Uresti $10,000 a month between 2006 and 2016 as a consultant. Uresti then funneled about half of the money to Galindo, prosecutors allege. Uresti, whos also an attorney, could face up to 200 years in prison if convicted on all counts. As much as he wanted to enter live pleas of not guilty in open court today, he is instead attending this morning a bill signing ceremony in Austin with the governor, Watts said. Gov. Greg Abbott signed two bills sponsored by Uresti that are designed to improve child care in Texas, including one intended to improve the states foster care system, Uresti said in a news release. Gary Cain, a former FourWinds consultant who was indicted with Uresti and FourWinds CEO Stan Bates in the first case, also pleaded not guilty and didnt appear in court. According to the indictment, Cain, 60, continued to receive large payments from FourWinds through his business, Trinity Global Funding & Consulting, despite knowing that investor funds were being misused. Chad Muller, Cains lawyer, declined to comment. Bates, 45, also pleaded not guilty Wednesday without appearing in court. Uresti, Bates, Cain and three other FourWinds officials who already have pleaded guilty are accused of conspiring to misuse investor funds to enrich themselves and others. In the Reeves County public corruption case, Farthing, 44, previously waived his arraignment. Galindo, 53, who was county judge of Reeves County from January 1995 to December 2006, signed a plea deal in which he agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and failure to file tax returns. A plea hearing is set for June 12. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are now seeking to remove Watts as Urestis criminal attorney in the FourWinds case because Watts, in a separate civil case, represented a woman who is identified as a Victim 1 in the FourWinds indictment. U.S. prosecutors said in a sealed motion Thursday that Watts has a conflict of interest and may be called as a witness in their case against Uresti, according to Watts response filed with the court Friday. Watts and Uresti both represented Denise Cantu of Harlingen in a wrongful-death case involving two of her children. Cantu invested the bulk of the proceeds from that settlement with FourWinds. She ended up losing about $800,000 of her $900,000 investment. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. Watts disputed that he should be disqualified. He said his representation of Cantu ended with the completion of the wrongful-death case in October 2012, according to his response. He added that he has no confidential information from representing Cantu that would either help Uresti or harm Cantu. I dont think the motion to disqualify me is a close call, Watts said in an interview. Theres no actual conflict. She hasnt been a client for four years. The two matters are not substantially related. Theres no temporal relationship between the two representations. Further, Watts said in his court filing, he had no recollection of speaking in detail with Cantu. Other lawyers at his firm handled the litigation, he said. In January, Cantu filed a fraud suit against Uresti in Hidalgo County. She says Uresti and others tricked her into believing she was investing with FourWinds to buy and sell frac sand, which is used in fracking to extract oil and gas from shale. Instead of using her money to buy sand, though, she said company officials distributed most of the money among themselves. In a court filing, Uresti has denied the allegations. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonio-based USAA, seeking to quell furor over its decision last week to pull commercials from conservative talk show host Sean Hannitys program, is reinstating ads on the show. Bowing to public pressure from its largely military customer base, USAA said Tuesday it will buy air time on the Fox News program and other opinion news shows after initially suspending advertising. The company said it will also reinstate ads on The Rachel Maddow Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC and CNNs The Lead with Jake Tapper. We heard concerns from many members who watch and listen to these programs, the company said in a statement. Today, the lines between news and editorial are increasingly blurred, the company added. As such, we are reinstating all previously removed ads on programs representing a variety of perspectives while we review our policy to determine how best to apply it in todays environment and in line with our mission. Beau Phillips, a crisis communications specialists with Reset Public Affairs in Washington, said USAA bungled its handling of the controversy from the start. A Twitter user wrote USAA on Wednesday afternoon requesting that it stop supporting Hannitys show after liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America released a list of his advertisers. Im really surprised USAA has chosen to pander to some mild social media protests or tweets, because their brand and their reputation is strong enough to give them the ability to do whatever they want here as far as making the right choice, as opposed to the expedient choice, Phillips said. USAA touched off a firestorm after responding to a tweet from @kathydettmer at 5:14 p.m. Central time Wednesday, saying Advertising on opinion shows is not in accordance with our policy and weve since corrected it. The flap intensified after conservative groups pointed out that USAA still advertised on MSNBC programs hosted by liberal commentators Matthews and Maddow. Hannity supporters called on customers to drop USAA, using the hashtag #BoycottUSA and #IStandWithHannity, to express their outrage. Hannity, who retweeted an article Friday from @SScalpings about veterans groups boycotting USAA, is now asking his 2.4 million followers to support the company. Please support them, they are returning to my show @USAA -, Hannity tweeted Tuesday. USAA spokesman Roger Wildermuth said last week that the company has had a policy in place since 2011 not to advertise on opinion-based news programs, but wasnt aware that its commercials were airing on such programs until last week. USAA said it responded by removing those ads. Phillips, who is a USAA member, said companies should to be consistent and make moves that have integrity. There is no way to win in a situation like this because youre always going to anger somebody, whether its on the left or on the right, Phillips said in an interview. So you shouldnt try to make anyone or everyone happy. You cant. Thats their mistake here. USAA provides banking, insurance and other financial services to about 12 million customers, who are service members, veterans and their families. Media Matters President Angelo Carusone accused Hannity of organizing his fans to harass his own network, his advertisers and his potential advertisers. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. We warned that Hannity was volatile and bad business, Carusone said in an emailed statement. Now, many are currently experiencing first hand that doing business with Hannity is needlessly risky. USAA and some other companies yanked their ads from Hannitys program after he was criticized for promoting a widely debunked theory over the murder of a former Democratic National Committee staff. Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center, said he wasnt surprised by USAAs decision given the avalanche of protests. He said his group mobilized the campaign against USAA, claiming its members generated more than 1,600 calls to the company within 48 hours. The long holiday weekend did little to snuff out the firestorm. Twitter users were still up in arms Tuesday morning. @USAA HOW COULD YOU acquiesce to left-wing agitators and pull ads from @seanhannity? Sad!! #boycottUSAA #HannityMattersTo America, @TinaBogani tweeted Tuesday morning. Another Twitter user with the handle @saravern said Tuesday that USAA was just another cowardly USA corporation letting the liberal thought police shut down our freedom of speech. #BoycottUSAA. Bozell praised the company after USAA reversed course. @SeanHannity has been a longtime friend of the troops. This is the right move from @USAA, Bozell tweeted. pdanner@express-news.net Twitter: @AlamoPD The Associated Press contributed to this article. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With milkshakes that deliver a Dr. Seuss level of edible spectacle, Honeysuckle Teatime has made a name for itself in San Antonios pop-up dining scene. Starting Thursday, the same team will divert some of its creativity to feed crowds at The Brooklynite cocktail bar five days a week. The Brooklynite menu from Sage, a sister operation to Honeysuckle Teatime, includes pepperoni biscuits, charcuterie, meatballs and a doughnut ice cream sandwich. Service kicks off at The Brooklynite from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday. Afterward, hours will be 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 7 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. A lot of our heart is in creating good bar food, said Sara Lauren Hinojosa, who along with her sister, Olivia Hinojosa, started Honeysuckle Teatime as a catering company in February 2016. Its occasional milkshake pop-ups have created a buzz on par with the pink-and-blue Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino that flooded social media during its limited run this year. RELATED: S.A. culinary sisters resort to secret lists and exclusive releases for fairy-tale desserts Sages menu at The Brooklynite revolves around three varieties of meatballs and sauces, plus fresh biscuits studded with pepperoni and parmesan and an ice cream sandwich made with a Honeysuckle doughnut. Sara Hinojosa said the team hopes to open a freestanding Sage restaurant location by the end of the year, possibly with a tea cafe and pastries in the front and a bar with savory food in the back. This is the second foray into bar food for the Hinojosas. They also did food service for Paramour from August 2016 until March of this year. Theyre being assisted at The Brooklynite by sous chef Christine Craig and consultant Juan Mesa. RELATED: Craft doughnuts to roll out on North St. Mary's Street Prices will range from $4 for side dishes to $6 for pepperoni biscuits and pea hummus with crisps to $8 for mushroom, sage sausage or beef meatballs with pesto, marinara or brown butter gravy. Doughnut ice cream sandwiches cost $7. Honeysuckle Teatimes next milkshake event is Sunday at the San Antonio Museum of Art for the museums First Sundays for Families. Admission is free from 10 a.m. to noon, and Honeysuckle Teatime will sell a limited number of Rose Strawberry Shortcake shakes from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for $10, paid in advance through Eventbrite at this link . msutter@express-news.net Twitter: @fedmanwalking This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Brisket fanatics rarely see eye to eye. Some prefer the leaner flat, while others want cuts from the fatty point. Requests for sauce at some joints will be met with genuine disdain. One thing everyone can agree on is that a pound of brisket in Lockhart weighs the same as a pound of brisket in San Antonio, and there wont be any funny business. Thats because the Texas Department of Agriculture requires scales used to measure food by the pound to pass accuracy checks. A bill sitting on the governors desk would put an end to that requirement, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has a beef with it. House Bill 2029 was authored by Rep. J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville, a small business owner whose official biography states he understands the problems of overreaching government regulations. It exempts weight devices used for food sold for immediate consumption aka that iconic order of Texas barbecue on butcher paper from the established mandate. Stewart and Bobby Peacock have owned the Barbecue Station in San Antonio for 25 years. And for as long as they can remember, getting the scales they use to weigh the brisket or ribs checked for accuracy by state authorities just was a part of doing good business. It was never something we thought about, Stewart Peacock said. I know if I go somewhere and order a pound of brisket, I like to know Im getting a pound. The so-called Barbecue Bill passed both houses with almost unanimous support. Miller staunchly opposes the legislation and wants Gov. Greg Abbott to veto it. He argues the law requires the Texas Department of Agriculture to inspect all businesses that use scales for commercial transactions, ranging from grocers and pet stores to RV parks, and barbecue joints shouldnt be singled out for special treatment. It sets a bad precedent, Miller said. If we exempt barbecue, then how about we stop monitoring the scales where the meat for the barbecue is purchased? They wouldnt like that. Everything in the process before it gets to barbecue is weighed on certified scales. And, he said, the $35 annual fee is about the same cost as a couple of pounds of brisket. Miller said he thinks most of the opposition to the registration laws stems from businesses that were unaware the rules have been on the books since 1907. The TDA launched Operation Maverick in 2015, notifying more than 10,000 locations they were in violation of weights and measures regulations. After what Miller called a 45- to 90-day grace period, businesses still not in compliance were fined. From 2015 through last week, the department had levied 7,603 $100 fines, including about 450 in the San Antonio area. You have someone with a badge scaring employees over scales, for a rule they never enforced until recently to raise revenue, Lozano told the Austin-American Statesman. If theres an outcry from the community, that theyre paying for 1 pound of barbecue and getting three-quarters of a pound, wed hear about it. San Antonio native Essaul Ramos, owner and pitmaster at 2M Smokehouse, is new to the regulation game. His W.W. White Road restaurant, which recently was named to Texas Monthlys list of the states Top 50 barbecue joints, just opened in December, and he has yet to go through the inspection process for his single scale. Do I think its an extra headache? Yes, Ramos said. But at the end of the day, were always going to do whats best for our customers. What I worry about the most is the fine print. Advocates of the bill cite the annual fee as a needless expense and hassle. According to a Texas Monthly report, about 1,400 barbecue restaurants had their scales inspected between June 2015 and March 2016. The TDA projects $4.8 million in annual state revenue from all scale registration types. Money obtained through fines goes to the legislative general revenue fund. These restaurants are already inspected two or three times per year by other entities, and these costs have a way of accumulating, Lozanos legislative aide Jowel Resendez said. Lozano thinks Abbott will sign the bill into law, Resendez added. Miller can counter with a recent report that the TDA checked more than 200,000 scales and found errors at more than 5,000 locations throughout the state. Most of the violators were pawn shops and grocery stores, but barbecue restaurants werent immune. Since 2015, about a dozen barbecue restaurants in San Antonio have been cited. Minute scale errors can be enough to put an establishment on the list. According to the report, a scale at The Smokehouse on Roland Road in San Antonio was cited for weighing out 10.04 pounds when a 10-pound weight was placed on it. Restaurants also were cited for scales that weighed short, which would benefit the customer, and for using scales that were not certified legal for trade. It needs to be accurate, Miller said. For comparison, 5 gallons of gas cant be off by more than 6 teaspoons. The Barbecue Station on Northeast Loop 410 pays $105 a year for its three scales, although inspectors check the devices less frequently. Unless a complaint if filed with the TDA, inspections are done once every four years. Cutting the meat behind the butcher block is a bit of an inexact science. Meat traditionally is carved in pound or half-pound increments, but the final cost is often based on exact weight. Customers need to have peace of mind and know exactly what they are getting, Ramos at 2M Smokehouse said. If we give you less than a pound by accident, you wont be paying that full pound price. Stewart Peacock does the same at Barbecue Station, and he said that charging to the exact weight is an industry standard. He believes the risk of shorting a customer a slice of meat outweighs any reward. He is mostly impartial to HB 2029, although he wouldnt mind having that extra money in his pocket. The barbecue business is based on reputation, Peacock said. If it got out that you were giving customers less than they paid for, you would be ruined. cblount@express-news.net Twitter: @chuck_blount AUSTIN The judge who decided Collin County was too political for Attorney General Ken Paxton to have a fair criminal trial lost his ability to oversee the case in Harris County after the embattled Republican refused to sign off on rudimentary paperwork, the 5th Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The decision vacates all decisions made by Tarrant County Judge George Gallagher after his April 11 ruling to move the case across the state amid concern about Paxtons political connections in the attorney generals home county. The decision amounts to a victory for Paxton who had sought to remove Gallagher from the bench presiding over his case for weeks. Under the plain language of the statute, (Gallagher) is without authority to continue to preside over the cases and is also without authority to issue orders or directives maintaining the case files in Collin County. Consequently, all orders issued by (Gallagher) after he signed the April 11, 2017 transfer order are void, read the ruling written by Justice Robert M. Fillmore. Absent an appeal to the states high court, the ruling dictates that Gallagher is no longer responsible for the case. The ruling also calls for court documents to be moved to Harris County where another judge would be appointed. The ruling also nixes a trial date for Sept. 12, when the states special prosecutors were expected to try Paxton on charges he failed to register as an insurance adviser. When the trial will be held would be up to a new judge, possibly delaying a resolution on the case as Paxtons political adversaries determine whether the criminal charges will hurt him in the next election. The filing deadline to run for office is in December. Special prosecutors had argued Paxtons allies in his home of Collin County tainted the jury pool there by filing lawsuits against the prosecutors and alleged victims, radio ads and a TV news story. Gallagher later ruled in April he would move the case to Harris County, where the states special prosecutors and several members of Paxtons legal team are based. The attorney generals lawyers then refused to sign rudimentary paperwork allowing Gallagher to follow the case to Harris County. The states special prosecutors argued in court filings that the Texas Legislature did not intend for people like Paxton to have unchecked authority to withhold their signature in order to be assigned a new judge. The appellate court sided with Paxton, saying withholding his and his attorneys signatures were enough to keep Gallagher from remaining with the case. Although the appellate courts decision voided Gallaghers rulings since he changed the trials venue, attorneys for both sides are under a gag order and either failed to return phone calls or declined to comment. Paxton, an embattled Republican elected to state office in 2014, has been fighting off charges of securities fraud since he was indicted in 2015. Paxton maintains his innocence and contends he is the victim of a political witch hunt. The attorney general, who is up for election again in 2018, is accused of failing to tell friends and colleagues he invested with that he would make a commission for convincing them to buy stock in Servergy, a North Texas tech company that purposed to sell a revolutionary server. Paxton received 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $1 a piece, for recruiting about $850,000 in investments in the company. He is charged with two cases of felony securities fraud and one felony charge of failing to register. He could face up to 99 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines if found guilty. A federal civil court dismissed similar charges against Paxton brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN The angry clash that put the Texas House in an unflattering national spotlight exposed the frustration that has festered since tea-party-aligned lawmakers led the GOP majority to run over Democrats with a tough crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The two lawmakers who have received the bulk of the attention, thanks to a threat by one to shoot the other, exemplify the two sides of the battle that will continue through next years election and beyond. Tea-party-backed Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, helped push the sanctuary cities provision that ensures law officers can ask people they detain about their immigration status. Rinaldi, who describes himself on his political website as the son of an Italian immigrant who came to America legally, has championed additional legislation targeting undocumented immigrants and worked on other hot-button issues, including abortion restrictions and gun rights. He highlights his NRA rating and concealed handgun license. Tempers just flared. Its a very passionate issue for both sides. Stuff like that happens. You say things to incite people, and thats exactly what I did, Rinaldi said Monday. He didnt respond to a request for an interview Tuesday. Rep. Alfonso Poncho Nevarez, D-Eagle Pass, is among those who waged the fruitless fight against what they call the show-me-your-papers provision in the sanctuary cities bill. Critics fear it will lead to racial profiling. Like Rinaldi, the immigration issue is personal for Nevarez his wife is from Piedras Negras, across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, and is scheduled to take her citizenship test next week. These things are driven at the highest levels by fear, Nevarez said. Its important for the groups that champion these types of bills to whip their constituents into fear. Nevarez got widespread attention in 2015 when he was confronted in his Capitol office by gun rights activists pushing aggressively for him to support the open carrying of handguns without a permit. He said he has a concealed handgun permit but that he doesnt carry a gun. The spotlight came again on the last day of the legislative session Monday, when people flooded the Capitol to protest the sanctuary cities ban, now signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. After Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth, gave an encouraging fist-pump to demonstrators in the House galley, Rinaldi told him and other Latino Democrats that he had called immigration officials on the protesters. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said Tuesday that local officers had received no such call, but the damage was done. Rinaldis comment led to a dustup in which Nevarez told Rinaldi they should take it outside. Rinaldi, who said Nevarez told him he would get him on his way to his car, acknowledged saying hed shoot the Democrat in self-defense. Democratic Reps. Philip Cortez and Justin Rodriguez of San Antonio said they heard Rinaldi say, Ill put a bullet in your head. Rinaldi denied using those words Monday. The fracas quickly drew national attention, leading to Nevarez and Rodriguez receiving a lecture from CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin when they appeared on the cable news network Tuesday. Baldwin said CNN also wanted Rinaldi to appear, but he did not. Gentlemen, you are elected officials. No matter which side of the issue you fall on, you guys nearly came to a full-out brawl on the House floor. What does that say to Texans? What does that say to Americans, children and the protesters there about civility? Baldwin asked. We just cant be having this happen when we elect you all to represent us. Rodriguez said the squabble may be a moment theyd like to take back after losing their cool, but it also shows they will continue to fight for their communities. There is an unfortunate reality out there that folks still have a lot of hate in their heart and bigotry, he said. Maybe part of it comes from fear, but I think theyre lashing out wholly at particular segments of our community that look like us. At the same time, I would say we have consistently, whether it be in court or the Legislature, fought back these policies that try to take us back a century, Rodriguez added. We feel very confident that SB 4 (Senate Bill 4, the sanctuary cities ban) is going to be contested and challenged, and well be on the prevailing side in court. Democrats are targeting Rinaldis position. Dorotha Ocker, who got 49 percent of the vote against him in last years general election, said on Twitter that shes trying again: Ill put on my running shoes. Done and done. We have to get rid of guys like Rinaldi, Nevarez said. Not because of the (Monday) scrum, but because of what precipitated it. People can get hot and lose their cool, but that isnt the issue, the issue is why? Manny Garcia, Texas Democratic Party deputy executive director, said in a statement the day of the run-in: Texans will ensure that Republican Matt Rinaldis pathetic political career and dangerous agenda comes to an end. Texas Democrats call on Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick, and Speaker Straus to denounce this kind of racist conduct. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, is the only one of the three who issued a statement, saying Monday: Theres no excuse for members making insensitive and disparaging remarks on the floor of the Texas House. Abbott and Dan Patrick didnt respond to a request for comment on the incident. In his 2016 GOP primary, Rinaldi beat former state Rep. Bennett Ratliff. The campaign included mailers from Rinaldi that Ratliff said portrayed his father, a former state senator who also served as lieutenant governor, as a mobster. The Dallas Morning News said the mailers included photos of a mafioso smoking a cigar or brushing his cheek with the tagline, To Bennett Ratliff its not just politics, its the family business. Ratliff has a brother who is a lobbyist, and the Morning News said Rinaldi was referring to both holding office and lobbying as the family business. In the House, Rinaldi is a member of the Agriculture and Livestock and Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committees. He also is one of a dozen members of the tea-party-aligned Texas Freedom Caucus. A lawyer, he represents business in commercial litigation. Nevarez, whose law firm focuses on catastrophic injury and death cases, has more prominent committee assignments. Hes vice chairman of the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee; serves on the powerful Calendars Committee, which sets bills for House consideration and can kill legislation by not scheduling it; and is a member of the General Investigating and Ethics and Natural Resources committees. Rep. Lyle Larson, a San Antonio Republican who voted against the law officers amendment championed by the Freedom Caucus but voted for the bill, said Rinaldi was part of the faction that pushed something that took the state back about 40 years. Larson said he had words with Rinaldi in the 2015 session but that they had a good working relationship this time. Matts a smart guy. Hes smart from a legal standpoint. But I think sometimes hes socially awkward, and that was evident yesterday, Larson said. Pointing out that Rinaldi was born in Connecticut, Larson said, Hes not Texas-born. All of us that grew up in Texas, I think we all understand the multicultural experience. Were acutely aware of the sensitivity that surrounds this issue. As for Nevarez, Larson said that he is respected in the House. Everybody respects him. Hes always straightforward, whether you like it or not. Tea party activist JoAnn Fleming, executive director of Grassroots America We the People PAC, praised Rinaldis work in the Legislature. Rep. Rinaldi is, I think, a good, principled legislator. Cortez, the San Antonio representative, said Rinaldi should apologize to the House for the altercation and that the General Investigating and Ethics Committee should look into the incident. This isnt over. Ill tell you that, Cortez said. Staff Writer Vincent T. Davis contributed to this report. pfikac@express-news.net Twitter: @pfikac A woman from Mexico arrested in connection with corruption allegations in that countrys Tabasco state said in a court filing this week that she came to the U.S. seeking asylum after her husband, a former state official, was persecuted by the current administration. Silvia Beatriz Perez Ceballos, 49, along with her husband Jose Manuel Saiz Pineda, 49, the former finance secretary for Tabasco; and businessman Martin Alberto Medina Sonda, 44, were charged with money laundering conspiracy and bank fraud conspiracy in an indictment unsealed last week. Saiz Pineda and Medina Sonda are in custody in Mexico on criminal charges there. Perez Ceballos was arrested May 24 near Houston. Prosecutors have moved to seize property in Houston, Miami, New York City and Los Angeles worth $50 million that they allege was purchased with money stolen from the state. The indictment filed in Corpus Christi is the latest in a series of investigations by federal authorities in that city and San Antonio into allegations that former Mexican state officials laundered through bank transfers and real estate deals in Texas tens of millions of dollars stolen from public coffers. In a request for bond, Perez Ceballos lawyer said she, her husband and a daughter came to the U.S. to seek asylum in 2013. Another daughter was already attending college in San Antonio. Saiz Pineda is a member of Mexicos ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and served under former governor Andres Granier Melo. In 2013, a member of the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution took office. Under the current governor, Arturo Nunez Jimenez, a on-time aspirant for the PRIs gubernatorial nomination, Saiz Pinedas family faced persecution, according to the filing. Two of his employees were kidnapped and tortured in an attempt to elicit damaging testimony, according to Perez Ceballos asylum application, which was attached to the bond request filing. A spokesperson for the state of Tabasco did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The filing also states that before entering government service, Saiz Pineda had a successful accounting firm and lucrative ranching interests in Mexico, explaining his wealth. Through no fault of her own, the Defendant has become a pawn in the federal government's efforts to prosecute her husband, the court documents state. The (crux) of the government's charges is that the Defendant's husband misappropriated Mexican government funds and diverted them to accounts in the United States and that the Defendant and another individual conspired with the Defendant's husband in the alleged criminal activity. Perez Ceballos and her daughters entered the U.S. on visas that were later revoked, but theyve been allowed to stay in the U.S. while their asylum case is pending. Saiz Pineda was stopped when he tried to enter the U.S. at the international bridge in Pharr and turned over to Mexican authorities, according to the filing. He, Granier Melo, the former governor, and Medina Sonda, the businessman, all face corruption charges in Tabasco. Medina Sonda is also being investigated in connection with the March assassination of his ex-wife, according to Mexican news reports. jbuch@express-news.net Twitter: @jlbuch Family Research Council Praises Draft HHS Regulation Protecting Little Sisters of the Poor, Religious Liberty Contact: J.P. Duffy or Alice Chao, 866-FRC-NEWS, 866-372-6397 WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today a draft copy of a Department of Health and Human Services regulation was leaked that would implement President Donald Trump's executive order protecting religious liberty for all Americans. The leaked HHS regulation, if accurate, will ensure people with religious beliefs and actions are not punished by the federal government if they follow their beliefs. On the HHS leaked regulation regarding the unfair HHS contraceptive mandate, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins commented: "While this apparent leaked document is a draft, it is a very positive sign to see the federal government work to cease its hostility toward Christians and those who object to the Obama era health care mandates. This draft regulation shows that Secretary Tom Price and President Trump intend to make good on their pledge to vigorously protect and promote American's First Freedom. "As many Americans of faith have experienced, the extent of the Obama administration's hostility toward their beliefs was astounding. From President Obama's dismissal of people of faith as Americans 'clinging' to their religion, to threatening millions in crushing fines against charities like the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Obama administration made clear they believed people of faith had no place in the public square and that religious beliefs or moral convictions were irrelevant to the health care they provide. "Respecting the freedom of Americans to follow their deeply held beliefs is a long-held American tradition and grounded firmly in the Constitution. The draft regulation would continue the process of righting this wrong and restoring Americans' full First Amendment rights. The freedom to live out faith in all areas of society without government punishment or intimidation is fundamental to making America great again," concluded Perkins. To review FRC's amicus brief in Zubik v. Burwell case, please see: downloads.frc.org/EF/EF16A12.pdf Alan Warrick was concerned about the public and had a cautionary tale to share. Thats what the District 2 councilman told his loyal Facebook followers on Friday night. Warrick wrote that he had been out the night before at a bar with friends when someone slipped some type of drug into one of his drinks, resulting in the councilman being found by security detail Friday morning, passed out on a park bench in front of City Hall. Warrick couched his anecdote as a kind of public-service announcement, stating that he had spoken with the Express-News and encouraged them to write about this so that people can be aware that even if you are with friends and even if you are in a familiar place this can still happen to you. For all his avowed concern about what had been done to him, however, Warrick did not get tested to find out what drugs were in his system. He did not contact the bar before making his allegation and find out if anyone there saw any suspicious activity. With no evidence to back him up, he presented himself as a victim. By Saturday afternoon, Warricks story had crumbled. Justin Vitek, the owner of On the Rocks, the downtown basement bar where Warrick had spent Thursday night, said the councilman appeared sufficiently drunk that the staff cut him off and offered to call him an Uber. Vitek also said that he and his staff would review the bars surveillance video to see what turned up. Suddenly, Warrick recanted his story and conceded that hed had too much to drink. Nonetheless, many of Warricks followers continued to show their solidarity with the councilman, with one supporter suggesting on Facebook that Warrick deserved praise for stepping up and taking responsibility for his actions. Taking responsibility is a voluntary decision. Warricks honesty was involuntary. His first reaction was to conjure up a dubious story and he walked it back only in the face of embarrassing pushback, and the possibility of damaging video evidence. From the very beginning, Warricks account carried a suspicious odor to it. For one thing, his Facebook claim that he encouraged the Express-News to run the story made it sound as if he volunteered the information. In fact, Express-News reporter Josh Baugh got the tip from elsewhere and was going to write the story, regardless of any encouragement from Warrick. When Baugh called him at 5:03 p.m. on Friday, Warrick struggled to explain what had happened. Only after planning out a messaging strategy with his campaign team did he call Baugh back at 6:14 and push the I-was-drugged story, which he furthered with his Facebook post 51 minutes later. If Warrick had explained the incident by saying he didnt remember exactly what happened and didnt know how he ended up crashed out on the bench, most of us could understand that. But the councilman, whose personal history includes DUI guilty pleas in 2002 and 2004, took the path of deflection and diversion. Myself and my team, we looked at the circumstances, and it seemed too unlikely that I would just end up at City Hall on the bench, literally right where I park, Warrick said Tuesday, by way of explaining his initial allegation. Also, it was such a long period of time where I have no recollection and I didnt have a hangover. His fictional story was a tour de force of irresponsibility, throwing suspicion in the direction of his runoff opponent Cruz Shaw (with a cryptic assertion that someone wanted to see me asleep outside City Hall), damaging the bars reputation and chipping away at the credibility of legitimate drugging victims. This society has a big enough challenge getting people to seriously confront the issue of date and acquaintance rape, and the role that drink spiking plays in it. The last thing we need is a politician making unfounded allegations about being drugged in order to salvage his runoff campaign. You learn a lot about politicians by how they handle public embarrassment. Rob Ford, the late Toronto mayor, offered a worst-case example when he responded to questions about his crack-cocaine use by attacking the media and accusing a Toronto Star reporter of being a pedophile. Warrick didnt go that far. But theres no charitable way to say that all his talk about protecting others from being drugged was nothing more than a ploy to protect his own name from being dragged through the mud. ggarcia@express-news.net Twitter: @gilgamesh470 New South Korean President Receives WCC Delegation to Discuss Churches' Role in Peace Initiatives for Korean Peninsula Contact: World Council of Churches, +41-79-507-6363; www.oikoumene.org/press GENEVE, May 31, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- On 30 May 2017 a delegation led by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with the President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in, who took office on 10 May 2017. Photo: Peter Prove/WCC Mr Moon is a former human rights lawyer, who once served as a member of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) Busan Chapter for human rights. "That President Moon received us so early in his term is a sign of his recognition of the role that churches in Korea and the WCC have in building relations for peace on the Korean peninsula," noted Tveit. President Moon received the delegation comprising WCC general secretary Tveit, Dr Chang Sang (WCC President for the Asian Region), Mr Peter Prove (director of the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs), Metropolitan Ambrose-Aristotle Zographos (of the Orthodox Church in Korea, and President of the NCCK), Rev. Dr Kim Young Ju (NCCK general secretary), and Rev. Shin Seung-min (NCCK Programme Executive) in his executive office in the "Blue House," in Seoul. President Moon expressed his appreciation for the work of the WCC and the ecumenical movement in promoting democratization, human rights, peace and reconciliation in Korea for more than 45 years. The President affirmed that such religious and civilian exchanges are important in helping to reduce tensions and to promote normalization of relations. He stressed that his administration is committed to engaging in dialogue with North Korea, but that recent repeated missile tests by the North obstruct this intent. He called for North Korea to help create the conditions for inter-Korean dialogue by suspending such tests. President Moon underlined that establishing a "peace regime" on and the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula are key priorities for his administration. He expressed the hope that the WCC and the NCCK would continue to work for these purposes, too. An international conference convened by the WCC in Hong Kong in November 2016, with participants from North and South Korea and from 11 other countries, called for future ecumenical initiatives to be purposefully and explicitly configured to model and exercise leadership toward a peace treaty for the Korean peninsula, to replace the Armistice Agreement by which the Korean War was suspended in 1953. "Everywhere I go around the world, especially in these times of heightened geopolitical tensions," remarked the general secretary, "I am asked about the situation in the Korean peninsula and about how the WCC and the churches in Korea can do more to help reduce tensions and to promote peace and reconciliation in this region. We have a long history of supporting encounter and dialogue between Christians from both North and South Korea, and we are committed to doing more." "We and our member churches place much hope in your leadership for a fresh start for peace among the divided Korean people, and we pray for you as you serve in this high position in this significant time for your nation and for the world," Tveit told the new president. See the WCC's and NCCK's recent statement on peace on the peninsula Learn more about the work of the National Council in Churches of Korea WCC member churches in Korea The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Share Tweet When the time comes that the CTA does actually cease to exist, its name and what it has done will continue, because the CWA has this scholarship and it will be on-going. Knights of Columbus Launches Ad Campaign as Middle Eastern Christians Face Crisis Knights also urge Congress to act by passing H.R. 390 Contact: Joseph Cullen, 203-800-4923, joseph.cullen@kofc.org; Andrew Walther, 203-824-5412, andrew.walther@kofc.org; both with Knights of Columbus NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 31, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- With Christians facing increased pressure in the Middle East, the Knights of Columbus has launched a nationwide digital and television ad campaign to raise awareness and funds on their behalf. A bus attack in Egypt last week resulted in almost 50 casualties. In Iraq, the situation has become dire, with money running out for food for the Christian refugees who fled ISIS. Without immediate support, Iraqi Church leaders warn that the country's Christian population already 90 percent depleted could be reduced to unsustainable levels. "We must act and act quickly if Christianity is to survive in the Middle East," said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson. "Three years after ISIS rolled through their country, these minority communities of Christians could face extinction without our help, and if they disappear, the chance for a pluralism and tolerance of minorities will be increasingly lost in that country." Anderson also said the Knights will match up to $1 million in donations. The commercial can be viewed here: youtu.be/Uhst4k2coCc The Knights' commercial includes an appeal by Father Douglas Bazi, who headed the Mar Elia refugee center in Kurdistan and was himself previously kidnapped and tortured by terrorists in Iraq. In the commercial, Father Bazi notes: "Genocide is an easy word compared to what's happened to my people." He then adds a plea to the viewers: "Help my people and save my people." The Christian population has fallen from as many as 1.5 million in 2003 to only about 200,000 today, according to the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil, which cares for the largest Christian population still in Iraq and the largest community of displaced Christians in the country (12,000 families). The archdiocese now faces a shortfall of $600,000 a month in food aid. While ISIS has been pushed back in many places and Christian towns have been liberated, people have not been able to return because there is not enough money for reconstruction or security. "We face a serious shortfall in the money needed just to cover the costs of providing food to the displaced Christians in our care," said Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil. "Having to decide between rebuilding homes and feeding the displaced is not a choice; it is a potential death sentence for our Christian communities." In addition to raising funds for the beleaguered Christian community in Iraq, the Knights of Columbus is also urging Congress to pass H.R. 390, which would help ensure that American government aid dollars reach Christians and other religious minority communities that faced genocide in Iraq and Syria. The Knights of Columbus has donated more than $12 million for Christian refugee relief since 2014 in support of communities too often ignored by direct U.N. or U.S. government assistance. The bulk of the funding has aided Christian communities in Iraq with food, clothing, shelter and education, and has also helped threatened or displaced communities in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Other religious minority groups targeted by ISIS, including Yazidis, have also been recipients of the Knights' aid. The K of C will match donations received by July 1 up to $1 million, and 100 percent of the money raised will be used to assist with food programs for Christian refugees in Iraq. Donations can be made at www.ChristiansatRisk.org or by calling 1-800-694-5713 and are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Knights of Columbus Charities Inc. is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a charitable organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Knights set a new all-time record for charitable donations in 2015, with more than $175 million in donations and more than 73.5 million hours of service valued at $1.7 billion. Share Tweet Bill Steinman recently wrote a post for the FCPA Blog about compliance risks in offset obligations. Id like to continue that discussion, this time with some information about international cooperation to clean up offset transactions, and how the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is playing a role. To review, offset agreements are industrial compensation requirements imposed by foreign governments as condition to purchase of goods, technology, intellectual property (IP) and services from nondomestic suppliers. Offsets typically are used in the aerospace and defense sector. Offset transactions have been often abused for corruption. For example, in Austria, a 2 billion ($2.24 billion) deal for 18 Eurofighter combat jets required Airbus to invest into Austria twice the value of the aircraft deal. In the end, more than $100 million of this offset amount was reportedly lost to bribery and corruption. To fight that sort of graft, the OECD or Organization for Economic Co-operation Development adopted new tax compliance reporting requirements called the Country-by-Country Report (CbCR). So far, 58 countries have adopted the CbCR, which is intended to bring a certain amount of transparency to offset arrangements entered into by aerospace and defense multinational companies. The CbCR will be automatically exchanged with other governments via tax treaties, Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA), and Multilateral Competent Authority Agreements (MCAA). EU countries propose to make CbCRs publicly available. In the United States, for the first time this year, aerospace and defense companies with annual revenues of at least $850 million (Multinational Enterprises or MNE) will be obligated to file CbCR via IRS Form 8975 on Oct 16, 2017. MNE will disclose to tax authorities information regarding offset arrangements with offset advisors, indirect offset partners, and offset subcontractors, on a country-by-country basis as follows: The legal name of the entity Tax jurisdiction and residence of the entity The tax identification number (TIN) of the entity The main business activity or activities of entity Third party revenue Revenue generated from transactions with related parties Pretax profit and loss Total cash income tax paid (including withholding tax) Total current year accrued income tax expense (excluding reserves) Stated Capital Total accumulated earnings Total number of employees, and Total net book value of tangible assets (cash or cash equivalents, intangibles, or financial assets are not declared). MNE wont be required to report cash or cash equivalents, intangibles, or financial assets, or technology or intellectual property transfers made to foreign governments. The United States will automatically exchange filed CbCR with Tax Treaty and TIEA countries. The final U.S. regulations do not provide for public disclosure of CbCR and the preamble to the regulations state that the CbCR would benefit from the confidentiality requirements, safeguards and appropriate use restrictions provided under the competent authority provisions of U.S. tax treaties. Nevertheless, U.S. taxpayers have expressed concerns that a CbCR could be made publicly available in other jurisdictions that are less stringent about confidentiality or have proposed legislation for the public disclosure of CbCRs. MNE that fail to file a CbCR could be subject to penalties federal tax rules, and to penalties under rules imposed by the 57 other countries that have agreed to exchange CbCR. The U.S. Supreme Court said in Pasquantino v. U.S. (2005) that federal wire fraud charges could be brought against violators of foreign tax laws. In light of the above, offset departments of MNE are urged to coordinate with their tax and legal departments to minimize unintended consequences from failing to file a CbCR this year. ____ Selva Ozelli is a tax attorney and legal and accounting analyst, with special expertise on the extraterritorial application of the FCPA via international tax rules. Singapores central bank Tuesday fined Credit Suisse and United Overseas Bank for breaching anti-money laundering rules in connection with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a statement it fined Credit Suisse about $505,000 and UOB about $650,000. MAS said it didnt detect pervasive control weaknesses in the banks. But it did find weaknesses in conducting due diligence on customers and inadequate scrutiny of customers transactions and activities. Prosecutors in Singapore, the United States, and Switzerland believe about $3.5 billion was improperly diverted from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. The U.S. Justice Department used evidence developed by Singapore to prepare a 144-page civil forfeiture complaint against about $1 billion in assets allegedly bought with money looted from 1MDB. Singapore last year seized property and bank accounts worth about $177 million linked to money allegedly diverted from 1MDB. Tuesdays statement from MAS marked the end of the regulators two-year review of the Malaysian fund. In the statement, MAS announced lifetime bans against the former Singapore branch manager of Falcon Private Bank, Jens Fred Sturzenegger, and two other former Falcon employees. The bans, known in Singapore as Prohibition Orders, are effective from May 29 and bar the bankers from working in Singapores financial sector. Sturzenegger was sentenced earlier to 28 weeks in jail and fined about $92,000. MAS said he pleaded guilty to six charges related to Falcon Banks AML failures. MAS stripped two banks of their Singapore bank licenses for money-laundering violations related to 1MDB. In May 2016, MAS withdrew BSI Banks license and fined it $9.6 million, citing serious breaches of AML (anti-money laundering) requirements, poor management oversight of the banks operations and gross misconduct by some of the banks staff. The agency also withdrew the license held by Falcon Bank in late 2016 and fined the bank $3.1 million. MAS said it found serious failures in AML controls and improper conduct by senior management at the Head Office in Switzerland as well as the Singapore Branch. During the 1MDB investigation, MAS also fined DBS Bank about $720,000, Standard Chartered Bank $3.7 million, and Coutts & Co $1.73 million. Among the eight indivuals MAS sanctioned for 1MDB-related offenses were Tim Leissner, the former chief of Goldman Sachs (Southeast Asia). MAS banned him for ten years from March 13, 2017. MAS said Leissner issued an unauthorized reference letter to a bank in Luxembourg in June 2015, using Goldman Sachs letterhead. The letter vouched for a central figure allegedly involved in 1MDB. Leissner resigned from Goldman Sachs in February 2016. MAS said Leissner managed the client relationship with 1MDB for its three bond issues from 2012 to 2013. _____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. The image of classic sailing holidays has been around since the 1950s when the celebrities, the rich and the famous of this iconic time showed the glamour, style and elegance of the era with long and carefree breaks around some the most visually stunning and scenic areas of the world. Could this be your next holiday? With some of the most beautiful people of this time frame regularly setting sail, the world was captivated by the pictures taken of these stars of stage and screen on their yacht charter getaways to, for what seemed like to many, far flung and exotic locations. These photos of the original sailing holiday pioneers had a stunning level of glamour and class to them as the likes of Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly all had iconic images taken of them cruising around the waves of the Mediterranean. Bardot was especially iconic as her beauty and her starring role in the film And God Created Woman saw St. Tropez, the quiet and peaceful fishing town on the far western edge of the Cote DAzure, explode to become one of the most visited holiday destinations in the world. The images of some of the most beautiful people of the last 65 years as they cruised around the clear blue oceans and seas of the world looking carefree and being masters of their own destinies on the waves sparked an obsession in many people as they look to emulate the class and elegance of this bygone era. It is far easier in current times to be able to share your holiday images through the means of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and, just like in the 1950s, todays celebrities have been caught up in the glamour of taking to the waves, taking time off from the world and their hectic schedules, and snapping some shots of some of the most beautiful sailing spots around the globe. The past 12 months alone has seen some of the most beautiful people on the planet secure a yacht charter from private firms or from their millionaire friends to travel the waves in luxury and while doing so they have kept their fans updated the sights and sounds experienced through the vast social media networks that were unimaginable for the trendsetters of this type of holiday. The rich and famous have spread themselves around the globe during their downtime with the likes of Reece Witherspoon, Ruby Rose and Kate Hudson all spending time around Europe from Venice, Italy to the French Rivera and all the way around to the beautiful Croatian coastline. Others, such as Amy Schumer (who is a big fan of yacht hire and sailing holidays having spent the summer of 2015 at sea with Jennifer Lawrence), the ageless Cindy Crawford and Eva Longoria have also all spent time sailing around the Americas from the Caribbean and Mexico all the way down to Peru. The best part about sailing holidays in 2017 is that, unlike the 1950s they are available for everyone rather than just the rich and famous, thanks to the cost of a yacht charter having come down by leaps and bounds over the decades and this allows you the chance to explore some of the most beautiful areas of the world and emulate your most famous celebrities by Instagramming your journey! Yacht hire company Sailogy have informed us that to cruise some of the most stunning Southern European locations, such as the 5,000km long Croatian coastline, Italy and Yacht Charter for an unforgeful sailing holiday around the Greek islands will cost less than 50 per person per day. This is well within everybodys price range so all you need then to be sure of is that you have enough mobile data to be able to keep the world updated with all of your amazing and glamorous holiday photos! Lynch married clinical psychologist Embry on 31st May 2010 at the Blue Heron Restaurant in Sunderland, Massachusetts. Jane Lynch and Lara Embry The couple first met in 2009 at a fundraiser in San Francisco, got engaged just one year later and Lynch became the step mother of Embry's daughter Haden with her ex-boyfriend. When asked about her feelings about becoming a step mum, she said; 'I'm almost 50, and I thought that possibility was behind me, so this is a real delight. I never went through a biological clock experience. I never even heard it ticking. ' (IMDB) The pair were together for three years until Lynch announced that they were divorcing, after a 5 month separation and it was all finalised in January 2014. "It's not dramatic. It's not a horrible thing. It's something that we're dealing with," Lynch said of her breakup. "It's two people who just decided it's better to go apart than stay together. We have to remain adults, which we have. We keep everybody's -- especially Haden's -- good in our mind." (usmagazine.com) by Lucy Moore for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on TV's most popular actor Ram Kapoor, who is currently seen in ALT Balaji's new web-series 'Karrle Tu Bhi Mohabbat' with Sakshi Tanwar, recently adopted a dog. Ram, took to Twitter, by posting a picture of himself with his 'adopted child'. Ram and the dog look adorable as they snuggle in the bed. READ ALSO: Sakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor to return with Season 2 of Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat He had recently gone to Singapore with his wife Gautami Kapoor, son Aks and daughter Sia. It was a much deserved vacation for the family. Ram and Gautami have been married for almost 14 years now. Ram gained a lot of popularity from Bade Achhe Lagte Hain. Ram Kapoor: Quit smoking overnight because of my daughter GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Two Ferris State University employees, who collaborated in the development of the universitys Latino Business and Economic Development Center, have been honored by the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The chambers gala was held on Wednesday, April 19 at the Pinnacle Center, in Hudsonville, and LBEDC Director Carlos Sanchez received the Businessperson of the Year Award. Tony Baker, the founding director of Ferris Center of [email protected] Studies was presented the Building Bridges Award. Its an honor to be recognized for the efforts that the LBEDC is making in Grand Rapids, and West Michigan, Sanchez said. It is important that we continue to support talent development, and learning opportunities for entrepreneurs, in partnership with the chamber and the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan. Alan Headbloom, a member of the Hispanic chambers awards committee, wrote that Sanchez is building for the future of our Hispanic community and we are impressed by Carlos long-standing commitment to bolstering Latino West Michigan. Baker offered similar responses regarding his, Sanchezs and the LBEDCs role in supporting opportunities for this community. I cannot do much to build bridges on my own, but with Ferris interest, and effort in bringing talent development and entrepreneurial support forward, we can do many things well, Baker said. We can consistently offer our best because the university is willing to commit resources and make itself accessible to the broader community. On behalf of the awards committee, Headbloom wrote that Baker is working to move institutions out of their silos and into the community, for the benefit of our youth. Baker is also past president for the Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education and currently serves as its treasurer. A further connection to Ferris, among the Chambers award recipients, is found with the Hispanic Business of the Year, which is the El Granjero Mexican Grill, in Grand Rapids. Paola Mendivil serves as the restaurants catering manager, as her mother, Mercedes Lopez-Duran, is the owner. Mendivil graduated from the universitys College of Business, in May 2017, and is an employee of Ferris LBEDC. PHOTO CAPTION: Ferris State University's Latino Business and Economic Development Center Director Carlos Sanchez (left) received the Businessperson of the Year Award from the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Also honored, on April 19, was Tony Baker (right), founding director of Ferris' Center of [email protected] Studies, as he was given the Building Bridges Award. The agriculture department of Pakistan's Punjab province has launched cotton crop monitoring system to safeguard cotton crop from pests. About 6 million acres of land will be under cotton cultivation in Punjab with the production target of 10 million cotton bales for 2017-18. Pakistan government has set a target of producing 14.04 million bales of cotton. The newly introduced system will help cotton growers identify the presence of cotton pests through information technology, said a spokesperson from the department, according to Radio Pakistan. Further, this system will also help the cotton growers across the province with advanced solutions to protect the crop from pests while improving cotton productivity. The information will be shared to the cotton growers via online with the help of Punjab Information Technology Board. To encourage the cotton growers, various competitions will also be organised in the province of Punjab. The winners will also be rewarded for their outstanding performance. (RR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India H.E PRESIDENT ADDRESS AT THE RE-OPENING OF THE VUNIKAVIKALOA ARYA SCHOOL Na Turaga na Tui Nalawa, Ratu Epeli Niudamu, The President of the Fiji Red Cross Society, Mr Wylie Clarke, and Members of the National Board of Fiji Red Cross, The President of the New Zealand Red Cross Society,Dr Jennifer McMahon, Ms Ruxandra Lazarescu of the Taveuni Rotary Club, The President of the Arya Samaj in Fiji, Ambassador Kamlesh Arya, and members of the Arya Sabha Board of Trustees, Senior Government Officials, The Vunikavikaloa Arya School community including the Parents, Teachers and Students, Community Representatives, Nalawa Branch Red Cross volunteers, Red Cross Staff, and friends of Nalawa, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,Ni sa Yadra Vinaka, Tena Koutou (formal Maori greetings) Namaste, Noaia e Mauri, and a very good morning to you all.I am deeply honoured to be here with you and to be part of this milestone achievement for the Vunikavikaloa Arya School, for the community of Nalawa, and for all our stakeholders including especially our friends from New Zealand.May I firstly thank the Turaga Na Tui Nalawa on behalf of my wife for welcoming us with a Sevusevu. It is a ceremony that I hold in high regard not only because it is the first sign of welcome into the community, but also because in doing so, you have chosen to honour the position of President and Head of State and what it means in terms of respect and service to our beloved Nation.Importantly, I thank you and the people of Nalawa for demonstrating a genuine spirit of goodwill in working towards the peaceful co-existence of all Fijians that have called Nalawa their home for the past century.I also thank the Managements of the Vunikavikaloa Arya School and the Fiji Red Cross Society for inviting me to officiate in the re-opening of the school.Ladies and gentlemen, I find myself wearing two hats today - firstly as Fijis President and Head of State, and secondly as the Patron of the Fiji Red Cross Society.The responsibilities of the position of President in terms of service to the Nation could not be implemented in any other better way than through partnerships with organisations like the Fiji Red Cross Society.The Fiji Red Cross Societys mandate is to respond to the needs of the people of Fiji, especially during times of natural disaster.During these times, the Society seeks out the most vulnerable, and provides for their immediate and pressing needs.The whole of Fiji is very familiar with the effects of one such natural disaster Tropical Cyclone Winston. At Category Five, TC Winston was the strongest cyclone to strike Fiji. She made landfall on the coast not far from here.I am advised that the people of Nalawa received the full brunt of the cyclone in this North West part of Vitilevu, and that not a single community - from the coast to the hills of the Nakauvadra Range - was spared.Such was the devastation wreaked by TC Winston. It required all of us from Government to Non-Governmental Organisations, local businesses, the Fijian diaspora and our friends from overseas at both the government and community levels to work together to meet the needs of the thousands of Fijians who were affected.During my visits to the communities after TC Winston, I had the opportunity to see the Vunikavikaloa Arya School in passing. The devastation was visible to me as indeed to all those who travelled along the Kings Highway.It is such a joyous occasion today to see the significant transformation that has been made possible through the support of the New Zealand Red Cross Society and the Taveuni Rotary Club, among many other stakeholders.Ladies and gentlemen, seeing that we have gathered in numbers today, it would be remiss of me as the Patron the Fiji Red Cross Society not to recount the efforts that have been put into re-building the school.The Vunikavikaloa Arya School has always been associated with the Fiji Red Cross Society since the inception of the Nalawa Red Cross Branch. For many years, the school served as the meeting place for the Branch as the Branch executives were either teachers at the school or living close to the school.It was therefore only natural that the school should be selected by the Fiji Red Cross Society to be adopted under the Fijian Governments Adopt a School programme.Given the magnitude of the damages sustained by schools all over Fiji, Government established the Adopt a School programme to seek partnerships with both local and international stakeholders in re-building the schools.The New Zealand Red Cross Societys willingness to fund the rebuilding of the Vunikavikaloa Arya School and to manage the project, completed the final and most critical part of this partnership.The rebuilding project cost approximately half a million Fijian dollars. This is a significant contribution from the New Zealand Red Cross and the people of New Zealand, many of whom donated to enable the Society to support the work of its counterpart here in Fiji.The Rotary Club of Taveuni came to the rescue of the school soon after TC Winston. It provided the roofing iron, and with the assistance from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, two temporary classrooms were erected for the students to begin classes.These efforts complemented the support of UNICEF, which donated several tents for the students to use. Clearly, the school needed significant investment to be fully re-built.At this stage, I would like to acknowledge the commitment of Ms Ruxandra Lazarescu who initiated the initial repairs and was the driving force in facilitating the partnership between the Red Cross and Rotary. Thank you for helping make the partnership happen.The students also have new desks, chairs, blackboards and notice boards including library books all donated from Rotary Clubs both locally and overseas. On behalf of all of us, thank you and Vinaka Vakalevu.Please convey our appreciation to all those who donated generously towards the school.The entire construction project was unlike any other most have seen, with New Zealand Red Cross using unique Frame Cad building techniques and materials. I have been informed that the steel frames for the roof trusses and ceiling frames were assembled here on site by Frame Cad.This is an important development because it complements the Fijian Governments aim to ensure that all newly re-built schools are able to withstand Category Five cyclones.For the Vunikavikaloa Arya School, the New Zealand Red Cross project managers and carpenters worked tirelessly on the project along with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.Fiji Red Cross and community volunteers supported the work while the womens clubs from the surrounding communities including the schools Mothers Club cooked and catered for all those involved in the project.I would like to especially thank the New Zealand Red Cross for not only re-building the school, but importantly for involving the school and the entire community of Nalawa.This has been a unique project with the Fijian Government, the New Zealand Red Cross, the Fiji Red Cross, the Rotary Clubs, parents, teachers, and students of the school and the community of Nalawa coming together to re-build and refurbish the school.I am informed that the Project Manager Mr Tom Newton became critically ill upon his return to New Zealand and sadly, he is not here today to celebrate this great achievement with us.Please convey to him and his family our sincere appreciation and gratitude for the very important role he played in managing the project. Our prayers and thoughts are with him and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.I also acknowledge the work and commitment of all the New Zealand carpenters many of whom came with reduced rates of pay for the opportunity to serve the people of Fiji.To the New Zealand Red Cross and the people of New Zealand and the carpenters who contributed so much time and effort to help us, the people of Fiji would like to say Vinaka Vakalevu, Dhanyavaad and a Very Sincere Thank You to you all.Ladies and gentlemen, there is a high public demand and expectation upon us as a Red Cross Society. As a voluntary humanitarian organisation, our success depends heavily on the spirit of volunteerism.A strong National Society is important for Fiji just as a strong Nalawa Branch is important for the Nalawa Community, to enable you to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.I have been informed of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabhas generous offer to donate land to the Fiji Red Cross Society on this school property where the Nalawa Branch Office will be constructed. I believe that the necessary permissions and arrangements are now being sought from the relevant authorities to enable this to happen.I thank you also for your most generous offer to the Fiji Red Cross Society. This is most appreciated.I also understand that the new Nalawa Red Cross Branch office is funded by Australian Aid as part of the Building Resilience Fiji project.Once again, we can see international partners working together in building resilient communities, and I wish to sincerely thank the Government of Australia for this effort.In fact, Fiji will always be grateful to all Governments and their respective peoples who came to Fijis aid in the aftermath of TC Winston. Our rehabilitation efforts would have been more complicated and protracted without their support.Ladies and gentlemen, the Red Cross is many things to many people: a sign of hope, a symbol of protection, a light in the darkness, a shoulder to lean on, a friend to count on.In essence, the Red Cross is about people; people working together to mobilise the power of humanity.How wonderful it is to reflect that we can bring light to someones darkness in their time of need and in this instance, we have, for 232 students, their families and their teachers here in Nalawa.The Vunikavikaloa Arya School re-building project is classic example of a joint humanitarian aid venture made possible through multiple partnerships that have resulted in the establishment and strengthening of many friendships that will be cherished for a long time.This is why it gives me and the First Lady great pleasure to be with you today to celebrate the re-opening of the Vunikavikaloa Arya School, which was only successfully completed through all your contributions and commitment to partnership in this humanitarian work.With these words, I am deeply honoured to declare the Vunikavikaloa Arya School officially re-opened.Vinaka vakalevu, Dhanyavaad, Thank you and may Almighty God Bless you all. Ajay Devgn is known to be quite a discreet person when it comes to his private space. That's why we were quite suprised when he recently posted a vacation picture revealing that he is currently vacationing with his family in Maldives. We immediately turned to his and Kajol's Instagram handles and found out some really adorable vacay pics. Here's a look at them... A Dose Of Vitamin 'F' The Devgn family is seen striking a pose with the cool blue waters behind them. But Ajay is missing from the picture? Guess, he was the one who captured this fun moment! Sunset Diaries Clear skies, clear minds! That's so true, Kajol! Twinning Act Isn't Nysa a carbon copy of her mommy dearest? Kajol's Work Diaries Kajol recently wrapped the shooting for her upcoming Tamil film VIP2 opposite Dhanush. Ajay Devgn On The Professional Front The actor will be seen in Milan Luthria's Baadshaho followed by Golmaal Again and a film with Luv Ranjan. Meanwhile, do check out this fun video featuring Kajol, Nysa and little Yug and we bet it will leave you smiling.... What Was Reported.. According to India. com it was claimed that SRK was killed a few hours after his daughter Suhana's birthday. Here Is More.. The fake news said that it happened when he was travelling in a Gulfstream G550 Jet with his personal assistant and others. Social Media Is Shocked The actor was reported to be travelling to a business meeting; this fake story has shocked the social media. Reason Why It Looked Realistic The entire report looks true as the names of France Civil Aviation Authority and the model number of an Air France flight were all mentioned in that. It Also Stated That The Pilot Tried To Land The Flight But... In the report, it was said that the pilot tried to land the flight but failed and the civil aviation authorities have launched an investigation now. Aishwarya Rai Too Became The Victim Of A Death Hoax A few months ago, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan too was reported dead. It was said that she committed suicide owing to marital woes. It Didn't End There Absurd stories like she committed suicide because of her steamy photo shoot with Ranbir Kapoor also went viral. This Happened With Big B Also Thanks to some notorious brains, early this year, fake news of Amitabh Bachchan's death had spread like fire on the Internet. Priyanka-Modi Priyanka Chopra had met PM Narendra Modi in Berlin, Germany. Leggy Lass! Priyanka Chopra hit back at the trollers with this 'leggy lass' picture on Instagram. Skirting Trouble The social media social justice warriors took offence to PeeCee's dress as it showed her legs. Sad Trolls! As per the trolls, girls must not wear 'western dresses' while meeting the PM of India. Taking Her To Task Both girls and boys alike took PeeCee's dressing to task on Twitter and Facebook. What's In A Dress? It's surprising to see what our country is turning into terms of 'dressing'. Nobody Cares! We're sure both Narendra Modi and Priyanka Chopra are not bothered about all this themselves. A Major Portion Of The Ceiling Collapsed On The Sets Of Aanand. L. Rai's Next As per a Mumbai Mirror report, a large portion of the ceiling collapsed on the set, giving minor injuries to two members from the crew. The members fell under the rubble and had to be immediately rushed to a hospital, where they were discharged later after getting the appropriate treatment. A Prop Ladder Fell On The Makeshift Ceiling The tabloid further quoted a source present on the film's set saying, "A prop ladder fell on the makeshift ceiling. The injured crew members were discharged immediately since the injuries were minor. Shahrukh Khan Has A Narrow Escape The source further added, "Everybody heaved a sigh of relief that SRK was seated on another side of the set and was unharmed. Shooting was stalled for two days and will resume later this week." Cloudy Weather Condition Was The Main Culprit When the tabloid got in touch with the doctor, who treated the injured crew members, he too confirmed the news. The film's spokesperson blamed the extremely cloudy weather condition for the mishap and revealed that it is one of the key reasons for the shoot being stalled. Shahrukh's Looks Under Wraps The makers have beefed up the security to heavily guard SRK's dwarf look from the film. Reportedly Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif play his leading ladies in the film. Parvathamma Rajkumar was a film producer and distributor who worked in the Kannada Film Industry. She was the wife of veteran actor Late Dr. Rajkumar. Parvathamma Rajkumar departed to the netherworld today(May 31) at 4:40 am in M.S.Ramaiah Hospital. Diagnosed with multiple-organ failure, she was admitted to the hospital for treatment since May 14. Various celebrities and politicians have condoled her death. Most of the schools in Bengaluru might remain closed for today. Elaborate arrangements have been made for her funeral and overall security of the city has been heightened. Meanwhile, the film board of Karnataka has requested the halt of exhibitioning of all movies across the state as a mark of respect, and, Kannada Film Industry has suspended all its activities until tomorrow. Parvathamma Rajkumar was born on 6th December 1939 in Saligrama, Mysore district to Appaji Gowda and Lakshmamma. She was married to Dr. Rajkumar at the age of thirteen. She is survived by her three sons and two daughters. A famed producer and a superpower in the industry, she is credited with having introduced many actors and actresses who are now famous stars. It is a very well- known fact that she had a big influence in helping her husband, Dr. Rajkumar, achieve success in the industry. She established a family production house called Vajreshwari Combines. The first movie that came from Vajreshwari Combines banner was Dr. Rajkumar's film, Trimurthy, with her husband in a leading role. Needless to say, the movie was a roaring success and made big profits to the production company. What started as a one film production, later expanded to be the biggest production house in the state. After a few years, Parvathamma's brothers entered the film business as producers, under her guidance. She has produced over 80 films and has given career-breaks to her three sons, who were just introduced to the industry as budding actors. Parvathamma Rajkumar has given some very successful films with her husband in lead roles. Some of them are - Trimurthy, Haalu-Jenu, Kaviratna Kaalidasa, Jeevana Chaitra and others. She has produced many successful films with her eldest son, Dr. Shivarajkumar in a lead role. A few of them are given here - Anand, Om, Janumada Jodi, etc. Some of her second son, Raghavendra Rajkumar, movies that she produced were - Nanjundi Kalyana, Swasthik and Tuvvi Tuvvi Tuvvi. Her youngest son, Puneeth Rajkumar starred in Appu, Abhi, Vamshi, Arasu and others, which were produced by Vajreshwari Combines. Parvathamma not just produced her family's movies, but also recognised other budding talents in the industry and promptly gave them chances to grow up. Solely, for this one reason, many celebrities are still thankful to her for helping them. She was known to be selfless and gave prominence to rising talents over personal commitments. There is a non-exhaustive list of actresses to whom she showed the path to success. Some of them are - Sudharani, Asharani, Sarala, Veena, Vidhyashree, Malashri, Kavya Seema, Soumya, Mohini, Monisha, Mamathasri, Padmasri, Prema, Shilpa, Anu Prabhakar, Vidya Venkatesh, Sri Vidya, Rakshitha and Ramya. Out of this list, a few of them have ruled the industry as Sandalwood queens as well. Her altruistic contribution to the field of cinema has brought her many awards. She has been awarded the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' and 'Suvarna Award' from the Government of Karnataka for her contribution to Kannada cinema. On this day, we would like to remember and show our gratitude to Parvathamma Rajkumar for the enormous service that she has given to KFI. May God give strength to her family. Rest in peace, Parvathamma Rajkumar. Parvathamma Rajkumar, the superpower of Kannada film industry passes away at the age of 78. She breathed her last in the wee hours of Wednesday morning at MS Ramaiah Memorial hospital where she was being treated from past two weeks for various health problems. Parvathamma's body has been taken to their residence in Sadashivnagar. Several big names from film and political fields are visiting the residence to pay their last respects. The body will be kept at Poorna Pragna Ground, Sadashivnagar for public to pay homage. Doctors of MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital informed that she passed way due to a massive cardiac arrest at 04:40 AM. She was on ventilation from the last two weeks after complaining of renal and breathing problems. In the last bulletin released by hospital, it was said that her condition was stable. Raghavendra Rajkumar has informed the media that funeral will be held today evening at Sri Kanteerva stadium next to Dr Rajkumar memorial. He also stated that his mother's eyes will be donated as per the wish of his father and mother. Several big names from film industry and other fields are expected to pay the homage and special arrangement for security has been placed in and around Sadashivnagar. Security has been beefed up in Bangalore and other important regions in Karnataka to avoid any other mishap. Film shooting has been stopped as a mark respect to the top producer who is one of the reasons for what Sandalwood is today. Also there will be no shows at theaters around the state. Lady In A Shopping Cart - Fana Photography Kikki is one of the hottest metalheads in Germany. Kikki She also attends the prestigious Wacken Open Air in Germany every year. Wacken Open Air If you're headed to WOA this year, don't forget to say 'Hi' to Kikki. Iron Maiden Kikki is a big fan of Iron Maiden and has seen them live several times. Glamour Model Kikki is also a glamour model and looks stunning in all her pictures. Chilling By The Beach! She recently went out for a vacation to Thailand as well. Cool Pool! She also has a huge collection of heavy metal CDs and merchandise. Jockey Kikki Kikki is also good at riding horses and does it on a regular basis. Heavy Metal Is The Law For Kikki, heavy metal is the law. German Model Kikki WOA is being held every year in Germany since 1990. Dreams Do Come True! It's every metalhead's dream to attend WOA atleast once in their lifetime. Pilgrimage The concert is like a pilgrimage to all metal music fans. Line-up The line-up for 2017 WOA is mammoth and huge! Volunteer Kikki also does volunteer service at the WOA. Modelling It's been two years since Kikki took up the profession of modelling. Say Hi! So what are you waiting for? Book your tickets to WOA and pack your bags! Kapil Was To Shoot With Paresh Rawal Apparently, Kapil was supposed to shoot with Paresh Rawal for an episode of The Kapil Sharma Show. Paresh Rawal was on TKSS to promote his upcoming film Guest In London. The Shoot Was Cancelled But after reaching the sets, Kapil complained of uneasiness. The shooting was cancelled and the actor was rushed to the hospital in Andheri. The Actor Was Rushed To Hospital After check up, the doctors asked him to get admitted. Kapil's co-actor Kiku Sharda confirmed the news. Kiku Sharda He was quoted by TOI as saying, "Yes, Kapil was feeling uneasy so he was taken to the hospital and was admitted. But there's nothing to worry. He is fine now." Low BP Due To Back-to-back Shooting A source close to the actor was quoted by Indian Express saying, "Kapil was admitted to a hospital in Andheri at 4 pm today after he complained of uneasiness. It is a blood pressure related problem. It is a result of back-to-back shooting." Will Kapil Attend Dadasaheb Phalke Acadamy Award Ceremony? Kapil Sharma was to attend Dadasaheb Phalke Acadamy Award ceremony that will be held tomorrow (June 1). But, going by Kapil's health condition, it is doubtful whether he will attend the event or not! It's indeed a gloomy day for the entire Telugu film fraternity as one of its chosen children has left them to the heavenly abode - Dasari Narayana Rao, the most celebrated director, producer, actor, writer, lyricist and politician of Andhra Pradesh. Rao, who was born in West Godavari during the same year when India attained Independence, worked in various capacity of cinema making process. He holds the Limca world record for directing most number of movies (a total of 151) in his career. Rao stretched himself as an actor not just in Telugu industry, but in Tamil and Kannada languages as well. He is a recipient of 2 National awards along with 9 State awards and 4 Filmfare awards. The director-turned producer, who had rendered hits to both NTR and ANR, was seen to be a powerful force of Telugu cine industry by being a guiding force for the entire industry. Dasari's demise has left everyone shell-shocked and here are some of the responses from the celluloid world. Superstar Rajinikanth, who addresses Dasari as Gurugaru, tweeted from his twitter account expressing his sadness over the latter's demise "Shri Dasari Narayana Raoji, my dearest & closest well-wisher & friend ... One of the greatest directors of India ... His demise is a loss to the whole Indian film industry. My heartfelt condolences to his family. May his soul RIP" Young tiger NTR, whose grandfather, Sr. NTR was said to be close to Rao, too paid tribute and expressed that the Telugu cine world has lost of its finest talented prodigy. While prince Mahesh Babu responded "Shocked and saddened by the news of Dasari Narayana Rao Garu's passing away. May his soul rest in peace. His death leaves a void that can never be filled. Prayers and strength with the whole family". Veteren actress Radhika Sarathkumar too paid condolences, "RIP #DasariNarayanaraogaru worked with him in many movies, watched many of his fantastic movies. Telugu industry will miss this stalwart". SS Rajamouli mourned the senior director's demise and tweeted "Dasari Narayana Rao garu brought respect and recognition to the clan of directors. His authority irreplaceable. "Guruvu garu" to the whole industry.. We will miss you deeply Sir..." Kamal Haasan remembered the past and quoted "My sympathy and condolences to the family of Daasari Naryana Rao.His loss is truly a big loss for Telugu cinema. Late K.B. sir admired him. I remember the days spent with Narayan rao gaaru and Mr. Sanjeev kumar ji. Yaadgaar. He was a great fan of Mr.KB. I belong to a great family." On-screen stars such as Daggubati Venkatesh, Pawan Kalyan, Jr. NTR, Allu Arjun etc., were spotted at Rao's residence early in the day offering homage to the demised veteran. The Telugu cinema industry has shut all its operations including screening of movies in theatres for the day as a mark of respect to Dasari Narayana Rao. Mahesh Babu's much awaited Spyder movie's teaser too, has been pushed to June1st which was slated for a May 31st release. MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/17 -- PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (http://pyrogenesis.com) (TSX VENTURE: PYR)(OTCQB: PYRNF), a high-tech company (the "Company" or "PyroGenesis") that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch products, is pleased to announce today its financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. Q1 2017 results reflected the following highlights: -- Revenues increased 67% to $1.7MM in Q1 2017 from $1.0 MM posted in Q1 2016; -- Gross profit after amortization of intangible assets increased to 52% in Q1 2017, from - 5.5% over the same period in 2016. (Gross profit before amortization of intangible assets increased to 52% in Q1 2017 from 29% over the same period in 2016); -- Most importantly, Q1 2017 was profitable on an EBITDA (adjusted) basis. Q1 2017 posted an EBITDA (adj.) of $22.6K versus a EBITA (adj.) loss of $649.5K; -- Over $13.5MM in contracts were signed, and work begun on, since June 30, 2016 which, taken in context of historic revenues (2016: $5.2MM; 2015: $6.2MM; 2014: $5.8MM) is quite significant. Backlog of signed contracts as of the date of this writing is $9.4MM; -- Cash on hand at March 31st 2017 was $1.3 MM (December 31st 2016: $385K). At year end 2016, we described the preceding twelve months as being a pivotal year for PyroGenesis as the Company shifted its focus away from being a fabricator of plasma-based systems that produced unique titanium powders, in favour of becoming a producer of metal powders for the Additive Manufacturing Industry (the "Industry"). Given their unique properties (pure, small, spherical, and uniform; which make them flow like water), these powders are greatly sought after in the Industry, particularly 3D printing. Given this strategic shift, together with the backlog of signed contracts from our non-additive manufacturing business ("Core/Traditional Lines of Business") of over $13MM since June 30, 2016, we projected that 2017 was shaping up to be a break out year for PyroGenesis, and Q1 2017 has not disappointed. The Company will be issuing an in depth update on the progress of its Powder Production business line within the next two weeks where a review will take place on all aspects of that sector. Suffice it to say at this point that there have been no disappointments and we are very happy with the progress and developments to date. What is key to note is that these results reflect revenues from what we call our Core/Traditional Lines of Business (ie no revenues from powder sales at all), however expenses reflect certain costs of building our first powder production system which came on stream in Q1 2017 and is, as previously announced, currently ramping up to full production. We are more convinced than ever before that 2017 is the breakout year we have been positioning the Company for, for a number of reasons: -- The healthy gross margins established in 2016 (before consideration of the 2016 write- offs), have improved, and are expected to continue to improve once powder production is in full swing; -- Established backlog of signed contracts, the majority of which are expected to be completed in 2017; -- Our Core/Traditional Lines of Business are poised to contribute significantly to the bottom line and be both profitable and significant in their own right. The following is a non-exhaustive review of PyroGenesis' main commercial activities: A. Powder Production: The Company has met every milestone announced on the road to making metal powders for the Industry. It was recently announced that the assembly of the first powder production system was completed and that the first powder run exceeded expectations. The ramp up is under way and is expected to take place linearly over the ensuing months. As announced in recent press releases interest has far exceeded Managements' expectations and an initial contract was signed for a sample amount of powder. Also recently announced was the fact that the Company has signed a number of agreements with significant and potential players in the Industry reflecting various discussions regarding the possibility of concluding certain business relationships or transactions geared to the production of powders. The current system is the first of many PyroGenesis expects to make to address an increasing need for metal powders in the Industry(1). B. DROSRITE: The DROSRITE Furnace System was proven out at a North American customer's Mexican facility during the first half of 2016. Soon thereafter, a successful demonstration of the DROSRITE System in the Middle East took place, following which an unsolicited request to exclusively market the process in the region was received and is currently being discussed. Management's belief that the supply and installation of the first commercial sale in North America would enable the Company to leverage this success to generate a continued flow of orders for additional DROSRITE systems is being borne out. This recent flurry of activity and interest for the DROSRITE system bodes well for 2017 where we now expect to have at least 3 orders placed. We continue to expect the first follow on contracts to be signed in the 2nd half of 2017. The market potential for PyroGenesis' DROSRITE system, from Aluminium dross alone, exceeds $400MM. C. HPQ: On August 2, 2016 PyroGenesis announced that it had signed contracts totalling CDN $8,260,000 with HPQ Silicon Resources Inc., formally Uragold Bay Resources Inc. for the sale of IP and to provide a 200 metric tonne (MT) per year PUREVAP pilot system to produce silicon metal directly from quartz. This system will for the most part be constructed in 2017, with advancement of the contract accelerating in the second half of the year. According to percent completion accounting standards for revenue recognition the majority of these revenues will be recognized in the 2nd half of 2017. Of note, if successful, PyroGenesis benefits from a 10% royalty on all revenues derived from the use of this system by HPQ, subject to annual minimums. D. Chemical Warfare Destruction System: The Company recently announced that PyroGenesis has, in coordination with the US-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), successfully completed long-duration performance tests using the Company's tactical Plasma Arc Chemical Warfare Agents Destruction System ("PACWADS") using surrogate chemical warfare agent material. These tests supported the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Agnostic Compact Demilitarization of Chemical Agents (ACDC) program and far exceeded minimum requirements with over 99.9999% destruction efficiency. The PACWADS has, as of this writing, been delivered to the testing site and is currently going through final testing using real chemical warfare agents. These tests should be completed by the end of Q3 2017 (this timeline however is out of the Company's control). Again this bodes well for 2017 as we would expect additional contracts resulting from a successful completion of the final testing. However, no indication has been given as to the size, if any, such procurement would entail. E. Other Contracts: There are other contracts being discussed (such as a third order for a PAWDS for a New US Aircraft Carrier which is expected to be ordered sometime towards the end of 2017/beginning of 2018 with an estimated value of approximately $6MM; SPARC system sales, amongst others) which give us confidence that 2017 will be the break out year. (1) Wohlers Report 2016 (ISBN 978-0-9913332-2-6) Given the above, we expect a strong performance in the coming year, and based on existing contracts, the Company expects to be profitable in 2017 (excluding any contribution from powder sales) as noted above. Our projections for 2017 are only heightened by the reception we have received so far and how our entrance as a powder producer has been so well received by the Additive Manufacturing community. Management remains focused on reducing PyroGenesis' dependency on long-cycle projects by developing a strategic portfolio of volume driven, high margin/low risk products that resolve specific problems within niche markets, and doing so by introducing these plasma-based technologies to industries that have yet to consider such solutions. Management is also actively targeting recurring revenue opportunities that will generate a growing, and profitable, regular cash flow to the Company. PyroGenesis has one of the largest concentrations of plasma expertise in the world, with over 250 years of accumulated technical experience and 59 patents, combined with unique relationships with major Universities performing cutting edge plasma research and development, which positions the Company well to execute upon its various strategies. Financial Summary Revenues The Company posted revenues of $1,696,138 in the first quarter of 2017 ("Q1, 2017"), representing an increase of 67% compared with $1,016,853 recorded in the first quarter of 2016 ("Q1, 2016"). Revenue recorded in Fiscal 2016 was generated primarily from (i) the sale of intellectual property and development of a vacuum arc reducing process to convert Silica into high purity Silicon metal, (ii) manufacture and further field testing of Tactical PACWADS, the first mobile plasma system for destruction of chemical warfare agents under contract with an international military consortium, (iii) the demonstration of the viability of PyroGenesis' existing plasma chemical warfare agent destruction platform with locally available materials, for the complete eradication of chemical warfare agents without creating hazardous by-products, and (iv) support services related to PAWDS-Marine systems supplied to the US Navy. Cost of Sales and Services and Gross Margins Cost of sales and services before amortization of intangible assets was $820,864 in Q1, 2017, representing an increase of 13% compared with $723,256 in Q1, 2016. Total costs of sales and services, was $820,264 representing a decrease of 24% compared with $1,072,524 in Q1, 2016. Various factors, including, but not limited to, the mix of long and short-term manufacturing projects, project complexity and scale, and project R&D content, may significantly impact both the composition and overall level of cost of sales and services reported in a given period, as the mix of labor, materials and subcontracts may be significantly different. The costs incurred in Q1, 2017 are primarily attributable to the work completed under PyroGenesis' project to develop a vacuum arc reducing process to convert Silica into high purity Silicon metal, work completed on the tactical mobile plasma system for destruction of chemical warfare agents under contract with an international military consortium, and support services related to PAWDS Marine systems supplied to the US Navy. Investment tax credits recorded against cost of sales are primarily related to client funded projects that qualify for tax credits from the provincial government of Quebec. Qualifying tax credits increased to $132,246 in Q1, 2017, compared with $108,815 in Q1, 2016. This represents an increase of 22% quarter-over-quarter. The Company continues to make investments in research and development projects incorporating the involvement of strategic partners and government bodies. In Q1, 2017, the gross margin before amortization of intangible assets was $875,874, which represents 51.6% of revenue. This compares with a gross margin before amortization of intangible assets of $293,597 (28.9% of revenue) for Q1, 2016. The amortization of intangible assets of Nil in Q1, 2017 ($349,268 in Q1, 2016) relates to the licenses and know-how purchased in 2011 from a company under common control. This expense is a non-cash item and the underlying asset was fully amortized by December 31, 2016. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses Selling, general and administrative expenses ("SG&A") for Q1, 2017 were $1,148,916, representing an increase of 10% compared with $1,048,915 reported for Q1, 2016. Excluding the costs associated with share-based compensation (a non-cash item in which options vest over a four year period), SG&A expenses increased by 3% in Q1, 2017 compared with Q1, 2016. The increase in SG&A expenses is attributable to the net effect of (i) a decrease of 2% in employee compensation, (ii) an increase of 10% for professional fees, primarily due to increase in investor relations, (iii) a decrease of 1% in office and general expenses, due to a decrease in courses and seminars, (iv) travel costs increased by 6%, due to an increase in travel abroad, (v) depreciation on property and equipment decreased by 22%, (vi) government grants decreased by 100% due to lower level of activities supported by such grants, (vii) other expenses increased by 1%, primarily due to the reduced cost of freight and shipping, and (viii) an increase in share base payments of 12% primarily due to the vesting structure of the stock option plan and the stock options offered on September 25, 2016. Total Comprehensive Loss The comprehensive loss for Q1, 2017 was $298,610 compared to a loss of $1,248,661 in Q1, 2016, representing a decrease of 76% quarter-over-quarter. The decrease of $950,051 in the comprehensive loss in Q1, 2017 is primarily attributable to: (i) an increase in product and service related revenue of $679,285, (ii) an increase in cost of sales and services totaling $97,009 as explained above, (iii) an increase in SG&A expenses of $100,002 as explained above, (iv) an increase in R&D expenses of $25,187 primarily due to the fact that many of the Company's engineering and R&D resources were concentrated on activities within projects under construction for clients, with such costs being recorded within cost of sales, (v) an increase in net finance costs of $6,647 due to an increase in accretion costs on convertible debentures, (vi) an increase in finance income of $150,343 due to the adjustment of the fair market value of other investments. EBITDA The EBITDA loss in Q1, 2017 was $115,565 compared with an EBITDA loss of $715,937 for Q1, 2016, representing a decrease of 84%. Adjusted EBITDA gain in Q1, 2017 was $22,586 compared with an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $649,506 for Q1, 2016. The increase of $672,092 in the Adjusted EBITDA in Q1, 2017 is mainly attributable to the decreased comprehensive loss of $950,051, a decrease in depreciation on property and equipment of $7,058, a decrease of $349,268 in amortization of intangible assets, offset by an increase in finance charges of 6,647 and an increase in share-based payments of $71,720. Liquidity As at March 31, 2017, the Company had cash on hand of $1,278,447 and negative working capital of $6,004,376 compared with a cash balance of $385,257 and negative working capital of $2,079,353 as at December 31, 2016. About PyroGenesis Canada Inc. PyroGenesis Canada Inc. is the world leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes. PyroGenesis provides engineering and manufacturing expertise, cutting-edge contract research, as well as turnkey process equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, additive manufacturing (3D printing), oil & gas, and environmental industries. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and technicians working out of our Montreal office and our 3,800 m2 manufacturing facility, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage by remaining at the forefront of technology development and commercialization. Its core competencies allow PyroGenesis to lead the way in providing innovative plasma torches, plasma waste processes, high-temperature metallurgical processes, and engineering services to the global marketplace. Its operations are ISO 9001:2008 certified, and have been ISO certified since 1997. PyroGenesis is a publicly-traded Canadian company on the TSX Venture Exchange (Ticker Symbol: PYR) and on the OTCQB Marketplace (Ticker Symbol: PYRNF). For more information, please visit www.pyrogenesis.com This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "in the process" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward- looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com, or at www.otcmarkets.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the OTC Markets Group Inc. accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. SOURCE PyroGenesis Canada Inc. Contacts: PyroGenesis Canada Inc. Mr. P. Peter Pascali President and CEO (514) 937-0002 ppascali@pyrogenesis.com Proceeds to speed development of the company's Etherparty platform VANCOUVER,British Columbia, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Vanbex Group is pleased to announce the closing of its seed round of financing for the development of blockchain-based products, including Etherparty, the company's easy-to-use smart contract creator. Vanbex raised C$500,000 (US$365,474), in line with the company's target for its initial seed round. "We're delighted with the level of support from investors," said Kevin Hobbs, Vanbex Group's chief executive officer. "We're also very fortunate to have such high level advisors and new hires joining Vanbex to help drive us forward toward the next stage in our growth." Proceeds will accelerate development of Etherparty, a platform that will allow users with zero knowledge of smart contract programming to create an enforceable, self-executing digital agreement for all types of transactions. Etherparty is designed to make executing an Ethereum smart contract simple and easy for everyone. Boris Mann and Adrian Jonklaas, co-founders of Vancouver-based Frontier Foundry Corp., are among Vanbex's backers. "We're excited to see Vanbex take this investment and move forward with their professional blockchain consulting services as well as grow their in-house products," said Mann. "Both Adrian and I are looking forward to supporting more of the blockchain community here in Vancouver." Since 2013, venture capitalists have globally invested at least US$1.4 billion in blockchain projects, according to a World Economic Forum August 2016 discussion paper. Blockchain, also known as distributed ledger technology, is the backbone of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Vanbex is also pleased to announce the appointments of Derek Spratt, a 34-year veteran of the telecommunications sector, as executive chairman, Steven Lee, a former finance and operations director at Slack Technologies, as chief financial officer, and Brian Onn as senior blockchain developer. About Vanbex Group Vanbex Group is a professional services and strategic consulting firm that specializes in all aspects of the blockchain industry. Established in 2013 to better tell the story of digital currency and blockchain-Abased companies, Vanbex has since evolved into a blockchain-based products and advisory services firm. Visit vanbex.com. Media Contact: Brandon Kostinuk, Marketing and Communications Manager, b@vanbex.com, (604) 312-2463 PARIS, FRANCE / ACCESSWIRE / May 30, 2017 / The Eiffel Tower is gearing up to usher in the Paris Appreciation Awards, which are slated to be launched on July 8, 2017. The awards program is being touted as a historic event of global reach and significance. An initiative of World News Network, the Paris Appreciation Awards Ceremony is all set to essay an unprecedented exhibition of entrepreneurial success stories across a gamut of industries, viz., pharmaceuticals, aviation, fashion, cosmetic, e-commerce, manufacturing, FMCG, real estate, jewelry, BFSI, and so on. The Eiffel Tower, in all its glory, will bear testimony to the clash of the titans for the coveted awards and the felicitation of the most innovative and inspiring entrepreneurs across the globe. It is only befitting that Paris, the seat of culture and couture, will be hosting this spectacular awards program and a star-studded fashion show, with an extensive international media coverage. Thereby, the ceremony will not just be the talk of the town but will make waves globally. It is expected to hog the limelight both before and after the main event. The winners from India, France, Middle East, Europe, United States, and other countries are likely to get a lot of mileage out of this highly publicized global phenomenon. Satish Reddy, who is the President of the French European Indian Organizations and the Managing Director of World News Network, is at the helm of this global extravaganza. This initiative is being endorsed by Queen Munni Ironie of Arts 4 Peace Awards, Beverly Hills, USA. These organizations aim to promote entrepreneurship and industrial growth through strategic global collaborations as a stepping stone to a nation's economic development. Being a superpower, the United States has a pivotal role in enabling economic growth. India, which is an emerging national economy and a member of BRICS, is focused on finding a level footing in the global arena. This high-profile event will be graced by a host of esteemed dignitaries and celebrities from across the world. To name a few: Robby Wells, the US Elections' presidential candidate for the Democratic Party; Consul Generals (Ms.Pinkey Ahluwalia, Vice Consul General of Belgium) or Ambassadors of various countries; Ashish Chauhan, the Managing Director of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Anurag Kashyap, a renowned filmmaker; Dr. B.K. Modi of the Modi Group and also a well-known philanthropist; heads of organizations like Google; Hollywood celebrities and socialites; the top Fashion Weeks of the world; mayors and senators; top brands; French and Indian actors; Naypadmasagar Maharaj, the Jain Spiritual Guru; Indian Bullion & Jewelry Association; and many more. In India, promotional campaigns for the Paris Appreciation Awards 2017 are to be micro-managed in various cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Indore, Kochi, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, etc. Brands from each of these cities would compete in its category with their competitors from India and abroad as they vie for glory and fame on July 8th, 2017. Media Contact: Nilofer Ansari +919167553880 niloferscribes@gmail.com Source: World News Network & the Paris Appreciation Awards HONG KONG, May 31, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - The award presentation ceremony of Quam IR Awards 2016 (QIRA) successfully took place on 25 May, 2017 at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Business elites of the awarded listed companies received the distinction, shared their joy at the ceremony. Eminent figures from the business community and notable guests supported the event and exchanged the ideas of excellent investor relations.Stepping into its second yearQuam IR Awards recognizes excellent investor relationsSince Quam IR Awards was held for the first time last year, it aims to honor models of practice and leadership in Investor Relations (IR) among the listed companies in the Asia Pacific region. Our winners have been devoted in upholding transparent communications between companies and stakeholders throughout 2016. The Quam IR Awards serves as the well-recognized testimonials to the winners' excellence, which can help bring accreditation and prestige to the winning companies and their remarkable achievement in the area of IR among shareholders, institutional investors, equity research analysts and financial media.Awarded companies in Quam IR Awards 2016 come from various categories, ranging from Hang Seng Index Constituents, Main Board and First Year After Listing companies, representing multi-national enterprises to local companies. A total of 14 awards were presented, the winners include Bank of China Limited, CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited, China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited, China Cinda Asset Management Co., Ltd, China Everbright Limited, China LotSynergy Holdings Limited, D&G Technology Holding Company Limited, Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited, EFT Solutions Holdings Limited, The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, Kerry Logistics, Li & Fung Limited, Shui On Land Limited, and WWPKG Holdings Company Limited.Eminent figures and elites showed their supportAt the ceremony, Mr. Richard Winter, Executive Director of Quam Financial Service Group, said "This year, the awarded companies are definitely the role models in their respective industry. With excellent governance culture, their expertise in investor relations is widely recognized. They have deep understanding on sustainable development that strive them to improve investor relations, to keep their commitments with investors, and to make a more rock-solid business platform for industry peers."Quam IR was honored to invite Ms Mabel Chan, President of Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Prof Daniel M. Cheng, MH, JP, Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Mr. Louis Leung, President of Hong Kong Chinese Industry and Commerce Association; Mr. Ivan Tam, President of The Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries; Mr. Stephen Wong, Adjunct Associate Professor of Institute of China Business, University of Hong Kong, SPACE; and Hon Wong Ting-kwong, SBS, JP, Legislative Councilor of HKSAR (Functional Constituency - Import and Export), as our guests of honor to witness the glorification of the listed companies demonstrated IR excellence.Ms Mabel Chan said, "This year, the winning companies not only excel in investor relations, but also set an outstanding example to other listed companies. Furthermore, they help strengthen Hong Kong's position as a leading international financial centre." Prof Daniel M. Cheng, MH, JP said the awarded companies this year have demonstrated perseverance in improving investor relations and establishing effective corporate culture, meanwhile they have successfully yielded the support from investors and shareholders. Though the business environment is ever changing, the companies are dedicated to provide information to the public with open-minded attitude.Mr. Louis Leung emphasized that different economies face vigorous competition from abroad. By enhancing both domestic and international competitiveness, the excellent investor relations of listed companies contribute to the capital market of Hong Kong and take Hong Kong to a world leading level.Mr. Ivan Tam said Quam IR Awards 2016 recognizes the winning companies for their achievements in investor relations. Their vigorous devotion has raised the standard of corporate governance and investor relations to a new level.Meanwhile, Mr. Stephen Wong, strongly believed that Quam IR Awards 2016 has provided a good way of public acknowledgement on investor relations and laid a solid foundation for developing investor relations in general. Hon Wong Ting-kwong, SBS, JP added that the awarded companies have been disclosing the most valuable information in an all-rounded and professional manner on the open platform.Unfailing support from media & sponsorsApart from the support of notable guests, the award presentation ceremony attracted numerous media and sponsors in Hong Kong and China. Our supporting media partners include Metro Daily, The Standard, eeo.com.cn, caiguu.com, CEO FX, CNFOL, FXgold, FX678, OTCbeta, PEdaily, p5w, Stock Star and ysslc.com and so on. Besides, several companies supported QIRA by offering products & prize sponsorship, namely Adiren Gagnon, BU Health, Canon Hongkong Company Limited, EyeCare HK, FX Creations International Limited, Hamilton Hill International Kindergarten and YOU. C1000 and so on.Key to success of winning listed companiesCALC strives to improve investor relationsMr. Bill Hui, Financial Controller of CALC, stated that the company has been proactively working on the globalization strategy underpinned by innovative financing channels, which supports sustainable growth. Meanwhile, the company also suggests outstanding business models to provide one-stop aircraft solutions, such as new aircrafts leasing, sale-and-leaseback of old aircraft, fleet replacement package deal and aircraft disaseembly for airline companies.D&G Technology focuses on the interaction with investorsMs Glendy Choi, Executive Director and CEO of D&G Technology Holding Company Limited, said the company is very honored to be awarded with Quam IR Awards again. The Group has been keeping close relationships with investors since its listing. Through timely disclosure of the Group's latest information, investors are allowed to follow their latest development.Dah Chong Hong values investor relationsMs Kitty Fung, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited shared, "We endeavour to engage shareholders and investors through well-planned IR & ESG programs in a proactive manner. We cherish such good relationships with the investment community and will continue to raise the bar for best IR practices."EFT dedicated to integrating the quality of investor relationsMr Andrew Lo, Chairman, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of EFT Solutions Holdings Limited, said that apart from focusing on the business development and the technology of electronic payment in Hong Kong, the company also emphasizes on the transparency IR betterment in another. The company discloses corporate information and interacts with investors in a timely and proactive manner, which gives a better understanding to investors about the company.Shui On Land Limited maintains aims to step towards the global capital marketMs Doreen Chiu, Senior IR Manager Shui On Land Limited, shared "SOL IR team has put great efforts in increasing transparency and providing investors with access to corporate information in a timely and fair manner over the past years. In the future, we will continue to enhance its exposure to investors and also the global capital markets."The Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd's IR keeps the two-way communication with investorsMr. John Ho, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of The Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd (Towngas) focuses on the importance of keeping two-way communication with investors. Through different measures such as company website, investing conference, roadshows, marketing investigation interviews and conference calling, the company discloses corporate information in diversified ways, which integrates the transparency and maintains high level of corporate governance.WWPKG promotes diversified businesses through investor relationsMr. Jessica Yuen, Business Development Manager of WWPKG Holdings Company Limited said investor relations has been the focus of the company since it was listed in Hong Kong. The company pays a great effort in integrating its transparency, disclosing latest corporate information and interacting with its investors. The company is recognized in different aspect and it is the first time to be recognized for its IR betterment, which is very meaningful to the company.The list of awardees for Quam IR Awards 2016 (in alphabetical order of company name):Company Name / Award Category1. Bank of China Limited (Stock Code: 3988) / Hong Kong Index Constituents (Hang Seng Index) Category2. CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 1038) / Hong Kong Index Constituents (Hang Seng Index) Category3. China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 1848) / Main Board Category4. China Cinda Asset Management Co" Ltd (Stock Code: 1359) / Main Board Category5. China Everbright Limited (Stock Code: 165) / Main Board Category6. China LotSynergy Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 1371) / Main Board Category7. D&G Technology Holding Company Limited (Stock Code: 1301) / Main Board Category8. Dah Chong Hong Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 1828) / Main Board Category9. EFT Solutions Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 8062) / First Year After Listing Category10. The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Stock Code: 0003) / Hong Kong Index Constituents (Hang Seng Index) Category11. Kerry Logistics (Stock Code: 0636) / Main Board Category12. Li & Fung Limited (Stock Code: 0494) / Hong Kong Index Constituents (Hang Seng Index) Category13. Shui On Land Limited (Stock Code: 0272) / Main Board Category14. WWPKG Holdings Company Limited (Stock Code: 8069) / First Year After Listing CategoryWebsite of Quam IR Awards 2016: http://quamedm.quamnet.com/landing/QIRA2016/en_US/index.htmlFor enquiries,Quam IRMarketing & PR contact:Jane Chan T: 2217-2906 Email: jane.chan@quamgroup.comStella Yuen T: 2217-2908 Email: stella.yuen@quamgroup.comTong Man Fung T: 2217-2682 Email: mf.tong@quamgroup.comNicola Lung T: 2217-2909 Email: nicola.lung@quamgroup.comSource: QuamnetCopyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) today announced the definitive end results for ChemChina's offer to acquire Syngenta, according to which around 94.7 percent of shares have been tendered. Settlement for shares tendered after the expiration of the Main Offer Period will take place on June 7, 2017. ChemChina re-affirmed its intention to request the cancellation of the remaining publicly held Syngenta shares in accordance with the Swiss Financial Markets Infrastructure Act if the 98 percent threshold is exceeded. To that end, it intends to acquire further shares through market purchases or in off-market transactions. If the level of participation remains below 98 percent, ChemChina re-affirmed its intention to proceed to a squeeze-out merger. About Syngenta Syngenta is a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. Through world class science and innovative crop solutions, our 28,000 people in over 90 countries are working to transform how crops are grown. We are committed to rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta. About ChemChina ChemChina, which is headquartered in Beijing, China, possesses production, R&D and marketing systems in 150 countries and regions. It is the largest chemical corporation in China, and occupies the 234th position among the Fortune Global 500. The company's main businesses include materials science, life science, high-end manufacturing and basic chemicals, among others. Previously, ChemChina has successfully acquired 9 leading industrial companies in France, United Kingdom, Israel, Italy and Germany, etc. To learn more visit www.chemchina.com and www.chemchina.com/press. Additional information and where to find it This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell Common Shares or ADSs. The solicitation and offer to buy Common Shares or ADSs was only made pursuant to the Swiss Offer Prospectus and the U.S. Offer to Purchase and other documents relating to the U.S. Offer that were filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO filed by ChemChina and CNAC Saturn (NL) B.V. ("Purchaser") and the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the U.S. Offer filed by Syngenta. A free copy of these materials and other documents filed by ChemChina, Purchaser and Syngenta with the SEC can be obtained at the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Free copies of the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement and other documents filed with the SEC by Syngenta can be obtained at www.syngenta.com Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements Some of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the expected consummation of the acquisition, which involves a number of risks and uncertainties discussed in Syngenta's public filings with the SEC, including the "risk factors" section of Syngenta's Form 20-F filed on February 16, 2017 as well as the U.S. Offer documents filed by ChemChina and Purchaser and the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement filed by Syngenta. These statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any forward-looking statements. These statements are generally identified by words or phrases such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may", "should", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue" or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from the results and/or timing discussed in the forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these statements. ChemChina, Purchaser and Syngenta disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the period covered by this press release or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530006488/en/ Contacts: Syngenta International AG Media Office Tel: +41 61 323 2323 Fax: +41 61 323 2424 www.syngenta.com or Media: Leandro Conti, +41 61 323 2323 Switzerland or Paul Minehart, +1 202-737-8913 USA or Analyst/Investors: Jennifer Gough Switzerland, +41 61 323 5059 USA, +1 202-737-6521 Hemcheck Sweden AB (publ) presents results from user tests at Karlstad Central Hospital hemCheck, a medical technology company addressing the issue of hemolysis, announces results from user tests at Karlstad Central Hospital, where nurses used a prototype of hemCheck's point of care test in a clinical setting. The user tests confirmed that hemolysis is a significant problem for the emergency department, showed that the prototype is user friendly and that the rate of hemolysis for Troponin T tests could be lowered by 75% when using this prototype. hemCheck carried out user tests of a prototype of its point of care hemolysis detection test, Helge, in the emergency department at Karlstad Central Hospital during December 2016 to May 2017. The purpose of the trial was to gain a better understanding of user friendliness and test performance in a clinical setting, in order to identify improvement areas for the upgraded product version, including a digital reader, which is being developed for evaluation and testing. The measured rate of hemolysis in the ER-setting was on average 10.2% for all the blood samples in the control group, strengthening our view on the extent of the issue. The rate was significantly higher (21%) when using peripheral venous catheters (PVCs) and when a slow blood flow was observed (36%). Hemolysis rates varied highly (3 to 19%) among nurse participants, and nurses could correctly predict hemolysis in less than one third of all cases. The Helge prototype was considered user friendly and was easily incorporated in the clinical setting. Using the current prototype (set for hemolysis index (HI) cutoff 50), lowered the hemolysis rate for Troponin T tests (HI cutoff 100) by 75%, and the hemolysis rate for Potassium, ALAT, ALP tests by 36% (HI cutoff 50). Adjustments to the prototype, including the use of a digital reader, are being made to improve performance accuracy for hemolysis sensitive analyses, such as Potassium, ALAT, ALP. hemCheck CEO Annelie Brolinson comments: - These user tests have clearly confirmed the relevance of hemolysis and align well with published clinical findings. With a prototype in the development phase, we are very proud to receive such a positive response among users, and that indicates that we are on the right track with our unique point of care test. With this knowledge, we now continue our work of enhancing the product concept's ability to identify hemolyzed blood samples, thereby improving patient safety and patient flows within the health care system. About hemCheck hemCheck Sweden AB (publ) is developing and commercializing a unique product concept, Helge, that detects hemolysis in blood samples at the point of care. Hemolysis, or the rupturing of red blood cells, is the most common reason for blood samples being ruled unfit for analysis. This can lead to lower quality healthcare, increased risks for patients and higher costs. By instantly detecting hemolysis in blood tests, Helge can contribute to improved care for patients throughout the world. hemCheck is headquartered in Karlstad, Sweden. Contact hemCheck Sweden AB (publ) Annelie Brolinson, CEO Tel: +46 70 288 0826 E-post: annelie.brolinson@hemcheck.com Universitetsgatan 2 651 88 Karlstad www.hemcheck.com (http://www.hemcheck.com) Important information This is information which hemCheck is required to disclose according to EU Market Abuse Regulation law. The information was provided by the above contact person's auspices, for publication on June 21, 2017, at 09:00. Press release 20170621_eng (http://hugin.info/173480/R/2114690/804610.pdf) This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Hemcheck Sweden AB via Globenewswire DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 09/06/17 -- SPYR, INC. (OTC PINK: SPYR), a holding company with a wholly owned subsidiary in the mobile game & app development and publishing industry, today announced that it has secured a $500,000, non-dilutive, non-convertible Line of Credit to be used for such expenses as furthering new game development. Terms of the Line of Credit are outlined in an 8K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Line of Credit was provided by Berkshire Capital Management Company, a company owned and controlled by SPYR's Chairman of the Board, Joseph Fiore. Mr. Fiore commented, "Having worked with SPYR on its games and apps development since its inception in February 2015, I clearly see the exciting and unprecedented growth opportunities that are beginning to emerge for SPYR." Fiore went on to state, "I also see the emergence of the esports industry and recognize the enormous potential it provides to SPYR. Having attended numerous meetings with institutional investors, I have witnessed the growth in both capital investment in and the popularity of esports. SPYR is perfectly situated with Pocket Starship's PvP (Player vs. Player) functionality (1v1, 3v3, and 5v5) to capitalize on this explosive growth opportunity. "SPYR's management, games development and marketing teams can boast over 4 decades of experience in the mobile games & apps industry. SPYR has some of the top leaders in the industry working with it on existing games and new game titles that are soon to be announced." James R. Thompson, SPYR's CEO and President, stated, "With access to this additional capital, the management team feels confident that the fundamentals will soon begin to take hold and reinforce our Chairman's vote of financial confidence." About SPYR SPYR, INC. is a holding company that through its wholly owned subsidiary SPYR APPS, LLC, is engaged in mobile application and game publishing and development. The Company is currently exploring opportunities for additional acquisitions in these and other verticals, including mobile application and game development, in order to expand its holdings, to drive and increase revenue and to generate profits and build value for shareholders. Safe Harbor Statement: This release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, we can give no assurance or guarantee that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of words like "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties, including but not limited to: adverse economic conditions, competition, adverse federal, state and local government regulation, international governmental regulation, inadequate capital, inability to carry out research, development and commercialization plans, loss or retirement of key executives and other specific risks. To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Readers are advised to review our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that can be accessed over the Internet at the SEC's website located at http://www.sec.gov, as well as SPYR's website located at http://www.spyr.com, and SPYR's community channel on Twitter located at https://twitter.com/spyrinc. Investor Relations Contact: Marlin Molinaro Marmel Communications, LLC (828) 669-0616 mmolinarofc@aol.com LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Horizonte Minerals Plc, (AIM: HZM)(TSX: HZM) ('Horizonte' or 'the Company') the nickel development company focused in Brazil, is pleased to announce the complete results of the 30 hole pre-excavation drilling programme on its 100%-owned Araguaia nickel project ('Araguaia' or 'the Project'). Highlights -- High grade nickel intersections include: -- 4.97 metres grading 2.44% Ni -- 8.69 metres grading 2.31% Ni -- 8.62 metres grading 2.19% Ni -- 11.14 metres grading 2.07% Ni -- 11.05 metres grading 2.02% Ni -- Delivery of a key milestone as part of the Feasibility Study ('FS') -- Trial excavation work underway with the aim of converting Probable Reserve to Proven Reserve, conform resource re-conciliation and overall mining conditions Horizonte CEO Jeremy Martin said, "I am pleased to report the completion of the diamond drill programme over the trial excavation site, the aim of this work was to define an area with near surface transition and saprolite mineralisation that would be representative of the first five to eight years mine life. The drill results demonstrate this and additionally confirm the high grade nature of the nickel mineralisation that has been drill defined across the project. The next stage is the trial excavation programme over this area, which is now underway. The trial excavation programme targets the removal of approximately 20,000 tonnes of ore down to a depth of around 14 metres utilising two 35 tonne excavators and four 35 tonne trucks. We look forward to providing updates on this work stream, and the rest of the FS as we work to develop Araguaia as the next major ferronickel operation." Further Details - Pre-Excavation Drilling Programme The drilling programme was designed to test the selected site on the Pequizeiro deposit for the Trial Excavation exercise to feed into the ongoing FS. The key objectives were: 1) to confirm that the selected site met the minimum criteria of containing 2m of mineralised Transition and 2m of mineralised Saprolite to a total depth below surface of 12m and; 2) to provide close spaced (5m and 10m) drilling data for the estimation of tonnage and grade into Selected Mining Units ('SMU') (5m x 5m x 2m) for reconciliation with the tonnage and grade of the actual SMUs removed in the Trial Excavation The drilling was completed on a 5m x 5m grid of six east-west rows of 5 holes each. It comprised a total of 30 holes each drilled to a depth of 20m for a total of 600m of HQ core drilling. The drilling programme confirmed the first objective of the minimum required intersections of mineralised Transition and Saprolite facies and the detailed sampling and assay of the core has delivered on the second objective of providing the required data for the estimation of the tonnage and grade into the 5m x 5m x 2m SMUs. The results for the complete 30 hole programme are presented in Table 1 below. These results contain several high grade intersections including 4.97 metres grading 2.44% nickel (hole PCA_DD_1806E), 8.69 metres grading 2.31% nickel (hole PCA_DD_1797E), 8.62 metres grading 2.19% nickel (hole PCA_DD_1814E), 11.14 metres grading 2.07% nickel (hole PCA_DD_1802E) and 11.05 metres grading 2.02% nickel (hole PCA_DD_1793E) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1. Results of Drilling on 5m x 5m Grid on Area Selected for Trial Excavation Intercepts greater than or equal to1% Ni cut-off Holes PCA_DD_1793E to PCA_DD_1822E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hole From (m) To (m) Width (m) Ni % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1793E 8.95 20.00 11.05 2.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1794E 7.84 11.26 3.42 1.46 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 13.75 20.00 6.25 1.50 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1795E 9.30 20.00 10.70 1.91 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1796E 8.94 20.00 11.06 1.81 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1797E 8.51 17.20 8.69 2.31 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 17.80 18.50 0.70 1.06 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1798E 9.44 18.85 9.41 1.89 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1799E 3.21 5.21 2.00 1.18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 8.51 20.00 11.49 1.84 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1800E 9.25 15.64 6.39 1.94 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 18.64 20.00 1.36 1.38 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1801E 8.83 11.09 2.26 1.48 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 12.13 15.16 3.03 1.77 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 16.33 20.00 3.67 1.24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1802E 8.86 20.00 11.14 2.07 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1803E 8.84 20.00 11.52 1.40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1804E 7.83 20.00 12.17 1.38 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1805E 6.92 20.00 12.55 1.63 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1806E 6.44 11.41 4.97 2.44 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 12.24 20.00 7.76 1.79 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1807E 6.59 20.00 13.41 2.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1808E 6.09 20.00 13.91 1.89 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1809E 8.17 20.00 11.83 1.88 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1810E 8.25 20.00 11.75 1.76 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1811E 8.84 12.34 3.50 1.60 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ditto 15.84 20.00 4.16 1.12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1812E 9.30 16.82 7.52 1.58 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1813E 9.47 18.38 8.91 1.99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1814E 10.04 18.66 8.62 2.19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1815E 8.18 20.00 11.82 1.65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1816E 8.81 20.00 11.19 1.95 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1817E 8.40 20.00 11.60 1.82 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1818E 9.31 20.00 10.69 1.53 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1819E 9.76 20.00 10.24 1.57 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1820E 7.74 18.32 10.58 1.53 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1821E 7.16 20.00 12.84 1.57 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCA_DD_1822E 7.83 20.00 12.17 1.74 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The compositing of the nickel grades in the individual holes was completed across geological boundaries using a nickel cut-off of 1% with a minimum intercept length of 2.0 metres and a maximum length of internal waste of 2 metres. All holes were vertical and, as these nickel laterite deposits are essentially flat-lying, all widths given are true widths. Core recoveries in the mineralised sections met the appropriate standards for this style of mineralisation and were generally greater than 90%. Horizonte Minerals prepared this news release and David Hall BSc, MSc, Fellow SEG PGeo. a director of the Company and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, reviewed and approved the drillhole technical information. The Araguaia Nickel Project Araguaia, which is 100% owned by Horizonte, is located on the eastern margin of the State of Para, north-eastern Brazil, to the north of the town of Conceicao do Araguaia (population of 46,206), south of the main Carajas Mining District. The Project has good regional infrastructure including a network of Federal highways and roads, with access to low tariff hydro-electric power. The Carajas Mining District, situated approximately 200km northwest of Araguaia, is host to a number of major iron and copper mines operated by mining major Vale SA. The PFS released in October 2016 considers open pit mining for the exploitation of nickel laterite to establish the production of run of mine ('ROM') from eight open pits to supply a targeted 0.9 million tonnes per annum ('Mt/a') of ore to a processing and smelter facility. This facility will use the proven RKEF process with the product being sold at free on board ('FOB') at the selected port of export. A Base Case of 0.9 Mt/a production throughput was selected because of the Company's objective to minimise the capital expenditure and overall capital intensity, and to optimise overall cash flow, payback, and the economics of the Project. This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. For further information visit www.horizonteminerals.com. About Horizonte Minerals: Horizonte Minerals plc is an AIM and TSX-listed nickel development company focused in Brazil, which wholly owns the advanced Araguaia nickel laterite project located to the south of the Carajas mineral district of northern Brazil. The Company is developing Araguaia as the next major nickel mine in Brazil, with targeted production by 2019. The Project has good infrastructure in place including rail, road, water and power. Horizonte has a strong shareholder structure including Teck Resources Limited 17.9%, Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) Limited 14.11%, Richard Griffiths 14.5%, JP Morgan 8.4%, Hargreave Hale 6.84% and Glencore 6.4%%. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the potential of the Company's current or future property mineral projects; the success of exploration and mining activities; cost and timing of future exploration, production and development; the estimation of mineral resources and reserves and the ability of the Company to achieve its goals in respect of growing its mineral resources; and the realization of mineral resource and reserve estimates. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to risks related to: exploration and mining risks, competition from competitors with greater capital; the Company's lack of experience with respect to development-stage mining operations; fluctuations in metal prices; uninsured risks; environmental and other regulatory requirements; exploration, mining and other licences; the Company's future payment obligations; potential disputes with respect to the Company's title to, and the area of, its mining concessions; the Company's dependence on its ability to obtain sufficient financing in the future; the Company's dependence on its relationships with third parties; the Company's joint ventures; the potential of currency fluctuations and political or economic instability in countries in which the Company operates; currency exchange fluctuations; the Company's ability to manage its growth effectively; the trading market for the ordinary shares of the Company; uncertainty with respect to the Company's plans to continue to develop its operations and new projects; the Company's dependence on key personnel; possible conflicts of interest of directors and officers of the Company, and various risks associated with the legal and regulatory framework within which the Company operates. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Contacts: Horizonte Minerals plc Jeremy Martin +44 (0) 20 7763 7157 Horizonte Minerals plc David Hall +44 (0) 20 7763 7157 finnCap Ltd (Corporate Broking) Emily Morris +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 finnCap Ltd (Corporate Finance) Christopher Raggett +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 finnCap Ltd (Corporate Finance) James Thompson +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 finnCap Ltd (Corporate Finance) Anthony Adams +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 Shard Capital (Joint Broker) Damon Heath +44 (0) 20 7186 9952 Shard Capital (Joint Broker) Erik Woolgar +44 (0) 20 7186 9952 St Brides Partners Ltd (PR) Lottie Brocklehurst +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 St Brides Partners Ltd (PR) Elisabeth Cowell +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 The plane featuring a design by young American designer Hannah Foss takes its inaugural flight, in celebration of the Chinese airline's 24th anniversary BEIJING, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A Hainan Airlines' Dreamliner, adorned with Po, the main character in the Kung Fu Panda film, and the famous panda's friends, took off on the inaugural flight for its new service HU7181, from Haikou to Beijing, on the morning of May 29, 2017. As the Chinese airline's third Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in the fleet to receive the "King Fu Panda" makeover, the eye-catching yellow-colored airplane started its maiden flight to the cheers of the crowd. The flight carried a special passenger, Hannah Foss, a young designer from the state of Alaska. When Hannah Foss submitted her "Kung Fu Panda"-themed Dreamliner design last September, she was one of nearly 3,000 online entries that all shared the same dream: To have their design painted on a real-life, Hainan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner. That dream started several months ago when Hainan, Boeing and DreamWorks announced a partnership that would include the introduction of six specially-painted Dreamliners over the next two years, featuring characters and scenes from the popular animated franchise. "I have loved painting and designing since I was a child. I have designed a dinosaur exhibition for a museum and depicted the Northern lights around the Arctic Circle in my artwork. But I never thought that my design would be painted on a plane someday. It feels amazing! This is the first time that I have come to China, taken a Boeing Dreamliner and witnessed the process of the painting of a plane. I really appreciate these "firsts" that Hainan Airlines has offered to me," Ms. Foss said as part of a speech she gave over the plane's announcement system during which she shared her thrilling story with the over 200 passengers on the flight. "This is an exceptional journey for me, giving many Americans like myself the opportunity to learn about Hainan Airlines and better understand the distinguished Chinese company's idea of cherishing every person's dream in addition to its ongoing commitment to fulfilling dreams." Hannah grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and moved to Alaska in 2008. Some of her adventures include spending several years as a paleontological artist, CGI-animating a couple of museum films, constructing a 16-ft long dinosaur puppet called Snaps, eating tasty muktuk, snow-machining on the Chukchi Sea and meeting a polar bear. In addition to having her design painted on a Dreamlinerand to be part of this amazing journey, Hannah won two round-trip, business class tickets to China, as well as a weeks' accommodations at a luxury hotel. The "Kung Fu Panda" story is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture and history. Hannah's design wove together popular characters like Po and Tigress, with traditional Chinese "chops" and a painted sunrise. The design was awarded the top prize based on its originality, creativity, humor, its reflection of Chinese culture, and its wow factor. When Hannah's design is painted onto the new Dreamliner, the airplane will fly several of Hainan's more than 40 nonstop routes between China and North America. It will join two other specially painted airplanes, the first of which touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last year. That airplane carried over 100 students and teachers from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, WA, who were returning from a life-changing, 11-day trip to China. Hainan Airlines is proud to partner with DreamWorks and Boeing to bring the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise to Hainan's elite service and premier experience. Look forward for more partnerships like this in the future, and be sure to keep an eye out for TheFlyingPanda throughout our North American network! Hainan Airlines has continued with its strategy of working hand-in-hand with the Chinese government's One Belt, One Road initiative as part of its overall plan to aggressively expand its presence in international markets. Nevertheless, despite the complexities of operating in the highly competitive international markets, the airline has never wavered from its original set of goals of consistently combining the brand's unique Oriental hospitality with modern service standards, a concept which is embodied in the Kung Fu Panda planes. The airline has promoted its image in the global aviation market through the cooperation with DreamWorks, demonstrating the newfound stature of Chinese companies on the world stage while allowing travelers everywhere to gain a better understanding of Chinese culture and its richness. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517732/3rd_Kung_Fu_Panda_themed_plane.jpg Photo -https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517733/Hannah_Foss.jpg Photo- https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517731/Hannah_Foss_with_crew.jpg Munich (ots) -- Querverweis: Bildmaterial ist abrufbar unter http://www.presseportal.de/bilder -- Swiss based Flisom presents new, ultra-light, rollable and customisable solar technology platform. - Ultralight panels with 20x power to weight ratio of today's silicon solar panels unveiled at Intersolar Europe. - Flisom unveils customisable solar technology to enable breakthrough applications.Flisom AG, a Swiss solar enterprise, in which Tata Industries of the $103bn Tata group is a strategic investor and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) is a technology partner, will give visitors a glimpse of its new product range at Intersolar 2017.The company, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, has spent over a decade developing high-efficiency CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide) thin film solar modules using proprietary roll-to-roll manufacturing technologies.Flisom's products are based on the technology developed by its research partner Empa, which had achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 20.4% in a flexible CIGS solar cell. This research partnership ensures that Flisom products remain at the cutting edge of solar thin film offerings.Flisom modules are super thin (under 2mm), have a uniform, jet black appearance, are ultra-light (in some versions under 500g/m2) with a power to weight ratio of up to 20 times more than conventional silicon panels, and are strong, safe and rollable.Unlike competitors, Flisom offers not only its standard portfolio of modules, but also offers its technology as a business-enabling platform, which is customisable for the applications of end customers, and the modules are designed and manufactured in-house.With Flisom gearing up for full commercialisation of its product range this year, the company is focused on enabling solar in ways not possible before, whether for buildings, mobility and transport, and even specialist customized applications, across Europe, United Kingdom and United States.The company will be showcasing its eMetal, eFlex and eRoll products at StandA1.110.About FlisomFlisom was founded in 2005 as a spin-off of the Laboratory of Solid State Physics of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) - a scientific institution with global renown. For several years, the company remained in stealth mode, working closely together with Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) to design and improve its core technology. This historic link with the world's leading research institutions forms the basis of Flisom's identity, and the guarantee of continuous improvement of its cutting-edge technology.Product lines and applicationsProductseMetal - Aluminium backsheet - Back aluminium for premium look and feel - Simple installation - Weight: 4kg/m2eFlex - Flexiblity for any curved surfaces and tensile structures - Adhesive mounting possible - Beautiful, uniform black - Weight: 2kg/m2eRoll - Rollable on under 5cm diameter - Durability for off-grid usage - Highest power per volume and weightApplicationsBuildings - Fast, non-penetrant roof installation - Beautiful aesthetics - Curved surfaces, low-weight roofs and facades - Regulatory requirement for EU BIPV from 2020Vehicles/mobility - Vibration resistant - Thin - no aerodynamic drag - No glass - no breakage - Light - no additional fuel consumptionOutdoor and special usage - Rollable - Highest power to weight ratio - Durable - Customisable design and integrationLearn more about Flisom at www.flisom.com.Originaltext: Flisom AG digital press kits: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/126760 press kits via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_126760.rss2Contact: Further information For further information or to arrange interviews with Rahul Budhwar, CEO of Flisom at Intersolar Europe, please contact Andrew Todd on andrew.todd@fticonsulting.com or +44 (0)20 3727 1496. Fujitsu Limited Public and Investor Relations Tel: +81-3-3215-5259 URL: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/contacts/ TOKYO, May 31, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu today announced that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. have selected it as a 2017 "Competitive IT Strategy Company.""Competitive IT Strategy Company" is a designation given to companies that work to strategically use IT in order to improve medium- to long-term corporate value, from among companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in each industry category.Fujitsu has this year been selected from the electronic appliances industry due to a high evaluation of its initiatives, including data-driven management, human resource empowerment, and open innovation.As industry structures and business models are changing with unprecedented speed due to the rapid development of ICT, Fujitsu will continue to execute a competitive IT strategy that leads to greater corporate value and enhanced competitiveness, from a perspective of medium- to long-term management.In addition, by reflecting the results of internal implementations and experience into its solutions and services, Fujitsu is contributing to competitive IT strategy for its customers as a digital innovation partner.Efforts toward Competitive IT Strategy1. Data-driven managementFujitsu is promoting data-driven management with the goal of achieving agile and accurate decision making, seeing data utilization and technology as a source of competitive strength. First, in order to unify the data that was scattered across its internal systems, Fujitsu is migrating over 640 information systems, both inside and outside Japan, to its cloud platform beginning in 2015. On top of that, it is continually working to rethink its systems and to link and integrate its data. In addition, it has established a dedicated organization to pioneer data-driven management under the supervision of top management, and is using a variety of cutting-edge technologies, including AI and predictive technologies, to handle tasks such as the unification of management information and demand prediction. Moreover, the practical experience of this dedicated organization is being spread throughout the company, with the goal of raising the level of data utilization capabilities across the whole company.2. Human resource empowermentIn an era undergoing intense changes, Fujitsu aims to have each employee acting autonomously under a clear vision and management direction. As part of creating an environment to achieve this, Fujitsu has, since 2010, been consolidating its Global Communication Platform, which visualizes human resources, as each of the approximately 160,000 employees around the globe can list their skills and experience on dedicated personal sites, and makes possible the execution of operations across organizations, enabling communication and collaboration unrestricted by the time or country where an employee is located. The internal social networking community built on this platform currently exceeds 4,400 people, promoting projects and interaction crossing job, industry, and national boundaries. Employees can connect with each other, as well as with key people outside the company, with the goal of executing highly creative tasks, getting the information they need anytime, anywhere.3. Open InnovationFujitsu is promoting the personnel development and space creation that are key to succeeding with digital transformation, and advancing open innovation that brings in outside customers and consumers. Based on the idea that real spaces for sharing information and co-creation are even more necessary in the digital era, Fujitsu has launched four websites that share trends in business and innovation due to digitalization, and hints for and examples of resolving issues in society, with the goal of transforming the consciousness of employees and aggregating internal and external knowledge. In addition, Fujitsu has already established ten facilities intended to add new dimensions to discussions impossible in existing meeting rooms, including experiences with cutting-edge devices and technologies, such as 3D printers and drones, depending on needs, with plans to open an eleventh facility in this fiscal year. By holding lively activities such as hackathons in these spaces for co-creation, Fujitsu is accelerating open innovation between personnel within the company, and with key people outside it, transforming its corporate culture to create new value through co-creation.About Fujitsu LtdFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 159,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702; ADR:FJTSY) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.* Please see this press release, with images, at:http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/Source: Fujitsu LtdContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The British pound weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday, after a new poll showed that Theresa May's Conservative Party may miss a majority in next month's national election. According to the polling group YouGov, Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party might lose 20 seats at the June 8 vote, thus falling 16 seats short of an overall majority in the 650-seat chamber. In other economic news, data from GfK showed that the consumer confidence in the United Kingdom was slightly less pessimistic in May with an index score of -5. That beat forecasts for -8 and was up from -7 in April. Another report from the British Retail Consortium revealed that shop prices in the United Kingdom deflated 0.4 percent from a year earlier in May, missing forecasts for a decline of 0.3 percent but up from -0.5 percent in April. In the Asian trading, the pound fell to more than a 5-week low of 141.76 against the yen and a 2-day low of 1.2472 against the Swiss franc from yesterday's closing quotes of 142.50 and 1.2530, respectively. If the pound extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 140.00 against the yen and 1.23 against the franc. Against the euro and the U.S. dollar, the pound dropped to 5-day low of 0.8739 and 1.2789 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.8699 and 1.2857, respectively. The pound may test support near 0.88 against the euro and 1.26 against the greenback. Looking ahead, the German unemployment rate for May, Swiss Credit Suisse economic expectation index for May, U.K. mortgage approvals data for April and Eurozone CPI data for May, and unemployment rate for April are due to be released later in the day. At 3:20 am ET, European Central Bank Executive Board Member Benoit Coeure will speak at a conference on 'A Glimpse into Europe's Financial Landscape - Greece: A Comeback to the Financial Markets?', in Frankfurt. In the New York session, Canada GDP data for March, U.S. pending home sales data for April, and U.S. Chicago PMI for May are slated for release. At 8:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is expected to speak at the Council of Foreign Relations, in New York. At 8:30 am ET, European Central Bank Executive Board Member Sabine Lautenschlager gives a speech at the 73. Bankenwirtschaftliche Tagung (BWT) 'Herausforderungen annehmen - Zukunft gestalten' in Germany. At 2:00 pm ET, U.S. Federal Reserve is set to publish its Beige book report. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de COLUMBIA, Mo., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --StorageMart is proud to announce that Alex Burnam is joining their team as a Senior Acquisitions Analyst. The son of StorageMart President, Cris Burnam, Alex has been deeply entrenched in the self storage industry growing up and looks forward to helping the StorageMart brand grow in the future. A 2016 Graduate of Tulane University with a dual major in Finance and Legal Studies, Alex has spent his time out of college working with a pension fund advisory firm in Chicago, Heitman, working on several real estate closings in excess of $275 million in their Acquisitions Department. Burnam's primary goal in the newly created position is to implement systems and processes that will streamline and modernize the property acquisition process at StorageMart, accelerating growth opportunities. Beyond the many tactical benefits of adding this position to the team, the company is thrilled to be welcoming a new generation into the family-owned business more officially."I think being family owned has given us a unique environment that helped us become successful," said Cris Burnam. "The family atmosphere allows us to be open. We genuinely care about the growth of our team and I couldn't be more excited to bring my son onboard officially." Over the years Alex has taken summer and internship positions throughout the company including interning for the Marketing Department and Acquisitions Team. One summer was spent getting certified to manage a local storage facility learning the ins and outs of everything from cleanliness and maintenance to managing vacancy reports. "It means a lot to me to be a part of the family business. I remember at a very young age going to the old headquarters to see my grandpa, so things have really come full circle and I'm ready to hit the ground running." About StorageMart StorageMart started with a single store in Columbia, Missouri and has grown to be the largest privately-owned, family operated storage company in the world. StorageMart is led by the Burnam family, which has been in the storage industry for three generations. Dedicated to providing easy, clean and friendly service to each and every customer, StorageMart is committed to giving back to the many communities it calls home. In 2016, the company donated more than $142,000.00 to charities, in addition to donating over $350,000 in free rent to local organizations throughout the US and Canada. www.storage-mart.com. Contact: Sarah Little, sarah.little@storage-mart.com Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/450964/StorageMart___Logo.jpg To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/storagemart-welcomes-new-generation-into-family-owned-business-300463402.html HONG KONG, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontier Services Group Limited ("FSG"or the"Company") (SEHK: 00500), a leading security, insurance and logistics services company, today updates clients and shareholders on developments within its market-leading Safety & Security division. This includes an outline of FSG's security strategy, as well as announcing that the Company has reached an agreement to acquire 25% of the International Security and Defense College (ISDC) in Beijing. The ISDC will be the largest private security training school in China. World-Class Security Solutions FSG's Safety & Security division supports clients operating in frontier markets. The Company provides world class security solutions to the highest international standards, compliant with all local laws and regulations. FSG has put together an elite multi-national global risk mitigation and rapid emergency response team, which offers a full suite of services, including: Conducting advance on-site risk assessments that include facility security planning and routine on-site security audit reviews Vetting, management and integration of local accredited and certified guard forces Establishing security governance, standards and procedures, and emergency plans Training courses covering Risk Assessments, Security Management, Self-defense, Cultural Awareness, Health and Safety, Crisis Management and Kidnap Awareness and Avoidance Communications, medical and life support facilities Mobile and convoy security Close protection operations FSG understands that in frontier markets companies need integrated solutions that protect every element of their business. Combining security, logistics and insurance under one offering enables FSG to deliver comprehensive tailored solutions ensuring the success of client projects. ISDC Acquisition FSG will utilize the ISDC facility to provide world-class training courses at the highest international standards. Training will incorporate lessons learned from our own experiences in the field and realistic scenarios to fully prepare clients for situations they may encounter. Courses will be tailored to the client's needs and the geography of their projects overseas. Some of these customized courses will include: Crisis Management Planning, Security Management; Achieving Process Safety, Security Risk Assessments; Basic Close Protection Officers Course, Personal Protection Specialist Certification, Medical Training for Non-medical Personnel, First Responders Tactical Medical Training, Defensive Driving / Counter Carjacking and Cultural Awareness. All courses have been developed by professionals who have experience applying their skills to real-world situations and the facility will offer participants practical applications for their training. The center will be the most complete private security training school in China. ISDC was established in 2011 and its training base covers an area of land of 233,450 square meters. Commenting on the investment, Erik Prince, FSG Executive Chairman, said, "For many in the region this is the first time that they are being faced with the unique challenges posed by operating in frontier markets. It is therefore vital that there is a local facility that can help companies better prepare their workforce for operating across One Belt One Road Regions in Asia and Africa. FSG's mission is to provide the best possible logistics and security services to ensure that our clients can operate safely in hostile terrains." About Frontier Services Group Frontier Services Group Limited ("FSG") (SEHK: 00500) is a publicly listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with its headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Dubai, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. FSG supports businesses operating in frontier markets overcome complex security, logistics and operational challenges. From Asia to Africa, FSG helps transport and protect your people, goods and equipment across air, sea and ground. Announcing the launch of Moxie Future, a responsible investment platform dedicated for women investors HONG KONG, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Moxie Future seeks to create a better world through enabling women to grow their wealth by investing more sustainably and responsibly. It aims to do this by creating a community of empowered women who want to make a difference; by sharing insights that enable women to align investment decisions with their values and beliefs; and by applying dynamic solutions and technology strategies that help women deploy their wealth more efficiently. Women are becoming more affluent and economically significant. In fact, they now control 30% of the world's wealth[1]. They are also more concerned about the social and environmental impact of their investments, with soon-to-be published research by Moxie Future finding that: 79% of women surveyed feel that we urgently need to act in order to build a better world for our children; and 69% of women feel it is important that their investment and savings decisions reflect their personal values and philosophies. Comments Jessica Robinson, Founder of Moxie Future, "I am frustrated by the way that the investment industry is structured for regular investors-- in particular, the lack of information, products and tools for those who are concerned about the environmental and social impact of their investments. "For women, this problem is even more pronounced. The financial services industry simply does not address the needs of many women investors, let alone those who want their investments to have a positive impact on the world. This urgently needs to change." According to Ms. Robinson, Moxie Future's community guides women to invest in promising companies who prioritize responsible business practices such as embracing renewable energy, ensuring good labor conditions and promoting gender equality. "We are creating a new dynamic where investing is not just about higher returns, but where women are provided with the necessary support to become active and engaged responsible investors," continues Ms. Robinson. "Through harnessing the power of wealth-creating women to champion a new way of investing that does not compromise on values, we can become an unstoppable force. I genuinely believe this and the purpose of the Moxie Future community is to help point the way forward for women investors." Ms. Robinson notes that ambitious women who want to grow their wealth without compromising on their values can watch Moxie Future's new, free video, "Don't just invest. Create a better world." Alternatively, interested parties are invited to visit Moxie Future's website at www.moxiefuture.com for details on how to get started with investing responsibly. [1] https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/financial-institutions-consumer-insight-global-wealth-2016/ About Moxie Future Moxie Future seeks to empower women investors to grow their wealth, while investing in companies that positively contribute to a sustainable future. To do so, the company's dedicated insights and community platform provides information and analysis, practical solutions and opportunities to network with like-minded individuals, designed to help women investors have a positive impact, while growing their wealth according to their values. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/launch-of-responsible-investment-platform-for-women-300466081.html Tessenderlo (ots) - iLumen is a high end product developer and manufacturer with an own R&D department. Dedicated engineers work daily to develop and create products to monitor PV systems, to help increase the yield and to ease up the maintenance process. iLumen is most famous for its patented PIDbox which increases the yield of PV systems.Potential Induced DegradationTypical for Photovoltaic systems is that after some time they will underperform due to Potential Induced Degradation (PID). This phenomenon occurs on all photovoltaic panels, often without the owner of the installation being aware of it.Especially PV-systems installed in 2008 or later, seem very affected by PID. From 2008 it became impossible to ground the cable that runs from the solar panels to the inverter (negative pole). Because of this poor grounding, high voltages and inadequate shielding between individual solar cells, leakage occurs, which dramatically reduces the electricity yield of solar panels.Because of PID the solar panels degrade faster and therefore don't achieve the expected return during their lifetime. The degradation process occurs after 2 or 3 years and after this it will proceed fast.PIDboxiLumen's patented PIDbox regenerates solar panels that are affected by PID and preserves them from future efficiency losses. The PIDbox is connected to the PV system's power outlet, right between the panels and the inverter. At night, when the solar cells are not active, the PIDbox reverses the direction of the current and rejuvenates the degenerated cells.According to independent research of Leuven University, the efficiency of solar panel increases with 7,45% after a PIDbox is installed. The smallest increase of efficiency was just lower than 3%, while the maximum increase was up to almost 17%. Payback period varied between six months and three years. Next to increasing the yield of solar panels, the PIDbox also extends their lifetime.What makes this device so unique is that the PIDbox is the only PID solution in the market that works independently of the inverter and therefore it can never harm while inverter warranty is never void. The PIDbox thus has a unique, innovative character. It is therefore obvious that iLumen immediately took out two patents for this new technology. PIDbox solutions are available for small and medium (PIDbox Mini) and for large PV projects (PIDbox). The device is currently sold in more than 40 countries.Smart Power Supply UnitAt Intersolar Europe 2017 iLumen launches its brand new Smart Power Supply Unit. The Smart PSU (CE certified) is a device that makes the installation of iLumen's PIDbox Mini very easy. At large PV-plants it can take some time to connect the individual power supplies. This device makes it possible to daisy chain up to 50 devices which drastically reduces installation time. The Smart PSU is fully weather proof so it can be placed outside.The Smart PSU is equipped with an Internet of Things function for monitoring and automatic communication, which makes it possible to check the status of the PIDbox Mini from distance.Originaltext: iLumen digital press kits: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/126577 press kits via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_126577.rss2Contact: iLumen Ambachtsstraat 19 3980 Tessenderlo Belgium +32 13 30 61 77 info@ilumen.be www.ilumen.solarIntersolar Europe 2017: Booth A3.410. BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Eurostat is scheduled to release Eurozone consumer price index for May and unemployment report for April at 5:00 am ET Wednesday. Ahead of these data, the euro showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro rose against the pound, it fell against the U.S. dollar, the yen and the Swiss franc. As of 4:55 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.8743 against the pound, 1.0889 against the Swiss franc, 1.1176 against the U.S. dollar and 123.87 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. CINCINNATI, OH / ACCESSWIRE / May 31, 2017 / M Pharmaceutical Inc. (CSE: MQ, OTCQB: MPHMF, FWB: T3F2), (the "Company" or "M Pharma"), a clinical-stage company developing innovative technologies for weight management and female health & wellness, today announced that with the assistance of Camargo Pharmaceutical Services ("Camargo"), it received a successful response from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its clinical study plan through the 505(b)(2) pathway for the company's obesity management drug, C-103, reformulated Orlistat. "The FDA's swift and definitive written response to our Pre-IND submission package provides M Pharma with significant optimism for immediately pushing forward with our plans to initiate clinical trials in 2017," noted Mr. Gary Thompson, President and CEO of M Pharma. "At this exciting and critical stage in the development of C-103, our leadership team and advisory board believe it is prudent and necessary to benefit from Camargo Pharmaceutical's guidance and expertise. This alliance strengthens our efforts to bring C-103 to market, benefitting millions of potential people looking for solutions to reach and maintain a healthy weight," said Thompson. "Helping our clients achieve success at the Pre-IND stage means gaining alignment with the Agency on a clear development plan moving forward," says Ken Phelps, President and CEO of Camargo Pharmaceutical Services. "We are looking forward to assisting M Pharma in leveraging the successful Pre-IND meeting results and executing a clear path forward by initiating the clinical plan starting this year." About C-103, reformulated Orlistat Orlistat is currently marketed in prescription strength by Roche Laboratories, Inc. (Xenical 120mg capsules) and in OTC strength by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (alli 60mg capsules). Orlistat has proven safe and effective in numerous clinical trials and remains the only FDA-approved weight management drug for a pediatric population (adolescents 12 years and older). Orlistat does not affect the central nervous system and it is not systemically absorbed, as compared to other approved weight management drugs. Recent sales of Orlistat have declined from its peak due to uncomfortable and well-publicized side effects of the product. The development goal of the C-103 reformulation is to maintain the proven efficacy of Orlistat while minimizing or eliminating the undesirable side effects. M Pharma holds issued U.S. patents covering C-103 technology until 2030. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has confirmed in writing that C-103 is eligible for 505(b)(2) approval in the U.S., under which the FDA is permitted to rely, for approval of the new drug, on data not developed by the applicant - such as published literature or the FDA's finding of safety and/or effectiveness of a previously approved drug product. About M Pharmaceutical, Inc. Formed in early 2015, M Pharmaceutical Inc. is a clinical-stage company developing innovative technologies for obesity, weight management and female health & wellness. In addition to its recent acquisitions of C-103, a reformulation of orlistat, and assets from 40J's LLC, the Company is scheduled to launch their FDA cleared fertility product branded as ToConceive sometime in the second quarter of 2017. M Pharma trades on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the ticker symbol "MQ" as well as on the OTCQB as "MPHMF" and FWB (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) as "T3F2." About Camargo Pharmaceutical Services Camargo has established an unrivaled track record of drug development utilizing the 505(b)(2) pathway and the global equivalent processes. Experts at Camargo have participated in more than 1,100 Agency meetings, resulting in over 200 drug approvals. The Company has more than 30 PhDs with expertise in drug development, including comprehensive in-house specializations of pharmacokinetics; toxicology; and Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC), with offices in Durham, North Carolina, and Cincinnati, Ohio. To learn more about Camargo Pharmaceutical Services, please visit http://camargopharma.com. For more information contact: Investor Relations Phone: +1 604 428 0511 info@m-pharma.ca www.m-pharma.ca Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. This news release includes forward-looking statements with respect to the regulatory approval, commercialization of the rights to the Company's biomedical & drug technologies, and acquisition of new products. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com and the Company's filings to the CSE at www.cnsx.ca. Such risk factors may cause the inability of the Company to successfully commercialize any of its biomedical technologies. Notice regarding investigational drugs: C-103 and Extrinsa are investigational drugs and are not currently available outside of approved clinical trials. Claims regarding the safety and efficacy of these devices have not been evaluated by Health Canada, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or any other international regulatory body. SOURCE: M Pharmaceutical Inc. Frankfurt (ots) - Umfrage: Mehrheit der Immobilienexperten glauben, dass Software fur automatisierte Dokumentenanalyse die groten Vorteile fur Immobilien Due Diligence bringen wirdDer Bedarf an Technologie zur Unterstutzung und Beschleunigung der oft zeitraubenden Due Diligence bei Immobilientransaktionen nimmt zu. In einer aktuellen Drooms-Umfrage unter Immobilienexperten waren 78% der Befragten der Meinung, dass eine Software fur automatisierte Dokumentenanalyse in den nachsten 10 Jahren die groten Vorteile bringen wird. Drooms (www.drooms.com) stellt erstmalig vor, wie ehemals manuelle Prozesse innerhalb der Due Diligence mit einem Mausklick automatisiert ablaufen konnen. Der Findings Manager des virtuellen Datenraums Drooms NXG empfiehlt z.B. eine Liste initialer Findings fur die Due Diligence, die dann vom Nutzer individuell bewertet und qualifiziert werden.Zusammenarbeit mit Branchenexperten zur Definition relevanter KategorienIn Zusammenarbeit mit Experten aus der Branche hat Drooms uber 20 Kategorien definiert, die fur die Due Diligence einer Immobilientransaktion relevant sind, wie beispielsweise Baulast, Untervermietung oder Bauvertrage. Anhand dieser Kategorien filtert der Findings Manager die Inhalte im Datenraum und trifft eine Vorauswahl der potentiell relevanten Dokumente. Der Findings Manager zeichnet sich zudem durch einen hohen Individualisierungsgrad aus, um dem jeweiligen Bedarf und den Anforderungen des Workflows jedes Nutzers gerecht zu werden. Nutzer sind so in der Lage, die vordefinierten Kategorien individuell anzupassen oder neue zu kreieren. Nachdem der Nutzer ein Findings qualifiziert hat, kann er es u.a. als Risiko oder Chance fur eine Transaktion in einem Spektrum von sehr niedrig bis hoch bewerten und auerdem eine monetare Bewertung vornehmen. Somit gibt der Findings Manager Nutzern ein umfassendes Tool-Set fur eine Due Diligence an die Hand, das vor allen Dingen eine Vorauswahl der potentiell relevanten Dokumente und die Nachverfolgung der Due Diligence Findings erleichtert.Machine Learning Technologie soll menschliches Know-how unterstutzenDrooms ist der erste Anbieter, der eine Analyse der Dokumente anhand festgelegter Kriterien innerhalb des Datenraums fur eine Due Diligence bei Immobilientransaktionen abbildet. Die Software des virtuellen Datenraums Drooms NXG wurde von Drooms mit einem eigenen Team aus Programmierern und Linguisten entwickelt und wird zukunftig starker Machine Learning Technologie beinhalten. Mitgrunder und Geschaftsfuhrer von Drooms, Jan Hoffmeister zum Nutzen verstarkter Automatisierung im virtuellen Datenraum: "In der Geschichte der Due Diligence sind wir bereits weit gekommen, indem die ehemals physische Prufung von Dokumenten nun digital ablauft. Die nachste Evolutionsstufe geht in Richtung der Analyse der Dokumente im Datenraum. Menschliches Know-how und Erfahrung sind bei der Due Diligence jedoch unersetzlich, so dass fur uns ein hoher Grad an Individualisierung im Fokus steht."Dank der uber 15 Jahren Erfahrung von Drooms im Immobiliensektor wurde der virtuelle Datenraum Drooms NXG speziell fur die Bedurfnisse der Branche konzipiert. Die Nutzer profitieren von einer innovativen Technologie, die eine schnelle Dokumentenverarbeitung, Echtzeit-Ubersetzung, intelligente Suche und andere Funktionen fur einen verbesserten und effizienten Workflow bietet. Der Anwender steht bei allen Entwicklungen von Drooms stets im Mittelpunkt. Drooms ist weiterhin auf Wachstumskurs, beschaftigt mittlerweile uber 120 Mitarbeiter aus 27 Landern und ist international auf den wichtigsten europaischen Markten mit eigenen Standorten vertreten. Neben der Firmenzentrale in Frankfurt verfugt der SaaS-Anbieter auch uber Standorte in Munchen, Wien, Paris, Amsterdam, Mailand, Madrid und Zug.Besuchen Sie uns auf der Expo Real in Halle C1, Stand 230 am Stand der Metropolregion Frankfurt RheinMain.Erfahren Sie mehr uber den virtuellen Datenraum Drooms NXG auf YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DroomsSoftwareUber DroomsDrooms (drooms.com) ist der fuhrende Anbieter von Secure Cloud-Losungen in Europa. Der Software-Spezialist ermoglicht Unternehmen den kontrollierten Zugriff auf sensible Unternehmensdaten uber Unternehmensgrenzen hinweg. Vertrauliche Geschaftsprozesse, wie gewerbliche Immobilienverkaufe, Mergers & Acquisitions, NPL-Transaktionen oder Board Communication werden mit Drooms sicher, transparent und effizient abgewickelt. Zum Kundenstamm gehoren weltweit fuhrende Immobilienunternehmen, Berater, Kanzleien und Konzerne wie die METRO GROUP, Evonik, Morgan Stanley, JLL, JP Morgan, CBRE, Rewe oder die UBS.OTS: Drooms GmbH newsroom: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/75858 newsroom via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_75858.rss2Weitere Informationen:Drooms GmbH, Eschersheimer Landstr. 6, 60322 Frankfurt, Tel.: 069 / 478640-0, Fax: 069 / 478640-1, E-Mail: office@drooms.com, Internet: www.drooms.comPressesprecherin: Miriam Mundnich, Tel.: 069 / 478640-285, E-Mail: m.muendnich@drooms.com Car owners all over the UK can now benefit from after-sales finance thanks to a new partnership between Divido and BMW. Following a successful 15-week pilot programme, BMW and Divido have agreed to roll out after-sales financing to over 60 retailers in the UK. By partnering with BMW, one of the world's leading car brands, Divido is changing the way customers can pay for their after-sales bill by enabling them to spread the cost up to 12 months, interest free. You can find out more and watch the BMW case study here. How does it work? Divido's technology provides a simple, transparent and secure way for customers to pay for after-sales repairs or services, in minutes, completely paperless. The BMW retailer gets paid in full, right away it's a win-win for everyone. What does this mean for BMW retailers? Thanks to Divido, BMW retailers can now benefit from reduced friction when it comes to customers paying their bill in-store, online or via their mobile. In addition, this helps drive customer satisfaction and retention. The partnership is a significant development for customers too, who now have the flexibility to pay for their after-sales bill conveniently, at a time suitable to them, by spreading payments into monthly installments for up to 12 months. Co-Founder and CEO of Divido, Christer Holloman said about the partnership: "'It was clear to me that manufacturers, large dealership groups and finance companies have better things to worry about than how to build and support a tool which lets end-consumers pay for anything in monthly instalments so we did that for them. The modern consumer will touch multiple sales channels before, during and after getting a quote for a product or service. We want to help our dealers convert that customer wherever, whenever they want to pay with finance; in store, online or over the phone." Wayne Berry, MD of Berry BMW, a dealership already using Divido added: "We need to be innovative in aftersales to make sure we have programmes that meet our customers' needs, because our competition won't stay still. We believe our opportunity to upsell with Divido will be much greater. This is a really good solution for the customer and a really good opportunity for us." About Divido Divido is an innovative, fast growing technology company that's disrupting the payments sector by offering retailers an instant point of sale finance option that works in-store, online and over the phone. Uniquely, Divido is connected to multiple lenders ensuring retailers and consumers get the highest possible approval levels, lowest possible fees and the broadest range of finance options. Backed by the investors behind Skype, WorldPay and TransferWise, the company launched late 2015 and currently has 350+ partners using its platform. The company was recently recognised as a "European Innovator of the Year'" by the European Commission, one of the UK's 100 hottest start-ups and awarded by the UK innovation agency. The company will soon operate in 9 countries. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005708/en/ Contacts: Divido David Backshall Commercial Director david.backshall@divido.com 020 3773 9510 Divido website THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- MEXICAN GOLD CORP. (the "Company" or "Mexican Gold") (TSX VENTURE: MEX)(OTC: SRXLF)(FRANKFURT: 4QW1) is pleased to report on its recent sampling program at its newly acquired Pueblo Nuevo concession at the Las Minas project. The sampling was carried out on the Tamiagua 1, Tamiagua 2, and Dos Rios vein structures. Sampling of the Tamiagua 1 vein structure yielded up to 24.86 g/t gold and 17.8 g/t silver or 25.13 g/t Au Eq over 0.25 m, contained within a 0.72 m interval grading 19.09 g/t gold and 10.6 g/t silver or 19.24 g/t Au Eq. A sample from the shaft at the Tamiagua 2 vein structure graded 13.68 g/t gold, 29.8 g/t silver or 14.90 g/t Au Eq over 0.20 m. A chip sample of the vein outcropping on surface graded 15.93 g/t gold. 98.6 g/t silver or 17.3 g/t Au Eq. Sampling of the Dos Rios vein yielded 3.23 g/t gold, 25.2 g/t silver or 3.67 g/t Au Eq over 0.30 m. See Table 1 below for details of sampling highlights. Brian Robertson, President and CEO stated, "We are excited about these high- grade sample results. The high-grade, gold bearing veins on the Pueblo Nuevo concession occur along the same sill contact and are believed to be part of the same metallogenic system as the better-known Au-Cu skarn deposits a few kilometres away at Las Minas proper. We look forward to carrying out further sampling and drilling at this highly mineralized site." Table 1: Tamiagua 1, Tamiagua 2 and Dos Rios Sampling Highlights. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location Sample No. Width Au (g/t) Ag Au Eq (g/t) Comments Metres (m) (g/t) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 1 12351 0.25 24.86 17.8 25.13 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 1 12352 0.22 23.43 9.0 23.59 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 1 12353 0.25 9.51 4.8 9.60 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted Av. 0.72 19.09 10.6 19.24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 1 12354 0.20 13.55 7.5 13.66 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 1 12357 0.45 2.43 0.9 2.44 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 1 12358 0.50 5.96 13.2 6.18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 1 12359 0.10 2.66 5.9 2.81 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weight Av. 0.45 4.13 7.2 4.24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 2 12369 0.40 4.934 7.4 5.04 shaft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 2 12371 0.20 13.57 13.0 13.75 shaft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 2 12373 0.20 13.68 29.8 14.90 shaft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tamiagua 2 12375 NA 15.93 98.6 17.31 surface chip ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dos Rios 12377 0.30 3.23 25.2 3.67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Tamiagua 1, Tamiagua 2 and Dos Rios vein structures are two of eight known veins on the Pueblo Nuevo concession. The concession encompasses several historical underground mines and adits including the La Miqueta, La Miqueta Alta, Marangola, Murcielagos, Dos Rios and El Cobre. All of these vein systems strike NNE to NE. The La Miqueta mine was extensively mined in the past and has 21 known levels. Historic mining activity was carried out on narrow (10-20 cm) quartz veins in both diorite and marble, extending approximately 100 metres on strike and over 100 metres vertically. For a map of historical mines and workings at the Pueblo Nuevo concession, please click here: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1096098_pueblo.pdf For a plan of Tamiagua sampling, please click here: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1096098_tamiagua.pdf The Company also advises that further to its news release of May 29, 2017, the correct number of incentive stock options granted to certain officers, directors and consultants of the Company pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan was 1,050,000 (and not 950,000). Such options are exercisable at a price of $0.36 for a period of ten years with respect to 950,000 of the options and for a period of five years with respect to 100,000 of the options, all such options to vest as to one-third after each of twelve, eighteen and twenty-four months from the effective date of the grant. Gold equivalent (Au Eq) calculations use metal prices of US $1250/oz. for gold and US $18.00/oz. for silver. No adjustments have been made for potential relative differences in metal recoveries. Au Eq g/t = Au g/t + ((Ag g/t x 0.014)) About Las Minas The Las Minas Project hosts near-surface gold, silver and copper skarn mineralization and high-grade gold-silver epithermal vein deposits. The project is comprised of six mineral concessions covering approximately 1,616 hectares (3,995 acres), with several small scale, past-producing mines and a number of untested targets. The district is host to one of the largest under explored gold-silver copper skarn systems known in Mexico, and has a production history that extends back to the Aztec era. The Las Minas granodiorite intrusive measures approximately 10 kilometres in diameter and underlies the Las Minas concessions. The mineralization controls and association with magnetite appear to be similar to the Guerrero Gold belt, which is the site of the multi-million ounce Los Filos and Morelos gold deposits. Las Minas is an early-stage exploration project and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The potential quantities and grades disclosed herein are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource for the targets discussed herein. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource. Quality Assurance/Quality Control The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Sonny Bernales, P. Geo., a registered Professional Geoscientist in the Province of British Columbia and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Bernales is responsible for logistics and supervision of all exploration activity conducted by Mexican Gold on the property. The Company has implemented and adheres to a strict Quality Assurance/Quality Control program which includes inserting mineralized standards and blanks into the sample stream, about 1 for every 10 samples. The standards and blanks were obtained from CDN Resource Laboratories Ltd. of Langley, BC, Canada. Each sample bag is properly sealed and kept in a secured, restricted storage place prior to shipping to the lab. Samples are shipped directly by Mexican Gold or picked-up by the lab vehicle with chain of custody/sample submittal signed and dated. The Company sends it samples to SGS Mineral Services (ISO/IEC 17025) at Durango, Mexico, an accredited and independent laboratory. About Mexican Gold Corp. Mexican Gold Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration company committed to building long-term value through ongoing discoveries and strategic acquisitions of prospective precious metals deposits in Mexico. Mexican Gold is exploring the Las Minas Project, which is located in the core of the Las Minas district in the Veracruz State, Mexico. The district is host to one of the largest under-explored skarn systems known in Mexico and has a strong production history that dates back to the Aztec era. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about the magnitude or quality of mineral deposits, anticipated advancement of mineral properties or programs, future operations, results of exploration, prospects, commodity and precious metals prices, future work programs, anticipated financial and operational results, capital expenditures and objectives and the completion and timing of mineral resource estimates. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including the risks identified in the Company's disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based on the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Brian Robertson President & CEO Phone: 807-474-4271 or 807-251-1816 Fax: 807-474-4272 E-mail: info@mexicangold.ca Website: www.mexicangold.ca FORM 8.3 PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code") 1. KEY INFORMATION (a) Full name of discloser: Norges Bank (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a): The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. N/A (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Amec Foster Wheeler PLC (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure Dealing Disclosure 30/05/2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" Yes John Wood Group Plc 2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security. (a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any) Class of relevant security: 50p ordinary Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 8,983,924 2.30 (2) Cash-settled derivatives: (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell: TOTAL: 8,983,924 2.30 All interests and all short positions should be disclosed. Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form8 (Open Positions). (b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options) Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages: 3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in. The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated. (a) Purchases and sales Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit 50p ordinary Purchase 93,261 GBP 7.3855 (b) Cash-settled derivative transactions Class of relevant security Product description e.g. CFD Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit (c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options) (i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit (ii) Exercise Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit (d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities) Class of relevant security Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) 4. OTHER INFORMATION (a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer: Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" (b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to: (i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or (ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced: If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" (c) Attachments Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO Date of disclosure: 31/05/2017 Contact name: Sai Aanandha Shankhar Telephone number: +4724073134 Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at monitoring@disclosure.org.uk. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129. The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk. DUBLIN - May 31, 2017 - Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) recently launched PRODIGY, a 1,650-patient global study, to identify individuals at high risk for opioid induced respiratory depression (OIRD), a form of respiratory compromise. It is the first study to assess the clinical and economic benefits derived from the use of pulse oximetry (a device that measures oxygen saturation and pulse rate) and capnography (a device that measures carbon dioxide in exhaled air and respiration rate), in patients receiving opioid medication on hospital general care floors. The first patient was enrolled in the PRODIGY study at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The study is titled PRODIGY ( PR ediction of O pioid-induced respiratory D epression I n patients monitored by capno G raph Y ), and is a prospective, multi-center, post-market, global study conducted at 16 sites. Through the development of a risk assessment scoring tool, the study will seek to identify patients at increased risk for respiratory compromise. It will evaluate hospital ward patients receiving opioids for post-surgical or non-surgical pain who are continuously monitored with capnography and oximetry. The study will also help inform clinicians' understanding of the true incidence of respiratory compromise, which may be underestimated. The scoring tool will be used at the trial sites, with the goal of wider adoption across more hospitals following completion of the study. Respiratory compromise is a potentially life-threatening, progressive condition negatively impacting a person's ability to breathe. Patients with OIRD experience a decrease in the effectiveness of ventilatory function, an ability to breathe, after opioid administration.1 This condition is rapidly becoming the third-most costly hospital inpatient expense in the U.S., and dramatically increases the likelihood of adverse patient outcomes and cost of patient care.2 Not only is respiratory compromise common and dangerous, it has been very difficult to predict.3-5 The continuous monitoring of a patient's oxygen and carbon dioxide levels will also allow PRODIGY to identify other causes of respiratory compromise in patients on the general care ward. Currently, ward patients' breathing is monitored manually, and typically is no more frequent than every four hours. "The PRODIGY study allows us to deepen our understanding of the development of respiratory compromise, including OIRD, and determine strategies for earlier detection and prevention," said Dr. Frank Overdyk, lead investigator of the PRODIGY study and a staff anesthesiologist at the Roper St. Francis Health System in Charleston, S.C. In addition to Dr. Overdyk, the study is being led by Prof. Wolfgang Buhre, chair of the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Maastricht University Medical Centre, located in the Netherlands; and Dr. Ashish Khanna, staff intensivist and assistant professor of anesthesiology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of the Case Western Reserve University, located in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Overdyk and Dr. Khanna are paid members of the Medtronic clinical advisory board for PRODIGY. Professor Buhre is not a paid consultant; all consulting fees for Prof. Buhre are paid to the University of Maastricht. "The PRODIGY study is indicative of our commitment to bring attention to respiratory compromise - an under-recognized, serious health condition that's preventable," said Vafa Jamali, senior vice president and president of the Respiratory & Monitoring Solutions and Early Technologies businesses, which are part of the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group at Medtronic. "Information is powerful and the ability to identify patients at risk for respiratory compromise who could benefit from continuous capnography and oximetry monitoring - may improve patient safety throughout the hospital." Additional information about the PRODIGY study can be found at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02811302 (#_edn5). About Medtronic Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com (http://www.medtronic.com/)), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies - alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 88,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in approximately 160 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together. Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results. -end- 1 Jarzyna D, Jungquist CR, Pasero C, et al. American society for pain management nursing guidelines on monitoring for opioid-induced sedation and respiratory depression. Pain Manag Nurs. 2011;12(3):118-145. doi: 10.1016/j.pmn.2011.06.008. 2 Wier LM, Henke R, Friedman B. Diagnostic Groups with Rapidly Increasing Costs, by Payer, 2001-2007: Statistical Brief #91. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Briefs. Rockville MD2010. 3 Belcher AW, Khanna AK, Leung S, Naylor AJ, Hutcherson MT, Nguyen BM, et al. Long-acting patient-controlled opioids are not associated with more postoperative hypoxemia than short-acting patient-controlled opioids after noncardiac surgery: a cohort analysis. Anesth Analg. 2016;123(6):1471-9. 4 Khanna AK, Sessler DI, Sun Z, Naylor AJ, You J, Hesler BD, et al. Using the STOP-BANG questionnaire to predict hypoxaemia in patients recovering from noncardiac surgery: a prospective cohort analysis. Brit J Anaesth. 2016;116(5):632-40. 5 Sun Z, Sessler DI, Dalton JE, Devereaux PJ, Shahinyan A, Naylor AJ, et al. Postoperative hypoxemia is common and persistent: a prospective blinded observational study. Anesth Analg. 2015;121(3):709-15. Contacts: John Jordan Public Relations +1-508-452-4891 Ryan Weispfenning Investor Relations +1-763-505-4626 This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Medtronic plc via Globenewswire LITHIA, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- American International Ventures, Inc. (OTC PINK: AIVN), The Board of Directors of AIVN are pleased to announce the discovery of two new major auriferous zones on the concessions purchased on December 1, 2015. The Company completed the acquisition in Baja California of La Sorpressa, 90 hectares, La Sorpressa II, 265 hectares, La Sorpresa III, 71 hectares, Las III Fraccion 2 Frac I, 12 hectares, Las III Fraccion 2 Frac II, 12 hectares, Las III Fraccion 2 Frac III, 72 hectares, El Cid, 55.674 hectares, El Cid 1,72 hectares, Dolores, 1266.150 and M. Carter, 66.6054 hectares. The Company currently has a pilot plant mining operation at its La Sorpresa IV Property located in Baja California, Mexico. Presently, there are two Mexican mining companies showing interest in the Alamo and the Board of Directors recently turned down a Letter of Intent for $3,000,000 for 50% ownership of its subsidiary AIVN DE MEXICO. Jose Garcia, CEO of AIVN, stated, "We are thrilled to announce the commencement of the diamond drilling campaign after completing the exploration of one of our mining concessions." American International Ventures, Inc. (AIVN) is a gold and silver mining company with a focus on acquiring and then producing from historic mines in operator friendly regions of the United States and Mexico. AIVN flagship mining property "The Mother Lode" in Baja California, Mexico is an enormous mining district, with a rich history starting at the turn of the 20th century. Only 10% of the property has been tested for gold; the areas have returned consistently high-grade results. To see the full geologist report on the Alamo prepared by Jose Garcia, Juan Luis Frias T. and Victor Frias T. click on the home page of AIVN and then click on Technical Reports. http://www.aivn.co Also email Jack Wagenti for a copy of Power Point presentation. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information concerning mineral resources. This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and cost of mining programs, anticipated exploration and metallurgical test program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the potential for any mining or production are to be considered forward-looking statements. Except as required by the Federal Securities law, AIVN does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements contained herein after the date hereof. Company Contact: Jack Wagenti Chairman Phone: 813-260-2866 Web Site: http://www.aivn.co E-mail: Email Contact CORAL SPRINGS, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Nutra Pharma Corporation (OTCQB: NPHC), a biotechnology company marketing Nyloxin and Pet Pain-Away in the over-the-counter (OTC) pain management market, and which is also developing treatments for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) and Pain, announced a collaboration today with the University of Maryland Bioprocess Scale-Up Facility (BSF) to optimize manufacturing processes for the production of RPI-78M for the planned upcoming clinical trials in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis. "Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis is a pressing and unmet medical need," stated Rik J Deitsch, Chief Executive Officer of Nutra Pharma. "These children have no therapeutic options that have been proven to be safe and effective for their disease. They must rely on off-label use of adult MS drugs," he continued. "We have been laying the groundwork to move into sanctioned trials ever since we received Orphan Designation for RPI-78M. Standardizing and scaling up drug production with BSF is the next logical step," he concluded. The company previously announced that they had been granted an Orphan Designation from the US-FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for the treatment of Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis with RPI-78M. The designation is designed to encourage the development of drugs which may provide significant benefit to patients suffering from rare diseases. "Based on our pre-clinical and open-label clinical studies, we believe that RPI-78M has the ability to successfully navigate the FDA approval process," commented Dale Vander Putten, PhD, Nutra Pharma's Chief Scientific Officer. "We believe that a recombinant product will ultimately provide these kids with the best possible drug. We are now working with the BSF to scale up drug manufacturing in preparation for the upcoming Phase II clinical trials," he concluded. The BSF will utilize the cloned alpha-cobratoxin gene as the raw material for the production of the recombinant drug, RPI-78M. BSF work will include process development and process optimization to develop an efficient, compliant and scalable process for the reliable production of high-quality material at a reasonable cost of goods. About RPI-78M RPI-78M was originally derived from an extract of cobra venom and is an antagonist of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. The drug has a remarkably low toxicity with a very large therapeutic window. Scientific publications have demonstrated that native and modified neurotoxins can protect nerve cells from early cell death. Furthermore, it is expected that RPI-78M may be beneficial in neuromuscular disorders where the activity of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor has been compromised. The proprietary technology is covered by patents describing the application and use of RPI-78M in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. About the University of Maryland Bioprocess Scale-up Facility The Bioprocess Scale-Up Facility (BSF) is the Biotechnology Research and Education Program's modern bioprocessing laboratory dedicated to the development and scale-up of biotechnology products and processes. The BSF has conducted more than 1,500 fermentations since 1998. About Nutra Pharma Corp. Nutra Pharma Corporation operates as a biotechnology company specializing in the acquisition, licensing, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products and technologies for the management of neurological disorders, cancer, autoimmune, and infectious diseases, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) and Pain. Additionally, the Company markets drug products for sale for the treatment of pain under the brand Nyloxin and Pet Pain-Away. For additional information about Nutra Pharma, visit: http://www.NutraPharma.com or http://www.nyloxin.com http://www.petpainaway.com SEC Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in Nutra Pharma's ("the Company") business plan. The collaboration with the University of Maryland Bioprocess Scale-up Facility (BSF) should not be construed as an indication in any way whatsoever of the future value of the Company's common stock or its financial value. The Company's filings may be accessed at the SEC's Edgar system at www.sec.gov. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place reliance on such statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, we do not undertake, and we specifically disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. Contact: Nutra Pharma Corp. Nina Goldstein 877-895-5647 IR@nutrapharma.com BERKELEY, CA and VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 31, 2017) - BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. ("BriaCell" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: BCT) (OTCQB: BCTXF), announced today the establishment of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) engaging a number of highly-experienced leading experts in the field of immune-oncology. Briacell is an immuno-oncology focused biotechnology company with a proprietary vaccine, Briavax', that has stimulated the rapid and widespread regression of breast cancer metastases in a preliminary clinical study (C. L. Wiseman, MD, and A. Kharazi, MD, The Breast Journal, 2006). The SAB will serve as a strategic resource to BriaCell as it continues to develop the vaccine, design additional clinical trials, and expand its pharmacological pipeline. In addition to guiding BriaCell's research and development activities, the SAB will also identify new target indications and will evaluate strategic assets that leverage the management's expertise in novel therapeutics. "We are honored to have attracted these renowned experts to BriaCell's SAB," says Bill Williams, President & CEO of BriaCell. "This is an exciting time for BriaCell as our technology is advancing rapidly and we are increasing our R&D initiatives. The background and experience of our SAB members is quite remarkable, and we are confident that their expert guidance would be highly valuable in guiding the development of BriaVax' and in the expansion of BriaCell's therapeutic pipeline." The SAB members, experts in in the areas of key importance to BriaCell, are the following: Doug Faller, M.D., Ph.D., Dr. Faller is a Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; former Director of the Cancer Center; and former Vice-Chairman, Division of Medicine, of Boston University School of Medicine. He is a hematologist/oncologist, author of hundreds of scientific papers and recipient of numerous grants. He is an acknowledged expert in basic molecular and cellular biology of virus- and oncogene-transformed cells and tumors. He leads a translational research program which develops molecular cancer therapeutics derived from his basic research, and tests them in clinical trials. He has been the scientific founder of several biotech start-ups including HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, Phoenicia Biosciences and Viracta Therapeutics. Thomas Kieber-Emmons, Ph.D., Dr. Kieber-Emmons is known for his work on molecular and structural immunology, developing peptide mimetics of carbohydrate antigens as vaccines in both the cancer and pathogen areas, an acknowledged pioneer in this field. Dr. Kieber-Emmons has both translational and clinical trial experience. Dr. Kieber-Emmons has brought the first carbohydrate mimetic peptide through preclinical development to Phase II Clinical Trials in Breast Cancer and in other cancer indications. Dr. Kieber-Emmons was recruited from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002 to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where he holds the Jossetta Wilkins Chair in Breast Cancer Research, and is a Director at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Brian Metcalf, Ph.D., Dr. Metcalf recently retired as CSO from Global Blood Therapeutics. GBT currently has a Phase III study underway with GBT440 for sickle cell anemia. Earlier he served as head, drug discovery at Incyte Pharmaceuticals. During his tenure at Incyte, the company was transformed from a genomics information company to one focused on drug discovery, culminating in the discovery of Jakafi, a JAK1/2 kinase inhibitor. Jakafi was approved for the treatment of myelofibrosis by the FDA in 2011. Prior to Incyte, Metcalf was the chief scientific officer of Kosan Biosciences. Prior to that, he served in a number of executive management positions with SmithKline Beecham over the course of 17 years, most recently as worldwide head of discovery chemistry and platform technologies. Dr. Metcalf is credited with the discovery Sabril, for epilepsy and has numerous patents and publications in the drug discovery arena. Maria Trojanowska, Ph.D, Dr. Trojanowska is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Arthritis Center at the Boston University School of Medicine. An expert in immunology and fibrotic diseases, her research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie pathogenic processes responsible for tissue fibrosis and vasculopathy in scleroderma. Robert Williams, Ph.D., Dr. Williams is a University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Colorado State University. He is an innovative scientist who has been instrumental in the development of several biotechnology companies, including Microcide, Xcyte Therapies, HemaQuest, Arch Therapeutics and Cetya Therapeutics. Author of over three-hundred scientific papers, nineteen patents and recipient of numerous research grants, his research interests currently focus on the study of significant problems in synthetic organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, process chemistry and pharmaceutical drug formulation. His research program at Colorado State University, is focused on designing, synthesizing and developing small-molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, multiple drug-resistant bacterial infectious diseases and hemoglobinopathies. His academic lab is focused on the chemistry of natural products and utilizes the tools of organic synthesis to study the biosynthesis, and mechanism of action of numerous families of biomedically relevant natural products. Dr. Williams also has extensive expertise in the chemistry of amino acids, peptides, alkaloids and heterocyclic compounds. Dr. Williams is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the American Chemical Society Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products in 2011, the American Chemical Scoiety Arthur C. Cope Scholars Award in 2002, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Senior Award in 2009 among others. About BriaCell BriaCell is an immuno-oncology focused biotechnology company developing a more targeted, less toxic approach to cancer management. BriaCell's mission is to serve late-stage cancer patients with no available treatment options. Immunotherapy has come to the forefront of the fight against cancer, harnessing the body's own immune system in recognizing and selectively destroying the cancer cells while sparing normal ones. Immunotherapy, in addition to generally being more targeted and less toxic than commonly used types of chemotherapy, is also thought to be a strong type of approach aimed at preventing cancer recurrence. BriaVax', the Company's lead product candidate, is a genetically engineered whole-cell vaccine derived from a human breast tumor cell line. It is believed to activate the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancerous cells by inducing tumor-directed T cell and potentially antibody responses. The Company has already demonstrated encouraging clinical results, and is intent on building upon these results to further advance BriaVax' through additional FDA-approved clinical trials in order to help cancer patients with limited therapeutic options. The results of two previous Phase I clinical trials (one with the precursor cell line not genetically engineered to produce GM-CSF and one with BriaVax') have been encouraging in patients with advanced solid tumors. Most notably, one patient with metastatic breast cancer responded to BriaVax' with substantial reduction in tumor burden including lung and brain metastases. For additional information on BriaCell, please visit our website: http://briacell.com/ Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation which involves known and unknown risks relevant to the Company in particular and to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in general, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. These risks are more fully described in the Company's public filings available at www.sedar.com. Other forward-looking information in this news release includes but is not limited to the intended use of proceeds of the Offering and other terms of the Offering, the expected timing of completion of the Offering, the Company's ability to satisfy the conditions to completion of the Offering and the need for additional financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/5/31/11G140052/BriaCell_Launches_Its_SAB_2017May_31-88f642b3506fae19bc3a6ad55adcf6ad.pdf Contact Information For further information, please contact: BriaCell Therapeutics Corp.: Farrah Dean Manager, Corporate Development Email: farrah@BriaCell.com Phone: 1-888-485-6340 MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Organigram Holdings Inc. (TSX VENTURE: OGI)(OTCQB: OGRMF) ("Organigram" or the "Company") is proud to announce the recent hire of Jeff Purcell as Vice President of Operations, filling a key role on the company's Senior Leadership Team. A seasoned professional in the areas of large scale production and facility expansion, Purcell will assume the position as of June 12, 2017. "Our recruitment process was very comprehensive and rigorous, and we are ecstatic as a company to welcome such as a well-respected and experienced individual to this role," said Greg Engel, Chief Executive Officer at Organigram. "We expect the value that Jeff brings to the role will provide immediate benefit to an already stellar operations team and will help cement our place as a cultivation and production leader in the industry." Purcell will assume responsibility and oversight for the entire production facility including production, engineering and maintenance, construction, quality assurance, safety, security and the company's vision for oils and extract products. "I realize it's a significant scope of responsibility, however I feel it aligns well with my experience over the past several years and I am confident I will add value to the foundation already established at Organigram," commented Purcell. "In meeting with key members of the team and understanding the company's vision, it was too interesting a challenge to pass up and I look forward to the opportunity". Purcell brings over 25 years of experience to the role, most recently as Vice President of Operations at Ganong Bros. Limited with responsibilities including implementation of quality systems, safety, and continuous improvement initiatives. While in the role, he was also responsible for a significant facility expansion, essentially creating an entirely new production environment. Prior to Ganong, Purcell spent over 15 years in progressively senior roles leading operations at McCain Foods. "Jeff is the ideal candidate we were looking for to fill the role," added Engel. "And to find the right candidate here in New Brunswick made the fit that much stronger." A resident of New Brunswick, Purcell and his family are looking forward to moving to Moncton shortly. "We've seen incredible progress over the past several months on Phase II of our expansion, with 23 new grow rooms now being fitted with racking and air handling units. The addition of Jeff to the team is going to facilitate completion of this phase, and keep our current trend of being on time and on budget," added Engel. The company is also pleased announce the appointment of Larry Rogers to the role of Vice President of Business Development and Special Projects; with this move, Rogers will no longer be an officer of the company as of June 12th, 2017. In this position, Rogers will play a key role in developing International Opportunities and other peripheral business interests for the company. Both Purcell and Rogers will report directly to Organigram Chief Executive Officer, Greg Engel. For more information visit www.organigram.ca. About Organigram Holdings Inc. Organigram Holdings Inc. is a TSX Venture Exchange listed company whose wholly owned subsidiary, Organigram Inc., is a licensed producer of medical marijuana in Canada. Organigram is focused on producing the highest quality, condition specific medical marijuana for patients in Canada. Organigram's facility is located in Moncton, New Brunswick and the Company is regulated by the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations ("ACMPR"). In February 2017, Organigram was ranked in the top ten Clean Technology & Life Sciences Sector on the TSX Venture Exchange 50. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking information which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors - including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, crop yields - that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts: Organigram Holdings Inc. Greg Engel Chief Executive Officer gengel@Organigram.ca Organigram Holdings Inc. Giselle Doiron Director of Investor and Media Relations (506) 801-8986 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- A group of some of the province's most prominent municipal land use planning lawyers have come together to issue a warning to the Wynne government that the proposed legislation aimed at reforming the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) will ultimately hurt, rather than help, those that have come to depend on the process to make impartial planning decisions. Last month, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and the Ministry of Attorney General announced it would be tabling legislation intended to introduce sweeping changes to the land use planning system in Ontario. Those changes, which were outlined yesterday and include measures such as the elimination of de novo hearings for the majority of planning appeals and changing the standard of review on appeal, have prompted many to say the changes, rather than resulting in a more efficient process, will actually make it more complex and less democratic. "Instead of making the process a more public friendly place, these changes will do the opposite, and make the process more litigious, focusing primarily on a legalistic approach which ultimately will not be in the best interests of anyone," says Adam Brown, a land use planning lawyer with nearly 30 years of experience. "By eliminating the live hearing process, these proposed changes will ultimately end up shutting out the public at large." "The real question people in Ontario should be asking is how changes to the land use planning process will nurture the type of collaboration that encourages communities to thrive and ensures we build our cities upwards and not outwards," says Ian Flett, a municipal and land use planning lawyer whose clients are largely citizens and ratepayer groups. "As it stands, this legislation is seriously flawed. Municipal governments are not the exclusive defenders of the public interest. The OMB provides an equal-footing to developers, landowners, ratepayer groups, environmental groups and municipalities. It ensures a fair hearing process to either debate or mediate over how development can best serve the public interest. These proposed changes undo that." Mary Flynn-Guglietti, who has extensive experience appearing before the OMB on a wide variety of planning matters, says the proposed legislation ignores the fundamentals of fairness. "When the provincial government began its review of the OMB it reaffirmed the continuing need for an independent tribunal in the land use planning process to ensure that it is a place where people can be heard. While all participants in the land use planning process recognize the need for improvement, regrettably the province has thrown out the baby with the bath water." Nancy Smith, a lawyer in Hamilton whose practice covers all of southwestern Ontario, says if it weren't for the OMB, important projects like the Lynwood Charlton Centre's Charlton Hall Residential Treatment program, a place that provides a spectrum of mental health services for youth and families in Hamilton that saw the City of Hamilton deny its rezoning application, simply wouldn't exist. "There are other Lynwoods in this Province, projects that are clearly in the public interest that will be harmed in the future if these reforms become law." Media Opportunity: All four lawyers will be holding a press conference today beginning at 2:15 P.M. at the Queen's Park Media Studio and will be available for interviews. Contacts: Sussex Strategy Group Brett James Cell: 416-457-4807 bjames@sussex-strategy.com MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Midland Exploration Inc. ("Midland") (TSX VENTURE: MD) is pleased to announce the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding with Altius Resources Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Altius Minerals Corp. ("Altius") (TSX: ALS), whereby Midland and Altius will combine their efforts to jointly explore the remarkable gold potential of the extensive James Bay region. During the winter of 2017, Midland and Altius combined their expertise and databases to generate new gold exploration targets in the James Bay region. The targeting approach developed by Midland and Altius consists of applying new metallogenic concepts for gold in underexplored areas and utilizing new public geoscience surveys. This new data has enhanced the broader geological knowledge and recognition of mineral potential allowing for the identification of previously untested prospective areas. The first four exploration projects totalling 266 claims have been selected (Elrond, Gondor, Minas Tirith, and Isengard) and occur along the prolific contact zone between the La Grande and Opinaca subprovinces. This contact zone is the most important gold metallotect in the James Bay region and hosts a number of major gold deposits and occurrences (Eleonore, La Grande South, Cheechoo, Orfee, Marco, etc.). The location of this important regional structure has recently been redefined based on new government geological mapping and magnetics surveys in various parts of the region. The four projects host significant anomalies in gold and gold pathfinder elements in samples of lake sediment, till, and/or rocks from a combination of government and archived historical industry work. The first work program involving reconnaissance mapping, prospecting and till sampling will begin in late June 2017. A joint budget of approximately $500,000 is allocated and Midland will be project manager. About Altius Altius's diversified royalties and metal streams generate revenue from 14 mines operating in Canada and Brazil that produce copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, precious metals, potash, and thermal (electrical) and metallurgical coal. The portfolio also includes numerous predevelopment-stage royalties covering a wide spectrum of mineral commodities and jurisdictions. Altius also holds a large portfolio of exploration-stage projects, which it has generated for deal making with industry partners in order to generate third-party financing, equity and minority interests, as well as new royalty interests. Altius has 43,335,654 shares issued and outstanding, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada. Altius is part of the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index. About Midland Midland targets the excellent mineral potential of Quebec to make the discovery of new world-class deposits of gold, platinum group elements, base metals and rare earth elements. Midland is proud to count on reputable partners such as Altius Resources Inc., Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, Teck Resources Limited, IAMGOLD Corporation, Osisko Mining Inc., SOQUEM INC., Japan Oil Gas and Metals National Corporation, and Abcourt Mines Inc. Midland prefers to work in partnership and intends to quickly conclude additional agreements in regard to newly acquired properties. Management is currently reviewing other opportunities and projects to build up the Company portfolio and generate shareholder value. This press release was prepared by Mario Masson, VP Exploration for Midland, certified geologist and Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from targeted results. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in Midland's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by Midland from time to time with securities regulatory authorities. Contacts: Gino Roger President and Chief Executive Officer 450 420-5977 450 420-5978 (FAX) info@midlandexploration.com www.explorationmidland.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Select Sands Corp. ("Select Sands" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SNS)(OTCQX: SLSDF) today announced financial and operational results for the first quarter of 2017 and that it has filed its 2017 first quarter financial statements and associated management's discussion and analysis on www.sedar.com. All results are stated in Canadian dollars (CAD) unless noted otherwise as US dollars (USD). The average currency conversion used for the first quarter is $1 USD = $1.3238 CAD. First Quarter 2017 Financial Highlights -- The Company achieved the ability to produce commercial quantities of frac and industrial sand and as a result, commercial production commenced at the start of the quarter. -- Total revenue for the quarter was $1.5 million; comprehensive loss was $2.8 million, or $0.04 basic and diluted loss per common share, including $2.2 million in non-cash share-based compensation. -- EBITDA loss was $0.8 million. EBITDA is a non-IFRS financial measure and is described and reconciled to net loss in the table under "Non-IFRS Financial Measures". -- Gross margin loss for the Company's Ozark Operations was $428,862 for the quarter, and showed a positive gross margin of $125,110 during March. -- Net investment in property, plant and equipment was $3.3 million, including $1.3 million for the purchase of the Bell Farm Property with 49.6 million tons of Inferred Mineral Resources (see press release dated April 13, 2017). -- As of March 31, 2017, cash and cash equivalents were $6.8 million. Warrants and option exercises generated cash of $1.1 million during the quarter. -- Inventory on hand at the end of the quarter was $0.8 million. First Quarter 2017 Operational Highlights -- Sales volumes and average prices, net of transportation (in tons and USD per ton, respectively): Q1 2017 March 2017 -------------------------------------------- Frac sand 19,967 US$ 35.10 13,237 US$ 36.92 Industrial sand 2,459 US$ 34.23 510 US$ 36.73 Other sand & gravel 6,801 US$ 5.88 4,832 US$ 6.47 -------------------------------------------- 29,227 US$ 28.22 18,579 US$ 28.99 -- Delivered first truck shipment of frac sand for the oil and gas sector in January and rail shipments began in February. -- The first nine rail cars arrived in February increasing to a total of 67 cars by March. Continued escalation of rail car count is expected for the remainder of 2017. -- Signed first long-term supply agreement that included quarterly price adjustments during the term of the agreement. Shipments started in March with one million ton commitments in 2018 and 2019. Second Quarter Production Outlook The Company expects second quarter 2017 total frac and industrial sand sales volumes to increase between 40% to 60% over the first quarter. The impact on production and related shipments from flooding during an approximate two-week period earlier in the second quarter is factored in. Zig Vitols, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Overall, we were pleased with our 2017 first quarter results and are encouraged to have all our products favorably received by the oil and gas sector. As expected, start-up costs and low initial volumes had a significant impact on the first half of the quarter, but by March our gross margin had turned positive. I am very appreciative with the efforts of our management team and particularly our production personnel in reconfiguring plants and maintaining a quality standard, considering that shipments to the oil and gas sector started less than a month after closing the Ozark acquisition. Meanwhile we have had no less than ten training sessions to instill a strong safety culture as we further assemble our team." Ozark Operations Since closing on the Ozark Premium Sand asset acquisition in December, the Company has been re-commissioning previously idled assets such as dryers and wet plants and acquiring additional operating assets, including the Newport Rail Loading Facility where the Company can load 25 rail cars within 24 hours. The Ozark Operations now consist of six operating components: Sandtown Mine, Bell Farm Holdings, Freeze Farm Wet Plant, Maple Springs Wet Plant, Possum Grape Dry Plant, and Newport Rail Loading Facility. During the first quarter of 2017, Select Sand focused on transitioning the Ozark Operations from a brown sand excavation based process to a drill and blast quarry operation to mine premium Northern White frac sands. Improvements were also made in rail logistics, increased plant capacity and efficiencies. A partial list of the enhancements includes: -- Track mounted crushers installed at Sandtown; -- Installation of an additional cyclone and pump for capacity increases at Freeze Farm -- Refurbishment of previously dormant dryer with a new burner and re- flighting at Possum Grape Dry Plant; -- Additional transfer bunker capacity at Possum Grape and wet product storage at Freeze Farm; -- Lease to purchase of Newport Rail Facility; Because of the substantial physical production capacity and the sustained production of commercial quantities of frac sand, management determined that commercial production had commenced. Accordingly, the capitalization of development costs ceased and the capital costs were transferred to property, plant and equipment. Revenue and expense from its operations are now recorded in operating results for the quarter. The Company advises that the production decision on the Sandtown deposit was not based on a Feasibility Study of mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability, and, as a result, there may be an increased uncertainty of achieving any level of recovery of minerals or the cost of such recovery, including increased risks associated with developing a commercially mineable deposit. Historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure. There is no guarantee that production will occur as anticipated or that anticipated production costs will be achieved. Elliott A. Mallard, PG of Kleinfelder is the qualified person as per the NI-43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. About Select Sands Corp. Select Sands Corp. is an industrial Silica Product company developing its 100% owned, 520-acre Northern White, Tier-1, silica sands project located in Arkansas, U.S.A. Select Sands' Arkansas property has a logistical advantage of being significantly closer to oil and gas markets located in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana than Wisconsin sources. The Tier-1 reference above is a classification of frac sand developed by PropTester, Inc., an independent laboratory specializing in the research and testing of products utilized in hydraulic fracturing & cement operations, following ISO 13503-2:2006/API RP19C:2008 standards. Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. Information and statements which are not purely historical fact are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release relate to the continued escalation of rail car count and second quarter 2017 frac and industrial sand sales volumes. Forward-looking information and statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information and statements herein. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking information and statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such information and statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking information and statements. Any forward-looking information and statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward-looking information and statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Select Sands Corp. Consolidated Interim Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (Expressed in Canadian Dollars) (Unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Three Months Ended Ended March 31, 2017 March 31, 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenue $ 1,458,553 $ - Cost of Goods Sold 1,887,415 - ------------------------------------ Loss from Sand Operations (428,862) - ------------------------------------ General and Administrative Expenses Administrative services and rent 8,537 5,502 Advertising and promotion 75,294 55,342 Compensation and consulting 265,496 132,581 Office and miscellaneous 59,483 6,732 Professional fees 62,861 39,631 Regulatory and stock transfer fees 16,191 10,553 Share-based compensation 2,196,418 56,684 ------------------------------------ 2,684,280 307,025 ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Loss Before Other Items (3,113,142) (307,025) ------------------------------------ Other Items Foreign exchange gain (loss) 170,999 (29,896) Interest income 10,424 3,804 Share of loss in equity investee (157,059) - ------------------------------------ Total Other Items 24,364 (26,092) ------------------------------------ Net Loss For The Period $ (3,088,778) $ (333,117) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Comprehensive Loss ------------------------------------ Foreign currency translation adjustment (308,736) - ------------------------------------ Comprehensive Loss For The Period (3,397,514) (333,117) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Basic and Diluted Loss Per Common Share $ (0.04) $ (0.01) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average number of shares outstanding 85,484,729 54,596,067 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Select Sands Corp. Consolidated Interim Statements of Financial Position (Expressed in Canadian Dollars) (Unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As at March 31, December 31, 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Cash and cash equivalents $ 6,831,578 $ 11,776,321 Amounts receivable 1,431,734 133,688 Inventory 801,874 - Prepaid expenses 58,161 47,779 ------------------------------------ Total Current Assets 9,123,347 11,957,788 Deposits 392,286 153,021 Investments in Affiliate 2,842,941 3,000,000 Property, Plant and Equipment 12,096,096 6,763,193 Exploration and Evaluation Assets - 2,142,986 ------------------------------------ Total Assets $ 24,454,670 $ 24,016,988 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 679,344 $ 417,210 Deferred revenue 234,626 - ------------------------------------ Total Current Liabilities 913,970 417,210 ------------------------------------ EQUITY Share Capital 40,696,277 39,388,462 Share-based Payment Reserve 5,380,138 3,349,517 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss (317,215) (8,479) Deficit (22,218,500) (19,129,722) ------------------------------------ Total Equity 23,540,700 23,599,778 ------------------------------------ Total Liabilities and Equity $ 24,454,670 $ 24,016,988 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Select Sands Corp. Consolidated Interim Statements of Cash Flows (Expressed in Canadian Dollars) (Unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Three Months Ended Ended March 31, 2017 March 31, 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Activities Net loss for the period $ (3,088,778) $ (333,117) Adjustments for non-cash items: Depreciation and depletion in cost of goods sold 121,289 - Share-based compensation 2,196,418 56,684 Foreign exchange (307,916) 6,786 Share of loss in equity investee 157,059 - Changes in non-cash operating assets and liabilities: Amounts receivable (1,298,046) (6,657) Inventory (801,874) - Prepaid expenses (10,382) 21,066 Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 262,134 (41,086) Deferred revenue 234,626 - ------------------------------------ Total Cash Used in Operating Activities (2,535,470) (296,324) ------------------------------------ Investing Activities Property, plant and equipment (3,311,206) - Exploration and evaluation assets - (43,874) Deposits (240,085) - ------------------------------------ Total Cash Used in Investing Activities (3,551,291) (43,874) ------------------------------------ Financing Activities Warrants exercised 752,668 4,500 Options exercised 389,350 - ------------------------------------ Total Cash Provided by Financing Activities 1,142,018 4,500 ------------------------------------ Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents (4,944,743) (335,698) Cash and Cash Equivalents, Beginning of Period 11,776,321 3,172,051 ------------------------------------ Cash and Cash Equivalents, End of Period$ 6,831,578 $ 2,836,353 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Supplementary Cash Flow Information and Non-Cash Investing and Financing Transactions: Cash received for interest $ - $ - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash paid for interest $ - $ - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash paid for taxes $ - $ - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debenture interest accrued $ - $ 9,589 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Non-IFRS Financial Measures The following information is included for convenience only. Generally, a non-IFRS financial measure is a numerical measure of a Company's performance, cash flows or financial position that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS. EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance (nor does it have a standardized meanings) under IFRS. In evaluating non-IFRS financial measures, investors should consider that the methodology applied in calculating such measures may differ among companies and analysts. The Company uses both IFRS and certain non-IFRS measures to assess operational performance and as a component of employee remuneration. Management believes certain non-IFRS measures provide useful supplemental information to investors in order that they may evaluate Select Sand's financial performance using the same measures as management. Management believes that, as a result, the investor is afforded greater transparency in assessing the financial performance of the Company. These non-IFRS financial measures should not be considered as a substitute for, nor superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Reconciliation of Net Loss to EBITDA for 2017 first quarter: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net loss $ (3,088,778) Add Back Depreciation and depletion 121,289 Share-based compensation 2,196,418 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBITDA $ (771,071) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Company defines EBITDA as net income (loss) before finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization and share-based compensation. Select Sands uses EBITDA as a supplemental financial measure of its operational performance. Management believes EBITDA to be an important measure as they exclude the effects of items that primarily reflect the impact of long-term investment and financing decisions, rather than the performance of the company's day-to-day operations. As compared to net income according to IFRS, this measure is limited in that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues in the company's business, the charges associated with impairments, termination costs or Proposed Transaction costs. Management evaluates such items through other financial measures such as capital expenditures and cash flow provided by operating activities. The company believes that these measurements are useful to measure a company's ability to service debt and to meet other payment obligations or as a valuation measurement. Contacts: Select Sands Corp. Zigurds Vitols President & CEO (604) 639-4533 www.selectsandscorp.com - Atento has developed a multichannel solution for MediaMarkt with a strong digital component ensuring best customer experience for online sales platforms - Atento will provide customer relationship services for MediaMarkt's Digital Store and e-commerce platform in Spain - The collaboration with MediaMarkt drives Atento's commitment to diversify its portfolio of clients and solutions in Spain MADRID, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Atento S.A. (NYSE:ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services (CRM/BPO) in Latin America, and one of the three top providers worldwide, has partnered with MediaMarkt, a leading consumer electronics distribution company, to strengthen its customer relationship strategy andenhance the quality and efficiency of its service in Spain. Atento will manage MediaMarkt's customer relationship service in Spain with a team of highly qualified professionals who will support the company's e-commerce platform and manage customer service for the Digital Store, a new digital and multichannel store concept in which technology and experience are paramount. Atento will manage the telephone and digital channels (e-mails and chat), and will provide assistance to users during their shopping experience on the MediaMarkt website. Atento's solution for MediaMarkt enables centralized management of all the company's customer processes in Spain while offering an exceptional and innovative customer experience adapted to the needs of digital consumers. The solution provided also features a new online chat service that Atento has built into the centralized global management platform, allowing the first level of questions to be answered through a chatbot. It includes the option to elevate to an agent while saving the entire log of the customer's question. This has made it possible to improve the efficiency of the service and of the customer's experience by solving questions in real time. Customer service is a key component of MediaMarkt's strategy, which is why the retail company constantly works to offer more personalized attention through all channels, facilitating multiple contact options: physical store, chat, virtual shopper, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and telephone. "We are very pleased to be able to offer an innovate customer experience solution to a leading brand like MediaMarkt. Our collaboration agreement reflects Atento's commitment to continue growing and diversifying the sectors to which we offer our services in Spain, while developing multichannel solutions adapted to a digital environment that offer a clear added value to our clients," stated Jose Maria Perez Melber, Atento Spain and EMEA Managing Director. For David Villanueva, MediaMarkt Head of Customer Experience for Spain and Portugal, "The multichannel strategy that we are strengthening with Atento's help allows us to offer our customers a unique experience adapted to their needs, improving our service during the customer journey and giving them a safe, agile, high-quality experience that responds to their preferences and needs." About Atento Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top three providers globally, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs 150,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atento's shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2016, Atento was named one of the World's 25 Best Multinational Workplaces by Great Place to Work for a fourth consecutive year. For more information visit www.atento.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150506/214260LOGO HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- U.S.-based solar photovoltaic module manufacturer Seraphim Solar USA announced today that its high-efficiency, American-made solar modules have been approved by major residential solar finance companies for their installer networks. Sungage Financial and Sunnova are among the finance firms that have added Seraphim USA to their approved vendor lists, citing the manufacturer's bankability, product quality, and reliability. As a result, installers across the country can now offer Seraphim USA modules to their customers as part of their home solar financing packages. The news comes as Seraphim USA accelerates its production ramp at the company's fully automated, state-of-the-art PV module manufacturing factory in Jackson, Mississippi. One of the largest facilities of its kind in the U.S., the 160 MW facility is producing 60- and 72-cell polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon modules for residential, commercial, industrial, governmental and military customers in the United States. "Thanks to the confidence our finance partners and our customers have in our products, we've seen our order intake grow -- we're shipping our modules as fast as we can make them and are actively hiring production staff," said Steve Ostrenga, vice president of sales for Seraphim Solar USA. "With uncertainty clouding some parts of the U.S. solar manufacturing community, developers and installers who want top-quality, U.S.-made products are looking to us as a reliable and bankable supplier." "The Seraphim Solar USA team has demonstrated operational excellence, both in terms of their people and their module manufacturing, as well as a solid track record of bankability," said Jordan Fruge, chief marketing officer of Sunnova. "These attributes convinced us they belonged on our approved vendor list." Seraphim Solar USA further enhances the bankability of its modules by backstopping its 25-year warranty with a comprehensive PowerGuard Specialty Insurance Services policy. "Like the other Tier One solar manufacturers whose products we insure, Seraphim Solar USA meets stringent requirements for quality and reliability," said Mike McMullen, co-founder of PowerGuard Insurance. "Solar developers, installers and EPCs can rest assured that Seraphim USA modules meet project financing and investor requirements." Seraphim Solar USA will be introducing new product innovations in the coming months, including an attractive black-on-black module for residential and small commercial customers and four-busbar, passivated-emitter rear contact (PERC) cell-based modules. The company will be showcasing its product line and capabilities at Booth 24 during Solar Power Texas in Austin June 13 -14 and at Booth 8451 during the Intersolar North America trade show, taking place July 11-13 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. About Seraphim Solar USA Manufacturing Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Seraphim Solar USA (www.seraphimusa.com) manufactures high-quality polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon solar modules in its state-of-the-art 160-MW production facility in Jackson, Mississippi. The U.S.-owned company supplies solar customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, government, and military sectors. Backed by PowerGuard module warranty insurance, Seraphim USA's bankable products are compliant with Buy American, Ex-Im Bank, ARRA, and GSA requirements. For those interested in joining Seraphim's Jackson manufacturing team, please send resumes to careers@seraphimusa.com Contacts: Steven Ostrenga Seraphim Solar USA sostrenga@seraphimusa.com +1-901-292-7855 Dave Richardson Impress Labs (for Seraphim USA) dave@impresslabs.com +1-415-994-1423 NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Daxor Corporation, (NYSE MKT: DXR) an investment company with medical instrumentation and biotechnology operations, announces the hiring of John Wilkens as its new Chief Financial Officer effective immediately, reporting directly to Michael Feldschuh, President & CEO of Daxor Corporation. "Mr. Wilkens will be responsible for overseeing the financial activities of Daxor and will help lead in the ongoing restructuring of the company as well as negotiating joint ventures and corporate actions to enhance shareholder value in a transformative way," said Mr. Feldschuh. John is a licensed CPA and has more than 25 years of finance leadership experience, including tenures with Convector Capital Management and Mark Asset Management. He is passionate about improving processes to increase market value and possesses a deep understanding of accounting, tax, payroll, and finance, in both large and small enterprises. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Rutgers University. Mr. Wilkens stated, "I am excited to join Daxor. The strategic growth opportunities for the company are compelling, and the mission of saving lives has never been more important. Daxor's BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzer is a lifesaving diagnostic used at leading hospitals in the country. I look forward to being an integral part of the team at Daxor and helping to drive further success for the company." Daxor Corporation manufactures and markets the BVA-100 Blood Volume Analyzer, which is used in conjunction with Volumex, Daxor's single use diagnostic kit. For more information regarding Daxor Corporation's Blood Volume Analyzer BVA-100, visit Daxor's website at www.Daxor.com. Daxor Contact Information: Lisa Quartley Senior Vice President, Marketing and Commercial Development 212-330-8518 lquartley@daxor.com LOS ANGELES, CA and MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Led by Editor Clayton Condit, the creative team at Splice collaborated very closely with Director Eric D. Howell and Producer Dean Zanuck on their new film "Voice From the Stone," starring Emilia Clarke ("Game of Thrones," "Terminator Genisys") and Marton Csokas ("The Lord of the Rings"). Shot on location in Italy, the film made its premiere at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival in April, with a theatrical release at the Laemmle Santa Monica and in 10 cities across the U.S., and international distribution to follow. "Voice From the Stone" is also available on cable and digital demand. www.voicefromthestone.com The feature film debut of Director Eric D. Howell, "Voice From the Stone" is a haunting tale of fear, mystery and romance that plays out amid the ghosts of memory at the gates of an isolated stone castle in 1950s Tuscany where a determined nurse (Clarke) arrives to cure the mute heir within. Under the guidance of Editor Clayton Condit, the Splice team contributed editorial, visual effects and color for "Voice From the Stone." Condit traveled on-set to Italy for the film's production, as well as the recording of the film's score in London, and final mix at George Lucas' Skywalker Sound in Northern California. Producer Dean Zanuck, who's company Zanuck Independent was the driving force behind getting the film completed, traveled to Minneapolis several times to work closely with Condit and Howell during the offline editorial process. "Splice was a strong collaborator from the early stages of pre-production, stepping in and managing all aspects of postproduction," says Zanuck. "Splice was one of the best post experiences I've had in my career." "Working on Voice was an amazing journey on so many levels," says Editor Clayton Condit. "Editorial for 'Voice' was a truly collaborative effort with the Director, Producers and even the Executive Producer. We successfully navigated multiple perspectives at times and were able to find big and small ideas and solutions to tell the story the best way possible." http://splice.tv/about/ Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3144281 Contact: Colleen O'Mara at Hype 310-838-9834, x103 Email Contact TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 --Patriot One Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE: PAT) (OTCQB: PTOTF) (FRANKFURT: 0PL) ("Patriot One" or the "Company"), developer of the revolutionary award-winning PATSCAN CMR concealed weapons detection system, is pleased to announce and welcomes the appointment of Mr. John Gillies as a member of it's Board of Directors. Mr. Gillies has recently served as an advisor to Patriot One since its commercial inception, and brings over 33 years of federal government experience, principally within the national and international security and intelligence environment. Mr. Gillies served as an Assistant Director with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and as a member of the CSIS Senior Executive Committee. Past duties within CSIS include extensive experience in both counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism sectors in a variety of roles including as Director General, Counter Terrorism Division and Director General, BC Region during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. During his tenure as the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for CSIS, Mr. Gillies also served as a member of the Board of Governors for Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures; sat as a Board member for the National Capital CHRO Forum; and served as a member of the Conference Board of Canada's Strategic Human Resource Management Council. Prior to joining the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Mr. Gillies served as a police officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) which included service within the Drug Enforcement Section. He is a graduate of the University of Victoria and currently resides in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. "On behalf of the team at Patriot One, I am delighted to welcome John onboard in his new role as a Director of the Company," expressed Martin Cronin, Patriot One CEO. "John has provided an outstanding service to us since we first launched this venture and his guidance has proven invaluable. Now that we have him fully entrenched in our business, we look forward to working together to continue to build a world-class enterprise based on shared values aimed at protecting the public's right to safety." John Gillies adds, "I am honored to join the Patriot One board and team, as the company moves aggressively to fulfill its commitment to Deter, Detect and Defend against acts of violence around the globe." In related news, the Company advises that its Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. PST. Voting on resolutions included an increase in the number of Directors to five, re-election of all previous Directors, the appointment of Mr. Gillies to the Board, the appointment of Davidson & Company LLP as Auditors, and approval and ratification of the Corporation's existing stock option plan. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Martin Cronin" CEO & Director About Patriot One Technologies, Inc. (TSX VENTURE: PAT) (OTCQB: PTOTF) (FRANKFURT: 0PL): Patriot One has developed PATSCAN CMR the next generation of its award-winning Patriot One Technologies NForce CMR1000 software and radar solution. PATSCAN CMR is a first-of-its-kind Cognitive Microwave Radar concealed weapons detection system as an effective tool to combat active shooter threats before they occur. Designed for cost-effective deployment in weapon-restricted buildings and facilities, the Patriot One software solution and related hardware can be installed in hallways and doorways to covertly identify weapons and to alert security of an active threat entering the premises. Owner/operators of private and certain public facilities can now prominently post anti-weapons policies with compliance assured. The Company's motto Deter, Detect and Defend is based on the belief that widespread use of its technology will act as an effective deterrent, thereby diminishing the epidemic phenomena of active shooters across the globe. For more information, visit: www.patriot1tech.com. Patriot One Technologies are proud winners of the 2017 Anti-Terrorism / Force Protection category of the Security Industry Association's New Product Showcase at ISC West. CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: No Securities Exchange has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to product development, licensing, commercialization and regulatory compliance issues and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will," "may," "should," "anticipate," "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include the failure to satisfy the conditions of the relevant securities exchange(s) and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. 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. For further information, please contact: Patriot One Inquiries +1 (888) 728-1832 info@patriot1tech.com www.patriot1tech.com SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- CFN Media Group ("CFN Media", "CannabisFN"), the leading agency and digital media network dedicated to the North American cannabis industry, announces the publication of an article covering Nutritional High International Inc.'s (CNSX: EAT) (OTCQB: SPLIF) agreement with Lakeside Minerals Inc. and its progress in building medical and adult-use cannabis facilities in Nevada and Colorado. Building Cannabis Facilities Nutritional High International entered into a letter of intent with Lakeside Minerals Inc. on February 22, 2017 to build medical and adult use cannabis cultivation facilities in Nevada and Colorado. The deal was designed to enable the company to focus its efforts on high-margin cannabis oils and extracts, while reducing the capital expenditures associated with its cultivation efforts to help preserve and grow long-term shareholder value. Under the terms of the deal, the company will assign Lakeside its right to acquire a Provisional Marijuana Cultivation License issued by the Nevada Division of Public and Behavior Health in exchange for US$500,000, as well as establish a joint venture to purchase the Henderson Property that will then be leased at an agreed price per square foot. The company will also receive one million shares of stock in Lakeside with the rights to secure more. The company will immediately benefit from reduced capital expenditures for its Nevada project, and reduced product distribution costs. Over the long-term, the partnership is expected to ensure a consistent and high quality supply of trim without the capital costs associated with growing the plant. This will enable the company to focus on high-margin oils and extracts rather than commoditized cultivation. Making Significant Progress As for the Colorado portion of the Lakeside deal, Nutritional High recently announced that its Pueblo, Colorado operations were advancing at a solid pace. Since February, the Palo Verde team has been focused on advancing the production process in anticipation of radically scaling up the throughput while maintaining strong extraction yields. Palo Verde has already manufactured over 7,000 grams of cannabis oil distillate and approximately 3,000 FLI cartridges. "We are very pleased with how the production ramp-up is progressing," said Nutritional High CEO Jim Frazier. "The team has come a long way since commencing commercial production in late February and we look forward to our FLI Branded products building a strong consumer market presence in Colorado and nationally as Nutritional High establishes facilities in other states." Palo Verde has made tremendous progress in increasing THC content from the high 70% to batches over 90% with throughput that's estimated at 20 to 40 pounds of trim per day. The average wholesale price of the FLI cartridges has been $18.00 per 0.5g cartridge, which ranges depending on the final THC content of each product. The team has also hired sales representatives to help accelerate the market penetration of their FLI Branded products. Palo Verde will be launching three new FLI Branded products over the next 90 days. They continue to R&D the next generation of innovative and unique products that will have significant impact in the marketplace. Looking Ahead Nutritional High International Inc. has made tremendous progress in building out its facilities in Colorado while setting the stage for Nevada. In partnership with Lakeside Minerals, the company is uniquely positioned to generate near-term revenue while focusing its efforts on high-margin cannabis oils and extracts. The goal is to build a nationwide consumer brand that's known for quality. In addition to Lakeside Minerals, the company has also made a strategic investment in Aura Health Corp., which operates clinics in Arizona and Nevada, and continues to seek out bolt-on acquisitions and partnership opportunities in Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Maryland, Florida, and Michigan where favorable laws exist. The team is also keeping a close eye on states and countries that are coming up on the licensing front to tie down real estate and apply for licenses. Please follow the link to read the full article: http://www.cannabisfn.com/nutritional-high-lakeside-progress-translates-near-term-opportunities/ Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur:http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/ Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from the palm of your hand: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8 Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com About CFN Media CFN Media (CannabisFN), the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to the worldwide cannabis industry, helps marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and publicity. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the US and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed. The company launched in June of 2013 to initially serve the growing universe of publicly traded marijuana companies across North America. Today, CFN Media is also the digital media choice for the emerging brands in the space. Disclaimer: Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CFN Media and CannabisFN.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. Emerging Growth LLC may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/. CFN Media Frank Lane 206-369-7050 flane@cannabisfn.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Highlights -- Completed construction of 21,528 sq. ft. greenhouse for CBD flower production for medicinal purposes. -- Commenced germination of 4,000 seeds expected to yield approximately 150 kilograms of CBD dried flower by October, 2017. -- Building South America's first extraction laboratory in Uruguay's "science free trade zone" by April, 2018. ICC International Cannabis Corporation ("ICC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: ICC) is pleased to announce that, as part of its strategic plan to become the world's largest and lowest cost producer of cannabidiol ("CBD"), the Company has completed the construction of a 21,528 sq. ft. greenhouse to increase CBD flower production for medicinal purposes. The Company is also pleased to announce it has commenced the germination of 4,000 seeds which are expected to yield approximately 150 kilograms of CBD dried flower by October, 2017. In order to process its CBD oil and extracts, the Company's first laboratory is expected to be built by April, 2018 in Uruguay's "science free trade zone", a free trade zone located in the Parque de las Ciencias (Park of the Sciences) in Montevideo, Uruguay. "We are very excited that our CBD dry flower production has started. In addition, our new greenhouse and laboratory will allow us to keep improving our growing techniques with a view to optimizing future production," commented Guillermo Delmonte, Chief Executive Officer of ICC, "The objective of ICC is to process its hemp crops into high quality CBD extracts, which are in high demand in the active pharmaceutical ingredient ("API") market. We see a significant opportunity in the international CBD extracts market and ICC is positioning itself to become one of the largest international providers of APIs." Medicinal Cannabis Greenhouse As part of the Company's strategic plan to become the world's largest and lowest cost producer of CBD, the 21,528 sq. ft. greenhouse will allow ICC to test different cultivars' behaviour throughout the entire year and increase the production cycle of medicinal cannabis. Operating at full capacity, this medicinal cannabis greenhouse is expected to allow the Company to work with 4,000 plants per cycle, having at least three cycles per year resulting in a minimum of 12,000 plants per year for medicinal purposes. The first 4,000 plants are currently being grown and the Company expects to them to yield approximately 150 kilograms of CBD dried flower by October, 2017. The production process, leveraging Uruguay's superior growing environment, will be comprised entirely of organic crop. In addition, ICC is committed to complying with Good Agricultural Practices ("GAP") requirements in order to obtain this certification. Extraction Laboratory ICC is building the first cannabinoid extraction laboratory in South America using the supercritical fluid CO2 extraction technique with state-of-the-art equipment from Europe. The laboratory will be built in Uruguay's "science free trade zone". The extraction laboratory will be situated in an area over 16,146 sq. ft., with construction set for completion in April, 2018 and initial capacity to process up to 50 tonnes of dry hemp per year into CBD extracts. The Company's CBD extraction products will be processed under the highest quality standards. The Company is committed to complying with Good Manufacturing Practices ("GMP") requirements and is working to obtain GMP certification of its laboratory. It has contracted with an authorized GMP auditor to this end. ABOUT ICC INTERNATIONAL CANNABIS CORPORATION The Company has operations in Uruguay, and is focused on the licensed production, development and sale of recreational cannabis, cannabinoid extracts and other derivatives used for medicinal purposes and industrial hemp. For more information, please see the Company's filings on www.sedar.com and www.intcannabiscorp.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information in this press release may constitute forward-looking information, including statements regarding anticipated production and yields, time to complete construction of the Company's extraction laboratory, opportunity in the CBD extracts market, ability to increase production cycles and the Company's ability to obtain GAP and GMP certification. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, including the Company's ability to obtain any requisite regulatory approvals. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. Contacts: ICC International Cannabis Corporation Guillermo Delmonte Chief Executive Officer and Director 598-2900-0000 ir@intcannabiscorp.com www.intcannabiscorp.com WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A measure of home transactions that have started the sales process unexpectedly dropped in April, according to new data released on Wednesday. This added to a decline posted in the previous month. The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index fell 1.3 percent in April. The pending home sales index tracks contracts that have been signed, but have not closed yet. They are seen as a leading indicator of home sales, with a pending sale usually taking 4 to 6 weeks to close. Economists had expected the measure to bounce back after a retreat in March. Experts were generally looking for an increase of around 0.5 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. MANILA, PHILIPPINES -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Mindoro Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: MIO) (FRANKFURT:WKN 906167) ("Mindoro" or the "Company") today announced the filing of the Company's First Quarter 2017 financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Details of the Company's financial results are contained in the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. Overview for The Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 Agata Mining Ventures Inc. ("AMVI") Agata Mining Ventures Inc. ("AMVI"), a company held by Mindoro's Philippine subsidiary, MRL Nickel Philippines, Inc. and TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. ("TVIRD") as operator under a joint venture agreement, recorded sales of $5,356,000 and a net loss of $639,000 for the period ending March 31, 2017. Mindoro recorded $255,000 loss with respect to the 40% interest MRL Nickel Philippines, Inc. holds in the Agata nickel laterite project. The joint venture agreements require that at least 50% of AMVI's unrestricted retained earnings be distributed to shareholders as dividends on a quarterly basis. As at March 31, 2017, AMVI had accumulated losses of $2,737,000. Therefore, no dividends have been declared. AMVI commenced operations in October 2014 and has completed 102 shipments of nickel laterite DSO as at the end of March 2017. Subsequent to March 31, 2017, additional 6 shipments with a total of 321,280 wet metric tonnes were shipped in April. On September 27, 2016, AMVI has been listed among 20 mining firms "recommended for suspension" in an announcement made by Department of Environment and Natural Resources ("DENR"). The announcement was the result of a nationwide audit of 41 metallic mines which called for the assessment of all mining companies on the basis of laws related to mine environmental management, safety and health, social development, mining tenement and compliance with the Clean Air, Clean Water, Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste Acts. AMVI submitted proof of compliance on the alleged infractions and on February 2, 2017, AMVI received its confirmation that it has passed the DENR audit. AMVI, together with eleven other mining companies, were allowed to continue, several firms were ordered to close, while some were still under suspension. About Mindoro Mindoro is a Tier 2 issuer trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (MIO) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN 906167). Mindoro has a direct and beneficial 40% interest in the Agata Mining Joint Venture and direct and beneficial 75% interest in the Agata Processing Joint Venture with an option to acquire an additional 25% interest in the Agata Processing Joint Venture. Mindoro also holds 75% interest in the Pan de Azucar Sulphur-Copper-Gold Project, Iloilo City. TVIRD has the option to earn up to 60% interest in the Agata Processing and Pan de Azucar projects by meeting the earn-in requirements outlined in the June 24, 2013 press release, which include producing a definitive feasibility study for a nickel processing facility. As of October 16, 2015, a PMRC compliant DFS was completed by Agata Processing Inc., which would result in TVIRD earning a total of 60% interest in API shares. Mindoro also holds 75% interest and an option to acquire additional 25% interest in the Tapian San Francisco Copper-Gold Project, Mindanao. Reader Advisory Certain information set out in this News Release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intent", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "scheduled", "to be", "will be" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this News Release are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties (known and unknown) that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, such things as inherent risks associated with the exploration and development of mining properties, ultimate recoverability of mineral reserves, timing, results and costs of exploration and development activities, availability of financial resources or third-party financing, new laws (domestic or foreign), changes in administrative practices, changes in exploration plans or budgets, and availability of equipment and personnel. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance upon the forward-looking statements contained in this News Release and such forward-looking statements should not be interpreted or regarded as guarantees of future outcomes. Forward-looking information respecting cash flows anticipated from future production of high-iron/low nickel DSO at the Agata Mining Project, is based upon high-iron/low nickel DSO prices in effect as at the date of this News Release, management's forecasts of trends in prices of high-iron/low nickel DSO, current mining rates of high-iron/low-nickel DSO from the Agata Mining Project, estimates of the size of the high-iron/low nickel DSO reserves at Agata Mining Project, the current development plan for Agata Mining Project, AMVI's current budget and overall strategy for Agata Mining Project, which plans, budget and strategy are all subject to change. Forward-looking information respecting the anticipated timing of future shipments of high-iron/low nickel DSO from the Agata Mining Project, is based upon current mining rates of high-iron/low nickel DSO from the Agata Mining Project, the terms of the third party offtake agreement for the purchase of high-iron/low nickel DSO produced at the Agata Mining Project, estimates of the size of the high-iron/low nickel DSO reserves at the Agata Mining Project, the current development plan for the Agata Mining Project, AMVI's current budget and overall strategy for the Agata Mining Project, which plans, budget and strategy are all subject to change. The forward-looking statements of the Company contained in this News Release are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement. Various risks to which the Company is exposed in the conduct of its business (including mining activities) are described in detail in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, which was filed on SEDAR on May 2, 2017 and is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly revise the forward-looking statements included in this News Release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Contacts: Mary Anne B. Antazo Interim CEO +63 917.322.6975 mbantazo@mrlnickel.com Nurburg (ots) -- Querverweis: Bildmaterial ist abrufbar unter http://www.presseportal.de/bilder -The Audi TTRS2 partner vehicle of Recaro Automotive Seating took first place in the highly competitive SP3T class at last weekend's 45th ADAC Zurich 24h-Rennen. The #89-car entered by team LMS Engineering also went home with an outstanding 24th place in the overall rankings. This year, about 45 percent of the race's 161 participants relied on racing shells from Recaro Automotive Seating, an Adient product group."Only the Nurburgring could write a script like this," said Ulli Andree, who, along with Daniela Schmid, Christian Schmitz and Stefan Wieninger, drove the Audi TTRS2. "After temperatures that sometimes reached 30 Celsius and 23 hours during which the asphalt stayed dry, rain came into play in the final minutes of the race. In the last stint, I had to stop for my final splash and dash, at which point the team also gave me intermediates for the last two laps along with some fuel. Hence, I was perfectly equipped to handle the dry and wet areas on the course, so that we as a private outfit were able to pull off a magnificent victory in our class, beating out three factory teams."Taking first place in the highly competitive class was an impressive start-to-finish victory, especially in light of the fact that Andree had already caused a stir by setting a new SP3T record time of 8:56:560 in the qualifications, despite carrying 130 kg ballast required by regulations. In the race itself, the LMS Engineering team surrounding Andreas Lautner and the four drivers worked like a well-oiled machine, delivering a flawless performance. Even a defective fuel pump, a new part that had been installed just before the race and that in the last two hours of the race only worked properly for three laps, could not stop the Audi TTRS2. "In the end, the team's experience really shines through in such situations," said Markus Kussmaul, executive director of the Adient specialty seating group and responsible for the worldwide business of Recaro Performance Car Seating. "Everyone in the team kept their cool, they made pit stops during this phase every five laps instead of every eight or nine, and the drivers focused on maintaining their lead."At this year's legendary race in the Eifel, about 200,000 spectators cheered on the 161 participants, around 45 percent of whom competed in a racing shell from Recaro Automotive Seating. In addition to the Audi TTRS2, the Recaro Automotive Seating partner team LMS Engineering also entered an Audi RS3 in the TCR class in the race. Unfortunately, this #173-car, had to be pulled out of the race after an accident on Sunday morning. Driver Mike Jager was not injured.About Recaro Automotive Seating:Recaro Automotive Seating is a product group of Adient. At eight locations in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Japan, Mexico, and the USA, we design, manufacture, and market complete seats representative of our core competencies of design, ergonomics, craftsmanship, robustness, lightweight construction, and first-class workmanship, under the brand name Recaro. Recaro Automotive Seating consists of two units: While Recaro Performance Car Seating offers passenger car seats for OEMs and the aftermarket, Recaro Commercial Vehicle Seating focuses on commercial vehicle seats in the OEM and aftermarket segments.About Adient:Adient is a global leader in automotive seating. With 75,000 employees operating 230 manufacturing/assembly plants in 33 countries worldwide, Adient produces and delivers automotive seating for all vehicle classes and all major OEMs. From complete seating systems to individual components, the company's expertise spans every step of the automotive seat-making process. Adient's integrated, in-house skills allow it to take products from research and design all the way to engineering and manufacturing - and into more than 25 million vehicles every year. To learn more, please visit adient.com.Originaltext: Recaro Automotive Seating digital press kits: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/104627 press kits via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_104627.rss2Contact: Tilman Schafer T: +49 7071 156-32 presse@recaro-automotive.com Presseinformationen: www.recaro-automotive.com/presse/news TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Element Fleet Management Corp. (TSX: EFN) (the "Company"), at the request of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, confirms that it is not aware of any material, undisclosed information related to the Company that would account for the recent decrease in the market price and level of trading volume of its common shares. About Element Fleet Management Corp. Element Fleet Management (TSX: EFN) is a leading global fleet management company, providing world-class management services and financing for commercial vehicle and equipment fleets. Element's suite of fleet management services span the total fleet lifecycle, from acquisition and financing to program management and remarketing - helping customers optimize performance and improve productivity. For more information, visit www.elementfleet.com. Contacts: Element Fleet Management Corp. Samir Zabaneh Chief Financial Officer (416) 646-4350 szabaneh@elementcorp.com Expanding Exposure in the Mexican Silver Belt VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 31, 2017 / Vangold Mining Corp. ("Vangold" or the "Company" - TSX-V: VAN, OTC PINK: VGLDF) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiaries have entered into agreements to acquire seven mining claims, totalling 2,798 hectares, located in the States of Guanajuato and Queretaro, Mexico. The claims are grouped in three separate blocks, all located within 6 hours drive of Guanajuato City, which is now the Company's base of operations for engineering, data storage, mapping and support staff. The Patito I and II claims (646 hectares, located 10 km Southeast of Guanajuato city) will be acquired and held by Obras Mineras El Pinguico SA de CV, due to their proximity and expected synergy to the existing El Pinguico project. The claims are strategically located 1,500 meters West of the El Pinguico project, providing a possible extension of the mineralized zone and bringing the total land package of the project to 747 hectares. The Analy I and II claims and El Ruso claim (1,215 hectares, located 50 km East of Guanajuato city), and Camilla and Ysabela claims (937 hectares, located 175 km East of Guanajuato city) will be acquired and held by CanMex Silver SA de CV. These claims are at the exploration stage and lie within the prolific Mexican Silver Belt. Under the terms of the agreements, Vangold's subsidiaries will acquire a 100% interest in the respective claims in consideration of an aggregate of C$10,000 and 3,375,000 common shares of Vangold. The vendors will also receive a 2.5% net smelter returns royalty, of which each of Obras Mineras and CanMex Silver can repurchase one-half (1.25% NSR) of the royalty on their respective claims for C$500,000. The acquisition is at arm's length and remains subject to TSX-V approval. Cameron King, President and CEO, reports, "We are very pleased to come to an agreement with the co-owners of these claims. The acquisition of these mining claims provides a tremendous opportunity to expand the El Pinguico project through the additional exposure to the Veta Madre vein system provided by the Patito I and Patito II claims, as well as bringing several other prospective assets for exploration and diversification of our land package. These properties are consistent with the Company's focus of building assets within the Mexican Silver Belt, with excellent roads and access to electrical and water supplies." SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PATITOS I AND II CLAIMS On strike with Veta Madre (Mother Vein). Several vein/lode structures are present providing a possible parallel vein system of the Veta Madra and El Pinguico veins. The host rocks are sub-aerial acid volcanics. Numerous Au-Ag rock chip anomalies have been identified by historical sampling. The mineralization is associated with brecciation and mesothermal/epithermal quartz veining/stockwork and silicification controlled by narrow structures 0.3m to 1.5m wide at surface and potential to open at depth, proven by historical mining. Historical assay results (non-compliant with NI 43-101) include: 65g/t Au and 79g/t Ag in a 30kg bulk sample (cone-and-quarter split down to 200gr for assay) from one old working. and in a 30kg bulk sample (cone-and-quarter split down to 200gr for assay) from one old working. Nine rock chip samples collected by the vendor in 2008 assayed >1.0g/t Au including six >18.0g/t Au (aqua regia extraction and AAS analysis). including six (aqua regia extraction and AAS analysis). Three 4kg bulk samples collected by the vendors from old workings in 2010 were tested by the metallurgical laboratory at the Guanajuato School of Mines. The results were: 23.4g/t Au and 81g/t Ag and 37.4g/t Au and 185g/t Ag and 35.2g/t Au and 50g/t Ag These results indicate that these claims have a great potential for exploration due the proximity of the Veta Madre vein system. The Company cautions that a qualified person has not verified the sampling data, as the original samples were unavailable, and new samples will need to be obtained. SIGNIFICANCE TO EXPLORATION The five claims acquired by CanMex Silver SA de CV offer exploration and development opportunities for the Company over the next several years. Analy I (Title No.240892, 247Ha) and Analy II (Title No.241589, 476Ha) The Analy I and II claims represent a total land area of 723 Ha, located within 50 km of Guanajuato, Mx, and in the middle of the prolific Silver Belt, and have hosted historical high grade Silver and Zinc operations. The area is an old Ag-Pb-Zn mining field which has never been explored using modern methods. An old adit and shaft, La Jedionda, which has not been mined for some decades, is located just on the boundary of the Analy I claim. The adit exposes a 0.5m to 2.5m wide lode of limonitic brecciated silicified rock with strongly vuggy sacchariodal quartz cut by later quartz veins. On the slope near the adit - and extending into the Analy I claim block - there is abundant scree/float of limonitic silicified/brecciated/quartz veined volcanics and strongly silicified hydrothermal breccia. Airborne magnetic anomalies occur on the western edge of Analy I and northern boundary of Analy II, which may indicate mineralised intrusives. The Company cautions that a qualified person has not verified any historical sampling data, as the original samples were unavailable, and new samples will need to be obtained. EL Ruso (Title No. 240808, 493Ha) The claim area is located adjacent to an old mercury prospecting pit and several other small historical Hg and Au-Ag mines are present in the area, including the EL Nacimiento skarn deposit. No historical production/grade records are available. Sampling of old workings nearby the tenement in 2008 yielded one assay result of 16.1 g/t Au . . From a site visit by Vangold in October 2016, a surface vuggy quartz boulder assayed residual arsenic, antimony and zinc. The area has never been explored using modern exploration methods and has never been drilled. The Company cautions that a qualified person has not verified the historical sampling data, as the original samples were unavailable, and new samples will need to be obtained. Ysabela (Title No. 240876, 438 Ha) and Camila (Title No. 240865, 500 Ha) Granted in an old Ag-Pb-Zn-Au mining field in the Sierra Madre Oriental. The Camila claim boundary is located on the abandoned Santa Ana Ag-Pb-Zn mine, a manto or skarn deposit that operated intermittently from the late 1800's to 1995. No historical production records are available; however, geological sections from maps drawn by "Consejo De Recursos Minerales" shows assay samples on historical mine adits and shafts which include 1m at 1,750 g/t Ag + 0.12 g/t Au + 17.6% Pb + 7.2% Zn + 0.12% Cu and 2m at 1,400 g/t Ag + 0.25 g/t Au + 16.2% Pb + 4.8% Zn + 0.08% Cu . and . Assay samples collected by Vangold in a due diligence review in October 2016 of the Santa Ana ore samples outside the existing adit assayed 588 g/t Ag + 5.24% Zn + 6.77% Pb + 0.2 g/t g Au , trace antimony and trace copper. , trace antimony and trace copper. From a historical 1956 map, within the Camila claim exists historical mines including Las Cuevas, Mina El Cobre (copper mine) and Los Reyes. Several other abandoned Ag-Pb-Zn mines are located on claim boundary; Guadalupe Mine: Ag-Pb-Zn mine that operated intermittently from late 1800's to about 1985; maximum production prior to closure was 1000t/day. A 200m deep shaft is connected to a lower 530m long ore haulage and ventilation tunnel. The lode width and grade are unknown but are projected to extend to over 150m depth beneath the existing shaft/adit intersection. From specimens collected from an old mullock heap near the tunnel entrance, the lode material consists of very hard massive quartz carrying several percent pyrite+galena+sphalerite. An inactive Mill Plant occurs within the claim. Samples collected by Vangold site visit in October 2016 of the Guadalupe Mine ore dump outside the adit assayed 1,585g/t Ag, 4.71% Pb and over 1% Sb (antimony) , trace copper, trace bismuth and trace zinc. , trace copper, trace bismuth and trace zinc. The unprocessed samples at the Mill within the Camila claim assayed 453 g/t Ag , trace zinc, 0.7% lead, trace antimony. , trace zinc, 0.7% lead, trace antimony. The area has never been explored using modern exploration methods and has never been drilled, offering significant mineralization potential with minimal exploration investment. The area is easily accessible by road and the terrain is amenable to rapid screening by conventional reconnaissance exploration techniques. The Company cautions that a qualified person has not verified the historic sampling data, as the original samples were unavailable, and new samples will need to be obtained. The disclosure of historical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Hernan Dorado, a Director of the Company. Mr. Dorado is a member of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America (MMSA) and is a Qualified Person (QP)as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Further information is available on the Company's web site at: www.vangoldmining.com. ON BEHALF OF VANGOLD MINING CORPORATION Cameron S. King President & CEO Email: cking@vangoldmining.com T: +1 778 945 2940 Address: 1111 West Georgia Street, Suite 1400 Vancouver, BC V6E 4M3 For further information, contact: Corporate Finance T: 1-778-945-2941 info@vangoldmining.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact are to be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed and involve assumptions and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and not place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements except as required by applicable laws. SOURCE: Vangold Mining Corp. TUSTIN, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Trendsetting California watchmaker Jorg Gray -- renowned for crafting affordable luxury wristwatches worn by high-profile celebrities, athletes and political dignitaries -- is pleased to announce it will exhibit three new watch collections at JCK Las Vegas held June 5-8 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Unique timepieces that are as equally timeless as they are innovatively modern, the Aristocrat, the Embolden and the Covert collections each exemplify the effortless American style and sophistication that Jorg Gray is known for across the globe. The Aristocrat Collection Pure luxury on your wrist, the Aristocrat is both classically refined and ideal for the savvy, modern man. This timepiece is available in silver or rose gold stainless-steel finish with multi-colored, accented dials and a sapphire-coated crystal. The Embolden Collection Beautifully crafted to evoke a sense of precision and elegance, the Embolden features elevated form and function. Housed in either a black ionic or silver case, these timepieces come with either metal or canvas straps, and are water resistant to 100 meters. The Covert Collection Ruggedly sophisticated, the Covert is a no-nonsense chronograph for the stylish pragmatist. With a sleek black ionic case with gunmetal chrono buttons, a black crown and a hardened sapphire-coated mineral lens, this statement piece comes in a green or gray camouflage dial. "The Jorg Gray team is proud to be showcasing our newest watch lines at the jewelry industry's leading annual trade event," said Jorg Gray President Trevor Gnesin. "Our timepieces truly appeal to the modern man -- someone who demands quality, style and sophistication at a fair price. We look forward to exhibiting at JCK Las Vegas." In addition to its newest collections, Jorg Gray is also introducing new options for some of its best-selling watches: the JG6500 Limited Edition Automatics will now have an inscription option, and the JG6900 will now have a NATO Strap option -- the watch will come equipped with the NATO strap and an additional black strap. Find Jorg Gray's newest collections at JCK Las Vegas: June 5-8, 2017 Booth: B32125 Neighborhood: CLOCKWORK Jorg Gray collections are available through select authorized retailers and at JorgGray.com. To find a retailer or to see more of Jorg Gray's high-performance timepieces, visit JorgGray.com. With press inquiries, please contact Leslie Licano at leslie@beyondfifteen.com or 949-733-8679. ABOUT JORG GRAY: Based in Southern California, the Jorg Gray brand offers a range of unique watches that reflect an effortless American style and sophistication. In response to overwhelming demand, Jorg Gray has recently expanded into a global brand. Jorg Gray is the timepiece of choice for the U.S. Secret Service and former President of the United States Barack Obama, as well as a variety of high profile celebrities and athletes. Chic consumers across the globe continue to respond to the Jorg Gray hallmark of exceptional artistry and outstanding value. For more information, visit JorgGray.com. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3144296 TEMECULA, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Airbus DS Communications, North America's leading public safety communications provider, has unveiled its plans for 9-1-1 Authorities and peers at the upcoming National Emergency Number Association (NENA) 2017 Conference & Expo on June 3 - 8, 2017, in San Antonio, Texas. The company will be showcasing its VESTA portfolio of Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) solutions from its booth, #101. "It's a new day in public safety communications, and with this new day comes challenges and opportunities," said Jeff Robertson, CEO of Airbus DS Communications. "Next Generation can seem daunting, but with the right solution provider, it doesn't have to be. The thousands of PSAPs we serve throughout North America, and any others looking for NG9-1-1 guidance, know the home of VESTA has a solution. Our team looks forward to discussing the unique needs of 9-1-1 Authorities and helping them feel confident about this journey." Airbus DS Communications returns to the NENA Conference & Expo this year as a platinum sponsor and will host its Innovation Theater on the Expo floor. Here, the company's team members and thought leaders will demonstrate powerful offerings for keeping Public Safety personnel connected and their communities safe. The line-up includes: New VESTA Map Local - Powered by the latest Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) technology: This session will discuss how PSAPs can improve their decision-making for faster response and demonstrate how quickly new mapping technology can identify a caller's location. (Monday, June 5th at 11:30 a.m. and Tuesday, June 6th at 2 p.m.) Text-to-9-1-1 Operational Reality - Beyond the Technology: At this session, experts will discuss putting the policies, training and public education in place to offer text-to-9-1-1. (Monday, June 5th at 1:00 p.m. and Tuesday, June 6th at 10:45 a.m.) VESTA Goes Mobile - Data, Mobility and Intelligence for your PSAP: This session will allow participants to learn how VESTA can be mobile and how PSAPs can get the right data at the right time for the right decision. (Monday, June 5th at 1:45 p.m. and Tuesday, June 6th at 10 a.m.) Anatomy of a Hack - a Serious and Fun Walkthrough: This session will provide perspective on common cybersecurity threats including how a hacker gets in, achieves persistence, and conducts reconnaissance -- all with an eye toward control. (Monday, June 5th at 4:00 p.m. and Tuesday, June 6th at 11:30 a.m.) The Airbus team also will be offering NG9-1-1 landscape sessions, a Look into the Future, that examine the technology landscape for NG9-1-1 and how Airbus can address evolving communications requirements for 9-1-1 Authorities and ease their burden. These consultative sessions are available for PSAPs of any size who want to know more about the impact of NG9-1-1, including call routing, on their operations. In addition, attendees can obtain other valuable NG9-1-1 information when they attend NENA breakout sessions led by Airbus personnel. For example, on Tuesday, June 6, GIS expert Diana Gijselaers, is teaming up with Mission Critical Partners, to deliver her ever-popular live enactment of the NG9-1-1 call flow, and on Wednesday, June 7, Dan Zeiler, Director of Cyber Security, will discuss how PSAPs can mitigate the risk of increasing cyber threats. Individuals interested in scheduling time to discuss these topics and more can contact Airbus at VESTAMarketing@airbus-dscomm.com or visit its website at www.airbus-dscomm.com. Information about the company's VESTA portfolio of NG9-1-1 solutions is also found online. About Airbus Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of EUR 67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe's number one space enterprise and the world's second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide. Airbus DS Communications, Inc. is a global leader and trusted source for mission-critical communications technologies. The VESTA product suite provides Next Generation 9-1-1 call processing systems, land mobile radio solutions and emergency notification applications, creating smarter ways to keep all our communities safe. Airbus DS Communications was awarded the Frost and Sullivan's 2016 Best Practices Award as the NG9-1-1 Company of the Year. www.airbus-dscomm.com. Contacts: Flynn Nogueira Airbus DS Communications Director of Marketing flynn.nogueira@Airbus-DSComm.com 951.216.9699 Minh Le DVL Seigenthaler minh.le@dvlseigenthaler.com 615.610.0310 LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Calling it a new low in deception and outright fabrications, the Robert Lee Ahn campaign denounced direct mail pieces being sent in support of Jimmy Gomez in the race for the 34th Congressional district that use race-baiting techniques in an attempt to drive a wedge between Asian and Latino voters in a statement released today. "It's the lowest form of political hatchet job to use deceptive, slick mail pieces preying on historical racial biases that we thought were long gone from society, but apparently they are alive and well in the Jimmy Gomez campaign," Robert Lee Ahn said. "The people of this district deserve a debate about the issues, not these gutter-low attack pieces that are not true." Several deceptive mail pieces were sent out by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, one of several independent expenditure campaign committees pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars at the last minute to support Jimmy Gomez, and Gomez's own campaign which falsely depict Ahn's ownership of a car wash as denying Latino workers back pay. The mailers neglect to mention the events occurred before Ahn's firm purchased the property out of foreclosure and since buying it, refurbished and reopened the business with no connection to the prior entity. "The subtle racism of consistently attacking my business acumen as some sort of stereotypical Asian quality that translates into exploiting Latino workers is revolting and needs to be denounced by Jimmy Gomez," Ahn added. "By not denouncing it, Gomez is sending the Asian voters of this district a clear message that race baiting is a valid tool in political campaigns. As Democrats, we ought to be better than that." The union attacks join corporate interests such as Wells Fargo, Monsanto, private prison operators, cable companies and big drug companies in supporting Gomez and making hefty campaign contributions. The 34th District represents all of Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Little Bangladesh, as well as parts of Historic Filipinotown, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Downtown, Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, City Terrace, Echo Park, El Sereno, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, Mt. Washington, Montecito Heights, and Westlake/Pico Union. For more information, go to www.AhnforCongress.com. The general election is June 6th. Contact: David Meraz Campaign Manager (661) 443-4842 Email Contact Global Private Equity Firm Creates Fifth Division to Invest $800M in Consumer and Retail Brands Eurazeo, one of the leading listed investment companies in Europe, today announced the launch of Eurazeo Brands, a new division to invest in U.S. and European consumer brands with global growth potential. Jill Granoff, an accomplished executive with over 25 years' experience building brands in the fashion, beauty and retail industries, joins the firm as CEO of Eurazeo Brands effective immediately. She will lead the division's investment activities and help drive growth and transformation of selected companies, leveraging her extensive operating experience and professional network. She will report directly to Eurazeo's Executive Board. "The creation of Eurazeo Brands is a major step forward in our consumer brand investment strategy set in motion several years ago to identify high quality global investment opportunities," said Virginie Morgon, deputy CEO of Eurazeo. "With enormous market potential in the consumer sector, we are thrilled to dedicate senior sector expertise and leverage our global network to help companies reach the next level and thrive." The new Brands division will target high growth companies with a differentiated concept across a wide range of verticals including beauty, apparel, accessories, home, jewelry, leisure, health, fitness and food. Leading entrepreneurs, advisors and business partners across these verticals will join the initiative to provide sector-specific knowledge. The focus will be on accelerating transformation and helping brands realize their potential across categories, channels and geographies. Some of the notable consumer-driven investments made by Eurazeo include Moncler, Farfetch and Vestiaire Collective. The global, dedicated Brands team will be headquartered in New York with investment and operating professionals in both the New York and Paris offices. The firm has allocated $600 million to $800 million for investments in the next three to five years. Ideal equity investments for Eurazeo Brands are between $10 million and $600 million with transactions above $100 million as co-investments with Eurazeo Capital. "I'm excited to lead this new strategic initiative and to join Eurazeo, an outstanding firm with a successful investment track record over a 130-year history," said Jill Granoff, CEO of Eurazeo Brands. "I've dedicated my professional career to building compelling, aspirational brands and look forward to partnering with companies as both a strategic advisor and long-term shareholder." Granoff is the former CEO of Kellwood Holding Corp. and Vince, where she led Vince's IPO, and former CEO of Kenneth Cole Productions. She has also held senior leadership roles at Estee Lauder, Victoria's Secret and Liz Claiborne, where she had global responsibility for Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand Jeans and Kate Spade. Granoff also brings digital expertise to Eurazeo Brands as a former board member of Demandware, now Salesforce Commerce Cloud. "Jill has a solid reputation of being a smart strategist and an impressive track record of leading iconic brands and companies in the fashion and beauty industries," added Morgon. "Her experience will be of great value to our companies and I am thrilled to have her on board. The Executive Board is fully confident in her abilities to identify the best opportunities, build a dedicated investment team and help drive value creation in the companies we choose to invest in." Eurazeo Brands joins four other investment divisions at Eurazeo: Eurazeo Capital (mid and large cap), Eurazeo PME (small and mid-sized enterprises), Eurazeo Croissance (start up and growth companies) and Eurazeo Patrimoine (real assets, particularly real estate). About Eurazeo With a diversified portfolio of approximately 6 billion in assets under management, of which 1 billion is from third parties, Eurazeo is one of the leading listed investment companies in Europe. Its purpose and mission is to identify, accelerate and enhance the transformation potential of the companies in which it invests. The Company covers most private equity segments through its five business divisions Eurazeo Capital, Eurazeo Croissance, Eurazeo PME, Eurazeo Patrimoine and Eurazeo Brands. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term. Eurazeo is notably a shareholder in AccorHotels, ANF Immobilier, Asmodee, CIFA, Desigual, Elis, Europcar, Fintrax, Grape Hospitality, Les Petits Chaperons Rouges, Moncler, Neovia, Novacap, Sommet Education, and also SMEs such as Peters Surgical and Flash Europe International, as well as start-ups such as Farfetch and Vestiaire Collective. Headquartered in New York, Eurazeo's North America office opened in September 2016 to identify, invest in and enable the growth of high potential U.S. mid-market companies in the consumer goods and business services sectors, as well as support the international development of Eurazeo's portfolio companies. As a global long-term shareholder, the firm offers deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and growth-oriented value creation to the companies it supports. The U.S. team, managed by Virginie Morgon, Deputy CEO of Eurazeo and President and CEO of Eurazeo North America, is comprised of six investment professionals and two senior advisors. Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris. ISIN: FR0000121121 Bloomberg: RF FP Reuters: EURA.PA For further information, please visit our website: www.eurazeo.com. Follow us on Twitter, Linkedin, and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005992/en/ Contacts: For Eurazeo Julia Sahin, 212-738-6131 Julia.Sahin@edelman.com DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "North America Molecular Diagnostics Market (2016-2022)" report to their offering. Molecular Diagnostics is used to identify or monitor biomarkers associated with any particular diseases or conditions. This test could also help in detecting and quantifying the presence of specific bacteria and viruses. These devices help surgeons in deciding that which therapy would work best on different patients. Molecular Diagnostics detect the diseases by analyzing RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) or DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) in humans. These diagnostics are mainly used for clinical testing devices that are supplied in clinics, hospitals, laboratories, and research institutes. The Molecular Diagnostics Market is segmented on the basis of Product & Services, Technology, Application, End-user and Region. Based on Product & Services, the market is segmented into instruments, reagents & Kits, and software & services. Reagents & Kits is expected to gather largest share in the market due to rising demand of reagents in clinical centers and diagnostics centers. Based on Technology, market is segmented into Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Microarray, Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology (INAAT), Hybridization, Microarray, DNA Sequencing and Next-Generation Sequencing. Based on Application, the market is segmented into six types such as Infectious diseases molecular testing, Molecular oncology testing, Inherited diseases molecular testing, Identity testing, Tissue type testing and Pharmacogenetics testing. Infectious Diseases includes Chlamydia Trachomatis and Neisseria Gonorrhoeae (CT/NG), Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Tuberculosis (TB), Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis (TB), Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and other infectious diseases. On the other hand, oncology is further divided into Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Colorectal Cancer and others. The infectious diseases molecular testing is mostly preferred in the hospitals and clinical centers. Based on End-User, the market is segmented into i clinics, hospitals, laboratories, and research institutes. Based on Country, market is segmented into US, Canada and Mexico. Key Topics Covered: 1. Market Scope & Methodology 2. Executive Summary 3. Market Overview 4. Europe Molecular Diagnostics Market 5. Europe Molecular Diagnostics Market by Technology 6. Europe Molecular Diagnostics Market by Application 7. Europe Molecular Diagnostics Market by End User 8. Europe Molecular Diagnostics Market by Country 9. Company Profiles - Abbott Laboratories - Qiagen N.V - Roche Diagnostics - Grifols - Siemens Healthcare (Siemens AG) - Becton Dickinson and Company - Danaher Corporation For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/c9m8nz/north_america Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recentglobal chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRND) market 2017-2021report. This market research report also lists five other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005704/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global CBRND market from 2017-2021. (Photo: Business Wire) Competitive vendor landscape According to the research analysis, the global CBRND market is highly competitive, and vendors compete based on cost, product quality, reliability, and aftermarket service. To survive and succeed such an intensely competitive environment, it is crucial for the vendors to provide cost-effective and high-quality anti-CBRN warfare systems with latest technology and materials. With increasing extremist threats and border disputes in Asia and the Americas, the key vendors have invested significantly in the market. "Government organizations such as the US DoD, the MoDs of various countries, the European Union, and the UN encourage the provision of anti-CBRN systems and technologies. As a result, the vendors invest in creating new, cost-efficient, and effective CBRND solutions and systems, which augurs well for the growth of the market," says Moutushi Saha, a lead analyst at Technavio for defenseresearch. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free Technaviomarket research analysts identify the following key vendors: Bruker Bruker manufactures and supplies a comprehensive array of products that are used for CBRNe detection. Its technological portfolio includes mobile gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, neutron induced gamma spectrometry, passive fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry, and matrix-assisted laser desorption solutions. These solutions are used in emergency response, homeland security, and defense applications across the globe. Chemring Chemring engages in the designing, development, manufacture, and supply of electronic and energetic material products and solutions that are used for addressing the life-threatening problems of military and security organizations across the globeThe company operates as a major system integrator of chemical threat detection systems and biological agent detectors across the globe. Elbit Systems Elbit Systems designs, develops, manufactures, and supplies a comprehensive portfolio of airborne, land, and naval systems and products for homeland security, defense, and commercial aviation application across the globe. The company designs and supplies systems and components for military platforms, including wheeled and tracked armored fighting vehicles, mobile and stationary shelters, and tents. FLIR Systems FLIR Systems offers advanced security solutions in both civil and military markets. FLIR Systems leverages on technologies such as the visible light imaging systems, locator systems, thermal imaging systems, measurement and diagnostic systems, and advanced threat detection systems. Smiths Detection Smiths Detection engages in the designing, production, and supply of sensors that are used for the detection of explosives, weapons, narcotics, chemical agents, nuclear, and radioactive materials. The company manufactures and supplies advanced technologies that are used for detecting CBRN threats across the globe. It provides screening and threat detection technologies for military, transportation, homeland security, and resilience applications. Browse Related Reports: Global Alternative Fuel-powered Military Fleet Market 2017-2021 Global Explosive Detection Equipment Market 2017-2021 Global Spotting Scope Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like aerospacedefense technology, and space. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531005704/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Glance Technologies Inc. (CSE: GET)(CSE: GET.CN)(CNSX: GET)(CSE: GET.WT)(OTCQB: GLNNF)(FRANKFURT: GJT) is proud to announce its placing as one of the Top 25 Up and Comers on Branham300's annual list of top technology companies in Canada. The Branham300 is one of the most widely referenced and comprehensive listing of top publically traded and privately held organizations operating in the Canadian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry. "Glance is honored to be part of the top 25 most promising tech companies across Canada making an impact through their early successes, creativity, and innovation," says Glance CEO Desmond Griffin. "It is inspiring to be recognized for our efforts disrupting payments and rewards in the restaurant and retail sectors." "I am again impressed by the performance of Canada's technology community. The sector has set another revenue record, as measured by our Top 250 ranking of Canadian companies, and the younger companies that comprise our Top 25 Up and Comer list show great promise and will help build our innovation economy," said Wayne Gudbranson, CEO of Branham Group. "The companies that comprise the Branham300 have a lot of reasons to be proud." As Glance expands and scales up its innovative technology for settling bills, tracking expenses, and providing loyalty programs, it is motivated by this latest award to continue to revolutionize the restaurant & retail industries. With recent announcements of zero fraud history, mobile order capabilities, remote payment applications, and new ventures in social media marketing services, events, and retail payments, Glance is continuing its rise in adoption by merchants and trajectory as a recognized mobile payment solution in North American markets. About Glance Technologies Inc. Glance Technologies owns and operates Glance Pay, a streamlined payment system that revolutionizes how smartphone users choose where to dine, order food & drink, settle bills, access digital receipts, earn great rewards, & interact with merchants. Glance is building a valuable network of merchants and consumers, and offers targeted in-app marketing, social media marketing, customer feedback, in-merchant messaging and custom rewards programs. The Glance Pay mobile payment system consists of proprietary technology, which includes user apps available for free downloads in IOS (Apple) and Android formats, a merchant manager apps, large scale technology hosting environment with sophisticated anti-fraud technology and lightning fast payment processing. For more information about Glance, please go to Glance Technologies' website. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements including the completion of the rights offering (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Glance cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Glance is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to Glance's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Glance's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Contacts: Christina Rao Vice President, Investor Relations (604) 723-7480 investors@glancepay.com CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Founders Advantage Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE: FCF) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a USD $75 million (approx. CAD $100 million) senior secured credit facility (the "Senior Facility") with Sagard Holdings ULC ("Sagard Holdings"), pursuant to which Sagard Credit Partners will be the lender. The proceeds from the Senior Facility will be used to repay the Corporation's existing senior indebtedness, to complete further acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. The initial draw at closing under the Senior Facility is USD $42 million (approx. CAD $56 million), with additional draws subject to Sagard Holding's further approval. The Senior Facility is expected to close on or about June 16, 2017. Stephen Reid, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation comments: "After considering various capital alternatives, we believe we have found a strategic partner that will be transformational for our long-term growth and success. The strategic relationship with Sagard Holdings provides us with the liquidity and financial flexibility required to prudently execute our business plan of investing in scalable and defensive founder-run companies. The Sagard Holdings team shares our view of building long-term shareholder value through a diverse portfolio of partnerships in founder run, not for sale, high free cash-flow, stable and well managed premium companies." Adam Vigna, Chief Investment Officer of Sagard Credit Partners, added: "We are very pleased to provide this facility to Founders Advantage, a team we have known for many years. Sagard Credit Partners is focused on providing credit to companies with strong fundamentals and where we have long-term relationships with management teams. We look forward to working closely with Founders to execute on the business plan and their growth strategy." The Senior Facility will have a five (5) year term and will bear interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 700 basis points (with a 1.00% LIBOR floor), payable quarterly on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 each year. The Senior Facility will be secured by a first priority lien on all present and after-acquired assets of the Corporation. The borrowings under the Senior Facility are denominated in USD and the Corporation anticipates implementing a foreign currency hedging program to reduce currency risk. As additional consideration for the Senior Facility, the Corporation has agreed to issue Sagard Holdings 2,078,568 non-transferable common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants"), which Warrants are equal to 5% of the Corporation's fully diluted common shares outstanding as at the date hereof. Each Warrant entitles Sagard Holdings to acquire one common share of the Corporation at any time over the next five years upon payment of the Warrant exercise price. The Warrant exercise price for 1,039,284 Warrants is $3.508 (a 15% premium to the 30 day VWAP of the common shares) and the exercise price for the remaining 1,039,284 Warrants is $3.965 (a 30% premium to the 30 day VWAP of the common shares). Closing of the Senior Facility is subject to customary closing conditions including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. While the Corporation intends on repaying its existing credit facility with Alberta Treasury Branches with the proceeds of the Senior Facility, we would like to express our gratitude to ATB for their support to date which allowed the Corporation to advance its business plan. About Sagard Credit Partners and Sagard Holdings Sagard Credit Partners, part of Sagard Holdings, is focused on providing debt capital to middle market companies in Canada and the US. Sagard Credit Partners provides custom-tailored debt solutions, focusing on the needs of the borrower, and looks to invest in companies where it can develop deep, long term relationships. Sagard Holdings is an investment firm based in New York and Toronto which invests long term equity and debt capital in middle market companies in the US and Canada through its affiliates, including Sagard Credit Partners. About Founders Advantage Capital Corp. The Corporation is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange as an Investment Issuer (Tier 1) and employs a permanent investment approach. The Corporation has developed an investment approach to create long-term value for its shareholders and partner entrepreneurs (investees) by pursuing majority interest acquisitions of cash flow positive middle-market privately held entities. The Corporation seeks to win mandates by appealing to the segment of the market which is not aligned with traditional private equity control, royalty monetizations or related structures. The Corporation's innovative platform offers incentives (contractually) for growth in favour of our partner entrepreneurs. This unique platform is designed to appeal to entrepreneurs who believe in the growth of their businesses and who want the added ability to continue to manage the business with a long-term partner. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "FCF". For further information please refer to the Corporation's website at www.advantagecapital.ca. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Financial Information Certain statements in this document constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "will", "expect", "plan", "schedule", "intend", "propose", or similar words suggesting future outcomes or an outlook. Forward-looking information in this document includes, but is not limited to: -- the use of proceeds for the Senior Facility; -- the closing date of the Senior Facility; -- the Senior Facility being transformational for the Corporation's long- term success; -- the relationship with Sagard Holdings will allow the Corporation access to additional capital to execute the Corporation's business plan; -- the implementation of a foreign currency hedging program to effectively mitigate currency risk; -- the expected pro-forma share ownership of Sagard Holdings after giving effect to the exercise in full of the Warrants; and -- approval of the Senior Facility by the TSXV. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made with respect to the following matters, in addition to any other assumptions identified in this document: -- the conditions to closing the Senior facility will be satisfied and all regulatory approvals will be obtained; -- the Corporation will receive approval from Sagard Holdings for additional draws on the Senior Facility; -- the Corporation and its investee entities will continue to operate consistent with expectations; and -- that additional acquisitions will be available to the Corporation on terms and conditions acceptable to it. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as the Corporation can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is based on expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Corporation and described in the forward-looking information. The material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: -- the inability to satisfy the closing conditions; -- the inability to obtain TSXV approval for the Senior Facility; -- unexpected changes in the financial markets; -- the inability of the Corporation to identify additional acquisition targets on terms and conditions acceptable to it, or at all; and -- changes in the general economic and business conditions of the Corporation or its investees. The foregoing list of risks is not exhaustive. For more information relating to risks, see the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's current annual information form. The forward-looking information contained in this document is made as of the date hereof and, except as required by applicable securities law, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts: Founders Advantage Capital Corp. Stephen Reid Chief Executive Officer 403-540-5411 sreid@advantagecapital.ca Founders Advantage Capital Corp. Darren Prins Chief Financial Officer 403-455-2274 dprins@advantagecapital.ca Founders Advantage Capital Corp. James Bell Chief Operating Officer 403-455-2218 jbell@advantagecapital.ca NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 31, 2017 / SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research and corporate access firm focused on small-cap and micro-cap public companies, today announced it has initiated coverage on United Health Products, Inc. (OTC PINK: UEEC). The report is available here: UEEC Initiation Report. United Health Products develops, manufactures, and markets patented hemostatic gauze, for the healthcare and wound care sectors. The company's flagship product, Hemostyp, is an all-natural hemostatic agent derived from regenerated oxidized cellulose, which has been shown to quickly control bleeding from open wounds and body cavities. Hemostatic market is a multi-billion-dollar opportunity which is expected to grow at double digits in the near to medium term. UEEC has recently filed an application with the FDA that, if approved, would expand the indications for Hemostyp to include new opportunities including use in general surgery. This itself would open an additional market opportunity of $15 billion for UEEC. The company also continues to work towards sales distribution advancements in the retail, veterinary, dental, dialysis and military markets. We see United Health Products as a speculative microcap investment option in healthcare sector targeting the multi-billion dollar hemostatic and sealant markets. The company has made considerable progress over the last few years, with revenues growing ~530% YOY in 2016. Going forward in FY17, we expect revenue growth to ramp up significantly aided by new distribution agreements, entry in new markets (veterinary, dialysis, military) and expansion of existing relationships. Highlights from the report include: Hemostyp an All-Natural Wound Care Product Targeting a Large Market UEEC's flagship Hemostyp Topical Hemostatic Dressing is an all-natural hemostatic agent. Hemostyp has been shown to produce hemostasis in less than 45 seconds when applied to an open wound. The product has received FDA approval as a Class 1 device designed to absorb exudate/drainage from superficial wounds and help control bleeding, and is sold in prescription and over-the-counter formulations. Hemostatic and sealants market was estimated to $4.4 billion globally in 2016 and is expected to grow at approximately ~9% a year through 2022 to reach ~$7.4 billion. Expanded FDA 510K Approval Could Open Up a New Large Market United Health Products has recently taken a significant stride forward on the regulatory front. The company is seeking to expand the indications for its flagship Hemostyp regenerated cellulose product. The company filed for expanded use indications for Hemostyp under its current 510(k) application with the FDA. Hemostyp is already cleared as a Class 1 device, which is indicated for topical wound dressing for temporary control of external surface bleeding. The amended application seeks to achieve Class 2 clearance, indicated for use for internal procedures for controlling and managing bleeding. If approved, Hemostyp could be used for expanded applications in surgical settings, opening up a new ~$15 billion market opportunity for the company. UEEC stated it could capture 10% of that market very rapidly. In an announcement describing the amended 510(k) application, UEEC management stated that it expected a response from the FDA within 90-180 days. New Distribution Agreements and Entry in New Verticals to Provide Fillip to Revenue UEEC has signed a distribution agreement with Animal Health International and rolled out the initial delivery of orders in December 2016. The veterinary market could be a $50 million annual business for UEEC. The company is working with Fresenius for a new test in 2Q17 and if successful could open up a large dialysis market. UEEC had indicated that it could be $30 million annual business opportunity. Further, the company is also targeting the military market which can again generate an annual turnover of more than $20 million. Besides this, the company aims to expand in the existing dental market and enter into retail as well international markets (where first order is expected in 2Q17). All these, in our view, will significantly boost revenues. Initiate Coverage with a Price Target of $0.30 We see UEEC as a high risk and high reward play on the multi-billion-dollar hemostatic market which is expected to grow at double digits in the near to medium term. The target of $0.30 assumes successful entry in new markets (dialysis, veterinary, military and international) and further expansion in existing markets. Our valuation does not factor in any 510K expansion approval, which if successful could provide material upside to our estimates. Key risks include delay in rolling out the product in new markets and equity dilution. Please review important disclosures on our website at www.seethruequity.com. About United Health Products Inc. United Health Products Inc. (UEEC) develops, manufactures, and markets patented hemostatic gauze, for the healthcare and wound care sectors. The product, HemoStyp, is derived from regenerated oxidized cellulose, which is all natural, and designed to absorb exudate/drainage from superficial wounds and helps control bleeding. UEEC is focused on identifying new markets and applications for its products and increasing sales in its current markets (www.Unitedhealthproductsinc.com). About SeeThruEquity Since its founding in 2011, SeeThruEquity has been committed to its core mission: providing impactful, high quality research on underfollowed smallcap and microcap equities. SeeThruEquity has pioneered an innovative business model for equity research that is not paid for and is unbiased. SeeThruEquity is the host of acclaimed investor conferences that are the ultimate event for publicly traded companies with market capitalizations less than $1 billion. SeeThruEquity is approved to contribute its research reports and estimates to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), the leading estimates platform on Wall Street, as well as Capital IQ and FactSet. SeeThruEquity maintains one of the industry's most extensive databases of opt-in institutional and high net worth investors. The firm is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. For more information, visit www.seethruequity.com. Contact: Ajay Tandon SeeThruEquity info@seethruequity.com SOURCE: SeeThruEquity 31 May 2017 INDIGO HOLDINGS PLC ("Indigo" or the "Company") Unaudited interim report for the six months to 31 December 2016 Indigo Holdings plc, the Middle East focused Investment Company that provides investors with exposure to early stage businesses, is pleased to announce the Company's first interim results since its successful flotation on the NEX Exchange Growth Market in February 2017, having raised a total of 818,468 (after expenses), in connection with Admission. As at 31 December 2016, the Company had cash of 905,750 and trade and other payables of 923,735. The majority of the trade and other payables will show as share capital in the results to 30 June 2017, as the allotment and issue of shares, pursuant to the flotation on the NEX Exchange Growth Market, took place in January 2017. Post listing, the Company made three acquisitions as below: As announced in April 2017, Indigo invested IRR 10,000,000,000 (Ten billion Rial), approximately 200,000, in Iranian Fast Moving Consumer Goods Ltd ("FMCG"), the recently established online retail delivery business of Yaran Daryan, the Iranian convenience store chain. Indigo has acquired a 15% equity stake in FMCG at a post-money valuation of approximately 1,330,000, with Yaran Daryan owning a 60% equity stake in FMCG. As announced on 8 March 2017, Indigo invested 375,587 (approximately 320,000) by way of an interest free loan into Net Tejarat Ahoura Company, an Iranian registered company ("Sheypoor"), a leading Iranian online classifieds marketplace, to acquire a 1.09% stake in Sheypoor. Indigo invested in Sheypoor's Series D Fundraising. That round of funding valued Sheypoor at approximately 34,000,000 (approximately 29,000,000). In February 2017, Indigo also announced it had acquired a 5% stake in the Iranian car ride-sharing app, Carvanro, after investing 176,800 in its Series A fundraising round. Carvanro is a car ride-sharing marketplace aggregator, which connects drivers and passengers embarking on the same car journeys. It provides a flexible and transparent platform for passengers, whilst at the same time providing a reliable source of payment for drivers who wish to share their journeys in order to reduce costs. The app launched in mid - 2016 and month-on-month figures for website traffic, registered users, and completed rides are all showing strong growth trends. We remain very optimistic about the strategy of the company and the pipeline of deals we see ahead. The financial statements have not been reviewed by the Company auditors. The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the content of this announcement. The Company Indigo Holdings plc Eddie Kerman +44 (0) 20 7493 0412 NEX Exchange Corporate Adviser Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited Guy Miller and Mark Anwyl +44 (0) 20 7469 0930 Financial PR Yellow Jersey PR Charles Goodwin/Joe Burgess +44 (0) 7747 788 221 STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME For the five months ended 31 December 2016 5 months to 31 December 2016 Unaudited GBP Continuing operations Revenue 0 Impairment of receivable and loss on disposal of available for sale investment 0 Administrative expenses 10,500 Loss before taxation -10,500 Finance income - interest receivable 12,002.35 exchange gain and loss -11,989.13 Income tax 0 Loss for the year attributable to the equity shareholders of the parent -10,487 Other comprehensive income Items that may be subsequently reclassified to profit or loss Prior year reversal of unrealised changes in value of available for sale financial asset 0 Unrealised gain and loss on exchnage 0 Other comprehensive income for the year, net of tax 0 Total comprehensive income for the period/year attributable to the equity shareholders of the parent -10,487 WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday proposed a $435,000 fine against United Airlines for allegedly flying a plane 'that was not in airworthy condition.' The airline had repaired and replaced a fuel pump pressure switch on one of its Boeing 747 on June 9, 2014. However, the carrier had failed to complete a required inspection of the repair before the plane resumed flying. According to the federal government, United operated the plane 23 times on domestic and international routes before doing the required inspection of the new switch on June 28, 2014. FAA said two of those flights allegedly occurred after the FAA had notified United that it had not performed the inspection. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said, 'Maintaining the highest levels of safety depends on operators closely following all applicable rules and regulations. Failing to do so can create unsafe conditions.' 'At United, the safety of our customers and employees is our top priority,' Charles Hobart, a spokesman for United, told CNBC in a written statement. 'We immediately took action after identifying the issue and are working closely with the FAA in their review.' United has asked to meet with the FAA to discuss the case. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. 6 Members of the Board of Directors Re-elected, Thomas Whayne and David Fergusson Newly Elected as Directors Authorized Share Capital and Conditional Share Capital Renewed and Increased WISeKey International Holding Ltd ("WISeKey" or the "Company") (SIX:WIHN) announced that its shareholders approved all agenda items at WISeKey's 2017 Annual General Meeting held today in Zurich, Switzerland. Among other things, the shareholders approved the 2016 Annual Report, including the audited consolidated and statutory financial statements for financial year 2016, re-elected all members of the Board of Directors who stood for re-election, and elected Thomas Whayne and David Fergusson who were newly elected to the Board. Shareholders also re-elected and confirmed Carlos Moreira as Chairman of the Board. Thomas Whayne, David Fergusson and Maryla Shingler Bobbio will be on the Company's Nomination Compensation Committee. The shareholders of WISeKey also approved a number of other items at the Annual General Meeting, including: to carry forward the Company's net loss in fiscal year 2016; to discharge all members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Management from liability for their activities during the fiscal year 2016; and in an advisory vote, the Company's 2016 compensation report, and the board of directors' and executive management's total compensation as required under Swiss law and the Articles of Association for the period until the 2018 AGM and financial year 2018, respectively. About WISeKey WISeKey is a worldwide leading cybersecurity company. Since its foundation in 1999, WISeKey has provided specialized technologies for data protection and effective identification and authentication of people and objects to ensure secured communications and transactions without compromising trust. WISeKey runs its own Root of Trust cybersecurity platform and identity-based data security solutions for international organizations, governments, enterprises, and consumers spanning 102 countries. In 2015 its Root of Trust based security was embedded in over 2.6 billion browsers, sensors and wearables. WISeKey also offers the industry's trusted suite of IoT security products using the fact that authentication is becoming an increasingly important cybersecurity IoT consideration. WISeKey, listed at the SIX Swiss Exchange, is headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland) and has a second operational hub in the U.S. Disclaimer: This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on ass, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006313/en/ Contacts: Press and investors: WISeKey Carlos Moreira, +41 22 594 3000 Chairman CEO info@wisekey.com or WISeKey Investor Relations (US) The Equity Group Inc. Lena Cati, +1 212-836-9611 lcati@equityny.com Branding Authority Mark Davison Speaks on Digital Technology to Protect Customers and Patients from Counterfeit Products PRINCETON, New Jersey, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Systech International, a global technology leader in brand protection solutions, is proud to sponsor a live webcast titled "Unexpected Item in the Branding Area," taking place June 6, 2017 at 11AM EDT | 4PM GMT | 5PM CET. The webcast will feature Mark Davison, CEO, Blue Sphere Health-an author, consultant, and leading anti-counterfeiting and product security technology expert, and Jim Sinisgalli, Systech UniSecure' Director of Product Management, Brand Protection. The webinar is intended to raise awareness regarding the real danger of counterfeit products as a threat to brand loyalty, consumer and patient safety, and company revenue. Failure to mitigate this risk can result in a loss in brand reputation, reduced consumer confidence, financial ramifications, and even loss of lives. Current serialization and traceability programs are not effective to guarantee the genuine product because of duplication. In the webinar, Mr. Davison will review the various types of technologies available for detection of counterfeit products, including both overt and covert solutions. He will also cover when and how to use each, what results companies have had to date, and sustainable strategies for companies to emulate. Mr. Sinisgalli will detail how Systech's UniSecure cloud-based brand protection offering identifies counterfeiting, diversion and gray market issues for companies, regardless of industry, geography or volume, with no changes to existing packaging lines or processes. Jim Lee, Systech's SVP of Product Management states, "Our offering is unique in that it is the only authentication solution that is non-intrusive, non-replicable, scalable, responsive, and adaptable-all while enabling brand protection anytime, anywhere in the supply chain. Whether serialization or traceability play a part in a company's anti-counterfeiting solution, UniSecure secures the gaps in the supply chain." About Systech International Systech, a global leader in product verification and brand protection, is re-defining the future of authentication. The company is leading the charge to protect global brands-for consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, health & beauty, pharmaceutical, and contract manufacturing companies. About Blue Sphere Health Blue Sphere Health is an international consulting and service provider operating at the interface between the pack and the person - from authentication and serialization to digital health and consumer engagement. SYSTECH CONTACT Erin Dunkel Vice President, Marketing +1 (610) 761-8960 Erin.Dunkel@systechone.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/461585/Systech_Logo.jpg According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global ice cream marketis expected to grow at a CAGR of close to 5% during the forecast period. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006225/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global ice cream market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) This research report titled 'Global Ice Cream Market 2017-2021' provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This report also includes an up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions. "The global ice cream market is growing substantially due to several factors such as increasing demand for take-home ice creams, rising demand for private-label ice creams, availability of various flavors, innovative marketing activities, and technology enhancements. Ice cream is witnessing a status change from a traditional dessert to a snack. Manufacturers have also started coming up with various forms such as cups, rolls, bars, cones, and sticks to keep up with the increasing impulse purchases," says Akash Pandey, a lead analyst at Technavio for foodresearch. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free The market research analysis categorizes the global ice cream market into three major product segments. They are: Impulse Take-home Artisanal Global impulse ice cream market Impulse ice creams are ice creams bought for immediate consumption. These include ice cream bars, sandwiches, ice-lollies, cones, cups, and sticks. Indulgence and rising demand for small portion snacks are the major drivers for the growth of the market. Manufacturers offer a wide range of flavors to cater to the varied tastes and interests of the consumers. Easy availability of ice creams in neighborhood shops, foodservice outlets, and malls will trigger the impulse purchase of ice creams. For instance, Hunt's Foodservice, one of the leading regional suppliers of ice cream in the UK, offers ice creams at competitive prices across many locations for impulse purchases. Global take-home ice cream market The take-home ice cream segment accounted for close to 39% of the global ice cream market in 2016. The high demand for take-home ice creams is mainly due to the increase in the number of occasions and gatherings at home, where ice creams are consumed as a snack or dessert. Packaging innovations have also contributed to the growth of the industry. Ice creams are now available in more convenient formats so that consumers can carry and store ice creams easily. For example, Royal Copenhagen Ice Cream Cone Company, which produces ice creams, sorbet, cones, and beverages, offers half liter Royal Copenhagen take-home packs. Global artisanal ice cream market The demand for artisanal ice creams is growing due to the increasing demand for handmade ice creams containing high-quality ingredients. "Health-conscious consumers are highly inclined toward artisanal ice creams due to the healthy ingredients such as nuts and fruits, natural flavors, and organic products," says Akash. Small batch production is another driving factor for the growth of artisanal ice creams. It ensures uniqueness and high quality of production. Retailers are giving shelf space to artisanal brands offering unique flavors and quality ingredients. Companies are expanding their business by acquiring artisanal brands and engaging in product innovation to cater to the rising demand. For example, in 2015, Unilever acquired GROMART, a premium Italian gelato business, which is an artisanal ice cream brand. GROMART has more than 60 shops in Italy and around the world. The top vendors highlighted by Technavio's market research analysts in this report are: Blue Bell Creameries Mars Nestle Unilever Browse Related Reports: Global Pretzel Market 2017-2021 Global Macadamia Market 2017-2021 Global Packaged Wheatgrass Products Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like food servicealcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic beverages. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006225/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- OneSpin Solutions, provider of innovative formal verification solutions for highly reliable, digital integrated circuits (ICs), today unveiled its comprehensive safety critical analysis and diagnostic coverage solution for automotive and other mission-critical applications. "While formal verification is invaluable for any hardware application, its ability to debug automotive and mission-critical applications may prove to be the most effective use of this technology," says Dr. Raik Brinkmann, OneSpin's chief executive officer. "OneSpin's formal verification solutions ensure that suppliers of mission-critical applications, including multiple automotive semiconductor leaders, continue to meet rigorous international safety critical standards while advancing their technology." Two types of fault verification processes -- systematic and random -- are required for devices that adhere to the automotive ISO 26262 standard. OneSpin's complete formal solution for systematic verification is used in a variety of automotive production environments worldwide. Its proven methodology for capturing specification elements in verification tests, and then accurately measuring and feeding back coverage to systematically close the verification process is a well-established, de facto methodology in multiple automotive companies. A published conference paper titled, "The Complete Formal Verification of a Family of Automotive DSPs," by Rafal A. Baranowski and Marco Trunzer of Robert Bosch GmbH presented at DVCon Europe 2016 details the use of this methodology. Support for Random Fault Verification and Analysis OneSpin released today two new safety critical applications ("apps") -- the Fault Injection App (FIA) and the Fault Detection App (FDA) -- and enhanced its third safety critical Fault Propagation App (FPA) to significantly accelerate and improve the random fault verification process. The FIA, included in OneSpin's 360 DV-Verify, provides an efficient and consistent way to ensure the thorough verification of hardware safety mechanisms. Engineers analyze their operation by injecting faults into verification scenarios without changing the design code. An interface enables the controlled injection of these faults and assertion mapping to associated fault scenarios, while new debugging features improve the visibility into corrupted design behavior and expedite the analysis of failing assertions. OneSpin's FPA reduces the effort required for fault classification, and streamlines fault debug and safety mechanism refinement. It increases the accuracy of diagnostic coverage, while saving engineering and simulation effort, and is integrated with leading fault simulation flows. Full support for SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA) as well as Property Specification Language (PSL) has been added to the app, along with a new state-of-the-art debugger to provide fast root cause analysis and fault traceability. An ISO 26262 Certification Kit can be provided with this app. The app operates in two modes. In the fast mode, it analyzes the fault population of large designs to extensively prune out safe faults prior to fault simulation, accelerating the diagnostic coverage process by orders of magnitude and reducing the fault simulation requirement. The FPA deep mode analyzes potentially propagatable faults left after fault simulation usually carried out by a standalone fault simulator, and detects the most difficult-to-find safe faults. Notably, it also provides traces of input stimuli required to demonstrate how specific faults propagate to safety critical logic. FDA, a new app that provides fully automated fault metric, diagnostic coverage calculation, replaces part of the fault simulation function and allows the detection of dangerous random faults or faults not detected by the safety mechanism. The entire safety critical solution is based on OneSpin's formal verification platform that provides critical capabilities, including high-performance, automated proof engines and an integrated state-of-the-art debugger for safety. Supported design and verification languages include VHDL, SystemVerilog, SystemC, SVA and PSL, and gate-level EDIF and Liberty formats. An extensive TCL user interface for fault list management is included. Availability and Pricing OneSpin's safety critical solutions are shipping now. OneSpin has a direct sales channel in the United States, Europe and throughout Asia, backed by a variety of customer support and service options including on-site training, hotline support and consulting services. Pricing is available upon request. OneSpin at Design Automation Conference OneSpin will demonstrate its safety critical formal verification for automotive and mission-critical applications at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Booth #1547 June 19-21 from10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. Attendees can expect demonstrations of OneSpin's additional design verification solutions, Quantify Fault Observation Coverage, SystemC/C++ Formal Verification Environment and Equivalence Checking-Field Programmable Gate Array (EC-FPGA). About OneSpin Solutions OneSpin Solutions has established itself as a leader in formal verification through a range of advanced electronic design automation (EDA) solutions for digital integrated circuits. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, OneSpin is passionate about enabling users to address design challenges in areas where reliability really counts: safety critical verification, SystemC/C++ high-level synthesis (HLS) code analysis and FPGA equivalence checking. Its advanced formal verification platform and dedication to getting it right the first time have fueled dramatic growth over the past four years as it forges partnerships with leading electronics companies to pursue design perfection. OneSpin: Making Electronics Reliable. Engage with OneSpin at: Website: www.OneSpin.com Twitter: @OneSpinSolution LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/onespin-solutions Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OneSpinSolutions OneSpin, OneSpin Solutions, OneSpin 360, Fault Injection App (FIA), Fault Propagation Analysis (FPA), Fault Detection App (FDA) and the OneSpin logo are trademarks of OneSpin Solutions GmbH. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information, contact: Nanette Collins Public Relations for OneSpin Solutions (617) 437-1822 Email Contact TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Black Iron Inc. ("Black Iron" or the "Company") (TSX: BKI) reports, in accordance with the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange, that the nominees listed in the management information circular dated May 2, 2017 were elected as directors of the Company at the annual and general meeting of shareholders of the Company (the "Meeting") held on May 31, 2017. At the Meeting, shareholders also approved the appointment of the Company's auditors, KPMG LLP. Black Iron would like to thank its shareholders for their participation and continuing support. Detailed results of the vote for the election of directors are as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Votes For % Votes For Votes Withheld % Votes Withheld ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Detmold 58,445,771 100% Nil Nil ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce Humphrey 58,445,771 100% Nil Nil ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pierre Pettigrew 58,435,771 99.98% 10,000 0.02% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Porter 58,440,271 99.99% 5,500 0.01% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew Simpson 58,445,771 100% Nil Nil ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Black Iron Black Iron is an iron ore exploration and development company, advancing its 100% owned Shymanivske project located in Kryviy Rih, Ukraine. This project contains a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimated to be 645.8 Mt Measured and Indicated mineral resources, consisting of 355.1 Mt Measured mineral resources grading 32.0% total iron and 19.5% magnetic iron, and Indicated mineral resources of 290.7 Mt grading 31.1% total iron and 17.9% magnetic iron, using a cut-off grade of 10% magnetic iron. Additionally, the Shymanivske project contains 188.3 Mt of Inferred mineral resources grading 30.1% total iron and 18.4% magnetic iron. Full mineral resource details can be found in the National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report dated January 24, 2014 titled "Feasibility Study of the Shymanivske Iron Ore Deposit for Black Iron Inc." under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Shymanivske project is surrounded by five other operating mines, including ArcelorMittal's iron ore complex. The Company believes that existing infrastructure, including access to power, rail and port facilities, will allow for a quick development timeline to production. Please visit the Company's website at www.blackiron.com for more information. The technical and scientific contents of this press release have been prepared under the supervision of and have been reviewed and approved by Matt Simpson, P.Eng, CEO of Black Iron, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, opinions and estimates of the date such statements are made based on information available to them at that time. Forward-looking information may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the election of directors and the Company's ability to develop the Shymanivske project. Generally, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activities; other risks of the mining industry and the risks described in the annual information form of the Company. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Company notes that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Contacts: Matt Simpson Chief Executive Officer Black Iron Inc. Tel: +1 (416) 309-2138 CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX: SJR.B)(TSX: SJR.PR.A)(TSX: SJR.PR.B)(NYSE: SJR)(TSX VENTURE: SJR.A) ("Shaw") announced today that it has given the registered shareholders of its Cumulative Redeemable Floating Rate Class 2 Preferred Shares, Series B (the "Series B Shares") notice of dividend rates. Effective June 30, 2017, the Floating Quarterly Dividend for the Series B Shares was set for the fifth Quarterly Floating Rate Period (being the period from and including June 30, 2017 to, but excluding, September 30, 2017) at 2.529%. The Floating Quarterly Dividend Rate will be reset every quarter. The Series B Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SJR.PR.B. For more information on the terms of, and risks associated with an investment in, the Series B Shares, see Shaw's prospectus supplement dated May 20, 2011 which is available on sedar.com About Shaw Communications Inc. Shaw is an enhanced connectivity provider. Our Consumer division serves consumers with broadband Internet, Shaw Go WiFi, video and digital phone. Our Wireless division provides wireless voice and data services through an expanding and improving mobile wireless network infrastructure. The Business Network Services division provides business customers with Internet, data, WiFi, telephony, video and fleet tracking services. The Business Infrastructure Services division, through ViaWest, provides hybrid IT solutions including colocation, cloud computing and security and compliance for North American enterprises. Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (TSX: SJR.B)(TSX: SJR.PR.A)(TSX: SJR.PR.B)(NYSE: SJR)(TSX VENTURE: SJR.A). For more information, please visit www.shaw.ca. Contacts: Shaw Communications Inc. Investor Relations investor.relations@sjrb.ca www.shaw.ca MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/31/17 -- Yorbeau Resources Inc. (TSX: YRB.A) ("Yorbeau" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell to Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico") its net smelter royalty over the Ellison Property in the Abitibi region which the Company had received as part of its sale of the Ellison Property to Agnico in 2002. The purchase price for the net smelter royalty is $2.25 million and was paid in cash by Agnico upon execution of the agreement. In addition to the sale of the net smelter royalty, the remaining instalment of the 2002 sale in the amount of $500,000, which was payable only upon commencement of commercial production, would no longer be payable. Yorbeau plans to use the proceeds from the sale for working capital purposes. About Yorbeau Resources Inc. The Company's 100% controlled Rouyn Property contains four known gold deposits in the 6-km-long Augmitto-Astoria corridor situated on the western half of the property. Two of the four deposits, Astoria and Augmitto, have substantial underground infrastructure and have been the subject of NI 43-101 technical reports that include resource estimates. The Company has signed an Option Agreement with an affiliate of Kinross Gold Corporation to pursue exploration on the Rouyn Property (see press release dated October 25, 2016). In 2015, the Company expanded its exploration property portfolio by acquiring strategic base metal properties in prospective areas of the Abitibi Belt of Quebec and Ontario that also feature infrastructure favourable for mining development. The newly acquired base metal properties include Scott Lake which hosts important mineral resources (see press release dated March 30, 2017). More information on the Company may be found on the Company's website at www.yorbeauresources.com. Forward-looking statements: Except for statement of historical fact, all statements in this news release, without limitation, regarding future plans and objectives are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Contacts: Gerald Riverin, PhD, P. Geo President Yorbeau Resources Inc. griverin@yorbeauresources.com 819-279-1336 G. Bodnar Jr. Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Yorbeau Resources Inc. gbodnar@yorbeauresources.com 514-384-2202 or Toll-Free in North America 1-855-384-2202 Technavio's latest market research report on the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures marketprovides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technaviodefines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006341/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) Amber Chourasia, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on health and wellness sector, says, "The global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market is growing at a steady rate, due to the rising demand for appearance enhancement and the shift in consumer preference for minimally and non-invasive procedures." This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free The top three emerging market trends driving the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market according to Technavio research analysts are: Growing importance of aesthetics Growth of medical tourism Growing number of men opting for cosmetic treatment Growing importance of aesthetics "Aesthetic medicine uses minimally invasive cosmetic procedures to improve the appearance of people. In 2015, more than 20 million aesthetic procedures were performed globally. The demand for minimally invasive cosmetic procedures has led to an increase in the growth of cosmetic products. Among baby boomers, especially in developing countries, aesthetic medicine is a growing trend as people consider it as a part of a normal health treatment due to their desire to maintain a natural and healthy appearance. Patients not only want to be fit and healthy but also want to minimize the effects of aging. "There has been an increase in the number of skilled medical professionals that perform aesthetic procedures. Various marketing strategies implemented by clinics and vendors also played a key role in driving the demand for aesthetic treatments," says Amber. Growth of medical tourism In developing countries, the cost of high-quality treatment is lower when compared with developed countries, which drives people to these countries for treatment. It is estimated that around 34% of medical tourists travel for cosmetic surgery. People from the US prefer traveling to Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama for cosmetic surgery. People also travel from other countries in Europe to Hungary, Mexico, India, and Malaysia for cosmetic procedures, which results in savings of approximately 55%-70% of the treatment expense. Improvements in healthcare infrastructure and the availability of high-quality medical services in developing countries will propel market growth for medical tourism, thus benefitting the global non-surgical cosmetic procedures market. Growing number of men opting for cosmetic treatment In the past, women were the most common consumers of cosmetic products. However, these days, men have also adopted surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The desire to improve their appearance is driving men in developed countries such as the US to undergo cosmetic procedures. The higher penetration of laser treatments such as hair removal is also contributing to the total number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures adopted by men. There is an increase in the number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures when compared with surgical cosmetic procedures due to the limited side-effects and lower risk of post-surgery complications associated with non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The adoption of BOTOX has increased due to an increase in the number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Browse Related Reports: Global Topical Contraceptive Market 2017-2021 Global Mouth Ulcer Market 2017-2021 Global Menopausal Hot Flashes Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like lab equipmentoutdoor gear, and agricultural equipment. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading-edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006341/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com RB Shareholders Also Vote to Approve Transaction Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) ("Mead Johnson" or the "Company") announced that its stockholders approved the acquisition of Mead Johnson by Reckitt Benckiser Group plc ("RB") at a Special Meeting of Stockholders held today in Chicago, Illinois. Shareholders of RB also approved the transaction at a General Meeting held earlier today in London. At Mead Johnson's Special Meeting, approximately 70.30% of shares outstanding as of the record date were voted in favor of the transaction, with 97.12% of all shares voted being cast in favor of the transaction. The Company will be filing the final vote results on a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Under the terms of the merger agreement between Mead Johnson and RB, stockholders of Mead Johnson will receive $90 in cash for each share upon closing of the transaction, and Mead Johnson will become a new division of RB, with its globally-recognized Enfamil and Nutramigen brands joining RB's portfolio of leading consumer health brands. "We are pleased to have received such strong support for this transaction from our stockholders," said Kasper Jakobsen, President and CEO of Mead Johnson. "In addition to providing our stockholders with significant and immediate value, this transaction also creates attractive opportunities to increase our scale and diversification, enabling our business to even better serve a larger consumer base." Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including receipt of approval from one outstanding regulatory authority, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur at the end of the second quarter of 2017 or beginning of the third quarter of 2017. In addition, Mead Johnson announced today that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.4125 per share for the quarter ending June 30, 2017. The dividend will be paid on July 5, 2017, to shareholders of record at close of business on June 20, 2017. In the event that the merger of Mead Johnson with RB is completed on or prior to June 20, 2017, RB will become the sole shareholder as of the record date and therefore no dividend will be paid. About Mead Johnson Mead Johnson, a global leader in pediatric nutrition, develops, manufactures, markets and distributes more than 70 products in over 50 markets worldwide. The company's mission is to nourish the world's children for the best start in life. The Mead Johnson name has been associated with science-based pediatric nutrition products for over 110 years. The company's "Enfa" family of brands, including Enfamil infant formula, is a world leading brand franchise in pediatric nutrition. For further information, visit www.meadjohnson.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain statements with respect to a transaction involving Mead Johnson and RB that are forward-looking as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the fact they use words such as "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "may," "project," "guidance," "intend," "plan," "believe" and other words and terms of similar meaning and expression. Forward-looking statements can also be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations that involve inherent risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations as of the date of this news release. These risks include, but are not limited to: (1) the possibility that a transaction will not be consummated or delays in consummating the transaction; (2) adverse effects on the market price of the Company's common stock and on the Company's operating results because of a failure to complete the transaction; (3) negative effects relating to the announcement of the transaction or any further announcements relating to the transaction or the entrance into or consummation of the transaction on the market price of the Company's common stock; (4) unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the transaction; (5) legal proceedings instituted against the Company and others in connection with the transaction; (6) disruptions of current plans and operations caused by the announcement and pendency of the transaction; (7) potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the announcement and pendency of the transaction; (8) the response of customers, distributors, suppliers and competitors to the announcement of the transaction; (9) the ability to sustain brand strength, particularly the Enfa family of brands; (10) the effect on the Company's reputation of real or perceived quality issues; (11) the effect of regulatory restrictions related to the Company's products; (12) the adverse effect of commodity costs; (13) increased competition from branded, private label, store and economy-branded products; (14) the effect of an economic downturn on consumers' purchasing behavior and customers' ability to pay for product; (15) inventory reductions by customers; (16) the adverse effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates; (17) the effect of changes in economic, political and social conditions in the markets where we operate; (18) changing consumer preferences; (19) the possibility of changes in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, or participation in WIC; (20) legislative, regulatory or judicial action that may adversely affect the Company's ability to advertise its products, maintain product margins, or negatively impact the Company's reputation or result in fines or penalties that decrease earnings; and (21) the ability to develop and market new, innovative products. Where, in any forward-looking statement, the Company or its management expresses an expectation or belief as to future results or actions, there can be no assurance that the statement of expectation or belief will result or be achieved or accomplished. Our actual results may differ materially from our expectations, plans or projections. Forward-looking statements are only predictions and estimates, which are inherently subject to risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our ability to control or predict with accuracy and some of which we might not even anticipate. There can be no assurance that we will achieve our expectations and we do not assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. Future events and actual results, financial and otherwise, may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including the risk factors described in the risk factor section of our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. For additional information regarding these and other factors, see the Company's filings with the SEC, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available upon request from the SEC or at www.meadjohnson.com. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to the Company as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006497/en/ Contacts: Mead Johnson Nutrition Investors: Kathy MacDonald, 312-466-8900 kathy.macdonald@mjn.com or Media: Christopher Perille, 312-466-5814 chris.perille@mjn.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 31, 2017) - Jaguar Financial Corporation (TSXV: JFC) ("Jaguar") and Added Capital Inc. (TSXV: AAD) ("Added") are pleased to announce that Perry Rapagna, currently a Jaguar director, will succeed Andrew Hilton as Chief Financial Officer of both Jaguar and Added. Mr. Rapagna has over 20 years' experience in the investment industry and has held several senior management positions with public companies. Vic Alboini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar and Added stated, "On behalf of both companies, I would like to thank Andrew for his excellent work and dedication since joining Jaguar and Added. I look forward to working with Perry in his new role." Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. About Jaguar Financial Corporation Jaguar is a Canadian merchant bank generally investing in companies Jaguar determines to be undervalued, overlooked and underappreciated. The investments made are usually event-driven, for example, where an investment is made in a company that is the subject of a takeover bid or where some other change is initiated by a third party or a shareholder of the subject company. Jaguar's objective is to assist management of the undervalued company to create value that the market is missing. About Added Capital Inc. Added Capital Inc. is a financial advisory firm and merchant bank, with a specialization in mergers and acquisitions, merchant banking investments, risk arbitrage merger and acquisition investments, financial restructurings, proxy solicitation and information agent services. For additional information on this press release, please contact: Vic Alboini, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Jaguar Financial Corporation and Added Capital Inc. 416-483-3760 Technavio's latest market research report on the global topical contraceptive marketprovides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technaviodefines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006377/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global topical contraceptive market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) Amber Chourasia, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on the health and wellnesssector, says, "The global topical contraceptive market is driven by the rising importance given to family planning and the increase in awareness about topical contraceptives. In addition, increase in government initiatives and marketing campaigns in recent years will further drive the growth of the market." This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free The top three emerging market trends driving the global topical contraceptive marketaccording to Technavio research analysts, are: Increasing awareness through social media marketing Rising age of first-time pregnancy Increasing investments in women's health Increasing awareness through social media marketing The rise in awareness about modern contraceptives through social media initiatives has decreased the risk of unintended pregnancies. An increase in the number of social network users worldwide is encouraging vendors and marketers to invest on social media marketing to increase their sales and profits. Population Services International (PSI) is a marketing and promotion platform to educate and create awareness about contraceptives. It offers creative, effective, and successful ideas to provide reproductive health products and services globally, particularly in developing countries. "The increase in social awareness has led to the high demand for contraceptives, thus increasing their shelf space in pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, and other distribution channels," says Amber. Rising age of first-time pregnancy Many women are delaying pregnancies because of various factors, leading to an increase in the rate of pregnancies in older women. Economic pressure, focus on careers, and changes in relationships have led to the postponing of marriage and children. The increased use of contraceptives due to the rise in government investments in sex education programs has resulted in teens using long-acting forms of birth control. As a result, birth rates have declined among women in their 20s but increased among those aged between 30 and 44 years. Thus, an increase in first-time pregnancy age will increase the use of contraceptives such as topical contraceptives for delaying pregnancies, thus benefiting the market. Increasing investments in women's health Various digital health companies are focusing on improving institutional capital to develop a wide range of solutions related to women's health. For instance, Progyny raised a funding of USD 34 million. The company focuses on transforming scientific discoveries into proprietary clinical solutions, which are intended to improve outcomes. Entrepreneurs seek to leverage various digital technologies to provide women with many decision-supporting tools and personalized products, which helps in predicting and preventing healthcare conditions and complications. Such developments will also increase awareness about women's health products such as female contraceptives, including contraceptive patches. Also, organizations are ensuring the easy availability of contraceptives in rural areas through various campaigns. Thus, increasing investments in women's health will benefit the global topical contraceptives market in the coming years. Browse Related Reports: Global Infection Control and Biosafety Products Market 2017-2021 Global Physiotherapy Market 2017-2021 Aesthetic Market in US 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like lab equipmentoutdoor gear, and agricultural equipment. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading-edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170531006377/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com Cloud Platform Deploys Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Automate the Customer Feedback Cycle from Collection to Analysis to Action AI-based virtual observer delivers real-time insights based on natural interaction Single platform integrates multiple user testing tools for desktop and mobile Usability testing supports English and six European languages youXtools, a new venture startup of UEGroup, a premier user experience (UX) design and research consultancy, today debuted the youXtools platform to transform access to real-time customer insights. The integrated, cloud-based, user research and analytics platform deploys artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, enabling novice to expert product teams startup to enterprise to rapidly visualize and analyze real-time customer interactions and move to action. "One of the biggest challenges facing enterprise companies is agility the ability to align business strategy, market climate and what is best for the customer," said Julie Zagorniak, senior UX manager at Symantec. "youXtools represents a revolutionary change in how we can automate UX decisions and prevent costly development reworks of design issues." youXtools is demonstrating the youXtools platform at Web Summit 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal through Nov. 9, 2017, where the company is participating and exhibiting as part of the prestigious ALPHA startup program. As UX design rises to the forefront of product success across websites, applications and services whether on desktop or mobile there is an urgency to apply new technologies and automation to speed up decision-making and time-to-market. To date, user experience professionals and market researchers require hours and days to manually gather and analyze video or audio-recorded content, working across multiple unconnected tools to obtain results. youXtools leverages machine learning via Ami (Autonomous Moderator Interface), an AI-based virtual observer to visualize the results in moments. Users can see a report in real time that identifies the tasks that produce the best and worst usability, dramatically improving time-to-market. For example, if Ami observes a low rating, it will ask for an explanation in one of six languages. It provides an integrated solution that rapidly reduces the risk of customer rejection for any product or service that has a digital user interface. Product research team members simply define the scope of their project, and the platform presents integrated modules based on their goals and needs. youXtools will automatically recruit users for their feedback based on target demographics, freeing researchers to focus on the insights, not the process. In sharp contrast to current market offerings, youXtools allows users to rapidly create and manage user research as a single comprehensive project, rather than combining unconnected tools from multiple vendors. youXtools Platform Highlights Designed by UX experts at UEGroup with more than 20 years of experience working on the needs of big brands from Google to Red Bull, the youXtools platform launches with the following integrated suite of UX research and analytics capabilities: youXreaction: online usability testing An online, unmoderated usability testing tool, enabling developers, designers and researchers to get immediate reactions and answers to user feedback through real-time responses and video recordings. The tool features a voice prompt option to easily assist in walking research participants through the test. youXdiscovery: online diary study A diary multi-study tool to track research participant activity over extended periods of time. It enables product teams to understand patterns of behavior through testing participant self-reporting and to gain a more comprehensive picture of the consumer. youXconversation: in-lab solution Access to live moderated, lab-based studies that allow for controlled environments when confidentiality is needed or special networking environments need to be set up. youXscore: user experience rating An automated analysis scoring tool, based on a youXtools proprietary and patent pending algorithm, integrates emotional responses, ratings after performing tasks, and other factors to systematically identify problem areas without having to review individual responses. Comprehensive language support User research conducted in English and six European languages, including French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Swedish. Desktop and mobile device support Android and iOS support allows for user research and testing of cross-platform solutions. "Our mission is to translate decades of UX experience into the next generation of automated UX products that are accessible to everyone," said Tony Fernandes, CEO of youXtools and founder of UEGroup. "In our consultancy, we needed greater speed and automation, but the tools on the market just didn't cut it, so we created something better for ourselves. This led to integrating those tools onto a cloud platform built from the ground up for that purpose, and now we are ready to extend our expertise to others through youXtools, removing the barriers of ease-of-use, speed and cost of accessing customer insights." The Back Story: The Rise of UX Design in the Age of Automation In terms of UX, companies struggle to move at the pace of market change as consumer digital experience rises in device volume, sophistication and expectation. So what gets in the way? Research efforts are often manual and siloed, consisting of analyzing the results of biometrics, multiple videos for facial and verbal coding, focus groups and surveys. Bottom line, product owners struggle to get a quick visual story of what people did, how they felt and what needs attention. They are challenged by the following limitations: UX expertise Easy-to-use and integration of UX tools Access to high-quality UX participants Alignment of business priorities and user requirements Budget However, technology advances in software-as-a-service (SaaS), predictive analytics, machine learning and AI are providing a new substructure that is enabling the next generation of products. Pricing and Availability The youXtools platform is available today on a pay-as-you-go basis at www.youXtools.com. About youXtools youXtools transforms access to real-time customer insights with a user experience (UX) research and analytics platform that empowers startups and enterprises to easily, quickly and cost-effectively deliver the ultimate customer experience. youXtools is a startup venture of UEGroup, a premier UX research and design consultancy serving the world's best-known global brands since 2001. Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning, the integrated, cloud-based youXtools platform enables novice to expert professionals to manage the entire customer feedback cycle from collection to analysis to action. Web developers, designers, researchers, recruiters, product managers and marketers can rely on the next-generation platform to optimize the future of informed product design decisions. Privately held and headquartered in San Jose, California (U.S.), youXtools supports user research in English and six European languages. Connect with us at www.youxtools.com, Twitter.com/youxtools, Facebook.com/youxtools and LinkedIn.com/youxtools. youXtools, youXreaction, youXdiscovery, youXconversation, youXscore and Ami are trademarks of UEGroup. All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Tags: youXtools, UEGroup, Web Summit, user experience, UX, UX research, UX design, machine learning, AI, artificial intelligence, customer experience, web developers, product design, product management View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171108005618/en/ Contacts: youXtools Danielle Panigall, 619-884-2962 Danielle@youXtools.com or TECHMarket Communications Dottie O'Rourke, 650-344-1260 youXtools@techmarket.com OnePulse, a London, UK-based consumer insight app, closed a $2.07m seed funding round. The round, which came on top of a previous round of $1.07m led by Beacon Capital and BBH ZAG, was led by UK-listed agency network Next 15 and Silicon Valley based Foundation Capital. The company will use the funds to launch in the United States in Summer 2017. Led by CEO Atul Choudrie, OnePulse is a mobile and web-based platform that enables companies to ask groups of highly targeted people up to three questions and get responses back instantly. To its users, OnePulse is a lifestyle app and destination for giving their opinions on news, products, interests, and hobbies for which they are subsequently rewarded by micro-payments and experience points. The company already has a significant presence in the U.K. and North Africa and over 300 international clients (including Aviva, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola & KFC). FinSMEs 31/05/2017 Washington: Environmental factors, including infection with seasonal influenza, may increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests. Most cases of Parkinson's have no known cause and researchers continue to debate and study possible factors that may contribute to the disease. Now, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in the United States suggest that a certain strain of influenza virus predisposes mice to develop pathologies that mimic those seen in Parkinson's disease. "This study has provided more evidence to support the idea that environmental factors, including influenza, may be involved in Parkinson's disease," said Richard J Smeyne, professor at Thomas Jefferson University. "Here we demonstrate that even mice who fully recover from the H1N1 influenza virus responsible for the previous pandemic (also called 'swine flu') are later more susceptible to chemical toxins known to trigger Parkinson's in the lab," said Smeyne. Previously, researchers showed that a deadly H5N1 strain of influenza (so-called 'bird flu') that has a high mortality rate (60 percent of those infected died from the disease) was able to infect nerve cells, travel to the brain and cause inflammation that would later result in Parkinson's-like symptoms in mice. Inflammation in the brain that does not resolve appropriately, such as after traumatic injury to head, has also been linked to Parkinson's. The researchers looked at a less lethal strain, the H1N1 "swine flu," that does not infect neurons, but which still caused inflammation in the brain via inflammatory chemicals or cytokines released by immune cells involved in fighting the infection. Using a model of Parkinson's disease in which the toxin MPTP induces Parkinson's-like symptoms in humans and mice, Smeyne showed that mice infected with H1N1, even long after the initial infection, had more severe Parkinson's symptoms than those who had not been infected with the flu. When mice were vaccinated against the H1N1, or were given antiviral medications such as Tamiflu at the time of flu infection, the increased sensitivity to MPTP was eliminated. "The H1N1 virus that we studied belongs to the family of Type A influenzas, which we are exposed to on a yearly basis," said Smeyne. The research was published in the journal on Parkinson's Disease. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is mulling a selloff of Air India since it has been unable to find a solution to the airlines mounting debt pile. This much has been clear from various statements of concerned government officials over the last few days, each of whom has expressed his helplessness in dealing with the debt problem. A Business Standard report shows how the Modi administration has been aggressively pumping money to resuscitate Air Indias fortunes since it came to power. From August 2014 till March 2017, Rs 16,822 crore have been infused into Air India. With no revival in sight, the government perhaps is now banking on an investor to bail it out of the Air India mess. While officials have admitted that the debt conundrum has no solution, no one has come out with the modalities of this proposed sale, a rather complicated and difficult business given the over Rs 50,000 crore debt and about Rs 23,000 crore of accumulated losses on Air Indias books. Media reports today speak about a Niti Aayog proposal where the government would like any prospective buyer to shoulder half the debt burden while it writes off the remaining half, so that the white elephant called Air India is finally out of its hair. But this picture may not be entirely true and the government could actually book very little loss if it goes about the sale sensibly. According to an official close to developments, it is possible to break up the airline into two distinct parts. One is the airline itself with aircraft and related assets. The second part comprises Air Indias subsidiaries and the real estate. This official said that the sensible way to get maximum value in this disinvestment process would be to sell off just the airline to a prospective buyer. The government could then simultaneously dispose off the subsidiaries and real estate for a total consideration of close to Rs 20,000-21,000 crore. All this is known to people involved in the selloff process. Now, the ball is in DIPAMs (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) court. Once DIPAM accepts the proposal drafted by Niti Aayog, things will move forward. DIPAM will take the proposal to the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment. If this committee approves the proposal, then ads will be put out for transaction advisors and valuers, this persons said. DIPAM is expected to form several committees to examine and fine tune the selloff process, comprising top officials of the ministry of civil aviation, Air India, Finance Ministry and DIPAM itself, this person said. The entire selloff process of Air India could take at least 8-12 months. He added that the sale of standalone Air India can happen only if any prospective buyer agrees to bear about Rs 20,000 crore of aircraft loans and another Rs 6000-7000 crore of working capital loans. The current market value of aircraft is higher than the loans. And of the Rs 30,000 crore total working capital loans, the bidder may be asked to take on only Rs 6000-7000 crore. In return, the buyer gets a fleet of 43 owned aircraft, valuable domestic and international slots (for which buyers are usually willing to pay a premium), parking bays etc, this person said. Is this a bullet any prospective buyer would want to bite? But why should the government write off the remaining debt on Air Indias books? This person said the government may not need to write off any large amount, if the airline is broken up and subsidiaries sold separately. Air India has five subsidiaries: Air India Charters Ltd, Air India Transport Services Ltd (ground handling subsidiary), Air India EngineerinG Services Ltd (MRO subsidiary), Hotel Corporation of India and Alliance Air. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show AI Charters could fetch around Rs 8,000 crore it has been profit making for the last two years. The ground handling business together with the joint venture AISATS could fetch in another Rs 3,000 crore, this person said, referring to its dominant market share in the ground handling business across the country. Then, the MRO business could be valued at another Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. The person quoted above said the subsidiaries could be sold through a slump sale method. Then, real estate owned by Air India across prime locations in the country and abroad could fetch an additional Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. While all of these calculations seem credible, the question is, how long will the government take to offload these subsidiaries and realise its investment. And whether they will be offloaded at all. The person quoted earlier said any prospective buyer of Air India will have to pay the government for the airline, for the slots and parking bays etc, besides also the brand value of the airline. Flipkart may be India's number one e-commerce company, but number of key executives leaving the organisation continues unabated. Nitin Seth, Flipkart's chief operating officer, is the latest to put in his papers, The Economic Times report said. Seth was in charge of handling logistics arm Ekart and corporate functions like strategy and human resources (HR), the report said. "Ekart and corporate functions, that Seth was in charge of, will now report to Kalyan," the ET report said citing sources. Kalyan Krishnamurthy was elevated as Chief Executive Officer of Flipkart in January while co-founder Binny Bansal was elevated as Group Chief Executive Officer in a major restructuring exercise in January. Sachin Bansal, co-founder continues in his role as executive chairman. Seth joined the company in February 2016 as chief people officer and was quickly promoted to the post of chief administrative officer in the middle of 2016. In January this year, Seth was designated as COO. This was at the same time when Krishnamaurthy took over as Flipkart CEO from cofounder Binny Bansal, who took over as group CEO. The ET report says Seth's decision to quit will further strengthen Krishnamurthy's position, who will be in charge of key functions. Just fourth months ago, Flipkart had witnessed mass exodus of top executives. Two senior executives along with engineering heads Hari Vasudev and Ashish Agrawal had resigned in late January. The company had already seen three senior leaders quitting in the early part of that month. "The upheaval at Flipkart is a consequence of the companys missteps of 2015, which caused it to cede ground to arch-rival Amazon India," a Mint report said then. In December last year, Sharad Agarwal, vice president and distinguished engineer at Flipkart, heading data strategy, and Raghuram Talluri, vice president and head of customer experience at Myntra, had left the company, a VCCircle report said. The latest exit in the form of Nitin Seth's resignation comes at a time when the Bengaluru-based company is in talks to acquire rival firm Snapdeal to strengthen its numero uno position. Last month, the company said it raised $1.4 billion from software giant Microsoft and China's Tencent Holdings besides its decision to merge eBay's operations with itself. West Bengal on Tuesday upped it's ante against the rollout of the goods and services tax on 1 July, saying the bill is unacceptable in the current form. The state assembly is among those that are yet to ratify the GST bill. Before placing the Bill in the Assembly, we need to sort out the differences (between West Bengal and the Centre). The GST Bill in its current form is not acceptable, state finance minister Amit Mitra he been quoted as saying in a report in the Business Standard. He also expressed 'serious doubt' whether the country is ready for the introduction of the bill as small and medium enterprises are still not fully prepared for the GST, the biggest tax reform India has seen. Small units, medium ones and even some large corporates are not ready. We have already written several times to the Centre on the points on which we have reservations, Mitra has been quoted as saying in a report in The Hindu BusinessLine. The Financial Express had earlier reported that about 40 percent GST Suvidha providers (GSPs) have not tested their network yet. It is observed that the efforts from GSPs need to be ramped up significantly, with the date for the GST rollout nearing, GST Network has said in a letter written to the service providers, according to the report. Citing this, Mitra said the companies are yet unprepared for the rollout on 1 July. Apart from this, the state is also against high tax rates on various items. "The fight is on against taxes on books, cinema, newsprint, raw cashew, plastic and rubber footwear, sale of electricity," he said. The state is against the tax rate on vernacular films decided by the GST Council in the last meeting. According to him, the tax on vernacular films in West Bengal as of now is just 2 percent. This would shoot up after the GST rollout. He said he has called on finance ministers of other states to oppose the high tax rate. Mitra, who had earlier too expressed his opposition to some of the provisions in the GST bill, is likely to attend the GST council meeting on 3 June. He has not attended the earlier two meetings, including the one in which the rate was fixed for nearly 1,211 goods and most of the services. The Hindu report, citing sources, says that the state government is for roll out of the GST in September. Frequent policy flip-flops by various state governments and allegations of wrong doing by the activists have brought work at Lavasa, a Rs 50,000 crore township project near Pune, to a virtual standstill. The latest order by the Maharashtra government revoking the special planning authority (SPA) status for Lavasa Corporation, the company that is executing the project, has just added to the project's woes. Lavasa Corporation is a subsidiary of Mumbai-based infrastructure company Hindustan Construction Company. The government should clarify their stand on Lavasa. How will we work if this keeps going on?Project is getting affected. Are they against the project?" asks Vitthal Maniyar, a close aide of NCP chief Sharad Pawar whose brainchild the project is learnt to be, and former board member of Lavasa. Maniyar is a founder of and an investor in the project. The latest government action has brought the project under the government's ambit and it now has to submit its proposals to the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA). According to Kiran Gitte, chief of PMRDA, the government had to issue a separate notification as there was no PMRDA-like authority earlier. "This was bound to happen with PMRDA coming into existence.... They (Lavasa) were given the special planning authority because there was no such authority in existence when the project was proposed. But now with the formation of PMRDA they will have to seek permissions from us, said Gitte. But will this mean that PMRDA will also verify the old permissions given by the SPA? We will have to see that," said Gitte, adding, "We will act if there is some complaint. But I will not say that the project will not be scrutinised. It will also be done if the need be." Lavasa Corporation, on its part, has claimed it has not yet received an official intimation on the revocation of its SPA status. Background In fact, the Lavasa project, which was started in 2002, has been controversial right from the word go due to political and environmental reasons. The project envisages building a new city and hill station on the bank of the Varasgaon dam on the Mose river. It is spread over 12,000 acres and encompasses 18 villages. The city was proposed to house residential facilities, hotels and be a tourist destination as well and slated for completion in 2029. The reported closeness to Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party only stymied the prospects of the project. As the company kicked off land acquisition, the project hit the first roadblock with residents of Mugaon and surrounding villages -- mostly Adivasis -- opposing it as land was their only source of income. They were against the large-scale cutting of trees and land acquisition by Lavasa. "We were opposing but our voices were never heard. We then came to know that Medha tai (Patkar) was visiting a nearby village. We decided to pay a visit to her seeking help. We got the support from National Alliance of People's Movements and Mose Khore Bachao Samiti was formed, said Leelabai Margale, a resident of Mugaon. "They had taken 5 acres of my land. They kept pressurising us with the help of the police. But we decided to keep fighting. This decision (the revoking of SPA status) is a big victory for our movement," she claimed. According to Suniti Su Ra, an activist and a close aide of Medha Patkar, the villagers were being given a short shrift by the company. The villagers visited us with some documents they had got under the Right to Information Act. We studied the documents and realised there were irregularities," she said. The company was acquiring cultivable land. It was giving a negligible amount for the river water it used but it was going to build dams and earn money out of it, she claimed. Thus NAPM decided to take up the issue. In 2008, a protest was organised at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Congress leader and then minister Patangrao Kadam promised action but nothing was given in writing. So a Jan Aayog was called. A committee with Arvind Kejriwal, Y.P Singh and Nirmalkumar Suryawanshi as members studied the project and submitted a report. "The report made us we realise the company has been flouting many environmental norms during construction. So we decided to file a case in the high court," Suniti said. The activists had to struggle hard to even get the required documents. According to them, there were irregularities in the sale deeds. They organised a dharna in Delhi in 2010 and got to meet then environment minister Jairam Ramesh. "We told him about all the issues we had found. He decided to give a stay to the construction and issue a show-cause notice," Suniti said. A central committee visited Lavasa and submitted its report to the ministry. After a few days, a conditional clearance was granted to Lavasa for construction over 2,000 hectares. According to Suniti, the NAPM had questioned the SPA status as part of their struggle. "We felt the status gave powers to Lavasa to take decisions arbitrarily, she added. Ramesh recently admitted that even he was under pressure for taking decision on the project. I was the first one to initiate an action against Lavasa. But I was branded as anti-national. We cannot make all people happy. It is important to maintain honesty in the government," Ramesh said at a press conference in Pune (read here and here). All the while, the project suffered. The project undone According to Maniyar, the environment ministry's action had a huge impact on Lavasa. We were ready to work with the environment ministry and were seeking all clearances. But this stand of the government and the notices issued had a negative impact. We couldnt continue with the construction," he said. According to him, Lavasa Corporation had taken loans from almost nine banks and the environment ministry's notice rendered it difficult to repay them and also to any additional loan. Maniyar says the project has been stuck for last two years. "We are struggling to work out the financial situation. What is our mistake? You should check the background of the investors in the project. Along with HCC, all the investors are from reputed background. Why doesnt government clarify their stand about the project? he asked. Fadnavis, who was then the leader of opposition in Maharashtra, had raised the Lavasa issue in the legislative assembly. "It seems that he was acting out of obligation. Narendra Modi had visited Lavasa when he was the chief minister of Gujarat and had praised the entire project. In fact, he had also invited the company to explore a similar project in his state. It is surprising that the present Maharashtra government, led by the BJP, is taking this stand. How are we supposed to work in this manner? Maniyar asks. He fears seeking permissions from PMRDA, which has many proposals in front of it, may lead to further delays. The company has thus far invested Rs 6,500 crore and construction across two villages is already over. The city is largely dependent on tourism for the survival as of now. Parking and entrance fees are being charged apart from the money needed to use the facilities. However, the project has incurred a loss of Rs 4,000 crore. Politically motivated? As the project was conceived by Pawar and with his close aides involved in it, many believe that the decision to revoke the SPA status is politically motivated. They feel it is a message to Pawar. The senior political leader had supported Lavasa openly even when it was facing a flak for flouting norms (read here and here). His daughter Supriya Sule and son-in-law Sadanand Sule had stake in the project, which they later sold. Though they are no longer associated with the project, there are others involved who are are said to be close to Pawar. Though the BJP leaders are claiming that revocation of the SPA status is a technical decision, it is going to have an impact on the project. For the villagers too, the struggle is far from over despite they claiming victory after the recent government notification revoking the SPA status. Many of the children from the 18 villages had enrolled in the schools started here. "We were told that the education will be free. But now they are demanding a fee of Rs 2,000 per month. This is a move to suppress us. But we will fight, Leelabai claimed. With the court case still on, the SPA status revoked and construction halted, Lavasa's future remains bleak. We expect the required environmental clearances will be taken and norms adhered to, now that it has come under PMRDA. I hope this is not a ploy by the government to lend a helping hand to Lavasa by bringing it under their ambit, said Suniti. Meanwhile, the company is ready to work closely with the PMRDA and cooperate with the government to take the project forward. "Lavasa could have been the first smart and clean city. That is how we are maintaining it now. We have to charge the money for the maintenance. But we are trying to work out on the finances. We will go ahead with the project in any case, Maniyar is confident. New Delhi: The Income Tax Department on Wednesday has urged taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their PAN, using an SMS-based facility. The department issued advertisements in leading national dailies and described how both the unique identity numbers of an individual can be linked by sending an SMS to either 567678 or 56161. It said people can also visit the official e-filing website of the department to link the two identities, in both the cases identical names in the two databases or in case where there is a minor mismatch. Linking the two numbers is the key to "seamlessly avail online, a world of income tax facilities". "Aadhaar can also be seeded into PAN database by quoting Aadhaar in PAN application form for new PAN allotment or by quoting Aadhaar in change request form used for reprint of PAN card", it said in the advertisement. The Income-Tax-department had early this month launched a new e-facility to link a person's Aadhaar with the Permanent Account Number (PAN), a mandatory procedure for filing I-T returns now. The department's e-filing website has now hosted a new link on its homepage to link the two unique identities. Your key to seamlessly avail online, a world of Income Tax facilities! Link your Aadhaar with your PAN; pic.twitter.com/zpOAuZidoN Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) May 31, 2017 The link requires a person to punch in his PAN number, Aadhaar number and the exact name as given in the Aadhaar card. "After verification from the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), the linking will be confirmed. In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one time password) will be required", the department had said in its advisory to taxpayers and individuals. The OTP will be sent on the registered mobile number in the Aadhaar database. The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of Income-Tax returns (ITR). Also, Aadhaar has been made mandatory for applying for permanent account number with effect from 1 July, 2017. While Aadhaar is issued by the UIDAI to a resident of India, PAN is a ten-digit alphanumeric number issued in the form of a laminated card by the I-T department to any person, firm or entity. Narendra Modi, on his four-day foreign tour, has decided to reopen negotiations on the fresh Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union from July, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said at the end of high-level inter-governmental consultations between India and Germany on Tuesday. This is a major and the only tangible outcome out of the Modis four-nation tour so far. Evidently, there was pressure on India to resume negotiations on FTA after Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the issue with Modi during their meetings. German businesses are worried since the absence of a bilateral treaty is a hindrance to their businesses and investments in India. For India too, the implementation of a fresh treaty is critical for its interests. India has significant trade relations with Europe which has contributed to 13.5 percent of India's overall trade with the world in 2015-16, well ahead of China (10.8 percent), USA (9.3 percent), UAE (7.7 percent) and Saudi Arabia (4.3 percent). According to a report in Indian Express, there are more than 1,600 German companies, 600 German joint ventures operating in India, who brought in $2 billion in foreign direct investment in the last two years. In an article yesterday this writer had argued why it is critical for India to have stronger relations with Europe in the current context. There are both economic and diplomatic reasons. Over years, India has seen its trade declining with Germany from trades worth $18.73 billion at this point compared to $23.5 billion in 2011-12. The declining trade and the slow-paced negotiations on a fresh trade agreement for several years (since 2007) have been an area of discomfort in Indo-German relations. Germany, one of the top exporters to India and a major importer, has been pushing India on this issue. In this backdrop, it would be a major achievement of PM Modis four-nation tour if the trade treaty is renegotiated formally. Secondly, India needs a friendly Europe to strengthen its clout globally. This is even more critical now with China advancing its investments and influence in the Asian region with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and One Belt, One Road initiative, where India is not a party so far. By boycotting the Chinese OBOR summit, India has isolated itself given that there is a general agreement for the OBOR from most countries, including many of Indias neighbors. This backing was evident from the opening ceremony that was attended by heads of 29 states, including Russian President Vladmir Putin. Also, delegations from over 100 countries were present in the ceremony. But, European countries have sought more transparency and level playing field in OBOR projects sensing that the draft agreement is tilted in favour of Chinese firms to hijack lion share of OBOR projects. Time is particularly ripe for India to grab the opportunity given the US face-off with Germany on Paris climate accord and Donald Trumps decision to pull out of free trade agreements. At the next leg of his visit, Modi will visit Spain, Russia and France. As of now, Modis commitment to reopen FTA negotiations as early as July is a win-win for India and Europe. Berlin: The Make in India Mittelstand (MIIM) launched to encourage German small and medium industry (SME) to India has evoked major interest in Germany, giving further boost to bilateral business ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday. "Germany is contributing in a big way to the Make in India. The Strategic Market Entry Programme -- MII Mittelstand -- started in September 2015 to facilitate entry into the Indian market has been a major success," Modi said addressing the India-Germany business summit also attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Over 83 German companies have expressed interest in joining the programme, 73 have officially enrolled, while 47 companies' investments are in advanced states of implementation," he said. Modi noted that the Indo-German Managers Training Programme had led to increased investments and creation of joint ventures by companies from both countries. "More than 500 Indian managers have benefited from this programme," he said. Describing Germany as among India's 'most important partners' globally, which is the 7th largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, the Prime Minister cited the examples of German majors in India. "Bosch, Siemens, BASF... they have also started exclusive R&D facilities in India. Mercedes Benz have started their second facility in Chakan (Pune) which will double their capacity to 20,000 units per annum," Modi said. Noting that India attaches great value to the German partnership and has had several meetings with CEOs from that country, Modi said that India had been progressively easing its rules on doing business to encourage foreign investment. "Last week, we decided to abolish our Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in order to increase overseas engagement in India. FDI inflows into India reached $60 billion in 2016-17," he said. According to the Indian government, the MIIM programme has so far mobilized investment of about euro 650 million and helped create 4,000 employment opportunities in India. The Great Indian Laughter Challenge was the show that gave India comedians like Kapil Sharma, Sunil Pal, Raju Shrivastava and Ehsaan Qureshi. Eight years after the show last aired, it is all set to return to the small screen for its fifth season. The Times of India reports that Star India is considering to relaunch the show on Star Plus this year and has huge names planned for the jury. While Navjot Singh Sidhu was a recurrent judge of the show, he is likely to not continue with the show owing to his new political commitments as a cabinet minister in the Punjab government. Thus, DNA reports that the channel has approached Akshay Kumar to be the main judge of the show. He will be called Super Boss and it will be his second stint on the small screen after hosting three seasons of the adventure reality show, Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi. Interestingly, India Today reports that the channel has also approached his former co-star Raveena Tandon to be a judge on the show. While Tandon is currently judging the reality show Sabse Bada Khiladi, she is considering doing The Great Indian Laughter Challenge as well. However, there is no official word of confirmation on the same from either Kumar, Tandon or the channel. Kumar and Tandon made for one of the most celebrated on-screen couples of Hindi cinema back in the 1990s. They have collaborated in multiple films like Rajiv Rai's 1994 action thriller Mohra, Umesh Mehra's 1996 action film Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, Sunil Agnihotri's 1997 action film Daava, Pramod Chakravorty's 1998 action romance film Barood, Sameer Malkan's 1998 action film Keemat - They Are Back and Moosa Farish's 2004 crime drama Police Force: An Inside Story. Thus, it has been 13 years since Kumar and Tandon last appeared on the screen together. It will be interesting to see them reunite, even if it is for the small screen. It was earlier reported that Priyanka Chopra met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin during his four-nation Europe tour. The pictures from their meeting grabbed eyeballs on social media including those of trolls who harangued her for dressing and sitting "inappropriately" in front of Modi. Some of the criticism was also directed at Modi for meeting with celebrities rather than protesting farmers in New Delhi. However, much of the ire was directed towards Chopra, for choosing a knee length dress for the occasion. Her Fashion co-star Kangana Ranaut also faced a similar backlash when she wore "objectionable" western attire while receiving her National Film Award, for Anand L Rai's 2015 romantic comedy Tanu Weds Manu Returns, from President Pranab Mukherjee. In Chopra's case, hordes of her fans waged a Facebook war against the trolls, arguing that she has the right to wear whatever she is comfortable in. All India Bakchod comedian Tanmay Bhat was one of them as he offered creative counter arguments to the trolls on Twitter: How can Modiji wear short clothes does he not respect Modiji? pic.twitter.com/lDiL582Bbz Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) May 30, 2017 Priyanka chopra wears a skirt HOW CAN U WEAR IN FRONT OF PM NO RESPEXT? PM wears suit with name printed on it LET HIM WEAR WHAT HE WANT Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) May 30, 2017 As was the case with her Ralph Lauren gown at the MET Gala, her picture with Modi also became a popular template for memes. Chopra also took the episode in her stride as suggested by her recent Instagram picture: In a previous report, Firstpost had reported that Salman Khan will appear in a double-role cameo in the upcoming David Dhawan movie Judwaa 2 starring his son Varun Dhawan. According to Mid-day's report, Salman will appear as both his twin avatars from the prequel Raja and Prem who have aged by 20 years. There are speculations that the Salman twins will come face-to-face with the Varun twins in the climax scene of the new film. The newspaper further reports that the Judwaa 2 team has wrapped up the London shoot and the final part of the schedule will be in Mumbai next month. Salman Khan will reportedly join them for a few hours and finish his scenes. Judwaa was a 1997 blockbuster comedy that won the hearts of numerous comedy fans of Salman-David Dhawan combo. With songs like 'Oonchi Hai Building' and 'Tan Tana Tan', Judwaa was a money-spinner at the box-office. The new film also stars Taapsee Pannu and Jacqueline Fernandez as the leading ladies, apart from Varun Dhawan as the male protagonist. Veteran filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao passed away on 30 May 2017 after a prolonged illness due to respiratory problems and kidney failure. He was 75. The news about his death has sent the Telugu film industry into a pall of gloom and several members from the film fraternity, politicians and journalists offered their condolences to the veteran director's family. In January this year, his deteriorating health condition made headlines and it took nearly two months before he was stable enough to be discharged from the hospital. For a while, he seemed to be recovering and even met Megastar Chiranjeevi, Allu Aravind and Mohan Babu who presented him with the Allu Ramalingaiah award on 4 May. However, his condition turned critical soon after he was admitted at a private hospital in Hyderabad earlier this week. With 151 films as a director and 53 films as a producer, Dasari Narayana Rao has delivered scores of blockbusters and critically acclaimed films throughout his career. In his heyday, he was one of the most influential and prolific directors who had a knack for highlighting gender and class discrimination prevalent in the society through films like Bobbili Puli, Osey Ramulamma, Premabhishekam, Meghasandesham among many other hits. At one point of time, he was churning nearly 10-12 films in a year, sometimes hopping between sets of different films on the same day. He even entered the Limca book of world records for directing the most number of films. As a filmmaker, he was one of Telugu cinema's most forceful voices urging filmmakers to make meaningful cinema and was often a vocal critic of the younger generation, who, he opined, didn't respect cinema enough. On the contrary, he was almost always one of the first few bigwigs in the industry to appreciate new talent when he came across good films. This might seem like a paradox, but such was his life which was filled with dazzling heights and lows. Cinema became a medium of personal expression for him and in the '70s and '80s, Dasari Narayana Rao turned his work into a tool for change. Talking about his obsession with cinema, when he turned 70, he was once quoted as saying, "The only thing I know in my life is cinema. I dont know anything else. During Manashulantha Okkate time, NTR said, 'Brother, If you want to become number one in your profession, you need to sacrifice things you like. Everybody gives priority to their family life than to their profession. But I make my profession a priority. You are also doing the same. I can guarantee that you will become number one in the future due to the same quality.' That's the reason why I want to keep making films." True to his urge to keep making films, he had announced plans to produce a film with Pawan Kalyan in the lead role and another biopic on Jayalalithaa was also on his mind; however, neither of these films took off. Few years ago, he shifted his focus to encouraging young talent under his own production house and make a series of small-budget concept-based films, but his plans didn't quite materialise. Apart from being a filmmaker, producer, and a lyricist, he was also a journalist. In the early 80s, he forayed into publishing industry and started a newspaper Udayam which went on to become the second largest selling newspaper in Andhra Pradesh, behind Eenadu. The filmmaker's immense popularity, along with top-notch style of reporting in the newspaper, made Udayam a runaway hit. And ever since, he has been a father-figure to many journalists and he even took some of them under his wing to groom them as writers and filmmakers. Not so long ago, when the media accused a popular actor of using foul language while referring to them, it was Dasari who took up the matter in his own hands to reprimand the actor and made him apologise for what he had done. Such was his power that no one could oppose his authority. Unlike his long career in film industry, Dasari Narayana Rao's stint with politics was short-lived. He served as a Union minister during Congress' reign; however, his name popped up in the coal scam where he was named as one of the people who received bribes from steel baron Naveen Jindal. Dasari Narayana Rao has had his share of controversies, especially with Chiranjeevis family, although both the parties patched up in recent times. He was not only widely respected, but also left many awestruck with his command over the medium of film. His death truly marks the end of an era in Telugu cinema, which owes a lot to the veteran filmmaker who was Guruvu Garu for everyone. Telugu: Cinema theatres in both Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will remain shut on Wednesday as a mark of respect to veteran director Dasari Narayana Rao, who died here on Tuesday night. Theatre owners in both the state decided to keep the theatres closed. Shooting of film and other activity in Telugu film industry will also come to a halt on Wednesday, announced the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. Rao breathes his last at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) at 7 pm on Tuesday. He was 75. His death plunged the industry into a gloom. Eminent film personalities were rushing to his residence in Jubliee Hills here to pay their last respects. Popular stars such as Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Mahesh Babu on Tuesday expressed their condolences on the passing away of the well-known Telugu filmmaker. After prolonged illness, especially issues related to lungs and kidneys, Rao passed away on Tuesday. The celebrities took to Twitter to share their condolences. My sympathy and condolences to the family of Daasari NaryaNa rao.His loss is truly a big loss for Telugu cinema. Late K.B. sir admired him Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 30, 2017 I remember the days spent with Narayan rao gaaru and Mr. Sanjeev kumar ji. Yaadgaar. He was a great fan of Mr.KB. I belong to a great family Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 30, 2017 Haasan worked with Rao in 1984 Hindi film Yaadgar. Shocked and saddened by the news of Dasari Narayana Rao Garu's passing away. May his soul rest in peace. Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 30, 2017 His death leaves a void that can never be filled. Prayers and strength with the whole family. Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 30, 2017 His death leaves a void that can never be filled. Prayers and strength with the whole family. Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 30, 2017 The person who treated me just the same during my first film and my 50th Such a tremendous loss. Rip Dasari sir Trisha Krishnan (@trishtrashers) May 30, 2017 Filmmaker Puri Jagannadh described his death as an "end of an era" RIP Dasari Narayana Rao garu. One of the daring & bold voices of Telugu society. Fortunate to have have spent time with him last year. Allu Sirish (@AlluSirish) May 30, 2017 Filmmaker Vamshi Paidipally said, "The legacy that you have left behind will live on forever sir." Reacting to the tragic news, filmmaker Sreenu Vaitla tweeted, "Saddened by the demise of Dasari Narayana Rao garu. The industry has lost a pillar of support .You will always live in our hearts sir." Megastar Chiranjeevi, in a statement from China, said he was "extremely shook by the unbelievable loss". "My last and impactful memory with him was when I met him on his birthday, a few days ago, to present the Allu Ramalingaiah award. His demise is a person loss to each one of us and I will forever carry his warmth, affection and fondness for me in my heart," he added. The National Award-winning filmmaker holds a record of directing over 125 films and producing 50 others. Some of his best films include Premabhishekam, Meghasandesham, Osey Ramulamma and Tata Manavadu among others. He had recently announced his plans to make a biopic on the late actor and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth's jeep from his upcoming Tamil film Kaala, being directed by Pa Ranjith, will be given to businessman Anand Mahindra for a planned auto museum upon completion of the entire shoot, its producer Dhanush said. Anand Mahindra, Executive Chairman of Mahindra group, expressed his desire to store the jeep as a collector's item in his auto museum. "When the legend Rajinikanth uses a car as a throne, it becomes a legend. Whoever knows the whereabouts of the used car for this shoot, please let us know. I'd like to acquire it for our company auto museum," Mahindra wrote on his Twitter page. He also shared one of the posters of the film in which Rajinikanth is seen seated on the jeep, against the backdrop of Dharavi slum. In response to his tweet, Dhanush wrote, "Thank you so much sir! The vehicle is being used by superstar for shoot currently. Once completed will ensure it reaches you." Then Mahindra responded: "Fanatastic. Or maybe I should say - Wunderbar! Appreciate the response Dhanush. Good luck to you and the team." "Wunderbar" is a reference to Dhanush's production banner Wunderbar Films. When the legend @superstarrajini uses a car as a throne, it becomes a legend...#Thar pic.twitter.com/m13OM7xGK0 anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 29, 2017 Fanatastic. Or maybe I should say-Wunderbar! Appreciate the response @dhanushkraja Good luck to you and the team. https://t.co/vbx27RYECe anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 30, 2017 Whoever knows the whereabouts of the #Thar used for this shoot please let us know. I'd like to acquire it for our company auto museum pic.twitter.com/EJd6ndfP6r anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 29, 2017 When a Twitter user asked Mahindra about the musuem, he said, "It's being planned. Cars being curated. Will most likely be in Kandivali, Mumbai." Kaala is currently being shot in Mumbai, and it stars Huma Qureshi as Rajinikanth's love interest. It also features Anjali Patil, Nana Patekar, Samuthirakani and Sakshi Aggarwal in key role Academy award winner actor Robert De Niro, received an honorary doctorate of fine arts on 30 May at Brown University in Rhode Island. During the commencement ceremony speech, De Niro addressed the students and said that the US has become a "tragic, dumbass" comedy after Donald Trump took to become the president and urged them to "work to stop the insanity", reports The Guardian. Speaking to the students he said, "When you started school, the country was an inspiring, uplifting drama. You are graduating into a tragic, dumbass comedy. My advice is to lock the [universitys] Van Wickle Gates and stay here. But if you do leave, work for the change. Work to stop the insanity. Start now so the class of 2018 will graduate into a better world. Actor Robert De Niro tells graduates in commencement speech that they are graduating into a country that is like a "tragic, dumbass comedy. pic.twitter.com/bGg0r6f4vC CNN (@CNN) May 30, 2017 De Niro has been strongly opposing Trump and his policies for quite some time now. Huffington Post, in one of its pieces, says that last month while promoting the Tribeca Film Festival, De Niro bluntly criticised Trump's proposal to eliminate both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which in simpler words meant putting an end to funding from various arts programs. While speaking on the show Good Day New York, De Niro said, I cant articulate it well enough other than to say its ridiculous. Its idiotic. This guy has sullied the presidency. Hes debased the presidency. Its just beyond surreal what this guy has done. By Ila Ananya Is there sexism in the comedy industry as well? Anupama Chopra probably knew the answer to this question before she asked the six comedians sitting with her, in an episode for Film Companion. Perhaps, Chopra expected what followed as well five male comics talking over the only woman comic at the table, discussing with irritating obliviousness the details of this problem that made their work (and lives) a lot easier. The problem that most of them to be clear didnt think existed. Also read on Firstpost Sexism in stand-up comedy? No laughing matter, as this Anupama Chopra-led panel proves Its been a few days since a clip of this almost-manel conversation between comics Aditi Mittal, Tanmay Bhat, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Kanan Gill, Vipul Goyal and Zakir Khan started doing the rounds. Unsurprisingly, women sharing the almost 10-minute-long video are a lot more outraged and cringing at its heavy irony, while men the around hissed feminazi in a sustained monotone. After all, it was a straight enough question, with a straight enough answer. So straight that you think these relatively successful, relatively young men would have some neat enough public spiel. But no, this is what the scene looked like instead. Is this comedy space more sexist than other fields in this country? Chopra first asked Mittal. Shed just made a reference to Amazon Primes unbelievable decision in January this year to sign up 14 male Indian comics and stream their content. In case anyone had any doubts about sexism, you just had to see what happened next. Just when Mittal was about to speak, superman Vipul Goyal jumped right in to defend Amazon Primes decision. He was then followed by Tanmay Bhat (Speak, sir, Chopra irritatingly said to him), and then Biswa, all of whom, in their most roundabout fashion, said nothing in particular. At the end of the painful 10 minutes that this video lasted, Mittal had spoken for a little more than four. She was miraculously calm, sarcastically ripping into everything the men around her had said (Oh, can I speak now, is it okay? she began), while they remained stone-faced and passive. If this conversation annoyed you for its predictable turn, then I suggest you dont read the infuriating comments under Biswas Facebook post (from back in January) about being one of the 14 chosen comedians. Some men claimed women were just not funny, and their comments were liked. But the first woman commenter to accurately say that Amazon had played straight into dudes privileging dudes to sustain dude-dom was attacked. Men began to screech reverse sexism (Im not sure how), arguing that it was purely business, while someone else claimed that Akhilesh Yadav should make reservations in stand-ups his election plank. (Actually a good point because, of course, you dont see gender or caste in an establishment that favours you, the dudes.) The men commenting seemed convinced by the truth of their argument what did it matter that the sexism was present in large companies choosing not to invest in women comedians? Whats really on display at the end of Film Companions video is this same ease and obliviousness with which male comedians seem to rattle off answers about sexism as though theyre on autopilot. Theres no recognition of any kind of privilege. At the most, Bhat says he thinks there needs to be more representation. Oh, really? By this point youre wondering why youre even watching male comedians discuss rampant sexism in their industry when their first response is either to mansplain, or to conveniently wash their hands off it. So when Mittal sarcastically said, Nahi nahi, tum sabke opinion bohot important hain [No, all your opinions are very important]; Im listening and learning a lot about what its like to be a woman in comedy from this table, Goyal continued right on with his so-important comments. Like all the men on Biswas Facebook post, Goyal also conveniently blamed Amazons decision on a deal between them and Only Much Louder, an easy cop out, as one Twitter user pointed out. In all his wisdom, Biswa attributed the Amazon screw-up to situational outcomes: The deal happened because these 14 people happened to have the same manager. And the female comics didnt have an hour of material. Its just a situational outcome, and its unfortunate, he said. Perhaps, if theyd just let Mittal tell her side of the story before rattling off their responses, theyd see, as she pointed out, that its tougher for women comedians to get any kind of investment in what she called the comedy brotherhood the boy gang that was always going to help elevate each other. While this is one end of the problem, theres also Mittals explanation of why she puts up very few videos of herself doing stand-up on YouTube. I cant see another 100 comments about how my camel toe is showing when theres no camel in the frame. I cant hear about how Im shouting and being bitchy, she said, and her description was met with uncomfortable silence from the men at the table. It reminded me of Mittals interview with Times of India, where she described how shes expected to be cool with sexist jokes because shes a comedian, like the time a host at the open mic made a vulgar comment about her breasts when her show wasnt going well. Or how she was told she only got her opportunities because she was a woman. In another interview, comedian Neeti Palta also said that there was once a man in the audience who thought it important to say that he could sleep with her 50 times in under two minutes. Essentially, everyone seemed out to prove that we are uncomfortable with women on stage, using a mic to take control of their narrative in the way that they choose. After the first time Mittal got a chance to speak in this discussion, Biswa graciously said that its true that there are much fewer women comedians than men in the industry. Patronisingly, he followed this with, I dont know how to solve it because I cant figure out why! Yes, why? Chopra asked, and all the men at the table giggled in agreement. Its whats going to happen if you ask a boys' club why its a boys' club. Watch the video here: The Ladies Finger (TLF) is a leading online womens magazine Universal Pictures released the trailer of the film Victoria & Abdul, starring Dame Judi Dench and Ali Fazal in the lead roles, on 30 May 2017. The film is based on the book of the same name by the author Shrabani Basu. It is an account of the the extraordinary friendship between the monarch and her servant. In a piece by The Telegraph, it stated that Queen Victoria's relationship with her 24-year-old Indian servant (in the year 1888), named Abdul Karim, was one of the most scandalous chapters in her 64-year Imperial rule. Word of their relationship spread like a wildfire across the royal court and the British empire. It is said after the death of the Queen, her son King Edward got all the evidence letters, photographs, etc, to be destroyed. But a few years back, the diary of Karim resurfaced, which his family had managed to keep as a hidden secret for many years. That diary had letters and pictures from his time in England where he served the Queen, as her loyal servant. Victoria & Abdul looks promising (at least through the trailer) and is successful in creating the era within which the film is based. Dench fits her part; this is her second time she plays Queen Victoria, as she had earlier played the role in 1997 film Mrs Brown. She has carried herself with dignity in 17th century attire and looks very real. The Queen, who had half the world under her feet, is shown to be exhausted and exasperated with all the political affairs she's handled. Through Karim, she sort of rediscovers herself, the world around her and finds new goals to look forward to - learning Urdu, knowledge about the 'exotic fruit or the Queen of Fruits' mangoes - in her aim to be the true ruler of the Indian subcontinent. Fazal, as Karim, is a delight to watch. The costumes, his look - all of it creates an old-Victorian nostalgia that still lingers around the present India. The scenes with both of them are pleasant and humorous at the same time. Fazal and Dench manage to create that charm on screen. It is going to be really exciting how the entire film comes out to be. The film, directed by Stephen Frears is slated to release on 15 September 2017. Kolkata: Actor Vikram Chatterjee, who was previously accused of rash and negligent driving, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the death of city model Sonika Chauhan in a car accident, police on Tuesday. "Chatterjee has been charged under Section 304 of the IPC on Tuesday after police received a forensic report that shows the speed of the car was between 95 to 115 km per hour a few seconds before the accident," said Vishal Garg, Joint Commissioner, Crime, Kolkata police. The actor was previously charged with rash driving (Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code) and causing death by negligence (Section 304 A) after the accident, police said. During the previous interrogation, he confessed to having consumed alcohol on the night of the accident, but claimed that he was not drunk and the car was not speeding. Chatterjee was on the wheels of his car while his partner Sonika was on the front seat when the accident happened on a south Kolkata street on their way back from a party on 29 April. Sonika was rushed to a city hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The actor himself sustained head injury in the accident and was hospitalised. Srinagar: After three days of curfew, restrictions and separatist-called protest shutdowns, life returned to normal in the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday. Although higher secondary schools and colleges in Srinagar city and other districts were shut by authorities to prevent student protests, most of daily life resumed as usual. Shops, public transport, banks, post offices, government offices and other businesses started functioning in Srinagar on Wednesday morning. Pedestrian and vehicular movement brought the city back to its hustle and bustle, which was missing in the past three days. Taxis carrying tourists to Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Gulmarg and other destinations also started early morning as boatmen on the Dal Lake looked forward to a busy schedule after three days off work. Authorities did not impose curfew or restrictions anywhere in the city. Separatists have also not issued any new protest programmes. They had called for two days of complete shutdown on Sunday and Monday before calling for a protest march to Tral town on Tuesday. The march to Tral, hometown of slain Hizbul commander Sabzar Bhat, was to offer fourth day funeral prayer (fateha) for Bhat and his associate Faizan Ahmad, who were killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Saimough village of Pulwama district on Saturday. Bhat had succeeded Burhan Wani as the Hizbul commander, after Wani was killed in a gunfight in Kokarnag area of Anantnag district on 8 July, 2016. Wani's death triggered a summer of discontent and months of violence in Kashmir that left nearly a hundred people dead. After it was reported that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was unaware of India's first three cases of Zika virus infection being reported from Ahmedabad, it turns out that the Zika infection being ignored could be a result of something more sinister than ignorance. A report in The Hindu said that the Vibrant Gujarat Summit "was a factor" in the decision to hush up news about the Zika infections. The report said that because a travel advisory during the time the Vibrant Gujarat Summit was being held could have ruined the summit, the advisory was not issued. The Hindu said that two of its sources, one of whom is highly placed in the health ministry, confirmed this. On the other hand, the Gujarat government had earlier denied charges of covering up the cases of Zika infections. "Since they were just isolated cases not connected to each other and there was no outbreak, we didn't inform the civic body about the specific samples testing positive for Zika virus to avoid panic," NDTV quoted health secretary JP Gupta as saying. The mosquito-borne virus was detected in one man and two women of the industrial suburb of Bapunagar area in Ahmedabad. First, it was detected in a 64-year-old man in February 2016, next in a 34-year-old new mother in November and the last in a 22-year-old pregnant mother in January 2017. On 26 May, the WHO published a report which said: "On 15 May, 2017, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, reported three laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika virus disease in Bapunagar area, Ahmedabad district, Gujarat. The routine laboratory surveillance detected a laboratory-confirmed case of Zika virus disease through RT-PCR test at (state government-run) BJ Medical College." Despite the discovery, the state government did not alert the city municipal corporation. Bhavin Joshi, medical officer of health at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), had told IANS: "We do not have any intimation from the ministry or the state government in this matter. No new cases or abnormalities have been reported in the recent past." With inputs from IANS State-owned energy behemoth Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. has issued a show cause notice to Bihar health minister Tej Pratap Yadav for allegedly acquiring a petrol pump illegally in Patna. Son of former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad, the show cause was issued and delivered by hand to Tej Pratap on Tuesday. The show cause notice comes at a time when the Lalu Prasad clan is under the scanner for allegedly amassing property through unfair means. On 16 May, the I-T department raided 22 places in and around Delhi in connection with the alleged benami property deals involving Lalu Prasad and his children Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, health minister Tej Pratap and Misa Bharti, who is a Rajya Sabha member. The show cause, which was issued following a complaint by an individual Chandrasekhar and others on 28 April this year, alleged that the Bihar health minister does not own the plot on which the fuel station is located. "... it was alleged that in your application that you had falsely declared that you have land for retail outlet, whereas the real owner of the said land was M/s A K Infosystems who had never given the lease to you. It is further stated in the complaint that on the date of submission of the said application for retail outlet i.e. on 12.01.2012, you were neither the shareholder nor the director of the said M/s A K Infosystems. It was also stated in the said complaint that M/s A K Infosystems never entered into any lease with you," the show cause notice said. The petrol pump is located on the Anishabad Bypass Road in Patna and is named Lara Automobiles. The petrol pump was commissioned on 27 February this year. The company said that with Tej Pratap now rendering his duties as a minister in the state government it also violates Clause 7 of the 'Brochure for selection of petrol/diesel retail outlet dealers'. Making it compulsory for the dealer to supervise the fuel station in person, the Clause 7 said, "7. Personal Supervision by Dealer: An applicant selected for the RO Dealership shall be paying attention toward day to day working of the dealership by personally managing the affairs of the dealership. He/She will not be eligible for taking up any other employment. If the selected person is already employed he/she will have to resign from the employment prior to appointment as dealer." The show cause notice also made it clear that strict actions would be taken if the allegations made against the Bihar health minister are found to be true. "... we observed that you are at present discharging the duty of Minister for Health, Minor Water Resources, Environment and Forest of the state of Bihar which may suggest that you are not in a position to carry out the obligations contained in the agreement personally. Since you are currently discharging the functions of Minister for Health, Minor Water Resources, Environment and Forest of the state of Bihar, the same may amount to violation of the clause 10 (t) and selected guidelines.... the allegations in the complaint and the observations above are serious in nature and if found to be true may lead to cancellation or termination of the DPSL agreement under reference," the notice said. The Dispensing Pump and Selling License (DPSL) agreement which was effective from the date of commission of the facility clearly states in Clause 10 (t) that the licensee is in agreement with the company "to carry out obligations contained in this agreement personally and not to take up or continue any other employment." The show cause notice gave 15 days time to Tej Pratap to explain his position failing which the company warned of penalty including cancellation of the dealership. On 5 May, senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had claimed that RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son Tej Pratap was illegally allotted a petrol pump in Bihar capital Patna. Modi had alleged that Tej Pratap was allotted a petrol pump after fake documents were furnished in connivance with an official of the oil company. "Tej Pratap did not have 43 dismil of land on New Bypass Road in 2011 when he had appeared for an interview before the petrol pump," he said. However, A K Infosystem on 9 January, 2012 gave 136 dismil of land on lease at the same place for opening a petrol pump to Tej Pratap's younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Modi alleged adding that as per the lease deed Tejashwi cannot "sub-let" the said land. The application for petrol pump was made by Tej Pratap but the land was allotted to Tejashwi, he said. "How can Tej Pratap be allotted a petrol pump when he had neither land nor the lease of the land in his name? The matter must be probed thoroughly. I will also request the Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to get the matter probed," the senior BJP leader had said. "I have been for the past one month exposing Lalu Prasad and his family's corrupt deals but neither the state government has initiated any probe or action into the matter nor Prasad denied allegations of corruption," the former deputy chief minister said. Modi, the Opposition leader in the Legislative Council, had announced that the party will also hold "dharnas" across the state and demand probe into the allegations against Lalu Prasad and his family for allegedly acquiring hundreds of crores of benami properties. Reacting sharply to Modi's allegation, the RJD described the allegation as "half-baked" information that would expose him (Modi) in the future. "A desperate Sushil Modiji is trying to invent illegality into matters which stand miles away. The land is on lease to Bharat Petroleum," RJD's national spokesman Manojh Jha had said. "He must realise that a little and half baked knowledge shall only expose him further as happened in case of his so-called soil scam allegation at zoo. And the referred pump is not even operational," Jha had said. With inputs from PTI Bhopal: Twelve persons were arrested and extra security forces deployed in the Madhya Pradesh capital on Wednesday, after communal clashes broke out in the city on Tuesday night that saw rival groups resort to stone pelting and arson over a religious dispute. "The situation is under control now. Police has been deployed in the Peer Gate and other areas. Twelve persons have been arrested," Deputy Inspector General of Police Raman Singh Sikarwar told IANS. Trouble broke out after some religious vestiges were found during digging for construction within the Hamidia Hospital situated in Old Bhopal. According to police, a religious group claimed the presence of the relics, which led to tension between the two religious groups. Both sides resorted to stone pelting and arson near Peer Gate late on Tuesday night. Local residents said that tension had been building up between the two groups from the past two days ever since the discovery of the 'relics'. The Tuesday night violence saw property damaged as well as vehicles set on fire. The Rapid Action Force was called after the situation got worse. Police used lathi-charge and lobbed teargas to disperse the crowd. They also fired in the air. Some policemen were injured in the violence. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a tweet that people disrupting the peace would be strictly dealt with.Earlier, Singh had asked Bhopal resident to ignore rumours and help the authorities maintain peace. Patna: Bihar's education system is reeling with the news 66 percent students who took the Class XII Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) exams this year have failed. Two girls committed suicide and another attempted suicide after failing the exam. Reports of more suicides are coming in from the state, as well as protests by students who failed to clear the Class XII exams, after authorities put in place stringent measures this year against rampant cheating. Surprisingly, out of the 12.61 lakh students who appeared in the BSEB exams this year, only 4.37 lakh or 34.65 percent passed the exams while over 8 lakh have failed. Last year, 11.55 lakh students appeared in the exam and 7.18 lakh or 62.19 percent cleared it. The reports of suicides come after nearly 70 percent of those who took the Class XIIScience stream exams of BSEB failed, while 76 percent students who took the arts exam failed. The only silver lining was that 73.76 percent students appearing in the commerce stream exams passed. According to police officials, a girl student (Kiran Kumari) committed suicide by jumping in front of a train at Raghnathpur railway station in Buxar district. "She was depressed after she failed in the Class XII arts exams of the BSEB and ended her life," police said. Her body was recovered from the railway track by government railway police and sent for post-mortem and her family informed. Another girl student (Aarti Kumar) committed suicide by hanging herself at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district after she failed in the Class XII science exams. "She was staying at her maternal uncle's home to pursue education for last few years as she originally is from Shahebganj in Jharkhand. Her family and relatives are shocked," a police official said. In Sheikhpura district, a girl attempted to commit suicide after she failed in the Class XII science exam of BSEB but was rescued by a close family member. "She has confessed that she tried to end her life after she failed in the exams," a district police official said. Unconfirmed reports reaching from different districts suggest that at least half a dozen students have attempted to commit suicide in Bihar, after they failed in their Class XII BSEB exams. "Those who have failed in Class XII exams of the BSEB this time account for over 8 lakh, it is a big number. Their frustration, depression and anger may create more trouble for the state government in coming days," an education department official told IANS on condition of not being quoted. He said that a group of students who failed in Class XII staged violent protest in Saharsa district on Tuesday evening. "There may be more such protests by students who have failed," he added. According to BSEB, the science stream, which saw only 30.11 percent students pass, had an average of 44.66 percent marks scored. Last year, when the new rules against cheating were not in place, the state board exams saw 67.06 percent science students pass, while the arts stream saw 80.87 percent students pass. However, politics has also begun over the drastic fall in pass percentage of the BSEB. The opposition BJP has demanded resignation of Education Minister Ashok Choudhary and blamed him for the poor results. "Bihar education minister Choudhary should resign. He is responsible for the high percentage of failed students in Class XII," BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said. Ruling JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar defended the strict measures against cheating. He asked BJP leaders whether they wanted the state government not to take strict measures against cheating or was the BJP for allowing cheating in exams. "The BJP's double face has been exposed again. When some irregularities were pointed out last year in the Class 12 results in the state, the BJP attacked the state government for not taking strict measures. Now it is questioning the same measures," Kumar said. Principal Secretary of education department RK Mahajan as well as BSEB chairman Anand Kishore have admitted that the poor pass percentage is a result of strict measures against cheating in exams. "We have not allowed cheating and conducted free and fair exams," they said. Kishore pointed that for the first time the board code was used with answer sheets to ensure no unfair means during evaluation and it was easy to identify the answer sheets once uploaded. A senior official of the board said the drastic fall in pass percent rate vindicated their bid to conduct a cheating-free exam this time. This year, CCTV cameras were installed at entrance of examination halls and videography conducted throughout the duration of the examinations. Use of all communication gadgets, including mobile phones, inside the examination halls was disallowed. Mass cheating in board exams has been reported in Bihar for years. Every year, the media carries images of cheating going on at exam centres, showing scores of people climbing through windows to hand over cheating material to examinees with impunity. Last year, the topper scam tarnished the name of the Bihar education system. Ruby Rai had topped last year's Class XII examination conducted by the BSEB in humanities stream. She got into trouble after a sting by a TV news channel showed her giving ludicrous answers to elementary questions related to her subjects. The Class XII science stream topper Saurabh Shreshtha was also caught on camera giving wrong answers to basic science questions about his subjects. The sting suggested that the 'toppers' might have used cheating and fraud to achieve their top ranks. Both Ruby and Saurabh belonged to VR College in Vaishali district. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Bihar police arrested over 30 people, including former BSEB chairman, in the connection. Ruby was also arrested and later released on bail. The BJP government in Assam may find it hard to enforce the ban on sale of cattle for slaughter, given the age-old tradition of buffalo sacrifice followed at the venerable Kamakhya Hindu temple. The BJP has already found it hard to implement the ban due to legal hurdles, after a stay ordered by the Madras High Court. And in Kamakhya, it may run into culture and tradition as well. "Animals and birds, including buffalo, have been sacrificed in the temple since ages," said a source in the shrine, requesting anonymity. He added that the devotees of the goddess bring along buffaloes, goats, pigeons and ducks to the temple, and have these sacrificed at the temple premises. "But these devotees purchase these birds and animals from a market outside. The new rule brought in by the Centre bans sale of cattle, including buffaloes, in an open market if it was meant for slaughter. As per the amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, "nobody can bring cattle to an animal market unless he or she has furnished a written declaration that the cattle will not be sold for the purpose of slaughter. Further, upon sale of cattle, the animal market committee will take an "undertaking" that the animals are for agricultural purposes and not for slaughter." If this new rule is to be followed in letter and spirit in Assam, nobody can buy buffaloes at the Kamakhya temple, a situation which might cost the BJP politically. Though the Madras High Court has stayed the rule temporarily, fear looms large that it might take a hit on the age-old tradition of buffalo sacrifice at the Kamakhya temple. Kabindra Dev Sharma, a priest in the temple and a "Doloi", who is a part of the temple's administration for the Pujas, told Firstpost that religious institutions should be kept outside the ambit of such rules. "The government should focus on banning selling of meat in shops and not on sacrifices made at religious institutions," he said. He added that animal rights activists have tried to stop the practice in the past, but were not successful. It has even resulted in a change.org petition, but to no avail. Even the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, that looks after the city's cattle market, is unaware of the new rule. Mrigen Saraniya, GMC mayor, told Firstpost that he has yet not received any order to implement the new rule. "We will implement as soon as we receive an order to do so," he said. When asked how the GMC plans to monitor the sale of buffaloes meant for sacrifice, as the new rule does not permit sale of cattle for slaughter, he evaded the question. "If sacrifice of buffaloes at the Kamakhya temple is to be stopped by this new rule, 'Qurbani' of cows during Eid has also to be stopped. The law is equal for everyone." The Catch-22 situation for BJP in Assam is that even if it does implement the rule strictly, it is likely to refresh the debate regarding animal sacrifice in the Kamakhya temple, thereby pushing the party in an awkward situation. On the other hand, if it doesn't implement the rule strictly, it would be caught defying the Centre. When asked how the government will proceed with this new rule, state transport minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, who is otherwise known for being vocal, also shied away from providing a straight answer. "As of now I cannot answer this question. I will have to tell this to you later. Call me after three days; I will be out of station during this period," he said. But even before the new ban was drafted by the Centre, the rise of cattle vigilantism meant sale and supply of animals was already hit hard in the Northeast. Naeem Khan, who used to earn Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 by selling cows and buffaloes in markets in neighbouring Meghalaya state and would also supply buffaloes meant for sacrifice at the Kamakhya temple, told Firstpost that the cattle trade has almost stopped. Referring to the rise of "gaurakshaks", he said, "I have left the cattle trade, as there is no more 'peace' in this business." The trade is likely to dip further if more traders leave the business. Dravida Nadu, a hypothetical sovereign state for Tamil-speaking south Indians, was first introduced into Indian politics in the late 1930s, when the Justice Party, led by Periyar EV Ramaswamy and his politically and emotionally charged followers, argued for it. Dravida Nadu, and the movement for it, draws its roots from the anti-Brahminism movement in Tamil Nadu. Though the early demands of this movement were limited to social equality and greater power and control, over time, it came to include a separatist movement, demanding a sovereign state for the Tamil people. Initially, the demand was limited to forming a Tamil-speaking region. However, as the movement gained support, it expanded to include other Indian states with Dravidian-language speakers in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and even some parts of Sri Lanka, Orissa and Maharashtra. Even though the Dravida Nadu movement reached its height with anti-Hindi and anti-Brahmin protests in the 1940s and 1960s, there were not many takers for it later on as the then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, declared secessionism an illegal act in 1963. Now, five decades later, with the Central government amending animal welfare rules to regulate cattle trade, a spark has been rekindled in the Dravida Nadu movement at least on social media. The new ordinance brought in by the Centre made cattle sale for slaughter in animal markets illegal, irking Left parties and the larger Dravidian lot in the south. Leading the resistance, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged his counterparts to raise their voice against the restrictions on cattle trade, saying that the Centre's "anti-federal, anti-democratic and anti-secular move" is an attempt to usurp power from the state governments. In a letter to his counterparts, he said that the ban would affect the livelihood of millions of people, especially those in the farming sector. Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vijayan said he did not need a "lesson in food habits from New Delhi or Nagpur". "The state government will give all facilities to people to have food of their choice. There is no need for Keralites to learn it from anybody in New Delhi or Nagpur." The RSS is headquartered in Nagpur. Interestingly, inspired by Vijayan's move, pro-Dravida Nadu thinkers have reignited their 'dreams'. The hashtag #DravidaNadu was trending on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon. A Dravida Nadu proponent, who is spearheading the movement on social media and goes by the name Comrade Nambiar on Twitter, said that it is not a new thing. "Dravida Nadu was something I tweeted about along with other folks under United Southern Democratic Republics (USDR). The 'beef ban' started a surge of sub-nationalism and became viral," Nambiar said, adding that in Kerala, the stand is not that of separation and secession but more of federation and decentralisation. "The Kerala chief minister has managed to put himself on the offensive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, in Tamil Nadu, the dynamics are much more different and the reactions to whatever Delhi doles out are seen with an imperialist lens," he added. Another supporter of the movement on Twitter said that Dravida Nadu is only now being taken as a "serious" notion. "Until recently, it was at best a flippant joke. Now that the idea is being tested, the notion of Dravida Nadu is coming up as more than a joke." However, he added that it is incorrect to attribute specific events like the 'beef ban' as the reasons behind the social churn. "The angst against a belligerent Central government has been building up and events like the Jallikattu ban and now the 'beef ban' have catalysed the anger. Ideas like Dravida Nadu are an expression of that anger," he said, adding that Vijayan has awakened a lot of people and reminded them of the federalism enshrined in the Constitution. Another Dravida Nadu supporter, who goes by the name Puli Aarasan, said that 'beef ban' has triggered this recent Dravida Nadu call. However, he added that even though Dravida Nadu might have its own linguistic, cultural, political differences, Delhi can break this coalition in a matter of days. Meanwhile, Sanal Mohan P, an associate professor at the School of Social Sciences in Mahatma Gandhi University, said that the Dravida Nadu theory was not very powerful in Kerala for a variety of historical reasons, although terms such as Dravidian and others were put into different uses right from the early twentieth century. "Unlike the Tamil region, the modern politics in Kerala articulated a different set of issues. However, if we go by the history of social movements in Kerala, I think it was the castes below the Ezhavas in the hierarchy that used terms such as Dravida. The classic case is that of the movement of Sabha Raj which is referred to as DCUF (Dravida Class United Front), which is a Dalit organisation," Sanal said. According to Sanal, Dravida Nadu is not a secessionist movement. "Often Dravidian parties become champions of orthodoxy which among others include complete allegiance to the dominant nationalism in India. Sometimes it is very much majoritarianism. It is a positive and righteous movement as the idea is to restore the autonomy of food culture," he added. The professor said that the responses induced by the perceived beef ban are of a different order. "What we are witnessing is the resistance to a Brahmanic mode of belonging to the nation. Therefore, it is necessary to resist it. However, what is required is a different set of ideas that would help rework the idea of the nation," the professor said, adding that beef eating was also an issue of class and caste. Already in India, 18 states have banned the slaughter of cattle. Three states require permits for the slaughter of cattle and seven states allow cattle to be killed. On Tuesday, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court stayed the Centre's ordinance regulating cattle sale in an interim order. The court, issuing notices to state and central governments, directed them to offer their replies in four weeks. Within hours of the court order, Sooraj R, a researcher at IIT Madras, was reportedly abused physically for taking part in a beef festival organised in the campus on Tuesday. On Wednesday, his alleged attacker, Manish Kumar, too was admitted to the hospital, following an alleged attack by the union that Sooraj belonged to. Students at IIT Madras have been protesting in and outside campus since Wednesday morning. New Delhi: The Central Government which has run the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign actually missed the point by not exempting tax on sanitary napkins under the GST, the Congress said on Tuesday, accusing the Centre of not being gender sensitive. The Congress said on one hand India was on its way to script history by implementing the GST, but on the other women empowerment remained completely ignored. The BJP government, despite repeated demands, has failed to make the GST 'gender sensitive', Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev said. "The government is insensitive to the demand of half of India's population by not exempting the tax on sanitary napkins," she said. Dev, who spearheaded a campaign for exempting sanitary napkins from imposition of tax, said the GST could have been instrumental in making an important intervention by making sanitary napkins tax free or minimally taxed. Dev said she had put forth a petition in this regard which was supported by more than than two lakh men and women, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. "A government that runs a campaign 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' actually missed the point. While child sex ratio and high percentage of women staying out of the education system was targeted under this slogan the complete non-application of mind is apparent," she said in a statement. "In my meeting with Union ministers JP Nadda, Maneka Gandhi and Arun Jaitley, no one seemed to disagree that menstruation is still a stigma," she said, lamenting that only 12 percent women in the country use napkins and poor menstrual hygiene is a cause of serious health issues and death for women especially in rural India. Dev said affordability and accessibility are two primary reasons for such dismal figures of women using hygienic napkins. She also noted that equality of opportunity cannot be a reality unless girls are equipped with better access to these opportunities. She also said that poor menstrual hygiene impacts women's 'Right to Life'. Dev said menstruation is an involuntary physical process outside the control of women and use of napkins is a necessity and yet the GST council did not treat it at par with other essential commodities. The Congress leader said the Constitution permits special laws for women and children and yet the demand of half the population of India of making sanitary affordable and tax-free was rejected by the BJP-led government. One of the students who led the beef protest at IIT Madras in Chennai was assaulted allegedly by students from a right-wing group, according to a report in Times Now. #BeefFest organiser violently attacked by right-wing students of Indian Institute of Technology Madras for conducting the fest on campus pic.twitter.com/VUDcaoP0XM News18 (@CNNnews18) May 30, 2017 Sooraj beaten very badly for organising the beef event, complaint has been filed; It's a very difficult and scary situation: An IIT student News18 (@CNNnews18) May 30, 2017 The M.Tech student, Sooraj, is associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, the news channel reported. He was allegedly one of the main organisers of the beef protest. Sooraj's left eye was seriously injured and he was rushed to the the Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital. Sooraj, who helped organise the beef protest, reportedly went to the dean and informed him that the students would be holding the event. Sooraj was reportedly having lunch when a bunch of IIT students surrounded him and asked him if he'd participated in the beef fest. Abhinav, a friend of Sooraj told Times Now, "The students who attacked him are a part of campus. They have been threatening students, saying they'll attack them and even kill them. Five to six people beat him up. We've taken this up with the dean, who has assured us of serious action." On Sunday, IIT Madras students organised a beef fest to protest against the Centre's new beef trade regulation. According to India Today, more than 80 students supported the cause by participating in this fest, calling the Centre's idea "food fascism". Beijing: China on Tuesday welcomed India's reported decision to reject Australia's request to join this year's Malabar naval exercises saying the security concerns of the different parties should be taken into account while holding such drills. "I have seen the relevant reports on the refusal made by India for the invitation. I think India is also clear about the consideration behind this behaviour," Hua Chunying told media briefing reacting to a report that India has rejected Australia's request to join as observer to avoid backlash from China. She however did not elaborate on India's "consideration" in rejecting Australia's request to join the naval exercises scheduled to be held in July in the Bay of Bengal. "But I think we are happy to see normal dialogue and communications on security issues. But we also hope that when conducting such operations, the parties can fully consider the security concerns of the different parties and also play a positive and constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability," Hua said. The Malabar exercise started in 1992 with the US and India in the Indian Ocean. Since Japan joined in 2007, it has alternated between the West Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Media reports said India has rejected Australia's request to send naval ships to join as observer. The three countries held their largest ever joint exercise off Japanese coast, which involved 11 vessels and 8,000 personnel. Last year Chinese media sharply criticised the Malabar exercises saying that they are designed to target China. "Such a large-scale military exercise was obviously designed to target China's submarine activities in the East and South China Seas in recent years, promote the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and cement the US presence in the region," an article in the state run Global said last year. "Washington brought New Delhi and Tokyo into the exercise to relieve its pressure due to overstretched military presence around the globe and tighten its grip on the Asia-Pacific region," it had said. After creating havoc in Bangladesh, Cyclone Mora has hit the North East on Tuesday afternoon. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in large parts of Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. A press release by IMD states that gale wind speed reaching 60 to 80 kilometres per hour would prevail over Mizoram and Tripura on 30 and 31 May. Squally winds speed reaching 45-65 kilometre per hour would prevail over South Assam, Meghalaya Manipur and along and off West Bengal cost on Wednesday. Heavy rainfall warning has also been issued in Odisha and West Bengal. As per Hindustan Times, strong winds and heavy showers lashed much of Mizoram on Tuesday, damaging at least 80 buildings, including the district hospital in Siaha, the headquarters of the southernmost Saiha district, and 10 houses including a church was damaged in Sechhip district. A low pressure belt that had earlier formed over Southeast Bay of Bengal on 26 May quickly took the form of a cyclonic storm intensity, earning it the name of 'Mora', meaning 'Star of the Sea' in Thai language. The cyclone reportedly hit Bangladeshs Cox Bazar district on 6 am on Tuesday. Authorities were still battling to evacuate more than half a million people from the coastal areas. Four persons from Cox Bazar district and two including a child from Bhola district have been killed. According to India Today, Six fishing trawlers carrying at least 71 boatmen are also reportedly missing. INS Sumitra that was rushed for rescue operations to Bangladesh's Chittagong that was hit by Cyclone Mora, has rescued 18 persons so far. The search and rescue operation was taking place 90 miles south of Chittagong. With inputs from agencies Dhaka: The Indian Navy rescued 33 people from choppy seas off Bangladesh after Cyclone Mora wreaked havoc and killed at least nine persons and left over 50,000 families homeless. Indian Navy ship Sumitra rescued 33 people who were found adrift in the Bay of Bengal, about 160 kms from Chittagong.The Eastern Naval Command is deploying P-81 aircraft as part of its rescue operation in Bangladesh. The cyclone has affected over a quarter million people in the country, the disaster management ministry said. As many as 2,86,000 people in 16 coastal districts were affected by the storm, Additional Secretary Golam Mostafa was quoted as saying by bdnews24. Around 54,500 families have lost properties in the storm as nearly 60,000 houses have been damaged along with 1,592 acres of farmlands, he said. Cox's Bazar, the longest unbroken sea beach in the world, bore the brunt of the cyclone, with five people dead, over 20,000 houses destroyed and hundreds of trees uprooted, blocking roads all over the district.In Bhola district, an infant died while in Rangamati, a woman and a girl were crushed to death when trees fell on their houses. In Bandarban, a man was killed. At least 10 people were injured. Prime Minister Hasina appreciated her government, saying a quick response mechanism averted severe casualties and damages. "We are well capable of managing fallout from disasters. Cyclones and calamities will come. Our job is to take measures to avoid human losses.We are lucky as well since the storm hit the land during the ebb tide and as a result the storm surge did not become deadly," she said in the Parliament. Hasina said a number of houses and establishments were damaged as well as countless trees were uprooted. She said, "We are preparing a list of affected people who had lost their houses to extend hands in rebuilding their houses and establishments damaged by the cyclone." She also said that two navy ships had reached Kutubdia and Teknaf which are the worst affected areas to carry out relief operations, while helicopters were kept ready to operate in the areas if needed. Mora, packing winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour, made landfall in the country on tuesday, tearing through the southwest districts including low-lying areas. Authorities spearheaded a massive evacuation campaign as the meteorological department had issued the 'great danger signal no 10' in a scale of 10 as the tropical cyclone, brewed in the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal, proceeded towards the country's coastlines. Despite low casualty figure, the storm left behind a trail of destruction as thousands of people lost their houses. Thousands of Rohingya refugees hunkered down in the ruins of their camps waiting for help after a night in the rain with official saying the storm severely ravaged their makeshift shelters in Cox's Bazar which borders Myanmar. Authorities in Cox's Bazar and neighbouring Chittagong district evacuated some 350,000 people from low-lying areas before the storm struck when most Rohingyas remained in their flimsy shelters in the camps. Officials estimated that about 350,000 Rohingyas took refuge in Bangladesh following a new influx last October, when the Myanmar army launched an offensive in response to insurgent attacks. The meteorological department on Tuesday said that the severe cyclonic storm Mora moved northward over North Bay and started crossing Cox's Bazar-Chittagong coast. It was likely to move in a northerly direction further, it said. All flights were suspended to and from Chittagong international airport and the Cox's Bazar airports yesterday. As many as 3,00,000 people had been taken to shelters in more than 10 districts most vulnerable to the cyclone. The districts affected with the storm include Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barisal and Pirojpur. By late last night, the cyclone began losing strength. Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader has said that the government has disbursed cash assistance of 18.7 million taka for the affected areas. Bangladesh is often hit by bad storms between April and December that cause deaths and widespread destruction.Cyclone Roanu hit the southern coast of Bangladesh last year, leaving 20 people dead and forcing half a million to flee their homes.The Mora cyclone formed after heavy rains in Sri Lanka caused floods and landslides killing over 200 people. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar said two lakh villages across the country have become open defecation free so far. "In 2014, there were 44 percent toilets in the country. Today, this number has gone up to 64 percent. While we aim to make the country open defecation free by 2019, two lakh villages have become open defecation free so far," the rural development minister said. He was speaking at YB Chavan centre on the occasion of launch of a nationwide campaign 'Darwaza Band', which is aimed at promoting use of toilets and discouraging open air defecation. "Today we praise foreign nations for their cleanliness. After 2019, foreigners who come here should praise our cleanliness. That should be the kind of work we should do," the minister said. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was also present at the event, said all districts in Maharashtra are working speedily towards achieving an open defecation free status. "In the last one year, 19 lakh toilets were constructed (in the state). I assure you that among big states, Maharashtra will be the first to become open defecation free," he said. Cleanliness has increased by 35 percent in Maharashtra where 16,000 villages have become open defecation free, which amounts to 18 percent of total villages across the nation, the chief minister said. "200 out of 250 cities have achieved an open defecation free status. While all cities in the state will become open defecation free by 2017-end, entire Maharashtra will be free of open defecation 2018," he said. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is leading the 'Darwaza Band' campaign, said he was fortunate to be a part of it. "If my face and voice can be used to inculcate a sense of cleanliness among the masses, I will be most happy. People who defecate in the open should use toilets," he said. Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series on the demanding and unreasonably high cutoff levels imposed on students seeking entry into the country's preeminent colleges. India's nightmarish college admission process started on Monday, 29 May, 2017, reminding everyone there's little life in this round-the-clock stress if your marks are below 95 percent. In New Delhi India's National Capital, home to the prestigious Delhi University and its clutch of top-notch colleges, pandemonium prevailed as authorities asked those above 95 percent to wait for special orientation classes. They were the have-beens. The rest of have-nots were herded into a cacophonous auditorium where lecturers and counsellors kept reiterating something the students weren't ready to hear: Why it is important to look elsewhere if marks are below 95 percent. Everything the students were told revolved around the highly competitive cut-off marks, or the base grade, that students must get before paying their fees and walking into the classes after friendly bouts of ragging from the seniors. A large chunk of the crowd knew they were up for nothing. "Fill, fill, fill up the forms for all courses, you do not know what you will eventually get. Whatever comes is a bonus," screamed the counsellor. Among the crowds were many who had come to the University with specific aspirations. "I want to be an economist, know the marks will lead me nowhere. But I still came, hoping some colleges would have lowered the bar this year," said Preeti Singh, daughter of a farmer and a student from Delhi Public School, RK Puram in South Delhi. Her aggregate scores were a little less than 89 percent. The college she aspires, one of India's most prestigious, Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), had 100 percent as cut off marks in the first list last year for honours courses in commerce and humanities of which economics is a part and closed the list in the first shot unlike other colleges which had a second round, even a third round of admission roll calls. Worse, there are chances that the campus colleges will see a jump in cut-off this year for most courses as the number of students across India who scored 95 percent and above in the CBSE Class XII has seen a jump of around eight percent. "The cut-off marks will increase, we get applications from all over the country," says RP Rustagi, SRCC's officiating principal. Jaswinder Singh, principal of SGTB Khalsa College, adds to Rustagi's fears: "There will be no let down this year, it will be exactly like last year, perhaps a little worse." In Delhi, the number of students above 95 percent has gone down to 2,326 from last year's 2,927. Now, they will face a stiff challenge from those applying from across India because the number of students scoring 95 percent and above at all-India level has gone up by 740 this year. A total of 63,247 students got 90 percent and above, slightly down from 63,387 in 2016. Delhi University has 56,000 seats in undergraduate courses this year, 2,000 more than last year, the applicants are more than four times the number. This year, an estimated 350,000 students will apply for the seats. What is intriguing is that nearly 85 percent of applications received by Delhi Univeristy are from CBSE students. Suman Kumar, principal of Bluebells School in Delhi feels its all about mounting numbers and huge crowds of students seeking admissions for the best colleges. "It's a pity that the students have to suffer so much and it's high time the CBSE rethinks evaluation norms, and students must look for alternate options, pursue second or third choices and not get frustrated. But it's easier said than done," Kumar said. As a principal, she has been at the heart of this nightmarish process, she knows what students go through year after year in a system that refuses to change. Preeti Singh says she is now wondering whether her gruelling study schedules, frequent testing and round-the-clock stress was worth the visit to an university "where the doors are closed from the first day". Singh says she has no option but to take admission into a private college where the fees range between Rs 3,50,000 to 4,50,000 for an undergraduate course. "My parents, who almost bled for more than a decade to educate me, will now have to pledge family jewellery or insurance certificates to take a loan to get me into a private college." India's education loan book currently stands at a whopping Rs 15,000 crore, the figure likely to cross Rs 17,000 crore this year as increased number of parents seek cash to push their children in private colleges. The State Bank of India, India's largest bank, has a 23 percent share of the education loan market. The average size of education loans for domestic colleges is Rs 4,00,000 while for overseas education, it ranges between Rs 50-60 lakh. Educators say students in India unlike in the Western nations are under a constant state of anxiety, unable to study, concentrate, remember, sleep or eat. Many feel guilty because their parents have spent so much money and have high expectations. "Parents often impose their own unfulfilled ambitions on their children. We are not talking of 95 percent plus here, we are talking of parents pushing their children for 98 to 99 percent so that they get the right course," says Swati Sodhi, a seasoned counsellor who has dealt with similar situations. "Everyone says its unfortunate, but proudly display their big numbers on the Facebook and WhatsApp groups. Marks of children are great pride for parents in India. It appears racist, those with big marks are segregated, like the rich, and rest, like poor, huddled together," says Sodhi. Studies have time and again proved that students in India are on the edge all the time, thanks to rising middle-class aspirations, parents' unrealistic ambitions, poor teaching standards in schools and fiercely competitive college admissions race. "In India, students' aspirations are totally, totally, misaligned with the country's job markets and yet you have a Rs 28,00o crore test-preparatory market flourishing, especially in cities like Kota," says Saurabh Kumar, an engineer turned filmmaker, adding: "Isn't it sheer nonsense for 1.5 million to take entrance for medical and engineering colleges when only 10,000 will get through?" Sadly, added Kumar, the pressure in India increases because parents convey a deadly message to their children when in school: Excel or be left behind. Temples in India are scribbled with pleas from students seeking admission to top colleges. "Every year, students read in magazines about top colleges, wish there was a list for alternate courses, even worst colleges. But who will bell the cat, the market is big and rich?" Studies from MM Advisory Services reveal an estimated 300,000 Indian students go abroad for higher studies every year, one third of them pledge homes to raise cash. And the number is increasing by 15-20 percent annually, so is the rush to pledge home and family silver. Seasoned journalist Arindam Mukherjee, who has been tracking educational trends in India for nearly two decades says the admission procedures remains totally convoluted, top colleges have no seats and a large chunk of private colleges charge high fees but lack quality faculty. He cites the example of the JIPMER medical college in Puducherry, considered among the best in India, charging Rs 20,000 per year for a five year MBBS course, and the Amrita School of Medicine in Kochi charges Rs 35,00,000 for a similar course. Many have downed shutters - 200 of them in 2016 - and 55 engineering colleges - capacity of 30,000 students - have got only 100 on rolls in 2016. "So, the 95 percent plus marks becomes very, very important. Its your perfect stepping stone to get into the good colleges which will charge low fees, else you burn cash on private colleges," says Mukherjee. Some claimed the biggest reason for stress for students in India is the batch-shuffling system followed in schools. If bimonthly scores are less, students are clubbed with low-scorers and mediocre teachers. The best teachers go to the top groups with special blazers or scholar badges. Preeti Singh, standing outside the counselling hall of Indraprastha College for Women, is still grieving and does not know whom to blame. Not one teacher is making eye contact with her. Singh is not alone. In faraway Mumbai, columnist and author Shobhaa De said she feels the same and around this time every year. De is writing a column highlighting why the education system in India needs a drastic overall, especially the admission process. "I, for some strange reasons, continue to get nightmares around the time when admissions take place. What kind of marks are these? Can a college realistically have a 100 percent cut off mark?" asks De. There are no answers, the crowds are swelling outside the colleges. Everyone hopes against hope: What if the cut off marks drop? Patna: Union water resource minister Uma Bharti on Wednesday said that a central team will visit Bihar as well as Farakka Barrage in West Bengal next week to assess the situation of silting in river Ganga. "Team of experts will visit Bihar and Faraaka on 5 June to assess the situation of silting in river Ganga and would submit a report," she told the media in Bihar's Katihar district. Stressing that the central government is serious about silting in river Ganga, Uma Bharti said that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar raised the issue during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi last week. The Bihar chief minister requested Modi to send a team of experts to the state before 10 June to assess the situation practically by making field visits of the river's stretch from Buxar in Bihar to Farakka. Nitish Kumar has repeatedly said silting in Ganga is a major issue, which is causing ill-effects on the river, and has also blamed it for causing floods in Bihar. Indian Institute of Technology or Indian Institute of Turmoil? The IIT-Madras has, much to the shock of many students on campus, turned into the theatre of protests over the cattle slaughter notification issued by the Centre last week. The spark was the beef dinner that was organised on Sunday, where around 80 students participated. That has become the genesis of the flashpoint between those who support the right to eat beef and those who find the idea of eating beef repulsive. A Ph.D scholar, R Sooraj has suffered serious damage to his eye, which will need surgery while another student Manish Singh's right arm was broken. Students who claim to be eyewitnesses to the altercation, give different versions of who assaulted who a pointer to the polarised atmosphere on campus. Sooraj, who is from Kerala, has suffered a fracture below the eye, leading to swelling and it is not yet certain if his vision will be affected. Manish too is admitted to hospital. With many willing to give an arm and a leg in this fight for and against beef, an eye for an eye approach threatens to make many students "blind". That doesn't augur well for this prestigious institution. But that is not how many in Tamil Nadu are interpreting the standoff. In this Periyar land, they see in the cattle rules notification an attempt by 'brahminical' BJP to dictate what's on your plate and want to convey through the protest that they are not blind to such designs. In fact, it is not about beef alone. Tamil Nadu, in any case, is not much of a beef-consuming state. As per the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) figures, only 5.8 percent of Tamil Nadu's population consumes beef when compared with say Kerala (25.2 percent), West Bengal (18.6) and Meghalaya (80.7). "It is a protest against what is seen as a diktat from Delhi. It is not just about beef eaters, it is about the right to eat non-vegetarian fare. It is a protest against the manner in which Delhi pushed it through without a dialogue with the states,'' says Sumanth C Raman, political analyst. The opposition to the notification in the two states is also being given a regional flavour with the Left, DMK and Congress-led protests being called a counter-assault. One of the tweets said : ``When #ModisWarOnSouth rolled up into our kitchens, two southies stood up and punched back. Remember the names : #PinarayiVijayan & #MKStalin.'' When #ModisWarOnSouth rolled up into our kitchens, two southies stood up and punched back. Remember the names: #PinarayiVijayan & #MKStalin The Last Caveman (@CarDroidusMax) May 30, 2017 The political protest is also an expression of annoyance with the manner in which the E Palaniswamy government has kept mum over the issue. "It is as if the Tamil Nadu government is apolitical now. It never says anything about an issue if it will annoy the BJP and the prime minister. The stoic silence of the government only emboldens the BJP,'' says R Mani, political analyst. The EPS government's refusal to criticise the unilateral manner in which the rules were changed, has only confirmed what DMK leader MK Stalin has been saying all along that the AIADMK regime is at New Delhi's mercy. But the big change since Jayalalithaa's demise, as the jallikattu protest at the Marina in January proved, is that people are less scared to speak out. "Post-Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu has become a rogue state and people have started protesting on just about everything. The lack of a firm leader at the top is the root cause,'' says G Arun, activist with People for Cattle in India, who backs the new rules on cattle slaughter. But then to look at the ferment within IIT-Madras only through the prism of Tamil Nadu would be wrong. The institute is a microcosm of India, with students from different parts of India, on campus. Chaitanya Singh (name changed on request), a third-year student from Uttar Pradesh says the act of eating beef was "a provocative move" and feels there would have been big trouble if the same had happened on a campus in UP. "You cannot make a joke of eating an animal that is revered by others,'' says Chaitanya. "If you want to do so, do it outside the IIT. I never speak about pork here because it will hurt sentiments of some of my batchmates. This is a deliberate attempt to politicise and polarise the campus.'' "How is it provocative,'' counters Azhar Moideen, a final-year postgraduate student from Thrissur in Kerala. "Is eating beef illegal? Our discussion on Sunday night was not confined to whether we can or cannot eat beef. We are concerned about the impact it will have on the rural economy, on the leather industry, on labour.'' It is obvious that even from a sociological point of view, a churning and clash of ideologies is taking place within IIT Madras. "The north Indian students there largely identify themselves with Modi. Which is why when students in the humanities stream organise beef fests, it is seen as rocking the boat. But the attempt really is to make IIT-Madras a socially democratic institution and embrace an alternate way of thinking,'' says A Narayanan, director of Change India, a centre for advocacy and research. It is clear that the BJP government messed up in not communicating properly on the notification. This led to the narrative becoming more about an imaginary beef ban instead of an attempt to ensure cattle are not treated cruelly when they are taken for slaughter, as is the case now. In fact, the Kerala High Court has on Wednesday, expressed surprise over the order of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court which stayed the new rules on Tuesday. The Kerala High Court noted that the Centre has not banned cattle slaughter at all and asked for the petition challenging it to be withdrawn. But the suspicion about the real intent remains. Because at a political level, it is also quite possible that this was a trial balloon floated to see how states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala react and use the polarised environment to push the cow on to the EVM. Rajasthan High Court has said that the cow should be declared the national animal. This suggestion is bound to make the tiger, and several people, see red. After one of the students who led the beef protest at IIT-Madras in Chennai was assaulted, allegedly by students from a right-wing group, the dean of the institute has refused to act, according to media reports. Sooraj R, a student associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was injured in his right eye in Tuesday's assault allegedly by some students claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters. The New Indian Express quoted the students claims that none of their demands was met and that the administration did not even form any special committee to probe the matter. They said the administration had neither visited Sooraj nor have they extended any other support. Open Letter by IITM Directors by Firstpost on Scribd Some IIT-Madras students have written an open letter to the dean of the institute condemning the attack and urging the institution to take punitive action against those who have attacked Sooraj. They wrote about how IIT-Madras has been a space that was known to be tolerant of diverse politics and healthy debates and this is the first time and differences have taken the form of violence. The New Indian Express report also spoke about how around 100 students from several student organisations were demonstrating against the incident. Pro-Left student bodies on Wednesday staged a protest outside the IIT Madras condemning the attack on a PhD scholar for taking part in a beef fest in the campus opposing the Centre's ban on sale of cattle for slaughter. "The fact that this happened to a research scholar like Sooraj points towards the magnitude of perversion entrenched in the students who attacked him," read the letter. With inputs from PTI Madrid: India and Spain on Wednesday signed seven agreements, including on cooperation in cyber security and renewable energy, following talks in Madrid between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted: The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in cyber security. A second MoU was signed on cooperation in renewable energy. Three other MoUs were signed on cooperation in organ transplantation, technical cooperation in civil aviation, and between the Foreign Service Institute of India and the Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Two agreements were also signed on transfer of sentenced persons and waiving of visas for diplomatic passport holders. Earlier in the day, addressing the media ahead of his talks with Rajoy, Modi said terrorism posed the biggest challenge to the world and the fight against this menace formed a key element of India-Spain ties. He said his visit to Spain would add fresh momentum to bilateral ties. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. Modi and Rajoy last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015. The following is the full list of MoUs signed by Modi and Rajoy: New Delhi: After Sri Lanka, the Indian Navy has rushed two ships for relief and rescue operations in cyclone-hit Bangladesh, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said on Wednesday. #BridgesofFriendship #CycloneMora 27 people incl ladies & children rescued by INS Sumitra in choppy seas off Chittagong. SAR in progress pic.twitter.com/aoTiQZhvKz SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 31, 2017 "As severe weather phenomena are only to increase, each ship has an intrinsic capability of HADR (high availability disaster recovery). We are prepared for it. "It will cover the wider Indian Ocean but there is a timeline within which you have to reach," he said. The search and rescue operation in Bangladesh is taking place south of Chittagong. Cyclone Mora had earlier caused havoc in Sri Lanka, killing at least 180. "One of the rescued men had no pulse or heart beat but was revived and is currently on ventilator on board the ship," a Navy official said. After India said it planned to order less Iranian crude oil, Iran has threatened to let Russian companies enter the race for developing the Farzad B gas field. The Times of India reported that if Iran does indeed go through with this, the part of the oil field which the consortium of Indian state-run entities get will be much smaller. Reports from Vienna quoted Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying that he expected Russian firms to develop a substantial portion of the oil field if the Indian consortium failed to come up with a satisfactory offer. India's plans to order about a quarter less Iranian crude oil than it bought last year followed its threat to order state refiners Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, and Indian Oil Corp to reduce purchases from Iran if an Indian consortium is not awarded the rights to develop Iran's huge Farzad B natural gas field, reported Reuters. The volume cuts would put India's imports of Iranian crude for this fiscal year at 3,70,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to the sources with knowledge of the planned deals. India is Iran's top oil client after China, and last year imported about 5,10,000 bpd of crude from the country, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon. The reduced 2017/2018 imports include 1,99,000 bpd by state refiners, a decline of about a third from last year, the sources said. Private refiners Essar and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) have renewed last year's term contracts to buy 1,20,000 bpd and 20,000 bpd, respectively, they said. Most of the state refiners did not respond to queries on the matter, while Essar Oil, MRPL and HMEL declined comment. India's oil ministry also said it had no immediate comment. Analysts said apart from the gas-field row, India is also taking advantage of a narrow price spread between European oil benchmark Brent and Middle East price-setter Dubai crude, which makes it attractive to bring more oil from Europe into Asia. With inputs from Reuters Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condemned a terror attack in Kabul which killed at least 20 persons and injured nearly 300 and said India stands with Afghanistan in combating "all types of terrorism". We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with the injured," the prime minister tweeted. Modi, now on a four-nation European tour, expressed solidarity with Afghanistan. "India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated." A water tanker loaded with explosives went off in downtown Kabul near the German Embassy on Wednesday morning. The blast, during rush hour traffic, ripped through the diplomatic zone and caused widespread damage. Some windows in the Indian Embassy were damaged but none of the staff was injured. Kabul: The Taliban on Wednesday denied any involvement in the car bomb explosion in the Afghan capital that left at least 80 dead and more than 300 wounded and condemned the attack on the civilian population. "This blast has nothing to do with the Mujahidins," the Taliban said in a statement released by their spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. He added that the Taliban never carry out such attacks with no targets, reports Efe. "The Islamic Emirate (as the Taliban call themselves) condemn those blasts carried out against civilians and in which civilians suffer casualties without a clear target," the statement said. The explosion occurred in the morning near Zanbaq Square close to the embassies of Germany, Turkey and Japan. Kabul police spokesperson Basir Mujahid told Efe that according to preliminary investigation, the vehicle, a small sewage service truck, was loaded with explosives and detonated in an area with heavy traffic. "The objective is not yet clear, but it was close to the German embassy," said Mujahid, adding that the area had been cordoned off. The powerful blast, which was heard in several parts of the city, happened amid the holy month of Ramadan and during rush hour when people were going to their work places. During Ramadan, work starts an hour late. The last two major bomb blasts in Kabul, the last being in early May and also occurring in the diplomatic area, were claimed by the Islamic State although the Taliban also carried out attacks which left numerous civilian casualties in recent weeks. In early March, two Taliban attacks on a police station and an intelligence services office in Kabul left 29 dead and 122 wounded, many of them civilians. In January, the Taliban launched a double attack in the vicinity of the Parliament that left 30 dead and 80 wounded. It was the first air skirmish of the Bangladesh War in 1971. Soldiers of 4 Sikh regiment advancing into Bangladesh were being strafed by Pakistani sabres suffering considerable casualties until IAF Gnats came to the rescue. The Indian jets shot down three Pakistani Sabres at Boyra that day. Two Pakistani pilots who ejected were about to be thrashed soundly by enraged Indian troops, when a young Indian officer rushed to shield them and escorted the pilots to safety, and hot cups of tea. One of the pilots rescued was Flight Lieutenant Parwaiz Mehdi Qureshi, who went on to become the Air Force Chief, though he remained a Prisoner of War for nearly a year and a half. The young Indian officer, HS Panag went on to become Chief of the Indian Army General. Years later, as PVN Jagan and Samir Chopra, authors of Eagles Over Bangladesh noted, the Indian pilot who shot down Qureshi, wrote to congratulate him on his promotion. The air chief replied courteously, praising the skill of the IAF. Pakistani bravery was no less. The Pakistan Air Force had only one squadron of Sabre Mk.6 in Dhaka at that point, but gave it all they got. Both sides fought fiercely, but under a tight command and largely operating under the same rules. That is war. More than four decades later, Indian security forces were being mutilated by Pakistani border action teams, while Pakistani funded groups caught and tortured a young Kashmiri officer who had come to attend a wedding. Thats terrorism. To liken one to the other is like comparing the finesse of a duel with swords to a street brawl. Stories of heroism and honour during war are the stuff of song and verse. There is no honour in terrorism. Indeed, it is its very antithesis. As the noise level on the action by Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi in tying a Kashmiri man to his jeep rises by the day, perhaps hysteria must be replaced with an awareness of the harsh realities of a terror fuelled conflict, and how they are changing the ethos of conventional forces everywhere. Terrorist conflicts are not called "dirty wars" for nothing. While soldiers in army fatigues patrolling the streets dominate the television screen, the real war is being fought outside the pale of public scrutiny. Intelligence agencies use every tool available, including corruption, threat and deceit, to dominate a constantly shifting and evolving "battle space". Opposing them are an even more deceitful irregular force who operate on the basis that there are no rules whatsoever. Regular forces who have been trained for decades to do just the reverse, have a choice when operating in such dirty wars. Either they learn on the job and mirror image the enemy in violence and tactics, or they can simply decide to take the brunt of violence and remain on the defensive. Most conventional forces do both. In the main war zones like Afghanistan and Syria, the counter terrorist forces are often indistinguishable from their nemesis. A successful special operations force is one that looks, operates and thinks exactly like the enemy. They kidnap, kill and torture when necessary, and employ persons who are near terrorists themselves. Meanwhile the regular troops like the Australian, British and troops of other nationalities in Afghanistan have had to change their operating methods to deal with an enemy who may well be within the gates. Desperation to dominate the war has led to horrific excesses by all sides. The population in the lack of any other gainful activity sees the war as a profitable venture, and sometimes connives at its continuance. This is the worst of terrorist wars. They corrupt the fighters, defenders and inevitably, the population itself. Those calling for "honour" in countering terrorism are unaware or choose to be unaware of the realities on the ground. Soldiers are forced to improvise, tie knots and carry on with a most unrewarding exercise. When Major Gogoi tied a Kashmiri to his jeep to get polling officials, paramilitary forces, and some police personnel out of a dangerous situation, he was doing just that. Whether he was right or wrong in doing so, should have been left to the relevant army inquiry committee to decide. A committee will possibly consider the alternatives that the Major had open to him, which was to fire at a mob of more than a thousand. Whether or not the unit was equipped with tear gas or non-lethal weapons is unclear. What is clear is the tragedy that would have followed, and the surety that the media, opposition parties and sundry other television news stars would have cried foul, and that the issue would have been turned into a major incident. Which highlights the third reality. Dirty wars are always fought in the glare of full media attention. Useless to say that the media had no business second guessing the whole operation. Or that a former Chief Minister who well knew the difficulties faced by the Army no little moral ground to protest. And most of all, that Army Chief Bipin Rawat should not have intervened with the announcement of a commendation. The army may well have been reacting to the pulls and pushes of a media war, but this is simply not the way the army works. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army has not always emerged squeaky clean. But it has done far better than most in maintaining a tight control particularly in its ability to hold fire and punish those who have crossed the line. Unlike the US in Afghanistan, it is fighting its own people, and its restraint has been commendable enough to merit gallantry awards by the dozens. It is this reputation for fairness and justice that has helped its operations in Kashmir. There are villages aplenty who will protest when army units are slated to move out of a particular location. These units provide not only a source of livelihood and protection, but more importantly are often relied upon to perform the very tasks that the state government should have been undertaking. It is this ethos that the army has to jealously guard, not because it is morally right even in todays wars, but because it makes operational sense. It has not just to be reasonably fair in its operations, it has to be seen to be so. As Pratap Bhanu Mehta perceptively writes that the army has to recognize that civil-military relations in such dirty wars will inevitably be filtered through the medium of the public. The Pakistani Army has understood this well. It has successfully instituted a blanket ban on its operations in the tribal areas. No journalists have been able to report on the bombing and the strafing that passes as counter terrorism tools. Human rights activists and journalists can expect a knock in the night, if they persist in reporting outright war crimes. India cannot and must never even consider such a path. Despite the din of dirty wars, the public debate lends credence to the vibrancy of our democracy. However, both the Indian Army and the government need to resist contributing to the anti/pro nationalistic tide in such situations. In a highly covert war it can choose to do just the opposite where the media is concerned, that is, to be the first to provide accurate information. In a competition for headlines, the side that provides the first breaking news may find itself the winner in more ways than one. As Hans Morgenthau observed years ago, international politics is in a specific sense a struggle for the minds of men. It's even more relevant in domestic struggles. The author was a director of the National Security Council. Views expressed are personal. Srinagar: Work in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in Srinagar was affected on Tuesday as lawyers abstained to protest the recent remarks of Army chief General Bipin Rawat in the context of a Major using a man as a human shield against stone pelters last month. Lawyers affiliated to Kashmir High Court Bar Association stayed away from work, terming Rawat's remarks as "inhuman and barbaric". In a statement, the association said Rawat's comments will give a "licence" to the armed forces to "humiliate, torture, kill, maim and blind the innocent people of Kashmir." Rawat had stoutly defended Major Leetul Gogoi for using a man as a human shield against stone pelters in Budgam district of Kashmir on 9 April, saying the army is facing a "dirty war" in Jammu and Kashmir which has to be fought through "innovative" ways. The bar association alleged that image of the army is at its "lowest ebb" and "if there was anything left, that gap has been filled by Major (Leetul) Gogoi by tying an innocent civilian to an army jeep and by parading him from village to village and also by the army chief by awarding him for his innovative method." Four policemen were injured in a grenade attack in Sopore town of north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday. A grenade was hurled at a police party outside the Sopore police station, Greater Kashmir quoted a source as saying. No one has claimed responsibility of the attack yet. JUST IN -- Grenade attack on police party in Sopore (Jammu and Kashmir); 4 cops injured | Reports @islahmufti pic.twitter.com/sEi3vRjW22 News18 (@CNNnews18) May 31, 2017 The injured policemen have been identified as Noor Muhamad, Bilal Ahmad, Abdul Rehman and Ghulam Hassan. They have all been shifted to a hospital and their condition is stable now. It is the second such incident in a day in the Kashmir Valley. Earlier, a man was injured in an explosion in Pulwama district, The Financial Express reported. The situation in Kashmir has been tense since Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight in Kokarnag area of Anantnag district on 8 July, 2016. His death triggered months of violence in the state that left hundreds of people dead. Moreover, the situation in the Valley has been tense since the death of Sabzar Bhat, Wani's successor. Heavy deployment of police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was made in Srinagar to discourage and restrain vehicular movement after the killing of Bhat. Authorities suspended internet services on mobile phones on Saturday. On Tuesday, the internet facilities on landline broadband connection were also snapped at most places to prevent the spread of rumours. With inputs from agencies A series of controversial and often disdainful remarks by Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat should not be seen in isolation of the tense situation in the Kashmir Valley, where the counter-insurgency grid is resorting to old, worn-out tactics in dealing with new challenges on the ground making matters even worse. If the growing ranks of militants over the last two years was not a problem enough, the campuses of educational institutions are now turning into battlegrounds. As the army chief himself admitted, there is enough military power to deal with the militants and militancy in Kashmir. But how to deal with a ten-year-old boy carrying a stone in his hand? Except for the ruling dispensation and the supporters of its hardline policy, there are no two thoughts across the country that Kashmir needs more political engagement. From former home minister P Chidambaram to Kashmir's policy groups, there is unanimous chatter that a dialogue must be started to prevent the situation in the Valley from spiralling out of control. Even senior BJP leaders like former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, who led a delegation to Kashmir and met a cross-section of people, including the mainstream parties and the Hurriyat leaders, has urged the government to start political engagement and find a political solution to the Kashmir problem. But the BJP-led government at the Centre, devoid of any art of statecraft, seems to be shying away from such a proposition. Perhaps they are wary of the effects it might have on the surcharged political atmosphere across the country, where even the saner voices have turned into cheerleaders for the BJP's radical approach towards sensitive issues like Kashmir. The question that then arises is: If Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani could meet and talk with the Hurriyat leaders, which subsequently dawned a new era of peace and prosperity in Kashmir, what is holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi back? Sceptics believe that it is the so-called 'Doval Doctrine' at work beating the people of Kashmir into submission so that they have neither the energy nor the will to stand up again. But history tells us that such an approach has not and will not work in Kashmir. Since 1947, New Delhi has adopted only one policy on Kashmir, which is of violence. Be it Sheikh Abdullah, who was arrested and incarcerated for long years, or the Janata Dal government, there is no evidence to show that New Delhi has wanted to resolve Kashmir politically. If violence didn't work over the last 70 years, isn't it time to give dialogue a chance? Instead, New Delhi searches for opportunities to humiliate and dehumanise the people of Kashmir. Major Leetul Gogoi was not the first Army officer who was rewarded for perpetrating crimes against the people of Kashmir. In the past, all officers involved in heinous crimes perpetrated against the people of Kashmir have been rewarded, given promotions and post-retirement benefits. Ex-director general of police (of Jammu & Kashmir) Kuldeep Khoda and Altaf Khan, an SSP-ranked officer, to name a few. Bringing accountability into institutions that are meant to serve the people forms the essence of any democracy. But here, we have a case where we are allowing the Army to dive into the politics surrounding sensitive issues like Kashmir and then standing behind its wrongdoings. This will not only further alienate Kashmiris but give the separatists elements and excuses to whip up their passions. It is time to build bridges in Kashmir, not to blow them apart. Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday night condemned the attack on an IIT-Madras PhD scholar, hailing from Kerala, allegedly by some students protesting against a "beef fest" held on the campus, saying it was unfortunate. "Our Constitution has given us the freedom to consume the food of our choice and any act of intolerance is a violation of the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution," the chief minister said in a statement. Vijayan said he would ask the Tamil Nadu chief minister to take necessary action against those responsible for the attack on R Sooraj. Sooraj suffered injuries in one of his eyes, the chief minister said, adding it was unfortunate. Sooraj, who is associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was allegedly assaulted by some students who claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters. The beef fest was held to protest the Centre's ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets. Racheting up his attack on the Centre over the ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets, Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that the Centre had no right to regulate cattle sale in states. Issuing a line by line rebuttal to the Centre's notification on the new cattle slaughter laws, Vijayan said that the BJP-led central government was ignoring the federal structure and was making an attempt "to encroach upon the powers of the states" Vijayan was addressing the press after the state's Cabinet meeting. He said that the state Cabinet is of the view that regulating sale of cattle is outside the Centre's purview, adding that they will certainly question the legality of the new legislation in court. Vijayan also quashed the government's argument about animal rights, adding that slaughter of cattle for consumption is permitted under the law. He said that the all that the existing laws state is that there shouldnt be aimless pain inflicted to the cattle while slaughtering. He said that the people in his state do not need a lesson on food habits from BJP. Malayalis have been following a traditional food habit, which is healthy and nutritious, and no one can change it, he said. The Environment Ministry had last week notified the stringent Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, banning the sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for the purpose of slaughter. The Centre's rules define cattle as a bovine animal, including bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers and calves and camels. They also prohibit the establishment of an animal market within 25 kilometers of a state border and within 50 kilometers of the international border. The decision has drawn flak from the opposition parties as well as various organisations who claim that it would hit the export and trade of meat and leather. "The state government will give all facilities to people to have food of their choice. There is no need for Keralites to learn it from anybody in New Delhi or Nagpur (headquarters of RSS)," Vijayan had said on Tuesday. Minister for Local Administration KT Jaleel said the state government would consider formulating a new legislation to skirt the ban. The Centre is trying to impose the RSS's agenda of a uniform culture, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in Kozhikode. The agenda of the BJP's recent Bhuwaneswar party conference was "one nation, one culture and one party and the saffron party is trying to impose it through the cattle ban", he had said. With inputs from PTI The Directorate of Higher Secondary Education, Kerala has declared the results for the Plus One Class XI 2017 examination on Wednesday. The students can view their grades by visiting the official website: keralaresults.nic.in After almost a fortnight of declaring the Plus Two Class XII 2017 results, the results for Plus One Class XI 2017 were announced on the official Kerala DHSE website. The Kerala DHSE has also given a utitlity for the schools to check school-wise results on the official web portal. To view them, the schools can find the link for 'Schoolwise Results' on the website's results page. The prime importance of the result is that the scores obtained in the plus one exam, is taken into consideration while calculating the Class 12 results, NDTV reported. The results for Plus Two Class XII 2017 results were declared by the Kerala DHSE on 15 May. Almost 83 percent candidates cleared the examination and were eligible to apply for higher studies, according to this report by The Times of India. Steps to obtain result: Log on to keralaresults.nic.in Click on link for DHSE First Year Exam Results 2017 Enter your seat number in the blank text box provided and click 'Submit'. Download the result and take a print copy for future reference. As has been observed over the course of the past few weeks, the dates and times of result announcements have been frequently changed around. The information above has not been independently verified. However, this article will continue to be updated to reflect official updates as and when they come in. In a setback to beef protests, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday backed the Central government's new regulation on cattle slaughter saying the order was misread by the protesters. According to Times Now, the state high court said the order does not ban the consumption of beef hence they are supportive of the order. In a bid to prevent cruelty to animals, the Union environment ministry on 26 May modified rules making it mandatory to ensure that cattle are not bought or sold at cattle markets for slaughter. The list of animals includes cows, bulls, buffaloes, heifers, calves as well as camels. Ever since the notification, there have been widespread protests in various states, especially Kerala, one of the states where cow slaughter is not banned. Forest and animal husbandry minister P Raju had said the new law cannot come into effect in Kerala. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the only party in Kerala which accepted the central government's directive on cattle slaughter. "The new law has been misunderstood by the other parties," BJP state general secretary K Surendran said. A report by the Hindustan Times said the price of beef had shot up since the Central government's new order on cattle slaughter triggered a political row. Hotel owners said a kilogram of beef usually costs between Rs 220 to Rs 240 in Kerala but the price has gone up to Rs 280 to Rs 300 in the last two days. The Hindustan Times report also said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all his counterparts saying the decision was against the federal structure of the country. On Wednesday morning, Vijayan said they would like to see if the Centre has the power to issue such a directive to the states. It has to be examined that whether central govt has the power to issue this order: CM Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on cattle slaughter ban pic.twitter.com/gShZrpqLAg ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 With inputs from IANS Panaji: Kin of about ten foreign tourists "killed" in Goa have written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding a probe by a Supreme Court judge into the deaths as well as the "cover up" by the police. They have also alleged that a nexus existed between the locals, the police, drug mafia and politicians in the coastal state. The letter has been written by a group of foreigners, including Fiona MacKeown whose daughter Scarlett Eden Keeling was found dead at Anjuna beach in 2008, besides the family members of those foreign nationals who have lost their lives in Goa over a period of time. "Since the killing of our relatives, the deaths have continued with at least one tourist on average dying each week in Goa and also many locals have lost their lives. In many of these killings, whether tourists or locals, the same criminals appear to be involved," claimed the letter which was delivered to the Prime Minister's Office on 25 May. The authors of the letter demanded an "unbiased and independent" investigation into the deaths "to reveal the connections between the locals, the police in Goa, drug mafia and politicians and their involvement in the deaths". "We request a commission led by a Supreme Court judge to analyse the probe into the deaths of Caitanya Holt, Felix Dahl, James Durkin, Kyle Arndt, Scarlett Keeling, Denyse Sweeney, Stephen Bennett, Martin Neighbour, Michael Harvey and Jonathan Burbank to ensure an unbiased and comprehensive investigation to reveal the truth about their deaths," a source said today quoting the letter. The letter was signed by Minna Pirhonen, the mother of Felix Dahl who died in Goa in 2015, Parvati Dasi, the mother of a US national Caitanya Holt who was killed by a mob near Morjim beach in 2016, and Amanda Bennett, the sister of Stephen Bennett who was found dead in the neighbouring Maharashtra. "The quality of the work of the police in Goa should be investigated. Instead of investigating the murders and killings, the local police want to cover up the truth," it alleged. Islamabad: Pakistan's Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali will lead a team to the International Court of Justice at The Hague on 8 June for a meeting of "agents" from India and Pakistan with the court's president to discuss the future proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The decision to send the attorney general was taken at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday to discuss Pakistan's strategy in the case, Dawn reported. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired the meeting. During the meeting of "agents", the dates for subsequent hearings and submission of documents related to the case India has brought against Pakistan over the death sentence given to Indian national Jadhav following a "secret" trial will be discussed, the report said. Pakistan is also likely to indicate its intention to nominate an ad-hoc judge for the case. The ICJ statutes provide for a state party to a case, which does not have a judge of its nationality on the bench, to choose a person to sit as an ad-hoc judge in that case. The parliamentary committee took up the issue after India was granted provisional measures by the ICJ on 18 May restraining Pakistan from executing Jadhav, 46, who had been convicted of espionage and sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court. India approached the ICJ citing that it had been repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav in violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention. The attorney-general also briefed the participants of the meeting about the Pakistan government's strategy for the case. The committee members were reportedly not satisfied by the explanations given by the government's legal team about the case at the last meeting. The National Assembly speaker told the media that he was satisfied with the briefing by the attorney general yesterday. Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, however, disputed Speaker Sadiq, saying that everything that was shared with the parliamentary committee members were 'open source' information and the replies were unsatisfactory. "They have committed a lot of mistakes," Rehman said. Yesterday's meeting was the second time the committee had met on Jadhav case. It will meet again on 15 June. Islamabad: Pakistan's Attorney-General Ashtar Ausaf Ali will lead a team to the International Court of Justice at The Hague on 8 June for a meeting of "agents" from India and Pakistan with the court's president to discuss the future proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The decision to send the attorney general was taken at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday to discuss Pakistan's strategy in the case, Dawn reported. National assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired the meeting. During the meeting of "agents", the dates for subsequent hearings and submission of documents related to the case India has brought against Pakistan over the death sentence given to Jadhav following a "secret" trial will be discussed, the report said. Pakistan is also likely to indicate its intention to nominate an ad-hoc judge for the case. The ICJ statutes provide for a state party to a case, which does not have a judge of its nationality on the bench, to choose a person to sit as an ad-hoc judge in that case. The parliamentary committee took up the issue after India was granted provisional measures by the ICJ on 18 May restraining Pakistan from executing Jadhav, 46, who had been convicted of espionage and sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court. India approached the ICJ citing that it had been repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav in violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention. The attorney-general also briefed the participants of the meeting about the Pakistan government's strategy for the case. The committee members were reportedly not satisfied by the explanations given by the government's legal team about the case at the last meeting. The National Assembly speaker told the media that he was satisfied with the briefing by the attorney general yesterday. Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, however, disputed Speaker Sadiq, saying that everything that was shared with the parliamentary committee members were 'open source' information and the replies were unsatisfactory. "They have committed a lot of mistakes," Rehman said. Tuesday's meeting was the second time the committee had met on Jadhav case. It will meet again on 15 June. The public outcry against the Narendra Modi government's rule banning sale of cattle for slaughter at market places was sure to follow the hurried and rather poorly-thought decision. Several states including Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have raised protests against the decision citing two key reasons fundamental right of citizens to choose their food and, second, the impact on meat trade/large workforce. The situation worsened on Tuesday, when the Madras High Court ordered a stay on the new rules. With this, the Modi government at the Centre is locked in a bitter battle with both the state governments and the judiciary, on its contentious decision. The Centre has positioned itself on a weak note here. Essentially, regulating livestock markets and cattle trade is a state affair while the Centre has right only to intervene on matters of animal welfare. The Modi government will likely be left with no options but to review the ban on cattle sale for slaughter at livestock markets. The Centre, however, never ordered an outright ban on cattle slaughter, but only prohibited the sale of animals for slaughter through the livestock markets. It also brought in restrictions on the manner in which such transactions occur; according to the notification under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 that gives the Centre powers over animal welfare, the committees overseeing animal markets will have to take an undertaking from traders that "animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter". The whole idea, the government claims, was to ensure norms are followed as regards the treatment of cattle for slaughter and the quality of the meat sold. But, instead of addressing the specific problems, it is resorting to ban the functions of livestock markets (for slaughter) entirely. This was akin to throwing out the baby with the bath water. While the stated intention of bringing in new rules is fine improving hygiene of the market place, bringing in discipline on the sale of cattle and quality of meat sold, etc the decision to ban sale at market places is unwarranted since a majority of the slaughter-cattle trade trade happens at such bazaars. Only about 10 percent of the cattle for slaughter is procured directly from the farmer, according to DB Sabharwal, secretary of All India Meat & Livestock Exporters' Association. This is something industry associations have highlighted. When the supply is reduced, the consumers will naturally face steep price hikes and business could take a hit on account of lower demand. For these reasons, the backlash from states that consume more meat was expected. Particularly for states like Kerala, where meat consumption is high (according to the state finance minister, over 70 percent of the population eats beef); people saw this as government encroachment on their food habits and individual rights. The problem worsened even further with centre including 'buffalo' in the banned meat list. Earlier, this wasn't the case. Even when cow slaughter ban was present, the meat which many hotels serve as 'beef' was buffalo meat, not cow meat. Inclusion of this category came as a double shock to the meat eater and meat trader in all those states. Fundamentally, the problem was not with the rules to improve trade of slaughter-cattle and meat trade but the decision to stop such sales at mandis. Instead of doing this, the government could have restricted the changes only to the effect of improvement in the operation of mandis, infrastructure, norms or transport of cattle for slaughter and quality of meat sold from the slaughter houses-without banning the sale in livestock markets. This would have hailed as a smart, much needed reform in meat trade and would not have caused any ruckus to the degree we see today. The Centre should ask itself one question if the sale of cattle for slaughter doesn't happen at livestock markets, what will be the difficulties for the farmer to take his unused cattle to the slaughter houses? The farmer will have to sell his slaughter-cattle directly to slaughter houses, which isn't practical, especially in rural areas. In the process, if he delays the sale, it will eat into his earnings. If he is unable to sell off his old cattle (unfit for either milk or breeding), he will be burdened with the cost to maintain these unproductive animals. The legal trouble for Modi's government, as mentioned earlier, is that the running of livestock markets and trade should rest with the state, whereas animal welfare is a central subject. Hence, a Centre-state spat on this subject was waiting to happen. The Centre seems to have realised the problem with Union minister Venkaiah Naidu saying the issue is being examined. The Madras High Court stay on Centre's rule is only the beginning of a long-legal battle, unless the Centre realises its mistake and reviews its order on outright ban on cattle sales for slaughter at market places. Else, the government will have a long road ahead to defend an ill-conceived decision and the damage control will not be easy. Mumbai: Farmers across Maharashtra on Wednesday said that they plan to launch an indefinite strike starting midnight after talks with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on various issues, including the long-pending demand of a loan waiver, collapsed. "With the farmers going on strike, major cities like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur could face shortages of essentials fruits, vegetables, milk and food grains in the coming days," said Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader and MP Raju Shetti. "Farmers are committing suicides all over the state.The government is insensitive to their plight. We have no options but to launch the strike. After a fortnight, we will intensify it," Shetti told IANS. Late on Tuesday, representatives of the Kisan Kranti Morcha (KMM), a state-level coordination committee of various farmers organisations, met Fadnavis, but failed to get any concrete commitments, he added. Shetti said that the strike was a loss of face for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP in Maharashtra who had assured to resolve farmers issues during the 2014 election. The government however said it is still hopeful of working out a last-minute solution. "We are discussing all the issues with farmers' leaders. We are sympathetic to their demands. I am certain we will hammer out an amicable solution and resolve the issues," Minister of State for Agriculture Sadabhau Khot told media persons. A group of around 200 farmers of Puntamba village in Ahmednagar district were the first to announce the strike from 1 June and many others followed suit. The farmers' demands include complete waiver of farm loans, free electricity, appropriate remunerative prices for their produce, grant for irrigation and higher price for milk and implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee recommendations. The Fadnavis government had been under severe fire from not only the opposition parties Congress and NCP but also its own allies the Shiv Sena and the Shetti-led SSS. In a massive show of strength on Tuesday, Shetti completed his long march from Pune to Mumbai and met Maharashtra governor CV Rao to apprise him of the serious situation involving farmers. Kolkata: In a stern message to the city-based private educational institutions, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said a "self-regulatory commission" would be formed to monitor and decide fees and donations collected from students. She announced this at a meeting with representatives of a number of private educational institutions in the city. "We don't want to interfere with the affairs of the institutions, but we want a system in place. A particular school charged Rs 2.47 lakh for admission," she said wondering how common people can afford to spend such a huge amount. "Why do you need such a huge amount for admitting students? I have called you for a meeting so that you can take steps in this regard. I have received a lot of complaints. "Money is being taken in the name of fees, session fees, re-admission fees, computer fees, compulsory purchase of uniforms, transportation fees. Even some fees were taken in the name of summer camp when the schools are closed," she said. She exhorted the institutions to create a section on their respective websites where people could register their grievances. "Government institutions have a method of assessing fees. Not all families have the same financial means. In the name of donation, a racket is going on. It maybe just 0.1 percent, but it matters because these are important educational institutions," she said. She said a self-regulatory commission would be constituted with representatives of various educational institutions, the education secretary, state DGP and Kolkata police commissioner. Representatives from the Darjeeling hills and officials from the districts will be an ex-officio member of the commission. She said that a 10-15 percent increase in fees is not acceptable while other expenses have to be controlled. Bengali should be taught in schools, the chief minister said, adding, "You can teach English and Hindi, but at least teach Bengali as a third language". Wednesday's development followed Banerjee's warning last February against over-charging of patients by private hospitals and negligence in treatment, announcing the setting up of a regulatory commission to monitor their functioning. Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday urged Justice (retd) JS Narang to recuse himself from the judicial probe into allegations of impropriety against Punjab Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh in the multi-crore sand mining auctions. AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira in a statement said Justice (retd) Narang should withdraw from the judicial inquiry in view of his son being counsel of Gurjit Singh's family. "Amitjeet Singh Narang, son of Justice (retd) J S Narang is the counsel of Rana Prabhdeep Singh, nephew of Rana Gurjit Singh in CRM-M 12355 of 2017," Khaira said. This clearly exposes the close relations and counsel-client arrangement between the families of Narang and the accused minister, Khaira alleged. Punjab government had on Monday ordered setting up of a judicial commission to probe the allegations of impropriety against the minister in the multi-crore sand mining auctions held recently by the state government. The one-man commission would include Justice (retd) Narang and submit the report within one month. New Delhi: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) will visit Saharanpur next week to gather first hand information on the repeated instances of caste clashes in the area. NCM member Sulekha Kumbhare, who took her place in the panel on Tuesday, said members would tour the Uttar Pradesh town after their first meeting and assess whether injustice was meted out to any community. "All the team members will visit Saharanpur next week to assess ground realities. Justice should be ensured... But we need to check the factual position first," the former Maharashtra minister said. The cycle of violence in Saharanpur began on 5 May when a man was killed, several injured and around 25 homes set ablaze in Shabbirpur village. According to Kumbhare, the NCM will work like a bridge between the Centre and communities. She also pitched for educational as well as financial empowerment of minorities in a bid to bring them into the mainstream and boost their confidence. "To be able to do that, you will need to empower them educationally," she added. Kumbhare also favoured giving more teeth to the panel, which is entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding interests of minorities, by offering it constitutional status. The NCM is at present a statutory body. Former national secretary of BJP's minority morcha Gairul Hasan Rizvi is chairman of the panel. George Kurian, the saffron party's leader from Kerala, is his deputy. The other members of the Commission are Jain leader from Gujarat Sunil Singhi and Parsi representative Vada Dasturji Khurshed Kaikobad Dastoor. Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Parsi and Jain are the six notified minority communities in the country. The NCM was set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 to look into complaints from members of five religious communities Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis). Madrid: India and Spain on Wednesday emphasised on the need for restarting negotiations for the EU-India Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), as President of Spain Mariano Rajoy pressed for "solid progress" on the proposed pact after holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The importance of making progress on the pact was highlighted in a joint statement issued after Modi, the first Indian premier to visit Spain since 1992, met the European country's top leaders here. Modi and Rajoy underlined the importance of EUIndia relations and the need to deepen the existing EUIndia dialogues, the statement said. "They acknowledged the positive results of 2016 EUIndia Summit in March 2016, which marked a new momentum in the EU India relations. They reconfirmed their commitment to the EU-India Agenda for Action 2020 and to the development of cooperation in the areas of foreign and security policy, trade and investment, global issues, natural movement of persons and people to people contacts," it said. The two leaders addressed the shared interest of the two sides to further engage on the India-EU BTIA and expressed the need to restart negotiations soon. Rajoy welcomed the efforts of the Indian government to provide a positive business environment in India for foreign companies and to further international investment, for which, adequate protection of investments and legal certainty are instrumental. He also emphasised the importance that Spain attaches in the coming months to "solid progress" on the India-EU BTIA, which may facilitate further Spanish and European investments in India, the statement said. Rajoy explained Spain's position in the EU, as a country fully committed with the European Project, and with the main policies and instruments of the European Union. Modi called for active participation of Spanish companies in India's ambitious Smart Cities projects. Both leaders also welcomed the holding of an India-Spain Business Summit in India in the later half of 2017 to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. The talks on BTIA, launched in June 2007, have been stalled since May, 2013, when both sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for the IT sector. The European Union, earlier this year, had pressed India to extend by six months its bilateral investment pacts with EU-member countries, saying absence of the treaties could adversely impact trade ties and FTA talks. Madrid: In a bid to boost India-Spain business and investment ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with CEOs of leading Spanish companies on Wednesday. There are around 200 Spanish companies in India and they are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted a photograph of the prime minister with Spanish CEOs. PM @narendramodi interacts w CEOs of leading Spanish companies w global footprint pic.twitter.com/NGsj0L3ViR Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) May 31, 2017 Earlier on Wednesday, addressing the media ahead of holding talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, Modi said that Spain has made rapid strides in its economy while his government's top priority too was India's economic growth and development.He said Spain can offer its expertise to India's development priorities like railways, smart cities and infrastructure. Economic partnership is an important pillar of India's engagement with Spain and Spanish companies have a reputation in fields like renewable energy, high speed rail, infrastructure, tunnelling, technology solution including civil aviation, air space management and waste water management. Their expertise and competencies fit in well with India's flagship development programmes. Modi arrived from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish president Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday stressed the importance of resolving the disputes in the strategic South China Sea in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, a statement that could anger China. In a joint statement after their wide-ranging talks, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce based on the principles of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They urged all parties to resolve disputes "through peaceful means without resorting to threat or use of force, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities, and avoid unilateral actions that raise tensions." Regarding the South China Sea, the two heads of government stressed the importance of resolving the disputes in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, including the UNCLOS. While in Germany, Modi and chancellor Angela Merkel had also touched upon the issue of freedom of navigation in international waters. However, the two leaders had not specifically mentioned the South China Sea issue. "Both sides underlined the importance of freedom of navigation in international waters, the right of passage and other maritime rights and obligations in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and other principles of international law. Both leaders attached particular importance to security, stability, connectivity and sustainable development of the blue economy in the Indian Ocean Region," a joint statement issued by India and Germany had said in Berlin. China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in heavily contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. Meanwhile, the two leaders expressed grave concern on North Korea's continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, including uranium enrichment activities, and strongly urged North Korea to refrain from such actions which adversely impact peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and to fully comply with its international obligations and commitments. They called upon North Korea and all relevant parties to take early and effective steps to realise denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the statement said. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their determination to cooperate in the relevant fora against proliferation activities posing a regional and global threat. Modi and Rajoy also expressed their support for peace, stability, prosperity, security and integrity of Afghanistan. They called for early peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process in keeping with internationally accepted red lines. Spain and India also stressed on climate action with the two leaders reiterating their commitment to the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The two leaders agreed to strengthen the bilateral cooperation to foster effective initiatives, to facilitate the transfer or access to environmentally sound technologies and know-how, and to promote collaboration among different stakeholders to increase resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change in Spain and India, the statement said. Modi and Rajoy also stressed the urgency to implement a sustainable water management. They agreed to foster the development of infrastructures and water services with the help of public-private partnerships, as well as to encourage the efficient use of water throughout the urban, rural and industrial sector and to promote waste water treatment to guarantee one basic human right, which is the access to drinking water and sanitation. To Russia With Love. Apologies to James Bond fans for tweaking an Ian Fleming title, but thats exactly what Prime Minister Narendra Modis Russia mission is during his three-day visit, which begins on Wednesday. But is Russia a friend or a foe? It is as foolish as it is unfair to expect Modi to find an emphatic answer to that question during this tour. Thats because there is no answer, despite the warmth shown by Modi in an article he wrote in Russian paper Rossiyskaya Gazetta and Russian president Vladimir Putin in his own article in The Times of India. Modi wrote: India-Russia relations ... have withstood the test of time, and grown from strength to strength. Putin replied: Our peoples have always had mutual sympathy and respect for each others spiritual values and culture. Though both Modi and Putin cited the example of many areas where India and Russia are cooperating, they both know that the entente cordiale between the two countries that once existed has, over the decades, drifted from a psychological and ideological zone into a purely commercial and utilitarian one. Modi and Putin also know full well that Russia is, at the moment, neither a hostile enemy nor warm friend of India. They are just business partners, which isnt a bad thing, even if it isnt as good as their special camaraderie of the past. Russia-China-Pakistan axis: A harsh reality To ward off the US and NATO, Putin is too deeply entrenched in the Russia-China-Pakistan axis to take any serious note of Indias strategic concerns in the region. Although he is not averse to strike deals with Modi, especially if they are lucrative to the cash-starved Russian economy. At the same time, Putin has his own ambitions: He has left nobody in doubt that he intends to restore to Russia the glory that the Soviet Union basked in before its 1991 break-up. This keeps the Russian adrenalin flowing and ensures Putins popularity at home. And one of the worlds worst-kept secrets is that Chinese president Xi Jinping is day-dreaming of Pax Sinica. (Latin for Chinese peace, the phrase refers to a point in history some 1,000 to 1,500 years ago when unchallenged Chinese hegemony enforced peace in East Asia.) This keeps Chinese jingoism at a level that Xi desires to remain in power he needs a report card for the Communist Party of China Congress in November and nominate a head-nodding stooge in his place whenever he chooses to retire. Why Modis Russia mission is tough As western and Japanese analysts suspect, Putin is wary of Xis hegemonic designs, but has found himself in the latters company because it suits Russias own geopolitical and economic needs. For now. There is no doubt that Xi (63), Putin (64) and Modi (66) are among the worlds most ambitious politicians. But Modi, with his aspirations confined to Indian borders, is the humblest of them. Caught between Xi and Putin, Modi will find that To Russia with Love is a tricky and delicate mission, though at the end of it, he and Putin will make loud noises about historic ties and ever-lasting friendship. A growing business is welcome, but nobody should be fooled by their honey-laced diplomatese. Here's why: After reaching a peak during the Cold War, India-Russia ties took a beating once the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, though things became somewhat better later. But forget distant history: Even in the past couple of years, the India-Russia relationship has taken too many U-turns for Delhi's comfort. U-Turn 1: When relations reached some sort of stability despite Russias increasing proximity to China and Pakistan, Russia lifted arms embargo on Pakistan in 2014, signed a deal to supply four Mi-35 attack-cum-transport helicopters to Pakistan in 2015 and conducted a joint military exercise with it just days after the Uri attack. U-Turn 2: Russian envoys took great pains to explain that the helicopter deal with Pakistan amounted to a whole lot of nothing and that the military exercise was routine and planned long before Uri. Then in Goa, before the BRICS summit in October 2016, Putin and Modi had a bilateral meeting that clinched 16 deals. These included Russia supplying India $5 billion worth of S-400 Triumf surface-to-surface missiles and another $2 billion deal to help India make 200 Kamov 226T helicopters. Russia also agreed to consider leasing Akula-II nuclear-powered submarine to India for $2 billion. U-Turn 3: Even before the ink on the Goa deals fully dried up, Russia caused deep consternation and resentment in India by excluding it from a December 2016 exercise to bring peace between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban. Russia only involved China and Pakistan in the process, totally ignoring Indias own cordial ties with and generous aid to the Afghan regime. U-Turn 4: Let's make up, said Russia in February 2017. The Russians invited India as well as Iran, which too has a significant stake in what goes on in Afghanistan, to the talks on the Taliban. Putin woke up to the fact that India could play a key role in Afghanistans peace-building process. U-Turn 5: All was well until reports of Russias deepening involvement in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of Chinas One Belt One Road (OBOR) venture began to trickle in. U-Turn 6: Wait for it. This will unfold at the end of Modis visit to Russia on 2 June. No doubt, the two countries will sign deals, deals and more deals, which will give a welcome boost to the trade between them. Compare this confusion with what happened in the glory days of India-Russia ties in 1960s and 1970s. The Soviet Union helped India develop its science and industry, supplied India with an entire gamut of military hardware, backed India on virtually every issue on the global stage and became Indias largest trading partner. Though India-Russia friendship soured somewhat in 1950s, when the USSR became closer to China, things looked up significantly after the two communist giants fell out in 1961 on account of their conflicting interpretations of Marxism and differing national interests. Its likely that, at some point in future, Putin may find Xi to be an undependable ally in political and strategic terms, though their business relations will grow. Will there will be a repeat of 1961 and a second China-Russia split? Mark another major U-turn in India-Russia relations if that happens. But, for now, it makes sense for India to keep its commercial relationship with Russia going. Which makes sense for Putin too, as he sits down for talks with Modi. On Saturday, Ravinder, an e-rickshaw driver in Delhi, perhaps inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat initiative, objected to two young men urinating in the open. He requested that they use a public toilet. They responded by returning with a dozen others and bludgeoning him to death. It would be simplistic to attribute their rage to our societys feudal instinct where offenders from a higher socio-economic class retaliate violently simply because the advice is given from someone lower on the social strata. Not long ago, a well-heeled, middle-aged doctor travelling on the Mumbai-Pune highway, requested a car full of youths not to litter. He was battered and humiliated. The real issue is that we dont take advice, no matter how well meaning, unless it comes from an authority figure. I foresee such many more such incidents. But why? After all, hasn't Modi captured the imagination of the public with his Swachh Bharat campaign? Yes, he has. Which is great. More will speak up for the campaign, and with much more force. However, in their fervour, some may forget the campaign one which has been brilliantly intertwined with respect does not provide them with a protective shield. For that, you need to frame laws and have the support of those that enforce the law. Venkaiah Naidu met Ravinder's seven-month pregnant widow. He presented her with a cheque of Rs 50,000 and called for strict action against the culprits. While this is a noble gesture, it doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem. Governments, around the world, do three things in common when launching sanitation drives: Create awareness. Build infrastructure. Frame laws. The awareness of Swachh Bharat is growing, which is commendable. However, what is sorely lacking is infrastructure and laws. Thousands of public bathrooms need to be built and maintained. Hundreds of thousands of waste bins need to be installed. The bureaucracy has not been able to keep pace with the prime minister's campaign. It needs to catch up. Quickly. NITI Aayog, which has carried out some exemplary work despite the pressure of populism, has been unable to deliver any coherent plan when it comes to Swachh Bharat. The country is in dire need of a sanitation policy. The drive is central to our health policy, the Make in India initiative, and the agenda of tourism. It is central to our dignity. The world over, progress in sanitation is seen as the mark of a fast-developing society. A national sanitation policy will help facilitate in-depth planning across many segments. Folksy wisdom isn't enough. Planners must also be made aware of our past experiences: Waste bins being too small and being stolen and sold for scrap. Planning is paramount. From the number of toilet attendants required, monitoring their morale and keeping it high, lowering the attrition rate. No detail is too small. Even a cursory look at the toilets maintained by the Delhi Metro explains why supervision is necessary. Remember, when you gotta go, you gotta go. These queues will be more unruly than the ones seen during demonetisation, which is why the government can take no chances. Maintaining the status quo just doesn't cut it any more. Plan meticulously. Put the infrastructure in place. Then execute it. With professionalism. A couple of years ago, Kanthi Kanan, founder, Right to Walk Foundation, a Hyderabad-based NGO, submitted a petition to the National Womens Commission and the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission, stating that urinating in public was equivalent to stripping in public and it should be made a punishable offence. Kanan further stated that not only is it a public nuisance, it also causes women embarrassment and humiliation. The government has not yet acted on it. And wisely so. You can't forbid people from relieving themselves in public until you have provided a sufficient number of public toilets. Civic infrastructure must precede laws. But simply planning and providing infrastructure isn't enough. In the 16th century, even after the French government facilitated the construction of toilets in many homes, most people still kept defecating in the open. Until 1688, when the lieutenant of Paris Police issued an edict making the construction of toilets compulsory and their use mandatory. And that's how Paris and France rid themselves of open defecation. Awareness. Infrastructure and laws all three are the need of the hour without the latter, the sanitation movement will limp on. Loudly and painfully. A 23-year-old woman was shot dead by an unidentified man in the parking lot of her apartment in Noida, Sector 62 on Wednesday morning. She was working as a trainee engineer at mobile manufacturing company Lava in Sector 63. Anjali Rathour, from Jagadhri near Yamuna Nagar in Haryana, as shot dead at about 6.34 am, The Hindustan Times reported. Although the scene was captured by the CCTV cameras installed in her building, the man has not been identified yet, the police said. The footage shows a man shooting her multiple times from close range. She lived with six other girls in Shatabdi Rail Vihar Society. Rathour was identified when one of her roommates was leaving for her classes and saw people gathered on the ground floor. She found Rathour lying unconscious and quickly alerted the other roommates. They took her to the nearby Fortis hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Her parents have alleged that she was shot by someone known to her. A person, suspected to be her boyfriend, called her in the morning around 6.05 am, according to her phone records. She opened the door and came to the ground floor where she was shot dead, The Times of India reported. A case of murder has been registered at the Sector 58 police station and investigations have begun. "We have talked to the deceased's flat mates and relatives. Primary investigation suggests that the deceased's boyfriend could be behind it. We are investigating the matter and the accused will be arrested soon," said Arun Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police (city). New Delhi: A 27-year-old woman student of PhD final year committed suicide under mysterious circumstances in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi campus here, police said on Tuesday. The student Manjula Devak, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her room around 7.40 pm in Nalanda Apartments in the IIT campus, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said. Devak, who was married to Ritesh Virha, was a student of water resources. Her husband and parents, who reside in Bhopal, have been informed about her death, Biswal said. An inquiry has been initiated and the cause of suicide was yet to be known as no suicide note was found, police said. Chandigarh: The Punjab government is all set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations as part of its efforts to intensify its war against drugs. The decision was taken at a meeting between Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and UNODC representative Sergey Kapinos on Wednesday, said an official release. The MoU will be signed between the health department, the Special Task Force (STF) on drugs and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the second week of June, it said. It was also decided to develop a roadmap for the project implementation for which a project committee will be set up. The committee will be headed by principal secretary (Health) with STF chief ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu as co-convenor, besides two representatives of UNODC. The chief minister directed the health secretary to finalise the terms of the MoU after consultation with all stakeholders to identify the areas of cooperation, the release said. Pre-project activity will start immediately after signing of the MoU and the execution will move forward full steam as soon as the project funding is cleared by the UN, it said. Kapinos appreciated the work done by the Amarinder Singh government in fighting the drugs problem, saying the "political will that had been shown by the state could deliver exemplary results and set an example in combating the menace not only in India but the entire region." Referring to Punjab's vulnerability to drugs on account of its proximity to Pakistan, the UN official spoke about the need to involve the clergy and the Gurdwaras (Sikh's place of worship) to create awareness and reach out to the victims. He also stressed the need to address the issue of drug abuse in prisons, thus underlining the importance of prison rehabilitation and reforms. The UNODC representative offered the agency's help in improving law enforcement and policing to combat drugs. He suggested e-programmes in Hindi and Punjabi to connect with the local youths, which he said was the most vulnerable group. Kapinos informed the chief minister that the agency's programmes involving mothers had proved very successful in other countries, and could be emulated in Punjab. STF chief ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu spoke about the three-pronged strategy adopted by the force to combat the drugs menace. He said 30 lakh students and 10 lakh adults were being involved in the anti-drugs awareness drive in the state. In his presentation, Kapinos shared details of the 'Star Strategy' developed by UNODC ROSA to facilitate the state government in protecting the health of drug abusers, including measures to ensure their holistic rehabilitation by providing evidence-based treatment, such as Opioid Substitution Theory for people with Opioid disorder, which in turn would reduce the demand for illegal opioids. The UN representative also informed the CM about the Opioid Treatment Interventions being piloted by UNODC in Kapurthala and Bathinda and promised assistance to the state government in scaling up of operations in these areas. The UNODC strategy also listed measures to guarantee security of other citizens by adopting a model of gender inclusiveness with targeted programmes for women drug users, women sex partners of drug users, women prisoners and women living with HIV. Holy cow! How come we never got to know that the humble animal was so incredibly special? Now that a judge himself, no less, has taken pains to make us understand the real value of cow we must accept that the big controversy around it is not without substance. So heres how, according to media reports, the honourable judge of Rajasthan High Court Justice Manish Chand Sharma explained the importance of cow: 1) Thirty-three crore deities reside inside its body. 2) Its the only living being which inhales and exhales oxygen. 3) Cows horns absorb cosmic energy. 4) Its dung can kill agents causing cholera. 5) Cow urine has 11 benefits for the mankind. 6) It is a laboratory in itself. If you are grinning already, be serious. The honourable judge was making no random statement; he was quoting experts and studies to highlight some of these points. The only thing odd about it is that he was hearing a petition on the large-scale death of cows in a shelter in Jaipur when he suddenly shifted to another trajectory, extolling the virtues of the animal and making a passionate plea for its protection. He also, according to a media report, called himself a devotee of Lord Shiva. Now, the cause of the cow is important. Maybe its worth the discussion it generates these days. In fact, it has been a burning issue ever since gau rakshaks took upon themselves to kill human beings to protect the animals. But it is best left to the scientific community to bring us enlightenment on the several virtues of cow, because faith alone is not enough. Thirty-three crore deities are fine but there could be harmful viruses and bacteria which are atheists or agents of the evil and have managed to make themselves comfortable in the cows body. Why would the judge jump the gun and pronounce a verdict even before a proper scientific study into the subject? Justice Sharma said it was the "voice of his soul". It appears from the order that he has a nice, compassionate soul but arent courts supposed to go by evidence? If every judge goes by his voice of the soul then the entire judicial architecture would collapse in a heap. Something surely appears amiss here. The judge said cow should be declared a national animal and prescribed life-term for killing the animal. No problem with that. If the government thinks its worth it, it can go ahead and be prepared to face the repercussion, if any. The problem is the entirety of the judges order sounds suspiciously close to the line of thinking of the votaries of a particular ideology. Justice Sharma could have inadvertently provided a sense of legitimacy to them. The point of this article is not to demean the perceived virtues of the cow. Since our ancient texts value it so high, there has to be some merit in it. However, it cannot be left to emotional judgement of certain sections of people. Their intention may not be actually to protect cow; they could be making it a pretext to harass other people and communities. The death of about 500 cattle in the shelter near Jaipur and the pitiable condition of cattle elsewhere reveal that the current wave of sympathy for the cow may be fake. Also, the sympathisers appear to be totally oblivious to the fact that aggressive protection of the animal may leave farmers and cows itself in a precarious situation. Surely, we dont want to reduce it to a zoo animal. Someone must listen to the "voice of the soul" of the cow. An animal which can accommodate so many gods cannot be without one. Unfortunately, it will drown in the faux sympathy of its supposed protectors. London: Authorities are bitterly opposed to the burial of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, who killed 22 people at a concert nine days ago, in Manchester. The Manchester Evening News reported that the bomber's remains were currently at a morgue outside the Greater Manchester area. Sources close to the investigation into the atrocity told the daily that his body was never kept along with his 22 victims. One source said authorities would do "everything in their power" to prevent Abedi from being buried or laid to rest in Manchester. The source said: "Every effort is going in to making sure that there is not a chance Abedi can be buried or cremated in Greater Manchester." Abedi, 22, a British-born son of Libyan parents, is understood to have recently returned to Manchester from Libya. Abedi, 22, a British-born son of Libyan parents, is understood to have recently returned to Manchester from Libya. Patna: A day after the results of Bihar's plus two examination were announced in which 64 percent of students failed, agitated examinees on Wednesday protested outside the Council office in Patna against poor pass percentage. A large number of students gathered outside the Inter Council office to protest unsatisfactory results. A few of them also tried to climb the main gate but were prevented by police. Agitating students gained strength after hundreds of youth workers of Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav joined the protestors. Members of ABVP, student wing of RSS and AISF, Left wing students organisation, sat on dharna at Kargil chowk in support of the examinees. They pelted stones at the council office following which police lathicharged them. About half-a-dozen students were detained by police for indulging in violent protest against irrational marking. Even state's topper in science stream Khushboo Kumari complained of getting low percentage of 86.2 while she was expecting around 95 percent. Many others complained they have appeared in JEE Mains exam but due to irrational marking they could lose one year. Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary appealed to the students not to indulge in violence and apply for compartmental examination which would be held soon. "The intention of the state government is to conduct cheating-free exam...we want that merit should come ahead...we just cannot pass undeserving students," he said. Choudhary said he would talk to the officials for holding compartmental examination soon so that the affected students do not lose next academic session. Tightening conduct of state's plus two exam this year in the backdrop of infamous toppers scam in 2016 has resulted in 64 percent examinees failing in Class 12 examination result which was declared on Tuesday. Only 30.11 percent of students passed the test in the Science stream as the results, declared by the Bihar School Examination Board Chairman Anand Kishore, showed. The results were dismal in the Arts stream too where a meagre 37 per cent of the examinees could pass the test. In Commerce stream, however, the pass percentage was 73.76. Nearly 13 lakh students had appeared for the Plus-Two examination which was held this year. The pass percentage in all the three streams witnessed a sharp decline as compared to results last year and those held prior to it. In 2016, the state saw a shameful toppers scam. The deep-rooted exam racket in plus two exam surfaced after Arts topper Ruby Roy in a TV interview described Political Science as "Prodikal science" which she said was related to cooking. Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said the publication of results have exposed activities of Examination board. Hyderabad: Taking a serious note of the alleged illegal transfer of 796 acres of government land to private individuals, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday ordered a CID inquiry into the matter. "The CM discussed the issue of 796 acres of government land registered to private persons in Medchel district. He wanted the officials to take firm action against the guilty and CID to probe it in depth," a release from Rao's office said. The Cyberabad Police here have arrested a sub-registrar and two directors of different real estate firms for allegedly transferring government land to private companies and causing losses to the state exchequer. R Srinivasa Rao, sub-registrar of Kukatpally, and PS Parthasarathi and PVS Sharma, directors of the two firms, were arrested on Monday for alleged illegal transfer of government land in Miyapur village on the city outskirts, a Cyberabad police release said. Meanwhile, one more sub-registrar was arrested on Tuesday by police here on charge of registering properties violating provisions of Registration Act 1908 and allegedly causing a huge loss in crores to the government exchequer. T Ramesh Chander Reddy, who earlier worked as Sub-Registrar at LB Nagar, registered three sale deeds for 10,950 Square Yards land that were executed by M/s South India Research Institute Pvt Ltd represented by G Subba Raju in favour of Sama Narasimha Reddy and others, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said. "The property is located near national highway and as per the present market value, the sub-registrar has to collect stamp duty at Rs 35,000 per sq yards, but he adopted the market value at Rs 13,000 per sq yard and caused loss of Rs 1.45 crore to the government," the commissioner said. During his tenure as sub-registrar at LB Nagar, Ramesh had registered number of immovable properties in various documents by violating provisions of Registration Act, 1908 and caused huge loss to the state government exchequer, he said. On a petition lodged by P Subba Rao, Registrar of Ranga Reddy District, a case under relevant IPC sections and under Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Registration Act, 1908 was registered against Ramesh, Bhagwat added. The CMO release said two sub-registrars have been suspended in connection with the irregularities. Another sub-registrar had already been suspended and arrested. Favouring "cleansing" of corruption in registration department, Rao announced immediate abolition of `anywhere registration system' related to properties. He directed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials to keep a close vigil on the activities in sub-registrar offices all over the state and investigate the irregularities. In another decision, the CM directed withdrawal of certain special discretionary powers given to sub-registrars and registrars. The government received information that 'benami' transactions are not being uploaded on to the system by some officials in collusion with those registering the documents and the police department has been asked to form 'Flying Squads' to check such practices, the release said. Rao said there is no truth in reports in some quarters that certain government land had gone into the hands of private individuals. Noting that registering state-owned lands in the name of private persons is illegal, he said some persons got such properties registered to obtain loans from banks. The registration had been cancelled after the matter came to the notice of the government, he said. New Delhi: Nandini K R, who hails from Karnataka, has topped the prestigious civil services examination, the result of which was declared today by the UPSC. She had taken the exam last year. As many as 1,099 candidates have been recommended for various government services. There are 220 other candidates in the waiting list. The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages-- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. The Uttar Pradesh Board of Secondary Education, also called Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP), is likely to declare results for Class X and XII in the first week of June, according to reports. Although an official update is yet to come from the board, the candidates can check the official website upmsp.edu.in for any new notification. Once declared, the students can check their results on the web portals, upmsp.edu.in or upresults.nic.in. The students are requested to keep their relevant candidate information like hall ticket number ready at the time results are out, in order to avoid delays. Though the Class X and XII results were expected in May, the delay in announcement came with the UPMSP's decision to follow CBSE's path on marks moderation. "We are not sure whether moderation policy for state board students will apply this year or not as we are still in the process of feeding data while CBSE is about to declare results so we will follow whatever CBSE decides," UPMSP secretary Shail Yadav had told The Times of India. Marks moderation policy refers to the manipulation of marks from the total score of students based on factors such as difficulty levels in different sets of question papers. Since the CBSE declared the Class XII 2017 results on 28 May after deciding to continue with the moderation policy, the UPMSP is also expected to announce the results soon. The Class X and XII examination had also faced delay due to Assembly elections and commenced from 16 March. Close to 55 lakh students appeared for the UPMSP examinations this year. Steps to obtain result: Visit the either of the two websites: upmsp.edu.in or upresults.nic.in. Select the appropriate class name U. P. Board High School (Class X) 2017 Results or U. P. Board Intermediate (Class XII) Results 2017 . Fill out the required details asked in the form like roll number and click submit Download your result and take a print copy for future reference As has been observed over the course of the past few weeks, the dates and times of result announcements have been frequently changed around. The information above has not been independently verified. However, this article will continue to be updated to reflect official updates as and when they come in. Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya on his first visit to the town after taking charge. The visit assumes significance as it comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case by a CBI special court. The UP chief minister, who arrived here in the morning, spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex. He later offered payers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed on Tuesday along with the other BJP leaders. A special CBI court in Lucknow had on Tuesday framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on 19 April. All six were on Tuesday granted bail by CBI special judge SK Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each after rejecting the CBI's opposition to their bail plea. The apex court had while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of two cases relating to the demolition. The court had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. The CBI had filed chargesheet against 21 people in the case. Many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the VHP's Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidhynath, have since died. Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple on his first visit to the town after taking charge. The visit assumes significance as it comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister, who arrived in Ayodhya on Wednesday, spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple in the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid complex. He later offered prayers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed on Tuesday along with the other BJP leaders. A special CBI court in Lucknow had on Tuesday framed charges against BJP veterans LK Advani, MM Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on 19 April. All six were granted bail by CBI special judge SK Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each after rejecting the CBI's opposition to their bail plea. The apex court had, while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of two cases relating to the demolition. The court had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. The CBI had charge sheeted 21 people in the case. Many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the VHP's Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidhynath, have since died. Schuyler residents visiting the Missouri National Recreational River this summer might see a familiar face. Teresa Mentzer works as an educator at the national park, which runs along the Missouri River near Yankton, South Dakota. Mentzer spent the majority of her life in Schuyler and taught English at Schuyler Central High School for 32 years before deciding in 2014 to pursue a passion that had slowly grown over the years. I thought, Maybe this is the time when I have the energy and interest to get out of my comfort zone,'" she said of the decision to retire from SCHS and take a job with the National Park Service. Mentzer has always been interested in nature. She and her husband Curt, who still lives in Schuyler, have visited many national parks with their children. In 2007, she participated in a program through the National Park Service that allows educators to travel to national parks for professional development. At Rocky Mountain National Park, Mentzer met a ranger who impressed her and learned she was a teacher in Denver. That educator was part of the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program that allowed her to work for the park during summer break. That stuck in my mind for a few years, Mentzer said. It got to the point where I got more interested and started doing research in 2010. She discovered the closest national park was only two hours away along the Missouri River. I did not know there was a national park this close to where I live, she said. I became more interested in the idea that maybe this is something that I could try as a job other than teaching. After a few years working over the summer, a full-time education technician position opened at the park. Mentzer and her husband discussed the opportunity, and she decided to apply. It all just came together. It seemed a natural fit for me, she said. I wasnt tired of teaching necessarily, I was trying to have an impact on young people about our environment and taking care of it for the future. There are things she misses about teaching in Schuyler, such as seeing several generations come through the classroom. Theres several families where I had all their children, she said. The relationships with families over the years, that was really fun. She also misses teaching writing, putting together the school paper and directing one-act plays. I miss the kids and their writing, their creativity, she said. Working and collaborating with the kids on different projects and having them produce something thats theirs and take ownership of it. I really enjoyed that. But her current job has brought new experiences and she's learned new things about herself along the way. One time she was taking a group of children fishing, but didnt really know how to bait a hook or cast the line. I just fished as a young girl and most of that was done for me, she said. Now Im the dad-person putting their worm on the hooks. Shes also led groups on canoe trips and is undergoing official training for kayaking. If I hadnt taken this job I dont know if I would have learned kayaking, she said. Through canoeing, kayaking and hiking, the job has also given her the opportunity to stay active. At the age Im at it's important to be healthy and stay active, she said. This gives me an outlet for that and gently persuades me to stay in shape and to stay active in order to still fulfill the duties of the job. Every summer she sees some familiar faces from Schuyler, but would like to see more. I think the national parks are something that we need to continue to protect and preserve for years to come, she said. See whats in your backyard. Weve got a lot of great parks here in Nebraska. Theres a quote by George Eliot she thinks of when sharing her story. "It is never too late to be what you might have become," Mentzer said. You can try something different no matter what age you are. [Update: Humans of Hindutva has been blocked for three days, after the admin wrote a letter about being blocked from posting for 24 hours.] Humans of Hindutva, a popular parody page on Facebook, which "takes potshots at fundamentalists hiding in plain sight within India's right-wing" in the admin's own words, was blocked for 24 hours by the social media platform for a post on General Bipin Rawat and his controversial comment on Kashmiri protestors. This Facebook page combines pictures of politicians, celebrities and others in the news, along with personal quotes written in a humorous, often self-deprecating manner. In the past, two its posts have been removed, citing violation of Facebook's Community Standards, the admin revealed in a DailyO article he wrote. In this article, he argues that satirical Facebook posts seem to bother users more than increasing attacks on people. "The problem is that average, unaffiliated Facebook users like me are now against a dedicated collective that wants to muzzle our voices by employing the tools that you had incorporated in order to check abuse," he says. Firstpost spoke to the admin of Humans of Hindutva for an article on the page's style of humour, and he talked about the experience of dealing with trolls online. He called trolls the "best thing" about starting a parody page. He says that initially, he would engage with each commenter because it was manageable; he ran the page alone and when he would take breaks from work. "So when the hundreds of comments turned into thousands, I put my hands up. Now, I just delete and ban people who use racial abuse or personally attack me. At the end of the day, it is my page and Im not going to participate in my own abuse and neither will I allow the abuse of others. It is the only space where I yield some authority so Id be a fool to not exercise it," he explains. He says that many people have challenged him to come out of anonymity, "as if we dont know what will happen if I do that". He mentioned that he has received a couple of death threats, which is why he chose to stay incognito. He uses humour even when he speaks of the accusations people have made against him. "Many people accuse me of being on the oppositions payroll, which really makes me chuckle. Some woman even made the bizarre accusation that I hire people to comment on the page and like the posts, which was equally hilarious. I find it funny that these people cant see that this page is just a guy making stupid jokes and some of it is resonating with people who are like-minded. Its that simple. Its not some giant conspiracy to break India that is funded by opposition parties. Kejriwal cant even pay his lawyers; hes going to hire me?" he asks. Humans of Hindutva was set up after the admin had a heated conversation with a nationalist friend; he had always considered creating the page, but the night of this conversation, something inside him forced him to act on this thought. "I went with the name because, despite being a Hindu, Im disgusted with the saffron brigade and the way they are trying to spread their regressive ideas through communal and religious propaganda. Many commenters on the page ask why I didnt start a Humans of Islam or Humans of Christianity. Thats the equivalent of going to a Mexican restaurant and asking why the chef doesnt serve biryani. What I'm serving should be clear from the name of the page. The page is not against Hinduism but against the people who twist it for their nefarious purposes," he explains. Firstpost asked the admin what the objective behind setting up this page was. "I seriously have no intention to sermonise. I started this page mainly to make myself laugh. If some of the posts seem in poor taste, then its because the retrograde ideas that those posts ridicule are in poor taste to begin with. Besides, if youre more offended with an obvious joke on casteism than you are with actual casteism then you need to set your priorities straight. Some of my favourite writers like Hunter. Thompson, Joseph Heller, Chuck Palahniuk, John Kennedy Toole and Kurt Vonnegut didnt pull any punches. I get my general understanding of satire from them. Over time Ive learnt that humour is a better way to deal with issues than anger," he explains. But this problem of people repeatedly hitting the 'Report Abuse' button probably stems from their inability to understand Humans of Hindutva's brand of humour. The admin himself says that people should instinctively not trust any of the content because it is a parody page, and yet users seem to fall for even the most over-the-top posts. "I put up this photo of a motherboard that sort of looked like a futuristic city and said that it was Rajkot. It was such an obvious and infantile dig at those photos of Western cities that BJP ministers tweet and try to pass off as Gujarat. Literally hundreds of nationalists commented its a motherboard you idiot! On the flipside, several liberals who didnt know that it was a parody page said that this photo proved that BJP had lost the plot. I sat at home and laughed into my beer," the admin says. Funnily and sadly enough, on 27 May, the page put out a post poking fun at people who wanted to report the page. Meanwhile, Facebook's Community Standards are nothing less than vague and inconsistent, and it is difficult to understand what content is and is not permissible, considering that several banned outfits in Pakistan continue to function openly on the social media platform. According to a report by Dawn, 41 sectarian, terrorist, and anti-state organisations operate on Facebook in the form of individuals, groups and pages. These entities openly support extremist and sectarian ideologies, and some user profiles reportedly have also 'liked' pages about weapons and weapon training. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) are some of the outfits that are part of Dawn's list. When asked about the issue, the admin said, "Unfortunately, after my 24 hour ban was lifted, I posted the letter I wrote for DailyO on my page and asked Facebook to take a stand. Instead of addressing this issue, Facebook has blocked me for three days. At this point, it is incredible that they can't see how there is a dedicated campaign against the page when even sharing an open letter is getting reported. With the media covering this issue, surely someone at Facebook India has learnt of the problem I'm facing? It's a rather grim state of affairs; tomorrow I may say that the Earth is round and Facebook will probably block me if enough people report it. I hope someone from Facebook India contacts me so I can tell them my side of the story." Today (31 May) is World No Tobacco Day. It has been observed worldwide since 1987 in an attempt draw people's attention to the massive health risks that accompany you when you consuming tobacco. This year, we thought it is pertinent to point out that tobacco use remains the single largest cause of preventable death. It kills more than seven million people each year and the death toll is expected to keep rising, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) bracing for more than one billion deaths this century. WHO puts out a report analysing the damage caused by tobacco consumption each year to highlight the menace of a substance deeply normalised and internalised in our society despite the drastic health affects. This year too, inn a report released ahead of the occasion, WHO warned that the annual death toll of seven million people had jumped from four million at the turn of the century, making tobacco the world's single biggest cause of preventable death. "By 2030, more than 80 percent of the deaths will occur in developing countries, which have been increasingly targeted by tobacco companies seeking new markets to circumvent tightening regulation in developed nations," the UN agency said. Environmental impact Tobacco use also brings an economic cost: WHO estimates that it drains more than $1.4 trillion (1.3 trillion) from households and governments each year in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity, or nearly two percent of the global gross domestic product. India alone has lost 1,700 hectares of forest annually between 1962 and 2002 due to cultivation of tobacco in these areas, the WHO said. In addition to the health and economic costs linked to smoking, the WHO report for the first time delved into the environmental impact of everything from tobacco production to the cigarette butts and other waste produced by smokers. "From start to finish, the tobacco life cycle is an overwhelmingly polluting and damaging process," WHO Assistant Director-General Oleg Chestnov said in the report. The report detailed how growing tobacco often requires large quantities of fertilisers and pesticides, and it warned that tobacco farming had become the main cause of deforestation in several countries. This is largely due to the amount of wood needed for curing tobacco, with WHO estimating that one tree is needed for every 300 cigarettes produced. WHO also highlighted the pollution generated during the production, transport and distribution of tobacco products. The report estimates that the industry emits nearly four million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually - the same as around three million transatlantic flights. And waste from the process contains over 7,000 toxic chemicals that poison the environment, including human carcinogens, WHO said. Once in the hands of the consumer, tobacco smoke emissions spewed thousands of tonnes of human carcinogens, toxic substances and greenhouse gases into the environment. Cigarette butts and other tobacco waste make up the largest number of individual pieces of litter in the world, the agency said. Two thirds of the 15 billion cigarettes sold each day are thrown on to the street or elsewhere in the environment, it said, adding that butts account for up to 40 percent of all items collected in coastal and urban clean-ups. WHO urged governments to take strong measures to rein in tobacco use. "One of the least used, but most effective tobacco control measures... is through increasing tobacco tax and prices," Chestnov said. India impact The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), which is conducted by the health ministry, says smoking kills over 1 million people in the country annually. The economic burden of tobacco consumption is around Rs 1,04,500 crore per annum. Thirty five percent of the adults in the age group of 15 years and above consume tobacco in some form or the other with 48 percent males and 20 per cent females consuming tobacco in any form. Nearly two in five (38 percent) adults in rural areas and one in four (25 percent) adults in urban areas use some form of tobacco. Smoking kills over 1 million people in the country annually. The economic burden of tobacco consumption is around Rs 1,04,500 crore per annum. The country has lost 1,700 hectares of forest annually between 1962 and 2002 due to cultivation of tobacco in these areas. And that, in addition to the fact that lack of stringent laws and relatively favourable taxation laws have made developing countries a plush market for tobacco companies seeking new markets to circumvent tightening regulation in developed nations Punjab, Maharashtra launch steps to discourage tobacco consumption Maharashtra's health minister Deepak Sawant on Tuesday said that de-addiction centres will be set up in all the government-run hospitals in the state. He also sought proposals from the hospitals on the issue. the state government also roped in 40 NGOs to ensure better implementation of existing regulations. Sale of lose cigarette is illegal under the law, apart from many such restrictions on sale and use of tobacco, which largely remain unimplemented. Meanwhile in Punjab, the Health Department has instructed officers of departments concerned to check sale of loose cigarettes to students. The government also decided to put larger focus on protecting children and youth from tobacco abuse, and strictly implement section six of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). The Punjab administration also vowed to ramp up efforts to raise the VAT on Bidi's and smokeless tobacco in order to bring it at par with cigarettes. With inputs from agencies Chhota Udepur (Gujarat): Continuing with his "lunch-dinner diplomacy", BJP president Amit Shah enjoyed food with a tribal family at Devaliya village in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district in Gujarat. The exercise was aimed at widening the party's base among the tribal population. The BJP chief started his lunch-dinner diplomacy to connect with the masses in West Bengal where he had lunch with a Dalit family, then he visited Varanasi and now he is in Gujarat. In Devaliya village of Chhota Udepur, he had dinner on Tuesday night with a local BJP party worker, Popatbhai Rathwa. The VIP presence at his place turned into a blessing for the tribal party worker, as other party workers helped the Rathwa family put basic infrastructure in place, with the family getting a new toilet facility, a wash basin, an LPG stove and a couple of coolers. This show of help was perhaps to make the environs comfortable for the BJP chief and entourage of VIPs, including BJP's state in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, state party chief Jitu Vaghani, party general secretaries, state ministers, MPs and other party functionaries, who joined Shah. Shah's presence in this Congress-dominated region seems to be significant as five of the six taluka panchayats as well as the district panchayat of Chhota Udepur are ruled by the Congress. Even in the last parliamentary polls, when the BJP had won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, it was a close contest in Chhota Udepur. The legislator from the district comes from the Congress. The BJP is currently facing trouble from several other communities besides the socially, politically and economically powerful Patidaars, like the Dalits who have risen after the public flogging of Dalit youths by a self-styled cow protection group at Una in Saurashtra. "While Gujarat remains a strong fortress for the BJP, there was a need to further strengthen its presence," said Shah, addressing the newly-inducted booth workers in Devalia village. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and said as the chief minister, he had helped win around 120 seats, and now with him as the Prime Minister, the party can look to bag at least 150 of the 182 assembly seats in the state. On a three-day visit to the state, Shah is expected to continue his booth-level programmes in the state and would visit another tribal district of Sabarkantha. New Delhi: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday expressed confidence that top BJP leaders, charged with criminal conspiracy in the Babri mosque demolition case, will come out "unscathed" even as the Congress demanded resignation of cabinet minister Uma Bharti. Bharti, along with BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi among others, was charged by a special CBI court in Lucknow and also granted bail in the case. The court framed charges under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code against the BJP leaders. Naidu told reporters the accused BJP leaders are "innocent" and will come out of the case "unscathed". Naidu also noted that the NDA government did not move to withdraw the case against the top saffron leaders. Arrival of the BJP veterans for the court appearance prompted the party's Hindutva faces to raise the pitch for the construction of Ram Temple. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too met Advani. BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said "no power on earth" could stop the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Bharti, the Union minister of water resources, said before appearing in the court that the mosque was pulled down not as part of a "criminal conspiracy" but an "open movement". "I was present in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, which is no secret. Crores of BJP workers, lakhs of officials and thousands of political leaders participated. "It was an open movement like the movement against the Emergency. I don't see any conspiracy," she said. The Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uphold the law and the Constitution by getting Bharti to quit as minister. "One of the accused, Uma Bharti is a Union Cabinet minister. Having been charge-sheeted, she must resign. Prime Minister must come forward and uphold the rule of law and the Constitution," AICC incharge of communications Randeep Surjewala said. "Time for law of the land to deliver justice expeditiously," he said as the opposition party voiced hope that the trial will now begin. "Those who are guilty must be punished in accordance with the law of the land without any fear or favour," Surjewala said. Another BJP leader and one of the accused, Vinay Katiyar, insisted that there was no conspiracy as the mosque was razed by a big crowd in the open. "It is not appropriate to charge a few persons with criminal conspiracy," the one-time firebrand Hindutva leader and former UP BJP chief said. Katiyar targeted Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying that a case should have been lodged against the former chief minister over the firing by police on 'kar sewaks' in Ayodhya in 1990. He claimed he had not delivered a speech on 6 December, 1992, when the 16th century structure was demolished. He also claimed that the case had "reached" the judgement stage before the apex court gave its new ruling. With the special CBI court framing charges against senior BJP-RSS leaders in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case on 30 May, it is now clear that veterans like LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katyar, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya etc. will now stand trial in the case. This decision of the CBI court was on expected lines, as the Supreme Court itself, on perusal of the evidence available before it, had in April this year asked for the revival of the conspiracy charges which had earlier been discharged by the trial court. What was, however, surprising was the plea made by these leaders before the court that they had not hatched any conspiracy to demolish the mosque and they should be discharged. The court rejected this plea, rightly so. If one of these leaders who could be discharged from the conspiracy case on circumstantial grounds, he could be Advani. As a matter of fact, referring to the day criminals demolished the Babri Masjid, Advani had put it on record to admit that that was the saddest day of his life. In keeping with his dignified demeanour, he maintained a studied silence when the Supreme Court had revived the conspiracy charges last month. Still, Advani could not have been kept out of the legal proceedings as he had led the Ram Mandir movement not just to construct a Ram Temple in Ayodhya but also to build one at the very spot on which the Babri Masjid stood. You mobilise millions on this idea, make thousands descend on the spot and then expect them to refrain from any action to execute the idea that is a non sequitur. That would not pass legal muster. On the other extreme, one leader who has no face to deny culpability is Bharti. She was photographed embracing Joshi in joy when part of the Babri structure was pulled down by the BJP miscreants. She had gone on record to say that 6 December, 1992, the day Babri Masjid fell, was a red letter day in Indias history. What was indeed alarming was that Bharti, who is now a Union minister, reiterated her old stance soon after the Supreme Court of India restored the conspiracy angle last month. In a series of interviews to media organisations, she gloated about the criminal act of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. As if to taunt the SC, she went on record to say in sharp contrast to Advanis confession that the day of the Babri demolition was the proudest moment of her life. That is supposed to be her "courageous" stance and, as she has said again and again, she was prepared to be "hanged" for building the Ram temple at the precise spot where the Babri Masjid stood. Why is she now, in the court and outside, trying to prove her own innocence and pass the buck to hundreds of kar sevaks to face the legal brunt of the crime of demolishing the Babri structure? On the strength of her contribution to the Babri demolition movement, she became a mass leader, a chief minister of a state and now a Union minister. But when it comes to facing the legal consequences of that movement, she is trying to wash her hands of any involvement in it; she tamely tells the court that she did not want the Babri Masjid to be demolished the way it was done; so those who did it should face the consequences, and not she. This is strange leadership! When you fight for a political cause and indulge in a criminal act in furtherance of that political cause, you should be ready to face the consequences, and not chicken out of it. Many young revolutionaries during the freedom struggle faced the gallows openly hailing their political fight. They never shied away from proclaiming their association with the revolutionary criminal activity in order to advance their political cause. They were the real heroes for the people of this country. But in Bharti and others of her ilk, we find a caricature of those revolutionary heroes. What to talk of laying down their lives for the cause they believe in, they are not even ready to lay down the positions of power they enjoy till the courts actually throw them out of office. Take the case of Kalyan Singh, who as chief minister of the state when Babri demolition happened, was by all evidences ferreted out by the Justice Liberhan Committee, could be the prime conspirator behind the demolition on that fateful day. As per the SC order based on the submissions made by the CBI he is a prominent face who must face trial but he enjoys the immunity given to governors from prosecution as he is the governor of Rajasthan today. Singh should have resigned on his own to face the legal charges, but he chose to hide behind the immunity clause. This is a cowardly act not symptomatic of great leader. Bharti as Union minister does not enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution; otherwise, she would have followed the footsteps of Singh as well and saved herself the legal hassle of facing the court. Otherwise, both Singh and Bharti are in the same league; both want to stick to the position of power as long as they can. As charges have been framed against Bharti, there is a demand that she should resign. But her party is brazening out the demand saying that she need not resign, because she has not been convicted yet. This is the standard plea of all accused of criminal activity and their protagonists when a police chargesheet is filed. It is in the fitness of things that a public servant need not resign until the judicial application of mind in a criminal case had taken place. But here is a case where the judicial officer has gone through the material submitted by the prosecution and has come to the conclusion that prima facie criminal cases could be slapped against the accused. After this judicial adjudication, any political leader worth the reckoning, should have stepped down vowing to return to position when cleared of charges. Advani had set that high standard when he had resigned even as a Member of Parliament when the Jain Hawala scandal exploded in his face. He kept his word; he returned as a Member of Parliament and went on to become the home minister and deputy prime minister when the court dismissed all charges against him. Some BJP acolytes say that what Advani faced was a corruption charge but what Bharti is facing is a political charge. They must be reminded that what Bharti is facing are charges of criminal conspiracy, the consequences of which led to loss of thousands of innocent lives. Bharti is, in fact, facing a more severe charge than what Advani faced in the 1990s. But then Bharti has not resigned as she is not made of the same moral fibre as that of Advani. And, again, we must not forget that the BJP under the stewardship of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani constituted a moral alternative to the Congress whereas the same party under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has now become another political outfit for which power, not moral standard, is the barometer of success. Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti along with nine other BJP leaders were granted bail by a special CBI court on Tuesday. However the court rejected their petitions to dismiss charges of criminal conspiracy against them. This virtually seals the fate of Advani and Joshi, key claimants for the presidential-elect candidate, of BJP. What it also does is that it puts pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove Uma Bharti from the ministry. Modi and Advani share a love and hate relationship. After the Godhra riots, when former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to remove Modi from the chief minister's post of Gujarat, Advani threw his weight behind Modi, and managed to save his chair. The rest is history. In 2009, the BJP lost badly in Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Advani. This significantly lowered his stature in the party along with the Jinnah episode. In 2013, when Modi was appointed the chief of election campaign for BJP for 2014 Lok Sabha elections and then anointed as the prime ministerial candidate, Adavni resisted the move. He boycotted both the events making his displeasure clear. How could he work under his junior. Advani tried everything even pestering ally JDU to break ranks to prevent BJP from naming Modi but RSS and Rajnath Singh had identified their Tendulkar for the big match. Advani's camp members Ananth Kumar, Sushma Swaraj, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Venkaiah Naidu left him and hopped onto the new order. Advani was cajoled to contest the Lok Sabha elections and he won with a comfortable margin. However, soon after the elections, he along with Joshi were removed from BJP's Parliamentary Board and made part of Margdarshak Mandal. This mandal has been opposing Modi's moves and attacking the prime minister after the party lost Delhi and Bihar elections last year. The margdarshaks kept sulking, but Modi and Amit Shah never came to them for any margdarshan. Modi, touted as the second tallest leader in BJP's history, hoped that making Advani the president would be the ultimate guru dakshina. This would have been a perfect gift and farewell for Advani whose Ram Mandir movement propelled BJP to national politics. According to sources, Advani called his camp members Naidu, Prasad and Ananth for dinner. He broached the subject and wanted them to push his name for the President with Modi. They agreed out of respect. After a few days Advani called each of them and got only excuses as response. One of them advised him that any such lobbying will go against Advani. The veteran BJPleader then approached Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who promised support. TDP's Chandrababu Naidu remained non-committal. Knowing Modi and his style of functioning, the prime minister would not want Advani as the President, who he feels could play spoilsport to his 'ordinance' style of working. With Advani being senior, Modi probably wants to avoid any such discomforting situations. But he also has an image to manage. An image of a chaiwallah who rose to become a prime minister through hard work; an image of a loyal disciple. He has never publicly supported nor refuted Advani's candidature. Keeping all of this in mind, timing of CBI court's decision to frame charges against the BJP leaders is thus susceptible. Now, Modi can publicly portray that he wanted to make his guru the President, but CBI case has weakened Advani's chances. Modi's clean image gets a boost. The prime minister further solidifies his image as a man of principles. However, it was a known fact in political circles that something of this sort was approaching which would automatically disqualify Advani. However, in the scheme of events, Joshi has been the collateral. Modi is not averse to Joshi's claim for the presidential post. Joshi has a clean image and is seen as an intellectual. He even vacated his Varanasi seat for Modi and shifted to Kanpur. Modi wanted to pay back but he cannot now apply different yardsticks for different people. By the same logic, continuance of Uma Bharti in the Cabinet is doubtful. Congress is already demanding her resignation. Modi is also unhappy with the tardy progress on his ambitious Namami Ganga Plan. It's a two-bird-one-stone moment for Modi. The issue, however, is that Uma has had a chequered past and revolted against Advani earlier. She is no push over, she is hot-headed and Advani-Joshi camp may back her to the hilt to take revenge on Modi. Internal politics in BJP is set to intensify. Ministers from Advani camp, like Naidu, are making statements of support to Advani. Modi camp is cautious and has not openly supported Advani. The margdarshak camp doesn't enjoy the same support in BJP. However, the next month or so could see intense manoeuvering in the BJP. Advani can come out and speak against Modi if he is not the presidential candidate. This could be embarrassing for the party and will not help Modi's image. How can Advani watch his juniors, like Sushma Swaraj, Sumitra Mahajan or Draupadi Murmu, become the President? Advani and his supporters believe the Ram Lalla movement was a public movement and he had no role in Babri Masjid demolition. Considered the tallest leader after Vajpayee in BJP, Advani should be considered for the presidential position as a gratitude for his services to the party all these years. Interesting times ahead Bengaluru: The Centre's ban on sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter was "anti-Constitution" and an "attempt to encroach upon the powers of the states", Karnataka Law Minister TB Jayachandra said on Tuesday. He said he briefed the cabinet on Tuesday about the rules notified by the Centre and added that the state would arrive at a stand on the issue at the next cabinet meeting. "The rules framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act overlap the provisions of the state act and also contradict the central act. So, in my opinion, they will not stand the test of law," Jayachandra told reporters in Bengaluru after the cabinet meeting. He said the rules could be questioned by "anyone" in the court of law. The state already has the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964 in place to deal with such issues. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said his government was analysing the developments following the Centre's ban on sale of cattle, calling it a "state subject". The Environment Ministry had last week notified the stringent Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, banning the sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for the purpose of slaughter. The decision has drawn flak from the opposition parties as well as various organisations who claim that it would hit the export and trade of meat and leather. Jayachandra said, "As we check the constitutional validity of the rules, I feel they are not in accordance with the law and that they have been brought in a hurry." Alleging that there was also an attempt to encroach upon the powers specified in the state list, he said, "As it is, overlapping the powers in the state list is anti-Constitution." The Centre's rules define cattle as a bovine animal, including bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers and calves and camels. They also prohibit the establishment of an animal market within 25 km of a state border and within 50 km of the international border. Asked if the state government would take the matter to the court, Jayachandra said, "As the Law Minister, I have briefed the cabinet on certain points. The issue will be taken up at the next cabinet meeting, following which we will make our stand known." To a question on a Central act prevailing over a state act on the same subject, he said, "They (Centre) should have amended the act, not the rules. The rules will not sustain." "We have examined whether they can be followed or not. I will re-examine them and brief the cabinet at the next meeting and decide what to do," he added. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has termed the move as "anti-federal, anti-democratic and anti-secular" and shot off letters to his counterparts in other states, asking them to "stand together" and "oppose" the ban. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has described the Centre's notification as a "deliberate attempt to encroach upon the states' powers" and said her government would not accept it. Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said the recent notification by the central government banning sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter was a "gross injustice" to farmers. The controversial move by the environment ministry has kicked off a major political storm with the chief ministers of West Bengal and Kerala opposing the notification. Several places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have witnessed protests during the past few days against the ban, with those opposed to it hosting 'beef fests', saying the Centre's decision interfered with the food habits of people. "Either the government should set up an ashram (asylum) to feed old cattle or should pay farmers a monthly compensation for feeding old cattle. This (notification) is a gross injustice to farmers," Pawar said while interacting with reporters in Mumbai. In an apparent dig at the RSS, the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, Pawar said another ashram for old cattle can be opened at Nagpur, which houses the Sangh headquarters. "They have so many institutes. They can open another one for old cattle," he said. Referring to Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, Pawar claimed that the freedom fighter, whom the Hindutva forces consider as their ideal, too was in favour of cow slaughter. "Everyone should pay respect to the cow. Savarkar used to say that cow is useful to all, but he had no issues if a cow was slaughtered after its utility was over," Pawar said. Dismissing speculations, Pawar reiterated that he was not in the race for the president's post. "I have been insisting that I'm not in that race. I don't want to retire from public life at this moment," he quipped. The veteran politician said he had convinced the opposition parties not to discuss any name for the post of president until there is a broad consensus on the issue. "I have suggested that the candidate for presidential post should be chosen through consensus with the government. If there is no consensus a committee should be formed and empowered to decide a name," Pawar added. Senior BJP leader Hariharan Raja on Wednesday warned against 'provocation' on the issue of cow slaughtering as he condemned the "beef fest" organised at IIT Madras. The Union government has stated that it would look into the grievances aired by states and organisations on the notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter, he said. "There are lot many appeals and requests coming to the Centre. As Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has already said on Tuesday, Centre would look into those cases. If there is a need for any rectification, that is alright. But provocating things...," he said. "What happened in IIT-Madras? A Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) like-situation is being brought into an institution of excellence," Raja, BJP's national secretary, said. Such a premiere institute should not be allowed to become another JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University), he said referring to the issue of raising of 'anti-national' slogans there. "The students can participate in agitations outside the campus. There is nothing wrong. I don't object. But doing things... politicising and handing over an educational institution of excellence to lampoon elements, it is wrong," Raja said. He said animals were in the concurrent list and both the Centre and state can legislate on any subject in the list. "And it is also clear if there is any difference of stand between the two, the Centre's opinion shall prevail," he said. Referring to the beef fest held at IIT-Madras to protest the Centre's ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter, Raja said, "it is very wrong to conduct the agitation within the campus." He demanded suspension of the Dean (students) of the IIT, who allegedly allowed a section of students to organise the 'beef fest' protest inside the campus. An IIT-Madras PhD scholar, hailing from Kerala, was assaulted allegedly by some students protesting his participation in the beef fest on Sunday. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had condemned the incident, saying it was unfortunate. Suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kapil Mishra was assaulted by the party workers in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday. He alleged that attempts were made by the MLAs to choke him. He was manhandled and thrown out of the Assembly, reported News18. #BREAKING - Kapil Mishra thrown out of Delhi assembly pic.twitter.com/3Hng1fSCKc News18 (@CNNnews18) May 31, 2017 #WATCH Kapil Mishra marshalled out of Delhi Assembly after a scuffle broke between him and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs pic.twitter.com/fCprHosxhr ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 "I have been demanding to speak in the Assembly. I was not allowed to speak. Everyone saw it," Mishra said outside the House. "Arvind Kejriwal was laughing inside the Assembly I was beaten up and punched in the Assembly," he alleged. He also said that he was beaten up on the directions of deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. Mishra had reportedly raised allegations of corruption against Kejriwal and demanded that an open session of Delhi Assembly be convened in Ramlila Maidan to discuss the issue of corruption. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel warned him not to do so, but Mishra continued. Goel later ordered that Mishra be marshalled out. Before the marshals could reach Mishra, he was manhandled by three-four AAP members. "Before being marshalled out I was attacked by Madan Lal, Jarnail Singh and some other members," Mishra told reporters. Mishra, who was the water minister in the Delhi cabinet, had accused Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain of misappropriating health funds. He said three big scams were perpetrated in the health sector by the AAP government, including one of more than Rs 300 crore in the procurement of medicines. He had posed nine questions to Kejriwal including whether he was aware that AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh's trip to Russia "was sponsored by a man who is being probed for a Rs 400-crore high-security number plates scam." Earlier, he had launched the 'Let's clean AAP' campaign to rid the party of the "few people who are corrupt". He urged AAP workers to come together and not to leave the party, adding that they have to "snatch it back" from the corrupt people. Mishra alleged that he had seen Jain handing over Rs 2 crore cash to Kejriwal. Jain had also helped "fix" land deals worth Rs 50 crore for Kejriwals relatives, he said. Further, Mishra had also approached the CBI against Kejriwal and his involvement in money laundering. He had accused the AAP of "massive" financial irregularities, including funneling money through shell companies, while taking donations. Mishra had also alleged a nexus between Kejriwal and and those involved in hawala transactions. "The man who donated Rs 2 crore to AAP is wanted by CBI, ED and the I-T officials, but he meets Kejriwal." Mishra said. "This is the reason why Kejriwal was shouting so much after the government's demonetisation move and was coming out on the streets against it," he added. Mishra had also demanded the chief minister's resignation. With inputs from agencies. Delhi governments ousted minister Kapil Mishra was heckled, dragged, beaten up inside Delhi Assembly and bundled out of the House on Wednesday not by Opposition MLAs but by his own former party colleagues. It was expected and long overdue. Rather, it was surprising why it took so long for the trusted lieutenants of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal to attack Mishra (this time physically)? Any voice of dissent against AAPs top leadership has neither been tolerated nor rewarded. And this time, Mishra was no exception. The AAP leadership has every right to stifle the voice of its disgruntled party leaders and volunteers if they raise a red flag against their own colleagues and question party functioning. If other mainstream national parties like Congress, BJP, CPM, AIADMK or Trinamool Congress can punish its leaders for speaking against the party, why not AAP? But, according to ousted AAP leaders, the catch lies here in the founding principles of AAP. While launching the party, Kejriwal had promised that unlike Congress and BJP it would practice alternative politics. The voice of volunteers would be supreme. Every decision will be based on participatory democracy by discussing with the electorate. Internal democracy would be the key principle within the party. These terms were used as a tool to win voters but in reality, these were never practised. Whoever questioned the partys decision, was shown the door, a former AAP member said. Before Mishra, there were many a long list including AAP MLAs and MPs who had faced attacks and finally booted out. To name a few it all started with Vinod Kumar Binny the AAP MLA from Laxmi Nagar, who became the first victim of Kejriwals coterie in 2014. He had blamed the AAP for keeping the Delhi public in dark over the Jan Lokpal Bill, which ultimately led to his expulsion. Then there was the other MLA from Rohini, Rajesh Garg, followed by Karan Singh, who was leading the AAP volunteers group (AVAM); prominent woman face and national council member Shazia Ilmi; partys intellectual faces Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, professor Anand Kumar and professor Ajit Jha; former diplomat and high-profile founding member Madhu Bhaduri, etc all of them had to face the brunt humiliated and booted out. Partys internal Lokpal (ombudsman) and former naval chief, Admiral L Ramdas too was expelled. The AAP MP from Patiala, Dharamvira Gandhi, had to leave and form his own party. Many of them were heckled like Mishra. As far as I am concerned, the party made sure that I was denied the right of a member of the national council of AAP to move a resolution in the meeting of the council and was actually heckled and forced out of the hall, Madhu Bhaduri had shared her experience with Firstpost in 2014 after the incident. Bhaduri raised her voice against MLA Somnath Bhartis midnight raids at Khirki Extension against African women and wanted to move a resolution on the issue. According to ousted members, the top leadership in AAP a tightly-knit group, close to Kejriwal, ensures who-so-ever challenges the Delhi CM or the partys functioning and decision, should be thrown out of the party. He/she is humiliated, abused on social media, insulted in public and sometimes heckled before being thrown out of the party. Trolls heap up against the person on social media and the attacks are sharpened. In my case, I ensured never to attack any individual or enter into a public spat and resorted to the Gandhian way of protest. But the trolls in the party attacked me on social media," said Karan Singh, Convener, AVAM a splinter group of AAP "Now, the situation in AAP is such that if you are neutral to any issue or controversy that the party approves, you are under attack. After winning Delhi election, AAP compromised with each and every principle it had promised to abide by, Singh added. During his face-off with Kejriwal, AAP MLA Rajesh Garg posted the letter he had written to the former on Facebook: You should try and understand the pain and the suffering of the ordinary worker of the party, who has actually forsaken everything to rid this country of corruption...Can we not do good work while sitting in the Opposition?...We came to serve the people and not to form the government. Has Kejriwal and his AAP taken note of Gargs appeal? New Delhi: The Congress party on Wednesday announced that it will contest the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka under the leadership of Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah. The party also retained G Parameshwara as the Karnataka unit president and asked him to resign from the state cabinet immediately. "He (Parameshwara) will continue to be the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President and will devote his full time and energy in discharging responsibilities of the party president, he will resign from the state cabinet immediately," said an AICC statement released by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi. The statement said that KH Muniyappa, member of parliament and former Union minister, had been included in the Congress Working Committee as a special invitee. Satish Jarkiholi has been appointed as the secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). According to the statement, SR Patil will be the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president, along with present working president Dinesh Gundurao. "Gundurao will look after the party affairs of southern Karnataka and SR Patil of northern Karnataka," it added. DK Shivakumar, a minister in the present state cabinet, will be the chairman of the campaign committee for the coming assembly election. Ahmedabad: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in election-bound Gujarat has pounced on the Congress party over the incident of a cow slaughter in Kerala, allegedly by a few workers of the opposition party. Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani came down heavily on the Congress party by putting out a tweet late on Monday night: "By slaughtering (a) cow in Kerala, Congress has shown its true face. Vinaash Kaale Viprit Buddhi (One loses mind when the end is near). Congress now is a sinking ship." He followed it up with another tweet: "Gujarat Congress must answer on cow slaughter by Congress in Kerala." The BJP has been fighting on various fronts trying to obviate the damage from agitations by Patidars, Dalits and OBCs on multiple issues in Gujarat. At such a time, the Kerala cow slaughter issue could prove handy for the ruling party to corner the Congress in Gujarat. The chief minister's statements on social media were followed up by a protest video that is being circulated on multiple social media platforms. The video announces that the people of Gujarat would not forgive Congress (in the forthcoming Assembly polls) for "the sin" committed in Kerala. The video also uses the Congress election symbol 'hand' with a 'no entry' sign embossed on it. The video begins with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: "Protecting cows would protect the human race too". The 88-second video moves on to show what it calls "misdeed" of other Gandhi and links the Kerala cow slaughter to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. "Gandhi as surname but action like butcher," says the audio juxtaposing pictures of Rahul Gandhi and Congress workers seen in the cow slaughter video from Kerala. The commentary calls the action an insult not just to Mahatma's ideals but also an assault on the sentiments of crores of Hindus. Meanwhile, a group of people calling themselves 'Hindu Yuva Vahini' vandalised the Congress office in Vadodara late on Monday night, and burnt an effigy of Congressman involved in slaughter of cow. They are also reported to have pelted stones at the Congress office. Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed two PILs, seeking action against power minister M M Mani for violating the oath of office by allegedly making unsavoury remarks against women at a recent public meeting in Idukki. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh and Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan said it cannot sanctify or disapprove the act of the minister. "The court cannot pre-empt action on the basis of his speech," it said. The court while dismissing the PILs seeking action against Mani, however, said the petitioners could approach the appropriate authority, seeking action against the minister. One of the petitioners had sought a court-monitored probe into the allegations that Mani made the "sexually-loaded, anti-women statements" at a public meeting. The state counsel had earlier opposed the plea,contending that the petition was not maintainable as the petitioner ought to have approached police or a magisterial court for a probe into the matter. The counsel had denied that the minister made any derogatory remarks against women. The petitioners had alleged that Mani had used abusive language against women leaders and activists of "Pembilai Orumai", a group of plantation workers in Idukki district, who had organised a month-long stir in Munnar last year. "The respondent is a habitual offender and regularly uses abusive language and sexually-loaded statements, especially against the women," one of the petitioners had said. Mani, however, had refuted the charge against him on the floor of the assembly, saying he had not used any offensive language against women. "I have not used the word woman even once in my 17 minute speech," which, he claimed, had been edited by the media, a section of which was against him. A day after LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and a host of other senior leaders of Sangh Parivar were charged by the CBI with criminal conspiracy for the demolition of the Babri Mosque structure in Ayodhya, Yogi Adityanath did what no other chief minister of Uttar Pradesh dared to do in the last three decades. Adityanath took a chopper from Lucknow to land in Ayodhya on Wednesday morning and then drove straight to Hanuman Garhi to pay his obeisance to the Ramlala idol in a makeshift temple. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister then proceeded to Ram ki Pari and offered prayers at the bank of river Saryu. No other Uttar Pradesh chief minister had done that till date. While former chief ministers Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh, all from the BJP ranks have visited Ayodhya over a-decade-and-half ago but all three avoided visiting Ramlala. Adityanath is first chief minister to have done that. Ramlala (childhood idol of Lord Ram) is placed in a small temporary structure covered with a tarpaulin on top. The whole area is heavily fortified and is under round the clock vigil of hundreds of paramilitary personnel. As on date a de-facto Ram temple, albeit makeshift, exists at the demolished Babri mosque site. Before he left in the evening after an eight-hour stay, Adityanath announced a series of developmental projects worth Rs 350 crore for the temple town. In consultation with local religious leaders, he announced several spiritual-religious programmes like daily Saryu aarti on the pattern of Ganga aarti in Haridwar and Varanasi, provision for round the year Ramlila, Saryu Mahotsav and so on. Quite aware that his Ayodhya visit would draw national attention, the chief minister in his concluding words in his speech at the Digambar Akhara to celebrate the birthday of RamJanambhoomi Nyas Mahant Nritya Gopal Das said, "I am well aware of your sentiments (construction of grand Ram temple). I know what you want to hear from me. I am of the same opinion as you are. The dispute around Ramjanambhoomi would be resolved through dialogue between both the communities. Supreme Court has also suggested a dialogue between the two communities. The Uttar Pradesh government will always be there for such an initiative. A new and positive environment for talks is building. Several Muslim organisations have come up appealing that Ayodhya should be left to Hindus. Many more organisations are expected to come up with a similar opinion. Take my word that Ramjanambhoomi issue would be resolved amicably." Adityanath's visit to Ayodhya saw the return of the Ramlala hum ayenge Mandir wahin banayenge (Ramlala we will come and build the temple there) chant. The last time this "mandir wahin banayenge" chant, trademark catchphrase of Ayodhya movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s was heard, at least in full media glare, was in February 2002 when VHP and allied organisations Ramjanambhoomi Nyas had organised Shiladan in Ayodhya under the leadership of late Mahant Ram Chandra Paramhans. Paramhans, the then head of Digambar Akhada, was instrumental in installing the Ramlala statue inside Babri mosque way back in December 1949. Adityanath's visit to the Digambar Akhada followed by the announcement of rejuvenation and reconstruction of "Paramhans samadhi" has manifold implications. "Here in Ayodhya I feel like a sant, one among the sants gathered here," the chief minister said. In the temple town, he mixed his role as a chief minister and as a religious leader. Incidentally, he is only chief minister, or first ever in India who combines two roles -- head of the government and head of a religious sect. He continues to be head of Gorakhnath peeth. Significantly, Adityanath concluded his speech with Jai Sri Ram. Adityanath's intent on initiating an all-round development of Ayodhya was evident when on 9 May the state cabinet merged the Faizabad and Ayodhya municipalities to create a stronger body as the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation. The fact that the name Faizabad was dropped while creating the municipal corporation is taken as an indicator that henceforth development of Ayodhya will take priority over Faizabad. In the same cabinet meeting it was decided that municipalities of Mathura and Vrindavan would be merged to create Mathura-Vrindavan Municipal Corporation. Adityanath has been an ardent proponent of the Ram temple and has even held a meeting with Hindu priests in Gorakhpur for the same purpose. His mentor Mahant Avaidyanath whom he succeeded as head of Gorakhnath peeth and as Gorakhpur MP had been one of the foremost exponents of temple movement. Mahant Avaidyanath had also headed the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, an umbrella body of priests related with the temple movement. Mahant Avaidyanath had once said the cherished task of Ram temple construction would be done by his disciple Adityanath. It is noteworthy that while no senior central BJP leader, except for Venkaiah Naidu came out in open to speak on the CBI court framing charges against Advani in the Babri case, Adityanath waited for over 10 minutes at the VVIP guest house to receive the party's founding father. He had a closed-door discussion with him and saw him off when the veteran leader left for the court. The party veteran has a long association with Adityanath and even had a warm relationship with Mahant Avaidyanath. It is perhaps time for Adityanath to repay. Shanghai: A man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing, the arrested man's wife and an advocacy group said on Tuesday. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her on Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didn't need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the family's breadwinner. China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: "They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable." China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China. For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investigated working conditions at suppliers to some of the world's best-known companies, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China's state security apparatus. "Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labor situation," Li said. "But now it has become more political." Walt Disney Co. stopped working with a toy maker in Shenzhen last year after the group exposed labor violations. China Labor Watch has also published reports on child labor at Samsung suppliers and spent years investigating Apple Inc.'s China factories. In the past, the worst thing Li feared was having investigators kicked out of a factory or facing a short police detention. That has changed. The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of China's ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labor unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has also taken a stern approach to activism in southern China's manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody. Another difference is the target of China Labor Watch's investigation: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trump's brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment for this story. Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter took on a White House role as presidential adviser, has said the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to "comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions." Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the three missing investigators on Monday but received no reply. Li added that a friend had tried to file a missing person report on Li Zhao in Jiangxi, where the factory is located, but was told he had to do so in the man's hometown. AP was unable to reach the other investigators' families. China's Ministry of Public Security and police in Ganzhou city and Jiangxi province could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China. All three men were investigating Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co.'s factory in Jiangxi province, just north of Guangdong province. Su Heng had been working undercover at the factory since April, Li said. The parent company is known as Huajian Group. In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, told AP the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trump's brand a fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday. "I told you I could not check until tomorrow," she said. "If your official letter contains a stamp and signature, we can confirm whether the media is real or not." Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand shoes in the factory, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit merchandise. "We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately," a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment. Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng were blocked from leaving mainland China for Hong Kong in April and May something that had never happened to his colleagues before, Li said. Hua Haifeng was stopped at the border May 25 and later questioned by police, Li said. During their final phone conversation on Saturday, Hua told Li that police had asked him to stop investigating the Huajian factory another turn of events that Li said was unprecedented. Li said the men had documented excessive overtime, with working days sometimes stretching longer than 18 hours, and a base salary below minimum wage. They were working to confirm evidence suggesting that student interns some of whom allegedly quit in protest were putting in excessive hours on work unrelated to their field of study, in violation of Chinese law, Li said. The use of student workers in China is legal, but meant to be strictly regulated. Rights groups and journalists have documented widespread abuse of the system over the years. "It is the role of the police to prevent that kind of independent investigation," said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. "The threshold is much lower today than it was one year ago, two years ago, and if this is something that has a foreign diplomacy dimension, that would make national security personnel even more willing to stop it." Hua's wife, Deng, meanwhile, has yet to tell the couple's children, ages 3 and 7, about their father's plight. But they seem to know anyway, she said. "My son suddenly burst into tears. He said he missed Papa," Deng said by phone from her home in central China's Hubei province. "I said Papa would come home soon and buy you toys." She said the child looked at her and answered: "Papa was taken away by a monster." The death toll in the Kabul car bombing near the diplomatic region has climbed to 80, reports said, and so far over 320 people have been injured. "Unfortunately the toll has reached 80 martyred (killed) and over 300 wounded, including many women and children," said ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh, adding the figures would continue to climb as more bodies are pulled from the debris. A statement from the Ministry of Interior Affairs says it "condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack" that killed so many, including women and children. The ministry did not have details on the possible target of the attack. Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani has strongly condemned the massive attack in Kabul earlier in the morning, just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Wednesday's statement from Ghani's office says the president said that "the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people." Pakistan also issued a statement, saying it "strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused loss of precious human lives and injuries to many." The statement from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said "the blast has caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some." A blast was reported in Kabul's highly secure diplomatic area, just fifty metres away from the the Indian embassy, at around 9.30 am (IST) on Wednesday. An eyewitness told the local Pajwok news agency that the blast took place in front of the office of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan's primary intelligence agency. However, CNN-news 18 reported that the site of the explosion was very close to the the German Gate, which is the entry point to the road which houses missions of several countries, the closes being the German Embassy. Bodies littered the scene and a huge plume of smoke rose from the area which houses foreign embassies. Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety, with men and woman struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones. "A car bomb" exploded at 8:25 am, Danish told AFP. The blast in the Wazir Akbar Khan area happened near several embassies and not far from the presidential palace. The impact of the blast was so heavy that more than 30 vehicles in the area were either destroyed or damaged badly; houses hundreds of metres away from the blast site were damaged and windows and doors blown off their hinges. Bodies and injured people were seen in the area. Some women were seen screaming for the lost relatives at the site of explosion. Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the public health ministry, said more than 50 wounded people are in Kabul hospitals so far. Eye-witness said that the blast was so heavy more than 30 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged. Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to a kilometer from the blast site. Indian embassy building suffers damage Even though, it was not immediately clear what the target was, the Indian intelligence agency has not ruled out the fact that the target of the explosion could have been the Indian mission in Afghanistan. BREAKING: A loud explosion has been heard in the Afghan capital of Kabul pic.twitter.com/ji47RboYrP Warrior Reports (@WarriorReports) May 31, 2017 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted about the safety of the Indian embassy staffers and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been briefed about the incident. By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 Manpreet Vohra, India's envoy to Afghanistan, told Times Now that the blast hit around 100 metres as the crow flies from India's embassy, one of several in the area. "We are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe. However, the blast was very large and nearby buildings including our own building have considerable damage in terms of broken glass and shattered windows and blown doors etc," he said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted condemning the massive attack. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 The explosion also shattered windows at the Japanese embassy. "Two Japanese embassy staffers were mildly injured, suffering cuts", a foreign ministry official in Tokyo told AFP. France also reported damage to its own embassy and the German one, but there was no information on possible casualties. Bulgaria said its mission had been damaged and its staff evacuated. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the explosion comes amid heightened activity of the Taliban, which has staged a slew of deadly attacks in Afghanistan in the recent past. The Taliban has vowed to step up its annual 'spring offensive.' The Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on 3 May. Wednesday's attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where Afghan forces beset by soaring casualties and desertions are struggling to beat back the insurgents. More than one third of the country is outside government control. Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to the country to break the deadlocked fight against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who also mainly serve in an advisory capacity a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of "another tough year" for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan, where more than one third of the country is outside of government control. In an incident as recent as Friday, at least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their base in Kandahar. At least 30 soldiers were killed in a similar attack in Shah Wali Kot late Monday and two days later, 13 others died in another insurgent raid in Kandahar's Maiwand district, acording to AFP. Besides this, incidents of attack on the Indian mission in Afghanistan have been reported in the past too. Nine people were killed in an Taliban-claimed attack in March last year after terrorists, including suicide bombers, struck the Indian consulate in Jalalabad. In January 2016, the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in Northern Afghanistan was also attacked. Kabul province had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 thanks to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. This is an updating news story. More details will be added to the story as and when they are available. With inputs from agencies Washington: The Pentagon scored an important success Tuesday in a test of its oft-criticized missile defense program, destroying a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean with an interceptor that is key to protecting United States territory from a North Korean attack. Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the Pentagon agency in charge of developing the missile defense system, called the test result "an incredible accomplishment" and a critical milestone for a program hampered by setbacks over the years. "This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," Syring said in a written statement announcing the test result. Despite the success, the $244 million test didn't confirm that under wartime conditions the United States could intercept an intercontinental-range missile fired by North Korea. Pyongyang is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such an ICBM and could develop decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead. Syring's agency sounded a note of caution. "Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test," his statement said. Philip E. Coyle, a former head of the Pentagon's test and evaluation office and a senior fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said Tuesday's outcome was a significant success for a test that was three years in preparation, but he noted that it was only the second success in the last five intercept attempts since 2010. "In several ways, this test was a $244 million-dollar baby step, a baby step that took three years," Coyle said. The most recent intercept test, in June 2014, was successful, but the longer track record is spotty. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful. "This is part of a continuous learning curve," said Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, ahead of Tuesday's test. The Pentagon is still incorporating engineering upgrades to its missile interceptor, which has yet to be fully tested in realistic conditions. North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are a defense against perceived United States military threats. Its accelerating missile development has complicated Pentagon calculations, most recently by incorporating solid-fuel technology into its rockets. The step would mean even less launch warning time for the United States. Liquid fuel is less stable and rockets using it have to be fueled in the field, a process that takes longer and can be detected by satellites. Underscoring its uninterrupted efforts, North Korea on Monday fired a short-range ballistic missile that landed in Japan's maritime economic zone. In Tuesday's United States test, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency launched an interceptor rocket from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The target was an intercontinental-range missile fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. According to the plan, a 5-foot-long "kill vehicle" released from atop the interceptor zeroed in on the ICBM-like target's mock warhead outside Earth's atmosphere and obliterated it by sheer force of impact, the Pentagon said. The "kill vehicle" carries no explosives, either in testing or in actual combat. The target was a custom-made missile meant to simulate an ICBM, meaning it flew faster than missiles used in previous intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, the Missile Defense Agency's spokesman. It was not a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM, and details of its exact capabilities weren't made public. Officially known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, the Pentagon likens the defensive tactic to hitting a bullet with a bullet. With congressional support, the Pentagon is increasing by the end of this year the number of deployed interceptors, based in California and Alaska, to 44 from the current total of 36. While Tuesday's test wasn't designed with the expectation of an imminent North Korean missile threat, the military wants progress toward the stated goal of being able to shoot down a small number of ICBMs targeting the United States. Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticized the missile defense program, called the interceptor an "advanced prototype," meaning it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004. A successful test Tuesday, she said, could demonstrate the Pentagon is on the right track with its latest technical fixes. "Overall," she wrote in an analysis prior to the test, the military "is not even close to demonstrating that the system works in a real-world setting." The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of United States defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile. The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the United States, and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the United States. deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea. Berlin: Germany wants to develop ties with India, but this should not be at the cost of its trans-Atlantic relationship, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday, after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Merkel, trying to repair damage after shocking Washington on Sunday by declaring the era in which Europe could rely on its partners was somewhat over, repeatedly stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic ties. But she also highlighted Germany's history of cooperating with India and China in a global world. On Monday, Merkel had underlined her doubts about the reliability of the United States as an ally. She talked to Modi in Berlin about developing cooperation with India. "That's of huge importance and in no way directed against any other relationships and certainly not against the trans-Atlantic ties, which have historically been very important for us and will remain so in future," she said. Merkel said she and Modi discussed open markets and free and fair trade during their meeting in Berlin. In a thinly-veiled dig at the Trump administration, Merkel said "protectionist tendencies" were increasing worldwide and this made it necessary to remain open and ensure conditions for negotiations are fair. "For that reason, it's important to us that we make progress on the German-Indian, or rather EU-Indian free trade agreement," she said at a Berlin business forum where she shared a platform with Modi. Modi said economic collaboration between Germany and India was still "below full potential". Speaking at a joint news conference with Modi, Merkel reiterated her view that "we need to take our fate in Europe into our own hands". Europe needs to step up its presence on the international stage, for example by bringing about solutions to issues such as the Libya conflict, migration and economic problems including unemployment, she said. Merkel praised India for implementing that climate pact very "intensively and in a very committed way", and Modi said that people had no right to ruin the environment for future generations. The German and Indian governments signed numerous agreements, including on cyber cooperation, development cooperation, education and railway safety. In a sign of Berlin's shifting focus towards Asia, Merkel is also due to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. Canberra: The death of an Australian girl in a Baghdad bombing underscored why Australia was fighting Islamic State militants in the Middle East, the Australian foreign minister said on Wednesday. Zynab Al-Harbiya, 12, from Melbourne, went with her family to Baghdad to visit her sick grandfather but was among the 17 people killed on Monday when a car bomb exploded outside a popular ice cream shop, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iraqi officials said apparently involved remotely detonated explosives inside a parked car. "This tragedy underscores the brutality of this terrorist organization. It shows no respect for religion, nationality, sovereignty, borders, no respect for humanity," Bishop told reporters. "This is why the Australian government has continued to commit our defense personnel to support the Iraqi security forces, so that they can fight to defeat this terrorist organization within Iraq and to prevent its spread to other parts of the world including in our region," she added. The girl's cousin, Layla Al-Saabary, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Zynab's mother and uncles were among the dozens injured. Al-Saabary did not say how many uncles. "She wanted to go and buy ice cream, so she insisted. Her mother gave permission and so they went to the main square and she was going to go buy ice cream and she went and she never came back," Al-Saabary said. The family had only been in Baghdad for a few days when the tragedy occurred and Zynab had been "scared of the bombs," her cousin said. Australia is one of the biggest contributors to the US-led military campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, with 780 Australian military personnel in the Middle East and aircraft including six jet fighters striking Islamic State targets. Ramadan is often marked by an increase in violence in Iraq. Last year, a huge truck bombing claimed by Islamic State killed hundreds in a retail district in central Baghdad where people were shopping for clothes ahead of the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. It was the single deadliest event in Baghdad since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. By Sami Aboudi | DUBAI DUBAI A Bahraini court on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the main secular opposition group which the government accuses of supporting terrorism, a ruling that human rights campaigners said was aimed at silencing peaceful dissent.The National Democratic Action Society (Waad), a social and political association in a country where parties are not allowed, campaigns for democracy, human rights and social freedoms. It tweeted that the court had ordered it dissolved and its assets seized. The ruling is subject to appeal.The Justice Ministry, which filed a case against Waad in March accusing it of "serious violations targeting the principle of respecting the rule of law, supporting terrorism and sanctioning violence," welcomed the court ruling.The court said the group had glorified as "martyrs of the homeland" men convicted of killing three police officers in a bomb attack in 2014, the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency BNA. The men were executed this year, Bahrain's first use of capital punishment in years."SILENCING PEACEFUL DISSENT" Later in the evening, police blocked roads around Waad's headquarters preventing people from getting through, Redha al-Mosawi, a leader of the group, tweeted. The group had intended to brief journalists during an evening gathering it organises for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said the court ruling was part of a wider crackdown on opposition groups and would prove counter-productive."The government of Bahrain is acting with the aim of totally silencing all peaceful voices, leaving open the alternative of underground opposition and violence," the group's director of advocacy, Sayed Alwadaei, said in an email. Amnesty International said the ruling was "a flagrant attack on freedom of expression and association"."By banning major political opposition groups, Bahrain is now heading towards total suppression of human rights," Lynn Maalouf, director of research at Amnesty Internationals Beirut office, said in a statement. The Western-allied kingdom, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, has been a flashpoint since "Arab Spring" protests in 2011 were put down by the Sunni-led government with the help of neighbouring Gulf Arab states. The crackdown entered a new phase last year when authorities banned the main Shi'ite Muslim opposition group, al-Wefaq, and revoked the citizenship of Ayatollah Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain's Shi'ites, accusing him of fomenting sectarian divisions.Last week, five people were killed and nearly 300 detained when security forces moved against Qassim's home village of Diraz, near the capital Manama, where supporters had camped out in protest at his citizenship being revoked. The raid came days after U.S. President Donald Trump said during a visit to Riyadh where he met Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa that Washington's ties with the Sunni-ruled kingdom - long strained over its human rights record - would improve.Attacks on public targets have increased since the executions of the three men convicted of the police bombing. Bahrain accuses Shi'ite Iran of fomenting violence in the kingdom, something Tehran denies. (Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Noah Browning, Editing by Robin Pomeroy) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. British police said Tuesday that they have released three men without charges that were taken into custody in connection with last week's Manchester suicide bombing that killed 22 people.Police have arrested at least 16 people in an investigation that continues more than seven days after the attack in a packed concert hall filled with children and young people. "It will be a long investigation and it will take considerable time before we fully understand what has happened," the Greater Manchester police said in a statement on Twitter. Police have let go a total of five people without charges, including a man and woman released earlier. Two men from Fallowfield area, aged 20 and 24, and a 37-year-old man from Blackley area were released Tuesday, the Greater Manchester police said. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. WASHINGTON Former FBI Director James Comey plans to confirm reports that President Donald Trump pressured him to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Russia in congressional testimony, CNN said on Wednesday, citing an unidentified source close to the issue.The Senate Intelligence Committee said on May 19 that Comey, who was fired by Trump 10 days earlier, would testify before the panel publicly at some point after Monday's Memorial Day holiday. CNN said the testimony could come as early as next week.Representatives of the committee would not comment on the report. After Comey's dismissal, news reports emerged that Trump asked Comey to end the Flynn probe during a February meeting in the Oval Office the day after Flynn was fired for misrepresenting his contacts with the Russian ambassador.The account, first reported by the New York Times, was based on a memo Comey wrote after the meeting. The Comey memo caused alarm on Capitol Hill and raised questions about whether Trump tried to interfere with a federal investigation. CNN reported that Comey has discussed the parameters of his congressional testimony with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has taken over the criminal investigation.It said Comey planned to meet with Mueller, a longtime colleague at the Justice Department and also a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for a formal interview after his public testimony."The Committee welcomes the testimony of former Director Comey, but does not have an announcement to make at this time," said Rebecca Glover, spokeswoman for Republican committee Chairman Richard Burr. (Reporting by Tim Ahmann, Mark Hosenball; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. America is waiting for this head-on collision - James Comey, the FBI chief fired by Trump in May, will testify in Senate as early as next week on whether Donald Trump asked him to halt the FBI investigation into one of his top advisors and possible Russian meddling in the US Election 2016, multiple news outlets are reporting. The White House has been plunged into turmoil by a string of stunning allegations against Trump, including that he may have obstructed justice by pressuring Comey. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," a Comey memo quotes Trump as saying, according to an explosive scoop by NYT. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go," Trump allegedly said. Whenever Comey does testify, it will be before the Senate Intelligence Committee. In an Oval Office meeting with senior Russian officials soon after firing the FBI chief, Trump called Comey a "nut job" and said firing the intelligence chief had relieved "great pressure" on him. "No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly," Trump said when the media got after the Comey bombshell with a vengeance, unleashing scoops by the dozen, courtesy the leaky vessels of Washington D.C. Comeys been cleared for takeoff by Trumps latest adversary - Robert Mueller, reports NBC News. Comey reportedly wrote detailed memos about his conversations with President Trump. This is big and the timing couldnt be worse for Trump - just back from his first foreign trip. Meanwhile, the embattled White House is scrambling to do damage control, creating a new rapid-fire communications unit to respond to the tidal wave of scandal and controversy engulfing the new Presidency. Days before Trump left for the Middle East, the Comey bombshell hit and when he returns, the testimony that all of America is waiting for is threatening to happen all too soon for the White House. The deepening tumult at home after his firing of Comey who was investigating Trump campaigns possible ties to Russia has followed Trump across the ocean on his recent multi-nation journey. Now, those questions continue to chase him after his return. Soon after Comeys departure, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead a federal investigation into allegations that Donald Trump's campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election that put him in the White House. CNN reports that Comey has discussed the boundaries of his testimony with Mueller, a colleague at the Justice Department and also a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "The Committee welcomes the testimony of former Director Comey, but does not have an announcement to make at this time," said Rebecca Glover, spokeswoman for Republican committee Chairman Richard Burr. Beijing: China on Wednesday welcomed the inauguration of a coal-fired power plant under the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in electricity-starved Pakistan, saying it will benefit the people in the country. "It is estimated that most of the power projects will be completed preceding the year 2019, easing lack of energy in Pakistan, which will benefit the people," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters. She welcomed the inauguration of the first unit of Sahiwal Coal Power Plant in Punjab Province. At present 17 priority projects were under construction under CPEC. The power plant, which is the biggest electricity power station in the area generating over 90 billion kilowatts of power, is an important project under the CPEC framework, she said. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the inauguration ceremony. He highly appreciated the fact that the work has completed in 22 months, Hua said. She said the energy projects were a game changer for the people along the CPEC route. "We have also seen the benefits brought by the CPEC projects and Belt and Road Initiative," Hua added. Washington: President Donald Trump is widening his search for FBI director, meeting with two additional candidates to replace ousted director James Comey. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump was meeting Tuesday with two contenders to lead the agency: former Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole and Chris Wray, a former top Justice Department official who has served as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's personal lawyer. Trump is still on the hunt for a new FBI director three weeks after he fired Comey and expressed hopes of naming a new leader for the bureau before his first overseas trip, which ended Saturday. Before he departed, Trump met with former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating and acting FBI director Andrew McCabe. Lieberman later pulled his name from consideration. Spicer declined to provide a short list for the position, telling reporters that when Trump "feels as though he's met with the right candidate he'll let us know." He said the president would continue to meet with candidates "until he finds the right leader." Asked about the FBI vacancy, Keating said in an email to The Associated Press, "I remain interested and I remain comfortable with the President's widening of the circle. The more faces, the more opportunity for a solid choice. My fingers are crossed but I am satisfied with the process." Pistole spent more than two decades with the FBI, serving as deputy director for six years before President Barack Obama picked him to lead the TSA in 2010. He oversaw the transportation agency during turbulent stretch as it sought to balance passenger privacy with safety. He currently serves as president of Anderson University in Indiana, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1978. Wray represented Christie during the investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case, in which two former aides were convicted of plotting to close lanes of the bridge to punish a Democratic mayor who wouldn't endorse the governor. Christie, who has informally advised the president, was not charged in the case. Christie's office disclosed last year that Wray had the missing cell phone that was used by the governor and contained about a dozen text messages that Christie exchanged with a former staffer during a legislative hearing related to the bridge in 2013. Wray worked for the Justice Department during the administration of President George W Bush, rising to lead the department's Criminal Division and overseeing investigations into corporate fraud. Several others who interviewed for the job have also withdrawn from consideration, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, former US Attorney Michael Garcia and Alice Fisher, the former head of the department's criminal division. Trump has also interviewed Mike Rogers, who has been endorsed by the FBI Agents Association, and Frances Townsend, the homeland security and counter-terrorism adviser to Bush. Washington: US president Donald Trump's communications director is leaving the job, the White House said on Tuesday, as the president considers wider staff changes to try to contain political damage from investigations into Russia and his presidential campaign. Mike Dubke confirmed reports he had resigned, saying in a statement, "It has been my great honour to serve President Trump and this administration." Dubke, who had been in the job just three months, gave no reason for leaving. Trump, who returned to Washington on Saturday after a nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe, has been expected to shake up staff to tackle the firestorm over investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and communication between Russia and Trump's campaign and transition team. Trump plans to bring in new aides to the White House, adding experienced political professionals including a former campaign manager, according to administration officials and people close to the president. Dubke, who was joined the White House in March to head the office that runs press and other public relations issues, oversees the White House's message strategy while spokesman Sean Spicer, a more high-profile figure, handles daily media briefings. The Republican president came home to face more questions on Russia after media reports about communications during and after the campaign between his son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, and Russia's ambassador to Washington. Spicer was asked on Tuesday whether Trump knew about reported efforts by Kushner in December to set up a back channel for communications with Russia. "What your question assumes is a lot of facts that are not substantiated by anything but anonymous sources that are so far being leaked out, he told a news briefing. Asked about a possible staff shake-up, Spicer said, "I think the president is very pleased with his team and he has a robust agenda." Dubke resigned just before Trump left on his foreign trip but will stay on until a transition is concluded, Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, said. Other potential staff changes could be in the works, according to Axios News, which first reported Dubke's departure, including fewer on-camera news briefings by Spicer, the White House press secretary. Trump also will take more questions directly from the media, Axios reported. "Ultimately the best messenger is the president himself," Spicer said on Tuesday. Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News the White House will continue to bring in Cabinet secretaries and other top officials to handle news briefings on topics in their patch. Conway also dismissed persistent speculation that Spicer, who has been pilloried on TV comedy shows since Trump took office on 20 January, was on his way out. Controversy over the Russia issue deepened after Trump fired FBI director James Comey earlier this month, leading to allegations by critics that the president sought to hamper the agency's investigation of the matter. Moscow has denied US intelligence agencies' conclusion that it meddled in the campaign to try to tilt the election in Trump's favour. The president has denied any collusion, repeatedly denouncing the probes by a special counsel at the Justice Department, the FBI and several congressional panels as a Democrat-backed effort to explain Hillary Clinton's upset defeat in the White House race. Congressional investigations into the Russia issue have expanded to include Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, ABC News reported on Tuesday. Cohen confirmed he had been asked to provide information and testimony to investigators in the US House of Representatives and the Senate but said he declined because "the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered," ABC reported. Cohen did not respond to Reuters' request to comment. The White House declined to comment, saying Cohen is not an employee of the administration. However, former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned after failing to properly disclose his own contacts with Russian officials, told the Senate Intelligence Committee he will begin turning over some documents subpoenaed by the panel, a government source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Washington: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will provide documents to the Senate intelligence committee as part of its probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, the Associated Press reported. Flynn will turn over documents related to two of his businesses as well as some personal documents the committee requested earlier this month, a person close to Flynn said. Flynn plans to produce documents by next week. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Flynn's private interactions with the committee. The decision on Tuesday was the first signal that Flynn and the Senate panel have found common ground. Congressional investigators continue to press for key documents in the ongoing investigation, and the retired lieutenant general is trying to limit damaging disclosures that hostile Democratic lawmakers could use against him. Flynn had previously invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in declining an earlier request from the committee. Flynn's attorneys had argued the initial request was too broad and would have required Flynn to turn over information that could have been used against him. Flynn's cooperation came as president Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, rejected a request for documents as part of a House committee's separate probe into Russia's election meddling and contacts with the Trump campaign. Cohen, a longtime attorney for the Trump organisation, remains a personal lawyer for Trump. He served as a cable television surrogate for the Republican during the presidential campaign. The House intelligence committee's request for information from Cohen came as the investigators continued to scrutinize members of Trump's inner circle, including Flynn. Washington: US President Donald Trump wants a "fair deal" for the American people under the Paris climate agreement and will soon announce his stand on the landmark deal, the White House said on Tuesday. Trump met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt on Tuesday, after his return from a nine-day foreign trip, to discuss the Paris climate agreement. "One of the topics that they discussed, of course, was the president's upcoming decision on the Paris Climate Accords," said White House press secretary Sean Spicer. This is the subject that Trump is spending a great deal of time on, and one that he spoke to the G7 members about during their meetings, Spicer said. "Ultimately, he wants a fair deal for the American people and he will have an announcement coming on that shortly," Spicer said. Meanwhile, influential Republican senator Ted Cruz urged the US president to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. "Following a successful international tour and the G-7 summit in Italy, president Trump has an opportunity to relieve our nation of the unfair and economically devastating requirements of the Paris Agreement, the United Nations climate treaty he pledged to rip up during the campaign," Cruz wrote in an op-ed in CNN. "And as soon as possible, president Trump should act on, and keep, his campaign promise. The agreement, signed by the Obama administration last year, would commit the US to drastically reducing its carbon emissions while allowing some countries to increase theirs. This, all while doing nothing to meaningfully decrease global temperatures," he alleged. Cruz said in return for crippling American economy, the Paris Agreement would do next to nothing to impact global temperatures. "The Paris Agreement would also handicap America in the global race for new sources of energy. Russia has committed financial and military assets to the Arctic to stake its claim to the region's vast deep-water mineral, oil and gas deposits. China is also exploring and trading for Arctic oil and gas," he wrote. "Meanwhile, American liquefied natural gas struggles with logistical costs that weaken its competitiveness," Cruz said. Trump said on Saturday that he would announce this week whether the US would adhere to the Paris agreement after resisting pressure to announce the plans at the G7 summit. The other G7 countries Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan reaffirmed their support for the accord last week. The landmark agreement was signed in December 2015 and has been ratified by 147 countries, including the US. Washington: A former Transportation Security Administration leader is among the latest candidates President Donald Trump is considering for FBI director. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump met Tuesday with former TSA Administator John Pistole as well as Chris Wray, a former top Justice Department official who has served as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's personal lawyer. Trump is still on the hunt for a new FBI director three weeks after he fired James Comey. Before he departed on his first overseas trip, which ended Saturday, Trump met with former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and acting FBI director Andrew McCabe. Lieberman later pulled his name from consideration. Spicer declined to provide a short list for the position, telling reporters that when Trump "feels as though he's met with the right candidate, he'll let us know." He said the president would continue to meet with candidates "until he finds the right leader." Asked about the FBI vacancy, Keating said in an email to The Associated Press: "I remain interested and I remain comfortable with the President's widening of the circle. The more faces, the more opportunity for a solid choice. My fingers are crossed but I am satisfied with the process." Pistole spent more than two decades with the FBI, serving as deputy director for six years before President Barack Obama picked him to lead the TSA in 2010. He oversaw the transportation agency during a turbulent stretch as it sought to balance passenger privacy with safety. He currently serves as president of Anderson University in Indiana, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1978. Wray represented Christie during the investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case, in which two former aides were convicted of plotting to close lanes of the bridge to punish a Democratic mayor who wouldn't endorse the governor. Christie, who has informally advised the president, was not charged in the case. Christie's office disclosed last year that Wray had the missing cell phone that was used by the governor and contained about a dozen text messages that Christie exchanged with a former staffer during a legislative hearing related to the bridge in 2013. Wray worked for the Justice Department during the administration of President George W Bush, rising to lead the department's Criminal Division and overseeing investigations into corporate fraud. Several others who interviewed for the job have also withdrawn from consideration, including Senator John Cornyn of Texas, former US Attorney Michael Garcia and Alice Fisher, the former head of the department's criminal division. Trump has also interviewed former Rep Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who has been endorsed by the FBI Agents Association, and Frances Townsend, the homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Bush. Washington: The maiden foreign visit of US President Donald Trump to the Middle East and Europe was an incredibly "historic" trip during which he interacted with a record 100 leaders, the White House has said. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the nine-day trip that took Trump to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Vatican, Belgium and Italy set the stage for a much more safe and prosperous America and a more peaceful world for all. "This was an extraordinarily successful and historic nine-day trip the President took. He accomplished the return of a strong America to international affairs, rallied civilised nations of the world against terrorism, took real steps towards peace in the Middle East, and renewed our alliances on the basis of both shared interest and shared burdens," he said on Trump's meeting with nearly 100 foreign leaders. Spicer claimed the visit showed how quickly and decisively the President acted to strengthen alliances, to form new partnerships, and to rebuild America's standing in the world. Trump began his trip from Saudi Arabia, a nation that is the custodian to two of the holiest sites in Islam. "The President was greeted on the tarmac by the King of Saudi Arabia and received with incredible graciousness by the Kingdom and its leaders throughout his stay," Spicer said. He said Trump's address to the leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations was a turning point that people will talk about for many years to come. Spicer said Trump did exactly as he promised in his inaugural address by uniting the civilised world in the fight against terrorism and extremism. "The President was very direct in calling on the leaders of the region to drive out the terrorists and the extremists from their midst, and to isolate the Iranian regime that supports so much of this violence," Spicer said on Tuesday. "The visit also included historic economic development deals for the United States, totalling well over half a trillion dollars and the creation of tens of thousands of American jobs", Spicer said. A robot priest which can deliver blessings in five languages was unveiled in an exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation, reports PTI. The Reformation was a religious revolution which took place in the Church in the 16th century. It was sparked off when a German priest Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in the town of Wittenburg, Germany in 1517. During the Reformation, the printing press played an important part when Luther's ideas spread in the form of cheaply printed booklets which were transported easily and swept the cities of Europe. Now 500 years later, another technology is looking to challenge the traditional notions of religion. The robot, called BlessU-2, has a touchscreen chest which takes inputs. It also has two arms and a face. The face has moving eyebrows and eyeballs, a blue lit-up nose and an animated mouth. For the past 10 days it has been offering blessings in a choice of German, English, French, Spanish or Polish, according to The Guardian. Once you select whether you want the blessings in a male or female voice, the robot raises its arms, flashes lights from its hands, recites a biblical verse and says: "God bless and protect you." The devotee also has a choice of printing out the blessing. A backup robot is available in case the primary one breaks down. Interacting with the robot priest is similar to ordering a meal from a kiosk at a fast food chain. One puts in their inputs and the robot reacts accordingly. The robot is not actually controlled by artificial intelligence but is merely programmed to react to certain pre-determined inputs. The Protestant church in Hesse and Nassau is behind the initiative. "The idea is to stimulate debate and thinking about the future of the church in a world full of electronic devices all that with a twinkle in our eye," the Protestant Church's Volker Rahn told CNET. He further said that "People who stop by are curious, amused and interested. They are really taken with it, and are very positive." The Mirror reported Church spokesman Sebastian von Gehren explaining that the Church the decision to not give the robot a typical human appearance was a conscious one. He said that the reactions have varied greatly as "One half thinks it's great" while "the other cannot imagine a blessing from a machine." The Guardian reported Stephen Krebs, a clergyman at the Church as saying that the Church considering feedback for further analysis but they did think that robots would solve the Europe-wide shortage of priests. A robot "could never substitute for pastoral care", Krebs said. "We don't want to robotise our church work, but see if we can bring a theological perspective to a machine." BlessU-2 is not the first robot to enter the world of religion. In 2016, a Buddhist temple in China developed a robot monk that could answer 20 questions about Buddhism and its associated lifestyle. And in 2013, a humanoid robot called Isaac helped light a public San Francisco menorah on the seventh night of Hanukkah. A withdrawal by the United States from the Paris climate deal would be disappointing but the European Union stood ready to take global leadership on this issue, the European Commission said on Wednesday. United States president Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement on whether he will stay in the agreement this week, with media reports on Wednesday suggesting he had made up his mind to withdraw. "If they decide to pull out it would be disappointing but I really do not think this would change the course of mankind," said European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic. "There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world from Africa, Asia and China that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that," Sefcovic added. Earlier on Wednesday, an Axios report suggested that Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, citing two unidentified sources with direct knowledge of the decision. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. He then tweeted that he would make an announcement this week. Fox News also cited an unidentified source confirming the pullout. New Delhi: India has rejected an Australian request to take part in joint naval exercises with the United States and Japan for fear of antagonising China, which has warned against expanding the drills, navy officials and diplomats said. Australia formally wrote to the Indian defence ministry in January asking if it could send naval ships to join the July wargames as an observer, in what military experts saw as a step toward eventual full participation. Four officials from India, Australia and Japan told Reuters India blocked the proposal and suggested that Canberra send officers to watch the exercises in the Bay of Bengal from the decks of the three participating countries' warships, instead. New Delhi is worried that China will step up activities in the Indian Ocean where it is building infrastructure in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, feeding India's anxiety about being encircled, Indian military sources and diplomats said. Indian navy officials say there have been at least six submarine deployments by China in the Indian Ocean since 2013 and that Chinese submarines have been docking in Sri Lanka and its long-time ally Pakistan. "India is being careful about China," said Abhijit Singh, a former Indian navy officer who heads maritime studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "India is aware they have upped their maritime engagement in this part of the world and they could just become more brazen with their submarine deployments. We don't want that to happen," Singh said. New Delhi's ties with Beijing have soured in recent years over a territorial dispute in the Himalayas and China's military support of Pakistan. China has also been concerned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's avowedly nationalist government has stepped up public engagement of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who lives in exile in India and whom it regards as a "splittist". An Indian defence ministry spokesman confirmed there had been a request from Australia for observer status in the July exercises, but he said he was not in a position to provide any details of the Indian response. Both the United States and Japan supported the idea of involving Australia, seeing it as a natural partner in the effort to balance China's growing might, the four officials said. Malabar exercises The Malabar exercises started out as India-US drills in 1992 but have included Japan every year from 2014. Dozens of warships, submarines and aircraft take part in the wargames, which are aimed at getting the three powerful navies used to working together. US military officials say this will help in future operations, including joint patrols across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The exercises are now held in waters close to the East and South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean. China, which claims most of the South China Sea, has protested the expansion. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the strategic waterway, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. A spokesman for Australia's minister of defence Marise Payne refused to comment on the Malabar exercises. But one Australian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said it was increasingly unlikely Canberra would join the drills although it was keen to do so. Australia has also traditionally been wary of upsetting China, its largest trading partner. It takes no sides in the disputes in the South China Sea and has declined to join naval exercises there, although it does support US-led freedom of navigation activities in the region. Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at Australia National University, expressed frustration that China was effectively wielding veto power over other countries' security cooperation. India, Japan, the United States and Australia already have bilateral security, dialogue and exercise arrangements with each other, including in some three-country configurations, he said. "It should be normal and natural for countries with common interests, high levels of trusts and overlapping capabilities to work together on security issues, without another country imposing a veto on who trains with whom," he said. Orlando (US): An unidentified man who was armed with a fake gun attempted a "suicide by cop" during a nearly three-hour standoff with police at the Orlando International Airport, authorities said. No one was hurt and no shots were ever fired, but the standoff caused confusion and anxiety among travelers who were uncertain about what was going on. Part of the airport was evacuated as hundreds of officers stormed the area, some with their guns drawn. Michael Wayne Pettigrew, 26, was in "mental distress" when police surrounded him at the rental car area of the airport, authorities said. He pointed what looked like a real gun at officers and himself, authorities said. "Our negotiators did a phenomenal job of talking with the subject for about two hours and finally got him to peacefully surrender", Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. He was being held for a mental evaluation and faces aggravated assault charges. Glorializ Colon Plaza, 20, told the Orlando Sentinel she was just getting off work from Virgin Atlantic airlines when she saw everyone hiding. She got off the elevator and saw the man on the floor near the rental car area. He was screaming, and cops had surrounded him. She added, "I couldn't make out the words, but he was screaming really loud. Everyone there told me right before this happened a man said to everyone, 'You're going to need mental therapy after this', and then he pulled out a gun and everyone ran". Plaza said she didn't hear any gunshots or see anyone injured. Plaza said she didn't hear any gunshots or see anyone injured. "I saw all the cops with the long rifles and started shaking", she said. "It didn't seem real". Earlier this year, authorities say an Alaska man killed five people inside a baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The incident at the Orlando airport was first reported at about 7.24 pm (local time). Terminal A was eventually closed, but the other side of the airport, Terminal B, remained open during the standoff. Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Chairman Frank Kruppenbacher praised the response of both law enforcement and airport employees. "Our employees did everything in accordance with what OPD has trained them to do," Kruppenbacher said. "You couldn't have a better resolution. No one was hurt. The airport continued to operate on the other side". Some flights were delayed during the ordeal, but airport operations were returning to normal late Tuesday night. Images posted on social media showed a heavy police presence in the area and passengers were worried about their safety and missing flights. At one point, the Florida Highway Patrol tweeted that all roads to the airport were shut down, with "zero exceptions". Orlando police later said the entrances were open but congested. Jerusalem: Fifty years after Israel occupied the Palestinian territories, its policies in the West Bank and Gaza are at the root of Palestinian hardship, the United Nations said on Wednesday. "Occupation policies and practices remain the key cause of humanitarian needs in the occupied Palestinian territories," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report. West Bank and Gaza residents suffer from a lack of basic security, it said, adding that the split between president Mahmud Abbas's West Bank-based administration and the rival Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza also restricts humanitarian work. "At its heart, the crisis is one of a lack of protection for Palestinian civilians from violence, from displacement, from restrictions on access to services and livelihoods, and from other rights violations," the report said. Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Six-Day War. Repeated efforts to negotiate a solution to the conflict and establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel have stalled. A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 266 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP tally. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. OCHA's 15-page Humanitarian Overview for 2016 notes a sharp fall in bloodshed over the year compared to 2015. "Palestinian fatalities from conflict-related violence in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel declined by 37 percent compared with 2015, while the decline in Israeli fatalities was 48 percent," it said. However, Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, had peaked, it said. "In the West Bank, more Palestinians were displaced in 2016 (1,601, including 759 children) due to demolitions of their homes by the Israeli authorities than in any year since OCHA began recording the phenomenon in 2009," it said. In the Gaza Strip, where unemployment is among the highest in the world, a strict Israeli blockade has been in force for over a decade. "Israeli restrictions on the entry of national staff of aid organisations to and from Gaza intensified in 2016, with 31 percent of permit applications to enter or exit Gaza denied," OCHA said. That is up from an average of four percent in 2015, it added. It said humanitarian operations in Gaza were impeded by restrictions imposed by the Hamas authorities, donors blocking contact with them, the ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the internal Palestinian divide. At 8.22 am on Wednesday, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) was detonated in Kabul near Zambaq Square outside the Green Zone that houses diplomatic and government facilities, along with schools. Afghan security forces prevented the VBIED from being brought into the Green Zone, but the explosion caused civilian casualties in the vicinity. According to the latest figures from the Government Media and Information Centre of the Government of Afghanistan, 80 people have been killed and more than 350 wounded in the terror attack. Quoting an NDS (the Afghan intelligence) source, Afghan radio station Spogmai FM reported that after the blast, a water tanker packed with explosives arrived at the scene. The driver of the tanker reportedly held a permit card of an embassy, which is how he managed to enter the diplomatic area. It is unclear which embassy granted the driver a permit, but an investigation is underway. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and the NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condemned the attack. Javid Faisal, deputy spokesperson in the office of the chief executive told Firstpost, "We condemn the attack. It was a terror attack and most of the casualties are civilians. The area hit today houses schools, and students are among the injured. The terror attack in the month of Ramadan (Ramzan) shows that the perpetrators who fight against Afghanistan in the name of Islam are neither Muslims nor humans." Amrullah Saleh, the state minister for security reforms, hinted at Pakistani involvement. "An attack like this wouldn't have been possible without the support and involvement of a Pakistani State agency. And the ISI has a track record of involvement in such deadly attacks. We have no other enemy in this region or beyond." According to Afghan journalist Shakib Mahmud, the Indian embassy does not appear to be the target of the blast as it took place a few hundred metres away from embassy. However, it was a very powerful blast and tremors could be felt as far as the Indian embassy. Minister of External Affairs expressed relief that Indian embassy staff was safe: By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra told Firstpost, "It was a very large bomb. Some are saying that it was the largest-ever in Kabul, with some estimates suggesting there were 1,500 kilogrammes of explosives detonated. When a bomb of that size goes off, the blast radius is extensive. Buildings and windows get damaged in far away areas. Fortunately, all of our staff is safe. According to reports, some Indian professionals working in Kabul suffered light injuries. They were in their offices and were injured by glass shards." Multiple embassies and offices of Afghan media houses like TV1 were damaged given the huge blast radius. The author is an independent journalist working on cyber security and the geopolitics of India's neighbourhood, focussing on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Bangladesh. He tweets at @aveeksen Islamabad: Pakistan has strongly condemned the massive blast which tore through Kabul's diplomatic enclave killing at least 80 people and leaving hundreds, including women and children, injured. "Pakistan strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused loss of precious human lives and injuries to many," the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement. It said the blast has caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some. "Pakistan being a victim of terrorism understands the pain and agony that such incidents inflict upon the people and society", the FO said. It further said that the people and government of Pakistan extend their heartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to the government and the people of Afghanistan and the bereaved families. "While reiterating condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, we pray for early recovery of the injured. We firmly stand with our Afghan brothers in this hour of grief and anguish", said FO. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle in Zanbaq Square around 08:30 am. At least 80 people have been killed and hundreds wounded when the massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital. Washington: The United States will not impose a ban on carry-on laptops on flights coming from Europe, an official spokesperson said on Tuesday, days after America underlined the need to "raise the bar" on airline security, including screening certain carry-on items. The ban is already in place for flights from certain regions of the Middle East and North Africa after intelligence reports that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is developing ways to hide explosives in batteries and battery compartments. No laptop ban on United States flights from Europe for now but the option is still on the table, Homeland Security Secretary Dave Lapan announced after a call between Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc. "While a much-discussed expansion of the ban on large electronic devices in the cabin on flights to the United States was not announced on Wednesday, the Secretary made it clear that an expansion is still on the table," Lapan said in a statement. Lapan was referring to comments by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly who in a call on Tuesday with European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc discussed aviation security. "Kelly affirmed he will implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft flying to the United States including prohibiting large electronic devices from the passenger cabin if the intelligence and threat level warrant it," Lapan said, after the conference call between American and European leaders, during which two other items were discussed. Lapan said the American and European leaders agreed to raise the bar for aviation security globally, including through a range of potential seen and unseen enhancements. "The parties also agreed to continue to work together to secure global aviation and to maintain clear lines of communication and cooperation," he said. Over the last few months the United States has continuously reached out to global aviation partners regarding serious and evolving threats to aviation, and it will continue to do so, Lapan said. The decision comes just days after Kelly said that the US wanted to "raise the bar" on airline security, including screening certain carry-on items. The United States transportation security administration has already begun testing new procedures to help security agents identify problematic carry-on items. Passengers in recent years have reportedly begun stuffing their bags with more and more items in order to avoid having to pay fees for checking bags in, leading to more clutter in carry-on bags that can be difficult for security to screen. There are roughly 4,300 international flights that take off and land in the United States each day, carrying more than a half a million passengers. That amounts to roughly 200 million passengers a year that would potentially have been impacted by the laptop ban. By Thomas Escritt and Matthias Sobolewski | BERLIN BERLIN U.S. President Donald Trump called Germany's trade and spending policies "very bad" on Tuesday, intensifying a row between the longtime allies and immediately earning himself the moniker "destroyer of Western values" from a leading German politician.As the war of words threatened to spin out of control, Merkel and other senior German politicians stressed the importance of Germany's Atlantic ties, with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel suggesting the spat was just a rough patch.Trump took to Twitter early in the day in the United States to attack Germany, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel ramped up her doubts about the reliability of Washington as an ally."We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change," Trump tweeted.The tit-for-tat dispute escalated rapidly after Trump, at back-to-back summits last week, criticised major NATO allies over their military spending and refused to endorse a global climate change accord. On Sunday, Merkel showed the gravity of her concern about Washington's dependability under Trump when she warned, at an election campaign event in a packed Bavarian beer tent - that the times when Europe could fully rely on others were "over to a certain extent".Those comments, which caused shock in Washington, vented Europe's frustration with Trump on climate policy in particular. And while German politicians sided with Merkel, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel signalled that it was time for cooler heads to prevail. TIT-FOR-TAT, FROM TENT TO TWITTER "The United States are older and bigger than the current conflict," he said, adding that relations would improve. "It is inappropriate that we are now communicating with each other between a beer tent and Twitter," he said in Berlin.Merkel had already begun finessing her message on Monday, stressing that she was a "convinced trans-Atlanticist", a message she repeated after a meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin. But Martin Schulz, leader of Gabriel's centre-left Social Democrats, was less emollient earlier in the day when he told reporters Trump was "the destroyer of all Western values". He added that the U.S. president was undermining the peaceful cooperation of nations based on mutual respect and tolerance.In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said he agreed with Merkel that Europe needed to forge its own path."This takes nothing away from the importance of our trans-Atlantic ties and our alliance with the United States. But the importance we put on these ties cannot mean that we abandon fundamental principles such as our commitment to fight climate change and in favour of open societies and free trade," he said. (Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Rome; writing by Paul Carrel; editing by Michael Nienaber/Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: The White House on Tuesday said communications director Mike Dubke has resigned, the first in what is expected to be a series of moves to shake up Donald Trump's press team. Dubke, 47, occupied the high-powered but low-profile, post for three crisis-filled months. "I can confirm that Dubke has resigned," an official told AFP. No date for his departure, which has been in the works for almost two weeks, has been announced. For months rumors have echoed around the West Wing about Trump being poised to fire his public relations staff en masse. Many come from the Republican Party establishment and have been uneasy allies with the president. Trump has privately and publicly expressed fury over a litany of bad headlines, lashing out at reporters, alleged "fake news" headlines and staff. The president's failure to pass significant legislation, legal challenges to his executive orders and a rolling scandal over his inner circle's ties with Russia have hobbled his young administration. That has put the future of press secretary Sean Spicer and his staff into doubt. Although the White House communications director is a much less recognisable figure than Spicer, they are usually major players defining how the West Wing communicates and shaping the media agenda. During Barack Obama's administration, top aide and confidant Dan Pfeiffer had held the post. Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Spain's capital city Madrid on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour aimed at boosting bilateral economic engagement with them and inviting more investment for India's transformation. "Landed in Spain, marking the start of a very important visit aimed at improving economic and cultural relations with Spain," Modi tweeted in English and Spanish after landing here. Ya he aterrizado en Espana. Marca el comienzo de una visita muy importante. pic.twitter.com/U0Mh4zSFLL Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 30, 2017 Landed in Spain, marking the start of a very important visit aimed at improving economic and cultural relations with Spain. pic.twitter.com/xXOuuZv9tl Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 30, 2017 El objetivo sera mejorar las relaciones economicas y culturales con Espana. pic.twitter.com/Paq16vVOFG Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 30, 2017 Modi's visit to Spain will be first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988. "Hola Espana! Prime Minister Modi arrives in Madrid, first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades, is received by Spanish FM in a special gesture," said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs in a tweet. Hola Espana! PM arrives in Madrid, first visit by an Indian PM in nearly three decades, is received by Spanish FM in a special gesture pic.twitter.com/zN2JTXrotT Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) May 30, 2017 Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on ways to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. Modi will also call on King Felipe VI of Spain. "He (Modi) would also have a round-table interaction with leading Spanish business leaders who are keen to invest in India. Prime Minister's visit to Spain will add further strength to the existing warm and friendly India-Spain bilateral ties," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement. From Spain, he will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on 1 June where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The prime minister will be in Paris on 2 and 3 June where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. Earlier on Tuesday, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the fourth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) during which the two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and the two sides inked 12 agreements/Memorandum of Understandings (MoU). When Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for his four-nation tour, he had three broad-based areas to work upon. Pitch India as a destination for investment, improve bilateral ties and create a global consensus around terrorism. Groaning under a jobless growth, a demographically young India needs to urgently create jobs for 12 million youth entering the market each year. India also needs stability in the global order to achieve that goal its growth incumbent, among other factors, on the free movement of goods and people. And finally, plagued by a relentless proxy war, India needs to ramp up the heat on its terror-sponsoring neighbour, Pakistan. These are quite clear-cut objectives. As Modi leaves the German shores and lands in Spain, it is time to take a look at the gains and challenges that emerged from New Delhi's tryst with Berlin. For Modi, getting German companies to invest in India and lend expertise for his flagship projects like Make in India, Skill India and Smart Cities is of paramount importance. Happily, there exists a dovetailing of interest with Germany needing a market and India in need of German proficiency. On cue, the joint statement focused on areas of convergence. "Recognising Germanys key competencies in high technology and Indias growing needs, both the leaders welcomed the efforts of the High Technology Partnership Group (HTPG) to identify specific opportunities for high-technology collaboration, including in priority areas of skills development, in manufacturing under the Make in India programme and to enhance cooperation in defence manufacturing and machine tools as well as enhancing cooperation in maritime technology and the development of blue economy." Modi emerged from the fourth round of inter-governmental dialogue, dripping optimism and hope. India and Germany signed 12 MoUs in fields like cyber policy, development initiatives, sustainable urban development, continued development of cluster managers and skill development, digitalisation, railway security and promoting vocational training. There was enough symbolism on offer. "We are made for each other," said Modi, while addressing a news conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel, adding: "We are looking at outcome-oriented momentum in India-Germany ties and a quantum jump especially in economic ties." Trouble is, hard-nosed Germans are tough negotiators. Firstpost had earlier pointed out that India-Germany can be 'made for each other' if Modi manages to iron out trade wrinkles and there is not enough indication that Modi's visit has resulted in enough deliverables on this front. India faces two problems in trade negotiations with Europe. One, it is perceived as a cumbersome, chaotic place for investors where politicians and a bloated bureaucracy contribute to indefinite delays in decision-making. Two, India is also perceived as a fiercely protectionist nation. Therefore, for the 'quantum leap' in economic ties to take place, Modi and the delegation under his command needed to alleviate German scepticism. Examples of this deep-rooted cynicism are evident in German media. Writing for German publication Handelsblatt, its Asia correspondent Mathias Peer points out: "Almost nothing can be done quickly in India: Anyone wanting to bring goods into the country must wait as long as 12 days at the border. It takes on average half a year to get a building permit. Even investors wanting to defend their interests in court must be patient: it can take almost four years to get a verdict." The newspaper also points out that despite being in office for three years, Modi has been able to push up India's Ease of Doing Business ranking only up to 130 from an earlier 134, while China's ranking sits at a comfortable 78. Other irritables include lack of 'legal security', 'inadequate infrastructure', 'stable framework' and India's penchant for changing rules and regulations too often a pointer perhaps to India's Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with Germany which lapsed in April this year and hasn't since been renewed because India's revised BIT is unattractive to overseas investors. During Modi's meeting with top German CEOs, Hubert Lienhard, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business and one of the organisers of the German-Indian Economic Forum, bluntly told the prime minister that, "the cancellation of the India-German investment treaty makes it very difficult for investment, especially by small companies from Germany, and we urge that you work on the conclusion of the India-European Union (EU) Free-Trade Agreement (FTA). Tension is not good for investment." Shades of this scepticism were also present in Merkel's news conference, where she reminded India of its commitment to speed up the free-trade agreement and promised to ramp up pressure on Brussels to speed up negotiations that have remained inconclusive since 2013. It is a measure of Modi's diplomatic skills, that appears to have been at least partially able to negate the negativism around investing in India by promising to open the FTA negotiations by July. The joint statement read: "(Both leaders) also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the India-EU Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement and their commitment to bring about a resumption of the negotiations at the earliest possible date. This would, inter alia, allow to establish provisions for the mutual protection of new foreign investments." In the backdrop of United States president Donald Trump highlighting the "massive" trade deficit with Germany (a tweet which was posted even as Modi was engaged in a pow-wow with German leaders), this assumes greater significance. It is easy to interpret this as a positive deliverable but for the fact that there exist too many differences between the EU and India on an FTA, which has remained stalled despite 16 rounds of negotiations. As Research and Information System for Developing Countries director general Sachin Chaturvedi has written in Business Standard, 'there are doubts over whether India, the world's fastest growing economy, will add to or take away from weaker countries in the European Union. There is also a clash of positions on financial services and investment, IPR and public procurement and agriculture and fisheries.' It will remain to be seen how India and EU manage to keep the FTA on track. On the other two areas, however, Modi has clearly achieved more than he had bargained for. His fulsome praise of Merkel's leadership in forging a cohesive EU was not just hot air, it was an expression of his belief that a stronger EU will be ultimately at India's advantage in a world grappling with tectonic shifts in alliances and power equations. He also told Merkel what she wanted to hear, that India won't ditch the Paris Climate Accord even if the United States walks away. Merkel, for her part, said: "Our cooperation goes back to 60 years and during our consultations, we have highlighted the fact that India has always proved to be a reliable partner when it comes to major projects here," and announced an assistance of 1 billion euros towards Modi's flagship projects. There was clear harmony in areas of India's candidature for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), where Germany reiterated its support and promised to back India's participation in other export-control regimes such as Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement. Both countries also pitched for urgent reforms in United Nations Security Council and "reiterated their full support to each others candidatures for a permanent seat in a reformed and expanded UN Security Council." It is in the area of terrorism, however, where India made the strongest impression. The need for a broad-based global consensus against state-sponsored terrorism assumed greater importance with news that a devastating suicide bomb attack at the diplomatic enclave in Kabul on Wednesday morning resulted in the deaths of at least 80 people and injuries to 300 others. Both numbers are up for revision. Media reports indicate that the blast occurred 400 yards off the German embassy and also damaged the Indian embassy, though all staff members are reported to be safe. Earlier suicide attacks on Kabul have been linked to the Taliban and Haqqani network. Both these terrorist outfits operate out of Pakistani soil. The leader's joint statement reserved its strongest words on terrorism as a global scourge. "Prime Minister Modi and Federal Chancellor Merkel underlined their common concern about the threat and global reach of terrorism and extremism. They condemned terrorist violence in all its forms and manifestations. They agreed on the need to take strong measures against all those who encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary and safe havens that sustain and support terrorist groups and organisations," "They welcomed closer collaboration between India and Germany to counter these challenges through regular meetings of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism. They called for finalisation and adoption of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism." There is enough cause for optimism in the India-Germany relationship. In terms of geopolitics and on terrorism, there is clear indication of synergy and bilateral ties can only grow stronger. On economy, though, which will decide the trajectory of the relationship, there is space for cautious optimism. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting to discuss key security issues with civilian and military officials. Sharif chaired the meeting of the National Security Committee at the Prime Minister's Office. No official statement was issued so far but private media reported that the issue of Indian prisoner on death row Kulbhushan Jadhav and operation Radd-ul-Fasad were discussed in the meeting. The participants included defence minister Khawaja Asif, finance minister Ishaq Dar, interior minister Nisar Ali Khan, Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, National Security Advisor Lieutenant General (Retd) Nasser Khan Janjua and ISI chief Naveed Mukhtar and others, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. It said that army chief also separately met Sharif to discuss important security matters. Islamabad: Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss key security issues with civilian and military officials, who condemned the "atrocities" by Indian forces in Kashmir. During the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting at the prime minister's office, the civilian and military leadership also voiced "moral and diplomatic" support for the Kashmiri people. According to an official statement, the NSC deliberated upon overall internal and external security situation of the country. The situation on eastern and western borders was also discussed. "The National Security Committee expressed serious concern over the atrocities of Indian forces on the innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir and resolved to continue moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris," the statement said. The committee also expressed satisfaction over the sustained gains achieved from anti-terrorism operations, particularly Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad. The security for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects also came under discussion during the meeting. Earlier, private media reported that the issue of Indian prisoner on death row Kulbhushan Jadhav was also discussed in the meeting. The participants included defence minister Khawaja Asif, finance minister Ishaq Dar, interior minister Nisar Ali Khan, Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, national security advisor Lieutenant General (retired) Nasser Khan Janjua and ISI chief Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar and others, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The army chief also separately met Sharif and discussed matters pertaining to operational preparedness of the Pakistan Army, according to the statement. Washington: President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from a landmark global climate agreement, a White House official said Wednesday, though Trump and aides were looking for "caveats in the language" related to the exit and had not made a final decision. Leaving the deal would fulfill a central campaign pledge, but would anger international allies who spent years in difficult negotiations that produced an accord to reduce carbon emissions. Trump faced considerable pressure to hold to the deal during visits with European leaders and Pope Francis on his recent trip abroad. The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the decision before the official announcement, said the president and his aides were finalizing the details of a pullout. Trump himself tweeted that "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days." I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 While Trump currently favours an exit, he has been known to change his thinking on major decisions and tends to seek counsel from a range of inside and outside advisers, many with differing agendas, until the last minute. Trump's top aides have been divided on the accord. He was to meet later Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has favored remaining in the agreement. Chief strategist Steve Bannon supports an exit, as does Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt. Senior advisor Jared Kushner generally thinks the deal is bad but would like to find a way to see if US emissions targets can be changed. Trump's influential daughter Ivanka Trump's preference is to stay, but she made it a priority to establish a review process so her father heard from all sides, said a senior administration official who was not authorised to discuss her thinking and spoke on condition of anonymity. Nearly 200 nations, including the United States under President Barack Obama's administration, agreed in 2015 to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change. Withdrawing would leave the United States aligned only with Russia among the world's industrialised economies. A senior European Union official said the EU and China would reaffirm their commitment to the pact regardless of what Trump did, and would spell out, during talks Friday in Brussels, how they would meet their obligations. The official, who is involved in preparing the meeting between EU officials and China's premier, was not authorised to speak publicly and discussed the matter on condition of anonymity because the meeting statement was not finalised. News of Trump's expected decision drew swift reaction from the United Nations. The organisation's main Twitter page quoted Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying, "Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable." The Sierra Club's executive director, Michael Brune, called the expected move a "historic mistake which our grandchildren will look back on with stunned dismay at how a world leader could be so divorced from reality and morality." The House Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, referred to it as "a stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet's future." Trump claimed before taking office that climate change was a "hoax" created by the Chinese to hurt the US economy, an assertion that stands in defiance of broad scientific consensus. But Trump's chief White House economic advisor, Gary Cohn, told reporters during the trip abroad that Trump's views on climate change were "evolving" following the president's discussions with European leaders. Still, he said that the carbon levels agreed to by the prior administration "would be highly crippling to the US economic growth," and said that, if the president had to choose between limiting carbon and economic growth, "growing our economy is going to win." Supporters of the deal say it's not an either-or choice. Word of Trump's expected decision came a day after the president met with Pruitt. Like his boss, the EPA head has questioned the consensus of climate scientists that the Earth is warming and that man-made emissions are to blame. Once in power, Trump and Pruitt have moved to delay or roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions while pledging to revive long-struggling US coal mines. What is not yet clear is whether Trump plans to initiate a formal withdrawal from the Paris accord, which under the terms of the agreement could take three years, or exit the underlying UN climate change treaty on which the accord was based. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and 21 other Republican sent Trump a letter last week urging him to follow through on his campaign pledge to pull out of the climate accord. Most of the senators who signed are from states that depend on the continued burning of coal, oil and gas. Hundreds of high-profile businesses have spoken out in favor of the deal, including Apple, Google and Walmart. Even fossil fuel companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell say the United States should abide by the deal. In Congress, 40 Democratic senators sent Trump a letter saying withdrawal would hurt America's credibility and influence on the world stage. The US is the world's second-largest emitter of carbon, following only China. Beijing, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to meeting its targets under the Paris accord, recently canceling construction of about 100 coal-fired power plants and investing billions in massive wind and solar projects. By Yeganeh Torbati | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorized the State Department to notify Congress of the Trump administration's sale of precision-guided munitions for Saudi Arabia to use in its Yemen campaign, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday.The notification is one of the last steps in the arms sale process and triggers a formal 30-day review to allow members of Congress to attempt to pass legislation to stop any sale.U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation last week seeking to block about $500 million of a $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, including the portion on precision-guided missiles and other offensive weapons.An announcement of the sale had been expected in March but objections from mostly Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups led to Washington to ask Riyadh for commitments to improve targeting procedures that would minimize civilian casualties.Asked on Tuesday whether the Saudis had taken specific measures to improve targeting capabilities, the senior U.S. diplomat, acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones, did not answer directly. "That's a continuing source of conversation between us," Jones told reporters. "We're constantly trying to improve that process."The Yemen civil war pits Iran-allied Houthi rebels against the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition. Nearly 4,800 civilians have been killed since March 2015, the United Nations said in March. Jones said Tillerson's authorization, which was expected, occurred just before President Donald Trump's May 20-21 visit to Saudi Arabia.Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, in December limited military support to Saudi Arabia's campaign in Yemen because of concerns over civilian casualties, and halted the sale of the precision-guided munitions.On his trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump received a warm welcome from Gulf Arab leaders, who want to crack down on Iran's influence in the region, a commitment they found lacking in Obama. Trump also did not make overt mentions of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia in his speech there, a move criticized by Democrats and Republicans in Congress."The fact that it wasn't featured in the speech doesn't mean that it's not part of the bilateral dialogue," Jones said. "By taking it out of the public debate and having those conversations directly and quietly, we'll be more effective."Tillerson last week told reporters that human rights issues were not the "central part" of Trump's private meetings with Saudi officials, which instead focused on the fight against terrorism. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; editing by Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Baghdad: Three suicide bombings in Baghdad and a city to the west have killed at least 42 people, targetting Iraqis breaking their fast and elderly people collecting their pensions, officials said Tuesday. The strikes came as forces fought to retake the last areas held by the Islamic State group in their former stronghold of Mosul. The first Islamic State-claimed car bombing struck a Baghdad ice cream shop during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Iraqis often stay out late shopping or socialising after breaking their daily fast. A second attack claimed by the group targeted the country's main pension office, while a third bombing was carried out at an army checkpoint in Hit, some 120 miles (200 km) west of Baghdad. Haidar Hussein, 22, had been sitting with friends at a coffee shop near the Al-Faqma ice cream parlour in the capital's central Karrada district. A police captain tried to prevent a small white pickup truck from approaching the area, but the driver kept going forward and then the truck exploded, he said. The blast sent rubble flying, sparked a fire and threw Hussein to the ground, injuring his arm and leg. At least 16 people were killed and 75 injured in the attack. After checking himself for wounds, Hussein began to look for his friends. "Many people were on the ground, including women and children, and the screams of the women and children got louder," he said. Among the dead was Hussein's 22-year-old friend Karar, who left behind two wives and three children. Images posted on social media showed the devastating impact of the attack, which left ice cream cups scattered on the blood-stained ground. In the second strike, a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle near Iraq's main pension office, which is close to one of the principal bridges over the River Tigris, said the Baghdad Operations Command. The blast killed at least 11 people and wounded at least 40, officials said. The bombing at the Hit checkpoint killed 15 people, including four soldiers and a journalist, while 23 others were injured, Anas al-Ani, spokesman for the department of health in Anbar province told AFP. The Iraqi chain Asiasat TV said its journalist Souhaib al-Hiti had died in the attack, for which no group has yet claimed responsibility. 'Wanton savagery' The US State Department said in a statement that it condemned the Baghdad bombings in "the strongest possible terms". "These brutal attacks, whose victims included innocent children breaking the Ramadan fast and elderly Iraqis collecting their pensions, demonstrate once again the wanton savagery of the enemy we face," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. The UN called the bombings an "outrage" while Paris turned off the lights of the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday night in tribute to the victims. The bombings in Baghdad come as Iraqi forces fight to retake the last Islamic State-held areas of Mosul, a city that was the jihadist group's emblematic stronghold. Iraqi forces are more than seven months into a massive operation to recapture the city, and have already taken back its whole eastern side and much of the west. Three neighbourhoods north of Mosul's Old City Al-Shifaa, Al-Saha and Al-Zinjili are now the target of a broad assault by Iraqi soldiers, police and special forces that was launched last week. Islamic State is mainly relying on "snipers and suicide bombers" to target Iraqi forces, as it is running low on mortar rounds and explosives after losing sites it previously used to produce them, Iraqi Brigadier General Shakir Kadhim Mohsen told AFP. The United Nations has warned that up to 200,000 civilians who are believed to remain in Islamic State-held areas of the city are in grave danger and that large numbers could flee. "We are deeply concerned that right now, in the last final stages of the campaign to retake Mosul, that the civilians... in (Islamic State) areas are probably at graver risk now than at any other stage of the campaign," Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told AFP. The World Food Programme said Tuesday that it "has identified worrying signs of an increase in the rate of malnutrition among newly displaced children from western Mosul. New Delhi: Russia is in advanced stages of building the world's first "floating" nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas and hopes FNPP technology will also interest South Asian countries like India. Pavel Ipatov, Deputy CEO (Special Projects) in Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, told IANS in an e-mail interview from Moscow that an FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land. "FNPPs are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas," he said. The Russian explained that floating units are components constructed for transport by sea or river to areas that are otherwise inaccessible or difficult to reach by land. "The plant is constructed as a non-self propelled vessel to be towed by sea or river to the operation site. Its mobility will make it possible to relocate it from one site to another, if necessary," he said. "The first floating NPP is to operate in Russia's extreme northeastern region of Chukotka, where there is plenty of oil and gas exploration, gold mining and other mineral resource enterprises," he added. According to Ipatov, the vessel's "construction is at its closing stage. The plant has already been floated out, fitting-out is under way". It has been undergoing "mooring trials" since last July to test the FNPP's performance efficiency, which are scheduled to be completed by October. After the tests, the FNPP, called 'Academician Lomonosov', will be transported by Russia's Northern Sea route to the operation site, where it will be integrated into the coastal network being constructed in the port of the city of Pevek. "The construction of onshore facilities is under way on the FNPP's future operation site. In 2019, the power unit installation on its proper location is expected to start, and then the FNPP will undergo final trials and be put into operation," he said. The FNPP has an electric capacity of 70 MW and is equipped with two reactors of 150 MW thermal capacity each. "A vessel like that can provide electric supply to a city of 200,000 and heat supply to a million-plus city," Ipatov said. An FNPP's operational life span ranges from 35 to 40 years. In line with conventional onshore nuclear plants that are often equipped with desalination units for freshwater, the FNPP will have a desalination unit producing up to 240 cubic metres of water per hour. Besides, as regards safety, the Russian said that FNPPs would be governed by the same advanced safety parameters put in place after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. He cited the example from Soviet times of the first commercial desalination complex attached to a nuclear power plant that went into operation in 1967, providing freshwater supply to the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. "Now this nuclear plant is inoperative, but the desalination plant is still working with alternate heat generation," Ipatov said of the project that was implemented by Rosatom. According to him, with Russia's expertise, its FNPPs will be in great demand in the global small nuclear power market. "We see significant potential in Southeast Asia and other regions of the world. Memorandums of cooperation on floating nuclear power plants projects have been signed with China and Indonesia," he said. "We hope that FNPP technology will also gain interest in South Asia, including India, not only in terms of new opportunities to provide power supply to remote areas, but in terms of building extra seawater desalination facilities, too," he added. Rosatom are the builders, in collaboration with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, that envisages the construction of six reactors of 1,000 MW capacity each. While KNPP reactor units 1 and 2 are already connected to the southern power grid, the ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 and 4 was done in February last year. Earlier this month, the Indian cabinet approved the setting up of 10 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) for nuclear power generation of around 7,000 MW power. India currently generates 6,780 MW from nuclear power. Nuclear reactors, which will produce another 6,700 MW, are under implementation and these are expected to be completed by 2021-22. Moscow: Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles at the Islamic State group's positions in Syria, the Russian defense ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at IS targets in the area of the ancient city of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched. Russia, a staunch Damascus ally, has been providing air cover to Syrian President Bashar Assad's offensive on the IS since 2015. Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured Palmyra in March last year and Moscow even flew in one of its best classical musicians to play a triumphant concert at Palmyra's ancient theater. IS forces, however, recaptured Palmyra eight months later before Syrian government troops drove them out again in March this year. Fighting around Palmyra continues. Russia's defense ministry said in its Wednesday statement that the strikes successfully hit IS heavy weapons and fighters whom the group who had deployed and moved to Palmyra from the IS stronghold of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Sunni militant group and its self-proclaimed caliphate. Moscow said it had notified the US, Turkish and Israeli militaries beforehand of the upcoming strike. It added that the Russian strike was promptly executed following the order, a testimony to the navy's high readiness and capabilities. Russia has been busy mediating between Assad and Turkey and the West, who seek his removal. Earlier this month Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish safe zones in Syria, signing on to a Russian plan under which Assad's air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country. Russia says maps delineating the zones should be ready by 4 June. MOSCOW A newspaper in Siberia said on Wednesday it was threatened with retribution after reporting the death in Syria of a Russian private military contractor.The story, in the Courier.Sreda.Berdsk newspaper, said that the 36-year-old man, Yevgeny Tretyakov, had been killed in Syria's Homs province on May 15 and that his body had been delivered to his hometown of Berdsk this week.The body, which the newspaper said was heavily burnt, was buried on Tuesday.Officials in Russia are secretive about military losses in the Syrian campaign and reporters in the provinces are often the first to reveal information about the funerals of fallen fighters in remote towns and villages. Galina Komornikova, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, told Reuters a man had phoned the editorial office soon after the story's publication and threatened to come over and "deal with" her and the relevant reporters."He introduced himself, said he works for the FSB (the Federal Security Service), and that it's not allowed to report on Syria," Komornikova said. The man did not show up at the office, she said.It is thought to be the first time a newspaper in Russia has publicly complained of coming under pressure over Syria, suggesting Russian authorities may be growing more sensitive to losses there. The newspaper said it was standing by its story. "In a small town it is impossible to make such news secret ... and people must know the truth," it said.The FSB and the Defence Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Riyadh: A gunman killed two staff members at a private school owned by a prominent Saudi billionaire in Riyadh on Wednesday, a security source told AFP. The school was closed and no children were there at the time, said the US embassy in Riyadh. Police is hunting a suspect of Iraqi origin who worked at the school, the security source said, after the rare shooting. "A teacher took a gun and then he went to the school room and he killed the assistant school principal and one of the employees," said the source who asked not to be identified because a formal statement would come later from Riyadh police. Investigators are treating the case as a criminal matter and "not a terrorist incident," the source said. Saudi media spoke of "disagreements" between the suspect and victims. "There has been a shooting at Kingdom School in Riyadh," the US mission said on its Twitter account. There has been a shooting at Kingdom School in Riyadh, shooter still at school. School closed, no children present. Please avoid area. ACS Saudi Arabia (@KSA_ACS) May 31, 2017 "School (is) closed, no children present. Please avoid area," the Twitter post said, without elaborating on casualties or motives behind the shooting. By late afternoon an AFP photographer observed only one police car entering the school grounds, which was quiet, and nobody answered the school's main phone line. Most schools in Saudi Arabia are on holiday. Kingdom School is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner. The school, located in central Riyadh, opened in 2000 and offers boys' and girls' education from kindergarten to high school, according to its website. The school has both a Saudi curriculum and an international programme leading to an American diploma. Kingdom Holding says on its website that the schools group has more than 4,000 students and 300 teachers at various locations in Riyadh. Baghdad: A massive bombing by the Islamic State group outside a popular ice cream parlour in central Baghdad and a rush-hour car bomb in another downtown area have killed at least 31 people, Iraqi officials said. Later on Tuesday, bombings in and around the Iraqi capital killed seven more people. The attacks come as Islamic State militants are steadily losing territory to US-backed Iraqi forces in the battle for Mosul, the country's second-largest city. The Sunni extremists are increasingly turning to insurgency-style terror attacks to distract attention from their losses. The night-time attack outside the ice cream parlour in the bustling Karrada neighborhood killed 17 people and wounded 32, police and health officials said. A closed-circuit camera captured the moment of the explosion, the video showing a busy downtown avenue with cars driving down the street when the blast strikes. A huge fireball engulfs a building, causing cars to scramble to get away. Other videos of the attack posted on social media show wounded and bloodied people crying for help on the sidewalk outside the ice cream parlour. In the second attack, an explosives-laden car went off during rush hour near the state-run Public Pension Office in Baghdad's busy Shawaka area, killing 14, a police officer said. At least 37 people were wounded in that attack, he added. In separate online statements, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the two attacks, saying its suicide bombers targeted gatherings of Shiites. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statements but they were posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists. Later on Tuesday, seven people died and 19 were wounded in four separate bombings in and around Baghdad, officials said. The attacks targeted commercial areas and a patrol of Sunni anti-Islamic State tribal fighters, they said. No group immediately claimed those attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The attacks came just days into the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast during daylight hours. After sundown, families break their fast and Baghdad's restaurants and cafes quickly fill up with people staying up long into the night. During Ramadan last year, another section of Karrada was hit by massive suicide bombing that killed almost 300 people, the deadliest single attack in the Iraqi capital in 13 years of war. The attack was also claimed by Islamic State. Details of how the militants managed to stage Tuesday's attacks were not immediately clear. After last year's attack, Iraqi authorities stepped up security in Karrada, especially in the area of the bombing. Also on Tuesday, a suicide bomber attacked a military patrol in the town of Hit in Iraq's western Anbar province, killing at least eight people and wounding 10, including security force members, two security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. In the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi troops are pushing IS fighters out of their last strongholds. Iraqi commanders say the offensive, which recently entered its eight month, will mark the end of the IS caliphate in Iraq, but concede the group will likely increase insurgent attacks in the wake of military defeats. COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's government said that the death toll from mudslides and floods has exceeded 200, with 96 others missing. The Disaster Management Center on Wednesday said that 202 people are confirmed dead. More than 77,000 have been displaced and over 1,500 homes destroyed since rains began swamping the southern and western areas of the Indian Ocean island nation last Friday. Sri Lanka's army, navy and air force are continuing relief and rescue efforts supported by divers and navy personnel who have arrived from India. Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena visited some of the worst affected areas over the weekend has assured immediate relief to the victims, and has pledged to build new homes. Mudslides have become common during Sri Lanka's summer monsoon season as forests across the tropical Indian Ocean island nation have been cleared for export crops such as tea and rubber. A massive landslide a year ago killed more than 100 people in central Sri Lanka. May has been the most violent month of the year. Starting with killing of five policemen and two bank guards in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on 1 May, the month ended with 80 people being killed in a major blast in Kabul near the diplomatic district, including the Indian mission. The attacks, where many terror organisations were involved, were largely attributed to Islamic State and the Taliban. The month began with the attack by Jaish-e-Mohammad in Kashmir. On 2 May, Islamic State militants killed at least 37 Iraqi refugees and wounded 100 others heading to a refugee camp in Syria near the borders with Iraq. On 3 May, eight people were killed and 28 more were injured when a suicide car bomber detonated next to a convoy of NATO vehicles near the US embassy in Kabul. On 9 May, Islamic State members executed 47 of their prisoners in Kirkuk's Hawija in Iraq, including 12 of their comrades. 21 May witnessed four different attacks by Islamic State in three different countries Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and claimed lives of at least 70 civilians. Many such attacks continued throughout the month across the world, including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan but on 22 May came the Manchester attack. Thought to be a suicide blast at first, it was later ascertained that the bomb went off while the attacker was detonating it. The blast killed 22 people and Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. It was during the live concert of US pop sensation Adriane Grande. Even though Wednesday's (31 May) Kabul attack and 22 May Manchester attack were covered by media the most, the month of May witnessed more than 1,000 killings. However, experts have said that the Islamic State has vowed to transform the month of Ramadan into a month of unparalleled bloodshed. In 2015, just before Ramadan began, an Islamic State spokesperson had said, "Aspire to battle in this noble month make Ramadan a month of disasters for the unbelievers." And in many cases, its supporters are helping them do so. An Islamic State supporter told The Atlantic, "Ramadan is the holy month of jihad. People want to win the honour of attaining martyrdom in Ramadan." Adding perspective to this narrative, a former extremist said, "What they are doing is not jihad in any sense according to Islamic tradition. I would counter by saying that just as one receives multiplied rewards for good deeds in Ramadan, they receive multiplied bad deeds for sins. So what of the person who spends the sacred month of Ramadan oppressing people and killing innocents?" With the attack in Manchester and the killing of 28 Coptic Christians in Egypt on 26 May, terrorism researchers were worried that this year's Ramadan could once again see a flurry of attacks. What confirms these fears is the 12-minute statement by Abul Hasan al-Muhajir. Recorded in Arabic, Abul Hasan could be heard calling for attacks and repeating that civilians in the West are legitimate targets. Washington: President Donald Trump has a "fairly unbelievable" relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House has said, hours after the American leader complained about Germany in a tweet. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the two leaders get along "very well" and are growing a "bond" they had during their talks in the G7. "The relationship that the President has had with Merkel he would describe as fairly unbelievable...He has a lot of respect for her," Spicer said. The press secretary's comments came after Trump, on the social media platrform, said Germany was paying well below its share for NATO. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change," Trump tweeted. Spicer asserted that Trump views not just Germany, but the rest of Europe, as an important American allies. "During his conversations at NATO and at the G7, the president reaffirmed the need to deepen and improve our transatlantic relationship," he said, as reporters asked him about the general impression that all is not well between US and Germany. Spicer also disputed the media's interpretation of Merkel's remarks that she felt that Europe could no longer depend on the United States. "That's not what she said. So since you're misquoting the Chancellor, let me read what she actually said. She said: 'The times when Europe could rely solely on others is somewhat in the past. And as I have witnessed over the past few days, Europe must take its fate into its own hands. This means working in friendship with the US, the UK, and neighbourly relations with Russia and other partners," Spicer said. Washington: President Donald Trump's top adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is on the firing line for his reported attempt to set up a "back-channel" with Russia, has received support from US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. "If you know Jared, he's a very calm, stable voice," Haley told MSNBC. The Indian-American envoy's defence of Kushner, 36, came after the American media reported last week that he discussed to open a secret "back-channel" between Russia and Trump's presidential transition team in a meeting with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, last December. "There is not a lot that rattles him. So I suspect that he'll continue doing his work like he always has. He's said that he will totally comply with the investigation and give every ounce of information that they need. And I think we can expect that", Haley said in response to a question. She said she did talk to Kushner often, but has not since the news came out last week that he wanted to open a secret line of communication with Russia bypassing formal channels. "Well, I haven't talked to him since all of this came out", Haley said. The White House too has defended the role of Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump. "I would just say that Kushner's attorney has said that Kushner has volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings, and he will do the same if he's contacted and connected with any other inquiry", White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters. Both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser Lt Gen H R McMaster have discussed that, and "in general terms, back channels are an appropriate part of diplomacy", he said. On Tuesday, Politico reported that Kushner is back in the West Wing and continuing to lead meetings despite the rising tide of Russia-related questions. Trump is back home and back to banging out garbled midnight tweets on negative press covfefe ( coverage?) and snapping at a comedian while Indias prime minister Modi who likely to meet Trump soon is charming Europe at a time when Americas pivot to Asia wanes under the new US administration. From Firstpost, New York, we bring you all that's driving the day in Washington D.C and across the pond. What is #covfefe? A late-night tweet by President Trump baffles the internet https://t.co/tDuwr8FMUn pic.twitter.com/I35DZe1GIY CNN (@CNN) May 31, 2017 Trump snarls, Modi charms The Modi-Trump summit is likely last week of June although not official yet. When the two leaders meet, comparisons of their social media following will be du jour but the latest round of exchanges with Europe by both India and the US prove that Modi and Trumps foreign engagement styles are wildly divergent. The timing of Trumps rant against Germany and Indias pivot to Germany/ Europe both grabbed world headlines in the same 12 hour span. 'Covfefe', an instant worldwide joke Trump returned to Washington after a nine-day tour of the Middle East and Europe putting traditional U.S. allies even more on the edge and snapped back to his beloved pastime Twitter where he took on Germany - in all CAPS. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change, Trump posted. Soon after came the now famous covfefe tweet followed by Trump scolding comedian Kathy Griffin or appearing in a video in which she holds a severed and fake-blood-covered prop version of the presidents head. Just past midnight Wednesday, President Trump tweeted a curious sentence which was deleted from his personal account some six hours later. Despite the constant negative press covfefe, the abrupt tweet read, instantly becoming a worldwide joke. Within six hours, this one got 127,000 retweets and 162,000 likes making it one of Trumps most popular tweets in months. It was deleted before 6 a.m. Wednesday but Trump continued to egg on his audience, asking them to divine what a typo could possibly have been. Merkel dusts off Trump, pivots to India Germany, meanwhile, is off Twitter and getting on with taking fate into our own hands, forging non-US partnerships with renewed energy in a disrupted world order. Through Chancellor Merkel, we will be able to work with the European Union. Its very easy for us, Modi said during his whirlwind tour of 6 day, 4 country tour. On a red-eye to Russia The way the dots connect, Modi will likely be meeting Putin around the same time that Trumps bete noire Megyn Kelly will be going down to the wire in her bid to swing a Putin interview. The former Fox News anchor who had a much publicized run in with Trump is in Russia to participate in an onstage question-and-answer session with Putin Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. She also is pushing for an offstage interview that would be featured on the first episode of NBC's "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly." By the time Modi gets to the U.S, the White House will likely have found new office space for its freshly thought up war room with a cool job description - managing fallout from the scandals swirling around the Trump administration. By all accounts, if Modi meets Trump before Fall 2017, he will be meeting a US President whose troubles are spiralling at home while he learns how despite winning the White House, legislative gridlock can stymie almost every file he wants to push. U.S Congressmen are looking forward to the looming August recess and Trumps window for scoring early wins is fast vanishing. From July 31 to September 4, both houses of Congress will be shut for business, so senators get down time to catch up on summer reading, escape the heat and so on. Almost exactly a year ago, Modi joked during his address to a joint session of Congress about how bipartisan cooperation is so warm and cozy. Whenever Modi lands in the U.S, he would have notched up many more legislative wins in a far more populous country than America has managed in its new and wobbly administraion. By Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was nearing an announcement on whether to pull out of a global pact to fight climate change and was listening to people on both sides, while a source close to the matter said Trump was preparing for a U.S. withdrawal.A U.S. pullout could deepen a rift with U.S. allies and the United States would join Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the 195-nation accord agreed upon in Paris in 2015.Responding to shouted questions from reporters in the White House Oval Office, Trump declined to say whether he had made up his mind, saying, "You'll find out very soon.""I'm hearing from a lot of people, both ways," Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax aimed at weakening U.S. industry, said as he met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was working out the terms of the planned withdrawal with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, an oil industry ally and climate change doubter.White House spokesman Sean Spicer declined during a news briefing to say whether the Republican president might opt for an action short of complete withdrawal.Under the pact, virtually every nation voluntarily committed to combat climate change with steps aimed at curbing global emissions of "greenhouse" gases. These include carbon dioxide generated from burning of fossil fuels that scientists blame for a warming planet, sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. It was the first legally binding global climate deal.Under the pact, the United States committed to reduce its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.In the past few days, the chief executives of dozens of companies have made last-minute appeals to Trump. The CEOs of ExxonMobil Corp (XOM.N), Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N), Unilever NV (ULVR.L) (UNc.AS) and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) were among those urging Trump to remain in the agreement, with Tesla's Elon Musk threatening to quit White House advisory councils of which he is a member if the president pulls out.Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp[MUYEY.UL], an Ohio-based coal company and major Trump campaign donor, urged Trump to withdraw. Trump has said the accord would cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars without tangible benefit. For the Republican president, a withdrawal would reflect his "America First" approach to policy, unencumbered by international obligations.Trump refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday in Italy, saying he needed more time to decide.A U.S. decision to withdraw from the accord could further alienate American allies in Europe already wary of Trump and call into question U.S. leadership and trustworthiness on one of the world's leading issues. A pullout also would be one more step by the Republican president to erase the legacy of his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord and praised it during a trip to Europe this month.Trump has changed his mind on large decisions before, even after signalling a move in the opposite direction.A U.S. pullout could have sweeping implications for the deal, which relies heavily on the commitment of big polluter nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The United States is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. A shift away from coal to cleaner-burning and cheaper natural gas in recent years has cut U.S. carbon emissions to near 30-year lows, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.The Sierra Club said a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris deal would be a "historic mistake." Friends of the Earth said the action would "sacrifice our planet to the fossil fuel industry" and make America the world's "foremost climate villain."Democratic U.S. lawmakers said withdrawal would undermine U.S. credibility and its position as a global leader, empowering nations like China to not only drive the climate agenda and set international standards but also reap the economic benefits of a growing clean energy sector.At a conference near Los Angeles, Democrat Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated for the presidency last year, said withdrawing would be a mistake. Part of what keeps us going is that Americas word is good, and that you stand with your prior administration whether it was of your party or not, she said.MARKETS REACT U.S. coal company shares dipped alongside renewable energy stocks on Wednesday. The market reaction reflected concerns, raised by some coal companies in recent months, that a U.S. departure from the agreement could unleash a global backlash against coal interests outside the United States. Other countries rallied behind the Paris accord on Wednesday.A U.S. pullout would be disappointing, but the European Union stands ready to take global leadership on the issue, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said in Brussels. The European Union and China are working on a joint declaration reaffirming their commitment to climate and energy policy and the implementation of the Paris agreement, according to an EU official with knowledge of the plans.Trump vowed during his 2016 presidential campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president on Jan. 20 as part of an effort to bolster U.S. oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his skepticism of global efforts to police U.S. carbon emissions.Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a U.S. exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.After taking office, Trump faced pressure to stay in the deal from investors, international powers and business leaders, including some in the coal industry. He also had to navigate a split among his advisers.Senior adviser Steve Bannon, who wants Trump to focus on actions that will rev up his conservative political base, has long opposed the Paris accord. Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and top adviser, has come to the view that the standards set out in the agreement did not work for the U.S. economy and the question was whether to try to change those standards within the agreement or pull out, another senior administration official said.Trump's daughter, Ivanka, favours staying in, the official said, and she has sought to ensure her father heard all sides in the debate.Trump has already moved to dismantle Obama-era climate change regulations, including the U.S. Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing emissions from main coal-fired power plants. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, David Alexander, Doina Chiacu, Chris Kahn, Richard Valdmanis, Timothy Gardner, David Ingram and Rodrigo Campos; Writing by Will Dunham and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Cynthia Osterman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. WASHINGTON A midnight tweet by Donald Trump unleashed a wave of sometimes mocking speculation by Internet users wondering what the U.S. president meant by writing "covfefe" in an apparently unfinished Twitter post that lingered online for hours. At 12:06 a.m. ET (0406 GMT), Trump wrote: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe. The post, since deleted, was followed by a Trump message at 6:09 a.m. ET (1009 GMT) that sought to put a playful tone on the misfire, saying, "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!" The original message, which seemed to have been the start of a Trump complaint about media coverage, soon became a top trend on Twitter. Some users sought clarification from dictionary company Merriam-Webster. They did not get a definition but did draw a response. "Wakes up. Checks Twitter... Uh.... Lookups fo(r)... Regrets checking Twitter. Goes back to bed," @MerriamWebster wrote after Trump's first tweet ignited a slew of possible definitions and jokes, as well as defences of the president. "Covfefe" also made its way into the Urban Dictionary, a website that collates online word submissions. Asked at a briefing whether people should be concerned that the president sent out an incoherent Tweet and left it up for hours, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said: "No.""I think the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant," Spicer added when asked why the Tweet remained uncorrected for so long on Trump's personal @realDonaldTrump account.Democratic U.S. Senator Al Franken, in a CNN interview on Wednesday morning, joked: "A covfefe is a Yiddish term for 'I got to go to bed now,'" dismissing the tweet as a late-night error. Conservative commentator and radio show host Laura Ingraham tweeted in response to Trump's guess-the-meaning post that, "It's so bad--the collusion b/t (between) the Dems & the press, the establ(ishment) vs the ppl(people), that we needed a new word to describe it all. #Covfefe!"Trump's "covfefe" message drew renewed attention to his prolific Twitter habit.The Republican president has said using Twitter helps him speak directly to Americans and bypass the media, which he has long criticized. When asked in the past about other Trump tweets, White House spokesman Sean Spicer has said the posts speak for themselves. Trump was relatively quiet on Twitter during a nine-day trip to Middle East and Europe but resumed tweet storms after returning home on Saturday. Moments after tweeting about the "meaning of covfefe" on Wednesday, he turned to Twitter again to blast the Russia probes and address a series of other issues. (Writing by Susan Heavey, David Alexander; Editing by Frances Kerry and Cynthia Osterman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Thomas Escritt | BERLIN BERLIN China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang arrived in Berlin on Wednesday at the start of a European tour, poised to jump into the global climate change leadership gap left by U.S. President Donald Trump's impending withdrawal from the Paris climate pact.China's number two official was received with military honours at Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, becoming the second leader of a rising Asian giant to visit in as many days after India's Narendra Modi.The flurry of visits come as concern grows in traditionally Atlanticist Germany at Trump's forthcoming announcement on the Paris Climate Accord, designed to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions scientists blame for rising sea levels and droughts.One source briefed on the decision said Trump would pull out of the pact. At the G7 summit of wealthy nations this weekend, European and Canadian officials warned Trump that the U.S. risked ceding global leadership on combating climate change to China if it withdrew from the pact.China, long recognised as the world's dominant trading power, now hopes that by showing leadership on the fight against climate change it can translate its economic might into yet greater political influence."With the One Belt One Road initiative China has promoted itself as the country leader in environmental topics and multilateralism," said one senior adviser to a G7 government, referring to China's newly-created Eurasian cooperation forum. Under Merkel, a passionate fan of the United States as a teenager growing up in communist East Germany, Europe's richest country has been steadfast in its Atlanticism, even during the presidency of George W. Bush, which was marked by unilateral U.S. actions.By contrast, relations between the world's two exporting giants have often been tense, with China's plans to introduce a minimum quota for electric vehicle sales a thorny current issue that Germany is expected to raise at this visit. A quota would hurt Germany's still internal combustion-focused car industry. But since the G7 summit, Merkel and other senior German politicians have signalled that they do not see a Trump-led U.S. as a reliable partner on a host of issues from free trade to climate change.On Tuesday, she congratulated Modi for India's "intensive" commitment to the climate pact during his visit, which was seen as a sign of Berlin shifting its focus towards Asia in response to Trump's stance.After Berlin, Li will continue to Brussels, where, at a China-European Union summit, both sides are expected to make a declaration on their commitment to tackling climate change - a proclamation designed to send a strong message to Trump. (Editing by Toby Chopra) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Phil Stewart | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. military said on Wednesday that a successful test of defenses against an attack from an intercontinental ballistic missile shows the United States is staying ahead of the evolving ICBM threat from countries such as North Korea.Vice Admiral Jim Syring, the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said Tuesday's test, at a cost of $244 million, portrayed a "very realistic" scenario based on American intelligence about where it believed North Korean or Iranian missile programs would be in 2020. "I was confident before the test that we had the capability to defeat any threat that they would throw at us. And I'm even more confident today after seeing the intercept test yesterday that we continue to be on that course," Syring said a news briefing. A type of ICBM was fired from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters south of Alaska. The U.S. military then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The test ended with a head-on strike, resulting in complete obliteration. Experts compare the feat to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the distances involved. The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther."The interceptor that we flew yesterday certainly keeps pace with and I would actually say helps us outpace the threat through 2020," Syring said.The test followed an increase in the pace of North Korean missile tests over the past year in its declared effort to develop an ICBM that has the ability to strike the U.S. mainland. Tuesday's intercept was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co. Previously, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014. However, the interceptor technology has been making steady advances throughout the life of the program. Syring said Tuesday's test was made even more complicated by the use of decoys designed to throw off the interceptor. More tests were planned in coming years to advance U.S. defense capabilities, he said.Syring said the ICBM targeted in the test was representative of potential missiles that could be fielded by North Korea or Iran. Iran's missile program is considered a threat by the United States and its allies in the Middle East.Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) test-fired several ballistic missiles in May and an IRGC official announced last week that Iran built a third underground ballistic missile production factory and said it would keep advancing its program. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. United States: The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday picked Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak to be its next president. He will succeed Fiji's former ambassador to the United Nations, Peter Thomson, in September and chair the assembly's 72nd session that month. The post lasts a year. The sole candidate for the position, Lajcak was elected by an overwhelming majority. He will be the first Slovak in the job. Addressing the assembly, the 52-year-old career diplomat set out a series of priorities, including 'preventive diplomacy', responding to the global migrant crisis, defending human rights and reducing inequality. "We can do more to bring the UN closer to the world's citizens," he said. Lajcak was a contender to succeed Ban Ki-moon as UN secretary general last year, a post that went to Portugal's Antonio Guterres. The polyglot became the youngest Slovak ambassador and the youngest ambassador posted in Japan at the age of 31. Later, he played a role in stabilizing the former Yugoslavia in the aftermath of the wars that tore the Balkans apart in the 1990s. He was in charge of organizing a referendum on the independence of Montenegro from Yugoslavia in 2006 before his appointment the following year as the European Union's special representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. New York: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made an impassioned appeal on Tuesday for the world to intensify action to combat climate change and implement the Paris Agreement to limit carbon emissions as President Donald Trump debates whether the US will withdraw from the accord. eave the Paris agreement." Even if Trump withdraws, Guterres said, "it's very important for US society as a whole the cities, the states, the companies, the businesses to remain engaged." Trump, who was critical of the deal during his campaign for the presidency, is expected to make an announcement this week on whether the United States will remain a party to the climate accord that his predecessor, Barack Obama, strongly supported and signed. Nearly 200 nations agreed in 2015 to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As of Tuesday, 147 nations had ratified the Paris Agreement, representing more than 82 percent of global emissions, the UN chief said. Guterres said their pledges to limit the global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius "are historic but still do not go nearly far enough to limit temperature rise." "Commitments so far could still see temperatures rise by 3 degrees or more," he warned. "So we must do our utmost to increase ambition and action until we can bend the emissions curve and slow down global warming." First, Guterres said he will immediately press for ratification of the Kigali Amendment agreed to in October by nearly 200 nations on limiting the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) greenhouse gases far more powerful than carbon dioxide that are depleting the ozone layer. Unlike the Paris Agreement, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is legally binding. It caps and reduces the use of HFCs in a gradual process starting with action by developed countries in 2019, including the United States, the world's second-worst polluter, and then by over 100 developing countries starting in 2024, including China, the world's top carbon emitter. Guterres said he will also rally countries to raise the bar on efforts to limit temperature rise and the United Nations system to promote climate action. "Eighty percent of the world's energy still comes from fossil fuels oil, gas and coal," Guterres said. "We cannot phase out fossil fuels overnight. We have to engage the energy industry and governments to use fossil fuels as cleanly, sparingly and responsibly as possible, while transforming our energy systems." He said solar power grew 50 percent last year, with China and the United States in the lead, and in both those countries "new renewable energy jobs now outstrip those created in the oil and gas industries." Major oil producers are also looking to the future and diversifying their economies and even Saudi Arabia has announced plans to install 700 megawatts of solar and wind power, he said. Guterres also pledged to work with developing countries to mobilize resources to tackle the impact of climate change and strengthen efforts by small island states against "the existential threat" that global warming poses. He said he will strengthen North-South, South-South and other partnerships to implement the Paris Agreement. "The climate conversation should cease to be a shouting match," Guterres said. "My door is open to all who wish to discuss the way forward, even those who might hold divergent perspectives." The secretary-general announced that he intends to hold a climate summit in 2019 to review implementation of the Paris Agreement. "The journey from Paris is well underway," Guterres said. "The support across all sectors of society is profound. The transition in the real economy is a fact. There will be bumps along the path ... but with everyone's participation, the world can bring the Paris Agreement fully to life." Washington: Earth is likely to reach more dangerous levels of warming even sooner if the US retreats from its pledge to cut carbon dioxide pollution, scientists said. That's because America contributes so much to rising temperatures. President Donald Trump, who once proclaimed global warming a Chinese hoax, said in a tweet Saturday that he would make his "final decision" this coming week on whether the United States stays in or leaves the 2015 Paris climate change accord in which nearly every nation agreed to curb its greenhouse gas emissions. Leaders of seven wealthy democracies, at a summit in Sicily, urged Trump to commit his administration to the agreement, but said in their closing statement that the US, for now, "is not in a position to join the consensus." "I hope they decide in the right way," said Italy's prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni. More downbeat was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said the leaders' talks were "very difficult, if not to say, very unsatisfactory." In an attempt to understand what could happen to the planet if the US pulls out of Paris, The Associated Press consulted with more than two dozen climate scientists and analysed a special computer model scenario designed to calculate potential effects. Scientists said it would worsen an already bad problem and make it far more difficult to prevent crossing a dangerous global temperature threshold. Calculations suggest it could result in emissions of up to 3 billion tons of additional carbon dioxide in the air a year. When it adds up year after year, scientists said that is enough to melt ice sheets faster, raise seas higher and trigger more extreme weather. "If we lag, the noose tightens," said Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer, co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal Climatic Change. One expert group ran a worst-case computer simulation of what would happen if the US does not curb emissions, but other nations do meet their targets. It found that America would add as much as half a degree of warming (0.3 degrees Celsius) to the globe by the end of century. Scientists are split on how reasonable and likely that scenario is. Many said because of cheap natural gas that displaces coal and growing adoption of renewable energy sources, it is unlikely that the US would stop reducing its carbon pollution even if it abandoned the accord, so the effect would likely be smaller. Others say it could be worse because other countries might follow a US exit, leading to more emissions from both the US and the rest. Another computer simulation team put the effect of the US pulling out somewhere between 0.1 to 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.18 to 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit). While scientists may disagree on the computer simulations they overwhelmingly agreed that the warming the planet is undergoing now would be faster and more intense. The world without US efforts would have a far more difficult time avoiding a dangerous threshold: keeping the planet from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The world has already warmed by just over half that amount with about one-fifth of the past heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions coming from the United States, usually from the burning of coal, oil and gas. So the efforts are really about preventing another 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) from now. "Developed nations particularly the US and Europe are responsible for the lion's share of past emissions, with China now playing a major role," said Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis. "This means Americans have caused a large fraction of the warming." Even with the US doing what it promised under the Paris agreement, the world is likely to pass that 2 degree mark, many scientists said. But the fractions of additional degrees that the US would contribute could mean passing the threshold faster, which could in turn mean "ecosystems being out of whack with the climate, trouble farming current crops and increasing shortages of food and water," said the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Kevin Trenberth. Climate Interactive, a team of scientists and computer modelers who track global emissions and pledges, simulated global emissions if every country but the US reaches their individualized goals to curb carbon pollution. Then they calculated what that would mean in global temperature, sea level rise and ocean acidification using scientifically-accepted computer models. By 2030, it would mean an extra 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the air a year, according to the Climate Interactive models, and by the end of the century 0.3 degrees Celsius of warming. "The US matters a great deal," said Climate Interactive co-director Andrew Jones. "That amount could make the difference between meeting the Paris limit of two degrees and missing it." Climate Action Tracker, a competing computer simulation team, put the effect of the US pulling out somewhere between 0.1 to 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.18 to 0.36 Fahrenheit) by 2100. It uses a scenario where US emissions flatten through the century, while Climate Interactive has them rising. One of the few scientists who plays down the harm of the US possibly leaving the agreement is John Schellnhuber, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the scientist credited with coming up with the 2 degree goal. "Ten years ago (a US exit) would have shocked the planet," Schellnhuber said. "Today if the US really chooses to leave the Paris agreement, the world will move on with building a clean and secure future." Not so, said Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe: "There will be ripple effects from the United States' choices across the world." 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Penn State College of Medicine Wednesday reported that its researchers are showing, for the first time, a possible correlation between the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in Middletown and thyroid cancer cases in the counties surrounding the plant. TMI had a partial meltdown on March 28, 1979. The college said that during the incident, radiation was released into the environment. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the radiation released was in small amounts with no detectable health effects. The study appeared Monday in a supplement to Laryngoscope. Researchers with the college looked at tumor samples of thyroid cancer patients who were verified to have lived in the areas around TMI at the time of the accident and who remained in the area. The college said its researchers believe there was a shift from random causes to cancer mutations consistent with specifically radiation exposure. The study looked at 44 patients who were treated at Penn State Hershey Medical Center for the most common type of thyroid cancerpapillary thyroid cancerbetween 1974 and 2014. Patients were then split into groups, with some put into the at-risk group that included people who developed cancer between 1984 and 1996consistent with the latency period of radiation-induced thyroid cancer. The geographic at-risk areas were considered to be eastern Cumberland County, as well as all of Dauphin, York and Lancaster counties and western Lebanon county. This definition was designed to allow us to identify relatively acute effects of radiation exposure from the accident, lead researcher Dr. David Goldenberg said in a news release. A limitation to the study, however, is the small sample size, limited to tumor samples of patients treated at Hershey Medical Center. The college said the next step in the research is a study with a larger number of patients from other regional hospitals to determine if the correlation continues in a larger sample. The college said past studies about thyroid cancer and TMI have showed variable results. Much of the variability associated with these studies is likely due to the relatively small size of the population surrounding the TMI plant relative to the large population required to detect statistically significant increases in cancer incidence following low-level radiation, combined with a high degree of mobility in the local population, Goldenberg said. Former Starbucks (NYSE:SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz is criticizing President Trump. According to a video obtained by Business Insider, Schultz blasted Trump saying he caused chaos and impacted the economy. aThe world is screwed up. People are unsettleda There is a tremendous amount of pressure and anxiety in Americaa We have a president that is creating episodic chaos every single day, and that is no doubt affecting consumer behavior,a Schultz told employees at a company meeting last February. Schultz said Starbucks is the solution to the problem because the stores provide a sense of family and community. This isnat the first time the coffee chain stirred up controversy. In November, Trump supporters banded together to launch a #TrumpCup twitter campaign against the coffee chain after a barista allegedly refused to write aTrumpa on a cup after the customer said it was his name. The vocal Trump critic also came under fire after pledging to hire 10,000 refugees in response to his executive order on refugees. Schultz stepped down as Starbucks CEO in April. Exxon Mobil has stepped up efforts to persuade investors to vote against climate-related proposals at Wednesday's annual meeting with a campaign of calling, writing and lobbying shareholders in person. The world's largest publicly traded oil company opposes a proposal requiring it to report on the risks to its business from new technologies and global climate change policies, insisting it already provides the information. Last year, the same proposal was backed by 38.1 percent of shares voted. The stakes are higher this year. The business-impact issue is central to lawsuits by two state attorneys general alleging Exxon soft-peddled the risks to consumers and shareholders. Wall Street support of similar measures also has convinced energy companies including Occidental Petroleum to address the Paris climate accord's goal of keeping global temperature increases under 2-degrees Celsius. If the proposal garners less than last year's 38 percent support, it could endorse Exxon's view which is that its current reporting is appropriate, said Rob Schuwerk, senior counsel for environmental think tank Carbon Tracker Initiative. But if support this year exceeds 50 percent, the oil company likely would do more to explain potential business impacts from having to meet the Paris agreement's temperature goal. A result in between the two, he said, would be the "the hazy middle" that would still show growing investor interest in climate issues. Exxon took a conciliatory approach in a letter to investors on Tuesday. Vice President Jeff Woodbury wrote that on many of the shareholder proposals "the corporation agrees with the underlying objective - we just have a different view on the best means to achieve it." Prior shareholder letters insisted the proposals were misguided or ignored the company's efforts to spell out its position that even in world intent on limited temperature rises, it would still need more oil. Anne Sheehan, head of corporate governance at California State Teachers' Retirement System, which backs the additional climate reporting, said Exxon's letter suggests the voting is at least very close and may be going against the company. "You're not going to do an eleventh-hour shareholder communication if everything was going swimmingly," she said in an interview. In addition to the vote on the climate-impact report, Exxon holders will consider proposals to shift spending to dividends and buybacks from oil exploration and on a proposal to require a report on its efforts to restrict emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas. Exxon opposes all these proposals and has actively lobbied shareholders. This campaign "is a lot more intense than normal," said one investor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "I think they're pulling out all the stops." BILLBOARDS AND RALLIES Climate campaigners are also active. They have organized rallies and held media briefings. In Dallas, where the meeting takes place, they have put up billboards and signs seeking to sway votes. Any change likely will be driven by institutional holders shifting their positions. Big investors including State Street and BlackRock, which together hold about 9 percent of Exxon shares, recently have made clear they are now giving more attention to climate issues. Bob Litterman, chairman of the risk committee at asset-management firm Kepos Capital LP and who holds derivatives betting that oil companies will underperform the S&P 500 index, said no matter the outcome of the vote on Wednesday, pressures on Exxon to spell out the potential impact of a global warming on the value of its energy assets will only grow. "Whether it's shareholders or attorneys general or the passage of time, they're going to have to become honest about the potential for their assets to be stranded," or become uneconomic to pursue, said Litterman. (Reporting by Gary McWilliams and Ross Kerber; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) What happened Shares of containership operator Seaspan (NYSE: SSW) are down nearly 12% as the clock ticks down in the final minutes of trading Tuesday. So what The question everyone is asking is: Why? It's not an earnings report that's to blame. (Although Seaspan's most recent earnings were bad, that news came out more than a month ago.) Nor is it Wall Street's fault. (The last upgrades/downgrades news at Seaspan came out not long after earnings -- and it was an upgrade, from Citigroup). The most recent news item involving Seaspan was the company's own press release, announcing that it has accepted delivery of a 14,000 TEU containership called the "YM Wind." But while spending money on a new ship in a down market for shipping may not seem like the brightest idea, Seaspan has already chartered out the Wind on a 10-year contract to Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. It's also already sold and leased back the Wind in a deal generating $144 million in cash -- cash that Seaspan will use to pay its final purchase installment on the vessel -- so this deal doesn't appear to add any financial strain to Seaspan. Seaspan stock is down -- and it's a real headscratcher why. Image source: Getty Images. Now what When you get right down to it, I don't see any news that would explain why Seaspan stock is slumping on Tuesday. That just might mean Tuesday's slump -- with Seaspan stock down 11.2% as of 3:45 p.m. EDT -- is a buying opportunity for new investors. Nothing more, nothing less. 10 stocks we like better than SeaspanWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Seaspan wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Seaspan. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. So long as home prices are rising, mortgage insurers take in premiums and pay out virtually nothing in claims. But when the tides change, and home prices decline, this corner of the insurance industry can suffer outsize losses. One listener asked if Essent Group's (NYSE: ESNT) sky-high profitability is sustainable in the long run, and the answer is: probably not. In this Industry Focus: Financials segment, host Gaby Lapera and contributor Jordan Wathen discuss the long cycles in mortgage insurance, and why the industry can be profitable for decades before facing insolvency and bankruptcy when home prices fall. A full transcript follows the video. 10 stocks we like better than Essent GroupWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Essent Group wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 This video was recorded on May 22, 2017. Gaby Lapera: Are Essent's 68% net margins too good to be true?Some background for listeners,Essentis a mortgage insurer. That's theprivate mortgage insurance you need to buy if you put down less than 20% on down payment for a house. Jordan Wathen:Yeah. This is a billion-dollarquestion. The answer is,it's hard to say. I guess,come back when home values aregoing down rather than up. Mortgage insurance is just tough. On a long timeline, it seems like allmortgage insurers eventually go to zero,because the industrybasically went extinct during the Great Depression. Half of them blew upin the 1980s,many of them blew up, or almost blew up, in2008. So you have these long, generational cycles of profits, and then house values go down and they lose a fortune,because they're basically taking the first loss on houses. Personally,I don't spend too much timefollowing it because the cycles are so long, andbecause it's one of those industries where the government playsa really big role.So if the government comes out andwants to promote homeownership,they could really ruin the mortgage insurance industry if they want to. Or they could make it obscenely profitable bymaking it harder. It's just an industry that,truthfully, I don't understand too well. AndI think you would really have to haveyour finger on the pulse of Washington politics to really understand it. Lapera:Yeah,and not just Washington politics, but,like you mentioned, the housing cycletends to be very boom and bust, and the problem isprivate mortgage insurers arenot the oneswriting the loans for the houses. In that case, it's two steps ofunderwriting. It's the bank's underwriting plusthe insurer's underwriting that iscreating this policy for this person. So if the bank did a really bad job underwriting that house, then the insurers aredefinitely going to lose out. So it's just something that has a lot of variables and is hard to control. So just think about that before youconsider investing in private mortgage insurance. Wathen:That'sa good point. Because these cycles are so long,someone could theoretically join amortgage insurance company out of college,become an executive, andthrough that whole timeline where theymove up thecompany, basically, theyoperate in an industry during the time whenthey experience almost no losses. So all they've been rewarded for is underwriting more and more and more insurance. Psychologically, it's something that'sreally difficult to grasp,because eventually, the losses do come -- it'sjust a matter of time. But someone could easily see 10-30 years of excess profits, and thenall of a sudden, it's just complete wipeout in one year when house values go down. Gaby Lapera has no position in any stocks mentioned. Jordan Wathen has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The mayor of Philadelphia is back on his way to Iceland a day after his scheduled flight was diverted to Boston. Mayor Jim Kenney was on Icelandair's first flight from Philadelphia to Reykjavik (ray-KYA-vick), Iceland on Tuesday, marking the beginning of direct flights between the cities. Philly.com reported that the company said on social media a rubber smell was detected in the airplane. On Twitter, Kenney complimented Icelandair's "excellent customer service" including the "best in-flight meal I ever had." The mayor's office said he was on a Wednesday afternoon flight scheduled to arrive shortly before midnight. He is to return Saturday. Officials said it's tradition for mayors to visit each other's cities when new international routes are established. Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson spent two days touring Philadelphia. ___ Information from: Philly.com, http://www.philly.com/ President Donald Trump says he will announce his decision on whether to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord during a Rose Garden event Thursday afternoon. Trump promoted his announcement Wednesday night on Twitter, after a day in which U.S. allies around the world sounded alarms about the likely consequences of a U.S. withdrawal. Trump himself kept everyone in suspense, saying he was still listening to "a lot of people both ways." The White House signaled that Trump was likely to decide on exiting the global pact fulfilling one of his principal campaign pledges though top aides were divided. And the final decision may not be entirely clear-cut: Aides were still deliberating on "caveats in the language," one official said. Everyone cautioned that no decision was final until Trump announced it. The president has been known to change his thinking on major decisions and tends to seek counsel from both inside and outside advisers, many with differing agendas, until the last minute. Abandoning the pact would isolate the U.S. from a raft of international allies who spent years negotiating the 2015 agreement to fight global warming and pollution by reducing carbon emissions in nearly 200 nations. While traveling abroad last week, Trump was repeatedly pressed to stay in the deal by European leaders and the Vatican. Withdrawing would leave the United States aligned only with Russia among the world's industrialized economies. American corporate leaders have also appealed to the businessman-turned-president to stay. They include Apple, Google and Walmart. Even fossil fuel companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell say the United States should abide by the deal. Trump's predecessor Barack Obama enacted the deal without U.S. Senate ratification. A formal withdrawal would take years, experts say, a situation that led the president of the European Commission to speak dismissively of Trump on Wednesday. Trump doesn't "comprehensively understand" the terms of the accord, though European leaders tried to explain the process for withdrawing to him "in clear, simple sentences" during summit meetings last week, Jean-Claude Juncker said in Berlin. "It looks like that attempt failed," Juncker said. "This notion, 'I am Trump, I am American, America first and I am getting out,' that is not going to happen." Some of Trump's aides have been searching for a middle ground perhaps by renegotiating the terms of the agreement in an effort to thread the needle between his base of supporters who oppose the deal and those warning that a U.S. exit would deal a blow to the fight against global warming as well as to worldwide U.S. leadership. That fight has played out within Trump's administration. Trump met Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has favored remaining in the agreement. Chief strategist Steve Bannon supports an exit, as does Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, has discussed the possibility of changing the U.S. carbon reduction targets instead of pulling out of the deal completely. Senior adviser Jared Kushner generally thinks the deal is bad but still would like to see if emissions targets can be changed. Trump's influential daughter Ivanka Trump's preference is to stay, but she has made it a priority to establish a review process so her father would hear from all sides, said a senior administration official. Like the other officials, that person was not authorized to describe the private discussions by name and spoke only on condition of anonymity. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Wednesday in Alaska that he had "yet to read what the actual Paris Agreement is," and would have to read it before weighing in. Trump has several options, climate experts said. The emissions goals are voluntary with no real consequences for countries that fail to meet them. That means the U.S. could stay in the accord and choose not to hit its goals or stay in the pact but adjust its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. has agreed to reduce its emissions by 2025 to 26 percent to 28 percent of 2005 levels about 1.6 billion tons. "Paris more than anything is a symbol," said Nigel Purvis, who directed U.S. climate diplomacy during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations Another option, said University of California, Berkeley climate scientist Zeke Hausfather, would be for Trump to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the treaty on which the Paris accord was based, which would take only a year. News of Trump's expected decision drew swift reaction from the United Nations. The organization's main Twitter page quoted Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying, "Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable." Scientists say that Earth is likely to reach more dangerous levels of warming sooner if the U.S. retreats from its pledge because America contributes so much to rising temperatures. Calculations suggest withdrawal could result in emissions of up to 3 billion tons of additional carbon dioxide in the air a year enough to melt ice sheets faster, raise seas higher and trigger more extreme weather. The Sierra Club's executive director, Michael Brune, called the expected move a "historic mistake which our grandchildren will look back on with stunned dismay at how a world leader could be so divorced from reality and morality." Trump claimed before taking office that climate change was a "hoax" created by the Chinese to hurt the U.S. economy, an assertion that stands in defiance of broad scientific consensus. He has spent his first months in office working to delay and roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions while pledging to revive long-struggling U.S. coal mines. But Cohn, Trump's chief White House economic adviser, told reporters during the trip abroad that the president's views on climate change were "evolving" following the discussions with European leaders. Still, Cohn said that the carbon levels agreed to by the prior administration "would be highly crippling to the U.S. economic growth," and if the president had to choose between limiting carbon and economic growth, "growing our economy is going to win." Supporters of the deal say it's not an either-or choice. ___ Associated Press writers Catherine Lucy, Michael Biesecker and Seth Borenstein in Washington and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report. Pat Monroe stood in silence for several minutes taking in the view of hundreds of children staring back at her. Boys in uniform, girls in dark dresses. A moment fixed in time from 1892 taken on the parade grounds of Carlisle Barracks. There they are, Monroe said in a low voice as she entered the Carlisle Indian Industrial School exhibit at the Cumberland County Historical Society Wednesday morning. Sadness was the word she used to sum up her emotion after letting her eyes drift over the enlarged photograph of youths taken away from reservations to be assimilated into the white mans world. They look sad. They look unhappy, the Indian School descendant told observers. You dont see a big smile on any of their faces. My thoughts right now are of gratitude, she said. You people have done everything just to get me here. This has been a dream of mine for a long time. It has been growing and growing inside of me. Its a feeling of almost relief that wishes can come true. Monroe, 87, of Brandon, Fla., is the granddaughter of Louis Mishler, a Chippewa Indian who had arrived in Carlisle from Wisconsin on Sept. 13, 1895, and graduated from the school in 1897. Louis was one of eight children from her family line to attend what was considered a social experiment designed to remove native boys and girls from tribal influence and to teach them a vocation. A retired school teacher and librarian, Monroe is a resident of the Brookdale Palma Sola assisted living facility near Tampa. For over a year, she has worked with Craig Ramberger, the resident program coordinator, on an application for funding under the Wish of a Lifetime program. Offered within the Brookdale network of senior living centers, Wish of a Lifetime encourages residents to pursue a lifelong dream. For Monroe, the goal of learning more about her grandfather started when she was a child listening to stories told by her mother who overheard conversations Louis had with family members. Her application for funding was approved and Monroe was able to travel from Florida to Carlisle with all expenses paid. It was a trip she could not afford on her own. Ive taken to heart some of the things my mother told me, Monroe said. She had no reason to lie. She was not embellishing a bedtime story. She was just laying out the facts. Ever since I was old enough to understand concepts of prejudice, I have heard it and I understood it, but it really didnt sink in until I got older. After sharing her stories with Historical Society staff, Monroe took the elevator to the second-floor museum where she entered the Indian School exhibit and saw the image on the wall. United Nation of nations You are looking at this sea of faces, said Barbara Landis, archives and library specialist on the Carlisle Indian School. These children all spoke different languages, had different cultures, different ideas about spiritual beliefs. More than 10,000 native boys and girls attended the first off-reservation boarding school in the country while it occupied the Carlisle Barracks campus for almost 40 years from 1879 to 1918. This was a virtual United Nations of nations, said Landis, referring to the photograph. The children in the image came from all across the continent to stand at the heart of the Indian School for a snapshot. To Landis, Monroes visit stands out as an example of a movement underway to build a greater understanding of the impact boarding school dysfunction had on Native Americans. A major component of that is the development of truth and reconciliation activities that allow people to talk about what they know and what they dont know of what happened to their relative, Landis said. The typical Carlisle experience involved what Landis called a five-year hole in the family experience that came at a critical point of nurturing for a native child. Its not just the fact these students were institutionalized in a foreign and hostile environment, Landis said. Their moms and dads their extended family was cut off from that nurturing. To that end, there is a lot of emphasis now on the problems of alcohol and abuse and much of it is laid at the feet of this experiment that was part of our [Carlisle] community for 40 years. There were residents of Brookdale Palma Sola who questioned why Monroe would want to explore such a part of her family history, Ramberger said. But Monroe had a simple answer. I am getting a little long in the tooth and thought maybe I better go as soon as I can to see things to feel things, and that is what I have done since I got here [in Carlisle]. The death of culture During her visit Wednesday, Monroe turned to Landis and said: I do have a rather somber question. It is about the suicides. You rarely hear or read about the children who killed themselves, Monroe said. They had to give up so much. Their language, their traditions, their rights. I heard that some of the children could not stand being cooped up. The bedrooms were absolutely foreign to them. She was referring to how children raised in wigwams, hogans and other native structures were suddenly being forced to live in dormitories and indoor housing. This was only part of the culture shock faced by Carlisle Indian School students. A lot of things you are describing I dont believe were documented, Landis told Monroe. If you look at the written records associated with the school everything was very heavily propagandized. Everything was geared towards putting a good face on the school. The stories you might know are the more reliable stories than the actual written reports. Landis said there are stories handed down about boys committing suicide. What weighed upon Monroe was whether the suicides included Chippewa children. I have not given up hope that none of my people did it, but I was prepared, Monroe said. Susan Rose accompanied Monroe on her visit to the Historical Society. A professor of sociology at Dickinson College, Rose is the co-director of Carlisle Indian School digital resource center, an online research tool consisting of student files scanned from the original copies kept in the National Archives. The website at carlisleindian.dickinson.edu encourages the public to upload documents, photographs and oral histories pertaining to Indian School students, Rose said. She said lessons learned from the Carlisle Indian School resonate today as the country continues to grapple with prejudice and racism. Whether the outcome was good or bad, every student who attended Carlisle had to cope with the severing of nurturing from the family and the tribe, Rose said. On Thursday, May 18, I bought shares of oil and gas drillerApache(NYSE: APA) for less than $50/share. Before I did, I did some analysis on Apache's rival Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN), which had astellar first-quarter performance (especially compared to Apache's lackluster Q1), and top industry companyExxonMobil(NYSE: XOM), which has a robust downstream operation that Apache lacks. In spite of all of that, I believe Apache is one of the best bargains in the oil sector today, and that its outlook is particularly strong. Here's why I'm now an Apache shareholder. Apache is forecasting huge production growth from its Alpine High find, but first it needs to build pipelines and other infrastructure at the site. Image source: Getty Images. Big prospects A lot of ink has already been spilled about Apache's big Alpine High find in the West Texas Permian Basin.The company was able to pick up more than 300,000 acres of oil- and gas-rich land on the cheap thanks to misconceptions about the resources in the area. But Apache estimates it's now sitting on at least 75 trillion cubic feet of gas and 3 billion barrels of oil in Alpine High. Now, Apache can't get at that oil and gas all at once, because of the lack of infrastructure in the region. However, the company has devoted a substantial portion of its resources to building out the area, and earlier this month, it announced its first gas delivery at Alpine High, two months ahead of schedule. As a result, the company raised its production guidance for 2017. According to one analyst from Stifel, Alpine High alone is worth about $18 per share of Apache, and the company paid less than $1 per share to buy the position.Apache believes Alpine High is worth even more, estimating at least 2,000 drilling locations with a present value range of $4 million to $20 million per well, worth a minimum of about $21 per share. ExxonMobil, on the other hand, has struggled to turn a profit from its Permian Basin operations, and it has had some trouble turning its billions of dollars in capital spending into higher production. Big bargain With Alpine High being such a big deal, you'd expect Apache's stock to have skyrocketed, or at the very least shown modest improvement. You'd be wrong. The stock did see a small bump in share price immediately after the Alpine High discovery was announced, but it has eased steadily downward ever since. Currently, it's sitting just above $48/share, a discount to its $52 share price in August 2016, before it announced the Alpine High discovery. That can only mean one of three things. Either: The market doesn't think Alpine High is going to perform as well as the company's test data indicates. The company's shares were grossly overvalued before the discovery, and this is a legitimate correction that factors in Alpine High. The company's shares were correctly valued, or possibly slightly overvalued (or even undervalued) prior to the discovery, and the stock is now incredibly undervalued. There's no reason to believe the company is overstating its test results, or that the data it's gathering is somehow incorrect. Certainly, that would represent an unprecedented failure on the part of Apache's management, which has staked its fortunes on Alpine High. That leaves one of the other two options. Let's use a conservative estimate for Alpine High's value and say it's worth $15 per share -- significantly lower than Stifel's or the company's estimates. That would mean that, without Alpine High, the rest of the company is currently valued by the market at about $33/share. Which would mean that in order to believe the company is overvalued now, you'd have to believe the company was overvalued by more than 56% in August 2016, despite having performed in line with companies like Devon and the rest of the E&P industry for the past decade. That seems pretty unlikely. "Big" dividend Given how poor stock performance has been across the oil and gas industry lately, it's nice to have a dividend to provide some income to investors while we wait for a market recovery. Unfortunately, most E&P dividends have been slashed substantially since 2014. Devon, for example, cut its quarterly dividend from $0.24/share to $0.06/share, for a current yield of less than 0.7%. Apache, though, has bucked this trend, holding its dividend steady at $0.25/share since 2014. Coupled with the declines in its stock price, that means the company is currently yielding more than 2%. While that's peanuts compared to ExxonMobil's 3.7% yield, it gives investors an added incentive to stick around for the juicy returns the company is projecting in the second half of the year. Investor takeaway It's not too late to buy Apache at these prices. The stock has been jumping around the $50 mark for the past month, and it could drop even lower if further headwinds hit the industry. But once Alpine High begins to pay off for the company later this year, I expect my investment in Apache to similarly pay off handsomely. 10 stocks we like better than ApacheWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now...and Apache wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017. John Bromels owns shares of Apache. The Motley Fool owns shares of Devon Energy and ExxonMobil. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. A divided state Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a decision denying a permit for an Iowa-based company to open a new hydraulic fracturing sand mine in western Wisconsin. AllEnergy Corporation and AllEnergy Silica wanted to open a 265-acre mine as part of a 550-acre project that includes a processing site in the town of Arcadia. But its application was rejected by a Trempealeau County environmental and land use committee in 2013. The committee cited environmental and health concerns, adverse effects on the landscape and wildlife that could affect tourism and local residents and said the company's application was rushed and incomplete. AllEnergy argued on appeal that its permit application was complete and met requirements set out by the committee necessary for approval. The company said the county committee didn't have the authority to judge its completeness. Both a circuit court and a state appeals court also sided with Trempealeau County, saying the committee had the right to reject the permit. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed in a 4-3 decision. Sand mining has taken off in western Wisconsin since 2008, as the mining technique, also known as fracking, takes hold. The process involves freeing petroleum and natural gas by cracking rock with injections of water, sand and chemicals. The region has high-quality silica sand that works well in the process, giving rise to dozens of fracking sites where Wisconsin sand is mined and then shipped to other states where drilling takes place. But the proliferation of mines in western Wisconsin has led to a backlash over concerns about the environmental impact of the work. The AllEnergy project has been on hold pending the legal fight. AllEnergy's attorney Gary Van Cleve said he was disappointed by the high court's decision Wednesday, but said he had not had time to thoroughly reviewing the reasoning. "Clearly there is no unity of thought among the justices," he said. The Trempealeau County committee was within its jurisdiction in denying the permit, and there was substantial evidence to support its decision, Justices Shirley Abrahamson and Anne Walsh Bradley wrote in the majority opinion Wednesday. Chief Justice Patience Roggensack and Justice Annette Ziegler concurred, but filed a separate opinion saying the high court's ruling improperly discussed the constitutionality of county ordinances, making the decision "potentially more far-reaching in effect than it should be." Justices Dan Kelly, Michael Gableman and Rebecca Bradley dissented, arguing that the county committee improperly exceeded its jurisdiction in deciding whether a sand mine was an appropriate use of the property. Groups representing Wisconsin county and town governments, as well as the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Builders Association, filed briefs in support of the county's right to limit land use. Trempealeau County's attorney, Ronald Stadler, said he was pleased that the court recognized the importance of local control over zoning decisions. ___ Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sbauerAP FBI agents in New York arrested 19 suspected members of the Lucchese crime family, famously portrayed in the popular movie Goodfellas." The suspects arrested Wednesday are accused of crimes ranging from murder to drug-dealing and extortion. The indictments span the years 2000-2017, according to Reuters. The Lucchese family is one of the most notorious and longest-running organized crime gangs in the tristate area. The Lucchese crime family inspired Martin Scorseses 1990 film Goodfellas and is believed to be connected to the infamous Kennedy Airport heist that took place in 1978, which resulted in the theft of $5 million and hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry. The arrests come amid a nationwide crackdown on gang activity and violence, emphasized by President Donald Trump and his administration. Earlier this month ICE arrested more than 1,000 gang members in a nationwide, six-week surge, the agency said. Many of those included members of the infamous MS-13 gang, which has been a particular focus for the White House due to its cruel tactics and incidents of violence across areas of Long Island, New York. In Mid-May, the largest ever MS-13 raid was conducted in Los Angeles and resulted in the arrest of 21 members believed to belong to the gang. Saudi Arabias Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin today to discuss the extension of OPECs agreement with 11 other oil producers to extend the cuts approved last November, as well as the situation in Syria. Earlier in the day, Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak met with his Saudi counterpart, Khalid al-Falih, to discuss, Reuters said, the situation on global oil markets. Despite the meeting, Russian-Saudi relations are not strained. The two support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, and they are rivals in the Asian oil market. Yet, they have been thrown together by the 2014 oil price crisis, and more or less forced to collaborate on ways to prop up prices. While Russia, albeit with a budget deficit, has proved to be more resilient to the effect of what many observers saw as a price war waged by OPEC on U.S. shale, Riyadh has found it hard to withstand the blow and has become the most active advocate of the cuts in production. In the 2016 oil production cut agreement, Russia made a better bargain than Saudi Arabia: it boosted its production to more than 11 million bpd in November, which was taken as a basis month for the cuts, and only agreed to cut 300,000 bpd from its output. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, undertook the biggest portion of the cut, and as of late May this year, according to Bloomberg, has cut production by 600,000 bpd, although its quota called for cuts of less than 500,000 bpd.Related: Russian Energy Minister: Oil Markets To Rebalance In Q3 2017 As for Syria, bilateral relations have been strained. Back in 2015, Prince Mohammed said at a meeting with Putin that Riyadh was concerned with Moscows military involvement in support of President Bashar Assad and warned this involvement could have dangerous consequences.. The outcome of todays meeting, which should also include the signing of four cooperation agreements between Russia and Saudi Arabia, will be particularly interesting to see in the context of heightened tensions between Riyadh and Tehran as well as a flare-up of tension within the Gulf Cooperation Council. The latter was caused by friendly remarks from Qatars Sheikh about Iran on state media, which were later removed and attributed to fake news. This article is provided courtesy of our partners at Oilprice.com. Two White House sources told Fox News that President Donald Trump is expected to make good on his campaign promise and pull out of the 195-nation Paris climate accord after months of debating the issue with his top advisors. The decision, however, is not final and a White House official cautions that Trump continues to weigh both options. Trump also tweeted Wednesday morning that he will be announcing his decision over the next few days. I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 News of the possible withdrawl immediately sent shockwaves through environmental organizations who are committed to stopping global warming. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement would turn America from a global climate leader into a global climate deadbeat. Global climate action is not a legal or political debate, its a moral obligation to protect our planet and people, Annie Leonard, Greenpeace USA executive director, told FOX Business. An European Union official also told AP News shortly after the report that both the EU and China are expected to reaffirm their commitment to the Paris climate deal regardless of Trumps decision to leave. The agreement, which was set in place in 2015 under President Obama, is a pact that various nations made to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change. During his campaign, Trump was very adamant about canceling the deal and stopping all payments of U.S. tax dollars to UN global warming programs. His views shifted shortly after he took office however, telling The New York Times that he had an "open mind" on the issue. Trump even met with climate change activist and former Vice President Al Gore in December, after which Gore told The Washington Post that he thought there was a realistic chance Trump would opt to keep the United States as a participant in the agreement. However, Trumps team of top advisors including his daughter, Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, have been very divided on the issue. Both Ivanka and Jared have reportedly urged him to stay committed to the agreement, while EPA chief Scott Pruitt and Trumps senior strategist Stephen K. Bannon want him to back out of the pledge. Pruitt told Fox News in April that in his opinion, the U.S. should exit the accord as soon as possible. Its a bad deal for America. It was an America second, third, or fourth kind of approach. China and India has no obligations under the agreement until 2030. We front-loaded all our costs, Pruitt said. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Wednesday defended the presidents late-night confusing covfefe tweet, saying maybe it was a mistake [and] maybe it wasnt . I dont know what it means, but I think its pretty funny to be honest with you. I think it shows a little bit of the humor that the president has, because he retweeted another one today that says, you know, hey, figure out what that is, Lewandowski told the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney. The social media sphere was abuzz Wednesday in reaction to the tweet, which left many asking what is the meaning of the word covfefe? Despite the constant negative press covfefe Trump tweeted at 12:06am ET on Wednesday. The president eventually deleted the tweet, and later issued an update. Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 But Varney pressed Lewandowski, asking, This is the president of the United States tweeting unintelligible words in the middle of the night, you understand theyre asking, whats going on? This is the same thing its always been, the president going directly to the American people. And, you know, the uproar of the mainstream media because he put a word out that now everyone is talking about is amazing to me, Lewandowski said. I love the fact that he continues to go directly to the American people with his message and his tweets and he pushes back on false narratives that take place. And, you know what, he used a word that no one had heard of before, maybe it was a mistake, maybe it wasnt, I think its comical and lets give him a little credit, lets have a little levity for a change, he added. A 1967 Chevrolet Corvette purchased new by a decorated Vietnam War veteran was sold at the recent Mecum Auctions Indianapolis event for $675,000. Thats more than a 10,000 percent markup over what Keith Richard Litavsky paid when he picked up the Marina Blue coupe from Jack Douglass Chevrolet in Hinsdale, Ill., upon his return home from the front lines. According to his son, Matt, Litavsky was awarded two Purple Hearts during the war, and was finally released after becoming the only surviving member of his unit in the wake of a fierce firefight and helicopter crash. The Corvette was purchased with money that hed been putting away specifically for that purpose. Litavsky took obsessively good care of the Corvette, which today is almost all original, aside from its muffler and battery, and was sold with its full documentation and factory-equipped tires. He never drove it in the rain, and kept a log of every trip that even included the maximum RPM the engine reached. MORE CLASSIC CAR NEWS FROM FOX NEWS AUTOS The Corvette now has 8,533 miles on its odometer and 427/435 hp L71 V8 engine. Though never restored and washed only with damp cloths, it remains in excellent shape and has been kept in climate-controlled storage in recent years. The price paid is a testament to its condition, as the Hagerty Price Guide estimates the value of similar cars at $209,000. Its rarely been driven since Litavsky died in 1993 from cancer that was caused by Agent Orange exposure during the war, according to his son. Just 15 miles in the past 15 years. Matt Litavsky didnt say exactly why chose to let the car go now, but told The Indianapolis Star it was a very long year making the decision. Fortunately for him, the buyer was a local rare car dealer who doesnt plan to sell it, and told him that he can visit it anytime he wants. FIVE FUTURE CLASSICS YOU CAN BUY NOW FOR $5,000 Kathy Griffin admitted Tuesday she "went too far" on her latest photo shoot with controversial photographer Tyler Shields in which she is holding a bloodied mask of President Trump. The gory photo first published in TMZ from Griffin's photo session with the famed Shields, known for his shocking pictures. In a Twitter post late Tuesday, Griffin said the image "is too disturbing," and that "it wasn't funny." "I understand how it offends people," she said, adding "I've made a lot of mistakes in my career." According to the gossip site, Griffin joked with Shields on set they would need to move to Mexico after the photos were released or fear imprisonment. In her Twitter post on Tuesday, Griffin said she was going to "take down the image." "I went too far and I was wrong," she said. People took to Twitter to express their disdain for the photo shoot. Reps for Griffin did not immediately return Fox News' request for comment. Chelsea Clinton called it "vile and wrong" in a Twitter post. Shields told Fox News that Griffin was hoping to create a bold message. "Kathy and I are friends and we worked together before, so when we started doing this shoot, she said, 'I'd love to do something political. I'd love to make a statement,'" he explained. "We kind of figured out what would be the best image to make out of that." Shields added the image was meant to serve as art and he's aware that it could make some viewers uncomfortable. "That's what art is meant to do," he said. "Some people look at it and they love it. Some people look at it and they hate it... I understand there are going to be people that hate this. It's a very touchy subject... but this is not real. We didn't kill anybody nor do I feel anybody should be killed. It's no different from a movie. It just happens to be a still image." Shields tweeted a link to a YouTube video called "Behind the scenes with Kathy Griffin" but the video has since been removed. However, he later told Fox News that the video had glitches, which prompted him to take it down and then re-upload it. This is hardly the first time Shields' photos have caused uproar. He previously received death threats over a photo he took of "Glee" actress Heather Morris with bruises on her face. The photo was criticized for making light of domestic abuse. As for his recent collaboration with Griffin, he doesn't regret it. "I can't speak for her, [but] I know she loves to stir the pot," he said. "For me, I love the idea we have freedom of speech. The fact that I'm allowed to make an image like this says a lot. To me, that's a powerful thing... nobody's killed me for this image so it's not that bad. I love Kathy and I hope they let me visit her in Guantanamo." Captains Sig Hansen and Jake Anderson both suffered through uncomfortable medical situations on Tuesday night's episode of "Deadliest Catch." While Hansen feared a heart checkup that could take him off the high seas, Anderson and his pregnant wife got a Down's Syndrome scare about their unborn child. After finishing his fall crab fishing season, Hansen was back home in Seattle --but had to consult his cardiologist in order to be cleared to pilot his boat in the wintertime. As fans of the Discovery Channel reality show know, Hansen suffered a heart attack in February 2016 and nearly died. He was ordered to reduce his stress and quit smoking, but that has been easier said than done for the intense skipper. Driving to the appointment, Hansen worried that the "doctor can give you the 'denied' stamp" which would prohibit him from sailing. The doctor asked Hansen if he still smoked and the captain winced, "I'm down to about a pack." The cardiologist reminded Hansen that quitting cigarettes was the most important aspect of his heart health. Still, the doctor decided to medically clear Hansen to fish, saying, "If you're doing your work and feeling good, I'm in support of that. [Crab fishing is] where you feel whole, in your element." Relieved Hansen smiled that his fall season had been "unicorns and rainbows, it was fun." Viewers also saw Captain Anderson, back at home with his wife Jenna after his fall fishing was over, face a scary situation. Jenna, who had called Anderson on the boat to announce her second pregnancy, went to her doctor's office with him to look at a sonogram. But they heard alarming news when the doctor said part of their baby's neck appeared a little thick. "It could beindicative of something like Down's Syndrome," the doctor said, adding that she needed to look at Jenna's blood work for a diagnosis. "God, that's scary," Jake said, while Jenna told him, "We can face whatever comes our way." At the end of the episode, however, the doctor called Anderson and his wife to let them know that the test showed their baby did NOT have Down's Syndrome and everything appeared healthy. A grateful Anderson gave Jenna a big smile. Meanwhile, Hansen also had reason to smile when his daughter Mandy's boyfriend, his deck hand Clark Pederson, arrived at their home. Pederson, who had previously received Hansen's permission for Mandy's hand in marriage, took her aside on the captain's patio. Hansen and his wife watched as Clark proposed -- and thrilled Mandy showed them the engagement ring on her finger through the window! Also on the episode, Johnathan Hillstrand was hoping to go out "in a blaze of glory" as he planned retirement after his fall fishing season. Hillstrand was forced to steer his Time Bandit ship through a dangerous shortcut to bring his crab in on time without dead loss. With his crew's help, Hillstrand made it back successfully and the veteran skipper got emotional about winding up his long crab fishing career. A crew man raised the American flag on the boat as Hillstrand steamed in. "I want to go out with pride and dignity. God bless America," Hillstrand said. An Adams County man is in Cumberland County Prison after an incident at Carlisle Regional Medical Center, which forced a lockdown at the hospital. State Police at Carlisle reported that Tony Hughes, 51, of Arendstville, was charged with terroristic threats, terroristic threats causing serious public inconvenience, stalking, harassment and disorderly conduct in connection with the incident that took place at 4:12 p.m. Tuesday. Police said Hughes threatened a family relation with a gun at CRMC, her place of employment. Police said no gun was presented or displayed during the incident. Police said Hughes took issue with her relationship with a co-worker. He arrived at the hospital emergency room, asked her to get the man she was in a relationship with, and when she did not comply, he threatened her with a gun, indicating he would shoot her in front of the hospital, according to police. The woman notified supervisors at the hospital, and police responded to the scene. Hospital staff placed the hospital on lockdown while police searched for Hughes, due to the possibility of a gun. The hospital was on lockdown for about an hour and a half. State Police at Gettysburg went to Hughes home address, which is where they found him. Hughes was placed under arrest and was arraigned Wednesday morning. Bail was set at $250,000 cash, which he was unable to post. He remains in Cumberland County Prison. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 7 in front of Magisterial District Judge Susan Day. Though Hughes had left the hospital grounds during the lockdown, CRMC said in a statement it was important to secure the safety of staff and patients. We are committed to maintaining a safe environment for our patients, and the physicians and employees who provide care. Our hospital was on lockdown the evening of May 30 in response to a potential threat. State police responded promptly and the matter was quickly resolved. Patient care continued throughout the evening with no interruptions. A lockdown meant some patients traveling to the hospital may have been diverted to other hospitals during that time. Al Franken is stepping up to support his friend Kathy Griffin after she sparked public outrage with a controversial photo shoot where she is seen holding a bloodied mask of President Donald Trump. The 66-year-old senator and former Saturday Night Live writer told CNNs Alisyn Camerota on New Day that while he believed the images went too far, the 56-year-old comedienne can survive the backlash. Kathy is a friend and shes a terrific comedian, but this had no business being in our public discourse, explained the Minnesota Democrat. And I talked to her. She has apologized she actually begged for forgiveness and I believe in forgiveness. KATHY GRIFFIN DUMPED BY SQUATTY POTTY Franken also added Griffin will be able to recover from the scandal. I think she did the right thing asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that this is a horrible mistake, so I think she can," he said. Griffin admitted Tuesday she went too far on her latest photo shoot with photographer Tyler Shields. In a Twitter post, she said the image is too disturbing and it wasnt funny. Shields told Fox News on Tuesday that Griffin was hoping to create a bold message. KATHY GRIFFIN NOT THE FIRST CELEB TO MAKE CONTROVERSIAL JOKE Kathy and I are friends and we work together before, so when we started doing this shoot, she said, Id love to do something political. Id love to make a statement, he explained. We kind of figured out what would be the best image to make out of that. Shields added the image was meant to serve as art and hes aware that it could make some viewers uncomfortable. Thats what art is meant to do, he said. Some people look at it and they love it. Some people look at it and they hate it I understand there are going to be people that hate this. Its a very touchy subject but this is not real. We didnt kill anybody nor do I feel anybody should be killed. Its no different from a movie. It just happens to be a still image. As for his recent collaboration with Griffin, he doesnt regret it. I cant speak for her, [but] I know she loves to stir the pot, he said. For me, I love the idea we have freedom of speech. The fact that Im allowed to make an image like this says a lot. To me, thats a powerful thing nobodys killed me for this image so its not that bad. I love Kathy and I hope they let me visit her in Guantanamo. Lebanese authorities banned the new "Wonder Woman" movie Wednesday hours before it was due to premiere in the capital and following a campaign against its lead actress, Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli army, a security official and activists said. Cinemas in Beirut began removing the movie posters and cinema executives said the movie will not be shown because of the ban. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and the two countries have been through a number of wars. A particularly devastating 2006 war battered Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds of civilians killed. The ban is in accordance with a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from traveling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. The official says the ban issued by the minister of interior Wednesday has been relayed to the distribution company, which in turn have to inform the theaters planning to show the movie. A premiere later Wednesday in Beirut was cancelled. An executive at the Grand Cinema chain said the company was planning to show the movie in 16 out of its 18 theaters around the country, but it would now be removed. The security official said violators of the ban will have to face legal consequences, but he didn't specify. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been published. A campaigner against the movie, Rania Masri, hailed the decision to ban "Wonder Woman," saying it signaled respect for the law. She said there was much anticipation as the decision was last minute, just before the official launch of the movie. "Still, it was a joyous moment the minute the law was implemented," Masri, of the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel - Lebanon told The Associated Press. A similar campaign against another movie where Gadot played the role of Wonder Woman last year, "Batman v Superman," never turned into an outright ban. Masri said it was "different" this time because of a major media campaign against the movie that has helped push for the ban. On its front page Wednesday, the leading al-Akhbar newspaper had a column titled: "The Israeli soldier. She has no place in Lebanon." The column featured a picture of Gadot carrying her Wonder Woman shield. Warner Bros., which has released the film, declined comment. Economy Ministry official Alia Abbas told the AP that her department, which is responsible for enforcing the boycott of Israel, had delivered a request to ban "Batman v Superman" last year. But the ban didn't come together. This time they presented their petition to the security agencies on Monday, she said. Tensions have been rising between Israel and Hezbollah, with Israel reportedly bombing several Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent months. Israel has signaled that the targets were smuggling sophisticated weapons to Lebanon. Hezbollah officials said recently that they are not seeking war but are ready for it. On her Facebook page, Gadot had praised Israel's military during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, sending prayers to soldiers "who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas." Masri said the campaign to boycott is about "self-respect" and "resisting" normalizing relations with a state that is at war with Lebanon and occupies Palestinian land. "First and foremost she is Israeli. We don't distinguish between a good Israeli and a bad Israeli," Masri said of the boycott campaign. The movie, based on the DC Comics character, has earned acclaim for Gadot for landing a rare leading role for a woman in a super hero movie. Even though Lebanon enjoys a greater margin of freedom of expression than other countries in the region, prior censorship remains in place, particularly with content relating to Israel, religion and homosexuality. Some in Lebanon criticized the call for the ban, but their voices were faint compared to the boycott campaign that featured in primetime television in Lebanon. "We sold many tickets and we had to cancel now," said Isaac Fahed, sales and distribution manager for Grand Cinemas, the company which had the movie scheduled for 16 of its 18 movie houses. He said his company would abide by the law, despite the losses it would suffer. "We have to respect that, but we have few questions." Fahed said previous movies with Gadot were shown in Lebanese theaters and her new film will be viewed online and sold on DVD. "The end result will only ... affect the cinemas," Fahed said. Could this be the last straw for one California city? Officials in Berkeley, Calif. introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would ban plastic straws at restaurants and coffee shops throughout the Bay Area city because of their "detrimental effect" on the environment, KPIX reports. The three City Council members who co-sponsored the ordinance want restaurants and coffee shops to use biodegradable plastic-alternatives, such as corn or paper, according to KPIX. The city has pushed for similar bans in the past, previously moving to prohibit single-use plastic bags. The plastic straw ban is just one step as part of a larger move by the city to reach a Zero Waste Goal by 2020, according to SF Gate. BEEKEEPER'S SURPRISE FIND MAY HELP OUR PLASTIC PROBLEM Estimations by the National Park Service suggest Americans use half a billion straws a day with some of this waste winding up in waterways and on beaches, with straws being the fifth-most found trash on the beach, according to SF Gate. Businesses are concerned, however, about the added cost of providing environmentally-friendly straws. A plastic straw only costs a penny, whereas a paper straw is about eight times more expensive, SF Gate reports. Berkeley Councilwoman Sophie Hahn says there are alternatives, suggesting businesses could pass the cost on to the consumer, she told KPIX. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS While other cities in the state of California are also considering a plastic straw ban, Berkeley would be the first if the ordinance is passed. Currently, the city of Davis has a law requiring restaurants to ask customers if theyd like a straw rather than providing one first, SF Gate reports. Despite mixed feelings about plastic straw alternatives, Berkeley city leaders believe the ban will pass early 2018. Many teens love pizza but one brainy Tennessee student was able to use her love of delivery pies to score admission to one of the countrys top universities. Carolina Williams, a recent graduate of Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, Tenn., was accepted to Yale University in March with an admissions officer noting her standout answer to a short-essay prompt to write about something she loves to do: order pizza from Papa John's. WHY BUFFALO CHICKEN PIZZA MAY BE DANGEROUS According to The Tennesseean, Williams says her answer was the first thing that came to mindbut it probably didnt hurt that she also ranked in the top 10 of her graduating class and participated in several extracurricular activities including English Honors Society, National Honors Society, Model UN and Youth in Government. "Honestly, I thought I should go with the first thing that popped in my head," Williams told the paper. "It was completely genuine." The Yale admissions officer reviewing Williams application was tickled by the response. "As a fellow lover of pizza, I laughed out loud (then ordered pizza) after reading your application," her acceptance note said. Williams will also be the first in her family to attend college. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Despite her acceptable to the Ivy League institution, the pizza-loving scholar has actually decided to attend Auburn University in Alabama to pursue business, noting that the college seemed like a better fit and she had better scholarships opportunities. Still Papa John's was thrilled with Williams' news and even send her congratulatory tweet: Many of us love pizza but what exactly did Williams say to catch the eye of prestigious Yale admissions committee? Her geniuine love of saucy, cheesy goodness shone through witth carefully crafted prose like, "Accepting those warm cardboard boxes at my front door is second nature to me, but I will always love ordering pizza because of the way eight slices of something so ordinary are able to evoke feelings of independence, consolation and joy." The Associated Press contributed to this report. California trout may soon be in hot water, both literally and figuratively, according to a new report. A team of researchers at the University of California, Davis, predict that 23 of Californias 31 genetically distinct salmonids could disappear within the next 100 years, with 14 species vanishing in the next 50 years, if steps are not taken to restore their habitat and limit the effects of climate change. The report, which is a follow-up to a 2008 study and was commissioned by California Trout, found that degraded habitat and warming water, attributed to climate change, pose serious threats to cold-water fish populations in California. Drought also a likely side effect of global warming as well as crop irrigation and the construction of dams and levees, has contributed to the loss of habitat and reduced spawning populations within the subspecies. 4 POTENT STINKBAITS AND WHEN TO USE THEM In the wake of a five-year drought, the salmon populations experienced a heavy strain from streams across California drying up due to a lack of rainfall and agricultural demands. In Northern California, marijuana operations, now legal in the state, have further burdened local water supplies. Efforts are being made to combat the effects of the droughts, such as by dropping walnut stumps and root bundles into rivers, providing a place for the fish to hide from predators. There is also a push for a test program to be put into place, in which rice fields in the Sacramento Valley would be used to raise and feed baby salmonids. Per KCRA.com, Robert Lusardi, also a University of California, Davis, researcher and a co-author of the study, said diversity has traditionally helped these fish species endure changes to their environment, but pointed out that such diversity is becoming increasingly limited. Theyve been around for at least 50 million years, Lusardi said. The reason theyve always been able to persist is because of that inherent diversity that they have within their populations, and we just dont have that diversity anymore. HOW TO BUILD THE ULTIMATE EMERGENCY FISHING KIT Additionally, Lusardi said that dams, and other aquatic infrastructure, that block anadromous salmonids from reaching their traditional spawning grounds have contributed to lower numbers of reproducing fish, compounding the problems facing the subspecies. In general, migratory salmonids have been cut off from 99 percent of their historical spawning habitat throughout the Central Valley and 95 percent of historical floodplain habitat (now blocked by levees) which these fish historically used for rearing prior to migrating to the ocean, Lusardi said. Chinook salmon, which are critically endangered, have shown dismal spawning numbers in the Central Valley region of California in recent years. Its estimated that the spawning numbers of Chinook have dropped to a record low, from 3,500 individuals in 2015 to just a few thousand in 2016. Prior to the dams construction, the region had an estimated run of 500,000 Chinook. In light of the findings, Curtis Knight, the executive director of California Trout, said immediate action is required to preserve Californias native salmonids. If we dont act, we face losing our native salmon, steelhead and trout species, Knight said. This would be tragic, not just because we would lose these iconic species, their beauty, their mystery, but as importantly, we would lose what they signify cold, clean water, healthy rivers, a better California. There are signs that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo may not be as big as was once feared, World Health Organization officials indicated Thursday. Fourteen suspected cases have tested negative for the deadly virus, Alison Clement, a WHO spokeswoman currently in Likati, the epicenter of the response, told STAT in an interview. So far there have been two confirmed cases, four probable cases, and four deaths. Another 40 people are currently listed as suspected cases, said Clement. Roughly 300 people who are contacts of known or suspected cases are being monitored to see if they develop symptoms. Clement cautioned, though, that in an outbreak the net is cast wide to try to find anyone who might have Ebola, so that they can be isolated and tested. People who are sick with Ebola but are missed by surveillance can infect family members; if they die and are buried in traditional burial rites, those attending funerals can also be infected. More on this... Final test results confirm an Ebola vaccine is highly effective Read more: Final test results confirm an Ebola vaccine is highly effective In the early stages of Ebola, symptoms are vague and could be misattributed to other conditions. In an outbreak, it is not uncommon for some suspect cases to later test positive for malaria, say, and negative for Ebola. A mobile laboratory is now operating in Likati, Clement said. That will speed up the process of determining the actual scale of the outbreak. A response team of about 50 people from the DRC ministry of health, WHO, UNICEF, and Doctors Without Borders are in Likati, she said. Among those who tested negative are five people who were being cared for in the Ebola treatment unit that was set up in Likati, Clement said. Four have been released; one is still sick with something else and needs medical care. Given what appears to be the limited scope of the outbreak, the use of an experimental Ebola vaccine may not be required. For the time, there doesnt seem that there was really a necessity to do so. I hope it remains the case, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, a WHO assistant director-general, told STAT. That said, Kieny confirmed planning continues to allow for deployment of vaccine, if the government of DRC asks for it. But it may not, she acknowledged. The logistics, all the preparations are moving forward, but you can imagine that without indication that this is spreading, that the government may decide that maybe its not reasonable to start a big vaccination operation. And actually, you dont know who you would vaccinate, Kieny said from Geneva. The logistics of getting the vaccine to this remote part of DRC would be substantial. Clement said getting from one village to another in this part of the country is incredibly difficult; there are no roads and response workers are being ferried along jungle paths on motorbikes. This is in the middle of nowhere, said Kieny. Its not a routine operation, so in order to go for it, they must be really sure that this is worth it. Some observers have questioned why the experimental Ebola vaccine, which was tested in Guinea in 2015, hasnt been immediately sent to the DRC. There have been reports the government was hesitant about using an unlicensed product. Kieny said this outbreak has galvanized awareness among the organizations that respond to Ebola outbreaks that the groundwork for use of the vaccine must be laid in advance in at-risk countries places where Ebola outbreaks have happened in the past. Regulatory agencies need to be asked to pre-approve vaccine use in emergencies; ethics committees that greenlight emergency use authorizations have to be asked to do this work in advance. This will move ahead as soon as this event is closed, Kieny said. After that we are having discussions about finalizing the preparations, making sure the protocol has been submitted in all the countries. Seven canines in Florida have been diagnosed with potentially deadly dog flu, a highly contagious virus that popped up in 10 states and infected nearly 1,000 dogs in Chicago in 2015. In a news release Tuesday the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services confirmed the animals had the H3N2 canine influenza virus, which cannot infect humans. The canines are being treated at the University of Florida (UF) College of Veterinary Medicine, and health officials suspect six additional cases. FAMILY DOG HELPS SAVE OHIO WOMAN WHO OVERDOSED Dr. Michael Short, the state's chief vet, told the Miami Herald that all of the dogs are in stable condition but several had to be hospitalized. Despite not being spreadable to humans, the dog flu can infect cats, the Herald reported. Most cases are not fatal, but, if left untreated, the virus can progress to pneumonia. THE 8 MOST FAMILY-FRIENDLY DOG BREEDS The department of agriculture noted symptoms include loss of appetite, fever and lethargy. Most dogs recover within a few days without complications. Dog owners in Florida and elsewhere can help protect their pets against the illness with vaccinations, which are not required by every veterinarian. DOG WITH CANCER TO REUNITE WITH FAMILY 2 YEARS LATER The Herald reported that vets recommend infected dogs be quarantined for at least four weeks and that the live virus can live for 24 hours. When sick dogs cough or sneeze, their germs may spread up to 20 feet. Risky areas of transmission include grooming parlors and dog parks, the newspaper noted. Because the virus is so contagious, vets advise pet owners who suspect their dog has the virus not to take their animal to the waiting room but rather through a separate entrance to avoid infecting other animals, USA Today reported. Its very contagious, so you have to be careful, Dr. Marta Lista of Trail Animal Hospital in Miami, told the Herald. Most dogs dont have immunity and they dont have vaccines. In an interview with the Herald, UF officials declined to disclose where the Florida cases occurred. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX HEALTH NEWS Officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have approved the use of an experimental Ebola vaccine in the hopes of stemming the spread of a recent outbreak of the deadly virus in the African nation. While DRC officials approved the use of rVSV-ZEBOV, Congolese authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) are still deciding whether the small number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country warrants the time and logistical complexity of deploying the vaccine to the remote region of the country, formerly called Zaire. Public health officials in the DRC have reported at least 43 cases of suspected Ebola and four deaths. Only two of the cases have been positively confirmed in a laboratory to be Ebola. As of Monday there have been no new cases of the virus reported. The last confirmed case of Ebola was reported on May 11. Despite the slow spread of the virus, experts at WHO are closely monitoring the situation, and teams are already in the isolated Bas-Uele province in an attempt to contain the outbreak. Officials have also spent the last two weeks preparing the vaccine for transport in the event that they are given the green light to deploy it. The outbreak, more than 300 miles from the DRC capital of Kinshasa, has very few passable roads and bridges open during this time of the year, so helicopters are required to bring teams and equipment to the town of Likati, where motorcycles take over. Health workers have already built two mobile labs, but a generator in one failed and had to be replaced. The vaccine was developed during the last major outbreak of the Ebola virus, which began in 2014 in West Africa and caused a global panic. A WHO working group recommended the use of rVSV-ZEBOV in 2015 after a clinical trial in Guinea showed promising results. There are currently 300,000 doses of the vaccine available after an agreement was reached between international vaccine organization Gavi and Merck, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures rVSV-ZEBOV. If the vaccine is deployed in the DRC, staff from Doctors Without Borders will first vaccinate health-care workers in the hot zone and then the initial group of people who had contact with those infected as part of a so-called ring strategy used during the 2014 outbreak. Deploying the vaccine -- along with the laboratories, equipment and personnel needed to administer it -- is estimated to cost around $14 million. That is a hefty price tag for the second poorest nation in the world. The nation also struggles to contain an ongoing ethnic conflict between the DRCs Tutsi-controlled government under President Joseph Kabila, who refused to leave office at the end of his term last year, and a Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. Amid militia clashes and numerous violent protests one in December left more than 50 people dead the DRC saw more people leave their homes in 2016 than anywhere else in the world. According to the most recent report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 992,000 people fled the violence in 2016, compared to 824,000 in Syria, 659,000 in Iraq and 653,000 in Afghanistan. The United Nations estimated in April that it will cost at least $11 million to meet the immediate nutritional, health and educational needs of those displaced by the conflict. The DRC was one of the first countries to experience an outbreak of Ebola when the virus appeared in 1976. The current epidemic is the eighth of its kind in the African nation, coming just three years after the outbreak in West Africa killed over 11,000 people. It is still unclear how Ebola outbreaks begin, but researchers theorize that it could come from people eating infected pieces of bush meat, the meat of primates and other wild animals sold in local markets or from bats carrying the carrying the virus. A British breast surgeon who carried out unnecessary operations on 10 patients for personal gain was sentenced to 15 years in prison, a court heard on Wednesday. In his private practice, Ian Paterson lied to exaggerate risks that patients would develop breast cancer, performing needless surgery and in some cases mastectomies for which patients paid, judge Jeremy Baker said. "The physical, and particularly, psychological effect upon each of them, has been profound," the judge told Nottingham Crown Court. The trial had heard that patients trusted the doctor who was charming and reassuring, but were later left feeling violated and vulnerable, with some having suffered prolonged psychological distress. The 59-year-old surgeon's motives were not clear, the judge said, but he had shown a "complete lack of remorse" during the trial. "I have no doubt that in pursuit of your own self-aggrandizement and the material rewards which it brought from your private practice, you lost sight of the fact that you were carrying out significant surgical procedures," Baker said. "Without any regard for the long-term effects which it had on them, you deliberately played upon their worst fears," he said. Speaking after the sentencing, Patricia Welch, one of Paterson's victims, said she felt justice had been done but called for an inquiry so that patients had full protection when seeking private medical care. "We will never know the real reason he has acted in such an evil way," she told reporters outside the court. "It will never go away because you just see it in the mirror every morning." Dog bites are far from rare: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.5 million dog bites occur each year in the United States and children ages 5 to 9 are often most at risk. From celebrities like Kyle Richards to Kim Zolciak, both of whom had children hospitalized after a dog attack, many families have experienced firsthand the danger such bites can cause. But what can families do to select a dog for their own home that will be a safe, valuable addition to their family? WILL SHOWERING WITH YOUR KID SCAR THEM FOR LIFE? First, realize breed isnt everything, Andrea Arden, Animal Planets Pet Expert and author of books including Dog-Friendly Dog Training, told Fox News. People should look at breeds for what they are, which is a generalization in regards to type, size, coat color, and temperament, Arden said. Within each breed, you will still find a range of temperaments, she added. Amy Robinson, a dog training expert and founder of the Drool School, agreed, telling Fox News that each puppy in a litter will have a distinct personality. WHY NOSE PICKING MAY NOT BE SO BAD FOR KIDS However, both experts said certain dog breeds usually tend to be great fits for families. While you should always consider each dog individually, here are their top recommendations for the most kid-friendly breeds: 1. French bulldog Most of the time, Arden explained, small dogs are not advised for homes with small children, for the simple fact that theyre more fragile. However, if your family is looking for a smaller dog, she recommended the French bulldog, a family-friendly dog that is still physically durable. 2. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Spaniels tend to have nice, solid temperaments, Arden said. Robinson in particular recommended the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, which she noted were bred to be companions and are often called the comforter spaniel. 3. Weimaraners Weimaraners are durable and have a high enough energy to keep up with kids, Arden said. PARENTS' LONG WORKING HOURS TIED TO CHILDREN'S WEIGHT GAIN 4. St. Bernard Similarly, the St. Bernard is a large, dog-friendly breed, Arden said. St. Bernards are unlikely to be too rambunctious with children, and instead are fairly sedentary, she explained. 5. Collies Herding dogs can make great family companions, Robinson said. Collies in particular have a reputation for being kind and calm but be careful that the dogs herding instincts dont lead to them nipping at the shirttails of children, she said. 6. Rottweilers Despite being commonly known as guard dogs, rottweilers actually tend to be great with kids and are extremely trainable, Robinson said. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS 7. Labradors and golden retrievers sometimes Both experts noted that Labradors and golden retrievers can make great family pets however, Arden noted that, in general, they actually tend to be mouthier than most people think, which families should consider. 8. Breed rescues If you want a certain breed, you dont necessarily have to buy it, Robinson said. You could find a breed rescue through the American Kennel Club they can help you find a dog that would be the best match for your family, including older dogs that have already moved past the nipping, high-energy puppy phase. A Harrisburg man pleaded guilty Tuesday to armed bank robbery and possession of a loaded firearm in connection with an East Pennsboro Township robbery in August. U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the plea Wednesday. According to U.S. Attorney Bruce Brandler, Donell Williams, 39, entered the AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union with a loaded firearm and demanded money. He then fled with less than $1,500 before he became involved in a high-speed chase. The chase reached speeds of up to 123 mph, according to the office, and after the vehicle chase ended, Williams was also involved in a short foot chase. He was arrested, and the money was recovered. Williams is a previously convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm. A model has taken the first step toward filing a federal discrimination lawsuit against Hyundai, claiming the company fired her from a lucrative gig at the New York International Auto Show because she had her period. Rachel Rickert, 27, alleges in her complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that she soiled her Hyundai uniform during the spring event in New York City because she had to work for three hours without a bathroom break, during which time she could have changed her tampon. Instead of being able to simply change her clothes, Rickert alleges, her former representative Erika Seifred informed her that the client wanted her to take the night off rather than continuing to work. The next day, Rickert claims she was let go. I was told by Erika on the morning of April 15th that I was being released from the show because Hyundai had gotten word about my menstrual cycle and did not want me representing them anymore, Rickert told Fox News. SIZE 2 LOUIS VUITTON MODEL SAYS SHE WAS CANNED FROM SHOW FOR BEING 'BLOATED' The actions taken against me were disheartening due to me being a woman experiencing a natural cycle of life, she added, explaining why she decided to take legal action. Rickerts attorney, Mark Shirian, told Fox News he thinks Rickerts situation is reflective of present gender inequality in the workplace. It is an unfortunate truth that many working women already face gender equality challenges in the workplace, like unequal pay and fewer promotions, Shirian said. However, discrimination of any kind, especially because of a menstrual cycle, cannot happen and should not be tolerated. Shirian said Rickert has not yet been paid for any of her work. She said she expected to make $5,000. MODELS FIRE BACK AT CRITICS WITH POWERFUL BODY CONFIDENCE-THEMED INSTAGRAM The complaint was filed in Manhattan, New York, against Hyundai and Seifreds management company, Experiential Talent, which hired Rickert for the job. In a statement, Hyundai said it hadnt yet received Rickerts EEOC filing, but that it takes any complaint like this seriously and will respond appropriately once we have a chance to investigate the merits of the claim. Fox News reached out to the EEOC and Experiential Talent,but did not receive a response as of Wednesday afternoon. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS This nation was dedicated to freedom under law, not under mobs. So wrote the late Justice, Tom Clark, who gave me my first tour of the Supreme Court in the 1970s. Justice Clark cared deeply about the role of the news media in holding our government accountable. But he would be dispirited to see their embrace of mobocracy, as he once described it. The mob as a ruling class is todays mainstream media. They assert political control by denigrating and vilifying. No act by the Trump administration, however slight, will be spared a full-throated scandal as declared by the media. All deeds are treated as crimes or impeachable offenses. The latest victim is President Trumps son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner. His crime appears to be no crime at all. He met with two foreign officials from Russia an ambassador and a banker. Back channel communications were allegedly discussed. Mass hysteria in both print and television ensued. There was no attempt at reasoned analysis, no context of historical precedence. The media all but shouted, off with his head! Execution first. A trial with real or imagined evidence sometime later, if ever. Back Channel Communications The Washington Post ignited the media firestorm by publishing a story that Kushner met with Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington, in December and allegedly sought a private communications channel with the Kremlin. Within an hour, television reporters and pundits were declaring it a bombshell their favorite description of anything related to Trump. No one bothered to point out that nearly every recent president has established and relied on similar back channel contacts. Notably, President John Kennedy depended on two sets of back channel communications with the Soviets to diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962. His brother Bobby Kennedy arranged an urgent deal with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to remove the missiles in Cuba in exchange for the U.S. removing obsolete missiles in Turkey. At the same time, the State Department commandeered ABC correspondent John Scali to work out other details with Soviet Embassy official Alexander Fomin. A catastrophic nuclear exchange was averted. But nowhere in the hyper-media coverage was this mentioned in the hours after the Kushner story broke. Only two days later, in an opinion column by David Ignatius, did the Washington Post admit the value of secret contacts when he observed, Such back channels can add stability and predictability in foreign relations. Few in the media have picked up on it. It makes no difference whether the idea of a private communications channel was broached before or after President Trump took office. It is a distinction without a difference. As Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly observed, Its both normal, in my opinion, and acceptable. So much for the bombshell. More like a media dud. Of course, theyll never admit to it. The Logan Act Charade Because the Kushner meeting occurred after Trump was elected but before he took office, the media continues to claim that the Logan Act was violated. Passed in 1799, it prohibits private citizens from interfering in diplomatic disputes with foreign governments. Surely, Kushner violated that law, the media exclaimed. But no one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act. Therefore, it is legally inoperable because it has remained dormant for more than two centuries. Prosecutors are not allowed to use a statute that has fallowed for such a long period of time. In other words, it is dead. It sits on the books of our criminal codes only as words collecting dust. Nothing more. Even if it was somehow germane and valid, Kushner was not acting as a private citizen as the Act requires. He was serving as a representative of the incoming administration. Other presidents have had discussions with foreign governments before taking office, including President Obama. Yet the media seems oblivious to both the law and its application. Security Clearance Form The media continues to speculate that Kushner committed a crime by omitting his Russian meetings when he filled out his security clearance forms. But the press almost never mentions that people are rarely prosecuted because it is exceedingly difficult to demonstrate that it was knowingly falsified or concealed, as the law demands. Have you ever seen one of these forms? They are long and confusing. Few people manage to fill them out correctly or completely. Since violation is not a strict liability crime, the feds would have to prove specific intent. That is, Kushner tried to deliberately deceive the government. Incomplete paper work, by itself, is not a criminal act. Significantly, the day after Kushner submitted his form, his attorney alerted the FBI it was in error and would be amended to include several meetings with foreign officials. These circumstances hardly constitute a crime. Immediate notification of a filing mistake vitiates any legal culpability. But, again, journalists seem to conveniently overlook this. The story is too good to let the facts get in the way. Kushner Not a Target Media madness switched gears into overdrive when it was reported that Kushner is a focus by the FBI in their Russian investigation. But what does that really mean? It means, quite simply, the Bureau would like to speak with him about his meetings with Russian officials. It does not necessarily imply there is a scintilla of evidence that he committed any crimes. If the feds had such evidence, he would have received a target letter as Justice Department rules require. The media tends to forget (or not realize) that it is not a crime to talk with a Russian, including an ambassador. After all, it is Kislyaks job to meet as frequently as possible with current and incoming government officials. Does he endeavor to influence those people and our governments policies? Of course. Thats why hes stationed in Washington. Our ambassador in Moscow serves the same function. Its called diplomacy and advocacy. Kushner also met with a Russian banker, Sergey Gorkov, the head of Vnesheconombank, which is the subject of U.S. sanctions. Such a meeting, by itself, does not violate the sanctions order nor is it a crime. Neither is it a crime to collude with a foreign government to influence an election. As I explained in a recent column, there is no criminal statute prohibiting it. President Trump insists there was no collusion. But even if there was, it is not unlawful. The lawyer for Jared Kushner says he is prepared to answer any and all questions. Perhaps when he does, he will expose the media for its slanted coverage and hyperbolic headlines. The media deserves a good mugging. Senator John McCain is right. Vladimir Putin is the premier and most important threat, more so than ISIS. To be sure, ISIS represents a great threat. Fortunately, the threat is slowly, but surely being brought under control. The Russian threat, however, is not under control, and Vladimir Putin is actively undermining American leadership abroad, the integrity of our political system, and the sovereignty of our allies. Further, the Trump administrations unprecedented relationship with Putin has worsened the threat posed by Russia globally. Trumps recent foreign trip to Europe only exacerbated the threat as well. By unmistakably failing to endorse Article 5 of the NATO treaty in his address to our NATO allies, the president swung the trip unequivocally to Putins advantage. Until recently, the West has largely downplayed Russias military might, minimizing the capabilities of their outdated equipment and poor organization. Over the past few years, however, the Russian government has undertaken one of the most rapid and aggressive efforts in the world to overhaul their military, including a $720 billion initiative aimed at modernizing their full arsenal of weaponry by 2020. While it is difficult to foresee a direct conflict between Russia and the United States, Russian involvement in Syria demonstrates Putins willingness to support his political goals with military strength. Russias heavy-handed support of Bashar al-Assad demonstrates that Putin stands ready to insert himself into hot, internal conflicts on the side of murderous despots, like Assad, as a means of dividing the West. Putin has stepped up his aggression in Ukraine. In just the past year, he has mobilized a full 40,000 troops on the Russian-Ukrainian border, in what American officials fear may be an invasion in the making. He continues to send menacing signals in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive campaign of cyberwarfare internationally continues. Under Putins leadership, Russia remains anti-Western, anti-democratic, and unpredictable. Even more troublingly, his authoritarian model has attracted legions of admirers, including in the West. Not only does the Russian strongman president have his defendersincluding Donald Trumpbut researchers in Western countries have noted a growing public tolerance for, and even admiration of, authoritarian brands of leadership. Petro-politics are also central to Putins efforts to both undermine and evade international sanctions. Most recently, Putins plot to transport Syrian crude oil through the Caribbean was uncovered. Putins planned scheme involved selling Syrian oil through Venezuelan front companies, which would subsequently deliver the oil to the U.S. market. Meanwhile, as American leadership retreats from the geopolitical war against Russia, Vladimir Putin continues to manipulate the European continent to his advantage on all sides and represents the greatest threat to democracy in a generation. Make no mistake, as Senator McCain rightfully warns, Putin is assembling a menacing, new global order and it poses a much greater threat than ISIS ever could. The Tennes family has been farming in Michigan for generations. They grow all sorts of crops at the Country Mill Farm organic apples, blueberries, pumpkins, sweet corn. Click here for a free subscription to Todds newsletter: a must-read for Conservatives! And for the past seven years, Steve Tennes and his family have sold their produce at the farmers market owned by the city of East Lansing. But this year city officials told the devout Catholic family that their blueberries and sweet corn were not welcome at the farmers market and neither were they. Last year, someone posted a message on Country Mills Facebook page inquiring about whether they hosted same-sex weddings at the farm. Tennes told the individual they did not permit same-sex marriages on the farm because of the familys Catholic belief that marriage is a sacramental union between one man and one woman. City officials later discovered the Facebook posting and began immediate action to remove Country Mill from the Farmers Market alleging the family had violated the citys discrimination ordinance. "It was brought to our attention that The Country Mill's general business practices do not comply with East Lansing's Civil Rights ordinances and public policy against discrimination as set forth in Chapter 22 of the City Code and outlined in the 2017 Market Vendor Guidelines, as such, The Country Mill's presence as a vendor his prohibited by the City's Farmer's Market Vendor Guidelines," read a letter the city sent to the family. It also did not seem to matter to city leaders that the farm is located 22 miles outside the city limits and had absolutely nothing to do with the business of selling blueberries at the farmers market. We were surprised and we were shocked, Steve told me. My wife and I both volunteered to serve in the military to protect freedom now we come home and the freedom that we worked to protect we have to defend in our own backyard. I reached out to city leaders but they did not return my calls seeking comment. Whether you are a Jew, Muslim or Christian people of faith should not be eradicated from the marketplace simply because they dont share the same thoughts and ideas that the government is choosing to promote, Steve told me. So they have decided to fight for their constitutional rights. Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging East Lansing violated the constitutional rights of the Tennes family. All Steve wants to do is sell his food to anyone who wants to buy it, but the city isnt letting him, said ADF Legal Counsel Kate Anderson. People of faith, like the Tennes family, should be free to live and work according to their deeply held beliefs without fear of losing their livelihood. If the government can shut down a family farmer just because of the religious views he expresses on Facebookby denying him a license to do business and serve fresh produce to all peoplethen no American is free. I warned you about this kind of attack in my new book, The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again. The attacks on religious liberty did not end just because a Republican is in the White House. There is a concerted effort by the Left to silence free speech and eradicate Christianity from the public marketplace. The only course of action is to stand and fight. I commend the Tennes famly and Alliance Defending Freedom for filing a lawsuit. Dont let up until every last kernel of sweet corn has been restored to its rightful place in the farmers market. Shuck it to the cob, America! Pray for the Tennes family and their attorneys. Editor's note: The following column originally appeared on NewsBusters on April 27. The president, correspondent Scott Pelley told CBS News viewers, is very engaging, very friendly. Hes clearly not mad; hes sane....He is genuinely religious, genuinely humble....said to be absolutely incorruptible....Hes a fascinating character. Pelley wasnt talking about Donald Trump, or even Barack Obama, but rather Irans Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had called for the elimination of Israel and led chants of Death to America. Pelley was on CBSs "The Early Show" back on September 24, 2007, talking about his interview with the then-Iranian leader which aired the previous night on "60 Minutes." Today, Scott Pelley is the anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News," and his on-air attitude is noticeably more hostile toward American President Donald Trump than it was toward Irans fanatical firebrand a decade ago. Since the inauguration, Pelley has repeatedly gone out of his way to slam Trumps falsehoods, even asking if the president is having difficulty with rationality. But Pelley wasnt always as zealous about highlighting presidential falsehoods. In December 2013, PolitiFact awarded Democratic President Obama with peddling the Lie of the Year for his false claim that if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. But Pelleys "CBS Evening News" has never told viewers about PolitiFacts ruling. And back on August 17, 1998, when President Bill Clinton admitted his affair with Monica Lewinsky, then-White House correspondent Scott Pelley merely passed along that Presidents tenuous parsing without using any of the judgmental language he now employs: The last time Mr. Clinton swore an oath was in the [Paula] Jones deposition, in which he said, quote, I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I have never had an affair with her. His lawyers argue that wasnt perjury, because Mr. Clinton does not believe the alleged Oval Office liaisons with Lewinsky fit a technical definition of affair. But Mr. Clintons political advisers fear they have no way to explain his repeated public denials.... Compared to Clinton and Obama, Pelley has been far more aggressive in holding President Trump accountable, slamming the new commander in chief on January 23 for a weekend of tweeting tantrums and falsehoods. On February 6, Pelley criticized Trumps fictitious claims and presidential statements divorced from reality. And in March, Pelley scolded that Mr. Trump has continually stamped rumors with the seal of the President. For taking on the president in such a direct way, Pelley has become something of a rock star among his fellow journalists. Associated Press media reporter Dave Bauder penned a positive profile back in March: Soft-spoken yet direct, anchor Scott Pelley is emerging as a blunt evaluator of President Donald Trump.... Bauder found enthusiastic support for Pelley from Mark Feldstein, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland: I think its refreshing and necessary and important that journalists do more than act as stenographers for whoever is in power, but actually try to get to the truth. A few weeks later, the Washington Posts Margaret Sullivan also saluted the CBS anchor: With the words credibility questioned prominent on the screen, Scott Pelley once again is doing what network evening-news anchors generally dont do: abandoning careful neutrality in favor of pointed truth-telling....Far more than his competitors Lester Holt on NBC and David Muir on ABC Pelley is using words and approaches that pull no punches. While its obvious that Trump has said (and tweeted) things that are not true, so have past presidents. Whats different now is the eagerness of journalists like Pelley to use those falsehoods as part of a regular, nightly indictment of the presidents character. If hed been just as challenging of falsehoods from Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, Pelley could rightly be seen as a truth-seeker who pulled no punches. But selectively going after a president like Trump who is deeply unpopular in liberal media circles doesnt exactly qualify Pelley for a Profile in Courage award. Editor's note: The following column originally appeared in The Hill newspaper and on TheHill.com. Former Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman has been my friend for more than 40 years, going back to the days when we changed diapers together when our now oldest children were newborns. He is the godfather of my oldest son. That is my full disclosure. But this column is about facts, facts, facts as to why Joe Liebermans withdrawal from consideration as FBI director is a shame. I understand the senator withdrew because he saw the appearance of a conflict since he currently serves as Senior Counsel to the law firm in which one of the top attorneys, Marc Kasowitz, is representing and advising President Trump. But there are also reports on the Internet grapevine that there was opposition to Lieberman among progressive Democrats who were unhappy with some of Lieberman's past positions. And some senators and others have raised questions about Lieberman's qualifications i.e., that a "politician" shouldn't be FBI director. (This is somewhat ironic since most senators did not object to Rep. Mike Pompeo becoming head of the CIA or former Sen. Dan Coates becoming Director of National Intelligence.) Let's start with the issue of Liebermans track record as a progressive Democrat. The facts speak for themselves. I remember Joe Lieberman at Yale when I was a freshman in the fall of 1963 and, then, Joe Lieberman was the distinguished Chairman of the Yale Daily News but he was reporting from some dangerous places in Mississippi at the time, working with civil rights workers registering African Americans to vote and protecting their civil rights. When Lieberman served as Connecticuts U.S. senator for 24 years, he voted on the progressive side of the most important issues of the last four decades: pro-civil rights, gay/LGBT rights, human rights, womens rights, tough environmental-protection laws and regulations, tough measures on climate change and renewable energy, pro-labor, pro-minimum wage, pro-Affordable Care Act, anti-tax cuts for the wealthy, pro-choice, pro-gun controlwhat have I missed? Yes, there are some exceptions that angered some progressives. For example, he voted for and supported the Iraq War, hoping that a small d democratic Iraq would be a force for peace in the Middle East and elsewhere. I disagreed with him on that one as I did when he endorsed his good friend, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in the 2008 presidential race. (I would add I considered John McCain then and now as a truly great American and hero). I also appreciated Lieberman's support for Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Donald Trump and for his early support for Bill Clinton in 1991. If it is true what I have read that some progressive Democrats opposed Lieberman becoming FBI Director because they can't forgive some of the few instances with which they disagree with his positions in the past, I say to them, respectfully that level of intolerance strikes me as decidedly non-progressive. As far as the arguments that Joe Lieberman was not qualified because he served as a United States senator for years and that makes him a politician, my answer is: Seriously? Lieberman served as attorney general of Connecticut for six years, leading law enforcement primarily in the areas of antitrust, environmental enforcement actions, consumer fraud and much more. He chaired the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and was a leader in almost every major counter-terrorism legislation since 9/11, especially as a lead sponsor of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, implementing most of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. On the appearance of a conflict of interest issue, Lieberman chose to adhere to an even higher standard by not risking any questions about appearances if he was appointed FBI director by President Trump, considering his relationship with the Kasowitz law firm. So, there it is: A good man, a great public servant, someone who would have given leadership and integrity and independence to the FBI at a time of its great challenge, will not be the next FBI director. How sad. Sad for the FBI. Sad for our country. But Joe Lieberman, my friend, is still a national treasure -- a man of integrity and character who, I hope, will find other ways to do public service, as he has for decades, for the public good. Breaking news from 2025: The New York City Council gives its Hero of the Year award to Hamza bin Laden, a son of Osama bin Laden. In making the award, the Council declares that the bin Laden family has suffered enough since the unfortunate events of 9/11 and credits Hamza, who took over al Qaeda, for being an inclusive fighter for Muslim rights. Time does not heal all fools and when it comes to stupidity, the future looks a lot like the present. No, the City Council will never learn. In case you havent heard, Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is the prime suspect in the decision by the board of the Puerto Rican Day parade to honor a convicted terrorist, Oscar Lopez Rivera, as a National Freedom Hero. Her hero was found guilty of trying to overthrow the government of the United States with FALN, a terrorist organization that carried out 120 bombings in New York, Chicago and elsewhere. To continue reading Michael Goodwin's column from the New York Post, click here. Editor's note: The following column originally appeared on The Resurgent website. It is not very brave these days to stand up and denounce President Trump. Hollywood and the media will turn you into a hero. But it is a brave thing to stand up to the zeitgeist and culture of fear and bullying the left and media have instilled on the issue of climate change. But President Trump is doing just that. He is defying the left, the media, his children, and many world leaders. In short, he is leading. President Trump is withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. It is the right decision for a number of reasons. First, the Paris Accord is being treated by many as a treaty with treaty obligations, but President Obama never submitted it to Congress for passage. Second, though President Trump could have left it in place and done nothing, his successor could have easily revived it if left in place. Third, the structure and implementation of the Paris Accord set a terrible precedent. President Obama worked for what amounts to a global agreement with voluntary measures, but those measures would impact the American economy. But, despite that impact, President Obama did not present the Paris Accord to Congress for ratification or debate. I do believe the climate is changing. I do believe humans play some role in it. But I also think the certainty with which much of the left clings regarding climate change is more by faith than fact. For years the left has preached climate doom and gloom and they have never been right. They have warned of global cooling and now of global warming. Their only solution in all cases is a command and control economy. Many of them have started profiting from the scare tactics of climate change and others have financial investments that would profit from carbon trading and other schemes. They drive around in SUVs and fly private planes while telling the rest of us to cut back. For a group of people convinced were all going to die, they sure dont act like they really believe it. I simply do not think climate change is an issue worth caring much about and trust that humanity will find ways to adapt to a climate that would change whether or not we were on the planet. But fundamentally, regardless of my views, I think any President of any party trying to bind this nation to a global agreement that will deeply affect our economy must do so only with the consent of the Senate through its constitutional obligation to approve treaties. Democrats are banking on Trump fatigue and discontent with the GOP-led Congress as they vow to compete in 79 House races next year, but the ambitious plan to retake the chamber will also require a big dose of cash. Capitol Hill Republicans struggles with ObamaCare reform and the flood of negative news about the White House may give the Democrats an opening to win back the House. Needing to capture at least 24 net seats in 2018 to take the House, party leaders identified 59 potentially competitive races in January and 20 more last week. No district is off the table, New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said at a press conference last week. Lujan said the group has raised more money online so far this year than in all of 2015, but added, I know (Republicans) will outraise us. Jesse Hunt, national spokesman for the Republican National Congressional Committee, on Tuesday told Fox News: It appears House Democrats havent given up on the old shotgun approach. Throwing out races to see which ones stick is the same strategy thats kept them in the minority since 2010. Republicans have controlled the Senate since 2014 and won control of the House seven years ago in the same kind of midterm wave election Democrats are hoping to ride next year. Democrats missed a rare opportunity last year to retake the Senate, considering Republicans had to defend two dozen senators seeking reelection. But theyve wasted no time this year trying to capitalize on the voter resentment from Trumps upset victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton -- holding town hall events in which they question Trump leadership and argue that millions of Americans will lose their health insurance under Republicans ObamaCare repeal-and-replace efforts. New York Rep. Joe Crowley, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said at the press conference last week on Capitol Hill that Dems are eyeing even more seats. The number in play is (really) well over 80, Crowley said. He also said the group has more than 350 candidates lined up for the races and is targeting such high-profile GOP incumbents as Fred Upton, of Michigan; David Brat, of Virginia; and Arizonas Martha McSally, considered a rising star in the party. Brat, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, the chambers most conservative wing and major ObamaCare critic, is seeking a third term representing Virginia's 7th congressional district, which has voted Republican for nearly a half century. Dave is keeping his promises, and doing what he said he would do, Brat campaign spokeswoman Sara James told Fox News. "The DCCC has no position when it comes to the $20 trillion debt or the $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities we're facing. We have a plan to win again that people can get excited about because it will make their lives better -- and the DCCC has outdated politics, at best. Rory McShane, Republican strategist with Harris Media, argued Tuesday that the Washington press corps keeps pushing this notion that theres some kind of groundswell. But we havent seen it. Democrats have no national message other than We dont like Trump. Still, the possibility that Democrats could ride public opposition to ObamaCare reform is not unfounded. After the House passed its Obama Care overhaul bill in earlier this month, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report downgraded the likelihood Republican winning in 20 House races next year. Not only did dozens of Republicans in marginal districts just hitch their names to an unpopular piece of legislation, Democrats just received another valuable candidate recruitment tool, wrote Cooks expert on House races, David Wasserman, who also suggested early signs of a wave election. Lujan said last week that competing in the Midwest will be a big part of the DCCCs plan, following criticism last year that the party has long overlooked once-loyal voters in those states. The heartland is critically important to the strategy weve laid out, he said. Were going to earn trust where we have lost trust. Lujan also attempted to downplay Democrats having yet to win a 2017 special House election, amid so much purported enthusiasm. He argued Washington Republicans have had to spend tens-of-millions to defend several deep red seats already this year and expressed measured optimism about Democrats next month winning the House seat in Georgia left open when GOP Rep. Tom Price become secretary of Health and Human Services. The very nature that we're even having a conversation about these seats ought to concern them," Lujan said. President Donald Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chief's communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macron's victory earlier this month, according to a French official, who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeau's office responded to requests for comment. The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump -- who, before taking office, was long easily accessible by cellphone and viewed himself as freewheeling, impulsive dealmaker. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. "If you are speaking on an open line, then it's an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so," said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president "doesn't carry with him a secure phone," Chollet said. "If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything you're saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it." The caution is warranted even when dealing with allies. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel's learned in 2013, when a dump of American secrets leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the U.S. was monitoring her cellphone, good relations don't prevent some spycraft between friends. "If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, it's reasonable to assume that they'd hand it right over to their intel service," said Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs in the U.S. State Department. The practice opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last year's presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. Presidents' phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group -- sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less-formal calls with world leaders. Trump's White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aide's attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met in December with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The White House has said such back channel communications are useful and discreet. Trump has struggled more than most recent presidents to keep his conversations with world leaders private. His remarks to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats have all leaked, presumably after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials. It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. But the law contains "blind spots" -- namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Under Barack Obama, the first cellphone-toting president, worries about cyber intrusions -- particularly by foreign governments -- pulled the president's devices deep into the security bubble. Many of the functions on Obama's BlackBerry were blocked, and a very small handful of people had his phone number or email address, according to former aides. "Government sometimes looks like a big bureaucracy that has stupid rules, but a lot of these things are in place for very good reasons and they've been around for a while and determine the most effective way to do business in the foreign policy sphere," said Deeks. "Sometimes it takes presidents longer to figure that out." Sentinel Reporter Joshua Vaughn has been selected to take part in the John Jay/Measures for Justice fellowship in New York City June 12-13. The fellowship will focus on learning the Measures for Justice data portal and learning to better tell criminal justice stories using data. It is hosted by John Jay Colleges Center on Media, Crime and Justice and will be held at John Jay College in New York. This is the second fellowship Vaughn has received through the Center on Media, Crime and Justice. In 2016, Vaughn attended the Crime in America Symposium at John Jay College as a John Jay/Harry F. Guggenheim Criminal Justice Reporting fellow. Im very excited to have this opportunity and be able to receive this training, Vaughn said. I really think it is going to help develop my ability to find, develop and tell the stories of how the criminal justice system impacts not only the people involved in the system by the community as a whole. Measures for Justice is a non-partisan organization dedicated to increasing transparency in the criminal justice system by gather and disseminating data. The organization has received financial backing from several groups including the MacArthur Foundation, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Google.org and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Measures for Justice recently unveiled its data portal, which provides county-level criminal justice data metric like bail amounts, ability to pay bail, pretrial diversions and jail utilization in six states including Pennsylvania. More states are expected to be added as data becomes available. The two-day fellowship brings reporters from across the country to learn about criminal justice issues and reporting from top experts. Speakers tentatively include James P. Lynch, chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland; Joe Sexton, senior editor for four-time Pulitzer Prize winning news outlet ProPublica; Jim Parsons, vice president and research director for Vera Institute of Justice and Gipsy Escobar, director of research and analytics for the Measures for Justice Institute. The fellowship with culminate with a reporting project examining how the decisions made in the criminal justice system while a defendant is to be presumed innocent effect the community, with a focus on the role prosecutorial oversight in charging. Businesswoman Karen Handel won Georgia's special House election in its 6th district on Tuesday, according to AP projections. Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgias special House election to take the seat vacated when Tom Price was appointed Health and Human Services Secretary. Keeping the 6th Handel, 55, fought a close race against Ossoff in order to keep Georgias 6th district in the hands of the GOP. The seat has been held by Republicans since Newt Gingrich won it in 1978 but multiple polls initially showed Ossoff with a narrow lead. Handel ran as an anti-abortion candidate who wants to repeal and replace ObamaCare and strengthen the countrys borders, according to her campaign website. The special election was seen in part as a testament to President Donald Trumps influence. Trump has attacked Ossoff on Twitter. He also attended a fundraiser on Handel's behalf in April. Youd better win, Trump reportedly told her at a closed-door event in April. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GEORGIAS SPECIAL ELECTION But Trump was notably missing from Handels campaign websites list of endorsements, which included a bevy of Republican lawmakers. "Vote now for Karen H," Trump tweeted on Monday. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., also campaigned with Handel in May. Handel beat out the other 10 GOP hopefuls who vied for the partys nomination in the special election and beat them in fundraising, as well, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last month that the congressional race between Handel and Ossoff was the most expensive U.S. House race in the nations history, with Democrats outspending Republicans. Political career Aside from her three-year tenure as Georgias secretary of state, Handel launched unsuccessful campaigns for U.S. Senate in 2014 and Georgias governor in 2010. KAREN HANDEL ON SUPPORT FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP She chaired the Fulton County Board of Commissioners for three years beginning in 2003. As the chair, Handel turned the board's $100 million deficit into a balanced budget, her campaign website boasted. Komen controversy Handel also briefly served in a leadership role at the breast cancer research charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure, beginning in January 2011. Handel was vice president for public policy for the organization when it decided to strip its funding for Planned Parenthood, a move that Handel told the Washington Post in 2012 that she supported. But just a few days after announcing its split from Planned Parenthood in February 2012, Komen announced it would reverse its decision as the organization was distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. GEORGIA RACE: GOP VOWS TO UNITE, BEAT OSSOFF AFTER FORCING RUNOFF WITH TRUMPS HELP Handel resigned amid the controversy and reportedly turned down a severance package. HuffPost reported at the time that Handel was a driving force behind the nonprofits decision to strip funding from Planned Parenthood. Handel has denied being the sole authority of the decision. Handels campaign website specifically noted that she has been a strong proponent of womens health for her entire adult life. The Susan G. Komen Board, not Karen Handel, made the decision to implement new grant criteria that impacted Planned Parenthood, it states. Personal life Handel has lived in Georgia's 6th district with her husband, Steve, for almost 25 years, according to her campaign website. She grew up around Washington, D.C., in a Maryland suburb. She attended both Prince Georges Community College and the University College at the University of Maryland. She is a fan of the Indianapolis Colts, the New York Times reported. Jared Kushner's reported attempt to establish a "back-channel" between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential transition team has been a point of contention, even if such talks aren't uncommon. Here's what you should know about back-channel diplomacy. What is back-channel diplomacy? It refers to unofficial but direct, high-level communications that bypass formal channels. Such talks can help governments work through problems and reduce tensions in lower-pressure settings. What was Kushner up to? Kushner spoke to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about opening a line of communication to explore options as the new administration developed a Syria policy, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The goal was to connect Michael Flynn, Trump's then-chief national security adviser, with Russian military leaders. In Syria's civil war, Russia has backed Assad -- while the United States has supported anti-Assad rebels. Kushner allegedly proposed using Russian diplomatic facilities for the discussions, apparently to make them more difficult to monitor, according to a report. Flynn never ended up using Russian facilities to talk to Moscow, U.S. officials said. What about the context of Kushner's outreach? Kushner's outreach, at a time of alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election, has fed accusations of Trump campaign collusion, which the FBI is investigating. Contacts between a transition team and foreign diplomats are normal, Eliot Cohen, a veteran of George W. Bush's State Department, tweeted. "What is not normal," he added, "is asking a hostile government to provide secure comms to avoid FBI/NSA surveillance." "What manner of ignorance, chaos, hubris, suspicion, contempt would you have to have to think that doing this with the Russian ambassador was a good or an appropriate idea?" former CIA boss Michael Hayden asked on CNN. Back channels are fine, Hayden said, "but you don't do it when you're not the government and I don't think you do it using your adversary's communications system." Is it legal? Kushner's contacts revived talk about the Logan Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens from trying to influence a foreign government in disputes with the U.S. The act has been used so rarely that legal experts say it may no longer be valid. No one's ever been found guilty of violating it. Have other presidents used back-channel communications? Yes. The Obama administration approved months of secret meetings between U.S. and Iranian officials to clinch an interim 2013 nuclear deal. Back-channel diplomacy with Cuba spans the secret talks leading to Obama's 2014 agreement to re-establish diplomatic ties back to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when John F. Kennedy was president. President Richard Nixon used multiple back channels to interact with the Soviet Union. What about back-channel communications during times of transition? Nixon set up two back channels to the Soviets while waiting to take over from President Lyndon Johnson, said U.S. Naval War College professor Richard Moss. There have been allegations of back-channel talks between aides close to Republican Ronald Reagan and Iran in 1980 amid U.S. negotiations to release American hostages in Iran. Reagan denied such parallel talks. The hostages were freed hours after his 1981 inauguration. Obama wasn't averse to informal diplomatic channels before his 2008 election. Foreign policy adviser Daniel Kurtzer met with Syrian President Bashar Assad's foreign minister that summer - and the Obama's campaign stressed Kurtzer wasn't a paid adviser or authorized to conduct talks with any government. Obama's rival, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) criticized the outreach. McCain is now among those raising concerns about Kushner's proposed back-channel talks. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have purchased the home theyve been renting in Washington, D.C. for $8.1 million, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Obamas reportedly closed on the home Wednesday. Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property, Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis told the Sun-Times. BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA HAVE BOOK DEALS The 8,200-square-foot home in the Kalorama neighborhood, which was previously sold for $5.295 million in 2014, was once owned by former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart and his wife. The Obamas elected to remain in Washington after leaving the White House until their daughter Sasha can finish high school. Sasha will start her junior year of high school at Sidwell Friends in the fall. The former first family will also continue to own their Chicago home in the South Side Kenwood community, a source told the Sun-Times. Shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday, Sean Spicer held a televised briefing at the White House. And that is news simply because so many media reports predicted, speculated or insinuated that he would be gone by now. This is at least the fifth or sixth wave of stories and segments suggesting that the press secretary was going to be fired, pulled from the daily briefings, or otherwise be downgraded and demoted. And each time, these have turned out to be premature obituaries. The shakeup story is a staple of American journalism, but with this administration its practically a daily fixation. Spicer isnt the only White House official to have gotten the treatment. Reince Priebus has gone through several cycles of breathless reporting that hes halfway out the door; in fact, an Axios story yesterday said President Trump is considering a veteran lobbyist as his new chief of staff. Steve Bannon was supposed to have been marginalized, if not booted, after his feud with Jared Kushner spilled into public view; hes still part of the inner circle. The same goes for Kushner, who had been the subject of media chatter that he might have to give up part of his portfolio or temporarily step aside because the FBI is looking at his contacts with Russia, even though hes not a subject or target of the probe. That's not happening. Now these stories are driven in part by leaks from various White House factions dumping on rivals, so you can hardly blame reporters for vacuuming them up. But that often makes it hard to distinguish between whats real and whats driven by personal agendas. At the same time, Trump is clearly unhappy with his communications team. Mike Dubkes resignation as communications director after just three months on the job was announced yesterday. He was an outsider who couldnt build a relationship with the president, and almost no one in America knew who he was. Trump wants not just to beef up the PR team but to establish an outside war room to handle rapid response on the Russia investigation and perhaps other matters. Hes talked to former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former deputy campaign manager Dave Bossie about joining such an effort, inside or outside the White House, but nothing has been decided. That, however, doesnt necessarily mean other folks will be let go. White House staffing changes are not unusual as an administration tries to find its footing. In the early months of the Clinton administration, George Stephanopoulos, who had been briefing the press, was moved to an inside role, and David Gergen, who had worked for Republican presidents, was brought in as a top adviser. But the coverage of the Trump White House has a soap opera quality. And the president can be counted on to keep the plot moving with his Twitter attacks on what he calls the fake-news press. Spicer amplified that at the podium yesterday. He adopted a terse approach, deflecting questions about Kushner and the FBI by saying the matter is under investigation and he would not respond to unconfirmed allegations by anonymous sources. The spokesman also said that Trump was frustrated by the perpetuation of false narratives based on unnamed sources. He cited as an example of fake news a false tweet by a BBC reporter, picked up elsewhere, that Trump was not listening to the Italian leader at the G-7 summit because he wasnt wearing headphones for the translation; it turned out he was using a small earpiece instead. One of these days the shakeup stories will be right and some top aides will leave or be asked to leave. But for now, Sean Spicer is still doing combat at the podium. President Trump has been giving fellow world leaders his personal cellphone number, former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice, told The Associated Press. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, these sources said. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macron's victory earlier this month, according to a French official, who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. "If you are speaking on an open line, then it's an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so," said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president "doesn't carry with him a secure phone," Chollet said. "If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything you're saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it." All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeau's office responded to requests for comment. Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal adviser for political-military affairs in the U.S. State Department, said "If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, it's reasonable to assume that they'd hand it right over to their intel service. Presidents' phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group -- sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less-formal calls with world leaders. Trump's White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aide's attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met in December with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The practice, if true, opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last year's presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. But the law contains "blind spots" -- namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Security experts have reportedly said a presidents smartphone would have extremely limited uses. "It's not really good for much," Larry Johnson, who worked at the Secret Service from 1982 to 2006, told CNET in January. "You can't make a phone call, because it's too easy to be intercepted. "I can scare you with how easy it is," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report President Trump is known for using Twitter to communicate his thoughts but hes also known for the spelling and grammar errors throughout his tweets. Heres a look at some of Trumps more interesting online spelling and grammar errors. Enormously consensual presidency In an effort to share some praise for his administration from a New York Post columnist, Trump inadvertently referred to his administration as an enormously consensual presidency. His is turning out to be an enormously consensual presidency. So much so that there has never been a day that I wished Hillary Clinton were President, Trump tweeted on Jan. 7, 2017, referencing a New York Post column by Michael Goodwin. The problem: Goodwin didnt call Trumps presidency consensual. Instead, he called it consequential. Trump eventually deleted the tweets and republished a corrected version, but not before Twitter took notice. As Politico reported, the error seemed particularly egregious as the president has been accused of sexual misconduct. In the original tweets, Trump left out a clause that was critical of the White House from the column. The amended tweets included the phrase, despite my own frustration over his missteps. Additionally, Trump also added Goodwins email address to the original tweet. The corrected tweets included a link to the column, instead. Covfefe Trump turned one of his more famous spelling mistakes into a contest of sorts when he asked his 46 million followers to figure out what exactly is a covfefe. Despite the constant negative press covfefe, Trump tweeted just after midnight on May 31, 2017, in a post that was eventually deleted. Later that morning, Trump asked which of his followers can figure out the true meaning of covfefe. Loose Before Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was dubbed Lyin Ted during the 2016 presidential election by Trump, the Manhattan businessman predicted his GOP opponent would loose to then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Ted Cruz is totally unelectable, if he even gets to run (born in Canada). Will loose big to Hillary. Polls show I beat Hillary easily! WIN! Trump tweeted in January 2016. The tweet was not deleted. Payed All of the phony T.V. commercials against me are bought and payed for by SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, the bandits that tell your pols what to do, Trump said in a still-live March 2016 tweet. In nautical terms, the past tense of pay is payed. But when it comes to finance, its paid. Barrack In multiple instances, Trump added an additional letter to his presidential predecessors name. The dying [National Review] has totally given up the fight against Barrack Obama. They have been losing for years. I will beat Hillary! Trump tweeted in January 2016. Just another desperate move by the man who should have easily beaten Barrack Obama, Trump said in March 2016 in a tweet about Mitt Romney. Unpresidented It took Trump and his team more than an hour to fix the atrocious spelling of the word unprecedented in a December 2016 tweet. China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act, Trump tweeted. The corrected tweet was retweeted more than 18,000 times. The Guardian dubbed "unpresidented" to be its word of the year. Honered The day after he was inaugurated, Trump misspelled the word honored. I am honered to serve you, the great American People, as your 45th President of the United States, he said. As the British newspaper Metro reported, that wasnt the first time Trump struggled with a variation of the word honor in tweets. Following a February 2016 debate, Trump tweeted, Wow, every poll said I won the debate last night. Great honer! Both tweets have been deleted. Gas and Thr Trump has often decried the press coverage he has received throughout the course of his presidential campaign and young presidency. And his frustration with the media was glaringly evident with a January 2017 typo-ridden tweet. Thr coverage about me in the [New York Times] and the [Washington Post] gas been so false and angry that the times actually apologized to its.., Trump said on January 28, 2017. Aside from not capitalizing the Times, Trump misspelled the words the and has. Hearby versus Here by As the Washington Posts Mike Madden pointed out, Trump twice struggled with the word hereby on March 3, 2017. I here by demand a second investigation, after Schumer, of Pelosi for her close ties to Russia, and lying about it, Trump said. That tweet was deleted, and Trump tried again. I hearby demand a second investigation, after Schumer, of Pelosi for her close ties to Russia, and lying about it, Trump said. Trump eventually got hereby right that afternoon, and the correct tweet garnered more than 39,000 retweets. Tapp How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during this very sacred election process, Trump tweeted on March 4, 2017. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! Despite the blatant spelling error the tweet has not been deleted. It has more than 52,000 retweets. Kellyanne Conway, one of President Donald Trumps top advisers, is gearing up this week to move into her familys new $7.8 million mansion in the posh Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Massachussetts Avenue Heights. It will be a bachelorette pad for a few weeks until the children get out of school, Conway quipped in an exclusive interview with Mansion Global. Conway, a longtime Republican pollster who became instrumental in Donald Trumps victory as his campaign manager, has been renting in D.C. while her four children, ages 7 to 12, finish out the school year in New Jersey. Shes already asked decorators to tackle the childrens rooms first, before renovating the grand living spaces, where she intends to do some serious entertaining. First and foremost, it is my childrens home. Were arranging for a safe, happy place for teens and tweens to congregate, Conway said. But she also has her eyes set on making their new home a powerful social hub for D.C. elites. She and her husband, George Conway, a partner at a Wall Street law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, who is expected to be named to a role in the Justice Department, bought the nearly 11,500-square-foot home for $7.785 million through a private company, according to property records. The white stucco, Mediterranean-style house, built in 1927, has eight bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a pool and an elevator. Their new digs will make the Conways well equipped to host dinner parties and other soirees There is a catering kitchen in addition to a main family kitchen, designated staff quarters with three extra bedrooms, a wine cellar and wet bar. I intend to dive into social hosting, Conway said. Though by comparison, she added, Im the poorest kid on the block. Billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recently bought a $12 million Beaux-Arts mansion around the corner, and Ms. Conways already planning power walks with influential social swan Hilary Ross, Rosss wife. Shes also a stones throw from millionaire banker turned Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his finance, Louise Lintonwho Conway also plans to have over, she said. Shes has also learned her new home is across the street from Vernon Jordan, a business executive and close adviser to former President Bill Clinton, and nearby powerful business leader and philanthropist Adrienne Arsht. The Conways share their new neighborhood with an array of foreign embassies, as well, including delegations from Italy, Brazil, Denmark and Sri Lanka. And while shes not in the habit of bringing her dogs around with her, Conway said shes promised British Ambassador Sir Kim Darroch she would stop by the embassy, a block away, with her two Welsh corgis. She is no stranger to the city. The pollster turned powerful political adviser spent two decades of her early career working in the nation's capital. She earned a bachelors degree from Trinity College, now called Trinity Washington University, and a law degree from George Washington University Law School, both located in Washington. Its a bit of a homecoming, she said. More from Mansion Global. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Frommers Guides, the travel company is giving away vacations to six military families with some help from HomeAway. Although the giveaway may seem a bit unexpected, Frommers Guides was actually born out of the military. Even before my dad revolutionized travel with Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, he published a travel guide for his fellow soldiers, Pauline Frommer, editorial director of Frommers Travel Guides and Frommers.com, said in a statement. We want to celebrate that past and honor the accomplishments of military families of today. Arthur Frommers first book was "The GIs Guide to Traveling Europe," which he wrote while stationed in Germany during World War II. After the success of his first book, Frommer wrote about travel for civilians and then launched an empire. To enter the contest, families must submit a family photo by June 2. They must also include a paragraph about their familys accomplishments and what a vacation would mean to them. Judges will then whittle the contestants down to 30, and readers will then select the six winning families from that smaller pool. The families will win one of six vacations to Rincon, Puerto Rico; Orlando, Florida; Sonoma, California; Verona, Italy; Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; or London, England. Each winning package will include a five-night stay in a HomeAway vacation rental, airfare for four and $1,500 to spend on the trip. Want to know more? Head to the Frommer's website for more information on the giveaway. India and Germany Ink 12 Pacts Published: May 31, 2017 India and Germany has inked 12 agreements after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Modi and German chancellor Angela Merkel on a range of issues like trade, skill development, cyber security and terrorism. Contents Agreements Others Agreements The 12 agreements include 9 joint declarations of intent (JDIs) and 3 memoranda of understanding (MoU). They are: Agreement on collaboration between the Ministry of Skill Development and Germanys BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research). This agreement would facilitate training of Indian skill development officers and cluster managers. JDI between Ministry of Science and Technology and the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) for the establishment of a Indo-German Centre for Sustainability. JDI between the Ministry of External Affairs and the German Foreign Office on cooperation on cyber policy. JDI between the Ministry of Finance and BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) on Indo-German Development Cooperation. JDI between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and BMWi (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy) over continuation of cooperation in the field of advanced training of corporate and junior executives from India. JDI between the Department of Heavy Industries and BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) on cooperation in vocational education and skill development for machine tools. Agreement between Ministry of Health and BMG (Federal Ministry of Health) on cooperation in health sector. Agreement between the AYUSH and BMG (Federal Ministry of Health) over cooperation in alternative medicine. JDI between the Ministry of External Affairs and the German Foreign Office on collaboration between Foreign Service institutes of both the country. JDI between the Ministry of Railways and German Ministry of Transport on cooperation in railway safety. JDI between the Ministry of Urban Development and German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development on cooperation for sustainable urban development. Others India thanked Germany for supporting its membership bid in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). India and Germany both support each others candidature for a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council. The G4 nations comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan are supporting each others candidature for a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council. India and Germany together has also vowed to counter the challenges posed by those who encourage, support and finance terrorism. They also called for the earlier adoption of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. European countries like Germany, France, the UK and Sweden have recently faced a spate of terror attacks. The latest terror attack was at a concert in Manchester, UK. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017 Topics: India-Germany India-International Relations International Latest E-Books Those who currently serve in the military and retired servicemembers deserve a real vacation where they can kick back, relax and sail to paradise-- without breaking the bank. This summer, several cruise lines are offering special discounts for the brave men and women who work tirelessly to protect the U.S. Whether you want to sail the turquoise waters of the Caribbean or investigate the unspoiled beauty of Alaska, here are some of the industry's best deals that cater just to those who serve: Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival makes it easy to find and book special rates for both active and retired military members. Using an online calendar, travelers can view available dates, destinations and starting military rates. Vacation packages start at just under $300 for four-day Caribbean cruises from Miami or Charleston, S.C. Military cruisers also receive a reduced required deposit of only $49. Some Carnival cruises also allow military personnel to book up to three other cabins at the same rate, as well as upgrade the room location at no charge. CONGRESS INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO PROTECT CRUISERS' SAFETY, RIGHTS Disney Cruise Line Military families or grandparents traveling with children and grandchildren may want to opt for a Disney cruise. Disney's family-favorite cruise line travels to the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, the Panama Canal and other destinations, and offers a military rate on select cruises. The discounted rate is extended to all retired and active military personnel-- or their spouses-- but is limited to one stateroom per individual. The qualifying person, or spouse, must be on the cruise to receive the rate. To see cruises that offer military discounts, visit Disneycruise.disney.go.com. Princess Cruises Instead of a discounted rate, those who serve receive cash back on any Princess cruise, any time of year. Qualifying passengers include veterans, as well as active, retired or disabled military members, may get hundreds to spend on board, based on the time at sea. Eligible cruises will receive $50 spending money for cruises of six days or less, $100 for seven to 13-day cruises or $250 for cruises 14 days or longer. The money may be used for dining aboard the ship, spa treatments, gifts and souvenirs, or on shore excursions for guided tours of one of the ships destinations. Victory Chimes For a more intimate experience, the Victory Chimes, a National Historic Landmark vessel, welcomes military personnel and veterans to sail down the coast of Maine aboard their 40-person historic schooner at a 25 percent discount. On their three- and six-day cruises, passengers not only learn how to help sail the vessel, but theyll explore Maines scenery, wildlife and many fishing villages along the way. The Victory Chimes is the largest passenger schooner in the U.S. and it's image is featured on every Maine state quarter. Royal Caribbean International Fans of Royal Caribbean can enjoy a military rate on selected sailings around the world. The cruise line provides discounted pricing, which varies by itinerary, to both active military personnel and veterans. There are specific identification and other requirements available for review on RoyalCaribbean.com but the military rate is also available for any guest staying in the qualifying individuals stateroom. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Membership Program Discounts Joining programs designed for the military can also net deals on cruises (among other types of vacations) and make booking simpler. Veterans Advantage, for example, is a $60 per year program for active and retired military that pre-qualifies members and works with companies to provide discounts for them. The program provides deals on many different cruise lines, including Holland America, Windstar, Norwegian Cruise Line and Regent Seven Seas. Members may book through the Veterans Advantage website to secure the special rates. Alternately, military personnel who are members of USAA, which provides financial services for retired military and those currently serving, have access to a variety of travel benefits. These include special deals with every major cruise line plus river cruises in the U.S. like Avalon, Viking and Celebrity Cruises. USAA spokeswoman Rebekah Nelson tells Fox News that they even guarantee members will get the best cruise price possible. Delta Air Lines had quite a doggie dilemma last week. Mary Nguyen, a student from Minneapolis, Minn., claimed that the legacy carrier held her dog hostage at an airport in Guatemala because the pets paperwork was misplaced and that the airline only released her dog after he was held for 33 hours in a storage area. But a representative for Delta tells Fox News that officials at the Guatemalan airport were actually behind the dog's prolonged detainment while they waited for proper documentation. Nguyen says she sent her dog an 8-month-old German Shepherd named Bunny to go live with her husband in Guatemala. To facilitate the trip, Nguyen utilized the services of Pet Air Carrier a USDA-certified service that works to relocate pets domestically and internationally in order to obtain and complete the neccessary documentation for international pet relocation services. The student also claims she drove all the way to Wisconsin to get Bunnys paperwork endorsed before the dog's trip. Then, on May 26, Bunny was placed on a Delta flight that left Minneapolis at 5:25 p.m. Despite taking the necessary precautions and filling out the correct paperwork, Nguyen says her husband was not allowed to retrieve the dog from La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City until the evening of May 28. GIANT RABBIT DIES ABOARD UNITED FLIGHT, PROMPTS OUTRAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA According to Nguyen, officials at the airport informed her that the dogs paperwork had been misplaced and, even though they had access to digital copies, they needed the physical ones before releasing Bunny. "They have all the documents they need on their scratch pad to release her but refuse to do so without the hard copy that they lost," Nguyen told CBS News on Friday. "The document has been in their possession the whole [time] since I've surrendered my dog over." A representative for Delta told Fox News that the company is uncertain as to why or how the documentation was misplaced, but that they are currently looking into the situation. However, Nguyen further alleges that Delta told her shed have to pay $3,000 to release the dog to her husband, prompting her to describe the ordeal as a hostage situation. A representative for Delta tells Fox News that it was both Delta and a Guatemalan official who informed her that she owed an additional 3,000 Guatemalan quetzals and not dollars most likely requested by the Guatemalan airport officials in order to cover import duties, as well as the cost of hiring a customs agent. Delta says that they, as a company, were never trying to collect additional money from Nguyen (and in fact covered these additional costs) which came to just over $400 in U.S currency, in order to help facilitate Bunny's release. Delta also claims they are unaware of the circumstances concerning Nguyen's travel arrangements, so they cannot be sure what fees she had expected to pay, or had already paid regarding her dog's travel. Regardless, Nguyen claims she was overwhelmed upon hearing of Bunny's detainment, and she spent the subsequent 33 hours making phone calls and trying to secure the release of her dog. Ultimately, Nguyen was informed that Bunnys paperwork had been found and rushed to Guatemala. Later that day, the dog was released to her husband. "After 33 hours, they finally released Bunny," Nguyen told MarketWatch. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Delta tells Fox News that they, too, worked diligently with the customer and the airport to provide officials with the documents they needed. They also confirmed to Fox News that they are refunding the customs fees and taxes Nguyen incurred through Delta, as well as the shipping fees, hotel fees, and any incidentals incurred. "We know that pets are important members of the family and worked directly with the customer to ensure that she was reunited with her dog in advance of the paperwork arriving. We are fully refunding the shipment," Delta told Fox News in a statement. An attempt by Fox News to reach Mary Nguyen herself has not been returned. Nguyen and her husbands pet has since been retrieved by an owner, which is more than five Delta-flying pet owners can say about recent travel experiences: Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation determined Delta to be the second-worst airline when it came to animal deaths, with five total animal deaths in 2016 alone, or 1.23 deaths for every 10,000 animals transported. (United was the worst offender, with nine total animal deaths in 2016, or 2.11 for every 10,000 animals transported.) The first flight from Philadelphia to Iceland was not a smooth one. That Icelandair flight bound for Reykjavik with Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney on board had to be diverted to Boston for an undisclosed reason. A website tracking commercial flights shows the plane was diverted around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday and landed in Boston at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. Neither airport officials in Philadelphia nor Boston responded to requests for comment. Mayor Kenneys spokesperson Lauren Hitt put out this statement: The mayor is disembarking the plane along with the rest of the delegation and spending the evening in Boston Additionally, PHL Airport regrets the significant inconvenience this has caused all those on board. We and Icelandair are committed to doing all we can to ensure future travelers have a smooth travel experience on this new route. This is obviously very out of the ordinary. Icelandair tweeted an apology for the "inconvenience" in response to a reporter on board the flight. Kenney's spokeswoman says it is tradition for mayors to visit each other's cities when new international routes are established. The airline is set to fly four flights to Reykjavik weekly through the fall. During his time in the City of Brotherly Love, Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson spent two days touring the sites. He had said his city is becoming a major hub to layover for travelers on the way to Europe. Kenney was scheduled to return Saturday. More from FOX 29. The mayor of Florence says some tourists have no "decorum" these days something he hopes to fix with a water hose. Mayor Dario Nardella says a small number of the Italian city's 12 million annual tourists particularly day-trippers from cruise ships have taken to "camping out" on church steps at lunchtime. They "sit down on church steps, eat their food, and leave rubbish strewn on them" with no respect for "our cultural heritage," Nardella tells The Guardian. He says city officials thought about handing out fines to such tourists, but they decided instead to get creative. The plan: Use water hoses to soak church steps. That way, if tourists sit down, "they'll get wet," Nardella said in announcing the strategy Wednesday. Shortly after the announcement, the steps of both the Basilica of Santa Croce and the Chiesa di Santo Spirito were doused. In the future, this will be a daily occurrence, reports The Telegraph. "Instead of imposing fines, we thought this measure was more elegant," Nardella tells The Guardian, adding that other areas might eventually get a wash as well. While some social media users joked that a free shower might be nice in the heat of summer, others have accused city officials of being "elitist" in targeting tourists who choose not to eat in Florence's restaurants, per The Local. Nardella counters that the city has plenty of outdoor seating for tourists. Churches, however, are no place for a picnic, he says. (In related news, Barcelona has an issue with its tourists, too.) This article originally appeared on Newser: "Florence Brainstorms 'Elegant' Solution for Rude Tourists." The Spokane woman who quit as head of her local NAACP chapter days after her parents said she was lying about her race said Tuesday she still considers herself black and that her situation is "at the core of definitions of race." The bizarre case of Rachel Dolezal continued to play out as the 37-year-old appeared on NBC's "Today" show and seemed to turn the traditional definition of race on its head. "I identify as black." Rachel Dolezal "I identify as black," she told Matt Lauer. "I hope that that can drive at the core of definitions of race, ethnicity, culture, self-determination, personal agency and, ultimately, empowerment," she said at another point in the interview. Dolezal said she has always thought of herself as black, and that as a child, she would draw herself in pictures with a brown crayon with black curly hair. Meanwhile, her parents and adopted brother appeared separately on Fox News Channel and said she has been falsely claiming to be African-American for several years. Ezra Dolezal, her brother, told "Fox & Friends" Tuesday that he started to notice in 2011 that she was changing her appearance. He said she changed her hair style and used makeup to alter her skin tone. He said her claim that she identified as black since she was a child is not true. Dolezal resigned Monday, just days after her parents told local media outlets that she had misrepresented herself as fully or partially black. In reality, they said, their daughter's ancestry is German, Swedish, and Czech, with some Native American background as well. Dolezal sued Howard University after she received her graduate degree there, claiming the historically black college had discriminated against her because she was white. WTTG reported that Dolezal filed her lawsuit against Howard in 2002, asking for damages due to "medical and emotional distress." Her parents told Fox News Channel that Dolezal had submitted African-themed art as part of her application to the school, and that they believed the school was surprised when, after accepting her, they learned that she was white. Dolezal, who then went by her married name, Rachel Moore, claimed the university blocked her appointment as a teaching assistant, failed to hire her as an art teacher upon graduation and removed some of her pieces from a student art exhibition in favor of works by African-American students. In 2005, the D.C. appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling throwing out the lawsuit and Dolezal was ordered to pay the university $2,700 to cover the costs of the lawsuit. WTTG also reported that Dolezal had received three speeding tickets in Virginia, where she lived while attending school, in 2000, 2001, and 2003. All three court documents listed her race as white. David Smedley, an associate professor of sculpture at Howard, told the Washington Post that Dolezal's race was never in question during her time at the school. "She was a blue-eyed, blond woman," Smedley told the paper. In addition to her departure from the NAACP, Dolezal was fired Monday as a weekly columnist for The Pacific Northwest Inlander, Spokane's alternative weekly, and her contract as an instructor at Eastern Washington University was not renewed. City officials are investigating whether she lied about her ethnicity when she landed an appointment to Spokane's police oversight board. On her application, she said her ethnic origins included white, black and American Indian. On Friday, police said they were suspending investigations into racial harassment complaints filed by Dolezal before the uproar, including one from earlier this year in which she said she received hate mail at her NAACP office. Police released files showing that one package did not bear a date stamp or barcode, meaning it was probably not handled through the post office. Dolezal's parents appeared on NBC's "Today" show Monday and said they hope to reconcile with their daughter. "We hope that Rachel will get the help that she needs to deal with her identity issues. Of course, we love her," her mother said. For one up-and-coming trumpeter from Afghanistan, music has set him free. Ahmad Baset Azizi, 18, has spent the last year studying at the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan a long way from learning how to play the trumpet in his native country where studying music was once forbidden. It was hard for me to walk the streets with my trumpet, Azizi, who goes by his middle name Baset, said in an interview with Fox News. When the Taliban was in power, music was banned so many people thought it was still not accepted and they would give me a hard time. It was back in 2011 when Baset originally started learning his instrument after he was encouraged by his father to do so. I was able to practice all the time. I played whenever I wanted. This is normal life here for a musician. Not like back in Afghanistan. Ahmad Baset Azizi At the time, I really didnt know what it was, he said. I was not happy with it at first. It was too big for me and hard to play. But once I decided that I liked it, I decided to become the best trumpet player I could be. While the Afghan government has allowed music once again, learning how to play was no easy feat for the young musician. I could never practice at home in case someone would hear my trumpet, he said. I could only practice at school and it was not open all the time. Baset says that when he was younger, his original school, which was next to the Afghanistan Ministry of Affairs, was often closed after bombings or attacks in the area. There were a lot of bombs, he added. You would leave school and see bodies on the street. He eventually attended the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), but because of the previous Taliban ban on music the relatively new school was often the target of insurgents. Baset narrowly missed being injured himself in one such bombing. We had two chamber music concerts for successive nights. I played the first night, but the second night it was Afghan traditional instruments, so I decided that I did not want to go, he said. There was a bombing that night inside the hall. I even heard the sound of the explosions. It was so stressful. I still have it in my mind. Baset remained determined to attend school and master his instrument. Fast forward a few years and the trumpet teacher at ANIM one of the only players in Afghanistan left the school. That meant that Baset was without a competent instructor. Thats when he turned to the internet, where he watched trumpet videos on a near endless loop to teach himself. One of the videos that he discovered was of David Bilger, the principal trumpet player of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Baset was so captivated by the music he heard, it led him to track down Bilger on Facebook and send a friend request. He was hilarious, Bilger said to Fox News, recalling the first time he spoke with Baset on Facebook Messenger. He introduced himself saying that he was the second-best trumpet player in Afghanistan, because there were only two. I said to myself, OK, Ill bite. Bilger says that young Baset was looking for lessons. He was without a teacher and basically looking for help, Bilger said. We started with Skype lessons every week. It was several months into their lessons when Baset told Bilger his dream -- to spend his senior year of high school at Interlochen, a prestigious music school in Michigan. The orchestra player helped Baset get in by helping him develop a repertoire for his audition. Bilger also helped set up a GoFundMe campaign where enough money was raised to cover his costs to attend the school after he was accepted into the program. I really liked it, Baset said to Fox News. I was able to practice all the time. I played whenever I wanted. This is normal life here for a musician. Not like back in Afghanistan. It was during the past year that he was able to meet Bilger in person, and they were even able to occasionally continue their lessons one-on-one. Not only did he teach me how to play the trumpet, but he is also teaching me to be a fine person, Baset said of Bilger. Last Saturday the young musician graduated with honors recently was accepted to University of Kansas School of Music. He plans to attend in the fall, and while he has received a scholarship his family cannot afford to cover his other costs to stay here. Under the encouragement of Bilger and others who have supported him here in the U.S., Baset has set up a new GoFundMe campaign. He has had $12,000 of his $65,000 goal donated to him in the past three months. Baset says he would like to become a professional orchestra musician after he completes his college education and that, someday soon, he would love the opportunity to sit next to Bilger in an performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In college, I hope to get good enough to sit and play with him. Jack Keane, a retired lieutenant colonel, once piloted B-24s and B-29s as a member of the U.S. Army Air Corp and U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Keene, 95, participated in 50 bombing missions and flew 100 missions transporting supplies over the Himalayas. Despite his lengthy resume, Keene got a chance to fly up in a Boeing B-29 one last time on April 29, according to The Orange County Register. As part of a fleet of World War II-era aircraft on the Commemorative Air Force AirPower History Tour, Keene flew in a Boeing B-29 Superfortress named FIFI at the Camarillo Airport. FIFI, along with one other remaining airworthy B-29, makes stops at airports throughout the country as part of the tour. VETERANS MAKE IT THEIR MISSION TO CLEAN UP HISTORIC CEMETERY Still, the flight didnt go exactly as Keene would have preferred, his grandson told the Register. He was very upset that he couldnt fly the plane, Grant Keene said. Even told the pilot how many more (flying) hours he had than the guy. The elder Keene received two Distinguished Unit Citations and multiple Air Medals during his time in the service. Going up in the B-29 allowed his family to get a glimpse into his experience as a pilot. I always appreciated machinery and aircraft and I always loved my grandfather, Grant Keene said. For me it was a way to live through his experiences. Mary Kay Letourneaus husband has filed for a separation from his former teacher, nearly 20 years after she went to jail for having a sexual relationship with him while he was in the sixth grade, the Seattle Times and TMZ reported Tuesday. Letourneau was married with four children when she pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape against 12-year-old Vili Fualaau in a case that was widely reported in 1997. She became pregnant and gave birth that year. Fualauu was in Letourneaus class at Buriens Shorewood Elementary School in both the second and fourth grade. Letourneau was released in 1998, but was again caught having sex with Fualaau. She was impregnated again, and this time was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for violating her probation. Letourneau was released from prison in 2004, and married Fualaau in 2005. In 2015, Letourneau said she hoped to get back into teaching. Read more from Q13 FOX. The man accused of killing eight people including a deputy sheriff during a shooting spree in a rural Mississippi town was denied bond in an appearance before a judge Tuesday. Lincoln County Justice Court judge Roger Martin denied bond for 35-year-old Willie Corey Godbolt, who was charged with one count of capital murder and seven counts of first-degree murder, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). Martin also said the court will appoint an attorney for Godbolt. Godbolts hearing was held in nearby Gallman County due to safety concerns, according to MBI communications director Warren Strain. On Monday, Strain released a statement stating Godbolt either knew or was related to each of his victims. Godbolt is accused of gunning down eight people in three different locations. The shooting rampage allegedly started after a domestic dispute between Godbolts estranged wife and her family surrounding the custody of his children. Shortly after he was arrested, Godbolt spoke to a reporter from the Clarion-Ledger and appeared to confess to the alleged crimes. Fifty-five year-old Barbara Mitchell, 53-year-old Brenda May, 35-year-old Tocarra May, and Lincoln County deputy sheriff William Durr were killed at a home on Lee Road in Bogue Chitto. According to authorities, Durr responded to a domestic call at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Saturday. PORTLAND MAYOR URGES U.S. OFFICIALS TO SHUT DOWN 'ALT-RIGHT' RALLIES An 11-year boy and 17-year-old Jordan Blackwell were shot and killed at a seprate home on Coopertown Road in Brookhaven. Police also say the bodies of 45-year-old Ferral Burage and 46-year-old Shelia Burage were discovered at a third home on East Lincoln Road. Caleb Edwards was at the home on Coopertown Road and told The Associated Press how his cousin Jordan saved his life. I thought I was going to die, Edwards said. Caleb described how he felt the impact of his cousin Jordan being shot while he protected him from the gunfire, and told WJTV he played dead so the shooter wouldn't notice him. DC SNIPER'S LIFE SENTENCE THROWN OUT His 11-year-old brother Austin also was shot and killed. A preliminary hearing for Godbolt has been scheduled for July 26. The Associated Press contributed to this report. One Mississippi National Guard member was killed and three others were injured when their tank rolled over during a training exercise in the California desert. Investigators were trying to determine what caused the death and injuries Monday night at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, a remote facility 37 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Barstow in the High Mojave Desert midway between San Bernardino and Las Vegas. A military helicopter flew the three injured soldiers to a hospital in Loma Linda. Two have been released, and one was in stable condition Tuesday. The names of all four are being withheld until 24 hours after their families are notified. The members of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, based in Tupelo, Mississippi, were participating in a two-week-long training exercise, which focused this week on maneuvering tanks, said Kenneth Drylie, spokesman for the center. Drylie said this week's scheduled exercises did not involve live-fire training. The troops were doing an armored brigade combat team exercise, which emulates an overseas deployment to a war zone, Drylie said. Also participating in the training are National Guard members from California, Missouri, and members of the Air Force. Later in the training, troops will participate in a mock battle with 5,000 troops squaring off against 5,000 others designated as enemy forces, Drylie said. He declined to comment further, saying the accident is under investigation. Lt. Col. Christian Patterson, spokesman of the Mississippi National Guard, said the exercise has been suspended for the unit that the four members belonged to, but the rest of the Mississippi Guard troops will still participate. He said no further details would be released to avoid compromising the investigation. The center is one of the few places in the country with room for 10,000 troops to battle each other. It does 10 such training exercises a year with all branches of the military using the facility, Drylie said. "It's basically like a full deployment overseas except that it's in the California desert," Drylie said. India and Spain Sign Seven Agreements Published: May 31, 2017 India and Spain have signed seven agreements following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Spain in nearly 30 years. The last Prime Minister to visit Spain was Rajiv Gandhi in 1988. Earlier, PM Modi and the Spanish prime minister had met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed Spains infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors in India. Spain is Indias 7th largest trading partner in the European Union. Bilateral trade between both the nations have totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016. Agreements Agreement for Transfer of Sentence Persons MoU on Cooperation in Organ Transplantation MoU on Cooperation in Cyber Security MoU on Cooperation in Renewable Energy MoU on Technical Cooperation in Civil Aviation Agreement on visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. MoU between Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017 Topics: India-International Relations india-spain International Latest E-Books A Pennsylvania police sergeant was arrested this weekend after he crashed into several parked vehicles as he was leaving a bar, police said. Harmony Township Police Sergeant Jason Vular was off-duty when he went to a bar in Pittsburgh after the Pittsburgh Pirates game Friday evening, Pittsburgh Police Department Spokesperson Sonya Toler told Fox News. Early Saturday morning, officers were called to the parking lot where Vular had struck the two vehicles with his truck and was apparently drunk, Toler said. Vular was released after refusing a sobriety test but was later arrested, according to Toler. Fox News reached out to Harmony Township Police and a spokesperson would not comment on the case. The Harmony Township Police website still lists Vular as a full-time sergeant. Authorities responded late Tuesday to a report of an armed man inside one of the parking garages at Orlando International Airport that turned into a 2-hour standoff before the suspect was taken into custody. Police officers communicated with the man at a rental car location inside Level 1, Airside A, according to FOX 35 Orlando. "Gunman in custody. Everyone is safe," the Orlando Police Department tweeted. The airport tweeted that the area had been contained and there was minimal impact to operations. Passengers however were not being allowed into the parking garage area. Glorializ Coln Plaza, 20, told the Orlando Sentinel she was just getting off work from Virgin Atlantic airlines when she saw everyone hiding. She got off the elevator and saw the man on the floor near the rental car area. He was screaming, and cops had surrounded him. "I couldn't make out the words, but he was screaming really loud," she said. "Everyone there told me right before this happened a man said to everyone: `You're going to need mental therapy after this,' then he pulled out a gun and everyone ran." Plaza said she didn't hear any gunshots or see anyone injured. "I saw all the cops with the long rifles and started shaking," she said. "It didn't seem real." Orlando Police said the impact on operations inside the airport were minimal; however, street traffic arriving by ground at the airport became backed up considerably. Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol advised commuters to expect delays and to remain inside their vehicles. Earlier this year, authorities an Alaska man killed five people inside a baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Read more from FOX 35 Orlando. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Burial flags on display for the Memorial Day weekend were stolen from the Korean War Memorial at Graceland Cemetery in Decatur, Illinois sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, the general manager of the cemetery told Herald & Review. The four stolen flags known for draping veterans coffins during funerals measure 5 feet wide and are more than 9 feet long. Theyre valued at $150 each. Cameras will now be installed to monitor the cemetery in order to discourage thieves, according to David Goebel, the general manager of Graceland Fairlawn Funeral Home and Cemeteries. GEORGIA VETERANS UPSET AFTER HOA LIMITS DISPLAY OF AMERICAN FLAGS And we've been in contact with the Decatur police, the Macon County Sheriff's Office and the Decatur Park Police and talked to them about doing some more patrolling next year, Goebel told Herald & Review. The flags were part of a collection of donated flags presented to Graceland for display. Theyre only flown on Memorial Day weekend. The flags were donated by veterans families, Goebel said, sometimes after the funeral of the relative. Each flag that was stolen had the name of the veteran affiliated with it inscribed on the fabric in marker. It's depressing that someone could come out and be so destructive as to want to take an American flag, Goebel said. Unfortunately, with our society today, you can't have anything nice, you can't do anything worthwhile, without having someone come and try to destroy it. An Alabama veteran who walks miles to see his wife at a nursing home was highlighted in a recent Facebook post written by a lieutenant for the local police department. Rain or shine, 70-year-old James Wright is walking to see "the most beautiful woman in the world" #tuesdaymotivation https://t.co/JZDGsMEfDH pic.twitter.com/dVtQknvOCn WVTM 13 (@WVTM13) May 31, 2017 Army veteran James Wright, 70, of Etowah County, started walking to the nursing home after his truck broke down to see his wife. Wright described her as the most beautiful woman in the world, according to WVTM 13. ALABAMA SHOOTING: 12 WOUNDED AT BLOCK PARTY, NO ARRESTS MADE Charles Plitt, a lieutenant for the Weaver Police Department, said Wright stopped him while he was driving on Thursday for help, according to WSB-TV. The veteran, who recently had suffered a stroke, told the off-duty cop that he needed to see his wife but could not walk anymore. Plitt drove Wright to the nursing home and along the way the two talked. Wright told Plitt about his 22 years in the Army and fighting in Vietnam. Plitt thanked him for his service. These veterans deserve a lot more recognition and commemoration than they get, Plitt told WVTM. ALABAMA EXECUTES MAN FOR 1982 MURDER Plitt wrote about the encounter on the Weaver Police Departments Facebook page and described what Memorial Day meant to him after the exchange. James is one of many living testaments as to what really matters on this Memorial day weekend, Plitt wrote. The community is reportedly helping Wright get his truck fixed. For now, Wright said he will walk while he still can to see his wife. Graduating seniors at an Arizona high school celebrated their final days with a massive paper toss down a set of stairs. A video uploaded on Twitter over the long weekend of Basha High School graduates has gone viral, garnering more than 70,000 likes and thousands of shares. SAN DIEGO SCHOOL DISTRICT SUED OVER ANTI-ISLAMOPHOBIA CAMPAIGN People came with boxes, suitcases filled, all sorts of things filled with paper and just dumped it out, senior Jordan White told ABC 15 Arizona. There was such a thick coating of paper that you could just slide right down the stairs, it was wild. White posted the video Twitter, which originally had to be trimmed from 3 minutes long. He said that within days, it was getting traction all over the world. Its all recycled, there was lots of concern if it was recycled or not, but its all recycled, he said. It seems the paper toss is a tradition at Basha high, located in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix. A video from the 2015 graduating class shows them dumping tons of paper down the stairs. ASPIRING AFGHAN MUSICIAN SEEKS US 'ENCORE' AFTER HEROIC STUDIES IN WAR-TORN HOMELAND This is my little moment to kind of say good-bye to the school, and kind of give them something back, senior Chandler Plough told ABC 15. After the toss, students do pitch in and help clean it all up. Basha High School graduation is scheduled for today. The enthusiasm felt by Border Patrol agents following news of President Trumps strong stance on border and immigration enforcement is slowly dissipating as the reality sinks in that actual enforcement of stronger rules may not be changing much from the Obama years. Agents hoped to be able to return to the days where they could inspect the immigration status of suspicious individuals at transportation hubs, jails or even businesses -- not only as an immigration enforcement measure, but to prevent terrorism. According to some agents, there is a general feeling of a "disconnect" between what President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly both say they want and expect -- and what is actually happening at the Border Patrol operational level. BORDER PATROL SEIZES 12 POUNDS OF HEROIN AFTER CHASE One major issue is what is perceived as the continued foot-dragging to appoint the three operational heads of the agency, all of whom continue to have acting in front of their titles: Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Ron Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection and Carla Provost, acting Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said this uncertainty contributes to confusion among field agents who dont know who is actually going to lead the agency. McAleenan was nominated for the post in January but has not had a Senate confirmation hearing scheduled. And where McAleenan goes, so too will Vitiello and Provost, whose positions do not need Senate approval. There is a sense among agents that nobody wants to make sweeping changes until the leadership positions are permanent. Dan Hetlage, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, would not comment on the complaints. BORDER WALL FUNDING INCLUDED IN TRUMP'S BUDGET PLAN, MULVANEY SAYS Terence Shigg, president of the National Border Patrol Council, Local 1613, said the Border Patrol leadership has been hands-off even though Trump has vowed a zero-tolerance approach at the border. There seems to be no real reason for this, other than a group of senior Border Patrol leadership who wish to just go along to get along, Shigg said. Thats why, Shigg said, there is a business-as-usual attitude in the agency. The plunge in apprehensions at the border has been heralded as a significant early policy success by the new administration. Apprehensions are down more than 61 percent since the January inauguration but not because of any new Border Patrol initiative. Many credit Trumps tough rhetoric for being a deterrence to border crossers. According to data on the Border Patrol website: In 2016, from January through the end of April, there were 121,235 apprehensions, compared to 47,573 over the same period this year. Trump is the only presidential candidate the National Border Patrol Council has ever endorsed. Agents still have confidence in him, Judd said, but that could change if aggressive enforcement does not begin happening soon. Judd said the controversial catch-and-release policy, where agents release illegal immigrants once they are apprehended, is still occurring in Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Border Patrol ended the catch-and-release shortly after Trump became president. We all thought on January 25, with the signing of the Border Security Executive Order, that catch-and-release would end, Judd said. ICE is still walking people out the door without cases being adjudicated and our agents are questioning: Whats the point? A Walt Disney World employee is accused of impersonating an FBI agent while stopping a woman on a Florida road. Orlando television station WKMG reports an Orange County Sheriff's deputy responded when he saw 26-year-old Brett Michael Smith pull over the woman near SeaWorld's Aquatica waterpark Saturday. The woman didn't initially stop after hitting an orange traffic cone when she realized the Aquatica parking lot was full. An arrest report says Smith walked up to her car at a red light and flashed his badge, saying he "worked for the FBI." The deputy, who was nearby, turned on his lights and parked his cruiser. The report says at first he thought the badge was real. Authorities say Smith bought the badge for Halloween. A lawyer wasn't listed for Smith. ___ Information from: WKMG-TV, http://www.local6.com/index.html The Latest on a deadly stabbing attack on a Portland, Oregon, light-rail train (all times local): 2:45 p.m. The federal government has declined to revoke a permit for Sunday's pro-Donald Trump free speech rally in downtown Portland. Mayor Ted Wheeler wanted the permit rescinded. He said the event will exacerbate tensions in the city following last week's deadly stabbing on a light-rail train. The U.S. General Services Administration said Wednesday that the permit applicant followed all rules and regulations and there is no basis for revoking it. Wheeler said he respects the decision but remains concerned about the safety of Portland residents. The agency handled the permit request because the rally is being held in a park owned by the U.S. government. ___ 12:43 p.m. An organizer has canceled an anti-Shariah law rally that had been planned June 10 in downtown Portland. In a Facebook post, Scott Ryan Presler blamed "inflammatory comments" by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, saying they put participants at risk of violence. He said they will instead march in Seattle. Wheeler called on the U.S. government to revoke a permit for an event Sunday billed as a pro-President Donald Trump free-speech rally and not to issue a permit for the anti-Shariah law rally. Both were planned on federal property. Wheeler said the city is in mourning from a deadly stabbing on a light-rail train and that the events would exacerbate tensions. Jeremy Joseph Christian is accused of killing two men and injuring a third who tried to stop his anti-Muslim tirade. The rally scheduled for Sunday is still on. ____ 11:52 a.m. A man who was stabbed in the neck while helping confront a man shouting anti-Muslim insults at two young women on a Portland, Oregon, light-rail train says the city should focus on the girls, not him. Micah Fletcher said in a Facebook video Wednesday that the young women must be traumatized. The 21-year-old says Portland has a "white savior complex" and wants to heap praise on him, but the real victims are the women who were subjected to hate speech Friday. Two other men who tried to help died after they also were stabbed. Fletcher says he's heartbroken for their families. Jeremy Joseph Christian is accused of aggravated murder and other charges. ___ 12:15 a.m. Court documents allege a man charged with fatally stabbing two men and injuring a third who tried to shield young women from an anti-Muslim tirade in Portland, Oregon, bragged about the attacks as he sat in the back of a police patrol car. Jeremy Joseph Christian made a first court appearance Tuesday on aggravated murder and other charges but did not enter a plea. A probable cause affidavit says 35-year-old Christian can be heard on video surveillance saying he stabbed three people in the neck. The Pacific Northwest has been a leader on many socially liberal fronts including raising the minimum wage and legalizing recreational marijuana but the region has a long and violent history of white supremacist and other racist activities. Three married U.S. Marine officers are under investigation after a night out in February in Bogota that went terribly wrong. The allegations detail how the men, who were out drinking with local women, were slipped illicit drugs, robbed of property and taken to the ER according to documents obtained by the Miami Herald. The investigative report recommended that the men, identified as Marine Col. Roger T. McDuffie, Maj. Andrew L. Mueller, and Maj. Mauricio Saenz, face appropriate administrative or judicial proceedings. They could be charged with conduct unbecoming an officer, according to the Herald. The trio traveled to a section of Bogota that is off limits to Pentagon personnel, violated a 1 a.m. curfew and brought four women back to their hotel rooms. At least two of the Marines blacked out. Portions of the incident were captured on hotel security cameras. Somewhere along the way, according to the report obtained by the Herald, two of the men were slipped benzodiazepine, possibly in their drinks. They also drank a type of very intoxicating Colombian liquor before returning to their hotel with the women. Subsequently, the Marines laptops, iPhones, iPads, iPods and cash were stolen. According to the Herald, the investigation noted that the Marines had been briefed on the specific hazard associated with local nationals utilizing the drug scopolamine to incapacitate and rob their victims. A U.S. interceptor scored a direct hit and appeared to result in the "complete obliteration" of a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean in what the Pentagon said Wednesday was a realistic test that mirrored the missile threat from North Korea and Iran. Vice Adm. Jim Syring, director of the Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency, told Pentagon reporters that the test included decoys and replicated a very specific scenario in the Pacific. "I was confident before the test that we had the capability to defeat any threat that they would throw at us, and I'm even more confident today after seeing the intercept test yesterday, that we continue to be on that course," Syring said. Tuesday's test was a critical milestone for a program that has been hampered by setbacks over the years, he said. Despite the success, the $244 million test didn't confirm that under wartime conditions the U.S. could intercept an intercontinental-range missile fired by North Korea. The North is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such an ICBM and could develop decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead. Syring, however, said that the test was based on intelligence projections of where the missile threat to the United States would be in 2020. He said the results show that the U.S. program is progressing "ahead of where we believe the threat will go in terms of complexity, countermeasures and consideration for capacity down the road." Philip E. Coyle, a former head of the Pentagon's test and evaluation office and a senior fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said the outcome was a significant success for a test that was three years in preparation. Still, he noted it was only the second success in the last five intercept attempts since 2010. "In several ways, this test was a $244 million-dollar baby step, a baby step that took three years," Coyle said. The most recent intercept test, in June 2014, was successful, but the longer track record is spotty. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful. North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are a defense against perceived U.S. military threats. Its accelerating missile development has complicated Pentagon calculations, most recently by incorporating solid-fuel technology into its rockets. The step would mean even less launch warning time for the United States. Liquid fuel is less stable and rockets using it have to be fueled in the field, a process that takes longer and can be detected by satellites. Underscoring its uninterrupted efforts, North Korea on Monday fired a short-range ballistic missile that landed in Japan's maritime economic zone. In the U.S. test, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency launched an interceptor rocket from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The target was an intercontinental-range missile fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, and the U.S. used radars in the Pacific and overhead to track it. Syring said there was no homing beacon of any type on the missile. According to the plan, a 5-foot-long "kill vehicle" released from atop the interceptor zeroed in on the ICBM-like target's mock warhead outside Earth's atmosphere and obliterated it by sheer force of impact, the Pentagon said. The "kill vehicle" carries no explosives, either in testing or in actual combat. Because much of program is classified, Syring said he couldn't provide a lot of details about the custom-made target. He said it "flew at a higher altitude and longer range and higher velocity than any other target we've flown to date." Syring compared the defensive tactic to "hitting a bullet with a bullet." With congressional support, the Pentagon is increasing by the end of this year the number of deployed interceptors, based in California and Alaska, to 44 from the current total of 36. Syring said the next test will be in the fall of 2018 and involve a mock ICBM as the target. But it will use two interceptors to take out the missile, he said, because in a real life situation, the U.S. would launch more than one rocket to destroy any such threat. - , 3 : - 2 , 17 ; An investigation into the misuse of funds by an outgoing chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley cost 10 times more than the misspending. UC spokesman Ricardo Vazquez told The Associated Press on Wednesday that UC spent $57,671 on the probe. The investigation found that Chancellor Nicholas Dirks used university resources for part of a gym membership, personal training sessions and an elliptical machine. The services and equipment cost roughly $5,000. Vazquez said the aim was to conduct a fair and thorough investigation. Dirks is stepping down on June 30. He has not commented on the spending, but UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein has said he has apologized and repaid the money. The cost of the probe was first reported by the Daily Californian campus newspaper. Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is warning the VA is "still in critical condition" despite efforts to reduce wait times for medical appointments and expand care in the private sector. In a "State of the VA" report released Wednesday, he points to decades of disrepair and bloated bureaucracy. He offers a blunt diagnosis: "There is a lot of work to do." Veterans can get "same-day" services at medical centers but are still waiting too long for new appointments at about 30 locations nationwide. Many primary care centers are understaffed. Inventory systems at several facilities are woefully out of date, and employee accountability "clearly broken." Shulkin says the VA had about 1,500 disciplinary actions against employees pending, citing legal requirements it wait at least a month before taking action for misconduct. Police in Everett, Washington say would-be ATM thieves thwarted their own burglary attempt by setting the cash on fire. Police and firefighters were called Tuesday morning to Coastal Community Bank on 19th Ave SE for the report of a fire. When they arrived, crews found the drive-up ATM had been set on fire. WOMAN WHO SURVIVED ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB MASSACRE DIES IN CAR CRASH Aaron Snell with the Everett Police Department said the suspects used a blowtorch to try and access the ATMs cash box. In the process of doing so, they accidentally set the money on fire. John Dickson, Chief Operations Officers of Coastal Community Bank, said the suspects were not able to get away with any money. He told Q13 News that masked men tried to break into the banks cash deposit box just a few weeks ago. Dickson bank said the bank will be providing surveillance video of the incident to Everett police. Read more news at Q13Fox. The death of an Australian girl in a Baghdad bombing underscored why Australia was fighting Islamic State militants in the Middle East, the Australian foreign minister said Wednesday. Zynab Al-Harbiya, 12, from Melbourne, went with her family to Baghdad to visit her sick grandfather when she was killed early Tuesday local time when a car bomb exploded outside a popular ice cream shop, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. More than 30 others were killed, Australian official Frances Adamson said. Dozens more were injured, including Al-Harbiya's mother and an uncle, according to lawmaker Bill Shorten. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iraqi officials said involved apparently remotely detonated explosives inside a parked car. "This tragedy underscores the brutality of this terrorist organization. It shows no respect for religion, nationality, sovereignty, borders, no respect for humanity," Bishop told reporters. She said it shows why the Australian government has continued to commit defense personnel to support the Iraqi security forces "so that they can fight to defeat this terrorist organization within Iraq and to prevent its spread to other parts of the world including in our region." The girl's cousin, Layla Al-Saabary, said the family had only been in Baghdad for a few days when the tragedy occurred and Zynab had been "scared of the bombs." "She wanted to go and buy ice cream, so she insisted. Her mother gave permission and so they went to the main square and she was going to go buy ice cream and she went and she never came back," Al-Saabary told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Shorten told Parliament that Zynab, the Australian-born daughter of Iraqi refugees, had gone with her mother and an uncle to Baghdad while her father stayed in Melbourne. He said the mother's wounds were not life threatening but the girl's uncle was hurt seriously. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described Zynab as "another innocent killed by this violent tendency, this violent terrorist movement that is gnawing away, seeking to destroy and pervert and blaspheme one of the great regions of the world." Australia is one of the biggest contributors to the U.S.-led military campaign against IS militants in Iraq and Syria, with 780 Australian military personnel in the Middle East and aircraft including six jet fighters striking Islamic State targets. The holy Muslim month of Ramadan is often marked by an increase in violence in Iraq. Last year, a huge truck bombing claimed by IS killed hundreds in a retail district in central Baghdad where people were shopping for clothes ahead of the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. It was the single deadliest event in Baghdad since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. Populist leader Aleksandar Vucic was sworn in as Serbia's president on Wednesday, pledging to work for peace and stability in the war-weary Balkans while strengthening the country's armed forces. Hours before the oath in parliament, Vucic's supporters clashed with opposition groups that were prevented from protesting in downtown Belgrade. Opposition groups said there were no injuries. Later on Wednesday, a few thousand people joined an opposition protest against Vucic. Carrying banners that read "not our president" or "against dictatorship," opposition supporters marched through the Belgrade city center, blocking traffic while chanting slogans against Vucic and blowing whistles. "There are two roads for Serbia: one led by Vucic, which is the road of dictatorship and destruction of freedom, and the road of freedom and democracy cherished by the people who gathered here today," said liberal leader Sasa Jankovic, who trailed Vucic at the presidential vote last month. No incidents were reported. Vucic, a former ultranationalist turned self-declared pro-European Union reformer, formally stepped down on Wednesday from his prime minister's post after winning the presidential election by a landslide in April. The opposition has alleged irregularities during the election campaign including muzzling the media and accuses Vucic of autocratic rule. "We must create a region where differences are an advantage and not the basis for clashes," Vucic said in his inaugural speech. "There have been enough burials in the Balkans, it is time to give birth," he added, referring to the wars in the southern European region in the 1990s in which he supported the expansion of Serbia's borders at the expense of its neighbors. Vucic also said Serbia won't join NATO nor become a member "of any other military alliance." "While we have to talk to everyone, we also have to strengthen our defense capacity," he said. During three years as prime minister, Vucic repeatedly called EU membership Serbia's "strategic goal." At the same time, he has been strengthening ties with Serbia's traditional ally, Russia, which has agreed to supply fighter jets and battle tanks to its military heightening tensions in the Balkans. Vucic only briefly mentioned Serbia's integration into the EU, noting that "no one should doubt Serbia's EU path." He said the country will cherish good ties with Russia and China, but that it also should improve ties with the United States. Addressing thousands of his cheering supporters in front of parliament, Vucic promised to "keep peace and stability, guard and protect the future of our children." Serbia's presidency is largely a ceremonial post, but Vucic indicated he intends to continue playing a leading role in Serbian politics. The opposition group that was prevented from protesting in front of parliament, Against the Dictatorship, said the attack against them before the ceremony resembles the time when former Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic ruled the country in the 1990s. ____ Associated Press writer Jovana Gec contributed to this report. A judge sentenced a British breast surgeon whose victims accused him of playing God to 15 years in prison Wednesday for carrying out unnecessary operations that maimed patients and left some in constant pain. A jury in the central English city of Nottingham found Ian Paterson guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and three counts of unlawful wounding. Prosecutors say the 59-year-old lied to patients to persuade them to have surgery. "You deliberately played upon their worst fears, either by inventing or deliberately exaggerating the risk that they would develop cancer," Judge Jeremy Baker said. The judge said Paterson was driven by "self-aggrandizement" and material rewards. The surgeon owned a luxury home in Birmingham as well as properties in Cardiff, Manchester and the United States. Hundreds of Paterson's patients were recalled in 2012 after concerns about unnecessary or incomplete operations. Ten victims testified about surgeries between 1997 and 2011. One victim, Carole Johnson, described Paterson as a "monster" who performed six surgeries on her in seven years. All but one were unnecessary. "I do not think I can find it within my heart to ever forgive him," Johnson said. Prosecutor Pamela Jain said Paterson abused the trust between patient and doctor and called his impact devastating. Police in Britain are investigating the killing of a female zookeeper by a tiger. Cambridgeshire Police said Wednesday the death of 34-year-old Rosa King is not being treated as suspicious. King was killed Monday in an enclosure at Hamerton Zoo Park. The zoo remains closed. The tiger was not harmed. The district council that licenses zoos is also investigating. When Ruba Zai uploaded her first video online, the Netherlands-based Afghan student just wanted to share with other Muslim girls and women how she styled her headscarf. She had no idea that her "hijab tutorials" would be an internet hit, watched by hundreds of thousands worldwide. The 23-year-old now blogs full time, sharing ideas for how to look trendy yet covered-up with a million Instagram followers. Zai had tapped into a fast-growing market for so-called "modest fashion," fuelled by young, style-savvy Muslim women from London to Malaysia who have long felt their needs ignored by mainstream designers. "I just couldn't relate at all to the clothes you see in the mainstream brands," she said from her home in Rotterdam. "When we first started talking about our style on social media, there was no interest in the fashion world in this group of people: 'They're just Muslims, why should we target them?'" Big brands have been waking up to that call, and covered-up chic is a niche that's slowly making its way into mainstream fashion. From exclusive designers to fast-fashion chains, retailers are trying to court millions of Muslim consumers especially around the month of Ramadan, which started last week, when many Muslims buy new clothes and dress up. In 2014, U.S. fashion house DKNY was one of the first Western brands to launch a Ramadan collection aimed at wealthy Arab shoppers. Since then several others have followed suit. Dolce&Gabbana has been selling a luxury collection of abayas long, loose robe-like dresses and matching headscarves since 2016 in the Middle East, Paris and London. At the more affordable end of the market, Spanish chain Mango is also promoting a Ramadan collection of tunics, kaftans and maxi dresses for the second year. Earlier this year Nike became the first major brand to launch a "pro hijab," a headscarf made in high-tech fabrics aimed at female Muslim athletes. Even Marks and Spencer, that stalwart British department store known for cardigans and practical shoes, launched a burkini a full-body swimsuit last summer. But perhaps the most visible sign yet that mainstream fashion is embracing the Muslim market was when design houses Max Mara and Alberta Ferretti starred hijab-wearing Somali-American model Halima Aden on their catwalks for Milan Fashion Week, one of the industry's most prestigious events. "Mainstream fashion is now talking about modest fashion as a thing. Ten years ago, if you were a brand coming from a religious background and tried to sell it in a department store, calling it a modest or Muslim brand would be a kiss of death," said Reina Lewis, a professor at the London College of Fashion who has written two books about the topic. While the majority of those interested in covered-up fashion are young, cosmopolitan Muslim women, "the term 'modesty' emerged in the niche market as a useful one because it's not faith-specific," Lewis added. "I know Christians and atheist friends who don't cover their heads but they dress this way because that's how they feel most comfortable, said Zai, the blogger. Nazmin Alim, a designer who founded London-based modest fashion brand Aab a decade ago, says she used to have to buy fabric herself and visit a tailor to get smart work wear that still adhered to her faith's modesty edicts. "Long skirts may have a slit, tops may be sleeveless," she said. "We understood then that, do you know what? The people who wanted this kind of clothing, they are hungry for it." This month, Alim's collection of trendy jumpsuits, kimonos and knee-length hoodies as well as more traditional abayas and headscarves is being sold at Debenhams, a British department store that says it's the first of its competitors to add hijabs to its aisles. The fashion industry's attempts at carving a corner of this market haven't been without criticism, especially in France, where the banning of headscarves and burkinis amid racial tensions and security fears have fuelled a heated debate. Laurence Rossignol, the former French minister for families, children and women, was reported saying last year that major brands that promote Islamic dress were "irresponsible" and that such garments "promote the confinement of women's bodies." Zai and Alim maintain, however, that for women like them, it's all about respecting individual choice. "We all make choices some people like to wear gothic, some people like what we're offering," Alim said. "I don't see why anyone's style should be singled out." "I try to stay away from the political debate," said Zai, who said she decided to cover her head three years ago after a period of religious reflection. "I don't think a group of men the people you see (in government) are all these old men can tell people what's allowed, what's not allowed . they're saying Muslim women are oppressed, but they're doing the same." A British song calling British Prime Minister Theresa May "a liar" has topped U.K. song charts just a week prior to Britains general election. "Liar Liar GE2017," was written and sung by London-based band Captain Ska and released last Friday, according to The Guardian. The musical group describes itself as "new wave political music," according to its Facebook page. The ballad begins with a clip of May speaking about how the Conservative Party will work for a better Britain, and followed by music and lyrics calling May "a liar" who can't be trusted. The music video, which has over 1 million views on YouTube, includes footage of May making various speeches and text of different news headlines that criticizes the prime minister's decisions. One clip shows May and President Donald Trump holding hands coinciding with the lyrics stating, I want to have a government that doesnt think that fascism is where its at whilst putting the mother of all bombs into tiny hands will go very wrong. The message at the videos conclusion is: "On June 8th Tories out." Next Thursday, British voters will go to the booths to choose members of the Parliament. May, the leader of the Conservative Party, hopes the Tories will gain more seats. Their main competition, the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn, also aims to gain seats in the Parliament. Conservatives currently hold 330 parliamentary seats while Labour has 229, according to a government website. UK POLICE SEARCH PROPERTY IN MANCHESTER ATTACK INVESTIGATION The song is number one on Amazon's U.K. song list and number two on iTune's U.K. The song has not been broadcasted from British radio stations because of impartiality rules. We do not ban songs or artists, a BBC spokesman told The New York Times. The U.K. is currently in an election period so we will not be playing the song. UK ELECTION GOES FROM DULL TO DRAMATIC AS CONTEST TIGHTENS (Im) just so glad the musical message is resonating, Jake Painter, founder of Captain Ska, told The Guardian. Ive been in the industry for 15 years and Captain Ska is the result of my total frustration with the apathetic response to the most right wing government in decades, Painter said. Captain Ska announced on its Facebook page that it will play a big gig in London on June 7, the day before the general election. Hospitals have become the focal point of life in Afghanistan, and perhaps none more than the Surgical Center for War Victims, which has long been poised in the heart of the nations deteriorating capital. Operated by EMERGENCY, the Italian non-governmental organization (NGO), it runs on a policy of neutrality. The staff don't ask questions when patients are rushed through the gate; they just get on with saving lives. "We don't discriminate. We don't ask if they are Afghan Army or Taliban or ISIS or civilians," Cristina Contini, the hospital's country administrator, tells Fox News. "But most end up being civilians and children. Too many children." Currently, one-third of the 400 patients who pass through the starkly red and white cluster of buildings each month -- filling up some 109 beds in the facility -- are minors. This includes babies whose lives have been laid to waste by bullets, shells, mortars, land mines and even knives. One child, not even 4 years old, lies languishing in the intensive care unit -- a close-range bullet lodged in his head from the fighting. Another, Abdullah, wakes up without his arm and much of his ability to physiologically function. His father wraps his son's tiny broken body in towels to preserve his dignity as the days grow darker, helping hospital staff to clean if only to pass the time and not knowing what will come next. Then there is 10-year-old Bakhtullah who bore the brunt of a shell that ripped open his torso. He weeps through the day and night as his brother -- with a face far too lined in grief for a child -- watches over him in silence, occasionally clipping his nails or combing his hair. And while many are victims of the country's seemingly intractable war between government forces and an array of Islamic terrorist outfits, many are merely caught in the crossfire of random attacks born out of senseless criminal activity gripping the nation. "There is another kind of war here, the violence of this city. This is a country that has an enormous number of thieves, drug addicts and high unemployment that leads to kidnappings and other attacks," notes Giorgia Novello, a nurse and the hospitals medical coordinator. "Every year it is worse and worse. Disputes because this land is mine or this goat is mine and the value of a human life loses its worth." Inside another ward, a young woman barely 20 years old writhes in agony and moans. Days ago, her body was battered with bullets from an AK-47 in the backseat of her family's car after a thief arbitrarily decided to steal it. She is the only one in the vehicle to have survived. Another elderly woman, all alone, pleads with glazed eyes to no one in particular. Her skin was scorched and her nerves destroyed by a shell, all while innocently praying in a mosque. The other women and girls inside the ward were seared by missiles and rockets cracking through their windows while they slept or were left for dead en route to school because a bomb exploded near them. Some scream, some sob, some simply lie in their beds, silent. Medical conditions are often made worse by the fact that many of the injured travel for days from remote parts of the country, given that there is limited access to quality care. This, along with poor living conditions, often renders them prone to severe infection. Novello points to one case in which it took 30 hours for a child who was shot in the chest to reach them. "There is an infection behind every corner," she continues bluntly. The uptick in homemade bombs filled with a wide assortment of objects also has become an increased cause for concern. Medical staff are now finding not only the expected shrapnel and nails embedded in the flesh of their patients, but miscellaneous objects like bones belonging to other people, making them all the more difficult to treat effectively. "Our job is to make them survive," Contini continues. "But sometimes that is worse than dying. Every day, it is heartbreak." Yet the generosity of the international community in recent years has alleviated at least a little of that pain, with donations paving the way for expanded and improved medical facilities. The hospital opened in early 2001 when the city was still under Taliban control -- a deserted, bombed-out nursery school was transformed into a center for survival. But the Surgical Center for War Victims is now comprised of everything from an emergency room and three operating theaters where an average of 20 surgical procedures are performed daily, to an intensive care unit, sub-intensive care unit and a physiotherapy section to assist those learning to walk again. It employs just more than 300 staff, including six surgeons. The center even endeavors to give jobs to some of the patients who survive. Three of the facility's permanent tailors are amputees and the soft-spoken man whose occupation it is to clean the corridors has found a way to do so despite having lost both his hands. The biggest challenge EMERGENCY faces is in dealing with Afghan customs. While they use local suppliers for medical needs where possible, the surgical materials are imported from Europe for quality purposes -- and will almost always be left for months at the nearby airport awaiting clearance. "It is frustrating," Novello acknowledges. "But we won't bribe." AFGHAN GOVERNMENT WELCOMES KABUL'S 'BUTCHER' US ROCKER USES MUSIC TO BRING HEALING, HOPE TO AFGHAN CHILDREN Perhaps the saddest section yet pertinent to any country in conflict is the designated open area in the far back of the facility, which is designed to quickly be filled with the wounded for the occasions when a mass attack such as suicide bombing strikes and there simply aren't enough beds elsewhere. The code word is "old falcon" and that signals medical staff to quickly fill the space with cots and mattresses and bed sheets and fluids. "We have a triage system when this happens," Novello explains, where we have to determine who must be treated first, and who can wait." Meanwhile, some 80 miles north in the secluded province of Panjshir Valley, sits another EMERGENCY hospital in the form of converted war barracks from the Soviet invasion. There, the staff contend with a war of yet another kind -- helping mothers and babies in a country plagued by the highest infant mortality rate in the world; The CIAs World Factbook, stands at 112 per 1,000 live births. When it first opened in 1999, the hospital primarily focused on tending to the war wounded, but the hospital was soon transformed into a pediatric and maternity hub. Expectant mothers commute from far and wide -- sometimes on donkeys from the mountain tops -- to give their young a better chance at survival. Starting in 2015, the center underwent construction to meet the growing demand. It now holds 160 beds with four delivery rooms, two operating theaters, a neonatal intensive care ward and intensive care ward for those suffering complications. "We want to reduce the injustice of being far from a hospital," said the facilitys medical coordinator, Gabriella Rivera. And for all the hardships currently afflicting the conflict-punctured country, it's a gentle place teeming with life and the welcome sounds of newborn cries. The hospital delivers an average of 700 babies per month and patients, distinguished by their white pajamas and red headscarves, sit together in their cots cradling their young. EMERGENCY has also implemented a prenatal care program from women in these remote areas, which includes periodical monitoring and training local midwives. But perhaps its greatest life-saving addition has been the development of a special section for babies born prematurely. The hospital has 10 incubators, all of which are occupied by the tiniest of the tiny, every little breath supported by medical advancements that just a few years ago would have been unheard of by those in the quaint village. The maternity center also is a space that, slowly but surely, is challenging the archaic gender norms that have encumbered medical care for Afghan women. The doctors are almost all male. "At first, many of the husbands and wives had problems with this. They feared having a male doctor do the delivery," Rivera adds. "But it is less so now. It is about exposing them to something new, and we find most are willing to accept the change. Nearly a dozen United States citizens were among the 400 people wounded when a massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area in Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least 90 people. There were 11 U.S. citizens -- all contract personnel -- injured in the blast and one Afghan local guard was reported missing, a senior U.S. official told Fox News. Nine Afghan guards working for a U.S.-contracted security company were killed. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, believed to be caused by a suicide bombing, though both the Taliban and the Islamic State group have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past. The Taliban later Wednesday issued a statement denying any involvement and condemning all attacks against civilians. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, said the Kabul explosion had "nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate," as the Taliban call themselves. The target of the explosion in the Wazir Akbar Khan area was not immediately known, but Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry, said most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children. It was one of the worst attacks Kabul had seen since the drawdown of foreign forces from the country at the end of 2014. The bombing also raised serious questions about the Afghan government's ability to secure the war-battered nation. "We don't know at this moment what was the target of the attack, but most of the casualties are civilians," said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Germanys Foreign Minister Signmar Gabriel said employees of the German Embassy in Kabul were wounded and an Afghan security guard was killed. The Foreign Ministry activated a crisis team to help deal with the aftermath Windows were shattered in shops, restaurants and other buildings up to a half mile from the blast site. "There are a large number of casualties, but I don't know, how many people are killed or wounded," said an eyewitness at the site, Gul Rahim. The blast comes a day after a massive bomb outside a popular ice cream parlor in central Baghdad and a rush hour car bomb in another downtown area killed at least 31 people in Iraqi. The neighborhood is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices, guarded by police and national security forces. The German Embassy, the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Palace are all in the area, as are the British and the Canadian embassies. The Chinese, Turkish and Iranian embassies are also located there. The U.S Embassy and the NATO mission in Kabul are also near, about a kilometer (half mile) away from the site. Both condemned the attack and the alliance praised "the courage of Afghan Security Forces, especially the police and first responders." Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has strongly condemned the massive attack, saying in a statement "the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people." The Afghan media center quoted a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the country's top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law, as giving the new casualty tolls. The council strongly condemned the attack, saying that "carrying out such attacks in the holy month of Ramadan is completely against humanity." The BBC said a driver for the British broadcaster was killed and four of its journalists were wounded. Afghanistan's private TOLO Television also reported a staffer killed; Germany said an Afghan security guard outside its embassy was among those killed. Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces. The United States now has more than 8,000 troops in Afghanistan, training local forces and conducting counterterrorism operations. In the past year, they have largely concentrated on thwarting a surge of attacks by the Taliban, who have captured key districts, such as Helmand province, which U.S. and British troops had fought bitterly to return to the government. Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report An independent Azerbaijani journalist has been abducted from near his home in Georgia and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan, his lawyer said Wednesday. A court in this former Soviet republic ruled that Afgan Mukhtarli, who is facing charges of smuggling, crossing the border illegally and violently resisting arrest, should remain in custody for three months pending an investigation. Mukhtarli, who is also a civil rights activist, had been living in neighboring Georgia for two years. His lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, told The Associated Press the journalist was abducted outside his home Monday evening, beaten up and taken to the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Sadigov claimed that the journalist's captors planted 10,000 euros ($11,180) on him, which led to the charges. According to the lawyer, Mukhtarli said that his abductors were clad in Georgian police uniform and that they drove him through Georgian and Azerbaijani border checkpoints. He said he would appeal the court's verdict. Eldar Sultanov, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office, said the journalist was detained late on Monday "after illegally crossing the Azerbaijani border" with a large sum of money and resisting arrest. Mukhtarli left Azerbaijan in 2015, around the time when several Azerbaijani journalists working for foreign or local independent media faced charges of tax evasion. International rights groups have repeatedly criticized the ex-Soviet Caspian Sea nation for cracking down on independent media and opposition activists. Mukhtarli's wife, Leila Mustafayeva, told the AP she was waiting for her husband at home Monday evening but he never showed up. Mustafayeva said her husband had been investigating Georgian business ties of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's family. "Naturally, this created resentment in the presidential family," she said, insisting that her husband's disappearance is connected to his investigation. Giorgi Gogia, Human Rights Watch director of South Caucasus, in a statement described Mukhtarli's disappearance as another step in the Azerbaijani government's "relentless crackdown on critics." About 100 rights activists and journalists rallied in the capital, Tbilisi, demanding that Georgian authorities explain how they allowed the reported abduction to happen. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili called for a probe into Mukhtarli's alleged abduction, saying it dealt a blow to Georgia's image as a regional leader in media freedom and human rights. He described it as a "serious challenge to our statehood and sovereignty." Georgia's chief prosecutor, Irakli Shotadze, said an investigation is already underway to determine how Mukhtarli ended up in Azerbaijan. ___ A previous version of this story has been corrected to show that the alleged abduction was on Monday, not Tuesday. ___ Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili contributed to this report from Tbilisi, Georgia. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Below is a look at the accord and what a withdrawal would mean. What is the Paris Climate Agreement? Nearly 200 nations, including the United States under President Barack Obama's administration, agreed in 2015 to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change. The countries each set their own emissions targets, though these goals are not legally binding. A priority "is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius," according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Developed nations are also supposed to offer financial aid to developing ones so they can move toward cleaner energy sources, NBC News reported. What did the United States pledge? The U.S. pledged to lower its annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels, which would be a reduction of about 1.6 billion tons of annual emissions. The U.S. is the world's second-largest emitter of carbon, while China takes the top spot. Beijing, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to meeting its targets under the Paris accord, recently canceling construction of about 100 coal-fired power plants and investing billions in massive wind and solar projects. The Obama administration pledged as much as $3 billion to less wealthy nations by 2020, with the U.S. giving $1 billion, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. PARIS AGREEMENT GIVES US LEVERAGE OVER CHINA, OBAMA'S TOP ECONOMIC ADVISOR SAYS Who hasn't signed the accord? Nicaragua and Syria. They are the two holdouts in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which includes a total of 197 countries, Reuters reported. What has been Trump's stance? Trump claimed before taking office that climate change was a "hoax" created by the Chinese to hurt the U.S. economy. The assertion stands in defiance of broad scientific consensus. During his overseas trip in May, European leaders pressed Trump to keep the U.S. in the landmark agreement. While at the G-7 Summit in Taormina, Italy, Trump declined to join fellow G-7 members Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom in their pledge to uphold it. PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT: TRUMP EXPECTED TO PULL OUT OF PACT How will a withdrawal happen? Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is part of a small team working out withdrawal details, Axios reported on Wednesday. Who supported leaving the deal? Pruitt and Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon supported an exit. "It's a bad deal for America," Pruitt told Fox and Friends in April. Jared Kushner, the president's senior adviser and son-in-law, generally thinks the climate deal is bad, according to the AP, but would like to find a way to see if the U.S. emissions targets can be changed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and 21 other Republican senators sent Trump a letter last week urging him to follow through on his campaign pledge to pull out of the climate accord. Most of the senators who signed are from states that depend on the continued burning of coal, oil and gas. "We applaud you for your ongoing efforts to reduce overregulation in America," the letter was quoted by the New York Times as saying. Twelve House Republicans have also signed a letter which encouraged leaving the deal, according to the newspaper. What has the response been to withdrawal from the U.S.? Trump is "choosing to put American jobs and American consumers first" with his announcement that the U.S. will withdraw, Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday. He praised Trump's leadership and said Trump is "is choosing to put the forgotten men and women of America first." Abandoning the pact was one of Trump's principal campaign pledges. "Even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we've got," Obama said in a statement on Thursday. Five Nordic countries had written Trump a last-minute letter which urged him to "make the right decision" and keep America signed onto the Paris climate accord. The leaders of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden said the 2015 Paris Agreement to reduce global warming was a commitment "to our children." Before Trump's announcement, House Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, on Wednesday called the president's expected decision "a stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet's future." The agreement "honors our collective moral responsibility to leave future generations with a planet that is clean, healthy and sustainable," she said. On Wednesday, the U.N.'s main Twitter page quoted Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying, "Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable." The European Union and China will reaffirm their commitment to the Paris climate change accord this week regardless of whether Trump pulls out of the pact, a senior European Union official said. The EU and China are expected to "spell out" how they plan to meet their commitments to the accord at talks in Brussels on Friday, the official told reporters Wednesday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte claimed he was being sarcastic when hold told troops last week that he would take responsibility for any crimes they commit, including if they rape two women. In an expletive-laden speech at a navy event on Wednesday, Duterte also denounced Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton after she criticized him on Twitter. PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT JOKES ABOUT RAPE IN SPEECH TO SOLDIERS He asked Chelsea Clinton if she also criticized her father when he had an affair with Monika Lewinsky in the White House when he was president of the United States. The war of words stems from a speech Duterte gave Friday in which he said he will pay the consequences if any soldiers are accused of abuses. He said: "I will go to jail for you. If you happen to have raped three women, I will own up to it." Duterte is unapologetic about his manner of speech and liberally peppers casual statements with profanities. Chelsea Clinton, responding last week to a tweet about Dutertes comment, tweeted: Not funny. Ever. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Philippine authorities have reached out to parties who may be able to talk with Muslim militants in a bid to secure the freedom of hostages in a southern city where a week of fighting has killed 129 people, officials said Wednesday. Troops have cleared almost 90 percent of Marawi city, where the gunmen linked to the Islamic State group have been fending off government troops since a botched raid to capture a veteran rebel leader triggered a militant siege, said military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla. He said that militant leader Isnilon Hapilon is believed to be still in Marawi. Padilla said 960 civilians have been rescued, and an estimated 1,000 residents remain trapped in the city. The dead include 89 militants, 19 civilians and 21 government forces, Padilla said. Another eight militants surrendered and Padilla said they provided "very, very valuable intelligence" during questioning. PRIEST KIDNAPPED BY ISIS IN PHILIPPINES, ISSUES VIDEO PLEADING FOR HIS LIFE AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS A video of a Catholic priest taken hostage is being assessed by experts, he added. He said the video seems authentic, but the Rev. Teresito Suganob appeared to be speaking under duress and militants are apparently using the video for propaganda. In the video, Suganob said he is being held alongside 200 other captives, including children, in what appeared to be a battle-scarred part of Marawi. "We want to live another day, we want to live another month," Suganob said, standing in front of debris and partially burned buildings. Directing his remarks to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, he said: "We want to live few years and in your generosity, Mr. president, in your heart, we know you can make something (happen)." Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Pena confirmed that it was Suganob in the video. Padilla could not confirm the figure of 200 hostages, saying it may be propaganda. He said there have been efforts to reach out to parties who may conduct back channel talks to help free the hostages. He assured the captives' families that the military is doing its best to keep them safe. He did not elaborate. "We're not negotiating with terrorists. We're merely working closely with civil organization whose objective is to save more lives," he said. Padilla said the video indicates the extremists are fighting for survival. "They are trapped, they are contained," he said. "They are in areas that they will never come out alive unless they surrender." Duterte, who declared martial law in Mindanao, has approved the creation of a "peace corridor" to hasten the rescue of civilians and delivery of humanitarian aid for displaced persons, said presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella. He said the corridor will be implemented by the government and the main separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed a peace agreement in exchange for Muslim autonomy in Mindanao, the southern third of the Philippines where a Muslim rebellion has raged for decades. Hapilon, the militant leader wanted by the U.S. for his alleged involvement in kidnappings and bomb attacks that also targeted Americans in the Philippines, is still believed to be in Marawi. "We believe he is still there, and we believe that is why they are putting up a very stiff resistance in the areas that they are still being held up and being cleared," Padilla told reporters in Manila, the capital. Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired four cruise missiles at Islamic State militants in Syria, officials said Wednesday. The Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched missiles at ISIS targets in the area of the ancient city of Palmyra, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. It added that the missiles successfully hit heavy weapons and fighters whom the group had deployed and moved to Palmyra from its de facto capital of Raqqa. The ministry said it had notified the U.S., Turkish and Israeli militaries beforehand of the coming strike. It added the Russian strike was promptly executed following the order, a testimony to the navy's high readiness and capabilities. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The United States has begun providing weapons to "Kurdish elements within the Syrian Defense Forces," the Pentagon confirmed on Wednesday. "Weapons have arrived," Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Fox News. The weapons include: small arms, vehicles, ammunition and "other weapons capable of defending threats to our partner forces" -- meaning providing countermeasures against improvised explosive devices. The U.S. started Tuesday to deliver the weapons to fighters closing in on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria. The Kurdish-led fighters closed within about 2 miles of the ISIS home base, where they expect to face a long and deadly battle. Roadside bombs and other explosive devices are believed to be planted along their routes and inside the city. Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said Tuesday's weapons delivery to the Syrian Kurds marked the beginning of a campaign to better equip Kurdish allies that the U.S.-led coalition believes are the best fighting force against ISIS, even though arming them has infuriated NATO ally Turkey. Turkey considers the Kurdish fighters to be terrorists. The U.S. has promised to mete out the equipment incrementally, based on the mission, to insure weapons aren't used by Kurdish groups in Turkey. Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Its hard to tell whos more determined: the dog that represents a breed known for being hardheaded or the owner who insists the bond between them can overcome almost anything. Either way, its clear that Rebecca Burlage is as stubborn as a bulldog is supposed to be. She didnt listen when trainers said the breed didnt make good service dogs because their misaligned teeth make it hard for them to pick up items. Nor did she pay attention to what others call the law of physics, that bulldogs are short and stocky, with little tolerance for heat or endurance because their smashed-in faces impair their breathing. Sometimes love can supersede the laws of physics, she said, adding shes been able to bend that law not once, but twice. I have no way of knowing this for sure, but Im probably the only one in America whos trained two bulldogs as service dogs. Burlage, 50, lost her legs in separate burning incidents and has been in a wheelchair more than half her life. She also suffers from respiratory problems, brittle bones and muscle weakness. Eleven years ago, she trained an English bulldog named Diesel to become her service animal after he demonstrated his rescue potential. She fell from her chair and broke her hipand later learned a bone fragment had nicked a blood vessel and caused internal bleeding. If Diesel hadnt fetched her phone, she might have bled to death. Afterward, she wanted him trained properly as a service dog. No one she contacted would take him on, saying bulldogs are too stubborn, stupid or lazy to learn commands. Burlage did it herself. Diesel eventually represented Purina dog food company as a K-9 ambassador at national shows and adoption events and was the official mascot for the Mineral Fire Department in Louisa County, where Burlage lived at the time. He died last summer, but before his passing, Burlage looked for another English bulldog to open and shut doors, retrieve dropped objects and be her companion. She found a litter online, picked the female with the copper spot on her head and named her Penny. Now 15 months old, Penny got the same training as her predecessor, but this time, Burlage had well-known local trainer Laurie Williams certify Penny as a service dog. SHES AMAZING Burlage is by far one of the youngest residents at The Crossings at Falls Run, a Stafford County complex that provides independent and assisted living for about 170 senior citizens. Shes also one of about six residents with dogs, said Christin Harvey, lead concierge. The residents love having dogs around; they always have, Harvey said, adding that she keeps treats behind the counter for all the canines who live at or visit The Crossings. Pets arent allowed in the dining room, but service dogs are, and Penny doesnt forget her training when shes surrounded by the pleasant aroma of food. She just lays there and lets people walk past her, which is what shes supposed to do, she said. Shes amazing. A SASSY WALK Burlage has always liked bulldogs, and one of the reasons she enjoyed having Diesel at her side was because of the attention he attracted. When we meet strangers, people dont look at my deformed body, they focus on his wiggly butt, she said in a 2009 story in The Free LanceStar. The same is true of Penny. She has a sassy walk, but shes a female so you can expect that, said resident Lorie Moore, who took a break from playing Rummikub when Burlage and Penny approached. Come over here, PenPen, so I can pet you, Moore said as she rubbed Pennys wrinkly backside. Id love to have her. Shes very well-behaved. Youre not gonna find a better little dog. At one point in Pennys training, Burlage wouldnt allow residents to pet the dog until she gave the command. I dont know who took it harder, probably the people, Burlage said. Now they can pet at will. And when Burlage and Penny come back to the apartment, Penny rolls on the floor and enjoys having visitors rub her belly, as any puppy would. Fellow residents have helped with various aspects of the dogs training. Theyve held the elevator door open while Burlage practices entering it with Penny at her side. Then, as she gets her wheelchair turned around to face the door, she positions Penny on her right. A DOGGY DIVA Penny may have the heart of a service dog, but shes a doggy diva when it comes to fashion. Burlage initially put diapers on Penny because she wanted to take her everywhere, but didnt want her to leave a trail of piddle. The diapers led to bloomers with ruffles, and before she knew it, Burlage was making outfits for every occasion. Penny wore green outfits with red yarn styled into braids for St. Patricks Day and had a yellow wig for Oktoberfest. She and her owner wore peacock feathers for Halloween and gold masks for Mardi Gras. Penny will wear a sailors hat and matching outfit on June 8, when her owner will throw her a graduation party in the activity room of The Crossings. The theme will be, Let Your Dreams Set Sail, as Burlage will celebrate Pennys service-dog certification as well as her own accomplishments. I let my dream set sail, not only once, but twice, and have had the time of my life doing it, she said. Go, mommy! The small childs shout rang out as Mindy Smith walked across the stage at her graduation. Maranatha Servaiss 1-year-old son, Mason, clutched his mothers hand as she accepted her certificate from her instructors. Valerie Avingtons high-school-aged children applauded for their mother as she crossed the Courtland High School stage and grey-haired Robert Huntington got friendly slaps on the back from his classmates when he returned to his seat. These students were among the 46 who graduated Thursday with their GED certificates from Rappahannock Area Regional Adult Education. They ranged in age from their 20s to their 60s. Many were born in countries outside the U.S., from Mexico to Malaysia. All of us are so proud of you, said program manager Betsy Mathias. She is especially proud because the battery of tests required for a GED certificate is harder than it used to be. In January 2014, GED Testing Service introduced a new exam that was designed to meet the more rigorous standards expected of high school graduates and better match the skills needed in todays workplaces. January 2014the day that will live in infamy, Mathias said. No longer paper-and-pencil, the test is now computer-based and includes four sections: Reasoning Through Language Arts, Mathematical Reasoning, Social Studies and Science. Theres more reasoning now, Mathias said. You cant just be a good test-taker to pass it. And its hard for those who arent native English speakers. Bottom line, its a whole lot harder. RARAE used to graduate between 200 and 250 students a year before the new test, Mathias said. Only 12 graduated the first year after the revised test. Growth has been gradual since then as students grow accustomed to the new standards. Weve doubled the number from last year, Mathias said. For some of the graduates, obtaining their GED credentials was a literal gift. [Enrolling in RARAE] was my Christmas present to myself, said Avington, who told her story at the graduation ceremony. Twenty-two years ago, she said, she was prepared to walk at her high school graduation but was told at the last minute that she was two credits shy of the number required to graduate. Shame came over me, she said. I never even told my mom what had happened. She tried to put school behind her. She got married, traveled all over the world as an Army wife and raised four children. She supported her children as they went through schoolthe oldest is now in collegeand her husband as he studied for a doctorate. Finally, she decided it was time to invest in herself. Now is the time for me, she said. Amber Hayes, a 34-year-old mother of two from Spotsylvania County, wanted her GED diploma so she could be the best possible role model to her children. I kind of felt like, how could I tell my kids they needed to finish school if I didnt? she said. She said she left high school because she wanted to work and have money in my pocket, but now she would tell her own children to stick it out. Live out the experience of finishing high school and going to college and being young and enjoy that part of your life because you have the rest of your life to be an adult, she said. Hayes is a certified home health aide and works in the field, but the lack of a high school degree was keeping her from progressing. Now, she plans to become a certified nurse aide. The GED diploma is also a stepping stone to career progress for Edwin Flores, 52. The schooling he completed in Mexico, which included a civil engineering course, did not transfer when he moved to the U.S. 30 years ago. He became a U.S. citizen and worked in construction. Recently, his company, Southland Concrete, offered to promote him to a management position if he went back to school. He enrolled in the RARAE program in September. Hed wake up at 3 a.m. to get to his job, return at 5 p.m. and then take classes from 6 to 8 p.m. The hardest part was to be a father [of three daughters, ages 26, 15 and 10], work and be a student at night, Flores said. His company promoted him and he is now leading a job at the construction site of the National Museum of the U.S. Army. Im giving something back to the veterans of this country, which is my country, too, Flores said. For Shin Wai Loh, 42, who immigrated to the U.S. from Malaysia two years ago, the RARAE program helped her feel at home in her adopted country. I felt so lost, Loh said. I knew nobody. I almost came to a depression. Her aunt, who was present Thursday night, told her about adult education programs and persuaded her to enroll, even though Loh thought she was too old. Its never too late, her aunt Lillie told her. Loh faced her fears and found a mentor in RARAE instructor Donna Adams. She worked hard, passed the test and decided to return as a math and science tutor to other students. I feel there are so many ESOL students trying to adopt to this culture and they do not know how to start, she said. I know how it feels. I want to help them grow their self-esteem. It is never too late to achieve something. The 27-inch fish slithered like a snake on the dock at Lake Anna. Colby Horne did not know exactly what he had just reeled inonly that it was big and ugly, with a mouth full of sharp teeth. It did not appear all that uncomfortable out of water. His dad, Garnie Horne, thought it might be a snakehead, and a neighbor thought so, too. I said to him, If its a snakehead, theyre supposed to be really good to eat, Garnie Horne recalled. He said, Dad, that things too ugly to eat. After posing for a picture with his catch Sunday, Colby Horne, 29, released it back into Lake Anna near Gold Mine Creek. Turns out, it was a snakeheadpossibly the first to be caught in the manmade lake in Spotsylvania, Louisa and Orange counties. The father and son said they probably would have killed it had they known for sure at the time. It all kind of happened so quick, Colby Horne said. John Odenkirk, a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist, said a woman took a picture of a snakehead in Lake Anna last summer, though nobody had reported catching one there until now. As far as we know, that was the first verified catch in Lake Anna, he said. The most likely scenario is that somebody illegally introduced snakeheads to the lake, and the fish have reproduced, Odenkirk said. But he said DGIF officials have not spotted any during their surveys of Lake Anna. Obviously, theyre not very abundant if they are there, he said. DGIF urgesbut does not requireanglers to kill snakeheads, an invasive species native to China, Russia and the Koreas. Experts say it threatens ecosystems by competing with native fish for food. Discovered in Virginias waterways 13 years ago, they are abundant in the Potomac River and its tributaries, including Aquia Creek in Stafford County. They can also be found in the Rappahannock River, and DGIF officials said the fish have been illegally stocked in Ruffins Mill Pond in Spotsylvania, Abel Reservoir in Stafford and Pelham Reservoir in Culpeper County. This year, the General Assembly passed legislation making it a Class 1 misdemeanor for anyone to knowingly introduce snakeheads into state waters without a permit. Colby Horne caught his snakehead using bluegill as bait, which he thought would attract a catfish. The snakehead swam close to the surface and darted from side to side as he reeled it in from his dads private dock in Louisa. It didnt fight as much as I thought it would, he said. Garnie Horne scooped the 6- to 8-pound fish out of the water with a net, and its teeth cut the fishing line as it flopped around. He dumped the snakehead onto the dock, then put the net over it to prevent it from slithering away. Garnie Horne said he fishes in Lake Anna all the time, but has never even seen a snakehead. The 13,000-acre lake includes largemouth bass, bluegill and catfish. Colby Horne said the snakehead had a sore on its back, making it look even more unappetizing. In hindsight, though, he regrets judging it by its looks. I wish I had a chance to eat it, he said. The Bonne Terre City Council met in special session last week and during the meeting they discussed and approved several ordinances. Bonne Terre City Attorney Seth Pegram gave the first reading of an ordinance amending the municipal code. Pegram said the ordinance basically gives authority to the building inspector or any of the council members or the council as a whole to request engineering for watershed runoff and things of that nature to be submitted with the building application for new development. Bonne Terre Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Dwayne Hackworth had a few questions about the ordinance. In the ordinance right now, it says the council or the planning and zoning or someone has to request that a property have the engineering done. Why wouldnt we change that to require all commercial property to have that? asked Hackworth. It would work better for everyone. Alderwoman Andrea Richardson explained she thought it was generically written for all properties, including residential, because they didnt want to burden residential property owners. I dont want it to be too much of a burden, but we, as a council, want to protect the residents from an issue, said Richardson. Pegram said that was his understanding of it was that they didnt want to require an engineering watershed plan for somebody who wants to put up a small shed in the backyard. Hackworth said there are issues sometimes with residential properties when somebody is building and they are dumping water on someone down the hill from them. Alderman Erik Schonhardt said the ordinance gives discretion to Hackworth to make the request when he inspects for the permit. If you can foresee anything, that is where you or the council will start to request these things, said Pegram. Somebody mentioned the storage building up there, where they are starting to have a whole bunch of rock issues and stuff. Pegram said he thought people had that concern before, but there was nothing in the ordinance to say they require this as part of the approval of the building permit. If we are going to require the engineer to do a study, do we have to give him some kind of parameters to meet out code? asked Hackworth. Pegram said that is where he leaves it up to the experts. I dont know what the requirements would be. I think it would vary from each one, from flat property to the hill valley situation, which is going to require a whole lot more in that plan, said Pegram. We can talk to Cochran Engineering and see if they have any suggestions. City Administrator Jim Eaton said some concerns about yard work may seem harmless, but end up diverting water onto someone elses property. From a flowerbed ring to a shed, any disturbance to the ground could potentially cause an issue to a neighboring property. Eaton said it would be best to check with the city before disturbing any ground to make sure it wont pose an issue to anyone elses property. While some yard work may not require a permit or even an engineer watershed plan its best to be safe, instead of sorry and avoid creating an issue to someone who lives nearby. Richardson said if a retaining wall or anything else diverts water off your land and onto anothers, it becomes a problem. A permit is only $10 and could prevent turmoil with your neighbor. The council approved the ordinance and added land disturbance to the ordinance. The council approved an ordinance approving an amended redevelopment agreement between the city of Bonne Terre and the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission jointly with the St. Francois County Industrial Development Authority as developer in connection with the redevelopment of a portion of Redevelopment Project Area No. 1 of the Highway 67/47 redevelopment area. Pegram said this is the industrial park renewal agreement he and the council discussed at an earlier date. There will be some TIF money and some infrastructure design money being used to build the road through the industrial park. They also discussed an ordinance amending fencing variances-appeals. Pegram said it gives an appeals process for planning and zoning. If denied, then the resident can appeal to the council, who can overrule the denial is they desire. Hackworth also had a few questions on this ordinance. He asked for clarification about variances and unnecessary hardship. Pegram explained it basically gives the council authority to consider the situation as a whole. Not the black and white of what fencing material, height/length requirements, but if you are the person inspecting the permit and checking to make sure they did the job, said Pegram. They can think through the whole thing. The neighbors fencing problem and differences. It gives them some leeway to say yes or no on a larger scale decision. Pegram said it puts the burden on the council to be the bad guys. The council approved the ordinance. The last ordinance the council addressed was regarding a barrier code for residential swimming pools, spas and hot tubs. Pegram said this defines what fencing can be used. The previous ordinance required residents to have a fence around their pool and to provide an insurance letter stating their pool was insured. What exists right now will be grandfathered in for those who already have previously approved fencing. As long as the pool is the height of what a fence would be, an above ground pool, fencing around that 4 foot above ground pool is not required, said Pegram. Basically you have to have a ladder or decking that can be locked. Pegram said this change in the ordinance will basically be for new construction. The council approved the ordinance and waived the requirement of providing the city a copy of their insurance letter. Mineral Point-based UNICO Bank has announced it has entered into a branch purchase and assumption agreement with First Bank of Creve Coeur to purchase three of First Banks branch banking locations in Farmington, Park Hills and Bismarck. According to UNICO Bank, it will assume substantially all of the deposits associated with the three First Bank branch locations and will purchase the branch real estate, furniture, fixtures and equipment. UNICO will also purchase certain loans associated with these branches. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. The transaction, which is subject to the receipt of all required regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017. UNICO Bank is excited to engage in this strategic transaction, which will allow us to expand our market presence in Missouri and provide First Banks existing customers with service and banking products that are second to none," said Jonathan Mays, UNICO Bank president. "We look forward to working with First Bank to complete this transaction and ensure a seamless transition for the First Bank customers. Customers with accounts at any of these three First Bank branches need not take any action at this time, and should continue to use their current checks, debit cards and other products and services. UNICO Bank is a Missouri state-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Mineral Point. As of March 31, 2017, the Bank had approximately $243 million in total assets. First Bank is a Missouri state-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Creve Coeur. As of March 31, 2017, First Bank had approximately $6.21 billion in total assets Corinne Elizabeth Finch, 95, passed away on May 28, 2017. She was the beloved wife of 57 years to the late James C. Finch. She is survived by her son, James Gary Finch; daughters Arlene Finch McDermott (Frank) and Faye Finch Conklin (Ray); a loving granddaughter, Rhonda Fetner (Deric); grandson John Fleming (Amanda) and many nieces and nephews. Elizabeth was the last surviving member of her immediate family. She was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Corinne Carter; her sister, Thelma Carter; and brothers Everette, Alton and Nelson Carter. Elizabeth was born on September 29, 1921. She grew up on a farm and worked all of her life. Elizabeth met James while he was stationed at Fort A.P. Hill. They married in 1942 before James was deployed overseas to fight in World War II, where he was in the Battle of the Bulge. They worked hand-in-hand to provide a good life for their family. They were part of the Greatest Generation, an era marked by war and economic depression. Elizabeth enjoyed reading her daily newspaper, People magazine, watching the evening news and Dancing With The Stars. In earlier years, Elizabeth enjoyed teaching children in Sunday and Vacation Bible School. Elizabeth loved tending her flowers. The family will receive friends at Storke Funeral Home, Bowling Green, 4:00-6:00 p.m. Friday, June 2, 2017. An evening funeral will begin at 6:00 p.m. Rev. Michael McGee officiating. Interment will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, June 3, 2017 at Greenlawn Cemetery. Sign register book online storkefuneralhome.com. Ronnie Gene Bivens, 60, of Spotsylvania County, who fought a short and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer, passed away Thursday, May 25, 2017 at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center with his wife by his side. Mr. Bivens was an Army veteran who served ten years as a staff sergeant during the Vietnam War era. He enjoyed fishing and shooting. Survivors include his wife, Ursula Bivens of Spotsylvania; daughter Erika Bivens; two grandchildren; and sister Debbie Hartley and her husband. The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Monday, June 5 at Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg. A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 6 at Quantico National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Fredericksburg Regional SPCA, 10819 Courthouse Rd., Fredericksburg, VA 22408. Online guest book at covenantfuneralservice.com. I voted for Donald Trump for president, as the lesser of two evilsHillary Clinton for not complying with the rules, and him for his absence of experience. Columbia, SC (29201) Today Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 66F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Note: This column was written prior to Memorial Day. Time at the lake or on the river, barbeques and kicking off summer with family and friends Memorial Day is a time where we celebrate our freedom, but we must stop to remember the cost. It is a day for us to remember those who died fighting for our country and protecting our way of life. I visited the local VFW in Cape Girardeau recently which is named after three Missouri heroes. Lloyd Dale Clippard, Richard Gene Wilson and Robert Lee Taylor, Jr. Clippard was a member of the U.S. Navy and just 19 years old when he became Cape Girardeaus first WWII casualty. He had been on duty for three short months when he and his fellow sailors were attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. His remains were never recovered and are entombed in the hull of the USS Utah. Wilson was a combat medic for the U.S. Army in the Korean War. He died trying to rescue a wounded soldier at the Battle of Yongju. Taylor was an Army Infantryman in Vietnam. He died in combat in the Dinh Tuong Province, fighting against the threat of Communism, and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. This week, I heard stories from Forest ONeill of Rolla who recalled many of his fellow Marines that were lost in battle against North Korea. It was December of 1950, Forest and his fellow Marines were fighting their way out of the Chosin Reservoir in temperatures that were 20 and 30 degrees below zero. Sadly, not everyone made it out alive, but Forest and his fellow Marines made sure everyone, dead or alive, made it home. During the Vietnam War, Missouri lost 1,422 brave soldiers. Earl Wayne Ellis, Dennis Edward Isgrig, Charles Wayne Buntion, Warren Paul Seawel, Frederick John Shuh and Larry Lee Thomure along with too many others are honored on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in D.C. If you arent able to pay tribute in person, I encourage you to visit VirtualWall.org and learn more about those from Missouri who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Today we fight a new war, the Global War on Terror. This war has presented new challenges but the bravery, heroism and sacrifice of Missourians has remained unchanged. Army Sergeant Robert Gene Davis from Jackson, Missouri gave his life for freedom in Afghanistan. As Davis convoy charged forward, an improvised explosive device detonated underneath his Humvee. Army Specialist James R. Burnett, Jr. from Stoddard County was killed in action by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan as well. Staff Sergeant Bradley Joe Skelton of Gordonville volunteered to come out of retirement and go on another tour of duty with the Missouri National Guard. It was during this second tour when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. As we pause to remember those weve lost, I am inspired by Korean War Veteran Forest ONeill who said Dont give up. Never quit. Its difficult to put my depth of gratitude into words. Thank you feels insufficient compared to what these families have endured. From World War II, The Korean War and Vietnam to the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Missourians have fought bravely and died valiantly. Their families have sacrificed dearly, but as we celebrate our freedoms this weekend, we know their sacrifices are not in vain. DEAR HARRIETTE: My boss' son works in my department. A few days ago, my boss called me into his office to ask if I thought his son deserved a promotion. I hesitated, and my boss said I could have a few days to observe and come back to him with a final answer. I have been working in the department far longer than his son, so I would like to use this opportunity to mention that I should be considered for a promotion. Is this the right setting to do this? His son does not deserve a promotion after only a few months on the job. -- My Time to Shine, Pensacola, Florida DEAR MY TIME TO SHINE: Tread carefully on this one. Do your best to address your boss' son separately from yourself. Pay attention to the son, and observe how he works. Be prepared to report back to your boss with specifics of what you believe his son is doing well and where he might have room to grow. Note the roles and responsibilities of his position. Based on that, is there room for a promotion? Is it common practice at your company to promote so quickly? Before the conversation ends, ask your boss if you can inquire about another matter. Remind him of how long you have worked for the company and what you have accomplished. Point to the qualifications for the next job up from yours, and tell him why you think you should be considered for the job. If the son is promoted anyway, do your best not to be upset or jealous. You cannot compete with him. You must stay focused on cultivating your talents. DEAR HARRIETTE: I am a college student who is paying for her own education. My friend, "Sarah," and I have bonded over dreading tuition-payment time, but recently she appears to be very rich. She's gotten nice handbags, cash and weekend getaways from what I can tell on her social media. I suspect an older man is helping her out. Should I ask her to open up to me? I never see Sarah working anymore. -- Sugar Daddy, Memphis, Tennessee DEAR SUGAR DADDY: You may be right about your friend, but before you inquire, ask yourself why you want to know. What will you say to your friend if you learn that she has someone footing her bill right now? While I'm sure you don't think it is a good idea (I don't either), it will be difficult to convince your friend that she is making the wrong decision while she is in the throes of it. If you do end up talking to Sarah, you might tell her that you are concerned for her. Although it may seem like fun right now to be taken care of, this usually comes with strings attached. You could remind her of her long-term goals and encourage her not to forget them. You do not need to know who is paying her bills. DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a neighbor who doesn't understand boundaries. She is lonely and constantly wants to engage with me and my family, as well as other neighbors. It has gotten to be too much. She will stop by unannounced and uninvited and bang on the door or ring the bell. The time of day is of no matter to her. And if I answer and tell her it's not a good time or that I have company, she barges in anyway and inserts herself into the experience. I haven't figured out a way to get her to understand that mine is not an open door for her. I don't want to be rude, but she has gone way overboard in wearing out her welcome. SOS! -- Overboard, Brooklyn, New York DEAR OVERBOARD: I know this may seem harsh, but what you are going to have to do is stop responding to her. If she rings your bell and you don't want her to come over, do not answer the door. If she calls repeatedly when you are unavailable, do not respond. If you see her out and about and she approaches you about why you are avoiding her, explain that you are not always available. If she says that she could hear people in your house when she came knocking on your door, tell her that you may have had company and didn't hear the door. Ultimately, if she keeps pushing, you will have to tell her that it bothers you that she attempts to come to your home whenever she pleases without asking first. Tell her that you do not appreciate her overstepping your personal boundaries. Ask her to stop. DEAR HARRIETTE: My mother is getting older, and she is beginning to show signs of aging. She is frail and doesn't get around as easily as she once did. My siblings live all over the country, and I'm the only one who sees her on a regular basis. I have told my brothers and sisters that I think they should visit more often because Mom is not doing well, but I don't think they believe me. Her voice sounds strong on the phone, and most of them speak to her relatively frequently, so they think I'm exaggerating. As the child who watches out for her, I can tell you that we have had a few scares -- everything from a bad cold (which can be tough for an 85-year-old) to a sinus infection, the flu and fainting. My mother's doctor calls her condition "the normal signs of aging," but the way I see it, whatever is going on, her children need to see her more frequently. How can I impress this upon them? -- Older Mom, Boston DEAR OLDER MOM: Use technology to support your cause to let them see how your mother is doing and also help to connect them more immediately. Engage FaceTime, Skype or another service to set up video calling with your mother so that they can see for themselves what her state is. Additionally, call them separately and ask them to come visit. Consider hosting a family get-together this summer where you invite all family members to attend and pitch in with food and beverages. You will have fun and celebrate your mother. Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Story Highlights 32% of investors provide financial assistance to an adult family member 61% of those who provide help say it hinders their own retirement savings WASHINGTON, D.C. -- About one-third of U.S. investors (32%) report they provide financial assistance to an adult child, to a parent or to both, highlighting one of the challenges individuals face in achieving or maintaining financial security in retirement. The percentage providing such aid is a bit lower among retired investors (25%) than among those still in their working years (35%). Summary of U.S. Investors' Financial Support to Parents/Grown Children (Asked of 57% of investors who have a grown child) Do you currently provide any financial support to one or more of your adult children? (Asked of 62% of investors who have at least one living parent) Do you currently provide any financial support to one or more of your parents? U.S. investors %, All investors %, Retired %, Nonretired Assist an adult child 24 22 24 Assist a parent 6 2 8 Assist adult child and a parent 2 1 3 Total assist 32 25 35 Total do not assist 68 75 65 Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index, Feb. 10-19, 2017 More specifically, about a quarter of all investors (24%) give financial help to one or more adult children (but not to a parent) and 6% say they help a parent only. Another 2% give monetary support to both an adult child and a parent. Overall, 46% of investors who have one or more grown children are providing them with financial support. Also, 14% of investors with a living parent are doing the same. These findings are based on the first quarter Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index survey, conducted Feb. 10-19 with a nationally representative sample of U.S. investors. For this survey, investors are defined as adults living in households with $10,000 or more in stocks, bonds or mutual funds, in an investment account or in a self-directed IRA or 401(k) retirement account. About two in five U.S. households meet these criteria, according to Gallup's polling for the Investor Index. The poll did not ask respondents how much financial support they provide to each family member or to specify how the money is being used. In the case of adult children, a large portion of their contribution could be going toward college expenses. However, a 2013 Gallup study found that the "Boomerang" or "Peter Pan" phenomenon of young adults returning to or remaining in their parents' home is a reality for many households. In that survey, 14% of adults in their immediate postcollege years (aged 24 to 34) indicated they were living at home with their parents. The Wells Fargo/Gallup poll also broadly gauged the impact that assisting adult family members has on investors' own retirement savings. Just over six in 10 investors who provide such financial support say it hinders their retirement savings a lot (11%), a moderate amount (17%) or a little (33%). This is equivalent to 20% of all investors who are negatively affected by the financial support they provide. Implications Families perform an important safety net function in society. They often pay for their grown children's education, supplement their children's income in their early working years, help family members through a financial rough patch, or assist aging parents with healthcare or other bills. While most of this likely occurs among family members living within the U.S., other Gallup research shows that many U.S. adults -- including about half of recent Latino immigrants -- send money, known as remittances, to family members and others living abroad. Intrafamily monetary support, whether temporary or long term, is a reflection of healthy family bonds and, for the recipient, can be a welcome alternative to accumulating high-interest debt or turning to government welfare programs. However, as the Wells Fargo/Gallup data show, it does take a toll on the giver. Even among U.S. investors -- those who have the means to accumulate at least $10,000 in investments -- the majority indicate that the family support they provide negatively affects their own retirement savings at least a little bit. And for more than a quarter, it's impeding their retirement security a moderate amount to a lot. Global Accessibility Awareness Day is an event that takes place in May every year, a day aimed at getting people talking, thinking and learning about digital accessibility. It did not include any representation of games to start with, but has steadily grown. From a single games panellist on a multi industry panel in 2013 through to GAAD 2016s six articles, two talks and four videos, including three as part of ID24, and of course the highlight being the unveiling of Uncharted 4s well known accessibility featureset. This year there was another huge leap forward, which I think is in line with the huge leap being taken forward in the industry in general. It is now getting to the point where it is hard to keep track of, but hopefully it is still fairly comprehensive! Some of the events were private, but some are videos and articles freely available online, which make for a great set of new accessibility resources. There were several internal awareness raising events, the first being at the BBC. They held a live streamed multi venue multi industry event, which included demos of switch-accessible preschool gaming: And also had blind gamer SightlessKombat on hand, taking on challengers in Killer Instinct: https://twitter.com/OneSwitch/status/865202698504871936 Next up cross-industry accessibility consultancy Funka held a dedicated game accessibility awareness raiser at their head office in Stockholm, with 150 attendees: https://twitter.com/FunkaNu/status/865106114655944704 Gaikai, makers of PlayStation Now, also held an internal event, sponsored by their new Accessibility Committee. Opening talks by Mike Olsen and Dave Perry, demo stations covering a range of game genres, impairment simulations and custom hardware, and a wide range of accessibility resources. And cupcakes. https://twitter.com/Gaikai_Inc/status/865348441576058880 Sony HQ also held an internal awareness raising event, with similar demo stations to Gaikai, and talks from blind gamer Brandon Cole, accessibility specialist & DAGERS editor in chief Josh Straub, and AbleGamers founder and CEO Mark Barlet. Josh Straub and Shuhei Yoshida Ablegamers also had a twitch stream with BlindNewWorld, BlindGamerMisadventures, and BlindGamerDK: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/144830571 It was a busy day for AbleGamers, they had people visiting Google and Bungie too. There were some other streams over the day, one from one handed gamer BatlerGaming, talking about his experiences: https://twitter.com/BatlerGaming/status/865235948602314753 And one from Tanya DePass of INeedDiverseGames and myself, chewing the fat on accessibility in general: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQld5KGugBg& The IGDAs game accessibility SIG published all of the talks from #GAConf (a new conference dedicated solely to game accessibility) on Youtube for free: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVEo4bPIUOsmhxWT181OPVq9Z1P8Qjf19 And also spent the day tweeting out some of the best quotes from the conference: https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%40ga_conf%20%23gaad&src=typd [email protected] put out two pieces of content, first showcasing the #GAConf videos: https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Level-Up/Episode-30-Game-Accessibility-Conference-with-Ian-Hamilton And another on the recently added Xbox co-pilot functionality, together with recommendations of games to try with it: http://www.idatxbox.com/2017/05/18/copilot-spotlight/ Apple produced as set of videos showcasing various areas of system accessibility, not specifically on gaming but featuring well known pro blind gamer Carlos Vasquez, who was the catalyst for the accessibility mode now present in Mortal Kombat X and both Injustice games: Carlos competing at EVO http://mashable.com/2017/05/17/apple-accessibility-videos-disability/#UMTaOvvN505A Another video, this time from Jesse Anderson on design tips for low vision in VR third person games: https://twitter.com/BGFH79/status/865218350552690690 Still on the topic of VR, Alice Wong posted an interview with Hannah Gillis of ILMxLAB on the accessibility considerations in their Star Wars VR project: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2017/05/18/virtual-reality-accessibility-interview-with-hannah-gillis/ Zohar Gan released an early prototype of an accessibility plugin for Unreal: https://twitter.com/techscouter/status/865077192996401152 Meeple Like Us wrote a really nice article covering both a retrospective on the first year of the project and some thoughts on the meaning and importance of accessibility in tabletop gaming: http://meeplelikeus.co.uk/global-accessibility-awareness-day-2017/ Blind gamer Aser Tolentino wrote a piece on his experiences running RPGs, both remotely and in person: http://www.theredactedfiles.com/?p=3321 SpecialEffects GAAD post showcased renowned accessibility leader and Abilitynets head of digital inclusion Robin Christopherson, and also the GAAD quiz more on that a bit later. http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/specialeffect-news/its-global-accessibility-awareness-day Household Games announced a swathe of accessibility features for their upcoming game Way of the Passive Fist: Demo of fully remappable one handed gameplay https://twitter.com/HHGamesInc/status/865230486049783808 Mackenzie Eaton of Boat Rocker Digital showcased the design solution they adopted for colorblindness in Orphan Black: https://twitter.com/Macktimus/status/865260648787214336 Bryce Johnson of Xbox showcased a PC Gamer article on a Minecraft server for autistic kids: http://www.pcgamer.com/meet-the-dad-who-quit-his-job-to-run-a-minecraft-server-for-autistic-kids UKIE ran their annual student game jam across global accessibility awareness day this year, with an award for most accessible game: https://twitter.com/MrCallumJones/status/865261102938161152 Barrie Ellis blogged about Tar Heel, adapting first person driving videos into switch controlled cause and effect activities: http://switchgaming.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/road-trips-tar-heel-gameplay.html Barrie also put up a detailed pin guide for modding Xbox One controllers: http://switchgaming.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/pin-outs I posted a piece myself, on recent innovations and tools in the field of accessibility for blind gamers: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/IanHamilton/20170515/298020/The_rapidly_changing_landscape_of_accessibility_for_blind_gamers.php I also put up the aforementioned 20 question accessibility trivia quiz, some nice and interesting facts amongst it including some pretty rarely known ones: https://goo.gl/forms/tgcD8ytfQQSrnTa72 Christer Kaitila had a quick reminder for devs of why considering colourblindness is important: https://twitter.com/McFunkypants/status/865209895137591299 Chris AKA Phoenix AKA deafgamerstv took part in a11ychis GAAD panel: https://youtu.be/SOcdd0vyXnk?t=46m48s Daniel Goransson gave a talk for t12t in Stockholm on console accessibility and how it relates to web: https://www.meetup.com/t12t-Stockholm/events/238779331/ And last but not least Rinchen Emma Ridley gave a talk about both implementing and advocating game accessibility in globally distributed teams, for a11ybytes Melbourne: https://twitter.com/RavenAlly/status/865141035848024065 To finish up, just a few of the many nice quotes from throughout the day: Disabled people have critical creative & audit roles to play in accessibility to ensure it is authentic and actually works. Robyn Hunt, accease I didn't actively consider player accessibility until Jason Canam brought it to my attention, it helps inform decisions now. Mackenzie Eaton, Boat Rocker Digital The video game is the conduit to the community...gaming is a window to the world. Mark Barlet, AbleGamers The community will help, we want the same access. Brandon Cole No-one wants to be defined by their physical limitations. Josh Straub, DAGERS We are people who want to play your games, but you arent letting us, you arent letting us participate. Youre getting our money, but we arent getting what we paid for. - DeafGamersTV It is part of our values that we will not compromise on. Tim Cook, Apple I used to tell friends that for a large part of human history, careers for the blind were restricted to beggar, musician or soothsayer. I graduated from law school in the top 5% of my class, record and produce a podcast enjoyed by literally dozens of people and make a nuisance of myself on social media just like anyone else. We truly live in a golden age. - Aser Tolentino, The Redacted Files It means that, as gamedev, we need to offer a great UX to ALL players. Celia Hodent, Epic Games My life has been immensely enriched by the diversity of people within it. I want my hobbies to be similarly enriched, and thats only going to happen when we all accept the fundamental importance of accessibility for all. Weve all got a role to play in this as agitators, as advocates, and as informed consumers of culture. Michael Heron, Meeple Like Us It was very inspirational to hear Josh talk about accessibility in games, what impact we developers can have on the lives of many people :) - Shuhei Yoshida, Sony I am loving all these game #accessibility tweets today. Just a flood of goodness. - Adriane Kuzminski, SmashClayAudio Every day is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Elle Waters, simplyaccessible A Pinch of Salt: The election is over, I think, so what now? Benton County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Donohue has denied a motion by the city of Corvallis for a stay of his original judgment in a closely watched annexations case. Donohue on May 24 denied the request, which would have allowed voter-approved annexations to move forward while the citys case is under appeal. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation in March 2016 that limits voter-approved annexations. The city, along with Philomath and the League of Oregon Cities, challenged the state law, with Donohue rejecting the challenge in a Feb. 28 summary judgment. Corvallis City Attorney Jim Brewer said it didnt particularly surprise me that Donohue chose not to grant the request. Its going to go to the Court of Appeals no matter what, Brewer added. In his order denying the stay, Donohue wrote the court finds that granting Plaintiffs stay request is not appropriate given existing case law and given the respective potential harms to all parties and persons at issue during appeal. The Corvallis City Council voted unanimously April 3 to continue its appeal of the case. Brewer said that it is unclear when the Oregon Court of Appeals will take up the matter, but he said it likely will be at least six months. Corvallis has chosen to continue to go forward with voter-approved annexations of land while the case is before the courts. Last November a five-parcel annexation in the northeast corner of the city was approved by the voters. The Lawndale annexation was driven by failing septic systems. The city received three applications for annexations that were planned for the November ballot. However, all three parties, Samaritan Health Services and the Caldwell Farms and Marysville projects, withdrew their applications because they needed additional work. Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. Article Protecting the worlds oceans an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. The Pro Biafran Sit At Home Order Was Not Only Observed In Nigeria But Internationally bayonel3 at 31-05-2017 10:45 AM (5 years ago) (m) The Indigenous People of Biafra on Tuesday appraised the level of compliance with its sit-at-home order and described it as a huge success. In a statement made available in Awka, the Anambra State capital, by IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said apart from Nigeria, the order was observed in no fewer than 75 countries. The Indigenous People of Biafra on Tuesday appraised the level of compliance with its sit-at-home order and described it as a huge success. In a statement made available in Awka, the Anambra State capital, by IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said apart from Nigeria, the order was observed in no fewer than 75 countries. Powerful gave the names of the countries where the order was complied with as Taiwan, Chad, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Angola, Congo DRC, Mozambique, Luxembourg, Brazil, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, France. Others were Germany, Austria, Finland, South Africa, Togo, Ghana, Cote dIvoire, Liberia, Benin Republic, Gabon, Cape Verde, Madagascar, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, India, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel, Italy, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Sao Tome and Principe, Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Namibia, Niger Republic, Tunisia, Algeria and Cape Verde. He thanked those who made the exercise a success, especially members of the IPOB family. He described those who did not participate in the exercise as saboteurs, alleging that they were paid by the Federal Government to sabotage the order. His statement read in part, The Indigenous People of Biafra and its leadership worldwide congratulate Biafrans and all the IPOB family members worldwide both in Biafra land and in the Diaspora for their compliance with the sit-at-home order issued by our indefatigable leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu issued this sit-at-home order when he was still in Kuje Prison, Abuja, and it has come to pass; all the people of Biafra both home and abroad complied in all totality. This had not been done in the history of Biafra struggle before. We also blame those saboteurs who were paid by the government to sabotage the restoration project because today Biafrans and IPOB members worldwide obeyed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. We, IPOB, must be strong and we promise everybody that Biafra is here.. But it was observed that the exercise recorded partial success in Anambra StateThe Hausa market located in Dike Park at the heart of Awka, the state capital, was closed even as banks, schools and other major markets were closed. Despite the order, a few commercial vehicles operated along the Old Awka-Onitsha Road. Vehicular movement was paralysed in major cities of Onitsha, Nnewi, Awka and Ekwulobia. The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Mr Sam Okaula, said in a telephone chat that the exercise was peaceful. Powerful gave the names of the countries where the order was complied with as Taiwan, Chad, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Angola, Congo DRC, Mozambique, Luxembourg, Brazil, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, France. Others were Germany, Austria, Finland, South Africa, Togo, Ghana, Cote dIvoire, Liberia, Benin Republic, Gabon, Cape Verde, Madagascar, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, India, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel, Italy, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Sao Tome and Principe, Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Namibia, Niger Republic, Tunisia, Algeria and Cape Verde.He thanked those who made the exercise a success, especially members of the IPOB family. He described those who did not participate in the exercise as saboteurs, alleging that they were paid by the Federal Government to sabotage the order. His statement read in part, The Indigenous People of Biafra and its leadership worldwide congratulate Biafrans and all the IPOB family members worldwide both in Biafra land and in the Diaspora for their compliance with the sit-at-home order issued by our indefatigable leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.Mazi Nnamdi Kanu issued this sit-at-home order when he was still in Kuje Prison, Abuja, and it has come to pass; all the people of Biafra both home and abroad complied in all totality. This had not been done in the history of Biafra struggle before.We also blame those saboteurs who were paid by the government to sabotage the restoration project because today Biafrans and IPOB members worldwide obeyed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. We, IPOB, must be strong and we promise everybody that Biafra is here..But it was observed that the exercise recorded partial success in Anambra StateThe Hausa market located in Dike Park at the heart of Awka, the state capital, was closed even as banks, schools and other major markets were closed.Despite the order, a few commercial vehicles operated along the Old Awka-Onitsha Road. Vehicular movement was paralysed in major cities of Onitsha, Nnewi, Awka and Ekwulobia.The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Mr Sam Okaula, said in a telephone chat that the exercise was peaceful. Post Reply I scour the world wide web to bring you interesting stories from around the globe. [email protected] Posted: at 31-05-2017 10:45 AM (5 years ago) | Hero chukkychukky at 31-05-2017 11:43 AM (5 years ago) (m) God bless biafra and curse nigeria Joramentity aka chukkychukky Posted: at 31-05-2017 11:43 AM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac God bless biafra and curse nigeria Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 12:01 PM (5 years ago) (m) @ chukkychukky.., una bunch of imbeciles wey dey fyn roots for diaspora.., I get bitter leaves for una Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:01 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero @ chukkychukky.., una bunch of imbeciles wey dey fyn roots for diaspora.., I get bitter leaves for una Reply ruthie at 31-05-2017 12:02 PM (5 years ago) (f) mumu ipobs Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:02 PM (5 years ago) | Hero mumu ipobs Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 12:03 PM (5 years ago) (m) Mumu faggots.., don dey produce maggots full everywhere but with no single power ... SHAME Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:03 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Mumu faggots.., don dey produce maggots full everywhere but with no single power ... SHAME Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 12:04 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: BournIdentity on 31-05-2017 12:03 PM Mumu faggot.., don dey produce maggots full everywhere but with no single power ... SHAME Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:04 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Reply Mykie010 at 31-05-2017 12:10 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: BournIdentity on 31-05-2017 12:03 PM Mumu faggots.., don dey produce maggots full everywhere but with no single power ... SHAME Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:10 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac . Borntroway identity abi na wetin dem dey call u,shame to u.mumu plus mumu na wetin u be Reply Sparky12 at 31-05-2017 12:12 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 31-05-2017 12:02 PM mumu ipobs ::)Bastard ashawo IDIOT Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:12 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac ::)Bastard ashawo IDIOT Reply ruthie at 31-05-2017 12:15 PM (5 years ago) (f) u r just as useless and poor like ya useless leader.. Biafra will never work.. better go and do something better for ya already wasted life and generation. Quote from: Sparky12 on 31-05-2017 12:12 PM ::)Bastard ashawo IDIOT Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:15 PM (5 years ago) | Hero u r just as useless and poor like ya useless leader.. Biafra will never work.. better go and do something better for ya already wasted life and generation. Reply dynasty4all at 31-05-2017 12:21 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 31-05-2017 12:02 PM mumu ipobs YOU ARE IN EUROPE SLLEPING WITH DOGS, HORSES, EVEN SNAKE. ARE YOU NOT ASHAME OF YOURSELF? Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:21 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac YOU ARE IN EUROPE SLLEPING WITH DOGS, HORSES, EVEN SNAKE.ARE YOU NOT ASHAME OF YOURSELF? Reply ruthie at 31-05-2017 12:26 PM (5 years ago) (f) i pity you and your wasted generation... instead of you to discuss matters like an adult,u resort to name calling.. Biafrans are frauds...u sit in front of computer and you typing nonsense... ignorant youth... Quote from: dynasty4all on 31-05-2017 12:21 PM YOU ARE IN EUROPE SLLEPING WITH DOGS, HORSES, EVEN SNAKE. ARE YOU NOT ASHAME OF YOURSELF? Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:26 PM (5 years ago) | Hero i pity you and your wasted generation... instead of you to discuss matters like an adult,u resort to name calling.. Biafrans are frauds...u sit in front of computer and you typing nonsense... ignorant youth... Reply Mykie010 at 31-05-2017 12:31 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 31-05-2017 12:02 PM mumu ipobs . Who started the name calling? Yet u accuse people of name calling.the issue of ipob is not a joke and we won't tolerate people like u that knows nothing abt the struggle to bring ur ignorant opinion to it...stay off comments if u have nothing meaningful to contribute,I will spare u d abuses. Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:31 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac . Who started the name calling? Yet u accuse people of name calling.the issue of ipob is not a joke and we won't tolerate people like u that knows nothing abt the struggle to bring ur ignorant opinion to it...stay off comments if u have nothing meaningful to contribute,I will spare u d abuses. Reply ruthie at 31-05-2017 12:33 PM (5 years ago) (f) Ignorant fellow... which struggle? were you born at that time?... all of you are a bunch of jokers!! better go and find something else doing rather type gibberish.. Quote from: Mykie010 on 31-05-2017 12:31 PM . Who started the name calling? Yet u accuse people of name calling.the issue of ipob is not a joke and we won't tolerate people like u that knows nothing abt the struggle to bring ur ignorant opinion to it...stay off comments if u have nothing meaningful to contribute,I will spare u d abuses. Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:33 PM (5 years ago) | Hero Ignorant fellow... which struggle? were you born at that time?... all of you are a bunch of jokers!! better go and find something else doing rather type gibberish.. Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 12:59 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: dynasty4all on 31-05-2017 12:21 PM YOU ARE IN EUROPE SLLEPING WITH DOGS, HORSES, EVEN SNAKE. ARE YOU NOT ASHAME OF YOURSELF? Jajajajajajajajaja hehehehehahaha, hahahahahahahaha monkey., na ordinary small stone I troway naim dey make una biafrats dey cry like this?.. I bin talkam say maggots wey dey ur nyash don rearrange ur opolo 2 wetin lizard get naim u com here dey cry dis cry wen I never start to dey wipe u cane ..., Abi u tink sey I no no sey na wetin ur mumu with all ur female relatives dey sleep with.., horse, dogs plus snakes.. Run go meat ur ape family if u wan more of ur ass hol chop-shit..., bcos this kunu faggoted fool no dey give una d overdose shit.. required Posted: at 31-05-2017 12:59 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Jajajajajajajajaja hehehehehahaha, hahahahahahahaha monkey., na ordinary small stone I troway naim dey make una biafrats dey cry like this?.. I bin talkam say maggots wey dey ur nyash don rearrange ur opolo 2 wetin lizard get naim u com here dey cry dis cry wen I never start to dey wipe u cane...,Abi u tink sey I no no sey na wetin ur mumu with all ur female relatives dey sleep with.., horse, dogs plus snakes..Run go meat ur ape family if u wan more of ur ass hol chop-shit..., bcos this kunu faggoted fool no dey give una d overdose shit.. required Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 01:10 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: Sparky12 on 31-05-2017 12:12 PM ::)Bastard ashawo IDIOT Posted: at 31-05-2017 01:10 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Forget that thg.., like sey ur family fit recognised anythg wey good.., nobi reptiles dey bang ur momo t0to for 9t? I no sey ur papa im na thief lyk u, im dey even enter mortuary go lick dead people yarsh idiot son of a gay man, ur generation people yarsh no do your gay father now him don dey go f u c k dead body for mortuary, just like you moron son of an old outdated prostitute your generation will die in that condition.. No need to talk sey Amen cos ur family wey dey 7ft don stamp am alrdy.. Mumuniscious mugurity chronic moronic moron.. FOOL Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 01:15 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: Mykie010 on 31-05-2017 12:10 PM . Borntroway identity abi na wetin dem dey call u,shame to u.mumu plus mumu na wetin u be Dwarf..., I still dey wonda why as two of una commot from cell.., nnamdi kunu turn Pope but you na kolekole.., sorry for ur future generation that is if there'll be any Posted: at 31-05-2017 01:15 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Dwarf..., I still dey wonda why as two of una commot from cell.., nnamdi kunu turn Pope but you na kolekole.., sorry for ur future generation that is if there'll be any Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 01:16 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: BournIdentity on 31-05-2017 12:03 PM Mumu faggot.., don dey produce maggots full everywhere but with no single power ... SHAME Posted: at 31-05-2017 01:16 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Hahahahahahahahahahaha Reply Mykie010 at 31-05-2017 01:38 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: ruthie on 31-05-2017 12:33 PM Ignorant fellow... which struggle? were you born at that time?... all of you are a bunch of jokers!! better go and find something else doing rather type gibberish.. . I don't blame ,its that too many customers that u are carrying on streets of Napoli thats why u have no brain,ur mate are in school while u are on d street Posted: at 31-05-2017 01:38 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac . I don't blame ,its that too many customers that u are carrying on streets of Napoli thats why u have no brain,ur mate are in school while u are on d street Reply BournIdentity at 31-05-2017 01:54 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: Mykie010 on 31-05-2017 01:38 PM . I don't blame ,its that too many customers that u are carrying on streets of Napoli thats why u have no brain,ur mate are in school while u are on d street Fool this one be lyk that ur 6ta wey carry room no attach to im name, sandra78..,? Blind monkey, as u agbaya reach, ur animalistic sense still dey u to suck ur papa chest.. Go watch ur baboon brodas as dem dey jump 4 bush. I bin fink say na only dump ur cheap prostitute momo drop u 4 shalanga BT I c say u also dumb as maggots don rearrange ur sense cari yam go ur anus. Moronic monkey go chop you mama t0to, well ur family na different things form dem. go show ur mama d dog in u, born FOOL, I cant look at ur mama rotten thing talk of to cut, old ashawo pikin Posted: at 31-05-2017 01:54 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Fool this one be lyk that ur 6ta wey carry room no attach to im name, sandra78..,? Blind monkey,as u agbaya reach, ur animalistic sense still dey u to suck ur papa chest.. Go watch ur baboon brodas as dem dey jump 4 bush. I bin fink say na only dump ur cheap prostitute momo drop u 4 shalanga BT I c say u also dumb as maggots don rearrange ur sense cari yam go ur anus. Moronic monkey go chop you mama t0to, well ur family na different things form dem. go show ur mama d dog in u, born FOOL, I cant look at ur mama rotten thing talk of to cut, old ashawo pikin Reply Best Laptops under Rs. 15,000 with Windows 10 OS with Discount offers Features oi -Harish Kumar You don't have spend a fortune on these laptops. While some may not be comfortable working with Windows 10 on their laptops, there are plenty of reasons why this OS is the best. With the new Creators Update that was released in April, the Windows 10 is now better than ever. If we compare this latest OS with Windows 8, it has lot of features that the latter doesn't. Most importantly, Windows 10 has Cortana, which is Microsoft's world first personal assistant helping you out with many things. Cortana is deeply integrated into the operating system, and while you can't uninstall it, you have the option to disable it. Other than that, this OS is also specially built for gaming. Best smartphones with 64 GB internal memory under Rs 15,000 Now that you know some of the pros of this operating system, here is a list that includes best laptops under Rs. 15,000 with Windows 10. Best Mobiles in India Moto Z2 Play may get launched on June 1 at Computex 2017 News oi -Shilpa A new leak speaks about the launch date. It is clear to everyone that Motorola will launch a set of new smartphones this year. These set of phones will be unveiled under Moto Z, Moto X, Moto G, Moto M, Moto E, and Moto C series. As we know, Moto Z lineup consists of three models - the standard Moto Z2, the shatterproof Moto Z2 Force, and the budget-friendly Moto Z2 Play. The Z2 Play was rumored to be a downgraded version of its predecessor- Moto Z Play. Now a new leak has popped up online telling that this budget-friendly Z2 Play will be released at Computex 2017 on June 1. Not just this, even an image of this handset has been leaked in Google Plus along with a sealed package. A screenshot of the CPU-Z app has also been leaked which spoke about the full specification of the device. Moto Z2 Play color and release date revealed by the digital poster Known as Moto Snaps Called as Moto Snaps', this phone supports the first generation Moto Mods in it. This time Motorola designed this device with an aluminum body on the back instead of glass body like other phones under this brand. Specs known so far To speak about the specs, the phone will have a 5.5-inch Full HD display like Z Play. The device will be powered by a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 chipset, which is not a better option when compared with the Snapdragon 625 SoC used in its predecessor. Also on the graphics side, the phone comes packed with the same Adreno 506 GPU. Major upgrades Though this upcoming model has nothing special to offer, it has made some major upgrades on memory and camera part. The device is said to pair with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of native storage. It will sport a 12MP dual pixel camera with laser autofocus support and an 8MP front-facing selfie shooter, which has dual tone LED flash as well. Also Read: The Moto Z2 Play with SD 626 SoC again spotted on Geekbench Other details The device will house a battery of 3000mAh instead of 3510mAh offered in Moto Z Play. Since the phone is designed to look slim, it comes with the thickness of 5.9mm. There is a high probability of Motorola releasing this handset after two days. Source Best Mobiles in India Galaxy J5 (2017) firmware The Galaxy J5 has received a firmware that is dubbed as stock ROM. It appears to be a handy tool that will fix the handset when it is bricked. If you are trying to do some hackery on the smartphone, then the device can be used without any issue with the help of the firmware that is saved on your PC. All that has to be done is just manually install the firmware on the bricked Galaxy J5 (2017) to get it back to life. Android 7.1.1 Nougat is expected The Galaxy J5 (2017) is likely to arrive with Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box. As this build is in use by many other Samsung devices including the company's flagship models, it looks like the build is under testing for now. Also read: Samsung Galaxy J5 (2017) press render leaks Galaxy J3 (2017) is the first one While the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are based on Android 7.0 Nougat, the upcoming smartphones are expected to be launched with Android 7.1.1 Nougat as mentioned above. The first device that will boot this OS is likely to be the Galaxy J3 (2017). The device was spotted at TENAA lately. Android Nougat update Samsung is believed to be testing the Android 7.1.1 Nougat meant for various smartphones. We can expect even the Galaxy J5 (2016) and the original Galaxy J5 to also receive the build via an update in the coming months. Probably, the same is believed to happen sometime in late Q3 or early Q4 of this year. What to expect from Galaxy J5 (2017)? Talking about the Galaxy J5 (2017), the mid-range smartphone to be launched soon is believed to be similar to the existing model in terms of looks. Under its hood, the phone might feature an Exynos 7870 SoC paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. Also, a 3000mAh battery is believed to power the smartphone. The other aspects that we expect include a 5.2-inch HD 720p AMOLED display. Government is concerned about the financial health of the telecom sector: Manoj Sinha News oi -Priyanka The Minister said that Government is concerned about the financial health of the sector and the ministry will intervene at the right time in a right manner. Clearing his stand over falling revenues of the telecom sector, the Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said that Government will intervene "at the right time in a right manner". He said, "the Government is aware and concerned about the sector, we will intervene at the right time in a right manner, we have also set up an inter-ministerial committee to look into the financial woes of the telecom sector." Added that the industry has faced same situation earlier in 2003. Sinha further added that the market is very big and which is transforming into data-centric from voice centric. India to organize its first Indian Mobile Congress in September: Manoj Sinha The Minister has also advised the telecom players to talk to the banks about their borrowings, and if any restructuring could be done. As banks has recently raised an alert after the loan to the sector crossed Rs 8 lakh crore. Meanwhile, Sinha launched the India Mobile Congress 2017 (IMC 2017), the country first and biggest ever, platform to bring together all stakeholders from Telecom, Internet & Mobility ecosystem along with ICT players, app developers, innovators, and start-ups. The three-day IMC will be held on 27-29 September 2017, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and will see the participation of government bodies, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), handset manufacturers, Internet giants, ISPs, Global technology players, AI & VR companies, Mobility leaders, Academia, Start-ups and app providers. While announcing the schedule of the event and releasing its logo, Sinha said, "The India Mobile Congress will be the biggest event of the telecom industry and it will bring together all stakeholders from the industry and government on a common platform. It will be an exciting opportunity for all involved to explore and achieve new heights in the world of Information and Communication Technology. It is a proud moment for all of us and I am sure no stone will be left unturned to ensure the success of this mega event. The government of India congratulates COAI, K and D Communications Limited and the industry and assures its full support for the event. This is a huge step forward towards realizing the Hon. Prime Minister vision of a fully connected and digitally empowered India." India Mobile Congress is expected to see the participation of telecom giants like Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, as well as telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular and it is expected to draw 5,000 paid participants and 800 exhibitors. The countries like the US, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Korea, the Philippines, Bhutan and Japan have evinced interest in participating and creating awareness around the upcoming event, COAI director general Rajan Mathews said Best Mobiles in India Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 30, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 26 strikes consisting of 66 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 18 strikes consisting of 25 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four ISIS wellheads, an ISIS oil storage tank, an ISIS oil tanker truck and a vehicle. -- Near Raqqa, 11 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units and destroyed five vehicles, a tunnel, a mortar system, a weapons cache, a vehicle-borne-bomb factory and a fighting position. -- Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, an ISIS oil separator tank and an ISIS headquarters. Additionally, four strikes in Syria were conducted on May 28 that closed within the last 24 hours: -- Near Raqqa, four strikes destroyed a weapons cache, an ISIS staging area and three fighting positions. Strikes in Iraq In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 41 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two vehicles and a vehicle-borne bomb staging area. -- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed 34 vehicles, seven fighting positions, three vehicle-borne bombs, two mortar systems, two heavy machine guns, a medium machine gun and a supply cache and damaged an ISIS-held building, an ISIS supply route and a fighting position. -- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS-held building. -- Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two cave entrances and an ISIS staging area. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said. The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said. The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Partnered Forces Continue to Make Progress in Syria, Iraq By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, May 30, 2017 Partnered forces in Syria and Iraq are continuing to make progress in defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a Pentagon spokesman said today. Syrian Democratic Forces yesterday cleared more than 130 kilometers of terrain in the Raqqa valley and in the vicinity of Tabqa, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters. The SDF is closing in on Raqqa, he said, pointing out that in the northern Raqqa valley, the SDF has cleared to within four kilometers of Raqqa. Davis noted pro-regime forces are conducting patrols west and north of At Tanf, in the vicinity of the deconfliction zone where the United States is working with partners. "The coalition dropped leaflets over the weekend demanding that the pro-regime troops withdraw from this deconfliction zone," he said. Counter-ISIS Strikes The coalition continued strikes against ISIS targets in Raqqa over the weekend, to include ISIS tactical units, vehicles, a tunnel, a mortar system, a weapons cache, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device factory and a fighting position, Davis said. Iraqi forces have surrounded the old city in west Mosul, Davis said, noting today is the 100th day in the campaign to liberate west Mosul. Iraqi security forces made small gains along the forward line of troops yesterday, bringing to 577 square kilometers the gains since the west Mosul offensive began Feb. 19, he said. "They continue to slowly advance against heavy resistance in the last few ISIS-held neighborhoods," Davis explained. In the campaign for west Mosul, coalition forces continue to support and conduct strikes on enemy positions and potential vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, striking about 85 vehicles in the last two days inside west Mosul to protect partnered forces, Davis pointed out. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Air Force Combat Rescue Helicopter Reaches Milestone, Paving Way for Assembly, Test and Evaluation CRH Program conducts Air Vehicle Critical Design Review STRATFORD, Conn., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced it successfully reached a key milestone the Air Vehicle Critical Design Review (CDR) for the U.S. Air Force's Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program. This event prepares the program to proceed to assembly, test, and evaluation of the HH-60W helicopter. The joint Sikorsky and U.S. Air Force (USAF) helicopter program team met in May with key partners from government and industry for an in-depth design review. Throughout the review, the CRH team successfully presented a design that participants were confident would meet system requirements. Review participants included leaders from USAF and key suppliers who took part in the technical presentations. "This milestone is an important achievement and demonstrates Sikorsky and the Air Force are well aligned on the technical requirements of the HH-60W," said Tim Healy, Sikorsky CRH program director. "We got here by conducting several milestones on or ahead of schedule, and we are committed to staying on that track as we build the first HH-60W aircraft." In preparation for the CDR, the joint team generated more than 300 technical documents, created and reviewed over 50,000 hardware and software requirements, conducted 17 sub-system CDRs and designed 3,000 new parts. "The joint team did an outstanding job in documenting the design of the HH-60W," said Jim Andrews, Sikorsky CRH chief engineer. "We are excited to enter the build phase as the team has leveraged digital design tools to generate manufacturing efficiencies that will reduce cost and schedule. This approach will lead ultimately to the HH-60W becoming the first Black Hawk derivative to have a paperless assembly line." The USAF awarded Sikorsky the $1.28 billion Engineering Manufacturing & Development (EMD) contract in June 2014, which includes development and integration of the next generation combat rescue platform and mission systems, delivery of four HH-60W helicopters, aircrew and maintenance training systems, and support for both. In January of 2017, the USAF exercised a $203 million contract option with Sikorsky to provide five additional aircraft, bringing the total to nine. The training suite includes devices that span full-motion simulators and discrete aircraft systems, such as hoist and landing gear. The USAF Program of Record calls for 112 helicopters to replace the Air Force's rapidly aging HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, which perform critical combat search and rescue and personnel recovery operations for all U.S. military services. The HH-60W is an advanced variant of the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter design and features increased internal fuel capability for greater range. The CRH aircraft will feature GE T700-701D engines, composite wide-chord main rotor blades to sustain maneuverability at high density altitudes, and a new fatigue- and corrosion-resistant machined aero-structure to ensure reliability and availability to USAF operational units. The design includes an advanced Tactical Mission Kit integrating multiple sensors, data links, defensive systems, and other sources of intelligence information for use by combat rescue aircrews. The aircraft is designed with a weapons and cabin configuration specifically optimized for combat rescue and recovery operations. "Conducting the Air Vehicle CDR demonstrates this helicopter system is well on its way to meeting the key program requirements of the Air Force," said Dave Schairbaum, USAF, CRH System Program Manager. "Successful execution of the program is essential to meet the continued demanding personnel recovery mission in today's challenging operational environment. We are working closely with Sikorsky to assure this newly designed aircraft meets the requirements, is affordable and is delivered on schedule to the warfighter." The CRH and USAF teams will meet again in September for the Training Systems Critical Design Review. This press release contains forward looking statements concerning opportunities for development, production and sale of helicopters. Actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to changes in government procurement priorities and practices, budget plans, availability of funding and in the type and number of aircraft required; challenges in the design, development, production and support of advanced technologies; as well as other risks and uncertainties including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in Lockheed Martin Corporation's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Atrocities in CAR may constitute crime against humanity: UN Iran Press TV Tue May 30, 2017 2:5PM The UN has warned that the tremendous level of killing, mutilation, torture, rape and pillage committed by successive governments and armed groups in the Central African Republic (CAR) may constitute crime against humanity. On Tuesday, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) issued a 368-page report based on over 1,200 confidential and open sources in an attempt to help authorities identify cases as they establish a Special Criminal Court. CAR has been the scene of a deadly violence due to political instability since March 2003 when General Francois Bozize overthrew former president Ange-Felix Patasse in a coup. The bloodshed deteriorated in March 2013 when the mainly Muslim coalition of ex-Seleka rebels overthrew Bozize from power. Since 2003, anti-Balaka militias have killed and tortured civilians, mutilated victims and pillaged UN and other diplomatic facilities, in so-called "cleansing operations" against Muslims in retaliation for similar abuses by mostly Muslim rebels, the report said. The report warned that despite a successful presidential election in 2016, retaliatory violence between the ex-Seleka militia and mainly Christian anti-Balaka rebels loyal to Bozize continues to take its toll on the civilians. Over the past two weeks alone, the clashes have killed about 300 people and displaced 100,000. The figure brings the number of internally displaced people in CAR to over 500,000. On May 13, at least 108 people were massacred and 76 injured during an attack by several hundred fighters on Bangassou, a town near the DRC border. Due to the constant insecurity and inefficient justice system, the perpetrators of the crimes from all sides have enjoyed near total impunity throughout the period, the report noted. "Critical preconditions for an effective judicial process which functions in accordance with international human rights standards, are not yet in place the rushed or ill-timed introduction of transitional justice measures ... may prove counter-productive," the UN said. The UN called on CAR's Special Criminal Court to maximize the use of foreign judicial personnel and cooperate with the International Criminal Court, which has been investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity since 2012. The report suggested that a fact-finding committee document cases of violence, allow victims to tell their stories and help find underlying causes of the crisis. UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva that more funds are urgently needed to help the displaced, noting that the UN has just received six percent of the $209 million it needs to provide aid in CAR in 2017. He also said that humanitarian access is excessively limited in many areas due to security concerns. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Philippine city witnesses continued fighting Iran Press TV Tue May 30, 2017 10:13AM The military of the Philippines is continuing to pound the positions of Daesh militants in the southern city of Marawi. On Tuesday, military operations continued in the city, where two local militant groups allied to Daesh have taken up positions. The military operations have been launched, including in urban areas, to drive the terrorists out. More than 100 people have been confirmed dead in the clashes between government forces and the militants. Fighting began more than a week ago when gunmen waving the black Daesh flags rampaged through the city following a failed operation by Philippine security forces to capture a leading militant commander, Isnilon Hapilon. According to the military's chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Ano, at least 65 militants, 15 Philippine troops, and 19 civilians have been killed in the fighting so far. However, local authorities have reported that more civilian deaths are still to be tallied. The military has called on the terrorists to surrender. Responding to inquires on why a surrender call has been issued, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said, "To lessen the damage on the ground, definitely so the civilians will be less affected." The local government estimates that up to 2,000 residents are currently trapped in neighborhoods held by the militants. The International Committee of the Red Cross has voiced alarm that they may be caught in the crossfire. The militants also took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage in a local church at the start of the crisis, and their fate remains unknown. While the country's defense chief estimated the number of militants in the city to be just 100, they have so far withstood eight days of intense air assaults and street-to-street combat. The Philippine government says Daesh has been seeking to establish a base in Southeast Asia by attempting to take over Marawi. The army has said that the drawn-out fight in Marawi is not a sign of the militants' strength and that the military has held back to spare civilian lives. The military says it has driven out the militants from nearly 70 percent of the city. Meanwhile, the military also said on Tuesday that the militants who have occupied much of the city over the past week were planning violent attacks during the holy month of Ramadan. Authorities have also said that the gunmen in Marawi have been joined by foreign militants, including Malaysians, Indonesians, Singaporeans, and Arabs. President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao, home to roughly 20 million people. Philippine lawmakers are reportedly calling for a public session of Congress to determine whether martial law is still necessary now that the military is taking control of Marawi from the militants. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Central African Republic: Amid fresh violence, UN rallies support for displaced 30 May 2017 United Nations agencies are seeking to rally support for the people fleeing escalating violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), while the Organization's human rights office has called for the establishment of a strong justice system in the country. Since fighting flared in May between rebels, more than 68,000 people have fled their homes within CAR, while more than 20,000 have sought refuge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), or the UN refugee agency. "More funds are urgently needed to aid more than 88,000 people who have been forced to flee an upsurge in violence," said UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch at today's press briefing in Geneva. Significant rebel activity on towns along the DRC border as well as rumours of possible attacks are pushing people to flee in the Haute Kotto and Mbomou prefectures inside CAR, he noted. UNHCR is calling for urgent support to its funding appeal of $209.2 million for the CAR situation, which is only 6 per cent funded. For its part, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), or the UN migration agency, has tracked more than 19,000 displaced people in the nation's sub-prefecture of Bangassou in Mbomou Prefecture, which is situated at the border with the DRC. More than 13,000 of those displaced are children. "More than 80 per cent of the displaced persons are living with host communities and not in camps," said Yoko Fujimura, IOM's expert on displacement tracking. "Host families are sharing the little that they have with displaced people and therefore should also be supported to avoid tensions over limited resources," she added. As of May 2017, there were more than 500,000 internally displaced persons nationwide, a figure that had not been reached since August 2014. Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has released a report that maps 13 years of violence and impunity in the CAR. Mass killings and other serious human rights violations have been documented in the report covering the multiple conflicts in the Central African Republic between 2003 and 2015. Many of the violations may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the mapping report states, as it sets out a strategy to fight pervasive impunity in the country. "The history of the country has been marked by deep-rooted poverty, ethnic tensions, pervasive political instability, corruption and nepotism that led to a succession of armed conflicts," the mapping report states. "After gaining independence, the Central African Republic was subjected to a succession of authoritarian regimes that committed, condoned and were unable to prevent serious violations and abuses." Regional instability and internal conflicts in neighbouring countries have fuelled the volatile conditions in the country, particularly through the flow of arms and rebel groups across its porous borders, the report adds. "The mapping report on the Central African Republic lays bare the staggering suffering of the people of this mineral-rich country which is among the poorest in the world," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said. "In documenting the violations and abuses of the past, we hope to galvanize national and international efforts to protect and bring justice to the victims of these crimes," said Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the UN Special Representative for the CAR and head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). The report sets out recommendations, such as having a sequenced and comprehensive approach to transitional justice, creating a prosecution strategy for the Special Criminal Court, and establishing a truth and reconciliation commission. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN: Yemen Now World's Largest Food Insecurity Crisis By Margaret Besheer May 30, 2017 The United Nations humanitarian chief said Tuesday that Yemen has become the world's largest food insecurity crisis, with more than 17 million people struggling daily to get enough to eat. Stephen O'Brien told the U.N. Security Council that of the 17 million people who are food insecure, nearly 7 million of them are "one step away from famine." "What is worse, the threat of famine is driven and exacerbated by conflict," O'Brien said, speaking of the more than two-year-old war between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels. O'Brien noted that the country is not facing a drought, a common cause of famine, but that the crisis is entirely man-made. "If there was no conflict, there would be no descent into famine, misery, disease and death a famine would certainly be avoidable and averted," he said. Spike in food prices Food prices have surged, leaving a quarter of Yemenis unable to afford provisions at their local markets. Local food production, especially agriculture and fishing, has been severely disrupted by the fighting. Add to that a de facto blockade on the country's main commercial port by the government's Gulf Arab supporters, which is making the delivery of humanitarian aid and fuel extremely difficult. As hunger spreads, the population becomes more susceptible to disease and the country is now trying to contain a cholera outbreak that O'Brien said has sickened an estimated 60,000 people and killed 500. He said another 150,000 cases of the water-borne disease are projected over the coming six months. "The scale of this latest outbreak isa direct consequence of the conflict," O'Brien said. He praised the U.N. and its humanitarian partners who are working to contain the epidemic. Less than 45 percent of Yemen's medical facilities are functioning, adding to the challenge. Political settlement still beyond reach And there is no political settlement in sight. "I will not hide from this council that we are not close to a comprehensive agreement," the U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told council members. "The reluctance of the key parties to embrace the concessions needed for peace, or even to discuss them, remains extremely troubling," he said. Ahmed said he has also failed to get agreement on a deal to avert a military attack on the vital Red Sea port of Hodeidah, which is the main entry point for the majority of the country's fuel and humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, over one million civil servants have not been paid their salaries in months, driving families into poverty and adding to the country's economic crisis. Even the special envoy has not been immune to first-hand experience of the violence. Last Monday, Ahmed's convoy was attacked in Houthi-controlled Sana'a while traveling from the airport to the United Nations compound. The U.N. has called for an investigation into the incident. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump: Russians Must Be Laughing at US Probes of Moscow Election Meddling By Ken Bredemeier May 30, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump says that Russian officials "must be laughing" at the United States with its escalating investigations into Moscow's meddling in last year's election, which he claimed was "a lame excuse" adopted by opposition Democrats to explain losing the White House. In a Twitter comment Tuesday, Trump said accounts of the probes of links between Trump campaign aides and Russian operatives aimed at helping him win have "taken over the Fake News," his derisive term for U.S. media. Former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, has partly blamed Russian interference in the election for her defeat. But Trump has been dismissive of the investigations, even as his own Justice Department appointed a special counsel to probe whether his campaign aides colluded illegally with Russia, and several congressional panels have embarked on their own fact finding. ABC News reported that congressional investigators had asked one of Trump's closest confidants, his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to tell them about contacts he has had with people connected to the Russian government, but he said he turned down the invitation. Cohen told the television network the request was "poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered." Kushner's back-channel communications Trump's Russia comment came as news reports continued to focus on Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a White House adviser, and his reported attempt to establish a back-channel communications link to Russian officials in the weeks before Trump's inauguration in January. The White House is also bracing for the upcoming congressional testimony of former FBI chief James Comey. Trump fired Comey after allegedly asking him to drop the probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his close ties to the Kremlin. U.S. Senator John McCain, a key foreign affairs figure in Congress, said he views Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, as the "greatest challenge we have," even more so than that posed by Islamic State terrorists. Speaking during a visit to Australia, McCain told the Australian Broadcasting Company Russia has tried to "destroy the very fundamental of democracy" with efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election and others elsewhere in the world. MCain voiced concerned about the Kushner effort to establish the secret link to Russia. "I know that some administration officials are saying, 'Well, that's standard procedure,'" McCain said Monday. "I don't think it is standard procedure prior to the inauguration of a president of the United States by someone who is not in an appointed position." The White House says Kushner "was acting in his capacity as a transition official," and that he has agreed to discuss the meetings with congressional investigators. Trump has rejected allegations his campaign colluded with Russia. "Jared is doing a great job for the country," Trump told The New York Times late Sunday. "I have total confidence in him. He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programs that will save our country billions of dollars. In addition to that, and perhaps more importantly, he is a very good person." The 36-year-old Kushner, a New York real estate executive before joining Trump's White House staff, is married to Trump's oldest daughter Ivanka, who is also a White House adviser. Kushner, according to several news accounts, sought to create the secret communications link with Moscow as he met with the Kremlin's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, early last December. Some foreign affairs experts said the move, while former President Barack Obama had weeks left in his term, worried them that it could undermine U.S. security and some opposition Democrats have suggested Kushner's security clearance should be revoked. Other experts say exploring the creation of "backchannels" is commonplace, even during presidential transitions. 'Fake News' Trump's Tuesday attack on the U.S. news media, a near constant during his campaign and the first four months of his presidency, was his second in three days. On Sunday, he wrote on Twitter, "It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media. Whenever you see the words 'sources say' in the fake news media, and they don't mention names, it is very possible that those sources don't exist, but are made up by fake news writers. #FakeNews is the enemy!" He later added a defense of his use of Twitter, saying the media "works hard at disparaging & demeaning my use of social media because they don't want America to hear the real story!" NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former Panama Dictator Manuel Noriega Dies at Age 83 By VOA News May 30, 2017 Former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega, whose time in power was marked by corruption and violence, has died at the age of 83. Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela said on twitter that Noriega's death "closes a chapter in our history" and that his family deserves a burial in peace. Noriega had been in the hospital recovering from several surgeries related to removing a brain tumor earlier this year. Before being released on house arrest to prepare for the procedures, Noriega had been imprisoned for corruption and killing opponents during his 1983-89 regime. Noriega was ousted from power by a U.S. invasion in 1989 and was imprisoned in the United States on drug offenses. He then was jailed in France for money laundering and was returned to Panama in 2011 for further imprisonment. Despite amassing great wealth, Noriega had worked hard to cultivate an image of a man of the people. He lived in a modest, two-story home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Panama City that stood in stark contrast with the opulent mansions customary among Latin American dictators. "He would only say `hello' very respectfully," said German Sanchez, who lived next door for 16 years. "You may think what you like of Noriega, but we can't say he was anything but respectful toward his neighbors." "The humble, the poor, the blacks, they are the utmost authority," Noriega said in one speech. While some resentment lingers over the U.S. invasion, Noriega has so few supporters in modern-day Panama that attempts to auction off his old home attracted no bidders and the government decided to demolish the decaying building. Late in life, the ex-dictator essentially had zero influence over his country from behind bars. "He is not a figure with political possibilities," University of Panama sociologist Raul Leis said in 2008. "Even though there's a small sector that yearns for the Noriega era, it is not a representative figure in the country." Noriega broke a long silence in June 2015 when he made a statement from prison on Panamanian television in which he asked forgiveness of those harmed by his regime. "I feel like as Christians we all have to forgive," he said, reading from a handwritten statement. "The Panamanian people have already overcome this period of dictatorship." But for the most part Noriega stayed mum about elite military and civilian associates who thrived on the corruption that he helped instill - and which still plagues the Central American nation of some 3.9 million people, a favored transshipment point for drugs and a haven for money laundering. Meanwhile, families of more than 100 who were killed or disappeared during his rule are still seeking justice. Some material for this report came from the Associated Press. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Truck bomb blast in Afghan capital causes mass casualties Iran Press TV Wed May 31, 2017 4:49AM Horror and chaos grip the Afghan capital Kabul following a huge car bomb explosion, which according to the Health Ministry has so far claimed at least 90 lives and wounded about 400 others. The bomb exploded near the presidential palace and foreign embassies in the center of Kabul on Wednesday morning, Afghan officials said. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, the precise target of which remained unclear, even though it hit Zanbaq Square, close to the German Embassy. Reports say several embassies have been damaged in the large explosion. Health Ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi confirmed the fatality number and warned that the toll could rise. "They are still bringing bodies and wounded people to hospitals," he said. An Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said initial findings showed it had been a truck bomb. The attack inflicted damages on the buildings of embassies of India and Japan. Iranian Embassy damaged The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran was also damaged in the explosion. The Iranian ambassador's residence was partially destroyed, too. The blast occurred some 200 meters from the Iranian Embassy in Kabul. Most Iranian diplomatic personnel were yet to arrive at the Embassy when the blast occurred at 08:25 am Afghanistan time. Reports say only two staffers were lightly wounded, however. Iran condemns attack Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry later on Wednesday condemned the "criminal suicide attack" in Kabul and said the failure to confront terrorism has resulted in an increase in terrorist activities. Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi expressed hope that intra-Afghan dialog leaving out regional and non-regional countries accused of sponsoring terrorism would create a mechanism to prevent such attacks and stymie the flow of weapons for extremist groups by those countries. "The suicide attack in Kabul is another warning that a failure to seriously confront this evil phenomenon (terrorism) and the continuation of sponsorship for these extremist groups by certain countries in the region has led to a rise in these merciless activities over the past weeks," Qassemi said. Other embassies India's envoy to Afghanistan, Manpreet Vohra, said the blast hit around 100 meters from the Indian Embassy "but we are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe." He said that "the blast was very large and nearby buildings including our own building have considerable damage in terms of broken glass and shattered windows and blown doors etc." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used Twitter to "strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul." The blast also shattered windows at the Japanese Embassy. "Two Japanese Embassy staffers were mildly injured, suffering cuts," said a Foreign Ministry official in Tokyo. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter that the explosion injured embassy staff and killed an Afghan security guard. The number of injured employees was not specified. The bomb blast on the highly-secured area is said to be "one of the biggest" in the city, which has already been the target of many terrorist attacks in the first three months of 2017. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack, which occurred just days into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. His office said in a statement that "the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people." Pakistan also issued a statement, saying it "strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused loss of precious human lives and injuries to many." Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said "the blast has caused damage to the residences of some Pakistani diplomats and staff, living in the close vicinity, and inflicted minor injuries to some." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At Least 90 Dead, Hundreds Wounded In Huge Kabul Blast RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan May 31, 2017 KABUL -- The Afghan government has raised the death toll from a huge truck-bomb blast in the center of Kabul to 90. The May 31 explosion ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter at the peak of the morning rush hour during the holy month of Ramadan, shattering windows far from the site and sending black smoke into the sky. "In this powerful attack 90 people have been killed and 400 wounded, including many women and children," the Afghan government's media center said, with the Health Ministry warning the toll would continue to rise as more bodies were pulled from the debris. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the powerful blast. Similar attacks in the past have been carried out by the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) group. Kabul police said the explosives were hidden in a tanker truck that exploded near the German Embassy in an area close to other embassies and the presidential palace. Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for city police, said it was not clear that the German Embassy had been the target. "There are several other important compounds and offices near there, too," he said. Many of the dead and wounded were civilians, and the blast prompted widespread condemnation of what world leaders and rights groups called a "despicable" and "barbaric" attack. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani slammed the attack as a "war crime." Jawid, a Kabul resident, said the explosion broke his office windows. "We are very sad for the killed and wounded people. It is inhumane to commit such acts of terror even in Ramadan and cause such distress and grief." The NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission said Afghan security forces had blocked the truck before entering the heavily protected Green Zone where many foreign embassies, as well as its headquarters, are located, suggesting the explosion may not have reached its intended target. The NATO statement praised "the courage of Afghan Security Forces, especially the police and first responders." "The attack demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people," the NATO statement said. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the "horrific attack in Kabul" and offered his condolences in a post on Twitter. The White House "strongly condemns the atrocious attack" and offers its condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured, AFP news agency quoted a spokesman as saying. America's top diplomat in Kabul, Special Charge d'Affaires Hugo Llorens, said the "horrific and shameful attack demonstrates these terrorists' complete disregard for human life and their nihilistic opposition to the dream of a peaceful future for Afghanistan." Llorens offered his "deepest condolences to the families of all those killed and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured." Amnesty International called the attack "a horrific act of violence and a heartbreaking reminder of the toll that Afghan civilians continue to pay in a conflict where armed groups deliberately target them and the government fails to protect them." News reports quoting unnamed German government sources said that Berlin authorities had canceled the planned deportation on May 31 of a group of Afghans who had unsuccessfully sought asylum. "Germany will not carry out flights deporting rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan in the next few days," a German official said, but stressed the underlying policy remained. "The employees [at the embassy in Kabul] have more important things to do than to prepare the organizational measures needed. Therefore, there will be no collective deportations to Afghanistan in the next few days," said the official. The BBC said an Afghan driver was killed and four of its journalists were injured in the blast. Iran's official news agency IRNA said the Iranian Embassy sustained severe damage. The residence of the Iranian ambassador was heavily damaged and part of the diplomatic compound was destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties among Iranian Embassy personnel. French government minister Marielle de Sarnez told Europe 1 radio that the French Embassy was damaged but that there were no signs "at this stage" of any French victims. The Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Kazakh embassies reportedly sustained some damage, too, but no staff injuries were reported. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that his country strongly condemns the "terrorist blast" and conveyed condolences. "India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated," Modi said. Neighboring Pakistan has condemned the "terrorist attack" in a statement from the Foreign Ministry voicing solidarity with Afghanistan. "Pakistan strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Kabul this morning that has caused the loss of precious human lives and injuries to many," the statement said. "We firmly stand with our Afghan brothers in this hour of grief and anguish," it added. The Wazir Akbar Khan district, where the attack occurred, is considered Kabul's safest area, with foreign embassies protected by dozens of 3-meter-high blast walls and government offices guarded by police and national security forces. Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told RFE/RL the blast was so large more than 50 vehicles were either destroyed or damaged. Several houses were also damaged, Danish said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which came amid the Taliban's annual spring offensive. However, a Taliban spokesman denied responsibility for the attack. Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that Taliban fighters were not involved and that the group condemned any attacks that caused civilian casualties. The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armored NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3. The blast was the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital. Kabul Province had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 as a result of multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Afghan security forces are battling a 16-year-long insurgency led by the Taliban, an extremist group that was driven from power after a U.S.-led invasion following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States. The United States is considering whether to send 3,000 to 5,000 more military advisers to help train and assist Afghan security forces. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/massive-bombing- kabul-diplomatic-quarter-many-feared-dead- wounded-dozens/28519945.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Interview: U.S. Senator Booker Says Russia Trying to Destabilize Democracies Globally RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 31, 2017 KYIV -- Russia's interference in Ukraine is just one sign of a broad attempt to destabilize democracies around the world, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (Democrat-New Jersey) has told RFE/RL. "When it comes to Russian aggression, let's be clear: The Russians are seeking to not just attack Ukraine, or attack the U.S., they are trying to undermine democracy," Booker said in an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in Kyiv on May 31. "Their attempt is to create divisions and divisiveness between individual leaders as well as within nations. And that's unacceptable," said Booker, who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Russia seized control of Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops without insignia, engineering a takeover of the regional legislature, and staging a referendum that was swiftly dismissed as illegitimate by Ukraine, the United States, and a total of 100 countries at the UN General Assembly. Moscow has portrayed its takeover of Crimea as necessary to protect ethnic Russians and other residents of the peninsula from oppression by pro-Western officials who came to power in Kyiv following the ouster of Russia-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. That narrative has been rejected by Ukraine and Western governments, which accuse Russian-backed authorities in Crimea of rights abuses against Crimean Tatars and others opposed to Moscow's rule there. Since 2014, the EU and United States have maintained sanctions on Russia over its seizure of Crimea and its actions in eastern Ukraine. Booker, who has advocated increasing sanctions against Russia, said that he believes relations with Moscow need to be improved but added that "the question is not if, it's how." "Putin is somebody who is not going to negotiate with you if he thinks you're weak. Right now we need to show our strength....We need to show our strength through unity with our allies," Booker said. "You cannot appease people who are showing aggression without meeting them with strength," he said. "This is not just a Ukrainian fight, this is a transatlantic fight," Booker added. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-senator-booker-russia- destabilizes-democracy/28521068.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin, Trump Blame U.S. Democrats For Allegations Of Russian Meddling RFE/RL May 31, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump on May 30 both dismissed allegations of Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential campaign as "fiction" or "fake news" created by Democrats to explain their defeat in the election. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, Putin once again denied allegations of Russian involvement in the hacking of Democratic National Committee e-mails that were leaked last year and proved embarrassing for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Putin asserted that the allegations arose because of the "desire of those who lost the U.S. elections to improve their standing." "They want to explain to themselves and prove to others that they had nothing to do with it, their policy was right, they did everything well, but someone from the outside cheated them," he said. "It's not so. They simply lost, and they must acknowledge it." Putin claimed that U.S. Democrats created what he called a "fiction" about Russia because they "hate to acknowledge that they indeed lost because the person who won was closer to the people and had a better understanding of what people wanted." Earlier in the day, Trump wrote on Twitter that Russian officials "must be laughing at the U.S. and how a lame excuse for why the Democrats lost the election has taken over the Fake News." Trump often refers to independent media reports as "fake news." But most media reports have focused on the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies, released in January, that Putin ordered an "influence campaign" seeking to undermine faith in the U.S. electoral system and denigrate Clinton. The assessment said that Russia developed a clear preference for Trump. Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate those allegations and whether Trump's campaign associates may have colluded with Russia during the campaign and afterwards. Putin's hopes for a new era of better relations under Trump have been undermined by the investigations and the attention being paid to the issue in the United States. In the Le Figaro interview, Putin said the accusations of meddling leveled at Russia have destabilized international affairs. He argued that trying to influence the U.S. vote would make no sense for Moscow because, in the end, even a strong president cannot overcome the bias against Russia in the Washington power structure. "Russia has never engaged in that. We don't need it and it makes no sense to do it," he said. "Presidents come and go, but policies don't change. You know why? Because the power of bureaucracy is very strong." Putin suggested that what he called Trump's strong desire to improve ties with Russia during the campaign was overwhelmed after he took office by the Washington bureaucracy's refusal to give up what he called its long-standing antagonism toward Russia. "This is what happens with every administration. Changing things is not easy, and I say this without any irony. It is not that someone does not want to, but because it is a hard thing to do," he said. The Russian leader added that he agrees with a statement Trump made during the campaign that anyone could have been behind the hacking of the Democratic e-mails, not just Russia. "Maybe someone lying in his bed invented something or maybe someone deliberately inserted a USB with a Russian citizen's signature," Putin said. "Anything can be done in this virtual world." Trump asserted during a September presidential debate that, "It could be Russia, but it could be China, could also be lots of other people. It could be someone sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds." In January, however, Trump's incoming chief of staff said that Trump "accepts the fact" that "entities in Russia" were behind the intrusions into the Democratic Party organization. Putin said he believes that the interest in Washington in investigating ties between Trump and Russia will eventually fade, enabling relations to get better. "It will pass, everything passes, and this will pass as well," he said. "I am cautiously optimistic, and I think that we can and should be able to reach agreements on key issues." With reporting by Le Figaro, AP, TASS, and Interfax Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-trump-blame-us- decmorats-fake-news-russian-meddling- election-figaro-interview/28519876.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia, Saudi Arabia Hail Oil Output Deal For Stabilizing World Markets RFE/RL May 31, 2017 Russia and Saudi Arabia on May 30 praised their agreement on oil production curbs, which they said had helped stabilize global oil prices, and agreed to pursue more cooperative efforts. At a meeting at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, who is in line to become king and currently is in charge of defense and energy affairs. It was the second meeting between the two men over the past year following a breakthrough meeting in China, where the two as heads of the world's largest oil-producing countries first agreed to cooperate in curbing production to shore up collapsing prices. "Agreements in the energy sector are highly important to our countries. We are grateful to you for your ideas and the joint work between OPEC and the countries which are not part of the cartel," Putin told Salman. "The actions we agreed are helping to stabilize the situation on the world hydrocarbon markets." Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and several other producers outside OPEC joined the Saudis, Iran, Iraq, and other cartel members in a November 2015 agreement, which was recently renewed, to cut global production by 1.8 million barrels a day. "The relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are going through one of their best moments ever," Salman said. "The most important thing is that we are succeeding in building a solid foundation to stabilize oil markets and energy prices." Since the Russia-OPEC agreement went into effect, premium oil prices have stabilized in the $40 to $50 a barrel range after plummeting to under $30 in January 2016. They remain far below levels over $100 reached in 2014, however. Saudi Arabia for decades has been the largest producer in OPEC and has dominated the cartel, while Russia never joined the group and for decades refused to cooperate with it. But the oil price collapse between 2014 and 2016 caused deep recessions and serious budgetary hardships in both countries, putting pressure on them to find ways to cooperate. For Salman, the visit to Moscow followed by only days a summit in Riyadh with U.S. President Donald Trump at which deals were made to purchase arms and pursue terrorists. But the United States, while a major producer of oil, never joined the OPEC deal. Putin and Salman said they intend to keep cooperating beyond the current nine-month extension of their agreement on oil production. At the talks, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to explore joining a consortium of investors in a Moscow real estate project. The Russian fund said both parties also are evaluating more possible projects in retail, real estate, alternative energy projects, transportation, and logistics infrastructure. Putin and Salmon minimized their big differences over the war in Syria, where they back opposing sides. "We have a lot of common ground. As far as our disagreements are concerned, we have a clear mechanism of how to overcome them. We are moving forward quickly and in a positive way," Salman said. "We work together on sorting out difficult situations, including in Syria," Putin said. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, and Interfax Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-saudi-arabia- hail-oil-output-deal-stabilizing- world-markets-/28519836.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Vucic Sworn In As Serbian President Amid Protests RFE/RL's Balkan Service May 31, 2017 Aleksandar Vucic has been sworn in as Serbia's president, taking office amid protests against his increasingly tight grip on power in the Balkan state. Vucic, 47, took the oath of office to succeed outgoing President Tomislav Nikolic at a brief ceremony at parliament on May 31, hours after "Against Dictatorship" protesters, supported by the majority of opposition parties and leaders, tried to make their way to the front of the building in Belgrade before briefly skirmishing with police who blocked their way. "I promise I will keep peace and stability, guard and protect the future of our children," Vucic, who is shifting to the presidency after three years as prime minister, said before leaving the parliament and wading into a crowd of thousands cheering outside the building. Once an ultranationalist who served as information minister in the administration of strongman Slobodan Milosevic, Vucic has solidified his grip on power by reinventing himself as a reformer committed to Serbia's drive toward European Union membership. His first-round presidential election victory on April 2 came nearly a year after his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won parliamentary elections and gives them control over the entire legislative and governing process, which some critics warn could push the Balkan country back into the autocracy Milosevic symbolized during his decade in power. "Vucic will retain de facto control over Serbian politics," the political risk consultancy Teneo Intelligence said in a May 30 note on the country. "The new prime minister is expected to stay the policy course and keep most of the cabinet members in place." With tensions simmering between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, an ethnically charged political stalemate in Macedonia, and accusations of Russian interference in Montenegro's move into the NATO military alliance and toward the EU, concerns have grown over Serbia's direction and how it could reignite the Balkan powder keg. While Vucic pledges to prepare the nation of 7.3 million people for EU accession by 2019, he also opposes joining NATO. Simultaneously, Vucic has also pushed for deeper economic and diplomatic ties with longtime ally Russia, and he has condemned Western sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine, including the occupation and annexation of Crimea. This has set off alarm bells in Washington and Brussels over the government's true policy direction, with officials decrying what they call attempts by Moscow to exploit tensions in the Balkans to hinder progress toward integration in structures such as the EU and NATO. Moscow has also long curried favor in Serbia with its staunch opposition to the 1999 NATO bombing campaign to drive Milosevic's forces from Kosovo. The Kremlin, like Serbia itself, still does not recognize an independent Kosovo. "We plan to further keep traditional friendly relations with Russia despite all the pressure on us. Over the past years, we have managed to achieve a lot in relations both with the Russian people and its leaders," Vucic said after taking the oath on a special copy of the constitution. Serbia has seen dozens of peaceful protests since Vucic's first-round election victory, which demonstrators say came amid major irregularities in the campaign, including stifling the media, voter intimidation, and bribes. A second rally against Vucic was scheduled for later on May 31 in Belgrade. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and B92 Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-vucic- inauguration-protests/28520253.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Deadly Truck Bomb Rocks Kabul By Ayaz Gul May 31, 2017 A massive truck bomb exploded Wednesday morning in the diplomatic section of Afghanistan's capital, killing at least 90 people and wounding more than 300 others. A security official speaking on condition of anonymity told VOA the casualty figures hours after the blast. Earlier, Afghan health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Majroh had put the number of deaths at 80, saying it could rise. The bomb ripped through the central Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul, home to foreign diplomatic missions and government offices, damaging dozens of vehicles and surrounding buildings. Afghan officials said the explosives were packed in a sewage tanker. A U.S. State Department spokesman said 11 U.S. citizens working as contractors in Afghanistan were injured. None of their injures is considered life-threatening, the spokesman said. The bombing happened in an area not far from the German embassy. Pictures circulated on social media showed the blast turned a portion of the diplomatic mission into ruins. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter an Afghan security guard was among those killed and that a number of employees were wounded. The Afghan Intelligence agency, NDS, in a brief statement, has blamed the Haqqani network, which allegedly is based in neighboring Pakistan and fighting alongside the Taliban. The NDS also asserted that Pakistan's spy agency, ISI, helped in planning the carnage. Afghan officials have blamed Islamabad previously for facilitating insurgent attacks in their country, charges Pakistani officials deny. Damage The French, Turkish and Iranian embassies are also among missions that suffered material damage. Japan's Foreign Ministry says two of its embassy employees, both Japanese nationals, were slightly injured in the Kabul bombing while minor damage was also caused to the building. The explosion also mostly devastated a nearby building, housing the main office of Roshan, the leading telecommunications service provider in Afghanistan. Afghan security forces swiftly cordoned off the area and international troops arrived at the site to assist in rescue efforts. Afghan television showed dozens of ambulances taking wounded people to hospitals, including women. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The Taliban has denied involvement, saying the insurgent group has nothing to do with the bombing or any attacks that target civilians. The insurgents have lately intensified attacks on Afghan security forces, killing and wounding scores of them. Islamic State has claimed attacks against high-profile Afghan targets in recent months, including a deadly suicide raid on the country's largest military hospital in Kabul in March. That attack left at least 50 people dead, including soldiers and doctors. Reaction Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned Wednesday's blast as an "inhuman and cowardly attack" against innocent civilians in the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the attacks "once again show the terrorists' complete disregard for human life." The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the bombing as "morally reprehensible and an outrage," particularly during the month of Ramadan. NATO's U.S.-led Resolute Support military mission said the attack "demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people." Neighboring Pakistan also denounced the terrorist attack, saying it has caused damage to the residence of Pakistani diplomats and staff, and inflicted minor injuries to some. "The people and government of Pakistan extend their heartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to the government and the people of Afghanistan and the bereaved families," said a Foreign Ministry spokesman. The latest violence comes as President Ghani is set to host a conference of neighboring and regional countries in Kabul next week to discuss ways to end an increasingly deadly Afghan conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Vinson, USS Reagan Carrier Strike Groups Conduct Dual Exercises in Sea of Japan By Carla Babb May 31, 2017 Two U.S. aircraft carriers have started military exercises together in the Sea of Japan, U.S. Navy officials tell VOA. "The USS Carl Vinson Strike Group and USS Ronald Reagan Strike Group are conducting routine operations in the Western Pacific," Navy spokesman Lt. Loren Terry said. Officials said the carriers, along with the ships and aircraft assigned to each, began dual operations in international waters within the sea on Wednesday. The dual-carrier exercises come days after North Korea launched another missile into the Sea of Japan. The multi-day, multi-carrier exercises provide "combatant commanders with significant operational flexibility should these forces be called upon in response to regional situations," Terry told VOA. "This unique capability is one of many ways the U.S. Navy promotes security, stability and prosperity throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific," he added. The dual-carrier operations mark the end of the USS Vinson strike group's tour in the Western Pacific, according to a Navy official. The USS Reagan strike group includes cruiser USS Shiloh and destroyers USS Barry and USS McCampbell. The USS Vinson strike group includes destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy along with cruiser USS Lake Champlain. American ships and aircraft routinely operate in international waters throughout the Western Pacific, which includes waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula. U.S. Pacific Command said the short-range ballistic missile North Korea launched on May 28 posed no threat to North America, adding that the U.S. military stands behind its "ironclad commitment to the security of our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to work with the United States to "take specific action to deter North Korea." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Aid Group: South Sudanese Elderly, Disabled Face Additional Risks By Jill Craig May 31, 2017 Peter Bol Wal, 35, lost his left leg below the knee during fighting against Sudan in 1994. He now lives in a United Nations protection of civilians site in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, where he says life is not easy. "You know, before when the conflict erupted, it was a bit better because the disabled person is not like [an] able person," Bol said. "Now, when the things become tough, it is difficult for a person with disabilities to cope with this situation and to survive in the way that other people struggle for their lives, because of war." Human Rights Watch says elderly people and those with disabilities in South Sudan are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the conflict that began in December 2013, citing "numerous" documented instances of people being shot, hacked to death or burned alive in their houses. The group says these populations have been targeted and abused by warring parties, often because of their inability to flee attacks. "Civilians have been, and continue to be, attacked by the parties," said Jonathan Pedneault, HRW's South Sudan researcher. "Now, if you are not able to flee ahead of an attack, or when the parties come to your house, or come to your village, you are automatically more vulnerable to abuses." Pedneault says their caregivers are also more vulnerable. "Now, one also needs to remember that when you are fleeing an attack, when there are bullets flying all around you, it is often very difficult even for relatives and family members to carry someone with a disability," Pedneault said. "It obviously slows you down, and so we have also had some cases of people with disabilities who have been telling us that they actually asked their relatives to leave them behind because they did not want to slow them in their flight." But Pedneault says there is evidence of commanders sparing the elderly and those with disabilities in some situations. He cites one example from February, when Wau Shilluk was taken over by Sudan People's Liberation Army forces. "One of the commanders who was in charge of the SPLA soldiers there ordered his soldiers to take care of people with disabilities, and they were not only brought in one specific place, but then provided also with food and water by the soldiers," Pedneault said. "And that is interesting because it also contradicts, heavily, claims by the parties that often the crimes that we are witnessing are a result of 'bad apples,' that they are the result of undisciplined soldiers. And the chain of command inside the SPLA is so broken down that 'We cannot possibly control the soldiers,' but I think those examples show exactly the contrary. "It shows that when the SPLA wants to act in a manner that is respectful of international norms and international law, it can," he added. Human Rights Watch says it interviewed more than 45 elderly people and those with disabilities at displacement sites in Juba and Malakal, as well as in Panyijar county in the former Unity state, where the U.N. declared famine in two counties in February. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Assails Congressional Probes of His Campaign's Links to Russia By Ken Bredemeier May 31, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump again assailed the congressional probes into his campaign's links to Russia on Wednesday, claiming opposition Democrats are blocking the testimony of one of his former aides looking to clear his name. "Witch Hunt!" Trump declared in one comment on his Twitter account. Trump said, without citing evidence, Democrats on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee "don't want" Carter Page, a former campaign adviser whose ties to Moscow officials are under investigation, to testify. Trump said Democrats "have excoriated Page about Russia," but that he "blows away their case against him." The president said Page wants to rebut the "the false or misleading testimony" of former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey and ex-Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan about Page's connections with Russian interests. The FBI last year obtained a warrant under the country's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor Page's communications. Page, an international businessman and energy consultant, on Monday sent a letter to the House Intelligence panel saying he had been told he "might not be immediately afforded the opportunity" to testify and made clear he was eager to do so at a public hearing. The 45-year-old Page accused Comey, former president Barack Obama, Trump's defeated challenger former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and the U.S. news media of making up "unrelenting lies about me." Trump's defense of Page came as his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, agreed to hand over documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee in connection with its investigation into Russia's efforts to influence last year's U.S. presidential election. Flynn had previously refused a subpoena from the committee, with his lawyers asserting the request was too broad in what it was seeking. The committee filed a narrower subpoena, and Flynn is now expected by next week to provide some personal documents and those related to two businesses. The House intelligence committee is conducting its own investigation, and Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, turned down a request Tuesday to provide information, calling it "poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered." Four concurrent probes There are currently four congressional investigations of Trump campaign links to Russia and Moscow's meddling in the election. In addition, the Justice Department appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to probe whether Trump campaign aides illegally colluded with Russia during the long political campaign. Trump has rejected allegations of collusion and dismissed the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at disrupting the November election and help Trump win. "Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News," Trump wrote Tuesday on Twitter. Clinton has said that Russian interference was partly to blame for her defeat. Later, at a White House briefing for reporters, spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump "is frustrated ... to see stories come out that are patently false, to see narratives that are wrong, to see, quote, unquote, fake news, when you see stories get perpetrated that are absolutely false, that are not based in fact." Trump's Russia comment came as news reports continued to focus on Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a White House adviser, and his reported attempt to establish a back-channel communications link to Russian officials in the weeks before Trump's inauguration in January. Some foreign affairs experts said the move, while Obama had weeks left in his term, worried them that it could undermine U.S. security, and some opposition Democrats have suggested Kushner's security clearance should be revoked. Other experts say exploring the creation of "backchannels" is commonplace, even during presidential transitions. Spicer deflected several questions about Kushner's actions, telling one reporter his inquiry "presupposes facts that have not been confirmed." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Iranian satellite in first step of design: Official IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, May 30, IRNA -- The Deputy of the Iranian Space Agency announced on Tuesday that Pars satellite is in its first phase of design in cooperation with five academic and research centers. On the sidelines of signing a memorandum of understanding with Iran Post Company, Homayoon Sadr told the reporters that after the designing phase, the project will continue through creating a consortium between the mentioned academic and research centers. Sadr said that the goal of the consortium is to create a strong private sector in the space industry to be utilized in great projects. He also said that the second phase of the project will be carried out in late summer. 9417**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Korea's new leader orders probe into 'unauthorized' US deployment Iran Press TV Tue May 30, 2017 10:15AM South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in has ordered an investigation into the "unauthorized" deployment of four additional THAAD missile launchers by the United States to the country's soil. Presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said Moon was "shocked" to hear that the four additional launchers of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system were installed without being reported to the new government or to the public. "President Moon was briefed on such facts by National Security Office (NSO) chief Chung Eui-yong and said it was very shocking," the spokesman told a news briefing on Tuesday. The system was initially deployed to South Korea in March with just two of its maximum load of six launchers with the declared aim of countering North Korean threats. The South Korean official further said the president had "ordered his senior secretary for civil affairs and the NSO chief to find the truth behind the unauthorized entry of the four rocket launchers." The deployment of THAAD, which came amid tensions with North Korea, was met with strong opposition from people in South Korea, including the residents of Seongju County, where the missile system is installed. The installation was agreed by the government of Moon's predecessor Park Geun-hye, who was impeached and ousted over a corruption scandal. During his election campaign prior to the May 9 election, Moon had urged a parliamentary review of the controversial deployment, which has angered Pyongyang. Russia and China have also expressed deep concern over the controversial deployment of the American missile system on the Korean Peninsula. Chinese officials argue that the US system would interfere with their radars and could pose a threat to Chinese security. Moscow has also warned that the deployment would only fuel tensions in the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US to Test ICBM Intercept Following N. Korea Missile Launch By VOA News May 30, 2017 The United States planned to test its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) intercept Tuesday, a day after North Korea declared its most recent missile test a success. The $224 million test is "part of a continuous learning curve," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said. But the test could raise doubts about the U.S.'s ability to defend itself against a North Korean missile. The ICBM-class target will be launched from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. The interceptor or kill missile will be fired from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. If it goes as planned, the interceptor will hit the ICBM target high over the Pacific Ocean. Earlier Tuesday, North Korea's state-run news agency said the country's latest ballistic missile test was a success and involved a new precision guidance system. In neighboring South Korea, the military said Monday's test involved a Scud-type missile that landed about 450 kilometers off North Korea's east coast in the Sea of Japan. The U.S. Pacific Command said it tracked what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile for six minutes and determined it did not post a threat to North America. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that "North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile." But Trump gave China credit for "trying hard" to rein in North Korea's military ambitions. China has repeatedly said it views dialogue as the path to resolving the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program. "The problem, of course, is that North Korea firing so many missiles, it's going to be a problem for both China and the United States," Rand Corporation analyst Bruce Bennett told VOA. "But it's also a problem for South Korea, their politics, and in the end what it's really saying is the regime probably is not very stable." Bennett said that instability could be attributed to the government of Kim Jong Un not being able to boost its economy, not gaining the recognition it wants from China, or because its senior leaders fear they could be killed like others during Kim's time in power. Monday's missile test the third in as many weeks came just days after world leaders at the G-7 economic summit demanded that Pyongyang give up its nuclear ambitions. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned that if a diplomatic solution cannot be found for the situation with North Korea, "it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat." "The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on earth, which is the capital of South Korea," Mattis told CBS News. The United States is currently working to make its THAAD missile defense system fully operational in South Korea. But the system has met opposition from China, which sees it as a threat, and questions from the new administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in. A Moon spokesman said Tuesday the president is demanding an investigation into the THAAD deployment after finding out four launchers arrived in South Korea in addition to the original two that were installed in April. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DPRK urges S. Korea to abolish preparatory committee for reunification People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 10:39, May 30, 2017 PYONGYANG, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Monday called on South Korea to abolish its presidential preparatory committee for reunification set up by the former government. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary that the Preparatory Committee for Unification "has served as a means for executing the policy of confrontation with the fellow countrymen." The committee worked on "unification through absorption" while scrapping the North-South agreement to set up a special zone for peace and cooperation in the West Sea, to end the current armistice system and build a lasting peace mechanism, said the KCNA. "As differing ideologies and systems have existed for long in the north and the south, attempt at achieving 'unification of social systems' and 'unification through absorption' by way of extending the system of one party into the other party will only bring conflict," said the commentary. The official daily Rodong Sinmun also said in an article that the committee hurt the nation's reconciliation and unity and escalated distrust and confrontation. South Korea launched the 50-member presidential committee for preparing to reunify with the DPRK in July 2014. Seoul also made a so-called "Dresden Initiative" in the same year, including infrastructure development, natural resources exploration, as well as broader inter-Korean exchanges in non-political areas such as history, culture and sports. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DPRK says ballistic missile test successful People's Daily Online By Meng Yaping (CNTV) 09:18, May 30, 2017 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) confirmed the test-firing of a ballistic missile on Monday was successful, reported the state-run news agency KCNA on Tuesday. DPRK leader Kim Jong Un guided the launch, the third in nine weeks, through a precision control guidance system. The missile was equipped with an advanced automated pre-launch sequence compared to previous versions of "Hwasong" rockets, KCNA said. South Korean media reported Monday that it was a "Scud" missile, which flew about 450 km and Japan said it believed the missile had fallen into its exclusive economic zone, extending 200 nautical miles from the coast. The launch was aimed at testing a weapon "capable of making an ultra-precision strike on the enemies' objects at any area," said the report. China, the US, South Korea, Japan and Russia have all condemned DPRK's latest missile launch. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday urged all sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, in a bid to ease the tense situation as soon as possible and put the issue back onto the correct track of peaceful dialogue. US President Donald Trump Monday said on Twitter the DPRK's missile launch showed no respect for neighboring China. "North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile," the President tweeted. He added: "But China is trying hard!" NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China Warns India Against Infrastructure Development Along the Border Sputnik News 12:48 30.05.2017(updated 13:22 30.05.2017) China has asked India to be cautious and maintain restraint over infrastructure development along the India-China border. The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a strategic bridge which links Assam with Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi (Sputnik) The Chinese reaction came after the inauguration of India's longest Dhola-Sadiya bridge across the river Brahmaputra, also known as Lohit, at the easternmost tip of Assam by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The bridge connects Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory. "We hope India adopts a cautious and restrained attitude on the issue before the final settlement of the border issue with China to jointly control disputes, safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas," a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. The statement further added that China and India should resolve the territorial dispute through negotiation and consultation. The Dhola-Sadiya bridge is considered strategically important for India, as it will ensure swift movement of Indian troops in Arunachal Pradesh which will strengthen the Indian defense along the Chinese border. "China asking India to be cautious and restrained approach before settling border dispute should not be overhyped. We have an unsettled border problem and this is a reality both sides recognize. However, India building infrastructure in its eastern region is a part of grand policy of 'Look East' and for connectivity," Geeta Kochhar, Professor in the Center for Chinese and South East Asian Studies in JNU, told Sputnik in an exclusive interview. "I think China should have maturity to accommodate economic aspiration of other rising powers. China is keen on One Bridge, One Road, building bridges and rail networks, what is the bigger issue with this bridge? The present posturing of China is just a response to heightened media and public demands for a response. It has no serious ramifications, except the greater will of China to resolve pending disputes," Kochhar added. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indian Army to Get Indigenous Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile for $2.7 Bn Sputnik News 12:36 30.05.2017 The Indian defense ministry has approved a major contract worth $2.7 billion for the purchase of Akash missile systems for the Indian Army developed by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). New Delhi (Sputnik) Last week, the Defense Acquisition Council, the apex defense procurement body, preferred the indigenous missile system over a foreign-made one which is in line with the country's 'Make in India' program. The Akash missile is an indigenously developed supersonic short range surface-to-air missile (SRSAM) system with multi-target engagement capability. It uses high-energy solid propellant for the booster and ram-rocket propulsion for the sustainer phase. Akash will be deployed along the borders with Pakistan and China. It has the capability to engage aerial threats like aircrafts, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles up to a maximum range of 25 km and up to an altitude of 20 km. It employs command to line of sight guidance and relies on sophisticated radars and control systems to guide the missile to its targets. Akash has 96% indigenous content which makes it truly a Make-in-India component. Indian Army had inducted two regiments of Akash missile system in 2015 but then it had complained to DRDO about some deficiency for deployment at forward posts. This time the DRDO has agreed to upgrade the system and add systems which were required by the Army. The Indian Army has planned six regiments along the borders with China and Pakistan. Foreign vendors like Saab, Rosoboronexport and Rafale were in the fray to supply SRSAM to Indian Army. DRDO had worked on the Akash surface-to-air missile system for around three decades. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indian Navy Gets Quotes From 4 Jet Makers for $15 Billion Naval Fighter Deal Sputnik News 16:04 31.05.2017 The Indian Navy will soon begin examining quotes it received from four global manufacturers for 57 multirole combat aircraft. Dassault Aviation, Boeing, SAAB and Rosoboronexport have responded to the global request for information (RFI) issued in January this year. New Delhi (Sputnik) Apart from some basic guidelines for procurement, the Indian Navy had sought answers on a range of issues like electronic warfare capability, endurance and payload. The Navy is also desirous of licensed production of the aircraft after acquiring transfer of technology in the case. "We have received the reply from all the four to whom RFI had been issued. Now, we will examine the RFI and will take it forward," Admiral Sunil Lanba, Indian Navy chief said on Wednesday. Multi-role fighters are intended as day-night capable; all-weather multi-role deck based combat aircraft which can be used for air defense, air-to-surface operations, buddy refueling, reconnaissance, and EW missions from Indian Naval aircraft carriers. Solicitation issued on January had asked global vendors if it can perform Short Take-off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) or Catapult Take-off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) operations, or both. Swedish SAAB is pitching its single engine Sea Gripen which has capability to operate from both STOBAR/CATOBAR while Russian upgraded MiG-29K can operate from STOBAR. Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Dassault's Rafale M are also in the fray for approximately $15 billion contract. Indian Navy is expected to issue the tender soon following the go-ahead signal from the government. "Hopefully, we will select and shall have deck-based carrier airborne fighter in next 4-5 years," Admiral Lanba added. The selected aircraft will operate from indigenously developed IAC-1 aircraft carrier which will be conventional ski jump based STOBAR layout and INS Vikramaditya. "The IAC-1 which is under-construction at the moment is going as per the timeline and she will start her trial in 2019, we will take delivery in 2020," Admiral Lanba said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Ensures Greater Naval Presence in Pacific With Fiji Defense Pact Sputnik News 15:52 31.05.2017 In a major push to play a larger role in the southern Pacific, India has signed a defense pact with Fiji which includes intelligence, military training and defense production during the visit of Fijian Minister of Defense and National Security Ratu Inoke Kubuabola in New Delhi. NEW DELHI (Sputnik)- The two countries have discussed expanded defense partnership in maritime security between both countries and naval cooperation was identified as an area of promise. "A MoU on defense cooperation envisaging several areas of cooperation including in defense industry, military training and humanitarian assistance and disaster management was signed," a statement issued by the Indian Defense Ministry said. This arrangement in future capability is strategic, as well as operational with the intention to improve Fiji's existing naval capabilities and to strengthen a systematic military program under the Fiji-India bilateral framework, Ratu Inoke said. The Indian Maritime Security Strategy has classified the Western Pacific Ocean as the secondary area of maritime interest to India. The Narendra Modi government has given special emphasis to Fiji considering the strategic value of the region. "The pact is significant because it underscores New Delhi's geopolitical stakes in the Southern Pacific and embeds India further within the strategic dynamic of the Asia Pacific. Greater cooperation between the Indian Navy and Fijian defense forces is likely to translate into greater Indian naval presence in the Pacific," Commander Abhijit Singh (retired), Indian Navy, said. Prime Minister Modi had played an instrumental role in the creation of the India-Pacific Islands summit format as a means for India to advance its interests in the region and to work with Pacific Island nations on issues including trade, climate change, diplomacy, and space cooperation. The Indian Space Research Organization is also setting up a new space research and satellite monitoring station on the Fiji Islands. An emerging space power, India presently relies on the US and Australia for assistance in monitoring its satellites over the Pacific. China has greater presence in Fiji in terms of trade and economy in comparison to other countries including India. Fiji and China have a long-term training exchange program under which several Chinese naval vessels visit this island nation. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN World Food Programme Concerned Over Humanitarian Conditions in West Mosul Sputnik News 14:47 30.05.2017 The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is concerned about the humanitarian conditions inside western Mosul's old city, where as many as 180,000 people are reportedly hungry and living in miserable conditions, according to offcial statement. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in west Mosul, which is suffering from famine and poor living conditions amid the Iraqi offensive against the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh, outlawed in Russia) terror group. "The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is concerned about the humanitarian conditions inside western Mosul's old city, where as many as 180,000 people are reportedly hungry and living in miserable conditions," the WFP said in a statement. The WFP expressed particular concern over the rising malnutrition rate seen among children recently displaced from western Mosul, which has doubled since January. The statement noted that the WFP had begun to fight children's malnutrition by providing specialized supplement for children aged between six months and five years. Access to reliable data on the situation in western Mosul remains limited, the statement added. Mosul served as the Daesh headquarters in Iraq since the group's invasion from Syria in 2014. On May 23, a source in the Iraqi Kirkuk province's security services told Sputnik that the terror group had relocated its headquarters to the town of Hawija in the province. On February 18, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of operations to liberate Mosul. Iraqi and US-led coalition forces liberated the eastern part of the city in late January 2017, with fighting now ongoing over its western part and the old city. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN: 200,000 Iraqis Could Flee Mosul in Coming Days By Margaret Besheer May 30, 2017 The United Nations said Tuesday that 200,000 Iraqi civilians could flee an Islamic State-controlled part of Mosul in the coming days. The Iraqi government on Thursday urged civilians in the Old City of Mosul to flee their homes and cross to safety on the other side of government lines. "When they issued this new instruction, it represented a dramatic change and shift from the guidance that they had been previously providing," said Lise Grande, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Iraq. She said there are three neighborhoods to the north of the Old City, as well as the Old City itself, where the civilians are trapped. "We are deeply concerned about the safety of these civilians," Grande told reporters by video link from Baghdad. "We feel those civilians are probably at greater risk now than at any stage of the entire campaign." She noted that the evacuation notice was not compulsory, and that the Iraqi security forces would protect civilians who remained in the Old City. When the military offensive to retake Mosul began in the eastern part of the city last October, the U.N. feared an exodus of as many as 700,000 civilians. It did not happen, as a half-million residents stayed in their homes and rode out the fighting. But when the army began liberating the western part of the city, residents fled at a much higher rate. Grande said 774,000 Iraqis have left Iraq's second-largest city, which has been under IS control since 2014. The U.N. is providing assistance to all of them, as well as the half-million east Mosul residents who remained in their homes. Expecting the worst "Based on our own scenario planning, we are at the moment staring our worst-case scenario straight in the face," Grande said. "Now we know that in the next few days, the next few weeks, an additional 200,000 civilians are likely to flee," she added, saying it would be difficult for humanitarians to cope with the number and speed of people moving. Grande said the number of people leaving western Mosul recently had spiked to 10,000 a day and had reached 15,000 to 16,000 on some days. "We are, however, developing contingency plans for a worst case that would envision as many as 40,000 civilians leaving each day," Grande said. They are arriving at humanitarian points where they receive water, food and medical care, before they are screened and then sent to emergency camps or find shelter with friends or relatives. Grande said the families who have made the difficult and dangerous escape report limited food supplies, as well as shortages of clean water and medicines. The battle for Mosul is not over, but humanitarians already are making contingency plans for the next town the Iraqi security forces are likely to try to liberate from IS Hawija, in Kirkuk province. The U.N. already has constructed eight emergency camps nearby and is building more in anticipation of that operation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Seoul to Bring Pyongyang to Dialogue Over Denuclearization Sputnik News 14:24 30.05.2017 South Korean President Moon Jae-in stated that the ultimate goal of his government is to bring North Korea to the negotiating table over its denuclearization. MOSCOW (Sputnik) South Korea's new government intends to bring North Korea to dialogue in addition to the tightened restrictions over Pyongyang's nuclear program, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday. UN, Western, Japanese and South Korean sanctions against Pyongyang came in the light of North Korea's numerous ballistic and missile launches that violated UN Security Council resolutions. Solely over the past month, North Korea carried out missile launches on May 15, 21 and most recently, on Monday. "But the ultimate goal of our sanctions and pressure is to bring North Korea to the negotiating table over its denuclearization And so, I and my new government plan to add dialogue to existing sanctions and pressure," Moon said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency. Moon called for close cooperation with the international community to exert pressure on Pyongyang in response to its provocations. During the presidential election campaign, Moon slammed North Korea's provocations and expressed support the prospect of engaging in reconciliation dialogue with Pyongyang. Moon officially assumed office on May 10. The negotiations on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula among Russian, Chinese, South Korean, North Korean, US and Japanese diplomats started in August 2003 and, as result, Pyongyang froze its nuclear program. However, the talks deadlocked in 2008 over the issue of monitoring of the North Korean nuclear activity. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Military to Commission Su-35S Fighter Jet by End of 2017 - MoD Sputnik News 18:49 30.05.2017(updated 19:03 30.05.2017) Deputy Defense Minister said that Russian military is expecting to complete the final tests and commission the advanced Su-35S fighter jet by the end of 2017. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Russian military is expecting to complete the final tests and commission the advanced Su-35S fighter jet by the end of 2017, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said Tuesday. "At present, more than 50 [Su-35S] aircraft are being tested in units of the Russian Aerospace Forces. We are expecting that the state joint tests will be completed by the end of this year, and the aircraft will be adopted [for service]," Borisov said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Northern Fleet Gets Over 100 New Weaponry Pieces, Including S-400 Sputnik News 18:18 31.05.2017(updated 19:30 31.05.2017) Russia's Northern Fleet in the first five months of 2017 received over 100 pieces of advanced military equipment, including S-400 missile systems, Northern Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov said Wednesday. SEVEROMORSK (Sputnik) According to previous reports, the Northern Fleet is expected to receive an Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate, an Ivan Gren-class landing ship and a few others this year. "In the first half of this year alone, we have received over 100 pieces of advanced weaponry, military and specialized equipment Not so long ago we have received and put into service new S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems. The ground forces and coastal defense troops received from the manufacturers and familiarized themselves with Bastion coastal missile systems and Pantsir-S1 air defense systems," Yevmenov told reporters. The Northern Fleet is responsible for the defense of the northwest of Russia, serves for the protection of economic zones and ensures safety of navigation. The fleet's headquarters is in Severomorsk. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian government had no role in Idlib chemical attack: Putin Iran Press TV Tue May 30, 2017 5:48PM Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed confidence that the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces had no role in the April chemical attack in Idlib Province, describing the incident as the West's pretext to continue its pressure against Damascus. "According to our information, there is no proof that chemical weapons were used by Assad. We are convinced that he did not do it," Putin said in a Tuesday interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro. The allegation was a way of "explaining to the international community why it was necessary to continue to impose measures to pressure Assad, including militarily," Putin added. The remarks came a day after new French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country blames Assad for the attack, slammed the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a red line for Paris which would result in reprisals. Putin said he had offered to arrange inspections of the site of the chemical attack in the town of Khan Shaykhun, but all the major powers had rejected the proposal. Over 80 people died in the April 4 purported gas attack on Khan Shaykhun, which the Western countries blamed on the Syrian government. Using the incident as a pretext, US warships fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea at the Shayrat airfield in Syria's central province of Homs on April 7. US officials claimed that the suspected Khan Shaykhun gas attack had been launched from the military site. The Syrian government has fiercely denied using or even possessing chemical weapons since the country's compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention was certified by international observers in 2013. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin highlights Iran's important role in Syrian ceasefire IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Moscow, May 31, IRNA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Turkey, Iran, the Syrian government and the armed opposition, as well as Russia, all play an important role in ensuring that the Syrian ceasefire works. The Moscow-based RT news agency quoted Putin as saying in an exclusive interview with Le Figaro. The Russian president, when asked about the Western claims that the Syrian government of Bashar Asssad used chemical weapons against its own people, the Russian leader reiterated that the accusations were groundless and politically motivated. He reminded that that when the alleged attack happened in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria's Idlib province on April 4, Moscow called on Washington and other interested parties to send inspectors to the Syrian airfield from where the alleged chemical weapons originated as well as to the site of the bombing. However, both Russian proposals were refused by the Western partners, Putin said, adding, "If chemical weapons were used by President al-Assad's official agencies, modern verification equipment would certainly find traces of this." 'In my opinion, the accusations have been made for the sole purpose of justifying the use of additional measures, including military ones, against Assad. That is all. There is no proof that Assad has used chemical weapons. We firmly believe that this is a provocation. President Assad did not use chemical weapons,' he said. Putin said that he agreed with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the use of chemical weapons in Syria was 'a red line'. 'Moreover, I believe that this issue should be addressed on a broader scale. President Macron shares this view. No matter who uses chemical weapons against people and organizations, the international community must formulate a common policy and find a solution that would make impossible use of such weapons for anyone,' the Russian leader said. Putin highlighted the role of an agreement to establish four de-escalation zones in Syria, free from fighting between Syrian government and rebels, and called it 'an extremely important milestone' towards a political settlement. However, he added that the zones should not 'become a prototype for the future territorial division in Syria'. "On the contrary, I expect that these de-escalation zones, if peace is established, and the people who will be controlling them, will cooperate with the official Syrian authorities," the Russian president said. The nascent cooperation within these zones should pave the way for a broader political reconciliation, followed by a new constitution and elections, Putin said, stressing that only the Syrian people have the right to decide the political future of their country and, in particular, of President Assad. 9191**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia fires missiles at Daesh positions outside Syria's Palmyra Iran Press TV Wed May 31, 2017 8:10AM The Russian military says it has fired cruise missiles from its warships in the Mediterranean towards Daesh positions outside the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, inflicting losses on the Takfiri terror group. In a Wednesday statement, the Defense Ministry said four Kalibr cruise missiles were fired and successfully hit Daesh combat vehicles and terrorists outside Palmyra. The warships "targeted an area east of Palmyra, where the militants' heavy weaponry and manpower were located. All targets have been destroyed." The statement added that the missile strikes killed the Daesh militants deployed to the area from Raqqah, the terror group's main bastion in Syria, without giving a specified number. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also briefed President Vladimir Putin on the successful launch of missiles. The US, Turkey and Israel had received warnings in advance of the missile launches, said the statement. On May 25, the Russian Air Force spotted a large Daesh convoy, comprising 39 vehicles and 120 militants, outside Raqqah and destroyed it before reaching Palmyra. Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage, is of strategic importance to Daesh as it is located in the central Homs Province around 225 kilometers from Raqqah. The control of Palmyra has passed from Syrian government forces to Daesh terrorists and back again a number of times since the Takfiri terror group first captured it in 2015. In March, Syrian forces, backed by Russian air cover, regained control of the city from Daesh, killing around 1,000 Daesh terrorists in the offensive. Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign since 2015 in support of the Syrian army's counterterrorism operations. It has a naval contingent deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to boost its firepower. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US-Russia Deconfliction Channel Active Ahead of Strikes Near Palmyra - Pentagon Sputnik News 20:26 31.05.2017(updated 20:44 31.05.2017) The deconfliction line for the US-Russia military operations in Syria was active before a Russian frigate and submarine launched Kalibr cruise missiles on Daesh targets near the city of Palmyra, US Department of Defense spokesperson Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Sputnik. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The frigate Admiral Essen and submarine Krasnodar conducted the cruise missile strikes, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The strikes targeted militant hideouts east of Palmyra that housed heavy equipment and fighters transferred from Daesh's stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria. 'The deconfliction line was active ahead of the strike, and there was no danger to American forces," Rankine-Galloway said on Wednesday. Russia said it notified the US, Turkey and Israel ahead of the missile strikes. The United States and Russia signed the bilateral memorandum of understanding in October 2015 to ensure their flight safety during combat missions over Syria. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Fires Cruise Missiles at Islamic State in Syria By VOA News May 31, 2017 Russia's Defense Ministry says its forces fired four cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea to hit Islamic State targets in Syria. The ministry said the missiles came from a frigate and a submarine and landed near the city of Palmyra, striking heavy weapons and Islamic State militants who had deployed there from the group's de facto capital in Raqqa. Russia said it notified the United States, Turkey and Israel before firing the missiles. It did not say exactly when the strikes took place. The Palmyra area has seen a lot of fighting during the past year, with control of the city changing between Islamic State fighters and the Syrian government several times. Syrian forces currently hold the city, but clashes continue. Russian forces have been involved in Syria since late 2015 in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Russia has been criticized by the United States and others for not focusing enough of its air campaign against Islamic State targets. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey at Loggerheads With Allies Over Key Airbase By Dorian Jones May 30, 2017 Attention is growing on Turkey's relationship with key NATO allies because of an increasingly acrimonious fight over the use of its Incirlik airbase. Ankara and Berlin remain at loggerheads over German lawmakers being blocked from visiting their soldiers operating at the base. "It's a legitimate right from the German point of view and that is something Ankara is missing," points out former Turkish ambassador Unal Cevikoz, now president of the Ankara Policy Center, research organization. "I understand at the meeting in Brussels between Chancellor [Angela] Merkel and President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan [in May] the matter was seriously discussed." The blocking of German lawmakers to Incirlik follows Berlin's refusal to extradite to Turkey suspects in July's coup attempt. Bilateral tensions soared this month with Germany granting asylum to more than 200 Turkish diplomats and military personal wanted by Turkish authorities. The two sides are in talks to resolve the impasse. "I have seen some hints that Turkey will be looking at this issue favorably," predicts former Turkish ambassador Cevikoz. 'Blackmail' won't work Germany has deployed reconnaissance planes to Incirlik as part of international efforts against Islamic State. The vast base, located close to the Syrian and Iraqi borders, is widely seen as crucial in the war against the jihadists. But this month German Foreign Minister Sigma Gabriel warned Berlin is prepared to relocate its forces. Jordan is widely touted as an alternative. "It's not if, but when, and that 'when' will happen quite soon," warns former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served widely across the region and is now an analyst. "It's up to them, we will not beg them (to stay)," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, claiming Berlin's threat to withdraw is "blackmail." Key logistics hub Repercussions from the German-Turkish dispute could add to growing unease in Washington. U.S. forces are the primary foreign users of Incirlik in its war against the Islamic State, as well as using it as a key logistics hub. But Ankara has tried to use that dependency as leverage in its dispute with Washington over its military support of the Syrian Kurdish militia the YPG in fighting Islamic State. Ankara calls the YPG terrorists, claiming they are affiliated with the PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state. "There is high anti-Americanism in Turkey," observes Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Institute in Europe. "There has been talk of restricting use of Incirlik, other than Incirlik there are few areas that Ankara could really undermine the U.S. position." "The refusal of Turkey's suggestion to avoid using the PKK/PYD/YPG in the Raqqa operation is unacceptable hypocrisy," thundered Devlet Bahceli, leader of the National Action Party, in parliament Tuesday. Bahceli is a key backer of Erdogan, who has an eye on his 2019 presidential re-election bid. A balancing act Ankara's use of Incirlik as leverage on its allies, in particular Washington, analysts claim is a balancing act, extracting maximum concessions, but avoiding a withdrawal. "I don't think Turkish policy makers want to go there really, (to U.S. withdrawal)," claims analyst Ulgen. But the dispute with Berlin over Incirlik's use, could add impetus in Washington to reassess its own dependency. "The [U.S.] movements of planes from Incirlik are now reduced to earlier periods. This sends a strong signal to Ankara, that Incirlik is not indispensable," warns former diplomat Aydin. "But lets not forget there are some quarters in Ankara, whether among officials or politicians, who will rejoice if that day comes and the U.S. decides to move out of Incirlik all together." Not just a military airbase The cost to Ankara of its allies abandoning Incirlik could be immediate and considerable. "Incirlik is not just a military airbase used by our allies, its also important for intelligence purposes," points out research organization head Cevikoz. "The intelligence German and U.S. experts secure are also shared with Turkey and this intelligence is absolutely necessary for Turkey's fighting against the PKK terrorism." Turkish policy makers comfort themselves in knowing that finding an alternative to Incirlik has proved illusive to the United States. Analysts point out no one base can match Incirlik, but a combination of airbases belonging to the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, along with small airstrips in Syria controlled by the YPG, could offer an alternative. Such a step could have far reaching consequences. "It will underline the fact Turkey is not a strategic partner anymore for the other members of the coalition," warns analyst Aydin. "But looking at the map, the geographical size of Turkey and its location, Turkey will still remain indispensable in the fight against ISIS." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Apart from holding a morning solar energy talk, Gov. Terry McAuliffe visited three Danville businesses Tuesday as part of a tour of the Dan River Region. McAuliffe and Virginia Secretary of Commerce Todd Haymore first spent some quality time at Mama Possums Drive In on Arnett Boulevard. Haymore, a Pittsylvania County native, said he remembered getting cheeseburgers at the diner when he was in high school. Talking with the diner workers, Haymore ordered four cheeseburger specials for the McAuliffes entourage. Mama Possums owner Eddie Blachura said the restaurant also has hosted Virginia politicians like Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and Jim Webb during its more than 50 years of operation. He credited the diners longevity to its menu of burgers, hot dogs and homemade chips. Its an unchanging menu, Blachura said. Its been around for 50 years. After hearing McAuliffe was coming in, Blachura said the staff began preparing immediately. We look forward to it, he said. Its been a while since anyones been in. McAuliffe then headed over to Craghead Street in the River District, where Ballad Brewing is preparing its grand opening this Friday. The governor played a round of shuffleboard with Ballad co-owner Garrett Shifflett and then sampled the brewerys pilsner. Co-owner Ross Fickenscher told McAuliffe the pair wanted to develop a brewery in the River District after working on apartment complex developments in the area. McAuliffe, who worked in real estate before his career in politics, said it was satisfying to see dormant structures turn into thriving communities. This is a great example of commercial development, he said. Its great beer, too, Fickenscher added. The last stop of the day for McAuliffe was 2 Witches Winery and Brewing Co. McAuliffe and Haymore sampled the Sweet Summer Rain strawberry blonde ale, which owner Ethan Brown said was made with 100 pounds of strawberries from Halifax County. Brown said it was exciting to be one of Danvilles first new breweries after opening in 2014. THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 31, 2017) - Mexican Gold Corp. (the "Company" or "Mexican Gold") (TSX VENTURE:MEX)(OTC:SRXLF)(FRANKFURT:4QW1) is pleased to report on its recent sampling program at its newly acquired Pueblo Nuevo concession at the Las Minas project. The sampling was carried out on the Tamiagua 1, Tamiagua 2, and Dos Rios vein structures. Sampling of the Tamiagua 1 vein structure yielded up to 24.86 g/t gold and 17.8 g/t silver or 25.13 g/t Au Eq over 0.25 m, contained within a 0.72 m interval grading 19.09 g/t gold and 10.6 g/t silver or 19.24 g/t Au Eq. A sample from the shaft at the Tamiagua 2 vein structure graded 13.68 g/t gold, 29.8 g/t silver or 14.90 g/t Au Eq over 0.20 m. A chip sample of the vein outcropping on surface graded 15.93 g/t gold. 98.6 g/t silver or 17.3 g/t Au Eq. Sampling of the Dos Rios vein yielded 3.23 g/t gold, 25.2 g/t silver or 3.67 g/t Au Eq over 0.30 m. See Table 1 below for details of sampling highlights. Brian Robertson, President and CEO stated, "We are excited about these high- grade sample results. The high-grade, gold bearing veins on the Pueblo Nuevo concession occur along the same sill contact and are believed to be part of the same metallogenic system as the better-known Au-Cu skarn deposits a few kilometres away at Las Minas proper. We look forward to carrying out further sampling and drilling at this highly mineralized site." Table 1: Tamiagua 1, Tamiagua 2 and Dos Rios Sampling Highlights. Location Sample No. Width Metres (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Au Eq (g/t) Comments Tamiagua 1 12351 0.25 24.86 17.8 25.13 Tamiagua 1 12352 0.22 23.43 9.0 23.59 Tamiagua 1 12353 0.25 9.51 4.8 9.60 Weighted Av. 0.72 19.09 10.6 19.24 Tamiagua 1 12354 0.20 13.55 7.5 13.66 Tamiagua 1 12357 0.45 2.43 0.9 2.44 Tamiagua 1 12358 0.50 5.96 13.2 6.18 Tamiagua 1 12359 0.10 2.66 5.9 2.81 Weight Av. 0.45 4.13 7.2 4.24 Tamiagua 2 12369 0.40 4.934 7.4 5.04 shaft Tamiagua 2 12371 0.20 13.57 13.0 13.75 shaft Tamiagua 2 12373 0.20 13.68 29.8 14.90 shaft Tamiagua 2 12375 NA 15.93 98.6 17.31 surface chip Dos Rios 12377 0.30 3.23 25.2 3.67 The Tamiagua 1, Tamiagua 2 and Dos Rios vein structures are two of eight known veins on the Pueblo Nuevo concession. The concession encompasses several historical underground mines and adits including the La Miqueta, La Miqueta Alta, Marangola, Murcielagos, Dos Rios and El Cobre. All of these vein systems strike NNE to NE. The La Miqueta mine was extensively mined in the past and has 21 known levels. Historic mining activity was carried out on narrow (10-20 cm) quartz veins in both diorite and marble, extending approximately 100 metres on strike and over 100 metres vertically. For a map of historical mines and workings at the Pueblo Nuevo concession, please click here: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1096098_pueblo.pdf For a plan of Tamiagua sampling, please click here: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1096098_tamiagua.pdf The Company also advises that further to its news release of May 29, 2017, the correct number of incentive stock options granted to certain officers, directors and consultants of the Company pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan was 1,050,000 (and not 950,000). Such options are exercisable at a price of $0.36 for a period of ten years with respect to 950,000 of the options and for a period of five years with respect to 100,000 of the options, all such options to vest as to one-third after each of twelve, eighteen and twenty-four months from the effective date of the grant. Gold equivalent (Au Eq) calculations use metal prices of US $1250/oz. for gold and US $18.00/oz. for silver. No adjustments have been made for potential relative differences in metal recoveries. Au Eq g/t = Au g/t + [(Ag g/t x 0.014)] About Las Minas The Las Minas Project hosts near-surface gold, silver and copper skarn mineralization and high-grade gold-silver epithermal vein deposits. The project is comprised of six mineral concessions covering approximately 1,616 hectares (3,995 acres), with several small scale, past-producing mines and a number of untested targets. The district is host to one of the largest under explored gold-silver copper skarn systems known in Mexico, and has a production history that extends back to the Aztec era. The Las Minas granodiorite intrusive measures approximately 10 kilometres in diameter and underlies the Las Minas concessions. The mineralization controls and association with magnetite appear to be similar to the Guerrero Gold belt, which is the site of the multi-million ounce Los Filos and Morelos gold deposits. Las Minas is an early-stage exploration project and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The potential quantities and grades disclosed herein are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource for the targets discussed herein. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in these targets being delineated as a mineral resource. Quality Assurance/Quality Control The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Sonny Bernales, P. Geo., a registered Professional Geoscientist in the Province of British Columbia and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Bernales is responsible for logistics and supervision of all exploration activity conducted by Mexican Gold on the property. The Company has implemented and adheres to a strict Quality Assurance/Quality Control program which includes inserting mineralized standards and blanks into the sample stream, about 1 for every 10 samples. The standards and blanks were obtained from CDN Resource Laboratories Ltd. of Langley, BC, Canada. Each sample bag is properly sealed and kept in a secured, restricted storage place prior to shipping to the lab. Samples are shipped directly by Mexican Gold or picked-up by the lab vehicle with chain of custody/sample submittal signed and dated. The Company sends it samples to SGS Mineral Services (ISO/IEC 17025) at Durango, Mexico, an accredited and independent laboratory. About Mexican Gold Corp. Mexican Gold Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration company committed to building long-term value through ongoing discoveries and strategic acquisitions of prospective precious metals deposits in Mexico. Mexican Gold is exploring the Las Minas Project, which is located in the core of the Las Minas district in the Veracruz State, Mexico. The district is host to one of the largest under-explored skarn systems known in Mexico and has a strong production history that dates back to the Aztec era. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about the magnitude or quality of mineral deposits, anticipated advancement of mineral properties or programs, future operations, results of exploration, prospects, commodity and precious metals prices, future work programs, anticipated financial and operational results, capital expenditures and objectives and the completion and timing of mineral resource estimates. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including the risks identified in the Company's disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based on the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 31, 2017) - Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PX)(OTC PINK:PGXPF) ("Pelangio" or the "Company") announces the appointment of an additional director, the voting results from its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on May 30, 2017 (the "Meeting"), and its filing of the first quarter financial results for 2017. Appointment of Additional Director Pelangio is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin P. Thomson, P.Geo. to the board of directors. The appointment is effective immediately following the Meeting and expands the board to six directors, five of whom are independent. Kevin is a senior mining professional with 29 years' experience, including international technical, corporate and project management experience in West Africa and Canada. His experience ranges from project generation and grass-roots exploration to resource development, project assessment and due diligence. Kevin previously resided in Ghana for 12 years, during which time he served as Group Exploration Manager at Perseus Mining Ltd. and Regional Exploration Manager at Newmont Mining Corp. Kevin holds an Hons. BSc. Geology & Physical Geography from McMaster University, and is a member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (#0191). Kevin has been a non-executive director of ASX-listed Amani Gold Ltd. since 2011. "We are thrilled that Kevin has joined the Pelangio Board. Kevin has an exceptional track record in mining exploration, discovery and project advancement as well as extensive knowledge of Ghana," commented Pelangio's President and CEO, Ingrid Hibbard. AGM Voting Results Pelangio's shareholders voted in favour of all items of business at the Meeting held on May 30, 2017. A total of 104,981,495 (44.57%) of Pelangio's common shares were represented at the Meeting. The five nominees listed in the management proxy circular dated April 13, 2017, were re-elected as directors of Pelangio. Detailed results of the vote for the election of directors are set out below. NOMINEE Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Ingrid Hibbard 96,060,984 99.86 131,850 0.14 Philip Olson 95,554,484 99.34 638,350 0.66 David Mosher 95,566,484 99.35 626,350 0.65 Carl Nurmi 95,566,484 99.35 626,350 0.65 Ian Shaw 95,554,772 99.34 638,350 0.66 Appointment of Officers Following the Meeting, the board of directors appointed Sam Torkornoo as Vice-President Africa, and appointed Warren Bates as Senior Vice President Exploration. Sam Torkornoo has 22 years of professional experience as a geologist and project manager for a number of multinational exploration companies. Sam has a BSc. in Geological Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, and an MBA in International Management of Resources and Environment from Technische Universitat Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. Sam is a member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Ghana Institute of Geoscientists, and the Society of Economic Geologists. Sam is currently the chair of the Exploration Committee of the Ghana Chamber of Mines. In addition, the following were re-appointed as officers of the Company: Carl J. Nurmi as Non-Executive Chairman, Ingrid J. Hibbard as President & Chief Executive Officer, Paul Rokeby as Chief Financial Officer, and Andrew Todd as Corporate Secretary. Biographies for all officers of the Company other than Sam Torkornoo and Andrew Todd can be found on the Company's website, www.pelangio.com. First Quarter Results Also, Pelangio announces financial and operational results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Financial reports and Management's Discussion and Analysis are available on both the Company's website (www.pelangio.com) and SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Q1 2017 Operational Highlights: Africa - Dormaa Project - Option Agreement with Roscan Minerals Pelangio received the first and second payments of $150,000 each on March 6, 2017, and May 4, 2017, pursuant to the option and joint venture agreement with Roscan Minerals Corporation to jointly advance the Dormaa Project in Ghana, West Africa. Canada - Birch Lake Property - Option Agreement with Noka Resources Inc. (now "Pacton Gold Inc.") Pelangio received $75,000 and 900,000 common shares of Pacton Gold Inc. ("Pacton") pursuant to the option agreement with Pacton, which may acquire a 100% interest in the Birch Lake Property in Ontario's Red Lake District. Canadian Mining EXPO 2017 - The Big Event Pelangio will be presenting and exhibiting at "The Big Event" held Wednesday May 31 and Thursday June 1, 2017, in Timmins, Ontario. Pelangio's President and CEO, Ingrid Hibbard, will be giving a presentation about the Company at the Investor Forum on Thursday June 1, 2017, at 1:30 pm. About Pelangio Pelangio successfully acquires and explores camp-sized land packages in world-class gold belts, while using innovative corporate restructuring to maximize shareholder value. The Company primarily operates in Ghana, West Africa, an English-speaking, common law jurisdiction that is consistently ranked amongst the most favourable mining jurisdictions in Africa. The Company is exploring three 100%-owned camp-sized properties: the 100 km2 Manfo Property, the site of seven recent near-surface gold discoveries, the 264 km2 Obuasi Property, located four kilometres on strike and adjacent to AngloGold Ashanti's prolific, high-grade Obuasi Mine, which has produced over 30 million ounces of gold since 1897, and the early-stage 159 km2 Akroma Property. For additional information, please visit our website at www.pelangio.com or follow us on Twitter @PelangioEx. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements herein may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements or information appear in a number of places and can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, we have made numerous assumptions, including assumptions about the state of the equity markets. Such forward-looking statements and information are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Such risks include changes in equity markets, share price volatility, volatility of global and local economic climate, gold price volatility, political developments in Ghana, increases in costs, exchange rate fluctuations, speculative nature of gold exploration and other risks involved in the gold exploration industry. See the Company's annual and quarterly financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statement and information. There can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information referenced herein will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Also, many of the factors are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. We undertake no obligation to reissue or update any forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. All forward-looking statements and information herein are qualified by this cautionary statement. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. New Moon Minerals Corp. 2013 - Rio Deposit Drill Program DDH From To Length Gold Metres Metres Metres g/t NM 01-13 13.7 15.0 1.3 2.44 including 14.0 14.3 0.3 5.13 NM 01-13 16.3 16.6 0.3 10.20 NM 01-13 17.3 17.7 0.4 1.98 NM 01-13 23.3 23.6 0.3 5.54 NM 01-13 27.0 27.5 0.5 8.02 NM 02-13 12.0 13.0 1.0 1.80 NM 02-13 24.0 24.5 0.5 2.04 NM 02-13 34.0 34.5 0.5 12.00 NM 02-13 35.0 36.0 1.0 1.46 NM 04-13 6.0 7.0 1.0 1.55 NM 04-13 8.5 9.5 1.0 3.20 Data from : ASSESSMENT REPORT on the WINTER 2013 DIAMOND DRILLING PROGRAM, CREIGHTON PROPERTY DOUGLAS, BOOTLEG, PHANTOM AND WEKACH LAKE AREAS LARONGE MINING DISTRICT FLIN FLON AREA, SASKATCHEWAN NTS 63K/12 NW UTM 312710 E / 6066935 N (NAD83 Z14) by NEW MOON MINERALS CORPORATION by David S. Hunt P. Geo., Clark Geological Consulting Inc., Thunder Bay, May 29, 2013. Vancouver - Canyon Copper Corp. (Canyon) (TSX-V: CNC) is pleased to announce that the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange) has closed the option agreement (Option Agreement) with New Moon Minerals Corp. (New Moon), a private company, whereby Canyon can earn up to a 75% interest in the Bootleg Lake Gold Property (the Property or Bootleg Lake). Canyon paid $5,000 on the signing of the agreement and is now paying an additional $5,000 and issuing 250,000 common shares to New Moon on the Exchange acceptance. The future obligations under the Option Agreement are set forth in Canyons news release dated May 11, 2017.The Property is located near Creighton, Saskatchewan, Canada, five kilometres southwest of the city of Flin Flon, Manitoba.Canyon has begun the compilation of the existing data on the Bootleg Lake gold property, including work conducted by New Moon, which carried out multiple geophysical surveys and two diamond drilling programs since purchasing the Bootleg Lake property in 2010. In 2013 and 2014 New Moon carried two drilling programs totaling 1,055.2 metres in 8 diamond drill holes on two different targets.In 2013, New Moon carried out a HLEM survey on the west side of Bootleg Lake that confirmed historical conductors previously surveyed by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting in the 1950s. Later in 2013, Koop Geotechnical Services of Flin Flon, MB (Koop) was contracted to carry out a deep-penetrating TDEM survey over historical Spectrem anomalies across the centre of the property. In 2014, a new TDEM survey by Koop was carried out to test VTEM anomalies noted from the re-interpretation of a 2007 survey by HudBay Minerals (HBM), which outlined the Bootleg North and Bootleg South conductors.The first drill program totaling 219.2 metres in 4 diamond drill holes was designed to verify the geology, gold mineralization and assay results of selected historical drill holes in the vicinity of the Rio mine portal. The highlights of the 2013 drilling are below.The Rio deposit is characterized as Mesothermal gold mineralization along the Rio Fault corridor, particularly in close proximity to the granodioritic Boot Lake pluton immediately to the south. Gold mineralization occurs within zones greater than 10 metres with multiple quartz carbonate veins, stringers and quartz flooding within locally brecciated mafic to intermediate metavolcanic rocks.In 2014 New Moon carried out a second four drill hole program totaling 836 metres to test the geophysical target Bootleg North conductor for Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) mineralization similar to that found in the nearby Flin Flon camp. A borehole pulse-EM survey was carried out after the third drill hole, NM-07-14 was completed. This survey indicated an off-hole conductor above and to the south of the intersection in this hole, therefore a fourth drill hole, NM-08-14, was designed to test this anomaly. Highlights of this drilling are shown in the table below. New Moon Minerals Corp. 2014 - Bootleg North Drill Program DDH From To Length Gold Silver Copper Metres Metres Metres g/t g/t % NM 05-14 165.78 166.25 0.47 0.33 2.21 0.55 NM 06-14 173.45 174.91 1.46 1.16 3.77 0.36 NM 07-14 158.69 160.17 1.48 3.95 18.98 0.70 Including 159.42 159.86 0.44 10.99 45.45 1.67 NM 07-14 205.5 206.28 0.78 47.97 26.47 0.02 including 206.09 206.28 0.19 100.00 16.00 0.01 NM 08-14 195.81 198.55 2.74 6.02 62.66 0.78 Including 195.81 196.61 0.8 16.14 23.27 2.04 Data source ASSESSMENT REPORT ON THE 2014 DIAMOND DRILLING PROGRAM, CREIGHTON PROPERTY DOUGLAS, BOOTLEG, PHANTOM AND WEKACH LAKE AREAS LARONGE MINING DISTRICT CREIGHTON, SASKATCHEWAN, by NEW MOON MINERALS CORPORATION by Anthony Spooner, P. Geo., Flin Flon, MB, August 31, 2016. Geological data compilation including GIS and 3D modeling of the Bootleg Lake Property is now underway. From this work an exploration plan including surface mapping & sampling, geophysics and drilling will be designed.Andrew Gracie PhD PGeo is the Company's designated Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news releaseOn behalf of the Board of Directors, CANYON COPPER CORP.Stephen WallaceStephen Wallace, President, CEO and DirectorInvestor Relations(604) 331-9326info@canyoncc.comCautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information: This News Release may contain, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phases such as believe, expect, plan, anticipate and similar expressions identifying forward-looking statements. Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Canyon's expectations, and expressly does not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to the following, limited operating history, proposed exploration and/or drill programs and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Canyon to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. MANILA, PHILIPPINES--(Marketwired - May 31, 2017) - Mindoro Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:MIO) (FRANKFURT:WKN 906167) ("Mindoro" or the "Company") today announced the filing of the Company's First Quarter 2017 financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Details of the Company's financial results are contained in the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. Overview for The Three Months Ended March 31, 2017 Agata Mining Ventures Inc. ("AMVI") Agata Mining Ventures Inc. ("AMVI"), a company held by Mindoro's Philippine subsidiary, MRL Nickel Philippines, Inc. and TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. ("TVIRD") as operator under a joint venture agreement, recorded sales of $5,356,000 and a net loss of $639,000 for the period ending March 31, 2017. Mindoro recorded $255,000 loss with respect to the 40% interest MRL Nickel Philippines, Inc. holds in the Agata nickel laterite project. The joint venture agreements require that at least 50% of AMVI's unrestricted retained earnings be distributed to shareholders as dividends on a quarterly basis. As at March 31, 2017, AMVI had accumulated losses of $2,737,000. Therefore, no dividends have been declared. AMVI commenced operations in October 2014 and has completed 102 shipments of nickel laterite DSO as at the end of March 2017. Subsequent to March 31, 2017, additional 6 shipments with a total of 321,280 wet metric tonnes were shipped in April. On September 27, 2016, AMVI has been listed among 20 mining firms "recommended for suspension" in an announcement made by Department of Environment and Natural Resources ("DENR"). The announcement was the result of a nationwide audit of 41 metallic mines which called for the assessment of all mining companies on the basis of laws related to mine environmental management, safety and health, social development, mining tenement and compliance with the Clean Air, Clean Water, Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste Acts. AMVI submitted proof of compliance on the alleged infractions and on February 2, 2017, AMVI received its confirmation that it has passed the DENR audit. AMVI, together with eleven other mining companies, were allowed to continue, several firms were ordered to close, while some were still under suspension. About Mindoro Mindoro is a Tier 2 issuer trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (MIO) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN 906167). Mindoro has a direct and beneficial 40% interest in the Agata Mining Joint Venture and direct and beneficial 75% interest in the Agata Processing Joint Venture with an option to acquire an additional 25% interest in the Agata Processing Joint Venture. Mindoro also holds 75% interest in the Pan de Azucar Sulphur-Copper-Gold Project, Iloilo City. TVIRD has the option to earn up to 60% interest in the Agata Processing and Pan de Azucar projects by meeting the earn-in requirements outlined in the June 24, 2013 press release, which include producing a definitive feasibility study for a nickel processing facility. As of October 16, 2015, a PMRC compliant DFS was completed by Agata Processing Inc., which would result in TVIRD earning a total of 60% interest in API shares. Mindoro also holds 75% interest and an option to acquire additional 25% interest in the Tapian San Francisco Copper-Gold Project, Mindanao. Reader Advisory Certain information set out in this News Release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intent", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "scheduled", "to be", "will be" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this News Release are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties (known and unknown) that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, such things as inherent risks associated with the exploration and development of mining properties, ultimate recoverability of mineral reserves, timing, results and costs of exploration and development activities, availability of financial resources or third-party financing, new laws (domestic or foreign), changes in administrative practices, changes in exploration plans or budgets, and availability of equipment and personnel. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance upon the forward-looking statements contained in this News Release and such forward-looking statements should not be interpreted or regarded as guarantees of future outcomes. Forward-looking information respecting cash flows anticipated from future production of high-iron/low nickel DSO at the Agata Mining Project, is based upon high-iron/low nickel DSO prices in effect as at the date of this News Release, management's forecasts of trends in prices of high-iron/low nickel DSO, current mining rates of high-iron/low-nickel DSO from the Agata Mining Project, estimates of the size of the high-iron/low nickel DSO reserves at Agata Mining Project, the current development plan for Agata Mining Project, AMVI's current budget and overall strategy for Agata Mining Project, which plans, budget and strategy are all subject to change. Forward-looking information respecting the anticipated timing of future shipments of high-iron/low nickel DSO from the Agata Mining Project, is based upon current mining rates of high-iron/low nickel DSO from the Agata Mining Project, the terms of the third party offtake agreement for the purchase of high-iron/low nickel DSO produced at the Agata Mining Project, estimates of the size of the high-iron/low nickel DSO reserves at the Agata Mining Project, the current development plan for the Agata Mining Project, AMVI's current budget and overall strategy for the Agata Mining Project, which plans, budget and strategy are all subject to change. The forward-looking statements of the Company contained in this News Release are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement. Various risks to which the Company is exposed in the conduct of its business (including mining activities) are described in detail in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, which was filed on SEDAR on May 2, 2017 and is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly revise the forward-looking statements included in this News Release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Betsy DeVos has a problem with Denver schools. The federal education secretary complained recently that Denver offers parents and children only a limited selection of school choice options. The benefits of making choices accessible are canceled out when you dont have a full menu of options, she said.The secretary picked an unusual forum for launching her complaint. DeVos was participating in an event at the Brookings Institution, at which the think tank released a report touting Denver for having the strongest school choice regimen of any big city in the country. She said what she believed more candidly than I would expect from someone at her level, says Russ Whitehurst, a senior fellow at Brookings and author of the report.Whitehurst sticks by his guns when it comes to Denvers school choice options. He notes that the school system goes out of its way to make the option of changing schools available all year. If parents feel their kids school is a loser, they dont have to wait until the following spring to do something about it, as they would in most cities. Applications are user-friendly. Parents fill out a single form to cover traditional neighborhood schools and a wide range of charters. The vast majority of parents in Denver are able to send their kids to their top-choice school, or at least one of their top choices. Its not just a paper system, Whitehurst says. Its one parents are taking advantage of.Not only are parents signing up, but the Denver model is doing what school choice advocates say is their goal: improving results through competition. Dozens of traditional schools have been shut down in recent years, replaced in most cases by charters. While results at charter schools nationwide have been mixed, many of those in Denver have seen striking improvements in test scores. Some have achieved what might be called a reverse achievement gap, with scores among their low-income students rising faster than those of their peers in neighboring schools.Denvers traditional neighborhood schools are getting better, too, with dropout rates among students of color way down and growth rates -- the term for ongoing academic improvement among students -- leaping from near the bottom among Colorado cities to near the top. Denvers doing a lot of things really, really well, says Scott Laband, president of Colorado Succeeds, a business and education think tank. Theyre providing a lot of choice and their leadership is instilling a spirit of competition in many schools, which is not happening in a lot of cities.The one thing Denver doesnt have is private school choice -- that is, public dollars following kids to private or parochial schools. This was the root of DeVos complaint. Her comments made it clear that that will be a priority for the Trump administration. But its not an idea thats likely to fly in Denver. The Colorado Supreme Court has twice ruled that private school voucher programs are unconstitutional. And in a state closely divided along party lines, such a program wouldnt succeed politically. I absolutely dont support pulling money out of our public schools, says Brittany Pettersen, who chairs the state House Education Committee. El Cenizo is a tiny Texas town on the rambling Rio Grande River -- so small that it stretches just half a square mile and has a population just under 4,000. Despite its size, it's preparing to fight a giant.In early May, the towns mayor, Raul Reyes, thrust his community into the national immigration debate when he filed a lawsuit on the city's behalf against the second-largest state in the country. At issue is Texas' new "sanctuary cities" law , formally known as Senate Bill 4 (SB 4).The law empowers local police to ask about peoples immigration status when theyve been detained, and it imposes harsh financial penalties on any municipality that limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. El Cenizo, however, has a 1999 law on its books that bans local officials from inquiring about immigration status.Critics say SB 4 is similar to a law in Arizona that the U.S. Supreme Court largely struck down in 2012. It also partially mirrors an executive order that President Donald Trump signed, which has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge Since El Cenizo took legal action, it's been joined by a growing chorus of opposition. Last week, the ACLU of Texas joined the suit, which now also includes nearby Maverick County, the Maverick County Sherriff, the Maverick County Constable and the Texas chapter of United Latin American Citizens. The county of El Paso has also filed its own lawsuit.The controversy has incited protesters and politicians alike. On Memorial Day, a peaceful protest against SB 4 ended with threats of violence between lawmakers. Republican state Rep. Matt Rinaldi told Democratic colleagues that he had reported the protesters -- some of whom carried signs that said they were undocumented immigrants -- to federal authorities. That sparked a heated argument in which Rinaldi allegedly said he would put a bullet in [Democratic Rep. Alfonso Nevarez's] head."Through the public tumult, Mayor Reyes -- who was elected over a decade ago at the age of 21 -- has remained steadfast. He has consistently expressed his determination to keep El Cenizos sanctuary policies in place, regardless of the consequences.spoke with Reyes last week about the lawsuit, his stance on a border wall and about what it was like to run for office before he could legally drink. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.I think it's important that we stay true to our values and that we do whatever we have to do to end any type of discrimination or injustice. Let there be no mistake: This law is dangerous and discriminatory. Somebody in this country needs to be a voice for those people out there who have no voice and live in fear.The notion that sanctuary cities are communities that welcome criminal aliens or that harbor dangerous illegal criminals is -- just like I've been saying all this time -- a false narrative. Any person who commits a crime, who poses a threat to the well-being of our community, our state or our country, will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It doesnt matter if youre a citizen or an undocumented immigrant.When it comes to keeping our communities safe, we have to understand one thing: The people who are here illegally contribute to local economic activity, pay their property taxes and pay for their city services. Those are all things that cities depend on to be able to provide basic needs and create a better community for future generations to enjoy.Immigration is a very sensitive and complex issue, and I understand the position of law enforcement. They're in a very tough spot right now. We need to understand that communities depend on the brave men and women in uniform. But we also need to understand that they're here to protect our community and serve people within the jurisdiction that they serve. To impose additional responsibilities onto law enforcement, in particular immigration enforcement responsibilities, without providing them the necessary skills and training ... there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how that would work.I know there's some skepticism out there that this lawsuit is just liberals and the left trying to instill fear in people, but that's not true at all. I've yet to hear from somebody from my community, even on social media, speak ill of my stance. People understand the severity of a law like this. We've seen what happens when law enforcement calls immigration during a routine traffic stop; we know what it's like when families are separated; we know of our neighbors and close friends who've been deported.The state of Texas is overstepping its authority. Its limiting municipalities from the authority that we have, trying to tell us what we should do. I've said this all along: Just like the state of Texas doesn't like the federal government to tell them how to run their state, municipalities don't like it when the state tries to tell us how to run our communities.The people who passed this bill, they have no idea -- I daresay they've never been to border communities, so they don't know what goes on or what our challenges are. This is a trickle-down effect from the continued hatred and divide we've seen since the election of President Trump.Border communities depend on economic activity across the border, on border crossings and trade with Mexico. A lot of us have family on the other side, so we go and visit, or they come here. They adopt some of our culture from the U.S.; we adopt some of theirs. Life on the border is unique. We experience the effects of Mexico, and Mexico experiences the effects of the United States.That was a sound byte that has been misconstrued. Anyone who follows my public service career and my stances would know I have been a strong advocate against building physical barriers on the border. I do support the idea of building a "virtual wall," with state-of-the-art technology that will be cost-effective in terms of providing the security that communities across the border could benefit from.I just don't see how a physical barrier is going to prevent immigration into our country. We already have a physical barrier; we have a river that is wide and stretches many miles across the border. It just doesn't make sense why our federal government would spend so much money on building this physical structure. Let's invest a portion of that money on things that do work.We moved to El Cenizo back in 1992, when it was transitioning from a colonia to a small municipality. I moved here with my single mom, who raised 5 boys all on her own. During that time, we had no electricity, no running water, no paved streets. For me, it was remembering having to use the restroom in buckets; having to go outside in our backyard and dig a hole to dispose of human solids and then cover them up. Those were the primary factors that started to move something in me or develop a passion toward doing something in my community. I've been volunteering and doing so many things since I was 14. I ran for mayor once when I was 19 and lost. Then I ran again at 21, in November of 2004, and they allowed me to serve.I'm very excited that I already finished my last course for my masters in public administration. I take my comprehensive exams in December and hopefully then I'll be walking the stage and receiving my diploma. I'm dedicating this to my mom, who has been the pillar of our family and shown me what true strength is really about. My mom has been battling breast cancer for a year now, and my determination to help others I owe to her.I'm going to continue to fulfill my obligations as mayor for the rest of my term, but we'll see what happens in November 2018. I think after 14 years it's time to pass on the leadership torch to someone else. But people in my community are really exceptional, and they somehow keep managing to convince me to run again.Right now I'm looking to just spend as much time as possible with my mom. Im looking forward to December and looking forward to the day that the courts declare Senate Bill 4 unconstitutional.As of noon on Friday the 19th, the Texas governor and the Attorney General have been served. We are expecting answers with regard to some of the vague terminology in the bill. We anticipate that they're not going to respond to the request. So after June 6, which should be 21 days after the initial serving, we are going to proceed with whatever steps necessary to ensure that we have successful hearings. Were going to build a case to prove that this bill is not only a dangerous bill but a discriminatory bill that should be declared unconstitutional.What we have been saying all along is that this isn't about El Cenizo or the state of Texas, it's about the future of our country. Many states are looking at whats happening right now in Texas, and whatever the federal court determines, this will set the tone for people continuing to implement discriminatory anti-immigrant policies that have no place in this country. Gov. Kay Ivey Friday signed a bill that would shorten the death penalty appeals process in Alabama.Ivey signed the legislation early Friday afternoon, according to her office. Both supporters and opponents of the bill agreed that it would cut the time in the death penalty appeals process.But proponents said it would ensure the swifter enactment of justice, while opponents said it would make it more likely Alabama would execute innocent people.The signing came less than 24 hours after the state executed Thomas Arthur for the 1982 murder of businessman Troy Wicker. Ivey's office said Friday the timing was a coincidence.Inmates condemned to death have two rounds of state appeals. The first one is a direct appeal, based on the facts of the case. The second, known as a Rule 32 appeal, allows the inmate to raise post-conviction issues, such as them competence of his or her defense attorney. Under the new law, sponsored by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, the two appeals would run parallel to each other.The inmate would have a year from the filing of the brief in their direct appeal to file a Rule 32 motion. The circuit court would have 90 days to dismiss claims or set them for hearing.The legislation would not affect an inmate's federal appeals. Appeals of capital sentences can take decades. Arthur was first sentenced to death in 1983 and sentenced again after two further trials in 1992. He outlived seven death sentences before his execution Thursday night.The Alabama attorney general's office long sought the change. In a statement Friday afternoon, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the bill stemmed from work between the attorney general's office, prosecutors, victims' groups and the Legislature."Our collective experiences with capital cases compelled us to pursue an improved appeals process for our state--one that is fairer, more efficient, and does not prolong the suffering of victims, but provides justice to all parties," the statement said.The legislation drew criticism from the American Bar Association and anti-death penalty groups, who said it could create situations where an inmate would have to challenge the competence of an attorney at the same time the attorney is defending them on direct appeal. ABA President Linda Klein wrote a letter to legislative leaders in early May, asking them to oppose the legislation."While the ABA respects the importance of finality and judicial efficiency, quicker resolution of cases where a life is at stake should not take priority over ensuring the fundamental fairness and accuracy of those convictions," the letter said.The Alabama Department of Corrections says as of Friday there were 183 people on death row -- 178 men and five women. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death penalty group, the number of death sentences handed down in Alabama fell from 25 in 1998 to six in 2015. The Supreme Court made it harder to sue police for barging into a home and provoking a shooting, setting aside a $4 million verdict against two Los Angeles County deputies on Tuesday.The unanimous ruling rejected the so-called provocation rule that some lower courts have used. Under that rule, police can be sued for violating a victim's constitutional rights against unreasonable searches if they provoked a confrontation that resulted in violence."The basic problem with the provocation rule," Justice Samuel A. Alito, wrote in the 8-0 decision, is that it "provides a novel and unsupported path to liability in cases in which the use of force was reasonable."The police cannot be held liable for injuries they caused as part of a search unless the search itself is "unreasonable" under the Fourth Amendment, Alito wrote.The case decided Tuesday began in 2010 when Los Angeles County deputies were searching for a parole violator who was believed to be armed and dangerous. Based on a tip, they went to a house in Lancaster. Several deputies entered the house without a search warrant, and two others went around to the back where they saw three metal storage sheds and a wooden shack.When they opened the door of the shack and pulled back a blue blanket, they startled a man and a woman who were napping. When the man reached for a BB gun, one deputy yelled "Gun!" and the two officers fired 15 shots.Angel Mendez was hit several times and lost his leg. His wife, Jennifer Garcia Mendez, who was pregnant, was also hit several times. The deputies did not find the fugitive they were looking for.Both shooting victims survived and sued Los Angeles County for their injuries.A federal judge in Los Angeles handed down a $4 million verdict against the two deputies because they entered the shack without a search warrant, did not announce their presence and used excessive force. The judge reasoned that while the deputies had reason to shoot when they saw Mendez reach for his BB gun, they had provoked the confrontation in the first place.The 9th Circuit Court agreed on the theory that the officers had recklessly and intentionally provoked the confrontation.Last year, lawyers for Los Angeles County appealed and argued that the 9th Circuit was the only appeals court to use the provocation rule as a separate basis for upholding excessive force claims against the police.Tuesday's opinion in County of Los Angeles vs. Mendez rejected the approach used by the 9th Circuit, but left open the possibility that the verdict in favor of Mendez and Garcia could be upheld.Judges must decide whether the deputies engaged in an "unreasonable search" when they entered the shack behind the house, Alito wrote."When an officer carries out a seizure that is reasonable, taking into account all relevant circumstances, there is no valid excessive force claim," he wrote.The justices sent the case back to the 9th Circuit to determine whether the verdict can be upheld because of "the deputies' failure to secure a warrant at the outset." Description GIS - 31 May, 2017: The European Union (EU) has reaffirmed its continuous support and strong partnership with Mauritius in various spheres of development ranging from maritime security, climate change, to trade and commerce. This was at the fore of discussions this morning during a courtesy call by a delegation of the EU headed by the Ambassador and Head of the EU delegation in Mauritius, Mrs Marjaana Sall, on the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis. In a statement, Mrs Marjaana Sall underlined the existing strong bond of kinship which has been further nurtured between Mauritius and the EU . She also spoke of deepening the existing bilateral relations and reiterated EUs continuous support to Mauritius in the fields of Science and Innovation and in other areas of mutual interest. The Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the EU delegation also announced the setting up of a new EU programme to address Climate Change in addition to other mechanisms for gender equality and for enabling business environment in the wake of the implementation of the e-licensing platform which, she concluded are closely linked with the EU-Mauritius economic partnership. The courtesy visit follows the Mauritius-EU Political Dialogue held yesterday in Reduit in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo. The Political Dialogue aimed at consolidating the longstanding collaboration between the EU and Mauritius with the primary objective of positioning political dimension at the core of Mauritius-EU relationship in a spirit of cooperation, trust and mutual understanding. A clearinghouse? Proper perspective (TNS) -- Djion Oates was arrested and charged with robbery on his 16th birthday and sentenced to five years of probation. About three years later, he was arrested and charged with murdering a man on MetroLink . But according to the Missouri Highway Patrols website , he has been missing since he was 15 years old.And hes not the only one whose name appears on the states list of missing juveniles who have long since been accounted for either by subsequent run-ins with police, unreported reunions with their families or even death. The list has fluctuated between 370 and 380 missing juveniles throughout the month of May.Police say parents and guardians are lax about following up when juveniles they report missing are found. Some parents, including Oates mother, Lakesha Oates, blame police for not following up with them or filing proper paperwork.If the police dont want to help and their information is not up to date, what can we do? Oates asked. Its sad that there is no follow-up on none of these kids.Whatever the cause, the inaccurate data could be fueling theories swirling on social media that young black youths, in particular, are being kidnapped to work for sex traffickers, and no ones watching. Those theories have prompted at least two St. Louis area police departments to revamp how they keep track of missing juveniles.But researchers said there is no clear consensus on how much time police should spend tracking missing juveniles and updating lists. Data suggest nearly all of the kids return, said David Finkelhor, an expert at the University of New Hampshire who has studied child abduction cases.The only thing one can conclude from these lists is the number of children who, at some point, were being sought, and one cannot really conclude anything about the number of children still currently missing, Finkelhor said. It could be a problem in the sense that if people are skeptical that its very current, it may make them more reluctant to use it.Under the Missing Childrens Assistance Act, the federal government requires police to report cases of missing children to the FBI and the National Crime Information Center. The act designated certain agencies to act as clearinghouses for the information, Finkelhor said.In Missouri, the Highway Patrol is the clearinghouse. In Illinois, its the state police.The thinking was that if law enforcement was obligated to make these reports, then it would be easier for other law enforcement agencies to locate and return missing children because they could go to these lists and see that the child they apprehended or had contact with was on the list, or may have been prompted to look for a child because their information was up there, Finkelhor said.But the Missouri Highway Patrol does not follow up on reports of missing juveniles, said Sgt. Al Nothum. It posts the reports on its website, but relies on the agencies that submit them to follow up, Nothum said.About 57 percent of the 370 children listed as missing on the Highway Patrols website last week came from Kansas City, St. Louis and unincorporated St. Louis County. The next highest jurisdiction, at 4 percent, was Berkeley, with 16 kids on the list.Berkeley Police Chief Art Jackson said his department began auditing its missing juvenile reports about a month ago when the number was at 20 and has so far accounted for 14.In neighboring Ferguson, investigators accounted for seven of its eight missing juveniles this year, said Frank McCall, former police chief in Berkeley and now deputy chief in Ferguson.Most of the happy endings came through calls to the reporting parties, who told police that their child had long since returned. Investigators found others on the missing list had renewed drivers licenses or entered college, Jackson said.The majority of parents just dont call us, Jackson said. A lot of them are habitual runaways and once they return, the parents just leave it alone.The department will not remove them from the Highway Patrols list, however, until a police officer actually sees the child to verify that he or she is safe, Jackson said.Sometimes we do get a little lax because we deal with habitual runaways all the time, but its something we need to work on and we are actively creating a policy to follow up on these missing children, Jackson said.Lakesha Oates said she reported her son missing after he didnt come home from school three months before his 16th birthday in 2014. She found him at a friends house.He didnt want to come home because he knew he was in trouble, Oates recalled.She said she took him to the Berkeley Police Department the next day to prove her son was safe.She said she was shocked to learn from a reporter last week that her son still is listed as missing.Larger departments, such as the St. Louis County police, have policies that require officers to get a photograph of the missing juvenile and identify previous patterns. Missing juvenile reports are to be entered into several databases, and watch commanders are to follow up with the person who filed the report within 24 hours to determine whether the child has been located.Reports about those follow-up contacts should be sent to the Domestic Violence Unit, which is then responsible for the case, according to the policy.If a juvenile is located, the officer who found him or her is responsible for canceling the runaway entry or notifying the originating agency if the child was reported missing.But how well the policy works is unclear. The Highway Patrols list had 30 juveniles reported missing from St. Louis County, while the department had 34. Department spokesman Sgt. Shawn McGuire did not make anyone from the department available for comment.Research on runaways and missing juveniles is limited and dated. Finkelhor and two other researchers co-wrote a study in 2002 that analyzed data from national household surveys and juvenile facilities from 1999.They concluded that the more than 1.7 million youths who had a runaway or thrown away episode in 1999 were equally divided among gender and race, and only 21 percent were reported to police. Kids listed as thrown aways are those who have been asked to leave home for at least one night.In Missouri last week, 194 girls and 176 boys were listed as missing. About 54 percent of missing girls were black; 43 percent were white. About 61 percent of missing boys were black and about 35 percent were white.Finkelhors research concluded that 77 percent of missing juveniles are gone for less than a week, and only 7 percent are gone more than a month. Fewer than 1 percent had not returned home.We discovered a lot of kids who go missing are not necessarily just out on the streets or in nature, a lot run away to friends houses or are taken in by another family member, he said. The vast majority of kids who go missing has nothing to do with sex trafficking at all.He said kids in foster care or group homes who run away or are kicked out are at greater risk of getting involved in sex trafficking, often because they have no way to find a place to stay or earn money.The number of children reported missing has been declining for years, said Robert Lowery Jr., vice president of the Missing Children Division at the Washington-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.When the organization first formed in 1984, about 800,000 juveniles were reported missing. Last year, that number had been cut almost in half. About 98 percent of children who are reported missing are found, compared to about 63 percent in the 1980s, Lowery said.Lowery, former Florissant assistant police chief, credits technology for the decline in missing children reports. Kids can stay in touch with their families more easily, and the increase in surveillance and cellphone cameras have deterred child predators from kidnappings, he said.But technology also has given rise to online sexual predators, he said.The national organization keeps a list of missing juveniles on its website, but it requires pictures. A report sighting option is on each poster.Lowery acknowledges that keeping the database updated is a challenge. He said his group had one child reported missing 40 times in one year.Should a missing child report linger online, it could raise unexpected questions for children who seek employment later as adults, Lowery added.Once that information hits our site and is shared on social media, it has a tendency to reside out there forever, he said.Gebar Byrds picture was once on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website. The 1-year-old and his mother disappeared from St. Louis in March 2013. The womans body was found 17 days later . Although Gebars body was never found, the organization removed the childs entry after his father was convicted of killing him and his mother St. Louis police, who would not speak with a reporter about this issue, still have Gebars name, birth date, and the date he was last seen on the Highway Patrols missing juvenile list. (TNS) -- In north Pasadena, Texas, streets crumble and intersections flood after every rain, bringing aggrieved residents to City Council meetings to ask where their tax money is being spent. They say they're not getting answers.The latest public works news on the city's website is four years old.To get a list of street projects, residents have to file an open records request.If they want to see where the city has sent checks in the past several years, it costs $90.And if they want to sit in on a meeting to see how tax dollars are distributed to neighborhoods, they can't.In Pasadena, the doors are closed.Harris County's second-largest city has about 154,000 people, an annual budget of $207 million and a long track record of making it difficult for residents to obtain public information, according to interviews, newspaper archives and the Chronicle's records requests. Nearby La Porte, less than a quarter of the size, posts all of its capital projects and financial information online, along with check register data since 2013.Faced with roadblocks, some Pasadena residents have given up on getting information out of the city, though state law is supposed to guarantee access. Even council members have been shut out on document requests.The city mishandled eight records requests from the Houston Chronicle by, for example, failing to respond and missing deadlines by weeks when state law calls for prompt responses, usually within 10 days. Some requests were for basic information, like invoices and details of a lucrative tax collection contract held by Mayor Johnny Isbell's longtime friend.The newspaper filed a complaint May 3 with the Texas Attorney General's office.Separately, a City Council member complained to the county attorney of a potential Open Meetings Act violation by the city economic development board, which shut the public out of a presentation about a key project."This pattern of activity is clearly and strongly against the public interest and completely undermines the American tradition of democratic participation," said attorney Joe Larsen, who serves on the board of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.Isbell declined an interview. Now term-limited and serving out his last days as mayor after dominating Pasadena politics for much of the past 48 years, he has become a polarizing figure, assailed by opponents for shutting the public out of key decisions.Councilman Jeff Wagner, an Isbell ally, emerged as the top vote getter earlier this month among seven candidates running for mayor. He is now the favorite in a runoff against John "JR" Moon Jr., a San Jacinto College trustee.Wagner would be in a position to continue Isbell's domineering approach, able to break tie votes with the council evenly divided.Wagner did not respond to a request for an interview on government transparency in Pasadena, nor did councilmen Bruce Leamon, Cary Bass and Darrell Morrison, who have long voted in a bloc with the mayor.***Isbell maintains that his own initiative led the city to start televising council meetings in the 1990s, bringing government to the people.After a recent meeting, when a reporter broached the subject of transparency at City Hall, Isbell motioned to the council chambers and said, "I created (televised) meetings for transparency, period."But much of the real business of council happens a half-hour earlier, during "pre-council." It's open to the public but off screen and in a separate, smaller room. Anyone watching on TV March 21 wouldn't have seen the pre-council discussion over Pasadena attorney Roy Mease's tax collection contract, where council members were rebuffed in attempts to get details about the terms.At pre-council, members debate and department officials come forward to answer questions. Then the main meeting is usually a series of votes, the hard work already done. Because the city secretary's office doesn't post a detailed agenda online, anyone coming cold to a meeting is likely to have no idea what the votes are about, Councilman Cody Ray Wheeler said.Discussions in pre-council can be hard to hear, even from the front row, especially when council members speak over one another.Under state open government law, when a majority of council gathers, they aren't supposed to veer off the posted agenda. But that happens regularly here. On April 18, the council discussed a citizen's grievance about ballfield lights that wasn't posted.Even discussions about spending taxpayer money have happened in the dark, according to court testimony by city officials.The Neighborhood Network program awards about $100,000 a year to associations for beautification projects and other improvements. Board members are appointed by the mayor. U.S. Chief District Judge Lee Rosenthal found Isbell used the program to encourage people to vote for his loyalists and for a redistricting measure that would have disenfranchised Hispanic voters.A city review board meets in private to decide on the awards. Afterward, the board announces the grants, without explaining why some projects were funded and some weren't."I don't see how there could be any question" that the review meetings should be public, Larsen said. "Deciding who gets the money is the most fundamental of government decisions."Program manager Karen Hollon did not respond to messages seeking comment.Another city board, the directors of the Pasadena Second Century Corp., the city's economic development agency, divided into separate groups in November to attend a contractor's presentation on proposals for a convention center. There was no agenda and no minutes for the discussion. Splitting up a quorum to hear public business without posting notice of the meetings is illegal, Larsen said.The corporation's finances have been hard to decipher. City officials have tried to fend off allegations of discrimination by touting a figure that more than 60 percent of corporation projects have gone to the predominantly Hispanic north side of town, but a Chronicle investigation showed that figure is based on lists of projects that didn't happen or were dramatically scaled back. The agency has handled more than $100 million in capital improvements. Its meetings aren't televised. Nor are meetings of the Planning Commission, which shapes development of the city. Its agendas don't get posted online, another violation, Larsen said.Councilman Ornaldo Ybarra, part of the anti-Isbell faction, said delays and excuses for not fulfilling public records requests are common in Pasadena. He also questioned why campaign finance documents aren't posted online.Wheeler said he hopes the incoming administration will improve transparency at City Hall and drive more people to participate in government and hold it accountable.Only about 13 percent of registered voters went to the polls May 6 to choose a mayor and council - or about 8,300 residents.Councilwoman Pat Van Houte, an Isbell critic who lost her bid for mayor, said the city's many boards are mostly staffed by people Isbell knows."I think a lot of people don't get involved because they don't see the opportunity to get involved," she said.Others try and get the runaround, she said."Then the next time, they don't bother."***Mease's tax and fine collections contract remains largely beyond City Council oversight and therefore unaccountable to taxpayers.The city has paid him more than $4.4 million under the contract he has held since the 1990s, according to payments recorded in the check register.But it's unclear where that money is actually going.When Mease's contract came up for renewal in December, several council members raised questions about his relationship with Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, a national collections firm. Though cities are prohibited from putting professional services contracts up for competitive bids - the idea being that you don't necessarily want to hire the cheapest tax collector or consultant - they can shop around. Several council members wondered why the city hadn't compared Mease's performance with other firms, at least since 2004.They also didn't understand why Mease had the contract, when he seemed to be farming much of the work out to Linebarger.The Chronicle later found that Mease had actually declared Linebarger as his employer on a financial disclosure that he filed with the Port of Houston Authority in 2016. Isbell appointed him to that position.In an interview, Mease described Linebarger as his partner, though the firm was not named in the contract and it explicitly forbade subcontracting. He said his role in Pasadena involves trying to coax delinquent taxpayers into payment plans.He called the concerns overblown because the money he makes comes from fees paid by the delinquent tax and fine payers. Those fees are capped at 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively, under state law. Linebarger's involvement doesn't change the fee amount, he said, so the city is getting "two people for the price of one."Asked whether he could provide records the Chronicle sought, Mease said he doesn't keep records related to the contract - Linebarger does. Linebarger spokesman Joe Householder referred all questions back to City Hall.More than seven weeks after the Chronicle requested details about the Mease contract, City Secretary Linda Rorick referred some of the request to another department and to Harris County, which collects some taxes for the city. She said work was progressing on producing other documents.Isbell has responded to criticism in council meetings by declaring that Mease has always done a good job.Councilman Sammy Casados has said he hopes the council will have the votes to re-evaluate the Mease contract after Isbell leaves office in July. (TNS) - People in Wisconsin would be able to carry concealed firearms without getting training or state permits, under a proposal debated by lawmakers Wednesday.The broad legislation would also allow some people to bring guns onto school grounds.The bill by Sen. David Craig (R-Town of Vernon) and Rep. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) goes beyond the states 2011 law, which allows concealed weapons but reserves them for trained and licensed citizens. Instead, Senate Bill 169 would make Wisconsin a constitutional carry state where qualifying people could pack firearms without having to register with the state or pay government fees.In a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, a Democratic supporter of the 2011 law said that by eliminating training requirements this latest measure crossed "one of those lines in the sand.""I voted for concealed carry," Sen. Lena Taylor of Milwaukee said. "I think people have a right to carry but I believe that some levels of restriction are appropriate."Craig and Felzkowski disagreed, saying that concealed carry is already working well in Wisconsin with very low levels of training. In addition, the state's constitution and laws already allow ordinary citizens to carry firearms without permits so long as those firearms are not concealed, they said."What I can not legally do in the state of Wisconsin is throw a sweater on" over a holstered pistol, Felzkowski said. "That's what we change."Wisconsin was one of the last states to allow the carrying of concealed weapons. In the six years since passing that law, some Republicans have advocated for further changes that would allow "constitutional carry" or scale back restrictions on carrying guns near schools.Republicans say there have been few problems and some successes from the more than 500,000 concealed carry permits that have been issued since 2011. Documenting that statistically, however, is challenging because unlike hunting licenses the concealed carry law specifically exempts most state records involving concealed carry permits from the state's open records law.Currently, 12 states allow concealed carry without permits.Under Wisconsin law, felons are prohibited from owning or carry firearms and the bill would not change that. But the proposal would drop state restrictions on owning and carrying a taser for anyone who is legally able to own and carry a firearm.Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), the Senate panel's chairman and a former police officer, said he was carrying a concealed weapon at the hearing."This bill does not say you can't get training," Wanggaard said. "I personally think that if someone is going to carry they should get some training."The proposal also would drop a blanket restriction under current law that prevents people from bringing guns into all police stations, secure mental health facilities and schools. Officials in charge of those places, however, would have the power to ban guns from their properties.Even if guns were banned from school grounds, people could still bring them there if they left them in their vehicles, though those people would need permits to have guns so close to a school because of a federal law. The provision was included so that parents who carry weapons arent breaking the law when they pick up and drop off their children at school, supporters say.On Wednesday, Wanggaard said that Republicans would also be seeking to amend the bill to allow people to step out of their cars while carrying concealed weapons so long as they don't leave the school parking lot.Dan Rossmiller, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, said his group opposed the legislation because it would allow more weapons to come onto school grounds."The majority of my members believe guns and children are not a good mix, Rossmiller said.The bill is supported by the National Rifle Association and also got a positive statement Wednesday from GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel, who stopped just short of endorsing the legislation."Senate Bill 169 represents a reasonable policy decision by the Legislature and it is not inconsistent with case law which has strengthened this right," Schimel said in a statement. "The Department (of Justice) will carry out its duty as directed by law. My commitment to the Second Amendment cannot be overstated."While people would no longer need permits to carry concealed weapons in other places in Wisconsin, they would still be able to get them from the Department of Justice if they wanted.The lawmakers left the permitting process in place because many other states recognize concealed weapons permits from elsewhere. Keeping in place Wisconsins permitting system would make it easier for people from here who want to travel to other states.Lillian Price of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this article.2017 the Milwaukee Journal SentinelVisit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at www.jsonline.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The city of Boston activated a job posting on May 9 seeking a new chief digital officer to replace inaugural CDO Lauren Lockwood, whose family is moving to Philadelphia but in a conversation with, CIO Jascha Franklin-Hodge cautioned against seeing the post, or the city's point of view, as primarily tech-focused.From the new version of Boston.gov that left beta 10 months ago to the second version of its open data portal Analyze Boston , which debuted in beta around three months ago, to street-level safety improvements, Boston has other priorities that outrank technology, Franklin-Hodge toldWere always a little wary of that term smart cities in part because it tends to be so tech-focused and so often very vendor-driven, he said.This is not a technology job," he added, referring to the posting for Lockwoods position, which will be deactivated on Monday, June 5. "I think first and foremost, were looking for someone who is passionate about making government services work great for constituents. Its a job focused on how to make life better for the people who live and work in Boston.The city hopes to hire a new CDO later this year. But since standing up Boston.gov, one of Lockwoods signature achievements, the CIO said officials have seen the fallacy inherent in building a website every five years choosing instead to listen to residents and refine the site rather than rebuild.Officials are trying to regard the site as a living and breathing product that needs to evolve to reflect feedback from customers and changing tech, Franklin-Hodge said.Customers, which is how residents are frequently regarded in Boston and by city halls around the nation, often have difficulty going online to report problems and make service requests.To improve and streamline that process an equity issue for the roughly one in five Americans who rely on a smartphone for Internet access Boston has been experimenting with some interesting things, the CIO said. These include using machine learning to follow service requests from how theyre initially asked by residents to where they end up after recategorization and review.Were using that to make smart suggestions to people so when they start typing about their issue we can say, Hey, is it this type of thing? and that will help us get things directed to the right queue, Franklin-Hodge said, noting that websites and online interactions must accommodate residents who may not distinguish a traffic signal from a street light.City Hall doesnt necessarily have a wish list or highest-priority need in the digital realm; but, having inventoried every service it now offers online and finding 305 city services that were not available, its engaged in migrating those to the Internet.So far, the CIO said, 72 city services have been added online, with the idea that making life easier for citizens and businesses will likely free up time for city officials to provide really good in-person service support for people who come to 1 City Hall Square for personal service or with more complex issues.Theres also a Github listing of internal and external forms and PDFs available, ranging from an application to exhibit art at City Hall to a change of business name to an absentee ballot application.Similarly, Franklin-Hodge said a key lesson learned from the new version of Analyze Boston has been a recognition that open data had in some ways not quite lived up to the promise that people may have had for it.We were putting a lot of data online," he said, "but we werent necessarily turning it into a useful knowledge resource."To further that aim, he said, officials have been thinking about how data is organized and presented; what kind of metadata and licensing are needed; and how the site might be moved closer to use cases by showcasing existing examples of what people have done using Bostons open data.In the future, the city is hoping to release new data sets with visualizations but also questions, Franklin-Hodge said, so that hopefully, it can become a bit more of a conversation that people are having around this.Even when embarking on what might be considered a smart city project, as with recent scrutiny of traffic safety at Massachusetts Avenue and Beacon Street in the citys Back Bay neighborhood, officials have tried to keep larger policy priorities in mind.The intersection is currently being evaluated using traffic cameras, video analytics, micro radar sensors and in-road sensors, Franklin-Hodge said, but the ultimate goal is the same: improving residents quality of life.If were not making the road safer," he said, "then were not getting any smarter no matter how much technology weve deployed." TRENTON, NJ Cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) are the future of state IT, according to New Jersey Chief Technology Officer Dave Weinstein. While working in the executive branch to help modernize and secure critical systems, Weinstein admits that the state is generally still in a fact-finding, data-gathering mode.While some argue that AI and machine learning still fall into the exciting, but how can we use it? category, New Jersey is forming its IT modernization strategy with the built-in assumption that automation will handle significantly more tasks that it is currently.We need to start thinking about [automation] not just as at a technical level, but from a strategic perspective. How are we going to embrace this or scale it across the enterprise? he said. In government, that means identifying those tasks that currently or in the near future can be automated. What it does not mean is layoffs.And it's no secret that the size of the workforce is going to shrink, he said at New Jersey Digital Government Summit , held last week in Trenton. "We need to automate as many tasks as possible, particularly as it relates to continuous monitoring. Don't be surprised if New Jersey is the first state to appoint a chief AI officer.With the ever-growing threat of cyberattacks and phishing malware, automation could potentially help public agencies deter this threat. As a government that is resource-constrained, relatively speaking, we need automation in order to deal with the scope and scale of our enterprise We don't have the resources to just apply a static framework."Enhancing cybersecurity at the state level ties in with where New Jersey is headed in terms of automation. Our IT modernization strategy is driven by a need to reduce risk and mature our cybersecurity program, said Weinstein. We need every decision to be driven by cyberthreat intelligence as well as a risk-based methodology."And Weinstein should know; he previously worked as chief information security officer and chief cybersecurity director for the states Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Prior to this, he served in the Defense Departments U.S. Cyber Command center, so he understands that the threat is not shrinking anytime soon, and public agencies will feel the brunt of cyberattacks.Having old legacy platforms is inherently risky, he said. A lot of platforms that are being built by industry are being built with artificial intelligence and machine learning in mind. So it's critical that we keep pace with that innovative trend.We will never have enough staff to support the security operation that we ultimately want to get to, Weinstein added. Through automation and its ability to provide continuous threat-monitoring, however, the state could stand a fighting chance. The long and the short of the 2005 Real ID Act is fairly simple: Meet the federal identification requirements or your citizens will have a hell of a time with air travel come 2020.And while it might sound like a cinch when boiled down to this level, the truth is that many states are still struggling to meet the regulations, filing extension after extension. Meanwhile, others go without an extension and forego compliance altogether.To date, 26 states/territories have complied, while 26 more fall in various stages of the extension process. Four stand out of compliance, denied an extension by the agency at the heart of the issue, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for opting out of various Real ID Act provisions.The gist of this federal exercise aims at standardizing state-issued identification, like drivers licenses, as a means of better securing federal facilities and airports. In 2013, DHS announced its phased enforcement plan of the Real ID Act, which resulted from recommendations by the 9/11 Commission, with a seemingly drop-dead deadline of 2020.According to the DHS, extensions are granted following a review of what the jurisdiction has done to fall in line with the federal law. Agency spokesperson Justine Whelan said in an email tothat approvals come down to things like the passage of legislation, the implementation of new infrastructure, etc.In recent months, there's been a flurry of legislative activity around the Real ID Act in various state houses. On May 16 in Washington, which has a limited extension that allows federal agencies to accept driver's licenses and ID cards until June 6 of this year, Gov. Jay Inslee singed Senate Bill 5008 a bill that mandates the issuance of federally compliant identification cards by the states Department of Motor Vehicles.While the law may make it official, Washington Department of Licensing spokesperson Christine Anthony said the state has been issuing enhanced drivers licenses (EDLs) since 2008.Realistically, we are already issuing EDLs and we are issuing regular licenses, she said, adding that the new law will hopefully allow the state another extension while they officially iron out how to identify non-enhanced licenses. We expect to hear in the next couple of weeks whether or not that will be granted."On March 2 in Oklahoma, which also has a limited DHS extension, Gov. Mary Fallin signed House Bill 1845 , which sets the stage for Real ID-compliant identification to citizens.And in late April, Maine Gov. Paul LePage codified a bill requiring compliance with the federal requirements after the state was denied an extension waiver in October 2016. Officials are hopeful DHS will grant an extension in light of this legislative progress, Kristen Muszynski, director of communications for the Maine Department of the Secretary of State, toldUnlike the state of Washington, Maines Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) needs to update infrastructure in order to store more citizen identity documents and install facial recognition software used in the process.That will take some time to get our folks trained up on that software and get that installed," Muszynski said. "We have 13 branches of the BMV and a central office in the state capitol of Augusta, so that will be the bulk of the process getting people up to speed on how to use that equipment, and be sure that we are confirming ID and then to issue the compliant license or non-compliant license based on the customers decision.The new law repeals an old law, which limited the states ability to comply. In the meantime, we are waiting to hear back from the Department of Homeland Security on our waiver," she added, "because they had intimated that they would issue an additional waiver if we showed progress toward compliance, such as repealing that law.Aside from the challenge of training staff to correctly operate new software, the agency will also be tasked with securely storing and maintaining personal identity documents that otherwise would have been returned to the drivers license applicant. We have to set up a database that can handle maintaining and retaining all of those documents securely," Muszynski said.In total, the state is looking at implementation costs of between $1 million and $3 million, and a state-mandated deadline of compliance by July 2019. Has BJP Shut Doors On KCR And Jagan? The recent visit of BJP president Amit Shah to Telangana to take on TRS president KCR and his subsequent luncheon meeting with TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu made one wonder whether the BJP has shut the doors on the new allies in the Telugu states TRS in Telangana and YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh. Both the TRS and the YSR Congress party would become the most potential and powerful allies for the BJP after 2019 elections. While there is absolutely no doubt that the TRS would retain power in the next elections, too, the YSRC has great chances of coming to power in Andhra dethroning the TDP. And the BJP, which has fair chances of retaining power at the Centre in 2019, would definitely need the support of stronger parties like the TRS and the YSRC, rather than a losing horse like the TDP. But after Amit Shahs visit, it was pretty evident that the BJP doesnt want to severe ties with the TDP in the next elections. A shrewd politician that he is, Chandrababu Naidu made every effort to pamper Shah by hosting him lunch and almost going head over heels to surrender before the BJP. Under any circumstances, Naidu will not let go the BJP out of its hands, since he knows the TDP cannot win the next elections without the support of the BJP. May be, the BJP doesnt want to open up so early. There is still two years to go for the next elections. May be, it will review its strategy before the elections, a source said. For two hours, Word of Faith Fellowship church members pushed and hit Matthew Fenner, screaming at him as they tried to "break me free of the Congressman Mark Walker defended the House Republican health-care plan Tuesday, arguing that federal spending must be greatly reduced. That's certainly Republican policy, even if, as the Congressional Budget Office analysis projected last week, millions of Americans lose coverage. President Trump, who celebrated House passage of the American Health Care Act, seemed fine with its provisions, even though he broke at least two of his promises about health care that there would be no cuts to Medicaid and that an Obamacare replacement would cover everyone. But Trump piped up again Sunday on Twitter, of course. "I suggest that we add more dollars to Healthcare and make it the best anywhere. ObamaCare is dead - the Republicans will do much better!" Add more dollars? How many more? And why didn't he make this proposal before the House narrowly passed its bill? The media are flummoxed, with the conservative Washington Times writing: "The tweet appears odd since Obamacare opponents have spent nearly a decade deriding it, rightly or wrongly, as a big-government tax-and-spend program. "The Congressional Budget Office last week also calculated that the House-passed American Health Care Act, which Mr. Trump has enthusiastically pushed, will cost about $119 billion less than Obamacare over the next decade." If Trump is serious about this and who can ever tell? it undercuts the position held by Walker and other House Republicans. Even the president seems to have abandoned the fantasy that any plan can provide better coverage for less money. He's giving Senate Republicans the green light to spend what it takes to achieve health care that would be "the best anywhere." Of course, that won't happen, but whatever the Senate comes up with is bound to be better than the crummy House plan. Congressmen like Walker are defending a bill that's basically dead at great risk to their political careers. They should read the tweeting on the wall. GREENSBORO Lincoln Financial Group has been named a BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America honoree for 2017. Each year, the Business Committee for the Arts (BCA), a division of Americans for the Arts, honors 10 U.S. companies, a business leader, and an arts and business partnership for their exceptional commitment to the arts through grants, local partnerships, volunteer programs, matching gifts, sponsorships and board membership. Lincoln Financial was nominated by ArtsGreensboro, the local nonprofit arts marketing and fundraising organization. Lincoln Financial Foundation supports ArtsGreensboros Arts Access and Development Program, opening the arts to low-income people, promoting arts education and fostering cultural tourism and economic development. Americas creative communities are thriving thanks to the support from companies like Lincoln Financial, Tom Philion, ArtsGreensboro president and CEO, said in a news release. Through its ongoing contribution to the arts, the company is enriching the lives of thousands of residents both in Greensboro, and other communities across the nation. In 2015 alone, the most recent statistics available, Lincoln Financial gave 25 grants totaling $259,463 to local arts organizations, Philion said. Nancy Rogers, president of the Lincoln Financial Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Lincoln Financial Group, thanked ArtsGreensboro for the nomination. Exposure to the arts provides young minds with a springboard to academic achievement, innovation and outside-the-box thinking, Rogers said in the news release. Arts education and cultural activities are not only catalysts for learning; they also foster community engagement and economic development." Lincoln Financial group is headquartered in Radnor, PA. Since 2006, Lincoln Financial Foundation has contributed more than $23 million to arts organizations in the communities in which it has a major business presence. The foundation made nearly $1.6 million in grants to 90 arts nonprofits in 2016. "We are grateful to honor these businesses and individuals for their exceptional involvement in ensuring that the arts thrive in their communities," said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. "They provide the arts with significant financial and in-kind support, and they incorporate meaningful arts-related programs into their employee, customer, and community relations activities truly setting a standard for other businesses to follow." The BCA 10 awards will be presented on Oct. 11, at a black-tie gala at the Central Park Boathouse in New York City. After 14 years in the Burgundy region of France, Blair Pethel doesnt have too many romantic notions about what he does. Its hard, dirty, sweaty agricultural work. But the fruits of his labor can also be quite delicious. Pethel, originally from Greensboro, is founder of Domaine Dublere, maker of pinot noir and chardonnay. It takes passion to sustain the effort, he said in a telephone interview from Burgundy. But its lovely when you see people appreciating it, when you see your wine enhancing the experience of eating and bringing pleasure to people. That is so wonderful. Pethel, 59, makes 19 wines, four of which are available at Zeto wine shop in Greensboro. A graduate of Page High School and Greensboro College, Pethel worked for many years as a journalist and did two stints at the News & Record in the 1970s and 1980s. His love affair with Burgundy started when he attended a wine tasting while working in London in the late 1980s. I met a Burgundian winemaker there, we became great friends, and are still great friends, he said. And he invited me to come to Burgundy. Its a very beautiful part of the world. The food is wonderful, the people welcoming, the wine great. And after a while, the lifestyle seemed so appealing, I thought I might want to try it myself. In 1999, he took a sabbatical from the Knight Ridder newspaper chain to work a grape harvest. Wine grapes have been cultivated in Burgundy since Roman times, and today the area is home to about 4,000 winegrowers, according to the Bourgogne Wine Board, which represents growers and makers in the region. Some of the most renowned wines in the world come from there, including the much-prized Domaine de la Romanee Conti which made local headlines when stolen bottles of it turned up in Greensboro two years ago. As wine shop owners, were passionate about that area, Zeto co-owner Su Peterson said. And were always seeking high quality Burgundies to sell. We try to focus on smaller, handcrafted, family owned producers, so he (Pethel) is a good match for us. Pethel, his wife, Francesca, and their two sons moved to the Burgundian town of Beaune in 2003 and began producing wine the following year. He said the greatest challenge of launching his enterprise was mastering the language. But, because his wife is British, and thus a citizen of the European Union, he didnt encounter too many bureaucratic hurdles. We had the right to live and work in France, he said. And starting the business was not particularly difficult. I had to learn some legal French terms and accountancy terms, but a lot of that I learned at wine school. It was just a question of following a road map really. Still, the endeavor did involve plenty of backbreaking labor. I came here with the idea of being a winemaker, but in fact, Im a farmer, he said. I grow grapes. I spend 80 percent of the year in the vineyards, plowing, spraying, pruning, trellising, doing all the necessary work to make balanced, healthy grapes in sometimes difficult circumstances. And if I do my job in the vineyards correctly, the wine more or less makes itself. Peterson said Pethels wines have been available on a very limited basis in the United States. But an importer got in touch with her, and she tasted several before deciding to sell them at Zeto. Theyre very pure wines and a very good expression of that appellation (where the grapes are grown), she said. He hand harvests his grapes, doesnt use chemical fertilizers, insecticides. His fermentation is done naturally. As Pethel explains, the grapes he works with are simply a blank canvas for the soil. Its the soil that paints the colors, he said. Youre tasting the flavor of the earth as it is transmitted by these grape varieties. Its almost alchemical, magical. Domaine Dublere wines are available at Zeto, 335 Battleground Ave., in downtown Greensboro. GREENSBORO Religious leaders in the Triad took a stand Tuesday against immigration enforcement. There are different faiths here, and were united in this together, said Daniel Sostaita, pastor of Hispanic Christian Church in Winston-Salem. I hope people are listening, because were worn out on this issue of immigration. We need to work for a strong community. Leaders from Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations held a news conference at FaithAction International House in Greensboro urging residents to speak out against anti-immigration bills and arrests in the Triad. Were here today to bring hope, to bring protection, to bring love, to bring compassion, Sostaita said. Were building community and building bridges, not building walls. In the Triad and across the country, a series of arrests has many in immigrant communities living in fear and uncertainty. Local faith leaders are meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials today in Winston-Salem to voice their frustration. We feel that ICE has some discernment, said David Fraccaro, FaithActions executive director. They can choose how they decide to do their work, and they can do it with humanity and, perhaps, go after folks who are truly, truly a threat to all of us. On Tuesday, Winston-Salem resident Minerva Garcia stood with religious leaders and discussed her impending deportation. Garcia came to America seeking a better education for her oldest son, Eduardo. She has two other sons living with her in the Triad. If I am deported, Eduardo loses his mother, and I dont know what will happen to my sons, Garcia said. I feel they will not be safe, and I fear they will not be free. Fraccaro said if ICE continues to go after people like Garcia, they will be met with resistance. No policy or elected official will keep us from serving or loving or protecting our neighbor, he said. Kim Priddy, minister of Sedgefield Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, said she believes it is the churchs role to stand with immigrants and serve as advocates for them. We have neighbors and friends in our community who are not able to breathe free, Priddy said. Faith leaders said Tuesday theyre writing letters to lawmakers, learning to speak foreign languages and providing shelter when necessary whatever it takes to help immigrants. People did not come to North Carolina for NASCAR or barbecue, they came here for different reasons, said David Duarte, a pastor of Daystar Church in Greensboro. We are responsible as North Carolinians to welcome everyone. All children deserve the same chance to reach their full potential. Unfortunately, its just not the reality. Some children are born with so many disadvantages that they can never overcome them. They dont have the chance to receive enriching experiences at an early age and may start school far behind their peers. Or the schools they attend arent up to par. Or they face crises in life that set them back. But there are bright children who rise from modest circumstances who can do as well as anyone if theyre encouraged and pushed to excel. Too many are not, according to an examination of accelerated classes in North Carolina public schools by The News & Observer of Raleigh and The Charlotte Observer. Reporters looked at third-grade end-of-grade tests that determine which students are enrolled in advanced classes and found that high-scoring children from low-income families are much less likely to gain that placement than are their peers from wealthier families. Using data from 2010 to 2015, they estimated that 9,000 more children should have been placed in stronger classes, giving them a better chance to excel later. This represents a terrible disservice to those children and their families. Its a denial of our countrys promise that a person can go as far as his or her talent allows. The reason this happens appears to be a mix of low expectations and environment. One noticeable factor is the increasing concentration of poverty in many of our public schools. Students in those schools dont get taught in an enriched environment. They get taught in a bare-bones one, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education member Ruby Jones told the Observer. But thats not all of it, because some children in those schools still post test scores that should earn them places in advanced classes. Yet many arent. Heres some good news: Reporters found that the placement gap was narrower in Guilford County Schools than anywhere else in the state. For third-graders scoring above grade level in math in 2014, 79 percent of low-income students were labeled gifted compared to 87 percent of students from families with higher incomes. Guilford County also enrolls more students in Advanced Placement high school courses than do most districts. There may be a risk of pushing any student beyond his or her aptitude, but its devastating to let a child pass through school with undeveloped potential because of lack of opportunity. Any gap based on race, gender, family income or anything else must be recognized and corrected. Until then, no one can rightly contend that life outcomes are determined entirely by merit. The bright student who is properly nurtured, encouraged and challenged will go on to higher education, earn a degree, win a good job and climb the ladder of success. The same child, if neglected, likely wont. That should be unacceptable in this country. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted today a successful, long-awaited test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the Missile-Defense system protecting the Continental USA from attacks by intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test. During the test, an ICBM-class target was launched from the Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Multiple sensors provided target acquisition and tracking data to the command, control, battle management and Communications (C2BMC) system that supports the BMD. The Sea-Based X-Band radar, positioned in the Pacific Ocean, also acquired and tracked the target. The GMD system received the target tracking data and developed a fire control solution to intercept the incoming missile. On 13:30 a ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Ca. and its exo-atmospheric kill vehicle intercepted and destroyed the target in a direct collision. The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this program, said MDA Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring. This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day. The $244 million test, designed to validate reliability improvements to the Boeing/Orbital ATK booster and Raytheon/Aerojet Rocketdyne Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), specifically the Configuration 2 booster and Capability Enhancement-II Block 1 EKV. The successful test will enable Boeing to proceed with production and upgrading of 44 Ground-based Interceptors that (GBI) to be equipped with the new EKV by years end. By the end of 2018 MDA plans to follow on with a tougher test intercepting a salvo of ICBMs. Fake or true? Intriguing Intercept Video Carefully inspecting the video that provided evidence of the successful intercept, one cannot ignore the anomaly visible on 00:59, showing an object closing in rapidly from the left and surviving the explosion. Defense-Update consulted missile experts about this anomaly. We were assured that these anomalies do happen in tests, particularly at extremely high speed and long ranges. Although it seems intriguing, visual tracking of such high-speed events, particularly in thermal vision, is challenging, particularly in the high resolution and high speeds required for exoatmospheric intercept of such fast targets. The high energy released on impact would also saturate the sensors and could cause the smear in the infrared. It is likely that Boeing and MDA do not rely their assessment on visual evidence, but on other data, including telemetry from the interceptor and target, that would cease at the same time, to indicate an impact. The GMD element of the Ballistic Missile Defense system provides combatant commanders the capability to engage and destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats to protect the U.S. The mission of the Missile Defense Agency is to develop and deploy a layered ballistic missile defense system to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies, and friends from limited ballistic missile attacks of all ranges in all phases of flight. The GMD system uses globally deployed sensors to detect and track ballistic missile threats. The interceptor made by Boeing, using a solid propulsion system made by Orbital ATK. It carries an exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) made by Raytheon. The test was the first intercept for the new CE-II Block 1 kill vehicle that uses a newly designed divert thrusters meant to fix persistent problems guiding the kill vehicle. The test also validated upgrades on the boost vehicle side including improving avionics and performance enhancements, refreshing technology on communication data terminals and modernizing ground systems, command launch equipment, and fire-control systems. The test, designated Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor (FTG)-15, will provide the data necessary to assess the performance of the GMD system and provide enhanced homeland defense capabilities. The last flight test of GMD in 2014 was successful but it did not engage a real target. The system failed during the three prior attempts. As important as this test is, the GMD system is still far from being able to provide reliable protection from a real-world missile threat LAURA GREGO, Senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists commented in a recent post. The test comes as North Korea is pacing up its effort to develop and field intercontinental ballistic missiles that already can reach Guam and could soon reach Hawaii, Alaska and the US Pacific west coast. The 44 GBI interceptor force positioned at Vandenberg, CA and Fort Greely in Alaska are currently countermeasures capable of defeating such threats. Parts of this article were first published by Reuters on Yahoo News This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In 1977, Kathy Dumas was a teenager working at Carvel Ice Cream in Yonkers, NY. She had started there because she needed a quick summer job to save up for a trip to Europe. She ended up staying with Carvel until 1985. Since her first day, founder Tom Carvel took Dumas under his wing, so when he decided he wanted to make a fish-shaped Father's Day Cake, she was on hand to make it happen. At the time, Dumas said, character cakes were big. Everyone was doing Mickey Mouse and other cartoons, but Carvel wanted his own unique character. (One of his other characters, Cookie Puss, was a joke among the Carvel employees because they all thought it looked just like Carvel himself.) Dumas and the whole Carvel team began the long and arduous task of designing a fish-shaped ice cream cake. Carvel's idea got a lot of push-back from within the company. "People said 'this is fish and ice cream; it's never going to work,'" Dumas said. But Carvel insisted. "I can't tell you how many fish we made that never made it out of the pond," she said. Carvel was determined to make it perfect, and he had a vision in his head right down to the "Mona Lisa smile," Dumas said. Finally, Carvel liked a fish Dumas was making one day because it was large and rectangularlike a whale. The only issue was that the tail kept falling off; their solution was to cover it in fudge, which would work like cement to keep it together. And like many great inventions, out of a quick fix to a problem, Fudgie the Whale was born on June 1, 1977. They shot a TV commercial in-house, and Fudgie the Whale blew up. "After that, I couldn't make enough whales," she said. The day after Father's Day, Carvel came into the store and said "I told you!" Now, Fudgie the Whale is made using a mold and more than 50,000 of the cakes are sold every year in Carvel shops. "Fudgie the Whale holds a special, nostalgic place in the hearts of many Americans across multiple generations," Scott Colwell, president of Carvel said in a press release. "He represents memories of pure joy and togetherness, all the way down to his core of irresistible crunchies!" To celebrate the whale's 40th birthday, Carvel is partnering with the non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization, Save the Whales, which is also celebrating its 40th anniversary. Today, Dumas is the VP of production at a gluten and dairy-free bakery called By the Way, which has locations in Greenwich, Conn, New York City and Westchester, NY. "I learned my skills from Carvel," Dumas said. "I was able to get a better education than I got anywhere." Throughout the years, Carvel let Dumas work in all aspects of the business from equipment, supply purchase, contracts and, of course, making ice cream. "I worked with Mr. Carvel everyday, she said. "He was an incredible mentor." Dumas remembers being in her wedding dress, waiting to go to the church to get married, and talking to Carvel on the phone about food dye. Carvel died in 1990, and Dumas said her biggest regret is not telling him how much he influenced her life. Dumas is still a loyal customer; she buys Carvel ice cream every Wednesday, but she never would have guessed Fudgie would still be around. "For some reason that silly thing just caught on," she said. "It's a mold that stood the test of time. I'm shocked." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Addiction expert Alan Mathis told the Retired Mens Association of Greenwich Wednesday that his father had it right about the federal strategy dealing with opioid abuse. If it doesnt matter where youd like to go, any road will take you there, Mathis said to more than 100 people who gathered to hear about opioid use in Fairfield County. We have no goals, he said of a nationwide focus on abuse. We dont have a destination point. Can any of you tell me that you really understand our strategy and how our strategy is linked to some outcome we all support and believe in? Drug addiction, he said, remains a problem politicians have not wanted to talk about. There is a growing consensus that the war on drugs has been a disaster, since all it has done is throw people in jail and not helped any one. Were spending roughly a half a billion dollars a year shoveling up the mess with about 2 percent of that going toward treatment and prevention, Mathis said. Public policy is often reactionary, late and misguided, and the fact that were talking about specific groups of folks having a problem for the first time is just one indicator that we tend to forget the lessons we actually learned from previous epidemics. Mathis is the president and chief executive officer of Liberation Programs, a non-profit agency with sites in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport thats dedicated to helping treat people with drug addictions. On Wednesday, he talked about an opioid problem that has seen deaths from heroin quadruple between 2000 and 2015. Mathis said 259 million prescriptions are written every year for powerful painkillers which experts believe can be a gateway to heroin use. Heroin and opioid deaths pass the number of deaths from car crashes and gun violence, statistics which visibly shocked members of the audience. Mathis also put the heroin data into context: 52,000 people die annually in the United States from heroin and opioid addiction, but 90,000 die from alcohol and 500,000 from tobacco. As to whether this decade is among the worst drug epidemic in American history, Mathis noted the rise of crack cocaine in the 1980s and the heavy use of heroin and other opioids in the late 1960s which affected Vietnam veterans, hippies and African American men in major cities. In the 1960s, he said, in the city of New York, ...overdose of heroin was the leading cause of death for ages 15 to 39, Mathis said. During that same time, housewives were taking lots of tranquilizing drugs. Someone died in the family? Take a tranquilizer. Your husband threatens to divorce you? Take a tranquilizer. Your kids dont listen to you? Take a tranquilizer. Modern Epidemics can be traced back to 1880, when people because addicted to morphine to east the pain after fighting in the Civil War and where women were routinely taking opioids to deal with menstrual cramps. He cited an advertisement from the era for Mrs. Winslows Soothing Serum which included morphine as a treatment for teething children. Heroin was sold unregulated over the counter. I would argue the use of mood-altering substances is part of the human condition and it dates back to the cave person, Mathis said. Todays problem, Mathis said, is how people approach solutions to opioiod abuse. People want to move from defining the problem to solving as if its a 22-minute television show where things are always tied up neatly at the end. Instead of seeking real solutions, Mathis said, drug addiction was isolated and its victims scapegoated. No one wanted to make the connection between anxiety, depression and drug abuse. Our public policy never really got to the crux of the problem, Mathis said. What we did was take something that was a public health situation and a medical situation and totally criminalized it. The answer, he said, was to change the approach from criminalizing opioid abuse to treating it. One of the primary focuses of Liberation Programs is to be able to help young people develop the resiliency they need, Mathis said. The rates of depression, stress and anxiety that were all under are main reasons (for drug abuse) and I want our young people to grow up with resiliency, not to avoid lifes problems but to be able to manage lifes problems. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Grimsby Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news British Steels plant in Scunthorpe is looking for more than 120 labourers to work this summer. Recruitment has started for the project which will see vital maintenance carried out in daily shifts of up to 12-hours a day. Most of the 2,000-acres site will be non-operational between the middle and the end of July for what is known as stop fortnight. Lindsay Macpherson, the managing director of the Ashby-based Diverse Employment Agency, said successful applicants would be involved in general labouring and fire and hole watching and furnace wrecking roles. On-site induction course would be held prior to the start of the work. Lindsay said men and women were welcome to apply and the maintenance shut-down could lead to further job opportunities. For the latest jobs in Grimsby visit Fish4Jobs Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Grimsby Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news A bottle of white wine from Morrisons costing less than a tenner has been named as one of the best in the world, even rivalling those with three-figure price tags. The supermarkets The Best White Burgundy was handed a silver medal in the renowned Decanter World Wine Awards, beating off competition from much more expensive wines. Among the varieties the 8 white beat was Chateau de Meursault 1er Cru Charmes-Dessus, which costs 49.50, and only managed a bronze. The Burgundy region of France is home to some of the worlds finest - and most expensive - wines. The top gong in the Burgundy category went to Albert Bichot Criots-Batard-Montrachet which retails at an eye-watering 375. Morrisons senior wine manager Clive Donaldson told The Mirror: Burgundy has become the most sought after and expensive region in the world. It is difficult for us to source decent Burgundy at a sensible price. However by working closely with wine producers and blending most of our own-label wines ourselves we manage to sell amazing wines at affordable prices. The chain also picked up a gold medal for a 6 bottle of The Best Dry sherry, alongside Waitrose and Marks and Spencer - the only supermarkets to be awarded the top prize. An 8.50 bottle of Marks & Spencers, Coteaux Varois-en-Provence rose impressed the judges, as well as Waitroses, Lustau Fino del Puerto Don Luis fino priced 9.99. 219 expert judges, including 65 Masters of Wine and 20 Master Sommeliers, tested more than 17,200 entries in the awards. And it was good news for English wine after a still white made by Winbirri Vineyards near to Surlingham in East Anglia won the Platinum Best in Show medal for the best value white made from a single grape variety. Bacchus, a grape relatively untouched by most of the wine world has now has found a home in the fledgling English wine industry. Earlier vintages of the Winbirri Bacchus wine are sold at Waitrose for 13.49 per bottle. Predictable schedules and predictable paychecks should be a right, not a privilege, de Blasio said. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Mayor de Blasio signed a bill yesterday that makes New York the countrys largest city with laws entitling fast-food employees to more predictable work schedules. Called the Fair Work Week legislation package, its meant to offer a safety net to a class of workers who regularly get screwed by their schedules not given hours they requested; asked to come in last-minute; or stuck with the dreaded clopening shift, the industrys term for closing a store, then promptly returning to open it back up. Altogether, the package is a set of four laws targeting the citys restaurant chains, which de Blasio contends show a disdain for the 65,000 New Yorkers they employ. The first law requires employers to offer employees their work schedules at least 14 days in advance. Changes inside of two weeks are still possible, but each one now incurs a penalty of $10 to $75, depending on the situation, paid to the worker. The second ends the practice of back-to-back shifts. It stipulates that workers have to get at least 11 hours off in between. Employers can ask an employee to clock back in sooner, but theyll have to give that person an extra $100. A third law requires chains to offer shifts to existing employees before hiring new workers. This law is intended to give part-time workers a path toward additional hours and full-time employment, should they want it. Now, chains can only hire additional workers once theyve given current staff the chance to turn down open shifts. The last one the first of its kind anywhere in the U.S. allows workers to deduct part of their salary and donate it to a nonprofit. This might seem strange to include in labor-rights legislation, but it actually represents a big victory for unions. Employees can now earmark money that goes directly to a group that fights for them, and the employer has to pay it on their behalf. Naturally, not everybody supports the laws. The New York State Restaurant Association, for one, says theyll raise costs and saddle franchisees with additional layers of record-keeping. This legislation unfortunately is going to hurt these quick-service establishments, many of which are franchises and are owned by what you would deem small business owners, the groups regional director tells Reuters. Seattle and San Francisco already have fair-workweek laws on the books, so New York joins them as the nations third city. The package goes into effect in 180 days. Yes, there is a way to make this oft-maligned drink well. Photo: Liz Clayman The Long Island Iced Tea is the Hawaiian shirt of cocktails: Its nearly impossible to take seriously, even in an ironic way. The official drink of drunk cousins everywhere, and a bemoaned scourge of cocktailians, its generally thought to be the ne plus ultra of carelessly made, why-on-earth-would-you-order-that cocktails. Yet like all time-tested recipes, its possible to make this with care, and any bartender whos willing to not only mix one up, but to also do so while giving it the same care and attention they give, say, an Old Fashioned or a daiquiri, is truly someone who values hospitality over all else. So, a great Long Island Iced Tea is, in its own unexpected way, a solid indicator of an equally great bar. And these four spots are the places that do this drink proud, no matter how hard that is to believe. The Absolute Best 1. Holiday Cocktail Lounge 75 St. Marks Pl., nr. First Ave.; 212-777-9637 Long Island Iced Teas are traditionally a combination of deep breath Coke, vodka, rum, tequila, gin, orange liqueur, some citrus (likely sour mix), and lime. Its a dive-bar staple that is something of a natural fit on the menu at this revamped East Village institution once known for its $2 rum-and-Coke specials. For this modern version, which runs $7, cola, which helps tint the drink, is nixed in favor of real tea thats infused into the vodka. Add the requisite spirits, lemon, and the excellent citrus syrup known as oleosaccharum, and youve got a drink that tastes bright and fruity, without straying too far from the original recipe. It still feels like itd be at home at a Jimmy Buffett concert, but the short glasses and knowingly ridiculous garnish situation make it work in downtown Manhattan, too. 2. Fuku+ 15 W. 56th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; no phone David Chang sings the gospel of shitty beer, so its not a surprise that his Momofuku restaurant group has made the Long Island Iced Tea something of a signature drink. Beverage director John deBary served variations, like the Short Island, at Ma Peche going back to 2010. At this midtown counter, a previous version, which incorporated Dr. Pepper and was served as a slushie, has been scrubbed from the menu. Order one made in the traditional fashion, which is for the best, since trying to elevate this drink often feels like trying to make a gritty, smart version of Jackass: Some things are best left alone. 3. The Ludlow Lobby Bar 180 Ludlow St., nr. E. Houston St.; 212-432-1818 This cocktail bar adjacent to Dirty French knows the best thing to do with a Long Island Iced Tea is to just leave it alone. A former head bartender, Diego Alberto Sanchez-Maitret, once worked at the cocktail kingdom called T.G.I. Fridays and would make the drink to the chains exact specs. Theyll still gladly make you one the old-fashioned way, and surprise: It pretty much tastes exactly like you think a Long Island Iced Tea should taste dangerously potent, fizzy from the Coke, and not particularly complicated. Still, for something made with a veritable grab bag of booze, its oddly coherent something that likely wont be said for anyone who drinks more than two in a single sitting. 4. Empellon al Pastor 132 St. Marks Pl., nr. Ave. A; 646-833-7039 Alex Stupaks version of a dive bar is a shrine to al pastor, where they nixtamalize their own corn for tortillas, and margaritas reign. But its also a bar where the chef has accidentally? nailed the Long Island Iced Tea drinking experience. The Amity Island Iced Tea is a riff on the classic, but it very much honors the kitchen-sink approach of the original, mixing white whiskey, cachaca, mezcal, lemon, and Moxie, the hyperodd soda from New England. It is also faithful to the original Long Island Iced Tea in that it is probably not something youd want to drink on an empty stomach, so do yourself a favor and order Stupaks version of Mexico Citys cheeseburger taco, too. Remember Bixby? No, not the Google Now-esque (but don't call it that) feed of cards that sits to the left of your leftmost homescreen on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ (and is pictured below). No, not the Bixby Vision feature that looks at stuff through your camera's viewfinder and can identify the things it sees. No, we're talking about Bixby Voice. You know, Samsung's extremely overhyped virtual assistant that was supposed to (for some reason) live on the S8 and S8+ alongside the Google Assistant. What do you mean you forgot about Bixby? Samsung sure hasn't. However, it's hit a snag. Bixby Voice, the virtual assistant part, is already live in South Korea, and it was promised to arrive in the US "later this spring". That season ends on June 21, as you may know, which is when summer kicks in. And now a new report says Bixby Voice will only be out in US English in late June - and that's if everything goes well from this point on. So we can safely assume it won't make the initial time frame. What's the matter with it, why is it delayed? Apparently it just isn't very good at understanding English - something that is obviously a big problem for a virtual assistant you're supposed to talk to. Today's report goes on to say that Samsung's internal aim was to have the assistant ready for the US in late May. So compared to that timeline, this is even more of a delay. Hopefully the Korean company manages to properly teach Bixby some English soon, otherwise that decision to have a Bixby button on the side of the S8 duo will prove quite bad in hindsight. Source | Via Essential phone could start shipping by June-end, carrier partnerships to be announced soon The newly-unveiled Essential phone - dubbed Essential PH-1 - could start shipping by the end of June. In his first interview after the device's announcement, company's founder Andy Rubin said that they have plans to ship out reservations "within 30 days." For those who aren't in the know, the handset carries a $700 price tag, and isn't up for sale yet - you can currently reserve a unit by heading to the company's official website (for now registrations are US-only). The phone will be made available through other channels as well, with Rubin noting that carrier and retail partnerships will be announced soon, although an exact time-frame wasn't revealed. As for carrier-specific OS customizations, Rubin said the goal is to "try as hard as I can to have a pro-consumer product where you get to decide what's on your phone." He also noted that Essential itself also won't do much customizations to stock Android. The complete interview is embedded below. Via While it is the first P-series Huawei handset to be released in Canada, the P10 still isn't headed to the US unfortunately. Not through the official channels at least. But what if you are in the US and for some reason simply have to have a P10? Well, now there's a solution for your problem. One eBay seller with 99.7% positive feedback (out of more than 13,000 reviews) is offering to ship you the dual-SIM international model of the P10, namely the VTR-L29 iteration. You can pick from blue, gold, or black, and regardless of which color you choose you will be required to pay $531.99 for the phone. There's apparently a limited quantity available at that price, so act fast if you're interested. Do note that while you're buying an unlocked unit, you should check with your carrier to see if it supports all the necessary bands - you wouldn't want to be stuck without 4G connectivity, for example. Since the VTR-L29 does not support CDMA at all, carriers who use that technology (such as Verizon and Sprint) are out of the question. Source | Via JEFFERSON Jordan Fountain likes the feel of living in a small town. Knowing everybody, thats nice, she said. The 18-year-old graduates from Jefferson High School on Friday, but shes already making her mark on the community with her artistic skills. Fountain won a high school art contest held by the city of Jefferson, and her design will be featured on banners along Main Street and Highway 99. All I did was turn in my art assignment. Its pretty cool, Fountain said. Her artwork features the rainbow arch of the Jacob Conser Bridge, Mount Jefferson in the background, mint leaves for the annual Jefferson Frog & Mint Festival and plenty of purple, which is the high schools color. I just knew I was going to do the bridge, then, OK, what goes behind the bridge, Fountain said, explaining how she came up with the banner design. The city doesnt have a firm timetable for the banners, but interim city administrator/recorder Greg Ellis said hes like to see them as soon as possible. We are going to be looking at what it takes to get the winning drawing on an appropriate banner material and then see what it takes to get multiple copies produced, Ellis said. The top three finishers will have their artwork framed and put on display at City Hall, and second and third place winners also will have their designs reproduced on banners, said Deanna Donato, city clerk. Years ago, the city had banners hanging along Main Street, but over time, those began weathered and worn, or the metal they were hung on broke or deteriorated. City Council member Mike Myers thought of the high school banner contest as a way to spruce up the town about a year ago, and he reached out to Jefferson High School teacher Meghan Lloyd, who was enthusiastic about the idea of having her students show off their skills. Its a good way to have a positive impact on the town and have the students feel good about their talents, Lloyd said. There could be more public art on the way from Jefferson High School. Lloyd said shes been approached about having students repair a mural on the old Plantation Inn. Maybe well do it at the beginning of the school year before the weather turns, she added. Banner contest winners and prizes were announced at the councils April 27 meeting, with Myers saying that the council faced a tough choice, as the artwork produced by the students was amazing. For taking first place, Fountain also won $150. Grace Martin took second place in the contest and $100. ChaseLee Giddings took third place and a $50 prize. As part of the project, the city of Jefferson also donated $200 to Jefferson High School. Fountain said she plans to study business at Linn-Benton Community College next year and go to cosmetology school after earning as associate degree. Shes thinking about the possibility of opening up her own salon someday. While the fidget spinner was invented in the 1990s, the toy has only become a full-on craze this year. Reports about its newfound popularity are everywhere, and the (perhaps controversial) claims about how it can relieve stress and help people with trouble focusing, or those who fidget a lot, have only made it even more desirable for many out there. But what to do if you left the house and forgot your trusty fidget spinner? Well, one company making smartphone cases wants to help relieve such stress-inducing thoughts. How? By attaching a fidget spinner to a case, naturally. And so, the Olixar fidget spinner pattern case was born. It's available now for both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, and yes, it literally has a fidget spinner attached to its back. Don't worry, though - you can in fact easily detach the spinner "for convenience and portability". Or you can leave it there, and spin it while you're otherwise using the phone. It's all up to you really. The case is said to have a "slim fitting design" that "adds no extra bulk" and "fits perfectly", and it features an "intricate, aesthetically pleasing pattern". It's made from a "strong, durable lightweight material" which will provide "long lasting protection". But admit it - you don't care about any of that. All you want is a fidget spinner on your smartphone case, and now you can have one. The case is priced at 23.49, 19.99, or $25.99, depending on where you're buying from. You can purchase one by hitting either of the Source links below (the first for iPhone 7, second for iPhone 7 Plus). Source 1 | Source 2 | Via Motorola Canada has officially confirmed that it will be launching its next bold phone on June 1. Unfortunately, not much else was revealed. Moto/Lenovo has certainly been working hard on a handful of smartphone releases including an alleged return of the Moto X series. Guess what?! The next bold phone from Motorola is coming your way on June 1st. pic.twitter.com/hmdS0nY4PD Motorola Canada (@Moto_CAN) May 30, 2017 Whether the phone to be announced will be the Moto X or Moto Z2 remains to be known. The date of June 1 lines up with another leak that claims the same day for a Brazilian launch of the Z2 Play. So at this point, we could very well expect to see the Z2 Play, and maybe the Z2 Force as well. Weve already seen some other rumors like leaked presentation slides, renders or live photos. Stay tuned for more Moto coverage! Source | Via These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Now that the OnePlus 5 is about to launch, you may be wondering what that means for its two predecessors from last year, the 3 and the 3T, in terms of software support. The OnePlus 3 was discontinued when the 3T became official, and the 3T itself is now living its last days of availability, at least in some markets. The Chinese company has already promised to keep supporting the two, software-wise, but up until today we didn't get anything more specific than that. It is now time to relax if you own a OnePlus 3 or 3T and care about major Android updates. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has just confirmed that both models are in fact going to receive upgrades to Android O, the next version of the OS that should be out in late summer for Pixel and Nexus devices. A lot of you have been asking, so I'm proud to say Android O will come to OnePlus 3 and 3T. Pete Lau (@petelau2007) May 31, 2017 As you'd expect at this early point, Lau hasn't made any promises regarding when the two phones from 2016 are going to get their taste of the new treat. But given what's happened in the past, you probably shouldn't expect to see a stable Android O build hit before the end of this year. Anyway, at least you now know that it is coming. Linn County law enforcement agents on May 24 executed five coordinated search warrants from Albany to Oregon City, seizing several pounds of methamphetamine and heroin and arresting three people, according to the Linn Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team. The raid, which came less than a month after the narcotics team formed May 1, was part of a larger operation involving federal drug enforcement agents targeting the source of the drugs, believed to be in Mexico. "Any time you get a big fish in a case like this, it's going to spill into other countries," said Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley. The operation involved 19 agencies, including the Benton, Marion, Clackamas and Polk County sheriff's offices; the police departments from the Narcotics Enforcement Team and Corvallis; the Oregon National Guard; the DEA and the FBI. Rogelio Conrique-Villalpando, 39, and his wife, Matilde Conrique-Sepulveda, 41, of Oregon City, were arrested on federal charges for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin. The couple worked as managers at the now-closed San Blas Mexican Restaurant in Albany, 2845 Santiam Highway SE. The establishment was also searched May 24 and subsequently shut down for several health code violations, according to Albany Police Capt. Eric Carter. "It is clear that drug sales were happening via the restaurant," he said. Maritza Pallanez, 24, of Albany, the daughter of Matilde and Rogelio, was arrested on state charges for possession and distribution of heroin and methamphetamine. Carter said the operation was the culmination of information gathered over the past seven months. The Linn Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team, which consists of investigators from the Albany, Lebanon and Sweet Home police departments, the Linn County Sheriff's Office, and the DEA, was created after the county was designated a High Density Drug Trafficking Area in January 2016. To get such a designation, Sheriff Riley said the county had to show that the area is a significant center of illegal drug production, that such activities have a harmful impact on the area, that local agencies have committed resources to combat the problem, and a significant increase in federal resources is necessary to tackle the problem. Riley said this first case validates the designation, while also revealing there is more work to be done. "This confirms what we suspected, and why we asked for the designation," Riley said. "But for the very first case to be this major is alarming." Riley added that nearly every criminal case law enforcement agencies deal with can be traced back to drugs. "If somebody steals your barbecue grill because they're looking for money for more drugs, that's part of the complex problem, and it would be interesting to be able to trace that data," he said. He added that this operation is only the beginning for the narcotics team. "Any major drug dealers looking to set up shop in Linn County are on notice," he said. "More's coming." Haiti - FLASH : Visit of Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly This Wednesday, May 31, John Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) is expected to arrive in Haiti. This visit comes one week after the 6-month extension of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21016-haiti-flash-tps-extension-for-6-months-official.html for nearly 60,000 Haitian immigrants living in the United States. During this visit Kelly will meet with President Jovenel Moise and other senior government officials to discuss international cooperation and issues related to repatriation, as well as efforts to build Haitis maritime law enforcement capacity. He will also take the opportunity to encourage cooperation between the Dominican Republic and Haitis nascent border security unit. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21037-haiti-flash-extension-of-tps-procedures-to-follow.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21016-haiti-flash-tps-extension-for-6-months-official.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Switzerland : Inauguration of the new buildings of the Guillaume Manigat National School Tuesday, Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet, the Minister of National Education, in the presence of the Swiss Ambassador to Haiti Jean Luc Virchaux, of Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for Humanitarian Aid, Manuel Bessler and several senior officials of the Swiss Ministry of Cooperation and Swiss Cooperation, inaugurated the new buildings of the Guillaume Manigat National School. The Minister Cadet welcomed the Swiss Cooperation's support for the reconstruction of a dozen schools in the departments of the West and the Nippes, including the Guillaume Manigat School. For the Minister, this new inauguration testifies of the dynamism of the Swiss Cooperation in Haiti in the field of education. He believes that it is necessary to provide the country with adequate school infrastructure and to improve the quality of the knowledge transmitted, while at the same time continuing efforts to improve the teaching status. The Ambassador of Switzerland in Haiti talks of an investment of more than 20 million dollars for the reconstruction of these 12 schools and wants to believe that the National School Guillaume Manigat renovated will serve several generations of students. Let's recall that the Guillaume Manigat National School is a complete fundamental school that include 11 classrooms, including two for preschool. It is also equipped with a library, a computer room, a refectory and a playground. Created under the government of Stenio Vincent (1930-1941), the School has been affected several times by of major natural hazards, in addition to undergoes the wear and tear of time. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Canada : Promoting Citizenship Initiative Monday at the Royal Decameron Hotel on the Arcadins Coast, ended a national seminar of training of communinties accompaniers organized by EQUITAS, in collaboration with its Haitian partners, as part of the implementation of the project to promote committed citizenship. This training brought together 24 participants and 10 women. The aim of this 8-day training course was, in particular, to encourage the active involvement of participants in the life of their community, to develop citizen reflexes through a commitment and awareness about the social relations issues affecting their community, incite and accompany citizens in a creative action from its inception to its culmination. The "I commit, work together" toolkit, developed jointly by the partners, highlighted the participation of women, the inclusion of people with disabilities, respect for the sexual choices of LGBTI people and non-discrimination with respect to children. Invited to take a stand on vulnerable groups, Florence Elie, the Citizen Protector took the opportunity to introduce participants to the mission of the OPC, its legal framework and its functioning. She emphasized the values of acceptance, tolerance, understanding and generosity to be developed in order to create a just society based on the principle of respect for the transcendent dignity of the human person enshrined in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It should be noted that this seminar benefited from the financial support of numerous institutions, including the Ministry of International Relations of the Francophonie of Quebec, the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the National Foundation for Democracy (FND) and the support of JILAP, KOURAJ and the GAAR, which are carrying out actions in Haiti with a view to promoting committed citizenship. HL/ HaitiLibre BrewDog UK sales jump 97% By Jo Gilbert Craft beer darling BrewDog has revealed turnover of 72 million in 2016. This was a rise of 60% for the independent Scottish brewer, which also saw their total UK sales increase by 97% over the same period. Brewdogs growth has been significant since the company was founded by Martin Dickie and James Watt in 2007. Ten years later, they now have more than 500 employees and 32 branded BrewDog bars in the UK and overseas. Their flagship beer, Punk IPA, remained the most sold craft beer in the UK last year with sales increasing by 130% (Nielsen figures). BrewDogs Dead Pony Club also grew by 157% to become the third most sold craft beer in the UK (also Nielsen). This year also marked the launch of their firsts spirits via the launch of sister brand, LoneWolf. In April, two inaugural releases were revealed: a vodka and a gin, which are both produced all under one roof at the brewers recently expand distillery in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Coates & Seely awarded top gong at UK Wine Awards By Lisa Riley The winners of the first UK Wine Awards was announced today with Coates & Seely taking the top gong. The Hampshire-based winery was awarded the Supreme Champion medal for its La Perfide Blanc de Blancs 2009 at the new UK Wine Awards competition, which was launched earlier this year by the UK wine industry in association with Hotel du Vin, Country Life and Waitrose. Created to recognise the impressive achievements of English and Welsh sparkling and still wines, the first set of awards received 293 entries, with 20 Gold, 36 Silver and 127 Bronze medals awarded. One of the fastest-growing agricultural sectors in the UK, the wine industry more than doubled in the last 10 years, with English and Welsh wine now exported to some 27 markets overseas. Full list of trophy winners: Supreme Champion: Coates & Seely La Perfide Blanc De Blancs 2009 Best Overall Still Wine: Bolney Wine Estate Foxhole Vineyard Pinot Gris 2016 Best Overall Sparkling Wine: Coates & Seely La Perfide Blanc De Blancs 2009 Best Sparkling Blanc de Blancs: Coates & Seely La Perfide Blanc de Blancs 2009 Best Sparkling Rose: Coates & Seely Rose 2009: Digby Fine English Brut 2010 Best Still Bacchus: Lyme Bay Bacchus Block 2015 Best Single Varietal Still White: Bolney Wine Estate Foxhole Vineyard Pinot Gris 2016 >The new CEO of Ford, James P Hackett, demonstrates many of the characteristics and traits of a connected leader, writes Professor Marianne RouxWhen James P Hackett was appointed the new CEO of Ford at the end of May, Executive Chairman Bill Ford described him as a transformational leader for a time of unprecedented change.Like many leaders today, Hackett is operating in a fast-moving, highly competitive industry. The velocity and volume of issues facing him increases every day.Our complex world demands a new, more connected style of leadership. Its simply no longer feasible for one individual, particularly one individual in a vast organisation like Ford, to set direction, make decisions, and manage everyones performance. Although this type of hero leadership may have delivered results in the past, it is failing in fast changing, disrupted environments. Todays successful leaders encourage participation and shared commitment throughout the organisation. They are connected leaders. Hackett, who has vowed to foster greater teamwork and faster decision-making across Ford, demonstrates many connected characteristics.Connected leaders are oriented towards shared purpose and collaboration. They develop deep levels of mutual influence and ensure that pivotal conversations happen throughout the organisation. Hackett needs to inspire confidence, optimism, hope, and resilience in all stakeholders, in order to achieve measurable business impact at Ford.My Cirrus colleague Dr Simon Hayward spent several years developing the Connected Leadership model which found that the world needs leaders who can create purpose and direction to create clarity, be authentic to create trust, devolve decision making by sharing power, create collaborative achievement, and develop agility at all levels.As Bill Ford said when Hackett was appointed, If were going to win in this new world, we need to break down the hierarchy, and we have to empower the team. We have to move fast, and we have to trust our people to move fast. He called for Hackett to be a transformational, authentic and visionary leader, driving faster decision making through his renowned straight-talking style.Lets consider visionary leadership. American economist Joel Kurtzman believed in the power of common purpose to become the differentiating factor for organisations. We need common values, tools, objectives and hopes that enables people to work together towards shared goals.Devolved decision-making requires that service-oriented decisions as made as close to the customer as possible. Only key strategic decisions are made centrally, aligned through agreed decision making structures. This brings an ever-increasing spotlight on the leaders behaviour and ability to create trust. Hackett has talked openly about the need for authenticity.In his quest to drive faster decision-making, Hackett needs to create leaders who are agile. Agile leaders actively engage diverse stakeholders, influencing and studying them simultaneously. Agile individuals are motivated by expanding their knowledge and questioning the status quo. They actively migrate towards challenges.Finally, to ensure lacklustre performance is addressed, Hackett will have to ensure that the un-discussables get discussed. He will have to create a culture where it is safe to speak up, where people can work comfortably across silos, where collective problem solving is utilised and all decisions in the organisation connect up.Professor Marianne Roux is head of consulting in Cirrus Asia-Pacific region. You can read more about her here . Marianne welcomes your views on this article and can be contacted at [email protected] (HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that a New Jersey-based firm and its CEO have agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle charges that they used new investor money to repay earlier investors in Ponzi-like fashion and tapped investor funds for the CEOs personal use. According to the SECs complaint, Verto Capital Management and William Schantz III raised approximately $12.5 million selling promissory notes to purportedly fund Verto Capitals purchase and sale of life settlements, which are life insurance policies sold in the secondary market. The SEC alleges that they misrepresented to investors that Verto Capital was a profitable company and investor funds would be used for general working capital purposes. Verto Capital and other Schantz businesses had been unprofitable for several years, according to the SECs complaint, and Schantz resorted to taking disproportionately large distributions of investor funds for himself and using new investor money to repay earlier investors. Verto Capital and Schantz also allegedly made misrepresentations to investors about the safety of the notes and collateral underlying them. The SEC alleges that the promissory notes were primarily sold through a group of insurance brokers in Texas, and religious investors were targeted. As alleged in our complaint, investors were told that the life settlement-backed notes were short-term investments with an unlikely event of default. Schantz and Verto misled investors about the companys past performance and the value of the collateral, and they diverted significant investor funds for Schantzs personal use, said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SECs New York Regional Office. A Fair Fund will be created to return money collected in the settlement to harmed investors. Schantz and Verto Capital agreed to pay disgorgement of $3,433,666 plus interest of $124,851 and a penalty of $600,000. Without admitting or denying the allegations, they consented to permanent injunctions against further violations of Section 17(a)(2) and (3) and Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933. Schantz further agreed to be enjoined from selling any promissory notes. The settlement is subject to court approval. Well see then if we can finally find an agreement on this difficult issue, said Antti Kaikkonen, the chairperson of the Centre Parliamentary Group. The parliamentary groups of the three ruling parties will convene today to seek common ground on a bill to reform the alcohol legislation of Finland, after failing to agree on a compromise proposal presented by the Centre Party on Tuesday. We were and are still looking for a way to settle the unease among some representatives. For my part, I can tell and this is already public knowledge that some of Centres representatives are concerned about an increase in alcohol-related harm, he said, adding that none of the ruling parties seems to stand completely united behind the draft bill agreed upon last year. The Centre Partys compromise proposal was identical with the draft bill with the exception of one detail, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The proposal would have defined the issue as a conscience vote, thus allowing legislators to cast their votes based on their own principles. That detail proved a deterrent for the Finns Party. Both Kalle Jokinen, the chairperson of the National Coalition Parliamentary Group, and Toimi Kankaanniemi, the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group, reiterated their insistence on honouring the original agreement on Tuesday. The original agreement would, for example, allow grocery shops to retail beverages with an alcohol content not exceeding 5.5 per cent, instead of the current 4.7 per cent, regardless of their production method. The Centre Party has recently grown increasingly wary of the bill's impact on public health. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Before we start discussion of President Donald Trump's budget proposal to shutter the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Albany, we need to make a couple of related observations: First, it's worth remembering that while the president gets to propose the budget, in this case for fiscal year 2018, these spending proposals always get dramatically overhauled by Congress. In fact, Ron Wyden, Oregon's senior U.S. senator, vowed to fight the closure "with all of my strength," in remarks he made last week during a town hall meeting in Philomath. The Trump budget proposal likely will bear little resemblance to the final budget approved by Congress. Second (and this is a point that tends to get lost in these budget discussions): We appreciate the attempt in the budget document to rein in federal spending, especially with the national debt closing in on a cool $20 trillion. But we can suggest plenty of smarter ways to start to do that than closing the Albany branch of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which conducts energy and environmental research. Trump's proposal envisions a gradual shutdown of the lab's Albany operations and transferring its equipment to facilities on the East Coast. It would result in the loss of about 150 jobs in the mid-valley, with an annual economic impact of more than $30 million. More to the point, the proposal offers more proof of the administration's increasingly apparent distrust (if not outright hostility) toward the work of scientists. And, even more worrisome, the proposal suggests that the administration fails to understand the very real link between scientific research and jobs in the private sector. Besides the obvious economic benefit that comes from those jobs at the laboratory, research conducted at the site helped pave the way for a cluster of rare-metals manufacturing companies in Albany, including ATI, Selmet and Pacific Cast Technologies. So those 150 jobs at the lab have helped create one of the signature economic sectors for Albany and the mid-valley: John Pascone, president of the Albany-Millersburg Economic Development Corp., estimated that the rare metals industry in Albany now employs about 2,000 people in jobs that tend to pay well. Without the lab's work, it's doubtful that any of that would have happened. And the lab continues to work with those local companies, in addition to working with Oregon colleges and universities and doing outreach programs with area schools. Pascone noted that if the lab closes in Albany, not only would it result in a loss of jobs, it would foreclose the "future possibilities for research, spinoff companies and new technologies. Those things can serve the community for years." Pascone's point about how lab work today can seed the way for jobs in the future is well worth underlining, because that's how science works. Even discoveries and innovations that don't appear at first to have an obvious commercial value may turn out to be blockbusters years down the road. (A good example is the Global Positioning System, better known today by the acronym GPS.) That's a side of scientific research that the administration doesn't seem to understand or believes should be handled by the private sector. (The administration has been remarkably sluggish about filling key scientific positions and still is pushing for big cuts in federal research spending.) But the private sector isn't likely to fund basic research which might not have any short-term payoff. Many times, the payoffs from that essential research don't become clear until years have gone by. The United States has shortchanged this basic research for years; the Trump administration's proposals merely exacerbate this trend. If the trend continues, the implications will reverberate throughout the nation, and not just in the mid-valley. (mm) Tributes have been paid to a brave mum who died only days after raising almost 100,000 for pioneering cancer treatment. Dubliner Claire Graham (38), of Drimnagh, raised 99,000 for wonder drug Pembrolizumab, which she hoped would help her beat an aggressive strain of breast cancer. Only months after her diagnosis, Claire's son Harley (2) lost an eye to a rare strain of cancer called retinoblastoma. Harley is now cancer-free, but Claire died on Monday. Michele Trapiche, who Claire met online last year when they were both diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, has paid tribute. "I don't think I've ever met someone so strong, she had such resilience," she said. "Her husband, Declan, is amazing too. He's a quiet, unassuming man, but he was such a strong support to Claire and Harley. "I can't say enough good things about the family." Michele said that when they found out that Pembrolizumab is not yet licensed for use in Ireland, she set up a GoFundMe page to help her friend pay for it. Michele has finished her chemotherapy and has had a mastectomy. She is now awaiting her test results. Chance "I had been given a chance to be here for my daughter and I just wanted Claire to have the same with Harley. Sadly that wasn't to be," she said. "In a month the page raised over 86,000. Once we reached the target, we closed the page. "Claire was still getting chemotherapy and was wiped out from it, but we had the money and were waiting for her to bounce back and then we thought we would be able to get her the drugs in the UK. "Unfortunately, about a week-and-a-half ago, a doctor took her family aside and said that she was too far gone - it was too late and there wasn't anything more they could do." Claire was moved to a hospice and Michele said she seemed at peace. "She made a memory box for Harley and did the things that people do when they know they haven't got long left," she said. A former Sinn Fein councillor who tortured a man in his garage has been granted a new hearing to settle some disputed evidence. Jonathan Dowdall (40), who has admitted falsely imprisoning and threatening to kill the man, is now contesting some of the evidence against him - including allegations that he told the man he was in the IRA. The Special Criminal Court allowed a fresh hearing of additional evidence in "extraordinarily rare" legal proceedings, which were due to begin today. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the court's decision was made "in the interests of justice". Waterboarded Both Dowdall and his father, Patrick (60), are awaiting sentence after Alexander Hurley, a convicted fraudster, was tied up and waterboarded in their garage in Navan Road, Dublin 7, in January 2015. The prosecution has alleged that Mr Hurley arranged to buy a motorcycle from Jonathan Dowdall, who then suspected he was being scammed. It was alleged Jonathan invited Mr Hurley to dinner before tying him up in the garage. Judge Kennedy, presiding, outlined five issues raised by the defence that are considered relevant by the three-judge court. The first is the defence's assertion that the victim was not invited to dinner but that the contact was "the other way around". The second is the defence's assertion the ordeal did not last three hours. The third is that the accused never stated that he was head of the IRA or UDA. The fourth is that the accused did not threaten the victim's family and the fifth is that Mr Hurley took a copy of Jonathan's insurance policy details. Matters considered not relevant by the court included whether Gerry Adams or Mary Lou McDonald were mentioned during the imprisonment. Judge Kennedy said the court could not see how "this assertion constitutes a threat". Michael O'Higgins, for Patrick Dowdall, said the accused was entitled to the hearing if the evidence now at issue is going to be considered as an aggravating factor in sentencing. Vincent Heneghan, for the prosecution, said there was "nothing new" in the evidence that was presented. Mr O'Higgins said that, on May 19, "certain matters" were highlighted to the court in which there was a conflict between the prosecution and the defence. Other matters came to the fore after the sentence hearing and the injured party's credibility was " a matter of some concern", he said. "My client has been at great pains to emphasise that none of the issues that he has highlighted are matters that seek to go behind that plea," said Mr O'Higgins. Nevertheless, the accused did not wish to receive any additional penalty in respect of a matter which "he says did not occur". Michael Bowman, for Patrick Dowdall, supported Mr O'Higgins' submissions. A man accused of raping a woman he met on dating app Tinder "hoped" and "expected" to have sex with her because of earlier text conversations, a jury has heard. Prosecutor Alex Owens likened the man to a "predator" during his closing speech. The 36-year-old accused told gardai he had consensual sex with the woman and said he did not use violence or threats. He has pleaded not guilty to rape at Kilmashogue Lane, Rathfarnham, September 11, 2014. It is the State's case that the accused raped the university student in his car after driving her to the Dublin Mountains following a visit to a McDonald's. In his closing speech, Mr Owens asked the jury to consider the woman's evidence, which he said was "very coherent" and had "the ring of truth" about it. He said there had been some element of "sexualised banter" between the pair and the def-endant had put his arm around her and kissed her. "So what?" he said. "That doesn't mean the woman intended to have sex." Mr Owens said the accused needed "an absolute signal" and there was "no such agreement" for sex. He claimed the man then turned nasty, belittling her, demanding she get out of the car and then insisting she perform a sex act. He said the accused had shown a "nasty streak", as he told her "that was s**t". He said the jury may wonder what she was doing getting into a car with a strange man. It was easy to get into the "blame mentality", he said, but he reminded the jury they were sitting "in judgment of facts" and must not be "judgmental in relation to human beings". Flawed Defence counsel Michael Bowman said the jury must look at the evidence and not decide on "the character of a person they know nothing about". He said the allegation was "a flawed statement" and a "flawed complaint". He also said the woman initially told her housemate it was "the worst date ever". Earlier, Gda Ciaran Byrne said the accused told gardai he met the woman on Tinder and "hoped" and "expected" to have sex with her. "At the end of the day, it's Tinder and she said she's horny," the accused said. His mindset was they were meeting up to have sex. He said they drove to the viewing point, he asked her for a kiss and they started "making out". He said she told him to stop, which he did, and they were talking and they kissed a second time. He then lay on top of her, while he was naked and she was naked from the waist down, and she "let me have sex with her". It lasted about five minutes, he told gardai during interview. The woman did not say no and he did not beat her up or use violence. He said the woman was "a bit hostile" afterwards. He wanted to hold her and be affectionate, but she told him she wanted her space. He said he then dropped her home. The trial continues. A Dublin man who assaulted a taxi driver after he refused to drive his wounded friend to hospital has been jailed for three years. James Lynch (23), of Dunard Park, Cabra, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Edward Gallagher in Dame Street, Dublin, on February 14, 2015. He also pleaded guilty to robbing a man on Wood Quay on January 24, 2016, and to possession of a knife and producing a weapon at Smithfield on July 12, 2016. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Mr Gallagher was driving his taxi through the city centre at around 12.30am when he picked up three male passengers, including Lynch, who asked to be taken to hospital. Garda David Sharkey agreed with prosecuting barrister Stephen Byrne that Mr Gallagher noticed one of the men was bleeding profusely. "He stated he didn't want any blood in his car and he wasn't going to take them anywhere," said Mr Byrne. The men got into a verbal argument with Mr Gallagher, calling him a "scumbag" and a "b*****d" before they all got out of the vehicle and Mr Gallagher hit one of them, the court heard. The men then started hitting Mr Gallagher and he fell to the ground, while they continued kicking him. Passers-by came to his aid and the men fled. Lynch was arrested shortly afterwards but his two accomplices have never been identified. Mr Gallagher attended A&E two days after the incident. Vicious Handing down a three-year sentence yesterday, Judge Melanie Greally said the assault on Mr Gallagher was of a "very vicious nature" and led to him leaving his job as a taxi driver. The court heard that, while Lynch was on bail for the assault, he took part in the robbery of a man whose phone and wallet was stolen as he walked along Wood Quay. A few months later, Lynch threatened a man with a knife in his Smithfield apartment. Lynch had 32 previous convictions but Mark Lynam, defending, said his client was extremely remorseful and wished to extend his apologies to Mr Gallagher. Specialist gardai are conducting a number of top secret operations against members of the Albanian mafia operating here - leading to almost 1m of cannabis herb being seized in recent days. A special Herald investigation has revealed the Albanian gangsters have been laundering cash through chippers and car wash businesses across Dublin. In the latest raid in the Westbrook Park area of Balbriggan, north Dublin, armed officers swooped just days after they seized 360,000 of cannabis herb in the same locality to add huge hauls found in two previous raids. The drive against the Albanian criminals is intelligence-led and is being organised by the Garda's elite Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. It has now emerged that the gangsters are selling a kilo of cannabis resin to drug dealers for 5,000 - around 3,000 cheaper than other sellers. According to a garda valuation, the street-level value of that amount of the drug can be 20,000, depending on purity. "They are under-cutting everyone," said a source last night. "They are actually pretending to be Italian nationals. They are washing their money through chippers and car washes. The weed they are selling is actually being grown in their own country and being brought in here vacuum-packed and ready to go." The cheap cannabis herb has led to an increase in gangland tensions on our streets as Irish criminals feel that they are being "put out of business". Helping It is even suspected that some criminals are helping gardai with their enquiries in relation to the mob in an attempt to put them out of business. The Albanian mafia is one of the most feared crime organisations in Europe. Many of its foot soldiers are highly professional, with some ex-military recruits from Albanian, Kosovan or Russian armies. A number have former police contacts in Albania and have learned about garda investigation techniques. Last year, it emerged that Albanian gangsters were involved in smuggling illicit drink as well as people trafficking. Gardai are hunting two young offenders who escaped from Oberstown after assaulting the campus director and two members of staff. The director, Pat Bergin, had his face cut and needed stitches, and one of the staff was hit with a crowbar. The incident occurred late on Monday night when three detainees used a sledgehammer and an angle grinder to make their escape. It is the latest high-profile incident at the youth detention centre and came on the day that management launched a report advising changes within the campus. Only hours before the break- out, Mr Bergin spoke at an event called "Oberstown, Bringing in the Future". He was left with facial injuries during the attack and required a number of stitches. The escape began shortly after 9pm, when three detainees assaulted a member of staff before taking his security card to gain access to restricted areas of the campus. They then took a sledgehammer and an angle grinder from a maintenance lock-up. Unit 9 of the campus, where the breakout began, was extensively damaged during a stand-off as staff tried to negotiate with the detainees. Two of the youths managed to cut through a security fence surrounding the complex with the angle grinder before making their escape. A spokesman for Oberstown declined to comment on the injuries to staff. "Gardai were notified and are investigating," he said. "The local community have been alerted. As this is a live investigation, we are currently unable to share further detail." Unit 9 has been temporarily closed and the occupants moved to other parts of the complex. Minister It has emerged that two detainees also attempted to escape from Oberstown on Sunday night. They damaged windows and doors with steel bars they managed to acquire. The incident was brought under control when staff intervened. Commenting on Monday night's escape, Children's Minister Katherine Zappone said: "There were three young people who took over a staff office. The staff came immediately and were negotiating with them. "Eventually, [the detainees]managed to get out of the office and absconded. While staff were negotiating with the young people, the gardai were called. "One has been caught. Two are still missing. That is upsetting and disappointing." The minister referred to a fire at the campus last year and said a series of "positive changes" have been taken as a result of a security review. "Incidents such as [the one on Monday] have gone down considerably. Unfortunately, it happened." On Monday afternoon, just hours before the breakout, a report was launched by Oberstown management. It proposed raising the height of certain fences, fitting more robust doors in bedrooms and increasing the thickness of existing windows. The internal report also found that a review should be conducted into drug use in Oberstown and that senior management should be advised on how to address the issue. Cannabis Speaking at the launch, Oberstown director Mr Bergin said that cannabis and head shop drugs were among the narcotics being used by detainees. "There has been a lot of conversation about drugs. Cannabis, barbiturates and head shop drugs are among those used," said Mr Bergin. "They're not all bringing it in, some of them are. "It raises a challenge for supervisors, officers and care staff because a young person is more difficult to reason with [on drugs]," he added. WISE, Va.A Norton man will serve four years and six months on a charge that he shot his friend last year. Timothy Wade Lemay, 50, pleaded no contest last week in the Wise County Circuit Court for charges stemming from a shooting incident last December in Norton. Lemay was found guilty of malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to Wise County Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Slemp. Lemay received a sentence of 23 years with 18 years and six months suspended. He will have 12 years' active supervised probation upon his release from incarceration. He will spend an active sentence of four years and six months incarceration within the Virginia Department of Corrections. On Dec. 1, 2016, Norton Police Department officers and the Virginia State Police were dispatched to an area behind Norton Community Hospital in reference to the sound of gunshots. A hospital staffer reported that shots were coming from an apartment complex. Upon investigating, he observed a male lying in the breezeway of the apartment complex and another male standing over him. The victim had a gunshot wound to the abdominal area and told rescue personnel that he was shot by Tim, Slemp said While medical personnel was transporting the man out of the apartment, he yelled out I love you, buddy to Tim Lemay. When officers searched the apartment, they found firearms, spent shell casings, and alcohol, Slemp said. Lemay advised that he and the victim had been drinking liquor together and doing methamphetamine, Slemp said. After becoming intoxicated, the two started shooting a gun into a field near the apartment. At some point, the two began wrestling with the gun and eventually the gun discharged. Lemay admitted to shooting the victim in the stomach. Lemay and the victim both made multiple, varying statements about the events of the shooting, probably due to the involvement of drugs and alcohol, Slemp said. No motive for the shooting was found and the two individuals involved still remain friends. Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Slemp commented, This case is an example of what can go wrong when you mix drugs and alcohol. Without the diligent efforts of our law enforcement and first responders on the scene, this case could have ended very differently. Lemay had originally been charged with attempted first degree murder. Slemp said, Upon our review of the case and during preparation for trial, the evidence did not support a prosecution on the attempted murder charge. Boonsboro Warriors are ready for road playoff test at South Carroll Boonsboro is on a roll and feeling good as it gets set to hit the road and challenge South Carroll in the Maryland Class 2A-1A West second round. This is a guest post from Sean Kay, Robson Professor of Politics and Government, and Director of International Studies, at Ohio Wesleyan University. The interview quotes appear in his new book Rockin the Free World! How the Rock & Roll Revolution Changed America and the World (2017). There is power in rock and roll an art form that has modernized American values and helped them to ripple around the world advancing freedom, equality, human rights, and peace. Over the last several years I was fortunate to interview about sixty major rock and roll artists, songwriters, producers, managers, non-profit heads and activists as part of a new book project. The interviews led me to the central case that rock and roll advances progress in America and the world. The Ethos of Rock & Roll More than a music form rock and roll is also an attitude and an ethic. As Joan Jett said in her 2015 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: I come from a place where rock and roll means something. It means more than music, more than fashion, more than a good pose. Its a language of a subculture thats made eternal teenagers of all who follow it. Its a subculture of integrity, rebellion, frustration, alienation, and the glue that set several generations free from unnatural societal and self-suppression. Rock and roll is political. It is a meaningful way to express dissent, upset the status quo, stir up revolution, and fight for human rights. Think Im making it sound more important and serious than it is? Its only rock and roll, right? Rock and roll is an idea, and an ideal. Sometimes, because we love the music and we make the music, we forget the political impact it has on people around the world. There are Pussy Riots wherever there is political agitation. The modern world has been shaped by rockers even if not being overtly political. According to Jann Wenner, founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, rock and roll can be a shared expression of freedom, Wenner says: Like Chuck Berry, just writing about how boring school was, ring ring goes the bell cant wait to get out of there! Billy Bragg, who was inspired to his career at a Rock Against Racism concert put on by the Clash, says: You challenge your audience. Sometimes you are confirming the things that they support. I dont like the phrase preaching to the choir but you are recharging their batteries by reminding them; theyre standing in the room and everybody in the room sees theres power in union together. George Clinton, of Parliament-Funkadelic tells me it was the kind of freedom you: could get at church, or any kind of ritual, but especially to do it on your own terms not to get psyched into it, because youre still opening yourself up. Rock, Agenda-Setting, and Political Change Rock and rollers have been important contributors to agenda-setting in areas like human rights with performances from George Harrisons Concert for Bangladesh to Live Aid to the Beastie Boys championing Freedom in Tibet. Amnesty International has been in steady alliance with rock and roll. The organizations Jack Healey teamed with legendary concert promoter (and Holocaust survivor) Bill Graham in the 1980s to coordinate concert tours including Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and U2 raising human rights awareness and dramatically increasing Amnesty Internationals membership. Healey recalls: We did two days in Chile. We were live on television through Latin America Mexico, Spain for 10 hours, two days in a row. We got 20 hours of live television where all those disappearances and torture were occurring. Its no wonder they cleaned up. Seriously. It wasnt just us. Im just saying it affects the culture when you do things like that. The influence of rock and roll can be seen in amplifying the changes occurring at the end of the Cold War in Eastern Europe. In 1988 Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band performed in East Berlin. Tellingly, the 300,000 or so East Germans there to hear him can be seen on video singing along to Springsteens songs. Later, as the wall came down, Crosby, Stills and Nash were literally there, helping tear it down. David Crosby tells me: That was a champion deal ideas went over the wall. It wasnt a squadron of tanks, it wasnt artillery, it wasnt any army that knocked that wall down. It was ideas going over the walland the people, on the other side, seeing how it was on this side. That information knocked that wall down. Information destroyed that wall. That was a triumph. We won that one. Of course rock and roll was not causal in terms of the Cold Wars end but the stirrings of freedom were aided by artists. Indeed, in the 1970s the Plastic People of the Universe motivated Czechoslovakian dissidents like Vaclev Havel after the band was arrested. Later, in government, Havel held close counsel with Lou Reed. Thomas Shanker, who covered the collapse of the Soviet Union as a reporter rightly notes causality: When the Soviet state collapsed, it collapsed because it collapsed. It was Gorbachev, it was the failed coup, it was the internal economic contradictions economic failure that did it. But, all these other movements put in the minds of a broad section of the populace, Is there another way? Can we do it differently? Similar questions were raised by Steven Van Zandts Artists United Against Apartheid regarding pressuring for sanctions compliance and advancing change in South Africa and today, by groups like Pussy Riot as symbols of anti-despotism in Russia. Rock and rollers offer an alternative narrative that can erode existing power structures. As Serj Tankian of System of a Down said to me: Ultimately, you can call things as they are be they realpolitik, realist, and whatnot, and in the end, depress everyone to death. But, without telling them, Look, this is a choice thats very important giving them the optimism to make that choice and saying that, it doesnt have to be this way: War is Over! Rock and rollers thus also participate in and amplify social activism some reaching millions of people. The Grateful Dead, Santana, Michael Franti, Miley Cyrus and many more have created non-profits advancing issue areas from education to the environment. Non-profits like Little Kids Rock, Music Heals International, and Playing for Change work with artists to fill national and international public education gaps. Bonnie Raitt and her manager Kathy Kane helped to pioneer greening of concert touring with the organization Reverb (co-founded by Guster member Adam Gardner) now servicing green tours for major acts. HeadCount registers voters at rock concerts. Its Executive Director Andy Bernstein says: Nobody was doing an online auction for a meet-and-greet backstage at Woodstock. Now, they can rally over 200 artists on a single day to post photos holding signs saying Register to Vote with a link to HeadCounts voter registration page. In the 2008 election, Rock the Vote, another information campaign urging voter registration, registered 2.6 million young voters a demographic critical to Barack Obamas election. Shut Up and Sing? Artists are often told to shut up and sing as if their rights to speak end because of their job. In fact, artists are often the town crier, articulating things society might rather avoid. Serj Tankian and his band System of a Down were educating the public about the failed war on drugs and mass incarceration in their 2001 recording Prison Song long before the national media reported on it. Tankian is also a major advocate for recognition of the Armenian genocide, a policy that Congress should now consider advancing given authoritarian trends in Turkey. Sinead OConnor, while controversial, was decades ahead of the public in articulating her protest over the abuse of children in the Catholic Church during her 1992 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Of course much of the anti-war sentiment was accompanied by rock and roll during the Vietnam War. Joe McDonald, of Country Joe and the Fish, says that Woodstock was key in terms of mass communication and messaging, reflecting on his song I-Feel-Like-Im-Fixin-to-Die-Rag: By using Woodstock, Im saying that it mainstreamed. It mainstreamed then and reached out to the whole middle class world, because of the movie and because of the music. And in a way that was remarkable, really in a global way because it was accessible and it validated something in the audience. The results, however, are not always positive. Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks received death threats for criticizing the Iraq invasion in 2003. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had about a third of their audience walk out when they played anti-war songs in Atlanta during the peak of the Iraq conflict, 2006. Now, Graham Nash reflects: What Id like to do is talk to those people that walked out and say, O.K., in hindsight would you still have walked out? In hindsight when you know what George Bush and his cronies did would you still walk out? There are limits on the relationship between popular culture and progress. After all, Donald Trump asserted during the 2016 presidential campaign that he did not need celebrities as Hillary Clinton did with Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen to generate enthusiasm. Rock and roll did not stop war, or end income inequality. But, the artists and activists that have engaged have something to say, and we are wise to listen. And, rock and rollers also can give voice to those who challenge authority backed with truth. As Serj Tankian says: For artists, we have that moment where we have to be truthful. Theres no escaping it. Politicians dont. They should, but they dont. Can Political Scientists Rock? Political scientists are well-served to consider the impact of rock and roll in their wide range of research and studies about America and its place in the world. As we are now in an era where truth has become a commodity, political science provides evidence and reflection on the things that have genuinely made America great and rock and roll is one of them. As scholars, we have much to gain from embracing the ethos of rock and roll. Being willing to take creative risks in our work, standing up for principles of freedom, engaging in more field work to understand precisely how culture shapes and motivates social trends are just a few ways we might embrace the rock and roll ethos. By valuing inclusion and appreciating our intellectual diversity as a strength and by reflecting on the music that has given us personal empowerment, we too might renew the ideals that got us into the profession in the first place. As Graham Nash reflects: I have children. I have grandchildren. Ive got to think that I can help make the world a better place for myself and my family and my friends. Everything starts inside, doesnt it? How far can the ripples go once you throw that stone into the pool? This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ The Centres new regulations on cattle are meeting resistance in four North-eastern states that hold assembly elections next year. Last week, the BJP government banned the sale of cattle for slaughter in any animal market, a term the law defines broadly. It also requires those selling or buying cattle for other purposes to go through an onerous certification process. According to data released by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in 2014, all eight North-eastern states except Tripura were among the top 10 most frequent consumers of beef or buffalo in the country. Meghalayans topped the list, with nearly 81% of them consuming beef or buffalo. The figure for Nagaland was 57%; Mizoram was 23%. Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram all go to the polls in 2018 and have a majority Christian population. On Tuesday, the president of the National Peoples Party (NPP) and the MP from Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi arguing against the new regulations. The Rules, among other provisions, impose a number of restrictions on cattle trade which would have serious impact on the socio-cultural and economic milieu of millions of people, he wrote. The NPP is a partner in the BJPs ruling dispensations in Meghalaya and at the Centre. It is also a member of the North East Democratic Alliance, the BJP-led coalition in the North-east. Sangmas party has a significant presence in the district council of Meghalayas Garo Hills, where cattle traders oppose the restrictions. Earlier this year the United Democratic Party (UDP), which represents 8 of the 60 seats in the Meghalaya assembly, floated the possibility of allying with the BJP after the assembly elections. Now it is having second thoughts. The partys working president, Titosstarwell Chyne, said in an interview that the Centres move was highly unacceptable and that the BJP should emphasize putting food on everyones plates. If this issue isnt resolved, we will go alone in the coming polls, said Chyne. We cant compromise with the food habits of the people. It would affect our vote share if we do. A Congress MP in Meghalaya also urged the Centre to withdraw the recent notification. The Naga Peoples Front, which leads the government in Nagaland in an alliance with the BJP, expressed reservations as well. There is no question of implementing the Centres latest move, said Kiyanilie Peseyie, the social security and welfare minister in the Nagaland government. It will be very difficult. Last week, C. Ngunlianchunga, animal husbandry minister in the Congress government in Mizoram, told HT that the state wont implement the Centres notification. In Tripura, the fourth state from the region that votes next year, only 4% of the population consumes beef or buffalo meat, according to the NSSO figures. Members of the ruling Left Front government have said they will not put the new cattle rules into effect either. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A structure inside Bhopals Hamidia hospital that sparked communal tensions in the heart of the city isnt a mosque as claimed by Muslim groups but a heritage entrance gate, archaeologists said on Wednesday evening. Dr Ahmed Ali from the state archeology and archives department termed the two-storeyed structure as a heritage entrance gate structure over 200 years old on which later a memorial plaque for the World War I martyrs was put. He said it was not a mosque at all. I have communicated my findings to the government so that there is no doubt in anybodys mind on this issue now on, he said. This came after hours of stone pelting and arson in old Bhopal where Hindus and Muslims clashed over the right to pray inside the structure found during excavations recently. Muslims called the structure a mosque and wanted to pray inside but were denied permission. On Tuesday evening, large Muslim crowds came face-to-face with men from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad who wanted to pray next to the minarets but werent allowed. Stone pelting ensued for hours and police were forced to cane the mobs. Hundreds of police personnel have fanned out across the old city and most roads were sealed to ward off clashes. Dr Ali said the structure was the entrance gate to the Fatehgarh fort that led to the old walled city of Bhopal. He said Fatehgarh fort was constructed by Dost Mohammad Khan (16571728), the founder of the erstwhile Bhopal State and the fort was later expanded to encircle Bhopal. HT visited the historic structure at Hamidia. The marble memorial on the left side of the gate reads Bhopal State From this state, 994 men went to the great war 1914 -1919. Of these, 36 gave up these lives. A senior government official, requesting anonymity, said, Such memorial plaques are not found on the gates of mosques. He said it was a major proof that it was not a mosque. The minaret that was claimed by Muslim groups as part of a mosque. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT Photo) Dr Ali said soldiers from erstwhile principalities participated in World War I. As this was a very important gate in the heart of Bhopal, the soldiers left from this very gate. This is why after 1919, a memorial plaque was set up on the left side of the gate, he said. Nilamber Mishra, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Bhopal told HT that the no excavation was done at the historic structure site inside the Hamidia hospital premises. Nearby, a 2000-bed hospital is being constructed due to which some people felt concerned about the fate of this heritage structure. We sought help of archeologists who made it clear that it was a not a mosque, he said. During the visit to the heavily guarded heritage structure, HT found that it had a big gate on one side while on the other side, the gate opening had been closed with a brick wall. On the front side of the historic gate, few rooms had been constructed by the hospital authorities, where drugs were stored. Police have barricaded all entrances to the compound that is closed on one side by a brick wall. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT Photo) The city has many historical gates (darwazas) such as Lal Darwaza near Model Ground, the Military (Regiment) Gate that is the entrance to the Sultania Infantry settlement, the Islami Gate at Shahjehanabad, the Dakhil Darwaza of the Taj Mahal and the Gate of Bagh Farhat Afza. The first three gates were the entrances to the walled Shahjehabad area constructed by erstwhile Bhopal ruler Shahjehan Begum (reigned 1868-1901). Jumerati Gate, considered the oldest surviving gate of Bhopal was built by the founder of Bhopal Nawab dynasty Dost Mohammad Khan about 300 years ago. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The situation in the Old City area of Bhopal was peaceful amid police presence on Wednesday morning, hours after Muslims and Hindus clashed over the right to pray inside the Hamidia Hospital complex where some minarets were recently discovered. Some of the shops opened on Wednesday but the roads in the area have been partially barricaded. Internet services, which were blocked on Tuesday night to prevent rumour mongering through social media, were restored in the morning. The eastern gate of the Hamidia Hospital compound from where people were going to the disputed structure was sealed with tin barricades. The main gate remains open but people were being checked as a result of which patients had a tough time entering the hospital. Members of the Muslim community claimed the minarets found in a structure during digging inside the Hamidia Hospital were that of a mosque and wanted to offer prayers there. The city administration, however, did not allow them to do so, saying there was no sufficient proof that it was a mosque and that experts would decide on it. On Monday, members of the Hindu community wanted to pray in a temple inside the hospital campus next to the newly discovered minarets. They were not allowed to do so by the administration. The trouble started in Peer gate area in on Tuesday evening and spread to Budhwara Char Batti, Moti Masjid, Fatehgarh, Hamidia, Agrasen crossing, Imambara which saw intermittent stone pelting for over 3 and a half hours. At least 4 vehicles were set on fire near Peer Gate. A senior police official said they managed to bring the situation under control by midnight. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan issued an appeal to people to remain calm and not to listen to rumour mongers. Several other politicians, religious leaders and officials have issued similar appeals. According to reports, police have rounded up half a dozen people since Tuesday night, though the exact charge against them is still not known. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A teenager from Boston recently did something unthinkable. She microwaved her pet turtle to death. For fun. And, posted before-and-after pictures of the baby turtle on social media. Tons of reactions poured in almost immediately, with users expressing disgust and outrage, and many directing threats and abuses towards the teen, who was reportedly unrepentant about her actions, and asked people to get over it. Bollywood celebs, known to support animal rights, also took to social media to diss the teen, who later took down her picture post from Facebook, but other users had taken screenshots by then. Jonasia Simpson of Boston, MA did this and is now confused as to why people are upset that she killed an animal for fun. pic.twitter.com/pkHw7f3LAf mikeylikesit (@xmikeyxlikesitx) May 23, 2017 This is monstrous to say the least ! Sick sick sick to my stomach!! Humanity at an all time low ... again (sic), tweeted actor Anushka Sharma, who is known to be vocal for animal rights. Keen to do her bit for rescued animals, she had recently visited an animal shelter in Rajasthan, spending a day with the animals and their caretakers. This is monstrous to say the least ! Sick sick sick to my stomach!! Humanity at an all time low ... again https://t.co/0Hh3WmHL9z Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) May 30, 2017 Actor Alia Bhatt called the act disgusting on Twitter, adding that the news needs our attention, as we humans are no less than monsters today. Echoing similar sentiments, Parineeti Chopra wrote, What does this even mean! HOW do humans do this!!!!! Goosebumps just reading it (sic). What does this even mean!!!! HOWWWW do humans do this!!!!! Goosebumps just reading it https://t.co/vc30hGuczQ BINDU (@ParineetiChopra) May 30, 2017 Vocalist Shweta Pandit had a message for the abusive teen: #JonasiaSimpson karma kid karma. Time will get you #ProtectAnimals, whereas actor Amyra Dastur posted, Absolutely Sadistic! What kind of human being does this to such a gentle creature?! Age is no excuse for such a cruel act (sic). What has got social media even more infuriated is that when informed, the teenagers mother reportedly laughed the matter off. She, however, later posted an apology on Facebook, saying she doesnt support animal cruelty. An online petition that has over 24,007 supporters (at the time of writing the story) has been launched in a bid to get Boston Police Department to press animal cruelty charges against the teenager. Follow @htshobiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Vir Das, who rings in his 38th birthday today, is looking forward to a quiet celebration with his wife Shivani Mathur and his bulldog. The actor, who has been travelling extensively for his show, Abroad Understanding, says, Its going to be me, Shivani and my bulldog in the house and Ill get some home time. Recently, Ive been travelling so much that now Im just craving for some ghar ka khana with my family, says Vir. Talking about how the past one year has been for him, the actor-comedian says, I try not to think about how my last year has been or how my work has expanded. I can only say that the last month has been a life changing experience. Audience around the world has messaged me. All of this is pretty daunting. So, I try to think of life in terms of baby steps and not the bigger picture. I feel, by doing this, you put undue pressure on yourself. The actor, who has been part of films such as Delhi Belly (2011), Go Goa Gone (2013) and Santa Banta (2016) believes in focusing on his mistakes and learning from them. I think the idea is to grow as an artist every year. Everything that I have done in the last one year is something which has helped me learn more. If nothing, then I take stock of my mistakes and stumbles, and learn more from them. You will never see me patting my back, says Vir, who thinks, in life, one needs to keep moving ahead. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Salman Khan never ceases to surprise his fans. For all those who were waiting with bated breath to catch a glimpse of Salman in the much awaited sequel of Judwaa (1997), heres some good news. The 51-year-old will be making a special appearance in Judwaa 2, helmed by David Dhawan. In fact, Salman, who played a double roleRaja and Prem, in the 1997 blockbuster, would be reprising the same roles in the sequel as well. Actor Varun Dhawan, who plays the lead in Judwaa 2, will begin shooting the last schedule, along with Salman, in Mumbai soon. Salman will appear as both Raja and Prem, his twin characters from the film, who have aged by 20 years. His Judwaa will come face-to-face with Varuns double role, possibly bantering in the climax scene, a source told Mid Day, adding, The team recently wrapped up the London schedule. They will begin the final leg of shoot in Mumbai next month with Salman joining them for a few hours. It's a london sched wrap for @jacquelinef143. My partner in crime and she just loves to say FUN(inside joke) @shaanmu A post shared by Varun Dhawan (@varundvn) on May 19, 2017 at 1:59am PDT The team seemed to have enjoyed during their London schedule. Varun, along with actors Taapsee Pannu [reprising the role of Rambha] and Jacqueline Fernandez [reprising the role of Karisma Kapoor], who are also part of the cast, posted many videos on Instagram and Twitter. Taking a back seat and letting u be the hero on this special day ! Happy Birthday to 'Mera Hero' @varundvn happiness galore for you on this day and forever A post shared by Taapsee Pannu (@taapsee) on Apr 24, 2017 at 6:50am PDT Shit that movies do to us #Skateboarding #thisisfun #judwaa2 A post shared by Taapsee Pannu (@taapsee) on Apr 16, 2017 at 4:45am PDT Salman, who is in Mumbai for the promotions of his film Tubelight, will start shooting for Judwaa 2 soon. The film is slated to release on September 29, 2017. Fans surely cant wait. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Geeta Kapoor, who was abandoned by her son at a hospital more than a month ago, wants to go home. She is best known for her roles in Pakeezah and Razia Sultan. Her doctors have said that she is heartbroken that nobody from her family has returned and constant media attention has added to her confusion. On April 21, her son brought the 58-year-old to SRV Hospital in Mumbais Goregaon to treat her fluctuating blood pressure. He left the hospital on the pretext of withdrawing money from an ATM and never returned. Appreciate & Love to #SRVHospital Doctor(doesn't want the disclose his name & pic) & nurse who r taking care of #GeetaKapoor #humanity pic.twitter.com/GdO6vZo6Ta Maahi Kaur/Filmmaker (@MaahiKaur01) May 31, 2017 So many media people have visited. It has left her a little scared. She starts crying and the ward gets disturbed. She feels that people come to meet her, yet no one is taking her home, Dr Dipendra Tripathi, intensivist, SRV hospital told PTI. Two Bollywood producers, Ramesh Taurani and Ashoke Pandit had come forward to help Kapoor with her medical bills. Pandit has said that he is looking for an old-age home for the actor. According to Tripathi, the actor is ready to be discharged but has nowhere to go. The problem is, who is going to take her? We are a third party. Ashoke Pandit is trying to contact some old-age homes, we are also trying for NGOs. We are treating her for one-and-a -half-month, food, medicines, hospital stay. She is better, we can discharge her anytime as long as she has a place to go. The doctor says when she came to the hospital, she was bedridden and hadnt even eaten proper food, her BP was a problem and even her mental condition wasnt good, so we had arranged for a psychiatrist. Even now, Tripathi says, the actor believes that her son is going to come back for her. She was there when he left her. So thats all she remembers and says, he is going to come back with money. Its a very tragic story... The most surprising thing is that despite the media attention, not a single relative has turned up. Follow @htshowbiz for more Priyanka Chopra doesnt give two hoots to trolls or those who slam her for reasons best known to them. And thats why, when the Quantico star faced backlash for dressing indecently when meeting PM Modi, she was quick to give it back to haters, in style. Giving it back to trolls on her Instagram and Facebook page, Priyanka posted a too-hot-to-handle-picture with her mom, Madhu Chopra and captioned it, Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch. Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 4:23pm PDT Well, thats how you shut up those who cant understand classy. And surprisingly, this time, those who lauded her for not cowing down, were way more than haters. Some of the comments on her post read: shut the haters down #hatersgonnahate #amazinglegs and you got it from your mama, Hahaha a perfect reply, Tight slap to trolls who feel that they can decide what a woman should wear or not! Such assholes, Haha you nailed it .. thats why we love pc... she is intelligent smart and beautiful..., When u troll Priyanka Chopra, she trolls you back, great way to shut up all idiots obsessing over ur legs., What a answer to the hatters who is trolling you, Woah PC you nailed it once again babe..You know exactly how to shut the mouths of your haters! so proud of you girl More power to you , Wow!! Now thats a high payback to the haters out there.. Go Girl. On Tuesday, Priyanka posted pictures of her meeting PM Modi in Berlin and called it a lovely coincidence. The actor was in Berlin to attend the premier of her Hollywood film, Baywatch. Was such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin at the same time as the Prime Minister. Thank you @narendramodi Sir for taking the time from your packed schedule to meet me this morning. A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 1:04am PDT Soon after the photos went viral, trolls had a field day slut-shaming Priyanka. Apparently, her outfit and the way she sat across the PM, didnt really go down well with some people, who slammed her for dressing inappropriately and not covering her legs and not mannered enough to sit properly in front of elders. Follow @htshowbiz for more Sooraj Pancholi had a strange fan encounter last Friday (May 26). A female fan came all the way from Chandigarh, Punjab, without informing her parents, just to meet the actor. The girl is a college kid from Chandigarh. She also runs one of his fan clubs on social media. She got Soorajs address and without informing her parents, caught a train to Mumbai. She landed up outside his house and told the security guard that she would like to meet Sooraj. The security informed the house help as the actor wasnt present at home, says a source, adding, However, once Sooraj returned and learnt about the incident, he met the girl and politely explained to her to never repeat this again. Sooraj then booked her return tickets so that she could reach home safely and made sure his chauffer dropped her to the airport. Mornings like these! A post shared by Sooraj Pancholi (@soorajpancholi) on May 9, 2017 at 12:05am PDT When contacted, Sooraj said, I was extremely thrilled to know that the young girl travelled from Chandigarh just to meet me. But when I got to know that she didnt inform her parents, it really put me off. This is unsafe and I dont support this. I informed her parents, and my team was in touch with her to ensure she reached home safely. The actor was seen in Hero opposite Athiya Shetty, helmed by Salman Khan. Sooraj will next be seen in a Faruk Kabir film. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The mortal remains of veteran Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao were today consigned to flames at his farm house near here as a large number of film personalities and political leaders, including Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, paid homage to him. Raos son Prabhu lit the funeral pyre at the farm house located near Chevella in the afternoon. Policemen presented a gun salute as the cremation was conducted with full state honours. The body was earlier taken there in a cavalcade from the city. It was kept at the office of Telugu film chambers to enable film personalities and fans to pay their tributes. Naidu, veteran director and Dada Saheb Phalke award recipient K Viswanath, Telugu star Pawan Kalyan and a host of others paid tributes to Rao. Naidu, accompanied by some of his cabinet colleagues, flew down from Vijayawada to pay tributes to Rao. Narayana Raos death is a loss not only to the film industry but also to all Telugu people, he said. Recalling that he had been associated with Rao since their younger days, the chief minister said the departed filmmaker and his family members treated him with affection. Rao, who directed super-hit movies with legendary actors like N T Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao, died at a private hospital here yesterday at the age of 75. He was suffering from health problems related to food pipe, kidney and other organs. His end came when his heart stopped functioning at 7 PM yesterday, according to doctors. The veteran filmmaker was also a politician and served as a minister during the UPA-2 regime. Rao, a versatile personality who directed about 150 films and worked for hundreds of others as a dialogue writer, lyricist and actor, was admitted to the hospital a couple of months ago, but was discharged. He began his career as a theatre artiste and went on to work in films. Rao directed his first film in the early 1970s. He won many prestigious awards, including the National Award, the Filmfare and received honours from the Andhra Pradesh government. Follow @htshowbiz for more Ruth Eleanor Appling Hoskins Dec. 31, 1925 May 14, 2017 Our dear mother and grandmother, Ruth Hoskins, 91, left this earth, on Mother's Day, May 14, 2017 to join her husband Leonard in Heaven. They are both in the presence of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Ruth was born December 31, 1925 in Fresno, California, the youngest of six children, to Cornelius Joshua and Florence Louise Holden Appling. Her father was the principal of Madison Elementary School and her mother was a teacher. Ruth attended school in Fresno from first grade through high school and studied Elementary Education and Library Science at Fresno State College. She met the love of her life, Leonard Hoskins, at the Fresno Methodist church. He was giving a slide presentation about Hawaii, where he had recently served in the United States Army. At that time, slides were loaded and unloaded in the projector one slide at a time. After the show, Ruth saw that he had quite a large pile of slides to put away so she offered to help him. They were married six months later in that same church on January 4, 1946, a union that lasted 55 years, until Leonard's death in 2001. They began married life in Moscow, Idaho, where Leonard attended the University of Idaho and received his Master's degree in Wildlife Management. In 1952, Leonard accepted a job with the Nevada Fish and Game Department in Elko, Nevada where he eventually became Regional Supervisor for several northern Nevada counties and retired in 1980. Ruth was a librarian for Elko County Library for several years and especially enjoyed driving the Bookmobile to many Nevada rural areas that did not have libraries. Ruth and Leonard faithfully attended the First Presbyterian Church, where they served and made many friends. Ruth loved to sing and was often the soloist in the church choir. She also enjoyed playing the piano, sewing quilts, cooking and spending time with her family and friends. She especially loved traveling with Leonard and often spoke of the many trips they took together including Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, and Florida. They were both avid bird watchers. They traveled all around the United States in their motor home, seeking many different birds and enjoying nature. Their children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren have wonderful memories of summer vacations, camping, hiking and fishing trips we all shared together. Ruth was optimistic, kind-hearted, generous, and loved by all who knew her. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to all. She influenced and touched many lives for the better and will always be missed, remembered and cherished. Ruth was recently a resident of Highland Manor in Elko and was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard, her daughter Leah Bartlett in 1980, her parents and her five siblings, Phillip, Robert, Ray, Marjorie and Elaine. She is survived by her son, Gary Hoskins of Elko, her daughters, Bonnie (Donald) Muckel of Lamoille, Mary (Richard) Bell of Reno, her grandchildren, Sunshine, Stuart, Sheri, Amy, Dana, Jeanine, Nathan and Rachel, her great grandchildren, Ashlei, Izaak, Cal, Destiny, Annika, Jeffrey, Griffin, Evan, Mattea, Nella, Owen, her great great grandchildren, Maggie and Katie and numerous nieces and nephews. A memorial service and celebration of Ruth's life will be held at 10:00 AM, July 8, 2017 at the First Presbyterian Church, 1559 Sewell Drive, Elko Nevada Be it for their kids or for health-related reasons, many Bollywood actors such as Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, have decided to lead healthy lives by quitting cigarettes. We look at how some of these celebs battled their way to kicking the butt. Preparation is half the battle won. Willpower will take care of the rest. #KeepGoing #HRX #MondayMotivation A post shared by Hrithik Roshan (@hrithikroshan) on Apr 23, 2017 at 9:29pm PDT Hrithik Roshan: Actor Hrithik Roshan finally quit smoking in 2012 after a lot of attempts. It was a book, which finally got him to ditch the cigarette. I wanted to give up smoking. I tried quitting five times before and failed. I tried nicotine patches and other methods, but nothing worked. I wanted to kick the habit so I began researching how to. I spoke to people who had quit, went online and read articles, saw testimonials of people on YouTube... I kept checking, and then finally I came across this book Alan Carrs Easy Way To Stop Smoking, I ordered that book and the day I finished the book was the day I smoked my last ciggie, he was quoted as saying at the time. Actor Aamir Khan says his family convinced him to stop smoking. (AFP) Aamir Khan: Actor Aamir Khan stopped smoking in 2011 after repeatedly being told by his children to kick the butt. Reports suggest that he would smoke close to 40 cigarettes in a day. After his son Azaad was born in 2011, Aamir quit for good. Whenever my film was about to hit the theatres, I got nervous. And I felt that a cigarette could ease the pressure...Honestly, my son Junaid and my daughter were getting very annoyed. Kiran and my mother too were constantly telling me to throw my cigarettes and lighters away. There was this day, January 1, 2011, to be precise, when I decided that Enough is Enough. I can say that four people were instrumental, he was quoted as saying. Actor Saif Ali Khan stopped smoking after a heart problem in 2006. (Shivam Saxena/HT Photo) Saif Ali Khan: Back in 2006, Saif Ali Khan recovered from an illness,which was when he decided to quit smoking. Saif was hospitalised with chest pain. The doctors said that he had a small clot in his heart, which was because of excessive smoking. While he was following this strictly, he had to a smoke a few cigarettes on screen for his film Rangoon. While Saif was shooting for Rangoon, his character Rustom Rusi Bilimoria, a filmmaker, had to be seen smoking cigarettes in a few scenes with his international co-star Rebecca. Saif was off cigarettes for a long time but picked it up only on camera for his role. The actor had to take a few puffs for some scenes and he was fine with making this exception because the script demanded it, a source was quoted as saying. Love candid shots. #natural A post shared by Arjun (@rampal72) on May 15, 2017 at 6:31am PDT Arjun Rampal: Actor Arjun Rampal quit smoking for his children. In 2010, he took to Twitter to express his feelings about how he wants to quit just like his wife Mehr Jessia. Proud of Mehr who has stopped smoking, the kids after my life to quit now. Will try again after I finish this film. Then a nice long vacation (sic), Rampal wrote on his Twitter page. He was shooting for actor Shah Rukh Khans Ra.One at the time. #Repost @ibollywoodlife with @repostapp Vivek will be seen locking horns with Ajith Kumar in the biggest Tamil film this year, Vivegam. @vivekoberoi A post shared by Vivek Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) on Mar 23, 2017 at 6:52am PDT Vivek Oberoi: Vivek Oberoi has often spoken about the ill effects of smoking. In fact, he even featured in a no smoking commercial to discourage other people from smoking. He kicked the butt when he started meeting cancer patients. I cannot stress enough on the importance of keeping away from tobacco and smoking as the damage it causes in the long run is irreversible. I have been working with the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) for several years now as well and I am taking the thought and no-tobacco campaign forward with this commercial, Vivek said at the time. In fact, there are reports that he doesnt let anyone on the set smoke. Delhi promotions for @adeathinthegunj Happy to be wearing @anitadongregrassroot Styled by @who_wore_what_when #inthegunj #pockets! A post shared by Konkona Sensharma (@konkona) on May 20, 2017 at 7:55pm PDT Konkona Sen Sharma: Actor Konkona Sen Sharma was a regular smoker, but had to quit when she was pregnant with her son Haroon in 2011. The pregnancy has meant a complete change in lifestyle. I used to be a smoker and overnight I couldnt smoke or drink at all, she was quoted as saying. Actor Ranbir Kapoor stopped smoking on the sets of Anurag Basus Barfi! (2012). (IANS) Ranbir Kapoor: Actor Ranbir Kapoor wasnt able to smoke on the sets of his film Barfi! (2012) to win a friendly bet with filmmaker Anurag Basu. Although he slips up from time to time, he is making sure to not smoke for as long as he can. Also, I wanted to be healthy and I hope that I know being an actor I can give inspiration to people who want to quit smoking. I was a big smoker, and when you give it up, trust me, life is so much better. You have so much of free time to think about other things, instead of thinking of lighting a cigarette and it feels great. I feel more alive and I feel like a better person, he was quoted as saying. Follow @htshowbiz for more Indias banking system is passing through a critical phase as lenders are saddled with about Rs 10 lakh crore worth of stressed assets, loan growth is stuttering at near six decades-low levels and lending rates are still stubbornly high. Standard and Poors warned on Tuesday Indian banks stressed assets are likely to rise to 15% of total loans by March 2018, and their credit profiles are unlikely to improve over the next 12 months. The finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India are trying their best to salvage banks from the menace of NPAs. One of the proposals to resolve the crisis is setting up of a bad bank that will absorb all the bad loans of commercial banks and cleanse the banking system. The bad bank idea is not a new concept to India. It has been tried with some financial institutions in some form or the other, but the end result has been that taxpayers good money is wasted in banks bad assets. This time around, the governments chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian and Reserve Bank of Indias deputy governor Viral Acharya are pushing the idea of a bad bank. Acharya even proposed the twin concepts of a Private Asset Management Company (PAMC) and National Asset Management Company (NAMC) for resolution of stressed assets of the private and state-owned lenders, respectively. However, NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya is averse to the idea. Here are five things that have to be considered before setting up a bad bank: 1.Bad bank legacy Bad bank concept was tried with the setting up of Industrial Reconstruction Corporation of India in 1971, for the rehabilitation of sick industrial undertakings. It was later rechristened to Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India (IIBI) in 1985, and tasked to buy bad loans of commercial banks and recover the debt. But absence of stringent recovery laws made IIBI sick. Between 2004-05 and 2005-06, the government paid close to Rs 263 crore to IIBI as grants so that it can service its debt. There was also a proposal to merge IIBI and another other institutions IFCI and IDBI, but it was rejected. Finally, IIBIs closure was announced in the Budget 2012. IFCI and IDBI have also survived on periodic bailouts from the government. In 2002, the government announced a Rs 400-crore life-line for IFCI and asked LIC, IDBI and SBI to provide Rs 200 crore each. There was a proposal of segregating IFCIs NPAs into a bad bank and finding a strategic partner for the good bank. But it did not materialise. In 2004, IDBI was handed out a Rs 9,000-crore bailout package for shifting its bad loans into a separate Stressed Asset Stabilisation Fund (SASF), which in a way was a bad bank. A decade later, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its report in 2014 criticised the government over the IDBI bailout saying: This arrangement of transferring NPAs to the (SASF) Trust was akin to underwriting the non-performing assets of IDBI ... Thus effectively, Government of India has taken the burden of NPAs of IDBI by creating a future liability. 2.NPA scenario In December, RBIs financial stability report said the gross non-performing advances (GNPAs) ratio of all banks increased to 9.1% by September 2016 from 7.8% in March 2016. Stressed loans (non-performing as well as restructured loans) were up at 12.3% of total loan given out by banks by September, up from 11.5% in March 2016. RBIs stress test of the banking sector indicated that GNPA ratio may increase from 9.1% in September 2016 to 9.8% by March 2017, and further to 10.1% by March 2018. PSU banks are worst hit as their GNPA may increase to 12.5% by March 2017 and then to 12.9% in March 2018, from 11.8% in September 2016. While the government has pledged to infuse Rs 70,000 crore into its PSU banks over 2016-2019-- Rs 10,000 crore each during 2017-18 and 2018-19, analysts doubt the amount will be sufficient. In our view, these amounts will not be sufficient to fully resolve the public sector banks looming capital shortfall, S&P said in its latest report. 3.Why NPAs keep piling up The government has over the years enacted and tweaked stringent rules to recover assets of defaulters. The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act or Sarfaesi Act of 2002 was amended in 2016 as it took banks years to recover the assets. Experts have pointed out that the NPA problem has to be tackled before the time a company starts defaulting. This needs a risk assessment by the lenders and red-flagging the early signs of a possible default. RBI has also come up with loan restructuring schemes in the past few decades such as the corporate debt restructuring (CDR), formation of joint lenders forum (JLF), flexible structuring for long-term project loans to infrastructure (or 5/25 Scheme), strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme and sustainable structuring of stressed assets (S4A) to check the menace of NPAs. In many cases, the companies have failed to make profits and defaulted even after their loans were restructured. Lack of stringent rules including for quick liquidation and lengthy legal process have staggered the NPA cases. 4.Why a bad bank is needed now The Economic Survey for 2016-17 pointed to a twin balance sheet (TBS) problem of overleveraged, or highly indebted, companies and bad loan encumbered banks, which it says is a legacy of the boom years before the global financial crisis of 2008. Subramanian wrote in the Survey that it was time to consider a different approach to tackle the NPA problem by setting up a centralised Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency (PARA) that could take charge of the largest, most difficult cases, and make politically tough decisions to reduce debt. Since, private run Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) have not been successful either in resolving bad debts, though international experience, especially that of East Asian economies, shows that a professionally run central agency with the government backing could overcome the coordination and political issues that have impeded progress over the past eight years. Without a bad bank, the Survey said recapitalization of NPA-laden banks increases the costs to the government as well as the costs to the economy, by hindering credit, investment, and therefore economic growth. 5.The other options The implementation of Bankruptcy Code and the recent amendment to the Banking Regulation Act may help in tightening NPA rules and ensure quick recovery of debt. The amendment in the banking law gives extra powers to the RBI to empower a panel (oversight committee) to monitor the progress of steps against big defaulters. Many of the NPA cases can be traced to delay in clearances for land, environment and licences. According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the proportion of stalled private sector projects rose to a 52-quarter high of 20.2% in the March quarter. This has locked up lakhs of crore of private investment and bank funds. Unless the Centre and states speed up clearances, the NPA problem is unlikely to be resolved forever. A bad bank may improve the health of lenders. But who will bailout the bad bank--taxpayers? The civil aviation ministry will come up with a roadmap for the rejuvenation of debt-laden Air India Ltd within the next three months, a government official said on Tuesday. The airline is currently running on a bailout package which has infused Rs25,000 crore over the past few years, and another Rs 25,000 crore is expected over the coming decade. In the next three months, we expect there would be clarity on the way forward, the government official, who did not want to be named, said. The official, however, indicated this could be a long-haul process. Now how much time that way forward will take, thats a different thing, he said about the execution of any new recommendations beyond the existing turnaround plan. At a press conference organized to mark three years of the National Democratic Alliance government, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Tuesday that government think tank NITI Aayog recently submitted its recommendations on Air India to the ministry. NITI Aayog has made recommendations for making Air India strong and viable. All courses of action are being examined. We have not closed any option, Raju told reporters. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said over the weekend that the government was open to the option of bringing a strategic investor into the airline. Raju did not elaborate on the recommendations, but said all possible alternatives would be looked into and no option had been closed as yet. Qatar government-owned Qatar Airways has said it hopes to start an airline in India, Mint reported on 24 January. Raju denied there is any connection between Qatars interest and the governments remarks on Air Indias potential disinvestment. Let me tell you one thingwe are proud of Air India. This kind of speculation...we dont like to put ourselves down, he said. The state-owned airline has a debt of about Rs50,000 crore, of which about Rs25,000 crore are loans taken to buy aircraft. Air India reported a loss of about Rs3,587 crore in 2015-16, compared with a loss of Rs5,859 crore in the previous fiscal year. The Economic Survey 2017 recommended that the government privatize Air India. Debt piled up and losses mounted at Air India following an aircraft deal worth $11 billion around 2005 and a botched merger with erstwhile domestic carrier Indian Airlines. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing what went wrong. Raju said the airline will cooperate with the CBI probe that would extend to the previous United Progressive Alliance government. Air India is the single biggest global carrier from India with a 17% market share. It controls 14.6% of the domestic passenger market, which has eroded over time as private airlines expanded capacity. As far as Air India is concerned, its a very difficult question. When I was the disinvestment minister in 1999-2000, I had said please disinvest Air India, otherwise there will be nothing left to disinvest. This was some 18 years back, Jaitley said in comments telecast over the weekend by Doordarshan. So, history has given us a second chance that a good investor should come, which has credibility so civil aviation ministry will consider it (disinvestment). Oil prices fell by 1% on Wednesday as rising Libyan production fuelled concerns that OPEC-led output cuts are being undermined by several countries that are excluded from the deal. Global benchmark Brent crude futures dropped 52 cents to $51.32 a barrel by 0838 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded at $49.14, also down 52 cents. Its the sum of all the negatives that have emerged since last weeks OPEC meeting, said Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank. Traders covered short positions ahead of OPEC and some of these have now been re-established. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia agreed last week to extend a deal to cut production by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of the first quarter of 2018. Certain OPEC members, such as Libya and Nigeria, and shale oil producer the United States are not part of the agreement, leaving room for further production growth from these exporters. Libyas oil production is expected to rise to 800,000 bpd this week, state-run National Oil Corporation said on Monday, which is likely to boost the countrys exports. Shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon shows that, excluding pipeline exports, Libya has sent out an average of 500,000 bpd of crude oil so far this year, compared with only 300,000 bpd shipped on average in 2016. Libyas rising production and exports add to soaring U.S. output, which is largely because of a more than 10% jump in shale oil drilling since the middle of last year to more than 9.3 million bpd, close to top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia. Official government data showing weekly U.S. crude inventories will be published on Thursday. Meanwhile compliance with the OPEC-led deal remained high among the groups members, with industry sources saying that Russian figures for May also show output in line with its pledge. Saudi Arabias Energy Minister and his Russian counterpart said on Wednesday that cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers is seen lasting beyond next March, when the current output deal expires. We want to institutionalise cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers, Falih said. Uber Technologies Inc said on Tuesday it fired the technology whiz it had hired to lead its self-driving unit, Anthony Levandowski, after he failed to comply with a court order to hand over documents at the centre of a legal dispute between Uber and Alphabet Incs Waymo unit. Uber had hoped Levandowski, one the most respected self-driving engineers in Silicon Valley, would help the ride services company catch up to rivals including Waymo, in the race for self-driving technology. Instead the hiring led to a court fight and the threat of criminal charges. Uber replaced him as the head of its self-driving car unit in April before finally making the decision to fire him. Levandowski formerly worked for Alphabets Waymo self-driving division, which says he stole trade secrets by downloading more than 14,000 documents before he left. Levandowski is not a defendant, but his actions are at the heart of Alphabets lawsuit against Uber. Uber said in a letter to Levandowski filed in federal court on Tuesday that it was firing him because he had not complied with a court order to hand over the documents. He has declined to cooperate, citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Levandowskis lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Uber and Alphabet are battling over technology expected to revolutionize the way people use cars. Waymo claims its trade secrets made their way into Ubers Lidar technology, which bounces light pulses off objects so self-driving cars can see the road. Uber denies these claims. Levandowski has 20 days to comply with the court orders, according to the Uber letter. Last month, Uber named Eric Meyhofer to replace Levandowski as head of its Advanced Technologies Group. Meyhofer will continue to lead the team, an Uber spokeswoman said via email. The New York Times reported Levandowskis exit earlier on Tuesday, citing an internal email sent to employees. Over the last few months Uber has provided significant evidence to the court to demonstrate that our self-driving technology has been built independently, Angela Padilla, Ubers associate general counsel for employment and litigation, wrote in an email to employees, cited by the Times. An Uber spokeswoman confirmed the letters authenticity and said the company has urged Levandowski to fully cooperate. Waymo has said Levandowski received stock worth more than $250 million for joining Uber, along with his portion of the $680 million that Uber paid last year for Otto, the self-driving truck company he formed after leaving Google. That amount assumes certain targets would be met, and it was not clear how his firing would affect those payments. A source familiar with the matter said Levandowski had not yet vested his Uber shares. A Waymo driverless car is displayed during a Google event in San Francisco. (AP file photo) Levandowski, a top engineer on self-driving technology, has turned into a liability for Uber in court. The company has acknowledged that his refusal to testify has hurt its defence efforts. Uber has never denied that he took the Waymo documents. Asked last month why Uber did not threaten to fire Levandowski to pressure him into turning over the documents, Uber attorney Arturo Gonzalez told Reuters, We can fire him but we still dont get the documents. Uber had argued that it was acceptable to sideline Levandowski by preventing him from working on Lidar technology, but not firing him. But US district court judge William Alsup criticised the company, telling lawyers: You keep on your payroll someone who took 14,000 documents and is liable to use them. The judge theorised that Levandowski could have used Waymos documents himself even if he did not turn them over to Uber. What prevented him from bringing a laptop to work every day and consulting the files? Alsup asked Uber lawyers in April. Uber has been hit by a string of departures of senior executives and other negative news. Earlier this year, Uber was caught using its technology to avoid government regulators. Chief executive officer Travis Kalanick was seen on video berating an Uber driver, and the company also faced accusations of sexual harassment that led to an internal probe led by former US attorney general Eric Holder. The Holder report will be shown to the board this week, a source familiar with the matter said, adding that next week, Uber plans to speak with employees about it. A 23-year-old engineer, who was shot dead on Wednesday morning in Sector 62, was conferred with the best employee award at mobile manufacturing company Lava in Sector 64 on several occasions. Anjali was scheduled to complete her year in service at the Lava plant on June 9 and was very happy. She was student of electronics and communication (E&C) at Lovely Professional University in Jallandhar and was one of the two students to have secured jobs during campus placement. Her family members were shocked after receiving a call at 7am saying their daughter had been killed. This morning she got up after receiving a phone call and ran to the ground floor. This suggests she was panicked. She had no rivalry with anyone, said Jyoti Rathour, her mother. Jyoti said she had a conversation with Anjali on Tuesday night. She said during the conversation, which lasted for half-an-hour, Anjali did not betray any signs of anxiety. Even her roommates said that she was happy and they watched a movie together. Anjalis six roommates described her as a charming and cheerful person. Over the past one year, the six women lived together at 303 flat of block B in Shatabdi Rail Vihar in Sector 62. She was jolly and a fun loving person. She wasnt scared of anything. Sometimes we heard her shouting on the phone, but she would later say it was a call from a friend and everything was fine, said her roommate Damini. Anjalis younger sister Anamika, 17, and brother Ajay, 12, live with their parents at Jagadhri, Haryana. A week ago, she visited her home after her sister met an accident. Her father Tejpal Singh, who works as an office superintendent at Indian Railways workshop at Jagadhri said that Anjali was supposed to visit them again this weekend. I regret not being able to speak to her last night. She was a responsible daughter who was always by her siblings in good times and bad, her father said. A stack of books placed on the table at Anjalis room in Shatabdi Rail Vihar bore testimony to her penchant for literature and competitive services. A writing on the wall said, I have my goals. Lava is just a subsidiary. Another wall writing said, Hope, may it be a light to you in a dark places, when all other lights go out. Will Mamata Banerjee go the Arvind Kejriwal way? The West Bengal chief minister is set to meet private school managements over allegations that they were charging steep donations and hiking fees. Kejriwals Delhi government had last year decreed that private schools built on Delhi Development Authority land will need its nod before hiking fees. Only five out of 410 applicants were allowed to hike fees this year which is done after auditing the schools finances. Mamata will meet school and college authorities at the Town Hall at 1:30 pm. On February 22, in a similar meeting with representatives of dozens of top private hospitals and nursing homes in the state, the chief minister uncorked her acerbic best, hauling them up for overcharging patients and shoddy service that constitutes one of the most popular grievances in society. It is widely believed that after tightening the screws on private hospitals and healthcare units, she has set her sights on the private schools that many allege of capitalising on high demand to make fast money. Some take so much donation that there has to be some control over it, remarked the chief minister a few weeks ago, referring to some of the elite private schools in Bengal. In the run up to the meeting, education minister Partha Chatterjee said school authorities would be informed about the vast discrepancies in their fees. However, Ranjan Mitra, principal of Future Foundation School, called for a middle path, saying prices of goods and services are rising, and we have to pay teachers and buy services. He also said that there should be a rein on fees. In 2015-16, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal fought a high-profile battle against capitation fees/donations in private schools in Delhi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON For Rung tribals of the remote Darma Valley in Pithoragarh, their dream of motor vehicles reaching their villages is set to come true. With a road being reconstructed for the first time after Independence of the country, the annual Kumbh Mela at Dantu village will be special this year. The village is situated 45 km up from Dharchula towards the Indo-China border. Since Independence, the road existed till Dar which is 20-30 km away. Now, the road will be extended till the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) post of Titang Gaon. The Kumbh is about the traditional Gabla Puja are held by the Rungs. Gabla, a form of Lord Shiva, is revered in this part of the state. The Kumbh is the biggest religious event for tribals not only from Darma but also those from Chaundas and Vyas Valleys. This year, the Kumbh will be held from August 17 to 21. As the road has reached the village, there are chances of outsiders visiting the village for the fair. Sela, Nagling, Chal, Baling, Dugtu, Son, Dantu, Bon, Phillam, Go, Daakar, Teethang, Marchha and Seepu are the 14 villages in the Darma Valley. The villagers migrate to lower areas of Galati, Ningalpani, Gothoi, Kalika, Naya basti, Charchhum, Ghatibagad and Jauljeebi in winters for avoiding bitter cold and heavy snow in the winters. Traditionally, the tribals carried out trade with Tibet but many of them are now into local administration, thanks to reservation in government jobs. Locals expect bureaucrats to be present at the celebrations, thanks to the new road connectivity. Sundar Singh Bonal, a social worker from Bon village, said apart from religious purpose, the pujas main aim is to attract non-residents and migrants to their villages and highlight the regions culture, heritage and traditions. Phali Singh Datal, general secretary of Darma Samajik Evam Sanskritik Vikas Samiti organising the puja and fair, said there was a hope that the Kumbh mela will be much more grand in the coming years as youths are now part of the organising committee. DEHRADUN: Accusing the NDA government of trying to shield people involved in the multi-crore NH-74 scam, All India Mahila Congress chief Shobha Oza Wednesday said her party would raise the issue both inside and outside Parliament. Referring to Union minister Nitin Gadkaris letter to chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat reportedly saying a probe against NHAI officials in connection with the alleged scam will adversely affect their morale, she said it suggests there is definitely something fishy about the matter. What problem Gandkari has with a CBI inquiry if NHAI officials are innocent? If what he is saying is true, then he should allow the CBI to take up the probe. Whenever a big scam is detected, the BJP removes names of the scamsters from the FIR. We will strongly raise the issue in Parliament and outside it, Oza said at a press conference here. Irregularities to the tune of 240 crore in the acquisition of land for NH-74 in Udham Singh Nagar district were detected in a report submitted by the Kumaon commissioner earlier this year. Taking cognisance of the report, Rawat, who took over in March, suspended six SDM-rank officials and recommended a CBI probe. However, even after more than two months, the Centre is yet to order the CBI to investigate the case, which took place between 2011 and 2016.Meanwhile, Gadkari, the Union road transport and highways minister, has written to Rawat asking him to reconsider his decision of a high-level probe into the alleged scam. Even NHAI chairman YS Mallik wrote to Uttarakhand chief secretary S Ramaswamy on May 26, asking him to re-examine the culpability of NHAI officials in the light of the fact that they appear to have played no role in changing the land use or determination of compensation paid to landowners. Though Rawat has been insisting that his recommendation for a CBI probe remains unchanged, the Congress has been combative accusing the BJP government at the Centre of shielding the big fish involved in the scam. Oza also accused the Narendra Modi government, which is celebrating its third anniversary, of having failed to fulfil all its promises. She trained guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the promises he had made in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The people of India are still waiting for the 15 lakh to get credited in their accounts. Senior citizens are awaiting the 25 lakh pension plan that Modi had promised in 2014. They (BJP) have forgotten the slogan of black money after people voted them to power, Oza said. Alleging that debt-ridden farmers are committing suicide all over the country, she said the Centre had still not waived their debts of 50,000 crore. We also want to ask what happened to his (Modi) announcement of giving employment to two crore people?. Asked whether the Congress was working on a revival road map in view of its successive electoral defeats, Oza said the party will listen to the people and take a feedback to stage an emphatic comeback. WITH PTI INPUTS The Delhi High Court on Wednesday remarked it was of the prima facie view that there was nothing wrong with the income tax departments order to provisionally attach some assets allegedly linked to Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said, Prima facie, I am of the view that there is nothing wrong with the order. I am not inclined to interfere with the attachment. The judge also declined to stay the proceedings before the adjudicating aurthority of the department as was sought by the minister. Earlier this year, the IT department had attached assets including more than 100 bighas of land with investment value of Rs 17 crore and shares amounting to Rs 16 crore under the new Benami Act. Jain has challenged the retrospective application of the penal provisions of the Benami Act in his case. Admittedly all the alleged transactions were prior to the period when the said provision came into existence. The period of alleged transaction is 2011 to 31st March 2016 whereas the provisions of the (new) Act came in to force only on November 1, 2016, his petition said. Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain said presently the initiating officer had only passed a provisional attachment order and forwarded it to the adjudicating authority, which is yet to even issue a show cause notice. He said the adjudicating authority will give Jain an opportunity to be heard and cross examine the witnesses before taking a final decision. Jains counsel claimed that witnesses were examined by the initiating officer prior to passing the order, but no opportunity for cross-examination was given to him. His counsel said the purchase of assets from the proceeds of benami transactions, as contended by the tax department, would not be benami as per the previous Benami Act. Such transactions have been held not to be covered under the unamended Act and therefore, the said Act is being retrospectively being applied, which is clearly in violation of Article 20 (1) of the Constitution of India, the petition said. ELKO The California Trail Interpretive Center is celebrating its fifth anniversary during California Trail Days, an annual event that brings pioneer history to life. The California Trail Interpretive Center will present the 14th annual pioneer reenactment, California Trail Days, on June 3-4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The family friendly event is free and open to everyone. Visitors will have the opportunity to tour the pioneer encampment and Shoshone summer camp. Young visitors can learn how to shoot a bow, throw a tomahawk, how to play pioneer games, and much more. From childrens activities and demonstrations to history programs, we have something for everyone at this years event, said Park Ranger Alex Rose. We also encourage folks to join us for live music and our Pioneer Dance on Saturday night. Saturday, June 3 11 a.m., South Fork Room: Anniversary Celebration The California Trail Interpretive Center opened on June 2, 2012. The creation of the Trail Center required vision, determination and a tremendous amount of hard work. Helen Hankins, Dave Jamiel and Leah Brady will share their reflections on how the Trail Center became a reality. Helen Hankins is the former BLM State Director for Colorado, former BLM Elko district manager, and president of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. Dave Jamiel served as the first California Trail Center manager. Leah Brady is a board member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance, and she will discuss the background behind the Native American exhibits. Following the 45-minute program, the speakers will cut the Trail Centers fifth anniversary birthday cake. Dignitaries will be on hand to offer congratulatory remarks. 12 p.m., South Fork Room: Gold Rush Songs Enjoy Gold Rush mining songs from 1849 to 1863. Chris Bayer will bring his old banjo to inform and entertain with the stories and tunes that defined gold rush songs. The program includes important reflections on mining and western culture. 1 p.m., Lobby: The Anatomy of a Wagon: How a Wagon Works Wagons were indispensable for thousands of emigrants. Join Frank Tortorich to learn how a wagon works. Tortorich is a historian, author and member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. 2 p.m., Lobby: Tule Duck Decoys Tule duck decoys were used in Nevada for centuries. Mike Williams, a member of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone tribe, will demonstrate how to make a female tule duck decoy. Williams is a member of the Nevada Arts Council and is a recipient of the Nevada Governors Arts Award for Excellence in Folk Arts. Williams created a Paiute tule boat and duck decoys that are exhibits at the Trail Center. Williams is also featured in a Trail Center video depicting a day in the life of Great Basin Indians. 7 p.m.: Pioneer Dance Learn traditional and pioneer dances, and enjoy live music by Southwind. Sunday, June 4 11 a.m., South Fork Room: From Trail to Rails: The Transcontinental Railroad in Nevada and California Trains played a vital role in the settlement of the American West. With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, powerful locomotives gradually replaced covered wagons. Railroad networks were much safer, quicker, and more efficient in transporting freight and people. Wendell Huffman will discuss the early development of the Transcontinental Railroad in Nevada and California. Huffman is curator of history at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. He is co-author of Waiting for the Cars: Alfred A. Harts Stereoscopic Views of the Central Pacific Railroad, 1863-1869. Huffman will be available to sign books following the program. 12 p.m., Lobby: The Anatomy of a Wagon: How a Wagon Works Wagons were indispensable for thousands of emigrants. Join Frank Tortorich to learn how a wagon works. Tortorich is a historian, author, and member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. 1 p.m., South Fork Room: Legends, Lies and Lore of the American West The history of the American West is often intertwined with mythology. Many of the myths make colorful stories, but inaccurate history. Join former Trail Center Manager Dave Jamiel as he separates fact from fiction with many prominent legends, lies and lore of the American West. 2 p.m., South Fork Room: A Virtual Tour of the California Trail Take a virtual tour of the California Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Placerville, California. The program will include photographs of prominent landmarks along the Trail, such as Independence Rock, in Wyoming. The speaker is Frank Tortorich, a historian, author, and member of the California Trail Heritage Alliance. Students who received their Class 12 Central Board of Secondary Education exam results on Sunday and were unsatisfied with their scores, can apply for verification of their papers from Wednesday (May 31). The CBSE issued a notification late on Monday saying that the board would be accepting applications online for verification of papers until Monday, June 5. A fee of Rs 500 each will be applicable, which needs to be paid before June 7. Many students, especially those in Delhi, have been left disappointed by their grades this year after the CBSE declared its Class 12 board exam results on Saturday. Students in Delhi have been mostly unhappy about their grades in the subjects of Mathematics, Economics and Accountancy. I was expecting to score above 95% in Political Science and around 100% in History. I, however, managed just 91% in History and an 88% in Political Science. I would have got these papers re-evaluated. But, since they have done away with re-evaluation, I will get the scores verified now, said a Class 12 student from Modern School in Vasant Vihar. The board had earlier said that they would not entertain any requests for re-evaluation this year. Officials have said that instead they will re-check or verify answer papers, where they will ensure that all answers have been evaluated and marked and the scores have been totalled correctly. I believe that doing away with re-evaluation is not right. What if my paper wasnt evaluated correctly? Our papers deserve a re-evaluation, especially after the kind of marks we are getting, said a student who scored 86 in Sociology and 85 in Economics; lower than what they said they had expected. The student said she will be approaching the board to get her papers verified soon. Students, who have applied for verification, will also be able to request for a photocopy of their answer booklets. Applications for the same will be received by the board online, between June 14 and June 19, at a cost of Rs 700 per subject. BOX: Verification of marks Application date: May 31 to June 5 Application procedure: Online through the CBSE website; www.cbse.nic.in Charges: Rs 500 per subject, to be paid before June 7 Photocopy of answer booklets -Only students who have applied for verification can ask for copies of their paper Application dates: June 14 to June 19 Application procedure: Online through the CBSE website; www.cbse.nic.in Charges: Rs 700 per subject, to be paid before June 21 Commute to Dwarka from Vasant Kunj, Dhaula Kuan and Gurgaon will become smoother as the Delhi government has proposed two underpasses and a flyover on National Highway 8. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has, however, raised an objection over the height of the flyover as it is close to runway 29, one of the three runways at Delhi airport. The first underpass will start from Vasant Kunj Sector C and connect the Urban Extension Road 2, passing under the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway -- which runs parallel to the airports boundary wall and connects to Dwarka. This will be 3.2 km long. The underpass will help commuters avoid taking the congested Mahipalpur road to go to Dwarka. We have proposed two bypasses ---southern access and northern access -- from Vasant Kunj. Under northern access, we are giving signal free access to the airport from Vasant Kunj with the help of two flyovers and one underpass. Under the southern bypass, commuters going to Gurgaon and Dwarka will be benefited, said a PWD official. The Public Works Department (PWD) had conducted the feasibility study of the project and has handed it over to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Once the NHAIs work is done and the project gets no-objection from all agencies concerned, it will be handed back to PWD for execution. An 800-metre long flyover is also proposed on NH-8 for the traffic coming from Dhaula Kuan and headed to Gurgaon. Giving right turn at the expressway would have hampered the traffic movement, a flyover was proposed so that traffic can turn right and go straight to Dwarka road, without affecting the vehicle flow on expressway. The flyover will start soon after the Mahipalpur flyover, the official said. However, AAI has suggested some changes as flyover is close to the runway and the point where planes descend on to the runway. The second underpass, which would be 800 metres long, will help commuters coming from Dwarka and headed to Gurgaon. Currently, they have to go towards Delhi and take a U-turn. This underpass will start from UER-II and will pass under the expressway and then merge with the NH-8 towards Gurgaon. So, the traffic from Dwarka to Vasant Kunj can take the first underpass and those wanting to go to Gurgaon can take the second underpass. While first underpass will cater to traffic from both sides, the other two projects are for one-way traffic, the official said. After necessary approvals, the proposal will be placed before the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (planning & engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) before construction could start. The project will require at least 2-3 years to be made. The Delhi government has also finalised the proposal of an underpass between Vasant Kunj and the airport. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has given its go ahead for the project, which the Public Works Department (PWD) hopes to complete before the end of 2019. Apart from an underpass at National Highway 8, a flyover at the Vasant Kunj side and a flyover at the airport side has also been proposed, which will also cut travel time by 30 minutes. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Delhi High Court on Wednesday warned the government and civic bodies of contempt of court proceedings for misleading the court with regard to action taken towards prevention of dengue and chikungunya. A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar took note of a news channel report highlighting non-removal of garbage by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation from some areas. The news channel programme, which was played in the courtroom, showed that corporation failed to collect garbage from an east Delhi locality four days after it was left there by the TV reporter as an experiment. It is obvious that this court was misled with regard to the action being taken by all the statutory authorities regarding discharge of their statutory functioning, the bench said adding, The film depicts large number of flea and insects, clearly manifesting that the status reports filed before us regarding action taken towards prevention of dengue and chikungunya are completely false. This action of the corporations was according to the court completely unpardonable as the issue involves public health. With monsoon set to hit the capital, the court said it was essential to ensure that the work of garbage disposal, which directly impacts breeding of the disease carrying mosquitoes has to be addressed on war footing. The court made Ankit Gupta, a senior journalist of the news channel, as a local commissioner in the case directing him and his team to randomly conduct inspections and submit the position regarding the garbage removal and disposal anywhere in Delhi. After watching the news programme, the court pointed out that the MCD employees lacked basics such as brooms, proper uniforms in the nature of footwear, protective clothing, etc. for cleaning gutters; payment of wages; lack of appropriate machines, etc for garbage removal as well as lack of funds by the MCD. The courts order came while hearing two petitions filed in public interest claiming the government and civic agencies have not taken preventive steps against vector-borne diseases such as chikungunya and dengue. It has posted the case for hearing on June 2. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON His large moustache twirls royally, like the Air India mascot who enticed foreign travellers with his welcoming bow and courteous smile. He is a hotel doorman. Correction, he was a doorman until a few months ago. I worked at an Indian restaurant, says Sooraj Mal, not any longer. We meet him in a corridor in IFFCO Chowk, a station on Delhi Metros yellow line. People are hurriedly going about their business; some are rushing towards the platform, others are heading to the exit. A young woman is talking urgently on her mobile phone. Everybody seems to have an agenda for the day. Mr Mal, however, is standing still, watching the busy world go by. I had to leave the job because I fell ill I returned to my village to recover I came back today and went straight to the restaurant but saw another doorman The man with the formidable moustache felt too shy to enter his former workplace. He simply turned back and took a shared auto-rickshaw back to the Metro station. Mr Mals father was a farmer in a village in Kotdwar, a town near the Himalayan foothills. We had 13 bighas of land but it was divided among four brothers and my holding was too small. Mr Mal then, without prompting, starts to share intimate details about his family. After a minute, he takes out his mobile phone and checks the time. It is still not noon Ill go to a few restaurants somebody might be looking for a doorman, you never know tonight I might sleep in the bus stand. Although Mr Mal declares his intent to set out in search of a job, he is standing still. People around him are walking with determination, their eyes gleaming with purpose. Finally, we too start to walk towards the exit. Just as we are about to step on the escalators, we turn back to have a last view of the ex-doorman. He is still frozen at the same spot. The Aam Aadmi Party plunged into another crisis on Wednesday after rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra was roughed up by party legislators and dragged out of the Delhi Assembly by marshals. Mishra later claimed that he was attacked on the orders of deputy CM Manish Sisodia. High drama unfolded the Delhi assembly when deputy CM Manish Sisodia was trying to respond to opposition leader Vijender Guptas allegations about shortage of medicines in Delhi government hospitals. Kapil Mishra got up and sought a response from the speaker about a special session at Ramlila Maidan to discuss alleged corruption in the Aam Aadmi Party and the Delhi government. Was attacked on direction from M Sisodia. Demand release footage of Vidhan Sabha proceedings: @KapilMishraAAP @htdelhi Vishal Kant (@VishKant) May 31, 2017 Speaker warned Mishra to not speak out of turn. Mishra then unfurled a banner asking for the special session. The Speaker then observed that this was not in keeping with the dignity of the assembly and asked marshals to remove Mishra. Things turned ugly as even before the marshals could come, a scuffle broke out between the MLAs and Mishra. Scenes from the assembly showed Mishra surrounded by AAP MLAs, being pushed, shoved and manhandled before he was dragged out. #WATCH Kapil Mishra marshalled out of Delhi Assembly after a scuffle broke between him and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs pic.twitter.com/fCprHosxhr ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Speaking to the media after the incident Mishra claimed that deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia directed four-five MLAs to beat him. Sisodia is yet to respond to the allegation. I saw the face of two MLAs Madan Lal and Jarnail Singh. I demand release footage of Vidhan Sabha proceeding, Mishra said. As I got up from my seat, they started hitting me. They used their hands and legs. Your cameras saw it all, Mishra said. Usually marshals are called to remove a member from the House. This must have been the first time that MLAs were called. Mishra said he is seeking an appointment from lieutenant governor Anil Baijal to apprise him of the incident in the assembly. Steering clear of the controversy, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel maintained that the incident was unfortunate. (AAP) members should not have left their seat and gone to Mishra. Mishras conduct also defied the legislative norms, the speaker said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Russian tourist, who wanted to open the door of a Delhi-bound plane mid-air, was whisked away by the police as the flight landed at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). The tourist was later fined by court for attempting to open the door of the plane from Moscow as it approached the Capital, scaring the passengers and sending the air crew into a tizzy. The crew of the Aeroflot airline reportedly controlled the passenger and the pilot informed the Delhi Air Traffic Controller (ATC), requesting for polices assistance at the airport. As the gate opened, the passenger was greeted by the personnel of Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) and their Quick Reaction Team (QRT) whisked the passenger away. On May 22, duty manager of Aeroflot had made a PCR call regarding an unruly passenger on board Flight SU 232, Moscow-New Delhi. The Moscow control room of the airline was also alerted. After the flight landed at T3, the pilot handed over the passenger with Flight Disturbance Report (FDR). The report mentioned that the passenger tried to open the gate of the aircraft mid-air in an inebriated state and also consumed alcohol on board, a Delhi Police official said. The police took him to Safdarjung hospital for medical examination where the BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) level was found to be at 56.7/100ml of blood. In terms of driving, in the US or the UK, the BAC level has to be less than 80mg. In India, the permissible BAC is 30mg. Based on the complaint, facts and circumstances, action has been taken against the passenger as per the aircraft act, DCP (airport) Sanjay Bhatia said. Sources said that the passenger was produced before the court and let off after a fine of Rs 50,000. There have been several cases of unruly passengers in the recent past. In April, a passenger had to be tied down to his seat while travelling to Delhi from Dubai as he turned violent soon after the plane took off from Dubai. A day before this, an Air India air hostess had filed a complaint of misbehaviour by a passenger on a flight coming from Muscat. According to airlines, such incidents are on the rise and often pose security risk to other passengers. Though, the crew members are trained to handle such situation, many a times, the situation goes out of hand. The passengers are often rude and sometimes turn violent over minor issues. We have asked staff to keep calm but there are clear guidelines to tie down a passenger if situation goes out of hand, an airline official said. A few days later, two drunk passengers were offloaded by the British Airways at Delhi airport after they insisted on playing a musical instrument on board. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Guwahati: A row over inflation of marks in Assams Class 10 board exams appears to have affected the results declared on Wednesday. The success rate in this years school-leaving exams, conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) was 47.94%, the lowest in 15 years. The fall in pass percentage was a drastic 14.85% from the overall score in 2016. On May 9, state education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stirred up a controversy by accusing the former Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi of starting the practice of awarding grace marks to students to inflate the success rate. Sarma was education minister in the later part of the Congress 15-year rule until May last year. As a minister in Sarbananda Sonowals Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government, education is one of his portfolios. SEBA awards hidden grace marks to raise the pass percentage at the behest of the political masters in Dispur (seat of power in Guwahati). This is in addition to the grace marks normally awarded to students falling short of the minimum pass marks by just a few marks, the education minister had said. The Class 10 success rate used to hover around the 30% mark till 2001 when the Congress had come to power. The highest pass percentage till that year was 38.70% in 2000. The success rate dipped to 33.28% in 2001, but jumped to 40.87% the next year. The figure kept increasing steadily to touch the highest-ever of 70.71% in 2013. SEBA secretary Kamaljyoti Gogoi declined to say if the government had given any instruction to roll back the grace marks system. But a lesser official said the results are indication enough. Small town success In a surprise, none of the schools in Kamrup, which virtually encompasses capital Guwahati and its metropolitan districts, considered to be the best in Assam, figured in the top 10. The switch of many private schools from SEBA to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is said to be a factor. Of the 29 students who secured the top 10 positions, six were from Dibrugarh district followed by Barpeta (five), Darrang, Jorhat and Nalbari (three each), Lakhimpur, Sivasagar and Sonitpur (two each), and Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Nagaon (one each). Muslims are the dominant community in Dhubri, Barpeta, Nagaon, Darrang and Bongaigaon districts. Parthapratim Bhuyan of Jatiya Vidyalaya in western Assams Tihu (Nalbari district) secured the top spot with 589 marks, which works out to 98.17%. Three students were tied at the second spot with 588 marks. They are Tanmayee Hazarika of BVFC Model High School in Dibrugarh, Rajanya Kashyap Gogoi of Salt Brook Academy in Dibrugarh, and Nurul Hoque Ali of Raghunath Choudhury HS School in Mukalmua (Nalbari). The third position, with 587 marks, went to Bhargobpratim Borah of Pichala National Academy, Jarabari (Lakhimpur district). Of the 372,640 students who appeared for the exams, 4,312 got distinction (510 and above) while 11,312 got star marks (450 and above). Exams in most languages Assam has four official languages Assamese across Brahmaputra Valley, Bengali in Barak Valley, Bodo in areas under Bodoland Territorial Council, and English in two tribal hill districts and is the only state in India that publishes school textbooks in 14 languages. This was evident from the Class 10 results that SEBA declared on Wednesday. This year, 13,015 candidates had Assamese as their compulsory or elective language. Arabic was second with 3,841 candidates and Sanskrit third with 1,632 students. With 1,101 candidates, Hindi took the fifth spot behind the 1,536 students who opted for Bodo tribal language, which follows the Devnagiri script. Bengali followed closely Hindi with 1,089 candidates. The other languages opted for were Nepali, Santhali, Persian, Garo, Khasi, Manipuri, Mizo and Urdu. Santhali, spoken by a section of tea plantation workers, had the lowest numbers, with just three candidates. Students can check their Assam Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA) High School Leaving Examination (HSLC) Class 10th board exam results 2017 on sebaonline.org or resultsassam.nic.in. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Patna: The poor show in the Bihar School Examination Boards (BSEB) Class 12 or intermediate examination, 2017, had a fallout today in the form of violent student protests outside BSEB offices early on Wednesday. Soon, it spread to other districts as well. Out of the 12.40 lakh students, just 4.37 lakh or 35.25% managed to clear the board exam as against 62.19% in 2016 when 11.55 lakh students appeared. The angry students, many of whom had qualified for engineering institute entrance exam JEE (Mains) or other competitive tests but failed in Class 12, demanded that their answer books be shown to them. Others also wanted to know the name of the teachers who had checked their papers. The students assembled at the BSEB office gate, forcing all the employees to remain confined inside. Traffic on the busy Budh Marg started building up as others joined the protesters, forcing the police to resort to a lathi charge. Several students and passersby were injured in the incident. When Rapid Action Force (RAF) reinforcements too failed to control the situation, the police had to resort to lathi charge at least three times. Talking to students, this correspondent learnt that Ravi Kumar from Siwan, who got 291 out of 500 marks, failed in English and chemistry but qualified JEE (Mains). My future is uncertain. I dont understand how I can fail in chemistry. I want to see the copy, he added. Ompriya from Jamui had qualified a marine entrance examination but failed the Class 12 chemistry paper. I got just 10 marks in theory and 24 in chemistry practicals. I have failed, and now my marine engineering prospects are ruined, he added. The marks have left many students completely flummoxed. Gulal Shah Praveen of Khagaul got just two marks in English, Puja Kumari from Kesaria just got 10 marks in chemistry theory, while Dolly Kumari got just two marks in Hindi. Did I write nothing correct? I fear that the copies could have got mixed up due to barcoding, he added. Hundreds of others with single-digit scores in various subjects demanded a revaluation. We want to know who evaluated our copies and if they were really more capable than us, said Dimple Kumari. No one from the BSEB office, however, met the students to listen to their demands. The board is for the students. We want justice and will fight till the last. The board cannot ruin our future, Shah added. The dismal performance of students in Class 12 or intermediate examination conducted by the state-run Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has the opposition up in arms and experts questioning the quality of education being imparted in its schools. Out of the 12.40 lakh students, just 4.37 lakh or 35.25% managed to clear the board exam as against 62.19% in 2016 when 11.55 lakh students appeared. Just 30.11% students cleared the Class 12 or intermediary science (ISc) exam. Last year, the pass percentage of ISc students was 67.06 and in 2015 89.32% students cleared the exam. The pass percentage in humanities or IA was significantly lower at 37.13 as compared to 56.73 last year. Only commerce, which had just 58,199 candidates out of a total of 12.41 lakh students, was the saving grace with a pass percentage of 73.76. In 2016, 80.87% of ICom students cleared the exam. The board and the government have defended the phenomenal drop in the results and attributed it to strict measures that were taken during the exams this year against the practice of unfair means. State education minister Ashok Choudhary defended the results, saying the reforms were just the first step towards cleaning the system. Poor results are painful to us also, but some pain needs to be endured for a permanent cure, he added. The minister said more such reforms will be undertaken to turn around the system and the accountability of teachers and officials will also be fixed. We have already initiated the process for monthly assessment of students from this year. Tight conduct of exam is just the first step in the process and the meritorious students will thank the system for it. We feel even for the failed and soon work out a mechanism for proper preparation of students before the conduct of compartmental exam, he said, refusing to be drawn into the opposition onslaught. Hit by reports of rampant cheating in 2015 and the intermediate toppers scandal a year later, the BSEB initiated a slew of reforms, including bar-coded answer books, and even managed to complete its exams before that of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). Bihar board chairperson Anand Kishor - who took over in 2016 after the toppers scam and arrest of former chairperson Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh - on the other hand, termed the results as historic. We initiated a number of reforms. The pass percentage may have come down, but the reality is that the sanctity of the examination has been restored. Now, other spheres will have to improve, as the students know there is no way out, he added. Govt humiliating students The opposition wasted no time in training its gun on the government for the pathetic education system. Students even began a protest outside the boards office. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former leader of opposition Nand Kishore Yadav said the results have exposed the Bihar governments claims on education. The students of Bihar do well outside the state as they get the atmosphere. The chief minister always talks of abundant talent and demographic dividend in the state. But what has the government done to nurture the talent, Yadav said. Around 50% posts of teachers are vacant. No school has all subject teachers. The tight exam is good but more important is proper education. The government is humiliating the students to hide its own failures, he added. Even the science topper Khusboo from Bihars premier and only English medium government school Simultala Awasiya Vidyalaya (SAV) was not too enthusiastic about her results as her 86% marks was not enough to ensure her a berth in the top colleges under the University of Delhi. I am happy for topping, but not satisfied with marks, she said. Introspect, maintain sanctity Her concern was not out of place for, in comparison with the CBSE and CISCE boards, Bihar board students stand nowhere in terms of average marks. Education experts and representatives of government teachers said it was time for all to do an introspection to make a fresh beginning from here and that the teaching staff should not be asked to extend their duties beyond the classroom. If the exam was tight, it means the sanctity was maintained. But if so many students have failed, it means they were not up to the mark and that points fingers on teachers and planners as well, the vice-chancellor of Patna University, Rash Bihar Prasad Singh, said. V-C Singh said that the evaluation may have also been tighter than before in view of the past two years of embarrassment. Now the board should conduct compartmental exam at the earliest to ensure that the students dont lose a year. What is required more is to sustain exam sanctity to send across a message that only deserving students will succeed. This will also put pressure on teachers to teach. Parents and students will also be more particular, he added. Shatrughan Prasad Singh, former MP and president of the Bihar secondary teachers association, said the government should not only meet the shortfalls but also strive to avoid engaging teachers in non-academic work such as census and poll duty, monitoring of mid-day meal and other incentive schemes, ledger and office work etc. round the year. Kedar Pandey, MLC and general secretary of the association, blamed the evaluation of answer sheets by incompetent and inexperienced teachers as one of the reasons behind the debacle. The secondary teachers had boycotted evaluation in support of their demands and the board tried to get the evaluation done anyhow and ended up being a spoilsport. The government should first respect teachers and look into their genuine demands to get the best out of them, Pandey added. However, the education minister said the evaluation was done by competent teachers and some alternative arrangement had to be made to ensure timely release of the results after a teachers agitation delayed the checking of answer sheets. For Bihar, the big setback might turn out to be just the right trigger to bring about systemic changes to ensure better learning outcome for students, experts said. This will also require quality teachers in adequate numbers, as science and other key subjects still have a big dearth of teachers in secondary schools. Over 2000 schools dont even have headmasters. Year | Pass % Science 2017 | 30.11 2016 | 67.06 2015 | 89 2014 | 66 Arts 2017 | 37.13 2016 | 56.62 2015 | 86 2014 | 83 Commerce 2017 | 73.76 2016 | 80.87 2015 | 91 2014 | 83 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Dhanbad: A Class 10 girl of Bokaro district in Dhanbad committed suicide by hanging after she was gone to a cyber cafe to check her results and was informed over there that she had failed. Two other girls from neighbouring Dhanbad also tried to take their lives after being told that they had not cleared the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) Class 10 examinations, the results of which were declared on Tuesday. Sixteen-year-old Puja Kumari, a resident of Railway Colony under Balidih police station of Bokaro district had passed her Class 10 board exams with second division. However, she did not verify the results herself and rushed home from the cyber cafe when told she had failed. She hanged herself from the ceiling fan with a stole. A few witnesses at the cyber cafe said that Puja, a student of Swami Vivekananda Public School, made the fatal mistake of not verifying the results herself and chose to believe someone at the cafe. She had high hopes of securing good marks, and failed to cope with the sudden shock of being told she had failed, though she had not, said her father Kamendra Singh. Kumars parents discovered the body when it was too late and she was declared dead at the hospital. The body was later handed over to the family, an officer of the Balidih police station D K Singh said. Milan Kumari of Dhanbad-based BSS Balika High School and Pratima kumari of Tundi Karmadih Government High Schools tried to end their lives by consuming rat poison. Both were admitted to the Patliputra Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition, but the superintendent, Dr Kameswar Biswas, said they were out of danger on Wednesday. Milan Kumaris family said she had secured a good rank in a polytechnic entrance examination but had been unable to cope with failure in the Class 10 examination. She had failed only in English. Pratima Kumari was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. ELKO The City is looking into more strictly defining the relationship between real estate agents and the brokers they work under. Realtors are currently classified as independent contractors since even though they work under a broker who takes a percentage of the profit when sale of a property is finalized. According to Lee Gurr of Coldwell Banker, the Nevada Association of Realtors has come out in support of licencees opposing business license at the County and City level. Its a double taxation thing, she said. Is it fair to charge a business license fee based on gross receipts to a broker and then charge a business license fee based on the gross receipts of the agents? After hearing input from local Realtors, Councilman John Rice said the City needed to look into clarifying the code the City has already established. We need to have a stronger definition of the code. I think it would help everybody, he said. All City staff is trying to do is comply with the ordinances as they are written and weve discovered something that we need to address. Mayor Chris Johnson agreed that the regulations needed to be tightened up but said he did not want to direct staff to change the code so much that it would alter the status of other independent contractors in the City. The City business and County business licenses are not for the entity to make any money, he said. If you put it to paper the City is probably just trading dollars to manage it. This is for citizens of Elko to be able to go back through in the event of, and they can do that. The broker is the one ultimately responsible for the transaction. Thats where it counts. Realtors were well represented at the council meeting, with several making their case that the nature of their relationship with brokers more closely resembled the relationship between an employee and an employer than that of an independent contractor who rents a space to run their business out of. Gurr was pleased with the level of discussion and the turnout but was initially a little uneasy that the City would go too far in altering the existing code. We anticipated that there would be a pretty active and anticipatory discussion and thats exactly what we got, she said. Were happy that staff and the City attorney will take a look at the code and see what needs to be done to delineate independent contractors versus employees. Even though the motion at the council meeting opened the potential for all independent contractors to have their status reexamined, it does not appear the City will head in that direction. City staff is expected to have some kind of recommendation for alteration of the exiting code but City Clerk Shanell Owen said any changes will likely only affect Realtors and the brokers they work with. This was specific to the Realtors and it really had to do with the way they are paid, theyre agreement with the broker and whether they are truly are an employee or not she said. We wouldnt open this up for any other occupations. When you got a cosmetologist youre paying them directly, so theyre their own business owner and youre paying them directly to cut your hair. This is specific to the Realtors. Patna: Rajat Maloo, topper in Common Law Entrance Test (CLAT) 2017 (for undergraduate programmes in law), has a message for thousands of students who have been disappointed by their Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 Board results, declared recently. And his advice comes from the heart, based on his own experiences. Pranav Tripathi, CLAT (postgraduate programme) topper, too, has lessons for youngsters, thanks to repeated efforts to improve his CLAT performance. Dont feel let down by one result. Have faith in your abilities, reassess your strengths and work accordingly, says Maloo from Jaipur, who aggregated 154.25 in CLAT. Last year, I performed below my own expectations in Class 12 board with just 74.8% marks. I was concerned, and so were my parents. It was then that I decided to work hard for CLAT, which is an entirely different ball game. It is a competition, having little to do with what I did in Plus Two, he says. Fond of reading classic novels, Maloo still does not have any fixed career goals, which he feels will gradually evolve in the college. I thought law would suit me, as I have good oratory and writing skills. It is the right identification of skills that hold the key. I laid a lot of emphasis on general knowledge during the last one year, he adds. The support one gets is critical too. Maloos parents Santosh and Ramesh supported me a lot and always said I had the qualities to excel. Perhaps I have got the confidence with this important break and that is what should be a lesson for many others. Opportunities do come in a myriad ways, he says Pranav Tripathi has topped CLAT, master of laws, (Handout) Pranav Tripathi, who topped CLAT for postgraduate courses, on the other hand, worked hard to improve his own performance. Though he topped the five-year LL.B from Lucknow University last year with a gold medal, cracked CLAT with rank 27 and joined the postgraduation course at the National Law School, Bangalore, he was not satisfied. Tripathi took the CLAT again this year. I wanted to improve my rank as the top 10 get good openings of legal advisor in top public sector undertakings like ONGC, NTPC etc. I will complete my LLM this year and the top rank will help, he said during a phone call from Bangalore. Son of Vibha and Narendra Tripathi, a retired bank employee settled in Kanpur (UP), Tripathi said that he had been the top performer at NLU too. I will complete my course this year. What is important is to keep raising ones benchmark. I think as a legal advisor I will be able to significantly contribute to the company as well as the society, which is facing a lot of labour-related issues, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Union Public Service Commission declared the final results of the civil services examination 2016 on its official website on Wednesday. Karnataka girl Nandini KR topped the examination. Nandini belongs to the OBC category. She qualified with Kannada Literature as her optional subject. She is a civil engineering graduate from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bangalore. Anmol Sher Singh Bedi secured the second position followed by Gopalkrishna Ronanki, Saumya Pandey, Abhilash Mishra and Kothamasu Dinesh Kumar. As many as 1,099 candidates have been recommended for various government services. There are 220 other candidates in the waiting list. The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages - preliminary, main and interview - to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. PTI quoted the topper as saying that she always wanted to be an IAS officer. In 2015 too, a girl from Delhi, Tina Dabi, topped the exam. As many as 180 successful candidates will be appointed in the IAS, 45 in the IFS, 150 in the IPS and 834 in other central group A and B services. Among the successful candidates, 500 belong to the general category, 347 to the Other Backward Class category followed by 163 from Scheduled Castes and 89 from Scheduled Tribe categories. Highlights of civil services results 2016 * Preliminary exam was conducted on August 7 last year. * In all, 11,35,943 candidates applied for preliminary exam but only 4,59,659 candidates actually appeared. * Following the preliminary exam, 15,452 candidates qualified for appearance in the written (main) examination that was held in December, 2016. * Only 2,961 candidates qualified for the personality test * Among the successful 1099 candidates, 846 are males and 253 females. They also include 44 physically handicapped candidates (22 orthopedically handicapped, seven visually challenged and 15 hearing impaired). * Female candidate Nandini KR topped the exam. She belongs to OBC category. She qualified the examination with Kannada Literature as her optional subject. She is civil engineering graduate from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bangalore. * Anmol Sher Singh Bedi, overall rank second but topper among male candidates. He is computer science graduate from BITS, Pilani. * Among the top 25 candidates comprise of 18 men and seven women. Note: Visit official website of UPSC for latest news and updates. Saumya Pandey, a gold medallist from the prestigious Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Allahabad, secured fourth rank in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination, results of which were declared on Wednesday. A trained classical dancer, Saumya said her aim of becoming a civil servant is to serve the society on a large scale as in the role of an electrical engineer, which she completed in 2015, she would have been serving just a section of society. Saumya, a trained Kathak dancer from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, is also a skilled basket ball player and had captained her school team. Only child of Dr Sadhana Pandey, a gynecologist by profession, and Dr Ravi Pandey, owner of a computer institute, Saumya was the CBSE district topper in Class 10 from Army School in 2009 by securing 98%. She repeated her performance in Class 12 from the same school and was again district topper in 2011 with 97.8% marks. At MNNIT, Saumya completed her electrical engineering with a gold medal in 2015. Saumya had opted for Geography as an optional subject. Allahabad returned to the merit list in UPSC examinations after a gap of six years -- Iva Sahai, daughter of an Allahabad University professor, had secured third in 2009. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The sudden shower for about 30 minutes on Wednesday brought the temperature down in the city . The minimum temperature was recorded 26.4 degrees Celsius while the maximum was 35.5 degrees. Residents got some relief from the heat that has been dogging them for most of last month. The sky remained overcast throughout the day on Wednesday and lightning was reported from some parts. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said the city will continue to receive rain for the next two days because of a low pressure in the southern and eastern areas of the country. GResidents can look forward to waking up to a pleasant Thursday and the wind from the Himalayas is expected to lower the temperature. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo) Residents can look forward to waking up to a pleasant Thursday and the wind from the Himalayas is expected to lower the temperature. As the monsoon has already hit the southern parts of the country, its effect can also be felt in the Delhi-NCR, an official at the IMD said. In the next 48 hours, rainfall is expected in most parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. The minimum and maximum temperature will see a dip by three degrees Celsius the next couple of days, the Met department said. There is also the possibility of rain or thunderstorm in isolated areas of the city. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo) The minimum and maximum temperature will see a dip by three degrees Celsius the next couple of days, the Met department said. There is also the possibility of rain or thunderstorm in isolated areas of the city. Even after rain, the pollution showed no signs of abating with the reading for particulate matter (PM)2.5 remaining at 352 g/m against the permissible limit of 60 g/m. Various development projects in the city is keeping the air polluted. We have been taking measures to lower the pollutants in the city, said JB Sharma, regional officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Gurgaon. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With the arrest of two men from Hailey Mandi near Pataudi, the Gurgaon police on Wednesday claimed to have solved a major theft that took place at the house of a former sarpanch of Gadoli village on May 1. The two men allegedly belong to a large gang involved in a number of thefts, robberies and attempt to murder cases in Delhi, NCR and Madhya Pradesh. In Gurgaon, three cases of thefts are registered against them in Sector 10 A, Palam Vihar and Bajghera. On the night of May 1, the gang had allegedly struck at the house of former sarpanch Mange Ram in Gadoli village and decamped with gold and cash over Rs30 lakh. Acting on a tip-off, Gurgaon polices Bilaspur crime branch team, led by sub-inspector Surender Singh, arrested Jangbahadur Singh, alias Jangu, and Satish, both residents of Nilakheri village in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. While both are repeat offenders, Jangu has 15 cases registered against him in Guna, and a reward of Rs11,000 on his arrest. Police said Jangu had escaped from police custody in Guna in 2013 and has been on the run since then. The arrest of the two men has helped crack the theft case that took place in the house of former Gadoli sarpanch Mange Ram. We are on the trail of the four other people involved in the theft and those who received the stolen items, said Sumit Kuhar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), crime. As per officials, the two belong to a larger group that mainly strikes within 3 to 4km of railway tracks. They mostly carry tools to break into houses, and each gang member has a specific role. They mostly target houses on the main road, said Kuhar. Despite the arrest, police admitted that it is very tough to recover the stolen items. They said all such material is sent to the gang members native villages in Madhya Pradesh to be safely disposed of. Referring to their modus operandi, sub-inspector Surender Singh, in-charge, Bilaspur crime branch, said the gang used weapons such as gulel (slingshot) to injure the victims. In Bajghera, the burglary failed as the house owner woke up, but he was hit by a stone with the gulel. He had to get seven stitches on the head, said Singh. The arrest of Jangu and his associate follows the arrest of another repeat offender Rampujan Singh by the Bilaspur crime branch last week. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Geoffrey Rush says he is done with Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. According to TooFab, the actor said that the (SPOILERS) death of his character Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is the end of the road for him, reports dailymail.co.uk. The Australian star has been playing Captain Barbossa for 14 years. Actor Geoffrey Rush attends the premiere of Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales at Dolby Theatre. (AFP) He said: I did say to (producer) Jerry Bruckheimer, I think this is the end for Barbossa. (His death) expanded the world dramatically of the genre of a tentpole blockbuster, to lose an important character is kind of good. It all made sense and didnt feel like an easy dramatic device. In the film, Barbossa sacrifices himself for his daughter Carina, played by Kaya Scodelario. Follow @htshowbiz for more Police charged Kolkata actor Vikram Chatterjee with culpable homicide not amounting to murder on Tuesday in connection with a car crash last month that killed his co-passenger, popular model and TV primetime host, Sonika Chauhan. The death raised a storm in Bengals film and fashion industry with friends of the Sonika demanding strong action against Vikram. Many have alleged the Kolkata Police went slow on the investigation and didnt probe if Vikram was driving under the influence of alcohol. Here are 10 things to know about the case: 1. Popular modelling face Sonika Chauhan died on April 29 after midnight when the car in which she was on the seat beside the driver, hit a pavement 2. The car was being driven by TV serial actor Vikram Chatterjee allegedly in a drunken condition 3. Forensic reports prove that the car was moving at speeds well over 100 kmph 4. Initially Vikram Chatterjee denied that he had consumed alcohol, but he admitted it later. His father alleged that the airbags of the Toyota car did not activate, otherwise Chauhan would have survived. 5. The duo were taken to a hospital far away (about 6 km) from the accident spot even when there were more than one hospital nearby. The public works minister, Aroop Biswas, a confidante of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, rushed to the hospital on learning about the incident. 6. The death split Kolkatas modelling and silver-screen world, with Sonikas friend charging Vikram of suppressing truth 7. The models friend organised a candlelight walk on May 8, 2017 demanding Justice for Sonika 8. There were allegations that Vikrams blood samples were taken as many as nine days after the incident. 9. After pressure mounted on police to act tough, Vikram was summoned to Tollygunge police station and questioned a few times. 10. Finally on May 30, 2017, Vikram was charged with culpable- homicide not amounting to murder, a non-bailable section, for Sonikas death. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hundreds of devotees welcomed Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath with chants of Jai Sri Ram at Ayodhyas Hanuman Garhi temple on Wednesday morning. Flanked by priests of Ayodhya, the chief minister clad in his traditional saffron robes performed prayers at the temple, the oldest dedicated to Hindu god Hanuman. He is likely to next visit the makeshift Ram Lalla temple at the disputed Babri Masjid site. Clinging on scaffolds and roof tops, people of Ayodhya chanted Jai Sri Ram and Mandir Wahi Banaange (we will construct the temple at the same site). It is a historic moment for Ayodhya to witness a CM dressed in saffron clothes performing prayer at Hanuman Garhi temple, said Sanjay Kumar, a local resident. Much significance is being attached to chief ministers visit in the backdrop of the shifting focus on the Ayodhya issue with a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court summoning senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and others for framing of charges for allegedly conspiring to demolish the 16th century Babri Masjid. Hundreds of Hindu zealots scaled the disputed Babri Masjid in 1992 and knocked it down, triggering a cycle of communal violence that claimed more than 3,000 lives. The controversial razing was the culmination of a festering dispute between Muslims and many Hindus, who believe the Mughal emperor Babur razed a temple at the site believed to be the birthplace of Hindu god, Ram. The demolition also buoyed the BJP to power in Uttar Pradesh and in other Hindi heartland states. Adityanaths visit comes nearly two-and-a-half months after the Supreme Courts suggestion that the Ayodhya dispute be resolved amicably with Chief Justice of India JS Khehar offering to mediate to help resolve the matter. The chief minister will also attend the week-long birth celebrations of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and meet seers in the town. The Nyas is a trust dedicated to promoting and overseeing the construction of the temple in Ayodhya. Yes, the chief minister will attend Mahant Nritya Gopal Das birth celebrations here, Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesperson Sharad Sharma told the Hindustan Times on phone. Led by Adityanath, the BJP government took charge in the state after the recent assembly election. After the installation of the first BJP government in the state in 1991, CM Kalyan Singh had also led his ministry for a darshan of Ram Lala at the disputed site. After landing at Faizabad on Wednesday, the Adityanath will reach the Hanuman Garhi Temple and later go for a darshan of Ram Lala. He will also visit the Ram Ki Pairi at the Saryu and will interact with BJP workers and office bearers at Awadh University. The chief minister will also review development projects with the officers there. Adityanath will visit the Digambar Akhara and Deen Bandhu Eye Hospital as well. (With inputs from Pawan Dixit) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After Kerala, West Bengal and Karnataka, Left-ruled Tripura has said it will not implement the Centres ban on sale of cattle for slaughter through animal markets in the wake of outrage against the new rules that impact the livelihood of poor Dalits and Muslims. The new cattle trade and slaughter rules framed by the Central government are against the interests of the people. We will not implement them, Tripuras agriculture and animal resources minister Aghore Debbarma said on Wednesday. Karnataka chief minister K Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said it is not mandatory to follow every notification issued by the Centre. ...this matter is a state issue, he said, in response to Centres restriction on countrys biggest source of cattle for slaughter animal markets. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked chief ministers of other states to raise their voices against restrictions imposed on cattle trade, saying that the Centres anti-democratic notification is an attempt to usurp the state governments powers in the guise of rules under a Central Act. Vijayan had written to the chief ministers saying the restrictions imposed on cattle trade would adversely affect the livelihood of millions of people, especially those in agriculture and related sectors. The Kerala CM also said that the Centres new rule is an impermissible encroachment into the domain of the state legislatures which is a clear violation of the spirit of federalism. In the wake of the backlash, environment minister Harsh Vardhan directed officials to consider amending the rules to remove buffalo from the definition of cattle, signifying that sale of buffalo for slaughter would be allowed through animal markets. We are looking at the representations received and an appropriate decision will be taken, environment secretary A N Jha told agencies. In a statement, the ministry said the prime focus of the regulation is to protect animals from cruelty and not to regulate existing cattle trade for slaughter houses. The livestock markets are intended to become hubs for trade for animal for agriculture through this process and animal for slaughter will have to be bought from the farmers at the farms. The notified rules will remove the scope of illegal sale and smuggling of cattle which is a major concern, the ministry said. The ministry also said the rules were notified following the 2016 directions of the Supreme Court in response to a petition filed by animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi. (With inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON May 24 Peter J. Alberro, 51, of Elko was arrested by a citizen at 1123 Starr Ave. for trespass not amounting to burglary. Bail: $195 Michelle L. Anderson,39, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah was arrested in West Wendover on a warrant charging grand larceny of an automobile and conspiracy to commit grand larceny of automobile. Bail: $22,500 Monica D. Blauer, 21,of Winnemucca was arrested at 1610 Buckskin Drive for violation of probation or condition of suspended sentence, and Nevada Criminal Justice Information System detainer. Bail: $340 Saul A. Lopez-Ceja, 20, of Elko was arrested at the Elko County Jail for possession of a controlled substance. Bail: $5,000 Blane L. Paige, 24, of Elko was arrested by a citizen on 1123 Starr Ave. for trespass not amounting to burglary. Bail: $195 Amandeep Singh, 26, of Sacramento, California was arrested at Elko Justice Court on a warrant for failure to appear on traffic citation. No bail posted Dustin D. Stevenson, 31, of Spring Creek was arrested on Fifth and Commercial for driving with a revoked drivers license. Bail: $1,140 The beef row in Kerala is expected to dominate BJP president Amit Shahs three day visit to the state. Kerala is a Left and Congress stronghold, and Shahs visit is expected to ramp up BJPs presence at the booth level. The BJPs stand on beef is well known, a BJP general secretary said. The present controversy involving Congress leaders helps us in pushing it against the walls. Youth wings of the states ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-headed UDF opposition killed a calf in Kannur in public on Saturday evening, cooked its meat and distributed it during a Beef Fest to protest against the BJP-led central governments new rules on cattle trade that ban the sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter through animal markets . Beginning Friday, Shah will tour Kerala visiting Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram to meet party workers, alliance partners, intellectuals and media persons. Shah will also participate in BJPs booth level programme for which several party workers have also enrolled. The BJPs Kerala strategy is two-pronged. First, it wants to increase its presence at the booth level, an exercise that will add to its organisational muscles. Second, it is planning to be seen as viable alternative to the Congress, locally. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and five union ministers will tour the state between May 26 and June 15 to attend BJP events and make another push to increase organisations footprints in the southern state. The day people realise we can put up a fight to Congress, it will the end of roads of the communist parties, a top BJP leader told HT. The BJP tasted its first electoral victory in Kerala, winning an assembly seat for the first time in the 2016 election. The party had polled 18.5 lakh votes (10.45%) in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and improved its tally in the 2016 assembly election to 21.2 lakh votes (10.53%). These two performances were a huge improvement over the partys 2011 performance, 10.5 lakh votes (6.03%). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The army has released a list of 11 top militants in Jammu and Kashmir who it aims to go after. The names were made public on Tuesday, four days after Hizbul Mujahideens Sabzar Ahmad Bhat was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Tral in south Kashmir, the hotbed of insurgency. Local and foreign militants belonging to home-grown Hizbul, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and some other outfits are active in the Valley, which is witnessing a fresh round of unrest. Security forces have brought back search operations after several years as they have come under increased attacks in the Valley as well as the border. The list carries the names and pictures of the militants along with the areas they are active in and the strikes carried out by them. Names of outfits and the militants ranks have also been shared. The militants have been put in two categories A and A++. Reyaz Naikoo and Yasin Itoo, who are in the running to succeed Bhat, and Lashkars Kashmir commander Abu Dujana, a Pakistani national, are on the list. Bhat is believed to have taken over after Burhan Wani was killed in a gun battle in last July, triggering violent street protests that left at least 100 people, most of them civilians, dead. Before releasing the names, the army had said its strategy would be to go after top commanders. Police say at least 200 militants are active in Kashmir. Of these 110 are local and 99 among them are from south Kashmir. After a wait of 55 years, several thousand residents of Arunachal Pradesh may get an unexpected surprise in the form of compensation for land acquired by the Indian Army following the 1962 war with China. The central and Arunachal Pradesh governments are working out for the compensation, which may be to the tune Rs 3,000 crore. Minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre, minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, chief minister Pema Khandu and officials of the central and state governments discussed the issue at an hour-long meeting held in New Delhi on Tuesday. Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, said the meeting was to settle the issue of land acquired for various defence establishments in the frontier state following the 1962 war with China. Although the people of Arunachal Pradesh can be branded as ultra patriotic Indians but of late a sense of resentment has been brewing among them due to non-payment of compensation for huge areas of land occupied by the army, Rijiju told PTI. Bhamre is said to have asked officials in his ministry and the army to fast-track all the pending issues by properly coordinating with each other and the state government. Rijiju has called for resolving all issues and clear pending cases in a time-bound manner. He sought from the officials the time they will take in clearing all the issues that came up for discussion during the meeting. Khandu conveyed that issues of lease rate, grant of ownership rights, payment of dual compensation and fixation of land rates will be resolved soon. The chief minister said the Arunachal Pradesh cabinet has already constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of state land management minister to examine all pending issues. The pending cases of land acquisition related to the districts of Tawang, West Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley, West Siang besides others. Hoteliers and consumers in Kerala have said the price of beef has shot up in the last 2 days after a central government rule outlawed the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets triggering a political storm in India. A kilo of beef normally costs between Rs 220 to Rs 240 in the southern state but the price has gone up to Rs 280 to Rs 300 in the last couple of days, hotel owners said. We are finding it difficult to serve beef cuisines at the old price. Since meat prices have gone up considerably we find it difficult to sustain, A Azeez, secretary of the Hotel Restaurant Association, said. Due to the price rise, many restaurants are forced to take beef out of the menu, K Mohanan, a head-load worker in Chala market, said. Cattle traders attribute the price rise to the shortage in supply of the red meat but hoteliers and consumers said it was engineered deliberately to jack up the price. The traders said truck drivers refuse to carry animals from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over fears of an attack by right-wing outfits. In Kerala, the annual demand for the red meat is around 2.3 lakh metric tonne. Since cattle are not reared in a big way in the state, animals are usually ferried from other states. It is a fact that many truck drivers now refuse to carry cattle fearing attack. The state will face a severe shortage [of beef] if transportation is disrupted in the neighbouring states, a spokesperson for the Kerala Cattle Merchants Association said. Last weeks notification, which banned the sale of cows, bulls, bullocks, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves, and camels in livestock markets for slaughter, has been fiercely opposed by several states such as Kerala and West Bengal. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all his counterparts, saying it was against the federal structure of the country. Regulating cattle trade is a state subject but animal welfare is overseen by the Centre. On Tuesday, the Madras high court ordered a four-week stay on the notification. Even as the court suspended it, the Centre said it was examining the points raised by several states. The government, however, denied trying to restrict food habits of the people through the notification that has led to protests and staging of beef festivals in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Hindus consider the cow to be holy and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been pushing for a countrywide ban on cow slaughter. Critics say the rule violates individual rights and will hurt millions of cattle and meat traders. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress will fight the 2018 assembly elections in Karnataka under chief minister K Siddaramaiah, the party announced on Wednesday. It also asked state Congress president and home minister G Parameshwara to immediately resign from the cabinet and devote full time and energy in strengthening the organisation while discharging his responsibilities as the party chief. However, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, a known detractor of Siddaramaiah, has not been given any role in the organisational affairs in his home state. The party also appointed two working presidents to help Parameshwara in organisational matters. While Dinesh Gundu Rao will look after south Karnataka, SR Patil will manage the northern part of the state. State minister DK Shivakumar has been named as the chairman of the campaign committee. The changes came nearly a month after the Congress leadership divested general secretary Digvijaya Singh of the charge of Karnataka and appointed KC Venugopal in his place. The announcement to fight the upcoming elections under Siddaramaiah is a rare move in the Congress as the grand old party does not name its chief ministerial candidates a year in advance. Usually, the age-old practice in the Congress is to keep the leadership issue open and alive as there are several claimants for the chief ministers post in a state, and let the elected legislators authorise the Congress high command to take a decision. However, the party had in the past few years deviated from this practice in select cases and named Captain Amarinder Singh as its face in Punjab, Virbhadra Singh in Himachal Pradesh, Tarun Gogoi in Assam and Harish Rawat in Uttarakhand. While these announcements that came a few months before the polls paid dividends in case of Amarinder and Virbhadra, the party lost badly in Assam and Uttarakhand. By clearing the air about the CM candidate, the Congress high command has not only silenced Siddaramaiahs detractors but also put on him the onus of retaining power in Karnataka, one of the seven states and the only big one held by the party as of now. It was in the 2013 elections that the Congress won 121 seats in the 224-member assembly with Siddaramaiah as its face. In other changes, LS MP and former union minister KH Muniyappa has been inducted in the Congress Working Committee, the partys highest decision making body. After Kharge, Oscar Fernandes, BK Hariprasad and MV Rajasekharan, he is the fifth CWC member from Karnataka. Former minister Satish Jarkiholi, who was reportedly hobnobbing with the JD (S) after being dropped from the state cabinet, has been appointed as a party secretary. The move to remove Parameshwara from the state cabinet is part of the Congress strategy to strictly enforce its one-man one- post norm in the party. While carrying out a major reshuffle in its Karnataka unit, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have also sought to maintain a balance between different castes though no Muslim leader could find a place in the top hierarchy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sumit Rana was a Thakur, Ashish Kumar a Dalit. Sumit, 26, lived in Rasoolpur Tang village and Ashish, 20, was a resident of Sui Kheda, roughly 50 km away. Unknown to each other, the two youths became victims of the deadly caste violence that hit Shabbirpur village twice in a span of 18 days. The two deaths were the latest casualty in a series of clashes that has rocked Saharanpur district in western Uttar Pradesh. The violence has also left scores wounded. The police have arrested 74 people so far. Sumit, who worked at an under-construction bridge, was killed on May 5 in clashes over a procession to commemorate Maharana Pratap Jayanti in Shabbirpur. His father Bhram Singh, 75, said Sumit had gone to see his aunt in the village and got caught in the clashes. We didnt know he would never return, said Singh, sitting on a cot in his house in Rasoolpur Tang, the Rajput-dominated village near Deoband. Sumit is survived by his wife, a three-year-old son, and a two-year-old daughter. Locals say the village, 25 km from Shabbirpur, has no history of Dalit-Thakur clashes. The Shabbirpur incident destroyed our lives. We have always lived peacefully. Many Dalits attended the last rites of my brother, said Bipin Rana, Sumits younger brother. The family blames Chandrashekhar and his Bhim Army, a Dalit youth group, for inciting the violence. Yeh sab Bhim Army ka kia hai. Chandrashekhar ne Daliton ko Rajputon ke khilaf bhadkaya (Bhim Army is responsible for the violence. Chandrashekhar incited them against us, said Rajpal Rana, Sumits uncle. The family alleges that even 25 days after his death, none of those booked in the case has been arrested so far. Our sons killers are at large. Instead, they (police) booked five of our family members for the second round of violence at Shabbirpur on May 23, said Suresh Singh, Sumits cousin, terming the violence a conspiracy to malign Yogi Adityanaths government in the state. On May 23, Ashish Kumar, a class 10 dropout, was killed when he was returning with a group of Dalits after attending BSP chief Mayawatis public meeting in Shabbirpur. He got a call that there was a rally. He wanted to see Behenji (Mayawati), said Ashishs father Meghraj, in his two-room home at the Dalit-dominated Sui Kheda village, 25 km from Shabbirpur. Ashish, a labourer, was the second of Meghrajs three sons and a daughter. The family that converted to Christianity about 15 years ago, said they have accepted their fate and have nothing to say or demand from the government as they mourn their sons loss. Will filing a case against any one bring back our son? asked 70-year-old Phulu, Ashishs grandmother. Indeed, as the dust settles over Saharanpurs latest round of mindless violence, the Rs 15 lakh compensation to each of the families is no measure of their loss. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Though the bus connects two nondescript towns in Chhattisgarhs south Sukma region, its journey is possibly tracked by security forces as minutely as they do with the Samjhauta Express, the bi-weekly train connecting India and Pakistan. Passengers on the Gupta Travels bus plying between Dornapal and Jagargonda are required to carry their Aadhar card all the time as proof of their identity. And as the bus passes by each of the 13 CRPF camps along the way, it has to make mandatory stops for the driver to sign the register. At places, each of the passengers need to disembark and go through thorough frisking. The road is bad, the non-AC bus isnt very comfortable and the passengers are mostly dirt poor. But the 56-km journey that the bus makes either way every day is like no other in the country. Reintroduced after 12 years, it route cuts through the Maoist heartland where security forces have been battling the insurgents in an unending cycle of violence. In April, it was in Burkapal, on the bus route, that a Maoist ambush killed 25 CRPF men. Given the blasts and bloodshed the region has witnessed, the driver of the bus leaves nothing to chance as he negotiates the road that has been under construction for years, but still far from being completed in the face of violent Maoist opposition. Koi road ke neeche nahi jayega... sab road pe hi nipat lena, he shouts at the passengers, cautioning them against stepping away from the road to relieve themselves. Often booby trapped, the stretch has witnessed 18 IED blasts in the past three years. The bus service run privately but under state government patronage was discontinued 12 years ago after violence spiralled. Though no less dangerous now, people are willing to take the risk as the bus is their lifeline in a region bereft of connectivity. Rickety jeeps did pick up passengers for a price on the stretch, but they were irregular, inadequate and overcrowded. Seventy-year-old Hidmu, a resident of Jagargonda, has reasons to be delighted at the bus service being reintroduced since May 3. Sitting beside the driver, she breaks into a Gondi song. Her travel time to visit relatives in Dornapal has been cut by more than half. The bus leaves Jagargonda at 6 am every day for Dornapal. The return journey starts at 3 pm. Darr to lagta hain lekin kya karein? (we are scared but what can we do), says Kamlesh, the bus conductor. He and the passengers take comfort in the fact that the Maoists till date have not targeted a civilian passenger bus. Security forces are both happy and wary at the resumption of the service. With people beginning to travel from the interiors, they expect human intelligence on Maoist movements to improve. They also remain on their toes since the insurgents could use the bus to launch a surprise attack. DM Awasthi, the special director general of police (Naxal), however, believes that the benefits far outstrip the risks. There are more than 60 village that are connected with this road, which makes this bus very important for the tribals. I visited Jagargonda after the Burkapal attack and people requested me to start a bus on this road. I wrote a letter to the government and prompt attempts were made to start the service, he said. He promised more buses in the region to improve connectivity and help free people from the Maoist stranglehold. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India and Russia are natural partners in fighting terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday as he asserted that the two countries must strive to open new vistas to broaden their ties that has withstood the test of time. We have been together in times - good and bad, Modi wrote in an article published in Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazetta. The prime ministers article came ahead of his visit to St Petersburg where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum where India will be the partner country for the first time. India-Russia relations have been the one constant in a world that has changed dramatically since 1947. They have withstood the test of time, and grown from strength to strength. The resilience of our relationship is based on the fact that it rests on the principles of equality, trust and mutual benefit, Modi said. He hailed erstwhile Soviet Unions help to India to build its industrial base. PM @narendramodi op-ed in Rossiskaya Gazeta on 70 years of India-Russia friendship pic.twitter.com/S4SYpGeorC Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) May 31, 2017 In the last 70 years, India has developed a large and diversified industrial and technological base. We are among the fastest growing large economies of the world. The potential for Indias accelerated growth has never been greater, nor the optimism higher, he said. Russia has re-emerged from the events of 1991 as a global power with international reach and influence, he said, adding that its economy has been modernized and a new generation is driving the country forward. Our cooperation in the military technical field is a pillar of great strength in India-Russia relations. Russian equipment and technology is the mainstay of our defence forces, the prime minister said. The symbols of our contemporary partnership today include Indian investments in Sakhalin 1, and now the Vankor and Taas-Yuryakh oil fields, the nuclear power plant at Kudankulam and the Brahmos Joint Venture Project, Modi added. India has been an important contributor to the pharmaceutical industry of Russia. But we cannot and should not be satisfied with our achievements and must strive to open new vistas. We should fully exploit our mutual complementarities based on our large markets, resource endowments and industrial and technological base, he said. He said both countries are opening new areas of cooperation in the energy sector, telecommunications and science and technology and they have set up funds to facilitate investment in high technologies. We are exploring new areas of cooperation like railways, innovation, IT, diamond trade, and infrastructure. There are efforts towards greater joint production and technology transfer from Russia to India, he said. Modi welcomed Russian companies to join his governments flagship programmes such as Make in India, Start Up India, Skill India and Digital India. The significance of our relations goes beyond the bilateral sphere...Our partnership has contributed to global peace and security. We have supported each others key interests. We are important stakeholders in upholding the stability of the international political, security, economic and financial order, he added. Noting that new centres of influence and new engines of growth are emerging, he said at a time of multiple global challenges, our cooperation becomes all the more necessary. Noting that the biggest threat to civilised societies comes from terrorism that is more lethal and more organised today than ever before, he said, India and Russia are natural partners in fighting terrorism unitedly and with determination and to promote a multi-polar international system based on the central role of the UN and international law. Modi said the policy of building strong relations with Russia enjoys crosscutting national consensus in India and every government in India since 1947 has accorded the highest priority to developing close relations with Russia. My government is not only committed to following this policy, but taking our relations to newer heights, he added. Modi recalled his first visit to Russia in 2001 with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said he was struck by the achievements of Russia, its sense of history and the pride of its people. Russian writers like Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Chekov influenced Indian thought and drama. Yoga, Indian films, songs and dances remain an abiding bond between our people, he said. I pay homage to all those, known and unknown, who have toiled and contributed to the development of the unique relationship between our two nations, he said. We are committed to building on this legacy and bequeathing to our youth a strong and vibrant partnership that will contribute to changing the world for the better. The first Indian monitoring and early warning system for air pollution was launched on May 12, 2017, in the nations fifth most populous city, with the hope that it will reduce the health impacts and deaths from air pollution, a growing problem in a country with nine of the worlds 20 most polluted cities in 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Combining the efforts of local government, scientists and non-profits, eight new air quality monitoring sites across Ahmedabad will produce a daily air quality index (AQI) that will be accessible to citizens through 11 LED screens across the city, as part of what is called the Air Information and Response (AIR) plan. An early warning system will notify people of excessive pollution days as part of the response plan, while medical professionals will be trained to respond to air-pollution emergencies. The monitors are installed at eight locations (Bopal, Satellite, Pirana, Raikhad, Navrangpura, Rakhiyal, Chandkheda and the airport) in a city of over 5.5 million people. An AQI is a metric on a sliding scale that tells people about the quality of the air and associated near-term health impacts. It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour. Ahmedabad was among the five most polluted cities in India in terms of PM 2.5, according to the WHOs 2014 Ambient Air Pollution database. PM 2.5 is particulate matter finer than 2.5 micro-meters, or about 30 times finer than a human hair. Inhaled deep into the lungs, they can cause heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and respiratory diseases, and are known to pose the greatest risk to human health. Their measurement is considered to be the best indicator of the level of health risks from air pollution, according to the WHO. In the footsteps of Beijing People living in more polluted areas die prematurely after long-term exposure to air pollution, and inconsistent monitoring makes it difficult to assess the threat posed by ambient air pollution. The AIR plan is a collaborative effort between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), a nonprofit in Gandhinagar, Natural Resources Defense Council (a non-profit head-quartered in New York), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (government institute) and the Indian Meteorological Departments System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) network. The monitoring and warning system will be tried for the first time in India, but follows the successful example of Beijing, that started the program for issuing colour-coded pollution alerts in 2013, according to this report by The Scientific American. However, this warning plan was accompanied by other measures like restricted driving schedules, school closures and reduced industrial production to curb emissions, according to a 2014 paper in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, which is missing in the Ahmedabad plan. The AMC has set aside a budget of Rs 30 lakh for 2017, Chirag Shah, nodal officer of the AIR plan and the Deputy Health Officer of the West Zone at the AMC, told IndiaSpend. All the recurring costs, such as the maintenance of screens and stations, issuing advisories and initiating programs to increase public awareness will also be borne by us, said Shah. The land for installing the AQI monitors has been provided free of cost to SAFAR by the AMC, and SAFAR has invested about Rs 20 crore to install ten AQI monitors in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, eight of which are here. The AMC had drafted a comprehensive Air Action Plan to combat pollution from construction activities, vehicular emissions and industries in 2016, its second such plan since 2002, but it is yet to be implemented, according to a Times of India report on May 12, 2017. Forecast air quality, issue early warnings and be better prepared The AMC Health Department is responsible for coordination of the AQI and AIR Plan. This includes monitoring the daily AQI, issuing alerts and warning on bad air days and disseminating public health messages to local departments and community service providers. The AIR plan is modelled after Ahmedabads Heat Action Plan (HAP), launched in 2013 to reduce health impacts and mortality from extreme heat waves through measures that included early warning systems, increased public awareness and training health professionals. If people dont go to the highly polluted areas and follow the health advisory to minimise exposure, then symptoms will be reduced and there will also be a cost saving for citizens, Dileep Mavalankar, , director of IIPH, Gandhinagar, told IndiaSpend. So, it depends on how effectively we are able to communicate to patients and the people who are vulnerable to avoid exposure. Once this plan is implemented, we should be able to observe that the admissions to hospitals or mortality from high pollution levels comes down by taking precautions, like we saw after implementing the heat action plan, said Mavalankar. As part of the AIR plan, the AMC will issue a health alert when the AQI forecast for the next 24 hours is very poor (301-400). When the AQI forecast rises to severe levels (401-500), a health warning will be issued. Under the health alert, the nodal officer of the AIR program Shah, the deputy health officer will inform urban health centres as well as private medical practitioners including pulmonologists, paediatricians to alert them to expect and be prepared for more cases of respiratory health effects. If the AQI exceeds 401 (severe), the nodal officer will inform urban health centres, the local ambulance service, transport, traffic police, the government radio station, schools, colleges, and the estate departmentwhich handles permissions for real estatein order to control road dust and construction work. What causes Ahmedabads air pollution? Major contributors to air pollution are population, industries and vehicles. Rate of urbanisation and industrialisation leading to growth of vehicles make cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot the hot spots for air pollution, according to this 2012 report by the Gujarat ENVIS centre. Ambient levels of PM 2.5 from transport sources alone are expected to double by 2030 if no action is taken, according to this 2015 report by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, Ahmedabads vehicles more than doubled from 1.2 million to over 2.6 million, with two-wheelers forming the largest proportion of the fleet. As of 2014-15, there were 3.4 million vehicles in the city. Ahmedabad also had more than 2,000 industrial air-polluting units as of May 2012, the report stated. In Ahmedabad, pollution comes from a variety of sources power plants and brick kilns surrounding the district. We often believe that vehicles moving in immediate surroundings contribute to the pollution in cities. However, a plant or a kiln away from the city can also affect Ahmedabad considering the wind direction, Sarath Guttikunda, researcher and founder of Urbanemissions.info (a repository of research, and analysis related to air pollution) told the Times of India in this 2012 report. Ahmedabad has two thermal power plants and more than 300 brick kilns, according to this 2012 paper. While Chennai has almost the same size and more industries, sea breeze blows PM 10 away from the city, reducing the suspended particulates in the air, said Guttikunda. Going by the PM 10 levels in Ahmedabad, the estimated premature deaths due to pollution is likely to be 4,950 as compared to 3,950 in Chennai. The Air Action Plan, if implemented, will reduce pollution from these sources through various measures such as improving fuel quality, phasing out commercial vehicles over 15 years old, traffic management, installing pollution control measures in industries and reducing pollution from thermal power plants. A part of the plan was also to strengthen the air quality monitoring network and sponsor studies on health impacts of air pollution on the city, which is now underway. How serious is Ahmedabads air-pollution problem? In 2015, 153 of 168 days (93%) monitored for air quality in Ahmedabad remained good according to the national air quality index (AQI). However, in 2016, the annual PM 2.5 average in Ahmedabad was 183.35 g/m (microgram/cubic metre), over 4.5 times the national ambient air quality standard of 40 g/m prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In 2017, the monitor installed by the CPCB in Maninagar to provide real-time air-quality data has been working intermittently. IndiaSpend analysed air quality data from its monitoring systems, collectively called #Breathe, for two devices located in Ahmedabad for the duration March 14 to May 14, 2017, when CPCB data were unavailable. Source: Data from the #Breathe network Of the 62 days that IndiaSpend analysed, only six days (9.6%) fell within the WHO guideline of 25 g/m. However, only three of 62 days were over the national standard of 60 g/m, meaning that 95% of the monitored days fell within the permissible Indian standard for PM 2.5. However, the most severe air-pollution levels occur during the winter months of November, December and January, according to Mavalankar. Levels of PM 2.5 over 60 may cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease such as asthma, and discomfort to people with heart disease, children and older adults. While we need more data, roughly 40% or Ahmedabads population will fall within this vulnerable category, Mavalankar said. Mukta Patil is an analyst with IndiaSpend. (Published in arrangement with IndiaSpend) The Kashmir valley kicked back to normalcy on Wednesday as authorities lifted the curfew and restrictions that were placed after Hizbul Mujahideen militant Sabzar Bhat was killed in a gunfight with security forces last Saturday. Traffic plied normally on all routes and all shops, business establishments, offices and most schools remained open and functioned normally. The state government, however, kept several higher secondary schools and colleges across Kashmir closed. The step may have come keeping in mind the sporadic protests by students over the last few weeks. Mobile internet services continue to remain suspended. Bhat, 27, believed to be the successor of slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, was gunned down at a hideout in Tral. Soon after Bhats killing, there was a spontaneous shutdown in protest and stone-peltings across the valley. Scores were injured and at least 13 people were hit in their eyes by pellets and brought to Srinagars SMHS hospital. Anticipating trouble, the administration imposed curfew and restrictions since Sunday and snapped mobile internet services and mobile services on prepaid numbers. Kashmir is on the boil since the killing of Wani -- a poster-boy of home-grown militancy -- deepened anti-India sentiments in the valley. Nearly 100 people were killed in street protests and hundreds of others were blinded or maimed by pellets in clashes with forces. Recent videos of alleged human right violations by forces, including the parading of a Kashmiri man tied to an army vehicle, have also fanned public anger. May 30 William Brown, 37, of Spring Creek was arrested at 122 Bellwood Drive for domestic battery. Bail: $3,140 ------ Tyler M. Charles, 25, of Carson City was arrested at 3740 Idaho St. on a warrant for arrest for probation violation. Bail: $3,000 ------ Mikel D. Cobel, 42, of Powell, Wyoming was arrested on Lamoille Highway for unlawful text without a hands-free device and driving with a suspended license. Bail: $1,215 ------ Jonathon B. Jenkins, 37, of Carlin was arrested at the Elko County Jail on a warrant for two counts of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $2,630 ------ Amanda J. King, 22, of Eureka was arrested at the Eureka Justice Center on a warrant for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $1,050 ------ Andrew P. Leahy, 33, of Spring Creek was arrested at 1174 Court St. for sexual assault against a child under the age of 16. Bail: $500,000 ----- Anthony D. Neilson, 27, of West Wendover was arrested at 1045 Wendover Blvd. on a warrant for domestic battery and failure to appear after bail of a misdemeanor. Bail: $3,265 ------ Marilou Ottenbacher, 46, of Carlin was arrested for buying, possessing or receiving stolen property. Bail: $10,000 ------ Hugo A. Rincon-Caracoza, 20, of Orovada was arrested at the Elko Courthouse for two counts of burglary, two counts of grand larceny of an automobile and; two counts of taking possession of a vehicle without owners consent. Bail: $75,000 ------ Joseph C. Sustacha, 26, of Lamoille was arrested at 254 Dunn Lane for disturbing the peace. No bail listed. ------ Benjamin J. Thompson, 30, of Reno was arrested at 345 Fourth St. for two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Bail: $10,000 ------ Lisa L. York, 56, of Winnemucca was arrested on the 900 block of Chestnut Street on a warrant for taking or possessing a vehicle without owners consent. $2,500 Hundreds of student and political activists staged demonstrations in Chennai on Wednesday, intensifying protests against a ban on cow slaughter and alleged assault of an IIT Madras scholar for participating in a campus beef festival. A section of IIT-M students took out a separate procession, demanding action against nine students accused of assaulting R Sooraj, who was left with a severely damaged right eye. The central government notification outlawing sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets has angered many in Tamil Nadu and Kerala where beef and buffalo meat is a popular delicacy. Political opponents of the ruling BJP at the Centre say the ban violates individual rights and will hurt millions of cattle and meat traders. The Madras high court on Tuesday ordered a four-week stay on the notification. Police said several activists of the leftist Students Federation of India (SFI) were detained during the protests outside the IIT Madras. The slogan-shouting activists ate beef in a symbolic protest against the ban. Nine students have been booked for the alleged assault on Sooraj. They are yet to be arrested. Police said in Chennai the students were booked for criminal intimidation, rioting and wrongful restraint. Sooraj has also been booked on the basis of a complaint filed by one of his attackers, Manish Kumar. The opposition DMK also criticised on ban, saying a situation had arisen where we should eat only what the prime minister desires. So, this ban, what we eat is now being restricted...The civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution are being snatched. Freedom is being snatched, said party working president MK Stalin, who led the protest. He also warned of another Marina revolution, referring to the pro-Jalliakktu protests held by scores of volunteers in January, following which the banned bull taming sport was allowed. The protesting IIT students lodged a complaint with the dean of the institution and demanded strict action against those guilty. The students are demanding expulsion of the alleged attackers, said to be members of the right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The dean has formed a committee to examine the issue. Not satisfied with the response of IIT administration, the students have decided to intesify the protests. The adminstration has not even gone to meet Sooraj, who was injured in the eye, and financial aid to him was still not given. The attackers were not even suspended so far, said Abhinav Surya, one of the protesters. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condemned the attack and requested his Tamil Nadu counterpart Edappadi K Palaniswami to take action against the guilty. Our Constitution has given us the freedom to consume the food of our choice and any act of intolerance is a violation of the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution, the chief minister said in a statement on Tuesday. On Monday, Congress activists in Kerala killed a cow in a public square, an act that sparked outrage and forced party leaders to condemn the incident. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has also asked the state police not to comply with the Centres notification. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said his government was analysing the developments. Regulating cattle trade is a state subject but animal welfare is overseen by the Centre. The new rules didnt amount to a blanket ban on cattle trade or their slaughter. But the move was expected to choke supplies to the countrys Rs 1-lakh crore meat and allied industries that source about 90% of their requirements from animal markets. Activists and opposition political parties say the rule discriminates against Muslims, Christians and lower-caste Hindus who rely on the cheap meat for protein. (With agency inputs) West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday pulled up authorities of Shri Shikshayatan, a private girls school in Kolkata, for playing Prime Minister Narendra Modis Maan Ki Baat for students. The Trinamool Congress chief, however, did not name either Modi or his monthly radio show. I heard that the Shri Shikshayatan principal is playing the video of a speech by a political leader in the classrooms and forcing the students to watch it. This is unfair, Banerjee told Bratati Bhattacharyya, secretary general of the Shikshayatan Foundation , during a meeting with representatives of private schools in the state. I would have objected to such a step even if the video of my speech was played in an educational institution. It does not enhance knowledge. Its purely a political programme. Please ask your principal to stop this, she told Bhattacharyya. The Shikshayatan Foundation secretary general tried to play down the programme being played for students, but Banerjee remarked, I am aware of everything. It was shown even a few days back. Some teachers also objected to it. Nothing of that sort happens within the school premises now. Though Banerjee did not specify whom she was targeting, a representative of the school told HT a few episodes of the PMs programme were shown in the school. Incidentally, Banerjee did her BEd in Shri Shikshayatan College, which is under the same foundation. Incidentally, the state syllabus committee has included six pages on the Singur land struggle and the role of the CM and her party colleagues in history books that are taught in Class 8. Banerjees pictures adorn five of the six pages. Though the Maan Ki Baat is a radio talk show, the Prime Ministers Office makes videos available on the PMs official mobile app. Banerjee is a fierce political critic of the PM and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was the first to oppose his demonetisation announcement. On Monday, she described the Centres ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter across the countrys livestock markets as unconstitutional. Banerjee, the first woman chief minister of West Bengal, is also seen as a maverick. In September 2012, she mimicked then PM Manmohan Singh in a live interview on a TV channel and attracted severe criticism. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Russia , the third leg of his four-nation tour of Europe, late on Wednesday evening. Today, Modi will hold the 18th India-Russia annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Before leaving for St Petersburg, the PM met Spains top leaders in Madrid, on the second leg of his tour. The two countries committed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism calling it the gravest threat to international peace and stability. A joint statement issued following a meeting here between visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy said both leaders recognised that terrorism poses the gravest threat to international peace and stability and expressed their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Modis visit to Spain was the first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988. Here are the highlights: 11:45pm: The front page banner of Rossiskaya Gazeta today: 'Narendra Modi writes exclusively for our newspaper on Russia-India friendship' pic.twitter.com/AJrm8Jiief Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) May 31, 2017 11:35pm: Russia: PM Narendra Modi meets people outside the hotel in Saint Petersburg pic.twitter.com/H5RFEjbq5N ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 11:15pm: Reached the historic city of St. Petersburg. Looking forward to a fruitful visit aimed at cementing India-Russia relations. pic.twitter.com/0vZTiS0euh Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 10:30pm: PM Modi arrives in St Petersburg, Russia: ANI Russia: PM Narendra Modi arrives in Saint Petersburg pic.twitter.com/WlGHH5OBJb ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 6.40pm: Modi is expected to hold the 18th India-Russia annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. PM @narendramodi op-ed in Rossiskaya Gazeta on 70 years of India-Russia friendship pic.twitter.com/S4SYpGeorC Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) May 31, 2017 6.25pm: India and Spain commit to cooperate in the fight against terrorism calling it the gravest threat to international peace and stability, reports PTI. 6.10pm: PM leaves for Russia, third leg of his four-nation tour. 6.00pm: India-Spain ties are all set to grow and this will benefit the people of both our nations, tweets Modi. 5.38pm: I welcome holding of the India-Spain CEO forum on the sidelines of my visit. May this forum deepen economic ties between our nations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 5.00pm: Modi encourages Spanish infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors, saying its a great time for Spanish companies to invest in India. reports PTI. 4.25pm: CEOs in Madrid interact with Modi, reports ANI. Spain: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with Spanish CEOs in Madrid. pic.twitter.com/yXEAhDB7Q7 ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 3.30pm: PM meets King Felipe VI at the royal palace. 3pm: India and Spain sign 7 agreements during PM Narendra Modis visit, reports PTI. 2pm: #WATCH PM Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy interact at Palace of Moncloa in Madrid pic.twitter.com/A6Y2YadXLi ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 1.30pm: Modi is expected to call on King Felipe VI of Spain and would also have a round-table interaction with Spanish business leaders to attract investment into the country. 12.45pm: Modi, in a private conversation with Rajoy, called for strengthening bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as both our countries have faced the security challenge. 12.25pm: India & Spain can cooperate in so many areas, including infrastructure; we must have even closer economic ties: PM Narendra Modi in Madrid pic.twitter.com/z7gTYlhvQq ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 12.17pm: Terrorism is a challenge for all of our societies, we get to hear a lot about terror attacks these days: PM Modi. 12.15pm: Our discussions today will focus on boosting our bilateral relations: PM Modi. 12.10pm: PM Narendra Modi meets President of Spain Mariano Rajoy in Madrid. 11.50am: Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on ways to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. Modi will also call on King Felipe VI of Spain. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in St Petersburg on Wednesday night for an annual summit with President Vladimir Putin during which the two sides will sign a host of agreements, with all eyes on a deal to build with Russias help the last two units of Indias largest nuclear power plant. Reached the historic city of St. Petersburg. Looking forward to a fruitful visit aimed at cementing India-Russia relations. pic.twitter.com/0vZTiS0euh Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 With hours to go before the summit, Indian officials told PTI that last-minute talks are taking place to iron out details and language of the agreement on a line of credit for building Unit 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. The agreement remains work in progress, the source said. The reactors are being built by Indias Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russias Atomstroyexport company, a subsidiary of Rosatom, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex. The two sides are expected to ink 12 agreements in wide- ranging sectors, including in science and technology, railways, cultural exchanges and other business areas between private parties also, in addition to a vision statement that the two leaders will release. The nuclear deal, if signed, would be the centerpiece of the summit, the second time in eight months after their last bilateral in Goa in October 2016. If signed, the two units of the plant, with capacity to produce 1000 MW of electricity each, will significantly boost the countrys nuclear power generation. The current nuclear power generation capacity of all 22 nuclear power reactors is 6780 MW. In October 2015, a joint statement between Modi and Putin promised the signing of a General Framework Agreement on the nuclear units by December 2016. After an inter-ministerial group cleared the project, it was sent to the Prime Ministers Office for approval. But, sources said, the Credit Protocol, or a line of credit that Russia was to provide, proved to be a hurdle. There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years, Pankaj Saran, Indias ambassador to Russia, told PTI. At the summit tomorrow, the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future, he said. Indias traditional ties with Russia dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscows growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. However, Saran said Indias relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan. Our relations with Russia is on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests, he said, hours before Modi was to arrive from Spain. Modi arrived in stormy weather in St. Petersburg, the former capital of imperial Russia that was founded by Czar Peter the Great in 1703, and was also known as Petrograd and Leningrad. The prime minister will begin his three-day Russia sojourn with a visit tomorrow to the Piskariovskoe cemetery, a memorial for some 500,000 Russians who were killed in the siege of Leningrad in World War II, which the Russians call the Great Patriotic War. Modi will then be received by Putin at the Konstantin Palace, a sprawling regal complex that is also the Russian presidents official residence where he hosts world leaders. After the summit, Putin will host Modi at a private dinner without any aides. On Friday, Modi will be the guest of honor at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being attended by a host of political and business leaders from around the world. Its the first time that an Indian prime minister is attending the economic and business summit. Some 60 Indian CEOs ae attending the summit, and India has also set up a Make in India pavilion in addition to hosting roundtables and an exclusive India-Eurasia economic and business breakfast. Trade between the two nations stands at USD 7.8 billion, down from USD 10 billion in 2014. The two nations are targeting to raise the trade to USD 30 billion in the next five years. A navy officer is likely to be sacked and jailed for molesting a child after an inquiry found him guilty of the sexual offence rarely heard of in the military. The commander faces a general court martial, which would be convened shortly, for molesting the daughter of a colleague at the militarys prestigious Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Tamil Nadus Wellington, sources said. The incident happened during a party and the child reported the commanders inappropriate behaviour to her parents after which the navy set up a board of inquiry against the officer. The commander, who was undergoing the staff course at DSSC, inappropriately touched the school-going child, sources said. He would be awarded an exemplary punishment, a navy officer said. The navy has zero tolerance for such actions, he said. A navy commander is equivalent to a lieutenant colonel in the army. The commander is likely to be tried under the protection of children from sexual offences act, a stringent law enacted in 2012 to prevent abuse and exploitation of children, sources said. The DSSC trains major/lieutenant colonel-ranked officers of the army, navy and air force as well as bureaucrats and soldiers from friendly foreign countries. Officers have to clear a written exam before being selected for the course, considered to be a stepping stone for career progression. Officers are awarded a masters degree in defence and strategic studies from University of Madras at the end of the one-year course. The commander has completed the course but would not be awarded the degree. After just 35 % students were declared passed in the intermediate examinations conducted by the Bihar school examination board, on Tuesday, at least three girls committed suicide while a fourth one died of heart attack in various parts of the state. In addition, a number of other examinees, disappointed with their performance in the examination, attempted suicide. In Buxar district of south central Bihar, Kiran Kumari, 20, who apparently sunk into depression after being wrongly informed by her friend that she had failed in her intermediate arts examination, committed suicide by jumping in front of a running train, within hours of the declaration of the results. The body of Kiran, daughter of Kuber Kumar of Kasmariya village under Charpokhri police station of Bhojpur district of south central Bihar, was found on the railway track near Raghunathpur railway station, on the Patna-Mughalsarai section of east central railway zone, around 9.30 pm on Tuesday.. Confirming this, Buxar government railway police (GRP) station house officer (SHO) Ali Akbar Khan said the victims father told him he had subsequently corrected the erroneous information by informing the girl she had passed in third division. But this information did little to lift her sagging spirits. We suspect that she thought that the original information was correct and that her father was saying she had passed merely to mollify her. This may have led her to kill herself, the SHO added. Khan said the Raghunathpur police conveyed the information about the discovery of the body to the Buxar GRP which fetched the body Tuesday night and sent it for autopsy to the Buxar sadar hospital, Wednesday morning, after which it was handed over to her family. The SHO said that on the basis of statement of father of the victim, a case of unnatural death was being registered. No information was available about the institution from which the victim appeared for her intermediate examination, he said. Another examinee, Aarti Kumari, committed suicide by hanging herself at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district of south eastern Bihar, soon after she learnt that she had failed in the intermediate science examination. "Originally from Shahebganj in Jharkhand, Aarti was staying at her maternal uncle's home for the last few years to pursue education, said a police officer.. Khusboo Kumari, a student of SSV College, Bhagalpur, also committed suicide by hanging herself, said the police. A report from Labedahan village in Kaimur district of western Bihar, said a girl, Rukhsana, daughter of Ramzan Ansari, died of a heart attack caused by the shock of failing in one of the intermediate examination subjects. She was a student of Navbharat High School, Deohalia. In Sheikhpura district of south eastern Bihar, a girl attempted suicide after she failed in the Class 12 science exam, but a member of her immediate family came to her rescue. "She has confessed that she tried to end her life after she failed in the examination," a district police official said. Reports from suicide attempts by failed intermediate examinees came in from several other districts but could not be confirmed. The Rajasthan high court asked the central and state governments on Wednesday to declare the cow as Indias national animal and ensure life terms in jail for those who kill the animal considered holy by many Hindus. Justice Mahesh Chand Sharma also listed 11 benefits of cow urine while hearing a petition on the death of more than 500 cows at a Jaipur government-run shelter. It is believed that 33 crore gods and goddesses reside inside the cowcow is the only living being which intakes oxygen and emits oxygen, the judge said, adding that the animal was a laboratory in itself. He retires on Wednesday. It is expected from the government that it should declare cow as national animal and for this purpose the chief secretary and advocate general of state are declared legal custodians of cow, the judge said in a 139-page order, calling himself a Shiv devotee. The order comes amid a fierce nationwide debate on a controversial central government notification that banned the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal farms. Angry protests have rocked Kerala and Tamil Nadu and other states such as West Bengal have rejected the rule on grounds that it violates Indias federal structure. Cow slaughter is banned in most states of India, including Rajasthan. Since the BJP stormed to power in 2014, the issue has increasingly divided communities and sparked raucous debates, especially with the rising power of cow protection vigilante groups. Last month, a Muslim dairy farmer was lynched in Rajasthans Alwar by alleged cow vigilantes. The large-scale cow deaths at the Hingonia cow rehabilitation centre, just 36 kms from Jaipur, had embarrassed the government. A probe revealed dereliction of duty by government officials at the shelter where the bovines starved to death after they were caught neck-deep in cow dung and fodder that had turned slushy due to rainwater seepage. Justice Sharma quoted scientists from India and abroad to illustrate how the cow was good for mankind. Quoting German scholar Rudolf Steiner, he said the cow through its horns absorbed cosmic energy. Further, he quoted a Madras-based scientist to say that cow dung killed cholera germs. Cow dung generates 4,500 litres of biogas, the order says. If biogas is generated from all cow dung, the country can save 6.80 lakh tonnes of wood, he said. The judge also said that cow was important for the agricultural economy and called for legal entity to be provided to the cow as had been granted to the Ganga and Yamuna. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Police officers may have to specialise in at least one domain such as counter-insurgency, anti-terrorism, economic offences or cyber offences before being promoted to senior ranks. The proposal that will cover the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers has been sent by the home ministry, the administrative authority for the IPS, to the ministry of personnel for final approval. Under the proposal, the government will make it mandatory for IPS officers to undergo training before promotion to ranks of deputy inspector general (DIG), inspector general (IG) and additional director general (ADG) to make them domain experts, a home ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. Most senior police positions in the state and Centre are manned by officers drawn for IPS, an all-India service for which competition is furious. Hundreds of thousands of Indians sit a test every year and only a handful make the cut after a rigorous three-stage examination process. The domain subjects, or the area of specialisation, are already listed in the performance appraisal report rules, sources said. It has subjects such as anti-corruption and vigilance, police research and development, criminal investigation (CBI, CID), intelligence, cyber crime, counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism. Before being promoted as a DIG, an officer will have to train in at least one of the domains. Similarly for the promotion to ranks of the IG and ADG, mandatory training will have to be completed in two and three subjects, respectively, the ministry official said. The National Police Academy in Hyderabad and other government institutes will be asked to draw training modules. The government may also rope in private institutes. The plan was discussed in November during an annual conference of police chiefs in Hyderabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh also attended the meet. The decision has been taken as part of the follow-up of the discussion that took place in Hyderabad, the official said. A serving IPS officer, who didnt want to identified as he is not allowed to speak to the media, said a maximum of four domains were assigned at the time of appraisal and they dont get to pick them. If the government wants to make domain experts, they should also seek the views of the officers on the choice of domain assignments for them, he said. Future postings should be decided as per specialisation and the concept should be extended to other all India services as well, he said. An IPS officer goes through at least three mid-term training programmes. The first one is after seven to nine years in the job, the next comes after another seven years and the final one is on completing at least 24 years in service. These courses are mandatory and linked to promotions and increments. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After aggressively pushing khadi at home, the Modi government wants to take the homespun cotton abroad. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), has written to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to use the traditional fabric in its field operations and camps. This not only provides convenience, comfort and health benefits to those that are displaced in alien lands, it also in the same breath supports self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods to millions of rural Indians who live by this heritage profession, KVIC chairman VK Saxena has written to UNHCR chief Fillipo Grandi. KVIC is a government-run body for the promotion of handloom and cottage industry. By promoting khadis use in offices, hospitals, railways and airlines, the Modi government has scripted a turnaround for the homespun fabric closely associated with Indias freedom struggle. The image of Mahatma Gandhi sitting at a spinning wheel, or charkha, for long promoted khadi in the country. Saxena said the UN refugee agency could use khadi material for tents and KVICs, blankets, carpets and clothing at its camps. The UNHCR is yet to respond to the proposal. If the UNHCR agrees, KVIC is willing to provide khadi products at a cost that is as per the UN agencys operational requirements, Saxena said. Not just fabric, KVIC has expanded into readymade garments, groceries and personal care as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi been promoting the handloom fabric with the slogan khadi for nation, khadi for fashion. Government employees in seven states, including BJP-ruled Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, wear khadi to work at least once a week. KVICs annual turnover went up to Rs 51, 997 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 37,000 crore in 2015-16. Through our village industries we have been able to generate 4.69 lakh jobs in 2016-17 across villages and urban centres, Saxena said. Around 2,356 khadi units are functional in the country, around 157 of these were revived after 2014. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ELKO Starting in July of next year, the state will require all on-duty law enforcement to wear body cameras, but Elko County is more concerned with the cost of data storage than the actual hardware. Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 176 on Thursday. The bill expanded a 2015 law that required on-duty Nevada Highway Patrol officers to wear audio-visual recording devices. The law also requires law enforcement agencies to store the recordings for a minimum of 15 days. Elko County Manager Rob Stokes said he doesnt expect to discuss the bill during next weeks commissioners meeting because its too early. We will be taking a look at it, but it still has some of the requirements that it has for E-911, he said. The bill allows counties to put up to a $1 surcharge on phone bills to help pay for the body cameras and the systems to maintain the data. These 911 funds 25 cents are being used to update the Elko combined and West Wendover 911 dispatch centers. Stokes said county staff will have to research the bill more to give any recommendations to the commissioners. Its not just the body cameras that are the issue, its the maintenance of the data that comes off of them, he said. Even though the bill says only 15 days for (storage) thats a massive amount of data. Elko County Sheriff Jim Pitts said his officers have had body cameras for about three years and they were updated this year. Were looking to update our storage system, he said. The cameras are fairly cheap, but the system to store and maintain the data can be the expensive part, Pitts said. Downloading the recordings can be time consuming. Pitts is researching a new system for storage, which will have the ability to redact the videos. Weve had (cameras) for years, he said. My guys like them. They have saved them (from) a lot of problems. The sheriffs office has about 60 cameras on officers, which includes patrol and jail personnel. The department spent $10,000 to $12,000 on the cameras. The cameras were purchased on a shoe-string budget, Pitts said. The department used sales from old vehicles to purchase them. The updated cameras last an entire shift and are more durable. When they started buying cameras, they didnt last an entire shift and they were difficult to download. It was a learning process for us, he said. His office purchased cameras three years ago, because he didnt want to wait for the state to require it. We didnt want to be behind the eight ball on trying to get caught up, he said. Pitts said he would not be in favor of using 911 funds to pay for body cameras. I think right now we need to concentrate on 911, he said. If we start getting too many hands into the penny bank, you know that money could go and not be used for what we need. According to National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes, this bill could exclude Nevada from federal 911 funding. At least two men were wounded by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday night in north Kashmirs Baramulla district, police said on Wednesday. Police said the gunmen opened fire on Abdul Rashid Lone, a resident of Khanpora that is at least 65km from Srinagar, when he was returning home after offering his night prayers in a local shrine. They added that 60-year-old Rashid, a retired power development department employee, was hit in his leg. His nephew Tariq Ahmad was also accompanying him when the attack happened and received minor injuries. Both the men were rushed to the district hospital in Baramulla. Tariq had minor injuries while Rashid has been hospitalised, informed an official manning PCR Baramulla but did not specify any reason for the attack. Police launched a search operation to track the gunmen immediately after the attack. Locals said Rashid was a senior worker of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). They added the attacker had a pistol and fired at Rashids right thigh before fleeing. Earlier this month, militants shot dead PDP leader Abdul Gani Dar amid tension and clashes between civilians and security forces in Kashmir. A grainy short video also emerged showing Wali Mohammed Bhat, a supporter of the PDP, apologising profusely and shouting anti-India slogans at gunpoint. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute should be resolved through dialogue and his government will support such a step. The 44-year-old priest-politician visited and prayed at the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya, the first chief minister do so in 15 years. We will try for an amicable solution to the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, within the ambit of law. The dispute should be resolved by dialogue between the two communities, he said at a gathering of seers to mark the 79th birthday of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das. The state government will provide all support in the dialogue process, he said amid cheers, applauds and slogans of Jai Shri Ram. The temporary temple is located within a 2.7-acre disputed plot, where the Mughal-era Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished by thousands of kar sevaks or supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on December 6, 1992. Many Hindus believe the mosque was built on top of the birthplace of god Ram. The demolition triggered riots across the country, killing more than 3,000 people, and the site remains Indias most potent religious flashpoint. Adityanath push for a discussion to solve the feud is significant since the BJP is committed to building the Ram temple, which has been pivotal to the partys politics. I know what you want to hear. I am aware of your sentiments, he said after beginning his speech with the Jai Shri Ram chant and repeating it thrice. Even the Supreme Court has suggested an out-of-court settlement. The state government will provide all support in this process, he said. In September 2010, the Allahabad high court awarded two-thirds of the site to Hindu parties, one-third to the Waqf Board of the Muslims. But the Supreme Court stayed the verdict the next year. This March, the top court suggested the dispute could be settled amicably through cordial meeting between groups associated with the case. Chief Justice JS Khehar offered to mediate, if required. The chief minister said several Muslim organisations in Lucknow are in favour of a Ram temple. His visit to Ayodhya follows a special CBI court order on Tuesday to frame criminal conspiracy charges against BJP stalwarts LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, Union water minister Uma Bharti and nine more leaders in connection with the demolition. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, a VHP leader who headed the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas Trust, is among the 12 people charged with conspiracy. Adityanath reached Faizabad, the twin city of Ayodhya, in the morning and prayed at the Hanumangarhi Temple. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, another leader against whom conspiracy charges were framed. (With agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is on Wednesday visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The visit comes a day after a CBI court in Lucknow framed criminal conspiracy charges against BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and others for bring down the 16th century Babri mosque. The two events have again thrust the issue of Ram temple, central to the BJPs rise in the country, into the spotlight. Here are five things to know about Adityanaths visit: First visit in 15 years The saffron-robed Adityanath is expected to offer prayers at the makeshift Ram temple. He will be the first Uttar Pradesh chief minister to visit the disputed Ram Janmbhoomi- Babri mosque site in 15 years. Eyebrows were raised when the BJP chose to name Adityanath, a known Hindu hardliner, as the chief minister of a state which has a 20% Muslim population. He is the also the head priest of an important Hindu temple in eastern UPs Gorakhpur. Timing The visit comes a day after a CBI court in Lucknow charged BJP stalwarts LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and water minister Uma Bharti and nine more leaders with conspiring to raze the Mughal-era Babri mosque in 1992. Adityanath met Advani, Joshi and Bharti outside the court in a sign of support. Thousands of kar sevaks, or Hindu volunteers, demolished the mosque which many Hindus believe was built on top of the birthplace of god Ram. The demolition on December 6, 1992 triggered one of the deadliest communal riots in India, killing more than 3,000 people. The disputed 2.7-acre site remains Indias most potent religious flashpoint. Eyes on 2019? The Supreme Court in April revived the case against Advani and others 16 years after a CBI court dropped charges of criminal conspiracy, saying the demolition shook the fabric of the Constitution. The top court has asked the trial to be completed in two years, ordering daily hearings. The case would have been decided or would be in the final stages when India would head to polling booths in 2019 to decide if the BJP should get another term. The temple push The promise of a temple to god Ram in Ayodhya, which many believe is his place of birth, has been pivotal to the BJPs rise. The temple has figured in almost every election manifesto of the BJP since 1991. The partys position has remained steady the temple should either be built through a consensus or through a court judgment. But the party has been silent on its demand for construction of the temple through a law passed by Parliament, as it looks to expand its poll base and reach. But the case against Advani, Joshi, Bharti and others will keep the temple issue on slow simmer. With Adityanath in Ayodhya, temple will again occupy centre stage. The BJP is standing by its leaders and has ruled out Bhartis resignation from Modis council of ministers. If the leaders are acquitted, the party can take a high a moral ground. In case of a conviction, the leaders could emerge as Hindutva heroes. Whatever the outcome, the BJP stands to gain. Ayodhya stopover In visiting Ayodhya, Adityanath is following his ministers lead. In their around three months in office, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, energy minister Shrikant Sharma, agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi and social welfare minister Ramapati Shastri have all visited the makeshift temple at Ayodhya. A regular at Ayodhya, Uma Bharti cancelled her April 19 visit after announcing she would be seek Ram Lallas blessings after the Supreme Courts order. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi made a brief stop at Ayodhya on September 10, 2016 during his Deoria-Delhi Kisan Yatra. He paid obeisance at the nearby Hanuman Garhi temple but did not visit the disputed site. (With inputs from Kumar Uttam) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath stirred sentiments when he paid obeisance to the Ram Lalla (infant Ram) at the disputed site of Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on Wednesday. Chants of Jai Shri Ram and mandir wahin banayenge (we will build the temple at the site) reverberated in the air as Adityanath, who is also a mahant (temple chief priest), offered prayers amidst priests and security personnel the only people allowed at the site for 15 minutes. Adityanaths visit the first in 15 years by a UP CM has given an impetus to the Ram temple issue as it comes a day after senior BJP leaders were summoned by a CBI court for framing charges for allegedly conspiring to demolish the 16th century Babri Masjid (mosque). Hundreds of Hindu zealots had scaled the disputed Babri Masjid in 1992 and knocked it down, triggering a cycle of communal violence that claimed more than 3,000 lives over two decades. The controversial razing was the culmination of a festering dispute between Muslims and many Hindus, who believe the Mughal emperor Babur razed a temple at the site believed to be the birthplace of Hindu god, Ram. The demolition also buoyed the BJP to power in Uttar Pradesh and in other Hindi heartland states as it had promised to build a Ram temple at the site. Adityanaths visit comes nearly two-and-a-half months after the Supreme Courts suggestion that the Ayodhya dispute be resolved amicably with Chief Justice of India JS Khehar offering to mediate to help resolve the matter. Earlier in the morning, Adityanath also visited the Hanuman Garhi, the oldest temple of Lord Hanuman. Clad in his customary saffron robe, the CM offered prayers at the temple as per the Vedic rituals. Supporters chants grew louder as Adityanath came out of the temple after offering prayers. Breaking the police cordon, people tried to reach out to the CM to touch his feet and seek blessings. For the people, Adityanath is more a mahant than the chief minister. Adityanath was visibly happy and acknowledged the chants of mahant ji with a nod and a smile. It is a historic moment for Ayodhya to witness a saffron-clad CM paying obeisance at the Hanuman Garhi temple, said a resident of Ayodhya, Sanjay Kumar. Adityanath is the chief priest of Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, a post which he holds even after becoming the chief minister. As he left Hanuman Garhi, local youths followed the cavalcade on motorcycles. After offering prayer at Ram Janmbhoomi, Yogi visited Ram ki Paidhi ghat and offered prayers on the banks of river Sarayu, which holds religious importance for Hindus. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Wednesday asked officers of the state government to make optimum use of available resources instead of giving excuses in order to ensure good governance. She also stressed on innovation and adopting technology to focus on delivering results with resources available. Our government has been successful in delivering good governance to people and the officers should make extra efforts to further it. Peoples satisfaction is the best parameter of good governance, Raje said at the inaugural ceremony of a two-day Collector-SP conference here. The officers should not leave any scope of communication gap with the public. They should not only be good speakers, but also good listeners. Only then the commoners would reach out to them with their grievances, she said The CM asked the district collectors to identify talented officers and other staff and utilise them for sensitive and effective governance. She said that the innovative practices and new initiatives should be shared with the chief secretary so that they could be replicated in other districts. Raje said that young officers who were well-versed with the use of technology alongwith the senior officers, who are experienced, can help extend the good governance to the public. She urged the collectors to be receptive to new ideas and think out of box. The CM said that as per the parameters set during the last Collector-SP conference in 2016, Chittorgarh, Hanumangarh, Pali, Ajmer and Bhilwara were the top five districts in the state in successfully implementing schemes and programmes of the state and the Central governments. Earlier, chief secretary OP Meena too addressed the officials. State ministers, parliamentary secretaries, and senior officials from different departments are participating in the conference. Thirteen weeks after she slammed private hospitals and healthcare institutes for overcharging and shoddy treatment, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hauled up private school authorities on Wednesday for charging fat admission donations and fleecing parents. She announced that there should a 15-member self-regulatory committee of the schools that should review the operations of the schools. Why should one pay Rs 1.65 lakh to admit a child to the nursery class? she asked the authorities of Modern School in Kolkata. She also readily accepted a proposal from the audience that school authorities should submit their accounts to the government so that the administration can keep a tab on claims of expenditure. The education department secretary, representatives of the director general of police, the Kolkata police commissioner and two archbishops will be members on this body. Schools that will have representatives on the committee include La Martiniere, South Point School, Modern School, St Xaviers, DPS, Heritage School, Shri Sikshayatan and Loreto School, announced the chief minister. I shall review the workings of the body after a year, she remarked. Last year, Arvind Kejriwals Delhi government decreed that private schools built on Delhi Development Authority land will need official nod before hiking fees. Only five out of 410 applicants were allowed to hike fees this year that was done after auditing the schools finances. The chief minister remarked that the state government did not want to directly interfere in the operations of private educational institutions, and therefore, the task of regulation was best left to the institutes. On February 22, she set up a regulatory commission for private healthcare units, something the medical fraternity has criticised. Compared to that meeting, however, she was mellow on Wednesday. She pulled up the authorities of La Martiniere, Heritage School and Modern School, saying that the fees were unduly high. It should be ensured that fat donations are not allowed and that the annual rise of fees is not too steep, said the chief minister. In an hour-long meeting in Town Hall, the chief minister called out schools by name, asked for the fee structure and expressed surprise at the amount of money they charged. You should control expenditure that are imposed on guardians over and above tuition fees under heads such as books, stationery, bags, shoes, uniform, computers, transport, said Mamata Banerjee. The malpractice that goes on in the name of donation cannot be allowed. Its not that every school does it, but many get tarnished. Impression matters, she remarked at the beginning of the meeting. Why do you take so much donation? La Martiniere authorities take maximum donation. There have been police cases against the school. Please find out what is happening. There may be touts who are raising money from the market. Dont allow the name of your institution to be tarnished, remarked the chief minister. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The West Bengal government has told police officers and constables not to apply for deputation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that is looking for personnel to work on cases such as the Narada investigation and the chit funds including Saradha and Rose Valley. Incidentally, a number of ruling Trinamool Congress leaders are allegedly involved in these high-profile investigations that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has described as politics of vendetta by the Narendra Modi government. Recently, CBI sought applications from Bengal to form a panel of 12 deputy superintendents of police, eight inspectors, 20 sub- inspectors and 40 constables. Read: Mamatas Trinamool faces heat, CBI files FIR against 12 leaders featuring in Narada sting There has not been a single application from West Bengal and Kolkata Police responding to CBIs notice for inducting these personnel. The CBI investigation into the Narada sting operation has rejuvenated the opposition in Bengal like the Left parties. (HT Photo) Sources from the West Bengal personnel & administrative reforms department said that clear instructions have come from the state police directorate and police associations that no policemen (constables to deputy superintendents of police) should make any written application for deputation to CBI. The decision of the government not to send anyone on deputation to CBI will not only put the agency into trouble and slow down investigation in these high-profile cases, but also deprive the policemen who could have been selected of monetary benefits. While they serve the CBI, even a constable would have got a deputation allowance that would be a minimum of Rs 8,000-10,000. The amount would go up as one went up the scale and rank. On one hand, the Union government will use CBI to unnecessarily implicate our leaders, MPs, MLAs and even ministers in false cases. At the same time, the agency expects these will be investigated by cops from our state. These two things cannot happen at the same time. We have made this clear to our cops that their career will begin in this state and end here only, a member of the state cabinet said. CBI is the only central investigative agency that inducts non-IPS cops from different police forces to carry on investigations. considering its acute manpower shortage against the backdrop of large number of cases that the agency handles. Read: Mamata on CBIs FIR against Trinamool leaders: Will fight it out politically The central investigative agency regularly faces shortage of manpower in the ranks between constables and deputy superintendents. Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who was arrested in early January by CBI for his involvement in the Rs 17,000-crore Rose Valley scam, was granted bail by Odisha high court after four and a half months. (HT Photo) Not a single application has been made from any of these ranks (DSP, inspector, sub-inspector, constable) and, therefore, the state government is not in a position to forward any panel to CBI, a senior state government official said. The decision of not allowing non-IPS cops from the state to go on deputation to CBI has been taken by chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A new bonhomie between the ruling Shiv Sena and Opposition Congress is on display in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). In a U-turn, the Sena, which extended support to the administration over monsoon preparedness last week, on Tuesday not only distanced itself from the civic body, but also joined the Opposition in criticising the civic administration. The BMC claimed to have finished 86.87% desilting of major drains. The Sena is ruling party in the BMC but it does not have a majority in the civic house. It has 84 members in the house of 227, while the BJP has 82. Congress group leader demanded the standing committee be adjourned as the civic body was presenting false data on desilting. The Shiv Sena on Tuesday came out in full support for the demand. Earlier this month, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray assured Mumbaiites the desilting work is on track and congratulated the civic body for good quality work. In addition, Senas group leader Yashwant Jadhav in Fridays meeting appreciated the BMC for improved quality of road repairs. The change in Senas stand comes after the Congress helped the Sena approve the Byculla zoo fee hike proposal in the civic standing committee. The Sena which was adamant on charging citizens Rs100 entry fee, softened its stance and reduced the entry fee to Rs50 to get the proposal approved. If the Congress had not extended its support, the proposal would have been rejected as both the BJP, which was opposing the proposal, and Sena have equal number of corporators in the committee. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership has launched a post graduate course on leadership, politics and governance. The authorities at the institution, which is an initiative of the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (RMP), said the course would provide students with a deep insight on the socio-political ground reality of India. The RMP is associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, vice-chairman, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, said it would exclusively focus on the Indian political system. Policy makers and politicians will give lectures here. The students will also visit gram panchayats, assemblies, Parliament and also various developmental project sites. This comprehensive course will equip students with necessary skills to have a career in politics or public affairs, said Sahasrabuddhe Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said it will shed the negative image of politicians. Author Amish Tripathi, who was present at the launch, said, Indians have dominated the world for centuries and it is imperative we have courses which highlight our achievements, said Tripathi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Delhi man was sentenced to 10 years in jail for possessing 18kg of the drug hashish, or hash, a concentrated form of marijuana. He was arrested in 2011 for carrying the drug into the city. The police said he was planning to sell it. A Thane court sentenced Amit Brijmohan, 33, a resident of Nand Nagri in New Delhi, to 10 years of rigourous imprisonment and fined him Rs1 lakh under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The case dates back to 2011, when Amit and two others were arrested from the Kashimira bus stand in Bhayander with the hashish. They had brought the drug to sell it in Mumbai. District judge Hemant Patwardhan said while hearing the case last week the evidence brought before the court was consistent, reliable and sufficient to prove Amit was guilty, beyond reasonable doubt. I therefore, do not hesitate to record my findings against point in affirmative, he said. The judge accepted Amits request to be transferred to a Delhi jail as his family lives there. The court said, The jailer is directed to consider the transfer of the convict to Central Jail at Delhi, if the rules in respect thereof permit. SPRING CREEK Several members of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada are siding with Spring Creek water customers over their meter reading complaints, with some suggesting refunds as a way to resolve the issue. Testimony filed May 22 by PUCN staff and a senior economist with the Attorney Generals Bureau of Consumer Protection addressed concerns of nearly 200 Spring Creek residents raised in a public meeting April 19, making recommendations for solving the matter. During the meeting, customers described their frustrations with inconsistent meter readings, excessively high water bills and unsupportive customer service before members of the PUCN, BCP, and Great Basin Water Company President Wendy Barnett. Lila Glaser, an economist with the regulatory operations of the PUNC, said she found billing issues in Spring Creek were widespread and any refund amount should be calculated and potentially refunded to every Spring Creek customer, not only those customers originally identified by the utility, except for customers who may have already received a higher refund. GWBC has failed to realize what appears to be the widespread nature of the problem and the likelihood that it affected many more customer accounts, not only those customers originally identified by the utility, said Glaser. Glasers recommendation is that GBWC refund customers using a method that reprices each individual customers consumption during the entire year 2016 at tier one of the current water tariff, $3.47 per 1,000 gallons. The method gives customers the benefit of the doubt and discounts the water that could have been consumed in 2016, said Glaser, who also did not recommend an averaging method because there is no indication that meter reads before June were accurate for Spring Creek customers and that it is important for the customers to be able to understand and accept the resolution of the issue. PUCN Senior Compliance Investigator Kellie Nichols agreed with Glasers refund method that would require GBWC to rebill all consumers in its service territory, adding that 90 consumer complaints have been filed by Spring Creek customers. BCP Senior Economist Patrick Morton, who was on the panel in April to hear complaints, also believed that GBWC should refund payments except for the basic service charge for impacted customers during the three months limited by the scope of the tariff. Mortons testimony further stated in a summary of the meter reading issue of 2016 that the utility was impacted by a rogue and sophisticated employee not performing his duties who may have infrequently read meters or may have provided estimated reads during his time of employment Nov. 11, 2015 thru Sept. 23, 2016. PUNC staff also addressed GBWCs assertion that the meter reading issues in question were limited to one field technician who was accused of ghost reading or making up readings which began in June of 2016. Dr. Yasuji Otsuka, manager of resource and market analysis division for the PUCN, stated that it was not likely that the ghost readings, were limited to customers in that time frame by that employee, and that GBWC did not appear to investigate possible fraud practice with all field technicians. It appears that GBWC did not even try to do so, said Otsuka. I conclude that GBWCs analyses fail to support its assertion that the meter reading problems are limited to only one particular field technician and started in June 2016. Customer care was another dilemma that Nichols pointed to in her testimony, believing that GBWC should engage in significant outreach efforts to rebuild trust with their consumers and dedicate more time in speaking with and educating consumers working directly with its consumers to find resolutions instead of continuing the current practice of passing consumers off to another organization when problems arise. When asked if the events that transpired were a low point for the Spring Creek division, Morton replied Definitely. There were problems in customer care, financial review, operational review and ultimately managerial review. PUCN Regulatory Operations Staff Senior Engineering Analyst Judy Kareck testified that there was not a single root cause of the meter reading issue, pointing to the fact that the Utility (GBWC) has had difficulties attracting and retaining trained personnel. As indicated in Wendy Barnetts testimony, there are approximately 1,400 to 1,600 meters to be read in a route, added Kareck. Being stretched too thinly could be a cause for estimating water consumption, Kareck noted. The filings are in response to docket No. 16-12006 which was filed Dec. 6 as a Petition for a Declaratory Order that GBWCs resolution of issues related to meter reading in Spring Creek is consistent with its tariff. All files related to the docket can be found on the PUCN website at http://pucweb1.state.nv.us/PUC2/DktDetail.aspx. The filings come before a pre-conference hearing set for Thursday and a hearing scheduled for June 12-13, if needed. The pre-hearing conference will give the parties the opportunity to narrow down issues that will be discussed in rebuttal testimony and at the hearing, said Public Information Officer Peter Kostes. A live video link is also available on the PUNC website. The public is invited to attend the hearings starting at 2 p.m. Thursday, at the High Tech Center, Room 111, and 8 a.m. June 12 and 13 in Berg Hall Conference Room at Great Basin College. With the HSC results out, the admission process for degree colleges associated with the Mumbai university is all set to begin. This year,students seeking admission in a degree college [except autonomous institutes] will have to register on the University of Mumbai portal before applying to colleges. Under the guidelines, students applying for undergraduate courses at colleges affiliated to the university will have to go through a mandatory pre-admission registration from June 1 to June 16. Students will, however, have to buy admission forms from their chosen colleges before registering. Since colleges will conduct the admissions, applicants will have to attach a copy of their online registration forms while submitting their forms at different colleges. The pre-admission registration allows students to apply to multiple colleges for more than one course. Heres all you need to know: ONLINE REGISTRATION MANDATORY, HOW TO DO IT Visit this site . A window for Mumbai University Pre-admission Online Registration 2017-18 will open on the screen Register on the online portal by providing basic registration information. You will be provided a username and password on a registered email and mobile number Log in with the user name and password. Start filling the application form. Upload the photo and signature. Fill complete profile such as personal details, contact, correspondence details, reservation & educational details correctly. Submit the application form and get a print out and confirmation code Select the first year course. Then, select the affiliated colleges running the course. Last, select the required documents to be attached with application form. Take a print out of the submitted pre-registration application form. It is mandatory THE SCHEDULE Sale of Forms : From May 31 to June 15 (On college working days) Online link to remain open from June 1 to June 16 Submission from June 16 to June 22 (till 4pm) THE LIST First merit list : June 22, (5pm) Verification of documents: June 23 Payment of fees: June 27 and June 28 (Up to 4.30pm) (On working days) Second Merit List : June 28 (5pm) Verification of documents: June 29 Payment of fees: June 30 and July 1 (Up to 4.30pm) Third and final Merit List: July 1 (5pm) Verification of Documents: July 3 Payment of fees: July 4 and July 5 (Up to 5pm) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Around 80 students from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) organised a protest march to show solidarity with an IIT-Madras scholar. R Sooraj was allegedly thrashed on Sunday for participating in a beef festival at the Madras campus. The protest was unusual as IIT-Bombay students generally stay away from contentious socio-political issues. A student who attended the event said that it was a spontaneous protest and wasnt organised by any particular group. We all participated in it because we felt strongly about it, said the student, not wishing to be named. The protestors held placards and chanted slogans, demanding justice for Sooraj. They also condemned incidents of violence in the name of cow protection. They asserted that choosing ones food was a fundamental right. We dont see this attack as a spontaneous response to local issue but as an organised effort to silence voices rising against the brahamanical views. Now we are forced to speak up and fight back because the use of violence, intimidation and hooliganism has spread to IITs as well, read a statement from the students. On Sunday, a group of 70 to 80 students at IIT-Madras held a beef festival to protest against the central governments ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter. The students wanted to show that they had a right to choose their food. Similar protests were carried out in other parts of the country, including Kerala, against the controversial rule that many claimed hurt millions poor farmers and meat traders. Kerala and West Bengal have rejected the notification and called it a violation of Indias federal structure. The protesters also voiced concern over attempts to silence dissenting voices on the campuses by right-wing forces. Instead of becoming open to new ideas, our universities are becoming tools in the hands of brahminical fascists who have no regard for the spirit of democracy, read the statement issued by the IIT-Bombay students. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Maharashtra government has launched a new comprehensive job portal Mahaswayam a combination of skill development, employment and entrepreneurship. The portal will also make it easier for the state government to keep count of registered candidates, entrepreneurs, training institutes, number of skilled candidates, total job-getters and self-employed users. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who launched the website on Tuesday, called it one stop shop. Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar, skill development and entrepreneurship minister, said the aim was to provide a common platform to all three sectors. Here the job-seekers get the right platform, while the employers get the right candidates. We will be able to keep track of the market, so we can provide required skills to the youth, said Nilangekar. The web portal will have features for the candidates like registration, job search, job application, enquiry for training, information regarding self employment and job fair details. In contrast, the training institutes will provide details of details of participation in the state skill development programme and their registration. The entrepreneurs will get a platform for job vacancy advertisements and online loan applications. Earlier, the state government ran three different portals Maharashtra State Skill Development Society (MSSDS) portal for Skill Development, Maharojgar for employment and Mahaswayamrojgar for entrepreneurship. These three have now been merged to simplify the entire process. . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After talks with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over waiving of loans failed, farmers from several districts across Maharashtra are ready to go on strike from June 1. This is probably the first time farmers have resorted to a strike in the state. Distressed over falling prices of agricultural produce and other issues, the farmers have demanded a loan waiver. With the farmers going on strike, cities like Mumbai and Pune are likely to face a shortage of vegetables, milk and fruits. On Tuesday night, representatives of the Kisan Kranti Morcha, a state-level coordination committee of various farmers outfits met the chief minister at his official residence in Mumbai to discuss the issue, but the talks remained inconclusive, as farmers refused to postpone their agitation. Shantaram Kunjir, a farmer leader from Pune, who was part of the delegation, told HT that Fadnavis asked them to postpone the protest, saying that the government needed some time to take a decision. The chief minister explained his shortcomings, but we want immediate relief for the farmers, Kunjir said. Kunjir said in Pune district alone farmers from over 700 villages are ready to go on strike. They will not supply agricultural produce to Mumbai from Thursday. Those who try to do so will be refrained. The Mathadi workers and other unions of APMC market have also declared their support towards the protest. Similarly, farmers from Nashik district will not supply agricultural produce to the neighbouring state - Gujarat. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The state cabinet on Tuesday cleared the energy conservation policy which paved the way for the state to make LED (light emitting diode) lights mandatory in all new buildings in the state. This rule will come into effect once the state amends the development control rules for both urban and rural areas. Maharashtra is the first state in the country to take this step. It has also decided to make all its government and semi-government buildings switch to LED lights from traditional bulbs and tube lights. Street lights across the state (mostly sodium vapour lights) will also be replaced with LED lights. Under the amendment, the cooking system of kitchen in prisons and charitable trusts, and water supply schemes that cost Rs25 lakh or more will be asked to switch to solar energy. The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting on Tuesday. State energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the changes will save the government around 1,000 megawatts of energy and Rs6,000 crore in five years with the help of this policy. The government will spend Rs840 crore to implement the policy, said the energy minister. Those who dont abide by the rules will face punishment, he added. Bawankule said the government will come up with incentive schemes to encourage old buildings to switch to LED lights. The energy minister said LED lights, energy efficiency fans and other such electronic equipment will be used in all government and semi-government buildings, including municipal corporations and councils. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The state school education department has threatened to shut down the Dahisar school, which expelled 70 kids last week for not paying the hiked fees, if they dont readmit them. The school management said they will move the Bombay high court if the school is shut down. Education minister Vinod Tawde said the department will cancel the no-objection certificate (NoC) issued to the Universal High School in Dahisar if they do not readmit the students. Without the NOC, it stands to loose its affiliation to the Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) board. If the school expels even a single child, we will immediately take action against them. We have sent them notices on this on Wednesday, said Tawde. The divisional fee regulatory committee, an appellate body for grievances under the Maharashtra Educational Institutions Regulation of School Fee Act, 2011, will hear the case on Thursday. Chairman of the school, Jesus Lall said they will approach the HC if the department takes such an action. If the department wants us to allow 50 parents to hold the school at ransom, then let the court decide if it is justified, said Lall. On May 26, the school wrote to the students parents informing them that their children were de-enrolled for non-payment of fees and asking them to collect their school leaving certificates on Monday. For the past four months, the school management and parents have been locked in a dispute over a 14% hike in school fees from Rs 96,000 to Rs 1.2 lakh. The parents had also complained about this to Tawde. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Is a face-off between Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis likely soon? Pawar plans to confront the state government over the issue of land acquisition from farmers for Fadnavis pet project, the Mumbai- Nagpur Samruddhi (Prosperity) Expressway. Pawar announced his plan in a press conference after he met a delegation of farmers in Mumbai on Tuesday. He will meet farmers and party leaders in Aurangabad on June 12 to discuss the course of action. If Pawar chooses to lead the farmers agitation, it will be his first direct face-off with CM Fadnavis. About the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway The Rs46,000-crore super-communication expressway will pass through 10 districts, covering a distance of 710km and connecting adjoining 24 rural districts It will require 20,820 hectares, of which 8,520 hectares will be used for the road and the remaining to develop 24 townships The aim is to provide seamless connectivity across districts namely Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Jalna, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Thane The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is the nodal agency for the project. Fadnavis, who was vocal against the NCP and corruption cases involving their leaders, managed to end the partys dominance in the cooperative sector in the state. In the recent district council and municipal polls, the BJP wrested control of several local government bodies from the NCP. In the states political circles, it is clear that Pawar and Fadnavis do not get along, although the former has cordial equation with some of the top BJP leaders. Farmers in Nashik, Shahpur and some other places have been opposing the land acquisition for the project. Protests against the Samruddhi Expressway are on. I want to understand both the sides before taking a decision. After taking information from government officials, I met a delegation of affected farmers. It looks like the state government is not following the rules. Despite stern opposition from farmers, the procedure for land acquisition was started, Pawar said adding, I will not allow any injustice against farmers. The state government is in damage-control mode. On Sunday, the chief minister met representatives of the farmers opposing the project at Nashik to find a solution. At some places, there is opposition to land acquisition . We have started a dialogue with them, Fadnavis told the media. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Matunga police returned an unclaimed bag with jewellery and cash worth Rs6.6 lakh, which they found at Dadar station on Wednesday, to its owner. The bag belonged to a marriage party and our men spotted it, said N Ambika, deputy commissioner of police, zone 4. The cops found a card of a banquet hall in Worli. We contacted the hall and traced the owner, said Balasaheb Kakad, senior police inspector, Matunga police station. The group had a reception in Mumbai. They had close to 20 bags with them. While keeping the bags in the vehicle outside the railway station, one was left behind, which our men found, said Kakad. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON This year, students seeking admission in one of the degree colleges in the city [except autonomous institutes] will have to register at the University of Mumbai portal before applying to the colleges. As per the guidelines, students applying for undergraduate courses at colleges affiliated to the university will have to go through a mandatory pre-admission registration process from June 14 to June 16. Students will however, have to buy admission forms from their chosen colleges before registration. Since colleges will conduct the admission, applicants will have to attach a copy of their online registration forms while submitting their forms at different colleges. The pre-admission registration allows students to apply in multiple colleges for more than one course. Students seeking admission autonomous institutes in Mumbai, however, will have to apply directly at the college. According to the university, through the online registration process, the university creates a database of the students information studying in in the affiliated colleges. This will help MU check eligibility of students, issue them exam hall tickets and declare results. This year, the university has decided to continue with Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL), a public limited company, for the pre-admission online registration. Last year, the admission process was delayed by three weeks after the university tried to appoint a new service provider. The colleges, however, are skeptical if the university can stick to its schedule. We will have to keep our fingers crossed. The admission process should be wrapped up in 15 to 20 days, so that we can start the classes at least by July 1, said MB Madlani, principal, KPB Hinduja College. Colleges said that they would start classes as soon as they get a sizeable number of students. We can start the classes after the second merit list is published because by that time most of the students take admission, said BB Sharma, principal, Vaze College, Mulund. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Jai Hind College at Churchgate had 14 reasons to celebrate Tuesdays HSC results. In a happy coincidence, seven pairs of twins scored well in the Class 12 exams. Whats more? Each pair scored nearly identical marks. Six of the pairs were from commerce. Principal Ashok Wadia said the college has over the years had many twins on their rolls, but this is the first time they were all in the same stream. I do not understand the reason, but we have observed siblings in the same class benefit from each other and this reflects in their grades. Separated by four minutes at birth, twins Rhea and Raashi Jethanis scores were just 0.3% apart. Rhea wants to study management, while Raashi said she wants to pursue mass media. (HT Photo) I secured 75.2% and Rhea got 74.9%. We have always studied together, but now we will pursue different careers, said Raashi. Rhea wants to study management, while Raashi said she wants to pursue mass media. Samay and Shikhar Seth were in the same class and want to continue studying together. Have a look at their journey, here They scored 80 % and 79.85% respectively. We are happy with our results. We both plan to do MBA (Master of Business Administration), said Samay. Sisters Kajal and Kiran Pallathery even wrote the exams seated in the same classroom at the exam centre. As our initials are the same, we end up in the same exam centres, said Kajal. Sisters Kajal and Kiran Pallathery even wrote the exams seated in the same classroom at the exam centre. (HT Photo) The sisters have been inseparable since school. We were in different grades only in classes 4 and 5, Kajal said. They want to continue studying together, as both plan to take a company secretary course. We scored 73.03% and 79.69%, I hope we get into in the same college as I cannot imagine life without my sister, said Kajal. Brother-sister pair from Tardeo, Sagar and Disha Changwani, said it was a great having a sibling to share the board exams with. We both helped each other. I guided Sagar in organisation commerce, he helped me with economics, said Disha. The twins have decided to take different fields. Linda and Lara Borges notched 90.61% and 86.46% (HT Photo) Linda and Lara Borges notched 90.61% and 86.46%; Anish and Aniruddha Kothari scored 89.53% and 87.23%. Anish and Aniruddha Kothari scored 89.53% and 87.23%. (HT Photo) The college has a seventh pair passing out, but they were not in the same stream. Around 1,200 children from Jai Hind wrote the exams. Editor: Nevada's school system has the lowest scores nationally and is ranked last in education by Education Week in 2017, while Massachusetts schools are rated best of all the states. Last November, both Nevada and Massachusetts voters passed marijuana industry-written initiatives legalizing commercial pot. In both states, a one-year period was provided for state government to develop their recreational marijuana program, including drafting comprehensive regulations. In the name of "educational funding," Nevada politicians and the marijuana industry have entered into an "unholy alliance" to heedlessly rush the process. An "Early Start" program is now set to begin on July 1, 2017 without adequate preparation. Nevada has hired only four new employees to run a complicated "seed to sale" recreational marijuana program that required Colorado to add more than 50 additional employees in 2014. "Light one up for the kids" appears to be the new state motto. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, the state legislature and Governor Baker, citing the complexities of legalization, including fundamental conflict with federal law, extended their "first sale" deadline to 18 months. Massachusetts will have sales begin July 1, 2018 -- a full year after the Nevada start date. Massachusetts legislators were not impressed with the "new money for education" argument and vowed to "get it right" on prudent implementation. Nevada's linking educational funding to legalized recreational marijuana use seems strange. In Colorado, marijuana use among youths 12-17 increased 20 percent after legalization- making it No. 1 in the nation. Marijuana commercialization in Nevada may mean slightly more money for education, but increased marijuana use will make our kids less able to learn and more subject to dropping out. As Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong cautioned, "We're coming in too fast, too high, too hard, and we don't really know what we're doing." Colorado and California followed a one-year policy on "first sale" -- so should Nevada. Jim Hartman Genoa While NCP chief Sharad Pawar and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis are likely to face off over the Mumbai-Nagpur highway, trouble is also brewing for Congress leader Baba Siddique, whose house was raided in connection with a money laundering case. A Pune man who was disappointed by his sons HSC exam score committed suicide, while a Mumbai teacher now sells idlis to make a living, after he lost in job last year. 1. Pune boy scores 71% in HSC, disappointed father ends life Disappointed by his sons performance in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams, a man from Pimpri committed suicide, the police said on Wednesday. 2.Mumbai-Nagpur super communication highway: Will it lead to Pawar vs Fadnavis? Is a face-off between Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis likely soon? 3. ED raids Congress leader Baba Siddiques house in Mumbai in money laundering case The enforcement directorate (ED) conducted searches at various locations of Congress leader Baba Siddique and others in connection with the alleged slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) scam. 4. Mumbai schoolteacher forced to sell idlis on streets for a living After working as teacher at a school in Kalyan near Mumbai for 14 years, Dilip Raje, 52, is now forced to sell idlis on the streets for a living. Reason: the school education departments decision to do away with surplus teachers in Marathi medium schools. 5. Maharashtra farmers to go on strike from June 1, supply of vegetables, milk may get affected After talks with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over waiving of loan waivers failed, farmers from several districts comprising hundreds of villages across Maharshtra are ready to go on strike from June 1. This is probably the first time farmers have resorted to a strike in the state. Distressed over falling prices of agriculture produce and other issues, the farmers have demanded a loan waiver. Two security guards on early Wednesday morning carried a dead man on their motorcycle and drove nearly 10km from Vasundhara Sector-2B to MMG district hospital in Ghaziabad to get him treated. They were in for shock when the doctors declared the man dead on arrival. The two guards, Amarnath Pandey and Hari Mangal, had come for their morning shift at a housing society in Vasundhara and found the victim, Gajpal Singh, who also worked as a secusity guard, unconscious. Instead of waiting for an ambulance, they decided to help Singh and rushed him on the bike to the hospital. The distance to the hospital was about 10km and they drove fast as there was hardly any traffic. But the man was already dead when they reached the hospital. The post-mortem report confirmed that he died due to an illness. In the morning, SIngh had called his supervisor to say that he was unwell. The two guards thought that the man was serious and took him on the bike. It is also possible that he may have died midway and the two men did not realise that, said PK Tripathi, station house officer, Indirapuram. The doctors informed the police and we picked up the two for questioning. Later, when they told us the entire incident, we allowed them to go, Tripathi said. Police said Singh had left his house in Arthala around 8.30pm on the intervening night of May 30 and 31. He used to return home by 5am after his night duty, but he did not do so on Wednesday morning. When he did not attend calls, Singhs family approached the police and forwarded a complaint. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Much like the Salwa Judum, where the Chhattisgarh government claimed that villagers were voluntarily leaving their homes and coming to live in camps, the government is now claiming that hundreds of people are surrendering and coming to live with the police for their own protection. But just as Salwa Judum was found to be a State-sponsored movement, the surrenders are turning out to be custodial detention by another name. The only difference is that the courts, which declared the Judum illegal, have yet to take a call on the States surrender policy. The case of Podiyam Panda, a former sarpanch, who allegedly surrendered before the police on May 9, brings the police lie into stark relief. He was picked up from near his village on May 3, and has been in police custody since. After several failed attempts to meet him, his wife filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court in Bilaspur on May 12. He was produced 10 days later, under heavy police escort. In the presence of policemen who stood not far from him, Panda told the court he would rather stay with the police than go with his wife and children. Despite his brothers testimony that he had seen evidence of torture, the court did not order a medical examination, or ask the police to explain the six-day gap between when the Press reported his arrest and the police claimed he had surrendered. Panda was not allowed any time outside of police custody before making his statement. Panda is now back in police custody, and his confession to being involved in the recent Sukma attack and to have served as a conduit between rights activists and journalists and Maoists, serve two purposes to discredit critics of human rights abuses by the security forces, and show that the police is taking quick action after 25 CRPF men were killed. In fact, Panda is not a Naxalite but the former sarpanch of Chintagufa village in Sukma district, a man well-respected locally. He maintained his village as an oasis of peace in the midst of Salwa Judum, and helped both the CRPF and villagers. While the Chhattisgarhs governments surrender policy helps the police keep people in detention indefinitely, it has two main advantages: Legal and psychological. Unlike an arrest, where a person has to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, law and policy are silent on any mechanism to test a surrenders voluntariness. Surrenders also ease the pressure of proving a persons involvement in any actual crime. Surrenders can, therefore, be used to cast a wide and indiscriminate net. Many villagers are picked up from their homes and held for months, while the police decides what to do with them. Some are subsequently arrested, others kept in police camps, while the lucky ones get to go home. The police declare they have been given cash incentives of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh for surrendering investigations on the ground reveal that few have actually seen this money. In 2015, a state screening committee found 75% of the surrenders forwarded by the police did not qualify as Maoist cadre, and were ineligible for rehabilitation; in 2016 that number went up to 97%. Psychologically, the surrender myth has several benefits. It demoralises the Maoists, taints the surrenderee in the eyes of their fellow-villagers, and counters the impression that the police are repressive. As it is, Bastars jails are running some 400% over capacity. Showing people as voluntarily living in police camp sounds benign compared to mass arrests, while enabling total police control. Many surrendered Naxalites are then made to join the District Reserve Group and fight the Maoists, a life of combat from which they were supposedly escaping in the first place. Drawing on Chhattisgarh, the Odisha police recently forced Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti activist Kuni Sikaka to surrender as a Maoist or else face a long jail term. The courts must intervene before surrenders become a mass disease and destroy the basic protections of criminal law. Nandini Sundar is author of The Burning Forest: Indias War in Bastar and professor of sociology, University of Delhi The views expressed are personal Sometimes, one has to see political narratives not in terms of instrumental tactics, or technocratic probes but in terms of folklore and stereotypes. They capture the nature of truth in a way that a secular narrative cannot. One senses this as one looks at the BJPs ambitions to conquer the south. In an electoral sense, the BJP is an outsider to south India. It is stereotypically a Hindu-Hindi party. It today claims to be a national party ready to spread the saffron wave deep south. At one level, it feels like an alien invasion. Fundamental to this strategy is the years of networking built by the RSS. The BJP is only the tip of the iceberg completing an electoral victory after the RSS has entered the south. The geographies of the imagination do not convey the idea of an election but more an act of infiltration. For years, the south was a fortress which the BJP could not enter. Part of the reason for this is that the BJP spoke an idiom of nation-state and identity politics the south did not share. The BJP reflected a narrative the south was contemptuous of. It reflected the waves of social movements, which had fought for social justice, while the BJP remained a casteist party. Second, the BJP equated Hindi with India, an equation which the south, particularly Chennai, would not accept. One remembers Annadurai talking of a seceding south being listened to by a tolerant Congress. It is a prospect a BJP would not tolerate. It is the emptying out of political movements and the return of pragmatic politics that has made the south ready for BJP. I remember as a child I went home for vacation to the south. As I crossed the Andhra Pradesh border, I almost felt I was seceding every summer. The south, I felt, was a different country where we behaved differently. Apart from Bollywood, as a child, I did not feel Hindi India had much to offer. Frankly, I felt as Indian as anyone, it is only the BJP dialect I felt was parochial. The decline of a cosmopolitan south concerned with justice has made it vulnerable to the BJP. In fact, when one thinks of politics in Kerala, one thought of the Church, the CPI(M), and the Congress. There was a vitality to the debates on land and even the Church had a sense of the organic, native, and indigenous the BJP could never have. Today Marxist ideology is dead, the Church is conservative, the Congress dead-wood. It is as if a whole cast of characters and a wonderful set of scripts brilliantly enacted by the Congress and CPI(M) have been erased. The result is the entry of the BJP as a B grade alternative to the great cameo acts of the past. In a way, what one sees here is the decline of acts of political justice. The new aspirational, mobile, global south Indian is more ready for the BJP and Narenda Modi than for epic battles of ideology and electoral politics. The BJP knows its footprints are still new. It has to adapt local styles and heroes and the irony is that film which once kept it out is becoming the vehicle for its belated entry. In the earlier era, that film scripted a theory of politics that made the BJP irrelevant. But one must remember it was in an era where the film star and the politician was one person, like the DMK script writers, like Rama Rao, or Raj Kumar. Film and politics were warp and weft of one imagination. Today the ideological power of the film is over. What it however left behind was the fan club, cadre of fans who were as powerful as the CPI(M) cadre or the RSS shakha. In a pragmatic way, the BJP has decided to co-opt the stars with fan clubs, giving them a fan base which eventually becomes a party base. There is something surreal about the possibility of a Rajinikanth joining hands with a Modi. It is like a confluence of two badly scripted films. It is like politics as a symbolic fiction and film as a symbolic politics combining to create a new utopia, a hybridity to fill up the emptiness of southern politics. It is as if a pan-Indian second-hand state is being created, which makes pragmatic sense to both sides. A Rajinikanth keeps southern populist honour intact as RSS cadre merge with is fans in surreal delight. Rajinikanth could have been a counter to the Modi wave, giving a respite to southern politics. Unfortunately, an alliance of convenience might make him the Trojan horse of Indian politics. For an old-fashioned politico like me, it is the ultimate nightmare. Politics is the happy transition actors in the twilight of stardom are looking for and the BJP has a pragmatic sense of this. The BJP is a master of factional politics in Andhra Pradesh. Fundamentally, it acts as if every party is a regional extension to its nationalist presence. It becomes both a complement and an opposition to each party quietly capturing the oppositional space, which is a temptation to many out of power politicians. Its real politics is its politics of patience. And pragmatism. The arrival of the BJP will create a new pragmatic politics without the old colour and character of the south. It will be an irony of democracy, which political pundits will take years to recover from. Shiv Visvanathan is social science nomad The views expressed are personal In the face of violent protests over a steep fall in pass percentage in intermediate (science and arts) and reports of at least three suicides coming in from districts, which took political overtones, chief minister Nitish Kumar, on Wednesday, said that the grievances of the students would be promptly addressed. If they feel justice has not been done with them in evaluation, it is their right to seek scrutiny of the paper. That will be done. I have also asked the board for early compartmental examination so that students could get one more opportunity to pass, he told media persons, soon after a cabinet meeting. In a related development, the state government also removed education secretary Jitendra Srivastava from his post and appointed him commissioner of the Magadh division. He was replaced as education secretary by Robert L Chongthu. The Bihar school examination board will seek applications for scrutiny from June 3-12, while compartmental examination will be held in July first week. This year, instead of one subjects, the students would be allowed to take compartmental examination in two subjects in view of a large number of students failing. The decisions were taken soon after the results and the emerging situation were reviewed at the level of chief minister Nitish Kumar with education minister Ashok Choudhary and board chairman Anand Kishor participating with senior education department officials. The meeting discussed ways of improving secondary education through all possible means. Expressing displeasure over such poor results, Kumar called for an in-depth analysis of all aspects, including shortfall of quality teachers and difficulty in attracting good talent on modest salary, so that concrete remedial measures could be taken without delay. At the meeting, huge shortage of teachers in key subjects like science, English and other key subjects and laboratory staff also came up for discussion. Seeking a detailed road map for revamp of secondary and higher secondary education, Kumar said that like in the past, this challenge would also be to secure further improvement in education, which remains the governments top priority. We are already spending around 25000-crore on education and will provide more resources, but quality of education needs to be maintained at all cost. Cheating was an issue in 2015, but in 2016 when exams were conducted tightly, the toppers scam surfaced. All those involved have landed up in jail, he said, adding that he has asked officials to gather ground reports and adopt best practices. Last year also, after over four-lakh out of a total of 11.20-lakh examinees -32% students in science and 42% in arts had failed due to tight conduct of exams, the board had decided to allow compartmental examination in just one subject in intermediate for the first time. But despite tight exam, toppers scandal surfaced to embarass the government. This year the results have fallen to an unprecedented level, as 70% students failed in intermediate (science), while another 63% failed in arts stream, raising a question mark over the quality of school education. Sensing the huge dissatisfaction among the students, the board decided to allow compartmental exam in two subjects to give more opportunities to the students to pass. The board chairman said the results of complementary exam would be published in July itself so that students could catch up with the new academic session without much delay. We will address all grievances of students on a priority basis. During the scrutiny, if any answer remains unevaluated, marks will be given to them, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amit Bahadur, 37, who is now famous as power minister Rana Gurjit Singhs cook, has been in hiding after a controversy erupted over him getting the contract of a Rs 26-crore sand mine in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district. Hindustan Times tracked him down at the Chandigarh office of one of the companies in which he is a director. In an interview, he strongly contradicted his description as a cook in media reports. Wearing formal trousers and a flashy shirt with three high-end mobile phones in hand, Bahadur repeatedly asserted that he never worked as a cook and denied that he is being used for Ranas benami operations. Q: Being a cook, how did you manage to get Punjabs richest mine? A: Let me tell you, I am not a cook and I dont know cooking. If I have Bahadur surname, it doesnt mean I am a cook. Nobody in the last four generations in my family has ever worked as a cook. My forefathers were Nepalis but our family had settled in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. I am Delhi-born and my daughter is studying in Delhi Public School, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. Anybody can go and check. Calling me a cook is wrong and defamatory. Every Punjabi with a Singh surname is not a truck driver. I challenge anybody to prove that I was a cook ever. Q: But have you not worked in Ranas firms? A: I have and I am not denying it. Before leaving Rana Sugars to join the mining business, I was working as liaisoning officer in the firms Moradabad unit. There are many IAS officers in UP who still know me as Rana Sugars liaisoning officer. I am giving you the mobile numbers of those officers. You can check with them. I was originally working in Captain JS Randhawas firm and left it in 2011 to join Ranas firm. But when Randhawa Sir told me to join him in mining business, I left Ranas firm. Q: It seems a miracle for a liaisoning officer of a sugar company to become director of the company that has bagged the biggest mining contract of the state? You seem to be lying to save Rana? A: Before joining Randhawas firm, I had been working in Balwinder Paper Mill situated on Gill Road in Ludhiana since 2001. The mill is not there now, but the company records can prove that. Before moving to Ludhiana, I worked with a construction firm of Sultanpur (UP) as well. Thereafter, I joined Randhawas firm as my father-in-law was already employed with this firm for over 35 years. I am a matriculate and have earned my position by loyalty and hard work. Q: But your salary is just Rs 11,000 and your income tax returns show an annual income of Rs 9 lakh only. And you are a director in more than three firms having links with Rana. Unbelievable! A: Since I have looked after many construction projects for Ranas and Randhawas, they found me fit for the job. There are additional perks with my salary as well. My social status in Moradabad will show you my position. As far as mining is concerned, I am not raising any fund for the firm. We formed this company on February 12 this year and I am one of the directors, who would get 5% of the profit from mining. As per the agreement, I would oversee the operations of the mine, including loading of truck,s and would get Rs 60,000 as monthly salary from the firm. I was first made director of another firm in 2015 as well. Q: Isnt it a fact that Rana and Randhawa are partners and your company is doing benami operations for Rana? A: I know that Rana and Randhawa Sirs are good friends. As an employee, I dont know more than that. But how can anybody believe that Rana would give our company Rs 26 crore secretly and we would submit it with mining department without mentioning the source. After demonetisation, you have to reveal your financial source for every transaction of Rs one lakh. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The tears of joy said it all. Sukhwant Kaur, 55, arrived to an emotional reunion with her husband, Kulwant Singh, and daughter, Ranjeet Kaur, at the Amritsar airport on Wednesday, five months after she left for Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa only to be sold as a slave by a dubious travel agent. Hindustan Times was the first to highlight Sukhwants plight. Her husband, Kulwant, appealed to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj for help on Twitter. Sukhwant arrived at Mumbai from Sharjah at 4.15am before she took a flight to Amritsar. We are happy now that she is finally back, said Kulwant. She had gone for three months. For two months, things appeared normal. After that we learnt that the agent had sold her as a slave. Her captors were demanding money for her release. The agent also went missing. We appeal to the Punjab government to act against such fraudulent travel agents, he said. Sukhwants daughter said, We had lost all hope of seeing her again in this life so you can imagine how grateful we are. I was not able to see my mother before she left for Saudi Arabia but now Im glad I could welcome her back. She was received by former Jalandhar Central BJP MLA Manoranjan Kalia, former local bodies minister Anil Joshi and Amritsar mayor Bakshi Ram Arora. Later, the family left for its native Ajtani village in Nurmahal near Jalandhar. A relieved but tired Sukhwant said: I was only given some rice and meat and rice to eat. I felt like I was living in hell. After reaching Hail city in Saudi Arabia, I was sold as a slave to a family of five members, including three women, who were teachers, said Sukhwant, adding that she was made to do all household works and was beaten up almost every day. The women members of the family also used to lock me up in a room, said Sukhwant. I was admitted to a hospital a month ago after I contracted infection. There, I met a nurse from Kerala with whose help I contacted my husband on May 7. Some 10 days back, a man from the embassy came to visit me in the hospital and assured that I will soon be sent to India, said Sukhwant. She said a debt of Rs 2 lakh forced her to go abroad for work. With no financial support from children, Kulwant and Sukhwant have to fend for themselves. Kulwant works as a daily wage labourer and earns Rs 250 a day. Capt thanks Swaraj for Sukhwants return Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh thanked external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj for facilitating Sukhwants safe return from Saudi Arabia. He also promised a time-bound action plan by his government to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from duping innocent people. The CM also urged the external affairs minister to use all political and diplomatic channels to put an end to illegal practice of travel agents, who fraudulently send innocent people abroad, where they are victimised. Underlining the citys fall in the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) survey rankings, MP Kirron Kher came down heavily on the Chandigarh municipal corporation at a House meeting on Tuesday. Speaking in the meeting as an ex-officio member, she said sanitation in the city has gone from bad to worse, and also put a question mark over allotment of the sanitation contract to Delhi-based company Lions Services. She suggested that the firm be replaced. Kher was unsparing even as the MC is governed by her party, the BJP. Last year, we were number 2 in the Swachh Survekshan (survey), but now we are number 11. I receive so many letters from citizens complaining about poor sanitation, and I really feel bad about it, she said. The company thats been given the contract last year has completely failed in keeping the city clean, despite the MCs paying them Rs 4.5 crore per month. Till 2015, the sanitation was much better; around 1,570 employees were deployed. Now the company has only deployed 670. Today we see heaps of garbage everywhere, Kher argued. She also went after the contractors performance at other places: If we look at the track record of the company in four cities Amritsar, Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Jalandhar the rankings have gone down. Amritsars last year was 49, and now 258. SAS Nagar and Jalandhar did not participate in the survey in 2016, but this year their rankings are 121 and 233, respectively. Buy machine! She also raised the point that the MC is paying Rs 45 lakh a month for a cleaning machine, and has hired three: Why cant the MC buy the machine, which costs Rs 1 crore? She added, We need to get down to work. Only propaganda will not work. I suggest that ward cleanliness committees, resident welfare associations be involved. Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat said a special meeting on sanitation should be held where the companys representatives should also be called. Reacting to Khers assertions, MC commissioner B Purushartha said, Issues that the MP raised are correct to some extent. We are now trying to improve. What ODF? On Chandigarh being an open-defecation-free (ODF) city, Kher said, Though we claim that Chandigarh is ODF, but we know the reality! Most people in colonies and villages still go out for defection. We need to work on it. She also asked the MC to take steps to curb dog-bite cases. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The vice-chancellor of Panjab University (PU), Professor Arun Kumar Grover, on Tuesday confirmed that the varsity was in touch with Haryana government over affiliation of their colleges by PU. A meeting has taken place. Now, I have to meet principal secretary of higher education in Haryana, said Professor Grover. Around two weeks back, a meeting took place between Professor AK Bhandari, former dean university instructions (DUI), PU, and officials of Haryana higher education department. Now a proposal is being prepared, which will be finalised in meeting between the V-C and principal secretary, said Prof Bhandari. Haryana government had submitted before the Punjab and Haryana high court, in the ongoing case over varsitys financial crisis, that it has an interest and stake in the university and it would like to help it in the financial crisis and also to associate itself with it over other affairs. It is submitted that parleys shall be held between the principal secretary to Haryana government, department of education with the vice-chancellor of the university. The V-C added that the governors of Punjab and Haryana were interested in including more colleges under PU. The radius has to be fixed. The colleges from Mohali and Panchkula could be included. A partisan view cant be taken. Before deciding the ambit of PU, it has to be seen that aspirations of people shall be met, he said. He reasoned that there was so much rush for Chandigarh colleges but no one wanted to go to colleges in Mohali and added that students were ready to travel 25-30 km for PU-affiliated colleges. He pointed out that if there were 18 colleges in Chandigarh then neighbourhood could have more colleges. We have to take a decision before July 11 when there is a court hearing, he said. The vice-chancellor however said the issue needs to be looked from the view of enhancing the regions education potential. Do not see this from the angle of financial earnings. Though earlier students were paying examination fee somewhere else, now they would pay to someone else. It is actually a developmental issue. Earlier all these colleges were part of PU. The central government has to be convinced that it needed to be done. The governments have to respond to the needs of the people. One has to take a correct decision, he added. Pkula MLA supports Haryana colleges affiliation with PU Panchkula MLA, Gian Chand Gupta, had written to Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar for affiliation of colleges in Panchkula and Ambala with PU. The Panjab University is a joint property of the Punjab and Haryana government and situated in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Being situated in the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, the Haryana government has claim for original status/share in the Panjab University and colleges situated in the districts of Panchkula and Ambala may be affiliated to this university. While restoring the share in PU, Haryana will have to share the burden of only nominal amount to be paid to PU and this can be a big achievement of the Bharatiya Janta Party government in Haryana, says his letter to Haryana CM. He added that the central government provides 92% of PU budget and Punjab government provides only nominal amount whereas the maximum colleges of Punjab state are affiliated with this university. He had asked for taking up the matter with home ministry for restoring the share of Haryana in PU. BLURB Recently, Haryana had said in HC that it wants to aid PU at this moment of its financial crisis The sudden demise of legendary Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao has come as a big blow to Telugu filmdom, with most celebrities describing his death as an end of an era. With over 150 films as a director to his credit and 50 more as producer, his last directorial outing was the 2014 Telugu flick, Erra Bus, which unfortunately tanked without a trace at the box-office. It wasnt long ago that he announced he had plans to make a film on the life of late Tamil Nadu chief minister and actor J Jayalalithaa. We have exclusively learnt that Baahubali fame Anushka Shetty was the front-runner for the leading role and apparently Dasari had plans to meet her soon and discuss. His plan was to make the film with Anushka, and he believed only she could pull off the role convincingly. Its unfortunate that he passed away even before he could meet and pitch the idea to her, a source told HT. There are rumours that actor Mohan Babu, who owes his career to Dasari, might take up this dream project. It hasnt come to it yet. We cant say that with absolute certainty. If he has any plans, Im sure he will make them public, the source added. Some of his best Telugu films include Premabhishekam, Meghasandesham, Osey Ramulamma and Tata Manavadu. In most of his films, he even donned the greasepaint, playing some key roles in his over four-decade long career. The National award-winning filmmaker directed a few Hindi films such as Swarg Narak, Yaadgar, Prem Tapasya and Zakhmi Sher among others. Survived by two sons and a daughter, Raos last rites will be performed on Wednesday. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Taxi drivers throughout Spain are staging strike action today to protest against the growing presence of app-based transport platforms such as Uber and Cabify. The stoppage has hit Madrid hardest, where drivers are staging a 12-hour stoppage, which started at 6am. The near-empty taxi rank at the Sants train station in Barcelona today. Albert Garcia (EL PAIS) In Barcelona, the strike is due to last 24 hours. In other cities, such as Valencia, drivers walked off the job for two hours this morning. A march is planned in central Madrid for midday, with taxi drivers descending on the capital from all over Spain. This is the second strike by taxi drivers in Spain this year. A march is planned in central Madrid for midday, with taxi drivers descending on the capital from all over Spain In late 2014, a Spanish court ordered Uber to stop operations in the country after a complaint from a taxi association that came in the wake of numerous protests from the sector. However in mid-2015, the firm returned to Barcelona operating as a food-delivery service known as Uber Eats. In March 2016, Uber made a comeback in the Spanish capital in the form of UberX, which sees users put in touch with professional drivers holding passenger transport vehicle (VTC) licenses, which fall under different regulations from the taxi sector. Among the complaints of the taxi sector is the practice of VTC drivers picking up passengers in contravention of the rules. By law, such vehicles can only collect clients who have booked them previously. They make clandestine stops, near busy areas, with the app activated so that a vehicle will appear close to possible customers, says Fedetaxi. But Cabify and Uber deny such practices. Before we used to have to go back to the base after finishing a service, but now we are allowed to stop near the destination of the last customer, explains an Uber driver. The Spanish Taxi Federation (Fedetaxi) has called for the creation of a publicly run digital platform that would allow customers to book a taxi anywhere in Spain, along with public-private funding to help drivers leave the profession and retrain. The ideas, outlined in a document called Proposals in favor of the Public Taxi Service in Spain, will be presented to Congress after Tuesdays march in central Madrid. Fedetaxi says a publicly owned digital platform would improve the quality and competitiveness of Spains taxi service and would be focused on tourism as a strategic sector. Spanish news agency EFE reports that center-right political party Ciudadanos has proposed convening a negotiation table between taxi drivers and companies such as Uber and Cabify, so they can reach agreement to resolve the ongoing dispute. We need to define rules that are the same for all, said Ignacio Aguado, Ciudadanos spokesman at Madrid City Hall. We support the new business models, said Aguado, adding that his party would not close the door on those people who want to do create new businesses. English version by Nick Lyne. The Baahubali franchise has catapulted popular Telugu actor Prabhas into superstardom. Naturally then, anything he does (or doesnt do) makes news. And one of the rumours that has clung to him is about his marriage. The latest being that Prabhas aka Amarendra Baahubali is likely to marry the granddaughter of industrialist Bhupathi Raju, chairman of Raasi Cements. The respective families are in talks to see if an alliance can come through, which is likely to take place in 2018, a Times of India report said. Prabhas is set to marry the granddaughter of an industrialist. The family of Bhupathi Raju, chairman of Raasi Cements is apparently in talks with Prabhass family for a possible alliance. The report couldnt independently be verified. Prabhas had reportedly rejected close to 6,000 proposals to concentrate on Baahubali. Link-up rumours about the Baahubali couple, Prabhas and Anushka Shetty, have been doing the rounds for many years now. The pair have romanced each other onscreen in a number of hit films such as Mirchi and Billa prior to Baahubali. Prabhas is currently holidaying in the US and is likely to return in June to begin shooting for Saaho, to be directed by Sujeeth. To be made in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi, Saaho will be shot primarily in Mumbai. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Ever since actor Karanvir Bohra and RJ Teejay Sidhu became parents to beautiful twins, Vienna and Raya Bella, in October 2016, the little girls have been winning everyone over with their cuteness. Earlier it was their photoshoot with the parents, and now its their own Instagram profile. Yep, the twins have their own Instagram handle by the name of Twin Baby Diaries and its handled by mum Teejay. Their first post was on May 14 and the girls already have 26.4k followers. Take a look at some of their posts: BELLA - Okay you, I don't mind you hanging out with me on the sofa. Stay on your side. Oh, and remember one more thing.......... DO NOT PINCH MY CHEEKS! A post shared by Bella And Vienna (@twinbabydiaries) on May 29, 2017 at 6:01am PDT What are you here for, still? Head to their Instagram for some more cuteness! SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Cannes Film Festival has spelt magic for years and years. But somewhere, this years 70th edition which ought to have been all the more glorious sank a little in the blue waters of the shimmering Mediterranean Sea. The French Riviera known for its fun, its playboy rich culture, its bindass casino hunting and royal romances lacked the lustrous sheen that this writer has seen summer after summer for 27 years. But the 28th appeared different and disappointing. To begin with, security became such an overwhelming concern that it began to suffocate all those thousands of professionals, including the nearly 5,000 journalists. They had to plod through several layers of frisks and checks, and long queues outside auditoriums not only made the joy of Cannes less joyous, but also delayed, for the first ever time in this critics memory, screenings. Sometimes by 15 minutes, sometimes more. There was one occasion when a bag forgotten by a journalist in the foyer of the Debussy Theatre just before the start of the French movie, Redoubtable, postponed the show by 45 minutes. A film about Jean-Luc Godard, it was jocularly assumed by critics and others that the great writer and director must have planned the bag scare. For, in 1968, Godard, along with others like Truffaut, had marched into a Cannes auditorium and forced the festival to close down in sympathy with the striking workers and students. After wading through this kind of punishing security, one found the selections awfully disappointing this year. This critic does not remember a time when the movies were so boring. We really did not have a Toni Erdmann or a White Ribbon or a Breaking the Waves or a 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days or a I, Daniel Blake. Instead, we had a whole lot of eminently forgettable films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer (a bizarre story about black magic), Wonderstruck (where two people go looking for each other), Happy End (a horrible take about a rich European family from someone as great as Michael Haneke) and The Day After (a juvenile attempt at essaying an extra-marital affair). The opening movie, Ismaels Ghosts, was a super disaster about a film directors life spinning out of control when his former lover appears as a ghost! Could Cannes not have found anything remotely worthier than this? Cannes this year had a very unimpressive list of films including the Happy End. Of course, Cannes would and could explain the unimpressive lineup to a bad crop produced this season, but one feels that the festival is getting a little too obsessive about home-grown cinema. The result: too many French movies and most of them below the mark. Sometimes, during the screenings this critic would wonder why Cannes could not pick a Dangal or a Take Off. Pray, why? Adding to the security paranoia and the disappointing selections was the Netflix war that the festival was sucked into. While the festival chief, Thierry Fremaux, was firm in his view that films are best watched in theatres, the American streaming giant, Netflix, had a contradictory view. Two Netflix movies were in competition, and the French cinemas insisted that post-Cannes, they must be shown in theatres before being streamed. Fremaux agreed and declared that come 2018, there would be no Netflix films in competition unless it agrees to the cinemas-first rule. The jury president and Spanish master, Pedro Almodovar, talked about this in his first press conference on the opening day of the Festival. He agreed with Fremaux, but another juror and Hollywood star, Will Smith, differed with Almodovar, and two seemed to get into an almost ugly spat. This was the first ever time that one remembers the jury conference being used for this kind of ungainly confrontation. What is happening to Cannes? All these made Cannes less adorable this year. Some of the Festivals magic seemed to have evaporated. And Cannes must make a valiant, valiant effort in the summer of 2018 to rekindle its lost glory. The security issue is never going to go away. But a far more intelligent choice of cinema can help Cannes regain its lost mesmeric effect. (Gautaman Bhaskaran has watched the Cannes Film Festival for 28 years.) Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Philippine troops have killed 89 Islamist militants during more than a week of urban battles but a final showdown is expected to be fierce as the gunmen protect their leaders and hold hostages, authorities said Wednesday. Attack helicopters fired rockets on Wednesday morning into parts of Marawi, a Muslim city in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines, that were still controlled by the militants fighting under the black flag of the Islamic State (IS) group. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao in response to the crisis, which he described as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Eighty-nine militants had been killed in the fighting and the amount of territory in the city that the remaining gunmen controlled had been cut to just 10%, military spokesperson Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said Wednesday. However Padilla warned of more intense battles ahead, with the military believing three of the militants main leaders were likely still in the city. A Philippine air force attack helicopter fires a rocket as they continue to assault the Maute group in Marawi city, Philippines. (Reuters Photo) That 10% is most likely the area that is heavily guarded and defended by any armed men if they are protecting any individual of high value, Padilla said. The militants are also holding an unknown number of civilians hostage, according to Padilla and other authorities. They initially took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage at the start of the crisis. A video of the priest appeared on social media on Tuesday, in which he repeated the militants demands to withdraw and said his captors were holding 240 people hostage. Padilla said the number of people cited in the video as being held hostage could not be verified. He insisted the release of the footage showed the militants were becoming increasingly desperate and said security forces would not back down. They are trapped, they are contained, they are in areas that they will never come up alive unless they surrender, Padilla said. Terrible ordeal Another major complicating factor was the safety of about 2,000 residents who the local government said remained trapped in the militant-controlled areas, with troops, police and aid workers trying to rescue them. It was a terrible situation. We did not have anything to eat, Jenita Abanilla, 47, a laundrywoman, told reporters at an evacuation centre in Marawi on Wednesday shortly after heavily armed police brought her to safety. Abanilla said she, her eight-year-old son, her husband plus eight other neighbours and relatives had often hid kneeling with their faces on the floor of her house. We covered the mouths of our children. We were afraid the gunmen would come in and kill us, she said, adding they were also scared of being hit by military bombs. Padilla said Wednesday the militants had murdered 19 civilians but insisted that the militarys precision airstrikes had not killed any of the trapped residents. Twenty-one security forces had also died, Padilla said, bringing the combined death toll to 129. The clashes erupted when security forces raided a house to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as ISs leader in the Philippines and who is on the US governments list of most-wanted terrorists. Authorities said they were taken by surprise when dozens of gunmen emerged to protect Hapilon and then went on a rampage through Marawi, the Philippines main Islamic city with a population of 200,000. Hapilon was being protected by members of the local Maute group, a small band of militants who has declared allegiance to IS, according to the government. Malaysians, Singaporean, Indonesian and other fighters had been involved in the unrest, according to the military. Hapilon and the two Maute leaders -- brothers after whose surname the group is named -- were still believed to be in Marawi, local military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera told reporters. A Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. The Maute and other hardline groups have rejected the peace process. China said on Wednesday a priority energy project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) inaugurated last week will benefit millions of people in Pakistan and strengthen the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the first 660-MW unit of the Sahiwal coal power project in Punjab province. With a total expected capacity of 1320 MW, the plant is considered an early harvest project under the $46-billion CPEC. India has repeatedly raised its concerns about the CPEC with China, saying the corridor is a sovereignty issue as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Projects under the CPEC have also run into problems over security and have been marred by differences among Pakistani political parties on the corridors routes. But that hasnt stopped Beijing from going ahead with various road, energy and transportation projects under the CPEC. After the completion of the power station, it will (have) the largest installed capacity of Pakistan's clean coal-fired power plants. The annual power generation is expected to be more than 9 billion KW to meet the local demand of nearly 10 million people, foreign ministery spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Wednesday. It is estimated that most of the power projects will be completed preceding the year 2019, easing lack of energy in Pakistan which will benefit the people, she added. Hua said 17 priority energy projects were being completed under the CPEC, adding the Sahiwal project marked the intensive building and completion period of the projects. She said, The Prime Minister of Pakistan has applauded the efficiency of the building of this project. She also described the Sahiwal project as a game changer, adding: We have also seen the benefits brought by the CPEC projects and Belt and Road Initiative. Several CPEC projects are currently under construction. In the energy sector, work on 13 projects, including the Port Qasim coal plant in Sindh and ZTE Energy Pakistan PV power plant in Punjab, is going on, the foreign ministry said. Under transportation, the Lahore city rail transit project, the phase II of Karakoram Highway upgradation project (from Thakot to Havelian), the Lahore-Karachi Expressway (from Sukkur to Multan) and construction for three other transport projects (relating to building) infrastructure have started, the ministry had told Hindustan Times. China on Wednesday seemed to welcome Indias move to reject a request from Australia to join this years Malabar naval exercise, which involves India, Japan and the US and is usually held in the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean or West Pacific maritime regions. The ministry of foreign affairs (MFA) said security concerns of countries should be taken into account while holding military drills. I have seen the relevant reports on the refusal made by India for the invitation. I think India is also clear about the consideration behind this behaviour, MFA spokesperson Hua Chunying said at the regular ministry briefing on Wednesday. A Reuters report from New Delhi, quoting anonymous officials, on Tuesday said India had rejected Australias request to join the drill to avoid a hostile reaction from China. We are happy to see the parties in the military field carry out normal dialogue and exchange. It is also desirable that all parties concerned should take full account of the security concerns of the countries in the region and that the exchange and cooperation should be able to play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, Hua said. An ABC report in April, quoting Australian defence minister Marise Payne, said Canberra was interested in joining the exercise. Australia is very interested in a quadrilateral engagement with India, Japan and the United States. What form that may take is a matter of discussion between our various countries, Payne was quoted as saying during a visit to Tokyo in April. However, ever since the announcement, it was being speculated that India will reject Australias bid. The Malabar exercise was started in 1992 with the US and India in the Indian Ocean; Japan joined in 2007. Since its inception, the scope of the exercise has gradually expanded, falling under Beijings glare. Last year Chinese media sharply criticised the Malabar exercises, saying that they are designed to target China. Such a large-scale military exercise was obviously designed to target Chinas submarine activities in the East and South China Seas in recent years, promote the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and cement the US presence in the region, the nationalistic tabloid Global Times wrote. Washington brought New Delhi and Tokyo into the exercise to relieve its pressure due to overstretched military presence around the globe and tighten its grip on the Asia-Pacific region, it said. International aid arrived into Sri Lanka on Wednesday as the death toll from the islands worst floods and landslides in well over a decade climbed to 202. Foreign minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had rushed relief supplies and medicine to assist more than 600,000 people driven from their homes following Fridays monsoon deluge. We also have a lot of enquiries from other countries and organisations wanting to know our immediate needs. We are moved by the spontaneous response, Karunanayake told reporters in Colombo. India and Pakistan also deployed medical teams on the ground in some of the worst-affected areas, he said. The Disaster Management Centre confirmed the death toll rose to 202 after the discovery of more landslide victims beneath tonnes of mud in Sri Lankas hard-hit southwest. Another 96 people were listed as still missing. As the floods receded in most areas, hundreds of volunteers have fanned out to begin cleaning drinking wells to bring fresh water to survivors, officials said. Government spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said additional medical teams were also being deployed to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases. In May 2003, 250 people were killed and 10,000 homes destroyed after a similarly powerful monsoon. A powerful bomb hidden in a sewage tanker exploded in the highly secure diplomatic quarter of Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing 90 people and demonstrating that the holy month of Ramzan would provide little respite from the violence across Afghanistan. The blast in the heart of the Afghan capital injured 400 people and damaged the embassies of India, Bulgaria, France, Japan, Turkey and the UAE. It also destroyed or damaged more than 50 vehicles and shattered windows of buildings located hundreds of metres away. Indias ambassador Manpreet Vohra said the bomb went off nearly 100 metres from the countrys embassy, causing considerable damage but all members of the staff were safe. The National Directorate of Security said on Wednesday evening the attack was planned by the Haqqani Network in Pakistan with the direct help of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, according to Afghan media. The Taliban denied responsibility and said they condemned attacks that have no legitimate target and killed civilians. The governments media centre said: In this powerful attack, 90 people have been killed and 400 wounded, including many women and children. Health officials warned the toll could climb further. The target of the explosion in Wazir Akbar Khan area was not immediately known and officials said it was caused by 1,500 kg of explosives hidden in the sewage tanker. The attack took place at the peak of Kabuls rush hour, when roads were packed with commuters. BBC statement: pic.twitter.com/FBl4IRi16E BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) May 31, 2017 The bomb killed an Afghan security guard at the German embassy and injured some staff, foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter. BBC News said an Afghan driver was killed and four journalists were wounded but their injuries were not life threatening. Tolo News tweeted a technical staff, Aziz Navin, was killed. *Graphic Image An injured man arrives at a hospital after a blast in Kabul. (Reuters Photo) Some reports said a suicide bomber detonated the explosives-packed vehicle in Zanbaq Square around 8.30am. The NATO-led Resolute Support mission said Afghan security forces prevented the vehicle from entering the heavily protected Green Zone that houses many foreign embassies as well as its headquarters, suggesting it may not have reached its intended target. Bodies littered the scene and a huge plume of smoke rose from the area. Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety, with men and woman struggling to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones. Video shot at the scene showed burning debris, crumbled walls and buildings and destroyed cars, many with dead or injured people inside. Indian ambassador Manpreet Vohra said: We are all safe, all our staff, all our personnel are safe. However, the blast was very large and nearby buildings, including our own building, have considerable damage in terms of broken glass and shattered windows and blown doors. By Gods grace, Indian embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. Germany, Japan and Pakistan said some of their embassy employees and staff were hurt in the explosion. The attack took place very close to the German embassy. It hit civilians and those who are in Afghanistan to work for a better future for the country with the people there. Its especially contemptible that these people were the target, German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel tweeted. At the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital a few blocks away, there were scenes of chaos as ambulances brought in wounded and frantic relatives scanned casualty lists and questioned hospital staff for news. It felt like an earthquake, said 21-year-old Mohammad Hassan, describing the moment the blast struck the bank where he was working. His head wound had been bandaged but blood soaked his white dress shirt. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the blast in Kabul and underlined the need for defeating forces supporting terrorism. Modi, who was in Spain on a visit, said India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all forms of terrorism. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured, Modi tweeted. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also condemned the attack and statement from his office quoted him as saying that the terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people. The attack, which came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual spring offensive, underscored spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where security forces beset by soaring casualties and desertions are struggling to beat back the insurgents. More than one-third of the country is outside government control. The Islamic State, the other main terror group active in Afghanistan, also has carried out high profile attacks in Kabul, including a strike on a military hospital in March that killed more than 50 people. Men move an injured man to a hospital after a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Reuters Photo) Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to the country to break the deadlocked fight against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan currently number about 8,400, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who mainly serve in an advisory capacity a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of another tough year for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan. The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in Kabul. The province surrounding the capital had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 thanks to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. (With inputs from HT Correspondent in Delhi) The Nepal government on Wednesday deferred the second phase of polls to local government bodies for the second time in less than a week to address the concerns of the Muslim minority, officials said. A Cabinet meeting decided to change the date for the second phase of polls from June 23 to June 28. The election was originally scheduled to be held on June 14 but the government on Monday deferred the polling by nine days to ensure the participation of Madhes-based parties. The Cabinet decided to reschedule the date for the election in view of the holy month of Ramzan. The move was also aimed at bringing the agitating Madhesi parties on board for the election process, officials said. A Muslim delegation had called on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on Tuesday to draw his attention to the inconvenience the community could face if elections were held during Ramzan. Prachanda then held a meeting with Election Commission officials to reschedule the polls. In a step aimed at addressing the demands of the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, an alliance of seven Madhes-based parties, the government also decided to amend the Local Level Election Act to give the RJPN enough time to provide names and signatures of party officials who can submit official letters nominating candidates to the Elections Commission. After holding the first phase of polls to local government bodies in 283 units in three provinces on May 14, the Election Commission was making preparations for the second phase in 461 units in four provinces. Pakistan may be reconsidering its role in the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance against Terrorism (IMAT) as there is growing opposition over the sectarian nature of the alliance. Foreign office officials have privately said that one of the reasons why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not allowed to speak at the recent gathering of leaders from Muslim countries to meet US President Donald Trump was because his speech contained comments about reconciliation with Iran. The government already gave a public commitment that it would not become part of any initiative whose aim is to target any other Islamic country, including Iran. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has assured on the floor of National Assembly that Pakistan would withdraw if the Saudi alliance turns out to be sectarian in nature. The government has been avoiding discussion on the matter but now Sartaj Aziz, advisor to Prime Minister on foreign affairs, had agreed to brief the Senate on the matter after the chambers chairman Raza Rabbani served notices on ministers and secretaries of defence and foreign affairs to appear before its members. The issue came to light when the house took up notice from opposition MP Farhatullah Babar who was asking for the governments response on reported statements from the Saudi authorities that the military alliance would not only be restricted to terrorist organisations like Islamic State and al Qaeda but would also act against any rebel groups posing threat to any member country. Pakistani MPs have said that they do not want their country to be part of any sectarian alliance as it also goes against the country's constitution. In the middle of this is the case of former army chief Raheel Sharif, who is supposed to lead the 41-nation anti-terrorism alliance. It was thought that the government had already joined the alliance when in April it granted permission to Gen Sharif, who is now in Saudi Arabia, to lead the alliance. Officials, however, clarified that the final decision is yet to be taken. What compelled Pakistan to have a second thought was the recent Arab Islamic-US summit in Riyadh where statements from Saudi authorities suggested that the alliance was meant to counter Iran as well as fighting terrorism, said a report in the Express Tribune newspaper on Wednesday. The government in principle agreed to be part of the Saudi initiative if its sole purpose was to fight terrorism and extremism, officials insisted. The final decision, however, will be taken once the terms of reference of the alliance are finalised during the meeting of defence ministers of the participating countries, officials added. What we need to understand is that the terms of reference of the alliance are yet to be finalised. The defence ministers of the participating countries will meet and discuss the modalities of the coalition. We must wait until we have all the information to comment on its outcome. We shouldnt indulge in speculations, foreign office spokesperson Mohammed Nafees Zakaria clarified at his last weekly briefing. A German stalker of celebrities who served eight years in a Spanish prison for attempted murder was deported to his home country on Monday. Arndt Meyer was placed on a flight right after his release from Estremera penitentiary in the Madrid region, where he did time for trying to kill a young actress named Sara Casasnovas with a crossbow in June 2009. Ardnt Meyer in court in 2010. EFE Meyer had originally been scheduled to enjoy a 30-day period before he had to legally leave Spain. But authorities changed this decision following revelations by this newspaper that the inmate kept a scrapbook filled with photographs of young actresses who could become his next targets. Prison authorities had also warned that Meyer was potentially dangerous and that the actresses in his scrapbook could be at risk if Meyer were walking free. Investigators are trying to determine how Meyer got ahold of the photographs for his scrapbook Two weeks ago, government officials in Madrid agreed to have Meyer removed immediately at the states expense. On Monday, Spanish authorities delivered the 48-year-old, who suffers from a personality disorder, to the German police. Interpol will keep tabs on his whereabouts, and his name will be included on a register of sex offenders, said Casasnovas lawyer, Carlos Castresana, who is a former member of the Anti-Corruption Attorneys Office. In Spain, investigators are now trying to determine how Meyer got ahold of the photographs while serving time. After prison workers at Estremeras Module 5 discovered the sinister scrapbook last October, the inmate said that a worker at a religious non-profit with alleged ties to the German embassy in Spain had passed him the material. The German mission has denied this link. The theater in Madrid where Meyer tried to kill Spanish actor Sara Casanovas. Luis Sevillano In 2016, Meyer received three envelopes from this alleged volunteer. The last one arrived a month before his cell was searched. Following the finding, a court cut off all communication between both men. The photographs had handwritten captions expressing love for the actresses. This body and skin are exactly my type! read one. In an ideal world, a girl like this would be the type of woman I would make sweet love to and have children with. I would marry her, said another. Meyers secret scrapbook was discovered while prison workers searched for a cellphone, which is not allowed in jail. Prison authorities suspected that the inmate was still harassing Sara Casasnovas over the telephone the actress had reported night calls to her private number in 2015 and 2016, as well as the existence of a Facebook page with 80 images of herself as she appeared in a scene from a play: bound and gagged. Following his conviction, Meyer was barred from contacting Casasnovas or coming near her until January 29, 2020. English version by Susana Urra. US President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord as he had promised as a candidate for the White House, according to multiple news reports citing unidentified White House officials. But Trump gave no indications of the same, tweeting: I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Axios news outlet was on Wednesday the first to report that Trump was pulling the US out of the accord, citing unidentified officials. According to the outlet, environment protection agency administrator Scott Pruitt and his team were working on the withdrawal details. Pruitt and his team have two options: pull out of the Paris Accord a process that could take three years to complete or exit the UN treaty behind the agreement the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which might be a lot quicker. At the G-7 summit last week, Trump had said he would announce his final decision in the coming days. But there was no official confirmation or denial of the reports, except his tweet. Trump, a global warming sceptic, has been critical of the accord saying it would be harmful for Americas manufacturing and that other nations such as India, China and Russia were not doing enough for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. The USs withdrawal will not unravel the accord signed by 195 entities, but could weaken the global effort significantly with the worlds largest economy out of it. The decision comes at time of growing domestic crisis for Trump, with federal and Congressional investigations into Russian meddling in US elections and allegations of collusion by Trump campaign aides reaching his inner circle. Investigators are focussing on a meeting Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner had last December with a Russian banker considered close to Vladimir Putin. And they also want to speak with Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Trump called the probe a witch-hunt in tweets on Wednesday morning a phrase he has used before. Trump had been under pressure from G-7 allies abroad and supporters of the accord at home, including those in his inner circle and big businesses such as the oil giant Exxon, who had urged him to stay, and renegotiate it if necessary. Supporters of the accord in his inner circle daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, son-in-law and adviser Kushner, and secretary of state Rex Tillersen had not given up and were expected to press him till the end. But detractors, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and Pruitt, pushed him hard to leave. A group of 21 Republican senators wrote to him last week urging him to make a clean break from the agreement. Trump might not have needed much convincing there. As a candidate for White House, he had promised to withdraw from the accord. But he had appeared to indicate some flexibility after the election, telling an interviewer he had an open mind on the issue. But he never converted. At a rally in April, he criticized global agreements that need the US to do and pay more and called the accord one-sided in which the United States pays billions while China, Russia and India have contributed, and will contribute, nothing. And during his recent foreign tour, officials said he opposed the accord, arguing that by implementing the self-determined mitigation goal, the US would severely impair its manufacturing, leaving it less competitive than India and China. Russian warship and submarine have fired cruise missiles at Islamic State group targets around Palmyra in Syria from the Mediterranean, Moscow said today, the first such strikes announced in months. The frigate Admiral Essen and submarine Krasnodar carried out four strikes against military hardware and fighters from the jihadist group who had left its de-facto capital Raqa, the Russian military said in a statement. All the targets were hit, the statement said, without specifying when the strikes happened. Moscow said that the US, Turkish and Israeli military were informed in a timely manner of the missile launches through existing communication channels. President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the successful strikes by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Kremlin said. Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign since 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad and has a naval contingent deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster its firepower. Moscow has, however, not announced any strikes from the sea in recent months as it focuses on pushing a fragile truce between the government and rebels. Islamic State is not included in the ceasefire. South Korean military officials deliberately withheld information from the president about the arrival of new launchers for a controversial US anti-missile system, his office said Wednesday. Documents submitted to Moon Jae-In shortly after he came to office this month were redacted to remove mention of four new rocket launchers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The South agreed last year to deploy the missile interceptor system to guard against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea, despite angry opposition from China, which believes THAAD could undermine its own military capability. Two missile launchers were already in place in the southern county of Seongju, and the existence of four more had widely been suspected but not announced. However, top brass who briefed Moons national security adviser last week deliberately excised references to any new launchers, or to the total number in-country, Moons spokesman said. These parts... were included in the original briefing report written by a working-level official but later deleted by his supervisors, Yoon Young-Chan told reporters. All military officials involved in the production of the report admitted these key parts were removed in the editing process, Yoon added. Defense Minister Han Min-Koo eventually admitted the presence of the new launchers when pressed by Moon in a phone conversation on Tuesday, according to Yoon. Han was appointed by ousted president Park Geun-Hye. His successor is yet to be named. The new launchers arrived in the South before Moon took office on May 10 and are currently stored at a US military base in the country, Moons office said, without elaborating further. The US has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea -- a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. No specific reason was given for the omission by military chiefs, but the left-leaning Moon has previously expressed ambivalence over THAAD. The conservative government of Park greenlighted the installation of the THAAD system despite strong objections -- and political and economic retaliation -- from China. Moon wants to put the deployment on hold, saying it should be discussed and approved by parliament before being fully rolled out. Donald Trump has decided to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, US media reported Wednesday, as the president kept the world guessing -- saying an announcement will come in the next few days. An American pullout would deal a devastating blow to global efforts to combat climate change less than 18 months after the historic 196-nation pact was signed in Paris, fruit of a hard-fought agreement between Beijing and Washington under Barack Obamas leadership. Trump said early Wednesday an announcement was imminent on whether the United States will remain part of the landmark deal on cutting carbon emissions. I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 The Axios website was first to report Trumps decision was made, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter, while other media including CNN, CBS, ABC and Politico reported the White House was expected to announce a withdrawal once details of the process have been worked out. The United States is the worlds second biggest carbon emitter, after China. Under Obama, Washington had pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Under Trump, who once called climate change a hoax, the country has resisted intense pressure from its partners to commit to respecting the global accord. - Contradictory signals - Since taking office on January 20, however, Trump has sent contradictory signals on the Paris deal -- reflecting the different currents within his administration, on climate change but also on the wider issue of the United States role in the world and their relation to multilateralism. White House spokesman Sean Spicer, asked on Tuesday whether Trump believes human activity is contributing to climate change, told reporters, Honestly, I havent asked him that. I can get back to you. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt, who met with Trump on Tuesday, has overtly advocated quitting a deal he judges bad for America. Other top Trump advisers, including daughter Ivanka and Gary Cohn, the head of the presidents National Economic Council, are said to favor staying in the treaty. And the corporate world has by and large come out in favor of the US keeping its seat at the table. A dozen large groups including oil major BP, agrochemical giant DuPont, Google, Intel and Microsoft, have urged Trump to remain part of the deal. - Six against one - Trumps position on the Paris accord was a focal point of last weeks G7 summit in Sicily in which leaders of the worlds six other largest industrial democracies pressed him to renew the US commitment to the deal. A frustrated German Chancellor Angela Merkel later warned that Europe must take its fate into its own hands, citing the differences with Washington on climate change as evidence of their divergent paths. She described the discussion as very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis responded in a television interview Sunday, assuring that Trump was wide open on this issue as he takes in the pros and cons of that accord. Cohn, the Trump economic adviser, also said last week that the presidents views are evolving. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has weighed in, arguing on Tuesday that the United States should not leave the Paris Agreement. But even if the government decides to leave the Paris agreement, its very important for US society as a whole -- the cities, the states, the companies, the businesses -- to remain engaged, he said. Donald Trump tweeted: Despite the constant negative press covfefe. And since then the world has been trying to find the meaning of what appears to be an incomplete sentence ending with a meaningless word. The tweet was also trending. Mike Madden, deputy editor at the Washington Post, came up with a dictionary entry. Covfefe (n): The feeling of simultaneously being glad you were still awake and reading Twitter but also wishing youd already gone to bed, Madden tweeted, in an apparent reference to the US Presidents known habit of using the micro-blogging site late into the night. Covfefe (n): The feeling of simultaneously being glad you were still awake and reading Twitter but also wishing youd already gone to bed. Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) May 31, 2017 Others Twitter users were not so subtle in their sarcasm and vitriol against Trump, who has a long history of social media gaffes and is known to constantly attack a section of the media over what he calls is fake news. OH MY GOD YOU DUMB DRUNK IDIOT BenDavid Grabinski (@bdgrabinski) May 31, 2017 What is the correct pronunciation of #covfefe? Fusion (@Fusion) May 31, 2017 And you wonder why you get negative press covfefe Mark Pygas (@MarkPygas) May 31, 2017 And Trumps tweet which has been retweeted more than 43,000 times so far -- had its fair share of reaction in India. Is covfefe the new farrago?, wrote journalist Smita Sharma, drawing a comparison with a word used by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in his reaction to a TV report. Is covfefe the new farrago? https://t.co/WsQ5x3J8pD Smita Sharma (@Smita_Sharma) May 31, 2017 Over the past few weeks, several video clips purportedly showing Trump has set social media on fire. One of them shows his wife Melania Trump curtly slapping away his attempt to hold her hand. Several media reports also said that the number of Trumps Twitter followers jumped by 5 million in 3 days, implying the new followers could be fake or bought to inflate his popularity. Twitter, however, said the reports were untrue. The cut-and-thrust of campaign politics turned personal while the pound took a hit on Wednesday after an opinion poll suggested a hung Parliament after the June 8 election, which was widely assumed would be easily won by the ruling Conservative Party. According to Prime Minister Theresa May, if Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister, he would be alone and naked in Brexit negotiations in Brussels. Corbyn responded by calling it inappropriate to describe anyone as naked". Opinion polls have not been accurate or even near-accurate in recent elections, but unlike some that saw the Conservatives increasing their majority, a new poll by YouGov published by The Times suggested a hung Parliament. The pound fell by more than 0.5% on Wednesday morning before recovering some losses. The currency has had several fluctuations after the June 2016 referendum in which Britain voted to leave the European Union. The gap between Conservative and Labour has been narrowing in recent polls, but the ruling party remains the favourite to win the election called by May to sort out Brexit-related politics. The first round of talks on Brexit in Brussels is scheduled for June 19. May and Corbyn have been travelling across television and radio stations as well as the country, but the Prime Minister refused to appear in a head-to-head television debate with the Labour leader. Corbyn challenged her to appear at another BBC debate in Cambridge on Wednesday evening. The YouGov data suggested the Conservative Party could lose up to 20 of the 330 seats it holds in the current Parliament, with Labour gaining nearly 30 seats. The Conservatives were still tipped to be the single largest party, but without an overall majority. In the 2015 election, the Conservative Party won 331 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, Labour won 232 and the Scottish National Party 56. The ruling party had a slender working majority of 17, which led to some unease during key moments in the House. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In 2015, when 175 countries came together to sign the Paris Agreement, it was hailed as a landmark moment in the struggle to mitigate the impacts of climate change. One of the big wins was that the United States was on board. In the past, the superpower had stood in the way of another major treaty the Kyoto Protocol that aimed at checking greenhouse gas emissions which are major contributors to global warming. Less than two years later the US is poised to either withdraw from the pact altogether or at least push for a dilution of commitments. In either case, the message from the Trump White House is clear: the Paris agreement as it stands today is unacceptable. The United States is currently the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, that trap heat in the earths atmosphere and lead to the warming of the planet. Historically, the US is responsible for the largest quantity of greenhouse gas emissions and continues to have one of the highest per-capita emissions in the world. The U.S. is critical to the climate change agreement not just because of the arithmetic of curbing greenhouse gases emissions but also for setting the terms of the negotiations surrounding climate change action. Trump, as a presidential candidate had sought to appease voters in Americas coal country, which has been devastated by the shift to renewables and away from coal. Since the election of Trump as U.S. president, Indian leaders including Narendra Modi have reiterated their commitment to the Paris agreement. In an interview with Malavika Vyawahare, United Nations Environment Programme chief Erik Solheim discusses what changes if the US leaves the Paris agreement and what the changed global scenario means for India. What can we expect in the event of US pulling out of the Paris agreement? There is a very clear message from the rest of the world, China, India and Europe that they will move very quickly on this quickly. Prime Minister Modi met with Chancellor Angela Merkel and said it would be a crime not to act on the environment. There is very strong language coming out from the rest of the world. The private sector in the U.S. is much ahead of the politicians. All the big American companies that are well known in the world- the Apples, the Googles, the Microsofts are of course rapidly moving to renewables. We are definitely past the point of no return. Last year there was a lot more energy coming into the grid from solar and wind than from oil gas and coal combined. It is just a matter of how fast we can move into the future. We were at the turning point of the digital revolution in the 1980s, we were at the turning point of the industrial revolution in the 18 century.We are now at the turning point of the renewable energy and environment revolution. Those who do not buy the ticket for that train will lose. Is there a divergence in how India and China see their roles in a situation where the US pulls out of the pact? There is a lot of divergences but a lot of cooperation last time I visited India I visited the state of Andhra Pradesh that is rapidly moving into solar- they are setting up the biggest solar power in the world. They are putting up solar everywhere. No one expected people to move into solar if it was much more expensive, but solar is cheaper now and can compete with coal anywhere in the world. PM Modi setting up the National Solar Alliance with France, being such a dedicated supporter. That matters enormously. When the big markets of China and India are moving that sets a price that can also benefit Africa, Latin America and the rest of the world. What is the best course of action for India if Trump withdraws from the Paris Agreement? India should see the business opportunities: of creating green jobs and still bringing electricity to hundreds and millions of Indians. You can kill all three birds with one stone: provide economic opportunity, provide electricity and ensure environmental progress. Really embrace this not just as an environment issue but as an economic opportunity With U.S. retreating from a leadership role with regard to climate change action, does this take the pressure of countries like India to meet their commitments? We are long past that moment. We might have been there 5-10 years ago when there was a lot of discussion in India that we cannot afford to really take climate seriously, there are too many poor Indians and we have to bring development first. That conversation has basically gone away, people see the enormous economic opportunity in this new agenda, creating jobs, creating prosperity and bringing energy through the same means. The conversation has changed in India and we see exactly the same thing in China. What we see now is that China India and Europe to lead, but we surely also want the American leadership. We see that from the private sector companies in the U.S. and also from states like California, remember California is itself one of the largest economies in the world, that is not insignificant. Added to that, we hope that Donald Trump will also make the right decision. In America the businesses seem to be leading the charge. Have businesses in India responded to this message of transition to a low-carbon economy as a business opportunity? I definitely see that. There are lots of startups in IT, energy solar technology. These will grow and become big. We also see the big historical companies like Tata that lead this change. Like everywhere else there are some conservative players. Those who are not embracing will lose. Those who did not embrace the digital revolution, where are they now? Trumps decision has not been announced yet. What according to you is the best case scenario right now? What will be worst-case scenario? The ideal situation will be that President trump decides to keep US in the Paris Agreement and that he allows those companies in the US that are so critical to technological development in the world to move rapidly ahead. Understanding that in the U.S. itself there are very few jobs in coal there are about 70,000 jobs in coal, about 400,000 jobs in renewables and everybody knows that renewables that the new jobs will come in renewables not in coal. The worst will be for the American people who will see all these fascinating jobs go to India and China. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A US-led coalition air strike on eastern Syria has killed a founder of the Islamic State groups notorious Amaq propaganda agency, Syrian opposition activists said on Wednesday. Rayan Mashaal, also known as Baraa Kadek, was reportedly killed in coalition bombardment on the IS-held town of Mayadeen, near Syrias border with Iraq, on Monday. Several Syrian activist Facebook pages, including the prominent media collective Eye on the Homeland, shared the news of his death. Mashaal was one of the founders of Daeshs Amaq news agency, Eye on the Homeland said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. He and his daughter were killed in a coalition air strike on Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province, the collective wrote. A Facebook post reportedly written by Mashaals brother was also being circulated as confirmation of his death. Neither the US-led coalition nor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group could immediately confirm the news. Mohammad Khaled, the executive director of opposition news network Aleppo24, told AFP that Mashaal, 31, had been a well-known media activist before joining IS. I met him in 2012. Baraa (Mashaal) was one of the old revolutionaries of Aleppo, he said. According to Khaled, Mashaal worked as a media activist in Aleppo until late 2013, when he announced he was moving to the land of the caliphate in IS-held Al-Bab. He went on to move to ISs Syrian bastion Raqa, but fled to Mayadeen four months ago as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces drew near to the northern city, Khaled said. We knew that he was founding this (Amaq) agency in 2014 because he invited all the activists in Aleppo to join him, Khaled said. Amaq is ISs self-styled news outlet. Its channels on social media application Telegram are often the first place that IS publishes its claims of responsibility for attacks around the world. The US-led coalition has been bombing IS targets in Syria since September 2014 and has been heavily bombing Mayadeen since last week. The Britain-based Observatory said on Friday that at least 80 relatives of IS fighters were killed in coalition strikes on the town. More than 320,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by Syrias conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. His paternal grandfather had fought against the South, and his father against Spain and Germany, so it was reasonable to assume James Maitland Stewart would serve in his turn. By the late 1930s, his career was just taking off with such hits as You Cant Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Destry Rides Again. But with war looking inevitable, Stewart set his sights on a new role, this time in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He even bought his own plane, a Stinson 105, eventually graduating to multi-engine aircraft and earning a commercial pilots license, all on his own. Stewarts draft number was 310, but though he was 6-foot-3, he weighed only 138 pounds. When the Army turned him down as too skinny, he started eating spaghetti twice a day, supplemented with steaks and milkshakes. At a second physical in March 1941, he still hadnt gained quite enough weight to be eligible, but he talked the Army doctors into adding an ounce or two so he could qualify, then ran outside shouting to fellow actor Burgess Meredith: Im in! Im in! The night before he left for training, MGM threw a farewell party for its departing star. Most of the actresses present that evening kissed him goodbye, and Rosalind Russell wiped off the lipstick with her handkerchief and wrote each girls name on it. Stewart kept the hanky for good luck. On March 22, 1941, Stewart was inducted into the Army as a private, serial number 0433210. He was sent to Fort MacArthur, Calif., where cameramen hounded him, following him even when he was issued his underwear. Witnessing all that unwanted attention, one old soldier remarked sympathetically, You poor bastard. Stewarts salary dropped from $12,000 per week to $21 per month, but he dutifully sent a 10 percent cut ($2.10) to his agent each month. Stewart underwent basic training at Moffett Field, Calif., where a crowd of girls waited just outside the gates, eager to get a glimpse of their idol. It got so bad that his commanding officer put up a sign requesting civilians to leave Stewart alone until after he finished his training. He was commissioned on January 18, 1942. Appearing in uniform at the Academy Awards the following month, he presented the Best Actor Oscar to Gary Cooper for Sergeant York (Stewart had won the previous year for The Philadelphia Story). Corporal James M. Stewart was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant at Moffett Field, Calif., on January 19, 1942. (National Archives) Though Stewart subsequently narrated two training films, Fellow Americans and Winning Your Wings, and lent his star power to a few radio shows and war bond tours, in general he resisted efforts to capitalize on his career. Instead he requested more flying timeand he soon got his wish. First he became a flight instructor in Curtiss AT-9s at Mather Field, Calif. From there he went to Kirkland Field, N.M., for six months of bombardier school. In December 1942, he requested transfer to the four-engine school at Hobbs, N.M. Finally, he reported to the headquarters of the Second Air Force in Salt Lake City. Still looking for more than desk duty, Stewart was sent to Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, and the 29th Bombardment Group, where he became a flight instructor on B-17 Flying Fortresses. During that time, his roommate was killed in an accident, and three of his trainees were lost in another mishap. One student remembered, Stewart was known for being one of the few officers who never left the airfield tower until every single plane had returned. On one night flight with a student pilot, Stewart left the copilots seat to check on equipment in the nose and let a new navigator sit in the right-hand seat. Suddenly the no. 1 engine exploded, sending pieces of shrapnel into the cockpit and knocking the pilot senseless. With the engine on fire and wind tearing through the windows, the navigator froze at the controls. Stewart had to pull him out of the seat so he could take over, hit the fire extinguishers and land on three engines. In March 1943, Stewart briefly became the operations officer of the 703rd Squadron, 445th Bomb Group, in Sioux City, Iowa. He was named the squadrons commander three weeks later. On November 11, Captain Stewart led two-dozen B-24H Liberators to England by way of Florida, Brazil, Senegal and Morocco. They became part of the 2nd Air Division, Eighth Air Force, stationed at Tibenham. Within hours of their arrival, Germanys Lord Haw-Haw welcomed the squadron on the radio. Following a few shakedown flights, Stewarts first mission was to bomb the naval yards at Kiel, flying a B-24 that had been named Nine Yanks and a Jerk by a previous crew. The actor-turned-commander was a successful, popular officer. His roommate at the time recalled: I always got the feeling that he would never ask you to do something he wouldnt do himself. Everything that man did seemed to go like clockwork. Stewart was lucky, too. During his third mission, on Christmas Eve, his group was ordered to hit V-1 launching sites at Bonnaires, France. Coming in low at 12,000 feet, 35 B24s plastered the target near the coast, then returned to base without even being targeted by flak or fighters. If two of the Liberators hadnt collided on takeoff, it would have been a perfect mission. He also took care of his men. When Stewart found out the finance officer wouldnt have enough money for his crew for a few days, he threatened to have him transferred to the infantry unless they were paid immediately. And when one of his crews hid a keg of stolen beer in their barracks, he ambled in, threw off the covers and drew himself a glass, then announced that there was a keg of beer around there somewhere, it was a very serious matter and it should be taken care of immediatelyif they ever found it. He then finished his beer and walked out. In January 1944, Stewart was promoted to major, a promotion he had refused until, as he said, my junior officers get promoted from lieutenants. By that time he commanded all four squadrons of the 445th Bomb Group. On January 7, after bombing Ludwigshafen, Stewart noticed that the lead group, the 389th, was 30 degrees off course and slowly diverging from the protective fire of the rest of the formation on the way back to base. Knowing the bombers new direction would take them directly over Luftwaffe airfields in northern France, he radioed the lead plane and explained they were off course. The leader replied curtly that no, they werent, and stay off the radio. Stewart faced a difficult decision. He could stay with the rest of the formation on the correct course, or he could follow his errant lead squadron. A two-squadron formation would be much more vulnerable, but a single squadron didnt have much of a chance at all. He chose to stay with the 389th and add the defensive power of his own guns to theirs. Sure enough, more than 60 Luftwaffe planes swarmed up from bases below. The commander of the 389th Bomb Group paid dearly for his mistake: his plane went down in flames. Seven other 389th B-24s were also shot down, but Stewart was lucky again; all the bombers in his squadron made it home. As a fellow officer would later point out, There were a lot of lives saved that day because he knew what he was doing and when he had to do it. Nine Yanks and a Jerks crew chief peers through the hole left by an unexploded anti-aircraft shell that narrowly missed Stewart. (Mike Simpson/445BG.org.) Stewart experienced what was probably his closest brush with death on February 25, during a nine-hour mission to Furth, unescorted most of the way. For the first time, waist gunners in the lead planes hurled bundles of chaff overboard to try to fool the German radar-directed anti-aircraft guns. It only succeeded in attracting them. Whenever they threw a bundle out, the flak became more accurate. The Germans hit the bombers with everything they had on that mission, including anti-aircraft rockets. The 445th hit its target, but on the way home a flak shell burst in the belly of Stewarts Liberator, directly behind the nose wheel. Somehow the B-24 kept on flyingall the way back to base. But when the shrapnel-perforated bomber landed, its fuselage buckled. Just in front of the wing at the flight deck, the airplane cracked open like an egg. The crew climbed out, unhurt, and looked over their crippled aircraft. In his characteristically understated fashion, Stewart mused to a bystander, Sergeant, somebody sure could get hurt in one of those damned things. Aside from an occasional trip to actor David Nivens house, a meeting with a dignitary or a quick sailing expedition, Stewart concentrated on the job at hand. I prayed I wouldnt make a mistake, he recalled. When you go up youre responsible. Once a flight engineer went AWOL just before a mission, forcing his plane to fly without him. It didnt return. Stewart was required to discipline the man, but he wondered, How do you punish someone for not getting killed? Lt. Gen. Martial Valin, chief of staff, French air force, awards the Croix de Guerre with Palm to Colonel Stewart for exceptional services in the liberation of France. (U.S. Air Force) The war eventually got to everyone, even calm, mild-mannered Jimmy Stewart. Fear is an insidious thing, he said. It can warp judgment, freeze reflexes, breed mistakes. And worse, its contagious. I felt my own fear and knew that if it wasnt checked, it could infect my crew members. In early 1945, after 20 B-24 missions, Stewart was transferred to Old Buckenham, becoming the operations officer of the 453rd Bomb Group. When he arrived in a B-24, he reportedly buzzed the tower until the controllers fled. The 453rds lead Liberator, Paper Doll, had no permanently assigned copilot. That position was usually filled by one of the senior staff officers, often Stewart himself. Waist gunner Dan Brody recalled, He exhibited himself as an excellent pilot, even under adverse conditions. Like the men of the 445th, his new group found Stewart unfailingly friendly. On the way back up the runway, for example, when he saw a pedestrian hed stop his jeep and drawl, Hey fella, lak a ride? The senior staff normally rotated, flying every fifth mission, but Stewart went out of his way to lead 11 more sorties. While he liked the B-17, he still had a soft spot for the Liberator. He later said of the B-24, In combat, the airplane was no match for the B-17 as a formation bomber above 25,000 feet, but from 12,000 to 18,000 it did a fine job. Most of the men were amused to find they were being briefed by the famous actor. Extras often dropped inamong them radioman Walter Matthau, who thought he was marvelous to watch. In April 1945 Stewart was promoted to colonel and chief of staff of the 2nd Air Division. It was during this time, while he was sweating out the return of his planes from each mission, that his hair began to turn gray. Stewart finally returned Stateside in September 1945 aboard the liner Queen Elizabeth. Predictably, he waited at the gangplank until all of his men had disembarked before coming ashore. Asked about his service in Europe, he commented, I had some close callsthe whole war was a close call. When he returned to Hollywood, he refused a lavish welcome home party, saying, Thousands of men in uniform did far more meaningful things. A standard clause in Stewarts contracts thereafter stipulated that no mention of his war record could be used in conjunction with any of his films. He remained in the Air Force Reserve, and in 1955, persuaded by friends, made the film Strategic Air Command. Ironically, though he had thousands of hours in the air, because of studio insurance regulations Stewart wasnt allowed to actually fly in any of his movies. In 1966 Stewart made one more combat flightthis time as an observer in a B-52 Stratofortress over North Vietnam. His stepson Ronald McLean was killed in Vietnam one year later. During an interview late in life, the actor explained that World War II was something I think about almost every dayone of the greatest experiences of my life. Asked whether it had been greater than being in films, he said simply, Much greater. James Stewartrecipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with Oak Cluster, the Croix de Guerre with Palm and seven Battle Starsdied on July 2, 1997, at age 89. Freelancer Richard Hayes writes from Chicago. For further reading, try Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot, by Starr Smith. Mr. Stewart Goes to War originally appeared in the March 2011 issue of Aviation History Magazine. Subscribe today! Spains chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Manuel Moix, has been, since 2012, the owner of a 25% stake in an offshore company in Panama. Duchesse Financial Overseas, whose other proprietors are Moixs three siblings, in turn owns a luxury home in Collado Villalba (Madrid) worth around 550,000, according to a story published on Tuesday by the online news site Infolibre . Manuel Moix in Madrid. Victor Sainz Moix has admitted that he owns a quarter of this company based in the Central American tax haven, but claims that it is part of the inheritance he received from his parents, who passed away in 2008 and 2011. He also said that his tax filings reflect its existence, and that the company has not been dissolved yet for the simple reason that some of his siblings cannot afford the fees. It is shameful that an individual whose job it is to go after corruption has assets in tax havens Pablo Iglesias, Podemos News of Moixs Panama holdings has triggered calls for his resignation in Spanish Congress. Isabel Rodriguez, the deputy spokesperson for the Socialist group in the lower house, has urged Justice Minister Rafael Catala to make a congressional appearance to provide explanations about the case, and has called for Moixs resignation. Supposedly those who have interests in tax havens do so in order to avoid paying taxes, said Pablo Iglesias, head of the anti-austerity Podemos party, speaking in the hallways of Congress. It is shameful that an individual whose job it is to go after corruption, but who in fact is making that difficult, has assets in tax havens. The opposition as a whole feels that Catala, Attorney General Jose Manuel Maza, and Moix have been hindering the action of justice in judicial cases for crimes dealing with corruption. Moix produced tax filings showing that he paid inheritance tax on the property. Faced with growing pressure, Moix now says that he is planning to speak with Attorney General Maza tonight or tomorrow about the case. In a radio interview on Onda Cero he said he is ready to step down if his Panama company ownership causes problems for the agency he presides. I have not considered resigning because I have a conversation pending with the Attorney General, but I am not attached to the post and any solution will seem reasonable to me, he said. I have no interest in keeping the post if I am not considered the ideal person. Corruption cases The ruling Popular Party (PP) is particularly affected by a series of corruption cases ranging from Gurtel, a massive kickbacks-for-contracts scheme that will force Spain's prime minister to give testimony at the trial, to the more recent scandal at Madrids water utility, Canal de Isabel II, which saw a former regional premier arrested. But both Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Justice Minister Catala have come out in Moixs defense. And the Attorney Generals Office has declined to comment on the case, saying that it is a personal matter involving Moix that does not affect this department. Moix himself had told the Cadena SER radio network on Tuesday that he saw no reason to step down or to be removed from his post. Owning part of an offshore company is not incompatible with his position, he said. Duchesse Financial Overseas was created in Panama on January 4, 1988, according to Infolibre. A month and a half later, this company acquired a luxury property north of Madrid that had been previously owned by Moixs parents. During the ownership transfer, Duchesse was represented by Margarita Moix, the couples eldest daughter and a lawyer by trade. The home, which has six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a swimming pool and a 4,600-square meter plot of land, was once the residence of Moixs parents. The Panama-based company has never had any known activity beyond ownership of this home. English version by Susana Urra. Drakes newest Jordan collab, the OVO x Jordan Trunner LX, debuted over the weekend in celebration of the grand opening of Jordan Brands new flagship store at 306 Yonge in Toronto. Unlike the previous OVO x Air Jordan collabs, the latest offering from Drake and the Jumpman features the laceless Jordan TRunner LX, highlighted by the woven sneakers midfoot while maintaining familiar white/gold OVO colorway. Drake gave a preview of the kicks on his instagram account last week, but now we have a closer look at the owl-inspired trainers which could be receiving a wider release later this year. Take a look at the kicks in the IG posts below and stay tuned for details regarding another OVO x Jordan TRunner LX drop. Trunner LX It has emerged that only a quarter of State agency posts announced by the Department of Jobs to deal with Brexit have been filled to date. Stephen Donnelly, who is Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Brexit, has critcised the Government for its inaction on preparing State agencies for the fallout associated with Brexit. The preparation undertaken by Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell OConnor for Brexit has been woefully inadequate to date," Stephen Donnelly tellls Hot Press. The Minister informed him that only 12 of the 39 posts in Enterprise Ireland have been filled, only 1 of 10 posts at the IDA and no additional staff are in place in either Science Foundation Ireland or the Health and Safety Authority. "The Government committed to providing a 50 additional posts to prepare Ireland for Brexit, but now we find that only 13 staff are actually in place," he points out. The TD continues: The Irish Exporters Association recently described Irish businesses as being 'woefully unprepared' for Brexit. Despite 15 in 20 companies believing that they will be impacted, only 3 in 20 have done anything about it. Unfortunately the State itself is not leading by example as it is leaving key posts unfilled as we head towards Brexit. "Despite it being almost a year on from the referendum the Government has not yet woken up to the reality of the economic impact that Brexit will have on every region in Ireland. Their failure to properly resource and staff our State agencies means that we are also ill-prepared to capitalise on the few potential gains that are to be had because of Brexit. The lack of urgency by the Government in preparing State agencies for Brexit is deeply disappointing." Stephen Donnelly, who was the focus of the 'Hot Press Interview' back in January, said that Fianna Fail is now calling on Minister Mitchell OConnor to "act urgently to address this shortfall". He urged her to provide "monthly updates" to the Dail on recruitment. "With only 22 months left in the Article 50 negotiations, and no deadline in place for future trade talks, Irish businesses cannot be allowed to go without the supports they need," he concludes. Kellogg Co. is closing its Houston distribution center and laying off 220 employees, according to documents released Tuesday by the Texas Workforce Commission. An additional 201 people are being laid off from a distribution center in Fort Worth. These layoffs stem from an announcement the company made in February that it will cease direct store delivery at its U.S. snacks business and instead go to a warehouse model. This means it will ship snacks to retailers' warehouses instead of directly to their stores. Kellogg spokesman Kris Charles said the company is optimistic that its employees will find similar jobs with the retailers. "As the distribution shifts from our network to our retailers' networks, so too will the work," he said in an email. "We've been actively engaged in conversations with some of our biggest retail partners who have expressed strong interest in hiring these employees for high-demand roles once the transition is complete." The warehouse model is already used by Pringles and the rest of Kellogg's North American business. "While this is the right move for the future of the company, it was a difficult decision because of the impact on affected employees," John Bryant, Kellogg Co. chairman and CEO, said in the February news release. "We are doing everything we can to help our employees manage through this transition." The company is providing severance and benefits, as well as offering retention packages for affected employees, according to the news release. Documents from the Texas Workforce Commission said the last day for distribution center employees in the Houston facility, at 3010 Claymoore Park, will be between July 29 and Aug. 11. The last day for snacks retail execution employees will be between Aug. 4 and Aug. 17, though most do not physically work at the distribution center. WASHINGTON The United States' future as a leader in international efforts to slow climate change teetered on the edge Wednesday, as reports emerged from the White House that President Donald Trump was readying to announce he would withdraw the country from the Paris accord. The timing of the announcement remained in play, with some media outlets reporting that the decision was not yet final and the president, whose closest advisers remain divided on the decision, could still change his mind. But Trump spent months on the campaign trail railing against the pact as a "bad deal" for the United States, promising to withdraw the country if elected. Since taking office he has repealed a number of the Obama administration's climate change policies and initiated reviews on many more earning cheers from many in Texas' oil and gas fields who faced an uncertain future in a decarbonized economy. "I started hearing Saturday it was a done deal," said Stephen Brown, a lobbyist for the San Antonio oil refinery company Tesoro. "Given his campaign rhetoric and all the other stuff he's doing I think withdrawing from Paris is the only logical thing he can do. If you're walking away from the clean power plan and the climate action plan, how do you stay in?" The potential for a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement had set off a furious lobbying effort by many of the country's largest corporations in recent months. Among those arguing to stay in are Microsoft, Apple, Starbucks, Gap, Nike and Google. Even oil and gas majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron joined with European counterparts Shell, Total and BP in urging Trump to stay in the accord. Exxon CEO Darren Woods, echoing the position of his predecessor, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, wrote a letter to Trump last week imploring him to "maintain a seat at the negotiating table." "The United States is well positioned to compete within the framework of the Paris agreement with abundant low carbon resources such as natural gas, as well as innovative private industries including the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors," Woods wrote. But outside the largest oil and gas companies, support for Paris within the industry is hard to find. Bill Stevens, chief lobbyist of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, an oil and gas trade group, said the vast majority of his more than 3,000 member companies did not support the Paris agreement. "We have a lot of respect for Exxon but out primary membership is smaller independents," he said. "They've been struggling for the last two to three years with oil prices, trying not to go into bankruptcy. I think [climate change] is a non-issue for them and they'd as soon as be out of Paris." The Paris agreement was signed by the leaders of close to 200 countries in late 2015, to work together in reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of stopping the earth's temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius. From the moment it was agreed to, many scientists and environmentalists questioned whether the accord went far enough to avoid an environmental crisis that scientists predict will inundate the world's coastlines with seawater and cause a rise in violent weather events not known in human history. With the prospect of U.S. withdrawal, they urged world leaders like Germany and China to coalesce and continue to reduce greenhouse emissions even without the world's largest economy. "The rest of the world must move forward aggressively," Erich Pica, U.S. President of Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. We call on "all nations to assert heavy economic and diplomatic pressure to compel the Trump Administration to take serious climate action to protect people and the planet." In Washington, Republicans in the Senate remain divided on whether to withdraw. Last week U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., rallied 21 other senators to sign a letter urging Trump to carry through on his campaign promise to repeal Paris, including Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. "Because of existing provisions within the Clean Air Act and others embedded in the Paris Agreement, remaining in it would subject the United States to significant litigation risk that could upend your administration's ability to fulfill its goal of rescinding the Clean Power Plan," the letter read. "Accordingly, we strongly encourage you to make a clean break from the Paris Agreement. A handful of senate Republicans like Susan Collins, of Maine, and Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, have sided with the stay-in camp, with the rest of the 52 Republicans in the senate largely staying quiet. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A local real estate developer has finalized plans to demolish a midcentury shopping center on Bellaire Boulevard and build a more modern center in its place, the latest retail project planned in Bellaire's transforming urban core. The new project will increase the size and scale of the existing Bellaire Town Center, bringing more restaurants to the property and adding second-story office space. Bellaire's downtown is seeing increased development activity of late, a result of changes to the city's development regulations and in the wake of a new H-E-B store that is injecting energy into the area. "H-E-B has been sort of a catalyst and made other property owners say, 'What can I do with my property?' " said Charles Shears, managing partner of SDI Realty Advisors, owner of Bellaire Town Center in the 5100 block of Bellaire. Shears had considered earlier attempts to redevelop the center, at the southwest corner of Bellaire and South Rice, but said changes in the city's mindset led his firm to move forward. "The city of Bellaire has become pro-growth, pro-development," he said. "It can be seen in the redevelopment of H-E-B." Shears also cited changes in Bellaire's resident mix. "The demographic makeup has changed with higher incomes," he said. "And with that, those residents are truly demanding a better commercial environment." In the coming months, SDI Realty will begin a two-phase process to demolish the existing 37,000-square-foot Bellaire Town Center and replace it with approximately 72,000 square feet of new space and a parking garage. The two-story complex will have service retailers and office space above first-floor restaurants and shops, Shears said. The first phase is to include a 16,000-square-foot building where some of the center's existing tenants will move as the rest of the property is demolished and rebuilt. The entire project is expected to be completed by spring 2019. Shears said there could be as many as five restaurants on the property. Existing tenants Costa Brava Bistro, Lemongrass Cafe, Coldwell Banker and Dream Dinners are expected to move into the new space. The redevelopment project comes as H-E-B is building a new store to replace its older, smaller grocery near Bissonnet and South Rice. The Town Center also is an example of how changes to the Bellaire's development regulations have led to more urban-style development. In 2009, Bellaire officials adopted a new "comprehensive plan" that focused on redevelopment and future growth of the city's commercial areas. The plan, essentially a framework for development, led to some new zoning ordinances and changes in the way properties could be developed, Shears said. "They kind of opened up the development box a little bit," he said. Some property owners have more flexibility to develop with greater densities and a mix of uses in hopes of creating a more "walkable urban area," he said. John McDonald, Bellaire's director of development services, said other buildings in the city's urban area are being converted or fixed up for their tenants. The former Earthman Funeral Home and an adjacent building are being renovated for retail use. When Shears acquired the Town Center property from a bank in the 1990s, it already had been renovated a number of times. The company undertook further renovations. Saving the structure, he said, wasn't an option. "It had just become functionally obsolete," he said. "It would just be putting good money after bad if we were to renovate the property." Edge Real Estate is leasing the new space, and Boucher Design Group is the architect. "It's going to be very complementary of the neighborhood staying with the Bellaire feel with brick," Shears said, "but we're going to introduce some stone." Three deals to look out for this week: Wednesday, May 31, all Baskin Robbins locations will be offering regular and kid-size scoops of ice cream for $1.50 each. The promotional deal is in celebration of its 31 flavors and will be available again in July and August. COMING SOON: Former Astros player Hunter Pence, Greenway Coffee to debut Coral Sword: Coffee, Comics & Games Where kids eat free Wednesday: La Finca Mexican Restaurant, 23930 Westheimer Parkway and 6734 Westheimer Lakes North in Fulshear, offers kids under 10 years old free dinner after 4 p.m. with the purchase of an adult entree. Most Luby's locations in Houston also feature free dining for kids with the purchase of an adult meal. This deal is also available Saturdays after 11 a.m. Esteban's at 402 W Main Street in League City will be celebrating its 29th anniversary Thursday, June 1. To honor its birthday, it will offer vintage pricing. Here are the details: "This Thursday, June 1st, marks our 29th anniversary at Esteban's. To celebrate this occasion, we'll be rolling back prices on our Fajitas to 1988 prices! As seen on our original menu in the photo, Fajitas for one will be $6.95. We'll even include a non-alcoholic beverage for free! Offer is valid June 1st for dine in customers only and limited to one order per person. Please make plans to join us!!" Free-donuts Friday: Anyone who purchases a drink at Dunkin' Donuts can grab a free donut to celebrate National Donut Day this Friday, June 2. In addition to this special, the chain is also currently serving small Frozen Dunkin' Coffee for $1.99, May 29 through July 2. Not to be left behind, competitor Krispy Kreme Doughnuts will also feature free donuts all day at select stores, no purchase required. "National Doughnut Day is one of our favorite days because we choose to celebrate each customer's individually sweet experience with our brand," Jackie Woodward, Chief Marketing Officer of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, said in prepared statement. "When everyone is able to participate by enjoying a Krispy Kreme doughnut of their choice for free, the experience is truly priceless." Which will you be heading to? Taxi drivers from all over Spain 20,000 according to organizers and 6,000 according to government officials in Madrid marched in the capital on Tuesday to protest app-based transportation services like Cabify and Uber . There were also strikes in most large cities : Barcelona was without taxis for 24 hours and Madrid for 12 hours. Taxi drivers striking in Madrid on Tuesday. Jaime Villanueva (EL PAIS) The protesters have one main demand: that only one license be granted to on-demand ride service vehicles for every 30 taxi licenses. The current ratio is 64,763 taxicab licenses for 5,865 alternative livery vehicle licenses. In Madrid, there were no taxis in sight early Tuesday morning. By 8.30am, taxi drivers were congregating outside the central Atocha train station in preparation for the noon march. In Madrid, taxi drivers looking to retire are offering their licenses for anywhere from 150,000 to 170,000 You roach! some of them screamed out to passing app-based transportation vehicles easily identifiable through their red windshield stickers. Cabify kept up operations in Madrid and Barcelona on Tuesday, but Uber warned that it would not be in service because of the strike. Legal taxis are united across Spain. We oppose Uber and Cabify, which are toying with the bread-and-butter of over 100,000 families, said Antonio Gil, a taxi driver from Barcelona. At MadridBarajas airport, arriving tourists were stumped by the situation. Elena, a 77-year-old from Argentina, had arrived with two cousins in wheelchairs. At the airport they are telling us to take the subway or the bus, but we are in no condition to do that, she said. Krista and Guy Kaerts, from Belgium, were headed for Puerta de Alcala area in downtown Madrid. Taxi drivers there told them to take a bus, and they did except that the bus they caught was headed to Alcala de Henares, a city 30 kilometers from Madrid. At noon, thousands of taxi drivers from Bilbao, Malaga, the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Benidorm, and even France and Belgium began a two-hour march from Atocha to the Fountain of Neptune in the Spanish capital. Egg-citing times There were moments of tension when the march reached its destination and six representatives handed their list of grievances to Congress. Some demonstrators hurled eggs, cans and plastic containers at the police, who had cordoned off the building. No serious incidents were reported, but there were four arrests. Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, who was there to greet the protesters, was splashed by an egg as it hit the face of the man standing next to him Julio Sanz, president of the Professional Taxi Federation of Madrid. Although he initially reacted with a stony face, Iglesias later cracked a joke about it in his Twitter account: Me ha hecho un huevo de ilusion acompanar hoy a los taxistas en defensa de los servicios publicos y contra la privatizacion. [roughly I was very egg-cited to be with taxi drivers today to defend public services and oppose privatization.] The government said it will increase inspections. The taxi sector has to be defended; we need to find a way to increase oversight in order to have greater assurances that the legal framework is being observed, said Public Works Minister Inigo de la Serna on Tuesday. Cesar Ramos, the Socialist Partys spokesman for public works issues in Congress, asked the government to sit down to negotiate a new framework so taxis may compete under the same conditions. Falling prices In the meantime, no new licenses are being granted, either for taxicabs or other livery vehicles. Existing licenses may be bought and sold, however, which brings up their price. Taxi licenses are around three times more expensive than livery cab licenses because chauffeured vehicles have certain limitations. In Madrid, taxi drivers looking to retire are running ads offering their licenses for anywhere between 150,000 and 170,000. The ads for chauffeured vehicles offer licenses for around 40,000. With the surge in app-based ride services, the price of these licenses is starting to go down, and this directly affects taxi drivers self-employed workers who rely on the sale of their license as a retirement fund. English version by Susana Urra. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Emily Ratajkowski must have turned several head over the Memorial Day weekend. The model, actress headed out to Austin's Barton Springs on Sunday, May 28, with her family and friends to cool off and enjoy the long weekend among many other locals and tourists. SIMPLY STUNNING: Maxim Hot 100 crowns sexiest women alive for 2017 Ratajkowski posted a short video to Instagram of herself to hanging out pool-side in a frilly black and white bikini with the caption, "Austin, I <3 you." She also shared a photo of herself enjoying what appear to be ribs at a local barbecue joint with the caption, "When in Texas..." Most well-known for her roll in the infamous music video for "Blurred Lines," Ratajkowski is now known as one of the most beautiful women and hottest sex symbol of the times. Despite all the fame, it's good to see she hasn't outgrown spending some quality time with the people who matter most. Take a look through the gallery above photos from her weekend and keep going to see some of Emily Ratajkowski's best looks. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Early voting got underway Tuesday in Harris County for the closely watched Pasadena mayoral runoff election. It is the first city runoff election since a federal judge found Pasadena's 2013 redistricting plan unlawful and discriminatory against Latino voters. Election Day is June 10. The election will determine who will succeed Mayor Johnny Isbell, who championed that plan and is term limited. Seven candidates initially sought the position. The runoff pits City Councilman Jeff Wagner, a former Houston police officer and Isbell ally, against businessman and San Jacinto College trustee John Moon, Jr., who has said he won't be consulting Isbell before making a decision. Early voting lasts through June 6, according to a Harris County Clerk news release. Pasadena voters can cast ballots at the Harris County Administrative Building, 1001 Preston, in downtown Houston; or Pasadena City Hall, 1211 Southmore Ave., in Pasadena. The locations are scheduled to be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the first five days of voting. They are closed on Sunday June 4. During the last two days of early voting, locations are scheduled to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Those hours will also apply on Election Day. Ballots can be cast for mayor, as well as for District A Councilmember. "Because a small number of voters will likely determine these positions, your vote will have significant impact in determining who is elected," Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart said in a prepared statement. Stanart's office reported late Monday that 721 voters had cast ballots, including 369 who voted in person on the first day of early voting and 352 who'd mailed in ballots. With more than 153,000 residents, Pasadena is Harris County's second-largest city. For information on the coming runoff election, visit www.HarrisVotes.com Early voting also began Tuesday for runoff elections in the city of Pearland and for other contests around the region. Pearland voters will decide the mayoral race between incumbent Tom Reid and challenger Quentin Wiltz, as well as the Position 7 city council seat. Early voting hours in Pearland are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday to Friday; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday June 6. Information: www.brazoriacountyclerk.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Gov. Greg Abbott, as my colleague Mike Ward has reported, is under pressure from some lawmakers and advocates to include the so-called "bathroom bill" in a call for a special legislative session. But if Abbott digs into the emails sent to him from Texans via his website, he'll find a note from a Pearland mother expressing a different perspective. Kimberly Shappley, the mother of a 6-year-old transgender daughter named Kai, wrote to Abbott this week suggesting that the governor meet with her and her daughter "as you weigh the heavy decisions in front of you." Shappley has been an outspoken advocate for policies that respect transgender identity. Last year, after the Pearland ISD superintendent made some controversial remarks about the issue, Shappley pleaded with the Pearland school board to allow children to use school bathrooms that conform with their gender identity. (The board has not taken this step). AT THE CAPITOL: Texas House adopts bathroom restrictions for trans students "It took me a long time to come to terms with Kai's identity, but I know if you met her, you would immediately understand that she is a little girl who would be unsafe in the boys' bathroom, and who would be irreparably harmed by being segregated from her peers," Shappley wrote in her email to Abbott. Legislators considered various versions of legislation requiring people to use public bathrooms conforming to the gender on their birth certificate. None passed before the Legislature adjourned on Monday. Shappley told me that her primary goal in sending the message to Abbott was to persuade him to meet with her and Kai so he could truly understand the experience of a transgender child and parent. NEW RULE: Senate approves legislation on transgender competitors "Right now, honestly, I don't know what to do," she said. "I feel like I'm in panic mode because I didn't expect this to keep going this far. I'm just a desperate mom." The full text of her message follows. I asked Abbott's office for comment and will update this post if I get a reply. Two top pharmaceutical CEOs say they expect President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of industry pricing practices, to take steps soon to address high U.S. drug costs. Novartis Chief Executive Officer Joe Jimenez and Allergan CEO Brent Saunders say that they anticipate proposals from the Trump administration anywhere within the next few weeks to the next few months. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has been meeting with pharmacists, care providers and pharmacy-benefit managers in recent weeks to discuss ideas for making drugs more affordable. "The White House is continuing to be thought-provoking and thoughtful around these issues, looking for ways to increase competition but also encourage investment in R&D," Saunders said in an interview on Tuesday. He anticipates "some sort of executive action" linked to controlling the cost of medicine. Trump has repeatedly excoriated pharmaceutical companies for high drug costs, saying that drugmakers were "getting away with murder" and threatening to force the industry to bid for government business. Drug prices are typically higher in the U.S. than in other developed countries. Some U.S. politicians have pushed for greater efforts to tame costs, including the importation of medicines from overseas. So far, the president has taken no action on the issue. The Trump administration's proposed 2018 budget contains almost no major proposals that would impact drug prices. At the White House sessions, drugmakers have suggested ideas such as removing barriers to drug-price contracts based on the results that medicines deliver for patients, Jimenez told investors in Boston on Wednesday. Novartis expects "to have a solution that will preserve the business model of how we innovate and discover and develop and launch into the U.S., as opposed to some of the bigger and more draconian elements that were discussed earlier," the CEO of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant said. Allergan's Saunders said last year that the company would increase prices for its drugs no more than once a year and in increments of less than 10 percent, after a few pharmaceutical makers found themselves in the spotlight for what critics called exorbitant price hikes, bringing scrutiny to the entire industry. "My sense is that we should expect the Trump administration to continue to talk about and look for ways to take action with respect to pricing of pharmaceuticals," Saunders said. "I think that should be the baseline and built into the baseline, and that's something that frankly we at Allergan have been thinking about for a couple of years." Former national security adviser Michael Flynn will hand over documents and records to the Senate Intelligence Committee in response to a set of subpoenas for information from his businesses and personal files related to the committee's probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a person close to Flynn. Lawyers for Flynn's team sent the committee a written response Tuesday indicating that Flynn would begin providing records in response to subpoenas by June 6, the deadline to start turning over such information. Flynn was required to indicate by Tuesday whether he intended to comply with the records request. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two iconic Third Ward institutions announced a historic deal on Wednesday that will allow the beloved Frenchy's Chicken to expand at another address footsteps away and accommodate an expansion of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church closer to the corner of Scott and Wheeler. Frenchy's sold its property to the church last summer to make way for a multimillion-dollar plan to enlarge the church sanctuary built three decades ago. The new edifice will seat an estimated 3,500 worshippers and include areas for educational and recreational ministries. The restaurant, which opened nearly 48 years ago at 3919 Scott to offer creole food to Houston, is set to reopen 2 blocks away at the corner of Alabama and Scott in early 2018. The announcement Wednesday by the Wheeler pastor and the Frenchy's chief executive marked the first time top officials from both institutions had addressed the issue, which had sparked controversy in social media over perceived loss of the popular restaurant. Percy "King" Creuzot III, president of Frenchy's and an associated sausage and food supply company, said the deal offered him and his business partner, Anthony Gaynor, an opportunity to update the original store and step out of the way of Wheeler's progress. "The church offers hope for people and promotes faith and we cannot stand in front of that happening," the restaurateur said. "I had a lot of people say, 'you're crazy for moving,' but it was really a decision that was really easy for us." Wheeler Pastor Marcus D. Cosby, the successor and a ministerial son of Wheeler founding pastor William Lawson, said upgrades will be beneficial for the chicken chain and the church, which has a growing congregation of about 16,000 members. A new parking lot is already in use at the rear of the church campus off Ruth Street. The total expansion has an undetermined price tag, but is not expected to exceed $100 million, the pastor said. "Anything that is growing, changes, and both institutions have been blessed to grow and to expand," Cosby said. "The Bible is clear that blessings flow from generation to generation and we're so grateful that the generations that began this work here in this Third Ward community with Mr. Creuzot Jr. and with Pastor William Alexander Lawson has been passed down." Cosby and Creuzot III appeared together after a prayer and praise song opened the news conference. The men addressed the crowd on a low stage set in the Wheeler parking lot with the original Frenchy's in the background. When the program wrapped, a serving line offered Frenchy's chicken and sides. The reaction to a Frenchy's move hasn't been all sweet potato pie and peach cobbler. When news of the real estate transaction was reported last year, social media erupted with questions about whether a higher power loved fried chicken, curiosity about why the church was displacing Frenchy's and concern about whether the spicy fried food and its creole fixings would taste the same if not prepared at the original address. And given the demographics of college students, the backlash played out on social media. Even Wednesday, as the official announcement reached Frenchy's fans, negative comments ranged from "tragic" to "low-key sad" on Twitter. "It was costly for them to move and it was costly for the church to pay them an undisclosed amount to move," said Gerald Womack, a longtime Third Ward real estate investor who helped Frenchy's identify a new location. "It's no different for all these large churches or the medical center for people to move. They get together and negotiate what is best for both parties." He expects the new restaurant and the church expansion to increase development interest along Scott between the Gulf Freeway and North MacGregor. "It's going to bring jobs. It's going to generate more taxes for the city and for this neighborhood," he said, adding that the location across from the new University of Houston football stadium and a Metro Rail stop means more business. "It was a win for both sides. When they did this facility 48 years ago, there was no rail line. Now they're at a stop. What better opportunity to have?" The church crowd should follow as well, he said. "All those people from Wheeler Avenue, I guarantee you, are still going to drive through and get their chicken," Womack said. "It is really an outstanding accomplishment for an African-American business after 48 years." For three decades, "behind Frenchy's" has been shorthand for directions to the church. Both landmarks draw large constituencies from students at nearby Texas Southern University and UH. Frenchy's was conceived by Percy Creuzot Jr., a salesman from New Orleans who died in 2010. As an entrepreneur in Third Ward, he enjoyed a decades-long friendship with Lawson, whose congregation originated in the community 55 years ago. The restaurant opened on July 3, 1969 and served hot sausage po-boys for 75 cents. But a nearby competitor quickly convinced Creuzot to switch to fried chicken and creole sides, including dirty rice. "We were dying across the street from a Church's Chicken," said Novelle Jones, a niece from New Orleans who helped him open the restaurant on the first day. "Many a day I sat on a soda canister watching the people go to Church's because two pieces of chicken and a pepper at that time were 59 cents. I would just be longing for somebody to come and give me some business. "When they turned out their lights at 9 o'clock, we started dropping chicken." Thankfully, Frenchy's had deep fryers and tasty seasonings. "It was difficult initially," Jones said, recalling "drumming up business with a flashlight" to entice hungry folks who remained standing in line when the other restaurant closed. "The 16-cent difference to a student was a lot of money. Once we started selling chicken, it was 59 cents." The establishment has provided food from lunch into the late nights for nearly 50 years, and Jones remains an essential team member. Today, Frenchy's has 22 locations and remains poised for a massive expansion over the next decade, Creuzot III said. Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church has its own storied history. The church was founded in the TSU Baptist Student Union in 1962 with Lawson among the 13 founding members. The church moved into its first sanctuary the same year, and has grown ever since. The congregation moved into the current facility in 1985. Cosby said that a larger Wheeler campus will energize all ministries, including outreach efforts. "Church begins from an inside perspective, but always expands to include everyone else, so what we seek to do is make sure the entirety of the community benefits from our expansion," he said. "We try to take very good care of the families in this community. We've always done that. We've never been insulated." The pastor added that the chicken has spiced up the church's evangelism efforts. "Folks stop for Frenchy's and stay for Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church," he quipped. Creuzot III asked how the pastor plans to describe the new distance between neighbors. "The church that is two blocks down the street from Frenchy's," Cosby replied. "Follow the scent." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In north Pasadena, streets crumble and intersections flood after every rain, bringing aggrieved residents to City Council meetings to ask where their tax money is being spent. They say they're not getting answers. The latest public works news on the city's website is four years old. To get a list of street projects, residents have to file an open records request. If they want to see where the city has sent checks in the past several years, it costs $90. And if they want to sit in on a meeting to see how tax dollars are distributed to neighborhoods, they can't. In Pasadena, the doors are closed. Harris County's second-largest city has about 154,000 people, an annual budget of $207 million and a long track record of making it difficult for residents to obtain public information, according to interviews, newspaper archives and the Chronicle's records requests. Nearby La Porte, less than a quarter of the size, posts all of its capital projects and financial information online, along with check register data since 2013. Faced with roadblocks, some Pasadena residents have given up on getting information out of the city, though state law is supposed to guarantee access. Even council members have been shut out on document requests. The city mishandled eight records requests from the Houston Chronicle by, for example, failing to respond and missing deadlines by weeks when state law calls for prompt responses, usually within 10 days. Some requests were for basic information, like invoices and details of a lucrative tax collection contract held by Mayor Johnny Isbell's longtime friend. The newspaper filed a complaint May 3 with the Texas Attorney General's office. Separately, a City Council member complained to the county attorney of a potential Open Meetings Act violation by the city economic development board, which shut the public out of a presentation about a key project. "This pattern of activity is clearly and strongly against the public interest and completely undermines the American tradition of democratic participation," said attorney Joe Larsen, who serves on the board of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. Isbell declined an interview. Now term-limited and serving out his last days as mayor after dominating Pasadena politics for much of the past 48 years, he has become a polarizing figure, assailed by opponents for shutting the public out of key decisions. Councilman Jeff Wagner, an Isbell ally, emerged as the top vote getter earlier this month among seven candidates running for mayor. He is now the favorite in a runoff against John "JR" Moon Jr., a San Jacinto College trustee. Wagner would be in a position to continue Isbell's domineering approach, able to break tie votes with the council evenly divided. Wagner did not respond to a request for an interview on government transparency in Pasadena, nor did councilmen Bruce Leamon, Cary Bass and Darrell Morrison, who have long voted in a bloc with the mayor. *** Isbell maintains that his own initiative led the city to start televising council meetings in the 1990s, bringing government to the people. After a recent meeting, when a reporter broached the subject of transparency at City Hall, Isbell motioned to the council chambers and said, "I created (televised) meetings for transparency, period." But much of the real business of council happens a half-hour earlier, during "pre-council." It's open to the public but off screen and in a separate, smaller room. Anyone watching on TV March 21 wouldn't have seen the pre-council discussion over Pasadena attorney Roy Mease's tax collection contract, where council members were rebuffed in attempts to get details about the terms. At pre-council, members debate and department officials come forward to answer questions. Then the main meeting is usually a series of votes, the hard work already done. Because the city secretary's office doesn't post a detailed agenda online, anyone coming cold to a meeting is likely to have no idea what the votes are about, Councilman Cody Ray Wheeler said. Discussions in pre-council can be hard to hear, even from the front row, especially when council members speak over one another. Under state open government law, when a majority of council gathers, they aren't supposed to veer off the posted agenda. But that happens regularly here. On April 18, the council discussed a citizen's grievance about ballfield lights that wasn't posted. Even discussions about spending taxpayer money have happened in the dark, according to court testimony by city officials. The Neighborhood Network program awards about $100,000 a year to associations for beautification projects and other improvements. Board members are appointed by the mayor. U.S. Chief District Judge Lee Rosenthal found Isbell used the program to encourage people to vote for his loyalists and for a redistricting measure that would have disenfranchised Hispanic voters. A city review board meets in private to decide on the awards. Afterward, the board announces the grants, without explaining why some projects were funded and some weren't. "I don't see how there could be any question" that the review meetings should be public, Larsen said. "Deciding who gets the money is the most fundamental of government decisions." Program manager Karen Hollon did not respond to messages seeking comment. Another city board, the directors of the Pasadena Second Century Corp., the city's economic development agency, divided into separate groups in November to attend a contractor's presentation on proposals for a convention center. There was no agenda and no minutes for the discussion. Splitting up a quorum to hear public business without posting notice of the meetings is illegal, Larsen said. The corporation's finances have been hard to decipher. City officials have tried to fend off allegations of discrimination by touting a figure that more than 60 percent of corporation projects have gone to the predominantly Hispanic north side of town, but a Chronicle investigation showed that figure is based on lists of projects that didn't happen or were dramatically scaled back. The agency has handled more than $100 million in capital improvements. Its meetings aren't televised. Nor are meetings of the Planning Commission, which shapes development of the city. Its agendas don't get posted online, another violation, Larsen said. Councilman Ornaldo Ybarra, part of the anti-Isbell faction, said delays and excuses for not fulfilling public records requests are common in Pasadena. He also questioned why campaign finance documents aren't posted online. Wheeler said he hopes the incoming administration will improve transparency at City Hall and drive more people to participate in government and hold it accountable. Only about 13 percent of registered voters went to the polls May 6 to choose a mayor and council - or about 8,300 residents. Councilwoman Pat Van Houte, an Isbell critic who lost her bid for mayor, said the city's many boards are mostly staffed by people Isbell knows. "I think a lot of people don't get involved because they don't see the opportunity to get involved," she said. Others try and get the runaround, she said. "Then the next time, they don't bother." *** Mease's tax and fine collections contract remains largely beyond City Council oversight and therefore unaccountable to taxpayers. The city has paid him more than $4.4 million under the contract he has held since the 1990s, according to payments recorded in the check register. But it's unclear where that money is actually going. When Mease's contract came up for renewal in December, several council members raised questions about his relationship with Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, a national collections firm. Though cities are prohibited from putting professional services contracts up for competitive bids - the idea being that you don't necessarily want to hire the cheapest tax collector or consultant - they can shop around. Several council members wondered why the city hadn't compared Mease's performance with other firms, at least since 2004. They also didn't understand why Mease had the contract, when he seemed to be farming much of the work out to Linebarger. The Chronicle later found that Mease had actually declared Linebarger as his employer on a financial disclosure that he filed with the Port of Houston Authority in 2016. Isbell appointed him to that position. In an interview, Mease described Linebarger as his partner, though the firm was not named in the contract and it explicitly forbade subcontracting. He said his role in Pasadena involves trying to coax delinquent taxpayers into payment plans. He called the concerns overblown because the money he makes comes from fees paid by the delinquent tax and fine payers. Those fees are capped at 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively, under state law. Linebarger's involvement doesn't change the fee amount, he said, so the city is getting "two people for the price of one." Asked whether he could provide records the Chronicle sought, Mease said he doesn't keep records related to the contract - Linebarger does. Linebarger spokesman Joe Householder referred all questions back to City Hall. More than seven weeks after the Chronicle requested details about the Mease contract, City Secretary Linda Rorick referred some of the request to another department and to Harris County, which collects some taxes for the city. She said work was progressing on producing other documents. Isbell has responded to criticism in council meetings by declaring that Mease has always done a good job. Councilman Sammy Casados has said he hopes the council will have the votes to re-evaluate the Mease contract after Isbell leaves office in July. Susan Carroll contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BROWNSVILLE - Pamela Taylor, 88, lives on a sliver of land between the Rio Grande and the border fence. A decade ago, as the path of the barrier was being hotly debated, Taylor worried she would be stranded in a no man's land. The 18-foot bollard fence, built in some places as much as a mile north of the international line, required dozens of gates to access the property south of the fence. But before all of the gates were put in place, funding dried up and Taylor, along with many others, were spared. Now it appears their luck has run out. Earlier this month, tucked inside a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, was $49 million for land acquisition and gates to close gaps in existing sections of border fence. A gate, Taylor says, that would seal off her home from the rest of the community. "We would definitely fight having our street blocked off," Taylor said. "Why should we, the American people, be punished?" President Donald Trump has failed, so far, to secure funding for his "big, beautiful" wall, which on this southern border is a see-through fence, not a solid wall. Plans for 34 miles of fencing in the Rio Grande Valley, originally authorized under the Secure Fence Act of 2006, were left off the spending bill, but are likely to be part of the $1.6 billion that the White House will request in the 2018 budget for materials to build the wall. Texas likely to be impacted For now, the omnibus budget allocates $296 million to replace 40 miles of fencing in Arizona and California, and millions more for the border gates. While it's unclear exactly where these gates will be installed, some if not all are destined for South Texas, where there are 35 gaps. Wherever the gates end up, thousands of acres of bucolic farmland, wildlife preserves and private property are certain to be marooned. The Old Hidalgo Pumphouse World Birding Center, where a gate was installed years ago, offers a glimpse of what may lie ahead. The imposing structure blocks public access to trails on refuge land, and impedes free movement of endangered wildlife, such as the ocelot. As stacks of makeshift ladders can attest, the one thing the fence hasn't done is stop illegal immigration. "It looks like Trump wants to lock us out of the Sabal Palms Audubon Sanctuary, and cut off more homeowners and farmers from the rest of the country," said Scott Nichol, co-chair of the Borderlands Team for the Sierra Club. Indeed, the Nature Conservancy, which manages more than 1,000 acres of land in the Rio Grande Valley, most of it between the border fence and the Rio Grande, lamented the loss of ecosystem to waves of land conversion to agriculture, urbanization, dams and reduced river flows. Though Department of Homeland Security officials have not contacted the Nature Conservancy regarding the installation of gates, there is little doubt that closing gaps in the fence that surrounds its preserve lands would further upset the ecosystem. "From an ecological perspective, the border wall fragments vital habitat and a globally significant wildlife corridor used by the ocelot and other wildlife," said Laura Huffman, Texas state director for The Nature Conservancy. Seen as a land grab Between 2007 and 2015 the government spent $2.3 billion to construct pedestrian and vehicle fencing along the border, according to U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, who voted no on the omnibus spending bill. Vela called the border fence, which divided private property, a land grab that threatens the foundation of the rights of private property owners. "In my view, not only should we refrain from building additional structures dividing the two nations, but we should tear down any existing barriers," Vela said. If the signage of Vela standing together with U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, displayed prominently across the region, touting "Build Bridges, Not Walls" isn't enough to cement his opposition to the wall, then his graphic suggestion about where Trump can stick his wall certainly will. For Taylor, one of Vela's constituents, the prospect of being hemmed in by the fence is not something she takes lightly. She's lived on this spread since 1946, and bore witness to waves of migration and drug smuggling. It's not the fence that is responsible for the downturn in apprehensions of immigrants at the border in recent months, Taylor said. "How many millions of immigrants are in our country now since the fence was built?" Taylor questioned. "How did they get in? Over or around the fence." A bill that threatened to derail Harris County's multimillion-dollar renovation of the Astrodome has died, for now, with the end of the Texas legislative session. Democratic Sen. John Whitmire's bill would have required a countywide referendum on the project, a vote that could have undone the county's $105 million plan to raise the Dome's floors and install two levels of parking underneath. The end of the session on Monday means the county can move forward with a revitalization project that officials say could be the key to the stadium's long-term preservation, as well as resume a broader study of the maintenance of the NRG park that was set aside as lawmakers considered Whitmire's bill. "I don't see any potential road blocks," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, on the revitalization project. Emmett said 2020 would be a rough, early estimate of when the project could be completed. Architects and engineers are working on the first phase of the project. That first phase began in September, and was seen as one of the most concrete steps toward securing the Dome's future. It has been vacant for years, and hosted its last Astros game in 2000. Commissioners Court will have to give another green light for the actual construction to begin. County Engineer John Blount said the architects and engineers are examining the stadium as part of the design process, verifying that the county's blueprints match how the stadium actually looks. Blount said, for example, that modifications to the stadium's drainage system made in the 1960s after it was built were not reflected in its original blueprints. "We might find things that take some time to go investigate," Blount said. The renovation would open the Dome for festivals or conferences and could usher in potential commercial uses in the more than 550,000 square feet that surrounds the core. Emmett said multiple organizations have expressed interest to hold events or festivals in a renovated Astrodome, but he wanted to ensure there would be opportunities for the public to use it like they can use Discovery Green. "It's kind of an ongoing discussion process now," Emmett said. "We've got some time." Bond package failed Whitmire's argument in favor of a public referendum was based on the fact that Harris County voters in 2013 defeated a $217 million bond package that would have renovated the Astrodome and transformed it into a street-level convention hall and exhibit space. The Houston state senator, along with a handful of other Houston-area lawmakers, introduced the bill in February. It passed through the Senate before being sent to the House County Affairs Committee, where it sat until lawmakers adjourned Monday. "There's no reason why the House couldn't have taken a vote on this," said Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who supported Whitmire's bill. Bettencourt said the 2013 referendum and general fund money being used by the county to fund the project - estimated to be about one-third of the total cost - necessitates a referendum. "As long as that's in there, in my mind they're going to have to bring this to a vote," he said. Revival unlikely University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said there is "virtually no chance" the Astrodome bill gets revived during a potential special session. Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call lawmakers back to Austin for a special session so they can pass a bill to continue the operations of the Texas Medical Board, the agency that licenses Texas' 85,000 doctors. If the legislation does not pass, the board could go out of business within a year. The governor has the sole authority to decide what issues lawmakers can address during a special session. A message left with Whitmire's office was not returned Tuesday. Emmett said Commissioners Court next week also is likely to take up a contract to conduct a long-term facilities study that had been put on hold earlier this year after Whitmire filed the dome bill. The study would look at the maintenance and upkeep of the entire NRG park over time. "We had to know how much money are we going to need to spend," he said. The crisis in Venezuela is getting worse every day. The government of Nicolas Maduro is maneuvering to cling on to power and destroy the opposition while the country is in the midst of a clear economic decline and an unsustainable humanitarian emergency . On the streets, the daily protests have already seen a death toll of 60 people , hundreds of injuries and thousands of arrests since the start of April. In this context, representatives from American states are meeting for the first time this week at the Organization of American States (OAS) to seek a diplomatic solution to the situation in the country. Mexicos Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray. REUTERS More information Divisions at OAS summit postpone diplomatic solution to Venezuela crisis All eyes are on Wednesdays summit, which will be the last and the most important of a series of meetings that have been held in the regional organization over the last two months. Mexican politician Luis Videgaray on Tuesday urged for a clear resolution in the face of the severity of the crisis, and argued that American leaders must identify the mechanisms to support reconciliation between the government and the Venezuelan opposition. I believe that [Venezuela] is not a democracy right now, and we are witnessing authoritarian actions, the diplomat stated at a conference about the Americas in Miami. Despite his criticism of Maduro, Videgaray argued in favor of a multilateral and negotiated solution. Videgaray argued in favor of a multilateral and negotiated solution A spokesperson from the US State Department also insisted on Tuesday on the need for the regional organization to redirect the relationship with Caracas, which a month ago abruptly announced it was leaving the OAS. Its a slow, methodical and multilateral process, he said, despite the fact that the US has also taken unilateral action against the Venezuelan government by imposing sanctions last week against eight members of Maduros Supreme Court. Its a new opportunity to highlight the level of alarm between the majority of Latin American countries and the need to debate a negotiated solution, another US spokesperson stated. Among the initial objectives for the summit, a number of countries including Peru, Canada, the US, Mexico and Antigua and Barbuda are calling on Maduro to cancel his recent plan for a National Constituent Assembly, whose aim would be to draft a new Constitution for the country that would place more power in the hands of the government. But while the member states are seeking to build bridges, the Venezuelan opposition has indicated a number of times that it is not willing to engage in more negotiations after the failed mediation in 2016 of two ex-presidents and the Vatican. In a letter addressed to the ministers, the president of the National Assembly and key figure in the opposition, Julio Borges, drew attention to the violations of the government in terms of democratic order in order to request the formation of a delegation from different countries that could visit Venezuela to bear witness to the situation. The government must recognize that there will be no peace if there are no elections Ivan Briscoe, International Crisis Group Its not clear whether [the summit] will achieve much, said Ivan Briscoe, the director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group, an NGO dedicated to the study and analysis of conflicts. Briscoe added that in the face of the current situation of stalemate, any route plan that the countries agree on should count on the greatest support possible among the government and the opposition. Its essential for there to be moderation in both camps, he explained. The government must recognize that there will be no peace if there are no elections, even if they know they are running the risk of losing them. The opposition, for its part, will also have to recognize that for there to be a peaceful transition, there must be concessions to certain members of the government, including immunity. If there is no communication between both sides there will not be an effective and peaceful solution to the current crisis, Briscoe warned. Otherwise, the rise in current tensions could derive in a conflict that is even more violent. English version by Simon Hunter. AUSTIN -- As a federal audit on Tuesday criticized Texas' foster-care system, a new internal report at the agency shows marked improvements in several key areas since the Legislature last fall pumped in $150 million to hire more caseworkers and provide pay raises to front-line personnel. Since January, 89.2 percent of children who are at highest risk of abuse and neglect are seen within 24 hours of an intake a nearly 15 percent improvement since January, according to a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services report prepared for Gov. Greg Abbott. In the Houston region, statistics prepared for the Legislative Budget Board show that the number of cases seen within 24 hours improved from 74 percent in January to 87 percent last week. Instead of a backlog of 403 cases in January awaiting 24-hour action, the backlog in May was 41. That compares with 1,216 cases in January that were not seen within 24-hours compared to 169 in May. The report also shows that during the past year, caseloads have decreased by 27 percent, from a average of 18.2 per caseworker to 13.3 a number that could meet a level recommended by special masters appointed by a federal court that ruled Texas' system unconstitutional months ago. Abbott on Wednesday is scheduled to sign three major reform bills, just approved by the Legislature, that are designed to overhaul and improve the state's child-protection programs -- including making DFPS a free-standing agency for the first time in years. Abbott applauded the department's staff for its performance. Gubernatorial spokesman John Wittman said in a statement that "these latest numbers serve as testament to the dedication and character of those who do one of the most meaningful and demanding jobs in the state." Lawmakers in their biennial session that ended Monday added more than $500 million in the new, two-year state budget that takes effect next September. Abbott is expected to sign the budget, as well. "We think this is the result of the additional resources and attention that have been put into the system in the past year," said Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the agency. "With the additional funding that has allowed us to hire additional caseworkers, we're now getting those people into the system and it's making a difference." The new statistics also show that staff turnover rates have dropped since last fall, from 33 percent to 21.5 percent among investigators, from 25 to 19 percent among family services personnel that provides links to counseling and therapy programs, and from 22.6 percent to 19 percent for conservatorship workers who focus on placements and supervision. "We sent more resources to the hot spots and we think that's paying off," he said. State statistics also show that the improvements in retention and intake have occurred while statewide reports alleging abused and neglected children have decreased slightly, from 27,229 in September 2016 to 26,943 in April. Unanswered on Tuesday was what effect the federal audit and the new state statistics might have on the pending federal case, which attorneys involved have said will be back in court soon for a review. Attorneys in the federal court case could not immediately be reached for comment. Several children's advocacy groups said Tuesday they had not seen the new report and could not comment. The findings by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services did not comply with federal and state requirements, including investigators not discussing findings with supervisors in a timely manner. Those failures "undermines the state agency's internal controls for providing oversight of the investigation and could place foster care children at risk," the audit states. State officials said no violations of federal or state law were found, and the audit found no weaknesses in child-abuse investigations "despite the report's suggestive language." The crisis over state child-protection programs erupted in December 2015 when U.S. District Judge Janis Jack of Corpus Christi said the beleaguered system was unconstitutional and had only gotten worse despite several attempts at reforms in the past two decades. Then, reacting to news reports about children who were reported as abused and neglected going weeks or months without being seen by state caseworkers, legislative leaders dispatched state police to track down the hundreds of children who were on those lists and approved emergency funding. Included in the approximately $150 million in funding was money to increase worker pay, curb skyrocketing turnover rates among caseworkers in Houston, Dallas and other parts of Texas, and to hire hundreds of additional caseworkers and child-abuse investigators to eliminate backlogs that left some children unseen by a state worker for months. Houston was identified by officials as a key problem area for caseworker turnover and a backlog of investigations at the time. By this spring, the agency was still reported struggling to find placements for children -- the number awaiting placement doubled from February to March -- and some were still housed temporarily in state offices. The death of a Houston girl who absconded from a state office again racheted up the alarm among lawmakers. But the new report prepared for Abbott shows the system has made statistical gains in some areas in recent months. A copy of the unreleased internal report was obtained by the Houston Chronicle. For his part, the agency's commissioner, Henry "Hank" Whitman, defended the thoroughness of investigations. "There is no suggestion that there were any actual problems in the investigations caused by delay in obtaining supervisory approval," Whitman said in a written response to the audit. AUSTIN - Republican state Rep. Matt Rinaldi won a paper-thin victory when he was re-elected last year, outrunning Donald Trump as Hillary Clinton handily carried the suburban Dallas district. Now, Democrats say they believe Rinaldi's exchange of threats with a Democratic Hispanic legislator on the final day of the regular legislative session Monday will lead to his defeat in 2018. Republicans say the incident will only boost the popularity of Rinaldi, who said he would shoot state Rep. Alfonso "Poncho" Nevarez, D-Eagle Pass, in self-defense after Nevarez said he would confront Rinaldi in the parking lot. Their confronation began after Rinaldi said on the House floor that he had called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after sign-carrying protesters filled the chamber to assail Texas' new law that allows law enforcement to ask people for their immigration status if detained. A political expert in North Texas said Rinaldi's political future likely will be determined by which side can turn out their voters in what is expected to be a rare state legislative race that will grab national attention. "This incident certainly will galvanize the Latino community against him and could spark higher Latino turnout," said Matthew Wilson, an associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University. "The question is, do his core supporters rally around him and turn out at a higher rate in a midterm election?" The debate over the political fallout comes as two Hispanic House members said they had received racist messages after they criticized Rinaldi for telling them that he had called ICE. The federal agency told reporters it has no record of a phone call from Rinaldi. State Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth, said state Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, forwarded him posts on her legislative Facebook page under a photo of Romero that appeared threatening to him. Romero said he contacted the state Department of Public Safety about the social media postings. "I got some pretty ugly emails (Monday night). I also got a tremendous amount of thankful and appreciative emails as well," said Romero, who added that he called DPS Director Steve McCraw on Tuesday to thank him for how state troopers handled the protest. 'White power' call State Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, posted an audio file of a phone call to his legislative office in which a man said: "I stand with Matt Rinaldi" before making a comment about illegal immigrants using an expletive and ending with "white power." Rinaldi, who has said he is under DPS protection, represents House District 115, which includes a swath of suburbs north and west of Dallas including Irving and Carrollton. It is a swing district in a Legislature in which majority Republicans have rewritten the boundaries for several years. "If the Democratic Party can get out the vote in a non-presidential election, Rinaldi definitely will be defeated," said Carol Donovan, who chairs the Dallas County Democratic Party. In 2014, Rinaldi defeated incumbent state Rep. Bennett Ratliff in the GOP primary by 92 votes, and then went on to win the general election. "He did it with tea party support, and he has built pretty strong ties within the conservative activist community within the district," Wilson said. Last year, Rinaldi defeated Democrat Dorotha Ocker 29,987 to 28,939 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent. Clinton carried the district over Trump 51.5 percent to 43.6 percent. Harsh words continue Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Empower Texans, an organization at the center of the state's conservative movement, said the incident will increase Rinaldi's popularity. "My experience is that whomever the denizens of the rarefied confines of the Capitol and the back offices of the Democratic Party deem as a villain, citizens tend to celebrate," he said. Sullivan questioned why Nevarez turned quickly after the brief but intense scuffle on the House floor to talk of political payback. At a news conference Monday, Nevarez said: "If I have to walk every day in his neighborhoods and knock on doors and tell (voters) what a waste of space that guy is, I'll do that." On Tuesday, Nevarez said Rinaldi "will feel the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus in his district." Sullivan said Rinaldi is a strong conservative whom Democrats are determined to defeat. "It shows the depths that they have sunk, given that they can't win on policy and can't win at the polls. So instead they are going to threaten someone," he said. Romero said a House committee should investigate what happened on the House floor. A probe that includes reviewing any videotape footage could provide Texans clarity about what happened, given that Rinaldi and Hispanic Democrats have offered conflicting accounts, said Wilson, the SMU professor. Dispute over signs Romero said protesters didn't have signs in the House gallery, as Rinaldi alleged, that read: "I am illegal and here to stay." He said the signs said: "See you at the polls" and "See you in court." Romero added: "Even if a person like myself decided to have that sign, there's a hashtag - '#I'm illegal' - and at some point or another, I might have used it." Nevarez said Rinaldi didn't have evidence that there were illegal immigrants in the House gallery. "The evidence he had was there were brown people shouting things he didn't want to hear," he said. Rinaldi didn't return a message seeking comment Tuesday. Ocker, the Democrat who lost to Rinaldi in last year's general election, said she wants a rematch in 2018. She said she planned to challenge him again several months before Monday's melee made national news. "I think it's sad to see anybody be disrespectful on the floor of the House. Our district deserves someone who can represent them and if you can't work with your colleagues, you can't get anything done," she said. David Paul Morris State Rep. Matt Rinaldi already had a target on his back, even before he helped instigate the near-fisticuffian finale of the 85th legislative session - and no, the target we're talking about is not the firing-range paper target Gov. Gregg Abbott waved recently as he made a tasteless joke about shooting journalists. Rinaldi, an Irving Republican who proudly calls himself the most conservative member of the Texas House - an appellation that puts him in range of a certain notorious Hun - represents a Metroplex district that's 60 percent minority, a district he won last year by 1,048 votes of nearly 59,000 cast. Rinaldi's erstwhile Democratic opponent says she's poised for a 2018 rematch, especially after the Monday incident. Rinaldi stoked the ire of Hispanic lawmakers when he said he had called immigration authorities to detain people in the House gallery protesting the state's new "sanctuary cities" law. The bill was one of several divisive measures introduced this session that were solutions in search of a problem, measures designed to appease the Republican Party's fiercely ideological base even if their unintended consequences likely will harm the state as a whole. Abbott even labeled the sanctuary cities bill an "emergency" item, despite warnings of racial profiling and other dire consequences from Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and other law-enforcement professionals. Nevertheless, the governor got what he wanted. Sylvia Garcia voted against raising your property taxes. Every other Texas senator voted to hike 'em. That news might come as some surprise to Houstonians who listened to self-proclaimed Republican guard dogs like state Sen. Paul Bettencourt and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick bark and growl about protecting Texas taxpayers. But when the big bill finally arrived at the end of the session, those guard dogs turned belly up and approved the budget in a 30-1 vote. Now Gov. Greg Abbott looks ready to sign a two-year budget that cuts state funding for schools by about $1.1 billion. How will your neighborhood schools make up for the missing cash? Look forward to higher property taxes. That's the only option left for school districts that have seen the state shrink its share of funding with each consecutive legislative session. Counties and hospital districts face a similar challenge. The budget failed to cover costs for the growth in Medicaid - a federal insurance program for the disabled and poor. The sick and injured will still show up in publicly funded emergency rooms. Local property taxes will have to cover the bill. Legislators have tried to justify these cuts by claiming that the state simply doesn't have the money. That argument only makes sense if you ignore the $4 billion given away in tax cuts during the 2015 legislative session. There's also $11 billion sitting in the state's "rainy day fund," which serves as a taxpayer savings account. That's the problem with government spending in Texas. Austin lawmakers can brag all day about the state's tight budget, but cuts in the Capitol won't lower the bills for HISD schools or Harris County hospitals. Local governments are trying to fill the money bucket with the only revenue stream available - property taxes - while state legislators drill a hole in the bottom. Texas taxpayers had a brief hope of seeing that hole plugged up under House Bill 21, authored by Houston's own state Rep. Dan Huberty. The bill would have added around $1.5 billion in state dollars and smoothed out our state's Rube Goldberg machine of funding local schools. So what happened? Patrick's Senate gutted the bill and replaced it with a private voucher scheme that would just drill another hole into the money bucket and siphon funds to private businesses with no oversight and no strings attached. Instead, Patrick spent the session promoting Bettencourt's now-dead Senate Bill 2 as the solution to our state's property tax woes. There's just one problem - SB 2 wouldn't do anything to fix our state's reliance on property taxes. The bill would merely create more roll-back triggers and disclosures. No wonder that the bill's House sponsor, state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, pushed back against Bettencourt's claim that SB 2 would provide taxpayer relief. Conservative blogger David Jennings deemed the bill a "big ol' 'nothing burger.'" And as this page has previously pointed out, the bill complicates property taxes in a way that could only be loved by the CEO of a property-tax consulting firm. What do you know? Bettencourt is the CEO of a property-tax consulting firm! Texas isn't lacking for big ideas that would take the weight off homeowners' annual bills, and they come from both sides of the partisan aisle. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, a Republican, has proposed a county sales tax. Former Fort Bend County Democratic Party Chairman Steve Brown has proposed a state income tax. Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack, a Republican, has proposed that Texas expand Medicaid to draw down more federal funds. Even smaller fixes, such as HB 21, would provide some much-needed reform. But after another legislative session, homeowners are yet again left with the same broken system. The only major change to our tax code was a cut for businesses - another hole drilled into the money bucket that homeowners will be forced to fill. Want next time to be different? Try electing different representatives. State Sen. Garcia can't do it by herself. Shared history Regarding "Houston mosque embraces Latinos into family of Islam" (Page A17, Sunday), I found it curious that the article referred to "the deep connections between the Latino and Islamic cultures" including "a shared history, which dates back to the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula." That "shared history" was the invasion of Europe by Islamists that subjugated most of modern-day Spain and Portugal for nearly 7 centuries before being driven out. Latinos might reflect on that and all of the modern-day wars waged in the name of Islam before concluding they have so very much in common. Pete Smith, Cypress War memorials Regarding "Korean War veterans will never forget 'America's forgotten war'" (Page A3, Saturday), the Korean War Memorial is a poignant expression of the reality of war. It depicts the brutal conditions of that war on the men who suffered fighting it. The markers around its perimeter show the number of dead and wounded of each participating country. It takes little imagination to see these deep phalanxes of young men marching to their deaths, their families back home being pulled by ethereal cords to join them in repose years later. It is a personal place, a somber place. To the left is the Vietnam War Memorial with its black knife edge tombstone jutting out of the earth with the names of American fallen engraved on it. Together these memorials reach inside you, reminding you of the individual sacrifices made by these men and women, and you leave saddened that the human condition seems to lead to this end. You pray that our leaders take a long walk by these monuments before they engage our young in more war. Walt Lind, Nassau Bay Shooting from the lip Regarding "Abbott assailed for gun joke about media" (Page A19, Saturday), this is no joke in a world where dictatorships are on the rise and the press is under attack in more and more places. But this is not simply about the press and reporters. It is about civility and civilization, both of which are increasingly endangered. Though perhaps constitutionally protected, such speech recklessly promotes civil disorder. Shouldn't those responsible for maintaining law and order be held to a higher standard? John Snyder, Houston A walk to remember Regarding "For graduate, the walk is 'amazing'" (Page A3, Satuday) I'm glad that Zaida Morales is able to use her original two legs to walk up and receive her diploma. Her story shows that doctors can only go so far in the mending and healing process. The rest is up to the patient's mindset, along with good support. Congratulations on coming back and graduating! Bob Gayle, Housston Russia ties Regarding "Homeland security secretary defends Kushner's reported talks with Russia" (Page A8, Monday), there is no reasonable explanation for an American creating a private communications medium in a Russian facility. This means it is possibly secure from American surveillance but totally accessible by Russia. It raises again the question as to why the Trump administration has such fascination with all things Russian. Now our allies in the European Union and NATO are questioning their ability to depend on us. Has President Trump forgotten that NATO was our primary ally after 9/11 and sacrificed many of their own troops in our defense? Ron Curtis, Houston WASHINGTON - The great thing about hiring family members: You can usually trust them more than others. The really awful thing about hiring family members: You can't fire them. Unless, of course, you're Michael Corleone. Poor Fredo. It's no mere coincidence that "The Godfather" comes to mind when considering the nation's first family and challenges therein. President Donald Trump, like Vito Corleone, has surrounded himself with family members, especially daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, and for essentially the same reasons. If you're Donald Trump, whom can you really trust? When you're a real estate mogul from Queens and Manhattan, with enough questionable paper to keep a cadre of lawyers in chauffeurs for life, you need the blood that binds as your innermost circle. Hence, Ivanka and Jared, the latter of whom turns out to be the latest person of interest in the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign. Thus far, it's been reported that Kushner sought a back channel of communication with Russia, which isn't unusual in itself, though generally the president would work through the State Department or U.S. intelligence agencies. Kushner, who, despite rumors to the contrary, is actually not the president, supposedly discussed the back channel with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. This meeting reportedly took place at Trump Tower in early December last year, which means that Donald Trump wasn't actually the president either. Thus, Kushner was acting as a private citizen. Stranger still, Kushner and Kislyak apparently discussed using Russian diplomatic facilities so that even our own intelligence agencies would remain in the dark. Might we remind dear readers that U.S. intelligence agencies are the ones on our team? Russian operatives, decidedly, are not. What was so "sensitive" that Kushner would need a private line to the Kremlin? Surely there's a reasonable explanation; I just can't think of one. The idea that Kushner is that naive is naive in itself. Besides, we've also now learned that former/ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn was also present in the meeting. Wouldn't a three-star general have enough experience to know better - unless he endorsed the idea for purposes that remain unclear? Another Kushner meeting - with a Russian banker and close friend of Putin - has also raised flags. Meanwhile, millions are wondering: Who is that masked man, Jared Kushner - or "the air," as Steve Bannon reportedly refers to him because of his way of breezing in and out of meetings? And what are Kushner's qualifications for negotiating with our greatest geopolitical foe? Often called the shadow secretary of state, Kushner has been a shadow in nearly every way. This is to say, we know little about him other than that he seems savvy in the ways of the paparazzi. In photos, he cuts a rather James-Bondian figure - invariably looking slightly askance, somewhat bemused and ever-knowing. He seems determined to remain an enigma even as he appears to be in charge of everything from the Nile to the Volga. Not only does he have security clearance but he also receives his own private security briefings each morning. There's no question the young man is bright, maybe brilliant, though he did manage to buy the nation's most expensive building just before the 2008 recession hit. On balance, he took over his family's real estate business when he was just 25 and reportedly has been able to recoup most of the $500 million invested in the building, which plummeted to half its value during the financial crisis. In my shallow moments, I confess to the guilty pleasure of watching Jared and Ivanka as one would Prince William and Duchess Kate. But then I remind myself that the U.S. is not currently a monarchy, though this might be preferable to, say, a thugocracy. Or worse. At the center of the storm, always, is Trump and the many still-unanswered questions about his and his aides' relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin and possible collusion during the 2016 campaign. Pertinent to those concerns, why all the secrecy? You don't have to be a paranoid conspiracy theorist to be justifiably skeptical if not suspicious. Kushner surely deserves a chance to explain his actions before he's indicted in the public square. Reportedly, he's angry and eager to defend his reputation, but it may not be his that's most at risk. As a senior adviser to the president, he has become a liability without family blood to protect him. With Trump, as with the Corleones, loyalty is all. Without blood to bind him, what's to prevent Kushner getting the boot? Under the circumstances, he might welcome an exit ramp, but he'd best steer clear of boat ramps. Parker's email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com. Five people died in traffic crashes and three drowned during the Memorial Day weekend. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the traffic deaths were down from the 13 people killed in 2016. There were zero boating fatalities last year. Troopers investigated 345 traffic crashes that injured 128. There were 107 driving while intoxicated arrests and 125 drug arrests. Marine operations troopers investigated 14 boating crashes involving seven injuries. Three of the traffic fatalities occurred in the Weldon Spring area. On Friday, May 26, Glenwood E. Hargiss, 75, of Park Hills, died when the vehicle he was driving traveled off the left side of the roadway, crossed another roadway, and struck a tree. The crash occurred in St. Francois County on Highway 32 west of Pine Ridge Trail. Dr. G. Fortuna pronounced Hargiss dead at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Hargiss was not wearing a seat belt. The next day, Lindsay E. White, 24, of Kansas City, died when the vehicle she was driving the northbound lanes of Interstate 635 in Platte County. The crash occurred at the 12mile marker. Paramedic Scott Dorian of Kansas City Fire Department pronounced White dead at the scene. White was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. The driver of the vehicle Whites vehicle struck sustained serious injuries; three passengers sustained minor injuries in the crash. The second vehicles driver and all its participants were wearing seat belts. On Sunday, May 28, Miranda L. Foster, 34, of Ironton, died while she was assisting a motorist in the median and stepped into traffic. She was struck by a vehicle. The crash occurred in Jefferson County on Interstate 55 south of Missouri Route M. EMS personnel pronounced Foster dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle was not injured in the crash. He was wearing a seat belt. Two fatalities occurred on Monday, May 29. Larry W. Rhoades, 19, of Sullivan, died when the driver of the vehicle in which he was a passenger lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle traveled off the left side of the roadway and overturned. The crash occurred in Washington County on Highway 21 north of Dugout Road. Dr. Eifling pronounced Rhoades dead at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Neither Rhoades nor the driver were wearing a seat belt. Jesse W. Kechum, 33, of Downing, died when the vehicle he was driving ran off the right side of the roadway, he overcorrected, returned to the roadway and the vehicle overturned several times. Both Kechum and a passenger were ejected from the vehicle. The crash occurred in Scotland County on Highway 15 north of Memphis, Mo. Deputy Coroner Sheriff Wayne Winn pronounced Kechum dead at the scene. Neither Kechum nor the passenger were wearing a seat belt. The passenger sustained serious injuries in the crash. Two people drowned on Saturday, May 27, and one person is missing after a vehicle was swept off the roadway at the intersection of Jupiter Road and Fall Creek Road in Taney County. There were five occupants in the vehicle; the remaining two survived. Branson Police and Fire Department is handling the investigation. One person drowned Monday, May 29. William A. Russo, 53, of St. Louis, was located face-down in the water near a dock near the 3.5-mile mark of the Big Niangua Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks in Camden County. Dr. W. Cravens pronounced Russo dead at the scene. Russo was not wearing a lifejacket when he was found. During a scary outbreak of stormy weather in the early morning hours May 19, City of Houston emergency management director Jeremy St. John opened the Houston storm shelter for local residents to take refuge. St. John said the storm shelter is opened whenever a severe, threatening storm is approaching the city. During the same weather event, the eight warning sirens in Houston sounded twice. Thats because there was a real threat of the storm spawning a tornado. The storm sirens sound off in Houston whenever were under a direct threat of a tornado, St. John said. What determines this is information from the National Weather Service as well as eyes on the ground in the area evaluating current weather conditions. St. John said when the NWS issues a tornado warning aimed at central Texas County and the Bucyrus, Huggins and Houston area, he contacts the sheriffs department to activate the sirens in a cycle of approximately three minutes on with a three-minute pause in between. He said the sirens are not used for an all clear signal. This equipment is used only to notify you of harm or potential of harm and destruction within the city of Houston, St. John said. Houstons storm sirens are located at Oak Hill Drive and U.S. 63, Oak Hill Drive and Reed Street, First Street and Mill Street, Hamrick Street and Waverly Street, between the two Durham Co. buildings in the Houston Industrial Park, the north side of the parking lot at Texas County Memorial Hospital, on U.S. 63 at Pizza Hut and on Indian Creek Trail between U.S. 63 and Cleveland Road. They are tested at 9:30 a.m. the third Thursday of each month, weather permitting, to make sure theyll be ready if needed. The City of Houston has eight storm sirens, including this one on First Street at Mill Street. Other than that, St. John said, hearing the sirens means theres a tornado threat. I take these situations very seriously, he said. I dont want to have a department that activates sirens all the time when not needed like crying wolf. So I want the citizens to take the siren warning very seriously. St. John said either he or an on-duty Houston police officer opens the shelter during threatening weather episodes. When it has been opened, the Texas County 911 office is contacted which then notifies Texas County Memorial Hospital to open its safe room. Staffing for the city shelter includes St. John and volunteers from the City of Houston Fire Department. St. John said that when people arrive at the shelter, they should stay inside until authorities provide a verbal all-clear signal. One of the City of Houstons eight storm sirens located Oak Hill Drive. The shelter remains open until potentially threatening weather has passed. St. John said local citizens can find out when the storm shelter is open by consulting weather alert radios, social media or monitoring TV and radio reports to learn when a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning has been posted for central Texas County. Storm notification is given as much in advance as possible, St. John said, but theres no perfect solution. During bad weather, were a little ways from the NWS radar site and they dont always see whats coming our way, he said. St. John urges local citizens to use common sense, wisdom and restraint when dealing with potentially dangerous weather. We just ask for everyone to be calm and patient, he said. Usually during these times a lot of information is coming in on storm damage and other operations that may have stemmed from a storm. The emergency teams made up of our dispatchers, law enforcement, firefighters and medical staff are trying to help everyone out. If you should have a true emergency during or after a storm, please dial 911 for help. But if you have damage to report that is not threatening life or property, please hold off for a little while before contacting the proper authorities. This will give emergency crews time to take care of calls that need to be immediately tended to. The Houston storm shelter opened in 2007 and was constructed using $1.2 million in grant funding from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). It measures 7,200 square feet and is designed to hold as many as 1,200 people and withstand an EF4 tornado. It is equipped with a small kitchen area, mens and womens restrooms, tables and chairs, and an emergency back-up generator that automatically turns on if external power is interrupted. For more information, call City of Houston emergency management director Jeremy St. John at 417-217-2161 or email him at st.johnjeremy@yahoo.com. The inhabitants of 10 towns in the Mexican state of Guerrero have created a new self-defense group in response to the violence and threats they are suffering at the hands of organized criminals. The armed civilians, accompanied by hundreds of locals, marched on Sunday through the streets of Mezcala, the biggest mining area in the region. They also blocked off for an hour a section of the federal freeway that joins the capital of the country with the city of Acapulco. Civiles armados, en el estado de Guerrero, Mexico. EFE More information Un nuevo grupo de autodefensa surge en el sur de Mexico The appearance of this group comes in the midst of a situation of violence that is gripping this area of Guerrero, where the criminal gangs Guerreros Unidos and Los Rojos are fighting for control. The head of the self-defense group said Sunday that they would be manning checkpoints to inspect vehicles and people who travel through the region, which is located 55 kilometers from Iguala, from where 43 student teachers disappeared in 2014. Threats, executions, kidnapping and extortion have all been on the rise since 2013 According to the newspaper El Sur, the armed civilians are being supported by the local mining companies, whose employees handed out food and water after Sundays march and blockade. One of the participants in the protest told the EFE news agency that the criminal gangs take 10% of the annual fee that the mining companies pay to exploit the resources. According to local media reports, threats, executions, kidnapping and extortion have all been on the rise since 2013. The new group has also received the support of another auto-defensa group, which was created three weeks ago in the municipality of Heliodoro Castillo, one of the areas with the greatest production of poppies in the whole country. The authorities in Guerrero are yet to make an official statement about the new group. Other states in Mexico have also seen major movements of armed civilians. The most emblematic of these was the one headed up by surgeon Jose Manuel Mireles in Michoacan in 2013, when he and other citizens began an armed struggle against the Caballeros Templarios cartel. Mireles, whose story was told in the documentary Cartel Land, was later jailed for his exploits in June 2014. After a legal battle, he was eventually freed from prison on May 11. English version by Simon Hunter. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Leave your wallet at home Android Pay is now officially available in Canada. Google announced in a release Wednesday that Canada is now one of 12 countries where the mobile wallet is available. The contactless payment app lets users pay for goods with a tap of their phone. Once the app is downloaded, users don't need to open it unless they're spending more than $100 they simply have to unlock their phone to pay, and the card number is not shared with stores. If users lose their phone, they can remotely wipe it to make sure their card info stays secure. Advertisement Support for eligible Visa and MasterCard cards will roll out in the next few days, and support for Interac debit cards from BMO, CIBC, National Bank, Scotiabank, Desjardins, President's Choice, ATB Financial and Canadian Tire will launch Monday. Google says support for American Express and Tangerine is coming this summer. The app also stores gift cards, and lets users pick what card they want to use before they pay for their purchase. It'll work at any store that accepts contactless payments (Google lists Tim Hortons, Loblaws and Petro-Canada as examples), as well as select online retailers. According to MONEXgroup, eight out of 10 retailers in Canada accept contactless payments and 10 per cent of transactions are contactless. Advertisement Android Pay is available on Android phones running on versions 4.4 and up that are NFC-enabled. Android Pay is launching just over one year after Apple Pay went live in Canada. Samsung Pay launched in Canada in November 2016. Google is planning a big expansion of Android Pay this year, with plans to launch in Brazil, Germany, Spain, and Taiwan, The Verge reported. Mobile payments are expected to grow rapidly over the next few years. A report from Business Insider forecasts U.S. in-store mobile payments will increase from US$75 billion this year to $503 billion in 2020. Canada could soon have a second province running a basic income experiment. The NDP-Green Party partnership that's likely to form the next government in British Columbia has included the basic income in its agreement to govern. The document includes a pledge to design and implement a basic income pilot to test whether giving people a basic income is an effective way to reduce poverty, improve housing, health and employment. Advertisement The idea came from the B.C. Green Party, whose platform describes the basic income as a key priority. It's part of a broader strategy "to move all British Columbians toward a liveable income," a Green Party spokeswoman told HuffPost Canada on Wednesday. The party platform states that implementation will begin by carrying out a pilot project, drawing on experience from Manitoba in the 1970s and current pilot projects being implemented in Ontario. Advertisement Dauphin, Man. was the site of an experiment with basic income in the 1970s. The results were buried for decades until academic Evelyn Forget unearthed them in recent research, and found it had nearly eliminated poverty in the community. This spring, Ontario announced in its budget that three communities Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay will be the sites of basic income experiments over the next several years. Under Ontarios plan, single people will receive nearly $17,000 annually, less 50 per cent of what they earn. Some 4,000 people in the three communities will be selected to participate in the experiment. But whether or not British Columbia follows Ontarios lead will depend on whether or not the Green-NDP coalition can form a government. Advertisement Premier Christy Clarks Liberals picked up 43 seats in the May 9 election, two more than the NDPs 41. The Greens picked up three seats, handing them the balance of power in the legislature. The announcement of an agreement between the NDP and Greens makes it likely that Clark wont survive a confidence vote in the legislature, giving the NDP and Greens an opportunity to govern. The idea of a basic income an unconditional regular payment to all adults has been gaining currency in some circles in recent years. Some economists argue that the rapid pace of automation today means the government will have to offer some form of basic income to offset the jobs lost to machines. Advertisement Though its supported primarily by progressives, the basic income has garnered support among some conservatives as well, who see an opportunity to reduce the size of government. Some of the worlds most prominent entrepreneurs have come out in favour of the idea, including Tesla Motors and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and, most recently, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. In a commencement speech at Harvard University, Zuckerberg argued that the rapid pace of job change means societies should be looking at ideas like the basic income to provide some measure of security. But the idea remains highly controversial, with many experts arguing it would disincentivize people from working. Advertisement A recent report from the OECD suggested that a basic income could not be supported by current taxation levels in developed countries, and would require tax hikes if the amount of money issued is to be anywhere near the poverty line. The report also contradicted the evidence collected in Dauphin, suggesting that a basic income would not help reduce poverty because it would fail to target the poor specifically. Also on HuffPost Two men robbed a sex toy warehouse twice in 24 hours, stealing thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise in less than a day. And their ballsy crime was all caught on camera. Swedish sex toy maker Lelo's Las Vegas warehouse posted a cheeky blog post about the weekend robberies on its company website. Advertisement Security video shows a car ramming into the warehouse door and two men taking a full load of merchandise returning hours later to do the same thing. "Like all true romances, they werent satisfied until they came twice," the company said. 'WHAT KIND OF PARTY ARE THESE PEOPLE HAVING?' Lelo said it appears the men knew what they were taking, but the company suggested it would be funnier if they didn't: We hope they saw a shiny new warehouse and thought "yeahhhh we about to be Made Men, sonnnn" and they went home with their ill-gotten loot, opened up the boxes, discovered they had grabbed 30000 condoms by accident, and were so stunned that they realized they depended on each others partnership to get over the trauma, quickly fell in passionate love, had no condoms left by the end of the week, and quit their life of crime to grow old together and renovate a charming guesthouse in New Orleans. Thirty thousand HEX condoms were stolen during the first heist. Their second stolen bounty included dozens of sex toys, including 48 kegel beads used to strengthen vaginal and pelvic floor muscles, and 33 insertable prostate massagers (vibrating butt plugs). "WHAT KIND OF PARTY ARE THESE PEOPLE HAVING?" Lelo wrote. "We could have done the sponsorship or something. A friggin invite might have been nice." The company said the theft won't damage their bottom line: they were about to give away tons of free condoms anyway. "They could have just waited and asked for them like everyone else, instead of ruining the paintwork on a perfectly good SUV," it said. "But hey, with 33 HUGO prostate massagers, we suppose one thing is true: these slippery crims can happily go fuck themselves." Advertisement The company is asking anyone with information to contact the Las Vegas Police Department. In return, Lelo said they will donate the full retail value of the stolen goods to the charity of that person's choice. Watch the (safe for work) security video embedded above. Follow HuffPost Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also on HuffPost A Liberal bill to legalize marijuana is likely to mean more children will become drug mules, a Conservative MP says. Marilyn Gladu made the charge in the House of Commons Tuesday while debating Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, tabled by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould last month. Advertisement Gladu and other Conservatives argued that the bill will not achieve what Liberals have called its central purpose: to keep the drug out of the hands of children. In particular, Tories seized on how C-45 deals with children caught with under five grams of the drug, and a provision allowing adults over the age of 18 to grow up to four cannabis plants per residence, as long as they're under a metre high. Gladu suggested pot plants in the home will pose an immediate risk to children. With respect to the four plants in the household, if the minister would refer to poisoning data, she would see that kids eat plants all the time because their parents do not put them up in the cupboard, she said. Advertisement The MP highlighted how the bill would exempt young people between the ages of 12-17 from facing criminal prosecution for possessing up to five grams of pot, which she said amounted to about 10 joints. Does the minister not agree that this would put cannabis in the hands of youth? In fact, they would probably become the drug mules at the school, Gladu said. Focus on rehabilitation rather than criminal penalty In an earlier speech to the House, Wilson-Raybould said that provision was included because Liberals did not want to expose young people to the criminal justice system for possessing what amounts to very small amounts of marijuana. Kids who possess or distribute more than five grams would face punishment under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which focuses on community-based responses promoting rehabilitation, she said. "Is there any easier way for young people to get marijuana than if their parents have four plants in the kitchen?" Rob Nicholson Wilson-Raybould told Gladu there is nothing in C-45 that legally allows young people under 18 to access marijuana. Tory justice critic Rob Nicholson, a former attorney general, suggested the bill would make it effortless for kids to get their hands on pot. Is there any easier way for young people to get marijuana than if their parents have four plants in the kitchen? Is there any easier way for them to have access than that? he asked. Wilson-Raybould responded that, much like in cases where prescription drugs or alcohol are in the home, adults would be expected to take extra precautions and safety measures. 'This is a lax approach': ex-minister But in his speech to the House, Nicholson said that marijuana plants cant be compared to prescription drugs because they have to be out in the open in order to grow. Advertisement Like Gladu, he suggested the bill could mean children are recruited by drug dealers who would be smart enough, he said, to send them to the streets with three or four grams of marijuana instead of five. What's Happening In Ottawa? Stay on top of the biggest political stories of the day with our newsletter. What happens when a 12-year-old uses or distributes cannabis to his peers on the playgrounds, every day, with no questions asked? This is a lax approach, Nicholson said. Liberal MP Marco Mendicino, the justice ministers parliamentary secretary, shot back that C-45 would not increase risks of adults using kids to traffic drugs because it contains much harsher penalties for providing pot to someone under the age of 17. In fact, we are proposing a higher maximum sentence a 14-year sentence which is an improvement from the current regime, Mendicino said. Advertisement Ticketable offence NDP justice critic Alistair MacGregor ended up coming to the defence of the Liberals, saying the exemption dealing with youth would not mean that they can legally access marijuana. It is just so it is a ticketable offence so they are not stuck for the rest of their lives with a criminal record, MacGregor said. The status quo and criminal law-and-order approach to this issue hasnt worked, MacGregor said. What do the Conservatives propose as an alternative? he asked. Nicholson reiterated that Tories are concerned about children having access to the drug and suggested Liberals didnt expect to actually have to bring about such reforms. They probably thought the NDP would win the election so they could promise anything, such as new electoral reform, legalize marijuana. These are wonderful things but then it turned out they ended up in government, Nicholson said. Advertisement Now we can see that the government has not thought this out at all. Also on HuffPost There's a lot of talk and a lot of publicity these days about what girls can and can't wear to school. But lost among the discrimination faced by girls when it comes to dress codes is the fact that many girls don't want to wear short shorts or fitted shirts they just can't find other options on their side of the department store. Advertisement Feast your eyes, for example, on the Google search results for "shorts for girls Canada" we just did. It was a point raised by mom Catherine Pearlman when she invited her daughter's principal to go shopping in order to find outfits that fit the tween's criteria. It's also a problem two clothing companies have been trying to combat for years. Moms Sharon Choksi (owner of Girls Will Be) and Courtney Hartman (owner of Free To Be Kids) had enough to trying to make do, and chose to create their own lines. Advertisement "Some people ask us, 'Why don't your daughters just shop in the boys' department?'" Choksi tells HuffPost Canada. "And while that works for some girls, we don't think girls should have to shop in the boys' department to find the things they love. Plus, not all girls want to wear the boxy, oversized styles you find there." Both brands are trying to level the playing field when it comes to kids' clothing, with Girls Will Be creating longer and baggier shorts for girls, and T-shirts that have more coverage than cap sleeves. Meanwhile, Free To Be Kids does offer cap sleeves, but also has styles that are roomier and non-gendered when it comes to design. "If you like wearing slimmer fit tees and you feel comfortable and good in those, that's awesome. If you like wearing your shirts a little more relaxed, that's also awesome," Hartman tells HuffPost Canada. "Don't let anybody tell define 'feminine' or 'girly' for you. Fashion and trends come and go, but style is evergreen!" Girls Will Be went so far as to measure girls' clothing against boys' clothing and discovered a massive discrepancy in the sizing. Advertisement "Girls' shorts are literally one-third the length of boys' shorts," the company notes. "And in all 10 brands [studied], the boys' size six shorts had longer inseams than the girls' size 10 shorts." "Theres absolutely no reason boys clothes and girls clothes should be such wildly different shapes," notes Hartman. Advertisement For years, parents have been pointing out issues with gender-specific designs with everything from the quality of the fabric to the edging on t-shirts. Even underwear for toddlers isn't immune from the problem, as writer Emily Gonzalez pointed out last year on CTworkingmoms.com. "The boys undies are generous, full coverage. For some reason, the girls ones are that high cut style that all women have learned to hate. Lets be honest, they go right up the butt, right? I see no reason for the cut of 2-year-olds underwear to differ by gender, except for the fact that society is already expecting them to be little men or little women instead of the practically genderless children that they are. But we also need to address the fabric. The boys undies are a soft, thick cotton. The legs are lined with more cotton, and the waistband is a nice elastic. The girls undies are so thin. So depressingly thin, like tissue paper. The worst part is that the legs and waist are finished with this awful lace. Moral of the story? Girl stuff is inferior, and being a girl is uncomfortable. Life lesson learned. There you go, age two. Boom. Look, boys dont exactly win here either. God forbid a little boy doesnt like his choices. Can you imagine how people would react, knowing that a mom bought her son girls underwear?" "While boys' clothes are constructed for comfort and utility, girls' clothes tend to be designed to emphasize and minimize their shape. Fitted leggings, fitted tees, and shorty shorts are the norm," notes Rachel Simmons, co-founder of Girls Leadership, an organization dedicated to empowering girls. "Only offering those options sends girls the message that their bodies are, and should be, on full display at all times and that looking slim is more important than having freedom of movement." Advertisement And while Girls Will Be does emphasize that if a girl's preference is for a slimmer fit, she should feel more than confident wearing those clothes, but they want to give more options for the sake of choice and comfort. Le pavage sur Rene-Levesque en action, pour la course de Formule-E. Drapeau jaune, on sort la voiture de securite! #YouHadOneJob#polmtlpic.twitter.com/wQVL2m8v2b Projet Montreal (@projetmontreal) May 27, 2017 Thats all that anyone can say about this photo showing a shoddy paving job in Montreal. The unsightly grey patch under a car parked illegally on Rene-Levesque Blvd. showed up last Tuesday, a day before 175,000 construction workers in Quebec went on strike, according to CTV News. So that meant that as of last Wednesday, no one was around to touch it up. But while workers were off the job, people on social media were busy making jokes about the oversight. Advertisement Never let obstacles in your way stop you from doing your job - https://t.co/QCFSJGCY1x Alexander Supertramp (@micrich3) May 30, 2017 Posing for photos where there should be asphalt pic.twitter.com/itimWabBhP Derek Conlon (@DConlonCTV) May 30, 2017 Demix Construction, the paving company, defended its decision to go around the car in a statement obtained by Global News. Given the circumstances, it was preferable to continue the work by bypassing the vehicle that was inserted in the closure at the last moment than to wait for the towing services, they said. Advertisement The company had been hired to fix up roads in preparation for the Formula E races in July, the Ville-Marie borough said in a statement to the Montreal Gazette. It was trying to get work done in a frenzy before the strike came into effect at midnight. Of course, someone made it political But a city councillor from the official opposition party told the Gazette he thinks this is indicative of Mayor Denis Coderres administration. "The job was improvised, botched, poorly planned and poorly executed, Francois Limoges said. "We knew the Formula E races were coming for a long time. Why is it that we have a company working at the last minute, into the night on the eve of a general strike?" The Most Important Stories Sent To You 'The Daily Brief' connects you with our best stories sent right to your inbox. The strike itself is over as of Wednesday after the provincial government passed back-to-work legislation. Advertisement So it's entirely possible that the notorious spot has been paved over already. Let's get one thing straight. Frank Underwood would not be in the White House without Claire, just like Netflix's "House of Cards" wouldn't be the monumental hit that it is without Robin Wright. The 51-year-old actress knows this. So, when she discovered her character was more popular than co-star Kevin Spacey's last year, she knew the time was right to go public about the disparity between their real life salaries. Advertisement I was looking at statistics and Claire Underwoods character was more popular than [Franks] for a period of time. So I capitalized on that moment. I was like, You better pay me or Im going to go public, Wright said last May. At the time, Wright believed her request for equal pay was granted, but it seems Media Rights Capital (MRC), the company that pays the actors, didn't comply. Advertisement I was told that I was getting equal pay and I believed them, and I found out recently that its not true ... so thats something to investigate, Wright told The Edit earlier this month. Though she didn't expand on the subject at the time, she did do a follow-up interview with United Airlines in-flight publication, Rhapsody where she confessed it was never her intention to become a spokesperson for equal pay. That was one of 20 questions they asked me [at the Rockefeller Foundation], and it went viral, she revealed. I dont think Im getting paid the same amount. They told me I was getting a raise. But I dont think so. Rhapsody followed up with MRC, who confirmed that Wright is not receiving the same salary as Spacey because he is a founding producer of the series, garnering him more perks (and money) than the other stars. Advertisement Though sources claim Wright is in discussions with MCR for a future production deal, the actress continued to voice her disappointment. Canadas first women-only safe injection site quietly opened its doors this month in the heart of Vancouvers Downtown Eastside. SafeSpace is an overdose prevention site that will operate with the help of a Vancouver-based not-for-profit organization committed to ending violence against women. Advertisement The centre, located kitty corner to Oppenheimer Park, is geared solely for women and is the first of its kind in the world. The Downtown Eastside can be a dangerous place for women, Janice Abbott, CEO of the Atira Women's Resource Society told HuffPost Canada in an interview. She explained the idea for the supervised injection site grew from concerns over how some female victims of violence avoid waiting rooms so they don't face possible confrontations with aggressors. Advertisement They often have to sit in co-ed spaces with men who have raped them, or men who they owe money to, or men who mean to cause them harm, and so they forgo services all together, Abbott said. Women have told us that theyll be sitting in a room and be called whores and skanks, she said. One woman describes how she used to go to the Downtown Eastside to buy drugs to get through the day: Abbott said one major challenge was finding a location and renovating it to be inviting for women. She added that atmosphere is an important factor, since the women who are most likely to use the service wont find it online theyre more likely to hear about it through word of mouth. It was all made possible thanks to a partnership between Atira Women's Resource Society, the City of Vancouver, BC Womens Hospital and Health Centre, and Vancouver Coastal Health. The service was able to open fairly quickly because Health Canada approval isnt required to open overdose prevention sites. Advertisement Outside its doors, a drug overdose crisis continues to stretch the limits of health services and emergency responders. The provinces coroner reports there were 136 suspected overdose deaths in April alone, which almost double from the same time a year before. The newest data bring the total number of overdose deaths in B.C. to 488 in the first four months of 2017. A recent pilot project conducted at nearby Insite, the first legal injection site in North America, found 79 per cent of the drugs tested on-site tested positive for fentanyl. Advertisement Those who had drugs that tested positive for fentanyl before consumption were 10 times more likely to reduce their dose, and 25 per cent less likely to experience an overdose. Though SisterSpace site supervisors are trained in overdose reversal techniques including administering naloxone, rescue breathing, and CPR they havent yet received drug test strips that can be used to save lives and prevent fentanyl-related overdoses. Its only been a couple weeks since SisterSpace opened to the public, but the overall reception to SisterSpace has been positive. Abbott said the women whove come to SisterSpace have shown their appreciation in small ways. They express gratitude at real simple things like having some snacks, and juice, and coffee and just a respite from the street. Advertisement Follow The Huffington Post B.C. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also on HuffPost A retelling of the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs tale is making news for all the wrong reasons. On Tuesday, Tess Holliday tweeted an ad for the Korean-made Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs and called out the film for not only body shaming, but for sending the wrong message to kids. Advertisement The ad shows two versions of Snow White. One is tall and thin, like any typical cartoon princess, while the other is shorter and curvier. What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 Dwarfs not so short? the tagline reads. How did this get approved by an entire marketing team? Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly? @ChloeGMoretzpic.twitter.com/PVhgwluGTM Tess Holliday (@Tess_Holliday) May 30, 2017 Naturally, Holliday, who is known as a body-positive role model, was appalled by the movie poster. Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly? she wrote in her tweet. The 31-year-old also tagged Chloe Moretz, who stars as the voice of Snow White in the film, who replied with her own shock at the image. Advertisement "I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else," she wrote on Twitter. I have now fully reviewed the mkting for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasn't approved by me or my team Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Others on Twitter, were equally outraged by the body-shaming ad. Yeah. My nine year old son will pissed be too, because even he knows this is utter bullshit. Jane Monheit (@JaneMonheit) May 30, 2017 as a mother of a teenage daughter and a woman in general this is so so incredibly disturbing. #WTH Courtney Fernandez (@CourtLovesLife) May 30, 2017 No wonder kids have issues with body image. Enough of the size shaming. We are all unique and thus beautiful in our own way Julie C Cluff (@Quatchi1974) May 31, 2017 One pointed out that the trailer is far worse than the movie poster. The trailer is even worse plus incredibly sexualised, dwarves watching Snow White getting undresssed... felt so grim! Dolores Haze (@Upfold_Update) May 31, 2017 Advertisement Unfortunately, Twitter user Dolores Haze is right. The short teaser for the film shows two dwarfs watching a tall, slender Snow White getting undressed after coming home. As she does so, she reveals her true form: a curvy princess. To make matters worse, the dwarfs reactions to Snow Whites reveal is appalling. Once they see the princess transform, they are utterly shocked and horrified. See for yourself: According to People magazine, the film which is in post-production is about seven princes who were cursed and turned into dwarfs. Their only hope to turn themselves back is to find a pair of magic red heels. They then discover that the shoes belong to Snow White, who uses them to transform herself into a tall, slender woman. While Holliday did not say where she first spotted the film ad, other tweets reveal that the poster was put on display at Cannes Film Festival. Advertisement The plus-size model has never been shy about criticizing the beauty industry or those who body shame. In fact, Holliday landed her first major modelling contract in 2015 after launching her #effyourbeautystandards campaign on social media. And most recently, in April, the 31-year-old announced she would be boycotting Uber after a driver fat-shamed her. No one should have to tolerate this at any level of the services you offer, she wrote on Instagram. Im fat. I also have a fat wallet & will no longer be using your services. Ever. You go, girl. Also on HuffPost When my two boys were little, Starbucks was the sweetener in the long Saturday walks that we took as a family. We did anything to eventually tire them out! Money was tight, so we could afford just one chocolate chunk cookie each visit. I tried to split it right down the middle -- but cookies don't always crumble that way. I inevitably had to choose which child to disappoint. Advertisement In Canada, my "tough" decisions are so often related to sweet treats and privileges. But in countries around the world, poverty forces parents to make heart-breaking choices. Often, they must select which of their children will leave school forever for a life of hard labour. No parent dreams of their child working at a young age, missing out on school. But for Mark and his family of seven children in the Philippines, one income wasn't enough to provide for their basic needs. At seven years old, his son Paul carried the burden of work to give his other siblings a better chance in life. "I wish things could be different. But if I work alone, I bring 600 pesos a week to my family. Rice alone costs 700 pesos a week," Mark says, his head hung low. The choices that break children I wonder where Paul was standing when his father broke the news. Perhaps Paul was just starting homework, when his dad sat down to talk. Or perhaps they took a walk together. Either way, I can imagine the news would have been devastating. Advertisement "Every time I worked, it was hard for my body." - Paul There would be no more school. No time for play. Paul would now join his father as a labourer, working long hours in the sugar cane fields, harvesting the raw material needed for sweet treats like the ones my sons enjoy. At seven years of age, Paul was about to begin the work of a man. The work begins "Every time I worked, it was hard for my body," says Paul. This is likely an understatement. Children in the cane fields often work seven-hour days in the baking sun, bending or crawling to pull up weeds. Their feet are bare. Dirt and sweat cover their bodies and faces. As they get older, children learn the hazardous work of cutting sugar cane. There would have been emotional pain, too, as Paul watched other children head off to school and play. How did he cope with this sadness? "I just thought maybe it would mean my brothers and sisters might go to school," he said, of the money he earned. "Even though that didn't happen for me." Advertisement As the parent of two boys who still argue over dessert portions, I don't know what to make of this almost unthinkable sense of honour. It belongs to a person much older than Paul. Seven years into his work, Paul has gallantly made the best of a brutal situation. But that doesn't make it right. His father, Mark, must have felt his boy's pain. No parent dreams of their child working at a young age and giving up school. Yet for so many families around the world, this is the reality. They deemed Paul and his family among the neediest. Hope amidst the loss Paul may have carried the hope of returning to school someday. But in 2013, Typhoon Haiyan put a violent end to that possibility. The devastating storm tore through the Philippines, leaving a million people without homes. It swept away Paul's humble house, along with the family's few possessions. World Vision did an assessment of the family's community as part of the Haiyan recovery effort. They deemed Paul and his family among the neediest. Advertisement It led to a job change for Paul, who was by now 14 years old. And a chance at a different, less painful life. Paul's new job World Vision provided Paul's family with two piglets, food to feed the animals, and training to care for them. "Now we have the piglets, and I am their caretaker," says Paul. "We can breed more piglets, and keep selling them so we have enough money." Paul now works from home, meaning he can spend more time with his neighbours, brothers and sisters. He can finally explore what it means to be a child. Advertisement "I am not so tired -- and my body doesn't hurt like before," he says. "I am very happy to have stopped working in the fields." And Paul smiles. Let's hold Canadian companies with global supply chains accountable for the way their products are are sourced and made. Speaking up for Paul For many poor families, child labour is inevitable. It's not their preferred option, and they're not comfortable with it. That's why we need to keep telling stories like Paul's. Tell his story so that companies can't ignore the fact that children like Paul make, grow or harvest many of the products we use every day. You can learn more about how the items in our houses could be made by child labour by taking this virtual tour. Let's hold Canadian companies with global supply chains accountable for the way their products are are sourced and made. If Paul's father could have earned a better wage in the sugar cane fields, his son may not have had to work. That's a solution worth exploring. Advertisement Sign this petition asking Canada's leaders to require that companies report publicly on how they are addressing child labour in their global supply chains. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: The Conservative party seems to think that over the weekend it found the answer to voters' resounding rejection 18 months ago of its hurtful and destructive policy book: paint a happy face on it. By electing Andrew Scheer as the new federal leader, members of Stephen Harper's party have sent a clear signal that they still embrace the policies of their former leader, if not his style. Indeed, the general consensus coming out of the weekend convention is that Scheer "represents no radical change from the Harper era, he doesn't challenge Conservative orthodoxy." Advertisement Scheer himself has said that the biggest issue facing the party was the tone of Conservative communications -- not the ideas themselves. "We just need to do a better job of making our policies resonate with everyday Canadians on a more practical level," he told Global News. He could not be more wrong. The problem wasn't how the policies of the Conservative party were presented, it was the policies themselves. It wasn't just the tone that was nasty, though it certainly was. The policies of the Conservative party undermining manufacturing, signing on to ideologically driven trade deals, and cutting health and education spending were nasty in their own right. It was the politics of slash and burn of our public services, the trampling of workers' rights and democracy that Canadians rejected when they tossed the Conservatives out of power in 2015. No amount of big smiles and dimples, as Scheer is known for, can hide the fact that the party remains deeply out of touch with the progressive views of the vast majority of Canadians. Advertisement More than two thirds of Canadians in the last election voted for a party other than the Conservatives. Voters weren't looking for a more amiable message, they were looking for an end to what they recognized as the party's regressive policies that amounted to a fundamental attack on our rights and which favoured on the elite. In fact, in many ways, Scheer represents the worst of the worst of the Conservative agenda, despite his cheery demeanor. His voting record in the House of Commons reveals socially conservative views on marriage, LGBTQ rights, abortion and more that are wildly out of step with most Canadians. Anti-abortion groups deemed his voting record "impeccable," though they backed away from endorsing Scheer after he told reporters he wouldn't push such policies if elected leader. One of the things social conservatives have liked about Scheer is his pledge to cut funds from post-secondary institutions where there have been protests against right-wing speakers. He calls this a defense of free speech, but it's tough to see how cuts to education are good for anything, especially the free exchange of ideas. Advertisement Still, Scheer is believed to have won the leadership -- by the thinnest of margins after 13 rounds of a ranked ballot electoral system -- because social conservatives fled to his campaign after their two preferred candidates were forced off the ballot. In one of her final speech to the party as interim leader, Rona Ambrose echoed that there was nothing wrong with the policies her party had pursued while in power, and continues to espouse, telling a crowd she invited to a breakfast meeting that "Canadians asked us to change our tone and we listened." If this is what the party leadership, past and present, believes, it shows that the party still just doesn't get it. It was the Conservatives' message that was rejected by voters, not how it was delivered. It is, really, an insult to voters to argue that a broad smile from the country's youngest party leader would be enough to paper over polices that will hurt most working people in Canada. Canadians understand that trade policies that undercut manufacturing in Canada and hand over too much power to corporations are bad for them and their communities. They understand that cuts to healthcare will hurt them and their families in times of need and vulnerability. Advertisement Working people from coast to coast to coast know that attacks on the rights of unions will only weaken their collective voice and bargaining power with employers to raise standards, and in turn further the precarious situation and rights of temporary foreign workers. In short, Canadians know what was wrong with the Conservative agenda in this country, and it wasn't the way it was delivered. Harper's sneer may have become a smiling face, but Canadians can see behind the mask. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook martin-dm via Getty Images Girl lying down in the grass - copyspace As the end of the school year draws near, the classroom will soon become a distant memory for students as they head off for summer holiday. Although schools will be empty for two months, who says the learning has to stop? Preventing learning loss over the break -- popularly referred to as the summer slide -- is an important topic for parents and teachers. Many believe this two-month break originated from farming days when children were needed to help supply labour. Although students deserve a vacation, the entire summer is a long time to go without educational activities and stimulation. While this impacts a wide range of children, it can be particularly challenging for students of high-school age. What is the solution? Advertisement Experiential learning is all the buzz in the education world, and I am a big believer in it. There are many hands-on spring and summer programs for students that are run by both non and for-profit organizations. While it sounds expensive, finances do not need to be a barrier with many groups reserving bursaries for deserving students. With different options to investigate and choose from, I recommend that parents and students hone in on personal interests and strengths. Do you know a student who wants to learn French or improve on skills while discovering new parts of Canada? If the answer is yes, Explore is a popular language-immersion program. If your teenager is captivated by the idea of a community service trip or taking a summer credit abroad, check out Georgia Hardy Tours. For high achieving students in grades 10 to 12 interested in business and STEM (science, technology, engineering & math), look into SHAD. These are only a few examples of skill building opportunities that equip students with learning beyond the traditional classroom. I can speak to the importance and impact first-hand, as I participated in one of these experiences myself when I was in high-school. In my case it was SHAD -- an academic program in July where I had the opportunity to preview university by living in residence at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton and attending workshops under their faculty. Personally, I have much to owe to this transformational summer which I believe has helped shape both my post-secondary education and current career. It was a tremendous time of personal growth for me that fostered a love of learning and cultivated an entrepreneurial mindset at a young age. I also had the opportunity to live away from home, develop my independence, and make a new network of friends from all over the country. Advertisement Whether your teenager steers towards the arts, academics or volunteer service - summer enrichment programs enhance student learning and provide ambitious youth with a head start in life. Students meet like-minded peers from different backgrounds and acquire vital skills to make an impact in their schools, communities and beyond. They are offered adventure, mentorship, and development opportunities that will carry with them into the future to help build Canada's leaders of tomorrow. While summer break is on the horizon, many courses and programs have early application deadlines. It's time to start researching! Minimum wage workers in Ontario will be earning 31.5 per cent more by 2019 for doing the same jobs they are today. Not surprisingly, many business owners are concerned about the implications this massive increase in their costs will have on their business. I've always believed that anyone who is prepared to work full time should be guaranteed a life outside of poverty. As an employer, I've learned that money is an excellent lubricant for life. Employees who are properly compensated and alleviated from outside financial stress are better able to focus on ensuring success of the business they work for. Advertisement Because our average employee earns nearly three times the legally mandated minimum wage and has extended medical benefits with no copay or deductible, I do not anticipate we will feel much of an impact by this change. Our only exposure to this will be increasing the rate we pay our interns, who already earn more than any current minimum wage rate anywhere in the country. The biggest challenges business owners will face with Ontario's move to massively increase the minimum wage is how to adjust their business models, sales and marketing strategies to effectively respond to it. I genuinely believe most employers aren't scrooges who are trying to squeeze nickels and dimes out of their workers to pad their bank accounts. They value a job based on the expected economic output of the position, level of skill required and the other costs associated with staffing, managing and training related to that role. Employers are responsible for creating long-term viability and cash flow stability, and achieve this by weighing value against expense constantly. Advertisement Small businesses are especially vulnerable to the minimum-wage increase, as they are less likely to have the financial resources to withstand any hit to profitability that follows, and the dividends small businesses churn out are used to make the mortgage payment, send kids to school and support families. Employers have six months to react before the first increase happens, and there are a number of steps businesses can take to ensure they are stronger for it. Employers need to ensure the work employees produce has a comparable increase in value. Here are four steps all small businesses can take over the next 149 business days before the first big increase comes into force, to get their business ready: 1. Increase productivity of employees If wages are increasing by over 30 per cent over the course the next 18 months, employers need to ensure the work employees produce has a comparable increase in value. Failing to do this will result in a loss of profitability. Employers can increase productivity of employees by reviewing workflow processes to cut out inefficiencies, reviewing the effectiveness of technology and explore opportunities to automate lower value aspects of employment. Advertisement 2. Review your business plan and financial model Determine whether current staffing levels and your pricing strategy are viable with labour cost increases and adjust as necessary. This assumes you actually have a business plan and have done financial modelling already. If you don't, the first order of business is to develop one based on your historical data. Understanding your numbers is key to ensuring your business achieves sustainable, predictable financial health. Labour expenses are usually the highest line item of most businesses. Taking your historical financial data and re-forecasting your expenses with the increased labour costs your business will experience when the minimum wage increase is fully implemented will help you understand the impact the minimum wage increase will have on your cash flow. If it puts you under water or unacceptably lowers your profitability, additional revenue and expense forecasts will be necessary to determine what steps are needed to grow your business to where you want it to be. 3. Aggressively grow your sales now And do so before labour costs increase and begin adding cash flow pressure. Use this potential risk to your cash flow as an opportunity to grow your business to meet the challenge. It is unlikely your team is currently running on all cylinders and a large part of that problem often relates to fluctuations in business traffic. Advertisement Getting a better understanding of areas of opportunity for sales growth and driving additional demand during times when your employees are least productive will increase your revenue without increasing your costs. When attempting a 25 per cent or more increase in sales, it is always wise to work with a professional to develop a marketing plan that is capable of delivering the result you need. Virtually every business is capable of increasing their sales. 4. Be prepared to adjust pricing of your products and services You will need to make up for any cash flow impact you're not able to address through productivity and sales volume increases. Virtually every business is capable of increasing their sales, but if you decide growth is not the solution you're prepared to invest in (and increasing productivity doesn't take you far enough), the last resort will be to adjust your pricing to increase revenue and improve cash flow. We've routinely worked with companies that have undertaken a hybrid of marketing and business plan models to increase margins and sales simultaneously. We have consistently found that properly communicated price increases that focus on your unique sales proposition are very successful in delivering higher margins without impacting customer loyalty. John Laforet is the President of Broadview Strategy Group Inc., a communications firm that specializes in public relations, public affairs, sales and marketing and creative design services. Advertisement Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: I'm a U0 student in Engineering. In high school, I was at the top of my class and had total confidence that I'd get a great degree from a great school. Now I'm failing all my classes. I did horribly on my first few exams, and took that as motivation for the next ones. I could not have studied harder for an exam I had this week...I walked in feeling very prepared and confident I'd ace it, and I walked out knowing I failed it. I can't believe that I am doing so horribly. It's so hard to motivate myself now, knowing that I'm already in too deep of a hole of failure to climb out of. All my friends are doing well and I have to play along that I'm doing well also, but soon enough I'll have to admit to them that they won't be seeing me next year because I'm going to get kicked out of McGill. I never considered anything besides attending a hard university and getting a good degree. Now I can't do that and I'm breaking down. I'm terrified of what's going to become of my life. And I can't admit to anyone that I'm doing so poorly. I feel very alone and very much like a failure. FangXiaNuo via Getty Images Office coworkers talking during meeting together in design studio Conversation implies a two-way exchange of language. Therefore, reaching a conversational level implies quite a high level of comprehension, enough so that we can understand what is being said to us. That means in order to converse properly we need to prepare ourselves. We need a large passive vocabulary, much larger than our active vocabulary, since native speakers usually use more words than we do, as learners. Input is important I believe very much in the importance of input. Most of my language learning has been based on massive amounts of listening and reading, ever since I was a young man. Advertisement When I first studied German, Italian and Spanish, I studied books with word lists. For the last 15 years I've been able to take advantage of mp3 players and other technology to study Cantonese, Russian, Korean, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Portuguese as well as other languages. I achieved the ability to converse more quickly, and more enjoyably than before. I am often asked at what point do I start speaking and when do I consider myself at a conversational level. To some extent you can start at any time. However, the results will vary depending on your degree of preparation. If you have a limited vocabulary, but you happen to spend two weeks in Mexico, you may be able to say certain things. You may be able to go to a restaurant and between pointing, gesturing and saying things, you'll be able to order. You may even do better than that. Advertisement Unless you have prepared yourself with a lot of listening and reading, you may have trouble understanding much of what is said. When you go back home, it may seem that you have lost whatever conversational ability you had. If you had been better prepared you would not only have been able to participate in more meaningful conversations while in the country, but you would probably have been able to retain more after your return home. Failure and then success I remember quite a few years ago I spent a few months trying to learn Portuguese using the usual starter books. Then I went to Portugal and found it very difficult to have any meaningful conversations with Portuguese people. I couldn't follow what they were saying. Besides that, they spoke English much better than I spoke Portuguese, so they just switched to English in many cases, or else I just gave up. Then, a few years later, I put in an additional three months of study of Portuguese, more systematically. I didn't just read and listen to phrases or study the grammar. I listened daily to interesting content, which I also read. By that time we had better content in the Portuguese library at LingQ, which I devoured. I also found some great Portuguese podcasts that I listened to for hours. The next time I went to Portugal I could converse, albeit with difficulty, and on quite a wide variety of topics. What was more important, I could understand what people were saying. The people I spoke to continued to speak to me in Portuguese and didn't automatically switch to English as they had done before. This visit became a milestone in my acquisition of the Portuguese language. When can I start? That depends on your situation, opportunity, need and tolerance for uncertainty. A conversation is an opportunity for meaningful input as you listen to your speaking partner. However, the range of words you will acquire from speaking to someone when your level in the language is low is, in turn, quite limited. Your counterpart has to adjust to your level, so even if you have the chance to engage with people in the language at an early stage, I would still recommend staying with a program of deliberate listening and reading. The focus should remain on input. Advertisement To speak well, we eventually need to speak a lot. However, how much to speak at what stage of our language journey depends on our needs, opportunities and inclinations. When we start won't influence our ultimate success in the language, as long as we eventually get enough opportunity to speak. How much preparation time? How much deliberate input learning is required? If I know Spanish and I want to be comfortably conversational in Portuguese and have an hour a day to spend, then I think six months is enough. If I have more than an hour, maybe two or three hours a day, I could reduce that down to two or three months. That is in the case of going from Spanish to Portuguese. Obviously the more similar the new language is to a language you already know, the less time it will take. For example, it took me years to achieve the same level of comfort in Russian, based on an hour a day of listening and reading. After Russian, Czech took less than a year, and thereafter, Ukrainian and Polish took even less time. Learn to understand first Conversation is by definition two-way. It's not just about you saying something and then being lost when the person replies. Conversation implies a more or less balanced exchange, where the other person doesn't have to make too many allowances for you, and where you don't give the impression of not understanding. Advertisement The most important goal of language learning, therefore, has to be to understand. I can stumble, have trouble expressing myself, and not find words. It doesn't matter. If I can understand what is being said, then my speaking ability will eventually develop. Your conversational ability will reflect the preparation work you have put in. Regardless of your level, unless you continue to focus your efforts on input, your vocabulary will remain stagnant, and your ability to understand won't progress. Therefore, even if your goal is just to get to a conversational level, I would keep active in listening and reading. At least that has always been my strategy. By: Sonia Bell and Wayne Karl In the inaugural issue of Canadian Property Investor, we identified the Top 50 Places to Invest in Canada. Now it's time to dig a little deeper -- to present, by province, which areas represent sound investment opportunities. First up, Ontario -- and the top places to invest in the province, primarily using the investment strategy known as "buy, hold and rent." Advertisement We examined vacancy and rental rates (two-bedroom) from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., and validated these findings with the latest data on population, employment and wage growth. For context, we've also included average home prices -- with data provided exclusively by Royal LePage and Brookfield RPS. Our research was further guided by insight from investors and other experts. It's important to note that, since we completed our research, the provincial government released the Fair Housing Plan, which some sources say could negatively affect property investors in Ontario. Keep this possibility in mind as you review our list of the top seven places to invest in Ontario. Milton Milton has witnessed incredible growth in recent years, earning the title as one of Canada's fastest-growing cities, and our number-one pick for places to invest in Ontario. Alex Ocsai, broker and owner, Royal LePage Meadowtowne, explains that "Milton is near major highways, rail and air transportation, and within commuting distance of major GTA employers, making it an attractive option for purchasers looking for affordable property." Advertisement With its growing population, however, Milton's infrastructure seems to be playing catch up. Busy schools and congested roads are just a couple of the challenges. "The town and region have an aggressive infrastructure plan in place to improve transportation services and employment areas along Hwy. 401 and James Snow Parkway for residents to be able to live and work in their own community." These improvements will likely draw more people in, which will bode well for investors. Guelph Guelph boasts a healthy local economy, with growing agriculture, education, health-care and manufacturing sectors that continue to attract a skilled labour force. As the Toronto real-estate market remains out of reach for many prospective homebuyers, Guelph has become a common location for those willing driving farther from the Greater Toronto Area until they land on a home they can afford. While homes are experiencing nearly double-digit price growth, investors can still purchase at a reasonable price, which aids in relieving the pressure of remaining cash-flow positive. Investors also have access to the University of Guelph's student population. As a result, vacancies are diminishing quickly, hence the rising rental rates. Jeff Morley, broker, Royal LePage Royal City Realty, stated, "With Guelph's record unemployment rate and recent growth, our vacancy rate is one of the lowest in the country, making this city an attractive place to invest. As the city continues to grow and expand, so do jobs and the economy, allowing more graduates to stay within the region." Advertisement Brampton High population and employment growth have resulted in one of the lowest vacancy rates in Ontario. New transit projects on the horizon will continue to attract new residents -- for example, the 23-kilometre Hurontario line, which will increase the city's connectivity. Additionally, Ryerson (in partnership with Sheridan College) has applied to expand its campus to Brampton. If this comes to fruition, investors can benefit from even more students renters coming to the area. However, like many other Toronto suburbs, prices are rising rapidly, up nearly 16 per cent from 2015 to 2016. According to Nirmal Brar, broker and manager, Royal LePage Flower City Realty, "More investors are coming to Brampton, which should put even more pressure on pricing within the region. This will hinder first-time buyers' ability to purchase detached property and create more demand for condos, rentals and townhomes." Oshawa Cities outside of Toronto are experiencing high price growth, and Oshawa is at the forefront. Oshawa is experiencing double-digit price growth -- about eight per cent more than Toronto from 2015 to 2016. What makes this area so popular? It still boils down to price. Although prices are increasing (and fast), average prices are reasonable compared to Toronto standards. In addition to value appreciation, diminishing vacancy rates and rising population make the area a playground for investors; one recent report stated that Oshawa saw the biggest demand from investors over the past four years; in 2012, less than one per cent of properties were purchased by investors, and by 2016 the figure had grown to 9.6 per cent. Advertisement Barrie Similar to most waterfront communities, Barrie has become a hot real-estate commodity. Located on Lake Simcoe, 90 kilometres north of Toronto, the area is experiencing the highest price appreciation in the province, up 17 per cent from 2015 to 2016. The city's growth strategy will result in an increased population of 210,000 and 100,000 jobs by 2031. Not only is Barrie attracting a student population, its proximity to the Greater Toronto Area, as well as improving access to GO Transit, has attracted more workers commuting to and from Toronto. Honourable mentions: Toronto and Oakville Both Toronto and Oakville embody the economic fundamentals required for a sound investment location -- low vacancy rates, high rents, growing population and investment in infrastructure. However, their main downfall is significant -- exorbitant house prices that continue to witness double-digital growth. As a result, investors will not only need more capital to get into these markets, but it becomes increasingly difficult to cash-flow positive. According to Blair Mackey, sales representative, Royal LePage Real Estate Services, "You aren't going to become rich on monthly rental cash flow. The typical rental property model doesn't apply in markets like Toronto or Oakville. To be successful, investors have to bank on longer-term property appreciation, so it's important that they buy the right location." If you're looking for a short-term hold, Mackey advises to "find an agent that can bring you pre-market opportunities in up-and-coming area." Advertisement READ MORE AT ypnexthome.ca Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Search All categories Advertising General Aerospace General Agriculture General Airlines General America - Post 9/11 General Apparel General Apple Products General Architectural General Architecture Architecture Art & Entertainments Books Celebrities Country Music Dance Magazines Movies Museums Music Music Downloads News & Talk Shows Performing Arts Photography Television Web Sites Arts/Culture General Auction General Automotive Aftermarket Classic Autos Consumer Publications General Motorcycle & Bike Racing Recreational Vehicle Repair & Service Trade Publications Blogging & Social Media Blogging & Social Media Business Advertising / Marketing Books Consumer Research Direct Marketing e-Commerce Entrepreneurs Finance Franchise Human Resources Insurance Investment Management Markets Network Marketing Online Marketing / SEO Payday Loans Public Relations Publications Real Estate Retail 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for the final week of campaigning in the general election, theres a curiously Blairite feel to Labours policy pitch today. Armed with his for the many, not the few manifesto, Jeremy Corbyn will revert to that Blair theme of schools n hospitals that worked so well in the 1990s and early 2000s. Who could forget the 24 hours to save the NHS eve-of-poll line in 1997? Advertisement And theres a retro feel to todays event with Corbyn too. Back in the Blair days (and even as late as 2010), we hacks attended early morning election press conferences for all the parties (normally Libs first, then Con then Lab). They would sell their policy message of the day, then take questions. Ah, how civilised and quaint it all seems now. Today, JC is on parade at 9am warning a Tory victory would leave 1.8m more people on NHS waiting lists (because Blairs waiting targets have been breached) and 650,000 more kids in overcrowded classrooms. The Nuffield Trust report overnight warns the NHS could be landed with a bill of nearly half a billion pounds if retired British expats right to healthcare in Europe is withdrawn after Brexit. Just as importantly, it calculates that care homes and home-care agencies could end up with a staff shortage as high as 70,000 in the next eight years. Jeremy Hunt has told the i newspaper that his plan for increased investment and recruitment depended on Theresa May securing a good Brexit deal. Yet its still a mystery why Theresa May didnt use her manifesto to promise much more money for the NHS or schools. The social care row aside, it would have allowed her to plonk herself on the centre ground. Some in Labour feel they too missed a Brexit trick by failing to promise an equivalent of the Boris buss famous 350m a week for the NHS. It also remains a mystery why Labour didnt allocate more to reversing Tory welfare cuts (they wobbled on that again yesterday). Its 11.2bn on abolishing tuition fees remains its biggest ticket item in its entire manifesto. That itself takes the shine off claims that schools n hospitals really are the priority. 2) TELLY WELLY The splash headline in the Metro (which is read by millions, dont forget) is Im Sorry I Havent A Clue. And that is a neat summary of Jeremy Corbyns apology yesterday for failing to remember Labours central costings of its childcare policy. Looking every inch like The Thick Of Its hapless minister Nicola Murray (right down to the curiously hand-held, zoom-in camera angle), that footage of Corbyn tapping in vain at his iPad and riffling through his manifesto is sure to be shared by the Tories many times. Advertisement Yet by dinner time, the Labour leader appeared to shrug off the blunder as he appeared on BBC1s The One Show to indulge in a spot of light flirting with host Alex Jones. His laid-back approach is what wooed Labour members back at all those hustings of 2015 and its helping him through a string of recent TV interviews too. Its why some in Labour wanted Jezza to spring a surprise and take part in tonights BBC leaders debate, maximising his profile as Amber Rudd stands in for the PM. My colleague Owen Bennett blogs on why that would be a good idea. Corbyns allies think he has a Teflon quality right now, with gaffes bouncing off him. But his internal critics think that Teflon has major cracks on leadership/Brexit/competence/security among big chunks of the partys traditional voters. Thats why the failure to remember a central figure on childcare policy was so damaging MPs and staff who gave Corbyn a fair wind early on decided he and his team were so dysfunctional on the detail that he could never be PM. Still, it could be worse for JC. He could have done a Trump typo about his treatment by the media (the Prez tweeted despite the constant negative press covfefe, the last word spawning not just 100,000 likes but a whole rash of memes). 3) HERE IS THE NUDES Theresa Mays jibe at Corbyn about him going naked into Brexit talks an in-joke about his own CND beliefs (Nye Bevan famously warned his party against banning the bomb as it would send a Labour Foreign Secretary naked into the conference chamber). It was also an out-joke about the Labour leader being some kind of Steptoe-like nude old man that no one wanted to look at. (The Guardian features a new study claiming 80 is the new 50, but no ones told Mrs May). Most of all, Mays line was naked opportunism about Labours weakness on Brexit. It felt like a classic Lynton Crosby tactic to get everyone talking about just how many people (including Labour Leave voters) were about a weak Corbyn leading talks in Brussels 11 days after the general election. Advertisement But is the coalition of chaos actually also an apt description for the current No.10 set-up? Francis Elliott in the Times, under superb headline Too Many Chiefs Spoil The Troth, reveals that policy chief Nick Timothy has taken a back seat after his social care fiasco, with Sir Lynton being drawn further in to fill the vacuum. There are five chiefs, not one Nick and Fi, the prime minister herself and then theres Lynton and Tex [Mr Textor]. People are getting different orders from different people and everything takes an age to get signed off, a source tells Elliott. The Sun also reports that one minister was due travel to Brussels for Brexit-related discussions but No10 told him to cancel the trip. No wonder George Osbornes Evening Standard editorial yesterday said the Tory campaign had meandered from an abortive attempt to launch a personality cult around Mrs May to the self-inflicted wound of the most disastrous manifesto in recent history. BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR Watch Jeremy Phwoarrbyn wink at One Show presenter Alex Jones 4) MAY POLL DANCING Ever since the Guardians infamous 2015 election splash, The Day The Polls Turned, newspapers have been very careful not to go in hard on one poll finding. Some papers dumped their pollsters after that election, so furious were they at paying thousands of pounds on what turned out to be dud data that failed to capture the shift to David Camerons Tories. But the Times clearly feels it is worth promoting the first YouGov seat-by-seat projection of 2017, and its shock forecast that the Tories could lose 20 seats and Theresa May her Commons majority (Labour would gain nearly 30). The model is based on 50,000 interviews over the course of a week, with voters from a panel brought together by YouGov. There was a sceptical reaction from both senior Tory and Labour figures. ComRes is still looking at an increased Tory majority of 100 or more. ICM yesterday had a new Guardian poll which cut the Tory lead - but it was still a huge 12 points (Con 45% to Lab 33%). ICM explained it has higher Tory support largely because it still thinks young voters wont turn out. A Survation poll cut the Tory lead to just six points, but largely because it had a record 82% of the heavily Labour-backing 18- to 24-year-olds certain to vote. Lets see if those tuition fee promises really do the trick this time. Advertisement You can judge parties own convictions of where they are in the polls by the seats they visit. Theresa May would not be visiting Labour heartlands like Wolverhampton if her own private polling tallied with the YouGov projection. Underneath the headline national polls, northern and midlands working class voters (particularly over 50s who remember things like the IRA/Falklands) are still turned off by Corbyn, insiders say, and Labour majorities of 5,000 are still being targeted. Only yesterday, Philip Hammond popped up in Bristol East (Lab maj 3,900). 5) VISA TEASER The Mail and the Telegraph have a joint scoop on a leaked draft Labour policy paper that proposes a surge of unskilled migrant Labour after Brexit. The document suggests the party should bring back a special visa scheme - ditched by the Tories in 2013 - for people seeking "low-skilled, unskilled and seasonal work. Just as interesting in the memo produced by policy adviser Lachlan Stuart was a plan to ease rules on foreign spouses moving to the UK. Neither the restoration of the so-called Tier 3 scheme nor the spouse idea made it into the partys manifesto, though they were discussed at a meeting where Jeremy Corbyn was present. Labour is not denying the paper is authentic but says it was one of several discussion documents and was not official policy. It was live for 24 hours, they claim. The curious thing is that neither Labour nor the Tories have given the public any detailed plans on how they will meet business needs for unskilled labour after Brexit. Thats precisely why George Osbornes Evening Standard has asked just which industry will lose most migrants. One of the joys of my job is listening to Farming Today on Radio 4. Yesterday, Labours agricultural spokeswoman Sue Hayman confirmed it would bring back a seasonal agricultural workers scheme because otherwise we will end up with food and fruit rotting in the field unpicked. Meanwhile, Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry got into a spot of bother when she told a think tank event yesterday that things like our food industry, you cant export it to Australia it will go off. She was referring to breaded chicken breasts apparently. Advertisement If youre reading this on the web, sign-up HERE to get the WaughZone delivered to your inbox. ALBERT GONZALEZ FARRAN via Getty Images The Grand Bargain, seeking to address the problems of humanitarian response in the past twenty years, aims for a participation revolution. To achieve this lofty goal, should we aim to fix past problems or look to the future? The discussions about the participation revolution spectacularly fail to both learn from the past and to consider what will happen in the future. By aiming for a "participation revolution," the Grand Bargain signees neglect the idea that people act independently of aid organizations; they neglect the entire concept of agency. It's as if participation alone will ensure that people get assistance and protection. People's lack of agency is at the heart of the failure of the system. At the same time, the Grand Bargain, for all the effort and political capital put into it, doesn't look at current trends of how people get information and make decisions. Advertisement Picture this: People are on the move; they haven't eaten for days, and some are dying. They need burial cloths. Burial cloths are more important to them than food, as it helps ensure a peaceful afterlife. In a poor village, the next life means hope if the dead are prepared. Hope is all they have. They switch on their phones, see that LWF has burial cloths, and click a button. Maybe they also ask them to send a bit of maize. LWF has geolocated the people based on their login. They use their 3-D field printer to make a few burial cloths (or buy them in the market), load the cloths and some maize on to their drones. Maybe they include a voice recording of a website explaining where the nearest food can be found. The people have their burial cloths and maize in 3-4 hours. This isn't some sort of utopia - everything we need to make this happen is already available. A bit of solar power, a few more phone towers, voice activated phones - it's all there. Except for one thing: useful information. Information is the key to agency; without it people are disempowered. Advertisement The information on what aid agencies can provide is fairly easy to get; they just need to post it. But this information isn't useful if people can't understand it. This is the biggest challenge... both in the sense of convoluted aid organization language and in the sense of which language. In the cholera epidemic in Yemen, aid agencies are telling people to go to the hospital "if they have cholera." No one is going because they don't understand their symptoms as "cholera"; they think they have watery diarrhea. Language companies can help simplify and clarify content. There's even technology to help with this. There are thousands of language companies that can provide translations too, using all sorts of technology - all language companies use computer-assisted language tools, mostly in the languages that drive business. Getting information in the languages of those who need it most... and ensuring that people with low literacy can access it... well, that's the real challenge in this puzzle. We do have the tech tools to do it, we don't have the translators and translations (i.e., the data) to build the repository of terminology. Translators without Borders plans to work with the big tech companies and the big humanitarian agencies to train translators, translate and build the repositories of open data needed to develop machine translation in key languages. "Key" meaning languages like Hausa, Krio, Pashto. And then to keep improving these translation engines to get better and better at translation, including adding voice capabilities. It will take time to make them good enough. Even the machine translation for Russian or Portuguese is currently just ok - it's not how I'd want to get information on how to treat my sick child - but they are continually being improved. We need to start developing the tools for key humanitarian languages. Advertisement Neil Hall / Reuters As much as many of us abhor it, personalities have become a driving force of contemporary politics. Whilst JFK was the perennial star of the 1960s, Barack Obama charmed the US with his message of hope in 2008, and Justin Trudeau smirked the Canadian electoral map red in 2015, the British electorate has been largely starved of such charisma. In fact, the closest the UK has come to this sort of fever pitch was the short-lived hysteria of Cleggmania back in 2010. Since then, voters have been desperately scrambling around for a leader who inspires and restores faith where the process of politicking has habitually sapped it. Advertisement In 2017, the electorate believe that man to be Jeremy Corbyn. He's seen as a kind-hearted, authentic, sweet egalitarian. An untarnished anti-establishment man of the people who cares for all - Uncle Jezza. They are wrong. With Labour's resurgence in the polls comes a very pertinent problem, and as has become commonplace, it is centred on his leadership - or more correctly, his past. Whilst the Conservative Party and Theresa May's indignities abroad, such as the sale of arms to the brutal Saudi Arabian regime, have been well-documented, the small pocket of the press which leans to the liberal centre-left has wilfully failed to hold Corbyn to account. Most infamous of Corbyn's misdemeanours are his links to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), who killed 1,800 people during the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Corbyn has been routinely accused of siding with the IRA, with links so numerous, the Mi5 opened a case file on the Labour leader in the 1980s. He, alongside his would-be chancellor John McDonnell rallied IRA supporters and both have been accused of boosting their morale, and mourning the death of their members. Alongside these extensive historic ties to the IRA, Corbyn also sought to make their terrorist activities easier in Parliament by voting against making membership of the IRA illegal. And, even as recently as this General Election campaign, Corbyn flat out refused more than five times to unilaterally condemn the IRA. Advertisement Now, even if we do dismiss this distressing dossier with the IRA, there are still many other areas where Jeremy Corbyn's judgement falls foul. Whilst, Corbyn, like many holds the legitimate view that Palestine should be recognised, he has courted controversy by labelling anti-Semitic terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah as 'friends', and by laying a wreath for a Palestinian terrorist involved with the attack at the 1972 Olympics. On top of all of this, the misdemeanour that goes unmentioned the most often is his work for Iran's Press TV. A news channel banned by Ofcom, and one appointed by a brutal theocracy where gay men are murdered for their sexuality, and Jeremy Corbyn worked for them. Re-read that over and over until it sinks in. During his appearances between 2009 and 2012, between which time Iran hanged 1,314 people, Corbyn claims to have raised human rights issues, but having watched the footage myself, that is outright fallacy. In reality, Corbyn's appearance were merely punditry on international news stories, he espoused very little to challenge the extremely barbaric nature of Iran's social policy. Corbyn earned 20,000 for his four appearances on Press TV, and claims to have spent that money on his constituency office. He didn't donate it to a human rights charity, or help fund an LGBT+ equality campaign, he gleefully accepted multiple job offers from a murderous state and used that money to further his own career. How can disaffection with the political process leave so many whimpering in the arms of a man with the poorest judgment of any major British leader in living memory? Advertisement Those who are desperate for salvation from a political system that fails to deliver must continue holding out. Jeremy Corbyn is no saviour - he is a false prophet - and the people who want the 'better politics' he pretends to embody deserve better than a man prepared to befriend, mourn and work for terrorists. The NHS, like many health services around the world, is under significant pressure. Rising patient demand, the burden of chronic disease and limited resources mean that health systems, and the people who work for them, are being asked to do more and more without a similar increase in funding. For the NHS, the situation is particularly acute when it comes to GP availability. Earlier this year, figures were released showing that a record number of GP practices had closed in 2016, forcing 265,000 patients to find a new surgery. Furthermore, a recent study carried out by the University of Exeter revealed that two in five GPs are planning to quit within the next five years, with lack of resources and low morale cited as major factors. This is part of a wider trend, with a noticeable impact on patients. In fact, research conducted by Ada found that three out of five Brits say their GP has become less accessible in the last five years. Our research also found that more than half of patients admit that they have chosen not to see a GP about a health problem on at least one occasion. The three main reasons given were the hassle of getting an appointment, worrying that their health problem was too minor and not wanting to waste the GP's time. This is not only unfortunate, it is potentially dangerous since patients are often not in a position to tell how serious their condition is without expert medical advice. Advertisement It is clear that patients are hungry for more information when it comes to healthcare, and are willing to use online services to get it. For instance, 69% of Brits say they now use the Internet to self-diagnose when they have medical concerns. However, while search engines can be a fantastic resource, they are no substitute for expert medical advice and can often be more of a hindrance than a help. Our research found that trying to self-diagnose using the web often leaves people feeling even more confused and worried: fewer than 50% of the people we surveyed felt that Googling their symptoms actually helped them work out what was wrong, 29% said online diagnoses made them worry more and 20% found the information they got online confusing. What about more sophisticated health tech, such as artificial intelligence (AI)? While the idea of a fully automated robot doctor is still science fiction, our research found that most patients in the UK are very open to using new technologies such as AI if it can help improve healthcare for everyone. In fact, over two thirds of Brits would consider consulting an intelligent machine if it could get them more time with their GP, relieve pressure from the NHS, offer more accurate diagnoses and keep their data safe. Advertisement This points to a clear role for AI technology within healthcare: AI should be used to help both patients and doctors by facilitating more comprehensive health assessments, earlier diagnosis and better, more informed decision making. By combining the most sophisticated AI and machine learning technology with an extensive medical knowledge base, an AI platform can act much like a good doctor would, asking relevant, personalised questions based on the information provided and suggesting possible causes for symptoms. This is what the team at Ada has spent six years researching and developing, because we believe that there is a huge opportunity for AI to save doctors a significant amount of time, enabling GPs to spend more time on patient care. While it is still early days for this technology within healthcare, now that the first AI health applications are on the market we are likely to see rapid progress in this space. This is because true AI platforms have the ability to learn from every interaction, so every patient helps to improve the system as a whole. Despite what Hollywood might tell us, a fully automated replacement for your local GP is not likely to become a reality soon. The human touch and nuanced approach of an experienced, trusted professional still matter. Even if a machine could replicate those aspects, would we want it to? Global research shows Britons are dependent on their smartphones and apps - but also demonstrate careless mobile behaviour - much more so than European neighbours A10 Networks has revealed in new research that Britons are so addicted to and dependent upon their smartphones and applications that a quarter believe mobile apps are equally as important as a basic human resource such as eating, breathing and drinking. The Application Intelligence Report (AIR) is a global research project that examines the behaviour and attitudes of the global workforce toward the use of business and personal apps, and their impact on risk, security, and corporate culture. AIR was commissioned by A10 Networks and conducted independently with the intent to provide education for employers that can help them reassess corporate policies and ultimately protect their businesses - and their applications - by simply becoming more aware of the behaviour of their employees. Advertisement The A10 AIR research found that Britons stood out over other countries in a number of ways: Brits had the largest percentage of employees (41%) who use non-sanctioned apps at work. Over half (55%) of Britons would rather lose their trousers than their smartphone. Germans were the opposite, displaying a much greater attachment to their trousers than their smartphone. 22% more Germans were prepared to lose their smartphone rather than their trousers. More Britons claim to have had their mobile devices hacked - one in four (24%) - than any almost any other country globally - and more than any other European country. UK participants lose their mobile devices more frequently (24%) - or have them stolen (19%) - than the global average, and more than the rest of Europe. Nearly one in three (32%) of UK participants said cyber-attacks are something they "just try not to think about" - more so than the global or European average. Advertisement Brits don't think about security when downloading apps. The countries that think least about security risks are the UK and Japan. When it comes to what we'd grab in an emergency, Britons showed an almost equal preference for their smartphone (38%) or a safe with important documents (37%), far higher than the number who would save family photos (19%). Only 6% of Britons would save a computer in the event of an emergency. When compared to the rest of the world, Britons lagged far behind China in their attachment to their smartphone. 74% of Chinese people stated that they would save their smartphone in an emergency as compared to 38% of Britons and only 31% of Americans. The French displayed a below average attachment with only 29% opting to save the smartphone. This was the lowest of all the countries. The research also showed: Over half of employees surveyed in Brazil (61%), Great Britain (55%), India (54%), and the United States (54%) say they could not live without apps. Globally, 2 of 5 (42%) survey respondents stated they cannot live without their apps, while another 44% said it would be a struggle to live without them. Advertisement Employees from Great Britain and the US think the likelihood of a mobile hack (45% and 43%, respectively) is comparable to the likelihood of their car being broken into (42% and 41%, respectively). The largest percentage of employees who use non-sanctioned apps are located in Great Britain (41%) and India (40%). The global average was 30% and only 14% of Germans use non-sanctioned apps. In the UK 51% of people surveyed would rather leave their house unlocked all day than leave their phone unattended and unlocked on a park bench for just one hour. Overall, the results show that attitudes towards the importance of smartphones and apps vary within Europe and globally. The Germans in particular showed much less interest and attachment to their smartphones and apps compared to those in the UK. Meanwhile those in China and Brazil showed the strongest attachment, nearly always responding far above the global average in response to questions on the importance of their smartphones and apps. An ethical dilemma. This month I watched my Royal College of Nursing colleagues give Jeremy Corbyn a standing ovation at the end of his speech to RCN Congress. I felt proud of the support they gave him. But 24 hours earlier the RCN made a worrying announcement. They have been balloting nurses about the current pay crisis. 91% of nurses said they'd take industrial action short of a strike. 78% of members who completed the poll said they were prepared to go on strike. This is the first time in 101 years of the RCN that nurses have decided to strike. I have been a qualified nurse for 40 years. Never in my career have I known nurses wanting to strike. We've previously protested about pay. As a student nurse in the 1970s, I and many of my off-duty colleagues marched through the streets of Exeter. I will never forget the reaction of some of the by-standers. Whilst the majority were supportive, some spat at us and accused us of killing patients by being on the march. Nurses were only allowed to march if off duty or given formal permission by a Matron. No patient care was affected by our actions. It took some time for my student nurse pay of 11 a week to improve! Advertisement RCN members have now voted at Congress to begin a summer of planned protests. And so they should. There is currently a 1% cap on public sector pay rises. Unless there is a change of government, this will continue until at least 2019-20. The effect being that the average nurse has suffered a real-terms pay cut of 14% since 2010. This is not acceptable. Nurses are now being forced to use food banks. Our professional registration and indemnity insurance fees have risen. We have to pay these before we can work. Pay and conditions are worsening. Most nurses are now working long 12 hour shifts. When I started to train these had just been phased out, apart from Night Duty. We were told that such long shifts meant nurses were too tired and could make mistakes. Why is the same advice not valid now? What can nurses do to highlight their plight? There are few actions they can take without jeopardising care. Working to rule; what would that involve? Not staying on after a shift has ended if there is an emergency? I guess some nurses if they have pressing family issues, such as collecting children from nursery, may feel they can't stay on. But most nurses I know would willingly stay on to help. Not helping a patient in some extra way? I doubt it. What would I do if I were still working in the NHS? I really don't know. I would certainly 'cover' so more junior nurses can protest in some way. I suspect when it comes down to taking strike action, most nurses will be very reluctant. I went into nursing because I cared about people and wanted to learn how to help people get better. That still holds true for nurses today. The word vocation may be rarely heard, but nurses still care, deeply. Advertisement This current government knows this. It's why they have treated nurses and other healthcare workers so disgracefully when it comes to pay and conditions. Theresa May did not even bother to acknowledge her invitation to the RCN Congress. Whilst the two other party leaders did attend, Theresa was nowhere to be seen. There are 675,000 nurses in the UK how many votes did she loose? I have seen at first hand over the last 6 years how hard nurses work. During that time I've had 4 different operations as well as other treatment. Most of my nursing care was good. But I saw nurses having to care for confused and elderly post-operative patients in a High Dependency Unit. The unit was understaffed, the nurses not adequately trained. There were not enough doctors on duty either. Visiting a friend in a psychiatric hospital last year, the picture was the same. The ward was chaotic and noisy, with not enough staff. There were no extra staff to provide activities either. The reason? More bed closures including the specialist high care unit. We all know about long waits in A&E as well as increased waiting lists. Yes, nurses can protest outside hospitals or Downing Street. But I cannot imagine any nurse leaving the ward to actually withdraw their labour. In itself that would be a breach of the NMC Code of Conduct. Nurses could refuse to do overtime. But the effect of that will be to reduce their pay even further. All I know, is that when nurses are protesting - I will join them. Both as a patient and a nurse. For over thirty years it has a been a central assumption among UK politicians that, if you can include markets and private companies in public provision, it will produce better results. This started with Margaret Thatcher's government but has continued under both Labour and Conservatives. The method has ranged from full-scale privatisation to outsourcing of public services to private companies and the introduction of market-based competition. It has been assumed throughout that this will obviously improve services. However where is the evidence? Where are the examples of market-based success? In contrast, it is very easy to find examples of market-based failure, many which have been catastrophic in their results. Advertisement Housing: In the 1970s, 55% of all new homes were built by the public sector. Thatcher believed that housing provision would be better provided by the market and banned councils from borrowing to build houses - a ban that has remained for 35 years. The result: A shortage of housing, unaffordable prices and sky-high rents. Railways: The result of rail privatisation has been that we have the unique combination of the highest level of subsidy and the highest prices of any country in Europe. A clear majority in opinion polls supports the bringing back of the railways into public ownership. Railtrack: The rail infrastructure was initially privatised. However the profit-focus led to it paying more attention to raising money from retail opportunities at stations than core issues like safety. After the Hatfield crash, Railtrack collapsed and was brought back into public ownership. The British rail system now has a strong record of safety over the last fifteen years. Pensions: It was John Major, as a Junior Minister, who is said to have steered through the legislation to encourage people to opt out of state pensions. The idea was simple, that they would do better by relying on competitive private providers. What could go wrong? Advertisement As the Daily Telegraph commented last year, quoting pension experts Hargreaves Lansdown, "most people who had been contracted out ended up being worse off". Or, as the Independent put it back in 1994, quoting accountants Coopers & Lybrand, "out of the six million who left SERPS for the private pension train, 2.4 million were taken for a ride .. with inappropriate pensions products" Energy: No political party seems happy with the results of privatisation of energy suppliers. There is no longer any suggestion that it should be left to the market. The debate is whether they should be regulated by market caps or nationalised. Schools: Schools cannot be run for profit but it was the idea of competition and market mechanisms that drove Gove's massive expansion of academies and the introduction of free schools. The House of Commons Education Select Committee concluded that there was no evidence that academies performed better than other state schools. The DfE's own analysis goes further, finding that Multi Academy Trusts underperform compared to other schools. PFI: It is of course not only Tories that have turned to private provision. Gordon Brown used the Private Finance Initiative to keep the debt of new Public building off the government balance sheets. And surely by shifting both the risk and the responsibility to the private sector, it would be a more cost effective solution. Advertisement Schools and hospitals are still bearing the massive cost of the PFI experiment and will continue to do so for decades. Outsourcing: Public sector organisations have always bought from the private sector and it clearly makes sense to do so for a huge range of products and services. However the last thirty years have seen widespread outsourcing of services previously provided by the public sector, ranging from back-office functions like IT to public facing functions. There may be cases where a small entrepreneurial company could, or does, provide an innovative service. And there have been successes where parts of the public sector have become social enterprises - run for a purpose rather than for-profit. However the standard government procurement approach leads to most contracts going to the likes of Serco, Capita, G4S or ATOS. And it is hard to think of anybody happy with their service. Consultants who work for those companies, whatever their wishes, find themselves focused by their companies on delivering the minimum that the contract promises at the lowest cost to them. One DWP Director told me, when they sourced their IT from EDS: "We are their 2nd biggest client worldwide and they treat us like s**t". With a 25 year contract EDS saw little need to focus on customer satisfaction. Advertisement Innovation: The assumption is that only the private sector innovates. Where would we be now without penicillin, laser technologies, the internet, the world wide web, graphene and the like? Except all of these, responsible for some of the biggest change of the last 100 years, came out of the public sector. Even Google's search engine resulted from research at a university, not from private sector funding (for which Stanford University received shares which they eventually sold for $336 million). The market clearly does bring benefits in retail markets, whether its an amazing supply of food in the local supermarket or great value technology. And there are one or two examples of public services that seem to manage to be well provided by private providers, such as local rubbish collection. But why should markets bring benefit to, for instance, the housing sector? A market will balance supply and demand at a specific price. But there is nothing in the nature of markets to provide products or services to all. For those who can't afford the price of food in a famine, or those who can't afford the current price of a house, the market offers no solution at all. The assumption of private-good, public-bad has led to some disastrous consequences for public services. Anybody arguing for markets or competition in public services needs to give examples of where it has worked and why it will be different from what has gone before. This Dementia Awareness Week we have seen incredible first-person accounts of how creativity and technology can make living with dementia more manageable. Although we don't have a cure for the disease, there are still innumerable ways to bring as much joy as possible to the lives of those living with dementia. It's time to sing the praises of organisations and individuals who have changed the lives of people living with dementia in simple but effective ways. Advertisement Anchor staff and residents enjoying the Bishopstoke Park World Rocks Against Dementia event in March 2017 In this video, a young carer demonstrates the power of music, and how this helped alleviate feelings of depression and anxiety in care home resident, Ed. Here, a lady called Annabel is seen dancing with her mother Monica, sharing a moment of happiness and calm. In each of these cases, it is clear that focusing on the individual, and their specific requirements, led to a better level of care. Take Ed, for example. His depression subsided and his behaviour changed drastically once he was reunited with his beloved piano and former bandmates. And joy spread over the face of Monica as she remembers her moves as a ballet dancer when dancing with her daughter. Advertisement It's important to recognise the person living with dementia, not just the disease, and take a person-centred approach to their care. Each person is a unique individual with a rich history of experiences, knowledge, preferences, desires and personality. Practically, this means learning and understanding a resident's personal habits, preferences and lifestyle choices to help shape the care we provide; we call this an individual's life story. There is no set format for developing an individual's story - it's about spending time with a person and getting to know them. This approach means individuals are given the opportunity to engage in daily activities that are meaningful to them and participate in the life and community of the care home (which is, after all, home). Technology also has a part in improving the lives of those living with dementia. Virtual reality, for instance, has been proven to soothe individuals by placing them in a calm environment. Using interactive and engaging iPad based-activities is also a great tool, giving residents access to the modern world. Residents can receive emails and photos from their children and grandchildren, making it easier to keep in touch. They can also use interactive games that help them keep focused and keep them mentally stimulated. News about dementia more often than not paints a disheartening picture - last week alone it was reported that deaths related to dementia will quadruple by 2040, overtaking cancer as the UK's biggest killer. However, it's important to focus on the developments and accomplishments in dementia care. Advertisement Most recently organisations, including Anchor, have signed the Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Friendly Housing Charter, committing to maintaining and improving dementia-friendly features within our properties. The Charter was launched by the Alzheimer's Society and takes all sorts of infrastructure into account - from coloured doors to plug sockets at eye level. Committing to consider dementia when developing new builds is just a part of what's needed to make communities dementia-friendly. For instance, community events, such as World Rocks Against Dementia and Dementia Awareness week, also go a long way to raise awareness of the disease, encouraging local action and developing 'dementia-friendly' environments in a vibrant and lively context. It's evident that change happens at a broader level - with the help of government legislation, policy implementation and organisation initiative - however, a more localised effort raises awareness of the disease, and helps create more dementia-friendly communities. Let's hope we continue to see both grow simultaneously. Summer is very nearly here- hurrah! We've only been wishing for it since the first day of winter 2016 and with the last month being a total, but typical, British washout, it really could not come soon enough. Without sounding like a miserable old Doris, let's be real, before we know it our lust for summer will soon be plagued with complaints of sweating out on the central line during the commute home from work, sandwiched in-between other hot and smelly fellow commuters who are trying (and failing) desperately to rally round the tiny tube window in between the carriages in the hope of some, albeit polluted, air in a bid to cool down. Whilst others on the flip side (the lucky ones whose Instagram feeds we try our best to avoid at all costs) are smugly sunning themselves in Santorini- either way, here are my top tips to sweat proof makeup this summer... Brows that won't budge Brow kits are ten to the dozen I know, but in order for your brows to stay put even in the hottest of conditions you need a brow kit that really goes above and beyond and the SO ME Brow Kit compact really comes out on top. I've tested it at gym after a 60 min cardio workout, at a spin class, sunbathing on holiday - it's a real hero kit that you quite simply need in your life come sun or rain. Advertisement Here's another option, a far more permanent option, when I say permanent I mean a type of tattoo in the form of semi permanent makeup aka microblading. This is the ultimate investment for makeup that doesn't budge, well for a whole 12 months at least when they might start to fade. Microblading only takes 1.5hours to apply including consultation time and guarantees perfect, professional looking brows every single day. So no matter how much you sweat you can rest knowing your brows are 'on fleek' as the kids say. Foundation that doesn't fall off Even with all the 'full' coverage promises and with the biggest price tags on the market, foundation has a habit of literally dissolving into thin air, and in some cases literally falling off your face due to high temperatures. To avoid this from happening you need to apply a decent primer that acts as a magnet to your foundation to keep it in place all day long, I swear by the Photo Finish Primer by Smashbox. Once your makeup is complete spray it into place using my 'never leave the house without' Hydrating Face Spray by sensitive skincare brand Sond, powered by super ingredient silicia, it not only sets your makeup but is ideal for keeping in your bag during the summer months for an instant face refresh - the nicest feeling ever for the times your face feels like a frying pan! Smudge-free, luscious lashes Applying mascara is literally pointless on sweltering summer days - you spend all that time coating your lashes in the morning for it to slide off by lunchtime! Mascara will attach itself to your lids or smudge underneath your eyes, making you look like a cast member of Game of Thrones rather than a sophisticated summer goddess. Advertisement The solution? There are three options here with a hands down favourite... 1.Go mascara free, have non-existent lashes, and opt for the statement red lip to make up for your non-lash look 2.Book yourself in for LVL - It's a lengthening, volumising and lifting treatment for your natural that lasts up to 12 weeks- makes a huge improvement on being mascara-free and works especially for those who have naturally long lashes 3.Lash Extensions - the saviour for summer makeup in my opinion, the only option If you ask me as it really does make such a huge difference to your overall look and saves you an extra 10 mins in bed in the morning, win- win! I've been going to Lashes by Liana in Marylebone, she's the eyelash queen and I've never had so many compliments on my lashes! Hagen Hopkins via Getty Images Like the UK, New Zealand is heading to the polls this year. We - the Greens and Labour - are trying to unseat a centre-right party that's been in government for a long time (too long), headed by a leader who's been appointed Prime Minister by his caucus, rather than the people: does that sound familiar? The similarities don't stop there. For most of my 15 years as a member of parliament, I have heard people from across the Left call for more co-operation between the various progressive parties to unseat the dominant conservative one. Time and time again, I've been told that the Left is better at fighting itself than we are at fighting the Right and that's why we can't have nice things, like being in government. Does that also sound familiar? Advertisement In New Zealand, the two major parties of the broad political left, the Green Party, of which I am Co-leader, and the Labour Party, decided to do something about that. On May 31 2016, the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to work co-operatively to change the government. It was the first agreement of its kind in New Zealand, and it's a living, breathing, working pact that is still in place today, four and half months out from our election. The MoU is far more than just a piece of paper. In practice, it's meant closer relationships between the party leadership and senior staff. We meet regularly, to talk strategy, update each other on policy, and assess the political landscape. Last year, leaders from both parties spoke at each other's national conferences before members (our most fervently party-aligned people), to rapturous applause. We also held a joint 'State of the Nation' event in January, for the first time ever. None of this happened before the MoU. We've also worked closely on issues we have common concerns about. We undertook a nationwide inquiry into growing homelessness in New Zealand when the Government refused to. We did the same with the aged-care sector. Advertisement Most recently we released the Budget Responsibility Rules, a fiscal framework that outlines how the Greens and Labour intend to manage the economy. It was a significant announcement, which signalled that there is an alternative to the current government and it's coloured green and red. Of course, as you'd expect, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. We are two different parties, with different charters and principles. There are obviously good reasons why 'our people' aren't 'Labour people', and vice versa, and why I myself am a Green Party MP, not a Labour one - otherwise there wouldn't be a need for two parties in the first place. Politics can be very tribal, and grievances and grudges can hold firm for years. When you care deeply about an issue, compromise is not always top of mind. So how we do make it work? I believe the key is that our relationship is equitable, regardless of which party is bigger or smaller, older or newer, or going up or down in the polls at any given time. Agreements like ours don't work if they become an exercise in dominance and subservience. When we sit down at the table with Labour, we do so on equal footing. It can't and wouldn't work any other way. Something that's also undoubtedly in our favour is New Zealand's Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system, which was used for the first time at a national level in 1996. It means that the bigger parties almost always have to play ball with the smaller parties to form a majority in Parliament and a government. There are seven different political parties represented in our current Parliament, of varying sizes - some are in government, some aren't, and some hope to be soon (us). The Green Party-Labour MoU in of itself won't deliver us to government later this year. As parties, we will both be campaigning to convince New Zealanders that we deserve that right and, depending on how the numbers fall on the night, the extent to each party will influence the next government's agenda. To my eyes, it's essential that there's a strong Green Party presence. Advertisement What the MoU has undoubtedly done, though, is show New Zealanders once and for all that there is a credible, alternative, progressive government in waiting. I am hopeful we won't be waiting much longer. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news Forty years of Hessle Road history captured in a striking collection of black and white images will go on show in the city next month as part of Hull 2017. The Hessle Roaders: Hull's Fishing Community is a major photographic collaboration between city historian Dr Alec Gill MBE and BAFTA award-winning film-maker and fine art photographer Paul Berriff OBE. Taking place during Hull 2017's Season Two programme, Roots & Routes, and on display at Hull History Centre throughout June, the exhibition features 100 photographs painstakingly selected from more than 6,600 evocative pictures documenting a close-knit community during a time of dramatic social change. It is being sponsored by Hessle Road business Smith & Nephew (S&N), which is a major partner in Hull 2017. The pictures are all the work of Dr Gill, who began recording the Hessle Road community in the early 1970s, beginning with trawlers before moving on to the people themselves. "I'm not a professional photographer," said Dr Gill, who is one of the co-founders of the city's annual Lost Trawlerman's Day. "When I was an undergraduate, one of my professors was comparing working class children and middle class children and he spoke about the working class having the freedom of the streets, and I latched onto that thought. "He also said, if you want to get on in life, you have to have a focus, and I thought I'd focus on Hessle Road." Mr Berriff, who has produced 100 A1 size fine art prints from Dr Gill's negatives, said: "Alec's photography is some of the finest 'street life' imagery I've seen during my 50 years behind the camera. "I think the pictures will bring back lots of memories for people and I think it will be one of the big successes of the City of Culture because this is the people of Hull, and it's their life and times we should be celebrating." Tanya Childs, corporate brand director at S&N, said: "We are proud to sponsor an exhibition featuring such engaging images of the Hessle Road community. "We have been based at 101 Hessle Road since 1907, and many of our past and present workforce live in this area." Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up for our free newsletter for crime and punishment stories sent straight to your inbox A former Cottingham priest has appeared in court to face charges of historic child sex abuse. Canon Terence Grigg, 83, is charged with nine offences of indecent assault and two charges of buggery. The charges relate to incidents said to have taken place between 1975 and 1995 involving five different under-age boys. Seven of the charges involve alleged assaults at his former rectory in the village. Two others are alleged to have been committed at the Liberal Club in London. He appeared at Beverley magistrates court on Wednesday morning. Dressed in a grey suit, blue shirt and yellow tie, he spoke only to confirm his name, age and address in Norton in North Yorkshire. He was remanded on conditional bail to appear at Hull Crown Court on June 28. Mr Grigg retired as priest in charge at St. Mary's Church in Cottingham in 2004. He worked at the church in Hallgate for 20 years. A spokesman for the Diocese of York said: "The Archbishop of York withdrew some time ago all permission to minister as a priest in the Church of England from Canon Terrence Grigg, who retired from active ministry in 2004. "The Church is fully co-operating with the police in this matter and is unable to say more while the investigation and legal process continues." Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up for our free newsletter for crime and punishment stories sent straight to your inbox A Hull mum and her boyfriend have been jailed for being part of an organised drug-dealing gang. Katie Rawson, 34, was jailed for two and a half years following an investigation into the supply of Class A drugs in the Merseyside area. She was one of seven people jailed after being seen dealing drugs in the St Helens and Leigh area. Ms Rawson, who was living in St Helens but is understood to have returned to Hull after her arrest, was charged with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was jailed for two years and six months. She was found guilty following a trial last month, while the other gang members all pleaded guilty. Rawson was sentenced alongside the six other members of the drugs gang at Liverpool Crown Court, who were collectively jailed for a total of more than 19 years for various drug-related offences. Rawson's boyfriend, Robert Nathaniel Wenton, 35, of Threadneedle Court, St Helens, was charged with conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and was jailed for six years. The mum, who went to Sir Henry Cooper School in Orchard Park, posted on Facebook weeks before she was jailed to say she loved Mr Wenton and missed him while he was in custody. She said: "Love this man so much. I just can't find the words deep enough to explain. And not being (sic) with him right now is just killing me inside." Fellow gang member Dean Weaver, 25, of Peterlee Close, St Helens, was also charged with two counts of supplying heroin and two counts of supplying crack cocaine and was jailed for three years and four months. A 17-year-old male, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with three counts of supplying heroin and three counts of supplying crack cocaine and was given a two-year rehabilitation order. William Stephen Osu, 25, of Admiral Street, Toxteth, was charged with conspiring to supply cocaine and was jailed for four years. Michael Eccleston, 18, of Colesborne Road, West Derby, was charged with four counts of supplying heroin and five counts of supplying crack cocaine and was jailed for one year and four months. Calum Ogden, 21, of Hempstead Close, St Helens, was charged with three counts of supplying heroin and three counts of supplying crack cocaine and was jailed for two years and four months. Detective Sergeant Steven O'Neill, of Merseyside Police, said: "Organised crime groups like this, who deal in the wholesale supply and distribution of controlled drugs, don't care about the impact that supply of drugs has in our communities. "The main focus of this operation was to reduce the likelihood of the children being criminally exploited and hopefully (the) sentencing will prevent other children and juveniles from becoming embroiled in a life of drug dealing and criminality. "Feedback following the operation has highlighted the positive impact it has had on the area. The sentences will further assist by removing the main core of the crime group that was operating in the area." Criminals jailed in Hull in April Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up for our free newsletter for crime and punishment stories sent straight to your inbox A soldier who has "served with distinction" in a 17-year career left court with magistrates' best wishes after receiving a conditional discharge for pouring a litre of water over his ex-partner. Sergeant Mark Wright, 37, also used a pair of scissors to cut clothes, curtains, blinds, and electric cables on a toaster, computer, fridge and freezer after going to her home one night "heavily in drink". They had lived together for eight years, but she ended the relationship three weeks before the incident on April 29, Hull Magistrates' Court heard. As the clerk was putting charges of assault by beating and criminal damage to Wright, his solicitor, Lawrence Watts, asked if the case could be sent back to police and settled with a caution. Wright, of 3rd Battalion, Royal Artillery, had no similar convictions and his career was on the line, Mr Watts said. He also said Wright had told him the victim had submitted a retraction statement, and he had paid for the damaged items to be replaced or repaired. Geoff Ellis, prosecuting, said: "I'm fairly confident he won't be cautioned. He does have previous convictions, these are domestic violence matters. I don't have any details of a retraction statement. "One of the difficulties is a retraction statement is simply a statement saying, usually, they don't want the case to proceed; it doesn't say the incident did not happen." The case had already been reviewed by prosecution authorities, Mr Ellis said. Wright, of Bilton Grange, east Hull, admitted both offences. Mr Ellis said he arrived at the property drunk, and the woman let him in after speaking to him through a window. "Once inside he becomes argumentative, she goes upstairs, he follows her into the bedroom, he locks the door behind them," Mr Ellis said. Wright tried to take her mobile phone off her as she tried to call police, "grabbed" the bottle of water she was holding, and poured the contents over her head. The soldier then let her out and she texted a friend, who called police. He was inside when officers arrived, and had caused 1,200 of damage. When he was interviewed by police, Wright said he was "angry and upset", and described the incident as a "moment of madness". He had previously been fined 400 for taking a vehicle without the owner's consent at an Army hearing in Warwickshire. He received a conditional discharge for shoplifting in August last year. Mr Watts said to the bench: "It was the end of a long-term relationship, one in which Mr Wright had placed a great deal of hope for his future. "He's a serving soldier and has been for 17 years. The end of his Army career is in sight, if today's guilty pleas have not ended it prematurely. "He has served with distinction in all of the hostile theatres in which the British Army has been involved, certainly in the last ten years. "He is a man who is very proud of his service record, and very saddened in the end that that record should be ruined in this way. "I hope very much you consider it appropriate to conclude this matter by allowing him his liberty, and to at least have a fighting chance of salvaging what he can of his career." Colin Martin, chairman of the bench, declined a prosecution application, which the victim requested, to issue a restraining order, and accepted Wright's word he had already compensated her. Wright was discharged conditionally for 12 months, as the magistrate told him: "We hope when you go back to your garrison they take an understanding view of the plight you find yourself in." We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news A man has been arrested after police descended on a west Hull street. Neighbours in Coltman Street say armed police were called to a house at about 9.40pm yesterday. Residents reported seeing a heavy police presence down the street, off Anlaby Road, at around 10.30pm. One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: Heavy police presence down Coltman Street, now armed police. Police have today confirmed they arrested a man following the disturbance on suspicion of assault and affray. A spokesman said: Police were called to a disturbance at an address in Coltman Street in Hull at 9.40pm yesterday evening, Tuesday, May 30. Officers attended and following enquiries, a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and affray. The man is in police custody being questioned in connection with the incident. The spokesman said the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information should call police on 101 referring to log 619 of 30 May. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news Vandals have damaged a statue at Hull's East Park commemorating young people who suffered hardship during the Second World War. In May 2015, Honorary Alderman Brian Petch had stainless steel cut-outs of a soldier, sailor, airman, Merchant Navy sailor and two evacuees installed at the park. Collectively, the statues form a Veterans' Walk, complete with benches, allowing families to relax and think about those who suffered hardship. However, within the last few days, the evacuees tribute - paid for by Archbishop Sentamu Academy in Bilton Grove, east Hull, has been damaged. Mr Petch said: "It's been badly bent. I disgusted anyone would do this. I am very disappointed. The statues are there for people to enjoy." The damaged statue has been taken down by council staff and will soon be sent to makers W Campbell & Son, in west Hull, for repairs. Mr Petch's late wife, Councillor Brenda Petch, first pitched the idea of creating a quiet area within the park boundaries for Hull's veterans. He said: "Veterans' Corner could not be in a better position. It's a lovely spot. Every time I go down there, I see people admiring the statues. It's a shame what's happened." It is hoped the statue will be back on display soon, he added. Dave Mitchell, a member of the Royal Military Police Association, noticed the statue was missing when he visited the park over the weekend. He said: "I asked one of the park rangers where it was and they told me they had taken it down because it had unfortunately been vandalised. "It's just mindless vandalism. These people are not thinking about the people who this statue was made for. It wasn't just adults who suffered during the Second World War. "Children were wrenched from their families, in order to keep them away from the bombing. Whole families suffered a great deal of hardship." But Mr Mitchell is defiant. "When we had these statues put up people told us the vandals will get to them," he said. "But we ignored them and put them up anyway. "You can't bow down to these people." Mr Petch said the Hull Council of Ex-Servicemen Association (CESA) paid for the soldier, airman and sailor statues, while the Merchant Navy Association funded its tribute. Veteran associations have bought memorial benches. Meanwhile, final preparations are taking place ahead of this year's Veterans' Weekend on July 29 and 30. Held annually at East Park, the event attracts tens of thousands of people over the weekend, and honours the role of Britain's Armed Forces, past and present. Mr Petch said a full itinerary will be given to the Mail for publication in the coming days. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news The last known picture of missing mum Renata Antczak has been released. Renata, of Beamsley Way, Hull , was last seen on Thursday, April 25, dropping her 11-year-old daughter off at Broadacre Primary School at 8.45am. The mum-of-two has not been seen since then, despite extensive searches across Hull. Police believe she is still in the UK rather than her native Poland. A Humberside Police spokesman said of the image: "At this time she was wearing a distinctive yellow jacket. "She took her daughter to school in the family's black Mercedes e220 car which has the registration WF13 PCX. After this time it is unclear where the car was driven, prior to being returned to her home address. "We would be keen to hear from anyone who know where it went, what Renatas movements were or anyone she spoke too. "Likewise we would be keen to speak to anyone who saw Renata or a woman matching her description walking in the area around her home address on Beamsley Way after 8.45am on Tuesday 25 April." Since April 25, there have been no confirmed sightings of her in the UK or Poland , despite widespread media appeals and specially trained officers searching open land and waterways. Police have arrested and charged Renata's husband, Majid Mustafa, 47, and Robert Lipinski, 45, of Emerald Grove, west Hull, over her disappearance. The pair have been jointly charged with conspiring to cause GBH with intent to a man and conspiracy to administer a noxious substances to Renata Antczak. They will both appear at Hull Crown Court on Monday, June 19. Lipinski has also been charged with conspiracy to administer a noxious substance to his wife. Chief Inspector Michelle Garlick said: The movements of Renata on Tuesday 25 April may well hold the key to her whereabouts now and it is therefore vital that members of the public get in touch with any information no matter how small it may seem. "In particular wed like to know where she went after dropping her daughter at school, who she was with and anything she may have said to anyone. I would also like to appeal directly to Renata - You have family who are desperate to know that you are safe and I promise that you will not be any trouble if you get in touch. The key thing is knowing you are safe and well. Renata or anyone with information on her whereabouts are urged to call the police immediately on 101 quoting log 324 of April 26. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news Police believe Hull mum Renata Antczak is still in the country. The mum-of-two has now been missing for five weeks after she was last seen on Tuesday, April 25, in Kingswood after dropping her little girl at Broadacre Primary School that morning. Officers believe she left her Beamsley Way home at about 1pm on foot before disappearing without a trace. Police are continuing to work tirelessly to try to locate the lawyer, but say there have been no confirmed sightings of her since her disappearance. A Humberside Police spokesman said: As part of enquiries we have looked into the possibility she has left the UK and to date no one called Renata Antczak has travelled from the UK to Poland or any other country. Therefore we believe she is still in this country. However we continue to work closely with Polish authorities as part of the investigation. As part of the efforts to find Ms Antczak, police have confirmed they have searched land and waterways near where she was last seen. They have also searched her home and garage for clues. The spokesman said: Specially trained officers have searched open land and waterways in the vicinity of where she was last seen, which is routine as searches for missing people progress. They are continuing to appeal for Ms Antczak to get in touch, or for anyone with any information to come forward. (Image: Peter Harbour) The spokesman said: The missing enquiry to locate 49-year-old Renata Antczak continues. Renata of Beamsley Way, Hull was last seen on Tuesday 25 April in the Kingswood area of Hull after dropping her daughter at Broadacre Primary School earlier in the day. Since then, there have been no confirmed sightings of her in the UK or Poland, despite widespread media appeals and our teams are continuing to work tirelessly to try to locate her. It is completely out of character for her not to have been in contact with her family and we are very concerned. We would appeal again to Renata to get in touch with us and would like to reassure her that she is not in any trouble. We just want to know she is safe and well. We would also like to speak to anyone who had contact with Renata on the 25 April or who saw a black Mercedes e220 car WF13 PCX she was using that morning. We would also like anyone who has had contact with Renata since 25 April to call us on 101 quoting log 324 of 26/04/17. Earlier this month, police jointly charged Renata's husband, Majid Mustafa, 47, and Robert Lipinski, 45, with conspiracy to administer a noxious substance to Renata. They both appeared before Hull Magistrates Court on Monday, and the case has been sent to Hull Crown Court for a hearing on June 19. Kris Kobach's political comeback is complete. Here is what it means. Kris Kobach's victory as Kansas attorney general will usher in an office that will be active in challenging the federal government in court. ASCAP Names Tony Dunaif EVP, Head Of International Affairs ASCAP has appointed digital business strategist Tony Dunaif as Executive Vice President and head of International Affairs. He will oversee ASCAP's international business and society relations outside of the United States. Tony Dunaif Prior to joining ASCAP, Tony Dunaif was SVP Digital Products at iN Demand, a joint venture owned by Charter, Comcast and Cox. He began his media career at MTV Networks, where he held several senior posts over a 12-year tenure. Dunaif's hiring comes as part of ASCAP's organizational transformation agenda to meet the future needs of its members. He will bring his expertise in global business development, licensing and strategy to develop international opportunities and partnerships. His appointment follows other recent executive announcements to the ASCAP international team. CML Consultancy, led by Miew Lan Chan, is engaged by ASCAP for the Asia-Pacific region and Elizabeth Rodda was recently promoted to Vice President of International Affairs. Both will report directly to Dunaif. Share on: The City Council also authorized the borrowing of $8.1 million for capital projects and another $14.3 million for capital projects. The council approved the use of $2.25 million in free cash by an 8-3 vote. Tyer said if she had been in office 30 years ago, knowing what she knows now, she would have implemented a policy of putting at least $500,000 per year away in stabilization. But, that didn't happen and with no excess levy capacity, "the chickens have come home to roost." The city has $3.5 million is certified free cash and $3.6 million in stabilization. The stabilization account is one the auditors have suggested building in years past but it hasn't been bolstered much. The difference, however, is that for decades when the council made that decision is was a conscious one to avoid raising taxes. Now, the free cash is being used as a revenue source to keep the city's budget from hitting the ceiling. "We've been warned for the last three years, don't do it. And we keep doing it," Simonelli said. Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli was particularly frustrated with the situations because for years the auditor had suggested against the use of the funds that way. And again, the City Council is approving the use of those funds. If free cash isn't used, then the City Council would have to make another $2.25 million in reductions to the budget. "In this particular situation you are not, in fact, lowering your tax rate," Kerwood said. "Absent that $2.25 million you would have an unbalanced budget." However, with the city so close to the levy ceiling, the city doesn't have the option of using free cash in other ways. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said it is the only way to have a balanced budget. This year, the city is looking to use $2.25 million in free cash to offset the tax rate. In prior years, that was advised against based on those being one-time revenues that should be used for one-time expenses instead of essentially being an offset of annual operations. The approval places the city $175,839 under the levy ceiling - a restriction on how much revenue can come from property taxation. There is no override for the levy ceiling. The administration entered the budget process expecting some room under the ceiling but the health insurance premiums came in 12.9 percent higher than last year, costing the city $3 million - a total which obliterated most of what the city had left. Those reductions came from the mitigation fund, a decrease in the city physician line of $5,000, $4,300 to correct a miscalculation of the inspector of weights and measures' salary and a $90,246 discrepancy in the bottom line of the Public Services budget. Through a series of five budget hearings, the City Council reduced the city's appropriation for the budget by $138,694. The "other expenditures" line consists of a few items such as assessments, school choice or other offsets from state aid. The biggest driver of the change is that the City Council authorized the use of $2.8 million of retained earnings, which is essentially free cash from enterprise funds, as a revenue source. Additionally, the city used $970,000 in free cash this year to offset overages in the police and fire overtime lines, which is not included in the new budget. The other expenses dropped from $10.8 million to $7.2 million. The total spending plan proposed by Mayor Linda Tyer was $163,859,871, which is $1,693,362 more than last year. The budget consists of $145,191,805 for city operations and the enterprise budget is at 11,376,495, for a total appropriation of $156,468,754. That deduction was made after the City Council discovered the mitigation fund, created for through a union negotiation for a health insurance switch three years ago, was overfunded. The $156,429,586 for the city and enterprise operations was approved Tuesday and is $39,168 less than the budget preliminarily approved last week. The City Council have its preliminary approval of the budget on Tuesday. Day 1 POSTED: Monday, May 22, 2017, at 11:17 p.m. Mayor Linda Tyer said the city is just $37,145 short of the levy ceiling if her proposed budget is passed. DAY 1 PITTSFIELD, Mass. Mayor Linda Tyer has put forth a $163.8 million budget, which basically puts the city at the levy ceiling. The budget increase is only 1 percent, with the majority of that going to health insurance, and will leave the city only $37,145 short of the hitting the levy ceiling. The ceiling is a state restriction on the amount of revenue the city can bring in from property taxes. "It is important to point out that this constraint has been a decade or more in the making," Mayor Linda Tyer said. "It took us a long time to get here and it is going to take a lot of work to overcome it." The total spending plan is proposed at $163,859,871, which is $1,693,362 more than last year. However, non-property tax revenues are projected to fall by $1.7 million, so $3.4 million more will come from property taxes. The operating budget is at $145,191,805, the enterprise budget is at 11,376,495, other expenses are penciled in at 7,291,571. The city is projecting the need to raise $84,420,700 from property taxes, which will lead to an estimated 80-cent increase on the tax rate for residential and $1.45 for commercial (or $80 per $100,000 of assessed value for residential properties and $145 increase per $100,000 of commercial.) The mayor said the budget focused on creating safe neighborhoods through investments in police and fire, keeping the public schools "competitive" and maintaining and plowing roads. But, because of the looming debt ceiling, the budget calls for the reduction of 76 jobs, 70 of which are from the school department, and Tyer said 16 departments are level funded. The school budget is being cut by $250,000, which is leading to the layoffs. "I am deeply sorry that it has come to this," Tyer said of the employees who will lose their jobs because of the cuts. The budget is particularly taxed by a 12.9 percent increase in employee health insurance. That accounted for a $3 million increase to the operating budget. Tyer added that there was a $594,239 increase in retirement contributions and $120,034 increase in long-term debt. That accounted for $3.7 of the $3.9 million increase in the operating budget. Tyer said asking departments to level fund means taking a cut because as contractual increases, such as negotiated salary hikes or insurance, grow, level funding means either reducing staff or cutting in other areas. "As we move through the years we will have to make more and more difficult decisions and focus on our core services," she said. This budget does reorganize some departments, she said, hoping to create efficiencies. It will also use $2.2 million in free cash to offset the tax rate increase. The use of those funds had been contentious in the past as the auditors urged city officials against using those one-time revenues to pay for the annual operating budget. At this point, there is a limit on the amount taxes that can be raised, so if it weren't used for that, the city would have to find an additional $2.2 million in cuts to the budget. "We have consulted with our auditor Tom Scanlon and he said we have no choice but to use free cash to balance our budget," Tyer said. The mayor said she hopes to start negotiations with the Public Employees Committee regarding the current 85/15 health insurance split to cut on city expenses, looking to consolidate school custodians into one department, implement a toter trash pickup system, and launch a home improvement program in hopes to grow property values. "I'm optimistic that we can survive this downturn and thrive," Tyer said. The revenue being used to fund the proposed budget. PITTSFIELD, Mass. City Solicitor Richard Dohoney pretty much handcuffed what would have been most of the deliberation among the council on Monday night. Dohoney said in his legal opinion, the City Council is unable to change salaries for any of the positions in the budget. He said the mayor is the one who sets the step an employee is hired at and does the annual reviews for non-union employees. The union employees are covered by collective bargaining contracts. The legislative body of the City Council is unable to decrease the pay of any employee. "That is quite a handcuff on your ability to deal with the budget but that is where your discretion lies," Dohoney said. That particularly struck Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo, who said the city code constantly has "subject to appropriation" after employee pay scales. Further, she said there has to be a way to make sure an employee is getting hired at an appropriate step, and not solely on the mayor's choice. "I can't accept the fact that we don't have any way to check and balance that," she said. Nonetheless, the opinion quelled what could have been a lengthy meeting because many of the questions Mazzeo had prepared were based on salaries. Dohoney also set some other ground rules: the council needs to approve a budget by June 23 or the mayor's proposal will automatically be instated and the council doesn't have the authority to increase a budget, only to ask the mayor for more money for something. The council can decrease a budget but that needs to have an identified line to come from. "It is my intention to have the budget on the agenda for June 13. If we are not done by June 13, then there will be a special meeting on June 14, June 15, June 16," Council President Peter Marchetti said. The City Council did have a public hearing, but nobody issued any comment. Mayor's Office The City Council approved the $200,846 budget for the mayor's office with little debate. The budget is exactly $7 less than last year. Last year, the City Council got into somewhat of a controversial debate over the salary of Director of Administrative Services Roberta McCulloch-Dews. The council had tried to cut the position in half, to a part-time job, and questioned the step she was hired at. That didn't happen this year. The City Council had already been told by the attorney that they couldn't change salaries. Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo did raise some questions in that the both the director of administrative services and Executive Assistant Catherine Van Bramer were in line for increases of $491 and $627 respectfully. Director of Personnel Michael Taylor said the two completed their first six months on the job when all employees are entitled to step increases. Employees are also eligible for a step raise after a full year. That increase is reflective of what it will take for the full fiscal year depending on when those step changes went into effect. "It is the step that she got for the six months of completing her services," Taylor said. The mayor made reductions to the lines for marketing and advertising, supplies, and travel for a total of $1,125 savings, making up for more than the salary increases for the office's two other employees. Councilor John Krol, however, noticed that for the second year Tyer has been in office, she had denied a raise. But, the City Council had previously adopted a provision that tied the salary to the consumer price index to make sure the salary grew over time without politics being involved. While he commended the mayor for doing so when the city is facing such difficult financial times, he said, "that defeats the purpose of being tied to the consumer price index." Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Mayor $91,540 $95,000 $95,000 Director of Admin Services $53,095 $52,195 $52,686 Executive Assistant $38,355 $36,658 $37,285 Markets and Advertising $2,000 $500 $250 Supplies $3,500 $3.500 $3,125 Travel $5,000 $2,000 $1,500 MA Municipal Association $10,200 $11,000 $11,000 Total $203,690 $200,853 $200,846 City Council The City Council's budget is level at $103,892. There was no changes proposed to any of the budget lines. Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell did ask about the marketing and advertising line, saying that as of April 30, the council has just about half of the budget. "I know it it is a small amount but every little bit adds up," Connell said. City Clerk Jody Phillips said the money is mostly used for legal ads, and council supplies such as the paper with the council's seal needed to write ordinances. "It is hard to tell what we will use in a given year," Phillips said. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Councilors $90,002 $90,002 $90,002 Clerk of the City Council $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 Clerk of Committees $8,640 $8,640 $8,640 Advertising/Marketing $1,250 $1,250 $1,250 Total $103,892 $103,892 $103,892 City Solicitor The City Council approved the $217,813 budget for the city solicitor without a word. The city contracts with Donovan & O'Connor for legal services and the entire budget is remaining exactly the same as last year. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval City Solicitor $77,472 $1 $1 Assistant City Solicitor $35,218 $1 $1 Executive Legal Secretary $39,210 $39,011 $39,011 Tax Title Litigation $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Supplies $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Law Library $11,500 $11,500 $11,500 Legal Fees and Court Costs $60,000 $162,000 $162,000 Legal Settlements $0 $0 $0 Equipment Maintenance $2,800 $2,800 $2,800 Total $228,700 $217,813 $217,813 City Clerk The city clerk's budget is yet another one remaining flat. The City Council approved the budget at $326,522. The most notable change in the budget is a 13.5 percent decrease for election officers. The line is being cut by $3,584. "There were three elections last fiscal year," City Clerk Jody Phillip said, saying there will be fewer this year. Again, Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo questioned the salaries, saying the salaries in the clerk's office are not matching up with the salaries in the city code for steps. That is the opposite of what is being shown in the mayor's budget, where the salaries are not necessarily lined up with the scale. Director of Personnel Michael Taylor said the difference is that the new employees in the mayor's office had a six-month review, which is done after the date of hire. Throughout the city, there will be various employees gaining a step at different times depending on the hire. Managers and other non-union employees could receive a 1 percent raise on an annual basis, but that would be at the mayor's discretion. "There are some people who have been here four years and are still step 1," Mazzeo said. "I don't get the disparity." Taylor said for some employees, the increase is not based on time but on performance. He said there is "not an established protocol" for doing employee reviews. He said the city's administration has developed one internally but hasn't implemented it yet. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval City Clerk $65,625 $67,264 $68,682 Assistant City Clerk $39,090 $40,668 $43,350 Head Clerk $34,885 $36,099 $36,634 Assistant Clerk Registrar $36,180 $36,483 $36,211 Election Officers $34,314 $26,516 $22,932 Secretary Board $32,550 $33,862 $31,120 Senior Clerk Typist $26,590 $26,980 $28,048 Registrars Board $2,400 $0 $0 Licensing Board $2,950 $0 $0 Election Custodians $3,600 $2,600 $2,700 Equipment Maintenance $5,424 $6,300 $6,300 Election Programming $9,000 $5,600 $4,936 Election Rentals $1,200 $900 705 Education and Training $1,000 $1,500 1,000 Advertising and Marketing $500 $500 $500 City Code Updates $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Records Preservation $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 Supplies $23,000 $13,500 $16,404 Census $15,000 $15,750 $15,000 Total $345,308 $326,522 $326,522 RSVP The RSVP program will see a budget increase of $454, for a total of $79,045. That is mostly driven by a $517 increase in salary for the administrative assistant. Memberships and dues also increased by $195. To make up for those increases, RSVP reduced $195 from the volunteer coordinator. The city's funds are only a portion of the cost the operate the project. The program receives federal funds through the Corporation for National & Community Service to operate the retiree program, getting volunteers to work on community service projects. "We are like a volunteer clearing house. Non-profits can sign up with us," Director Cheryl Whalen said. The program is available through Berkshire County, but Whalen said very few outside of Pittsfield use it. She said there have been volunteer placements in Adams and Great Barrington, and volunteers can come from those towns. But, mostly, all involved are from Pittsfield. "We are supposed to, through the grant, serve all of Berkshire County," Whalen said. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Director of RSVP $34,793 $34,984 $34,984 Volunteer Coordinator $15,381 $15,948 $15,753 Administrative Assistant $16,910 $18,851 $19,638 Membership and Dues $300 $1,121 $1,253 Postage $400 $400 $400 Staff Training $457 $300 $300 Advertising $0 $0 $0 Telephone $350 $6 $6 Supplies $1,900 $1,500 $1,500 Staff Travel $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Volunteer Recognition $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 Equipment and Copier Lease $2,947 $1,981 $1,981 Total $76,938 $78,591 $79,045 Council on Aging The Council on Aging is looking at a $500 decrease, bringing its total budget down to $292,652. The changes to the budget include $283 increase for the senior clerk typist, $335 for the social service technician/custodian and decreases of $618 for temporary labor and $500 for supplies. The council had little to say about the budget, but Mazzeo again raised concerns with salaries. Mazzeo said the administrative assistant salary hasn't changed. She said the council changed the pay scale in order to make the salaries more competitive when seeking employees and to have it based on merit, and not time. Yet the scale is seemingly used in a scattered way, she said. "I think this needs to be really clear," Mazzeo said. "We've really got to bring this in." Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Director $52,910 $52,910 $52,910 Senior Clerk Typist $30,680 $30,897 $31,180 SDC Assistant $22,935 $23,558 $23,558 Soc Serv Tech/Custodian $31,440 $31,665 $32,000 Soc Serv Tech/Custodian (PT) $25,280 $25,377 $25,377 Program Assistant $32,125 $32,125 $32,125 Activities Leaders (PT) $21,545 $21,545 $21,545 Kitchen Coordinator $22,490 $22,490 $22,490 Temp. Labor $4,000 $4,000 $0 Equipment Maintenance $6,435 $6,435 $6,435 Building Maintenance $13,500 $13,500 $13,500 Printing $1,300 $1,300 $1,300 Supplies $3,000 $3,000 $2,500 Program Expense $24,350 $24,350 $24,350 Total $291,990 $293,152 $292,652 Veterans Services The veterans services account is proposed to see a $6,555 budget cut, placing the total budget at $1,081,853. The majority of the budget is for the programs at $1 million, most of that is reimbursed by the state. Veterans Services Officer James Clark said when he first took the job, there was an increasing number of people needing benefits and that threw the city's financing out of balance. But since then, the number of veterans receiving benefits has leveled out at around 180. "Over the last two years, it is almost a match year after year," Clark said. The majority of the work is "a public assistance program for low-income veterans." Clark said the veterans receiving the benefits are getting them as a "bridge" to when they can receive benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs or have a job to be self-sustainable. About half of those receiving benefits are retired, he said. The mayor had asked all department heads to make cuts if possible and Clark's budget was cut in a few areas - flags and rental expenses. Clark said the city is required to place flags at the graves of veterans, but that is paid for by the state. The city has been contributing to that to purchase bronze markers for the graves as well. The city had $2,000 allocated for those but is cutting that line. Clark said the markers "keep disappearing," and often end up being pawned at scrapyards. The city had to move from bronze to aluminum. "They are disappearing on a regular basis. We went to an aluminum marker," Clark said. The department will now seek to raise funds for those aluminum markers on its own instead of leaning on the city budget. The department also cut rental expenses by $6,700. Clark said that line was used to contribute to other veterans agencies but that the city wasn't obligated to do so. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Veterans' Agent $48,100 $48,100 $48,100 Administrative Assistant $27,235 $28,333 $29,478 Temporary Labor $0 $0 $0 Equipment Maintenance $650 $975 $975 Rental Expense $6,700 $6,700 $0 Education and Training $0 $0 $0 Flags $2,000 $2,000 $0 Supplies $2,000 $2,000 $3,000 Program Expense $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 Award and Declarations $300 $300 $300 Total $1,086,985 $1,088,456 $1,081,853 Cultural Development Director of Cultural Development detailed other sources of revenue which help fund the programs the office administers. The office of cultural development is proposed to see a $1,606 decrease in the budget, ending at $104,585. Council Vice President John Krol said the department brings more back to the city than it costs. Director of Cultural Development Jen Glockner said Third Thursday operates outside of the budget, the 10x10 arts festival is paid through sponsors, the Mastheads project is covered by a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and other programming is paid for by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Additionally, the department rents some nine studio spaces to artists, which brings in about $15,000 to the city's general fund every year. "We're still seeing at least a dollar for dollar payback," Krol said The most notable work out of the department is Third Thursday, which is paid by vendor fees and sponsors. "We raise the money and then spend the money on these events," Glockner said. The decreases are seen in the budget from $1,000 in contractual services, and $500 from both supplies and travel. Those reductions are offset by a $394 increase for the administrative assistant. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Director $52,910 $52,910 $52,910 Administrative Assistant $20,480 $29,981 $30,375 Tourism Administrator $13,240 $0 $0 Building Maintenance $0 $0 $0 Contractual Services $4,000 $5,000 $4,000 Tourism Expenses $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 Visitor Center Expenses $1,000 $500 $500 Supplies $3,500 $3,500 $3,000 Telephone $800 $800 $800 Travel and Dues $1,500 $1,500 $1,000 Equipment Building $0 $0 $0 Total $109,430 $106,191 $104,585 Day 2 POSTED: Thursday, May 25, 2017, at 11:37 p.m. School Department Superintendent Jason McCandless stood before the City Council for three hours on Thursday presenting the budget, and fielding the councilor's questions. PITTSFIELD, Mass. Despite a school budget calling for some 68 job reductions, the City Council exuded confidence in the budget Superintendent Jason McCandless put before them on Thursday. The council gave its preliminary approval to the $60,066,338 city appropriation to operate the school district. The district is adding $620,000 in tuition and school choice revenue for a total spending plan of $60,686,338. The city doesn't really have much choice when it comes to saving jobs because the entire proposed city budget brings it about $37,000 under the levy ceiling. Nonetheless, the council felt the School Committee and staff did the best they could with the limited resources available. "The only silver lining, if there can be a silver lining in such a grave and dire cloud, is that we've worked really hard to do this work strategically," McCandless said. The superintendent said in order to provide the exact same service with the exact same staffing as this current year, the district would need to have raised its budget by some $2.5 million. But, Mayor Linda Tyer had put out a directive to all departments to level fund the budget. "We believe we've done our due diligence to follow the mayor's directive to craft a level-funded budget," School Committee Chairwoman Katherine Yon said. The city then got word of a $3 million increase in health insurance costs, eating up most of what was left in levy capacity. Tyer put out another call to action, asking departments to cut what they could. The School Department had previously eyed 73.5 reductions, and then cut an additional $250,000 from the level-funded budget, upping the job loss to 75.65 full-time equivalent jobs. The United Educators of Pittsfield voted to forego a half a year's worth of step increases, shifting $300,000 toward keeping additional teachers in the classroom. "I do appreciate the union's taking that action. I do think going forward, these are realities we are all really starting to come to grasp with," Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo said. In response, the School Committee cut a line for curriculum development, which McCandless stood firm on, to save some more jobs. State Sen. Adam Hinds and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier each put in state budget amendments to save two pre-kindergarten classes though those funds still need to be secured throughout the remainder of the legislative process. "We indeed proved that we all in this together," Yon said. Now the job loss is looking to be about 68 and the superintendent says most of them are people who retired or left the job and the city won't rehire the position. The reduced positions are 18 teachers, or five percent of the total teaching staff, 37 paraprofessionals, 15 percent of that pool of workers, and three positions from the Mercer Building, though not necessarily administrators. "This budget is incredibly painful on a personal and professional level," McCandless said. The staff reductions were done in ways McCandless said "insulates" the students from truly noticing a difference in the education delivered. "There are absolutely things we will miss next year deeply," McCandless said. "We did our best to insulate kids from these cuts." McCandless doesn't have much optimism that future budgets will be much different. The only way to raise the property tax revenue would be through large, casino-sized private investment, which the city can't count on immediately. He doesn't think the state's support through Chapter 70 is going to increase much in the coming years. And federal dollars are "questionable." "We anticipate this budget situation will be in the neighborhood of dire for the next five years," McCandless said. That's when some of the more impactful budget cuts will come, he said. One of those cost-cutting measures will be looking at closing a school. The budget approved by the council on Thursday includes some $25,000 to perform a close analysis of the future of the school buildings. That is supported by enrollment trends as well, not just financially. McCandless said since 2007 the district's enrollment dropped by 926 students. Projections for the next 10 years show a drop from 5,416 students to 4,523, another 900 or so. "We know we are going to have to look seriously at closing schools," McCandless said. Despite enrollment trends, McCandless said the FY18 budget is more aggressive in reductions than just sizing appropriately. Yet, Pittsfield is not alone in facing school funding issues and McCandless painted a picture of the current state of the school's system to show there isn't anything particularly out of place in how it uses funds. The district is below state average when it comes to the number of teachers per 100 students and in the bottom 20 percent in the state for average teacher salaries. The number of administrators in the office dropped in the last four years from 71.5 to 58, a 19 percent decline. In the same four years, the state average increased by 5 percent. "When we start having to make reductions, I start at the level I reside closest to on the organizational chart and we work down from there," McCandless said. Pittsfield spends $328 per student on administration, which is the lowest compared to similar urban districts, he said. And the school is close to the lowest in how much is spent on principals per student. Overall, the district averages $14,450 per student, which is the third lowest in Berkshire County behind Savoy and Adams-Cheshire. And below the state average. "Communities that have enough income and enough property value to spend 16, 17, 18, 19 thousand it surprises nobody that they tend to be the highest performing districts," McCandless said. And Pittsfield faces challenges other districts don't. The district doesn't match the enrollment of the largest cities in the Commonwealth, but it fairly large compared to the state average. The city has higher than average percentages of students with high needs. There is a much greater percentage of economically disadvantages students than the state, above average English Language Learners percentage, and well above the state average with students with disabilities. Despite those demographics, McCandless highlighted some of the success the district has had in recent years. The district is in the top 15 of the 175 public and charter high schools in the state when it comes to students taking three or more AP tests. The schools are in the top 20 with the number of high needs students taking the exams, top 25 for economically disadvantages, and top 20 for black students. The school has the 14th best pass rate among students with special needs. Between September and May of the 2012-2013 school year, students were suspended for a total of 1,237 days. This year, in the same months, there were 386 days. The four-year student dropout rate is at a 10-year low with 1.9 percent. Just two years ago, the budget debate centered on the additional of behavior technician jobs that McCandless defended hotly in the face of some councilors looking to cut them. "That is not by accident. That is not just a blip on the radar," McCandless said. This year, Williams Elementary became a Level 1 school, making the third school in the district to receive the state's top designation. Taconic was recognized as a silver medal school by U.S. News and World Report. Pittsfield High School is the only school in Western Massachusetts to have a bilingual graduation program, providing a nationally recognized seal for students being proficient in multiple languages. McCandless said all that won't go to waste with the next budget. The spending plan also includes adding new courses, aligning the K-8 mathematic curriculum, bringing the teaching materials up to date and aligning with state standards. The budget seeks to find a balance in what was reduced but with 84 percent of the budget spent on personnel, there was little "stuff" to cut. "We have no other choice but to cut employees," McCandless said. "We could have dark cold buildings with nothing in them but be OK with staffing levels, but that's not fair to the kids." The budget was crafted through a series of filters. First, the administration asked if it was something the state legally required the district to provide. Preschool is not, which is why four classes of that were cut and two eyed to be brought back with the state budget. Then they asked if they are morally obligated to do it. Does the community expect it? The budget protects theater, sports, and foreign languages which taxpayers expect for their money. Then the district looked for data to find things that may not be actually helping the students gain proficiency. McCandless said there are programs the district loves but without the data to support it, the district cuts it. And finally, the district sought out community partners. For kindergarten, for example, the district has reached out to other providers such as head start to bring them into the same school to provide the service. "We have lots of partners in this community who are able to do some of the same things we are able to do. And we want to work with them and not trying our own programs that they can be doing better," McCandless said. Despite praise for the budget school staff crafted, the councilors did pose some questions. Council Vice President John Krol questioned cuts to the Crosby's special education program. McCandless responded that the preschool students are there four days a week and the last day was used for "bureaucratic" functions like filing state reports and documentation for parents. The teachers will still do that, but having paraprofessionals there on the fifth day was "a luxury" the department can no longer afford. As for cuts to the resource room, McCandless said there will be fewer adults in the classroom instead of two or three adults, there will only be a teacher with up to a dozen students. "We will not violate any IEPs, which are legal documents," McCandless said. Krol also voiced concern over the reduction of two preschool programs. "For me, I've always believed if we could have a 3-year-old program for every child in the city, that would be ideal," Krol said. McCandless agreed with the importance of early education and cited that as one area where working with community partners comes into play. The reduction of a truancy officer also raised concerns, as it had with the School Committee. "Nobody is happy with that," McCandless said, but the return on the investment didn't seem to make the position valuable enough to keep in the budget compared to other jobs. That work will be split among existing staff members, he said. But Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli doubted it would have as much of an impact in ensuring students are going to school. "We know that truancy and getting the kids to school is a major priority," Simonelli said. "If you split this position into three different people, then it won't work." Krol suggested trying to find a way to add money to the budget to bring it back but ultimately did not make any motion to do so. Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo voiced concern with the elimination of an assistant superintendent for career and technical education. Richard Brady, who currently has that job, is retiring and Caccamo says with a new Taconic High School opening, there should be somebody overseeing the vocational programs. McCandless said the district had looked to hire a replacement but those interested were too pricey to bring to the city. Instead, that job is being merged with another. Further, he said he is not convinced that the workload is enough for a superintendency level job. Simonelli questioned the addition of a vice principal at PHS, saying by not adding that position, more teaching or paraprofessional jobs could be saved. McCandless said PHS has a high number of students with special needs, economically disadvantaged, and English Language Learners. The school's location and layout provide additional oversight challenges for principals. He says it is vital to have somebody helping keep the educational program on track. "There are challenges at PHS that I think make it a much more nuance school that people think," McCandless said. Simonelli responded that it was the job of the principal, which McCandless said it is, but it is too big of a job for one person. Simonelli also questioned the substitute teacher budget, which is showing a surplus this year but yet the proposed budget remains at $625,000. Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Kristen Behnke said, "this is one of our more volatile accounts." While this year the district struggled to get substitutes in, she said in other years that has trended as high as $800,000. "It is one I don't want to artificially keep low," she said. Simonelli questioned $100,000 for professional development, which is the same as last year despite job reductions. Behnke said that number is contracted with the teachers' union and not based on the number of teachers. Simonelli also asked about moving the Adult Learning Center to a city-owned building instead of leasing, which McCandless said will be considered when the lease expires. "When we get closer to the lease expiring, and my recollection is we have another year or two, we will look at other options," McCandless said. Another cut worrying the principals and the teachers' union is the reduction of team leaders and department heads, stipends for teachers in the middle and high school. Councilor at Large Peter White praised the superintendent and deputy superintendent for not taking pay raises again this year. They haven't taken those raises in a number of years. White also praised the $300,000 the teachers are giving up to help balance the budget. Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi questioned a 21.6 percent cut to equipment maintenance. Behnke responded that is a line she is unsure about but was cut as the district sought places to reduce. She'll monitor it but said this year the line was used more heavily than before for a security camera project at Herberg Middle School. The City Council also pushed for more marketing to turn the school choice numbers around. This year, 101 students choiced in, bringing $593,000 to the district. However, 506 choiced out, taking $2,874,255 with them. The councilors said those numbers aren't a reflection of poor schools but a poor perception of the city schools. "We still have such a school system that offers something for every student, at whatever level, wherever they are," Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso said. Krol suggested working harder at marketing because schools like Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter School are "aggressively targeting our students." He suggested social media and working with Pittsfield Community Television to reach out to more people. "I think it is time to challenge our residents a little bit more and ask them why in the world would they send their students anywhere else?" Krol said. Caccamo said one problem is that the city schools are often not even being considered in the first place. McCandless had given him data that shows there is a gap of about 100 children between the number of births in a given year versus the number attending the schools five years later. McCandless added that there are more than 200 families in the city who choose to home school. Pittsfield Schools FY18 Line Item Budget by iBerkshires.com on Scribd Day 3 POSTED: Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 10:42 p.m The City Council asked department heads on Tuesday about the budget for some two hours and 15 minutes, but the Council only changed the figure for one budget line. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The City Council made its first change to Mayor Linda Tyer's proposed budget on the third day of the council's review. But it was not of much significance as the $5,000 reduction to one line item on Tuesday is a minuscule percentage of the $163.8 million spending plan. More than half way through the budget review process, the council hasn't even attempted to change the mayor's proposal except for cutting $5,000 more from the city physician line in the Personnel Department budget, which was done by a split 6-5 vote on Tuesday. The majority of the department budgets are level funded or below funded, leaving little to be reduced from the council's budget last year, and the levy ceiling leaves little for the council to work with to raise appropriations. That has thus far led to a very tame round of budget hearings compared to the last couple of years. Last year, the council debated more than four hours each night, often times longer, debating line by line. This year, the longest meeting has taken about three hours. While the budget wasn't changed dramatically on Tuesday, the council did spend more than two hours questioning how departments use the funds. The council approved budgets for the Building Inspectors, Personnel, Health Department, Police, Fire, and Emergency Management. iBerkshires has been detailing the extent of the discussion for each budget, which you can find below. Building Inspectors The building inspectors' budget was approved at $369,892, which is $14,866 lower than last year or 3.9 percent. That reduction mostly came with the elimination of a senior clerk position, a position Building Commissioner Gerald Garner says he isn't sure how to replace. "I'm still working on we are going to eliminate that position," Garner said in response to a question from Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo asking what the impacts will be. Garner said the clerk headed the CFI and R2 inspections (fire inspections for public assembly places and for multi-family dwellings). The clerk also oversees liquor licenses. "She does all of the data collection for that plus the liquor licenses. That sounds easy but it's not," Garner said, adding that he cut it because it was the only way to cover the contractual raises for other employees while still fitting the mayor's directive to cut costs. The position collects the data, follows up on licenses, sends violation notices, sets up inspections, follows up with businesses and property owners about compliance issues, and is responsible for rescinding licenses if compliances aren't met. "I don't love the idea of cutting this, to be honest with you," Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo said. When asked directly from Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell about whether the loss of the position will result in the department creating less revenue, Garner said it would. Connell said the department has brought in some $462,000 in revenue already. He would like to see the position brought back in the future if revenues start decreasing. "If a position is going to pay for itself and then some, is that something you'd consider in the future?" Connell asked Tyer. Tyer couldn't commit exactly, saying there is more under consideration than just the revenue. She said if the city somehow has more revenue to spend in the future, it would be a consideration. The City Council also found a mistake in the budget document. The numbers for last year showed a $3,000 budget line for temporary labor, which is now proposed at $6,000. The council started to question the increase, except the number was wrong. Last year, the budget was $7,500 and is being cut to $6,000, not increased by $3,000. The error caused concern for Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso, who said now she can't be sure there aren't other mistakes. "I have to be secure that what I am voting on is correct," Amuso said. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said he will double check all of the numbers. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Senior Wire Inspector $49,075 $50,851 $52,835 Building Commissioner $64,025 $64,022 $64,022 Head Clerk $30,975 $32,103 $33,525 Senior Clerk $25,935 $26,877 $0 Building Inspectors $136,750 $143,888 $149,205 Plumbing and Gas Inspector $45,555 $47,217 $49,305 Temporary Labor $7,500 $7,500 $6,000 Insurance Deductible $500 $0 $0 Uniforms $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Telephone $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 Supplies $7,500 $11,300 $10,000 Total $372,815 $388,758 $369,892 Personnel Director of Personnel Michael Taylor's budget was the only one to be changed by the City Council so far. The Personnel Department saw the first budget change in the City Council's review, with a $5,000 reduction to the city physician line. The budget was approved at $199,322, which is $30,475 less than last year. The majority of the council's conversation focused on the use of assessment centers beginning next fiscal year for positions in the police and fire department. The new line item calls for $26,000 to be spent on running those, which is a Civil Service process above the standard written test. The centers bring in consultants in the field to run the potential candidates for high-level jobs in the two departments through a series of exercises to gauge performance. "It gets, I would say, a better quality candidate as opposed to us using the standard Civil Service process," Director of Personnel Michael Taylor said. The centers cost $6,500 per test and will be used for certain positions. Using the centers was recommended a few years ago by a study committee, which looked at the possibility of leaving Civil Service altogether. "I am really pleased we decided to keep in Civil Service. I think it keeps a political agenda out of the way. I also feel we are getting the most well-rounded candidate by going to an assessment center," Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi said. Ward 5 Councilor Donna Todd Rivers asked about the online application program. Taylor said the program goes beyond posting jobs and accepting candidates but also can be used to run reports on where candidates are coming from to help direct advertising funds, directors jobs to post on social media sites and with job sites. He said thousands of candidates have used the system to apply for jobs within the city. "It cuts down a lot of different internal procedures in terms of hiring," Taylor said. Connell motioned for the reduction in city physician line. He said there is still $23,000 left from last year's budget of $60,000 and he doesn't expect it to be used. "Even if you factor in a 10 percent back into that number, I still think we can go down on this number by $5,000 or $10,000 and still make it," Connell said. That line was increased last year because the city was expecting to hire more police officers, which it did. The physician line pays for physicals for public safety employees, for drug screenings, and for other exams needed for employees. "It is probably one of my more unpredictable items," Taylor said. "Depending on our turnover in any given year, it can go over or be under." The line was reduced with Rivers, Morandi, Mazzeo, Connell, Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli, and Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Tully in favor of the reduction. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Director of Personnel $64,025 $64,022 $65,632 Personnel Technician $35,265 $35,675 $38,099 Personnel Specialist $35,420 $0 $0 Training $3,000 $4,500 $4,500 Educational Opportunity $3,000 $4,500 $4,500 City Physician $40,500 $60,000 $50,000 Online Application Program $4,800 $5,600 $5,600 Advertising $2,500 $2,500 $2,000 Postage $85,850 $50,000 $0 Supplies $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 Assessment Centers $0 $0 $26,000 Total $277,360 $229,797 $204,322 Health Department The Health Department budget was approved at $456,795, which is a $15,404 increase or 3.5 percent increase. It is the only budget so far to see an increase. The majority of that increase is for personnel, particularly with the nuisance control officer and administrative assistant. Health Director Gina Armstrong said the during the contract negotiations three workers were upgraded to higher job classifications. Both positions received a 12 percent increase from $26,266 to $29,266 for the administrative assistant and from $29,703 to $33,279 for the nuisance control officer Part of those negotiations also gave the nuisance control officer a $300 stipend for uniforms, making four employees in the department having those and raising the budget by one stipend. Connell questioned the code enforcement line, saying that there is still $3,500 from last year's budget unspent with limited time left. He felt the budget line, which had been proposed to be cut from $6,000 to $4,300 already, could have gone down even further. "It still seems like there is some meat on the bones there," Connell said. Armstrong said it is a volatile line item because it isn't known the extent of a code enforcement order. She said there have been years with a significant amount of public notices, or years with vacate orders requiring the department to make housing efforts. Armstrong had asked for a $4,000, which was a $2,000 reduction from last year. "In my recommendation, I kind of brought it to the middle based on past years' experience," Armstrong said. Morandi questioned the difference between what Armstrong asked for property demolitions $100,000 and what the mayor put forth in her budget $25,000. "We have an extensive list of vacant properties and we also have a short list of those properties slated for demolition," Armstrong said. The $25,000 budget marker is the same as last year, but that was only after a debate on the City Council floor. Last year, Tyer had attempted to boost that account but was rebuked by the council. Armstrong said there is a team of city workers meeting monthly to discuss demolitions. They have determined action against a number of vacant properties. "We have seven on the list and it really depends on the hazardous materials, how many we go to bid grouped together, and size," Armstrong said of how much the $25,000 will accomplish. The Department of Community Development also used federal funding to take out blighted properties. Connell said he'd like to see more receivership programs instead. Many city properties are too small to build on now without a special variance, so he'd rather see those homes be restored and put on the tax rolls than left vacant land. "I hate taking a building down that could be salvaged," Connell said. "We always talk about new growth and this is growth we have but we haven't been getting the tax revenue because it is vacant. But if we take it down, then we will never get it." Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Board of Health Director $55,945 $64,023 $64,023 Senior Sanitarian $45,584 $45,880 $46,918 Inspector of Weights and Measures $0 $0 $0 Animal Inspector $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 Sanitarians $75,967 $79,725 $83,565 Senior Code Enforcement Inspector $43,190 $44,760 $46,918 Nuisance Control Officer $29,379 $29,703 $33,279 Officer Manager $31,626 $32,780 $34,956 Public Health Nurse $41,001 $49,300 $48,920 Administrative Assistant $25,578 $26,120 $29,266 Board of Health Clerk $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Water Testing $1,200 $1,200 $1,200 Uniforms $1,500 $900 $1,200 Contractual Services $2,000 $1,000 $1,000 Telephone $3,450 $3,450 $3,450 Equipment Maintenance $4,500 $4,500 $4,500 Education and Training $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 Nuisance Abatement $6,000 $7,000 $10,000 Code Enforcement $0 $6,000 $4,300 Advertising $3,500 $300 $300 Property Demolitions $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 Medical Supplies $0 $8,750 $7,000 Supplies $7,000 $2,000 $2,000 Total $431,674 $441,391 $456,795 Police The Police Department took the most time on Tuesday night, but nothing was changed to the proposed $9,800,049 budget. That is a decrease of $20,725, which is .2 percent. An annual issue during budgeting with the department is overtime spending. Chief Michael Wynn says the department is annually underfunded and at the end of every fiscal year, the city transfers money from other departments to cover the deficit. Council Vice President John Krol asked if those numbers should change, though the numbers weren't changed in the budget, with the addition of new officers. Wynn said this year there was a net gain of 15 staff members, and ideally that will help "attack those overtime numbers," But so far, those officers came on late and needed to go to field training, which upped the use of overtime because the department was essentially paying two officers to count as one. However, Wynn said the department's staffing hasn't actually increased much. Of the 99 positions the department has authorized, only 91 of them were filled. There are also employees out on injury or other reasons, dropping the active number of officers to 87. "We are really about where we were last year despite adding 14 bodies," Wynn said. Because of the Civil Service schedule and availability of qualified candidates, the department can't hire even if it wanted to. The department struggled to get candidates during the last two rounds of hiring and the next Civil Service test isn't until the fall, and the academy would follow that. "I can't hire any police officers right now so if I have attrition or retirements, that number will go down," Wynn said. The major driver of the overtime use is when there are too few patrol officers to hit minimum standards for staffing levels during a shift. That's when others are called in to help on overtime. Special events overtime, however, is a different account and is used to fund the additional detail at events such as Third Thursday. That line is showing a 16 percent decrease. Simonelli asked about the addition of a crime analyst hired several years ago. Wynn said the analyst is remaining very active within the department and has been making an impact. Connell questioned a line for dispatchers, saying the year-to-date expenditure were low. He wondered if the difference between actual spent and the budget could be spent elsewhere. Wynn said he answers that question from somebody every year. The department receives grants to operate the 911 system and uses that money to offset dispatcher salaries. But the department still has to fund those salaries at the full amount. He said the money is typically moved at the end of the year, providing the grant funds are awarded. Mazzeo questioned the use of school resource officers. Wynn said the department was down one officer this last year, the one for Taconic High School, and has been waiting until the current trainees are in the patrol unit before hiring a new one. Taconic was covered by two patrol officers instead. Mazzeo, however, felt that there should have been an officer dedicated to the high school. "I feel the high schools need a resource officer more than the middle school," Mazzeo said. Wynn said the job is one "where the person becomes the position." It takes a long time for the officer to build a relationship with the students so by pulling a middle school SRO would be just as effective for Taconic as the two new faces from patrol. "School resource officers become part of the fabric of their school," Wynn said. Mazzeo, as she mentioned last year, also asked about changing the shift schedules of detectives to reduce overtime. She said detectives are needed more on a Saturday or Sunday than on other days, so that could reduce the number of detectives being called in. Wynn disagreed, saying the only way to decrease the number of hours detectives are called in on overtime is to hire more detectives. Mazzeo also questioned the funds for ShotSpotter. That is being paid for by private donations so far, according to Kerwood, and that money is kept in its own account for that purpose. "It is not a raise and appropriate expenses. It is outside of the budget. At this point, this program is being paid for completely through donations," Kerwood said. Mazzeo would still like to know the account balances for the various donations. Wynn said he has a number of donation accounts, some with a small amount remaining. The department once did a fundraiser to cover health bills of a K9 and that has a small remainder in it. Kerwood said he is currently in the process of reviewing those donation accounts and calling donors for old donations and see if they want their money back, or to donate it elsewhere. Unless the donor says it can be spent on something else, the city can't touch it. "If something goes unspent, and goes unspent for years we just roll it over every year," Kerwood said. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Police Chief $115,000 $115,000 $115,000 Police Captains $248,262 $251,062 $251,062 Police Lieutenants $384,362 $398,965 $405,734 Police Sergeants $724,849 $872,117 $872,117 Safety Officer $65,703 $66,414 $66,414 Detectives $451,356 $516,140 $516,140 Patrol Officers $3,356,910 $3,720,166 $3,720,166 Mechanic $48,100 $48,100 $49,662 Drug Enforcement $140,315 $180,000 $225,000 Dispatchers $523,680 $523,680 $523,680 Animal Control Officer $58,460 $58,460 $62,542 Special Response Team $12,000 $15,000 $15,000 Custodian $31,490 $35,306 $37,818 Sr. Clerk Typist/Conf. $115,718 $116,357 $116,668 Senior Clerk Typist $68,926 $68,926 $70,256 Animal Control Comm Clerk $2,000 $2,000 $1,000 Matrons $1,000 $15,000 $15,000 Temporary Labor $10,000 $15,000 $15,000 Auxiliary Police $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 Special Investigation OT $40,000 $40,000 $40,000 Special Events OT $150,000 $150,000 $125,000 Scheduled Overtime $600,000 $900,000 $900,000 Dispatchers OT $81,783 $110,000 $110,000 Crime Analyst $46,735 $49,390 $49,390 Information/Technology Mgr. $51,291 $51,291 $0 Police Science $1,125,126 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 In Service $70,000 $70,000 $70,000 Insurance Deductibles $15,000 $0 $0 Animal Control Testing Fees $200 $200 $200 Uniforms $30,000 $60,000 $60,000 Maintenance/Support $165,000 $185,000 $185,000 Police Education $20,000 $20,000 $15,000 Shipping/Postage $800 $1,200 $1,200 Printing $2,000 $3,000 $3,000 Traffic Enforcement EQ $0 $0 $0 K9 Care and Supplies $5,500 $5,500 $5,500 Office Supplies $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Drug Enforcement Expenses $10,000 $15,000 $15,000 Ammunition $12,000 $15,000 $15,000 Special Investigation Expenses $3,000 $4,500 $4,500 Care of Prisoners $5,000 $10,000 $10,000 Custodial Supplies $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 Equipment $30,000 $45,000 $45,000 Fleet Maintenance $40,000 $45,000 $45,000 Total $8,884,566 $9,820,774 $9,800,049 Fire Department The Fire Department budget was approved with no discussion. The budget is $7,026,034, which is a decrease of $100,128 or 1.4 percent. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Fire Chief $99,340 $99,340 $99,775 Deputy Fire Chiefs $357,500 $363,103 $363,235 Fire Captains $756,472 $1,004,000 $831,669 Fire Lieutenants $982,243 $980,000 $1,020,000 Firefighters $3,527,764 $3,358,000 $3,320,307 Head Clerk $33,365 $34,575 $32,025 Master Mechanic $32,050 $68,470 $68,470 Principal Clerk $30,065 $31,016 $32,350 Office Manager $37,010 $38,358 $40,203 Emergency Apparatus Staffing $30,000 $30,000 $50,000 Emergency Manning $550,000 $700,000 $700,000 Assuming Additional Response $24,200 $24,200 $30,000 Uniforms $88,475 $109,000 $139,000 Maintenance General $12,100 $12,100 $13,000 Vehicle Maintenance $140,000 $140,000 $140,000 Medical Maintenance $13,000 $13,000 $13,000 Education and Training $15,000 $15,000 $25,000 Arson Investigation $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 Supplies $7,500 $8,000 $8,000 Equipment $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 Equipment Replacement $35,000 $35,000 $35,000 CAD License/Maint/Admin Fees $26,855 $29,000 $31,000 Total $6,831,939 $7,126,162 $7,026,034 Emergency Management The Emergency Management budget of $26,400, which is up by $500 for CodeRed, was approved with no discussion. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Deputy Director of Emergency Management $2,250 $0 $0 Utilities $1,000 $0 $0 Education and Training $500 $500 $500 Code Red $30,000 $22,500 $23,000 Supplies $100 $100 $100 Emergency Operating Center $1,500 $2,800 $2,800 Radio Amateur $150 $0 $0 Radio Citizen $150 $0 $0 Total $28,060 $25,900 $26,400 Day 4 Posted Friday, June 2, 2017 at 1:24 p.m. . The City Council handles the most complicated budget, the Department of Public Services, on Thursday night. PITTSFIELD, Mass. The fourth night of budget hearings was all about consolidation, and confusion. The biggest budget up for debate was for the Department of Public Service. Mayor Linda Tyer's budget calls for the consolidation of the Parks, some functions of Building Maintenance, and some Department of Utility functions. It also calls for one commissioner to oversee both the Department of Utilities and the Department of Public Services. However, so many changes to the financials and the procedure of how to consolidate into one commissioner for utilities and services made it difficult. The evening started out with a $90,276 difference in the bottom line of the Public Service budget, which nearly got the budget tabled. But, with updated numbers, the council proceeded with the review. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood had printed an update Public Service budget, which clarified past data. But moments before the meeting, he became aware that some hidden cells in the Excel spreadsheet had influenced the bottom line when they should have been eliminated. The line item budget was accurate but what was presented as a bottom line was different. "At the last moment we actually identified some further clarifications," Kerwood said. "The clarifications actually reduce the FY18 appropriation." He invited the council to table the budget for another meeting to review the new bottom line. But, Council President Peter Marchetti urged the group to keep on going because the entire document needs to be approved by June 13. "The only difference you will see is that the bottom line numbers will be different," Kerwood said, adding that the complications arose from the merging of multiple departmental budget and lines into one. Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo then questioned the city's ability to eliminate the line for the commissioner of public utilities that had been funded in the budget partly through Public Services and partly through Utilities. Mazzeo wasn't opposed to the consolidation but cited the city code as stating that the city must have commissioners for each. That, however, also became questioned because there is still a Department of Public Utilities budget and the salary for the one commissioner for both is split among the two. "It is not that difficult as far as understanding what is happening, but there is a step we are missing," Mazzeo said. Tyer said the references in the city code about having that position is part of transitional guidelines in place as the city moved from the last charter to the new one. "We still have the ability to make amendments to the city code about the way our government is structured," Tyer said. And then there was confusion over what some assumed was a typo in the city code in that the line reads the city must have a Department of Public Services with a commissioner of public services and a Department of Public Utilities, but that said with a commissioner of public services as well. The councilors praised the consolidation efforts. It was the procedure which added confusion. "I think in tough times we have to make tough decisions," Councilor at Large Peter White said. "To me, I would rather see us save more people on the ground that to have the luxury of two departments heads right now," Later in the evening, the council got into a lengthy debate over the Department of Community Development's budget over an $8,065 cut to the allocation for Downtown Pittsfield Inc. The council approved budgets for Public Service, the enterprise accounts for water, wastewater, and sewer, Building Maintenance, the library, Community Development, and the airport. Below you will find more detailed notes about each budget, and the discussion the council had. Public Services Commissioner of Public Services David Turocy is currently overseeing both the Department of Utilities and the Department of Public Services. The original bottom line listed in the budget document was $8,113,372. But, it was found that some glitches in the Excel formulas had led to a couple hidden cells, a few of which were transferred into the document from other departments and ultimately duplicated in the sum. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood updated that bottom line to read $8,023,126. The City Council made a $4,300 cut to that number and approved a total budget of $8,18,026. The budget includes more than two dozen new lines. The engineering, the Department of Public Utilities administration, the Parks and Grounds, and few lines from the Building Maintenance Department were all condensed into this budget. A single department head, currently David Turocy, will oversee all of those functions. The cut came from the inspector of weights and measures. Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell looked at the current year to date numbers showing that only 77 percent of that had been spent. Yet, the budget called for an increase of $1,269. "We only have another month. I can't believe realistically in a month's time we would be spending this $10,000," Connell said of the current expenditure figures. Turocy said that figure is a salary and he didn't have an answer for why the money hadn't been spent. Director of Personnel Michael Taylor reviewed the numbers and determined that it was overfunded in the proposed budget based on the salary scale and job grade. He determined the budget was $4,397 more than it needed to be. "I think it is overfunded," Taylor said. Connell successfully cut $4,300 to bring it more in line with the actual cost. Connell then questioned seasonal labor, which is budgeted at $90,000. That $90,000 is a consolidated number for both the Department of Public Services and the Parks Department. He said the expenditures aren't trending at a pace to use up the current budget. "It seems we haven't utilized everything we budgeted for last year," Connell said. Turocy said those numbers will pick up with the onset of summer and that he's started hiring people. Turocy added that this year may be off because he had cut down on discretionary spending to handle the deficit in snow and ice and got a late start to hiring for seasonal help. "All of these salaries are going to hit this month," he said. Connell questioned the traffic signal maintenance line, funded at $100,000. Turocy said that was a new item. He said two years ago he was getting bills in the range of $15,000 to $20,000 every month for needed work on traffic signals. That was coming out of the street repair line. Now, he has cut the street repair line by $100,000 and moved it into this new line to show more accurately where the money is going. The budget also shows scheduled overtime, which is being taken from the unclassified budget and being placed in departmental budgets, putting the department heads more in control of how that money is spent. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Commissioner of Public Service $1 $87,339 $45,880 City Engineer $72,190 $72,462 $72,000 Inspector of Weights and Measures $40,070 $46,477 $47,746 Office Manager (DPU ADMIN) $38,890 $40,254 $41,258 Jr. Civil Engineer (DPU ENGINEER) $39,440 $40,006 $0 Superintendent $59,215 $55,970 $57,330 Street Compliance Inspector $53,369 $54,169 $55,650 Chief Street Foreman $50,786 $0 $0 Highway Maintenance Craftsman $231,061 $227,228 239,365 Parking Garage Manager (BUILDING) $54,182 $53,985 $53,768 Parking Control Officers (BUILDING) $56,173 $58,222 $61,055 Administrative Assistant (DPU ADMIN) $33,370 $34,708 $35,572 Fleet Manager $49,560 $51,548 $51,666 Working Foreman $50,786 $51,290 $47,746 Motor Equipment Repairman $211,961 $215,183 $229,089 MEO-2 (PARKS) $39,586 $41,396 $44,401 Parks Craftsman (PARKS) $0 $0 $45,800 Custodian (BUILDING) $31,031 $28,707 $28,793 Signal Maintainer $44,668 $44,668 $37,000 Park Maintenance Men $165,589 $166,889 $127,986 Senior Clerk Typist $30,379 $30,901 $31,658 Park Maintenance Superintendent (PARKS) $59,212 $60,099 $61,745 Seasonal Labor $30,000 $30,000 $90,000 Seasonal Labor (PARKS) $65,000 $60,000 $0 Scheduled Overtime (PARKS/UNCLASSIFIED) $0 $40,000 $0 Scheduled Overtime $85,000 $85,000 $125,000 Snow/Ice Overtime $100,000 $100,00 $100,000 Equipment Operators $216,635 $213,471 $223,096 Contractual Services $0 $100,000 $100,000 Contractual Allowances $0 $0 $12,500 Contractual Allowances (PARKS) $0 $1,500 $0 Traffic Signal Maintenance $0 $0 $100,000 Utilities $50,000 $80,000 $80,000 Street Lighting $450,000 $480,000 $480,000 Maintenance $115,000 $115,000 $100,000 Collegiate Baseball/ Wahconah Park (PARKS) $10,000 $10,000 $0 Maintenance of School Fields $15,00 $15,000 $15,000 Repairs/Services (BUILDING) $55,000 $55,000 $55,000 Garage Maintenance $200,000 $220,000 $220,000 Rental Expense $57,672 $57,672 $71,250 Repairs - Streets $288,500 $350,000 $250,000 Streetscape Maintenance $25,000 $35,000 $35,000 Solid Waste Collection (DPU ADMIN) $1,208,104 $1,220,302 $1,251,889 Solid Waste Disposal (DPU ADMIN) $972,000 $1,066,000 $1,138,634 Solid Waste Recycle (DPU ADMIN) $716,400 $722,700 $763,349 Household Haz Waste Collection (DPU ADMIN) $8,000 $0 $6,000 Landfill Monitoring (DPU ADMIN) $106,000 $106,000 $100,000 Sand $550,000 $700,000 $700,000 Professional Services (DPU ENGINEERING) $10,900 $10,900 $10,900 Garage Supplies $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 Office Supplies (DPU ADMIN) $7,000 $7,000 $10,000 Supplies (DPU ENGINEERING) $500 $3,000 $0 Maintenance of Parks (PARKS) $88,500 $88,500 $100,000 Gasoline and Diesel Oil $500,000 $400,000 $330,000 Tree Operations $60,000 $70,000 $75,000 Equipment (PARKS) $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 Highway and Traffic Supplies $35,000 $35,000 $30,000 Total $3,490,909 (Excluding the lines transferred from other departments) $3,957,916 (Excluding the lines transferred from other departments) $8,023,126 Engineering The Engineering budget was consolidated into the Public Services budget. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval City Engineer $72,190 $72,462 $0 Junior Civil Engineer $39,440 $40,006 $0 Senior Clerk Typist $27,920 $29,048 $0 Professional Services $10,900 $10,900 $0 Supplies $500 $3,000 $0 Total $150,950 $150,950 $0 Parks and Grounds Parks was transferred into the Public Services Department budget. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval MEO-2 $39,586 41,396 $0 Park Maintenance Men $165,589 $166,889 $0 Park Maintenance Superintendent $59,212 $60,099 $0 Seasonal Labor $55,000 $60,000 $0 Collegiate Baseball/Wahconah Park $10,000 $10,000 $0 Maintenance of School Fields $15,000 $15,000 $0 Maintenance of Parks $88,500 $88,500 $0 Equipment $15,000 $15,000 $0 Total $459,387 $444,387 $0 Public Utilities The Public Utilities administration budget was transferred to the Public Services budget. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Commissioner of Public Utilities $89,530 $89,865 $0 Office Manager $38,890 $40,254 $0 Administrative Assistant $33,370 $34,708 $0 Solid Waste Collection $1,208,104 $1,220,302 $0 Solid Waste Disposal $972,000 $1,066,000 $0 Solid Waste Recycle $716,400 $722,700 $0 Household Hazardous Waste Collection $8,000 $0 $0 Landfill Monitoring $106,000 $106,000 $0 Office Supplies $7,000 $7,000 $0 Total $3,179,294 $3,286,829 $0 Water Treatment The Water Treatment budget, which is an enterprise account funded by utility bills, was approved at $5,047,116. That is up by 12.4 percent from last year, for a total of $557,993 more. The majority of that comes from long-term debt interest payments, which jumped by $334,786. Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell questioned the acquisition of equipment line of $75,000. Connell has routinely voiced concern with the number of vehicles used at the water and wastewater plant. Commissioner of Public Services David Turocy said part of that money will buy a new pickup truck, as the department does every year. The department will then give a vehicle to other departments, such as highway or parks. In the case of an emergency, it is the plant's trucks that will be needed to go so it is important to keep up with the fleet, he said. "Those are the front line vehicles. They have to run. We try to keep them in good shape," Turocy said. The budget was approved with no other discussion. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Commissioner of Public Utilities $0 $0 $22,940 Water Superintendent $57,772 $60,100 $61,898 Working Foreman $49,304 $51,290 $52,571 Sr. Civil Engineer $29,892 $30,340 $30,485 Wtr./Swr. Maintenance Person $154,104 $154,312 $164,310 GIS Coordinator $29,892 $30,340 $30,485 Water Mach. Repairman $76,652 $77,762 $79,618 Chief TPO Non-Shift $0 $50,170 $54,170 Head TPO Non-Shift $51,548 $0 $0 TPO Non-Shift $187,108 $207,345 $214,855 Meter Reader $34,161 $34,666 $36,521 Senior Clerk Typist $35,057 $36,292 $38,465 Seasonal Labor $38,400 $38,400 $38,400 Overtime $95,000 $95,000 $95,000 Contractual Allowances $0 $4,500 $4,500 Utilities $370,000 $350,000 $350,000 Taxes $140,000 $146,000 $180,000 Maintenance $290,000 $300,000 $300,000 Contractual Services $200,000 $200,000 $200,000 Professional Services $180,000 $180,000 $180,000 Supplies $40,000 $40,000 $40,000 Chemicals $290,000 $290,000 $290,000 Capital Improvements $50,000 $0 $0 Acquisition of Equipment $75,000 $75,000 $75,000 Maturing Debt $670,867 $732,433 $827,088 Interest on Debt $380,368 $336,362 $671,148 Debt Issuance Cost $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 Allocation to General Fund $854,865 $949,811 $969,602 Total $4,394,963 $4,489,123 $5,047,116 Sewer Enterprise The Sewer Enterprise was passed at $460,844 with limited discussion. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Working Forman $49,304 $44,221 $45,554 Wtr./Swr. Maintenance Persons $149,739 $152,170 $153,790 Overtime $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 Contractual Allowances $0 $1,500 $1,500 Utilities $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 Maintenance $50,000 $40,000 $40,000 Stormwater Services $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 Contractual Services $85,000 $95,000 $95,000 Mains and Manhole Supplies $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 Total $459,043 $457,891 $460,844 Waste Water The wastewater treatment plant budget, which is an enterprise account funded through utility bills, passed with no discussion. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Comm of Public Works $0 $0 $22,940 Sewer Superintendent $59,212 $61,604 $63,452 Work Foreman Water Machine Repairmen $46,933 $48,819 $44,432 Sr. Civil Engineer $29,892 $30,340 $30,485 Chemist $53,369 $55,523 $57,191 GIS Coordinator $29,892 $30,340 $30,485 Water Machine Repairmen $151,905 $151,070 $149,571 Lab Technicians $76,503 $71,465 $75,138 Chief TPO Shift $52,057 $54,170 $50,541 Head TPO Shift $193,843 $194,791 $194,382 TPO Shift $329,999 $361,918 $365,698 Head TPO Float Shift $81,894 $87,338 $81,223 Senior Clerk Typist $30,379 $31,587 $32,536 Seasonal Labor $38,400 $38,400 $38,400 Overtime $95,000 $95,000 $95,000 Contractual Allowances $0 $6,000 $6,000 Utilities $550,000 $500,000 $500,000 Chemical Process $230,000 $220,000 $220,000 Maintenance $280,000 $260,000 $260,000 Sludge Handling $375,000 $375,000 $375,000 Contractual Services $110,000 $110,000 $110,000 Professional Services $180,000 $180,000 $180,000 Supplies $50,000 $45,000 $45,000 Capital Improvements $50,000 $0 $50,000 Acquisition of Equipment $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 Maturing Debt $627,809 $728,981 $1,024,386 Interest on Debt $384,403 $442,095 $802,386 Debt Issuance Costs $15,000 $25,000 $50,000 Allocation to the General Fund $453,772 $847,742 $886,636 Total $4,620,962 $5,102,183 $5,868,535 Maintenance: City Building Maintenance Director Brian Filiault says he is organizing his department to absorb the loss of an assistant director job. The Building Maintenance budget was passed at the proposed $1,649,703, which is $160,915 less than last year. However, multiple lines had been transferred over to the Department of Public Services. Notably is the elimination of an assistant director of building maintenance, at a cut of $59,737. "We are reorganizing the office and we are trying to sprinkle that work throughout the staff in the office," Director Brian Filiault said. Another addition is $40,000 for scheduled overtime. That money was formerly kept in the unclassified budget and, as with other departments, is now going to be under the individual departmental budgets. This line is also where the garage repairs line used to be held; that was moved to the Department of Public Services and will be funded through parking meter revenue. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Director of Maintenance $67,522 $67,264 $64,022 Boiler/HVAC Repairman $43,995 $44,485 $45,846 Painter $44,151 $44,652 $43,721 Parking Garage Manager (Transferred to Public Services) $54,182 $53,985 $0 Parking Control Officers (Transferred to Public Services) $56,173 $58,222 $0 Working Foreman Craft $44,666 $47,455 $52,311 Plumber $87,660 $89,645 $96,023 Carpenters $135,428 $133,513 $142,919 Principal Clerk $27,913 $33,071 $37,375 HVAC Technician $88,526 $90,510 $93,603 Custodian $31,031 $32,999 $34,747 Custodian (Transferred to Public Services) $0 $28,707 $0 Office Manager $36,093 $42,767 $49,542 Electricians $131,823 $132,606 $139,969 Seasonal Labor $16,000 $16,000 $10,000 Temporary Labor $0 $0 $40,000 Custodial Labor Rentals $30,000 $30,000 $25,000 Assistant Director of Maintenance $59,966 $59,737 $0 Utilities $520,000 $520,000 $520,000 Repairs Municipal $225,200 $205,200 $239,826 Abandoned Property $0 $20,000 $10,000 Contractual Allowances $4,800 $4,800 $4,800 Repairs/Services Garage (Transferred to Public Services) $55,000 $55,000 $0 Total $1,760,129 $1,810,618 $1,649,703 Maintenance: School The maintenance for schools passed with no discussion. The budget is increasing by $145,000. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Contractual Services $257,500 $217,500 $325,000 Maintenance Supplies $217,000 $257,500 $295,000 Total $475,000 $475,000 $620,000 Berkshire Athenaeum The library budget was approved at $1,044,965, which is $348 more than last year. The City Council questioned only the director's salary. The city code sets a salary scale for the position but the library's Board of Trustees hadn't followed it when offering a contract to Director Alex Reczkowski. "If we don't have the ability to say yes or no on that, then why is it in [the city code]?" questioned Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo. The director does not come before the council for confirmation and the Board of Directors does all of the contract negotiations. Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso is a trustee and said historically that was the process. For the most part, the budget closely mirror's last year with the biggest changes coming via a $12,578 reduction for part-time shelvers and a 10,503 decrease for a supervisor specialist. The library does look to add three part-time library assistants at an additional cost of $12,204. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Senior Supervisors $193,165 $190,949 $195,763 Supervisor Specialist $45,105 $47,323 $36,820 Supervisor Specialist $116,590 $123,986 $121,997 Library Assistant II $48,305 $51,324 $63,528 Senior Technicians $97,344 $102,504 $106,373 Senior Assistants $67,098 $76,210 $81,194 Director of Athenaeum $78,337 $66,022 $67,673 Library Custodians $61,573 $65,320 $65,389 Library Assistant I $60,431 $67,950 $65,433 Library Technicians $60,113 $63,642 $64,751 Library Shelvers $58,733 $57,242 $54,664 Equipment Maintenance $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Library Staff Development $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Supplies - General $12,000 $13,000 $13,000 Supplies - Custodial $6,000 $6,500 $6,500 Binding and Microfilm $2,200 $3,345 $3,648 Newspapers and Periodicals $13,000 $13,000 $13,000 Books and Audio Visual $75,000 $29,320 $29,365 Travel $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Reimbursement ($45,453) $0 $0 Unclassified - Library $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 Library Networking Fees $43,125 $49,980 $49,980 Theft Deterrent System $1,000 $1,500 $1,500 Total $998,666 $1,044,617 $1,044,985 Community Development Perhaps the lengthiest debate of the night was on the Community Development budget, in particular, a $8,065 cut to the city's allocation to Downtown Pittsfield Inc. In total, the budget was approved at $666,938, which shows a $25,660 increase. Nearly all of that increase is attributed to a new position of business development manager at a cost of $24,663. That salary is only a portion of the total cost for the job, which will oversee efforts for the Pittsfield Economic Development Agency and the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp. The city and the two quasi-public agencies are combining efforts in Mayor Linda Tyer's "red carpet team" approach to economic development. A job description hasn't be formalized but Tyer said the person would focus on recruiting new businesses, marketing the city for business development, and helping existing businesses grow. The biggest question from the council was on the reduction to Downtown Pittsfield Inc. DPI President Jesse Cook-Dubin said this makes two consecutive years of decreasing city support. Last year, the organization saw about a quarter of its funding cut, from $43,000 to $32,150. Tyer's budget called for yet another 25 percent reduction to $24,185. Cook-Dubin said that leaves the organization with only two options to make up the difference. First, it could use some of the cash cushion it has set aside, which is only two months worth of operational funding. Cook-Dubin said losing one sponsor could put the organization in trouble if that cushion is eroded. "We obviously don't want to run those down as much as necessary," Cook-Dubin said. The second option is to take another look at the budget and cut some of the marketing efforts the organization does or cut the downtown ambassador program. Cook-Dubin said right now there is little marketing going on for strictly Pittsfield and the organization has been doing its marketing with a minimal budget as is. Council Vice President John Krol was particularly concerned about any reduction in marketing saying it would be "cutting off our nose to spite our face." He said marketing dollars bring more money back to the economy. Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Tully suggested moving $7,000 from the human services line but failed to get support for that. The human services line had been hotly debated last year when the mayor attempted to eliminate the expense altogether. Director of Community Development Bonnie Gallant said 16 non-profit organizations last year benefited from some $138,000 in funding. This year, at $107,000, awards will be made to fewer groups. Council Vice President John Krol motioned to send the budget back to the mayor for more funding for Downtown Pittsfield Inc. but he did not get enough support from the rest of the council. Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo joined nearly everybody else on the council praising the work Downtown Pittsfield does. She said if there was any room in the budget to move money around to fund the organization, she'd like to see it happen. Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell said, "I just think we would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we really cut this organization with all of the good work they do in our downtown." Tyer said the cut wasn't a reflection of the work the organization is doing, but her way of spreading out the sacrifices in the budget. All city departments had to come in level-funded or below, for the most part, and this was one of the several areas to reduce. Councilor at Large Peter White said he appreciates the work Downtown Pittsfield does, but when school teachers are being laid off in the budget, the "tough choice" of making cuts elsewhere makes the reduction necessary. Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi agreed, "to send [budgets] back and add things, I can't support that." Krol motioned to do just that, send the budget back to the mayor and have her come up with additional funds for Downtown Pittsfield. His motion failed by a 6-5 margin, with support from Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso, Mazzeo, Connell, and Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo and all others opposed. Krol, Connell, and Mazzeo ultimately voted against the entire Community Development budget because of that. The council also backed a $19,950 increase for lake management, which will expand the weed treatment at Onota Lake. Nearly all of the councilors called the lake a "gem" and expressed frustration with a number of weeds. "The lake is indeed a jewel and does need to be maintained," Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Simonelli said. Account Name 2016 Approval 2017 Approval 2018 Approval Director $40,852 $40,851 $41,712 Parks Open Space Planner $64,250 $64,001 $64,000 City Planner $61,150 $61,150 $60,916 Conservation Agent $49,070 $50,851 $52,833 Planning Administrator $4,000 $4,000 $0 Executive Secretary $40,456 $40,905 $41,671 Community Development Specialist $47,579 $47,579 $50,677 Administrative Assistant $6,997 $7,192 $6,381 Playground Leaders $18,879 $18,879 $18,356 ZBA Clerk $801 $0 $0 Seasonal Labor $17,195 $17,195 $15,000 Recreation Coordinator $40,456 $40,905 $41,671 Human Services $140,000 $138,000 $107,000 Land Use and Zoning $0 $2,000 $2,000 Lake Management $20,000 $35,000 $54,950 Supplies $8,000 $8,000 $7,995 Recreation Programs $7,000 $7,500 $7,500 Downtown Inc. $43,000 $32,250 $24,185 Tyler Street Business Group $1,000 $10,000 $2,500 Planning Studies $15,000 $15,000 $5,000 BRPC Assessment $0 $0 $33,928 Total $625,665 $641,258 $666,938 A previously unknown play by Edith Wharton has been discovered. (Photo courtesy of The Mount) Unpublished Edith Wharton Play Discovered by Scholars LENOX, Mass. Two scholars have made a new archival discovery: a previously unknown, original, full-length play by Edith Wharton called "The Shadow of a Doubt." The location of the discovery at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin was unexpected. Wharton scholars have been traveling to the Ransom Center for more than three decades to research Wharton's papers. The source of their interest, however, was the author's correspondence to her lover, Morton Fullerton. What scholars missed was hidden, in plain sight, in the center's Playscripts and Promptbooks Collection (Performing Arts): two typescript copies of "The Shadow of a Doubt" by Edith Wharton. The Edith Wharton Review, published by Penn State University Press, have published this finding, by Laura Rattray, a reader in American literature at the University of Glasgow, and Mary Chinery, a professor of English at Georgian Court University in New Jersey, in a journal article titled "The Shadow of a Doubt: A Play in Three Acts by Edith Wharton." The article includes the play in its entirety. The play, set in England, includes Wharton's signature social realism and use of dramatic irony and wit to satirize social privilege and affluence. The play does take a decidedly dark and controversial turn into a world of extortion, mistrust, deception, and the revelation of an act claimed alternately as euthanasia and as murder. Rattray and Chinery have been able to establish that "The Shadow of a Doubt" was not only completed, but in production by early 1901 with theatrical impresario Charles Frohman, and with Elsie de Wolfe in the leading role. For reasons not yet known, the production was abandoned. "The Shadow of a Doubt" is not referenced in Wharton's own autobiography, "A Backward Glance," or in major biographies by R. W. B. Lewis, Cynthia Griffin Wolff and Hermione Lee. Its timing is crucial to understanding Wharton's progression as a writer. Long before the publication of her first novel, it seems that Wharton was establishing herself as a playwright. Senator McCain says Putin bigger threat than ISIS U.S. Senator John McCain said Russian President Vladimir Putin is a bigger threat to global security than ISIS, and warned that the Senate would push for sanctions against Moscow for its alleged interference in the U.S. election. McCain, a leading foreign policy voice in the US Congress, was speaking in an interview in Australia, where he has held security talks on his way to a defence summit in Singapore. "I think he [Putin] is the premier and most important threat, more so than ISIS," McCain said in an interview on Australian Broadcasting Corp television, referring to the Daesh terror group with an alternative acronym. He said while there was no evidence the Russians succeeded in changing the U.S. election outcome, they were still trying to change elections, including the recent French vote. "So we need to have increased sanctions and hopefully when we come back from our recess, the Senate will move forward with sanctions on Russia and enact other penalties for Russian behaviour." McCain, who has been a critic of President Donald Trump, said he believes the national security team around Trump is developing a strategy that will lead to victory in Afghanistan, and Trump has great confidence in that team. "I do believe that most of the time that he accepts their advice and counsel. Can I tell you that he does all the time? No. And yes, does it bothers me? Yes, it bothers me," he said. Azeri Billionaire Gives Erdogan $25 Million Oil Tanker as a Gift By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com When Recep Tayyip Erdogan first came to power as Turkeys Prime Minister in 2003, he was welcomed by the majority of Turks as a devout Muslim and honest politician, after being ruled by corrupt leaders for several decades. Regrettably, as time passed, Erdogan and his fellow Islamist Party leaders (AKP) became gradually corrupted! Greed replaced their piety, and the temptation of big money was too hard to resist. The expression, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, aptly describes the transformation of Erdogan into a corrupt and autocratic leader. In a lengthy article on the website theintercept.com, Andrew Fishman disclosed the unusual circumstances of Erdogans family receiving a $25 million oil tanker as a gift, under a secretive offshore arrangement! This sensational revelation comes a few years after the exposure of Erdogans recorded telephone conversations with his son Bilal, during which he advised him how to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in cash obtained mysteriously by Erdogan. According to Fishman, the oil tanker was donated to Erdogan by Azeri billionaire Mubariz Mansimov back in 2008, as revealed by the European Investigative Collaboration (EIC) network, composed of 49 journalists from 13 media organizations in 16 countries. Mansimov became a Turkish citizen two years earlier and adopted a Turkish name, Mubariz Gurbanoglu, allegedly at Erdogans suggestion, Fishman reported. Not surprisingly, after the deal was struck, his business dealings in Turkey took off, including lucrative contracts with state firms. Mansimov also befriended Pres. Donald Trump and was an invited guest at the presidential inauguration earlier this year, as a major investor in Istanbuls Trump Towers. When the 39 floors of residential and office block of Trump Towers opened in Istanbul in 2009, Mansimov was the first customer -- buying eight apartments, including the penthouse, according to the website:theblacksea.eu. Fishmans article on the intriguing and convoluted details of how the 13,000 ton ship was donated to Erdogan was based on the Malta Files, an investigation led by EIC, using a leaked cache of 150,000 documents from a Malta-based provider of legal, financial and corporate services, as well as a scraped version of the Malta Public Register of companies. In 2007, Mansimov purchased the oil tanker Agdash in Russia and registered it in the name of Pal Shipping Trader One, a Maltese holding company. In 2008, Bumerz, a company registered in the tax haven Isle of Man [UK] co-owned by Erdogans son (Burak Erdogan), brother (Mustafa) and brother-in-law (Ziya Ilgen) purchased all shares for $25 million. The next day, that firm took out a $18.4 million loan arranged by Mansimov. Documents show that Mansimov pledged to pay off the entire seven-year loan plus interest in exchange for leasing rights through 2015 (the remaining $7 million of the purchase price was paid by a close personal friend of Erdogan for reasons unknown). Mansimovs company, which controls two-thirds of Black Sea oil shipping, extended the leasing option through 2020 for $1.2 million a year. All told, the deal amounts to a $21.2 million cash transfer from Mansimov to Erdogans family. Another source, Sg.news.yahoo.com, estimated the value of the oil tanker donated to the Erdogan family as $29.64 million. This website also disclosed that the close personal friend of Erdogan who paid $7 million for the purchase of the oil tanker is Sitki Ayan, a Turkish businessman. The newspaper, Malta Today, revealed that Erdogans son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, in 2012 set up eight companies in Malta to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes for his company, Calik Holdings, a massive energy, textile and construction conglomerate that earned billions of dollars in public tenders. He also opened four companies in Sweden. Albayrak, the husband of Esra Erdogan, the Presidents eldest daughter, received from a close associate an email in 2011, warning him that the secretive offshore companies are based on tricking the finance authority; its not a secure system. If the finance authority discovers this, it wouldnt be good for [Caliks] reputation, according to Malta Today. In the end it turns out that Albayrak did not need a secret offshore network because in 2015 he was appointed by Erdogan as Minister of Energy and Resources. He helped pass the Wealth Peace Act, a tax amnesty which allowed Calik Holdings to repatriate unlimited amounts of offshore cash, tax-free! Malta Today also reported that Erdogan is grooming his son-in-law Albayrak as his successor. It is not surprising that Albyarak accompanied Pres. Erdogan on his recent trip to the United States. The reason many foreign companies are registered in Malta is that the country boasts the lowest effective corporate tax rate [5%] in the European Union and has become a preferred destination for tax avoidance in the EU, whereas in France, for example, the corporate tax rate is 33.33%, according to Fishman. 8th Human Rights Dialogue between the European Union and Armenia The European Union and Armenia held the eighth round of the annual Human Rights Dialogue in Brussels on 29 May 2017. The European Union and Armenia welcomed the continued progress on human rights in Armenia. The EU concurred with the Venice Commission that the new Constitution represented a positive development and underlined the importance of its prompt and effective implementation. The EU took note of the ODIHR Electoral Observation Missions report on the April 2017 parliamentary elections and stressed the need for a proper investigation and follow-up of all alleged (pre-)electoral violations, and to ensure a level playing field for all candidates. The Dialogue highlighted the importance of a free and pluralistic media environment, and political pluralism as a prerequisite for the conduct of democratic elections. The EU encouraged Armenia to increase participation of women and national minority representatives in politics. The EU called on Armenia to adopt a standalone law against domestic violence and to operate a multi-referral mechanism to support victims (in line with UN CEDAW Concluding Observations) as well as a standalone law against discrimination; stressing its commitment to the universality of human rights for all. The parties will continue to cooperate to improve national institutional capacities in support of equality between men and women. The EU encouraged Armenia to sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The EU noted the progress in legislation made by Armenia in preventing torture and ill-treatment, and stressed the need for it to be further consolidated, in particular the need to implement the UN CAT Concluding Observations, including an independent and impartial mechanism for effective investigation and prosecution of certain crimes against human rights and freedoms committed by representative of law enforcement agencies. The dialogue allowed for an open, constructive exchange on the human rights situation in Armenia. In line with its policy, the EU had prior to the dialogue met and consulted representatives of Armenian and international civil society. The EU delegation was led by Mr Dirk Schuebel, Head of Division in the European External Action Service (EEAS), while the Armenian delegation was headed by Mr Garen Nazarian, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Armenia's Human Rights Defender, Mr Arman Tatoyan and Ms Mara Marinaki, the Principal Advisor for gender issues and UNSCR 1325 at the EEAS, also took part in the Dialogue. This is a premium article available only to subscribers of This is a premium article available only to subscribers of IDTechEx's Market Intelligence Subscription Existing users login here What is the Market Intelligence Subscription? Our online Market Intelligence Subscription brings you in-depth market intelligence and independent analysis throughout the year, helping you to drive revenue in much shorter time frames. For more information please click here Downloads Subscription benefits Market Research Reports IDTechEx research articles Market data Company profiles Company benchmarking Webinars Presentations access Event summaries and round-ups Analyst access Networking Strategy sessions Case studies Read more... Book a demo If you are unable to go to Europe, then bring Europe to your home - Piotr Switalski (video) In November, Armenia and the European Union will sign in Brussels the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. The sides initialled the text of the new agreement in March 2017. The document will be translated into more than 20 languages. Garegin Melkonyan, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments, says the document will serve as a solid legal basis for the development of EU-Armenia relations. Armenia and the EU are on the right path, says Head of the EU delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski. Though in 2013, Armenia refused to initial the Association Agreement with the EU and preferred to join the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the European Union does not refuse to support Armenia. We hope to finalize the agreement in Brussels in November. The European Union wants to work with the state and civil society to support reforms in Armenia. You can hardly attract investments from Europe as long as the courts are not independent and corruption has not received an adequate response, he said. Many in Armenia believe that this time Armenia will not withdraw from the agreement and will deepen cooperation with the EU. Membership to the EAEU has not even solved the issue of the countrys security, as it was promised by a number of officials. The April War destroyed all statements that we did not have an alternative, we were solving the problem of security. But we had an alternative and we did not solve the problem of security, says Armenian lawmaker Edmon Marukyan. Armenians look at their neighbors - Georgians with envy. They can already travel visa-free to the Schengen zone. The provision of such a privilege to Armenia is still on the agenda of the European Union, says Piotr Switalski. But there are certain issues that delay the process. We expect that the law on domestic violence prevention and control will finally be adopted. It was to be done still in 2016. If you are not able to go to Europe, then bring Europe to your home, he said. The participants of the discussion organized by the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) agreed that being a member of the EAEU, Armenia can and must develop by a European model. The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers. To unlock this article: Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab has appointed Stephan Neumeier as Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific effective May 29, 2017. With more than 17 years of experience in the IT industry, Stephan will play a key role in growing the business in more than 25 countries across the APAC region. His priorities will include strengthening partner relationships, extending the companys retail footprint, and driving business development to meet growing business and consumer needs for effective cyber-protection. Under his watch, Stephan is also expected to lead the APAC team in carrying out the companys strategy to further develop and continue the growth in both commercial and enterprise cybersecurity with strong focus into critical verticals such as industrial cyber security. Alexander Moiseev, Chief Sales Officer, Kaspersky Lab said: With Stephans extensive industry experience in the sales / channel and distribution world, we are confident that he will be able to help our partners in the region grow further and faster, building stronger and more successful client and partner relationships. Prior to joining Kaspersky Lab, Stephan held several channel senior leadership roles in Unify, Avaya, SanDisk and McAfee, where he played key roles in transforming business, extending channel footprints and driving business to year-on-year growth. Reflecting on his appointment, Stephan said: I look forward to strengthening the companys leadership in the region. You dont often get the chance to work in such a passionate environment where everyone is committed to making the cyber-world a safer place. The swift and comprehensive analysis of Kaspersky Lab on the recent massive WannaCry ransomware attack is a validation of the companys dedication towards ensuring its support to its partners and customers across the globe and this is something that Im excited to be a part of. Maxim Mitrokhin is stepping down as Managing Director for Kaspersky Lab APAC to return to his previous role as Operations Director. This change will allow Maxim to focus on operational management, optimizing company processes and improving corporate performance within the region. Finance & Development, Christine Lagarde PDF version Adapt, adjust, and never stop learning The old, as Oscar Wilde once remarked, believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything. Thats why I appreciate hearing young voicesfrom students, to budding entrepreneurs, to fresh-faced community leaders. Their stories resonate with me because they are deeply felt, insightful, and inspiring. Like those of everyone, young peoples concerns vary by region and culture. But there are some questions that I hear nearly everywhere I go: can I find meaningful work that allows me to help my community and support my family? Is there a place for me in my own society? Can I start my own businessand if so, how successful will it be? There is much hope and excitement in these questions, but they also convey a sense of doubt and trepidationand for good reason. Unfortunately, young people today are twice as likely to be unemployed as the general population. In France, for example, youth unemployment is nearly 20 percent, while overall unemployment is about 10 percent, with Brazil and Egypt facing similar problems. Around the world, youth unemployment will reach 71 million this year, according to ILO estimates. To make matters more complicated, young people who do find work are facing rapid technological disruptions that could eliminate their newfound industries. This transformation leaves everyoneespecially young workersguessing which jobs will still be around a decade from now and how they can train themselves to adapt. Ready to adapt Fortunately, young people have the tools in hand to prepare themselves for the tectonic shift that is underway. In my conversations, I quickly pick up on the fact that this generation operates on a steep learning curve. Many students now embrace the idea of continuous training and take it as a given that they must add skills throughout their lives. I have seen firsthand the incredible resourcefulness of millennials as they try to take control of their future. Many are not willing to wait for a job in the civil service or in a large company. They strike out and start their own businesses. They devise new online platforms and discover markets that previously did not exist. What I see is a generation that, if faced with unemployment, innovates to create fresh opportunities. But this approach alone is not enough. Governments have a responsibility to build an environment that allows young people to fully realize their potential. This means breaking down regulatory barriers, supporting entrepreneurs who may not succeed on their first attempt, and investing in mentorship across generations. How can this be done? Tailored approach There is no magic formula that works in all countries, but I see several practical solutions. One is structured vocational training, which has kept youth unemployment low in countries such as Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. Another solution is giving young women better access to child care centers and flexible maternity benefits. These efforts can reinvigorate labor markets. Take for example Mali, where the IMF has emphasized the economic benefits of girls education. Or Mauritius, where we are examining ways of expanding womens access to finance. In certain countries, a 10 percentage point decrease in gender inequality could boost growth by 2 percentage points over the next five years. At the same time, our member nations need to remove barriers to competition and cut red tape. These reforms must of course be country specificin advanced economies, we estimate that if research and development were increased by 40 percent, nations could grow GDP by 5 percent in the long term. All these changes would benefit youth just embarking on their careers. Smart policy choices can liberate young people to work for themselves or start a company. At the same time, young entrepreneurs face increased financial uncertainty because they can no longer rely on employer-based health insurance or pension plans. How can the IMF help? IMF work Our mission at the IMF is to promote economic stability and growth around the world. And that means helping our member countries create better employment opportunities for the next generation of workers. This is particularly important in countries where youth unemployment has remained high over many decades. The IMF can help address these challenges by encouraging greater public investment in education and job training programsand we are pushing for such reforms in our lending programs. We also need more public-private partnerships that can make training programs more effective. A good example is Singapores Skills Future program, which offers unconditional grants to all adults for training throughout their working lives. But training is only one piece of the puzzle. There is so much more that governments and business can do to harness the power of innovation. Fintech, for example, is a fascinating field where more investment is needed. Just look at Kenya and the innovative use of mobile-phone-based money transfer through M-Pesa. The government now permits phone-based payment of taxes, reducing compliance costs and delays. Some studies estimate that developing and emerging market economies can save $110 billion annually by switching from cash and checks to digital payments. These savings can make all the difference when a young person is on the verge of starting a new business. A career in the 21st century If I were entering the job market today, I would focus on two things. First, a willingness to learn throughout your life. There is no end to education; there are simply milestones of progress. Second, an openness to changing course. You do not have the luxury of being trained in one field or one profession only. In my life, I started as a lawyer, became a finance minister, and now lead the IMF. The generation about to enter the workforce will face even more twists and turns on their professional journey. Embrace those changes and bring new perspective gained from each position into the next. Returning to Wilde, he said, To define is to limit. There is no precise definition of what a career or job will look like for the worlds youth in the new economy. This opacity leads to understandable anxiety and uncertainty. At the same time, there is no limit to the possibilities. This is the great opportunity for the next generation, and I trust the entire global community will help them seize it. Christine Lagarde is the managing director of the IMF. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Last week, I had an espresso with Robert Pattinson on a rooftop terrace overlooking the Mediterranean. That is the kind of preposterous sentence that a critic sometimes finds herself writing from the Cannes Film Festival, where Pattisons new movie, Good Time, was in competition. The next morning, the movie shook up a largely listless event that has been stuffed with near-misses and entries that tend to preach at viewers or punish them, often both. Good Time, by contrast, is pure cinematic pleasure about an often funny, sometimes shocking rush into the abyss, one that earned Pattinson a lot of critical love here, if no awards. Pattinson plays Constantine Nikas, aka Connie, a calamitously inept bad guy who, during one terrible New York adventure, leaves ruin and broken bodies in his wake. Directed by the brothers Josh and Benny Safdie, Good Time is thrillingly energetic and focused. It doesnt peddle a message or redemption, but instead tethers you to an oblivious narcissist who pushes the story into an ever-deepening downward spiral. As errors turn into catastrophes, Connie grows increasingly feral, becoming a character who is a biliously funny reproach to the American triumphalism that suffuses superhero flicks and indies alike and insists that success isnt just inevitable but also a birthright. Pattinson has called working on the 'Twilight' series an amazing luxury Good Time is part of a fascinating course correction undertaken by Pattinson, who in recent years has appeared and almost disappeared in art cinema titles like The Childhood of a Leader and The Lost City of Z. Although he brushed against blockbuster fame playing a doomed character in the Harry Potter franchise, he became a global name in the role of Edward Cullen, the pallid vampire heartthrob in the Twilight series. That celebrity turned frenzied when Pattinson and his co-star Kristen Stewart began a long on-and-off relationship that quickly turned into fodder for the publicity grinder and was almost inevitably folded into the Twilight brand and saga. During his Twilight years, Pattinson was not always treated kindly by critics who did not necessarily see beyond his beauty or his utility as one of that series cinematic objects of desire. Unlike Stewart, he also did not have an earlier body of work that indicated he could do more than pout prettily, even if his turns in small movies like Remember Me (2010) showed promise. It was, however, Cosmopolis, the 2012 dystopian fantasy from David Cronenberg, based on the Don DeLillo novel, that effectively set Pattinsons career path. I think it was the first time when I worked on something that was quite complex, he says. The actor plays a billionaire financier in Cosmopolis, an adaptation of Don DeLillos book Cosmopolis was, he adds, essentially the first movie he made after he finished the final chapter of the Twilight series. I especially love the fact that it came out really at the height of my popularity, he says. Cast as a master of the universe who endures a spectacular, increasingly violent and humiliating fall, Pattinson sees the movie as the big turning point for me I just realized that was what I wanted to do. Cronenberg had made a movie without a mould, and his star became eager to follow suit. I think its so rare for something to break a pattern, Pattinson continues. I feel like almost everything in the world is designed to be predictable."image Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Movie stardom depends on charisma and that alchemical quality called presence, as well as a certain amount of predictability and patterns, genres and types. But longevity means occasionally breaking patterns. Pattinson is clearly set on avoiding obviousness, and this may be why, instructively, he has gravitated toward roles that call for his characters to undergo punishing physical abuse theyve been beaten, throttled, shot and endured a proctologists probing as if he were trying to expunge the last trace of Edward. This at times seems to go beyond the showy, self-regarding transformations that stars like to take on, into a deeper transfiguration. Pattinson kicked off his film career playing Cedric Diggory in the 'Harry Potter' series (Warner Bros) Its common for stars to obscure their looks, pop on a fake nose and fright wig, of course; its less common for actors to wholly embrace the irredeemable and risk the audiences love. Anyone can look ugly, Pattinson says. It doesnt take much. In Good Time, the ugliness he taps into goes beyond Connies greasy hair and torrents of flop sweat, and seems to exude from his very pores. Pattinson, who conveys a warmth and openness in person, conceded that it could be a problem when audiences confuse actor and character. But that hasnt happened to him, which is why he is, he said, pretty blase about it. If anything, he seemed happy at all the revolting parts he has coming up. Looking further ahead, he would love to work with the German director Maren Ade, whose Toni Erdmann played big at Cannes last year. During this years festival, it was announced that Pattinson would star in The Souvenir, an ambitious movie from the British director Joanna Hogg that Martin Scorsese will executive produce. Pattinson also hopes that this summer he can start on a project (High Life) that he and the French director Claire Denis he counts her film White Material among his favourites have been working on for three years. (That, to me, thats kind of the biggest thing Ive got. I literally still cant really believe it.) Benny Safdie, Robert Pattinson and Josh Safdie attend the Good Time screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival (Getty) I think one of the best things, basically, about being a bit of a sellout, Pattinson says, is if youve done five movies in a series, youve had to accept some responsibility for playing the same character. He didnt sound regretful, just matter-of-fact. Working on the Twilight movies, he says, was an amazing luxury and it was amazing luck, as well, to just have fallen into it with the group of people I worked with on it. They were kids in it together, kids who rebelled or tried to, and felt emboldened to act out. He even came close, he says, to being fired on the first movie, until his agents flew in to straighten him out. I didnt have to kiss anybodys rear end the entire time, he said. I dont think I did, anyway. Pattinson seems entirely at peace with Twilight and has clearly found a way to harness its legacy, which includes going dark and making the kinds of art films that find love at Cannes. He says he always thinks hes terrible in every take. I cant say that about anyone I work with, he added. Ive never seen anyone give themselves such a hard time. Im beating myself up afterward. And I think theres some weird perverted energy that comes out of when people criticise previous work or think you represent this certain thing; it gives you this energy. Maybe that sounds disingenuous, but I believed him. He was on a roll, though, and soon added that he was almost scared of anyone saying anything I do is good. He then laughed, perhaps a touch self-consciously. New York Times Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} If Andrew Garfield ever tires of the whole Oscar-nominated actor, ex-Spider-Man gig, there's another line of work awaiting. His surprise appearance at the Queens WERQ the World Tour show in London - which collects together a stunning line-up of Ru Paul's Drag Race alum, including judge Michelle Visage - turned out to be quite the showstopper. Garfield popped on a wig to lip sync Whitney Houston's cover of 'I'm Every Woman' and his efforts were truly Drag Race worthy; it was a display of charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent like no other, with even a backflip served for good measure. All before casually returning to his seat onstage as if he hadn't just made everyone in the audience lose their damn minds. Michelle Visage gave a sweet shout-out to the actor on Instagram, writing: "Andrew Garfield, you are my new friend, I am SO proud of you for not just lip syncing Whitney tonight in a wig no less, but for opening your mind and heart to all it has to offer." Garfield attended the show with fellow cast members from the London revival of Angels in America, including Russell Tovey and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, with Orange is the New Black's Laverne Cox also turning up. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A song labelling Prime Minister Theresa May a liar is set to enter the Official Singles Chart top 10 this week, but BBC Radio 1 will not be playing the track due to impartiality rules. The "Liar Liar Ge2017" song by Captain Ska criticises Ms May over the NHS, education and poverty, and the Conservatives recent U-turns in policy, including the decision to call a snap election. It features the Prime Ministers speeches and interviews alongside clips of other senior Tories with the chorus, Shes a liar liar, you cant trust her no, no, no. Recommended The band behind the Theresa May protest song The Official Charts Company said the song is set to be the highest new entry in the Top 40 singles chart on Friday, after hitting number seven on the Official Chart Update. It was briefly number one on the iTunes download chart but was pushed back down to second place by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankees Despacito track featuring Justin Bieber. The Big Top 40 show on Heart and Capital FM has reportedly banned the song from being played, while Radio 1 said it will not give the song airtime due to impartiality rules. We do not ban songs or artists, however our editorial guidelines require us to remain impartial and the UK is currently in an election period so we will not be playing the song, the station said in a statement. Captain Ska released the song less than a week ago and are donating its proceeds to food banks around the country and campaign organisation The People's Assembly Against Austerity, who supported the track. The band said: "The success of this song shows people are fed up with this government of the rich, for the rich. "We're overwhelmed with the support and our message is that people do have the power to change society if we act together." A version of the song was released seven years ago in response to the coalition government and reached number 89 in the charts. Additional reporting by PA Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Liam Gallagher paid tribute to the victims of last weeks Manchester attack during his first ever solo gig, dedicating all proceeds to those affected families. The stage was adorned with 22 candles, representing the 22 people who died less than two weeks ago after a suicide bomber attacked Ariana Grande concert goers. During the show, Gallagher called on the sold-out crowd at the O2 Ritz to "try and help pick people up, playing numerous hits from Oasiss back catalogue. Former band member Bonehead joined proceedings to play 'Be Here Now. One of the more moving moments came at the sets conclusion, Gallagher leading the 1,400 strong crowd in an a capella rendition of Live Forever. Watch below. The Oasis song 'Don't Look Back In Anger sung by brother Noel on record was not performed despite having made headlines last week when Manchester residents defiantly sang the anthem. However, that didn't stop the crowd began singing their own version as the lights came on. All money raised by the concert will go to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, set up by Manchester City Council and British Red Cross. Manchester explosion in pictures Show all 37 1 /37 Manchester explosion in pictures Manchester explosion in pictures People running down stairs as they attempt to exit the Manchester Arena after a blast, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Twitter/@ZACH_BRUCE/ via REUTERS Manchester explosion in pictures Helpers attend to people inside the Manchester Arena after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Armed officers guard outside a hotel near the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers are seen outside the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester, northern England Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police and fans close to the Manchester Arena, after reports of an explosion Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England, at a concert in Manchester Arena AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police stand by a cordoned off street close to the Manchester Arena Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of a reported explosion during a concert in Manchester, England, on May 23, 2017. British police said early May 23 there were "a number of confirmed fatalities" after reports of at least one explosion during a pop concert by US singer Ariana Grande. Ambulances were seen rushing to the Manchester Arena venue and police added in a statement that people should avoid the area AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An ambulance drives away from the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Police escort members of the public from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman sits in the street in a blanket near the Manchester Arena as police guard the area following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Two women wrapped in thermal blankets stand near the Manchester Arena, where US singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester. At least 19 people have been confirmed dead and others 50 were injured, authorities said. It is being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise EPA Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Members of the public receive treatment from emergency service staff at Victoria Railway Station close to the Manchester Arena on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed this evening. Greater Manchester Police have have confirmed there are fatalities and warned people to stay away from the area Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police after a suspected terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande left 19 dead PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Emergency services arrive close to the Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An amoured police vehicle patrols near Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A man carries a young girl on his shoulders near Victoria station in Manchester AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers stand at the Miller Street and Corporation Street Crossroads, in front of the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police block a road near to the Manchester Arena in central Manchester, England AP Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police patrol near Victoria station in Manchester, northwest England. Twenty two people have been killed and dozens injured after a suspected suicide bomber targeted fans leaving a concert of US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police forensic officers leave the Manchester Arena as they investigate the scene of an explosion in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A forensic officer collects evidence on a walkway between Victoria station and Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman and a young girl wearing a t-shirt of US singer Ariana Grande talks to police near Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Manchester explosion in pictures EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese speak to the media outside Manchester Town Hall after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Dave Higgens/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures The media gather behind a police cordon in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Flowers left close to the Manchester Arena, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Danny Lawson/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures Ariana Grande concert attendees Karen Moore and her daughter Molly Steed, aged 14, from Derby, leave the Park Inn where they were given refuge after last night's explosion at Manchester Arena Getty Manchester explosion in pictures Signs saying 'We love Manchester' are displayed in a window in Manchester, England Getty Images Meanwhile, Ariana Grande has announced her return to Manchester this weekend, playing an all-star concert alongside Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Coldplay. Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox Google Ad UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A song labelling Theresa May a liar is battling to replace pop superstar Justin Bieber at the top of the UK charts. Captain Ska's Liar Liar GE2017 has shot up the Official Singles Chart since its release last week, landing at number three on Wednesday. The track criticises the Prime Minister, using samples of her speeches and interviews alongside clips of other senior Tories with the chorus She's a liar liar, you can't trust her, no, no, no. Its rise through the chart means it is now in with a chance of replacing Bieber's remix of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's Despacito at the summit in Friday's chart announcement. The song has already replaced Bieber at the top of the iTunes most downloaded chart and the Official Charts revealed sales were being driven by downloads, with more than 30,000 people purchasing a digital copy in five days. The song has also been streamed more than 100,000 times while the music video, which references cuts to police and schools, has received more than one million views on YouTube. It is expected to be the highest new entry in this week's top 40, although the song will not be played during the chart countdown as it may breach Ofcom guidelines during the ongoing election campaign. In a statement, BBC Radio 1 said the song would not be played but insisted they had not banned the track. They said: We do not ban songs or artists, however our editorial guidelines require us to remain impartial and the UK is currently in an election period, so we will not be playing the song. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images All proceeds of the song sold before election day on 8 June will be donated to food banks around the country and campaign organisation The People's Assembly Against Austerity, who supported the track. A version of the song was released seven years ago in response to the coalition government and reached number 89 in the charts. Copyright Press Association Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Royal Albert Hall is rammed to the rafters with aged ravers and a loved-up in-the-know younger crowd ready to start throwing shapes, but when Peter Hook takes the stage and delivers a moving tribute to the Manchester Arena atrocity its as if someone has flicked a switch. The crowd goes respectfully silent. And then the Manchester Camerata perform Arvo Parts Silouans Song a moving orchestral piece that brings many in the venue to tears. Others hold each other closer together. Many close their eyes in respect. Its a poignant, heartfelt moment which will stay with me forever. As the final notes fade out the silence is broken by a huge primal roar and we are transported away from the horrors of the present back to the happier times of the Hac. And what a set this is. Drawing on the success of last years sold-out concerts, Hooky, DJs Graeme Park and Mike Pickering, and Camerata conductor Tim Crooks have taken the show to another level, weaving an orchestral score together with club classics to create the ultimate hybrid. While the 2016 gigs had more of a back-to-back best of collection feel a cherry-picked selection of standout anthems this year the tracks seamlessly merge into each other. Its a much more polished portrayal of the heady Hacienda nights which cemented the clubs rep back in the day. Park, Pickering and Co had promised a brand new set but thankfully they still find space for classics such as the seminal Strings Of Life, Rhythim is Rhythims almost orchestral track which surely must have played a key part in persuading them that Hacienda Classical would actually work. Backed by the AMC gospel choir, MC Tunes and with the orchestra up in the mix, the crowd are taken on a glorious trip back to when Manchester really was the clubbing capital of the world. From Mr Lees Pump Up Chicago through Show Me Love by Robin S, to Mory Kantes Yeke Yeke and Ultra Nates Free with a brilliant vocal from Rae Hall these are the tracks that defined the Hacienda sound. Theres an absolute storming version of Peace (In The Valley), Yvonne Shelton doing justice to Sabrina Johnstons lung-busting crowd pleaser. Bez makes an (inevitable) appearance with that dance that defined a generation and Hooky shoulders his bass and sings Blue Monday. Its a perfect evening, an inspirational antidote to the helplessness of the week before, and Rowettas soaring, goose-pimpling You Got The Love sends us out into the night with a smile on our faces. It doesnt get much better than this. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government is to be sued for a third time over its plan to bring air pollution to within legal safety limits by legal activist group ClientEarth, which said there were major flaws in its latest attempt. The group said, after examining the Air Quality Plan, it had written to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) asking for a number of improvements. They said Defras refusal had left them with no option but to return to court. ClientEarth has twice successfully won court orders requiring the Government to produce better plans to tackle air pollution. Ministers had attempted to delay publication of their third attempt at a plan that complied with European Union law until after the election, with their lawyer arguing it would drop a controversial bomb on the campaign. Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom also cited the pre-election period of purdah in which government officials cannot comment on political issues outside of emergency matters, tacitly suggesting she did not regard air pollution as a pressing issue. The judge decided that neither was a good enough reason to breach the court order, saying ministers had a duty to abide by rulings like anyone else. But James Thornton, chief executive of ClientEarth, made clear they were unimpressed by the resulting draft document, which suggested local councils should take the lead in reducing air pollution, rather than the Government. We have found some major flaws. The law requires the final plan to bring air pollution down to legal levels in the shortest time possible. These flaws seriously jeopardise that timetable, he said. These are plans for more plans, what we need are plans for action. The draft plan is subject to a public consultation, which will end just a week after the general election, with the actual plan due to be published by the end of July. The Governments plans and consultation do not match what its own evidence says needs to happen, Mr Thornton said. If the evidence shows that taking certain measures will be necessary to tackle the public health crisis of polluted air, then the plans and associated consultation need to make that clear. This is essential so that people can have their say and we get the best possible final plans when they are due to be published, as ordered by the court, on 31 July. The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Show all 10 1 /10 The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Ukraine The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Bulgaria Rex Features The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Belarus The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Russia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Armenia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Bosnia and Herzegovina REUTERS The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Georgia The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Hungary DigitalGlobe The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths China The worst countries in the world for air pollution deaths Moldova ClientEarth has called for incentives to prompt motorists to switch from using diesel vehicles to cleaner forms of transport. It urged people to let the Government know their feelings on the subject and has launched its own online consultation tool to help them do so. Mr Thornton added: We are challenging on two fronts because of the urgency of this public health crisis. Were asking the High Court to consider the problems with the plans and consultation. That is now in the courts hands. In the meantime, it is important for as many people as possible to tell Defra that the plans dont make sense and wont tackle illegal air quality in our towns and cities. Areeba Hamid, a clear air campaigner with Greenpeace, said it was disgraceful that the Government needed to be dragged back to court so many times over for failing to tackle illegal and unsafe air pollution thats plaguing our streets. Our air has broken legal limits for pollution every year since 2010, and yet the Government is still not acting to protect the public from this crisis, she said. By delaying action to tackle air pollution over and over again the Government is putting peoples lives at risk, and the voting public will expect better. To tackle the UKs air pollution crisis, we need to tackle diesel vehicles. Even the newest diesel cars on our roads are pumping out a lot more pollution than is allowed. The car companies cheated at emissions tests, and now were paying the price with our health. The Government must get to grips with diesel, and tackle the car companies head on. A Defra spokesman said: At the moment we cannot comment on legal proceedings due to it being in the pre-election period. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump is to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, White House sources have claimed. The US is currently one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world, so if President Trump was to pull the country out the landmark pact to reduce such carbon emissions it would be a major blow to a deal that aims to help avert the worst effects of climate change. Following a number of reports in US media about the move, Mr Trump tweeted that he would be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days followed by his campaign slogan MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!. Trump comments on Paris Climate deal The Axios news website said the sources had direct knowledge of the decision made by the Republican billionaire, who has previously described global warming as a hoax perpetrated by China also a large polluter. As President, Mr Trump can withdraw from Paris on his own authority. The reason it was called an agreement' was to enable Barack Obama to use the president's executive power to ratify it without having to seek the permission of the Republican-controlled Congress, which must ratify any international treaties. The US delegation had to negotiate for several hours over complicated legal language the day the agreement was signed in December 2015. Part of the issue was that other countries were very concerned about the exact situation the world is now: a post-Obama administration catering to climate deniers in the US Congress that would be able to legally withdraw. The decision to withdraw from the climate accord was influenced by a letter from 22 Republican US senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for an exit, Axios reported. Bill Nye to Bernie Sanders: The effects of Trump's climate change denial could be catastrophic Mr Trump has ignored the advice of a string of senior advisers, including his own daughter Ivanka Trump, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who all advocated keeping a seat at the table. Mr Mattis and others in the Department of Defence have noted that the Pentagon does a substantial amount of work addressing rising sea levels, changing sea routes for warships due to melting glaciers, and the affects of drought and floods on US national security interests. During his campaign, Mr Trump had vowed to cancel the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming President, as part of an effort to bolster US oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his scepticism of global efforts to police US carbon emissions. However, he later said he would take his time to understand the issue of the Paris agreement before deciding whether to pull out. The Trump administration must now decide whether to begin the three-year withdrawal process stipulated by the Paris Agreement. or ditch the underlying United Nations treaty which would speed up the process. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Such a move would be a sign that he plans to further cut environmental regulations and attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enacted by Mr Obama. Mr Trump's proposed federal budget includes major cuts to the tune of nearly 30 per cent of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), however his planned $54bn increase to defence spending may cover some climate-related programmes depending on if discretion is granted to the Pentagon. He also wants to cut the budget of the US Coast Guard, the maritime security agency, by a significant amount. The agency's work also encompasses ocean conservation, marine life and endangered species protection, and some research. The report of the apparent decision comes hours after the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the US to remain within the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible. So far the world's average temperature has risen by just under one degree because of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Germany, France and other leading nations have expressed frustration with Mr Trump's stance on climate change. Even Pope Francis tried to persuade the US President during his recent visit to the Vatican by presenting him with a papal letter, or encyclical, the Pontiff wrote in 2015 regarding the need to address the multi-faceted issue of climate change. Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a US exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Canada, the European Union, and China have said they will honour their commitments to the pact even if the United States withdraws. A source told Reuters that India had also indicated it would stick by the deal. Mr Trump's attitude toward the agreement prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to say that Europeans can no longer rely on the US. "If this is true, it is a big setback. Then, we must find partners to continue, because this work must not stop," Finlands Prime Minister Juha Sipila told parliament. Friends of the Earth, an international network of environmental organisations, said in a statement that this was a short-sighted and dangerous decision. They said it will be met by opposition around the world: from ordinary people, to scientists, and political leaders making the US a global outcast. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} "Despite the constant negative press covfefe", Donald Trump posted on Twitter at midnight. But nobody really knows what it means. The president's cryptic and mysterious tweet has spawned memes and a lot of confusion as people work out what he was trying to say. Even Merriam-Webster, the dictionary that has become one of Donald Trump's most prominent and unlikely critics, had to make clear that it didn't know what the word meant. Almost certainly, Donald Trump was trying to write the word "coverage" when he wrote "covfefe". Not only does it feature the same first three letters and fit neatly into the phrase "negative press coverage", it's one of Donald Trump's favourite words. He last posted it in March, when he was complaining about the New York Times' reporting. But it has been a favourite word of his even before he had launched his presidential bid or was complaining about the media. What's less clear is why Mr Trump only tweeted out what appears to be the first part of the tweet, leaving the sentence incomplete and with only a dependent clause to start it. Mr Trump was presumably going to finish the tweet with supposed proof that he was doing well. He has sent out a number of such tweets in the past he used the word "despite" three times on Twitter in March, for instance, all in tweets that attacked the news media. The only other time that Donald Trump tweets the word "despite" is when he is talking about the Democrats. (He has tweeted the word "despite" nine times since he won the election in November last year, and every single post has been about the media or his political opposition.) It may be that the president became flustered with writing a word that he has had to type repeatedly in recent months, and frustratedly bashed his keyboard before hitting the send button. That would explain why he manage to end the word with the letters "fefe" though f and e are close to the e and r of coverage, they are nowhere near the a needed to complete the word. As such, a simple typo seems unlikely unless Mr Trump is an especially imprecise typer. That would also explain why the iPhone that Mr Trump sent the post from didn't correct the word: it is simply too unlike the word that he was aiming for, coverage. The iPhone's keyboard doesn't autocorrect the word "covfefe", and the closest suggestion that its spell check has is "coffee". But some have suggested conspiracy theories: if you type "covfefe" into Google Translate and tell it that it's Russian, then it translates it into "Soviet". That has given some Google Translate actually suggests that the word is Samoan, if you use its "detect language" feature. But it can't translate it. It wouldn't be the first time that someone in the White House tweeted out a mysterious code. In January, press secretary Sean Spicer tweeted the word "n9y25ah7" a message that some presumed might have been his Twitter password posting nonsense words twice in two days. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump's "covfefe" tweet was already an embarrassment. But it might also be breaking the law. The president has deleted the now infamous tweet, five hours after it was posted. It only read "Despite the constant negative press covfefe" a gnomic post that brought confusion and memes as people attempted to work out what he was saying. Now a mere five hours and 126,000 retweets after posting it Mr Trump has apparently confirmed that the post was a mistake by removing it from the site. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP But that might make the president's fortunes even worse. Some have suggested that Mr Trump isn't actually allowed to remove his posts at all, because doing so violates laws that require records to be kept of the president's communications. The National Archives has instructed the White House that it needs to keep a record of everything Mr Trump posts, even if he then goes on to the delete the posts. The organisation said in a letter to senators in March that it had told the Trump team that it needs to "capture and preserve all tweets that the President posts including those that are subsequently deleted". But responsibility for actually doing so relies on the president, and the National Archives and other bodies that catalogue presidential communications are unable to compel him to prove that he's done so. The White House has claimed that the deleted tweets are being recorded, but it hasn't proved that publicly. The "cofveve" tweet was far from the first to be deleted from Mr Trump's account. He regularly removes posts that include typos, misspellings or mistakes though they are usually re-posted after they have been corrected. At the time of publishing, Mr Trump hasn't posted a corrected version of the tweet. It has been speculated that it may have sent it before going to sleep at midnight, and then deleted it when he woke up again around 5am the time when his earliest tweets usually start to be sent. It's not clear that the tweet was deleted by Mr Trump himself or by a member of his staff. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Slavery has been illegal in every country since the last country to do so, Mauritania, criminalised the practice in 2007. But while slavery is illegal, it has not disappeared. Contemporary slavery in the form of indentured labour, debt bondage or domestic servitude still exists in many places including the richest countries of the world. In a startling personal piece, US journalist Alex Tizon recalled how when he grew up in the Philippines, an impoverished young woman named Eudoica Pulido, known as Lola, was brought to live with the family as their domestic help. Emigrating with them to the US, with no room of her own, no pay, and no way of returning to her homeland, she suffered verbal and physical abuse from Tizons parents. Others were told she was a visiting relative, and she had no one to turn to for help save for her employers children. She was effectively the familys slave. If this sounds like an exceptional case, research on the conditions for migrant domestic workers in the UK reveals that the reality of domestic work should make us all uncomfortable. Perspectives from the Philippines Domestic work is difficult to regulate. Employers often describe workers as one of the family, but this often hides unpaid wages, restricted movement and forced overtime. In the Philippines, domestic workers like Pulido are not bought and sold, but they are as effectively indentured as slaves. They work for their food and lodging and receive a small allowance, but this is never enough for them to leave their employer. Most is sent back to their own family. Recommended How the slave trade influenced southern US food Migrant domestic workers, in contrast, rarely owe money to their employers directly. They pay brokers, agents, and governments for services, and repay loans to banks, finance companies, loan sharks and relatives instead. Like Eudocia Pulido, to repay these debts they must often forgo a personal life, intimate relationships, raising children and honouring family obligations. Pulidios family still lives in poverty in rural Tarlac. They thought Pulido was living a comfortable life in America. Perhaps she was working to repay the cost of her ticket? Perhaps she had forgotten them? Pulido only sent money home years after her departure, when Alex Tizon, her employers son, gave her a weekly allowance. Following the death of Tizons mother, she lived with Alex and his family in the US until her death. Her relatives in Tarlac never saw the money or boxes of goods and gifts they anticipated. Hoping to better their own lives, they intend to migrate for domestic work, too. As Filipinos debate reparations for Pulidos family, they are also considering the way they treat their own domestic workers. Tizons story took an unflinching look at the sacrifices middle-class families require from their help. Despite the risks, other Filipino women continue to seek similar domestic work situations overseas, and of the potential destinations, the UK is reputed to offer the highest wages. Irregular migrants In the UK there are limits on jobs in domestic work for migrants from outside the EU. Domestic Worker visas allow non-European workers to enter with their employer and stay for only six months. Migrants on this visa often experience non-payment of wages, abuse and exploitation. The six-month limit makes it very difficult for them to change employers. And not all Filipino migrants doing domestic work hold visas. When I interviewed Filipinos in London between 2009 and 2012, only two of 61 people I met held this visa. Most of my interviewees worked in Londons informal economy for domestic services, but had arrived on student or tourist visas and then disappeared. An estimated 32,000 Filipinos in the UK have irregular immigration status, augmenting 218,126 working visa holders, permanent residents and citizens, and their dependants. Irregular migrants are predominantly women and do in-home, cash-in-hand housekeeping, babysitting, cleaning and caregiving work. Their earnings go towards servicing debts, or to their families to send their children to school, provide medical care, improve their housing, and starting businesses. Some are still repaying debts incurred for previous contract domestic work in Hong Kong or Singapore, or care-giving in Israel. ( Their irregular status means they struggle to access healthcare, are often underpaid, rent outside regulatory controls, and live in fear of being stopped, held and quickly deported by the UK Border Agency. Informal landlords, employers, and other migrants manipulate them by threatening to report them to the authorities. Facing low wages and precarious work, they depend on the goodwill of employers to sustain them a situation that leads to them being exploited. Irregular migrants can change employers to search for better-paid work and more generous conditions. A few of my interviewees received higher wages than workers in equivalent formal sector jobs, but across the group their situations varied widely. One, a teacher turned nanny-housekeeper, earned over 37,000 a year. Another, an accountant-cum-caregiver, faced destitution after her employer died. Both were servicing large debts to support families they hadnt seen in years, and if caught would be deported, unable to return to the UK for a decade. Irregular migrant domestic workers are not quite slaves. Yet their circumstances may be closer to slavery than wed like to acknowledge. The full life denied to Pulido is something Britains irregular migrant workers also forego, because their debts limit their choices. Working with Filpino NGO Kanlungan, our project team is exploring ways to improve conditions for Filipino migrants. Beginning with community arts workshops, the aim is to increase their financial literacy so they can avoid debt, while showing workers and politicians just how much and how widely their debt-fueled migration contributes to national development in the Philippines. Here in the UK, we need to end systems that tie migrants doing domestic work to their employers so they have freedom to seek better working conditions. Where there is demand for migrant domestic and caregiving work, it should only be under formal, regulated working conditions. After all, post-Brexit the UK may find it needs to rely even more heavily on migrants from outside Europe. This article was originally published on The Conversation (www.conversation.com). Deirdre McKay is a Senior Lecturer in Geography at Keele University For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Uber has sacked the former head of its self-driving unit after he failed to comply with a court order to hand over documents at the centre of a legal dispute between Uber and Alphabet, Googles parent company. The transportation network company hoped Anthony Levandowski, one of the most respected self-driving engineers in Silicon Valley, would help it catch up with rivals including Alphabets Waymo, in the race for better driverless technology. Instead the hiring led to a court fight and the threat of criminal charges. Uber replaced him as the head of its self-driving car unit in April before finally making the decision to sack him. Mr Levandowski formerly worked for Waymos self-driving division, which says he stole trade secrets by downloading more than 14,000 documents before he left. Mr Levandowski is not a defendant, but his actions are at the heart of Alphabets lawsuit against Uber. Recommended Uber threatens to fire engineer accused of stealing trade secrets Uber said in a letter to Mr Levandowski filed in federal court yesterday that it was sacking him because he had not complied with a court order to hand over the documents. He has declined to cooperate, citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Mr Levandowskis lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Uber and Alphabet are battling over technology expected to revolutionise the way people use cars. Waymo claims its trade secrets made their way into Ubers lidar technology, which bounces light pulses off objects so self-driving cars can see the road. Uber denies these claims. Mr Levandowski has 20 days to comply with the court order, according to the Uber letter. Last month, Uber named Eric Meyhofer to replace Mr Levandowski as head of its Advanced Technologies Group. Mr Meyhofer will continue to lead the team, an Uber spokeswoman said. Over the last few months Uber has provided significant evidence to the court to demonstrate that our self-driving technology has been built independently, Angela Padilla, Ubers associate general counsel for employment and litigation, wrote in an email to employees on Tuesday. An Uber spokeswoman said the company has urged Mr Levandowski to fully cooperate. Waymo has said Mr Levandowski received stock worth more than $250m (194m) for joining Uber, along with his portion of the $680m that Uber paid last year for Otto, the self-driving truck company he formed after leaving Google. That amount assumes certain targets would be met, and it was not clear how his sacking would affect those payments. A source familiar with the matter said Mr Levandowski had not yet vested his Uber shares. Mr Levandowski has turned into a liability for Uber in court. The company has acknowledged that his refusal to testify has hurt its defence efforts. Uber has never denied that he took the Waymo documents. Asked last month why Uber did not threaten to sack Mr Levandowski to pressure him into turning over the documents, Uber lawyer Arturo Gonzalez said: We can fire him but we still dont get the documents. Uber had argued that it was acceptable to sideline Mr Levandowski by preventing him from working on lidar technology without sacking him. But, Judge William Alsup criticised the company, telling lawyers: You keep on your payroll someone who took 14,000 documents and is liable to use them. Biggest business scandals in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Biggest business scandals in pictures Biggest business scandals in pictures Volkswagen emissions scandal VW admitted to rigging its US emission tests so that diesel-powered cars would looks like they were emitting less nitrous oxide, which can damage the ozone layer and contribute to respiratory diseases. Around 11 million cars worldwide were affected. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Martin Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli became known as the most hated man in the world after his drug company, Turing, increased the price of a 62-year-old drug that treated HIV patients by 5,000% to $750 a pill. He was charged with illegally taking stock from Retrophin, a biotechnology firm he started in 2011, and using it pay off debts from unrelated business dealings. Shkreli, who maintains he is innocent, and says there is little evidence of fraud because his investors didn't lose money. Biggest business scandals in pictures Panama Papers: Millions of leaked documents expose how worlds rich and powerful hid money - April 2016 Millions of confidential documents have been leaked from one of the worlds most secretive law firms, exposing how the rich and powerful have hidden their money. Dictators and other heads of state have been accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax, according to the unprecedented cache of papers that show the inner workings of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is based in Panama. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Google's tax avoidance Google reached a deal with the HM Revenue and Customs to pay back 130 million in so-called back-taxes that have been due since 2005. George Osborne championed the deal as a major success. But European MEPs have since called for the Chancellor to appear in front of the committee on tax rulings to explain the tax deal. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Rogue trader A French court cut the damages owed by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel from 4.9bn (4.2bn) to just 1m (860,000). The court ruled on that Kerviel was partly responsible for massive losses suffered in 2008 by his former employer Societe Generale through his reckless trades. Kerviel has consistently maintained that bosses at the French bank knew what he was doing all along. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Barclays CEO under investigation for trying to identify whistleblower - Monday Paril 10 Authorities have launched an investigation into Barclays chief executive officer Jes Staley for trying to identify a whistleblower, the bank said on Monday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are both investigating Mr Staley after the bank notified them that Mr Staley had tried to identify the author of two anonymous letters, which were sent to the board and a senior executive in June 2016. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures UK to crack down on bank money laundering after reports of 65bn Russian scam, City minister says - March 2017 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has vowed that the Government will crack down on money laundering practices, after several of the UK's biggest banks were accused of processing money from a Russian scam, believed to involve up to $80bn (65bn). Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former HBOS bankers convicted of bribery and fraud over 245m loan scam - February 2017 Two former HBOS bankers were among six people found guilty of bribery and fraud that cost customers and shareholders hundreds of millions of pounds, the BBC reports. Lynden Scourfield, 54, a manager at HBOS, forced struggling clients to use the services of his friends David Mills, 60, and Michael Bancroft, 73. In return, the two businessmen arranged sex parties, cash and lavish gifts. On Monday, the three were convicted at Southwark Crown Court on accounts including bribery, fraud and money laundering. Mark Dobson, another manager at HBOS, Alison Mills, and John Cartwright were also convicted. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Lloyds chief apologises for damage caused by affair allegations - August 2016 Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank, has broken his silence over allegations about his private life admitting he regrets any "damage done to the group's reputation". In a message sent to the bank's 75,000 employees, the banker said that anyone can make mistakes while insisting that staff had to maintain the highest professional standards. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Christine Lagarde faces court over 340m Bernard Tapie payment - July 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, must stand trial in France over a payment of 403 million (now 340m, then 290m) to tycoon Bernard Tapie, a France's highest appeals court has ruled. The court rejected Ms Lagarde's appeal against a judge's order in December for her to stand trial over allegations of negligence in her handling of the affair. Ms Lagarde could risk a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if convicted. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures HSBC senior manager arrested in FX rigging investigation at JFK airport in New York - July 2016 A senior executive at HSBC has been arrested at New York's JFK airport for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to rig currency benchmarks, according to reports. Mark Johnson, global head of foreign exchange cash trading in London, was reportedly arrested on Tuesday. He will appear before a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Bloomberg said. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Former PwC employees found guilty in 'Luxleaks' tax scandal - June 2016 Two ex- PricewaterhouseCoopers staffers were found guilty in Luxembourg of stealing confidential tax files that helped unleash a global scandal over generous fiscal deals for hundreds of international companies. Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet face suspended sentences of 12 months and 9 months and were ordered to pay fines of 1,500 (1,230) and 1,000 (822) for their role in the so-called LuxLeaks scandal. Despite the minimal sentences, the ruling was described by Deltours lawyer as shocking and a terrible anomaly. The ruling puts on guard future whistle-blowers, Deltour told reporters.The LuxLeaks revelations sped beyond Luxembourg, causing European Union regulators to expand a tax-subsidy probe and propose new laws to fight corporate tax dodging, while EU lawmakers created a special committee to probe fiscal deals across the 28-nation bloc. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Goldman Sachs dealmakers lavished Libyan officials with prostitutes to win contract - June 2016 A former Goldman Sachs dealmaker trying to persuade Gadaffi-era Libya to invest $1 billion with the investment bank procured prostitutes and invited Libyan officials to lavish parties in the hope of winning the business, the High Court heard on Monday June 13.The Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund is suing Goldman Sachs for inappropriately coercing its naive staff into giving its sovereign wealth fund cash to the bank to invest in products they did not understand. The products were designed to generate big profits for Goldman, the LIA claims.Goldman denies wrongdoing and says the LIA was treated as an arms-length customer Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former boss of BHS said his life was threatened - June 2016 Darren Topp, the former boss of BHS, has said former owner Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him when he challenged him over a 1.5 million transfer out of the business. MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee asked Mr Topp about a 1.5 million transfer Mr Chappell made from BHS to a company called BHS Sweden. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley admits paying workers below the minimum wage - June 2016 Mike Ashley admitted paying Sports Direct employees below the minimum wage at a hearing in front of MPs. The company founder said that workers were paid less than the statutory minimum because of bottlenecks at security in an admission that could result in sanctions from HMRC. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Mitsubishi admits improper fuel tests - April 2016 Mitsubishi has admitted to using false fuel methods dating back to 1991. The scale of the scandal is only just coming to light after it was revealed in April that data was falsified in the testing of four types of cars, including two Nissan cars. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Quindell, the scandal-ridden insurance firm Quindell was once a darling of AIM but its share price fell in April 2014 when its accounting practices were attacked in a stinging research note by US short seller Gotham City. In August the group was forced to disclose that the 107 million pre-tax profit it had reported for 2013 was incorrect, and it had in fact suffered a 64million loss. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Toshiba Accounting Scandal The boss of Toshiba, the Japanese technology giant, resigned in disgrace in the wake of one of the countrys biggest ever accounting scandals. His exit came two months after the company revealed that it was investigating accounting irregularities. An independent investigatory panel said that Toshibas management had inflated its reported profits by up to 152 billion yen (780m) between 2008 and 2014. Biggest business scandals in pictures FIFA Corruption Scandal Fifa, football's world governing body, has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since the summer of 2015, when the US Department of Justice indicted several top executives. It has now claimed the careers of two of the most powerful men in football, Fifa President Sepp Blatter and Uefa President Michel Platini, after they were banned for eight years from all football-related activities by Fifa's ethics committee. A Swiss criminal investigation into the pair is ongoing. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Libor fraudster City trader Tom Hayes, 35, has become the first person to be convicted of rigging Libor rates following a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court. Hayes worked as a trader in yen derivatives at UBS before joining the American bank Citigroup in Tokyo. He was fired from Citigroup following an investigation into his trading methods. He returned to the UK in December 2012 and was arrested following a two-and-a-half year criminal investigation by the SFO. Getty The American judge theorised that Mr Levandowski could have used Waymos documents himself even if he did not turn them over to Uber. What prevented him from bringing a laptop to work every day and consulting the files? Judge Alsup asked Uber lawyers in April. Uber has been hit by a string of departures of senior executives and other negative news. Earlier this year, Uber was caught using its technology to avoid government regulators. Chief executive Travis Kalanick was seen on video berating an Uber driver, and the company also faced accusations of sexual harassment that led to an internal investigation led by former US Attorney General Eric Holder. The Holder report will be shown to the board this week, a source familiar with the matter said, adding that next week, Uber plans to speak with employees about it. Reuters Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A university in Belgium has been forced to apologise after a message was issued to its female students asking them to wear low-cut outfits to their graduation ceremony. Medical students at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) were told in an email: From an aesthetic point of view, it is better for young women to wear a dress or skirt, and a nice revealing neckline. Of course, ladies, this advice is not obligatory, the message added, after advising men to simply wear a suit for the event, which takes place next month. The message came to light after it was posted on an open Facebook page with the comment: a little scandal. Hundreds of web users responded with anger and frustration, accusing the university of outright sexism. Is this a joke? They are graduates of medicine and were asking them to show their chest? one viewer said. Another wrote: The dress I can understand but the nice cleavage you got a PHD, but who cares, shows your nipples. The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 Show all 20 1 /20 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) 1st in 2015 Getty The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 2. Stanford University (USA) 3rd (=) in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 3. Harvard University (USA) 2nd in 2015 Darren McCollester/Newsmakers The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 4. University of Cambridge (UK) 3rd (=) in 2015 Getty The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 5. California Institute of Technology (USA) 5th in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 6. University of Oxford (UK) 6th in 2015 Getty The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 7. University College London (UK) 7th in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 8. ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) (Switzerland) 9th in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 9. Imperial College London (UK) 8th in 2015 Getty Images The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 10. University of Chicago (USA) 10th in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 11. Princeton University (USA) 11th in 2015 Wikimedia Commons The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 12. National University of Singapore (Singapore) 12th in 2015 National University of Singapore/Facebook The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 13. Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) 13th in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 14. Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (Switzerland) 14th in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 15. Yale University (USA) 15th in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 16. Cornell University (USA) 17th in 2015 sach1tb/Wiki Commons The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 17. Johns Hopkins University (USA) 16th in 2015 Lester Spence/WikimediaCommons The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 18. University of Pennsylvania (USA) 18th in 2015 Bryan Y.W. Shin/Wiki Commons The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 19. University of Edinburgh (UK) 21st in 2015 The top 20 universities in the world in 2016 20. Columbia University (USA) 22nd in 2015 ULB issued an apology statement on Facebook and Twitter after the matter was picked up by international media. A translation read: The Faculty of Medicine, through its dean, presents its sincerest apologies to all the students who have received the email mentioned below." The email was sent to future graduates to give practical instructions for the day of the ceremony, it said. It goes without saying that the instructions linked to the dress of young female graduates are as far removed from as they are contrary to the values defended daily by ULB and its faculty. The email was most likely sent by a woman as the secretariat did not include any men, the dean of the medicine faculty, Marco Schetgen, told Belgian news outlet RTL. He confirmed it was not a hoax, that the message had been sent out, adding it had shocked him too when he saw it. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Conservative party plans to scrap free school lunches have been condemned as an absolute betrayal by the man who co-authored the initiative. Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of the Leon restaurant and food chain, is one of a number of celebrity chefs and high profile figures to speak out against the governments proposals, which will see the scheme replaced with free breakfasts budgeted at a fraction of the cost. Mr Dimbleby helped write the School Food Plan for the coalition government, which recommended the universal free school meals plan in a bid to improve childhood nutrition and social mobility within early years education. Speaking to The Evening Standard, he said: To axe infant free school meals now is an absolute betrayal, not only of our children, but of our headteachers, who have been misled. Schools have also wasted hundreds of millions of pounds as a result, the newspaper also revealed, after former education secretary Michael Gove wrote to all headteachers to encourage them to invest in new kitchens and upgrades in preparation for the new programme. One London school said it had waste several thousand pounds and become locked into a catering contract after being encouraged to do so by Mr Goves assurances. They pointed to a letter sent to schools by Mr Gove and former Schools Minister David Laws in 2014, which highlighted the health and academic benefits of universal free dinners and insisted the meals were "a serious and long-term policy commitment". Former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who led the coalition initiative, has also criticised Theresa May for her cruel and illogical decision to take away the hot lunches, a move he said would hurt thousands of Britains poorest children. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver said the Tory policy was "misguided", and argued the Governments proposed breakfast budget of 7p per child was just bonkers. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images "Swapping from free lunch to a cheap, probably sugary, breakfast is misguided, mean, and a false economy, he added. In its General Election manifesto, the Conservative party pledged to scrap universal free lunches for infant school children in England, but said they would instead offer a free breakfast for all primary school pupils. Evidence shows that a free school breakfast is as effective at helping children learn as a hot meal at lunch, the party said, and can be delivered at a tenth of the cost, at around 60 million a year. But experts have calculated that the price of free breakfasts could run into hundreds of millions of pounds, prompting questions over whether the plan could be delivered after all. When challenged by the media last week, the Conservatives acknowledged the cost of free breakfasts for schools could vary depending on how many children take up the offer. Explaining schools dilemma, Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said: "In 2014, the evidence and the ambition for this policy were both made clear to us. Education Secretary Justine Greening avoids question of which expert backs more grammar schools In the letter, school leaders were also told to expect that the policy would be extended to 'additional year groups in the future'. On the basis of these assurances, school leaders invested heavily in newer kitchens, more staff and extra equipment. "Three years later, these proposals are set to be ripped up, leaving those of us with the best interests of children at heart utterly perplexed. "It would be a huge mistake to end universal infant free school meals without any proper evaluation of the project. Hundreds of millions of pounds of investment is set to be wasted with no clear rationale apart from a desire to save money." Mr Dimbleby, said: "The taxpayer spent 180m on installing and refurbing school kitchens, and the schools invested their own precious funds too. To axe infant free school meals now is an absolute betrayal, not only of our children, but of our headteachers, who have been misled and whose budgets are already stretched. "The proposal to invest 60m instead on free breakfast for all children would work out at a measly 7p per breakfast, he added. A handful of sugary cereal will not sustain a child for a day - I challenge anyone to show me a healthy, filling breakfast that could be made for that amount." Half of low-income pupils go hungry at breakfast and a further fifth eat breakfasts with little or no nutritional value, it has been reported. Responding to criticisms the party had severely underestimated the new policys costs, a Conservative spokesman said: "These fears are unfounded and it is disappointing to see them whipped up as a scare campaign. "Our plans guarantee that every primary school child will have access to a free breakfast at school, which experts say provides the same benefits as a free lunch, and we'll continue to ensure school lunches are free for those who need them. So the poorest children will get not one but two free school meals per day." Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Google Ad Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox Google Ad UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Scientists who managed to obtain full genome sequences of Ancient Egyptians for the first time have concluded the people of the pharaohs were more closely related to modern Europeans and inhabitants of the Near East rather than present-day Egyptians. But the claims sparked suspicion from one leading Egyptologist, who questioned whether genetic analysis could justify such a sweeping statement and pointed to a long history of spurious attempts to separate ancient Egyptians from the modern-day population. The mummies were taken from a single archaeological site on the River Nile, Abusir el-Meleq, which was inhabited from 3,250BC to 700AD and was home to a cult of Osiris, the god of the dead, making it a good place to be buried. A complete genome sequence was obtained for three mummies and mitochondrial DNA, which is passed through the female line, was obtained from 90 individuals. They were dated to between about 1,400BC and 400AD. The researchers, writing in the journal Nature Communications, admitted their sample may not be representative for all of ancient Egypt. Nevertheless, they concluded the mummified people were distinct from modern Egyptians, and closer towards Near Eastern and European samples. Our analyses reveal that ancient Egyptians shared more ancestry with Near Easterners than present-day Egyptians, they wrote. And they added: We find that ancient Egyptians are most closely related to Neolithic and Bronze Age samples in the Levant, as well as to Neolithic Anatolian and European populations. When comparing this pattern with modern Egyptians, we find that the ancient Egyptians are more closely related to all modern and ancient European populations that we tested, likely due to the additional African component in the modern population. In contrast to the changes between the ancient and modern period, the researchers, from Cambridge University and institutions in Germany, Poland and Australia, found the genetic make-up of the mummies was remarkably constant despite the arrival of the Romans and other foreign powers. Dr Wolfgang Haak, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, said: The genetics of the Abusir el-Meleq community did not undergo any major shifts during the 1,300-year timespan we studied, suggesting that the population remained genetically relatively unaffected by foreign conquest and rule. 'Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead' at the British Museum Show all 3 1 /3 'Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead' at the British Museum 'Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead' at the British Museum 490160.bin BRITISH MUSEUM / PA 'Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead' at the British Museum 490161.bin The Trustees of the British Museum 'Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead' at the British Museum 490162.bin The Trustees of the British Museum However Professor Stephen Quirke, an Egyptologist at University College London, expressed caution about the researchers broader claims. There has been this very strong attempt throughout the history of Egyptology to disassociate ancient Egyptians from the modern population, he said. Im particularly suspicious of any statement that may have the unintended consequences of asserting yet again from a northern European or North American perspective that theres a discontinuity there. When we are discussing it, we have to be much more sensitive to how these kinds of statements are read outside where we are at the moment. Professor Quirke added that he felt we are not yet anywhere near being able to make very drastic conclusions about the tens of millions of people living in Egypt. While there have been a number of influxes of people from outside Egypt, he suggested that the impact could sometimes be over-stated. For example, Professor Quirke said many thousands of soldiers had taken part in the Arab Invasion of Egypt in the 7th century, but they were still vastly outnumbered by the resident population of about six million. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Humanitarian groups are calling on the UK to immediately pause deportations to Afghanistan after at least 90 people were killed and 400 injured in a suicide bombing. The British Government condemned the terror attack in the centre of Kabul which damaged its own embassy - but would not tell The Independent whether it would stop flying failed asylum seekers to the city. Boris Johnson was accused of hypocrisy after claiming the Government stands with Afghanistan against terrorism, saying that he was appalled by the latest atrocity to hit the country. Maurice Wren, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the UKs decisions on asylum claims were literally a matter of life and death. No-one should be sent back to Kabul if there is any doubt about the dangers they may face there, he told The Independent. Ciaran Price, from Asylum Aid, said the bombing was an unfortunate reminder that the situation in Afghanistan remains volatile. Suicide bomb kills at least 80 and wounds more than 350 in Afghanistan We continue to see women and people who are gay are being returned contrary to a huge amount of evidence showing that they are likely to face persecution because of their gender and sexuality, he added. UK authorities need to ensure they make the right decision first time, calling on accurate and up-to-date country information and guidance. A spokesperson for the Home Office would not tell The Independent whether deportations to Kabul will continue, saying they could not comment on the operational side of deportations. Recommended Afghan police beat deported asylum seekers in front of Danish officers Germany has paused its own deportation flights and other European countries are considering the same move amid controversy over mass deportations, despite worsening attacks by Isis and the Taliban. British flights resumed last year after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Theresa May, then the Home Secretary, and declared Kabul safe for returns. It threw out a claim by a group of Afghans, including a man who entered the UK aged just 14 in 2007, who were among hundreds set to be forced back to the country. Despite the British Government declaring Kabul safe for asylum seekers, it does not apply the same designation for its own staff. Employees are kept inside the heavily guarded green zone whenever possible, being ferried around under armed guard if they are required to leave. The short three-mile journey from British offices to Kabul airport is frequently made by helicopter because of dangers along the road. Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Show all 13 1 /13 Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man reacts in shock after a suicide car bombing in a diplomatic zone of Kabul, Afghanistan, left at least 80 people dead Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly suicide car bombing that set more than 50 cars alight Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two Afghan men carry one of the many injured in the attack REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man tries to drive his vehicle heavily damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two men walk away from the scene, covered in blood REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The bomb was detonated near the German embassy in the citys heavily guarded diplomatic district REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people One of many cars destroyed in the attack burns Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The attack sent plumes of smoke over Afghanistans capital AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Several buildings have been damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The car bombing is thought to be one of the most deadly attacks ever to hit the capital Alamy Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Wounded victims lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Relatives of Afghan victims mourn outside a hospital after the blast in Kabul Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Crowds in Kabul survey the damage after the deadly attack EPA Wednesdays attack has shown that even the supposedly secure green zone is not safe, with a sewage tanker packed with explosives detonated at a busy intersection, damaging surrounding buildings including the Germany, French, Turkish and Chinese embassies. A huge crater was ripped into the ground at the site of the explosion, which tore off the front of the German embassy and shattered windows hundreds of metres away, leaving burning debris, rubble, destroyed cars and bodies strewn in the streets. The British embassy suffered minor damage in the blast but continued operations, while no British victims were immediately reported to be among the dead. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office strongly condemned the attack and said its thoughts were with the victims. All our staff are accounted for and the embassy remains operational, she added. We are working closely with the Afghan authorities and the area has been secured by security forces. The victims of the explosion appeared mainly to have been Afghan civilians on their way to work or school, as well as office workers whose nearby buildings that were not protected by blast walls. Among the dead were BBC employees, Afghan guards from the nearby US embassy and 11 American contractors. (EPA) There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion turned to Isis after the Taliban denied involvement. The group has been attempting to expand its presence in Afghanistan, claiming a separate bombing on Wednesday in Jalalabad that killed a Taliban member, and has called for increased global terror attacks during Ramadan. The two factions are fighting each other as well as the Afghan government, with the violence and ensuing battles and air strikes causing record civilian casualties in 2016, when 3,500 civilians were killed and 7,900 injured. Recommended Donald Trump considering sending more US troops to Afghanistan Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch, said the UK should defer deportations until the situation improves. This horrific attack, the worst in Kabul in decades, is a shocking reminder of the high price civilians are paying for the deteriorating security in Afghanistan, he told The Independent. Now is not the time for EU countries to be ramping up deportations. The charity said European countries have been changing legal tests to make it easier to reject Afghan asylum seekers, who have been among the largest groups arriving during the ongoing refugee crisis. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it is advocating for a thorough assessment of individual cases, taking into account the developing security situation. Gunmen attack military hospital close to US embassy in Kabul It expanded its eligibility guidelines to recommend wider international protections of Afghans at risk last year and is particularly concerned about falling rates of accepted refugee applications in the EU. A UNHCR spokesperson said deportations of failed asylum seekers are only acceptable if they have undergone a fair and efficient asylum procedure and have no other factors that should mitigate their return. The agency said any returns must be orderly, gradual and humane but the UK and Germany are among the countries carrying out mass deportations on chartered flights. One such journey from Denmark ended with Afghan men being beaten by local police in front of Danish officers on their arrival in Kabul in March. According to leaked documents obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism last year, even the Afghan government had pleaded with the UK not to resume deportations. British Government representatives were reportedly asked to cease forced deportation of refugees in a meeting with Afghan officials at a meeting in 2015, while the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation wrote to the British embassy later that year. The security situation has continued to worsen more than 15 years after the US invaded Afghanistan in the war on terror forcing Donald Trump to consider sending thousands of American troops to bolster Nato forces. The Taliban has been intensifying its insurgency since the partial withdrawal of international troops in 2014, gaining ground to contest or hold around 40 per cent of Afghanistan. Isis is fighting its rival while attempting to expand its Wilayat Khorasan branch and launching a series of deadly terror attacks, including the massacre of more than 50 people at a Kabul hospital in March. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Dorset man has lost his arm after a small bite on his hand from a family puppy led to sepsis. Michael Cole, a business manager at an investment bank, fell furiously ill in the days following the bite from his familys three-month-old golden retriever, named Harley, resulting in his right arm being amputated above his elbow. Speaking to The Independent, the father-of-one said that before the sepsis was discovered he had become so ill that he could not stand or leave his bed, while his arm had swollen to the point that he could not move it. Recommended Jeremy Hunt launches campaign to spot deadly sepsis symptoms On 9 November last year Mr Cole he had developed a serious fever and was becoming delirious, causing his wife Ffyona to call his local GP at 8.30am. The family requested a doctor, but claim they were instead advised to give Mr Cole anti-sickness pills during phone triage with a nurse. My wife went to the chemist and got the prescription, but the pills made absolutely no difference as I was furiously ill, he said. When my wife called NHS 111 at 3pm because I was getting worse they immediately sent an ambulance due to my symptoms. He was taken to hospital in Bournemouth where they spent two hours saving my life because my blood pressure was so low, he added, before he was rushed to Poole hospital for an operation on the same day. Mr Cole, who also suffers from diabetes and an auto-immune condition, spent two weeks in a coma and on life support in the hospital, where his family were twice told that he had no chance of survival. Mr Cole underwent six operations to fight the infection, including the amputation of his right arm (Ffyona Cole) But I kept fighting, he said. He further developed necrotising fasciitis, the rare and serious bacterial infection often termed the flesh-eating disease, and underwent a total of six operations during a month-long period in hospital, one of which was to amputate his arm above his elbow. They basically had to cut me open to cut the stuff out, Mr Cole said, explaining that he has been left with a six-inch long and three-inch wide hole in his right leg from the ordeal. It spreads around your body, I was lucky that it didnt hammer any of my organs. More than 150,000 cases of sepsis occur in the UK each year. Mr Cole is speaking about his life-changing experience to raise awareness of the dangers of this potentially deadly infection and stop anyone else having to go through what I did. Sepsis causes 44,000 deaths in the UK each year, more than the combined number of deaths from bowel, breast and prostate cancer, according to the UK Sepsis Trust. It can be treated by antibiotics at home however, if detected early enough, the NHS states. Mr Cole said he should have been treated as a high-risk patient due to his diabetes and auto-immune condition, and is suing his GP surgery for alleged medical negligence for failing to diagnose the sepsis sooner. It didnt have to be as bad as it was, he said. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The partner of a French police officer who was gunned down by an Islamic extremist on Pariss Champs-Elysees has reportedly married him posthumously Former French President Francois Hollande and Parisien mayor Anne Hidalgo attended the ceremony which saw Etienne Cardiles tie the knot with the deceased Xavier Jugele, according to Le Parisien newspaper. Mr Jugele, a prominent campaigner for LGTB rights within the police service, was shot dead on 20 April, three days before the first round of the French presidential election. His killer Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old French national, was known to the countrys authorities at the time of the attack and he had been detained in February for threatening to kill police. He had already convicted of attempted murder after shooting at two police officers in 2001 when they tried to stop his stolen car. While serving a 10-year sentence, he also shot and wounded a prison officer after grabbing his gun. Isis subsequently claimed his attack on Mr Jugele, although the group described him as a soldier and referred to him by the pseudonym, Abu Yousif al-Belgiki (the Belgian), implying that he was from Belgium, when in fact he was French. After his death it subsequently emerged that Mr Jugele had been among the first responders to the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015, where gunmen killed 90 concertgoers. Mr Hollande posthumously made him a knight of the Legion of Honour, one of Frances highest honours. Mr Cardiles captured the countrys imagination, during a tearful eulogy for his slain partner. Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 Show all 8 1 /8 Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 Protesters launch a burning trolley towards French CRS anti-riot police officers during a march for the annual May Day workers' rally in Paris on 1 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 Police fired tear gas at protesters on the sidelines of the May Day march in Paris Reuters Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 Masked demonstrators gather ahead of labour unions at the traditional May Day labour march in Paris Reuters Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 A demonstrator holds a placard with the message, "No to normalised Fascism" near gendarmes securing an area at the protests Reutesr Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 Scores of hooded youths threw Molotov cocktails at security forces AFP/Getty Images Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 The annual march to celebrate workers' rights this year included calls to block far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen from winning the presidency during a run-off election on Sunday AFP/Getty Images Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 People hold banners as they march among fumes of smoke bombs AFP/Getty Images Protesters clash with police in Paris on May Day 2017 Members of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT), hold a banner reading "against the employers' offensive, the trade union response! self-governance!" AFP/Getty Images Addressing hundreds of mourners at a ceremony at Paris police headquarters, he said Mr Jugele had lived like a star and left like a star and he spoke of his extreme pain at the death. For their marriage to be formalised, Mr Cardiles had to seek the permission of the president and demonstrate to the French leader that there are serious motives behind the ceremony as well an "unequivocal matrimonial will" of the deceased. Posthumous marriages have been part of French law since 1803, although it has been altered over the years. After the First World War, it allowed women to legitimise the children conceived before their husbands death and to receive a pension. It is thought Mr Hollande signed off on Mr Cardiles ceremony before leaving office. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Almost half of all public sector workers have been forced to take time off work because of problems with their mental health, a survey has found. A poll of more than 12,000 workers from across the UK shows people working in the public sector took on average nearly three days off sick in the last year because of their mental health, compared with just under a day for those in the private sector. In all, nearly half (48 per cent) of public sector workers took time off for these reasons, compared with less than a third (32 per cent) of the private sector workforce. Mental health charity Mind, which carried out the survey, found that while public sector workers are more likely to be up front about it if they do take time off because of a mental health problem, less than half (49 per cent) felt supported when they disclosed they were suffering, compared with 61 per cent in the private sector. Madeleine McGivern, head of workplace wellbeing programmes at Mind, told The Independent the lack of support for employees suffering from mental ill health was concerning, and said although the numbers were higher in the public sector, they were also considerable in the private sector and so support must be improved across the board. It is concerning that less than half of people felt supported when they did disclose a mental health problem. Across the board, were seeing that often, employers have support networks, but often, people dont feel they are effective, Ms McGivern said. The higher number of public sector workers suffering from mental health problems probably reflects the fact that this includes jobs that are particularly demanding in certain ways. But there are private sector jobs that are very demanding and support must be made available to people across the workforce. Ultimately, we need to make sure wherever you work employers see that this is something that needs investment, she added, because if you do provide the support in the right way, it will reduce the impact on the individual but also the employer and the productivity of the company or service. Paul Farmer, chief executive of the charity, said: It is also vital that when people do speak out they get the right help and support at the right time. Its clear there is still a long way to go in both the public and private sector to address the gap between people asking for support and actually getting what they need. Mind is calling on the next government to make mental health in the workplace a priority, urging it to recognise and share effective in-work solutions for employers, including wellbeing initiatives, and commit to implementing recommendations that will have a positive impact in supporting employers to be fully involved in driving this change. The Prime Minister pledged in January that the Government would take action to tackle the stigma around mental health problems, and the Conservatives have identified mental ill health as a burning injustice in their manifesto. However, the party has not pledged any extra funding for mental health services, which doctors and campaigners say, have been struggling due to local authority cuts and increasing demand. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA Responding to Minds findings, Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Norman Lamb said: These findings show we urgently need to invest in improving mental health in the workplace. Under the Conservatives, services have been stretched to breaking point at a time when the prevalence of mental ill health is rising. Theresa May has failed patients by pledging to do more while failing to offer any additional funding. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Over the 50-odd years the global war on drugs has been fought, its been a catalogue of failure on pretty much every level youd care to examine bar the bank balance of those profiting from the outcome. There may yet be another half century of futility and broken promises ahead of us, but one man has a vision of what a post-drug-war world could look like. In his latest book, Legalizing Drugs: The Key to Ending the War, Steve Rolles, a senior policy analyst on drug policy with the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, provides a brief history of the global war on drugs, outlining the cost five decades of the policy has had on public health, the economy and human rights, and then goes on to suggest how the market should instead be managed by governments, not gangsters. Approximately 247 million people now use drugs around the world, pumping money into a global industry worth more than $300bn (233bn), according to a UN report from 2015, with a quarter of a billion adults worldwide having potentially taken illegal drugs such as cannabis, cocaine or heroin in 2014 alone. Recommended World leaders call for legalisation of drugs The prohibition of drugs has had little or no impact on the rate of drug use, the Global Commission on Drug Policys annual report said last year, as the number of drug users had increased by almost 20 per cent between 2006 and 2013. Last year also saw one of the worlds oldest general medical journals, The BMJ, call for the legislation of illicit drugs the first time. An editorial said prohibition laws had failed to curb either supply or demand, cut violence or reduce profits for organised crime. It went on to say the ban on the production, supply, possession and use of some drugs for non-medical purposes was causing immense harm. In an interview with The Independent, Rolles, who has previously served as an adviser to the Global Commission on Drugs, argues that the most striking thing about the war on drugs is its spectacular failings on its own terms. Steve Rolles wants governments to take the legs from under the drugs barons (Steve Rolles) He says the idea behind the policy was to eradicate drugs from the globe in order to create a drug-free world by 2008, with the official slogan of the 1998 UN conference on the world drug problem being: A Drug-Free World: We Can Do It. Not only did that not happen but actually things continued to get worse so drug markets were founded, prevalence increased and all the problems related to drug use and illegal drug markets increased as well, Rolles says. For a policy that is specifically trying to eradicate drugs from the world, it has overseen the most rapid expansion of drug use in human history. Global commission call for legalisation of drugs The policy has instead backfired, he points out, leading to the creation of an enormous illegal market where hundreds of billions every year are controlled by violent gangsters. So we have all of this crime and violence, both on UK city streets and around the world, which is fuelled by the illegal drug trade. We dont have those issues with legal drugs. We dont have tobacconists gunning each other down in the streets. All the problems associated with the vast illegal drug trade are essentially a result of prohibition. Instead of protecting the health of the public, the war on drugs has made drugs more dangerous, Rolles maintains. Its not deterring youth. Its not preventing availability of access to drugs. Its actually making drugs more dangerous. All drugs are fundamentally risky but when theyre produced and supplied through an illegal market they become more risky. People dont know how strong they are, people dont know whats in them, their potency can vary wildly. All of the things that that the war on drugs is supposedly achieving in terms of protecting our health or protecting us from crime, its actually doing the opposite. World's 10 deadliest street drugs Show all 10 1 /10 World's 10 deadliest street drugs World's 10 deadliest street drugs Whoonga Whoonga is a combination of antiretroviral drugs, used to treat HIV, and various cutting agents such as detergents and poisons. The drug is widely available in South Africa due to South Africas high rate of HIV sufferers, and is believed to be popular due to how cheap it is when compared to prescribed antiretrovirals. The drug is highly addictive and can cause major health issues such as internal bleeding, stomach ulcers and ultimately death Getty World's 10 deadliest street drugs Scopolamine Scopolamine is a derivative from the nightshade plant found in the Northern Indian region of South America (Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela). It is generally found in a refined powder form, but can also be found as a tea. The drug is more often used by criminals due its high toxicity level (one gram is believed to be able to kill up to 20 people) making it a strong poison. However, it is also believed that the drug is blown into the faces of unexpecting victims, later causing them to lose all sense of self-control and becoming incapable of forming memories during the time they are under the influence of the drug. This tactic has reportedly been used by gangs in Colombia where there have been reports of people using scopolamine as way to convince victims to rob their own homes World's 10 deadliest street drugs Heroin Founded in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, heroin is one of the worlds oldest drugs. Originally it was prescribed as a strong painkiller used to treat chronic pain and physical trauma. However in 1971 it was made illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Since then it has become one of the most destructive substances in the world, tearing apart communities and destroying families. The side effects of heroin include inflammation of the gums, cold sweats, a weak immune system, muscular weakness and insomnia. It can also damage blood vessels which can later cause gangrene if left untreated World's 10 deadliest street drugs Crack cocaine Crack cocaine first came about in the 1980s when cocaine became a widespread commodity within the drug trafficking world. Originally cocaine would have attracted a high price tag due to its rarity and difficulty to produce, but once it became more widespread the price dropped significantly. This resulted in drug dealers forming their cocaine into rock like shapes by using baking soda as a way of distilling the powder down into rock form. People were doing this because it allowed for them to sell cocaine at a lower quantity and to a higher number of people. The side effects of crack cocaine include liver, kidney and lung damage, as well as permanent damage to blood vessels, which can often lead to heart attacks, strokes, and ultimately death World's 10 deadliest street drugs Crystal meth Not just famous because of a certain Walter H White, but also because it is one of the most destructive drugs in the world. First developed in 1887, it became widely used during the Second World War when both sides would give it to their troops to keep them awake. It is also believed that the Japanese gave it to their Kamikaze pilots before their suicide missions. After the war crystal meth was prescribed as a diet aid and remained legal until the 1970s. Since then it has fallen into the hands of Mexican gangs and has become a worldwide phenomenon, spreading throughout Europe and Asia. The effects of crystal meth are devastating. In the short-term users will become sleep depraved and anxious, and in the long-term it will cause their flesh to sink, as well as brain damage and damage of the blood vessels World's 10 deadliest street drugs AH-7921 AH-7921 is a synthetic opioid that was previously available to legally purchase online from vendors until it became a Class A in January 2015. The drug is believed to have 80% of the potency of morphine, and became known as the legal heroin. While there has only been one death related to AH-7921 in the UK, it is believed to be highly dangerous and capable of causing respiratory arrest and gangrene World's 10 deadliest street drugs Flakka Flakka is a stimulant with a similar chemical make-up to the amphetamine-like drug found in bath salts. While the drug was originally marketed as a legal high alternative to ecstasy, the effects are significantly different. The user will feel an elevated heart rate, enhanced emotions, and, if enough is digested, strong hallucinations. The drug can cause permanent psychological damage due to it affecting the mood regulating neurons that keep the minds serotonin and dopamine in check, as well as possibly causing heart failure World's 10 deadliest street drugs Bath salts Bath salts are a synthetic crystalline drug that is prevalent in the US. While they may sound harmless, they certainly arent the sort of salts you drop into a warm bath when having a relaxing night in, they are most similar to mephedrone, and have recently been featured throughout social media due to the zombification of its. The name comes from the fact that the drug was originally sold online, and widely disguised as bath salts. The side effects include unusual psychiatric behaviour, psychosis, panic attacks and violent behaviour, as well as the possibility of a heart attack and an elevated body temperature World's 10 deadliest street drugs Purple Drank One of the more unusual drugs around at the moment, purple drank was popularised in 90s hip hop culture, with the likes of Jay Z and Big Moe all mentioning it in their songs. It is a concoction of soda water, sweets and cold medicine, and is drunk due to cold medicines high codeine content, which gives the user a woozy feeling. However it can also cause respiratory issues and heart failure World's 10 deadliest street drugs Krokodil Krokodil is Russias secret addiction. It is believed that over one million Russians are addicted to the drug. Users of krokodil are attracted to the drug due to its low price; it is sold at 20 a gram while heroin is sold for 60. However, krokodil is considered more dangerous than heroin because it is often homemade, with ingredients including painkillers, iodine, lighter fluid and industrial cleaning agents. This chemical make-up makes the drug highly dangerous and likely to cause gangrene, and eventually rotting of the flesh Rather than continuing the war on drugs, Rolles argues that the drugs market could be reformed in a way that would leave it managed by governments, not gangsters. He advocates strict legal regulation from licensed vendors and different forms of regulation for different drugs, with greater restrictions placed on the more risky drugs. His book outlines five tiers to regulate the drugs market. At the highest tier, the most risky drugs would only be available on prescription for people who are dependent users. The next tier down would be a pharmacy sales model, with a trained and licensed member of staff enforcing a code of practice in terms of age control or not selling to people who are intoxicated, but also available to give advice on health issues or refer people to other services if there are any concerns. The third tier is just more familiar licensed retailing, a bit like tobacconists or off licences, Rolles explains, regulated in terms of opening hours and age access controls. The next model would be a bit like pubs, a licensed venue where people could consume drugs on the premises. So it would be like pubs for alcohol or cannabis coffee shops in the Netherlands. Police discover marijuana grown under heat lights in a residential home during a drugs bust (Getty) You could imagine potentially extending that model to some other drugs. So perhaps membership-based clubs where you could buy and consume MDMA, for example, or perhaps an opium den model where you could go to licensed premises where you can smoke opium. The least regulated model would be basically just a supermarket for mild stimulants, such as coca or poppy tea, very mild products that dont really need much significant regulation at all over and above normal descriptions and sell-by dates and the usual stuff. Rolles believes regulating the drugs market would make less risky drugs relatively more available and more risky drugs relatively less available. And in that way, over time, perhaps shepherd people towards safer products and safer behaviours. Prohibition tends to do the exact opposite. It tends to encourage the use of the most risky products but also encourages people to use them in risky ways and use them in risky environments. Regulation enables us to tilt the market in the opposite direction and encourage safer behaviours, safe products and safer using environments. Rolles goes on to describe how human rights have historically been marginalised in the enforcement of drug laws around the world. At its most extreme, the war on drugs can licence horrific state violence. At a less extreme level, it still can have awful impacts: mass incarceration in the US for example. We see grossly disproportionate penalties and enormous prison sentences for really quite trivial crimes. In a lot of countries you can be flogged or whipped or beaten for minor drug offences. In a number of countries you can actually be executed for trafficking offences. Countries like Iran are executing one or two people a day for drug offences on average and in places like China its even more. A significant portion of the prison population in the UK is there because of the war on drugs, Rolles points out, with some estimates putting it as high as half the entire prison population in there being related to drug markets, or specifically drug offences. Even though not everybody who uses drugs gets a criminal record, we do still have 27,000 people who are criminalised for cannabis possession alone. So tens of thousands of people in the UK are getting criminal records just for using drugs. The cost of the war on drugs is carried by the most marginalised people in society, he says, adding: It tends to be young people, it tends to be people from socially deprived communities and it tends to be ethnic minorities. The people who are swept up in the enforcement net tend to be the ones whose drug use is more public. The white middle-class dinner party set using cocaine doesnt engage with the criminal justice system at all because the system never encounters them. It is a profoundly disproportionate racial make-up of people who are both stopped and searched, and if drugs are found on them then in terms of when they are actually prosecuted, we see a huge disproportionate number of young black men in particular finding their way into criminal records, criminality and prison. Cannabis drug reform is picking up pace around the world. It has been legalised in Uruguay, Canada and eight states in the US, including California, which Rolles points out is of a similar size to the UK. It may be another decade before the UK follows the cannabis reforms being adopted elsewhere (Reuters) Asked how likely it was for cannabis to be decriminalised in Britain, his response is measured: Neither Labour nor the Conservatives are interested in cannabis legalisation. I wouldnt expect legalisation of any drugs under the next government, but perhaps the one after that. So what would a post-drug-war world look like? I dont think society would look more different. Its not as if people arent using drugs now and if they were legal everyone would be, hurrah lets go and take loads of drugs. It doesnt work like that. People who want to use drugs use them already and they are effectively freely available to anyone who wants them. The idea that prohibition is stopping that in any way is nonsense. Legalizing Drugs: The Key to Ending the War is available now at 7.99 Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has hinted he could delay Donald Trumps contentious state visit to Britain later this year if he is elected Prime Minister in seven days time. In an interview with The Independent, Mr Corbyn said he was very concerned about the speed in which Mr Trump received the honour by Theresa May just seven days after the political neophyte took office. The Presidents predecessor, Barack Obama, was extended the invitation by the former Prime Minister David Cameron over 800 days into his administration. Recommended UK public agree with Jeremy Corbyn on foreign policy terror links On the occasion, in 2011, Mr Obama met Mr Cameron at Downing Street, was greeted by the Queen and senior royals at Buckingham Palace, and delivered a speech in Westminster Hall. Obviously there have to be relations with the USA, Mr Corbyn added. My views on Donald Trumps statements and utterances during the Presidential election are extremely well known. "There has to be a relationship with the US Government, you have to tell them what you believe." Mr Corbyn also pointed out that the former US President Mr Obama had to wait three years into his administration for his first state visit. Read Jeremy Corbyns full interview with The Independent here He continued: George Bush, second term. Reagan, second term. I think they were all second term. Asked whether he believed the former television celebrity should have to wait until a potential second term in office, the Labour leader replied: Well, its not up to me as the invitation has already been issued. Pressed again on whether Mr Trump would be welcome here in October the date believed to have been pencilled in by officials he added: Well, lets find out that on 9 June. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Emily Thornberry, Labours Shadow Foreign Secretary, has previously said Mr Trumps state visit invitation will not be rescinded but did not comment on the date he would be welcome to visit the UK should her party emerge victorious at the general election next week. It comes after Ms Mays invitation to the US President in January was immediately met with protest by both the public and Parliament after it coincided with his widely-condemned executive order to ban immigrations from predominately Muslim countries from entering in the US for a period of 90 days. A petition, earlier this year, to block Mr Trumps state visit received around 1.85m signatures, triggering a debate in Westminster Hall. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Labour-led alliance of progressive parties could gain enough seats to form the next government, according to a new poll which shows the UK could be on course for a hung parliament after the general election. There are 50 Conservative seats where the combined progressive vote would be enough to oust the partys sitting MP, analysis of the YouGov seat projection has found. To remove them, voters would have to tactically vote for the candidate with the best chance of unseating them. In the vast majority of cases this is a Labour or Lib Dem candidate. Based on the poll, campaign group Progressive Alliance has calculated that a number of high-profile MPs could lose their seat if parties cooperate at the general election. Housing Minister Gavin Barwell in Croydon Central and City Minister Simon Kirby in Brighton Kemptown could be among the casualties. The Labour Party has not responded to a request for comment from The Independent, but it has consistently maintained that it will do no deals with other parties. A grassroots drive for progressive alliances saw several tactical withdrawals take place across the country before candidates were decided on 11 May in the hope of boosting the chances of a Tory defeat. Most of these were undertaken by the Green Party, which stood down in a total of 24 constituencies in order to funnel votes to Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates. The Liberal Democrats also agreed not to stand in Brighton Pavilion to boost the chances for the Green Partys co-leader Caroline Lucas. Labour and Liberal Democrat activists meanwhile agreed not to campaign in South West Surrey, in a bid to unseat Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Neal Lawson, chair of Compass, the pressure group coordinating the Progressive Alliance, said the poll showed tactical voting will make or break the result of the general election for progressive parties. Recommended UK could be heading towards hung parliament after general election Our analysis reveals the seats where tactical voting is going to make or break the election for progressives, he said. These include seats where the Conservatives have been vulnerable for a very long time but because of split voting between supporters of progressive parties the Tories still manage to squeeze through. He added: The projection by YouGov has progressive parties Labour, Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Greens and SDLP two seats over the required majority to form a government. If this was to play out on election day, Theresa May will not have enough seats to command the confidence of the House. The seat-by-seat prediction by YouGov for The Times suggests that the Conservatives are on course to win 310 seats at the election short of an absolute majority of 326 seats needed to form a government. Such a result would mean the Labour leader would have to be willing to enter negotiations with other political parties if he wished to enter Downing Street. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images But Mr Corbyn has unequivocally ruled out a coalition deal with Nicola Sturgeons SNP. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron also said in April that he will do no deal, no deal with anybody under any circumstances unlike his predecessor Nick Clegg who entered government with the Conservatives. Frances Foley, campaign manager for Progressive Alliance, urged people to vote smart in their constituency by backing the candidate with the best chance of unseating the Conservatives. She said: Tactical voting has never been more important. Under first past the post, nearly 75 per cent of all votes cast are ultimately wasted. Until we get proportional representation, progressives need to vote smart in their constituency to back the candidate who has the best chance of unseating the Conservatives. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} YouGov has outlined how its reached its shock prediction of a hung parliament at the general election. The company's latest figures for The Times suggest the Conservatives may win just 310 seats, 16 short of an absolute majority and 21 fewer than secured by David Cameron in 2015. While its own polling and others' have shown Labour creeping up on the Tories for some time, YouGov's numbers released on Wednesday morning were the first to show Theresa May's majority shrinking. General Election polls and projections: May 31 YouGov assessed the intentions of every type of voter and gathered information on how they voted in the EU referendum, their age, where they live and their social backgrounds, through 50,000 interviews over the course of a week. It then used data from the Office of National Statistics, the British Election study and past election results and estimated the number of each type of voter in each constituency. It combined model probabilities and estimated census counts to reach seat-by-seat predictions. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images However, YouGov admitted there was significant potential for "churn" closer to polling day, with a wide margin for error in its results. The Tories could win just 274 seats on a bad day, according to the model, or up to 345. Its chief executive, Stephan Shakespeare, told The Times: "The data suggests that there is churn on all fronts, with the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats likely to both lose and gain seats. "Based on the model's current estimates, some seats are likely to change hands along EU referendum dividing lines." YouGov has controversially predicted a hung parliament (Statista/The Independent) YouGov's results, pictured above in an infographic created for The Independent by statistics agency Statista, are at odds with a ComRes poll for The Independent at the weekend. That survey suggested the Tories were 12 points ahead despite growing support for Jeremy Corbyn over social care. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Green leader Caroline Lucas has told Amber Rudd she does not know how she sleeps at night knowing the level of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The scathing attack was made after Ms Lucas demanded to know why the UK has now become the worlds second biggest arms dealer. Ms Rudd claimed having a strong arms industry was necessary in order to defend the country. The clash came as the live BBC election debate discussed terrorism and UK foreign policy. Ms Lucas said the UK must stop adding to the worlds problems and singled out arms sales to Saudi, which has led a brutal bombing campaign in neighbouring Yemen. Addressing Ms Rudd directly, she went on: My question is this really, why is Britain the second biggest arms dealer in the world? Why are we selling to 22 of the 30 countries on our the Governments own human rights watch list? Why do we make ten times more in arms sales to Saudi Arabia than we gave to Yemen in aid? I genuinely wonder how you sleep at night knowing those figures. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images The Prime Minister has talked a lot about boosting trade after Brexit, but campaigners have raised concerns that her desire to secure any new trade has led to a drop in ethical standards. The Government has recently approved 3.5bn worth of arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia and a stream of British ministers have visited the kingdom to solicit trade despite its ongoing involvement in the bombing campaign in Yemen. Home Secretary Amber Rudd takes part in the BBC Election Debate (PA) Ms Rudd responded: I will make no apology for being a government that wants to defend this country. We will make sure that the defence budget is well funded. We make sure we will do that with a strong economy. We will make sure we can do that by having a strong industry. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Deputy Scottish National Party leader Angus Robertson has clashed with Ukip leader Paul Nuttall after he "went straight for Muslims" during a question about terrorism. Speaking on the BBCs election debate, the leaders of the UKs main political parties, and Home Secretary Amber Rudd, discussed security. Mr Nuttall was asked if he believed it would make Britain safer to detain suspected terrorists without trial. He said: Ive said nothing should be taken off the table. As far as Im concerned, when MI5 tell us that theres a possible 23,000 jihadis out thereId put British lives over the human rights of jihadis any day. Caroline Lucas asks Amber Rudd 'how can you sleep at night' when dealing arms with Saudi Arabia But Mr Robertson interjected, saying: I remember the question was about terrorism and extremism, and you notice that Ukip went straight for Muslims. It wasnt a Muslim who shot Jo Cox, one of Jeremys [Corbyn] Labour MP colleagues. It was a British, right wing, neo Nazi. Who was it who gunned down kids in Norway? It was a Norwegian, white, racist, neo Nazi. There are all kinds of threats that we need to combat. On terrorism, Mr Corbyn said that British military intervention in countries such as Libya had left "ungoverned spaces" which the extremists had been able to exploit to mount attacks. "If you intervene somewhere, the consequences go on for a very long time," he said. "It would be extremely unwise for any government anywhere in the world to ignore what is happening in Libya, where large areas are left ungoverned and very dangerous forces are arising there. "What we need to do is recognise the human rights and justice for people all around the world and be prepared to support them, not just go in and bomb and do nothing about it afterwards, which is what happened in Libya." He was attacked by Ms Rudd for consistently failing to support anti-terrorism legislation throughout his time in Parliament. "We have to make sure we have the right legislation. I am shocked that Jeremy Corbyn just in 2011 boasted that he had opposed every piece of anti-terror legislation in his 30 years in office," she said. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images "I really think he must be held accountable for that because I find it chilling." Mr Corbyn responded that Mrs May and other senior Conservatives had voted against anti-terror laws in 2005. "My opposition to anti-terror legislation isn't opposition to protecting us from terrorism. It is simply saying there must be judicial oversight over what is done in our name," he said. Additional reporting by Press Association. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In Theresa Mays re-relaunched campaign with a week to go, the barnacles have certainly been scraped off the boat, to use campaign manager Sir Lynton Crosbys famous phrase. There will surely be no new major policy announcements. Certainly no more misadventures in to the world of social care. The final week will be all about what he will think the campaign should never have deviated from the begin with. Who do you trust on Brexit? Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn. In Wolverhampton this lunchtime, the barnacles had been scraped off, but a few extra passengers have been let on. Behind Theresa Mays head, the word Conservatives was written in by some margin the largest font of the campaign so far, in that it was actually visible to the naked eye. Theresa May and the Conservatives: Strong, Stable Leadership it read. The old soundbites were, inevitably there. It is still, very much, a question of strong and stable leadership versus a coalition of chaos. But no longer was it a question of Every vote for me and my team will strengthen my hand in the negotiation with Brussels. Now it is every vote for me and my local candidates that will do it. It is a change of tack that would appear to have been forced upon them. If there was a purpose to the general election, beyond the irresistible opportunity to crush Jeremy Corbyns Labour, it was to kick the prospect of a second general election far beyond the end of the Brexit negotiations and arguably its worst consequences. It was for that reason that Theresa May fought a Presidential campaign. You are not, in fact, voting for the Conservatives. You are voting for the strong and stable leadership of Theresa May. And when a pensioner accosts Tim Farron in the street in West Oxfordshire in front of the TV cameras and says, Ive voted Labour all my life but do you know who Ill be voting for this time? Theresa. May, you can be left in little doubt that the plan is working. But it depends on the strong and stable President to do their bit. When you have billed yourself as strong and stable, then announce a profoundly un-Conservative policy that compels elderly people with dementia to hand their estates not to their children but to the taxman, then in the face of criticism make British political history by breaking a manifesto pledge before the election has even happened, then arguably the mask has slipped. In Wolverhampton, the BBCs Laura Kuenssberg asked the Prime Minister: Isn't the emerging truth that this campaign is showing you to be weaker rather than stronger?" Theresa May winced and then denied it. But the answer was on the board behind her: Theresa May and the Conservatives. Expect the last week of the campaign to be a little less Presidential than she might have hoped. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Scottish opposition parties have criticised the SNP for its use of an NHS logo as part of its general election campaign. The SNP, which currently holds 56 of 59 Scottish seats in Westminster, posted an image on social media which showed an NHS logo adapted to read NHSNP with the slogan Who cares most about our NHS? On Twitter the party wrote: Vote SNP on 8 June to send the Tories a strong message hands off Scotlands NHS. The partys main rival north of the border, the Scottish Conservatives, has accused it of wrongly appropriated the NHS for its own political ends, while Scottish Labour said it was part of a scare campaign. The health service has been a major political battleground across the UK and was a major issue in the Scottish independence and EU referendum campaigns. The SNP claimed privatisation with the NHS in England threatens funding for NHS Scotland. But the Treasury uses the Barnett formula to calculate the amount of money it allocates to each devolved government to spend on devolved issues such as healthcare, education and social care. Therefore all policy and funding decisions regarding the NHS in Scotland is decided by the Scottish parliament which the SNP has controlled for 10 years. This is why prescriptions and hospital parking is free in Scotland but not the rest of the UK. Scottish Labours health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: "The NHS is already independent in Scotland - the SNP Government sets the budget, decides its priorities and oversees its delivery. "The SNP should stop misusing the NHS logo, given how much damage the nationalists have done to our health service over the last decade." But the SNP hit back at its critics, calling the criticism completely and utterly pathetic. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images A spokesman said: "They can't find anything to say on the substance of today's SNP manifesto so they're after us on style. "The fact is that the Tories are trashing the health service in England - presiding over a humanitarian crisis - while Labour can't match our ambition on funding for our NHS. "We're investing record levels in healthcare and standing up for our hardworking nurses, doctors and other NHS staff. "People will take this nonsense for what it is - a mere distraction from the serious issues in this election on which the Tories and Labour have no ideas and no clue." The Scottish Conservatives suggested that the SNP might be in breach of strict election rules that forbid the use of the logos of public bodies in campaigning, but the Scottish Government said the image was not an official logo so these rules did not apply. The SNP is fighting hard to retain control of the seats it gained in 2015. The party swept the board at the last election gaining 50 seats following the collapse of the Scottish Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrat votes. But a resurgent Scottish Conservatives, run by popular leader Ruth Davidson, is snapping at its heels with some polls suggesting they could win as many as 11 seats in Scotland. Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} World leaders who fail to determinedly oppose Donald Trumps stance on climate change, religion and war are complicit in policies that will put Europes security at risk, Germanys Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has claimed. In remarks which could be interpreted as an implicit attack on Theresa May who has resolutely ignored a campaign calling on her to convince Mr Trump to keep the US within the Paris Agreement on climate change Mr Gabriel made clear the growing political divide between the European Union and America. In contrast Ms May has jokingly suggested she and the US President might be attracted to each other, talked about making the special relationship between the US and UK stronger, and been accused of being Mr Trumps mole in the EU. Greenpeace has been raising a petition asking Ms May to use her influence to persuade Mr Trump to stay within the Paris Agreement, while WWF published a poll which found 84 per cent of people wanted the Prime Minister to intervene. Mr Gabriel, who is also Germanys foreign minister and previously served as environment minister, roundly condemned Mr Trumps policies. Whoever accelerates climate change by not protecting the environment adequately, whoever sells more weapons into war zones, whoever does not choose to resort to politics to resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk, he said, according to the German-language news website RP Online. The Trump administration wants to end climate deals, distribute more arms in crisis region and prevent people of some religions from traveling into [the US]. If we Europeans dont determinedly oppose this today, then the flows of migration into Europe will only become greater. Whoever does not oppose these US policies is making themselves complicit. Mr Trump has said he will announce whether the US will remain in the Paris Agreement this week. Opinion is divided about whether it would be better for the world if the US stayed or left. Remaining a signatory in bad faith might give cover for others to backslide on commitments, while leaving might lead to more extreme policies in the US and trigger other departures. Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, made clear he believed it would be important for the US not to leave the Paris Agreement. Recommended May stays silent as Merkel and Macron tackle Trump over climate change But if it did quite, it was still very important for US society as a whole the cities, the states, the companies, the businesses to remain engaged, he added. And in a speech at the New York University he made an impassioned plea for the world to do more to prevent global warming from spiralling out of control. While the Paris Agreement pledged signatories to try to restrict global warming to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible, the actual actions promised still do not go nearly far enough to limit temperature rise, Mr Guterres said. Commitments so far could still see temperatures rise by 3 degrees or more, he said. So we must do our utmost to increase ambition and action until we can bend the emissions curve and slow down global warming. He pointed out that 80 per cent of the worlds energy still came from fossil fuels, which could not be phased out overnight. But Mr Guterres stressed: The journey from Paris is well underway. The support across all sectors of society is profound. The transition in the real economy is a fact. There will be bumps along the path ... but with everyones participation, the world can bring the Paris Agreement fully to life. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP With mentioning Mr Trumps name a theme in international climate discussions that has led to comparisons with the unnameable villain in the Harry Potter stories he added: The climate conversation should cease to be a shouting match. My door is open to all who wish to discuss the way forward, even those who might hold divergent perspectives. The Conservative Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The majority of the British public believe British foreign policy has been in part responsible for terror attacks on UK soil, according to a new poll. The survey conducted by YouGov found 53 per cent of people support the view - more than twice the proportion who think foreign policy plays no role (24 per cent). It follows Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns speech last week in which he linked the UKs intervention abroad to terrorism here at home. General Election polls and projections: May 31 Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries, such as Libya, and terrorism here at home, he said. His comments in the wake of the deadly Manchester attack, that left 22 dead, were strongly condemned by politicians and commentators, who accused Mr Corbyn of political posturing. Days later, he stood by the comments, telling Jeremy Paxman: We have to have a foreign policy around the world that doesn't leave large areas without any effective government - such as in Libya at the present time - which can become a breeding ground for enormous danger for all of us. "My point was absolute condemnation. My point was that we need more police not less - that's why we've pledged to provide 10,000 more police on our streets. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Despite the criticism, the latest poll shows the longtime peace campaigner to be on the right side of public opinion. Weeks before, Mr Corbyn also claimed Britain was wrong to enter any of the six conflicts since the Second World War, a view reflected by the general public. YouGov found 55 per cent of Britons also thought it was wrong to intervene in Iraq in 2003, while 44 per cent and 43 per cent thought it was wrong to enter Libya and Afghanistan respectively. However, Mr Corbyns views on the Falklands conflict clash with public opinion, with 51 per cent of people believing Britain was right to take military action against Argentina following the invasion. The Labour leader has been accused of calling the intervention a Tory plot to keep their money-making friends in business in 1982, but has denied making the comments. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jeremy Corbyn has insisted only winning the election will be a good result for Labour, as polls show his party closing the gap on Theresa Mays stuttering campaign. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, the Labour leader brushed aside claims he is ready to merely settle for an increased vote share or even defeat as long as Labour retains most of its MPs. Instead the more confident Labour leader told how increasing numbers of people were coming out to campaign for his party, which he said is also receiving a growing number of donations. In the interview, Mr Corbyn also indicated he may delay a state visit from Donald Trump as one of his first acts in office if he wins and help students who have already taken on huge debts as well as scrapping tuition fees in the future. His intervention comes as the Conservatives attempt to re-ignite their campaign, with Ms May under pressure over a series of embarrassing U-turns and for refusing to debate other leaders. The Prime Minister was even asked if she would resign if the Tories lose seats on 8 June. The incredible turnaround from what appeared to be a certain victory for the Tories a month ago has been mapped out in polls showing a dwindling Tory lead, with one seat projection this week indicating Britain is heading for a hung parliament In the last fortnight Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said if Labour wins as few as 200 seats a loss of 29 it would be a successful campaign, while allies have suggested the party is heading in the right direction if Mr Corbyn matches or increases the 30.4 per cent vote share won by Ed Miliband in 2015. But asked what would mark a good result next week, Mr Corbyn replied unequivocally: Winning the election. I had a conversation with Len on the phone and thanked him for the support Unite members are giving to our election campaign and he assured me that he not only strongly supports us but believes we can win the election. Thats what he told me. He said he believed the broadcast election rules are helping his party get a fair hearing as it gains traction in the polls. While Ms May is still in possession of a commanding lead, Mr Corbyn is adamant he can win the election. Look, our support is building. The small donations are growing and thats a sign of something, he said. Look at the enthusiasm. Look at the numbers of people who are now campaigning for Labour and what were inviting people to do in the last two weeks of this campaign [is] to have conversations about the kind of society and world we want to live in. Look at what were offering and saying. In the short period between the Prime Minister calling the election and now, Labour has been surging in the polls from its low-point of 26 per cent of the vote share. The rise led to a YouGov seat-by-seat projection published in The Times which signalled the UK is now heading for a hung parliament a result which would represent a catastrophe for Ms May after she took her party into the campaign with a historic lead. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images While Mr Corbyn said he doesnt comment on polls he said the election broadcasting rules have been important to his campaign, alongside his absolute refusal to engage in any form of personal abuse. Its clear he wants the next 13 days to concentrate on party policy and the manifesto released last week, which went viral on social media. Weve had two years since I became leader of the party and an almost obdurate refusal to engage in policy debate by a lot of our media. They are now, because of broadcasting rules on elections, forced to give some degree of balance. That is helping. At last were getting some coverage for policies rather than stuff that is said about individuals, which I just dont engage with. An ally of Mr Corbyn adds that the public are finally seeing that he is not the person he has been portrayed as in some sections of the right-wing press. Others suggest he appears reinvigorated, which the Labour leader himself credits to the fresh air he is breathing on the campaign trail. General Election polls and projections: May 31 Im constantly excited and meeting people, he added. Hearing their life stories, their views, their problems, their joys, their success, and thats where I think politically you have to be. You have to be representing people and what theyre trying to achieve in their lives. If you cut yourself off youre not very good at what youre doing. I enjoy it. If successful next Thursday, Mr Corbyn would also be responsible for facilitating the state visit of Mr Trump an invitation extended by Ms May just seven days after he took office. But Mr Corbyn said he was very concerned about the speed in which the invitation occurred. The Presidents predecessor Barack Obama was extended the honour over 800 days into his administration. He added: Obviously there have to be relations with the USA. My views on Donald Trumps statements and utterances during the Presidential election are extremely well known. There has to be a relationship with the US government, you have to tell them what you believe. Jeremy Corbyn confronts Amber Rudd: 'Have you ever been to a foodbank?' Mr Corbyn also pointed out that the former US President Mr Obama had to wait three years into his administration for his first state visit. He continued: George Bush, second term. Reagan, second term. I think they were all second term. Asked whether he believed the former television celebrity should have to wait until a potential second term in office, the Labour leader replied: Well, its not up to me as the invitation has already been issued. Pressed again on whether Mr Trump would be welcome here in October the date believed to have been pencilled in by officials he added: Well, lets find out on 9 June. The Labour leader also revealed he was sympathetic towards students who are already saddled with debt. Under his plans, new students will be freed from paying in excess of 9,000 in tuition fees as early as the start of the new term in September. But this would leave a generation of students and recent graduates with eye-watering debts due to the higher fees introduced during the coalition government. I appreciate that and we will look into that effect, said Mr Corbyn. Weve not got a policy or proposal on it. There wasnt time between the announcement of the election and the publication of the manifesto but I do understand that point and Im entirely sympathetic to it. But if Labour loses the election the policies often popular with the public are likely to be disregarded. His own position as Labour leader will be in the spotlight once more. Listen, all Ive said to everybody is Im proud to lead this party, Im proud to lead this party on this election and were campaigning to win it, he said. That is the only story. While there is no obligation to stand down, the last time the leader of either of the main parties lost a general election and continued to lead was in 1987. When Neil Kinnock eventually resigned, after a second defeat in 1992, he was succeeded by his Shadow Chancellor, John Smith. However, it would be unusual for a party leader to promise to stand down ahead of a contest, as they would be openly admitting they might lose. In 2010, Gordon Brown told reporters he would stay on at the helm of the Labour party should he lose the election. He resigned from his duties five days after losing the vote and coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats fell through. Pressed again on his position, he repeated: That is the only story. That is the only story. If he does defy the pollsters and psephologists forecasts on election day, Mr Corbyn will have to navigate through one of the most difficult and complex constitutional hurdles in modern British history in negotiating Britains exit from the European Union. Unlike the incumbent Prime Minister, who has had 10 months to get to grips with the civil service, the Labour leader will have just 10 days before his team, which is yet to be assembled, enter the first day of an arduous 15-month negotiation. But Mr Corbyn seems unfazed by this. We are having an election for the people of this country to chose Members of Parliament, he added. I think we should have more respect for democracy than that and say thats the decision of the British people. I will then negotiate. I will negotiate what Ive already said: tariff-free access to the European market, protection of workers, consumer and environmental rights that weve achieved through the EU and the protection of EU nationals living here. His government would also hold a strategic defence review, he adds, which will obviously include the rule of nuclear but will also concentrate very heavily on what is a serious threat and that is cyber attacks and cyber security and whether or not were spending our money in the right direction. Asked whether Trident Britains nuclear deterrent will be up for discussion in the review, he replied: Trident has been voted on by the party conference. I want a nuclear-free world, everybody knows that. I made it very clear I wish to carry out the nuclear proliferation treaty and that means I will be active on all of this. Youll have an active minister for defence, an active junior minister responsible for disarmament and peace issues. We have a world where there is a ban on chemical weapons, a world where there is a ban on landmines. Obviously, difficulty enforcing those things on many occasion. I think the reduction in nuclear warheads has already happened around the world. I think we have to be serious about reducing nuclear tensions. Mr Corbyn, however, is confident his cat, El Gato, will not have any problems bonding with the felines already residing in Whitehall and the ongoing turf-war between them. El Gato is like all cats, fairly individual, he said. But hes also formed a great friendship with a stray cat so there are socialist tendencies in Gatos character. Hes allowing a stray cat to share his food. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jeremy Corbyn has said he is looking at ways to reduce the debt burden of thousands of former university students as part of his education reforms if he wins the election next week. It comes after the Labour leader previously announced a policy at the partys manifesto launch to free new university students from paying in excess of 9,000 a year in fees as early as this autumn. The party said it would abolish fees from 2018 and write off the first year of fees for those planning to start university this September. Those part way through their degree would pay no further fees for the remainder of the course. But this would leave a generation of students and recent graduates with eye-watering debts due to the higher fees introduced during the coalition government. Jeremy Corbyn confronts Amber Rudd: 'Have you ever been to a foodbank?' I appreciate that and we will look into that effect, Mr Corbyn told The Independent in an interview. Weve not got a policy or proposal on it. There wasnt time between the announcement of the election and the publication of the manifesto but I do understand that point and Im entirely sympathetic to it. Read Jeremy Corbyns full interview with The Independent here Asked about the issue in separate interview with NME magazine, the Labour leader expanded, adding: There is a block of those that currently have a massive debt, and Im looking at ways that we could reduce that, ameliorate that, lengthen the period of paying it off, or some other means of reducing that debt burden. I dont have the simply answer for it at this stage I dont think anybody would expect me to, because this election was called unexpectedly, we had two week to prepare all of this but Im very well aware of that problem. At the partys manifesto launch earlier this month Mr Corbyn said that the Tories have held students back for too long, saddling them with debt that blights the start of their working lives. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images He continued: Labour will lift this cloud of debt and make education free for all as part of our plan for a richer Britain for the many not the few. We will scrap tuition fees and ensure universities have the resources they need to continue to provide a world-class education. Students will benefit from having more money in their pockets, and we will all benefit from the engineers, doctors, teachers and scientists that our universities produce. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has denied she is refusing to debate Jeremy Corbyn because she is frightened of her weaknesses being exposed on live television. The Prime Minister faced a barrage of questions about her refusal to go head-to-head with the Labour leader after he suddenly announced he would attend tonights election showdown. Ms May claimed it was more important for her to spend time on the campaign trail, taking questions from members of the public who are going to be voting on 8 June. Asked why - if you are so strong and Jeremy Corbyn is so weak, as you said" - she was sending Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, to stand in for her in the TV spotlight, she laughed at length. Then, quizzed if it was because she was frightened to face Mr Corbyn, she told an audience in Bath: No. Jeremy Corbyn seems to be paying far more attention to how many appearances on television hes doing. He ought to be paying a little more attention to thinking about Brexit negotiations. Thats what Im doing, to make sure we get the best possible deal for Britain. Tonights debate will be on BBC, prompting the Prime Minister to add: I feel sorry for ITV why didnt he do their debate? Asked a third time, why she was snubbing TV voters, the Prime Minister insisted: Ive not been off the television screens, Ive been doing things in the television. predominantly taking questions from the voters and listening to voters. I think the debates where the politicians are squabbling amongst themselves dont do anything for the process of electioneering, She was also accused of dodging the debate because the viewers wont like what they see and they will think thats what it will like in the Brexit negotiations. The questions came after Mr Corbyn threw down the gauntlet to the Prime Minister, claiming it was ridiculous he could not debate her before election day and accusing her of weakness. In a statement he said: I will be taking part in tonight's debate because I believe we must give people the chance to hear and engage with the leaders of the main parties before they vote. I have never been afraid of a debate in my life. Labours campaign has been about taking our policies to people across the country and listening to the concerns of voters. The Tories have been conducting a stage-managed arms-length campaign and have treated the public with contempt. Refusing to join me in Cambridge tonight would be another sign of Theresa Mays weakness, not strength. Mr Corbyn had originally indicated he would not take part in any head-to-head contest with other leaders if Ms May did not. But, with his party gaining on the Tories, the move to challenge Ms May over tonight's BBC 1 debate, to be broadcast at 7.30pm, marks a more confident Labour campaign. It comes after a seat-by-seat prediction by YouGov for The Times suggested Britain could be on course for a hung parliament in nine days time, with the Conservatives falling 16 seats short of an overall majority. At the event in Bath, the Prime Minister also faced tough questions from workers at an aeronautical plant, including about why there was a crisis in the NHS. Other workers quizzed her on rising homelessness, cuts to school funding and the likely higher cost of exporting to the EU after Britain leaves the single market. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Party leaders have launched blistering attacks on Theresa May for not showing up to the election debate. The Prime Minister declined to take part in the seven way head-to-head debate broadcast on the BBC, sending Home Secretary Amber Rudd in her place even though Jeremy Corbyn decided to attend at the last moment. Ms May has denied that she is not attending because she is frightened of losing on live television, instead saying her time is better served on the campaign trail. But Liberal Democrat Tim Farron condemned the decision, saying: Good leaders dont run away from a debate. He said: Whatever weve discussed this evening, her absence is the shadow that hangs over this election. How dare you call a general election then run away from the debate. During his final pitch to the nation at the end of the programme, he even advised views to turn over to BBC2 to watch the Great British Bake Off rather than listen to the Conservatives pitch. Amber Rudd is up next. She is not the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is not here she cant be bothered so why should you. In fact Bake Off is on BBC2 next, why not make yourself a brew? You are not worth Theresa Mays time dont give her yours, he said. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Green party leader Caroline Lucas piled in on the absent PM by adding: I think the first rule of leadership is to show up. You dont call a general election and say it is the most important election in her lifetime and then not even be bothered to debate the issues at hand. The Conservative election campaign has faltered in recent weeks after the party was forced into an embarrassing U-turn over its plans for the so-called dementia tax. Its manifesto promised to remove social care so the elderly do not need to pay for the care they receive while they are alive. But critics pointed out this would penalise those who suffer a slow decline through illnesses such as dementia, over those who die suddenly and can then pass on their estate intact to their children. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has sidestepped a question over whether she will resign if her decision to take the country to the polls sees the Conservatives lose seats in the Commons. The Prime Minister said there is only one poll that matters before trying to shift discussion on to Brexit negotiations, a policy area she is more comfortable with. It comes after a seat-by-seat projection published in the The Times today indicated the country is heading for a hung parliament. Such a result would be a major blow for Ms May, who started the election campaign with many predicting a landslide victory for the Tories. Asked whether she would resign if her party drops seats, she said at an event in Bath: There is only one poll that matters and that is the poll that takes place on 8 June, and when it comes to that poll people have a very clear choice. That choice is about who is going to be Prime Minister and its about who is going to lead the UK in those Brexit negotiations, who has the plan to do that, the determination to get the best deal, who has the strong and stable leadership to do that. But its also about who will take this country forward for the future. I believe there is a great future for this country, we can be even more prosperous when we ensure we get the Brexit deal right. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images George Osbornes London Evening Standard this week labelled Theresa Mays Conservative manifesto as the most disastrous in recent history. Ms May is also under pressure to attend the BBC live election debate to be broadcast this evening after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn revealed he would attend. The Prime Minister said there was more to be gained speaking directly to voters face to face, than from voters watching events where politicians are squabbling amongst themselves. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At around midnight on Tuesday night President Trump tweeted despite the constant negative press covfefe, sparking an intense debate about what he meant. It seems likely the President meant to begin a tweet with despite the constant negative press coverage - however, three hours later, the tweet had not been deleted. The tweet instantly went viral, and had been retweeted 79,000 times at the the time of writing - making it Mr Trumps most popular tweet in months. (Donald Trump (Donald Trump) The term doesnt appear in the Oxford English Dictionary, but Urban Dictionary suggests the following definition: When you want to say "coverage" but your hands are too small to hit all the letters on your keyboard." Others speculated about how the neologism should be properly pronounced. One twitter poll by Fusion, with over 20,000 participants, showed cov-FEE-fee with a narrow lead of 37%, with cov-FEH-fay just behind at 36%. Within just three hours of the Presidents tweet, a number of covfefe T-shirts were already available to purchase online. A number of Twitter users made references to films, suggesting covfefe might be the final word Bill Murray whispered to Scarlett Johannson in Lost in Translation. Others drew parallels with Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane - in which a reporter searches for the meaning of rosebud, the enigmatic dying word of a newspaper magnate. One of the most popular tweets showed the Presidents face superimposed onto Turkish internet sensation salt bae. The White House has not yet commented on the covfefe controversy. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} When news emerged in 2013 that the US government had monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's communications for years, Merkel sent a firm but conciliatory message to Washington. Friends don't spy on each other, she said, and then moved on to calm tensions. At the time, US security experts defended the surveillance, saying friendships can easily end - an argument that was swiftly dismissed in Berlin, where strong transatlantic ties had long been the foundation of its international diplomacy. Four years later, however, the once-unthinkable suddenly seems very real. President Donald Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Germany in recent weeks, taking to Twitter on Tuesday in the latest attack - targeting Germany's military spending and trade practices. 30 May tweet: Germans, long opposed to many of Trump's campaign promises, are irritated and concerned by his criticism of their country. They wonder why the leader of Germany's most influential international ally seems more willing to criticise their country than nations with questionable human rights records. Europeans think they are now being treated worse by Trump than countries like Russia or Saudi Arabia, said Stephan Bierling, an expert on transatlantic relations at the University of Regensburg in Germany. Confronted with Trump's verbal attacks on Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel - who is known for her cautious choice of words - appears to be increasingly outspoken about the ongoing decline of German-US relations. Although she was never a supporter of Trump, she initially expressed a willingness to collaborate with him if he respected values such as the dignity of each and every person. Her conditional offer of support, made the day after Trump's election, was meant as both an invitation to work together and a subtle warning. But after contentious meetings with Trump last week, Merkel indicated changes in the US-German equation, saying Sunday that Europe really must take our fate into our own hands and emphasising that the days when her continent could rely on others was over to a certain extent. This is what I have experienced in the last few days. In Berlin, Trump's attacks on Germany have raised questions about the future of the alliance. Besides strong economic ties, Germany hosts some of the United States' biggest military bases abroad and about half of all US soldiers on the continent. But Trump says Germany's trade surplus hurts US interests, and he has criticised what he deems as Germany's low defence spending. Merkel rejects most of his criticism as baseless. The bilateral strains mean that the United States has, to some extent, lost the trust of one of Europe's most pro-American leaders. The German chancellor, the most powerful politician in Europe, grew up in Eastern Germany, and her upbringing there has long been credited for her staunch support for closer European-American ties. Given her experience with the Cold War, Merkel has long upheld and defended American ideals. But the belief in shared values has been shattered by the Trump administration, Bierling said. As the German leader starts to focus on general elections in September and her bid for a fourth term in office, the transatlantic rift could further deepen. Leading Social Democrats said Monday that Merkel should have openly opposed Trump from the start rather than trying to work with him at first. Merkel needs to put some distance between herself and Trump, who is exceptionally unpopular in Germany, said Marcel Dirsus, a political scientist at the University of Kiel in northern Germany. But how far is Merkel really willing to go? Dirsus cautioned that Germany remained reliant on the United States, especially in terms of its military. Germany will have to cooperate with the US, whether it wants to or not, he said. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP Merkel, for instance, announced last spring that she wanted to increase Germany's annual defence budget by $27 billion over the next three years. That would almost double the current budget - but it would still be dwarfed by the $664 billion the United States spends every year. Merkel is unlikely to warm to Trump as she did to former President Barack Obama. But she also won't be able to simply ignore him. Copyright The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump lied to his Republican base and thought they were so stupid they would believe it, according to Jared Kushner. Mr Kushner, a property developer who is both President Trumps senior advisor and son-in-law, reportedly made the remarks after he was challenged about Mr Trumps prolonged interrogation over whether Barack Obama was born in the US. During Mr Obamas 2008 presidential campaign and throughout his presidency, multiple theories emerged falsely claiming he was not a natural-born American US citizen and it was therefore unconstitutional for him to become US President. Mr Trump was among those who pushed the birther conspiracy theory and consistently questioned former President Obamas birthplace of Hawaii. Donald Trump creates social media storm with 'covfefe' tweet The former New York Observer editor has now claimed that Mr Kushner, the former publisher of the paper, informed her that Mr Trump did not believe the birther lies he was peddling. When I was the editor of the New York Observer, Kushner and I were going back and forth about how the paper should cover him, Elizabeth Spiers wrote in a post on Twitter. I told Jared that I was particularly appalled by his father-in-laws birtherism stance, which I viewed as cynical and racist. He rolled his eyes and said He doesnt really believe it, Elizabeth. He just knows Republicans are stupid and theyll buy it. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP Ms Spiers, who served as the editor of the publication from early 2011 to late 2012, made the alleged revelation in order to prove to a right-wing blogger that Mr Trump was a notorious liar. Let's be clear he was talking about you, Doug, she says. Trump did not con Democrats; he conned and is still conning his base. So you have every right to your gullibility and I wont try to deprive you of it, but personally, Id rather know what the hell is going on. Ms Spiers, who is also the founder of Gawker, also claimed that a friend of the mogul-turned-politico once told her Mr Trump would lie to you about what time of day it is, just for the practice. But she is not the only person to argue that President Trump is a liar. It has been asserted by a number of politicians and commentators, with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders branding Mr Trump a pathological liar. What do you do when you have a President-elect, soon to be President, who and I say this not happily but I think most people who observe him would agree is a pathological liar who changes his mind every single day? said Mr Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, at the end of last year. Comedian John Oliver has also called the President a pathological liar. Whats more, at the beginning of the month, Quinnipiac University asked Americans for the first word which springs to mind when they think of President Trump. The answer given more times than any other was idiot, followed by incompetent and then liar. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Campaigners are calling for barbaric male circumcision to be treated like the illegal practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Based in the US state of Michigan, anti-circumcision NoCirc group held a protest outside the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit over the weekend, calling for an end to removing the foreskin of baby boys. The hospital has recently made headlines because it used to employ Dr Jumana Nagarwala, who has been accused of performing FGM on young girls. NoCirc mocked a statement put out by the Henry Ford hospital following Dr Nagarwalas arrest, which said "We would never support or condone anything related to this practice." Really? the group responded. The hospital mutilates the genitals of hundreds of baby boys every year! Unlike FGM, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers a harmful practice, circumcision is considered to be better for hygiene. It is also thought to decrease the risk of urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases and penile cancer. NoCirc claimed 53,000 newborn boys in the state are circumcised every year. Data by a group lobbying for a Male Genital Mutilation Bill used open source medical data to place Michigan in the highest bracket for circumcision in the US. It showed 84 per cent of newborn boys underwent the practice in 2013. While it is commonly carried out for religious reasons, doctors disagree on the extent of its health benefits. While it can reduce the risk of HIV infection, its impact on other diseases and conditions is regarded as negligible. The genital integrity of both girls, boys, and intersex needs to be protected from the harm of circumcision, said Norm Cohen, Executive Director of NoCirc. Male circumcision is a barbaric practice driven by the same reasons as female genital mutilation: cleanliness, tradition, religion, and pseudoscience! However, the slightest cutting of girls' genitals, regardless of religious belief, is a five-year felony. In a statement to the Detroit Metro Times, Mr Cohen added: "Doctors and hospitals profit by perpetuating the myth that infant circumcision is health care. It is not. It is a harmful custom that removes a normal, functioning part of a childs genitals at the request of his parents. FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Show all 12 1 /12 FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl cries after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM The traditional practice of circumcision within the Pokot tribe is a rite of passage that marks the transition to womanhood and is a requirement for all girls before they marry Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls are encouraged to leave their hut and make their way to a place where they will take off their clothes and wash during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised in a tribal ritual in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls, draped in animal skins, sit on rocks during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman performs a circumcision on a girl REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman holds a razor blade after performing a circumcision on four girls REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl bleeds onto a rock after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl is smeared with a white paint after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM More than a quarter of girls and women in Kenya have undergone genital cutting, according to United Nations data REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls covered with animal skins squat on rocks after being stripped naked and washed during their circumcision rite in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS The view that circumcision could be driven by profit has been echoed by doctors within Michigan. The practice can by highly remunerative, according to Timothy Johnson, a University of Michigan professor of obstetrics and gynecology. I think the professional charge in our state is somewhere between $150-200, he told Quartz earlier this year. Thats real money if you can do four or five circumcisions in an hour. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man allegedly killed a two-year-old girl because he was convinced she was a demon. Michael McCarthy, who is accused of murdering Bella Bond, was obsessed with the occult and convinced the girl was demonic, prosecutors claimed at the start of his murder trial. McCarthy denies the charge. The toddler's body was found in a rubbish bag on a beach near Boston, Massachusetts, in 2015. Recommended Engaged couple found murdered in luxury Boston apartment McCarthy was, at the time, the boyfriend of Bellas mother, Rachelle Bond. He is accused of killing the child by suffocating her or repeatedly punching her in the stomach. Her body was placed in a fridge before being put in a plastic bag and dumped in the sea. McCarthys lawyer insisted that Bond was the real killer, claiming it was she who was obsessed with demons. "At the end of this trial you will realise that Rachelle was projecting her own delusions onto Michael, and that she blamed him for what she in fact did," McCarthy's lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro, told the jury. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty He claimed Bond had written in her diary around the time of the killing speculating as to why so many children who go missing are never found. "That's because the leaders of every country get together and torture and rape and kill these innocent children every year just so they can drink their blood and eat their flesh, so that these reptilian demons can have a moment's sanity," she allegedly wrote. Both McCarthy and Bond have struggled with heroin addiction, US authorities said. Bellas body was discovered by a woman walking her dog, but it took police several months to establish the childs identity. The breakthrough came only when Bond told a friend of McCarthys that her daughter was dead. The friend then informed authorities. Bond told police that McCarthy had killed the girl by hitting her. After the killing, prosecutors claim, he said: "She just died. It was her time. She was a demon. He then allegedly told Ms Bond he would kill her if she told anyone about the killing. Ms Bond has already pleaded guilty to helping dispose of her daughters body and continuing to claim government benefits after the childs death. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Armed police have been locked in a stand-off with a man carrying a gun at Orlando International Airport. Authorities in Florida said they had detained a lone "gunman" who had been found in the rental car area on Tuesday evening. A spokesperson for the airport said that the incident had been contained and there was minimal impact to operations. Glorializ Colon Plaza, 20, told the Orlando Sentinel she was just finishing work with Virgin Atlantic airlines when she saw everyone hiding. While leaving a lift, she saw the man on the floor near the rental car area, screaming and surrounded by police. I couldn't make out the words, but he was screaming really loud, she said. Everyone there told me right before this happened a man said to everyone: 'You're going to need mental therapy after this,' then he pulled out a gun and everyone ran. Images posted on social media showed a heavy police presence in the area, with passengers reporting they were told to "get back" by officers. Police were negotiating with the man, who had not initially harmed himself or anyone else. A spokesperson for Orlando Police confirmed that no shots had been fired in the incident and "no active" shooter was at large. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty "Armed suspect is contained but not in custody. Suspect is speaking with a crisis negotiator," a spokesperson added. The force later said the suspect was in custody and "everyone is safe". The Florida Highway Patrol said all roads to the airport were shut down, with zero exceptions. Authorities warned people to stay in their vehicles and away from police, while travellers were urged to check the status of their flight with airlines. Earlier this year, five people were killed inside a baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport by an Iraq war veteran claiming he launched the attack on behalf of Isis. There were no immediate indications that the incident at Orlando airport was terror-related. The city was previously the target of a shooting attack by an Isis supporter, who massacred 49 people at an LGBT-friendly nightclub in June 2016. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Islamic groups have raised nearly half-a-million dollars for the families of the men killed in Portland, Oregon while trying to defend Muslim women from a racist attack. Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Ricky John Best were fatally stabbed and another man was seriously injured after they attempted to help two teenage girls who were being racially abused on a train last week. In the aftermath of the attack the Muslim Education Trust and CelebrateMercy, started a crowdfunding campaign for the victims in order to respond to hate with love. The initial target for the campaign was set at $60,000 (46,500), in order to cover the funeral costs for Mr Best and Mr Namkai-Meche. It was raised in just five hours. After the fundraising drive massively exceeded this target, organisers said they will use the rest of the funds for long term expenses, such as supporting Mr Bests four children through college. If sufficient funds remain, they will go towards establishing a scholarship fund to increase access to education. The organisers said they were inspired by the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, quoting a passage from the Quran. Our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: "Have mercy to those on earth, and the One in Heaven (God) will have mercy upon you." The Prophet's life exemplified that central commandment in the Quran: "Repel evil with that which is better" (41:34). Portland attack suspect Jeremy Christian at a 'free speech rally' making a Nazi salute CelebrateMercy has also launched campaigns to repair Jewish cemeteries after a spate of apparently racially motivated attacks on tombstones across the US. The Portland attacker, Jeremy Christian, appeared in Multnomah County court earlier this week, where he faced charges of murder, attempted murder, possession of a weapon, and intimidation. He shouted: "Free speech or die, Portland. You got no safe place. This is America - get out if you don't like free speech. The 35-year-old was known to be involved with white nationalist groups and was recently photographed at a recent alt-right protest giving a Nazi salute and shouting: Die, Muslims! Asha Deliverance, the mother of Mr Namkai-Meche, has written an open letter calling on Donald Trump to address Islamophobia. You have said that you will be President for all Americans. So, I ask you Mr. President to take action at this time. Your words and actions are meaningful, here in America and throughout the world, she said. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Richard Spencer has had his podcast banned from SoundCloud because it violates the audio platforms terms of use which explicitly forbid hate speech. The leading white supremacist, who rose to fame for being punched at an anti-Trump protest, is credited with coining the term alt-right and used his podcast to discuss his controversial views with guests. Noting that Mr Spencers alt-right Radio show did not fit with SoundClouds community guidelines, a freelance investigative journalist alerted the streaming site, which has 175 million monthly listeners, to the clash in ethics. In a lengthy post on Twitter addressed to SoundCloud, Alex Kotch outlined Spencers political background and listed inflammatory statements he has made and controversies he had been involved in. He also shared a screen shot of an anti-Semitic response he himself had received since penning the public post in which the user asked: What do you want SoundCloud to do? Mark his content with a star? There is no question that Spencer & the 'Alt-right' traffic in hate speech. It is what they do to make themselves feel better, Mr Kotch wrote. Take a listen to some of these recordings. You'll no doubt find countless examples of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, etc. Do the right thing. Abide by your own Terms of Use. Kick neo-Nazis & racist white nationalists off of SoundCloud. Listening to the concerns, SoundCloud decided to remove the podcast because it directly contravenes their terms of service. As such, his post now brings you to a page which says: Nothing found!. The streaming sites terms forbid content that promotes or encourages hatred, discrimination or violence against others based on things like race, cultural identity or ethnic background, religious beliefs, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Joe Mulhall, senior researcher at anti-racism campaign Hope not Hate, told The Independent the decision marked a step in the right direction. A number of alt-right groups have used SoundCloud to disseminate racist, anti-Semitic, white supremacist ideas, and sometimes holocaust denial. It is good news SoundCloud have taken a stand, hopefully, this is the start off a broader thing of taking hate offline. The less mainstream platforms that these people appear on, the more you will have to go on their websites and the less legitimacy they will have. Interestingly Mr Kotch said that while the podcast did not have many followers some of the podcasts had been listened to around 12,000 times. One episode on the platform includes a discussion between Spencer and Paul Kersey, creator of the Stuff Black People Dont Like website and a book of the same name which explores the role Black-Run America (BRA) plays in solidifying the United States permanent decline. In the show, Mr Kersey makes a number of racist bigoted assertions. Make America Great AgainThats a synonym for Make America White Again, Mr Kersey says. To which Spencer replies: Mm-hmm. Mr Kersey chips in: Because wherever America isnt white, its not great. Wherever America is great, its white, to which Spencer replies: Yeah. And wherever America is not safe, its not white. Wherever America is safe, its white, Mr Kersey concludes. Spencer appears yet to have publicly commented on the furore apart from a post on Twitter which said: Alt-right_com has been no-platformed from SoundCloud despite the fact that Ive used the service for years. Stay tuned for updates. A spokesperson for SoundCloud told The Independent why they had chosen to remove the podcast, saying: "SoundCloud is an open platform, so freedom of expression is important to maintain credibility and authenticity with our creators and users. "While we clearly forbid content that promotes or incites hatred in our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines, we do not proactively monitor the platform for content that could be classified as hate speech. Instead, we rely on members of our community to flag this to us. Once flagged, our dedicated trust & safety team act quickly to review. If we determine that reported content is in violation of our Terms of Use, we promptly remove it from the platform." A gym in Virginia recently removed Mr Spencer's membership after a university professor confronted him while he was working out and accused him of being a neo-Nazi. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Spencer, who became an overnight meme after a video of him being punched went viral, is a leader and spokesperson for the so-called alt-right movement a political movement which has been accused of racism, antisemitism and misogyny and of sharing an ideology with far-right parties such as the French National Front. Spencer, who is president of the far-right National Policy Institute, has previously said he rejects the label of white supremacist and instead calls himself an identitarian. He supports a white homeland for a dispossessed white race and calls for peaceful ethnic cleansing to put a stop to the deconstruction of European culture. He once claimed: Hispanics and African Americans have lower average IQs than whites and are more genetically predisposed to commit crimes. A representative for Spencer did not immediately respond to request for comment. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US has successfully tested a long-range weapon designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) for the first time, the military reports. The interceptor missile frequently described as a high-speed effort to hit a bullet with another bullet was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It met an ICBM fired by the US from the Marshall Islands somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment...a critical milestone for this program," said Vice Admiral Jim Syring, the director of the Missile Defence Agency. Navy Captain Jeff Davis told reporters this test would be used to evaluate the system's performance against ICBMs. The military has been testing the interceptor system since 1999, but this is the first time it was tested on an intercontinental missile. The interceptors are tested every two years, but the Department of Defence says only half of the tests have been successful. The last successful test was carried out in June 2014 the first success since 2008. A recent Department of Defence report actually criticised tests of the interceptor, saying they "demonstrate a limited capability to defend the US homeland. The US currently possesses only a single long-range, ground-based interceptor. Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch Show all 11 1 /11 Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch The North Korean leader inspects a missile launch from a safe distance Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch Kim Jong-un discusses plans with military leaders Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch A ballistic rocket of the type launched by the DPRK in defiance of UN sanctions Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch UN officials tracked two ballistic missile launches from North Korea on Friday 18 March Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch The Supreme Leader laughed with officials as the missiles were fired Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch Kim Jong-un was also pictured observing military exercises Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch Tanks fire missiles during military manoeuvres at an undisclosed location Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch The exercises are timed to coincide with military drills by the US and South Korea Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch As well as a tank-driving competition, amphibious craft carried out landing and anti-landing exercises Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch Including paramilitary reserves, the North Korean army is the largest in the world Kim Jong-un inspects military exercises and missile launch The Supreme Leader appeared pleased with the show of force The recent test comes just days after North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile, which flew about 280 miles and landed in the Sea of Japan. A US official told ABC that this test had been planned for years, and was not a response to North Koreas actions. The Pentagon has previously denied that the interceptor programme is intended for North Korean threats exclusively. Defence Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart, however, delivered a stern warning about the countrys capabilities to a Senate hearing last week. "If left on its current trajectory the regime will ultimately succeed in fielding a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States homeland," Lieutenant General Stewart said. The director said it is nearly impossible to predict when North Koreas ICBMs will be operational, but other experts have set that date at around 2025. Kim Jong-un's government has conducted nine missiles tests this year, but despite showing weapons development, none have been intercontinental in reach. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} WINNIPEG, Manitoba, May 31 (Reuters) - Canadian politicians and refugee advocates urged the government on Wednesday to scrap a U.S. pact that has spurred asylum seekers to cross the border illegally after a woman trying to walk into Canada was found dead of possible hypothermia. U.S. police said they discovered the woman's body on Friday near Noyes, Minnesota, which is directly across from the Canadian border town of Emerson where asylum seekers have been crossing in recent months. "This is exactly what we have feared," said New Democrat parliamentarian Jenny Kwan. "We're forcing people to risk life and limb." Recommended One in three refugees on Chios has witnessed a suicide since arriving More than 2,000 asylum seekers have walked into Canada through fields or across ditches since January because if they present themselves at formal border crossings they will be turned back under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. The agreement requires refugees to claim asylum in whichever country they arrive in first, meaning they cannot land in the United States and then try to claim asylum in Canada or vice versa. However, anyone who manages to get in the country is allowed to file an asylum claim. Most of those border crossers say they left the United States because they fear President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Italy on MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie DeardenI Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing health checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing security checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily A man being taken to hospital from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Opposition critics pressed the government in Parliament on Wednesday about when it would suspend the 2004 agreement, which Canada has said it will not withdraw from. "We understand deeply the extent to which people will go to to seek protection for them and their families," Canadian Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen told the House of Commons. "But we discourage strongly people crossing our borders irregularly." A final autopsy result on the woman, identified as Ghanaian Mavis Otuteye, 57, is pending. Police said she was last seen on May 22 and her body was discovered on May 26 after she was reported missing a day earlier. Greg Janzen, elected leader of a Manitoba border municipality that has seen many crossers, said his community has responded to three medical calls from asylum seekers in the past two weeks. "One person has lost her life. How many more have to lose their lives? Now it's more desperate than ever that something has to get changed." -Reuters Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump is becoming increasingly isolated and stressed as the demands of the Presidency take its toll, according to a new report. "He now lives within himself, which is a dangerous place for Donald Trump to be," one source close to Mr Trump told CNN. "I see him emotionally withdrawing. He's gained weight. He doesn't have anybody whom he trusts." The President was already in a pretty glum mood before his first foreign trip to the Middle East and Europe, according to the source. On his return, his woes intensified as fresh allegations emerged which centre on the role of the Presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in communications with the Russian government. Last week, The Washington Post reported Mr Kushner had met a Russian ambassador to discuss setting up a channel which would be immune from security monitoring. A security analyst who worked at the CIA for 25 years said yesterday it was hard to believe the President had no knowledge of his son-in-laws actions. Im going to presume he did this at the behest of the President-elect of the United States, Philip Mudd told CNN. Bush's CIA director: Jared Kushner's dealings with Russia could be espionage As ever, the President dismissed the allegations as the work of the fake news media. Mr Trump is also facing an uphill battle over his hugely unpopular healthcare reforms. The government is making a second attempt to replace Obamacare after it was forced to withdraw its last bill in a high-profile failure for the President. The first American Health Care Act (AHCA) was pulled after it was clear it did not have sufficient support from Republicans. It squeezed through the House of Representatives by 217 votes to 213 - but now faces a tough challenge in the Senate. The latest attempt faces unanimous opposition from the Democrats, as well as a number of Republicans including Ohio governor John Kasich. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell admitted last week he didnt know how the Republicans would be able to reach the 50-vote majority required. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has insulted Chelsea Clinton for criticising remarks he made about his soldiers potentially assaulting women. Mr Duterte had returned to his home city of Davao on Wednesday to celebrate the 119th anniversary of the Philippine Navy. He used the occasion to berate Ms Clinton, who had joined a chorus of condemnation of the President for saying that he would take responsibility for any crimes his soldiers commit while imposing martial law in the southern Philippines, even if they raped three women. When your father, the president of the United States, was screwing Lewinsky and the girls there in the White House, how did you feel? Did you slam your father? Mr Duterte asked in Davao, in a reference to Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern with whom former President Bill Clinton had a sexual entanglement. The former first daughter had previously commented on Twitter that Mr Duterte's comments about assault were Not funny, before going on to declare that Duterte is a murderous thug with no regard for human rights and that rape is never a joke. In an expletive-laden speech at the navy event on Wednesday, Mr Duterte said: They hear rape. Like, like Chelsea, she slammed me. I was not joking, I was being sarcastic. Listen to the speech. I do not laugh at my own jokes. Mr Duterte, who has led a brutal war on drugs that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug users by police and vigilantes, declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao last week. Mr Dutertes troops are currently battling Isis-affiliated fighters in the southern city of Marawi. The President has warned that local militant groups are uniting behind the terrorist organisation and becoming a major security threat. Shortly after declaring martial law, Mr Duterte told his troops in a speech: For this martial law and the consequences of martial law and the ramifications of martial law, I and I alone would be responsible. Just do your work. I will handle the rest, he added. I will be imprisoned for you. If you rape three (women), I will say that I did it. Mr Duterte is known for making outrageous statements to bring attention to himself, analysts say. Along with Ms Clinton, he has also attacked former US President Barack Obama, journalists and human rights campaigners. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A senior US foreign affairs official gave one of the most awkward press conference responses ever witnessed in response to a question about Saudi Arabias attitude to democracy. Having served as US Ambassador to Jordan and Iraq and been in Al Anbar Province in 2004, as it became the deadliest region for US forces in Iraq Stuart Jones might have been considered more than able to fend off questions about Saudi Arabias apparent lack of enthusiasm for elections. Instead the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East Affairs Bureau, freshly returned from accompanying President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Saudi Arabia, seemed completely stumped by the relatively straightforward reporters question. He was asked: While you were over there, the Secretary criticised the conduct of the Iranian elections and Irans record on democracy. He did so standing next to Saudi officials. How do you characterise Saudi Arabias commitment to democracy, and does the administration believe that democracy is a buffer or a barrier against extremism? Um, said Mr Jones. He took a deep breath. He tried again: Err And then the senior State Department official fell completely silent. For 16 seconds, although to Mr Jones it may have seemed more like an eternity. Behind his spectacles, Mr Jones seemed to be staring into space, lost in thought or panic possibly considering his response, perhaps hoping the ground would swallow him up, or maybe wondering why on Earth he hadnt wrapped up the press conference before allowing that one last question. Finally, a full 20 seconds after the question was asked a pause described by one experienced commentator as the longest ever seen from a US official Mr Jones managed a stuttering response. It made no reference at all to attitudes to democracy in a kingdom where only three elections all of them merely for local councils have been allowed in 52 years. The official State Department transcript seems to have tidied things up by removing the agonising pause and the hesitations, but the video shows Mr Jones full response to have been: I think what we would say is that, uh, at this meeting, we were able to, err, make significant progress with Saudi and GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] partners in, uh, both making a strong statement against extremism and also, um, and also putting errerr, putting in place certain measures through this GCC mechanism where we can combat extremism. "Clearly one source of extremism one source one err terrorism threat is coming from Iran. And thats coming from a part of the Iranian apparatus that is not at all responsive to its electorate. There is then yet another pause, Mr Jones staying stock still before a fellow State Department official says okay to indicate that the press conference is over. Mr Jones then quietly thanks the assembled reporters, collects his papers and exits before anyone is rude enough to ask a follow-up question. 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty In the aftermath, the reporter who asked the question, Dave Clark, AFPs Washington-based diplomatic correspondent, has shown admirable tact. I asked about Saudi democracy, he said. I found his pause eloquent. It was pretty awkward being there, added Mr Clark, originally from Newcastle. Especially as I wasnt trying to embarrass Jones himself. In fairness to Mr Jones, characterising US ally Saudi Arabias attitude to democracy may require American officials to consider their words carefully. Saudi Arabia has been a monarchy ruled by the Al Saud family since the kingdom was founded in 1932. Since then, elections of any sort have been rare. In the 40 years between 1965 and 2005 there were none at all. This century, there have been three elections, in 2005, 2011 and 2015. All of them, however, were just elections for municipal councils whose powers were limited to local issues like street cleaning and rubbish collection. In 2015, for the first time in the kingdoms history, women were allowed to vote and stand as candidates. Prior to that, the kingdoms Grand Mufti, its most senior religious figure, had described womens involvement in politics as opening the door to evil. But in 2015, with women in Saudi Arabia still not permitted to drive or to address men who were not related to them, female election candidates could only speak directly to female voters. When attending gatherings of male voters, they had to speak from behind a partition or have a man read their speech for them. At a national level, Saudi Arabia does have a consultative assembly, but the emphasis is very much on consultative. The Al Saud royal family continues to appoint the government, and no political parties are allowed. All of which may explain Mr Joness difficulties. Prior to facing Mr Clarks final, apparently unanswerable question, he had briefly discussed his impending retirement. It was, Mr Jones explained, a decision he had made more than a year ago, just a personal choice and nothing to do with the outgoing Obama and incoming Trump administrations, both of whom he had been delighted to serve. His response, and the fact he gave it before facing Mr Clarks question, also shows that Mr Jones retirement was in no way related to his press conference performance. He will, though, be missed by at least one reporter. Im sad hes leaving, said Mr Clark. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Former FBI Director James Comey reportedly plans to publicly testify before a Senate committee to confirm reports that US President Donald Trump asked him to drop the bureau's investigation into a top Trump aide's alleged ties to Russia. According to CNN, Mr Comey "appears eager" to discuss his interactions with the President before his firing. There is the possibility that Mr Trump obstructed justice by asking Mr Comey to drop the FBI's inquiry into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Mr Trump dismissed Mr Comey in early May a move criticised by Democrats and Republicans alike. Mr Comey was also heading an investigation into whether Trump campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election, which is separate from the Flynn probe. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images The President said Mr Comey informed him three times that he personally was not under investigation. However, the New York Times reported that during one of their interactions, the President asked Mr Comey to end its investigation into Mr Flynn, according to a memo reportedly written by Mr Comey. Mr Flynn resigned in February after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US. The White House said the memo is not an accurate portrayal of the conversation between Mr Comey and the President. Mr Comey has apparently spoken privately with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to work out the parameters for his testimony to ensure there are no legal entanglements as a result of his public account, CNN said. Mr Mueller is now overseeing the Russia investigation for the administration. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives also have committees conducting their own probes into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. Meanwhile, the House intelligence committee has said it is issuing subpoenas for Mr Trump's former national security adviser and his personal lawyer, as well as their businesses, as part of its investigation into Russian activities during last year's election. In addition to those four subpoenas, the committee has issued three others to the National Security Agency, the FBI and the CIA for information about requests that government officials made to unmask the identities of U.S. individuals named in classified intelligence reports, according to a congressional aide. At a Wednesday briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said inquiries about the Russia investigation must be directed to Trump's longtime personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz. It marked the first time the White House had officially acknowledged that outside counsel had been retained. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is refusing to admit that a late-night typo tweeted by his boss was anything but a simple mistake. During his daily press briefing, Mr Spicer cryptically told reporters that the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant when he tweeted the word covfefe at 12:06 a.m. Mr Trump tweeted despite the negative press covfefe and left the tweet on his account for hours before he deleted it. The odd tweet gained steam overnight on Twitter, with rampant speculation about what the word could have meant from Twitter jokesters and trolls alike. Twitter itself even made it a moment so that users could peruse the conversation easier. If Mr Spicer was joking, his tone did not make that apparent - with the press briefing being off camera. When Mr Trump, presumably, woke up in the morning and saw the hubbub he tweeted out a rare self-deprecating joke. Who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe ??? Enjoy! he wrote then. He later tweeted the original message that started the storm of jokes. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP The tweet drew plenty of speculation and jokes. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel joined in the fun saying, what makes me saddest is that I know Ill never write anything funnier than #covfefe, on Twitter. Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 election against Mr Trump, joked during a conference in California that she thought it was a hidden message to the Russians, and that her audience didnt have a high enough classification to know what covfefe means. Its not hard to take a serious guess as to what Mr Trump likely meant to write in that now infamous tweet. The president frequently derides the news media for reporting stories that arent flattering to the administration, including ongoing investigations into his campaigns ties to Russian officials. Mr Trump also likes to praise the job he is doing on Twitter. Putting those two together, a good guess may be that he was trying to say he is moving forward with important achievements despite the negative press coverage. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} More Americans want to impeach Donald Trump than approve of his job performance, a new poll says. The number of American voters who want Congress to impeach the president has risen to 43 percent, up from 38 percent last week, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll. Many of the voters said that they want to see those proceedings even if Mr Trump hasnt committed the high crimes and misdemeanours that the Constitution requires. If President Trump was hoping his foreign trip would shift the conversation away from scandals, he may be out of luck, Kyle Dropp, Morning Consults co-founder and chief research officer, said. Over the last week, support for beginning impeachment proceedings among voters rose from 38 percent to 43 percent. Mr Trump drew record-low approval ratings during his first 100 days in office, and things havent gotten much better since. Just 41 percent of Americans now approve of his performance. Thats compared to the 65 percent job approval his predecessor Barack Obama enjoyed at roughly the same time during his tenure eight years ago, and the 53 percent historical average of presidents dating back to 1938, according to Gallup. Calls for impeachment have stemmed from alleged contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russian officials, and members of Congress as well as intelligence officials have expressed concern that members of the Trump campaign may have knowingly or unknowingly colluded with Russians in their effort to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images Following the 2016 election, Mr Obamas administration imposed sanctions on Russia for meddling in the election. Several high level Trump administration staffers have been impacted by the allegations, including former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign less than a month into the Trump presidency for having contacts with Russians. Recently, Mr Trumps son-in-law and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner has been named as a person of interest in a probe into Russian meddling being conducted by a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department and led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has labelled a picture of comedian Kathy Griffin holding a prop resembling his severed head as sick and said that his youngest son Barron is having a hard time processing it. Sandwiched in between tweets defending his 2016 campaign staff against alleged ties to Russia, and a plea to Congressional Republicans to quickly pass his healthcare bill, Mr Trump said Ms Griffin should be ashamed of herself. Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself, he wrote. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick! In the hours after the tweet by Mr Trump, CNN - where Ms Griffin has co-hosted a New Year's Eve programme since 2007 - announced it was terminating their agreement with Ms Griffin to appear on the programme. Its not the first time Mr Trump has appended the word sick to a tweet, but it may be the first time that the person hes denouncing may agree with him to some degree. Ms Griffin, following public outrage over the picture of her holding the severed head, apologised. I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong, Ms Griffin tweeted alongside a video apology. Trumps youngest, Barron, reportedly first saw the image while watching television with his mom at home, a Trump family source told celebrity website TMZ. Hes 11. He doesnt know who Kathy Griffin is and the head she was holding resembled his dad, that source said. Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad Ms Griffin had originally said that she wasnt afraid to pose for provocative photos like the one that has sparked outrage. During the photo shoot with Tyler Shields, she even joked that she may have to flee with Mr Shields to Mexico after their release for fear that theyd be thrown in prison. Mr Shields is known for edgy, shocking photos. Melania Trump said in a statement that, As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it. In addition to the Trumps condemnation of the picture and much of the internets Ms Griffins co-host on CNNs New Years Eve Live, Anderson Cooper, tweeted that he was appalled by the picture. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in, Mr Cooper wrote. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate. Others online posted similar sentiments, saying that posting a picture that resembles the gory imagery of Isis propaganda and scare posts has no place in American political discourse. Just dont. Not helpful, Republican political strategist Rick Wilson wrote on Twitter. In other circles online, the photo became a prime example of purported liberal double standards. Those individuals said that a similar post with a Democratic president would draw much more intense outrage than Ms Griffins picture did (President Barack Obama was not exempt from being the target of gallows humour, however). I wont pretend to be outraged by the Kathy Griffin thing, but I will continue to be outraged by the blatant double standard it represents, Alex Griswold, a reporter at the conservative Washington Free Beacon, wrote. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The United Nations has made clear that climate action is unstoppable, as Donald Trump weighs whether the US should remain in the Paris climate deal. According to White House sources cited by the press, the President is expected to withdraw from the agreement sometime this week, but Mr Trump did not confirm this during a spray in the Oval Office with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. When asked by a reporter if he was leaning toward exiting the accord, Mr Trump responded, Youre going to find out very soon. Recommended Majority of Americans in every US state supports Paris climate deal Despite reports that the US is poised to withdraw from the deal, other countries, including India and China, have reaffirmed their commitment to combating global warming. In a morning tweet, the UN wrote that Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that unmatchable. The tweet linked to a video of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling on world leaders, including those in business and civil society, to take ambitious action on climate change. It is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris agreement, Mr Guterres said, adding that he would use the convening power of the UN to work with governments and all major actors to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. In a speech on Tuesday at an event in New York, Mr Guterres said, Its very clear that governments are not everything. On the other hand, we are doing our best, in dialogue with the administration and with Congress, to make the US understand that funding the development aid, funding foreign policy in general, funding organisations like the UN, is also in the interest of the American people. A US withdrawal from the Paris accord would be a huge blow to the deal that aims to reduce carbon emissions and avert the worst effects of climate change. The US is currently one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world. Scientists say that Earth is likely to to be affected by more dangerous levels of warming even sooner if the US pulls back from its pledge to cut carbon dioxide pollution. When reporters asked Mr Trump if he has been hearing from company chief executives and others trying to persuade him on the climate agreement, the President said, Im hearing from a lot of people, both ways. Both ways. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Elon Musk has said he would have no choice but to leave his advisory role on a White House business council if Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The head of electronic car maker Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX tweeted that he had done all I can to advise...that we remain. Mr Musk has been a key tech industry advisor for the White House. He even praised Mr Trump's appointment of former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State because Mr Tillerson said he believed climate change is real and he also supported a carbon tax on companies to discourage high emissions. Mr Musk, whose Tesla vehicles do not use gasoline or diesel fuel, is committed to moving away from fossil fuels and towards cleaners sources of energy. Tesla also manufacturers solar panels. The US is currently one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world, so if Mr Trump was to pull the country out of the pact signed by nearly 200 countries to reduce such carbon emissions it would be a major blow to a deal that aims to help avert the worst effects of climate change. Other major companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Walmart, and electronics retailer Best Buy have committed to reducing carbon footprints of their supply chains in part due to consumer demand. Following a number of reports in US media about the move, Mr Trump tweeted that he would be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days followed by his campaign slogan MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later said to expect Mr Trump's decision "very soon". Lisa Murray's climate change photography Show all 12 1 /12 Lisa Murray's climate change photography Lisa Murray's climate change photography Dinka cattle herders starting their migration in South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography A Dinka woman fetches water in South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Veronica in South Sudan preparing tea outside her home, recently ravaged by heavy flooding Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Children playing in Vietnam. When it floods, transport to and from school is a major challenge Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Sugeng, a fish and crab farmer from Indonesia who suffers financially every time the area floods Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Tan, a vegetable farmer, learning new methods through Oxfam in Vietnam Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Maluk, a 19-year-old from Tonj South, South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Normally this farmer in South Sudan would be harvesting sorghum, but rains are late so the hunger season continues Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Herders bringing home their cattle in Afar, Ethiopia Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Farmers harvesting chilli in Ethiopia Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography A woman in Tigray, Ethiopia, scares birds away from her crops with a slingshot Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Irula tribe woman in Tamil Nadu Lisa Murray Mr Trump made repeated campaign promises to cancel the agreement. He continued the rhetoric in the White House that he would grow the US coal sector and bring back those and manufacturing jobs to the US. Many developing countries rely on cheap sources of fossil fuels to help grow their economies to catch up with developed economies like those of the EU, Japan, Canada, and the US. However, India and China have begun to rapidly scale up their solar power investments and capabilities in response to the Paris Agreement and to minimise the negative effects of climate change-related natural disasters like drought and flood. President Barack Obama ratified the agreement in 2016 through executive order, bypassing the approval process in what the administration felt was a hostile Congress influenced heavily by climate-deniers and oil and gas industry lobbyists. This is what gives Mr Trump the authority to withdraw the US from the agreement in a three-year process or take the US out of the underlying United Nations climate accord all together - a process that would be much faster and in line with Mr Trumps ire towards the UN. Many Tesla consumers and supporters criticised Mr Musk for maintaining his relationship with the White House in light of all this, but he has said he could influence policy from within if he remained in good standing on the 19-member business council. If Mr Trump withdraws from the Paris Agreement he would put the US in the company of Nicaragua and Syria. Russia is the only one of the top emitters not to even ratify the Paris accord. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Nearly 70 per cent of Americans, including a majority of people in all 50 states, support the Paris climate deal that Donald Trump is expected to withdraw from this week. The President is anticipated to announce his decision to pull out of the accord within days, White House sources say, dealing a major blow to an agreement that aims to reduce carbon emissions and avert the worst effects of climate change. About seven out of 10 registered voters, or 69 per cent, say that the US should participate in the Paris agreement, compared with 13 per cent who say that the country should not, according to a November 2016 poll by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Recommended Trump abandoning the Paris Agreement is geopolitically dangerous An overwhelming majority of Democrats, 86 per cent, are fans of the deal, while only about 51 per cent of Republicans say the US should take part in the accord, the programme reported. The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Large corporations including Microsoft, Google, Walmart and Exxon have also expressed support for the US staying in the agreement. In a tweet, the environmental organisation Sierra Club posted a US electoral vote map showing that more than half of the population in each state supports the climate deal. If Trump is pulling out of Paris, he is turning his back on the public in every single US state, the group wrote. The US is currently one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world. Scientists say that Earth is likely to to be affected by more dangerous levels of warming even sooner if the US pulls back from its pledge to cut carbon dioxide pollution. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Malaysia Airlines flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur has been forced to turn back after a passenger tried to enter the cockpit while threatening to "blow up" the plane. A spokesperson for the airline said the incident was caused by a "disruptive passenger" who was later arrested. MH128 departed Melbourne Airport at 11.11pm (1.11pm BST) local time...but made a turn back to Melbourne after the operating captain was alerted by cabin crew to a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit, a statement said, adding that the plane added safely around half an hour after take-off. "Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security," a spokesperson added. "Malaysia Airlines, together with the Australian authorities, will be investigating the incident. At the moment, the airline does not wish to make any premature conclusions until a full investigation has been concluded." Malaysia's deputy transport minister, Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, said the passenger claimed to have a bomb. "It was not a bomb but a powerbank," he added, saying the Sri Lankan national appeared to be drunk. Passengers at Melbourne Airport after being disembarked from a Malaysia Airlines plane on 1 June (Mr Khoo/Twitter) A woman named Vanessa told the 3AW programme her boyfriend had confronted the passenger as he tried to enter the cockpit. He was the one who first confronted him when an air hostess was getting scared of this guy and that's when the guy said 'I'm going to blow up this plane', she said. Passengers told relatives they helped the crew "tie the man down" as the plane returned to Melbourne. Photos posted online by those on board showed the man lying face-down in plastic cuffs, being restrained by passengers and staff. Armed officers wearing body armour later entered the cabin. Malaysia Airlines stressed that the aircraft was not "hijacked" at any point, adding that passengers had been safely disembarked. In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A family member of a passenger aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 burns incense as he prays at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Family members of passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 burn incense to pray at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A family member of a passenger aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 comforts another relative as they gather to pray at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cry as they gather at the Lama Temple in Beijing. Chinese relatives marked 100 days since the plane went missing on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing by offering prayers and burning incense at the buddhist temple In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 offer prayers at the Lama Temple in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A Chinese relative of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 prays at the Lama Temple in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Chinese relatives of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 hold incense sticks and pray at the Lama Temple in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Malaysian relatives Intan Maizura Othman (34) wife of MH370 fligh attendant Hazrin Hasnan holds placard during an event to remember the 100th day of the missing crews and passengers of Malaysian Airlines plane MH370 in Damansara, Selangor In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Malaysian relatives A young relative tries to stick paper planes on a board during an event to remember the 100th day of the missing crews and passengers of Malaysian Airlines plane MH370 in Damansara, Selangor In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Malaysian relatives Pictures of crews and passengers is displayed during an event to remember the 100th day of the missing crews and passengers of Malaysian Airlines plane MH370 in Damansara, Selangor In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 The Phoenix International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Artemis is craned over the side of Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370. Twenty-six nations have been involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 since it disappeared more than a month ago In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Chinese women, relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 cry as they wait for Malaysia embassy staff to meet them outside the Malaysia embassy in Beijing. About 50 relatives of Chinese passengers on the plane continued a sit-in protest outside the Malaysian Embassy after officials failed to show up to update them on the search In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 speaks to media as he and others wait for Malaysia embassy staff to meet them outside the Malaysia embassy in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 push through a police line to march to the Malaysian embassy from a hotel in Beijing. Angry relatives who had been waiting for more than 8 hours in vain for a Malaysia embassy representative to attend their daily meeting marched to the Malaysia embassy and protested through the night In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Chinese police men try to prevent relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370 from marching to the Malaysian embassy from a hotel in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Flying Officer Elizabeth Vonfinster, an Air Combat Officer with No. 2 Squadron sits at her station aboard the RAAF E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft during its return from another mission in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Wen Wanchang, whose son was on board the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cries as he pleads with Malaysian embassy representative Bala Chandran Tharman for answers during a meeting in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is carried by medical personnel and policemen after collapsing during a briefing Lido Hotel in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives Relatives of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cry during a meeting in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cries as she asks for answers during a meeting with Malaysia embassy and Malaysia Airlines representatives in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A Chinese relative (C) of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reacts as he attends a meeting at the Metro Park Hotel in Beijing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of Chinese passengers onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, demands answers from Malaysian representatives at a meeting in Beijing. Relatives chanted slogans and shouted protests against the lack of meaning answers from Malaysian officials and Malaysia Airlines representatives In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries as she speaks to Malaysian representatives during a briefing at Lido Hotel in Beijing. A tropical cyclone was threatening to hamper the search for a missing Malaysian jetliner in a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean, as a submarine drone neared the end of its mission scouring the sea bed with still no sign of wreckage In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Chinese relatives A Chinese relative of passengers onboard missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 reacts in front of journalists as she arrives during a briefing at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The effort to find missing flight MH370 is at a "very critical juncture", Malaysia's transport minister said as authorities mull whether to reassess a challenging search of the Indian Ocean seabed that has so far found nothing In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Commander James Lybrand, Mission Commander ADV Ocean Shield (L) and Chris "Sharkie" Moore, Phoenix team leader, watch the launching of the Phoenix International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Artemis as it is craned over the side of Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield before launching it in to the southern Indian Ocean in the search of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 The Phoenix International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Artemis is craned over the side of Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Leading Seaman, Boatswain's Mate, William Sharkey searching for debris on a rigid hull inflatable boat at sea in the Southern Indian Ocean In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Boatswain's Mate, Able Seaman Morgan Macdonald (L) observing markers from a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P3K Orion at sea in the Southern Indian Ocean. An oil slick in the Indian Ocean is not from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, officials said when insisting underwater search efforts would be 'pursued to their completion' In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 HMAS Perth transiting through the Southern Indian Ocean as an Orion P-3K of the Royal New Zealand Air Force searches for debris for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 in the southern Indian Ocean In pictures: Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Search for flight MH370 Craig Turner from Phoenix International monitoring the Artemis' depth and speed as the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle scans the ocean floor for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 in the southern Indian Ocean "Safety and security are of the utmost priority to Malaysia Airlines," it added. "The airline wishes to apologise for the inconvenience caused. "Affected passengers will be accommodated at hotels and will be offered a seat on the next available flight or on other carriers." The Australian Federal Police confirmed officers had responded to the incident, which left the airport on temporary "lockdown". All departing and arriving flights were suspended as security operations continued, but operations have resumed. Malaysia Airlines has been hit by two major disasters, including the loss of MH370 in March 2014, in circumstances that remain unclear, and the shooting down of MH17 over Ukraine months later. More than 520 people died in the combined disasters, which put the airline at risk of collapse. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered a probe after his defence ministry failed to inform him that four more launchers for the controversial US Thaad anti-missile system had been brought into the country. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system battery was initially deployed in March in the southeastern region of Seongju with just two of its maximum load of six launchers to counter a growing North Korean missile threat. During his successful campaign for the presidential election, Mr Moon called for a parliamentary review of the system, the deployment of which infuriated China, North Korea's lone major ally. US complete 'successful' missile test over Pacific Ocean President Moon said it was very shocking to hear the four additional launchers had been installed without being reported to the new government or to the public, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan told a media briefing. Mr Moon had campaigned on a more moderate approach to Pyongyang, calling for engagement even as the reclusive state pursues nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and threats of more sanctions. The Pentagon said it had been very transparent with South Korea's government about Thaad deployment. We continue to work very closely with the Republic of Korea government and we have been very transparent in all of our actions throughout this process, spokesman Jeff Davis told a news briefing. Separately on Tuesday, the US military cheered a successful, first-ever missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, a major milestone for a program meant to defend the United States against North Korea. In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Show all 16 1 /16 In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean women soldiers take part in a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April AFP/Getty Images In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun A huge military parade in Pyongyang marks the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves during a military parade on 15 April 2017 AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean soldiers carry flags and a photo of Kim Il-sung during a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Soldiers march across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun What military experts say appears to be a North Korean KN-08 inter-continental ballistic missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Women wearing traditional Korean dress wave flowers and shout slogans as they pass Kim Jong-Un during a parade in Pyongyang on 15 April AFP/Getty Images In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean female soldiers march during a parade for the 'Day of the Sun' festival on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on 15 April EPA In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Military vehicles carry missiles with characters reading 'Pukkuksong' during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang on 15 April 2017 EPA In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Attendees carry sheets in the colours of North Korea's national flag during a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun A soldier salutes from atop an armoured vehicle during a military parade in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun A North Korean woman cries as she looks towards Kim Jong-un during a parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun University students carry the national flag and two bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il during a military parade on 15 April AP In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Missiles are driven past Kim Jong-un and other high ranking officials during a military parade marking the Day of the Sun in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves from a balcony during a parade for the 'Day of the Sun' festival in Pyongyang on 15 April 2017 EPA In pictures: North Korea marks the Day of the Sun Missiles are driven past Kim Jong-un and other high ranking officials during a military parade marking the Day of the Sun in Pyongyang on 15 April Reuters The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD), a separate system from Thaad, and called it an incredible accomplishment. Moon's order of a probe into the Thaad launchers came amid signs of easing tensions between South Korea and China, a major trading partner. China has been incensed over the Thaad deployment, fearing it could enable the U.S. military to see into its own missile systems and open the door to wider deployment, possibly in Japan and elsewhere, military analysts say. South Korean companies have faced product boycotts and bans on Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, although China has denied discrimination against them. On Tuesday, South Korea's Jeju Air said China had approved a plan for it to double its flights to the Chinese city of Weihai from 2 June. Also, a Korean-Chinese joint drama production My Goddess, My Mom starring South Korean actress Lee Da-hae was told by its Chinese partner recently that it will soon be aired, according to Lee's agent JS Pictures. Previously its broadcast had been indefinitely delayed. US General Stewart: It is 'inevitable' North Korea will be capable of hitting US in nuclear attack An official at South Korean tour agency Mode Tour told Reuters it hoped China may lift a ban on selling trips to South Korea, which had been in place since March, as early as the second week of June. Although there had been no official orders from the Chinese government to lift the ban, a few Chinese travel agencies have sent inquiries about package tours, he said. However, South Korea's Lotte Group has yet to reopen any of the 74 retail stores in China it was forced to close in March after the group allowed the installation of the Thaad system on land it owned. The United States, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, has a mutual defence treaty with Seoul dating back to the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce that has left the peninsula in a technical state of war. South Korea's Defence Ministry said it had conducted a joint drill with a US supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber on Monday, which North Korea's state media earlier described as a nuclear bomb-dropping drill. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked to Moon by phone on Tuesday and told him that dialogue for dialogue's sake with North Korea would be meaningless, and that China's role in exerting pressure on the North was important, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. North Korea's KCNA news agency reported that leader Kim Jong-un supervised the country's latest missile test on Monday. It said the missile had a new precision guidance system and a new mobile launch vehicle. Kim said North Korea would develop more powerful weapons to defend against the United States. He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger 'gift package' to the Yankees in retaliation for American military provocation, KCNA quoted Kim as saying. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A faceless fish has been dredged up from a seabed 4km deep by a team of researchers investigating the most unexplored environment on Earth. The fish, which is just under half a metre long, has no discernible eyes or other facial features at the front of its body. It has a mouth, but this is on the underside of the fish. It was discovered by the crew of The Investigator, a ship which is surveying life in the deep waters between Tasmania and the Coral Sea. Tim O'Hara, of Museums Victoria, who is the vessels chief scientist, told the AFP news agency: It hasn't got any eyes or a visible nose and its mouth is underneath. His colleague, Di Bray, also of Museums Victoria, said the find was the highlight of the trip so far. Apparently, its got eyes way under the surface but really you can't see any eyes, she told Australias ABC News. We've seen some awesome stuff. On the video camera we saw a kind of chimaera that whizzed by thats very, very rare in Australian waters. Animals in decline Show all 8 1 /8 Animals in decline Animals in decline Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) Where: Orkney Islands. What: Between 2001-2006, numbers in Orkney declined by 40 per cent. Why: epidemics of the phocine distemper virus are thought to have caused major declines, but the killing of seals in the Moray Firth to protect salmon farms may have an impact. Alamy Animals in decline African lion (Panthera leo) Where: Ghana. What: In Ghanas Mole National Park, lion numbers have declined by more than 90 per cent in 40 years. Why: local conflicts are thought to have contributed to the slaughter of lions and are a worrying example of the status of the animal in Western and Central Africa. Animals in decline Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Where: Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica. What: Numbers are down in both the Atlantic and Pacific. It declined by 95 per cent between 1989-2002 in Costa Rica. Why: mainly due to them being caught as bycatch, but theyve also been affected by local developments. Alamy Animals in decline Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) Where: South Atlantic. What: A rapid decline. One population, from Bird Island, South Georgia, declined by 50 per cent between 1972-2010, according to the British Antarctic Survey. Why: being caught in various commercial longline fisheries. Alamy Animals in decline Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) Where: Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. What: fall in populations has been dramatic. In the early 1990s numbers were over a million, but are now estimated to be around 50,000. Why: the break up of the former USSR led to uncontrolled hunting. Increased rural poverty means the species is hunted for its meat Animals in decline Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) Where: found worldwide in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas. Why: at risk from overfishing and as a target in recreational fishing. A significant number of swordfish are also caught by illegal driftnet fisheries in the Mediterranean Animals in decline Argali Sheep (Ovis mammon) Where: Central and Southern Asian mountains,usually at 3,000-5,000 metres altitude. Why: domesticated herds of sheep competing for grazing grounds. Over-hunting and poaching. Animals in decline Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) Where: the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to South Africa and to the Tuamoto Islands (Polynesia), north to the Ryukyu Islands (south-west Japan), and south to New Caledonia. Why: Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and trading of the species Weve seen a fish with photosensitive plates that sit on the top of its head, tripod fish that sit up on their fins and face into the current. It is thought to be the first time such a fish has been caught since 1873 when one was recorded by the crew of HMS Challenger off the coast of Papua New Guinea. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ahlam, from Baiji in northern Iraq, is only 12 years old, but shes been forced to grow up quickly. Displaced not just once, but twice by Isis, her family once again had to flee fighting six weeks ago, walking at night through mountains filled with landmines to avoid being caught. Now safely in Jadaa Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, she is enjoying being able to go back to school after two years but misses home. In pictures: Mosul offensive Show all 40 1 /40 In pictures: Mosul offensive In pictures: Mosul offensive A doctor carries an Iraqi newborn baby at a hospital in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi girls play at a yard of a school in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017alal Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A woman on crutches who is a relative of men accused of being Islamic State militants is seen at a camp in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq July 15, 2017. Picture taken July 15, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A displaced girl, who fled from home carries a doll at Hamam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq July 13, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi federal police members and civilians celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on 9 July 2017 after the government's announcement of the "liberation" of the embattled city. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he was in "liberated" Mosul to congratulate "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory" AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken on 9 July 2017, shows a general view of the destruction in Mosul's Old City. Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in the city. AFP In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of the Iraqi federal police raise the victory gesture as they ride on a humvee while advancing through the Old City of Mosul on 28 June 2017, as the offensive continues to retake the last district held by Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Smoke billows as Iraqi forces advance through the Old City of Mosul on 26 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district held by the Islamic State (IS) group. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi man wearing the green scarf of the Shi'ite faith kisses an Iraqi Army soldier on safely reaching the Iraqi forces position as Iraqi civilians flee the Old City of west Mosul where heavy fighting continues on 23 June 2017. Iraqi forces continue to encounter stiff resistance with improvised explosive devices, car bombs, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken from the inside of an Iraqi forces armoured vehicle shows residents walking through a damaged street as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district still held by the Islamic State (IS) group. Military commanders told AFP the assault had begun at dawn after overnight air strikes by the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces. They said the jihadists were putting up fierce resistance. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi Army soldiers advance in a destroyed street after an Iraqi forces airstrike targeted an Islamic State sniper position 17 June 2017 in al-Shifa, the last district of west Mosul under Islamic State control. IS snipers, as well as car and suicide bomb attacks continue to hinder the Iraqi forces efforts to retake the final district. A series of airstrikes by Iraqi helicopter gunships attempted to hit multiple Islamic State sniper positions in al-Shifa. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier frisks a displaced Iraqi man at a temporary camp in the compound of the closed Nineveh International Hotel in Mosul on 16 June 2017 which was recovered by Iraqi troops from Islamic State group fighters earlier in the year. A screening centre set up in the compound's fairgrounds sees a constant stream of Iraqis fleeing the battle for Mosul, awaiting their turn to be checked by the Iraqi forces who are searching for suspected Islamic State (IS) group members. The small fairground lies at the end of a pontoon bridge across the Tigris recently opened to civilians that is the only physical link between the two banks of the river. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis staying at the al-Khazir camp swim in a river near the camp for internally displaced people, located between Arbil and Mosul on 11 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi government forces drive on a road leading to Tal Afar on 9 June 2017, during ongoing battles to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi policeman carries a poster bearing an image of Mosul's iconic leaning minaret, known as the "Hadba" (Hunchback), on 22 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis stand in line to receive food aid in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood on 7 June 2017, during ongoing battles as Iraqi forces try to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. Living conditions in Mosul have again deteriorated since the start of the Iraqi government's offensive on the city in October in which they retook a large part of the west of the city. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced Iraqis carry lightbulbs and sacks as they evacuate from western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood as government forces advance in the area during their ongoing battle against Islamic State (IS) group fighters on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) flashes the victory gesture as he patrols in western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi army soldiers from the 9th armoured division on a truck flash the sign of victory as they drive back from Mosul to the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya) Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of Iraqi forces flash the sign of victory on their vehicle as they advance towards Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi security forces gestures in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi children, one flashing the sign of victory, greet Iraqi army's soldiers from the 9th armoured division in the area of Ali Rash, adjacent to the eastern Al-Intissar neighbourhood of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Peshmerga forces look at a tunnel used by Islamic State militants near the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier takes a photograph with his phone as his comrade stands next to a detained man, whom the Iraqi army soldiers accused of being an Islamic State fighter, who was fleeing with his family in the Intisar disrict of eastern Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families, who fled their homes in Hamam al-Alil, gather on the outskirts of their town Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced people walk past a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation by Iraqi forces against jihadists of the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul, are seen gathering in an area near Qayyarah In pictures: Mosul offensive A boy who just fled Abu Jarbuah village is seen with his family at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi child eats a pomegranate upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive People who just fled Abu Jarbuah village sit as they eat at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A couple who just fled Abu Jarbuah village are escorted by Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Women carry a boy over a wall as civilians flee their houses in the village of Tob Zawa, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier and a civilian ride a motorbike as smoke rises behind them, on the road between Qayyarah and Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces, wearing a skull mask, waits at a checkpoint for people fleeing the main hub city of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier sits at a checkpoint in an area near Qayyarah Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi men prepare food portions for Iraqi forces deployed in areas south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi forces celebrate upon the arrival of vehicles bringing food to them Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi childen smoke cigarettes upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces distributes drinks to children in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty I left behind my toys. Everything. My school, she says. Even though the battle for nearby Mosul is reaching its endgame, without any means to support themselves and no home to return to, Ahlams family is likely to be stuck in the camp for the next several years. Sadly, her story is far from unique. Around the world, 28 million children have been displaced from their homes thanks to conflict. Todays children risk becoming a lost generation, an extensive new report from Save the Children has found, with one in four robbed of their childhood. Children of Mosul describe life under Islamic State The childrens rights charity has created a global index ranking the countries where childhood is the least and most threatened. At least 700 million children are unable to enjoy their youth thanks to the effects of conflict, child labour, early marriage and a lack of access to education and healthcare, according to the findings. Around the world, eight million children die each year, the report found, and one in six are not getting an education. Most of the countries ranked lowest on Save the Childrens index were in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Niger, Angola, Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia. Save the Children presents a collection of refugee children's stories of fleeing the Syrian conflict In 2015, the world made a promise that by 2030, all children would be in school, protected, and healthy, regardless of who they are, and where they live. Although this is an ambitious target, its within reach if governments invest in all children to guarantee they have the full childhood they deserve, Kevin Watkins, Save the Childrens CEO, said on the reports release on Thursday International Childrens Day. Iraq, where millions have been displaced by conflict over the last 15 years, ranks 123 of 172 countries. Recommended European country where over half its children are at risk of poverty More than one in five children under five has stunted growth, and one in five across the country is currently out of school. Violence is the key problem here, and it brings very serious consequences for children with it, Aram Shakaram, Save the Childrens deputy country director for Iraq, told The Independent. The children we see in our day to day work show signs of severe trauma and psychological stress. As well as immediate life-saving assistance, these are the long-term effects we need to think about. The donor community must commit to long term support for these children, otherwise it will feed into future violence in this country. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A 17-year-old asylum-seeker has been questioned by German police after concerns were raised that he was planning a suicide attack in Berlin. Officers in Brandenburg state said the teenager was detained Tuesday in the village of Gerswalde, 60 miles northeast of the capital, after they learned he had sent a farewell message to family members and told them that "he had joined the jihad," or holy war. The WhatsApp message talking about jihad to the suspect's family was sent within the last week and Brandenburg authorities were told of it late Monday night by two other German states, Brandenburg police spokesman Torsten Herbst told The Associated Press. He said police had no evidence that a concrete attack was planned. The federal Interior Ministry said it had no indications that an attack had been imminent. The state Interior Ministry's office identified the suspect as Syrian, but Mr Herbst said investigators were checking to see whether he falsely registered as a Syrian but was actually from a North African country. The teenager, whose name wasn't released, came to Germany in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor and registered as an asylum-seeker. He has been living since 2016 in a home for minor refugees in Gerswalde, and was detained there in the Tuesday morning raid. Police said they searched the home and no weapons, explosives or extremist group flags were found. The search turned up three cell phones and a tablet that is believed to belong to the teenager. Investigators were examining the devices. Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA The suspect was to be questioned further on Wednesday, and was being kept in detention until then. German security officials have repeatedly warned that the country is in the sights of international terrorist groups. Germany saw a number of violent attacks by Islamic extremists last year, including the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 victims dead and dozens of others injured. The attack, carried out by a young Tunisian man who had been denied asylum in Germany, was claimed by Isis. Associated Press For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A former Guantanamo Bay inmate is among six people from an alleged Isis recruiting network who have been detained in France. Among the suspects arrested was Sabir Mahfouz Lahmar, who was freed from the US detention centre in Cuba in 2009 after France agreed to accept him, said a judicial official. He was one of six Algerians detained in Bosnia in 2001 on suspicion of plotting to bomb the US embassy in Sarajevo. The US Justice Department later backed off the allegations, but held the men at Guantanamo for several years. The former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, agreed to take Lahmar in April 2009 and he moved to Bordeaux later that year. The French official said Lamar, at 48, is the oldest of the four men and two women who were arrested and said that there were no indications the group was plotting an attack. Five of the suspects were detained in Bordeaux and one in Paris in a series of raids on Monday. Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Show all 23 1 /23 Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police officers secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees. One police officer has been killed, and a second injured by a gunman on The Champs Elysees Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police officers block the access of a street near the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting in which one police officer was killed and another wounded. The attacker was killed in the incident on the world famous boulevard that is popular with tourists Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police officers control passersby near the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting. One police officer was killed and another wounded today in a shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees, police said just days ahead of France's presidential election. The attacker was killed in the incident on the world famous boulevard that is popular with tourists. Getty Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees People run away after a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees French people hold their hands in the air after a shooting in which a police officer was killed along with the attacker and another police officer wounded in an attack on the Champs Elysees in Paris EPA Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Bystanders are frisked by police officers near the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker AP Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees People hold their hands up as they walk towards police officers before being controlled near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed after opening fire on police in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police look through binoculars as officers secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees A tourist is blocked by French soldiers next to the Champs Elysee Avenue during ongoing police operations after a shooting in which two police officers were killed along with their attacker and another police officer wounded in a terror attack near the Champs Elysees in Paris, France EPA Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees A tourist is blocked by French soldiers next to the Champs Elysee Avenue during ongoing police operations after a shooting in which two police officers were killed along with their attacker and another police officer wounded in a terror attack near the Champs Elysees in Paris, France EPA Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees French Police officers, after a shooting in which two police officer were killed along with their attacker and another police officer wounded in an attack near the Champs Elysees in Paris, France EPA Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Forensic experts and police officers examine evidence from a police van on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker AP Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police investigators inspect the car used by the attacker on the Champs Elysees Avenue after a policeman was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting incident in Paris, France Reuters Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees A French soldier patrols on the Champs Elysees in Paris after a shooting. One police officer was killed and another wounded today in a shooting on Paris's Champs Elysees, police said just days ahead of France's presidential election. France's interior ministry said the attacker was killed in the incident on the world famous boulevard that is popular with tourists Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police officers patrol near the site of a shooting at the Champs Elysees in Paris Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees French military secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees French military secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees in Paris, France Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees One police officer has been killed, and a second injured by a gunman on The Champs Elysees Getty Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police officers secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees Police secure the area after a gunman opened fire on Champs Elysees. Getty Images Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, flanked by Interior Minister Mathias Fekl and Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas, speaks to the media outside the Elysee Palace after a defense council meeting in Paris, France EPA Gunman attack on the Champs-Elysees A damaged window is pictured on the Champs Elysees boulevard in Paris AP The arrests follow a series of foiled Isis-linked terror plots in France, which remains under a repeatedly extended state of emergency. The country has been the target of terror attacks leaving around 240 people dead since 2014, including massacres in Paris and Nice. Vigilance has been increased since a suicide bombing in Manchester killed 22 people last week, with police investigating the bomber's potential foreign links. Isis has called for an escalation in global terror attacks by its followers during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Additional reporting by Associated Press For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Germany has temporarily suspended deportation flights to Afghanistan following an explosion that killed at least 80 people and injured more than 350 in the Afghan capital Kabul. A German official confirmed there would no collective deportations to the country in the next few days, but said the policy of deporting Afghan migrants who do not qualify as refugees still remains. The official said: The employees [at the embassy in Kabul] have more important things to do than to prepare the organisational measures needed. Therefore there will be no collective deportations to Afghanistan in the next few days. But it is and remains the case that deportations must be carried out according to our laws. This principle applies to Afghanistan, especially for criminals, and we will continue to go down this path." The interior ministry could not immediately comment. In December, Germany began carrying out group deportations of Afghans as the government sought to show it was tackling the high number of migrants by removing those who do not qualify as refugees. Abdul Ghafoor, director of Afghanistan Migrants Advice and Support Organisation, which helps returnees to the country, welcomed the decision and urged sending Afghans back to the "war-torn country" was a "waste of money". Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Show all 16 1 /16 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2001 Afghans at the Killi Faizo refugee camp desperately reach for bags of rice being handed out to the thousands who escaped the bombardment in southern Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Chaman, Pakistan, December 4, 2001) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2002 Mahbooba stands against a bullet-ridden wall, waiting to be seen at a medical clinic. The seven-year-old girl suffers from leishmaniasis, a parasitical infection. (Kabul, March 1, 2002) All photos Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2003 A mother and her two children look out from their cave dwelling. Many families who, fleeing the Taliban, took refuge inside caves adjacent to Bamiyans destroyed ancient Buddha statues now have nowhere else to live. (Bamiyan, November 19, 2003) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Students recite prayers in a makeshift outdoor classroom in the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from India and Pakistan. (Northeastern Afghanistan, September 2, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Bodybuilders in the 55-60 kg category square off during a regional bodybuilding competition. Many Afghan men, like others around the world, feel that a macho image of physical strength is important. (Kabul, August 6, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2008 A woman in a white burqa enjoys an afternoon with her family feeding the white pigeons at the Blue Mosque. (Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Addicts inject heroin while trying to keep warm inside the abandoned Russian Cultural Center, which the capital citys addicts use as a common gathering point. Heroin is readily available, costing about one dollar a hit. (Kabul, February 9, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 An elderly man holds his granddaughter in their tent at a refugee camp after they were forced to flee their village, which US and NATO forces had bombed because, they claimed, it was a Taliban hideout. (Surobi, Nangarhar Province, February 7, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Seven-year-old Attiullah, a patient at Mirwais Hospital, stands alongside an X ray showing the bullet that entered his back, nearly killing him. Attiullah was shot by US forces when he was caught in a crossfire as he was herding sheep. (Kandahar, October 13, 2009). Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 US Army Sargeant Jay Kenney (right), with Task Force Destiny, helps wounded Afghan National Army soldiers exit a Blackhawk helicopter after they have been rescued in an air mission. (Kandahar, December 12, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 An Afghan National Army battalion marches back to barracks at the Kabul Military Training Center. (Kabul, October 4, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Eid Muhammad, seventy, lives in a house with a view overlooking the hills of Kabul. He and millions of other Afghans occupy land and housing without possessing formal deeds to them. (Kabul, November 21, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Razima holds her two-year-old son, Malik, while waiting for medical attention at the Boost Hospital emergency room. (Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, June 23, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Young women cheer as they attend a rally for the Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. (Kabul, April 1, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Burqa-clad women wait to vote after a polling station runs out of ballots. (Kabul, April 5, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2015 Relatives, friends, and womens rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda Malikzada, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul. Farkhunda was violently beaten and set on fire after a local cleric accused her of burning a Quran. (Kabul, March 22, 2015) Paula Bronstein This incident today, which damaged part of the German embassy, shows Afghanistan is a not suitable place to deport people to, Mr Ghafoor told The Independent. I have been saying for a while that deportation to Afghanistan doesnt make any sense. If you look at the security situation, what happens is either returnees become victims to one of the attacks, or they leave the country again as soon as they can. Its a waste of money on both sides to send people back to a war-torn country. And the tragic incident today is a clear indication of this. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two Kurdish German men accused of helping to kill their sister in 2005 because of her Western lifestyle were acquitted Tuesday in a Turkish court, in the latest failed attempt to prosecute them in a case that became a benchmark for cultural tensions between Turkey and Germany. The sister, Hatun Surucu, 23, was killed at a Berlin bus stop when her youngest brother fired three bullets into her head. The brothers said the familys honour had been offended because she divorced the man her family had forced her to marry at age 16, and then began dating and refused to wear a headscarf. Though her family is ethnically Kurdish, and originally from Turkey, Surucu had been born and raised in Germany. Her murder, after a series of similar so-called honour killings of Muslim women in Germany, sent shock waves through the country. Some seized on the case to further their arguments that conservative Muslims are incompatible with secular German society, and it reflected more broadly on relations between Turkey and Germany at a time when some Europeans were arguing against allowing Turkey to join the European Union because of civil rights issues. Surucus youngest brother, Ayhan, admitted that he had killed her and he was jailed for nine years in a German prison. But his brothers Mutlu, now 38, and Alparslan, now 36 have been acquitted twice of helping him: first in Germany in 2006, and again Tuesday when they were found not guilty at a separate trial in Istanbul because of a lack of evidence. Mutlu Surucu had previously spoken approvingly of his sisters death. But a crucial prosecution witness who might have been able to offer evidence that the brothers had cooperated in the killing Ayhan Surucus ex-girlfriend did not appear to testify in the Istanbul trial, according to Leyla Suren, a lawyer with the Initiative Against Femicide, a Turkish rights-advocacy group, who attended the hearing. The potential witness, known in court records only as Melek A, could not be found at her last known address in Germany, and no other witnesses were able to provide clear evidence to buttress the prosecutions case. The Initiative Against Femicide was also denied the right to testify, Suren said. In this courtroom, only the prosecutor was speaking for Hatun Surucu so Hatun Surucu was once again alone, Suren said. A child of Turkish-Kurdish immigrants, Hatun Surucu had been brought up in Germany before her father pulled her out of school and sent her back to her familys ancestral village in Turkey, where at 16 she was forced to marry a cousin, according to German news reports. After the marriage ended in divorce, she returned to Berlin and gave birth to a son, Can, but soon left her parents home to live as a single mother. Prosecutors said that her conservative and religious brothers felt dishonoured after she began refusing to wear a headscarf and started dating a German man. A German judge described the attack by Ayhan Surucu as an ice-cold, execution-style murder. A German court jailed Ayhan Surucu in 2006, but acquitted Mutlu and Alparslan Surucu of involvement. A German appeals court later overturned the elder brothers acquittal, partly because of the testimony of Ayhan Surucus ex-girlfriend, who said they had helped him plan the murder. But the two brothers were able to leave for Turkey, where they lived freely for several years. In a German documentary released in 2011, Mutlu Surucu said his sisters lifestyle change justified her murder. Why does a woman need to dress up so prettily? he reportedly asked. Why does she need to go out on the town? To attract men. After requests from Germany, Mutlu and Alparslan Surucu were eventually arrested by the Turkish authorities and brought to Istanbul in early 2016 a case that culminated in their second acquittal, on Tuesday. The case was followed closely in Germany but received little coverage in Turkey. Accurate data about honour killings in Turkey is hard to come by. According to government figures issued in 2008, more than 1,000 women were victims of honour killings from 2003 to 2008. In 2016, 328 women were killed for gender-related reasons, according to statistics compiled by the Initiative Against Femicide. A lawyer at the initiative, Ipek Bozkurt, said the discourse of Turkeys leading politicians had not helped improve the treatment of women. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty In 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a womans natural role is as a mother and argued that women are not equal to men. Earlier that year, one of Erdogans deputy prime ministers said that women should not laugh loudly in public. A husband who sees those words in the main media channel thinks that my wife is not entitled to have a life of her own, Bozkurt said. Copyright The New York Times For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The death toll in a huge explosion that rocked Kabuls diplomatic quarter has risen to 90 with another 400 people injured, Afghanistans Public Heath Ministry has said, in what is believed to be one of the worst terror incidents to ever hit the Afghan capital. Police spokesperson Basir Mujahid confirmed the Wednesday morning attack was caused by a powerful suicide truck bomb deployed during rush hour. The massive blast near the German embassy in Zanbaq Square sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky and managed to shatter windows and blow doors off their hinges one kilometre (half a mile) away. Makeshift ambulances struggled to deal with the number of casualties as the vast scale of the damage became clear. Video from the scene showed a number of dazed, bloodsoaked people stumbling around and bodies still lying on the ground or in burning cars. The majority of the dead are thought to be civilians. Women and children were among those killed, Ismail Kawasi of the Public Health Ministry said. A BBC team was caught up in the explosion, killing driver Mohammed Nazir and inflicting non-life-threatening injuries on four journalists, a statement from the corporation read. At least one journalist working for local Tolo news agency was confirmed to have died. German security sources said that an Afghan security guard at the embassy had been killed and several German staff hurt. The attack took place very close to the German embassy. It hit civilians and those who are in Afghanistan to work for a better future for the country with the people there. Its especially contemptible that these people were the target, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter. Germanys Interior Ministry said deportations of Afghans whose asylum requests have been rejected have been temporarily suspended in the wake of the attack. The Japanese embassy confirmed two nationals had been wounded, as was one Pakistani embassy employee, and heavy damage was sustained by the nearby British, Turkish and Chinese embassies as well as the AFP news agencys offices. It is understood that Turkey plans to evacuate some of its staff from the city following the incident. The death toll is expected to rise, the Interior Ministry said, putting out an urgent appeal for blood donors. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack although the Taliban has denied involvement, making it more likely Isis is to blame. Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Show all 13 1 /13 Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man reacts in shock after a suicide car bombing in a diplomatic zone of Kabul, Afghanistan, left at least 80 people dead Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly suicide car bombing that set more than 50 cars alight Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two Afghan men carry one of the many injured in the attack REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man tries to drive his vehicle heavily damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two men walk away from the scene, covered in blood REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The bomb was detonated near the German embassy in the citys heavily guarded diplomatic district REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people One of many cars destroyed in the attack burns Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The attack sent plumes of smoke over Afghanistans capital AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Several buildings have been damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The car bombing is thought to be one of the most deadly attacks ever to hit the capital Alamy Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Wounded victims lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Relatives of Afghan victims mourn outside a hospital after the blast in Kabul Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Crowds in Kabul survey the damage after the deadly attack EPA Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that Wednesdays explosion had nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate, as the Taliban calls itself. While the militant group claims only to wage war on the US-backed government and occupying foreign forces, civilians usually bear the brunt of the carnage, and the attack bore resemblances to other recent Taliban violence. It is not uncommon for Isis to wait a day or two before claiming responsibility for attacks. The latest terror incident is thought to be one of the deadliest to ever hit Kabul. Prior to the attack, a total of 220 people had died in extremist violence in the capital since April 2015. Last July two Isis suicide bombers blew themselves up during a Shia protest march, killing 80 people and wounding a further 230. Last month, a Taliban offensive on an army training compound near the northern city of Mazar-e-Sherif killed 135 soldiers. Kabul residents feel unsafe despite heavy security It is not clear what the attackers intended target was. Recent incidents targeting foreigners inside the heavily fortified diplomatic district supposedly the capitals safest area have been claimed by both groups. The latest explosion is sure to raise questions about existing security procedures. On Wednesday afternoon the interior ministry confirmed local media reports that a sewage tanker was packed with explosives then detonated at a busy intersection, leaving a crater five metres (16ft) deep. In a statement the Afghan government condemned the attack, saying: Today the enemies of Afghanistan once again showed their brutality by killing and wounding civilians. The enemy has no mercy on civilians. Afghanistan as a whole has seen of a wave increasing violence in the past 12 months as both Taliban and Isis militants struggle to overthrow the government and impose Islamic law. Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Show all 16 1 /16 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2001 Afghans at the Killi Faizo refugee camp desperately reach for bags of rice being handed out to the thousands who escaped the bombardment in southern Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Chaman, Pakistan, December 4, 2001) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2002 Mahbooba stands against a bullet-ridden wall, waiting to be seen at a medical clinic. The seven-year-old girl suffers from leishmaniasis, a parasitical infection. (Kabul, March 1, 2002) All photos Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2003 A mother and her two children look out from their cave dwelling. Many families who, fleeing the Taliban, took refuge inside caves adjacent to Bamiyans destroyed ancient Buddha statues now have nowhere else to live. (Bamiyan, November 19, 2003) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Students recite prayers in a makeshift outdoor classroom in the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from India and Pakistan. (Northeastern Afghanistan, September 2, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Bodybuilders in the 55-60 kg category square off during a regional bodybuilding competition. Many Afghan men, like others around the world, feel that a macho image of physical strength is important. (Kabul, August 6, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2008 A woman in a white burqa enjoys an afternoon with her family feeding the white pigeons at the Blue Mosque. (Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Addicts inject heroin while trying to keep warm inside the abandoned Russian Cultural Center, which the capital citys addicts use as a common gathering point. Heroin is readily available, costing about one dollar a hit. (Kabul, February 9, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 An elderly man holds his granddaughter in their tent at a refugee camp after they were forced to flee their village, which US and NATO forces had bombed because, they claimed, it was a Taliban hideout. (Surobi, Nangarhar Province, February 7, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Seven-year-old Attiullah, a patient at Mirwais Hospital, stands alongside an X ray showing the bullet that entered his back, nearly killing him. Attiullah was shot by US forces when he was caught in a crossfire as he was herding sheep. (Kandahar, October 13, 2009). Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 US Army Sargeant Jay Kenney (right), with Task Force Destiny, helps wounded Afghan National Army soldiers exit a Blackhawk helicopter after they have been rescued in an air mission. (Kandahar, December 12, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 An Afghan National Army battalion marches back to barracks at the Kabul Military Training Center. (Kabul, October 4, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Eid Muhammad, seventy, lives in a house with a view overlooking the hills of Kabul. He and millions of other Afghans occupy land and housing without possessing formal deeds to them. (Kabul, November 21, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Razima holds her two-year-old son, Malik, while waiting for medical attention at the Boost Hospital emergency room. (Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, June 23, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Young women cheer as they attend a rally for the Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. (Kabul, April 1, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Burqa-clad women wait to vote after a polling station runs out of ballots. (Kabul, April 5, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2015 Relatives, friends, and womens rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda Malikzada, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul. Farkhunda was violently beaten and set on fire after a local cleric accused her of burning a Quran. (Kabul, March 22, 2015) Paula Bronstein In recent years jihadi groups have increasingly called for attacks on civilians during the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday. A suicide bomber killed 26 people breaking their fast and enjoying ice cream at a shop in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Tuesday. The terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people, President Ashraf Ghani said. Although the Taliban lost control of Afghanistan following the US invasion of 2001, it has steadily regained ground since most international troops withdrew in 2014 and other extremists such as Isis have also flourished. Islamists are currently in control of around 40 per cent of Afghanistan, although they hold no major cities. Last month the group announced a spring offensive which would target foreign forces in the country. There are currently around 13,000 US and Nato ally troops deployed to Afghanistan, although the Pentagon has urged US President Donald Trump to send more soldiers to combat the deteriorating security situation. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Taliban has denied responsibility for a deadly suicide car bombing in the Afghan capital of Kabul which has killed at least 90 people and wounded more than 400. Zabihullah Mujahdid, a spokesperson for the militant Islamist group, said the organisation was not involved in the massive explosion near the German embassy in the city's heavily fortified diplomatic district. The powerful suicide truck bomb was deployed during rush hour on Wednesday morning, police said. Suicide bomb kills at least 80 and wounds more than 350 in Afghanistan One Afghan security guard was killed and several German employees injured in the blast, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter. "The attack took place very close to the German embassy. It hit civilians and those who are in Afghanistan to work for a better future for the country with the people there. It's especially contemptible that these people were the target," Mr Gabriel wrote. The huge explosion - which set more than 50 cars alight and shattered windows hundreds of metres away - is thought to be one of the most deadly attacks to ever hit the capital. Video from the scene showed thick plumes of smoke rising in the air and a number of injured people and bodies still lying on the ground or in cars. The majority of the dead are thought to be civilians. Two Japanese nationals were also harmed in the bombing, and the nearby Turkish and Chinese embassies also sustained damage. Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Show all 13 1 /13 Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man reacts in shock after a suicide car bombing in a diplomatic zone of Kabul, Afghanistan, left at least 80 people dead Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly suicide car bombing that set more than 50 cars alight Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two Afghan men carry one of the many injured in the attack REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man tries to drive his vehicle heavily damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two men walk away from the scene, covered in blood REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The bomb was detonated near the German embassy in the citys heavily guarded diplomatic district REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people One of many cars destroyed in the attack burns Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The attack sent plumes of smoke over Afghanistans capital AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Several buildings have been damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The car bombing is thought to be one of the most deadly attacks ever to hit the capital Alamy Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Wounded victims lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Relatives of Afghan victims mourn outside a hospital after the blast in Kabul Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Crowds in Kabul survey the damage after the deadly attack EPA A wave of recent violence across the country has been claimed by either the Taliban or Isis. Before Wednesday, a total of 220 people had been killed in extremist incidents in Kabul since April 2015. There has been no claim of responsibility for Wednesday's attack so far. There have been a number of violent incidents in Kabul's supposedly secure diplomatic district in the last year which have targeted foreigners. The latest massive blast is sure to raise questions about existing security procedures. Local media said that a lorry or water tanker filled with explosives was to blame for the vast damage. The Afghan authorities later confirmed a sewage tanker had been used in Wednesday's violence. The withdrawal of most international troops from Afghanistan in 2014 has led to a resurgence of the Taliban and created chaos in which extremists such as Isis have been able to gain a foothold in the country. More than a third of the country is currently controlled by Islamists. The Pentagon has repeatedly urged new US President Donald Trump to send more troops to Afghanistan to help the existing 13,000 US and Nato solders currently deployed tackle the precarious security situation. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Four BBC workers and their Afghan driver were caught up in the suicide bombing outside the Germany embassy in Kabul, the corporation has said. The driver killed in Wednesday's attack was named as Mohammed Nazir, a father in his late thirties who had worked for the BBC for more than four years. Four journalists were injured, though their wounds were not believed to be life-threatening, the BBC said in a statement. The huge blast killed at least 90 people and injured more than 400 after a sewage tanker filled with explosives was detonated at an intersection in the heavily guarded diplomatic quarter. Karim Haidari, the BBC bureau's manager, tweeted a picture of the colleague who lost his life in the incident. No group has yet claimed responsibility, but the Taliban has denied involvement. Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that Wednesday's explosion had "nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate," as the Taliban call themselves. Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Show all 13 1 /13 Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man reacts in shock after a suicide car bombing in a diplomatic zone of Kabul, Afghanistan, left at least 80 people dead Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly suicide car bombing that set more than 50 cars alight Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two Afghan men carry one of the many injured in the attack REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man tries to drive his vehicle heavily damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two men walk away from the scene, covered in blood REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The bomb was detonated near the German embassy in the citys heavily guarded diplomatic district REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people One of many cars destroyed in the attack burns Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The attack sent plumes of smoke over Afghanistans capital AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Several buildings have been damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The car bombing is thought to be one of the most deadly attacks ever to hit the capital Alamy Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Wounded victims lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Relatives of Afghan victims mourn outside a hospital after the blast in Kabul Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Crowds in Kabul survey the damage after the deadly attack EPA His statement added that the Taliban condemn "every explosion and attack carried out against civilians, or in which civilians are harmed." Even though the organisation claim they are only waging war against the US-backed Kabul government and foreign forces in Afghanistan, most of the casualties of their attacks are civilians. There has been no statement from Isis, although it is not unusual for the group to wait for a day or two after an attack before claiming responsibility. At least one journalist working for local news agency Tolo was killed, as well as a security guard at the German embassy. Several German and Japanese nationals were injured in the blast, the countries' respective security services said. Turkey and China confirmed their embassy buildings sustained large amounts of damage in the explosion, which set dozens of cars on fire and broke doors and windows up to a kilometre (half a mile) from the blast site. Local hospitals were overwhelmed by the numbers of injured people arriving in makeshift ambulances and the death toll is expected to rise, the interior ministry said. A wave of recent violence across the country has been claimed by both groups. Before Wednesday, a total of 220 people had been killed in extremist incidents in Kabul since April 2015. A further 135 soldiers were killed in a Taliban offensive on an army training compound in the north of the country last month. "Today the enemies of Afghanistan once again showed their brutality by killing and wounding civilians. The enemy has no mercy on civilians," a statement from the Afghan government condemning the attack said. Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Show all 16 1 /16 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2001 Afghans at the Killi Faizo refugee camp desperately reach for bags of rice being handed out to the thousands who escaped the bombardment in southern Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Chaman, Pakistan, December 4, 2001) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2002 Mahbooba stands against a bullet-ridden wall, waiting to be seen at a medical clinic. The seven-year-old girl suffers from leishmaniasis, a parasitical infection. (Kabul, March 1, 2002) All photos Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2003 A mother and her two children look out from their cave dwelling. Many families who, fleeing the Taliban, took refuge inside caves adjacent to Bamiyans destroyed ancient Buddha statues now have nowhere else to live. (Bamiyan, November 19, 2003) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Students recite prayers in a makeshift outdoor classroom in the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from India and Pakistan. (Northeastern Afghanistan, September 2, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Bodybuilders in the 55-60 kg category square off during a regional bodybuilding competition. Many Afghan men, like others around the world, feel that a macho image of physical strength is important. (Kabul, August 6, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2008 A woman in a white burqa enjoys an afternoon with her family feeding the white pigeons at the Blue Mosque. (Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Addicts inject heroin while trying to keep warm inside the abandoned Russian Cultural Center, which the capital citys addicts use as a common gathering point. Heroin is readily available, costing about one dollar a hit. (Kabul, February 9, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 An elderly man holds his granddaughter in their tent at a refugee camp after they were forced to flee their village, which US and NATO forces had bombed because, they claimed, it was a Taliban hideout. (Surobi, Nangarhar Province, February 7, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Seven-year-old Attiullah, a patient at Mirwais Hospital, stands alongside an X ray showing the bullet that entered his back, nearly killing him. Attiullah was shot by US forces when he was caught in a crossfire as he was herding sheep. (Kandahar, October 13, 2009). Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 US Army Sargeant Jay Kenney (right), with Task Force Destiny, helps wounded Afghan National Army soldiers exit a Blackhawk helicopter after they have been rescued in an air mission. (Kandahar, December 12, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 An Afghan National Army battalion marches back to barracks at the Kabul Military Training Center. (Kabul, October 4, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Eid Muhammad, seventy, lives in a house with a view overlooking the hills of Kabul. He and millions of other Afghans occupy land and housing without possessing formal deeds to them. (Kabul, November 21, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Razima holds her two-year-old son, Malik, while waiting for medical attention at the Boost Hospital emergency room. (Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, June 23, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Young women cheer as they attend a rally for the Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. (Kabul, April 1, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Burqa-clad women wait to vote after a polling station runs out of ballots. (Kabul, April 5, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2015 Relatives, friends, and womens rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda Malikzada, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul. Farkhunda was violently beaten and set on fire after a local cleric accused her of burning a Quran. (Kabul, March 22, 2015) Paula Bronstein The country has become increasingly restive since most international troops withdrew in 2014. Since then, the Taliban has managed to seize control of around 40 per cent of Afghanistan - although it holds no cities - and other militants such as Isis have gained a foothold. Last month the Pentagon urged US President Donald Trump to send reinforcement troops to cope with the deteriorating security situation. Around 8,400 US military staff and 5,000 soldiers from Nato ally countries are currently deployed to Afghanistan. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Muslim volunteers pitched in to help repair a Christian monastery near the Iraqi city of Mosul, it has been claimed. Young residents of the al-Arabi neighbourhood, which had been occupied by Isis until earlier this year, helped to restore the damaged St George's Monastery. The building, belonging to the Chaldean Catholic tradition, had been vandalised by Isis militants. Recommended Father who saw wife and son killed tells of horror fleeing Mosul According to a Facebook post by the "This is Christian Iraq" page, the youths' aim was to demonstrate that "Mosul is yours as it is ours" and that "our differences are our strength". Isis had damaged the monastery's dome, smashed the windows and removed a cross, according to various reports. However, The Irish Times reported earlier this year that Christians had celebrated Easter there for the first time since 2014. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles at Isis positions in Syria, the Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at Isis targets in the area of the ancient city of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched. Russia, a staunch Damascus ally, has been providing air cover to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's offensive on the Isis since 2015. Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured Palmyra in March last year and Moscow even flew in one of its best classical musicians to play a triumphant concert at Palmyra's ancient theatre. Isis forces, however, recaptured Palmyra eight months later before Syrian government troops drove them out again in March this year. Recommended New Palmyra photos show devastation of artefacts ruined by Isis Fighting around Palmyra continues. Russia's defense ministry said its Wednesday statement that the strikes successfully hit IS heavy weapons and fighters whom the group who had deployed and moved to Palmyra from the Isis stronghold of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Sunni militant group and its self-proclaimed caliphate. Moscow said it had notified the US, Turkish and Israeli militaries beforehand of the upcoming strike. It added that the Russian strike was promptly executed following the order, a testimony to the navy's high readiness and capabilities. In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Show all 30 1 /30 In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops AFP/Getty Images In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppois eastern neighborhoods EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria Reuters Russia has been busy mediating between Assad and Turkey and the West who seek his removal. Earlier this month Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish safe zones in Syria, signing on to a Russian plan under which Assad's air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country. Russia says maps delineating the zones should be ready by 4 June. Copyright Associated Press For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Pentagon has confirmed the first new shipment of arms to Kurdish fighters closing in on Isis in the militants de facto capital of Raqqa is on its way to Syria. Small arms including AK-47s and small-calibre machine guns as well as vehicles were being transferred to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mainly Kurdish alliance of fighters, spokesperson Eric Pahon told reporters on Tuesday. The news was met with consternation in Ankara, where Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the decision a mistake. Kurds capture Isis fighter Such steps are extremely dangerous for Syria's unity and territorial integrity, he added in a news conference on Wednesday. Under Barack Obamas administration, the US has long given quiet support to Kurdish fighters in the region, which are widely viewed as the most effective ground force against Isis. Nato ally Turkey has protested the US-Kurdish alliance for years because it views the Turkish separatist PKK movement and its affiliates in Syria as terrorist organisations. The new administrations decision to continue Mr Obamas policy comes as the SDF prepares for the final assault on Isis stronghold of Raqqa in the north of the country. From death to dollars - how Kurds struck it rich Show all 2 1 /2 From death to dollars - how Kurds struck it rich From death to dollars - how Kurds struck it rich pg-40-iraq-1-getty.jpg A 1988 photograph shows a Kurdish father holding his baby in his arms in Halabja, northeastern Iraq. Both were killed in an Iraqi chemical attack on the city. Getty Images From death to dollars - how Kurds struck it rich pg-40-iraq-2-getty.jpg Getty Images Turkey had previously tried and failed to persuade the US to let up to 10,000 Turkish-backed troops lead the assault instead. On some fronts SDF fighters are now just two miles (three kilometres) away from Raqqas outskirts after a successful offensive on the nearby town of Tabqa earlier this month. The operation is designed to dovetail with efforts in neighbouring Iraq to drive Isis from the northern city of Mosul. The gruelling eight-month long battle is nearly over, with the last militants hunkered down in the historic city centre. The battle for Raqqa is also expected to be long and bloody. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously expressed his concerns about directly providing Syrias Kurds with weaponry in a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on 16 May. It is absolutely unacceptable to take the YPG-PYD into consideration as partners in the region, and its going against a global agreement we reached, Mr Erdogan told media after the talks, referring to the both the fighting and political units of the Kurdish autonomous movement in Syria. The president clearly expressed our position and concerns during his Washington visit. It was stressed how risky and dangerous the support given to the YPG was, Mr Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. These weapons could be used against all humanity, not just Turkey. US government audits studied by Amnesty International in findings released last week showed than $1 billion (78 million) in weapons already supplied to local Kurdish fighters in Iraq in 2016 are currently unaccounted for. Syrias Kurds stand at a crossroads in the regions history Many players in Syrias complex and multi-sided civil war are worried that the new influx of weaponry could further destablise the country if weapons are leaked or diverted to other groups once Isis militants are defeated. Several Iraqi forces aided by weapons and training from the US have since been accused of human rights abuses in the fight against Isis. Iraqi coalition spokesperson Colonel John Dorrian said although the weapons will not be reclaimed the US will carefully monitor where and how they are used. Every single one of the weapons will be accounted for and the US will assure they are pointed at Isis, he said, adding that the shortcomings identified in the Amnesty report had been examined and corrected. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has joined passengers in demanding British Airways offer speedy compensation to those caught up in travel chaos over the bank holiday weekend. BA said its IT system had been fixed and it expected all its flights from Heathrow and Gatwick to operate on time on Tuesday, as passengers threatened to boycott the beleaguered airline. An outage on the companys computer network on Saturday left 75,000 passengers stranded and more than 1,000 flights delayed or cancelled. It saw previously-loyal BA passengers threatening to boycott the airline. Others, waiting on historic compensation claims to be settled, seized on the chaos as evidence of the airlines management failings. Recommended Apologetic BA chief denies computer failure was caused by job cuts Asked about the BA meltdown at an election campaign press conference in Wolverhampton, the Prime Minister said it was important the airline offered compensation to its customers. "It's up to them to sort their IT out and to ensure that they are able to provide the services that people expect them to provide as British Airways, she added. BA said in a statement: "Our IT systems are back up and running and our operation continues to run as planned today with a full flight schedule at Heathrow and Gatwick. But attempts to restore the reputation of the brand are likely to take much longer. British Airways CEO denies catastrophic computer failure was caused by job cuts A "significant number of customers" are still without their luggage and BA has said it still has "work to do" reuniting bags with passengers. In one instance, a couple who were forced to cancel their holiday to New York were told their suitcase had ended up in the US city three days later. Dozens of passengers took to Twitter to say they would chose other airlines to fly with in future. Jonathan Marten, who was trying to get to San Francisco from Edinburgh, said he had been rebooked four times and had in the process been downgraded to economy. Passengers stand at the British Airways check-in desk after the London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports suffered an IT systems failure, at the 'Leonardo da Vinci' airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy (EPA) I've had to pay 61 twice to select an exit row on my cancelled flights out and yet still can't pick seats. Never flying BA again," he wrote. The chaos at the weekend was also seized on by customers who said their claims for compensation for previous delays were not being dealt with properly. Peter Wakeham told The Independent he was boycotting the airline after it failed to pay 800 euros compensation for a delayed flight last summer. He said despite repeated attempts to have his case resolved, and after BA had initially agreed to pay the money, it had failed to transfer the compensation and was now ignoring his emails. Mr Wakeham added that he will now fly with Virgin on trips to the US and Norwegian within Europe. In pictures: British Airways disruptions Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: British Airways disruptions In pictures: British Airways disruptions A passenger looks at a British Airway plane at John F. Kennedy (JFK) international airport in New York Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions British Airways planes are seen at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions Passengers stand at the British Airways check-in desk after the London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports suffered an IT systems failure, at the 'Leonardo da Vinci' airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy EPA In pictures: British Airways disruptions Arrivals notice boards are displayed at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People wait with their luggage at the British Airways check in desks at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions Thousands of passengers face a second day of travel disruption after a British Airways IT failure caused the airline to cancel most of its services Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions A woman covered in a blanket sleeps in Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions People sleep next to their luggage at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People sleep at Heathrow Terminal 5 in London Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions A woman sleeps on a luggage trolley at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People queue to enter the terminal at Gatwick Airport Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People wait with their luggage at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Getty In pictures: British Airways disruptions Thousands of passengers face a second day of travel disruption after a British Airways IT failure caused the airline to cancel most of its services Getty In pictures: British Airways disruptions People queue with their luggage outside Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions People queue for check-in at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. Thousands of passengers face a second day of travel disruption after a British Airways IT failure caused the airline to cancel most of its services Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions People sleep next to their luggage at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People wait with their luggage at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters BA said in a statement: We are very sorry for the frustration customers are experiencing and understand the difficulties they are facing. By the end of yesterday, two thirds of customers whose flights were cancelled this weekend had flown to their destinations. Our priority now is to get the remainder of our customers away. We appreciate that some our customers feel let down by British Airways, and apologise for the awful experiences theyve been having, but we are doing everything we can to support them as best we can. We have additional resource in our call centres, customers are using our automated rebooking tool through our websites and we are also working with 30 other airlines to accommodate the rest of our customers so that they can fly as soon as possible. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A village in Switzerland has voted to ban tourists from taken photos. The commune of Bergun/Bravuogn near St Moritz decided to take the measure on Monday but its all to make people happier, reports The Local. Locals believe that their village is so beautiful that visitors pictures of it, when uploaded to social media, will make other people miserable. It is scientifically proven that beautiful holiday photos on social media make the viewer unhappy because they cannot be there themselves, said a statement from the tourist office. The village plans to implement a symbolic 5 fine on those caught breaking the new rules. Recommended Eight places that hate tourists the most Bergun/Bravuogn is beautiful, added the Mayor, Peter Nicolay. We dont want to make people outside the community unhappy by sharing social media photos of our picturesque landscape, and we cordially invite you to visit Bergun to experience it for yourself. I am very pleased that the inhabitants of Bergun have the happiness of all people at heart. That makes me very proud. Some have questioned whether its from the heart or simply a publicity stunt. Although it is a real law, voted for by the town council, the villages director of tourism, Marc-Andrea Barandun, admitted that the measure is partly a marketing ploy. In the background of course the idea is that everyone is talking about Bergun, he told The Local. So its a combination of both we made the law and also theres some marketing [aim] behind it. He added that its unlikely the fine will actually be imposed on anyone, and that there is more about the ban that will be revealed later this week. Barandun added: The whole story is not finished yet. By Friday evening everyone will know what the idea was behind this law. Its a surprise. The tourist office has removed photos of the village from its Facebook and Twitter accounts, and has declared its intention to remove them from the Bergun website too. The ban has had a mixed reception on social media. Some approved of the campaign, with one man writing: Strong PR action!, while another comments, Cool action and cool town meeting! It shows bravery and a great sense of humour! However, not everyone is a fan. One woman writes on Facebook: Totally bad PR! This will put off your potential guests, attract angry reactions and make you look ridiculous... Bergun; I'm disappointed. Others compared the ban to North Korea. Berguns tourist board responded on social media: Publicising how beautiful our village is needs to be done in bold ways. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} If President Donald Trump wanted to make an impression with his first visit to Europe last week, he unquestionably succeeded. In their own ways, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and new French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend signalled just how little confidence they now have in American global leadership. It seemed a direct response to Trump's performance at the Nato summit and G7 meetings. Both leaders are playing to their own domestic audiences. Merkel who faces German national elections in September received a full minute of applause for her widely reported Sunday comments that the United States and UK could no longer be relied upon. Macron is fresh from his own election victory, keen to lock in a reputation as a strong centrist force who can stand up to Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Caught in the middle is Britain, with Prime Minister Theresa Mays government appearing badly out of step with the European mood as it negotiates Brexit. Having been widely seen as matching Trump at his own game in a macho series of competitive handshakes, Macron this weekend threw himself into a public face-off with the Russian leader. As Putin stood next to him at a press conference outside Paris, the French president lambasted Kremlin-linked news outlets and Moscows actions in Ukraine, the Middle East and beyond. He also threatened French military action in the event of further chemical strikes in Syria. Recommended Angela Merkel calls for European unity in face of growing challenges The speed with which Europes new centrist duo the established Merkel and freshly minted Macron have demonstrated their newly muscular self-confidence is striking. Only recently, both France and Germany looked as though they might fall to the far right. That they have not done so appears to have given the political establishment a boost. Economically, the Eurozone is in the best shape it has been for almost a decade, its growth outpacing Americas in the first quarter of this year. The migration crisis has somewhat eased, and with it the political fallout from recent militant attacks. All of these problems as well as Europes far right may well return. But for now, the political energy seems to be with the centre. Merkel and Macron are determined to take advantage of it. For the United States, this is a mixed picture at best. Successive US leaders particularly Trump have long tried to persuade Europe to stand up for itself, to take more responsibility for its own defence and other issues. The manner in which it is now happening, however, will feel like a slap in the face. Indeed, it is supposed to. In more normal times, Merkel and Macron both natural Atlanticists would likely prefer to bolster ties with Washington and London. With Brexit and Trump, they feel the United States and UK have taken stunningly wrong turns and they intend to be seen filling the gap. This has been supercharged by Trumps behaviour at the Nato summit last week. The US president quite literally shoved another leader aside, failed to make an expected pledge to honour the Article Five mutual defence clause and still does not seem to understand how alliance members fund defense. We dont know what happened behind closed doors but Merkel and Macrons actions this weekend suggest it wasnt pretty. In many respects not that much will change. The Nato alliance will remain a central plank of European defence, and that will depend on US military muscle. Links between the US and European militaries will probably continue to deepen, despite diplomatic rhetoric to the contrary. But major European states appear to have now made a decision to take more into their own hands, ready for the day when Washington proves absent. Expect more joint European Union action on defence on planning, on procurement, on training. Nato will be the tool through which mainland Europe interacts with the United States and Britain. But Europe's core states will plan much more proactively to fight alone if necessary. For Britain, meanwhile, this new dynamic risks becoming a diplomatic catastrophe. Mays government has adopted an unnecessarily hectoring tone when it comes to Brexit negotiations. The hefty majority she was hoping to win in Britains snap election no longer seems likely. And now Merkel, the most powerful politician in Europe, explicitly put Britain alongside the United States and Russia as countries Europes core states could work with, but not rely on. That augurs badly for Brexit. But it also indicates that the UK will have much less clout when it comes to achieving anything it wants on the continent. The way Macron and Merkel see the world is now clear. Russia is a threat. They know many of their people see the US president as a joke, and that they can gain plenty of political mileage by standing up to him. Ensuring Brexit proves disastrous for the UK might well fit within that strategy. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP All of that is understandable, and a renewed sense of European self-confidence may yet bring good things. But it also opens the door to a host of new uncertainties. If and when Trump does return to Europe, it may be an even stormier visit. Copyright Reuters Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One day, people might come to view the Paris Agreement on climate change as the moment that we finally decided to save our planet, Barack Obama optimistically opined as the US and China jointly ratified the historic accord. But, just eight months later, it appears that dream is in tatters with multiple reports that Donald Trump will rip up the deal which committed countries to slashing carbon emissions in an effort to prevent global warming from entering particularly dangerous territory. It appears certain that the worlds second biggest source of greenhouse gases will thumb its nose at most of the rest of the world, scientists and people not given to bizarre conspiracy theories. Bizarre conspiracy theories like its all a hoax perpetrated by China that ones from Donald Trump or a plot by the United Nations to create a world government Lamar Smith, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives Science Committee. Anti-Science Committee, more like. This is definitely bad news, but perhaps not for the reasons you might think. In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP The switch to a low-carbon economy has gained a life of its own. As the price of renewable energy, particularly solar and onshore wind, has tumbled, the process is increasingly being driven by market forces as much as well-meaning politicians. US states and cities have already started ramping up efforts to go green in the wake of Trumps election. And the Presidents oft-repeated plan to Make America Great Again by reviving the coal industry may prove more difficult than he believes, largely because of competition from cheaper shale gas. So four years of a climate science-denying Trump administration might not actually be so bad for international efforts to limit global warming. The real danger could come from the geopolitical fallout. During Trumps disastrous trip to Europe, his infamous alpha-male handshake met its match in Emmanuel Macron when the newly elected French squeezed so hard the US President was forced to publicly concede in front of the cameras. He was also ridiculed after childishly pushing the Prime Minister of Montenegro out the way so he could be at the front of a group of Nato leaders. Trump found himself publicly upbraided by Angela Merkel, largely because of his views on climate change, and then Macron struck again, pretending to greet Trump before swerving at the last moment to speak to Merkel first, two other people, before finally acknowledging the Leader of the Free World. Donald Trump creates social media storm with 'covfefe' tweet Trump doesnt like being teased. His face at a White House Correspondents Dinner as the then President Obama ridiculed him over the birther conspiracy was evidence enough of that. In fact, its not totally implausible to believe that getting back at the nasty people who teased me could have swung what was said to be a finely balanced decision on the Paris Agreement. Heavyweight figures in his administration: his own daughter Ivanka Trump, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson the former boss of oil giant Exxon are believed to have argued that the US would pay too high a diplomatic price for quitting the accord. Countries who go back on their word can find it more difficult to cut new deals with other states, something Trump, who regards himself as an arch-dealmaker, would probably have taken seriously. A US withdrawal from the Paris deal would further widen the rift between the US and European Union, potentially causing problems within Nato, which Moscow-friendly Trump once described as obsolete although he later reined back on that assessment. It could also spark a trade war with talk of US exports being hit by carbon taxes to compensate for the Trump administrations lack of action to reduce emissions. And this suggestion has not just come from the usual suspects the former conservative French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, was among those to make it. This would pit the US along with fellow Paris refuseniks Syria and Nicaragua against nearly 200 countries who have signed up to the Paris accord. It could force oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia and even post-Brexit Britain to choose sides. So its perhaps understandable that Theresa May has been maintaining a pact of silence over Trump, Paris and the rapidly rising temperature, both meteorologically and diplomatically speaking. After all, things could get really rather messy. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The announcement that Jeremy Corbyn will be joining this evenings BBC Election 2017 debate should come as no great surprise. Its just the latest in a series of signals that Labours campaign momentum, to lend the phrase, is showing no sign of slowing. In contrast the now glaring absence of Theresa May reveals that her campaign is undergoing quite the opposite response to the pressure of the snap election: its falling apart. A few weeks ago Mays impressive lead in the polls gave her a valid excuse to avoid the debates. Indeed, evading the scrapping and scalping of live TV looked almost statesmanlike. Why should the PM past, present and future bother to waste her time? With Labour trailing in the polls, it was an excuse grounded in some semblance of reality. The why bother debating Corbyn line was perfect cover for a PM who has been scared to face her opponents or the public from the offset. Of course, those whod kept an eye on her public appearances may well have cottoned on to the fact shes a poor political operator, unable to do more than blurt out strong and stable on repeat in front of both cameras and selective crowds. General Election polls and projections: May 31 Now, the latest YouGov poll showing a swing to Labour unprecedented since Corbyn became Labour leader have exposed her excuses for what they are. What was before a useful political slogan for Labour Theresa May is running scared is quickly becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Its exactly what viewers tuning in tonight will be thinking, and theyll be right. The Tories want us to believe that both May and Corbyn were until today both unwilling to take part in these debates, but the reality is more nuanced. While May has long ruled out attending no matter what, Corbyn stance was hed only take part if May does. His rationale was obvious: either he or May will be the next PM, so it only makes sense to do these together. Mays point-blank refusal had no such basis: she was always running scared. And now, with Mays stand-in confirmed, Corbyn returns to the ring, rising above his stalemate with the Tories. All May can do to try and claw back credibility is make jibes about a naked Corbyn at the Brexit negotiating table. Now who looks weak and wobbly? UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Even if May were to do another U-turn and agree to engage like the other leaders which is looking incredibly unlikely it would be quite clearly a sign of desperation, another flip-flop from a leader who just cant make up their mind. When asked by journalists today if she was scared of Corbyn, her excuse was being too busy with Brexit preparations. Coming from the person who called the election in the first place it's hardly a convincing reply. Tonight we must ask ourselves on question: if May can't cope with a discussion on TV how will she cope with securing a deal for Britain with Europe? If she can't debate, how can she negotiate? Whatever the outcome of tonights debate one lesson is obvious: we dont need Theresa May for our democracy to thrive. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Tory-DUP coalition. Dory. Tup. Conup. Despite the inability to construct something as beautiful as ConDem from the names of the two parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and the Conservative Party teaming up is a real possibility, if the Times/YouGov poll indicating a hung parliament is to be believed. But assuming it is, and we are faced with a second hung parliament in a decade, who else is willing to link arms with May, Boris and co and march into the Brexit sunset? The Lib Dems aren't doing that again and they've made that quite clear. Ukip, equally, are out, as they've had their vote eviscerated after May consumed their policies it would actually be a shock if they had any presence in Parliament whatsoever. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images That just leaves us with Labour, SNP, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru, and I won't predict a Tory coalition with any of those parties until a meteorologist puts up her hand to predict a blue moon over the horizon. Inevitably, that leaves our favourite intrepid adventures from the year 1644, the DUP, as the only even remotely suitable blushing bride for our impatiently foot-tapping groom to wed. So the question is, in the case of a hung parliament, are the DUP about to become king makers after 8 June? Can the Bible Belt bad boys of Ulster really become one of the most powerful parties in the Commons and what on earth would that mean for the UK? Sadly, due to the refusal of any of the networks to include the DUP, now the fifth largest party in Parliament, in any of its UK-wide election debates, this is a question that the most UK voters have no idea how to answer. So let me try and be of some assistance. Firstly, we must ask, would the DUP even be good bedfellows for the Tories? There are a few reasons why they very much might not be some of their numbers barely turn up to vote. While there are enthusiastic and engaged parliamentarians amongst them, like Jim Shannon, two of their eight MPs (Gregory Campbell and Ian Paisley Jnr) will not turn up and vote around two-thirds of the time. General Election 2017: The key constituency of Edinburgh South Secondly, their voting record is surprisingly anti-austerity. While they might not always be in the chamber, when they are there they consistently vote against Tory welfare cuts. So would the DUP really work for the Tories? It still seems very likely there has been a great deal of courting, with the DUP having a champagne reception at the Conservative conference and the Government granting the DUP an Opposition day debate all to themselves. But most importantly, there is necessity. May would require the DUP if she wanted to continue as Prime Minister in a hung parliament, as there is no one else. Equally, the DUP would have dangled before it the first chance for Northern Irish politicians to hold significant sway in Parliament since 1910. Continued power, and power anew, would be the irresistible forces to bring the two parties together. The second question is what would the DUP do with this new found Parliamentary sway, and should the electorate be worried? The DUP, in my opinion, can be quite nasty but a lot of the harm they can dish out, from homophobic pronouncements, to burning millions of our budget on scandals, frustrating gay equality, attacking the Irish language and pumping anti-poverty money to groups affiliated with gangs, all wrapped up in a snarling sense of superiority and contempt for compromise, is self-contained to Ulster. As eye-catching as it would be to say the DUP will wreak havoc with the UK Parliamentary agenda, the mainland would be mostly sheltered by the parochial nature of their policy ambitions. They simply do not have the desire or ability to roll back gay rights and abortion rights in the mainland they are happy to continue to infringe it in our patch of grass. I would predict they could have two impacts. Firstly, they are hard-line eurospectics. There is a school of thought that their stance has been slightly shaken as it dawned on them the scale of the problems Northern Ireland faces from leaving the EU, but the party is naturally in favour of a hard Brexit. The second impact they could have is on British army prosecutions. The DUP are very keen, as are elements of the Tory party, to shutdown investigations and prosecutions of British soldiers, who are facing criminal sanction for atrocities carried out in Northern Ireland and further afield. Overall, if there is a hung parliament, a DUP-Tory coalition is the only real way May could cling on to that big black door which bears that glinting No 10 by its knocker. This would propel the DUP to a status unheard of in the last century for a Northern Irish party, but that in itself may be enough for it I severely doubt they would inflict anything worse than the Tory government already plans to. As damaging as their rule in Northern Ireland can be at times, it's the Tory part of a possible coalition that the UK voter should be most wary of. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The explosion of a giant bomb in a sewage tanker close to the diplomatic quarter in Kabul is receiving much publicity because of the heavy loss of life and because so many foreign embassies were damaged. A BBC driver was killed and four BBC journalists were wounded by the blast. But, aside from spectacular incidents where foreigners are involved, the Afghan war has largely dropped off media and diplomatic agendas since direct foreign combat involvement ended. This has happened even though, over the past two years, the conflict has been escalating with the Taliban gradually gaining ground and the Afghan affiliate of Isis, also known as Khorasan Province and which holds far less territory, losing several of its strongholds in recent months. The number of civilian casualties last year was 11,000 of whom 3,500 were killed according to the UN, the highest number since 2009. The severity of the fighting also forced half a million Afghans to flee their homes. Recommended BBC workers among victims in Afghanistan suicide bombing The Taliban denies that it is responsible for the latest bomb blast and it has not yet been claimed by Isis, though it appears likely that it was behind the attack. Isis's Khorasan Province has been under severe pressure this year from Afghan and US special forces in its strongholds in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. It was here that the US dropped what it claimed was the largest conventional bomb ever on an Isis tunnel complex on 13 April, though this was reportedly not as effective as first claimed. The Isis leader in Afghanistan, Sheikh Abdul Hasib, was killed in the fighting. It is a traditional tactic for Isis to respond to setbacks on the battlefield by suicide bombings targeting civilians in order to show that it is still a force to be feared. Isis has made devastating attacks in Ramadan in many countries as it did earlier this week in Baghdad. Isis specialises in urban terrorism directed at civilians to a unique degree. In March this year its gunman entered a military hospital in Kabul and killed more than 50 people. Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Show all 13 1 /13 Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man reacts in shock after a suicide car bombing in a diplomatic zone of Kabul, Afghanistan, left at least 80 people dead Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly suicide car bombing that set more than 50 cars alight Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two Afghan men carry one of the many injured in the attack REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people A man tries to drive his vehicle heavily damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Two men walk away from the scene, covered in blood REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The bomb was detonated near the German embassy in the citys heavily guarded diplomatic district REUTERS Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people One of many cars destroyed in the attack burns Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The attack sent plumes of smoke over Afghanistans capital AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Several buildings have been damaged in the blast AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people The car bombing is thought to be one of the most deadly attacks ever to hit the capital Alamy Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Wounded victims lie on their beds in Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul AP Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Relatives of Afghan victims mourn outside a hospital after the blast in Kabul Reuters Kabul bomb blast kills at least 90 people Crowds in Kabul survey the damage after the deadly attack EPA The war in general in Afghanistan is close to a stalemate, though the Taliban has been making ground since international forces withdrew at the end of 2014. They control or contest areas inhabited by more than 40 per cent of the Afghan population, though the government of President Ashraf Ghani holds all the provincial capitals. US air strikes limit the ability of the Taliban to win strategic victories or capture and hold urban centres. President Trump is considering sending a further 3,000 to 5,000 troops to bolster the 10,000 who are already there as a counter-terrorism mission. It became clear during the past two years that the Afghan government could not survive without foreign assistance, much of it from the US. While President Obama tended to play down its growing military engagement in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, Mr Trump plays up more air strikes or troop reinforcements as a sign of stronger US resolution under his leadership. In practice, it has been unlikely over the past decade that the Taliban would lose so long as it had a strong core of indigenous support and the covert backing of Pakistan, where its forces could always seek sanctuary. Though aware of this, the US has always balked at a confrontation with Pakistan as a leading US ally in South Asia and a nuclear armed military power. It has likewise been unlikely that the Taliban would win because of sectarian and ethnic limitations to their support in Afghanistan and the financial and military backing of the US for the government in Kabul. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In the age of Isis, we should remember Nasr Abu Zeid. He was a hero of his time, who would, had he lived now that the Salafist cult has been let loose in the Europe of his exile as well as the Egypt that was his home have long ago been murdered. Before I telephoned him for the first time in Cairo, I wondered if hed be still alive to talk to me by the time I reached his home. Almost exactly 22 years ago, I rang the bell and it was his wife Ibtihal who opened the door in a tired way, weary beyond her 37 years, pointing to the sitting room where her husband was waiting to explain to me why they wouldnt divorce each other. The price was already high. Islamists had called for his death. Others had accused Ibtihal of fornication because she refused to leave the husband she had been told to divorce by the Egyptian Appeals Court and was thus living out of wedlock. But it was worse than that. The court ordered the couple to separate for if they merely divorced, they would be able to remarry and Professor Nasr Abu Zeid couldnt be allowed to do that because, officially, he had been branded an apostate. So ever since Judge Farouq Abdul-Ali an Islamist appointee of the Justice Ministry gave his verdict, cops from the Interior Ministry had been guarding the Abu Zeids from attack. Hence the cop at the front door, one branch of dictator Hosni Mubaraks Egyptian government defending an Egyptian couple from another branch of the Egyptian government, a circumstance that was as preposterous as it was obscene. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Every Egyptian every Arab, indeed every Muslim in the Middle East knew the deeply shaming saga of the Abu Zeids, although these people do not speak of it today. He was a professor of Arabic literature at Cairo University, she a lecturer in the history of Spanish art and French civilization, a French diplomats daughter who graduated from the Sorbonne, both now ordered by the state court to separate on the grounds that Nasr in a university paper that won him his professorship denied the reliability of the Quran as a literal text. The man behind the charges was one of Abu Zeids own academic colleagues, a third-rate television Muslim evangelist who claimed that Nasr had set himself up as an opponent of all the tenets of religious discourse. But lets have a look at Nasr Abu Zeids original sin which has much to do with Isis and the doctrine of infallibility that every Islamist cultist now flourishes before throat-cutting his way across the landscape. Abu Zeid himself had been a university teacher for 20 years and had published highly respected works on 9th century Muslim theologians and the 13th century mystic Mohieddin Ibn Al-Arabi. But Abu Zeids crime was to state boldly in his work that from the minute of its descent from God to the minute the Prophet recited it, the Quran changed from a divine text to a human one The professor opposed the literalism with which so many conservative Muslims interpreted the Quran, insisting instead that its teachings should be seen in the context of the Arab world 1,400 years ago and read with enlightenment rather than unquestioning obedience to every phrase. There were other problems Abu Zeid almost certainly infuriated corrupt Egyptian bankers who had fleeced investors with Islamic front companies and then fled the country. But now it was Nasr Abu Zeid who had to contemplate exile. Islamists had just tried to assassinate Mubarak. A year earlier, the Nobel prize-winning Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz was attacked by men with knives. There is an attempt at political, creative and intellectual destruction, Abu Zeid said. If they destroy these three psychological pillars, they might be able to break the unity of Egyptian society. And here, as he sat in the bleak sanctuary of his police-guarded home, is what Abu Zeid said about the Quran: The people who make literal interpretations of the Quran take literally what the Quran says about a man being allowed four wives. Now the Quran, in its time, was very just for women. They had been treated worse than slaves and the Quran said they must be treated with fairness and justice it was the first Arabic text which distinguished between men and women [earlier texts used the male pronoun only] and this was the message. It says you must be fair and that should mean one wife, not four as the text says. So the real meaning of the Quran is not necessarily the literal meaning. Abu Zeid met his wife when she was only 21, impressed that a French foreign language student spoke such impeccable Arabic. Around their Cairo home were Arabic paintings and copies of works by Goya and Picasso. Like the Algerian warrior, the Emir Abdelkader, they made no divisions between eastern and western culture. So how, I asked Ibtihal Abu Zeid, did she who grew up reading Racine and Balzac respond to the hatred of Quranic literalists? Why on earth do you talk about Racine? she snapped at me. Why dont you mention Camus or Sartre or Kafka? Their texts are very pale in comparison to what we are going through. The writers of the absurd could never have written this. To think that they missed what we are living through poor Kafka! So the Abu Zeids were forced to flee for their lives from their homeland, just as tens of thousands of Isis victims have fled the cults literalist psychosis and violence in Iraq and Syria. Its worth noting the disgraceful judgment of Egypts penal court that Abu Zeids denunciation of the ownership of slave girls was contrary to all the divine texts which permit such provided that the required conditions [sic] are met. This is truly Isis-like in its simplicity did not Isis turn their female Christian and Yazidi prisoners into slaves? Nasr and Ibtihal Abu Zeid flew first to Spain and then to Holland, where Leiden University gave this brave man a visiting professorship. More than a year after I had first met him, I travelled to the Netherlands to speak to him again about his struggle for humanist reinterpretation which is what he preferred to call his work. We met in the cafe of Leiden railway station. If you consider the situation in the Muslim world, the absolute absence of political freedom and the failure of the all the projects which were started by socialism, communism, nationalism he began. Absolute failure! The poor Muslim citizen finally got nothing and was deprived of his liberty to think forty years with the absolute absence of democracy, of liberty! Only one voice was allowed. We had to echo the voice: the president, the king, whatever. Obedience to the ruler became some sort of religious conviction. So obedience here is the key word. Listening again to Abu Zeids words today, they might have been used to condemn Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis Isis pronouncements or indeed the army of Saudi Arabian imams who preach the Salafist-Wahhabi cause so beloved of Isis. After the disaster of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Abu Zeid said, Muslims were taught that they were defeated because they were not sincere in their religion. And of course, here comes the discourse of political Islamists to make something thats called the Islamic renaissance so there is a renaissance which is opposed to the Western renaissance. Here it comes, the Islamisation of knowledge instead of the modernisation of Islamic thought! Flying into exile, Abu Zeid was in a state of fury. In the plane, I was very angry, he said. And I told my wife: If I die in any place in Holland, in Spain just bury my body where I die. Dont think about taking my body back to Egypt. I would like very much to be buried in Egypt, of course. But dont do this, because you might face some idiots talking about is it legal to have the farewell prayer on his body as a Muslim, or not? Dont do this to yourself, or to me. And at the end, all the lands its the earth of God! Im still angry and I think part of my anger is working on more writing and just go[ing] on fighting. He did go on writing and fighting. He occasionally, in some fear, returned to see his family in Egypt. But in Indonesia seven years ago, he caught an unidentified virus and was brought home to Egypt, where he died and was buried in his birthplace of Quhafa, not far from Tanta where an Isis suicide bomber exploded a bomb outside a Coptic church less than two months ago, killing 27 Christians. In the end, he was indeed laid in what he called the earth of God. He was lucky to escape martyrdom himself. Taxpayers poured 21 billion euro into the lender seven years ago in an attempt to pull the economy back from the brink of collapse The Government is to float a quarter of its share in the bailed-out Allied Irish Bank. Taxpayers poured 21 billion euro into the lender seven years ago in an attempt to pull the economy back from the brink of collapse. It returned to profitability in 2014. In a widely expected announcement, Finance Minister Michael Noonan confirmed on Tuesday evening the state will sell 25% of its 99.9% stake. Mr Noonan said: "The Government's long-held policy is that the state should exit its banking investments in a measured and prudent manner, returning ownership to the private sector over time. "The strong progress made by AIB and current market conditions mean that now is the right time to commence this process and proceed with an initial sale of approximately 25% of the state's shareholding in AIB, as provided for in the Programme for a Partnership Government." The shares will be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. The initial public offering (IPO) prospectus and price range are expected to be published in mid-June and it is expected to be one of the largest UK main market IPOs of the last 20 years. Mr Noonan said the decision is a significant step in the continued normalisation of state involvement in the banking system since the crash. Bernard Byrne, chief executive of AIB, acknowledged the taxpayers' role in bailing out the lender. "We acknowledge the very material financial support provided by the state that enabled the bank to undertake this restructure," he said. "While significant capital has been returned to date, this share listing and sale is very important as it puts in place the final mechanism that will enable the state to continue to recover its investment." After Easter Ryanair held clinics with more than 180 airport operators from across Europe to invite them to pitch for extra business in the event it pulls its almost 90 jets from the UK if Theresa May's government fails to cement a post-Brexit aviation agreement with the EU. "It's part of our programme running up to Brexit," chief commercial officer David O'Brien told the Irish Independent. "We wrote to all the airports advising them of potentially displaced capacity out of the UK. It's a managed plan to be able to give each of the airports an opportunity to benefit from Brexit should it arise in that way." Michael O'Leary has previously warned that the UK faces the prospect of having no services to the EU for months after Brexit if the UK leaves the current open skies arrangement without having an alternative bilateral agreement in place. Ryanair's chief financial officer, Neil Sorahan, also said that every 1p drop in sterling versus the euro knocks 15m off Ryanair's bottom line. Davy Stockbrokers raised its price target on Ryanair shares to 18.50. They hit as high as 18.20 in Dublin. Analysis Bertie Ahern, co-chairman of the InterAction Council, with fellow co-chairman Olusegun Obasanjo at its 34th annual plenary meeting in the Westin Hotel, Dublin. Photo: Kyran OBrien The European Union will never be a failure so long as there is peace on the continent, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said. Addressing a conference of former world leaders in Dublin yesterday, Mr Ahern said many people have forgotten the original purpose of the EU. And he warned that reinstating the Border between the Republic and Northern Ireland would be "a setback" to the Good Friday Agreement. "In these times of political attacks and criticisms, we should never forget the virtue of the EU's biggest success. We should not forget how remarkable peace is and how fragile it can be. What greater success could come, or could we demand, from a peace union than achieving and keeping the peace?" He was speaking at an audience of InterAction Council members which included ex-Russian prime minister Dr Viktor Zubkov, former New Zealand leader James Bolger and former Canadian PM Jean Chretien. Mr Ahern said that at time of great political uncertainty, the EU needed "to stop being on the defensive and step up its game in promoting the values on which the union was founded". "As long as there is peace in Europe there is no failure large enough to tarnish this success. "The EU is not perfect but it has been a success. "The world needs a strong, vibrant, unified Europe more than ever before," he said. The former Fianna Fail leader said Britain had "shocked the world" with the decision to leave the EU, but the exit negotiations "must be handled in a positive manner". He also warned of other threats to society, including terrorism, the war in Syria and pollution. "Climate change, threats to our water systems, food production, global health and ultimately planetary health pose threats to the very existence of humanity on this planet," Mr Ahern said. Conference attendees met with President Michael D Higgins last night before a dinner hosted by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The buzz around Leinster House is that another countrywoman, Heather Humphreys, may soon be destined for greater things. The speculation is that she will be Tanaiste to Leo Varadkar's taoiseach. Ms Humphreys hails originally from Drum, Co Monaghan, dubbed by the Belfast Telegraph last year as "the only Protestant village in the Republic". It has 100 inhabitants, no GAA club, no pub, and four churches, all of various Protestant denominations, including a branch of the late Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church. There can be no doubt whatever about Ms Humphreys' rural credentials. She grew up on a farm in Drum village and her husband, Eric, breeds pedigree cattle near Newbliss, also in Co Monaghan, where they live with their two daughters. Her brother Bert Stewart is the IFA animal health chair. Barring a major political earthquake, Leo Varadkar is expected to be declared Fine Gael leader-elect and Taoiseach-designate late next Friday evening. Then he will complete the high-wire juggling act that is the picking of his first government team. Ms Humphreys has gender and geography in her favour, and let's not forget that she was prominent in the first wave of government ministers to declare for Mr Varadkar. Ms Humphreys is currently Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister. The job title is a heck of a mouthful, and the spread of responsibilities amounts to a rather impossible-looking workload. There was huge surprise when she was appointed as a first-time TD to Cabinet in Enda Kenny's re-shuffle in July 2014. In February 2011 she had won the seat vacated by another Fine Gael TD from the Protestant community, Seymour Crawford, who will be remembered by many farmers as a lifetime IFA activist and former vice-president of that organisation. Within eight weeks of her appointment, she was in the eye of a storm over her appointment of a Seanad candidate to an arts board to enhance his "cultural credentials". She battered her way through that one and did well in heading up the 1916 Rising centenary commemorations, using her Protestant border background to stake out a more inclusive take on proceedings. Along with speculation that she will be Tanaiste comes speculation that her portfolio may be slimmed down. The redoubtable Michael Ring of Mayo, currently a junior minister in charge of rural development, could take charge of a senior ministry for rural and regional affairs. There are at least double the number of people with high government hopes than there are jobs. Mr Varadkar's key supporters Eoghan Murphy and John Paul Phelan are just some of those being tipped to move up the ranks. Mr Murphy may become jobs minister in place of Mary Mitchell O'Connor, as a question mark has been placed over her position in Cabinet. Mr Phelan could be in line to be Government chief whip. Others with cabinet expectations include Regina Doherty, Paul Kehoe, Charlie Flanagan, Josepha Madigan and Michael D'Arcy. We could speculate on and on. But there is little doubt that Heather Humphreys will stay on the first team. She may very well also become Leo Varadkar's deputy. John Downing is an Irish Independent political correspondent The Department has come under fire after sending repeated letters to farmers seeking repayment of monies overpaid following basic payment scheme reviews. A number of farmers have received more than one letter seeking the return of sums of money mistakenly paid years before the current BPS review. "The Department should deduct the overpayment where the farmers accepts the over claim from the farmers' next payment and no interest should be charged," said the ICMSA's Pat McCormack. "The Department made the error and the farmer should not be burdened with interest payments as a result." Farmers attending the IOFGA AGM complained they are still waiting for organics payments. The Department stressed that a surge in farmers joining the organics scheme had meant a new online platform was designed. Almost 1,800 joined the scheme, with over 360 awaiting payment. The environmental scheme GLAS has also encountered payment difficulties, with 94pc of over 34,500 paid, leaving 1,100 cases to be reviewed. The Department said there were just over 1,000 applications that they were awaiting further information from. Meanwhile, some farmers are awaiting significant payments under the TAMS scheme. There have been 1,394 claims received, with 898 cases paid amounting to 10.9m. A spokesman said there were a small number of cases being processed and the computer system had to be rectified to help it cope with small issues such as over-claims. "We are hopeful of resolving these outstanding cases soon," he said. The ICMSA's Patrick Rohan said some farmers had taken out significant "bridging finance" and were very concerned. Zurich's European headquarters are located in Dublin and so unlike many other insurance firms it will remain unaffected by the change in passporting rules triggered by the UK's exit from the EU. Photo: Reuters The Dublin-based entity that underwrites Zurich's non-life European insurance business staged a strong recovery last year, reversing a heavy loss in 2015 to post a net profit of 144m. However, the company scrapped the dividend in 2016, a break with its usual practice. In 2015, when the entity sunk to a 348m pre-tax loss, the Irish firm funnelled a dividend of 320m to its parent - a payout that amounted to 49 per share. That figure had been as high as 72 per share in 2014. Asked about this strategy, Zurich said it chose to retain the capital locally last year. Aside from the exclusion of the dividend, the improved performance at Zurich Insurance PLC, which underwrites non-life risk for the Swiss-based insurance giant in 13 EU countries, was helped by a lift in investment income. However, the entity's insurance operations failed to climb out of the red. Accounts just filed with the companies office show the business, led in Dublin by Irishman Patrick Manley, recorded an underwriting loss of 185m for the financial year ending on December 31. That's a 174m turnaround on the previous financial period. The more benign weather conditions last year, as well as cost-cutting measures, helped narrow the loss. Zurich's freshly-filed financial statements show it continues to wield the axe, with 309 positions eliminated over the year - taking the headcount to 2,590 in 2016. Yet despite the persistent hit to its underwriting activities, Zurich's operations in Ireland improved drastically, with the unit swinging to a 7m profit compared with a 13m loss in the previous period. Gross premiums earned in Ireland were 296m in 2016 compared to 272m in 2015. Overall though, the gross premiums earned by the Swiss behemoth in Europe fell by 722m last year to 8.3bn. The UK again accounted for the lion's share of Zurich's European operations despite a significant fall from the previous period. Gross premiums written in that market in 2016 shrank to 2.7bn, from 3.4bn in 2015. Zurich's European headquarters are located in Dublin and so unlike many other insurance firms it will remain unaffected by the change in passporting rules triggered by the UK's exit from the EU. However, in the accounts it stressed the "company is aware of the potential implications of Brexit," particularly on its UK operations, and said it has established a working group "to determine a suitable course of action to ensure readiness for Brexit in May 2019." Despite the uncertainty Zurich struck an upbeat tone for the year ahead, predicting the global economy "should continue to grow at a steady pace in 2017". Ryanair plans to deepen its relationship with Spanish long-haul carrier Air Europa later this year as it tests its passenger feeder proposition in advance of linking up with Aer Lingus and Norwegian, according to CEO Michael O'Leary. And the Irish airline will again extend an offer to Alitalia to sell the embattled Italian carrier's long-haul tickets on the Ryanair website. It also hopes to expand its connecting flights service that's being trialled in Rome, to Dublin by next year. Just days ago, Ryanair began selling Air Europa long-haul tickets to destinations in North and South America on its website, but will also start transferring baggage later this year. Aer Lingus and Norwegian have also sealed deals with Ryanair to feed passengers onto their networks, but unresolved IT issues have delayed the start of those agreements. Mr O'Leary said he hopes that by the end of this calendar year, or by the first calendar quarter of 2018, that Ryanair will be able to connect Ryanair passengers directly through Madrid on to Air Europa flights. "The bags will go straight through to their long-haul destination. That's where it becomes a much bigger and more interesting arrangement," he said. "It also is kind of a forerunner for our ongoing discussions with Aer Lingus, Norwegian and some of those other long-haul carriers. It's the first of a trend there." Read more: Analysis: Airports tussle for Ryanair Brexit deals Ryanair chief commercial officer David O'Brien also said the airline is planning to re-engage with Italian authorities regarding a proposal that would see the Irish carrier sell Alitalia tickets on the Ryanair website, as it does with Air Europa. "We would sell their long-haul flights on their website, but management (at Alitalia) has been in a state of flux," he said. "We've alerted the new (restructuring) commissioners to our previous proposal and we expect that has part of the restructuring process they will be following up on that." Mr O'Leary said he expects to see Alitalia emerge from its latest administration with a focus on long-haul routes and a smaller short-haul operation. Ryanair yesterday reported that its profits after tax in its last financial year rose 6pc to 1.31bn. Revenue was up 2pc at 6.6bn. The airline is starting a new, 600m share buyback programme. It also plans to acquire a handful of extra jets from Boeing and extend leases to boost capacity next year. Pierce Brosnan attends the LA premiere of "The Son" Season One held at ArcLight Hollywood on Monday, April 3, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) Pierce Brosnan has remembered his James Bond predecessor Roger Moore as his "first real hero" in a touching essay paying tribute to the late actor. The British icon passed away after a short battle with cancer on 23 May, aged 89, and Brosnan was among the stars to mourn his death on social media, acknowledging his "magnificent" portrayal of the suave superspy, a role the veteran played in seven films between 1973 and 1985. Now Brosnan has penned a more detailed article in memory of his old pal for industry publication Variety, in which the Irish star recalls watching his first Bond film, and then discovering his "first real hero" in Moore on his hit TV series The Saint, which inspired him to pursue acting as a kid. "Only on reflection do I see how much of an influence Roger Moore had on me as a young Irish immigrant lad from the banks of the River Boyne," he wrote. "I guess the combination of Bond and the Saint ignited a flame for fame in my heart of innocent wonder. I wanted to be up there. Roger as the Saint made me believe in his world." Expand Close DEBONAIR AND EASY TO LIKE: Roger Moore as James Bond / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DEBONAIR AND EASY TO LIKE: Roger Moore as James Bond Brosnan goes on to reveal Moore was "the only actor I ever asked for an autograph", and shares his admiration for the late star's take on 007. "He reigned over seven movies as James Bond with exceptional skill and comic timing laced with a stiletto vengeance...," described Pierce. "Sir Roger enthralled the world for many years as Bond. Sir Roger played it to the end with impeccable good manners and a wicked sense of irony that was born of years upon the stage." Brosnan then reminisces about his own debut as Bond, in 1995's GoldenEye, during which Moore paid him a visit on set. "I was still in awe of the man," he confessed, as he wrapped up his tribute with one last nod to the celebrated star. "I am so proud to have known the kindness and humanity of Sir Roger Moore," he concluded. Video of the Day Liam Gallagher has delivered an hour-long blistering set in his first solo concert as the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena atrocity were remembered. The former Oasis frontmans gig at the 02 Ritz in his home city sold out in minutes, with all profits to be donated to the families of those affected. He had said he had wanted to try and help people pick up and he was true to his word, enthralling the 1,400-capacity crowd. He showcased new tracks from his forthcoming album As You Were, which were warmly received, but Oasis songs proved a bigger hit with the audience. Liam kept words to a minimum as he announced we are together before his band launched into opening song Rock n Roll Star. Other Oasis favourites played were Morning Glory, DYou Know What I Mean? and Slide Away. There was to be no reunion with brother Noel following the bands bitter split in 2009, but founding member Paul Bonehead Arthurs joined Liam on stage for a rendition of Be Here Now. He later returned for a powerful a cappella encore of Live Forever, which was followed by the crowd singing Stand up for the 22. Dont Look Back In Anger was not on the set list but the audience delivered its own version. Video of the Day The crowd was in good voice throughout, chanting Manchester La La La and the Manchester City anthem Blue Moon. Proceeds from the concert will go to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, organised by Manchester City Council in partnership with the British Red Cross and the Manchester Evening News. Liam will go on to play concerts in London, Dublin and Glasgow this week. Hazel Byrne, from Killenard, Co Laois, holding a pair of wellington boots that were part of the auction. Photo: Damien Eagers Telephone's, wellies, computers and even the kitchen sinks from the former Central Bank building went under the hammer in a massive auction. More than 4,000 items from the iconic offices on Dame Street were sold off in a day-long sell-off in Co Laois. The huge catalogue included standard office and catering equipment, a punching bag, weights and a pink bean bag. But due to the sheer scale of the auction, auctioneer Sean Eacrett was still calling out bids at the Heritage Resort in Killenard by supper time last night; his voice slightly worse for wear at the halfway point after selling 1,650 lots by 3pm. Expand Close Sisters Adrienne (left) and Anna May Muldowney, from Mountmellick, Co Laois, with items from the Central Bank auctioned at the Heritage Resort in Laois. Photo: Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sisters Adrienne (left) and Anna May Muldowney, from Mountmellick, Co Laois, with items from the Central Bank auctioned at the Heritage Resort in Laois. Photo: Damien Eagers "That is a world record," a spokesman said. The former bowling alley was filled with thousands of office telephones, computer monitors, desks - even live potted plants - as bargain hunters bid in person or online for the vast array of goods on offer. Among the more quirky items was a purple and pink plush sofa, a framed SAS tourist poster of the Imperial Palace Temple, Bangkok, from the 1970s and three cinema seats from a former Rathmines cinema. A circular board room table, where executives from the bank attempted to navigate the financial crisis, was also up for sale at the auction. But everyday mundane items - including a bundle of metal coat hangers - sold for 30, while even a set of food expiry date labels from the bank's former kitchen went under the hammer. Dublin antiques dealer Niall Mullen, who bought the entire lot of goods from the Central Bank, was still tallying the sales last night. Mr Mullen negotiated a deal with the Central Bank whereby he had to take everything from the building. "But everything must go," he said. "If there is a profit, it will be from the catering furniture, the board room furniture, the chairs," he said. But even a humble pair of green wellies were probably put to good use during the Central Bank's tenure on Dame Street from 1980 until this year when it moved to its 140m new offices in the Dublin Docklands. "When the flood waters starting coming in in 2008, maybe one of the board members bought them for the (Central Bank) Governor at the time," he joked. As for the punching bag, "I'd say that came in around 2007/08 to relieve stress," he added. Mr Mullen, who previously sold the entire contents of the Morrison Hotel and Berkeley Court Hotel, said he not only cleared out the entire contents of the Central Bank HQ, but four other buildings it occupied. "I have never been at a sale of this magnitude where every single item has sold," he said. "Online buyers definitely won the day with over 300 people at any one time bidding over the internet," he said. "Sam Stephenson-designed furniture, made to complement the building, was a big hit with online bidders with printer desks selling for between 80-170, desks averaging 160 and a stick or umbrella stand fetching 160," he added. FORMER Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall has said he imprisoned a convicted fraudster in his garage because he was worried sick he was going to steal his identity in a scam and was genuinely sorry for what he had done. Dowdall (40) told the Special Criminal Court what happened had ruined his own familys lives and affected the victim but added that there was a lot behind it. His father and co-accused Patrick Dowdall (60) said what happened was not planned and had been a spur of the moment thing that got out of hand. They both gave evidence that there was no mention of the IRA to the victim, as claimed by the prosecution. Expand Close Jonathan Dowdall / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jonathan Dowdall The man who was tortured, Alexander Hurley, alleged Jonathan Dowdall told him he was in the IRA, that we have eyes everywhere and we will kill your family if he went to the gardai after. The victim and two co-accused were giving evidence at the Special Criminal Court this afternoon. The three-judge court is hearing disputed evidence in the Dowdall's case, after hearing Mr Hurley was waterboarded and threatened he would be chopped up and fed to dogs. The Dowdalls have admitted falsely imprisoning and threatening to kill Mr Hurley at Navan Road, Dublin on January 15, 2015. However, they have denied some of the prosecutions evidence, including a claim that Mr Hurley was told Jonathan Dowdall was in the IRA. The Special Criminal Court granted a so-called Newton hearing to resolve the disputed evidence. The hearing centres on five assertions by the defence. The first is that the victim was not invited to dinner by Jonathan Dowdall before he was imprisoned, as stated by the prosecution, but the contact was the other way around." The second is that the victims ordeal did not last three hours. The third is that the accused never stated that he was head of the IRA or UDA. The fourth is that the accused did not threaten the victims family and the fifth is that Mr Hurley took a copy of Jonathan Dowdall's insurance policy. Mr Hurley told the court he contacted Jonathan Dowdall who had a motorbike for sale on donedeal.ie and later went to his house to see the bike. After that, bank details were e-mailed to Mr Hurley and there was a telephone converstaion in which he said Jonathan Dowdall invited him to dinner. He said Dowdall was the one who made contact. Mr Hurley said he felt slightly concerned as he did not know him but did arrange to be picked up, outside the Rotunda Hospital at around 7pm. He said Jonathan Dowdall arrived at about 7.15pm and brought him to his house. Mr Hurley said he was awaiting a decision on financing for the purchase of the motorbike and had no receipt with him. The only literature that was exchanged was a council business card he said Jonathan Dowdall had given him. When they parked outside, he said, I was asked if I was looking forward to dinner and naturally I replied yes. When he was in the garage, he said there were three men there and someone who he said would have been the daughter recording. He told me I hadnt got a clue who he is and asked me do you know who I am? I said I didnt. I didnt do any research on the individual. He said he was part of Sinn Fein and the IRA, Mr Hurley said. He said Patrick Dowdall backed up the statement saying his son was a very highly recognised figure. He said there was no mention of the UDA. After his ordeal, he said he was driven to a remote location in Dublin and was told to get the f**k out of Dublin. I was told if I go to the f***ing gardai I will be picked up in a matter for hours, we have eyes everywhere and we will kill your family. He said Jonathan Dowdall deleted information from his phone and returned it before freeing him. Mr Hurley said he looked at the time on his phone and it was after 10pm. He denied taking Jonathan Dowdalls insurance policy. Cross-examined by Michael OHiggins SC, for Jonathan Dowdall, he admitted posing as a barrister and said it was a cover and he had been going through a period of insecurity due to personal issues". Gaining Dowdalls trust was as far as it went and he did intend paying for the bike, he said. Mr OHiggins put it to him that there was a phone record of him calling the accused on January 14 but Mr Hurley insisted he was invited to dinner. He could not recall or confirm the phone call as referred to in the phone records. He denied the idea that he was invited to dinner as a ruse by Dowdall was nonsense. He denied telling Dowdall that he had paid the money for the bike and had a receipt. He said Dowdall left the garage a couple of times during his ordeal. Mr Hurley said he went home afterwards, showered to wash off the hair that had been shaved off his head, gathered his thoughts and called a friend, still in shock. Asked if he went to Dowdalls house to engage in an act of deception, he said: I did not set out with that mindset. I do 100pc accept that I took wrong turns in earlier life, we all make mistakes but I did not do that. Dean Kelly BL, for Patrick Dowdall, put it to Mr Hurley that the incident was a good deal shorter than he suggested, in the region of 40 minutes to an hour. He said Patrick Dowdall did not make any reference to the IRA. Mr Hurley said it was not a direct reference but he did back him up. Jonathan Dowdall was then called to give evidence. I did do it and Im sorry that it did happen, its even bad to see the fella up here to go through it again, but there is a lot behind it. Im genuinely sorry that it happened, he said. He told the court Mr Hurley had said he had returned from Australia and was head hunted to work for the prosecution as a barrister. On the first visit to his house, he said, Mr Hurley tried on motorbike leathers and he became suspicious when he saw him search the pockets, where he kept the bike documents. Afterwards, he said, he noticed that the insurance policy and his identification were missing. He said Mr Hurley asked for his bank details and later said funds were transferred. Dowdall said Mr Hurley texted asking if he had got the payment and when he said he did not, Mr Hurley called and said he had the receipt from the money transfer, which he would bring to the house. Dowdall denied there was any invitation to dinner and said he was in the house for 30 to 40 minutes max. He said he only left the garage once while Mr Hurley was there. Mr OHiggins asked Dowdall if he had said by way of boast or otherwise that he was head of the IRA or a leading member of the UDA. That was never said, he replied. He denied issuing any threat against Mr Hurleys family or having any gripe with them. He said he did not threaten Mr Hurley not to go to the gardai and admitted deleting details from his phone. It wasnt about the bike, it was more about my identity theft, my identity being taken and that he could use my details after the event and if he did I would put the video on Youtube, Dowdall said. Cross examined by Vincent Heneghan SC, for the prosecution, Dowdall said his youngest child had been 17 or 18 years old at the time and his youngest two or three. He said he was not a member of Sinn Fein at the time and more or less finished on Dublin City Council. He said his second eldest child took the first video clip that had been played to the court of Mr Hurleys first visit to the house. He said he asked her to do this because he had suspicions in the back of my mind. After his wife had sent Mr Hurley the bank details, he found information online about a scam involving Mr Hurley, he said. They went to the gardai two days later. He said by the second meeting he still wasnt 100pc sure if it was that man. Dowdall told Mr Heneghan there was no third man and that he did not know who made the recording (of the false imprisonment of Mr Hurley.) Mr Heneghan said the person making the recording appeared to be wearing pink pyjamas and appeared to be female. Dowdall repeated that he could not recall who was recording and Mr Heneghan put it to him he was unwilling to tell the court. I didnt get advice on that part, he said. I was told we would only be dealing with these issues. He denied his father had said: If you want to get out alive, youd better tell Jonathan what he wants to hear. I was worried sick that my identity was being taken and I wanted to frighten him that he wouldnt use my identity for further scams. I cant justify it, it was wrong, it shouldnt have happened, he said. It ruined my familys life and affected Mr Hurleys life, it shouldnt have happened. He denied making any reference to the IRA. Patrick Dowdall gave evidence that he never directly or indirectly caused Mr Hurley to believe his son was a member of the IRA. No threats were made to Mr Hurleys family, he said. In cross-examination, he also said he could not recall who had recorded Mr Hurleys ordeal. He also denied anyone mentioned the IRA. Mr Heneghan asked if he had known what was going to happen on the evening of January 15, 2015. No, neither of us did, he said, agreeing it was a spur of the moment decision. Mr Heneghan asked if the cable ties happened to be there. Patrick Dowdall replied that that was where his son kept his tools. And his bucket and his towel? Mr Heneghan asked. Dowdall replied that a bucket and towel would not have been there. I was having a cup of tea, nothing was planned, it was a spur of the moment thing, it just got out of hand. Disputed evidence that has not been considered relevant by the court is the prosecutions assertion that Mr Hurley was told Jonathan Dowdall was a friend of Sinn Feins Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald. A jury has begun its deliberations in the trial of a man accused of raping a woman he met on the dating app Tinder. The 36-year-old man has claimed he had fully consensual sex with the woman and told gardai, during interview, that he didnt beat her up, or use violence or threats. He also told gardai he did not rape the woman, saying I did not rape that girl, as much as youve tried to intimidate me, I will not change. However, he admitted he hoped and expected to have sex with her because of earlier text conversations. The man has pleaded not guilty to rape at Kilmashogue Lane, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin on September 11, 2014. It is the States case that the accused raped the university student in his car after driving her up the Dublin Mountains following a visit to McDonald's restaurant. She told her flatmate afterwards that it was the worst date of my life and I had to do it. I had to have sex with him. The woman told the court she was scared, that she told him to stop but he didnt do so. In his charge to the jury, Mr Justice Paul Butler said the case essentially amounted to one persons word against the other and it was up to the jury to evaluate that evidence. He said the jury may attach different weights to the evidence but they must not make an inference against the defendant that he didnt give evidence. The judge suggested the jury should read the transcript of the mans interview with gardai. Judge Butler said the accused enjoys the presumption of innocence, all the way through the jurys deliberations and unless and until they find otherwise. He said that if there is a doubt about anything the onus of proof is on the prosecution, and the doubt must always be in favour of the defendant. He said the jury must put prejudice and sympathy to one side when they consider the evidence before them. He then gave the jury a brief synopsis of the evidence. The jury has now retired for the evening and will recommence their deliberations in the morning. Earlier, defence counsel Michael Bowman SC said the womans evidence was not credible and common sense and the facts could only lead the jury to a verdict of not guilty. In his closing speech to the jury, Mr Bowman said the woman may not have been happy with what happened in the car but it certainly was not rape. He said the womans evidence was not credible, and she did not deserve the level of trust the prosecution was wishing to load on her shoulders. He also said the woman admitted, in evidence, she had no intention of making a complaint to gardai and it was the woman's friend who took it upon herself to contact gardai. Mr Bowman said the woman was back on Tinder the day after the alleged rape, and she had listed the man as a sexual partner. Mr Bowman then went through the womans evidence, highlighting what he claimed were inconsistencies. In her evidence, the woman said she didnt agree to coffee and a spin but Mr Bowman said the text messages from the defendant clearly showed he had mentioned a spin and the woman had agreed to it. Mr Bowman said the arrangement to meet was made by the woman, and not by the defendant, which was what she told gardai. He said the mobile phone data shows the defendant did not bombard the woman with texts like a sex pest, as had been suggested, but that she responded each time. He said the woman gave evidence she didnt know the defendants gym was in Ranelagh but the phone texts clearly show he told her his gym was in Ranelagh. In his interviews with gardai, the defendant said the woman asked him if he had a condom. This was denied by her. However, Mr Bowman said the womans flatmate confirmed this in her evidence, saying this is what she had been told. The flatmate also said she was told the couple were touching and she was masturbating him while he sat in his car seat. This evidence was also given by the accused, but the alleged victim denied this, saying it all happened when he lay on top of her in her car seat. Mr Bowman also said it was the flatmate who contacted gardai and the woman admitted in evidence she had no intention of going to gardai to make a complaint. He also said the flatmate, in cross examination, admitted she had no idea that her friend was back on Tinder within hours of the incident. He said the woman visited a GP, and did not attend a sexual assault treatment unit, and there was no physical exam. "This is consistent with someone who had unprotected sex, not someone who was raped", he said. Mr Bowman said gardai appear to have viewed the woman as a fragile delicate rose up from the country and no effort had been made to critically analyse what she had said or cross reference the victims texts with the statement she made. He also urged the jury to go with the evidence and find the accused not guilty. A YOUNG woman allegedly raped by her Tinder date had no intention of making a complaint to gardai and had listed him as a sexual partner within hours of hooking up with him, a jury has heard. It was the womans friend who took it upon herself to contact gardai who called unannounced, unsolicited and unbeknownst the next morning to the womans door, a defence lawyer said. The woman was also back on Tinder talking about her naughty side shortly before gardai called to her home. Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC said the womans evidence was not credible and common sense and the facts could only lead the jury to a verdict of not guilty. Mr Bowman made his comments in his closing speech to the jury in the trial of a 36-year-old man accused of raping a woman in the Dublin mountains. He has claimed he had fully consensual sex with the woman and told gardai, during interview, that he didnt beat her up, or use violence or threats. He also told gardai he did not rape the woman, saying I did not rape that girl, as much as youve tried to intimidate me, I will not change. However, he admitted he hoped and expected to have sex with her because of earlier text conversations. The man has pleaded not guilty to rape at Kilmashogue Lane, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin on September 11, 2014. It is the States case that the accused raped the university student in his car after driving her up the Dublin Mountains following a visit to McDonald's restaurant. In his closing speech to the jury, defence counsel Michael Bowman SC said the woman may not have been happy with what happened in the car but it certainly was not rape. He said the womans evidence was not credible, and she did not deserve the level of trust the prosecution was wishing to load on her shoulders. Mr Bowman went through the womans evidence, highlighting the inconsistencies to the jury. In her evidence, the woman said she didnt agree to coffee and a spin but Mr Bowman said the text messages from the defendant clearly showed he had mentioned a spin and the woman had agreed to it. Mr Bowman said the arrangement to meet was made by the woman, and not by the defendant, which was what she told gardai. He said the mobile phone data shows the defendant did not bombard the woman with texts like a sex pest, as had been suggested, but that she responded each time. He said the woman gave evidence that she didnt know the defendants gym was in Ranelagh. He said the mobile phone texts clearly show that he told her his gym was in Ranelagh. In his interviews with gardai, the defendant said the woman asked him if he had a condom. This was denied by her. However, Mr Bowman said the womans flatmate confirmed this in her evidence, saying this is what she had been told. The flatmate also said she was told the couple were touching and she was masturbating him while he sat in his car seat. This evidence was also given by the accused, but the alleged victim denied this, saying it all happened when he lay on top of her in her car seat. Mr Bowman also said it was the flatmate who contacted gardai and the woman said in evidence she had no intention of going to gardai to make a complaint. He also said the flatmate, in cross examination, admitted she had no idea that her friend was back on Tinder within hours of the incident. Mr Bowman said gardai appear to have viewed the woman as a fragile delicate rose up from the country and that no effort had been made to critically analyse what she had said or cross reference the victims texts with the statement she made. He urged the jury to go with the evidence and find the accused not guilty. Mr Justice Paul Butler is due to give his charge to the jury this afternoon and they will then begin their deliberations. A pledge to have no public patient waiting more than 15 months for surgery or a specialist appointment by October has been abandoned by Health Minister Simon Harris. A long-awaited HSE waiting list plan, published yesterday, commits to just "reducing" the numbers facing this gruelling wait for surgery by 29,000 -although 38,991 will be in the queue. The plan for outpatient waiting lists envisages that 95,000 patients - fewer than half those waiting more than 15 months to see a specialist - will have gotten an appointment by October. Pressure has escalated with around 1,200 patients a week joining outpatient lists this year. A separate plan for children in need of spinal surgery for scoliosis sets a target to have no young patient waiting more than four months for the procedure at the end of the year. The adult and child patients in need of surgery will be treated in public hospitals and in private hospitals under a 15m outsourcing initiative. The most recent waiting list figures show that more than 665,000 people are in some form of waiting list. The minister said: "There is no doubt our public hospital system is challenged in meeting growing demand for care." The more modest waiting list targets come as the Oireachtas committee on the Future of Healthcare published its 10-year plan to deliver a one-tier health service. At the heart of the plan is the transfer of more care away from the hospitals to the community. However, question marks remain over how its ambitious promises will be funded and how the 5.8bn price tag will be paid for. The delivery could mean higher taxes. The report, launched by the committee chaired by Social Democrat TD Roisin Shortall, promises to phase in free GP care for all, abolish the overnight 80 hospital charge, reduce the prescription levy from 2.50 to 50c and get rid of the A&E 100 fee in eight years. It also plans to end queue jumping by private patients in public hospitals over five years and confine insured patients to private hospitals. And it sets waiting list targets of no more than 12 weeks for surgery and 10 weeks for an outpatient appointment. The target is less than 10 days for a diagnostic test. It needs 3bn of transitional funding over six years. Asked where the money will be found, Deputy Shortall said that it is a "political matter" for the Government of the day. They had not quantified savings but the final bill "will be lower than the projected 5.8bn". She said: "I have my views and other committee members have their views. I feel there is a strong argument for earmarking a portion of the Universal Social Charge. It is a progressive tax. "Other people were talking about a supplement to the PRSI. Others spoke of a windfall tax. We are about to sell a portion to AIB. The committee did not have agreement on that. We are all coming from different perspectives." The plan, which is likely to be given to an implementation office to see through, received mixed reaction. The Irish Medical Organisation said the plan to introduce free GP care over five years is unrealistic as there are not enough doctors. The Irish Hospital Consultants Association, whose members stand to lose out on private practice in public hospitals, said it did not make sense not to charge insured patients, many of whom are admitted through the emergency department. Simon Nugent, of the Irish Private Hospitals Association, said that while he welcomed the plan to transfer care of private patients to private hospitals, it risked being delayed by yet another impact study at a time when the needs of public waiting list patients are urgent. The National Association of General Practitioners warned that free GP care could only be considered when capacity is addressed, resources are provided and a new contract is agreed with general practice . The Oireachtas committee plan includes proposals for new legislation to also increase the amount of home care supports in the first five years. The report believes savings can be made as an improved public hospital system will lead to more abandoning health insurance. This will lead to saving on tax relief for the Exchequer. Health inspectors investigating one of the worst salmonella outbreaks in a decade believe people became ill with the bug in 17 different locations around north Dublin, it emerged yesterday. At least 50 people, including four children, were infected with the bug which left a number hospitalised. Sandra Murphy O'Brien, a mother in her 50s, may have died from food poisoning linked to the outbreak. The Food Safety Authority placed a closure order on the kitchen of O'Dwyers pub, in Strand Road, Portmarnock, last week. The kitchen was occupied by Flanreil Food Services Ltd, a catering company based in Fairview. Dr Kevin Kelleher, of the HSE, told the Irish Independent yesterday that he could not comment on individual patients, but said it was now believed that people became ill in 17 different areas where food was served. It is believed that the source of the contamination may be poultry which was being served to guests. Mrs Murphy O'Brien was found dead at her home on May 21. She had attended a First Communion party, which was catered at the pub, the day before and had felt ill. Read More It is believed she went to the hospital emergency department but went home to Swords. Dr Kelleher said the outbreak was confined to north Dublin. He said: "We are trying to make sure there are no further cases." The most recent case of food poisoning was reported at the end of last week. "People who have got salmonella can spread it either in food preparation or in person-to-person contact. Therefore we give advice on what needs to be done." He pointed out it is one of the most serious outbreaks in the last 10 years in terms of the numbers infected. Publican Gerry O'Dwyer said staff at the family-run pub in Portmarnock were left in shock at the tragic death of Mrs Murphy O'Brien. "We're all absolutely devastated for the family of the poor lady who has died. "The restaurant staff, the bar staff, all of us are heartbroken for her and her family. We're still reeling from the awful news," he told the 'Dublin Gazette'. The caterers provided a variety of food including sandwiches. Salmonella can be spread due to food such as poultry or mince not being properly cooked or due to a food preparer having the disease and passing it on, he added. In the course of 2015, there were nine outbreaks of salmonella reported, with 22 people falling ill. Six outbreaks happened in people's homes and two in the community, including a hospital. Person-to person spread was a factor in a number of cases and one was due to contact with an animal. The Food Safety Authority said yesterday that it is liaising with the Health Service Executive regarding the investigation. If someone is infected with salmonella it is important to drink plenty of fluids as diarrhoea or vomiting can lead to dehydration. The infected person can lose important sugars and minerals from the body. In severe cases doctors may have to administer antibiotics. If someone is ill with salmonella and has symptoms, they are infectious. Children and adults should stay away from school or work for 48 hours after the symptoms have stopped. Gardai have confirmed they are investigating the death of Mrs Murphy O'Brien as a matter of routine. "Any sudden death, no matter what the cause, we will assist a coroner and prepare a file," a representative said. The hearse carrying Jamie McAllister passes the location where his body was recovered after his boat sank in Skerries The coastal town of Skerries was united in grief this morning as around a thousand mourners paid their respects to Jamie McAllister who tragically drowned off the coast in a fishing accident. St Patrick's Church in the town was overflowing as heart-broken family, friends and members of the community paid their respects to the popular young man (28), whose body was recovered from the sea near the local harbour last Saturday. Expand Close Jamie McAllister / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jamie McAllister Volunteers from the local RNLI and Coast Guard officials formed a guard of honour as his body was brought to the church for Requiem Mass. His wide circle of friends and family, including his uncle Keith McAllister who was rescued from the tragic fishing accident last Friday, wore an orange ribbon symbolising Jamie's love of all things Dutch. A Dutch jersey as well as a book about motorbike legend Joey Dunlop and a set of car keys were among the tokens presented symbolising the young man's passion for cars and motorbike racing as well as Dutch culture. But Jamie's first love was his family, including his beloved mother Elaine, his father Troy, his sister Ela and brother Ryan, and his large extended family, Parish priest Richard Hyland told the congregation. Expand Close The funeral of Jamie McAllister / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The funeral of Jamie McAllister Read More A family spokesperson thanked the "huge number" of people who have called to the McAllister home in Mourne View, Skerries, over the past few days to offer their condolences to his family. He also offered a prayer for the emergency services, including the Coast Guard, Navy, Gardai and RNLI which launched a massive search off the coast last Friday when the razor clam boat that Jamie's uncle was skippering capsized and sunk 500 metres from the shore. Read More Fr Hyland spoke of the life-giving blessing of the sea but also how people living in coastal communities are "painfully aware that at times it also takes away". "And that's the tragedy we faced last Friday with the loss of Jamie at sea," he said. Expand Close Jamie McAllister's mother, Elaine (white blouse) and other family members at his funeral / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jamie McAllister's mother, Elaine (white blouse) and other family members at his funeral He was buried in nearby Ardla cemetery following the funeral. Dublin Fire Brigade have shown that they don't just tackle burning buildings. In an adorable tweet, sent this evening, the DFB revealed that two of their members helped deliver a tiny baby boy. Firefighters, named only as Martin and Paul from the Tallaght ambulance, were called to help an expectant mother in Lucan on Tuesday afternoon. However baby William wasn't waiting to go to hospital so the firemen, who are also trained paramedics stepped up to the plate. The helped bring William in to the world. According to the DFB the mother and and baby are "doing well". A spokesperson explained that the mother and baby were later transferred to the Coombe Women's and Infant hospital in the south inner city. This afternoon DFB tweeted an adorable picture of the newborn wrapped in a fire brigade towel. A woman has appealed for the kind stranger who helped her after she was involved in a serious car crash to get in touch. Ann Sherwin says she owes "a big thank you" to the mysterious woman who tended to her when she was in a road smash on January 17 2016. Ann travelling between Kilmacross in Co Monaghan to Ashbourne in Co Meath with her husband, who was driving the car. He had a blackout and they hit a pole, causing her to break her neck in three places. Anne, who lives in Dublin, said her memory of the crash and the aftermath is hazy but she does remember a woman coming to help her. She told Independent.ie: "My husband and I were going to Drogheda to visit my mother, we had just passed the traffic light when he blacked out, I don't remember much after that. Expand Close Stock image / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stock image "I was going in and out of consciousness, screaming in pain, I was in agony and I was looking at my husband who was so confused. "I do remember this woman though, she came and leaned over the seat and held my neck and I thought she was so reassuring, she was very good and comforting. "I can't remember much about her, I know she wasn't in her 20s, maybe 40s. "I think she may have called the ambulance and fire brigade. "She seemed to know what she was doing, I don't know was she a nurse or a doctor or anything but they said in the hospital without her being there the damage could have been worse." Mother-of-two Ann - who first shared her story today on Liveline on RTE Radio One - spent weeks recovering in hospital and after the accident, before finding out she needed a major operation. She said: "I was told that my neck wasn't healing properly so I would need a procedure in Blanchardstown Hospital. "My doctor told me otherwise I could die." Ann is now walking with the help of a stick but she admits the road to recovery hasn't been smooth. She said: "I need a stick because I still have trouble with my balance and feel unsteady. "I'm still in pain every day but I am recovering. "I was lucky to have my husband, sons, their partners, my grandchildren, my sisters and all my extended family to support me." One person she's keen to thank in particular is the woman who helped hold her neck. Ann said: "It's surreal that one minute you can be two happy people sitting in a car and the next something like this can happen. "I'm grateful she was there and I want to say a big thank you for all she did." Man who allegedly warned French housemates that recent ISIS attacks were 'excellent' charged with threatening to kill or cause serious harm Stock photo: Getty Images A MAN who warned his French housemates that recent Islamic State terror attacks in France were "excellent" and that Jews should be beheaded has been jailed for five years. Dutch national Shmael Heirouche (39) appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to a charge of threatening to kill or cause serious harm. Mr Heirouche, who is of Moroccan ancestry, also told Gardai after his arrest that if he had a sword he would cut the heads off Jews. He told one French man that those who carried out terrorist attacks in France would "get a First Class ticket" to Paradise. Judge Sean O'Donnabhain warned that it was a very, very serious matter. The judge said society had a right to be protected but that this right must be balanced by a duty of care to Heirouche who had apparently suffered a serious psychotic episode. Mr Heirouche insisted to court that he "presented no immediate danger". However, he had to be removed from the court when he continued to interject when his counsel was making submissions to Judge O'Donnabhain. Defence counsel Dermot Sheehan BL told the court he had not been able to consult in detail with Mr Heirouche. The court was told that Mr Heirouche was not viewed as overly religious or fundamentalist. He socialised while in Ireland, drank and also gambled. The court was told that he could operate normally if he availed of available psychiatric support services. However, previous court hearings were told that he declined to work with such psychiatric support services. Two French nationals had complained to Gardai that Mr Heirouche had made sinister threats against them. Mr Heirouche was charged with threatening to kill or cause serious harm to the pair at an address in Cork on November 14 2016 contrary to Section 5 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. The Dutch national, of James Street, Cork appeared in relation to complaints made about his increasingly erratic behaviour last November Det Garda Geraldine Daly previously told the court that, in Garda interviews with the two French nationals sharing rented accommodation with Mr Heirouche, they claimed he described them as Zionists and said that all Zionists should "have their throats cut." The two men also claimed that Mr Heirouche had made gestures with his hands across his throat which they took to be very intimidating. It was also said that Mr Heirouche, in referring to terrorist attacks in France over the past two years, told his housemates the incidents gave him "great joy." Det Garda Daly confirmed that Mr Heirouche was arrested by gardai and taken for questioning about the complaints on November 16. Mr Heirouche was said to have made the comments to the French nationals in the name of Islamic extremism. The court heard that, in one garda interview, he allegedly told officers he would cut the heads off Jews if he could only get a sword. While Mr Heirouche was originally charged before Cork District Court, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ruled that the matter be dealt with before Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Mr Heirouche had attended previous court hearings wearing robes and holding a copy of the Islamic holy book, the Koran. One French national said he believed Mr Heirouche was "a dangerous person to society." "Right now I am not afraid but I feel bad because I remember a few days before our incident we had a talk about computer science, we shared some win and he called me my friend." "During our incident I think he would have killed someone but he didn't have a weapon." "I cannot predict the future but, for me, if I was alone he would probably have tried to kill me." "He was so angry against people." Judge O'Donnabhain said the potential threat level was at the higher level and he imposed a five year prison sentence. However, he recommended that Mr Heirouche get every possible psychiatric support while in custody. Jimmy Campion (inset) was attacked when two men broke into his home on Sunday night Gardai have arrested three men over a horror burglary at the home of an elderly couple in North Tipperary earlier this month. Raiders broke into the home of Jimmy Campion in Roscrea, Co Tipperary late on May 7 and beat him with his own walking stick. Expand Close Jimmy and Maura Campion / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jimmy and Maura Campion Mr Campion and his wife Maura (87) were left traumatised after the two men broke in through a side window of their home at 11.45pm on the Sunday night. A quantity of cash was taken in the aggravated burglary. Independent.ie has learned that gardai arrested a 28-year-old man in South Dublin on Monday and he is currently being held at a station in North Tipperary under Section 30 of the Offences against the state act. Earlier today, gardai carried out two further arrests. A 34-year-old man and a 17-year-old male were arrested in South Dublin and they are also detained at Garda stations in North Tipperary. They are being questioned under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. Gardai say investigations are ongoing. The attack on the Campions home caused outrage when news emerged earlier this month. Read More Taoiseach Enda Kenny described the attack as unforgiveable in so many ways. He described the robbery as an act of cowardice and wanton brutality carried out by thugs. The Taoiseach was responding to comments from Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae who told the Dail those responsible should be tagged for life. These people are scumbags. They are the worse type of cowardly blaggards that God ever put on this world, he said. Two men attacked him. They broke his walking stick over his head. They ransacked his house, they stole his money. This type of behaviour from any human being should not be tolerated. The Government has been criticised over a 1m allocation for the M20 motorway linking Cork and Limerick - which equates to the construction cost of just 125 metres of the 105km route. The funding allocation for preliminary works on the proposed 1bn motorway was angrily dismissed in both Cork and Limerick as merely "a sop" in a bid to quell growing anger in the regions over delays to the vital infrastructure project. Cork and Limerick County Councils are now worried that, at the current rate of project funding, the motorway linking the two cities may be stalled far beyond 2023. Fine Gael leadership candidates, Housing Minister Simon Coveney and Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, clashed over the M20 project though both acknowledged it was a vital State development. Councillors in both Cork and Limerick have reacted angrily to the continuing failure to provide major funding for the project. Councillor Frank O'Flynn warned that delays could threaten the long-term economic development of Ireland's second and third cities. "This is absolutely vital - how on earth can cities like Cork and Limerick act as a counterweight to Dublin if they aren't even properly connected by road," he said. The 1m allocation is for preliminary works on the motorway - but Cork and Limerick officials had expected greater capital funding allocations. Ireland South MEP Sean Kelly also expressed frustration at what he said was "a lack of urgency" over one of the most strategic motorway projects now facing the State. His warning came as Cork and Limerick business interests expressed alarm at proposals to save 340m on the motorway by diverting it through Tipperary along part of the existing M8 Cork-Dublin motorway. Mr Kelly said Ireland had to demonstrate its commitment to regional development. "We were quite happy to use European funding to build motorways connecting Dublin with the cities of Ireland," he said. "But there seems to be no urgency in connecting the cities with one another. You have the second biggest city in Ireland, Cork, not being connected by motorway with the second biggest city in Munster, Limerick." Leo Varadkar's bid to become our next Taoiseach has reached dizzying new heights after he was backed by astronaut Chris Hadfield. Singing astronaut Hadfield met Varadkar in 2014 when the Canadian was the Cultural Ambassador to Ireland and the pair enjoyed a spot of hurling at o Na Fianna GAA Club in Glasnevin, Dublin. Hadfield shared a snap on Twitter today of Varadkar getting into the swing of things while he looked on perplexed. He joked: "I now believe the key first step towards becoming Taoiseach is teaching me hurling." I now believe the key first step towards becoming Taoiseach is teaching me hurling. pic.twitter.com/HWILCBq6kP Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) May 31, 2017 Read More Then-Transport Minister Varadkar was equally as enthused about Hadfield. He said during the visit: "His enthusiasm and energy make him a great ambassador for Irish tourism." Taoiseach Enda Kenny has described the findings of a review into how State agencies handled the removal of at-risk children from their homes as "damning" and vowed its recommendations will be implemented. Mr Kenny said he was "upset" by the findings contained in the report by special rapporteur on child protection Dr Geoffrey Shannon. The Taoiseach vowed that Government would implement all recommendations in the report telling the Dail: "These must and will be followed through." Dr Shannon's report found major shortcomings in the approach to vulnerable children by both gardai and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, including poor levels of inter-agency co-operation. In some cases children removed from their homes by gardai were subsequently returned there by Tusla. Read More It also found some children are repeatedly removed from the same families and gaps in protection for children with behavioural problems. It identified failings into how vulnerable children are cared for outside normal working hours. The trawl of 5,400 cases from 2008 to 2015 was ordered by Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan following the Children's Ombudsman's inquiry into the removal of two Roma children from their families in 2013 amid unfounded fears the youngsters had been abducted. Mr Kenny said work was already "well under way" on many issues raised in the audit. He said Children's Minister Katherine Zappone was to meet with Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald about communication between the Garda and Tusla. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said "expressions of regret just won't cut it any more" and demanded action to fix what he called a broken child protection system. Read More Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said the report was a damning indictment of how Ireland protects vulnerable children. Ms Zappone said an official from Tusla was to be co-located at the Garda national child protection unit within days. She said that Dr Shannon's findings had given rise to "serious and understandable concerns". Ms Zappone said Tusla was ready to sign a protocol with gardai to bring about better co-operation. She said she had asked Tusla for a report on 91 cases where children were removed from their homes under Section 12 of the Child Care Act. Simon Coveney minutes after Leo Varadkar was announced as the new Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar at the Mansion House minutes after being elected the new leader of Fine Gael Simon Coveney TD with his wife Ruth during the Fine Gael Leadership Election at the Mansion House, Dublin Leo Varadkar at the Mansion House minutes after being elected the new leader of Fine Gael Leo Varadkar is planning a very limited Cabinet reshuffle if he is elected as Taoiseach in the coming weeks. The Social Protection Minister does not intend to restructure departments, despite previously saying he would like to merge the departments of Finance and Public Expenditure. The majority of changes to personnel are expected to happen in the junior ranks rather than at the Cabinet table. Sources say Mr Varadkar is likely to leave all the Independent ministers in their current portfolios rather than risk opening up an immediate rift with their partners in Government. Transport Minister Shane Ross said yesterday that he would be "very happy to stay where I am if he decides to keep me there". Mr Varadkar's options for dropping Fine Gael ministers from Cabinet have been limited by the fact that almost all ministers who have gone public with their intentions have backed him over Simon Coveney. Mr Varadkar has already stated that he is "inheriting" a Cabinet. And asked by the Irish Independent whether he intends to restructure ministries, such as the wide-ranging Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, he said such a move would be "quite disruptive". Read More Mr Varadkar said he had experience of trying to bring departments together after Tourism and Sport were added to Transport. "It does take about six months to a year to get things right and get people into the right positions. We're only a year into this Government. While I don't rule out restructuring government departments in the future I don't think now is the time of year to do that when we've just bedded down these new arrangements," he said. It comes as supporters of Mr Coveney insist he is still in with a chance of winning the Fine Gael leadership contest. They have compiled a number of scenarios which would provide a "path to victory" and have circulated them to a small number of TDs and senators who they believe are not wedded to voting for Mr Varadkar. A source close to Mr Coveney said they were "confident" two TDs who have publicly backed Mr Varadkar will now secretly vote for the Housing Minister. Declared Under the 'best case scenario' compiled by Mr Coveney's team, they will win at least 70pc of the membership, just over 50pc of the councillors and all six members of the parliamentary party who have not yet declared, including outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny. If this result was achieved they would need three TDs or senators to switch allegiances. Read More The 'worst case scenario' is based on Mr Coveney winning 60pc of the membership and just under half of the councillors. If this was to play out he could need as many as six to eight TDs and senators to go against their public declarations. Sources in Mr Varadkar's camp last night told the Irish Independent it was "basically impossible" for his rival to bridge the gap. 'Each week on the Floating Voter, INM's political team discuss the main issues affecting Irish politics, bursting the bubble that surrounds Leinster House.' Subscribe and listen to the Floating Voter podcast on iTunes or SoundCloud. "They are banking on a massive disconnect between the public representatives and the grassroots. "We don't have that in Fine Gael. They are looking for a herculean task," the source said. Turnout at polling stations nationwide has averaged 53pc, meaning about 10,000 members will cast their vote by Thursday night. At 60pc, the turnout in Mr Coveney's native Cork was slightly higher than other counties. Read More The parliamentary party will not cast ballots until a special meeting on Friday. Both candidates for the leadership have refused to engage in speculation about who they would appoint to Cabinet, although Mr Varadkar has said he would want his opponent on his team. Mr Coveney's supporters have privately argued that he should be made Tanaiste in a gesture that would help unite the party after some heated debate in the past week. "People saw them go against each other in the hustings, imagine when they are back on the one team and going against Fianna Fail," said one source. Although the winner of the leadership contest will be announced on Friday, it will be June 13 before Mr Kenny hands over the Taoiseach's office. Fine Gael parliamentary party endorsements for leader The Fine Gael parliamentary party makes up 65pc of the total electorate. That makes each of the 73 members' votes worth 0.9pc of the total ballot. Of the remaining electorate, 230 party councillors account for 10pc, while the remaining 25pc is rank and file members. Leo Varadkar Simon Coveney Total: 45 Total: 19 Ministers: 17 Ministers: 5 TDs: 16 TDs: 5 Senators: 11 Senators: 8 MEPs: 1 MEPs: 1 Richard Bruton -Minister Simon Harris - Minister Frances Fitzgerald - Minister Damien English - Minister Michael Ring - Minister Dara Murphy - Minister Eoghan Murphy - Minister David Stanton - Minister Sean Kyne - Minister Marcella Corcoran Kennedy - Minister Joe McHugh - Minister Kate O'Connell - TD Helen McEntee - Minister Maria Bailey - TD Charlie Flanagan - Minister Sean Barrett TD Paul Kehoe -Minister Hildegard Naughton - TD Patrick O'Donovan - Minister Peter Fitzpatrick - TD Regina Doherty - Minister Tim Lombard - Senator Mary Mitchell O'Connor - Minister Jerry Buttimer - Senator Paschal Donohoe - Minister Paudie Coffey - Senator Heather Humphreys - Minister James Reilly - Senator Pat Breen - Minister Colm Burke - Senator Catherine Byrne - Minister John O'Mahony - Senator Andrew Doyle - Minister Paul Coghlan - Senator John Paul Phelan - TD Gabrielle McFadden - Senator Noel Rock - TD Deirdre Clune - MEP Tony McLoughlin - TD Alan Farrell - TD Michael D'Arcy - TD Tom Neville - TD Josepha Madigan - TD Pat Deering - TD Jim Daly - TD Brendan Griffin - TD Ciaran Cannon - TD Colm Brophy - TD Peter Burke - TD Fergus O'Dowd - TD John Deasy - TD Joe Carey - TD Neale Richmond - Senator Catherine Noone - Senator Paddy Burke - Senator Martin Conway - Senator Michelle Mulherin - Senator Maura Hopkins - Senator Ray Butler - Senator Frank Feighan - Senator Maria Byrne - Senator Joe O'Reilly - Senator Kieran O'Donnell - Senator Brian Hayes - MEP Undeclared Enda Kenny - Outgoing Party Leader * Martin Heydon - Party Chairman * Michael Noonan - Minister Michael Creed - Minister Bernard Durkan - TD Sean Kelly - MEP Mairead McGuinness MEP * Outgoing leader Enda Kenny and party chairman Martin Heydon will not make an endorsement A bizarre spate of 'crow attacks' on people in an Irish college was down to a baby bird falling from its nest it has emerged. More than a dozen people were injured by a crow on the CIT campus in Co Cork, with two requiring medical attention. Animal charity, the Cork Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (CSPCA), visited the college yesterday to investigate the strange happenings. They discovered a baby jackdaw had fallen from its nest and its parents were protecting it from potential harm by attacking anyone they perceived as a threat. The protected crow which has been named Jack by the CSPCA had fallen from its nest by either being too adventurous or got pushed by fellow siblings when on the ground its parents were continuing to feed but also defend and protect it from anything that gets too close including humans" the charity said. In a post on Facebook the charity said "they were doing exactly what any other parent, human or animal would do in the same circumstances". The bird will now be fostered as the nest could not be located. We are glad to report that calm has now been restored to our fair city, the charity joked on their social media. Separately the college also took to social media and thanked the charity for coming to the rescue. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The college was alerted to the problem after a staff member reported being attacked in a car park behind CITs main entrance. "I was just minding my own business when all of a sudden something hit me in the head," Aidan OFlaherty told Corks RedFM. "At first I thought it was the branch of a tree but then a bird flew away. Gardai have arrested two men and a teenager linked to a roaming burglary gang who are suspected of involvement in an aggravated burglary in Co Tipperary. Raiders broke into the home of Jimmy Campion (94) in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, late on May 7 and beat him with his own walking stick. The Irish Independent has learned that investigating detectives raided a property in Sallynoggin, Dublin, on Monday afternoon where they arrested a 28-year-old man. Following this operation, a further raid was carried out yesterday at a halting site in Dun Laoghaire where a 17-year-old youth and a 34-year-old man were arrested. They are all being questioned at north Tipperary garda station in relation to the shocking aggravated burglary. The 28-year-old is being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, while the other two males are being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. Mr Campion and his wife Maura (87) were left traumatised after two men broke in through a side window of their home at 11.45pm on the Sunday night. A quantity of cash was taken in the aggravated burglary and Mr Campion was also assaulted. The attack on the Campions' home caused outrage when news emerged earlier this month. Taoiseach Enda Kenny described the attack as "unforgiveable in so many ways". He described the robbery as an "act of cowardice" and "wanton brutality" carried out by "thugs". The three men arrested are suspected of being part of a serial burglary gang who have targeted elderly people in a number of counties, including Dublin, Wicklow, and the North. A senior source last night stated that the gang primarily targeted OAPs in south Dublin and did not normally operate in the south-west. "They are part of a major organised crime gang who have been terrorising pensioners across the country in the last number of years," the source said. "It is a wonder that the organised crime legislation we have in this country has not been used to tackle these individuals," they added. Gardai estimate that the gang has been responsible for up to 25 burglaries a week at times. The group includes young criminals from Dublin as well as Wicklow and operates from a halting site in south-east Dublin which has been raided on several occasions by detectives. One prolific member, who is just a teenager, was previously arrested for the knife-point robbery of a 94-year-old woman at her home in Dun Laoghaire. The gang is also suspected of being involved in the theft of a PSNI officer's handgun in the North, which was later used to threaten a teenage girl. During the robbery in Co Armagh last year, a woman was held at gunpoint in the Markethill area before the raiders stole her car. Gardai are currently liaising with their PSNI colleagues in relation to both incidents. At the time of the aggravated burglary of the Campions' home, Kerry TD Michael Healy- Rae told the Dail that those responsible should be "tagged for life". "These people are scumbags. They are the worst type of cowardly blackguards that God ever put on this world," he said. "Two men attacked him. They broke his walking stick over his head. They ransacked his house, they stole his money. This type of behaviour from any human being should not be tolerated." The most popular baby names bestowed on Irish babies in 2016 has been revealed The most popular boys' name in Ireland for the past nine years has been knocked into second place. For the first time in nine years, Jack didn't head the list of the most popular boys' name in the country, with James taking home the title. Emily still holds the top spot for girls for the sixth year, while Grace is in second place. For boys, Muhammad, Louis, Lucas, Josh, Jason and Ollie have grown most in popularity, with Muhammad jumping 36 places since 2015. Celebrity culture is continued to be seen as an influence in girls' names, with Willow, Matilda, Harper, Heidi and Zoey showing the most growth in popularity. Emily, Grace, Ava, Lucy and Amelia jointly with Sophie were ranked in the top five monikers of choice for newly arrived baby girls, while none of them made the top 100 just 50 years ago. The difference in taste county by county is still prevalent, with James being the most popular boys' name in Dublin, Charlie in Cork City and Daniel in Waterford City. Amelia earned the top spot in Dublin City and Cork City, while Mia took the honours for new born baby girls in Waterford City. Fiadh was the most popular in Galway City. Jack was the most popular name for boys and Grace the most popular for girls where both parents were of Irish nationality, while Finn and Isaac shared number one spot where both parents were UK nationals. Aria and Emily shared the top spot for girls that were born to UK nationals in 2016. Less popular names for boys included Anton, Brodie, Cruz, Harris and Feilim. Less popular girls names included Blake, Indigo, Lucia, Reidin, Romy and Peyton. Murphy, Kelly, OBrien, Ryan and Walsh were the five most popular surnames of newborns registered in 2016. In 1966, John and Mary were the most popular monikers in the country. Most popular baby names by county in 2016 Donegal Charlie Ava Leitrim Thomas Emily Sligo Jack, James, Ryan Emily Mayo Cillian, Conor Sophie Galway County Jack Anna Galway City Michael Fiadh Clare Sean Caoimhe Limerick City Conor Ava Limerick County Conor, James Grace Kerry Jack Fiadh Monaghan James Ava, Emily Cavan Noah Ava, Ella, Lucy Louth James Emily Roscommon Conor Ava Longford James, Sean Emma Meath Jack Grace Westmeath Luke Lucy Dublin City James Amelia Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Daniel Sophie Fingal James Emily South Dublin Jack Emily Offaly Daniel Emily Kildare Jack Emily, Grace Laois Noah Lucy Wicklow Jack, Noah Grace North Tipperary Jack, Michael Fiadh, Grace South Tipperary Conor Amelia, Emily, Grace Kilkenny James Grace Carlow Daniel Mia Wexford Conor Lucy, Mia Waterford City Daniel Mia Waterford County Jack, James Saoirse Cork County Jack Emily Cork City Charlie Amelia Since 2009, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has successfully prosecuted 1,148 cases against both road transport operators and drivers for breaches of driver's hours, tachograph and road transport operator licensing laws nationwide. Of these, 25 were cases against road transport operators from Northern Ireland for breaches of European International Road Haulage regulations. I've written about the EU tachograph and drivers' hours rules before. The number of hours a professional driver can drive in a day/week is closely regulated to reduce tiredness-related crashes. Driver tiredness can cause loss of concentration or worse, lead to a driver falling asleep at the wheel. It is estimated to be a contributory factor in 20pc of driver deaths; it is a significant factor in heavy commercial vehicle crashes. But still some operators view them as unnecessary red tape. They are, of course, designed to protect drivers and the travelling public. Aside from the road safety implications, operators who break drivers' hours rules are also profiting by undercutting law-abiding operators and contributing to unfair competition in the industry. Because of this the RSA will frequently mount road-side inspection checkpoints with the gardai and carry out visits of premises, looking for operators and drivers who are operating illegally. Recently the RSA secured a number of significant prosecutions which send out a strong message to the industry. Following investigations, three road haulage operators were recently convicted for breaches of road safety regulations. One company pleaded guilty to a series of charges for failing to produce and hand over records at the request of an RSA transport officer as well as charges for failing to ensure relevant checks were made on drivers' hours and failing to ensure correct use of vehicle recording equipment. The court convicted and fined it a total of 9,500 and made an award of costs against it too - bringing the total imposed to more than 10,000. Another investigation ended in conviction on a charge of creating false or misleading records for several vehicles. There were further charges for breaches of drivers' hours regulations and failing to ensure correct use of vehicle recording equipment that were all taken into consideration by the court. The court convicted and fined the company 4,000. In both cases the RSA investigations revealed serious and systematic non-compliance by these road transport operators in ensuring compliance with the European Communities (Road Transport)(Working Conditions and Road Safety) Regulations 2008. Separately, following an RSA roadside inspection, a company was convicted and fined 5,000 for failing to produce Community Licence documentation to a Transport Officer. The EU requires hauliers from other member states who are transporting goods in Ireland to carry a Community licence that allows them to do business in another member state. The court also made an award of costs against the company bringing the total sanction imposed to 5,876. The RSA works with other agencies to make roads safer; a more targeted approach towards enforcement is being carried out. It's also worth remembering that licensed operators convicted for such offences may be subject to 'good repute' checks by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. They could ultimately result in the withdrawal or suspension of an operator's licence. A little bit of motoring history this week as Volvo exports China-made cars to Europe - by rail. The S90 saloons arrive in Europe thanks to the 'One Belt, One Road' Chinese trade initiative. The S90s are built at the company's Daqing plant and are destined for a distribution centre in Zeebrugge, Belgium. Some of the S90s on subsequent shipments will be ferried to Ireland this summer. The recently opened China-Europe railway link cuts transport time by two-thirds compared with the sea route. The 'One Belt, One Road' plan resurrects the age-old Silk Road trade trail. The link is a prime example of how China has become a global manufacturing and export hub for cars. Volvo say they will soon be building all S90 vehicles in Daqing for global exports. An added benefit is the reduction in emissions (down 33pc) compared with shipping. Volvo says each of the trains carry around 225 cars in specially-designed containers. There are three cars to a container loaded at different angles to make best use of space. The train travels once a week for now but they expect frequency to increase. Nadine Callaghan has just landed a 'dream' start to a career in the motor business. And she wants other young women to know they can do it too. Nadine (22), from Moynalty, Kells, Co Meath has just finished the Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Technology course at the Cavan Institute and is due to graduate in October. As part of the course, she got two weeks' work placement with well-known dealership Colm Quinn BMW in Athlone. When the time was up, they offered her a four-year apprenticeship to train as a BMW technician. Naturally, she was "absolutely thrilled" and has just started in her new role. But it wasn't always so straightforward. She had always tricked around with cars (as these pictures show): fixing and driving them. Expand Close Mechanic Nadine had always tricked around with cars / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mechanic Nadine had always tricked around with cars But she never really thought of becoming a technician. "It didn't feel like the motor business was for me." As a lover of animals she felt veterinary was to be her career but the course she chose didn't suit her. She went to Australia - she had two brothers there - but returned when her step dad James died suddenly. James had always encouraged her to be a 'mechanic'. "I'd say to him: 'I'm a girl and girls don't do that.' But when James died I made up my mind. It was lack of confidence that held me back. I found it hard approaching garages. They'd ask where I'd worked. I had nothing to show." She believes many others feel the same or have had similar experiences. She's here to tell them they're wrong: if they want to, they can. She got a place on the nine-month QQI course at the Cavan Institute which started last September. She drove up and down and "worked part- time and saved like hell" to afford her 10-year-old BMW 320d transport. "I love Beemers so I said if I'm going to work in the industry it is going to be with BMW." Expand Close Mechanic Nadine / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mechanic Nadine A friend helped her get the work-experience slot at Colm Quinn's. "I absolutely loved the placement. The staff were great and made me feel really at home. There was no awkwardness at all. It was like I'd been there for a long time," she said. "Then Enda Murphy, the service manager, brought me into the office one day and asked what was next for me? I told him I'd go looking for an apprenticeship. He said he had several positions - not all as a technician. I said all I wanted to do was train as a technician." She finished her course before starting her training two weeks ago. "I'm learning to be a technician," she beamed. It will take four years: a mix of training at Quinns and 20-week college slots. She's excited and all that but wants to encourage other women to follow suit. "Girls should be encouraged more to get into the business. I've had some come up to me saying they wouldn't do it because they don't have the 'man strength'. They are put off by the view it's a 'man industry'." But it was a man, her tutor Robert Ledwith at Cavan Institute, who encouraged her so much. "I owe a big thank you to Robert, Joe English, Annmarie Lacey (Cavan Institute) and Colm Quinn BMW," she said. "And I'd like women to realise: the motor industry can be for them too." Ryanair has launched a massive autumn seat sale, with up to 25pc off one million seats in September, October and November. The sale fares, available on ryanair.com, start from 9.99. They are available on over 500 routes, Ryanair says, but you need to act fast - the sale expires at midnight this Thursday, June 1. "We've had record bookings this summer, and to celebrate we've launched a massive autumn seat sale," said Robin Kiely, the airline's Head of Communications. This week, Ryanair announced that full year profits had risen 6pc to over 1.3 billion, with its average fares down 13pc to 41. As we publish, sale fares include Dublin to select UK airports from 12.99, Copenhagen from 24.99 and Nantes in France from 22.49 each-way. Sale fare are also available from Cork, Shannon and Kerry. Read more: The going is good in Tipperary, with a new, 1.6 million Fethard Horse Country Experience now open to punters. The "high-spec museum" (see gallery above), set in the town's 400-year-old tholsel, has been designed by Event Communications, the company responsible for Titanic Belfast, EPIC in Dublin's CHQ building and The Guinness Storehouse. It was officially opened this week by Minister with Responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe, and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, who owns Watership Down stud at nearby Kiltinan Castle, and whose Foundation funded the museum curator. Fethard is known for its thoroughbred links ("This is horse country," its website says), with Coolmore Stud producing some of the finest horses on the planet. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience museum Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience Inside the Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience museum Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fethard Horse Country Experience Central to the museum's exhibits are an interactive display bringing to life the local history and evolution of Irelands world-class bloodstock industry. It also boasts the skeleton of legendary Coolmore sire Sadlers Wells (above, top), a stallion that ranked as Great Britain and Irelands leading sire a record 14 times. The Experience is open Wednesday to Sunday inclusive, with a special introductory price of 5pp until August 31. It costs 7.50pp thereafter. The museum comes as Tipperary orchestrates something of a tourism reboot, having recently launched a new website (tipperary.com) and brand ('Tipperary: Time to take it all in') to tempt visitors into longer stays. The Horse Country Experience aims to position the medieval town as a key destination in Ireland's Ancient East, and has been supported by a 198,000 grant from Failte Ireland's New Ideas in Ancient Spaces Capital Grants Scheme. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience museum Inside the Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience Fethard Horse Country Experience museum / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fethard Horse Country Experience "The success of Irelands Ancient East depends on the experiences on the ground," said Jenny De Saulles, Failte Ireland head of the initiative. The Fethard development follows similar new openings, including Kilkenny's Medieval Mile Museum and the restoration of Youghal's historic clock tower. The community-driven project also received funding from Tipperary County Council, Leader Programme, the Magnier family and private donors. "Fethard is the most important medieval small walled town in Ireland and this state-of-the-art visitor attraction enhances its wonderful tapestry, making it an unmissable stop on Irelands Ancient East, said Jimmy OSullivan, Chairman of the Fethard Business and Tourism Group, who led the project. "We hope that the museum will play a key role in attracting more people to this beautiful and historically-rich part of Ireland, added Lord Lloyd Webber. See fhcexperience.ie for more info. Read more: Priyanka Chopra poses at the 'Baywatch' Photo Call at Sony Centre on May 30, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) Priyanka Chopra attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Priyanka Chopra poses at the 'Baywatch' Photo Call at Sony Centre on May 30, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) Priyanka Chopra poses at the 'Baywatch' Photo Call at Sony Centre on May 30, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) Priyanka Chopra has been criticised online for baring her legs during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Indian actress was promoting her new movie Baywatch in Berlin, Germany earlier this week and managed to fit in a meeting with Modi, who was also in the capital city. She posted a photograph of their meeting on Facebook on Tuesday and wrote in the caption, "Was such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin at the same time as the Prime Minister. Thank you Narendra Modi Sir for taking the time from your packed schedule to meet me this morning." Many fans took issue with her choice of clothing for the occasion, and accused her of "disrespecting" and "insulting" Modi by wearing a white floral dress which almost reached her knees when she was seated. Expand Close Priyanka Chopra poses at the 'Baywatch' Photo Call at Sony Centre on May 30, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Priyanka Chopra poses at the 'Baywatch' Photo Call at Sony Centre on May 30, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) "May be ur an big international star but plz do have or show some respect in front of our PM Modi... look at you the way your sitting in front of him (sic)," one user commented, while another added, "It seems you have no minimum common sense of what to wear while going to meet such a big personality." However, Priyanka didn't give into the criticism and hit back by sharing a picture of herself with her mum in which they are both showing off their legs. In the snap, Priyanka, who is wearing a denim dress, is cosying up to her mother Madhu, who is dressed in a miniskirt. In the caption, she wrote, "Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch." The actress is currently on hiatus from her TV series Quantico while promoting Baywatch. According to Variety.com, she is making the most of her time off and is in talks to join the indie drama A Kid Like Jake starring Jim Parsons and Claire Danes, which will shoot in June, and in talks to board comedy Isnt It Romantic opposite Rebel Wilson, which would film in July ahead of her return to Quantico in the autumn. Jim Carrey carries the coffin of ex-girlfriend Cathriona White in Cappawhite, Co Tipperary Jim Carrey will find a trial over his ex-girlfriend's wrongful death "very painful", his lawyer said after a date was set for the star to face a jury. Cathriona White's mother and estranged husband are suing the actor (55) claiming he provided the drugs used in the 30-year-old Irish make-up artist's suicide. A judge at Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday indicated she would not throw out the case as requested by Raymond Boucher, Carrey's lawyer, and estimated a trial would last 20 days. After the hearing, Mr Boucher said: "Mr Carrey loved Ms White dearly and so obviously it will be a very painful process for him." Expand Close Jim Carrey carries the coffin of ex-girlfriend Cathriona White in Cappawhite, Co Tipperary / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jim Carrey carries the coffin of ex-girlfriend Cathriona White in Cappawhite, Co Tipperary Mother Brigid Sweetman claims the Canadian-born star provided the prescription drugs, Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet, that she overdosed on. The Dumb And Dumber actor denies all the allegations, with his lawyers describing them as "malicious" and "predatory". In court, Mr Boucher argued that allegations under drugs legislation were likely to fall outside the statute of limitations and said the wrongful death claims were too vague. Ahmed Ibrahim, representing the claimants, urged judge Deirdre Hill not to delay proceedings any longer, saying Carrey's lawyers will keep coming back for another "bite of the apple". He also argued to keep the lawsuits' wording open ahead of the trial. "We are clearly not alleging that Jim Carrey was selling drugs out of the back of his pickup truck and was therefore not marketing or selling in the traditional sense of what that word would bring to mind," he added. Video of the Day Ms Sweetman also alleges Carrey gave her daughter three sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pressured her to keep it quiet before her death in September 2015. Carrey is said to have transmitted herpes type 1, herpes type 2 (genital herpes) and gonorrhoea in 2013 and allegedly tested positive after providing the false name of Jose Lopez. Ms White's husband Mark Burton is suing Carrey over similar claims. Ms White, from Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, was found dead in her Los Angeles home in September 2015. A coroner recorded her death as suicide. The judge said she would send her final ruling on Carrey's motion to strike to lawyers in due course but indicated she would side with the prosecution at least in part. She set a date for the trial to begin on April 26. Jared Leto arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Laura Love arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Susie Cave and Earl Cave arrive at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Dakota Johnson arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Stella Banderas-Griffith arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Ginevra Elkann arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Miriam Leone arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Salma Hayek arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Donald Glover arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) Saoirse Ronan arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. Picture: Getty Images for Gucci At 22, she's already a trailblazer in cinema, so it's fitting that the fashion industry would also fall head over heels for Irish actress Saoirse Ronan. As the rising star to watch during last year's awards season - where she earned her second Oscar nomination - the Carlow native became one of Gucci's go-to 'it' girls and cemented her spot at the Italian fashion house's ethereal Cruise Show in Florence on Monday night. Sporting a new platinum blonde bob, Saoirse outdid even her own best style moments in a long sleeve purple and gold jacquard dress with flounce detail and embroidery, lurex brocade clutch bag with black grosgrain bow and feline head detail, and GG Marmont platinum high heel sandals - all by Gucci, of course. Ronan has been keeping a relatively low profile at home in Ireland in recent months, even skipping awards season this year to stay at home. And she's been busy supporting her pal Ed Sheeran in recent months, attending his sold-out Dublin gig in April after appearing in his video for Galway Girl - filmed in, you guessed it, Galway. Expand Close Stella Banderas-Griffith arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stella Banderas-Griffith arrives at the Gucci Cruise 2018 fashion show at Palazzo Pitti on May 29, 2017 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Gucci) As expected, the fashion show at Palazzo Pitti was a star-studded affair with Salma Hayek and Jared Leto both in attendance, while Dakota Fanning and her sisters Stella Banderas and Grace Johnson stole the FROW. Actress Emmy Rossum tied the knot with creator of hit TV series Mr. Robot this weekend, looking nothing short of spectacular, and her genius idea for her wedding flowers has given many brides-to-be some wonderful inspiration. The 30-year-old bride took to photo-sharing site Instagram yesterday to share her stunning wedding photos with eagerly awaiting fans, and also divulged the story of just what happened to her breathtaking blooms once she was done with them. A post shared by Emmy Rossum (@emmyrossum) on May 29, 2017 at 8:59am PDT Wearing a classic, custom-made off-the-shoulder Carolina Herrera dress and a dramatic, embellished cathedral length veil, the star looked every inch the stylish bride as she posed for formal photos with her producer/director hubby Sam Esmail. The Hollywood stars said their vows beneath an extravagant floral arch, which they later had repurposed and sent to the patients of Mount Sinai Hospital. Expand Close Instagram / @emmyrossum / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Instagram / @emmyrossum Enlisting the services of company Repeat Roses, the spectacular ceremony display was expertly transformed into bouquets before being donated to the local hospital. Adding photos of the beautiful blooms as they arrived at reception to her wedding day Instagram story, the bride seemed delighted with the service, which repurposes flowers from weddings and other occasions so that they don't go to waste. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Instagram / @emmyrossum Instagram / @emmyrossum / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Instagram / @emmyrossum Emmy, 30, and Sam, 39, who worked together on the 2014 film Comet, got engaged in August 2015 after two years of dating. They tied the knot in an elegant ceremony at the Central Synagogue in New York City on Sunday. Their wedding was thought to have been an intimate affair, however the guest list included Hollywood heavy-hitters such as Robert Downey Jr., William H. Macy, Christian Slater and Hilary Swank, among others. The bride was incredibly relaxed on the run up to the big day, saying she "didn't care" what her dress looked like, nor was she fretting about any element of the decor either. Expand Close Actress Emmy Rossum (L) and producer Sam Esmail attend The 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on December 11, 2016 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Critics' Choice Awards) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Actress Emmy Rossum (L) and producer Sam Esmail attend The 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on December 11, 2016 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Critics' Choice Awards) Video of the Day "I don't really care what the plates look like," she said. "I don't really care what the invitation looks like. The only thing that's really important to me is that we get married and there's some kind of party." Amber Rudd was always going to be in for a tough time as a stand-in for Theresa May at the live BBC Election Debate. But she quickly became the target of serious ridicule from the people watching at home when they got an insight into her understanding of the rules of Monopoly. Rudd, when talking about Jeremy Corbyns fantasy economics, said: Its as though he thinks its some sort of game, a game of Monopoly perhaps. Where you ask the Banker for the red money to buy the electrics, the green money to buy the railways, and the yellow money to buy the gas works. And people just had so many questions. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Monopoly is a British staple so her misunderstanding of the rules didnt go down well. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Although some quite fancy taking her on in a game now. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The Home Secretary took the place of Theresa May in the debate who said she wanted to focus on meeting voters rather than squabbling with other politicians. In April, reports came to light of Chechen men suspected of homosexuality being tortured in concentration-style camps. Since then the matter has rarely left headlines, and has now come to particular attention after French prime minister Emmanuel Macrons meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. What originally happened? Two months ago the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that hundreds of men, believed to be homosexual and bisexual, were being held in secret detention centres in Chechnya, which is a federal subject of Russia. The report from the respected campaigning newspaper claimed that Chechen authorities were attempting a complete cleansing of homosexuals. Since then, there have been demonstrations around the world and increasing pressure on Chechnya to confirm reports and end these alleged abuses of LGBTQ rights. What do human rights groups say? We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference A new report by Human Rights Watch came out last Friday saying that high-level officials in Chechnya humiliated inmates during visits to detention facilities where gay people were allegedly held and tortured. The Chechen men remain at great risk of being hounded by Chechen authorities or their own relatives as long as they remain in Russia, Human Rights Watch said. What did Macron say to Putin? We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Macron said he spoke to Putin around LGBT rights in Chechnya, vowing to be vigilant on such issues. Earlier this week, human rights activists protesting near the Eiffel Tower displayed a banner that said Stop homophobia in Chechnya. Has anyone escaped from Chechnya? We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference LGBT activists have helped about 40 gay men who fled Chechnya to other Russian regions. Many are seeking asylum abroad. Lithuanias foreign minister also said the Baltic nation had given refuge to two gay men from Chechnya. France has reportedly just started taking in gay refugees. LGBTQ Nation reports that Joel Deumier, the president of LGBTQ rights group SOS Homophobie, told radio station FranceInfo: So France has started to welcome Chechen refugees. This is going to continue. What happens next? The leader of Russias Chechnya has invited Macron and the German chancellor Angela Merkel to visit his region and check for themselves the reports about gay people being killed and tortured there. Last month the Associated Press spoke to two victims of the crackdown who supported the claims of torture and murder in Chechnya. Chechen officials have denied the reports, but federal investigators have still been dispatched to conduct an investigation. Earlier this month Putin assured the countrys human rights ombudswoman that he would speak with law enforcement officials about the reported torture of gay men. The Animal Welfare Party is one of a host a smaller parties trying to make themselves heard in the run-up to the General Election. We spoke to Vanessa Hudson, leader of the AWP, about how the party came into being and what its policies are. What does the Animal Welfare Party stand for? According to Hudson, the party was founded in response to a growing awareness that, despite huge public interest, animal and environmental issues rarely rise to the top of the political agenda and recognising the value that dedicated representatives for animals and the environment could bring to the political sphere. Policies include phasing out animal experimentation, bigger penalties for those convicted of animal cruelty and ending live animal transport. While many of the partys policies relate to animal welfare, the AWP also opposes hard Brexit, while previous manifestos have promised to slow privatisation, increase social housing and scrap university tuition fees. When was it set up? The party was established in 2006, modelled on its sister party in the Netherlands, Party for the Animals. It has stood in nine elections with a slowly increasing vote share. It is fielding four candidates on June 8; three in London and one in Maidenhead. Hudson is standing in the Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency. The party stood for the devolved parliaments of Scotland and Northern Ireland for the first time in 2016, achieving 0.7% and 0.6% of the vote respectively. It also picked up 26,000 votes in the London Assembly elections. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The party isnt just a political party; its part of a wider movement for animal rights. Were now part of a worldwide movement of 18 political parties for animals that takes in Europe, Australia, Canada, the US and Asia, says Hudson. Theres a high degree of cooperation and support amongst our parties and we tend to meet to workshop at least once a year. What is the role of smaller parties in British democracy? We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Like most small parties, the AWP supports electoral reform in favour of Proportional Representation. Whilst we wait for that change, so essential to a healthy democracy, we still feel smaller parties have an important role to play, says Hudson. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference By standing in elections and taking part in the debates that surround them we believe we give exposure to issues being neglected by mainstream politics and by attracting votes, we believe we help demonstrate the strength of feeling there is amongst voters for our policies. Small parties cannot pack the punch that the campaign machines of the larger parties can, but Hudson tells use social media has helped to even the playing field somewhat. Social media is a hugely important communications tool for us, she says. It does allow us to get our message out and connect with audiences in a way that we might not have been able to previously. A teenager has reportedly been sentenced to death by a village council in Pakistans Punjab province for having a sexual relationship with her cousin. The 19-year-old denied having consensual sex with him, saying her relative had raped her at gunpoint. The woman said in a statement to police she and her family were asleep at their home in Rajanpur, a rural district in southwest Punjab, when her cousin came into the house and sexually assaulted her. I could not raise an alarm as [he] was holding a gun, she told police, Press Trust of India reported. But the panchayat refused to accept my statement and declared that I willfully slept with him. Panchayats informal village justice systems that operate in remote areas of Pakistan have been criticised for handing out cruel punishments for adultery. The sentences they give out have no legal standing. The woman said the court took no action against her alleged rapist. Four men, including the father of the alleged rapist, forced the council to sentence the woman to death, according to the Express Tribune. Station house officer of Fazilpur Police Station Qaisar Hasnain told the Press Trust of India an official complaint about the incident had been filed and they would take the men into custody. The woman has reportedly been taken to a government-run refuge in Rajanpur. Security forces and clearance crews at the site of the attack in front of the German embassy (AP) Security forces stand next to the crater created by the explosion in front of the German embassy (AP) A suicide attacker has targeted a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul with a truck bomb, killing 90 people and wounding up to 400. The bomber drove into the Afghan capital's diplomatic quarter during the morning rush hour, leaving behind a bloody scene of chaos and destruction in one of the worst attacks since the drawdown of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014. Most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children, said Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the public health ministry. But the dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including the US Embassy, while 11 American contractors were wounded - none with life-threatening injuries, a US State Department official said. "I have been to many attacks, taken wounded people out of many blast sites, but I can say I have never seen such a horrible attack as I saw this morning," ambulance driver Alef Ahmadzai said. "Everywhere was on fire and so many people were in critical condition." There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came in the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban flatly denied any involvement in an email to news outlets and condemned all attacks against civilians. The explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior minister. The number of dead and wounded was provided by the Afghan government's media centre, citing a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the country's top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law. The blast formed a crater about five metres deep near Zanbaq Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, where foreign embassies are protected by a battery of their own security personnel as well as Afghan police and National Security Forces. The nearby German Embassy was heavily damaged. Also in the area is Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry, the Presidential Palace and its intelligence and security headquarters, guarded by soldiers trained by the US and its coalition partners. "The terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people," said President Ashraf Ghani. Afghanistan's war, the longest ever involving US troops, has shown no sign of letting up, and the introduction into the battle of an Islamic State affiliate has made the country only more volatile. Although they are small in number, militants from IS in Khorasan - an ancient name for parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia - have taken credit for several brazen assaults on the capital. "Let's be clear: This is an intelligence failure, as has been the case with so many other attacks in Kabul and beyond. There was a clear failure to anticipate a major security threat in a highly secured area," said Michael Kugelman of the US-based Wilson Centre. "The fact that these intelligence failures keep happening suggest that something isn't working at the top, and major and urgent changes are needed in security policy," he said. The stricken neighbourhood was considered Kabul's safest, with the embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices guarded by security forces. More than 50 cars were either destroyed or damaged. "I've never seen such a powerful explosion in my life," said Mohammad Haroon, who owns a nearby sporting goods store. All the windows in his shop and others around him were shattered, he added. Besides the German Embassy, damage was reported at the embassies of China, Turkey, France, India and Japan, according to officials from those countries. Other nearby embassies include those of the US, Britain, Pakistan and Iran, as well as the Nato mission. Nine Afghan guards at the US Embassy were killed and 11 American contractors were wounded, with one Afghan guard missing, according to a US State Department official None of the wounded Americans appeared to have life-threatening injuries, the official said. The BBC said one of its drivers was killed and four of its journalists were wounded. Afghanistan's private Tolo Television also reported an employee killed. Germany said an Afghan security guard outside its embassy was among the dead. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that along with an Afghan guard who was killed, a German diplomat was slightly wounded and an Afghan employee had severe injuries. Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack, saying that "terrorism has no borders". It "targets all of us - whether in Manchester or Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, St Petersburg or today in Kabul," she said in the southern German city of Nuremberg. "Today we're united in shock and sadness across all borders," she added. She vowed: "We will lead the fight against terrorism, and we will win it." AP A man who liked a Facebook post accusing another man of anti-Semitism and racism has been convicted of defamation in a landmark ruling by a Swiss judge. In the first case of its kind in Switzerland, the 45-year-old unnamed defendant from Zurich was found guilty after he liked several posts on Facebook accusing Erwin Kessler, the president of an animal rights group, of racism and anti-Semitism. The posts came about during discussions on Facebook over which animal welfare groups should be allowed to take part in a large vegan street festival in Switzerland, Veganmania Schweiz. Posts describing Mr Kessler as racist, anti-Semitic or fascist, and his organisation as a neo-Nazi association, were liked by a number of people, including the defendant. Mr Kessler then brought a case against the defendant, arguing that by liking the posts the man spread their content by making them visible to a larger number of people, and that he acted with intent to harm and without any justifiable cause. Zurich court judge Catherine Gerwig said at the trial that liking the posts was spreading a value judgment, reported the Tages Anzeiger newspaper She said that a like is associated with a positive, meaning he clearly supported the posts content. The court ruled that the defendant couldnt prove that the statements about Mr Kessler were true or that he had serious reasons to believe them to be so. In 1998, Mr Kessler was in fact convicted of racial discrimination in relation to his efforts to prevent the lifting of a ban on shechita, a Jewish religious method of slaughtering animals for food in order to produce kosher meat. However, the court ruled that it does not mean he can be accused of racism without current proof some 20 years later, and the defendant was handed a suspended fine. Other people have also since been convicted of defaming Mr Kessler in the Swiss cities of Zurich, Lucerne and Bern, according to the Tages Anzeiger. For media lawyer Martin Steiger, the conviction shouldnt be taken to mean that from now on, anyone liking posts may be at risk of being prosecuted for defamation. It always depends on what a like means and what someone was aiming to achieve with it, he told the newspaper. A like doesnt always mean that someone likes the content of a post. If, for instance, theres an accident, then it also means expressing sympathy. Or that you find it good that someone shares something on Facebook. Mr Steiger said that the introduction a year ago on Facebook of a wider variety of ways to react to a post with a symbol a sad face, a wow face or an angry face didnt change the inherent ambiguity of what someone means to say with it. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] The Pentagon scored an important success on Tuesday in a test of its oft-criticised missile defence programme, destroying a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean with an interceptor that is key to protecting US territory from a North Korean attack. Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the Pentagon agency in charge of developing the missile defence system, called the test result "an incredible accomplishment" and a critical milestone for a programme hampered by setbacks over the years. "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," he said in a written statement announcing the test result. Despite the success, the 244 million US dollar test did not confirm that under wartime conditions the US could intercept an intercontinental-range missile fired by North Korea. Pyongyang is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such an ICBM and could develop decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead. Vice Admiral Syring's agency sounded a note of caution. "Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but programme officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test," his statement said. Philip E Coyle, a former head of the Pentagon's test and evaluation office and a senior fellow at the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said Tuesday's outcome was a significant success for a test that was three years in preparation, but he noted that it was only the second success in the last five intercept attempts since 2010. "In several ways, this test was a 244 million-dollar baby step, a baby step that took three years," he said. The most recent intercept test, in June 2014, was successful, but the longer track record is patchy. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful. "This is part of a continuous learning curve," said Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, ahead of Tuesday's test. The Pentagon is still incorporating engineering upgrades to its missile interceptor, which has yet to be fully tested in realistic conditions. North Korea said its nuclear and missile programmes are a defence against perceived US military threats. Its accelerating missile development has complicated Pentagon calculations, most recently by incorporating solid-fuel technology into its rockets. The step would mean even less launch warning time for the United States. Liquid fuel is less stable and rockets using it have to be fueled in the field, a process that takes longer and can be detected by satellites. Underscoring its uninterrupted efforts, North Korea on Monday fired a short-range ballistic missile that landed in Japan's maritime economic zone. In Tuesday's US test, the Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency launched an interceptor rocket from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The target was an intercontinental-range missile fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. According to the plan, a 5ft-long "kill vehicle" released from on top of the interceptor zeroed in on the ICBM-like target's mock warhead outside Earth's atmosphere and obliterated it by sheer force of impact, the Pentagon said. The "kill vehicle" carries no explosives, either in testing or in actual combat. The target was a custom-made missile meant to simulate an ICBM, meaning it flew faster than missiles used in previous intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, the Missile Defence Agency's spokesman. It was not a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM, and details of its exact capabilities were not made public. Officially known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defence system, the Pentagon likens the defensive tactic to hitting a bullet with a bullet. With congressional support, the Pentagon is increasing by the end of this year the number of deployed interceptors, based in California and Alaska, to 44 from the current total of 36. While Tuesday's test was not designed with the expectation of an imminent North Korean missile threat, the military wants progress toward the stated goal of being able to shoot down a small number of ICBMs targeting the United States. Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticised the missile defence programme, called the interceptor an "advanced prototype", meaning it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004. A successful test on Tuesday, she said, could demonstrate the Pentagon is on the right track with its latest technical fixes. "Overall", she wrote in an analysis prior to the test, the military "is not even close to demonstrating that the system works in a real-world setting". The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of US defence against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile. The Pentagon has other elements of missile defence that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the US, and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, which the US deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea. AP Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, a one-time US ally who was ousted by an American invasion in 1989, died late on Monday at the age of 83. Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela wrote in his Twitter account that "the death of Manuel A Noriega closes a chapter in our history". Mr Varela added: "His daughters and his relatives deserve to mourn in peace." Noriega ruled with an iron fist, ordering the deaths of those who opposed him and maintaining a murky, close and conflictive relationship with the United States. After his downfall, Noriega served a 17-year drug sentence in the US, then was sent to face charges in France. He spent all but the last few months of his final years in a Panamanian prison for murder of political opponents during his 1983-89 regime. He accused Washington of a conspiracy to keep him behind bars and tied his legal troubles to his refusal to co-operate with a US plan aimed at toppling Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government in the 1980s. Ezra Angel, a lawyer for Noriega, said yesterday there was no official word on what caused his death. In recent years Noriega suffered various ailments including high blood pressure and bronchitis. In 2016, doctors detected the rapid growth of a benign brain tumour that had first been spotted four years earlier, and in January a court granted him house arrest to prepare for surgery on the tumour. He is survived by his wife Felicidad and daughters Lorena, Thays and Sandra. Following Noriega's ousting Panama underwent huge changes, taking over the Panama Canal from US control in 1999, vastly expanding the waterway and enjoying a boom in tourism and real estate. Today the Central American nation has little in common with the destroyed neighbourhoods where Noriega hid during the 1989 invasion, before being famously smoked out of his refuge at the Vatican Embassy by incessant, loud rock music blared by US troops. Known as "Pineapple Face" for his pockmarked complexion, Noriega was born to a poor family in Panama City on February 11, 1934, and was raised by foster parents. He joined Panama's defence forces in 1962 and steadily rose through the ranks, mainly through loyalty to General Omar Torrijos, who became Panama's de facto leader after a 1968 coup. As Torrijos's intelligence chief, Noriega monitored political opponents and developed close ties with US intelligence agencies guarding against possible threats to the canal. Two years after Torrijos died in a mysterious plane crash in 1981, Noriega became the head of the armed forces and Panama's de facto ruler. Noriega was considered a valued CIA asset and was paid millions of dollars for assistance to the US throughout Latin America, including acting as a liaison to Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Washington ultimately soured on him, especially after a top political opponent was killed in 1985 and Noriega appeared to join forces with Latin American drug traffickers. Foes in the Panamanian military attempted several coups but failed, and their leaders were executed. The beginning of his downfall came in 1988 when federal grand juries in the Florida cities of Miami and Tampa indicted Noriega on drug-trafficking charges. US president George Bush ordered the invasion in December 1989, and Noriega was captured and taken to Miami. During the operation, 23 US military personnel died and 320 were wounded, and the Pentagon estimated 200 Panamanian civilians and 314 soldiers were killed. Lebanese authorities have banned the new Wonder Woman movie hours before it was due to premiere in the capital, following a campaign against its lead actress, Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli army. Cinemas in Beirut began removing the movie's posters and cinema executives said the movie would not be shown because of the ban. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and the two countries have been through a number of wars. A particularly devastating 2006 war battered Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds of civilians killed. The ban is in accordance with a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from travelling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. The ban, issued by the minister of interior, has been relayed to the distribution company, which in turn has to inform cinemas planning to show the movie. A security official said violators of the ban would have to face legal consequences, but did not specify. A campaigner against the movie, Rania Masri, hailed the decision to ban Wonder Woman, saying it signalled respect for the law. She said there was much anticipation as the decision was last minute, just before the official launch of the movie. "Still, it was a joyous moment the minute the law was implemented," said Ms Masri, of the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel - Lebanon. A similar campaign against last year's Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice - also featuring Gadot as Wonder Woman - never turned into an outright ban. Ms Masri said it was "different" this time because of a major media campaign against the movie that has helped push for the ban. On its front page on Wednesday, the leading al-Akhbar newspaper had a column titled: "The Israeli soldier. She has no place in Lebanon." The column featured a picture of Gadot carrying her Wonder Woman shield. Warner Bros, which has released the film, declined to comment. Tensions have been rising between Israel and Hezbollah, with Israel reportedly bombing several Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent months. Israel has signalled that the targets were smuggling sophisticated weapons to Lebanon. Hezbollah officials said recently that they are not seeking war but are ready for it. On her Facebook page, Gadot praised Israel's military during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, sending prayers to soldiers "who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas". AP A Russian warship and a submarine have fired four cruise missiles from the Mediterranean to hit Islamic State manpower and equipment near the Syrian city of Palmyra, Russian news agencies cited the Defence Ministry as saying on Wednesday. Russia had warned the United States, Turkey and Israel before launching the missiles, the ministry was quoted as saying. Actor Gal Gadot attends the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures' "Wonder Woman" at the Pantages Theatre on May 25, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Lebanese authorities have banned the new Wonder Woman movie hours before it was due to premiere in the capital, following a campaign against its lead actress, Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli army. Cinemas in Beirut began removing the movie's posters and cinema executives said the movie would not be shown because of the ban. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and the two countries have been through a number of wars. A particularly devastating 2006 war battered Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds of civilians killed. The ban is in accordance with a decades-old law that boycotts Israeli products and bars Lebanese citizens from travelling to Israel or having contacts with Israelis. Expand Close Gal Gadot stars in Wonder Woman / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gal Gadot stars in Wonder Woman The ban, issued by the minister of interior, has been relayed to the distribution company, which in turn has to inform cinemas planning to show the movie. A security official said violators of the ban would have to face legal consequences, but did not specify. A campaigner against the movie, Rania Masri, hailed the decision to ban Wonder Woman, saying it signalled respect for the law. She said there was much anticipation as the decision was last minute, just before the official launch of the movie. "Still, it was a joyous moment the minute the law was implemented," said Ms Masri, of the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel - Lebanon. A similar campaign against last year's Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice - also featuring Gadot as Wonder Woman - never turned into an outright ban. Ms Masri said it was "different" this time because of a major media campaign against the movie that has helped push for the ban. On its front page on Wednesday, the leading al-Akhbar newspaper had a column titled: "The Israeli soldier. She has no place in Lebanon." The column featured a picture of Gadot carrying her Wonder Woman shield. Warner Bros, which has released the film, declined to comment. Tensions have been rising between Israel and Hezbollah, with Israel reportedly bombing several Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent months. Israel has signalled that the targets were smuggling sophisticated weapons to Lebanon. Hezbollah officials said recently that they are not seeking war but are ready for it. On her Facebook page, Gadot praised Israel's military during the 2014 Gaza-Israel war, sending prayers to soldiers "who are risking their lives protecting my country against the horrific acts conducted by Hamas". Federal agents in New York on Wednesday arrested the alleged leaders of the Lucchese crime family, a network of criminals who were the source of inspiration for the acclaimed mobster film Goodfellas. Defendants with nicknames including "Paulie Roast Beef" and "Joey Glasses" were among 19 people charged with crimes ranging from murder to the illegal sale of cigarettes, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. The most prominent defendants were Matthew Madonna, 81, a suspected street boss for the Lucchese family, Steven Crea Sr., 69, also known as "Wonder Boy," who is a suspected underboss, and suspected consigliere Joseph DiNapoli, 81. Prosecutors say the trio make up the Lucchese family's administration, otherwise known as its top-ranking members. The crimes were committed in connection to a larger racketeering scheme run out of New York and dating back at least 17 years, prosecutors said. The Lucchese family is considered to be one of five long-established Mafia organizations that operate in New York City and New Jersey, also known as La Cosa Nostra, which originated in Italy. "As todays charges demonstrate, La Cosa Nostra remains alive and active in New York City, but so does our commitment to eradicate the mob's parasitic presence," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said in a statement. Of the 19 defendants, 15 were taken into custody from neighborhoods across New York and New Jersey, prosecutors said. The four other defendants were already imprisoned on other charges. Charges against Paul Cassano, 38, known as "Paulie Roast Beef" and Joseph Datello, 66, also called "Joey Glasses" or "Big Joe" include attempted murder. "Their crimes aren't victimless, and this case proves they're willing to use murder and many other violent tactics to enforce their dominance," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said in the same statement. The Lucchese family was suspected of pulling off the notorious 1978 airport heist that inspired Martin Scorsese's 1990 Academy Award-winning film "Goodfellas." That $6 million heist remains one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in the United States. A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York office said agents had arrested about 20 people on Wednesday in an organized crime bust. More details about the charges and arrests would be released later in the day, the FBI wrote on Twitter. Attorneys for the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Laila Kearney; Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell) Authorities in the Philippines have reached out to parties who may be able to talk with Muslim militants in a bid to secure the freedom of hostages in a southern city where a week of fighting has killed 129 people, officials said. Troops have cleared almost 90% of Marawi, where the gunmen linked to the Islamic State terror group have been fending off government troops since a botched raid to capture a veteran rebel leader triggered a militant siege, said military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla. He said militant leader Isnilon Hapilon is believed to still be in the city. Brig Gen Padilla said 960 civilians have been rescued, but an estimated 1,000 residents remain trapped in the city. The dead include 89 militants, 19 civilians and 21 government forces, he said. A video of a Catholic priest taken hostage is being assessed by experts, he added. He said the video seems authentic, but the Rev Teresito Suganob appeared to be speaking under duress and militants are apparently using the video for propaganda. In the video, Rev Suganob said he is being held alongside 200 other captives, including children, in what appeared to be a battle-scarred part of Marawi. "We want to live another day, we want to live another month," he said, standing in front of debris and partially burned buildings. Directing his remarks to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, he said: "We want to live few years and in your generosity, Mr President, in your heart, we know you can make something (happen)." Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Pena confirmed it was Rev Suganob in the video. Brig Gen Padilla said there have been efforts to reach out to parties who may conduct back-channel talks to help free the hostages. He assured the captives' families that the military is doing its best to keep them safe. He did not elaborate. He said the video indicates the extremists are fighting for survival. "They are trapped, they are contained," he said. "They are in areas that they will never come out alive unless they surrender." Mr Duterte, who declared martial law in Mindanao, has approved the creation of a "peace corridor" to hasten the rescue of civilians and delivery of humanitarian aid for displaced persons, said presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella. He said the corridor will be implemented by the government and the main separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed a peace agreement in exchange for Muslim autonomy in Mindanao, the southern third of the Philippines where a Muslim rebellion has raged for decades. Hapilon, the militant leader wanted by the US for his alleged involvement in kidnappings and bomb attacks which also targeted Americans in the Philippines, is still believed to be in Marawi. "We believe he is still there, and we believe that is why they are putting up a very stiff resistance in the areas that they are still being held up and being cleared," Brig Gen Padilla told reporters in Manila, the capital. AP Russians warships in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles at the Islamic State group's positions in Syria, the defence ministry in Moscow said. The announcement came as Syrian government troops pushed ahead in their offensive against IS and militants in central and northern Syria. Moscow said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at IS targets in the area of the ancient town of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched. Syrian troops have been on the offensive for weeks in northern, central and southern parts of the country against IS and US-backed rebels under the cover of Russian air strikes, gaining an area almost half the size of neighbouring Lebanon. Most recently, Syrian troops and their allies have been marching towards the IS stronghold of Sukhna, about 35 miles north east of Palmyra. The strategic juncture in the Syrian desert aids government plans to go after IS in Deir el-Zour, one of the militants' last major strongholds in Syria. The oil-rich province straddles the border with Iraq and is the extremist group's last gateway to the outside world. Russia, a staunch Damascus ally, has been providing air cover to President Bashar Assad's offensive against IS and other insurgents since 2015. Moscow had fired cruise missiles from warships in the past, as well as from mainland Russia, against Assad's opponents. As the fighting against IS militants is under way near Palmyra, Syrian troops clashed with US-backed rebels in the country's south on Wednesday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Mozahem al-Salloum, of the activist-run Hammurabi Justice News network which tracks developments in eastern Syria. The fighting came days after the US told Syrian government forces and their allies to move away from an area near the Jordanian border where the coalition is training allied rebels. The warning came less than two weeks after the Americans bombed Iranian-backed troops there after they failed to heed similar warnings. Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Tuesday that the US dropped leaflets over the weekend telling the forces to leave the protected zone. Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes captured Palmyra in March last year and Moscow even flew in one of its best classical musicians to play a triumphant concert at Palmyra's ancient theatre. IS forces, however, recaptured Palmyra eight months later, before Syrian government troops drove them out again in March this year. AP Police sealed off part of the airport A former US Marine armed with a fake gun attempted "suicide by cop" during a nearly three-hour stand-off at Orlando International Airport, police have said. No one was hurt and no shots fired, but the stand-off caused confusion and anxiety among travellers at the Florida airport who were uncertain about what was going on. Part of the airport was evacuated as hundreds of police stormed the area, some with guns drawn. Michael Pettigrew, 26, was in "mental distress" when police surrounded him at the rental car area of the airport, authorities said. He pointed what looked like a real gun at officers and himself. "Our negotiators did a phenomenal job of talking with the subject for about two hours and finally got him to peacefully surrender," Orlando police chief John Mina said. Pettigrew is being held for a mental evaluation and faces aggravated assault charges. Glorializ Colon Plaza, 20, told the Orlando Sentinel she was just leaving work with Virgin Atlantic airlines when she saw everyone hiding. She saw the man on the floor near the rental car area, screaming and surrounded by police. "I couldn't make out the words, but he was screaming really loud," she said. "Everyone there told me right before this happened a man said to everyone, 'You're going to need mental therapy after this', then he pulled out a gun and everyone ran. "I saw all the cops with the long rifles and started shaking. It didn't seem real." Earlier this year an Alaska man killed five people inside a baggage claim area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The incident at the Orlando airport was first reported at about 7.24pm on Tuesday. Terminal A was eventually closed, but the other side of the airport, Terminal B, remained open during the stand-off. Greater Orlando Aviation Authority chairman Frank Kruppenbacher praised the response of both police and airport employees. "Our employees did everything in accordance with what OPD has trained them to do," he said. "You couldn't have a better resolution. No one was hurt. The airport continued to operate on the other side." Some flights were delayed during the incident, but airport operations returned to normal late on Tuesday night. Images posted on social media showed a heavy police presence in the area and passengers were worried about their safety and missing flights. At one point, the Florida Highway Patrol tweeted that all roads to the airport were shut down, with "zero exceptions". Orlando police later said the entrances were open but congested. AP CONCORD- As part of its Future Designer Jewelry Design Contest, Ellis Jewelers created a new category to recognize budding jewelry designers whose work is inspired by someone they love. The winner of the Most Inspiring category this year is Sofia Natale, a 4th grader at Cox Mill Elementary School, whose pendant design honors the memory of Elijah Aschbrenner, a Cox Mill Elementary student who passed away last year. On her entry form, Sofia said if she won the contest, she would give the pendant to Julie Hanson, a Cox Mill Elementary teacher who also happens to be Elijahs aunt. Sofias empathy and kindness moved Ellis Jewelers judges and inspired them to create the new category. Both Sofia and Hanson were surprised this morning when Dan Levinson, owner of Ellis Jewelers and his prize patrol showed up in their classroom this morning to make the announcement. Other jewelry winners Ellis Jewelers presented winners of its 7th annual Future Designer Jewelry Design Contest with their design creations on May 26th at a special in-store event. The winners are: Gillian Gosker Cox Mill Elementary School Grace Smith J.N. Fries Magnet School Victoria Garcia Northwest Cabarrus High School Store owner Levinson presented each student with the jewelry piece they designed. The winning designs included two rings and a pendant necklace. Keystone Realtors (Rustomjee) IPO to open on 14th November The IPO of Keystone Realtors will open on November 14th. It will close on November 16th. The issue size is of Rs 635 crore. Price band has been set at Rs 514 - 541 per share. Mi... November 10, 2022 | 3:51 pm GST officials detected Rs 55,575 crore worth of tax evasion, arrested over 700 people, in the past 2 Over the previous two years, the GST officials have discovered fraud totalling Rs55,575 crore and have detained over 700 people for defrauding the exchequer, an official told ET on Thursday. Th... November 10, 2022 | 2:58 pm Bharat Electronics inks agreement with Goa Shipyard for development of autonomous navigation Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has signed an MoU with Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for joint development of products/solutions in the area of Autonomous Navigation an... November 10, 2022 | 12:54 pm PSP Projects secures work order worth Rs200 crore; Stock rises PSP Projects Limited has informed to the exchanges regarding receipt of work order. In a regulatory filing, the company said, "We are pleased to inform that we are in receipt of... November 10, 2022 | 12:37 pm Five Star Business Finance IPO receives .02 times subscription application at the end of day 1 Five Star Business Finance IPO has received .02 times subscription application at the end of day 1. Five Star Business Finance, a non-banking financial organization with headqu... November 10, 2022 | 11:39 am Ex-Bigg Boss contestant Lopamudra Raut is currently shooting for the latest season of Khatron Ke Khiladi. Instagram/Lopamudra While she might be fighting it out with her competitors, but she is also putting her best foot forward when it comes to fashion. About last night .. in Puerto Banus ! A post shared by Lopamudra Raut (@lopamudraraut) on May 23, 2017 at 3:15am PDT The beauty queen, who was known for her sense of dressing in the controversial Bigg Boss show has managed to give us body goals all the way from her KKK location as well. Perfecto Dias ! A post shared by Lopamudra Raut (@lopamudraraut) on May 21, 2017 at 2:27pm PDT The team is shooting in Spain and undergoing training for their dangerous tasks but Lopa also knows how to take some time off from the competition and unwind. Take me to the water..! Resort wear by @rsbyrippiisethi thanks girl it's a pretty one A post shared by Lopamudra Raut (@lopamudraraut) on May 23, 2017 at 1:30pm PDT The model can be seen flaunting her perfectly toned body in a blue bikini. She is one of the few contestants who is truly letting her hair down in Spain It's not about the destination.. it's about the journey. #europe #spain #fearfactor #exotic A post shared by Lopamudra Raut (@lopamudraraut) on May 27, 2017 at 7:06am PDT Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 8 will see filmmaker Rohit Shetty return as the host after two years. Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 8 debuts with 12 contestants in July. A massive explosion has been reported near the Indian embassy in the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan diplomatic area of Afghanistan's capital Kabul. Reuters According to initial reports, at least 50 people are feared dead. Meanwhile, minister of foreign affairs, Sushma Swaraj has assured that all the Indian diplomatic staff is safe. Many foreign embassies are located in the area, including the American and Canadian embassies. The Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) has deployed its team in the area for rescue and counter-insurgency operations. According to AFP, 49 are confirmed dead while more than 300 have been wounded. French embassy in Kabul has been damaged in car bomb attack, no signs at this stage of any french victims, Reuters quotes French Minister De Sarnez as saying. More details are awaited. A tribal family in Gujarat's Devaliya village of Chhota Udepur has got a temporary toilet and gas connection. BCCL/ File That is because the family is all set to welcome a high profile guest today, none other than BJP president Amit Shah. Shah is expected to visit the family of Popatbhai Rathva, where he will also have a special 'adivasi meal'. According to reports a new toilet and washbasin have been built just for Shah's visit. On Monday, they (panchayat) began the construction work for the toilet and they completed it today Though we have toilets for our family in the backyard, a new one was built for the guest near by the entrance of the house so that guest can access it easily, Popats son Atul told The Indian Express. The family is also is expected to get a new LPG connection. This is not the first time BJP have been accused of providing temporary 'facilities' to common people ahead of the visit by some high profile leaders. PTI Recently a Dalit community in UP's Kushinagar was given soaps and shampoos to cleanse themselves before meeting chief minister Yogi Adityanath. BCCL The UP government was also accused of installing ACs, carpets and sofas at the residence of BSF jawan Prem Sagar, who had been martyred in Jammu & Kashmir ahead of Yogi's visit to the family, which were taken away after the visit. BCCL Earlier former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa was accused of ordering Idli from a hotel while he visited a dalit family Mandya district. Reuters A massive explosion near the Indian embassy in the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan diplomatic area of Afghanistan's capital Kabul killed at least 80, while over 350 have been reportedly injured. Read more Here are more top stories of the day: 1) UP CM Yogi Adityanath Visits Ayodhya, Offers Prayers At Makeshift Ram Temple a BCCL Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath today reached Ayodhya and offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple here on his first visit to the town after taking charge. Read more 2) No More Use Of Human Shields And Improve Relations With Locals, Army Tells Officers Posted In Jammu And Kashmir BCCL Days after the Army rewarded Major Leetul Gogoi, who ordered the use of a local youth tied in front of an army jeep as human shield against stone-pelters during the April 9 Srinagar Lok Sabha by-poll, the top brass of the forces seem to have changed its stand. Read more 3) Declare Cow National Animal, Impose Life Imprisonment For Cow Slaughter, Says Rajasthan HC BCCL At a time when there is a raging debate over cattle slaughter ban and consumption of beef, the Rajasthan High Court has added a new twist. The high court has recommended that cow should be declared as 'national animal'. Read more 4) A Gay Imam With Hindu Partner Runs An LGBT-Friendly Mosque In South Africa. This Is His Story Facebook Muhsin Hendricks is set to turn 50 in June. He loves spending time with his 4-year-old son and is now living a peaceful life in Cape Town, South Africa with his partner, who is a Hindu, with whom he is in a relationship for the last 11 years. Read more 5) Ahead Of Amit Shah's Visit, Tribal Family In Gujarat Gets A New Toilet And A Gas Connection BCCL/ File A tribal family in Gujarat's Devaliya village of Chhota Udepur has got a temporary toilet and gas connection. That is because the family is all set to welcome a high profile guest today, none other than BJP president Amit Shah. Read more She was born without both hands, but that has not stopped her from flying high on wings of hope. Far away, in a remote corner of Naxalite-infested Gadchiroli, 17-year-old Aanchal Raut is trying hard to build a life for herself, even though fate has short-changed her. TOI She appeared for HSC exams and used her feet to write all the papers, even though the rules permitted her to use the services of a writer. Aanchal scored 63% in the science stream, a score which does not tell the entire picture of her struggle. Though TOI was unable to get in touch with Aanchal on Tuesday because of network connectivity issues in the remote village, her college principal Rajabhau Munghate shared the story of the gritty girl who refused to give up. Aanchal was born in the back-of-the-beyond Kurkheda village, which is about a two-hour drive from the nearest town of Gadchiroli, and about five hours from Nagpur. With Aanchal's mother too not having both hands since birth, her farmer father has struggled to keep everything together without anybody getting affected by it. Representational Image Aanchal completed her education in a government school and made up her mind that education was her only ticket out of this life of struggle. Munghate, principal of Vidya Bharati Mahavidyalaya, said, "Our college is a 40-minute bus ride for Aanchal but she ensured that every morning she was present in class. When she sought admission in the college, we were worried how she will cope with academic and practicals since she did not have hands. But Aanchal proved everyone wrong and has now become a role model for all our 140-odd students." PTI/Representational Image Not only does Aanchal write beautifully by grasping the pen between her toe and the next finger, she is ambidextrous with her feet. Munghate said, "She writes fast and in a very neat and clean manner. She does not depend on anyone to complete her tasks, which shows the strong stuff she's made of. Aanchal helps in floral decorations and arranging diyas during cultural functions, and even helps out her friends in studies whenever required." Aanchal wants to become an IAS officer and is preparing for that with guidance from the college. The liquor bars which have been shut since two years may soon reopen. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is said to be considering the reopening of bars which were shut during the previous government. BCCL The government's possible u-turn can be due to two reasons - the loss in revenue and fall in tourists. Kerala Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac admitted that the tourism sector has been hit and something has to be done. BCCL According to estimates Kerala tourism has suffered losses of around Rs 4,000 -5,000 cr since non-five star bars were forced to shut under a policy which aimed at total prohibition by 2023. According to the tourism department, conferences, conventions and meetings which were a large part of the revenue are increasingly being shifted to places Goa and Sri Lanka. BCCL The non-five star bars were converted to beer and wine parlours, but failed to attract business. However not all the 850 bars which were shut can resume business even if the policy is revised. This is because nearly half of them a located within 500 meter radius of highways, a threshold the SC had mandated for all liquor shop to function. BCCL There is also a proposal to amend the Kerala abkari shops disposal rules, 2002, and foreign liquor rules, 1953, to remove restrictions imposed on women from undertaking employment in bar hotels, beer and wine parlours. As the controversy regarding the "starving Hindu students" at Aligarh Muslim University is being reported widely, the students and the university authority seems to be defending the institution saying that it was not a conscious effort to deprive the Hindus and non-fasting Muslim students from essential meals during the day. Although the University officials concede that there was no food in the university mess, they say that over the years it was understood that those students who don't fast - including Muslims and non-Muslims - would go outside and have food. However, after the demands made by some students, the university is providing them with food during the month of Ramadan. It all started with a tweet by a Delhi High Court, advocate, Prashant Patel, who wrote the following on Twitter. In Aligarh muslim university hostels, Lunch, Breakfast is not being served to Hindu students due to #Ramadan. In Aligarh muslim university hostels, Lunch,Breakfast is not being served to Hindu students due to #Ramadan .... https://t.co/ghUntAGj2p Prashant Patel Umrao (@ippatel) 29 May 2017 And in no time, people on Twitter started giving their two cents about the issue and criticised the university's so called 'non-secular' rule of not serving Hindu students. No breakfast/lunch for Hindu students in AMU in Ramzan. Canteen opens at 3 am & Hindu students/faculty forced to observe compulsory fast. Seshadri Chari (@seshadrichari) 30 May 2017 No breakfast/lunch for #Hindu student in AMU in Ramzan. Canteen opens at 3am & Hindu student/faculty forced to observe compulsory fast. pic.twitter.com/QyIAXaZUtc Amritosh Pandey #BMJ (@AmritoshPandit) May 31, 2017 Is there no Fundamental rights of non Muslim students in AMU to have breakfast no lunch on time ? Why no discussion in media ? Prof Rakesh Sinha (@RakeshSinha01) 30 May 2017 Yeah true, breakfast & lunch is not being served barring in few girls hostel, kinda forced starvation...! PS: I'm a student at AMU Mohit ^.^ (@youngwriterms) 30 May 2017 The odd rule quite obviously baffeled many on social media, but since the controversy came up several students and officials have given an their clarifications. A mark of "mutual respect" When Indiatimes spoke to Prof Shafe Qidwai, MIC Public Realtions officer, for AMU he conceded that the canteen not providing food during Ramzan is a tradition that dates back to the 1920s. He said, "This was never seen as a problem, students would make their own 'arrangements' or just go out for lunch or breakfast." "The practice of not providing food at particluar times during the holy month was more of a "mutual respect" between the two communities than anything else" he added. "No discrimination whatsoever" Faizal Hassan, AMUSU President, told Indiatimes that he has been living in the campus for 10 years and that food was never seen as a religious or a political issue. Hassan also agreed that changes in the canteen during the month of Ramzan is nothing new. He said, "There's never dearth for food, every mess in the campus now serves lunch on demand." "Apart from serving food for those who need, there many other eateries near the campus where students flock." According to Hassan this issue is an unncessary religious propoganda, "Ours is a peaceful campus and there's no discrmination between Hindus and Muslims whatsoever." The above statements are in line with notification on the AMU website which says that no refreshment will be served at any meeting or function in the premises in order to "maintain the sanctity of the Ramadan." Students deny allegations: Sharjeel Usmani, a 1st year Political Science student at AMU, said that, "The issue first came into the purview when a Muslim student wrote a letter to the Vice-chancellor about serving food to a non-muslim students and those who don't fast during Ramzan." According to Usamni, the issue on campus turned political when a Hindu student from the university's Hadi Hassan hall alleged that he was not being served lunch or breakfast in the mess. Usmani said, "For the past five years Ramzan fell on vacations, this time however, the adminstration couldn't end exams before Ramadan set in, mismanagement could be a reasons for the issue to be blown out proportion." He also said that the mess couldn't keep a count on students who were a fasting and those who weren't which led to a lot of food getting wasted. And so they decided to come with the 'food on demand' rule. Another student, Rashmi Singh, said the following in a Facebook post, She wrote that, in her hostel, Begum Sultan, the students are getting breakfast and dinner and added that students are getting a light lunch because the number of students having lunch is less. Another student, Rahul Singh, uploaded a video on Facebook, showing how was served food by the mess incharges in his room and that all of the allegations were false. The students are going on vacation from 5 June and as claimed by Shafey Kidwai, member-in-charge of the public relations "The students demand fo, breakfast and lunch will be served, as and when required. A careful arrangement by the university could have avoided this uncalled for controversy. Lets hope that the instutution that has given the country many great personalities remain in news for all the good reasons. Days after the Army rewarded Major Leetul Gogoi, who ordered the use of a local youth tied in front of an army jeep as human shield against stone-pelters during the April 9 Srinagar Lok Sabha by-poll, the top brass of the forces seem to have changed its stand. BCCL While the Indian Army is still publically supporting Major Gogoi, it is working towards overcoming what has turned out to be a PR nightmare. BCCL According to The Times of India, the Army has told officer posted in the valley not to follow such measures. Officers posted in the Valley have also been asked to work on bettering relations with local residents rather than resorting to such actions. "Personally, I think it wasn't correct, but since I was not at the place of the incident, I don't know what was going on in the officer's mind. Although he has been feted for his action, a subtle message has been passed in various Army formations operating in J&K to not follow his example. We have been asked to focus more on bettering relations with locals rather than taking such measures," an Army Major who recently got posted out of Kashmir told The Times of India. AP This has been echoed by other officers who are currently posted in Kashmir, who said they "were told not to replicate what has been done by Gogoi and instead focus on making relations with the locals more cordial". The message comes at a time when the local population is increasingly turning hostile against the Indian security forces. Many in the army felt that, other officers resorting to similar improvised actions will only help in creating more anger among the locals. AP Major Gogoi had said that he order the tying up of Farooq Dar in front of an army jeep for the safety of his officers as stone-pelters were targeting the vehicle. Dar had claimed that he was not a stone-pelter and that he was on his way to a relative's home after casting his vote earlier in the day. Faceless fish and other weird and wonderful creatures, many of them new species, have been hauled up from the deep waters off Australia during a scientific voyage studying parts of the ocean never explored before. Deep sea cameras, sonar and fish nets were used to find these bizarre and unknown species. Chief scientist on board "The Investigator" Tim O'Hara from Museums Victoria told AFP Wednesday the search area was "the most unexplored environment on earth". AFP Bright red spiky rock crabs, puffed-up coffinfish, blind sea spiders and deep sea eels have been collected since the scientists began their voyage -- from Launceston in Tasmania north towards the Coral Sea -- on May 15. They also came across an unusual faceless fish, which has only been recorded once before by the pioneering scientific crew of HMS Challenger off Papua New Guinea in 1873. "It hasn't got any eyes or a visible nose and it's mouth is underneath," O'Hara said from the ship. At such huge depths, it is so dark that creatures often have no eyes or produce their own light through bio-luminescence, he added. AFP Another find was carnivorous sponges that wield lethal spicules made of silicon, effectively glass. They get small crustaceans hooked on their Velcro-like spines, to be slowly digested in-situ. This technique differs from most deep-sea sponges, which feed on bacteria and other single-celled organisms filtered from passing currents. "We've got 27 scientists on board who are leaders in their fields and they tell me that around one-third of what we've found are new species," said O'Hara, with several thousand specimens so far retrieved and two weeks of the trip still to go. Life at such depths is one of crushing pressures, no light, little food and freezing temperatures, with animals that call it home evolving unique ways to survive. US Prisident Donald Trump has decided to pull out from the Paris Climate accord, Axios news outlet reported today, citing two anonymous sources worth direct knowledge of the matter. Trump has previously called global warming a hoax and refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. He then tweeted that he would make an announcement this week. Reuters Fox News also cited an unidentified source confirming the pullout. The decision will put the United States in league with Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the Paris Climate Agreement. It could have sweeping implications for the deal, which relies heavily on the commitment of big polluter nations to reduce emissions of gases scientists blame for sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. 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 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Axios said details of the pullout are being worked out by a team that includes EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The choice is between a formal withdrawal that could take three years or leaving the U.N. treaty that the accord is based on, which would be quicker but more extreme, according to Axios. AFP The decision to withdraw from the climate accord was influenced by a letter from 22 Republican U.S. senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for an exit, Axios reported. Former President Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord, praised the accord during a trip to Europe this month. The United States is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a U.S. exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. AP Canada, the European Union, and China have said they will honor their commitments to the pact even if the United States withdraws. A source told Reuters that India had also indicated it would stick by the deal. Trump had vowed during his campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president, as part of an effort to bolster U.S. oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his skepticism of global efforts to police U.S. carbon emissions. After taking office, however, Trump faced pressure to stay in the deal from investors, international powers and business leaders, including some in the coal industry. He also had to navigate a split among his advisers on the issue. The tug-of-war between the IMF and German Finance Minister Wolfgangover the gasping Greek bailout program continued on Wednesday , with dpa quoting the powerful German minister as dismissing the Funds forecasts for long-term Greek economic growth as unrealistic. Europe May Finally Rethink NATO Costs By dunning NATO nations to chip more money into the military alliance, President Trump may inadvertently cause some Europeans to rethink the over-the-top anti-Russian propaganda, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. By Ray McGovern "May 31, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - President Donald Trumps politically incorrect behavior at the gathering of NATO leaders in Brussels on Thursday could, in its own circuitous way, spotlight an existential threat to the alliance. Yes, that threat is Russia, but not in the customary sense in which Westerners have been taught to fear the Russian bear. It is a Russia too clever to rise to the bait a Russia patient enough to wait for the Brussels bureaucrats and generals to fall of their own weight, pushed by financial exigencies in many NATO countries. At that point it will become possible to see through the Wests alarmist propaganda. It will also become more difficult to stoke artificial fears that Russia, for reasons known only to NATO war planners and neoconservative pundits, will attack NATO. As long as Russian hardliners do not push President Vladimir Putin aside, Moscow will continue to reject its assigned role as bete noire. First a request: Let me ask those of you who believe Russia is planning to invade Europe to put down the New York Times for a minute or two. Take a deep cleansing breath, and try to be open to the possibility that heightened tensions in Europe are, rather, largely a result of the ineluctable expansion of NATO eastward over the quarter-century since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Actually, NATO has doubled in size, despite a U.S. quid-pro-quo promise in early 1990 to Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev in early 1990 not to expand NATO one inch to the east of Germany. The quid required of Russia was acquiescence to a reunited Germany within NATO and withdrawal of the 300,000-plus Russian troops stationed in East Germany. The US reneged on its quo side of the bargain as the NATO alliance added country after country east of Germany with eyes on even more while Russia was not strong enough to stop NATO expansion until February 2014 when, as it turned out, NATOs eyes finally proved too big for its stomach. A U.S.-led coup detat overthrew elected President Viktor Yanukovych and installed new, handpicked leaders in Kiev who favored NATO membership. That crossed Russias red line; it was determined and at that point able to react strongly, and it did. These are the flat-facts, contrasting with the mainstream US medias propaganda about Russian aggression. Sadly, readers of the New York Times know little to nothing of this recent history. Todays Russian Challenge The existential threat to NATO comprises a different kind of Russian threat, which owes much to the adroitness and sang froid of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who flat-out refuses to play his assigned role of a proper enemy despite the Western media campaign to paint him the devil incarnate. Over time, even the most sophisticated propaganda wears thin, and more and more Europeans will realize that NATO, in its present form, is an unnecessary, vestigial organ already a quarter-century beyond its expiration date and that it can flare up painfully, like a diseased appendix. At a time when citizens of many NATO countries are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet, they will be reluctant to sink still more money into rehab for a vestigial organ. That there are better uses for the money is already clear, and President Trumps badgering of NATO countries to contribute ever more for defense may well backfire. Some are already asking, Defense against what? Under the painful austerity that has been squeezing the Continent since the Wall Street crash nearly a decade ago, a critical mass of European citizens is likely to be able to distinguish reality from propaganda and perhaps much sooner than anyone anticipates. This might eventually empower the 99 percent, who dont stand to benefit from increased military spending to fight a phantom threat, to insist that NATO leaders stop funding a Cold War bureaucracy that has long since outlived its usefulness. A military alliance normally dissolves when its raison detre the military threat it was created to confront dissolves. The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 more than a quarter century ago and with it the Warsaw Pact that was established as the military counter to NATO. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Helpful History NATOs first Secretary General, Lord Ismay, who had been Winston Churchills chief military assistant during World War II, stated that NATOs purpose was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down. But a lot can change over the course of almost seven decades. The Russians relinquished their East European empire after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and withdrew their armed forces. There no longer needed to be a concerted priority effort to keep the Russians out, preoccupied as they were with fixing the economic and social mess they inherited when the USSR fell. As for keeping the Germans down, it is not difficult to understand why the Russians, having lost 25 to 27 million in WWII, were a bit chary at the prospect of a reunited Germany. Moscows concern was allayed somewhat by putting this new Germany under NATO command, since this sharply lessened the chance the Germans would try to acquire nuclear weapons of their own. But NATO became the defensive blob that kept growing and growing, partly because that is what bureaucracies do (unless prevented) and partly because it became a way for US presidents to show their toughness. By early 2008, NATO had already added ten new members all of them many inches to the east of Germany: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. There were rumors that Ukraine and Georgia were in queue for NATO membership, and Russian complaints were becoming louder and louder. NATO relations with Russia were going to hell in a hand basket and there was no sign the Washington policymakers gave a hoot. A leading advocate from the Russo-phobic crowd was the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, who had been President Jimmy Carters national security adviser and remained in the forefront of those pressing for NATO expansion to include Ukraine. In 1998, he wrote, Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire. The relentless expansion of NATO greatly bothered former Sen. Bill Bradley, a longtime expert on Russia and a sober-minded policy analyst. On Jan. 23, 2008, in a talk before the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, he sounded an almost disconsolate note, describing NATO expansion a terribly sad thing a blunder of monumental proportions. We had won the Cold War and we kicked them [the Russians] when they were down; we expanded NATO. In the best of circumstances it was bureaucratic inertia in NATO people had to have a job. In the worst of circumstances it was certain irredentist East European types, who believe Russia will forever be the enemy and therefore we have to protect against the time when they might once again be aggressive, thereby creating a self-fulfilling prophesy. As tensions with Russia heightened late last decade, Sen. Bradley added, Right now we are confronted with something that could have easily been avoided. Finally Saying Nyet A week after Bradleys lament, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called in US Ambassador William Burns to read him the riot act. The subject line of Burnss CONFIDENTIAL cable #182 of Feb. 1, 2008, in which he reported Lavrovs remarks to Washington shows that Burns played it straight, choosing not to mince his own or Lavrovs words: Nyet means nyet: Russias NATO enlargement redlines. Here what Ambassador Burns wrote in his summary, which the public knows because the cable was among the thousands leaked to WikiLeaks by Pvt. Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning, for which she was imprisoned for seven years and only recently released (yet the cable has been essentially ignored by the corporate US news media): Following a muted first reaction to Ukraines intent to seek a NATO Membership Action Plan at the Bucharest summit, Foreign Minister Lavrov and other senior officials have reiterated strong opposition, stressing that Russia would view further eastward expansion as a potential military threat. NATO enlargement, particularly to Ukraine, remains an emotional and neuralgic issue for Russia, but strategic policy considerations also underlie strong opposition to NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. In Ukraine, these include fears that the issue could potentially split the country in two, leading to violence or even, some claim, civil war, which would force Russia to decide whether to intervene. Additionally, the government of Russia and experts continue to claim that Ukrainian NATO membership would have a major impact on Russias defense industry, Russian-Ukrainian family connections, and bilateral relations generally. So, it is not as though then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other US policymakers were not warned, in very specific terms, of Russias redline on Ukrainian membership in NATO. Nevertheless, on April 3, 2008, the final declaration from at a NATO summit in Bucharest asserted: NATO welcomes Ukraines and Georgias Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO. The Ukraine Coup Six years later, on Feb. 22, 2014, the U.S.-pushed putsch in Ukraine, which George Friedman, then President of the think-tank STRATFOR, labeled the most blatant coup in history, put in power a fiercely anti-Russian regime eager to join the Western alliance. Russias reaction was predictable actually, pretty much predicted by the Russians themselves. But for Western media and statesmen, the Ukrainian story begins on Feb. 23, 2014, when Putin and his advisers decided to move quickly to thwart NATOs designs on Ukraine and take back Crimea where Russias only warm-water naval base has been located since the days of Catherine the Great. US officials (and The New York Times) have made it a practice to white-out the coup detat in Kiev and to begin recent European history with Russias immediate reaction, thus the relentless presentation of these events as simply Russian aggression, as if Russia instigated the crisis, not the US A particularly blatant example of this came on June 30, 2016, when then US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute spoke at a press briefing before the NATO summit in Warsaw: Beginning in 2014 were moving into a new period in NATOs long history. So the first thing that happened in 2014 that marks this change is a newly aggressive, newly assertive Russia under Vladimir Putin. So in late February, early March of 2014, the seizing, the occupying of Crimea followed quickly by the illegal political annexation of Crimea. Well, any notion of strategic partnership came to an abrupt halt in the first months of 2014. And so, for the nonce, Western propaganda captured the narrative. How long this distortion of history will continue is the question. The evolution of Europe as a whole (including Russia) over the past half-century, together with the profound changes that this evolution has brought, suggest that those of the European Establishment eager to inject life into the vestigial organ called NATO whether for lucrative profits from arms sales or cushy spots in NATOs far-flung bureaucracy are living on borrowed time. President Trump can keep them off balance by creating uncertainty with respect to how Washington regards its nominal NATO obligation to risk war with Russia should some loose cannon in, say, Estonia, start a shooting match with the Russians. On balance, the uncertainty that Trump has injected may be a good thing. Similarly, to the degree that his pressure for increased defense spending belatedly leads to an objective estimate of the threat from Russia, that may be a good thing too. Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He was an Army Infantry/Intelligence officer and CIA analyst for a total of 30 years and now servers on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). This article was first published by Consortium News - See also - Terror In Britain: What Did The Prime Minister Know? By John Pilger "May 31, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The unsayable in Britains general election campaign is this. The causes of the Manchester atrocity, in which 22 mostly young people were murdered by a jihadist, are being suppressed to protect the secrets of British foreign policy. Critical questions such as why the security service MI5 maintained terrorist assets in Manchester and why the government did not warn the public of the threat in their midst remain unanswered, deflected by the promise of an internal review. The alleged suicide bomber, Salman Abedi (image on the right), was part of an extremist group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, that thrived in Manchester and was cultivated and used by MI5 for more than 20 years. The LIFG is proscribed by Britain as a terrorist organisation which seeks a hardline Islamic state in Libya and is part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by al-Qaida. The smoking gun is that when Theresa May was Home Secretary, LIFG jihadists were allowed to travel unhindered across Europe and encouraged to engage in battle: first to remove Muammar Gadaffi in Libya, then to join al-Qaida affiliated groups in Syria. Last year, the FBI reportedly placed Abedi on a terrorist watch list and warned MI5 that his group was looking for a political target in Britain. Why wasnt he apprehended and the network around him prevented from planning and executing the atrocity on 22 May? These questions arise because of an FBI leak that demolished the lone wolf spin in the wake of the 22 May attack thus, the panicky, uncharacteristic outrage directed at Washington from London and Donald Trumps apology. The Manchester atrocity lifts the rock of British foreign policy to reveal its Faustian alliance with extreme Islam, especially the sect known as Wahhabism or Salafism, whose principal custodian and banker is the oil kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Britains biggest weapons customer. This imperial marriage reaches back to the Second World War and the early days of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The aim of British policy was to stop pan-Arabism: Arab states developing a modern secularism, asserting their independence from the imperial west and controlling their resources. The creation of a rapacious Israel was meant to expedite this. Pan-Arabism has since been crushed; the goal now is division and conquest. In 2011, according to Middle East Eye, the LIFG in Manchester were known as the Manchester boys. Implacably opposed to Muammar Gadaffi, they were considered high risk and a number were under Home Office control orders house arrest when anti-Gadaffi demonstrations broke out in Libya, a country forged from myriad tribal enmities. Suddenly the control orders were lifted. I was allowed to go, no questions asked, said one LIFG member. MI5 returned their passports and counter-terrorism police at Heathrow airport were told to let them board their flights. The overthrow of Gaddafi, who controlled Africas largest oil reserves, had been long been planned in Washington and London. According to French intelligence, the LIFG made several assassination attempts on Gadaffi in the 1990s bank-rolled by British intelligence. In March 2011, France, Britain and the US seized the opportunity of a humanitarian intervention and attacked Libya. They were joined by Nato under cover of a UN resolution to protect civilians. Last September, a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee inquiry concluded that then Prime Minister David Cameron had taken the country to war against Gaddafi on a series of erroneous assumptions and that the attack had led to the rise of Islamic State in North Africa. The Commons committee quoted what it called Barack Obamas pithy description of Camerons role in Libya as a shit show. In fact, Obama was a leading actor in the shit show, urged on by his warmongering Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and a media accusing Gaddafi of planning genocide against his own people. We knew that if we waited one more day, said Obama, Benghazi, a city the size of Charlotte, could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world. The massacre story was fabricated by Salafist militias facing defeat by Libyan government forces. They told Reuters there would be a real bloodbath, a massacre like we saw in Rwanda. The Commons committee reported, The proposition that Muammar Gaddafi would have ordered the massacre of civilians in Benghazi was not supported by the available evidence. Britain, France and the United States effectively destroyed Libya as a modern state. According to its own records, Nato launched 9,700 strike sorties, of which more than a third hit civilian targets. They included fragmentation bombs and missiles with uranium warheads. The cities of Misurata and Sirte were carpet-bombed. Unicef, the UN childrens organisation, reported a high proportion of the children killed were under the age of ten. More than giving rise to Islamic State ISIS had already taken root in the ruins of Iraq following the Blair and Bush invasion in 2003 these ultimate medievalists now had all of north Africa as a base. The attack also triggered a stampede of refugees fleeing to Europe. Cameron was celebrated in Tripoli as a liberator, or imagined he was. The crowds cheering him included those secretly supplied and trained by Britains SAS and inspired by Islamic State, such as the Manchester boys. To the Americans and British, Gadaffis true crime was his iconoclastic independence and his plan to abandon the petrodollar, a pillar of American imperial power. He had audaciously planned to underwrite a common African currency backed by gold, establish an all-Africa bank and promote economic union among poor countries with prized resources. Whether or not this would have happened, the very notion was intolerable to the US as it prepared to enter Africa and bribe African governments with military partnerships. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter The fallen dictator fled for his life. A Royal Air Force plane spotted his convoy, and in the rubble of Sirte, he was sodomised with a knife by a fanatic described in the news as a rebel. Having plundered Libyas $30 billion arsenal, the rebels advanced south, terrorising towns and villages. Crossing into sub-Saharan Mali, they destroyed that countrys fragile stability. The ever-eager French sent planes and troops to their former colony to fight al-Qaida, or the menace they had helped create. On 14 October, 2011, President Obama announced he was sending special forces troops to Uganda to join the civil war there. In the next few months, US combat troops were sent to South Sudan, Congo and the Central African Republic. With Libya secured, an American invasion of the African continent was under way, largely unreported. In London, one of the worlds biggest arms fairs was staged by the British government. The buzz in the stands was the demonstration effect in Libya. The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a preview entitled Middle East: A vast market for UK defence and security companies. The host was the Royal Bank of Scotland, a major investor in cluster bombs, which were used extensively against civilian targets in Libya. The blurb for the banks arms party lauded the unprecedented opportunities for UK defence and security companies. Last month, Prime Minister Theresa May was in Saudi Arabia, selling more of the 3 billion worth of British arms which the Saudis have used against Yemen. Based in control rooms in Riyadh, British military advisers assist the Saudi bombing raids, which have killed more than 10,000 civilians. There are now clear signs of famine. A Yemeni child dies every 10 minutes from preventable disease, says Unicef. The Manchester atrocity on 22 May was the product of such unrelenting state violence in faraway places, much of it British sponsored. The lives and names of the victims are almost never known to us. This truth struggles to be heard, just as it struggled to be heard when the London Underground was bombed on July 7, 2005. Occasionally, a member of the public would break the silence, such as the east Londoner who walked in front of a CNN camera crew and reporter in mid-platitude. Iraq! he said. We invaded Iraq. What did we expect? Go on, say it. At a large media gathering I attended, many of the important guests uttered Iraq and Blair as a kind of catharsis for that which they dared not say professionally and publicly. Yet, before he invaded Iraq, Blair was warned by the Joint Intelligence Committee that the threat from al-Qaida will increase at the onset of any military action against Iraq The worldwide threat from other Islamist terrorist groups and individuals will increase significantly. Just as Blair brought home to Britain the violence of his and George W Bushs blood-soaked shit show, so David Cameron, supported by Theresa May, compounded his crime in Libya and its horrific aftermath, including those killed and maimed in Manchester Arena on 22 May. The spin is back, not surprisingly. Salman Abedi acted alone. He was a petty criminal, no more. The extensive network revealed last week by the American leak has vanished. But the questions have not. Why was Abedi able to travel freely through Europe to Libya and back to Manchester only days before he committed his terrible crime? Was Theresa May told by MI5 that the FBI had tracked him as part of an Islamic cell planning to attack a political target in Britain? In the current election campaign, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has made a guarded reference to a war on terror that has failed. As he knows, it was never a war on terror but a war of conquest and subjugation. Palestine. Afghanistan. Iraq. Libya. Syria. Iran is said to be next. Before there is another Manchester, who will have the courage to say that? Were Dealing With a New Type of War Lie By David Swanson "May 31, 2017 " Information Clearing House " -When the U.S. public was told that Spain had blown up the Maine, or Vietnam had returned fire, or Iraq had stockpiled weapons, or Libya was planning a massacre, the claims were straightforward and disprovable. Before people began referring to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, somebody had to lie that it had happened, and there had to be an understanding of what had supposedly happened. No investigation into whether anything had happened could have taken as its starting point the certainty that a Vietnamese attack or attacks had happened. And no investigation into whether a Vietnamese attack had happened could have focused its efforts on unrelated matters, such as whether anyone in Vietnam had ever done business with any relatives or colleagues of Robert McNamara. All of this is otherwise with the idea that the Russian government determined the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. U.S. corporate media reports often claim that Russia did decide the election or tried to do that or wanted to try to do that. But they also often admit to not knowing whether any such thing is the case. There is no established account, with or without evidence to support it, of exactly what Russia supposedly did. And yet there are countless articles casually referring, as if to established fact to the . . . Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election ( Yahoo ). Russian attempts to disrupt the election ( New York Times ). Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election ( ABC ). Russian influence over the 2016 presidential election ( The Intercept ). a multi-pronged investigation to uncover the full extent of Russias election-meddling ( Time ). Russian interference in the US election ( CNN ). Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election ( American Constitution Society ). Russian hacking in US Election ( Business Standard ). Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking were told by the New York Times , but what is election hacking? Its definition seems to vary widely. And what evidence is there of Russia having done it? The Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections even exists as a factual event in Wikipedia , not as an allegation or a theory. But the factual nature of it is not so much asserted as brushed aside. Former CIA director John Brennan, in the same Congressional testimony in which he took the principled stand I dont do evidence, testified that the fact that the Russians tried to influence resources and authority and power, and the fact that the Russians tried to influence that election so that the will of the American people was not going to be realized by that election, I find outrageous and something that we need to, with every last ounce of devotion to this country, resist and try to act to prevent further instances of that. He provided no evidence. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Activists have even planned demonstrations to call for urgent investigations into Russian interference in the US election. They declare that every day we learn more about the role Russian state-led hacking and information warfare played in the 2016 election. ( March for Truth .) Belief that Russia helped put Trump in the White House is steadily rising in the U.S. public. Anything commonly referred to as fact will gain credibility. People will assume that at some point someone actually established that it was a fact. Keeping the story in the news without evidence are articles about polling, about the opinions of celebrities, and about all kinds of tangentially related scandals, their investigations, and obstruction thereof. Most of the substance of most of the articles that lead off with reference to the Russian influence on the election is about White House officials having some sort of connections to the Russian government, or Russian businesses, or just Russians. Its as if an investigation of Iraqi WMD claims focused on Blackwater murders or whether Scooter Libby had taken lessons in Arabic, or whether the photo of Saddam Hussein and Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands was taken by an Iraqi. A general trend away from empirical evidence has been extensively noted and discussed. There is no more public evidence that Seth Rich leaked Democratic emails than there is that the Russian government stole them. Yet both claims have passionate believers. Still, the claims about Russia are unique in their wide proliferation, broad acceptance, and status as something to be constantly referred to as though already established, constantly augmented by other Russia-related stories that add nothing to the central claim. This phenomenon, in my view, is as dangerous as any lies and fabrications coming out of the racist right. Thursday Is First Test of Trumps Ultimate Deal By Jonathan Cook A decision by Donald Trump this Thursday could prove fateful for the immediate future of Jerusalem, the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the region. He must decide whether to renew a presidential waiver, signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, that expires on June 1. The six-month waiver delays implementing a law passed by Congress in 1995 that requires the US to recognise occupied Jerusalem as Israels capital and relocate its embassy there from Tel Aviv. It is a law every president for the past 22 years has baulked at. It would pre-empt the Oslo accords and negate Washingtons assumed role as "honest broker". Carrying out Congresss wish would deny the Palestinians East Jerusalem, the only credible capital of a future Palestinian state. But equally significantly, the law would recognise Israels efforts to claim sovereignty over the Old Citys holy places, especially the incendiary site of Al Aqsa mosque. That could provoke a conflagration both locally, among Palestinians, and more generally in the Middle East. Mr Trumps key advisers are reported to be bitterly divided. Some, such as secretary of state Rex Tillerson, warn that, if the president fails to approve the deferral, his claims to be crafting the "ultimate deal" to bring peace to the region will be doomed from the outset. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies, including in the US Congress, are doing their best to pressure Mr Trump in the opposite direction. On Sunday, Mr Netanyahu staged a provocative stunt, holding his weekly cabinet meeting in a tunnel under Al Aqsa mosque compound to announce measures to bring millions more Jewish visitors to the occupied Old City, including a new cable car to the edge of the mosque. It was Mr Netanyahus decision to open the Western Wall Tunnel in 1996, when he first became prime minister, that brought the Oslo process into almost terminal crisis at an early stage. Three days of clashes killed more than 100 Palestinians and 17 Israeli soldiers. Next Tuesday, meanwhile, the US Congress and Israels parliament in Jerusalem are due to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Israels illegal occupation of the city in a ceremony conducted via video link. The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that either Mr Trump or vice-president Mike Pence are due to participate, in what could be interpreted as the first tacit recognition by the White House of Jerusalem as Israels capital. That would be a continuation of Mr Trumps break with official US policy towards Jerusalem during his visit to the region last week. He became the first sitting president to visit the Jewish prayer plaza at the Western Wall, below Al Aqsa. It was unclear whether his advisers had explained that where he stood had been a Palestinian neighbourhood 50 years before. Mr Trump stuffed a note into the wall, in what observers hoped was a plea for divine help in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the Western Wall visit was more probably an effort to placate his core supporters. Christian evangelicals paid for dozens of billboards across Jerusalem reminding Mr Trump that he won the election only because of their votes and that they expect the US embassy to be moved to Jerusalem. The day after Mr Trumps departure, Mr Netanyahu exploited the presidents attendance at the wall to further damage prospects for peacemaking. He made a provocative speech to mark "Jerusalem Day", Israels annual show of strength in East Jerusalem. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter He claimed that Mr Trump had disproved the "lies" promoted by the United Nations cultural body, Unesco, when it voted this month to re-state that Jerusalem is occupied. In truth, it was Mr Netanyahu who indulged in gross mendacity, claiming that East Jerusalem had been "desolate" and "neglected" before its occupation. Israel had "redeemed" the city, he said, while Al Aqsa mosque would "always remain under Israeli sovereignty". His supporters tried to give that claim concrete expression by staging the largest-ever march through the Old City on Jerusalem Day. Palestinians were forced into hiding or fled early as police allowed 60,000 Jewish ultra-nationalists to besiege the heart of East Jerusalem. In a sign of the power balance in Israel, a small group of 50 left-wing Jews many from the US linked arms to try to block the march at the Old Citys entrance. Footage showed police brutally arresting them, grabbing them in chokeholds and breaking one womans arm. Jerusalem is the most intractable of the final-status issues set out in the Oslo process. Those expecting miracles of Mr Trump are going to be disappointed. His commitment to pressuring Mr Netanyahu is weak, while the Israeli prime ministers commitment to making concessions is non-existent. Whether Mr Trump signs the waiver or not on Thursday, all indications are that the US president faced with domestic pressures and an intransigent Israeli government is going nowhere with his "ultimate deal". The only real question to be decided on Thursday is whether Mr Trump prefers to take the fast or protracted route to failure. Jonathan Cook is a Nazareth- based journalist and winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. http://www.jonathan-cook.net/ See also Day to Final Deadline : Trump Still Hasn't Decided on Jerusalem Embassy Move ; If Trump does not reach a final decision soon, the U.S. government will be forced, by law, to begin process of relocating U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv Home U.S. Wants Control Over Anbar And Beyond - Iraq and Syria Will Prevent It By Moon Of Alabama "May 31, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The U.S. is casting its net over the desert between Iraq and Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to install military bases and power-structures that will guarantee major influence in the area for the foreseeable future. A part of that plan is to develop Sunni proxy forces that will keep the government forces of Damascus and Baghdad out of the area. Another part is to privatize important infrastructure to keep it under direct U.S. control. To privatize the Iraqi Highway 1 between Baghdad and the Jordanian capital Amman, is a major point in these plans. According to the NYT: As part of an American effort to promote economic development in Iraq and secure influence in the country after the fight against the Islamic State subsides, the American government has helped broker a deal between Iraq and Olive Group, a private security company, to establish and secure the countrys first toll highway. Map by New York Times The map shows Highway 1 from Baghdad to Amman. Notice the road junction east of the Jordan-Iraq border. There the road splits with one branch going north-west towards Damascus. The point where that road crosses from Iraq to Syria is the al-Tanf border station currently occupied by U.S. forces and their British and Norwegian auxiliaries as well some Syrian "rebels" under U.S. control. The U.S. recently bombed a convoy of Syrian and allied Iraqi forces which was moving towards that area. The U.S. military dropped leaflets to Syrian troops to order them to stay away from their own border. Who the f*** do those U.S. troops think they are? What is there justification to be there in the first place? Large Iraq and Syrian government forces are now moving towards al-Tanf from the two sides of the border to evict the occupiers. Iraq, Syria, Iran and Russia have agreed that no U.S. position will be tolerated there. U.S. and other foreign troops will either move out voluntary from al-Tanf or they will be removed by force. Highway 1 and its branch to Damascus is the most important economic lifeline between Syria and Jordan in the west and Iraq and beyond in the east. Whoever controls it, controls major parts of commerce between those countries. Iraq is a country with rich resources. While it is under economic strains after decades of U.S. sanctions and war against it by the U.S. and Takfiri proxy forces it has no long-term need to rent out such major real estate. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Nevertheless the current Iraqi government under Prime Minister al-Abadi signed a preliminary agreement for a 25 year contract with the U.S. company: Mr. Abadi has awarded the development project to Olive Group, although the final details are still being worked out. The project would include repairing bridges in western Anbar Province; refurbishing the road, known as Highway 1; and building service stations, rest areas and roadside cafes. It would also include mobile security by private contractors for convoys traveling the highway. Al Abeidi is now under pressure from the Shia majority who elected him into office to renounce the deal. It is obviously that the deal is not in their interest nor that of the country. According to U.S. diplomats one purpose of the deal is: pushing back on the influence of Shiite Iran, whose growing power in Iraq has alarmed important Sunni allies of the United States like Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Iran has little to do with the road. It is the Shia majority of Iraq that would benefit most from free flowing traffic and commerce on it. Turkey and Saudi Arabia have enabled the Sunni insurgency in Iraq of which ISIS is just the latest incarnation. To allow the U.S. to control the road and thereby Anbar province in the name of Turkey and Saudi Arabia would guarantee that future Sunni insurgencies could threaten Baghdad whenever "needed". Just remember how Obama said he used ISIS to throw then Prime Minster Maliki out of office: The reason, the president added, that we did not just start taking a bunch of airstrikes all across Iraq as soon as ISIL came in was because that would have taken the pressure off of [Prime Minister Nuri Kamal] al-Maliki. A U.S. controlled west-Iraq and south-eastern Syria would be a highway for Saudi Arabian miscreants from their country up towards Baghdad and Damascus. It would be an incarnation of the " Salafist principality " the U.S. and other early ISIS supporters have wished for since at least 2012. The U.S. is willing to obfuscate and to lie to further its imperial plans. The NYT is, as usual, complicit in that: Playing on painful memories and fears of Iraqis, news outlets have also run false reports that Blackwater the private security firm that acted with impunity in the early days of the American occupation and gunned down innocent Iraqis in Baghdads Nisour Square in 2007 had taken on the project. The politics of this country are challenging, said Christian Ronnow, executive vice president of Constellis, the parent company of Olive Group, a private security firm that has worked for years in Iraq. What the NYT claims are "false reports" are in fact reasonable conclusions : The [Constellis] Group combines the specialized skills and operational excellence of ACADEMI, Edinburgh International, Strategic Social and Triple Canopy, ACADEMI is an American private military company founded in 1997 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince as Blackwater, renamed as XE Services in 2009 and now known as Academi since 2011 after the company was acquired by a group of private investors. Olive Group is Constellis Group is Academi is Blackwater - the "false reports" in Iraqi media are way more truthful on that than the NYT is. The U.S. project in Anbar province and its potential control of Highway 1 through private U.S. forces threatens to put an economic stranglehold on Iraq, Syria and Jordan. I trust that nationalist forces in those countries as well as their allies will do their best to prevent it. This article was first published by Moon Of Alabama - The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Click here to comment on our Facebook page Macrons Fake News Swipe Belies His Ambition For French-Russian Relations By Finian Cunningham "May 31, 2017 " Information Clearing House " -The fact Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign head of state invited by newly elected French leader Emmanuel Macron speaks volumes of a desire to reset frayed relations between the two countries. Their meeting began with a cordial handshake and continued in the same vein for most of their subsequent joint news conference. It was only at the end that Macron slipped into an acrimonious tirade, accusing Russian news media of acting as fake news outlets against his election campaign. That wobble aside, the overall thrust was the new French president having an ambitious eye on a bigger priority strengthening partnership with Russia. After US President Donald Trumps rancorous meetings with European leaders last week there seems to be a renewed push for the European Union to find a more independent position from Washington. German Chancellor Angela Merkels call this week deprecated the United States as no longer a reliable ally. Macrons outreach to Moscow seems to be part of this emerging trend for Europe to chart a freer path toward Russia. Barely three weeks after winning the French presidency, Macron hosted Putin at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris. To get the meeting set up so quickly Macrons election team reportedly invited the Russian president the day after the election on May 7. The haste in inviting Putin shows Macron is keen to restore friendly relations with Russia relations that had badly deteriorated under his predecessor Francois Hollande who followed a futile policy ordained from Washington of trying to isolate Russia internationally. At age 39 Macron is nothing if not ambitious. His meteoric rise from being a Rothschild investment banker to become economy minister in the Hollande government, then resigning that post to set up his own political party in time to win the presidential election, points to a man who is an agile operator. During the election campaign, he presented himself as a leader who would be tough in dealing with Russia. Unlike chief opponent Marine Le Pen who expressed markedly pro-Russian views, Macron projected an image of standing up to Russia on geopolitical matters. His invitation to greet Putin this week is hardly a sign of a sudden conversion to detente. Macron is being pragmatic and ambitious. He said that nothing could be achieved internationally without engaging with Russia. By engaging with Putin at the earliest opportunity, Macron is carving his image as a strong world statesman. Last week during the NATO and G7 summits in Europe it was telling how Macron sought to establish himself as a formidable leader. His deliberate show of strength in the vice-like handshake with US President Trump, to the preferential embrace of Germanys Angela Merkel leaving Trump momentarily in the lurch, were all subtle signs that Macron is intent on making France great again." When he greeted Putin, there were no antics of power-play handshakes. There was nevertheless plenty of symbolism on display. Strolling through the 17th Century Versailles Palace, Macron repeatedly referred to the historical and cultural bonds between France and Russia. History is greater than any of us, said the French president during the news conference . That was evidently meant to signify long-term mutual relations between France and Russia being more important than short-term political differences. The official occasion for their meeting was to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the visit to Versailles by Peter the Great in 1717, the Russian Czar who is lauded for introducing modernizing reforms to his country. Macron implied that the czars historic visit to France was a one-way learning process, with Russia benefiting from French enlightenment. When it came to Putins turn to address the news conference, he too acknowledged the wealth of common cultural heritage, but he reminded his French host that before Peter the Greats visit, Russias Queen Anne famously bequeathed France with much cultural and political progress as wife of Henry I during the 11th Century. It was an apt riposte to remind the French president that any relationship between the two countries must be mutually respectful and not a one-way street. Macron spoke about having a frank and direct conversation earlier with Putin on a range of matters, including allegations of gay rights abuses in Chechnya. For his part, Putin did not say if he had brought up Russian concerns about French police brutality toward Arab minorities in French inner-cities. But why not, if French politicians feel entitled to probe Russian affairs? No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter In any case, the abiding impression from the meeting at least what we saw in public was Macrons willingness to restore better relations with Russia. The rapid invite to Putin and the historical backdrop of the Palace of Versailles were suggestive of that willingness. So too was Macrons apparent desire to avoid contentious issues while speaking alongside Putin. The emphasis was very much on partnering with Russia to defeat jihadist terrorism and avowedly creating peaceful settlements in Syria and Ukraine. It was notable that during his address, Macron did not bring up allegations of Russia annexing Crimea, nor of Russian aggression in Ukraine and toward Europe. Macron also did not mention allegations of Russian cyber attacks and electoral interference. Nor did he bring up accusations made by the previous French government of Russian complicity in war crimes in Syria. Indeed, Putin, during his comments, disclosed that Mr. Macron did not raise any questions about alleged Russian hacking. What that indicates is this: firstly, Macron is being pragmatic in order to advance bilateral relations. Dredging up anti-Russian allegations is not only futile, it is counterproductive and damaging. Secondly, it shows that the allegations against Russia which have dominated Western political and media discourse over recent years are hardly credible. If there was any substance to the various Western grievances, it seems odd that Macron did not even mention them while standing alongside Putin in Versailles. It was only when Macron was challenged by an RT journalist about his election campaign team banning Russian news media from his electioneering events that he became animated. Macron reiterated baseless claims that Russian media had acted as fake news propaganda agents in a bid to damage his presidential campaign. It was a curious display of defensiveness by Macron. The real story here is more likely that Macron and his campaign team were the originators of fake news by making spurious accusations against Russia media. That could have been an attempt to play the Russian card to whip up patriotic votes. The fact is that no evidence has ever been presented of either Russian cyber attacks in the French election or of Kremlin-sponsored media influencing, as Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented this week in response to Macrons latest outburst. If it were such a real issue then why didnt Macron bring it up centrally in his news conference with Putin? As with many other anti-Russian narratives, Macron didnt because theres nothing to these claims. Macrons ambitions of being a strong world leader tell him he needs to abandon silly anti-Russia games and start treating Moscow with respect. The Panama Deception This film shows how the U.S. attacked Panama and killed 3 or 4 thousand people in an invasion that the rest of the world was against. (Sound familiar?) It won the Academy Award for best documentary. The Panama Deception documents the untold story of the December 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama; the events which led to it; the excessive force used; the enormity of the death and destruction; and the devastating aftermath. The Panama Deception uncovers the real reasons for this internationally condemned attack, presenting a view of the invasion which widely differs from that portrayed by the U.S. media and exposes how the U.S. government and the mainstream media suppressed information about this foreign policy disaster. The Panama Deception includes never before seen footage of the invasion and its aftermath, as well as interviews with both invasion proponents like Gen. Maxwell Thurman, Panamanian President Endara and Pentagon spokesperson Pete Williams, and opponents like U.S. Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY.), Panamanian human rights workers Olga Mejia and Isabel Corro and former Panamanian diplomat Humberto Brown. Network news clips and media critics contribute to a staggering analysis of media control and self censorship relevant to any news coverage today, particularly during times of war. PRESS PLAY TO VIEW This video is available to purchase here This film shows how the U.S. attacked Panama and killed 3 or 4 thousand people in an invasion that the rest of the world was against. (Sound familiar?) The excuse given was to get the drug lord, General Noriega, who had been on the CIA's payroll for 20 years. We see not only the devastation we did to poor cities in Panama, but also how our media was complicit in the way all of this was presented to the American public. Some of the people featured in this video are, Professors Michael Parenti, Peter Dale Scott, Jeff Cohen (executive director of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting or FAIR), Mark Hertsguaard (journalist and author), Rear Admiral Eugene Carroll (Ret. U.S.N.), U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New Yourk, Sabina Virgo (national labor organizer) and various Panamanian human rights activists. (Actress) Elizabeth Montgomery narrates this excellent video. Directed by Barbara Trent To order video, email: project2@mindspring.com It was a tragic scene for a family after they returned home to see that their, 3-week-old baby was dead after one of her familys dogs bit her on the head when she was left unattended with them on Thursday. Susannah Jean Murray was alone in a bouncy for five minutes inside her Michigan home with three pit bulls serving as her only companions. When after five minutes of being alone, a caretaker checked on her, the woman noticed the infant bleeding from a severe head injury and also saw that one of the dogs had blood around its mouth. Baby Murray was taken to Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital where she underwent nearly seven hours of surgery but she did not make it. She died around 2 a.m. the following morning. Sgt. Terry Dixon with the GRPD when speaking of the attack said the dog who attacked the child is about 2 years old and has now been quarantined along with the two other family dogs at the Kent County Animal Shelter. This is a horrible tragedy, and it serves as a critical reminder to never leave a child unattended around a dog, or dogs, or pets, said Sgt. Terry Dixon. Always keep a watchful eye on our vulnerable youth. He continued: Just the breed of a pit bull by itself is not enough to condemn it, any dog can bite something, they have teeth. I would say that this serves as a definite reminder not to leave children alone with dogs in the house. Neighbors resident in the Grand Rapids neighborhood told the Detroit Free Press that the dogs were a dangerous nuisance, calling them mean and vicious and said they were always wary of them. Id be scared, because when the dogs get out the fence, they used to chase us, Hawa Abdi, a neighbor, said. The GRPD and Child Protective Services are investigating. Dixon says they will give their investigation to the Kent County Prosecutor to review and consider any possible criminal charges. Source: ( Linda Ikeji ) Psoriasis (Psoriasis vulgaris) is an inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by small to palm-sized patches of severely scaling skin. The disease is estimated to affect between ten and fifteen million people in the European Union. Currently, physicians evaluate the severity of the disease based on visual assessment of features of the skin surface, such as redness or thickness of the flaking skin. Unfortunately, these standards miss all parameters that lie below the surface of the skin, and may be subjective, Dr. Juan Aguirre points out. Knowing the structure of the skin and vessels before treatment can provide the physician with useful information, explains the group leader at the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen.* A look under the skin In order to provide clinicians with this information, Aguirre and his team developed a new technique that gets under the skin. It bears the name RSOM** and works as follows: A weak laser pulse excites the tissue of interest, which then absorbs energy and heats up minimally. This causes momentary tissue expansion, which generates ultrasound waves. The scientists measure these ultrasound signals and use this information to reconstruct a high resolution image of what lies under the skin. High tech that fits in the hand While developing the method, the scientists were able to reduce the size of the scanner to a handheld device. This technology, which is easy to use and does not involve any radiation exposure or contrast agent, is allowing us to acquire the first new insights into the disease mechanisms. It also facilitates treatment decisions for the physicians, explains Prof. Dr. Vasilis Ntziachristos, Director of the IBMI at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich. In the recently published study, the scientists demonstrated RSOMs performance by examining cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue from psoriasis patients. RSOM allowed them to determine several characteristics of psoriasis and inflammation, including skin thickness, capillary density, number of vessels, and total blood volume in the skin. They compiled these to define a novel clinical index*** for assessing psoriasis severity that may be superior to the current clinical standard because the new index also takes into account characteristics below the skin surface. The researchers plan to use the same imaging method to assess other diseases such as skin cancer or diabetes in the future. Patients with diabetes often suffer from damaged blood vessels that, if detected early enough, may allow earlier treatment and therefore greater efficacy. Further Information *Psoriasis treatment depends on the severity of the disease and possible organ involvement, which the new technique can help assess in a non-invasive way, obtaining information that before could only be retrieved with painful, invasive biopsy. **RSOM stands for raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy. *** In medicine, an index is a value that includes several diagnostic parameters allowing to estimate the severity of a disease. Original Publication: Aguirre, J. et al. (2017): Precision assessment of label-free psoriasis biomarkers with ultra-broadband optoacoustic mesoscopy. Nature Biomedical Engineering, DOI: 10.1038/s41551-017-0068 The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, pursues the goal of developing personalized medical approaches for the prevention and therapy of major common diseases such as diabetes and lung diseases. To achieve this, it investigates the interaction of genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle. The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen is headquartered in Neuherberg in the north of Munich and has about 2,300 staff members. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association, a community of 18 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centers with a total of about 37,000 staff members. http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/en The Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) conducts research into in vivo imaging technologies for the biosciences. It develops systems, theories and methods of imaging and image reconstruction as well as animal models to test new technologies at the biological, preclinical and clinical level. The aim is to provide innovative tools for biomedical laboratories, for diagnosis and for the therapeutic monitoring of human diseases. http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/ibmi The Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) in Munich is a joint undertaking by the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and the Technical University of Munich (TUM). This cooperation, which is the only one of its kind in the German research landscape, is dedicated to interdisciplinary basic research and forms a link between clinicians at the hospital and clinical research staff at the university. Thanks to this approach, findings about the mechanisms that lie behind allergies are translated into preventive and therapeutic measures. The development of effective, individually tailored treatments enables better care to be provided for allergy-sufferers. http://www.zaum-online.de Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of Europes leading research universities, with more than 500 professors, around 10,000 academic and non-academic staff, and 39,000 students. Its focus areas are the engineering sciences, natural sciences, life sciences and medicine, reinforced by schools of management and education. TUM acts as an entrepreneurial university that promotes talents and creates value for society. In that it profits from having strong partners in science and industry. It is represented worldwide with a campus in Singapore as well as offices in Beijing, Brussels, Cairo, Mumbai, San Francisco, and Sao Paulo. Nobel Prize winners and inventors such as Rudolf Diesel, Carl von Linde, and Rudolf Mobauer have done research at TUM. In 2006 and 2012 it won recognition as a German Excellence University. In international rankings, TUM regularly places among the best universities in Germany. http://www.tum.de/en/homepage Contact for the media: Department of Communication, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstadter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg Tel. +49 89 3187 2238 Fax: +49 89 3187 3324 E-mail: presse@helmholtz-muenchen.de Scientific Contact at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen: Dr. Juan Aguirre, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging, Ingolstadter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg Tel. +49 89 3187 3972, E-mail: juan.aguirre@helmholtz-muenchen.de EU proposes emission rules for last combustion engine cars AP - 59 minutes ago The European Unions executive arm has proposed pollution standards for new combustion engine vehicles that are expected to remain on Europe's roads well after the 27-nation bloc bans their sale in 2035... $SPX : 3,748.57 (-2.08%) $DOWI : 32,513.94 (-1.95%) $IUXX : 10,797.55 (-2.37%) Lean Hogs Thursday Forecast Kolhanov.com - 1 hour ago The downtrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading below resistance level 89.075, which will be followed by reaching support level 80.675 and if it keeps on moving down below that level,... Feeder Cattle Weekly Forecast Kolhanov.com - 1 hour ago The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 177.700, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 182.375 and 188.250 Rishi Sunak seeks thawed relations at UK-Ireland summit AP - 1 hour ago Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is aiming to repair frayed relations with Britains European Union neighbors and with skeptical leaders in Scotland and Wales $SPX : 3,748.57 (-2.08%) $DOWI : 32,513.94 (-1.95%) $IUXX : 10,797.55 (-2.37%) Live Cattle Thursday Forecast Kolhanov.com - 1 hour ago The uptrend may be expected to continue, while market is trading above support level 150.975, which will be followed by reaching resistance level 154.250 Cotton Fading another Triple Digits Barchart - 1 hour ago Following the report day drop, cotton prices are trading are another 65 to 146 points in the red into Thursday. Cotton futures faded on report day with losses of 36 to 118 points. USDA reduced their average... CTZ22 : 85.86 (-0.74%) CTH23 : 83.99 (-0.87%) CTK23 : 83.59 (-0.24%) Beef Bookings Released Shortly Barchart - 1 hour ago USDAs weekly Export Sales data will be out shortly. Live cattle futures ended the day with 25 cent losses in the August 23 contract to 62 cent losses in the Feb. Dec cattle dropped by $1.47 on the... LEZ22 : 151.575s (-0.96%) LEG23 : 154.150s (-0.40%) LEJ23 : 157.775s (-0.30%) GFX22 : 177.725s (-0.31%) GFF23 : 179.650s (-0.14%) Hogs Saw Lower Pork Output in WASDE Barchart - 1 hour ago Hogs close with a 30 cent loss in the Dec contract, but 2 to 65 cent gains in the other nearbys. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price for Wednesday was $0.48 higher to $87.70. The CME Lean Hog Index... HEZ22 : 85.275s (-0.35%) HEJ23 : 94.625s (+0.45%) KMZ22 : 95.450s (-0.55%) Site grading began last week for a new self-storage facility in Anthem, a master-planned community in North Phoenix, nine years after storage was first proposed for the 7.5-acre parcel. Storage at Anthem LLC purchased the property on Gavilan Peak Parkway at King Drive a year ago to build Anthem Self Storage, according to the source. The facility will comprise nine buildings, including a two-story structure, according Scott Patterson, supervisor for Johnson Carlier, the general contractor. It will include interior storage units as well as covered vehicle-parking spaces. The project still needs final site-plan approval from the Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission, according to the source. It will also undergo a design review by the Anthem Community Council (ACC), said Kristi Northcutt, a council spokesperson. Self-storage was first proposed for the site in 2008 when 7960 E. Thompson Peak Pkwy LLC requested a zoning change to build a facility containing 726 storage units and 53 outdoor parking spaces. The change was denied, but the county board granted a special-use permit to allow self-storage under the existing zoning, the source reported. The project failed to move forward and the site remained vacant until purchased by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Storage at Anthem, the source reported. A portion of the property formerly housed a temporary station for the Daisy Mountain Fire Department. Its surrounded by Boulder Creek High School, Cross of Christ Church and a wastewater-treatment facility operated by EPCOR, a provider of electricity transmission and water distribution. The seller was represented in the transaction by Americor Investment Group, a Scottsdale-based development and real estate firm. The county most recently valued the property at $1.4 million, the source reported. Last month, ACC approved a request from U-Haul International Inc. to double the footprint of its facility in Anthem. The expansion will be built on an empty 4-acre parcel just north of the existing property. Hedge-fund pressure doesnt trickle down to Manhattan commercial real estate, where prices for premium office space have gone up. Landlords are charging higher rents for office buildings popular with hedge funds and investment managers in midtown Manhattan. The most recent data available from real-estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle show that so-called high asking rents for premium space have gone up 4 percent since September 2016, reaching an average of $144 per square foot. JLLs Hedge Fund Index, which tracks 25 trophy buildings in midtown Manhattan with a high concentration of hedge funds, investment managers and financial services boutiques, shows that asking rents for space leased directly from landlords is more than $100 per square foot for all the buildings and $200 per square foot for three. The office market in Manhattan strengthened following the election of President Donald Trump, according to Cynthia Wasserberger, executive managing director at JLL, who focuses on financial services. While financial-services firms have anticipated a boost from the administrations plan to rollback regulations and reduce corporate and personal taxes, the increased rents come as many hedge-fund managers are under pressure due to their high fees and mediocre performance. The highest-price direct space can be found for tower and penthouse floors at 9 West 57th Street, 520 Madison Avenue, and 65 East 55th Street, said Wasserberger, noting that landlords are giving concessions to maintain strong sticker prices. JLL also found that Hudson Yards has been driving prices higher in the trophy market this year, with Law firms Cooley and McKool Smith both signing office leases for more than $100 per square foot. But the draw of Hudson Yards and other West side developments could change as renovated and reconstructed projects in the Plaza District become available, according to Wasserberger. Buildings that are being renovated include 159 E. 53rd St., 399 Park Ave., 425 Park Ave and 390 Madison. Meanwhile, office space thats not considered premium has become cheaper. Low asking rents at buildings included in the JLL index have dropped 3 percent since September 2016 to an average $89 per square foot, largely because there is a large supply of subleases available. Subleases are generally offered at a 25 percent discount to offices rented directly from landlords. While Passport Capital founder John Burbank was losing his investors money, he also was embroiled in a battle over the management of his own fortune with a one-time friend he had picked to help with his investments. Now, a court looks set to rule in his favor. John Burbank and Lindsay Lee met at a Stanford University reunion in 2007. Although both had gone to business school at the prestigious Palo Alto academic institution, with Lee also receiving a law degree, they were not in the same class. However, after meeting, Burbank the founder and CEO of San Francisco-based hedge fund manager Passport Capital was persuaded to invest in Lees hedge fund firm, Tidal Creek. Burbank, according to subsequent legal documents, invested $1 million in the Tidal Creek management company and a further $2 million in the hedge fund. Tidal Creek was not successful. Both Lee and Burbank now agree that Burbank lost money in the deal. Nonetheless, in 2012 Lee became an advisor to Burbanks personal family office, JHB Ventures. Lees responsibilities included helping Burbank source and oversee the hedge fund founders own venture capital and private investments. The arrangement went well initially. However, by early 2015 tensions were running high, and Lee was terminated from his role with JHB Ventures in March of that year. Shortly after, the two parties entered into litigation. The key issue: Whether or not Burbank and JHB Ventures had lent money to Lee to invest in companies to which Burbank and his family office were also making commitments. The suit and countersuit have been making their way through the San Francisco court system since July of 2015, although the litigation has not previously been reported. On May 9th of this year the last day of a 14-day trial Judge Suzanne Bolanos of the Superior Court of California tentatively ruled in Burbanks favor, finding that the there was no enforceable agreement between the parties. The case is scheduled to continue on June 6th. The ruling is good personal news for Burbank, who has been struggling with underperformance and redemptions from the hedge fund firm which helped make him rich. In 2016, Passport experienced the departure of key personnel, including his number two and former head of risk Tim Garry. Year-to-date through April 30, the Passport Global Strategy Fund was down 7.55 percent, while the firms Special Opportunities fund was down 8.51 percent; through the end of March, Passports long/short equity fund had lost 3.37 percent. (All data is according to HSBCs Investment Funds Performance Review for the week of May 22 to May 27.) Burbanks flagship Global Strategy fund lost 17.58 percent in 2016 and the Special Opportunities fund was down 26.42 percent for that same year; the long/short fund lost 11.77 percent. The ongoing losses have left the once-$5 billion-plus fund with below $2 billion in assets under management. Lawyers for Burbank and Lee did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. The market is unprepared to cope with how large the ETF industry has become, says Highland Capitals chief investment officer. When Mark Okada, co-founder and CIO at Highland Capital Management, saw news that index fund giant Vanguard Groups inflows were larger than all other asset managers combined for the first quarter of 2016, he said he was worried. In December of last year alone, according to Morningstar, passively managed funds took in a record $50.8 billion. The hulking size of ETFs and what happens when ETF buyers become sellers is a question keeping Okada up at night, the money manager told reporters at a May 25 lunch in New York City. Theyve gotten so big so fast, he said by phone Tuesday. I dont know if the market knows how to risk manage ETFs in the opposite direction. ETFs could play a big role in the next recession or financial crisis, according to Okada, and passive-fund managers need to be prepared to manage risk in a different type of market structure. What if, he offered as an example, U.S. President Donald Trump decided to go to war with North Korea? Wed probably go into a risk-off period, Okada said. Weve never been able to test this in a market so saturated by ETFs. But ETFs have been around for a long time and managed to weather the tech bubble bursting and the 2008 financial crisis, argued Will Rhind, the founder of commodities ETF Granite Shares. Whenever theres any new technology or wave of investing, there are always naysayers who want to say the sky is falling, Still, though, there were far fewer ETFs in the equities market then than there are now. More indexes of equities now exist than actual US-listed stocks a statistic reported earlier this month by Bloomberg that has become a favorite among asset managers and industry pundits. Okada finds the situation concerning, while acknowledging that he doesnt want to call the market on competing styles of money management. I wouldnt recommend someone being exclusively passive, Okada added. I just worry that some people just put everything into the passive basket. They wont be able to pick up the pieces in different market situation. But Okada and others need not worry, according to Kevin Quigg, chief strategist at customer satisfaction-based ETF ACSI Funds. Exchange-traded funds own 6.3 percent of an average listed companys shares, Quigg pointed out in a phone interview, citing statistics from Toroso Investments. Relative to the larger investing industry, ETFs are a small component, Quigg said. One could voice the same concerns about mutual funds, he added. With a certain scandal (mostly) out of the way, the Wells Fargo Asset Management boss says shes ready to tackle a new set of challenges. Just six months after she landed her dream job and became president and CEO of the asset management arm of Wells Fargo & Co., Kristi Mitchem found herself confronting an executives worst nightmare. Regulators charged her firms parent bank with fraudulently opening millions of unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts to meet sales quotas and imposed hefty fines totaling $185 million. Though the imbroglio had nothing to do with her job, Mitchem who had headed the Americas institutional client group at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) started contacting clients to assure them that the asset management division was not involved in the scandal. Still, the headline risk generated by the parents woes posed a problem for public pension and other institutional clients that are required to reevaluate money managers at such times. Mitchem has been communicating with institutional clients since September about the steps Wells Fargo is taking to prevent a repeat of the sales problems, including establishing a new group to improve oversight and best practices across the company. But the episode, while a distraction, hasnt stopped Mitchem from making progress with the strategy she was hired to implement. Although Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) is large it has $481 billion in assets, run by 29 independent teams, and is the 20th-largest asset manager in the U.S. Mitchem says its not too big and entrenched to take bold steps with its business lines and try new ideas; she says this is at the core of her plans. I want to challenge the status quo, Mitchem says. Look at the problems out there, like not meeting the needs of 401(k) investors or the lack of confidence and trust that people have in investment managers. I think this industry requires innovation and disruption. Wells Fargo is putting resources into a serious growth plan for the money manager. There is this notion that bank-owned asset management doesnt work, Mitchem says. But thats wrong. Banks are able to put capital behind their ideas. Mitchem, a Fulbright scholar who holds an MBA from Stanford University, was well prepared for her role at Wells Fargo. At SSGA she developed a strategy for the institutional client group in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Before that she ran BlackRocks U.S. defined contribution group after the New York managers purchase of Barclays Global Investors. At BGI she was in charge of U.S. transition services. Mitchems first task at Wells Fargo has been integrating Analytic Investors, a quantitative shop the bank acquired in August. Before the purchase, which added $15 billion in assets, WFAM was the only major bank-owned manager without a quantitative division. That left it without the ability to offer smart beta, or factor-based, investments and compete with the likes of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and Northern Trust Asset Management. Mitchem hired Nicolaas Marais, who had run multiasset investments at Schroders, to head WFAMs $40 billion multiasset group. Marais, who worked with Mitchem when both were at BGI, plans to hire more people and develop systems and technology in particular, to blend investments from the 29 different teams within WFAM. Mitchem is expanding WFAMs ESG (environmental, social responsibility, and governance) investments. ESG is important to the Wells Fargo executive, who at SSGA developed SHE, an exchange-traded fund that tracks an index of companies with a significant number of women in senior leadership and board positions. SHE was seeded by the California State Teachers Retirement System; though its still early days for Mitchems ESG vision for Wells, she would consider forming similar partnerships with big investors like CalSTRS. Wells also wants to be able to determine the ESG factors and risks that are present in investors portfolios. One of the areas that is underappreciated is knowing the footprint of what youre investing in, Mitchem says. Maybe you have a big carbon footprint. Knowing this will become increasingly important. The WFAM chief also is working on building closer ties with other businesses within Wells Fargos wealth and investment management division, which WFAM joined last year after it was moved out of wholesale banking. One example of this: developing low-cost, factor-based portfolios that would be of interest to clients of the wealth advisory business. Mitchem is focusing her attention on refining WFAMs defined contribution offering, including more-thoughtful use of the data on participants in these plans. All active asset managers, however, are pressured by the continued popularity of low-cost index funds. Mitchem insists that the active-versus-passive debate is important but cyclical. She thinks the best managers will evolve from offering every possible investment into counselors of sorts. I want to know my clients in an in-depth way so I can create an answer, she says. I want us to be the worlds best problem solver. Fund managers seeking a presence in mainland Europe after the U.K. leaves the E.U. have been told their operations on the continent must be real businesses. British fund firms wont be permitted to set up shell companies to get around losing mainland Europe distribution rights, according to Europes cross-border regulator. Asset managers, wealth managers and discretionary investment managers have been considering establishing operations on the continent in case the U.K. loses the right to sell its products on the mainland after it leaves the trading bloc in 2019. In a statement Wednesday, issued alongside a new set of principles for firms relocating services from the U.K., the European Securities and Markets Authority warned that outsourced arrangements should not result in letterbox entities. The U.K.s decision to leave the European Union will require the remaining 27 countries to make a common effort to safeguard investor protections, according to Steve Maijoor, chairman of the ESMA. The EU27 have a shared interest in building a common approach to dealing with relocating firms that wish to continue to benefit from access to E.U. financial markets, Maijoor said in the statement. Firms need to be subject to the same standards of authorization and ongoing supervision across the EU27 in order to avoid competition on regulatory and supervisory practices between member states. The ESMA statement also made clear that U.K. corporate offshoots currently based in mainland Europe, which enjoy the right to sell their funds across the European Union, would not necessarily be entitled to authorization once the U.K. leaves the trading bloc. Despite this, Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourgs Minister of Finance said firms shouldnt be too concerned, in an address to the ICMA annual conference in Luxembourg earlier this month. If you lose automatic access it doesnt mean you cannot do business, he said. Take Switzerland. Does that prevent the major Swiss banks from doing business in the European Union? Not at all. Gramegna added that Swiss banks have opened up many subsidiaries in European hubs, including Luxembourg, using such centers to build and capitalize on the European single market. The ESMA confirmed it will provide further Brexit-related guidance to asset management and investment firms, with plans to provide sector-specific details on the principles released Wednesday. At the start of May, Institutional Investor reported that ESMA was planning on charging firms outside of the E.U. for conducting regulatory assessments of risks they may pose to economies inside the European trading bloc. Jersey, an island off the south coast of England, has already negotiated terms to distribute products into the European Union because the E.U. views the channel island as a separate jurisdiction to mainland Britain. Jersey Finance the trade group representing the international units of asset managers, such as BlackRock, Brevan Howard and Invesco, that operate from the crown dependency is willing to offer advice based on its own experience navigating third country rules for doing business with the E.U. We are where the U.K. will want to get to be but obviously, we are so much smaller, Geoff Cook, chief executive officer of Jersey Finance, said in an interview. What we have achieved is the standard third-country approach, which the U.S. and China have achieved. Cook said Jersey Finance is offering help through an international regulatory strategy group that recognizes the U.K. will want to seek its own terms. Clearly, Britain will look for its own individual arrangement but, if it was helpful to understand how we have arrived at equivalent status, we can tell you the check points that we have had to go through, he said. The longtime executive at Eric Mindichs hedge fund firm is taking his team to Ken Griffins firm now that Eton Park is winding down. Allan Merrill, head of the merger event driven desk at Eric Mindichs Eton Park Capital Management, is joining Ken Griffins multistrategy hedge fund firm Citadel and bringing his team with him, Institutional Investor has learned. The news follows Mindichs announcement earlier this year that he is returning investors capital and converting the hedge fund firm into a family office. Merrill has told friends and colleagues that he, along with three analysts and one administrative assistant from Eton Park, will join Citadels Surveyor Capital business at the end of June. Surveyor is one of three equity groups that manages capital for the firms multistrategy funds, Kensington and Wellington. Wellington has returned 5.5 percent for the year-to-date, according to a person familiar with the funds performance. Merrill is likely to add more analysts to his group over time. The team is expected to follow the same approach it employed at Eton Park. One thing Merrill will not be doing is moving to Chicago, where the $26 billion Citadel is headquartered. Merrill will be based out of Greenwich, Connecticut, with the rest of his investment team working in New York and London. About 75 people work out of Citadel's Greenwich office. Merrill could, however, catch up with Griffin in New York on June 21st. Both are planning to attend Institutional Investors Hedge Fund Industry Awards dinner in New York on June 21st, where both are being honored: Griffin, 48, with the manager Lifetime Achievement award and Merrill as one of this years Hedge Fund Rising Stars. Merrill, 41, joined Eton Park in 2007 from Stark Investments, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin investment firm he joined in 2004 after graduating with a joint MBA and law degree from Harvard University. Starting next year, Exxon will report the impact of climate change risks and regulations on its business. ExxonMobil shareholders passed a proposal calling for the oil giant to produce annual reports on the impact climate change has on its business, at least the third instance this month of shareholders voting in favor of such reporting at a major energy corporation. At Exxons annual shareholder meeting Wednesday in Dallas, 62 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal, according to preliminary results. Exxons board of directors will reconsider proposals that received majority shareholder approval, including the climate change report, said Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, after the vote. The climate change proposal, which was co-filed at Exxon this year by the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Church of Englands investment fund, has support from investors such as the California Public Employees Retirement System and the New York City Retirement Systems. It calls for Exxon to consider the impact of carbon restrictions on its business, as well as rules such as the Paris Agreement, a United Nations agreement last year to limit global average temperature increases this century to 2 degrees Celcius. This is an unprecedented victory at Exxon for investors in the fight to ensure a smooth transition to a low-carbon economy, said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, trustee of the New York states fund, in a statement after the Wednesday meeting. Climate change is a risk to the core business of ExxonMobil, and the burden is now on the company to show that it is responsive to shareholder concerns. The New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Church of Englands investment fund made the same climate change proposal to Exxon last year, receiving just 38 percent support from shareholders. Edward Mason, head of responsible investment for the Church of England, expressed disbelief during the oil companys meeting Wednesday that he was making the same proposal to the board for the second straight year. Members of the board, do you leave your knowledge of climate change at the door when you attend shareholder meetings? Mason said in a scathing remark to Exxons board of directors. Woods emphasized during the meeting that Exxon believes the risks of climate change are serious and warrant thoughtful action. In the companys April 13 proxy statement, the board said it already published a report called Energy and Carbon Managing the Risks to give shareholders a description of climate change policy and carbon asset risks. Exxon said it also stress tests its investments, while its business segments are required to include an estimate of costs associated with greenhouse gas emissions when seeking funding. With these efforts already in place, we remain confident in the commercial viability of our portfolio, Exxon said in the proxy statement. Exxon shareholders vote to approve the climate change proposal days before President Donald Trump says hell make a decision on whether to pull the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, signed by former President Barack Obama just last year. Shareholders have had success pushing climate change agendas at other energy companies this month. On May 17, a majority of PPL Corp. shareholders approved a proposal filed by DiNapoli to require climate change reporting at the Allentown, Pennsylvania-based power producer. And a similar proposal passed May 12 at Occidental Petroleum, which would require the oil and gas company to produce a detailed report assessing the impact of climate change. Opinion Brokers need to be more vigilant than ever about the insurance cover they source for clients, writes Clinton Hall of Solution Underwriting Agency icare has released a world first study into psychological safety in the workplace.In partnership with suicide prevention charity R U OK?, the study found that frontline, lower income earners feel less safe and permitted to takes risks at work than higher paid staff.canvassed 1,176 employees across Australia and found that 23% of lower income-earning frontline staff felt their workplace was psychologically safe compared to 45% of those on high incomes.With one in five people in Australia experiencing a mental health issue at some point in their lifetime, statistics from Safe Work Australia found that 7,500 Australians are compensated for work-related mental health issues, equating to 6% of workers comp claims.Approximately $480 million is paid in workers compensation for work-related mental health issues.Vivek Bhatia, icare CEO, said that untreated mental illness costs Australian businesses $11 billion each year off their bottom lines due to absenteeism, lost productivity, stymied business growth and compensation claims.Employee mental wellbeing must be at the top of every CEOs agenda, Bhatia said. An investment in psychological wellness is an investment for now and the future.Bhatia urged all employers to ensure that employees have a mentally safe work environment where staff feels comfortable to talk about how they are doing.Bhatia also noted that businesses should look beyond the workplace, as mental health issues have a knock-on effect on the personal lives of employees.The two organisations held a breakfast event in Sydney to launch the report, which saw more than 200 CEOs and senior leaders from Australian businesses, the public sector and NGOs come together to discuss the survey findings. The New South Wales Government has announced that it will defer the introduction of the fire and emergency services levy (FESL) in a bid to stop SMEs facing an unreasonable burden.The Government had announced earlier this year that, instead of funding fire and emergency services through an emergency services levy (ESL) on insurance policies, it would move to a levy on property on July 01.As a result, recent media reports found that some small businesses and residential property holders would be set to pay double or triple their current amount, despite being fully insured.The Fire and Emergency Services Levy will continue to be collected via insurance policies until the NSW Government has completed its review of the policy, and the funding requirements of fire and emergency services agencies will be met in full, the Government said in a statement. Insurance Council of Australia spokesperson, Campbell Fuller , said that insurers are shocked and disappointed by the decision.The decision is a blow to New South Wales property owners, households, businesses and the broader state economy, Fuller said. The ESL will continue to deter the community from taking out the insurance we all need. NIBA CEO, said that the insurance industry has campaigned for many years to provide policyholders with a fairer outcome.The responsibility of the Government was to determine an appropriate property levy, which has been done elsewhere around Australia, Booth toldIt is a surprise that the property levy has become a serious concern to the Government to the point where they dont think they can proceed with the reform.The Insurance Monitor, headed by Allan Fels, will oversee the continuation of the existing system as the state government will work with the insurance industry, local government, fire and emergency services and other stakeholders on a new approach.Booth noted that, with one month to go until the proposed reforms were to be implemented, much remains unknown for brokers and insurers.I really dont think insurance companies and insurance brokers can switch back to the old system on 30 days notice, Booth continued.This takes six to 12 months to prepare for and I think that we are going to have to work with the insurers and ultimately with Government to find out what can be done in the short-term.Fuller stressed that the industry had spent more than a year and millions of dollars in consultant fees and system changes in preparation for the removal of the levy.Insurers will face significant commercial and legal implications, Fuller continued, as confusion for policyholders will be increased.The resumption of ESL collection will come with significant additional costs that the industry will be forced to pass on in full to policyholders, Fuller said.Premier Gladys Berejiklian and treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced the deferment and noted the concerns of the community.We are committed to reducing NSWs high rates of under insurance and to making the funding of our fire and emergency services fairer but we want to get this right, Perrottet said. The former directors and executives of a failed tech retailer have been declined leave for the legal action against their insurers to continue.The insurers, which included Allianz Australia Insurance, QBE Underwriting, Chubb Insurance Australia, and Berkley Insurance Australia, were caught up in the case, filed by Ferrier Hodgson, receiver of Dick Smith Holdings (DSHE), against eight former directors and executives of the failed tech company.The case, filed in conjunction with DSHEs two largest creditors, National Australia Bank (NAB) and HSBC, alleged the defendants of breach of duty by failing to implement an adequate system related to rebates and management, ARN reported.The insurers were included in the action against Dick Smith CEO Nick Abboud, Michael Potts, Phillip Cave, Robert Murray, William Wavish, Lorna Raine, Robert Ishak, and Jamie Tomlinson in hopes that the banks would secure priority for any resulting insurance payout for the Dick Smith bosses.However, the NSW Supreme Court judged that the inclusion of the insurers in the proceedings will not improve the position of DSHE, NAB, or HSBC in the event that there are competing claims for the fruits of these policies, and that such a move would also clash with an impending class action by the collapsed companys shareholders against the directors and executives.The first party to have its claim determined (whether by judgment, award or settlement) will prevail, Justice James Stevenson was quoted as saying by ARN.The plaintiffs Ferrier Hodgson, NAB, and HSBC were also ordered by the court to pay the legal costs of the insurers representatives, the report said.In my opinion the appropriate order is that the plaintiffs pay the costs of each of the insurers in the usual way, Stevenson said. I will consider the question of indemnity costs once I have received submissions on that question. With the so-called passporting rights from the United Kingdom about to dissolve with Brexit, insurers based in the country are scouting for alternative locations that would allow them to continue to conduct business in the European Union.Among them is US commercial property insurer FM Global , which has been approved to run a European hub in Luxembourg so it can continue selling policies in the region and other countries following the UKs decision to leave the bloc.Reuters reports that the authorization from Luxembourg regulators comes after an initial approval was granted to the Rhode Island based firm to set up a unit, but not conduct business in the city in December last year.Chris Johnson, an executive vice president at FM Global, told Reuters last April that the firm will continue to operate its various businesses in west London despite Brexit. The company earned $5.5 million in gross premiums last year.The firm is among a handful of insurers that are taking steps to gain a foothold in the Union to be able to continue selling policies in the region and neighbouring countries to cope with Brexit, the wire report said.Among them is American International Group, which announced last March that it would retain its London headquarters but open an office in Luxembourg following Brexit.Lloyds of London, meanwhile, is headed to Brussels to operate an EU subsidiary.Apart from Luxembourg and Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin are positioning themselves as potential alternative locations for firms that want to retain access to the Union after Brexit. Property insurance rates in Florida are on a steady climb.Pundits blame claims abuse as the primary culprit, specifically the abuse of assignment of benefits which makes the claims process litigious and costly.Assignment of benefits (AOBs) involves allowing policyholders to sign over their claims to a contractor, which gives the contractor the right to collect payments from the insurance firm. Local media outfit Naples Daily News reports that these AOBs cost state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp $27 million in losses last year.Michael Peltier, a Citizens spokesman, also said in the report, The disturbing part is we are expecting an even greater loss for the upcoming year.The rising premiums from the past five years were also less to do with natural catastrophes than broken pipes, dishwashers and water heaters. Insurers say the rise in claims is largely due to fraudulent activity.The private market is experiencing the same trend that Citizen is, from all of the indications weve gotten, Peltier added. Its not just our problem.Legislators are acting to address the abuse. State Senator Kathleen Passidomo recently sponsored a bill that would curb claims abuses, but it did not pass legislative muster.It was really a consumer protection bill that would allow consumers to get out of some of those contracts that they unknowingly signed, she told the Daily News.It had some really good provisions that the Office of Insurance Regulation, the insurance industry and consumer advocates all supported. That bill was not heard.Passidomo and Senator Dorothy Hukill are currently working on another bill that they plan to file in the next congressional session and theyre going to pursue this with a vengeance, the senator said in the report.She added that legislative remedies are needed because the fraud is spreading to other parts of the state. New York state is making $7 million available to help homeowners recover from flooding along the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River shorelines. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the funding Monday. Homeowners will be able to get up to $40,000 in aid. Theyll apply through municipal governments or housing organizations. The Democratic governor previously announced the state would provide $10 million to municipalities and $5 million in small business grants for flood recovery. State senators have approved a measure that would provide $20 million in grants to property owners and the same amount for municipalities. The proposal has been sent to the Assembly. Meanwhile, Cuomo signed legislation Monday that lets municipalities apply immediately for emergency loans under a separate, $2.5 billion clean-water infrastructure program approved in the state budget last month. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Flood New York Homeowners U.S. commercial property insurer FM Global has been approved to run a European hub in Luxembourg, a move allowing it to issue policies in the European Union and other countries following Britains decision to leave the bloc, the company said on Tuesday. The license from Luxembourgs regulators finalizes a process that FM Global began last year. In December, Luxembourg issued preliminary approval for the Johnston, Rhode Island-based mutual insurer to set up a unit but not to conduct business, the company had said. FM Global, which earned $5.5 billion in gross premium last year, plans to continue many business operations in Windsor, west of London, Chris Johnson, an executive vice president in charge of FM Globals European business, said in an interview in April. But its Luxembourg-based subsidiary, FM Insurance Europe, S.A., will issue policies in the EU and other countries, the company said. FM Globals move follows that of U.S. insurer American International Group Inc., which said in March that it would keep its main European headquarters in London and open a subsidiary in Luxembourg to cope with Brexit. The Lloyds of London insurance market chose Brussels for its subsidiary. They are among a number of insurers that had set up regulated subsidiaries only in Britain through which they have been able to sell insurance policies across the European Union from one EU country, using so-called passporting rights. But insurers and other financial services firms no longer expect to be able to retain those rights after Brexit and have started planning EU subsidiaries, so they can continue to sell into Europe. Luxembourg and Brussels, along with Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin, are touting themselves as an alternative base for firms wishing to retain access to the EU after Brexit. FM Global chose Luxembourg for regulatory expertise, understanding of global business, and talent base, among other reasons, Johnson has said. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; editing by Bill Trott) Related: Topics Europe London Chinas top cyber authority said on Wednesday it is not targeting foreign firms with a controversial national cyber law set to come into effect on Thursday. More than 50 overseas companies and business groups have lobbied against the law, which includes stringent data storage and surveillance requirements. The purpose is to safeguard [Chinas] national cyberspace sovereignty and national security rather than to restrict foreign enterprises, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on its website. The law, which was passed by Chinas rubber-stamp parliament in November, requires local and overseas firms to submit to security checks and store user data within the country. Business groups argue the regulations are vague, and leave foreign firms vulnerable to abstract interpretations of the law. Earlier this month Reuters reported that the CAC met foreign business groups in a closed-door meeting to try to allay fears over the law and discuss an 18-month phase-in of the regulations, according to attendees. The notice on Wednesday made no mention of a phase-in period. It added that the law is not designed to hinder international trade or the flow of data across the Chinese border. Mandatory reviews of outbound data have been a particular point of contention for foreign groups, which say the rules are more restrictive than regulations in other markets. China maintains a strict censorship regime, banning access to foreign news outlets, search engines and social media including Google and Facebook. (Reporting by Cate Cadell; editing by Adrian Croft) Related: Topics Cyber China A fire official has estimated that a fire at Lincoln, Neb., food plant has caused nearly $100,000 in damage. Officials say no one was injured in the fire, which started around 1 p.m. Saturday at the Smithfield Foods plant. Battalion Chief Leo Benes told the Lincoln Journal Star that the blaze occurred in a grease building between an industrial oven and the ceiling. Benes says it took firefighters around 45 minutes to control the fire. Evacuated workers were allowed back in the plant after nearly two hours. Fire inspector Ken Hilger says the damage estimate includes damaged food and equipment and lost employee production. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Nebraska The Central Insurance Companies was recently honored with the Best Practices Award of Excellence from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big I). This is the tenth consecutive year the company has received this award. The award recognizes those companies that have made imaginative, outstanding, and unique contributions in advocating Best Practices philosophies that enhance the independent agency system. The Big I Best Practices Program provides performance benchmarks and business strategies that serve as a guide to improving agency performance. Central was one of only three carriers nationwide to receive the award. Central has long been a supporter of the Best Practices program, sharing these Best Practices concepts with our agents through education and business consulting, our website, and monthly agency newsletters. Centrals Vibrant Personal Lines Program, in consultation with Reagan Consulting Inc., uses the Best Practices studies to educate agencies on developing and growing their personal lines books of business. Throughout the years, the response has been very positive and the program has proven to be beneficial to both Central and the agencies who have participated. Central Mutual Insurance Company was founded in 1876, and has evolved into the Central Insurance Companies, a property and casualty group providing insurance for more than 350,000 automobiles, homes, and businesses in 20 states. Central is based in Van Wert, Ohio and operates regional offices in Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Van Wert. The Central group of companies has combined assets of over $1 billion. Centrals A.M. Best rating is A (Excellent). Source: Central Insurance Topics Agencies Ohio The state of Ohio on May 30 sued five major drug manufacturers, accusing them of misrepresenting the risks of prescription opioid painkillers that have fueled a sky-rocketing drug addiction epidemic. The suit, filed by Attorney General Mike DeWine, comes as a growing number of state and local governments are suing drugmakers and distributors, seeking to hold them accountable for a deadly and costly opioid crisis. Opioid drugs, including prescription painkillers and heroin, killed more than 33,000 people in the United States in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The five companies Ohio sued were Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnsons Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. unit, a unit of Endo International Plc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.s Cephalon unit and Allergan Plc. DeWine said the companies helped unleash the crisis by spending millions of dollars marketing and promoting such drugs as OxyContin and Percocet, overstating their benefits and trivializing their potential addictive qualities. These companies continue to mislead the public, DeWine said at a press conference in Columbus. Janssen spokesman Jessica Castles Smith said in an emailed statement: The allegations in this lawsuit are both legally and factually unfounded. She said Janssen has acted responsibly regarding its opioid pain medications, which are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and carry FDA-mandated warnings on their labels about the drugs known risks. Purdue said in an emailed statement: We share the attorney generals concerns about the opioid crisis and we are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions. Allergan and Teva declined to comment. Endo could not immediately be reached. The suit, filed in Ross County, in Southern Ohio, where addiction has hit hard, alleges the drug companies violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, committed Medicaid fraud, and created a public nuisance by disseminating false and misleading statements. It seeks to halt deceptive practices, a declaration the companies acted illegally and unspecified damages to the state and consumers. In Ohio, which has one of the nations highest overdose rates, 4,169 people died from overdoses last year, according to figures compiled by the Columbus Dispatch. Last year, 2.3 million Ohio residents were prescribed opioids, nearly a fifth of the states population, in turn helping fuel heroin abuse, DeWine said. Drug companies including Purdue and Johnson & Johnson have been fighting lawsuits by two California counties, the city of Chicago, four counties in New York and the state of Mississippi over their opioid marketing practices. Several West Virginia counties have filed lawsuits in recent months against drug wholesalers McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen for failing to report suspicious orders of opioids in the state. West Virginias attorney general earlier reached settlements with Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen for a combined $36 million to resolve similar claims. Reporting by Chris Kenning in Chicago; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish Topics Lawsuits USA Ohio Drugs It had been expected by many that, after seven years of arduous work, the American Law Institutes Restatement of the Law, Liability Insurance would be approved last Tuesday at the Institutes annual meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington. But, despite expectations, no white smoke bellowed from the luxury hotels chimney. Instead, in a surprise announcement, the ALI stated that another year of work would take place on the project. The plan now is to present a Final Draft to the ALI membership at the next annual meeting in May 2018. For those not closely following the ALI Liability Insurance Restatement, the project, and its process, can seem mysterious. This decision by the ALI, to delay the final vote, hardly solves this problem. So what does all this mean? First, while the ALI delayed the final vote on the Restatement, the membership on Tuesday still voted to approve all eleven of the new sections that were presented to it (as well as two revised sections). These included provisions on such topics as notice and reporting, allocation in long tail claims, known liabilities and bad faith. Thus, the text of the Restatement has been approved. However, the necessary final vote of the membership, on the entire Restatement as a collective body of provisions, did not take place. In an effort to work toward such a vote a year from now, the ALI will hold meetings in the fall with its Advisors and Members Consultative Group (disclosure I am a member of the MCG). As part of this process, changes to the text will be proposed and debated. Whats Ahead Expect to see this debate become, well, spirited. The ALI Liability Insurance Restatement has been a contentious project since its inception in 2010. The insurance industry has generally felt that it offers more benefits for policyholders than insurers in some cases adopting minority positions, and, hence, not being a restatement of the law. For the past several years the industry has mounted an aggressive effort to push-back on some of the provisions in this category. They made some progress, but not enough to change their overall belief that the Restatement tilts the field in favor of policyholders. ALI, for its part, maintains that a Restatement is not simply a scorecard of the law, but must also consider various other factors, including trends. But despite how us versus them the Restatement process has been, it reached Coke and Pepsi levels in the run-up to the annual meeting and its expected final vote. Motions seeking changes were filed. Insurance industry representatives and trade associations offered up white papers discussing the problems that the Restatement could cause. Supporters of the draft responded with papers of their own that the sky is not falling. Insurance legislators and regulators weighed-in stating that the Restatement vote should be delayed so that its impact on their interests could be considered. Surely all of this was at the heart of the ALIs decision to delay the final vote. There is little doubt that both sides are loaded for bear over the next year. This is probably the insurance industrys last chance to chip away at some of the Restatement provisions to which it objects. Those on the policyholder-side will be looking to stand their ground. Despite the ALI Liability Insurance Restatement having been in the oven for seven years, details of it (and, in some cases, its very existence) have not achieved wide-spread awareness in the insurance industry. Ironically, delaying the final vote on the ALI Insurance Restatement, and setting up an intense battle over the next year, may do more, in the short-term, to raise the projects profile than if white smoke had hovered over 22nd Street N.W. last week. Randy Maniloff is an attorney at White and Williams, LLP in Philadelphia, where he represents insurers in coverage disputes under a host of policies. He is the co-author of General Liability Insurance Coverage Key Issues in Every State and the publisher of the newsletter and website www.CoverageOpinions.info Topics Market Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Zuber Insurance Agency Inc. in Houston, Texas. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Zuber Insurance was founded in 1934 by J.L. Zuber. Expanded under the leadership of his son Joseph and grandson Alan, Zuber Insurance is a full-service insurance agency offering commercial and personal property/casualty insurance, employee benefits and life insurance to clients throughout Texas. Alan Zuber and his associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of Bret VanderVoort, head of Gallaghers South Central retail property/casualty brokerage operations, and Robby White, head of Gallaghers South Central employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, has operations in 33 countries and offers client service capabilities in more than 150 countries around the world through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants. Source: Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions A.J. Gallagher An Alabama doctor was sentenced on Friday to 21 years in prison for running two clinics with a colleague that prosecutors called a massive pill mill, in a case tied to the U.S. probe of Insys Therapeutics Inc. Xiulu Ruan, who with John Couch ran the Physicians Pain Specialists of Alabama clinics, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Callie Granade in Mobile, Alabama, after a jury in March found them guilty of racketeering conspiracy and other felonies. The 54-year-olds sentencing came after Granade on Thursday imposed a 20-year prison term on Couch. Gordon Armstrong, a lawyer for Ruan, said he planned to appeal. We believe that a grave injustice has occurred and that Dr. Ruan should not have been convicted, Armstrong said in a statement. Prosecutors said that before federal authorities executed multiple search warrants in 2015, Ruan and Couch jointly owned and operated Physicians Pain Specialists of Alabama, which had two clinics in Mobile, as well as C&R Pharmacy. Through those clinics, Couch and Ruan, motivated by their own financial self-interest, regularly wrote prescriptions for large quantities of addictive medications including fentanyl without a legitimate medical purpose, the prosecutors said. The case focused partly on two brand name instant-release fentanyl drugs, Subsys, manufactured by Insys, and Abstral, which was then manufactured by Galena Biopharma Inc. According to prosecutors, while both drugs were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cancer pain, Ruan and Couch prescribed Subsys and Abstral for off-label uses to treat neck, back and joint pain. Prosecutors said the doctors received illegal kickbacks from Insys in exchange for prescribing Subsys and became among the top U.S. prescribers of the drug. Ruan and Couch also bought $1.6 million of Galena shares and tried to manipulate its stock price by driving up sales of Abstral, prosecutors said. Any medical professional who chooses to place profit over patient care should heed the lengthy sentences received by Dr. Ruan and Dr. Couch, Acting U.S. Attorney Steve Butler said in a statement. In December, federal prosecutors in Boston brought charges against six former Insys executives and managers, including former Chief Executive Michael Babich, related to a scheme that involved bribing doctors to prescribe Subsys. They have pleaded not guilty. Federal charges have also been filed in four states against at least five other ex-Insys employees. Insys on May 9 said it was working toward a U.S. Justice Department settlement. The case is U.S. v. Couch, et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Alabama, No. 15-cr-88. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Tom Brown) Topics USA Alabama Drugs Police forces in South Carolina have reached several high-dollar settlements in cases where officers have shot and killed drivers and others in moving vehicles in the past several years. Here are some of the most expensive settlements: Zachary Hammond Hammonds family negotiated a $2.15 million settlement after the 19-year-old was killed by a Seneca police officer. Hammond tried to drive out of a fast food restaurant parking lot in July 2015 as an officer tried to arrest his passenger who arranged a drug buy with an undercover officer. Video of the shooting shows several ways Tillers actions didnt match proper training. Tiller ran up to the front of the car, instead of keeping his distance to the side; he had no knowledge that a violent felony was taking place requiring his immediate intervention; and he had Hammonds tag number and the cellphone number of the passenger who texted the officer to try and sell the drugs. ___ Rebecca Oliver Olivers relatives were awarded $700,000 after she was shot and killed by a Duncan police officer after getting in the officers cruiser. Officer Terry Lane was checking on Oliver, 24, and her boyfriend. He left his cruiser unlocked and Oliver started to drive off in March 2014. Lane said he feared he was going to be run over as Oliver drove off. But Olivers lawyer said the officer was embarrassed his car was taken. He fired several shots, waited for nearly 30 seconds as Oliver cried out she didnt want to be shot again because she had three kids, then shot one more time. Prosecutors did not charge Lane. ___ Lacey Lamb Woodruff Police paid a $700,000 settlement after the 28-year-old pregnant woman was shot and killed during a traffic stop in October 2012. Lamb was a passenger in the car pulled over, and her familys lawsuit said she was trying to move across the front seat to get control of the vehicle after the driver jumped out. Woodruff officer Todd Knight said he shot her because he thought Lamb was trying to run him over. Police found methamphetamine, a gun and ammunition in the car. The driver pleaded guilty to weapons and drug charges. Knight was not charged with a crime. ___ Warren Robinson Robinsons family was paid a $600,000 settlement after he was shot trying to drive away from a Denmark police officer and a Bamberg County deputy in August 2011. Bamberg County deputy Eddie Williams stopped Robinson after an informant said he had drugs in his truck. During the traffic stop, Robinson drove off. Denmark officer Horace Brunson then joined the chase, according to dashboard camera video. Robinson stopped again and the officers ran toward his truck. One of them appeared to hit Robinson in the head with his gun. Robinson tried to drive off again and both officers shot at him, saying they feared being run over. Neither officer was charged in the killing. ___ Bernard Bailey The town of Eutawvilles insurer paid Baileys family $400,000 after he was shot and killed by Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs in May 2011. Prosecutors said Combs was trying to arrest Bailey on a trumped up charge of obstruction of justice weeks after the two had a confrontation over a traffic ticket for Baileys daughter. Bailey refused to be arrested and tried to drive away in his truck. Combs shot and killed him, saying he feared for his life. Combs was charged with murder in the shooting, but after two hung juries, a prosecutor accepted a plea to misconduct in office and Combs was sentenced to a year of house arrest. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto Law Enforcement Drugs South Carolina Willis Programs has partnered with Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) on coverage for its DairyProtector and FeedLotGuard programs. Allianz, a property casualty insurance carrier in the agribusiness industry, will offer an A.M. Best A+ rated carrier backing to the Willis program. By partnering with Allianz Willis Programs has the capability to provide enhanced coverages and services for a variety of classes. Enhancements to the DairyProtector and FeedLotGuard programs include: AgriCover for property (including extended replacement costs); AgriCover for liability (including aggregate limits per location), as well as chemical drift and environmental pollution coverage. The Allianz Extended Property Coverage for Dairy Operations also includes special coverages, including: Milk contamination increased to limit of $25,000 Livestock theft increased to limit of $5,000 Animal collision increased to limit of $5,000 Additional coverages: Building ordinance coverage limited at $25,000 Off premises power utility failure limited at $10,000 Perishable farm personal property limited at $10,000 Signs at insured location limited at $5,000 Water back-up exclusion is deleted Willis Programs, a unit of Willis Towers Watson, provides insurance programs that include underwriting, claim management and loss control expertise in over 30 niche markets. Headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with branch offices in Burlington, Tampa, Detroit, Denver, Salt Lake City and Hartford, Willis Programs is able to reach independent agents and brokers across the U.S. for program distribution. Topics Carriers Agribusiness Allianz An oil tank explosion in northern Colorado killed a worker and burned three others, shooting up flames just miles away from an unrelated gas blast last month and prompting fresh questions about safety in one of Colorados largest industries oil and gas extraction. The fire flared when the workers completed upgrades to an oil tank battery, which is a collection of tanks that receive crude oil production from a well. Anadarko Petroleum Co. said the facility in Mead, about 40 miles north of Denver, was not in service and the fire was under investigation. The company also owns a well connected to a home explosion that killed two people in Firestone, a city a few miles from Mead. The April 17 blast was traced to a leaky well. Anadarko says it will permanently shut down the Firestone well and two others in the neighborhood. The pipeline was thought to be out of service, but investigators say it was still connected to a well near the home. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, a former petroleum geologist, said Friday that the two explosions apparently were not related. State agencies and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were investigating the latest blast, he said. We will continue to work closely with investigating agencies and the industry to better understand the cause of this accident and take any necessary action to ensure that this doesnt happen again, Hickenlooper said. Democratic state Rep. Mike Foote said the industry and government have an obligation to treat these incidents not as isolated or freak accidents. The Sierra Club called for Anadarko to shutter all of its operations while state and federal authorities conduct a comprehensive review. The company did not respond. A third safety accident related to the energy industry happened Thursday in northeast Colorado, near the Nebraska border. A leak of natural gas was discovered from an underground storage facility. The leak occurred in a well that injects and withdraws gas from the facility owned by East Cheyenne Gas Storage. Logan County called all residents who live within 2 miles of the well and urged them to evacuate. There were no injuries from the storage-tank leak. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Energy Oil Gas Colorado State forester Bill Crapser says most of Wyoming is predicted to have slightly below average to average large wildfires this year. Crapser says there could be a lot of wildfires started by lightning but most are not expected to grow into large fires. The predictions come from the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center in Denver. Crapser briefed Gov. Matt Mead about the wildfire season predictions on Thursday. He said that fire conditions can quickly change in Wyoming with a few hot, windy days and he noted that the prediction entering last years fire season was almost identical. In 2016, there were about 700 wildfires in Wyoming, including several large ones in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. The state averages about 600 a year. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Jeremy D. Morley concentrates on International Family Law. The firm works with clients around the world from its New York office, with a global network of local counsel. Mr Morley is the author of "International Family Law Practice", the leading treatise on international family law in the U.S., and "The Hague Abduction Convention", published by the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a former law professor. The court denied a direct delivery resulting in an intra-community supply because there was no binding purchase contract in place at the beginning of the transport of the stock. Case background A Dutch BV delivered screens to a German customer. The screens were brought to a call-off stock on the customers site. The BV remained the owner of the consignment stock until such time as the BVs customer transmitted its weekly list of the consignment stock sold in the previous week. The purchase price charged by the BV was only set on the day on which the customer resold the consignment stock. The BV was obliged to leave the consignment stock in the warehouse for at least three weeks. After this period, the customer was entitled to return the whole stock or part thereof to the BV. Courts rational Since there are no special regulations for consignment stocks in Germany, the Federal Fiscal Court decided the case using the general VAT principles. Therefore, the court considered whether section 3, paragraph 6 of the German VAT Act could be applied and if the place of delivery was consequently in the Netherlands, from where the goods were transported to the warehouse. Since section 3, paragraph 6 of the German VAT Act requires shipment to the customer, it must be clear who the customer is at the beginning of the shipment. The German Federal Fiscal Court decided that, at the beginning of the shipment, a binding purchase contract is therefore crucial. However, according to the agreement between the parties in the case, the customer was not obliged to buy the goods brought to the warehouse. Moreover, the customer was not obliged to make a payment until the goods were taken out of stock. According to the German Federal Fiscal Court, a binding purchase contract was not concluded until after the storage period (or, to be more precise, when the goods were removed from the warehouse). The place of delivery was, therefore, in Germany and not in the Netherlands, as it would have been in the case of a direct delivery. Apparently, the German Federal Fiscal Courts decision was influenced by the fact that the goods were in the books of the supplier and not the customer until their removal from the stock. This is surprising because entering the goods in the balance sheet is only a result of the person being the beneficial owner. It is not an indication of the VAT treatment, even if the right to dispose of the goods and the economic ownership have certain similarities. All in all, the questions of how binding a purchase contract needs to be and which conditions need to be fulfilled remain open. German civil law cannot be relevant because cross-border transactions are to be assessed, which means that eventually, the civil law of the ship-from country also needs to be considered. This might differ from German civil law. Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese. Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa. Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista. E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta. A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito. We all know the names of these famous billionaires and how they acquired the bulk of their fortunes; we even dream of making it big that way ourselves. But have you ever wondered how these rich successful people got their start? Here are some famous billionaires' first jobs. (Net worth figures as of Aug. 15, 2019, according to Forbes.) 1. Warren Buffett Net Worth: $77.6 Billion First Job: Newspaper Delivery Boy Warren Buffett started working on his billion-dollar empire when he was just a boy. At age 13, Buffett had his first job running a newspaper delivery business. Already a budding businessman, Buffett even deducted his bike from his taxes that year. He went on to start a pinball machine business as a teen, looking for business opportunities wherever he went and graduating college with a $10,000 profit from his business ventures. It's no wonder that today so many look to Warren Buffett for financial advice. 2. Oprah Winfrey Net Worth: $2.6 Billion First Job: Grocery Store Clerk Oprah Winfrey is one of those women who are in charge of their destiny: she just seems to get better and richer with everything she does. However, Winfrey got her start in an average menial job at the grocery store next to her father's Nashville barbershop. She quickly made her move to broadcasting, reading the news for the local radio station by age 16 and moving her way up to the media powerhouse she is today. 3. Michael Bloomberg Net Worth: $55.5 Billion First Job: Parking Lot Attendant Michael Bloomberg is best known for his investment and political career, but before his success, he worked as a parking lot attendant. As the son of middle-class parents, Bloomberg paid his college tuition by working and eventually went on to graduate with an MBA from Harvard. He got his start on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers and is now one of the wealthiest people in America. 4. Bill Gates Net Worth: $102.2 Billion First Job: Computer Programmer Who doesn't know Microsoft's Bill Gates? Competitor Apple may like to poke fun at Microsoft's less-than-cool image, but Bill Gates is laughing all the way to the bank. This Harvard drop-out followed his passion for tech from a young age: his first job was as a computer programmer for TRW during his senior year in high school. Gates is now one of the richest people in the world, proving that being a computer geek can really pay off. In 2008, he stepped down from the daily running of Microsoft to focus on his philanthropic endeavors via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to improve education, fight hunger, and develop vaccinations. 5. Steve Jobs Net Worth: $10.2 Billion (at the time of his death in 2011) First Job: Summer Job at HP At the time of his death in 2011, Steve Jobs' net worth was estimated at $10.2 billion. The Apple founder got his start at HP when he was just in high school, where he met future Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Despite Apple's success, the bulk of Jobs' fortune comes from digital animation company Pixar, which he sold to Disney for a cool $7.4 billion. 6. Jeff Bezos Net Worth: $110 Billion First Job: Grill Operator at McDonald's Way before he founded Amazon and began selling everything from books to newspaper subscriptions, Jeff Bezos was flipping burgers behind the grill at McDonald's. Bezos began working at the fast-food chain in Miami when he was only 16 and has often said that he learned one of his business most important lessons from that experience: to move things quickly from seller to customer without damaging them. 7. George Lucas Net Worth: $6.2 Billion First Job: Teaching Assistant When you think of George Lucas, you think "Star Wars," the iconic series that made him his fortune. Lucas' start working in the film industry came early, but humbly: as a teaching assistant for the U.S. Military's cameramen. George Lucas went on to pursue an apprenticeship with Francis Coppola and eventually developed his own name as a Hollywood icon, with a $6.2 billion fortune to show for his hard and creative work. The Bottom Line We all know that starting as a newspaper boy or parking lot attendant doesn't promise you'll be a billionaire. What is interesting to note about the careers of these billionaires is that they discovered their passion at an early age, be it technology, investing, fashion, or film, proving that following your passion can pay, in the billions, if you're lucky enough. What Is a Repurchase Agreement? A repurchase agreement (repo) is a form of short-term borrowing for dealers in government securities. In the case of a repo, a dealer sells government securities to investors, usually on an overnight basis, and buys them back the following day at a slightly higher price. That small difference in price is the implicit overnight interest rate. Repos are typically used to raise short-term capital. They are also a common tool of central bank open market operations. For the party selling the security and agreeing to repurchase it in the future, it is a repo; for the party on the other end of the transaction, buying the security and agreeing to sell in the future, it is a reverse repurchase agreement. Key Takeaways A repurchase agreement, or "repo," is a short-term agreement to sell securities in order to buy them back at a slightly higher price. The one selling the repo is effectively borrowing and the other party is lending, since the lender is credited the implicit interest in the difference in prices from initiation to repurchase. Repos and reverse repos are thus used for short-term borrowing and lending, often with a tenor of overnight to 48 hours. The implicit interest rate on these agreements is known as the repo rate, a proxy for the overnight risk-free rate. 1:38 Repurchase Agreement Understanding Repurchase Agreements Repurchase agreements are generally considered safe investments because the security in question functions as collateral, which is why most agreements involve U.S. Treasury bonds. Classified as a money-market instrument, a repurchase agreement functions in effect as a short-term, collateral-backed, interest-bearing loan. The buyer acts as a short-term lender, while the seller acts as a short-term borrower. The securities being sold are the collateral. Thus the goals of both parties, secured funding and liquidity, are met. Repurchase agreements can take place between a variety of parties. The Federal Reserve enters into repurchase agreements to regulate the money supply and bank reserves. Individuals normally use these agreements to finance the purchase of debt securities or other investments. Repurchase agreements are strictly short-term investments, and their maturity period is called the "rate," the "term," or the "tenor." Despite the similarities to collateralized loans, repos are actual purchases. However, since the buyer only has temporary ownership of the security, these agreements are often treated as loans for tax and accounting purposes. In the case of bankruptcy, in most cases, repo investors can sell their collateral. This is another distinction between repo and collateralized loans; in the case of most collateralized loans, bankrupt investors would be subject to an automatic stay. Term vs. Open Repurchase Agreements The major difference between a term and an open repo lies in the amount of time between the sale and the repurchase of the securities. Repos that have a specified maturity date (usually the following day or week) are term repurchase agreements. A dealer sells securities to a counterparty with the agreement that they will buy them back at a higher price on a specific date. In this agreement, the counterparty gets the use of the securities for the term of the transaction, and will earn interest stated as the difference between the initial sale price and the buyback price. The interest rate is fixed, and interest will be paid at maturity by the dealer. A term repo is used to invest cash or finance assets when the parties know how long they will need to do so. An open repurchase agreement (also known as on-demand repo) works the same way as a term repo except that the dealer and the counterparty agree to the transaction without setting the maturity date. Rather, the trade can be terminated by either party by giving notice to the other party prior to an agreed-upon daily deadline. If an open repo is not terminated, it automatically rolls over each day. Interest is paid monthly, and the interest rate is periodically repriced by mutual agreement. The interest rate on an open repo is generally close to the federal funds rate. An open repo is used to invest cash or finance assets when the parties do not know how long they will need to do so. But nearly all open agreements conclude within one or two years. The Significance of the Tenor Repos with longer tenors are usually considered higher risk. During a longer tenor, more factors can affect repurchaser creditworthiness, and interest rate fluctuations are more likely to have an impact on the value of the repurchased asset. It's similar to the factors that affect bond interest rates. In normal credit market conditions, a longer-duration bond yields higher interest. Long-term bond purchases are bets that interest rates will not rise substantially during the life of the bond. Over a longer duration, it is more likely that a tail event will occur, driving interest rates above forecasted ranges. If there is a period of high inflation, the interest paid on bonds preceding that period will be worth less in real terms. This same principle applies to repos. The longer the term of the repo, the more likely that the value of the collateral securities will fluctuate prior to the repurchase, and business activities will affect the repurchaser's ability to fulfill the contract. In fact, counterparty credit risk is the primary risk involved in repos. As with any loan, the creditor bears the risk that the debtor will be unable to repay the principal. Repos function as collateralized debt, which reduces the total risk. And because the repo price exceeds the value of collateral, these agreements remain mutually beneficial to buyers and sellers. Types of Repurchase Agreements There are three main types of repurchase agreements: The most common type is a third-party repo (also known as a tri-party repo). In this arrangement, a clearing agent or bank conducts the transactions between the buyer and seller and protects the interests of each. It holds the securities and ensures that the seller receives cash at the onset of the agreement and that the buyer transfers funds for the benefit of the seller and delivers the securities at maturation. The primary clearing banks for tri-party repo in the United States are JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon. In addition to taking custody of the securities involved in the transaction, these clearing agents also value the securities and ensure that a specified margin is applied. They settle the transaction on their books and assist dealers in optimizing collateral. What clearing banks do not do, however, is act as matchmakers; these agents do not find dealers for cash investors or vice versa, and they do not act as a broker. Typically, clearing banks settle repos early in the day, although a delay in settlement usually means that billions of dollars of intraday credit are extended to dealers each day. These agreements constitute between 80%90% of the repurchase agreement market, which held approximately $4.2 trillion as of Jun. 9, 2022. They settle the transaction on their books and assist dealers in optimizing collateral. What clearing banks do not do, however, is act as matchmakers; these agents do not find dealers for cash investors or vice versa, and they do not act as a broker. Typically, clearing banks settle repos early in the day, although a delay in settlement usually means that billions of dollars of intraday credit are extended to dealers each day. These agreements constitute between 80%90% of the repurchase agreement market, which held approximately $4.2 trillion as of Jun. 9, 2022. In a specialized delivery repo, the transaction requires a bond guarantee at the beginning of the agreement and upon maturity. This type of agreement is not very common. In a held-in-custody repo, the seller receives cash for the sale of the security, but holds it in a custodial account for the buyer. This type of agreement is even less common because there is a risk the seller may become insolvent and the borrower may not have access to the collateral. Near and Far Legs Like many other corners of the financial world, repurchase agreements involve terminology that is not commonly found elsewhere. One of the most common terms in the repo space is the leg. There are different types of legs: for instance, the portion of the repurchase agreement transaction in which the security is initially sold is sometimes referred to as the start leg, while the repurchase which follows is the close leg. These terms are also sometimes exchanged for near leg and far leg, respectively. In the near leg of a repo transaction, the security is sold. In the far leg, it is repurchased. The Significance of the Repo Rate When government central banks repurchase securities from private banks, they do so at a discounted rate, known as the repo rate. Like prime rates, repo rates are set by central banks. The repo rate system allows governments to control the money supply within economies by increasing or decreasing available funds. A decrease in repo rates encourages banks to sell securities back to the government in return for cash. This increases the money supply available to the general economy. Conversely, by increasing repo rates, central banks can effectively decrease the money supply by discouraging banks from reselling these securities. In order to determine the true costs and benefits of a repurchase agreement, a buyer or seller interested in participating in the transaction must consider three different calculations: Cash paid in the initial security sale Cash to be paid in the repurchase of the security Implied interest rate The cash paid in the initial security sale and the cash paid in the repurchase will be dependent upon the value and type of security involved in the repo. In the case of a bond, for instance, both of these values will need to take into consideration the clean price and the value of the accrued interest for the bond. A crucial calculation in any repo agreement is the implied rate of interest. If the interest rate is not favorable, a repo agreement may not be the most efficient way of gaining access to short-term cash. A formula which can be used to calculate the real rate of interest is below: Interest rate = [(future value/present value) 1] x year/number of days between consecutive legs Once the real interest rate has been calculated, a comparison of the rate against those pertaining to other types of funding will reveal whether or not the repurchase agreement is a good deal. Generally, as a secured form of lending, repurchase agreements offer better terms than money market cash lending agreements. From the perspective of a reverse repo participant, the agreement can generate extra income on excess cash reserves as well. Risks of Repo Repurchase agreements are generally seen as credit-risk mitigated instruments. The largest risk in a repo is that the seller may fail to hold up its end of the agreement by not repurchasing the securities which it sold at the maturity date. In these situations, the buyer of the security may then liquidate the security in order to attempt to recover the cash that it paid out initially. Why this constitutes an inherent risk, though, is that the value of the security may have declined since the initial sale, and it thus may leave the buyer with no option but to either hold the security which it never intended to maintain over the long term or to sell it for a loss. On the other hand, there is a risk for the borrower in this transaction as well; if the value of the security rises above the agreed-upon terms, the creditor may not sell the security back. There are mechanisms built into the repurchase agreement space to help mitigate this risk. For instance, many repos are over-collateralized. In many cases, if the collateral falls in value, a margin call can take effect to ask the borrower to amend the securities offered. In situations in which it appears likely that the value of the security may rise and the creditor may not sell it back to the borrower, under-collateralization can be utilized to mitigate risk. Generally, credit risk for repurchase agreements is dependent upon many factors, including the terms of the transaction, the liquidity of the security, the specifics of the counterparties involved, and much more. The Financial Crisis and the Repo Market Following the 2008 financial crisis, investors focused on a particular type of repo known as repo 105. There was speculation that these repos had played a part in Lehman Brothers attempts at hiding its declining financial health leading up to the crisis. In the years immediately following the crisis, the repo market in the U.S. and abroad contracted significantly. However, in more recent years it has recovered and continued to grow. The crisis revealed problems with the repo market in general. Since that time, the Fed has stepped in to analyze and mitigate systemic risk. The Fed identified at least three areas of concern: The tri-party repo markets reliance on the intraday credit which the clearing banks provide A lack of effective plans to help liquidate the collateral when a dealer defaults A shortage of viable risk management practices Starting in late 2008, the Fed and other regulators established new rules to address these and other concerns. Among the effects of these regulations was an increased pressure on banks to maintain their safest assets, such as Treasuries. They are incentivized to not lend them out through repo agreements. According to Bloomberg, the impact of the regulations has been significant: up through late 2008, the estimated value of global securities loaned in this fashion stood close to $4 trillion. Since that time, though, the figure has hovered closer to $2 trillion. Further, the Fed has increasingly entered into repurchase (or reverse repurchase) agreements as a means of offsetting temporary swings in bank reserves. Nonetheless, in spite of regulatory changes over the last decade, there remain systemic risks to the repo space. The Fed continues to worry about a default by a major repo dealer that might inspire a fire sale among money funds which could then negatively impact the broader market. The future of the repo space may involve continued regulations to limit the actions of these transactors, or it may even eventually involve a shift toward a central clearinghouse system. For the time being, though, repurchase agreements remain an important means of facilitating short-term borrowing. The recent visit of US National Security Advisor Herbert McMaster to South Asia has been hailed by Indians. This first visit to Delhi on April 17, 2017 by a senior official of US President Donald Trumps administration came after the visits by McMaster to Pakistan and Afghanistan. This visit also came soon after the US bombed Afghanistan with the MOAB, which seemed to signal renewed American engagement with Afghanistan by the new Trump administration. McMaster is familiar with the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, where he served from 2010-12, and he had earlier stated his beliefs that Afghanistan has to be strengthened and hardened against the regenerative capacity of the Taliban which is based across the border in Pakistan. Moreover, during his visit to Afghanistan he had, according to a New York Times report, stated that the best way to pursue their [Pakistans] interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through the use of diplomacy, and not through the use of proxies that engage in violence. This was music to Indian strategic circles which had for years been arguing that the greatest impediment to peace and stability in Afghanistan was the support and sanctuaries provided by the Pakistani state to the Afghan Taliban, especially the Haqqani network. This has been admitted to by some of the most senior officials in the Pakistani government. India has invested heavily in Afghanistan. Its development aid to the war-ravaged country is to the tune of two billion US dollars, making India the largest regional and the fifth largest international donor to Afghanistan. India is also the first country that Afghanistan signed a strategic agreement with, in 2011 under the Hamid Karzai administration, which had been friendly towards India. Ranging from the construction of roads, bridges, and power transmission lines, to monument restoration and grassroots projects, India has managed to win the hearts of many without engaging militarily. Most notably, Indias support has helped construct the Zaranj Delaram road which now connects Afghanistan to the Iranian port of Chabahar. Afghanistan is important to India primarily for connectivity to Central Asia. India also wants a stable and peaceful Afghanistan which does not harbor terrorist sanctuaries. India has always had good friendly relations with that country. The only exception was when the Taliban regime, nurtured by Pakistan, was installed there to give the latter strategic depth in Afghanistan, which according to the late Pakistani author Eqbal Ahmed, has been the prime objective of Pakistans Afghanistan policy since the rule of General Zia ul Haq, as this would neutralize any threat to Pakistani territorial sovereignty emanating from Pushtun nationalism. But this has also meant that Indian engagement in Afghanistan has been countered by Pakistan through its proxies, particularly the Taliban, which has launched attacks on Indian interests there. India wants to prevent another situation like the one that arose when an Indian Airlines aircraft with passengers aboard was hijacked to Kandahar in 2000, leaving India without any lines of communication with the government there. Towards the end of his tenure, the Karzai government which had blamed Islamabad for interference in Afghan affairs, and amidst its fraying relations with the US, had lobbied India for military aid, something that was endorsed only when the current government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge in Delhi in 2014. The US Obama administration too had tended to view security and stability in Afghanistan through the prism of India-Pakistan rivalry. In late September 2009, General Stanley McChrystal, the US Commander in Afghanistan, reported to the Pentagon that increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions. Viewing Pakistan as a key ally in its war against terror, the Obama administration poured billions of dollars of military aid into Pakistan even as it sought to tone down Indian engagement with that country. It was only with the capture of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad in 2011 that the Obama administration began reviewing its Pakistan policy and began cutting its massive military aid to it. On May 27, 2014, President Obama announced that Americas combat mission would be over by the end of that year, and that by the end of 2016, our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul. However, a resurgent Taliban and the rumored presence of the Islamic State (IS) in the Af-Pak region meant that in October 2015, Obama had to slow the planned reductions of US troops and then, in June 2016, to increase the authority of the US commander in Afghanistan to order offensive military action. India, which supports an Afghan-led and -owned, broad-based and inclusive process of peace and reconciliation, has been advocating the need for a sustained and long-term commitment to Afghanistan by the international community. While it has been comfortable with the NATO and US presence in Afghanistan, and with closer US-India ties paving the way for US appreciation of Indias role in Afghanistan, the US troops drawdown has heralded uncertainty. There is worry about the safety of Indian interests and assets in Afghanistan amid fears these could come under attack from Taliban elements with support from the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The White House has also advised slashing aid to Pakistan for its role in supporting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, other regional powers, namely Russia, China, and Iran, have also stepped up their activities in the Afghan theatre. The fractious national unity government of President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah has not been able to provide strong leadership nor has it been able to strengthen institutions, and together with a weak Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), has instead provided an enabling situation for the IS to establish a foothold there, which the IS famously calls its Khorasan province. According to Vladimir Sotnikov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia views the IS as a far greater security threat than the Taliban, as it threatens to spill over into the Central Asian republics, Russias near abroad and its traditional sphere of influence. Hundreds of jihadis from Russias Chechnya region are already fighting with the IS in Syria. Russia also wants to put an end to the Afghan drug trade which undermines Russian security. Finally, as its friction with the US and the West increases over Ukraine and Syria, Russia would like to see the end of US and NATO troop presence in its regional backyard, and backs the Taliban demand for the removal of all foreign troops from Afghan soil. Although Pakistan had been its enemy during the Cold War and the Afghan jihad, Russia has begun reaching out to that country for its Taliban outreach. As NATO troops began to be withdrawn, Russia began increasing its presence in the region. Expecting the government of the day to collapse at any time, and sensing a lack of US strategy, which at the time was more focused on its Pivot to Asia, Russia undertook its own initiative to preempt any IS takeover and to prepare for any ensuing vacuum there. Russians have been reaching out to the Taliban and there have been numerous media reports, denied by the US and NATO, alleging its funding and equipping of the Taliban. Russia has also held three regional conferences on Afghanistan, all of which have sought to legitimize the role of the Taliban and to remove it from the UN sanctions list. This has further stoked Indian fears. The very first Moscow Conference on Afghanistan that was held in December 2016, for instance, included China and Pakistan, but left out both Afghanistan and India. This was later rectified in the two conferences that followed this year. Even at the Heart of Asia process conference in Amritsar, India, that was held last year, the Russian special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, ruffled many Indian feathers by saying that Heart of Asia was not the platform for India and Pakistan to score brownie points. While India has repeatedly advocated that there can be no distinction between good terrorist and bad terrorist, and by extension, good Taliban and bad Taliban, it does see the group as increasingly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Other regional powers like Iran and China have all reached out to it, and have tended to view it as a lesser threat than the IS. India risks being sidelined by other regional actors in Afghanistan. To that end, India has also on occasion attempted to reach out to the more amenable sections of the militant group. Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, for instance, has visited India a number of times, and openly participated in a public event in Goa in 2013 while in the company of an Indian cabinet minister. More recently, a high profile ex-ambassador to Afghanistan said on national television that India should be ready to view all options vis-a-vis Kabul. Earlier this month the Indian envoy to Afghanistan, Manpreet Vohra, held a meeting with the returnee militant leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar of the Hezb-e-Islami, who had been Indias sworn enemy and a close Pakistan ally during the Afghan jihad against the Soviets. Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after years of exile in Iran and Pakistan, under a peace agreement with President Ghani and after his organizations removal from the terror list. Analysts believe this marks a clear shift in Indias policy towards Kabul, whereby it had refused to enter into any discussions with any entity apart from the ruling dispensation there. The otherwise uncertain Trump administration has injected fresh optimism into Indian strategic circles. Not only did President Trump name India as a victim of Islamic terrorism at the recently held Riyadh summit, where Pakistan was present, but his NSA McMaster has also long held views that converge with Indias. This is primarily the view that security in Afghanistan has everything to do with Pakistan, and that Islamabad needs to be convinced that its interests can be advanced through diplomacy rather than through its support for terrorist groups, that stabilizing Afghanistan requires sustained international support, and that situations in which a weak government is under siege by powers that are destabilizing require a strategy to address both the internal and external political dynamics. The White House has also advised slashing aid to Pakistan for its role in supporting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, which has enabled the latter to control almost 40 percent of Afghan territory as of February 2017, according to a report by the International Crisis Group. While NATOs General Nicholson is continuing to advocate for more troops in Afghanistan, by all parameters it is evident that the new US administration is renewing its engagement with Afghanistan. India will have to carefully calibrate its Afghanistan policy and be prepared in all eventualities to go it alone there. Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles at the Islamic State group's positions in Syria, the defence ministry in Moscow said. The announcement came as Syrian government troops pushed ahead in their offensive against IS and militants in central and northern Syria. Moscow said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at IS targets in the area of the ancient town of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched. Syrian troops have been on the offensive for weeks in northern, central and southern parts of the country against IS and US-backed rebels under the cover of Russian air strikes, gaining an area almost half the size of neighbouring Lebanon. Most recently, Syrian troops and their allies have been marching towards the IS stronghold of Sukhna, about 35 miles north east of Palmyra. The strategic juncture in the Syrian desert aids government plans to go after IS in Deir el-Zour, one of the militants' last major strongholds in Syria. The oil-rich province straddles the border with Iraq and is the extremist group's last gateway to the outside world. Russia, a staunch Damascus ally, has been providing air cover to President Bashar Assad's offensive against IS and other insurgents since 2015. Moscow had fired cruise missiles from warships in the past, as well as from mainland Russia, against Assad's opponents. As the fighting against IS militants is under way near Palmyra, Syrian troops clashed with US-backed rebels in the country's south on Wednesday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Mozahem al-Salloum, of the activist-run Hammurabi Justice News network which tracks developments in eastern Syria. The fighting came days after the US told Syrian government forces and their allies to move away from an area near the Jordanian border where the coalition is training allied rebels. The warning came less than two weeks after the Americans bombed Iranian-backed troops there after they failed to heed similar warnings. Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Tuesday that the US dropped leaflets over the weekend telling the forces to leave the protected zone. Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes captured Palmyra in March last year and Moscow even flew in one of its best classical musicians to play a triumphant concert at Palmyra's ancient theatre. IS forces, however, recaptured Palmyra eight months later, before Syrian government troops drove them out again in March this year. AP Consultants for Citywest Ltd, Fenton & Associates, said they have never seen a planning response that has 17 separate grounds for refusal for a proposed development of 114 homes and 28 apartments in south- west Dublin. The 17 grounds of refusal run to six pages. Citywest Ltd is seeking planning permission for the residential units around existing estates. UCC economics lecturer Declan Jordan said the decision by Merck which is known as MSD in Europe to invest 280m in its manufacturing bases in Cork and Carlow was evidence that fear of Mr Trumps protectionist rhetoric was overblown. Mr Jordan said the creation of 210 jobs in Cork and 120 in Carlow by MSD Ireland showed it was back to business as usual in Europe for multinationals who saw Ireland as a gateway to the continent. MSD Ireland has 500 employed in Brinny and has been one of the areas biggest employers for 35 years. Fellow pharma giant Eli Lilly recently confirmed it would be proceeding with a 200m expansion near Kinsale, having put it on hold in the direct aftermath of Mr Trumps election to the White House a sign fears had subsided, Mr Jordan said. However, he warned that Mr Macron could upset the apple cart for foreign direct investment in Ireland if he pursued the implementation of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), which aims to share out the spoils of European corporation tax. The CCCTB proposal has faced fierce resistance in Ireland, with leaders insisting it could cost the country 50% of its current corporation tax base. Mr Jordan said: We are not overly reliant on foreign direct investment but it is a very important part of our economy. We tend to go over the top when we hear rhetoric such as that from Mr Trump. "However, he is just another factor we have to contend with and I am confident we can overcome that. I am more wary of Mr Macron. The CCCTB is a bigger risk than Mr Trump. Mr Jordan said it was important the Government did not rest on its laurels and become complacent as the threat of Brexit loomed. There was more good news on the jobs front as outdoor clothing firm Regatta Great Outdoors announced 100 jobs in Dublin, Galway, and Waterford. The jobs will be filled in the next 12 months. In Sligo, global healthcare company Abbott will relocate its Irish nutritional devices business from its existing base to a new, purpose-built IDA Ireland advance technology building. The move will see a combined investment of almost 10m and will join manufacturing and business support within one building. The good and bad times go in natural cycles, said Mr Jordan. It may be lots of job announcements and investments today, which is fantastic but it was job losses in recent years. The important thing is to not get carried away by either and make sure we take our opportunities when they come, especially in relation to Brexit. I maintain there is lots of opportunity for Ireland in relation to Brexit. Newly elected Cork Chamber president Bill OConnell said the MSD announcement was evidence that Cork was still a destination par excellence for the pharma industry. We have a unique business environment, exceptional quality of life and highly educated workforce, and we work hard to ensure that this is furthered and maintained, he said. John Earley, CEO at business broadband provider Airfibre, said he feared current funding levels provided by the Government to shore up the National Broandband Plan (NBP) would fall short, leaving many rural homes without internet connections. The NBP is government policy which aims to deliver high-speed broadband to every citizen and business in Ireland. Its aims to achieve 100% coverage in three to five years of the start of large-scale rollout. The Government has said it will achieve its targets through private commercial investment, with the States intervention making up the shortfall. Three bidders Eir, Siro, and Enet entered the tendering process to be granted the contract to roll out the programme. A decision is expected this year. The previous government allocated 275m for the first phase of the project in 2015, but would not commit to a final figure of how much it would invest until the tendering process is complete. Mr Earley said the 275m allocated so far would have to be considerably higher more than 1bn if the plan was to be executed properly. He said: My fear is that there is expectation growing in the business community and those waiting in anticipation could be in for a rude awakening. "You have to commend the Government for the NBP but if it becomes apparent that the costs are considerably higher than first anticipated, I fear the political will to carry it through may not be there. Mr Earley said he feared the enormity of the challenge was not resonating with stakeholders. It is a huge project, he said. The private sector works in a domestic urban setting and that will be commercially viable. The same goes for 50 homes in an estate or warehouses. "A return on investment for commercial operators can work in that environment but what happens when it comes to isolated houses in rural Ireland? "There is clearly not a return on investment in such a situation. Then the State will have a decision to make on whether it will stick to the plan. Playing catch-up with the Madrid stock exchange, IAG shares in London fell only 2.5%. Having soared 36% since the start of the year and now up 15% from this time last year, the BA-Aer Lingus-Iberia-and Veuling group is valued at 12.53bn (14.4bn). British Airways flew through the turbulence, said Chris Beauchamp, chief market strategist at online broker IG, who said the modest share price fall barely ruffled investors focused on the airlines strong operating margin and a still-appealing dividend yield. Analysts note that the costs of the IT snarl up and any compensation bill as demanded by UK prime minister Theresa May would barely dent BAs profits. But you would be forgiven for thinking that something odd is happening in the notoriously cyclical airline industry (airline shares were known as being hugely dangerous to the wealth of shareholders). Despite the looming challenges of Brexit and huge gains posted this year, European airline shares nonetheless climbed to new heights. Over at Ryanair, Michael OLeary was able to announce an additional lure by his cash-generating machine of an airline to buy back 600m of its own shares. And, having turned its back on ever paying regular dividends, the airline may yet consider returning cash to shareholders, as it has done in the past. On the day it delivered on-target full-year earnings, Ryanair shares were up over 2%. And up 25% this year and 29% higher from a year ago, the airline is valued at 22bn. Despite the huge share price gains, Ryanair is still not short of fans. If I was buying a European airline share, it would be Ryanair because of its robust business model, Loizos Heracleous, professor of strategy at Warwick Business School, told the Irish Examiner. At a market value of 8bn, Lufthansa is a relative minnow. But even its shares are up almost 40% from a year agowith all the gains secured in the first five months this year. Meanwhile, Alitalia and Air Berlin have not delivered the investment returns that their investor Ethihad secured when it cashed out its stake in Aer Lingus when IAG completed the purchase of Aer Lingus two years ago. Alitalia the traditional Italian flag carrier slid into bankruptcy earlier this month. Etihad is also close to hiring advisers to look into strategic options for the close to 30% it owns of Air Berlin, including a potential sale. But even shares in the struggling low-cost Air Berlin have taken off this year. Buoyed by acquisition hopes, Air Berlin, whose shares has climbed 55% since the start of the year, is valued at 107.5m. In proposed changes to industry regulations, the Norwegian government beefed up its possibility to reject non-European entities on grounds of national security from acquiring offshore oil and gas licenses. I would interpret this as a wish to establish a safer legal basis to impose restrictions on foreign ownership, said Ivar Alvik, a law professor at the University of Oslo. Norway is grappling with accelerating changes in ownership of its oil industry, which is under pressure from the collapse in crude prices, a shift to renewable energy and dwindling resources. BP and ExxonMobil have relinquished their role as operators in Norway and big utilities such as RWE have sold their local oil and gas businesses. Smaller, more specialised companies, often backed by private equity, are picking up the pieces and Russian companies are among those seeking to move in. The changing make-up is creating concerns about the financial strength of the newcomers and spurring questions about more strategic issues, such as protecting Norways natural gas system, according to Arild Moe, a senior research fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Oslo. Its infrastructure of a high strategic value, he said. It touches on very strong economic interests, both in terms of access and knowledge about how it works. The Norwegian Petroleum and Energy Ministry said the change puts the country more in line with the rest of Europe. The national security provision exists in a European directive, but Norway did not include this clause when it implemented the text in national law in the 1990s. Norway is not a member of the EU, but adopts significant chunks of EU legislation because it participates in the single market through the European Economic Area agreement. While the new provision could be regarded as a precautionary measure, Russian companies involvement in Norway has been high on the agenda at a time of deeper tension between the government of Vladimir Putin and Western Europe over the conflict in Ukraine, said Mr Moe. Norway approved Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridmans bid to acquire RWEs assets in 2014 and is facing the potential entry of Gazprom, which agreed last year to acquire 38.5% of OMVs local subsidiary. Bloomberg Pat Breen, the minister for small business, said Brexit supports would be made available to SMEs through the 31 local enterprise offices (LEO). The supports include access to a Brexit SME Scorecard, an online tool where micro-enterprises typically employing nine or fewer people and other smaller businesses can self-diagnose their readiness for Brexit. A technical assistance grant will be available to micro-enterprises to help LEO clients to find new markets and exports, while a rollout of a lean management programme will be nationwide to assist small businesses to become more efficient and competitive. An innovation and investment fund pilot programme will support small business and get them investor-ready to scale their businesses, while a mentoring programme will be put in place to address Brexit-related business challenges. Training on specific Brexit challenges, and ongoing advice and guidance, will be given by LEOs. Mr Breen said: It is imperative micro and small businesses have the tools and supports needed to navigate through what is uncharted territory. This is part of the Governments Brexit planning... I urge small and micro business owners to get in touch with their LEO to see how they can help. The most recent quarterly InterTradeIreland Business Monitor Report found 98% of firms are still not making any plans for the UKs exit from the EU, while the Irish Exporters Association described Irish businesses as woefully unprepared for Brexit at a recent Oireachtas committee. Chambers Ireland chief executive Ian Talbot said all SMEs should avail of the Brexit Scorecard. We urge small and micro businesses across Ireland to access the Brexit SME scorecard, self-diagnose their readiness and avail of the new LEO resources to plan for doing business post-Brexit, he said. Meanwhile, a three-day Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Toronto and Ottawa in Canada has begun, with the aim of opening new markets to Irish businesses in a range of sectors. The itinerary includes a consumer retail showcase hosted in Ottawa and the 25-strong delegation includes businesses all over Ireland. Neil Cooney of Enterprise Ireland said: Canada is Enterprise Irelands largest market outside the EU, USA and China and figures show export growth of 7.3% in Canada in 2016. More than 330 Enterprise Ireland client companies are already doing business in Canada. The claims will be made by Niall Kelly today at a meeting in which it will also be alleged a senior officer urged Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan to investigate whistleblower John Barrett because his private record-keeping of what happened may have breached the Official Secrets Act. Documents seen by the Irish Examiner are due to be discussed at a special day-long Dail public accounts committee meeting today. And while the files will be countered by a senior officers emails showing they were open to examining the issue from as early as 2008, they highlight the growing divisions in the force. In a written statement to the PAC, Garda internal audit chief Mr Kelly one of seven civilian officers due to be questioned today without the presence of Garda management will claim his investigations were repeatedly blocked and undermined. Mr Kelly will tell the cross-party committee between 2008 and 2011 he believes some people did not want the newly appointed and very independent internal auditor [Mr Kelly] to look too critically into the Garda college, and that these people included my direct superiors. The audit chief will say that when he sought information it was withheld from me, and will claim he was misled in September 2015 about whether he could examine the case. I was informed legal issues were being advanced in regard to the land and employee status and until they were resolved it would be unwise to commence an audit, he will say. I now know that I was misinformed... [Garda head of legal affairs] Ken Ruane was advising from July 2015 onward that internal audit should be requested immediately. Mr Kelly who confirmed two new audits into Garda college EU funding since 1998 and current controls of cash have been launched and are due in July will also claim that his motives, professional integrity, and competence were questioned in two letters sent in October 2016 and February 2017 by senior management. However, despite alleging there was and may still be a culture of keeping problems in-house and away from transparent public scrutiny, the claim will be staunchly rejected by another civilian officer. In records provided to the PAC and as part of his own evidence, head of Garda finance Michael Culhane will reject any suggestion that management failed to address what happened. Mr Culhane, who was finance officer throughout the Garda college controversy, will provide management emails from January 7, 2008, to March 4, 2011, confirming he, assistant commissioners and the chief administration officer all sought to allow and act on an investigation. Mr Culhane will tell the PAC it has significant gaps in its information and that whistleblower garda HR executive Mr Barrett who will also attend the meeting provided it with partial and inaccurate representations. However, Mr Culhane is also expected to be questioned over an October 24, 2015, letter to management in which he suggested Ms OSullivan should consider setting up an investigation into Mr Barrett over concerns his private records key to the case could breach the Official Secrets Act as his intent may appear to be to cause damage to the gardai. Meanwhile, during an unrelated Dail leaders questions debate Taoiseach Enda Kenny said reports a phone belonging to Ms OSullivan had gone missing will be probed by the Charleton tribunal. Mr Kenny was responding to Solidarity-PBP TD Mick Barry, who asked was that phone officially reported missing, if so, when exactly and suggested that Ms OSullivan may have a second phone. As of April, there were 4,777 people in direct provision centres around the country, 3,544 of whom were adults. Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, pointed out that while roughly 450 of those have been granted refugee status and can work but just have not been able to find homes outside the centres, the rest cannot, at this stage, seek employment. On the back of the Supreme Court ruling advocates have demanded that asylum seekers be allowed to work from six months after they get here. Currently, 3,916 of the people in direct provision have been here for longer than that period. There was unanimous agreement in the seven-judge court that the absolute ban is in principle unconstitutional. However, it adjourned making any formal orders for six months to allow the legislature to consider how to address the situation. A Burmese man who spent eight years in direct provision before getting refugee status had brought the case against the Minister for Justice after he was offered work in his direct provision centre in 2013 but could not take it up due to the employment ban. He said that, while in direct provision on a 19 weekly allowance, he suffered depression and an almost complete loss of autonomy, and that being allowed to work was vital to his development, personal dignity, and sense of self-worth. The court found that, where there is no time limit on the asylum process, the absolute prohibition on seeking employment is contrary to the constitutional right to seek employment. Emily Logan, the chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, which was an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case, said: While it was originally envisaged that a person would remain in the Direct Provision system on a short-term basis the reality is that delays in asylum adjudication process means stays in Direct Provision centres have become considerably longer. Brian Killoran, chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, pointed out that Ireland and Lithuania are the only two EU member states with a blanket ban on asylum seekers getting a job. The Immigrant Council strongly believes asylum seekers should be granted the right to work at six months which is the time limit within which they are supposed to receive a decision on their application and therefore is fair and fitting, said Mr Killoran. The Department of Justice said the Supreme Court ruling may have significant implications for the asylum process. It said Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and her minister of state, David Stanton, recently asked their officials to identify the options for and barriers to asylum seekers accessing the labour market in certain circumstances. This judgement gives this work increased emphasis and priority, a spokesman said. The Cork Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CSPCA) swooped on Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) yesterday in the wake of a spate of suspected crow attacks on college grounds in recent days. Up to 20 people reported being attacked by crows near the staff car park. Two people needed medical treatment, including tetanus jabs, after the aerial assaults. College authorities requested the assistance of the CSPCA, who arrived on site yesterday. CSPCA spokesman Vincent Cashman said they found a baby jackdaw on the ground near trees close to the car park where the attacks had occurred. He said bird, who they have christened Jack, had either fallen from its nest or had been pushed out by his siblings. When on the ground its parents were continuing to feed it but also defend and protect it from anything that got too close, including humans, he said. They were doing exactly what any other parent, human or animal, would do in the same circumstances. He said they tried to find the nest, in the hope of returning the little bird to its next. As the nest could not be located, Jack will now be fostered and will do quite well for itself and we are glad to report that calm has now been restored to our fair city, said Mr Cashman. Earlier, one victim spoke about his ordeal but insisted that it would take a lot more than an angry bird to ruffle his feathers. CIT staff member, Aidan OFlaherty, said he was returning to his car in the staff car park on Monday when he felt a fair bang on his head. It wasnt like a brush of a feather. I thought it was a branch of a tree coming down on me, he said. I never experienced anything like it and couldnt understand what happened. I got a few scratches and he drew blood but I didnt get medical treatment. It did hurt. It was quite vicious. To a child, or an elderly person, it could have been an awful lot worse. I just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, I suppose. A CIT spokesperson said they are delighted the issue has been resolved ahead of the Cork Primary School Sports event at the CIT athletics track tomorrow, which will be attended by thousands of children. Impact and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) raise significant concerns that many people could be left behind as Ireland embraces 21st-century advances. David Joyce, Ictu equality officer, points out that, while the number of devices connected to the internet is expected to reach more than 20bn by 2020, some 50% of the worlds population still has no access to the what we call the worldwide web. So unless there is massive and rapid investment in connecting those 50%, we are likely to see a huge increase in inequality between the digital haves and have-nots, with dramatic economic and social consequences. Advances in robotics, nano and bio-technology, machine learning and 3D printing can deliver enormous benefits to society. At the same time, these advances will have profound consequences for existing jobs and people at work today. Some estimate that up to 60% of existing work could be partially automated over time, with up to 10% of jobs lost completely, he said. He said virtually all studies show lower-skilled or routine intensive jobs are most at risk, though there will also be an impact on higher skilled work. Mr Joyce also said workers in the digital economy must enjoy the same rights and protections as workers in other parts of the economy. He warned about the gig economy short-term contracts or freelance work, as opposed to permanent jobs in which he said workers are expected to renounce their rights to employment contracts, regularised working hours, social security, and even job security: In fact none of these standard protections seem to apply once the goods and services are delivered via an app or a web platform. Meanwhile, in its report A just transition to a low-carbon economy, Impact says that, while climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century and transition to a low-carbon economy is a policy imperative, the social implications of the transition have not had sufficient attention. The union said some groups in society have mobilised in opposition to policies and aspects of low-carbon development: In some cases, opposition has come from working people who are afraid of losing their jobs or part of their income. It is an understandable fear. The union called on the Government to, among other things: Assess the employment and other social aspects of decarbonisation plans and programmes; give citizens and communities a bigger stake in low-carbon developments; make environmental tax measures revenue-neutral by using cash raised to offset the negative employment and social impacts of decarbonisation; undertake an audit of the skills required to support a low-carbon transition and invest in training and reskilling; and support income replacement measures for those affected by decarbonisation policies. We need a greater focus on the social and jobs dimensions of low-carbon development to facilitate a just transition that recognises and addresses the genuine fears of workers dependent on high-carbon technologies, and the concerns of the communities that we ask to host low- carbon and other green infrastructure, said Impact deputy general secretary, Kevin Callinan. Amazingly, these massive six-gill sharks were caught on the same day by the same angler using just a line and reel. The sharks, which together weighed 2,600lbs or 185 stone, would both have broken the Irish record if they were killed, brought ashore and officially weighed on scales but both sharks were released after their capture. The sharks were caught by English sea angler, Andy Griffith, who was fishing off the west Clare coast with Clare company, Carrigaholt Sea Angling. Mr Griffith caught a third, smaller shark during this fruitful fishing trip. Though not a record breaker, this third shark still weighted an estimated 800lbs, more than the combined weight of the Munster front row. He [Andy Griffith] had one which we estimated at around 1,150lbs and another at around 1,400lbs. It was something truly exceptional, two sharks of over 1,000lbs on the same day is incredible, said Luke Aston of Carrigaholt Sea Angling. These are massive creatures, one was about 14 foot in length and the other was around 17 foot. We normally operate a catch and release with all the fish we catch. We did bring in one shark five or six years ago which is still the Irish record. To claim a new record, you need to weigh the shark on the shore. It is very safe to say that both of these fish would have broken the Irish record if we had brought them ashore. There are a lot of big fish out there at the moment. Large sharks like these are occasionally caught as by-catch by commercial fishing vessels using giant nets. These massive creatures were caught using just a specialised fishing rod and reel. These fish were caught on a line. It is specialist fishing gear but it is still just a line. The breaking strain on the line is just 80lbs, so it is a case of just playing the fish, or tiring out the fish, Mr Aston explained. The sharks will recover after this. We have tagged and released sharks here [in Clare] that have been caught as far away as the Cape Verde Islands, more than 3,000 miles away. Jim Dalys bill proposes a dedicated ombudsman to hear appeals in relation to the decisions of school boards. It was the subject of a third hearing by the Oireachtas Education Committee yesterday. But of nine school management bodies represented, only Education and Training Boards Ireland supported the idea. The others asserted, as did teacher unions and other organisations at previous hearings, that the decision-making processes of schools are already open to scrutiny by the Childrens Ombudsman, almost half of whose caseload relates to schools. Would you rent out your spare room to strangers? A room in your home or a vacant holiday house can be the source of a handy income stream for householders who sign up with Airbnb, the online marketplace and hospitality service that enables people to rent short-term lodging. Cork-based Michelle Whelan, who rents out two bedrooms in her four-bedroom home in the Togher area, says that August can be a lucrative month for bookings. August is when all the French and Spanish families, often teachers, go on holidays, says Michelle who works as a co-ordinator of foreign students who stay with families in Ireland. It ties in nicely with Airbnb. She says her income from Airbnb varies but recalls making a couple of thousand euros one summer month. Like many Airbnb hosts, Michelle first experienced the service as a guest and became a host quite by accident. In 2013, she and her partner were planning a trip to Italy and wanted to spend a couple of nights in Milan. Not realising it was Milan Fashion Week, we discovered that nothing was available to us for less than hundreds of euros. A friend suggested Airbnb and we managed to get a place for 50 a night. "We went down the coast from there and got an apartment, again through Airbnb. It wasnt the most fashionable place but it was half the price of agency apartments. When we got home, we told everyone how wonderful Airbnb is. "And then I got a phone message from a guy called James who said he was coming to stay in my house. After that, I got an email saying James is coming tonight and will pay 50. It turned out that I had accidentally signed myself up as a host when I was on Airbnb in Pisa. James, an English businessman, turned out to be a very easy guest who just wanted somewhere to lay his head after going to a Bruce Springsteen concert. He was following the boss around Europe and had to leave Michelles house at 5am the following morning. I was so embarrassed about the 50 that I paid for his taxi to the airport. He didnt even have breakfast. Cork hosts Caroline McCarthy, from Carrigaline and Michelle at Michelles home. These days, Michelle charges 35 for the first person and then about 20/25 for the second person. She lets a double room as well as a low ceilinged attic room suitable for up to two children. As well as being advised by Airbnb about charging guests, she bases her fee on the cost of hostels in her area and adds on about 5. (Airbnb charges hosts 3% and guests up to a 12% service fee.) Michelle is a member of the Cork Home Sharing Club which was recently launched in the Blue Angel Bar of the Cork Opera House with about fifty hosts in attendance. Home sharing clubs have been established in many cities around the world as a forum for networking and supporting fair home-sharing legislation. Michelle feels there should be a distinction between Airbnb hosts letting out a couple of rooms in their house or their holiday home, and people who are letting out say thirty bedrooms in different apartments around the place and pretending theyre being rented by one person for themselves. "When I say home sharer, I mean there should be a direct connection between the person who owns the dwelling (and the guest). As well as welcoming the extra income from being an Airbnb host, Michelle appreciates meeting people from all over the world, informing them about places to see in Cork. Everyone wants to go to the English Market, she says. Giving tokens of appreciation enriches the experience. When we were in Croatia, we were invited to help ourselves to salad leaves and herbs from the garden. In return, I keep a stock of Shandon Sweets and locally grown apples for guests. A pitfall to be aware of is over-use by guests of Wi-Fi. Once I had a French woman and her two daughters staying. The daughters were streaming French TV on their laptop and I ended up with a bill for 240. I got a dongle after that. Eamonn OLeary and his wife, who live in the Lough area of Cork, make about 4,000 a year from renting out two bedrooms in their four-bed home through Airbnb. Eamonn, who is a researcher, says the extra income is welcome. A double room in the couples home costs 40 for one person and 45 for two. We love to travel so a lot of our Airbnb money is going back into travelling in other parts of the world and being Airbnb guests abroad. We describe what were offering as a nice house with hostel prices. "If we had to cook breakfast, we wouldnt do Airbnb. We provide tea and coffee, cereal and bread. We allow the guests to cook in the house as well. We treat them like one of the family. Eamonn says, A small percentage of people do it on a more commercial basis. A friend of mine considered doing Airbnb. He had a three-month booking request. He asked Revenue if this could be covered by the rent-a-room scheme (which has a tax-free threshold of 14,000) but they said no if the booking was through Airbnb. So my friend ended up not taking the booking. "This to me seems bizarre. Someone could book for 12 months through Airbnb and that would not be covered. That apparently is the current position. Airbnb income is considered to be trading income, so its just taxed at the marginal rate. This is not necessarily unreasonable, but bookings of one month or longer should fall under the rent-a-room scheme. Opening your home to strangers seems a little daunting. Eamonns advice is to only take a guest that you feel comfortable with. In our experience, peoples messages tend to give you a reasonable idea of what theyre like. "The way it works is that theyll request to stay in your place through the Airbnb website and will typically include a message. If they dont include a message or dont give any information about themselves, you should stay on the safe side (and not take them.) "The first thing Id say to people starting off is to look at the reviews (of the potential guests) if theyve used the service before. If they have been given ten positive reviews, theyre almost certainly decent guests. "Hosts are also reviewed. Its hugely valuable for both sides. The reviews weve received have been typically fine. But there was one woman who complained that it took her two hours to get to our house. "She came the weekend of the marathon and got lost and couldnt get across the city. But we had told her to get a taxi from the airport to our place which would have taken ten minutes The lesson is to follow the advice of native hosts who know their city. There were 960 Airbnb hosts in Cork in one year In the period from September 2015- August 2016, 960 hosts have hosted in Cork. Annual earnings for a typical host in the south-west region, taking in Cork and Kerry, were 3,900. The estimated total economic activity in the region was 42m. (Figures are from the Airbnb report, Home Sharing: Empowering Regional & Rural Ireland.) www.airbnb.ie www.facebook.com/corkhomesharingclub The quivering needle hits the 30kg mark, the maximum weight Yasser can put on his leg since an explosion in his native Yemen ripped through the limb. In downtown Amman, in Jordan, hundreds of people like Yasser are under the care of MSF doctors treating war wounded victims of some of the regions most brutal wars. Hussein Odat encourages his patient to keep going as he winces in agony. Its painful for him, thats why the needle is shaking, says Dr Odat in the hospitals busy physiotherapy unit. Hes finding it difficult to maintain that weight. Around us, young children practice routines under the eagle eyes of physiotherapists who correct minute repetitions of movement as the children scrunch their faces in concentration. For these patients, this is one small step in a seemingly endless road peppered with surgeries and rehabilitation as they struggle to rebuild lives shattered by violence rippling throughout the Middle East. The poorest country in the Middle East, Yemen is home to a large percentage of war wounded patients accessing the services in the hospital. The country, which has become an international battleground for old rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, consists of a series of armies and militias vying for territory. This has pushed nearly 17m people to the brink of starvation and, according to the UN, Yemen is the worlds largest humanitarian crisis. Yasser, who underwent a painful bone graft to repair his injured leg, bears the human cost for of a brutal bombing campaign on Yemen. After his initial bone graft was stalled, he now hopes he can move forward as doctors gradually stretch the bones in his leg through a network of external metal screws protruding from his once healthy body. The young Yemeni waits stoically for his next procedure, as US president Donald Trump concludes his visit to Middle East where he celebrated a $110bn (98bn) arms deal with Saudi Arabia arms which will undoubtedly fall from Yemens skies. The conflict in Yemen is grossly under-reported. Access to the region is risky and all the main arteries involve a collision course with the countrys kaleidoscope of armed groups. Yemens main airport in the capital, Sanaa, closed in 2015 after being targeted by Saudi airstrikes. Saudi has also blockade the countys ports in a bid to stop the shipment of arms from Iran. Inside the country, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula made huge gains under President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who came to power following a 2011 protest movement that outed President Abdullah Saleh. The country is now in dire straits with Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Houthi rebels and those loyal to Mr Hadi all battling it out with weapons provided by the international community. For those who were part of Yemens Arab Spring, the outlook became bitter almost immediately. Wael (pictuted above), a 28-year-old football fan, has been coming to Jordan since 2012, and has gone through dozens of surgeries after suffering third degree burns when his protest group were attacked in 2011. His face is much better now, Abu Sammour, a nurse in the hospital, whispers as Wael talks us through the improvements to his body. My father said I was broken, that I couldnt be fixed. But I said no, and I am getting better, he smiled before joking over the results of a recent football match. Because I spend so long in the hospital, I watch every football game and every championship you can think of, he laughed. Waels determination is admirable and he will need it. All patients return to Yemen after receiving treatment in the hospital. The doctors follow their progress and attempt to bring them back to Jordan when they need further surgeries, a process that can often be a logistical nightmare. Im glad its not my job, clinical director Bill Thompson said wearily inside a small room where an artist is getting ready to start painting the childrens area. Mr Thompson explains that getting patients in and out of Yemen is a complex process, with Saudi controlling the ports in the south, and Houthis swaths of land in the north, along with the capital. For Wael and Yasser, an uncertain future awaits. Most Yemenis depend on food aid and unless vital aid targets are met, millions people face starvation. To add to the countrys misery, the Trumps administration is considering reducing US funding for UN humanitarian programs by 50%. That will undoubtedly have an impact on the 2m-plus children in the country who are acutely malnourished. While the US debates aid and sells weapons, EU countries also continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia unnoticed. Add to that a confused US strategy al Qaeda in the region claims it sometimes fights alongside US-backed militias and a desperate humanitarian disaster becomes that bit more desperate. The fighting has lead to massive displacement and with that comes the trapping of disease. From May 14 to May 19, the number of identified cases of cholera rose from 11,000 to 23,500. In under one week, the disease spread throughout the country leaving the countrys already fragile healthcare system completely overwhelmed. According to Yemens Ministry of Public Health and Population, the disease has now spread to 18 of the countrys 22 governorates. In Jordan, Yasser continues to patiently practice his exercises and waits each day for the screws in his leg to stretch his bone 1mm. Its painful because it stretches the soft tissue too, Dr Odat explains as an elderly Syrian man winces next to us trying to complete a simple leg movement. Patients try to remain hopeful as each surgery brings with it an uphill battle to reclaim basic human dignity. I am happy with my new procedure. Things are slowly getting better for me, Yasser says quietly as the needle shakes beneath his foot. BMW is pointing an accusing finger at Bosch as the reason why the car company had to cease production of some of its models. BMW insists that its partner company has failed to produce vital car components for it to continue production. As a result, BMW is seeking compensation. According to Bloomberg, BMW failed to push through with the production of the popular 3-Series sedan as well as other models due to the absence of steering gears. Bosch was supposed to provide BMW with the said component but was not able to do so because of another company working with the world's largest supplier of car parts. BMW released an official statement explaining the reason why it had to stop production of the BMW 1 Series, 2 Series, 3 Series and 4 Series. The statement also mentioned that the company is "taking advantage of the flexibility of [its] processes to minimize economic damage." As Reuters noted, BMW is also expecting Robert Bosch, which it described as a "responsible supplier", to compensate for damages. According to BMW's chief of purchasing Markus Duesmann, the inability of Bosch to provide the steering gears forced the company to limit production in its German plants. Production schedules in the company's Chinese and South African factories have also been drastically adjusted or completely stopped until further notice. Bosch, as mentioned, is passing the blame on a company. Bosch explained that the company procures the housing or casing for the electronic steering system from an Italian sub-supplier. According to reports, there is an ongoing bottleneck at the said sub-supplier. Bosch stressed that it has already sent its people to see what can be done at the Italian company to deal with the issue. Bosch is also extending its hand to BMW to find a suitable solution to the problem. Despite a halt in production, the company launched the 2017 BMW 4 Series last March. Its success, however, will depend on whether the three companies work things out and make the car available to prospective buyers. Calling Google "too big for its britches," the lead marketing official at Mozilla last week belittled browser rival Chrome as domineering and implored users to give his company's Firefox another try. In response, a former Mozilla chief technology officer argued that Firefox is "declining unsustainably" even after Mozilla reenergized Firefox development. "Chrome is not evil, it's just too big for its britches," wrote Eric Petitt, Mozilla's director of product marketing, in a blog post where he claimed his comments were strictly his, and not reflective of his employer. "Its influence on the internet economy and individuals is out of balance." Petitt's argument was not that Chrome isn't in the browser driver's seat, but that its dominance and Google's business model is detrimental to the Web overall. "Google built [Chrome] to maximize revenue from your searches and deliver display ads on millions of websites. To monetize every... single... click," Petitt said. The solution? Run Firefox, urged Petitt, who touted the performance improvements Mozilla has made in the last several years, including the staged release of a multi-process Firefox that will bring additional content processes to users in version 54, slated to ship June 12. Mozilla's new online ad campaign, dubbed "Browse against the machine," relies on those same arguments of Chrome's share supremacy and Firefox's new skills. But Petitt felt the need to preempt critics of that effort. "Some folks might interpret 'browse against the machine' as a desperate cry, but it isn't," Petitt asserted. "Firefox grew in users last year and Mozilla is financially healthier now than it has ever been." Desperation may be in order, countered Andreas Gal, former Mozilla CTO. In a post to his personal blog, Gal used data provided by Irish analytics vendor StatCounter to forecast Firefox's -- and other browsers' -- future. The trend line wasn't pretty. [ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ] "Despite an expanding market both [Microsoft's Internet Explorer] and Firefox are declining unsustainably" on personal computers, Gal concluded. "Firefox is not going anywhere. That means that [it] will be around for many many years, albeit with an ever-diminishing market share. It also, unfortunately, means that a turnaround is all but impossible." Andreas Gal/Data: StatCounter. Trend lines extrapolated from past data conclude that Chrome will nearly annihilate Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) and Mozilla's Firefox within two years. Browsers are commodities, Gal asserted. "They all pretty much look the same and feel the same. All browsers work pretty well, and being slightly faster or using slightly less memory is unlikely to sway users," he added, disputing Petitt's contention that improvements would return Firefox to growth. According to U.S.-based metric firm Net Applications, Firefox's global users accounted for approximately 12% of those who went online in April. Net Applications data echoed that from StatCounter, and predicted a continued decline in Firefox's fortunes: Within a year, Firefox's user share will drop under the 10% mark. Computerworld/Data: Net Applications Data from analytics vendor Net Applications -- and the resulting trend lines -- came to the same conclusion: Firefox has no chance of reclaiming share from Chrome, the browser that ate the world. Like browser users worldwide, those in the enterprise have overwhelmingly adopted Chrome, experts said last week in interviews. Firefox is essentially off the business radar. That's not surprising. Mozilla has a change-resistant release channel -- called "Extended Support Release" (ESR) -- that remains static for around a year, but Firefox lacks the management basics because it doesn't support group policies in Windows. While Chrome may not match the extremely granular management that can be applied to Internet Explorer -- and its successor, Windows 10's Edge -- compared to Firefox, it's an admin's dream. Petitt never mentioned "enterprise" in his call to battle, but the Firefox strengths he ticked off, including data and privacy advantages, were general enough to apply to all users, not only consumers or enthusiasts. But Gal's analysis rang truer: Chrome won, game over. "I don't think there will be a new browser war where Firefox or some other competitor re-captures market share from Chrome," Gal said. "If even Eric [Petitt] -- who heads Mozilla's marketing team -- uses Chrome every day as he mentioned in [his] first sentence, it's not surprising that almost 65% of desktop users are doing the same." By continuing to browse or by clicking "Accept," you agree to our site's privacy policy. VON B. HAMRICK JR. Winston-Salem Feeble accusations If you want to see a persons true colors, watch his behavior after he has suffered a significant loss. The liberals are making all kinds of feeble and ridiculous accusations against the Trump administration, hoping something will stick. Eric Trump on the Watters World show put it very well: He said it appeared to him that they would rather see the country fail than to see Trump succeed. This is not the kind of people I want running my country. It would behoove the Democratic Party to spend more time analyzing why so many voters voted for President Trump and forget this ridiculous Russia collusion theory. They were just tired of the same old failed politics in Washington. Democrats got their special counsel, but I suspect if he doesnt give them the answer they want, they will just keep on crying. *** MARSHALL A. MAYS, Winston-Salem Who couldnt use more? When the Democrats complain that the American Health Care Act will take from the poor and give to the rich, the Republicans dont deny the complaint with any zeal. Similarly, when Democrats decry President Trumps tax reform as taking from those who are in need and giving to those who are not, the Republicans are eerily quiet. It is because these objections are just what the donors of the top Republicans, and the cronies of the top Republicans, want to hear. The executives back at ExxonMobil begin salivating when Secretary of State Rex Tillersons boss, Trump, is accused of giving more to the rich. Trumps neighbors in Palm Beach, Fla., similarly begin to clap and whistle demurely. It is only if the Democrats take apart, piece by piece, the Republicans plans that the Republicans start to squeal and protest. Short of this close inspection, the Republicans are happy for Democrats to pronounce what almost every rich Republican wants to hear. *** JANE MONROE, Winston-Salem Guests And Jesus said: When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, Give this person your seat. Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, Friend, move up to a better place. Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Luke 14: 8-11) Or, if youre President Trump in Brussels, you can just shove everyone else out of your way. *** WADE PEEPLES, Pfafftown Name-calling When we are too lazy to formulate intelligent replies to those with whom we disagree these days, it has become fashionable just to brand them as ignorant. But for most of us, the best place to find true ignorance is in our own mirrors. We embrace and cherish ignorance in ourselves while thoughtlessly hurling that label at others in shabby attempts to smear and discredit them. Perhaps the word ignorant should be classified as hate speech, since that is how it is used tediously every day in The Readers Forum. Like spoiled children, we seem to enjoy reveling in the mindless thuggery of name-calling more than we value the intelligent pursuit of truth and benevolently shared community. How ignorant is that? Please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com or mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Dutch lawmakers agreed to create a free-trade area with Ukraine on Tuesday, completing lengthy and contentious negotiations between the EU and Russia. The ongoing geopolitical battle between Moscow and Brussels over the future of Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin considers an integral part of historical Russia, centered on this agreement. All 28 EU members had to approve the pact before it could take effect. The Dutch were the final members to approve of the deal after rejecting [JURIST report] the pact last year. In a statement [text, PDF] by Jean-Claude Juncker [twitter account], President of the European Commission [official website], stated that Dutch Senate sen[t] an important signal from the Netherlands and the entire European Union to our Ukrainian friends: Ukraines place is in Europe. Ukraines future lies with Europe. The agreement must still receive unanimous support at one of the regular meetings of European Union ministers in the coming weeks, but European officials believe the deal should easily pass. The EU began in the 1950s as the European Economic Community (EEC) to promote a single economic market without trade barriers, and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) [official website] was created within the EU to interpret EU law and to ensure equal application across all EU member states. Earlier this month, the ECJ ruled [press release, PDF] that member states must sign off on trade deals [JURIST report] before they become law. The ruling found that the member states and the EU share competence in many areas involving trade and if the EU does not hold exclusive competence the member states must ratify the measure. Also earlier this month, the ECJ issued a non-binding opinion [JURIST report] finding that Uber is a transportation company subject to additional regulations and fines. In April the ECJ upheld [JURIST report] a visa ban on an Iranian student seeking to study in Germany. In March the ECJ ruled [JURIST report] that the blocs economic sanctions placed on Russia were valid. [JURIST] Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi [BBC backgrounder] signed [Mada Masr report] a controversial NGO law that was approved by the Parliament in November. The law was published in the Official Gazette [official website, Arabic] on Monday went into effect Tuesday. The legislation will create a new government agency, the National Authority for the Regulation of Non-Governmental Foreign Organizations, which will monitor all organizations receiving foreign aid to ensure that the funds are being spent in an approved manner. Non-compliance with the law will lead to one to five years in prison and a fine between LE50,000 and 1 million. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail [official profile] will have two months to issue implementing bylaws related to the law, and all NGOs have until May 30, 2018, to register with the newly formed National Authority for the Regulation of Non-Governmental Foreign Organizations. Parliamentarian Haitham al-Hariry, a member of the 25-30 Coalition in opposition to the law, told local media that al-Sisis decision to approve the bill was surprising to many MPs and that the legislation will harm Egypts international public image. The law has been widely condemned [Mada Masr report] by international NGO groups and members of the US Congress. The bill was approved [JURIST report] by the Egyptian legislature on November 14, where it also received heavy criticism from human rights groups. Egypt has in general been under fire lately for violating human rights and trying to silence protests. In September UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai, warned [JURIST report] that the Egyptian government seems to be systematically attacking civil society in an effort to silence its voice. In June an Egyptian court froze [JURIST report] the assets of five human rights activists and three NGOs for allegedly accepting unauthorized funds from foreign countries. The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] on Tuesday to affirmed [opinion, PDF] an order allowing a transgender male student to use the boys restroom. The Kenosha Unified School District in Wisconsin would not allow Ash Whitaker into the male restroom, claiming his presence would violate the privacy of other students. Whitaker brought claims alleging violations of the Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 and the Fourteenth Amendments Equal Protection Clause. The denial of the school districts motion to dismiss these claims was upheld, as the reviewing court refused to exercise pendent jurisdiction. LGBTQ rights and bathroom bills have become the subject of law and policy debates across the US. Earlier this month the Texas Senate revived [JURIST report] a bathroom bill in a 1AM vote, which would require transgender citizens to use public restrooms that correspond to the sex identified on their birth certificates. In April the US Department of Justice dropped [JURIST report] a federal lawsuit against the state of North Carolina over a bill requiring transgender people to use the public bathroom associated with their birth gender. In March the US Supreme Court vacated [JURIST report] a lower court ruling in a case concerning transgender restroom policies following a move by the Trump administration to rescind guidelines that school districts should allow students to use the bathroom of their choice. The Illinois House of Representatives [official website] approved a bill [text] in a vote of 61-53 on Tuesday to raise the states minimum wage to $15 an hour. The bill proposes a series of increases over the next five years to raise the wage from its current $8.25, which is more than the federally mandated $7.25. To help small businesses cover the costs, tax credits will be issued to those with 50 employees or fewer. Those opposing the legislation [State Journal-Register report] say raising the wage would hurt job growth because it leaves businesses with few options on how to deal with the increase. Mark Grant, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business [official website], said businesses would have two options: raise prices or hire fewer employees, both of which he believes would make the state less competitive. State Representative Will Guzzardi [official website] responded to the criticism by arguing that putting more money into the hands of workers and increasing their spending power will stimulate business growth and economic development. The bill has been put on hold in the House to ensure that it contains all of the proper language is present before being passed on to the Senate. It is unclear [AP report] whether Republican Governor Bruce Rauner [official website] will sign the bill. The US has not seen [Reuters report] an increase in federal minimum wage since 2009, which has led many states, and now cities, to raise their minimum wages. In March the Baltimore City Council voted 11-3 Monday to approve a bill [JURIST report] that would increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022. Earlier that month the Arizona Supreme Court upheld [JURIST report] a state law raising the minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020. Also in March, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that St. Louis may raise its minimum wage next year. In January the Supreme Court of Missouri [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that the Kansas City Board of Commissioners must place a minimum wage proposal on their upcoming ballot. That same month, the Kentucky Legislature passed [JURIST report] the right-to-work legislation. In November voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington all approved minimum wage increase initiatives [JURIST report], while South Dakota voters rejected a measure to lower the minimum wage. The US Supreme Court on Tuesday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute [SCOTUSblog case page], an Ohio voting case. The suit centers on Ohios voter registration list maintenance process, which sends confirmation notices to inactive voters and removes them after failure to confirm and failure to vote the following two general federal elections. The case turns on whether the maintenance policies violate the National Voter Registration Act or the Help America Vote Act [materials]. Voting rights, on both the national and state level, have been an issue in the US for decades and voting issues have gone to court in many states in just the past year. Earlier this month the Maine Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that the states newly enacted legislation providing for a ranked-choice voting system conflicted with the states constitution. In March seven convicted felons filed suit [JURIST report] alleging Floridas process of restoring voting rights to felons is unconstitutionally arbitrary. Earlier that month a three-judge panel of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled [JURIST report] that the boundaries of three voting districts violated the Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. Also in March the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that Virginias redistricting scheme must be examined for racial bias. [JURIST] A new report [text, PDF] released Tuesday by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] claims that human rights violations within the Central African Republic (CAR)[BBC profile] may amount to war crimes. The report maps 13 years of violence in the country dating from 2003-2015. The 13-year period examined by the report was marked by major political crises, conflict between the government and armed groups, and between rival armed groups. According to the report, A large number of civilians were victims of extrajudicial executions and sexual and gender-based violence; many others were maimed, tortured or severely ill-treated, raped, forcibly displaced or disappeared. Thousands of children were recruited by armed groups. Many civilians had their property pillaged and homes destroyed, and were thus deprived of their economic, social and other fundamental human rights. Hundreds of thousands were internally displaced, while others fled to neighboring countries. Civilians were too often denied access to humanitarian assistance and the ability to live in dignity. The report concludes that the majority of the 620 incidents listed constitute serious international human rights violations and many of these violations could also be deemed war crimes. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein [official profile] stated [press briefing] the mapping report on the Central African Republic lays bare the staggering suffering of the people of this mineral-rich country which is among the poorest in the world. Violence has persisted in the CAR since the predominately Muslim-based Seleka rebels ousted former president Francois Bozize [BBC profile] in March 2013. In November UNICEF [official website] called for aid to approximately 1.2 million children distressed by conflict [JURIST report] in the CAR. In January 2015 members of a UN investigatory commission reported that crimes against humanity have been widely committed by all parties to the conflict in the CAR, prompting the commission to call for the establishment of an international court [JURIST report] to objectively investigate and prosecute crimes. Earlier that month the UN published a report stating that violent acts committed in the CAR constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity [JURIST report] but not genocide. Despite this finding, members of the international community maintain that there is much work to be done [JURIST op-ed] in the nation. NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Drinks Daily News The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Drinks Weekly News A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Drinks Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Style Daily Update The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Style Weekly Update A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Style Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter. Dallas, 05/31/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/ Police violence and misconduct is well-documented in the United States. Its an issue that receives a lot of media attention sometimes so much so that its easy to wonder if other countries experience such serious social and criminal justice issues. According to a recent article, police violence occurs in other countries, too. In Germany, for example, there are currently an average of 10 fatal police shootings every year. The article states that the majority of the victims were suffering from mental health problems at the time of their death. Police Violence and Misconduct Abroad The article states that countries like Germany have a tendency to overlook police violence within their own borders because it is a drop in the bucket compared to the stats for police brutality and misconduct in the U.S. For example, police in the U.S. kill more people in a week than police in Germany do in an entire year. However, its interesting and important to take a look at the types of people who are killed by police officers both domestically and abroad. Journalists in Germany analyzed police killings from 1990 to the present day. Their findings reveal that about half of all victims of police shootings were experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the shooting. A professor at a German police academy said these killings are largely due to a lack of training among police forces. Because police arent equipped to deal with someone experiencing a mental health issue, they react the only way they know how to by neutralizing a perceived threat. As the article states, police could avoid this by enlisting psychiatrists, counselors and others who are trained to work with people suffering emotional or psychological breakdowns for emergency situations, rather than attempting to handle it themselves. Mental Health Training Is Crucial for Police Forces A CNN report states that an analysis of 462 police shootings in the U.S. revealed that one-fourth involved someone with a mental illness. Although most were armed, the majority of cases involved an incident in which the police were not responding to a crime. Instead, a loved one, friend, or neighbor had called 911 to obtain help for the person. In more than 50 of the cases, the person was suicidal. The article goes on to state that many police departments around the country now require their officers to participate in crisis intervention team (CIT) training, which focuses on deescalating a mental health crisis with a verbal approach rather than a threatening one. There are about 2,800 CIT programs nationwide, however, this represents just 15 percent of police departments across the country. San Antonios police department has a full-time CIT unit. According to one member of the unit, the training has allowed the department to intervene and provide help to individuals experiencing a mental or emotional breakdown. Instead of sending uniformed officers in a patrol car, the officers in the CIT unit wear plain clothes and drive regular vehicles. One member of the department says that even seemingly little things like this can go a long way toward deescalating conflict. Sources: Dallas State Criminal Defense Lawyer http://www.brodenmickelsen.com/ Broden & Mickelsen, LLP 2600 State St Dallas, Texas 75204 Main Phone: (214) 720-9552 source: http://www.brodenmickelsen.com/blog/police-violence-not-just-american-problem/ Social Media Tags:police shootings, Police Violence, Police Violence America, Police Violence Mental Illness, Police Violence and Misconduct Abroad Newsroom powered by Online Press Release Distribution SubmitMyPressRelease.com Like Us on Facebook It's only fair to share... Pinterest Linkedin email Print Heres what happened in the Nebraska Legislature where the headlines were focused on the budget, corrections and tax cuts. A stalwart group of non-partisan senators stood up to Gov. Pete Ricketts ill-advised tax plan, LB461, and sidetracked it for the session saying that this wasnt the right time for tax cuts when the state is struggling with declining revenue. As assigned, the Appropriations Committee delivered a budget just as the states Economic Forecasting Advisory Board determined that those revenues would be down an additional $56.5 million. The package of budget bills passed, but Ricketts used his line item veto power to remove $56.5 million funding for programs ranging from extra money for the probation administration to improvements to the aging HVAC system in the capitol. In the end, the Ricketts Legislature sustained every one of the vetoes. That caused one senator to opine that the governor will have to own the budget just like he owns the Legislature. That recognizes that Ricketts contributed personal funds to last falls elections to defeat several incumbent senators (fellow Republicans, to boot) who had crossed him last session by overriding vetoes and doing other things (like supporting a repeal of the death penalty) one would expect in an independent branch of government. The blurring of the separation of powers started in January when the Gang of 27 senators who met before the session started decided who was going to chair which committees. That coalition has hung together through the session and proven to be more puppets for the governor than representatives of the people. The slam dunk on veto overrides appears to have completed the merger of the Executive and Legislative branches and the beginning of the end of the nonpartisan system. But thats just politics, right? And who cares that its not necessarily nice. So, heres one of the other things they did in a flurry of final reading in the waning days of the session which seemed to drag early on with debate over rules and personalities and posturing. Consider LB584, a bill they passed that will regulate the mowing of roadside ditches to prevent erosion and protect the bird population. Really. Its that kind of stuff that has to make you feel good about representative government, right? It prevents counties and townships from mowing ditches before July 1 each year, but does not prohibit private landowners from mowing roadside vegetation on road shoulders, intersections or entrances. Landowners will be required to mow roads and drainage ditches at least twice annually, in July and September. Just remember, this is the same Legislature that sustained vetoes, which eliminated general funds that had been approved for Medicaid, child welfare, behavioral health and developmental disability providers. Not to mention the money that would have been spent for expansion of the probation system to keep more people out of prison and alleviate some of the overcrowding that will contribute to a lawsuit and necessitate the construction of another prison. J.L. Schmidt, a registered Independent, is the Nebraska Press Associations statehouse correspondent. President Tran Dai Quang and Queen of the Netherlands Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti (Source: VNA) President Quang said he was delighted to see relations between Vietnam and the UN in general and the Netherlands in particular have developed positively in many fields. The Strategic Partnership on Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management (2010) and the Strategic Partnership on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security (2014) are vivid evidence of the current fruitful relationship between Vietnam and the Netherlands, he elaborated. The President said political meetings between senior leaders of the two nations in the recent past have laid a foundation for the bilateral comprehensive cooperation, noting with pleasure that the Netherlands is now the biggest European investor and is one of the most important trade partners of Vietnam. President Quang took this occasion to thank Queen Maxima for her interest in microfinance in Vietnam through her visit to the country in 2011. He spoke highly of the Queens efforts to enhance inclusive finance for developing nations as well as her ongoing visit to study and share experience in promoting inclusive finance as Vietnam has just embarked on this sphere. Thanks to the implementation of policies and activities related to inclusive finance such as microfinance development, credit for agriculture and rural areas, and social security, Vietnam has reaped a wide range of achievements in socio-economic development and poverty reduction that have been recognised by the international community, he noted. The State leader believed that inclusive finance will be a useful tool to effectively mobilise resources, contributing to Vietnams socio-economic development and sustainable growth. In early 2017, the Government assigned the State Bank of Vietnam to build and promulgate a national inclusive finance strategy in 2020. In this spirit, President Quang suggested Queen Maxima, in her capacity as a representative of the Netherlands and the UN Secretary-Generals Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, mobilise financial and technical resources from the UN and other international organisations to assist Vietnam in building the strategy and share experience with the country. Queen Maxima congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in hunger elimination, poverty reduction and socio-economic development over the past 30 years as well as its outcomes in deploying inclusive finance. She said inclusive finance will be a tool to effectively mobilise resources, contributing to Vietnams socio-economic development and sustainable growth and helping people get easier access to official finance and banking services. The Queen also affirmed that the Netherlands is willing to share experience and cooperate with Vietnam in the field of inclusive finance./. Frances Neumann wipes a tear away as she tells a story about her murdered sister- in-law Mary Johns at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls taking place in Whitehorse, Yukon, Tuesday, May 30, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward FILE- In this Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, file frame grab provided by Russian Defense Ministry press service, long-range Kalibr cruise missiles are launched by a Russian Navy ship in the eastern Mediterranean. The Russian Defense Ministry says in a statement on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at IS targets in the area of the ancient city of Palmyra. (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File) Thailands Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha speaking at the event. (Photo: nhandan.com.vn) In his opening speech themed Thai Rice Trade and Its Future, Thailands Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha outlined major policies towards the sustainable development of the countrys rice industry. He stressed that the Thai government and enterprises had determined to add value to the rice sector, which is still strength of the countrys economy. Thai Minister of Commerce Apiradi Tantraporn said the convention was first organized to promote the potential of the country in the field of cultivation and rice processing. The Thai rice industry has advanced in its technological development and technological integration, in response to the government's Thailand 4.0 initiative to transform Thailand into a value-based economy, he stressed. At the convention, experts, scientists and enterprises discussed solutions to increase the productivity and quality of rice on the foundation of sustainable development and environment-friendliness. They also urged finding ways to further intensify cooperation among rice exporters and processors, contributing to the stability and growth of the worlds rice market. On the sidelines of the event, the delegation also organized working sessions with Minister Apiradi Tantraporn and representatives of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, and visited several local rice processing facilities./. Representatives from AGD, the Vietnamese Public Security, and Supreme Peoples Procuracy attended the International cooperation workshops, where proceeds of crime cases - among other matters - were reviewed in the cities of Ho Chi Minh, Hai Phong and Hanoi. In Hanoi, AFP Coordinator Criminal Assets Litigation Melbourne Andrew Hanger shared his law enforcement experiences with the Supreme Peoples Procuracy. Photos: Thuy Hang/Australian Consulate-General, Ho Chi Minh city Overall, the workshops were received well by participants, who reinforced their knowledge on the important formal and informal processes between Australia and Vietnam in relation to criminal matters. AGD Assistant Secretary Stephen Bouwhuis said the workshop builds on recent cooperation between Australia and Vietnam, and focused on international crime cooperation to combat money laundering and recover proceeds of crime. We had the opportunity to learn from one another and to further strengthen links between our agencies, thereby increasing our ability to effectively cooperate to combat transnational crime, he said. Next on the AFP agenda is the 43rd Asia Region Law Enforcement Management Program (ARLEMP) meeting from June 5th-23rd in Ho Chi Minh city. It will focus on human trafficking and people smuggling, bringing together Vietnamese police officers from relevant agencies. Two police officers from each Lao and Cambodia are also invited to join the program. The major focus will be on developing leadership skills, sharing experiences and developing peer to peer networks to assist the fight against human trafficking and people smuggling in the region./. Photo: baoquocte.vn Responding to reporters inquiry about Vietnams reaction to the May 29th test-firing of a ballistic missile by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, she said Vietnam is highly concerned about recent developments in the Korean Peninsula, especially the DPRKs repeated missile launches, which seriously violated resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. The maintenance of peace, stability and prosperous development in the region is in the best interests and the shared responsibility of every country, the spokesperson said. Vietnam calls on countries to fully implement the UN Security Councils resolutions relevant to the issue, and to make constructive and practical contribution to maintaining peace, stability in the region and the world./. 356 Shares Share Every summer, medical schools around the country give out clean, crisp, new white coats. On the shoulder is the schools signature emblem, with the new medical students name neatly etched above the pocket. A White Coat Ceremony commences where established physicians gown the new generation of doctors. It is a treasured, picturesque, and proud time. The ceremony ends with taking the Hippocratic Oath including the well-known verse do no harm. But, little do they know, these medical students have just signed up to be doctors of debt, potentially harming themselves first and foremost. Medical education debt is much discussed throughout our training; everyone from the overburdened and overworked physician resident to the meek medical student knows that they have accumulated more debt than they know how to pay off. In fact, the average U.S. medical student graduates with over $175,000 in debt! It is no wonder that a majority of medical students turn to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), which allows people working full time in public service jobs to have their loans forgiven after 10 years of monthly payments. For physicians-in-training, this is especially pertinent as 75 percent of U.S. hospitals qualify for PSLF. October 2017 marks the first time that loan forgiveness will be offered to those who started making payments in 2007. But this very well might not happen. Before President Obama left office, he proposed a cap on PSLF at $57,500 for all students. This would reportedly save 12 billion dollars over the next 10 years. But, this proposed cap threatens to disincentivize medical education and doesnt take into account the delayed financial gratification of physicians. Consider this: Your average resident physician and school custodian make the same hourly wage! And residency can last anywhere from 3 to 7 years. Thats because the average resident salary is $50,000 for 80 hours of work or less. Thats double the number of hours in a normal workweek for most! Residents are not only overworked and underpaid, but also undervalued. Their salaries have remained stagnant since the 1990s. While resident salaries remain stagnant, medical school tuition has skyrocketed over the past 20 years. The average tuition and fees for public medical schools has increased by 312% to over $31,000 per year. So as medical schools hike up their tuition rates, hospitals reap the benefit of cheap resident labor. Its an inequitable system that preys on the outdated Graduate Medical Education (GME) system, placing exorbitant debt on the shoulders of students. In response to this, people say, Well, residency and fellowship are short-term. Youll be attending physicians soon enough! Consider this: Medical debt disproportionately impacts students who are low income and from minority backgrounds. Minority students including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans make up only 12 percent of medical students in the U.S.. These same minority students are more likely to enter into primary care specialties and serve underprivileged communities than their White counterparts. Although residency and fellowship training is short term, the high price of medical debt actually deters the most underrepresented people from entering medicine in the first place. So, whats the solution? Instead of capping the PSLF, legislators should reform graduate medical education (GME) as a way to address rising tuition and stagnant resident salaries. Some ideas for refinancing include decreasing medical school training to 3 years instead of 4, or increasing resident salaries in proportion to the hours worked. Additionally, changing the scope of public service as defined by PSLF could help make more physicians eligible for the program as well. Ultimately, a proposed cap on the PSLF threatens to disincentivize medical student education, which is inherently different than other graduate programs because of the additional residency training. Capping loan forgiveness ignores the current realities experienced by both medical students and resident physicians. Instead of capping PSLF, policy makers should consider stopping rising medical student tuition costs and reforming GME stagnant salaries. So, the next time you see your doctor in their clean, crisp white coat, ask yourself: Whats the price of their medical education? Are they a doctor of debt? Emman Dabaja is a medical student. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Court cases that have been open for more than 20 years are closing in one county department. Two weeks ago, new County Court of Law #2 Judge Victor Villarreal told commissioners that out of 6,000 cases open in the court, they have been able to close 282 cases. 215 of those cases have been criminal, while 53 were family cases. Some of the cases have been open since 1993. The judge says they will also be saving money for the county for next year's budget. "At this time, our projection for savings to the county based on the employees, it would be a savings of about $117,000 and that represents a difference from the budget last year to the budget this year," Villarreal said. Villarreal says court case schedules are now available online for the public or attorneys to look up upcoming court hearings. Texas Courts and judges will now have increased security thanks to a new bill signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott. In 2015, a Texas district judge survived an assassination attempt. The incident motivated the creation of Senate Bill 42, which will protect the lives of people in the courtroom. Judge Oscar Hale knows firsthand the consequences of a trial that ends badly. Hale says the three week trial for Cristian Yepez was pretty intense. Keeping courts secure is not only the sentiments of Judge Hale, but of many others who know the risks of a bad outcome. Senate Bill 42 will add extra protection for judges, employees and visitors of the court. The new law will establish a committee, train court officers and more importantly create a safe environment for the courts. The bill will also require the Office of Court Administration to create a judicial security division and expand security incident reporting for court buildings. It will also allow DPSD to provide personal security to state judges who have been threatened or attacked and further restrict the release of personal information of current and former judges. Senate Bill 42 was sponsored by Senator Judith Zaffirini. The bill will go into effect on September first. Thursday is the deadline for Webb County homeowners to protest their property appraisals. Landowners who wish to protest can do so by submitting a notice in a number of ways. - Appraisal protests must be submitted in writing and filed by fax, email, or in person at the Appraisal District Office. - Property owners who miss the deadline will be required to proceed with a hearing before a protest hearing can be scheduled. The Appraisal District Office is located at 3302 Clark Boulevard. They will be open on Thursday from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm. If you have any questions on how to submit your protest, you can call them at 718-4091. Local men and women who have served our country were served a nice meal in return for all they have done. For the seventh year, Precinct Four Commissioner Jaime Canales provided a lunch for Webb County veterans and active military. Many showed up with their families to take advantage of the food and quality time with their peers. Canales says he is always honored to put on events such as these: "We take for granted sometimes the freedoms that we have. We get to have a carne asada on a Sunday, spend it with our families on weekends, the day-to-day things that we do everyday are attributed to the sacrifices that our veterans made. So it's for that, that this is a very important event for me." Wednesday's luncheon was held at the LISD Performing Arts Center. On May 30, 2017 at approximately 6:15pm deputies were dispatched to a 911 hang up call at 202 Country West Rd Space D. During the investigation deputies learned John Hatcher had gotten into an argument with Brady Davis over a pack of cigarettes. John Hatcher drew a pistol and ordered Brady Davis to leave the apartment, but Davis refused. Four other adults were present. Two other people present tried to physically remove Davis from the apartment but were unsuccessful. Hatcher said he felt that Davis was going to punch his fiance, so Hatcher shot Davis in the left hip area. Davis continued to try and fight, so Hatcher took the pistol back to his room, put it away and waited for law enforcement to respond. No other people in the apartment were hurt as a result of the weapon discharge. Davis was transported to CRMC where he underwent surgery. His condition is not known at the time of this release. John Hatcher was arrested for aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and was transported to the Laramie County Detention Center. The weapon used in the incident was a .25 caliber semi-automatic. 1 of 4 Nokia 3, 5 and 6 to be available in India by June The HMD Global company was able to launch the popular Nokia 3310 feature phone in India. One such user took to twitter to question Nokia regarding the launch date, to which the Finnish company responded saying the Android devices, Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 will be available in all global markets by June. "We plan to release our upcoming Smartphones worldwide before the end of Q2 2017. (June) Stay tuned for updates," the tweet read. The three Nokia devices will be targeting the budget and mid-range segment. Nokia will be entering the Android market for the first time in India but considering the brand's cult following in the country, the devices are expected to sell well. The company is looking forward to make its presence felt in the Android universe with Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6. Read More... The graveyard around the new Medieval Mile Museum at St Marys Church remains open and free to the public, despite a barrier which has been put in place in recent weeks. At a recent meeting of the Kilkenny City Municipal District, Cllr Malcolm Noonan noted that a railing had been put in place at the base of the new Kilkenny Room, preventing full access. Under the lease agreement betweenKilkenny County Council and Kilkenny Civic Trust, the Trust is responsible for the museum, with the yard still in the stewardship of the council. Cllr Noonan noted that the late John Bradley had described the graveyard as one of the most important 17th Century graveyards in Ireland or the UK. He called on the council to engage with Kilkenny Civic Trust to ensure that the entire graveyard remains open and with free access. His Notice of Motion was seconded by Cllr Sean Tyrrell. Director of Services Tim Butler has confirmed that members of the public can still access the graveyard without having to pay, but they would need to call to reception and inform the guides. Prior to the museum project, there were also security issues on the historic churchyard site. Speaking to the Kilkenny People, Cllr Noonan welcomed assurances over access but said a locked gate was still a deterrent to many people. He said the graveyard should be fully restored, and then sensitively landscaped to create a pocket park. I think that there is a fantastic opportunity here to make this graveyard a little wildlife haven in the heart of the city, where local people and visitors can sit and relax, have lunch perhaps but just to enjoy this really special place, he said. The Green Party councillor said he looked forward to a positive response from KIlkenny Civic Trust. Notwithstanding height and access restrictions, he said he felt a good compromise could be reached. The sun shone on the 600 or so bright-eyed participants of the fifth annual Affidea Ireland-sponsored Rith Beo race, which took place at Gaelscoil Osrai on Sunday morning. It was by far the biggest turnout since the very first Rith Beo, and there was a great atmosphere at the local school on the day. Four separate races took place, including a 3k Family Fun Run, 5K Individual Race, 5K Team event and a 10k Individual race. Anthony Frahill was first home in the 5K race with an impressive time of 16:37. Caoilte Malone was the first female home in the 5K with a great time of 18:06. The 5k team event sponsored by Guineys Kilkenny was a great success and was won by the Ormonde Leisure Club for the second year running. Pat Young recorded an impressive time of 39:18 to win the 10k event. Aifric Bolger finished the 10K race strongly and was the first female home with a brilliant time of 43:19. A large number of pupils and their families took part in the Petmania Ireland 3k Family Fun Run and there are definitely some future elite athletes in the making. Fionn Drago was the first boy home in the 3K and Hannah Griffey was the first girl to cross the line. All monies raised from Rith Beo go toward the purchase of furniture and specialised learning equipment for the library. A donation from the proceeds of Rith Beo will also be made to the local Teach Tom charity. The committee are extremely grateful to our main sponsors Affidea Ireland, Guineys Kilkenny and Petmania Ireland, said Roisin Purcell of the Rith Beo Committee. We would also like to acknowledge the support of over seventy five businesses in Kilkenny who helped with sponsorship and donating gift vouchers for our race. The race would not have gone ahead without your support. We would also like to commend and acknowledge everybody who helped us out in any way on the day. Tom Finn, CEO of Affidea Ireland said the company was delighted to be able to support the Rith Beo Fun Run again this year. "The popularity of the event shows what a strong community Kilkenny has and we are pleased to be able to support the fundraising, he said. Sean O Hargain, Priomhoide, Gaelscoil Osrai was very happy with the event. Ta athas an domhain orainn le rith Beo 2017,"he said. "Ta an ocaid ag dul o neart go neart le paisti, tuismitheoiri agus lucht reatha Chill Chainnigh ag glacadh pairt ann le fuinneamh. Mar scoil ghniomhach, cuirimid beim ar aclaiocht phaisti chun go mbeidh saol nios sona agus slainte nios fearr acu amach anseo. "Taimid an-bhuioch dar gcoiste iontach, dar nurraithe ar fad agus do gach einne a chabhraigh agus a ghlac pairt. Taimid ag suil le Rith Beo 2018 cheana fein.. * Spot iron ore has fallen almost 40 pct from 2017 peak * Traders say further drops to come * Dalian iron ore futures trading volume highest in 13 months * Open interest climbs to most since Nov 2015 By Manolo Serapio Jr MANILA, May 31 (Reuters) - A stubborn glut and selling by Chinese speculators have slashed iron ore prices this year, with traders and industry officials predicting further declines as memories fade of the steelmaking commodity's stunning recovery in 2016. Prolonged price weakness would make business tougher again for top miners like Vale , Rio Tinto and BHP , whose earnings were roiled as iron ore markets tumbled 70 percent in the three years through 2015. Weaker prices could also hit marginal suppliers such as Iran, potentially forcing that country out of the market again after boosting shipments to top buyer China earlier this year. Iron ore prices have plunged nearly 40 percent from this year's peak, trading at just below $60 a tonne this week, with stockpiles at Chinese ports swelling to their largest in 13 years. In May alone, iron ore has fallen 15 percent, on course for its steepest monthly drop in a year. In 2016, the commodity rallied over 80 percent. "Demand is still healthy but there's way too much supply," said a trader at a global trading firm in Singapore that is looking for Chinese buyers for about 1.5 million tonnes of iron ore in coming weeks. He asked not to be identified. "If you're an iron ore buyer and you see it's an oversupplied market, and supply will only increase from here, would you have any incentive to buy more today?" Imported iron ore at China's ports reached 136.6 million tonnes on May 26 , the highest since SteelHome consultancy began tracking the data in 2004. That is enough to build the Eiffel Tower in Paris more than 13,000 times over. Global iron ore output is forecast to expand an average of 1 percent annually from this year to 3.3 billion tonnes by 2021, the same average growth during 2012-2016, BMI Research said. ARMY OF SPECULATORS Declining prices have been amplified by China's army of speculators, the ones behind the wild swings in iron ore futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE). Dalian futures, launched in October 2013, gave many Chinese investors their first real chance to play in the iron ore futures market, and have largely influenced physical pricing. "DCE is the primary driver and it's always been the primary driver. That's not going to change because iron ore is a China market," said Kelly Teoh, broker at Clarksons Platou Futures. The volume of iron ore futures traded on the DCE so far in May reached nearly 2.8 billion tonnes, about twice annual global seaborne trade and the largest since April 2016, according to exchange data. As the most-traded contract dropped 32 percent from this year's high to mid-May, open interest - or open contracts - grew to 2.45 million lots, the highest since November 2015. "There is clear evidence of speculation in China's iron ore and steel futures," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke. "Speculation always amplifies trends, to the upside and to the downside." Australia's Fortescue Metals Group , the world's No. 4 iron ore miner, said it was generating strong margins even at current prices. Fortescue CEO Nev Power expects China's steel output to rise "around 5 percent compared to this time last year" with demand backed by the nation's continuing "industrialisation and urbanisation". <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ GRAPHIC: China iron ore market back in bear mode ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Joseph Radford) (Repeats to attach to alerts) WELLINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - New Zealand's central bank governor said on Wednesday that the bank was pleased house prices were moderating but that it was watching very closely for signs they might race ahead again. "We're still concerned and we're watching it very closely," governor Graeme Wheeler told reporters in a media conference after the bank released its half-yearly financial stability report. He reiterated that the bank was hoping to add debt-to-income restrictions to its macroprudential arsenal to combat any risks of a sharp downturn in house prices, but said that the bank would not use the tools unless it saw house prices rising quickly again. (Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Charlotte Greenfield) Deficit of current account in Ukraine in April estimated at $146 mln The deficit of the current account in Ukraine in April 2017 was estimated at $146 million against a $164 million surplus recorded in April 2016, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has reported on its website. The formation of the current account deficit last month is explained with the widening of the deficit of foreign trade in goods and services, as well as dividend payments. The NBU allowed transferring dividends for 2014-2015 abroad from June 2016, for 2016 from April 2017. In general, in the first four months of 2017 the current account deficit decreased by 1.5%, to $1.307 billion. The National Bank said in April 2017 there was a significant slowdown in the growth of exports in annual terms to 7.5% from 38.2% in March. "First of all, this was due to a decrease in exports of metallurgical products because of a fall in metallurgical production in the conditions of suspension of cargo movement between the controlled and uncontrolled territories of Donbas," the NBU explained. In addition, the growth in grain exports slowed down due to the intensive exports of grains in the previous periods and a gradual decline in ending stocks. At the same time, the NBU noted exports of iron ore continued growing at a high rate. In general, exports of goods for January-April 2017 increased by 28% compared with the corresponding period last year. Imports of goods in January-April 2017 were up by 22.4%. * April factory output +4.0 pct vs f'cast +4.3 pct * Manufacturers expect output to dip in May, rise in June * Japan economy recovering on robust global demand, exports (Adds detail, background) By Minami Funakoshi TOKYO, May 31 (Reuters) - Japan's factory output rebounded in April from the previous month at the fastest pace in almost six years, adding to growing signs of improvement in the economy. Japan's industrial output rose 4.0 percent in April from the previous month, the strongest growth since posting a 4.2 percent gain in June 2011. The result compared with the median estimate for a 4.3 percent rise in a Reuters poll of economists. It followed a revised 1.9 percent decrease in March, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed on Wednesday. The strong output data, which analysts say closely correlates with gross domestic product data, suggests the economy is off to a strong start in the second quarter as robust overseas demand continues to support growth. Manufacturers surveyed by the ministry expect output to fall 2.5 percent in May and rise 1.8 percent in June. Japan's economy grew in the first quarter at the fastest rate in a year to mark the longest period of expansion in a decade, thanks to solid exports and a helpful boost from private consumption. (Reporting by Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Eric Meijer) (Updates throughout) By Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Charlotte Greenfield WELLINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said on Wednesday that major risks both at home and abroad had eased in recent months, but cautioned that it remained wary about any pick-up in house prices or rise in global protectionism. While the global economic outlook had improved and domestic house price growth slowed, global political uncertainty remained high and the rate of housebuilding was insufficient to meet demand, the RBNZ said in its half-yearly Financial Stability Report. The central bank said it would soon release a consultation paper proposing the addition of restrictions on high debt to income loans into its macroprudential arsenal to combat the risk of a sharp downturn in house prices. It said it had no immediate plans to use the debt to income restrictions even if they became available. "The Reserve Bank would not apply it at this stage, given that LVR (loan-to-value ratio) restrictions appear to be mitigating housing risks," the RBNZ said in its report. "Should high house price growth return and the proportion of housing lending at high DTI ratios remains high, a DTI restriction could be warranted." The New Zealand dollar was largely unchanged on Wednesday, inching down to $0.7092 after the release from near three-month highs of $0.7097. New Zealand's housing market has grown in value more than 50 percent in the last decade, leaving the central bank worried about high mortgage debt and the risk that a sudden downturn would pose to banks and households. But price growth has eased in recent months and some economists say such restrictions are some way off and may never even materialize. "We don't think there will be a case for applying DTI limits any time soon," Michael Gordon, economist at Westpac said. "The housing market has slowed significantly as mortgage rates have risen from their lows, and our view is that the slowdown will 'stick' this time." The central bank reiterated that pockets of the dairy sector were overly-indebted, and that global political uncertainty remained a risk for its financial system. "Rising protectionism could also affect the trade-exposed sectors of the New Zealand economy," RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said in the report. The RBNZ has been vocal about how rising protectionism globally is a key risk to New Zealand's small, open economy, which is heavily dependent on trade. At a speech in March, Wheeler flagged new U.S. President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy as the greatest source of uncertainty. (Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Charlotte Greenfield; editing by Diane Craft) May 31 (Reuters) - Below are the ratings awarded by Credit Analysis and Research Ltd. (CARE) for local debt instruments as of May 30, 2017. COMPANY INSTRUMENT RATING AMOUNT MOVEMENT (RS.MLN) ------- ---------- ------ ------- --------- SHORT TERM RATINGS: ------------------- Bebitz Flanges Works Pvt. Ltd ST Bk Fac - TL CARE A2 120 Reaffirmed Camson Agri-Ventures Pvt Ltd ST Bk Fac CARE A4 30 Issuer not cooperating Indian Railway Finance Corporation LtdST Market CARE A1+ 120000 Assigned Borrowing Programme (FY18) Kiran Infra Tech ST Bk Fac CARE A4 45 Assigned Limra Enterprises ST Bk Fac CARE A4 30 Assigned Riddi Siddi Timber Pvt Ltd ST Bk Fac CARE A4 84 Assigned Reliance Communications Ltd ST Non -FB Fac CARE D 80340 Revised from CARE A4 Reliance Communications Ltd ST debt issue CARE D 28800 Revised from CARE A4 Sandeep Motors Pvt. Ltd. ST Bk Fac CARE A4+ 305 Assigned LONG TERM RATINGS: ------------------- Amith Cashew Industries LT Bk Fac CARE B + 80 Assigned Bebitz Flanges Works Pvt. Ltd LT Bk Fac - TL CARE BBB 244.7 Reaffirmed Bebitz Flanges Works Pvt. Ltd LT Bk Fac - TL CARE BBB 885 Reaffirmed Camson Agri-Ventures Pvt Ltd LT Bk Fac CARE B 100 Issuer not cooperating Cuddalore Municipality Issuer Rating CARE B - Assigned Indian Railway Finance Corporation LtdLT Market CARE AAA 400000 Assigned Borrowing Programme (FY18) Jampeswar Agro Udyog Pvt. Ltd LT Bk Fac CARE B+ 74 Assigned Kancheepuram Municipality Issuer Rating CARE BB - Assigned Kiran Infra Tech LT Bk Fac CARE BB- 84.3 Assigned Limra Enterprises LT Bk Fac CARE B+ 30 Assigned Oriental Sales Corporation LT Bk Fac CARE BB- 30 Assigned Oriental Sales Corporation LT / ST Bk Fac CARE BB-/A4 435 Assigned Reliance Communications Ltd LT Bk Fac CARE D 93220 Revised from CARE BB Reliance Communications Ltd LT instruments CARE D 7500 Revised from (NCD) CARE BB Riddi Siddi Timber Pvt Ltd LT Bk Fac CARE B+ 10 Assigned Sandeep Motors Pvt. Ltd. LT Bk Fac CARE BB+ 37.5 Assigned Sandeep Motors Pvt. Ltd. LT/ ST Bk Fac CARE BB+ /A4+ 7.5 Assigned Seabird Resorts Pvt Ltd LT Bk Fac - TL CARE A- 220 Assigned Semler Research Centre Pvt Ltd LT Bk Fac CARE B 40 Issuer not cooperating Somula Constructions Pvt Ltd LT Bk Fac CARE B 75 Assigned The Jorehaut Tea Ltd LT Bk Facility CARE BBB- 150 Assigned -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $: Rating watch with positive implication #: Rating Watch with Developing implications @: Rating Watch with Negative Implications %: Rating under Credit Watch wd -Rating Stands Withdrawn sp -Rating Suspended pp -Principal Protected pn -Principal Not Protected CARE may apply + or - signs for ratings to reflect a comparative standing within the category. BG-Bank Guarantee; CC-Cash Credit; CCPS-Cumulative Convertible Preference Share; CD-Certificate of Deposit; CLO-Collateralized Loan Obligation; CPA-Claims Paying Ability; CP-Commercial Paper; CPS-convertible preference shares; CRPS- Cumulative Redeemable Convertible Preference shares; DDB-Deep Discount Bond; EPBI-Exchange premium bond; FBL-Fund Based Limits; FRB/FRN -Floating Rate Bond/Note; ICD -Inter Corporate Deposit; ITD-Immediate Term Debt; LOC-Letter of Credit; LT -Long Term; LTB -Long Term Borrowing; LTD -Long Term Debt; MOCD-multiple option convertible debenture; MTD -Medium term Debenture; MTN-medium term notes; NCD(SO) - Non-Convertible Debenture-(Structured Obligation); NCD-Non-convertible Debentures; NCRB-Non Convertible Redeemable Bonds; NM-Not Meaningful; OCD-optionally convertible debenture; OD-Over Draft; OFCD-Optionally Fully Convertible Debenture; PCD-Partially Convertible Debenture; PCN-partly convertible notes; PCPS-Partly Convertible Preference Share; POCD-partly optional; PP-privately placed; PSPC-Post Shipment & Packing Credit; PS-Preference Shares; PTC-Pass Through Certificates; RPS-Redeemable Preference Shares; SCPN-secured convertible preference notes; SDO-Structured Debt Obligation; SLR-Statutory Liquidity Ratio; SO-Structured Obligation; SPCD - Secured Partly Convertible Debentures; SPN-secured premium notes; STB-Short Term Bond; STD-Short Term Debentures; ST-Short Term; Sub. Bonds-Subordinate Bonds; TB-Taxable Bond; TFB-Tax Free Bond; TL-Term Loan; TOCD-triple option convertible debentures. (Mumbai Rate Reporting Unit + 91 22 6180 7222/3317 7222, E-mail at rru.data@thomsonreuters.com) Keywords: CARE RATINGS/ * EU executive spells out ideas on euro future after debt crisis * French presidential election gives boost to integration plans * Merkel, Macron keen to get more cohesive euro zone * Bigger changes to euro zone could happen after 2019 By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS, May 31 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Wednesday the euro zone might need to issue collective debt and run a joint budget among ideas for deeper European Union integration around the single currency after Britain leaves the EU in 2019. In a reflection paper that aims to trigger a debate among euro zone governments, the EU executive spells out ideas on what could be done to deepen Economic and Monetary Union by 2025. Scenarios of a finance minister managing common euro zone revenue, spending and borrowing had been worked on for months in Brussels, but now appear more likely since centrist former banker Emmanuel Macron became French president this month. German conservatives dislike an idea they say could mean paying for poorer neighbours or irresponsible policies and are loath to mutualise debt among the 19 euro zone countries. But Chancellor Angela Merkel, seeking re-election in September, has welcomed Macron's victory and EU officials said they hoped governments might start working on a plan to forge a more cohesive euro zone from next year. The Commission paper examines possible reforms to the bloc after the 2010-2012 sovereign debt crisis that nearly destroyed it and which triggered a wave of quick fixes for its weak spots. While some problems have been addressed, there is a lot more EU governments need to do to have an optimally functioning single currency area, the Commission said. The document, part of a wider series on the future of the European Union, comes as the EU is to start talks with Britain on the terms of its withdrawal - a great setback to European integration but one that will see the euro zone make up nearly four-fifths of the EU's economy, up from two thirds today. NO BLUEPRINT, JUST IDEAS The Commission avoids making any clear suggestions as to the evolution of the euro zone, leaving it up to EU governments to decide which of the ideas they like. But it does say that in the later stages of integration, not least because it would require politically difficult and time-consuming changes to EU treaties, the bloc could establish a euro zone treasury. The chairman of euro zone finance ministers, the Eurogroup, could be in charge of such a new institution. The job of Eurogroup president itself could be integrated into the Commission, the paper says. The treasury could manage what the Commission calls a "macroeconomic stabilisation function" - EU jargon for a euro zone budget to mitigate economic shocks, for instance used to support investment, which is the first victim of a downturn. Another option could be for such a budget to operate as a re-insurance fund for national unemployment schemes during economic bad times, when national budget deficits run high, but this would require prior convergence of labour market policies. Finally, the "stabilisation function" could be a rainy day fund, regularly accumulating money and disbursing to cushion a large shock and could even have right to borrow, though within limits and with rules on saving money when times are good. Financing for the euro zone budget could come from the euro zone bailout fund, the wider EU budget, or from each country contributing a share of its GDP or tax income. It might also be allowed to borrowing on the market. But irrespective of the financing method, the budget could not lead to permanent transfers or moral hazard or be a crisis management tool - a role already assigned to the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism. While non-euro zone countries could have access to the budget too, it would only be available to those who are in line with EU budget rules and recommendations for reforms that lead to greater convergence of EU economies. EUROPEAN SAFE ASSET The treasury could also be allowed to borrow through what the Commission calls a "European safe asset" - a bond denominated in euros that could become a benchmark for European financial markets once there is enough of it in circulation. The European safe asset could be with full, partial or no mutualisation of responsibilities for repayment, the Commission said, wary of the sensitivity of the issue for Germany, which vehemently opposed by Germany. One idea in the paper that did not involve any mutualisation of debt was for a private or public institution to buy a portfolio of euro zone government bonds and issue its own bond backed by that portfolio. Such a Sovereign Bond Backed Security (SBBS) could have senior and junior tranches and provide a higher level of safety for the investor. A paper prepared by the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) on SBBS last September also suggests the possibility of creating a European Debt Agency, which could issue such paper. The SBBS would help break the interdependency of banks and sovereigns that led to the sovereign debt crisis, the Commission and the ESRB believe, providing a high quality "safe" asset banks could hold without too much exposure to one sovereign. Standard & Poors rating agency, however, said on April 25 it would rate the SBBS only at BBB-, hardly the AAA rating the euro zone would seek. Markus Ferber, the German Vice Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, criticised the SBBS idea in a letter to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in March. Ferber said it could easily lead to creating mutualised debt obligations if the SBBS was issued by a yet-to-be created European Debt Agency and that the same positive effect of the bonds without the risk could be attained by eliminating the risk-free status of government bonds in bank regulations. "The only reason why we do not see privately initiated instruments that would correspond to what the ESRB suggests ... already ... is that sovereign exposures are treated in a very favourable way," Ferber wrote in the letter. The Commission put the idea of ending the risk-free status of government bonds in its paper as well. The paper divides the deeper integration ideas into two stages. Until 2019 - the next European parliamentary elections and the end of the current Commission -- the focus would be on completing processes already started. The euro zone would agree on a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS), and for the bailout fund to backstop a common bank resolution fund in case it run out of money. It would also tackle non-performing loans in the European banking system. Also by 2019 the euro zone would make progress on a Capital Markets Union - a project to create more sources of funding to households and businesses on a market now dominated by banks. In the second phase, between 2019 and 2025, the euro zone could fully implement EDIS, consider creating the European safe asset and the euro zone treasury, budget and finance minister. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski) BERLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - Germany feels Frankfurt is entitled to host the European Banking Authority after it leaves London as part of Britain's EU withdrawal, because it is already a serious financial centre, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. "(We feel) predestined to host the European banking supervisor because with Frankfurt, we already have a proper centre," Merkel told a banking conference in Berlin. Merkel repeated that her priority in Brexit negotiations was to achieve certainty for EU citizens stranded in Britain and Britons in the EU after Brexit, stressing that Britain's withdrawal process would be "endlessly complex". She reiterated that Germany wanted Britain to remain a close ally after Brexit, but leaving the European Union would have its price. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Michael Nienaber) BERLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday raised its forecast for exports to the United States for 2017 despite widespread concerns about protectionism since Donald Trump became president. "We think export growth of up to 10 percent is possible in 2017," DIHK foreign trade economist Volker Treier told Reuters. At the start of the year it had predicted 5 percent growth. Trump has repeatedly criticised Germany's large trade surplus and on Tuesday he tweeted that Germany's trade and spending policies were "very bad". German exports to the U.S. surpassed imports from the U.S. by just under 14 billion euros in the first quarter - the biggest trade surplus Germany has with any country. German shipments to the U.S. have surged since Trump took office in January, with exports to the U.S. up by 8.2 percent to 29.1 billion euros in the first quarter after they fell by 6 percent last year. (Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Madeline Chambers) BERLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - Germany said on Wednesday it opposed any plans for the euro zone to issue collective debt, when asked about a European Commission paper aimed at triggering debate on a joint budget and debt and deeper EU integration around the single currency after Brexit. "For us, at time of Brexit, it is important that the questions about developments in the currency union are seen in the framework of developments in the EU as a whole," said a finance ministry spokeswoman when asked about the paper. "We want no divisions between 'ins' and 'outs' - that is the euro members and other states," she said, adding Germany is working with France on questions of the future of EU. She said Germany would look at the Commission's proposals and it was too early to go into individual points but Germany's view was that Europe had to implement existing rules to boost credibility before embarking on further integration. "Member states must ... create stability and growth in the euro zone through structural reforms and cut debt," she said, adding diminishing risk in the financial market sector was needed "before we talk about further sharing of responsibility". "On the question of the mutualisation of debt, it will not surprise you that the German government's view of rejecting euro bonds, common debt, has not changed." (Reporting by Michelle Martin and Madeline Chambers) * Q1 GDP up 5.3 pct y/y * Foreign tourist number up 43 pct y/y in April * Q1 jobless rate falls to 7.8 pct By Marja Novak LJUBLJANA, May 31 (Reuters) - Slovenia's economy saw its strongest growth in almost ten years in the first quarter of 2017, the statistics office said, boosted by foreign investment and rising numbers of tourists visiting the home country of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. Growing exports also helped the economy expand by 5.3 percent year-on-year, the highest level since the second quarter of 2008, the office said on Wednesday. The number of foreign tourists rose 43 percent in April from a year earlier, it added, accelerating a rise in visitors seen in March. Overall tourism numbers rose by 28 percent. Analysts have said the rise in visitors is partly down to a surge of interest in Melania Trump. Domestic tourism has also been up, helped by an economic turnaround in a country which narrowly avoided an international bailout for its banks in 2013. Economic growth reached 1.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, the statistics office said. Investment rose by 10.5 percent year-on-year, while exports rose by 8.7 percent, it added. Investors said the figures indicated Slovenia's growth could surpass the government's forecast of 3.6 percent for 2017, versus 2.5 percent in 2016. "New foreign investments are pushing the GDP up and we could see further growth in the coming quarters," Marko Rozman from the treasury sector of Dezelna Banka told Reuters. Canadian car parts maker Magna International and Japanese electrical equipment producer Yaskawa Electric both plan to build factories in Slovenia in the near future. The statistics office also said jobless rate fell to 7.8 percent in the first quarter from 8.9 percent a year ago. Slovenia exports more than 60 percent of its production. Exports include cars, car parts, pharmaceuticals and household appliances. (Editing by Andrew Heavens) KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Reuters) - RHB Bank Bhd and AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) will begin merger talks to create one of Malaysia's biggest lenders, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The banks could announce as early as Thursday that they have received approval from the central bank to commence merger negotiations, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the contacts are private. RHB and AmBank on Wednesday requested the national stock exchange to suspend trading in their shares on Thursday, "pending a material announcement." AmBank declined to comment. An RHB spokeswoman said the company would make an official announcement in due course. (Reporting by Liz Lee, Praveen Menon and A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Mark Potter) By Cecile Lefort and Charlotte Greenfield SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - The New Zealand dollar climbed to a three-month peak on Wednesday, while its Australian counterpart drifted lower on falling commodity prices, having paid little attention to better-than-expected manufacturing data from China. The New Zealand dollar soared to $0.7118, its highest since early March, from $0.7036 the previous day. It was poised to show a gain of 3 percent in May, breaking three months of decline. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's six-monthly report on the country's financial stability had almost no impact on the currency, with the governor saying risks at home and abroad had lessened but that the bank was still wary. A survey showing strong business confidence also provided support and analysts said the outlook for the Kiwi was good. "Retains positive momentum, with potential to move into a higher $0.7100-$0.7200 trading ranged during the days ahead," said Imre Speizer, currency strategist at Westpac Bank. The love wasn't shared across the Tasman Sea with the Australian dollar down at $0.7450, from $0.7466 early, away from last week's peak of $0.7517. It was on track for a fall of 0.4 percent in May, the third month of losses. It briefly popped to $0.7476 after China's manufacturing sector grew faster than expected in May, allaying concerns of slowing economic momentum as Beijing cracks down on financial risks. China is a key export market for Australia, and another fall in the price of iron ore, Australia's top export earner, stole the limelight. The most-active iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dropped 3.2 percent, to be down around 30 percent since mid-March. The Aussie, however, outperformed a soggy pound which dropped to A$1.7132 , the lowest in a month. Against the kiwi, it eased as far as NZ$1.8007 , the lowest since mid-April. The pound has tumbled 4 percent so far in May and if sustained, it would be the largest monthly loss in one year against the New Zealand dollar. Australian government bond futures hovered near six-month highs, with the three-year bond contract up 1 tick at 98.320. The 10-year contract edged up half a tick to 97.5850, while the 20-year contract was steady at 97.0200. The spread between Australian and U.S. 2-year government bonds shrunk to 27 basis points, the smallest since 2001. New Zealand government bonds gained, sending yields 2 basis points lower. Avangard holding, the largest egg producer in Ukraine, received a net loss of $5.342 million in January-March 2017, which is 34.4% less than in the first quarter of 2016 ($3.974 million). According to a company report on the website of the London Stock Exchange, its consolidated revenue for January-March of this year decreased by 14.6%, to $34.004 million, EBITDA was $100,000 against $9.566 million in January-March 2016. "Unstable egg prices amidst high costs and weak consumer demand affected domestic sales, while a temporary ban on trade and geopolitical instability in our key export markets, particularly in the Middle East, affected our export earnings," Avangard Executive Director Natalia Vasyliuk said. She expressed confidence Avangard has good opportunities to return to profitability in future and restore its position as the world's leading producer of eggs and dried egg goods. The gross loss of Avangard for the first quarter of 2017 was $1.57 million against a gross profit of $8.28 million in the first quarter of 2016. Operating loss amounted to $3.7 million against a $5.3 million operating profit in January-March 2016. The total number of birds at Avangard farms on March 31, 2017 was estimated at 14 million, including 10.6 laying hens. By Lauren Hirsch and Liana B. Baker May 31 (Reuters) - Stitch Fix Inc has hired investment banks for an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the U.S. personalized fashion internet retailer at between $3 billion and $4 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. The IPO would be the first by a U.S. e-commerce company in two years, as stock market investors have been wary of betting on companies in the sector that, unlike Stitch Fix, are not already profitable. San Francisco-based Stitch Fix has hired investment banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co to lead the IPO, four people said this week, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Stitch Fix, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan declined to comment. Founded in 2011 by Harvard Business School graduate Katrina Lake, Stitch Fix has over 5,700 employees. It had $730 million in sales in its fiscal year for 2016, its third year of profitability. Stitch Fix sends its customers five personalized apparel and accessories items based on size, budget and style. Customers fill out a survey of their preferences, which the company then uses to select items for them with the aid of a personal stylist. Customers can return what they do not like in the company's prepaid packaging. Stitch Fix works with more than 250 women's fashion brands, including Joie and Citizens for Humanity, and more than 30 men's brands including Scotch & Soda. Stitch Fix is a variant on the popular e-commerce "subscription box" model, in which customers pay to have regular - often monthly - shipments of goods. Stitch Fix offers subscriptions, but does not require customers to subscribe to use their service. Subscription businesses such as cosmetics supplier Birchbox and athleisure brand Fabletics have proliferated in recent years, offering retailers more predictable revenue streams, albeit at the expense of putting off some customers who do not like the commitment of a subscription. The reach of subscription businesses has attracted corporate acquirers in recent years. Subscription shave business Dollar Shave Club, for example, agreed last year to be sold to consumer goods company Unilever Plc for $1 billion. (Reporting by Lauren Hirsch in New York and Liana Baker in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) HONG KONG, May 31 (Reuters) - Chinese online tutoring company Yuanfudao said on Wednesday it raised $120 million from private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Tencent Holdings , putting it among a raft of unicorns valued at more than $1 billion in the world's second largest economy. Warburg Pincus led the funding round, which also had Tencent, China's biggest social network and a previous backer of Yuanfudao, among investors, Yuanfudao said in a statement. It did not say how much of a stake Warburg Pincus and Tencent got for the cash infusion. The Beijing-based company offers live tutoring to over 160 million students that use its mobile apps, with about 1 million of them paying users, Yuanfudao added. Previous backers of Yuanfudao also include venture capital firms IDG Capital and Matrix Partners China. A $1 billion valuation for technology startups used to be so rare, venture capital investors used the term unicorn to describe them. The number of unicorns has soared in recent years as institutional investors poured billions of dollars looking for the next Alibaba Group Holding or Facebook Inc . There were 197 unicorns around the world, according to research firm CB Insights, with 47 of them from China, the second-most after the 104 from the United States. (Reporting by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) By Lidia Kelly and Marcin Goettig WARSAW, May 31 (Reuters) - Poland on Wednesday dismissed warnings that accusations of its violation of EU standards on the rule of law could cost it European Union money, and also called the idea of accelerating euro zone integration unrealistic. "Proposals to withhold structural funds for selected member states are simply contradictory to EU treaties," Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said. With the EU debating reform of the bloc after Britain leaves it, Germany's government has set out proposals to freeze access to EU funds for countries that fail to meet EU rule of law standards, according to a document seen by Reuters. The seven-page document aims to guide Berlin's approach to upcoming Brussels negotiations on post-2020 changes to the system by which the EU supports development in its poorer members. This would hit countries such as Poland and Hungary, net recipients of EU cohesion funding, which have clashed with Brussels on legal issues. Konrad Szymanski, Poland's deputy foreign minister in charge of European affairs, said the proposals would be difficult to execute as they would give the European Commission powers it does not possess. "It would mean that a mechanism aimed at de facto restricting the membership of a state depends on the political will of the European Commission, which is the (bloc's) executive body," Szymanski told Polish state radio. Poland is due to receive 86 billion euros ($96.53 billion) in the 2014-20 budgetary period. Linking funds to the rule of law could be potentially difficult from a legal point of view as it would require unanimity at some stages of the negotiations, including for the final adoption by the European Council, of which both Poland and Hungary are members But there is a risk that funds for some countries could still be decreased because net contributors to the budget, of which Germany is the biggest, hold more power in negotiations. Adam Glapinski, governor of the Polish central bank, said that a more "sober" view on whether Britain's divorce from the EU would pave the way to deeper integration was needed. In comments published by the Financial Times, Glapinski said that no state would be willing to give up decision-making power over vital issues of taxation and spending. "All the ideas ... about accelerating EU integration are no more than a pipe dream," he said. (Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Andrew Bolton) Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours): Q1 GDP DATA The statistics office is due to publish at 0800 GMT a second reading of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data. The breakdown of growth will be published for the first time. CPI The statistics office is due to publish at 1200 GMT the first reading of consumer price index (CPI) for May. DEBT SUPPLY The finance ministry is expected to publish its planned supply of treasury debt for June at 1300 GMT. MORTGAGES Number of mortgages granted in the first quarter rose by 20 percent quarter-on-quarter, according to bank association data, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily said. PKO BP PKO BP Chief Executive Officer told the Puls Biznesu daily that he sees no interesting acquisition targets for his bank at this moment, and that he expects no takeovers in the sector. He also said that PKO BP is worth 60 billion zloty ($16.07 billion). He said PKO BP would be interested in investment on the Czech market if a good opportunity arises. In Poland, his bank is interested in assets such as leasing, asset management, and cards, but not small universal banks. SPREADS The parliament will accept by August the presidential bill aimed at returning to clients excessive amount of money so called "spreads" banks charged them when selling them currencies they needed to repay FX mortgages, the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily said. P4 The initial public offering of mobile telecom P4, which uses the Play brand, may be worth 2.5 billion zloty, while the whole company may be valued at 7-8 billion zloty, excluding debt, according to the Rzeczpospolita daily. ****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX ($1 = 3.7348 zlotys) (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau) WARSAW, May 30 (Reuters) - Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is obliged to conduct an initial public offering of its Polish unit in Warsaw by June 30, Poland's financial regulator said late on Tuesday, upholding its earlier position. "RBI is obliged at present to conduct an IPO of RBPL by June 30, 2017, with the free float to be maintained at a level of at least 15 percent," financial regulator KNF said in a statement. The KNF also said that it had acquired information regarding the current status of Raiffeisen Bank International's commitment on this. Raiffeisen Bank Polska, also known as Raiffeisen Polbank , is the country's 10th largest lender by assets. The bank was to conduct the IPO on the Warsaw bourse by the end of the first half of the year, as agreed with the KNF last year, when the deadline was extended by a year. But the appetite for Raiffeisen Polbank, which was to offer 15 percent of shares, was subdued by its losses and the fact that the bank holds a huge portfolio of toxic Swiss franc-denominated mortgages, carrying currency risk and making no profit. On Tuesday Raiffeisen's Chief Financial Officer Martin Gruell met with representatives of the KNF in Warsaw. (Reporting by Marcin Goclowski and Marcin Goettig; editing by Jason Neely) (Repeats May 30 story without changes to text) * Aims to boost single currency after 2010-12 debt crisis * Impetus from France's election of former banker Macron * Germans wary of any plan paying for poorer neighbours * But Merkel, Macron keen to get more cohesive euro zone By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - The EU executive will suggest on Wednesday the euro zone might need to issue collective debt and run a joint budget, among proposals for bolstering the single currency that echo ideas from new French President Emmanuel Macron. People familiar with the European Commission reflection paper told Reuters the scenario of a finance minister managing common revenue, spending and borrowing had been worked on for many months in Brussels, but now appears a much more likely option since centrist former banker Macron won power on May 7. German conservatives dislike an idea they say means paying for poorer neighbours. But Chancellor Angela Merkel, seeking re-election in September, has welcomed Macron's victory and EU officials said they hoped governments might start working on a plan to forge a more cohesive euro zone from next year. The Commission paper examines possible reforms to the bloc after the 2010-2012 sovereign debt crisis that nearly destroyed it and which triggered a wave of quick fixes for its weak spots. While some problems have been addressed, there is a lot more EU governments need to do to have an optimally functioning Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the Commission will say. The document, part of a wider series on the future of the European Union, comes as the EU is to start talks with Britain on the terms of its withdrawal - a great setback to European integration but one that will see the euro zone make up nearly four-fifths of the EU's economy, up from two thirds today. NO BLUEPRINT, JUST IDEAS The Commission will avoid making any clear suggestions as to the evolution of the single currency area, leaving it up to EU governments to decide which of the ideas they like. But it does say that in the later stages of deepening euro zone integration, not least because it would require politically difficult and time-consuming changes to EU treaties, the bloc could establish a euro zone treasury. The chairman of euro zone finance ministers, the Eurogroup, could be in charge of such a new institution, the Commission will say. But it will also note that the job of Eurogroup president itself could be integrated into the Commission. The treasury could manage what the Commission calls a "macroeconomic stabilisation function" - EU jargon for a euro zone budget to mitigate economic shocks, for instance used to support investment, which is the first victim of a downturn. Another option could be for such a budget to operate as a re-insurance fund for national unemployment schemes during economic bad times, when national budget deficits run high, but this would require prior convergence of labour market policies. Finally, the "stabilisation function" could be a rainy day fund, regularly accumulating money and disbursing to cushion a large shock and could even have right to borrow, though within limits and with rules on saving money when times are good. Financing for the euro zone budget could come from the euro zone bailout fund, the wider EU budget, or from separate sources like each country contributing a share of its GDP or tax income, or from direct borrowing on the market. Irrespective of the financing method, however, the euro zone budget could not lead to permanent transfers or moral hazard or be a crisis management tool - a role already assigned to the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism. While non-euro zone countries could have access to the budget as well, it would only be available to those who are in line with EU budget rules and recommendations for reforms that lead to greater convergence of EU economies. EUROPEAN SAFE ASSET The treasury could also be allowed to borrow through what the Commission calls a "European safe asset" - a bond denominated in euros that could become a benchmark for European financial markets once there is enough of it in circulation. The Commission will say, however, the European safe asset could be with full, partial or no mutualisation of the debt as the topic of joint debt issuance in the euro zone is highly controversial and vehemently opposed by Germany. One idea in the paper that did not involve any mutualisation of debt was for a private bank to buy a portfolio of euro zone government bonds and issue its own bond backed by that portfolio. Such a Sovereign Bond Backed Security (SBBS) could have senior and junior tranches and provide a higher level of safety for the investor, officials said. Such a bond would help break the interdependency of banks and sovereigns that led to the sovereign debt crisis. Another idea to consider would be to end the risk-free status of government bonds in bank regulations, officials said. The paper will divide the process of deeper euro zone integration into two stages. Until 2019 - the next European parliamentary elections and the end of the current Commission -- the focus would be on completing processes already started. The euro zone would agree on a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS), and for the bailout fund to backstop a common bank resolution fund in case it run out of money. It would also tackle non-performing loans in the European banking system. Also by 2019 the euro zone would make progress on a Capital Markets Union - a project to create more sources of funding to households and businesses on a market now dominated by banks. In the second phase, between 2019 and 2025, the euro zone could fully implement EDIS, consider creating the European safe asset and the euro zone treasury, budget and finance minister. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Mark Heinrich) By Chris Thomas May 31 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday, tracking broader Asia, as investors took heart from data showing factory activity in China grew steadily in May, beating expectations of a slowdown. The manufacturing sector in the world's second largest economy grew faster than expected in May as activity in the steel industry rebounded sharply, an official survey showed. The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) held up at 51.2 in May, in line with April's number, while analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a reading of 51.0. While China's PMI data has had a short-term effect on Southeast Asian markets, it does not look like a game changer, said Taye Shim, head of research at Jakarta-based Mirae Asset Sekuritas, adding that most market participants were on the sidelines ahead of the U.S. jobs report due on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent, with certain Chinese stocks leading the region higher as investors returned from a long holiday. Singapore shares were up after three straight sessions of falls, with financial and consumer goods stocks leading the gains. Rating agency Moody's Investors Service raised its outlook on Singapore's banks to stable from negative, saying loan growth would increase mildly but be sustained by the system's strong capital, funding and liquidity buffers. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp , the city-state's second biggest lender, rose to its highest in nearly a week, while DBS Group hit a three-week low. Beer manufacturer Thai Beverage Pcl rose as much as 5.4 percent to a two-week high and was the biggest contributor to the index's gains. Thai shares shrugged off disappointment over April factory output data and rose to their highest in six weeks, driven by industrial and energy stocks. Thailand's industrial output contracted more than expected last month, due mainly to lower production of cars and jewellery, suggesting economic recovery remains fragile. Indonesian shares rose as much as 0.5 percent, with heavyweight Unilever Indonesia Tbk PT driving the gains. Meanwhile, Philippine shares were headed for a second straight session of falls, dragged down by telecom company PLDT Inc and Ayala Land . PLDT declined nearly 1.9 percent, while Ayala Land fell to its lowest in nearly a week. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change at 0453 GMT Market Current Previous Close Pct Move Singapore 3210.31 3204.79 0.17 Bangkok 1571.77 1568.57 0.20 Manila 7838.42 7860.77 -0.28 Jakarta 5715.169 5693.391 0.38 Kuala Lumpur 1764.97 1765.34 -0.02 Ho Chi Minh 739.13 738.21 0.12 Change on year Market Current End 2016 Pct Move Singapore 3210.31 2880.76 11.44 Bangkok 1571.77 1542.94 1.87 Manila 7838.42 6840.64 14.59 Jakarta 5715.169 5296.711 7.90 Kuala Lumpur 1764.97 1641.73 7.51 Ho Chi Minh 739.13 664.87 11.17 (Reporting by Chris Thomas; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) JOHANNESBURG, May 31 (Reuters) - South Africa posted a 5.1 billion rand ($389 million) trade surplus in April following a revised 11.3 billion rand surplus in March, data from the revenue agency showed on Wednesday. Exports fell by 9.2 percent to 91.78 billion rand on a month-on-month basis in April, while imports also decreased, by 3.4 percent to 86.7 billion rand, the South African Revenue Service said in a statement. ($1 = 13.1000 rand) (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Ed Stoddard) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. COLOMBO, May 31 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan rupee traded steady on Wednesday amid expectations that the currency would weaken, as recent floods and landslides that killed over 200 people dented market sentiment, dealers said. The extent of the damage is yet to be assessed, with Sri Lanka's main agricultural exports - tea and rubber - hit by the worst torrential rains in 14 years due to the cyclone "Mora" formed in the Bay of Bengal. The floods would have an adverse impact on agricultural exports, putting pressure on the rupee, currency dealers said. Analysts said hospitality and manufacturing sectors are likely to be the worst-hit industries during the floods. Rupee forwards were active on Wednesday, with spot-next forwards trading at 152.95/153.10 per dollar at 0530 GMT, largely unchanged from Tuesday's close of 152.95/153.00 per dollar. "The demand (for dollars) is still there, and a few exporter conversions were seen. But we haven't seen much activities. There has been very little inflows of dollars," said a currency dealer. The floods could also put pressure on the overall GDP and government budget deficit with high infrastructure spending, dealers said. The rupee has been under pressure after the central bank governor on May 18 said the bank would allow gradual depreciation of the currency, they said. The spot rupee did not trade on Wednesday. The central bank fixed the spot rupee reference rate at 152.50 on May 5. Foreign investors bought a net 14.6 billion rupees ($95.61 million) worth of government securities in the two weeks ended May 24. They have sold a net 42.1 billion rupees worth of securities so far this year. Sri Lankan shares were up 0.19 percent at 6,667.64, as of 0540 GMT. Turnover stood at 68.4 million rupees ($448,525). ($1 = 152.5000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) OSLO, May 31 (Reuters) - Norway's central bank sold the following government bond (NST-475) in a uniform price auction on Wednesday: Coupon: 2.00 pct Maturity: May 24, 2023 Settlement date: June 2, 2017 AUCTION DATE May 31, 2017 Dec 7, 2016 YIELD (pct) 1.13 1.52 ALLOTMENT PRICE (pct) 105.00 102.95 SCHEDULED OFFER (bln NOK) 3.00 3.00 TOTAL BIDS (bln NOK) 9.511 5.270 ALLOTED (bln NOK) 3.00 3.00 BID-TO-COVER RATIO 3.17 1.76 NOTE: The central bank said that there was about 97 percent allotment on lowest accepted bids. (Reporting by Oslo newsroom) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. TAScombank, which belongs to ex-head of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Tigipko and which earlier ranked 20th in terms of assets in the market, is ready to act as an investor in resolving the problems of insolvent Diamantbank (both based in Kyiv), Managing Director of the Individuals' Deposit Guarantee Fund Kostiantyn Vorushilin has said. "Only one investor, TAScombank, has been qualified for Diamantbank. They are interested in the transition bank, assets and liabilities," he told journalists in Kyiv. At the same time, Vorushilin noted the fund has not yet made a final decision regarding the way of withdrawing the bank from the market. "The decision has not been made. We are in the process of studying the economic feasibility [of each of the ways], because there are pros and cons everywhere," he said. By Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason | WASHINGTON President Donald Trump plans to make good on his campaign vow to withdraw the United States from a global pact to fight climate change, a source briefed on the decision said on Wednesday, a move that promises to deepen a rift with U.S. allies. White House officials cautioned that details were still being hammered out and that, although close, the decision on withdrawing from the 195-nation accord - agreed to in Paris in 2015 - was not finalized. Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, did not confirm the decision in a post on Twitter, saying only, "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days." The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was working out the terms of the planned withdrawal with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, an oil industry ally and climate change doubter. Under the pact, virtually every nation voluntarily committed to combat climate change with steps aimed at curbing global emissions of "greenhouse" gases such as carbon dioxide generated from burning of fossil fuels that scientists blame for a warming planet, sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. It was the first legally binding global climate deal. A withdrawal would put the United States in league with Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the Paris agreement. Trump has said the accord would cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars without tangible benefit. For the Republican president, a withdrawal would reflect his "America First" approach to policy, unencumbered by international obligations. "The president will make an announcement when hes made a final decision," one senior official said. Trump has changed his mind on large decisions before, even after previously signaling a move in the opposite direction. Trump refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. A U.S. decision to withdraw from the accord could further alienate American allies in Europe already wary of Trump and call into question U.S. leadership and trustworthiness on one of the world's leading issues. A pullout also would be one more step by the Republican president to erase the legacy of his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord and praised it during a trip to Europe this month. It could have sweeping implications for the deal, which relies heavily on the commitment of big polluter nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The United States is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China. A shift away from coal to cleaner-burning and cheaper natural gas in recent years has cut U.S. carbon emissions to near 30-year lows, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The accord aims to limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from burning of fossil fuels. Under the pact, the United States committed to reduce its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Environmental groups criticized the planned withdrawal. The Sierra Club said a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris deal would be a "historic mistake." Friends of the Earth said the action would "sacrifice our planet to the fossil fuel industry" and make America the world's "foremost climate villain." In the past few days, the chief executives of dozens of companies have made last-minute appeals to Trump. The CEOs of Dow Chemical Co, ExxonMobil Corp, Unilever NV and Tesla Inc all urged Trump to remain in the agreement, with Tesla's Elon Musk threatening to quit White House advisory councils of which he is a member if the president pulls out. Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp[MUYEY.UL], an Ohio-based coal company and major Trump campaign donor, urged Trump to withdraw. U.S. coal company shares slumped on Wednesday alongside renewable energy stocks. The market reaction reflects concerns, raised by some coal companies in recent months, that a U.S. exit from the Paris agreement could unleash a global backlash against coal interests. 'ASSUME LEADERSHIP' A U.S. pullout would be disappointing but the European Union stands ready to take global leadership on the issue, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said in Brussels. "There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world, from Africa, Asia and China, that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that," Sefcovic added. The European Union and China are working on a joint declaration reaffirming their commitment to climate and energy policy and the implementation of the Paris agreement, according to an EU official with knowledge of the plans. Trump had vowed during his 2016 presidential campaign to "cancel" the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president as part of an effort to bolster U.S. oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his skepticism of global efforts to police U.S. carbon emissions. Trump has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change, at times calling it a hoax to weaken U.S. industry. Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a U.S. exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. After taking office, Trump faced pressure to stay in the deal from investors, international powers and business leaders, including some in the coal industry. He also had to navigate a split among his advisers. Senior adviser Steve Bannon, who wants Trump to focus on actions that will rev up his conservative political base, has long opposed the Paris accord. Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and top adviser, has come to the view that the standards set out in the agreement did not work for the U.S. economy and the question was whether to try to change those standards within the agreement or pull out, another senior administration official said. Trumps daughter, Ivanka, favors staying in, the official said, and has sought to ensure her father heard all sides in the debate. Trump has already moved to dismantle Obama-era climate change regulations, including the U.S. Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing emissions from main coal-fired power plants. Quitting the Paris accord may not resonate with members of Trump's Republican Party as much as his administration expects. A March Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found that 50 percent of Republicans agreed that the U.S. should lead the global fight against climate change, while 37 percent disagreed and 13 percent were unsure. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Chris Kahn, Richard Valdmanis, Timothy Gardner and Rodrigo Campos; Writing by Will Dunham and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski) ISTANBUL, May 31 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Wednesday. The lira stood at 3.5465 against the U.S. dollar at 0505 GMT, little changed from 3.5471 at Tuesday's close. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was at 10.58 percent in spot trade on Tuesday and was at 10.55 percent in Wednesday-dated trade. The main BIST 100 share index fell 0.39 percent to 97,347.63 points on Tuesday. GLOBAL MARKETS Asian stocks climbed on Wednesday, capping a fifth consecutive month of gains, as data showed China's factory activity grew at a steady clip this month, bucking expectations of a slowdown. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent on Wednesday, with Chinese stocks , leading the region higher as investors returned from a long holiday break. TRADE BALANCE The Turkish Statistics Institute will announced trade data for April (0700 GMT). TREASURY BORROWING The Treasury will announce its borrowing programme for the June-August period (1400 GMT). BANKING DATA The BDDK banking watchdog was expected to announce its banking sector data for April (1100 GMT). U.S. ARMS TO YPG MILITIA The United States said on Tuesday it started distributing arms to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia battling to help retake the city of Raqqa from Islamic State, moving ahead with a war plan that has angered NATO ally Turkey. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL President Tayyip Erdogan will meet the head of the military high administrative court, Abdullah Arslan (1100 GMT). He will then chair a meeting of the National Security Council (1200 GMT). FOREIGN MINISTER Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will meet the Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Victor Erjavec and hold a joint news conference (0845 GMT). INCIRLIK Cavusoglu said on Tuesday it is not possible to allow German lawmakers to visit troops stationed at Turkey's Incirlik air base now, although Ankara might reconsider if it saw "positive steps" from Berlin. YILDIRIM Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will meet the general secretary of the National Security Council (0945 GMT). He will also meet Slovenia's Erjavec (1015 GMT). For other related news, double click on: Turkish politics Turkish equities Turkish money Turkish debt Turkish hot stocks Forex news All emerging market news All Turkish news For real-time quotes, double click on: Istanbul National-100 stock index , interbank lira trading , lira bond trading (Writing by Daren Butler) KAMPALA, May 31 (Reuters) - The Ugandan shilling was little changed on Wednesday but was seen gaining ground, helped by commercial banks selling their excess dollar holdings, traders said. At 1023 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,598/3,608, from Tuesday's close of 3,600/3,610. UGX Spot Rate.................... Ugandan Shilling Money Guide.... Calculated Cross Rates.......... Deposits..................... Deposits & Forwards............. Uganda Equities Guide....... Uganda All Share Index........ Shilling background ..... Ugandan Debt Guide............ All Uganda Bonds............. Uganda T-Bills.............. Uganda Benchmark............. Central Bank ................ Ugandan Contributor Index.... Uganda Coffee Prices....... (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. (Adds details, quotes, context) MOSCOW, May 31 (Reuters) - Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov's family said on Wednesday they were selling 10 percent of Russia's top gold producer Polyus to a consortium of investors led by China's Fosun International Ltd for $887 million. Fosun, an acquisitive Chinese conglomerate, has been in talks since last year to buy a Polyus stake. Polyus Gold International Limited (PGIL) said in a statement that it would sell 12,561,868 Polyus shares to the Fosun-led consortium for $70.6025 per share. "We are delighted to enter into this agreement to acquire a significant stake in Polyus," Wang Qunbin, Fosun's Chief Executive, was quoted as saying in the statement. The consortium, which includes two of Fosun's affiliates - Zhaojin Mining and Hainan Mining - will be a strategic long-term shareholder, he added. Kerimov's family also said it had granted the consortium an option to acquire up to an additional 5 percent in the company for $77.6628 per share by the end of May 2018. Polyus shares were down 0.5 percent in Moscow on Wednesday at 4,425 roubles ($77.87). ($1 = 56.8246 roubles) (Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Dmitry Solovyov and Alexander Smith) (Adds Merkel on EBA new home) By Huw Jones LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - The European Union's banking watchdog said a merger with its insurance counterpart would yield few savings as staffing was already cut to the bone in core areas. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said a suggestion by Brussels that it should be merged with the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) in Frankfurt was "unlikely to create significant synergies in the core business" of regulation and supervision. The European Commission has held a public consultation on the future shape of financial supervision in the EU, made more urgent now that the City of London, the bloc's biggest financial market, will be outside the EU in 2019. The Commission aired a "twin peaks" model of centralising capital requirements for banks and insurance at a merged EBA/EIOPA in the German financial capital. Finance industry conduct would be overseen by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in Paris. EBA said there could be savings from a merger in areas where it is understaffed, such as in economic analysis and data management. "However, no material benefit in terms of reduction of costs in corporate functions is envisaged, as resources in these areas are already very slim," EBA Chairman Andrea Enria said in a letter to the Commission. EIOPA said in its response that changes to the supervisory set-up should be assessed "carefully to ensure the continuation of an effective holistic and integrated approach". The London-based EBA must move to another EU state in any because of Brexit and several countries are jostling to become its new home. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Frankfurt was entitled to host the EBA because it was already a major financial centre. "(We feel) predestined to host the European banking supervisor because with Frankfurt, we already have a proper centre," Merkel told a banking conference in Berlin. In its response to the Commission's consultation, ESMA said it wanted a string of new powers, while the EBA and EIOPA called for generally modest additions to their armoury. The EBA said that since the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, which has far greater resources, began supervising banks in the euro zone, the watchdog has suffered a "loss of visibility." "Such arrangements might be reconsidered, as they generate an artificial disconnect between regulatory and supervisory functions," Enria said. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Toby Chopra and Jane Merriman) (Adds Tsakalotos, Moscovici, Schaeuble) By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa FRANKFURT, May 31 (Reuters) - Europe must stop stalling and agree on debt relief measures for Greece on June 15 to revive the only euro zone economy still in recession, European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure said on Tuesday. Coeure, a key ally of ECB President Mario Draghi, weighed forcefully into the debate pitting Greece against countries like Germany and the Netherlands in the run-up to a mid-June meeting of euro zone finance ministers. He backed Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos in arguing that Greece had done what was asked of it under its current bailout programme and that withholding a debt deal would create economic damage by thwarting investment. The Dutch and Germans are reluctant to give Athens any further aid, arguing that a debt deal should be done when it is actually needed, perhaps years down the road, and not now. "Discussions are ongoing, but in my view it is important that an agreement is reached at the Eurogroup meeting on 15 June," Coeure told a conference. He said the ball was in the court of European leaders, who only harm Greece if they delayed further. While haircuts on Greek debt are not under consideration, some reprofiling is possible to lengthen and smooth maturities. Swapping more expensive IMF loans for cheaper debt is also under discussion. Coeure said that if the meeting agreed sufficiently clear measures, to be implemented after the bailout deal is completed next year, this would allow the ECB to consider including Greek bonds in its asset purchase programme - a Holy Grail for Athens, as it would allow it to return to international debt markets. Greece has about 7 billion euros of debt maturing in July, a sum it will not be able to repay unless it gets new loans under its current bailout worth up to 86 billion euros - the third aid programme since its crisis began. SEEKING CLARITY Speaking alongside Coeure, Tsakalotos argued that euro zone officials had a moral obligation to act given that Greece had done its share of the deal and German demands to have the IMF on board but delay debt relief were mutually exclusive. He was critical of the IMF for taking too long to decide whether to take part in the bailout. "What we're asking of the IMF is clarity," Tsakalotos said. "We've only got 14 months of a programme to go. It seems to me that it's time for the IMF to make up its mind on what it wants to do and what it thinks needs to be done." Lending Greece some support, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said he would do everything to conclude Greece's bailout review as soon as possible. "We'll continue in the name of the Commission to stress that all players act responsibly with Greece's 11 million people in mind," Moscovici told the conference in a video message. Resistance from Germany, where a portion of public opinion fears ending up footing the bill for indebted euro zone countries, has been a main stumbling block to agreeing on debt relief for Greece. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble made no reference to debt relief in a welcome message printed in the programme of the event, merely saying the bailout review needed "to be completed quickly" to restore trust in Greece. He argued, instead, that carrying out agreed reforms was the best way for Greece to get back on its feet. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Francesco Canepa and Mark Trevelyan) * Irish government selling 25 percent of state-owned bank * Sale could raise 3 bln euros, price under 5 euro per share * AIB CEO not worried about potential impact of UK election (Adds CEO quotes, details, link to Reuters Breakingviews column) By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - Allied Irish Banks is attracting very significant investor interest as Ireland begins returning the bank it rescued almost a decade ago to private ownership, its chief executive said on Wednesday. One of Ireland's two dominant banks, AIB has been profitable for each of the last three years and is the largest provider of mortgages in the fast-recovering Irish economy. Against this backdrop the Irish government launched its long-awaited initial public offering of AIB on Tuesday, offering a 25 percent stake in what is set to be one of Europe's largest bank listings since the 2008 financial crisis. Dublin, which rescued the bank in a 21 billion-euro taxpayer bailout that began almost a decade ago, has been considering partly cashing out of its 99.9 percent stake for more than a year and the bank has been meeting investors since then. "The combination of a strong Irish economy with a growing European economy as a backdrop and a strong franchise here means that there is very significant investor appetite," AIB chief executive Bernard Byrne told national broadcaster RTE. While a chronic lack of housing could hold lending back, Byrne said investors see AIB's forecast that the overall Irish market will almost double to 10 billion euros in the medium term as an attractive selling point. Byrne said he anticipated that the stake would be sold to a wide variety of institutions who would take a long term view. Irish Finance Minister Noonan declined to say how much Dublin expected to raise, adding this could "give investors traction to push the value down" ahead of the publication of a price range in mid-June Analysts say it could raise around 3 billion euros, based on the bank's book value of 11.3 billion euros at the end of last year and the fact that it has continued to generate capital and resumed dividend payments since. Based on the number of shares outstanding, and allowing for an improvement in the bank's finances in 2017, the price is likely to come in below 5 euro per share, IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, estimated. Noonan said the price could be "driven up a little" if Britain's ruling Conservative party wins a strong majority in a June 8 election. But a poll published shortly after his comments showed they could in fact lose their majority. Byrne sought to play down the risk that the prospect of political deadlock in Britain could rattle investors. "The UK market will value bank stocks based on the markets they operate in, so I think that positive will remain," he said. Bank of America Merrill Lynch , Davy Stockbrokers and Deutsche Bank are global coordinators, while Citigroup , Goldman Sachs , Goodbody Stockbrokers, JPMorgan and UBS are bookrunners on the IPO. Their fees are expected to be between 10 and 13 million euros, a spokesman for the finance department said. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BREAKINGVIEWS-AIB's IPO must balance politics and pragmatism ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Jason Neely and Alexander Smith) (Adds detail, more CEO comment) JOHANNESBURG, May 31 (Reuters) - South Africa's Comair has made a proposal to Botswana to operate a new state airline but is not interested in acquiring Air Botswana, the company's chief executive said. Botswana's transport department invited expressions of interest in February, saying it was open to proposals on various forms of privatisation of the national airline including joint ventures, ownership, franchising and concessions. "We did submit a bid but it was on a different basis, in terms of Comair operating the service for the Botswana government," chief executive Erik Venter told Reuters. "We'd rather start with a fleet and set up a new operation using Comair's back-end infrastructure," Venter said, adding that Air Botswana has "many legacy issues". In March, Transport Minister Kitso Mokaila said at least 17 companies had expressed interest, without naming them. Botswana's largest tourism company, Wilderness Safaris , , this month said it also planned to make a bid for Air Botswana. Comair has vied for Air Botswana before, but in 2008 pulled out of a bidding round that failed to attract successful suitors. Separately, Venter said weak economic growth in South Africa could see the airline postpone the delivery of two of four new aircraft due in 2019, pushing it out as far as 2022. (Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by Joe Brock and David Evans) * Fosun to buy 10 pct stake in Polyus by the end of 2017 * Gets an option for additional 5 pct in Polyus * The deal provides for Polyus' minimum divs for 2017-2021 (Changes source of information after statement from Fosun, adds details on Polyus' dividend payment, context on investment) MOSCOW/HONG KONG, May 31 (Reuters) - A consortium of investors led by China's Fosun International Ltd will buy a 10 percent stake in Russia's top gold producer Polyus for $887 million, they said on Wednesday. Russia, the world's third largest gold producer, has been looking for investments in Asia, mainly in China, since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow due to its role in the Ukraine crisis and the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014. China is the world's top consumer, producer and importer of gold and Chinese companies have been targeting gold mine acquisitions. Fosun, an acquisitive Chinese conglomerate, will buy 12,561,868 Polyus shares for $70.6025 per share from the family of Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov. "We are delighted to enter into this agreement to acquire a significant stake in Polyus," Wang Qunbin, Fosun's Chief Executive, was quoted as saying in Polyus' statement. The consortium, which includes two of Fosun's affiliates - Zhaojin Mining and Hainan Mining - will be a strategic long-term shareholder, he said. The deal is the first major foreign investment for Qunbin who replaced Liang Xinjun as CEO in late March. Liang, who was Fosun's public face for years and was instrumental in driving Fosun's overseas expansion, stepped down in a surprise reshuffle that created uncertainty over the group's strategy. Fosun has been in talks since last year to buy a Polyus stake, sources have said. The deal was announced one day before the start of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, the country's annual event to attract investors. Kerimov's family also said that their firm Polyus Gold International Limited (PGIL) had granted the consortium an option to acquire up to an additional 5 percent in the company for $77.6628 per share by the end of May 2018. Polyus shares were down 0.5 percent in Moscow on Wednesday at 4,425 roubles ($77.87). The price for the initial stake purchase values Polyus at $9.0 billion and the deal is expected to be done by the end of 2017. The agreement also provides for minimum annual dividend payments by Polyus for 2017-2021 at the greater of 30 percent of its full-year core earnings, known as EBITDA, or $550 million for each of 2017, 2018 and 2019 and $650 million for each of 2020 and 2021. Polyus, whose free-float is currently at 6.8 percent, is also considering launching a secondary share offering in London and Moscow in June, sources familiar with the matter have said previously. "PGIL and the consortium committed to cooperate to ensure the company complies with the requirements of the Moscow Exchange where its ordinary shares are listed, as well as the requirements of foreign exchanges where the company's equity securities may be listed in the future," PGIL said. ($1 = 56.8246 roubles) (Reporting by Polina Devitt and Julie Zhu; editing by Alexander Smith and Jane Merriman) BERLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - The German government does not know what U.S. President Donald Trump has decided on the Paris climate agreement, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Axios news outlet reported on Wednesday that Trump had decided to withdraw from the accord. Trump refused to endorse the accord at a G7 summit on Saturday and tweeted that he would make an announcement this week. "Like you I've seen the reports but I don't have any information beyond that," German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer told reporters. "So I can only reiterate the well-known position that the German government unequivocally supports the Paris climate agreement and is campaigning for it to be quickly implemented and hopes the USA remains committed to this agreement," she added. (Reporting by Michelle Martin and Madeline Chambers) The Stockholm arbitration tribunal has upheld Naftogaz Ukrainy's demand to cancel the ban on re-export of gas, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal said. "The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has given its response to questions in dispute concerning the 2009 gas supply contract between Naftogaz and Gazprom... Their position on key issues is as follows: 1) take-or-pay conditions (which account for the lion's share of Gazprom's claims) are canceled in full; 2) the re-export ban is canceled in full; and 3) the price formula is revised from 2014 - the European hub. This is an unambiguous win. Euro-integration remains in force," Zerkal wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. Stuff reports: Christchurch religious leaders have rallied to support Anglican bishop Victoria Matthews in her battle over the Christ Church Cathedral. Eight religious leaders from all the major Christian denominations including Presbyterian, Methodist and Catholic have written a letter to The Press calling for Anglicans to be left to make decisions as to the future of the cathedral. The role of the wider community (including other Christian denominations) is to respect their decision (whatever it might be) as being one that is true to their understanding of their call from God, in this place, at this time, the letter states. The letter states church buildings are primarily places of worship. The costs spiritually, emotionally and financially of all our buildings are borne by those for whom these places of worship are their spiritual home, the letter states. First and foremost the Cathedral in the Square, like all Christian church buildings, is a place of worship to the God we know in Jesus Christ and a reminder to the wider community of Gods presence. The reason why all churches exist is to make Jesus Christ known and to enable people to gather in community and worship. The church is not primarily a landlord tasked with caring for stone or wooden edifices. A guest post by Simon Lusk: Auckland Mayor Phil Goffs targeted rate on accommodation providers is one of the riskiest political moves in New Zealand political history. By charging a small section of the community millions of dollars per year he has created a natural funding stream for his opponents at the 2019 election. From a straight business perspective he has created a powerful incentive for those who will pay the tax to remove him from office. A sensible right wing mayor elected in 2019 would likely remove the targeted rate, so funding a credible right wing candidate would save businesses tens of millions of dollars. Funding a campaign to remove the mayor and councillors who vote for the targeted rate will cost a fraction of the rate. Goffs extensive political experience has not included being directly opposed by a well funded group of people he has personally cost vast amounts of money. If those being forced to pay the targeted rate get moderately organised and fund a sensible right wing candidate over the next two and half years Goff is very, very beatable. So are the councillors, especially the councillors in right wing wards who vote for the targeted rate. Even if Goff is not beaten, a political near death experience caused by angry hoteliers will likely mean Goff is unwilling to increase this rate every year to cover his budget gap. Removing one or two sitting councillors in 2019 will have a similar effect. Councillors will be terrified they will face a well organised and well funded campaign because their vote has cost businesses a very large amount of money. Any industry campaign against Goff and councillors who vote for the targeted rate would be completely legal under the Local Electoral Act. Donations to candidates would have to be declared, but any third party campaign asking voters to vote against Goff and against councillors supporting targeted rates would not have to be disclosed. There are no spending limits for negative campaigns against local government candidates, and the Local Electoral Act does not mention campaigning against candidates, only campaigning for candidates. Goff appears not to have thought through the implications of the targeted rate. It could easily be career ending for him, or leave him with a right wing council for his second term. While the Auckland Mayor has some executive power, a right wing council could prevent him from promoting his agenda a second term. Ukraine's state-owned Sea Trading Port Yuzhny (Odesa region), the country's largest cargo port, in 2017 expects to post EBITDA at UAH 1.078 billion, receiving 2.247 billion in revenue, including UAH 782.5 million in net profit. A respective financial plan was approved at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. According to the explanatory note, profit plans for 2017 increased 8.9% compared to 2016 actual indicators, net income rose by 18.8% and net profit by 34.8%. The 2017 plan provides for 15.1 million tonnes of offloading cargo, which is 22.6% more than recorded in 2016. The total of capital investment during 2017 is UAH 377 million, of which UAH 35 million will be used to build reserve electricity-generating facilities, while UAH 10 million will be spent on railways links and UAH 27 million on reconstruction of the facility's coal and ore complex. Investment in engineering networks and structures will total UAH 15 million. In addition, UAH 138 million is earmarked for the purchase of vehicles for use within the port complex, as well as heavy-lifting machinery. Some UAH 83 million will be funneled into repair works. The ports development fund (including remaining funds from previous years) estimated at UAH 215.47 million and amortization at UAH 161.5 million will be used to fund the projects. Headcount at the port in 2017 is 2,710 people whose salaries have been increased by 0.9% over 2016 levels and account for UAH 14,909. Yuzny Port is the largest port in Ukraine. .It is located on the Adzhalyk firth and is the deepest harbor in Ukraine, located about 30 kilometers east of Odesa. The channel running from the Black Sea to the port is 3.3 kilometers long. The depth of its main berths is 14 meters, with two deep-water berths able to service large vessels (for example Capesize) with a depth of 18.5 meters. Some 24 vessels are able to dock at the port simultaneously. The port's open warehouses measure 185,500 square meters, with closed warehouses measuring 2,000 square meters. The port specializes in offloading free-running cargoes, chemical fertilizers and other types of cargo, including coal, metal, iron ore, palm oil, oil, carbamides, ammonia, methanol, crude oil, and grain. Arizona seventh-grader Olivia Vella choked up as she stood in front of her class last week, delivering a powerful six-minute monologue about the reality of being a teenage girl today. ( ) The 13-year-old openly discussed the struggles young people face during those "awkward" middle school years. The peer pressure to look and act a certain way, the bullying, all the challenges of transitioning into adulthood. "Pick out an outfit that will fit in with the latest trends and won't make you the laughing stock of the school. More than you already are," she said during her presentation, which was shared on Queen Creek Middle School's official Facebook page. "Put on some makeup so you can actually show your face in public so you can be a little bit pretty." The presentation left her class speechless, and the internet in awe. The video of her presentation online has garnered more than 140,000 views as of Tuesday afternoon. Vella said she decided to tackle the issue for her writing class' final assignment which required students to select a topic they feel passionately about and compose their own slam poems pertaining to the topic after getting bullied for getting good grades. "She came to me one day and said, 'Mom, next year I just want to be dumb. Because I want to be like those other girls, I want them to like me.' And it broke my heart," said Olivia's mother, Molly Vella, told CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO. After talking over her feelings with her mother, Vella realized everyone is special in their own way. There is no such thing as "normal." "Popular isn't always a good thing," Vella declared in her poem. "You tell yourself, I just want people to like me. I just want to be accepted. But skipping meals and marking up your wrist isn't going to fix that." Not once did Vella stutter or lose her train of thought throughout the entire presentation. And it made a big impression on viewers. "That was so gut-wrenching and yet beautiful and inspiring at the same time. Extremely powerful words and how it was all memorized without a flaw or stammer or 'um.' I'm in awe!" one woman commented on the Facebook post. "I've always been impressed with this sweet girl. She and all these other middle school kids are definitely enough and so very great as they are." "Wow! Some amazing youth are out there," another added. "Hopefully her peers are listening and really hear her message." After reading hundreds of Facebook comments and hearing feedback from teachers and peers at school, Vella felt a sense of comfort and solidarity. "People I don't even know would say, 'Hey, Olivia, I really liked your monologue and I feel the exact same way.' And it was really eye-opening because I, for most of the time, thought I was the only one that felt this way and I was crazy for feeling it," Olivia told KPHO. While she knows it won't put an end to bullying or peer pressure, she hopes teens, specifically young girls, will take a moment to listen to her message. As she put it: "Society is wrong. You are loved. You are precious. You are beautiful. You are talented. You are capable. You are deserving of respect. You can eat that meal. You are one in 7 billion. And most of all, you are good enough." 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko, who represents Ukraine at the negotiations in the Normandy format in Berlin, has raised a hostage issue as a priority one, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group for the settlement of the situation in Donbas, Iryna Gerashchenko wrote on her Facebook page. "He told his counterparts about the verification conducted by the Ukrainian side, which we completed and about the readiness to agree final lists and the date of release," a report says. "The key thing is the readiness of the other side," Gerashchenko said. Justice Ministry files lawsuit on protection of honor and dignity in connection with Saakashvili's actions Justice Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Petrenko intends to file a lawsuit on the protection of honor and dignity against leader of the political force 'Rukh of the new forces' Mikheil Saakashvili. "I decided to file a lawsuit on all the statements made by this citizen regarding the protection of honor and dignity," Petrenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday. He said that no one has the right to manipulate, lie, use foul language and slide into populism. "Several people's deputies and Saakashvili himself attended this Cabinet [of Justice Minister]. I explained him in a simple manner that it is necessary to file a package of documents in order to receive registration of their party ... I'm so sorry that this political figure ... today has fallen to the level of a bazaar, street man who cursed, tried to provoke a fight, behaved in an inappropriate way," Justice Minister said. Petrenko is convinced that there is no place in the state body for this kind of behavior. "You can not use methods of pressure and demand commiting unlawful acts," the minister said. He also said that Saakashvili "destroyed his reputation by promoting himself." Actor Lee Sang-yun poses during an interview with The Korea Times, at a cafe in Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of J, Wide-Company By Park Jin-hai Actor Lee Sang-yun, who portrayed elite judge Lee Dong-joon in the recently ended SBS legal thriller "Whisper," said he feels relief. "I have taken serious roles in my latest two dramas, without resting in between. Whisper was a particular challenge, because for each scene I had to consume all my mental energy. I felt I was engaged in a war of nerves," he said during an interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday. The 35-year-old actor, who is dubbed a golden boy for his real-life elite background and education at Seoul National University, went outside his comfort zone of softer characters and chose to play a weightier role in this latest drama. "I wanted to take a role which was very different from my previous ones. The whole process of Lee changing to make up for his past mistake was interesting," he said. The once principle-abiding judge gets driven into a corner by people around him to make a wrong choice. Eventually he ends up teaming up with a former detective Shin Young-joo, played by actress Lee Bo-young, to fight the law firm giant Taebaek, which is the origin of all corruption. "Unlike romance dramas I was mostly in, where I just needed to follow the character's feelings and things happen from there, Whisper has a center story and every individual character's story converges into it. So I always had to do my part in the bigger picture and in expanding relationships with other characters. It was something I was not used to," the actor said. Lee, who debuted in 2007 with "Air City," said the drama was a great experience and an opportunity to learn lessons in his acting career. "It was constant communication and coordination with other actors and producers." The drama was very successful, garnering over a 20 percent viewership, topping the Monday and Tuesday drama ratings, but Lee was not free from criticism. "I've preferred acting in a natural and comfortable style. In the first few episodes, some viewers criticized that I was not in touch with my role. Compared with writer Park Kyung-soo's previous lead characters, who carried the drama throughout to the end almost singlehandedly and left a strong image, Lee could look weak," he said. "It was simply a different character, I would say. From the beginning Lee's hands are tied and he is attacked from everywhere." Lee said he feels he has met a turning point in his 10-year acting career. "I think now is the time for me to become deeper and more solid as an actor. But also I feel down and frustrated and think I have a long way to go to become a great actor. I should seek changes for myself this year." Subscribe to the channel of the agency "Interfax-Ukraine" On Wednesday, May 31, at 15.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference entitled "Actions of the State Executive Service destroy the main competitor of Russian space enterprises - Yuzhmash plant about blocking of economic activities of State Enterprise "Production Association Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant named after A.M. Makarov" due to the arrest of the company's accounts and threats to disrupt the contract concluded in April with the company S7 Sea Launch Limited for the production of the Zenit launch vehicle for the Sea Launch and Ground Launch projects. The participants will include Deputy Director of the State Enterprise "Production Association Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant named after A.M. Makarov" Serhiy Zakharchenko, head of the trade union organization of the state enterprise "Production Association Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant named after A.M. Makarov Valeriy Vasiliyev (8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation. Additional information by phone: (050) 858 2161 or at: yeschenko.tetiana@gmail.com (Tetiana Yeschenko). "Moment" by Shin Hyun-ji B Project / Courtesy of Ballet Festival Korea By Yun Suh-young The seventh annual Ballet Festival Korea will begin June 8 this year and be held for two weeks until June 25. The festival will be staged in three different venues of the Seoul Arts Center _ Opera Theater, CJ Towol Theater and the Jayu Theater. This year, the festival sees more pieces by male choreographers and a wider variety of social themes that can resonate with the younger generation. The festival will open with "This is Modern" by Universal Ballet which will run from June 8 through 10. It will feature three pieces including Jiri Kylian's "Petite Mort," Ohad Naharin's "Minus 7" and Remondo Rebeck's "White Sleep." "This year's program is organized based on popular pieces by foreign choreographers. Petite Mort is a classical piece using Mozart's music which was met with positive reviews at the Salzburg Festival on the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death, while Minus 7 interprets Israel's nationalism from a Western perspective. White Sleep is a new piece by German choreographer Remondo Rebeck who sends a philosophical message through the performance," said Kim Sei-young, PR representative of Universal Ballet, during a press conference last week. "The Last Exit" by Wise Ballet Theater and "Ahn Jung-geun, a Dance in the Heaven" by M Ballet Company will be performed on June 13 and 14 as well as "Moment" by Shin Hyun-ji B Project and "Black Swan Lake" by Luda Lee Black Toe Project. "'The Last Exit' was inspired by a recent TV series 'Misaeng' which was about the hierarchy in Korean office culture, the discrimination against women, the unequal treatment of contract workers, and the abnormal hoesik (after-work dinner) culture. We wanted to spotlight the pain and sorrow of the temporary contract workers in our society," said choreographer Hong Sung-wook. Choreographer Moon Byung-nam of M Ballet Company said, "'Ahn Jung-geun, a Dance in the Heaven' poses a question of whether people these days know about Ahn's philosophy," while Shin Hyun-ji of Shin Hyun-ji B Project said, "'Moment' is a great opportunity for the audience to understand dance photography and the making of it. They will be able to interact with the producers of the program." Lee Lu-da of Luda Lee Black Toe Project whose last year's "Black Swan Lake" sold out, said, "If last year was a black and white concept, this year's color is red, symbolizing desire and power. The R in red stands for reality as well. The black swan will be portrayed in red but as a symbol of society. I hope it will resonate with the public." On June 16, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" will be performed by Seoul Ballet Theatre and the Ballet Gala performance will take place on June 17 and 18 by the Korean National Ballet. Also on June 17 and 18, "Step by Step" by Kim Yong-geol Dance Theater and "The Ordinary Men" by Dark Circles Contemporary Dance will take place at the Jayu Theater. "Step by Step was initially supposed to be a story about me but since I had a calf injury, I changed the concept. It's a story of a ballerina who retired at the age of 38. She wanted to be the prima ballerina but retired as a group dancer. It's a portrait of us. We want success and fame but only one person ends up as the protagonist and the rest are in the shadows," said choreographer Kim Yong-geol. "When you seek success defined by others, you'll end up feeling hopeless. But what is the meaning of success? Why do we have to be number one? We can be happy as who we are. I hope this message is delivered to the audience through a ballerina's life." "The Ordinary Men" by Dark Circles Contemporary Dance is another socially-conscious piece. "It's about the intense life of modern day people. Whereas they want to hide their uniqueness, they also want to deviate from an ordinary life. Various genres of music such as soft rock and electric music will be played during the performance," said choreographer Jo Hyun-sang. Programs by guest choreographers are also in the lineup. Jo Ju-hyun and Kim Seh-yun's "Accompany" and "Death Song" will be performed on June 19 and 20. Closing the festival will be "Spartacus" by Korean National Ballet, which will be performed from June 23 through 25. Special events are also available during the festival period. Ballet classes for beginners are offered by ballerina Kim Ji-young on June 3 and ballerino Uhm Jae-yong on June 10 and lectures on ballet will be offered as a three-part series beginning with ballerino-turned-photographer Kim Kyoung-sik on June 7, ballerina-turned-choreographer Kim Seh-yun on June 8 and rehabilitation trainer Park Tae-soon on June 10. For more information, visit www.bafeko.com or call 02) 580-1300. Ci Kim's installation "Untitled" (2017) features abandoned mannequins and is on display at the Play the Fool exhibit at Arario Gallery Cheonan. / Courtesy of Arario Gallery By Kwon Mee-yoo CHEONAN A cluster of mannequins covered in cement greet visitors to the Arario Gallery Cheonan. Some mannequins wear bizarre makeup and wigs like clowns, while others wear hats and sunglasses. At the very front stands an anatomical skeleton model in a doctor's gown. The skeleton has an ID card that says Ci Kim, the artist who created the exhibit. Ci Kim, also known as Kim Chang-il, is a self-made millionaire entrepreneur, avid art collector and self-taught artist. This is Kim's ninth solo exhibit, which provides a glimpse of his ever challenging spirit and passion to explore materials around him. He is known for gathering wealth from running a stall inside a bus terminal in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, and owns a department store, multiplex and art galleries and museums, which generate around 350 billion won in total annually. Kim is a man of construction. He built the department store as well as three galleries in operation in Seoul, Cheonan and Shanghai and museums in Seoul and Jeju Island. His museums have unique atmospheres as he purchased the iconic office building of the Space Architectural Firm and turned it into an art museum and revamped an abandoned cinema house and motels into museums on Jeju. For his ninth solo exhibit, Kim brought construction materials such as concrete and iron bars into the gallery. "I have built buildings, museums and restaurants and such architectural elements influence my work," Kim said. Artist and collector Ci Kim stands next to his work "Untitled" at Arario Gallery Cheonan. / Courtesy of Arario Gallery Kim said he was unsociable as a child. "I thought I wouldn't fit in society because I had this inferiority complex and fear of death. Such thoughts of life and death and being abandoned still affect my work," he said. "These mannequins were thrown out from the department store. I used cement to give them new life. The skeleton doctor represents me as the artist." He previously used unusual art materials such as tomatoes and iron. He pursues natural phenomenon such as rust eating iron or tomatoes rotting in his work. "Those materials are not perfectly controllable. I think such traits are natural and they go well with me." His latest work on canvas reveals the inner structure of the canvas. "It began out of curiosity. I didn't like my enamel painting on corrugated cardboard and tore it off. When it revealed the ribbing inside the paper, it rather complemented my work," Kim explained. So he expanded the art to traditional canvas. However, his thoughts on the identity of art continue. "Is a well made painting a good painting? The torn part reflects my worries, but I don't want to erase this process out. So I accept them as the end product." He also puts much effort in designing the exhibition space. "Exhibition gives depth to the space and it is very different from seeing the artworks in my studio. Displaying my works allows me to experience a whole new space and time," Kim said. "For me, art is like a rainbow. It's beautiful and everyone can see it. I collect art and exhibit it to share the impression of art," Kim said. "There is no hierarchy or conflict in art. I wish the visitors will enjoy and play with the artworks at my exhibition." The exhibit runs through Oct. 15. For more information, visit www.arariogallery.com or call 041-551-5100. By Nam Hyun-woo Allianz Life Korea Chief Financial Officer Sun Lei will become the insurer's new head, a source said Wednesday. According to the source, Sun will replace current CEO Joos Louwerier, who has been leading the company since February last year. Sun has been serving in the CFO post since November 2013, after working at Allianz China Life for more than four years. The source said the company is expected to announce the leadership shuffle soon. Anbang Group Holdings acquired 100 percent stake in the Seoul-based insurer from Allianz, the German-based insurance giant, last year. Anbang Group Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of China's insurance titan Anbang Insurance Group. Allianz Life Korea plans to change its name to ABL this summer. Dilip Sundaram, chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ICCK) and president of Mahindra Korea, poses for a photo during an interview with The Korea Times. / Courtesy of Mahindra Korea/ ICCK By Kim Ji-soo Dilip Sundaram, chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, said India offers a great hedge for Korea, as turbulent geopolitics heightens uncertainty to the export-led Korean economy. Yet this possibility needs to be better grasped by Korea, he said. "Exchange between South Korea and India stands at about 17 to 18 billion dollar as of 2016," said Sundaram, who also heads Mahindra Korea, part of Mahindra & Mahindra, which owns Ssangyong Motor. "To a certain extent, we're all slightly disappointed at this point that it is stagnating. Both countries have to work hard to grow this." In the past several years, the relationship between the two countries has taken some vital steps. The two countries in 2015 upgraded their ties to "Special Strategic Partnership," and back in 2010 launched a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which will continue to be upgraded. Experts and policymakers have increasingly touted India as vital to diversifying Korea's trade market, dependent on China and the United States but compounded over the row caused by China's opposition to the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery here. But Sundaram said Korean businesses need to show more "yamang" (the Korean word for ambition, will) in addition to "somang" (desire) for the Indian market. "Korean companies have somang, but not yamang," Sundaram said. "Every time I meet people interested in India, ultimately Koreans choose to go to China." He personally saw it as Korean businesses' tendency to do things in the most convenient and familiar way. "Also, Korean culture is such that they want to do business with friends, so they are very focused on building relationships and I think it is easier for Korean people to build relationships with Chinese rather than Indians," he said. He sharply pointed out that he has noticed how Western companies come to India to make money and in the process make friends, while it may well be neither for Korean firms. Sundaram said it may be difficult for Korean businessmen to sometimes correctly grasp the nuances in Indian speech, among other things. But as ties between Korea and India remain extremely cordial, Sundaram once again stressed the merits of investing in and doing business with India. "First and foremost, India is the fastest-growing economy in the world today at 7.5 percent growth, and second is that India has the largest middle class (around 300 million to 450 million), which means tremendous market potential," he said. Sundaram also added that India at federal and state levels provides the best investment incentives, and most importantly, the success stories of Korean companies such as Hyundai that has the second-highest market share in India and the dominance of Samsung and LG should all point to more Korean firms advancing into the Indian market. The recent announcement of Kia Motors to build its first production plant in Andhra Pradesh, India, Sundaram notes, is a positive endorsement of Indian Prime Minister Modi's "Make in India" strategy, and something that Korea should take more advantage of. Another such endorsement is the two countries signing a memorandum of understanding in April to cooperate in shipbuilding for military use. . With the new government in Korea ready to set sail, Sundaram said he hopes the new coming Korean government puts Delhi-Seoul bilateral ties high on the priority list. Also, as a global business leader, much of his career has been focused on chaos and turmoil, which he is accustomed to transforming to profitability. A chartered accountant by training who earned his MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in the United States, Sundaram joined Mahindra in 2010. Mahindra acquired Ssangyong Motor, a troubled Korean automaker at that time in 2011. This February, the company announced a profit for the first time in nine years: 58.1 billion won in 2016, up from a loss of 61.9 billion won. Korea's third-largest SUV maker unveiled its new car, the G4 Rexton, the pre-sales orders of which stood at 3,500 as of April 14. "Mahindra demonstrated values: the first and foremost was respect for local management, and at SsangYong we definitely did not change the management and we continued with the management. And it was a Korean management. The way we looked at it was that If Koreans don't know Korea who would know that?' We did not display arrogance that we know Korea better than Koreans. The second thing is that we did not treat labor as enemies, but as partners and we have worked closely with them," he said. Also, Mahindra invested in the future, he added. "We brought to the table fundamental values respect for the local management, culture and labor," which should serve as a successful role model for any acquisitions overseas especially in Korea. One of the hardest things to deal with while doing in business in Korea however is labor negotiations, Sundaram admitted. "We have to negotiate every year. Every two years is the major one and the alternate year is the minor one," he said, which means a businesses's May and June is practically gone. He added that compared with other comprehensive systems of labor negotiations, which may take place once every three to five years, it was one inefficiency he would like to point out. Before joining Mahindra & Mahindra, he worked at various companies including ArvinMeritor, United Technologies Corporation and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. As a global business leader, he said he learns through both successes and failures and learns till this day. "When I had my failures, it was first when I had not paid attention to my instincts. The second reason is that I have not assessed the local situation correctly," he said. He advised that courage was required for the first one, and patience for the latter. He wants to further serve a positive role in enabling other businesses of the Mahindra Group to come to Korea and more bilateral exchanges between Korea and India in such sectors as shipping, defense and services. "Shipping in the next couple of years may decline in Korea ... while India is trying to upgrade its shipping industry," he said, explaining that India needs help not only in shipbuilding but in other ancillary manufacturing for example as in marine engineering and ship repair. He said he was excited about Korea's Kangnam Corporation, which will help Goa Shipyard Limited, a state-owned company, build 12 mine countermeasure vessels for $5.5 billion. Group aims to foster 1,000 digital leaders in 3 years By Kim Jae-kyoung Cho Yong-byoung SINGAPORE Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung has vowed to revamp his firm's business model and create an innovative platform to win a "digital battle" triggered by fintech and other technologies. He believes that a digital strategy putting services "online and mobile" will be key to the fate of Shinhan because it will not only help the group protect its leadership in the Korean market but also provide an impetus for its expansion drive in Asia. "Digitalization won't bring tangible results in the short term but it is crucial to ensure sustainable growth in the future," Cho said in an interview during a recent visit to Singapore as part of his first Asian tour to meet with global investors since his inauguration March 23. "We aim to speed up a shift to full digitalization this year by building a strong digital culture, undertaking a customer experience-driven digitization of core banking processes and embracing fintech startups as collaborators," he added. Cho, who led the group's flagship Shinhan Bank for two years before taking the helm of the group, said that digitalization was one of the key interests among global investors he met in Singapore. "Their prime interest was our dividend policy but they also showed great interest in our digitalization and globalization strategy," he said. "They wanted to know whether new investments in these areas can bring stable results to the group, which they believe could affect dividend payouts," he said. In order to embrace full-blown digitalization, Cho said that he will place top priority on building digital DNA in the company's corporate culture by bringing in more digital experts. "Securing digital talent is crucial to adapt to the rapidly-changing market environment," he said. "We are aggressively hunting for outside experts while educating staff to become digital leaders." In early April, he hired Bain & Company's digital expert Cho Young-suh to head Shinhan's Digital Strategy Team. He is in charge of planning digital strategy, creating a new business model and advancing into overseas markets with digital tech and networks. In late April, the group formed an alliance with Korea University to open a digital financial engineering course to improve the digital capabilities of its executives and staff. "We plan to secure a total of 1,000 digital talents across the group, including 100 core experts with a digital financial engineering degree, in three years," he said. "In particular, we plan to expand investment in fostering talents with capabilities to harness new technologies such as artificial intelligence, an open API (application programming interface), big data and blockchain." The head of the nation's most profitable financial group is also seeking to build a new platform to meet consumers' needs in more effective and cost-efficient ways. "We aim to build a digital platform providing differentiated experiences that enable consumers to take advantage of simpler, faster and more convenient services," he said. "Digitalization will help raise productivity by improving efficiency and making our staff focus on more value-added work," he added. Cho, who also served as the CEO of Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management, said the ultimate goal is to provide a comprehensive financial service under a single digital platform by pushing for a "One-App, One-Portal" strategy. "Equipped with unique skills of UX (user experience) and UI (user interface), we are seeking to bring innovative changes to consumer services and a paradigm shift to the industry," he said. Digital supports globalization According to Cho, Shinhan's digital strategy is also designed to support its expansion drive in Asia. He believes that by harnessing the power of technology and the prevalence of smart mobile devices, the group can expand its customer base abroad without the need for an extensive physical branch network. "The group's digital transformation will provide an opportunity to develop new markets abroad," he said. "We will pursue global expansion using a domestic digital business model based on ties with ICT companies. This will reduce the time and resources that have been used to extend the physical branch network," he added. Sunny Bank in Vietnam, a mobile banking service launched in December 2015, is a good example. More than 40,000 Vietnamese have signed up for the mobile service since its debut. In Vietnam, Shinhan has become the largest foreign lender with the highest number of branches after recently acquiring the retail banking arm of ANZ. According to Cho, the best strategy to be better off in the digital era is to create a win-win ecosystem with ICT companies by embracing fintech start-ups and non-bank players. "I don't see the entry of fintech firms and other ICT players into the financial industry as a threat or the emergence of new competitors," he said. "Combining banking with technologies will provide an opportunity for Korea's financial industry to offer better services and take a leap forward," he added. Shinhan is currently cooperating with over 40 technology companies through the Shinhan Future's Lab introduced in May 2015 to promote business ties between its affiliates and firms. In 2016, it also opened the Future's Lab in Vietnam as the first step to build a fintech belt in Asia. By Seo Tae-jong The historic Brexit referendum was approved by voters on June 23, 2016. This unexpected result drove world leading financial companies in London to worry that Brexit would cost London its hub status and to announce that they will look for cities that could replace London for their operations. While Paris, Frankfurt and Dublin have all been thought to be contenders, each of them has touted itself as the most appropriate alternative for London. These cities recognize that being Europe's financial hub can earn them an enormous profit and additional benefits, so it can be said that war without gunfire has already started among them. Korea came to take part in a global competition earlier in 2003 by creating a "Northeast Asia Financial Hub Road Map" and promoting policies for establishing itself as a financial hub. After that, "the Creation and Development of Financial Hubs Act" was enacted in late 2007, and the Financial Hub Korea (Fn Hub Korea) was set up at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) in September 2008. On the frontline of global competition, the Fn Hub Korea promotes the entry of foreign financial companies and business operations into Korea. Furthermore, the Fn Hub Korea exerts every effort to address difficulties and complaints of foreign financial firms and also provides living assistance, such as an immigration service. In addition, the Fn Hub Korea particularly focuses its capabilities on providing financial firms with a business-friendly market environment. For example, the Fn Hub Korea holds an annual event called "FSS Speaks," which is to offer explanations about how the FSS will supervise and inspect foreign financial companies. The Fn Hub Korea also hosts meetings between the FSS Governor and CEOs of foreign financial institutions on a regular basis. Plus, the Fn Hub Korea operates diversified channels to communicate with financial firms and visits businesses if necessary to understand what impediments the firms encounter in Korea. When it comes to the complaints and suggestions from foreign financial firms, the FSS responds to them at once or reflects on their problems later. Indeed, the FSS relaxed Chinese wall regulations and permitted outsourcing of data processing to offshore IT companies, as foreign companies had consistently asked. Furthermore, the FSS has swiftly accepted report filings on ancillary and concurrent businesses of banks. These regulatory improvements have been receiving positive remarks to date. Meanwhile, the Fn Hub Korea jointly hosts "Global Companies Job Fair" with Seoul Metropolitan Government with aims to improve business and living conditions for people from abroad and help foreign financial companies find and hire domestic talent. Furthermore, the Fn Hub Korea has published various reference materials, including a financial transaction guidebook and manuals for immigration and living in Korea. Thanks to these efforts, foreign financial companies which have operations in Korea came to 168 at the end of 2016, about 30 percent greater than the 130 at the end of 2003. The amount of Korean stocks held by foreign investors significantly increased 236 percent from 143 trillion won to 481 trillion won between 2003 and 2016. These indicate that Korea's financial globalization has considerably improved. The FSS will continue to attempt to push forward necessary policies on developing Korea into a financial hub. First of all, the FSS will greatly improve communication with foreign financial companies. Second, it will do its utmost to create more transparent business and regulatory environments comparable to those of advanced economies, providing the financial ecosystem where fair competition is available. In particular, the FSS is going to improve financial regulations to make them consistent with global standards. At the same time, it will work hard to establish a new financial regulatory paradigm to brace for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including fin-tech and information technology. To this end, the FSS will make a shift in our supervisory framework from ex-ante supervision to ex-post supervision. Moreover, it will pave the way for foreign financial companies to introduce new products based on creativity and autonomy. The FSS will also strive to create a business-friendly environment to facilitate the entry of foreign financial companies into the Korean market by boosting cross-border transactions and attracting global floating money, seeking a new source of income. The FSS expects that its tireless efforts will pay off sooner or later, encouraging more foreign companies to start businesses in Korea. It hopes that both consumers and market players can enjoy benefits of Korea's development into a global financial hub. The author is First Senior Deputy Governor at the Financial Supervisory Service. By Yoon Ja-young Reducing the number of irregular workers is one of the key goals in President Moon Jae-in's job policy. It is based on the belief that low-paying and unstable irregular jobs have left households with little room for spending and thereby made the economy lose steam, not to mention aggravated social polarization. The expansion of the so-called "gig economy," however, may pose a new challenge to President Moon's job policy as businesses avoid hiring regular workers. The term comes from U.S. jazz musicians in the 1920s. For a concert of a jazz vocalist, jazz players would be hired to do the "gig job." The gig economy has come under the spotlight after the introduction of online platforms like Uber and Airbnb. These digital intermediary services only connect customers with services. Uber, for instance, doesn't hire drivers. Those working with Uber provide taxi service with their own cars, working only when they want and where there is demand for the service. Park Byung-keun, a researcher at KT Economics and Management Research Institute, notes in a report the gig economy already existed in Korea, citing a chauffeur service for drunk drivers as an example. When an individual customer calls the platform company, a chauffeur who is available is connected. The concept of the gig economy has expanded, now including any kind of freelancers or those working temporarily. Developed countries around the world have been witnessing the gig economy expand. According to McKinsey Global, these independent workers make up between 20 and 30 percent of the working population in the United States and Europe. Pew Research Center also reports that 8 percent of U.S. adults in 2015 earned money through digital platforms like Uber, taking on a job or task. The jobs were as diverse as one can imagine. Babysitting, editing, freelancer writing, home repair, moving furniture, legal services, personal online secretary, tutoring, offering parking, energy brokering and IT consulting were among the list. The biggest merit of the gig economy lies in flexibility. Some people may want to work freelance as they prefer flexible working hours. Those who support the idea also say it allows more people to get jobs. However, there is consensus the gig economy leads to lower wages. According to Pew Research Center, young people under 30 were more likely to get work via online gig platforms than elderly people. The ratio was also higher among blacks and Latinos than with whites. Households with lower income or people with less education were also more likely to get a gig job. "The gig job is concentrated on the laborers who have no stable income. In other words, most of the gig work is part-time-level jobs. It means the gig work usually provides insufficient income for living," Park said. "Though there are positive aspects, we can't deny the gig economy is a byproduct of fewer stable jobs and a widening economic gap." The gig economy may also provide businesses pretext to avoid hiring regular employees. Businesses have already been actively outsourcing manpower, which freed them from diverse responsibilities as employers or argument whether they are paying fair. They have gone beyond subcontractor companies. Now individual freelance workers get their orders. The increase of gig workers who are not protected by traditional labor laws may pose a new challenge for the Moon administration which pledged to decrease irregular workers. "Though irregular workers take less than 35 percent of waged workers in statistics, vulnerable workers constitute a much bigger portion when including indirectly employed workers or those at the borderline. The form of employment has become so diverse," said Chang Ji-yeun, a senior fellow at the Korea Labor Institute. She cited independent contractors who work as tutors, insurance salespeople and deliverers as example. Many of the independent contractor jobs are not categorized as laborers by law and are not included in social insurance schemes. Pointing out that current job categorization doesn't fully reflect the rapidly changing labor market or diversification in employment, she stressed there should be expanded protection for workers. "An active labor market policy has become more crucial than ever," she said. "The most difficult task is how to provide job security." By Park Hyong-ki The government is expected to announce a package of steps to take the steam out of overheating apartment prices in Seoul, officials and analysts said Monday. Steps would include tightening banks' loan assessment and qualification metrics of debt-to-income (DTI) and loan-to-value (LTV), while expanding the use of the debt-to-service ratio, according to officials. During his confirmation hearing last week, Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon said the government needs to apply a stricter standard for bank loans to break a vicious cycle of people borrowing more to repay their debt. He also said the Moon Jae-in government will bring down the aggregate of household debt to a suitable level, even at the cost of negatively affecting the construction sector. Analysts say the government would need to retighten the LTV and DTI measures to slow down the debt whose increase rate has exceeded that of household income. "It would have to consider applying stricter LTV and DTI rules at least in southern Seoul and other areas that are showing signs of overheating," said Jean Lim, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Finance. He said the former government made the wrong move by deregulating the two metrics to spur the real estate market, saying that this has done more harm than good amid changing demographics. SK Securities analyst An Young-jin also said the Moon government is unlikely to maintain the former government's real estate deregulation. Given that the President's top priority is bringing stability to households and workers, the government needs to push efforts to stabilize debt and the real estate market. "Stabilizing the debt to a suitable level does not mean it would want to control and bring down real estate prices. Rather, it seeks to stabilize the debt by preventing a potential bubble from bursting, and breaking the vicious cycle of debt repayment with debt," An said. He noted that about 70 percent of household capital is tied to real estate assets. "As the government seeks growth driven by households and workers, trying to bring prices down would cause negative side effects to their assets." Seoul's apartment prices increased 0.3 percent on average last week, according to Real Estate 114. This marked the highest increase in seven months. Compared to a 0.03 percent increase in late April, prices jumped 10-fold amid expectations for the new government and its urban policies. Moon suggested during his campaign he would push for the restoration and renovation of aging urban areas for the middle and lower class as part of his New Deal policy. This included investing 10 trillion won annually over the next five years to redevelop more than 2,200 areas that have deteriorated. More than 300 places in Seoul could be up for redevelopment. The President seeks to create 390,000 jobs through this policy. "This could be viewed more in line with the president's priority to bring stability to households and workers, along with the administration's debt management," SK Securities analyst An said. Chef Ki Soon-do, center, presents her family recipe for jang,' a traditional Korean fermented sauce, at a culture event in Singapore, Friday. To her left are Korean restaurant owner Vivian Han and East Asia Cultural Project Chairman Kim Sang-woo. / Courtesy of East Asia Cultural Project By You Soo-sun Korean cuisine was introduced at a cultural event held in Singapore, Wednesday through Friday. The Singaporean government hosted the event, "Essence of Korean Cuisine Culture," as a way of exploring the traditions of Korean cuisine and its future in the Singaporean market. The event was a collaborative effort by South Jeolla Province and Daesang Chungjungwon, Korea's 60-year-old food brand that has been expanding in the overseas market. Madam Ki Soon-do, famous for her Korean-style soy sauce, and Vivian Hahn, owner of modern Korean restaurant Congdu, were major contributors at the event. South Jeolla Province, widely recognized for having Korea's best cuisine, introduced its organic dishes, made with ingredients straight from the region's soil, sea and mountains. Its regional products include tea from Haenam, bamboo liquor from Damyang and sun-dried bay salt. The region is home to Madam Ki Soon-do, known as the best producer of "jang" in Korea. "Jang" means fermented food, a term used to describe Korean-style sauces like soy sauce and spicy sauces that are fermented for a richer taste. Ki presented how her family business has maintained its quality over the past 360 years. At the event, four types of fermented sauces including Madam Ki's soy sauce were presented. The most popular program at the event was Madam Ki's class, which taught participants how to make three types of jang and their varieties. Congdu owner Vivian Hahn also gave a lecture on the basics of Korean cuisine and shared recipes for modern style Korean food. This event was hosted by e2i under Singapore's National Trades Union Congress, supervised by the East Asia Cultural Project, sponsored by South Jeolla Province and funded by Daesang Chungjungwon. Calligrapher Kang Byung-in, left in the front row, CICI President Choi Jung-wha, center, and New Zealand Ambassador to Korea Clare Fearnley, fourth from left in the front row, pose during the Korea CQ Forum at the residence of the ambassador in Yongsan, Seoul, last Tuesday. / Courtesy of CICI By Kim Jae-heun Kang Byung-in, an esteemed Korean calligrapher and head of "Sooltong," a Korean calligraphy institute, held a lecture and demonstration promoting his original calligraphy art, with diplomats in Seoul, last Tuesday. Kang is well known for his calligraphy design "Chamisul" for soju, Korean distilled liquor, as well as titles for TV series, such as "The Great King Sejong," "Jeong Do Jeon" and "Misaeng." During the lecture, Kang spoke about how he learned to develop the traditional calligraphy art into a modern style by visualizing the words' vocalization. "Korean letters take their shape from the human vocal apparatus and my calligraphy takes its idea from visualizing the sounds of words into images," said Kang at the Corea Quotient (CQ) forum held at the residence of New Zealand Ambassador Clare Fearnley in Yongsan, Seoul. "It is quite different from traditional calligraphy, particularly in how I play with the shapes of vowels and consonants of a word." Kang added that the traditional brushes he uses help him craft his calligraphy to express energy and style in various ways. "In Asia, we use brushes to write, and the different thickness of each tool gives unique feelings through brushstrokes," said Kang. After his demonstration session, Kang invited the ambassadors to practice Korean calligraphy. New Zealand Ambassador Fearnley, Turkish Ambassador Arslan Hakan Okcal, Brazilian Ambassador Luis Fernando Serra and Latvian Ambassador Peteris Vaivars participated in the event. Korea CQ, organized by Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), is designed to share cultural experiences and promote Korea's brand abroad. It invites culture experts from different sectors to share their expertise. Some of the events include taking diplomats on visits to cultural sites to learn about Korean culture. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin has condemned the explosion in Kabul, which led to numerous victims. "I condemn the brutal attack in the diplomatic district of Kabul. Deep condolences to the families and friends of the deceased, the speedy recovery to the wounded," Klimkin wrote on Twitter. The explosion took place in the Kabul area on Wednesday morning, where foreign embassies and the presidential palace are located. A motor vehicle with explosives was detonated near the German embassy. The number of victims of the explosion was 80 people with more than 300 injured. A private German aid agency has started a new project to help North Koreans, especially farmers, in the country's western provinces, a U.S. broadcaster said Wednesday. Welthungerhilfe (World Hunger Aid) has secured a US$1.45 million fund necessary for the project from the European Union, Voice of America said, citing the agency's spokeswoman Simone Pott. The core of the project is to teach residents in Pyongan and Hwanghae Provinces to make compost, manage weeds and increase livestock production, as well as to improve sanitation and nutrition, the broadcaster said. "The project, which will run until February 2020, will benefit some 2,000 households at collective farms and some 300 people working in social welfare organizations, including hospitals and kindergartens there, the broadcaster said. Welthungerhilfe has worked in the North since 1997, spending tens of millions of dollars on projects designed to improve food, sanitation and water supply. At present, the agency is actively carrying out projects to produce vegetable seeds, manage greenhouses and prepare for disasters. (Yonhap) By Park Si-soo Two North Koreans were found dead in a hotel in Moscow on Saturday, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday. They were found in different rooms but the cause of their deaths appears the same: acute heart failure. Their names, jobs or purpose of visit to Moscow are unknown. Police are reportedly investigating, but no further information is available. Flowers sent by adoptee support organizations are lined up in commemoration of Phillip Clay, a deported adoptee. His funeral was held at Myongji University Hospital, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, after his alleged suicide on May 21. / Courtesy of Simone Eun Mi By You Soo-sun Adoptees struggle to find mental assistance in Korea, where it is practically nonexistent for those who have returned to their birth country after spending decades overseas. The lack of attention has allegedly led to dramatic results in the last two weeks one deported adoptee, Phillip Clay, committed suicide, May 21; another is locked up at a detention center in Seoul awaiting his trial set for Friday. Both suffered from mental anxiety and other problems that were not adequately addressed. The cases of these two adoptees bring to light the failures of the existent system in meeting their diverse needs. Korea Adoption Services, an organization directly under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, has worked with both of these men, but says it is extremely difficult to assist them under the current system. While adoptees have sought out medical assistance, their needs have largely been unnoticed or ignored. Helen Ko began working for Korea Adoption Services just last year, becoming the first caseworker at the organization to assist adoptees directly. But she found it extremely challenging to find the services they require. Even the systems that are in place in the nation are not readily available for use by adoptees. The language barrier is especially problematic. "Even among minority groups, adoptees are the least powerful," said Ko. As a community lacking power in size and resources, their needs have gone unmet. Adoption has damaging consequences in general. Adoptees face a higher likelihood to commit or attempt suicide and are more susceptible to other problems such as alcohol abuse, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and psychiatric hospitalization according to Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A'.L) which referenced a number of studies from Sweden. Security forces are seen in front of the German Embassy after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday. / AP-Yonhap By Park Si-soo The Korean Embassy in Afghanistan's capital Kabul was damaged in a powerful car bomb explosion on Wednesday that killed at least 80 and injured more than 350, according to Korea's foreign ministry. The shockwave broke windows and damaged ceilings of the embassy and employee residence, a foreign ministry official told The Korea Times, adding all embassy staffers are safe. Twenty-five Korean citizens living in the city are also safe. The French and German embassies were also damaged in the explosion. The blast happened in the Wazir Akbar Khan district -- a highly secure area of the capital that is home to many embassies, diplomatic missions -- during rush hour when roads are packed with commuters, Afghanistan's interior ministry said. The bomb appeared to have gone off close to a busy intersection in the district, the interior ministry's deputy spokesman said, but he did not have a more precise location. The attack is one of the most serious in the Afghan capital for several months, according to Reuters. "There has been some material damage in the French embassy, as well as in the German embassy," Marielle de Sarnez, France's European affairs minister, told Europe 1 radio, according to Reuters. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly blast. EU Ambassador Michael Reiterer shows his electric car to journalists after a press conference at the offices of the European Union Delegation to Korea on Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Woo Ji-won By Woo Ji-won The European Union delegation in South Korea will hold the "Eurovillage: A Green Bridge to Europe!" event in downtown Seoul this weekend to showcase its concerted efforts to combat climate change and promote cultural diversity. The event, which will be held at Seoul's first overpass-turned-park-- Seoullo 7017-- is part of the delegation's programs to celebrate World Environment Day, which falls on June 5. EU Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Michael Reiterer, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and other VIP guests will attend the event's opening ceremony on Saturday. "Giving a road back to the citizens that was taken away by cars is obviously a very strong symbol to make the city greener," Reiterer told reporters in a media briefing at the delegation's office in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Wednesday, referring to Seoullo 7017 that opened on May 20. "We decided to support Seoul and make sure that the EU cooperates with Korea, and show that climate change is real by holding this Eurovillage event." South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday ordered a special probe into what the presidential office called the secret or undisclosed entry of four rocket launchers into the country under the U.S. missile defense program deployed here, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said. "President Moon was briefed on such facts by National Security Office (NSO) chief Chung Eui-yong and said it was very shocking," Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan said at a press briefing. The president then called Defense Minister Han Min-koo to confirm the delivery of the four rocket launchers into the country, Yoon added. Han confirmed, also admitting he had prior knowledge. The Cheong Wa Dae official said the equipment in question came in addition to two launchers that have been authorized and deployed as part of the THAAD missile defense system. The defense ministry, however, failed to disclose the entry of the additional equipment to the new government despite its report to Moon's de facto power transition team last week, Yoon noted. "President Moon ordered his senior secretary for civil affairs and the NSO chief to find the truth behind the unauthorized entry of the four rocket launchers," he said. Yoon said the probe will also seek to find out who authorized the undisclosed entry of the additional U.S. weapons, and why it had never been disclosed. "President Moon also ordered to find the truth about why it (the unauthorized equipment) has never been reported to the people or the new government." Moon has remained critical of the deployment of the U.S. missile defense system, though he has yet to take any action against the U.S. defense assets installed in the small southeastern county of Seongju, located some 300 kilometers from Seoul. The president earlier cited what he called a procedural flaw in the government decision to allow the deployment of the U.S. defense system here, insisting the former Seoul government should have secured parliamentary approval. The press secretary noted there were suspicions of an attempt to avoid social and political scrutiny over the possible impact the rocket launchers could have on the environment. (Yonhap) The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday it confirmed the defense ministry had intentionally omitted the delivery of additional THAAD launchers in a recent briefing. Yoon Young-chan, chief presidential press secretary, said that the finding came after an investigation into several ministry officials, including the deputy minister for policy. A day earlier, President Moon Jae-in expressed his frustration and ordered a probe into why the delivery of four additional launchers of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system was not disclosed. "Yesterday (Tuesday), Cheong Wa Dae called in several defense officials and intensively investigated how (the delivery) was omitted in the briefing," Yoon told reporters. "As a result of the probe, we found out that the wording (about the delivery) was deleted in the process of (senior officials) reading the draft report (written by working-level officials) multiple times," he added. Kim Kwan-jin, Han Min-koo in hot seat By Jun Ji-hye The defense ministry's bungled handling of the controversial deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is leading to calls for its reform and an investigation of the previous security team. Kim Kwan-jin Han Min-koo Cheong Wa Dae confirmed Wednesday that the ministry had "intentionally" omitted the arrival of four additional THAAD launchers here in recent briefings to the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee as well as to President Moon Jae-in's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong. High-ranking defense officials of the former Park Geun-hye government, including Defense Minister Han Min-koo who is still in office, has been criticized for rushing to deploy the anti-missile system and keeping many of the decision-making processes secret. Since he was a presidential candidate, Moon has slammed the Park government for failing to build public consensus on the crucial security decision, calling on the issue to be discussed again by the new government. Moon's order for a thorough inspection into the omission of reporting means that the new government will check the whole deployment process again and investigate Park's security lineup including Minister Han and former National Security Office (NSO) chief Kim Kwan-jin. Cheong Wa Dae is currently focusing on questioning several ministry officials related to the omission, including the deputy minister for policy, but the investigation is highly likely to be expanded to higher-level officials to find out who led or ordered the omission, and whether there was outside pressure. By Lee Kyung-min Chung Yoo-ra, 21, the most-wanted fugitive in the corruption scandal that removed former President Park Geun-hye from office returned home, Wednesday, 150 days after she was arrested in Denmark while in hiding. Chung, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, Park's longtime friend and the central figure in the scandal, arrived at Incheon International Airport at 2:39 p.m. At the airport, she said she did not know Samsung Group's financial support for her dressage practice was a favor for the alleged collusion between the business group and her mother. The former dressage competitor said she was not aware that she was the primary beneficiary of Samsung Group's support, switching responsibility to her mother. "I did not particularly think the support was for me alone. I was told (by my mother) that I was one of six dressage competitors Samsung sponsored, and I believed that," she told reporters. The prosecution arrested following her arrival on a flight from Amsterdam where she transferred after leaving Denmark, and is expected to seek a warrant to put her in custody as early as today. Chung also said she did not know about the relationship between her mother and former President Park, adding she thought it was unfair for her to take responsibility for what happened between the two. "I was detained in Denmark and I was not able to hear or watch stories about my mother. My lawyer only told me that my mom was standing trial and the schedule for her sentencing was not finalized," she said. Chung said she had nothing to comment about on the influence-peddling scandal because she did not know anything specific about it. She was taken to the Seoul Central Prosecutors' office for questioning. Her comments are largely considered a defense strategy for her upcoming trial, as consistent denial of any knowledge about allegations will help her deny responsibility and avoid subsequent punishment. By Lee Han-soo Provincial governments are giving multicultural families the opportunity to learn Korean history. Sacheon Multicultural Family Support Center in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, said it will hold a "Korean History Trip" on June 21 and 28. The center will accept 20 applicants from multicultural families or local foreigners for the events. The tour will visit historical sites such as Dasolsa Temple, Gugye Seowon and Sacheoneupseong Fortress, and attractions including the Sacheon High-Tech Aerospace Science Museum and Samcheonpo Bridge. Dongducheon Multicultural Family Support Center in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, plans to hold an "Explore Cultural Heritage with Children" event on June 10. Forty multicultural family members will visit the War Memorial Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Pyeongtaek Health and Multicultural Family Support Center in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, has launched its "Father's History Trip." The center will take five multicultural families and 10 Korean families each month until October on a historical trip. Some 35 civilians killed in Donbas from March until mid-April, more than 2,000 over 3 years of conflict The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has confirmed 178 civilian casualties (35 killed and 143 wounded) in eastern Ukraine from March until May 14, 2017. The total number of casualties among civilians in the period from April 14, 2014 until May 14, 2017 is more than 2,000 people and the number of civilians who were wounded is 7,000-9,000 people. "The reason for the majority of victims is shelling, explosions on mines and explosive remnants of war," the humanitarian bulletin of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for March-April says. The risk of death and injuries inflicted by blasts of dud mines and munitions remains high, accidents are reported almost daily, the OCHA also said. These incidents caused 70 civilian casualties (22 killed and 48 injured) in March-April that is 94% higher than the data for the same period in 2016, when four were killed and 32 injured, the OHCHR said. Some 74.3% of these casualties were reported in the territories outside the Ukrainian government's control, where humanitarian access is limited (66.6% in 2016). At the same time, shell attacks caused major damage to residential houses and vitally important infrastructure, in particular, electric power and water supply facilities, hospitals and schools, the document indicated. By Kim Rahn Kang Kyung-wha Foreign Minister nominee Kang Kyung-wha is being embroiled by growing suspicions of corruption, casting gloom over the National Assembly's approval for her nomination. Some new findings were different from what Cheong Wa Dae initially explained, causing controversy over her false explanation. When nominating Kang May 21, the presidential office admitted her false residence registration and asked for understanding from the Assembly and the public, saying it picked her despite the irregularity. According to Cheong Wa Dae, Kang's first daughter needed to change schools from the U.S. to South Korea in 2000 and she registered a fake residence, which was actually her relative's, so that the daughter could attend a school of her choice, Ewha Girls' High School. From left first vice strategy and finance minister Ko Hyoung-kwon; vice education minister Park Choon-ran; second vice foreign minister Cho Hyun; vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung; vice interior minister Shim Bo-kyun and second vice land, infrastructure and transport minister Maeng Sung-kyu. / Yonhap President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday appointed six new vice ministers, accelerating his efforts to round out a new government. The president appointed Ko Hyoung-kwon, a former senior financial official, as the first vice strategy and finance minister, while picking Park Choon-ran, vice superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan office of Education, as vice education minister. Seoul's Ambassador to India Cho Hyun was appointed second vice foreign minister, while Chun Hae-sung, a veteran official in charge of cross-border affairs, was named vice unification minister. Shim Bo-kyun, a veteran public servant, was picked as vice interior minister, while Maeng Sung-kyu, a former deputy Gangwon Province governor, was chosen as second vice land, infrastructure and transport minister. (Yonhap) By Kim Hyo-jin The National Assembly endorsed Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon during a plenary session Wednesday, although the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) was absent in a boycott of the vote. The motion to approve the nomination of Lee was passed by 164 to 20, meeting the requirement of a majority in the 299-seat Assembly. A total of 188 lawmakers participated in the vote, with two abstaining and two votes declared invalid. Lee, a former South Jeolla Province governor, will serve as the first prime minister of the liberal Moon Jae-in government. His premiership took effect upon receipt of an appointment letter from Moon, which took place about 80 minutes after the parliamentary approval. It came as the LKP remained against the appointment of Lee, insisting he was unqualified for the post due to "ethical lapses." "We don't understand the ruling party pushing for his confirmation when there are many allegations left unanswered and our request to provide references was disregarded," LKP floor leader Chung Woo-taik told reporters. Despite the main opposition party's stance, the National Assembly's special confirmation hearing committee headed by a ruling party lawmaker adopted a confirmation report on the May 24 and 25 hearings on Lee. The committee's LKP members walked out of the meeting in protest, and requested National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun to postpone tabling the confirmation motion, but to no avail. After an hour-long delay, the plenary session was held as planned. "The root of the problem is the President himself," LKP floor leader Chung said during a press conference earlier in the day, confirming the party's decision to oppose the vote. "Moon should have tapped an appropriate figure who could have easily gained approval from the National Assembly if he had wanted to launch the new administration swiftly. It is not right to force us to agree with the nomination of someone mired in suspicions." Lee has been dogged by the opposition parties over his wife's registration of a fake address as this was one of the five corrupt practices which President Moon had pledged not to ignore in appointing ranking officials military service evasion, real estate speculation, tax evasion, false residence registration and academic plagiarism. Lee's wife, then an art teacher for a public secondary school, allegedly registered a false residence in an attempt to be assigned to a school of her choice in 1989. Opposition parties have also raised questions over whether Lee abused his power in 2013 when Jeonnam Development Corp, a public organization based in the region he was later elected to govern, bought paintings by his wife at an exhibition. In the face of the opposition backlash, Moon offered an apology last week over the alleged irregularities of the nominee and asked for understanding of issues caused by the hasty nomination, which he said was inevitable as his presidency had no transition period. Following the President's apology, the minor opposition People's Party changed its position to back Lee's confirmation. The minor opposition Bareun Party said, though he was still viewed as unqualified, it would participate in the vote and left the decision in the hands of its lawmakers. Political commentators said they may have felt it burdensome to be portrayed as dragging down the new administration that enjoys high popularity with support of over 80 percent. "Lee has his faults but we consider they are not serious enough to decline him the prime minister position," said Rep. Kim Kwang-soo, a People's Party's representative on the hearing committee. The Moon administration is expected to face a rough road ahead in seeking cooperation from the main opposition party to draw up a supplementary budget and fill in the remaining ministerial posts. By Choi Ha-young Tak Hyun-min Tak Hyun-min, an adjunct professor at Sungkonghoe University who recently joined Cheong Wa Dae, is under fire for his sexist remarks in his book published in 2007. In the book titled "Guidebook of Men's Mind," he wrote, "It's like a terror attack against men if a woman with a flat chest wears a tank top." He also wrote, "When wearing skimpy clothes, don't wear something else that covers it, " and "If a woman uses a condom when having sex, it makes me doubtful of her sincerity." On Friday, he apologized on his Facebook saying his views toward women have changed compared to a decade ago, but women's groups are calling for his resignation. All opposition parties across ideological stances are up in arms over his vulgar remarks. The People's Party called for the executive officer's resignation. "The book is not a guidebook, but a compilation of defamations against women," party spokeswoman Kim Yoo-jung said Monday. Justice Party spokeswoman Rep. Chu Hye-seon blasted him on the same day saying "The sentences are obviously sexual violence." Appointment of Tak is drawing flak particularly due to President Moon Jae-in's election pledge. Unveiling his pledges on gender equality, then liberal candidate vowed to be a "president for women." In line with his promise, he tapped female figures on high-ranking posts as a symbolic step to break the glass ceiling, for example, Kang Kyung-wha for foreign minister and Pi Woo-jin for minister of patriots and veterans affairs. "Gender equality in the true sense means beyond gender balance in the Cabinet," Chu said. "The most important factor is sharing a gender equal perspective among members." The conservative Bareun Party pointed out the double standards of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, whose female lawmakers keep silent. "Tak even made the sexist remarks in public, showing that he considers a woman nothing more than a plaything. However, the liberal lawmakers remain silent," party spokeswoman Jo Young-hee said Monday. Tak directed commemorative performances of ex-President Roh Moo-hyun, Moon's lifelong friend, and popular a progressive podcast program that lampooned conservative President Park Geun-hye. While the largest opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is also raising its voice against the appointment, the far-right party attitude a case of the pot calling the kettle black. The party's former presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo made news during his campaign because of his sexist remarks. The LKP, however, kept advocating him even after it was found that he was involved in an attempted rape during his college days. President Moon Jae-in appointed six vice ministers, Wednesday. They are, from left, Ko Hyoung-kwon as first strategy and finance vice minister; Park Choon-ran as education vice minister; Cho Hyun as foreign affairs vice minister; Chun Hae-sung as vice unification minister; Shim Bo-kyun as vice interior minister; and Maeng Sung-kyu as transport vice minister. / Yonhap By Kim Rahn President Moon Jae-in appointed six vice ministers, all of whom are already familiar with their respective ministries, Wednesday. The appointment comes amid gridlock in the appointment of ministers, as some minister nominees, who need to undergo the National Assembly's confirmation hearings, face rejection by opposition parties for alleged past wrongdoings. "It will take time to appoint ministers considering the hearing process, so we are appointing vice ministers first so they can grasp the policies before the ministers come," said Yoon Young-chan, senior presidential secretary for public relations. Ko Hyoung-kwon, director of the Asia Development Bank (ADB), was tapped for first strategy and finance vice minister. Ko, 53, has worked at the ministry, holding various director positions prior to February last year when he took the ADB post. "He is a veteran in economic policy planning and has insight into international finance," Yoon said. For education vice minister, Moon picked Park Choon-ran, who became the first female director at the ministry in 2015. Park, 52, was in charge of policies for higher and lifelong education, and was vice superintendant at regional education offices in South Chungcheong Province and Seoul. Ambassador to India Cho Hyun was appointed as foreign affairs vice minister. The 60-year-old was a vice ambassador to the U.N., ambassador to Austria, ambassador for energy and resources development and deputy minister for multilateral and global affairs. "He has abundant experience in multilateral affairs," Yoon said. As vice unification minister, Cheong Wa Dae tapped Chun Hae-sung, chairman of the South-North Korea Exchanges and Cooperation Support Association, an affiliate of the ministry. Chun, 53, was a spokesman for the ministry and has held posts for humanitarian aid and inter-Korean talks. Shim Bo-kyun, 56, deputy minister for planning and coordination at the Ministry of the Interior, was promoted to vice minister. He has worked for the interior ministry, gender equality and family ministry as well as the Presidential Committee on Local Autonomy Development. He was also a vice-governor of North Jeolla Province. For transport vice minister at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Cheong Wa Dae named Maeng Sung-kyu, vice-governor of Gangwon Province. At the ministry, Maeng, 55, has held posts in charge of ocean environment, transport and logistics. "He is well aware of various transport and logistics fields including rail, bus and aviation," Yoon said. Former Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu, now Kyungnam University president, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul The Korea Times interviewed former Unification Minister and Kyungnam University President Park Jae-kyu, an architect of the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000 between then-President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Park gave advice to the Moon Jae-in administration, which is expected to uphold the legacies of former liberal leaders Kim and Roh Moo-hyun. Ed. Ex-Unification Minister urges President Moon to send special envoy to North korea Q. President Moon Jae-in emphasizes that he will carry forth the late Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun's engagement policy toward North Korea. Considering the difference between North Korea under Kim Jong-il and under Kim Jong-un, what points should be taken into account when dealing with today's situation? A. During the Kim Jong-il regime, the nuclear and missile issues were less menacing, and negotiations were underway to resolve the issues. However, since 2008, the Republic of Korea (ROK)and U.S. governments have taken a hardline toward North Korea, with no policy space or flexibility to pursue dialogue and negotiations, and a two track' policy variously could not be promoted. The new government should restore trust between the two Koreas through step-by-step measures such as inter-Korean dialogue, and improve inter-Korean relations in a comprehensive manner. In particular, in the Kim Jong-un era, various measures should be taken to solve the North Korean nuclear and missile issues, and efforts should be made in close cooperation with neighboring countries such as the U.S. and China. Q. President Moon Jae-in referred to his government's top priority in formulating its North Korea policy as normalizing and restoring inter-Korean relations. Please explain the normalization and restoration' level that is being considered. Do you think it is possible to normalize and restore' relations in view of the North Korean provocations and the situation in Northeast Asia? When do you expect such to be possible? A. It is desirable that normalization and restoration of inter-Korean relations should be accomplished with confidence through a step-by-step and comprehensive approach, as the Moon Jae-in government emphasizes, rather than through a breakthrough and grand bargain. It is important not to rush the inter-Korean relations so that we do not become disheartened, and it is important to push ahead continuously. In other words, it is relatively less problematic to go ahead with sociocultural and humanitarian activities like providing medicines for the vulnerable such as infants and the elderly in North Korea, humanitarian aid, and reunions of separated families. Normalization and restoration of inter-Korean relations is impossible without a basis of mutual trust. It is desirable to distinguish between issues that need to be addressed in the short term and issues that need to be strategically approached from a long-term perspective. In order to begin to improve relations through restoration of trust, low-level sociocultural exchanges and cooperation should be restarted and gradually expanded in scale and scope. The Panmunjom communication channel between the two Koreas should be restored and put into operation as soon as possible. Following these measures and the dispatch of special envoys to the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia, a special envoy should be dispatched to North Korea to discuss inter-Korean relations issues, including the nuclear issue. In order to move toward normalization and restoration of full-fledged inter-Korean relations, talks should be held between the authorities of the two Koreas. Q. There is a proposal of a two-track' approach to contribute to resolving the nuclear issue through humanitarian assistance, cultural exchange, and reunion of separated families, as well as through cooperation with the U.S. and China in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. What do you think should be kept in mind to balance this? A. As the Moon Jae-in government works to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, we will be able to make a significant turning point in the progress of inter-Korean relations as well as foreign policy. The North Korean nuclear issue should be approached in a two-track' way, where negotiations along with sanctions and pressure are used to find a solution. Recently, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and even experts from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington emphasized that the U.S. should resolve the North Korean nuclear issue in a two-track' manner. If North Korea's nuclear and missile problems are not resolved, the Moon Jae-in government will not be able to strongly pursue exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas, given the international community's robust sanctions on North Korea and the sentiments of the Korean people. If Pyongyang cannot make a breakthrough in solving the nuclear and missile issues, it will not be easy for large-scale inter-Korean economic cooperation projects to go forward, especially the restart of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) or the resumption of tourism to Mt. Geumgang. Therefore, through low-level exchanges and cooperation that do not directly finance North Korea's nuclear and missile development, it is necessary to first establish a trusting atmosphere between the two Koreas, to lead the progress of resolving the nuclear and missile issues, and to enhance the level of exchanges and cooperation. We can find a method to balance how to raise the level of cooperation. Q. During the George W. Bush administration in the U.S., the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun governments experienced relatively rough relations with the U.S. on the North Korea issue. Do you think the current Moon Jae-in administration will inevitably clash with the U.S. on North Korea policy? Based on past experience, what strategies should be used to avoid friction? A. Since the door is open for dialogue to achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the denuclearization of North Korea, I do not think the Donald Trump administration will unilaterally close that door. So far, the Donald Trump government's North Korea policy does not seem to be contrary to the two-track policy of the Moon Jae-in government of pursuing sanctions and pressure alongside dialogue and cooperation. In particular, the Donald Trump administration has a strong will to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. Through negotiations for the denuclearization of North Korea we should look for a turning point in the resolution of the nuclear and missile issues by establishing points of mutual trade-off, such as the halting of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile tests and controlling of the level of U.S.-ROK military exercises. President Donald Trump also told South Korea's special presidential envoy that Washington is willing to make peace through engagement with Pyongyang if the conditions are right, which shows willingness to resolve the problem. In the wake of U.S. publically-made promises to guarantee North Korea's system, North Korea should develop momentum for its own development and resume dialogue while suspending its nuclear and missile tests. If North Korea trusts South Korea and the U.S. and comes to the dialogue with earnest attitude, there will be a new start, and it is necessary to make good use of this opportunity for change. Q. The U.S. and South Korea have agreed to hold a summit at the end of June and President Donald Trump has raised issues including increasing defense and THAAD cost sharing, and the renegotiation of the U.S.-ROK Free Trade Agreement. Can you provide possible scenarios to resolve these issues? Do you think it is possible for the U.S. to pursue U.S.-DPRK Peace Agreement or opt to put pressure on the Moon government with "Korea passing" if no agreement is reached during the summit? Do you agree or disagree? Please explain. A. The ROK and U.S. governments will continue to consult on a number of issues, but most importantly, policy should be decided and pursued based on the general consensus of the people. These issues should not serve as obstacles to the ROK-U.S. relations, especially the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and establishing the peace process on the Korean Peninsula. I think that the two countries will find a way to resolve these issues that secure their own national interests, but at the same time make appropriate compromises that take into account the long-term bilateral partnership. Regardless whether these issues are well negotiated or not, it is unlikely that the Trump administration will make unilateral decisions related to the Korean Peninsula by negotiating with North Korea or China directly, excluding South Korea. President Donald Trump told the South Korean special envoy that he looked forward to working closely with President Moon to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. The issues pertaining to the Korean Peninsula can no longer be swayed by a unilateral decision compromise or pressure of any one country. If the negotiations are based on public interest and support during the mutual negotiation process, it is unlikely to result in a biased and unilateral negotiation. A reasonable compromise can be reached if the negotiation process is carried out through the public opinion and consensus-building efforts domestically. Q. Both South Korea and the U.S. have expressed the possibility of resuming dialogue with North Korea, but there are controversies over its conditions. Do you think there is room for narrowing the gap between South and North Korea, South Korea and the U.S., and North Korea and the U.S.? Why do you think so? A. The U.S. is five months into the Donald Trump administration. The administration has displayed a visible intention to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. With this fact and the new Moon Jae-in administration in South Korea, I believe a feasible condition can be created to switch to a policy of dialogue and negotiations. Recently, a 1.5-track dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea took place. Comments from senior U.S. officials suggest that there is a change in attitude from one-sided sanctions and pressure to making peace with North Korea by providing regime security and intervention to engender change in North Korea and for the suspension of nuclear and missile tests. Q. There are concerns that U.N. sanctions on North Korea currently in force may become an obstacle to reopen the GIC and the Mt. Geumgang tourism. Do you think we should resume these programs from the standpoint of normalization and restoration of inter-Korean relations? What mechanism do you think should come first in order to alleviate international concern over the resumption of these programs? A. Normalization and restoration of inter-Korean relations should be progressively pursued through step-by-step measures to restore trust and improve relations between the two Koreas. In order to promote normalization and restoration of inter-Korean relations, step-by-step and comprehensive approaches are needed to restart the GIC and resume tourism to Mt. Geumgang. North Korea has suffered U.N. sanctions put in place by the international community including the U.S. due to the North's nuclear program and provocations. However, the GIC and Mt. Geumgang tourism are a difficult question because the two Koreas have agreed to establish a foundation for peace and unification. If GIC operations are not reopened and if Mt. Geumgang tourism is not resumed, my sense tells me that inter-Korean relations will not be restored. If the complex does not reopen and the tours do not resume, then it may demonstrate the limits of the two Koreas' capabilities toward unification, and thus makes it difficult to say what will happen with relations in the future. In order to resume the operation of the GIC and tourism to Mt. Geumgang, it is necessary to establish a situation in which inter-Korean issues are resolved to some extent. In this way, it will be possible to dispel concerns and persuade the international community of the importance of inter-Korean relations. Progress in inter-Korean relations can play a role in promoting resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and change in North Korea. In order to induce positive change, methods need to change to seek developmental alternatives different from the past. US President Donald Trump on Monday denounced North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch as "great disrespect" for China, praising Beijing for working hard to rein in the recalcitrant neighbor. The North fired a short-range Scud-type missile off its east coast earlier in the day in its ninth missile test this year and the third in about a week. The missile flew about 450 kilometers before crashing into the East Sea. "North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile ... but China is trying hard!" Trump said in a Twitter post. Since his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, Trump has repeatedly praised China for trying to increase pressure on North Korea while refraining from labeling Beijing a currency manipulator for fear it could hamper efforts to enlist Chinese help in reining in the North. China is North Korea's last-remaining major ally and a key provider of food and fuel supplies. But it has been reluctant to use its influence over Pyongyang for fears that pushing the regime too hard could result in instability in the North and hurt Chinese national interests. Analysts doubt how far China can go in pressuring Pyongyang, saying China has often increased pressure on the North in the past, especially when Pyongyang carried out nuclear and missile tests and other provocative acts, but it never went as far as to cause real pain. (Yonhap) By Park Si-soo A North Korean defector who worked in South Korea as a journalist has gone missing at a border town between China and the North, according to reports. He is believed to have been kidnapped to the North, according to South Korean news outlets, citing unidentified sources. The man, 60, was visiting Yanji in China's Jilin Province for reasons unknown. He defected to Seoul in 2011 and has worked at an online news outlet specializing in North Korea. He has reportedly been out of contact since Monday morning. "There was no problem in contacting him until Sunday, but it's been impossible since 7 a.m. Monday," Yonhap News Agency quoted a family member as saying. "He has made overseas trips many times, but we have never experienced a situation like this." South Korea's foreign ministry is trying to find him, with cooperation from Chinese police. A clay rose made by Korean adoptees in memory of Phillip Clay protests Holt Korea's "irresponsibility." By You Soo-sun Holt Children's Services in Korea is being criticized by the Korean adoptee community, after the funeral service it held for Phillip Clay a deported Korean adoptee Tuesday and Wednesday. The remarks made by its chairwoman, Molly Holt, about Clay are at the height of the criticism; adoptees have described her comments as "insensitive" and "irresponsible," and they highlight the agency's disregard of the adoptee community. Adoptees, at the service Wednesday, raised issues with Holt regarding its handling of Clay's funeral, which may be summed up in three arguments. First, they argue that Holt Children's Services had resisted holding the funeral for Clay until the Korea Adoption Services intervened and said it was necessary and co-hosted the event. Secondly, the agency refused to have the service in English, the common language for the adoptee community. Even when an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare pleaded with Holt agency, it allegedly refused. Later, an English translation was provided by an employee of the Korea Adoption Services. What sparked the greatest anger happened during Clay's cremation. At the cremation, John Compton, a board member of the Korea Adoption Services and a fellow adoptee expressed his discontent with the adoption agency. "We stand here today, to honor another fallen adoptee, a life an adoption agency vowed to protect. It is with regret they have failed Phillip." He also said that "this funeral is a perfect example that, as adoptees, our best interests are still being ignored." "I urge the ones who vowed to protect Phillip, to effect change to prevent the loss of another precious life. Rest in peace Phillip," he said, referring to the Holt agency. According to adoptees present during the ceremony, Molly Holt responded to his statement with smears, including remarks that Clay, during his visit to Holt Services the prior week, had used all its paper and ink. The agency paid for the taxi he took to its office, which Molly Holt also allegedly complained about. The word quickly spread to other adoptees in Korea and abroad. David M. Warburton, a Korean adoptee in Canada, said he was "appalled" at Holt Children Services' intention not to hold a memorial for Clay. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko believes that Russia uses all methods to impede Ukraine on its way to Europe. "The Kremlin, stricken with chronic Ukrainophobia, was playing mean tricks on us. It used all available resources: money, propaganda, lies, intrigues, intelligence structures, influence groups. Anti-European populist forces inside the European Union, who used bureaucratic clues and created new ones, played to it," he said in his address on the occasion of the ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement by the Parliament of the Netherlands. According to him, all this was done for the sole purpose of "making it impossible to ratify the Agreement, bury it and accordingly stop the course of Ukraine to reunite with the European family." "It is a reunion, as we were part of it in the history. By the way, since the time of the ancient Ukrainian prince Yaroslav the Wise and his daughter Anna Yaroslavna of Kyiv, whom, literally yesterday, Putin tried to steal for Russia's history in front of Europe," the president said. Gil Won-ok, left, a former comfort woman' takes a selfie with Marvah al-Aliko, a Yazidis woman who was forced into sex slavery by the Islamic State (IS), during a meeting co-hosted by four international human rights groups in Berlin, Germany, Sunday. / Yonhap By Lee Han-soo Gil Won-ok, 89, a World War II sex slave, met Marvah al-Aliko, 24, an Islamic State (IS) sex slave, in Berlin, Germany, on Sunday. The women consoled each other while condemning the cruelty of war crimes and sharing their yearning for such atrocities to be prevented. The meeting was arranged by three human rights groups -- Korea-Verband, a Korean civic group in Germany; Ezidis Worldwide; Japanese Women Initiative Berlin; and Amnesty international - to highlight war crimes against women. "It will be hard to bear, but we have to endure," said Gil to Marvah. "However, we also have to continue talking about our experience so that it does not happen again in future generations." Gil, who was born in Pyongyang, reported herself as a "comfort women" in 1998 and has since worked tirelessly to raise international awareness of war rape. "This is why I travel the globe," Gil added. "In hopes that future generations do not go through the horrible pain that I have suffered." IS kidnapped Marvah, a member of the Yazidis minority group, and her two sisters, in 2014. During her meeting with Gil, Marvah talked about being sexually assaulted by the terrorist group and then sold as a sex slave. A portrait of Phillip Clay, a deported Korean-American adoptee, is displayed at his funeral, Tuesday, in Myongji Hospital, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. He allegedly committed suicide, Sunday. / Courtesy of Simone Eun Mi Korean-American's death reflects hardship facing adoptees By You Soo-sun A deported Korean-American adoptee was found dead in an apparent suicide in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, officials said. Phillip Clay, 42, was found dead around 11:40 p.m., Sunday, outside an apartment building in Ilsan, according to officials from Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A'.L), a non-governmental organization run by adoptees in Seoul. While a police investigation is underway, surveillance camera footage reportedly showed he was alone in the elevator when he went up to the 14th floor of the building he jumped from, alluding to suicide. The funeral was held at Myongji Hospital by Holt Children's Services Inc in Korea. Around 30 people attended his funeral, including representatives from adoptee organizations such as KoRoot and Adoptee Solidarity Korea and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. According to AK Salling, secretary general for G.O.A'.L, he was not well known by the adoptee community in Korea. On Wednesday, however, a Christian ceremony took place at the same hospital, where other adoptees visited. Clay was deported from the United States to Korea in 2012. Adopted by an American family at age 10, Clay never attained American citizenship, a common problem that generations of Korean adoptees face in the U.S. His difficulties, however, did not end there. He was deported to Korea in 2012 and suffered from psychological issues, a prevalent feature in the lives of many adoptees. By Kim Rahn The Ministry of National Defense concealed the arrival of four additional launchers for a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in its policy report to the Moon Jae-in administration, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday. "The draft made by the ministry's working-level officials clearly stated six launchers had been brought in and four of them were being kept at a military base, but during a review by higher-level officials, this information was deleted," said Yoon Young-chan, senior secretary for public relations. "We concluded the omission was deliberate." If true, this constitutes dereliction of duty by the ministry, considering Moon is the commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces, and officials' possible disapproval of him as the country's new leader. The previous day Cheong Wa Dae said it found out the U.S. military had brought in four additional launchers for the THAAD battery deployed here, in addition to the two already in operation, and that the ministry did not report this to the new government until recently. The Park Geun-hye administration pushed ahead with the deployment, announcing earlier this year that two launchers, a radar system and other ancillary equipment were brought in. After an initial investigation into the false report, the presidential office said the ministry did not share the information on the four additional launchers "on purpose." The final report submitted to National Security Office (NSO) head Chung Eui-yong during the ministry's policy briefing May 26 only stated vaguely that a THAAD battery was deployed, without specifying the number of launchers, Yoon said. Cheong Wa Dae learned about the additional launchers when Lee Sang-chul, first deputy chief of the NSO, asked a ministry official additional questions on the report after the briefing. Lee told this to Chung May 27, and the latter asked Defense Minister Han Min-koo about it during a luncheon meeting the next day, according to Yoon. "Chung said to Han, I heard four additional launchers had been brought in.' Then Han only replied, Is that so?'" Yoon said. The daughter of former President Park Geun-hye's close friend has been booked on a flight to Seoul this week after avoiding the prosecution's summons for months, a local news channel reported Monday. Chung Yoo-ra, the 21-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, has been held at a detention center in Denmark since January on suspicion of illegal stay. South Korean prosecutors have demanded her extradition in connection with a massive corruption scandal centered on her mother, which eventually led to the ouster of Park in March. Last week a Danish court accepted the South Korean prosecution's demand. Chung initially planned to appeal the decision but later withdrew it. She is booked on a flight leaving Copenhagen on Tuesday and arriving at Seoul's Incheon International Airport the next day via Amsterdam, cable network MBN reported. She is expected to be taken away by prosecutors upon arrival for questioning on suspicions she received admission and grading favors at Ewha Womans University and irregular funding for her equestrian training from Samsung Group. It is unclear, however, whether Chung will board the plane. (Yonhap) The daughter of former President Park Geun-hye's close friend was arrested on a plane to South Korea on Wednesday in connection with a massive corruption scandal. Chung Yoo-ra, the 21-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, was arrested by prosecutors on the flight from Amsterdam to Seoul after being extradited from Denmark a day earlier. Chung had been held at a detention center in Aalborg, Denmark, since January. But South Korean prosecutors demanded she be extradited to face questioning on corruption allegations involving her mother and Park. The former president was removed from office in March. South Korean prosecution officials took over the extradition process at a Copenhagen airport Tuesday. Chung is scheduled to arrive at Seoul's Incheon International Airport in the afternoon. By Ko Dong-hwan A Seoul policeman was arrested Monday for allegedly having sex with a teenage girl while on duty. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency officer was caught leaving a building in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul where the couple allegedly had sexual intercourse about 4 p.m. Monday. He was identified by the surname Choi, aged 38. Seoul Seobu Police said Tuesday that Choi met the high school student through a chatting app and they had sex at the girl's friend's house. Police discovered the two agreeing to meet while monitoring the app. Officers then staked out the building. Choi was arrested for infringing laws that protect adolescents from sexual acts. Police said he admitted the charge, saying he paid her 200,000 won ($178), but denied he knew she was a teenager. Korea Times Asia Bureau Chief Kim Jae-kyoung, right, moderates the session, "ASEAN Journalists Roundtable: The Future of ASEAN-Korea Cooperation," during the 12th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity at the International Convention Center in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, Wednesday. From right are Kim, The Star Online editor Philip Golingai from Malaysia, The Philippine Star associate editor Doreen Yu and The Straits Times associate editor Ravi Velloor from Singapore. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Kim Jae-kyoung, Yi Whan-woo SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should expand their cooperation to security, international affairs and other political issues to build long-lasting relations, according to a group of journalists from countries around the region, Wednesday. They said cooperation beyond economic ties, which have served as a key to Korea-ASEAN relations, will be necessary during a roundtable session of the 12th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity at the International Convention Center. Moderated by Korea Times Asia Bureau Chief Kim Jae-kyoung, the session titled "ASEAN Journalist Roundtable: The Future of ASEAN-Korea Cooperation" took place to mark the 50th anniversary of ASEAN. It also came amid President Moon Jae-in's call to set up a task force aimed at expanding Korea's diplomacy with ASEAN, beyond Northeast Asia-oriented diplomacy. Among the participants were three ASEAN journalists _ The Straits Times associate editor Ravi Velloor from Singapore, The Philippine Star associate editor Doreen Yu and The Star Online editor Philip Golingai from Malaysia. They were also joined by Shin Yoon-hwan, chairman of the Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies and a professor at Sogang University. "Regional cooperation should go beyond economic ties and should be expanded to social and cultural sectors," Shin said in his keynote speech. "I propose it should take one step further and be expanded to political, security and international affairs." Although security circumstances faced by Korea and ASEAN are different, the ASEAN countries have been shifting "to the direction supportive of Seoul" recently in the wake of Pyongyang's evolving nuclear threats. "Such a change led to thinking about expanding cooperation to social and cultural sectors as well as political and security areas and systematizing such cooperation," Shin said. Golingai echoed his view, citing a territorial dispute involving China in the South China Sea. "It can cooperate especially with regard to the South China Sea. Malaysia is being bullied by China and Malaysia needs an ally to balance the pressure from China," he said. Yu was prudent about security cooperation although she said, "there will be advantages to a closer, higher level of cooperation." She added, "Political security cooperation requires extensive and serious study on possible areas of convergence, as the concerns and circumstances in North Asia are quite different from those in Southeast Asia." Concerning the roles of the media, Golingai said shifting to digital and social media can contribute to regional cooperation. "The way to go is through digital media and social media tools as they are now and far reaching," he said. "News websites and Facebook and Twitter can reach an ASEAN citizen instantly and anywhere in an ASEAN country even in remote Pontianak," he said. Velloor said Korea can "do a lot" although it lags behind China and Japan in its relations with ASEAN. "First, develop a true strategic footprint both in terms of economy and also in military strategy," he said. "Secondly, there are attempts to revive the Trans-Pacific Partnership _ get in on that game. You already back the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Push for that to happen faster. Finally, you are leaders in innovation. Help ASEAN settle into the Fourth Industrial Revolution." By Kim Se-jeong The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will train 200 new tour interpreters specializing in Thai, Vietnamese, Malay and Indonesian languages. The city will receive applications June 1 to 15. Applicants must be fluent in the languages for which they are applying. The training will begin in July and the trainees who pass a test will graduate the training program with a certificate. Among 200 spots, 50 spots are allocated for Thai, another 50 for Vietnamese and 100 for Malay and Indonesian. Currently, the city has 130 active interpreters in those four languages but wants more to meet the growing demand from tourists from those countries. Visit seoul.go.kr for more information and to apply. By Shelton Bumgarner I have not been in South Korea for several years now, but the people of the "Miracle on the Han" remain dear to me. The massive protests in South Korea that recently caused the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye are extremely timely here in the United States because since Jan. 20, it seems as though the States have been careening into a dark and unknowable future. President Donald J. Trump seems determined to undermine or destroy many democratic norms that people in the United States have taken for granted for generations. Not since the massive scandals known collectively as Watergate in the 1970s has a U.S. president seemed so morally corrupt. And, yet, there continue to be many people across America who support Trump for various reasons. The thing people say is it's all based in "economic anxiety," whatever that means in real terms. All I know is my Facebook wall is full of people who swear Trump is America's only chance to be made great again. That, of course, sends chills down my spine. Now, on a practical level, the reason why you, in South Korea, should care about all of this comes down to North Korea. It's not difficult to imagine Trump "wagging the dog" as we say in America and starting an unnecessary war with your brothers to the North for no other reason than to take the seemingly ever-increasing heat off himself. If I can think this scenario up, then you know Steve Bannon, the president's chief strategist, can, too. A war with North Korea would do just the trick to distract Americans just enough to keep both houses of Congress Republican in upcoming elections in 2018. The idea that I would see places in Seoul that I used to enjoy being leveled to rubble live on TV is something I don't think I could bear to see. But it's a real possibly given how unstable Trump is these days. The idea that Trump would potentially put people I know in South Korea in harm's way for short-term political gains makes me sick to my stomach. But that is a very real possibility. While many people about 30 percent of the American electorate would follow Trump to the gates of hell it seems, growing numbers of otherwise politically uninterested people are becoming engaged in ways we've not seen in America since the 1960s. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and U.S. Senator Cory Booker at the meeting in Kyiv have discussed the situation in the east of Ukraine, reforms in the country and U.S. support. "During the meeting, the parties discussed the security situation in the east of Ukraine against the backdrop of Russian aggression, as well as the progress of our state in implementing domestic reforms, primarily in the fight against corruption and in reforming the judiciary," the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said following the meeting. The American senator assured the minister of the devotion of the U.S. Congress to the continuation of the sanctions policy against Russia and the further implementation of programs in support of Ukraine. By Kim Ji-soo As Japan regains its vitality with better economic performance and the approaching 2020 Summer Olympic Games, many Koreans, including me, travel to the neighboring country. For me, an interesting aspect of traveling to Japan is that one can detect certain aspects of how a Korean society may look 10 year or 20 years down the road. As the issue of its rapidly aging society takes hold in Korea, I watch for visual signals to see where Japanese society has gone and where Korean society might. The population decline became an issue in Japan in the early 1990s; by 2014, those 65 and older comprised 26 percent of the population. Prompted by my concern that Korea was already well on that path, I began to more actively notice older groups of people on the streets of Tokyo; for some reason, those groups looked older to me than the ones I saw when I first visited in the early 1990s. In Korea, the low number of newborns emerged in the early 2000s, and those aged 65 or older are expected to comprise over 25 percent of the population by 2030, experts forecast. Thus, it came as a nice surprise when the presidential office said Sunday the government will soon work on implementing a national program to take care of dementia patients along with increasing the number of children's public nursery schools. According to the Central Center for Dementia, 724,000 patients in Korea suffer from dementia, a disease that most often strikes those who are older. As someone who has had a close family member pass away from dementia, this is good news. When a family member is afflicted with dementia, the family's life, especially that of the primary caretaker, is uprooted. An hour seems more than 60 minutes, a day more than 24 hours, as a family grapples to take care of a loved one whose abilities and behaviors begin to deteriorate owing to memory loss. The sound of a phone ringing sets the heart thumping, for that call may bear the news of a dementia patient having gone out and not returned, or having passed away. On Sunday, Rep. Kim Seung-hee of the Liberty Party of Korea said an elderly Korean spends an average of 20 months in a nursing home or at a convalescence hospital before passing away. The cost for convalescence hospitals varies according to location, beds per room, nurses per patient and availability of active treatment. However, the average cost of medical bills during that period would stand at 28 million won per person, Yonhap News reported. While those who can actually afford to send their loved ones with dementia to these nursing homes or convalescence hospitals are more fortunate, medical experts opine that passing away at home is more humane for dementia patients. The hunt to find the right nursing home or convalescence hospital is more complicated than one would expect, and skepticism pervades about the effectiveness of services, many of which have overworked and underpaid staff. Thus, the major outlines of President Moon's plan for helping those afflicted with the disease are encouraging; the plan comprises of expanding the number of dementia support centers, founding dementia hospitals and raising government and insurance support for medical coverage. Having been in office for less than a month, President Moon has already been demonstrating that he is a prepared leader. The series of orders that he has issued in the first few weeks and the actions he has taken illustrate readiness to take on the huge responsibility of his administration. My one request would be that his program for dementia include education for patients and their families about how to deal with the disease before and when the symptoms strike. But if anything, the administration has acknowledged the problem, and by addressing it may allow for otherwise reluctant families to share and receive much-needed support in caring for patients. Even though Korean families tend to be nuclear, somehow someone in the family manages to become a patient's primary caretaker. Such people are tired and the issue is a family matter, and thus, they don't often share their experiences with others. But as one colleague put it: "If we look closely at families in Korea, there may well be one (dementia patient) in each family." By Charles Park This year marks the 64th year since the Korean War. The war persists today, however, not on battlefields, but largely as a media spectacle. It's a Great Perpetual Propaganda War: An endless series of threats and counter-threats, accusations and counter-accusations. Before the 1990s, it was capitalism vs. communism. The fulcrum of discord today is nukes and missiles. Even if there were no nukes, there is still likely to be conflict. In game theory terminology the situation is akin to a Nash Equilibrium. While no one is happy about it, no one is willing or able to do anything about it. The reason is that each of the players has their own motivations in perpetuating the conflict. North Korea's martial law state and the Kim dynasty need an eternal enemy and survival. South Korea wants to unify the peninsula by absorbing North Korea (DPRK). The U.S. uses the rogue state bogeyman to support its neo-con Asia Pivot. The Chinese and Russians need a buffer state and maybe even a troublemaker for the U.S. And while Koreans want a unified Korea, others may not want a united Korea, which could be a formidable second-tier power with or without nukes. This complexity and diversity of motivations, and divergent interests make peace difficult. Since 1972, several attempts at peace have failed. They include the various North-South joint statements, the Sunshine Policy, the DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework among others, including the six-party talks. The reason failure is the norm is that such agreements either do not consider the interests and motivations of all stakeholders or they focus only on isolated issues without considering the interweaving totality. The only solution that might work may be one that simultaneously addresses all issues and motivations of the major players and stakeholders in the ongoing conflict. For the purpose of advancing the discussion and peace in Korea, here is an outline of such a solution: A DPRK-ROK Peace Treaty: Officially declare the Korean War over. Recognize each other's sovereignty, independence and right to exist. Each is free to pursue its own foreign policies. The U.S. and China also signing is preferable but not required. If the two Koreas really want peace, who can say no? Forget unification: Coexist peacefully as independent states, but hold decennial referendums. When at least two-thirds of each side agree, then plan for 10 years. After 10 years, take another 10 years to harmonize institutions. This would give North Korea plenty of time to catch up and reduce the cost of unification to near zero. DPRK on the Path of Economic and Political Reforms: Kim Jong-un declares he will step down within 10 years. The DPRK also reiterates a legal orderly succession plan and a method of electing its president. It sets up an independent court and reiterates basic human rights. ROK Democratizes North-South Relations: Terminate or highly modify the National Security Law and other Cold War-era McCarthyist restrictions on civil liberties. It reforms the National Intelligence Service (NIS), barring it from domestic political interference. And it revives the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. DMZ the Entire Korean Peninsula: DPRK immediately freezes nuclear and long-range missile testing. Simultaneously, U.S.-ROK freezes joint military exercises. Eventually the DPRK denuclearizes. The U.S. and U.N. remove all sanctions and embargoes. The DPRK and ROK cancel any bilateral or multilateral security treaties and renounce offensive weapons and foreign military ventures. The UNSC recognizes the neutrality of the peninsula and guarantees the territorial integrity of the DPRK and ROK. Undoubtedly there will be many challenges and obstacles. But the urgency to give peace a chance and push for a peace treaty is real. The risks and potential costs of any miscalculation or accident have risen exponentially. The status quo could unravel quickly. If successful, however, the benefits of such a Korean and regional peace framework will be unlimited to Koreans and to the world. It would also make unification come sooner and cost almost nothing, with even greater benefits. Indeed, prosperity could be the defining feature of the new neutral, peaceful and commercial zone of Korea. Charles K. Park is a Korean-American microblogger on Facebook's North Korea Study Group and Barriers to Development North Korea. He has a BA in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from UC Berkeley and an MA in International Affairs from UC San Diego's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. Opposition should allow prime minister confirmation Finally, President Moon Jae-in spoke Monday about the controversies surrounding his nominees for key posts. It was not a mea culpa. "I nominated the prime minister on my first day in office," he told a meeting of senior advisors. "I wanted to start working as soon as possible. But the process has been mired in politics, making my effort in vain." It sounded like an accusation against the opposition's rejection in confirming Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon. Moon's remarks followed a survey that showed nearly three quarters of people want Moon to get his way in senior appointments. The People's Party was the first among the opposition parties to drop its objection and back Lee's confirmation. True, it may fall short of the opposition's call for an apology but as shown by the survey the opposition should give Moon a chance to form his Cabinet and start working. It should be borne in mind that the President promised not to let go of tough criteria on personnel selection, offering to make a more concrete set of rules. Nominee Lee admitted that his wife, when she was working as a teacher, falsely registered her residence to get an assignment in the district of her choice. The prime minister confirmation is important because he holds the right to recommend Cabinet members. But it remains to be seen whether the other nominees can get out of trouble. Kang Kyung-hwa, the first female foreign minister nominee, admitted to having her daughter registered under a false address to attend a good high school, and is found to have belatedly paid gift taxes for her children. Tax avoidance and false residence registration are included among five vices that Moon declared would disqualify senior appointees. The other three are real estate speculation, plagiarism and dodging military service. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Cheong Wa Dae have been going all-out to persuade the opposition to look the other way this time. The DPK has made a proposal to draw up a set of criteria about qualifications for the appointment of high-ranking officials, while the presidential chief of staff did apologize. This failed to make the opposition budge. Moon is riding high on the public's good will and expectations after the six-month power vacuum left by the impeachment and removal from office of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye. As with some of her predecessors, Park also had her first prime minister appointees disapproved of by the National Assembly, which deprived her government of a strong start. Obviously, the public as shown in the survey doesn't want any further vacuum in leadership. Rather, it wants the Moon administration to start immediately and prefers to judge it by its governance. The opposition is in no position to drag its feet on the confirmation process indefinitely. It must know how impatient the public is about this scheme to tame the new government. Timing is everything in politics. By all appearances, Moon has got it right this time. Truth game to boost Moon's case against US missile interceptor The question is not who is telling the truth but what effects it will have on the fate of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here. As things are progressing now, it can't be ruled out that the system may get repacked and sent back to the U.S. Cheong Wa Dae announced yesterday the early result of an investigation, saying the arrival of four additional launchers in a report by the Ministry of National Defense to the new administration was omitted, and called this an "intentional cover-up." It is likely that neither Defense Minister Han Min-koo, a leftover from the previous government and warming the bench for his successor, nor anybody else will stand up to what appears to be getting in the way of the President, who has just browbeat the opposition on the appointment of his inaugural prime minister. The day before, President Moon Jae-in ordered an investigation into how the four additional launchers were "smuggled" and stored by the U.S. prior to their deployment at the Seongju site in North Gyeongsang Province without his approval. The ministry responded that the report was made to Moon's chief security secretary Chung Eui-yong right after his appointment last week. Cheong Wa Dae has taken the case very seriously and is said to be considering using it to start a major house-cleaning in the military. To calm the situation, the U.S. government came up with an early assurance that the deployment was proceeding smoothly without glitches. Already, Seongju residents were up in arms, renewing their opposition to the THAAD deployment in their backyard. Their rationale for their opposition is based on the fear that their town will be the first to be targeted in the event North Korea stages missile attacks to neutralize THAAD, the missile interception system. While campaigning, President Moon had originally opposed the THAAD deployment and changed his stance close to neutral as a move to appease conservative voters' concerns. Moon has now maintained that the deployment lacked due process such as deliberations at the National Assembly. Moon's Democratic Party of Korea has many members dead set against THAAD. Moon has inherited the legacy of an independent diplomacy from his mentor, the late President Roh Moo-hyun, to move away from the orbit of the United States, Korea's key security partner. The latest brouhaha comes at a time when the anti-THAAD movement is gaining strength as U.S. President Donald Trump went against the bilateral agreement and demanded Seoul pay the tab to the tune of $1 billion for the system. Korea also is suffering from the fallout of China's objections that have led to significant economic losses through the reduction of tourists and boycotts of Korean goods. It remains to be seen whether it will lead to the actual pullout of the U.S. weapons system because it could create a significant crack in the two countries' alliance. Being short of it, it would give Moon the upper hand when he meets an unpredictable Trump for their summit in Washington this month. President Moon Jae-in has nominated four lawmakers from his ruling Democratic Party of Korea as ministers. It is not common for politicians to be recruited in droves to fill the inaugural Cabinet of a new administration. But it is not difficult to figure out why the new leader nominated the four legislators. President Moon appears to have given top priority to the possibility that they could pass confirmation hearings held by their fellow lawmakers easily. This analysis is quite convincing, considering that incumbent lawmakers have never failed to pass hearings so far. The public reaction to the latest nominations is not bad. The four lawmakers are balanced regionally _ two from Gyeongsang Province, and one each from the Jeolla and Chungcheong provinces. Rep. Kim Hyun-mee, who will become the first woman to head the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport if confirmed, was selected for both regional and gender balances. Kim's nomination also reflects Moon's promise to fill 30 percent of the Cabinet with women. Tapping sitting lawmakers as ministers will enable Moon to push ahead with reform strongly in the early days of the new administration. It will also facilitate communication between the executive branch and the legislature. But it's true there are concerns about the four nominees from the ruling party. First of all, they might use the Cabinet posts as a stepping stone to enhance their political position rather than devoting themselves to state affairs. One can vividly remember that the ruling party remained subservient to Cheong Wa Dae in the Park Geun-hye administration following the fall of boundaries between the government and the National Assembly. It's also doubtful if the four nominees have proper expertise in their relevant fields as the presidential office claimed. All of them are devoid of particular experience except for their parliamentary activities. The land minister-nominee, in particular, is certainly a novice without even having been a member of the relevant Assembly committee. So Moon should refrain from tapping politicians for the top posts that require professional expertise. The opposition, for its part, must not go easy on the nominees merely because they are fellow lawmakers. It's imperative to filter out unfit nominees. By John Burton Dear President Moon: Your upcoming trip to Washington in late June to meet U.S. President Donald Trump will probably be your single most important event to date in your young administration. The visit could determine the future of U.S.-ROK security alliance over the next several years at a time of peril on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. media has been playing up the possibility of a volatile clash between you and Trump because of your more conciliatory approach toward North Korea compared to the Trump administration's preference for tougher sanctions. Wide swathes of the foreign policy establishment in Washington distrust you when U.S. attitudes toward North Korea are hardening. Many put you in the "appeasement" category along with your old boss, former President Roh Moo-hyun, who is not fondly remembered in Washington. Some jokingly refer to your North Korean policy as "moonshine" instead of "sunshine," which is not flattering since it is a colloquial expression for foolish talk or ideas. As a result, you could face an uphill battle in winning the trust of the Trump administration and American public. You do not have the advantage of representing a major power like China and Japan, whose leaders were invited by Trump to his Mar-a-logo resort for cozy togethers. What should you do? The general consensus is that Trump puts enormous importance on personal chemistry and so you should be prepared to flatter him, no matter how distasteful that is to your supporters at home. It's also important to bring him a nice gift, preferably something in gold, perhaps a small reproduction of a Silla dynasty statueto drive home the point that Korea has never been part of China and has been independent for thousands of years. In addition, don't aggressively push your agenda. Instead let Trump take the lead in what should be discussed, but emphasize areas of common interest. Both of you, for example, share the goal of engagement with North Korea, although differ on what paths should be taken to achieve that outcome. And highlight the fact that the security alliance with the U.S. serves as the bedrock for Korean democracy. If the KORUS trade agreement is brought up, respond by saying that Korean manufacturing investment in the U.S. is growing. Bring along a business delegation to underscore that point. Try to arrange for them to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who invested in Korea after the 1997 financial crisis and who was awarded the Order of Industrial Service Merit by President Kim Dae-jung in 1999. You have the advantage of deploying Korea's"soft power" and your own compelling personal story. Make a speech at the Korean War Veterans Memorial and express your gratitude that your parents were able to flee North Korea by being evacuated on a U.S. warship at the port of Hamhung in late 1950. Mention your service in the Korean elite special forces and that you were part of the team that successfully chopped down the poplar tree that was at the center of the infamous DMZ ax murder incident in 1976. To prepare for all future eventualities in the U.S. political landscape, you might also use the event as an opportunity to reach out to the office of Vice President Mike Pence, who recently visited Korea but before you were elected. Invite his national security advisor, retired Colonel Andrea Thompson, and her deputy, Joan O'Hara, along with their former boss at the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul. One of Seoul's sister cities is Washington, D.C. It may be a good idea to bring along Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon to meet DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and share ideas on urban planning. This would also provide an opportunity to promote the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in a sports-mad town since Seoulwill serve as the international gateway to the event. You will get plenty of U.S. media coverage on your visit. North Korea continues to be a hot story despite the focus of attention on Russia-gate. You will be photographed meeting Trump in the Oval Office and holding a joint press conference after the meeting. But don't neglect the local Washington media, which can provide coverage for non-White House events that you attend but which may be ignored by the national media. Washington has a large Korean community. For example, WRC, the local affiliate of the NBC network, has two Korea-affiliated anchors, Eun Yang and Angie Goff, who were born in Seoul. They recently hosted a program that highlighted Korean-American activities in the DC area, so they may be interested in your visit. I hope you find some of these suggestions useful and I look forward to your successful visit to the U.S. John Burton, a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington,. D.C.-based journalist and consultant. He can be reached at johnburtonft@yahoo.com. AmorePacific cell science team researcher Kim Hyoung-june, right, poses after receiving the grand prize of the 2017 Dongam Cosmetics Scientist Awards from Beautynury CEO Hahm Sung-won, left, at the Seoul National University of Technology, Friday. / Courtesy of AmorePacific By Park Jae-hyuk AmorePacific cell science team researcher Kim Hyoung-june won the grand prize of the 2017 Dongam Cosmetics Scientist Awards and 10 million won ($8,900) for his research on sunscreen, the nation's top cosmetics firm said Monday. Known as one of the most prized awards for Korean cosmetic scientists, the prize was designed to encourage researchers who develop the beauty industry and strengthen its competitiveness. Judges praised Kim's paper for suggesting the effects of short wavelength visible light on the skin, which cannot be blocked by ordinary sunscreen "Kim suggested a new way of blocking harmful light as well," said Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea (SCSK) President Park Soo-nam, who is also a professor of the Seoul National University of Technology. "His research will help in developing ingredients for sunscreen in the future. It has already contributed greatly to the nation's cosmetics industry." The Journal of Investigative Dermatology also published the study. The Nature Publishing Group prints the journal, a peer-reviewed scientific journal of dermatology. "I just represent researchers in our team who have studied with me for a long time," Kim said. "I will continue to try my best to develop technologies and will contribute to AmorePacific's innovations." AmorePacific will apply Kim's research to the company's sunscreen products such as its HERA suncare. The SCSK awarded gold prize went to LG Household & Healthcare researcher Kim Do-hyung, Biospectrum Life Science Institute researcher Shin Seung-woo and Cosmax R&I Center researcher Lee Kyung-eun. Each of them received 3 million won. Coupang, South Korea's No. 1 online marketplace, has come under fire for allegedly sacking nearly a tenth of its delivery staff, adding further woes to the money losing startup that won kudos for its bold investment in logistics, industry sources said Wednesday. On Tuesday, some 75 former and current deliverymen, dubbed "Coupang Man," filed a petition with the presidential office, claiming that Coupang canceled the contracts of some 216 delivery personnel between February and April without reasonable cause. They also accused the company of cutting wages and refusing to give them regular positions after a certain period of time as promised. "Coupang's been coercing delivery staff into quitting jobs through reprimands and lower pay. It fired one top-performing worker without any notice," Kang Byung-joon, a Coupang Man representing the petitioners told media earlier. The Coupang Man system refers to customized shipping created by the e-commerce company. It is designed to ensure 24-hour shipments of ordered goods to front doors. Coupang trucks pick up packed items from the nearest warehouse and deliver as many as 150-200 boxes a day. The Coupang Man is billed as a symbol of growth and innovation by the 7-year-old startup founded by Kim Bom, a Harvard Business School graduate. Kim, who's often been described by local media as the Jeff Bezos of South Korea for his business model resembling Amazon's, took the industry by storm when he unveiled the delivery network in 2014. In a 2015 press conference, Kim confidently said the company will increase the Coupang men to 15,000 by 2017. According to the petitioners, there are some 2,237 delivery people currently hired by the company after the layoff. Coupang has never released an official figure related to the Coupang men. The dispute lies in a cut in the new incentives system that took effect from April. Under the new reward system, the delivery staff needs to abide by tighter rules to get the monthly incentive, which the petitioners claim was adopted without workers' consent. Early this month, three Coupang deliverymen lodged a complaint with a regional district office of the labor ministry against Kim for violating existing laws, under which a business must turn temporary workers into regular positions after a two-year contract. But there are no provisions for full-time hiring of those who have worked less than two years. A Coupang Man is currently hired on a six-month contract that is subject to renewal based on performance. Due to the staff shortage, they face a daily workload of over 250 parcels these days, the petitioners argued, while also facing the burden of the insecurity about their jobs. Coupang has denied the accusations, saying that the new incentive system incurs a difference in rewards, not a wage cut. It stressed that no contract was terminated in advance, nor is it renewed for underperforming staff. The company said it maintains a steady rate for turning temporary Coupang men into full time employees and their average wage has been marked up, without giving details. A spokesperson for Coupang was not immediately reached for comment. Industry watchers raise concerns that Coupang may face further backlash that could undermine its prospects, as new President Moon Jae-in is gearing up for a strong reform drive to tackle unemployment, with a focus on switching non-regular jobs to full time posts. Putting the politics aside, the Coupang Man issue still leaves the e-commerce firm with the task of regaining trust from consumers as its credibility has been questioned for alleged unfair practices, watchers said. "It's certainly a blow for a company that boasted about having raised US$1 billion from Softbank. But there's always been doubt over how long Coupang Man would last. It's like pouring every penny you earn into shipping costs," an industry official said, asking not to be named. Coupang suffered an operating loss of 560 billion won ($499 million) in 2016, running in the red for a fourth consecutive year. Its revenue jumped 64 percent on-year to 1.9 trillion won, far trumping rivals in terms of sales. (Yonhap) Top conglomerates' list faces big changes since 2000 By Park Jae-hyuk The legacy of the late Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chul continues as the nation's largest group and the two fastest-growing conglomerates have something to do with the legendary businessman. According to CEO Score, Wednesday, Samsung Group has maintained the top spot in corporate rankings for 17 consecutive years since 2000. Samsung took first place in 2016 again, with 363 trillion won ($323 billion) in assets. The market consultancy compared the top 30 list in 2000 with the list last year to find the meteoric rise of Shinsegae Group, which soared from 24th to 11th with assets of 32 trillion won. Shinsegae Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee is the youngest daughter of founder Lee. CJ Group showed the second-fastest growth from 19th in 2000 to 15th last year, with 28 trillion won in assets. CJ Chairman Lee Jay-hyun is grandson of founder Lee. Compared to Samsung family companies' good performances, its archrival Hyundai faced mixed results. While Hyundai Motor Group ranked second and Hyundai Heavy Industries ranked ninth, Hyundai Group fell off the top 30 list last year. Although Hyundai Group spun Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Oilbank off in 2000, it ranked second at that time. But it shrunk dramatically in recent years, after the group spun Hyundai Heavy Industries off and sold Hyundai Securities and Hyundai Merchant Marine. Hyundai Department Store once fell from the ranking in 2005 and the 2007-2009 period, but it came in at 23rd last year. LG Group placed fourth last year with 112 trillion won in assets, down from third in 2000. GS and LS groups, both of which were separated from LG, ranked seventh and 17th in 2016, respectively. POSCO, formerly a state-owned enterprise, ranked sixth. In contrast, some firms have faced misfortune over the past 17 years. Among the top 30 in 2000, 13 conglomerates have been disbanded or have fallen from the list. Ssangyong Group was virtually disbanded, after it separated S-Oil and STX Heavy Industries. Bankrupt Tongyang Group experienced the same fate. Kumho Asiana's ranking plunged from ninth to 19th, after a managerial battle between the brothers of the owner family in 2010. Hanjin Group's ranking dropped from sixth to 14th, after Hanjin Shipping went bankrupt last year. "We would have to ask why Shinsegae and CJ have chalked up such impressive growth. Both are the country's representative retail-focused groups so we can learn that the retail industry has expanded so much since the onset of the 21st century," CEO Score President Park Ju-gun said. "By contrast, brick-and-mortar companies either collapsed or lost steam. That's why some groups fell on the top 30 list or simply disappeared. I wonder what would be the next big businesses over the next decades. Our chaebol would need to keep an eye on industrial trends." Korea's conglomerates are sometimes called chaebol. It refers to Korea's sprawling conglomerates in which founding families exercise almost unchecked control despite small direct shareholdings. Sometimes likened to keiretsu of Japan, the most outstanding examples are Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group. Medytox sets up a booth at the 35th Reunion Anual de Dermatologos Latinoamericanos (RADLA), the largest gathering of dermatologists in Latin America, in Bogota, Columbia. Korea's largest botulinum toxin and dermal fillers maker took part in the RADLA from May 26 to 29, attracting tens of thousands of visitors interested in its anti-wrinkle products and other cosmetics. / Courtesy of Medytox By Lee Hyo-sik Medytox, Korea's largest maker of botulinum toxin and dermal fillers, has stepped up efforts to bolster its presence in Latin America to capitalize on the region's rapidly growing cosmetic beauty market. It set up a booth at the 35th Reunion Anual de Dermatologos Latinoamericanos (RADLA), the largest gathering of dermatologists in Latin America, in Bogota, Columbia, on May 26-29, attracting tens of thousands of visitors interested in its anti-wrinkle products and other cosmetics. "We have obtained approval from Brazil and 13 other countries in the region for the sale of our botulinum toxin and filler products," a Medytox official said. "We are encouraged by a great deal of interest from plastic surgeons and other medical professionals in our Meditoxin and Neuramis. We will bolster our sales and marketing activities in cooperation with local partners to expand our market share." Brazil is Medytox's third-largest export market after Japan and Thailand, according to the official, who said a growing number of people in Latin America are undergoing cosmetic treatments to look younger and prettier. "The demand for botulinum toxin, dermal fillers and other cosmetic beauty items has been increasing sharply in the region. We will take all possible measures to expand our reach in the region so that consumers there can benefit from our state-of-the-art products." In the first three months of the year, Medytox earned 40.5 billion won ($35.8 million) in sales, up 41 percent from a year earlier. Its operating profit jumped 29 percent to 21.2 billion won. The company operates three manufacturing facilities and two research centers in Korea, and has set up wholly-owned subsidies or joint firms in China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ukraine reiterated its readiness for a summit of the Normandy format member countries (France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia) at the recent meeting of deputy foreign ministers, informed the sides about escalating tensions in Donbas and urged the release of prisoners, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariana Betsa told reporters on Wednesday. "Like our partners, the Ukrainian side reaffirmed its readiness for the summit meeting, but Russia did not exhibit any preparedness whatsoever," Betsa said. The sides listened to reports on the activity of the Trilateral Contact Group's subgroups, she said. "We also raised the question of escalating tensions in Donbas, the declaration of another ceasefire, and the 'all for all' prisoner swap," Betsa said. A roadmap of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements was not discussed, she said. Russia has not fulfilled a single provision of the Minsk Agreements, Betsa said. It had been reported earlier that deputy foreign ministers of the Normandy format member countries met in Berlin on Tuesday. First Deputy Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko represented Ukraine at the meeting. Sapiens' author warns of violent conflict between two Koreas By Kang Seung-woo Yuval Noah Harari Countries that master artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology will outrun other countries and eventually dominate the world, said Yuval Noah Harari, the author of bestsellers "Sapiens" and "Homo Deus." "I can say that AI is likely to be the most important factor in the economic developments of the coming decades. It will change almost every industry and profession, be it transportation, healthcare, education or the military," he said. Harari said AI will eventually replace or augment human drivers, doctors, teachers and soldiers. "AI might even begin to replace human artists, as it learns how to detect and manipulate human emotions." The world-renowned author said countries mastering AI would rule the world in the not-so-distant future as those creating steam engines did for the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. The potential power of AI and biotechnology is far greater than the power of steam engines and the telegraph, he said. By Lee Min-hyung High-capacity residential energy storage system manufactured by Samsung SDI Samsung SDI plans to take the covers off its new residential energy storage system (ESS) products, which use differentiated design technology, to pre-empt the highly potential market. The Seoul-based company said Monday it will display its full ESS lineup at Intersolar Europe 2017. The event will take place in Munich, Germany, for three days beginning May 31. Intersolar is the world-leading exhibition for the ESS and solar industries. Samsung SDI has taken part in the trade show since 2012. A thousand companies including ESS leaders are expected to attend the three-day event. Included in the product line are market champions and a next-generation cash cow. The former are new residential ESS products, while the latter is an uninterruptible power system with the potential for exponential market growth. Plus, Samsung SDI will also demonstrate the world's largest utility-scale ESS and high-voltage ESS modules. As electricity-powered devices catch on, ESS has emerged as a big business. The market's size is expected to expand down the road. A residential ESS is a battery system installed in a home. Its main purpose is to store electricity generated by solar panels in system batteries for later use. "One of the advantages of Samsung SDI's residential ESS modules is high scalability. Samsung SDI plans to provide ESS modules fitting the various needs of ESS makers on time by applying differentiated scalability," a Samsung SDI official said. "If modules are highly scalable, our customers need to carry out only minor design changes. As a result, they can save cost and time." The company is scheduled to start mass producing residential ESS modules in the second half of this year. It conducted tests together with customers beginning last year. Samsung SDI is one of the global leaders in residential ESS. It has remained a market leader in Japan for four straight years since 2013. The Japanese market has grown rapidly due to concerns about electric grid insecurity since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. "Customers are showing much interest in the differentiated scalability of Samsung SDI's residential ESS modules," Samsung SDI Vice President Park Se-woong said. "We will keep introducing ESS products with market-leading technology." BS, a market consultancy, predicted global residential ESS sales would reach 83,000 this year and jump by about 16 percent on average to 146,000 by 2020. It also expected Samsung SDI had the biggest share of the global market in 2016 with 30 percent. Samsung SDI President Jun Young-hyun, left, explains the production process of batteries for electric vehicles to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center, at a Samsung SDI plant in Goed, Hungary, on April 29. / Courtesy of Samsung SDI By Lee Min-hyung Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban praised Korean products, saying the country's brand guarantees quality, Samsung SDI announced Wednesday. He made the remarks during a recent event celebrating the completion of a state-of-the-art electric vehicle (EV) battery plant of Samsung SDI in the European country. "In the early 1990s, we first met capitalism together with many new companies and brands. We learned that made-in-Korea products guarantee quality," the prime minister was quoted as saying. "Korea set a model for us. It showed us how a diligent small country can become a strong economy and hold a strong position in the world. Samsung benchmarked others but it moved ahead on its own. I thank Samsung for opting for Hungary." The plant, which is located in Goed, some 30 kilometers north of Budapest, will start to churn out products in the second quarter of 2018. Sitting on a 330,000 square-meter site, the plant is capable of producing batteries for 50,000 electric cars every year. The Hungarian factory is expected to enable Samsung SDI to save logistics costs and improve customer service in Europe. Europe is leading the global EV market based on its environment-friendly policy. As a result, the market for batteries, one of the core parts of EV, is expanding fast. Samsung SDI's panel plant has been transformed into one for high-power and high-efficiency batteries. On top of the Hungarian facility, Samsung SDI has plants in Korea's Ulsan and China's Xian. "For the first time, state-of-the-art technology of Samsung SDI will be applied to batteries to be made in this plant in Hungary," Samsung SDI President Jun Young-hyun said. "Batteries are one of the most important parts supplied to global carmakers. I expect the plant to contribute much to the growth of the European EV market." By Lee Min-hyung President Moon Jae-in and his top lieutenants appear to have started using Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S7 smartphones, specially designed for enhanced security and encrypted communication, sources said Tuesday. Moon and other ranking Cheong Wa Dae officials recently received the Samsung devices tailor-made for their internal communications, they said. This comes about two weeks after Moon took office as president in the wake of the political scandal surrounding former President Park Geun-hye who was ousted earlier this year over alleged corruption. The presidential office is known to have chosen the S7, instead of the latest S8 flagship model that debuted this April, because it takes some time to make the customized phones. The S7 hit shelves early last year. Aside from the flagship Galaxy S series, LG Electronics is also known to have special devices for use by the presidential office, which the company also declined to confirm. In the United States, National Security Agency (NSA) officials use the privacy-focused Blackphone developed by Boeing and BlackBerry. The device is widely used by the U.S. government and military officials who require a special communication device to keep internal information confidential. "It is true the presidential office uses such specially designed smartphones over possible hacking or wiretapping concerns," an industry source said. "Even if the new President uses the Galaxy S7 tailor-made to ensure the highest level of security, no one may be able to confirm this." In Korea, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics hold enough technological expertise to manufacture devices ensuring privacy and security. But they have remained silent on the details. That might be because demand for such a device is extremely low, as it is mainly used for a few high-ranking officials in the military and state-run organizations. In February 2003, the Seoul-based handset maker Pantech launched its own security-first handset by developing dedicated software to guarantee security. But the company scrapped its sales soon after, citing low demand and weak profit. Most countries also disallow commercialization of such phones, citing national security, fearing they could end up in the hands of criminals or terrorists. On top of that, manufacturers are unlikely to make public the development of such devices amid concerns over their involvement in political wiretapping or interception, the source said. Hyundai Motor vehicles run at the Inje Speedium racing circuit in Inje, Gangwon Province, Saturday. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor By Jhoo Dong-chan Hyundai Motor and its sister brand Kia Motors said they held the 2017 Korea Speed Festival (KSF), a circuit experience event for their customers, at the Inje Speedium in Inje, Gangwon Province, Saturday. Extended from the mania-centered leisure, the nation's carmaker duo invited Hyundai and Kia vehicle owners to the motorsports event where they can enjoy a circuit experience with their own cars. About 140 Hyundai and Kia vehicle owners participated in the event. The event participants took an in-class lecture and on-road practice to acquire a circuit license. Depending on their vehicle displacement and circuit experiences, they were assigned to different racing levels to run the circuit. Each event participant had three laps this day. "It was quite an experience to run on a real circuit where professional racers compete," said 41-year-old event participant Kim Kang-hyun. "I have become more interested in the nation's motorsports through the event." Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors said they will continue hosting such events in the future. "Motorsports is a leisure not only for few manias but for common motorists in all kinds," the official said. "We will do our best to provide more opportunities for our customers to experience motorsports." The Hyundai Avante Cup Challenge Race for the Kia K3 Coupe was also held as the event's opening ceremony. For more information, please visit www.ksfrace.com. The entry fee for the event is 50,000 won ($44.68). The Inje Speedium circuit is a part of the Inje Auto Theme Park complex that also includes a hotel and condominiums. The main course is 3.908 kilometers, but can be split into separate 2.577-kilometer and 1.375-kilometer circuits. It first opened with a round of the Japanese Super Taikyu series in May, 2013, and also held the opening round of the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series season in August, 2013. Jobseekers pack a job fair, organized by Hyundai Motor Group for its suppliers, at the COEX in southern Seoul, Monday. The country's largest automaker also plans to hold the event in four other cities through which more than 240 small-and medium-sized auto parts makers are expected to hire 16,000 workers. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group By Lee Hyo-sik Hyundai Motor Group is organizing a series of large-scale job fairs to help its small-and medium-sized parts suppliers to hire talented workers. This also provides millions of young jobseekers here with good opportunities to find work, the country's largest automaker said Monday. The "2017 Hyundai-Kia Partners Job Fair" began at the COEX in southern Seoul, Monday, attracting thousands of young people looking to start their careers in the automotive industry. Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors jointly finance the job fair for their subcontractors. The carmaker will also set up a venue for parts suppliers to hire new employees at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju on June 8. Those seeking to work for car parts manufacturers in Ulsan will be able to explore employment opportunities at Ulsan University on June 20. Jobseekers will also be able to obtain information on their prospective employers at the Daegu Convention Center on June 29 and at the Changwon Convention Center on July 11. Hyundai said 241 local firms, which manufacture a wide range of auto parts both at home and abroad, will take part in the job expos and hire up to 16,000 new employees. "The job fair, which began in 2012, has become one of the country's most successful win-win partnership programs between large and small companies," a Hyundai Motor official said. "At least 20,000 jobseekers will likely visit career counseling booths set up at the expos to explore potential employment opportunities." Auto parts suppliers, some of whom are facing a hard time in securing talented manpower, are eager to recruit young talent, he said. "On top of honing their technological prowess, parts makers should secure highly skilled and globally-minded workers to survive in the highly competitive global market," the official said. "We will continue to lend a hand to our business partners in hiring the talented manpower they need. This partnership also benefits us if our suppliers produce high-quality, defect-free auto parts at lower costs by securing talented workers." In addition, the job fair has provided ample opportunities for young people amid the country's high youth unemployment, he said. "The events have also helped create jobs for those residing in provincial areas and are providing a boost to municipal economies. Hyundai has set up a comprehensive job portal for its subcontractors, in cooperation with Incruit and other online career information providers, enabling them to hire needed employees all year round. Rebound in China? Suppliers to Hyundai and Kia have suffered setbacks because of the two major carmakers' declining sales in China over the past several months due to Korea's deployment of a U.S. anti-missile shield. Regarding the anti-missile system as a surveillance tool on China, anti-Korean sentiments sprouted up in the world's largest automotive market. As a result, Hyundai and Kia struggled to find their feet in China this year and so did their suppliers and subcontractors. But observers expect their sales to rebound after the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in who is trying to mend ties with Beijing. He has vowed to discuss the thorny issue with China. In his inaugural address earlier this month, Moon pledged to negotiate earnestly with China to solve the sour Sino-Korean relationship. He also asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a 40-minute phone conversation to find ways to deal with the issue. "Hopes are high that the new administration will find ways to iron out the differences with Beijing. Then our companies would be able to bounce back. In particular, Hyundai, Kia and their suppliers would be happy," a Seoul analyst said. By Jhoo Dong-chan The number of electric vehicles (EVs) has topped 13,000 in Korea. Among them, 40 percent were Hyundai Ioniq Electrics, leading the growth of EVs here. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Monday, EV registration amounted to 13,812 by the end of last month. The number of EVs here in 2011 was only 344, but has since increased dramatically every year. The figure stood at 10,855 last year. It was the first time the number of EVs exceeded 10,000. As of last month, the Ioniq Electric topped the list with 5,581 cars, accounting for 40.4 percent to become the most popular of the 13 EV models available in Korea. "The Hyundai Motor Ioniq Electric has been well received by Korean motorists in design and driving performance since its release last year," a Hyundai Motor official said. "It is also affordable. Thanks to the government's consumer subsidy of 14 million, the vehicle's price would go down to around 19 million won." Following the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, the Kia Soul crossover came in at second with 2,572 followed by the Renault Samsung SM3 small sedan with 2,547. The Kia Ray and the Chevrolet Spark both took fourth with 1,330. Of the total EVs, 92.1 percent were domestically produced. Among imported EV models, the BMW i3 was the most popular with 827. The Nissan Leaf chased with 232 cars. High-capacity battery EV models like the Tesla and the Chevy Bolt EV are also set to join the competition. Tesla starts delivering the Model S90D premium sedan next month. GM started to receive pre-orders for the Bolt EV on March 17, and all 400 cars available were sold out in two hours. President Moon Jae-in also pledged to ban new diesel vehicle registrations by 2030, another sign EVs will continue their surging popularity for years here. "The government is leaning towards eco-friendly vehicles by deciding to ban diesel cars by 2030," an industry observer said. "We will see more Tesla vehicles next month. Consumers will have a wider choice in EVs from now on as more carmakers are expected to introduce such models." He said EVs will gain further momentum considering the country is home to world leaders of rechargeable batteries, which are crucial to eco-friendly vehicles. LG Chem and Samsung SDI are top-tier manufacturers of rechargeable batteries for cars. They have struggled of late due to retaliation of the Chinese government after Korea decided to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system. But after Moon's inauguration early this month, tensions show signs of easing. Hence, the two battery giants hope to bounce back to boost the EV business. By Lee Hyo-sik It has become difficult for those seeking to operate budget carriers as the government has become reluctant to issue new licenses amid the increasingly saturated market. Aviation authorities are also concerned about newcomers' financial health and ability to ensure aviation safety as they are small in size and not affiliated with larger carriers such as Korean Air or Asiana Airlines. Currently, six domestic low-cost carriers (LCC) operate flights on dozens of domestic and international routes. Air Seoul, owned by Asiana Airlines, is the last one that obtained an air operator's certificate (AOC) early last year. Yangyang Flight and four others have been moving to receive state licenses from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. But their chances are not high, according to industry analysts, after the ministry refused to give the green light in February to Yangyang Flight, based out of Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province. Ministry officials said the company may run into financial troubles in the early stage of operation and might lack the ability to safeguard flight safety and consumer convenience. But Yangyang Flight, set up in April last year, plans to file an application again in June to obtain a state license so it could fly to destinations in China, Japan and Southeast Asia. It's trying to finish the job before Korea holds the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in Gangwon Province next February. "We recently signed a contract to lease three Boeing 737-800 planes and will soon lodge an application with the transport ministry for the AOC," a company official said. "We would like to become the country's seventh LCC. We are working hard to start operations in time for the PyeongChang Olympics so we can serve many foreign visitors coming to Gangwon Province." The official said the company will hire more than 130 pilots, cabin crew and other personnel if it receives an AOC. Four other players have been preparing to begin flights linking their bases with destinations in Asia. They are K Air based at Cheongju International Airport, Pohang Air at Pohang Airport, Air Daegu at Daegu Airport and Nambu Air at Sacheon Aiport. But it remains to be seen whether they will get licenses because the transport ministry has become lukewarm toward the idea of allowing additional budget carriers to operate. "The LCC market has been growing at an explosive pace in recent years in line with the soaring number of Korean and non-Korean air travelers," a ministry official said. "But we estimate the industry has come closer to its saturation point so the government has to be careful about letting another player enter the crowded field." He also expressed concerns about new budget carriers' ability to finance their operations and ensure flight safety and consumer convenience. "Those seeking to get licenses are based at provincial airports and appear to lack operational knowhow," the official said. "We will conduct a thorough review on applicants and consider all aspects before issuing new licenses." Claude Lanzmann at the bridge in Pyongyang / Scene from "Napalm" A brief but passionate encounter with a North Korean nurse six decades ago drives French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann's personal journey through the secretive state By Clarence Tsui As in most documentaries filmed in North Korea, Claude Lanzmann's Napalm features images of officially approved events designed to boost the country's social and political prowess. People are shown presenting bouquets at mammoth statues commemorating the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. During a film shoot, a dexterous actress fights off an army of villains dressed in South Korean military uniforms. Elsewhere in a gymnasium, taekwondo athletes show off their amazing chops. But the documentary's most telling moment is much shorter and less choreographed. Approaching a bridge during a tour of Pyongyang, the 91-year-old Lanzmann is shown fiercely shaking off a minder who is trying to guide him in a certain direction. "Let go of me," he shouts, waving his walking cane. Speaking in Cannes after Napalm's world premiere at the French city's annual film festival, which wraps up on Sunday, Lanzmann recalled feeling "almost handcuffed" by his guides during his visit to North Korea in 2015. "I always had to fight against them. There were always more than two guards," the French filmmaker said. They were shadowing him so closely that he "almost became friends" with them, he added. The documentary shows him seemingly enjoying the spectacles around him, impressed by the actors, athletes and a young, English-speaking soldier showing him around a miliary museum. Lanzmann said he did not go to North Korea two years ago to make friends. While he convinced North Korean authorities to grant him entry to the country by stating his interest in taekwondo, he had another idea in mind all along: to make a very personal documentary about his brief amorous encounter with a local nurse there in 1958. In fact, the bridge where Lanzmann had that brief brush-up with his escort was the place he enjoyed a clandestine date with a local woman nearly 60 years ago, when he went to Pyongyang as part of a delegation of left-leaning French intellectuals trying to figure out what the Stalinist country was like in the aftermath of the Korean war. It's an affair he wrote about previously in his memoirs The Patagonian Hare, which was published in 2009. He has now brought this account to the screen in a long monologue in Napalm's second half, recalling how he met the nurse when she came to give him an injection in the hotel, and how the pair embraced and kissed in the room. He said they arranged to meet outside afterwards, and they had a brief escapade along the riverfront and also on a rowing boat before security officers finally caught up with them and took her away. At the end of the documentary, Lanzmann says he received a letter from North Korea a few months after that visit. Through an attached French translation printed under an official North Korean letterhead, he explains, he discovered it was a postcard with a message presumably written by the nurse. Unsurprisingly, the pair's erotic encounter was not mentioned in the message. Instead, the nurse or the writer of the postcard thanked him for visiting the country in propaganda-like language, and said soon "peace-loving people will meet for sure". But Lanzmann said he did not intend to locate the nurse during his first return to North Korea in 2004, or during the 2015 trip which produced footage for Napalm. "It is not a good experience to see a woman you knew and see her already becoming old, it was not pleasant for you," he said. This apprehension of confronting the past runs very much against the sprawling documentaries he has produced to explore the Holocaust. An anti-Nazi resistance fighter in France during the second world war, he founded the literary journal Les Temps Modernes with philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and was highly critical of his own government's suppression of Algeria's pro-independence struggle during the 1950s and 60s. He made his first documentary, Israel, Why, in 1973. But it was Shoah, released in 1985, which established him as a filmmaker with its depiction of the Holocaust through the testimonies of those who survived Nazi Germany's concentration camps. Despite its personal roots, Napalm is similar to Lanzmann's previous documentaries in its reflections on war and catastrophe. According to Lanzmann's research, the US army poured 3.2 million litres of napalm over North Korea during the Korean war, preceding the chemical's widespread use during the Vietnam war. In the documentary, Lanzmann also used a lot of footage which Pyongyang authorities used to show the death and carnage during the Korean war. Lanzmann said he had no intention of making Napalm a political film. He added that he neither has "political sympathy for the regime" nor considers the country as "an axis of evil" as former US president George W Bush once called it. However, he described his recent visits to North Korea as "pure horror". "When I went there the second time in 2004, it was terrible," he said. "It was the end of a famine with thousands of deaths ... it was a complete change compared to what was in North Korea in 1958. "There was nothing to eat, I was really starving and I could not eat what they served me as I started immediately to vomit. They did all they could to forbid me to have any meeting with the population." Nevertheless, his producer Francois Margolin, who had a working relationship with the North Korean film authorities, helped him and cinematographer Caroline Champetier return to the hermit state in 2015 to gather footage for Napalm. In one scene in Napalm, a state employee shows Lanzmann scenes from a recently produced film on her Mac computer a sign of modern technology both at odds with perceptions of the country as backwards, but also in line with the state-produced anti-US propaganda videos released online in the past few months. Lanzmann said Napalm remains a personal story and he doesn't intend the film to have anything to do with the tensions in and around North Korea today. "I don't think [the film] is a metaphor," he said. South Korean President Moon Jae-in's special envoy has told the Russian Far East development minister and parliament leaders that South Korea intends to increase economic cooperation with Russia as a means to dissuade North Korea from its nuclear weapons development and military provocations. After meetings with the Minister for Development of Russian Far East Alexander Galushka and parliamentary leaders on Tuesday, Rep. Song Young-gil of the ruling Democratic Party said the Russian side stressed the importance of dialogue and negotiations in the dealing with North Korea's nuclear issues as opposed to sanctions and pressure. In response, the South Korean side conveyed Moon's intention to control North Korea's nuclear and missile development through international collaboration. Moon also seeks to use trilateral economic projects involving the two Koreas and Russia in order to induce a change of behavior from North Korea, the Korean side also told Russian officials. The Russian side also agreed to the possibility of using trilateral cooperation, which led to Song and Galushka's "detailed" discussion on ways to boost bilateral and trilateral economic collaboration, according to the special envoy. "Minister Galushka suggested the trilateral cooperation of the South, North and Russia, which has been in stalemate due to the nuclear issues, be pushed forward independently and I agreed to that," Song told reporters on Tuesday. The two sides also reportedly shared their understanding that such trilateral economic projects could induce North Korea to move toward resolving its nuclear problem, agreeing in principle to resume a number of three-way projects that are currently on hold. The Russian minister also pointed to South Korea's "passive" investment activities in Russia, with the two sides agreeing to work toward increasing bilateral economic collaboration, the special envoy noted. "More details of South Korea's plans on trilateral economic cooperation projects will be conveyed to President Vladimir Putin," Song said. He is scheduled to meet with Putin on Wednesday in which he will deliver a handwritten letter from Moon and discuss bilateral and North Korean nuclear issues. (Yonhap) Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze claims that Ukraine is lagging behind the implementation plan for the Association Agreement with the European Union. "We lag behind in the schedule of the Agreement implementation and this backlog is significant enough. I said in March that Ukraine in 2016 implemented only 26 acts of EU law from the planned 130 into its legislation," the deputy PM said during the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Wednesday. Klympush-Tsintsadze said that the Agreement was not fully implemented in any of the spheres: be it the sphere of transport or finance or the provision of services by the customs house. By Park Si-soo Taiwan's top court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage on Wednesday, making the island the first place in Asia to recognize gay unions. The Constitutional Court said the current civil code that does not permit same-sex marriages was a violation of two articles of the constitution of the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name. It said that authorities must either enact or amend related t laws within two years. "The need, capability, willingness and longing, in both physical and psychological senses, for creating such permanent unions of intimate and exclusive nature are equally essential to homosexuals and heterosexuals, given the importance of the freedom of marriage to the sound development of personality and safeguarding of human dignity," the court said in its ruling. Two of the court's 15 justices filed dissenting opinions and one recused himself in the case. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman is confident that Ukraine will be able to become a member of the European Union in the medium term. "I deeply believe that Ukraine can become a full-fledged member of the European Union in the medium term," he said during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Wednesday. The prime minister said that the steps that must be taken to achieve EU membership are, first of all, necessary for Ukraine itself. The Maltese presidency of the EU has announced that the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU countries (Coreper) will discuss on Wednesday preparations for a number of forthcoming bilateral summits to the European Union. We are talking about the EU-China summits in Brussels scheduled for June 2, the EU-Ukraine in Kyiv scheduled for July 12-13 and the perspective of the EU-Japan summit, the timing of which has not been agreed upon yet. In addition, the permanent representatives will consider the agenda of the forthcoming EU Council on Foreign Affairs in Luxembourg scheduled for June 19, as well as a number of other specialized EU Councils. The draft budget of the European Union for 2018, proposed on the eve of the European Commission is among the topics for discussion at the Coreper meeting. It should be further considered by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. Moldova and Ukraine have opened the first joint checkpoint at the Transdniestrian section of their border, i.e. at the biggest border crossing point in the area, Kuchurgan-Pervomaisk, a government spokesman told Interfax. "The purpose of joint control is to facilitate the movement of goods, vehicles and passengers on the 'one stop - one window' principle, including customs clearance of exported and imported goods in the Transdniestrian region, among them excised commodities," the report said. The checkpoint opened in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement on the joint inspection of passengers, vehicles and goods at Moldovan-Ukrainian border crossing points, it said. The agreement stipulates that Moldovan customs and border officers will be stationed at the Kuchurgan checkpoint in Ukrainian territory bordering the Transdniestrian checkpoint of Pervomaisk. The joint control will be exercised in two stages. During the initial stage, which will last for about six months, Moldovan and Ukrainian customs officers will jointly control exclusively exports of goods from Transdniestria. The Moldovan border police will monitor vehicles and passengers, register foreign citizens who cross the border in both directions, and notify interested persons of national migration laws. The second stage will embrace control of exported and imported goods and also vehicles and passengers. No restrictions or bans that may change the existent border crossing procedures will be imposed on Transdniestrian economic entities and individuals. It will be possible to export and import plants and animal products to and from the Transdniestrian district with certificates issued by the Moldovan and Ukrainian phytosanitary and veterinarian services without any control or duty. The joint checkpoint, which opened on Wednesday, is the fifth crossing point on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border and the first one in the Transdniestrian sector. The authorities of the unrecognized Transdniestrian Republic strongly object to Moldova's control on its borders. The Transdniestrian foreign minister said earlier that the republic might invite Russian specialists for joint manning of its customs and border checkpoints. On Thursday, June 1, at 11.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference entitled "How to Establish Peace and Save Ukraine" on the need to amend the Constitution of Ukraine, on the establishment of peace and prospects of the country. The participants will include leader of the party 'For Truth and Justice' Oleksandr Moroz and coordinator of the working group on amending the Constitution of Ukraine Mykhailo Kostynsky (8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation. Additional information by phone: (044) 255 4225. The Spitfire Grill, a down-home musical now in previews at North Coast Repertory Theatre, opened off-Broadway in 2001, and has been produced worldwide ever since. Called soul-satisfying, by The New York Times, its about a young woman just released from prison who hopes to make a new life for herself in a small town far away from her sad, Southern roots. She manages to find a job as a waitress in a cafe called you guessed it The Spitfire Grill, and a room in the home of its crusty-but-kind-hearted owner. Step by step, she starts out on her rocky road to redemption. The musical was based on a 1996 film featuring Ellen Burstyn as the cafe owner, Marcia Gay Harden as a downtrodden young wife and mother, and the less-famous Alison Elliott as the unlucky but plucky ex-con. It won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and several years later, caught the attention of James Valcq and Fred Alley, two writers who were old high school music camp pals. They had just done a show at the American Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin, where lyricist/librettist Alley was co-founder and artist-in-residence, and thought they could turn the film into a great, rootsy musical play. The show they came up with, replete with catchy, country-style tunes by New York-based composer/musician/former boy soprano Valcq, changed the locale from Maine to Wisconsin, combined two male characters into one, and gave the script a more upbeat ending. After a New Jersey production in 2000, where they were mentored by renowned playwright/director Arthur Laurents, New Yorks Playwrights Horizons chose it to kick off their 2001 season. Then, a week before the pre-show workshop, Alley died of a heart attack during a run near his Wisconsin home. He was only 38, and his untimely ending sounds sadly reminiscent of Jonathan Larson, creator of the mega-hit musical Rent, who died of a heart attack at 35 the night before his off-Broadway opening. But, as with Rent, The Spitfire Grill goes on. At NCRT, its helmed by Jeffrey Moss, an award-winning director whose credits include developing new musicals and staging tours of Broadway hit shows. In 2014, he came to NCRT to direct Rothschild & Sons, which went on to New York and is now headed for London. Last year, Artistic Director David Ellenstein invited him back and gave him a copy of The Spitfire Grill to consider. Id heard of the show, but never seen it, Moss said. It was a new discovery for me, a kind of hidden treasure. Im all about putting humanity on the stage, and this one does it in a very lyrical and sweet way. Moss compares Spitfire to classic musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein. There are tunes, real tunes, and the songs are compelling, he said. They tell the story, expose the hearts of the characters, and reach out and connect with the audience. I dont call this a play with music, I call it a folk opera; it has strong, big emotions that are captured in the songs, and theres a sense of humor too. And NCRT is such an intimate theater, a good match for the show. The cast is terrific, Moss added, and even in rehearsal, the play is moving. Theres live music, too, by a trio of local musicians, playing guitar, mandolin, violin and cello. As one of the songs goes: Somethings cooking at the Spitfire Grill. See for yourself, through June 25, at NCRT. IF YOU GO: The Spitfire Grill is on stage May 31-June 25 at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach. Tickets: $42-$53. (858) 481-1055. northcoastrep.org To the Editor: An open letter to city council regarding Geneva Inn annexation: Why is this issue being discussed behind closed doors? The citizens of Lake Geneva should be able to be heard. Why not a referendum for the public who live here and pay taxes that fund all projects including the city council. To discuss and act behind closed doors imparts a level of shadiness that will take years to recover from. Every issue should be above board and open to public discussion unless there are things to hide. However, after the Hummel disaster and monetary cost, I would think the city council does not want to go there. We invested in this community when we bought a home here in 2004. To think of opening the gates to crass commercialization is sickening. Penelope and Dave Jones Lake Geneva PRESS RELEASE Indian Prime Minister Starts His Trip to Three European Nations and Russia May 29, 2017 (EIRNS)Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun his four-nation trip through Germany, Spain, Russia, and France today. He will be returning on June 3. In Russia, he will be heading the 18th India-Russia Annual Summit in St. Petersburg with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he will also hold a bilateral summit. From all available accounts, one of the main purposes of Modis six-day trip is to tie up business deals and to encourage investment in India. In Germany, he will be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Speaking prior to his departure, Randhir Jaiswal, Joint secretary (Europe West) in Indias External Affairs Ministry, said that Germany is the largest trading partner of India in the European Union. "German economic profile, support, excellence, and expertise match with our development priorities, be it Make in India, Skill India, Clean India, Digital India, and "Smart Cities" Jaiswal said, the Hindustan Times reported. In Spain, discussions will center on investment and technology. Jaiswal said: "Spain enjoys a reputation in the fields of renewable energy, high-speed rail, infrastructure, tunneling, technology solutions, including civil aviation air space management, and waste water management," the Hindustan Times reported. In Russia, G.V. Srinivas, joint secretary (Eurasia) in Indias Ministry of External Affairs, said Modis participation in the India-Russia Annual Summit "signals that there will be emphasis on trade and investment during the Russian leg of the tour." He also pointed out that, while India-Russia cooperation in the areas of defense, nuclear, and space was "very, very ahead," bilateral trade has come down for a variety of reasons, from $10 billion to around $7 billion now, the news article reported. Also likely to be on Modis agenda during his talks with President Putin, is the growing divergence in the views of Moscow and New Delhi vis-a-vis the Afghan situation. While Russia is now talking openly of accommodating the Taliban to share power in Kabul, India has remained vehemently opposed to that view. PRESS RELEASE U.S., Japan Planning 2+2 Meeting of Foreign and Defense Ministers May 29, 2017 (EIRNS)Unnamed officials told Japans Kyodo news service that Tokyo and Washington are planning a 2+2 meeting, that is, of foreign and defense ministers, sometime in mid-July in Washington, where North Korea will be the main topic of discussion. This will be the first such meeting of the United States and Japan since 2015. They are expected to discuss steps to beef up a ballistic missile defense system and review the duties of the U.S. military and the Self-Defense Forces, reports Kyodo. This could include the possibility of Japan buying an Aegis Ashore anti-ballistic missile installation, purportedly to defend against the North Korea missile threat. PRESS RELEASE Japan, China Agree To Move Forward as Cooperative Partners, Not Threats to One Another May 30, 2017 (EIRNS)The Fourth High-level Japan-China Dialogue began yesterday with a five-hour meeting co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, the nations top foreign policy official, and Japanese National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi. Yang is in Japan for three days, and also met with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida today. While tensions are evident, both Yang and Yachi emphasized that cooperation between their countries is vital for Asia as a whole, and both spoke of the need to fully implement the consensus that they are each others cooperative partner, and not threats to each other. The discussions happily were held after the ground-breaking Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, to which Prime Minister Abe had sent a high-level representative. "China-Japan relations are currently at an important juncture with both new opportunities and outstanding challenges," Yang said, as reported in Xinhua. "The two sides should remind themselves of their original intention for normalizing ties, take history as a mirror while facing to the future." Yang invited Japan to discuss cooperation with China in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, reiterating that Chinas development is an opportunity for Japan, and he pressed both to "upgrade bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and expand cooperation in new areas." In that light, he urged that there be more exchanges between young people and local governments of the two nations, to build the trust and mutual understanding required. A statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry quotes Yachi as having told Yang that "Japan and China need to work together to strongly urge North Korea to avoid further provocative actions and obey things like United Nations resolutions." Foreign Minister Kishida also emphasized cooperation on the North Korea issue. China, for its part, cautioned Japan on the South China Sea, Chinese wires report: "We hope that the Japanese side would be cautious in its statements and actions related to the South China Sea issue and would play a constructive role in the settlement of the dispute between the relevant regional countries," Yang said. (The South Chinese Morning Post reports in this context that Japans Coast Guard is holding training exercises wtih the Philippines and Vietnam in June.) PRESS RELEASE Macron-Putin Meeting Focuses on Advancing Cooperation Against Terror PARIS, May 30, 2017 (Nouvelle Solidarite)Yesterday's meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and France's new President Emmanuel Macron was clearly just the beginning of a dialogue between both nations, and it will take some time to rebuild confidence, since the relations had reached a bottom low. The decorum chosen for the meetingthe 300th anniversary of Peter the Greats visit to Francewas very strong symbolically, and can only be interpreted from Macrons side as a real will to restart the dialogue. The fact that in his entourage there are quite a few people who speak Russian fluently, something on which Putin remarked positively during his intervention at the press conference to the great pleasure of Macron. However, beyond the symbols, the reality is that disagreements are strong. The only subject of agreement after a tete-a-tete that lasted over two hoursand was, as they described it themselves, a complete tour dhorizon of the situationwas to reinforce their cooperation in the fight against terrorism in Syria. Macron proposed to create a working group to examine the conditions of this cooperation. He also slightly modified Frances previous fully anti-Bashar Assad position, to one by which he agrees to meet figures of the Assad regime. Macron also stated that he wanted to reinforce the French-Russian cooperation on this matter, beyond what France is doing already with the international coalition in Syria and Iraq. That would be interesting. But Putin, in his intervention in the press conference, wondered if he is able to deliver: "We dont know to what extent France is autonomous in seeking solutions to operational questions [in the Syrian dossier]. We dont know, because we dont know what are the agreements among the allies [of the international coalition]." However, even in this area in which both agree to reinforce their collaboration, the same old problems remain to a large extent: Macron said he wants to work towards a democratic transition which does not lead to the partition of Syria; Putin restated his position at the end of the press conference: "concerning the Syrian dossier, our position is clear. We cannot eliminate terrorism by destroying states of the region which are already quite fragile." Macron also very forcefully defined a "red line" not to cross, or else risk an immediate French retaliation: the use by any camp of chemical weapons, something which Putin is not willing to accept, given the difficulty of the situation. In his presentation to the press conference, Putin said they had talked about relations between Russia and the EU; discussed the thorny world crisis, and tried to find a common approach. Putin said he is convinced that Frances and Russias interests are closer than their differences, and reported on the good economic and trade relations between both countries, despite the sanctions. "Of the 500 French companies in Russia, not one of them quit Russia because of the sanctions." Last year French direct investment in Russia increased by $2.1 billion; bilateral exchanges increased by 14%, and growth in the early part of this year was up 30%. Putin called for more youth exchanges, people who study each others language, history, culture. He also noted that they discussed the Ukrainian crisis, the solutions to the Syrian crisis, as well as the very dangerous and complicated nuclear crisis in North Korea. However, he, like Macron, believes that "Our main task for the moment is the struggle against terrorism. The French President proposes the creation of a working group and I want to support the idea that we need to coordinate our struggle against terrorism on a practical level. Concerning the Syrian dossier, our position is clear. We cannot eliminate terrorism by destroying states of the region which are already quite fragile." For the future, one should also take into account that Macron is trying to run his own game, different from Mitterrand, different from Merkel. During the campaign he viewed himself as close to a group of 20 former foreign ministers who issued a booklet entitled the "Seven Mortal Sins of French Foreign Policy," urging France to recover the independence it had during the Gaullist era. In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche prior to the meeting with Putin, Macron stated, "I have respect for Russia, and I invite Putin in the context of a 300-year-old diplomatic relation." And he also said about Trump: "Mr. Trump wants to understand and listen. He is more open than one thinks, he likes direct contact and he is capable of changing his mind." He said he could "build a cordial relationship" with Trump. Bill OReilly, the bestselling author and political commentator who was fired by Fox News in April after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, is writing a book about the American Revolution. Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence, will be released on Sept. 19 by Henry Holt and Co., the Associated Press reports. Like the six previous books in his Killing series, which includes Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, and Killing Jesus, the book will be co-written with Martin Dugard. Advertisement OReilly told the AP that he wanted to write about the American Revolution because he hadnt read any books that explored the founding of the United States from top to bottom. OReilly has written or co-written more than 20 books, most recently Old School: Life in the Sane Lane, which spent six weeks on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list and was co-authored by Bruce Feirstein. OReilly was fired from Fox News, where he hosted his popular show The OReilly Factor, on April 19. He had been accused of sexual harassment by several women, and dozens of companies had announced they were pulling their advertising from his show. His future with Holt looked uncertain after his dismissal from Fox News, but Stephen Rubin, the publishers president, confirmed that Holt was sticking with the conservative firebrand, citing his books sales. We are totally committed to Bill, long term. Why wouldnt we be? Rubin said. We have created the most successful adult nonfiction franchise in recent publishing history and we are thrilled to continue it. OReilly has consistently denied the allegations of sexual harassment, and told the AP that hes innocent of the charges. His most recent entry in the Killing series of books, which initially focused on the deaths of political figures, was Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan, published last September. In his story The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Ernest Hemingway wrote a snappy retort to F. Scott Fitzgeralds line about how the very rich are different from you and me. Yes, Hemingways character replies, they have more money. Economist Gabriel Zucman of UC Berkeley and two colleagues add a gloss to this exchange in a new paper. The very rich also are vastly better than you and me at evading taxes, they conclude so much better that global statistics may understate the scale of wealth inequality by as much as 25%. Tax evasion is really concentrated at the top of the income distribution, Zucman told me. Advertisement Offshore wealth turns out to be extremely concentrated. ... The top 0.01% owns about 50% of it. Zucman et. al., Tax Evasion and Inequality That may seem intuitive the richer one is, the larger the temptation to dodge the tax authorities but its not the received wisdom among tax experts. They often point to the small business cash sector. As described by Ilan Benshalom in a 2012 paper, these include professionals providing services (e.g., electricians); restaurants; sole proprietors; farmers; and other small business owners. These taxpayers find it easy to evade, the argument goes, because their cash income is hard to track and theyre so numerous and small-scale that theyre not economical to audit. Estimates of the tax gap in many countries that is, the discrepancy between whats owed and whats paid typically are based on random audits. But that misses a large proportion of evaded taxes, Zucman and his co-authors argue, especially among the super-rich, who have unique options for evasion, chiefly by hiding money offshore. Theres a big industry providing wealth management services for the super-wealthy all over the world, Zucman says. Once you cross a certain threshold of over $50 million, you get offered those services. The results of his study suggest that wealth inequality is probably rising more than we thought. Zucmans research is based on two spectacular leaks of information about those services: the 2007 leak of data on more than 30,000 clients of banking conglomerate HSBCs Swiss private banking subsidiary, and the 2016 Panama Papers leak of names and addresses of owners of shell companies created by Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca. The leaks filled a gap that can confound national tax authorities, including those in the U.S. Its relatively easy for enforcement agencies to obtain information from domestic financial institutions to match against taxpayer returns. But its harder, and sometimes impossible, to obtain the same information from offshore institutions. If you move your wealth abroad, Zucman says, its very easy to evade taxes on that income. Zucman and his co-authors, from the University of Copenhagen and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, matched the identities in both caches to tax records in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Their goal was to correct global inequality statistics so as to better capture the very rich. Their basic finding was that about 3% of personal taxes are evaded overall in Scandinavia, but the figure rises to 30% among the top 0.01% of income earners. They dont have similar figures for American taxpayers, but Zucman contends that the pattern in the U.S. probably resembles their sample. There is good reason to believe that the very steep gradient [in tax evasion by the wealthy] is also the case in the U.S., he says. It could be even worse. For one thing, the tax gap is much larger in the U.S. than in Scandinavia. According to IRS statistics, less than 82% of all tax is paid voluntarily and on time; enforcement actions raise that ratio to about 83.7%, for a tax gap of 16.3%, or an annual average of $406 billion in unpaid taxes. Evidence that Americans have taken advantage of the offshore services uncovered via the leaks accounts of 4,000 taxpayers with U.S. connections, valued at $13 billion, turned up in the HSBC records according to an analysis by 60 Minutes in 2008. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. MORE FROM MICHAEL HILTZIK In another sign of the end of nuclear power, shutdown looms for Three Mile Island Have stocks reached a permanently high plateau? Or: Whatever happened to market corrections? The challenges in setting up a California single-payer system are daunting but not insurmountable Scott Pelley is leaving the anchor desk of CBS Evening News in a major shake-up at the storied broadcast network. The New York Post reported Tuesday that Pelleys belongings were being removed from his office while he was away on assignment for 60 Minutes, which will become his full-time home at the network. CBS News representatives did not comment on the account. But a person familiar with the news divisions plans who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly said Pelley is going to depart CBS Evening News to become a full-time correspondent at the newsmagazine. The move could be announced as soon as Wednesday morning. Advertisement Pelley, 59, has been in the CBS Evening News anchor chair since June 2011, when he replaced Katie Couric. He has been with CBS News since 1989 and has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since 2004. Although Pelley has built on the audience he inherited from Couric, his broadcast has been behind NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt and ABC World News Tonight With David Muir in the ratings throughout its run. The programs competitive position has been a source of frustration for CBS executives, which has led to speculation in recent months that Pelley would be replaced. There are no obvious successors to Pelley inside CBS. The one name mentioned most by TV news insiders in recent months is Norah ODonnell, who is the co-anchor of CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose and Gayle King. The program has been giving CBS its best morning ratings in 29 years and has become a significant profit center for the news division. For that reason, the network is likely to consider the impact of breaking up the successful trio for the sake of the evening news time period that accounts for far less revenue than the morning segment. Evening news programs have long been considered the signature broadcasts for network news. But 24-hour cable news networks and live news on the demand through the Internet have eroded the evening news audiences in recent years. In the May sweeps ratings period measured by Nielsen, ABC World News averaged 7.59 million viewers a night and NBC Nightly News averaged 7.56 million. Pelleys broadcast averaged 6.1 million. stephen.battaglio@latimes.com Twitter: @SteveBattaglio ALSO NBC has high hopes for Megyn Kelly. But can she compete with 60 Minutes ? CBS shake-up: Kelly Kahl and Thom Sherman promoted into top leadership roles as Glenn Geller exits Sean Hannity goes on vacation as some advertisers drop out of his show Amid turmoil, is Fox News losing its perch as cable news leader? UPDATES: 8:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background information on CBS News. 9:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details on Pelleys departure from CBS Evening News. This article was originally posted at 7:50 p.m. Following successful negotiations with directors and writers, it is now the actors turn to sit down at the table with the major Hollywood studios and networks to work out a new contract. SAG-AFTRA will begin negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Wednesday, the two organizations said in a joint announcement. The AMPTP represents studios, TV networks and independent producers in their negotiations with the Hollywood unions. The talks will take place at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks. Gabrielle Carteris, who is SAG-AFTRAs president, will chair the unions negotiating committee while David White, the unions national executive director, will serve as chief negotiator. The lead negotiator for the AMPTP will be its president, Carol Lombardini. Advertisement The two sides didnt elaborate, except to say there will be a news blackout for the duration of the talks. SAG-AFTRA ratified its last contract in 2014, when the late actor Ken Howard headed the union. The three-year deal included wage hikes as well as a small increase to the unions health and pension plans. The actors are expected to use recent gains made by the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America as leverage. The Writers Guild ratified its new contract last week, with agreements including bumps in minimum pay and residuals from streaming TV services such as Netflix and Amazon. Writers also secured $65 million more in contributions for their employer-funded health plan. The Directors Guild ratified its new three-year contract in January, having secured wage increases and boosts in streaming residuals. SAG-AFTRA has about 160,000 members, including actors, announcers and broadcast journalists. The union is seven months into a strike against several prominent video game companies over issues including compensation and workplace safety for motion-capture and voice performers. david.ng@latimes.com @DavidNgLAT Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders pushed the company Wednesday to share more information about whether regulations designed to reduce climate change will hurt the oil giants business. Investors holding 62% of shares voted at the companys annual meeting in favor of more disclosure around the effect of global policies aimed at limiting global warming to 2 degrees centigrade. The vote is a defeat for Exxon Mobil and a victory for environmentalists and shareholder activists, who saw support for their proposal grow from 38% a year ago. Chairman and Chief Executive Darren Woods said the matter will be reconsidered by the Exxon board. Advertisement The climate-change resolution was submitted by the New York state retirement fund. It asked the company to analyze the effects on Exxons oil and gas reserves and resources in case demand for fossil fuels drops because of climate-change policies. Edward Mason, an official with the Church of Englands endowment and a former British diplomat, said Exxon Mobil had refused to increase meaningful disclosure of its vulnerability to climate-related regulation in the face of scientific consensus about the severity of the problem. Addressing some Exxon directors by name, Mason said, Members of the board, do you leave your understanding of climate change at the door when you attend Exxon board meetings? Woods said Exxon Mobil believes that the risks related to climate change are serious and warrant action, thoughtful action. But he suggested that the company is already doing enough to protect shareholders by, among other things, assuming a proxy cost of carbon when predicting energy demand and planning new projects. Our outlook assumes increasingly stringent climate policy, Woods said. At the same time, it assumes growing energy demand through 2040 including substantial demand for oil and gas. We are confident in the commercial viability of our portfolio. Exxon Mobil did not disclose the votes of individual shareholders, but both sides had targeted major institutional investors including BlackRock, Vanguard and Fidelity. Shareholders rejected a separate resolution backed by the environmentally minded. That one asked Exxon to describe steps it takes to prevent methane emissions from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, during well drilling. The measure got about 39% support. Wednesdays meeting was the first since Woods became CEO. Woods succeeded Rex Tillerson, who moved up his retirement date after being picked to become President Trumps secretary of State. Tillerson set a different tone at Exxon by endorsing a carbon tax, supporting the Paris climate agreement and calling climate change a serious risk. But environmentalists attack Exxon for funding groups that try to discredit and dismiss climate science, and New York and Massachusetts officials are investigating whether ExxonMobil misled investors about the risks the company faces from tougher regulation of carbon emissions. Low crude prices have taken a toll on Exxon profit, which fell from $32.5 billion in 2014 to $16.2 billion in 2015 to $7.8 billion in 2016. With cash declining and debt rising, Exxon lost its sterling AAA credit rating last year. Shares of Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil rose 16% in 2016 but have dropped nearly 10% since the start of this year. On Wednesday, the shares fell 0.7% to $80.50. UPDATES: 2:25 p.m. This article was updated with Exxon Mobils closing stock price. It was originally published at 11:30 a.m. A New York City artist briefly placed a small statue of a urinating dog next to Wall Streets Fearless Girl sculpture as a form of counter-protest. Fearless Girl was installed in March by a financial firm as a statement about the lack of women on the boards of big U.S. corporations. It faces the famous Charging Bull statue. The dogs sculptor, Alex Gardega, tells The New York Post that he thinks Fearless Girl is a disrespectful publicity stunt and has nothing to do with feminism. Advertisement The artist called the statue of the girl "corporate nonsense" https://t.co/d0zOKQW3jO New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) May 30, 2017 Fearless Girl creator Kristen Visbal and a representative for bull creator Arturo Di Modica did not immediately respond to comment requests on Tuesday. Di Modica has previously complained that Fearless Girl turns his bulls message of freedom, peace, strength, power and love into something negative. Fearless Girl was supposed to be a temporary installation celebrating International Womens Day, but given its popularity city officials said it could stay through February 2018. The statue was commissioned by Boston-based State Street Global Advisors, which said the statue was intended to celebrate the power of women in leadership and to urge greater gender diversity on corporate boards. Attorneys for Di Modica have sent letters requesting the girls removal to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the CEOs of State Street and its advertising firm, McCann Worldgroup. ALSO Why theres a statue of a fearless girl facing Wall Streets Charging Bull Charging Bull sculptor accuses New York City of violating his rights Inspired by Wall Street statue, a defiant girl figure is installed on roof of California Democratic Party Luxury brand Michael Kors Holdings plans to close 100 to 125 stores over the next two years as the retailer tries to expand its Asia presence and adjust to an industrywide trend of shoppers buying things online rather than in person. The London-based retailer said Wednesday that it has not yet disclosed which locations will be closed and when. As of April 1, Michael Kors had 827 stores, according to the company. That was up from 668 stores the same time last year. The retailer said it expected to save about $60 million a year as a result of the closures. Advertisement In an earnings call early Wednesday morning, Michael Kors Chief Executive John Idol said the closures will enable the brand to focus on its most productive locations. He said the company also plans to open new stores in key cities and will focus on expanding the companys footprint in Asia, where it plans to open 50 new stores this year. The retailer also intends to renovate about 100 of its existing stores, mostly in North America, over the next two years to better showcase products. We believe in our retail fleet. We think its critical to our business, Idol said on the call. We think that the key to success there again revolves around product, and revolves around the store environment and creating excitement. Luxury brands have not been immune to the changing retail landscape, as shoppers choose to browse and buy online rather than visiting stores in malls, said Britt Beemer, chairman and founder of consumer behavior firm Americas Research Group. Ten years ago, high-end consumers would shop at malls about 20.5 times a year, he said. That same demographic today is visiting malls about 11.5 times a year. High-end consumers say it takes an increasing amount of time to visit malls and then get home, Beemer said, and they just dont want to waste time. Thats where I see to be a challenge, he said. Michael Kors shares closed Wednesday down $3.09, or 8.5%, at $33.18. They have dived 22% over the last 12 months. samantha.masunaga@latimes.com Twitter: @smasunaga MORE BUSINESS NEWS EpiPen maker Mylan pays executives too much, some big investors say as they fight back Can an automobile interior evoke the spirit of California? Ask Lucid, a Tesla competitor Amazon gets first dance with $1,000 share price Waze will roll out its carpool app across California UPDATES: 2:45 p.m.: This article was updated with a closing stock price. The original article was published at 9:40 a.m. Put off by what they see as exorbitant pay for Mylan executives, some big pension funds are attempting to block the reelection of a number of board members, including Chairman and former Chief Executive Robert Coury, who received $100 million last year. They say huge paychecks were awarded to executives as backlash from consumers and the U.S. government escalated over prices Mylan charged for its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment. Lawmakers challenged Mylan last year for its EpiPen pricing, which has climbed more than 500% since 2007. CVS is now selling a rival, generic version of EpiPen at about a sixth of the price of the brand-name version of the lifesaving allergy treatment. Advertisement A representative of the California State Teachers Retirement System signed a letter sent to shareholders, as did the New York City and New York state comptrollers and PGGM, a Dutch pension fund. The institutional investment funds say they want Mylan which is based in Britain, with U.S. headquarters just outside Pittsburgh to be held accountable for a costly record of compensation, risk and compliance failures. Mylan said in an emailed statement Wednesday that its board has overseen a consistent strategy that creates long-term value for its shareholders. It noted that the companys market capitalization has swelled to more than $20 million from about $3 million over the last 15 years, and its stock price also has soared over the longer time frame. During Mr. Courys long tenure, Mylan has delivered strong financial performance and shareholder growth, and his new compensation structure continues to be aligned with the [companys] stock performance while providing shareholders with the benefit of his continued leadership and guidance in setting Mylans strategic direction, the company said. Shares are up four-fold since 2002, but the harsh spotlight on sharply rising drug prices has taken a toll. In the last 12 months, a period that includes the appearance before Congress of current CEO Heather Bresch to explain Mylans decision to raise prices on some drugs, shares have fallen more than 10%. Shares have fallen nearly 7% in the last three months as the companys annual shareholders meeting, scheduled for June 22, approaches. Shares are still up about 2% for the year, however. The pension funds said in their letter that Bresch and company President Rajiv Malik both received annual bonuses that exceeded their base salaries for last year, but the company suffered significant reputational and financial harm. The funds control about 4.3 million Mylan shares. Mylans stock fell 1% on Wednesday to $38.98 a share. UPDATES: 2:45 p.m.: This article was updated to reflect the stocks closing price. This article was originally published at 9:05 a.m. Last week, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to corporations that try to use patent law as a weapon against other firms, saying that companies can be sued for patent infringement only in the places they actually do business. This week, the court ruled again along those same lines, handing a victory to consumer groups in a case about printer cartridges or, more specifically, toner cartridges, the kind used by laserjet printers. The case has huge implications for the way we think about technology ownership in America and your rights as a user. Heres what you need to know. Whats this case all about? The case is called Impression Products vs. Lexmark. Lexmark does a lot of business with corporate customers, so if you work in an office, you might know the name from seeing it on your printers there. Those machines rely on toner cartridges, which must be changed when they run out, just like ink cartridges in other printers. And just like ink-cartridge printing, laserjet printing hinges on a razor and blades business model, where much of the manufacturers income depends on the reliable sale of new toner cartridges. Advertisement To protect its business model, Lexmark basically did some things that made it harder for people to get cheap, used cartridges on the secondhand market. Those tactics were designed to make it more likely for customers to choose Lexmarks own cartridges, according to the court. Although theres nothing specifically illegal about this, the court said, a company such as Lexmark cant try to use patent law to stop other companies, such as Impression, from reselling its old cartridges. What did Impression do, exactly? Companies like Impression make money by buying up old toner cartridges, filling them with more toner and then selling them at a lower price than what Lexmark charges. Lexmark argued that by refurbishing and reselling its cartridges without permission and outside the terms of Lexmarks service agreement with end users, Impression was violating the patent that Lexmark held on the cartridges. Essentially, Lexmark was saying that its patent rights extended beyond the initial sale of the cartridge to cover future resales as well. So whats the big deal? The practical question is how much Lexmark or any other company can control what you do with the things you buy. This debate isnt limited to printer cartridges. If you buy a car, how do you know you really own it? What does ownership actually entitle you to do with your property, anyway? These issues fit into a broader fight over what some experts call the right to tinker. The thinking goes: If you buy something, you should be free to do whatever you want with it modify it, sell it, even destroy it. But some companies, even car manufacturers, have sought to put limits on that freedom. They make arguments such as Lexmarks, asserting that handling a product in a way that potentially undermines the companys business leads to a violation of patent or copyright protections. In this view, customers may think they own the physical property outright, but they are still constrained by an invisible cage made of corporate intellectual property. The Supreme Court disagreed with this view. To help make its case, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. used an analogy: Take a shop that restores and sells used cars. The business works because the shop can rest assured that, so long as those bringing in the cars own them, the shop is free to repair and resell those vehicles. That smooth flow of commerce would sputter if companies that make the thousands of parts that go into a vehicle could keep their patent rights after the first sale. What Roberts is saying has enormous implications for the economy, which depends not only on consumers buying things from companies, but also on companies buying from consumers, and individual consumers trading with each other. It also affects people building new innovations in their garage out of off-the-shelf products. In short, what you can do with the stuff you buy has real ramifications for Americans way of life. What happens next? This debate over ownership is only getting more complicated as the world moves increasingly to digital goods, including subscription-based streaming. With apps such as Spotify, for example, consumers are choosing to rent, not buy. The sprawling digital economy raises new questions for legal experts about access and ownership. The next logical step will be for courts to recognize that people who buy digital goods are owners of those goods, not mere licensees, and can resell and tinker with their digital goods to the same extent as purchasers of tangible property, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a consumer group that supported Impression in the case, said Tuesday in a blog post. Other analysts predict companies will get more creative in the courts. I expect that technology owners will diversify their legal strategies used to protect their products, said Seth Heller, an intellectual property lawyer at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider. In fact, although the Supreme Court specifically said Lexmark cant use patent law to go after cartridge resales, it didnt rule out other methods of getting what the company wanted. Lexmark runs a program offering customers a discount on toner cartridges if they agree to use the cartridge just once, and return the spent cartridge back to the company. This deal is subject to a contract that customers have to sign if they want to participate in the program. So, the court said, assuming these contracts are lawful, theres nothing preventing Lexmark from going after those customers if they violate the agreement by reselling the cartridges. Still, this reflects only part of Lexmarks issue with Impression. And it doesnt help Lexmarks patent argument at all. The single-use/no-resale restrictions in Lexmarks contracts with customers may have been clear and enforceable under contract law, Roberts wrote, but they do not entitle Lexmark to retain patent rights in an item that it has elected to sell. Fung writes for the Washington Post. ALSO Supreme Court makes it easier for companies to defend patent cases Supreme Court makes it harder to sue police for barging into homes Gorsuch dissents as Supreme Court upholds ban on big-money gifts to parties Uber and Lyft talk a big game about transforming the roads, increasing carpooling and reducing traffic. And while both companies have succeeded in getting people used to the idea of hiring an on-demand chauffeur and sharing that ride with strangers, neither has cracked the code for traditional carpooling. So Waze, the Alphabet-owned mapping and navigation app, is giving it a shot. On June 6, Waze will launch a carpooling app across California that lets drivers offer rides to people traveling on a similar route. Passengers who wish to carpool with a driver will be able to download a separate app called Waze Carpool and request a ride. Advertisement Unlike Uber and Lyft, which take a commission from each ride and whose drivers use it as a source of income, Waze Carpool operates more like an old-school carpool, where riders chip in only to cover the cost of gas. The result is that passengers get an affordable and convenient ride, while drivers get gas money and, in some cases, enough bottoms in seats to use carpool lanes. Waze has been testing the service in the San Francisco Bay Area and Israel for the last year. While the company declined to share data on usage, it described the tests as thriving good enough for the service to be rolled out to the rest of California. At the time of the statewide launch, Waze will not take a commission, although in Israel it takes a 15% commission on each ride. In the future when we think the service is operating at a quality that warrants a commission, well add a commission, said Josh Fried, Wazes head of carpool. Riders will also pay no more than the IRS mileage reimbursement rate of 54 cents per mile, all of which will go to the driver, Fried said. The noncommercial nature of the rides means that drivers will not have to carry commercial car insurance, nor will they have to undergo background checks, which Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers must undergo before they can drive for those services. In terms of vetting drivers, theyre not our employees or independent contractors, Fried said. Theyre regular, everyday drivers. Still, there will be safety features familiar to anyone who has used Uber or Lyft. Drivers and passengers will be able to upload a photo of themselves to the app. Theres a five-star rating system, rider and driver endorsements, and the ability to communicate within the app so that no one has to reveal a phone number. Users will also be able to link to their Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. Those looking to carpool will be able to reserve rides up to seven days in advance. In Israel, Fried said passengers tend to request their rides the day before or the morning of, whereas in the San Francisco Bay Area, passengers plan their commutes more carefully and book days in advance. The service isnt intended to offer a ride on demand, but riders can request and get a ride at any time, depending on driver availability. The company doesnt see its carpooling service being in competition with Uber, Lyft or taxis, Fried said, because unlike ride-hailing firms, which make money by collecting fares from passengers, Waze makes money from displaying advertisements in the app. In discussing the companys long-term strategy, Fried said theres an opportunity for Waze to advertise to people who have never used the Waze mapping app before. Transportation analysts see a similar opportunity. The company currently shows advertisements to drivers when they are stopped at a light for a period of time, or when they pass certain locations. But with carpooling, they have the potential to show ads to more people. They can advertise to passengers throughout the entire ride and to the driver at appropriate times, said Rebecca Lindland, an executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book. So you can imagine these adds that pop up when youre driving by a Dunkin Donuts or In-N-Out Burger. Transportation experts also believe that, despite the surface similarities between Waze and Uber, there are fundamental differences between ride-hailing (including carpooled ride-hailing services such as UberPool and Lyft Line) and traditional carpooling. Its a different market and different geography, said Pete Gould, a transportation policy expert at Shared Mobility Strategies. Carpooling makes more sense when youre coming from the suburbs into the city. The real value of UberPool is in the city where you have the highest density of demand. Carpooling has long been viewed as the holy grail of transportation planning, Gould said. And while it isnt new regions such as the Bay Area have long-running informal carpools it has struggled to take off because of a lack of critical mass, social awkwardness and a reluctance to ride with strangers. (Lyft tested and shut down its commuter carpooling service last year because not enough drivers adopted it). But this hesitance could be changing. Whether its millennials or Gen Z, we have tens of millions of people in the States that are very receptive to these kinds of services, Lindland said. They dont know the stranger danger of hitchhiking in the 70s. The mentality is if you are tethered to your phone, and your phone is on and it knows where you are, there is almost a false sense of security. This shifting mentality could pave the way for carpooling to finally take off. Uber is currently testing a commuter carpooling service in Washington, D.C. And after launching in California, Waze plans to bring its carpool app to Brazil. Whether its making it more convenient for people or eliminating the exchange of money, technology has been massively beneficial to carpooling, Gould said. tracey.lien@latimes.com Twitter: @traceylien ALSO Amazon gets first dance with $1,000 share price Uber fires Anthony Levandowski, engineer at center of legal battle with Waymo Creator of Android unveils his vision of the ultimate smartphone New app Peanut is Tinder for mom friends A nice surprise punctuates Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959-1971, the absorbing exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art neatly chronicling an influential Westwood art gallery that migrated east in the late 1960s. Dwan is too often overlooked in histories of postwar L.A. culture, overshadowed by the flashier Ferus Gallery that held forth on La Cienega Boulevard. This captivating show is a welcome corrective. The surprise is Robert Grosvenors screaming yellow sculpture from 1966, made when the artist was 29. Shown first at Dawn, then the following year in LACMAs important survey of American Sculpture of the Sixties, the painted plywood construction hasnt been seen in 50 years. Demolished after the museum show, the untitled work has been remade. Do not miss it. Untitled (yellow) doesnt do what Modern sculpture was supposed to do get up off the floor, defy the mortal pull of gravity and rise heroically through space. Instead, it slices diagonally through the gallery at an oblique angle, like an improbable cross between a sunbeam and the straightened blade of a gigantic scimitar. Did I mention that its screaming yellow? Did I also mention that it does not rise from the floor? The big sculpture its 24 feet long is instead anchored to the ceiling. From there, it cantilevers out and down. Constructed something like an airplane wing, the faceted planes descend to finally hover a foot or so above the ground plane. The thing is massive, but it feels as light as a feather. Move around it, and those faceted planes shift from wide to narrow, thick to thin. Three-dimensional mass dissolves into two-dimensional planes, which skirt the conceptual ambiguity of a line as a point moving through space. After all, just how wide must a line get before it becomes a plane? Its great to see the sculpture at LACMA, where Tony Smiths monumental cellular construction, Smoke, occupies the Ahmanson Buildings atrium. (A fine small show of related Smith sculptures, models, drawings and documentary materials on the evolution of Smoke is also on view in the Ahmanson until July 2.) Smiths 1967 work transforms the conventional stability of sculptural mass into environmental perceptual ephemerality. Grosvenors architectonic construction from the prior year takes another step down a sculptural road the artists shared. And did I mention that its screaming yellow? In the Dwan exhibition, the color stands out amid an abundance of paintings, drawings, sculptures and mixed-media works in which neutral hues are dominant. Color wasnt often a prominent concern in Minimal, Conceptual and Land art, which Dwan vigorously promoted. The show was organized by James Meyer, a curator at Washington, D.C.s National Gallery of Art, where Virginia Dwan made a bequest of about 100 works from her own collection four years ago. LACMA curator Stephanie Barron nicely beefed up the selection with more than two dozen additional works, including several from the museums collection. Minimalist works by Sol Lewitt, Fred Sandback, Agnes Martin and Robert Smithson are in the Dwan show. (Museum Associates/LACMA) (photo Museum Associates/LACMA) Edward Kienholzs Illegal Operation, left, and Back Seat Dodge 38, right, are in the Dwan show. (Museum Associates/LACMA) (photo Museum Associates/LACMA) She added labels that indicate the date and the Dwan exhibition in which the work was originally seen. Paintings and sculptures are loosely grouped by putative movement Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Assemblage, French New Realism, Minimalism and Conceptual art. Perhaps most important, Land artists Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Charles Ross and especially Robert Smithson are given considerable room. Dwan, an heiress to Minnesotas 3M Company , commissioned paramount examples of the Land art genre, including Smithsons extraordinary Spiral Jetty in Great Salt Lake, Utah. The fact suggests the degree to which she was less a conventional art dealer, on the prowl to make a sale, than she was a kind of high-level patron. Dwan Gallery was a place for her to explore her evolving artistic interests. As much as I dont like to think of it as a money issue, I have to acknowledge the fact that I had a private income myself which made it possible for me to take a more idealistic stand, or devote myself more to the artist than perhaps a lot of other dealers would do, she later told an interviewer from the Smithsonians Archives of American Art. I knew I was going to be able to keep the doors open. If someone wanted to buy something, fine. Not many did. The gallery struggled, opened a branch in New York in 1965, closed in Westwood in 1967 and finally ended its Manhattan run in 1971. Through 134 exhibitions, and thanks to the new phenomenon of jet travel, Dwan became the countrys first truly bicoastal gallery. The shows title, Los Angeles to New York, pointedly reverses the usual assumption of contemporary American arts directional flow. An introductory wall text does oddly say that Dwan was an important supporter of Los Angeles artists, although the show features mostly New York and European painters and sculptors. The big exception is Edward Kienholz. His searing abortion tableau, The Illegal Operation, in which an oozing bag of wet cement slumps in a filthy shopping cart beneath a disheveled lamps bare bulb, plus his controversial sculpture of drunken debauchery, Back Seat Dodge 38, were first shown in Westwood. (Assuming that the sculptures had their debuts at Ferus, the gallery Kienholz co-founded but left, is a common error to which I have succumbed.) Dwans New York outpost also opened with Kienholz his massive walk-in assemblage of the West Hollywood diner and artists hang-out Barneys Beanery, a piece in which the dealer makes an appearance. What is important to note, however, is that Kienholzs interactions with Dwans European artists had a profound impact on the L.A. sculptors development. His object-accumulations and alterations owe a good deal to the friendships he developed with Jean Tinguely, Arman and Yves Klein. Whenever I see the weirdly blue-flocked car that is the scene of the action in Back Seat Dodge 38, I think of International Klein Blue, the textured hue that was the French artists trademark. Except for Robert Grosvenors yellow sculpture, color is in relatively short supply in the Dwan exhibition. (Museum Associates/LACMA) (photo Museum Associates/LACMA) Speaking of France, did I mention that Grosvenors ceiling sculpture is screaming yellow? In the overwhelmingly neutral context of the black, white, gray and industrially plain works in the Dwan exhibition, the artists years of study in Paris (and some in Italy) between 1956 and 1959 may have had something to do with his sharp use of color. In New York, color was becoming something of an enemy. The powerful art critic Clement Greenberg was busy promoting abstract splendor in the aptly named genre of Color Field painting. Pop art was not only brash, it was commercial. Neutral hues, by contrast, were one means of dissent, suggesting a certain purity and seriousness of purpose. Art historian Stella Pauls insightful new book Chromaphilia: The Story of Color in Art tells fascinating tales of this fundamental element throughout Western history. In her chapter on yellow, she notes that its simple yet resolute lightness on any tonal scale of dark-to-light emphatically calls attention to itself. Whether used by Giotto, Turner, Gauguin or Albers, yellow says: Look at me. The bright epoxy enamel on Grosvenors Untitled (yellow) lends the sense of sunlight streaming into the room through a skylight. It recalls the aureole around a mysterious and unseen holy relic sculptural space, perhaps? or a spotlight from overhead tracking a celebrity or surveillance subject far below. Its a secular stairway to visual heaven and the color of a screaming standout in the LACMA show. Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959-1971 Where: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. When: Through Sept. 10; closed Wednesdays Information: (323) 857-6000, www.lacma.org christopher.knight@latimes.com Twitter: @KnightLAT MORE ART COVERAGE LACMA plans radical change for how we see the permanent collection Marciano art review: Foundation proves the potential and the pitfalls of a vanity art museum Marciano architecture review: Former temple loses some personality in stylish redesign China Focus: China's S&T future - deep as the ocean, high as the sky (File photo) BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- On Tuesday China celebrated its first science and technology day, which means it has only been one year since the country declared its intention of becoming a leading power in S&T by the middle of the century. Things have moved pretty swiftly since. Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, went quite literally to the bottom of the ocean this week, diving three times into the Mariana Trench and reaching a depth of 6,544 meters on May 27. Scientists collected samples of seawater, rock and marine life, including sea cucumbers, sponges and starfish. The geological samples will help them understand how the trench was formed. WHAT GOES DOWN, MUST GO UP In pursuit of the kind of quantum scientific leaps China needs, space is another frontier to be conquered. In southwest China, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the world's largest radio telescope, began scanning the skies in September. Its mission is to help us understand the origin and structure of the universe, and perhaps bring the search for extraterrestrial life closer to what would be an astonishing conclusion. Meanwhile, out in actual space itself, the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, launched in October last year, carried two astronauts to space lab Tiangong-2, where they remained for 30 days. In April this year, the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft docked with Tiangong-2, refueling and resupplying the orbiting lab. In January experiments began with a quantum communication satellite launched last August and preliminary data is promising. Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) will explore "hack-proof" quantum communications by transmitting unhackable keys from space. In aerospace, China's first large passenger aircraft, the C919, made its maiden flight in May in Shanghai. The launch of the first Chinese-built aircraft carrier in April also raised the world's eyebrows. QUANTUM LEAP China needs science and technology more than ever and the country's scientists should occupy the world's S&T high ground, said Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Quantum computers are the Holy Grail of IT and will soon leave conventional computers eating their dust. The world's first quantum computer has been created in China. A quantum computer with 50 quantum bits will be faster than today's fastest supercomputer, Sunway TaihuLight, which is also made by China. While development of science and technology promises a better future, it also means saving lives of millions of people today. In September last year, Nobel laureate Tu Youyou's team announced they had made new progress in research into antimalarial drug artemisinin. The finding may provide a new treatment of malaria. Tu won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2015 for the discovery of artemisinin, the first Chinese national to win a Nobel prize in science. A SHARED DESTINY "We will accelerate R&D on and commercialization of new materials, artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, bio-pharmacy, 5G mobile communications, and other technology to develop industrial clusters in these fields," said a government work report issued this year. China should be one of the most innovative countries by 2020 and a leading innovator by 2030 before becoming the world-leading S&T power by the centenary of the People's Republic of China in 2049. The quickest and easiest way to achieve all this innovation is through a global cooperation network to boost innovation. The G20 Blueprint on Innovative Growth, adopted at the Hangzhou summit in September, commits governments to creating a favorable environment for creativity and development. Scientific innovation was also a central topic at Belt and Road forum in Beijing this month, with China proposing a Belt and Road Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Action Plan. Most Belt and Road countries share similar developmental problems -- pollution and natural disasters, not least amongst them -- which provided the synergy for deeper cooperation, said CAS President Bai. An S&T cooperation network along the Belt and Road will be completed in 2030, Bai said. William Close is getting ready to string a skyscraper. As the inventor of the Earth Harp, which holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest stringed instrument, its a task he knows well. Dressed in blue jeans hitched up by black suspenders over a black button-up shirt, Close eyes the top of the 52-story building that anchors California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. Its Tuesday evening and hes standing on a built-in stage in the bustling office park, squinting through fashionable Ray-Ban sunglasses at the sky. The body of the Earth Harp rests beside him. It is the size of a large rowboat and resembles a wooden whale jawbone. The strings shoot up to the top of the skyscraper, so the building becomes both the bridge and the structure for the instrument, says the Malibu-based artist. Advertisement You have to literally reach for the sky and pull the notes down. Earth Harp inventor William Close On Friday and Saturday, Close and a band of performers called the Earth Harp Collective will play the harp, along with a variety of other instruments Close has invented, including a three-necked guitar-sitar-bass called an Aquatar, as part of the free Grand Performances summer arts series. The shows are co-sponsored by the i3 Arts Fest, which is taking place in various locations across downtown over the weekend. Installing and tuning the Earth Harp is a two-day process. On this day, Close is getting ready to drop 42 strings, weighted by water bottles, off the edge of the 700-foot building. His tech, Jonathan Golko, will catch them and attach them to the harps main resonating chamber. The following day, Close will tune the harp, a process that hes got down to a science. He can vibrate four notes out of each string. You have to literally reach for the sky and pull the notes down, Close says of the process of playing the harp. He has played it all over the world, including in Singapore, Shanghai and Portugal, since inventing it in 1999. The harp synthesizes a number of disciplines. It is a public art installation, an engineering feat, a musical instrument and an architectural fascination The instrument sounds like a cello on steroids low and resonant. Close literally steps between the strings, in effect playing the instrument from the inside. He wears cotton gloves liberally dusted with violin resin and runs his hands along the strings until they vibrate. Close has a flair for the theatrical, and when he plays, he engages in a sort of primitive, full-body dance. Its little wonder that the Earth Harp is a highlight of the iconoclastic arts and music festival Burning Man, which takes place each year in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It was there that i3 Arts Fest founder Xandra Myers first saw Close perform and decided she had to book him for an event. In 2015, she commissioned him to string the City National Bank building during a downtown art walk. 1 / 8 William Close works on his Earth Harp, the longest stringed instrument in the world, ahead of performances at California Plaza in downtown L.A. Close was stringing the harp to a skyscraper in the plaza. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 8 William Close adjusts his Earth Harp. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 8 String awaits attachment to a skyscraper in downtown L.A. as part of William Closes Earth Harp. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 8 William Close runs a line from the top of the skyscraper to the Earth Harp for his performance at California Plaza in downtown L.A. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 8 String thatll be used in William Closes Earth Harp. The strings are attached to water bottles, and were tossed off the roof of a skyscraper and then attached to the harp. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 8 William Close with his Earth Harp, which he was stringing the harp to a skyscraper in California Plaza. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 8 Detail of William Closes Earth Harp, the longest stringed instrument in the world. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 8 Artist William Close works on his Earth Harp. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The fact that Close has performed in concert halls and public spaces around the world, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Festival of Lights in Jerusalem and the Field Museum in Chicago, but is little known in his hometown, is baffling, says Myers. Los Angeles has so many amazing artists, but seems to not appreciate its own, she laments. Were trying to change that by highlighting their work. Close grew up outside of New York and later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he began to experiment with building wild, avant-garde instruments. He loved music, but he didnt enjoy adhering to the rules of any particular instrument. If he were to play a real harp, for example, he says hed try to do it with chopsticks or guitar picks. His first installation of the Earth Harp involved stringing it 1,000 feet across a canyon just south of Chicago. The experiment turned the entire valley into a giant instrument chamber and resulted in the harps name. Close went on to play in concert halls, which required him to attach the strings to balconies so that audiences literally sat beneath the instrument. In 2012, Close got national attention when he finished third on Americas Got Talent. I was the first guy Howard Stern ever voted yes for, Close recalls happily. I was the first guy Howard Stern ever voted yes for [on Americas Got Talent]. William Close Close has created more than 100 musical instruments. He mostly builds them in his home shop in Malibu. He lost everything in a 2007 wildfire, but managed to rebuild his home in the exact same spot. Only this time, he worked with an architect to create a permanent location for one of his Earth Harps. There are openings in the architecture for the strings, which attach to a nearby mountain. And because its Malibu, neighbors might not think much of 1,000 feet of harp strings shooting through the sky. Everyone who encounters the Earth Harp wants to play it, Close says. Over the years, it has blossomed into this really beautiful, functional, orchestral instrument. Looking to the future, Close is working to organize a skyscraper tour, with hopes of stringing up such icons as the 110-story Willis Tower in Chicago. Such a feat, he says, executed as an act of public art, would become a mighty celebration of the city and its people. Earth Harp tech and multi-instrumentalist Golko has played it and likens the experience to string theory in physics. Its just the science of sound. When youre playing an A, youre resonating the frequency and tone of A everywhere, he says. And if you take my most romantic notion of it, the gravitational weight of the note goes beyond our plane into the universe. William Close and the Earth Harp Collective Where: Grand Performances at California Plaza, 300-350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles When: 8 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday Tickets: Free Info: (213) 687-2190, www.grandperformances.org jessica.gelt@latimes.com @jessicagelt ALSO: A Star Is Born: Morgan Freeman turns 80 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) I like to play characters who are the absolute opposite of me. I think the farther you get from yourself, the more fun you have because the real you is hidden away. Those are the kind of parts where you can become totally empty and let the character fill you up. Thats what I look for -- a role that gives me a chance to be someone completely different. Morgan Freeman, 1993 FROM THE ARCHIVES: No Sweat: Morgan Freeman Slides Into the Directors Chair Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Chloe Grace Moretz addresses body-shaming controversy over Snow White movie By Josh Rottenberg (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Actress Chloe Grace Moretz has long been known as a strong voice when it comes to issues of feminism, whether its over-sexualization of female characters or equal pay for women. Now shes speaking out against the marketing campaign behind one of her own projects. Moretz went on social media Wednesday to address criticism that marketing for the animated film Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs an updated tweak on the Snow White story, with Moretz as the voice of the classic fairy-tale character engages in body-shaming. I have now fully reviewed the [marketing] for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasnt approved by me or my team, the actress wrote. According to the website of the South Korean animation studio behind the film, its story centers on a Princess who doesnt fit into the celebrity world of Princesses or their dress size. When she puts on a pair of magical red shoes, she instantly becomes skinnier. The films synopsis promises an empowering message in which Snow White learns not only to accept herself, but to celebrate who she is, inside and out. But the films trailer and other marketing materials have been blasted as fat-shaming. Plus-size model Tess Holliday took to Twitter to criticize a billboard for the film that appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, where Red Shoes was seeking distribution, that suggested that the less svelte Snow White was no longer beautiful. How did this get approved by an entire marketing team? Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly? @ChloeGMoretz pic.twitter.com/PVhgwluGTM Tess Holliday (@Tess_Holliday) May 30, 2017 Hearing the complaints about the films tone-deaf marketing, Moretz agreed and told her more than 3 million followers so in a pair of tweets. I have now fully reviewed the mkting for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasn't approved by me or my team Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Pls know I have let the producers of the film know. I lent my voice to a beautiful script that I hope you will all see in its entirety https://t.co/IOIXYZTc3g Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Even as she apologized, she promised that the marketing doesnt represent the complete picture and the films ultimate message is a far more positive one than initial impressions may suggest. The actual story is powerful for young women and resonated with me. I am sorry for the offense that was beyond my creative control https://t.co/HZP2ydPCAX Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Singing tween ventriloquist from Americas Got Talent is the cure for what ails you By Christie DZurilla Had enough outrage? Heres the cure for what ails you, courtesy of Americas Got Talent. Take a deep breath, exhale slowly and witness one Darci Lynne Farmer, a 12-year-old singing ventriloquist from Oklahoma City, who on Tuesday night got the Golden Buzzer from AGT judge Mel B for a performance that exuded unadulterated joy. Armed with bunny-puppet pal Petunia on lead vocals, Darci Lynne delivered a surprising version of Summertime for her audition. She ended up earning a ticket straight to the competitions live shows. You made my heart melt, said Mel B, who Darci Lynne later dubbed the best Spice Girl. I believe that that rabbit is a real separate person, judge Howie Mandel said. I love you. I believe youre gonna go far. You just changed your life tonight, young lady. https://t.co/VZmgRXv4PZ Darci Lynne (@ItsDarciLynne) May 31, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print John Legend makes case to take canceled drama Underground elsewhere By Nardine Saad (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) John Legend is making a case for the recently canceled TV drama Underground to be picked up by other content providers. The Oscar-winning musician, who is an executive producer and played abolitionist Frederick Douglass on the Underground Railroad-centered show, rallied fans to give it a second life when cable broadcaster WGN America announced Tuesday it would be canceling the series after two seasons. The network has been scaling down its investment in original programming as part of a deal that its parent company, Tribune Media, made with conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. Sinclairs purchase of Tribune gives it control of more than 200 local TV stations and WGN America. The shift was not lost on Legend, who fired off a series of tweets to promote the content brought forth by Underground and its creators, Misha Green and Joe Pokaski. WGN America has been bought and is going a different direction strategically. We will find a new home for Underground! he tweeted, adding, Content wins. Were not reliant on a particular network to make great content. Were so proud of our show and the audience that supported! Legend, who has made no secret about his liberal politics, cautioned fans to be wary of Sinclair and claimed that theyre trying to make local stations mini Fox Newses that lean even further to the right. He completed his plea by asking followers to feel free to drop some hints to the network/streaming services you want to pick up #Underground. Show them who will be watching! View Instagram post Despite Underground being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season, Peter Kern, president and CEO of Tribune Media, said in a statement. It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination and freedom. Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces Underground, is said to be trying to find it a new home. See The Times roster of new, returning and canceled series here. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Liam Gallagher plays new music at Manchester benefit show By August Brown In the wake of the terrorist attack outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, scores of artists joined forces to raise money for the victims. Among them was Liam Gallagher, the former singer and frontman for the citys most beloved rock band, Oasis. Gallagher played a benefit show for the bombing victims on Tuesday at the O2 Ritz Manchester. At the show, his first as a solo artist, he played several new songs, including the single Wall of Glass, which you can watch above. It was a preview of his forthcoming solo LP, As You Were. (Previously, Gallagher fronted the post-Oasis rock band Beady Eye.) For Oasis fans, he played several classic tracks, including Be Here Now with Oasis guitarist Paul Bonehead Arthurs and an a cappella take on Live Forever. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CNN fires Kathy Griffin from New Years Eve show over controversial Trump picture By Christie DZurilla (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) Kathy Griffin is out of a job at CNN. The cable network on Wednesday terminated its agreement with the comic, who for years has co-hosted its New Years Eve program with Anderson Cooper, after a photo of Griffin holding a bloody, severed head in the likeness of President Trump went viral on social media. The image, taken by photographer Tyler Shields, elicited strong criticism from liberals and conservatives alike. Griffin apologized for the gory image in a 30-second video posted online Tuesday night. I beg for your forgiveness, Griffin said in the video. I went too far. Trump denounced the image Wednesday, calling it Sick! and saying Griffin should be ashamed. CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program. CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 31, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lebanon officially bans Wonder Woman from theaters By Josh Rottenberg If you live in Lebanon, Wonder Woman wont be coming to a theater near you anytime soon. On Wednesday, the country officially banned the superhero film just hours before it was set to arrive in theaters. The ban followed an effort by a group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel, which urged the Lebanese governments Ministry of Economy and Trade to block the film because its star, Gal Gadot, is Israeli. News of the ban, which had been the subject of speculation since Monday, was announced on social media by Lebanons Grand Cinemas and Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel. Lebanon has had a contentious relationship with the state of Israel for decades and has an official law on the books that encourages boycotts of products from its neighbor to the south. Israeli citizens and anyone whose passport shows theyve traveled to Israel are prohibited from entering Lebanon. Earlier films featuring Gadot, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Furious 7, have successfully screened in theaters in Lebanon, however. Batman v Superman, which introduced Gadots Wonder Woman, was the third biggest hit at the box office in Lebanon last year. And, as has been pointed out, Wonder Woman was, in fact, made by three companies based in America and two based in China, so calling it an Israeli product is debatable. But, on its Facebook page, the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel complained that Gadot had served two years in the Israeli Defense Forces (national military service is mandatory for Israeli citizens over 18) and boasted about the army training her for Hollywood. Wonder Woman lands in American theaters on Friday and, fueled by overwhelmingly positive reviews, is expected to perform strongly. Read our recent profile of director Patty Jenkins, in which she explains why the world needs Wonder Woman, right here. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement If President Trumps got the whole world in his hands, Trevor Noah says were in trouble By Robert Lloyd Having caught fire too late Tuesday for late-night TV, and with several hosts extending their Memorial Day weekend, the #covfefe hashtag would have to wait at least until Wednesday for its monologue moment. There were, however, some late-night-related tweets reacting to Twitter addict @realdonaldtrumps since-deleted mistyping of what is assumed to be the word covering or coverage. What makes me saddest, wrote Jimmy Kimmel, is that I know Ill never write anything funnier than #covfefe. The account for CBS Late Late Show poked some fun at Trumps gaffe, too. who do you want to see on the next covfefe karaoke The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) May 31, 2017 Meanwhile, Trevor Noah and Comedy Centrals The Daily Show were back after a week off, above, catching up with President Trumps whole first trip abroad. International Hand Stuff was the name of the segment, which framed the excursion in terms of the presidents mitts. There were references to Trump touching the glowing white orb and Jerusalems Western Wall (they build one wall 2,000 years ago, Noah said in his Trump voice, zero Mexicans in their whole country); the question of whether First Lady Melania Trump swatted away her husbands hand on the tarmac in Tel Aviv (leave it to Fox News not to recognize what rejection from a woman looks like); and Trumps power handshake from new French President Emmanuel Macron (the first time that President Trump was on the receiving end of an unwelcome hand grab). The last manual metaphor was given to the German chancellor, who, after her visit with the American president, said, We Europeans must take our fate into our own hands. Yeah, said Noah, clearly Angela Merkel got one look at Trump and was like, All right, our fate is in our own hands, because his clearly ruin everything they touch. Jimmy Kimmel also looked at Trumps trip abroad, which he described, with probable irony, as spreading joy and optimism all over the world. Titled Drunk Donald Trump: Sicily, the segment replayed a portion of Trumps speech at half-speed. The effect is uncanny. Later, sitting outside on some steps -- urine-stained steps, apparently -- Kimmel asked a series of kids, who really do say the darnedest things, about the state of the union. If we measure a late-night host solely by an ability to engage with children in a way thats friendly, direct, deadpan and mostly honest, Kimmel is in a league with David Letterman, nearly. How did he think Donald Trump was doing, Kimmel asked one boy. Not really well, the child replied. My sister told me that Donald Trump is against another state. Which state? Is it Nebraska? Yeah, Nebraska. A lot of people are happy that he is bombing Nebraska, said Kimmel. (I did say mostly honest.) Do you think it was a good idea? No, replied the boy, cause they have, like, better bombs. I think theyre going to be OK, though, I really do, the host said. Once football season starts, theyre usually pretty solid. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kathy Griffin apologized for that bloody severed-head stunt. But few are forgiving her By Nardine Saad (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) First Lady Melania Trump is the latest detractor of Kathy Griffins bloody depiction of the presidents decapitation. As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing, FLOTUS said in a statement to NBC News. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it. Griffins photographs and video by photographer Tyler Shields showed the comic straight-faced, holding up a blood-splattered severed head that appeared to be Trumps. The president denounced Griffins stunt, saying that she should be ashamed of herself and that the piece greatly disturbed his 11-year-old son, Barron. Griffins apology wasnt accepted by some on Twitter either, which spewed a variety of reactions, including several right-wing jabs that Griffin had been radicalized by Islamic State, the terror group that frequently beheads its victims. Several also sympathized with the presidents family, citing TMZs story about Barron believing that something horrible had happened to his father when he saw the images on the news. CNN subsequently fired Griffin from her co-hosting duties for its New Years Eve broadcast, and she has also been dropped as a spokesperson for Squatty Potty. Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was delighted by the bathroom footstool makers response but criticized CNN for not immediately doing the same. So Squatty Potty pulls the plug on Kathy Griffin, but CNN still evaluating and weighing their options, the presidents eldest son tweeted. Insane whats going on there!!! He then added, Apologies for my last tweet. I didnt mean to group Squatty Potty with CNN. Obviously one of them has moral/ethical standards. Griffins CNN compatriot, Anderson Cooper, who co-hosts the giggle-filled New Years Eve show for the cable news channel, did not come to his pals defense. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate, Cooper tweeted. CNN host Jake Tapper also said on the air that he thought the beheading imagery by Griffin about the president was disgusting and inappropriate. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate. Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 31, 2017 For those asking, I said on air that I thought the beheading imagery by Griffin about the president was disgusting and inappropriate. Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 30, 2017 Meanwhile, others believed that Griffins apology was a step in the right direction. Kathy Griffin did the right thing by apologizing. That sort of behavior, that sort of message, isn't acceptable in any setting. George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 31, 2017 I think she did the right thing asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that this was a horrible mistake, so I think she can, Minnesota Democrat and former Saturday Night Live writer Sen. Al Franken told CNN on Wednesday. Kathys a friend and shes a terrific comedian, but this had no business being in our public discourse..., Franken said. And I talked to her. She has apologized a real, fulsome apology. Shes actually begged for forgiveness, and I believe in forgiveness. Still, there was more snark to be had. Kathy Griffin's stupid photo was gross & offensive. She should lose her leadership role in the DNC and no longer be a candidate for office. Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 31, 2017 Update, 10:55 a.m.: Story added news that CNN has fired Griffin from its New Years Eve broadcast. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Melania Trump questions Kathy Griffins mental health after inflammatory photo shoot By James Reed President Trump and Melania Trump (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it. Melania Trump, responding to Kathy Griffins controversial stunt involving a severed head in the likeness of President Trump Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement A Star Is Born: Clint Eastwood turns 87 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) If you want to be in for the long haul, you just have to trust your judgment about the material. ... If you go whoring for the money, the audiences will figure you out. They know when youre being a jerk, when youre just trying to get them in a room and show them a movie you dont even care about. Clint Eastwood, 1993 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Clint, closing in on El Dorado Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print This Is Us not moving to Thursdays, after all By Yvonne Villarreal Consider it a flash-forward flashback: Poised to help NBC reclaim its Must See TV glory on Thursday nights, This Is Us is now staying put in its Tuesday time slot before the switch even happened. The breakout drama from last season will keep hold of the 9 p.m. hour on Tuesdays where it performed mightily in its debut season, the network announced Tuesday. Itll retain its lead-in, The Voice. The move means some rejiggering for Thursdays. The revival of Will & Grace, which was slated to open the night, will now kick off the 9 p.m. hour. It will be surrounded by comedies Superstore, The Good Place and Great News to create a two-hour comedy block. Chicago Fire will take up the 10 p.m. hour instead of Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders. That drama will keep its This Is Us lead-in by moving to Tuesdays. Heres NBCs revised schedule: Tuesdays 8 p.m. The Voice 9 p.m. This Is Us 10 p.m. Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders Thursdays 8 p.m. Superstore 8:30 p.m. The Good Place 9 p.m. Will & Grace 9:30 p.m. Great News 10 p.m. Chicago Fire Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Erin Moran died of cancer, autopsy report confirms By Christie DZurilla Erin Moran is shown in 1992. (Wally Fong / Associated Press ) The coroner reportedly says Happy Days actress Erin Moran died of complications from cancer and cancer alone. Thats in line with what her husband said in an open letter written shortly after her death on April 22 at age 56. Tests showed no illegal narcotics were involved in her death, according to an autopsy report obtained by TMZ on Tuesday from the coroners office in Harrison County, Ind. Moran struggled with substance abuse earlier in her life, and media assumptions about her cause of death were amplified by a comment from Scott Baio during an early morning radio interview April 24. When Baio learned his former costar had been battling cancer, he fell all over himself trying to set the record straight. I was asked ONLY about Erins troubled past due to drug & alcohol abuse. I was still upset and said I felt that living that kind of a lifestyle will catch up with you and nothing good would come of it, he said on Facebook. THIS WAS BEFORE THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS ANNOUNCED STATING STAGE 4 CANCER. One of the former child stars brothers, Tony Moran, told the Sun on May 30: My first thoughts were she must have had a heart attack caused by years of substance abuse. She has always battled demons and in recent years things have gone from bad to worse. In reality, as described by her husband, Moran had discovered last December that she had squamous cell carcinoma of the throat. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, by April she could no longer speak, eat or drink. She had a feeding tube. Baio posted the open letter from Steve Fleischmann, Morans husband of nearly 24 years, on his own Facebook page April 25. It got so bad so fast, Fleischmann said. The coroner told me it was really really bad. It had spread to her spleen, she had alot of fluid in her lungs and part of her brain was infected, Fleischmann wrote. The coroner said even if she was in the hospital being pumped full of antibiotics she still would not of made it. He said it was the best that she was with me and went in her sleep. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print WGN America cancels Underground, but will it really be the end? By Yvonne Villarreal A chat with Aisha Hinds and Jurnee Smollett-Bell, the badass women from Underground. WGN America has canceled slavery-era-set drama Underground. The fate of the series, which centered around the Underground Railroad, seemed doomed given how the network has been scaling back its investment in original programming. Until now, the drama, from creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, had stood as the lone original scripted series on the network following the recent cancellation of Outsiders. The shift away from original programming comes after Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., the conservative-leaning Baltimore-based company, announced it had agreed to buy Tribune Media in a deal that would give it control of more than 200 local TV stations and WGN America. As WGN America evolves and broadens the scope and scale of its portfolio of series, we recently announced that resources will be reallocated to a new strategy to increase our relevance within the rapidly changing television landscape, Peter Kern, president and CEO of Tribune Media, said in a statement. Despite Underground being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season. Kern added: It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination and freedom. Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces Underground, is said to be trying to find it a new home. When Underground stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aisha Hinds stopped by the Los Angeles Times video studio last week, both seemed hopeful that Undergrounds story wasnt over. We havent heard anything yet on the status of Season 3, said Hinds, who joined Season 2 portraying Underground Railroad icon Harriet Tubman. But I do know there is quite a bit more of this story to tell. And I know that we have engaged viewers waiting to see the story. If WGN is not our home, well find a home. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lebanon might ban new Wonder Woman because of stars Israeli heritage By Libby Hill A new foe has arisen to oppose Wonder Woman at the box office: Lebanon. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Lebanon is seeking to ban Warner Bros.'s new Wonder Woman movie because lead actress Gal Gadot is an Israeli. On Monday, Lebanons National News Agency reported that the Ministry of Economy and Trade was adopting measures necessary to ban the film from screening. Relations between Israel and Lebanon have been strained since Israels independence in 1948, with Lebanon still abiding by the Arab League boycott of Israel adopted in 1945. Lebanon does not recognize the State of Israel and does not accept Israeli passports or passports indicating a person has entered Israel. But is Wonder Woman an Israeli product? The film is produced by five production companies DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Tencent Pictures and Wanda Pictures three companies based in the United States and two in China. Gadot, however, is proud of her heritage. She served two years in the Israel Defense Force as required by the countrys conscription requirements and has posted in the past in support of IDF during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict. The ban of the film would have to move quickly, as screenings are scheduled to begin in Beirut on Wednesday. But such action would require approval from a six-member committee from the Ministry of Economy, a process that had yet to begin, according to the Associated Press. Wonder Woman debuts in U.S. theaters Friday. 4:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information from Lebanons National News Agency. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Olivia Newton-John has a new cancer diagnosis; her June shows are postponed By Christie DZurilla (Esteban Felix / Associated Press) Olivia-Newton John has reluctantly postponed her June concert dates after learning that the back pain shes been waylaid by recently is caused by breast cancer that has metastasized to her sacrum. I decided on my direction of therapies after consultation with my doctors and natural therapists and the medical team at my Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, the 68-year-old singer said Tuesday in a statement on social media. Those therapies include a short course of photon radiation therapy in addition to natural wellness therapies, the statement said. Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, at which time she underwent chemotherapy after a modified radical mastectomy with reconstruction. Her treatment also included acupuncture, which she said helped her with nausea, as well as yoga, meditation and massage. Three weeks ago, Newton-John postponed her May shows, with her team citing a bad issue with Olivias sciatica. Now, her June shows in the U.S. and Canada have been put off. Ticket-holders are being directed to venues for refunds, and any rescheduled dates will be posted on Newton-Johns official website. Olivia ... is confident she will be back later in the year, better than ever, to celebrate her shows, the Tuesday statement said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement After Cannes delay, Victoria & Abdul trailer debuts By Amy Kaufman One week after Focus Features scrapped plans to unveil the trailer for Victoria & Abdul during the Cannes Film Festival, a preview of the upcoming British drama has debuted online. Set in 1887, the film stars Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and follows the monarch as she strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Muslim Indian (Ali Fazal) who has traveled to the U.K. to deliver a ceremonial coin to her majesty. Focus, which is owned by Universal Pictures, was set to debut the trailer last Wednesday but postponed the release after the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, on May 22. A source told The Times the decision was made in part because a big piece of marketing right after the attack could seem insensitive. Directed by Stephen Frears, Victoria & Abdul is set for release at the start of awards season in September. The trailer centers on the real-life relationship that blossomed between the two, with Abdul going from servant to teacher while informing the queen about everything from the Koran to the joys of Indian mangoes. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ready for Alanis Morissettes Jagged Little Pill as a musical? Its happening By August Brown (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Alanis Morissettes angsty, groundbreaking 1995 album, Jagged Little Pill, always seemed like it had enough melodrama to make it into a theatrical production. Now its coming to a stage in Massachusetts. The new production of Jagged Little Pill, helmed by Juno writer Diablo Cody and director Diane Paulus, will debut at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge next May. The musical will feature songs from the LP famed for its unsparing look at relationships along with other music from Morissettes catalog and Pill producer Glen Ballard. This team that has come together for this Jagged Little Pill musical is my musical theater dream come true, Morissette said in a statement. The chemistry between all of us is crackling and I feel honored to be diving into these songs again, surrounded by all of this searing talent. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Reunited Brady Bunch kids fondly remember Florence Henderson on Today By Nardine Saad It was a very Brady reunion on Tuesday. The Brady Bunch kids Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter), Mike Lookinland (Bobby) and Susan Olsen (Cindy) came together on NBCs Today show to reflect on the iconic family sitcom and pay tribute to its late matriarch, Florence Henderson, nearly 50 years after the show debuted in 1969. The syndicated series about a blended family of six children and their housekeeper has permeated the pop culture zeitgeist with its unmistakable style and earworm theme song. With numerous parodies and attempted reboots in its wake, the comedy has endured because of its wholesome values, the cast members said. What you have on The Brady Bunch is something youre not going to see these days, which is a family where the parents and the kids respect each other today the formula is get the parents out of the show for the kids shows, said Olsen, a.ka. the youngest one in curls. You know how you dont grow old for yourself until you see yourself in a photo? Somehow you just dont see it, Knight explained. Its as though the show keeps us young in everyones mind, but were really this old. Added Williams: Everyone always refers to us as kids. No matter how we mature, were still the kids. After acknowledging that they would always be best known for The Brady Bunch, the actors said, they realized early on that they would never be able to walk away from the series at different stages of their careers. For Williams it was when a teenage girl asked him to sign an autograph for her mother and for Lookinland it was when he realized that his fans now had grandchildren. Knight said the show was always going to be in the room before me and it was always going to be in the room after me. Olsen, who claimed that she had written some off-color lyrics attached to the theme song, added that you spend a little while trying to run away from it, but you cant. Its like having a hunchback. You cant disguise it, so you might as well dress it up. As for their TV mom, Henderson, who died in 2016, the kids remembered her fondly. Everyone she met felt better about themselves and about the world around them after having spent a moment with Florence, Knight said. She was a mentor, a friend. We learned from her, added Williams. We learned how to interact with the public. She was so gracious with her fans, and we all learned how to do that graciously. Mostly she loved to make people laugh. You probably know that if youve been in her space. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Prince William talks about taboo of mental illness and death of Diana in new interview By Libby Hill As the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales approaches, her son Prince William has opened up to British GQ about the loss. I would like to have had her advice, William told the magazine. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up. It makes me sad that she wont, that they will never know her. The prince was just 15 when his mother was killed in a high-speed car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, and he and younger brother Harry were left to deal with their grief under great public scrutiny. While Prince William has of late found the words to speak publicly about his mother, the journey to that place has not always been easy. It has taken me almost 20 years to get to that stage, William said. I still find it difficult now because at the time it was so raw. And also it is not like most peoples grief, because everyone else knows about it, everyone knows the story, everyone knows her. View Instagram post It may have taken years, but William and Harry have found a way to honor their mother in a fashion that she would likely greatly appreciate: charitable work. Known as the Peoples Princess, Diana was a tireless advocate for those in need and worked to destigmatize AIDS in the 1980s, to fight the use of landmines and to better the lives of the underprivileged. In the last year, William and his brother, alongside Williams wife, Kate, have expanded their involvement in Heads Together, a mental health campaign led by the Royal Foundation, which aims to start a productive conversation about the reality of mental illness. Smashing the taboo is our biggest aim. We cannot go anywhere much until that is done. People cant access services till they feel less ashamed, so we must tackle the taboo, the stigma, William said. The Heads Together campaign has sparked several headlines for the royal family in recent months. In April, Prince Harry admitted that the death of his mother left him very close to a complete breakdown for which he finally sought professional help three years ago. The experience that Ive had is once you start talking about [mental health], you suddenly realized, actually, youre part of a big club ... and everybodys gagging to talk about it, Harry said during the Mad World podcast with Bryony Gordon. The GQ interview is not the only conversation that Prince William has had recently about mental health, either. He participated in a highly publicized FaceTime chat with Lady Gaga on the matter. In the interview, Prince William acknowledged that his public persona might suggest otherwise, but privately, he is impassioned about the issue. I cannot understand how families, even behind closed doors, still find it so hard to talk about it. I am shocked we are so worried about saying anything about the true feelings we have, the prince said. Prince Williams full interview with British GQ is available in its July issue, on newsstands June 1. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ariana Grandes mom has a message for Manchester bombing victims By Christie DZurilla Joan Grande, left, and Ariana Grande in September 2015. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images) Days after daughter Ariana Grande issued a statement about last weeks post-concert bombing in Manchester, England, mom Joan Grande posted her own thoughts about the incident that left 22 dead and scores more injured. I join my daughter in extending my help & services to all those affected by the diabolical act of terror which occurred in Manchester! she wrote on Twitter as a Memorial Day message that also thanked U.S. servicemen and women. My heart goes out to all the victims: those who lost their lives, those injured, those recovering & all survivors of that night, along with the families and friends whose grief knows no bounds. The elder Grande was still in her front-row seat at the show, about to go see her daughter backstage, when the suicide bomb went off, TMZ reported. Mama Grande took about 10 kids who were seated around her to safety backstage, the website said. Ariana Grande similarly offered her assistance to those in need on Friday in a statement declaring her intention to return to the incredibly brave city of Manchester for a benefit concert. We will never be able to understand why events like this take place because it is not in our nature, which is why we shouldnt recoil, the Bang Bang singer said. We will not quit or operate in fear. We wont let this divide us. We wont let hate win. #MemorialDay pic.twitter.com/oUDmB7VD6x Joan Grande (@joangrande) May 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: Annette Bening turns 59 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) "[W]hen they teach you to act, they teach you about objectives. You have a need -- a kind of emotional imbalance -- its not neurotic, but you want something. I try to consciously beef up that motivation in order to intensify what Im doing. You get an image in your head of what you want and then you find a way of expressing that. Annette Bening, 1991 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Regarding Annette Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Swedens The Square wins Palme dOr and Sofia Coppola wins best director at Cannes By Los Angeles Times Swedish director Ruben Ostlund reacts on stage after he was awarded with the Palme dOr for the film The Square during the closing ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) Ruben Ostlunds The Square, a ferocious drama of conscience, according to Times critic Justin Chang, about how a single lapse in judgment can cause a mans entire life to unravel, won the Cannes top prize, the Palme dOr on Sunday. The Grand Prix award went to Robin Campillos 120 Beats per Minute. Sofia Coppola won best director for her film The Beguiled, which stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell. Kidman also won the festivals 70th anniversary prize. Joaquin Phoenix won best actor for Lynne Ramsays You Were Never Really Here and Diane Kruger won best actress award for Faith Akins In the Fade. More coverage to come. Meanwhile... Here is what Justin Chang wrote about Ostlunds The Square, and Steven Zeitchiks interview with the director, who talked about the element of surprise in his movies: I really like scenes that when they end where you dont know 100% where to put them. It starts funny or it starts sad and then it becomes something else. When you get that shift, you know youve succeeded. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: Kylie Minogue turns 49 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Axel Koester / For The Times) I have this following mainly young girls. This album had to appeal to those fans. If the singing was too R&B, they wouldnt like it, I guess. These producers think pop music is candy music. Theyre saying: Here, kids, have a piece of candy. Kylie Minogue, 1988 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Fame, fortune, but no respect Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gregg Allman, pioneer of Southern rock, dies at 69 By Nardine Saad Gregg Allman performs with the Allman Brothers Band in 1979. (George Rose / Los Angeles Times) Gregg Allman, the gravel-voiced singer who helped lift the Allman Brothers Band to prominence with a hard-churning brand of soulful rock that became part of the soundtrack of the 1960s and 70s and set the coordinates for a musical genre known as Southern rock, died Saturday at the age of 69. According to a statement posted on his official website, Allman, who had canceled concerts and entire tours in recent years as he battled a variety of health issues, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Ga. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement 70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The art of the yacht deal, from Steven Spielberg to Steve Bannon By Steven Zeitchik Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Zeitchik, with Chang behind the camera, recalls the time he wound Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Zeitchik, with Chang behind the camera, recalls the time he wound up on a yacht with a future member of the Trump administration. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print 70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The time Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette was booed By Justin Chang Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Chang, with Zeitchik behind the camera, recalls the year Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette played in competition and was booed by certain members of the media audience. Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Chang, with Zeitchik behind the camera, recalls the year Sofia Cop That same year, when the film debuted in theaters, Times critic Kenneth Turan looked back on the boos at Cannes and concluded the reaction wasnt just about the filmmaking. Here is the essay he wrote on Oct. 13, 2006: -------------------- WHO OWNS HISTORY? And, more to the point, who owns Marie Antoinette? Though theyre not usually phrased that way, those questions have swirled around Sofia Coppolas quietly exuberant new film about the doomed young French queen (only 18 when she ascended the throne, 37 when she was executed) since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year to some scattered and widely misunderstood boos. For the displeasure came not, as might be expected, from the French critics -- whod already seen the film and whose generally positive notices were already on record in Le Film Francais, the French trade paper -- but from political types who had an ax to grind about the films portrait of the woman in question. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor split after 17 years of marriage By Christie DZurilla (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor have split up after 18 years together, 17 of them as husband and wife. With tremendous love and respect for each other, and the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate, they said Friday in a joint statement. Our priority will continue to be raising our children as devoted parents and the closest of friends. We kindly ask that the media respect our privacy at this time. The Zoolander director and the Brady Bunch Movie actress met in L.A. in 1999, while he was developing a pilot in which she was going to star. They started dating that April and by November were engaged. They got married in May 2000. Stiller, 51, who proposed to Taylor while he was doing Meet the Parents, told Parade in 2013 that art imitated life when he was about to pop the question. I asked her father for permission before I did it, he said. It was like Meet the Parents in real life, because Christines father is an intimidating guy who owns a security company; were good friends now, but at the time I was in the basement rec room saying, I really would like to marry your daughter... Why the basement? " He was trying to find a place to sort of secretly ask my dad if it was OK to ask my hand in marriage, Taylor told New York magazine in 2008. The Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story costars have two kids together, daughter Emma, 15, and son Quinlan, 11. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement 70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The home away from home for luminaries By Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and Steven Zeitchik are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Turan, with Chang behind the camera, brings us to the historic Hot Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and Steven Zeitchik are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Turan, with Chang behind the camera, brings us to the historic Hotel Splendid, which over the last 146 years has been a home away from home for luminaries ranging from the French composer Jacques Offenbach to the late critic Roger Ebert. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print L.A. music fixture Rodney Bingenheimer will leave KROQ next month By Mikael Wood Rodney Bingenheimer, the veteran radio DJ and rock-scene insider familiar to several generations of Los Angeles music fans, is ending his long-running show on L.A.'s KROQ-FM (106.7) after more than 40 years. Rodney on the ROQ will air for the final time on June 4 at midnight, Bingenheimer, 69, wrote on Facebook Thursday. It has been an amazing run, and I will be thanking all of you when I say goodbye to KROQ next week, he said in the post. I am planning on some special callers and special music as I say a proper goodbye. In a statement to The Times, KROQ program director Kevin Weatherly called Bingenheimer one of the most influential voices on the radio and said he and his staff will forever be grateful for the indelible mark that Rodney on the ROQ has left on this station, our listeners and the alt-rock music scene. Bingenheimer launched his show on the influential modern-rock station in 1976, four years after he opened Rodneys English Disco, a nightclub on Sunset Boulevard popular among the decades glam acts. On the radio, Bingenheimer quickly became known for championing new artists including the Sex Pistols and Blondie; he continued playing music by up-and-coming talent over the years, throwing his considerable enthusiasm behind the likes of Oasis and Coldplay. In his Facebook post, Bingenheimer the subject of a 2003 documentary called Mayor of the Sunset Strip didnt say why he was leaving KROQ. But he noted that hes not retiring from music. As this chapter closes, he wrote, I will be opening another chapter of my rock life soon. Heres his full statement on Facebook: Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ariana Grande to hold benefit concert in incredibly brave city of Manchester By Christie DZurilla (Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images) Ariana Grande on Friday announced her intention to return to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with fans and play a benefit concert to assist victims of the suicide bomb attack launched after her show in the British city earlier this week. I have been thinking of my fans, and of you all, non stop over the past week. The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud than youll ever know, the 23-year-old singer said in a statement on social media. The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that youve shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened Monday. YOU are the opposite. Grande gave no details about when she would return other than to say theyd be coming as soon as things were confirmed. The statement was her first since a brief tweet after the bombing saying she was broken and so so sorry. That day, Grande and her mother left Britain for Florida. She acknowledged her own reaction to the incident in saying she was sorry for the pain and fear you must be feeling and the trauma that you, too, must be feeling. She also talked about not wanting to go the rest of the year without being out there for her fans; at this point, her tour has been suspended only until June 5. There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better, she said to the victims of the attack and their loved ones. However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I can possibly give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way. Those who were most tragically affected, Grande said, will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life. View Instagram post Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Equality, not feminism, is the watchword at Wonder Woman premiere By Sonaiya Kelley Victoria Ikerd from San Diego, left, and Sylvia Vale from Culver City strike their best Wonder Woman pose. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The stars of Warner Bros. Wonder Woman took to the red carpet outside Hollywoods Pantages Theatre Thursday night to celebrate the films premiere with a unified message. It just wasnt the message some people might expect. I think the world needs all types of superheroes, director Patty Jenkins said when asked why we need Wonder Woman. What a beautiful message right now because were in a dark place, and thats the only way were going to get to the other side, if everyone becomes a hero. (Warner Bros. canceled the films London premiere after Mondays attack in Manchester.) Despite the obvious girl power on display, many of the films stars and creators shied away from identifying it as a feminist film, hoping not to isolate the male fans in attendance. SEE PHOTOS FROM THE WONDER WOMAN PREMIERE I think that the film just takes a great character and tells a great story about how that character came to be, Charles Roven, the films producer, told the Los Angeles Times. Obviously the character wouldnt be who she is if she wasnt a woman, but shes a very specific woman, Roven added. Theres no other superhero character in the DC Universe who embraced their legacy and knew what they wanted to be and became [it]. And thats completely inspirational to everyone, not just women. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bella Thorne and Scott Disick together in Cannes? Legit nothing By Christie DZurilla (Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images, left; Lars Niki / Getty Images) In whats been called a battle of strategic hookups between exes Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick, Bella Thorne has put up a white flag and flown away. Disick, 34, and Thorne, 19, were seen Monday at LAX on their way to the Cannes Film Festival, where surprise! Kardashian, 38, was already hanging out and getting handsy with Younes Bendjima, a 24-year-old boxer-turned-model. According to E! News, the latter twosome is for real but keeping it light. The Kardashian ex and the actress from The DUFF? Perhaps not so much. Thorne and Disick raised eyebrows Wednesday with a high-profile cuddle-fest by a pool in Cannes. Alas, by Thursday, word has it via TMZ, Thorne wasnt comfortable with her party-boy travel partner when he got his drink on: After tweeting Thursday that Yo this #cannes fancy life isnt for me, she told one person that she had been doing Legit nothing trolololo with Scott and another, Hahahah Im not talking to scott or anyone else. Scott is partially using Bella and a few other girls as a crutch to make Kourtney upset and feel jealous, a Keeping Up With the Kardashians"-related source told People on Thursday, sounding like a description of an upcoming episode of the show. They are both playing this game with each other and at the moment neither one of them are backing down. Around 3 a.m. Friday, Cannes time, Disick was paying attention to another lady, putting this pic of his and Kardashians 4-year-old daughter, Penelope, up on Facebook: Um, hashtag #supersad? Bye Cannes you were boring Thorne said Friday on Snapchat, posting video from the seat of what appeared to be a private plane. Kardashian, Bendjima and half-sis Kendall Jenner left Cannes on Friday as well. Yo this #cannes fancy life isn't for me BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) May 25, 2017 @bellathorne bells, what were you doing with Scott? chrystal (@justintheslayer) May 25, 2017 Legit nothing trolololo https://t.co/t9eW4B17oI BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) May 26, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Netflix cancels London premieres of Orange Is the New Black and GLOW By Libby Hill The fatal terrorist incident at an Ariana Grande concert Monday in Manchester, England, continues to resonate throughout the entertainment industry. Netflix canceled its plans for a London premiere for Season 5 of Orange Is the New Black and the pilot for GLOW, the latest series from Orange creator Jenji Kohan. Following the terrible events in Manchester on Monday night, we have decided to cancel our special screening of Orange Is the New Black and GLOW on Tuesday [May 30], a Netflix spokesperson told The Times on Friday. Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this tragedy. According to those knowledgeable about the decision, the streaming services choice to forgo its screenings comes from internal discussions only, not from any pressure from local authorities. This is just the latest cancellation in the wake of Mondays tragedy, which took the lives of 22 individuals, including victims as young as 8 years old. On Wednesday, Warner Bros. scuttled plans for a London Wonder Woman premiere, originally scheduled for May 31. Similarly, Universal Pictures announced Thursday that it had canceled its London premiere for The Mummy originally slated for June 1. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Oasis Liam Gallagher schedules Manchester benefit show By Mikael Wood (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher will play a hometown concert next week in Manchester, England, to benefit the families of Mondays bombing at the Manchester Arena. Its outrageous, the singer told the Manchester Evening News regarding the terrorist attack that killed 22 people following a concert by Ariana Grande. There are kids and people dying all over the world. And for what? He went on to say, I want to try and help pick people up. People like me, doing what we do, its our duty to give people a good time. The show, scheduled for Tuesday night at the O2 Ritz, will serve as Gallaghers first solo gig and comes ahead of the release of his debut solo single, Wall of Glass, from an album expected in October. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Body-slamming? Late-night hosts remind us that Donald Trump once did that on TV By Yvonne Villarreal Lest America forget the nations history of political candidates with body-slamming tendencies, the late-night circuit offered a refresher course Thursday night. Playing catchup to Wednesdays news that Greg Gianforte, the billionaire Republican candidate in Montanas special congressional election, had allegedly body-slammed a Guardian reporter after the journalist asked him about the Republican healthcare bill, TV hosts weighed in on the matter. Think about that, Late Night host Seth Meyers said. The GOP healthcare plan is so bad, Republicans would rather body-slam reporters than answer a question about it. His response to the question, Meyers continued, was to give the reporter a preexisting condition. Late Show host Stephen Colbert expressed faux skepticism about Gianfortes ability to move past the incident and win the election. That happened the night before the election, Colbert said. I just dont know how anyone could vote for a candidate who body-slams people. Cue a clip of Donald Trump performing such a move in 2007 when he appeared on WrestleMania 23" and tackled WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the ground before shaving his head. I forgot, Colbert said after playing the clip. Nothing matters. During his A Closer Look segment, Meyers also played the Trump clip. That was a thing, a real thing that happened. and we still said Yeah, he should be president. For the record: Gianforte won Montanas special election Thursday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement A Star Is Born: Stevie Nicks turns 69 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) I think if people like to dress like a gypsy and they get a little inspiration from me to do it, then its great. Its definitely something everyone should try at least once in their lives. Dress like a gypsy! Stevie Nicks, 1997 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Airy Godmother Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, see how fans packed L.A. theaters in 1977 By Los Angeles Times Staff When the original Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, only about 40 theaters across the country initially screened the movie. In Los Angeles, fans packed showings in ways theater managers and moviegoers had never seen. For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, we revisit this story examining the earliest stages of the Star Wars phenomenon. The Times originally published this story on June 4, 1977. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print George Lucas predicted Star Wars Disney future in 1977 interview with The Times By L.A. Times staff Happy 40th anniversary, Star Wars! Before the first-ever Star Wars premiered on screens across America on May 25, 1977, Los Angeles Times writer Paul Rosenfield sat down with the creator of a galaxy far, far away. Then 33, George Lucas was just a few days shy from the release of his space opera, prophetically claiming that Star Wars was the movie he thinks Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive. Who knew decades later that the droids and the mouse would reside in the same castle? This story was originally published on June 5, 1977, and titled, Lucas: Film-Maker With the Force. (Also from our archives, read The Times original Star Wars review here.) I think of this as a movie Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive ... I call it space opera. Thats a genre thats been around a long time, in the books of Burroughs and Heinlein, but never really done on film. George Lucas in 1977 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Guns N Roses is playing Los Angeles again By Mikael Wood Guns N Roses will play two hometown concerts this fall, the reunited Los Angeles hard-rock band announced Thursday, one Nov. 24 at Staples Center and another Nov. 25 at the Forum. The dates are part of a new extension of GNRs Not in This Lifetime Tour, which launched in April 2016 with a show at the Troubadour that marked the first time in decades that frontman Axl Rose had performed in public with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. The tour went on to hit Coachella and Dodger Stadium. Opening acts for the L.A. shows werent announced, but GNR revealed that country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson will warm up crowds at stadium shows in August in Denver; Little Rock, Ark.; and Miami. Other acts with opening slots on the tour include ZZ Top, Deftones and Royal Blood. Tickets for the newly scheduled concerts go on sale June 3. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Claire Foy shoots down Lisbeth Salander rumors: I dont know about any of this By Glenn Whipp Claire Foy (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times) Claire Foys sister called her last week, none too pleased that her sibling hadnt told her that shed be playing Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spiders Web, the long-delayed follow-up to the 2011 David Fincher film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. My sisters like, Oh, what are you doing? and I was like, Im not doing anything! I dont t know about any of this! Foy told The Times Wednesday in an interview before an Emmy season promotional event for the actress Netflix series, The Crown. Its really weird, Foy added. Ive never experienced that before where theres a rumor about a possible job like this. Its very surreal. News broke last week that Foy was either in talks, eyeing or had been all but cast to play Lisbeth in the reboot of the Stieg Larsson book series. So is Foy, who plays Queen Elizabeth on The Crown, even in the running? No. Im not even in the same arena, Foy said. I cant even contemplate doing anything at all, to be honest, at this present time. The 33-year-old British actress just finished shooting Season 2 of The Crown last week. The ambitious series requires a nine-month commitment, meaning that Foy hasnt had much down time the last two years. She also has a 2-year-old daughter with her husband, actor Stephen Campbell Moore. So you can understand why, when asked about her immediate future, she emphatically states: Good God, no. I have got no plans to do anything. Those sentiments would seem to preclude her from The Girl in the Spiders Web, which is scheduled to begin filming in September to make an Oct. 15, 2018, release date. Then again, when asked what kind of role shed like to do after playing the reserved Elizabeth, a woman nicknamed Shirley Temple, Foy replied: I think I need to play somebody who expresses themselves and is able to communicate on a more open level, something really different. Like the avenging anti-heroine Lisbeth? Well ... Foy answered, with a hint of a smile. Well just have to wait and see. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sony taps Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct Spider-Man spinoff Silver & Black By Libby Hill (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Sony continues to get its superhero ducks in a row, with Deadline reporting Thursday that the studio had tapped Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct Silver & Black, a film centered around comic book characters Silver Sable and Black Cat. Prince-Bythewood also will rewrite the script for the film, originally written by Christopher Yost, screenwriter of Thor: The Dark World. Silver Sable and Black Cat are characters that originated in correlation to Spider-Man and have served as both allies and antagonists to the web-slinging superhero over the years. Silver & Black is the latest Spidey-related endeavor for Sony, with Spider-Man: Homecoming, starring Tom Holland, premiering July 7, and Venom, starring Tom Hardy as the sometimes villain, sometimes anti-hero, hitting theaters Oct. 5, 2018. The film will not be Prince-Bythewoods first dalliance with superheroes. She directed the pilot for Freeforms upcoming series Marvels Cloak & Dagger, about two teenagers learning to deal with both superpowers and love. Prince-Bythewood is an experienced director of critically acclaimed films including Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights, and she is well-versed in the world of television, where Foxs Shots Fired, the show she created and produced with husband Reggie Rock Bythewood, just concluded its first season. The director becomes the latest woman tapped to helm a superhero film, with Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman debuting in theaters June 2. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Happy puking: Baywatch is the summer blockbuster critics love to hate By Christie DZurilla Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Priyanka Chopra star in Baywatch. Whats more fun than seeing the new Baywatch movie? Having movie reviewers see it for you! Los Angeles Times critic Jen Yamato was in the Enjoy It for What It Is camp, describing the film thusly: "[I]t not only owns its dumbness but hurtles itself all the way back around through a flurry of genitalia jokes and F-bombs to splash unapologetically in an R-rated surf of winking postmodernism, led by the charismatic Dwayne Johnson, Hollywoods most unsinkable movie star. But although not everyone hates it 64% of audiences dug it, according to Rotten Tomatoes a lot of reviewers put the bouncing-beach-bodies flick firmly in its place, damning it, and then damning it with faint praise. That said, here are a few snacks, both bad and (relatively) good, from the Baywatch snark buffet. Over at the Chicago Tribune, they took the Yeah, and ...? approach to the review. The Bad: The movies comic instincts... are consistently coarse and frequently scrotal. The Good: The bodies on screen are pretty, which I seem to remember was a selling point of the 1989-2001 TV series. As we said, yeah, and ...? The Roger Ebert website perhaps cut closest to the bone, pulling few punches. The Bad: "[T]his is another one of those raunchy comedies thats barely a movie, that looks like it was edited by dumping a bunch of footage into whatever movie-cutting software theyre using and hitting randomize. The Good: "[T]he movie has a pervading air of crass amiability about it its almost like a two-hour end-credits gag reel. (Nevertheless, it contains an end credits gag reel.) Now could you tell us what you really think?: Rolling Stone painted a vivid picture of the Baywatch experience. The Bad: Think of yourself sitting down for a big two-hour wallow in instant stupid with a vat of popcorn, slathered in fake butter and possibly a mound of melted M&Ms on top. It feels great chugging it down, then your stomach hurts, your head aches and you puke the whole thing up so you can forget about it in the morning. Thats Baywatch in a nutshell. Happy puking. The Good: Of the recent spate of moldy TV material morphing into movies, with 21 Jump Street on top and CHIPs bringing up the rear, Baywatch barely escapes the basement. One reason it does: The Rock. Helpful! Turns out if you liked 21 Jump Street and CHiPs, this flick is for you! The New York Times loosened up its necktie for this one. The Bad: The digital effects fire and water, mostly are lackluster, and the whole thing has a crummy, overcast, second-rate-theme-park look to it. The Good: Like its source material, Baywatch is sleazy and wholesome, silly and earnest, dumb as a box of sand and slyly self-aware. Its soft-serve ice cream. Crinkle-cut fries. A hot car and a skin rash. Tacky and phony and nasty and also kind of fun. Tacky? Phony? Nasty? We didnt know it was a date movie. The Washington Post, of course, just couldnt leave politics out of it. The Bad: Its no shock that the women in Baywatch dont have much to do beyond look good. ... Maybe dodging bad lines was a relief for the actresses. Its not like the screenplay, by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, gives performers a lot to work with. The Good: If, indeed, Dwayne the Rock Johnson ditches Hollywood to become our next commander in chief, Baywatch may be singled out as the low point of his pre-political career. Well, at least Johnson has that out of the way. The Tampa Bay Times went deadpan. The Bad: Imagining Johnson and genetically gifted co-stars in swimsuits is all it took to pitch Baywatch. Director Seth Gordon and six writers didnt come up with much beyond that. The Good: What Baywatch has in its favor is Dwayne Johnson fireman-carrying a dead weight comedy to safety. We think thats a compliment. Maybe. Variety noted the films nods to current market and societal trends. The Bad: Baywatch ... is a stupidly entertaining trash folly, the kind that could only be made today: an obscenity-and-insult-laced, aggressively competent adaptation of a 25-year-old TV show that manages to repackage every aspect of the series except, perhaps, the reason it was popular in the first place. The Good: They wear their butt-hugging red bathing suits with dignity and pride, which makes this a highly sexually responsible Baywatch. The reviewer at the New York Post appeared to be familiar with the TV series global success. The Bad: Even the action scenes need CPR, often undermined by effects so chintzy, you wonder if the money intended for them was instead eaten up by the productions seven-figure waxing budget. The Good: On the bright side, itll probably do killer business in Germany. Wait, were they just dissing the Hoff? Finally, one need go no further than the AV Club to understand Rotten Tomatoes 19% positive critics rating. The Bad: "[N]obody not even the filmmakers cares about Baywatch all that much. Yet the jokes on them: In spoofing something so forgettable, theyve made something even less memorable. The Good: Nobody cares about Baywatch. Nuff said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Seth Meyers says Trumps cruel budget cuts would harm the presidents supporters most By Chris Barton After a number of weeks filled with late-breaking developments on the Trump administrations apparent ties to Russia, Wednesday night was a chance for late-night hosts to sort of catch their breath and essentially choose their own adventure. Jimmy Kimmel focused on the seemingly less-than-happy photos of the pope with President Trump that circulated on Wednesday, while Stephen Colbert took a brief swipe at the $2-trillion double-counting error in Trumps budget. Seth Meyers, however, took advantage of his shows A Closer Look segment to make time for all of the above. After addressing the photo of the stone-faced pope with Trump, Meyers recapped the latest developments in the investigations into whether, among other things, the president engaged in obstruction of justice by firing FBI Director James Comey. But then Meyers took on the administrations proposed federal budget, which could cause harm to many. While noting the budget amounts to a wish list that Congress will battle over, Meyers said the proposals harshness was not to be discounted. What someone wishes for tells you a lot about that person, Meyers said before recounting the many cuts the budget proposes to Social Security and Medicaid. The show then rolled a number of clips in which Trump the candidate promised not to do just that. This budget lays bare just how much of a fraud Trumps campaign was, Meyers added, noting how hard many of these cuts to the social safety net would hit Trump supporters. He then squared off the pointed words of Trump the candidate versus his actions as president to underscore his point. Maybe its better those two never meet, Meyers said. I think they would hate each other. Watch the clip above. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Universal Pictures cancels London premiere of The Mummy in wake of Manchester bombing By Libby Hill Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis and Sofia Boutella star in The Mummy. The specter of Mondays terrorist attack in Manchester, England, continues to loom large. Universal Pictures announced Thursday morning the cancellation of next weeks London premiere of The Mummy, the second such development this week. All of us at Universal have been devastated by the terror attack in Manchester and continue to stand with the community and country as it recovers, the statement from the studio read. Out of respect to those affected by this tragedy we have decided not to move forward with the London premiere for The Mummy scheduled to take place next week. The film, starring Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe, serves as the launch of Universal Pictures Dark Universe, an extended universe that will see the reboot of several classic monsters from the Universal vault, including the Invisible Man and Frankensteins Monster. Cancellation of the June 1 London premiere for The Mummy comes just a day after Warner Bros. nixed its May 31 Wonder Woman London premiere. Ariana Grande, whose concert was targeted in the Manchester attack that killed 22 people, similarly suspended her tour through June 5 on Wednesday. A statement from the artists representatives said the suspension comes until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Al Gore on the French Riviera: Why he was reluctant to make An Inconvenient Sequel By Kenneth Turan Former Vice President Al Gore arrives on the red carpet for the screening of The Killing of a Sacred Deer at the Cannes Film Festival. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) It has not been a very good year for those concerned with climate change. The U.S. is considering leaving the landmark Paris climate pact, a hostile appointee leads the Environmental Protection Agency, and right-wing websites chortle, Trumps Latest Move Will Make Al Gore Fry. But is Al Gore himself despondent or depressed about it all? Not in the slightest. Ive been inoculated in the year 2000, he says, combining a burst of genial good humor with a reference to his presidential election loss to George W. Bush. I now have a resistance to being disheartened, the antibodies are still thriving in my bloodstream. As we all learn, one of the hidden secrets of the human condition is we learn the most from our most painful experiences. Former Vice President Al Gore at the Carlton hotel for the Cannes Film Festival, which is screening his documentary An Inconvenient Sequel. (Stephanie Cornfield / For The Times) To spend time with Al Gore is to meet a man enough at ease with himself to dress as if for a Senate hearing in white shirt, suit and tie even though hes in the south of France; a warm, engaged, surprisingly funny individual whose innate courtesy has him personally hang a reporters sports coat on a nearby hotel room hanger. Yes, he does tend to stay on message when he talks (how could he not) and he likes to draw graphs in the air with his hands (Im going to get a little geeky for a moment, he apologizes with a smile, Im sorry, its a failing). But he combines this with good-humored self-awareness and a fiercely committed intelligence. If you think Im earnest now, you should have seen me earlier, he says. You cant change who you are. At times Ive tried, but Im old enough to stop worrying. Gore is in Cannes to promote the worldwide release of an impassioned and involving new documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel. Due in U.S. theaters on July 28, it brings us up to speed on where the battle against climate change stands more than a decade after the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Im here for a lot of to-ing and fro-ing is how Gore puts it. I think Ive done 75 seven-minute interviews Japan, Russia, Brazil, everywhere. The day before yesterday I was live on [the French cable channel] Canal Plus when the interpreter talking in my earpiece was evacuated from his building because of a bomb scare. The questioner was going a mile a minute in French, but because of those 75 seven-minute interviews, I picked up enough key words to fight my way through it. Gore has been concerned with climate change since he took a class with pioneering global warming theorist Roger Revelle as a college student in the 1960s. Not only did Gore never imagine when I was a young man that this would become an all-consuming body of work for me, he also never anticipated that the work would involve the movies. More than that, he was frankly dubious about both of his films. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Ellen DeGeneres says shes in for a Netflix stand-up comedy special By Christie DZurilla Ellen DeGeneres is working on a new comedy special for the first time in a very long time and this time shes working with Netflix. Looks like its been 15 years since you did a stand-up special. ... How about one for Netflix? the streaming service asked her Wednesday on Twitter. Minutes later, DeGeneres replied, Let me think about it. Ok Im in. Heres how in she is: Im writing it now, I cant wait, DeGeneres said in a statement confirming the upcoming gig. Ill keep you posted when and where Im gonna shoot my Netflix special. Im excited to do it; Im excited for you to see it. Previously, HBO was home for DeGeneres comedy specials: her One Night Stand in 1992, Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning in 2000 and Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now. The second and third shows notched two Emmy nominations each. In March, the former sitcom star announced shed be returning to prime time with Ellens Game of Games, which shes hosting for six episodes on NBC. No air dates have been set. Its going to be like a combination of American Ninja Warrior, RuPauls Drag Race and a water park, DeGeneres said in a statement. OK, its nothing like that, but you should still watch. Looks like it's been 15 years since you did a stand-up special, @TheEllenShow. How about one for Netflix? Netflix US (@netflix) May 24, 2017 Let me think about it. Ok I'm in. https://t.co/kUAdHyXAjS Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 24, 2017 UPDATES 2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation from Netflix and a statement from DeGeneres. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Chris Cornells body has been cremated, report says; funeral set for Friday By Christie DZurilla Chris Cornell in 1991. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The body of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who died last week in Detroit, was reportedly cremated Tuesday in Hollywood, and a funeral is planned for later this week. Widow Vicky Cornell, brother Peter Boyle and friends Linda Ramone and singer J.D. King were at Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the cremation, sources familiar with the service told TMZ. Cornells body was flown to Los Angeles from Detroit on Sunday, family attorney Kirk Pasich told Rolling Stone on Monday, and a private funeral will be held Friday. Pasich told Variety on Sunday that public memorials will be held when its decided. The short time between the end of Soundgardens May 17 show and 52-year-old Cornells death was chronicled in a police report obtained by the Detroit News. He and the band walked offstage around 11:15 p.m. May 17. Fifteen minutes later Cornell was in his hotel room, the report said, where bodyguard Martin Kirsten (who used to work for and date Heidi Klum) helped him fix his computer and gave him two Ativan. At 11:35 p.m. Cornell was talking to his wife, Vicky, who said Friday through her attorney that she had been concerned because her husband was slurring his words and told her he might have taken a few too many anxiety pills. She called Kirsten at 12:15 a.m. Thursday and asked him to check on the singer, the report said; the bodyguard kicked in the hotel room door, then the locked bathroom door, and found Cornell. At his final show, Cornell seemed high and was out of character from note 1, lead sound engineer Ted Keedick told TMZ in an interview published Wednesday. He said the Soundgarden frontman did not appear depressed. However, Keedick said: Id never heard his voice that way before. He was having serious control problems. One concert-goer told the Detroit News last week that as far as she could tell, Cornells final show was honestly great. Nothing seemed off. Tuesday at Detroits Fox Theatre, the site of that last performance, Norah Jones played a tribute to Cornell: an acoustic version of Black Hole Sun. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ariana Grande suspends tour through June 5 By Christie DZurilla Ariana Grandes tour has been suspended through June 5, her management team said Wednesday. That includes the cancellation of concerts planned for Thursday and Friday at Londons O2 Arena. Twenty-two people died and at least 59 were injured in a suicide attack Monday night outside Manchester Arena, where Grande had just concluded a stop on her Dangerous Woman Tour. We ask at this time that we all continue to support the city of Manchester and all those families affected by this cowardice and senseless act of violence, the singers reps said in a statement. Our way of life has once again been threatened but we will overcome this together. The dates that have been put on hold until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost, the statement said, are: London, May 25-26 Antwerp, Belgium, May 28 Lodz, Poland, May 31-June 1 Frankfurt, Germany, June 3 Zurich, Switzerland, June 5 The next tour stop after that is a June 7 concert in Paris. Speculation that the tour would be put on hold has been rife since the day after the bomb went off actually, immediately afterward and before the number of casualties was known, many on social media were already worried that shows would be axed but the situation had been in limbo until now. An exhausted"-looking Grande returned home Tuesday to Florida, where she and her mother were met at the airport by Mac Miller, who hugged and kissed his girlfriend in an emotional reunion. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Warner Bros. cancels London Wonder Woman premiere following Manchester attack By Josh Rottenberg In the wake of Mondays deadly terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Warner Bros. has announced it is canceling a planned premiere in London next week for its superhero film Wonder Woman. Our thoughts are with those affected by the recent tragedy in the UK, the studio said in a statement. In light of the current situation, we will not be proceeding with our plans for the premiere and junket activities in London. Starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins, the highly anticipated film which is set in Europe during World War I will hold its U.S. premiere on Thursday in Los Angeles. It arrives in theaters June 2. The studio faced a similar situation last year when its European premiere of Batman v. Superman was scheduled to be held in London just hours after terrorist attacks struck Brussels, killing 32 people and injuring many others. In that case, the studio said in a statement that it had decided to go ahead with the event rather than yield to terror. But as Britain mourns the 22 people killed in the Manchester bombing, with scores more wounded, and with the countrys security threat level raised to its highest, signaling the possibility of another imminent attack, Warner Bros. clearly determined that the circumstances called for a different course of action. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer shows off Spideys tricked-out, Iron Man-style super-suit By Josh Rottenberg Spider-Man has a few new tricks up his spandex sleeve, with the latest trailer for Sonys upcoming franchise reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming offering a deeper look at Spideys newfangled, tech-enhanced super-suit. Courtesy of billionaire inventor/playboy Tony Stark, the suit is embedded with Iron Man-style technology. A Jarvis-like computer assistant informs Peter Parker (Tom Holland) of the 576 possible web shooter combinations he has at his command. A parachute can also be deployed out of the back of the suit when needed, and the chest piece can detach and turn into a drone. For those who prefer their Spidey old-school, though, the trailer also promises a return to Parkers teenage roots though with a decidedly cockier spin than the shy, alienated high school nerd weve often seen depicted in the comics and onscreen. Hollands Parker is clearly feeling his superhero oats, boasting to Stark of taking down a petty bike thief and raring for bigger challenges, Spanish quiz or no Spanish quiz. (Cue Michael Keatons villainous Vulture.) Informed by his best friend Ned that Stark has installed a training-wheels protocol on his super-suit to disable some of its abilities, Parker gripes, Im sick of Mr. Stark treating me like a kid. But you are a kid, Ned reminds him. Yeah, Parker says, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands! Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7. Watch the trailer below. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Performers move U.K. concerts after Manchester bombing, but for some, the show goes on By Christie DZurilla Floral tributes in Manchesters St. Anns Square on May 24, 2017. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images) Manchester Arena has postponed concerts by Take That, an English pop group from the city that was to play there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But its working to see that a KISS show proceeds next week. Unfortunately, due to the tragic events that unfolded on Monday night, it is not possible for the concerts to take place, the arena said in a statement. These have now been postponed and more information will follow. In another statement, the arena cited the ongoing police investigation. Take That had previously postponed a show at another location, saying Tuesday on its website, Out of respect to all of the people and their families that were affected by the horrific incident last night at the Manchester Arena, we have decided to postpone our show tonight in Liverpool. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. KISS is scheduled to play Manchester Arena on Tuesday, and the venue said it is working on that show with promoters and police. pic.twitter.com/HkR9ilSTSt Manchester Arena (@ManchesterArena) May 23, 2017 As far as the Ariana Grande concerts set for Londons O2 arena on Thursday and Friday, as of Wednesday morning no decision had been made. Were still in contact with the tour promoters regarding a final decision, the O2 team said on Twitter Wednesday morning. As yet the tour is not officially postponed or canceled, despite media reports. Katy Perry, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Imagine Dragons, Shawn Mendes and the Chainsmokers will all go ahead with performances this Saturday and Sunday in Hull, England, at BBC Radio 1s Big Weekend, according to TMZ. Hull is about two hours from Manchester. Blondie postponed a Tuesday-night show at the Round Chapel in London, saying in a series of tweets the day of the show that the move was out of respect for the victims of the terrible attack at the Manchester Arena, and noting that plans to reschedule the show were in the works. The Afghan Whigs have moved their Friday show to the O2 Ritz Manchester from Manchester Cathedral, which, as of Wednesday morning, was still cordoned off by police. The Ritz said Tuesday that it would stay silent on social media for two days in sympathy with those who lost their lives or were injured, physically or mentally, but that it would have news Thursday about any rescheduled shows. Other acts that had been scheduled to perform in the Manchester area but not in the arena in coming days, including Colour of Noise, Damien Dempsey, Shriekback and the Cranberries, canceled their shows for reasons unrelated to the suicide attack. Most announced those plans well before Monday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement A Star Is Born: Bob Dylan turns 76 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) When people think of me, they are not necessarily going to buy the latest record anyway. They may buy a record from years ago. Besides, I dont think interviews sell records. Bob Dylan, 1985 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Bob Dylan -- Still A-Changin Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Late-night TV hosts, U2 plead for love after Manchester bombing By Robert Lloyd After the news, late-night talk shows are televisions most topical forum. We turn there for the satirical distance and perspective that might allow us to process the day and get to sleep for laughs when laughter is appropriate, but also for a thoughtful response when events go beyond ordinary human folly to the terrible and unthinkable. Mondays suicide bombing after an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, was on the minds of some late-night hosts Tuesday night. Theres really nothing you can say that can approach the shock and the grief of the victims and their families, said Stephen Colbert on Late Show, asking his audience to go online to hear what his CBS colleague James Corden, who follows him on The Late Late Show, had to say the night before. All we can add here, said Colbert, is that following acts of senseless violence like this, its all the more important not to be controlled by fear, but instead to be reminded by the action of people of Manchester who rushed to the aid of their friends and strangers alike. It is just more proof that evil cannot succeed as long as good people are willing to love each other. On NBCs Late Night, host Seth Meyers had similar thoughts. At its best, being at a concert is an incredible collective experience, he said. Its a chance through a shared love of music to connect with, to sing with and to dance with people you dont know.... And so this comes down to the way we treat strangers, and while some cowards chose to treat strangers with hate, from everything I read, Manchester was filled with people last night who provided aid and comfort to help victims who were total strangers to them. He ended with a plea for all of us to not need a tragedy to remind us of the importance of treating those we do not know with love instead of hate. The Irish band U2, in Los Angeles to perform concerts of their own, were among Jimmy Kimmels guests on ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live. Kimmel brought up Manchester. I imagine that is something you guys have been thinking about, he said. They hate music, they hate women, they even hate little girls they hate everything that we love, lead singer Bono replied. The worst of humanity was on view in Manchester last night but so was the best, as people took perfect strangers into their houses and queued up for blood banks. Manchester has an undefeatable spirit, I can assure you. Kimmel wondered how growing up in Northern Ireland in an era of political and sectarian violence had affected their music. It was so commonplace for a number of years, answered the Edge, the bands guitarist, that it just became a constant background to life. And occasionally something particularly awful would happen and it would really affect you but that was almost the worst of it. You got to the place where [it was] just ongoing every week, every month. Punk rock helped, added Bono. It made us suspicious of partisanship, it made us up suspicious of sectarian ideas. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Elisabeth Moss and BBC America join forces for Typhoid Mary limited series By Libby Hill (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) The Handmaids Tale star Elisabeth Moss is wasting no time in lining up new projects. BBC America announced Tuesday its partnership with Moss and Annapurna Television in developing Fever, a limited series focused on the tale of Typhoid Mary. The series will adapt the novel of the same name, written by Mary Beth Keane and set in early 20th century New York, where Mary Mallon is unknowingly transmitting typhus to those around her. She was an immigrant in turn-of-the-century New York, a time of huge change and progress in America, Moss said of the character in a statement released by the network. She was incredibly unique, stubborn, ambitious and in fierce denial of any wrongdoing until her death where she lived out her days imprisoned on an island just off of the Bronx in N.Y. She is incredibly complicated, something I seem to enjoy playing, said Moss. Moss will star in the series and serve as executive producer alongside director Phil Morrison (Enlightened, Junebug) and writer Robin Veith (The Expanse, True Blood). Annapurnas Sue Naegle and Megan Ellison will also serve as executive producers. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Universal Music Group CEO on Manchester attack: A level of evil beyond comprehension By Christie DZurilla Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, in November 2016. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) Lucian Grainge of Universal Music Group sent a company-wide memo Tuesday, calling it a day of remembrance of victims of the suicide attack in Manchester, England, and acknowledging that emotions were raw. "[W]e grieve for all of those lost there, offering our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones, said the chief executive of UMG, parent company of Ariana Grandes recording label Republic, in a note obtained by Variety. Twenty-two people, one only 8 years old, were killed Monday night and at least 59 were hurt when a bomb exploded as Grandes concert at the Manchester Arena was ending. This hits home for us as a music company, Grainge said, because so many of us, myself included, spend so much time out seeing our artists perform, let alone attending concerts as fans. Thats why weve chosen music as our career or rather music has chosen us. No UMG employees, including Grande and her crew, were injured in the blast, he confirmed, and help from human resources and security was offered to those with questions or concerns. That said, Grainge continued, the fact that such an unspeakable act can be committed at a place where innocent people including so many young people come together peacefully to enjoy music reflects a level of evil beyond comprehension. READ MORE: Suspected Manchester suicide bomber identified as U.K. son of Libyan immigrants>> Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Ariana Grande returns home to Florida after Manchester attack By Christie DZurilla People attending a vigil for Mondays suicide-attack victims brought flowers to St. Ann Square in Manchester, England, on Tuesday. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images) Ariana Grande reportedly returned home to Florida on Tuesday after the bombing outside her Manchester, England, concert that left 22 dead and at least 59 injured. As they exited a private plane, Grande, her mom and her dog were met on the tarmac in Boca Raton, E! News said, by family members and rapper Mac Miller, whom the 23-year-old has been dating since last summer. Miller gave Grande a long hug and a kiss, a source told E! It was a very emotional reunion and they stood talking for a minute before getting into the car, t Detectives on Wednesday released a composite sketch of a person of interest in the 2009 killing of a South Bay attorney. The sketch, which appears to be an African American man in his 30s, comes more than a month after authorities gathered for a news conference to publicize a $100,000 reward in what they called the execution-style killing of Jeffrey Tidus, 53. At the time, Los Angeles County sheriffs officials said that new leads prompted them to ask for the publics help. Detectives declined to state the specifics of the new leads. Advertisement On Dec. 7, 2009, Tidus had walked outside their Rolling Hills home to grab a laptop from his car at about 8:30 p.m., when his wife, Sheryl, heard a pop, then a car driving off, officials said. When she walked outside, her husband was on the ground, shot. He died the next day. The killing shocked the wealthy community on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Tidus had worked with a number of well-known clients, including New Century Financial, Isuzu Motors, California Federal Savings and Tokai Bank. In the last year of his life, Tidus had won a number of large settlements, his wife previously told the Los Angeles Times. Over the years, detectives have examined several of the attorneys cases for possible links to the killing. Last month, Det. Joe Espino said there were people of interest in the case, including former Los Angeles tax attorney Christopher Gruys. Tidus won an $11.2-million judgment against Gruys in 2007. During a deposition in 2005 in that case, Gruys pulled out a camera, took a picture of Tidus and made what Tidus interpreted as a threat. Tidus obtained a restraining order against Gruys. The State Bar of California placed Gruys on interim suspension in April 2007 after he was convicted of possession of an assault weapon. He gave up his California law license later that year. Espino cautioned that Gruys was not the only person of interest in the killing. Were looking at various people and looking at various cases, he said last month. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (323) 890-5500. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. nicole.santacruz@latimes.com For more crime news, follow @nicolesantacruz on Twitter. They were discarded near freeways, dumped in brush among the trash and leaves. Michelle Lozano had disappeared Easter evening in 2011. Her body was discovered the next day. The 17-year-old was raped and strangled before being stuffed in a plastic container and left near the southbound 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights. Nine months later, BreeAnna Guzman, 22, was found along the Riverside Drive on-ramp to the 2 Freeway with blunt-force trauma to the head. Missing for a month, her body was so badly decomposed that her mother was kept from the scene. Advertisement The killings stirred up fear of a serial killer in Lincoln Heights the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood where the two victims had lived, less than a mile apart. They had been strangers, but shared similar traits: long-haired Latinas with soft eyes and wide smiles. In 2014, authorities announced that the homicides were linked by forensic evidence and two $50,000 rewards for information were offered to reinvigorate the cases. Three years passed. The families of the victims faded into that desperate population of those waiting for justice. A break in the case Last week, they were informed it had arrived. Torrance resident Geovanni Borjas, 32, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of killing Lozano and Guzman, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Booking records listed his occupation as a medical biller. Police Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday that investigators were unable to match DNA from the victims cases to state and national DNA databases. They then went through exhaustive protocols to request a familial DNA search, a controversial method that looks for partial matches that indicate the relative of a suspect. About a month ago, a familial match led detectives to a man who had previously been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence assault. He appeared to be a close relative of the suspect in the 2011 killings. After ruling out other family members, investigators eventually began surveilling the mans son, Borjas. When Borjas was seen spitting on the sidewalk, the opportunity for a DNA sample struck. What was collected turned out to be an exact match in Lozanos and Guzmans killings, police said. Beck said he did not believe that Borjas name had been mentioned in the murders until the DNA hit. Although no other related cases came up in state and national databases, the police chief said he hopes that anyone aware of Borjas role in other crimes will come forward. A rare DNA hit This was the second successful case the agency has had with familial DNA, Beck said. The first was Lonnie Franklin Jr., known as the Grim Sleeper, who detectives believe killed at least 25 women and was sentenced to death last year. Los Angeles Police Capt. William Hayes told The Times that Borjas was acquainted with Lozano and worked at an Eastside medical clinic that Guzman visited. Public records show that Borjas previously lived a few blocks from Lozano in Lincoln Heights. In 2014, a judge granted Borjas ex-girlfriend a domestic violence restraining order against him. The woman alleged in court documents that the 6-foot-1, 265-pound Borjas was physically abusive throughout their 2 year relationship and that he broke her nose, choked her and pushed her down the stairs. She added that he would follow her and that she lived in fear. The restraining order prohibits Borjas from coming within 100 yards of the woman, her home or workplace. At his Tuesday arraignment, Borjas appeared in a blue button-down shirt and a neatly trimmed beard. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping. Because of the circumstances of the crimes, prosecutors said he is eligible for the death penalty. Asking the court to set bail, defense attorney Aaron Spolin told the court that Borjas has a full-time job, a fiancee and is a father. However, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Hanasono rejected the request, citing the protection of the public. Spolin would not offer further details about his client, and Borjas family members who appeared in court declined to comment. Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman, who also prosecuted Franklin, would only say that the case against Borjas was based on DNA. Family and friends gather for a vigil for BreeAnna Guzman in 2016. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Two families long wait for answers On Tuesday, family and friends of the victims listened with emotion to statements about the case from the police chief and Mayor Eric Garcetti at LAPD headquarters. Family members of Lozano declined to comment. The Guzman family, who said they had never seen Borjas before, expressed gratitude to the LAPD for its efforts. All I wanted was to find somebody who hurt her, said the victims mother, Darlene Guzman. And were there. Were there. Im so happy. Im overwhelmed with happiness. I mean, well never get her back, but hes arrested. Hes arrested, and he wont hurt anybody. I wont know why Ill never know why but were that much closer to closure. Last week, she celebrated her daughters birthday. BreeAnna Guzman would have turned 28. Her mother still remembers her saying she would return soon. That was on Dec. 26, 2011. Guzman said she wasnt feeling well and was going to head to the drugstore and do a quick meet-up with her boyfriend. A month later, Guzmans body was found three miles away. At the time, there was only speculation that the killing was related to Lozanos case. A homeless person had notified police on April 25, 2011 about the body near State Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue. Detectives concluded that Lozano had been wrapped in plastic bags and then shoved into a container. When the suspect dumped the container over a concrete barrier along the freeway, it cracked open, leaving Lozanos body among the brush. richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @LAcrimes corina.knoll@latimes.com Twitter: @corinaknoll joseph.serna@latimes.com Twitter: @JosephSerna Nicole Santa Cruz contributed to this report. MORE LOCAL NEWS LAPD searching for missing teenage girl last seen in Boyle Heights 5 Inglewood officers who killed couple in parked car are now off police force L.A. law enforcement on high alert after street gangs threaten officers Deputies union asks L.A. County sheriff to publish additional data on use of force The first case Bruce Nickerson took on as a young trial attorney seemed straightforward. His client had been arrested when a San Jose police officer saw him engage in lewd conduct inside a booth at an adult bookstore. Prosecutors offered the man a plea deal that would have spared him from jail time and registering as a sex offender. For most attorneys, the deal would have seemed like a gift. But Nickerson had a plan, and urged his client to take the case to trial. Advertisement The officer had leaned into the booth to observe the man touching himself. To be convicted of lewd conduct in California, Nickerson argued in court, a defendant would need to believe someone would not just witness the conduct, but be offended by it. When youre seated in a porn booth, watching a porn movie, and someone has come partway into your booth, you have a reasonable belief that hes not going to be offended, Nickerson recalled recently. The argument might seem indelicate, but it was effective. The jury hung, and prosecutors dropped the case. The victory was the first in a career that would see Nickerson become a legal champion for LGBTQ rights as the go-to criminal defense attorney for gay and bisexual men accused of lewd conduct and indecent exposure in California. In the last few decades, he has waged legal war on undercover stings, an age-old police tactic that activists condemn as a form of entrapment that unfairly singles out gay men. In courts throughout California , Nickerson has argued that officers engage in discriminatory policing by exclusively using attractive male officers to target men seeking gay sex. His victories, combined with changing attitudes toward gay sex, have led some police departments to scale back or end their use of the stings. Many of the stings take place in public restrooms, causing some colleagues to playfully label Nickerson the toilet lawyer. Over the years, Nickerson has become a beloved figure in LGBTQ circles and the legal community. Earlier this month, he rode in a float during Long Beachs gay pride parade, seated next to the grand marshal, a former client. Not all are so quick to praise Nickerson. Some police leaders believe his claims of discrimination are ludicrous, arguing that the stings target illegal public sex, not gay men specifically. And early in his career, Nickerson faced serious legal problems. His law license was suspended twice, and he served jail time for helping an accused child molester flee the country in 1988. Nickerson says it was a mistake that haunts him to this day. Still, he is lauded by LGBTQ activists for work that has saved clients from legal peril in Fresno, Bakersfield, San Jose, Long Beach and other cities, helping them to avoid a criminal record or a place on a list of registered sex offenders. His victory at the California Supreme Court in 1996 also made it easier for defendants to argue that police discriminated against them during an arrest. Ive seen him restore peoples dignity, their very lives to them, that were unjustly taken away because of these kinds of discriminatory actions, said Eric Schweitzer, who co-chairs the legislative committee for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. But this is how theyre wired. This is how they love. Bruce Nickerson, describing his clients Nickerson said he does not condone his clients conduct, but empathizes with it. The 75-year-old attorney, who spent decades struggling with his own sexuality before coming out as gay, said most men who cruise, or seek anonymous sex in public, do so because they fear being outed. Even in the age of gay-friendly dating apps like Grindr, few want to leave evidence of their sexual orientation for fear of blowback from family or friends, he said. Nickerson said his fight against anti-gay sentiment began in his parents living room in Modesto. With a Pentecostal minister for a mother and a former Golden Gloves boxer for a father, Nickerson didnt dare come out to his parents. They had been suspicious something was off with their son from a young age, and the repercussions were often severe. The normally excitable Nickerson waves his hands and punctuates sentences with a laugh when he speaks about his career, giving off a vibe thats somewhere between paternal and mad scientist. But that energy melts away when he recalls his childhood. Im getting straight As at school. Im growing things in the backyard. I never disobey my parents, and yet, I continue to get hit by my father, and my mother keeps trying to cast this demon out of me, he said. After graduating from Stanford University, where he studied business and history, he took a law school entrance exam but ended up running his familys roofing business to prove a point to his father. Nickerson also continued to pursue relationships with women. He married and fathered a son in the 1960s before eventually divorcing. Nickerson said it wasnt until 1975, after the divorce, his fathers death and a few business struggles, that he was ready to accept his sexuality, enroll in law school and fight for gay rights. It dawned on me that if I really wanted to make an impact in this world, I should join this movement, the third of the big ones: Black. Women. Gay, he said. See what I could do to help move the wheel forward. Those closest to Nickerson say the suffering he endured as a child fuels him in the courtroom. He has used those painful issues to drive him, said his ex-wife, Billie Sommerfield. He wants to help people avoid experiencing the things that he experienced. The use of undercover cops to target gay men in Southern California dates back to the early 20th century, when gay sex was illegal. In recent decades, police agencies have used stings to respond to complaints about public sex in parks, restrooms or other places frequented by families. Decoy operations are necessary, some police officials say, because lewd conduct is a misdemeanor that requires officers to witness the conduct to justify an arrest. Many arrested in bathroom stings will plead to a lesser crime of lewd conduct to avoid the risk of ending up on a sex offender list alongside people convicted of rape, child abuse and other sexually violent offenses, according to attorneys who try those types of cases. But Nickerson and others contend that undercover officers often exchange flirtatious signals and make arrests of men who think their advances are welcome, when no one else is nearby to be offended. They say the stings ensnare men who hadnt otherwise been seeking sex and that they rarely, if ever, target straight people. Nobody has done the kind of work that Bruce has done. But he cant be all places at all times, Schweitzer said. Youre going to get situations where you have these guys that are registering for the rest of their lives, simply for cruising. Last year, Nickerson won a major decision in Los Angeles County when a judge ruled that the Long Beach Police Departments use of undercover stings was discriminatory. Statistics cited by Nickerson in court showed that city police had arrested at least two dozen men seeking gay sex during stings in 2013 and 2014. No women, or men seeking heterosexual encounters, were arrested in those stings. Were just trying to find a balance. Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna on using gay stings and respecting LGBTQ rights Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said the department has not used the tactic since 2015, but bristled at the accusation that his department discriminated against members of the LGBTQ community. Our vice unit does handle things a little bit differently, absolutely respecting the rights in our LGBT community, but at the same time, respecting the rights of others that are using the restrooms too, Luna said, adding that the stings might still be used as a last resort. Were just trying to find a balance. A decade ago, conservative firebrand Bill OReilly lambasted Nickerson during a nationally televised interview after the attorney won a similar case in Fresno. You should be very proud of yourself for putting perverts on the street, sir, shouted OReilly, who was recently fired from Fox News in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. Nickerson has had his own serious legal problems. In 1997, his law license was suspended for nine months after he tried to swipe a pornographic video from a police evidence locker in a case he was defending, according to State Bar records. He admitted that he wanted to view the video, of two consenting adults, for his own personal interest. He was also placed on probation for attempted petty theft, records show. It was his earliest suspension, however, that threatened to derail his career. In 1991, Santa Clara County prosecutors charged Nickerson with helping a client, a suspected child molester, flee the country. Nickerson pleaded no contest and served 80 days in jail. The State Bar suspended him for 18 months. Nickerson said he had never intended to help his client, Carl Kaminski, elude police. He had agreed to represent Kaminski but had a pre-scheduled vacation in Peru and was concerned his client might be arrested while Nickerson was out of the country. The lawyer said he arranged for Kaminski to temporarily stay in Germany, on a promise that the two would return at the same time. Nickerson drove him to the airport, but Kaminski never returned. Kaminski remained on the run for nearly two decades. Nickerson says he deeply regrets how his actions might have affected Kaminskis victims. These young peoples ultimate healing may have been delayed by my activity, and I am truly remorseful on that score, he said. In 2006, Kaminski was arrested in Germany and brought back to the U.S. Meanwhile, Albanian police accused him of sexually abusing three children during his flight from justice, according to court records. Nickerson said he was unaware of Kaminskis alleged crimes in Albania until he was told recently by a Times reporter. Im honestly mortified, he said. The attorney shrugs off other criticism of his work, believing the barbs about his defense of men arrested in bathroom stings come from a place of misunderstanding. Persons who cruise in public places are in the early stages of coming out. They frequently are obsessed with guilt and shame and they wouldnt be caught dead going to a gay bar because theyre not ready for that, he said. But this is how theyre wired. This is how they love. Nickerson hopes to push for legislative changes that would remove the hundreds of men previously convicted in cruising stings from the states offender rolls. But he isnt sure how much time is left in his crusade. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2015, and said doctors at the time believed he had only two years to live. Still, his work continues. In addition to his victory against the Long Beach Police Department, he won findings of factual innocence last year for five men arrested during a lewd conduct sting in San Jose. Those who know him best say Nickerson is likely to fight for his cause until the last possible second. Stephanie Loftin, a Long Beach attorney who has worked with Nickerson on several sting cases, said she cant see a future where Nickerson retires or takes a rest. Hes gonna die with his boots on, she said. james.queally@latimes.com Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California. ALSO Seven striking statistics on the status of gay rights and homophobia across the globe Trump order on religion fits a pattern action far more modest than his words Documentary The Freedom to Marry chronicles the long road for gay rights Los Angeles Countys homeless population has soared 23% over last year despite increasing success in placing people in housing, according to the latest annual count released Wednesday. The sharp rise, to nearly 58,000, suggested that the pathway into homelessness continues to outpace intensifying efforts that through rent subsidies, new construction, outreach and support services got more than 14,000 people permanently off the streets last year. Staggering, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement. It is clear that if we are going to end the homeless crisis, we need to stem the overwhelming tide of people falling into homelessness. Advertisement Said Leslie Evans, a West Adams resident active in efforts to combat homelessness in South Los Angeles: These are scary numbers. The startling jump in homelessness affected every significant demographic group, including youth, families, veterans and the chronically homeless, according to the report. Homeless officials and political leaders pointed to steadily rising housing costs and stagnant incomes as the underlying cause. Homelessness also increased sharply in the city of Los Angeles, where the count of just over 34,000 was up 20% from 2016. Theres no sugarcoating the bad news, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a news conference Wednesday where the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released its report. We cant let rents double every year. I was particularly disappointed to see veteran numbers go up. Garcetti called homelessness a problem that has persisted through administrations, through recessions, adding, Our city is in the midst of an extraordinary homelessness crisis that needs an extraordinary response. These men, these women, these children are our neighbors. The Homeless Services Authority linked the worsening problem to the economic stress on renters in the Los Angeles area. More than 2 million households in L.A. and Orange counties have housing costs that exceed 30% of income, according to data from Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies included in the report. According to the nonprofit California Housing Partnership Corp., median rent, adjusted for inflation, increased more than 30% from 2000 to 2015, while the median income was flat. Currently, the median asking price for rentals countywide is $1,995 for one-bedroom apartments and $2,416 for all multifamily units, according to the real estate website Zillow. I am deeply concerned that over the next few years we will continue to be overwhelmed by people for whom rents are simply unsustainable, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said in a statement. She called for changes in land use and rent control regulations to boost affordable housing. Mirroring last years count, only one of every four homeless people in both the city and across the county were classified as sheltered, meaning they were counted in an emergency shelter or longer-term transitional program. That left three of every four, or just under 43,000 countywide, living on the street. The chronic homeless population defined as those who have been on the streets at least a year or multiple times and suffering mental illness, addiction or physical disability increased 20% to more than 17,000, despite increasing numbers placed into housing. There were few exceptions to the bad news. Even the homeless veteran population jumped in 2017, marking a backsliding of the gains made last year by city, state and federal programs that slashed the number of homeless veterans by a third. With the number of veterans placed into housing slightly down, the count of 4,828 homeless veterans was up 57%. 1 / 13 Ricky Riller carries his belongings and dogs in shopping carts before sanitation workers sweep the homeless encampments in the Manchester Square neighborhood in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 13 A man leaves a homeless encampment area with his belongings in a bag in Los Angeles. (Christian K. Lee / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 13 Housing Works caseworker Anthony Ruffin kneels as he checks on a homeless woman sleeping on a bus bench in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 13 Monic Bell holds her dog Hades outside her tent in Hollywood. Monic is homeless and says he was in the foster system. Youths made up the fastest growing homeless age group with those 18 to 24 up 64%, followed by those under 18 at 41%. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 13 Charles Stacks, 23, speaks to a member of a homeless outreach team after they gave him food and a bag of hygiene supplies in Hollywood. Youths made up the fastest growing homeless age group, with those 18 to 24 up 64%, followed by those under 18 at 41%. (Christian K. Lee / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 13 A homeless man secures his belongings before riding away on his bike in Los Angeles. (Christian K. Lee / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 13 Kenneth Sampay, 52, watches television from his cot at the winter homeless shelter at Bethel A.M.E. Church in South Los Angeles. Mirroring last years count, only one of every four homeless people were classified as sheltered, meaning they were counted in an emergency shelter or longer-term transitional program. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 13 A man walks past a homeless encampment along 9th Street where it cuts under the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 13 Dayna Catchings, her face reflected in a hand mirror, lives in a homeless encampment along 9th Street where it cuts under the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 13 Tommy Shot, who has been living on the streets for 11 years, smokes a cigarette in a chair by his belongings on Rose Avenue in Venice. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) 11 / 13 Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies Liz Aguilar, left, and Martin Villa with their hands on guns check a homeless encampment along San Gabriel River in South El Monte. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 13 Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Martin Villa checks on a homeless man living along the San Gabriel River bed in Irwindale. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 13 Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Michael Galvan warns a couple living under a 5 Freeway bridge along the San Gabriel River in Pico Rivera. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) The only hopeful sign of homeless initiatives making headway was the strong increase in the number of homeless families being sheltered. Though the population of homeless families increased nearly 30%, those without shelter dropped 21%. The 2017 count, conducted in January, will become the baseline for a multibillion-dollar homeless program funded by two successful ballot measures. Proposition HHH, approved by Los Angeles voters in November, will provide $1.2 billion in bond proceeds over a decade to build permanent housing. Measure H, approved by county voters in March, will provide an estimated $3.5 billion over 10 years for rent subsidies and services. The county Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on budgets for the first three years on June 13. The combined initiatives aim to create or subsidize 15,000 housing units and pay for services to support those living in them. Voters have afforded us opportunity we never had to step forward and confront the problem of homelessness in Los Angeles, said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. I am not at all discouraged by this data. We knew intuitively there was an uptick. ... Now we have the resources to stand up to it. Ridley-Thomas called on the community to put your war clothes on and get ready to fight. The Los Angeles count, the largest in the nation, is an estimate based on a street tally conducted by 7,700 volunteers over three days and nights. For the last dozen years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has required cities, counties and other regions to conduct a count in order to receive federal homelessness aid. The numbers give an imperfect snapshot of the highly fluid homeless population at a point in time. The number of people who lose their homes over the course of a year is more than three times greater on a given night, homeless officials say. Because the homeless authority has refined its methodology over the years and expanded its volunteer base, year-over-year comparisons can be misleading. Officials acknowledged, for example, that last years 11% increase at least partially resulted from the introduction of a special effort to locate hard-to-find youth. But the scale of this years increase left little doubt that homelessness was on the rise. Earlier this month, Orange County reported an 8% increase in its homeless population over two years. More than half of the countys nearly 4,800 homeless people were living without shelter. A 26% increase toppled years of stagnant or declining numbers in Santa Monica, bringing its homeless population to nearly 1,000, the highest number in a decade. City officials said more than half the homeless people came from other parts of the county. A brighter picture emerged from Long Beach, which conducts its own count. The city recorded a 21% decline in its homeless population, crediting a nearly 200% increase in permanent housing there. But the actual decrease 482 people barely affected the regional totals. In Los Angeles County, the most drastic increase 48% occurred in the San Gabriel Valley district of Supervisor Hilda Solis, where the count rose to just under 13,000. Ridley-Thomas district remained the most affected with nearly 19,000 people counted, a 22% increase. Surveys conducted with the Los Angeles count provided demographic breakdowns for the portion of the county excluding Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale, cities that conduct their own counts. These showed increases of 20% or more for every type of improvised shelter cars (2,147), vans (1,862), campers and recreational vehicles (4,545), tents (2,343) and makeshift shelters (3,516). Youths made up the fastest growing homeless age group with those 18 to 24 up 64%, followed by those under 18 at 41%. Those numbers didnt surprise Heidi Calmus, who works in the Hollywood branch of Covenant House, an international homeless services agency. Calmus said the agency sees 100 to 150 new homeless youth in Hollywood every month. All the shelters have waiting lists, and permanent housing is impossible to find, even with a rent voucher. The system is overwhelmed, Calmus said. While blacks remained the largest racial/ethnic group, making up 40% of all homeless people, the number of Latinos grew by almost two-thirds. Whites declined by a modest 2% and Asians, though remaining only 1% of all homeless people, increased by nearly a third. Three-fourths of homeless people reported they had been in the county for five years or more, while 12% had been residents for less than a year. Times staff writer Andrew Khouri contributed to this report. gholland@latimes.com Twitter: @geholland doug.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @LATdoug ALSO Home at last: Vets circuitous paths through homelessness meet in new permanent home Huntington Beach opposes county supervisors proposal for homeless shelter In Venice, where money meets misery, hoping for an end to homeless camps UPDATES: 3:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. 11:25 a.m.: This article was updated with additional context and reaction. 9:45 a.m.: This article was updated with reaction. This article was originally published at 9:20 a.m. The five Inglewood police officers who fatally shot a young couple, firing 20 bullets into them as they appeared to be unconscious in a parked car, are no longer police officers in the city, Mayor James T. Butts said Tuesday. The announcement marked the end of an internal probe of the Feb. 21, 2016, slayings of Marquintan Sandlin and Kisha Michael, but it offered scant information about the incident, which has stoked protest and calls for greater transparency in the Inglewood Police Department. The Los Angeles County district attorneys office is continuing to investigate the shooting. Advertisement The officers involved in the incident are no longer members of the Inglewood Police Department, Butts said in his statement. The departments report and any discipline that results from the report are confidential. Butts said the internal investigation into the fatal shooting of Sandlin, 32, and Michael, 31, was completed on Friday. His statement did not specify the number of officers or whether they were fired or had resigned. The mayors spokeswoman, Jasmyne Cannick, later said that the five officers were separated from service after firing their weapons during the encounter with Sandlin and Michael. All five held the rank of police officer, and four had been with the Inglewood Police Department for two years or less. One had been with the department for five years, Cannick said. Cannick said the mayor was unable to comment further. Although Butts did not name the officers, they were previously identified by the city, which initially refused, after a public records request. The five officers involved in the shooting were identified as Michael Jaen, Richard Parcella, Jason Cantrell, Sean Reidy and Andrew Cohen. To the families of Michael, a mother of three boys, and Sandlin, a father of four girls, the news was overwhelming. Finally, finally. Some kind of justice for them, said Trisha Michael, the twin sister of Kisha Michael. To hear that these officers are off these streets verifies everything that Ive been feeling and everything Ive been standing up for. But she said questions remain unanswered. So far, the shooting has been shrouded in mystery, but The Times has gleaned information from autopsy reports conducted by the Los Angeles County coroners office. The city has not released a timeline of events or further information beyond a statement summarizing the incident. According to autopsy reports and the prior police statement, officers approached Michael and Sandlin in a car at Manchester Boulevard and Inglewood Avenue shortly after 3 a.m. The couple appeared unconscious and Michael, who sat in the passenger seat, had a gun on her lap, authorities said. An autopsy report reviewed by The Times said only that there was an unknown exchange between police and the couple before officers fired several rounds into the car. Police have never said whether Michael or Sandlin pointed the handgun at them. Days after the shooting, Butts told KNBC-TV Channel 4 in an interview that officers retreated, isolated the vehicle and spent about 45 minutes attempting to rouse the occupants and to de-escalate the situation. Earlier this year, Butts would not corroborate that account to a Times reporter. Any timeline that has been given was based upon preliminary information in an attempt to provide basic information, he said in an earlier email. The autopsy report shows that Michaels blood-alcohol content was 0.185%, more than twice the legal limit for driving. Traces of methamphetamine, which the coroners report said can be used to treat attention deficit disorder and obesity, were found in her blood. Sandlins blood-alcohol content was 0.13%, over the legal driving limit. No drugs were found in his system. Ed Obayashi, a sheriffs deputy and legal advisor for Inyo County who is an expert on use-of-force incidents, said the outcome of the internal inquiry was extraordinary. It is very unusual for them to be gone so quickly, Obayashi said of the officers, adding that it is unheard of for a police department to not provide explanations about what the officers thought and what guided their decisions in the shooting. Attorney Milton Grimes, who is representing Michaels family in a civil lawsuit filed against the city, said the news that the officers no longer work for the department shows that the shooting was out of policy and an unconstitutional, bad shooting. For the city to come out now and say these officers are no longer employed with the Inglewood Police Department is an admission of guilt to me, Grimes said. Still, he was concerned over the lack of information about what led to the shooting. I cannot settle this case until I can tell this mother how and why her daughter was shot 13 times. [We] still have not gotten that information yet, Grimes said. But were getting closer. I can feel it. Melina Abdullah, a Cal State Los Angeles professor and organizer with Black Lives Matter, said the officers dismissal provides a huge victory in the quest for justice in the shooting death of Michael and Sandlin. Its gives some satisfaction to the family that something is moving, Abdullah said. We will never get justice unless we transform things so nothing like this ever happens again. And thats a long road but we have to celebrate the small victories along the way. Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report. matt.hamilton@latimes.com Twitter: @MattHjourno ALSO Authorities identify 2 men who died in roaring Kern River over holiday weekend Shooting suspect is tracked down, shot by deputies in Apple Valley Deputies union asks L.A. County sheriff to publish additional data on use of force UPDATES: 11:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from a law enforcement expert. 7:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Trisha Michael, Melina Abdullah, and further details about the employment status of the five officers involved in the shooting. This article was originally published at 6:25 p.m. The Kern County coroner has identified two men who died while rafting in the powerful Kern River over the Memorial Day weekend. Three people died and at least 24 were rescued in multiple incidents along the river, which is known as the Killer Kern. Five more people were rescued from other nearby rivers. On Monday, authorities found the body of a man who had been rafting with his son, who is between 12 and 14 years old. They were on the Kern River west of Lake Isabella when they were thrown out of their raft by a rapid. Advertisement The coroner identified the man as Jose Sequic, 43, of Sylmar. Sequic entered the river on a raft at the Keysville Boat Launch on Sunday, according to the coroner. He fell into the water after his raft overturned. Witnesses saw Sequic trying to swim to safety, but he eventually went under water and did not resurface. His body was found the next morning, about a mile west of the boat launch entrance, authorities said. His cause of death has not yet been determined. A 44-year-old man who died after falling backward out of an inflatable raft after it was hit by a wave on Saturday was identified by the coroner as Shane Joseph Ornelas, of Buena Park. Ornelas was riding in a raft, operated by local outfitter Sierra South, that was navigating the Cable Run, a Class IV rapid that is intense and turbulent, said Tulare County Sheriffs Lt. Kevin Kemmerling. The accident occurred about five miles north of Kernville, where the river water was 40 degrees, Kemmerling said. Rescuers performed CPR for about 20 minutes; Ornelas was rushed to Kern Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ornelas, who was wearing a life jacket and wetsuit, was conscious when he was pulled back into the raft, but he then collapsed. The coroner listed his cause of death as hypertrophic heart disease. Tom Moore, president of Sierra South, said Ornelas was part of a church group and was a last-minute substitute on the trip. Officials have not yet identified a woman in her 40s whose body was pulled out of the river Sunday in Hart Park. She had been floating on the river with her family a day earlier and fell into the water. The woman did not know how to swim, Kern County Chief Park Ranger Ron Rice told the Bakersfield Californian. The womans family found her body caught in what is called a strainer, an area of brush and debris that can trap a swimmer underwater. Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this story. hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson MORE LOCAL NEWS Lebron James $20 million Brentwood estate vandalized with racial slur Mississippi soldier killed, 3 injured in tank rollover at Mojave Desert training center 5 Inglewood cops are off the force, adding to the mystery surrounding fatal shooting of couple Homelessness in L.A. County jumps 23% as need far outpaces available housing, new count shows The woman who alleged last year that she had sex with more than a dozen Oakland police officers has settled a claim against the city for approximately $1 million, according to her attorney and the City Council. The accusations made last year by a 19-year-old Richmond woman, who has asked to be identified only as Jasmine, sparked national outrage and sent shock waves through the Oakland Police Department and Bay Area law enforcement community. Some of the encounters, Jasmine said, happened while she was underage. She also claimed officers gave her information about planned police raids in exchange for sex. A series of investigations that began last summer has led to criminal charges against seven Bay Area law enforcement officers, the departure of Police Chief Sean Whent and discipline against several other Oakland officers. Investigators with the Alameda County district attorneys office and the Richmond Police Department were also fired amid fallout from the scandal. Advertisement I feel happy that I can close this chapter and move on with my life, Jasmine said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The Los Angeles Times does not normally name victims of sexual crimes, but Jasmine has repeatedly identified herself during a number of public appearances and interviews. She was initially known by the pseudonym Celeste Guap. On Wednesday, she asked that reporters only identify her by her first name going forward. The city agreed to settle her claim for up to $989,000 during a City Council meeting, according to the councils website. The vote did not take place until around 2 a.m. Wednesday, passing 7 to 1, said civil rights attorney John Burris, who represents Jasmine. The settlement occurred with no admission of liability, but obviously, if you pay $1 million, you figure you got some responsibility, he said in a statement. The dissenting vote came from Councilwoman Desley Brooks, who wanted Jasmine to receive a larger settlement, according to Councilman Noel Gallo. A formal lawsuit was never filed, Burris said. A notice of claim was filed with the city last year, while Jasmine was represented by a different attorney. Burris said he still may bring claims against the San Francisco, Livermore and Richmond police departments, as well as the Alameda and Contra Costa county sheriffs departments. Jasmine has made claims against officers in each agency, Burris said. On Wednesday, Burris referred to the officers as a cabal that took advantage of a young woman. People were passing her around as if she was a kickball or something, Burris said. In a statement, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the city is committed to moving forward from the scandal and fostering a culture of accountability and transparency within its police department. We remain focused on rebuilding the public trust that was so damaged by this incident, she said. The lurid details of the scandal stretch back to September 2015, when a suicide note left by an Oakland police officer suggested he had been engaged in a sexual relationship with a young sex worker in the citys troubled Fruitvale neighborhood, which includes International Boulevard, Oaklands main prostitution stroll. The investigation widened in the summer, when Jasmine, then publicly known by another name, told a television reporter that she had sex with more than a dozen members of the Oakland Police Department as well as officials with other law enforcement agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Alameda County Dist. Atty. Nancy OMalley announced charges last September against five Oakland police officers, a former Contra Costa County sheriffs deputy and a retired Livermore police officer in connection with the investigation. In January, former Oakland Police Officer Leroy Johnson pleaded no contest to failure to report sexual misconduct with a minor, according to Assistant Dist. Atty. Teresa Drenick. He was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to stay away from Jasmine, Drenick said. Retired Livermore Police Officer Dan Black pleaded no contest to solicitation of lewd conduct in February, according to Drenick. His judgment was deferred, and the case will be dismissed in May 2018 if he successfully completes probation, the prosecutor said. Four former Oakland police officers and a former Contra Costa County deputy still face charges in the case. Two of them are charged with having oral sexual interactions with Jasmine while she was underage. Earlier this year, Schaff selected Anne Kirkpatrick, a former high-ranking officer in Chicago who also once served as chief of the Spokane, Wash., Police Department, to lead the agency. The scandal proved to be a serious blow to Oaklands police department, which has operated under a federal monitor since 2003 as the result of a prior excessive force scandal. Whent, who had been credited with helping the city make serious reductions in violent crime, resigned shortly after Jasmines interview. Two other interim chiefs were selected, and almost immediately dismissed, in the following week. Schaaf eventually decided to place the department under civilian control. Burris, a longtime critic of the department, said it has a long way to go to regain the trust it lost as a result of the scandal. How did we create this culture where so many in the department either were willing to engage in or hide sexual misconduct? he said in the statement. It seems we need to rebuild the department with more women and more respect. Gallo, the councilman who represents the Fruitvale neighborhood where Jasmine has said her encounters with city police officers began, said he hoped the settlement would be the first step in a long healing process for the woman. In recent months she has taken part in anti-sex trafficking initiatives in the Fruitvale neighborhood, he said. I admire her for where she is today, and certainly all the attention is challenging, but shes looking for direction, Gallo said. And thats what were trying to provide her. james.queally@latimes.com Follow @JamesQueallyLAT on Twitter for crime and police news in California. ALSO Massive Big Sur landslide added 13 acres to Central California coast Diver dies while searching for abalone off Mendocino County coast Single-payer healthcare is popular with Californians unless it raises their taxes UPDATES: 3:05 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from the accuser, Jasmine, and her attorney, John Burris. 12:40 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. 12:15 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the criminal cases against officers charged in the scandal from the Alameda County district attorneys office. This article was originally published at 11:10 a.m. Premier will meet with Merkel, EU leaders in three-day trip Premier Li Keqiang is scheduled on Wednesday to kick off his trip to Berlin, which analysts and officials said is expected to boost China-Europe free trade and inject impetus to the global economic recovery. During the three-day trip, Li will pay official visits to Germany and Belgium, attend the annual meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and meet with leaders of the European Union under an annual mechanism in Brussels, according to the Foreign Ministry. Through the visit, China expects to enhance strategic communication to strengthen political trust, improve practical cooperation and jointly send a positive signal of cooperation, openness and win-win values, said Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Chao. China and Europe don't have fundamental contradictions or geographic conflicts, and they have many common interests and similar stances on issues such as boosting free trade, safeguarding the multilateral trade system and improving global economic governance, he said. Wang also called for joint efforts to handle and resolve disputes properly in a constructive manner, and take each other's core interests and major concerns into consideration. Yang Yanyi, China's ambassador to the European Union, told Xinhua News Agency that both parties should send positive signals of jointly safeguarding peace and promoting development at a time when economic globalization faces setbacks with rising challenges of protectionism. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative has led to cooperation between China and European countries in airport and seaport construction, finance and rail transportation, she said. It's natural that China and Europe have disagreements in developing bilateral economic and trade ties, she said, adding that the two sides should focus on common interests and control trade conflicts through dialogue and consultation. During Li's visit to Germany, leaders of the two countries will exchange views on Article 15 in the protocol on China's accession to the World Trade Organization, China's ambassador to Germany, Shi Mingde, told the China Radio International. According to Article 15, WTO member nations should have ceased on Dec 11, 2016, from using the surrogate country approach in anti-dumping investigations on China. This date was 15 years after China became an official member of the organization. Under the surrogate country approach, WTO members use costs of production in a third country to calculate the value of products from countries on its "non-market economy" list, which includes China. It's an obligation for the EU members, including Germany, to stop using the surrogate country approach while conducting anti-dumping investigations into China, Shi said. Li Chenggang, assistant minister of commerce, said China became Germany's largest trade partner for the first time last year, when the bilateral trade volume reached $151.29 billion. The EU has been China's largest trade partner for many years, and China is the EU's second largest trade partner. The two sides have made positive progress in cooperation in infrastructure, finance and digital economy in recent years, Li said. The economies of China and Belgium are highly complementary and the two countries have huge potential regarding trade in chemicals, food, finance, bio-pharmacy, environmental protection and life science, he said. Wang Mingjin, a professor of international relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said cooperation agreements between small and medium-sized enterprises in China and European Union members will be a highlight of Li's visit. As a manufacturing giant, China has great potential in cooperating with the EU members in machinery production, environmental protection and robotics, he said. Li's visit also will enhance cooperation between China and Europe in pushing forward globalization, free trade and open markets, he added. Cui Hongjian, director of the Department for European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the EU faces challenges, including the uncertainties caused by the power transfer in some EU members. China and the EU should overcome the difficulties, focus more on the positive factors and join hands to fight protectionism, he said, adding the two sides have disagreements in some areas including the identification of China's status as a market-oriented economy. China and European countries could make joint efforts to push forward the Belt and Road Initiative and enhance cooperation in such areas as maritime exploitation, infrastructure and finance, he said. Zhou Jin contributed to this story. A Mississippi Army National Guardsman was killed and three others injured this week during a large-scale combat training exercise at a Mojave Desert training facility, according to military officials. Sgt. Kyle Clayton Thomas and three other soldiers, who were assigned to the Senatobia, Miss.-based 2nd Battalion, 198th Armored Regiment, were performing combat maneuver operations in a battle tank on Monday, Memorial Day, at the Ft. Irwin National Training Center, according to Lt. Col. Christian Patterson, a spokesman for the Mississippi Military Department. During the training operation, the tank rolled over and killed Thomas, a 24-year-old Amory, Miss. resident, he said. Advertisement The other soldiers were injured and airlifted to a nearby hospital. They have been released from the hospital, Patterson said. Our deepest sympathies go out to Sgt. Thomas family and friends, Col. Doug Ferguson, commander of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, said in a statement. We have lost a valuable member of our team and this loss will be felt across the brigade. The soldiers were members of a subordinate battalion within the Tupelo, Miss.-based 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team. They were among 5,500 soldiers and sailors who were participating in the joint exercise designed to replicate real combat. The exercise, which runs from May 18 to June 15, includes insurgent and guerrilla scenarios. The cause of the crash is under investigation. veronica.rocha@latimes.com Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA MORE LOCAL NEWS 2 injured in police shooting at Hesperia Wal-Mart Homelessness in L.A. County jumps 23% as need far outpaces available housing, new count shows 5 Inglewood cops are off the force, adding to the mystery surrounding fatal shooting of couple Authorities identify 2 men who died in roaring Kern River over holiday weekend When the first issue of the Surfer rolled off the press in 1960, it looked more like a hastily thrown-together yearbook than the glossy magazine it would become. There were black-and-white photos of towering waves with surfers zipping across their glassy faces, cartoons, sketches, a cluster of ads from surfboard makers and shapers, and even a short piece of fiction. John Severson had put up $3,000 to pull it off and when he got a call from his brother that there had been a near riot at a San Clemente surf shop when he dropped off the first bundle of magazines, the young publisher cringed. Great, he told himself stuck with a garage-full of magazines nobody wants. Advertisement No, Seversons brother reassured him. The riot was to buy the magazine. Theyre lined up around the block. Like that, Severson became a publisher. A lifelong surfer, artist, filmmaker and publisher who helped define the early outlines of Southern Californias surf culture, Severson died Friday at his home near Lahaina in Maui. He was 83. To many particularly the rugged few who first challenged the waves from San Diego to Malibu with crudely made boards and still-emerging skills Severson stood as a patriarch of the sport and offered surfers a voice and sense of identity with his magazine. Before John Severson, there was no surf media, no surf industry, and no surf culture, editor Sam George wrote in a 1999 appreciation in Surfer Magazine. I wanted to live an easier life not as a starving artist, but as a semi-starving artist. ... Sometimes plans like that dont work out, but this one did. John Severson The first edition of the Surfer was more an homage to the low-budget surf movies Severson began filming while stationed in Hawaii during a stint with the U.S. Army than a realistic commercial venture. He hadnt counted on a second edition. But when all 10,000 copies of the magazine sold out, Severson began publishing Surfer Quarterly. One year in, and with success building, he hired his first staffers and began publishing Surfer Magazine monthly. By the time he sold the magazine in 1970, its monthly circulation had surpassed 100,000 and it was roundly regarded as the bible of all surfdom, an authoritative catalog of articles, how-do guides, travel tips and dazzling photos that seemed to beckon California to the seashore. Steve Pezman, who took over as publisher when Severson sold out, said the magazine defined his youthful interest in surfing. I remember walking into Oles Surfboards on [Pacific] Coast Highway in Sunset Beach and seeing a little flier that said, The Surfer Is Coming, Pezman told The Times in 1985. I promptly stole the flier off the wall of the surf shop, which is how hungry we were for validation. Born Dec. 12, 1933, Severson lived in Pasadena until his father moved the family to San Clemente. Near the beach, he began not only riding the waves but photographing them, painting them, wondering whether, in fact, each was a singular piece of art. Years later, he tried to explain the Zen-like experience of riding a wave to the contemporary culture magazine 032c. Its like a beautiful sensation of dance with the added dimension of being in nature, Severson said. Theres this whole force of moving water, and as you ride, you harness this water. Then, as your abilities increase, you can go farther and deeper into the wave, and into more radical positions like off the top, off the bottom and there are these weightless sensations. Its another dimension. Severson went on to earn a masters degree in art from Cal State Long Beach and spent a year teaching before he was drafted and fortuitously, perhaps stationed in Hawaii, where he began filming a movie simply called Surf. Unrestricted by plotlines or narrative, the film was a sensory explosion of water and foam. He followed with Surf Safari and then Surf Fever and Big Wednesday, which inspired the 1978 coming-of-age film of the same name starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Gary Busey. In 1970, he released Pacific Vibrations, likely his most acclaimed film. Along with filmmakers such as Bruce Browne and Greg Noll, Severson would barnstorm his films up and down the California coastline. The films, in part, were a reaction to the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach party, surf-a-go-go films that Severson thought cheapened the sport. In 1969, Severson found himself with a new neighbor along San Clementes beachfront Richard Nixon. And with the president came greater restrictions on ocean access, especially at one of Seversons favorite breaks, Trestles. Imagine living next to the president of the United States, Severson told Surfer Magazine in 2012. Walkie-talkies screeching in the night, cameras trained on our house, and our phones tapped by the Secret Service. We had started making noise about the Vietnam War in the magazine, too, and they informed me that they read every word we published. Success as a magazine publisher had its costs. Severson had set aside filmmaking and had fewer free moments to surf. So he sold the magazine and the beachfront home to move to Maui with his wife and two daughters. In an interview with his old magazine, Severson said he spent his days surfing and working on his paintings, which sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Occasionally he designed prints for Hawaiian shirts. In 2014, Surf, a coffee-table collection of his photographs and artwork, was published. But it was neither Nixon nor the rigors of magazine publishing that drove him to Hawaii and early retirement, Severson said in 2014. I wanted to live an easier life not as a starving artist, but as a semi-starving artist, he said. Sometimes plans like that dont work out, but this one did. It worked. steve.marble@latimes.com Twitter: @StephenMarble MORE OBITUARIES Award-winning sports journalist Frank Deford dies at 78 Nicholas Sand, creator of famous Orange Sunshine LSD, dies at 75 Roger Ailes, polarizing and controversial Fox News founder who changed cable news, dies at 77 President Trumps evolving foreign policy stresses that U.S. interests come first. His manner of seeing to that, however, is having mixed and perhaps counterproductive results. Trumps focus on America first as a prism for global security, diplomacy and trade has meant questioning or downgrading decades-old strategic alliances and long-held policies, from NATO to Latin America. While institutional constraints may prevent too radical a shift, the new White House priorities could undermine U.S. global influence, say numerous current and former diplomats. Some allies, especially in Europe, already say they no longer look to the current White House for moral authority or leadership on the world stage. Advertisement During his first official trip abroad, the president aligned himself with autocratic leaders such as Saudi Arabias King Salman and Egypts Abdel Fattah Sisi, even as he clashed with the elected leaders of European nations with which the United States traditionally has shared core values and interests. Trump now is considering withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, a landmark environmental agreement, signed by nearly 200 nations, meant to reduce greenhouse gases and curb global warming. Since the end of World War II, Democratic and Republican presidents have broadly supported similar foreign policies: a strong commitment to allies, belief in free trade policies, and leadership in the world in contrast to the isolationist movement that briefly emerged in 1940, the last time an America First movement was in fashion. To throw all of the commitments of the last several decades into question, as [Trump] did with his outright bullying of the Europeans, and now, if he does pull out [of the Paris accord], then we are looking at a real weakening of the leadership and credibility of the United States in the world, said Nicholas Burns, former U.S. ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush. During last weeks summits of the NATO military alliance and the Group of Seven top industrialized nations, Trump dismayed officials in Germany and France, among other allies, when he failed to embrace Article 5 of the NATO charter, which essentially states that an attack on one member is an attack on them all. It has been invoked only once when NATO formally joined the United States in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The absence of that expression of unconditional support for NATO security from a U.S. president could send a shudder of doubt into the hearts of statesmen and politicians whose futures, whose lives, depend on the strength of American resolve, said retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who served as NATO supreme commander in the late 1990s. Trump also repeated his demand that other NATO members spend more on defense. Only five of the 28 members meet the current NATO target of 2% of economic output, although several have boosted military spending in recent years. He also refused to commit to the Paris climate accord, which is broadly supported in Europe and China. Trump at one time called climate change a hoax, and some of his advisors argue that reducing U.S. greenhouse gases is too costly whatever the science says. Trump also has downgraded human rights, parting with many of his predecessors. He did not bring it up publicly with leaders of Arab nations, such as Salman and Sisi, that allow no elections and severely restrict freedoms of religion, assembly and the press. The reactions to Trumps priorities were sharpest in Europe. Without mentioning Trump by name, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a campaign event this week that the era in which Europeans could rely on others is over. Germanys foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, suggested Trump was putting European peace in danger. Anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk, he said. Frances new president, Emmanuel Macron, walked past Trump at one point to effusively greet Merkel. Days later, when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited him in Paris, Macron criticized Russias human rights record and blasted Moscow for meddling in the recent French presidential election. The contrast with Trump, who has not criticized Putin despite the conclusions of the U.S. intelligence community that Russian intelligence interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign, was notable. The White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, painted a different picture of what happened in Brussels and Sicily. He views not just Germany, but the rest of Europe, as an important American ally, Spicer told reporters Tuesday. During his conversations at NATO and at the G7, the president reaffirmed the need to deepen and improve our trans-Atlantic relationship. This is hardly the first administration to disagree with European allies. In the 1970s, President Nixons envoys threw their weight around over a strong U.S. dollar at a time some European currencies were weak. And President Obama, like many of his predecessors since the Cold War, had demanded NATO member states pay more for joint defense. Lanhee Chen, a veteran of GOP presidential campaigns who has been critical of Trump policies, said he is willing to give the presidents foreign policy the benefit of the doubt. One diplomatic faux pas will not fundamentally shift the trajectory of the [European] relationship, said Chen, a research fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution. Elements of the relationship were built up over many years. But diplomats and numerous European leaders say the dynamics seem different now. Trump has revolutionized our ideas of what the U.S. stands for, Martin Wolf, chief economics columnist at Britains Financial Times, wrote Wednesday. We live in the world the U.S. made. Now it is unmaking it. We cannot ignore that grim reality. For one, Trumps praise for Putin in the past has unnerved Europe. NATO, after all, was created to serve as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Undermining NATO may encourage Moscow to increase pressure on former Soviet republics. The downshift in U.S. influence is most worrying, according to Burns, the former U.S. ambassador. Quitting the Paris climate deal, for example, would cede leadership to China, a mind-boggling development for many veteran American diplomats. Trump already has pulled out of the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement meant, in part, to provide a counter to Chinas growing influence in Asia. If we retreat on the responsibilities we have, thats a real danger, Burns said. If we pull back on U.S. leadership, how can we be effective? tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter. ALSO Covfefe shows how we are all wasting our finite lives Trump asks world leaders to call him on his cellphone The former FBI director will talk about his dealings with President Trump A federal appeals court judge lamented Tuesday that he could not stop the inhumane deportation of a successful businessman in Hawaii whose wife and children are U.S. citizens who depend on his support. Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reluctantly joined another jurist in rejecting an emergency appeal filed by Magana Ortiz, 43, a longtime coffee grower in Hawaiis Kona region who has been in the country since the age of 15. He was working to obtain legal status when he was ordered under President Trumps new border security rules to be deported back to Mexico. I concur as a judge, but as a citizen I do not, Reinhardt wrote in a concurrence to the order rejecting Ortizs appeal. Advertisement Although he followed the law in Ortizs case, Reinhardt wrote separately to express his anguish over the consequences for Ortizs family and his bafflement that the U.S. government would deport such a man. President Trump has claimed that his immigration policies would target the`bad hombres, wrote Reinhardt, a Carter appointee and one of the most liberal federal appeals court judges in the nation. The governments decision to remove Magana Ortiz shows that even the good hombres are not safe. Ortiz obtained a stay of deportation in 2014 so he could work toward legal status, Reinhardt said. Ortizs wife, Brenda, filed the necessary legal papers more than a year ago, but action was still pending when President Trump took office. Subsequently, the stay was removed and deportation ordered. It was unclear why the federal government sought the deportation. Records filed by administration lawyers were not available for public viewing on the courts docket. By law, he will be barred from returning to the U.S. for 10 years after deportation, Reinhardt noted. After starting his own company, Ortiz worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in researching pests afflicting Hawaiis coffee crop and allowed the government to use his farm without charge for a five-year study, facts which Reinhardt noted in his order. Magana Ortiz is by all accounts a pillar of his community and a devoted father and husband, Reinhardt said. It is difficult to see how the governments decision to expel him is consistent with the Presidents promise of an immigration system with `a lot of heart. I find no such compassion in the governments choice to deport Magana Ortiz. The government forces us to participate in ripping a family apart. U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt Reinhardt traced the deportation to a series of executive orders Trump signed on Jan. 25. They dismantled a system of priorities that had previously guided immigration agents in deciding whom to deport and gave more latitude to individual agents and officers. The orders have forced undocumented immigrants to choose between going to work, school, hospitals, and even court, and the risk of being seized, Reinhardt wrote. Ortiz has three children, ages 12,14, and 20. The eldest is a student at the University of Hawaii whose education Ortiz pays for, Reinhardt said. None of the children speak Spanish, which would make relocation to Mexico a hardship for the family, the judge said. If the rest of his family remains in the U.S., the children would not only lose a parent, but might also be deprived of their home, their opportunity for higher education and their financial support, Reinhardt said. Subjecting vulnerable children to a choice between expulsion to a foreign land or losing the care and support of their father is not how this nation should treat its citizens, he said. The U.S. government has conceded that Ortiz has good moral character, Reinhardt wrote. The immigrant has two apparent convictions for driving under the influence the most recent 14 years ago but no other history of crime. All Magana Ortiz asked for in requesting a stay was to remain in this country, his home of almost three decades, while pursuing such routes to legal status, Reinhardt wrote. It was fully within the governments power to once more grant his reasonable request. Instead, the judge wrote, the government forces us to participate in ripping a family apart. Other members of the judiciary also have criticized Trumps immigration policies. California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, a Republican appointee, and two other state chief justices called on the administration this year to stop arresting immigrants at courthouses. They said such actions made immigrants afraid to come to court. Reinhardt, for his part, used Ortizs case to cast a spotlight on the consequences of the administrations policies. He said said the decision to deport Ortiz diminished the nation and its courts. We are unable to prevent Magana Ortizs removal, yet it is contrary to the values of this nation and its legal system, Reinhardt wrote. Magana Ortiz and his family are in truth not the only victims. To read the article in Spanish, click here. maura.dolan@latimes.com Twitter: @mauradolan ALSO Youre just there, trapped: Why one Mexican woman decided to self-deport, long before Trump A U.S. citizen says her rights were violated after she was detained by immigration authorities in San Bernardino Heres why some immigrant activists say not even criminals should be deported Not long after it launched in 1971, the Southern Poverty Law Center made a name for itself as a standard-bearer in the fight for civil rights. Since then, the Montgomery, Ala.-based nonprofit has filed dozens of lawsuits over the years targeting groups that include law enforcement and government officials. Its helped dismantle a host of Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups around the country by winning millions on behalf of its clients in court cases against them, sending a few into bankruptcy. And since the election of President Trump , the law center has taken on new relevance. It has repeatedly criticized the president for the Trump effect, a term its leaders use to describe an uptick in harassment and violence against racial and religious minorities after Trumps election victory. In February, the law center reported that its count of hate groups in the country increased for the second consecutive year and that the number of anti-Muslim organizations had nearly tripled within a year. It attributed the growth to Trumps incendiary rhetoric on Muslims and the reaction to the June 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. But the prominent civil rights group has also faced renewed criticism. Conservatives say its too quick to label organizations and individuals as hate groups or extremists for opposing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights. Last year, the group faced questions for naming Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born ex-Muslim author and former Dutch politician, and Maajid Nawaz, the founder of a British anti-extremism think tank, to its list of anti-Muslim extremists. In 2015, the group apologized for putting Ben Carson, who is now the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, on its list of extremists. More recently, critics have said the organization puts too much blame on Trump for intolerance that also was there during the Obama administration. The Los Angeles Times sat down with Richard Cohen, a lawyer who was named president and chief executive officer of the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2003, discussing topics including Trump, hate crimes and the groups mission in the coming years. Donations to your organization have shot up since the election. Why? Mr. Trump ran a campaign marked by racism, xenophobia, crude racial stereotypes and anti-Semitic imagery. And after he was elected, many white supremacists were celebrating. Usually, white supremacists just sit out elections and think that political parties are irredeemably corrupt. The combination of his racist campaign and the attacks on political correctness told many people that the gloves are off and they could act, unfortunately, with their worst instincts. The day after the election, we put up a reporting form about hate incidents on our website, and within 10 days we had collected almost 900 incidents. It told us the fault lines where our country has historically been weak have been opened again. Its going to take the collective efforts of all of us to close them. Were those fault lines opened with Obama? To some degree after President Obama was elected, white supremacists went crazy. We saw an outbreak of hate crimes that coincided with Mr. Obamas election. But not to this extent. There was nothing in Mr. Obamas 2008 election or in the campaign that corresponded to what happened in the 2016 election. Obama represented the kind of change that a lot of people were scared of, but I think whats happened now is much, much worse. Many Trump voters are also against racism and hate groups. I think there are a lot of people who flocked to Trumps candidacy because they felt as if they were strangers in their own land with the changing demographics in our country, the dislocations caused by globalization, and the rise of LGBTQ rights. All of those things contributed to a sense for many people, particularly white working-class people, of alienation. Saying that is a far cry from painting them all as a deplorables or suggesting that they are all out there committing hate crimes. On Friday, a white supremacist killed two men and injured a third when they defended a pair of teenage girls, one a Muslim wearing a hijab, on a Portland, Ore., train, according to police. In an attack in March, a white supremacist traveled from Baltimore to New York with the goal of finding a random black person to kill. Are there more people holding white supremacist views? There's a virus in our country. It's a virus called "hate." When we look at the number of hate groups, we've seen an increase in the past 15 years. When we look at people engaged in online hate, like people who are registered users of something like [the white supremacist website] Stormfront, you'll see an increase. This fellow in Portland, he rants and raves. We're looking at somebody who was bitter, resentful, racist. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people like that. What has changed since the Southern Poverty Law Center started in 1971? Are you repeating the same fights? In the 60s, they blew up the 16th Street Baptist Church [in Birmingham, Ala.] to put a hold on black progress. There was a tremendous backlash against the March [on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963]. Now, were seeing a different kind of backlash to the browning of America. It is similar to what we saw in the 50s and 60s, but it is also different. When the Southern Poverty Law Center was founded, less than 1 in 5 people in our country were nonwhite. Today, that figure is more than double and the country is having growing pains. Were not going to go through a change like this without there being some sand in the gears. We dont endorse candidates, and we thought that Trump was likely going to lose because of what the polls said. At the same time, we thought that Trumpism would continue because of the forces that propelled his candidacy. How will your work change under this administration? So many things in the Justice Department are going to suffer under benign neglect under [Atty. Gen. Jeff] Sessions, so groups like ours are going to have to fill the gap. The big issue is immigration. Were establishing a project to provide pro bono representation to everyone in the Southeast facing deportation. Detention facilities there tend to be located in remote areas where people do not have any chance of getting a lawyer. One of our first cases was [that of Mississippi Dreamer] Daniela Vargas. Daniela Vargas, 22, spent more than a week in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March. The Southern Poverty Law Center represented her. (Elijah Baylis / Associated Press) (Elijah Baylis / Associated Press) Some Christian groups have protested the law center, listing them on the same pages as the Klan and Westboro Baptist Church (a church in Kansas notorious for its anti-gay hate speech). How do you define a hate group? We define hate groups as those that vilify entire groups of people for characteristics such as race, religion or their sexual orientation. The propensity for violence is not a criterion for listing as a hate group. So sometimes groups that really have no propensity for violence, although their rhetoric might foment it, object to be listed with the Ku Klux Klan. I understand that. Groups like Family Research Council promote the claim that were listing them because theyre against gay marriage. Its not true and they know it. We list groups like that because they spread demonizing lies about the LGBTQ community. Like the false idea that gay men have a high propensity for pedophilia. Now, there are groups like Focus on the Family that are very much opposed to gay marriage and gay adoption, but we dont list them. But when you start demonizing and talking about gay people as inherently immoral, filthy, perverted, dangerous, that crosses the line into hate. What about transgender rights? The issue of bathroom access has become a major political battle. We wouldnt call a group a hate group because they are opposed to transgender peoples access to bathrooms that match their gender. But if you describe transgender people as inherently evil, we might. Theres been a lot of conflict about free speech and hate speech. Plans for events with Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos have become the targets of violent clashes in Berkeley. Where does the law center stand? You have the right to hate in this country. You just dont have the right to hurt people. Now, the argument of the campus protesters would be that the mere presence of those kinds of words actually does hurt people, that it poisons the atmosphere. That is a slippery slope. On the very day that we filed a lawsuit against [the neo-Nazi website] Daily Stormer, [white supremacist] Richard Spencer was in Auburn, Ala., at a college. And the university tried to block him from speaking, and the federal judge said that that action was unconstitutional. He was right. Im not a college administrator. I do not face the problems that they do. But Ive admired the sense of the University of Chicago that has said its going to allow provocative, controversial ideas because were a free country and we ought to be exposed to that. We fight bad ideas with good ideas. Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity. jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com Jaweed Kaleem is The Times' national race and justice correspondent. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. ALSO Neo-Nazi website unleashed Internet trolls against a Jewish woman, lawsuit says ACLU sues LAPD over 'systemic violation' of public records law Judge throws out lawsuit challenging California's execution law At 9:06 Pacific time Tuesday evening (technically 12:06 a.m. on the East Coast), President Trump, as he does sometimes, sent a tweet: Despite the constant negative press covfefe That was it. Was the president OK? Did he drop his phone into some water? Did it explode mid-tweet? Were aides trying to wrestle the device away from him and someone accidentally hit send on the message, half-written, during the scuffle? Why did he leave it up for more than five hours before deleting it? Advertisement What is covfefe? These were the questions the Internet collectively asked, not very seriously, as more than 125,000 users retweeted the cryptic dispatch from the most powerful person in the world. I hope the phone fell in the toilet pic.twitter.com/pgN4cZo0wz Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) May 31, 2017 Roads are still slick from last night's rain. Please use your wipers and drive with covfefe Philadelphia Police (@PhillyPolice) May 31, 2017 Was Trump's "negative press #covfefe" really a typo or intentional to focus attention on the #FakeNews nature of their supposed "coverage"? Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) May 31, 2017 Regular people made covfefe jokes. Famous people made covfefe jokes. Cops made covfefe jokes. Corporate PR teams made covfefe jokes. The display screens on a Eurostar train in Europe made covfefe jokes. Trumps covfefe tweet was retweeted more than his previous five tweets on tax cuts, healthcare, Russia, Germany, NATO and Memorial Day combined. And so it went. Consider: According to the Social Security Administrations life-expectancy calculator, the average millennial American man can expect to live for roughly 82 years. Over such a lifetime, thats about 30,000 days, minus 10,000 of those days for sleeping. And now, approximately half of one of those days has been spent on covfefe. Covfefe had become one of those exhausting cultural events that, from time to time, inspires a collective response so that we feel in contact with each other, or at least do not feel left out. Parker Higgins was one of them. Like many people I have blocked the President of the United States on Twitter because he is literally an internet troll, Higgins, a 29-year-old artist and activist from San Francisco, wrote in a private message on Twitter, where he has changed his last name to Higgfefe. So when he creates news by tweeting, I only see it by the timelines reaction, like how scientists observe black holes. Higgins, who sometimes designs T-shirts, saw the storm of covfefe jokes Tuesday night and immediately knew a Trump tweet was the source of the madness. Higgins decided to up the ante by spending literally 25 seconds to design a black covfefe T-shirt, with the word in white Helvetica font. It was his contribution. Here buy a shirt that says covfefe, Higgins tweeted, posting a link to the design hed uploaded to teespring.com, where the shirts could be ordered for $20. I dont give a [dang]. It was a joke. Higgins said later, I prayed people had the good sense not to buy it because it would leave me in an ethical dilemma of what to do with the proceeds. Except people did not have good sense. Higgins has now sold dozens of shirts. Im already an ACLU donor, but maybe Ill increase it this month, Higgins told The Times. Or put it in a healthcare fund or something. Who knows. Higgins added, Everythings stupid, and this is one more stupid thing. On Wednesday morning Trumps covfefe tweet vanished from his account, and other news began creeping from beneath its shadow online. Ninety people were reported killed and 400 injured in a car-bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reports circulated that Trump was thinking of abandoning the Paris climate accords, a global pact to fight climate change. But the memory lingered. Morning talk show hosts talked about covfefe. News organizations churned out stories about covfefe. The president, the man at the heart of the mystery, joined in, tweeting a new message about covfefe, but not one that offered any explanation: Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 At a press briefing later in the day, a reporter asked White House spokesman Sean Spicer about covfefe. The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant, Spicer said. Others reporters simultaneously raised their voices in disbelief, pressing questions that Spicer ignored. In his 1985 classic, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, the media theorist Neil Postman wrote that society has long braced itself to fight against the kind of spiritual devastations of tyranny described by George Orwell thought police, cameras, totalitarians. He warned of another threat to society and culture. Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us, Postman wrote. But who is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements? To whom do we complain, and when, and in what tone of voice, when serious discourse dissolves into giggles? What is the antidote to a cultures being drained by laughter? How do you pronounce covfefe? matt.pearce@latimes.com @mattdpearce ALSO Covfefe shows how we are all wasting our finite lives Trump misspells press covfefe. Twitter takes notice, and the president weighs in If President Trumps got the whole world in his hands, Trevor Noah says were in trouble A federal appeals court says a transgender student who identifies as a male should be able to use the boys bathroom at his Wisconsin high school. Ashton Whitaker, who will graduate from Kenoshas Tremper High School this week, first asked to use the boys bathroom as a sophomore. That set off a nearly yearlong legal battle with the school district. In September, U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper granted Ashton permission to use the boys bathroom at school. On Tuesday, the second-to-last day of Ashtons senior year, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision. Advertisement I am thrilled that the 7th Circuit recognized my right to be treated as the boy that I am at school, Ashton, 17, said in a statement distributed by the Transgender Law Center. As I look forward to college next year, I hope my case will help other transgender students in Kenosha and elsewhere to just be treated the same as everyone else without facing discrimination and harassment from school administrators. Ashtons attorney, Ilona Turner, said that although the ruling only applies to her client, it sets precedent that a federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in public schools protects transgender people. This is just another building block on the large and growing number of courts to hold that discrimination against transgender people is illegal, she said. Kenosha Unified School District had argued that the federal law doesnt apply to transgender people as a group and that the harm to other students from Ashton using the boys bathroom, particularly male students, outweighed any harm to Ashton. It also urged the appeals court to reconsider whether the case should be thrown out. Ronald Stadler, a lawyer for the school district, didnt immediately return a message seeking comment. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ann Claire Williams declined to reconsider and rejected the districts other arguments, saying harms to others are speculative while harms to Ashton are well-documented. Those include suicidal thoughts as well as medical issues stemming from avoiding the bathroom. According to the lawsuit, when Ashton first asked to use the boys bathroom, the school said he could either use a gender-neutral bathroom in the schools main office or the girls bathroom. He used the boys bathroom anyway without issue for six months, it says, until a teacher saw him washing his hands there and reported it to school administration. Turner, who works with the Transgender Law Center, said Ashtons win could impact a case with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that of Gavin Grimm, a transgender high school senior in Virginia who sued his school districts board for the right to use the boys bathroom. The U.S. Supreme Court was set to hear his case but sent it back to the lower court after the Trump administration revoked guidance from the Obama administration that directed public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms aligned with their gender identities. In some states, if you get arrested and are hauled into court, you will undergo an assessment to determine how likely you are to show up for trial. Youre given pretrial services, which can consist of anything from probation-like supervision to a text message reminding you when its time to come in. In the extraordinary event that your assessment and your judge find it likely that you will run instead of coming to court, you may be held in jail pending trial, but thats rare. Jails are for punishment and public safety, cell space is limited and costly, and locking up people who havent yet even been convicted of anything or deemed at high risk of committing new crimes is a waste of resources. Thats well understood in the federal courts, which have these sorts of pretrial services, as well as New Jersey, Kentucky, Illinois and some smaller jurisdictions. But not in California. Here, when you make your first appearance in court, a judge will look up your charges on a bail schedule a list drawn up by each superior courts judges that prescribes bail amounts by criminal category and set bond accordingly. If you have the money, you are released, regardless of your likelihood to flee. If you dont, you sit in jail again, regardless how likely or unlikely you are to skip town. Californias money bail system is a colossal mismanagement of resources. Advertisement The bail system improperly uses your personal wealth as a basis for determining whether you remain locked up or go free before trial. The bail system also improperly uses your personal wealth as a basis for determining whether you remain locked up or go free before trial. People with money for bail can go home, keep their jobs, keep their families intact and actively fight the charges against them. People who stay locked up because they have no money for bail cant go to work, so they are likely to lose their jobs, and they cant care for their children so they may lose them as well. The pressure of those losses makes them more likely to plead guilty in order to get out, even if they are innocent. Their time in jail and away from home makes them more likely to get into further trouble with the law, regardless of whether they were guilty of the original charges. Two virtually identical bills would finally catch California up with those jurisdictions that rely on smarter, cheaper, more effective, more just and more enlightened ways to deal with people accused of crimes. SB 10 by Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and AB 42 by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) would require courts to use risk assessments and pretrial services instead of bail schedules. This is the right approach, and the Legislature should embrace it. Despite the success of no-bail or limited-bail programs, the bills are controversial because they threaten the stranglehold that the bail bond industry has on the state. No doubt, its a lucrative business. In Los Angeles, a person taken to jail after being arrested is directed to a phone that is flanked by ads for bail bond companies, each of which will require a payment equal to 10% of the defendants bail. If your bail is $50,000, for example, you must pay the bond company $5,000, supposedly to secure your court appearance. But even if you show up, even if youre acquitted, you wont get any of that money back. If you flee, the bond company is supposed to pay the full $50,000 to the court, or else track you down like TVs Dog the Bounty Hunter and present you to the judge. But California courts ask for the forfeited money rarely, if ever, so the bond company rarely bothers to track down its clients. With so much at stake, the industry has pulled out all the stops to defend itself against both bills. At a committee hearing, bail agents argued that either bill would cost California $2 billion. That number is simply not credible. Certainly there would be some start-up costs pretrial services are not free but they must be compared with the enormous costs of unnecessarily occupying jail space that ought to be reserved for people convicted of serious crimes. For example, Santa Clara County bucked the California bail system in 2012 and began its own pretrial services and assessment program. The single-year cost is between $6 million and $7 million but the savings from supervising non-convicted defendants in their communities instead of jail is around $60 million. The cost argument just doesnt fly. Lawmakers should move the two bail reform bills forward and start delivering better justice and a better return on its criminal justice budget. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Portland, Ore., is still shaken by the stabbings that cost two courageous men their lives and seriously injured a third when they came to the defense of two women being subjected to anti-Muslim taunts on a commuter train. But the trauma doesnt justify a request by Portlands mayor that the federal government cancel two demonstrations planned for next month by conservative groups. In making this point, we mean no disrespect to Taliesin Namkai-Meche, Rick Best and Micah Fletcher. As President Trump rightly (if belatedly) observed, the men were standing up to hate and intolerance last Friday when they tried to calm Jeremy Joseph Christian, who was shouting anti-Muslim slurs at two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a Muslim head scarf. Police said Christian stabbed all three men, killing Namkai-Meche and Best and seriously wounding Fletcher. Its understandable that citizens and civic leaders in Portland would be traumatized by this horrific crime and wary of hearing more of the sort of hateful rhetoric that preceded it. As Mayor Ted Wheeler put it in a Facebook post: Our community remains in shock and mourning. Advertisement But Wheeler went too far in urging federal authorities to revoke a permit for a June 4 Trump Free Speech Rally on a plaza in downtown Portland and to block a March Against Sharia scheduled for June 10. (Wheeler said the city wouldnt issue its own permits for the events, which he described as alt-right demonstrations.) The trauma doesnt justify a request by Portlands mayor that the federal government cancel two demonstrations planned for next month by conservative groups. Wheeler has also asked the organizers of the demonstrations to stay away voluntarily, which is less problematic. But when a government official uses his power to close off a traditional public forum to a peaceful demonstration or prevails upon another level of government do so that undermines the 1st Amendments protection of free speech and assembly. That point was succinctly stated by the ACLU Of Oregon: It may be tempting to shut down speech we disagree with, but once we allow the government to decide what we can say, see, or hear, or who we can gather with, history shows us that the most marginalized will be disproportionately censored and punished for unpopular speech. If we allow the government to shut down speech for some, we all will pay the price down the line. We recognize that such free-speech pieties seem more abstract in a press release, an editorial or a judicial opinion than they do in a real-world environment in which political officials or university administrators must worry about the possibility that heated or hateful political speech might inspire violent action. And we know that its tempting to solve the problem by preventing the speech in the first place, rather than investing in the resources necessary to ensure that demonstrations remain peaceful and that potentially violent counter-demonstrators dont exercise a hecklers veto. Variations of such a veto have already been cast this year at UC Berkeley, Middlebury College and Claremont McKenna College. And it happened last month in Portland: A business association there canceled its annual Avenue of Roses Parade because of fears that two anti-fascist groups would disrupt the event if the county Republican Party were allowed to march. The organizers had received an anonymous letter warning: You have seen how much power we have downtown and that the police cannot stop us from shutting down roads so please consider your decision wisely. Finally, because the accused killer in Portland reportedly made bigoted comments online, this incident is likely to embolden those who argue that hate speech is a species of violence and unprotected by the 1st Amendment. But the Supreme Court has made it clear that only a few narrow categories of speech arent shielded by that section of the Bill of Rights, including true threats and incitements to imminent lawless action that are likely to cause such action. Hate speech is repugnant but it is also constitutionally protected. So long as they behave peacefully, Americans are free to gather in public and offend whomever they wish. Elected officials such as Mayor Wheeler are likewise free to condemn such speech, but they may not use their power to prevent it from being expressed. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook President Trump wants to siphon billions of dollars from public schools to fund private and religious school vouchers. Its an idea thats bad for kids, public education and our democracy. Today, vouchers are used by less than 1% of the nations students. Trump and his Education secretary, Betsy DeVos, want to change that. Trumps new budget proposal would make historic cuts to federal education spending, while diverting $1 billion into voucher programs a down payment on his oft-repeated $20-billion voucher pledge. We believe the presidents plan would deal a terrible blow to public schools and to the 90% of Americas children who attend them, while doing almost nothing to benefit children who receive vouchers. Although our organizations have sparred and disagreed over the years, such is the danger to public schooling posed by Trumps embrace of vouchers that we are speaking out together on this issue. The Trump-DeVos effort to push vouchers, or something equivalent through tax credits, threatens the promise and purpose of Americas great equalizer, public education. Advertisement At a time when low-income children make up the majority of public school students, we as a country must do more to support families, teachers, administrators and public schools. Trumps plan would do the opposite. Facts show that where vouchers have been put into practice on a meaningful scale, they hurt student learning. Public schools have never fully recovered from the Great Recession. Research, common sense and our collective experiences working with children, families and schools tell us that we must invest in, not cut back, public education. That means providing high-quality preschool for kids, and the social, health and mental health services they need. It means making sure students are reading at grade level by the end of third grade; that they have powerful learning opportunities, including career and technical training that can prepare them for college and work; and that they are guided by well-supported teachers and other education specialists. It means addressing the federal governments deep underfunding of special education and building a culture of collaboration among teachers, administrators, parents and communities. The Trump-DeVos budget and voucher plans, while still lacking in details, would eliminate more than 20 education initiatives, including after-school and summer programs, career and technical education, teacher professional development and funding to lower class size. Public money would go instead to schools that lack the accountability and civil rights protections of public schools. DeVos alarmingly fueled these concerns during a congressional hearing last week, when she repeatedly declined to say the Department of Education would withhold vouchers from schools that discriminate, including against LGBT students or students with disabilities. She similarly sidestepped questions about accountability. We believe taxpayer money should support schools that are accountable to voters, open to all, nondenominational and transparent about students progress. Such schools district and charter public schools are part of what unites us as a country. Champions of an essentially unregulated, free-market approach to K-12 education, including DeVos, counter that theirs is a better path to helping students in need. But the facts show that where vouchers have been put into practice on a meaningful scale, they hurt student learning. In April, the research arm of the Department of Education released a study of the federally mandated voucher program in Washington. It showed voucher students did worse in math than similar public school students, and it adds to a growing body of education research that concludes that vouchers may harm rather than help student achievement. In fact, the results of voucher tests, compared with other reforms, are the worst in the history of the field, according to Kevin Carey, education policy director at New America. Administration officials have suggested what amounts to a back door way to increase the reach of vouchers: tax credits for corporations and the rich who contribute to third-party voucher funds. The nations School Superintendents Assn. looked at states where such credits are already in place and found that, in some cases, the donors have been able to make a profit off the backs of taxpayers and ultimately kids. And what Carey calls the shell game of moving money through these funds makes it difficult to account for how the money is spent. The Trump administrations perverse priorities are increasingly clear: Impose the biggest cuts to federal education funding in memory and slash support to poor children and families by cutting Medicaid, food stamps and other programs, all while cutting taxes for the rich. It is an agenda that betrays millions of families seeking a better life, and one at odds with what this country stands for. Public schools are a fundamental engine of opportunity in this country. We will stand together to defend them. Jonah Edelman is chief executive of Stand for Children, which advocates for quality public education. Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers. To read the article in Spanish, click here Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Ever so carefully, Al Franken is allowing himself to be funny again. The former Saturday Night Live star, now a second-term senator from Minnesota, spent a decade turning himself into a stolid, serious politician. When I first came to the Senate, I had to be very careful not to be funny, Franken recounted in an interview last week. He worried that if he told too many jokes, hed get a reputation as the Senates class clown, not a real-life legislator. And he succeeded. In 2008, the first time Franken ran for the Senate, he won by 312 votes out of almost 3 million. The second time, in 2014, Minnesotans sent him back to Washington by a 200,000-vote margin. His easy reelection, plus the arrival of Donald Trump, has liberated the long-repressed satirist to resume heaping scorn and ridicule (his words) on the party in power. Advertisement At the Democratic convention last year, Franken said he was uniquely qualified to criticize: I got my doctorate in megalomania studies from Trump University. On Monday, he said the furor over Trumps contacts with Russia boils down to a new version of the Watergate question: What did the president know and when did his son-in-law tell him? And, breaking with Senate tradition, hes throwing shade at some of his GOP associates. I like Ted Cruz more than most of my colleagues like Ted Cruz, he writes in his newly published Senate memoir. And I hate Ted Cruz. He might be good enough and smart enough, and Democrats like him, but he doesnt have the requisite fire in the belly. Franken can play the straight man too. At the confirmation hearing for Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Franken asked if the former Texas governor had enjoyed their meeting. Perrys reply: I hope youre as much fun up on that dais as you were on your couch. Franken: [Pause.] Well. Perry: May I rephrase that? Franken: Please. Oh my lord. But except between the covers of his carefully edited book, Franken is still stepping gingerly. [Comedy is] a tool I can use . the peaceful use of humor, he mused. But youve got to use it right. What he enjoys most about being a senator isnt telling jokes, anyway; its the far safer practice of interrogating officials from an administration he abhors. Theres nothing I like better than reading my briefing book [before a hearing] and realizing: Holy mackerel, this is going to be fun, he told me. He prepares, long and hard. Thats how he skewered Education Secretary Betsy DeVos with a question that exposed her shaky grasp of education policy. And how he opened a door for Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to claim that he had no contacts with Russian officials; when that was shown to be false, Sessions was forced to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Those gladiator moments got some Democrats hearts racing: Could Franken be an answer to their search for a 2020 presidential candidate? Franken thought about it for a few days. He talked it over with his wife. And he decided: No. He might be good enough and smart enough, and Democrats like him, but he doesnt have the requisite fire in the belly. I just think the president of the United States should want to be president of the United States, he explained. Its an enormous responsibility and I dont think I could bear doing it badly. Frankens biggest ambition, it turns out, is simply to be recognized as a good senator even though he couldnt resist making fun of himself in the title of his book, Al Franken: Giant of the Senate. So he still travels tirelessly around Minnesota, including farm counties that he says are full of Trump/Franken voters. His Senate website is still all about Minnesota issues, from dairy price supports to his upcoming visit to the Vikings training camp. Though he feels freer now to talk to national media on non-Minnesota issues, a luxury he denied himself during his first term, he doesnt have a simple, easy answer to cure the Democratic Partys ills. Hes found no simple messaging fix. The lesson of Hillary Clintons defeat, he told me, is that Democrats need to work harder, listen to every voter (including Trump voters) and explain themselves more clearly. We need to talk to people at the economic level and help people understand that there is a difference between Democrats and Republicans, he said. Youre seeing it reflected in this [Trump] budget, seeing it reflected in the healthcare policy that passed out of the House. Hed like to see more entertainers get into politics people like Tom Hanks, David Letterman and Jon Stewart. Id like 50 comedians in the Senate, he said. It would be a lot more fun. But he has a warning for his old colleagues: Politics is hard. The question hes asked most frequently, he says, is whether being in the Senate is as much fun as Saturday Night Live. The answer: No. Why would it be? He only wishes newspapers would stop using no joke in every headline about his political career. His obituary, he worries, will be headed: No joke: former three-term senator dead at 93. doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com Twitter: @DoyleMcManus Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook A decision this week by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in an emotionally charged immigration case is a poignant reminder that making the correct legal call is not necessarily making a just call. The case centers on the governments efforts to deport back to Mexico a man named Andres Magana Ortiz, who entered the U.S. illegally in 1989 at age 15. A resident of Hawaii, Ortiz owns a coffee-farming business on the Big Island, is married to a U.S. citizen, and has three American-born children, one of whom will soon turn 21. Ortiz had two DUI arrests as a young adult but no legal issues in the past 14 years, the court noted. Given Ortizs record, his tight community ties, his American wife and American-born children from a previous relationship, and that he has an active application for legal status based on his 2016 marriage, there are more reasons to let Ortiz remain than to kick him out. Yet because Ortiz is living in the country illegally, the government can do just that, the court said in a ruling that reads more like a lamentation. Advertisement We are compelled to deny Mr. Magana Ortizs request for a stay of removal because we do not have the authority to grant it, Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt wrote. We are not, however, compelled to find the governments action in this case fair or just. So what is lost with the removal of this one person? Well, according to the court records, his children ages 12, 14 and 20 will likely have to move out of the house in which they live under a barter arrangement Ortiz made with the landlord. If hes not there to fulfill his end of it the trade-off isnt specified then the barter falls apart (its unclear where their mother, also an undocumented immigrant, is living, but she faces the same risk of deportation). Ortiz owns a coffee farm as well as a business in which he and his workers manage the crops of elderly or ailing coffee farmers, paying them a fee or a percentage of the crop. So deporting Ortiz will hurt not only his employees, but farm owners whose crops he manages as well. Under the Obama administration, which supposedly was targeting undocumented people who posed a threat to public safety, people such as Ortiz should not have been targeted for removal, though clearly he was. President Trump has expanded the criteria for who Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can deport to include pretty much anyone living in the U.S. without permission, despite Trumps vow to go after the bad hombres. This heartless policy is doing more damage than any possible good. Ortizs removal of course, is only one case. But in the first few months of the Trump administration, arrests for immigration violations have jumped 38% under policies targeting the productive along with the dangerous (non-criminal arrests jumped 150%). In Indiana, a restaurant owner married to an American (who voted for Trump) and with children who are U.S. citizens has been deported. A 35-year-old Arizona mother was deported even though ICE had let her live there illegally since 2008. A Riverside man with an American wife and stepson was deported when he showed up for an interview to obtain a green card lawful status. On and on it goes. Yes, the government has a right and a duty to determine who gets to enter and remain in the country, but it has failed at that job so miserably and for so long that its ludicrous now for Trump to start summarily rounding people up and kicking them out when they pose no risk and, in fact, are contributing members of their families and communities. In fact, this heartless policy is doing more damage than any possible good. Children left without a parent, and spouses without a partner in an economy in which it takes two incomes to get by. Businesses losing workers. Neighborhoods living in fear of immigration agents, and victims particularly of rape and domestic violence swallowing their pain and not reporting crimes lest they, too, get kicked out. The left and the right both know that the nation desperately needs comprehensive immigration reform, but the conservatives in Congress killed the last plan in 2013, and have done little to address the issue since. Its a problem they like to complain about, but not do anything about. In fact, Republicans now control both chambers of Congress and the White House, but still they have no solution and arent even talking about it, content to let Trumps draconian deportations suffice as policy. That is an indefensible abrogation of their duties to legislate solutions to national problems. The frustration isnt the immigrant communities alone. Even federal judges are feeling it. We are unable to prevent Magana Ortizs removal, yet it is contrary to the values of this nation and its legal system, Reinhardt wrote in the decision this week. Indeed, the governments decision to remove Magana Ortiz diminishes not only our country but our courts, which are supposedly dedicated to the pursuit of justice. Magana Ortiz and his family are in truth not the only victims. Among the others are judges who, forced to participate in such inhumane acts, suffer a loss of dignity and humanity as well. I concur as a judge, but as a citizen I do not. Scott.Martelle@LATimes.com Follow my posts and re-tweets at @smartelle on Twitter To the editor: Establishing secret communications with a foreign power known to be hostile to the United States, as top White House advisor Jared Kushner reportedly tried to do with Russia, and taking steps to ensure that the U.S. government cannot collect intelligence, is not merely opening up a back channel of communications. It is espionage, and doing it without congressional oversight is treason. (Trump returns to an increasingly troubled White House and criticism from allies, May 28) Any member of the White House staff with or without security clearance who engaged in such activity would now be in custody in any other administration. That this activity is being conducted by Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law and closest and most trusted advisor, is prima facie evidence of Trumps complicity in the events. Had this occurred under President Obama, Trump would have called for his immediate impeachment. The hypocrisy is tangible and sickening were it not also expected and normal for the Republican Party. While there is always the Nixon defense (When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal), the better comparison is to Louis XIV: Letat cest moi. Advertisement Tom McGrath, Los Angeles .. To the editor: After reading the latest revelations concerning Kushner and the Russian government, I ask every Republican, Democrat and independent member of Congress to examine the U.S. Constitutions definition of treason: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. Please take note of the words, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Nations have been subverted by far less. It is time for our elected representatives to end their preoccupation with party registration, and for the fundamentals of who we are and how we became a magnificently successful experiment to override partisanship and self-serving interests. Norman Brown, Woodland Hills .. To the editor: Once again, Trump has managed to break the confidence of our European friends with his failure to endorse either the mutual defense provision underpinning the North Atlantic Treat Organization or the Paris climate-change deal. Nevertheless, he returns to the U.S. and touts the big results achieved in his trip. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the other NATO leaders would beg to differ. Considering that, along with his Russia programs, it would seem that Trump is trying his best to find an early exit from office, either via impeachment and conviction or by resigning. I have always felt he would find himself overwhelmed by the job and try to go back to his business empire. There, he could resume pursuing his only real ambition: making money. Bob Murtha, Santa Maria Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook After several rounds of pool and a few beers and margaritas at the lone bar in tiny Whitewater, Mont. (official population: 64), my riding buddies and I climbed into a couple of trucks and headed back to our horse camp amid the pastures and rugged coulees on a ranch two miles from the Saskatchewan border. Polls had just closed in Montana and my friend Paul turned on the radio to see if we could hear the result of the states hotly contested congressional election. What we got was The Five on Fox News, a quintet of loudmouths talking over each other. In my normal daily life as a constant consumer of current events I have become accustomed to the shouting matches that dominate so much of what passes for news in the broadcast media. However, after a week of escape from cellphones, email and TV, the absurdity of the loud and lame commentary on The Five was jarring. It was a reminder that, among the many explanations for why American politics have become so polarized, the hype and harsh rhetoric on talk radio and cable television place high on the list of culprits. The topic of discussion on The Five was Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianfortes assault on a reporter who was trying to get a straight answer about the GOP healthcare bill. The radio debate was not illuminating in the least, but those of us listening in the truck did wonder if the violent incident would change the outcome of the election after a campaign in which Gianforte, a multimillionaire New Jersey transplant, had maintained a solid lead over his Democratic rival, Rob Quist, a bluegrass musician, rancher and lifelong Montanan. Advertisement 1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) It turned out that manhandling a member of the news media did not have much impact on the vote. Gianforte won by a comfortable six-point margin, although that was far from the 20% advantage Montanans gave Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in November. According to an analysis of returns in the Missoulian newspaper, the assault spiked Quists numbers in Democratic strongholds like Missoula and Bozeman, but Gianforte got an election-day boost in rural counties where Trump is popular and where freedom of the press appears to be less appreciated. The numbers suggested that peoples reaction to Gianfortes unprovoked attack were heavily influenced by partisanship, not by the facts of the situation. Except for the congressional race, my politically diverse compatriots at the ranch avoided talking politics. Judging by how we got along, Id say we proved that Americans with competing viewpoints do not need to perceive each other as enemies from two irreconcilable camps. We easily found common ground. Our days were spent herding cattle in preparation for the weekend branding. We passed evenings by a campfire swapping jokes and describing our various narrow escapes with disaster while riding the treacherous terrain. One night, a young man from Georgia who had spent a few months working on the ranch came to the campfire to play guitar and sing for us. He brought along his dad a man in his early 50s named Eric who had just arrived to bring his son back home. Eric was a really nice guy. He told me he was employed as a lineman for AT&T and, though he had not looked forward to a single day of work during his many years on the job, it had paid the bills. I told him he had obviously done a good job as a father and he took that as a high compliment. I imagine that Eric voted for Trump (although, for all I really know, he could have been a Bernie Sanders voter). He is certainly part of the demographic of non-college-educated, blue-collar white men who gave Trump the edge over Clinton; the kind of solid, straightforward working people who, I am convinced by good evidence, will be betrayed by Trump and a Republican Party that consistently favors rich people and big corporations while stirring up false fears among middle-class wage earners. The party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy has got to find good candidates who can reach out to working people. Democrats in Montana thought Quist could make that happen in the special congressional election, but the national party stayed out of the battle, conceding the race to Gianforte, who received millions of dollars from the national GOP and various big business PACs. Despite recent pledges to fight for votes in every ZIP code in the nation, Democratic leaders apparently reasoned that, since Montanans had not elected a Democratic congressman in two decades, it was not going to happen in 2017. That was a timid calculation. Yes, it was an uphill fight, but Montana does have a Democratic senator, Jon Tester, and a Democratic governor, Steve Bullock, so the task was far from impossible. If the Democrats really want to claw their way back into majorities in Congress and state legislatures, they need more than the support of people in cities and swing-vote suburbs. They have to go into places where Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are the primary information source and somehow break through the constant din of right-wing commentary. They need to make the case that Democrats really understand Americans who work with cattle and crops and those who do the tough jobs that barely pay the bills. David.Horsey@latimes.com Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter Sen. Kamala Harris says she hasnt considered running for president By Phil Willon U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Despite swirling speculation, Californias U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris said shes not giving any consideration to running for president in 2020. Harris was appearing at the annual Code Conference hosted by the tech news site Recode in Rancho Palos Verdes on Wednesday night when site co-founder Kara Swisher asked if she had eyes on the White House. Im not giving that any consideration. Ive got to stay focused, said Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in November after serving as Californias attorney general. After she won the seat vacated by former Sen. Barbara Boxer, Harris quickly gained a reputation as a potential presidential candidate in 2020. Harris took questions from Swisher alongside Laurene Powell Jobs, a philanthropist and the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Though she brushed off the presidential rumors, Harris urged Democrats to try harder to make convincing arguments on issues such as climate change instead of just criticizing those who disagree with them. She told the audience at the posh Terranea Resort where the conference is being held that it would be a mistake to dismiss the concerns of Americans who supported Trump in the November election. She said the issues that concern them good jobs and the future of their families are the concerns of all working-class Americans. There is a healthy number of people in our country who are feeling displaced, rightly, Harris said. I think we have to deal with that. Still, Harris dished out plenty of jabs at the Trump administration. She criticized Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions for resuscitating the war on drugs and told him to leave Grandmas medical marijuana alone. Harris also criticized the Trump administrations more hard-line immigration policies, and said she was concerned about allegations of collusion between Trumps campaign and the Russian government. These are serious times. These are not issues we can just sit around with a glass of Chardonnay debating and philosophizing about, Harris said. The decisions that are being made right now are impacting real human beings. Watch the entire interview: Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump wouldnt release his tax returns, so lawmakers move to make it mandatory for Californias primary By John Myers (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Legislation to require presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns in order to gain a spot on Californias presidential primary ballot won passage in the state Senate on Wednesday, but only after a tense debate that largely centered on President Trump. Senate Bill 149 was approved on a strict party-line vote, 27-13. The bill now moves to the state Assembly, and was one of the last bills debated during a marathon session at the state Capitol to consider bills before a Friday deadline for action. The bill would require presidential candidates to file copies of their income tax returns with state elections officials for the five most recent taxable years. Failure to do so would mean their name wouldnt appear on Californias presidential primary ballot. The legislation was introduced in December, in the wake of Trumps refusal to disclose his tax returns during the 2016 campaign. The president has continued to reject calls for the information. Hes shaping international policy which could enrich himself, and the American public has no way to know, state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said of Trump during Wednesday nights floor debate. This legislation will help make transparency great again. Republicans denounced the bill as another in a long line of efforts by Democrats in the Legislature to lash out at the election of Trump and the defeat of Hillary Clinton. I get it that some people hate Trump, state Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) said. Weve got to move ahead. Weve got to get over it. Tensions flared after Anderson tried to amend the bill on the floor first, to require statewide and legislative candidates to also release their tax returns, and then to require a birth certificate from candidates who want access to the states primary ballot. Both were rejected by Democrats. A legislative analysis of SB 149 said some legal scholars believe the plan, which would be the first of its kind in the nation, would pass muster with the U.S. Constitution. Nonetheless, the analysis concluded that it would probably be challenged in court if signed into law. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Senate moves forward with bill that would overhaul Los Angeles County MTA By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) proposed to revamp the Los Angeles County MTA. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would expand and reshape the agency that oversees mass transit in Los Angeles County. Opponents of the measure include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the city and county of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. The bill by Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) was sent to the Assembly for consideration after squeaking by with a 22-11 vote in the Senate. The measure would expand the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board from 12 to 15 members. It would also reduce the number of county supervisors on the board from five to two, remove the appointment of two public members and increase Los Angeles City Council member appointments by the mayor from two to five. This will allow for proportional and fair representation, Mendoza told his colleagues, adding that the board currently is made up of haves and have-nots fighting to get their share. Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) opposed the measure because he said he saw it as Sacramento meddling in local policymaking. But Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Palmdale) supported SB 268. Too much power is concentrated in too few people, he said of the current board. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Single-payer healthcare is popular with Californians unless it raises their taxes By John Myers (Rich Pedoncelli / Associated Press) Almost two of every three Californians in a new statewide poll said they like the idea of a single-payer, government healthcare system, but far fewer support the idea if it includes a tax increase. The poll released Wednesday night by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 65% of adults surveyed support the creation of a single-payer state healthcare program to cover all of the states residents, and 56% of likely voters approved of the idea. Opinion was sharply divided between Democrats (75% support) and Republicans (66% oppose) who were surveyed. The single-payer proposal under consideration in the state Capitol, Senate Bill 562, assumes at least $50 billion in new taxes to fund the healthcare system. Asked about taxes, support drops to 42% of the adults surveyed and 43% of likely voters. While a majority of Democrats in the PPIC poll continued to support the idea if it means more taxes, support drops substantially among unaffiliated independent voters. The state Senate is expected to consider the single-payer bill before the end of the week. A legislative analysis put the estimated total cost of a new healthcare system that covers all Californians at $400 billion, while an analysis released on Wednesday by supporters provided a $331-billion estimate. The pending legislation by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) does not identify what taxes would be raised but makes the enactment of the plan contingent on a full funding proposal. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Knowingly exposing others to HIV should no longer be a felony, state Senate says By Patrick McGreevy The Senate voted to no longer make it a felony for HIV-positive people to donate blood or semen without telling the blood bank they are infected. ( (Toby Talbot / Associated Press)) The state Senate on Wednesday voted to no longer make it a felony for someone infected with HIV to knowingly expose others to the disease by having unprotected sex without telling his or her partner about the infection. The crime would be downgraded to a misdemeanor, and the bill would also apply to people who donate blood or semen without telling the blood or semen bank that they have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, or have tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the precursor to AIDS. The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, was introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who said it is unfair to make HIV/AIDS the only communicable disease given such harsh treatment by prosecutors. These laws are irrational and discriminatory, Wiener told the Senate, adding that the current felony status is creating an incentive not to be tested, because if you dont know your status you cant be guilty of a felony. The measure was widely opposed by Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of San Diego. If you intentionally transmit something that is fundamentally life-threatening to the victim, you should be charged and go to jail, he said. Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Murrieta) said, My friends, its not a gay issue. Its a public health issue. We shouldnt allow someone to play Russian roulette with other peoples lives. Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a physician, voted for the bill and argued that it undermines public health to imprison those with HIV under the current law. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Hillary Clinton: I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win By Seema Mehta Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that she has no plans to run for office again, but she plans to remain involved in civic life, particularly helping the Democrats efforts to regain control of the House in 2018. Im not going anywhere, Clinton said at the annual Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes. I have a big stake in what happens in this country. I am very unbowed and unbroken about what happened because I dont want it to happen to anybody else. I dont want it to happen to the values and the institutions I care about in America. And I think were at a really pivotal point, she said. And therefore Im going to keep writing and keep talking and keep supporting people who are on the front lines of the resistance. The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee said she woke up on election day expecting to win. Clinton told the gathering that she was responsible for every decision the campaign made, though she did not believe they caused her surprise loss. She attributed that to several things, including alleged Russian interference in the election and weaponizing stolen information and fake news. She also pointed a finger at the Democrats for falling behind the GOP in using technology and data to target voters, the media for covering her e-mail controversy like it was Pearl Harbor, misogyny and the high expectations many had for her candidacy. I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win, she said, adding that she always expected the race to be close. Trump responded on Twitter, saying that Clinton still refused to accept that she lost because she was a terrible candidate. Crooked Hillary Clinton now blames everybody but herself, refuses to say she was a terrible candidate. Hits Facebook & even Dems & DNC. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017 Clinton, who has increasingly jabbed President Trump, including at last weeks commencement address at Wellesley College, blasted his reported plan to pull out of the Paris climate accord as really stupid because of the economic implications. She described his personality as impulsive and reactive. And she joked about his peculiar overnight tweet about constant negative press covfefe, saying she thought it was a hidden message to the Russians to laughter from the audience. Going forward, Clinton said that she believes that it was realistic for Democrats to retake the House in 2018, notably by focusing on Republican congressional districts she won including seven in California. She sounded less optimistic about the Senate. Updated at 6:06 p.m.: This post was updated to add President Trumps response to Clintons remarks. This post was first published at 5:41 p.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California lawmakers take aim again at establishing statewide rules for drones By Jazmine Ulloa A state senator from Santa Barbara is taking another shot at establishing statewide regulations for the use of drones after the budding industry thwarted her efforts to pass similar legislation last year. Senate Bill 347, introduced by Democratic Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, would limit disruptive drone use near private property and prohibit the weaponization and reckless operation of the unmanned aerial vehicles. It also would require pilots to obtain insurance and to license, register and mark the aircrafts per federal regulations. The bill moved out of the Senate on Wednesday with a 26-13 vote. It heads to the Assembly for consideration. Speaking on the Senate floor, Jackson urged support for what she called comprehensive drone legislation, saying California needs common-sense rules that provide certainty for everyone and keep the public safe. Washington is not going to be acting on this issue very soon, she said, citing a federal appeals court decision that this month found the Federal Aviation Administration doesnt have the authority to regulate the use of drones by hobbyists. Debate has raged in recent years over just where federal authority begins and ends. And Jacksons attempts at drone legislation last year were blocked amid opposition from lobbyists who argued against creating a patchwork of laws that varied by state. Under Jacksons new proposal, violations would be punishable by a fine of up to $250 or a misdemeanor, and the California Department of Transportation would be tasked with developing liability insurance requirements. It has the support of the California State Assn. of Counties, the League of California Cities and the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Assn, but it once again faces tough industry opposition. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print School districts would be prohibited from shaming students whose parents havent paid for school lunches By Patrick McGreevy Students eat lunch at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Los Angeles. (Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times) Students whose parents have not kept their school lunch bills current would no longer go through shaming that includes marking their hand so they cannot be served, under legislation approved Wednesday by the state Senate. The measure by Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) would require school districts to ensure that any student whose parent has unpaid school meal fees is not treated differently, or delayed or denied a nutritiously adequate meal. Hertzberg introduced the legislation after hearing of school districts taking lunch trays from students whose accounts were not current and throwing the food in the trash, embarrassing the students in front of their friends. No more shaming, Herzberg told his colleagues. Dont visit the failures of the parents on their kids. The measure passed on a 39-0 vote and was sent to the Assembly for consideration. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Emilio Huerta, undaunted by 2016 loss, is back to challenge Rep. David Valadao By Sarah D. Wire (Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times) Bakersfield lawyer Emilio Huerta came more than 13 percentage points short of winning Californias 21st Congressional District seat in 2016, but he plans to try again in 2018. Huerta, 59, blames his loss to Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) on inexperience and a rash of negative ads at the end of the campaign. We learned a lot in the last campaign. As a first-time candidate there was certainly a lot to learn and I think we did a good job, Huerta said Wednesday. The son of labor icon Dolores Huerta, he has worked for the United Farm Workers union which his mother co-founded throughout the Central Valley district. Huerta said Valadaos vote for the Republican healthcare plan shows hes ignoring Valley residents needs because it would end the expansion of the MediCal program, which many of the districts residents use for healthcare. Its going to be a pretty significant issue, he said. He is the first Democrat to announce a bid for the seat. Democrats are heartened by the fact that, while Valadao won the seat with 56.74% of the vote, the district has continued to trend Democratic in voter registration and chose Hillary Clinton for president with 54.72% of the vote. That tells me that there were die-hard Democrats, committed Democrats that vote, Democrats that were not convinced that my campaign should be supported and I think a lot of that has to do with me being a first-time candidate, Huerta said. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made the seat a target for 2018. The majority-Latino district includes parts of Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Brown and Democrats say Trump is going backwards if he pulls out of Paris climate pact By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown warned Wednesday that a decision by President Trump to withdraw the United States from a 2015 global climate change agreement could be tragic, and vowed to keep Californias ambitious efforts in place and on track. Here we are, in 2017, going backwards, Brown said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. It cannot stand, its not right and California will do everything it can to not only stay the course, but to build more support in other states, in other provinces, in other countries. The governor also criticized efforts to the president to dismantle climate change initiatives launched by former President Barack Obama. Trump is going against science. Hes going against reality, the governor said. We cant stand by and give aid and comfort to that. News that the president had either made the decision to pull the country out of the Paris Accord on climate change or was on the verge of doing so drew swift condemnation from California leaders. Brown and other top lawmakers attended the talks in late 2015 that resulted in the international agreement, and insisted on Wednesday that it would not hurt the states own efforts to sharply curtail greenhouse gas emissions. As with so many other matters, from human rights to healthcare, the Trump administration has continued to surrender our nations longstanding role as a global leader, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said. Others pointed out that a decision to remove the United States from the agreement would leave it in rare company among other nations. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that such a decision by Trump would be more than just dumb + destructive. Brown, who leaves Friday for a weeklong visit to China to encourage more climate-change cooperation, predicted any decision to step away would suggest the countrys priorities arent clear. It sends a very muddled message, the governor said during an interview in his state Capitol office. Is the message [that] we like dirty cars and gas guzzlers? And were going to have a coal future? That cant happen. And Brown again suggested that Californias experience on the issue offers a road map for others. If we want to retain and enhance manufacturing, we have to do what California is doing, in clean energy and clean technology, he said. Thats the future of jobs, the future of sustainability. And we better get on board. And California will be right there with the best of them. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print This Orange County congressmans immigration town hall turned chaotic and led to three arrests By Sarah D. Wire The majority of calls into Rep. Lou Correas Orange County congressional office are about immigration worries and what the Trump administrations enforcement policies mean for Correas many Latino constituents. Theres a lot of fear in my district, he said. So the freshman Democrat has held seven town halls, all focused on immigration and explaining immigrants rights. Theyve been peaceful, with representatives from groups such as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and the Mexican Consulate invited to help Correa answer questions. But as the crowd of about 100 people gathered at Santa Anas Delhi Center on Tuesday evening, Correa knew this time would be different. We had some people there, probably a dozen of them, that immediately had signs that were not complimentary to yours truly, he said. Two women arguing about immigration issues had already gotten into an altercation outside the town hall. They were cited for assault and battery, and barred by police from going inside. Correa told the crowd inside he would give a short presentation about immigration policy coming out of Washington and then have a question-and-answer session. About a dozen people were having none of it. Some of the most tense moments came when Correa started talking about green card holders who served in the U.S. military and have since been deported. Maam, Im trying to be courteous here, he said as a woman kept speaking over him. As soon as I started speaking, it became very clear they were not going to let me speak, Correa said Wednesday. They just got louder and louder. Video of the town hall posted on social media shows people in the crowd yelling Americans first and Illegals have no rights. Correa repeatedly asks them to let him speak. Are you guys going to cooperate, or am I going to have to ask you to leave? he said. About 15 minutes in, as some in the crowd continued to shout and their attention turned to berating a group of counter-protesters, Correa declared the meeting over. A handful of people circled around Correa as he tried to leave, yelling Shame, shame and You guys all want welfare. One womans voice can be heard repeatedly yelling Coward! Police emptied the room amid chants of USA. The crowd streamed into the parking lot, where confrontations quickly started between supporters of President Trump and others who appeared to be focused on Native American rights. Videos posted on social media show men shouting at one another, their faces so close their noses are practically touching. Police officers kept trying to separate the groups. (Warning: The video below includes language that some readers might find offensive.) Santa Ana Police Department spokesman Anthony Bertagna said a man struck a Trump supporter on the head with a pole bearing an anti-fascism flag. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Bertagna said. The man was brought to police headquarters, and a group of about 10 people followed along to protest, he said. Shortly after, the town hall peacefully resumed in a different room with a much smaller crowd, Correa said. Several California members of Congress have held similar immigration-specific town halls or workshops in the last few months as questions swirl about changes to federal immigration policies and enforcement. The purpose of the town halls is to let people know how to follow the law, let them know their legal rights and responsibilities, Correa said. Protesters have characterized it as teaching people who are in the country illegally how to avoid deportation and get federal benefits. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California plan for 100% renewable energy by 2045 clears key hurdle By Liam Dillon California will receive all of its power from renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, by 2045 under legislation that passed the state Senate on Wednesday. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) touted his bill, Senate Bill 100, as the most ambitious program in the world. Clean energy is the future, De Leon said. SB 100 ensures that California leads into the future. The measure would also speed up the states goal of reaching 50% renewable energy, changing the deadline from 2030 to 2026. SB 100 passed over objections from Republican senators. Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) criticized the measure as government getting ahead of technological capacity. What if we cant make that mandate that were putting into law today? Stone said. What its going to do is drive up electricity bills for our businesses. De Leons bill now moves to the Assembly. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A new proposal on Californias cap-and-trade program emerges as vote is delayed By Chris Megerian Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced), left. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A coalition of business-friendly Democrats is detailing their own ideas for cap and trade, a centerpiece of Californias fight against global warming, the latest bid in a crowded field of efforts to extend the program. Cap and trade requires polluting companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions, and lawmakers have been considering a push from Gov. Jerry Brown to extend the program beyond 2020. The new plan would force the program to sunset in 2025, earlier than previous proposals from other lawmakers. It would also direct revenue from the program toward improving air quality and helping agricultural and trucking companies lower their emissions by replacing aging equipment. The plan is also aimed at keeping costs down for industries regulated by cap and trade, allowing them to support green projects known as offsets instead of reducing their own emissions. California must continue to lead the world by implementing a strong climate policy that ensures both a healthy environment for future Californians and growth in all sectors of our economy, Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) said in a statement. The pro-business Democrats plan is the fourth such effort announced by various factions within the states ruling Democratic Party this year with two others emerging from the Assembly and one from the Senate. The plans offer varying degrees of changes to the existing program, either to prioritize pollution reductions in disadvantaged communities or eliminate offsets. Republican lawmakers also have said they want to be part of the cap-and-trade debate. Brown has pushed for a two-thirds supermajority vote of the Legislature to extend the program by the state budget deadline next month. But Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said at a Wednesday news conference that that wasnt going to happen. Cap-and-trade is a very complex issue, De Leon said. Its very arcane. We want to make sure we get it right. De Leon said he hoped for a deal by the end of the year. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Senate fails to back bill to delay the Aliso Canyon reopening, but lawmaker will try again Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California state Senate advances bill to ban smoking and use of e-cigarettes in government housing By Patrick McGreevy Californians would no longer be able to use tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, in public housing and within 25 of those buildings under a measure approved Tuesday by the state Assembly. Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) said the measure builds on a smoking ban approved last year for federal public housing projects by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to applying the smoking ban to state housing, expansion to include e-cigarettes makes sure the law cover new technology in tobacco use. The bill takes effect by July 30, 2018. Wood said tobacco-related diseases cost taxpayers significant funds each year. This bill will save money but will more importantly save lives, Wood told his colleagues before the vote. The measure is opposed by the Western Center on Law and Poverty, which worries it will lead to more evictions. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californians would not be able to buy more than one rifle a month under bill approved by state senators By Patrick McGreevy Terry McGuire, owner of Get Loaded in Grand Terrace, shows a customer a Cobalt Kinetics BAMF rifle about a week after the 2015 shooting rampage in nearby San Bernardino. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) Californians would be prohibited from buying more than one firearm in any 30-day period under a measure approved Tuesday by the Senate to reduce straw purchasing and circumvention of gun laws. California already bars people from buying more than one handgun a month. The bill by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) expands the limit to also cover long guns, including rifles and shotguns. The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, seeks to address concerns that some people buy large quantities of guns and then sell them on the underground market to criminals and others not eligible to own guns. There is no need or reason why a person would need to purchase more than one gun a month, Portantino said during the floor debate. Republicans, including Jeff Stone of Murrieta, opposed the legislation. This is yet another example of the government trying to infringe on the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, Stone said. Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Chico) said he has seen no proof that past gun-control measures approved by the state have made the state safer. Its more of the same that will not decrease violent crime, Nielsen said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California state senators want to stop the public from smoking at California beaches and parks By Patrick McGreevy Californians would be barred from smoking or using electronic cigarettes in state parks and at beaches under a bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate. Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Concord) said his bill would address the health problems caused by smoking but also the harm done to the environment by discarded cigarette butts and the fire danger posed by the practice. Cigarette butts contain more than 150 toxic chemicals and although small in size, have a huge negative impact on the environment and the animals that live in them, Glazer told his colleagues. A legislative analysis said the bill does not address the concerns raised by Gov. Jerry Brown when he vetoed a similar bill last year. The veto message read, in part, The complete prohibition in all parks and beaches is too broad. A more measured and less punitive approach might be warranted. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement School day wouldnt begin before 8:30 a.m. in California under bill that clears the state Senate By John Myers (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) California teenagers wouldnt be required to start their school day before 8:30 am under a bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate. The legislation by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) would not fully take effect until 2020, and sparked a lively floor debate over the science on the sleep patterns of middle and high school students, and whether they simply need to go to bed earlier. I expect this would only dispose them to stay up later, said state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber). Another Republican lawmaker, Sen. Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), said students need to learn what its like in the workforce. Job preparation is what schooling is all about, Fuller said. Unless youre a musician or someone who works nights, you probably did not start in the later morning. Opponents also said the later start time could affect collective bargaining agreements with teachers and other school employees. Supporters, however, pointed to a recommendation for later start times from the American Academy of Pediatrics. A University of Minnesota study linked school start times to sleep deprivation and the rate of car crashes among teenage drivers. The morning sleep time is the most valuable for student health, said Portantino. Their test scores go up, their attendance goes up, their graduation rates go up. The bill would allow rural school districts to obtain a waiver if they couldnt make the change. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) ended the debate with a simple request of the senators on behalf of teenage students. "Lets just let them sleep in a little bit, he said with a smile. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print More transparency proposed for prescription drug price increases under bill passed by California Senate By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), shown speaking in March, won Senate approval Tuesday on a bill that would require more transparency on drug prices. (Melanie Mason / Los Angeles Times) Alarmed by skyrocketing prices for some prescription drugs, the California Senate on Tuesday approved a measure aimed at increasing pressure to hold down costs to consumers by requiring more public reporting of price hikes. The lawmakers approved a bill that would require drug manufacturers to notify health plans and state purchasers such as the prison department of increases in the wholesale cost of drugs in writing at least 90 days before the new costs were to take effect. The measure also requires that health plans and insurers notify state regulators of pricing information for the most costly drugs. Were not saying that they cant raise the price. Were just saying notify us, Hernandez said during the floor debate. And if [the price] goes up a significant amount, we should be able to question why. The measure passed by a 26-10 vote with some Republicans, including Sen. Ted Gaines of El Dorado Hills, opposed. Gaines said the pharmaceutical industrys pricing of drugs helps it pay for development of new medications. It funds their research, Gaines said during the debate. The measure next goes to the Assembly, where a similar bill last year failed to win passage. Hernandez said more opponents are talking to him this year about possible compromises, although the bill is opposed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Hernandez said the bill is needed, adding that current regulations allow pharmaceutical companies to reap obscene profits at the expense of the entire healthcare system. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Senate advances bill to make pot use in cars an infraction By Patrick McGreevy San Bruno police officers stop cars at a DUI checkpoint. State officials are proposing to make it an infraction to use marijuana in motor vehicles. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Just months after state voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana, the state Senate on Tuesday voted to prohibit its use in automobiles because of concerns over drugged driving. A bill by Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) makes it an infraction for drivers and passengers to use marijuana in motor vehicles. Stiffer penalties already exist for motorists found to be driving while impaired by drugs. California voters legalized recreational use of marijuana in November although the state does not plan to begin issuing licenses for its legal sale until January. In Washington state, which previously legalized pot, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the number of drivers who had recently used marijuana before fatal accidents doubled from 2013 to 2014, Hill told his colleagues. Washington serves as an eye-opening case study for what other states may experience with road safety after legalizing the drug, Hill told his colleagues before the unanimous vote to approve the measure and send it to the Assembly for consideration. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California lawmakers want to give parents at smaller companies 12 weeks of protected family leave By Jazmine Ulloa State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara). (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California lawmakers are once again seeking to expand the states paid family leave program to smaller businesses after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure last year. SB 63, authored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), on Tuesday moved out of the state Senate with a 25-13 vote. It now heads to the Assembly for consideration. The legislation, a priority bill for the California Legislative Womens Caucus, would allow parents at companies with 20 to 49 employees to take 12 weeks of leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child without fear of losing their jobs. Under the current state law, only workers at businesses with 50 or more workers can take advantage of program. On the Senate floor Tuesday, the debate on the issue echoed that of last year. Republican lawmakers argued the bill would kill jobs and hurt small businesses already struggling in California. Those in favor argued progressive family leave policies attracted a strong and healthy workforce. Jackson said her bill would impact only 6.3% of California companies, while helping 16% of its workforce, a population of 2.7 million residents across the state. With so many women in the workforce than ever before, and with so many struggling, two-income families, this is a critical moment in time, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Kimberly Ellis files formal challenge over result of state Democratic Party chairperson election By Seema Mehta (Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) The candidate who narrowly lost the race to be the next leader of the California Democratic Party on Tuesday filed a formal challenge of the election result. Kimberly Ellis campaign, which was already in the process of reviewing the ballots cast during the state partys convention two weekends ago, said they were filing the challenge to meet a requirement in the party bylaws that such an action must be taken within seven days of the contested act. Our review process is ongoing. Its critical that all formal processes outlined by the CDPs bylaws are followed at this time so that there can be no concern about raising issues in the manner prescribed by our party, said Hilary Crosby, immediate past controller for the state party and an Ellis supporter. Ellis campaign said challenges were also being filed in races for a vice chair, secretary and multiple regional directors. Chris Masami Myers, state party executive director, acknowledged receiving the challenges and said in a statement that they would be reviewed in accordance with the standard practices described in the bylaws. The partys compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former Chairman John Burtons tenure, will review the evidence and take oral or written testimony before issuing a ruling in mid- to late June. The state party chair race was the most heated and contentious. Longtime party leader Eric Bauman entered the race with advantages, but Ellis made the contest competitive. In the election, held this month at the state party convention in Sacramento, Bauman beat Ellis by just over 60 votes. But amid allegations levied by her supporters of ballot-box stuffing and ripped-up ballots, she refused to concede the race. Her campaign has been reviewing individual ballots for a week. Bauman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Updated at 4:57 p.m.: This post was updated to add additional information about how the review will be conducted. Updated at 3:35 p.m.: This post was updated to add a comment from a state party official. This post was originally published at 2:37 p.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Darrell Issa gets on his office roof to take a picture of protesters. A mild hubbub ensues By Sarah D. Wire Yes, this is really @DarrellIssa on the roof of his district office building. Too afraid to come speak with assembled constituents below. pic.twitter.com/wCYRjO8Ev8 Mike Levin (@MikeLevinCA) May 30, 2017 It began when one of Rep. Darrell Issas 2018 opponents, Mike Levin, posted an image on Twitter, saying the Vista congressman was hiding on his office roof from hundreds of protesters on the street below. The photo of Issa standing on the roof ricocheted around Twitter, with many comparing it to a scene from the popular television show The Office, and left-leaning media outlets quickly publishing headlines like Darrell Issa Appears to Flee to Building Roof to Avoid Protesters. Like most things, what happened at Issas office appears to have been a bit more nuanced. Issa soon tweeted that he had spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic!. Multiple images, including one from Levins account and from Issas account, show the congressman on the street with protesters. Spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic! pic.twitter.com/K2CFdenOIj Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) May 30, 2017 I just received an unprompted call from @DarrellIssa who said he tried, unsuccessfully to speak with protesters outside his district office. Joshua Stewart (@jptstewart) May 30, 2017 .@DarrellIssa said the protesters wouldnt' speak with him, so he went up to the roof and took pictures. Joshua Stewart (@jptstewart) May 30, 2017 The protests occur weekly outside Issas Vista district office, and the congressman has come out to speak with the group at least twice since President Trumps inauguration. Issa narrowly won reelection in 2016 over a novice opponent, and Democrats are targeting his seat in 2018. Issas staff said he tried to speak with all the protesters using their sound system, but was rebuffed. Rally organizer Ellen Montanari said she decided not to hand over the protesters microphone so Issa could take questions from the crowd because he refused to shake her hand before the protest began. He refused to do that, and he said, Step away, you are a protester. And I said I am a constituent, Montanari said. She said he also made disparaging remarks about the protesters and the signs they carry. Issas spokesman, Calvin Moore, said Montanari cant simultaneously organize people to stand outside our office with Where is Darrell? signs and feign outrage how he wont answer her questions and then deny him the ability to answer his constituents questions, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State Senate Democrats pass bills designed to protect against Trumps possible changes Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Adam Schiff says alleged Russian meddling in election was an effort to destroy American democracy By Seema Mehta U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, left, discusses Russias threat to liberal democracies around the world at discussion discussion hosted by Erwin Chemerinsky at UCI. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday that the alleged Russian meddling in last years presidential election was about far more than favoring one candidate over another. He said it was an effort to undermine the foundation of American democracy in order to prop up an authoritarian regime in Moscow. Now if you look at this as just a one-off intervention, you might be inclined to dismiss the greater significance of it, or if you listen to the president, you might be inclined to dismiss this as simply efforts to relitigate a lost election, Schiff told several hundred people at UC Irvine. But the significance is really far greater. Quite separate and apart from the desire of the Russians to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton was a more fundamental objective, and that was really to tear down at our democracy. Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating allegations of Russian intervention in the presidential election, including the leaking of hacked Democratic emails and contacts between Trump associates and Russians. Trump has declared the investigation the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history on Twitter. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the former chairman of the committee, recently told hundreds of Republicans at a fundraiser that the investigation is about nothing more than Democrats trying to justify Clintons loss. Nunes stepped down from his position after allegations arose that he mishandled classified information. Schiff said Russian President Vladimir Putin would have reasons for wanting to see Clinton fail and Trump succeed he believed that the CIA and Clinton were secretly behind mass demonstrations in Russia in 2011, and because Trumps positions on issues such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were more favorable to Russia than Clintons. But Schiff argued the larger point was sowing discord in the U.S., so Putin could argue that American democracy is no better than his government. Talk of rigged elections and surveillance, questioning the independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press as Trump has done boost Putins message, Schiff said. And the efforts are not limited to the United States, he added, pointing to allegations that the Russians made an effort to interfere in Frances recent election. The reality is there is new ideological struggle. Its not communism versus capitalism anymore. It is authoritarian versus democracy, he said. This is the broader challenge we are facing. Schiff also warned that there is no way to prevent Russian cyber-spying and that future attempts to interfere with American elections will only be more sophisticated, so voters must be educated. One of the most important conclusions the intelligence agencies have reached is the Russians will do this again, he said. The only real defense is to inoculate ourselves, to educate ourselves about what the Russians have done, why they are doing [it and] what they may do in the future and somehow we have to develop a consensus regardless of which party it helps and which party it hurts that we will reject it. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Rep. Devin Nunes: Democrats are using Russia investigation to justify Clintons loss By Sarah D. Wire (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA) House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told hundreds of local Republicans at a recent private fundraiser that congressional investigations into Russias interference in the 2016 election are about Democrats trying to justify Hillary Clintons loss. The Democrats dont want an investigation on Russia. They want an independent commission. Why do they want an independent commission? Because they want to continue the narrative that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are best friends, and thats the reason that he won, because Hillary Clinton would have never lost on her own; it had to be someone elses fault, Nunes told Republicans the day after he stepped away from leading the House investigation. His remarks were recorded on video and provided to The Times. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias embattled tax board would lose power over staff and funding under lawmakers plan By John Myers Following months of accusations about mistakes and improper use of power by its elected members, the state Board of Equalization could lose substantial power and gain an independent overseer under legislation introduced in the state Assembly. The bill by Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) would shift much of the power over staff and spending authority away from the independent tax board and create a new inspector general to watch over its actions. What were trying to do is make sure that the reform is transparent, Ridley-Thomas said. Thats what I think the moment demands. The plan, introduced as an amended bill just before the Memorial Day holiday, comes in the wake of audits alleging the tax agency made multimillion dollar miscalculations on revenue allocations and that some of its elected members improperly used staff members who were supposed to be focused on tax collection. Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown called the situation a mess and in April asked for an investigation by the state Department of Justice. Four members of the Board of Equalization are directly elected by voters. The fifth, state Controller Betty Yee, serves in an ex officio capacity. The Assembly bill would transfer significant staff decisions to the agencys executive director and would require the Board of Equalizations members to have their operations funded in detailed line items included in the state budget. It would also create an inspector general office and would require the boards members to disclose all ex parte communications with those seeking action by the agency. I think that these issues can be addressed if we keep them in the sunlight, said Ridley-Thomas. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New advertising campaign targets lawmakers over votes for climate change policies By Chris Megerian A coalition of California businesses launched a new advertising campaign on Saturday to pressure lawmakers against enacting tighter policies on climate change and air pollution. The campaign includes online videos and television advertising that warn of higher costs for business and residents. It arrives as Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers are debating whether to extend the cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases, and how restrictive the system should be. The first lawmaker being targeted is Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova), accusing him of allowing unelected state employees to raise hidden taxes on gasoline and electricity because he voted last year for a tougher target to reduce emissions by 2030. Other lawmakers could face similar advertisements. Were locked, loaded and ready to go statewide, said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, which is funding the campaign through an advocacy group called Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy. The roundtable represents the states largest corporations, including oil refineries and manufacturers who have been critical of climate policies. A dollar figure was not disclosed for the advertising campaign, which will represent a balancing act for the roundtable. It supports the cap-and-trade program as an alternative to more restrictive regulations, but it opposes some of the current proposals to extend it. One measure would tie the program to air quality, targeting a wider range of pollutants than just greenhouse gases, and another would make it function more like a tax and charge higher prices for emission permits. Were at a tipping point here, Lapsley said. We need to get this information out into the public in order to try and create balanced policies. Although polls show broad support for fighting global warming in California, concerns about higher costs for constituents could be influential with some lawmakers who recently passed legislation to raise gas taxes to fund road repairs. Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) is facing a recall campaign over his vote. Nonpartisan legislative analysts have said cap and trade could boost the price of gasoline by 24 cents to 73 cents by 2030. Environmentalists have said its inaccurate to tie any single policy to fluctuations in gas prices. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Politics Podcast: The debate among Democrats didnt end at their convention By John Myers The official gathering of California Democrats lasted only three days, but the lingering debate and simmering tensions could keep going well into next years elections. On this weeks California Politics Podcast episode, we look back at the line in the sand drawn at last weeks California Democratic Party convention by some of the partys most passionate progressive activists -- including the blunt speech delivered by an influential labor union leader last weekend. We also discuss big new developments this week on the topic that energized those Democratic activists: a single-payer healthcare system for California. On Monday, a fiscal analysis put a large price tag on legislation to enact that sweeping healthcare change. Im joined this week by Times staff writer Melanie Mason. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California lawmakers quietly refuse to stop unlimited cash flowing from political parties to their campaigns By John Myers (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) An ambitious effort to close a widely used loophole that allows large donations from political parties to be funneled into California races was rejected on Friday. The bill by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) would have made political party money donated to statewide and legislative candidates subject to the same contribution limits as individuals. Under the language of a voter-approved initiative, Proposition 34, money from political parties is exempt from those existing limits. Its a money-laundering scheme that has completely duped voters, Levine said last fall when he first promised to introduce the bill. The proposal was quietly killed, without a formal vote, by the Assembly Appropriations Committee during its biannual session to act on bills placed on the so-called suspense file due to their estimated costs. Committee staff estimated that Levines AB 1234 would have six-figure costs both for enforcement and for placing the issue before voters in 2018. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Veteran Democratic operative criticizes Kimberly Ellis for refusing to concede party chair race By Seema Mehta Supporters of Kimberly Ellis make signs, refusing to accept her loss to Eric Bauman for the California Democratic chair post. (Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Veteran Democratic operative Bob Mulholland slammed infighting among California Democrats, and urged Kimberly Ellis, who came up short in a nasty party chair election, to work to unify the party. I and others did not understand some of your supporters attacks on those of us who have spent decades or years building the Democrats in California as the most successful political Party in the country, he wrote in an open letter to Ellis on Thursday. He sent the email in the aftermath of the partys rancorous convention last weekend that featured a bitter leadership battle between Ellis, a favorite of newer members including the backers of Bernie Sanders failed presidential bid, and longtime party leader Eric Bauman. After Bauman was declared the winner by a razor-thin margin of just over 60 votes, Ellis refused to concede and demanded an audit of the vote as some of her backers floated rumors of ballot-box stuffing and discarded ballots. Ellis demurred when asked about Mulhollands scathing letter. While our review continues, we are refraining from making any statement that might cause further division, Ellis said. If we hope to truly unify this party, it will require patience by all. Officials with the Ellis campaign have been reviewing ballots this week. A spokesman said they had looked at about two-thirds by the end of Friday and hope to be done by the middle of next week. Joe Macaluso, Ellis strategist, declined to discuss the results and said her team needed to review additional documentation beyond the ballots. Were trying to stay true to our process and not release anything, but were in it, he said. Its an extensive process. Mulholland argued in his public letter that the convention should have showcased the partys message, not intraparty spats. Our annual Conventions should take care of internal business (Platforms, election of Officers, Resolutions, etc.), but more importantly a communication to voters, especially moderate Democrats and Independents about their concerns and issues, Mulholland wrote. If such busy people had a minute to read some news about our Convention, they saw Democrats yelling and arguing about ballots being stuffed, sounding like a Trump event. This Convention failed them. Mulholland listed the partys successes in the state, including Democrats lopsided voter registration edge, its nearly three-decade record of supporting Democratic presidential candidates, its election of female senators since 1992 and its hold of every statewide office, supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature and nearly three-quarters of the congressional delegation. Over the last 29 years, thats a [1.000] batting record, he wrote. Mulholland called on Ellis to hold a news conference with Bauman once she is satisfied with her audit of the vote. Then, he wrote, lets move on. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California lawmakers block proposals meant to make it easier to track and report hate crimes By Jazmine Ulloa Graffiti mars the steeple on the Greater Holy Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Compton in January. Cases of vandalism make up close to one-third of reported hate crimes, according to a new report. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) California lawmakers Friday stalled measures meant to help report and track hate crimes across the state, proposals filed amid a wave of incidents reported after the 2016 presidential election. The state Assembly Appropriations Committee shelved bills that would have created new hate-crime reporting requirements for police and a hotline under the attorney generals office for victims wishing to report an attack. Of those bills, a proposal filed by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) initially sought to develop a state government database with the names of felons convicted of hate crimes related to race, religion and sexual orientation. That proposal was amended to instead require every law enforcement agency to forward a summary of a reported hate crime, upon conclusion of an investigation, to the human relations commission within its jurisdiction. But a committee analysis found it could cost the state more than $150,000 to help agencies redact personal information from their records. The committee also shut down bills that would have required police to update policies to address hate crimes and include a checkbox on the front pages of reports that would prominently provide an option to indicate whether a crime was bias-related. Local law enforcement officials have reported a recent rise in reported hate crime incidents. Existing state laws require local and state law enforcement officials to compile hate crime information. California jurisdictions reported a 10.4% statewide increase in those incidents last year. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Here were the top six moments from last nights L.A. congressional race debate By Christine Mai-Duc Robert Lee Ahn, left, and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez sparred in a debate Thursday night ahead of the runoff for the 34th Congressional District seat. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) Attorney Robert Lee Ahn and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez sparred Thursday night at the first and only debate in the runoff race for the 34th Congressional District seat. The candidates, both Democrats, offered little in the way of policy differences. Both agreed President Trump has racist tendencies, that keeping the Affordable Care Act is a top priority, and that they would fight to protect immigrants rights. Ahn came out swinging, repeatedly calling Gomez an insider whos sponsored by special interests, while Gomez pointed to his work supporting progressive policies in the Legislature and endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. Here are the top six exchanges: The numbers problem: Gomez again criticized Ahn for a response he gave in an L.A. Times questionnaire that suggested he would negotiate with Republicans to protect parts of Obamacare. Gomez said Democrats need to take a hard line and that Ahn was too soft on support for Medicaid. In case you havent noticed, we have a numbers problem in Congress, Ahn shot back. Until were able to take back the House, were going to have to talk to the other side. Gomez again criticized Ahn for a response he gave in an L.A. Times questionnaire that suggested he would negotiate with Republicans to protect parts of Obamacare. Gomez said Democrats need to take a hard line and that Ahn was too soft on support for Medicaid. In case you havent noticed, we have a numbers problem in Congress, Ahn shot back. Until were able to take back the House, were going to have to talk to the other side. Gomez fact-checks Ahns name-check: Ahn made the case that voters should send an attorney to Congress to help in the legal battles against the Trump presidency. I will join fellow attorneys and Congress members Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff in the fight, Ahn said to the crowd. Gomez, who spent much of the evening bringing up his legislative experience and vast array of endorsements, responded: I hate to mention it, but, you know, Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu have endorsed me. Ahn made the case that voters should send an attorney to Congress to help in the legal battles against the Trump presidency. I will join fellow attorneys and Congress members Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff in the fight, Ahn said to the crowd. Gomez, who spent much of the evening bringing up his legislative experience and vast array of endorsements, responded: I hate to mention it, but, you know, Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu have endorsed me. Getting more personal: In discussions about immigration and healthcare, Gomez and Ahn delved a little deeper into their backgrounds. Gomez talked about his young nephew who feared that his mother, a permanent resident, might be deported after Trump was elected. Ahn told the story of how his parents came to the United States with $700 each and cobbled together enough money to open a hamburger stand, eventually building their piece of the American Dream. In discussions about immigration and healthcare, Gomez and Ahn delved a little deeper into their backgrounds. Gomez talked about his young nephew who feared that his mother, a permanent resident, might be deported after Trump was elected. Ahn told the story of how his parents came to the United States with $700 each and cobbled together enough money to open a hamburger stand, eventually building their piece of the American Dream. Ahn on the attack: Ahn repeatedly criticized Gomez for taking money from corporate interests. Special interests, big pharma, big bankers. ... Its all payback time [for Gomez donors] on Day One, Ahn said. On Day One, I owe the people of the 34th District and thats it. Ahn pitched himself as an outsider who understands the district and whose small-business experience will help him relate to the problems facing everyday residents. Ahn repeatedly criticized Gomez for taking money from corporate interests. Special interests, big pharma, big bankers. ... Its all payback time [for Gomez donors] on Day One, Ahn said. On Day One, I owe the people of the 34th District and thats it. Ahn pitched himself as an outsider who understands the district and whose small-business experience will help him relate to the problems facing everyday residents. A litmus test: Gomez fought back against the idea that hes a corporate Democrat, primarily by pointing to several endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. If I was so establishment, I dont think Our Revolution ... would actually endorse me, Gomez said of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group. If you want a litmus test, thats a litmus test if youre a progressive ... if youre actually able to take on the status quo. Gomez fought back against the idea that hes a corporate Democrat, primarily by pointing to several endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. If I was so establishment, I dont think Our Revolution ... would actually endorse me, Gomez said of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group. If you want a litmus test, thats a litmus test if youre a progressive ... if youre actually able to take on the status quo. Gomez gets skewered on gas tax: As part of his argument that he has fought for the little guy, Ahn expressed outrage that Californias gas taxes will increase July 1, saying theres nothing progressive about the gas tax hike Gomez voted for. We already paid 38 cents per gallon. Where is that money going? Ahn said, echoing a line many legislative Republicans have used. Sacramento politicians, this is what they do, they take our money and they spend it and theres no accountability. Gomez responded by saying public safety was at stake and that fixing roads was the responsible thing to do. If you missed it, you can watch the entire thing here. The election is set for June 6. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rob Reiner, Hollywood bigwigs and Netflix co-founder team up to give Villaraigosas campaign a major cash boost By Seema Mehta (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Hollywood heavyweights are set to host a major fundraiser for Antonio Villaraigosas gubernatorial campaign on June 15, ensuring an infusion of large contributions shortly before a key fundraising deadline. Donors are being asked to contribute up to $29,200 to attend a summer reception at the home of media executive Peter Chernin and his wife Megan, the site of a celebrity-studded fundraiser for President Obama in 2013. Co-hosts include Paramount Pictures chief Jim Gianopulos, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, video game honcho Robert Kotick, comedian George Lopez, Sony chief Michael Lynton, NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer, producer Rob Reiner, super-agent Rick Rosen, producer Orly Adelson, former U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos, former White House decorator Michael Smith and attorney Michael Tuchin. Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, entered the governors race in November. Through the end of 2016, he raised $2.7 million, a respectable haul in a short time period when Democratic donors were reeling from the presidential election and distracted by the holidays. But his fundraising lags behind that of his top rivals, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang. So political observers will be scrutinizing his next financial disclosure report, which will cover the first six months of 2017. The fundraiser occurs 15 days before the fundraising period closes on June 30. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A delay on cap-and-trade vote would be a victory for Donald Trump, Gov. Jerry Browns office says By Chris Megerian (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Despite hesitance and resistance from state lawmakers, Gov. Jerry Brown is refusing to budge from his goal of reaching a deal next month to extend Californias cap-and-trade program. The latest tug-of-war on the issue came this week in an email exchange circulated among Capitol staff members and advocates working on climate change policies. Kip Lipper, an environmental advisor for Senate leadership, wrote in a Thursday email that there were no plans to take up a cap and trade reauthorization bill anytime soon. Echoing concerns that have percolated among lawmakers, Lipper said senators were gas tax weary about the possibility of another difficult vote after deciding to raise gas taxes to pay for road repairs earlier this year. The cap-and-trade program, which is a cornerstone of Californias fight against global warming, requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions and could boost the price of gasoline. With votes hard to come by, Lipper wrote, the issue should not be rushed. Camille Wagner, Browns legislative secretary, responded on Friday saying there was no reason to delay. Weve all been meeting for months on this issue, she wrote. We know the areas of agreement and disagreement now is the time to work through those. She added that NOTHING is more important than getting a deal as soon as possible. This is not a time for retreat or a time to give aid and comfort to Donald Trump by undermining a pillar of Californias bold program to arrest climate change, Wagner wrote. If Californias Cap and Trade falls because we fail to act, climate denial wins. Brown had already faced resistance to his push to reach a deal on cap and trade in June, when the state budget is due. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) previously said we dont have to extend it this year. The disagreement over the timeline for reaching a deal is only one of the disputes surrounding cap and trade. Assembly leaders have raised the possibility of pushing legislation with only a majority vote, an idea the governors office rejected. Brown wants a two-thirds vote to insulate cap and trade from legal challenges. There are also varied ideas about how the program should function in the future. Assembly legislation would modify cap and trade so it also targets local pollution, rather than just greenhouse gases. Senate legislation would make the program function more like a carbon tax. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement The effort to make tampons tax free in California has been delayed until 2018 By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Legislation to eliminate California sales taxes on the purchase of tampons was delayed Friday by the Assemblys fiscal committee until 2018, a blow to advocates who say the tax is an unfair burden on low-income women and families. The delay imposed on AB 9 is the second setback this month for efforts to eliminate taxes on products for women and children. A separate bill that included a tax-free provision for diapers was killed in a legislative committee on May 8. The bill that was held back on Friday, written by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), would have excluded tampons, sanitary napkins and other menstrual products from sales taxes. A legislative committee analysis estimated the proposal would reduce state general fund revenues by $10.5 million a year. Dozens of other bills with a cost to state government were killed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, while AB 9 was instead reclassified as a two-year bill, meaning it is eligible to be heard again in the second year of the legislative session. Gov. Jerry Brown last year rejected a similar measure that sought to make tampons tax-free, writing in his veto message that tax breaks are the same as new spending they both cost the general fund money. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Outside money spills into L.A. congressional race as election day nears By Christine Mai-Duc Spending by outside groups hoping to influence Los Angeles congressional race is picking up, with less than two weeks to go before the runoff for the 34th Congressional District. Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez and attorney Robert Lee Ahn, both Democrats, are competing to fill the former seat of Xavier Becerra in the June 6 election. Becerra stepped down months ago to become the states attorney general. Spending separate from the candidates campaigns is reaching into the six-figure range, with most of the outside money going to support Gomez, the heavy favorite of establishment Democrats. One group funded primarily by an Ahn donor, Citizens for a Better Government, has spent $40,264 on data, printing and postage for mailers, and $8,000 on treasury services to support Ahns bid. The Latino Victory Fund, which has endorsed Gomez, recently spent $29,640 on direct mail and $30,000 on phone banking and voter canvassing for the candidate. Billboard company Outfront Media LLC has spent $1,973 on billboards for him. Also backing Gomez is a group called Middle Class Values PAC. The group spent $19,653 on mailers supporting Gomez despite not having reported receiving any major contributions so far this year. The groups biggest donors last year were a handful of Nevada casino owners and developers, but most of that money appears to have been spent on Democrats running for Congress in Pennsylvania and Nevada. Outside spending in the 34th Congressional District race has been dwarfed by candidate spending. As of March 31, Gomez had spent $446,455 and Ahn had dropped about $767,315 on his run. New campaign finance figures from both candidates are due at midnight Friday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Browns budget team drops its hotly debated plans to redefine the states spending limit By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) With questions mounting about the legal justification for omitting some $22 billion in expenses from Californias long-standing spending cap, Gov. Jerry Browns administration dropped the plan Thursday while promising to work on the issue again later this year. Browns advisors told the Assembly Budget Committee that this could include some changes in state law to clarify the rules surrounding whats known as the Gann limit, a cap on state spending growth imposed by voters in 1979. The cap has rarely come into play in state budgeting in recent years, as it was loosened by a subsequent ballot measure in 1990. The governors administration said it continues to worry about how the law interacts with other mandates related to school funding. School financing has changed significantly since the limit was first established in 1979, said H.D. Palmer, Browns budget spokesman. Because of that, we continue to believe we need statutory clarifications related to these school funding changes. Legislative analysts warned lawmakers in April that the governor may have been overestimating how much room for spending was left under the cap, a dispute that continued for weeks while lawmakers began drafting plans for formal budget negotiations next month. Earlier this week, state senators again raised concerns about the complex estimates used to determine how much spending the Gann law would allow in the budget year that begins July 1. And they provided an analysis by the Legislatures lawyers that suggested Browns proposal could be unconstitutional. The spending limit is enforced over two fiscal years, which means Brown and lawmakers have time to reconcile different estimates. But absent changes similar to those advocated by the governor, a portion of future tax revenues would have to be split between schools and rebates to taxpayers. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Senate, Assembly advance their own plans on how to spend tobacco tax revenue By Melanie Mason (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Perhaps the biggest budget skirmish that remains unsolved this year is how California should spend revenue from the tobacco tax voters approved last fall. Gov. Jerry Brown wants to put that money to expand overall spending on Medi-Cal, which provides subsidized healthcare for the poor. But the some of initiatives backers, namely doctor and dental groups, have cried foul, arguing that money is meant to go to increasing payments for providers. Now, the Senate and Assembly are weighing in. In plans approved in their respective budget committees this week, both houses stray from Browns proposal to put the money toward general Medi-Cal costs and lay out their own ideas on how to divvy up the revenue. But while both houses reject Browns approach, there are key differences between their proposals. Most significantly, the Assembly would allocate all $1.1 billion in projected tax revenue in the next budget year. The Senate, meanwhile, would spend just under $350 million next year, gradually ramping up spending to $1.1 billion by fiscal year 2020-21. Both houses also would increase provider payments, but in different ways. The Assembly would put around $857 million toward once-yearly incentive payments to physicians and dentists that would be tied to their Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal caseloads. The Senate proposed putting $150 million next year to physician rate increases that would be targeted for those working in high-need areas and specialties. That number would increase in successive years, topping out at $700 million by 2020. The Senate also would put $130 million toward higher rates for dentists. The California Medical Assn., which has been pushing for higher reimbursement rates, praised both houses for including the higher rates, but group spokeswoman Joanne Adams noted that the current Legislature cannot tie the hands of a future governor or Legislature, indicating a preference toward the Assembly approach. Each house would allocate $50 million for reimbursement rates for family planning providers, a priority of Planned Parenthood. And both houses put money toward expanding Medi-Cal to cover young adults up to age 26 who are in the country illegally. The proposal builds on Californias policy of making children without legal status younger than 19 eligible for Medi-Cal, which went into effect last year. Anthony Wright, of the advocacy group Health Access, noted that by expanding coverage for those up to age 26, it would align with Obamacares policy of letting children stay on their parents health insurance until that age. This is a concrete and tangible way to show we are actually taking steps forward in expanding coverage, Wright said. The Brown administration estimates that around 130,000 people would be eligible for Medi-Cal under such a proposal, and such an expansion would cost the state just under $230 million. The Senate proposal would put around $63 million toward that expansion in the upcoming budget year and around $85 million in subsequent years. The Assembly would put $54 million toward the plan. The Brown administration did not take a position on the Medi-Cal expansion proposal, but H.D. Palmer, spokesman for Browns Department of Finance, noted that the Senate was using higher revenue projections than Browns plan, which allows legislators to propose more funding. Palmer said the administration was sticking with its original proposal to use tobacco tax dollars for general Medi-Cal spending. The budgets proposal for Prop. 56 will provide increased funding for healthcare programs and services in a way thats consistent with the measure that voters approved last fall, Palmer said. ------------ FOR THE RECORD May 25, 2017, 4:58 p.m.: A previous version of this article reported that both houses were using higher revenue projections than Gov. Browns budget proposal. The Senate is using higher projections; the Assembly is using the same estimates as the Brown administration. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California chief justice says she stands by her decision to speak out against Trumps immigration actions By Jazmine Ulloa California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Thursday said she stands by her position that courthouses should be areas where immigration arrests should not occur. Cantil-Sakauye, a former prosecutor who rose through the judicial ranks as an appointee of Republican governors, drew national attention in March after she blasted the federal governments expanded immigration actions, among which she said included stalking immigrants at courthouses. Speaking at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon on Thursday, she said the Supreme Court chambers fielded an outpouring of calls and letters after her comments. Some were profane and angry, from residents living outside the state. Others came from supporters. At Sac Press Club luncheon, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye said she fielded lots of anger, support after courthouse enforcement remarks. pic.twitter.com/6OBrZOfI45 Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) May 25, 2017 Many said that as a judge, she should not wade into politics. U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly admonished her in a letter, spurring California state leaders to respond in defense of state policies. On Thursday, Cantil-Sakauye stood by her decision to denounce the actions, saying, If I couldnt speak out as chief justice, I dont know who could. Courthouses in California have numerous programs to encourage people to come forward and ask questions, seek services and mediate issues, Cantil-Sakauye said. If we have a segment [of the population] that is afraid to come, then we are looking at no access to justice, [and] potentially public safety issues, which is antithetical to what the justice system exists for, she said. To me, it is a safe zone, and I ask that courthouses be placed on par with school districts and hospitals and churches. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Darrell Issa says the federal employee insurance program should be expanded to all Americans By Sarah D. Wire Though it wasnt included in the House Republicans healthcare bill, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) still believes Americans should have access to the same insurance plans federal employees pick from, and hes hoping the Senate will embrace the idea. In a letter Thursday, Issa asked the Senate Health Care Working Group to consider opening the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program to more, or all, Americans. Its a national insurance idea thats persisted since the program began in 1960, and a proposal Issa has pitched before. The program allows more than 8 million current and retired federal employees across the country to shop among hundreds of health insurance plans and then apply their employer contribution to whatever plan they choose. Private insurance companies have pulled out of several state insurance marketplaces, where people whose employers dont offer insurance can purchase insurance using a federal subsidy. That leaves people with fewer health insurance choices, a common complaint cited by Republicans as a reason to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Its choice. If the government can maximize choice to you and then subsidize where appropriate based on need, then weve met the two bases for government involvement, Issa said. Issa voted for the American Health Care Act, the GOP bill to roll back much of Obamacare that passed May 4 without Democratic support, but he stresses that he did so just to keep momentum. One of the reasons I voted for this in the House was to keep the process alive so we could do reform, Issa said. Leveraging business models that work is the goal that somebody like me wants to do. Find out what works and invest in it, find out what doesnt work and fix it or abandon it. On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office said the bill as passed by the House would cause 23 million fewer people to have health insurance by 2026. The budget office, which Congress relies on to analyze the complex legislation, projected that many additional consumers would see skimpier health coverage and higher deductibles. The Senate has essentially said it will write its own version of the bill. Issas letter to his Senate colleagues also urges members to protect people with preexisting conditions, safeguard coverage for people with mental illnesses and protect people near retirement age from a spike in their premiums. Theres still more to be done. This bill is going to be about compromise, and a down payment on change, Issa said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate President Kevin de Leon is busy raising campaign funds but for what office? By Phil Willon Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) stirred up speculation about a possible run for governor or U.S. Senate when he released a slickly produced video just before the California Democratic Partys convention last weekend, but he has remained coy about his future political plans. That doesnt mean he isnt padding his campaign war chest, though. De Leon has two fundraisers lined up in Los Angeles in June, presumably for his 2018 campaign for California lieutenant governor. The question is whether De Leon actually will run for lieutenant governor. In the past, he has said he hasnt made a decision. He has also given his supporters the go-ahead to endorse state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), a longtime political ally, in the race. De Leons campaign account for lieutenant governor had $1.7 million in the bank at the end of last year. He raised close to a half-million this year, according to state political financial disclosure reports. The first fundraiser in June is being hosted by veteran Hollywood executive Peter Guber and his wife, Tara, in Bel Air on June 8, with suggested contributions ranging from $500 to $2,500. The second is in late June at the Palm in Los Angeles. The fundraiser is hosted by Craig Darian, CEO of the Occidental Entertainment Group, and his wife, Kimberly, as well as Albert Sweet, the founder of the company. The suggested donations are the same as for the earlier fundraiser. De Leon made history in 2014 when he was selected by his colleagues as the first Latino to lead the California Senate. The tenure has been marked by significant action on climate change, immigration and gun control. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Volkswagens clean car plan falls short in low-income neighborhoods, California regulators say By Chris Megerian (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press) State regulators have asked Volkswagen to revise its plan to invest in zero emission technology in California, a victory for critics who said the automaker wasnt doing enough in disadvantaged communities. The investment plan, which will total $800 million over 10 years, is part of Volkswagens obligation under a multi-billion settlement for evading pollution rules. California, which is struggling to get enough zero emission vehicles on the road to meet its goals, is eager to move forward, wrote Air Resources Board Executive Officer Richard Corey in a Wednesday letter to Electrify America, a Volkswagen subsidiary. However, Corey wrote, we need more information on how the company will meet its target of spending 35% of its investment in disadvantaged communities, a target set by state regulators in hopes of broadening the adoption of electric vehicles. Corey also asked Electrify America to consider supporting hydrogen fueling stations, rather than just electric chargers. Once the company submits an updated version of its plan, state regulators will consider whether to approve it. Electrify America said it is reviewing the letter. Dean Florez, a member of the Air Resources Board, said the original investment plan had significant holes and included no real investment in disadvantaged communities. He praised the decision to request revisions and said the board should hold VWs feet to the fire. This story has been updated with additional comments. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Lawmakers scrap effort to make it easier to pass local transportation taxes By John Myers An effort to boost the chances of local ballot measures raising taxes for transportation needs was quietly killed Thursday in the state Capitol. The proposal, which would have ultimately required changing the California Constitution through a statewide vote, was in response to the high hurdle set decades ago for local taxes earmarked for specific projects. Those kinds of taxes in cities and counties require two-thirds of the vote. The constitutional amendment by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would have lowered the vote threshold to 55% of ballots cast for any transportation proposal. Wiener argued the long list of local transportation projects lacking funds wont completely be erased by the $52-billion transportation plan signed into law last month. And he pointed specifically to examples like a transportation tax plan in the Bay Area last year that garnered 62% of the vote still slightly shy of the two-thirds mandate. While the effort can be brought back before lawmakers adjourn the current session in the summer of 2018, Thursdays action represented a major setback for transportation groups and labor unions that supported it. The measure was opposed by business and anti-tax advocates. Wiener said he intends to re-introduce the measure in the coming weeks. We must improve and expand transportation throughout our state, which has suffered from decades of underfunding, he said in a written statement. Update 1:29 p.m. This story was modified with additional information regarding constitutional amendments and the legislative process. Update 4:10 p.m. This story was updated with comment from Sen. Wiener. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sex offenders will not be banned without exception from school grounds after state bill is shelved By Jazmine Ulloa State Sen. Connie M. Leyva, right. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The state Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday shelved a bill that would have banned all registered sex offenders from school campuses without exception. Senate Bill 26 by Sen. Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) would have made it a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to enter any school building or grounds without lawful business. State laws keep registered sex offenders from living near schools. But those who have not been convicted of having sex with a minor under age 16 can visit or volunteer with groups or organizations that work with children if they give proper notice, and are granted permission. They cannot work directly with children. The committee advanced another bill by Leyva that would extend benefits under the Safe at Home initiative to former victims of forced prostitution or labor. Senate Bill 597, introduced with Secretary of State Alex Padilla, passed with a unanimous 7-0 vote. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Measure to help California students refinance private loans is shelved By Melanie Mason State Treasurer John Chiang, a candidate for governor, is behind a new effort to help people with student debt refinance their loans. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A measure to help Californians saddled with student debt refinance their student loans was shelved in a key fiscal committee on Thursday. The measure by state Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica) was touted as a way for the state to coax private lenders to offer more favorable interest. The proposal would have carried a $25-million price tag. We will continue to push for sensible solutions to the student loan crisis that provide real relief to the millions of Californians saddled with too much debt, Allen said in a statement. State Treasurer John Chiang, a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, had championed the bill, SB 674, as a way to try to get [Californians] out of debt as quickly as possible. College graduation is supposed to be synonymous with opportunity and prosperity and not a detour into a modern-day debtors prison, Chiang said in a statement. Although I am disappointed SB 674 will not be moving forward, I will continue to use my position as the states banker to invest in Californias young people and its future with innovative solutions that will make it more financially feasible to obtain a higher education, he added. 3:58 p.m.: This article was updated to add comments from Sen. Benjamin Allen and Treasurer John Chiang. This article was originally published at 11:17 a.m. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Where bills go to die: Lawmakers begin clearing the suspense file with hundreds of measures in limbo By John Myers (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) From a sales tax exemption on tampons to healthcare rules and marijuana regulation, a massive stack of proposed laws faces a major deadline Friday morning at the state Capitol. To survive, they must clear whats known as the suspense file -- the place where bills that would cost taxpayers money are held in legislative limbo. By law, bills with a fiscal impact must be sent to the floor of the Assembly and Senate by the close of business on Friday. That means its decision time for more than 800 pieces of legislation. The Senates fiscal committee will decide the fate of bills on Thursday; the Assembly will do so on Friday. Bills are generally sent to the suspense file if their projected cost to the state is $150,000 or more. The procedural move was widely used during Californias deficit years as a way for lawmakers to weigh the pros and cons of proposals in light of limited resources. But government watchdog groups have long pointed out that the clearing of the suspense file ends up hiding some of the legislative sausage-making from public view. Thats because bills that dont clear Fridays hurdle are essentially killed without a recorded vote. And neither chamber offers any explanation for why those bills were killed. Decisions on the fate of the suspense file are made in private, hours or days before the public hearing. In the Assembly, the appropriations committee chairperson will simply tell the public that a decision has been made to hold the bill. In the Senate committee, killed legislation wont even be mentioned during Thursdays hearing. That means that no one will know for sure whether a bill is really killed because of its price tag or its politics. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Formal apology sought after U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters was cut off during state convention speech By Jazmine Ulloa (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) In my 20 years as a Democratic Party leader, I have never experienced such the type of behavior as I did at the Sacramento Convention hall on Saturday evening. Darren Parker, longtime chairman of the African American Caucus The California Democratic Party African American Caucus is asking the state party for a formal apology to U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters and its members for what it called disrespect by a private subcontractor at its weekend state convention. Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat known for her comments on President Trump, had been speaking at a caucus meeting during the event Saturday night when the sound to her microphone was cut off. SEE THE VIDEO OF WATERS SPEECH> Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California sees a rebound in cap-and-trade auction, bolstering key climate change program By Chris Megerian (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) State regulators announced strong results from Californias cap-and-trade program on Wednesday, spurring analysts and supporters to say the system remains solid despite questions about its political future. The program requires oil refineries, food processors, power plants and other facilities to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly all of the permits offered by the state in its latest auction were purchased, generating an estimated $500 million in revenue. Thats a shift from other recent auctions, where most of the permits went unsold, reducing revenue that state leaders have counted on for (File photo) LOS ANGELES, May. 30, (Xinhua) -- The launching of a missile from California Tuesday afternoon in a test meant to intercept an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) over the Pacific was a success, a U.S. official said. In this test, U.S. first fired a ballistic missile with a mock warhead from Marshall Island, located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and then launched an interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, 250 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles. The last time the U.S. launched an intercept test was in June, 2014. But the U.S. officials downplayed the timing of the successful launch, occurring just days after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) test fired its third intercontinental ballistic missile in a week and the ninth test so far this year. The test launch was planned last year in preparation for any DPRK intercontinental ballistic missile strike, the officials said. "It represent the longest intercept test of a target to date in the program," said Vice Adm. James Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, at a press conference Monday. Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis was quoted as saying that U.S. military could improve and learn from each test. "The system that we test today is a developmental system that's being flown for the first time," he told ABC before the test, "We look forward to understanding the results so we continue to mature the system and stay ahead of the threat." Six months after President Trump breached long-standing political boundaries to win the White House, the nations major political parties still muddle in his wake. On the sun-swept lawn of the Hotel del Coronado two weeks ago, national Republican leaders sipped cocktails and listened to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, one of the partys brightest lights in the most populous state, praise a brand of moderate Republicanism that looks nothing like the versions coming out of Washington either the populism of the president or the more orthodox conservatism of congressional leaders. A week later, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez talked in a Sacramento interview of the remarkably constructive debate under way in his party, characterizing its divisions as largely in the past. Within hours, he and other party leaders were booed as they welcomed delegates to a state convention that would be filled with persistent internal warfare on healthcare and other issues. Advertisement No political party is immune to disagreement; indeed the path to power often relies on combustible ideological diversity. But Democrats and Republicans alike seem particularly adrift and quarrelsome these days. Part of the reason is the magnetic power of Trump, who has attracted Republicans and repelled Democrats with such force that the parties often seem to be defined solely in relation to him, for or against. That has left both parties images blurry rather than sharp. Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist who ran Arizona Sen. John McCains 2008 presidential campaign, sees both parties as having left their anchorages without new destinations in sight. The political parties have become divorced from their ideological roots; we saw that in the last election, he said. The Republican Party has become unmoored from the intellectual foundation of conservatism. Democrats are divorced from the realities of working people in their party, badly out of step. Both, he said are held in contempt, as they should be. Indeed, a poll published in April by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found Americans viewing both parties in a more negative light than three months earlier. Only 40% of Americans had a favorable view of Republicans, down from 47% in January. Forty-five percent of Americans had a positive view of Democrats, down from 51% in January. For Republicans, the path to full control of Washington led to the partys divisions. Republicans seized the Senate and House by electing candidates driven by differing emphases: tea party ardor, pro-business tax-cutting fervor or culturally conservative social views. (What was once a Republican orthodoxy, rigorous opposition to deficit spending, has mostly been lost). House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has pressed tax cuts that primarily benefit wealthy Americans and cuts to programs for the less well-off, including support for the poor or sick, and reforms to Social Security. Trump came into office advocating the opposite: protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and spending on infrastructure. That view was embraced by his target audiences, voters in the industrial Midwest and Northeast who had previously sided with Democrats. Trump since has leaned in the direction of congressional Republicans on healthcare and the budget, to the point that his budget has been criticized by some centrist Republicans as too draconian. Trumps supporters, of course, see his singular ideology as the way the party should go. It would be hard to say that Donald Trump isnt the Republican Party, said Ron Ferrance, GOP county chairman in Luzerne County in northeast Pennsylvania, which voted for President Obama in 2012 and flipped to Trump last November. Trumps version of Republicanism is so popular in that economically stressed county that voters still have Trump signs in their yards, Ferrance said. Some of the appeal centers on Trumps deviation from the partys traditional stances on issues such as trade and immigration. The main thing that people want in our area is to put America first and to feel safe, he said. Hes going to deliver that. Thats going to give him the buoyancy in 2020. Across the country in California, however, Mayor Faulconer argued for a Republican Party that sticks to jobs and sets aside hotter issues. He suggested although he was not indiscreet enough to say so outright that it was the only path forward in areas where Republicans are not already dominant. In an interview, Faulconer touted his citys close business ties with nearby Tijuana hardly the build the wall message emanating from the president. Asked about the discrepancy, Faulconer said that the areas Latino community helps define us. Good quality jobs for both sides of the border, he said. That works for us. Democrats have no clearly defined leader or universally accepted direction aside from opposition to Trump. Democrats essentially remain in the box where Hillary Clinton spent the general election: able to unify Trump opponents, but unable to craft a message for those not motivated by distaste for him. The Democrats are closer to where the electorate is headed, but have shown a tin ear and an inability to understand the groups that formed the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades, said veteran Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart. The deepest Democratic schisms involve whether to focus on liberal social issues or the economic struggles of blue-collar and middle-class Americans. During the presidential campaign, many voters saw the party as more intent on social issues, an image disputed by Democrats but pushed by Republicans. The Democratic Party, especially the presidential campaign, lost its core economic message last year; Trump sort of outmaneuvered us among Democrats and independents, said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper, who has spent the last few months in what he calls kitchen conversations with voters. Supporting the civil rights of Democratic voter groups is admirable, he said, but we cant let them bait us into getting away from our core message and I think that does happen. Party leaders in interviews expressed concern that the lesson may not have been learned. Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., and an unsuccessful candidate this year to head the Democratic National Committee, pointed to the issue of trade. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) energized a wide swath of Democrats by blaming trade deals for gutting jobs in the Midwest. That does not reflect reality, the mayor said, even if the idea has been embraced by many Democrats. Weve got a lot of wins on the board from globalization, he said of his city. Weve got auto workers making Mercedes cars that are sold to China. Globalization doesnt have to be a disaster for working people. But what could be disasters, he said, are seemingly unimportant economic developments touted by the partys more elite factions, such as ride-sharing and driverless vehicles. The first threatens demand for cars, the second threatens demand for drivers, a significant employment option for blue-collar workers. Nobody in the political space is wrestling with it, he said. Perez, the national Democratic chairman, has spent months traveling the country to buck up Democrats with a relentless focus on what he sees as Trumps failings. Yet he sees his own partys failings as well. Just fighting against Donald Trump isnt enough, and Ive heard that clearly from voters, he said. Ive heard from voters that they dont know what the Democratic Party stands for and thats why were out there. What it stands for, he says, is economic opportunity, good jobs for everyone, ladders of opportunity for everyone healthcare a right for all, not a privilege for the few. When we get out there and fight for those values, thats how we succeed. But divisions persist over those very issues. In the weeks leading to special House elections this spring, party activists feuded over whether candidates were supportive enough of abortion rights or populist enough in their economic leanings. At town halls, veteran Democrats such as California Sen. Dianne Feinstein were excoriated by more liberal Democrats for not supporting universal healthcare. (She favors repairing Obamacare.) At a Los Angeles town hall meeting featuring California Sen. Kamala Harris, Kristin Morley, a real estate agent from Valley Village, said she feared that clashes among Democrats would doom the party in coming elections by dissuading some from showing up to vote. In some activist groups to which she belongs, even the popular Harris has been sharply criticized for warning against ideological litmus tests, she said, adding: I am terrified by the fact that there is such division in the Democratic Party. cathleen.decker@latimes.com Twitter: @cathleendecker ALSO: For Democrats in California, a generational shift pulls the party left, with danger and opportunity ahead Rep. Adam Schiff calls for unity in speech that suggests ambitions for himself The latest from Washington Updates on California politics Republicans in the state of Washington didnt wait long in the spring of 1995 to fulfill their pledge to roll back a sweeping law expanding health coverage in the state. Coming off historic electoral gains, the GOP legislators scrapped much of the law while pledging to make health insurance affordable and to free state residents from onerous government mandates. It didnt work out that way: The repeal left the states insurance market in shambles, sent premiums skyrocketing and drove health insurers from the state. It took nearly five years to repair the damage. Advertisement Two decades later, the ill-fated experiment, largely relegated to academic journals, offers a caution to lawmakers at the national level as Republicans in the U.S. Senate race to write a bill to repeal and replace the federal Affordable Care Act. Its much easier to break something, said Pam MacEwan, who served on a Washington state commission charged with implementing the law in the mid-1990s and now oversees the state insurance market there. Its more difficult to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. And thats when people get hurt. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office echoed that warning last week, when it concluded that the healthcare bill passed by the House last month would destabilize insurance markets in a sixth of the country and nearly double the number of people without health insurance over the next decade. Senate Republican leaders contend that their legislation will be different. Were working to lower the costs and give people more personal, individual freedom, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said last week. Obamacare vs. Trumpcare: A side-by-side comparison of the Affordable Care Act and the GOPs replacement plan There were similar assurances in the Washington statehouse when legislators there began to pull apart the Washington Health Services Act in the mid-1990s. We will do everything we can to stop the government healthcare bureaucracy that is now poised to limit personal choices, Clyde Ballard, the Republican speaker of the Washington House of Representatives, said at the time. The Health Services Act, which Democratic Gov. Mike Lowry signed in May 1993, was an ambitious effort to overhaul the state healthcare system by guaranteeing residents health insurance and putting new government controls on rising healthcare costs. It was designed to complement the national healthcare overhaul that President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton were pursuing at the time. Washington state prohibited insurers from denying coverage to consumers, even if they were sick, a revolutionary protection then. A state commission was empowered to clamp down on insurance premiums to limit increases. And to get all Washingtonians covered, the state became the first in the nation to both require residents to have coverage and to require employers to offer health benefits. The law was controversial from its inception, as major business groups and insurers balked at its many new regulations. Just a few Republicans joined Democrats in the state Legislature to pass the legislation. Within a few months, it became clear that there would be problems implementing it, in part because the state couldnt secure necessary federal approval to require employers to provide coverage. We had to reform the reform, said Phil Dyer, a Republican who would help lead the repeal effort as chairman of the Senate health committee. GOP legislative candidates railed against the law on the campaign trail in 1994. And that fall, the party picked up 30 seats, taking control of the House and coming within one seat of taking the Senate. When the new Legislature convened in 1995, GOP lawmakers set about pulling apart the law, bringing along Democrats who feared Republicans would repeal it through a ballot measure if they didnt cooperate. The hastily crafted repeal which the Legislature sent to the governor in three months kept some popular parts of the law such as the guarantee that everyone could get coverage, even if they were sick. It scrapped parts voters didnt like, including the requirement that state residents have health insurance. The states insurance market started teetering soon afterward. First, health insurers sought a series of double-digit rate hikes in 1995 and 1996. The health plans warned that with no requirement to have coverage, people were signing up for insurance only when they got sick, sending costs skyrocketing. Then, in November 1998, Premera Blue Cross, one of the states leading insurers, announced it would stop selling health plans, citing more than $100 million in losses. Regence and Group Health Cooperative, the states other two leading plans, quickly followed. This was a crisis, former Gov. Gary Locke said in a recent interview. It was totally unacceptable. Locke, a Democrat elected in 1996, brought together insurance executives, state legislators and others, who began meeting regularly to try to salvage the market. The rescue effort took until 2000. That year, state lawmakers passed legislation allowing insurers to once again screen out sick customers and reestablishing a special government high-risk pool plan for those who couldnt get health coverage because of a preexisting medical condition. Even those who worked on the rescue package acknowledge it was an imperfect solution. When President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, 1 in 7 Washington state residents still lacked health coverage, according to federal data. Today, the uninsured rate in the state has been cut in half, thanks to the federal healthcare law. Obamacare not only guarantees coverage, it requires Americans to have insurance. The law also provides federal money to help states offer Medicaid coverage to very low-income Americans. And it funds subsidies for low- and moderate-income people to offset the cost of private health plans they can buy on insurance marketplaces. Washingtons Obamacare marketplace, which the state runs itself, has done better than most, though even its defenders acknowledge that more must be done to control premiums, which have risen dramatically for some consumers in recent years. But many state leaders, including former insurance executives, caution that congressional Republicans rushing to roll back Obamacare risk sowing the same kind of chaos that crippled Washington states insurance market two decades ago. Thats what scares me, warned Cheryl Scott, the former chief executive of Group Health Cooperative, who worked with the governor to rescue the market in the late 1990s. If were not careful, we are going to be repeating history. Obamacare 101: A primer on key issues in the debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. noam.levey@latimes.com @noamlevey ALSO With healthcare in turmoil, Senate Republicans are under pressure to buck Trump GOP health bill would raise deductibles, lessen coverage and leave 23 million more uninsured, analysis finds California shows why the Republican plan to rely on states to replace Obamacare may not work Indications from White House officials that President Trump was heading toward pulling the U.S. out of the Paris accord on climate change set off a worldwide reaction Wednesday, continuing the public drama around a decision that has been agonized and untidy even by the standards of a White House known for palace intrigue. The day began with officials telling news organizations that Trump had settled on pulling out of the climate agreement, generating a reaction in which people around the world jumped in to try to influence or spin his decision, from European leaders to the coal industry to the state of California. That offered a foretaste of the reaction Trump likely will receive if he does follow through on his vow to pull the United States out of the 195-signatory pact, which President Obama hailed in 2015 as one of his major achievements. Advertisement Already, other nations have moved to take over the leadership role on climate that the United States would be abandoning. Some states have followed suit, promising they would break with Washington to work with other countries in their efforts to contain global warming. It cannot stand; its not right, California Gov. Jerry Brown said of the potential Trump move away from the agreement. California will do everything it can not only to stay the course but to build more support in other states, other provinces and with other countries, the Democratic governor, who has played a leading role on the issue, said in an interview. All the public lobbying moved Trump to weigh in himself. In a Twitter message, he knocked down the early reports that he had already decided to withdraw. Later, he told reporters at a White House event that he would make a decision very soon. Im hearing from a lot of people, both ways. Both ways, he said. White House officials were still scrambling to map out options this week. One possibility, backed by Trumps most conservative advisors, would be to fully withdraw from the agreement. Another option would be to keep the U.S. involved, but have Trump announce that he will cut back the U.S. commitment to take action against climate change. The latter option is favored by some advisors, who say it would maintain a U.S. seat in worldwide climate negotiations while still allowing Trump to declare he has kept his promise to scrap the deal. The debate over the Paris agreement has split Trumps administration. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt and White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon have advocated withdrawing from the agreement, arguing that if the U.S. remains part of the accord, environmental groups might be able to use it to shield Obama administration policies on global warming that the current administration opposes. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Trumps daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump have argued for staying with the agreement in some fashion. On Trumps trip to Europe last week, he was heavily lobbied by allied leaders to keep the U.S. part of the accord. If Trump does withdraw the U.S. fully from the Paris pact, scientists warn it will be a significant setback to the worldwide effort to prevent temperatures from rising by more than an average of 2 degrees Celsius (or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. The consequences for the United States would extend beyond global warming. It will be a very big deal all over the world, said Todd Stern, the lead U.S. climate negotiator during the Obama administration. There will be consequential blowback with respect to our diplomatic position across the board. The European Union and China moved quickly to signal that they will persist in the climate fight, regardless of what the United States does. They are expected to reaffirm their commitment to the Paris agreement at a meeting Friday in Brussels between EU Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Whatever Trump decides, we expect that the EU and China will adopt this statement and press ahead, said a European official familiar with the preparations for the summit, speaking anonymously in accordance with EU practice. The prime ministers of Spain and India emerged from talks in Madrid to announce they were unwavering in their commitment. And European diplomats are raising the prospect that climate-related trade sanctions against the U.S. could be on the horizon. China and the EU would be eager to fill the leadership vacuum created by a U.S. exit, as they aggressively reorient their economies around green energy and look to exert greater global influence on its expansion. Our climate action strategy represents an opportunity to attract investment, innovation and develop new green technologies, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said in a statement. We have got the talent and the will to make this possible in all sectors. U.S. companies anxious about the prospect of withdrawal have been warning Trump against it. Most large firms, including the big oil and gas companies Trump says would get a boost from withdrawal, have encouraged the president to stay in the pact. Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk, who has faced heated criticism from progressives for serving on White House advisory councils, wrote on Twitter that he will have no choice but to resign that role if Trump quits Paris. The last time the U.S. pulled out of such a pact was at the start of the presidency of George W. Bush, who withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol. The move was met with international condemnation. But exiting from the Paris agreement would be far more significant, as the pact has broader international buy-in. Democrats and environmentalists warned that an exit from the Paris accord would be reckless and ultimately hurt the U.S. Some noted that no other country has said it would join the U.S. in withdrawing or reducing its commitment. Only two nations, Nicaragua and Syria, have declined to join the Paris agreement. Breaking our commitment to the Paris climate agreement will leave our country isolated and ill-prepared for the challenges we face, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said in a statement. The process of fully leaving the agreement is complicated and could take several years. It would not be until October 2020, near the end of Trumps current term, that the United States could fully withdraw under the terms of the deal. An alternative, more drastic, route would be to pull out of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, which the Paris agreement is built on top of. The U.S. joined the framework in 1992. Withdrawing from it could be difficult, however, because, unlike the Paris agreement, the framework was considered a treaty and was ratified by the Senate. As Trump mulls what to do, California and several other states with robust clean energy policies are putting out word they will only intensify their climate efforts, which combined would have more impact on climate change than the steps taken by most of the nations that have signed the Paris accord. That is a point not lost on European nations. Do President Trumps America first stances cede U.S. global authority? If they decide to pull out, it would be disappointing, but I really dont think this would change the course of mankind, said European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic. He noted that city, state and business leaders across the U.S. recognize the economic opportunities presented by increasing production of renewable energy and transitioning economies to cleaner technologies. Gov. Brown, who is leading a large coalition of countries, states and cities that have pledged to confront climate change even more aggressively than is called for by the Paris accord, has repeatedly emphasized that economic case for combating climate change. He will cement his role as the de facto leader of U.S. climate efforts while in China next week to attend the coalitions summit. And even as the White House mapped out its possible exit strategy Wednesday, the California state Senate was passing a bill that would move the state to 100% renewable energy by 2045. Trump is going against science. Hes going against reality, the governor said. We cant stand by and give aid and comfort to that. Times staff writer John Myers in Sacramento contributed to this report. evan.halper@latimes.com Twitter: @evanhalper alexandra.zavis@latimes.com Twitter: @alexzavis ALSO In President Trumps wake, divisions mark both Democratic and Republican parties Two decades ago, Washington state Republicans repealed and replaced a healthcare overhaul. It didnt end well Trump favors personal connections in his foreign policy White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sparred with reporters about fake news, their anonymous sources and erroneous coverage of President Trump on Tuesday until, before long, hed had enough. He abruptly left the press podium as reporters continued shouting questions. The 30-minute televised encounter vividly portrayed the strained relations between the administration and much of the news media a tension at the center of the latest White House efforts to shake up the staff in hopes of changing the presidents standing with the public. Spicers barbs echoed the views of his boss, who blames what he considers unfair coverage by biased reporters for helping push his public approval ratings to historic lows. But Trump also blames his aides, and on Tuesday the White House announced the first of what are expected to be several staff changes the resignation of his communications director. Advertisement Some former Trump advisors say he is right to blame those who work for him. This group has never been a team, said Barry Bennett, who worked in a lobbying business with Trumps former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski for several months after the election and still has ties to staffers inside the White House. Other political veterans, however, say the key hurdle in getting out a coherent and effective message is not the staff, but the president himself. He has routinely undercut the messages his aides have designed, often with a single tweet that overturns hours of carefully crafted White House spin. And perhaps no changes of staff can change that. The White House announced the departure of communications director Mike Dubke amid intense speculation that other moves are afoot. In a statement, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Dubke had offered his resignation two weeks ago, before Trump left for an eight-day foreign trip, but that Dubke would stay on to help an unnamed replacement with a transition. Spicer, who has become a household name after being mercilessly spoofed on Saturday Night Live, is expected to assume a diminished public role while some of Trumps former political advisors form a so-called war room in the White House. The war room would push back more aggressively against reports about the FBI investigation into whether Trumps campaign colluded with the Russian government, as well as against other leaks, many from inside the White House, that have embarrassed Trump since he won election. This is a battle, Bennett said. Its going to be a slog. Bennett said he expected Lewandowski, who became well-known for shoving a reporter and was fired as Trumps campaign manager, to pair with David Bossie, another top campaign figure, to form the internal White House crisis team that would be unleashed on cable news to defend Trump. Bossie became known decades ago as a top Republican warrior against Bill and Hillary Clinton. Yet even as Spicer gave his best defense Tuesday, he reinforced the common belief that the White House communications strategy starts and ends with the president, for better or worse better, in Spicers telling, and not so much in many others view. Ultimately, the best messenger is the president himself, Spicer said, in an oft-used phrase. Hes always proven that. That idea, and the presidents seeming obsession with how hes portrayed on cable television news, has forced Spicer and others who speak on Trumps behalf to tailor their remarks to an audience of one their boss in a way thats unusual for a White House. Spicer devoted a third of Tuesdays 30-minute briefing to recounting Trumps trip to the Middle East and Europe in superlative terms, using the word historic six times, quoting an Israeli publication that credited Trump with carrying out a semi-revolution in Middle East policy in the short space of three days, and approvingly citing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, who is widely disparaged for his human rights abuses, for calling Trump a unique personality that is capable of doing the impossible. Even as Trump demands a steady flow of praise and positive coverage, he repeatedly has undermined his staff in ways that produce more negative attention contradicting their explanations for critical stories, tweeting anonymously sourced articles after condemning the use of anonymous sources and seemingly confirming that Spicer and others who speak on his behalf are sometimes inaccurate. For a guy like Donald Trump who makes his own policy based on watching Fox News and getting this Twitter feed up, that is nearly an impossible task for a communications shop, said Reed Galen, a Republican strategist who worked in the George W. Bush White House. Every single day is in cleanup mode or fire drill mode, Galen said. Just Tuesday, pushing back against reports of his and his associates ties to Russia, Trump tweeted a Fox News article that relied on an anonymous source. That made Spicers critique of anonymous sources during his briefing problematic, opening himself and the similarly oft-critical Trump to reporters suggestions of hypocrisy. That was hardly the only time that Trump has stepped on his staffs efforts to defend him. When Trump fired FBI director James B. Comey, the White House staff explained that Comeys dismissal was on the recommendation of Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who cited Comeys handling of the FBI investigation last year into Hillary Clintons private email system. The firing had nothing to do with the Russia story, they insisted. But then Trump told NBC News Lester Holt that he would have fired Comey regardless of Rosensteins recommendation and that the Russia investigation was on his mind when he did it. And after criticism that the White House had changed its story, Trump responded in a way that further undercut his communicators: As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy! Trump tweeted. Trump, the first elected president who had served in neither government nor the military, arrived at the White House without the usual cadre of experienced and trusted loyalists that forms an operations staff. He has run the White House like his businesses, without formal structure or deference to government norms and tradition and relying heavily on friends and family. Even top advisors like Stephen K. Bannon and Kellyanne Conway have not known Trump for long. Many on his communications staff followed Priebus and Spicer from the Republican National Committee, where Priebus was chairman and Spicer his spokesman, and that party organizations electoral support for Trump, an outsider who bashed the GOP, was long in question. Its a hard job even when you are close to the president and have the trust of the president, said one longtime GOP operative who spoke in the condition of anonymity to describe internal party discussions. No one has that right now. All the talk of replacing staff at the White House comes as the Trump administration in general is flush with vacancies that need to be filled. But Republicans say Trump is unwilling to hire people whose loyalty he questions and some establishment figures are unwilling to join the administration. Another political operative with ties to the president said helping him succeed requires coming to terms with the fact that Trump will not alter his style. Dont think you can change things, he said, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about internal workings of the White House. Figure out how you can make it better. noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @noahbierman brian.bennett@latimes.com Twitter: @ByBrianBennett ALSO Rep. Adam Schiff went to the Trump White House. It got weird Pentagon successfully tests missile defense system amid rising concerns about North Korea Trump lashes out at Germany over NATO spending and trade after Merkel questions the U.S. commitment to its allies Those of us on the West Coast generally dont see the regular morning tweets from President Trump until we wake up and grab our smartphones for a dose of political reality. Things were quiet during Trumps overseas trip. But now that hes back, the jolt is back. Good morning from the state capital. Im Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers, and its clear that the president has some things to get off his chest. Advertisement Hes also making changes in his communications team, after weeks of pounding questions about the Russia investigation. JABS AT GERMANY The president began Tuesdays Twitter assault by criticizing the trade practices of Germany, as well as the countrys defense spending. The comments came after comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the European power may no longer be able to rely on its allies. (And only later did we hear that Trump has been handing out his cell phone number to world leaders.) Then there was a rare late-night tweet Tuesday, with a cryptic message: Despite the constant negative press covfefe. Of course #covfefe became the top-trending term. By Wednesday morning, the tweet had been deleted. The president tweeted a challenge of sorts: Who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe ??? Enjoy! In between the president creating social media buzz, the press secretary got his turn too. SPICER VS. PRESS CORPS As its been so many times before, the daily press briefing quickly turned testy between reporters and Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary. The sparring included whether Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and top advisor, had tried to establish a private line of communication with Russian officials, and on the definition of fake news. All of that was on the heels of news that Mike Dubke, the presidents still relatively new communications director, had resigned. In a statement, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Dubke had offered his resignation two weeks ago, before Trump left for his eight-day foreign trip. SCHIFF ON RUSSIA, AND THAT WEIRD WHITE HOUSE VISIT It was more about Russia than the United States. Thats the view of Burbank Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff on the real motivation of alleged Russian meddling in the presidential election. In a Tuesday speech at UC Irvine, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said that the Kremlin was actively trying to undermine American democracy and sow discord as a way to prop up the authoritarian regime in Moscow. Meantime, weve now got a little clearer look at Schiffs unusual trip to the White House during the peak of the storm in March about classified documents and accusations of wiretapping. As Phil Willon reports, it was Schiffs only visit to the Trump White House. And it didnt seem to go so well. THE DEFINITIVE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION EXPLAINER With both houses of Congress in recess this week, the pace will undoubtedly slow on congressional inquiries about the Trump teams communication with Russian officials. In the interim, our Times team has put together a comprehensive look at all things pertaining to the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. A BIPARTISAN PROBLEM: WHO ARE WE? Say what you will about President Trumps record so far, replete with stumbles on the major items he pledged during his campaign to push through: Hes been an unbridled success at muddling the two major political parties. Cathleen Decker takes a look at the troubles Republicans and Democrats are having to define themselves in any way other than in response to Trump. EVEN THE GOOD HOMBRES ARE NOT SAFE As the legal fight over the presidents immigration efforts continues to make its way through the courts, one federal judge has some particularly pointed criticism of the plan. U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt joined a fellow judge in rejecting the emergency plea of a Mexican national, whose wife and children are American citizens, to remain in the United States. But Reinhardt didnt miss an opportunity to take aim at Trump. President Trump has claimed that his immigration policies would target the bad hombres, wrote Reinhardt, an appointee of former President Jimmy Carter. The governments decision to remove Magana Ortiz shows that even the good hombres are not safe. BILLS, BILLS, BILLS: FROM DRUG PRICING TO TEEN SLEEP Lawmakers at the state Capitol are arriving at work this morning expecting a very long day. And thats after a long one on Tuesday, and more to come this week. This is the week by which all state Assembly and Senate bills must pass the house in which they were written, or else theyre shelved for the year. On Tuesday, dozens of bills were passed by both houses. Some of the proposals that cleared their first hurdle and moved on to the other side of the state Capitol: -- A measure aimed at increasing pressure to lower prescription drug costs by requiring more public reporting of price hikes. -- Giving parents at smaller California companies 12 weeks of protected family leave. -- Banning the use of marijuana in automobiles because of concerns over drugged driving. -- Prohibiting middle schools and high schools from starting classes earlier than 8:30 am, an effort to help sleep deprived teenagers. -- Banning Californians from buying more than one rifle a month. -- Outlawing smoking at California beaches and parks. Well have updates on the bills being considered today and all week on our Essential Politics news feed. TODAYS ESSENTIALS -- Although the election took place more than a week ago, the fiercely fought contest to be the leader of the California Democratic Party isnt over. Political organizer Kimberly Ellis, who lost to longtime party leader Eric Bauman by just over 60 votes, lodged a formal complaint on Tuesday. -- Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) created a bit of a hubbub when he got on the roof of his Vista office and took pictures of protesters. -- The Pentagon tested its homeland missile defense system on Tuesday, amid rising concerns about North Korea. -- The Supreme Court made it harder to sue police for barging into a home and provoking a shooting, setting aside a $4-million verdict against two Los Angeles County deputies on Tuesday. -- Americans ratcheted up their spending in April at the fastest pace in four months, in a sign the economy has rebounded this spring after a lackluster winter. LOGISTICS Essential Politics is published most weeks on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can keep up with breaking news on our politics page throughout the day. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Miss our most recent newsletter? Here you go. Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox. john.myers@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter at @johnmyers and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast President Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chiefs communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately after Macrons election this month, according to a French official, who would not comment on whether Macron intended to use the line. Advertisement All the officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Neither the White House nor Trudeaus office responded to requests for comment. The notion of world leaders calling each other up via cellphone may seem unremarkable in the modern, mobile world. But in the diplomatic arena, where leader-to-leader calls are highly orchestrated affairs, it is another notable breach of protocol for a president who has expressed distrust of official channels. The formalities and discipline of diplomacy have been a rough fit for Trump who, before taking office, was long easily accessible by cellphone and viewed himself as freewheeling, impulsive deal-maker. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. If you are speaking on an open line, then its an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so, said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon advisor and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. A president doesnt carry with him a secure phone, Chollet said. If someone is trying to spy on you, then everything youre saying, you have to presume that others are listening to it. The caution is warranted even when dealing with allies. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel learned in 2013, when a dump of American secrets leaked by Edward Snowden revealed the U.S. was monitoring her cellphone, good relations dont prevent some spycraft between friends. If you are Macron or the leader of any country and you get the cellphone number of the president of the United States, its reasonable to assume that theyd hand it right over to their intel service, said Ashley Deeks, a law professor at the University of Virginia who formerly served as the assistant legal advisor for political-military affairs in the U.S. State Department. The practice opens Trump up to charges of hypocrisy. Throughout last years presidential campaign, he lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of State, insisting she should not be given access to classified information because she would leave it vulnerable to foreign foes. Presidents phone calls with world leaders often involve considerable advance planning. State Department and National Security Council officials typically prepare scripted talking points and background on the leader on the other end of the line. Often an informal transcript of the call is made and circulated among a select group sometimes a small clutch of aides, sometimes a broader group of foreign policy officials. Those records are preserved and archived. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any less formal calls with world leaders. Trumps White House is already facing scrutiny for apparent efforts to work outside usual diplomatic channels. The administration has been fending off questions about a senior aides attempt to set up a secret back channel of communication with Moscow in the weeks before Trump was took office. White House advisor Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, met in December with Russias ambassador to the U.S. and discussed whether a secret line of communication could be used to facilitate sensitive policy discussions about the conflict in Syria, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person demanded anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversation by name. The White House has said such back channel communications are useful and discreet. Trump has struggled more than most recent presidents to keep his conversations with world leaders private. His remarks to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Russian diplomats have all leaked, presumably after notes of the conversations were circulated by national security officials. It was unclear whether an impromptu, informal call with a foreign leader would be logged and archived. The Presidential Records Act of 1981, passed in response to the Watergate scandal, requires that the president and his staff preserve all records related to the office. In 2014, the act was amended to include personal emails. But the law contains blind spots namely, record-keeping for direct cellphone communications, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in public interest and national security law. Under Barack Obama, the first cellphone-toting president, worries about cyber intrusions particularly by foreign governments pulled the presidents devices deep into the security bubble. Many of the functions on Obamas BlackBerry were blocked, and a handful of people had his phone number or email address, according to former aides. Government sometimes looks like a big bureaucracy that has stupid rules, but a lot of these things are in place for very good reasons and theyve been around for a while and determine the most effective way to do business in the foreign policy sphere, Deeks said. Sometimes it takes presidents longer to figure that out. ALSO Shake-up rumors build as Trumps communications director exits Rep. Adam Schiff went to the Trump White House. It got weird Pentagon successfully tests missile defense system amid rising concerns about North Korea A NASA spacecraft will aim straight for the sun next year bearing the name of an astrophysicist who helped scientists understand how Earth interacts with the star at the center of our solar system. The Parker Solar Probe will launch in the summer of 2018 and fly within 4 million miles of the suns surface right into the solar atmosphere. It will be the first human-built craft to visit a star. Originally known as Solar Probe Plus, NASA announced Wednesday that it had renamed the mission in honor of Eugene Parker, a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. Advertisement This is the first time NASA has named a spacecraft for a living individual, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. Its a testament to the importance of his body of work, founding a new field of science. Parker studied the stream of charged particles and magnetism that speed away from the suns corona in all directions. He even came up with the name for this phenomenon the solar wind. Scientists believe that the solar wind gives comets their tails. It is blamed for stripping away much of the Martian atmosphere and bombarding the surface of the moon with elements including helium, neon and argon. Earth is protected from the solar wind by its magnetic field; however some particles manage to enter the atmosphere, producing geomagnetic storms and auroras such as the northern lights. The Parker Solar Probe will fly into the source of the solar wind, the corona. This outer layer of the suns atmosphere is far hotter than its surface, reaching temperatures of more than 1 million degrees. Scientists dont understand why that is indeed, its one of the fundamental questions the NASA mission hopes to answer. In 2024, the 1,350-pound spacecraft is expected to fly within 3.7 million miles of the solar surface, heating up to a toasty 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit. On a trip more than 50 years in the making, it will spend nearly seven years flying to and around the sun, looping past Venus seven times. Parker said hes eager for the mission to get underway. The solar probe is going to a region of space that has never been explored before, he said in a statement. Its very exciting that well finally get a look. One would like to have some more detailed measurements of whats going on in the solar wind. Im sure that there will be some surprises. There always are. The Associated Press contributed to this report. karen.kaplan@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @LATkarenkaplan and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. MORE IN SCIENCE Future NASA mission to sun is a lifes dream for some This is Jupiter? Giant planet surprises scientists in Junos first flybys Another casualty of climate change: A good nights sleep Close to 200,000 Americans have died by overdosing on prescription painkillers, and a new report traces some of the blame to five simple sentences written nearly 40 years ago. The sentences, containing just 101 words, appeared in a 1980 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. They formed a letter to the editor that described a rudimentary analysis of 11,822 hospital patients who took a narcotic painkiller at least once. The vast majority of those patients tolerated the drugs without incident, according to Jane Porter and Dr. Hershel Jick of the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program. There were only four cases of reasonably well documented addiction in patients who had no history of addiction, Porter and Jick reported. The addiction was considered major in only one instance. Advertisement In their view, the takeaway was clear: We conclude that despite widespread use of narcotic drugs in hospitals, the development of addiction is rare in medical patients with no history of addiction. That conclusion turned out to be wrong. Between 1999 and 2015, millions of Americans became addicted to opioid painkillers and more than 183,000 died as a result of taking the prescription drugs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 25% of patients who get an opioid prescription to treat noncancer pain wind up struggling with addiction. The crisis arose in part because physicians were told that the risk of addiction was low when opioids were prescribed for chronic pain, according to the authors of a new letter to the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine. The 1980 letter was widely invoked in support of this claim, even though the five sentences contained virtually no evidence to back it up. The authors of the 2017 letter led by Pamela T.M. Leung of the University of Toronto conducted a bibliometric analysis to determine how many times the 1980 letter was cited by other scholars. The answer: 608 times up through March 30, 2017. If that number strikes you as high, thats because it is. Leung and her colleagues also counted the citations for 11 other letters to the editor that were published within four weeks of Porter and Jicks letter. The median number of citations for those other letters was 11. A community health outreach worker in Honolulu holds syringes and a vial of naloxone, a life-saving medication for combating opioid overdoses. (Cathy Bussewitz / Associated Press) But its not just the sheer number of times the 1980 letter was cited as proof that prescription painkillers arent addictive, Leung and her colleagues wrote. Its the uncritical often misleading way in which its claim has been repeated. For instance, among the 608 papers that cited the original letter, 81% failed to mention that the patients behind the 4-in-11,882 statistic were being treated in a hospital. Their experience wouldnt necessarily translate to outpatients who were not under the watchful eyes of doctors and nurses. Some of the reports that cited the 1980 letter did so rather sloppily. One of the more egregious examples appeared in a 1994 issue of Seminars in Oncology. The Boston Drug Surveillance Program reviewed the charts of nearly 12,000 cancer pain patients treated over a decade and found only four of them could be labeled as addicts, wrote Dr. Michael H. Levy, who recently retired as director of the Pain and Palliative Care Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. In fact, Porter and Jick made no mention of what ailed the patients in their sample. That was hardly the only case of careless attribution. Among the others that stood out to Leung and her colleagues was this 2002 gem from the International Journal of Clinical Practice: Fear of addiction may lead to reluctance by the physician to prescribe, wrote Dr. Sian Iles, an associate professor of radiology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and colleagues. However, there is no evidence that this occurs when prescribing opioids for pain. Nancy Kowal, a nurse practitioner at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, went even further in a 1999 report in Nursing Economics. This pain population with no abuse history is literally at no risk for addiction, Kowal wrote. Leung and her colleagues noted an increase in citations of the 1980 letter after OxyContin came on the market in the mid-1990s. Sold by Purdue Pharma, it was a new formulation of the opioid oxycodone that promised to relieve pain for 12 hours. If doctors were concerned about the addiction risks this presented, here was a report in an esteemed medical journal that could put their minds at ease. The law eventually caught up with Purdue Pharma and three of its top executives. In 2007, they pleaded guilty to criminal charges of misleading regulators, doctors and patients about OxyContins addictive qualities. Purdue accepted responsibility for the actions some of its employees took prior to 2002, and since that time we have led the industry in developing abuse-deterrent technology, advocating for the use of prescription drug monitoring programs and supporting access to Naloxone all important components for combating the opioid crisis, the company said in a statement. Yet the 1980 letter continues to be cited in the medical literature as evidence that opioid painkillers pose little or no risk to patients. The liberal reliance on these five sentences helped shape a narrative that allayed prescribers concerns about the risk of addiction associated with long-term opioid therapy, Leung and her colleagues concluded. Nearly 2 million Americans are still struggling with the consequences. To read the article in Spanish, click here karen.kaplan@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @LATkarenkaplan and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. MORE IN SCIENCE NASA spacecraft bound for the sun is renamed for the astrophysicist who discovered the solar wind Being transgender in America may be hazardous to your health, study shows Another casualty of climate change: A good nights sleep UPDATES: 3:35 p.m.: This story has been updated to include a comment from Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin. This story was originally published at 2 p.m. Over the years, Joan Landis illustrations have ranged from depictions of Jewish holidays to the addition of a car and trailer to famous paintings. The 89-year-old Burbank resident is now testing her artistic talents at something different. Starting on Thursday, residents can visit the Burbank Central Library, 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., to see Landis exhibit called Visual Puns. A glass case in the librarys front lobby will display 48 art pieces of puns that Landis has created. For example, there is a toy top atop a hat, a pun for the work entitled TopHat. Then theres a cube of butter with wings in a piece called ButterFly. I just kept thinking of funny things and started making them, Landis said. I made a FlowerBed, an EggPlant and an AppleWatch. I like funny things, but they say that the pun is the lowest form of humor. Though illustrations and paintings are Landis main media, the puns she makes are created by hand and are physical objects. She said that sometimes theyre made from items around the house and other times shes making objects from scratch from items she buys at Michaels Art Supplies. In her pun for a FlowerBed, Landis used a bed that was meant for a dollhouse and decorated the piece by using fabric and faux foliage from the art supply store. And for her wheelchair pun, she made a roughly 6-inch-tall chair out of dowels and used yarn to intricately weave a seat for the prop. Then she put a small wheel on the chair. Hardly any of them are bigger than 12 inches, she said. Landis, who attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, has had her illustrations featured in several magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post, Readers Digest, Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan. She was commissioned by the U.S. Postal Service to design a stamp that came out during Christmas 1988 in honor of composer Irving Berlins 100th birthday. She said her artwork used to be shown and sold in art galleries in New York City and Santa Barbara, but she hasnt found a local gallery to display her work during the 10 years shes been living in Burbank. After approaching several locations and being turned down, the staff at the Burbank Central Library allowed Landis to showcase her unique artwork. Theres not going to be an opening or anything, Landis said. Im just going to go there, put them in the case and see what happens. Thats about it. anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio 1 / 19 Bellarmine-Jefferson High School graduate Sabrina Fernandez waves to the crowds as she leaves with her diploma during commencement exercises for the class of 2017 at the schools church in Burbank on Saturday, May 27, 2017. Twenty graduates made up the class of 2017. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer) (L-R) European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Garman Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pose for a photo in the ancient Greek theatre of Taormina, Italy, on May 26, 2017. (Xinhua/Jin Yu) WASHINGTON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Germany's trade and military spending policies "very bad" for the United States as tensions between him and German Chancellor Angela Merkel increased. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Very bad for U.S. This will change." The blast came two days after Merkel cast doubts on EU's alignment with the United States and Britain, saying that Europeans should determine their own destiny. Merkel, addressing a election campaign at a beer tent in Germany's southern state of Bavaria, said on Sunday that following the election of Trump and Brexit, Europeans "really have to take destiny into their own hands." "The times when we could fully rely on others are to some extent over." Merkel said. Although Merkel did not further elaborate the reasons for her unexpected remarks, many German media speculated that Merkel was referring to her frustrating experience at the G7 meeting earlier this week in Italy's Sicily. The German leader described the summit as "very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory." Trump and Merkel had a long history of disagreement that was previously focused on the two leaders' view on immigration. During his campaign and also after winning the presidency, Trump repeatedly blasted Merkel for making a "catastrophic mistake" with her open door policy on refugees, while Merkel did not shy away from criticizing Trump in the wake of his travel ban order that sought to temporarily ban travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries in January. A lawsuit by the Orange County Museum of Art did not impinge on the free-speech rights of opponents of a condominium tower planned for the museums Newport Beach site who sought a referendum on the since-scuttled project, an Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled. Judge Geoffrey Glass notified attorneys for both sides Friday that he had determined OCMA did not file what is known as a SLAPP suit when it challenged the validity of a petition circulated by activist group Line in the Sand, which opposed the luxury condo project called Museum House. SLAPP, which stands for strategic lawsuit against public participation, is a type of suit intended to burden opponents until they drop their dissent. California is one of 28 states that have anti-SLAPP laws. OCMA filed suit in January, claiming that Line in the Sands petition should be voided because it didnt comply with state law. The suit argued that the petition didnt contain all necessary documents and that its font size was virtually unreadable. Had Glass agreed with Line in the Sands contention that the museums lawsuit was an attempt to silence its speech, the suit would have been dismissed. It now will go forward to be decided on its merits. Glass will be the judge in the case. Line in the Sand spokesman Tim Stokes did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday. Glass gave two reasons for denying Line in the Sands motion. The group, as a political action committee, was not qualified to file the motion because it is not an individual, he said. Since it was (OCMA) who argued and therefore agrees that Line in the Sand is not the proper proponent of the measure, it begs the question as to why (OCMA) named Line in the Sand as a real party in interest in the first place, Glass wrote in his decision. That question, however, is for another day. More importantly, Glass said, is that state law for the form and format of referendum petitions does not overly burden the 1st Amendment right to petition the government. The statutes are content-neutral and simply require certain things in order to avoid confusing the electorate. Developer Related California was set to convert the art museums site in Newport Center into a 25-story, 100-unit condo tower. OCMA planned to move to a new location in Costa Mesa. But after Line in the Sand collected more than enough voter signatures to take the Museum House issue to a public vote, the Newport Beach City Council earlier this year revoked the approval it had granted the project last year. hillary.davis@latimes.com Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD As with previous holidays, police officers were on the look-out for would-be drunk drivers in Glendale and Burbank over Memorial Day weekend. The Burbank Police Department did not conduct a DUI checkpoint over the holiday weekend. However, the Burbank police did make two DUI-related arrests. Burbank police spokesman Sgt. Derek Green said one of the arrests was made around 4:40 a.m. Monday after a car side-swiped a parked vehicle. He said the fewer arrests can be attributed to constant reminders from law enforcement agencies nationwide about the dangers of driving under the influence. I think the low number of DUI arrests over the weekend in Burbank is a good sign that the message is getting through to our community, Green said. With so many alternative transportation options available these days, like Uber and Lyft, there is no reason people should be driving a vehicle while under the influence. The Glendale Police Department held saturation patrols across the city from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday. During that period, 39 motorists suspected of driving under the influence were stopped. Tahnee Lightfoot, a spokeswoman with the department, said nine field sobriety tests were administered. Two people were arrested for drunk driving, while one was booked for drugged driving. Their cars were subsequently towed. She said one arrest was made for a weapons violation and three citations were issued. andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc Officials with Glendales public works department have reconsidered plans to remove seven oak trees on the campus of Franklin Elementary to make room for a new drop-off lane after some parents of students at the school raised concerns that the project would place their children at risk for more pedestrian accidents and increased exposure to freeway pollution. The tree removal was part of a plan to widen Winchester Avenue in order to add a drop-off lane outside the school. The removal originally scheduled for Friday, would have started the third phase of Glendales Safe Routes to School improvement project, designed to curtail the number of pedestrian and student deaths as well as encourage walking and biking to school. After the public works department met with school officials Tuesday to discuss alternatives, they decided to switch the drop-off lane to Justin Avenue, as it was determined to have both a wider sidewalk and street. The solution will entail shifting the drop-off area to Justin Avenue in front of the new gate, where the street is wider, said Roubik Golanian, the citys director of public works, in an email sent to parents Tuesday. The citys contractor will perform the installation of new signage, crosswalks and curb ramps at that location to facilitate the transition. The rest of the planned improvements that are part of the Safe Routes to School project will continue on Friday, Golanian said. Last week, several parents of Franklin Elementary students contacted city officials, asking to preserve the trees. Some cited concerns about air-quality reduction given that the Golden State (5) Freeway is nearby. Others said the addition of a drop-off lane would only add to the number of vehicles in the area. Mary Lee Behar, whose son attends kindergarten at Franklin, learned of the tree removal plans just as they were being marked with orange Xs. She said she appreciates most of the safety improvements but cant see a reason for a drop-off lane on Winchester. If anything, its going to force people onto the street if theres not enough room on the sidewalk, Behar said in a phone interview Tuesday before learning of the citys new plans. Narrowing the sidewalk and removing the trees is unnecessary and would be dangerous to all who walk the streets at drop-off and pick-up. In an email to city officials, Pierre-Etienne Vannier, father of two students at Franklin, wrote about a similar concern about carbon emissions near the school as well as creating a hazard for the school community by increasing driving spaces and decreasing walking space on sidewalks. Maria Mastroyannis, a parent of two students at Franklin, also wrote to city officials last week. It gets very hot there at pick-up time for many weeks and months of the year, and any shade provided by trees of any size is greatly valued by parents and children, she said in an email. With the change by the city, the public works department will reach out to parents who contacted the city and the Glendale Unified school district with their concerns. A community meeting scheduled for Thursday to outline the proposed widening of Winchester has been canceled in light of the change. jeff.landa@latimes.com Twitter: @JeffLanda Military men and women who died in service to their country were honored during three local Memorial Day events Monday, one in Glendale, another in La Crescenta and another in Montrose. Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Mark MacCarley spoke in front of the Memorial Wall at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta during a ceremony sponsored by American Legion Post 288 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1614. MacCarley gave a brief history of Memorial Day and spoke about his experience and the overwhelming emotion of presenting the American flag to grieving families while officiating funerals for fallen members of the Army. I want to say so much to that grieving spouse or child This is our last war, that America will never send another young man or woman into harms way, MacCarley said. I know that that would be a lie because Memorial Day serves as a reminder to us that freedom is not free It comes with the highest of cost. U.S. Air Force Maj. Frank Ragazzi, who lived in La Crescenta and died this past April, was also honored at the ceremony. Darren Azarian, vice commander of the American Legion Post 288, presented his stepdaughter Gayle Thompson with a U.S. flag. Near the Veterans Memorial at Glendale City Hall, Mayor Vartan Gharpetian joined guests Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) for a Memorial Day celebration. Our service members are quit literally risking their lives to protect ours here at home, Schiff said. So we think about them today. We think about them everyday, and we pay our respects for their continued brave service. The events keynote speaker was David Viar, superintendent/president of of Glendale Community College and a retired U.S. Army veteran. He asked those in attendance to close their eyes and visualize the memorials and vast cemeteries across the world that mark where deceased soldiers have been laid to rest. As we honor the memory of those who died for our country, I urge all of us to honor them by focusing on what it means to serve our country, Viar said. Also on Monday, a memorial ceremony for fallen members of the military was held at the Vietnam War Memorial at Oceanview Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. jeff.landa@latimes.com Twitter: @JeffLanda Whos sailing to Mexico in fall 2017 and 2018? Three cruise lines recently rolled out their plans to sail to Baja as well as resort towns on the Mexican Riviera. The Royal Princess will make its debut on the Mexico circuit with seven-night cruises from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera starting in 2018, Princess Cruises announced last week. Its the largest ship (3,560 passengers) in Princess fleet to sail to Mexico. Port stops include Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. Advertisement Other Mexico sailings include: --the Star Princess from L.A. on a 10-day Baja Peninsula & Sea of Cortez journey. Port stops include La Paz, Loreto, Puerto Vallarta with an overnight stay in Cabo San Lucas. --Emerald Princess and Star Princess also will sail five-day Cabo San Lucas itineraries, with evening stays in the popular resort town. Holland America plans to bring a second Vista class cruise ship to Mexico, according to a news release. The ms Oosterdam and the ms Westerdam will sail seven-day cruises from San Diego to Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Puerta Vallarta between September and February. The ships, which each hold 1,964 passengers, will sail 11 cruises to the Mexican Riviera. The cruises also will offer a deep dive into culture through the ships Explorations Central program, which features Mexican cuisine and traditions on board the ships as well as tutorials on crafts, music and dances. Even the Americas Test Kitchen on board will feature a cooking demonstration on Mexican food. Disney Cruise Line returns to the Mexican market too in 2018. The Disney Wonder will cruise from San Diego to Mexico in September and October. Itineraries include Baja, with stops in Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas; and the Mexican Riviera, calling at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. Other lines sailing to Mexico include Carnival Cruises, from L.A. and Long Beach to Mexico, with itineraries as short as three-day trips; and the Norwegian Star, which offers seven- to nine-day cruises from L.A. to Mexico. travel@latimes.com Twitter: @latimestravel ALSO A sea journey on which you dont gain weight? Bring it on and these do Where to find great burgers and beers on your next cruise Sail the Seine this summer in Uniworlds newest river cruise ship Let travel authors Pico Iyer and Paul Theroux write your next cruise journal Tayyeb, a 22-year-old bank employee, had just arrived at work Wednesday, a typically busy morning in central Kabuls diplomatic quarter, where rush-hour commuters cars inched along streets that house foreign embassies, commercial buildings and the presidential palace. Suddenly a heavy explosion shook the neighborhood, shattering windows as far as a mile away. In the bank, rooms went dark and shards of glass hit Tayyeb in the head. We couldnt find anyone or anything, said Tayyeb, who, like many Afghans, has only one name. After maybe a minute, we could see some of our colleagues had been injured because of broken glass. Advertisement Colleagues brought the victims to a nearby hospital run by an Italian medical charity. The Public Health Ministry said at least 80 people were killed and more than 350 were injured in the blast, one of the worst to strike Kabul since the 2001 U.S.-led military invasion and a bloody reminder that Afghans continue to suffer in militant violence far from the international spotlight. The governments media center later raised the death toll to 90 killed and 400 wounded, quoting a statement from the Ulema Council, the countrys top religious body. One witness said the explosion which occurred on the fifth day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was caused by a bomb in a large tanker truck that left a crater in the road more than 30 feet deep. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said the blast occurred in Zanbaq Square, which is close to the German Embassy and the headquarters of Roshan, the countrys leading telecommunications company. Danesh said officials had not determined the target of the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that his group had no part in the attack. Speculation immediately fell on militants loyal to Islamic State, which had claimed responsibility for the deadliest recent attack in Kabul, the bombing of a protest by ethnic Hazaras in July that killed more than 80 people. The Taliban represents a far greater threat to the government. It has inflicted severe casualties against security forces and grabbed so much territory that more than 40% of Afghans now live in areas wholly or partly controlled by the insurgent group, according to U.S. military estimates. But a few hundred militants claiming allegiance to Islamic State many believed to be former Taliban fighters from Pakistan have drawn growing attention from the fewer than 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In April, U.S. warplanes fired 460 weapons on targets in Afghanistan, the most in a month since mid-2012, many targeting Islamic State. They included a massive bomb dropped on a network of caves used by the group in eastern Afghanistan. President Trump is reportedly considering sending 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to bolster the countrys security. But Afghan officials say the U.S. has not explained the role any additional soldiers would play. This was the heaviest blast I have ever witnessed in Kabul, said Daud, a 36-year-old shopkeeper in the Shahr-e-Naw district about a mile away. The German Embassy was heavily damaged in the attack, with several staff members injured and an Afghan security guard killed, according to a statement from German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. All embassy staff members were safe, Gabriel said. The BBC said that one of its staff members, a driver named Mohammed Nazir who was ferrying colleagues to the news organizations office, was killed and that four journalists were injured. BBC World Service Director Francesca Unsworth called it a devastating loss. BBC statement: pic.twitter.com/FBl4IRi16E BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) May 31, 2017 The blast also caused damage at Amani High School, a large, elite school supported by the German government that sits behind the embassy. Many students in 12th grade were injured. Everyone was crying and running in panic, Haseeb, a 15-year-old student, said as he was being walked to safety with fellow students. Many of the victims were brought to the Italian-run hospital, Emergency, which attends to war victims. A crowd gathered outside, many waiting on news of loved ones being treated. We have lost him, we have lost him! one man screamed in desperation. He was speaking of a colleague who had been traveling in a taxi and was seriously injured in the blast. Atiqullah, 24, was standing outside his restaurant in front of the hospital when the explosion happened. I think I saw more than 200 injured people being brought to Emergency, he said as he picked up pieces of broken glass outside his restaurant. A teenage boy, Rizwan, who was on his way to an Islamic school for Koran recitals, had bloodstains on his shirt and a bandage on his ear, the result of broken glass from a shop window. It was a very heavy explosion, he said. We didnt know which way to go. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called an emergency meeting of senior officials and tweeted that he strongly condemns the cowardly attack in the holy month of Ramadan targeting innocent civilians in their daily life. Pres @ashrafghani strongly condemns the cowardly attack in the holy month of Ramadan targeting innocent civilians in their daily life. (@ARG_AFG) May 31, 2017 Mirwais Yasini, a lawmaker from the eastern province of Nangarhar who visited the blast site, blamed Ghanis government, wondering how such a large car bomb could have penetrated the city center, which is lined with checkpoints run by Afghan security forces. Yasini cited a string of recent deadly attacks, including one against a military hospital in Kabul in March and one on an army base in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif that killed more than 100 soldiers last month. This is a complete disaster of the government, Yasini said. Ghani is not doing his job. He has completely failed and he should resign. Special correspondent Liuhto reported from Kabul and Times staff writer Shashank Bengali from Mumbai, India. Special correspondent Sultan Faizy contributed to this report. ALSO Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt that left 29 dead U.S.-led airstrike on Syrian city kills more than 100; criticism of air campaign mounts Whats that drone flying in over the horizon? Its a scout from Islamic State Violent protests erupt in Kashmir after Indian forces kill 8 suspected militants UPDATES: 11 a.m.: This article was updated with more background on Islamic State and the Taliban. 9:10 a.m.: This article was updated with new casualty figures. 7:50 a.m.: This article was updated with a quote from President Ashraf Ghani. 4:40 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details and reporting. 2:10 a.m.: This article was updated with a higher death toll. 1:20 a.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting. 12:30 a.m., May 31: This article was updated with a higher death toll. This article was originally published at 11:30 p.m., May 30. On Earth, the United Arab Emirates boasts the tallest building, the largest artificial island and the biggest shopping mall, which includes an indoor ski resort and a colony of penguins. Earth, though, has its limits, so the Persian Gulf nation is looking elsewhere. If all goes as planned, a century from now it will have built a fully functioning city of 600,000 people on Mars. Advertisement We aspire in the coming century to develop science, technology and our youths passion for knowledge, tweeted Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the countrys vice president and prime minister, when he announced the project known as Mars 2117 earlier this year. This project is driven by that vision. The Emirates, as the country is known, has joined an elite club trying to put people on Mars, including the U.S., China, Russia and a consortium of European nations, along with a private effort by the entrepreneur Elon Musk and his California company SpaceX. The country is grooming a cadre of young scientists and engineers it hopes will collaborate with international scientists and other academics to figure out the best mode of transportation to Mars and options for food and housing once humans arrive. We see Mars 2117 as a multinational effort, which would set out to create a coalition of equals working together to fulfill a unified objective, said Saeed Gergawi, program director of the Mars project. The proposed settlement doesnt have a firm name yet, but the City of Wisdom is reportedly one possibility. We aspire in the coming century to develop science, technology and our youth's passion for knowledge. This project is driven by that vision. pic.twitter.com/4QibJjtiM2 HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) February 14, 2017 The plan, which experts say is plausible with enough investment, reflects an ambition that has long distinguished the nation from many of its Middle Eastern neighbors. That ambition has been enabled by two things: oil and absolute monarchs. The oil was discovered in the 1950s, when the seven former British protectorates that now make up the Emirates were inhabited mainly by nomadic Bedouin tribes and the economy ran on fishing, date-farming and camel-herding. It has made the country of 9 million people one of the richest in the world per capita. The monarchs have been in full control since independence in 1971, imposing a vision of modernity that often seems geared toward outdoing the worlds biggest powers and sometimes themselves. The country broke ground last year on a skyscraper that will be at least 3,045 feet, or 323 feet taller than Dubais Burj Khalifa, which is the worlds tallest building. The new tower sets another challenge in the history of human architecture a race the UAE deserves to lead, Maktoum, who is also ruler of Dubai, was quoted as saying. We strive for new achievements. A new heart for our city and global landmark. Humankind has no ceiling or border but our imagination. Maktoum, a 67-year-old poet, equestrian and author with a British education and nearly 8 million Twitter followers, has been a fount of inspirational messages for the Arab world and the driving force behind some of his countrys most extravagant projects. Many of them are located in Dubai, the emirate where his family has reigned since 1833. If we want to remain within the ranks of the advanced world, we need to match the speed at which the world is developing, Maktoum wrote in his 2012 book, My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence. The UAE is striving to become the first Arab country to entirely locally manufacture satellites at a special #MBRSC complex pic.twitter.com/dMfkzWDTI5 (@uaespaceagency) May 23, 2017 For the Dubai leader, a space program is as much about the endeavor as it is about the destination. Maktoum has described the plan to settle people on Mars as part of a broad effort to build a science and technology sector, inspire young people, reduce the countrys economic dependence on oil and reclaim the regions historical legacy dating back to the 8th century as a center of science and astronomy. Mars 2117 is a seed we are sowing today to reap the fruit of new generations led by a passion for science and advancing human knowledge, he tweeted when he announced the plan. Colonizing Mars is a challenge like no other humankind has ever undertaken. Just getting there requires traveling more than 34 million miles, a journey that could take nearly nine months. The average temperature there is 81 degrees below zero (Dubai often tops 100 degrees). Some scientists say that living underground might be the only way to avoid cancer from cosmic rays. We know that there will be several key requirements, for clean air, power generation, waste management and other aspects of city management, which we can map from our current cities, said Gergawi. Homes could possibly be built from Martian soil using 3-D printing technology, he said. It would be possible to cultivate fruits and vegetables in greenhouses, and some proteins could be grown in laboratories. The city would have to be wholly self-sustaining, Gergawi said. He said the political system would likely differ from anything currently on Earth. Envisaging utopias is all very nice, but we have so far failed to define and operate a perfect society in thousands of years of modern human evolution, Gergawi said. Is Mars a chance to restart a new kind of society? Yes, it is. Sarah Amiri, deputy project manager and lead scientist at the Emirates Mars Mission. (Ann M. Simmons / Los Angeles Times) It might be tempting to dismiss such talk as space-age fantasy. But the country has already invested more than $5.4 billion in space technologies, according to the UAE Space Agency, which was created in July 2014 and aims to develop a world-class national space sector. The agencys first goal is to send an unmanned weather probe called Hope to Mars in time to mark the nations 50th birthday in 2021. UC Berkeley, Arizona State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder are assisting on the project. On the team of more than 100 Emiratis working on the probe, the average age is 27, said Sarah Amiri, the 30-year-old lead scientist and a computer engineer. Women make up 30% of the engineers and scientists on the project, she said. The space agency has signed agreements with space programs in the U.S. and other countries to work together on exploration, research and technology. The pact made last year with NASA calls for cooperation in aeronautics research, and the exploration and use of airspace and outer space for peaceful purposes. The country has already worked with South Korea and India to send satellites into orbit and plans to build and launch another one next year on its own. And in an effort to forge international space relations, Aabar Investments has invested $380 million in Virgin Galactic since 2010, giving the state-owned fund a nearly 38% share of the space travel and exploration company started by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, according to media reports. Were not afraid of taking on a monumental and very difficult goal, such as exploring another planet, Amiri said. But could the Emirates actually build a city on Mars in 100 years? I would say that an outpost on Mars is certainly possible, said Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. But a city a permanent settlement with an economy big enough to sustain itself, and not just a destination for cosmic adventure tourism would require extensive cooperation with other countries, Pace said. Its not really a solo endeavor, he said. Robert Lillis, a physicist at UC Berkeley, said that if any country is going to colonize Mars it is the U.S., because of its experience in space exploration. Money and political will is the simple answer for why humans are not already living on Mars, said Lillis, who worked on the NASA mission that gathered data on the Martian atmosphere with an unmanned probe that orbited the planet in 2014. Nothing is beyond the technical or scientific scope of getting people to Mars. Mike McGrath, former director of engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulders Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, said the Emirates other successes make its Mars aspirations seem perfectly reasonable. I would say that its not only not a pie-in-the-sky ambition, he said. Its an opportunity that society as a whole is chasing, and I think that the objectives put forth by the leadership are helping to set the stage for what is happening now in space. Sometimes it takes somebody new to incentivize people to move forward, he said. To read the article in Spanish, click here This story was reported with a grant from the United Nations Foundation. ann.simmons@latimes.com For more on global development news, see our Global Development Watch page, and follow me @AMSimmons1 on Twitter ALSO This is Jupiter? Giant planet surprises scientists in Junos first flybys A growing competition: China and the U.S. space program, year by year UAEs minister of happiness insists her job is no laughing matter His name appears on no ballot, and he holds no elected office. But debate about this Sundays state elections in Mexico inevitably turns to one man: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the twice-thwarted presidential aspirant who is poised for a third run for the nations highest office next year. In a few days, we are going to succeed in achieving the transformation of our country! the shrill-voiced political provocateur told a crowd here last weekend. This transformation will allow for the rebirth of our great country, Mexico! Advertisement His oratory marked the official close of the campaign of Delfina Gomez, the candidate of his left-wing National Regeneration Movement known as Morena to be the next governor of Mexico state, the countrys most populous and politically significant entity. The gubernatorial vote in this vast swath of gritty suburbs, industrial belts, high-rise enclaves, luxury vacation retreats and impoverished urban and agricultural expanses is widely viewed as a bellwether for the presidential balloting slated for July 2018. Lopez Obrador, who dominated the campaign rally, speaking almost twice as long as his handpicked candidate, is generally regarded as the early presidential favorite even though major parties have yet to designate their hopefuls. The 63-year-old is riding a populist wave of revulsion against rising prices, criminality and graft. His political fortunes have also been energized by the election of President Trump, whom he has accused of mounting a campaign of hate against Mexicans. A victory for Lopez Obradors protege in the state of Mexico whose 125 municipalities are home to 11 million registered voters would probably cement his front-runner status. The election is also seen as a referendum on the long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI, and its standard-bearer, President Enrique Nieto Pena Nieto. Polls generally show a two-way race for the governors seat between Gomez and the PRIs Alfredo Del Mazo Maza. Other contestants include Juan Zepeda of the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party and Josefina Vazquez Mota of the National Action Party. All promise to fight crime, rebuild infrastructure and increase government aid to the needy. For the PRI, the state also holds profound symbolic significance, having been at the core of its power since the party was founded in 1929 after the tumult of the revolutionary era. The party has never lost a gubernatorial election here. President Pena Nieto, himself a former governor of Mexico state, was elected in 2012 in a rousing comeback and reset for the ruling party. The PRI had lost consecutive presidential elections in 2000 and 2006 to the conservative National Action Party. But the presidents approval ratings have tanked amid a sluggish economy, escalating crime and unchecked corruption. A defeat in Mexico state could portend early doom for whomever the PRI names as his potential successor. (Mexican presidents serve a single six-year term and cannot be reelected.) If the PRI loses the state of Mexico, that would practically cancel its chances to win the presidency next year, said Ivonne Acuna, an analyst at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City. The party took a bruising in regional elections last June, losing in several key venues, including the strategic Gulf of Mexico states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas, historic PRI bastions. Looking to stanch the bleeding, the PRI has embarked on a determined strategy and get-out-the-vote effort. The campaign is being run directly from Los Pinos, the Mexican White House, according to media reports, and no expense has been spared as the PRIs highly disciplined political machinery has gone into high gear. Authorities have denied opposition charges of improper use of government funds and personnel in the high-stakes campaign. In his speech Sunday, Lopez Obrador whose supporters shut down much of the capital in 2006 after he alleged that fraud was behind his razor-thin loss in presidential balloting called on government workers to ignore orders to commit fraud because it is a social sin and will mortgage the future of your children, of your grandchildren. The PRI has focused much of its public ire on Lopez Obrador, depicting him as an dictatorial caudillo, a clone of Hugo Chavez the late Venezuelan leader who would take Mexico down a Venezuelan-like path of economic and political ruin. Ex-President Vicente Fox, who belonged to the opposition National Action Party, has also taken to the airwaves to warn that Lopez Obrador would wreak Chavez-like destruction. I am convinced that the great challenge for 2018 is to impede the advance of authoritarian populism in Mexico, Enrique Ochoa Reza, national chairman of the PRI, told El Sol de Mexico newspaper, in a reference to Lopez Obrador. The first step is the state of Mexico in 2017. The ruling party has assailed Lopez Obradors candidate, Gomez, a former teacher, as a pawn of a jailed former teachers union leader facing trial on a slew of corruption charges. Both Gomez and Lopez Obrador have condemned what they label the PRIs dirty war and its campaign of lies and calumnies. Del Mazo, the PRI contender, is in many ways an archetypal ruling-party construct: He is a trim, silver-haired, well-spoken technocrat with impeccable political pedigree who looks like he just walked in from the country club. He is a distant cousin of the president. On social media, Del Mazo has been ridiculed as uninspiring, bland and robotic, critiques regularly leveled at Pena Nieto and other charisma-challenged ruling-party luminaries. Everything we are, everything we have worked for, everything we have built for so many years is on the line in this election, Del Mazo told a closing campaign rally Sunday in Toluca, the state capital. The future of the PRI, the future of our country, depend on our triumph. Both Del Mazos father and grandfather served as PRI governors of Mexico state, a fact that the opposition has tried to exploit. Mexico is not a monarchy! Lopez Obrador proclaimed in his speech last weekend. Although long part of Mexicos political elite, Lopez Obrador, who is a former mayor of Mexico City, endeavors to present himself as an everyman far removed from the coddled lifestyles of Mexican politicos who regularly arrive at chic capital eateries in black SUVs spilling out high-heeled aides and thick-set bodyguards. An ardent populist, he has a toxic relationship with the press and regularly pledges to demolish what he assails as the mafia of power. The tropical messiah is the moniker bestowed on Lopez Obrador by Enrique Krauze, the Mexican essayist and author, for the preachy polemics emanating from the native of sweltering Tabasco state. In Sundays elections, some observers say, Lopez Obradors obdurate nature may turn out to be his undoing. Lopez Obrador eschewed a political coalition in Mexico state with the Democratic Revolution Party, to which he belonged before breaking ranks in 2012 after his second presidential defeat, which he also attributed to fraud to form Morena. An alliance between the two parties would have united the left behind a single office seeker. Cecilia Sanchez of The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report. patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com Twitter: @mcdneville Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (2nd R, Front) raises his glass for a toast when meeting with Japan-China friendship groups in Tokyo, Japan, on May 30, 2017. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with representatives from the Japan Business Federation as well as seven Japan-China friendship groups here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Hua Yi) TOKYO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Tuesday called on Japan to make positive efforts so as to bring the bilateral relations back on the normal track. He made the remarks when meeting with representatives from the Japan Business Federation as well as seven Japan-China friendship groups here. Yang spoke highly of the efforts made by friendly organizations and people in Japan over the years to promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation and enhance bilateral relationship between China and Japan. He said that as this year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties, the two sides should keep the original aspiration and seize the opportunities to bring the bilateral relations back on the normal track. China adheres to the policy of building friendship and partnership with neighboring countries and follows the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in conducting neighborhood diplomacy, he said. China always attaches importance to its relationship with Japan and is willing to make joint efforts with Japan to build good neighborly and friendly relations and promote win-win cooperation, Yang said. He urged the Japanese side to make positive efforts with China to push for healthy and stable development of bilateral relations by respecting each others' core interests and major concerns, safeguarding the political foundation of bilateral relations and promoting practical cooperation in different areas. Welcoming Japan to cooperate with China under the Belt and Road Initiative, Yang stressed that the two countries should adapt themselves to the new situations and nurture new growth points, and conduct win-win cooperation in more areas and at higher levels. He said the two sides should cherish the friendship between the Chinese and Japanese peoples, and the Chinese government is willing to provide strong backing for the cause of promoting the friendship between the two peoples. Representatives from friendly groups in Japan said that China and Japan are close neighbors with close economic and cultural ties and bilateral relationship between the two countries is very important. They congratulated China on the success of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held recently in Beijing, saying that they will continue their efforts to promote friendship and mutual trust and push for the enhancement of bilateral ties between China and Japan in the years to come. (File photo) BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tourists made 2.71 million outbound trips during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, up 7.2 percent year on year, official data showed Tuesday. The most popular overseas destinations included Russia, Thailand, Italy, Vietnam and France, according to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). There was a rapid increase in the number of outbound tourists visiting Europe during the holiday, the CNTA said. Within the country, 82.6 million trips were made by tourists, with 33.7 billion yuan (4.9 billion U.S. dollars) of business income earned by the domestic tourism sector, according to the CNTA. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of a year according to the Chinese calendar, and falls on May 30 this year. Traditions of the festival include racing dragon boats and eating Zongzi, glutinous rice and fillings wrapped with bamboo or reed leaves. (File photo) BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Thirty packages of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for international tourists were unveiled by the Beijing municipal administration of TCM Tuesday at the ongoing China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services. The packages, the first in Beijing, cover 30 symptoms such as insomnia and headaches. Fifteen hospitals are listed. The administration said the packages feature effective treatment and whole-process services at a reasonable cost, and offer tourist programs for patients during their stay in Beijing. Beijing is rich in TCM resources, with 14 third-level (top level) and 20 second-level TCM hospitals, as well as a large number of time-honored TCM clinics and masters. According to a document issued by the National Tourism Administration and the State Administration of TCM in July 2016, China will establish 10 national TCM tourism demonstration areas, 100 TCM tourism demonstration bases and 1,000 TCM tourism demonstration projects in about three years. Women of Qiang ethnic group dance at the folk Waerezu Festival, or Women's Day of Qiang ethnic group, in Maoxian County of Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 30, 2017. Each year, people of Qiang ethnic group celebrate the festival on the fifth day of lunar celendar's May to show the traditions of women and to pray for a prosperous future. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) A Bethlehem woman is accused of ramming her husband's car, causing him to crash into a utility pole, city police said. After the crash, Dominique Figueroa parked her car on Main Street, got out and started walking with a drink in her hand, police said. Figueroa was stopped by police and taken to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill for treatment of a leg injury, police said. Figueroa, of the 500 block of West Union Boulevard, was charged with DUI, reckless endangerment, accidents involving an attended vehicle, simple assault, criminal mischief, speeding and following too closely. The 31-year-old Figueroa was released on $5,000 bail. The husband reported the two were arguing about 7 p.m. Saturday at Conestoga Road and Union Boulevard, when he drove away in his Ford Taurus. Dominique Figueroa followed in her Chevy Cobalt and, when her husband tried to make a right onto Monocacy Street, she rammed his car, police said. The husband's car then crashed into a utility pole, causing $1,200 worth of damage, police said. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. The Relay For Life of North Warren and the Relay For Life of Greater Hackettstown have merged and become the Relay For Life of Hope. Starting at 6 p.m. Friday, June 9 with opening ceremonies, the event runs through Saturday at 6 a.m. at the Hope Township Elementary School field, on Johnsonburg Road. Relay For Life is one of the American Cancer Society's signature events. Cancer survivors are the honored guests. They and their caregiver are treated with a dinner donated by local restaurants and a whole host of special gifts donated by local businesses. In order to package the gifts, the services of the Clark Center, a division of SCARC, located in Augusta, N.J., was commissioned to paint and decorate special purple bags. When not working on this special project for the Relay For Life of Hope, the workers make and sell greeting cards, wine gift bags and wrapping paper at nominal fees. They can be reached at 973-940-3000 to inquire about their services or to place an order. Registration for the Relay starts at 4 p.m. for the teams to start setting up their campsites. DJ Doctor D will be entertaining all night long, as well as a variety of activities for people of all ages. For information, visit the website or call Susan Wilson at 973-583-8866. The Easton area's Democratic representative in Congress thinks special counsel Robert Mueller Jr. is the right person to investigate concerns about President Donald Trump and Russia. But until the probes are complete, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright isn't ready to pass judgment. Addressing a town hall Tuesday night in Wilson Borough, Cartwright fielded a question from Forks Township resident Peter Santini about Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey and reports that Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner had tried to set up secret communications with Russia. Cartwright started by calling Mueller "a lawman through and through," who won't be sidelined by politics. As for Comey, Cartwright said he's gotten to question Comey in committee and agrees with Trump that the ex-FBI director is a "showboat." "I don't know that I took the full measure of the man but gosh, I think, he and a lot of other people in the FBI are sharpening their knives for President Trump," Cartwright continued. "And I think he has a lot of memos that he's dying to share with people. "But how far it goes and whether it adds up to anything, I think it's too soon to say. There are people running around saying, 'Impeach him. Lock him up.' Look, one thing I went to Washington to be is one of the grownups in the room, and I hope I'm doing that. Let's let the investigation run its course and don't jump to conclusions. "I know there's a lot of smoke there but it doesn't necessarily mean there's fire," Cartwright said. Cartwright, whose 17th Congressional District in Pennsylvania covers parts of Northampton County, took questions for about 90 minutes inside the Strausser Community Center off 22nd and Northampton streets. As with a town hall he hosted April 19 at Northampton Community College, the exchange with constituents was generally cordial. Holly Strausser, of Bethlehem Township, left disappointed, however, after challenging Cartwright on his support for hydraulic fracturing. The process injects chemically laden water and sand at immense pressure deep underground to free natural gas, and is the backbone of the extraction industry at work on Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale in the northern reaches of the 17th District. Cartwright called for a continued ban on fracking, as the practice is known, in the Delaware River watershed and has authored new legislation aimed at closing loopholes on oil and gas extraction in the water and air regulations of the 1970s. But natural gas is important as a "stopgap" energy source until renewable energy gains more widespread use, he said. "Wind and solar is the future but we aren't there yet," he said. "Right now that is the clear trend and it is absolutely why I spend so much time fighting on behalf of renewable energy." About 90 people attended a town hall hosted by Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, at the Strausser Community Center in Wilson Borough. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com) Cartwright, speaking to an audience of about 90, was most critical of Trump when he touched on the president's refusal during his overseas trip that wrapped up Saturday to join European leaders in support for the Paris Accord aimed at slowing manmade climate change. "I worry that retracting and pulling back and engaging in isolationism will make this world a more dangerous place," he said, "and climate change is just one example of that." In other answers Tuesday, Cartwright predicted some cuts to agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget Trump sent to Congress, though he thinks lawmakers will somewhat blunt the effects of the proposal. Trump proposes steep increases in military spending along with cuts to the State Department and domestic programs. "But I want you to take some comfort in this," Cartwright said, before quoting fellow Lehigh Valley U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Republican. "Charlie and I both serve on the House Appropriations Committee. ... Charlie said this, 'Remember this about the president's budget. The president proposes, but Congress disposes.' In other words, Congress gets to decide what gets spent. "And that's one of the reasons why I'm very proud to serve on the Appropriations Committee because you can rest assured you have a lot of sensible people on both sides of the aisle in that committee and making these decisions." On health care, he continued his call for tweaking the Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- instead of the move, approved by most House Republicans, toward the new American Health Care Act now before the U.S. Senate. "Now, the ACA is not perfect. I'm the first one to tell you that," said Cartwright, who noted he gets his family's health care under the act instead of using Congress' plan. "And there are high deductibles and there are high premiums and there are winners and losers under that system. "But my attitude is let's come together. Let's stop this political bomb-throwing about the health care. This is people's lives that we're talking about here." Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. An Easton man wanted by police since February for allegedly stealing and forging signatures on checks is now facing 40 counts of fraud and theft related charges. Joshua Douglas Lugo, 19, of the 1800 block of Fairview Avenue, was seen depositing eight fraudulent checks that totaled $4,700 on video and photo footage shot at TD Bank outside Palmer Park Mall, Palmer Township police said. Corey Cooper reported fraudulent activity on his TD Bank accounts on Feb. 18. Cooper told police he gave Lugo his ATM card and PIN number to make a deposit into his account. Police accessed Cooper's accounts on March 31, and received discs with photo and video footage of the fraudulent transactions on May 4. Cooper later identified the suspect in the footage as Lugo, police said. Craig and Melissa Lonesky owned the fraudulent checks. Lugo is accused of signing the checks with a signature mimicking that of Craig Lonesky. Craig Lonesky made a police report for the theft of personal checks from his residence on Feb. 3. Lugo allegedly completed all transactions through the use of Cooper's accounts. The circumstances of Lugo's capture were unknown. Palmer police did not immediately respond to an inquiry from lehighvalleylive.com. Lugo is charged eight counts each of forgery, theft by deception and three related offenses. He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $35,000 bail. Alyssa Mursch may be reached at amursch@lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A male driver and passenger are jailed after police seized 15 pounds of marijuana from a vehicle during an Interstate 78 traffic stop. Charged are driver Sam Sengphachanh, 35, of the 1100 block of Brookside Drive, and passenger, Thomas Lee Taylor, 33, of the 700 block of Dorset Road, both in Allentown. Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast at 4:31 p.m. Sunday stopped Sengphachanh as he drove west on Interstate 78 in an Infiniti Q80 at mile marker 72 in Williams Township. Police said Sengphachanh had a large piece of non-transparent white paper affixed to the windshield of the front passenger side and was following "too closely" to a car hauler in front of the Infiniti. Sengphachanh allegedly told police he was coming from a recording studio in New York. Sengphachanh appeared "extremely nervous" and wasn't answering questions when spoken to, police said. Police searched the vehicle, seizing marijuana in 15 vacuum-sealed plastic bags, they said. Each bag weighed approximately a pound, totaling 15 pounds of marijuana, court records indicate. Both are charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. Sengphachanh is additionally charged with obstruction of a windshield. Both men were arraigned before District Judge Richard Yetter III, who set bail at $60,000 each. In lieu of bail, Sengphachanh and Taylor were both taken to Northampton County Prison. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Lehigh County woman is accused of shooting her boyfriend following an argument the night before over her buying $50 worth of pizza. Jacqueline Rivera-Figueroa shot Ricardo De Jesus in front of two of her children, ages 6 and 12, about 8 a.m. Monday in her Lower Milford Township apartment, Pennsylvania State Police said. A witness took the kids out of the room after the shooting, while Rivera-Figueroa and then the witness applied pressure to the gunshot wound on the victim's abdomen, troopers said. De Jesus was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township for treatment. The 30-year-old Rivera-Figueroa was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of reckless endangerment and related charges. She was sent to Lehigh County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, and remained there on Wednesday. Records show Rivera-Figueroa is currently on probation, after pleading guilty May 11 in Northampton County to simple assault and reckless endangerment. Troopers and Upper Saucon police were called a little after 8 a.m. Monday for a reported shooting at the apartment involving a couple. The first officers to arrive saw Rivera-Figueroa leaving the apartment, covered in blood and screaming for help. She was ordered to the ground, where police saw a handgun in her waistband, a .40-caliber pistol with a scratched-off serial number. Derek Orta Jr. told investigators the couple began arguing Sunday night over Rivera-Figueroa buying $50 worth of pizza. De Jesus left that night, but came back to the apartment Monday morning, Orta said. Orta told police he heard a bang and ran into the bedroom, where he found De Jesus on the floor bleeding from a wound and Rivera-Figueroa applying pressure to it. DeJesus reportedly told Orta, "She shot me." Orta found the gun on the bed, state police said, and put it on the driver's seat of De Jesus' car. When Orta came back, Rivera-Figueroa asked about the gun, stopped putting pressure on the gunshot wound and left the bedroom. While Orta applied pressure, state police said Rivera-Figueroa grabbed the gun and planned to throw it in the woods behind the apartment building. A punch and then a bite Lower Saucon Township police said Rivera-Figueroa attacked the father of her sons, Heriberto Montes, at the Speedway station on Route 378. Montes had filed a protection-from-abuse against Rivera-Figueroa, and she asked Montes and her brother to pick up her three children because she was afraid she was going to be arrested, police said. While Montes and Rivera-Figueroa's brother were traveling on Route 378, she texted them to pull over and the men became aware that she was following them, according to police. They pulled into the shopping plaza with the Speedway station, and Rivera-Figueroa walked up to Montes and punched him in the eye. Police said she kept swinging, and as Montes grabbed her arms to stop her, she bit him on the bicep. A witness tried to pull Rivera-Figueroa off of Montes, and she then swung at her brother, before getting into her car, police said. Rivera-Figueroa then tried to run down Montes before fleeing. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Parkland High School teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student now faces trial in his case. Christopher Johnson, 35, was in district court Wednesday for his preliminary hearing on charges of unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and institutional sexual assault. Johnson waived the hearing, sending the charges to Lehigh County Court. Johnson, of the 1700 block of Falcon Drive in Bethlehem, remains free on 10 percent of $50,000 bail. He was suspended from his job as of April 5. Johnson's attorney, Marc Neff, declined to comment after the hearing. Prosecutors said the parents of the accuser approached police and school administrators on April 2 after finding text messages between Johnson and the girl. Prosecutors have not divulged the age of the accuser. Johnson was tutoring the girl beginning in January, and the contact became sexual soon after, prosecutors said. Johnson sexually assaulted the girl at her home and other locations until late March, investigators said. Johnson was interviewed and admitted to communicating with the girl via text, prosecutors said. The accuser's and Johnson's cellphones included sexually graphic texts, including details of the sexual contact, police said. Johnson worked with the Parkland High School marching band as well as other school bands in the area. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. An independent filmmaker Thursday plans to take over the downtown streets of Nazareth. Michael Owen, a native of Kentucky who moved to the borough in 2012, will film, "Control," a flick based on the changing roles of women in the early 1960s. The film follows five female characters and the choices they have to make between socioeconomic statuses and the changing times. "'Control' is the story of the changing perception of women in America," Owen said on the movie's website. "The quiet but unmistakable presence of Jacquelyn Bouvier Kennedy and her assertion before, during, and after her husband's assassination in the 1960's, pave the way for many American women to question the 'control' that has been placed over them for so very long." People are venturing farther than they ever have before on new interstate highways, and this freedom to travel and the rise of the divorce rate in the early 1960s have many women entering the workplace due to this new change, Owen says on his site. This spawns a new era in the decisions and choices that women are making with regards to where they live, whom they are with and what they will or will not settle for in their relationships, he said. Owen and his wife, Jennifer Owen, executive producer, will use 25 classic cars, spanning 1948 to 1961, and an estimated 400 pieces of wardrobe. Police will shut down Main Street from Mauch Chunk Street to the circle for most of Thursday. Owen also is filming the facade and interior of the 18,400-square-foot Nazareth National Bank building, 76 S. Main St. The classic federal building went up in the 1900s and now is vacant after being sold on May 8 to Main Street Nazareth LLC. Owen on Wednesday was beginning to stage the inside of the bank building for the film. He plans to film council chambers, 159 W. Center St., on Friday and move to a private borough residence by Saturday, he said. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. UPDATE: Lower Mount Bethel death confirmed as suicide, cops say Authorities were continuing to investigate the death of a Lower Mount Bethel Township woman on Monday, Pennsylvania State Police and the Lehigh County Coroner's Office said. Suzanne Hiester, 59, was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill after an apparent shooting believed to have occurred between 9 a.m. and 12:20 p.m., state police at Belfast said. She was pronounced dead there at 2:15 p.m. Monday, according to the coroner's office. "At this time, it appears that Hiester shot herself in the chest with a handgun at her residence," police said in a news release Tuesday night. An autopsy was set for Wednesday to try to determine the cause and manner of death, the coroner's office said. Hiester lived in the 6500 block of Koehler Road in the township, authorities said. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Chinese DCM Li presents gift to first prize winner Two Liberian students: Boakai K. Wilson and Andrew Bonnah, of the Confucius Institute at the University of Liberia (UL) have qualified to participate in the pending Confucius Institute Chinese Proficiency World Competition for Foreign College Students in China. Date for the Chinas competition has not been established yet. Wilson and Bonnah were qualified when they won first and second places respectively in the final of the 16th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in Liberia, held Saturday, May 27, 2017, on 9th Street in Monrovia. The competition was hosted by the Confucius Institute at the University of Liberia (UL). ULs Prof. Geegbae presents gift to second prize winner Ten students participated in the final and the competition had three categories: self-introduction in Chinese; responses to three questions each in Chinese-whether asked in Chinese or English; and Chinese cultural performances-songs, poem recitations, short dramas and Chinese martial arts. Fluency and accuracy in Chinese were highly considered. However, authorities of the Confucius Institute honored and certificated all participants for demonstrating excellence to reach the final of the Liberias competition. They also encouraged the students and any other students of the Confucius Institute to continue as many opportunities and brighter future await them. Other participants in the final were: Michael Maigbay, Norman Mondubue, Isaac J. Dukuly, Rancy E. Bondo, Augustine S. Borbor, Samson W. Dweh, Terry G. Johnson, II, and Silas Gilklay. Judges of the competition included: Head of the Chinese Medical Team in Liberia, Mr. Yan Yunliang; an assistant to Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN) Deputy Director, Mr. Solee; Director General of Chinese International Broadcasting Station at the Liberia Broadcasting System, Mr. Wang Zhanhua and In Profile Daily Editor for News & Editorial Services, Mr. Fredrick P. W. Gaye. Speaking at the occasion, ULs Vice President, Prof. Geebgae A. Geebgae, said though two students won the higher scores, performances of the participants were encouraging. Prof. Geegbae praised the students for the excellent learning and urged them to double their efforts in making Chinese Language part of their life. He equally commended the Confucius Institute family and Chinese Embassy for organizing such a program, which he said, is intended to improve academic excellence. The UL official used the occasion to call on other learning institutions in Liberia to follow such an example to inspire the students more if the education system must improve. Also making remarks, the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) to Liberia, Mr. Li Zhuang, thanked the Confucius Institute and the University of Liberia for the contest. we highly appreciate the efforts have been made these years for promoting this trans-cultural exchange, by the University of Liberia and its Confucius Institute, Li said. According to the Chinese envoy, the contest was a good opportunity to know about China and what is getting on between China and Liberia. China, Li said, is the most populous country with over 1.3 billion people, which is 300 times the population of Liberia. China is the second largest economy, but its GDP per capita only ranks about 80th in the world, he continued. Li explained that the Chinese language is an important component of the Chinese 5,000-year culture and has played an important role in the trans-cultural exchanges. He indicated that China is seeking win-win outcomes/mutual benefit through cooperation with other countries. Li made reference to Chinas support to Africas development which safeguards and promotes world peace and development, benefiting all countries including China itself. As a developing country, China is determined to go together with Liberians and other Africa friends, for a better future to all of us. As we can see, a wide range of cooperation in security, agriculture, education, trade and other areas between China and Liberia has made a rapid progress, Li maintained, alluding to an African adage that says: If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. He then expressed the belief that participants of the competition will become the friendship ambassadors and personal contributors to common goals. On his part, first prize winner, Student Boakai K. Wilson, thanked the Confucius Institute family for always being transparent in the competition and other contests at the institute. He called on his fellow students and any other Liberians to take advantage of the Chinese language study as it will allow them understand China as well as communicate with more people the world over. Wilson vowed to make the Liberias Confucius Institute proud at the pending World Competition in China by returning with a flying color. The Confucius Institutes excellent student said he has spent five years at the institution, saying he was inspired and also challenged himself after watching several Chinese movies. Meanwhile, Confucius Institutes acting director, Mr. Dexter Sumo, commended participants and encouraged them to continue the excellent performances. Sumo said the institute has been sending many Liberians to China to study Chinese; some of whom he said have graduated with masters and other levels and are working at various places. He said Chinese companies and other enterprises in Liberia have been contacting the Confucius Institute for students who are fluent in Chinese for possible recruitment. Representatives from other Chinese enterprises graced the occasion. Lehigh Valley International Airport's newest security measure is a Belgian Malinois explosives detection K-9 named Mikki, but she's not all business. Mikki is seen with her handler, Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority police officer James Scoble and authority police Chief Timothy Koder, left, on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, at Lehigh Valley International Airport. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com) "Super social, she's pleasant, she's happy, great to be around," said handler James "Jake" Scoble, a two-year veteran of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority Police Department. Mikki and Scoble will, of course, help screen visitors, passengers, bags, vehicles and more for explosives. "Officer Mikki gives us the ability to add another level of protection for our passengers, customers and the public by supplementing our current security and screening procedures," authority police Chief Timothy Koder said in a statement. She and Scoble are also good-will ambassadors, of sorts, complementing the airport's Canines Offering Passengers Encouragement that provides dogs on site to help travelers relax, authority Executive Director Charles Everett siad. Mikki marks the first K-9 officer assigned to LVIA since its first-ever dog, Ben, retired in 2012 due to medical reasons. Airport officials made a financial decision to suspend the program. When needed, the authority has relied on surrounding police agencies' K-9s. Response time suffers, said Everett, who noted having to share "hasn't really been an issue." Assisting other police departments is now a service the airport can provide, including for tracking missing people. "Typically when you have these types of assets they are shared within the community," Everett said. "Just like in the past when we didn't have that kind of capability we relied on maybe the City of Allentown or the state police. Now those same agencies can rely on us for some additional support." Born in the Netherlands, Mikki comes to the airport from Progressive K-9 Academy in Walnutport. She and Scoble were recently certified in explosives by the National Police Canine Association, and her patrol certification is expected on June 7, her handler said. "She's doing extremely well," Scoble said, adding that Progressive K-9 had him up to the academy three or four weeks ago to meet Mikki: "It was love at first sight. She's a good pup, and I'm grateful to be selected to handle her." Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Dog muck may be a problem, but its nothing compared to the damage a dangerous dog can do if not kept under proper restraint. So said Cllr Noel Tuohy, at the recent meeting of the Portlaoise Municipal District. Cllr Tuohy raised a notice of motion calling on the council to ensure the proper enforcement under the Control of Dogs Act, particularly as it applies to the muzzling and restraint of particular breeds in the interests of public safety, especially for children. He told the meeting that he had recently seen a Pit Bull dog with no lead and no muzzle, with the dogs owner following some 50 yards behind. He reminded everyone that the legislation requires such dogs to be kept on a strong lead by a person over 16. Dog fouling is a terrible problem, but compared to the terrible damage they can do dog fouling isnt that big a deal, he said. He said he had seen a little 12-year-old girl holding onto a dog and remarked that he didnt know how she had managed to hold onto the animal. In response to Cllr Tuohys motion, a written response was received from Ms Martina Bracken, administrative officer, environment department. She said The Laois Dog Warden deals with all dog related complaints, incidents, stray dogs etc. Other duties include carrying out daily checks on dog licences and daily patrols including enforcement in relation to restricted breeds. Restricted breeds leaflets are distributed to all owners of restricted breeds. A three month delay has been confirmed on the completion of six new houses in Stradbally, Laois, which are to be rented out to older people on the councils housing waiting list. The two bedroom houses, built with older needs in mind, in Droiminin retirement village, are to be rented to single people or couples over the age of 55. The handover date was understood by Laois County Council to be this July. However it has now been extended to October, according to Cllr Tom Mulhall, who had spoken with the retirement village's owner, Laois resident and developer Gearoid Brennan. The owner is selling them to Cluid, and he will finish renovating them after the contracts are signed in July. That should take two or three months, Cllr Mulhall told the Leinster Express. He had asked Laois County Council for an update on the houses, and also on apartments in Bracklone Street in Portarlington that are soon to be homes for council tenants, also through a national housing agency. His motion was at the Graiguecullen Portarlington Municipal District meeting for May. The council's housing officer Ian McCormack had replied that the houses in Portarlington will be made available to them in June, and the Stradbally houses would be ready in July. Cllr Mulhall had disagreed on the Stradbally houses, and now confirms the delay. The two-bed bungalow houses are in a retirement village of 36 houses and a nursing home. Most of the houses were left incomplete by the original builder for nearly a decade, following the economic crash. In 2014 the Leinster Express did a special report on the vandalism and dangers on the unsecured building site that had caused great concern for the nine elderly council residents who were living there. The new developer since bought the entire estate and began completing it, including an unfinished apartment block that is now part of the nursing home. Cllr Mulhall welcomed the work. Its now an ideal retirement village. There are many people waiting for these homes, he said. Gardai at Roscrea Co Tipperary investigating an aggravated burglary which occurred on the May 7 have arrested three males. A 28 year old man was arrested in Dublin yesterday and is detained in a north Tipperary Garda Station under the provisions of Section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939. Two further males aged 17 and 34 were arrested today, also in the Dublin area, and are both detained in north Tipperary Garda Stations under the provisions of Section 4 Criminal Justice Act 1984. The arrests came as part of an ongoing investigating into an aggravated burglary at a house on Old Dublin Road, Roscrea. The incident was reported to Gardai at 11.40pm on May 7. A husband and wife were assaulted by two men who broke into their house through a side window and a quantity of cash was stolen. The man, who is in his 90s, was taken to the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise by ambulance suffering from head injuries. The woman, who is in her 80s, was not injured. Hospice Sunflower Day is one of the most popular fundraising events in Laois each year and is a major source of income for Laois Hospice. It is now in its 27th year. Laois Hospice Sunflower Day 2017 will take place on Friday 9th June throughout the county. The hospice movement in Ireland has been built on the back of volunteers. Hospice Sunflower Days provide essential funding to these services. The success of these fundraising days depends on volunteers taking time out of their busy schedule to sell Sunflowers in the local areas. Laois Hospice Foundation is a totally voluntary organisation who depend on the goodwill of the people of Laois during national fundraising events such as Sunflower Days. Thanks to the generosity of the people of Laois and the surrounding areas hospice services will continue to be delivered to individuals and families in Laois. Speaking in advance of Sunflower Day Seamus ODonoghue, Chairman of Laois Hospice Foundation said community support is crucial for services. We in Laois Hospice are reliant on our community to help maintain and expand hospice services in Laois. The numbers seeking hospice care are increasing and we are determined to be there for as many people as possible and with your support, we can ensure that they are not affected by any government cutbacks. By supporting Sunflower Day you will play a vital role in efforts to bring comfort and dignity to people who need hospice care If you would like to volunteer an hour on Friday 9th June for Sunflower Day please contact Mary Delaney, Secretary Laois Hospice Foundation at 086 8157280. Students have been enrolled to start the new school year in September The new secondary school that is expected to open in Portlaoise this September is still in need of extensive refurbishment work. The refurbishment that needs to be done on the building includes works to the existing pitched roof, new escape stairs, a new lift, general and specialist classroom fit outs and new toilet facilities. The new school will be called Dunamase College and is planned to open its doors this coming September at the former Vocational School building on Railway Street in the town centre. The Laois Offaly ETB will be the Patron for the school, combined with a partnership agreement with An Forus Patrunachta. The post primary school will be an English-medium, co-educational, and multi-belief school and will also include a unit to cater for students who wish to have teaching instruction as Gaeilge. Students are enrolled for the new school for September and an information evening was held for the parents of incoming first years in April providing information on the new school year, curriculum and uniforms. The school will initially take in first year students only, but a new building will be built by the Dept of Education to fit 1,000 pupils in the coming years, filling an urgent demand for secondary school places in the rapidly growing town. The new school principle, Aoife Elster, began her role in the school in March. Read more about Ms. Elster here. The Old Fort Quarter Festival is back in Portlaosie this June with a brand new food festival and heritage events. The streets of Portlaoise will come to life this June with the Old Fort Quarter Festival making a welcome return for its second year celebrating the towns historic past. The family friendly weekend has expanded to cater for even more tastes with a brand new Street Stall Food Festival with a variety of world cuisines from Hungarian to Mexican and local producers. Barbara Brown from Browns Vineyard who has organised the food festival emphasised the importance of supporting local enterprise. We have lots of local food producers on hand and these guys all need our support, she said. Another new element of the Old Fort Quarter Festival this year is a display of family orientated events and activities based on heritage from medieval shield making for children and medieval hair styles for children to interactive medieval armour displays in Gaelic and Tudor style. Raven Haven Aviaries will have a bird display at Fitzmaurices Square and regular walking tours of the Fort will be carried out over the Saturday and Sunday. The family fun does not stop there with street theatre and art workshops running across the weekend. There will be storytellers and puppet shows, magicians, clowns, acrobats, face painters, drumming workshops, pavement art, stilt-walkers and a range of costumed crazy characters about town. One of the biggest highlights of the festival is the live music on Main Street from a number of top acts. This year the Old Fort Quarter Festival brings a fantastic mix of music to the Portlaoise Town Centre with something for everyone all over the three nights of the festival, said PJ Kavanagh of Kavanaghs Bar & Venue, one of the committee members for the festival. Current chart toppers Chasing Abbey are set to kick off the festival with a bang on the Friday night with one of the biggest anthems of 2017 'That Good Thing'. Last years festival favourites Transmitter and Pogueology return to headline their respective nights while Electric Picnic stalwarts Smash Hits close out the festival on the Sunday night. The best of local music will also be a highlight of the weekend with James OConnor & The Friendly Strangers, Strength in Numbers, The Valves and The Fanzines all taking to the stage. The festival takes place across the weekend of June 23rd, 24th and 25th. The Old Fort Quarter Festival draws its title and theme from the little known, but fascinating history of the original Fort of Maryborough. The history embedded in this festival dates back to 1547AD when the town of Maryborough (Portlaoise) developed around the Fort and the celebrations aim to bring awareness to the history of the area for generations to come. More information about the events can be found on the Old Fort Quarter Facebook Page. Read about last years festival here. The Laois Youth Theatre junior and senior groups hosted a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of theatre in the Dunamaise Arts Centre on Sunday, May 14. A large number of friends and family turned up to witness a very high quality theatre event, with the junior members performing an abridged version of Around the World in 80 Days, by Philip Brennan and Stephen Colfer. The backdrop projections, designed by Nick Anton, technical manager at the Dunamaise, brought audiences to each location in the play and added immensely to the experience. The acting was very impressive all around with the young actors presenting their characters credibly. The senior group presented Wrap up Warm, a play they devised themselves. It was an intriguing mystery which showcased their talents to the utmost. Again, the group performed to a very high standard. The props and costumes in both shows were provided by the actors, and the poster was designed by Isobelle Kelly. The directors were coordinators Siobhan Coffey and Mirjana Rendulic and they were assisted by Aisling McDonald. The Portlaoise branch of the Laois Youth Theatre will adjourn for the summer and recommence in September. Members must be minimum 12 years of age and attending second level school. Young people interested in joining are asked to email the Arts Office at artsoff@laoiscoco.ie or telephone 057 8664033/13. The trial of an Allenwood man accused of assaulting another man collapsed at Naas District Court yesterday after the alleged injured party, who was the prosecutions main witness, withdrew his complaint. James Tracy, 35, with an address listed as Danes Lodge, Derrymullen, Allenwood was charged with and assault causing harm on Daniel Walsh, on August 4, 2014 in Robertstown. The case was listed for trial before Judge Marie Keane yesterday morning, May 30, with Counsel for the defendant, Sharbee Morrin, briefed and ready to proceed, as were the prosecuting Gardai. But Mr Walsh took to the witness stand and said he wanted to withdraw his complaint. My grandmother and my grandfather are not well, he told the court, and he said he didnt want the matter going any further. Garda Inspector Patsy Glennon asked him if he was being bullied or intimidated to withdraw his complaint and he said he wasnt. Ive little choice but to withdraw the charge, the Inspector admitted. Do you understand the consequences of your action? Judge Marie Keane asked Mr Walsh. He said he did. Youve wasted an amount of State resources, she said. Yes I understand, Mr Walsh replied. And thats alright, is it? she asked. Mr Walsh did not respond. Judge Keane struck out the case against Mr Tracey. Mary Clancy, Corglancy, Dromahair was one of two female recruits who passed out at Dublin Fire Brigade's graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 24. Thirty-year old Mary, who had previously had worked in London with the city's emergency ambulance crew, said, I applied for this, not thinking in a million years that I would get it, but here I am. Mary has had an enjoyable experience during her training with Dublin Fire Brigade and with the 48 other male and one other female trainees on the course. She remarked, The lads are brilliant. They don't treat you differently. They include you in every way. Mary added, The training process was tough but there was 50 of us and we all gelled so well and everyone helped everyone. Everyone had their strong points and got stuck into it. The training in the Fire Brigade is a bit more military than the ambulances, it's all about the teamwork. I have a drive to help people, I have that motivation. Working in the ambulances, you get some bad calls but they are very rewarding. I love doing this job. I never mind getting up and going to work in the morning. I'm heading to Swords (Fire Brigade) Station and I'll be coming back here (Dublin Fire Brigade Training Centre) in January to do my paramedic training. Minister Denis Naughten has confirmed Cabinet has approved plans to designate Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK) as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ). The proposal to make an order for the Ireland West Airport Knock Strategic Development Zone was agreed at the Cabinets weekly meeting yesterday (Tuesday). This designation will facilitate the fast tracking of planning for developments at the airport and projects on the adjoining lands which are related to air services. Following the approval by Cabinet of the special designation, Minister Denis Naughten said, "This designation will help to attract investment at the airport and as a result will be a boost to employment prospects locally. "The decision by Cabinet builds on the case that I have made in the past in Dail Eireann that Knock Airport should be treated equally to the other international airports in the country. "The intervention by a number of TDs at that time led to an engagement between Government and airport management, which has resulted in Cabinet approval of the special designation of Knock for aviation related developments this week. I would expect that some of the 38 million funding committed to in the Programme for Partnership Government to support the development of the commercial basis for some of our smaller airports will be made available to Knock Airport to help drive its long term plans," he said. "The fact is that this special designation will help attract investment and employment to Knock Airport and that will have a direct impact on employment opportunities in the region," concluded Minister Naughten. Le Monde awards seven world prizes for Smart Cities urban innovation LE MONDE Grand Prix Le Monde LATELIER BNP PARIBAS WeCyclers, Lagos (Nigeria) This project, developed by the company WeCyclers, aims to improve the collection of domestic waste in Nigeria, using customized bicycles, adapted for the transport and collection of domestic waste and a system of confirmation of transactions by SMS. The project thus responds to major ecological and public health issues. Mobility Prize Surtrac Intelligent Traffic, Pittsburgh (United States). Surtrac is a system for urban traffic flow control in the city of Pittsburgh designed by the Robotics Institute at the Carnegie Mellon University. This system, equipped with artificial intelligence produces predictive data and thus enables the coordination of the traffic lights. It improves the traffic flow and on average reduces travel time by 25% and pollution by 20%. First Accessit. The Ultimate Public Transport System, Singapore. A revolutionary public transport system based on driverless, electric vehicles. Second Accessit: Niteroi Urban Mobility Operation Center, (Brazil). A project developed by the French firm, Engie and the city of Niteroi for the improvement of traffic flow using an innovative control centre. Energy Prize Sylfen for its smart energy hubs, Grenoble. This firm has developed an innovative solution for the stockage of hybrid energy. This is a world first; it enables the stockage, in the form of hydrogen, of the electricity produced locally, then its restitution. Sylfen has already won the Le Monde Smart Cities European prize this year in this category. Two accessits ex aequo: The MEU Project, Lausanne (Switzerland). This platform, developed by the Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne, enables the visualisation of a citys consumption of energy, in its totality and by neighbourhood, or by building. BeeBrytes App., Singapore. An application aimed at reducing consumers electricity bills by 40%, using a regulation system in real time and the stocking of energy. Urban innovation prize Jugnoo, Chandigarh (India) This application, developed by the start-up Jugnoo, links bike-taxi (rickshaws) drivers and clients for transport and deliveries in 40 Indian cities. It is already used by over five million people. First Accessit: Vehicle Crowd-Sourced Infrastructure and Weather Monitoring, Pittsburgh (United States). Device developed by Carnegie Mellon University enabling the optimum inspection of roads by means of a camera mounted on garbage trucks. Second Accessit: Lyon Living Lab Confluence, Lyon This project developed by the City of Lyon enables a considerable amount of data to be recorded in real time: temperature, CO2, the presence of people in a room, lighting, etc. with the aim of regulating the consumption of energy. Already the winner this year of Le Monde Smart Cities European prize in this category. Citizen participation prize The walkway project Curridabat (Costa Rica) Developed by the municipality in Curridabat in the context of a citizen project, this application lists the obstacles which disabled people meet in the street: poorly maintained sidewalks, missing handrails, etc. First Accessit: myResponder mobile application on a cardiac arrest strategy, Singapore. Mobile application enabling users to notify a hospital complex when victim of a heart attack and the location of the nearest defibrillator. Second Accessit: Ileau (Local Interventions in Environment and urban planning, Montreal (Canada). A project for cooperation between over 40 environmental, social, regional, public or private partners aimed at reducing urban heat islands and at greening certain spaces. Habitat Prize Recipro-Cite, Lyon Recipro-Cite is a company creating social links, which has invented a device enabling the development of co-operative activities in the sharing of materials and exchange of services amongst the inhabitants in a building or a neighbourhood, through the association Chers Voisins and a Projects House. Recipro-Cite has already won the Le Monde Smart Cities European prize in this category. First Accessit: Habiter linfini, Paris. This project, developed by the architects, Arkhenspaces, proposes a new habitat model, with a considerable number of shared spaces and a customizable private sphere. Already this years winner of Le Monde Smart Cities European prize in this category. Second Accessit: Vivienda social con subsidion techo, Yanamayo (Peru). A project aimed at involving the Yanamayo peasant communities in the construction of their new homes. Cultural Action Prize Salon 1861, Montreal (Canada). A project for the restoration of the Saint-Joseph of Montreal church, a project supported by the Quo Vadis property management company in partnership with three universities, the residents in the neighbourhood and the NGOs. The church has been converted into customizable spaces for the use of the residents: co-working spaces, restaurants, lecture rooms or performance spaces, social entrepreneurship, etc. First Accessit: iDiscover App and Map, Hong Kong (China) Application developed by the Urban Discovery company targeting tourists in search of authenticity. Second Accessit: La Cite du Vin, Bordeaux. A new museum enabling the visitor to enjoy the world of wine with the aid, in particular, of a smart, multi-media device. Members of the Jury: Francis Pisani (President), Benjamin Blandin, Pilar Conesa, Karine Dognin-Sauze, Veronique Fournier, Vincent Giret, Martine Jacot, Francis Jutand, Claire Legros, Lydia Lim, Bruno Marzloff, Marion Moreau, John Rossant, Gwendolyn Regina, Saskia Sassen, Michel Sudarkis, Louis Treussard. Le Monde China's total trade volume in services reached $657.5 billion in 2016, ranking second in the world, according to statistics from the China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). Chinese authorities have implemented a series of measures to promote the development of services trade and the service industry as a whole, including pilot free-trade zones and pilot projects in Tianjin, Shanghai, Beijing and other cities and districts. The country has also relaxed entry restrictions for foreign investment in some domestic industries, according to China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC). In 2016, a total of $88.56 billion in foreign capital entered China's service industry, and China's foreign direct investment reached $183.2 billion, 43.6 percent higher than last year, according to CIFTIS. In the next five years, China is expected to see $2.2 trillion of foreign service capital flow into the country, according to MOC. China has invested over $30 billion in service industries in countries along the "Belt and Road" route, hoping to strengthen cooperation in key fields like technology, culture, finance, architecture and service outsourcing through the Belt and Road Initiative. The 2017 China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services is being held from May 28 to June 1 in Beijing. The Telegraph has published an obituary of former Liberal Democrat MP Paul Keetch who died last week at the age of 56. Locally-born and a former city councillor, Keetch built on the efforts of previous Liberal candidates among them Sir Robin Day. He ousted the long-serving and highly regarded Sir Colin Shepherd by 6,648 votes when the national anti-Conservative swing became irresistible, then fought hard to hold the seat, his majorities in 2001 and 2005 being 968 and 962 respectively. Keetch was an assiduous party defence spokesman from 1999 to 2005, when Charles Kennedy dropped him. His main concern was the SAS, based in his constituency, but he became a tenacious campaigner on service welfare issues, with the interests of other ranks particularly at heart. It was Keetch who ascertained prior to the Iraq War that half the troops heading for the Gulf had refused a voluntary anthrax jab. He probed, uncomfortably for the MoD, why only three officers had been caught by drug tests, compared with 3,400 junior ranks. Keetch suspected the military had done its best not to test officers. He also championed the cider industry, which was in the doldrums when he founded the All-Party Cider Group in 1997. Bulmers of Hereford recovered soon after on the back of a marketing campaign for Magners Irish cider, halting a situation in which many Herefordshire growers were grubbing up their orchards. In 2007 cider overtook beer in off-licence sales. Keetch campaigned against large-scale house building in Herefordshire villages, and was one of the few Lib Dems to vote against a ban on foxhunting. Willie Rennie will launch the Scottish Liberal Democrats manifesto this morning at an Edinburgh mental health charity. We will have the details later, but ahead of the launch he said: Votes for the Liberal Democrats will stop another divisive independence referendum from the nationalists. With the Scottish economy teetering on the edge of a recession, the performance of Scottish education dropping down the international rankings and mental health services failing to deliver, the last thing our country needs is another divisive and distracting independence referendum. The Liberal Democrats are setting out a positive plan to invest in mental health and education. A modest penny on tax secures those. We will protect jobs in Scotland by opposing an extreme Conservative Brexit and giving people the right to reject a bad deal. We will keep the triple-lock on the state pension. We will scrap the Conservatives two-child rule for tax credits which causes the rape clause that has outraged people in Scotland. We will promote a Scotland and a Britain that are open, tolerant and united. The latest Tory tactic seems to be to warn against a bad Brexit and to say that only they, if they get a whopping enough majority, can make sure we get a good deal. On that majority point, think of the last time you said to yourself Oh, Merkel has a huge majority, we need to do what she says. The point is that we go into these negotiations in a weakened position anyway. There are 27 EU member states and 1 of us. Who has the power here? The Tory brexiteers neednt bother trying to blame the EU for a situation that they created. Jeremy Hunt is the latest to talk of the dangers of Brexit going wrong and what that will mean for our NHS. In fact, if Brexit happens, it will damage our NHS on various fronts. The crash in our economy that would result if Theresa Mays extreme Brexit goes ahead would cost the NHS dearly. And today a report says that the NHS could stand to lose an extra half a billion if returning ex-pats came back to be treated on the NHS in Britain. This was entirely predictable. That is just one problem of several highlighted by the Nuffield Trust: According to the Nuffield Trust, it may not be easy to continue with this agreement after Brexit. If all of these pensioners decided to return to the UK a big if they could be expected to fill 900 NHS hospital beds a year, it says. The NHS would need about 1,600 more doctors, nurses and other workers to provide the care, it estimates. Also, hospitals could end up short-staffed if migration of workers from the EU slows or stops post-Brexit. And access to medicines could also become more difficult if the UK leaves the EUs medicine licensing system. So, we have a crashing economy, extra people to treat with fewer staff and restricted access to medicines. All of these are en entirely predictable consequence of any Brexit. Its not exactly what was written on that bus, is it? In response to todays report, Norman Lamb said: The Conservative Brexiteers promised a 350m a week saving for the NHS. Instead the public finances are facing a 59bn Brexit black-hole because of Theresa Mays decision to go for an extreme Brexit, which would take us out of the single market. Jeremy Hunt warns that the NHS will not have enough doctors or nurses with a so-called bad Brexit. But Theresa Mays refusal to guarantee a right to remain for NHS staff has already resulted in staff leaving the NHS. Thanks to Theresa May, this is already a bad Brexit. Sadly, the people who will suffer are patients, who will pay with cancelled operations. But Theresa May just doesnt seem to care. Nick Cleggs Brexit Challenge papers set out in detail why Brexit in general and Theresa Mays extreme Brexit in particular will cause huge problems for business, our economy and public services. Read them here. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings In just under two hours, Tim takes to the stage with representatives from 6 other parties for the tv debate. Its the one and only time during the election that we will see all 7 parties represented in the one debate. Theresa May has bottled it, which is no surprise as we have seen how awful she is when shes unscripted or when something happens that shes not expecting. That moment with Kathy in OXWAB showed that she has no ability to listen to what she is being told or to properly empathise with people. Jeremy Corbyn is showing up, which you have to give him credit for. He has a big job to convince people that he could be PM in just over a weeks time. It will be interesting to see what his line on Scottish independence is tonight. It has changed several times over the past few days, much to the discomfiture of Scottish Labour. He seemed to suggest that he would be happy as PM to talk to the SNP about having a referendum. This will go down like a bucket of cold sick in Edinburgh South where Labours only MP Ian Murray is trying to defend his seat from both Tory and SNP onslaughts. The Tories wont win, but they could stop him and if they dont think Labour will stop a second independence referendum, it does Ian Murray no good whatsoever. Corbyn is also vulnerable to attack from Tim Farron, who will be after the moderate Labour Remain voters who are not, in the main, Corbyn fans. We can expect Tim to be reminding the audience that Corbyn whipped his MPs to oppose right to stay and membership of the single market in the Article 50 Bill and just stood and waved Theresa May towards the cliff edge. Tim needs to present our unique position across the UK against Scottish independence and pro a vote on the Brexit deal. He needs to debunk this nonsense we hear from the Tories about them needing a massive majority to help them in the Brexit negotiations. She wants a large majority so she can do what she likes without scrutiny. It is not in the interests of the British people to let that happen. He needs to show that the SNP have a not so hidden agenda so they cant be trusted. He needs to look like the grown up in the room who can be relied upon to deliver that strong opposition to Theresa May. The SNP have been bringing up the coalition everywhere they are threatened by us. He needs to make sure he doesnt get bogged down in all of that and look forward. Tim also needs to make those moderate Tories who liked the coalition feel a bit queasy. He needs to push Amber Rudd on the Dementia Tax and school meals and NHS and he needs to do it in a way that gets him noticed, In a 7 way debate over 90 minutes, hes going to have a very short time to get his points across. Hes going to have to make every word count and make sure hes telling our story and not anybody elses. We will of course be following the debate. I can actually watch this one. If you are on social media, use the hashtags #IagreewithTIm and #bbcdebate. There are graphics to share too. If you are a party member, you will already have had them emailed. So, 7:30 pm, BBC1. See you there. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings FR JOHN Morris, who said the Mass of the Angels for tragic baby Chloe Fogarty, said sometimes there are no words but her Limerick mum somehow summoned the strength to pay an emotional tribute. Louise Fogarty (nee McInerney), originally from Oola, spoke heartbreakingly about her seven-month-old girl who died in a freak accident last week. Chloe was buried in the new cemetery in Oola following Mass in St Nicholas' Church, Solohead on Monday. Louise, supported by her husband Paul, told the congregation that heaven was missing an angel, a very special angel and they needed you. Chloe was discovered unresponsive in a parked car in Dundrum, Co Tipperary, shortly after 1pm last Thursday. She was rushed by air ambulance to University Hospital Limerick but doctors were unable to save her. The tragic accident occurred on the hottest day of the summer thus far. The couple slept in Chloes room on Thursday night and on Friday morning as they drew back the curtains there was an artificial rose petal on the floor. It was from nothing belonging to us - we can't explain where it came from. It is the strangest thing - we believe it was your way of saying you will always be with us. You are here by our side. Your gorgeous smile used to look up at us every morning. We will treasure every memory we have of you. I will cherish the scar on my tummy where you entered the world. Every time we close our eyes your beautiful face is all that we see. I don't know how our lives will go on without you. They will never be the same. Paul and I will stay strong together because I know that is what you would want Chloe, our darling daughter, said Louise, a daughter of Christy and Helen McInerney who reside in Oola. The offertory gifts included teddies, a book of nursery rhymes and a combined Tipperary-Limerick jersey. Almost two years ago Paul and Louise were married in the same church and a few months earlier they celebrated Chloes christening. We were the happiest parents when you came along on September 30. This day, eight months ago, you were on your way into this world. You would be eight-months-old tomorrow. "Chloe you switched on a happiness in us that we never knew we had. You were the most precious person in our lives - our beautiful, happy Chloe. "You always had a smile on your face for everyone you met. You knew how to put a smile on everyone else's face too. We loved you so much and you had so much love to give. "We never took any day for granted with you - each day was bright with you in it," said Louise. She said they will never forget Chloe and her huge personality. I cannot wait until we can hold you tight in our arms again - mammy, daddy and your family love you. We will love you forever and never forget you. Sleep tight Chloe, our precious, beautiful daughter. I love you." Former Oola councillor, Joe Meagher said the thoughts and prayers of the parish are with the Fogarty and McInerney families. The McInerney family are very well thought of and highly respected in Oola. It is a terrible tragedy, said Mr Meagher. A REFUGEE who went to a Limerick city garda station to make a complaint after he was refused emergency accommodation was fined 80 after he was convicted of acting in a threatening and abuse manner. During a contested hearing, Ismail Tamar, aged 33, who has an address at Dame Street in Dublin denied he was aggressive towards gardai and members of the public at Henry Street garda station. Sergeant Fergal Finn told Limerick District Court he was on duty at around 1.45pm on February 23, 2016 when the defendant entered the public office. He said the Afghan national produced a letter from Novas and began banging on the counter. He said he had been removed from State accommodation and demanded that I provide him with accommodation, said Sgt Finn who added Mr Tamar was shouting and roaring in Pharisee and was quite aggressive. In his evidence, the defendant agreed he had called to the garda station to make a complaint against Novas for not providing him with accommodation. They broke the law, it is corrupt he said. When asked had he been aggressive at the garda station, Mr Tamar replied no. He also denied shouting and or being aggressive. Solicitor Darach McCarthy said he did not believe his client entered the garda station all guns blazing and he said his communication difficulties may have exasperated the situation. After convicting the defendant under Section 6 of the Public Order Act, Judge Marian OLeary fined him 80. A second charge under Section 8 of the Public Order Act was dismissed following submissions from Mr McCarthy. FINE Gael leadership frontrunner Minister Leo Varadkar needs to put his money where his mouth is after committing to delivering the M20 project within the next five years, Labours Jan OSullivan has said. Minister Varadkar, who made the comments in the city over the weekend, said that the Limerick-Cork motorway is the most important project in Munster on his agenda. And though Deputy OSullivan welcomes Minister Simon Coveneys and Minister Varadkars commitment to the 1bn plan, she said that the Social Protection chief needs to ensure that the project is immediately prioritised in the capital plan review. Transport Minister Shane Ross cautioned the size and scale of the project would use up the available pot of capital spending. I have long campaigned for a motorway linking Cork and Limerick and I really hope Leo Varadkar is serious when he talks about building the M20 within five years. If he is, he needs to bear in mind that Rome wasnt built in a day and allocate money now in order to plan and identify a suitable route, she said. When asked about the likelihood of the 1bn project being delivered, the Minister said: I absolutely envision it happening. Varadkar, who abandoned the project as Transport Minister in 2011, said that some major projects had to be postponed. (File photo) MOSCOW, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Roughly three months ahead of a BRICS summit to be held in China, Russian analysts saw immense potential to increase and diversify economic cooperation between Russia and China. Vast opportunities can be created during the development of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the process of Russia's import substitution industrialization, experts said, adding that closer economic ties between the two strategic partners will be mutually beneficial. They also believe China-Russia trade should be expanded to more non-energy sectors so that bilateral economic cooperation can develop in a sustainable way. These remarks were made at a time when BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are busy preparing for the ninth summit of the bloc's leaders on Sept. 3-5 in Xiamen City in east China's Fujian Province. INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT The development of transport facilities is one of the key problems Russia faces, given its vast territory and low quality of roads and railways. "Chinese investment and joint projects will play a major role in the vast areas of Siberia and the Far East, as well as in other parts of Russia," said Sergei Luzyanin, director of the Far Eastern Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Luzyanin pinned high hopes on the Belt and Road Initiative, which can "greatly stimulate the development of infrastructure." To finance infrastructure construction, the BRICS New Development Bank should play a bigger role, said Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist of the Eurasian Development Bank. Russia responded to Western sanctions following its annexation of Crimea in 2014 with a so-called "import substitution" policy in various sectors in a bid to boost domestic industrial production. The process of import substitution industrialization creates opportunities for Chinese direct investment in Russia, said Vitaly Monkevich, president of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RAUIE). "This is beneficial for both sides as Chinese businesses will achieve a higher profit rate and the ability to sell products to China, and Russia will get investment and new jobs," said Monkevich. According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese companies invested more than 100 million U.S. dollars in Russia between January and April this year. "We see a serious interest in Russia-China cooperation from business circles of both countries," said Monkevich. NON-ENERGY SECTOR PARTNERSHIP Trade between China and Russia jumped 26.2 percent year on year to 24.7 billion dollars in the first four months of 2017, according to China's General Administration of Customs. In addition to oil and gas, Russian analysts saw the possibility of expanding bilateral trade to more areas. "RAUIE members often turn to us with requests for export of sunflower oil, honey, ice cream, confectionery and alcohol ... We see a great potential for the development of exports other than raw materials," said Monkevich. As for space cooperation between Russia and China, Luzyanin expects joint manned space stations and joint space missions in the future. Furthermore, Luzyanin and Lissovolik, who are also members of the Russian think tank Valdai Discussion Club, suggested Chinese and Russian programmers cooperate in ensuring cybersecurity and developing Internet-based business. "All this together creates a new quality for the growth of Russia-China cooperation. We can deal with oil and gas and talk about diversifying cooperation at the same time," said Luzyanin. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that both countries should maintain the development of pragmatic cooperation. Wang echoed Putin's appeal, saying that Russia and China should further deepen cooperation in such fields as trade and investment and explore new sources of economic growth. A MAN who is accused of selling a second-hand car after clocking the mileage has been ordered not use the popular Done Deal website as a condition of bail. James ODonoghue, aged 28, of Carrigroe, Mitchestown, County Cork was brought before Limerick District Court this Tuesday after he was charged with deception. Detective Garda Paul Crowley said he arrested the defendant at his home on Monday night and that he made no reply when he was formally charged at Roxboro Road garda station. The defendant faces a single charge under the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 relating to an incident in Limerick city two and-a-half years ago. It is alleged that Mr ODonoghue did dishonestly and by deception induce a named individual to buy a 09D-registered car at Roxboro Road after he had tampered with the vehicles odometer to reduce the genuine mileage on the vehicle. The offence is alleged to have happened on December 9, 2014 with the defendant selling the car for more than its real value. It is alleged the injured party paid around 3,000 more than what the Toyota Avensis was actually worth. During a brief hearing, Judge Marian OLeary was told a file was prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the matter and that she has consented to the case proceeding on a summary basis at the district court. While there was no objection to bail, gardai sought the imposition of a number of conditions pending the conclusion of the proceedings. Mr ODonoghue was ordered to live at his home address in North Cork and he must sign-on three time a week at his local garda station. He was also ordered to provide gardai with a mobile phone number while another specific condition of his bail is that he not use or operate on Done Deal.ie. The defendant was granted free legal aid by Judge OLeary and the matter adjourned to September 13, next. He is due to indicate a plea on the next date. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Our free email updates are the best way to get headlines direct to your inbox The daughter of a man who suffered a stroke claims her dad missed the window of opportunity to make a full recovery after an ambulance failed to arrive. The 81-year-old mans daughter called the NHS non-emergency 111 service after noticing her fathers speech was slow and slurred. The man was assessed on the phone by the operator who said they would send an ambulance - but four hours later it still hadn't arrived. His daughter from Boston, who wishes to remain anonymous said: My son went to pick him up on Sunday, May 14 to come for lunch. "There was obviously something amiss. "His speech was slow and slurred and he couldn't formulate a sentence properly. We looked for other signs of a stroke but there weren't any. "We wondered if it was the stress of knowing his knee operation was the next day as he was really worried about it. "I rang 111 for advice. "They said they thought he needed an ambulance for paramedics to check him over and would send one to my address." After four hours without an ambulance, the Boston woman claims a 111 call operator told her an ambulance was not available and advised her to take her dad to A&E if she thought he needed to go. But by this time, the elderly man refused to be taken to hospital by his daughter. She said: On hearing there was no ambulance he just wouldn't go. "He felt they didn't deem it necessary - there were other people more needy of an ambulance. He didn't want a fuss. His daughter thought as he was going to Pilgrim Hospital the next day, May 15, for a knee replacement operation, she didnt want to upset him further by taking him to A&E. But the operation ended up being cancelled due to the cyber attack on the NHS IT system. It was not until he visited his GP a week later after he became more unwell that he was sent to A&E at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston where it was confirmed he had suffered a stroke. The woman said: "I asked at the hospital if there was anything they could do and was told, if you had brought him sooner, there might have been but not now.' He now has impaired speech, sight and cognition. "I'm not saying if the ambulance had arrived that day, the outcome would have been different but I'm really upset and angry that we weren't given the chance to find out. Lincolnshire Live has contacted East Midlands Ambulance Service for a comment. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Our free email updates are the best way to get headlines direct to your inbox A 72-year-old man who conned two other pensioners out of 800 has been jailed - despite magistrates being told there was a danger he might die before he's released. Henry Gaskin made out he was a driveway specialist called Michael McPhail, who his two victims had employed before. He claimed both their driveways needed repairs and took their money, only to make off without doing any work. Gaskin admitted two counts of fraud when he appeared at Boston Magistrates' Court. The offences put him in breach of a suspended prison sentence for three similar offences carried out in 2014. But his solicitor David Eager pleaded with magistrates' not to send his client to prison. He said: There is medical evidence he is not a well man. He has Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and recently had a stroke, and is in grave danger of passing away in custody. We do not want to see an old man die in prison whatever he has done. He is not part of a gang and did it alone. He is not a young man so I would ask you not to send him to prison because of his age. Prosecutor Nick Todd told the court Gaskin had tricked his victims into believing he was another man that had carried out a good job on their driveways some years back. He said: They had work carried out by the genuine Michael McPhail and some years had passed so they assumed it was him. The two victims are 68 and 78. Mr Gaskin turned up to carry out the work, spraying a substance on both driveways in preparation for the work. He took the money off his victims and promised to return but never did. Gaskin, of Hill Mill View Caravan Site, Station Approach, Kirton in Lindsey, took 350 off Mr Dicken and 450 off Mr Kinnard. In interview Gaskin denied the allegations but later admitted he had carried out the fraud. He pleaded guilty to both charges at court. He was arrested in the court room and taken to prison. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email alerts for the top daily stories sent straight to your e-mail Lincolnshire's Police and Crime Commissioner says he does not believe the public wants police to be routinely armed, despite huge support for armed patrols after the Manchester terror attack. Armed officers from the Ministry of Defence Police were sent to Lincolnshire as part of Operation Temperer when the terror threat level in the UK was raised to critical in the wake of the Manchester bombing . The officers were deployed in the county to support Lincolnshire Police's existing armed response units, part of the East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS). They patrolled the streets of Lincoln, Boston and Skegness in the days after the May 22 terror attack and throughout the Bank Holiday Weekend. Members of the band Razorlight thanked the police for keeping everyone safe at their Lincolnshire Showground gig on Friday, May 26, while visitors posed for photos with armed police. But Commissioner Marc Jones said: I have supported the policy of increasing the number of officers trained in the use of Taser and Lincolnshire is now leading the way in that regard. I also remain a vocal campaigner for the introduction of spit guards nationally. The strategy I have pursued vigorously since I took office a year ago has been to investigate, assess and fund equipment that will give our officers the best chance of fighting crime and protecting themselves and our residents. We do have specialist armed response officers ready to deploy 24/7 to any part of the county. That said I do not believe a convincing argument has yet been presented for routinely arming police patrols in our county. Policing does not favour a constant armed presence on our streets and, though public response to Operation Temperer was overwhelmingly positive, I dont believe the majority of the public are ready to accept armed officers as the norm. The extraordinary measures taken in the wake of the bombing in Manchester were, in my view, correct but until there is evidence to the contrary I firmly believe that armed police should be used as a response to a specific incident and not as a constant presence. Policing by consent - the public's support for professional policing based on transparency, integrity and accountability - is a founding principal of Robert Peel's Metropolitan Police Act 1829 and remains at the core of British law enforcement. Jon Hassall, chairman of Lincolnshire Police Federation, said: "It's a shame that it takes tragedies like Manchester, and "When first joined 29 years ago a firearms officer asked us if we thought police should be armed. "I said we shouldn't but a lot of my colleagues said we should. However, I did expect that by the time I reached retirement age we would all be armed. "The British model of policing is the best in the world but I would still not want police to be armed as a matter of course, but we do need the appropriate level of resource at the appropriate time." Chief Superintendent Shaun West, who headed Operation Temperer across the county, said the support armed officers had received from members of the public and local businesses had been "brilliant" across the whole week. "Everywhere the armed officers have been on patrol the public's support has been very warm and very much appreciated," he said. "On many, many occasions people have approached the officers to express their gratitude, asked for photos and made it clear they were reassured by our presence." He paid special thanks to Butlins at Skegness for offering a refreshment and relaxation facility to the armed officers who had been drafted in to patrol local communities there. He said: "All of the armed officers have been made to feel very welcome wherever they have been and that is extremely humbling." People in Lincoln said they were shocked but reassured at seeing armed patrols following the tragedy in Manchester. Bishop Grosseteste University student, Faith Munday, 22, said: "Initially it is scary. You don't expect to see guns when you're walking down the street on a nice sunny day, but it is reassuring." Pat Holmes,73 from Lincoln, said: "I have lived in Spain and Germany and you see armed police all the time there. I don't think it's really necessary though but it might help some people who are worried. "I'm not worried because there's little chance of anything happening and we can't stop these things. "You have to live your life." On May 28, U.S. President Donald Trump called fake news the enemy of the people. This is not the first time he has taken aim at his nations media. He has done so many times before. In his book Great Again, for example, Trump accused virtually everyone in the mainstream media of being out to get him and said they are trying to manipulate people. File Photo/Xinhua Trumps deeply ingrained belief that the U.S. media is the enemy of the people has some merit. According to a recent report by Harvard Kennedy Schools Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, news coverage of Trumps first 100 days was overwhelmingly negative. The tone of news coverage by CNN and NBC, for example, was 93 percent negative. Coverage by The New York Times and The Washington Post was 87 and 83 percent negative, respectively. Trumps achievements were either downplayed or entirely ignored. As a result, Trump feels wronged by the media. China also feels wronged by unfair reporting. Reading news on China in the Western media, one might get the impression that coverage of China is mostly negative too. For example, the U.S. media sometimes portrays China as a communist country where people are suppressed and have no freedoms or human rights, but one would be hard pressed to find positive stories about Chinas tremendous human rights achievements. There is perhaps good reason for that. As the exceptional and indispensable nation, Americas national myth depends on putting others in the worst possible light. Demonizing China through the media helps prop up the national myth that the U.S. is the greatest nation in the history of the world. Demonizing China has a long tradition in the Western media. In June 2015, U.S. Congressman Steve Russell warned his country about constantly covering China inaccurately. On the verge of a bright future, we now see today with timidity and fear where we should see opportunity and favor with regard to China. China needs us, we need China, said the congressman. He warned about the barrage of negative press on China, everything from hedging them on trade, to condemning them in the South China Sea, to framing them up as the new military threat. While China is not our enemy, we could certainly set the conditions to make them one in the future, he said. On the U.S.-China bilateral ties front, U.S. media outlets are obsessed with reporting discord and conflict rather than cooperation and exchanges which are the bedrock features of relations. Many people have a biased view on China. If you search Why does China want to in Google, for instance, the top three predictions made by the popular search engine are: (1) go to war with America; (2) go to war with the U.S.; and (3) go to war. According to Google, search predictions are based on several factors, one of which is what other people are searching for. Yet China has never openly called for war against the U.S., despite challenges in the bilateral relationship. In fact, Chinese officials and the Chinese media frequently stress the benefits of bilateral cooperation and highlight stories of success between the two countries. This suggests people are not getting an accurate picture of China. Its not hard to see why China is sometimes wrongly vilified for its behavior. Reports that China stole an underwater drone, tortured a detained lawyer, shot dead a spy in a government courtyard, and unsafely intercepted a surveillance plane can bolster negative stereotypes about China. But did China rip a drone out of international waters? No, the drone was in Chinas waters and after capturing it, China handed it over. Was the detained lawyer tortured? According to those involved, the story was fabricated to tarnish Chinas image. Did China casually kill spies? Only according to a few unnamed U.S. officials. Did Chinese fighter jets unsafely intercept a spy plane in Chinas airspace? Professional and safe, according to Chinas Ministry of National Defense. So, lets not jump to conclusions. People deserve to hear the real story of China. Given U.S. President Trumps frequent claims that his nations leading media outlets are mass producing fake news in order to advance their own political agendas, its rational to at least wonder if negative stories about China by the Western media are fabricated lies. And given their international influence, fake news by mainstream media outlets is not just a great danger to the U.S., but a great danger to all countries. At the very least, we should take the China side of the story more seriously and not be so quick to assume that the U.S. account is always right in its interpretation. Putting the U.S. interpretation of events on a pedestal is part of the fake news problem that China has been battling for years. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email alerts for the top daily stories sent straight to your e-mail The future of the NHS is safest in the hands of Labour, nearly 60 per cent of East Midlands voters say in a new survey. An even higher number of voters think the health service has become worse in the last three years, while more than three quarters said they would be prepared to pay an extra 1p in the pound on income tax for a better-funded NHS. The survey, completed by readers of Lincolnshire Live readers and its sister websites across the region also reveals that 66.7 per cent of people believe there should be universal access to all NHS services. And more than two-thirds of people - 66.8 per cent - said the private sector should have no role in running the NHS. In terms of the current state of the NHS, 51.2 per cent of survey respondents in the region said they have struggled to get a GP appointment in the last year, while 60.6 per cent said they thought NHS services had got worse since 2014. Only 29.6 per cent said health chiefs should be allowed to continue charging for car parking at hospitals. With health set to be a major election issue, the gap in trust between Labour and the Conservatives when it comes to which party would best protect the NHS is startling. Given a choice of four major parties - the Tories, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party - 57.0 per cent of respondents in the East Midlands said they trusted Labour most with the NHS. Only 27.9 per cent said they trusted the Conservatives most, while 6.7 per cent said the Lib Dems and 8.4 per cent the Greens. Labour actually polled far higher in several other regions of the UK, including 67.9 per cent in the north west and 63.7 per cent in the north east. Even in the English region where they did worst - the South East - some 48.0 per cent said they trusted Labour most, compared to 33.3 per cent who backed the Conservatives. Only in Scotland was Labour not the party most trusted to run the NHS. Some 42.9 per cent of respondents there went for the SNP, compared to 32.4 per cent for Labour and 19.5 per cent for the Tories. There was also significant support in the East Midlands for the flagship Lib Dem policy of making people pay an extra 1p in the pound in income tax to raise an estimated 6bn a year for the NHS. Some 78.1 per cent of people in the East Midlands said they would be prepared to pay for it, compared to 13.1 per cent who said they would not and 8.8 per cent who did not know. May 4, 2021, 2 AM Canada Posts official first-day cover for the Canada 150 Nunavut stamp shows a well-lit igloo against a snowy mountain background while the northern lights fill the Arctic sky. The Canada 150 Nunavut stamp was unveiled March 30, the seventh of 10 stamps in the Canada 150 series. The design of this stamps includes the rendering of the territorial name in the Inuit language of Inuktitut, in which Nunavut means our land. Issued April 1, 1999, the day the territory of Nunavut came into existence, this 46 Canadian stamp (Scott 1784) celebrated its creation. The stamp pictures Inuktitut, the indigenous people of Nunavut, of all ages, as well as humanlike stone figures calle By Fred Baumann On May 30, Premier Peter Taptuna, Commissioner Nellie Kusugak and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly George Qulaut unveiled the Canada 150 Nunavut stamp at the legislature in Iqaluit, the capital of Canadas newest, largest territory. This newly unveiled commemorative is the seventh of 10 maple-leaf-shaped stamps that will be issued June 1 to celebrate Canada 150, honoring important persons, places, and events since Canadas centennial year of 1967. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter The stamp shows a fur-trimmed portrait of Leah Ejangiaq Kines, photographed by her spouse Clare Kines. The Kines and their two children are residents of Arctic Bay, an Inuit hamlet on the Borden Peninsula of northern Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut, about 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Nunavut (NEW-nah-voot) means our land in the Inuit language of Inuktitut, and is inscribed in that language below Nunavut in the stamp design. The text on the back of Canada Posts official first-day cover for the stamp also appears in Inuktitut, as well as Canadas official languages of English and French, and tells the story behind the stamp: NUNAVUT One of 10 stamps in a special Canada 150 issue showcasing significant events since Canadas centennial, this stamp celebrates the first major change to the political map since Newfoundland and Labrador joined Confederation in 1949. The result of the largest Aboriginal lands claim agreement in Canadian history, Nunavut was created on April 1, 1999, by dividing the Northwest Territories in two. Canadas newest, largest, most northerly and least populated territory covers an area the size of Mexico, yet is home to only about 32,000 people most of them Inuit, who have occupied the vast Arctic Archipelago part of the region for some 4,000 years. A quarter century of negotiations by various Inuit groups preceded the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement with Canadas federal government and that of the Northwest Territories, which laid the foundation for the creation of the territory of Nunavut April 1, 1999. Carved out of the central and eastern regions of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut is now the largest province or territory in Canada, at 787,155 square miles. When it and the other nine Canada 150 stamps are issued June 1, this new Nunavut stamp will be the fourth Canada Post has released hailing the new territory. On April 1, 1999, the day Nunavut came into being, a 46 stamp (Scott 1784) was the first to display the name of the new territory in both the Latin alphabet and in Inuktitut. It also was the first to picture inukshuk, man-made stone cairns in the form of stylized human figures. The inukshuk have become symbols of the region, featured at the center of the Nunavut territorial flag and in its coat of arms, and on several stamps. Tourist Attractions stamps featured Nunavut twice, in 2001 on a $1.05 stamp picturing Auyuittuq National Park in southeastern Baffin Island (Scott 1904d), and in 2003 on a 65 stamp showing Wilberforce Falls on the Hood River in the Kitikmeot Region (Scott 1989a). The Canada Post 150 stamps will be available in self-adhesive form in 400,000 booklets of 10, and in 80,000 gummed panes of 10. The Nunavut stamp also will be sold separately in a booklet of eight. Beginning June 1, the Canada 150 stamps and FDCs will be available from Canada Posts online shop. They can be pre-ordered as well. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. About 40 percent of Japanese enterprises in China are planning to expand their business within the country, according to a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). That figure rose recently for the first time in three years. According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japanese enterprises are expanding their production capacity in China. Panasonic and Rinnai have both constructed new factories in the country, and Nissin Foods Holdings will also soon establish a new production line in China. A total of 9,726 foreign enterprises invested in China in the first four months of 2017, increasing 17.2 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the actual use of foreign capital fell by 0.1 percent, standing at 286.41 billion RMB ($39.19 billion), according to statistics released by Chinas Ministry of Commerce (MOC). Liu Xiangdong, an associate researcher with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, acknowledged the divestment from labor-intensive and export-oriented sectors. However, he pointed out that enterprises that meet the demands of Chinese development, such as advanced service firms and high-end manufacturers, will enjoy great opportunities. MOC statistics indicate that the rapid growth of foreign investment in the high-tech service industry is one of the main features of Chinas foreign capital appeal. A total of 36.56 billion RMB of foreign investment was poured into this sector in the first four months of 2017, increasing 12.4 percent year on year. The rapid growth of Chinas advanced manufacturing industry and the Made in China 2025 initiative will bring more opportunities to Western countries, said Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. Foreign enterprises will take advantage of Chinas upgraded consumption to increase their investment, noted Sang Baichuan, dean of the Institute of International Economics at the University of International Business and Economics. Chinas reorganized industrial structure and high-end manufacturing industry, including smart manufacturing, will also be a major attraction for foreign investment, he added. Liu attributed the increase in foreign investment to Chinas improving business environment. The country is promoting trade liberalization and facilitating investment to meet the demands of its development. According to Chinese government work report this year, the country will allow foreign enterprises more freedom, further expanding market access for the service, manufacturing and mining industries. The Chinese government will encourage the IPOs of overseas companies, applying the same rules for both domestic and overseas enterprises when it comes to qualifications, standards and government purchases. An injured man is being transferred to hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 31, 2017. A powerful blast rocked a diplomatic district in the central part of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Wednesday morning, leaving casualties and damage, sources and witnesses said. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah) KABUL, May 31 (Xinhua) -- At least 80 people were killed and over 350 injured Wednesday after a powerful car bombing rocked a diplomatic district in central part of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, Afghan Public Health Ministry said. "The blast occurred roughly at 08:25 a.m. (local time) at 17th street of Wazir Akbar Khan locality, causing panic among the residents," witness Ahmad Fahim told Xinhua. More than 50 vehicles were destroyed and dozens of the buildings around the site were damaged by the blast. Dozens of the wounded were in critical conditions. The explosive were planted in a water tanker vehicle. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Central Military Commission (CMC) will terminate all paid services provided by the military by the end of June 2018, according to a military professor. In the first stage, services in 10 fields should stop by the end of this June, said Jiang Luming, professor at the National University of Defense Technology in an interview with Xinhua. The 10 fields are nursery education, press and publications, culture and sports, communications, personnel training, barrack projects, storage and transportation, militia armament repair, repair technology and driver instruction, he said. Projects in another five fields -- real estate rentals, agricultural products, accommodation services, medical care and scientific research -- should be ceased by the end of June 2018, he added. In February 2016, the CMC issued a circular urging the end of all paid services by the armed forces and the armed police. Jiang said that the military has received support from local governments and courts. Famous American beer brand Budweiser suffered a potential blow to the confidence and loyalty of its customers after a counterfeit Budweiser beer factory was discovered in China. The counterfeit operation threatens not only the company's public image but also the health of its customers, as a video clip revealed dozens of Budweiser lookalike cans being filled in a dark, filthy underground factory. The video clip began to go viral over the weekend. A female worker in the video can be seen throwing empty Budweiser cans into a sink, where two other workers appear to be filling the cans with a dark-colored liquid that looks like beer. All were working with bare hands, clad in ordinary T-shirt and jeans. The video then showed an assembly line where the cans were sealed, apparently in preparation for sale. The clip immediately sent shockwaves through the Chinese beer market, as Budweiser is a very popular brand in China. On May 29, Budweisers sales company in China issued a statement on Sina Weibo, saying that the company has reported the underground factory to police and reserves the right to pursue legal action, Hunan Economic Television reported. The company emphasized that Budweiser has always prioritized product quality and consumer safety with a strict quality inspection system. The statement also noted that Budweiser has never sought a third-party partner for manufacturing or packaging. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Long Island, New York to watch the Bethpage Air Show, which was staged for the first time in 2004. Aerobatics teams included the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, who flew F-16 fighter jets, as well as the U.S. Army Golden Knights and GEICO Skytypers. The show lasted from May 27 to 28. (Photo/People's Daily Online) Local Chinese governments have stepped up their supervision over restrictions on liquor for civil servants. A stricter ban prohibiting civil servants from touching alcohol on official receptions was recently implemented. The new rules stipulate that drinking alcohol is banned during work hours and during official receptions, except those intended to attract investment. Otherwise, civil servants are banned from drinking alcoholic beverages offered by any person or institution at events including dinners. The ban aims to build awareness about the adverse effects of alcohol on those performing official duties. In 2013, the central government issued a regulation banning expensive delicacies, cigarettes and fine liquors at official receptions. The rules are easily implemented and will help to improve the work style and performance of cadres, said Yang Gang, a member of the standing committee of the discipline inspection commission of Chongqing Municipality's Shapingba district. Li Haojun, an official with the discipline inspection commission of northwestern Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, said the ban has helped institutions to reduce reception expenses, saved time and helped to purify the social environment. Where do dreams come from? Researchers now say they know: A specific group of cells in the brain stem is responsible for controlling dreaming sleep, also called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, a new study says. The study also showed that damage to those cells could lead to a sleeping disorder called REM Behavior Disorder (RBD), which makes a person act out violent dreams. The findings have far broader implications than pinpointing the neurological source of dreams, though, said the study's principal investigator, John Peever, a professor of cell and systems biology at the University of Toronto. Because previous studies have shown that 80 percent of people with RBD develop incurable brain diseases, the new research could give drug companies a specific group of cells to target for therapies that slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. [7 Mind-Bending Facts About Dreams] "For some reason, the cells in the REM sleep area are the first to be sickened, and then the neurodegenerative disease spreads up into the brain and affects the other areas that cause disorders like Parkinson's disease," Peever told Live Science. Peever presented his team's results May 29 at the 2017 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting in Montreal. The findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. During a healthy night's sleep, a person cycles through light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep several times. During REM sleep, the neurons in the brain stem send signals to the brain's cerebral cortex perhaps drawing the details for the dream from the parts of the brain responsible for learning, thinking and moving as well as to the body's spinal cord, to prevent muscles from moving, Peever said. During healthy REM sleep, most people do not move around much, although some do twitch or talk. And although some people are known to walk in their sleep, sleepwalking is not a part of REM sleep, but a part of the deep-sleep cycle, when dreaming doesn't occur. In contrast, people who have RBD frequently have violent dreams and act them out during their REM sleep, injuring themselves and anyone who might be sleeping next them. The disorder was first described by Dr. Mark Mahowald and Dr. Carlos Schenck, of the University of Minnesota. In their book, "In Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine," published in 1985, the two doctors presented case histories of people with the disorder, including a 77-year-old minister, who behaved violently in his sleep, sometimes injuring his wife; a 60-year-old surgeon, who reported the feeling of being attacked, and who would jump out of bed during nightmares; and a 57-year old retired school principal, who mistakenly punched and kicked his wife while having nightmares. Peever said that studies done since then have showed that the vast majority of people who have RBD develop one of three progressive brain diseases. One is Parkinson's disease, which is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that afflicts the motor system. The second is dementia with Lewy bodies, which causes forgetfulness, fluctuations in alertness, visual hallucinations and trouble walking. The third is a disorder called multiple system atrophy, which affects the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary movement as well as involuntary movements, including blood pressure and digestion. "REM Behavior Disorder is in fact the best-known predictor of the onset of Parkinson's disease," Peever said. [5 Surprising Sleep Discoveries] The brain diseases like Parkinson's and dementia with Lewy bodies typically occur six to 15 years after a RBD diagnosis. Until now, the link between RBD and these neurological diseases has been anecdotal, though, Peever said. Researchers who studied the brains of cadavers from people who suffered from both RBD and a brain disease found damage to the neurons in the brain stem. But that didn't mean the damage had caused RBD. "There was a correlation, but no causality," Peever said. "What our study has done is taken away the correlation and show causality." In the new study, Peever and his colleagues first identified which cells were responsible for healthy REM sleep. They used mice with cells in the brain stem that had been genetically modified to be sensitive to light. When they shined a light onto these cells, it activated the REM sleep in the mice. When they deactivated those cells, the mice did not have REM sleep. Once the researchers had the cluster of neurons pinpointed, they used a genetically engineered virus to deliver a disease-causing protein the same one that causes Parkinson's disease into the REM-generating brain cells. The protein caused the cells to become sick and the mice started to exhibit behaviors indicative of people with REM Behavior Disorder, moving around much more during REM sleep. "We're saying REM sleep cells get sick, and then you develop REM sleep behavior disorder," Peever said. The long-term strategy of this research is to develop a drug therapy that could treat patients who have been diagnosed with RBD. Such a therapy would likely not cure the patient of RBD, since the brain cells that cause that disorder would have already been damaged, but it could prevent the disease from spreading to the rest of the brain, Peever said. "You may have RBD, which is still unfortunate, but you won't develop one of those other brain disorders, which are far more disabling," he said. Originally published on Live Science. Battle of Lutzen On Nov. 16, 1632, the Protestant Swedish army and Catholic Holy Roman Empire's imperial army clashed during the Battle of Lutzen in Germany. Up to 9,000 people were killed. (Image credit: LDA Halle/Saale) In 2011, archaeologists uncovered a mass grave from the Battle of Lutzen in Germany. Now, they have more clues about the violent lives and deaths of soldiers during the Thirty Years War. On Nov. 16, 1632, the Protestant Swedish army and Catholic Holy Roman Empire's imperial army clashed during the Battle of Lutzen in Germany. Up to 9,000 people were killed. [Read the full story on the mass grave discoveries] War grave On Nov. 16, 1632, the Protestant Swedish army and Catholic Holy Roman Empire's imperial army clashed during the Battle of Lutzen in Germany. (Image credit: J. Liptak, O. Schroder) The site of the battle was relocated in 2006, and this mass grave was discovered in 2011. Instead of removing the skeletons one by one, archaeologists removed the whole gravesite in two blocks so that it could be studied in a lab. A grim puzzle Up to 9,000 people were killed in the Thirty Years War. (Image credit: J. Liptak, O. Schroder) Bioarchaeologists looked at the 47 bodies for signs of trauma that might reveal new insights about how the soldiers lived and died. Rough living The researchers found that the soldiers had a lot of healing and healed injuries, like the head wounds seen on this skull, suggesting that many of the men had already been involved in violent encounters before this battle. (Image credit: A. Horentrup) The researchers found that the soldiers had a lot of healing and healed injuries, like the head wounds seen on this skull, suggesting that many of the men had already been involved in violent encounters before this battle. (Photo Credit: A. Horentrup) Gunfight The most notable fatal injuries from the battle were gunshot wounds. This man was shot in the head, but was also carrying an unfired bullet in his mouth (pointed out by the arrow) that he likely planned to use. (Image credit: N. Nicklisch) The most notable fatal injuries from the battle were gunshot wounds. This man was shot in the head, but was also carrying an unfired bullet in his mouth (pointed out by the arrow) that he likely planned to use. Musket ball This man was hit by a bullet on the left side of his head. A CT scan allowed researchers to pinpoint the lead musket ball that was still inside the skull. (Image credit: K. Bentele/N. Nicklisch/S. Brandt) This man was hit by a bullet on the left side of his head. A CT scan allowed researchers to pinpoint the lead musket ball that was still inside the skull. Cavalry attack The researchers think the prevalence of gun wounds could be linked to a surprise cavalry attack, where a unit of the Swedish army was attacked by handgun-wielding imperial forces on horseback. (Image credit: N. Nicklisch) The researchers think the prevalence of gun wounds could be linked to a surprise cavalry attack, where a unit of the Swedish army was attacked by handgun-wielding imperial forces on horseback. Gunshot and a fall The oldest individual (between 40 and 50 years old) among the dead in the mass grave had fractures to the right cheekbone and the jawbone (A). The fracture to the right femur of another individual was likely associated with a fall, while a gunshot caused the fracture of the tibia. The shot to the tibia may have caused the fall and subsequent femur fracture, the researchers said. (Image credit: N. Nicklisch/J. Liptak) The oldest individual (between 40 and 50 years old) among the dead in the mass grave had fractures to the right cheekbone and the jawbone (A). The fracture to the right femur of another individual was likely associated with a fall, while a gunshot caused the fracture of the tibia. The shot to the tibia may have caused the fall and subsequent femur fracture, the researchers said. [Read the full story on the mass grave discoveries] In November of 1632, the townspeople of Lutzen, Germany, were stuck with a grim task: They had to bury some 9,000 soldiers who were left dead on a battlefield after a bloody fight during the Thirty Years' War. Archaeologists recently undid some of that work. A few years ago, researchers uncovered a mass grave at the site of the Battle of Lutzen.By analyzing the bones, they have now learned more about the violent lives and deaths of soldiers from this era. [See Images of the War Grave and Battle Injuries] The Thirty Years' War was one of the bloodiest events in European history deadlier than the Black Death and World War II, in terms of the proportion of the population lost. Fought between 1618 and 1648, the conflict started out as a struggle between Catholics and Protestants within the Holy Roman Empire. The brutal clashes touched much of central Europe, but most of the battles were fought in what is Germany today. Outside of the killing on the battlefields, famine and disease outbreaks devastated populations. Both sides in the conflict heavily relied on wealth-seeking foreign mercenaries (whose loyalties might change based on who was paying more), and occupying armies terrorized civilians in cities and villages. One turning point in the war came when Sweden intervened in 1630, lending support to Protestant forces. Swedish King Gustav II Adolf led a series of victorious battles, until he was killed in a fight against General Albrecht von Wallenstein, commander of the Holy Roman Empire's imperial troops, during the Battle of Lutzen, just southwest of Leipzig, on Nov. 16, 1632. Wounds of war Archaeologists located the site of the Battle of Lutzen in 2006 after a metal-detector survey turned up about 3,000 projectiles, ammunitions and other objects from the fight. A trench excavated in 2011 then revealed a mass grave. To prevent the burial site from being looted by treasure hunters and eroded by bad weather, the scientists didn't excavate the skeletons on the site. Instead, they lifted the remains out of the ground in a 55-ton block of soil, split into two. Led by Nicole Nicklisch, of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, a team of bioarchaeologists analyzed the 47 skeletons in this block of dirt, looking for the fatal injuries the men sustained during the battle. According to their results, published in the journal PLOS ONE on May 22, most of the men were already in rough shape when they headed into their final battle. Sixteen had experienced previous head injuries; one man had even suffered four head wounds in previous conflicts before he died. Twenty-one had other healed or healing bone injuries, like fractures in the arms, legs and ribs. By looking at the unhealed wounds, the researchers could see what the men suffered on the battlefield. Though some men had cut marks and slash wounds on their bones, bladed weapons seemed to play a minor role in the deaths of these soldiers. Instead, more than half of the men had been hit by gunfire. Twenty-one suffered gunshot wounds to the head, and 11 of them had bullets still lodged in their skulls. Cavalry attack The high number of gunshot wounds was unusual for the time at least compared to other mass graves from the Thirty Years' War found German sites like Wittstock and Alerheim. Swords and knives were still "the weapons of choice for hand-to-hand combat," the researchers wrote. [Photos: Mass Graves Hold 17th-Century Prisoners of War] This unusual gunfight at Lutzen might match one account of the battle. Historical records suggest that an elite unit (mostly made up of hired German soldiers) of the Swedish army called the Blue Brigadesuffered a deadly defeat in the area where the grave was found, after they were attacked by surprise by a cavalry unit from the Catholic imperial army, the researchers said. Remains of bullets reveal that the soldiers had been attacked with pistols, muskets and carbinesweapons that cavalrymen used for short distances. Historical records mention that soldiers would keep bullets in their mouths so they could quickly reload their guns during battle, and two of the skeletons in the grave still had unfired lead bullets in their oral cavity. The researchers speculate that most of the men buried in this grave were fighting for the Swedish army, though it's likely soldiers for the imperial Catholic army ended up in the pit, too. There was not much clothing or material found with the bodies, suggesting that the soldiers were stripped of their uniforms and whatever else they were carrying before they were buried. And while some bodies seem to have been laid down with care, others appear to have been thrown into the pit, most likely by the townspeople who were left to clean up the mess a few days after the battle, after the armies had moved on. "It can certainly be assumed that the local population of Lutzen did not have a positive attitude towards the fallen soldiers, regardless of any military affiliation," the researchers wrote. "In the Thirty Years' War, every battle brought destruction and deprivation for the rural population." Original article on Live Science. This drawing from the self-defense book shows an abdomen strangulation technique that can render an attacker trying to rape a woman unconscious. A translation of a martial-arts book published in 1914, which was written by a woman for women, describes a group of Japanese women who banded together to form the Women's Self-Defense League in order to fight off attacks from men. Nobatake Yaeko wrote the book whose title translates as "Self-Defense for Women" under the pen name Nohata Showa and she published it in May of 1914. In the book, she describes and illustrates a number of martial-arts techniques that women can use to fight off attackers. These techniques include throws, ways to break an attacker's arm and a technique that strangles the abdomen of an attacker who is trying to rape a woman. [See Photos of the Images of Martial-Arts Techniques from the Book] It has a detailed chart showing the weak spots on a man (called Kyusho). "Kyusho are points on the body that can cause damage if struck hard, or they can be used to resuscitate a person. If you violently strike any of these Kyusho, it can render a person unconscious and even stop their breath. Good and proper people would do well to learn these points," Showa wrote. The book, written in Japanese, was translated by Eric Shahan (opens in new tab), who specializes in translating 19th- and early 20th-century Japanese martial-arts texts. Shahan also holds a San Dan (third-degree black belt) in Kobudo. The techniques described in the book are derived from a martial art called Jujutsu. "The fundamentals of Jujutsu is to use the opponent's power. You can win by moving nimbly at the right time, without using much power. Should you ingrain these techniques into your body, even a cute weak girl can wrap up a large man and achieve a win!" wrote Showa, according to Shahan's translation. Showa wrote in the book that she had used the techniques successfully. "While I was returning to my abode from running an errand just the other night I encountered a frightful situation. I was able to imitate the handful of Jujutsu moves I learned and, despite my slight form, was able to avoid falling prey to a dastardly scoundrel. It was an absolutely thrilling experience." Women's Self-Defense League In the book, Showa decries what she described as a surge of violence against woman in Japan and talks of an organization called the Women's Self-Defense League, which was formed to combat it. "My dear sisters, my dear daughters, the way in which the citizens of this country have fallen is truly regrettable is it not?" Showa wrote in the book. Some men "feel no qualms about affecting disrespectful conduct around us." Showa wrote, "A resolute solution to men's debauchery continues to elude us." She also takes aim at Japan's politicians, who she said were ignoring the problem. The Women's Self-Defense League not only trained women to defend themselves against attackers, but the organization also handed out awards to women who successfully stopped an assault. "Should any reader of this book have, by chanced toppled, restrained or otherwise through self-defense measures thrown a ruffian or [man] attempting mischief this organization will award you a large certificate reading 'Meiji Imperial Achievement Award,'" Showa wrote, noting that this award could also be given to women who find new ways to spread martial-arts knowledge, or help more women get access to the book or others like it. So far, Shahan's research has revealed little additional information on Showa or the Women's Self-Defense League beyond what is given in the book, he said. In the book, Showa "claims to have been a women's historian," Shahan told Live Science in an email. Given the Jujutsu techniques that Showa describes in the book, it's possible that she ran a dojo dedicated to teaching martial-arts techniques to women, Shahan said. Original article on Live Science. X-ray flash knocks so many electrons out of the iodine atom (right) such that it pulls in the electrons of the methyl group (left) like an elecetromagnetic version of a black hole, before finally spitting them out. The world's most powerful X-ray laser has created a molecular "black hole." The black hole is not a tiny version of the supermassive celestial object that devours everything within its event horizon. Rather, when X-ray energy is aimed at a molecule, it strips away so many of the electrons that it creates a void that then sucks in all the electrons from nearby atoms in black-hole fashion. "It basically sucked all the electrons away from the surrounding environment," said study co-author Sebastien Boutet, a physicist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. "It's an analogy to how a black hole gravitationally pulls everything in." [Brightest X-Ray Laser 'Blows Up' Water Droplets in Stunning Video] The molecular black-hole effect occurs thanks to the most intense X-ray beam of its kind equivalent to focusing all the sun's light onto a spot the size of a thumbnail. Powerful beams The experiments relied on the SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray free-electron laser, which generates extremely high-energy laser pulses known as hard X-rays. Boutet and colleagues then used a series of mirrors to focus that X-ray energy onto a spot about 100 nanometers in diameter. (A human hair is about 70,000 nanometers wide, where 1 nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.) These focused laser pulses then illuminated isolated xenon atoms and molecules of iodomethane (CH3I) and iodobenzene (C6H5I). The intense energy was tuned so that the X-rays would strip electrons first from the innermost energy shells of the iodine atoms. (Electrons whirl around the nucleus of an atom in shells, or orbitals, with different energy levels.) At first, everything acted as predicted: Like pinballs, the outer electrons cascaded from the outermost electron orbitals into the innermost shells, where they would also be ejected by the X-ray pulses. Though dramatic, that initial process was expected. However, X-ray pulses didn't just deplete the outer shell of iodine's electrons: The iodine atom, which normally contains 53 electrons, continued to suck in electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms in the molecule after which they were violently ejected as well. All told, the iodine molecules lost 54 electrons more than the atoms initially started with. The whole process occurred in just 30 femtoseconds, or one quadrillionth of a second. At the end of this dramatic cascade, the molecule exploded. Simple in theory, not in practice The findings suggest that some of the basic models physicists have used in the past to capture the impact of X-ray laser pulses may be lacking, Boutet said. "Even for something relatively simple, a six-atom system, it ends up being pretty challenging to predict how the damage will occur," Boutet told Live Science. The findings could help scientists better model the radiation damage incurred by the powerful laser pulses, which are frequently used to visualize intricate organic molecules, such as viruses, enzymes and bacteria, he added. While the process underpinning the molecular black hole is dramatic, it likely has never happened before on Earth. "There's some celestial events that will create these intense fields, like supernovas," Boutet said. "It does not happen naturally in any place that we humans happen to be." The findings were published today (May 31) in the journal Nature. Originally published on Live Science. Climeworks a spin-off company from the Swiss science, technology, engineering and mathematics university ETH Zurich built the plant near the village of Hinwil, at a site between a waste incineration plant and a large greenhouse. Agricultural firm Gebruder Meier Primanatura, which runs the greenhouse, will use the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to enhance the growth of lettuce, the company said. The waste incineration plant will provide the heat and renewable electricity needed to run the facility, the company added. [Top 10 Craziest Environmental Ideas] "The plant will capture 900 tons of CO2 per year," said Valentin Gutknecht, a business development manager at Climeworks. "The plant consists of several CO2 collectors, which are large boxes with filters inside. We blow air through these boxes for several hours, and after the filter is saturated, we heat the box up to 100 degrees [Celsius, or 212 degrees Fahrenheit] to extract the pure CO2 and regenerate the filters." Carbon dioxide emissions are a main driver of climate change, and current levels of atmospheric CO2 are unprecedented in human history. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an organization created by the United Nations to evaluate and report on the entire body of climate change science, 10 gigatons of CO2 need to be removed from Earth's atmosphere every year to halt the pace of global warming. Climeworks founders Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher first developed the so-called Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology during their studies at ETH Zurich in the late 2000s. At that time, the researchers were able to extract only tiny amounts of CO2, and no one thought the system would ever be commercially viable. "CO2 capture from air has been a very controversial topic in research for a long time," Gutknecht told Live Science. "There was a belief that the cost can't get down below $600 per ton of CO2 even at the mass scale. But we have managed to break this barrier." Climeworks, a Swiss company, has opened a facility that can extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and resell it. (Image credit: Julia Dunlop) Gebruder Meier Primanatura estimates that the CO2 from the Hinwil plant will enhance the growth of its lettuce by 20 to 30 percent. Climeworks previously partnered with Audi to research whether the technology could be used to manufacture synthetic fuels from air-captured CO2. [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted] "The idea is to use excess renewable energy from solar and wind power plants to produce hydrogen and then synthesize it with CO2 to create renewable hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline and jet fuel," Gutknecht said. "These fuels, once they are combusted in a combustion engine, will release the equal amount of CO2 that has been captured from the atmosphere when the fuel has been produced." The use of such synthetic fuels made from hydrogen and atmospheric CO2 could one day help to neutralize the carbon footprint of long-haul cargo transportation and aviation, for which electric propulsion does not currently meet the performance needs. Airbus was developing an electric two-seater e-Fan, which in 2014 crossed the English Channel but the project was cancelled in April 2017. Experts say that it will take decades for electric propulsion to be fit for commercial passenger jets. Some carmakers, such as Volvo, are experimenting with hybrid propulsion for heavy-duty trucks, but automotive engineers say that diesel combustion engine will be the number one propulsion technology for this type of vehicles for the foreseeable future. Climeworks envisions that it could launch 250,000 plants similar to the one in Hinwil by 2025, which the company says would enable the technology to eliminate 1 percent of global fossil fuel emissions. In addition to the captured CO2, innovative new approaches to store, or sequester, carbon dioxide could remove the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere permanently, Gutknecht said. In fact, the company will soon announce a product allowing carbon sequestration, however, it hasnt provided any details at this stage. In addition to agriculture and synthetic-fuel manufacturing, Climeworks is targeting fizzy-drink makers, which could use the atmospheric gas in drinks instead of conventional and commercially available CO2, which is a byproduct of ammonia production. Original article on Live Science. Pentagon spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis told journalists on May 30 that the U.S. Department of Defense has been very transparent in all its actions throughout the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea. Davis was responding to the report that four additional launchers were secretly added to the THAAD system, and that President Moon Jae-in has ordered an inquiry into the actions, Yonhap News Agency reported on May 31. Davis pointed out that THAAD has developed the initial operating capability to defend against missiles, and promised that the U.S. will continue to work very closely with the South Korean government to upgrade the system and equip it further. Moon was shocked to learn of an additional four launchers brought into the country, in addition to the two that were already installed. He quickly ordered a probe into the matter. Moon's special envoy, Lee Hae-chan, said on May 19 during a visit to China that South Korea understands China's concerns and is ready to strengthen coordination with China to remove any obstacles to the development of bilateral ties. China opposes the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), an advanced U.S. missile defense system, in South Korea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted on May 22 that "whoever tied the bell to the tiger shall take it off," implying that China wants South Korea to take concrete steps to eliminate the friction in their bilateral relations, and that China is willing to maintain communication with South Korea over the issue. A dolphin named Gilligan might have bitten off more than he could chew when gulping down an octopus. The corpse of the dolphin, with the dead cephalopod's sucker-lined arms hanging out of its mouth, washed up on Stratham Beach in Western Australia on Aug. 30, 2015. Now, after a thorough study of the hungry dolphin's body, researchers can now confirm the cause of death. "The octopus obstructed his airway, resulting in his suffocation," Nahiid Stephens, a lecturer in pathology at Murdoch University in Western Australia, told Live Science in an email. "He choked, in a nutshell." [Beastly Feasts: Amazing Photos of Animals and Their Prey] How to eat an octopus A year-round population of about 60 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) is known to live off the coast of the busy port city of Bunbury. And it's not uncommon to find octopus on these dolphins' menu. However, 60 percent of these dolphins that had been seen chowing down on octopus were female. And this was a male that had never been observed eating the eight-armed cephalopod: When the scientists discovered the octopus-eating dolphin, they looked through photos from past surveys in the area. They found that the dolphin was a male dubbed Gilligan, who was first spotted as an adult in 2007 and thus was likely more than 20 years old when it died, the scientists said. The octopus arm tips can be seen protruding from the dolphin's mouth. (Image credit: Dr. Nahiid Stephens/Murdoch University) Typically, dolphins are meticulous when they consume octopus. "Dolphins either kill or stun octopus before swallowing them, by using complex handling techniques of shaking and tossing," Stephens told Live Science. "This octopus was either still alive, insufficiently stunned, or it could have been dead," because even after death, octopus arms and suckers are still functional for some time. Cause of death After examining Gilligan's body, Stephens and her colleagues found that the cephalopod suckers were still adhered to the inside of the lining of the dolphin's tongue and throat. The dolphin's mouth and pharynx are opened up to show the octopus in situ and its arm sucker marks. (Image credit: Dr. Nahiid Stephens/Murdoch University) They also found that the dolphin's larynx was squished, obstructed and unable to link up with the nasal passage. As such, the dolphin was likely unable to exhale, the researchers said. When the team removed the obstruction, the overinflated lungs deflated, they said. One of the octopus's arms extended down the dolphin's esophagus and into the entrance of the first gastric compartment. (Dolphins' stomachs have three chambers.) "The octopus' mantle (including eyes and brain) was completely detached and within the first compartment, leaving the 'crown' of arms intact," the researchers wrote in their study, which was published online May 22 in the journal Marine Mammal Science. This was no puny meal for the dolphin. The researchers identified the cephalopod as a benthic inshore Maori octopus (Macroctopus maorum) that weighed 4.6 lbs. (2.1 kilograms) and extended 4.3 feet (1.3 m) at its widest arm span. The species, which is the world's third-largest octopod, can reach a whopping 26 lbs. (12 kg) and have a maximum arm span of more than 9.8 feet (3 meters), the researchers report in their study. Dolphins are constantly swimming, which requires substantial energy. Therefore, they need to decide whether the energy required for (and risk involved in) taking down such prey is worth it, the researchers noted. "Assuming an octopus carcass is sufficiently processed to render its arms into small enough fragments such that they and their suckers can be effectively and safely swallowed, their consumption must generally be a risk worth taking, although it did not play out well in this individual's case," the researchers concluded. Original article on Live Science. A great white shark jumped into a boat off the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, on May 27, 2017. An Australian man got the surprise of a lifetime when a 9-foot (2.7 meters) great white shark weighing 440 lbs. (200 kilograms) jumped into his boat. Terry Selwood, 73, was fishing off the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday (May 27) when he suddenly found himself face to face with the ocean predator. "There I was on all fours, and he's looking at me and I'm looking at him, and then he started to do the dance around and shake, and I couldn't get out quick enough onto the gunnel [or gunwale]," Selwood told ABC news, referring to the upper edge of the side of the boat. The shark thrashed violently in a boat only 4.5 feet wide (1.4 m) and 14 feet (4.3 m) long. Selwood was able to grab the radio and call for help. A local marine rescue unit at Evans Head came to pick him up and later towed his boat back to port. [See Photos of Great White Sharks Breaching the Water's Surface] Besides a minor cut on his arm, Selwood was unharmed. But why would the shark jump into his boat? Leaping sharks! The great white shark on the deck of Terry Selwood's boat. (Image credit: Lance Fountain/Marine Rescue Evans Head) Selwood claimed he had no bait or lures close to the surface to tempt the shark to launch some 4 feet (1.2 m) out of the water and into his boat. There are just three reasons a great white would ever jump into a boat, said George Burgess, director of shark research at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "It's either caught by the angler, it follows a hooked fish to the surface and its momentum has it jump out of the water onto the boat, or a 9-foot shark in the ocean at random jumps up and lands in the boat," Burgess told Live Science. "The first two instances are much more likely than the last." Despite what you may have seen on Discovery Channel's "Shark Week," great whites are not well-known for their jumping abilities, Burgess said. Mako and thresher sharks are more given to leaps from the water than great whites, he said. A shark jumping into a boat without first being drawn somehow to the boat would be extremely rare, Burgess said. In most documented cases of sharks landing in boats, the people involved were either fishers or biologists. In a 2013 case, a mako shark jumped into the back of a fishing boat off the coast of New Jersey, according to USA Today (opens in new tab). In 2011, a great white shark leapt into the back of a South African research vessel, News Corp Australia reported. "Sharks are unpredictable animals, but they don't just jump into boats for no reason," Burgess explained. A great white shark breaks the water's surface only while hunting for food, Burgess said. At those times, the animal swims beneath prey and may look up and recognize the silhouette of an animal like a seal or porpoise. The shark then swims at great speed straight up, and the tremendous momentum generated launches the predator up from the waves, Burgess said. Great white sharks can swim at speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h), according to ReefQuest Center for Shark Research. The silhouette made by a 14-foot boat would automatically send a signal to any shark that this potential meal is far above its weight class, Burgess said. A smaller boat, however, could attract a shark mistaking the vessel for prey, he noted. If your boat just happened to be passing a shark at the exact moment it was striking at its prey, the animal could land in your boat without any lure or provocation from you, Burgess said. But the odds of that happening are incredibly long, he said. "We're missing a lot of information. I'd certainly need that information" about the Selwood case, Burgess said. "My inference, and it's purely inference, is that one should look at the story more closely." Original article on Live Science. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said today (May 31) that he'll resign from the White House advisory councils on which he currently serves if President Donald Trump pulls the United States out of the Paris climate pact. "Don't know which way [the] Paris [pact decision] will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain," Musk said on Twitter today. When asked by another Twitter user what he'll do if the United States does indeed withdraw from the deal a decision that Trump is reportedly set to announce soon Musk tweeted, "Will have no choice but to depart councils in that case." (You can get the latest climate news from Live Science, Space.com's sister site.) See more Musk serves on Trump's manufacturing jobs council, his infrastructure council, and his strategic and policy forum, according to CNBC. The Paris Agreement is an international pact designed to help slow global warming and mitigate the worst effects of climate change around the world. The accord, which involves nearly 200 countries, took years to negotiate. Trump has voiced skepticism about climate change and the need to combat it, at one point calling human-caused global warming a hoax invented by China to undermine U.S. manufacturing prowess. But Musk, like the vast majority of climate scientists, regards climate change as a serious problem that humanity should deal with sooner rather than later. The billionaire entrepreneur has publicly stated his desire to help transition the world from polluting fossil fuels to renewable energy an effort exemplified by two of his other companies, solar-power firm SolarCity and electric-car maker Tesla. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. At least a dozen dogs in Florida are sick with "dog flu," but what exactly is this disease and where did it come from? So far, 12 dogs in Florida have tested positive for a strain of dog flu virus known as H3N2, and many other dogs in central and north Florida are suspected to have dog flu, according to a statement from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. All of the dogs that tested positive for H3N2 recently attended one of two dog shows in the area, or were around dogs that attended the shows, the statement said. [11 Ways Your Beloved Pet May Make You Sick] Although this is the first time that this strain of dog flu has appeared in Florida, it has been spreading in the United States since 2015. Here are some important things to know about dog flu. What is dog flu? Dog flu, or canine influenza, is a respiratory illness caused by a strain of the flu virus that infects dogs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are two types of flu viruses that can infect dogs: the H3N8 virus, which was discovered in 2004, and the H3N2 virus, which was discovered in 2007, the CDC says. The H3N2 virus has also been reported to infect cats in some cases. Can people catch it? So far, no cases of dog flu have been reported in people, and there's no evidence that dog flu can spread from canines to humans, the CDC says. However, there's always a possibility that the virus could mutate in a way that would allow it to infect humans. Because of this, the CDC says it is monitoring dog flu viruses closely. Where did dog flu come from? The H3N2 strain was discovered in South Korea in 2007. It is thought that the virus originated when a type of bird flu virus adapted, and became able to infect dogs, the CDC says. Cases of H3N2 dog flu were confined to Asian countries until 2015, when the virus appeared in Chicago and other parts of the Midwest. At that time, the virus caused a large outbreak in the area, affecting more than 1,000 dogs. The H3N8 virus is thought to have adapted from a type of flu virus that infects horses. This "horse flu" virus was known to exist for decades before it was detected in dogs, the CDC says. What symptoms does it cause in dogs? Dogs with dog flu may sneeze, cough and have a runny nose, according to the University of Florida. Dogs may also get a fever, have a decreased appetite and appear lethargic during the first few days of the illness, the university said. Most dogs recover from the illness within a few weeks, but about 20 percent develop pneumonia, which can be serious and require veterinary care, according to the University of Florida. If you think your dog has dog flu, call your veterinarian to discuss whether your dog needs to have a diagnostic test for the virus. How do pets catch dog flu? Dogs can catch dog flu from being around sick dogs or from being in an area that's contaminated with the virus. When dogs cough, they can spread the virus up to 20 feet, according to the University of Florida. The virus may linger on surfaces, including toys or people's clothes, for up to 24 hours, meaning dogs could become infected if they had contact with contaminated items before the virus dies, the University of Florida says. Dogs are most at risk of becoming infected if they participate in events with other dogs, or are housed with other dogs, such as at boarding kennels, day care centers, shelters, veterinary clinics or grooming parlors. Dogs that simply stay at home and walk around the neighborhood are at low risk for becoming infected, the University of Florida says. [10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species] What can pet owners do to protect their dogs? If there are confirmed reports of the virus in your area, be careful about taking your dog to events or areas with other dogs, the University of Florida advises. There is also a vaccine against H3N2, which makes infection with the virus less likely. In addition, if your dog is diagnosed with dog flu, you should keep your pet away from other dogs and cats for four weeks. Although dogs typically recover sooner than this, they can remain contagious for about a month, the University of Florida says. Original article on Live Science. The current location of the rift on Larsen C, as of May 31 2017. The saga of the Larsen C crack is about reach its stunning conclusion. Scientists have watched a rift grow along one of Antarctica's ice shelves for years. Now it's in the final days of cutting off a piece of ice that will be one of the largest icebergs ever recorded. It's the latest dreary news from the icy underbelly of the planet, which has seen warm air and water reshape the landscape in profound ways. The crack has spread 17 miles over the past six days, marking the biggest leap since January. It's also turned toward where the ice shelf ends and is within eight miles of making a clean break. There's not much standing in its way either. "The rift has now fully breached the zone of soft 'suture' ice originating at the Cole Peninsula and there appears to be very little to prevent the iceberg from breaking away completely," scientists monitoring the ice with Project MIDAS wrote on their blog. The ABCs of Antarctic Ice Shelf Melting The Larsen C Ice Shelf Crack Just Sprouted a New Branch Antarctic Surface Melt More Widespread Than Thought The growth follows reports from early May that the crack across the ice shelf had sprouted a branch, further underscoring how unstable the ice is becoming. Ice shelves float over water and essentially act as doorstops that hold back the vast Antarctic ice sheet. The breakup is sure to be a spectacle both awe-inducing and horrifying. The iceberg on the verge of splitting off is estimated to be the size of Delaware, covering an area of 1,930 square miles. That's equal to 10 percent of the ice shelf's total area. Once it breaks off, scientists are concerned that the rest of ice shelf could collapse afterwards, a fate that befell Larsen A in 1995 and Larsen B in 2002. In Larsen B's case, the ice shelf collapsed in the span of a month following an influx of mild air. In February, the New York Times reported that when the iceberg breaks off, it will weaken or destroy two key areas where ice overlaps islands. Those areas help keep the ice shelf from falling apart. Losing them could dramatically reduce the remaining ice shelf's stability. Larsen C is substantially larger than its former neighbors Larsen A and B, and its loss would be a huge blow to ice on the Antarctic Peninsula. The changes don't just stop with the Larsen C crack or the Antarctic Peninsula in general. The vast majority of ice shelves are losing volume due to rising ocean and air temperatures. That's helped prime parts of West Antarctica for what might be unstoppable melt that could raise sea levels at least 10 feet. Researchers also recently found meltwater ponds are much more common than previously thought. They even discovered a roaring seasonal waterfall on the Nansen Ice Shelf. These and other findings make clear that the Larsen C crack is just one of many changes happening to Antarctica. Global warming has pushed temperatures up to 5F higher in the region since the 1950s and they could increase up to 7F further by the end of the century, putting more stress on ice. Though the changes are happening in the most remote part of the planet, they're being felt thousands of miles away as ice turns to water and starts to lap against increasingly beleaguered coastal communities around the world. And the impacts will only grow more severe unless carbon pollution is reined in. You May Also Like: Warming Could Push Earth's Rains Northward World's First Commercial CO2 Capture Plant Goes Live Add Nitrous Oxide to the List of Permafrost Melt Concerns Waves Rippled Through Greenland's Ice. Thats Ominous Originally published on Climate Central. A total of 40 artillery shells were discovered beside a residential community on May 29 in Jinan, Shandong province during a routine sewer line excavation. The excavator contacted local police after finding six shells that were 20 to 30 centimeters in length. Police then arranged for a team of specialists to clear the site. According to the chief of the local police bureau, the shells were found in a 30-meter ditch approximately 1 meter below ground. Local residents were shocked by the news that they had been living on top of the shells for several decades. However, the origin of the shells remains unknown. For now, the shells have been transferred to an air-raid shelter, and police will further examine the site to rule out any safety concerns. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Deanne Fitzmaurice/SFC Show More Show Less 2 of 5 MICHAEL MALONEY/THE CHRONICLE / / Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Deanne Fitzmaurice / The Chronicle 2005 Show More Show Less 5 of 5 A rockslide that snarled the Wednesday morning commute for riders headed from Stockton to San Jose on the Altamont Corridor Express train was cleared within an hour and service was restored, officials said. The rockslide, reported at the Altamont Pass in Livermore, caused a major slowdown at about 6:15 a.m. of nearly an hour for the ACE 3 train, officials said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An apparent dispute over advertising rates boiled over Monday when Nuevo Laredo Mayor Enrique Rivas said during a news conference that El Manana was pressuring him to pay an exorbitant amount of money. Rivas said El Manana, a family-run publication in the Sister City, has asked city administration to pay 2.5 million pesos a month, or about $133,000, in exchange for positive news coverage. Weve been the subject of constant attacks from El Manana newspaper. I say it directly and this message is for them, Rivas said during the news conference. We wont fold. We wont give them the 2.5 million pesos they want on a monthly basis in order to publish positive things. Its over. El Manana denied the allegations Tuesday, saying Rivas is retaliating against the newspaper for publishing stories that have been critical of the mayor and his administration. Rivas said his administration wont use public resources for a private business, and he wont pay money to maintain relationships. Why do I have to give 2 million pesos? Why do you want to pressure me? I am not going to give up, Rivas said. READ MORE: The top 14 tourist attractions in Laredo, according to TripAdvisor Rivas told Laredo Morning Times he felt it was time to let the people know about the situation with El Manana. A newspaper needs to have dignity, and not have the editorial and commercial department together. That is what led us to share the crazy exaggerated unsubstantiated attacks on behalf of this media outlet, Rivas said. That desperate position they have taken is because we dont have a commercial agreement with them. Unfortunately that is what led us to this point. He said the municipal administration in the past had bought advertisements in the newspaper. The normal fourth or half of a page, in which we publish our public notices. Two, three, five pages I do pay, he told LMT. But we havent approved anymore advertising for a month now, and we wont keep doing it. Its not fair to use a media outlet for extortion. Rivas said the administration buys advertising in other news media, but that they dont have a commercial agreement with anyone. Furthermore, he said the cost of advertising in El Manana is too expensive. This is a free market. They can charge whatever they want, 2, 3, 5 million. I dont have that kind of money, so I pay what I can. But not because of that you are obliged to publish only good or only bad stories, he said to LMT. They have solely dedicated to keep extorting, defaming, surrounded in false demagogy and other lies. After video of the news conference went viral on social media, the newspaper published an editorial in their Tuesday print edition, website and Facebook page, denying the allegations. A video was also posted on El Mananas Facebook page in which Heriberto Cantu Deandar, acting as a spokesperson for the newspaper, said the mayor lies and this newspaper has never extorted anyone to pressure them with publicity purposes. Cantu said that since Rivas took office in October, he has spent more than 2 million pesos on advertising in El Manana. RELATED: Laredo woman allegedly bit store employee while trying to steal shampoo bottles Hes wrong if he thinks that with that he buys the freedom this newspaper has to inform, said Cantu, grandson of the late Heriberto Deandar Amador, founder of El Manana. The mayor wants to take attention away from what the people are really interested in, he said. He needs to answer to the accusations this daily has made as a result of good journalistic work. Mauricio Flores Rodriguez, general director of El Manana, told Laredo Morning Times, Of course its false and a lie. We have made our position very clear in a video in which (Cantu) responds to these accusations. Flores told LMT the newspaper has constant support from their readers, and they have a base audience and clients who continue to show their support for the publication via social media. He said he didnt think the allegations will have a negative impact on the newspapers credibility. On the contrary, he said he thinks it will negatively affect the mayors reputation. The one who makes the accusations has to prove them, Flores said. (Rivas) simply gave a declaration in the heat of the moment. We dont talk ... bad about anyone in particular. We are simply doing journalism, as we see it, as we feel it, based on evidence. Melissa Santillana may be reached at 728-2585 or msantillana@lmtonline.com With the clock running down before formal talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement begin, border business owners and local political leaders need to wage a national fight to preserve NAFTA trade benefits, U.S. lawmakers from Texas said Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, whose congressional district stretches from El Paso to San Antonio and covers more Texas-Mexico border than any other U.S. representative, said his congressional colleagues were shocked to see bustling NAFTA trade first-hand during a trip to Ciudad Juarez, directly across the border from El Paso. Theres so many people in the interior of the country that talk about trade, that talk about border security, but theyve never been there, Hurd, R-Helotes, said at a panel discussion sponsored by the Border Trade Advisory Committee at Alamo Colleges in San Antonio. So we have to bring people down there, we have to articulate this Texas solution to folks up in Washington, D.C., and friends in other states as well. San Antonio and cities along the border have thrived thanks to cross-border trade that in the last decade has doubled in volume. Some 75 percent of the $600 billion in annual U.S.-Mexico trade comes through Texas, with more than 10,000 trucks crossing from Mexico to Texas each day. The Trump administration formally notified Congress May 18 that it intends to reopen the 23-year-old free trade pact between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The notification launches a 90-day consultation period that is required before those talks can officially begin. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who signed the letter, said negotiations could start no earlier than Aug. 16. While Trump has slammed NAFTA as a bad deal for Americans that encouraged companies to ship manufacturing jobs for America, hes since signaled that hes seeking a modernization of an agreement written long before digital commerce became the norm and Mexico opened its energy sector to foreign investment. Since fast-track Trade Promotion Authority secured during the Obama administration remains in effect, whatever is negotiated will go to an up-or-down vote on Congress. Getting things done in Washington is all about the math, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said at panel discussion. The Border Trade Advisory Committee is a group of mayors, business owners and others that advises the Texas Department of Transportation on infrastructure issues that affect trade along the border. The 5 million jobs in the United States that benefit from cross-border trade with Mexico are created in all 50 states, Cornyn said. Help us to show the evidence of what the benefits are in those states. That helps us to do the math to get to fifty percent plus one in the House and 51 votes in the Senate. Its just that simple. Hurd said the Commerce Department should by midsummer have prioritized what areas its looking to renegotiate. He said he thought energy and digital trade should top the list. The need for energy in Mexico is huge and we can help, he said. When NAFTA was signed here in San Antonio the commercial use of the internet was not what it is. And in this trade agreement we can make the relationship between the U.S., Mexico and Canada on where you store data the example for the rest of the world. lbrezosky@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate State Sen. Carlos Uresti, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud- and conspiracy-related charges in two separate cases May 16, pleaded not guilty to all charges. The San Antonio Democrat didnt appear in the U.S. District Court in San Antonio as previously scheduled Wednesday. His attorney, Mikal Watts, filed a motion Tuesday waiving Urestis right to appear in court, according to the filing. Senator Uresti has entered a plea of not guilty on all charges, because he is not guilty of all charges, Watts said in an email Wednesday. It is a shame they do not allow a person to plead innocent because thats exactly what he is innocent of every one of these charges. In the first case, Uresti, 53, is facing 11 felony counts relating to his involvement in bankrupt San Antonio oil-field services company FourWinds Logistics. He is accused of steering investors to FourWinds, which prosecutors say was a Ponzi scheme. In the other case, Uresti and Lubbock businessman Vernon C. Farthing III are accused of bribing former Reeves County Judge Jimmy Galindo to secure a contract. The two-count indictment alleges that Farthing paid Uresti $10,000 a month between 2006 and 2016 as a consultant. Uresti then funneled about half of the money to Galindo, prosecutors allege. Uresti, whos also an attorney, could face up to 200 years in prison if convicted on all counts. As much as he wanted to enter live pleas of not guilty in open court today, he is instead attending this morning a bill signing ceremony in Austin with the governor, Watts said. Gov. Greg Abbott signed two bills sponsored by Uresti that are designed to improve child care in Texas, including one intended to improve the states foster care system, Uresti said in a news release. Gary Cain, a former FourWinds consultant who was indicted with Uresti and FourWinds CEO Stan Bates in the first case, also pleaded not guilty and didnt appear in court. According to the indictment, Cain, 60, continued to receive large payments from FourWinds through his business, Trinity Global Funding & Consulting, despite knowing that investor funds were being misused. Chad Muller, Cains lawyer, declined to comment. Bates, 45, also pleaded not guilty Wednesday without appearing in court. Uresti, Bates, Cain and three other FourWinds officials who already have pleaded guilty are accused of conspiring to misuse investor funds to enrich themselves and others. In the Reeves County public corruption case, Farthing, 44, previously waived his arraignment. Galindo, 53, who was county judge of Reeves County from January 1995 to December 2006, signed a plea deal in which he agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and failure to file tax returns. A plea hearing is set for June 12. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are now seeking to remove Watts as Urestis criminal attorney in the FourWinds case because Watts, in a separate civil case, represented a woman who is identified as a Victim 1 in the FourWinds indictment. U.S. prosecutors said in a sealed motion Thursday that Watts has a conflict of interest and may be called as a witness in their case against Uresti, according to Watts response filed with the court Friday. Watts and Uresti both represented Denise Cantu of Harlingen in a wrongful-death case involving two of her children. Cantu invested the bulk of the proceeds from that settlement with FourWinds. She ended up losing about $800,000 of her $900,000 investment. Watts disputed that he should be disqualified. He said his representation of Cantu ended with the completion of the wrongful-death case in October 2012, according to his response. He added that he has no confidential information from representing Cantu that would either help Uresti or harm Cantu. I dont think the motion to disqualify me is a close call, Watts said in an interview. Theres no actual conflict. She hasnt been a client for four years. The two matters are not substantially related. Theres no temporal relationship between the two representations. Further, Watts said in his court filing, he had no recollection of speaking in detail with Cantu. Other lawyers at his firm handled the litigation, he said. In January, Cantu filed a fraud suit against Uresti in Hidalgo County. She says Uresti and others tricked her into believing she was investing with FourWinds to buy and sell frac sand, which is used in fracking to extract oil and gas from shale. Instead of using her money to buy sand, though, she said company officials distributed most of the money among themselves. In a court filing, Uresti has denied the allegations. Not A Sound By Heather Gudenkauf Park Row. 352 pp.$15.99 --- When was the last time you stayed up late because you just had to finish a thriller? If you'd asked me that question a couple of weeks ago, I probably would have reached back to the first time I read Ken Follett's "Eye of the Needle" or Geoffrey Household's "Rogue Male" - two classic World War II suspense novels. Now, though, I'd add the name of a completely different kind of novel: Heather Gudenkauf's "Not a Sound," a woman-in- trouble tale that kept me reading till the birds started chirping. There's minimal blood and zero sexual depravity in Gudenkauf's psychological suspense story (although there is a faithful dog vulnerably trotting around just to amp up the anxiety). In terms of style, think Mary Higgins Clark or Lisa Scottoline, accented with a dash of inspiration from that vintage Audrey Hepburn movie, "Wait Until Dark." That's the one where Hepburn plays a blind woman who outwits the bad guys by forcing them to meet her on her own turf: namely, her apartment which she's thrown into pitch-black darkness by breaking all the lightbulbs. (As I said, this is a vintage movie.) Like Hepburn's character, Gudenkauf's heroine, Amelia Winn, is physically challenged: a near fatal encounter with a hit-and-run driver destroyed the tiny bones and neural pathways of her inner ear and rendered her profoundly deaf. It's been two years since that accident, which caused lots of collateral damage. Amelia's marriage crumbled and she lost job as an emergency room nurse. She fell into depression and alcoholism and lost contact with her beloved step daughter. In retreat from the world, Amelia moved out to a fishing cabin owned by her father deep in the Iowa forest. There, slowly and painfully, Amelia has willed herself back to life. She's sworn off alcohol and has become adept at sign language and lip reading. On the morning the story begins, she has an interview lined up for a clerical job at a cancer center. Perhaps best of all, Amelia has gained a companion in Stitch, a 3-year-old, 55-pound Slovakian rough-haired pointer who serves as her hearing dog. Stitch and Amelia begin every day with exercise and, so, on this brisk fall morning, they're paddling together on the river. But when Stitch jumps off the paddleboard, swims to the river bank and freezes in place, that peaceful riparian interlude shatters. Floating beneath a watery carpet of leaves is a corpse. As a nurse, Amelia has seen plenty of dead bodies, but her professional cool cracks when she looks down into the blue eyes of Gwen Locke, a former nursing colleague and friend. Amelia summons the police on her cellphone and waits in silence, depending on Stitch to alert her to danger. As the shock wears off, Amelia recalls that Gwen had tried several times to reach out to her, most recently in a birthday email where Gwen mentioned "a conflict at work." Curious, Amelia begins asking questions about Gwen's work situation - an investigation complicated by Amelia's profound deafness. Gudenkauf, who identifies as "hearing impaired," vividly depicts the obstacles of communicating and sussing out information, particularly over the phone. Here's Gwen, for instance, making a simple call - with the aid of a captioned phone - to reschedule that job interview: "I take a deep breath. Though it's hard to explain, the anxiousness I feel when I speak into the receiver rivals that of having to sleep in a dark room. 'Yes, hello,' I begin, concentrating on modulating the volume of my voice and the enunciation of my words. ... Because I can't hear myself I don't know how loudly or softly I'm speaking. Usually I rely on clues from the facial expressions of the listener - like if they lean in to hear me better or if they cringe because I'm too loud for the situation. Talking by phone takes away those physical cues." As Amelia's investigation widens, sinister stuff starts happening out at her cabin: shadowy figures lurk in the forest; someone breaks in and leaves a cruel calling card. Even something as routine as Sketch's nighttime potty breaks become knuckle-biting, since Amelia must unlock her door and usher Sketch out into the dark. Meanwhile, the murder suspects multiply: Amelia's angry ex-husband; her distant neighbor who wants to turn the river into an outdoor adventure center; even Amelia's new sort-of boyfriend. Which brings us to the excellent climax of this inventive suspense story. Here's a tiny snippet of the beginning of the end. Amelia is hiding on the second floor of her cabin: "I try to steady my breathing, close my eyes and lay my cheek against the hardwood and spread my fingers flat against the floor. He knows I can't hear him. But I feel each step he takes. I feel the tremor in my jaw first. It's barely perceptible, but it's there. It slowly spreads to my fingers. I try to be patient. The vibration grows stronger with each of his footfalls. He's coming." Try to go to sleep after reading that paragraph. Just try. --- Corrigan, who is the book critic for the NPR program "Fresh Air," teaches literature at Georgetown University. Gwendy's Button Box By Stephen King and Richard Chizmar Cemetery Dance. 180 pp. $25 --- In the course of his majorly prolific career, Stephen King has collaborated successfully on a number of projects, notably "The Talisman" and "Black House," dark epic fantasies co-written with Peter Straub. Now, specialty publisher Cemetery Dance brings us King's latest collaborative effort, and it's something quite different. "Gwendy's Button Box," written in conjunction with Cemetery Dance founder Richard Chizmar, is a modest but resonant novella set in one of King's signature locales: the small town of Castle Rock, Maine. Castle Rock, a name derived from William Golding's "Lord of the Flies," has been the site of numerous novels and stories. King destroyed the town in his 1991 novel "Needful Things," but Castle Rock stories still find their way into the world. This one begins in 1974 and takes us through 10 years in the life of Gwendy Peterson. As the story opens, Gwendy is 12 years old. She is a bright, sensible girl with a weight problem she is determined to correct. For reasons she will never understand, Gwendy has come to the attention of a mysterious man in black named Richard Farris, who brings her a unique and dangerous gift: the button box of the title. That box is the enigmatic engine that runs beneath the surface of this book. Its properties include the ability to dispense gifts (chocolate, silver dollars) as well as the capacity to alter the lives of those nearby. Mostly, though, it is a color-coded Doomsday Machine. Each of the colored buttons on its surface has as its "target" a specific continent. (And then there's that cancerous looking black button, the one that will destroy everything.) In the world of this story, apocalypse is no more than a button push away. The narrative moves quickly and with great economy through Gwendy's decade-long stewardship of the world's most dangerous device. The cosmic elements of the story merge neatly with the sort of mundane details King has always delivered so effectively. Gwendy's progress through awkward adolescence to mature young adulthood is consistently credible, and provides a solid foundation for the story's larger, more universal concerns, such as the ongoing human capacity for self-destruction. Given the locale and overall tone of the book, it would be tempting to regard this as just another Stephen King story, but it isn't. It is a collaboration, and a seamless one at that. Chizmar, whose best short fiction was recently collected in "A Long December," is an excellent writer with a clear affinity for King's brand of storytelling, which includes a clear, idiomatic prose style and a flair for creating instantly recognizable characters. Together, he and King have created what is both a superior addition to the never-quite-finished saga of Castle Rock and a cautionary tale directed toward a world that grows crazier - and more incomprehensible - with every passing day. --- Sheehan is the author of "At the Foot of the Story Tree: An Inquiry into the Fiction of Peter Straub." Authorities on May 27 denied the rumor that mother panda Meixiang and her cub Beibei were being mistreated at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., refuting the concerns that stem from a video currently circulating online, Chengdu Business Daily reported. Some internet users raised doubts about management at the zoo after watching the videos, wondering why caretakers made Meixiang pregnant despite the fact that she is already 18 years old. Beibei was also separated from Meixiang by force, and Beibei fell from tree branches several times while apparently trying to find his mother. The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on May 27 released an official statement, saying that it is normal for pandas to be weaned at 18 months, and that Meixiang's frequent pacing is standard behavior for a panda in heat - it doesn't indicate distress over "losing" her baby. The center also offered explanations for the other worries raised by concerned netizens. A director at the National Zoo in Washington disclosed to the media that both pandas are in good condition. As for those who worry that the baby pandas frequently falls were driven by efforts to find his mother, a zoo official explained that Beibei was simply used to sleeping in trees. The director assured the public that pandas are good at climbing, and that the tree in question can easily sustain Beibei's weight. In addition, although Meixiang is 18 years old, the zoo decided to impregnate her through artificial insemination because her reproductive capacity is still normal, according to her hormone levels. William B. Plowman, NBC Looking for love: Maria Shriver, following her 2011 split from former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, the call-me-maybe confession came on the "Today" show, where Shriver, 61, was co-hosting on Wednesday, and oversharing is always welcome. Shriver, an NBC special anchor, was gabbing with her co-hosts about a recent lunch with "CBS This Morning" host Gayle King. Among the topics they discussed, Shriver said, "how we're both single, how we're both looking." What the heck happened to "The Americans"? The complaints started early in Season 5 of FX's critically acclaimed Cold War spy drama, up through Tuesday night's underwhelming finale. Since I've praised the show to the moon since it premiered, it is now my duty to deliver the harsh but comradely criticism: "The Americans" wasted valuable time this year, becoming a show about people staring off into the distance, stirring tea, keeping their thoughts to themselves and worrying quite a lot about grain supply. In fact, the most memorable scene this season came during a very, very protracted task of digging up a grave - depicting literal minutes of monotonous, silent shoveling. It turned out to be a metaphor for the entire season. It's not that "The Americans" has fizzled out; it's just that it has been slow and sort of groggy lately about the story it wants to tell. It ought to have used these 13 episodes of the penultimate season to work viewers up into an absolute wall-climbing tizzy, as it has done so well in the past - setting up the pieces for the planned conclusion next year, in which we will at last see the fates of Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell), a pair of deeply embedded Soviet spies who live the American Dream in mid-1980s Northern Virginia while they steal some of the nation's most classified secrets. This season tested the patience each week of even the most committed fan, with story lines that trailed or were never allowed to bloom, even if these minor twists are part of a well-engineered blueprint kept by creators Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg. Every tantalizing thread was snipped before it could unravel: - The meeting that never happened between Philip and his older son, Mischa (Alex Ozerov) who arduously journeyed to America over a few episodes, only to be intercepted and sent home. Why tease us? - The question of whether the new aerobicizing girlfriend of FBI Agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich) is a Soviet spy. If only she was: It would have helped this season a lot. - This season's longest con, which had Philip and Elizabeth posing as airline employees Brad and Dee Eckert, who, with their adopted teenage son Tuan (another spy, played by Ivan Mok) befriend a Soviet defector and his family. All it really accomplished was to lead us smack into "13 Reasons Why" territory, as Philip and Elizabeth rushed to prevent the defector's teenage son from committing suicide. (They got there! Just in time! Big whoop!) - The idea that the smartest person in the Jennings household is, of all people, their younger child, Henry (Keidrich Sellati), who is begging to go away to boarding school. (Nyet was Philip's final ruling.) Does Henry crave escape because he's figured out the truth? Has he told his good buddy, Agent Stan, who feeds him instant Lipton noodles and pizza? Agonizingly, "The Americans" just would not go there. Instead, the show would go to Moscow this season - a lot. Oleg Igorevich Burov (Costa Ronin) glumly accepted his new task of investigating corruption in Soviet grocery supply, which is about as exciting as it sounds. We also got to see Oleg's mother stir a lot of borscht or whatever's on the stove that night. Life in Moscow in 1984 looks a lot like that old Wendy's commercial of the Soviet fashion show ("Is next - evening wear! Very nice!"), which could have been fascinating with a little more action. The added subtitles don't bother me, but do make it tough for multitasking TV junkies to tweet and concentrate at the same time. (Does anyone tweet about #TheAmericans anymore?) Glanders, the killer virus that caused so much stress in season 4, did get weaponized by the Soviets and used in Afghanistan. So that happened. And all those covert trips Philip and Elizabeth made to Oklahoma and Kansas to chase a killer strain of wheat - oh, never mind. Having former FBI secretary Martha Hanson (Alison Wright), a fan favorite, show up in a few glimpses as she struggles to assimilate to life as a Muscovite was satisfying - especially because viewers would have otherwise asked for all eternity: Whatever Happened to Martha? - but lacked added value. Part of "The Americans'" problem this season is also what makes it such an intelligent show: It is determined to weave its stories together, referring to past characters and situations that other shows would have long forgotten in a fifth season. There is still the sense that any character could yet pull out the brick that brings the whole thing crashing down. Philip and Elizabeth decided it was finally time for their 16-year-old daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) to meet their boss, Gabriel (Frank Langella). Shortly after, Gabriel decided to retire and move back to Moscow, and his parting words to Philip cautioned against bringing Paige into a life of espionage. Gabriel said that she should have never been informed of her parents' secret life. (Now he tells us? After we've spent all this time grooming Paige for her anticipated future as a teen superspy?) Once more viewers were encouraged to fret over Paige's youth minister, Pastor Tim (Kelly AuCoin), and whether he would blow the family secret. After Paige brought home a roll of pictures she covertly snapped of pages from Pastor Tim's diary, it seemed briefly and even happily possible that we would at last see Philip and Elizabeth solve the Pastor Tim dilemma once and for all. (Ideally, it would involve a sedan trunk and another shovel.) Turns out, we went through all that just to have the pastor and his panicky wife shipped off to South America on a godly mission. The news isn't all bad. We are still talking about an intelligent, thoughtfully written drama that can be fascinating even when it's flat. And "The Americans" can still do a beautiful musical montage, as demonstrated in Tuesday's episode, when Philip, Elizabeth and Paige are each seen in moments (set to Elton John's "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road") that emulate the bourgeois life they'd leave behind once the Jennings flee to the Soviet Union. Because up until the final moments, it seemed that was the plan. Philip and Elizabeth are ready to retire back in the USSR, dragging their children with them. Then Philip was listening to one of those surreptitious CIA recordings that he obtains by posing as the skeevy older man who hangs out with a teenage girl (Julia Garner) whose father is, as we say, highly placed. Philip hears something really big and knows he and Elizabeth finally have an inside track on what could be the biggest get of their mission. So yet again, "The Americans" changed its mind and circled back around. The time for staring off into the distance is now over. When the show returns next year to wrap things up, it owes its viewers the adrenaline rush they deserve. The third evolution of its classic .36 bourbon recipe is a literal coming of age moment for Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling. Ranger Creek co-founder Mark McDavid announced the release of its .36 Texas Straight Bourbon on Wednesday, touting it as a culmination of an experiment that started shortly after the company opened its doors in 2010. Weve been working on this bourbon for over six years, which means weve spent tons of money to make it, and then just patiently waited for a really long time, McDavid said. The new bourbon follows the lead of Ranger Creeks previous offerings, .36 White and .36 Small Caliber Bourbon. All of the bourbons follow the same recipe and start out as the .36 White clear whiskey, but then the techniques differ in regards to aging and barrel sizing. The most obvious comparison will be between the .36 Small Caliber Bourbon, which is aged nine to 18 months in small barrels, and the new .36 Texas Straight Bourbon, aged a minimum of two to four years in traditional 53-gallon oak barrels. We encourage our customers to try them both and come up with their own opinions, McDavid said. Some may recognize the two products as the same bourbon, but they have unique characteristics. The .36 Small Caliber Bourbon has a distinctive spicy punch. McDavid said tasters may notice a little vanilla flavor in the .36 Texas Straight Bourbon, and it may be a little smoother because of the increased aging and larger barrels. Ranger Creek offers a tasting mat at the distillery at 4834 Whirlwind Drive and on its website that can be used to separate the flavor differences. To spread the word about .36 Texas Straight Bourbon, Ranger Creek plans a series of events to celebrate the year-round release. People can check out a free sample from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Cured at The Pearl, and from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Total Wine Del Norte, 125 NW Loop 410. Bottles of .36 Texas Straight Bourbon retail for $55 at Specs, Total Wine and Twin Liquors and also can be purchased at the distillery. cblount@express-news.net Twitter: @chuck_blount This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When anyone walks into the citys newly finished Water Museum, they start in the Gulf of Mexico. On the floor, a large swath of aqua blue suddenly squeezes into a squiggle to the left, guiding visitors through the history of the Rio Grande and to a map of the rivers watershed, from Colorado, to New Mexico, down to the part of the river depicted on the floor theyre walking on, which eventually, appropriately, leads to the restrooms. The museum, designed for children from the first grade onward, is not only an ode to the Rio Grande, Laredos source of life, but is also an education on the water treatment process and the value of conservation. Visitors can calculate how many gallons of water their household uses daily, demonstrated by a wall of milk jugs that light up with each piece of inputted information. They can race to see who can pump 5 gallons of water fastest. They can read about the ecology that lives around the river. (See if you can spot the taxidermied raccoon.) Theyll learn how long it takes for an ink cartridge, a newspaper and a Styrofoam cup to decompose in a landfill. READ MORE: The top 14 tourist attractions in Laredo, according to TripAdvisor And visitors get to walk through a giant pipe that illustrates what happens at the Jefferson Water Treatment Plant, which is in the museums backyard, from water intake to distribution and all the cleaning in between. Cindy Liendo, a Laredo ISD school board member and former councilwoman for District VIII where the museum is located, said before this was built, school science classes would often come to tour the Jefferson plant. But the old administration building wasnt even suitable for offices, not to mention tours, she said. So after sharing ideas with the Utilities Department and city staff, City Council voted to build new administrative offices and a museum for the water treatment plant. All in all the project cost the city $4.6 million. Metaform Studio handled the projects architect design. The idea of the water museum came about ... so that children can understand the importance of the Rio Grande ... to the citizens of Laredo and so they could understand their relationship with the river, Current District VIII Councilman Roberto Balli said at the ribbon-cutting Tuesday. Eduardo Quiroga, project administrator at Metaform, said this is now one of three water museums in Texas. It seems like we live close to the river, we talk about the river, but we dont have a place to appreciate the river, and thats one of the emphases of the project, Quiroga said. RELATED: 34 companies that could be the next to announce mass store closures There are 20 original exhibits at the museum designed by Core Design Studio out of Houston. Quiroga said the Utilities Department was hands-on with this project and provided ample information for the exhibits. Tony Moreno, the citys water treatment superintendent, said people have been amazed that something like this exists in Laredo. Parents have even been asking about throwing birthday parties for their children at the museum. He anticipates that the museum will have a busy summer. Laredo ISD, United ISD, Laredo Community College and Texas A&M International University have already expressed interest in bringing in students for tours. The Laredo Water Museum is now open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com A man allegedly pointed a firearm at a person and threatened to kill him, according to Laredo police. Israel Isae Sanchez, 19, was served with a warrant charging him with aggravated assault with a firearm. A Siberian musk deer was successfully rescued from a crevice in a local villager's home on May 25 in Huanglong County, Shaanxi province, CCTV reported. The animals vital signs were normal when it was rescued by a wildlife conservation team, and it was soon confirmed by the Shaanxi Institute of Zoology to be a Siberian musk deer, one of Chinas first-class protected species. The deer will return to nature after it recovers from the incident. Adult Siberian musk deer are generally about 0.85 meters long, and weigh 8 to 12 kilograms. This discovery was the first of its kind in Shaanxi province, as the deer lives mainly in Jilin province, Heilongjiang province and Inner Mongolia. Employees at the rescue station disclosed that the discovery of the deer signified the great progress made in the protection of natural forest resources and wildlife on Huanglong Mountain. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An alleged Chicago street-gang member found guilty of murdering his girlfriends three-year-old daughter in Laredo before burying her body in a shallow grave received a 30-year sentence Tuesday after about three hours of jury deliberations. A jury in the 406th District Court convicted Yepez of murder and tampering with physical evidence late Thursday. On Tuesday, Yepez was sentenced to 30 years for murder and 15 years for tampering with evidence. He was assessed a punishment of $20,000 for both counts. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning Yepez will serve a total of 30 years in prison. Yepez was found guilty of murdering his girlfriends daughter, Jasleen Valdez, in a Monterrey Inn motel room before burying her body in a north Laredo lot in August 2014. The childs body was discovered on Sept. 11, 2014 by Laredo police, with assistance from Valdezs mother, Janette Pantoja, and Houston Police Department detectives. READ MORE: Man found guilty of murdering 3-year-old in Laredo motel room On Tuesday, Lt. Adrian Vera, custodian of records for the Webb County Sheriffs Office, informed the court he received a report from Chicago police that alleges Yepez to be a member of a Chicago street-gang, Satans Disciples. Veras testimony was not introduced to the jury due to the defenses objections of it being hearsay and prejudicial in value. A complicated case Overall we are very satisfied with the verdict in this case. As far as the sentence goes, we respect the decision of the jury, Webb County District Attorney Isidro Chilo Alaniz said. The case was complicated, according to Alaniz, who said there were many issues that the defense could have used to raise reasonable doubt in the case. In essence, what we had in this case were just really a skeleton, collection of bones, and a lot of inconsistent statements throughout the whole trial. So when you put things into perspective, we are very pleased with this case because this was a very difficult case to win, Alaniz said. Valdezs body was reduced to a clump of hair, pile of bones and rotting clothes by the time it was discovered, according to the prosecution. Alaniz credited the work of forensic anthropologist Dr. Harrel Gill-King, who he believes was critical in reconstructing how Valdez was killed. Valdezs skull suffered an impact from a hard surface, according to Gill-Kings findings. He determined the cause of Valdezs death to be cranial cerebral trauma, meaning a traumatic head injury, and trauma to the chest cage. RELATED: Leader of Melendez drug ring sentenced to life in prison Valdez sustained 11 or 12 fractures to the skull and three rib fractures, according to evidence and testimony presented. The defenses expert witness, Dr. Jennifer Love, a forensic anthropologist, argued the fracture pattern on Valdezs skull was not consistent with a fall off of a sofa or being punched multiple times. Rather, the fracture pattern most closely represents a childs head being run over by a vehicle, she said. In statements made to police, Yepez said Valdez fell while on a timeout. Valdez was standing on the arm holder of a sofa with her hands up facing the wall when she fell, Yepez said. Pantoja, the girls mother, testified about Yepez locking her inside a motel bathroom where she began to panic and yell for someone to open the door. Shortly thereafter, Yepez allegedly came rushing into the bathroom with Valdez unconscious in his arms. Pantoja, a cooperating witness and co-defendant in the case, also faces charges of murder and tampering with evidence. She is being tried separately from Yepez. Pantoja said she doesnt know what happened in that room before Yepez came into the bathroom. Valdezs lifeless body remained in the motel room or in a truck driven by Yepez for several days before it was taken to the burial site, according to testimony. Alaniz credited the jury for looking and considering all of the circumstantial evidence that they took into consideration after the murder took place. The defense alleged the prosecutions claims of Yepez committing murder are based upon the credibility of Pantoja, the flawed conclusions of the prosecutions expert witness and the sheer shock of the content of the case. Yepezs attorney, Uriel Druker, said Pantoja lied to her parents, friends and law enforcement about the whereabouts of her daughter, being kidnapped by Yepez and the cause of Valdezs death. Alaniz said Pantoja is going to have her day in court. Obviously she shares a lot of the responsibility for what happened tragically in her daughters case, he said. Punishment phase During closing arguments, Druker said Yepezs case has set the standard in Webb County for putting a man with no history of wrongdoing in prison based on the statements of a liar. He requested the jury assess punishment of five to 10 years on both charges, saying that is a lot of time to be in prison while labeled as a baby killer. Linda Garza-Martinez, assistant district attorney, asked for a life sentence. I ask for a life sentence like this because when you steal a childs life away you must pay with your own, Garza-Martinez said. Valdezs maternal grandparents, Joaquin and Silvia Pantoja, took the stand Tuesday, sharing their memories of Valdez before the jury began deliberating Yepezs punishment. They referred to Valdez as an intelligent, obedient child whose death devastated them. MORE CRIME: Laredo man arrested 23 times pleads not guilty in fatal stabbing case The defense was unable to present 11 witnesses expected to testify for the punishment phase of Yepezs trial due to financial reasons. Druker requested the punishment phase be continued in order to secure funds needed to arrange video-conferencing for witnesses in Chicago who cannot financially afford to travel to Laredo. A delay in the trial was denied. Motions for acquittal, a new trial and arrest of judgment Druker filed in court Tuesday were also denied. Taryn Walters may be reached at 956-728-2528 or twalters@lmtonline.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate This story ran in the Chronicle on May 23, 1982. The words and headlines are reprinted. Next month's merger of Texas International with Continental Airlines will make Houston the home of a major U.S. airline, but one in a somewhat shakier financial position than the scrappy regional airline it replaces. The benefits, however, of blending the complementary routes and equipment of the two airlines will more than offset the publicized problems associated with the merger, said Marc Klee, an analyst with National Aviation & Technology Corp, a mutual fund specializing in aviation stocks. Texas International, the Houston-based carrier rescued from bankruptcy in 1972 by Francisco A. Lorenzo and his partner, Robert J. Carney, won an eight-month war to take over Continental last September when TIA paid $96.6 million for 50.3 percent of Continental's stock Texas Air now needs agreement 60 percent of Continental stockholders to exchange their stock for certain shares of TAC to complete a merger designed to eventually make the two airlines one Houston-based unit, a wholly owned subsidiary of Texas Air Corp. The new company will be called Continental Airlines Corp. Last year, Los Angeles-based Continental ranked as the 10th largest U.S. airline, and Texas International ranked 19th, but together they move into eighth place - the spot formerly occupied by Dallas-based Braniff International. The industry yardstick, according to the Air transport Association, is revenue passenger miles, or the movement of one paying passenger one mile. Combined the two Texas Air siblings flew 10.1 billion revenue passenger miles last year. For eight months of 1981, the 48-year-old Los Angeles-based Continental waged a ferocious battle to prevent the takeover, and saw its 1980 losses of $20 million triple to $60 million in 1981. Continental employees tried valiantly to secure control of the stock themselves, but were unable to succeed. The suicide of President Alvin L. Feldman in late summer also changed the company's approach. Texas Air Corp., meanwhile, had problems of it own. The holding company last year began an East Coast shuttle designed to compete with Eastern Airline's successful Boston-New York-Washington flights that was paralyzed by the cutback in air traffic after the August controllers strike and ended the year with an $11.6 million loss. Texas International Airlines also saw profits slide - from a $4.7 million profit in 1980 to what the company terms "a significant loss" in 1981. Texas Air Corp. lost more than $47 million in 1981 and attributes more than $14 million of that to TIA operations. The merger outlined by Texas Air Corp. and echoed by Continental spokesmen, calls for two separate airlines "synergistically" feeding one another and more efficiently using equipment around two major hubs, Houston and Denver. Labor groups report that they are in the process of merging seniority lists and the company's proxy statement notes that by this fall the route system of the two airlines will be "given an identity" based on the continental name. "The pilot groups are proceeding along with a merger of the seniority lists," said John Mazor, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C., headquarters office of the Air Line Pilots Association. "The two master executive councils are negotiating with each and the two companies about merging the lists." Texas International President Robert Galloway says TIA will avoid the labor problems encountered by Pan American World Airways in its takeover of Miami-based National Airlines. "Pan Am's management tried to put the merger together too fast and got into a very poor bargaining position," Galloway said. Galloway said that the first step toward one company is to get the respective union groups at the two airlines to agree between themselves about the seniority lists, and then to eliminate as much retraining as possible. Training pilots, for instance, on different planes can cost $10,000 to $20,000 per pilot, Galloway said. Since February, TIA has also been approaching its union groups asking for 7 percent productivity concessions that involve reducing the reserve force. "We're asking unions to relax work rules built into the industry for 20 or 30 years." Galloway said. So far, response has not been overwhelming for mid-contract concessions. The Transport Workers Union, representing only 24 employees, has agreed to the 7 percent productivity increase, and the pilots have agreed "in principle," Galloway said. The other two TIA unions, the Association of Flight Attendants and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, have turned management down flat. "For the union, there was no advantage in signing the new contracts," said Janey Powell of TIA's Association of Flight Attendants. For the past four months, Continental's unions have also been working on productivity concessions. Continental management says it needs $60 million more in cuts to return the airline to productivity. No agreement has been reached, however. Because TIA already has labor contracts more productive than Continental's, Texas International employees are understandably reluctant to make more concessions, Galloway said. "Our more productive labor contacts are one of the reasons we're in somewhat better financial shape than Continental." TIA's president said. Continental's President George Warde affirms that he began discussions on productivity at Continental soon after coming aboard last August. "Continental's business plan for 1982 is based on the idea that business won;t be getting any better," Warde said. "Our labor force has to face up to whether they want to work for us for less money, or end up going out to work for somebody else for less money." In the wake of the announcement that Arthur Andersen & Co. has qualified Texas Air Corp.'s 1981 financial statements, TAC Chairman Lorenzo announced that the corporation and its subsidiaries had $100 million cash on hand last week. Both Continental and Texas International presidents have said that they don't anticipate borrowing any more money for the rest of 1982. Continental, which has been described as being in a dire financial situation, "isn't in default or arrears on anything," Warde said. Its bankers did not extend its lie of credit beyond January because its cash balances had fallen below agreed-upon limits, Warde said, not because it had missed a payment on principal or interest. Continental owes $205 million in long-term debt and has $25 million loan ($10 million of which is guaranteed by TIA) made in February due on Dec. 31. "Business for all the airlines has been so sad that bankers are now wanting to secure loans," he said, adding that other airlines also had their lines of credit cut off and were selling assets. "Look at Pan Am, which hasn't made money in 10 or 12 years," Warde said. "Continental is in great shape compared to Pan Am." Pan Am, the seond largest U.S. airline in revenue passenger miles, lost $600 million on airline operations in 1980 and 1981, plus a net loss of $127 million during the first quarter of 1982. Continental lost $90 million on airline operations during 1980 and 1981 along with a $15.4 million net loss during the past quarter. Airlines, by most accounts, aren't expected to turn a great profit in 1982, and maybe not even in 1983, when the market is expected to improve. "We're not exactly on the blue chip list," said Galloway. "But this year should be somewhat better than the last." Although the industry's problems have been well documented recently in Braniff's failure, National Aviation & Technology's Klee points out that Texas Air cannot be compared to Braniff, because it has plenty of cash to make it through the summer season, which is to airlines what Christmas is to retailers. "The key is cash flow and Texas Air has enough cash for operating purposes," Klee said. Texas Air, moreover, joins "the really successful carriers" like Delta, American, and United, with the development of a dominant hub-and-spoke system in Houston and Denver. By next month, Continental and Texas International together will account for 40 percent of operations at Houston Intercontinental. While acknowledging the Continental's financial condition, Klee maintains his bullishness on the merger. "Most mergers don't provide synergy," he said. "With continental and Texas International, each one has what the other needs. UPDATE Later in 1982, the boards of Continental and TI voted to approve the merger, taking the Continental name and making Houston home to a major carrier. In 1983 and 1990, the company filed for bankruptcy but eventually turned a $224 million profit in 1995. After a failed attempt at a merger with United in 2006, the two companies reignited talks in 2008 and this time completed the deal. Chicago-based United in 2010 officially replaced Continental's name and consolidated its headquarters in the Windy City. BUSINESS & ECONOMY COMING NEXT THURSDAY Xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx Where do these bureaucrats and functionaries learn this routine this thing where they pretend that youre crazy if you complain about something, if you catch them either doing something wrong or enforcing an injustice? You know, the singsong delivery, with lines like, As I said to you before, sir and Youre creating a disturbance, maam, and Youre going to force me to call security. I would say there must be some central school hidden somewhere in this country, but now theres I, Daniel Blake to show that this isnt only an American phenomenon. Theyre doing it in England, too. Its about a 59-year-old construction worker who gets out of the hospital after having a heart attack. His situation is pretty straightforward. He needs government assistance until his doctors can certify that hes healthy enough to return to work. What follows is a Kafkaesque journey into government-agency hell. Its directed by Ken Loach and can be looked at in one of two of ways. This is either the story of what happens when a government stops caring about its people or its a story about how things go to hell once government gets involved at all. In any case, its about a system that seems designed to make people feel that theyre entirely worthless and should just die and decrease the surplus population. Loach is that kind of a filmmaker, a downbeat guy with a social conscience whose films deal with the hardships of working-class life. But theres something about this movie that is very easy to take. Its serious, but its not a downer, or at least it doesnt feel that one. The lift comes from the casting of a comedian, Dave Johns, in the title role. Johns doesnt make I, Daniel Blake into a laugh-a-minute or even a laugh-an-hour exercise. But he keeps things from getting unbearable with his lightness of being. He just doesnt seem cut out for tragedy. This is a temporary situation, as he sees it. Obviously, someone will soon realize that he really cant go back to work and that he needs a little help. Its just a little hiccup that he has to call heartless bureaucrats and then wait on hold listening to Muzak for upward of two hours. But soon everything will be sorted out. This is the paradox of the movie: At least half the scenes are about frustrating and even maddening situations, not only maddening to poor Daniel, but maddening to anyone who watches, as in the audience. But the actual experience of Daniel Blake is not one of frustration. In fact, the film brings a kind of satisfaction, a sense of Oh, good. Somebody is finally showing how horrible this is. Johns is terrific, the heart and soul of the movie, playing the kind of guy thats the heart and soul of any industrialized country on the planet. So this is the guy they want to throw on the garbage heap? This is the guy whose expendable? Its enough to make you want to scream, except you dont have to scream. Ken Loach does the screaming for you. Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MickLaSalle I, Daniel Blake Drama. Starring Dave Johns and Hayley Squires. Directed by Ken Loach. (R. 100 minutes.) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Texas City woman's aggravated assault charge could be upgraded to murder after she allegedly shot her husband last Thursday. The victim, Manuel Vasquez, 62, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound on May 25. Two days later, he died from his injuries. CHAOTIC SCENE: Four homeless sleeping on sidewalk injured when car strikes them Rosemary Vasquez, 59, is charged with aggravated assault in Galveston County. Texas City police said her case will be presented to a grand jury, and the charges could be upgraded to murder. According to a complaint affidavit filed with Galveston County District Court, Rosemary Vasquez allegedly called police and told them she had shot her husband at about 9:51 p.m. on May 25. Police responded to 2102 22nd Ave. N in Texas City and found Manuel Vasquez sitting at a table with his head back. Police believed the victim to be unconscious and noted in the affidavit that he had been shot in the face. Manuel Vasquez was taken to Mainland Center Hospital by EMS, then by Life Flight to Clear Lake Regional Hospital, where he died, police said. The complaint affidavit alleges that Rosemary Vasquez told police that she shot her husband because she was angry with him. The couple had been arguing after Rosemary accused Manuel of talking to another woman. Then, Rosemary Vasquez told police her husband handed her a gun, and she grabbed it and pulled the trigger, the affidavit alleges. Rosemary Vasquez was booked into the Galveston County Jail on $100,000 bond. She is not currently listed on the jail roster. May 21 An officer was dispatched to the 5400 block of Kirby regarding a Minor Accident / Failure to Stop and Give Information incident that had already occurred. An officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in regards to Lost Property. May 22 At 3:10 am, a Police Officer observed a subject sleeping inside of his vehicle, which had an opened passenger door, in the parking lot, located at 4000 block of Bellaire. After further investigation, it was determined that the subject was intoxicated and was arrested for Public Intoxication. A citizen located a card case containing a Texas Driver License and credit cards in the 6100 block of Auden. The property was placed in the evidence storage room for safe keeping. May 23 An officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in regards to an Identity Theft. May 24 An officer was dispatched to the 4000 block of Bellaire in regards to a Burglary of a Motor Vehicle. May 25 An Officer was dispatched to HPD Jail located to pick up a subject who had West University Place Police Department warrants. Upon arrival the Officer took care and custody of the subject. The subject was then transported to the West University Place Jail without incident. An officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in regards to Found Property. An officer was dispatched to the 3300 block of Bissonnet on a found property call. Cornerstone Christian Academy has announced the appointment of Eric Nicholie, principal of George Jr. High, as the new head of school effective July 1, 2017. The Head of School search, led by SolomanSwann International, generated a great deal of interest from a host of highly qualified candidates from across the country. Nicholie emerged as the Transition Committee's recommendation and received a unanimous endorsement from the board of trustees. Board President Darrell Roth said, "I am confident Mr. Nicholie will take Cornerstone Christian Academy to an even higher level and fulfill the school's purpose of building Skills for Life and Faith for Eternity." Nicholie will succeed Casey Farris, whose family will be relocating to Nashville, TN this summer. Nicholie has 21 years of experience in education, 16 of which as an administrator. He has had the experience of opening a campus as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal. Under his leadership, his campuses have received numerous academic awards such as exemplary status as well as earning Academic Distinctions and Gold Performance Recognitions. Nicholie has been named the Lamar CISD Elementary Principal of the Year as well as been selected to the Texas Principals' Institute. He is a member of TASSP, TEPSA, NAESP, TASA, and ASCD. He earned his bachelor's degree from Hope College in Michigan and a master's degree from University of Houston-Victoria. Cornerstone Christian Academy is a private school located in Sugar Land, serving students from ages two to eighth grade. Visit www.cornerstonecca.org or call 281-980-0842 for information. Back in 1996, Mary Kay Letourneau, 34, was a married mother of four who taught at a Seattle elementary school. Vili Fualaau was a 12-year-old sixth grade student in her class. They began a sexual and romantic relationship that would lead to nationwide television coverage, multiple jail stints, books about forbidden love, two children and in 2005, a marriage. Now, Letourneau and her husband Fualaau are making yet another tabloid headline - they are legally separating, according to TMZ. People magazine, which confirmed the story, quoted an unnamed source close to the couple saying "they've been having issues for awhile now. They tried to work through them, but it didn't work. They're still committed to being good parents to their children." Letourneau's lawyer, David Gehrke, told People that Fualaau filed for separation. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Alan Berner/AP Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Letourneau's relationship with the boy was first exposed after a relative of her husband found out about it and told police. After Letourneau's first arrest in March 1997, she gave birth to her first child with Fualaau, a daughter named Audrey, while she was out on bail. She pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape and was sentenced to six months in jail. She was required to undergo sex offender treatment. She was released from jail after serving three months. Two weeks later, she was caught having sex with Fualaau in a car. She was arrested again and sentenced to seven years for violating the terms of her parole. While in prison she gave birth to Georgia, her second child with Fualaau. In 2004, Letourneau was released from the Washington Corrections Center for Women. In 2005, Fualaau and Letourneau were married in front of 250 guests. They reportedly received six figures for the TV rights to their wedding, the first of several attempts to capitalize on their notoriety. They co-authored a book published in France under the title "Only One Crime, Love," in 1999. In 2009, they hosted a nightclub event in Seattle called "Hot For Teacher" night where Fualaau served as DJ for the night. They took photos and signed T-shirts. Their relationship sparked controversy beyond their 22 year age difference. In 2004, a New York Times writer, Robin D. Stone, wrote a column about how differently the Letourneau saga would have been portrayed if she was a man in a relationship with a female student. Instead of outcry from the public for her to be locked up, the article said, people saw Letourneau as "the siren who betrayed her husband and abandoned her four children in a misguided quest for love." Their courtship was consistently described as a "relationship" as opposed to her being called a predator or him being called a victim. "Boy-Toy Bliss For Mary Kay" read one New York Post headline. Time magazine published a story - "Mad About The Boy" - in 2001 that made the argument that Letourneau suffered from an untreated mental illness and depression from her previous miscarriage years earlier that led to her behavior. On the occasion of the couple's 10-year wedding anniversary in 2015, Letourneau said in an interview with ABC, "If it wasn't strong enough in the beginning, it wouldn't have carried through those years." "I think, What would my life have been like if I had never made a move on Mary?" Fualaau said in an interview with People magazine in 2006. "What if I had kept it as a crush and left it at that? Where would I be and where would she be - what would life be like?" TOKYO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe here on Wednesday, calling for taking the opportunities of anniversaries of bilateral ties and accumulating positive energy to enhance the Sino-Japanese relationship. Yang said that the improvement and development of Sino-Japanese relationship is important for the well-being of the people of both countries as well as peace, stability and prosperity of the region. He said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently given important guiding opinions on Sino-Japanese relationship when meeting with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who was in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation recently. China attaches importance to its relationship with Japan, and is willing to, together with Japan, take the opportunities of the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties this year and the 40th anniversary of the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship next year to develop bilateral relations, based on the four political documents and the four-point agreement between the two countries, upholding the spirit of taking history as a mirror while looking forward to the future, Yang said. He also urged the Japanese side to honor its words on improving bilateral relations and implement the consensus that the two countries are each other's cooperative partner rather than threats with specific policies and concrete actions. Yang stressed that the two countries should make joint efforts to enhance positive factors and eliminate negative ones in bilateral relations, and safeguard the momentum of improvement and development of the Sino-Japanese relationship. He said that properly handling important and sensitive issues that bear impact on the political foundation of the Sino-Japanese relations, including Taiwan and the historical issues, is vital for the stable and further development of bilateral relations. He called on the two sides to maintain dialogue and communication, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and accumulate more positive energy for bilateral relations. Abe, for his part, said that Japan looks forward to further improving and developing its relationship with China by taking the opportunities of the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic ties this year and the 40th anniversary of the signing of Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship next year. He said that Japan hopes to enhance exchanges at all levels with China, promote friendship between the two peoples, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, properly manage differences and improve communication and coordination with China on international and regional affairs. Regarding the Taiwan issue, he said that Japan will continue to abide by the principles established in the 1972 Japan-China joint communique that normalized bilateral ties and this stance has not changed. During the meeting, Yang also reiterated China's stance and proposition on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Yang visited Japan on invitation from May 29 to May 31. During his stay, he co-chaired the fourth round of high-level political dialogue between China and Japan with Japanese national security advisor Shotaro Yachi. Yang also met with Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, New Komeito Party President Natsuo Yamaguchi, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party Toshihiro Nikai, former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yohei Kono as well as friendly personnel from economic and other sectors of the Japanese society. After an immigration roundup in Virginia this spring, federal officials announced that they had captured a former lieutenant in a Somali national-security agency notorious for human-rights abuses. But retired federal agents tell a different story about the thin, bespectacled father who has been sitting in an immigration jail since late March. They say he is a confidential FBI informant who risked his own safety to save American lives and should have received a Green Card. Instead, he faces deportation to a country where his history of spying for the United States could get him killed. The man, whose name is being withheld by The Washington Post out of concern for his safety, prevented a "major terrorist attack" on a U.S. embassy in Africa, uncovered support networks for some of the 9/11 hijackers and probed the killings of U.S. servicemen in Somalia, according to confidential affidavits from retired federal agents shared with The Post. "He's getting a raw deal," said Richard Lauria, a former immigration special agent assigned to the country's Joint Terrorism Task Force. "He went above and beyond, and he shouldn't be in the position that he is now." The man's case illustrates the powerful leverage that the U.S. government wields over foreign informants and witnesses and the trade-offs for both sides. The government has long offered special visas to immigrants who provide critical information about terrorism or criminal organizations, even if those immigrants are here illegally or have criminal records themselves. The visas lead to a Green Card or U.S. citizenship. But critics say the United States often does not keep its side of the bargain, leaving people such as the Somali man in legal limbo as long as they cooperate - and at risk of deportation when they stop. The man became an informant to avoid deportation after being arrested for criminal immigration fraud in 1998. He continued that work off and on for nearly two decades, even as he accumulated minor criminal charges. He is now middle-aged with U.S.-born children. He said he told his latest FBI handlers early this year that he would not work for them anymore. Shortly afterward, he was arrested. U.S. officials say immigrants are not entitled to an S visa - known derisively as the "snitch" visa - in exchange for their work. And they say informants who commit new crimes may disqualify themselves from the program. "There are strict statutory requirements," Department of Justice spokesman Peter Carr said last week. "Neither a law enforcement agency nor a federal prosecutor has the authority to guarantee an alien that they will receive an S visa." Because immigration files are kept secret, the full record of the Somali man's case was not available for The Post to review. The FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to give details about his work for the government or why he was arrested after 20 years in the United States. ICE spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell said the man has convictions for felony immigration fraud and multiple misdemeanors, adding that she could not provide additional information because the man refused to sign a waiver. Congress created the S visa program in 1994, a year after the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. The government sets aside 200 visas a year for informants and witnesses who provide information about criminal organizations and 50 a year for immigrants who assist terrorism investigations. A law enforcement agency must sponsor immigrants for S visas, with the approval of the Department of Justice, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Since 1995, nearly 900 immigrants, and 750 of their relatives, have received S visas for exposing criminal enterprises, according to federal statistics and the Congressional Research Service. But only six visas have been given to terror informants or witnesses since the program began. Five visas were issued in 1995 and one was given out last fiscal year, in addition to six visas for relatives of those individuals. In Georgia, attorney Tracie Klinke said she has had at least two cases in which clients were promised visas for aiding criminal investigations, including drug trafficking, but never received them. A former client from India who busted an immigration-fraud ring ended up terrified that he would be deported to the same country as the people he helped put in jail. Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida, said the FBI routinely recruits Muslim immigrants as informants but rarely follows through with promises to help their immigration cases. "Immigrants, especially those who are not U.S. citizens, are prime targets because they [U.S. officials] have more leverage," he said. The Somali man's path from immigration violator to government informant living in northern Virginia began on a wintry day in 1995, when he landed at Boston's Logan International Airport using a fake Swedish passport he bought for $500, court records show. He applied for asylum, lost and was expelled from the United States. He returned to the United States, married and applied for asylum again, using his real name. Immigration agents checked his fingerprints, discovered the old case and arrested him for felony immigration fraud in 1998. Lauria, the now-retired federal agent, said he recruited the man to investigate Somali war criminals who were being smuggled from Kenyan refugee camps to the United States and Canada. Court records say the man faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, not to mention deportation, but after he pleaded guilty, a judge sentenced him to one year's probation. For the next two decades, on and off, the man helped the FBI and other agencies investigate extremists and terror plots. He wore hidden microphones to coffee shops, shopping malls, taxi stands and clubs, Lauria said. He told no one, not even his wife, what he was doing. She feared he was having an affair because he would stay out all night. Tim Clemente, a retired FBI special agent, said in an affidavit that the man exposed terror groups' financial networks in the United States and elsewhere. The investigations led to arrests and saved lives, the affidavit said, particularly in the case of the planned attack on an unnamed U.S. embassy in Africa. Clemente wrote that it is "very likely that many, many people would have been killed" if the man had not helped. Lauria said that before he transferred to another federal agency in 2001, he submitted a thick packet recommending the man for an S visa. But Lauria and others moved on, and now Lauria says he fears that the visa request fell through the cracks. In 2012, Lauria and Clemente wrote the affidavits urging an immigration judge to grant the man legal residency. "In my eyes," Clemente wrote, the man "truly is an American hero." In an interview, Lauria said the man's "days would be numbered" if he were deported. The man says he told the FBI two weeks before his arrest that he would no longer be an informant. On March 26, ICE arrested him and said he had been a "second lieutenant in command of the Somali National Security Service, an organization known for human rights abuses, rape, torture and extrajudicial killings." The man denies that he was ever in the Somali National Security Service. His U.S. criminal record includes the 1998 immigration fraud felony and, according to ICE, multiple misdemeanors. Court records show misdemeanor convictions in 2015 for prescription-drug possession and at least two pending charges: an arrest last year for obtaining money under false pretenses and a January charge for shoplifting. Justice Department officials said there are many reasons informants and witnesses might not receive an S visa, including failure to maintain a clean record. But Lauria and others said the man should have been a U.S. citizen by now, which would protect him from deportation. On April 21, the man appeared via video in immigration court at a bond hearing. Clemente and a third retired federal agent, who gave his name only as Brian, were in the room, ready to testify on his behalf. The judge considered closing the proceedings to the public. The Post objected, but the judge ultimately ruled that the man was not eligible for a bond hearing because of his criminal record. His next appearance is in June. "They are using this as a leverage for me to continue to cooperate," the man said in an interview before the April hearing. "Or otherwise, 'we're gonna send you back to Somalia,' where I will definitely be killed." --- The Washington Post's Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report. Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in eastern Syria is surrounded by some of the world's strongest military powers. Their forces are advancing on several fronts. The battlefield odds aren't even close. That's why the commanders of those armies -- in Washington, Moscow and Tehran, as well as Damascus and Ankara -- are looking beyond the coming showdown with the jihadists. When they're killed or driven out, who'll take over? It's an especially sharp dilemma for President Donald Trump. Because for the second time this century, the U.S. risks defeating one Middle Eastern enemy only to see another one, Iran, emerge as the big winner. The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 toppled Iran's bitter rival Saddam Hussein and replaced him with a sympathetic Shiite-led government. In Syria today, Iranian ally Bashar Assad has survived six years of civil war during which U.S. leaders repeatedly insisted that he had to go. His army, fighting alongside militias loyal to Tehran, is driving into Islamic State-held territory, setting up a race with U.S.-backed forces to liberate it. Even the areas where the Americans arrive first may eventually revert to Assad's control. That might not have been a problem for Trump the candidate. Before the election, he vowed to smash Islamic State without getting sucked into a wider war, and said he'd work with Russia, Assad's other key backer. It could be a problem for the President Trump who told America's regional allies last week that he'll help roll back Iranian power -- a promise that, in Syria at least, won't be easy to keep. "There's not much the U.S. can do about Iran in Syria," said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of Eurasia Group, a New York-based risk consultancy. "They're just not going to walk," he said. "Iran is closer, and cares more." Iran faces growing hostility from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies to the south. That makes preserving the Shiite-friendly governments to its west, in Baghdad and Damascus, even more important. A land corridor through those countries allows Iran to supply weapons to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, a key instrument of Iranian power, which is also fighting on Assad's side. Islamic State's stronghold in eastern Syria blocked that route -- and the blockage will remain if American-backed forces take over. In Raqqa, the jihadist capital, it's likely that they will. The ground campaign there is mostly being waged by Kurdish fighters armed, trained and given air support by the U.S. After they win, "what we envision is a governance reflective of the local population" in Raqqa, which is mostly Arab, Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon said in an interview. He said the U.S. could provide "civil affairs troops" as it's done elsewhere, giving guidance on how to fix infrastructure, for instance. Still, it's not clear what relationship those new local authorities would have with Assad's government, which says it expects to regain power over the whole country. Damascus has extended an olive-branch to the Kurds, saying their fight against Islamic State is "legitimate." And the Kurds say they're ready to negotiate with Assad for autonomy -- because the opposition groups backed by Turkey and Gulf Arabs are radical Islamists who are "even worse," according to Abdsalam Ali, a representative of the Syrian Kurdish PYD party in Moscow. So some of America's local allies, at least, are ready to cut a deal with the Iranian camp. If others aren't, it's not clear what kind of backup they could expect. The U.S. "would certainly respond as necessary" to protect local partners, Pahon said. But in the event of an Assad advance on Raqqa, "I don't think our response would necessarily be to move in a whole bunch of tanks," as diplomatic options would be pursued, he said. The Kurds face another threat from Turkey, which also has troops inside Syria and strongly opposes any move toward Kurdish autonomy there. Last month, after Turkish planes bombed Kurdish fighters, the U.S. had to send soldiers to shield one of its allies from another. Farther south, it's the forces of the Assad-Russia-Iran alliance -- which has shown little sign of internal dissension -- that are leading the fight to oust Islamic State. They're pushing toward Deir Ezzor, a city about 140 kilometers (85 miles) southeast of Raqqa, which has been besieged by the jihadists since 2015, and also offers control of the frontier with Iraq. The border regions have seen the most direct clash so far between the American and Iranian sides. On May 18, American planes bombed a convoy of pro-Assad fighters. The Pentagon said they ignored warnings to stop approaching a base at At-Tanf, near the border with Iraq and Jordan, where U.S. troops are training anti-Assad militias. As armies from both camps maneuver around a smallish stretch of land in eastern Syria, there's the potential for more such flashpoints. "Anything can happen," the Pentagon's Pahon said. "This is the most complicated battle-space anybody has ever known." Pahon said the U.S. hasn't pivoted toward taking on Assad. The At-Tanf strike was in response to a direct threat and, "now that they've backed off, we're not going after them," he said. "This is not a new policy." America's stance has already shifted under Trump. He ordered missile strikes on Syrian army positions last month, as punishment for a chemical attack he blamed on Assad; in a similar situation, his predecessor Barack Obama decided against military action. Still, defeating Islamic State has remained the overwhelming U.S. priority. That's a short-sighted view of the Middle East, a region that's already witnessed "the most dramatic collapse of American power since World War II" on Obama's watch, according to James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Iraq. America "gravitates toward fighting ISIS and claiming that's the center of everything, which is easy to do and wins universal applause," but doesn't constitute a "long-term strategy," he said. "In 2017, ISIS is not a threat to regional stability. The threat now is Iran." In the Persian Gulf and Israel this month, Trump heard a similar message. But to policy makers in Russia, it's the U.S. and its allies who are destabilizing Syria, and their anti-Iranian rhetoric lacks realism. "Does anyone think Iran is going to leave this region and Syria?" Russian Middle East envoy Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview. "As if you could wave a magic wand and Iran would disappear?" --- Bloomberg's Selcan Hacaoglu, Ilya Arkhipov and Hayley Warren contributed. WASHINGTON - A Pennsylvania man was arrested early Wednesday at the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, authorities said, after police found a Bushmaster AR-15 assault-style weapon and dozens of rounds of ammunition in his vehicle. Officers acted on a tip at about 1:50 a.m. and saw the weapon in plain view in the vehicle, which the driver had given to a hotel valet, police said. A Glock 23 handgun was found in the glove box, police said, along with 30 rounds of 7.62-millimeter ammunition and 60 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition. Authorities would not say what they believe prompted the man, Bryan Moles, 43, a former Navy corpsman, to make the drive to the District of Columbia or what they think he intended to do. A friend of Moles' for 25 years described him as a hard-core supporter of President Donald Trump who grew up with and owns weapons and might have been unaware of the District's strict gun laws. Police said the tipster had provided information that Moles made threatening remarks. D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham would not characterize the remarks and said at a news conference that authorities "don't have enough information right now to charge him with making threats." The chief thanked the tipster, whose identity was not revealed, for bringing a "potential tragic situation to a peaceful end." Newsham added, "We're going to do a thorough investigation into motive. I was very concerned about these circumstances." A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service said agents concluded that Moles "posed no immediate threat to any Secret Service protectees." Moles, who lives in Venango Township, just outside of Edinboro, Pa., was arrested in his room at the hotel in the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue NW, five blocks from the White House. Police said he was charged with possession of firearms without a license and illegal possession of ammunition. Moles was being held pending an initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday. Several relatives reached Wednesday declined to comment. Moles lives in a house with his wife and two sons off a curbed dirt driveway in the middle of a flat expanse about 20 miles south of Erie and 110 miles north of Pittsburgh, public records and interviews show. Moles' longtime friend, Lisa Della Ratta, 44, a nurse in Gulf Breeze, Florida, said that she did not know why he would have gone to the District but that he travels frequently. She said she does not believe he made the trip to harm anyone. "He's got an odd sense of humor," said Della Ratta, who has known him since high school. "But if he was going to assault anyone, we would know. It wouldn't be ambiguous. He grew up in rural Pennsylvania. He lives on a lot of land. He grew up shooting guns. We all grew up shooting guns. . . . He probably didn't know you couldn't take guns into the District." On Facebook and LinkedIn pages that appear to be his, Moles lists himself as having been in the military, a physician and the current head of a nonprofit dog-placement facility called Boro K9 and Service run out of his home. The website says the organization places dogs with veterans and first-responders with post-traumatic stress disorder. The social media sites that appear connected to Moles list Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa., as the most recent hospital at which he worked. Della Ratta also said he worked there as a doctor. Dan Laurent, a spokesman for Allegheny Health Network, which runs the hospital, said a Dr. Bryan Moles worked as an emergency room doctor at Saint Vincent's until 2013 but could not confirm whether that was the same person as in the D.C. incident A Bryan Moles is licensed as a physician in Pennsylvania through Oct. 31, 2018, state records show. According to the U.S. Navy, Moles enlisted in 1992 and served until August 1996 as a hospital corpsman at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He served in the reserves until 2006 as part of a surgical battalion out of Erie. He worked at the Naval Hospital in Cherry Point, N.C. Newsham said the sequence of events unfolded quickly, with D.C. police and the Secret Service learning about the tipster's concerns at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. The chief said the information was relayed by Pennsylvania State Police, who provided a description of Moles' vehicle and said Moles may have been headed to the Trump hotel. Police informed hotel security workers, who quickly found the vehicle in the garage, Newsham said. Law enforcement searched it for potential hazards and found the weapon. Police said Moles was arrested without incident and was interviewed. A spokesman for Pennsylvania State Police said his agency received information on Moles "that he was possibly in Washington, D.C. with weapons. We immediately contacted local authorities in Washington and related that information." Ryan Tarkowski declined to describe the information or say where it originated. Della Ratta said that if Moles had planned violence, "why would he give his vehicle with guns in it to a valet, and then check into a hotel without his guns?" --- The Washington Post's Jennifer Jenkins and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report. LONDON - Manchester police searched a property on Wednesday in their investigation into last week's suicide bombing as a clearer picture began to emerge about the attacker's actions in the four days preceding the assault. Twenty-two people were killed and 116 were injured in the attack, which occurred at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. The attack, carried out by 22-year-old Salman Abedi, was the deadliest in Britain in more than a decade. On Wednesday, police were searching a property on Banff Road, about four miles south of Manchester Arena, the site of the blast. They set up a cordon and asked the public to avoid the area. Police said Abedi is likely to have bought most of the bomb components himself and largely acted alone. "Our enquiries show Abedi himself made most of the purchases of the core components, and what is becoming apparent is that many of his movements and actions have been carried out alone during the four days from him landing in the country and committing this awful attack," Russ Jackson, head of the Greater Manchester Police's northwest counterterrorism unit, said in a statement issued Tuesday evening. But police also said they could not rule out the possibility that he may have been part of a wider network. "It is vital that we make sure that he is not part of a wider network, and we cannot rule this out yet. There remain a number of things that concern us about his behaviour prior to the attack and those of his associates which we need to get to the bottom of," Jackson said. Police have been attempting to retrace Abedi's movements ahead of the attack by examining CCTV footage and reviewing his phone calls. Abedi, born in Britain to Libyan parents, reportedly had returned to Britain after a trip to Libya four days before the attack. Police said they were "especially keen" to figure out why Abedi repeatedly returned to the Wilmslow Road area of Manchester. They also released an image of Abedi wheeling a blue suitcase and appealed to the public for more information about the suitcase. Over the weekend, Britain's state of alert was downgraded from "critical" - the highest level - to "severe," and armed soldiers were gradually being withdrawn from high-profile sites, including Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. Grande has announced that she will return to Manchester on Sunday for a benefit concert. Fans who were at her May 22 concert will be offered free tickets to the benefit concert, which will be televised and will include performances by Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Coldplay and Miley Cyrus. BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China's new cyber security law, which will go into effect Thursday, is not intended to manage foreign websites nor restrict the free flow of information, the country's internet regulator said Wednesday. China warned against infringement of its cyber sovereignty under the pretext of providing free flow of information. Preventing illegal information from entering China does not contradict supporting the free flow of information, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement. "In the real world, all enterprises or individuals are required to observe laws of the countries they enter, and there should be no exception made in cyberspace," according to the statement. China strictly manages the Internet within its borders and has banned the spread of illegal information via technical or other means. This embodies the country's cyber sovereignty and is a requirement for safeguarding national security and protecting the interests of its citizens, it said. In addition, the law stipulates that Internet service providers should increase control on information released by their users and immediately stop the spread of information deemed illegal. The regulation will not infringe privacy nor restrict free speech online, the CAC said adding that the regulation targets information already made public by Internet users not their personal communications. The CAC reiterated that authorities aim to prohibit the spread of illegal information rather than impeding free speech. The law was passed in November 2016 at a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee after a third reading. Bunker Hill 05/23/17 at 11:18 a.m., an Officer took a report of Burglary of a Motor Vehicle from the 11600 block of Memorial Dr. The victim reported that an unknown suspect broke the passenger side window of his vehicle, stealing a gym bag with various items. Detectives are investigating. 05/23/17 at 0300 hours, an officer observed a vehicle speeding on Memorial Drive. Officer initiated a traffic stop where he found the 20 year-old female driver to be intoxicated. After failing sobriety tests the driver was placed under arrest and booked into the MVPD jail while her car was towed. 5/19/17 at 2300 hours while on routine patrol, officers located a vehicle parked behind a church in the 11900 Block of Memorial. Upon contacting the occupants officers were able to determine that the subjects had been smoking marijuana. Both were identified and found to not be from the area. They were still in possession of paraphernalia and were cited and escorted away from the area. Piney Point 05/21/2017 at 3:27 p.m., Officers conducted an investigation of a single motor vehicle accident in the 1-99 block of S. Piney Point Rd. The vehicle failed to control speed causing it to fishtail, strike a guard rail and then rolled onto its side. The driver was cited for speeding too fast for conditions. No injuries were reported. 05/24/17 at 6:43 p.m. an Officer took a report of found property in the 600 block of Hedwig. A person reported that while walking, he found a Texas driver's license. Officer took possession of the driver's license and made contact with the owner so it could be returned. Hunters Creek 05/20/17 at 3:30 a.m., an Officer observed a suspicious vehicle in the 900 block of Old Voss Rd., parked outside a closed business. The Officer made contact with the occupants and observed narcotics in plain view. Two male subjects were arrested, charged with Felony Delivery of a Controlled Substance and transported to the Memorial Villages Police Department Jail for processing and then booked into the Harris County Jail. Officers recovered a significant quality of Ecstasy. 05/23/17 at 6:19 p.m., an Officer conducted a crash investigation involving two motor vehicles, in the 900 block of Bingle Rd. There was minor damage to both vehicles with no injuries reported. 05/25/17 at 1745 Hours, officers responded to the 500 block of Wellesley in reference to a reported Fraud. Victim went to get a new phone as part of his cell phone service where he learned that an unknown person had added another phone to his account without his permission. A report was generated and provided to detectives for follow up. Investigations update MVPD Detectives filed a Felony Theft warrant with the Harris County District Attorney's office on a female suspect after receiving banking documentation that showed she had been paying her auto loan using the victim's personal bank account. MVPD Detectives met with Detectives from Hedwig PD, Friendswood PD, Harris County Sheriff's Dept., Houston PD, West University PD and Tomball PD., in regards to an on-going Identity Theft investigation involving the same suspects. The cases will be consolidated and presented to the District Attorney for prosecution. Crews plowing Tioga Road need avalanche training, as conditions are dangerous. Yosemite Park officials hope the road opens late June or early July. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After unrelenting winter and spring storms blasted California, the reservoirs are brimming, the rivers roaring, the snowpack massive, and the ski slopes still open. This is all good news for a state that became parched, dry and water-starved during five years of drought. But for those who love the great outdoors, the extreme weather means many favorite locations are inaccessible and activities delayed this summer. Take, for instance, backpacking in the Sierra Nevada's vast wilderness, which usually kicks off with hikers hitting the trail around July 4. Officials are saying the routes manageable for average backpackers are blanketed in snow and will be too challenging to navigate well into summer, unless you have special equipment and technical skills. "There truly is a huge amount of snow throughout the Sierra Nevada, and for most backpackers, hiking season starts when the vast majority of that snow has melted," says Jack Haskel, trail information specialist for the Pacific Crest Trail Association. "That's going to be quite late this year. There will be snow persisting above 7,000 to 8,000 feet well into mid-July and later in some places." Hoping to go rafting down the Truckee River? Don't get your hopes up until August. The river that usually welcomes rafters, kayakers and inner-tubers in early June is roaring at a high flow so high that it's impossible to get under some of the low-hanging bridges. "The rafting season is usually 100 days in the summer, and this year we'll be lucky to get 20," said Aaron Rudnick, owner of Truckee River Raft Co. And then there's the stunning stretch of Highway 1 that passes through Big Sur, where a storm-damaged bridge and a massive landslide make driving the entire route and easily accessing its favorite outdoor wonders impossible. For more examples of outdoor recreation that's hindered by the brutal winter, take a look at the gallery above. ADDIS ABABA, May 31 (Xinhua)-- Ethiopia is to host China Trade Week from July 4-6, with the expected participation of dozens of Chinese companies from various sectors. "This event is the first of its kind for Chinese firms in Ethiopia, with so far 65 companies confirming their attendance to the trade week," said a statement on Wednesday by Nebiyu Lemma, managing director of Prana Promotion, one of the event organizers. They will come from sectors including arts and crafts, toys and gifts, energy, lighting, home electronics, construction materials, machinery, food and beverage and textiles. Prana expects more than 4,000 visitors and exhibitors to attend the event, although it said a lack of enough exhibition space could see the final list of exhibitor companies to be constricted. "Our future plans are to make the China Trade Week an annual event," said Lemma. Prana also expect the trade week to see discussions between Chinese and Ethiopians on how best to utilize the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate At a time of strong partisan divide, when one side messes up, the other pounces like a bird of prey. That happened after comedian Kathy Griffin, who supported Hillary Clinton, posted a 12-second video of her holding what appeared to be President Donald Trump's bloody, severed head. It immediately drew ire from both liberals and conservatives, and by Wednesday, CNN had dropped the comedian from its annual New Year's Eve program, which Griffin has co-hosted with Anderson Cooper since 2007. As the backlash against Griffin continues, many on social media have pointed out what they see as a double standard. A few times within the past several years, a well-known conservative activist got in hot water over hateful comments about former President Barack Obama. In those instances, though, there was no image of a bloody head; just Ted Nugent's pointed words, some of which prompted a Secret Service investigation. Trump would later host the hard rocker at the White House - a recent memory that many on Twitter brought up in the aftermath of Griffin's controversial post. Their cumulative sentiment: Both spewed hatred. Griffin was punished for it. Nugent became a White House guest. Nugent, a gun rights activist, is known for his heated remarks about Obama that stretch back to at least 2007, when the former president was competing against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Nugent went on a rant onstage during a concert and said vile things about both Obama and Clinton, using expletives to refer to both. Five years later, Nugent made an impassioned plea for support for then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a National Rifle Association Conference in St. Louis. At that time, Obama was running for reelection. "We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November," he said of the Obama administration in April 2012. He added: "If Barack Obama becomes the next president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year." Nugent said he was simply trying to excite voters. But the Secret Service nevertheless asked to talked to him so he could explain his comments. A Secret Service spokesman confirmed the investigation at that time, but declined to give details. Two years later, during a hunting and outdoor trade show in Las Vegas in 2014, he called Obama a "communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel" and a "gangster" who weaseled his way into the presidency. Nugent apologized for using the term "subhuman mongrel" during an interview with conservative radio host Ben Ferguson a month later. Ferguson then asked whether Nugent was directly apologizing to Obama, to which he replied, "Yes." But the controversial remarks didn't stop there. In a lengthy Facebook post last year, Nugent said Obama and Clinton should be tried for treason and hanged over their handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Despite his history of making inflammatory statements, Nugent, along with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Kid Rock, became Trump's dinner guests at the White House in April. Trump had invited Palin, who brought Nugent and Kid Rock with her. Nugent posted a picture of him shaking Trump's hand as the president sat at his desk during the visit. --- The Washington Post's Natalie Jennings contributed to this report. LONDON -- President Donald Trump escalated his feud with Berlin on Tuesday, even as Germany's leader and Trump's own spokesman tried to defuse the conflict, which has sent tremors through Washington's core postwar alliances. Before the presidential tweets began flying early Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed the importance of Germany's ties to the United States. But she pointedly did not back down from earlier comments about Europe's need to rely on itself rather than its friends. The dispute started as Trump sped through meetings in Europe last week and appeared to leave a trail of bruises in his wake. It heated up after Merkel did little over the weekend to hide her disappointment with Trump's refusal to commit Washington to the climate change treaty. And it was further inflamed Tuesday at 6:40 a.m. Washington time when Trump fired a white-hot shot straight at Berlin's glass-and-concrete chancellery. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change," Trump wrote in his early-morning tweet. The fight has had few obvious practical consequences so far. But Merkel's meetings this week - first a chummy meeting with India's leader on Tuesday and then a sit-down with the Chinese prime minister on Wednesday - were bracing reminders of the trade ties being forged outside the United States as Washington moves toward a sharply more nationalist and protectionist agenda. Merkel refused to give ground Tuesday, even as she sought to ease the dispute with a rhetorical hug. "Transatlantic relations are of paramount importance," Merkel said alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin. "What I did was merely to point out that in light of the present situation, there are yet more reasons that we have to take our destiny in Europe into our own hands." The Modi meeting was planned long before the dust-up with Trump. But the cheerful body language between the two leaders was difficult to miss. "We are meant for each other," Modi said to Merkel, smiling widely, as both leaders made positive comments about a European Union-India trade deal in the works. German officials - who say that the United States remains Germany's most important international ally and an important partner whose friendship they want to maintain - feel that Trump has prioritized relations with authoritarian nations such as Saudi Arabia instead of democratic allies. Many were shocked when Trump declared in Riyadh that "we are not here to lecture" the mostly unelected assembled leaders - and then criticized European allies in Brussels for not spending enough on defense. That led Merkel to conclude that she needs to advocate a sharply more pro-European agenda at home ahead of September elections, one ally said. She said Sunday at a beer-hall political rally that Europe can no longer fully rely on others, a message clearly about Washington, even if it was aimed largely at her own voters. "It was mostly to say we have to strengthen Europe. It was not anti-Trump," said Norbert Rottgen, a close Merkel ally who is the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of Germany's Parliament. "You have to explain to your voters what we make of the experience of the last days," Rottgen said. "Trump, he is an unprecedented president. He calls into question by the way of his behavior, by what he is saying, by what he is not saying, the foundation of this alliance, and you have to give an answer to that. And the answer of the chancellor is that we have to bring into this alliance, not against this alliance, but into this alliance, a stronger German hand." With Germany's elections drawing closer, Merkel has been forced to turn her attention to her own voters - most of whom loathe Trump and staunchly oppose increasing defense spending, one of his key demands. She is seeking a fourth term in office and has rejected most of Trump's criticisms as baseless. Even before Trump's victory last year, Merkel was increasing defense spending, pushing up the budget by $27 billion over the next three years. That would almost double current levels - but it would still be dwarfed by the $664 billion the United States spends every year. Now Merkel needs to convince German voters that defense increases are in their own interest, rather than a response to Trump. In a preview of election-season arguments, leading Social Democrats said Monday that Merkel should have openly opposed Trump from the start rather than trying to work with him at first. "Merkel needs to put some distance between herself and Trump, who is exceptionally unpopular in Germany," said Marcel Dirsus, a political scientist at the University of Kiel in northern Germany. But there are practical limits to any German split from Washington, Dirsus said. Germany is not militarily independent and is far from becoming so. And the United States remains an important trade partner. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday that there was no dispute between Trump and Merkel. "I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel he would describe as fairly unbelievable," Spicer said. But Europeans are growing weary of the message gap between Trump and the rest of his circle. They are still searching for which side to give greater weight - and last week's trip tipped the balance toward the president. "Europeans think they are now being treated worse by Trump than countries like Russia or Saudi Arabia," said Stephan Bierling, an expert on transatlantic relations at the University of Regensburg in Germany. The bilateral strains mean that the United States has, to some extent, lost the trust of one of Europe's most pro-American leaders. The German chancellor, the most powerful politician in Europe, grew up in East Germany, and her upbringing there has long been credited for her staunch support for closer European-U.S. ties. "Given her experience with the Cold War, Merkel has long upheld and defended American ideals. But the belief in shared values has been shattered by the Trump administration," Bierling said. --- Noack reported from Berlin. - - - Video: Fact Check: President Trump's rhetoric on NATO President Trump consistently frames NATO members' financial obligations as money that is owed to the United States or American taxpayers. But even if all NATO members suddenly met the guideline, no additional money would end up in the U.S. Treasury. The president is being deeply misleading. (Meg Kelly / The Washington Post) Short URL: http://wapo.st/2rTaGX8 Embed code: BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday strongly condemned the terrorist attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul and voiced support for Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a daily press conference and expressed condolences and sincere sympathy to the victims and their families. According to a statement from the Afghan Interior Ministry, at least 64 people were killed and 320 others injured in Wednesday morning's suicide car bomb explosion in a diplomatic district in Kabul. China opposes all kinds of terrorism, and was ready to work with Afghanistan and the international community to fight against terrorism, said Hua. According to Hua, the Chinese Embassy to Afghanistan was slightly damaged and no Chinese casualties had been reported at the time of writing. China will take measures to strengthen protection of Chinese citizens and institutions in Afghanistan, she added. Former China Telecom chairman sentenced to six years for graft BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Telecom, was sentenced to six years in prison for graft Wednesday. The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Baoding city in northern China's Hebei Province. The court also fined Chang 500,000 yuan (around 72,850 U.S. dollars) and ordered his illicit gains to be confiscated. Chang confessed to his crimes in court. It found Chang guilty of taking advantage of his positions as a telecom official and chairman of China Unicom to seek benefits for various institutions between 1998 and 2014. In return, he accepted money and valuables worth more than 3.76 million yuan. China Unicom and China Telecom are two of China's top three telecom service providers. The court decided to be lenient as Chang pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, returned his illegal gains and offered information on other crimes. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Texas lawmakers are literally insulting, threatening and shoving each other over the state's new sanctuary cities ban. Seriously - lawmakers on the last day of the state's regular legislative session looked more like a class of kindergartners in suits than grown men. But the real fight over the ban, which Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law this month, will happen in the courts. The lawsuits are flying on both sides, and here are five legal questions that Texas's sanctuary cities ban will have to navigate. 1) Can a state legally force a community to comply with federal deportation request? At the heart of Texas's ban, which is set to take effect Sept. 1, is a provision allowing local officials to be charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly refuse to hand over immigrants that the federal government asks for. So although it's about to be a crime under state law to refuse to hand over immigrants to federal officials, ignoring deportation requests are perfectly legal under federal law. (See question No. 4.) This is why President Donald Trump's executive order banning sanctuary cities wasn't really a ban on the policy. It was a threat to withhold federal funds from communities if they didn't comply with deportation requests. (A federal judge recently said that method is unconstitutional.) Some Texas cities are arguing that the state can't make illegal what the federal government makes legal. (That argument worked in Arizona a few years ago for a similar law.) But George Mason University constitutional law professor Ilya Somin says there's nothing in the federal Constitution that prevents states from coercing their municipalities. 2) Does this strip local police of their rights? El Cenizo, a speck of a Texas border town, thinks this law amounts to a ban on its officers' rights to do their job. The town of 3,300 has a regulation preventing local law enforcement from handing over some illegal immigrants to the federal government. Two days after Abbott signed the bill, El Cenizo sued the state, arguing that its sanctuary city policy keeps the town safe by allowing undocumented immigrants to feel comfortable reporting a crime. And El Paso County, which also sued the state, says it has a regulation from a previous lawsuit that its law enforcement can't comply with federal immigration deportation requests. "We represent a sheriff, a mayor and a constable who are put in the situation where they could face jail time if they choose not to cooperate with immigration enforcement they find to be unconstitutional," said ACLU Texas's senior lawyer, Edgar Saldivar. The American Civil Liberties Union is counsel to El Cenizo. "It's putting local law enforcement in a bind in Texas." 3) Does this law target people because of their race? Texas is not the only state with some kind of attempt to ban sanctuary cities. But it is one of the few states to add this to its law: a provision allowing police to question people's immigration status whether they are arrested or detained (like at a traffic stop). El Paso County's lawsuit argues the sanctuary city ban would violate the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection because the ban would encourage racial profiling from police. "[P]ersons in Texas, particularly Mexican-Americans, those of Hispanic descent, and immigrants and their families, will be caught in the crossfire," the lawsuit reads. Abbott, whose wife is Hispanic, said that's much ado about nothing: "As a person whose family is made up of Hispanics, I want to make sure no one who is Hispanic gets detained inappropriately," he told local reporters. 4) Are the federal government's deportation requests even constitutional? This 64-million-dollar-question is winding its way through federal courts, too. Most recently, a U.S. citizen in Illinois sued the government for holding him in jail without probable cause other than a deportation request. An Illinois federal court ended up deciding last year that the federal government can't make a local government hold someone longer than they otherwise would without a warrant. Holding people without a warrant violates that person's constitutional right, specifically his or her right to avoid unreasonable search and seizure. In other words, said the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, a federal government's requests for deportation "are voluntary, not mandatory." 5) Are cities such as Austin "publicly hostile" to cooperation with the federal government? Texas is ready for all these lawsuits. Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton actually pulled the first punch, filing a lawsuit in federal court the day after Abbott signed the bill that alleges almost all of Austin's city officials are "publicly hostile to cooperation with federal immigration enforcement." (Austin has become Ground Zero for the Texas sanctuary cities battle.) Paxton's lawsuit asks a federal court to preemptively declare the sanctuary cities bill constitutional by all the measures above. "Texas possesses an independent sovereign responsibility to protect the health, welfare, and safety of its residents," he said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. But his lawsuit also serves another purpose: funneling all the legal challenges to one court. Paxton filed the state's lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, which appeals to a federal court with nearly 2-to-1 Republican-appointed judges vs. Democratic-appointed judges. All that's to say: We don't know whether Texas's sanctuary cities ban is constitutional, but that question will ultimately be decided by a court with majority Republican-appointed judges. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Several seemingly regular traffic stops in Odessa over Memorial Day weekend led to multiple drug arrests after substances like cocaine, meth, crack and marijuana were found in vehicles, according to a news release. Trina Joann Brown, 34, was arrested Friday for possession of meth, a state jail felony. Police said they pulled over Brown's vehicle after seeing an expired registration, and searched her after she made furtive movements inside the vehicle. Brown was charged and arrested following the incident, police said. RELATED: Police: West Texas man doused wife with lighter fluid, tried to set her on fire Jared Salcido, 28, and Kimberly Amerson, 23, also arrested Friday after they were allegedly found with 40 grams of cocaine. Salcido faces a first-degree felony charge of delivery of cocaine, while Amerson faces that charge and a possession of marijuana charge. Police say the two were found with the drugs during a traffic stop in the 4300 block of North Grandview. Officers said they could smell marijuana coming from inside the vehicle and a search oncovered pot and 40.6 grams of cocaine, the news release said. Saturday police arrested Dominik Sanchez, 25, for possession of cocaine, a state jail felony. He was stopped in the 3000 block of East Highway 80. RELATED: Odessa teen charged with sexual assault of child after admitting to raping relative Gregory King, 51, was arrested Saturday for a third-degree felony charge of possession of cocaine and a Class B misdemeanor of driving while license invalid with prior convictions. Police conducting the traffic stop said King tried to conceal an item in his hand, which authorities said turned out to be crack rocks, the release said. Meanwhile, a defective brake light lead police to arrest a man with marijuana and prescription pills. Police arrested Oscar Lopez, 22, on a state jail felony charge of possession of marijuana and possession of a dangerous drug, a Class A misdemeanor charge. Lopezs vehicle was pulled over by police for a defective brake light and police said Lopez appeared nervous, prompting officials to search his vehicle. They found 4.85 ounces of marijuana and Sulfamethoxazole pills, according to the news release. RELATED: Shoplifter tries to escape from Target on bicycle, Odessa police say Michael Baker, 42, and Alexander Marshall, 27, were both arrested for possession of meth, a state jail felony. They were pulled over Saturday in the 2500 block of East 8th Street after police observed the driver not wearing a seat belt. During the impending search, police said they found a glass pipe with meth residue. Police also allegedly found that both individuals had meth on their persons, the news release said. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com twhite@mysa.com Twitter: @tylerlwhite BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Court (SPC) has increased the compensation standard for individuals wrongfully imprisoned or detained by the state. The new standard for state compensation has been set at 258.89 yuan (about 38 U.S. dollars) per day, up 16.59 yuan from the 2015 compensation standard, according to a statement published by the SPC on Wednesday. The adjustment of the standard was based on the increase in the average annual salary of urban employees, which stood at 67,569 yuan in 2016. Under Chinese law, wrongfully imprisoned or detained individuals are due compensation for each day they are deprived of their freedom,calculated according to the average daily salary in the preceding year. BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The former chairman of Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp., Deng Qilin, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for taking bribes Wednesday. Deng was also fined 5 million yuan (around 728,500 U.S. dollars) and his illicit gains will be turned over to the state treasury, the Intermediate People's Court of Foshan in southern China's Guangdong Province said in a statement. He was found to have accepted bribes worth about 55.4 million yuan, in return for favors in business, project construction and promotions, while holding a series of posts in the steel company between 2000 and 2015. The court said Deng was given relatively lenient treatment for cooperating with investigators, handing over the proceeds of his crime, and providing information about crimes committed by others. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Charles Edwin Ebrom so loved his work that he continued to go to the office almost until the day he died. Ebrom, who had worked for H.B. Zachry Co. since 1965, advanced from his first position as tax manager to executive vice president, working closely with Bartell Zachry, who is now the chairman of the board for Zachry Interests. He continued to go to the office was always there to contribute, Zachry said. He was a wonderful person smart, humorous, engaging. Ebrom died Saturday at 85. More Information Charles Edwin Ebrom Born: Aug. 8, 1931, San Antonio Died: May 27, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Parents Mary Klimitchek and Edward J. Ebrom; a brother Survived by: Wife Betty Bohl Ebrom; daughters Kelly Ebrom Kennedy and son-in-law Kevin, Lisa Ebrom, and Christy Ebrom and fiance Dan Henley; three grandchildren; and two sisters Services: Mass at 10 a.m. June 1 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 623 E. Commerce St. See More Collapse A San Antonio native raised on the East Side, Ebrom attended St. Josephs Catholic Church and graduated from Central Catholic High School. He then attended St. Marys University, where he earned a bachelors degree in accounting in 1952. Ebrom, who had served in the ROTC while in college, attempted to enlist in the military but was rejected because he had high blood pressure. But after being drafted the following year, Ebrom was found to be fit and served in the Army Audit Agency until 1955. Starting with Ernst & Ernst accounting firm in early 1956, Ebrom returned to St. Marys to study law, graduating with a law degree in 1963. After almost 10 years with Ernst & Ernst, Ebrom began working at H.B. Zachry Co. He was elected to the board of directors in 1968. We traveled a lot internationally, Zachry recalled. He was a constant adviser to me in many ways. A favorite task was representing the Zachry family on the board of directors of the San Antonio Spurs. He and his wife, Betty, were season ticket holders for more than 30 years. He was able to bring his financial expertise, but he also was such a fan, his daughter Christy Ebrom said. That was a highlight for him. Ebrom also was active in the St. Marys Alumni Association, serving as president in the late 1970s and serving on the universitys board of trustees. A World War II history buff, Ebrom traveled with his family to famous battle sites such as the beaches of Normandy, France, and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Growing up during World War II, the stories resonated with him, his daughter Lisa Ebrom said. We were able to see firsthand the trial that those troops had to go through. mheidbrink@express-news.net If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Small and medium-sized cities will play a major role in driving China's consumption growth in the coming decade, according to a Morgan Stanley economist. Robin Xing, the investment bank's chief China economist, predicted on Wednesday that national annual consumption will rise to 9.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2030 from last year's 4.4 trillion dollars on the sidelines of the Morgan Stanley China Summit in Beijing. "Third- and fourth-tier cities will contribute nearly two thirds of the increase," Xing said. The proportion outshines the 9 percent from megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and the 21 percent for second-tier cities. Consumption in rural areas is expected to reach 400 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 7 percent of the total. Personal consumption in such cities will grow the fastest at 8.7 percent year on year from now to 2030, according to Xing. The economist, who has headed Morgan Stanley's research team in China for a year, said the promising prospects are based on the rapid population growth in smaller cities and a closing income gap with large cities. "In contrast with dawdling first-tier cities, the number of permanent residents in smaller cities will see robust growth thanks to higher birth rates, relaxed household registration control and cheaper living expenses," Xing said. The combined registered population in smaller cities is predicted to rise 2.5 percent each year throughout the 2017-2030 period, faster than 2 percent and 0.6 percent in second- and first-tier cities, respectively. Xing also expects people living in smaller cities will have deeper pockets as the rapid urban development will boost incomes. Moreover, tame home prices and an improved environment will allow diminished precautionary savings and more money to be used for consumption, he added. The rise of small and medium-sized cities is likely to push China's ongoing economic shift from industry to services and from investment to consumption. In the first quarter, consumption contributed 77.2 percent of the GDP increase. Xing remained bullish on the outlook for the world's second-largest economy, predicting continued growth momentum and ruling out the possibility of a hard landing or a cash crunch in the money market. He cited more flexible regulation on the yuan's exchange rate, well-managed financial tightening, robust exports, recovering private investment, and a more stable property sector. However, he believes the GDP growth has peaked after a strong start in 2017, and the slowdown will likely resume in the next quarters. They say every cloud has a silver lining and if this is the case then its the rise of community spirit in the city of Manchester that is that silver lining this week as people there try to make sense of the IS bomb that killed 22 men, women and children at an Ariana Grande concert in the citys Arena just over 10 days ago. Speaking from the city centre on Friday, the chairperson of the Longford Association in Manchester, Margaret McGagh said it had been the strangest of weeks for residents of the multicultural English city. There is a very weird atmosphere in the city centre, yet everyone has come together, she said, summing up the climate in the aftermath of last weeks attack. On the night of the attack taxi drivers ferried people for free and since Monday night people have been bringing food down to the hospital for the people who were injured and for the staff there. Its something that I have never experienced before; its people from all denominations and faith coming together uniting the city and its community. Meanwhile, Ms McGagh pointed to the support that was given from across the world to victims and their families in Manchester. We are a very proud city, she added, before pointing to her own Longford and Manchester heritage - her father John Joe Martin was a native of Moyne. It is the sense of community that has been ignited that is so wonderful; strangers are chatting to each other on the streets of Manchester and the support is amazing. She went on to say that people travelled from all over the UK and Ireland to attend the Ariana Grande concert. Ms McGagh also paid tribute to the Queen who visited the injured in hospital two days after the bomb exploded. The Queens visit to the hospital where the injured were, meant so much to the people of Manchester, the chairperson of the Longford Association in Manchester smiled. I only live about three miles from the Arena; whatever possesses someone to target children is beyond my comprehension. Here in Longford, Ms McGagh's sister Maria Byrne said that Mancunians living here were in shock as news emerged of the bombing at their home citys arena. We were travelling to the train station late on Monday night when a message came up on my phone that something had happened at the Arena, Ms Byrne told the Leader this week. We logged into SKY news; because it was our hometown, we wanted to know what was going on and we were horrified; to target young children and their mums and dads like that is something that I just cannot fathom. The Longford resident went on to say that as a mother to two children herself, children were the most precious of human beings and to watch the terrifying events unfold in Manchester's city centre was just heartbreaking. I have friends in Manchester of all creeds and faiths, she continued, before pointing out that she still finds it hard to believe that the events of last week actually happened. I suppose we are all aware that these attacks can happen, but at the same time you dont think it will happen in your city or where you live. While born and reared in Manchester, Ms Byrne and her husband Simon moved to Longford 17 years ago. The couple have two children and work locally. When something like this happens in your hometown, you take it personally, she continued. My friends and family over there have children the same age as those that attended the concert and it just brings it all home; you think, whats next. Salman Abedi has been named as the suicide bomber who killed 22 people and injured 50 at Manchester City Arena. That lad, added Ms Byrne, was born in Manchester; went to school in Manchester and grew up in Manchester. It is very scary. I grew up in a lovely community with people of all creeds, colours and religions. Over 100,000 people in Manchester attended the St Patricks Day parade and that will show you just how the community pulls together there. We will rebuild ourselves again and the city will be stronger than it has ever been. Longford publican John Duignan has this week warned that 'a reduction in excise tax is required to make Ireland a better value holiday destination'. Proprietor of Tally-Ho in Longford town and DIGI member, Mr Duignan made his comments following the publication of new report, entitled 'Irelands Hospitality and Drinks Sector and Your Constituency', which was commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) and authored by Dublin City University economist Anthony Foley. The report outlines the importance of the drinks and hospitality sector to the overall national economy, and to local economies across the country, particularly in rural Ireland. However, Irelands high alcohol excise taxthe second highest in the EUis jeopardising the future growth of hospitality and drinks businesses, including those in Longford-Westmeath, as tourists seek more affordable holiday destinations. This is particularly the case for British tourists. 40 percent of all visitors to Ireland originate from the UK, but a slump in sterling value following the Brexit referendum has already had a significant impact. Between January and March 2017, 55,300 fewer British tourists travelled to Ireland compared to the same period last year. Mr Duignan said, The findings of this DIGI report clearly show the huge importance of the drinks and hospitality sector to Longford-Westmeaths economy. It supports thousands of jobs and generates millions of euros in revenue for local tourism and suppliers. However, its also clear that the sector is in a precarious position as a result of high levels of excise tax on alcohol and the impact of Brexit. "Our pub culture is a huge draw for tourists, but with fewer British tourists visiting Ireland due to reduced spending power, our pubs, hotels, restaurants and off-licences will do less business. "We must take action to avoid job losses, and that requires a reduction in excise tax to make Ireland a better value holiday destination. The report was launched to mark the beginning of Support Your Local 2017, a DIGI campaign that seeks to highlight the economic, cultural and social contributions of local pubs, and calls for a reduction in Irelands alcohol excise tax. Hospitality and drinks businesses, including pubs, hotels, off-licences, restaurants, wholesalers and producers, employ 6,139 people in Longford-Westmeath, generating 84 million in revenue for the local tourism economy. These businesses also purchase 1.4 million in agricultural outputs and pay out 130.5 million in wages each year. Local News, Crime, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 31 2017 Narco Freedom Defrauded Medicaid And Exploited Its Patients By Forcing Them To Attend Excessive And Medically Unnecessary Substance Abuse Treatment Services. New York, NY - May 31, 2017 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today the guilty plea and a multi-million dollar civil settlement with Narco Freedom Inc., a Bronx-based not-for-profit provider of substance abuse treatment, for its participation in a criminal enterprise. At the time of its indictment in 2015, Narco Freedom was an enrolled Medicaid provider that received nearly $40 million annually in taxpayer-funded reimbursement. In its plea and a parallel State civil settlement agreement, Narco Freedom admitted today to stealing millions of dollars from the Medicaid program through the actions of its former chief executive officer Alan Brand and subsequent chief executive officer Gerald Bethea. In New York State Supreme Court, Bronx County, Narco Freedom, pled guilty to one count of Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, three counts of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, and two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing the First Degree, a class E felony. Narco Freedom operated a years-long criminal enterprise that ripped off taxpayers and took advantage of New Yorkers in need of substance abuse treatment, said Attorney General Schneiderman. Using Medicaid to further ones bottom line at the expense of those who are struggling with abuse or addiction is shameful. The long-term investigation by the Attorney Generals Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) culminated in a March 2015 indictment charging Narco Freedom and numerous executives with operating a criminal organization that defrauded Medicaid and syphoned funds meant for its patients for the enrichment of their own lifestyles. That indictment included charges against Narco Freedom, the former chief executive Alan Brand, his son Jason Brand, Gerald Bethea, the chief executive at the time, and the controller Richard Gross. The Attorney General also filed a civil action seeking asset forfeiture and other remedies, including treble damages and penalties under the New York State False Claims Act. The indictment and civil action alleged that Narco Freedom stole at least $27 million from the Medicaid program by violating patients rights, submitting claims for excessive services, and by operating an unregulated residential treatment program. The arrests and civil action stopped the illegal business practices of Narco Freedom that exploited the Medicaid program and thousands of Medicaid recipients, resulting in many millions of dollars in savings to Medicaid. As part of its plea and civil agreements, Narco Freedom acknowledged that it stole from Medicaid by seeking reimbursement for excessive and medically unnecessary services that it had required its patients to receive. In addition to operating substance abuse treatment programs, Narco Freedom provided transitional housing. Today, Narco Freedom acknowledged that it violated the rights of its residents and illegally conditioned residency on attendance at its own substance abuse treatment program. Narco Freedom further admitted to filing false statements with various state agencies, including the New York State Department of Health and the Office of the New York State Attorney General, Charities Bureau, in efforts to deceive and defraud these agencies. These filings were filed and signed by Alan Brand and the controller of Narco Freedom, Richard Gross. Prosecutions against Narco Freedoms former executives remain pending. Soon after Narco Freedom was indicted, a federal district court judge appointed a temporary receiver to take control of its finances and run the organization. In September 2015, Narco Freedom ceased treating patients and transferred their care to other substance abuse treatment providers. Narco Freedom filed for bankruptcy in January 2016. A bankruptcy trustee will take steps to dissolve Narco Freedom pursuant to the States not-for-profit corporation laws. Earlier this month, the bankruptcy court approved a $118 million settlement to settle Narco Freedoms outstanding government claims, including those of New York State and the federal government, though the precise amount to be distributed to the State in the bankruptcy proceeding is yet to be determined. In court today, Supreme Court Justice Steven L. Barrett sentenced Narco Freedom to a conditional discharge. The Attorney Generals office has worked closely with various state agencies to ensure the continuity of care for all of the patients who used Narco Freedoms services. In particular, the Attorney General would like to thank the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, the Office of the New York State Medicaid Inspector General, the New York State Department of Health, the Human Resources Administration of the City of New York, and the Civil Division of the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York. Please report suspected Medicaid fraud in New York State to the Attorney Generals Office at 800-771-7755. The investigation was led by Senior Investigator Albert Maiorano and Investigators Dave Ryan, Valerie Patrick, and Julie Clancy, supervised by Supervising Investigators Michael Casado and Dominic DiGennaro and Deputy Chief Investigator Kenneth Morgan. Audit support was provided by Principal Auditor Investigator Patricia Iemma and Senior Auditor Investigator Nick Thottam, with the assistance of New York City Deputy Regional Chief Auditor Jonathan Romano and Regional Chief Auditor Thomasina Smith. Investigative support was provided by Supervising Legal Assistant Wendy Dorival and Confidential Legal Analyst Kelvin Caraballo. Tech & Science, Local News, Business & Finance, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 31 2017 First Autonomous Vehicle Demonstration to Take Place in Albany on June 13. Audi of America Inc. was the first company to apply for the rights to demonstrate autonomous vehicle technology in New York and the first to be approved under the program. Albany, NY - May 31, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that Audi of America Inc. is the first company approved to perform an autonomous vehicle demonstration in New York State. Earlier this month, the Governor Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that Audi of America Inc. is the first company approved to perform an autonomous vehicle demonstration in New York State. Earlier this month, the Governor announced that New York is now accepting applications from companies interested in testing or demonstrating autonomous vehicles on public roads. The company plans to conduct the first such demonstration in state history, beginning in the City of Albany near the State Capitol in on June 13. "Autonomous vehicles are a major part of the future of the automotive industry and this pilot program will help ensure New York continues to be a hub of innovation and cutting edge technology, Governor Cuomo said. "This emerging technology has the potential to decrease accidents and save lives on our roadways, and with this approval we are one step closer to a safer and stronger New York for all." Included in the FY 2018 Budget, new legislation allows for testing autonomous technology through a year-long pilot program. Audi of America Inc. was the first company to apply for the rights to demonstrate this technology in New York and the first to be approved under the program. The technology they plan to demonstrate in the Capital Region is considered to be a Level 3 in autonomous vehicle operations by the Society of Automobile Engineers, meaning it is capable of safely allowing hands-free driving at posted highway speeds, but requiring a person to take over if required. Two trained engineers will be in the vehicle to monitor the system and ensure safety, one in the front seat and one in the back seat. The vehicle has already logged thousands of miles on highways across the U.S. safely. The companys vehicle routing information has been pre-approved by the New York State Police and its application was approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles on Friday, May 26. DMV Executive Deputy Commissioner Terri Egan said, "Governor Cuomos commitment to enhancing highway safety through technology has made New York State one of the safest places to drive in the nation. These first tests and demonstrations that will take place in New York truly are the building blocks of safer, more flexible and accessible means of transportation. Autonomous vehicle technology will soon take highway safety to a whole new level and thanks to the Governors leadership, I am confident that New York State will be ready." New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said, "The State Police is committed to oversight of the autonomous vehicle testing process and are eager to be a part of it. We will work with the individual companies and the Department of Motor Vehicles to ensure that the technologies are evaluated safely and appropriately." Brad Stertz, Director, Audi Government Affairs in Washington, D.C. said, "Automated vehicles have enormous potential to improve safety on New York roads, ease congestion and open up new mobility choices across the states diverse landscape. We applaud Governor Cuomo for his leadership and stand ready to assist in defining how this future will unfold in the Empire State now and for years to come." Applications for testing may be submitted by manufacturers of "autonomous vehicle technology," or companies creating such technology working in conjunction with manufacturers. All vehicles will also have to comply with federal safety standards and all applicable New York State inspection standards, and a person holding a valid driver license must be present in the driver's seat at all times while it is operated on public highways. Each vehicle to be used must be listed in the application, and a $5 million insurance policy must be in place for any vehicles to be tested. Local News, Crime, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 31 2017 Stopping Questionable Refund Payments Expected to Save New Yorkers $480 Million. Albany, NY - May 31, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance stopped more than 330,000 suspicious refund claims during this years income tax season. Based on results from previous years, the Tax Department projects that stopping these refunds will save New York State and its taxpayers about $480 million this yeara savings increase of nearly 20 percent compared to the same period last year. "We remain vigilant in our efforts to crack down on fraudsters who try and game the system and cheat hard-working New Yorkers of taxpayer funds used for vital services," Governor Cuomo said. "We will continue to use state-of-the-art technology to detect and prevent criminal tax schemes and refund scams." The systems predictive analytics and rules sift billions of data points to determine when to process a refund request or return and when it requires greater scrutiny. It can detect simple miscalculations and honest mistakes, as well as falsified claims of inflated dependents, deductions, or business expenses. New York State Acting Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Nonie Manion said, "Our award-winning analytics system allows us to review each of the 10 million personal income tax returns as we receive them to stop suspicious returns and efficiently process the rest. The system can be quickly adjusted in response to new suspicious filing patterns." By analyzing each income tax return that comes in, and its related data, the Tax Department stays ahead of emerging fraud schemes and refund scams. For example, this filing season the Tax Department validated returns for more than 7,000 employees from dozens of businesses that were victimized by scammers in an elaborate scheme to steal payroll data. Since its inception in 2003, the Tax Departments business analytics program has saved New York State taxpayers $4 billion and led to the arrest and prosecution of many paid tax preparers accused of filing fraudulent returns. Report Fraud Local News, Crime By Long Island News & PR Published: May 31 2017 A male victim, 21, was attacked by three unknown masked subjects, one armed with a handgun, officials say. NCPD are investigating a Robbery that occurred on Wednesday, May 31 in Uniondale. Uniondale, NY - May 31, 2017 - The Public Information Office reports the details of a Robbery that occurred at 12:25pm on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 in The Public Information Office reports the details of a Robbery that occurred at 12:25pm on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 in Uniondale According to Police, three unknown male subjects approached a residence on Lawrence Street, went to the rear of the house and knocked on the door. When a female resident answered the door, they asked for the male victim by name. The male victim, 21, was in the basement apartment; when the subjects entered the apartment they were wearing masks and a struggle ensued. One male subject pulled out a black handgun and struck the victim in the head causing a laceration to the head and face. The subjects left the scene in an unknown direction. Proceeds are unknown at this time. The victim was transported to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. The investigation is on-going. Statement From A.G. Schneiderman On Reports That President Trump Plans To Withdraw From Paris Agreement Tech & Science, Nature & Weather, Local News, National & World News, Health & Wellness, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 31 2017 Schneiderman: "I have not and will not hesitate to hold President Trump accountable for any climate policies that threaten New Yorkers." New York, NY - May 31, 2017 - New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman released the following statement in response to reports that President Trump plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement: President Trump's reported decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is just the latest example of his administration's dangerous attack on urgent and common sense efforts to curb the devastating impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement represents a global commitment to moving away from fossil fuel dependency and toward renewable energy. It is a crucial step toward reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. The future of our planet and people's lives depend on every country keeping its commitment to meeting the Paris Agreement's achievable standards. Climate change is causing real harm to communities around New York and across the country. Yet time and again, President Trump has proven he's more interested in protecting polluters than people. I have not and will not hesitate to hold President Trump accountable for any climate policies that threaten New Yorkers. Efforts by Attorneys General and concerned citizens across the country are already forcing the Trump administration to retreat from some of its dangerous anti-climate policies. Just last week, the Trump administration reversed course on energy efficiency standards after we sued. From defending the Clean Power Plan, to fighting President Trump's efforts to gut the Clean Water Rule, our work to preserve and protect public health and the environment will continue. Tech & Science, School & Education, Local News By Long Island News & PR Published: May 31 2017 William Floyd High School science teacher Victoria DAmbrosia: "I am so proud of Elizabeth, Philip, and Angela." Mastic Beach, NY - May 31, 2017 - William Floyd High School junior Elizabeth Scianno has been selected to represent William Floyd and the William Floyd High School junior Elizabeth Scianno has been selected to represent William Floyd and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Centers Barcode Long Island student research program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Citizen Science Symposium this upcoming July in Washington, D.C. She will be presenting on her project focused on the analysis of Zostera marina, a species of seagrass, to determine if there is a more effective way to replant it. Scianno collaborated on this project with ninth graders Angela Ochoa and Philip Oriuwa. I am so proud of Elizabeth, Philip, and Angela, said Victoria DAmbrosia, William Floyd High School science research teacher. They have put in an extraordinary amount of work into this project ranging from proposal writing to learning complex graduate level statistical analyses. Although the students are still formulating conclusions and analyzing the data, I think it is safe to say that they are excited about their findings and we are all so grateful for this opportunity from the DNA Learning Center. The staff members at the DNA Learning Center were impressed with your research project and your dedication to the program, and are looking forward to seeing the results of your microbiome analyses, wrote Sharon Pepenella, Barcode Long Island Program Co-Manager, in a letter to Scianno informing her of her selection to the NIH Citizen Science Symposium. The Taliban published a dramatic video touting the destruction of an Afghan military helicopter just seconds after it landed on a remote outpost in a mountainous area of Afghanistan. The Taliban has infiltrated Afghan military outposts in the past and conducted similar attacks. The video, which was posted by a Taliban supporter in mid-May, is narrated by Taliban fighters who recorded the attack. It is unclear when or where the attack took place. The helicopter, which appeared to be a Mi-8 Hip transport, was recorded as it approached the mountaintop base and lands. Just seconds after landing, the helicopter was destroyed in a massive blast that toppled the aircraft and propelled parts of the rotor into the air. The Taliban fighters recording the video screamed Allahu Akbar, or God is greatest, as the aircraft disintegrated. The number of casualties incurred by the Afghan crew and anyone nearby on the ground remains unknown. The Afghan military has yet to comment on the attack. There is little chance anyone onboard survived the blast. The blast was likely caused by a bomb that was placed underneath the aircraft, as the explosion appeared to originate from under the helicopter. The placement of the IED indicated that Taliban fighters either penetrated the base and planted the bomb, or turned one or more soldiers stationed there to deploy the IED. Additionally, the bomb appeared to have been detonated remotely, as the helicopter did not explode on contact with the ground. The Taliban team that detonated the bomb as well as the team that recorded it (radio chatter was heard in the background, indicating more than one Taliban team was in the area) was close to the base, making it likely that base perimeter security was poor. The Taliban executed a similar attack in April 2016 at a mountaintop in Kunar and also published a video of the bombing. In that video, Afghan soldiers were seen approaching the helicopter, another MI-8 Hip, as it landed, and were engulfed in the blast. [See FDDs Long War Journal report, Taliban destroys Afghan army helicopter in IED attack at military base.] The loss of helicopters strains the Afghan military, which has increasingly been relying on air assets to resupply remote and besieged bases, as well as to target the Taliban and the Islamic State in air strikes. The Taliban has issued statements claiming it has shot down 10 helicopters since the beginning of Sept. 2016. Not all of those claims can be confirmed independently. While the exact number of helicopters in the Afghan Air Force is not clear it is estimated that more than 80 are in service, with more on order if the Talibans claims are accurate, it would have taken out one-eighth of the Afghan militarys serviceable helicopters in the past nine months. The Afghan military has often denied that the Taliban has shot down its helicopters, instead citing technical faults or other issues. This was the case in the April 2016 bombing of the helicopter in Kunar. The Taliban video disproved the Afghan militarys statement. Images from the Taliban video of the bombing of the Mi-8 helicopter: Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. details added, first version posted at 09:49 Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: Azerbaijan is known in the world as a reliable partner producing and exporting oil and gas to markets, Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev said. He made the remarks at the opening of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference and the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition in Baku May 31. He went on to add that this already is the 24th exhibition being held in the country. The interest in the exhibition is not declining, on the contrary, it is growing, said the president. It was mentioned here that around 300 companies are participating in this exhibition. I am fully confident that this years exhibition will be successful as well. But, of course, the holding of the first exhibition played a special role in popularizing our country in the world, because at that time, Azerbaijan was not known. Azerbaijan was a young, independent country, there were a lot problems. The exhibition played an indispensible role in presenting our countrys oil and gas potential to the world, said President Aliyev. The president expressed gratitude to the organizers of the exhibition, adding that they have been cooperating with Azerbaijan for 24 years already and have been making great contributions to the countrys development. He pointed out that the first exhibition had a special meaning in presenting Azerbaijan to the world as a country with huge potential. Since then Azerbaijan has been able to build a very successful cooperation with foreign investors in the oil and gas sphere, he added. The president noted that this cooperation was built on mutual interests. Both the state and investors are reaping the benefits. An excellent format of cooperation with foreign investors has been created in Azerbaijan. Today, this format also manifests itself in other spheres, he added. President Aliyev reminded that currently Azerbaijans main priority is the development of the non-oil sector. We are now trying to apply our experience gained in the oil sector, especially our experience of cooperation with foreign investors, to the non-oil sector, and we have achieved success in this work. He noted that Azerbaijan is an oil country and oil was first extracted here in 1846. Historical documents have been revealed. A while ago I gave an instruction to once again review the documents at various libraries and museums of the world and to get more accurate information, he said. President Aliyev noted that new historical documents were revealed and those documents show that oil was extracted in the first oil well in Azerbaijan, in Bakus Bibiheybat area, in 1846. This year we set up a monument to that old oil well in that area to celebrate this landmark event and I am sure the area will be of great interest for the tourists visiting Baku, said Ilham Aliyev. He reminded that the first ever offshore extraction of oil in the world was carried out in Azerbaijan, in the Caspian Sea, in the mid-20th century. In this sense, it can be said that Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea are the motherland of the offshore oil production, added President Aliyev. Further in his speech, Ilham Aliyev said the Contract of the Century, signed in 1994, is a historic project, noting that the Contract has an exceptional place in the development of the Azerbaijani state. Successful implementation of the Contract, allowed us to direct the oil money to human capital, non-oil sector, and infrastructure projects and to develop our country, added Ilham Aliyev. He also touched upon the extension of the term of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli contract. I hope that in the near future we will reach an agreement with foreign investors on extension of this projects term, because the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field has a great potential, he said, adding the field has a quite large volume of oil that hasnt been extracted so far. He further said the investment put in Azerbaijan is kept, protected here transparently. Ilham Aliyev further touched upon the Shah Deniz project, and said the project needs to be highlighted when speaking about the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibitions importance. He reminded that the contract on the Shah Deniz project was signed in 1996 exactly during the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition. That time, Azerbaijan was known as solely an oil country. Implementation of the Shah Deniz project has turned Azerbaijan into a country producing and exporting both oil and gas, he added. Today, we cannot imagine the regional cooperation without the Shah Deniz project, because the Shah Deniz project is a project that solves exactly the energy security issues. Ilham Aliyev further said that over the past years, Azerbaijan has been able to create a many-branched oil and gas transportation network. He pointed to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines, and reminded that the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline has been operating for 10 years already. All of these are historic projects, he said. Ilham Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijans oil and gas projects are the guarantors of the regions security, stability, and development. He said the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline are Azerbaijans great wealth. The president also said the development of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 is proceeding successfully. Reminding that Azerbaijan is today implementing the Southern Gas Corridor project, the president said the project is unique on the global scale. The project holds the first place among the infrastructure projects in Europe, Ilham Aliyev said, adding $40 billion are envisaged to be invested in the project, and a great part of this figure has already been invested. The work is continuing successfully on four segments of the Southern Gas Corridor, he said, revealing the figures on implementation of the four SGC projects. The Shah Deniz 2 project has been implemented by 93 percent. The South Caucasus Pipeline has been realized by 85 percent. The TANAP project has been implemented by 72 percent and we are expecting to mark the commissioning of the TANAP project the next year. And the fourth project is the TAP, which is complete by 42 percent. These figures are demonstrative, he said, adding, They show that all the work is going on in line with the plan and we are near to completing the Southern Gas Corridor project. Ilham Aliyev also touched upon the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Councils Third Ministerial Meeting held in Baku this year, and said the resolution adopted there showed once again that Azerbaijan is the leader of the SGC project. Further during his speech, the president said the energy security issues are the issues of the countries national security, adding that Azerbaijan plays an important role in this sphere both in the region and in Europe. Our steps for energy diversification are bearing fruits, and this is very important, Ilham Aliyev said. The advantage of the Azerbaijani-implemented projects is that our routes and sources are both diverse. He said that today the European market is the main market for Azerbaijan, and for Europe the new sources are of great significance. Ilham Aliyev added that Azerbaijan is the sole new source for the European countries. President Aliyev also said the Southern Gas Corridors realization starts new projects, adding the big Absheron projects commencement is to come next. At the same time, the Umid, Babek and shallow water projects are being implemented, he said, adding that new production is expected to start in the years to come. This means we are boosting our oil and gas potential, he added. President Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijan is investing the oil money to other sectors and is seeing the excellent result of this. In the four months of this year, Azerbaijans exports rose by 41 percent, including the non-oil exports that have increased by 22 percent and the agriculture exports that have gone up by 44 percent. Our rich oil and gas fields will further provide the development of our country for many years, said President Aliyev. In conclusion the president once again greeted the event guests and wished success to the Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference. A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) was detonated near diplomatic facilities in the Afghan capital during rush hour this morning. Preliminary casualty reports say that at least 80 people were killed in the blast and dozens more wounded. A photo of the aftermath of the bombing (seen above) was posted on Twitter by Afghanistans Ariana News. The bomb exploded at 8:22 am local time in Kabul near Zambaq Square outside the Green Zone, which houses diplomatic and government facilities, according to NATOs Resolute Support. Afghan security forces prevented the VBIED from gaining entry to the Green Zone, but dozens of nearby civilians perished. The Taliban has already denied any involvement via a statement attributed to Zabihullah Mujahid, the groups spokesman. The Islamic State, which has carried out large-scale operations in Kabul this year, may claim responsibility, but has not done so yet. And the Afghan government has blamed the Haqqani Network, which is part of the Taliban, and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate for the operation. Even though the Taliban-led insurgency is responsible for many civilian casualties, and has the means to carry out such a bombing, the organization is concerned with how its violence is perceived by the Afghan population. Abu Bakr al Baghdadis loyalists have no such concern. Resolute Support quickly pointed out that the attack demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people. It also highlights the hypocrisy of the enemy who claim that they only target Afghan Security Forces and Foreign forces, yet continue to cause death and suffering amongst innocent Afghans. Mujahids statement reads like a response to Resolute Support. This explosion has nothing to do with the Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate, the statement reads. Our Mujahideen are not involved in this incident and neither are the Mujahideen allowed to carry out suchlarge explosions at ill-defined areas. The Talibans spokesman says the group condemns every explosion and attack carried out against civilians, or in which civilians are harmed and [there is] no legitimate target. Our countrymen must rest assured that the Kabul attack is not the work of Mujahideen, Mujahid says. The German government confirmed that the bombing was carried out in the immediate vicinity of its embassy. It hit civilians and it hit those who are in Afghanistan to work with the people there on a better future for the country, Germanys minister of foreign affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, said in a statement. It is particularly despicable that these people were targeted. Gabriel said that German Embassy staff members were injured, but all of them are now safe. An Afghan security officer who was guarding the grounds wasnt so lucky, as he was killed in the explosion. BBC News reported that Mohammed Nazir, an Afghan driver who worked with the services journalists, was killed. Afghanistans ToloNews has also reported at least one death as a result of the bombing. The Islamic State has carried out several high-profile attacks in Kabul this year. On Feb. 7, the group launched a suicide bombing outside of the supreme court, killing at least 20 people. Then, on Mar. 8, an Islamic State suicide team assaulted the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Hospital in Kabul. According to the UN, the hospital is the largest military medical facility in Afghanistan and treats sick and wounded members of the armed forces and their family members. The jihadists dressed like hospital personnel in order to confuse their victims. There are conflicting reports with respect to the total number of casualties, but dozens were killed or wounded. On May 3, another suicide bomber detonated his VBIED at an Afghan security checkpoint near the US Embassy in Kabul. The Islamic States jihadist was targeting a NATO convoy, but at least eight civilians were killed. Three coalition service members were also wounded, according to Resolute Support. The US has been leading a counterterrorism operation against the Islamic States Wilyah Khorasan (or Khorasan province) in eastern Afghanistan. In April, three American service members were killed during raids in Nangarhar, which has been Wilayah Khorasans stronghold. The so-called caliphates men have lost ground in Nangarhar, but are still able to execute high-profile operations in Kabul and elsewhere. [For more on the US-led effort against the Islamic States Wilayah Khorasan, see FDDs Long War Journal report: 2 American service members killed fighting Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan.] Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Shabaab, al Qaedas branch in East Africa, has released a 55-minute video professing its adherence to global jihadist principles. The production is titled, They Are Not Welcome They Shall Burn In Their Fire. It emphasizes that defending Muslim lands is from the most important of individual obligations. Al Qaeda figures are peppered throughout the video, including clips of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, as well as the leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Al Qaedas most infamous terrorist operations against the US and American interests including the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the 2000 USS Cole bombing, and the blessed raids of 9/11 are all celebrated. A snippet from a previously released talk by Zawahiri plays over images from Sept. 11, 2001. By the grace of Allah, we are a nation that never accepts oppression nor do we forget to seek our vengeance, Zawahiri said. Therefore, whoever fights us we will fight them. And whoever kills us we will kill them. And whoever bombs us we will bomb them and the oppressor will eventually meet his deserving fate. The video concludes with a scene from a training camp for martyrdom seekers named after Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker for the 9/11 attacks inside the US. Jihadists are shown firing at targets set up at the Mohamed Atta Training Camp, which is presumably located in Somalia. The media produced by al Qaeda and its regional branches has generally improved over the course of the past year. And They Are Not Welcome is a good example of this trend. Shabaabs propaganda arm, Al-Kataib Foundation for Media, released the montage in four different languages: Arabic, English, Somali, and Swahili. Screen shots can be seen below. The necessity of waging jihad Viewers are introduced to Shabaabs worldview with an audio recording of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who explained when jihad becomes mandatory. Rahman, who was convicted on terrorism-related charges stemming from his role in several plots in New York in the 1990s, passed away in a US prison earlier this year. His teachings had a profound impact on al Qaedas development and he is still revered by the group. The scholars, both past and present, are of the consensus that if a hand span of Muslim territory is occupied, then jihad becomes obligatory and a binding duty upon every Muslim, whether he is old or young, rich or poor, youthful or elderly and whether he is trained or not, Rahman said. He continued: The Muslim lands that have been occupied are not merely a hand span or even a thousand hand spans, but rather it is millions of hand spans. Entire countries have been forcefully taken from the lands of the Muslims and as such, jihad has become an individual obligation upon every Muslim. The teachings of other Islamic and jihadist scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah (a medieval thinker), Sayyid Qutb (a Muslim Brotherhood ideologue) and Abdullah Azzam (the godfather of modern jihadism) are used throughout to underscore the necessity of waging jihad. For Shabaab, parts of Somalia and Kenya are occupied and defensive jihad is required to liberate them. Shabaabs narrator expounds on this theme further, arguing that a global coalition of disbelievers is waging war against all of Islam. Even though the parties that make up this supposed coalition (the Assad regime in Syria, Russia, Iran, the US and other Western countries) differ in many respects, the narrator claims, they are all united in their enmity for Islam. Footage from the aftermath of a US airstrike that destroyed a mosque in Syrias Aleppo province, as well as scenes from Burma, Chechnya, Central African Republic, Kashmir, and East Turkistan are included as evidence of this supposed conspiracy. (US officials have claimed that the building struck in Syria was actually an al Qaeda meeting location.) The war in East Africa between Shabaab and AMISOM (the African Union Mission in Somalia) is part of this same global conflict, according to the group. The African crusaders want to bring an end to rule according to Islamic Sharia, the narrator says. Shabaab accuses AMISOM of various crimes, including a systematic campaign of sexual violence and rape targeting Muslim women in southern Somalia. Independent analysis by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has verified at least some of these claims. Excerpts from one HRW report are shown on screen. Al-Kataib Media includes footage of Muslim women who were allegedly raped by AMISOM or other local forces to highlight the point. One woman accuses AMISOM of killing her sister. Shabaab: America is Satan of our time Al Qaedas leaders first marketed the idea that Muslims are confronted by a worldwide, anti-Islamic campaign. And Shabaab includes archival footage of Osama bin Laden to buttress the argument once again. The global alliance of disbelievers has incited and gathered against the Muslims, bin Laden said. The al Qaeda founder continued: What we are witnessing today is bombings, the destruction of bridges and homes, the violation of honor and the spilling of blood. The blood of Muslims today is considered the cheapest of blood. Know that there is no way to repel oppression except by fighting and defending oneself, bin Laden advised. Did we forget who America really is? Zawahiri asked in another clip reproduced by Shabaab. America is the enemy of Islam and the MuslimsWe do not expect from America anything except every evil and corruption, Zawahiri added. In January, US Special Forces carried out a controversial raid targeting AQAP in Al Baydah, Yemen. A number of women and children were killed during the operation. Shabaab replays part of a speech by AQAP emir Qasim al Raymi concerning the aftermath. O Muslims wherever you are! You and the rest of the world have witnessed the level of hatred that the crusaders harbor towards the Muslims, Raymi said. You have seen their targeting of women, children and even the infants in the wombs of their mothers, whom the Americans deliberately killed in a fit of crusader animosity. This is America! And this is its evil ugly face! Shabaabs narrator goes even further, claiming that America is the Devil. And thus the blood of the Muslims is mercilessly spilled, their honor violated, children orphaned, and lands invaded, the narrator claims. What we are witnessing today is a total war against Islam, spearheaded by none other than the Satan of our time: the United States of America. So let the Muslims know that the objective of this global crusade is nothing but to extinguish the shining light of Islam, plunder the wealth of the Muslim ummah [worldwide community of Muslims], and spread immorality and all sorts of moral vices within the Muslim population, the narrator says. There is no other solution to these horrific atrocities, nor is there any other practical way to restore the rights of the oppressed, and implement Islamic sharia, except for Muslims to hold on firmly to the rope of Allah, unite under the pure banner of Tawhid [monotheism], so that they may fulfill the obligation of jihad and repel the aggressive onslaught spearheaded by the enemies of Islam. Shabaabs war part of al Qaedas global jihad In They Are Not Welcome, Shabaab trumpets its role in al Qaedas network and shares in the groups legacy. Footage from pre-9/11 training camps in Afghanistan, including the Al Farouq (al Qaedas primary facility at the time), is included. It was through these epic battles of the global jihad that the mujahideen in East Africaderived their inspiration, the narrator says after some of al Qaedas most devastating attacks on the West, including 9/11, are trumpeted. Know that our jihad is a global one and not restricted to geographical boundaries, Sheikh Abu Ubaidah Ahmad Umar, the current emir of Shabaab, says. Our jihad is rooted in elevating the Kalima (word) of Allah, defending the downtrodden Muslims, fighting the disbelievers, liberating the occupied Muslim lands and freeing the Muslim captives from the prisons of the infidels and it will not stop until shirk [polytheism] in all its forms is eradicated and the Shariah of Allah is implemented on earth, Umar adds. It is obligatory upon you to uphold the unity of the Muslims and to consolidate the ranks of the Mujahideen. Never compromise on remaining one unified Ummah. In Aug. 2012, Sheikh Aboud Rogo, the leader of Al Hijra, was killed in Mombasa. Al Hijra was part of Shabaabs plan to extend its reach in Kenya and elsewhere. [See FDDs Long War Journal report: UN warned of Shabaab allys new and more complex operations in Kenya] In a talk prior to his demise, Rogo drew a sharp line between Shabaabs cause and nationalism. I remind you again: do not think that the war in Somalia is a nationalistic war. That is not the case, Rogo said. He continued: The war in Somalia is between the cross and the Quran. Sympathize with your Somali brothers for they have hated and despised the cross throughout their history. Our brothers over there do not want the cross to enter their land and by Allah, we support them in their fight to expel the crusaders from Muslim lands. Rogos view was the same as Zawahiris. According to the Mujahideen, there is no difference between the Ethiopian invaders and the Kenyan, Ugandan, Burundian, African Union crusaders or whatever other names they call themselves, Zawahiri said in another clip that is replayed for Shabaabs audience. All of them are disbelieving troops who have invaded the lands of Islam and it is an individual obligation on every Muslim to expel them from these lands. The Sheikh Muhammad Dulyadeyn Raid In January, Shabaab overran a Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) base in southern Somalia. The al Qaeda branch claimed that more than 67 Kenyan soldiers were killed. The raid was named after Sheikh Muhammad Dulyadeyn, the alleged mastermind of the 2015 massacre at Garissa University College in Kenya. Dulyadeyn was subsequently killed in mid-2016. Dulyadeyn is presented as the model jihadist scholar in They Are Not Welcome. As Dulyadeyn rallies his fighters in one scene, a clip is played of AQAP ideologue Ibrahim al Rubaysh explaining why it is necessary for scholars to take action and not just advocate jihad from the sidelines. Rubaysh, a former Guantanamo detainee, was killed in a US drone strike in 2015. Dulyadeyn advocated attacks on Kenyas Christians, arguing that such operations are religiously permissible. Dulyadeyn rhetorically asked his fighters: Did we transgress upon them or are they the transgressors? He continued: Do we then not have the right to bring back what was unjustly taken from us, take their wealth, burn their churches and destroy their economy? Is this not justified in our religion? Al Qaedas senior leadership certainly thinks that operations targeting the Kenyans are not only justified, but necessary. To my Mujahideen brothers wherever they are: our battle is long, difficult and requires patience, and our greatest weapon in this battle is our creed, Zawahiri said in yet another scene included toward the end of the video. It is therefore important that we concentrate on specific goals, the first of which is targeting American and Jewish interests as well as the global crusader alliance, for these are the most important targets. But Zawahiri quickly added that the second priority is to target the local leaders of disbelief such as those in the army, the police, the intelligence agencies, the apostate journalists and the hypocritical judges. Screen shots from Shabaabs video, They Are Not Welcome They Shall Burn In Their Fire Several clips of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri are included in the video: Shabaab celebrates al Qaedas anti-American attacks, including the blessed raids on 9/11: Shabaabs Mohamed Atta Training Camp for Martyrdom Seekers: Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman: Abdullah Azzam on jihad: Sayyid Qutb highlighted the importance of ideology: Ibn Taymiyyah on defensive jihad: Shabaabs emir emphasizes that Shabaabs war is part of the global jihad: Sheikh Aboud Rogo rejected the idea that the war in Somalia was a nationalist cause: Clips of the emirs of AQAP and AQIM are included: Two deceased al Qaeda leaders Abu Yahya al Libi and Atiyah Abd al Rahman are included: Shabaab promotes The Sheikh Muhammad Dulyadeyn Raid named after the alleged mastermind of the Garissa University massacre: Similar to other jihadist groups, Shabaab uses inghimasis (highly-trained fighters who immerse themselves in battle): Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Anakhanum Hidayatova Trend: The US supports the role of Azerbaijan in the global energy security, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy at US Department of State Robin Dunnigan told reporters in Baku May 31. It is a real pleasure to be here in Baku at the annual Oil and Gas Exhibition, she noted. I was honored to be at the opening of the exhibition this morning and to read the letter of President Trump to President Aliyev. Dunnigan went on to say that the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) will contribute not only to the economy of Azerbaijan, but will also play an important role in the world energy security. The 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference 2017, as well as the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition kicked off May 31 at Baku Expo Center. The exhibition is attended by officials of 289 companies from 30 countries. 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. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. 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. Lifestyle / Travel We take a look at the list of locations deemed the new tourist hotspots of 2017 May 31, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews Travel experts at Lonely Planet have named Zagreb, Croatia the top destination in Europe for 2017, in a list that aims to highlight emerging, up-and-coming hotspots that are poised to become the next traveller find. While Croatia has become wildly popular as a travel destination in recent years, most visitors are headed to the countrys coastline in search of beaches and island getaways. But Zagreb is also worthy of a stopover, editors say, with its Austro-Hungarian coffee squares, cafes, street art, Neo-Gothic architecture and an urban regeneration that has created a cosmopolitan and edgy capital. A new airport terminal is also expected to make air travel cheaper and easier to the city. Zagreb tops our list because it ticks all of these boxes, said LPs editorial director Tom Hall. Croatia is one of Europes hottest destinations right now but many people head straight to the coast, meaning they miss out on visiting a city that has a dynamic cultural offering, a thriving food and drink scene. After Zagreb, the travel guide spotlights Gotland, Swedens largest island and home to the medieval walled town of Visby, also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Other notable destinations include Moldova, for its cliff-perched monasteries and wine cellars; Le Havre, France for celebrating its 500th anniversary this year; and Pafos, Cyprus, this years European Capital of Culture. Here are the top 10 destinations in Europe for 2017, according to Lonely Planet: 1. Zagreb, Croatia 2. Gotland, Sweden 3. Galicia, Spain 4. Northern Montenegro 5. Leeds, UK 6. Alentejo, Portugal 7. Northern Germany 8. Moldova 9. Pafos, Cyprus 10. Le Havre, France Details added (first version posted on 10:52) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidess statement on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict contradicts Cypruss obligations to international law and the Helsinki Final Act, encourages the policy of aggression and occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, said. Hajiyev was commenting on Kasoulidess statement made at a meeting with Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan. Hajiyev said that the thoughts voiced by Kasoulides also ruin the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs peaceful efforts on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and sustainable peace in the region. These statements are also incompatible with the positions of the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, where Cyprus is a member, Hajiyev said. "The Cypriot foreign minister refutes himself by making such contradictory statements, he said. While addressing the OSCE Permanent Council as chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe January 26, 2017, the Cypriot foreign minister stated that Cyprus supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and the political independence of countries. He also added that the military cooperation between Cyprus and Armenia raises certain questions and suspicions. Hajiyev expressed hope that the issue will be considered by the EU and the OSCE. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend: NATO will work on mine risk education for the Armenian population and mine clearance is not part of this project, a NATO official told Trend May 31. Earlier, on May 30, Deputy Head of the Defense Policy Department of Armenias Ministry of Defense Mher Israelyan said that Armenia and NATO will create a Trust Fund in the next two months. It is expected to implement two projects within the Fund elimination of over 130 unusable armored vehicles, for which 1.3 million euros will be invested, and humanitarian demining in bordering communities, said Israelyan. As a response to Trends question on the issue, the NATO official said that NATO and Armenia are working together on the basis on an Individual Partnership Action Plan which focuses on areas such as interoperability and defence reform. In that context, we are working on setting up a new Trust Fund which will help Armenia fulfil its Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty obligations, as well as contribute to the safety of the civilian population. The Trust Fund will be implemented on the Armenian territory and concerns the demilitarization, dismantling, and disposal of decommissioned military vehicles. It will also work on mine risk education for the local population. Mine clearance is not part of this project, said the NATO official. NATO continues to encourage both Armenia and Azerbaijan to return to the negotiation table and to work towards a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, added the NATO official. NATO fully supports the Minsk Group Process to that end. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Chennai: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court issued a four week stay on the Centres recent ban on sale of cattle for slaughter. The court ordered the stay while considering two PIL petitions. The court also sent notices to both the central and state governments asking them to respond to the issue in four weeks. According to the Centres notification of May 26th, cattle can be sold only for agricultural purposes. Once bought, the cattle can be re-sold only after a period of six months. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has sent a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. I would like to extend most sincere congratulations on the occasion of National Day of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Grabar-Kitarovic said in her letter. Moreover, I take this opportunity to express, on behalf of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia and on my personal behalf, sincere wishes for the welfare and prosperity of the friendly people of Azerbaijan. The Republic of Croatia highly appreciates its partnership and friendly relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan, which are steadily strengthening in different fields of common interest of our two nations, she said. I strongly believe that through further joint efforts we will continue to contribute to our overall cooperation, especially intensification of economic cooperation, in order to realize the potential of our two countries. I am delighted that you accepted my invitation to pay an official visit to the Republic of Croatia, which will, I am certain, be further impetus to our friendship and future cooperation, following my official visit to your country last October, Grabar-Kitarovic said. Hoping that I will soon have the opportunity to be your host in the Republic of Croatia, I extend sincere regards and assurances of my highest consideration, she said. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference 2017, as well as the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition at Baku Expo Center. Sponsored by Azerbaijans Ministry of Energy and the countrys state oil company SOCAR, the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference is co-organized by ITE Group and its partner Iteca Caspian. About 300 companies from more than 30 countries, including Azerbaijan, US, Belarus, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Japan are participating in the conference. Italy is participating in the exhibition with its national pavilion. The companies from the US, UK, Romania and a number of other countries are among the debutants which make up 15 percent of the total number of participants. The conference provides suppliers with the opportunity to talk to customers and colleagues, to present technologies and services in action, to acquire useful business contacts, and to get new information and technologies, expanding the opportunities for international collaboration in the oil and gas sector. The conference will address such issues as: "Role of Azerbaijan in global energy, status of major projects and a look to future strategic growth", "Identifying key operators plans in developing onshore and offshore oilfields, expansion of international cooperation in oil and gas projects", "An overview the refining and petrochemical industries in Azerbaijan new projects development", "Diversifying supply routes from the Caspian region, Azerbaijan as transportation, logistic hub of Caspian region", "Cost optimization and improving the efficiency of upstream development with advanced technologies for exploration and production", "Improving the efficiency of exploration and production with digital technologies", "The development perspectives for alternative energy in Azerbaijan". Around 400 delegates from more than 30 countries are taking part in the conference. "ITE Group Plc" company representative Andrew Wood made the opening remarks. The head of state made a speech at the event. The US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy in the Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources Robin Dunnigan read out the congratulatory message of US President Donald Trump to the conference participants. The event then featured a video message of European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic to the conference participants. Following the speeches, the head of state viewed the stands at the exhibition. Up front and center of the Martinsville Bulletin last week was a story about welfare fraud. This person took food stamps in the sum of $12,015.00 in a almost five year period. That is a whopping $47 extra a week for groceries. She was facing 12 years jail time,if this amount was not repaid. She was working two jobs and didn't report earnings from the second job. It seems they punished her for working a second job. Perhaps we should attempt to get some of the corporate subsidies back also? Here is a list we can begin with. These are some of the top corporations that receive federal, state and local subsidies or welfare. This is a short list there are many, many more. Boeing received $13,174,075,797. General Motors received $3,494,237,703. Royal Dutch Shell received $2,038,202,298. Dow Chem received $1,408,228,374. Goldman Sachs received $$661,978,222. Goggle received $632,044,922. Walt Disney received $381,525,727. Wal-Mart received $149,942,595. Abercrombie and Fitch received $23,070,479. Bed, Bath and Beyond received $10,385,041. Nike received $2.03 billion. Fiat Chrysler received $2.06 billion. All of these companies make record profits every year. There are some who hate helping the needy in our country but don't blink an eye at corporate welfare. Sorry lady, all this has happened to you ,but it seems you are not rich enough, powerful enough or have enough politicians in your pocket, because the corps get away with billions from the taxpayers. Come on Bulletin, report on these true welfare frauds. Take a moment to pause and thank our veterans and their families for their sacrifice for the freedoms we have on Memorial Day. I thank Betsy DeVos for re-energizing my responsibility as a citizen to speak up. My total opposition to her appointment has led me to be more engaged with both my 5th and our local 9th congressmen and our senators (who did not vote for DeVos). Now she has testified before Congress in support of a 13 percent cut in education spending and expanded support of school vouchers (which may also be called a cut in our public school funding). Having two nieces in school administration and knowing teachers (who are already using their own money to buy supplies) and principals, I know they are not on board for any cuts. Support of coal is not going to restore Southwest Virginia, only education can. That 13 percent cut is earmarked for a coffer to give tax cuts to the rich. Vouchers for school "choice" would strangle public schools and rely on access and transportation to be viable. Rural areas, and look at the geography of your district Mr Garrett, don't have a "choice". I say no to any cuts in one of the most important items in any budget. The future of our children. Finally, the health care bill our congressmen voted for before OCB vetting, cuts Medicaid for one of the regions that need it most. And will raise not lower premiums in some regions. Do you have a favorite place for fried clams you always need to visit before leaving the Cape? Do you know of a hidden gem of a seafood shack that deserves recognition? This month's Best Of Mass. is all about hunting down the best clam shack in the commonwealth. Where do you find the best fried seafood in Massachusetts? You can let us know where to find the best clam shack in the state in the comment section until Friday, June 9. After that, a poll will open in which readers can vote their favorite clam shacks into the competition's Top 10. After this, MassLive judges will visit and rank the contest's Top 10, crowning one clam shack the best in Massachusetts. What are you waiting for? Let us know which clam shack in Massachusetts is your favorite below and keep up with Best Of Mass on MassLive.com. Details added (first version posted on 10:51) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: US President Donald Trump has sent a welcome letter to the participants of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference and the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition in Baku. The US president conveyed his best wishes to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the people of the country on the occasion of this annual exhibition and conference in Baku. I value the partnership the US and Azerbaijan have built together over the last quarter of the century and look forward to its continued growth, Trump said in his letter. The US remains strongly committed to the Southern Gas Corridor [project] and welcomes the efforts of Azerbaijan and its international partners to complete it, Trump noted in the letter. I appreciate Azerbaijans important role in the global energy security including the development and exportation of energy resources from the Caspian region. I support and encourage Azerbaijans efforts to diversify its economy and look forward to exploring other areas of cooperation to the benefits of both our people, Trump added. The US is ready to work with Azerbaijan as the country continues to undertake economic and governmental reforms, he said. The US is also committed to peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the [OSCE] Minsk Group process which will help to strengthen regional security, said the letter. Americans hope for increased prosperity and stability in Azerbaijan, and the Southern Gas Corridor [project] and this conference are important for achieving those goals. 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. At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage. 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. CHICOPEE -- MassMutual plans to sell its MassMutual Learning and Conference Center facility at 350 Memorial Drive, and the new owner plans to return the facility to its former use as a psychiatric hospital. The 12.2-acre property near the Massachusetts Turnpike was Charles River Hospital West before the Springfield-based insurance giant bought it and converted it into a place that includes banquet facilities, hotel rooms and 160 parking spaces for MassMutual to hold business meetings and occasional community events. In an email, MassMutual spokeswoman Laura B. Crisco said GFI Partners, LLC and Health Partners New England (HPNE) have entered into an agreement to purchase the center and "intend to return the property to its original use as a medical facility." MassMutual constantly re-evaluates its need for facilities. The Learning and Conference Center was mostly for internal use by employees. The Springfield-based company bought the property from Monarch Enterprises LLC for approximately $4 million in 2001, according to The Republican files. Monarch, headed by the late Peter L. Picknelly, bought Charles River Hospital West for $3.2 million at a foreclosure auction in 1999. The former psychiatric hospital had defaulted on its $13.5 million mortgage to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The building dates to 1990, according to city tax records. The sales price to the new owners GFI Partners, LLC and Health Partners New England was not disclosed. It is assessed for $7.8 million, according to city records. Michael P. Krupa, president and CEO of Health Partners New England, said the sale might take as long as 120 days to close and become final. He said he remembers the facility's days as a mental health facility. He approached MassMutual about selling. Until the sale closes, Health Partners New England will make sure its plans comply with zoning and that current licensing regulations allow it to use the facility as a psychiatric hospital. Depending on need, Health Partners New England could create as many as 80 inpatient beds at 350 Memorial Drive. "It is a lovely spot for ambulatory care, meaning day-treatment and therapist's offices," he said. "We will also look into doing short-term residential care. That is people who need to stay with us for less than 30 days." Psychiatric care would be the primary focus, he said, but treatment would also include co-occurring substance abuse issues. There is a need for this type of facility in Western Massachusetts, he said. "We know in general across the state that people wait a long time in emergency rooms to find services," he said. Health Partners New England opened the 108-bed TaraVista Behavioral Health Center in Devens in May 2016. Health Partners New England also manages behavioral health units in other facilities and does consulting work for hospitals in the area of mental health. The company website lists Baystate Health and Sisters of Providence Health Care as clients. GFI Partners is a real estate advisory company in Boston. Updated at 7:30 a.m.: President Donald Trump responded to the controversial photograph in a tweet on Wednesday morning, posting: "Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!" _____________ Under fire from liberals and conservatives, Kathy Griffin took to Instagram on Tuesday to apologize for participating in a photo shoot that featured her holding a bloody severed head resembling President Donald Trump. "I'm a comic," said Griffin, who was a guest on Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" in 2009. "I cross the line. I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it." She added, "I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong." The 56-year-old comic said she is asking celebrity photographer Tyler Shields to take down the photo from his website. Shields has been called "the bad boy of photography." The controversial photo was not on his website on Tuesday evening, though there were comments expressing the hope that Shields would be killed and Griffin raped. The gruesome image came under fire from both sides of the political aisle. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary and Bill Clinton, called the photo "vile and wrong." "It is never funny to joke about killing a president," Clinton posted on Twitter. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted "Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?" Griffin was chastised by The Daily Beast in a column entitled, "Hey Kathy Griffin, the Left Doesn't Need Its Own Ann Coulter." "Not funny: Kathy Griffin beheads Trump," Drudge Report tweeted. CNN anchor Jake Tapper denounced the gory photo and noted that Griffin has done work for CNN on New Year's Eve as co-host of its Times Square special with Anderson Cooper. "It's pretty disgusting," Tapper said on "The Lead" after warning viewers with children of the graphic image. "I can't imagine how anybody would think that's appropriate." SOUTH HADLEY -- Richard Rubin has been hired as executive director of the Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Inc. Food Pantry. Rubin was director of the Greater Westfield Chapter of the American Red Cross for 23 years. A press release stated he will be responsible for securing the mission of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Inc. through organizational leadership, fund development and volunteer and in-kind gift recruitment. Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Inc. is a client-choice pantry whose mission is to provide nutritious, supplemental food to South Hadley and Granby residents dealing with food insecurity, the release states. The organization is funded solely through private donations, successful grant writing and food donations from private individuals and community food drive. NHN distributed over 121,000 pounds of food in 2016. The organization distributes 14 pounds of food for every $1 received. Any resident of South Hadley or Granby is welcome to visit the pantry twice a month, each time receiving three to four days worth of supplemental food. Proof of residency is required to become a Neighbors Helping Neighbors client, but 80 percent of the food distributed has no other restrictions. USDA food is available to anyone who receives any type of assistance, such as MassHealth, SNAP and fuel assistance. Deliveries are possible and are decided on a case by case basis. Arrangements may be made by calling the pantry at 413-530-8240. Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a member of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.nhnfoodpantry.org. SPRINGFIELD - June 13 is a special day around the world for those who pray to St. Anthony of Padua, often thought of as the patron of the lost and found by followers as varied as their reasons for believing in him. The feast day of the 13th century saint, who is a considered a doctor in the Catholic Church for his pastoral instruction and approach to living the gospels, holds particular significance for the parish of St. Anthony on Island Pond Road. It was on June 13 three years ago that Pastor George Zina made the official announcement that, for nine days in the fall of 2014, the Maronite rite church would host the St. Anthony of Padua relic from the basilica in Italy where the Portuguese-born saint is buried. The parish would also receive for its permanent keeping a small relic of St. Anthony, known for healing the sick, that its pastor said has since helped people keep faith and continue to hope for the best outcomes through serious illness and life challenges. The small relic of the saint's muscle will be displayed for veneration the morning of June 13 at the parish, with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Mitchell Rozanski at noon, followed by a procession of the relic at 6 and a concluding Healing Mass at 6:30. Volunteers scheduled to help with the feast day events include West Springfield resident and long-time parishioner Georgette Hannoush. "I prayed to St. Anthony everyday and I still do," said Hannoush, referring to her daily devotion to the saint after being diagnosed with two types of leukemia in April 2015, as well as to how faith has been part of her cancer treatment. Hannoush's diagnosis was considered a "difficult case" in terms of a successful outcome and required finding a donor whose blood marrow closely matched her own, in addition to radiation and chemotherapy at Baystate Medical Center and eventually at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. Hannoush's sister Linda Zehlaoui proved to be a "perfect" donor match and, on Aug. 5, 2015, Hannoush underwent successful stem cell transplant surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, followed by 18 months isolation. Hannoush credits the support and prayers of her husband and four grown children -- for whom she prayed to St. Anthony to have more than 20 years ago -- as well as "a lot of people praying at different shrines, and bringing St. Anthony oil and candles from the relic's visit" with helping her have "a second chance at life" and receiving the "saving grace of God." Hannoush, 51, continues to wear the St. Anthony of Padua medal given to her at the beginning of treatment. It hangs around her neck with medals of her other long-time favorite saints - including the Virgin Mary, the Lebanese St. Charbel and St. Rita. "Father Zina came to the hospital at the start of my chemo and radiation and gave me a St. Anthony medal. I put it around my neck and have kept it around my neck with my cross and other medals since my diagnosis," said Hannoush, whose blood cancer has been in remission for more than a year. Zina says "having the relic in 2014 has had a big impact on the parish life," and that he has heard "many stories about people asking for the intercession of St. Anthony," including for medical treatments for cancer to have successful outcomes. "There have been couple of people with cancer and I asked them to pray deeply to St. Anthony and I blessed them with the relic and fortunately, after treatment, all went very well," said Zina who has prayed for Anthony's intercession in his own life at the basilica in Padua. "Another story from my parish was a couple who wanted to have a child and their prayers were answered and it was a boy and they named him Anthony in honor of the saint." As the Franciscan friars who administer the basilica have said, the Church regards relics as "human bones, but human bones touched by the living power of God, the love of God" and in this way saints, like Anthony of Padua, are believed to intercede on behalf of humans to help them obtain benefit for their prayers from God. Zina said the parish displays its relic of St. Anthony every Tuesday at the noon Mass and novena of St Anthony. This year's feast day also falls on a Tuesday. "St. Anthony during his life performed many miracles, but after his death the first miracle took place on Tuesday when a dead woman was touched by the body of St. Anthony who had died a few days prior and she was brought back to life. So since then the tradition is to have his novena on Tuesday," said Zina of why the nine-day novena is held on consecutive Tuesdays at his parish. He added that on June 20, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., a relic of St. Anthony, which is being brought to the New York City area for the month from Padua by Franciscan friars, including the Rev. Alessandro Ratti, who brought the relic here in 2014, will be displayed at his parish. "This is a great privilege for us," said Zina of the one-day exposition which will include a noon Mass. Zina said he includes a Healing Mass on the June 13 feast day to address the "broken world we live in today - terrorism, persecution, killing, war, divisions, broken marriages." "A healing Mass is not only for those who are ill physically, but those who are lost and depressed," said Zina, adding there will be special prayers and worshipers may be anointed with holy oil during the Mass. "I hope we will have a good crowd. It is a Tuesday so I made it at 6:30 p.m. so those who work would have a chance to attend. At 6 p.m. there will be a procession, weather permitting. In previous years it was extremely successful." When boarding a JetBlue Airways flight departing from Boston Logan International Airport next month, make sure to be photo ready. The airline will test new facial-recognition software on passengers at Logan starting in June. Instead of checking in with their boarding passes, passengers can opt into being photographed at the gate instead. The photos taken at the airport will then be checked against official documents on file with homeland security officials. JetBlue is testing the new system on its Boston-to-Aruba route to start. "The main advantage is customer ease," Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's vice president of customer experience, told the Boston Globe. "It's foreseeable to have a situation in the future where a customer never has to take out a boarding pass." Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva Trend: Russia's relations with Azerbaijan and Iran are valuable and external forces can not affect those relations, Spokeswoman of Russias Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on May 31. Zakharova commented on the issue about the format of the Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia cooperation. Zakharova added that external forces will unlikely be able to negatively or positively affect Russia's relations with each of the two countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in March that Moscow is interested in intensifying cooperation as part of the Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan trilateral format. Presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia Ilham Aliyev, Hassan Rouhani and Vladimir Putin signed a declaration following their trilateral meeting in Baku Aug. 8. In the joint declaration, the leaders of the three countries confirmed their intention to develop trilateral cooperation. The declaration includes such areas of cooperation as joint fight against terrorism, settlement of regional conflicts, interaction in the Caspian Sea, development of ties in energy, transport and other sectors. Moreover, Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani, and Ilham Aliyev agreed to create relevant working groups on the areas of cooperation of mutual interest. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a group of participants of the Baku-hosted Subregional Workshop on Data and Statistics for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for High-Level Official Statisticians and the 57th meeting of the Council of Heads of Statistical Services of CIS member countries. President Ilham Aliyev hailed the fact that such a huge international event covering the Asia-Pacific and the CIS region is held in Azerbaijan. Saying statistical services are dealing with very important issues, the head of state noted that without correct statistical data and full analysis of the situation it is impossible to correctly plan development and prospects in various areas, including socio-economic, demographic and any other field. President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to developing and improving the statistical service to the level existing in the most developed countries. At the same time, the experience of the countries in political and socio-economic transition is very interesting for Azerbaijan, the head of state said. Wishing the workshop success, President Ilham Aliyev expressed his confidence that it will feature fruitful discussions and contribute to the strengthening of cooperation. Director of the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific Ashish Kumar thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the high level organization of the meeting in Baku as well as for constant support for the statistical service in Azerbaijan. Ashish Kumar said the workshop focused on the Sustainable Development Goals and indicators, and also looked at achievements made by countries. Stressing that the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific covers a broad area and that the countries featured here have rich international experience, Ashish Kumar expressed the organizations readiness to give the countries relevant support. At Bozemans Mystery Ranch, Senator Unveils Legislation to Require Homeland Security Department to Purchase Uniforms and Equipment from American Manufacturers During his visit to a Montana manufacturing company today, U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced he will be introducing legislation to create jobs and better equip American law enforcement officers by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to purchase supplies from American manufacturers. Testers bill, the Strengthening Security and American Manufacturing Act, will require the Department of Homeland Security to buy clothing, equipment, and other textile materials for their law enforcement officers from American producers. "We should supply the folks who keep this country safe with equipment that was manufactured here in America," Tester said at Bozemans Mystery Ranch Backpacks. "This bill will ensure that American-made products equip the folks who patrol our borders, protect our airports, and keep our communities safe." Tester unveiled his bill alongside Mystery Ranch co-owner Dana Gleason in Bozeman. Mystery Ranch manufactures backpacks for Navy Seals and other Special Forces units in the U.S. military. "We want to thank Jon Tester for promoting Montana manufacturers and advocating for American-made products," Gleason said. "This bill will help us create more jobs and we would be proud to equip Homeland Security officials with our top-notch, American made packs." Testers bill specifically requires the Department of Homeland Security to purchase uniforms, footwear, tents, field packs, and other textile-based equipment from American manufacturers. It provides exceptions for small and emergency purchases, products unavailable from American manufacturers, and certain commercially available textile products. Law enforcement agencies that are organized at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security include Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Transportation Safety Administration. Are you interested in learning about Increasing Your Competitive Advantage through Technology & Automation? Effective application of technology and automation are key tools needed to modernize your organization and increase your competitive advantage and we have the learning session for you! Check out this panel discussion on Wednesday, July 12 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will even be lunchtime conversations with community development and infrastructure professionals! Join small groups for intimate conversations on the topics that interest you most. Also great food at local Billings restaurants! Tickets are $99 which includes access to all the pre-conference workshops, all keynote and breakout sessions, Solutions Lounges, Thursday lunch, and much more. There are only a limited amount of tickets and we will sell out so get yours today! Check out the full conference agenda https://t.e2ma.net/click/5iwhy/1vvibo/pafaxo , here. See you July 12-13 in Billings! Full Story: https://t.e2ma.net/message/5iwhy/1vvibo Republican leaders responded with a wait-and-see attitude Tuesday to moderate members of their party who had hinted at convening a special legislative session to discuss funding for infrastructure projects. Republican Reps. Rob Cook, Frank Garner and Ryan Lynch, along with Sens. Llew Jones, Duane Ankney and Ed Buttrey spoke at a panel in Helena last week. MTN News reported the group had been in talks with the governor since the end of the session, pushing for a special session. By Freddy Monares Chronicle Staff Writer Full Story: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/mtleg/republican-leaders-say-no-to-special-legislative-session/article_e5b62abd-bc6f-5ac3-a2a5-8f6d214b377d.html The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday tightened rules on where injury lawsuits may be filed, handing a victory to corporations by undercutting the ability of plaintiffs to bring claims in friendly courts in a case involving Texas-based BNSF Railway Co. The justices, in a 8-1 decision, threw out a lower court decision in Montana allowing out-of-state residents to sue here over injuries that occurred anywhere in BNSFs nationwide network. State courts cannot hear claims against companies when they are not based in the state or the alleged injuries did not occur there, the justices ruled. By Andrew Chung Full Story: http://www.missoulacurrent.com/general/2017/05/supreme-court-montana-bnsf/ June 3rd is your last chance to submit to the InnovateHER: Innovating for Women Business Challenge, sponsored by the Small Business Administration https://www.sba.gov/ and hosted locally by the MSU Blackstone LaunchPad http://www.montana.edu/launchpad/innovateher.html . InnovateHER is a cross-cutting prize competition to unearth innovative products and services that help impact and empower the lives of women and families. One semi-finalist will be selected from the local competition for a chance to compete at the national level for $70k in prizes, sponsored by the Sara Blakely Foundation http://www.sarablakelyfoundation.com/ . Short deadlines mean short applications! Visit the competition site http://www.montana.edu/launchpad/innovateher.html and submit your application today! Co-sponsorship Authorization #17-6050-38. SBAs participation in this cosponsored activity is not an endorsement of the views, opinions, products or services of any cosponsor or other person or entity. All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact: Simone Duffin, telephone: (202) 205-4401. Casper experienced the largest population drop in Wyoming during last years energy bust, losing nearly 1,000 residents, new figures show. The city, a hub for the oil and gas fields, lost about 1.6 percent of its population. At the same time, two nearby communities Mills and Evansville experienced small increases. In total, Wyomings population fell by 1,054 residents in 2016, the first year more people moved out of the Cowboy State than moved in since 1990, the tail end of a depression that drained the states workforce. Heather Richards 307-266-0592 [email protected] Full Story: http://trib.com/news/local/casper/casper-experienced-wyoming-s-largest-population-drop-during-bust/article_512ac909-ff5a-5c94-9bf2-407ca5196b9e.html They remind us how unlikely certain places in America can be especially when local people decide to collectively achieve a dream like a surf wave in the middle of Montana. Hello Missoula! Powerhouse college town with next level wilderness access Full Story: https://matadornetwork.com/life/24-coolest-towns-usa-2017/ Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Anakhanum Hidayatova Trend: The 25th anniversary of bilateral US-Azerbaijan relations is also the 25th anniversary of Azerbaijans reemergence in the global arena, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta told reporters in Baku May 31. As the US president said in his letter to Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of the Gas and Oil Exhibition, Azerbaijan is a valuable partner of the US, noted the ambassador. Our countries work together for the prosperity of Azerbaijanis, said Cekuta. We are working together in combating terrorism. As President Donald Trump said earlier in his letter, the US strongly supports the parties in peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, added the envoy. The 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference 2017, as well as the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition kicked off May 31 at Baku Expo Center. The exhibition is attended by officials of 289 companies from 30 countries. Details added (first version posted at 17:43) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a group of participants of the Baku-hosted Subregional Workshop on Data and Statistics for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for High-Level Official Statisticians and the 57th meeting of the Council of Heads of Statistical Services of CIS member countries. President Ilham Aliyev hailed the fact that such a huge international event covering the Asia-Pacific and the CIS region is held in Azerbaijan. Saying statistical services are dealing with very important issues, the head of state noted that without correct statistical data and full analysis of the situation it is impossible to correctly plan development and prospects in various areas, including socio-economic, demographic and any other field. President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to developing and improving the statistical service to the level existing in the most developed countries. At the same time, the experience of the countries in political and socio-economic transition is very interesting for Azerbaijan, the head of state said. Wishing the workshop success, President Ilham Aliyev expressed his confidence that it will feature fruitful discussions and contribute to the strengthening of cooperation. Director of the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific Ashish Kumar thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the high level organization of the meeting in Baku as well as for constant support for the statistical service in Azerbaijan. Ashish Kumar said the workshop focused on the Sustainable Development Goals and indicators, and also looked at achievements made by countries. Stressing that the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific covers a broad area and that the countries featured here have rich international experience, Ashish Kumar expressed the organizations readiness to give the countries relevant support. Morgan County Veterans Day Parade slated Nov. 11 Audio Article The Morgan County Veterans Day Parade will be held on Friday, Nov. 11. The parade will form at the Commons, in McConnelsville, at 9:30 a.m. and set out at 10 a.m. The American Legion Post 24 will render honors at the monuments at the Commons, Riecker Building, the Square, at... A concert with two purposes Audio Article Wednesday, Nov. 30, a concert with dual purposes is being held at the Twin City Opera House in McConnelsville, Ohio. Its a thank-you to healthcare workers, who can attend for free, and its a benefit for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. In September 2021, Rick Shriver contracted COVID-19. He collapsed... BOE reminder of early voting hours and polling location change Audio Article Remaining early voting hours at the Morgan County Board of Elections are as follows: from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov, 2 through Friday, Nov. 4; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5; from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6; and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.... Lions Club announces annual Wreaths Across America Audio Article On Saturday, Dec. 17, the Chesterhill Lions Club will be joining with National Wreaths Across America in the laying of wreaths at each of the seven cemeteries located in Marion Township. The mission is to honor the local veterans who have served our nation so their families can rest assured... Governor DeWine awards $6.7 million for domestic violence survivor programs Audio Article Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced that he is awarding $6.7 million to support the work of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN) to offer mobile and health advocacy services and temporary residential services for domestic violence survivors across the state. The announcement comes during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.... CDC committee vote wont change Ohio school vaccine requirement Audio Article Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA has released the following statement: The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for the COVID-19 vaccine to be added to the formulary or schedule of vaccines for children does not mandate this vaccine for school children. Ohio law determines... Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: Azerbaijan has condemned the recent terrorist attack in Afghan capital, Kabul. We strongly condemn heinous Kabul attack. Our hearts and minds are with families of victims. We wish speedy recovery to the wounded, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry tweeted May 31. Earlier today, an explosion occurred in the Afghan capital in an area where foreign embassies are located, killing nearly 90 people and injuring more than 380 others, including several German embassy staff. Details added (first version posted at 13:21) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy in the Department of States Bureau of Energy Resources Robin Dunnigan. President Ilham Aliyev thanked Robin Dunnigan for attending the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference and asked her to thank US President Donald Trump for the warm words he said in his message addressed to the exhibition participants. The head of state pointed that it is very important that the US government continues to support the global projects implemented in Azerbaijan. Hailing the good history of cooperation between the two countries in this area, President Ilham Aliyev noted that the US government has always firmly supported the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project and the projects implemented later, including the Southern Gas Corridor. The US presidents remarks in his message to the exhibition reaffirm the new US administrations commitment to this project. We appreciate this. I think that what is said in this letter is another sign of support given to Azerbaijan and friendly relations between our two countries, President Ilham Aliyev said. The head of state said this is very important at a time when energy projects are being implemented in Azerbaijan, including historic Southern Gas Corridor project, adding that Robin Dunnigan's visit will create good opportunities for discussing prospects for bilateral relations, as well as the Southern Gas Corridor, and cooperation in energy and other sectors. Azerbaijan is opening a new page in the development of oil and gas industry, all the necessary infrastructure, including the pipelines, and professional teams are ready. So, there are no obstacles ahead, and it is very good that we are continuing an excellent cooperation with the new US administration both in energy fields and in a number of other areas as President Trump also emphasized in his letter. US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy in the Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources Robin Dunnigan said: "We are grateful to you both for your personal support to our energy cooperation and Azerbaijan's support for the strengthening of energy security in the region. You noted that the US President Donald Trump's message is indicative of the continuation of the new administration's support under the leadership of the US president. You are absolutely right. The remarks both in this message and in the message by the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed to the third Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council, as well as my participation in this exhibition is the manifestation of our commitment to continuing our cooperation not only in the energy sector, but in other areas, and our joint work towards the realization of the Southern Gas Corridor. They also exchanged views on bilateral relations between the two countries in a variety of areas. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: Elmir Akhmedov is 16 years old. He was born in Yekaterinburg, Russia. When he was six years old, Elmir entered a primary school N35 in Guba town. After his family moved to Baku, he continued his secondary education in lyceum named after Academician Zarifa Aliyeva. While at school, Elmir actively participated in various contests and academic competitions. In 2014, he was awarded with a bronze medal at INEPO projects international olympiad. Then he participated in the Olympiad in physics and made it to the finals. At the entrance exams to universities for 2017/2018 academic year, Elmir earned 700 points and selected Baku Higher Oil School to study Process Automation Engineering. How did you manage to earn 700 points? Do you think someone needs to have a special talent? Or is it just a bit of luck? I do not think I won by a chance. Chance is something related to a lottery, while I earned 700 points because of my knowledge, logic and hard work. The entrance exam is not only for getting a high score; it is rather a way to express yourself. I would not even say that success at the entrance exams depends on talents. I think that he who wills success is half-way to it indeed, as the saying runs. I would like to add that the knowledge gained at school is much more important than intense preparation for a few months before the exams. How did the exams go? What impressions did they leave on you? What would you tell about the time before and after the exams? I did not worry, as I was sure that the exams would be assessed impartially. However, I was a bit nervous. I realize now that I was not so much concerned about questions and my possible incorrect answers. I just was sensible of my responsibility. Frankly, I did not even notice how the time passed. I was deeply involved in my work and then I discovered that I already reached the 125th question! Although I was sure that the results should be very good, I was looking forward to learn about them. Why have you chosen the BHOS and this particular field of study? What goals have you set? In my view, there is no need to explain that process automation engineering is a prospective profession in the time of modern technological development, and I would like to make a contribution towards economic development of Azerbaijan. Why did I choose the Higher School? I did so because BHOS compares favorably with other universities in providing very good opportunities for obtaining higher education and developing successful career afterwards. What is your biggest dream? To be honest, it is difficult to say. I think that every human being has many interests, aspirations and dreams As for the dreams, they remain as such until they came to fruition. My goals are ambitious, and so are my plans. How do you see yourself in a few years? What are your plans for future? In the future, I view myself as highly trained top-ranked specialist. I would like to gain deep knowledge and obtain good international experience. Water is the molecule of life; without it, none of us would be here. However, despite its importance, how the body manages water still holds some secrets. Innovative research in Canada generates new insight. Share on Pinterest Vasopressin helps us to manage our bodys water, but it is more complicated than we thought. Water is present in every single cell of the human body. In fact, by weight, we are 50 to 75 percent water, depending on a range of factors including age, sex, weight, and health. If we went for just a few days without a drop, we would die. Such is the vital importance of water. It keeps tissues such as the eyes and inside of the mouth moist, regulates body temperature, lubricates joints, and acts as a shock absorber. Water also dissolves minerals and nutrients, which makes them available for biological processes, and transports them around the body. With this in mind, it may come as quite a surprise that controlling the level of water in the body is predominantly reliant upon just one molecule: vasopressin. Vasopressin and water management Vasopressin is found in most mammals, and its role as the water-regulating molecule has been known for 70 years. Until recently, it was thought to only work in a classic, negative feedback loop: when we are dehydrated, levels of vasopressin rise, which causes urine to become concentrated in the kidneys, freeing up more water to be used in the body. Conversely, when we have too much water in our body, vasopressin levels decrease, and urine is diluted. However, new research demonstrates that this molecule has much more to offer than the feedback loop described. Dr. Charles Bourque of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, uncovered an unexpected pathway that vasopressin uses to keep us properly hydrated. He presented his findings at the 2017 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, an annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, held in Montreal. Dr. Bourque demonstrated that not only is there a vasopressin feedback loop, but its also involved in feed-forward mechanisms. [They] determined that this molecule is produced in the brain right before [people] go to bed, and during sleep, in anticipation of the dehydrating effect of sleep. Their research showed that mice increased water intake just before sleep. Rather than being motivated by a physiological need for water, the drinking response was solely based on the animals circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms, which drive the sleep-wake cycle, are controlled by a tiny brain region within the hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). This pre-sleep drinking behavior was shown to be under the control of vasopressin neurons that run from the SCN to thirst neurons in the organum vasculosum lamina terminalis, which is an area important for fluid regulation. Vasopressin is known to work as a hormone, but this discovery demonstrates that the molecule also works as a neurological signal. Its role is clearly more complex than originally believed. BARCELONA, Spain May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The baby number 1000 was born thanks to the programme of Institut Marques The number of international adoptions of children decreases while the number of international adoptions of embryos increases Institut Marques Barcelona launched the embryo adoption in 2004 to give a chance at life to frozen embryos Institut Marques presents the 1000th birth of its international embryo adoption programme. It is a baby girl called Georgina who, with 3,500 kg. of weight, was born in the town of Essex (UK) last February. Her mother decided to adopt an embryo at Institut Marques, a clinic in Barcelona, after having performed several cycles of assisted reproduction without success in different centres. In June, an embryo that had been frozen for years was transferred; it came from the treatment of a couple who did not answer about the destination they wanted for their embryos and they were thus left under the custody of the clinic. To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8112351-institut-marques-women-spain-adopt-embryos/ Kerry Andersen, Georgina's mother, is a midwife. A 45-year-old single woman who believes that this treatment has given her "the best of my life, which was the hope of being a mother. I am thrilled to think that my precious daughter is here thanks to the embryo adoption programme as I feel it is a very special way to enjoy motherhood. When I got to know this program, I did not hesitate to adopt an embryo". Institut Marques was pioneer in the world launching this initiative in 2004. Embryos that are not transferred remain under the custody of the clinic when the parents do not want to decide on their destination. Therefore, this centre of Barcelona decided to offer them in adoption to its patients. In accordance with Spanish law, the embryos available under this programme come from healthy parents, under the age of 35, who have successfully undergone an In-Vitro-Fertilisation treatment and who no longer want to have more children. During the 12-year life of the programme, patients from 124 different nationalities attended the Institut Marques' centres. It is the clinic with the highest number of embryo adoptions performed across the world. At the moment, 117 women are expecting a baby thanks to this programme. Dr. Marisa Lopez-Teijon, Director of Institut Marques, explains that "the adoption of embryos was launched in 2004 to give the embryos frozen in our centre a possibility to live. From the beginning, the response has been exciting because of the social acceptance, the support offered by different groups and the enthusiasm with which women from all over the world come to us to adopt them. There are less international adoptions of children and more international adoptions of embryos. Behind each case, there is a special story, either of many failures in previous treatments or having given up the possibility of being parents". Double abandonment Embryos that can be adopted come from patients who do not answer the different letters that the clinic sends over a period of four years to choose their destination. After this time, according to the Spanish law, if the couple does not answer, the embryos are placed under the custody of the centre and it is up to the latter to decide about their destination. Despite offering all possible options, 50% of people with frozen embryos do not answer. 37% choose to keep them; 5% want them to be destroyed; 4%, to be donated to other couples; and 4%, to research. Many patients do not answer because, in many cases, the decision raises a difficult situation that triggers emotional conflicts. The result is that many embryos remain in the clinics, which very often do not take a decision either and, hence, the embryos suffer a new abandonment. How do frozen embryos live? The destination the patients choose for their embryos, according to the country where they come from According to data gathered by Institut Marques, taking into account the country where patients come from, the Germans are the most responsible deciding on the future of their embryos (63.6%) and those who practically do not contemplate the option of destroying them or donating them for research. However, 63% of French and 60% of UK patients prefer not to decide on the fate of their embryos. In Italy, 45% do not answer and they are the ones that more often opt for conservation (43%). Spaniards do not usually donate their embryos to other couples, only 3% do so, but they are the ones that more frequently donate their embryos for research (6%). Finally, 45% of Irish patients keep their frozen embryos for themselves and they are the ones who donate the most to other couples with 7%. Adopters' profile According to a study carried out by Institut Marques, 72% of patients who request embryo adoption do so due to sterility problems (ovarian aging, severe male infertility or previous failures in reproduction techniques). They are couples who have unsuccessfully tried other treatments, with an average of more than 4 years wishing to have a baby and with 4.4 failed attempts. 61% had already given up any treatment and the idea of becoming parents 18% of the adopters are women without a male partner who wish to be mothers and another 10% are people who go directly to the adoption of embryos because they do not consider other sterility treatments for ethical or religious reasons. A third of all these patients had initiated administrative formalities to adopt a child. Assignment, treatment and success rate At Institut Marques, embryos are assigned through a computer system that ensures that each child is born in a different country than the other embryos resulting from the same treatment. This avoids future consanguinities. Adopters accept that the only parameter to choose their embryo is the race. Medical treatment for embryo adoption is simple and painless. The woman's uterus is prepared to receive the embryos through estrogen patches and vaginal progesterone tablets. After a few days, the uterus is ready and the embryos are thawed and transferred, requiring no hospitalization. After 14 days, the pregnancy test is performed and, from there on, it evolves like a normal gestation. Embryo adoption does not require any formal adoption procedure, but only to sign an informed consent where the woman or couple explicitly acknowledge to have been informed about the process and to agree with it. Throughout these 12 years, the rate of embryonic survival after thawing has been improved thanks to vitrification. The number of embryos transferred has been reduced from an average of 2.2 to 1.3. The global pregnancy average rate was 43% per cycle, which has also been improving every year. Since 2013, it is higher than 50% per cycle. About Institut Marques Institut Marques is a clinic of international reference in Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Assisted Reproduction with centres in Barcelona, Milan, London and Ireland (Dublin and Clane). The clinic, with great experience in cases that present special difficulty, helps people from more than 50 countries achieve their dream of having a baby. Institut Marques offers the highest success rates of pregnancy, with 89% with their egg donation programme. Leader in innovation, this centre develops an important line of research on the benefits of music in early life and foetal stimulation. More information on http://www.institutomarques.com and http://www.institutmarques.ie Institut Marques +34-93-285-82-16 Mireia Folguera: mireia.folguera@institutomarques.com +34-649-901-494 Estefania Redondo: estefania.redondo@institutomarques.com +34-661208385 Footage and press releases in French and German: http://distribucion.europapress.net/InstitutMarques (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517863/Embryo_Adoption.jpg ) Video: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8112351-institut-marques-women-spain-adopt-embryos/ SOURCE Institut Marques Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. Advertisement The majority of adolescent girls (52 percent) reported experiencing at least one form of violence victimization in the previous 12 months: 32 percent reported being hit or beaten, 37 percent reported being screamed at loudly or aggressively, and 27 percent experienced unwanted sexual touching and/or rape. The vast majority of girls reported that their intimate partners and/or other family members were perpetrators of violence."Girls in conflict settings are the victims of disturbing patterns of violence beginning in adolescence and even earlier," says lead author Lindsay Stark, associate professor of Population and Family Health. "Our paper is one of the first to document high rates of violence against conflict-affected girls as young as age 13. Our data show that girls as young as 10 are frequent victims of violence."According to the researchers, gaps in knowledge of violence against adolescent girls have limited the humanitarian community's ability to appropriately respond to and prevent this violence. To date, studies that examine violence in armed conflicts have focused primarily on the health-related consequences of violence, not its predictors, and on females over the age of 15, not younger adolescents. Further, the data suggest that efforts to target girls in mid- to late- adolescence in hopes of downstream prevention efforts may already be too late.In the new study, the researchers identify several context-specific predictors of violence. Ever having a boyfriend and living with an intimate partner are associated with coerced and forced sex in both DRC and in Ethiopia. In the DRC, each year of schooling completed is associated with lower odds of experiencing violence. On the other hand, living only with one's father and young age are predictors for violence in Ethiopia, but not DRC."Attention should be paid to context, and prevention programming should do more to acknowledge the role of intimate partner relationships, and how dating and early marriage often put girls at greater risk for violence," says Stark. "We also need to work across different levels of society to create safer environments in which conflict-affected girls can grow and thrive."A girl's safety is determined by many factors, from her family's economic security and approach to parenting, whether she can move freely in public spaces, whether she can attend and stay in school, as well as the larger context, including prevailing gender norms," she continues.The findings contradict local narratives suggesting that girls are most at risk of violence at the hands of strangers or military personnel--misperceptions that past research methods may be inadvertently reinforced. For a study published in PLOS ONE, Stark and colleagues interviewed the same conflict-affected girls in a group setting, and heard almost exclusively about violence perpetrated by strangers. By contrast, when they used tablet computers that afforded greater privacy, girls described violence predominantly perpetrated by family members and intimate partners.While the tablet method likely provides a truer picture of the violence, Stark says the group discussions provides important perspective about how violence is understood and expressed. "You want to know how people talk about these issues, so you can design a program that both addresses violence and considers those prevailing social norms."Violence against women and girls is a global epidemic that affects one in three women and one in four girls under the age of 18, according to the World Health Organization. Worldwide, females are at highest risk for violence during adolescence, and violence is the second leading cause of death for adolescent girls. Various studies have linked violence with negative health consequences, including increased risk of HIV infection, unintended pregnancy, alcohol and substance abuse, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide.Source: Eurekalert Priyanka Chopra is winning over Hollywood like a star. Her first Hollywood debut has hit the theatres. Though the film has been slammed by the critics, Priyanka has been applauded by the international media for her performance. In fact, some deemed her as an Indian goddess and claimed that she was underused. Desi Girl is en route for global domination and has been getting various film offers on her way. After making it big in India, PeeCee is all set to shine in Hollywood too. Thank you for all the love Berlin.. you always make me feel so much. Thank you for coming to see us...So good to be back!! #baywatchinberlin?? A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 1:39pm PDT Recently it was reported that she just signed her second Hollywood film, A Kid Like Jake, as the lead. And now the exotic beauty has just sealed her third film in the West. As per reports, PCs next is a rom-com titled Isn't It Romantic, starring some bigwigs like Liam Hemsworth, Rebel Wilson, and Adam Devine. The film is about a young woman (played by Rebel) who gives up on love. The shoot is said to start by this July. AKidLikeJake_Twitter If everything goes as per the reports, then it would be great to see her sharing screen space with some Hollywood biggies. Her second film A Kid Like Jake stars Jim Parsons, Claire Danes, and Octavia Spencer is a transgender family drama. And Priyanka will start shooting for it in the month of June, right after she is done promoting Baywatch. Baywatch is set to hit theatres in India on June 2. Priyanka in a German accent is so fun! #baywatchinberlin?? A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 7:33am PDT Whats more about this leggy lass? The third season of Quantico is also approved and it looks like Priyanka is going to be occupied for a very long time in the West. Also, lets hope we get to see her soon in Bollywood films as well. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will cooperate with the private sector in Azerbaijan, whenever possible, to invest in infrastructure projects which meet the banks mandate, strategy and standard, a source in AIIB told Trend. The source added that mobilizing private capital is one of AIIBs priority. "AIIB is interested in financing infrastructure investment projects in Azerbaijan which are financially sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable," said the source. There are many infrastructure development areas where the bank and Azerbaijan can cooperate with each other, such as transportation, energy and power, urban development, rural development etc, according to AIIB. "Azerbaijan is a founding member of AIIB. We thank Azerbaijans strong support to the bank and believe Azerbaijan will play an important role in promoting infrastructure development and connectivity in the region," said the source. Regarding the prospects for opening AIIBs representative office in Azerbaijan, the source noted that currently, the bank doesnt have such plans. Earlier, Ruslan Rustamli, head of the department for cooperation with international organizations at Azerbaijans Economy Ministry told Trend that the ministry is ready to mull the opening of an office of AIIB in Azerbaijan after expansion of the banks activities in the country. AIIB, which was created in June 2015, is a multilateral financial institution founded to bring countries together to address the daunting infrastructure needs across Asia. Azerbaijans share in the banks capital is $254.1 million or 0.2761 percent. AIIB approved allocation of a loan worth $600 million for the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project on December 21, 2016. TANAP project envisages transportation of gas of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish border to the western borders of Turkey. Turkey will get gas in 2018 and after completing the construction of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), gas will be delivered to Europe in early 2020. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center of Azercell Telecom LLC supported the schoolers under the project Build your future: Career planning and development at schools sponsored by Chevron Khazar LTD and organized by Junior Achievement Azerbaijan. Ms. Fidan Tofidi and Ms. Irada Mammadova from the Center took part in the meeting with schoolers in the frame of the project. The project was aimed to educate the young fellows about the career and job opportunities in various fields in current labor market. 110 school children from 9 secondary schools (school No.288 named after Neftchi Gurban, school No.288 named after Alihaydar Kazimov, school No.161 named after J. Jabbarli, Baku European Lyceum, Intelekt school-lyceum No.49, complete secondary school No. 163, school-lyceum No.6, school No.217 named after Elshan Sultanov, technical humanitarian lyceum No. 147) located in Baku and neighboring regions, who stood out for active participation in training stage took part in the meeting. The representatives of Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center talked to the participants about the importance of educating the career choice at schools, possibility of successful career in arts, as well as role of innovation in current labor market. It was also noted that Barama Innovation Center was founded in 2009 by Azercell with the aim to support entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan. The Center generally supports IT projects and start-ups operating in this industry and helps them become successful businesses. Barama Center has made a number of achievements during six years of its activity. More than 70 projects were launched at the center and 40 of them completed successfully and dozens of them have been established and successfully run operations. In the second part of the meeting, the schoolers got an opportunity to have a discussion about their field of interest with a professional at a round table. The representatives of Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center stood out for their active participation during the discussions. For more information, please contact [email protected] The leader of the mobile communication industry of Azerbaijan and the biggest investor in the non-oil sector Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996. With 48% share of Azerbaijans mobile market Azercells network covers 80% of the territory and 99,8% of population of the country. Currently, 4,5 million subscribers choose Azercell services. Azercell has pioneered an important number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advance payment system, 24/7 Customer Care, online customer services, GPRS/EDGE, M2M, MobilBank, one-stop- shop service offices Azercell Express, mobile e-service ASAN signature, etc. Azercell deployed first 4G LTE services in Azerbaijan in 2012. According to the results of mobile network quality surveys of Global Wireless Solutions company and international systems specialized in wireless coverage mapping such as Opensignal and Testmy.net, Azercells network demonstrated the best results among the mobile operators of Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Anvar Mammadov Trend: Restructuring of external debt of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has not affected the country's banking sector and the interaction between other commercial banks, as well as between banks and their customers, said Zakir Nuriyev, head of Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA). The state [Azerbaijan] has been fulfilling its obligations to IBA from the first day, by providing the bank with sufficient liquid assets. Therefore, the processes occurring in the IBA did not affect the banking sector, he told reporters in Baku May 31. Debt restructuring must not affect the ability of banks to attract foreign investment in the future, according to Nuriyev. It is also worth noting that the Azerbaijani banks do not see the need to attract foreign funds in large volumes, as there are now restrictions for the banks in attracting and placing them, he said. Earlier, the IBA commenced a process of voluntary debt restructuring as part of its rehabilitation. The banks total debt to foreign creditors is $3.3 billion. The International Bank of Azerbaijan has been operating since 1992 and is one of the countrys two state-owned banks. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: Azerbaijan is known in the world as a reliable partner producing and exporting oil and gas to markets, Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev said. He made the remarks at the opening of the 24th International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference and the 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition in Baku May 31. He went on to add that this already is the 24th exhibition being held in the country. The interest in the exhibition is not declining, on the contrary, it is growing, said the president. It was mentioned here that around 300 companies are participating in this exhibition. I am fully confident that this years exhibition will be successful as well. But, of course, the holding of the first exhibition played a special role in popularizing our country in the world, because at that time, Azerbaijan was not known. Azerbaijan was a young, independent country, there were a lot problems. The exhibition played an indispensible role in presenting our countrys oil and gas potential to the world, said President Aliyev. The president expressed gratitude to the organizers of the exhibition, adding that they have been cooperating with Azerbaijan for 24 years already and have been making great contributions to the countrys development. He pointed out that the first exhibition had a special meaning in presenting Azerbaijan to the world as a country with huge potential. Since then Azerbaijan has been able to build a very successful cooperation with foreign investors in the oil and gas sphere, he added. The president noted that this cooperation was built on mutual interests. Both the state and investors are reaping the benefits. An excellent format of cooperation with foreign investors has been created in Azerbaijan. Today, this format also manifests itself in other spheres, he added. President Aliyev reminded that currently Azerbaijans main priority is the development of the non-oil sector. We are now trying to apply our experience gained in the oil sector, especially our experience of cooperation with foreign investors, to the non-oil sector, and we have achieved success in this work. He noted that Azerbaijan is an oil country and oil was first extracted here in 1846. Historical documents have been revealed. A while ago I gave an instruction to once again review the documents at various libraries and museums of the world and to get more accurate information, he said. President Aliyev noted that new historical documents were revealed and those documents show that oil was extracted in the first oil well in Azerbaijan, in Bakus Bibiheybat area, in 1846. This year we set up a monument to that old oil well in that area to celebrate this landmark event and I am sure the area will be of great interest for the tourists visiting Baku, said Ilham Aliyev. He reminded that the first ever offshore extraction of oil in the world was carried out in Azerbaijan, in the Caspian Sea, in the mid-20th century. In this sense, it can be said that Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea are the motherland of the offshore oil production, added President Aliyev. Further in his speech, Ilham Aliyev said the Contract of the Century, signed in 1994, is a historic project, noting that the Contract has an exceptional place in the development of the Azerbaijani state. Successful implementation of the Contract, allowed us to direct the oil money to human capital, non-oil sector, and infrastructure projects and to develop our country, added Ilham Aliyev. He also touched upon the extension of the term of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli contract. I hope that in the near future we will reach an agreement with foreign investors on extension of this projects term, because the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field has a great potential, he said, adding the field has a quite large volume of oil that hasnt been extracted so far. He further said the investment put in Azerbaijan is kept, protected here transparently. Ilham Aliyev further touched upon the Shah Deniz project, and said the project needs to be highlighted when speaking about the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibitions importance. He reminded that the contract on the Shah Deniz project was signed in 1996 exactly during the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition. That time, Azerbaijan was known as solely an oil country. Implementation of the Shah Deniz project has turned Azerbaijan into a country producing and exporting both oil and gas, he added. Today, we cannot imagine the regional cooperation without the Shah Deniz project, because the Shah Deniz project is a project that solves exactly the energy security issues. Ilham Aliyev further said that over the past years, Azerbaijan has been able to create a many-branched oil and gas transportation network. He pointed to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines, and reminded that the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline has been operating for 10 years already. All of these are historic projects, he said. Ilham Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijans oil and gas projects are the guarantors of the regions security, stability, and development. He said the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline are Azerbaijans great wealth. The president also said the development of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 is proceeding successfully. Reminding that Azerbaijan is today implementing the Southern Gas Corridor project, the president said the project is unique on the global scale. The project holds the first place among the infrastructure projects in Europe, Ilham Aliyev said, adding $40 billion are envisaged to be invested in the project, and a great part of this figure has already been invested. The work is continuing successfully on four segments of the Southern Gas Corridor, he said, revealing the figures on implementation of the four SGC projects. The Shah Deniz 2 project has been implemented by 93 percent. The South Caucasus Pipeline has been realized by 85 percent. The TANAP project has been implemented by 72 percent and we are expecting to mark the commissioning of the TANAP project the next year. And the fourth project is the TAP, which is complete by 42 percent. These figures are demonstrative, he said, adding, They show that all the work is going on in line with the plan and we are near to completing the Southern Gas Corridor project. Ilham Aliyev also touched upon the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Councils Third Ministerial Meeting held in Baku this year, and said the resolution adopted there showed once again that Azerbaijan is the leader of the SGC project. Further during his speech, the president said the energy security issues are the issues of the countries national security, adding that Azerbaijan plays an important role in this sphere both in the region and in Europe. Our steps for energy diversification are bearing fruits, and this is very important, Ilham Aliyev said. The advantage of the Azerbaijani-implemented projects is that our routes and sources are both diverse. He said that today the European market is the main market for Azerbaijan, and for Europe the new sources are of great significance. Ilham Aliyev added that Azerbaijan is the sole new source for the European countries. President Aliyev also said the Southern Gas Corridors realization starts new projects, adding the big Absheron projects commencement is to come next. At the same time, the Umid, Babek and shallow water projects are being implemented, he said, adding that new production is expected to start in the years to come. This means we are boosting our oil and gas potential, he added. President Aliyev also noted that Azerbaijan is investing the oil money to other sectors and is seeing the excellent result of this. In the four months of this year, Azerbaijans exports rose by 41 percent, including the non-oil exports that have increased by 22 percent and the agriculture exports that have gone up by 44 percent. Our rich oil and gas fields will further provide the development of our country for many years, said President Aliyev. In conclusion the president once again greeted the event guests and wished success to the Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference. The 3rd Meeting of the Greek-Georgian Joint Interministerial Committee (JIC) culminated in the signing of a Protocol. Alternate Foreign Minister G. Katrougalos, who headed the Greek delegation, stressed the ties of friendship linking the two countries and called the signing of the Protocol a springboard for Greek-Georgian economic relations. He also highlighted Greece's firm position in support of Georgia's European perspective. During the talks, agreement was reached on further cooperation in the sectors of trade, energy, tourism, agriculture and transport. A Greek business mission will visit Tbilisi in early June. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 31 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Ashgabat has today hosted a discussion of transboundary electricity trade as part of the Energy Charter Forum titled Towards a Multilateral Framework Agreement on Transit of Energy Resources, reports the online newspaper Nebit-Gaz. Turkmenistans energy minister, Deputy Chairman of the Energy Charter Conference Charymyrad Purchekov delivered a report on Challenges and Opportunities of Electricity Trade between Central and South Asia. In the report, he highlighted the key trends of the supply of electricity among countries in the Asian region. The session was also addressed by Matthew Addison, senior advisor on electricity issues in the Energy Links Project, and Hamidulla Shamsiev, director of the Coordinated Dispatch Center of Central Asia titled Energy. Details added (first version posted on 11:18) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend: The contract on the development of the block of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil fields will be extended next month, Gary Jones, BP regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, told reporters in Baku May 31. We do not rush but I think the end of June is the right time to sign a contract, he said, adding that it is a big deal. Jones said that the investments in the project, in which BP will remain the operator, will increase as a result of the extension of the contract. When the companies know that a contract will soon expire, they usually cut investments for understandable reasons, he said. While extending the contract on ACG until 2050, we will get more investments because in this case the companies will be able to extract more reserves. Jones has not specified the amount of investments to be made in the further development of deposits. He also added that BP is thoroughly considering the variant of using a new drilling rig of Azerbaijans State Oil Company SOCAR in the future and is discussing the issue with the companys representatives. SOCAR and BP-operated Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) signed a letter of intent (LOI) December 23, 2016 for the future development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The LOI agrees the key commercial terms for the future development of the ACG field. A contract for development of ACG block of oil and gas fields was signed in 1994. The proven oil reserves of the block near one billion tons. The shareholders in the project are BP (operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, 35.78 percent), Chevron (11.28 percent), Inpex (10.96 percent), AzACG (11.65 percent), Statoil (8.55 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itochu (4.3 percent) and ONGC (2.72 percent). Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) will play an important role in diversification of Europes energy sources, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy at US Department of State Robin Dunnigan told reporters in Baku May 31. An open dialogue is important for implementation of such a major project, which involves numerous countries and partners, according to her. Dunnigan noted that during the meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the sides discussed the US-Azerbaijan cooperation. She said the support of the US for the SGC project was also voiced at the meeting. Dunnigan added that the sides also stressed the mutual interest in cooperation in all areas. UPPER THUMB The thriving sugar beet industry known today is largely due to immigrant labor. Sugar company officials realized that in order for the industry to prosper, a lot of cheap and dependable labor was needed to help with the most labor-intensive crop there was to produce. In 1902, 52 German-Russian families were brought from Nebraska to help cultivate and harvest beets in the Thumb, according to Dan Gutleben, who authored, The Story of Pioneer Sugar. However, when World War I started, fewer German-Russians were used in the fields, so farmers began to hire more Hispanic field workers. In the 1930s, sugar company officials went to San Antonio, Texas, to recruit migrant workers for the greater Saginaw area. Growing sugar beets was hard work. Migrants worked from sunup to sundown. It was a way for them to gain access to the United States, help get them out of poverty with a guaranteed a paying job, explained Marylou Olivarez Mason, executive director of the Hispanic/Latino Commission of Michigan. Hispanic migrant workers would arrive in March and work until November. In between, when they were not needed in sugar beet work, they would pick vegetables, blueberries, cherries and apples, as well as hoe other crops. The next group of immigrants to help in the beet fields were World War II prisoners of war (POWs), said Wayne Dillon, who is the unofficial historian of the Colwood area and a retired educator. More than 6,000 German POWs were held in Michigan at 32 POW campsites. The main POW camp was at Fort Custer, with satellite camps throughout the state, said Gail Lesoski, who did extensive research for Caros sesquicentennial celebration a few years ago. POWs were used as laborers. There were five satellite camps in the Upper Peninsula, with the rest scattered throughout the state. At one time, nearly 300 Nazi Prisoners of War (POWs) were housed at the Tuscola County Fairgrounds, and they worked fields in the area, according Dillon. In 1945, there were 428,252 World War II POWs in the United States, consisting of German (371,683); Italian (51,156); and Japanese (5,413). Croswell and Caro had German POW camps, and in Pigeon, there was a camp of Italian POWs. The Italians were used to work in the Pigeon coal mines. At the end of World War II, the POWs were shipped back to their country, but many of them liked the American way of life and returned, explained Dillon. Many became friends with the farmers they worked for, and they helped them be able to return and start a new life here. By 1940, more than 60,000 migrants were working annually in agriculture in Michigan, and by 1957, it is estimated the population of migrant farm workers increased to 106,000, according to information from the study, Migrant and Seasonal Workers in Michigans Agriculture. Its estimated there are still about 40,000 to 45,000 Mexican migrant workers. Over the years, sugar beet growing has become less labor intensive with the development of better planting, cultivating and harvesting equipment, as well as herbicides to help control weeds. A powerful car bomb exploded in the center of Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday, killing or wounding dozens of people and sending clouds of black smoke into the sky above the presidential palace and foreign embassies, Reuters reported citing officials. Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for Kabul police, said several people were killed and wounded in the blast near the fortified entrance to the German embassy. "It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is," Mujahid said. The explosion shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of meters (yards) away. A public health spokesman said at least 67 wounded people had been taken to hospitals around Kabul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. A spokesman for Taliban insurgents said he was gathering information. In the meantime, Iranian media reported that the explosion has damaged the residence of Tehrans ambassador to Kabul but all diplomats are safe. The Pentagon's missile defense test Tuesday has been planned for years, but nobody planned for just how pivotal its timing would be. Just two days after the latest North Korean provocation and amid heightened concerns the rogue regime is inching closer to a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, the Pentagon for the first time attempted to destroy a target simulating the speed and range of a potential North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile. "It will test the system against an ICBM-type target and will represent the longest intercept test of a target to date in the program," said Vice Adm. James Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency. In Tuesday's test -- the results of which won't be known until Wednesday -- an unarmed rocket lifted off from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, representing a would-be North Korean threat. An interceptor then blasted off from an underground missile silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base north of Los Angeles, on a mission to take out the dummy target over the Pacific Ocean. In the final stage, hundreds of miles above earth, a "kill vehicle" was set to close in on the target, navigating through space with thrusters powered by real-time ground updates. Ultimately, it attempts to destroy the target by sheer velocity, both vehicles moving at thousands of miles per hour. It's the proverbial "bullet hitting a bullet." "I have complete confidence in the system and the warfighters operating the system," Syring told Fox News in a rare interview at his headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. About half of the previous tests of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system have failed, attracting criticism from the Government Accountability Office and the Pentagon's own weapons testing office, which says the system has "a limited capability" to defend the U.S. against an ICBM attack. "This is the hardest thing that the Pentagon has ever tried to do," said Phillip Coyle, an expert with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and a former official in the Pentagon weapons testing office. Coyle, one of the most vocal critics of the interceptor program, says it needs more development and testing. "I think they're trying to put their best foot forward for the program," he said. "But they have a long way to go." Faced with the prospect of an enemy state obtaining long-range weapons, the Pentagon rapidly deployed the interceptor system in 2004, long before development and testing were complete. "Fielding a capability was more important than waiting years to field a capability later," Syring said. "It was ... better for the agency at the time to field the capability as a deterrent and a contingency against a possible North Korean ICBM, with the direction to improve it over time and to fill out the architecture, which we've done." Thirty-six interceptors stand guard at Vandenberg and Fort Greely, Alaska. By the end of 2017, the Pentagon plans to have forty-four. -- Dan Gallo is a Fox News Channel field producer based in Los Angeles. -- Jonathan Hunt currently serves as a New York-based chief correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). Hunt joined the network in 2002 as an international correspondent based in Los Angeles. Updated 7:02 p.m. EST The Defense Department on Tuesday improved a spotty record by destroying a mock intercontinental ballistic missile over the Pacific with a new hit-to-kill vehicle meant to protect the homeland against the growing threat from North Korea. The launch of a Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD, interceptor missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California against an ICBM-class target fired from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands resulted in a "direct collision," the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said in a statement. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this program," Vice Adm. Jim Syring, the agency's director, said in a statement. "This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat." Related: Watch US Shoot Down Dummy ICBM in the Pacific Advocates of the system -- which had failed in eight of 17 previous tests -- said the success on Tuesday validated the investments in the program. "This was a good day for homeland defense and a bad day for Kim Jong-un," said Thomas Karako, a senior fellow for the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., referring to the North Korean dictator. The test that MDA estimated at $244 million had long been planned for May 30 but came as North Korea was stepping up its own medium and short-range missile tests and boasting of developing an ICBM with the range to hit the U.S. mainland with a "miniaturized" nuclear warhead that could survive reentry from space. For the U.S., the intercept marked the first live-fire test against an ICBM-class target for the GMD missile, which is being developed by Boeing Co., according to the Missile Defense Agency. The test was also the first for the new CE-II Block 1 kill vehicle, which uses newly-designed divert thrusters to correct previous problems with the guidance of the kill vehicle, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. that opposes nuclear arms proliferation. Divert thrusters are the small motors that make course adjustments when the kill vehicle is homing on its target and can make the difference between a hit and a miss, it said. Karako of CSIS described it as "the latest configuration of the previous CE-II vehicle." The hit-to-kill missile was designed to strike and destroy an incoming long-range missile by kinetic force, often compared to hitting a bullet with a bullet. In previous tests, intercept team leaders knew the general trajectory of the target beforehand. Chris Johnson, a spokesman for MDA, would not confirm that the trajectory of the target in the Tuesday test was given to the intercept team, but said that Vandenberg had a "general launch window." Overall, the MDA said in a fact sheet, "Testing to date has given us confidence in the basic design, effectiveness, and operational capability for short, medium, and long-range ballistic missile defense." Since the integrated defense system was initiated in 2001, MDA said that "75 of 92 hit-to-kill intercept attempts have been successful across all programs." The programs included GMD, the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3. Nine of 17 GMD tests before May 30 were successful intercepts, MDA said. Of the eight that failed, three were because the interceptor and the booster failed to separate. Another failure was attributed to a kill vehicle guidance error in the final seconds of flight. Other reasons for failures were cited as kill vehicle's infrared sensor cooling malfunctioned; interceptor failed to launch due to problematic software configuration; interceptor failed to launch after a silo support arm did not retract, triggering an automatic abort; and, simply, kill vehicle and system sensor performance issues. During the test Tuesday, multiple sensors provided target acquisition and tracking data to the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communication (C2BMC) system. The Sea-Based X-band radar, positioned in the Pacific Ocean, also acquired and tracked the target, MDA said, and the GMD system received the target tracking data and developed a fire control solution to intercept the target. In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned of the threat from North Korea developing missiles capable of hitting the U.S. mainland with a nuclear warhead and has pressed China to rein in Kim Jong-un. North Korea has detonated underground nuclear devices three times in the last five years and has greatly accelerated its testing of ballistic missiles. In its 12th test launch this year, North Korea on Monday fired a missile that flew about 280 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan. The U.S. has also been concerned about North Korea switching from liquid to solid fuel for its missiles, which would significantly cut the time for launch preparations and limit the time for detection by satellite. North Korea's actions appeared to have altered the policy initiatives of new South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who had spoken during the campaign of the need for new negotiations with North Korea rather than confrontation and also questioned the placement of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. In phone talks Tuesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Moon said he would press for more sanctions on North Korea before considering new talks, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. "I agree with the prime minister's (Abe's) words that now is not time for dialogue with North Korea, but a time to heighten sanctions and pressure," spokesman Park Soo-hyun quoted Moon as saying. -- Brendan McGarry contributed to this report. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com. Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go. Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune... Since relocating from Yuma, Arizona, to Iwakuni, Japan, in January, the Marine Corps' first squadron of F-35B Joint Strike Fighters has been hard at work ironing out the basics of operations in the Pacific, from streamlining supply chains to practicing "hot reloads" and rapid ground refueling from a KC-130. This fall, the unit -- Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 -- will deploy aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. And the squadron is well aware that a sea deployment in the tense Pacific could well entail responding to a regional crisis or a combat contingency, Lt. Col. Richard Rusnok, the squadron's commanding officer, told Military.com in an interview this month. "When I was a young guy in [AV-8B] Harrier land in 2003, several MEUs ... were in a normal deployment and something happened, and they ended up in a bigger picture," Rusnok said, referring to MEU-based combat units dispatched to Iraq to assist with ground operations during the invasion. "That's something that could really happen. Given the small numbers of F-35s that are out there, I think [combatant commanders] are going to look at that and say, 'I've got six airplanes out on the MEU. I could do something with them.' " VFMA-121 has hit milestones not just for the Marine Corps, but for the entire Defense Department since late 2012, when it became the first squadron to activate with the 5th-generation fighter. The unit's reception in the Iwakuni community has been warm, Rusnok said. Iwakuni Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda attended the March change-of-command ceremony for the unit, and an aviation day at the air station drew a crowd of 210,000, with locals surrounding a displayed F-35B "six or seven deep," he said. While the squadron has not begun shipboard training, set to happen later this summer, it's already preparing for the upcoming MEU deployment in practical ways, standing up and proving out logistics capabilities and supply chains for the F-35 in the Pacific. Working Out Supply Chains Rusnok noted that, in the space of months, the Joint Strike Fighter program went from being based almost solely in the continental United States to having aircraft in Israel, Italy and Japan, among other locations. "That's such an incredibly complicated, such an exponential growth in geography that it's almost hard to fathom, if you rewind back several years, to see we're this far along," he said. "What we've done, I think, at Iwakuni is to break down some of these barriers and find out how that airplane is supportable in the Asia-Pacific region." The squadron has worked with the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office and aircraft maker Lockheed Martin to find faster ways to ship gear and replacement parts, and to send broken parts back to the United States to repair. With a global supply chain and a relatively small number of active aircraft, sometimes a plane in need of a part at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona must get it shipped from Iwakuni, and vice versa. "Iwakuni is distinctly different from CONUS-based units, not only because of the tyranny of distance in the Pacific region, but we also have a wide variety of places we could potentially go," Rusnok said. "Expeditionary maintenance logistics are incredibly important to what we do." Fighting Skills The squadron got to hone its fighting skills earlier this month at Northern Edge, a 12-day training exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The exercise included the Air Force's 5th-generation F-22 Raptor, as well as numerous fourth-generation fighters, including the F/A-18 Super Hornet, the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. In the exercise, the largest VFMA-121 has participated in since moving forward to Iwakuni, the F-35s were able to drill on joint operations in the Western Pacific, focusing on aerial interdiction, strike warfare, air-to-air, and offensive counter-air missions. Rusnok said the F-35's kill ratio from the exercise was not immediately available, though one of the missions he flew racked up eight kills and zero losses, he said, a fairly indicative statistic. But he doesn't particularly like to talk about those stats. "Everyone likes to focus on that air-to-air piece. It robs that statistic out of a bigger scenario," he said. "You never hear about the surface-to-air kills we got, the enemy systems degraded. There's a bigger picture." The exercise, Rusnok said, also tested the F-35's ability to create a "God's-eye view" of the battlespace, with its ability to network and transmit information. Northern Edge showed, he said, that the capability remained strong, even in a dense radio frequency environment that hindered transmissions. "Where other air systems have problems, we're able to cut through that so easily," he said. "Our ability to resist that kind of attack on the electromagnetic spectrum is huge." Testing Maintenance Software The squadron also brought with it a deployable version of its Autonomic Logistics Information System, a software designed to revolutionize F-35 maintenance that has been hampered by production and upgrade delays. A 2016 Government Accountability Office report questioned whether ALIS was truly able to deploy in practice, citing a lack of redundancy in the system. "Every time we deploy this airplane, we make a decision whether to deploy ALIS or leave it home," Rusnok said. In this case, he said, the squadron worked with the Air Force to make necessary modifications to host the ALIS deployable operating unit, hardware that travels with the squadron when connectivity is an issue. Overall, Rusnok said, the system worked well during the exercise, and preparing to use it offered insights on its future use. "Let's say we're going to an Air Force base in Country X -- we know those facilities are now compatible with ALIS," he said. "Maybe we can take advantage of this and put it in our playbook as something we can do, optimize to really cut down on that logistics footprint." Now back in Japan, the squadron has already begun early preparations for its upcoming deployment, conducting rapid ground refueling tests using the KC-130 Hercules and practicing "hot reloads" in which the aircraft receives new ordnance while the pilot remains in the cockpit. The unit's pre-deployment preparations will likely provide insights for units that come after. The next F-35B deployment, aboard the amphibious assault ship Essex, will come months after VFMA-121 deploys to the Pacific and is expected to take the Corps' second F-35 squadron, VFMA-211, to the Middle East. "Come the fall, we're going to have all the pieces in place so we can effectively deploy the squadron," Rusnok said. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Khalid Kazimov Trend: Turkeys exports to Iran over the first four months of the current year have dropped by 26.5 percent and its imports from the Islamic Republic have surged by 67.2 percent. According to Turkish Statistical Institute, the country exported $1 million worth of goods to Iran in a period of four months between January and February which has fallen by 26.5 percent, compared to the previous year. In the meantime the country imported $2.5 billion worth of goods from the Islamic Republic indicating 67.2 percent jump. Trade turnover between the two neighboring countries in April stood at $921,193 of which $361,353 accounted for Irans exports to its northwestern neighbor. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Iran has rejected the preliminary proposal of Danish Maersk Group for the second phase of the South Pars oil layer development project, Ali Kardor, Irans deputy oil minister, said. However, he added that talks are underway with the Danish company, Tasnim news agency reported May 31. The proposal was not acceptable in terms of extraction model and oil recovery factor, Kardor, who heads the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said. Maersk will take into account the viewpoints of the NIOC in its new proposal, he said, expressing hope that the talks will be concluded till March 2018. Currently the contractor of the project is Pars Oil & Gas Company. Iran started production of 25,000 barrels per day of crude oil from offshore South Pars gas fields oil layer recently and plans to add 10,000 b/d to this volume in Summer. The figure is planed to reach 200,000 barrels in next 20 years. At least 300 wells will be drilled in this regard. It was earlier announced that Tehran will offer second phase of the layer development project to foreign parties. Kardor said in August 2016 that Iranian companies are working on the first phase of the project, but they lack the necessary technology for development of other phases. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Khalid Kazimov Trend: Iranian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned a huge bomb blast in Afghan capital, Kabul, which killed at least 80 people and injured 350 this morning. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi has expressed sympathy for the nation and the government of Afghanistan, YJC (Young Journalists Club) reported. Diplomatic dialogues would help preventing such catastrophes but the state supporters of terrorism must be excluded from such talks, he added. Media outlets earlier reported on Wednesday that the powerful vehicle bomb hit Kabuls diplomatic area damaging several buildings including the residence of Irans ambassador, however, the Iranian diplomats are safe. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the terror attack but extremist groups have been behind recent attacks in Afghanistan. Michigan State Trooper Chad Wolf A motorist who unknowingly dragged Michigan State Trooper Chad Wolf beneath his trailer for nearly four miles along a Michigan highway has been acquitted of all felony charges. A jury on Wednesday unanimously found 71-year-old Charles R. Warren of Waterford not guilty of charges including reckless driving causing death, failure to stop at the scene of a crash and a moving violation causing death. Wolf, a 38-year-old married father of four, was patrolling on a motorcycle about 6:30 a.m. Aug. 28, 2015 when Warren, who was hauling an empty utility trailer on his way up north, switched lanes to merge onto a ramp leading to I-75 north in Clarkston, police said. "Trooper Wolf, and this is hard for me to say, did not give himself time and space to be able to avoid the accident," Warren's attorney, Neil Rockind, said during opening arguments at the start of trial on May 22. Prosecutors argued Warren nearly missed the entrance ramp and caused the accident by abruptly swerving, and he should have noticed the collision or the large amount of sparks shooting from behind his trailer and pulled over immediately. Instead, he continued driving more than three miles to a rest area where she parked to get out and check out if something was wrong with his trailer. Rockind said Warren noticed sparks coming from his trailer as he drove down the highway and believed he'd blown a tire. Instead of pulling over immediately along the dangerous shoulder with high-speed traffic passing, he decided to proceed a few miles to a rest area he knew was approaching. Based on Google maps, Warren traveled nearly 3.7 miles before stopping. He pulled into the rest area and proceeded to the northernmost parking area. The parking lot was soon swarmed with police, who found Wolf trapped beneath Warren's trailer. The trooper died hours later. State police said Warren was apologetic and cooperative after learning what happened. "If I killed that man, you can kill me," Rockind said his client was recorded saying after he was placed in a patrol car. State Police Lt. Mike Shaw issued a statement following the ruling: "We ask that you keep Trooper Chad Wolf's family, fellow troopers and our department in your thoughts and prayers today. Danger exists, but the call to serve the public is stronger than that fear. Trooper Wolf was an outstanding public servant, forever remembered as a loving husband and dedicated father. "While we are disappointed with the outcome of this trial, we respect the process and thank the jurors for their time. We also want to thank the Oakland County Prosecutors Office for all of their hard work. Finally we can not express in words our gratitude to the people of the State of Michigan for all of their support during this difficult time." Rockind said he and Warren's family and friends shed tears at the tense and emotional verdict hearing. "Relieved and grateful" Rockind said was Warren's reaction, while also realizing "the fact that, even though we won today, this accident resulted in the death of a police officer and caused a lot of pain for two families." As for Warren's future, Rockind said it will "take some time to put the pieces back together." "Going through the criminal case and having your family go through the criminal case with you is like being with a relative battling terminal cancer," Rockind said after the ruling. "... This truly felt like we were fighting every power that was out there." WATERFORD, MI -- A 34-year-old woman is lucky to be alive after Waterford police say she hit an officer with her car early Thursday and was shot at eight times by police. "Her only injury was a flesh wound near her right elbow which doctors were unable to attribute to a gun shot," Waterford Police Chief Scott Underwood said in a statement Thursday. " ... The officer that was struck by the suspect vehicle sustained non-life-threatening injuries, has been released from the hospital, and is expected to make a full recovery." The officer is on administrative leave. The suspect has been released from the hospital and transported to the Oakland County Jail. Charges are pending completion of the investigation. Police say the suspect, who was spotted by a 17-year-old driving a black Dodge Charger slowly and suspiciously through a CVS parking lot near Crescent Lake and Highland roads in Waterford shortly after midnight, followed the teen home. The woman parked in a vacant lot and was spotted walking behind homes in the area, at one point walking onto the rear deck of the home owned by the 17-year-old's parents. Waterford police chase May 31, 2017. Google Maps They called police. When officers arrived, the woman sped off. Another officer joined the pursuit and the woman was blocked in at a residential lot near Williams Lake and Sunderland. "The officer exited his patrol vehicle with weapon drawn, approached the front of the suspect vehicle and ordered the driver out of the car," Waterford police said. "The driver ... quickly accelerated, driving the car directly at the officer and striking him. "The officer discharged his weapon, firing eight rounds into the driver's compartment of the suspect vehicle." The woman continued to try and flee with the officer on the hood of her car. He fell off at the end of the road and the chase continued until the woman found herself blocked at a dead end road, exited the car and ran. Police set up a perimeter and located the woman hiding alongside a business. She was arrested without further incident and suffered only a minor injury. FLINT, MI -- More than 90 Flint Southwestern Classical Academy students were congratulated May 25 during senior honors night festivities. The evening included highlighting the awards and distinctions for seniors with a 3.0 grade point average or above, musical performance, scholarship presentations, and speeches by valedictorian Tamara F. Bingham and salutatorian Zakeya A. Jones. Thanking God and her friends for their support over the years, Bingham said of her fellow graduates "Despite the stress and the obstacles we went through, we thrived and overcame each and every one of them." Bingham plans on attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor this fall to become a doctor, with hopes of working with Doctors without Borders in the future. She encouraged her classmates to work towards their goals with an unfettered determination. "When you really want to accomplish any goal you must first put your mind to it and then grind like there's no tomorrow," said Bingham. Jones commented the path to their futures may not always fall in line with where they think they are headed, but she encouraged them to continue to move forward. "Whatever happens I want you to do your best and try to live a happy life," she said, adding it's important to speak up along the way. "My dad has always told me closed mouths don't get fed and what he means by that is communication is key," noted Jones. "Speak your mind, especially if you're confused about something, because missed communication causes a bunch of preventable problems." The Flint Community Schools graduation ceremony is set for Tuesday, June 6 at Dort Federal Event Center, 3501 Lapeer Road, and will include Flint Northwestern High School valedictorian Kabrianna Keyes-McDonald, salutatorian Dimitriee Duncan, and Accelerated Learning Academy graduates. MLive-Flint Journal photographer Mac Snyder contributed to this report. Screen Shot 2017-05-31 at 12.43.16 PM.png Flint City Council President Kerry Nelson (left) and Mayor Karen Weaver (right) are shown in Flint Journal file photos. (Flint Journal file photos) FLINT, MI -- An online posting that claimed "the dirt is out" on City Council President Kerry Nelson has been pulled from Mayor Karen Weaver's Facebook page. Members of a Flint church filed a civil lawsuit last week against five people, including Nelson, a deacon at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, claiming that at least $1 million from the church can't be accounted for. Weaver's Facebook page, which is not maintained by the city, posted a link to a report on the lawsuit by television station WJRT and included additional comments about Nelson. It was posted and removed Wednesday, May 31. "Sitting Flint City Council president has issues with funds missing from the church he helps to run," the post on the Facebook page Mayor Karen Weaver -- Karen About Flint says. "He is always accusing Mayor Weaver of wrong doing. Now the dirt is out on him." Kristin Moore, a spokeswoman for the city, said the mayor was not involved in making the post and asked for it to be taken down after she became aware of it. Weaver and others have access to making posts on the site, Moore said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal. "It is my understanding that someone else posted it," Moore said. "When she (Weaver) saw it, she asked them to remove it." Weaver declined to comment further, Moore said. The Journal could not reach Nelson for comment. Filed in Genesee County Circuit Court on Tuesday, May 23, the lawsuit claims that five clergy members of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Flint have ignored church guidelines, literally locking parishioners out of the church building and leaving them in the dark when it comes to a $1 million insurance fire damage payout. Neither Nelson nor the suit's four other defendants were immediately available for comment on the filings. A staff member at the church declined to comment on the case. The lawsuit does not specify what wrongdoing each individual defendant is accused of doing. In April, the Michigan State Police began to look into allegations of financial improprieties at the church. However, when investigating officers asked parishioners for financial documentation in order to continue their examination, the parishioners never returned and an investigation was never opened, said MSP Lt. Dave Kaiser. FLINT, MI -- A Flint man who threatened members of Congress won't serve any additional jail time. Randall Dellinger was sentenced to time served in Flint U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to making a threatening call to the office of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin in 2012, the Associated Press reported. Dellinger was in custody for three years while doctors worked to improve his mental health. Randall Warren Dellinger Defense attorney Richard Korn told the Associated Press it's "fair and reasonable" to now keep him out of prison. The report said Dellinger has many health problems, including cancer that started in his bone marrow. Dellinger pleaded guilty in January 2016 to one count of interstate communication of a threat after he called Levin's office in June 2012 from his home in Flint and threatened to injure the senator. Dellinger was arrested by Flint police June 26, 2012, while leaving his east side home on charges he allegedly made threatening phone calls to then-U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint, and Democratic Senators Levin and Debbie Stabenow. According to an affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dellinger allegedly contacted Kildee's Flint office the evening of June 25, 2012, and complained about an "RF unit" that was supposedly implanted in him by the Michigan Department of Corrections. Dellinger allegedly explained in the call that he had been given leukemia and that Kildee needed to do something while in office or Kildee would be "one dead (expletive)," according to the affidavit. The affidavit claims that Dellinger also left his name and address in the message to Kildee. Similar calls were allegedly placed with Stabenow's Flint office and Levin's office in Washington, D.C. The alleged threats to Kildee and Stabenow weren't included in the plea agreement. After being charged, Dellinger was found mentally incompetent in December 2013 to stand trial. Flint U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith ruled in June 2014 that the government could inject Dellinger against his will with medication to help restore his competency after doctors testified the medication was necessary. The government contended Dellinger suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Court records show Dellinger did not believe he has a mental illness and refused the treatment. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in December 2014 affirming Goldsmith's decision allowing the government to forcefully inject Dellinger with anti-psychotic drugs. Federal sentencing guidelines initially called for 2-2.5 years in prison. Michigan Department of Corrections records show Dellinger served more than 8 years in prison after convictions in 2001 of possession of explosives with unlawful intent and two counts of resisting police stemming from an incident in Kalkaska County. According to an August 2000 report from the Traverse City Record-Eagle, he struggled with police, threatened to kill himself and detonated two simulation grenades after police were called to his Kalkaska home over a domestic dispute. Dellinger threatened to detonate a third grenade and was tackled by a sheriff's deputy who later received a Michigan Sheriffs Medal of Honor for throwing himself on Dellinger. Dellinger was actually carrying a cigarette lighter and not another grenade, according to the Record-Eagle. 16871347-mmmain.jpg Flint U.S. District Court building (MLive.com file photo) FLINT, MI -- A new federal judge is coming to the Flint bench. Effective Thursday, June 15, Detroit U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman will travel north to begin work in Flint, swapping out the seat of current Flint U.S. Judge Terrence Berg, who is leaving Flint to work in Detroit. The switch is part of a four-year rotation based on seniority, said David Ashenfelter, public information officer for Eastern Michigan U.S. District Courts. Nominated to the Detroit bench by President Barack Obama in 2013 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2014, Leitman worked as a clerk for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Charles Levin and in private practice until his nomination. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School, Leitman, in private practice, focused on complex commercial litigation, criminal defense, and appellate litigation. Leitman also authored several articles on a variety of legal issues, including criminal procedure, health care fraud, and litigating sales commission disputes, according to his biography on the U.S. District Court website. Berg, who was nominated to the Flint bench in 2012 by Obama, served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan for over 20 years, according to his biography. As a prosecutor, Berg handled a wide variety of federal criminal prosecutions, specializing in complex fraud cases and computer, internet and intellectual property crimes. In 2016, Berg made news after he was the subject of a nonfatal shooting in an alleged Detroit robbery ring. A jury found Kevin A. Smith -- the man charged in the matter -- not guilty on counts of armed robbery and assault with intent to murder, but guilty of conspiring to commit armed robbery and two felony firearms charges. Tehran, Iran, May 31 By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is being given a rough time by conservatives over his cooperation under a United Nations education program. In the most recent turn over the issue, 12 lawmakers wrote a cautionary letter to Rouhani and asked him to desist from following the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the rightwing Mehr news agency reported May 31. The MPs warned that they would put on agenda the impeachment of Rouhani if he does not back off. They rebuked the president for insisting on implementing the agenda instead of apologizing to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for having initiated its implementation in the first place. The criticism had been initiated by Ayatollah Khamenei himself a few weeks earlier. Conservatives say the implementation of the agenda is betrayal of Irans Islamic codes and will demoralize the education system. In response, the Ministry of Science issued an announcement May 31 assuring the critics that the government does not follow the agenda where it goes against Islamic norms. During a press conference on May 22, Rouhani dismissed the accusations related to his administrations plan under the agenda as lies. He even adopted a strong personal tone and said he will not forgive those who made the false accusations. During the electoral campaigns of May 19 presidential election where Rouhani fought for a second term, his rivals preached the masses against him by saying he has underhandedly set a goal to undermine societys religion by following the agenda. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Apothecary Off Main is ready for a bigger space. It's been a tenant of MoDiv, a downtown Grand Rapids retail incubator, since summer 2014. The retail space, at 40 Monroe Center, is owned and managed by Rockford Construction. The retailer, which got its start in Southern California, sells a variety of handcrafted items from up and coming vendors and local artisans. Popular products include remedies, gourmet kitchen items, bath and body care, hand and body soaps, candles and aromatherapy. The retailer is looking forward to a new, larger, space in the heart of downtown, said Jill Devan, the store director, in a statement announcing the move. "As our client base has increased, we began looking at a larger space that will allow us to continue to grow the number of products we offer," Devan said. The shop has grown over the years, starting at 393 square feet, and then expanding to 779 square feet in 2016. It's new space at The Morton is 900 square feet. MoDiv is designed to provide entrepreneurs and businesses an opportunity to incubate a business in a shared space made of individual suites. Apothecary Off Main joins a growing list of businesses who start in a small suites, and grow into their own retail storefronts, said Mike Mraz, managing partner of real estate at Rockford Construction. Apothecary follows in the footsteps of 6.25 Paper, MoDiv's first tenant, now located in a suite atat 40 Monroe Center, and Dear Prudence, now housed at 820 Forest Hill Ave SE. MoDiv offers a unique opportunity to lease a space in a great location for as short as one year, providing flexibility and low start-up costs to new businesses, he added. Devan credits MoDiv's location and community culture as a key point in growth. "People living in and visiting downtown seek out shopping," she said. "Offering unique products in a location that is easy to visit is key, and we enjoyed being in a shared space as we established the store." Location is what attracted Devan and her team to The Morton, whose tenants are frequent shoppers. "We are looking forward to not only being in a bigger space, but also being in the same building as more than 100 downtown residents," Devan said. Established in 1987, Rockford Construction is a nationally-recognized construction, development, with regional offices in the Midwest and Southeast. The Michigan-based company has built projects totaling more than $4.3 billion of various size and scope in more than 800 cities across the country. GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Just days after a pit bull killed a 3-week-old girl, two young children were injured in separate dog attacks in the city. The injuries in the most-recent attacks were not serious but showed the need for dog owners to properly secure their pets, police Sgt. Terry Dixon said. On Thursday, May 25, a 3-week-old girl was killed while she rested near a pit bull inside her house in the 1100-block of Kalamazoo Avenue SE. Adults were outside of the house when the attack happened. The girl was alone with the dog for five minutes. She died early the next morning after she suffered severe head injury. The dog that attacked - one of three pit bulls in the house - had blood on its mouth, police said. The other incidents happened Sunday, May 28. The first happened around 2 p.m. in the 200-block of Brown Street SE. Police said that a German shepherd attacked a 2-year-old girl who was being carried in her mother's arms. The girl suffered a small puncture under an arm pit and a 3-inch scrape to her chest. The mother told police she would seek medical attention for her daughter. Police determined that the dog had escaped its fenced yard, approached the toddler and bit her. Police contacted Kent County Animal Control and the dog is being quarantined at home. The other attack happened around 3:30 p.m. in the 400-block of Oakdale Street SE. A pit bull attacked a 2-year-old in a stroller, biting the child in the face. The child's father grabbed the dog and held it until its owner responded, police said. Police believe that the pit bull had escaped its corkscrew-style yard anchor and crawled under a chain-link fence. The victim's parents told police they would seek medical treatment. Animal Control took the pit bull for quarantine. The attacks are all under investigation. BENZIE COUNTY, MI -- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is working to find those responsible for burning household items on state-managed land, in what officers say had potential to cause a large forest fire. Conservation officers received a complaint May 24 about the discovery of approximately 20 burned mattresses, bed springs and about 18 identical metal head/foot boards found near the village of Lake Ann in Benzie County. Officers are asking anyone with information to call or text the DNR's Report All Poaching hotline at 1-800-292-7800. Those providing information may remain anonymous. Disposal of mattresses by burning and disposal of household materials on state land is illegal, said Conservation Officer Rebecca Hopkins in a press release. "In this instance, the fire from the burning mattresses caused the grass and nearby trees to burn and damaged approximately one-half acre of public land," Hopkins said. "Had conditions been dryer, this incident may have spread into a larger forest fire." Sgt. Terrence Hinton LANSING, MI -- A day after the body of a Grand Rapids native killed while serving in the U.S. Army was returned to West Michigan, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is offering a gesture of gratitude on behalf of the state. Snyder ordered U.S. and Michigan flags to be lowered to half-staff Thursday, June 1, on all state buildings and within the state Capitol complex. The order is meant to honor of U.S. Army Sgt. Terrence Hinton, who was killed during an Army training exercise in Hawaii earlier this month. "Sgt. Hinton dedicated his life to protecting our country and will be remembered for his bravery and sacrifice," Snyder said in a statement. "I send my deepest condolences to Sgt. Hinton's family, friends, and community." On May 14, Hinton was riding in a tractor-trailer hauling heavy machinery during a training exercise when the 20-year-old driver of the vehicle lost control, causing the truck to overturn in a culvert. Hinton was killed in the crash. The driver sustained minor injuries. A 36-year-old graduate of Ottawa Hills High School, Hinton been in the Army since 2009. He had been deployed twice -- once in Afghanistan in 2010 and a second time in Kuwait in 2014. A visitation will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 31, at Gillespie Funeral Home in Grand Rapids. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 1, following a family-only visitation at 10 a.m. Thursday. Hinton will be laid to rest at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta later this week. GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Donning a hard hat, Buchanan Elementary Principal Evelyn Ortiz wielded her shovel Wednesday, May 31, with pride at the groundbreaking ceremony for the school's $13.8 million comprehensive addition and renovation. At the helm seven years, Ortiz said she is eager for the makeover to transform the 497-student building into a 21st-century learning environment. "The building you see behind us has helped create some great memories and has helped inspire the dreams in the minds of thousands of students," Ortiz told the audience. "There will be more incredible years." "As we break ground today on this beautiful and memorable day, we are embracing our school's commitment to excel and reach excellence.'' Grand Rapids Public Schools buildings are getting revamped thanks to taxpayers support for a 25-year, $175 million school improvement bond in November 2015. Grand Rapids Schools Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal thanked the community once again for supporting the bond and her multi-pronged Transformation Plan for the district. She said the plan is focused on transforming the lives of children in the district. The Transformation Plan calls for investing in academic programs that are performing well, discontinuing those that are ineffective, offering more school choices to retain and recruit families, investing in talent, and the complete makeover and modernization of buildings. "Students, I want you to know that your community supports you, your teachers, the principal, the district, everything we are trying to do," said Neal, who urged them to give back to their community when they are older. Construction will begin on Buchanan in June and is expected to be completed before the start of the 2018-19 school year. The current school, located at 1775 Buchanan Ave. SW, was built in 1962 but a school has occupied the site since 1915, officials say. The prekindergarten through fifth grade building outgrew its space many years ago, evident by the two portable classrooms needed to accommodate students. Ken Klomparens, executive director of facilities, said three-fourths of the building will be brand new and one-quarter renovations. He said a majority of the existing building will be demolished to make way for new playgrounds and parking that will now be at the front of the building. The building addition will provide 16 new classrooms, new gymnasium, new art room, new music room, and new kitchen/cafeteria. The gym and cafeteria currently share the same space. The renovations include a more secure entrance that prevents visitors from entering the classroom areas, forcing them into the main office. There will be seven classrooms refurbished, two computer labs, the media center, new administration offices. First Ward City Commissioner Jon O'Connor, former school board member, said multi-million dollar investments was a new chapter for the Southwest Side neighborhood. "This elementary school will serve as a beacon of opportunity,'' he said, about the neighborhood school being the foundation for generations of children to be successful. GRPS school board member Kristian Grant said Neal's bold and comprehensive Transformation Plan, has moved the district forward. She called the groundbreaking important and symbolic. Buchanan has an 89 percent Hispanic student population. Neal said she wants to incorporate some of the community's culture into the new building, similar to what was done at Cesar E. Chavez Elementary. The district has already completed one bond project. The new C.A. Frost Environmental Sciences Academy middle and high school opened thi school year. The vacant Covell Elementary was renovated with $7 million in bond dollars and $700,000 from the sinking fund. Approximately $155 million of the bond is designated for construction, $10 million for technology and $10 million for security upgrades district-wide. Upcoming bond projects include: GRPS University, 1400 Fuller Ave. NE - $4 million for air conditioning and classroom renovations slated for fall of 2017. The former City High Middle School is used for training seminars, events and Parent University classes. City Middle/High School, 1720 Plainfield Ave. NE - $17 million for renovations slated to begin January 2018 Ottawa High School, 2055 Rosewood Ave. SE - $17 million in renovations slated to begin January 2018 The Grand Rapids Public Museum High School, 54 Jefferson, slated to open in fall 2018 - $2 million for air conditioning and classroom renovation work this fall. Funding for improvements are also coming from the $10 million XQ contest win and district fundraiser. Union and Innovation Central high schools will also receive $22 million in renovations each. Southwest Community Campus, located at 801 Oakland Ave. SW, is a PreK-8 school that's home to the district's a two-way immersion program, English and Spanish. The school is slated for $20 million for relocation and expansion to a high school. GRPS is one of eight partners involved in revitalizing the Roosevelt Park neighborhood. Besides the high schools, 14 other elementary, middle and theme schools will receive various construction upgrades such as interior modifications for classroom teaching tools. For a full list of school improvement bond projects, visit the district website. GMB Architecture + Engineering and Triangle was hired for the Buchanan project. Triangle Associates Inc., is the construction manager. GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Harmony Brewing is staking its claim to the Eastown corner of Wealthy Street and Lake Drive. The brewery is negotiating to purchase the Subway property at 1540 Wealthy St. SE as it looks to add square footage for customers and staff, and to add more kitchen space for future pizza deliveries. Bear Manor Properties is expected to close on the $550,000 Subway property by June 15, said Jackson Van Dyke, part-owner of Harmony Brewing. A closing date has not yet been announced for the Subway. "We've really wanted that Subway for a long time," Van Dyke said. "We pretty quickly realized that we were a lot busier than we expected." Harmony will be seeking special land use approval for the project from the Grand Rapids planning commission June 8. Harmony doesn't want to expand beer production in the Subway building - but does want to build out the space to seat more diners and drinkers, and to house a new wood-fired pizza oven to fill a new delivery and carryout service. The endeavor will take about $250,000 in improvements to the building and exterior, as well as $100,000 in equipment and fixtures as kitchen operations are expanded. Overall, Harmony is planning to invest about $800,000 in the expansion. The brewery opened in the former Jack's Liquor store at 1551 Lake Drive SE in 2012. In 2015 the brewery opened the German-style Harmony Hall on Bridge Street, a space nearly triple the size of the Lake Drive flagship. "Part of what we love about our Eastown location: it's a charming, cozy spot," Van Dyke said. "We want to keep that character. We get busy there; and we realized we needed to expand that seating to make it more comfortable for people and for staff." Subway owns the property at 1540 Wealthy St. SE. Harmony has been leasing space from Subway to operate its outdoor patio. But when the lease agreement came up, talks over Subway's plans to potentially add more outdoor space led to a sale offer to Harmony, Van Dyke said. "That corner is iconic," Van Dyke said. Harmony wants to resurrect pieces of the property's past. Van Dyke hopes to bring back the feel of the former Sunoco gas station that used to preside over the corner of Wealthy and Lake Drive. "I liked the look of the facade with garage doors," Van Dyke said, explaining that he potentially wants to bring those back to the building. The former gas station sign at the corner would get a "funky" redo, and the lighthouse on the top of the building would be renovated. The Subway would become a kitchen space with an additional wood-fired pizza oven for carryout and delivery orders, and the rest of the building that used to be an ice cream parlor would be converted to indoor seating for about 40 people. An entrance to the driveway off of Lake Drive SE would be closed so a new 60-space outdoor seating area could be added outside. Harmony still needs to obtain planning commission approval for the outdoor seating. The remainder of the existing parking lot in front of the Subway would remain dedicated for parking. Harmony is applying for licensing to be able to offer beer crowler delivery to complement its new, upcoming pizza delivery service. If "dreams come true," Van Dyke said the current patio seating area at Harmony would be enclosed to become a three or four-season eating area with garage doors that could be opened in the summer. Harmony has yet to announce opening dates for the expanded location. Once the brewery is able to close on the property, building out the second kitchen for carryout and delivery will be a top priority, Van Dyke said. Amash02.JPG Congressman Justin Amash listens to questions from the audience during a townhall meeting at Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. (Mike Clark | Mlive.com) GRAND RAPIDS, MI - U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, is meeting with constituents in Grand Rapids again tonight. The fourth-term Republican congressman has held several town halls since Trump's election, kicking off with a raucous gathering at City High Middle School in February. The Ottawa Hills High School Auditorium will host Amash as he meets with constituents Wednesday, May 31. The meeting is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. Note: Live coverage of tonight's meeting will be provided in the comment section of this post. Amash, who represents Michigan's 3rd congressional district, has been an outspoken critic of the policies of President Donald Trump on topics ranging from healthcare to foreign policy. One of the congressman's most recent public meetings was held April 12 in Byron Center, where climate change dominated the conversation. America's role in global environmental sustainability is likely to come up again tonight. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. At the April town hall, Amash said he believes in climate change, but "the data to support it is too small to prove anything." An avid Twitter user himself, Amash has scorned Trump for remarks on social media, and demanded Congress sharpen its inquiry into the former real estate mogul's family business ties and relationships with foreign nations, specifically Russia. Wednesday is also the first time public meeting with constituents since the West Michigan congressman was quoted suggesting Trump could be impeached if memos of former FBI Director James Comey -- which the New York Times reported indicate the president tried to shut down the federal investigation into Michael Flynn -- were true. Wednesday's event in Grand Rapids is the first of two town halls Amash is hosting this week. The second is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 1, at The Kool Family Community Center in Battle Creek. Michigan alcohol laws A Meijer gas station at the Meijer on Alpine in Grand Rapids on Thursday, April 14, 2016. (Neil Blake | MLive.com) GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Two more Meijer gas stations could soon be selling beer in Grand Rapids. The grocery superstore chain started adding beer and wine sales to most of its gas stations as a result of a 2016 state law that didn't sit well with competitors. This June Meijer is requesting approval from the Grand Rapids planning commission to add beer sales to two of its Grand Rapids gas stations at the 28th Street store at 2906 Kalamazoo Ave. SE and Knapp's Corners at 1997 East Beltline Ave. NE. Meijer needs to gain special land use approval from the planning commission in order to sell alcohol for off-site consumption from their convenience stores. The North East Citizen Action Association supports the Knapp's Corner changes, according to a letter on file with the city. A Meijer spokesman said the company has been selling beer and wine at most of its Michigan gas stations since late 2016, as a result of a new law passed last year. What some called the "Meijer carve-out" law was passed to allow grocers like Meijer to count the inventory in their main store towards a $250,000 inventory requirement in their application for a secondary liquor license at an adjacent gas station. The new 2016 law didn't lift that restriction for small standalone party stores at gas stations - and so competitors dubbed the 2016 change as the "Meijer carve-out" law. But a clarifying law, Public Act 434 of 2016 (Senate Bill 929), that went into effect this January, established specially designated merchant licenses that removed the inventory requirement for convenience stores with fuel pumps. Specially designated merchant licenses are quota licenses, where one is issued for every 1,000 people. They allow license holders to sell beer and wine for off-site consumption. HUDSONVILLE, MI -- For years, Holly Anderson has taken part in her Georgetown Shores neighborhood's twice-annual garage sale. The Hudsonville mom enjoys the camaraderie of hanging out with friends and neighbors, but is less enamored with recording the sales on paper and then having to figure out how much each person was owed at the end of the sale. Tracking sales involved peeling labels off every item, sticking them on a notebook or poster board, and then counting the price tags to figure out how much money should go to each person. "Anybody who has runned a garage sale knows the process of tracking sales is really cumbersome and antiquated, especially when there are multi-sellers involved," Anderson said. She turned to her techie husband, Brian Anderson, for a solution. The result is Tallysheet, a garage sale cash register app. It streamlines the checkout process and tracks sales in a multi-seller garage sale. Meeting his wife's request, was more involved than expected, says Brian Anderson. It required thinking through different scenarios such as what data people want to see on a report, managing the checkout process, and figuring out the payout when there are several sellers. He completed the phone app in time to try out at the fall garage sales and then tweaked it over the winter for her bigger garage sale in mid-April. "Even before the revision, it was the most accurate garage sale Holly has ever run," said Brian Anderson. Instead of the usual $100 difference between the tag totals and the cash collected at the end of the day, the difference was about a quarter. He attributes the difference to a variety of factors: not making change correctly, negotiating down a price and tags falling off the poster board. For both the spring and fall garage sales, the totals were off by only a quarter. "It made the sale easier, it validated the product," said Anderson. "It was really cool to see people coming into the garage sale and say 'Are you using your phone for that? That's a really cool idea.'" The app also gives updated reports on sales totals in real time. Tallysheet is free at Google Play Store and the App Store to download, but eventually there might be a fee for extra features. At this point, the Andersons are focused on building the app's user base. "Clearly, there is big market out there and it is undeserved," said Anderson, noting there are more than 60,000 garage sales weekly in the U.S. during peak season from April through October. Tallysheet has been downloaded 14,000 times. Reviews show that people are using the app for more than garage sales, such as craft sales, auction and even bake sales. Tallysheet is different than point of sale systems like Square, which are targeted at a different market. At first, the Andersons charged a fee for downloading the app but now it is free. The goal is to gain as many users as possible to monetize the volume. "Once you've got significant amount of users, some good reviews, then you have credibility in the marketplace so people are willing to spend that few bucks on your product," Anderson said. It could take awhile for the Andersons to recoup their investment. Brian Anderson estimates he and his team in the Dominican Republic have put 600 hours into the app. The couple says they aren't ready to quit their day jobs. Anderson is a marketing project manager at Holland office furniture-maker, Haworth, and Brian Anderson, is vice president at Brightly, a Grand Rapids design agency that builds custom software. He says he looks for side projects to work on. "I feel like it keeps me sharp," he said. 21298349-mmmain.jpg Bull moose at Denali National Park in Alaska about 5 miles out on the park road. (Courtesy Photo | Kent Miller) Moose are cool. Most people acknowledge that. For that reason, it's not uncommon for residents to make unexpected stops along Michigan roadways to take pictures of moose and other wildlife. With that in mind, the Department of Natural Resources is reminding residents to use caution when doing so. "We have had recurring concerns reported about motorists stopping along roadsides in the Upper Peninsula to watch and photograph moose," said Lt. Pete Wright, a DNR district law supervisor. "We understand seeing a moose is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people and it can be tremendously exciting. However, people need to be mindful of the dangers posed by passing traffic and the animals themselves." Here are some things to remember if you do stop to experience a Michigan moose sighting, courtesy of the DNR: Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: Pakistan can gain much from Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, but actually did nothing to utilize such a huge project which has a great potential, Malik Ayub Sumbal, Pakistani political analyst and international relations expert, believes. I think Pakistan incumbent government has not much interest in this project and has no plans to complete it in near future rather than there is some sort of extraordinary development comes, Sumbal told Trend by email. The expert believes Pakistan failed to construct the gas pipeline from Iran under the US pressure, as the US has strong influence on Islamabad. Meanwhile he noted that there is a huge space for Iran Pakistan pipeline to connect it with China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which envisages realization of a number of infrastructure projects throughout Pakistan. Chinese investments in these projects will reach $62 billion. Sumbal went on to add that India could also be its part of this project the Iran Pakistan pipeline could be extended to its borders. However he noted that India stands against all the projects on Pakistan development and it seems that it will not abandon this approach. Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project (also called Peace pipeline) worth $7.5 billion has been discussed for years. Iran has almost completed the construction of its section of the pipeline from the South Pars field to Pakistani border. Pakistani section of the pipeline is still not ready and Islamabad explains the delay by the lack of funds. Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI -- Police are looking for a 38-year-old man who was reported missing May 26 by relatives in Allegan County. Allegan County sheriff's deputies are asking for the public's help to locate Steven Eugene Chandler. Police said Chandler left Minnesota on May 21 and traveled by bus to Kalamazoo.He arrived there the following day, but did not make it to his final destination in Allegan County. Relatives of Chandler called police on May 26 to report him as missing. Later the same day, a family member received a call from Chandler and he indicated he was in Lansing and fine. He told the relative he was using another person's phone and had to end the call. He did not provide further information. Police said Chandler's relatives are concerned about his welfare. Anyone with information about Chandler's whereabouts is asked to call Allegan County sheriff's deputies at 269-673-0500 or Silent Observer at 1-800-554-3633. atm.jpg Police recovered two automated-teller machines stolen from hotels in Northern Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department) GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MI - Police recovered two automated teller machines that had been stolen from area hotels. Police used search warrants Tuesday, May 30, at a house in Paradise Township and recovered the ATMs, which had been stolen from hotels in Traverse City and East Bay Township. Police arrested a 48-year-old man at the residence. Police found the ATMs and evidence linked to the thefts at the residence. Traverse City police and Grand Traverse County sheriff's deputies investigated the crimes. CASCADE TOWNSHIP, MI -- A reported laptop fire involving a lithium battery caused a JetBlue plane to divert to the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. The plane, carrying 158 people, landed safely at about 8:10 p.m. Tuesday, May 30. There were no injuries and the fire was reported out before the plane landed. Ford Airport spokesperson Tara Hernandez said the plane -- a flight from New York's JFK airport to San Francisco -- was able to take off again about 10:40 p.m. and continue to its destination. Passengers deboarded for about 20 minutes while the plane was refueled. A spokesperson for JetBlue issued the following statement: "On May 30 JetBlue flight 915 from New York's JFK to San Francisco diverted to Grand Rapids, Mich., following reports of smoke emitting from a carry-on bag holding an electronic device. The flight landed safely and the aircraft was inspected by maintenance crews before customers continued on to San Francisco." Cascade Township firefighters responded to the airport as a precaution before the flight landed Tuesday. The airport's fire department also was at the ready. LGBT Students Michigan Michigan State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, has filed a campaign committee for a gubernatorial run. (AP Photo/David Eggert) LANSING, MI -- Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, has filed paperwork for the gubernatorial race with the Michigan Secretary of State. He formed a campaign committee on Wednesday that allows him to start fundraising for the position. Other candidates who have filed to run in the Republican primary are Joseph Derose, Evan Space, Jim Hines and Mark McFarlin. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and Attorney General Bill Schuette have each hinted at runs, as well. Colbeck did not immediately return a call for comment on his run. On the Democratic side, declared candidates include Shri Thanedar, Gretchen Whitmer, Abdul El-Sayed, Bill Cobbs, Justin Giroux, and Kentiel White. First elected in 2010, Colbeck came from outside of the political establishment. He worked in management and aerospace engineering before running for his current seat. He's been unafraid to vote independently, often breaking with the caucus. Recently he's backed legislation on , and 'choose life' . Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31 Trend: The Expert Council of the Baku International Policy and Security Network (Baku Network) and the European expert platform, Baltic Forum, signed a partnership agreement. The document was signed by Head of Baku Network Elkhan Alasgarov and Director of Baltic Forum Alexander Vasilevs during an international conference in Riga, Latvia. The signing ceremony was also attended by President of Baltic Forum Janis Urbanovich and Deputy Director of Baku Network Gulnara Mammadzadeh. Speaking of traditions of friendship and cooperation between Latvia and Azerbaijan, the sides expressed their desire to contribute to the consolidation, development and strengthening of relations of the two countries intellectual elites. At least 13 people were killed and 22 were injured as a result of a suicide attack in the Iraqi town of Hit in the Anbar province, Sputnik reported citing local media . According to Alsumaria broadcaster, a suicide bomber entered a crowd of civilians and detonated an explosive device. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. On Tuesday, at least 10 people were killed and 40 injured in a car bomb attack in central Baghdad. Several hours later, seven more were killed and 30 injured when another car explosion took place near the Al-Shahada Bridge in the Iraqi capital. The third explosion hit a parking lot in the northern part of Baghdad, injuring three people. The situation in Iraq has been highly unstable for several years due to activities of the Islamic State (Daesh) that seized control of large territories in northern and western parts of the country and are staging regular attacks against Iraqi troops and civilians. [May 30, 2017] Lite Access Technologies Inc. Reports Q2 2017 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update Lite Access Sees Continued Revenue Growth in UK Operations VANCOUVER, May 30, 2017 /CNW/ - LITE ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: LTE)(OTC PINK: LTCCF), a world leader in fibre optic products and advanced installation methodologies, today reported its financial results for the second quarter ended March 31, 2017 and provided a corporate update. The financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") can be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Financial Highlights for the Second Quarter 2017: Increased Lite Access UK 2017 Q2 revenues of $954,196 as compared to 2017 Q1 Lite Access UK revenues of $119,193 for total Lite Access UK revenue of $1,073,389 , an increase of 700%. as compared to 2017 Q1 Lite Access UK revenues of for total Lite Access UK revenue of , an increase of 700%. Total revenue of $1,807,563 for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 compared to $6,895,478 for the quarter ended March 31 , 2016. for the quarter ended compared to for the quarter ended , 2016. Total revenue of $3,605,817 for the six months ended March 31, 2017 compared to $7,709,024 for the six months ended March 31, 2016 . for the six months ended compared to for the six months ended . 2017 Q2 revenues $1,807,563 compared to 2017 Q1 revenues of $1,798,254 . compared to 2017 Q1 revenues of . Net loss after taxes of $1,803,586 for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 compared to net income after taxes of $953,096 for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 . The net loss for 2017 is attributable to Lite Access UK start-up costs relating to intensive training and trialing of different deployment methods as well as intentionally overstaffing crews to allow for development of an experienced, trained workforce that can be rapidly scaled to meet anticipated future demand. for the quarter ended compared to net income after taxes of for the quarter ended . The net loss for 2017 is attributable to Lite Access UK start-up costs relating to intensive training and trialing of different deployment methods as well as intentionally overstaffing crews to allow for development of an experienced, trained workforce that can be rapidly scaled to meet anticipated future demand. Cash of $19,830,446 as at March 31, 2017 compared to cash of $2,115,078 as at September 30, 2016 . Operational Highlights for the Second Quarter 2017: Firmly establishes Lite Access UK operations, accounting for 53% of Lite Access' 2017 Q2 revenue. Continued developing an experienced and trained workforce as well as key equipment acquisitions to service Lite Access UK operations. Started first customer fibre deployments in the UK in connection with a major UK network operator in Wrexham, Wales . . Successfully completed 265 FTTH trial in Ireland for Actavo on behalf of major UK network operator in the Republic of Ireland . for Actavo on behalf of major UK network operator in the . Awarded and commenced fibre optic network build for the City of New Westminster, British Columbia . . New South American construction partner, TEASA and Tilsit (T/T), awarded fibre connectivity project in Panama . . Successful introduction of Lite Access' revolutionary narrow trench technology uniquely designed for high fibre count (backbone) applications. On March 28, 2017 , the Company closed a bought-deal financing for gross proceeds of $20.45 million primarily to advance and support further customer deployments in the UK. "I am satisfied with the results thus far in 2017 as we have laid the groundwork for Lite Access' success by ramping up employee on the job training in the UK and Western Canada and successfully introducing new technologies to help sustain and grow our business," stated Mike Plotnikoff, CEO of Lite Access. "Growth capital from the recently completed financing are being used towards equipment and having a trained workforce in-place that can be rapidly scaled to meet expected future customer demands and enhance our ability to execute full construction activities on a broader basis." Mr. Plotnikoff added, "While overall results are important, it is important to emphasize that strategically we made a significant investmen in our UK operations and that that business is clearly accelerating with over 2,000 homes now connected representing an eight-fold increase in revenue over the previous quarter. As we establish our operational foothold in the UK and Western Canada, we are well poised to transition to our next phase of growth and see our business inflecting over the coming quarters." Corporate Update: United Kingdom Operations Lite Access Technologies UK Ltd. (LATUK) continues to connect homes as part of a large-scale project for a major UK network operator in Wrexham, Wales and has now completed over 2,000 homes across the United Kingdom using the Company's proven and preferred narrow trenching technique. In addition to FTTH connections, LATUK has also successfully deployed over 10kms of trunk / backbone network using its modified cutting equipment and processes that have proven to offer the most cost effective, fastest to deploy, and least intrusive means for fibre connectivity. Within the last two months, the Company's training and upskilling program was put into action to assemble additional backbone and FTTP crews. In support of a major UK operator's initiative to cover 17 million UK premises by 2019, additional crews are being hired and cross-trained in both FTTH as well as trunk installations. At present, the LATUK team has over 50 employees on-the-job-training (billing weekly) with an expectation of growing the UK base to 150 by year end. Western Canada Operations On February 9, 2017, Lite Access was awarded a fibre optic network build for the City of New Westminster, British Columbia and construction started on March 29, 2017. Already tested and in use in the UK, this fibre installation featured the use of the Company's narrow trenching process for the first time in North America. Based on the results of the project and new installation methodology, the Company has been approached numerous times with interest from others that will be using this narrow trenching process. Contracts and Ongoing Expansion Network Projects: Awarded first fibre project in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia for the City of Kelowna for the Awarded fibre optic network extension project for the Corporation of Delta Working with the Waterton Improvement District in Waterton Park, Alberta on a FTTH project on a FTTH project Work continues within the Kootenay region of South Eastern British Columbia for Shaw Cable Systems as well as ongoing network extensions for communities within this territory Lite Access continues to support local clients in Vancouver's Downtown core (many of whom are under non-disclosure agreements) by helping to extend existing networks that are required to better service a growing customer base. These ongoing contracts are the latest in a number of similar contracts that have been awarded to Lite Access over the past several years. Past projects have been completed with minimal disruption to the surrounding area and in far less time and at significantly lower costs compared to traditional methods of deployment. Continued Network Builds in the USA and South Africa Lite Access has received an additional product order from valued partner Colville Tribes in the State of Washington. Furthermore, the Company continues to support our certified construction partners in the east Coast of the USA in support of our long term clients as well as in South Africa for last mile connectivity using the LiteXTend technology. Global Certified Construction Partners Adding new teams of qualified and trained construction partners in territories around the world is part of Company's expansion strategy to solidify its position as a global leader in proven air blown technologies as well as the approved and successful micro / narrow trench processes developed by Lite Access Technologies. The most recent addition, South American partner TEASA and Tilsit, was awarded a fibre connectivity project in Panama that was completed in less time and under budget using the Company's proven process and equipment. Mr. Plotnikoff explained, "Developing the right strategic alliance and enabling our partners with training, equipment and proven technology, enables success for all parties involved. We continue to establish certified construction partners throughout much of the world, effectively creating an extension of the sales teams to further promote and encourage the adoption of Lite Access as the solution of choice for future proof fibre optic connectivity." About Lite Access Lite Access is a world leader in Microduct and fibre optic technologies. Using its specially designed and innovative micro / narrow trench and alternate methods of deployment, Lite Access' proprietary Microduct technology extends a network provider's ability to deliver true broadband connectivity directly to end-users, such as homes, government and educational institutions, and emergency response facilities. Providing a full portfolio of fibre connectivity solutions for many types of Telecom infrastructure, Lite Access has successfully deployed or enabled deployment of thousands of kilometres of Microduct networks throughout North and South America, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, Australia and Asia. Lite Access' products have been deployed in many high-profile communication networks including Olympic facilities, military and government, numerous communities throughout British Columbia, the USA and Alberta as well as Global telecoms that have adopted Lite Access as the "solution of choice" for future proof fibre optic connectivity solutions. Providing total Integrated Solutions including proven and approved alternate deployment methodologies, Lite Access remains flexible and innovative in its commitment to enable global clients and partners with the most cost effective and proven fibre connectivity available. Forward Looking Information This news release contains statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of historical fact, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Lite Access uses words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "believe", "intend" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by Lite Access in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to Lite Access' expectations and predictions is subject to any number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Many factors could cause Lite Access' actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties described in Lite Access's most recent Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) for the period ended December 31, 2016 which can be accessed at www.sedar.com . The "forward-looking statements" contained herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless required by applicable law, Lite Access undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise such information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Lite Access Technologies Inc [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The United States believes China is using its channels to convince the government of North Korea to stop missile launches, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told reporters on Tuesday. "At this point I do believe, and I think the administration believes, that China is doing back-channel networking with North Korea in way that is getting them to try to stop its nuclear testing, so we believe that they are being productive, we do think that they are trying to counter what is happening now," Haley said. The United States, Haley added, will continue to put pressure on China and at the same time will go on working with Beijing towards the goal of decreasing tensions in the region. She added that talks regarding a new resolution on sanctions against North Korea in retaliation of its missile launches are ongoing, but no particular agreement has been reached. On Monday, Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile that flew some 280 miles and fell into Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan. The move has already been criticized by Japanese, South Korean and Russian officials. Since the beginning of 2016, North Korea has carried out a number of missile launches and nuclear tests in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, prompting worldwide criticism and the escalation of tensions on the peninsula. The international community, including the United States, has criticized the military activities of the Asian nation and tightened the sanctions regime against Pyongyang. Egypts prime minister and the ministers of defence and interior briefed President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Tuesday on the latest updates in the investigatios into the Friday attack in Minya that left 30 Coptic Christians dead, as well as the subsequent airstrikes on terrorist bases in Libya that authorities say were involved in the attack, state news agency MENA reported. During the meeting, El-Sisi stressed the importance of combating any threat to the stability of the country, whether domestic or international. Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar presented El-Sisi with a report on the investigations into the Minya attack, as well as the steps taken to apprehend the assailants. The meeting was also attended by the Central Bank of Egypts governor as well as the ministers of foreign affairs, justice, finance, trade, and agriculture. A number of other issues were also discussed during the meeting, including providing citizens with basic goods at affordable prices and the ongoing efforts to reclaim state land acquired illegally by private investors and others. Search Keywords: Short link: live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Meeting of Board of Directors of the Company at their Meeting held on May 30, 2017 have decided and approved the following matters:1. Appointment of Mr. Ajay Kumar Jain as an Additional Director of the Company2. Resignation of Mr. Dheeraj Mangal as Director of the Company.3. Appointment of CA Yogesh Aggarwal as Internal Auditor of the Company.Source : BSE (Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons) The Chennai Labour commissioner has asked Cognizant employees affected by the IT major's efforts to reduce headcount to raise industrial disputes before a conciliation officer individually. In a communication with the Forum for IT Employees (FITE) and New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF-IT) - the two unions fighting for the cause of IT employees regarding their termination - the commissioner said the dispute can be raised under Section 2A of the Industrial Disputes Act, according to a report in Financial Express. The labour department also asked employees to raise concerns related to performance appraisal before appropriate forum through trade unions under Section 2(k) of the Industrial Disputes Act. Over the past one month, several media reports have claimed that Cognizant plans to lay off around 6,000 people. However, Senior Vice-President of Corporate Marketing at Cognizant, Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, denied such plans. He told Moneycontrol, "There have been no layoffs and these are only performance management measures. All of us are hiring. Cognizant hired thousands of people just in the March 2017 quarter". Apart from the mass layoffs, IT employees had raised concerns over voluntary separation programmes (VSPs), performance appraisals and alleged retrenchment of Indian employees to ramp up hire in US. Earlier this year, Cognizant for the first time offered its top executives-directors, associate VPs and senior VPs - a voluntary separation package (VSPs), to accelerate its shift to digital. However, in a letter to employees, Cognizant president Rajeev Mehta emphasised that the programme is voluntary. According to a Bloomberg Quint report, Mehta said, As its name makes it clear, the VSP is voluntary. No one is required or even asked to participate. We believe, this programme benefits associates who have opted in and are seeking to make a change in their career". According to a Livemint report, the IT company had been planning to ramp up US hiring. This led to various speculations around its connection with the retrenchment of Indian employees at a cost of hiring locals in the US. Mehta admitted to ramping up US hiring but denied its relation to retrenchment in India. "We continue to hire in local markets around the world. We have been ramping up our recruiting efforts in US for a number of years and will continue to do so while hiring in most other parts of the world including India," Mehta wrote. Egypt condemned in the strongest terms an attack in Kabul on Wednesday that killed at least 80 people when a massive truck bomb ripped through the city's diplomatic quarter. Cairo said the exterior of the Egyptian Embassy building was also damaged. A statement from the foreign ministry said the explosion was very powerful, causing "signficant" damage to the Egyptian embassy's building and the ambassador's residence in Afghanistan. One of the building's guards was hurt. The Ministry is following the situation in Kabul to ensure the safety of embassy staff and assess the damages. Cairo stands with the government and people of Afghanistan against terrorism and calls on the international community to strengthen its efforts to combat it, the ministry spokesman added. At least 80 people were killed and hundreds injured early Wednesday when a powerful bomb went off in Kabul's diplomatic quarter, bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital and shattering windows hundreds of metres away. The attack is one of the deadliest in Kabul and comes at the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Employees at the German embassy in Kabul were injured in the explosion and one Afghan security guard was killed, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter and Reuters reported. Turkey also said that its embassy building in the Afghan capital Kabul was damaged; however, the staff is unharmed. Search Keywords: Short link: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) earlier announced that it will probe the controversial merger of Air India and Indian Airlines to get to the root of the woes plaguing the beleaguered national carrier. The CBI filed three FIRs and a preliminary enquiry (PE) to go into the controversial decisions made by the erstwhile UPA government with regard to the merger of two national carriers, including surrender of profitable routes to favour private airlines. Read more: CBI lodges cases to probe Indian Airline-Air India merger; purchase of 111 airplanes The allegations relate to purchase of 111 aircraft costing about Rs 70,000 crore to benefit foreign aircraft manufacturers. Such a purchase caused an alleged financial loss to the already stressed national carriers," Gaur said about the first FIR. Buried in debt for years, the state-owned airline has been staying afloat on taxpayers money. By the end of March 2015, the so-called 'Maharaja' of Indian airways had accumulated a debt of Rs 51,367.07 crore. At the end of FY16, the airlines debt had been reduced to around Rs 46,000 crore. Out of this, Rs 28,000 crore were short-term loans. Many have alleged that the reason behind this despicable state of Air India's finances is the merger with India Airlines. "The biggest reason for the downfall of this airline was the merger between Air India and erstwhile Indian Airlines, which was done despite the fact that both carriers are totally opposite of each other," Air India chief Ashwani Lohani had told the Economic Times when asked for the reasons behind the airline's downfall. The merger between the airlines had created a behemoth with 30,517 employees - 214 per plane. In comparison, back in the day, Singapore Airlines had 161 while British Airways had 178. Back in 2012, a CAG report had termed Air India's move to purchase 111 planes during the merger a "recipe for disaster". "This was a recipe for disaster and should have raised alarm bells in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Public Investment Board and the Planning Commission", the report had said. The merger had tried to achieve economies of scale in areas such as maintenance, ground operations, use of landing slots and parking rights. But post the merger there was a major decline in customer service due to integration issues. Further, inflating looses due to increasing prices of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), decrease in customers due to recession and the heavy burden of costly acquisition of aircraft fleet. Explaining the regulatory action, the RBI said The Karad Janata Sahakari Bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Bankers grappling with huge bad loans on their books want the Reserve Bank of India to ease restructuring guidelines. As part of their request, the lenders are seeking the regulator's nod to have more loans qualify under the debt restructuring scheme and spread their losses on their loans over some quarters. In a meeting with the banking regulator on Tuesday, top bank heads suggested that RBI must permit sustainable loans even below 50 percent under the S4A (Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets). "We have asked the RBI to permit us to restructure more loans under S4A even if the sustainable portion of the loan is below 50 percent," said one of the bankers present in the meeting. The banker added that the sustainable portion in many cases does not touch 50 percent of the debt. But if the remaining 30 or 40 percent is allowed to be restructured, banks will be in a better position. Currently, the RBI's S4A scheme insists that at least 50 percent of the loan of a defaulter should be sustainable to qualify for restructuring of the non-performing assets (NPAs). This, however, has not helped much in resolution of the mounting debt on the banks' balance sheets as the cash flows of many companies is inadequate to service a large portion of the loans. Additionally, as banks have to set aside capital to provide for the losses on the NPAs, bankers have asked if that can be spread across many quarters. "One major issue is that banks will also have to take hits and if there is deep restructuring, the provisioning has to be taken in the same quarter but we need to be given more time of about 8-12 quarters to make those provisions. Its only too fair because once we have taken a medicine, we should be given time to recover and not opt for surgery," said another public sector bank chief present at the meeting. Taking serious note of the bad loan situation in the banking sector, the government recently passed an ordinance to empower RBI and banks to take decisions on bad loans by easing access to banks under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy law. Subsequently, the RBI also has ordered banks to have more co-operation or opt out of a consortium in resolving potential bad loans by empowering the Joint Lenders Forum to take the final decision. The RBI also plans to expand the scope of the Oversight Committee and involve credit rating companies to play a role in the rating of good debt separating it from the bad one. Many public sector banks are in the process of cleaning up their balance sheets which is taking a toll on their capital. Lenders including IDBI and UCO Bank , due to their weak balance sheets and capital strength, are already under restrictions on lending and expansion activities, imposed by the central bank under the PCA (prompt corrective action). Ministry of Defence (MoD) has given nod to three companies for the Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) project, say sources. Ordinance factory board, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and a consortium of Tata Motors and Bharat Forge have been shortlisted by the ministry to make prototypes. Integrated Defence Staff, an in house panel that provides inputs to Defence Ministry on capital acquisitions, gave a go ahead to the companies last week. Defence Procurement Board will give the final nod for FICV selection next week. One of the prototypes will be selected and then there will be bidding for the final project. The project size is estimated at Rs 60,000 crore for 2,600 plus FICVs and the entire life cycle cost will be at least Rs 1,000 crore over the next 15-20 years. For the completion of the project the three companies will be given around Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. The FICV is a high-mobility armoured battle vehicle for ferrying infantry men. It will replace the Armys fleet of 2,610 Russian-designed BMP series armed vehicles in operation since 1980. Once a prototype is successfully tested and validated, around 2,610 such systems or upgraded ones will be procured by the MoD and the delivery will be in a phased manner. These prototypes would be evaluated for their performance in plain and desert terrains. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said there is scope for rationalisation of tax rates fixed for GST regime and the intention of the government is to increase the revenue without hiking tax rates. "One thing we would agree is that there is a scope for rationalisation of tax rates on various goods and services," he said at a townhall meeting with industry here. The GST Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, had earlier this month fitted over 1200 goods and 500 services in the tax slab of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will unify 16 different levies will come into effect from July 1. Adhia said that the GST is a major customer-friendly indirect tax reform. The intention is not to increase the taxes but to increase the revenue by implementing GST as it would bring transparency, simplification and efficiency in tax administration and help in curbing tax evasion and thereby leading to tax buoyancy, he said. Ever since the fixation of tax rates, certain sectors have been seeking some relaxation in rate fitment and the revenue department officials have been holding regular interactions with industry chambers to understand their concerns. The next meeting of the GST Council is on June 3. On concerns by representatives of food processing sector, Adhia said a decision on the rates of foodgrains, especially wheat and rice, would be taken at the June 3 meeting. "We understand the food processing industry needs to be encouraged," he said. He also argued that if these items were kept in the exempted category, the food processing industry will be losing. He said the Council will take a view on the definition of branding. On concerns raised by representatives of financial services sector, Adhia dismissed the fear of loans getting costlier due to implementation of GST. "There have been some concerns raised in the financial service sector that loans and all of these will become costlier, no way (it is going to be so)," he said. "All people in financial services will know, we are not charging service taxes in deposits as well as loans, but taxes on other services. Loans are not going to become costlier. That is a misplaced fear, because of lack of understanding," he added. Adhia said that GST would help in creating lot of jobs for young generation. He said Indias economic potential is much higher and the GST would help in converting the economic energy in to real growth. Amid speculation that Air India may be privatised, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Wednesday that there were "hardly any bakras (scapegoats) around" to buy the loss-making national carrier unless its massive debt was written off first. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Raju said all options were on the table with regard to reviving the airline. He said Air India's finances were bad because of legacy and other issues and turnaround plans have failed to significantly improve its balance sheet. "Business-as-usual is not an option," said the minister, echoing statements had made the previous day. "Taxpayers' money cannot be committed for an eternity." Raju's comments came amid suggestions from the NITI Aayog, the government's policy think-tank, that Air India's debt be written off and a strategic disinvestment should follow. It noted that world over, governments have pulled out of national carriers and India should consider following suit. "I have a fascination for Air India and I am still searching for ideas," said Raju. "I want it to survive and don't want it to go the Kingfisher way." Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently said that if 86-87 percent of the market belonged to the private carriers, he saw no problem with 100 percent being run by it. Jaitley said the government was open to divesting its stake in the loss-making airline. Air India has become a bottomless pit with thousands of crores of taxpayers money going into keeping the highly unionised airline afloat in the competitive sector. In such a scenario, selling the airline will not be an easy task for the government. Air India, which has a debt of Rs 50,000 crore, has not made a net profit for at least 10 years. Half of the debt is on account of aircraft valuation. The airline claimed to have made an operating profit of Rs. 105 crores in 2015-16 but a report by the central auditor debunked that, saying the state-owned airline actually made a net loss of Rs. 321.4 crore. The government put Rs. 5,765 crore during the two years of 2015-17 and plans to put another Rs. 1,800 crore into Air India in the ongoing financial year as part of its turnaround plan for the airline. This will go into funding the airlines 2017-18 capital expenditure plan of Rs. 2,308 crore. The rest of the capex will be funded to the tune of Rs. 290 crores from internal resources and Rs. 218 crore as loans. To make matters worse, the Central Bureau of Investigation has begun investigating the 2005 purchase of 27 Boeing B787 Dreamliner planes by the national carrier, not a pleasant thought for an incoming buyer. Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview. Q: Let me start by asking you about what I would say is the elephant in the room, we have got the Maharaja right behind you. There are reports that seem to suggest that the Niti Aayog has presented its revival roadmap to the government including your ministry. One of the options that is being talked about is writing off a significant portion of the debt that Air India currently has and then looking at the possibility of strategic divestment. Our first conversation when you had just taken over in this very room, you had told me that tax payers cannot continue in perpetuity to bailout Air India. So, where do things currently stand? A: Air India, I have a fascination for it. It is a nice airline, it serves the country well and we wish it to survive and continue to serve the Indian skies. Now, its finances are very bad, more due to legacy issues, whatever it is. So, business as usual is definitely not an option. Governments had come out earlier with turnaround plan, financial reconstruction, but things as they appear, didnt have a dent on the finances. So, that is what is exactly pulling it down. So what is to be done? There is a lot of thinking going on, a lot of suggestions afloat, no decision yet but I would not like to close any option. Let us see what types of options are coming in. Of course lots of discussions have already happened, Niti Aayog has made its suggestion, and everybody wants it to be a good airline. So, that said, let us see where it takes us. Q: The Niti Aayog is suggesting that this be put up for strategic disinvestment, the Niti Aayogs viewpoint is that world over governments have extracted themselves out of the aviation business and there is no reason why the Indian government should continue to be in the aviation business via Air India. Is that a view that you support? A: What we will support, what we will not support will come up later. However, no option is going to be closed at this stage. The position I am in, I will not speculate on it. So, I am searching for ideas, all ideas are open now. Q: These ideas, the Niti Aayog is only the latest round of recommendations, there have been several committees in the past that have made recommendations on how you can turnaround Air India. So, the suggestions and the ideas have been on the table. A: They have been on the table for too long. Q: How long will it take for you to decide what is the best way forward? A: I am not going to put a timeline on it, but the luxury of indefinite time has also run out. So, some decision has to come about. Q: Would it be fair to assume that whatever the options are that the Niti Aayog has presented (Interrupted) A: It is not only Niti Aayog, everyone can, anyone can give ideas. There are a lot of ideas that have come in. Now why we are going to zero on what needs an analysis. Q: Do you believe that without writing off a significant portion of the debt, strategic divestment is not going to be possible, you are not going to find a willing buyer? A: You might be correct. There are hardly any bakras around so you can get one is difficult and businessmen are businessmen. There are limitations. One thing is for sure, the taxpayers money cannot be committed for eternity. So, that is one problem. Failures are there on the financial front, so, there are problems and these will be attended to. Q: You are saying that you cannot give me an indication of the timeline but you dont have the luxury of time to continue to consult with various stakeholders, so, would it be fair to say that maybe within the next three months, we will arrive at some sort of conclusion on the way forward. A: We need to arrive at a conclusion at the earliest. That angle I can say, but I will not put timelines on anything. Q: Another question that I will ask you in the context of foreign carriers being interested to come into India and there has been a lot of talk on the possibility of Qatar coming in via the fully 100 percent FDI route. I know that in your press conference yesterday, you said that Qatar has nothing to do with the plan to turn Air India around, but for instance, if there were a possibility, if the government decided to write off the debt of Air India and Qatar were to express interest, or anybody else, I am using Qatar as an example, or any other foreign carrier were to express interest in wanting to pick up a stake in Air India, would that be an option you would consider? A: I am open to all ideas, I mentioned. I am not doing any speculation as of now. These airlines which you talked about, European basically, which were owned by the governments and these are facts, they have sold out and generally others have bought shares in it and they are going ahead. So, all options are there. No option is ruled out, no option as of date is preferred. Let us see what comes out of it. Q: In the interim what do you do with Air India? Your colleague says that we are putting together a five-pronged winning strategy to turn Air India around. A: Excellent, if he does it fine. Q: You dont sound like you are convinced by what he is putting together? A: We have to work, more than one brain has to get applied properly on this and we are open to suggestions. Q: What is the current situation as far as the financial health of Air India is concerned? Air India itself says that look we are already doing operating profits, they claim that they have made profits of Rs 105 crore in 2015-16, the CAG suggests otherwise. It says there is a loss of Rs 321 crore and an understated loss of over Rs 6,000 crore in the three year period between 2012 and now. So what do we make of the financial health of Air India as of today? A: My understanding, it did not have an operating loss. With a company of that size not having say an operating profit of only that much is no profit at all. The idea is that it is capable of performing, so, that much it has demonstrated. Let the auditors sort out these problems and let them do their discussions. What we need in government is to come to some conclusion. Personally I would like it to survive, I dont want Air India to go the Kingfisher way, it should not happen that way. Q: Survive without the government being the principle shareholder? A: Whether it is government, or private, an airline if it survives, it can serve the people, otherwise it cant. Q: Have you had conversations with your colleague, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley because he has made public statements about the fact that he would like (Interrupted) A: We do a lot of discussions, but I would not share it with you at this time. Q: Let me then talk about one of the big achievements or milestones that your ministry has achieved and that is regional connectivity scheme (RCS) or the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme. I understand that there are now other listed entities like Interglobe Aviation who are also interested, so far it has only been SpiceJet from the listed space that has been interested in the RCS. What more can we expect now, there is the possibility of some changes even within the RCS, exclusivity being reduced, the cap on the number of seats being enhanced. What can we now expect in round two of the RCS? A: There are five airlines that had participated and they had started functioning. By September I think we will be getting a lot of hitherto unconnected destinations. Say like right now you could say 70 years into independence, 72-73 destinations, now in the first shot itself you are getting about 30-33 unconnected destinations. So, it is good, the reach is increasing and that is how it should be. Now, to develop a route, it takes a bit of time. That is why this viability cap funding is limited. So, the airline is expected to develop the route and to protect it that is why exclusivity was brought in. Now there is also another thinking that if a place has the potential, then exclusivity might pull the economic activity down also. So that thinking is also there. However, as we go on, we learn from our experiences and go ahead. Q: One of the other triggers that country is waiting for is the goods and services tax. The aviation sector in that sense will not really benefit from the GST rollout because ATF is outside the ambit of the GST. The revenue secretary in his conversation with me said that for airlines it is largely going to be neutral. What is your own assessment given the fact that ATF is out of the GST? A: You have a very high rate of tax at certain places. Somehow historically the thinking was this is the rich man's prerogative. So, tax heavily. However that no longer holds. It is obvious that aviation has an impact on other economic activities and it contributes to the economy. So, that thinking is there. Q: Will airlines be worse off or neutral post the GST? A: I think post the GST with petroleum products out of it and if state governments decide that their roles ought to be to promote aviation and bring down the VAT on ATF, it will balance out things otherwise there is a problem. Probably within the country cargo also is minuscule. There was a mind-set that though India has good markets somehow cargo in aviation is for export out of the country and import into the country. We see that aviation can also contribute in the strategy of increasing rural incomes. Probably GST might have a role there because India is becoming one market. So, it could help there. Let us see how it comes. Q: One of the other possibilities that is being talked about is whether we are going to see any further changes to the FDI norms related to the aviation sector. 100 percent FDI is allowed but foreign carriers cannot go beyond 49 percent. Is there any consideration at this point in time to tweak the FDI norms? A: FDI was earlier 49 percent automatic. Recently our commerce department has come out with 100 percent FDI and how to take it forward is still to be worked out. So, that is getting worked out. Q: This is public information that Qatar has looked at the possibility of entering India. Have they reached out to you formally or informally about whether they now intend to go through with their plans or have they decided to hold back for now, what is your own sense? A: I myself read it in the newspaper and heard it from reporters and things like that. Qatar has not approached the ministry saying they are interested and they would like to have something. So, in that sense there is no concrete proposal. Let us see how it develops. Q: Airport modernisation is another item. A: It is important. Q: It is important. The metro airports, atleast, Mumbai and Delhi already running out of capacity leading to a fair degree of consternation as far as passengers are concerned. What can we expect? And as far as the Navi Mumbai airport is concerned, 2019 is a date that is not going to be met. So, what is the new realistic timeline? A: I would put it this way. The traffic in Mumbai, the number of movements, they are crossing 52 movements. They are becoming equivalent to Gatwick. Mumbai should have had a new airport 20-25 years back. It is a premier city in India and human efficiencies have gone up, so you are able to handle that many movements. So, it is a very constrained airport. It needs another airport. Mopa is going to beat Mumbai by that work has already started there. But Mumbai needs it and India is losing out. So, they have talked about Navi Mumbai a bit too long. I myself have done two aerial surveys there. Soon as I came here, I wanted to see Navi Mumbai because it is a premier city of the country. It needs an airport. A: Then another few months back again I did a survey. In two years, from the air nothing is visible on the ground. That time, there was another government. They had their own dates. So, we requested the state government to please come, do this, they are giving us some dates. Government of India will work with the state government to achieve whatever they set up. Q: So, what can we realistically expect then, forget Navi Mumbai for a minute, but what can we realistically expect in terms of the modernisation programme? What will get done over the next two years? Leave Navi Mumbai aside, but outside of that, the six other airports that were up for modernisation where work is in different degrees or stages, what should we realistically expect? A: This Rs 17,000 crore plan of AAI is for infrastructure strengthening and changing and upgradation is okay. There is nothing wrong with that plan, but the way aviation has growth, you will have to throw open a lot more infrastructure to the private sector. If you do not do that, you are getting into trouble. Mopa is Goa is in the private sector. They have started the work. So we need a few more airports on the east coast probably two more, on the west coast probably two, then a place like Delhi itself you will need some firming up. Certain state governments decided on certain airports, then they did a flip-flop on those things. So, there is a problem. Aviation is a Government of India subject, land is a state subject and unless you have an airport, it is not going to work, unless you have land, it is not going to work. Q: Let me also ask you, since you are talking about Air India and whatever option the government does decide to take forward for Air India and you talked about infrastructure as being the big priority for your ministry, in that context, what should we expect or what should we realistically hope that could happen as far as the airport's authority of India is concerned? A: Airport's authority of India has certain airports which are problematic in the sense, they are not designed to take that type of loads that they have. In certain places, they have capacities which have been unutilised for extremely long time. So what Airports Authority, there also like Patna, how do you develop it? It has got its limitations. Already it is handling almost double of its capacity. So, like this, you have an airport. Then you have an airport like Aurangabad put up. There are hardly any footfalls there. The capacity is not going to be utilised unless something dramatically changes. So these type of mismatches, they are tremendous. So we would like to have a realistic plan which will help and we are working on it. Q: So, would it be fair to say that at least as far as 2017 is concerned, that Air India is going to be the priority as far as your ministry is concerned, whether it is strategic divestment, whether it is part divestment, privatisation completely, whatever the case maybe, is Air India going to be the number one priority for your ministry and for your government? A: Air India is one aspect. Infrastructure will help all airlines, whether they are public sector or private sector. It will help the country itself and probably your unutilised potentials can be utilised. Right now, I feel that cargo in India, by and large, nobody has really looked at it. Probably it is not that glamorous. So we are trying to get them to look at cargo because that is where the money is. The world's largest airline is a cargo airline. An airline like Lufthansa which started with passengers has a considerable number of cargo air freighters now. And in India, we have only a country our size and our potential, we have only Bluedart. Q: So what will you do specifically to ensure? A: So we have taken on a consultant. We are trying to because this is one place which can contribute to incomes. We need to rise to our potentials. Q: How do you assess the three year performance of your ministry? We are all looking at what has happened and what continues to be on the unfinished agenda, but how would you assess your own performance over the last three years? A: It has been interesting. We are the world's fastest growing in terms of passenger traffic. In fact, in domestic terms we have landed the third largest, in international fourth largest. So, certain potentials definitely have been harnessed and it is interesting and this growth appears to be having a future because a lot of airlines are ordering aircrafts and not involving the tax payer's money there. So, there is judgement. Q: So will things for Air India, because you are talking about tax payer's money, till you arrive at a conclusion on what the future of Air India looks like, will it be pause for now because the plan is also to add international routes and so on and so forth. So, what do we expect in the interim? A: They have to work. They have to continue to work and they are working. It is not that everybody should just come to a grinding halt and do nothing. It is not that. They will continue to work and let us see what happens. Explaining the regulatory action, the RBI said The Karad Janata Sahakari Bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. Some banks are using charges on maintaining minimum average balance in accounts and offering other facilities as an excuse to deny or deter a few customers from availing some of their services, RBI deputy governor S S Mundra said. He also batted for introduction of bank account number portability using Aadhaar and various platforms of NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). "While banks have been granted autonomy in fixing minimum average balance or charging for premier services, it should not be used as an excuse to deny or drive away services to the common man. This is what we are at tend to observe in some of the institutions...it is moving in that direction," Deputy Governor S S Mundra said. Most of the banks have introduced charges on non- maintenance of minimum balance in accounts and for using banking-related facilities. He said there is no harm in banks charging customers to offer select services but norms should not be designed to keep some customers away. Mundra was speaking at an event organised by the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) here. "If a bank is offering premier services, I don't see anything wrong for them to charge for that but it should be reasonable and not usurious, and it should not be designed to keep some customers away," Mundra said. The deputy governor said the RBI's concern is limited to ensuring availability of banking services to all customers and it is not looking into amount banks are levying on customers to offer these facilities. "In the last two years, the Aadhaar enrolment has happened, platforms have been created by NPCI, many apps to do banking transaction like IMPS have been introduced. With all these, account number portability is a very much in the realm of possibility," Mundra said. He said once account number portability becomes a reality, banks will see 'silent customer' moving away from them without even talking to them. The deputy governor said the RBI is soon going to prescribe the minimum narration for bank statement or pass book which would be easier for customers to understand. Mundra said a lot of banks are not adhering to the code of conduct designed by BCSBI. BCSBI is an independent body set up by the RBI, Indian Banks Association (IBA) and scheduled commercial banks with the specific objective of ensuring that customers get fair treatment. "Our analysis has shown that the per cent of complaints of non-adherence of BCSBI code over a six year period 2010-11 to 2015-16 has shown an increase and the increase is not a marginal increase," he said. Taking about the banking ombudsman scheme, he said for the first time since its inception in 1995, the number of complaints exceeded 1 lakh last year (July 2015 to June 2016), and during this year, up to May, it has already crossed 1 lakh complaints mark. India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan speaks on phone during an interview with Reuters in New Delhi, India, May 5, 2016. To match Interview INDIA-ENERGY/ REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RTX2D2M7 live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Moneycontrol Research Indias appetite for oil is increasing at a feverish pace as new refineries are being added in the country. However, the country is battling limited domestic production capacity. Indian oil producing companies ONGC and Oil India have been unable to stop the slide in domestic production. In order to increase domestic production and lower reliance on imported oil, government is now formulating a new policy. However, it is unlikely to yield results in the near to medium term. The policy envisages conducting a bidding process for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) contracts to increase production for its major oil fields. ONGCs Bombay High oil wells, which are over 50 years old, contribute the biggest share of Indias oil production but its contribution to the economy has been falling steadily. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hopes that the policy will help double the production of oil from these wells. Pradhan cites the example of a tiny oil well in Austria which has been producing oil since the Second World War and having 98 percent water cut. In India, we shut down wells which have 60 percent water content, he says. Water, gas and other chemical injections are used to extract crude. Pradhan was referring to how after pumping in only 60 percent of water, we tend to give up. With a little help from EOR, output could be increased. While the example might be correct it cannot be applied to the Indian condition or for that matter, any other oil well. Each oil well has its own character and requires a different treatment. A huge offshore reservoir like Bombay High would require a different technology and the expenses would be too high. At current prices of oil, few companies would be brave enough to make that kind of investment. Secondly, EOR technology has globally been successful on onshore oil wells. Bombay High is an offshore well, where globally technology has not yet been perfected. Indian oil wells have been using the water or gas injection method for oil production which normally results in recovery of only 25 percent of oil from the well. Pradhan is right when he says that technology can improve production, as the chemical flooding, gas injection and thermal recovery methods have been known to improve recovery by up to 75 percent. However, these have mainly worked on onshore wells. Apart from the fact that the technology is very costly, it is time-consuming. It can take over 2-3 years just to study the well characteristics which would require screening, scoping and then move on to reservoir modeling and, finally, simulation. Only then a small portion of the reservoir will be tested and if results are encouraging it can be expanded to the remaining portion of the well. In India, EOR has been tested successfully by Cairn India at its Mangala field in Rajasthan, which is the largest onshore oil well in the country. The company has spent over USD 600 million in its Rajasthan field to enhance production which has been one of the main reasons for the company doubling its production to over 300 million barrels. Cairns Rajasthan production accounts for nearly 23 percent of Indias oil production. The policy initiative that Pradhan is hoping to introduce might get a muted response as the policy is meant for enhancing production of existing wells which are mainly offshore wells. Also, the timing for conducting such an exercise is wrong given the oil prices and finally the technology is still in its nascent stage. Mona Jalota The Indian property market has always been quite attractive for non-resident Indians (NRIs) who are keen to have some roots in their home country. Reasons for NRI investments could be varied right from upgrading their family home, to offering a better lifestyle to parents, to having a signature property to come back to. To address whether the current spate of reforms would have a positive impact on NRIs its essential to understand what are the typical concerns of NRIs investing in India. So far, the common concerns of the NRIs investing in India, have been the opaque nature of the business, lack of information, no concept of standardised due diligence, untimely delivery and completion of projects with tedious or no legal recourse for buyers. Especially for NRIs the cumbersome nature of follow-ups with developers where projects were unfinished, was a big demotivation to invest in their home country. The question now is whether NRIs can be more confident in making an investment decision with policy changes such as RERA and GST attract NRIs to Indian realty in 2017. The government has largely addressed most of the above concerns by some of the key policy changes introduced in 2016, namely the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA), the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Benami Transaction Act. RERA or the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016 (RERA) will ensure regulations in this largely unregulated market. The purchaser will be more protected and greater transparency in the sector will be visible. RERA will put accountability on the developers in terms of financial disclosure, timely development of projects and maintaining good corporate governance practices. The GST is the single-biggest tax reform to be ever introduced in India. GST aims at eliminating the difference in indirect taxes applicable across various states. The real estate sector stands to benefit from the fact that GST would provide more clarity on tax-credits for RE transactions and allowance of input credit would reduce the price of properties. The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act provides an effective regime for prohibition of benami transactions. The amended law empowers the specified authorities to provisionally attach benami properties which can eventually be confiscated. Besides, if a person is found guilty of offence of benami transaction by the competent court, he shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than one year but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to a fine which may extend to 25 percent of the fair market value of the property. The introduction of REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) will also have a huge positive impact on the Real Estate sector. REITs open up a platform that will allow all kinds of investors even those with smaller budgets - to make safe and rewarding investments into the Indian real estate market. The best thing about REIT is that investors can start with as small a sum as Rs 2 lakh to secure units in exchange. For NRIs, the investment sentiment is greatly boosted by the RERA, GST, Benami Act, REIT and government initiatives like demonetisation. These measures have boosted transparency, and the amended rules and regulations have greatly simplified the purchasing processes. Lenient FEMA policies and relaxation of laws by the RBI regarding property buying by NRIs, have also resurrected the NRI interest in property purchases. State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has received USD 100 million (about Rs 645 crore) as the first tranche of Asian Development Bank's (ADB) multi-million dollar funding for installation of rooftop solar systems in India. The USD 100 million loan agreement signed between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Punjab National Bank (PNB) is backed by a guarantee from the central government. PNB will deploy this fund as a loan to various developers and end users to install large solar rooftop systems on industrial and commercial buildings throughout India, ADB said in a release. "This is the first tranche loan of the USD 500 million multi-tranche finance facility Solar Rooftop Investment Program (SRIP) approved by ADB in 2016," it said. As much as USD 330 million of this funding will come from ADB's ordinary capital resources and USD 170 million from the multi-donor Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The first tranche loan comes from CTF. The entire cost of SRIP is estimated at USD 1 billion and it aims to install solar rooftop system of around 1 gigawatt capacity in India. "This will contribute to the climate change goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 11 million tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent over the typical 25-year lifetime of rooftop solar systems," ADB said. India's solar rooftop market is expanding fast with an estimated total capacity potential of 124 gigawatts (GW). "With a sharp drop in the price of solar panels, India has a huge potential to expand its use of solar rooftop technologies," said Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB Country Director in India. The programme will contribute to Indian government's plans to increase solar power generation capacity and also help it meet the carbon emission reduction target in line with its commitment at the recent global climate change agreement, Yokoyama said. "The project is suitably aligned with the goals of government to increase country's solar rooftop capacity by 40 GW by 2022,' said Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs. The loan agreement was signed by Yokoyama of ADB and H K Parikh, General Manager, on behalf of PNB, while Kumar signed the guarantee agreement on part of the union government. Achiievers Equities' commodity report on Gold Gold trading range for the day is 28633-29031. Gold prices gained as political uncertainty led investors to favor bullion over assets considered riskier such as stocks. San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams said he is spending more time thinking about how fiscal policies under U.S. President Donald Trump could impact the economy. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said that a brighter global economy is posing less risk to the Fed's outlook for the U.S. BUY GOLD JUN 2017 @ 28900 SL 28800 TGT 29020-29150.MC Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Read More Egypts Minister of Defence Sedky Sobhi met on Wednesday with Cameroonian Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo in Cairo, to discuss subjects of mutual interest between the two countries, state news agency MENA reported. According to MENA, Sobhi and Assomo discussed bilateral relations and as well as military cooperation during their meeting. They also discussed the latest developments in Africa including the war on terrorism. Assomo is currently visiting Egypt with a delegation of Cameroonian officials. The Egyptian armys Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazy also attended the meeting with a number of Egyptian military officials. Search Keywords: Short link: live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) fell over 3 percent intraday on Wednesday as investors turned wary post its Q4 results. The state-run telecom firm posted a net loss of Rs 634.8 crore for the quarter ended on March 31, 2017. It had posted net profit of Rs 188.64 crore in the same period a year ago. Revenue from operations declined by about 3 per cent to Rs 963.12 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 992.65 crore in the same period a year ago. For the year ended March, 2017, MTNL's net loss widened to Rs 2,963.05 crore from Rs 1,945.86 crore at the end of previous fiscal. The stock lost over 18 percent in the past one month, while its three-day lost stood at 8 percent. At 12:08 hrs Mahanagar Telephone Nigam was quoting at Rs 20.75, down Rs 0.50, or 2.35 percent on the BSE. It touched an intraday high of Rs 21.05 and an intraday low of Rs 20.55. Achiievers Equities' commodity report on Zinc Zinc trading range for the day is 167.4-171.4. Zinc prices dropped as the market waited for top metals consumer China to return from a public holiday. However downside seen limited as, the Chinese government is moving to curb zinc production, as part of a drive to reduce pollution across the country. Last week, combined zinc inventories in Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong decreased 8,000 to 129,100 tonnes, down for over three months in a row. SELL ZINC MAY 2017 @ 170.20 SL 171.80 TGT 168.80-167.00.MCX. For all commodities report, click here Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Read More Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is set to float in June two consultation papers related to the broadcasting sector -- one on ease of doing business and the other dealing with the all-important issue of portability of a set-top box. Pre-consultation papers on the twin subjects were issued earlier by the regulator one in April this year and the other in the same month of last year. That it has already been more than a year since the broadcast regulator first issued the pre-consultation paper shows the sensitive, controversial and challenging nature of the set-top portability issue. The regulator generally issues a consultation paper to seek the views of the stakeholders on any matter. A pre-consultation paper is issued when the matter is very broad and the regulator, itself unsure of the viability of the concept, first wants to test the waters by talking to various experts in order to make a case. While a formal exercise in terms of a consultation paper and subsequent open house discussions is yet to begin, an official familiar with the thinking at the regulator said it was toying with the idea of a single window clearance to make it easy to do business in the broadcasting sector. Currently, an entity in the sector may need clearances from Home Ministry, Finance Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Defence Ministry, Department of Space as well as local bodies. Sometimes, one has to go back and forth to various ministries seeking clearances as clearance from one ministry may be dependent on approval of the other. A single window mechanism will obviate the need for the operator to run from one department to another, the official said. The other consultation paper one on interoperability of set-top box -- will surely meet resistance from the service providers. The concept that will allow consumers to change their service provider without changing their set top box has never been tried anywhere in the world and faces technological challenges, besides resistance from the service providers. "We have engaged C-DoT (Centre for Development of Telematics). Theres substantial progress. We are going to review the work. We are near the first interesting solution," TRAI Chairman Ram Sewak Sharma had told Moneycontrol in April. The high-cost of a set-top box is one of the key reasons why a consumer doesnt change her service provider despite being dissatisfied with it. Most likely, TRAI will go for gradual implementation of portability not just geography-wise but also in terms of various segments of the distribution sector. This means initially it may implement the concept for only cable-to-cable shift or only DTH-to-DTH shift while the cable-to-DTH shift or vice versa may be implemented only later. narendra modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish President Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday stressed the importance of resolving the disputes in the strategic South China Sea in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, a statement that could anger China. In a joint statement after their wide-ranging talks, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce based on the principles of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They urged all parties to resolve disputes "through peaceful means without resorting to threat or use of force, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities, and avoid unilateral actions that raise tensions." Regarding the South China Sea, the two Heads of Government stressed the importance of resolving the disputes in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, including the UNCLOS. While in Germany, Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel had also touched upon the issue of freedom of navigation in international waters. However, the two leaders had not specifically mentioned the South China Sea issue. "Both sides underlined the importance of freedom of navigation in international waters, the right of passage and other maritime rights and obligations in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and other principles of international law. Both Leaders attached particular importance to security, stability, connectivity and sustainable development of the blue economy in the Indian Ocean Region," a joint statement issued by India and Germany had said in Berlin. Both Leaders attached particular importance to security, stability, connectivity and sustainable development of the blue economy in the Indian Ocean Region," a joint statement issued by India and Germany had said in Berlin. China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea while Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil, and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday put a four-week stay on the Centres notification on cattle sale in animal markets. The interim order was passed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL).. The PIL said that choice of food is an individuals choice and no one has the right to dictate it. The High Court has asked the Centre and the state government to reply within a month's time over the issue. Last week, the Environment Ministry banned the sale of cattle for the purpose of slaughter at animal markets. The amendment is applicable to all states except Jammu and Kashmir. Under the definition of cattle, the ministry has included cows, bulls, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves, and camels. Many states including Kerala and West Bengal have opposed the idea and said that they will not follow the arbitrary order. Various bodies said that the decision will just increase the terrorism by cow vigilantes. As the debate erupted amongst states, the ministry clarified that the ban is to prevent unregulated animal trade and protect cattle. While there are some opposing the idea, there are others supporting it. Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has demanded a law to completely ban cow slaughter and also life imprisonment for such acts. The decision will hit the meat and livestock market and eventually, the farmers too. Manipur Board of School Education (BSEM) has declared Class 10th HSLC results 2017 today. The results were declared on the board's website manresults.nic.in and on examresults.net. Heres how students can check their results: > Log on to the official website www.manresults.nic.in> Click on the Class 10th results tab.> Enter your details like roll number and click on submit. > Once you hit submit, your result will be displayed on the screen. It is advisable to take a printout of the result for future reference. The board had declared Class 12th higher secondary results on May 23. The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday suggested the Centre to declare cow as national animal amid the chorus around the contentious issue of cattle slaughter. It also insisted that punishment for cow slaughter should be increased from the current three years of imprisonment to life term. The court's recommendation comes a day after Madras High Court put a 4-week stay on Environment Ministry-notified amendment banning sale of cattle for slaughter. The Rajasthan High Court was hearing a 2016 case pertaining to Hingonia Gaushala where about 8,000 cows died between January 1 and July 31 2015 allegedly due to lack of health care facilities and accidental injuries. The decision from the court came amid protests across the country, after the Centre last week issued a controversial notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter in animal markets. The Centres bracketed rules defined cattle as bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers and calves and camels. The Environment Ministry last week notified the stringent Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, banning the sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for the purpose of slaughter. Meanwhile, the security was beefed up at the premier institute IIT Madras as student groups took to furious protesting, this morning. Students were reported holding a protest march up to the IIT-Madras Dean's office and demanding that the attackers involved be expelled after a PhD scholar was allegedly beaten up by fellow right wing students for participating in Beef Fest. The Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed the central order and issued notice to both the Union Government and the state government seeking their reply. Opposition parties across the country slammed the BJP-ruled government claiming that the move would invariably impact the export market and trade of leather and meat. Following the protests by business communities across the country, the government on Tuesday said it could reexamine the statement regulating the sale of cattle and may exclude buffaloes from it. Uttar Pradesh government today sought cooperation from Belgium in the cleaning of river Ganga before the Prayag Ardh Kumbh in 2019. Speaking to a delegation, led by Ambassador of Belgium Jan Luykx who called on the UP Chief Minister at his residence here, Yogi Adityanath said that his government was making all out efforts to clean river Ganga before the 2019 Prayag Ardh Kumbh and sought Belgium's cooperation. The Chief Minister asked Belgium to provide new technique for cleaning the river, an official release said here. The Ambassador also showed interest in the smart city scheme and assured help from his country in this programme. He also expressed desire to work in the cities like Allahabad, Aligarh, Ghaziabad and other big cities of the state under the project, the release added. The Indian Navy plans to adopt disruptive technologies in the coming months to bolster its communications, surveillance and weapons systems capabilities, a top government official said on Wednesday. The government will take a decision in the coming days regarding innovations in manufacturing the roadmap is clear, G Satheesh Reddy, scientific advisor to the Defence Minister, said. He was speaking at a seminar on 'Building Indias Future Navy: Technology Imperatives organised by industry chamber FICCI in Delhi. The disruptive technologies that the Indian Navy will induct will primarily be in the areas of high throughput satellite communication systems, directed energy weapons system and meta-material-based surveillance systems. Reddy made a strong pitch for leveraging the governments signature Make in India initiative to scale up domestic defence manufacturing capabilities. Reddy said that the Indian Navy should synergise academia, R&D and private firms and establish centres of excellence to enable better maritime operations. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba said that the Indian Navy has made rapid technological advances, bridging the gap between fact and fiction. Admiral Lanba said that the Indian Navy has adopted the Make in India programme, and it was important to move towards 100 percent indigenisation keeping in mind key needs of the end users. We will take Make in India to its logical conclusion, he said. "We have moved from a buyer Navy to a builder Navy". We need to keep pace with technology, not only for today but for tomorrow, the Navy chief said, underlining the need for rapid induction of newer technologies into Indias maritime operations. Navy is technology-drivenwhat is required is access to new technology and means to adapt new technology, said Vivek Lall, chief executive US and international strategic development, General Atomics. Make in India and the Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 will be a game changer for naval operations, helping the Indian Navy become more self-sufficient and advanced, he said. While advancement in technological and self-sufficiency are adding laurels to maritime brigade, allocation of budgets and build-up of manpower are going to be critical variables that will determine adoption of these technologies. Yogi Adityanath, newly appointed Chief Minister of Indias most populous state of Uttar Pradesh arrives to attend a meeting with government officials at Lok Bhavan in Lucknow, India March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar - RTX31THW At an election rally in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year, Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah vowed to protect the honour and chastity of girls, a promise which found a place in the party's manifesto. After the BJP swept to power in the Assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath kept this promise in the form of anti-Romeo squads, or Nari Suraksha Bal as they are now known. These squads comprise police officers who patrol outside women's colleges, schools and public spaces across the state to check sexual harassment. They were empowered to ask for the ID cards of men seen loitering outside these areas. Now, more than two months later, the Uttar Pradesh police have revealed the results of their efforts so far. Here are the numbers: 538 - Cases of harassment registered 7 lakh - Individuals have been questioned 3.38 lakh - Persons warned against eve-teasing 1,264 - Individuals against whom legal proceedings are taking place - Public spots in UP where checks have been conducted While the squads were ostensibly created to protect women, there were incidents of consenting couples being harassed. This led to widespread criticism about moral policing. Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav jokingly said that he felt lucky to have gotten married before the anti-Romeo squads came into being as his was a love marriage. Here's the story of the controversies so far: March 21 Anti-Romeo squad was launched. Police picked up boys from different places across Meerut for questioning; some of them described the incident as akin to harassment, Times of India reported. Another squad in Ghaziabad raided the towns biggest public park and picked up nine boys whom they perceived as Romeos, according to Hindustan Times. March 22 Shahjahanpur: Officers of a anti-romeo squad held a man for allegedly molesting a women & tonsured his head. Police investigating matter. pic.twitter.com/RuI2Vz6F2s ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 1, 2017 Three policemen stood by and shot videos while some unidentified people shaved a young mans head for roaming with a female companion in Shahjahanpur. The video went viral on social media and the policemen were suspended. March 26 Two policemen were suspended in UPs Rampur for allegedly harassing a man and his female cousin and taking a bribe during an anti-Romeo raid. The police refused to release them even after the youths family clarified they were cousins, Hindustan Times reported. March 30 Allahabad High Court legitimised the anti-Romeo squads after a Public Interest Litigation filed by advocate Gaurav Gupta questioned its workings. The court asked the state to frame new laws if the existing provision was inadequate to guide the police, The Times of India reported. March 31 Following accusations of harassment against the anti-Romeo squads, UPs Director General of Police Javeed Ahmed gave guidelines prohibiting the police from shaving any accuseds hair or blackening their faces. He also told them to refrain from discriminating against people based on their caste or religious faith according to NDTV. April 4 A group of womens activists released a joint statement condemning the acts of the anti-Romeo squads, which they claimed consisted of policemen and state-supported vigilante groups operating outside the purview of law. In many cases, these 'anti-Romeo squads' have become an even greater source of harassment and fear for women and men, which has even been acknowledged by the DG Police UP in his order of 22nd March, 2017, the statement said. April 12 Members of Hindu Yuva Vahini, the right-wing group founded by Adityanath, barged into a couples house in Meeruts Shastri Nagar and took them to the police station. They claimed the couple of belonging to different religions and said they would continue fight against such social deviations, ANI reported. May 18 Anti-Romeo squad was renamed as Nari Suraksha Bal. May 23 After heavy criticism over moral policing and alleged harassment, a training and sensitisation workshop was held for the UP police in Lucknow, according to NDTV. Three army officers and a soldier were killed on Wednesday during an army operation against militants in the Western Desert's Bahariya Oasis, the military said. The attack took place as troops were carrying out a raid against terrorists in the region after air forces conducted reconnaissance in the area, the army said in a statement on Wednesday. The military personnel were killed after "an explosives belt belonging to terrorists blew up while land troops were combing the area," the army statement said. During the operation, army forces destroyed two 4x4 vehicles carrying terrorists. The Egyptian army has been conducting operations in the Western Desert to stop the infiltration of militants or the smuggling of weapons through the Egyptian-Libyan border. Hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in attacks by Islamist militants on army and police forces mostly in northern Sinai in the last four years. Last week, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt had destroyed 300 vehicles trying to cross the border from Libya to carry out hostile operations against the country over the past two months. Search Keywords: Short link: Telecom minister Manoj Sinha said the government is aware of stress related to balance sheet of telecom operators and is working around it. "The growth is happening. There are certain concerns around the balance sheet of some companies...The government is aware of it and has constituted a inter-ministerial panel to debate all the issues. The panel has already held its first meeting," Sinha said at curtain raiser event of the India Mobile Congress. The telecom industry has started requesting for a bail- out package for mobile operators whose balance sheets are now heading south. Telecom operator Reliance Communications has not been able to service debt obligations and has sought time from lenders till September-end to make payment. Sinha appreciated efforts of private telecom players and said the Indian telecom sector is a success story with lots of growth opportunities. He said the India Mobile Congress will open up investment opportunities in the country's telecom sector and lead to new avenues in future technologies. "We have been feeling the need to hold such an event in India for a long time. We hope that like the Mobile World Congress, this event too will establish its significance in the coming days," Sinha said. India is all set to host its own mobile mega show 'India Mobile Congress' from September 27-29 to showcase the country's growing prowess in the global telecom market. The event to be held in New Delhi is being billed as India's answer to high profile and marquee mobile shows that are held annually in markets like Shanghai and Barcelona. Countries like the US, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Korea, the Phillippines, Bhutan and Japan have evinced interest in participating and creating awareness around the upcoming event, COAI director general Rajan Mathews said. "We have GSMA Barcelona that focuses primarily on the West...We never had a marquee event here that showcases the opportunities in India. The South East Asia region has much to learn from what is happening in India on the policy front and manufacturing...how we share infrastructure and how we provide affordable services," Mathews said. India's experiences with regard to mobile payment, e- health and e-education have a global relevance, he said adding that the event would also highlight the country's innovation, skill base and the startup ecosystem. Indian Cellular Association National President Pankaj Mohindroo said the mobile industry was also planning a global event for handset companies at the end of this year but it will now advance the dates of the event so that it coincides with India Mobile Congress. "Our vision is that 40 per cent of global mobile phones should be made in India. 80 companies in the field of mobile manufacturing have set up their plants in India. Now we have decided to move World Mobile manufacturing conclave along with India Mobile Congress so that it looks like a National Event," Mohindroo said. The Department of Telecom and the Ministry of Electronics and IT have thrown their weight behind the event which is being organised by the industry association COAI and K AND D Communications. The 'India Mobile Congress' with special focus on reaching out to the Asian markets will see technology titans converge to offer a peek into the digital future. The conference at the upcoming event will have special emphasis on topics like Internet governance, 5G, sustainable Wi-fi, smart cities and smart governance and Internet of Things and Machine to Machine Communication. India Mobile Congress is expected to see the participation of telecom giants like Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, as well as telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular. The three-day event is expected to draw 5,000 paid participants and 800 exhibitors. Countries like the US, the UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Korea, the Philippines, Bhutan and Japan have evinced interest in participating and creating awareness around the upcoming event, COAI director general Rajan Mathews said. "We have GSMA Barcelona that focuses primarily on the West...We never had a marquee event here that showcases the opportunities in India. The South East Asia region has much to learn from what is happening in India on the policy front and manufacturing...how we share infrastructure and how we provide affordable services," Mathews said. India's experiences with regard to mobile payment, e- health and e-education have a global relevance, he said adding that the event would also highlight the country's innovation, skill base and the start up ecosystem. narendra modi India and Spain today signed seven agreements, including on cyber security and technical cooperation in civil aviation, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the European country. The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital. The two sides agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Five MoUs were signed between the two countries on cooperation in organ transplantation, cyber security, renewable energy, civil aviation and one between India's Foreign Service Institute and Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1988, praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." Spain is India's seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. Two-way trade totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016. Modi encouraged Spanish infrastructure, tourism, energy and defense companies to invest in priority sectors in India, saying "It's a great time for Spanish companies to invest in India. narendra modi India and Spain should strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism as "both our countries" have faced the security challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Spanish President Mariano Rajoy today. Modi met Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace this morning in the first engagement during his stay in the Spanish capital today. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay termed the meeting a "fresh impetus to a multifarious relationship". Modi called for boosting bilateral cooperation to fight terrorism as "both our countries have faced the security challenge." Spain, the summer holiday destination of Europe, in a recent government report said that the Islamic State group "has been publishing in Spanish, which means an increase in the risk of its influence on radicals living in our country". In "today's global context", Modi said, the focus of his discussion in Spain will be on the international developments. The prime minister praised the Spanish president saying under Rajoy's leadership the country has undergone economic reforms "which is also the biggest priority of my government." He said railways, smart cities and infrastructure sectors were the priority areas for India and Spain has "enough skills and mastery" to contribute to India's requirements. Modi said he is confident that his visit to Spain - the first by an Indian prime minister since 1988 - will give a new momentum to bilateral ties. Later today, Modi will call on King Felipe VI of Spain and would also have a round-table interaction with Spanish business leaders to attract investment into the country. Light-emitting diode (LED) street lamps illuminate a road in Langen, Lower Saxony, May 23, 2013. Light-emitting diodes are taking over public spaces, saving thousands of euros in energy costs, although the price will deter households from making the switch for some time. LEDs are up to eight times more efficient than incandescent bulbs used in most homes but are still at least 10 times as expensive. The more expensive a lamp, the longer it needs to burn to write off the price, so it is more viable to use them in streets and hospitals than in homes where lights are off more than on. The town of Langen on Germany's North Sea coast has done the sums and two years ago became the first in Europe to replace its 2,583 street lights with LEDs at a cost of 1.7 million euros ($2.2 million). The town now spends about 79,000 euros a year to run its street lights - more than 60 percent less than before. Picture taken May 23. To go with story ENERGY-EFFICIENCY/LED REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer (GERMANY - Tags: BUSINESS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTX1076O Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, said today it would support three billion dollars' worth of development projects in partnership with China Development Bank (CDB). "CDB and Deutsche Bank agreed to work together over the next five years with an aim of supporting projects worth USD 3.0 billion," the group said in a statement, published as Chinese premier Li Keqiang visits Berlin. The two banks signed a memorandum of understanding expressing "interest in promoting the renminbi's internationalisation and in financing economic cooperation between China, Germany and other Belt and Road Initiative countries," the statement read. Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the "Belt and Road" project in 2013 aiming to reinforce infrastructure linking Asia with Europe and Africa, echoing the Silk Road across central Asia plied centuries ago by caravans. "CDB and Deutsche Bank will finance projects that are beneficial to clients of both banks, including through joint lending and project finance," the two banks said. A Malaysia Airlines flight was forced to return to Melbourne to land late tonight after a "disruptive" Sri Lankan passenger on board the Kuala Lumpur-bound flight claimed he was carrying a bomb, Malaysia's deputy transport minister said. "It is not a hijack. One disruptive passenger tried to enter the plane's cockpit," Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP. The passenger, a Sri Lankan national who was apparently drunk, was overpowered by the plane's crew and later arrested at Melbourne's airport, he said. "The passenger claimed to have a bomb. But it was not a bomb but a power bank.He was taken out of the plane handcuffed by Australian security officers," Aziz added. The passenger was later arrested by Australian authorities in Melbourne. "Everyone on board is safe," Aziz added. "MH128 safely landed in Melbourne Airport at 11:41 pm, safety and security are of Malaysia Airlines utmost priority," the airline said in a statement. Malaysia Airlines confirmed the plane was forced to return to Australia and had safely landed in Melbourne. Egypt's army chief-of-staff Mahmoud Hegazy discussed military cooperation on Wednesday with NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation General Denis Mercier in Cairo, the Egyptian military said in a statement. The talks addressed means of boosting military ties between the Egyptian military and NATO on the back of recent developments and challenges facing the Middle East and North Africa. Egypt is looking forward to "more military coordination, cooperation and exchange of information and expertise between [its] armed forces and NATO," the statement added. Wednesday's meeting was attended by a NATO delegation accompanying Mercier as well as a number of senior Egyptian army officials. Search Keywords: Short link: "With 60 percent of the voters selecting Yes on the ballot question, we believe our neighbors have sent a clear message that they are unhappy with the vote on the sewer sale and want a study performed," Towamencin NOPE statement Ex-choir director in Bucks County pleads no contest to molesting two students, secretly filming another Letter to editor: Voting is necessary to protect democracy Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi held talks with Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez in Cairo on Wednesday where they discussed boosting ties and trade between the two countries, a statement from El-Sisi's office said. Vazquez's visit to the Egyptian capital is the first by a Uruguayan president since the start of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1932. The two leaders said they aim to bolster trade between the two countries, with a focus on food and agricultural products. El-Sisi and Vasquez said that a free trade agreement signed by Egypt with the South American trade bloc Mercosur in 2010, which should come into effect "soon," will "bolster economic ties" and "promote trade exchange" between the Egypt and the bloc's member countries. Earlier this month, Argentina's parliament ratified the agreement, completing the endorsement of the four Mercosur countries; Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Trade between Mercosur bloc members and Egypt amounted to $3 billion in 2016. Mercosur is a sub-regional bloc that promotes free trade and the free movement of goods, people, and currency between member countries. El-Sisi and Vasquez also discussed international efforts to resolve regional challenges as well as Egypt's anti-terrorism efforts. Vazquez has invited El-Sisi to visit his country. Search Keywords: Short link: May 31, 2017 Trump Dumps Pretense Of Altruism From U.S. Foreign Policy For decades the U.S. foreign policy elite and its presidents played the farce of an altruistic United States that acts for the global good and in the interest of humanity. That was always a lie. Wherever one took a deeper look the U.S. acted solely in its (perceived) self interests. But the rhetoric helped to drag others along. Tributary governments could pretend they worked for the "universal good" when they in fact just followed orders from Washington DC. U.S. pressure was applied behind the curtain - through bribes, threats of revealing private secrets or -if necessary- via well managed "democratic" coups. Those times are over. Thanks to the honesty of the Trump administration the foremost positions of hard U.S interests and deadly threats are now openly declared fundamentals of U.S. foreign policy. The neo-conservative chaperone in the White House, National Security Advisor General McMaster, and the Goldman Sachs veto holder in the White House, economic advisor Gary Cohn, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that reveals the new true face of the U.S. empire: The president embarked on his first foreign trip with a clear-eyed outlook that the world is not a global community but an arena where nations, nongovernmental actors and businesses engage and compete for advantage. We bring to this forum unmatched military, political, economic, cultural and moral strength. Rather than deny this elemental nature of international affairs, we embrace it. Translation: "Power is with the strong. We feel strong. Screw you!" At every stop in our journey, we delivered a clear message to our friends and partners: Where our interests align, we are open to working together to solve problems and explore opportunities. We let adversaries know that we will not only take their measure, deter conflict through strength, and defend our interests and values, but also look for areas of common interest that allow us to work together. In short, those societies that share our interests will find no friend more steadfast than the United States. Those that choose to challenge our interests will encounter the firmest resolve. From now on the U.S. will only engage in selective, temporary friendships: "Where our interests align", and only there, will the U.S. be friendly because it obviously serves U.S. interests. Wherever a country deviates from that, even partially, it will "encounter the firmest resolve." That is as clear a threat as it can be. The threat was there before but it was applied silently. When the then German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle voted against the war on Libya at the UN Security Council, the Obama administration launched a local media campaign against him (through U.S. stooges), that devastated his party in the following election. Most people in Germany did not recognize the campaign for what it was. It was hidden behind "human rights" talk, "democracy" fluff and "winning" in Libya. But the U.S. induced campaign against Westerwelle happened, was successful and was a lesson to other local party leaders to stay in line with U.S. demands. The more honest Trump approach brings such threats out into the open. It is now clear that the U.S. follows only its interests - exclusively, and that it will apply the utmost pressure on whatever party disagrees with it in this or that case. Such behavior may work well in relations with the dimwit dictators of Saudi Arabia or Qatar. But voters in democracies do not like it when their politicians cave over the demands of a Donald Trump, or any other such egoist. They will demand accountability. Local politician talk about "doing our share in the global community" will no longer pamper over sycophantic behavior towards unjust U.S. requests to further its interests. Voters will insist on opposition to unjust demands and will be willing to bear the consequences. Trump is likely to find that this openly brutal foreign policy approach, without the warm and fluffy, pseudo-altruistic marketing of an Obama administration, will not work very well. He can hardly invade Spain should it decline to put pressure on Venezuela. No country will sign on to new sanctions against Iran should such a demand come with open threats. Self-determination and justice are too strong motivators to be overcome with pure boorishness. The McMaster/Cohn op-ed ends with this: America First signals the restoration of American leadership and our governments traditional role overseasto use the diplomatic, economic and military resources of the U.S. to enhance American security, promote American prosperity, and extend American influence around the world. That is a lonesome approach and it is unlike to enhance, promote and extend anything but disdain for the U.S. But it may well be the line it will follow over the coming years. If this is the end of the U.S. empire that evolved from World War II it is at least an honest one. Posted by b on May 31, 2017 at 18:24 UTC | Permalink Comments next page I sing what I want to sing, be how I wanna be, and reach as big of an audience as I can. 1 hour ago One local brewery recently went international when it had the chance to showcase eight of its products overseas. Representatives from Morgantons Fonta Flora Brewery traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, earlier this month to be part of the Mikkeller Beer Celebration. Brit Josa, the events coordinator for Fonta Flora, said the festival is a major event for the beer industry in Copenhagen. Its a really big deal, Josa said. Mikkeller is a huge brand over there. I couldnt even tell you how many beer bars they have, but they also are a brewery. They even have a magazine, so theyre doing all kinds of things. Its an international beer festival. So, you kind of have to be one of the selected few in order to go and get invited. We were lucky enough to be invited to that festival. We brought a lot of our sour mixed-culture, barrel-aged beers. Some of our sexier beers, if you will. Josa said the opportunity to attend Mikkeller provided an unusually big chance for Fonta Flora to get brand exposure. She said it was a goal long in the making for the brewery. Its a huge deal for us to be pouring overseas, Josa said. Were such a tiny brewery and we dont really make that much beer. We dont really distribute in the states at all, except for very sparing to just a few bottle shops. To share our beer with the folks overseas was somewhat a dream of Todd (Boeras), our brewer, back in the day, but we didnt know necessarily that we would be invited to something like that. I think its a dream of a lot of breweries to be able to do something like that. It was very honoring. Josa said those who were in attendance at the festival gave very positive feedback to the products Fonta Flora had to offer. Josa said many of the people who stopped by the Fonta Flora station would try one beer and then get back in line to try another. Many of those folks inquired about the possibility of being able to purchase Fonta Floras beers overseas. The beverage that received the most interest is one that is of a style completely of in-house creation, she said. We got great feedback, said Josa. It was so funny because (people at the festival) were trying to pronounce Appalachian. We kind of created our own brand of wild ale, which a tart style of beer, and we call it Appalachian Wild Ale. There were folks asking us, What is an Appalachian Wild Ale? thinking it was something that was already a style, but we made it up. They were like, Where is that? What do you mean? We told them it means were sourcing ingredients from the Appalachian region and that were located pretty close to the mountains. We kind of painted a picture to them about what we do and what its like to be here. When they drink the beer, theyre thinking about where it came from. Theres a small farmer that farmed those strawberries and gave them to us. We put them in a barrel and theyre drinking it. Its really cool. But perhaps the most lasting impact of Fonta Floras trip to Denmark could be potential partnerships and opportunities that arise from connections made in Europe. Even more will be possible once the brewery opens its farm that is in the works. Once the farm opens, well be producing more beer, Josa said. Well be able to be selective about the bottle shops our beer is sold in. We really would love to have our beer sold internationally. I think we made a lot of great connections (in Denmark). I got some of emails from folks in France wanting to distribute our beer. We got invited to a beer festival in Iceland and a beer festival in Spain. Im not sure if were going to go or not youve got to have the budget to do so but definitely, its huge for connections doing stuff like that because you meet a lot of people in the industry. For more information about the brewery, visit fontaflora.com. Justin Epley can be reached at jepley@morganton.com or 828-432-8943. US President Donald Trump will decide on Thursday whether to renew a legal waiver that delays an eventual move of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Any decision to move the US mission from Tel Aviv to the city claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as their capital would be controversial. Trump's administration has sent mixed signals over its intent, heightening tensions in a region where a new outbreak of unrest is rarely far away. Congress passed a law in 1995 making it US policy to move the embassy to Jerusalem, symbolically endorsing Israel's claim on the city as its capital. But the law contained a clause that has allowed each president since to issue and renew a six-month waiver on carrying out the move. US officials told AFP they expect Trump to renew the waiver once again on Thursday, but none were willing to go on the record in case he changes his mind. During his campaign for office, Trump expressed support for moving the embassy and has appointed a strong supporter of such a move as his ambassador to Israel. But he did not renew this call -- which would anger many Palestinians and neighboring Arab states -- when he visited Jerusalem last week on his first foreign trip. Jerusalem was divided between Israeli rule in the west and Jordanian in the east until 1967, when Israel attacked several Arab countries. Israel occupied east Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank since then. It later annexed east Jerusalem in amove never recognised by the international community. Israel has illegally settled more than 400,000 Jews in east Jerusalem and the occupied West bank. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: Morningstar's "Perspectives" series features investment insights from third-party contributors. Here, Ashburton Global Energy Fund manager Richard Robinson discusses the latest announcement from OPEC. As expected OPEC have extended their remarkable display of collaborative behaviour by extending their production cuts for a further nine months. However, despite the fact that the production cuts were extended, there is remarkably little evidence that market participants have positioned their portfolios for the effects of an extension. Open interest from money manager net longs are at their lowest level since records began in 2011 and shorts for Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) are within touching distance of their all-time highs. This confluence between the consensus that OPEC will extend their cut and the negative positioning of portfolios highlights a potentially misconstrued ambivalence to the effectiveness of the cuts. Initial Cuts Were Ineffective This ambivalence comes as a result of the perceived ineffectiveness of the initial round of cuts in achieving their objective of reducing crude inventories. However, extrapolating the effects of the first six months to the ensuing nine might be a costly error for those caught short. The first round of cuts in November 2015, has resulted in a remarkably high level of OPEC compliance at around 99%. However, what occurred subsequently, has left a market that is preoccupied with focusing on OECD inventories, most notably the US, with an obfuscated view of the actual global inventory situation. In effect, what we have seen has been an extraordinary transferal of inventories from producing OPEC countries to OECD countries, to a point where it appears many of the producing countries may have to start drawing on their reduced production to start replenishing depleted inventories over the second half of 2017 and into 2018. Saudi Arabia and Iran are two examples where we can see this transference occurring. Saudi have just completed a sequence of 15 out of 16 months of consecutive draws from their inventories. Prior to this, Saudi have only ever drawn two-three months consecutively on four occasions in the last 15 years. Consequently, storage levels hit their lowest in six years when measured against days of forward cover of production. Iran has emptied their floating storage. When OPEC announced their cuts in November 2015, they had almost 37 million barrels of oil in floating storage, since that date they have completely emptied their tankers, at a rate of over a quarter of a million barrels a day. Saudi were also busy boosting export numbers by emptying inventories, at a rate of 200kbbld until February. Both Iran and Saudi were both supplementing cut production with draws on their inventories, subsequently their oil export volumes remained stubbornly high. Cuts Will Hit Inventories However, you can only empty inventories for so long and there are signs that during the second half of the year, these countries will be combining production cuts with the need to replenish inventories, something that will begin to impact OECD inventories. Saudi, in February reduced their exported volume to their lowest level on record since 2011. We have begun to see the results of these reduced landings in May, as it takes just over two months including loading times to see the imported data respond. This factor helps to partially explain the confluence in the facts that US imports fell for the seventh straight week at a time when refiners processed a near record amount of crude last week. Consequently, US inventories; crude, distillates and gasoline, when measured using forward cover have fallen from 24% over supply to 7% since February, something that has been a little lost on the market. This need for producing countries, like Saudi and Iran to replenish inventories will also come at a time when their domestic demand begins to rise thanks largely to the increase of air conditioners in the hot summers and the availability of exportable volume drops by around 500kbbld anyway. Indeed, these draws on production to replenish storage will also come at a time when global demand increases by 3-4Mbbld. The extension of the cuts could therefore herald a second half of 2017, where we see an accelerated draw in OECD inventories, moving us close to normalised levels by the end of the year. The combination of normalised inventories, tight supply and a market that is historically very short of energy, could set us up for a strong reaction of the oil price as the year progresses. Disclaimer The views contained herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Morningstar. If you are interested in Morningstar featuring your content on our website, please email submissions to UKEditorial@morningstar.com Thirteen Turkish soldiers were killed Wednesday when a helicopter crashed in the southeast region after hitting a high-voltage transmission line, the army said in a statement. The army said the Cougar type helicopter fell shortly after taking off from a military base in the Sirnak province bordering Iraq, killing all 13 personnel onboard. "As a result of the painful accident, our hero comrades in the helicopter fell as martrys," the army said. Search Keywords: Short link: Attack helicopters fired rockets on Wednesday morning into parts of Marawi, a Muslim city in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines, that were still controlled by the militants fighting under the black flag of the Islamic State (IS) group. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao in response to the crisis, which he described as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Eighty-nine militants had been killed in the fighting and the amount of territory in the city that the remaining gunmen controlled had been cut to just 10 percent, military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said Wednesday. However Padilla warned of more intense battles ahead, with the military believing three of the militants' main leaders were likely still in the city. "That 10 percent is most likely the area that is heavily guarded and defended by any armed men if they are protecting any individual of high value," Padilla said. The militants are also holding an unknown number of civilians hostage, according to Padilla and other authorities. They initially took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage at the start of the crisis. A video of the priest appeared on social media on Tuesday, in which he repeated the militants' demands to withdraw and said his captors were holding 240 people hostage. Padilla said the number of people cited in the video as being held hostage could not be verified. He insisted the release of the footage showed the militants were becoming increasingly desperate and said security forces would not back down. "They are trapped, they are contained, they are in areas that they will never come up alive unless they surrender," Padilla said. Another major complicating factor was the safety of about 2,000 residents who the local government said remained trapped in the militant-controlled areas, with troops, police and aid workers trying to rescue them. "It was a terrible situation. We did not have anything to eat," Jenita Abanilla, 47, a laundrywoman, told reporters at an evacuation centre in Marawi on Wednesday shortly after heavily armed police brought her to safety. Abanilla said she, her eight-year-old son, her husband plus eight other neighbours and relatives had often hid kneeling with their faces on the floor of her house. "We covered the mouths of our children. We were afraid the gunmen would come in and kill us," she said, adding they were also scared of being hit by military bombs. Padilla said Wednesday the militants had murdered 19 civilians but insisted that the military's "precision airstrikes" had not killed any of the trapped residents. Twenty-one security forces had also died, Padilla said, bringing the combined death toll to 129. The clashes erupted when security forces raided a house to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as IS's leader in the Philippines and who is on the US government's list of most-wanted terrorists. Authorities said they were taken by surprise when dozens of gunmen emerged to protect Hapilon and then went on a rampage through Marawi, the Philippines' main Islamic city with a population of 200,000. Hapilon was being protected by members of the local Maute group, a small band of militants who has declared allegiance to IS, according to the government. Malaysians, Singaporean, Indonesian and other fighters had been involved in the unrest, according to the military. Hapilon and the two Maute leaders -- brothers after whose surname the group is named -- were still believed to be in Marawi, local military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera told reporters. A Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. The Maute and other hardline groups have rejected the peace process. Search Keywords: Short link: The Alabama city of Tuscaloosa is the worst performing metropolitan area with price declines in the past four months and down 17% year-to-date. The metro was the only one of the bottom 10 to decline, with the others mostly in Alabama, West Virginia and Virginia - showing little or no increase. The figures are revealed in the latest home price index report from mortgage tech firm Black Knight Financial, which shows a 5.8% rise in home prices nationally. That gain meant a new high of $272,000 in March 2017, up 2.3% since the start of the year. The rise for the month was 1.3% with Washington state leading the appreciation with a 2.2% increase. For metros, San Jose, CA saw the highest rise, up 2.6% in the month followed by Seattle, WA at 2.4%. Fifteen of the 40 largest metros hit new peaks for home prices: Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville, TN; Portland, OR; San Antonio, TX; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; and Seattle, WA. The Permian Basin is an engine of Americas energy resurgence that has been providing reliable, affordable resources for decades. Given Chevrons legacy in the Permian -- which dates to the early 1920s -- it is fitting that we are holding our 2017 annual stockholder meeting today at our new campus in Midland. Chevron is proud to be one of the largest oil and gas producers in the basin, employing thousands of employees and contractors and contributing millions of dollars to support the economic vitality of the region. In turn, the communities within the Permian Basin have provided us immense support, provided us with some of the most talented employees in the world and helped find new ways to produce energy safely and efficiently. It has been a true partnership. At this years meeting, we look forward to communicating directly with our stockholders about the companys performance and our plans to create shareholder value. We will highlight the significant role the Permian will play in Chevrons global portfolio. The importance of the Permian Basin to the United States cannot be understated. The Permian is the most prolific oil-producing basin in the country, currently producing more than 3.8 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent a day and growing. And we know energy is important to Texas, where the oil and natural gas industry paid $9.4 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties for the 2016 fiscal year. Thats an average of $26 million a day that goes to state and local revenues used to directly fund our schools, universities, roads and first responders. While the fall in commodity prices has presented the energy industry with challenges, the industry -- including Chevron -- has responded by significantly increasing our efficiency and effectiveness. For example, here in the Permian Basin, we more than doubled our drilling productivity since 2014. Our industrys success in the Permian underscores that the United States has the natural resources, technology and ingenuity to affirm Americas legacy as a global energy superpower. To meet the energy challenge, we are going to need to foster innovation. Thats why Chevron is partnering with schools and colleges in the region to advance science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs that prepare students for future careers in one of these fields. Earlier this year, we opened the Fab Lab Permian Basin (a fabrication lab) with Odessa College, which will serve Midland, Odessa and the surrounding communities. The fabrication lab and an accompanying mobile lab is centered around a suite of digital fabrication tools and prototyping machines such as laser cutters, 3D printers, vinyl cutters and milling machines to promote hands-on learning. We were also proud to have been recognized earlier this month as Partner of the Year by Ector County Independent School District for our partnership to advance STEM curriculum and learning opportunities. The award was especially meaningful because it was designed by a Buice Elementary School fifth-grader who printed it on a 3D printer. Chevron has called Midland home for almost a century, and we will continue to do so for decades to come. We look forward to continuing to partner with the region to deliver the affordable, reliable energy the world needs. John Watson is Chevrons chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors. A midnight tweet from President Donald Trump has social media trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term "covfefe." Trump tweeted just after midnight on Wednesday: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." The tweet immediately went viral and became one of the president's more popular posts before it was taken down after nearly six hours online. Trump poked fun at the typo, tweeting around 6 a.m., "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!" The term became a top trending item on Twitter, with many users supplying tongue-in-cheek meanings. One user joked that "covfefe" is already a popular name for babies in states that voted for Trump. Silicon Valley executive Andrew Crow went as far to change his last name on Twitter to "Covfefe." Jimmy Kimmel lamented that he'll never write anything funnier than the term. Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster checked in with an eye-rolling tweet about people looking up "covfefe" on its website. Dozens of definitions have been submitted the Urban Dictionary website, which crowdsources meanings for slang terms. The president returned to his normal Twitter routine later in the morning by slamming Democrats over the probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. Search Keywords: Short link: For the first time since July 2016, Midland ISD has a permanent superintendent. The MISD trustees unanimous vote on Tuesday put the finishing touches on their hiring of the districts 11th superintendent -- Orlando Riddick. But when Riddick starts July 1, he will take the reins of a district that has been anything but leader-less. Interim Superintendent Rod Schroder and a new school board have taken the district through an academic performance assessment and culture change that they believed would help improve the foundation for the next superintendent. Studying the data and working with the Texas Education Agency -- including creating the districts Lone Star Governance Plan -- have steered the district in a different direction from the summer of 2016. A plan is in place to address the number of failing campuses and reinforce a no-excuses and growth mindset. The governance report, as it turned out, also showed perspective candidates the district has a better understanding of how to improve student outcomes and that the groundwork for an academic rebound has been accomplished. As Riddick said Tuesday, a phenomenal foundation has been set. Riddick said he talked to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath and Deputy Commissioner A.J. Crabill about the work that has been done at Midland ISD. The school district is in a good place, Riddick said. Everybody understands what they want to go after and what they want to do. Board President Rick Davis told the Reporter-Telegram after the meeting the board is looking to the superintendent and teaching and learning staff about how to achieve goals set out in the governance report. The goals include measurements for three different sets of students -- pre-K through second-graders, third-graders through eighth-graders and high school students. We will hold them accountable as Im sure the community will hold us accountable, Davis said. Chief Academic Officer Patrick Jones said Midland ISD is a better district than it was a year ago. I hope I can say that a year from now and a year from then I hope we can say that again, he said. Jones said that Schroder helped put into place a strategic method of improving the culture and morale of the district. He said good systems are in place and that Midland ISD needs a leader who can continue to right the ship. Riddick said his list of goals beginning on Day 1 includes: - meeting the challenges before the district; - making sure kids are ready to deliver and are in an exciting place on the first day of school; - making sure kids are reading on grade level and the students are performing in numeracy and literacy on a high level; - convincing parents and community members to become involved and all-in with efforts taking place inside the district. My conversation with Mr. Riddick was about the why, Jones said. Why are the scores where they are and what can we do to improve on them one student at a time. (Answering those questions) will take care of accountability if you can do that year after year. MISD superintendents through the years 1907-1941: W.W. Lackey 1941-1943: George A. Heath 1943-1954: Frank Monroe 1954-1955: William M. Hadley 1955-1968: Harold H. Hitt 1968-1982: James H. Mailey 1982-2001: Joseph P. Baressi Jr. 2001-2006: Robert E. Nicks 2006-2010: Sylvester Perez 2010-2016: Ryder Warren July 1, 2017-: Orlando Riddick James Durbin\Reporter-Telegram SHERMAN A judge has ordered a North Texas billionaire to pay $21.3 million to a former owner of Midland-based Yellowjacket Oilfield Services LLC in a dispute over the sale of the company. Grayson County District Judge Jim Fallon entered the final judgment on May 16 against Denison businessman Lacy Harber, who agreed to purchase Yellowjacket. After an eight-day trial, a jury delivered a 10-2 verdict on April 5, awarding $18.4 million to Gerardus Jerry Smith, a previous owner of the oilfield company. The judge added prejudgment interest and attorneys fees, including amounts for any future appeals to the award. Russia's President Vladimir Putin has lifted restrictions on hiring Turkish workers and on Turkish firms operating in Russia, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, under a deal to mend relations hurt by Turkey's downing of a Russian jet in 2015. Putin also partially restored a mutual agreement on the movement of each country's citizens that was suspended after Turkey shot down the plane near the Syrian border, the Kremlin added. The Russian leader agreed to lift some of the restrictions after meeting his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in early May. Russia is still keeping a ban on Turkish tomato imports, in the face of a Turkish proposal to lift the bar outside the Russian growing season. In response, Ankara imposed prohibitively high import tariffs on Russian wheat from mid-March, but resumed purchases after the presidents' meeting on May 3. Search Keywords: Short link: Ethiopia said Wednesday it had deactivated mobile internet service, but offered no explanation for the countrywide outage that also briefly affected the African Union headquarters and a massive UN facility. This is the second time in recent months that Africa's second most populous country has turned off its mobile data service, which most businesses and consumers rely on for internet access. The country's single telecommunications provider disabled its data service for weeks last year amid fierce anti-government protests which have since been curbed under a state of emergency in place since last October. "Mobile data has been deactivated," deputy communications minister Zadig Abrha told AFP, declining to elaborate further. A spokesman for the state-owned Ethio Telecom did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Home to both the headquarters of the African Union and the UN's Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa has gained the nickname "Africa's political capital". But officials at both institutions said their internet was cut on Tuesday afternoon but returned Wednesday, while average Ethiopians were still unable to connect via their phones or modems, which use mobile SIM cards. Ethiopia has been censoring its internet for more than a decade, and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have been blocked since last year's unrest. The shutdown comes as students in the country sit exams. The government temporarily blocked social media sites last year after test questions were leaked online. Search Keywords: Short link: We are collating signatures to petition ... The European Union and China will throw their full weight behind the Paris climate accord at a summit on Friday, EU officials said, in a bid to fill the void if the US quits the pact. The summit in Brussels could mark a dramatic shift in global politics, with the EU taking over from the United States in working with China to fight climate change. Signalling a new level of cooperation, the two sides will stress the "highest political commitment" to implement all aspects of the historic 2015 agreement, according to a copy of a draft joint statement seen by AFP on Wednesday. The EU-China summit follows a tense international tour by US President Donald Trump in which he spurned pleas by his European counterparts to adhere to the deal. US media reported Wednesday that Trump had decided to pull his country out of the accord but the unpredictable US tycoon indicated he would keep the world guessing for another few days. "We will issue a joint statement on climate change that will stress that China and the EU... will implement the agreement," a senior EU official told reporters on Wednesday, on condition of anonymity. "The Paris Agreement will continue with full force of implementation even if the US pulls out," he added. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will arrive in Brussels late Thursday for talks with EU president Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, with climate change at the top of the agenda. "The EU and China consider the Paris Agreement as an historic achievement further accelerating the irreversible global low greenhouse gas emission and climate resilient development," the draft joint statement said. "The EU and China underline their highest political commitment to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement in all its aspects," according to the nine-page draft. They will "significantly intensify" their political, technical, economic and scientific cooperation on climate change and clean energy to help the world shift to an economy based on low greenhouse gas emissions. Hoping to make the climate fight a "main pillar" of their bilateral partnership, including economic relations, the two underlined that their cooperation will fuel job creation, investments and economic growth, the statement said. Europe and China will also expand their cooperation on developing carbon markets, so-called emissions trading systems. "If US-China climate cooperation gave birth to the Paris Agreement, now it is up to EU and China to defend and enhance it," said Li Shuo, climate policy advisor of Greenpeace East Asia. "The pair has the potential to become the new driver for international climate diplomacy," Li said in a statement. Former US president Barack Obama and the Chinese leadership were instrumental in building momentum toward the climate deal. It was signed by 196 countries that set themselves goals to minimize carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. If the United States, by most measures the world's second-biggest polluter after China, were to pull out or reduce its goals, efforts to reduce the global temperature increase might fail. But European officials insisted that the deal would remain on track. "I understand that if they decide to pull out it will be disappointing but I really don't think this will change the course of mankind," European Commission vice president for energy, Maros Sefcovic, said at a briefing. "Despite this possible rollback of the US administration, Europe is ready for the leadership (on climate change) and we will definitely provide it," he added. EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete said the world could count on European climate leadership. "No one should be left behind, but the EU and China have decided to move forward. More on Friday," Canete tweeted. Search Keywords: Short link: Related Lebanese ministry calls for ban of Wonder Woman movie Lebanon's interior ministry banned the new Wonder Woman film from cinemas on Wednesday because an Israeli actress plays the lead role, a ministry source and a security official said. Lebanon considers Israel an enemy country and the Ministry of Economy and Trade oversees a boycott of any business transaction concerning Israel. An interior ministry source said they had issued an order to ban the movie, which stars former Israeli army soldier Gal Gadot, based on a recommendation from the General Security directorate. The distributor for Warner Brothers in the region said the movie was set to premiere officially in most of Beirut's major cinemas on Wednesday night, after private showings had been held the day before. The public release screenings were cancelled a few hours in advance. The Ministry of Economy had said in a statement on Tuesday that it had asked the General Security directorate to prevent screenings of Wonder Woman due to Gadot's role in the film. Israel fought a month-long war with its Lebanese foe Hezbollah in 2006, and has targeted the Iranian-backed armed group with strikes in Syria in recent years but there has been no major direct confrontation. The 2006 war killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, who died in Israel's military barrages, and around 160 Israelis, most of them troops fighting inside Lebanon. A U.N.-monitored ceasefire has largely held since the 2006 war. *This story ws edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. The Florida Legislature's $82.4 billion budget was delivered to Gov. Rick Scott Tuesday, Capitol sources say, thus beginning a 15-day period during which the governor can choose to veto all or part of the spending plan. Gov. Scott gets Florida budget Can sign, line item veto, or veto whole budget Scott upset at lawmakers for defunding job incentive program RELATED: Budget Allocations, County-by-County (.PDF) While it appears unlikely Scott would reject the entire budget, he may be unsparing in using his line-item veto pen for at least one reason: the legislature's Republican leaders all but rejected his top priorities. "As you know, the governor has lots of opportunities," Scott told reporters last month, shortly before the budget was finalized. "I'm going to look at all my opportunities. I'll go through the budget, I'll do whatever is best for the citizens of this state. But I can tell you what, I ran on jobs. I'm clear what I'm going to do. I'm going to do everything I can to fight for more jobs in this state." For Scott, fighting for more jobs has meant demanding robust funding for business incentives and tourism promotion. On both counts, he's suffered defeats: the budget zeroes out the incentive program overseen by Enterprise Florida and cuts Visit Florida's funding by two-thirds. The reductions were engineered by House Republicans in the wake of revelations of questionable spending by the agencies. "There's cockroaches everywhere," House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-Land O'Lakes) declared in January. The governor could use his line-item veto authority to retaliate, slashing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of local projects that lawmakers like to hold up to their constituents as shiny objects representing their work in Tallahassee, particularly during election season. Scott could also choose to veto HB 7069, a bill containing surplus K-12 education funding. That funding includes $200 million for Corcoran's signature 'Schools of Hope' program to build charter schools in areas served by failing public schools. Beyond serving as a way for Scott to get back at the speaker for defunding incentives, a veto could also ingratiate Scott to a growing chorus of critics of the bill. "According to all reports, major education policy decisions included in HB 7069 were largely decided in secret by a small number of legislators," First Amendment Foundation President Barbara Petersen wrote to Scott in a Tuesday letter urging him to veto the legislation. LUBBOCK - Centennial Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Gregg Appel has announced the recent hiring of Sallie Wilha Rodriguez as vice president and director of human resources. Wilha Rodriguez will office out of the bank's corporate location in downtown Lubbock, and manage all aspects of human resources. Sallies solid foundation in human resources coupled with her business background is the perfect fit for Centennial Bank, said Appel. Sallie will be a key player in our mission to continue to hire great people, nurture our company culture and encourage employee engagement. I am excited to welcome her to the team. NEW YORK (AP) CBS' effort to brand itself as the home of hard-edged newscasts has been a success in the morning, not so much in the evening and "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley paid the price for it with his job. The network announced Wednesday that Pelley, who grew up in Lubbock and graduated from Lubbock Coronado High School and Texas Tech University, will return full-time to "60 Minutes," the flagship newsmagazine where he divided his time in the six years since he replaced Katie Couric as evening news anchor. Twenty-year CBS veteran Anthony Mason will fill in on the evening news until a permanent successor is chosen. The transition has already been a little messy: CBS had intended to announce it next week, but when workers began packing Pelley's belongings at his evening news office into boxes Tuesday night, word of his departure spread. With its influence diminished at the turn of the decade, CBS News sought to mold its newscasts in the meatier image of "60 Minutes." It named the newsmagazine's most influential correspondent, Pelley, as evening anchor and installed the team of Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell at the newly named "CBS This Morning." The strategy has worked beyond the network's dreams in the morning. Once invisible, CBS is now competitive with ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" show still third but gaining fast. Pelley won respect and some early ratings success in the evening. But he was never truly competitive with ABC and NBC, and lately has slid further behind. Pelley's onscreen demeanor "strict and steeling, disavowing both charm and irony" was appropriate for the nation's mood in the wake of last decade's financial crisis, said news consultant Andrew Tyndall, who studies the content of evening newscasts. But it has proven less so for the Trump era. Despite a heightened interest in news that has propelled cable personalities like Rachel Maddow to new heights in recent months, the evening newscasts haven't benefited. Collectively, the three networks reach 24.2 million each night, down 4 percent from last year, the Nielsen company said. In recent months, Pelley has attracted attention, and some anger from the president's supporters, for blunt assessments of President Donald Trump's moves. CBS gave no public reason for removing Pelley from the evening news either in Wednesday's announcement or in a conference call with employees. In such situations, ratings usually tell the story. But its executives stressed the importance of having Pelley full-time at "60 Minutes" as the newsmagazine. "The milestone 50th season of 60 MINUTES requires Scott's full contribution, and we look forward to important reporting from him for many years to come," CBS News President David Rhodes said. Pelley, 59, was on assignment overseas Wednesday. He'll be back at the "CBS Evening News" Monday for a short period before Mason takes over. In a statement, Pelley said of his evening news colleagues that "I find my heart filled with gratitude for the opportunity to know you, humility in light of your sacrifices, and hope for the future of journalism because of the standards you live by. CBS has been great to me for nearly 30 years. I'm glad to accept this assignment with continuing gratitude." There have been behind-the-scenes signals that a shift was coming. As he heads into a job where his day-to-day presence in the office is less important, Pelley has recently bought a ranch in Texas and put a house in Connecticut on the market. It's not clear whether Mason will be a candidate for the full-time job. His colleagues on Wednesday's conference call were told he'd committed to the interim job through the end of the year if no one is named earlier, said a staff member on the call who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk about it. Potential candidates include CBS' Jeff Glor and CNN's Jake Tapper or Anderson Cooper. But in a reflection of television news' changed circumstances, other CBS personalities like O'Donnell or "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson are not expected to be candidates. The role of evening news anchor was once clearly the top job in broadcast journalism but now has less influence; CBS would be loath to break up its morning team because that's where it makes more money. "It would be a mistake to take from this that people don't want a solid news program," said Lee Kamlet, a former ABC News producer and dean of the communications school at Quinnipiac University. "But they are more inclined to want it in the morning, when they haven't been on their news and social media feeds throughout the night." For all the attention Maddow and other cable personalities get, however, Pelley routinely reached twice as many people each night. Pelley's newscast had more international news and a tougher tone than its rivals, but it wasn't necessarily breaking news-dependent, Tyndall said. It was more dependent on its own video than special effects; in short, it looked more like "60 Minutes," he said. "The Trump Presidency does certainly not represent normal times for political journalism," Tyndall said. "Yet, perhaps, censoriousness is too narrow a tone to adopt in response to it. Perhaps that journalistic response should be leavened with bemusement and irony." Remember the work the city put in to ordinances for transportation network companies in the past two years? With one signature, Gov. Greg Abbott made it for naught. On Monday, the governor signed into law a measure creating a statewide regulatory framework for ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft. The bill, according to city officials, said TNCs cant be regulated by municipalities, so the state is the controlling authority on regulations. The law went into effect immediately. House Bill 100, according to the Texas Tribune, requires ride-hailing companies to have a permit from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and pay an annual fee of $5,000 to operate throughout the state. It also calls for companies to perform annual local, state and national criminal background checks on drivers but doesnt require drivers to be fingerprinted. In May 2016, the Midland City Council had put the final touches on an ordinance. In that ordinance, TNCs were told to keep a record of each background check but did not have to show that record to the city. A provision granted the city access to a sample of a TNCs background check records for their drivers to check for compliance, and a mechanism existed to suspend the TNC if a violation was found, according to the city attorneys office. Other highlights included: -- TNC drivers were not required to be licensed. -- TNCs were not required to share information with the city about drivers and their vehicles. -- TNCs provided certification from a company that specializes in background checks on the drivers. - The TNC permit fee was reduced from $3,000 to $1,500, and the airport pickup fee was reduced from $2.50 per ride to $1. - Vehicles didnt have to meet specifications, provided they had up-to-date state registration. The 2016 ordinance appeared to be a very TNC-friendly, one meant to guarantee Ubers return to Midland. Months earlier Uber announced it was leaving Midland because of a previous ordinance it found to be too stringent. TNCs were a hot-button issue as Midlanders voiced their concerns with their representatives about Ubers departure. One councilman said at the time it was the most response he received on any issue. In a May 2016 Reporter-Telegram editorial, the Editorial Board offered the following: it would have been easier if the state had addressed the transportation network companies issue. In the case of the TNCs, it would have saved many communities time and resources having to deal with the bully that has been Uber. Transportation network companies had fought other municipalities across the state on what it felt was burdensome regulation. This included Austin, where, according to the Texas Tribune, the Austin City Council passed an ordinance in December 2015 requiring ride-hailing companies to perform fingerprint background checks on drivers, a stipulation that already applies to Austin taxi companies. What today really is, is a celebration of freedom and free enterprise, said Abbott in a Texas Tribune article. This is freedom for every Texan especially those who live in the Austin area to be able to choose the provider of their choice as it concerns transportation. Currently, 41 other states have adopted comprehensive ride-hailing laws similar to Texas new law, according to the Tribune. Eighteen-year-old Haley Anne Dunn of Borger was being returned to Hutchinson County Wednesday afternoon following her arrest in Plainview that morning in connection with a Tuesday night shooting death in the northern Texas Panhandle. Dunn was arrested about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Plainview by Texas Rangers and members of the Texas Department of Public Safetys Criminal Investigation Division along with local officers. A statement from the Hale County Sheriffs Office indicates that Dunn was arrested without incident at an undisclosed Plainview location on felony charges of manslaughter and bond surrender. After being arraigned in Plainview and held without bond, she was turned over to Hutchinson County officers for transport back to Hutchinson County. The Borger Police Department earlier said Dunn was facing an active felony arrest warrant for possession of a controlled substance. That charge is unrelated to the shooting. Its unclear Dunns connection to Plainview, and why she fled here after Tuesdays shooting. A Plainview ISD representative said Dunn does not appear to be a current or former student of the district. The Borger Police Department, in a Facebook post Wednesday morning, reported that Dunn was being sought in the shooting death of Quincy Jescenus Lang, 35, which occurred about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, May 30, in the parking lot outside Jackpot Junction at 516 N. Main in Borger. Lang, who was shot in the leg, was taken to Golden Plains Community Hospital where he died as a result of his injuries. The post from Borger Police quoted witnesses as saying Dunn was inside the business establishment Tuesday night when Lang arrived. The two were seen involved in an exchange in the parking lot during which Dunn pulling out a gun and pointing it at Lang. Dunn allegedly fired a single shot that struck Lang in the leg. Officers were able to develop a number of leads in the case in the hours following the shooting, the Facebook post explains. One of them led to Dunns location in Plainview. We want to thank Texas DPS, Hale County S.O. and Hutchinson County S.O. for the roles those agencies are providing in this investigation, the Borger Police posted on Facebook. Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, CPS Energy sent out a warning to its customers if you get a phone call demanding money for an unpaid bill, it's not us. The impostor calls have been happening for awhile, said spokesman John Moreno. Usually, those residing in San Antonio CPS Energy customers or not will receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the company. The caller will say money is owed and request the bill be paid using a prepaid card, Moreno said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonio digital strategist Brad Parscale denied that the work he did on President Donald Trumps campaign was intertwined in any way shape or form with alleged Russian operatives to use social media to influence the election. Absolutely not, Parscale said on Fox News The Story with Martha MacCallum Tuesday. He emphasized that the Trump campaign got the data it used here in America. In the United States, we actually have access to some of the best data, and the data we used on this campaign directly came from the Republican National Committee, and what they did after the 2012 election to build a data set like never seen before, Parscale said. We didnt need data, we didnt need it from anyone else, it was right here in the United States of America, and the best data is right here. RELATED: Twitter loses its mind over Trump's 'covfefe' tweet Former FBI Special Agent Clint Watts told Congress in March that computer bots were used to repost false information on social media to influence the U.S. election. Computer bots are software applications that run repetitive functions. During the campaign season, bots allegedly linked to Russia pushed information on Twitter and other social media in an attempt to manipulate the presidential election. Parscale, who ran Trumps digital operations during the campaign, didnt address in his interview on Fox News whether or not his firm used bots as part of Trumps online strategy. The web director of Giles-Parscale in San Antonio didnt respond to a request for comment from the Express-News. RELATED: Trump is clearly not giving up tweeting, sharing his thoughts on Germany, Russia, the filibuster and more The FBIs wide-ranging criminal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election may include scrutiny of the Trump campaigns San Antonio-based digital operation led by Parscale, and overseen by senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, CNN reported last week. The cable news channel said the FBI is looking at the campaigns 2016 data analytics programs conducted largely out of San Antonio under Parscales direction. In looking at possible ties with Russia, the FBI has collected data on computer bots that pushed negative information on Hillary Clinton and positive information on Trump, the cable network reported. The other side wants to believe this false narrative because they dont want to believe their candidate was so bad that this is even possible, Parscale said Tuesday. And the truth is that data was already there, and we just used it to beat a bad candidate with a great candidate. RELATED: Reports: Trump's digital advisor to lead new national non-profit When asked too about Kushners involvement in the probe, Parscale said that while he doesnt talk much to Kushner about policy, he can speak to Kushner the man. Hes highly intelligent, cares about this country and is truly a loving person, he said on Fox News. Its the hardest thing for me to almost watch this because I really like the man. sehlinger@express-news.net Twitter: @samehlinger This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CBS' chief newsman Scott Pelley, a San Antonio native who grew up in Lubbock, is out as the network's evening anchorman, CBS News confirmed today. Instead, he'll become a full-time correspondent for "60 Minutes," as the Sunday newsmagazine gears up for its 50th anniversary next year. According to the CBS release, Pelley thanked his colleagues for six successful years with the broadcast: "I find my heart filled with gratitude for the opportunity to know you, humility in light of your sacrifices, and hope for the future of journalism because of the standards you live by," Pelley said. "CBS has been great to me for nearly 30 years. I'm glad to accept this assignment with continuing gratitude." RELATED: Storm knocks KENS-TV off air Pelley took over the network's flagship "CBS Evening News" from Katie Couric in 2011 and has served as "60 Minutes" co-host and correspondent since 2004. Anthony Mason, a veteran of CBS News, who currently is weekend anchor of "CBS This Morning," will be Pelley's interim replacement on the evening news broadcast. The New York Post, which was the first of many outlets to report the story, cited friction between the anchor and CBS News president David Rhodes as the main reason for Pelley's exit. The Post also reported that Pelley's "Evening News" office is being cleared out while he's on assignment for the Sunday night newsmagazine. RELATED: San Antonio TV anchor welcomes first baby The New York Times emphasized low ratings as the culprit. Pelley, a graduate of Texas Tech University, has consistently finished third among the 5:30 p.m. newscasts -- behind Lester Holt of NBC and David Muir of ABC. Holt is winning the advertiser-favored 25-to-54-year-old demographic, and Muir has the lead in total viewers. Deadline reported that, according to a source, talks to renew Pelley's anchor deal failed. However, a second source said Pelley relinquished his CBS Evening News anchor chair so he could focus all his attention on next year's "60 Minutes" anniversary. RELATED: KSAT sweeps news ratings again despite anchor tweaks Other outlets mentioned his hard stance on President Trump as a possible reason, while a couple raised the issue of age. However, Pelley, just shy of 60, is only a year older than NBC's Holt, 58. ABC's Muir, on the other hand, is 43. jjakle@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonio chefs Tatu Herrera and Edward Garcia III were friends long before they became competitors. Both are preparing to unveil their latest creations: entries in the 2017 James Beard Foundation Blended Burger Project. The contest pits about 300 cooks across the country in a social media-driven battle, with the top five vote recipients earning a chance to cook their version at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City. "For me personally, being a chef, everyone aspires to cook at the Beard House. This is one of our ways to get in there. Its something for my bucket list, something I'm passionate about," said Herrera, who owns the catering business Tatu's Food Debauchery. "It's super hard because the food I do isn't really burgers. It's cool though because it pushed me to do some research and try new flavors." To enter, chefs begin by designing a burger made of at least 25 percent fresh mushrooms -- the contest was in part conceived by the Mushroom Council, a research and marketing organization -- in the spirit of health, nutrition and agricultural sustainability. Those virtues are then challenged as the cooks doctor up their interpretations into drool-worthy and camera-ready towers. Voters make their selections based on images of each burger available at JamesBeard.org. For Garcia, owner of The Box Street Social food truck, the contest is a way to expand on something he already does well. But coming up with the right recipe took some effort. "Normally on our food truck we get whole brisket and grind it ourselves with some chuck. We've kept that same concept but added to it," Garcia said. "The first time I tried it I kept the mushroom raw and the umami flavoir was overwhelming." Garcia settled on baby portobellos sauteed down to release moisture and tame the flavor. His patty is then stacked on a poppy seed bun smeared with roasted garlic mayonnaise and bacon jam that comes together in a relatively traditional affair topped with cheddar and greens. Herrera went Technicolor with his entry, a concotion he's dubbed "The Dragon Burger" served on a psychedelic multi-hued pretzel bun. His patty is a 50-50 blend of oven-roasted mushroom and beef with additional pickled mushrooms layered on top. To keep things from getting too healthy, Herrera then sops the burger with chicharron aioli. Voting began May 29 and runs through July 31. Herrera had earned fifth place in the standings as of Wednesday afternoon with 263 votes. Garcia was holding his own in the crowded class at 15th place with 63 nods. With one of the culinary world's top honors on the line -- a shot to cook for some of America's most well regarded industry leaders -- both men are clearly in this thing for the win. But victory or not, their eye is also on a larger prize. "I'm from San Antonio," Herrera said. "We have a lot of great chefs here, and I'll do whatever I can to shine a spotlight on that." Garcia will debut his blended burger noon-6 p.m. Saturday at Alamo Beer Company. Herrera is planning several opportunities to grab a Dragon Burger through June and July. Follow Tatu's Food Debauchery on Facebook for an announcement. With their vote, folks also earn a chance at a paid trip for two to the Beard House for the Blended Burger event. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HARTFORD About two weeks ago, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy offered to match any deal another state might use to entice insurance giant Aetna Inc. to relocate its headquarters from a downtown hilltop on Farmington Avenue. Malloy hasnt heard back from the company. Aetna on Wednesday confirmed what it took General Electric months to admit after its move to Boston: Connecticut cannot offer the employee pool it needs to thrive in the 21st century. We are in negotiations with several states regarding a headquarters relocation, with the goal of broadening our access to innovation and the talent that will fill knowledge-economy-type positions, said T.J. Crawford, senior director of media relations at Aetna. We remain committed to our Connecticut-based employees and the Hartford campus, and hope to have a final resolution by early summer. The vague corporate statement comes after meetings and communications Malloy has engaged in since last fall and into early 2017, when the proposed $34 billion merger of Aetna and Humana fell apart under the weight of a federal court ruling. In March, Malloy praised Aetnas commitment to Connecticut, and offered support to the company and its 6,000 state employees. On May 15, the governor proposed a package of financial assistance, promising to match any other offer, in attempt to keep Aetna in its 164-year-old red-brick headquarters, a short walk from the state Capitol. More Information Aetna a major presence Founded1853 Employees in Connecticut6,000 Workers nationwide49,500 Revenues last year$60.3B Connecticut Insurance industry a major employer There are 1,429 domestic and non-domestic insurance companies licensed in Connecticut The companies collect $32.8 billion in annual premiums The industry represents $13.7 billion in the gross state product Insurance employees represent 2.7 percent of all state employees The 58,892 insurance employees make average wages of $83,936 See More Collapse It is my own opinion that this has more to do with their desire to have executive leadership operate in a larger, more vibrant urban center than Connecticut can currently offer, Malloy told reporters Wednesday during a mid-afternoon news conference. We all know that employers - especially large employers - are attracted to city centers. Its why my budget proposal this year is so focused on not just protecting our cities, but in growing them. In search of top talent Malloy admitted he has had no contact with Mark T. Bertolini, chairman and CEO of Aetna, which had $60.3 billion in revenues last year. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said Wednesday that after several conversations with the insurance companys executives, he believes that Aetna decided a long time ago to relocate some of its staff out of state. But hes optimistic many employees will remain, along with a high-profile presence in a city where Aetna recently joined with other major companies to commit to $50 million for the city over the next five years. But losing Aetnas flag is a hard blow for the state and for the greater Hartford region, Bronin said. As a state, we need to act boldly to change the things that need to change. Across the country, companies are locating in places where they can recruit top talent. We dont have to be New York or Boston to be competitive, but we have to recognize that strong, fiscally sound, culturally vibrant metropolitan areas are key to economic growth. While GE officials initially said it was the business climate that predicated its early 2016 announcement to decamp its Fairfield headquarters for Boston, more recently corporate officials have said that its the Massachusetts capitals proximity to better-trained tech workers that made it more attractive. Lets be clear: Hartford is never going to be New York or Boston, Malloy said. And thats fine. Because New York and Boston are not ever going to be Hartford, not when it comes to history and unique advantages we offer the insurance industry and many other companies that call Hartford home. Rumblings of a change Malloys March and May letters to Bertolini indicated as much, calling Aetna the smallest of the three insurance companies led by The Travelers Companies and The Hartford an iconic presence in the city. In a May 15 letter, Malloy pointed to major improvements, including new rail service in 2018, a new UConn downtown campus, and as many as 2,000 new apartments downtown. Malloys economic development chief detailed a variety of initiatives that would benefit the city, including a long-term plan to untangle traffic at the Interstate 91 and I-84 intersection. Developing new workers, strengthening Hartford and providing direct incentives were also mentioned by Catherine Smith, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development. Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz on Wednesday that scheduled improvements to the downtown XL Center also enhance the quality of life in Hartford. Its a sad day, said Sen. Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, co-chairman of the legislative Insurance and Real Estate Committee, adding that he was not surprised by Aetnas plans, because there have been rumblings in the industry in recent months. This is a wake-up call to Connecticut, Kelly said. We need to do things differently in Hartford and we need to have a fiscally sound, stable and predictable government that enables good-paying jobs to stay here in Connecticut and grow here in Connecticut. We have the best and brightest when it comes to insurance, Kelly said. Lets find out what they need to do their job better and focus on them. But focus is not what happens under the golden dome of the state Capitol. kdixon@ctpost.com; Twitter: @KenDixonCT This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEWATER The school districts plan to merge six grades into two classrooms at Burnham, the towns poorly enrolled elementary school, is gathering support after backlash from parents and town officials. The arrangement would combine kindergarten through second-grade students in one classroom and third-grade through fifth-grade students in another classroom. The idea initially met staunch resistance when it was proposed in Region 12 Superintendent Pat Cosentinos budget. But that budget passed, and the Region 12 School Board enacted a tuition decrease, which Bridgewater lobbied to procure. That, in turn, helped Bridgewater officials win approval for the novel plan from parents and residents, said First Selectman Curtis Read. Burnham has enlisted excited teachers two for each class of some 20 students and the small brick schools administrators said they are confident the combined grades would turn out to be an educational asset that fosters collaboration among students. Moreover, the plan would provide high achievers working beyond their grade level more opportunities to grow, they say. Parents and town officials originally said the Region 12 untested plan would result in a two-room schoolhouse, dissuading young families with children from moving to Bridgewater, thereby exacerbating the problem of downward enrollment. Some angry Bridgewater residents had said the plan was dumped on the community as part of a budget crunch without attention to its educational value. Some residents said it was another instance of the larger towns of Washington and Roxbury dictating rules for Bridgewater. After the grade-merger plan was announced, Read talked about seceding from the district, and Bridgewater school board members criticized the administration. Twice, Bridgewater discussed suing the district over the merger of the grades. But details of the plan that have emerged would occupy five rooms replete with tech hubs and quiet nooks, and looks promising, said Carolan Dwyer, president of the Burnham Parent Teacher Organization. The PTO sees the change as an opportunity to sell Burnham as a public school with elements of Montessori-style learning without a private school price tag, Dwyer said. The Region 12 School Board voted to lower the cost for out-of-district families to send their children to schools in the region from $7,500 to $5,000, which could bolster enrollment. The district is projected to continue to lose students for the next decade. To make Burnham more competitive within Region 12, the PTO and the town last year started offering a $2,500 scholarship per child, making Burnham a price competitive public school with a private school feel, Dwyer said. The PTO has marketed Burnham with social media advertisements and direct mailers to school-age families for more than a year to inrease enrollement, and the price-drop will bolster those efforts, Dwyer said. That was a nice show of regional thinking, Dwyer said. Previously, the board had voted down Bridgewaters initiatives, she added. Parents, including me, still have reservations, but we saw (the school boards) willingness to work together, she said. Cathy Colella, Burnhams principal, said the school has long been known for a tight-knit student body, and the plan will reinforce an already strong community. This years merged grade class of kindergarten and first grade has been a success, Colella said. Students returning to the class for a second year skipped a month of instruction because they were already comfortable with their teacher, she said. Colella said about nine public schools in Connecticut have merged grades, and each district does it differently. Burnham, among the smallest elementary schools in the state, will likely be the only school to merge six grades into two classrooms, but that wont change much about the quality of its eduction. Weve researched this throughout the past year and were pretty excited, Colella said. Were such a small community, weve already been doing a wide range of activities together, its not going to be that different. Dwyer, a fierce critic of the School Board and administrators over the merger plans, agreed with Colella. She now sees the grade consolidations as a way to sell the school. Were already a five-time Connecticut school of distinction and all were doing is enhancing our collaboration, Dwyer said. Were taking our strengths and adding to them. blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton The Texas Legislature waiting until the last day possible to send a state budget to get Gov. Greg Abbott's signature. Texas politicians normally do this. It is the only legislation the Legislature is required to pass. Everything else the body passes is extra. The two-year budget is worth $217 billion. As per usual, the Legislature failed to do plenty of good things - reform education spending or property taxes - and spent way too much time focusing on useless things. Over the last week, the House of Representatives motored through bills, trying to get things passed as the clock ticked toward the end of the Legislature. The Senate - the more sedate of the two houses - worked to get things accomplished at a less-frenzied pace. Watching the business unfold, it appeared the members of the House were scrambling to get bills passed that were dumped on them by the Senate late in the session. The vote on the state budget was 135-14 in the House and 30-1 in the Senate. The budget is boosting funding for the state's child welfare agency and boosts the number of state troopers on the Texas-Mexico border, which means the state is shouldering the cost for which should be a federal expenditure. The funding mechanism for the state's schools remains intact, despite a judicial ruling last year that while the way schools are funded is constitutional but flawed. In true Texas Legislature fashion, the attitude seems to be: Why fix something that is broken but is still managing to limp along? To help make the $217 billion budget, leaders from both chambers compromised and agreed to take $1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund and $2 billion from a fund dedicated for highway projects. According to a Texas Tribune report, State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, said: "The budget today is a product of what is a true compromise" between the Texas House and Senate. Zerwas is the House's lead budget writer. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick reportedly said, "The budget has settled where the Senate wanted it to settle." The only member of the Senate to vote against the budget was former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia. "This budget is more of the same and fails Texas families," Garcia said in a release. "There's no new money for pre-k, there's continued spending on more border militarization, and it continues to shortchange education and healthcare." The new budget features such things like $1.1 billion fewer dollars going to public schools and no new funds to meet the expected rising costs of medical care in the state. Those funding shortfalls are being left to the 2019 Legislature to deal with. The short-changing of public education is to be offset by increased property tax receipts by school districts. In the greater Houston area, that means we are supposed to shore up the funds the Legislature is gambling will be there. That means there cannot be any downturns in the economy. School funding is tantamount on economic growth. The greater Houston area is also home to some of the biggest school districts in the state in Houston, Cypress-Fairbanks and Fort Bend ISDs. It really seems unfair to defund education at any time but that is what our legislators continually do. In the waning days of the Legislature, Lt. Gov. Patrick vowed to call a Special Session if things he championed were not passed, like the so-called Bathroom Bill. By the way, Patrick cannot call a Special Session, only the governor has the authority to do that. It will be worth a glancing eye to see if Abbott calls a Special Session, which he can do as many times as he wants for a month at a time. He should call a session so legislators can finally do the right thing and figure out this whole school funding issue. Texans young and old deserve this - the young students need better-funded education and older Texans need to get value for their money. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fort Bend County officials are negotiating project cost of an upgrade and expansion of the Missouri City Branch Library with The Woodlands contractor who submitted a proposal for the bond-funded project. James Knight, the county's facilities management/planning director, said May 23 that he anticipated negotiations with Paradigm Construction to take a few weeks. He said the company's proposal, which was the highest evaluated response, was one of several received. Because the project is in negotiation, Knight said he isn't free to talk about numbers. In November 2015, voters approved a Fort Bend County referendum that included a $19.8 million proposition for county libraries. Officials explained that $6.4 million would be allocated for the Missouri City Branch of the Fort Bend County Libraries and another $13.4 million would fund a new 35,000-square-foot library to serve Precincts 3 and 4. "A site hasn't been selected yet for the 35,000-square-foot library that was approved in the bond," said Michele Pettigrew, communications specialist for Fort Bend County Libraries. "It will be located somewhere in the north side of the county." April 25 was the deadline to submit proposals for the Missouri City branch project. The project was designed by Merriman Holt Powell Architects of Houston. It's a special project, according to Bill Merriman, AIA, of Merriman Holt Powell Architects, which designed the original library, also. "One, I have always loved libraries and have had the opportunity to work on several. Secondly, the original library has always been one of my favorite projects because of its unusual design. Planned across the street from the City Hall complex, the walls of the library extend across the road to visually connect the library with the city complex," Merriman said. "Finally, it was a great experience working with commissioner Grady Prestage, Fort Bend County, the Fort Bend County Library System, and the City of Missouri City, all of whom shared the vision for this to be a great addition to the library as well as the City Hall complex." Though the project estimates date to 2015, Knight said he didn't think the final figures would be that far off. If a contract is awarded, construction could start the end of July or early August on the Missouri City branch, which includes a 9,600-square-foot, three-story addition, total renovation of the existing single-story, 18,600-square-foot library, additional parking and new landscaping, said Knight. He estimated it would take about 10 months to complete the project. "At this time, we don't have a working schedule for construction yet," said Pettigrew. "Until we have a more definite idea of the construction timeline, we'll operate our regular schedule at the library. We anticipate that the renovations and construction on the Missouri City Branch Library will begin in August. Once we have a better idea of the construction schedule, we'll be able to determine what changes we'll need to make in the hours that the branch is open to the public." The branch will join others in the system in a technology retrofit to Radio Frequency Identification anti-theft detection equipment. According to the county, "RFIS provides increased security for library materials, with the added benefit of faster, more efficient charge and discharge of materials, and inventory capabilities." The change is welcomed. "We are all very excited about it (the remodeling)," said branch manager Cecillia Shearron-Hawkins, who deferred further comments to the library system's public information office. The Missouri City Branch Library opened in June 1992, said Pettigrew. "It was the fourth library built in the library system, following the original library near Polly Ryon Hospital (now OakBend Medical Center) in Richmond in 1949, and the Mamie George Branch Library (Stafford) and the Albert George Branch Library (Needville), both in 1974." Though the Missouri City library building is 25 years old, Knight said the county never considered tearing the library down. "It just needs an upgrade," he said. "It will be a significant change." The change will come in the form of technology and space. Merriman explained, "The goal we all set together was for this addition to be a highly visible, bold new image for the library that would complement the new Houston Community College campus as well as the adjacent City Hall. We saw it as a beacon for the enhanced development of the whole complex. "The project will include the complete renovation of the existing library, including enhance technology throughout," he added. "The electronic resources (the use of computers, the Internet, and WiFi, and circulation of digital ebooks/audiobooks) have all shown increases at the Missouri City Branch Library," said Pettigrew, "so the addition of a Computer Lab will definitely help us meet those needs of our library patrons." Attendance at adult and teen programs also has increased she said. "The Meeting Room at the Missouri City Branch Library is very limited in size, so the additional space being added to that room will be very helpful for all of our programs. We will also be adding study rooms," added Pettigrew. AUSTIN Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association applauded the final passage of HB 2817, authored by State Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D-El Paso) and sponsored by Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock). The legislation was sent yesterday to Gov. Abbott for his signature. Provisions within the bill ensure those who criminally kill livestock will be held accountable, and that TSCRA Special Rangers have the tools necessary to continue their steadfast protection of Texas ranchers. It is imperative that we work together to ensure the continued success of Texas cattle raisers, and I am very appreciative of the dedication shown by Rep. Gonzalez and Sen. Perry on this vital legislation, said TSCRA President Richard Thorpe. I look forward to Gov. Abbotts signature, which will make sure these safeguards are in place for Texas ranchers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Scientists are concerned that Australia's expensive plan to save the Great Barrier Reef might be in vain. In 2015, the Australian federal and Queensland governments settled on a 35-year, $2 billion blueprint to protect the world's largest coral reef system. Known as the "Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan," the effort would expand and tighten regulations for fishing and shipping near the reef, improve water quality and establish new net-free zones. Now, The Guardian is reporting that two government scientists meeting with the Reef 2050 advisory committee a government committee tasked with implementing the plan said that improving the reef's condition is no longer possible. Instead, the scientists believe the plan should dampen its expectations from restoring or saving the reef to "maintain the ecological function" of the reef. Two independent groups of researchers said the ambitious plan will inevitably fail because it does not address the reef's biggest threat: Climate change. On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. John McCain spoke in Sydney, Australia, where he argued for the U.S.'s involvement in the Paris climate agreement while warning of the Great Barrier Reef's declining health. WARMING TEMPERATURES: Thanks to global warming, Antarctica is starting to turn green "I think that climate change is real. I think that one of the great tragedies of our lives is the Great Barrier Reef dying [and] the environmental consequences of that," McCain said. The average home values in Montgomery County continue to grow, but two of the largest taxing entities show a decrease in appraisals for 2017. According to information from the Montgomery Central Appraisal District, the Conroe Independent School District and The Woodlands Township experienced drops in the average home appraisals. For CISD, the value dropped from $296,236 to $295,802, while The Woodlands Township average home appraisal went from $439,696 to $427,264. Other governmental entities, including Montgomery County, the school districts in Montgomery, Cleveland, Magnolia, New Caney, Richards, Splendora, Tomball and Willis, as well as the cities of Conroe, Magnolia, Montgomery and Willis had an increase in average appraisals. MCAD appraisal values are used to determine the amount of taxes a homeowner pays when multiplied by the tax rate of a taxing entity after any exemptions are applied. Today marks the deadline for Montgomery County property owners to file protests on their 2017 appraisals. MCAD Chief Appraiser Mark Castleshouldt said the protest process is important because appraisers don't know the specifics on each home including situations that would lower the value such as a cracked slab. "About 65 percent of the people that (protest) get some type of adjustment in value," said Castleshouldt, adding if they don't get an adjustment they believe they should get, they have the option to go before the Appraisal Review Board. "A lot of people take advantage of that, a lot of people don't." Home appraisals According to Castleshouldt, the Texas Property Tax Code requires appraisal districts to follow the Uniform Standard of Professional Appraisal Practice. The USPAP is the generally recognized ethical and performance standards for the appraisal profession in the United States, the USPAP site states. USPAP was adopted by Congress in 1989, and contains standards for all types of appraisal services, including real estate, personal property, business and mass appraisal. Compliance is required for state-licensed and state-certified appraisers involved in federally related real estate transactions. USPAP is updated every two years so that appraisers have the information they need to deliver unbiased and thoughtful opinions of value. Beginning in August, county appraisers begin the valuation process of properties in the county, including residential, commercial, industrial and timber. "We have appraisers that work different areas of the county," he said. "All appraisals are done using the mass appraisal technique." The mass appraisal approach, the USPAP defines, provides for a systematic approach and uniform application of appraisal methods and techniques to obtain estimates of value that allow for statistical review and analysis of results. Castleshouldt encourages property owners to check the data on the MCAD site each year in case there is a mistake affecting the property value. "Property owners have rights and remedies," he said. "You have the right to come and protest." Finding the average value Average home values, according to MCAD Deputy Chief Appraiser Tony Belinoski, is a data point that is utilized by taxing units during the development of tax rates to give property owners an example of taxes that will be levied on the average home. The average home value is the average value of all residential properties with an active homestead exemption, he said. "This data point can change for various reasons, changes in the number of active homestead exemptions, changes in valuations throughout the appeals season, the ratio of high value homes versus lower valued homes," Belinoski said. Although this data point is not specific it can give an indication of the overall change in the market of residential properties within a specific market area," Belinoski said. For example, an area that is comprised almost completely of existing homes, no new construction to influence the data, and a relatively static number of homesteads, the average home value will indicate the influence of market transactions on values in that area, he explained. The other scenario is an area of some existing homes and a large number of newly constructed homes. If the new homes are of a higher value than those homes previously constructed this data point will rise based on the newly constructed homes but it also indicates that the market in the area is for higher valued homes. This would be the opposite if the newly constructed homes were of a lower value. This data point is not one the district relies on heavily as the average home value for an entire taxing unit will encompass market changes in drastically different areas. Some areas of Conroe ISD may have increased and others decreased. Average home value, Belinoski said, is a very broad data point which can indicate the overall market of residential properties within a taxing unit. For more information, visit www.mcad-tx.org. The politics of a blouse are fraught when it has an Ivanka Trump label sewn into it. Public views of the first daughter's fashion label break along political lines, according to consumer perception data from research firm YouGov BrandIndex. Liberal consumers view the brand much more negatively than both conservatives and moderates, according to the survey. "Clearly in the bubbles of the West Coast and East Coast, her brand will have less appeal," said Allen Adamson, the New-York based founder of consulting company BrandSimple and former North American chairman of branding firm Landor Associates. While conservative shoppers surveyed by YouGov have a slightly positive impression of the Ivanka Trump brand, at its peak over the past month the brand scored only 19.4 points on the index. Scores can range from -100 to 100, with zero representing a neutral position. Moderate consumers have slightly negative perceptions of the brand, while feedback from liberal consumers was clearly negative, dropping to as much as -57.4. YouGov interviews 4,800 people each weekday from a representative online panel of more than 1.8 million individuals. Has a simple pair of pumps ever been so imbued with partisan venom? Not likely. It's a bit more complicated when split down gender lines. Men have a more positive perception of her than women as of late May, though each gender's view of Ivanka Trump's label has fluctuated heavily in recent weeks. She saw a spike in positive perception among women around the time she released her new book,Women Who Work, which provides career advice. In a nod to intense scrutiny of conflict-of-interest issues surrounding her family, she didn't embark on a typical media tour, losing an opportunity to boost her profile and her brand. Since then, the bump her label received from women as the book was released seems to have faded. A representative of Ivanka Trump declined to immediately comment. Trump, 35, now an official, unpaid government employee, announced in January that she was handing day-to-day management of her brand to top lieutenant Abigail Klem. The closely held company licenses her name to vendors that make goods, including a $100 million clothing line made by G-III Apparel Group, as well as shoes and accessories. She has transferred its assets to a new trust overseen by relatives of her husband, Jared Kushner, retaining ownership of the company and receiving payouts. She doesn't plan to divest from her brand, said Jamie Gorelick, her attorney at law firm WilmerHale. The politicization of Ivanka Trump's brand has been under way for some time. When her products started vanishing from stores such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and ShopStyle following last year's election, anti-Trump activists launched a national campaign to boycott any retailer who sold Trump family products. Some supporters sought to push back, calling for boycotts of anyone who stopped selling Trump products.Ivanka's brand has always been intertwined with her father's, and that's even truer now as she frequently appears with him at official White House events and takes on many of the traditional duties of a first lady. As a result, any chance of daylight between her label and his record-low approval ratings is that much more unlikely, said Adamason, the consultant."It's increasingly more difficult every time she's in the Oval Office," Adamson said. "If she was a typical family member of a politician, there's a possibility to create one or two degrees of separation-like the Bush daughters, for instance." This is especially the case when it came to stores dropping her brand. In February, Nordstrom confirmed it would stop selling the first daughter's line, citing poor sales. It quickly found itself in President Donald Trump's bad books, though no retailers have said they dumped Ivanka over her family's politics. Donald Trump responded in a tweet that his daughter was being treated "so unfairly." Kellyanne Conway, another top White House official, then defended Ivanka in a television appearance, delivering what she called "a free commercial" and triggering yet another conflict of interest firestorm, since Conway's actions ran counter to a ban on executive branch employees endorsing products. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK Police have released surveillance photos of two suspected burglars of an East Norwalk deli. Detectives are investigating a commercial burglary that occurred at Jesus Deli and Grocery at 81 Winfield St. on Sunday, May 21, at 12:36 a.m. Police say a witness described the suspects as two Latino males, between 20 and 30 years old. One of the men was wearing a white Nike hat with metallic swoosh symbol and a green Boston Celtics jacket. The second man was wearing a hat, hooded sweatshirt, shorts and black sneakers. He has sleeve tattoos on both arms and may have suffered an injury to his left wrist during the incident. Anyone with who knows who these suspects are or has any information is asked to contact Detective Brendan Collins at 203-854-3191 or bcollins@norwalkct.org. Anonymous tips can be left at any of the below contacts: Norwalk Police Tip Line at 203-854-3111; Anonymous internet tips can be sent to Norwalk police website at www.norwalkpd.com; Anonymous text tips can be submitted by typing NPD into the text field, followed by the message, and sending it to CRIMES (274637). llake@hearstmediact.com President Donald Trump thinks he's found just the remedy for the Senate's health-care ills. But the president's antidote to the current lack of legislation - to do away with the legislative filibuster - shows he doesn't understand what's crippling Republicans from moving forward on health care, or how to heal the party's problems without causing a harmful side effect in the process. You could almost picture Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., banging his head against a wall (or at least taking a long swig of Kentucky bourbon) when Trump tweeted this yesterday morning: "The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!" Trump was referring to the so-called nuclear option - a tactic that McConnell could choose to employ that would allow the Senate to pass all legislation with just 51 votes instead of what's become the more customary 60. As the Senate has become more partisan, more and more of the minority party's rights have been eroded - first, in 2013, when under then-Majority Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., the chamber moved to allow approval of executive branch and judicial nominations by a simple majority; and again more recently, under McConnell's stewardship, by applying that standard to Supreme Court nominations, once considered untouchable. But with his policy agenda in trouble in Washington, Trump wants to go even further. If you're thinking of just the here and now, dropping the legislative filibuster would give Republicans the best of both worlds. They could repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act without any help from Democrats. And they could do it through the normal legislative process instead of having to maneuver through arcane and limiting rules accompanying the budget bill they're currently using. "I think he wants to see action, that's what he wants," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday when asked about Trump's tweet. "He wants to see things move through the House and the Senate. He wants people to stop playing games." It's not the first time Trump has suggested going nuclear. In another tweet earlier this month, the president called for action on legislation with 51 votes or else: And Trump told Fox News in an April 28 interview that "the filibuster concept is not a good concept to start off with . . . You're really forced into doing things that you would normally not do except for these archaic rules," Trump complained. McConnell has shut down the idea of ditching the legislative filibuster before. And he again rejected the idea Tuesday, real fast, when his office responded to Trump by noting that Republicans can already pass health care with a 51-vote majority by using the budget process. "Sen. McConnell agrees that both health care and tax reform are essential and that is why Republicans in Congress are using the reconciliation process to prevent a partisan filibuster of these two critical legislative agenda items," said McConnell spokeswoman Antonia Ferrier in response to Trump's tweet. Why is McConnell dead-set against widening his own party's unilateral ability to pass legislation? Because he knows it would hurt Republicans in the long-term. And it wouldn't help them that much in passing a health-care bill now. To state the obvious, at some point Democrats will probably regain control of the Senate. But the reasons that McConnell is resisting go deeper than that. Many conservative thinkers feel that doing away with the legislative filibuster would benefit Democrats more than Republicans. That's because progressives are generally more interested in passing new government programs whereas conservatives are hesitant to broaden the government's role in just about anything. And the GOP is finding that eliminating government programs - especially entitlements - is no simple task, even when they're in the majority. "Ending the filibuster would make the consequences of any future Democratic victories much more punishing for conservatives - and Republicans have never proven the ability to significantly roll back expansions of the welfare state that took place when Democrats were in power," the Washington Examiner's Phil Klein wrote back in 2015. It would become much easier for Democrats to enact their priorities if they needed only 51 Senate votes. But Republicans probably wouldn't have equal ease in rolling back their own wish list. Just look at how they're struggling to pull back on the ACA now that millions of Americans have federally-subsidized insurance plans because of it. Trump didn't just show a lack of foresight with his tweet. He also demonstrated he doesn't fully understand just how hard it is for Senate Republicans to agree among themselves on a health-care bill. The GOP has already given itself a simple-majority threshold by using budget reconciliation. And the party is still in real danger of hitting an impassable roadblock of its own making when lawmakers return to town after the Memorial Day recess. There are plenty of ideological differences on health care within the 52-vote Senate GOP conference itself. "At the end of the day, we have the power of 51 and are struggling so it seems like a false choice," a former Senate GOP staffer told me. Nearly every senator - even many who most want to ditch the ACA -- seems to feel that abolishing the legislative filibuster would be foolhardy. Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, has said he would get Trump "back in line" on the issue. Even Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, sides with McConnell on the matter. "We want to keep the current Senate rules," a Lee spokesman told The Health 202. The outlier may be Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. A spokesman pointed to comments the Texas senator made back in April when he indicated he could be open in the future to "going nuclear" on legislation but wanted to "wait and see how the facts develop." "At this point, there is not a majority for ending the legislative filibuster," Cruz said on April 6. "My hope is that Democrats will stop their unreasonable across-the-board obstruction and allow the Senate to operate. If they continue an unmovable blockade, I suspect the votes will shift on that question as well." But there may be enough health-care explosions on Capitol Hill without Republicans going nuclear too. - - - AHH: Trump's appointee to lead the agency overseeing Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare said Tuesday that the GOP health-care bill is "outdated" and what's more important is legislation in the Senate, when asked to respond to the CBO's projection that it would cost 23 million people their health insurance. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also raised questions about the CBO's ability to accurately score the bill, the Washington Examiner's Kimberly Leonard reports. "We disagree with some of the premises that they are indicating in this report," Verma said, speaking to USA Today in a live-streamed interview. OOF: Police arrested 32 people yesterday in North Carolina's legislative building for holding a sit-in to protest Republican lawmakers' refusal to accept the ACA's Medicaid expansion. Among them was North Carolina NAACP leader William Barber, a leader in the protests, which have resulted in 1,000 arrests since 2013. The protesters, who face charges of second-degree trespassing, were arrested after marching through hallways to the offices of legislative leaders and sitting outside them. OUCH: The ousted executive of Molina Healthcare is blaming premium hikes under Obamacare not on faults in the law itself, but on Republicans and their efforts to sabotage it. In a U.S. News and World Report piece, J. Mario Molina blasts Republicans for their narrative that the health-care law is in a "death spiral" that will inevitably "explode." "That narrative is patently false," Molina writes. "In fact, most of the instability driving up premiums in the marketplace can be directly traced to Republicans' efforts to undermine the health care law for their own political purposes." Until he was fired a few weeks ago, Molina was CEO of the health-insurance company, which had invested heavily in the state marketplaces but suffered deep and unexpected losses last year. While the company has said Molina was let go over disappointing financial performance, Molina has suggested it's partly because of his public statements about the health-care law. - - - A new poll confirms the GOP health-care plan is pretty unpopular, even when compared to Obamacare, which itself hasn't always enjoyed the public's smile. A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds that just 31 percent of Americans hold favorable views of the ACHA, while 49 percent view the ACA favorably. And as the Senate considers its own version of a bill overhauling the ACA, a majority of the public wants the upper chamber to either make major changes to the House bill or not pass it all. Fewer want the Senate to pass the bill with only minor changes or in its current form. Here are the survey's three most interesting takeaways: 1. For both the ACA and the GOP bill, the poll found a deep, partisan divide in how respondents felt about them. Democrats favor the ACA over Republicans by a 6.5 to 1 ratio, while Republicans favor the AHCA over Democrats by a ratio of 8.3 to 1. 2. Many more people are blaming President Trump and Republicans in Congress than Democrats for problems with the ACA moving forward. Sixty-three percent said it's Republicans' fault if the ACA continues to have problems, more than twice the share who say President Obama and Democrats are responsible. 3. The four top elements Republicans want in a health-care bill are: Allowing states to have Medicaid work requirements; providing funding for state high-risk pools; changing Medicaid funding to a block-grant system and stopping federal Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood. The Tyler County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday announced it is investigating a body found Saturday in Fred as a homicide case. The body, which had been set on fire, was found on County Road 4600, according to a statement from the department. AUSTIN Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday its too early to predict what, if anything, will be included on a special session agenda. Well be making an announcement as soon as feasible, he said, taking questions from reporters at a bill-signing event. Only Abbott can call a special session of the Legislature, which ended its regular session Monday without acting on a key bill to continue several state agencies, including the Texas Medical Board. That legislation got caught up in a tussle over bills pushed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that would change the property tax system to provide for automatic rollback elections and restrict the public restrooms that transgender people can use. Patrick carried through on a threat to force a special session by stalling action on the state agencies bill because the House wouldnt follow the Senate in passing the measures he wanted. Instead, the House passed bills to give Texans more information about their property taxes and provide for schools to provide an alternative to students who dont want to use restrooms that align with their biological sex. The Senates bathroom bill would have required people to use the restrooms in government buildings, schools and universities that align with the sex on their birth certificate. House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, opposed that measure, saying it could threaten Texas economy by prompting boycotts since such legislation is widely viewed as discriminatory. Abbott has promised to make an announcement on a special session this week, but at a Wednesday bill-signing, he said it wasnt yet time. He said he is waiting for State Comptroller Glenn Hegar to certify the state budget approved by lawmakers in the regular session. That certification is needed before we can actually say that the current session is concluded, Abbott said. That hasnt been an impediment in the past. Former Gov. Rick Perry in 2013 called lawmakers back into an immediate special session on the last day of that years regular session. Besides having sole authority to call a special session, Abbott is the one with the power to set the agenda of such a session. Asked whether the bathroom and tax issues would be included, Abbott said, It is premature to say what, if anything, will be on a special session call. pfikac@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Heavy storms pounded San Antonio on Tuesday, forcing multiple high-water rescues and a search for three men on the Northwest Side. The area got 2.48 inches of rain between 4 and 6:30 p.m., according to National Weather Service reports. San Antonio Fire Department teams responded to at least 15 high-speed crashes and performed at least five high-water rescues during that time period, while major segments of Interstate 35 from North Walters Street to San Pedro Avenue were shut down under multiple feet of water. One attempted rescue for three brothers reported to have been swept away by flooding on Leon Creek on Tuesday was called off after a two-hour search proved fruitless. RELATED: Infant rescued from flooding interstate A witness saw three men go down to videotape the water in the creek by the VIA bus stop in the 3200 block of Northwestern Drive near Ingram Road at around 6 p.m. only to be caught up in a sudden surge of water, said San Antonio Police Sgt. Joe McKinney. Weve not found anyone yet, but weve got our fingers crossed, McKinney said. Were hoping they all got out of the creek and are walking around somewhere. Emergency responders deployed multiple boats, patrol units and at least one helicopter to the area, SAFD spokesman Woody Woodward said. RELATED: Storm knocks KENS-TV off air We didnt have any sightings, Woodward said. The rescue was just one of many emergencies that kept San Antonio emergency crews busy Tuesday. One motorist was seen retrieving an infant from the back seat of a car stranded on I-35. Minor flooding was reported in several areas, along with multiple reports of pea-sized hail in various parts of the city, including downtown and the Medical Center, at about 4 p.m. At about 4:30 p.m., the NWS announced that a wind gust of 54 mph was recorded at Stinson Field. CPS Energy reported 241 outages affecting more than 32,000 customers as of 4:45 p.m., with outages affecting areas of the North, West and Northwest sides. As of Tuesday evening, CPS had restored power to most of those customers. The storms even temporarily knocked KENS-TV off the air during the late afternoon. jgerlach@express-news.net The Texas Attorney Generals office announced Wednesday a settlement with a Utah-based home security company over allegations that unregistered salespeople went door-to-door, in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Vivint Inc., and its subsidiary, Smart Home Pros, formerly Advanced Residential Marketing, began door-to-door solicitations in Texas in 2012 without being authorized to do so, by the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to a news release and documents provided by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. It also alleges some of their employees engaged in those sales after expressly being denied registration by the agency. Vivint has disputed the allegations, but agreed to enter into an assurance of voluntary compliance to avoid litigation, according to the document, which was filed in the 353rd District Court in Travis County on May 24. Under terms of the settlement, Vivint said it would ensure its employees are properly registered with DPS before going door-to-door, and that they also would provide consumers with a notice informing them of their right to cancel contracts with the company, the release states. Vivint also agreed to pay $135,000 to the state, and $75,000 for attorney's fees related to the investigation, the document states. Separately, the family of a Stone Oak man who was fatally shot in 2015 by a former Vivint salesman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the man and the company. RELATED: Door-to-door salesman sentenced to 60 years in death of San Antonio homeowner The parents of Kerry OToole, 53, filed a lawsuit May 17 in Bexar County Civil Court against Richard Luis Amezquita, Vivint and its subsidiary. Amezquita, 37, was convicted last week of murder and sentenced to 60 years in prison in OTooles death. Amezquita said he shot the homeowner in self-defense after he said OToole choked, kicked and threw rocks at him and his car. Plaintiffs Harry and Georgette OToole, representing their sons estate, allege that ARM and Vivint were negligent in hiring and retaining Amezquita, and that the comanies were negligent in failing to adequately supervise Amezquita while he worked for them and did not train him properly. The suit seeks damages, including for funeral and burial expenses, however no monetary amount was given. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate What later became known as World War I had been raging for nearly three years on June 26, 1917, when 33 veterans of the Spanish American War some of whom may have ridden with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders formed Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 76, the first VFW post in the state. Through a second worldwide war, various police actions and the war in Afghanistan (now the longest in American history), Post 76 continued on. Today it is the oldest VFW post in the state and the eighth-largest in the world. This month, the post will celebrate the centennial of its founding at its headquarters on 10th Street just off Broadway. The festivities will take place the weekend of June 30-July 2. During its first three decades, VFW Post 76 was without a permanent home. Members met in a variety of locations, including the Spanish Governors Palace, the YMCA and area churches, according to Albert Mirales, post commander from 2011 to 2016. In 1947 the post purchased its current headquarters on 10th Street for $15,000. The Victorian-style house features impressive Corinthian columns, a wide wraparound veranda, and both a basement and attic. At one time, according to the post website, the home had 17 rooms, five fireplaces, two kitchens and several handsome stained glass windows, at least three of which exist to this day. Recently designated a State Historical Site by the Texas Historical Commission, the house dates from 1895. It was built for Mary Francis Drake, who came to San Antonio from Milwaukee with her daughter Mabel and son Harry in 1890. Independently wealthy, she purchased the land on the San Antonio River for $3,000. The buildings architect is unknown. More Information VFW Post 76 Centennial Celebration June 26 is the post's actual birthday, but the celebration will take place the following weekend. June 30: Free barbecue for members after a short ceremony in recognition of the post's centennial Three bands Face painting and games for children Party July 1: Dignitaries at 1 p.m. ceremony and barbecue meal July 2: Fourth of July picnic and ceremony in recognition of centennial celebration For more information, visit vfwpost76ontheriverwalk.org. See More Collapse Over the years, the home was sold several times until, in 1901, it was purchased by the Petty family for $5,650. They lived there until 1947, when it was sold to Post 76. The Veterans of Foreign Wars is the countrys largest group of veterans who either saw combat or served in an area where combat took place. In addition to lobbying for veteran benefits, the VFW is a fraternal, educational and service organization. One of its primary missions is to help vets reintegrate back into society when they return from military service. Perhaps Post 76s most visible public outreach is its honor guard, a volunteer group established in 2007 that provides full military honors at funerals for deceased vets who are interred in civilian cemeteries. The service includes a three-volley rifle salute, folding and presenting of the flag, taps sounded by a live bugler and a commemorative certificate for the family. Over the past few years, Post 76 has experienced dramatic growth, from about 280 dues-paying members in 2005 to more than 1,700 today. Membership is $35 annually or $300 to $400 for a life membership, depending on the veterans age. Mirales credits three things for this growth: location, location, location. When I came in 2005 there was all but brush, he said, sweeping his arm toward an area of the property that today overlooks the bustling Museum Reach portion of the San Antonio River. Back then, the river was this little stream where people might do some fishing. Where you see those apartments there, it used to be an empty lot. As a result we have a lot of people walking by all the time telling us they never knew we were here. Another complex of 200 apartments, plus a five-story parking garage are being constructed along the eastern and southern edges of the property. The post and its members have, to a large extent, embraced these changes. Were going to have to do some creative thinking on how were going to continue to operate in an environment where were going to have a lot of young people, millennials, Mirales explained. Its a new challenge and a way to keep the mission going. I often say, Were old, but were not old-fashioned, he added. Because 76 is an open post, theres a full bar where the public is welcome to enjoy adult beverages either on the veranda or at any of a number of colorful picnic tables that overlook the river bend. The canteen is open until 2 a.m. every day, depending on the crowd. The post also runs several events throughout the year. These include: Veterans Day Out: Once a month, veterans living at the extended-term care facility at the Audie Murphy VA Hospital are taken to the post, where they have lunch and play bingo. For them to get out of that hospital environment and come down here for a couple of hours and eat homemade enchiladas, theyre in heaven, said commander Johnny Ornelaz. 10th Street River Festival: An official Fiesta event with food and beverage booths and live music. Held during the last weekend of Fiesta. Vietnam Veterans Day: Honors vets with a wreath-laying ceremony. Held on the closest Saturday to March 29. Easter at the Post: Egg hunt, pinatas, games, hot dogs, chips and drinks and door prizes. Every child goes home with an Easter basket. Held the Saturday a week before Easter. Back to School Haircut Day: Volunteer barbers give free haircuts to elementary-age schoolchildren. Children also get a backpack with school supplies, hot dogs, chips and drinks and door prizes (including several bikes). August. Breakfast with Santa Claus: Tacos and Santa with donated presents for the kids. December. The post also awards two $1,000 college scholarships to graduating Fox Tech High School students and four $1,500 scholarships to Highlands High School seniors. The Highlands scholarships honor Sgt. Matthew Mendoza, a Highlands graduate and Post 76 life member who was killed during his second tour of Iraq. The post building also has a memorial room named in his honor that serves as something of a military museum. One of the VFWs mottos is that we honor our dead by serving the living, said Mirales. Were doing exactly what the motto says to do. rmarini@express-news.net Twitter: @RichardMarini COMING FRIDAY: The Rose Window at Mission San Jose. Fox commentator Sean Hannity has brought back real fake news and served it to his television and radio audiences. Real fake news? Whats that? In the presidential campaign, total fiction disguised as news surfaced on the social media. Most trashed President Barack Obama or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. I call that real fake news. After the inauguration, President Donald Trump and his team appropriated the term fake news to mean negative news about the new administration even if true. I call that fake fake news. To summarize: Real fake news is fiction, and fake fake news is fact. In July, Democratic National Committee employee Seth Rich, 27, was murdered in Washington. Washington police said they thought Rich was fatally shot in a robbery attempt. But Hannity picked up what pro-Trump conspiracy theorists were saying. He said on his nightly television program and his daily radio show that Rich had leaked Democratic National Committee emails to the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website and was gunned down in retribution by the Clinton camp. No credible evidence has been put forward by Hannity or anyone else to support this sensational claim, which has been debunked by other news organizations. The allegation is real fake news as phony as any of the fiction bandied about during the campaign. It reminds me that one week before the election, Hannity claimed on his radio show that Michelle Obama had deleted her comments on Twitter praising Hillary Clinton. Hannity said he found the story on a conservative web site. It was not true. Anyone with access to Twitter could have seen that the First Ladys pro-Clinton tweets were still there. Hannity an ardent supporter of Trump later acknowledged the story was wrong and apologized. Then members of the Trump team redefined fake news as news they didnt like, not fiction. An example of their fake fake news were reports that before the election Jeff Sessions, the new attorney general, had private conversations with the Russian ambassador. In fact, he did. Richs family complained to the Fox News Channel about the coverage of Seth Richs death. Fox News then retracted a report about the case and deleted the story from its website. Fox News said the story was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Because of the controversy, advertisers started pulling commercials from Hannitys TV program. Cars.com was the first. Others followed. On his radio show, Hannity said he retracted nothing. On his TV program, he said he would not discuss the matter for a while in deference to the Rich family. But he added, I am not going to stop trying to find the truth. Ah, yes. The truth. Did he mean real truth or fake truth? Or real fake truth or fake fake truth? Paul Janensch, of Bridgeport, was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University. His weekly Memo on the Media can be heard on wqun.com. Email: paul.janensch@quinnipiac.edu. On John F. Kennedys second day as president, he signed his first executive order to improve nutrition for poor families by expanding the surplus commodities program. By 1963, his signing of the Equal Pay Act and publication of the groundbreaking report, American Women, by his Presidents Commission on the Status of Women, had cemented for Kennedy a permanent place in the history of feminism. On May 29, we celebrated what would have been Kennedys 100th birthday, but we should also celebrate a womens rights legacy whose echoes can still be heard. What is extraordinary about this legacy is its inclusiveness. American Woman, released by the Presidents Commission six weeks before Kennedys assassination, is no treatise on white suburban women, as some might expect given that Betty Friedans Feminine Mystique came out the same year. While it addresses housewives re-entering the workforce, it also focuses on poor women, women of color, particularly African-Americans, urban and rural women (including migrants), and women in different regions and occupations. The report pressed policymakers to give such concerns their utmost attention while crafting legislation on pay equity, maternity leave, child care and more. Kennedy did not build this legacy alone. Unlike the current presidential administration, he appointed women with longstanding commitments to the labor movement and politics. As director of the Womens Bureau, Esther Peterson, who met Kennedy in 1947 as Washington legislative representative for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, drafted the Equal Pay Act, persuaded JFK to establish the commission, and brought scores of women on board from labor, civil rights, religious and womens organizations. Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the commission, held Kennedys feet to the fire. On her radio program in April 1962, she queried him about why the U.S. had fewer women in legislative positions than did poorer countries and what he thought about those who wanted women removed from the workforce because they took jobs from unemployed men. She liked his answer: Most of the women who work really need to, to maintain their families. And most worked at pay levels and in occupations men would reject. What was needed was more jobs, not to attempt to deprive women of the chance to work and contribute. Roosevelt, who had worried during his campaign that Kennedy was weak on civil rights, brought friends such as civil and womens rights attorney Pauli Murray to the commission. It is no small paradox a president with a checkered record on civil rights would leave a legacy on womens rights devoting so much attention to racist barriers. Kennedy embittered activists when he failed to act on campaign promises. Only after the infamous violence in Birmingham did Kennedy act definitively by proposing a new Civil Rights Act. Ironically, Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act one day before proposing that civil rights legislation. He discussed equal opportunity in a different context, emphasizing work still to be done, especially the urgent need for day care for women who had no choice but to work. Today, the gender wage gap persists. Women earn 80 cents on average for every dollar earned by men, but African-American, Hispanic and Native American women earn 63, 54 and 58 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to white male counterparts. It is through this lens we today can push rights for women to the next level. Unlike in 1963, many women today have a passion born of frustration, an accumulation of wisdom regarding the need for an intersectional approach, and the power of a movement no presidential commission could achieve. Laurie B. Green is an associate professor of history and a Public Voices fellow at The University of Texas at Austin. Shetal Vohra-Gupta is the assistant director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis and a Public Voices fellow. Robert Franklin /Associated Press There are many who criticize the Notre Dame students who walked out of their graduation ceremony at which Mike Pence spoke recently. Some of the comments Ive read say the students are spoiled brats who wont be able to get jobs now that they have behaved so irresponsibly. Others say parents must be ashamed and appalled at their childrens behavior. Still others say the students were rude and disrespectful to the Vice President of the United States. To those comments, I say, Really? Mike Pence has made his positions on many issues abundantly clear. He has supported conversion therapy and legislation that supports businesses that discriminate against LGBTQ citizens. He has opposed same sex marriage legislation and has actively denied vital health care to many by casting the tie-breaking vote to allow states to defund Planned Parenthood. His policies show a total disregard for citizens whose lifestyles dont suit him. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Millers idea to use rat poison to control the feral hog population was always a doozy. But his response to concerns about safety has been downright troubling. Like other Miller gimmicks, the so-called hog apocalypse generated national headlines, but strictly because it reflected little thought or substance. Concerns were immediately raised about tainting meat with a warfarin-based poison, and in turn, tainting the food chain. Franklin County rancher Bruce Hunnicutt, who runs a hog-hunting business, raised those concerns with Miller, The Texas Tribune has reported. At first, Miller said everything would be safe for humans and wildlife, but the more Hunnicutt researched the poison, the more it seemed this wasnt true. And then in a private meeting in March recorded with permission Millers reality distortion field went to an entirely different dimension. After Hunnicutt raised his concerns, Miller suggested changing a federal warning label on the poison. The product label for Kaput Feral Hog Bait clearly states all carcasses should be buried 18 inches below ground. If thats not possible, the carcasses must be disposed of in another way so that they arent accessible to scavengers. Hunnicutt asked Miller how he would ensure all of these dead pigs would be buried appropriately. I guess we should take that off the label; its not doable, Miller said in response. Well take it off. To use this bait to kill feral hogs a legitimate problem in Texas is to endanger other animals and contaminate the food chain, potentially poisoning people. Millers spokesman has said this issue is moot since the bait is no longer registered in Texas. But this misses the point. Millers disregard for safety and sound policy is not moot. Its the disturbing hallmark of his tenure as Texas agriculture commissioner. After the budget presentation by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa that amended the indigenisation law to reassure investors, re-engaged with global lenders and curbed profligate spending all issues on the top of the opposition wish-list analysts said the opposition strategists must be scratching their heads. Chinamasa presented on Thursday Zimbabwes final budget for 2018, which highlights the first fiscal policy direction move of the new administration past Robert Mugabes presidency, suggesting stronger cooperation with the international community. The national budget was presented under the banner: Towards a New Economic Order and acknowledges that a decline in domestic and foreign investor confidence has led to a disappointing economic performance over recent years. The new policy shift highlighted in the final budget paper focuses therefore on economic recovery, supported by foreign direct investment under a market economy principle. On the expenditure side, the focus was on ruthless cuts and austerity to try to reverse the ruinous deficits that the government has been running. The big move was on the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act of 2009, which required all companies operating in Zimbabwe to be 51 percent or more owned by black Zimbabweans. Chinamasa said that the indigenisation policy will henceforth apply only to diamond and platinum mining. Apparently, taking a cue from his principal, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Chinamasa announced a raft of economic changes that also included retiring civil servants over 65 years as well as collapsing jobs of over 3 500 so-called youth officers. The Finance minister said all civil servants older than 65 will have to take retirement, and a freeze on civil service recruitment will be kept in place. Former MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirais advisor during the inclusive government era, Alex Magaisa, said Chinamasa budget reflects the thinking in the opposition. Indeed, opposition strategists must be scratching their heads because the budget statement could well be a part of their manifesto as it carries a number of issues that would be at the top of the opposition wish-list, Magaisa said. Reading through the budget, its as if the new Mnangagwa administration is a former opposition party that has taken office after the Mugabe administration. The budget statement chronicles the ills of the Mugabe administration that the opposition has always raised in the past and promises to deal with them. The challenge, of course, is in the implementation. If the new administration fails to live up to its undertakings, the opposition will still have good ground to stand on in their campaign. Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in the United Kingdom, said the budget is a good start and could in the long term attract investors and help ending unemployment which currently hovers around 90 percent. This is a good budget within its limits. Chinamasa had very little room in which to move but it remains to be seen whether the budget will attract investors, he said. The investment has to come very fast or there will have to be another print run of bond notes and that will in itself destabilise any sense of optimism among possible investors. There is no quick budgetary fix possible from either the government or the opposition. And Chinamasa has got to find a way to pay the $9 billion arrears owing the IMF before any, almost certainly very strict IMF rescue package can be negotiated. Chan said that such a rescue package that the opposition has in the past promised to secure will demand public sector job cuts. Basically, Zimbabwe now faces the legacy of the later Mugabe years when people thought the economy was something to loot, while playing party politics and succession games, he said. In 2012, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai outlined his economic revival plans that included, trimming government expenditure, slashing the wage bill, privatising parastatals, slashing foreign travel, re-engaging western governments, repealing the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, eradicating corruption and sacking ghost workers something that Chinamasa did with finesse in his budget presentation Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said ahead of next year watershed elections, the opposition has to come up with better economic blueprints that go further in addressing the countrys urgent needs. The opposition needs to re-brand itself now that Mugabe is gone. The Mugabe must go mantra no longer has buyers. Now that the regime has embraced neo-liberal economics, the opposition can no longer ride on this. It is a good lesson for them. They have to start focusing on real issues, to remove a Zanu PF governance patronage system, not individuals. They have to go back to basics and sell pro-poor economic blue prints. They can also still ride and peg their campaigns on human rights issues, as the regime does not seem keen at addressing human rights abuses, Saungweme said Breaking News via Email ALEXANDRIA, Va. How can you encourage promising young workers to make convenience retailing their career? By recognizing these rising industry leaders by nominating them for a scholarship through the NACS Foundation. The deadline has been extended until June 9 for retailers to invest in the development of their employees who show leadership potentialone of the smartest business decisions you can make. Many of todays convenience industry leaders got their start at the store level. Through hard work and a commitment to learning, these individuals followed their career paths to positions of senior leadership. The NACS Scholarship Program makes it possible for retailers to help support this journey. The NACS Scholarship Program was established in 1991 to honor industry icons Jim Yates and David Erikson by providing a means for retail members to recognize, reward and develop top talent within their companies by investing in their employees education and excellence. Since then, the program has awarded more than $400,000 in the form of scholarships to NACS retail member company employees who demonstrate leadership potential. Each year, the NACS Foundation distributes up to 11 scholarships in the amount of $3,000 each to selected applicants for tuition costs toward undergraduate career education, community college or university. In addition, the 2017 scholarship recipients will also receive a stipend to attend this years NACS Show in Chicago on October 17-20, where they will be recognized during a special evening ceremony and given a firsthand opportunity to learn more about exciting career paths in the industry. The program is designed for college and university studentsrising leaders who have demonstrated leadership potential within the convenience channel. To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be current full- or part-time employees of a NACS retail member company and must also be enrolled for the fall 2017 semester at any accredited two- or four-year college, university or technical institution, and continue to be enrolled for the entire school year (2017-18). See how the scholarships have helped past winners achieve their professional and personal dreams in this video. Companies may nominate multiple applicants for scholarships. The deadline to submit applications for the 2017-18 NACS Scholarship has been extended to Friday, June 9. Award winners will be notified on or before June 30. Read more about the NACS Scholarship Program and download an application here. By accident, CalPERS has let us, and perhaps a lot of other people, know its not doing a shipshape job of keeping its network secure. Since CalPERS has the names, addresses, and Social Security number of 1.6 million beneficiaries and also executes billions of dollars worth of securities transactions per year, this is not a good look. CalPERS exposed a mid-level network security vulnerability to us when an employee using CalPERS network and equipment left a comment on Naked Capitalism. This security shortcoming in and of itself is unlikely to have exposed any sensitive information. However, it is an indicator of a failure to do adequate firewall testing. That raises the question of what else on CalPERS IT security front might be handled in a casual manner. CalPERS declined to respond to a request for comment. This post reflects extensive input from four computer professions: our regular bank/payments system expert Clive, two other professionals with considerable experience in running large networks in the banking/securities industry, and an academic who specializes in cybersecurity. One of the three practitioners also conferred with other colleagues to make sure his assessment jibed with current best practice. This was typical of the comments he got: One response was It looks like their network security monkey is pretty lazy. The general perception is that if they are lazy about trivial tasks, how attentive are they to more complicated serious threats? To be clear: we are not saying that this security shortfall is a big deal taken in isolation. In fact, despite being classified in software standards as a medium-level deficiency, everyone agreed that by itself, it wasnt consequential. As one IT professional noted: The cyber security world is all about splitting hairs, so pulling on a thread like this is likely to produce collisions of technical interpretation. Obfuscation of internal IP addresses in external packets have become such a standard practice, that failure to do so has a stigma of laziness in the biz because there are so many competing options for mitigation, but is also not considered to be a great concern per se. Its my experience too, that it is these types of medium issues that tend to bring out the most how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? geek arguments. The real issue is whether this is just an isolated case of sloppiness or a symptom of slipshod network management. Clive stresses that an institution like CalPERS needs to have internal procedures that are far more rigorous than for most organizatons: IT security is in the eye of the beholder. What is fine for one kind of enterprise or institution is definitely not okay for another. We get people from small and even medium sized companies in as new hires and very often they are totally blase about the need to step up their thinking to match the environment they are now in. Screw up the PayPal interface on an organic cosmetics wholesaler and who cares. Screw up our interbank payments gateway for more than a few hours at my TBTF and a good chunk of the entire UK economy goes tits up. How Did We Find Out About This Problem? An accompanying post on CalPERS today describes how a member of CalPERS legal department left a comment under an assumed name on a post criticizing the censure of board member JJ Jelincic. In our backstage, I saw two IP addresses for that comment, which is unusual. One was the IP address associated with the computers connection to the internet. The second address was from a range (10.x.x.x) that is reserved for intranets only1. Weve embedded CalPERS response to our related Public Records Act request at the end of this post. As CalPERS stated, Christopher Phillips was the user identified with the internal IP address noted in request number three for the time period noted. Phillips is a senior staff attorney who has worked at CalPERS for four years. As we stated in a companion CalPERS post today, CalPERS confirmed that it was indeed Phillips who left the comment. What Are the Immediate Implications of Exposing an Internal IP Address? The fact that Phillips internal IP address was exposed externally does not mean his computer or the network files under his account were outside CalPERS firewall and therefore readily hackable. However, even a deficiency like this does increase CalPERS security risk. And as one professional put it: This demonstrates basic firewall configuration incompetence. In addition to the limited information it provides, a deficiency that reflects laziness might encourage hackers to poke around and see what other weaknesses they find. Well rely heavily on Clives explanations in this post, since by virtue of having to deal patiently with un-tech savvy and often stubborn senior managers, he gives accessible explanations of fine points. Publicly available security standards almost universally show exposing internal IP addresses as a medium or Level 2 vulnerability on a typical 3 level scale. For instance, the security standard, issued by the the PCI Security Standards Council shows a worked example of vulnerability testing and analysis on page 26. Internal IP address disclosure is cited as a medium vulnerability. The UK Special Interest Group which created this the data security standard is 20 years old. Internal IP address disclosure has been in it from the start and was, and remains, a severity 2 vulnerability. Clive explains why medium risks are worth worrying about: IT security pros usually class security flaws in terms like critical or medium vulnerabilities. Critical vulnerabilities are those which if left unfixed would directly by their presence allow access controls comprise and/or data loss. The large-scale cyber attack on 15/05 was as a result of systems which werent patched to prevent a known vulnerability being exploited. Microsoft classed the vulnerability as critical rightly so, because if it wasnt patched against, your machine was toast. Medium vulnerabilities, by contrast, are those which do not by themselves allow for compromise or data loss but they do potentially help and enable this to happen. Usually it is because they increase what is commonly referred to as the attack surface the size of the target area a malicious actor can aim for. Exposure of an internal IP address falls into this category. Once you know one internal IP address, you can make an educated guess at a networks entire range of internal addresses. This is like an art thief wanting to steal a particular masterpiece because theyve been contracted to heist it. Initially, they dont even know where it is in the world. But then if they get some inside intelligence that gives them the address, they are hugely further forward in their ability to plan an attack. They may still have to contend with whatever security arrangements have been put into the address where the painting is (alarm systems, guards, locks) but at least now, they can case the joint and find out what these are. Armed with an exposed IP address, like a thief in possession of a property address, a hacker can now probe all ports looking for known high-vulnerability ones what have been left open. They can test for services which have not been disabled that contain hackable back doors. They can try the same on what they can now guess are other internal IP addresses. It is also easier to probe which IP addresses belong to workstations and which are servers. Servers are more vulnerable and a potentially richer target to aim for, so if you can get to know the internal IP address of a server, you can concentrate your efforts where they may yield the biggest impacts. Another IT professional added: To follow the analogy of an art thief, a more sophisticated thief would want to map out the identities and locations of objects so that a specific plan could be formed to minimize the potential for alert or response while grabbing the maximum value in the briefest amount of time. What an internal address exposure does is support the ability to map out a target network. If the mapping is thorough enough, nodes, types, and functions can be determined so that when they get in, they can quickly go straight to what they want to take out. They can also use this mapping knowledge to use some weaker nodes as staging points to load exploitation tools and to leverage any trusts that those nodes may have on the network. And what about a worst-case scenario, that Phillips machine was exposed? Generally speaking, the files on that machine arent the target. A hacker is interested in any permissions which that machine has, especially if he can access the permission of the logged-on user. Even seemingly pedestrian permissions like being able to parse the print queue can expose all sorts of random but useful nuggets. But thats before you get to the fact that Phillips, as a member of the legal department, himself would be on the list of high-priority targets. Clive again: If someone compromised my PC, then even if they got no further than the files I store locally, theyd be able to tell nothing much more exciting than that my TBTF is completely useless and wastes vast amounts of money in project delivery or that it gets taken for a ride by all and sundry. While potentially embarrassing, it would merely confirm a commonly-held (public domain) belief. Conversely, if the CalPERS machine was used by someone on the legal team, then by the nature of their role within CalPERS they would reasonably be expected to have for more sensitive and compromising (compromising to CalPERS if it got out, that it) files files which might be stored right there on their machine. Meaning that a hacker would need to get no further than accessing the machine, not anything else in CalPERS IT environment. Unless the user was incredibly diligent and never held any high value/high confidentiality material on their local machine, theyd be a prime target for a hacker simply by virtue of who they are and what they do. At my TBTF, a lot of intrusion attempts are *specifically targeted* at C-level execs, audit, IT security operations and so on. High-value targets. The reason is obvious dont waste your time on mid level apparatchiks like me, go for the big fish who will have more juicy prizes at stake. What Does This Security Failure Say About CalPERS IT Vigilance? Turing the mike over to Clive again: If I had to guess, I think that someone inside CalPERS intended to deliberately create what is known as an Exposed Host. There are a variety of legitimate and even necessary reasons why you might want to do this running a web server, an email service, an extranet or similar. Videoconferencing is another possible use. But that is okay for a small business who might run a disposable network which they dont care about and dont put anything on that anyone would be interested in. It is difficult to envisage why a institution of the scale and sophistication of CalPERS would find itself in this position. Especially with the risk that confidential data (from scheme beneficiaries, for example) could inadvertently end up on a network which it should not ever be put on (you, or rather they, are then depending on operational controls and these are the weakest because they are most failure prone and dont fail-safe). An excerpt from a typical firewalls documentation has this to say on the subject of Exposed Hosts: When a computer on your LAN is designated as the exposed host, it loses much of the protection of the firewall and is exposed to many exploits from the Internet. If compromised, the computer can be used to attack your network. Whenever I implement a change at my TBTF which involves an externally facing system (and this interpretation is extremely broad; firewall changes and setting up publicly-facing services would definitely be included) are subject to a sign-off by a White Hat security testing specialist hackers who will try to hack your infrastructure to test for weaknesses. One of the tests is for exposure of any internal IP address. Any internal IP address exposure is an automatic fail and must be fixed before the change can be promoted to a Live environment. If CalPERS are not undertaking this sort of diligence and QA in managing their systems and if we did indeed see one of their internal IP addresses it proves they are not this is a significant governance and management capability shortcoming. The mere fact that you can see the innermost configuration of CalPERS internal network shows that something is potentially amiss with their security. If I lived in CA and my data was being processed by CalPERS, Id contact the appropriate state regulator and ask them to make enquiries. If this had happened at my TBTF, it would be regarded as a serious security incident. Thered have to be an internal review and a post-mortem and a set of Lessens Learned drawn up. As another IT professional put it: The hiding of the internal IP addresses, as a matter practice, have become such a commonplace standard (because hiding them is a very trivial process), that security experts view it as sloppy hygiene. Richard Smith explained why network security is often not given the attention it warrants: Managing ones managers is especially tricky in the IT world and it can get very dysfunctional: striking the balance between escalating the stuff that needs to be escalated and not escalating non-urgent problems just gets harder and harder, especially when non-urgent stuff suddenly gets urgent, for instance if the CEO gets a bee in his bonnet about some trendy IT boondoggle he vaguely remembers from some recent conference. This recent NHS cyberattack is a classic instance of a better-justified sudden change of priorities, and in fact IT security is pretty much always the orphan child that suddenly claims attention. IT pros who are nonchalant about security are cruising for a bruising. But as for when and how that bruising will be delivered, it may be impossible to be specific enough to make a business case if the company culture doesnt work that way. The perverse end result is that elementary IT security precautions get sidelined as speculative investment. This is precisely why IT securitys orphan child status will continue until it can be packaged up as a service offering, and overall we are a massive, massive distance from that Nirvana. Maybe this little incident will get CalPERS to revisit its priorities. _____ 1 Technically, its called a bogon. For instance, on home computer networks, they are usually of the format 192.168.x.x In early May, we received a peculiar comment on a post about CalPERS board member JJ Jelincics censure, CalPERS Hides Bogus Persecution: Promised Public Hearing for Lone Effective Director Held in Secret. It wasnt that it was critical of the article; thats hardly unusual. It was that the comment came in when the discussion had died down and seemed designed to bait us into revealing our sources: NonFiction May 3, 2017 at 4:25 pm I find it astonishing that the the folks leaving comments on this article are blindly accepting its conclusions without critically thinking. There is no evidence at all that the reason Jelencic was targeted by Slaton and/or other board members is due to Jelencics actions with respect to PE or for any other topc. The claim by Slaton is an improper disclosure of confidential information. To conclude the attack by Slaton is based in some self-preservation of corrupt practices, is pure speculation. For a board member to discuss something that is already a matter of public record would not be a violation of confidentiality, yet members of CalPERS board seem to believe otherwise. Really, Susan? Do you know something that you chose not include in the article? Based on what youve written, this conclusion is not supported by the evidence. It appears that we do not know what the confidential information that Jelencic allegedly leaked was. We dont know if the information was already a matter of public record; just like we dont know if the information was highly confidential. Since we dont know what the confidential information at issue is, its a shame that you brand board members as believing a public record disclosure amounts to a violation of confidentiality. What purpose does it serve you to dabble in speculation? It serves to diminish your credibility on topics that you do have valid criticism of. We put the IP address in an IP locator. Mirabile dictu! It was someone from CalPERS (you can also confirm that the IP address was in CalPERS IP address range here): Notice that the comment was made was during the business day in Sacramento. We replied, starting by telling NonFiction, My goodness, someone from CalPERS shows up after a thread has gone cold to try to impugn the post. He switched to a wireless device and made a second comment, again during the West Coast business day, and did not deny that he was from CalPERS. Due to the fact that his comment also exposed his internal IP address, and we discuss the IT/security implications of that in a related post, we put in a Public Records Act request for records that would identify who provided the comment. Since the Public Records Act requires state agencies to turn over only records, not information, we might not have been able to make a specific enough request to identify which computer or account was being used in the absence of having the internal IP address. You will see, in the document embedded at the end of the post, that the CalPERS Public Records Act response did not provide all the requested data1 but instead served up the object of our inquiry: Christopher Phillips was the user identified with the internal IP address noted in request number three for the time period noted. CalPERS separately confirmed that it was Phillips who made the comment. Christopher Phillips is a member of CalPERS legal department, currently a senior staff attorney. He has been at CalPERS for four years. We dealt with Phillips briefly in 2014, on our unsuccessful Public Records Act lawsuit. CalPERS has tasked another staff attorney, Robert Carlin, to us when we got an attorney involved. Phillips became the contact person after we filed suit, so our belief is that he handles litigation among other matters. What are the implications of a member of CalPERS legal department leaving a comment on our site during the business day using CalPERS resources regarding a CalPERS legal dispute? California Bar Violation: General Counsels Office Cant Represent Jelincic When Working Against Him The tone of Phillips comment suggests he thought he had a winning strategy. Either I would ignore his comment and allow him and potentially CalPERS to depict me as exaggerating, or I would expose my sources. Given that CalPERS has accused Jelincic of leaking confidential information when, as his statement at a May board meeting demonstrates, the information was already public, it is not hard to imagine that Phillips assumed Jelincic was my source. Phillips ploy raises two troubling legal issues. The American Bar Association Model Rule requires that an attorney identify himself when communicating on behalf of a client. Here is the relevant section: In dealing on behalf of a client with a person who is not represented by counsel, a lawyer shall not state or imply that the lawyer is disinterested. When the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the unrepresented person misunderstands the lawyers role in the matter, the lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to correct the misunderstanding. Phillips, by virtue of making comments on a CalPERS-related controversy using CalPERS equipment during the work day, was acting in an official capacity. His comment at a minimum was intended to cast doubt on a post critical of CalPERS, which if successful, would benefit CalPERS. And if I revealed my sources, that would be gravy. If the trail led to Jelincic, that would give his persecutors on the board the opportunity to gin up a new disciplinary action in Jelincics final months in office. Phillips action would be a violation of the standards of professional conduct in the many states whose bar rules hew closely to the ABA model rules. For instance, in Ohio, there have been bar complaints on similar facts. However Californias Current Rules of Professional Conduct are silent on this point. But many lawyers saw the Phillips gambit as unethical. As one California attorney put it, it has the ripe smell of a dead fish. A second, and more clear-cut issue, is that Phillips was acting against board member Jelincic, if nothing else by trying to advance a public relations campaign against him and a site that has consistently supported his efforts. Remember that Jelincic as a CalPERS board member is a client of the General Counsels office. Phillips disloyalty to his client Jelincic is a per se violation of his duty of loyalty as required by section 6068(e) of the California Business & Professions Code which is incorporated in the California State Bar Act In addition, the state bar rules prohibit an attorney representing clients that have a conflict of interest without having the written consent of both parties. From Rule 3-300: (C) A member shall not, without the informed written consent of each client: (1) Accept representation of more than one client in a matter in which the interests of the clients potentially conflict; or (2) Accept or continue representation of more than one client in a matter in which the interests of the clients actually conflict; or (3) Represent a client in a matter and at the same time in a separate matter accept as a client a person or entity whose interest in the first matter is adverse to the client in the first matter. The section of the bar rules dealing with Organizations as Clients also bars an attorney from representing opposed interests in his organization at the same time. From Rule 3-600: (D) In dealing with an organizations directors, officers, employees, members, shareholders, or other constituents, a member shall explain the identity of the client for whom the member acts, whenever it is or becomes apparent that the organizations interests are or may become adverse to those of the constituent(s) with whom the member is dealing. The member shall not mislead such a constituent into believing that the constituent may communicate confidential information to the member in a way that will not be used in the organizations interest if that is or becomes adverse to the constituent. Phillips behavior is part of an established pattern of the General Counsels office violating California bar rules in the Jelincic discipline . We discuss that issue in detail in an accompanying post today. In response to our inquiry, CalPERS has tried to downplay the idea that Phillips was acting on behalf of either CalPERS staff or board members hostile to Jelincic by stating that he was not directed by a supervisor to make the comment. But that does not address other issues: Did Phillips believe this action was consistent with his responsibilities? Did any supervisor or co-worker have knowledge of the posting? If so, when and how did they become aware and what action did they take then? For now, we will note that, several months prior to Phillips comment on our site, CalPERS acknowledged that it had more than a wee conflicts problem when board member JJ Jelincic sent General Counsel Matt Jacobs a notice of adverse interests on February 11. That led to CalPERS to pull the in-house attorney it had assigned to the censure and bring in an outside lawyer, as well as agree to pay for Jelincic to have his own counsel. However, Jelincics notice of adverse interests was limited to the then-pending disciplinary matter. Board president Robert Feckner told Mike Hiltzik in a May 2 Los Angeles Times article, As far as Im concerned, this matter is closed. That meant that CalPERS legal department was again representing Jelincic. Phillips made his comments at Naked Capitalism on May 3, after the disciplinary matter was over and Feckner had reaffirmed that fact in public. This means that Phillips was engaging in a breach of trust as well as a bar violation of precisely the same sort that Jacobs had already made. A member of the General Counsels office took a position adverse to a board member with whom he must maintain a confidential relationship. Doug Smith, the former co-head of McKinseys organization practice and a Harvard Law School graduate, summed up what was wrong with Phillips and potentially Jacobs conduct: We can better understand Phillips unethical behavior if we shift the context from NCs website to an in person gathering. Imagine Yves hosted a MeetUp one afternoon in Sacramento. Roughly at 2pm, Christopher Phillips stands up and says exactly what he said in his troll comment. He gives a false name and does not identify himself as an attorney in CalPERS General Counsels office. Participants later discover hes a CalPERS lawyer and ask themselves several questions: (1) Why the subterfuge? (2) What role did his boss Jacobs have? Did Jacobs know, approve, direct, and/or discuss Phillips attendance? (3) Why didnt he disclose he was an attorney for CalPERS especially in view of the long and well known adverse relationships between Yves, NC and CalPERS as it pertains to Jelincic? (4) Who was Phillips representing: CalPERS as a whole, including Jelincic as Board member? Or, in violation of California bar rules, just the anti-Jelincic faction? (5) Is it really okay for attorneys to argue on behalf of their clients when the other party or parties in the room do not have their attorneys present? Answer to #4: Clearly, Phillips was not representing Jelincic which means he violated Bar rules. Answer to #5: No! Its not okay. Whether in person or online, Phillips is an agent of CalPERS. He hid his identity. He knew he was doing something wrong. He may or may not have known he violated California Bar rules and legal ethics. And, he clearly did not think through the upshot of his words which make it Jacobs official position that someone charged with disclosing confidential information has the burden to prove any information in question was NOT confidential that, is, guilty until proven innocent. If Jacobs disagrees, let him refute Phillips. Misuse of Government Resources NC reader Sluggeaux made the point vividly: It is absolutely horrible that a public servant, who NonFiction does not appear to deny being, would make this sort of snide commentary using public resources. After serving as a public lawyer for 32 years before retiring as a CalPERS beneficiary, I find this conduct to be reprehensible. At least Donald Trumps tweets are subject to open attribution. Snide comments by evident insiders directed at well-informed reporters only serve to confirm that the lack of transparency at CalPERS only exists in order to cover-up wrongdoing and/or incompetence on the part of their very well-compensated staff. Or as our reader and sometimes guest writer Clive put it: What is inescapable is that CalPERS is paying its staff and not just the office juniors, I dont know what the hourly rate that a Senior Staff Attorney working in CA will run to, but Ill bet its not cheap to pay very close attention to what Naked Capitalism is saying about them. To misquote Monty Python, Yves isnt a campaigner for transparency and accountability in public pension fund provision, shes a very naughty girl. Proof of Deficient Governance Either Phillips was acting as a rogue employee or his comments on Naked Capitalism were acceptable to the General Counsel Matt Jacobs. If the former, it would be gross insubordination by Phillips. If the latter, it is yet more proof of diseased governance at CalPERS. As law professor and former general counsel Bill Black wrote: This is the very definition of someone too clever by half. And this simply reiterates the point youve been making. CalPERS is a deeply dysfunctional organization. A key line of defense is supposed to be the General Counsel. But here, the General Counsel is a big part of the problem. CalPERS has attempted to depict Phillips conduct as consistent with CalPERS policy. From Brad Pacheco, CalPERS head of Communications & Stakeholder Relations: CalPERS has policies that allow for social media usage. The policy states, employees are responsible for ensuring that use of any social media does not interfere with their ability to fulfill their job requirements, their work product, or their commitments to their managers, co-workers or CalPERS members or constituents. It is quite a stretch to try to depict a site that has done more original reporting on CalPERS in the last three years than any other publication and in the last month alone has been cited by the Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine for our work on CalPERS and Uber, respectively, as social media. I cant think of a single previous instance in the history of this website where we have been put in that category. Even more important, its hard to fathom how the comment on our site did not undermine Phillips ability to do his job with respect to representing Jelincic and maintaining his good standing with the barunless Phillips knew full well that his conduct would have been approved of by the higher-ups, had it stayed secret. If CalPERS fails to reprimand Phillips and disavow his comments, it is a tacit admission that they were acceptable to the General Counsel, Matt Jacobs, and potentially consistent with general guidance given Phillips. If so, that would make him and any other members of CalPERS legal department who gave Phillips responsibilities that would include this sort of fishing expedition guilty of the bar violations listed above. As Doug Smith summed up: Phillips behavior signals that governance is a travesty at CalPERS. This is not governance at least if we require adherence to core principles as an integral element for governance. Instead, anything goes: trickery, obfuscation, sophistry, and misrepresentation are just part of the workday in the General Counsels office. 1.6 million beneficiaries and their families depend on CalPERS. They like everyone in the overstressed, risk-laden culture have a zillion things to attend to just to get through each day. Which means they really, really have little choice but to rely on CalPERS staff, Board and attorneys to do their jobs as fiduciaries instead of, as this incident confirms, anything-goes combatants against disclosure, deliberation and governance itself. Is CalPERS capable of shaping up? It careens from one fiasco to another, in denial as to how much it has slipped as an institution from its glory days. Tolerance of internal dissent and a more vigilant board were key parts of its once-winning formula. Both the board and senior officers need to take a hard look in the mirror. But that is what they seem most unwilling to do. ____ 1 The reasons for not providing the actual data are ludicrous, but the fact that CalPERS uncharacteristically rolled so quickly says they knew the odds were high that they would not prevail if they decided to deny the request and we contested its position. In other CalPERS posts today, we discuss the legal and IT implications of the fact that Christopher Philips, a member of CalPERS legal department, posted comments seeking to undermine our credibility and that of board member JJ Jelincic. We explain how Phillips violated California bar rules. As a result of examining California State Bar Act and the Bar Association rules of professional conduct, we believe CalPERS General Counsel Matt Jacobs separately engaged in a much more serious violation of state bar rules in his handling of the recent disciplinary process against Jelincic. As regular readers will recall, the censure process for Jelincic began formally in January at an offsite in Monterey. The only reason that there is a proper record of this disgraceful episode is that former board member Michael Flaherman heard a plan to railroad Jelincic would be launched then. He understood the significance of the timing: no transcripts are kept at board offsites and few sessions are videoed. He trekked to Monterey to record it. CalPERS abuses of procedure and governance, vividly on display in the campaign against Jelincic, motivated Flaherman to run for the board to try to remedy them/1 At the Monterey meeting, board member Bill Slaton demanded that either Jelincic resign or the board strip him of meaningful authority, which the board actually lacked the power to do. Slaton was in full sentence first, verdict afterward mode, presenting no evidence whatsoever to back his slanderous charges, even after Jelincic demanded during the meeting that Slaton cite specific violations. The General Counsels office represents the CalPERS board. As law professor and former general counsel Bill Black pointed out in a post earlier this year, when board member Bill Slaton made this attack against Jelincic, rather than attempting to counter Slatons evidence-free accusation and demand for punishment, Matt Jacobs, the General Counsel did speak up, but solely to implicitly support throwing Jelincic under the bus. In the unlikely event that Slatons diatribe against Jelincic had caught Jacobs off guard, Jacobs should nevertheless have immediately and forcefully have reined him in, as Bill Black described in some detail, and not piled on. In addition, Board President Robert Feckner stated, and records obtained via the Public Records Act confirm, that Jacobs and Slaton had been conferring on the Get Jelincic campaign before the January board meeting. As Feckner said on tape: Matt and I have had many conversations about it. This is a very damaging admission on multiple levels. The manner in which Jacobs allowed this caper to unfold was clear-cut violation of California bar rules. Lawyers are prohibited from working in secret with one client against another. Yet Jacobs was already participating in the campaign against Jelincic before the January 19 offsite in Monterey. Under California bar rules, Jacobs was required to get a waiver for his conflict of interest from Jelincic or notify him formally that he and the legal department were not representing Jelincic. From Rule 3-300: (C) A member shall not, without the informed written consent of each client: (1) Accept representation of more than one client in a matter in which the interests of the clients potentially conflict; or (2) Accept or continue representation of more than one client in a matter in which the interests of the clients actually conflict; or (3) Represent a client in a matter and at the same time in a separate matter accept as a client a person or entity whose interest in the first matter is adverse to the client in the first matter. The section of the bar rules dealing with Organizations as Clients reinforces this notion. From Rule 3-600: (D) In dealing with an organizations directors, officers, employees, members, shareholders, or other constituents, a member shall explain the identity of the client for whom the member acts, whenever it is or becomes apparent that the organizations interests are or may become adverse to those of the constituent(s) with whom the member is dealing. The member shall not mislead such a constituent into believing that the constituent may communicate confidential information to the member in a way that will not be used in the organizations interest if that is or becomes adverse to the constituent. If challenged, Jacobs justification for so clearly taking one side in a conflict of interest would probably be to contend that there was no proceeding pending when Slaton attacked Jelincic in Monterey, hence any conflict was only theoretical.2 But as the video of the January meeting shows, Feckner decided then to move forward with a disciplinary process that was to be public and formal. At that moment, Feckner set the CalPERS legal office, including Jacobs as general counsel, into an adverse posture relative to Jelincic. Thus immediately after that board meeting, Jacobs was legally obligated to ask Jelicic to give Jacobs a waiver or at least put Jelincic on notice that CalPERS legal department was adverse to him and thus was not representing him. As one California lawyer wrote (emphasis original): At a minimum after Slaton made his statement in the January board meeting, Jacobs had a duty to inform Jelincic of their adverse interests. The legal department continued to ignore this requirement. However, these failings of legal ethics pale in comparison to Jacobs subsequent actions, where he violated the most basic principle of legal representation by refusing to allow Jelincic to dismiss the CalPERS legal department from representing him. On February 10, Feckner sent an e-mail to Jelincic in which Feckner reneged on the commitment to present of the allegations against Jelincic in public and give him the opportunity to rebut them. Instead, Feckner told Jelincic to attend a private meeting to discuss Slatons allegations against Jelincic immediately after the upcoming board meetings. As you can see from the second embedded document below, Feckner said that Robert Carlin, a member of CalPERS legal team, would participate, making him the sole attorney present. It should be obvious that one attorney cannot be representing two or what should actually be three parties: Slaton as the accuser, Jelincic as the accused, and Feckner as the supposedly impartial arbiter. Carlins involvement is particularly troubling given this section of Rule 3-300: (E) A member shall not, without the informed written consent of the client or former client, accept employment adverse to the client or former client where, by reason of the representation of the client or former client, the member has obtained confidential information material to the employment. In this context, confidential is the information that would be subject to attorney-client privilege. In this case, if Jacobs or any member of the legal department used any information that the legal staff obtained from Jelincic directly as part of the disciplinary process, that would be a per se violation of that rule. An additional Rule 3-600(D) problem is that Jacobs (since Carlin would not have independent authority to act) was trying to get Jelincic to meet with a member of the legal department, Slaton, and Feckner behind closed doors. Here is the key section: The [bar] member shall not mislead such a constituent into believing that the constituent may communicate confidential information to the member in a way that will not be used in the organizations interest if that is or becomes adverse to the constituent. Jacobs position has been that he and his legal staff have an attorney-client relationship with all members of the board. While that is true in ordinary situations, it is an untenable position when serious disputes arise within the board. In this case, Jacobs had clearly aligned himself with the faction of the board that was keen to punish Jelincic. Moreover, even if Jacobs had not already committed himself to one side, the fact remained that there were two sides involved in a legal proceeding, and he could not advocate for both. In legalese, that meant he had already taken a position adverse to Jelincic or was going to in the immediate future. To make the ethical breach even worse, Jacobs was trying to lure Jelincic into a confidential meeting without having informed Jelincic of the adverse representation, as he was clearly required to do. Perversely, it was Jelincic who was put in the position of having to send a notice of adverse interests to Jacobs and the CalPERS legal department on February 11. CalPERS effectively acknowledged that Jelincics position of adverse interest was correct by agreeing to pay for Jelincic to retain his own counsel and bringing in an outside attorney to represent Feckner and Slaton.3 Notice that the latter position, of having one attorney represent both Feckner and Slaton was confirmation, as we have maintained, that Feckner was not operating as an arbiter, as he has repeatedly claimed, but was out implement Slatons demand for a censure in a way that would not get CalPERS in more hot water. In its next moves, CalPERS actions went from riding roughshod over legal proprieties to jumping off a legal ethics cliff. The attorney brought in to handle the censure was a prominent pension lawyer, Ashley Dunning of Nossaman, who had also been recently retained to serve as CalPERS fiduciary counsel. She made a last-ditch effort to keep the censure proceedings cloaked in attorney-client privilege. As any lawyer will recognize, that stance is nonsensical given that Jelincic had formally removing himself as a client of CalPERS legal department with respect to this matter via his notice of adverse interest. Jelincic had every reason to demand his own counsel to contest CalPERS kangaroo court. But another implication of Jelincic firing CalPERS legal department was that he would (or should have) gotten control of the treatment of information that CalPERS presented to his side during this process. As long as Jelincic was represented by CalPERS legal department, the attorney-client privilege didnt actually belong to him, as it normally would in other settings. Instead, it would belong to the entire board. That means a majority vote of the board would be necessary for him to waive the privilege on CalPERS legal communications to him if he were deemed a client. As a result, CalPERS could run any kind of sham censure process with no public accountability, so long as JJ remained a client and all of the communications were run through the hands of CalPERS legal team. This is why it was critically important for Jelincic to have barred Jacobs and the CalPERS legal department from representing him in the censure matter back on February 11. On March 3, almost a month after Jelincic had fired Jacobs and the CalPERS legal office, Jelincic received an analysis prepared by Jacobs. This document is significant because it is the only thing that CalPERS has prepared that remotely represents charges against Jelincic. Jelincic referred to it in his Roy Cohn board statement earlier this month. Jelincic has repeatedly sought to have this report released so that he can rebut it.4 On March 21, Dunning sent a letter to Jelincics attorney, Karl Olson, in which she attempted to depict Jacobs analysis as attorney-client privileged. The fact that the document was sent to Jelnicic when CalPERS legal department was not representing him means it cannot be privileged. Dunning similarly cannot argue that she was representing Jelincic in her capacity as fiduciary counsel without running full bore into the bar violations we described in detail above. She has never obtained or even sought a waiver for her conflict of interest. She thus cannot maintain her pretense of representing the board in this matter if it includes Jelincic. Dunning attempted to conflate the idea of attorney-client privilege with the boards privilege and asserted Jelincic was bound by that. Any confidential status accorded to board material went poof when handed to an outside party. Jelincic became an outside party with respect to the disciplinary action once he sent in his notice of adverse interest on February 11 Nevertheless, CalPERS continues to maintain that the document is privileged and used that claim as a basis for refusing to provide it in response to Public Records Act requests. Jacobs and Dunning cant have their cake and eat it too. The only rationale for keeping the document confidential would have been that CalPERS was representing Jelincic as of March 3, when Jacobs sent the analysis to Jelnicic. But Jelincic had fired Jacobs on this matter weeks earlier. It is a grave bar violation to claim to represent a client against his will. The continued insistence that there was no conflict of interest when the reverse is blindingly obvious puts both lawyers on untenable grounds as far as bar rules are concerned. In fact, what actually happened is that Jacobs March 3 legal analysis, and that includes any confidential material it contained, such as material from any confidential board meetings, lost its privileged and confidential status when it went into the hands of Karl Olson, Jelincics attorney. Even if Olson had not yet been formally retained, CalPERS was treating Olson as Jelincics representative prior to March 3. For instance, CalPERS was pushing Olson to schedule a meeting on the Jelnicic censure in late February. In other words, multiple actions by CalPERS confirm that it acknowledges Jelincics status as adverse well before March 3. Moreover, CalPERS did not require Olson to sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition of his engagement. Dunnings letter is a one-sided stuff the genie back into the bottle effort to assert the material was protected to solve a problem of Jacobs inattention. This situation is so far beyond the pale of professional norms that a writer of fiction may be best able to capture the spirit of what took place. From Terry Pratchett: How can people kill like that? Without even thinking about it?. It was a shame, and there wasnt a man among them who couldnt hear the hot whine of guilt all down their backbones. But, as so often happens by that strange alchemy of the soul, the guilt made them arrogant and reckless. This combination of sloppiness and bulldozing is typical of Jacobs. It may work from time to time in litigation, but it does not sit well in the general counsels role, particularly for an institution in a political and media fishbowl like CalPERS. CalPERS need someone better suited to Jacobs job. ___ 1 Jelincic has endorsed Flaherman, who is running for the seat Jelincic is vacating. 2 This position is farcical since we have documented the board and its former fiduciary counsel Robert Klausner were operating against Jelincic since at least December 2015. From a post then: This section of the Governance Committee meeting clearly shows that the board, aided and abetted by Klausner, is in the process of establishing a procedure for implementing trumped-up sanctions against Jelincic, presumably so as to facilitate an opponent unseating him in his next election. But Jelincics term isnt up until 2018, so from their perspective they are stuck with an apostate in their ranks for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Part of their strategy appears to harass him into compliance with the posture the rest of the board, that of ceding authority to staff and conducting board meetings that are largely ceremonial. We strongly urge you to watch the pertinent portion in full, and have provide a link and annotations at the end of this post. 3 Jacobs may argue that the outside attorney was representing Feckner, but that lawyer, CalPERS fiduciary counsel Ashley Dunning, has made the remarkable claim that she was representing the board in this matter. That implies that there was no daylight between Feckner and Slaton. That confirms the idea that Feckner was acting as an impartial judge was a sham. In addition, the choice of Dunning for this role was another way for the legal department to put its finger on the scale. The idea that the fiduciary counsel, who in theory has the board and not the staff as its primary client, actually gives the board its primary allegiance is a convenient fiction. The fiduciary counsel ostensibly serves the board and staff, replicating the existing conflict problem. Moreover, the fiduciary counsels loyalties lie with staff. The current fiduciary counsel Dunning and her precedessor clearly stated in their board interviews that they would take direction primarily from staff. Staff does the initial screening of fiduciary counsel candidates and in the last board selection process, eliminated an applicant that had served previously as fiduciary counsel and had been well liked by the board. Perhaps most important, the general counsel and not the board receives all bills from the fiduciary counsel and controls payment to them. 4 Readers may reasonably ask why Jelincic does not release the Jacobs document if Jelncic believes it is not attorney-client privileged. Recall what Jelincic has just been through. He has been censured on trumped-up charges. As we have indicated, Jelincic has been accused of leaking confidential material when the information at issue was not in fact secret, even though the board due to its ignorance and prejudice against Jelnicic, convinced itself otherwise. The board has set a precedent that it will engage in a bogus process to beat dissident board members into line. So even if Jelincic is in the right, he can readily be put through a procedural and reputational wringer yet again. Physicists discover why drying liquid crystal drops leave unusual 'coffee rings' (Nanowerk News) In previous papers, University of Pennsylvania physicists investigated the "coffee ring effect," the ring-shaped stain of particles left after drops of coffee evaporate. In one paper, they learned how to undo this effect by altering particle shape. Now, in a new paper published in Nature Communications ("Deposition and drying dynamics of liquid crystal droplets"), they have uncovered the complex and remarkably different behavior arising in a liquid crystal drop that is drying. The research, carried out in collaboration with scientists at Lehigh University and Swarthmore College, reveals novel behavior characteristics of liquid crystals, fluids with aligned phases of constituent molecules. The formation of different phases during drying leads to dramatically different fluid movement and solid deposition and also provides insight needed for the control of drying solutions of macromolecules that occur in many dyes and pharmaceutical formulations. This is a close-up of the drying progression of Sunset Yellow. (Image: University of Pennsylvania) (click on image to enlarge) Penn alumnus Zoey Davidson, now a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany, had been experimenting with Sunset Yellow, a dye that gives Doritos and orange soft drinks their bright colors, when he accidentally spilled some of the material. "I noticed that the spill pattern left behind by the drop was sort of similar to coffee-patterns we had studied before, but there were also differences," Davidson said. "The drying drops had a macroscopically visible interior structure, too." Davidson, along with Arjun Yodh, director of the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter and the James M. Skinner Professor of Science in the Department of Physics & Astronomy in the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn, and Peter Collings of Swarthmore, an adjunct professor at Penn, then decided to investigate this in a more controlled fashion. Penn Professor Randall Kamien, undergraduate alumnus Adam Gross and postdocs Angel Martinez and Tim Still also contributed to the study. The group collaborated with Chao Zhou of Lehigh and his Ph.D. student Yongyang Huang. Unlike the particles in a coffee drop, the liquid crystal drop they studied was a solution of Sunset Yellow molecules that spontaneously combine to form rod-like macromolecular assemblies, similar to how rod-like molecules order to form the liquid crystals used in LCDs. "Liquid crystals are a phase of matter," Collings said, "just like the more well-known solid, liquid and gas phases. They are fluids, which means they take the shape of their container, but unlike liquids there is some order among the constituents that make up the substance. So, although the constituents diffuse around much like what happens in liquids, they maintain some orientational and sometimes positional order." While the liquid crystals used in LCDs, called thermotropic liquid crystals, are made of molecules with nothing else added, the liquid crystals used in this experiment were chromonic liquid crystals. Chromonic liquid crystals consist of assemblies of molecules dispersed in liquid water. During drying, the Sunset Yellow concentration varied within the drop, and microscope images revealed the formation of different fluid phases such as the isotropic liquid (random), liquid crystal nematic (aligned) and liquid crystal columnar (cylindrically packed) phases that segregate to different regions of the drop. "When you look at the drop over time," Yodh said, "it's not uniform; it has a lot of structure." The central region of the drop was isotropic, and it was surrounded by the aligned nematic phase. The boundary between the two phases moved toward the center as the droplet dried, and then other regions with different structures appeared, such as the columnar and crystal phases. "It's a qualitative jump to go from a drop that is one phase that just gets more concentrated," Yodh said, "to a drop that can change into several different phases depending on concentration. The different phases segregate and affect the viscosity and convection in different regions of the drop." They noticed unusual dynamics in the drying process but found it difficult to discern these processes with simple microscopies. Thus they joined forces with Zhou and Huang to employ optical coherence microscopy to track the flow inside of the droplets. The new microscope revealed circular flow patterns, or Marangoni currents, circulating in a direction opposite to that seen in other solutions. This circulation anomaly was due to the unusual surface tension properties of Sunset Yellow. Because evaporation happens fastest at an outer edge in a drying drop of coffee, solid material inside the drop is transported from the center of the droplet to the outer edge, bringing more and more coffee grains with it. "These coffee grains accumulate at the edge," Collings said, "and after the drop has completely dried a nice, dark ring of coffee particles results." In the end, deposition from the drying liquid crystal drop was not ring-like or uniform. "In many cases," Collings said, "the existence of liquid crystal phases raises the viscosity and lowers the speed material moves at, so the final shape looks like a volcano or sunken souffle." Although there have been other investigations in which multiple phases arise in drying and evaporating drops, especially near the drop edge, this is the first time researchers have investigated multiple liquid crystal phases and understood how viscoelastic effects and other properties of liquid crystals affect the final drying deposition pattern. "We're pushing a frontier," said Yodh, "We know that lots of systems actually can have these properties, and this research is important if you want to understand what they're going to do." Many technologies depend on depositing material in a precise way through the evaporation of a solvent. Since liquid crystal-like phases are common among dyes and pharmaceuticals, this research could have potential applications down the line. "One need only think about ink-jet printing," Collings said, "to realize an extremely common and useful example. If such processes involve substances that form liquid crystal phases, as many dyes and drugs do, then the understanding gained through our experiments is going to be important in achieving whatever results are desired." But much of the importance of this work lies in the realm of basic science. "Our newfound understanding of how droplets of another class of materials dry," Collings said, "substantiates some concepts developed before but also extends our knowledge into realms where the behavior is different." The researchers hope to follow up on some of the interesting observations they made about the structures that form as the material dries. "The patterns of material that form," Yodh said, "are influenced both by traditional equilibrium thermodynamics and by fluid convection and new structures with novel locked topologies form as a result." To be able to control this phenomenon would be an exciting next step. Looking at complex light wave forms (Nanowerk News) For the first time an international research team under the direction of Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Sansone at the Institute of Physics at the University of Freiburg has been able to completely characterize the complex evolution of weak electric fields. The team just published its research findings in the scientific journal Nature Photonics ("Vectorial optical field reconstruction by attosecond spatial interferometry."). The electronic field moves in complex trajectories as a light pulse propagates. (Image: Giuseppe Sansone) Light pulses are electromagnetic waves. Their characteristics such as the direction of oscillation, duration and intensity depend on the spatiotemporal evolution of their electric and magnetic fields. Both of these vectors can run in complex trajectories as a light pulse propagates for instance, they can move along a circle, an elliptical or describe any variation thereof. The movement occurs on a timescale of several hundred attoseconds, which is much faster than any ordinary electronic or optoelectronic device can measure: an attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second. In order to observe how the electric field moves anyway, the team developed a method using a so-called attosecond laser. Using this new tool we were able to produce electrons in the form of wave packets that only last a few hundred attoseconds, explains Sansone. During their dynamics, electrons are very sensitive to any kind of external disturbance. The researchers leveraged this characteristic to modify the electrons trajectories with weak visible light pulses. They were then able to measure how the trajectories had been altered, thereby deducing the intensity and direction of the electric field. Our method will enable researchers in the future to have a complete characterization of electronic dynamics in solids by measuring the visible light reflected on its surface, says Sansone. Tipperary Fianna Fail TD, Jackie Cahill is calling on those who want to protect the future of the countys post office network to attend his public meeting, this Thursday, 1st June at 8pm in the Horse and Jockey Hotel. Joining me on the night will be my partys spokesperson on communications, Timmy Dooley TD and a representative from the Irish Postmasters Union. Additionally, Senator Marc Daly, Fianna Fail Seanad Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs will discuss the challenges rural counties, such as Tipperary, will face as a result of the decision of the UK to leave the European Union. In recent weeks, we have heard that the Government are considering closing up to 300 post offices, some of which could be in Tipperary and Kilkenny. Postmasters feel betrayed that the Bobby Kerr proposals have not been delivered. Many promises were made by the Government to them on how they would support a vibrant post office network. Additional services such as delivering Motor Tax and basic banking services need to be rolled out to ensure that the current model remains sustainable. Post Offices in Tipperary should be used as community hubs with the ability to provide transport, tourism and training services to local people. The Government wants to take the easy option of closing post offices rather than being creative about their future. Increasing the number of services that they have to offer is the key to seeing the network thrive. Fianna Fail recognises that the local post office is the fabric of many communities. The closure of post offices will only add to hardship that rural communities in our county have suffered problem in recent years and must be resisted. Speaking about the challenge of Brexit for rural counties, Deputy Cahill added: Within eight weeks of the decision last week, we saw the closure of the McDonald's mushroom factory, with the loss of 70 jobs, as a result of severe fluctuations in sterling against the Euro. A hard Brexit, as is being planned by the UK Conservative government, will threaten the agri-food industry in Tipperary. A major proportion of our food exports head straight to Britain, or up north. Any attempt to apply tariffs on these products will cripple farmers, and destroy their profit margins. I want to hear the opinions of the people of Tipperary on what they want to see from the Government in terms of enhancing the post office network and protecting Irish jobs potentially affected by Brexit. I would urge everyone with an interest in having their voice heard to attend the meeting on Thursday, June 1st, concluded Cahill. Hospitality and drinks businesses, including pubs, hotels, off-licences, restaurants, wholesalers and producers, employ 3,973 people in Tipperary, generating 112 million in revenue for the local tourism economy. These businesses also purchase 8.7 million in agricultural outputs and pay out 87 million in wages each year. The figures are part of a new report, Irelands Hospitality and Drinks Sector and Your Constituency, commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) and authored by Dublin City University economist Anthony Foley. The report outlines the importance of the drinks and hospitality sector to the overall national economy, and to local economies across the country, particularly in rural Ireland. However, Irelands high alcohol excise taxthe second highest in the EUis jeopardising the future growth of hospitality and drinks businesses, including those in Tipperary, as tourists seek more affordable holiday destinations. This is particularly the case for British tourists. 40 percent of all visitors to Ireland originate from the UK, but a slump in sterling value following the Brexit referendum has already had a significant impact. Between January and March 2017, 55,300 fewer British tourists travelled to Ireland compared to the same period last year. Tipperary publican Tom Croke, proprietor of Crokes bar in Carrick-On-Suir and DIGI member, said: The findings of this DIGI report clearly show the huge importance of the drinks and hospitality sector to Tipperarys economy. It supports thousands of jobs and generates millions of euros in revenue for local tourism and suppliers. However, its also clear that the sector is in a precarious position as a result of high levels of excise tax on alcohol and the impact of Brexit. Our pub culture is a huge draw for tourists, but with fewer British tourists visiting Ireland due to reduced spending power, our pubs, hotels, restaurants and off-licences will do less business. We must take action to avoid job losses, and that requires a reduction in excise tax to make Ireland a better value holiday destination. The report was launched to mark the beginning of Support Your Local 2017, a DIGI campaign that seeks to highlight the economic, cultural and social contributions of local pubs, and calls for a reduction in Irelands alcohol excise tax. During the Vigil Mass in Ss Peter and Pauls church, Clonmel last Saturday evening, there was a fitting and poignant moment when the names of all those who were killed in last week's Manchester terrorist attack were called. The names were read out as students from the local schools lit candles to represent and remember those who died. During the Mass prayers were also said for those bereaved and injured, and there was a special mention for those who came to the aid of so many on that terrible evening. Fr. Michael Toomey recalled that during the week he had written to the Catholic Bishop of Salford and the Anglican Bishop of Manchester, expressing profound sorrow and assuring the people affected of the prayers of the people of Clonmel. Both Bishops replied and thanked the people of Clonmel for their support and good wishes. Fr. Michael also stated that in light of such a horrific event, we were all so moved by the stories of selfless heroism shown by so many in Manchester, from the homeless man who gave comfort to the injured child and held the dying woman, to the parents who looked after someone elses child while not knowing where theirs were. It is these stories these are the images of hope, which should inspire us, he said, as he recalled seeing the Jewish Rabbi who was helped to the memorial by the Muslim Imam; the Mosque for Friday prayers with the slogan I Love Manchester on every wall; those who gave blood, food and water or even a cup of tea to the emergency services; those taxi drivers who brought people out of the area; those who gave a bed for the night to people who were stranded and the so many other acts of kindness. This is how we defeat terrorism, by showing the true meaning of the human spirit, which is central to our Gospel and of Christ Himself that of love, said Fr. Michael. After the calling of the names and the lighting of the 22 candles, a minute's silence was observed by the whole congregation in prayer. Fr. Michael thanked everyone who came to the Mass and Service of Remembrance, as well as the manager of Tesco who donated the display and candles for the event. Wednesday, May 31, 2017 by: Bridgette Wilcox Tags: marijuana , road accidents , THC This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author (Natural News) Despite having the right-of-way in a collision that ultimately ended in the death of the other party, a woman was still sentenced to six months in prison after being found with traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component in marijuana. Kali Su Schram, 20, was driving on Seaway Drive in Musekgon, Michigan, when she collided with a cyclist at an intersection with Sherman Boulevard, said a report on MLive.com. The 64-year old cyclist, Ralph Martin, died almost four months later from injuries sustained in the accident. Upon investigation, the Muskegon Country Prosecutors Office determined that Schram did have right-of-way. If you read the police report, she could not have done anything to avoid this particular accident, Schrams attorney, James Marek, was quoted as saying in the report. At the same time, Judge William C. Marietti said at her sentencing that the THC in her bloodstream did not seem to contribute to the incident. Even then, Schram was sentenced to six months in jail and two years probation, and subjected to $6,456 restitution and $708 court fees. It was not revealed how much THC was found in Schrams blood, nor if she seemed to be under the influence when the collision happened. Whether a person appears to be under the influence of THC is not an element we are required to prove unless the person has a valid medical marijuana exception, Muskegon County Chief Assistant prosecutor Timothy Maat said in the report. The law does not set a threshold amount of illegal drugs to measure impairment like it does in drunk driving cases where the unlawful level of blood alcohol has been set at .08 Maat stressed that a person found with controlled substances in their system is not legally allowed to drive a car. When a death results from an accident when a defendant could not legally drive, it is then left to the Judge to decide an appropriate sentence depending on the facts and circumstances of each case, he said. The ruling is contrary to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that found that marijuana does not necessarily lead to increased risk for road accidents. Researchers cited previous studies that found little to no increase in road accident risk among drivers who use marijuana. The more carefully controlled studies, that actually measured marijuana (THC) use by drivers rather than relying on self-report, and that had more actual control of covariates that could bias the results, generally show reduced risk estimates or no risk associated with marijuana use, the study said. The study is the largest of its kind, with researchers surveying 9,000 drivers to examine the effects of marijuana and alcohol on peoples driving abilities. Of the participants, 3,000 had been involved in a car crash and 6,000 had not. The results revealed that marijuana users are more at risk for car accidents, though the study suggested that the users are at risk whether or not they use the substance. The survey found that marijuana users are more likely to be involved in accidents, but that the increased risk may be due in part because marijuana users are more likely to be in groups at higher risk of crashes. In particular, marijuana users are more likely to be young men a group already at high risk, the NHTSA said. Sources include: MLive.com NHTSA.gov A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution Jennifer A. Doudna & Samuel H. Sternberg. Houghton Mifflin: 2017. 9781847923813 9780544716940 Jennifer Doudna helped to uncover the CRISPRCas gene-editing system. Credit: Graeme Mitchell/Redux/Eyevine The prospect of a memoir from Jennifer Doudna, a key player in the CRISPR story, quickens the pulse. And A Crack in Creation does indeed deliver a welcome perspective on the revolutionary genome-editing technique that puts the power of evolution into human hands, with many anecdotes and details that only those close to her may have known. Yet it does not provide the probing introspection, the nuanced ethical analysis, the moral counterpoint that we CRISPR junkies crave. After the race for discovery comes the battle for control of the discovery narrative. The stakes for the CRISPRCas system are extraordinarily high. In February, the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled against Doudna and the University of California, Berkeley. It found that a patent on the application of CRISPR to eukaryotic cells filed by Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts did not interfere with Berkeley's more sweeping patent on genetic engineering with CRISPR. Although that battle is over, the war rages on. Berkeley has already appealed against the decision; meanwhile, the European Patent Office has ruled in favour of Doudna and Berkeley. Doubtless there are many more patents to milk out of this versatile system. And then there's the fistful of 66-millimetre gold medals they give out in Stockholm each year. So far, the Broad Institute has controlled the CRISPR narrative. Rich in funds and talent, the Broad melds sleek, high-tech sexiness with a sense of East Coast, old-money privilege. Last year, institute director Eric Lander published a now-infamous piece entitled 'The heroes of CRISPR' (E. Lander Cell 164, 1828; 2016). It adopted a tone of magnanimity, crediting Lithuanian biochemist Virginijus Siksnys with observing early on that his findings pave the way for engineering of universal programmable RNA-guided DNA endonucleases, and Doudna and her CRISPR co-discoverer Emmanuelle Charpentier with noting the potential to exploit the system for RNA-programmable genome editing. Lander's clear implication was that they were laying the groundwork; Zhang's group got CRISPR over the finish line. To many of us, such tactics made Team Broad look like the villains of CRISPR. Doudna's book was a chance to deliver a righteous knockout blow. Instead, we get a counter-narrative just as constructed as Lander's article. It is written entirely in the first person; co-author Samuel Sternberg, a former student in the Doudna lab, barely surfaces. In that counter-narrative, Doudna had always been interested in gene editing. Her early work was on RNA enzymes, or ribozymes. She developed an impeccable pedigree, doing her PhD with Jack Szostak at Harvard and a postdoc with Tom Cech at the University of Colorado Boulder, before joining the faculty at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. From the mid-1990s, she writes, she was exploring the basic molecular mechanisms that would be able to unlock the full potential of gene editing. Her work on CRISPR dates to 2006 six years before the key papers were published and a call from Berkeley geomicrobiologist Jillian Banfield. Over coffee, Banfield described the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats that kept popping up in her DNA databases of bacteria and archaea. The sequences were ubiquitous among these prokaryotes, but unique to each species. This realization sent a little shiver of intrigue down my spine, Doudna writes. If CRISPR was so widespread, there was a good chance that nature was using it to do something important. By 2012, she and her co-workers had characterized the natural CRISPR system, harnessed it as a laboratory tool and developed a modified system that was programmable, cheap and easy to use. The middle of the book reels off the obligatory breathless list of potential uses, generating everything from malaria-free mosquitoes and police dogs with muscles like Vin Diesel to the canonical cure for cancer. Thankfully, Doudna counterweights sensationalism with a sober accounting of the risks and responsibilities of applications such as altering the genomes of entire populations of organisms with 'gene drives'. In 2015, she sustained doubts about CRISPR ever being safe enough for clinical trials, but she has come to embrace editing of the human germ line inheritable DNA modification once it is proved safe. But the discussion is ultimately unsatisfying. When it is time to grapple with tricky ethical issues, such as human experimentation, she baulks, unspooling instead a series of rhetorical questions. Rather than guiding us through the ethical thickets of precision genetic engineering, or providing a candid, warts-and-all look at one of the great scientists of our time, the book mainly polishes her 'good scientist' image and rationalizes the unfettered self-direction of human evolution, within liberal bounds of safety, efficacy and individual choice. Rather than dispel the cartoon-character feel of this epic battle, Doudna elaborates on it. She presents us with a persona so flawless that it seems more concealing than revealing. She waves away the bloody patent fight as a disheartening twist in the story, but the entire biomedical world knows that it was much more. As I read A Crack in Creation, I was reminded of Benjamin Franklin's benevolent man, who, he wrote, should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance and, I would add, to give him- or herself more depth. The narrative often substitutes melodrama for dramatic tension. A conference in Puerto Rico sees Charpentier and Doudna strolling the cobbles of Old San Juan, with Charpentier saying earnestly, I'm sure that by working together we can figure out the activity of what became the Cas enzyme. I felt a shiver of excitement as I contemplated the possibilities of this project, Doudna writes. When first wrestling with the ethical dilemmas of gene editing, she dreams of meeting Adolf Hitler, who demands to know the secrets of her technique. She wakes, of course, freshly determined to ensure that CRISPR is not put to nefarious use. The Matter of the Heart: A History of the Heart in Eleven Operations Thomas Morris Bodley Head (2017) 9781250117168 9781847923912 | ISBN: 978-1-2501-1716-8 With the cut and thrust of cardiac surgery now demystified, we forget that venturing into the thoracic cavity once seemed as daunting as polar exploration. Or more so: as Thomas Morris reveals in this stirring chronicle, even touching a beating heart was long viewed as impossible. Told through 11 pivotal operations, it's a tale of ingenuity, from Henry Dalton, who in 1891 became the first US surgeon to suture a pericardium, to artificial aortic valves implanted by robots. It's rich, too, in alarming details not least, the injections of strychnine and whisky that featured in early surgery. Chief Engineer: The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge Erica Wagner Bloomsbury (2017) 9781408843772 | ISBN: 978-1-4088-4377-2 At its 1883 debut, the Brooklyn Bridge was by far the world's longest suspension bridge its construction a bravura feat founded on a deep understanding of geology. The life of chief engineer Washington Roebling also has a certain monumental quality, as Erica Wagner proves in this engrossing, exhaustive biography. The project took the lives of at least 20 workers and of its designer, Roebling's truculent father John; Roebling himself was left with decompression sickness. But, as Wagner reveals, the central structure and main cables remain a rock-solid testament to engineering acuity and vaulting ambition. Atomic Adventures James Mahaffey Pegasus (2017) 9781681774213 | ISBN: 978-1-6817-7421-3 Nuclear scientist James Mahaffey's gloriously nerdy tour of atomic research ranges over projects from the dead-end to the hare-brained (see also M. Peplow Nature 506, 292293; 2014). Here, for instance, are obscure, third-tier scientist Ronald Richter who wasted US$300 million of Argentinian government money on a crackpot scheme to build a fusion power plant in the early 1950s as well as Mahaffey's own serious work on the lost dream of cold fusion. You'll learn, too, how to use a smartphone as a Geiger counter and what to pop in case of atomic attack (phosphorylated aminothiol, apparently). The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class Elizabeth Currid-Halkett Princeton University Press (2017) 9780691162737 | ISBN: 978-0-6911-6273-7 US economist Thorstein Veblen's 1899 Theory of the Leisure Class held a mirror up to rich Americans deep-dyed in Gilded Age ostentation. Here, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett updates Veblen's analysis, arguing that the leisure class is now aspirational, and that consumption has become inconspicuous all heirloom vegetables and electric cars. Yet, 'smart' elites contribute to inequality just as surely as yesterday's luxury addicts. A key companion to Robert Putnam's survey of dwindling US social mobility, Our Kids (Simon and Schuster, 2015; see B. Kiser Nature 520, 155; 2015). A Hole in the Wind David Goodrich Pegasus (2017) 9781681774312 | ISBN: 978-1-6817-7431-2 Meghan Duffy, an ecologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has a confession to make. When 5 p.m. rolls around, she's usually ready to head home. She would rather spend her evenings with her husband and three children than with microscopes and water samples. Credit: Claire Welsh/Nature Duffy first exposed herself as a 'merely full-time' scientist on a popular group blog called Dynamic Ecology, and she's been spreading the message ever since. The 2014 post, headlined You do not need to work 80 hours a week to succeed in academia, quickly became the most popular piece in the blog's history, and no article has yet surpassed it. In the post, Duffy estimated that she works 4050 hours in a typical week. It was a risky confession. The post came out while I was up for tenure, and I wasn't really sure that I should be admitting it, she says. The reception was immediate, and almost entirely positive. A university dean shared the post on Twitter, the first clear sign that her admission wouldn't hurt her chances of tenure which she got. Other scientists said that it made them feel validated. A woman came up to me in the park and said it changed her life, Duffy says. She had been feeling really guilty. The idea that you have to put in long hours is pervasive. If you're not working 60 or 80 hours a week, you're not doing enough. It makes people insecure. Duffy gets plenty done in those 4050 hours, and with much success. Earlier this year, she won a coveted YentschSchindler Early Career award from the US-based Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. Some scientists might complain of or even boast about insane work schedules, but many others are quietly putting in near-normal hours. Duffy and others make the most of their working hours and avoid unnecessary time drains (see 'Check your efficiency'). They balance priorities and stand up for themselves, which gives them more time to lead a life outside the lab. Science can be unpredictable, and some days are longer than others. But at no stage do scientists need to constantly burn the midnight oil or even the 6 p.m. oil. Everyone benefits from time away from work, Duffy says. You have to think about the whole person. Long hours are still the norm in many corners of science. In a 2016 Nature poll of early-career researchers worldwide, 38% of respondents reported working more than 60 hours each week 9% of whom claimed more than 80 hours (Nature 538, 446449; 2016). A survey published in 2013 of academic work habits in Europe found that senior academics in Germany reported working an average of 52 hours per week, more than researchers in any other country canvassed1 (see 'Academic hours'). In a 2014 occupational-stress survey of university lecturers and professors in the UK University and College Union (UCU), 41% of employees with full-time contracts said that they worked more than 50 hours a week (go.nature.com/2q8abi9). And a similar UCU survey in 2012 found that nearly half of all respondents often or always felt pressure from colleagues and supervisors to put in many hours (go.nature.com/2qt7xdw). Family or funding Not all scientists and academics have direct control of their schedules one more consideration to keep in mind when looking for a lab. There are labs where the principal investigator is a workaholic, and nobody else in the lab is allowed to have a life, says Anthony Ryan, a chemist at the University of Sheffield, UK. The spectre of long working days can be especially discouraging for scientists with children and family responsibilities. Jess Vickruck, an ecology postdoc at the University of Calgary in Canada whose son was born in early 2014, says she still worries that being a mother will put her at a competitive disadvantage for jobs and promotions. Others can regularly put in 60-hour weeks, but she can no longer do the same. Vickruck says that two women in her graduate programme at Brock University in St Catharines, Canada, dropped out after having children a commonality that underscores the challenge of balancing science and family life. Vickruck decided to stay in science, but parenthood forced her to abandon her lackadaisical approach to time. I wasn't thinking about how I was using my time because I had so much of it, she says. Now, she maximizes productivity by, for instance, trying to avoid too much office chit-chat but she can't disengage completely. Credit: Source: Ref. 1 Despite the challenges, many researchers find that it is possible to make time for life outside the lab. According to data from a Nature survey in 2016 of nearly 6,000 researchers (see Nature 537, 573576; 2016), 19% of those who responded said that they were dissatisfied with their worklife balance, but 46% said they were satisfied. The same survey found that 63% of respondents were satisfied with the amount of time they had off, including vacation days, personal days and maternity or paternity leave. Richard Primack, an ecologist at Boston University in Massachusetts, spends many hours studying climate change at sites with a long history of ecological observations, including Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. He notes that Walden's most famous resident, author Henry David Thoreau, would fill his days with observing his environment and reading and writing about the things he saw. You could say that he was a workaholic, but for him it was very relaxing, Primack says. Primack honours that legacy by sticking to work that he finds personally rewarding. He has the luxury of being able to delegate some less than fulfilling tasks. I hire professional editors to help me polish my articles, grant proposals and reports. he says. I can do this myself, but it's more efficient for me to pay someone to help. Working too long on something unpleasant is not a recipe for a successful career, he says. A lot of colleagues tell me that they have to work extra hours to write that paper that will get them promoted, he says. If I'm writing in the evening, it's because I enjoy doing it. You can't do it because someone is telling you to do it. After many years of listening to colleagues complain about exhaustion and long workdays, Primack decided to take an empirical look at what biologists were accomplishing outside normal working hours. In a 2013 study in Biological Conservation2, Primack and his co-authors analysed the timing of submissions to the journal from 2004 to 2012. More than one-quarter occurred either at weekends or on weekdays between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.. The weekend submission rate increased 56% every year, suggesting increasing erosion of personal time. The study found clear geographical differences. Researchers in India and China were about five times more likely than those in Belgium and Norway to submit over the weekend. In Japan, 30% of manuscripts were submitted after working hours on weekdays. Scientists in North America showed only an average tendency to submit papers beyond work ing hours. Americans think they work harder than average, but the study didn't show this, he says. Everyone benefits from time away from work. You have to think about the whole person. Primack acknowledges that he worked nights and weekends to finish this particular study, further evidence that science doesn't always fit neatly into a schedule. He also recalls gruelling days of fieldwork in Borneo, and a frantic 16-month period writing his textbook, Essentials of Conservation Biology3. Even when writing the book, I took time off to play with my children, he says. Principal investigators should reassure lab members that they don't have to give up their lives to get ahead, says Stephan Wenkel, a plant scientist at the University of Copenhagen. I tell people it's not about the hours, it's about efficiency, he says. I don't track my own hours, and I don't track the hours of the people in my group. The '95' culture is very much alive in Denmark, says Wenkel, who is from Germany. The institute empties in the evening, he says. He adds that the Scandinavian region is renowned for promoting a healthy worklife balance. At his institute, scientists have the flexibility to deal with personal issues. It's accepted here that people might have to leave in the afternoon because of a call from day care, he says. The US News & World Report ranked Denmark third worldwide in quality of life in 2017, in part thanks to the country's family-friendly attitudes. Wenkel warns lab members that long hours can actually hamper their work. Efficiency has a bell-shaped curve, he says. Once you've reached that maximum, things can start to fail because you aren't as focused. He says that he has sent clearly fatigued lab members home to rest. Duffy says that she's personally experienced the phenomenon of diminishing returns. At some point, you make enough errors that you would be better off not working, she says. Duffy agrees that principal investigators need to stop policing the schedules of their staff. That approach is not effective, she says. She leaves working hours up to each of her own lab members, and expects them to allow time for non-scientific pursuits. I've had multiple people in my lab who were endurance athletes, she says. They still get plenty of work done. If they hadn't told me, I never would have known that they were in the Iron Man [triathlon]. They have very good time-management skills. Science might not always fit into a schedule. But if done correctly, it can fit into a life. A new super-Earth was just discovered circling a star called GJ 625 that's only 21 light-years away. According to a report from Phys Org, GJ 625 is an M-dwarf star about a third of the size and mass of the sun. The newly discovered planet, GJ 625, has a minimum mass of 2.8 Earth masses, making it the lightest exoplanet ever found orbiting an M2 star. It's found orbiting the inner edge of the star's habitable zone. "As GJ625 is a relatively cool star the planet is situated at the edge of its habitability zone, in which liquid water can exist on its surface," Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics' Alejandro Suarez Mascareno explained in an official statement from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). "In fact, depending on the cloud cover of its atmosphere and on its rotation, it could potentially be habitable." Exoplanets classified as super-Earths are those that are bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. A team of astronomers led by Mascareno began a series of studies on the star in 2013 that was completed over three and a half years. They used the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern hemisphere (HARPS-N) spectrograph at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in Spain. With the analysis of 151 radial-velocity time series from HARPS-N, the researchers were able to discover the new super-Earth. "In the future new observing campaigns of photometric observations will be essential to try to detect the transit of this planet across its star, given its proximity to the sun," Jonay Gonzalez Hernandez said. "There is a possibility that there are more rocky planets around GJ625 in orbits which are nearer to, or further away from the star, and within the habitability zone, which we will keep on combing." The study was accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. It can also be accessed online on arXiv. Bringing back the former majesty of the Great Barrier Reef has always been unlikely, and now experts are saying that expecting an improvement could be impossible despite efforts of the government. According to a report from BBC News, a third of the Great Barrier Reef's corals disappeared in the past year. Research has shown that 29 percent of corals died in 2016, greater than the projected 26 percent made mid-year. In Port Douglas, 70 percent of the shallow coral reefs were destroyed. "As has been the case with reefs across the world, the Great Barrier Reef has experienced significant and widespread impacts over the last two years," Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chairman Russell Reichelt said. "We're very concerned about what this means for the Great Barrier Reef itself and what it means for the communities and industries that depend on it." Experts revealed that there really is cause for concern because the damage on the famous reef could be irreperable. In 2015, the federal and Queensland government enacted the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan to "ensure the Great Barrier Reef continues to improve on its outstanding universal values". According to a report from The Guardian, two experts from government science agencies said that this plan to improve the condition of the reef is no longer achievable. During a meeting of the Reef 2050 advisory committee, the experts suggested revising the plan and aiming to maintain the ecological functions of the reef instead, while accepting the inevitable decline of its health. Ecological functions include providing food and shelter to marine creatures, giving food to humans, protecting the coastline and many more. "The concept of 'maintaining ecological function' refers to the balance of ecological processes necessary for the reef ecosystem as a whole to persist, but perhaps in a different form, noting the composition and structure may differ from what is currently seen today," a spokeswoman for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority explained. Andre Shavers was sentenced to five years on felony probation after authorities burst into the house where he was living in one of Oakland's most heavily policed neighborhoods and found a quarter ounce of marijuana. After the 2007 raid, Shavers couldn't leave the state without permission. He was subject to police searches at any time. He walked to the corner store one night for maple syrup and came back in a police car. Officers wanted to search his home again. All the while, cannabis storefronts flourished elsewhere in a state where medical marijuana was authorized in 1996. Now Oakland and other cities and states with legal pot are trying to make up for the toll marijuana enforcement took on minorities by giving them a better shot at joining the growing marijuana industry. African-Americans made up 83 percent of cannabis arrests in Oakland in the year Shavers was arrested. "I was kind of robbed of a lot for five years," Shavers said. "It's almost like, what do they call that? Reparations. That's how I look at it. If this is what they're offering, I'm going to go ahead and use the services." The efforts' supporters say legalization is enriching white people but not brown and black people who have been arrested for cannabis crimes at far greater rates than whites. Recreational pot is legal in eight states and the nation's capital. California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada approved ballot questions in November. They join Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia, which acted earlier. Twenty-nine states permit medical marijuana. Massachusetts' ballot initiative was the first to insert specific language encouraging participation in the industry by those "disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement." The law does not specify how that would be accomplished. In Ohio, a 2016 medical pot law included setting aside 15 percent of marijuana-related licenses for minority businesses. In Pennsylvania, applicants for cultivation and dispensing permits must spell out how they will achieve racial equity. Florida lawmakers agreed last year to reserve one of three future cultivation licenses for a member of the Florida Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association. There have been setbacks as well. The Maryland General Assembly adjourned last month without acting on a bill to guarantee a place for minority-owned businesses that were not awarded any of the state's initial 15 medical marijuana cultivation licenses. There's no solid data on how many minorities own U.S. cannabis businesses or how many seek a foothold in the industry. But diversity advocates say the industry is overwhelmingly white. The lack of diversity, they say, can be traced to multiple factors: rules that disqualify people with prior convictions from operating legal cannabis businesses; lack of access to banking services and capital to finance startup costs; and state licensing systems that tend to favor established or politically connected applicants. "It's a problem that has been recognized but has proven to be relatively intractable," said Sam Kamin, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law who studies marijuana regulation. In 2010, blacks constituted 14 percent of the U.S. population but made up more than 36 percent of all arrests for pot possession, according to an American Civil Liberties Union study released in 2013. The report found African-Americans were nearly four times more likely than whites to be arrested for cannabis possession. That study did not report Latino arrests because the FBI data on which it was based did not track Hispanics. But a 2016 study by the ACLU of California and the Drug Policy Alliance found Latinos were cited at 1.4 times the rate of white people for marijuana infractions in Los Angeles and 1.7 percent the rate in Fresno. The Minority Cannabis Business Association has drafted model legislation for states considering new or revised marijuana laws, including language to expunge pot-related convictions and to encourage racial and gender diversity among cannabis businesses. "The people who got locked up should not get locked out of this industry," said Tito Jackson, a Boston city councilman and mayoral candidate. He suggests Massachusetts give licensing preference to groups that include at least one person with a marijuana conviction. The Oakland City Council in April voted to set aside half of medical cannabis licenses for people who have been convicted of a marijuana crime or who lived in one of 21 police districts with disproportionately high marijuana arrests. Candidates must meet income restrictions. Complicating matters is that marijuana remains illegal under federal law a fact seen as unlikely to change under President Donald Trump. That makes most banks reluctant to lend money to startup cannabis businesses, which often must rely instead on personal wealth. An Oakland-based nonprofit known as The Hood Incubator provides training and mentoring to minority cannabis entrepreneurs. "Maybe they lack the money to get into the industry or they might have, you know, gotten arrested in the past for oh, what do you know? Selling weed. And now they can't actually get into the legal industry," said Ebele Ifedigbo, one of the group's three co-founders. Under Oakland's program, applicants who don't qualify for a so-called equity license can still get preference if they "incubate" a minority-owned business with free rent or other help. Dan Grace, president of Dark Heart Nursery, is nervous about finding a partner but ready to make the program work. Debby Goldsberry, Magnolia Wellness dispensary's executive director, said the industry is primed to change and expand. "Why? Because there's a prohibition that's been out there targeting people in our communities in Oakland, and it's very unfair," she said. Oakland hosted a business mixer this month that attracted several hundred people, including retirees who have never smoked a joint and people who served time for marijuana offenses and established cannabis businesses. That group included Shavers, who hopes his drug-related record helps him get office space and investors to grow his delivery service, The Medical Strain. "It's a blessing in disguise," he said, "but not the blessing I would recommend." Associated Press writers Brian Witte and Julie Carr Smyth contributed to this report. Passengers on a San Francisco-bound flight that was diverted to Michigan after a mid-flight emergency touched down safely in the Bay Area early Wednesday. JetBlue Flight 915, an Airbus A321 flying from JFK International Airport in New York City to San Francisco International Airport, landed safely at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids about 8 p.m. local time after a lithium battery in a passenger's laptop sparked a fire, airport officials said. "Were at 35,000 feet and all of a sudden, we hear an announcement and we look back on row 25 and we saw everybody standing up, smoke coming around," Alan Honniball said. "We didnt know what was going on. Ford International Airport Recalling the unnerving experience, passengers said a crew member opened a storage bin and found a laptop in a backpack, emitting smoke. The flight attendant used the PA to inform passengers of the fire and started trying to douse the flames. "It was a scary calm situation," Kailuy Honniball said. "It was like youre in shock because you cant really do anything. Thats how I would describe it." Aviation expert Mike McCarron said in the rare case that a battery catches fire, its safer if the device is in the main cabin so a flight attendant can recognize the problem immediately. "If the fire is in the cargo hold, all bets are off in that case," he said. There were no injuries to the 158 people on board or damages to the plane, airport officials said. The recent battery issues with Samsung phones and the laptop on Tuesday night's flight come amid growing terrorist concerns overseas. There are a handful of airports abroad where TSA officials require all personal devices be placed in checked baggage. The big issue right now is to make sure there is nothing explosive in the equipment," McCarron said. "Thats why theyre looking at banning laptops from the aircraft. But theres a way you can scan and search them that would prevent that hazard or reduce it a great deal." JetBlue released a statement late Tuesday: "On May 30, JetBlue flight 915 from New Yorks JFK to San Francisco diverted to Grand Rapids, Mich., following reports of smoke emitting from a carry-on bag holding an electronic device. The flight landed safely and the aircraft is being inspected by maintenance crews before customers continue on to San Francisco." Earlier this month, the TSA began a pilot program at about a dozen U.S. airports not including SFO. In airports such as Los Angeles International and Chicago O'Hare, travelers may experience longer security lines due to the increased screening of devices. NBC Bay Area's Michelle Roberts contributed to this report. A judge called a New Hampshire man a "bully vigilante" and sentenced him to more than eight years in prison for organizing armed backers of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy following a standoff with U.S. agents in 2014. Gerald "Jerry" DeLemus on Wednesday became the first person sentenced to prison for his ties to the confrontation. He's been jailed for almost 16 months, so he'll spend about seven more years behind bars. The 62-year-old had been expected to receive about six years. But Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro faulted him for trying to withdraw the guilty pleas he entered last August to conspiracy and interstate travel in aid of extortion. She says she doesn't think DeLemus accepted responsibility for his actions. DeLemus said he came to Nevada to protect the Bundy family from armed agents. Wednesday marks both the final day of the Illinois spring legislative session, as well as the states 700th day without a budget and there is no deal in sight. With lawmakers set to depart after midnight, Springfield has already seen high tensions, with protests and criticism expected to continue. Traditionally in years past, the May 31 deadline has meant last-minute meetings with the four leaders of both the Illinois House and Senate, as well as the governor, but the Capitol hasnt seen high-level summits like that in quite some time. "The situation is dire, said Republican State Sen. Karen McConnaughey, of Elgin. We've got to keep working on it, we've got to stay at the table, she continued. We've been trying to do that - the Republicans have been sitting at the table, waiting for the Democrats to come back and continue the conversation where we left off. But Democrats shared that their hesitation to negotiate centers on Gov. Bruce Rauner. "Our biggest fear is no matter what we agree to, as weve seen times in the Senate, whatever we agree to, the governor is going to try to blow it up first. If it passes, he's going to veto it," said Democratic State Rep. Greg Harris, of Chicago. Yet another Republican said that Rauner has already compromised on his core issues even the income tax increase passed by the Senate, which reportedly does not have enough votes in the House to reach his desk. "We're not cutting any spending. We're not doing pension reform. We're not doing Medicaid reform, said Barrington State Rep. Dave McSweeney, adding, The governor has been secretly negotiating a tax increase. With just hours to go, it appears as though there will be no budget deal, and if lawmakers fail to approve some form of compromise, they will then need two-thirds approval, rather than a simple majority, on any legislation passed after the end of session. Today weve seen a complete dereliction of duty by the majority in the General Assembly, Rauner said during a press conference Wednesday. Once again, a tragic failure to serve the people of Illinois. Even before the midnight deadline, the Illinois House already preemptively approved meetings in continuous session, planning to return to Springfield on Wednesdays throughout June, with the next goal (barring any last minute Wednesday agreement) as June 30. By then, schools, particularly Chicago Public Schools, will be even more anxious to see what state funding for the fall may look like. While the final day has seen no protests, activists came to Springfield Tuesday to express their disdain over the states nearly two-yearlong budget impasse, storming the Capitol in a spectacle that ended in multiple arrests. After about a dozen protesters were removed from the House gallery for disrupting session in the afternoon, dozens gathered in front of Gov. Bruce Rauners office late into the night, refusing to leave until state police arrived. [[425408674, C]] "What do we want? Universal mental healthcare," they chanted. "When do we want it? Now." Many of those participating represented social service agencies that have not been paid during the impasse, with some taking part in a March to Springfield to send a message. "People are angry because theyre hurting, said Kristi Sanford, of activist group The Peoples Lobby. So we have people whove marched 15 days and 200 miles from Chicago to Springfield because theyve lost loved ones without health care, or they cant get the mental health care they need, or their schools are underfunded or their MAP grants have been taken away. State Capitol police issued three warnings to the protesters, who zip tied themselves together in front of Rauners office, and just after 10:30 p.m., those refusing to move were arrested and removed. Thirty-four people were taken into custody, held for about an hour and then released, authorities said, adding that they will be charged with criminal trespassing. While a budget deal remains elusive, lawmakers continued to pass other legislation Wednesday, with several lobbyists including one of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuels closest aides, Michael Sacks monitoring the action from both chambers. Two people that remained out of sight on sessions final day? Rauner and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, both figures central to the stalemate. Charges are pending against nearly three dozen demonstrators after protesters stormed the state Capitol in Springfield as lawmakers continued to battle over the state's ongoing budget woes. Thirty-four activists, who were part of a March to Springfield, gathered in front of Gov. Bruce Rauner's office Tuesday, refusing to leave until state police arrived. With lawmakers set to adjourn Wednesday at midnight and no budget deal in sight, activists expressed their disdain that lawmakers have yet to reach a compromise on Illinois 700th day without a budget. "What do we want? Universal mental healthcare," they chanted. "When do we want it? Now." Just after 10:30 p.m., those refusing to move were arrested. About a dozen protesters were also removed from the Illinois House of Representatives on Tuesday after disrupting one of the final days of the legislative session. It was not immediately clear if they might face charges as well. They're chanting "we're not gonna let Ken Griffin turn us around" #twill #ILBudget pic.twitter.com/SzbErcxBFO Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) May 30, 2017 Many of those participating represent social service agencies that have not been paid during the nearly two-yearlong impasse. The protesters arrived in Springfield to show their determination for legislators to reach a compromise, with about a dozen walking all the way from Chicago to send a message. "People are angry because theyre hurting, said Kristi Sanford, of activist group The Peoples Lobby. So we have people whove marched 15 days and 200 miles from Chicago to Springfield because theyve lost loved ones without health care, or they cant get the mental health care they need, or their schools are underfunded or their MAP grants have been taken away. With session winding down, and few expressing optimism that lawmakers will find a way to compromise, it appears that more protests over the final days in Springfield are likely. "There are people in the General Assembly who agree with us," Rauner said Tuesday. "We need to change. The system is broken." The activists arrested Tuesday night could face charges for criminal trespassing. About a dozen protesters were removed from the Illinois House of Representatives on Tuesday after disrupting one of the final days of the legislative session. With lawmakers set to adjourn Wednesday at midnight and no budget deal in sight, activists stormed the Capitol to express their disdain that lawmakers have yet to reach a compromise on Illinois 700th day without a budget. Capitol security and Illinois State Police officers yanked the chanting protesters out of the House gallery after some refused to leave, while hundreds more staged a demonstration outside Gov. Bruce Rauners office and throughout the Capitol. [[425408674, C]] Many of those participating represent social service agencies that have not been paid during the nearly two-yearlong impasse. The protesters arrived in Springfield to show their determination for legislators to reach a compromise, with about a dozen walking all the way from Chicago to send a message. "People are angry because theyre hurting, said Kristi Sanford, of activist group The Peoples Lobby. So we have people whove marched 15 days and 200 miles from Chicago to Springfield because theyve lost loved ones without health care, or they cant get the mental health care they need, or their schools are underfunded or their MAP grants have been taken away. One of the marchers was 91-year-old Alfred Klinger, a military veteran from Chicagos Hyde Park neighborhood. I want the millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share, Klinger said. John Pope, of Rosslyn, walked to Springfield as well to explain what Illinois budget impasse has meant to him. "Its really hurting people, especially low income neighborhoods, he said. People all over the state are struggling to pay their bills, to make ends meet and we need a budget that prioritizes human life and the environment over money and profit." With session winding down, and few expressing optimism that lawmakers will find a way to compromise, it appears that more protests over the final days in Springfield are likely. Three people were killed and at least 12 others were wounded in shootings Tuesday across Chicago. Officers responding to a call of a person shot about 8:30 p.m. found 29-year-old Marcus Childs lying on the ground next to a vehicle in the 1000 block of West 103rd Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the Far South Side, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiners office. Childs had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:54 p.m. He lived in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side. About that same time, an 18-year-old man was gunned down on the Near West Side. He was inside a parked vehicle in the 2700 block of West Gladys when someone walked up and shot him in the head, authorities said. The man, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. Earlier Tuesday, a 21-year-old man was shot to death in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side. Krystoffer Kelly was sitting inside a vehicle about 2:50 a.m. in the 5700 block of South Prairie when someone fired shots, striking him multiple times, including once in the back through his heart, according to police and the medical examiners office. Kelly was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:54 a.m. He lived in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side. The days latest nonfatal shooting happened about 11:45 p.m. in the Belmont Central neighborhood on the Northwest Side, where a 26-year-old was walking in the 2900 block of North Mason when someone fired shots, striking him in the groin area and buttocks, police said. He was taken in critical condition to Community First Medical Center. A 24-year-old man was wounded in a drive-by shooting about 9:40 p.m. in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side. He was standing outside in the 100 block of North Keeler when a vehicle drove by and someone inside fired shots in his direction, police said. The man was shot in the leg and was taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition. At 7:23 p.m., a 25-year-old man was shot in the right thigh in the 2800 block of West North Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side, police said. The man, who was uncooperative with officers, was taken to Norwegian American Hospital, where he was listed in good condition. Less than 10 minutes earlier, a 40-year-old man was wounded in an Englewood neighborhood shooting on the South Side. He was shot in his right thigh at 7:11 p.m. in the 6000 block of South Throop, police said. He then walked into the Englewood District police station. The man was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Shortly after 7 p.m., a 45-year-old man was was inside a South Shore neighborhood home in the 6700 block of South Chappel when another male entered, fired shots and ran out, police said. The 45-year-old was shot in the leg and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition. In another Humboldt Park attack, a 16-year-old boy and 22-year-old man were shot at 6:03 p.m. in the 1500 block of North Rockwell, police said. The boy was shot in the arm and leg, and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, while the man suffered a graze wound to the hand and took himself to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center. They were both listed in good condition. About 5:30 p.m., someone in a Honda drove up to a 17-year-old boy and opened fire in the 2000 block of West 19th Street in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood on the South Side, police said. The boy was shot in the back and taken in good condition to Mount Sinai Hospital. At 2:47 p.m., a 42-year-old man was shot in the leg and foot in the 10400 block of South Vernon in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said. He showed up at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where he was listed in good condition. Several hours earlier, a man suffering from a gunshot wound walked into a suburban hospital and told police he was shot in the Montclare neighborhood on the Northwest Side. The 43-year-old told investigators he was driving when got into an argument with another driver in the 6400 block of West Diversey, police said. Both drivers got out of their vehicles, and the other person pulled out a gun and shot the man in his left hip before leaving the scene. Someone called 911 about 1:45 a.m. to report shots fired in that area. About 4:35 a.m., the man walked into Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where his condition was stabilized. Tuesdays first shooting happened at 1:27 a.m. in the Ashburn neighborhood on the Southwest Side. An 18-year-old woman and 26-year-old man were sitting in a car in the 7700 block of South Sawyer when another male opened a door and told them both to get out, police said. The man closed the door and tried to drive away, but the suspect opened fire, striking both victims. The woman was shot in the leg, while the man suffered two gunshot wounds to the back. They were being treated at Mount Sinai Hospital, where they were both listed in serious condition. The days violence followed the Memorial Day holiday weekend, in which six people were killed and at least 44 others were wounded across Chicago, including the incidents on Diversey, Prairie and Sawyer. Police say a 3-week-old child who was left alone in a house with three dogs has died after apparently being attacked by one of the animals in western Michigan. Grand Rapids police say the child was pronounced dead at a hospital Friday morning after being attacked Thursday night. Police say an adult checked on the child and discovered that the infant had a severe head injury and one dog had blood around its mouth. Police say the dogs were placed under quarantine at the Kent County Animal Shelter. An investigation is ongoing. Word of the attack came as Detroit police investigated an attack Friday by two dogs on boys ages 10 and 12 who were walking to a store before school. They're hospitalized and police fatally shot the dogs. The director of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services will transition out of state government next month, according to a press release from Gov. Bruce Rauners office. George Sheldon will resign effective June 15 to become the CEO of Our Kids of Miaami-Dade/Monroe, Inc., the release says. Rauner designated Lise Spacapan as interim director pending a nationwide search. Lise Spacapan has served as General Counsel of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for a year and a half. She oversees a law department with nearly 100 members throughout the state, the release states. Over the past 30 years, she has been a litigation partner in the Chicago offices of three major law firms: Kirkland & Ellis, Husch Blackwell and Jenner & Block. She handled cases throughout the country focused on complex commercial litigation and products liability. Sheldons resignation comes less than a week after DCFS released a 22-page report detailing its investigation into the death of 17-month-old Semaj Crosby. The toddler was the subject of a massive search before her body was found under a couch in her family's Joliet home last month. DCFS Joliet office offered gift cards to workers closing the most cases just months before the missing girl's body was found, the Tribune reported. Earlier this month, Sheldon said he's considering a major change in the way the agency conducts abuse and neglect investigations. Hartford-based Aetna is in negotiations with several states about a location for its headquarters and Hartford mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement that the insurance company plans to move its headquarters after more than 150 years in the state. Gov. Dannel Malloy held a news conference on Wednesday afternoon and said he could not discuss the company's decision-making process, but the state has made efforts to ensure that Aetna remains a major Connecticut employer. "While we have not been notified by the company of their intention to change their footprint in Connecticut, it is my personal belief that some amount of change is coming, and that it will likely include a change in their headquarter designation, along with some number of executive positions," Malloy said. The governor added that he believes the "vast majority" of the 5,800 Aetna jobs in Connecticut will stay in the state. "It is still my hope that Aetna makes the decision to keep their headquarters here. But for me, this is now a conversation about the thousands of employees they have in our state. Keeping those employees in Connecticut is far more important than where Aetna plants its corporate flag," Malloy said. Rumors had been swirling that Aetna was looking to move its headquarters out of Connecticut, and on Wednesday Bronin released the following statement confirming the news: Based on multiple conversations with Aetnas senior leadership, I think it is clear that Aetna decided a long time ago to relocate their corporate headquarters out of Connecticut. They have said that Aetna remains committed to its Connecticut workforce, and that the Hartford campus will continue to be a substantial employment base for thousands of Aetna employees. But losing Aetnas flag is a hard blow for the state and for the greater Hartford region. As a state, we need to act boldly to change the things that need to change. Across the country, companies are locating in places where they can recruit top talent. We dont have to be New York or Boston to be competitive, but we have to recognize that strong, fiscally-sound, culturally-vibrant metropolitan areas are key to economic growth. Connecticut has the opportunity to be one of those places, but we need to marshal the full strength of our region and our State to invest in a strong, vibrant Capital City not at the expense of our suburbs and small towns, but for the sake of Connecticuts economic future, because were all tied together. Aetna officials said they were in negotiations with several states and no final decision had been made. We are in negotiations with several states regarding a headquarters relocation, with the goal of broadening our access to innovation and the talent that will fill knowledge economy-type positions. We remain committed to our Connecticut-based employees and the Hartford campus, and hope to have a final resolution by early summer, the statement read. Blogger Kevin Rennie, a former legislator turned columnist for the Hartford Courant, has reported that the company is considering moving its headquarters to Manhattan. And just before that, a columnist for the Boston Globe wrote an open letter to Aetna executives talking about why Boston is the best place for the companys headquarters. Aetna employs more than 6,000 people in Connecticut. Some legislators had expressed hope that the reports were unfounded, especially considering how General Electric left Fairfield for Boston just last year. There will be a press availability this afternoon with Bronin to address the news. NBC Connecticut will provide updates as they become available. State lawmakers are one step closer to temporarily halting proposed construction at Silver Sands State Park. The Silver Sands beach in Milford is natural, peaceful and free to the public. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wants to start charging the same seasonal parking fees as other state parks, along with building new bathrooms, space for lifeguards and environmental conversation police, a concession stand and storage facility. DEEP said the upgrades are needed because of the park's growing popularity and estimated 250,000 visitors annually. Ive been to other state parks in Connecticut and its really nice to have the bath houses and the facilities and everything, said Linda Rizzo, who moved back to Milford in September. Why not develop this for the rest of the public and charge to get in like they do at the other parks Some Silver Sands neighbors have raised several concerns to Mayor Ben Blake. Its going to increase traffic in the surrounding abutting neighborhoods, Blake said. Its going to increase parking issues and congestion and public safety issues. The $10 million project could be put on hold after the state senate passed a bill to not start any construction for two years without city leader approval. People are also concerned about the cost, State Senator Gayle Slossberg said. Slossberg said she cannot support the renovations while the state has a huge budget deficit and Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed cutting millions of dollars in education funding for Milford. As my mother always said to me, dont build something or buy something new if you cant take care of what you already have, Slossberg said. Were struggling with that in our state already so why would we go down this path. Before any work is done, Blake said he first wants there to be a new environmental impact study. He said DEEP is working off a study that is two decades old and does not take into account the impact of Sandy and Irene on the coast. The bill to halt construction for two years now heads to the State House of Representatives. Schaghticoke Tribal Nation is threatening to sue the State of Connecticut if the General Assembly approves and Gov. Dannel Malloy signs a proposal that would block bidders from having a chance to run the state's first commercial casino. The Kent-based tribe argues all suitors should have an opportunity to operate a gaming facility since the casino would be operated off tribal land. "Once they leave the reservation and it becomes a commercial licensed gaming anybody, iit should be open to the citizens," said Richard Velky, the tribe's chief, during a news conference at the Connecticut State Capitol. There are still far more questions than answers about whether the state will even authorize a third casino. So far the State Senate has approved a proposal that would allow the Mashantucket and Mohegan tribes to jointly operate a casino off of their reservations, though that bill's fate in the House is uncertain. Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney said he thinks the House should follow suit with the Senate bill because it's a bill that would provide familiar circumstances for the state. "I would hope they would see the merits of dealing with the group that we have a track record with and understanding that weve had a good relationship over the years and we have a compact. As the governor has pointed out that would be a more secure way to go without a leap into the unknown," Looney said during an interview. Since the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation is not recognized by the federal government, it couldn't use the otherwise expected path of the Indian Gaming Act to establish a casino, meaning it would have to use whatever the commercial channel would look like. That could cost potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, money the tribe says it has in the form of financial backers. Another wrinkle is that the tribe says it would want to operate the tribe away from its reservation in Northwest Connecticut. Velky said his intention is that the tribe would help run the casino, even if it was controlled by a commercial operator, like MGM, Harrah's or another casino corporation. "How would we not benefit? Velky asked. House and Senate Democrats each want to see a third casino opened in Connecticut as a way to raise revenue, though Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz says the Democrats in the chamber aren't yet united around a particular proposal. "Every option is open," Aresimowicz said. A flight academy connected to two fatal plane crashes is closing its second office in Connecticut. American Flight Academy has terminated its tenancy at Brainard Airport in Hartford, according to the Connecticut Airport Authority. The move is effective Thursday. The academy notified the Federal Aviation Administration it plans to relocate to another state, according to the FAA. The flight school's owner, Arian Prevalla, survived a plane crash in East Hartford in October that killed a flight student, Feras Freitekh. Prevalla told investigators he and Freitekh fought and struggled before the crash. officials called the crash intentional early on in the investigation. Another American Flight Academy plane crashed at Tweed-New Haven Airport in February. The crash killed one of the two people on board. In April, federal and state agents seized documents from the American Flight Academy office at Brainard Airport in Hartford. The flight school has already closed its East Haven office. NBC Connecticut reached out to Prevalla's attorney, but has not heard back. The Coppell Police Department says it has completed its investigation into a sexual assault complaint at Coppell High School. After conducting an investigation, the officers determined that the incident in question did not meet the criteria for criminal charges. Investigators say they met with all of the people involved in the incident, and the information provided in those interviews led to the final determination. Over the weekend, a post on social media claimed that a student with special needs at Coppell High School was sexually assaulted on Friday in the school bathroom. The post also claims that as many as three other Coppell High School students were involved. On Monday, the Police Department reassured that it takes any allegation of misconduct seriously and if anyone has any information concerning criminal activity in the community should give them a call. A South Texas legislator has pleaded not guilty to all fraud and bribery-related charges in two federal indictments. The San Antonio Express-News reports state Sen. Carlos Uresti pleaded not guilty Tuesday night. Uresti's attorney Mikal Watts filed a motion waiving the senator's right to appear in court, scheduled Wednesday in San Antonio. Uresti was present Wednesday in Austin as Gov. Greg Abbott signed laws meant to improve the Texas foster care system. Uresti, who's a Democrat from San Antonio, denied wrongdoing following his May 16 indictment on counts of bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and securities fraud. Prosecutors say the case involves a bankrupt oil field services company. Uresti is also charged with aiding a bribery scheme to secure a prison medical services contract in Reeves County. Facing a West Wing in near-constant crisis, and with little progress so far on most of his legislative priorities, President Donald Trump is actively seeking advice about a shakeup that could envelop his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, NBC News reported. Multiple sources close to the administration told NBC News the president has been sounding off about staff changes, although no final decisions have been made. Another administration source flatly denies Priebus is at risk. But people close to Trump point to two names that have emerged in the conversations about a replacement: David Urban, who oversaw the Pennsylvania operation for the Trump campaign, and Gary Cohn, the president's top economic adviser and former Goldman Sachs executive. One of the Texas lawmakers involved in an argument on the House floor Monday says he has been receiving threats. "I have been in contact with DPS, and I have let them know that I want to have my house monitored, that I want to have our district office monitored. They have been very quick to respond," said State Rep. Ramon Romero, D-Fort Worth. Hundreds of protesters opposing Texas' tough new anti-"sanctuary cities" law launched a raucous demonstration from the public gallery in the Texas House on Monday, briefly halting work and prompting lawmakers on the floor below to scuffle. The argument began after hundreds of protesters opposing Texas' tough new anti-"sanctuary cities" law launched a raucous demonstration from the public gallery in the Texas House on Monday, briefly halting work and prompting lawmakers on the floor below to scuffle -- and even threaten gun violence -- as tense divides over hardline immigration policies boiled over. Activists wearing red T-shirts reading "Lucha," or "Fight," quietly filled hundreds of gallery seats as proceedings began. After about 40 minutes, they began to cheer, drowning out the lawmakers below. Protesters also blew whistles and chanted: "Here to stay!" and "Hey, hey, ho, ho, SB4 has got to go," referring to the bill that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law this month. Hundreds of protesters opposing Texas' tough new anti-"sanctuary cities" law drowned out lawmakers in the Texas Capitol on the final day of the legislative session, Monday, May 29, 2017. Some unfurled banners reading: "See you in court!" and "See you at the polls!" State House leadership stopped the session and asked state troopers to clear the gallery. The demonstration continued for about 20 minutes as officers led people out of the chamber peacefully in small groups. There were no reports of arrests. Texas' new law is reminiscent of a 2010 Arizona "show your papers" measure that allowed police to inquire about a person's immigration status during routine interactions such as traffic stops. It was eventually struck down in court. A legislative session that began in January concluded Monday, and the day was supposed to be reserved for goofy group photos and sappy goodbyes. Lawmakers are constitutionally barred from approving most legislation on the last day. But even after the protest ended, tensions remained high. Romero said he was standing with fellow Democratic Rep. Cesar Blanco of El Paso when Republican colleague Matt Rinaldi came over and said: "This is BS. That's why I called ICE." A statement regarding today. pic.twitter.com/M0BcBXa43P Matt Rinaldi (@MattRinaldiTX) May 29, 2017 Rinaldi, of Irving in suburban Dallas, and Blanco then began shouting at each other. A scuffle nearly ensued before other lawmakers separated the two. Later, a group of Democratic lawmakers held a press conference to accuse Rinaldi of threatening to "put a bullet in the head" of someone on the House floor during a second near scuffle. They said the comment was made in the direction of Democratic Rep. Poncho Nevarez, from the border town of Eagle Pass. In a subsequent Facebook statement, Rinaldi admitted saying he'd called federal authorities and threatened to shoot Nevarez -- but said his life was in danger, not the other way around. "Nevarez threatened my life on the House floor after I called ICE on several illegal immigrants who held signs in the gallery which said 'I am illegal and here to stay,'" Rinaldi wrote. He said Democrats were encouraging protesters to ignore police instructions and, "When I told the Democrats I called ICE, Representative Ramon Romero physically assaulted me, and other Democrats were held back by colleagues." Hundreds of protesters opposing Texas' tough new anti-"sanctuary cities" law launched a raucous demonstration from the public gallery in the Texas House on Monday, briefly halting work and prompting lawmakers on the floor below to scuffle. Rinaldi said Nevarez later "told me that he would 'get me on the way to my car.'" Rinaldi said he responded by making it clear "I would shoot him in self-defense," adding that he is currently under Texas Department of Public Safety protection. NBC 5 has reached out to Rinaldi several times, and we have not heard back. Republican State Rep. Rodney Anderson, who also represents part of Irving, was on the floor when the argument happened. He knows all of the lawmakers involved. "You had some passionate people on both sides. Nerves are frayed, and it is one of those situations that is unfortunate, because it reflects poorly on the body, and it does not do anything to advance legislation to help the people of Texas," Anderson said. [[375690231,C]] At their news conference Monday, Democratic lawmakers vowed to target Rinaldi's seat. His district is a competitive one. Rinaldi won by fewer than 1,200 votes. "Dallas County is a very competitive county, and I would be more surprised if there was not a challenger for any of the Dallas County Republicans," Anderson said. The Associated Press' Meredith Hoffman and Will Weissert contributed to this report. The Atlantic Hurricane season began Thursday and officially runs to Nov. 30. The forecast for the upcoming season, which peaks in August and September, is suggesting a higher than normal number of storms this year. (The Eastern Pacific hurricane season began May 15th and is already off to an active start). The Atlantic hurricane forecast from NOAA is highlighting a 70 percent chance of 11 to 17 named storms, including the possibility of two to four major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or higher). Early signs of an active season are already evident. In fact, we already had our first named storm in April, Tropical Storm Arlene, which did not make landfall. It is extremely rare for storms to form that early. If the forecast from NOAA holds true, it looks like we will at least have a storm named "Katia" or perhaps even "Rina." Is your name on the list? Part of the reasoning for an active season can be attributed to weak or non-existent El Nino. When El Nino is in place, it typically counteracts strong Atlantic hurricanes due to wind shear and unfavorable conditions. An active tropical season wouldn't necessarily be all bad news for North Texas, though. Barring a major storm or hurricane along the coast, a good tropical soaking coming up from the Gulf of Mexico would be welcome news for North Texas (without flooding, of course). Things have dried out recently, to the point that parts of North Texas are back in the "moderate" drought category. Time will tell if Texas benefits from any rainy weather connected to the Atlantic hurricane season. We certainly don't wish any major storms on anyone, but that's a real possibility though with this year's forecast. The last hurricane to make landfall in Texas was Hurricane Ike back in 2008 in Galveston. More than 100 vehicles were stolen from San Diego County residents by the members of a motorcycle gang and shipped off to Tijuana, federal officials announced Tuesday. Nine members of a Tijuana-based motorcycle gang, known as the Hooligan Bikers, were charged in the auto theft ring dating back to 2014, announced the U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson. The joy ride is over for these Hooligans, said Deputy U.S. Attorney Mark Conover, in a statement. "For many of us, our cars are our most valuable possessions. These arrests have put the brakes on an organization that has victimized neighborhoods in a different way by stealing something very personal. Something that required a lot of sacrifice to purchase." Three out of the nine suspects were arrested Monday in Spring Valley and near the U.S.-Mexico border, and six suspects remain at large, said Robinson. The Hooligans gang was involved in a sophisticated scheme to steal scores of Jeep Wranglers and motorcycles. After stealing more than 150 jeeps worth $4.5 million in San Diego County, they would strip down the vehicles and sell the parts in Tijuana, according to Robinson Six of the suspects facing charges may have fled to Mexico, said Robinson. Out of the nine gang members, seven were identified as U.S. citizens. As part of the scheme, the group would target Jeeps by obtaining the Vehicle Identification Number in advance from the dashboard and then managed to get secret codes. Then, they would use those codes to create a duplication ignition key through a complicated process that involved programming a computer chip within the key to match the targeted Jeep's onboard computer and using hand held electronic devices, according to the California Highway Patrol Investigator Kraig Palmer. That allowed the thefts to be carried out without any broken glass or signs of forced entry. With high-tech methods, the gang would disable security systems and steal the Jeeps within minutes in the middle of the night, while unsuspecting owners were sleeping nearby in their homes. "This was a method so new and technologically advanced it required investigators to exceed the ingenuity of the thieves," said the U.S. Attorney's office, in a statement. At first, agents from the Regional Auto Theft Task Force (RATT) were perplexed with the thefts that left little evidence behind. It was a breakthrough moment for the investigation when one Jeep owner caught the men on surveillance footage, stealing her Jeep around 2:30 a.m. by disabling the alarm, and then using a key and hand held electronic device to turn on the engine. Law enforcement was able to send Chrysler a list of around 20 Jeeps that were recently stolen in San Diego County and ask whether anyone had requested duplicate keys for the vehicles, according to the U.S. Attorney. This proved to be the case, and nearly every one of the keys was requested at the same dealership in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Through further investigation, agents were able to intercept later attempted Jeep thefts and make several arrests. Once in custody, the suspects revealed that the gang was behind the operation. A 32-year-old man was charged Tuesday with capital murder in the killings of two women whose bodies were found on the side of a freeway six years ago. Geovanni Borjas was charged with two counts each of murder and forcible rape, and one count of kidnapping, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Public Information Officer Greg Risling said in a press release. The two slayings were not initially considered connected, but investigators later determined the same person likely killed 22-year-old Bree'Anna Guzman and 17-year-old Michelle Lozano. "Today, Michelle and Bree'Anna's friends and family are finally within reach of some of the justice that they and this city deserve," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti at a Los Angeles Police Department press conference. Guzman's body was found by a Caltrans crew on Jan. 26, 2012 near the Riverside Drive entrance ramp to the southbound Glendale Freeway in Silver Lake. A homeless man discovered Lozano's body covered in plastic April 25, 2011 on the side of the 5 Freeway near the downtown Los Angeles Cesar Chavez Avenue exit. Michelle was murdered, she was sexually assaulted and she was discarded, said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "(Guzman's) body was also discovered after being sexually assaulted in the area of Lincoln Heights." Guzman had been reported missing from the Lincoln Heights area. Lozano was abducted from Lincoln High School, also in the Lincoln Heights area northeast of downtown Los Angeles, a day before her body was found. "I'm trying not to break down, but it's hard," Ricardo Duran, Guzman's father, said, sobbing. "I want to thank the LAPD, all the efforts they did to catch this monster and get him off the street." If convicted, Borjas faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, Risling said. A person was dead and another was wounded after a shooting with at least one deputy in a parking lot at a Hesperia Wal-Mart Wednesday morning. After fire officials received a call around 7:58 Wednesday morning, two people were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds from the Wal-Mart in the 13400 block of Main Street in Hesperia, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. San Bernardino sheriff's officials tweeted they were responding to an officer-involved shooting at the location just before 9 a.m. Around 11 a.m., sheriff's officials revealed one person had died, one person was injured and another was detained for questioning. Sheriff's officials said no deputies were injured. What led up to the shooting was not immediately clear. A California Democratic congressman says a town hall for his constituents in Orange County was disrupted by supporters of President Donald Trump. U.S. Rep. Lou Correa said Trump supporters temporarily disrupted his town hall meeting on immigration in Santa Ana Tuesday night. "It got very much out of control," Correa told NBC4. "They wouldn't not let me speak. They got very rowdy." The protesters were escorted out by police. There were no reports of any violence or arrests. Correa said in a statement that he supports the First Amendment rights of all parties, but urges everyone to act responsibly and refrain from violence. "It was very sad. All I'm trying to do in my district is spread information, let people know of their rights, how to follow the law, and be good citizens," Correa said. The scene was a reversal of a recent trend where the Republican representatives have been disrupted at town halls, mostly by people objecting to the party's health care moves. A suicide attacker struck the fortified heart of the Afghan capital with a massive truck bomb Wednesday, killing 90 people, wounding 400 and raising new fears about the government's ability to protect its citizens nearly 16 years into a war with insurgents. The bomber drove into Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic quarter during the morning rush hour, leaving behind a bloody scene of chaos and destruction in one of the worst attacks since the drawdown of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014. Most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children, said Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry. But the dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including the U.S. Embassy, while 11 American contractors were wounded none with life-threatening injuries, a U.S. State Department official said. "I have been to many attacks, taken wounded people out of many blast sites, but I can say I have ever seen such a horrible attack as I saw this morning," ambulance driver Alef Ahmadzai told The Associated Press. "Everywhere was on fire and so many people were in critical condition." There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came in the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban flatly denied any involvement in an email to news outlets and condemned all attacks against civilians. The explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior minister. The number of dead and wounded was provided by the Afghan government's media center, citing a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the country's top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law. The blast gouged a crater about 5 meters (15 feet) deep near Zanbaq Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, where foreign embassies are protected by a battery of their own security personnel as well as Afghan police and National Security Forces. The nearby German Embassy was heavily damaged. Also in the area is Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry, the Presidential Palace and its intelligence and security headquarters, guarded by soldiers trained by the U.S. and its coalition partners. "The terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people," said President Ashraf Ghani. President Donald Trump spoke with Ghani after the attack, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned it as a "senseless and cowardly act." "The United States stands with the government and the people of Afghanistan and will continue to support their efforts to achieve peace, security, and prosperity for their country," Tillerson said in a statement. Afghanistan's war, the longest ever involving U.S. troops, has shown no sign of letting up, and the introduction into the battle of an Islamic State affiliate has made the country only more volatile. Although they are small in number, militants from the Islamic State in Khorasan an ancient name for parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia have taken credit for several brazen assaults on the capital. "Let's be clear: This is an intelligence failure, as has been the case with so many other attacks in Kabul and beyond. There was a clear failure to anticipate a major security threat in a highly secured area," said Michael Kugelman of the U.S.-based Wilson Center. "The fact that these intelligence failures keep happening suggest that something isn't working at the top, and major and urgent changes are needed in security policy," he said by email. Still, there are questions about whether a U.S. pledge to send more troops to Afghanistan will curb the violence. "The sad reality is that more foreign troops would not necessarily ensure these attacks happen less," Kugelman said. "But they could help by supplementing training programs meant to enhance Afghan intel collection capacities, which have long been a deficiency in Afghanistan." There are currently 8,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan with a U.S. promise of more to come. Afghan lawmaker and analyst Nasrullah Sadeqizada bemoaned the abysmal security, saying "the situation is deteriorating day by day." In an interview, Sadeqizada criticized U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, saying they have done little to improve protection in the country. "If the situation continues to deteriorate, Afghans will lose all trust in the foreigners who are in Afghanistan as friends," he warned. Gen. Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, former deputy interior minister, said more troops won't help, although he urged the global community to stay committed to Afghanistan. "I don't think that more U.S. or NATO soldiers can solve the security problems in Afghanistan," he said. "When we had more than 100,000 foreign soldiers, they were not even able to secure Helmand province" in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban controls roughly 80 percent of the area, he said. In the past year, U.S. troops have largely focused on thwarting a surge in Taliban attacks. The stricken neighborhood was considered Kabul's safest, with the embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices guarded by security forces. More than 50 cars were either destroyed or damaged. "I've never seen such a powerful explosion in my life," said Mohammad Haroon, who owns a nearby sporting goods store. All the windows in his shop and others around him were shattered, he added. Shocked residents soaked in blood stumbled in the streets before being taken to hospitals. Passers-by helped them into private cars, while others went to the nearby Italian-run Emergency Hospital. Besides the German Embassy, damage was reported at the embassies of China, Turkey, France, India and Japan, according to officials from those countries. Other nearby embassies include those of the U.S., Britain, Pakistan and Iran, as well as the NATO mission. Nine Afghan guards at the U.S. Embassy were killed and 11 American contractors were wounded, with one Afghan guard missing, according to a U.S. State Department official, who was not authorized to talk publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. None of the wounded Americans appeared to have life-threatening injuries, the official said. The BBC said one of its drivers was killed and four of its journalists were wounded. Afghanistan's private TOLO Television also reported a staffer killed; Germany said an Afghan security guard outside its embassy was among the dead. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that along with an Afghan guard who was killed, a German diplomat was slightly wounded and an Afghan staffer had severe injuries. Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack, saying that "terrorism has no borders." It "targets all of us whether in Manchester or Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, St. Petersburg or today in Kabul," she said in the southern German city of Nuremberg. "Today we're united in shock and sadness across all borders," she added. She vowed: "We will lead the fight against terrorism, and we will win it." Germany has had troops in Afghanistan for 15 years, primarily in the north in and around Mazar-e-Sharif. It is one of the biggest contributors to the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, with about 980 soldiers supporting and training Afghan forces. Neighboring Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the bomb damaged residences of some of its diplomats and staff and caused some minor injuries. Gannon reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Amir Shah in Kabul, Matthew Lee in Washington and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report. A mentally distressed former Marine who pointed a fake handgun at police in the Orlando International Airport and shouted ``kill me'' said he wanted to speak to the president, according to an arrest affidavit released Wednesday. Michael Wayne Pettigrew, 26, was arrested after the almost three-hour standoff that ended peacefully, with no shots fired Tuesday night. Police have called it an attempted ``suicide by cop.'' Pettigrew faces a charge of aggravated assault on a firefighter and was forcibly committed for short-term mental health observation under what is commonly referred to as Florida's ``Baker Act.'' The episode started Tuesday night when Pettigrew approached a cashier at a taxi company in the airport and showed her what looked like a gun. Pettigrew gave his cellphone to the cashier and told her to call 911 because he wanted to bring the police and speak to the president, according to the affidavit. Pettigrew pointed the fake gun at officers as they arrived at the rental car section of the airport, and also pointed the gun at himself. But no shots were fired and no one was hurt. One officer raised the muzzle of his rifle to get a clear view of Pettigrew but didn't fire because passengers ``were running everywhere,'' the affidavit said. ``Passengers at this point were running in all directions, making it a little chaotic,'' the report said. Part of the airport was temporarily evacuated and traffic going into the airport was halted for a short time. The responding officers tried to talk to Pettigrew for a half hour until SWAT team members and police negotiators arrived. ``Our negotiators did a phenomenal job of talking with the subject for about two hours and finally got him to peacefully surrender,'' Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Tuesday night. On Wednesday, no one answered a knock on the door at the apartment where Pettigrew had been living about four miles from the airport. Phone numbers for his parents weren't accepting messages. A document released Tuesday by Orlando police showed that Pettigrew was court-martialed at a Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California for stabbing another Marine six years ago. He pleaded guilty to stabbing the Marine in the arm, although the original charge accused him of also cutting the victim's face. His sentence was a bad-conduct discharge from the Marines and confinement for seven months. Glorializ Colon Plaza, 20, told the Orlando Sentinel she was just getting off work from Virgin Atlantic airlines Tuesday when she saw everyone hiding. She got off the elevator and saw the man on the floor near the rental car area. He was screaming, and officers had surrounded him. ``I couldn't make out the words, but he was screaming really loud,'' she said. ``Everyone there told me right before this happened a man said to everyone: `You're going to need mental therapy after this,' then he pulled out a gun and everyone ran.'' Plaza said she didn't hear any gunshots or see anyone injured. ``I saw all the cops with the long rifles and started shaking,'' she said. ``It didn't seem real.'' Earlier this year, a gunman killed five people inside a baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Esteban Santiago, a 27-year-old Iraq war veteran from Alaska, has pleaded not guilty to a 22-count indictment in the Jan. 6 shooting. Santiago's attorney has said he is taking drugs to combat schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. The incident at the Orlando airport was first reported about 7:24 p.m. Terminal A was eventually closed, but the other side of the airport, Terminal B, remained open during the standoff. Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Chairman Frank Kruppenbacher praised the response of law enforcement and airport employees. ``Our employees did everything in accordance with what OPD has trained them to do,'' Kruppenbacher said. ``You couldn't have a better resolution. No one was hurt. The airport continued to operate on the other side.'' Some flights were delayed during the ordeal, but airport operations were returning to normal late Tuesday night. Images posted on social media showed a heavy police presence in the area and passengers were worried about their safety and missing flights. At one point, the Florida Highway Patrol tweeted that all roads to the airport were shut down, with ``zero exceptions.'' Orlando police later said the entrances were open but congested. An overnight shooting that sent one person to the hospital had the Palmetto Expressway closed for nearly nine hours for those traveling southbound. Miami-Dade Police responded to the scene on the southbound side just before NW 74th Street. Horvin Ruiz, 36, lost control of his car and started going the wrong way before crashing again, according to officials. Ruiz allegedly began opening fire at random cars, including a FHP trooper. A Miami-Dade police officer returned fire before Ruiz later got out of the car and continued shooting with an AK-47, police said. He eventually surrendered to officers. Miami-Dade Police, Doral Police and Florida Highway Patrol were involved in the incident. Two different cars were struck by bullets. One driver, identified as Enrique Bendana, was hit and treated at a nearby gas station. He drove himself to Kendall Regional Medical Center. NBC 6 reporter Erika Glover spoke to him as he left the hospital Monday. "The bullet went through the headrest of the passenger [side] and went through the windshield," Bendana recalled. "Inches from my head. I mean, I got hit right in my temple. I had blood coming out of my head and I freaked out in that moment." A second driver who pulled up behind the accused shooters car also had her car struck by bullets. She was reportedly struck by shattered glass but did not need to be hospitalized. The other victims were identified as 56-year-old Juan Carlos Castillo, 39-year-old Ray Alex Manresa, 29-year-old Michael Lekoetue, 26-year-old Simone Evans and 24-year-old Rob'Terria Byrd. "This might have been something random where he was just shooting at vehicles as he was traveling down the Palmetto," said MDPD Det. Dan Ferrin. "But we don't know." The expressway was closed in both directions for almost six hours before northbound lanes reopened just after 7:30 a.m. Officials opened the southbound lanes shortly after 10 a.m. The officer who opened fire on Ruiz is a 24-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department. @MiamiDadePD say this is the weapon fired by suspect that randomly started shooting on Palmetto this morning. More details ahead on @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/Uvktduf6ZE Darryl Forges (@DarrylNBC6) May 29, 2017 NBC 6 got an up-close look at the gun allegedly used in the shooting. Ruiz has been in trouble with the law in the past. In 2005, he was charged with Cannabis Possession and Vehicle Title Fraud and in 1998, he was charged with Criminal Mischief, according to court records. George Clooney could be only days away from becoming a dad. The actor did not appear at Sunday's Aurora Prize for Awaking Humanity event in Yerevan, Armenia, which he co-founded, because it looks like wife Amal, 39, could be due any day now with twins, according to Today.com. .medium .leadMediaRegion.city_module iframe {height:421px;} "I really would have been (there) but if I came there and my wife had twins while I was there, I could never come home," Clooney said in a video message to the audience. It was revealed in February that the couple is expecting twins. Clooney, 56, will be a first-time dad, which he said is "going to be an adventure." The due date for the twins is reportedly in June, so Clooney's message on Sunday reveals that could mean right at the beginning of the month. What to Know A JetBlue flight from New York to San Francisco landed in Michigan after a lithium battery in a passenger's laptop apparently started a fire No injuries were reported and the plane landed safely at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids Airport spokeswoman Tara Hernandez says the plane took off shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday and continued the flight to California A JetBlue flight from New York to San Francisco landed in Michigan after a lithium battery in a passenger's laptop apparently started a fire, authorities said. No injuries were reported and the plane landed safely about 8:10 p.m. Tuesday at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. Flight 915, an Airbus A321 flying from John F. Kennedy Airport, was diverted "following reports of smoke emitting from a carry-on bag holding an electronic device," JetBlue said in a statement. Firefighters responded at the airport as a precaution, but the airport said the fire was out by the time the plane landed. Airport spokeswoman Tara Hernandez said the plane took off about 8:50 p.m. and continued the flight to San Francisco. The Department of Homeland Security is considering banning laptops on all flights to and from the United States. What to Know Top figures in the Lucchese crime family were arrested Wednesday on racketeering and other charges The defendants are expected to appear in court later Wednesday Among those indicted were alleged mobsters with nicknames like "Paulie Roast Beef" and "Wonder Boy" Nearly two dozen members and associates of the notorious Lucchese crime family, including the purported top leaders, were arrested on federal charges in a sweeping bust early Wednesday, law enforcement officials tell NBC 4 New York. The FBI's Organized Crime Task Force and members of the NYPD executed the arrests on charges that include racketeering, wire fraud, possession of a weapon, gambling, narcotics and murder, law enforcement sources said. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said 15 people were taken into custody Wednesday, while four others were already in custody on other charges. [NATL] Famous Mug Shots: Sam Hunt The defendants, including street boss Matthew Madonna and underboss Steven Crea Sr., are expected to appear in federal court in White Plains later Wednesday. Four of the suspects are Capos, who rank right below the underboss on the totem pole, and another five are soldiers, who rank below that. The rest are associates. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More In addition to the various alleged financial crimes, Madonna and Crea Sr. are charged with ordering the murder of a family associate in Nov. 2013. The indictment reads like a 1980s tabloid crime story, with defendants like "Paulie Roast Beef, " "Wonder Boy," "Big Joe," "Big John," "Joey Glasses" and "Spanish Carmine." NBC News: Here's the listing of the Luchese crime family members who were charged today. Names include Paul Cassano aka "Paulie Roast Beef" pic.twitter.com/5l20Ibt4t2 Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) May 31, 2017 They allegedly engaged in a 17-year-long pattern of crimes that included extortion, money laundering, trafficking in contraband cigarettes and the attempted murder of informants. All but two of the men face life in prison if convicted. "As today's charges demonstrate, La Cosa Nostra remains alive and active in New York City, but so does our commitment to eradicate the mob's parasitic presence," said Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim. "The defendants allegedly used violence and threats of violence, as the mob always has, to make illegal money to enforce discipline in the ranks and to silence witnesses." "Organized crime families believe their way of life is acceptable and continue to show through their criminal behavior that they don't plan to stop," said FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney. "Their crimes aren't victimless, and this case proves they're willing to use murder and many other violent tactics to enforce their dominance." Philadelphia added a cool destination Tuesday to the cities served by its international airport, but the first flight was diverted back to the United States due to technical difficulties. Icelandair's inaugural flight from the city of Brotherly Love to Reykjavik, Iceland, took off from Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday just before 9 p.m. and was over Canada when it suddenly turned around and landed in Boston around 12:35 a.m. Wednesday. "Rubber smell was detected on board which led to aircraft diversion," Icelandair tweeted. "Safety is our utmost priority." Mayor Jim Kenney and a Philadelphia delegation were on board at the time. "PHL Airport regrets the significant inconvenience this has caused all those on board," Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said. "We and Icelandair are committed to doing all we can to ensure future travelers have a smooth travel experience on this new route. This is obviously very out of the ordinary." Kenney got off the plane in Boston. They then boarded Icelandair's scheduled new flight from Boston at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Hitt said. "The Mayor and the rest of the delegation spent the evening in Boston," Hitt said. "At this point, they are planning to proceed to Iceland this afternoon." Kenney complemented Icelandair customer service and food in a late Wednesday morning tweet: "Still best in-flight meal I ever hadexcited to continue to Iceland today! Thanks @Icelandair for handling with excellent customer service!" [[425508353, C]] Hitt said it is tradition for mayors to visit each other's cities when new international routes are established. Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson spent two days touring Philadelphia. Kenney is set to be in Iceland until Saturday. Kenney had joined airport leaders and Icelandair officials to announce nonstop service from Philly to Iceland last October. [[425440244, C]] "We are very pleased to welcome Icelandair to PHL and look forward to offering nonstop service to Reykjavik," Airport CEO Chellie Cameron said. "This capital city is a gateway to a beautiful country and to its Scandinavian neighbors. We are proud to increase our non-stop international destinations and open a new market to our travelers." Kenney noted the economic impact of the international flight, which should take less than 6 hours. "The Airport is a potent economic engine to our city and the region, and convenient air service, particularly to international destinations, is essential in a global marketplace," Kenney said. "We are very excited about Icelandairs arrival in Philadelphia, and we are eager to build and strengthen a partnership between our city and the amazing city of Reykjavik." The addition of Icelandair marks the first time in two years that PHL added a service from a foreign airline. And for anyone looking to hop to mainland Europe, Icelandair has a "Stopover" program that allows travelers to spend up to a week in Iceland without paying additional airfare. [[238427591, C]] Philly is Icelandairs 18th U.S. destination. Iceland features 24 hours of daylight in the summer and the northern lights for more than half the year. "Philadelphia will further strengthen Icelandairs presence in the Mid-Atlantic and better serve our passengers with faster travel times to Europe and easy connections through the City of Brotherly Love," said Iceland air CEO Birkir Holm Gudnason. "Philadelphians will now have a refreshing alternative when traveling to Iceland and beyond, and Icelanders and Europeans will have direct access to the historic city of Philadelphia boasting the fifth largest population in the United States. This is an exciting and significant moment for Icelandair and we look forward to welcoming Philadelphia aboard." The arrest of a student activist originally from Mexico is hurting a push for Connecticut state legislation that would give students without legal immigration status at the state's public colleges and universities access to financial aid. Eric Cruz Lopez was charged on May 7 with spray-painting expletives about President Donald Trump on the walls of school buildings. Police said Cruz gave a statement admitting to the vandalism. He did not respond to requests for comment. The case led state House leaders to postpone a planned vote last week on legislation that would open up $165 million in institutional financial aid to students without legal status at public colleges and universities. Those students are studying under an Obama-era executive order known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which grants them special visas. Connecticut Students for a Dream, for which Cruz worked as an organizer, wrote to lawmakers distancing themselves from his actions. The group plans a rally at the state Capitol on Wednesday to make another push for the legislation. "For four years, we have marched, rallied, and organized for these proposals," said Camila Bortolleto, a spokeswoman for the group. "We've won support from all of Connecticut's higher education institutions, dozens of community groups, labor unions, and legislators in both parties. ... It's resoundingly clear: Our state supports these proposals." Cruz led a protest march on campus in November following the presidential election and appeared before the Board of Trustees in December to demand the school codify protections for the students after Trump said he planned to reverse the previous administration's executive order. Cruz also has been to the Capitol several times to support the financial aid legislation. The students are currently not allowed to receive government aid, even though the money comes from a pool generated by tuition payments, to which they contribute. Cruz, who came to the United States when he was 7 and lives in Bridgeport, testified the students simply want to be allowed to compete on a level playing field. He said he took the spring semester off because he needed to earn money to continue his studies. "I have been worried about paying for college since I was 10, knowing that because we had to go to a food pantry to get food, paying for my education was going to be hard," he said. The University of Connecticut and the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system both support the legislation, which narrowly passed the Senate but may die without getting a vote in the lower chamber. The Philadelphia Police Department received what is likely an unwanted gift Tuesday afternoon: two pairs of mens underwear. The symbolic gesture was courtesy of Black Lives Matter Movement Pennsylvania, a local chapter of the national organization, in protest of so-called stop-and-fondle practices recently exposed by Philadelphia Daily News. Enraged by a story published last week chronicling instances of young, black men being stopped and their bodies illegally searched, Philadelphia activist Asa Khalif delivered a powerful message via megaphone: It is illegal to stop and frisk. It is illegal to go into someones underwear and touch their penis. Touch their buttocks. You think its common practice and its legal, but its not, he bellowed outside police headquarters in Center City. WARNING: These videos contain explicit language that may be offensive to some viewers While overall instances of stop-and-frisk have decreased in recent years, Philadelphia police stop young black and brown men at higher rates than other people, according to a report issued by the American Civil Liberties Union. This report shows a continuing pattern of significant racial disparities in stops and frisks in Philadelphia that are not explained by non-racial factors such as crime rates or police deployment, said David Rudovsky of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg, on behalf of plaintiffs. Racial justice must be more than a goal. It is the hallmark of fair policing and the requirement of the consent decree. The ACLU report is part of an ongoing monitoring process ordered in 2011. The consent decree requires that stops be made only when there is reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct, that frisks only occur where the officer has reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed and dangerous, and that these police interventions not be based on the suspects race or ethnicity, the ACLU said in a statement. But recent numbers suggests the police department has changed little by way of racially-motivated stops. More than 77 percent of police stops in 2016 involved black or brown pedestrians. Even more problematic, however, is so-called stop-and-fondle in which police officers search the underwear and body cavities of suspects in public. Legally, invasive strip searches are to be conducted in a police or medical building after a suspect has been arrested. The arresting officer must have reasonable suspicion that individual is hiding additional contraband. The highest-ranking district or unit supervisor must authorize the additional search in writing. But strip searches are so common that many people think they are legal, Khalif said. His uncle, a military veteran, has been subjected to these stops on a number of occasions. Its standard police culture in black and brown neighborhoods, he said, adding that it is tantamount to sexual assault. Its humiliating. Dehumanizing, he said. I understand the feeling of hopelessness. It brings up all types of issues with black youth especially. Philadelphia police did not return calls for a comment at the time this story was published. Capt. Sekou Kinebrew previously told the Daily News that he is unaware of the practice and encouraged victims to file a formal complaint if they felt violated. To address the problem, Khalif and fellow activists have volunteered to fund trauma counseling for several young men who endured these strip searches. He is also planning to disrupt Mayor Jim Kenney and Commissioner Richard Ross until the police department agrees to change its policies. It's here. National Doughnut Day, a day devoted to getting your hands on free doughnuts, has arrived -- and some of the biggest names in doughnuts are celebrating with special giveaways. Dunkin Donuts: Guests get a free classic doughnut of their choice with the purchase of any beverage. The offer is good all day at participating Dunkin Donuts restaurants nationwide. Krispy Kreme: Get any doughnut of your desire- for free. No purchase necessary. Cumberland Farms: Between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., customers can receive a free doughnut with the purchase of any hot or iced coffee, HYPERFREEZE or fountain soda at all locations. National Doughnut Day was started in 1938 in Chicago to honor of The Salvation Army "Doughnut Girls." This unofficial holiday is celebrated the first Friday in June, according to the Salvation Army. To celebrate the doughnut day, the Salvation Army is offering up recipes to for their classic and modern donuts. This year National Doughnut Day marks the 100th anniversary of World War I, where the Salvation Army Donut Lassie was born. The "Donut Lassies," also known as the Doughnut Girls, served along the front lines during WWI and WWII, giving soldiers free coffee and doughnuts in the trenches. The adult son of a Rancho Santa Fe man was captured in Riverside County in connection with his father's killing, San Diego County Sheriff's deputies announced Wednesday. Leighton Dorey III, 71, was found dead Tuesday inside the family's home. The victim's wife called 911 after returning to the couple's home on La Brisa. She told investigators she found her husband dead. San Diego County Sheriff's deputies and officials with the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District arrived just before 12 p.m. Investigators said the elder Dorey suffered from serious trauma to his upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene. "The wounds were extensive," said SDSO Lt. Kenn Nelson, adding that the cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma. News helicopter footage showed crime scene tape in several areas of the property including a long driveway leading to the home and an outdoor balcony next to a small, detached structure. Officials said there was no apparent break-in at the property. Overnight, deputies say the victim's son, Leighton Dorey IV, was taken into custody in Riverside County. Physical evidence and witness statements led investigators to the victim's son, Nelson said. He was taken into custody at approximately 5 a.m. Wednesday just outside of town without incident, Nelson said. We believe the family has some type of connection to the Idyllwild area, Nelson said. "He was up there with his vehicle and he was outside the vehicle in a wooded area." He will be booked into the county jail on one count of murder, deputies said. Nelson said the suspect may have been living outside of the U.S. until a few months ago. A man died after his vehicle crashed into a tree in Mira Mesa, causing it to go up in flames. The crash occurred around 4 p.m. on Mercy and Black Mountain roads near Interstate 15. According to San Diego police (SDPD), the driver, a man in his 50s, died at the scene of the crash. He was the only person inside the vehicle at the time. A witness told SDPD that the driver was speeding, swerving in and out of lanes nearly hitting two other cars as he traveled westbound on Mercy Road. The driver lost control and hit a tree in the median and the car immediately burst into flames, according to the witness. The speed limit on westbound Mercy Road is 50 miles per hour. Westbound Mercy Road from Interstate 15 was shut down to traffic for more than four hours. Neighbors told NBC 7 they would like to see more patrols, calling it a dangerous stretch of road. "It's a race track, and the police for some reason don't want to control it. I think primarily because they really can't pull over people who are speeding," explained neighbor Robert Ball. "They could write 10 tickets a day, easy. It's incredible." The road has very little room for cars to pull over on the side. Investigators with SDPD told NBC 7, speed is a contributing factor in the crash. But it's too early to tell if drugs or alcohol also played a role. A taxi driver in Washington, D.C., was arrested after a passenger told police he raped her in his vehicle early Sunday morning. A court document showed police arrested Yared Geremew Mekonnen, 24, and charged him with second-degree sexual abuse and kidnapping after they were called by a witness who saw a woman in a taxi, screaming for help in northwest Washington around 3:15 a.m. on May 28. The document showed the woman was with her boyfriend on U Street when they decided to take a taxicab or Uber home after they had been drinking. She said she blacked out, and when she woke up, she was in the back seat of a taxicab, and Mekonnen, the taxicab driver, was having sex with her. The woman told police she fought off the driver, and he returned to the front and started driving. She begged him to let her out and grabbed the steering wheel, screaming for help. A man driving on 16th Street, Northwest, told police he heard a woman screaming and saw a woman in a taxicab waving for help. He said he pulled his vehicle in front of the taxi and called 911. When officers arrived, the driver denied assault the passenger, saying she was crying and started scratching his face after requesting to go to Silver Spring, Maryland. The woman, who lives in Virginia, told police she did not know anyone in Silver Spring, and police said the driver lives in Silver Spring. Mekonnen was arrested at the scene by police. He has a hearing scheduled for Thursday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. D.C.'s Department of For-Hire Vehicles said it filed an Oder of Immediate Suspension and Notice of Proposed Revocation with the Office of Administrative Hearing for Mekonnen and deactivated him, meaning he is unable to login in to the meter to operate his taxi. Former NAACP president Ben Jealous announced Wednesday that he's running for governor of Maryland as a progressive Democrat, and in doing so he repeatedly tried to link popular incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to President Donald Trump. Jealous, who is running in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1, could face a crowded primary to challenge Hogan next year. Like a lot of Maryland Democrats these days, Jealous criticized Hogan for not speaking out against Trump's policies. "We come together today both relieved that we live in a state as prosperous and full of promise as Maryland, and yet increasingly alarmed, as it seems like every week our governor becomes a little more like the lion in the Wizard of Oz: all strength and no political courage," Jealous said. In a state where Trump won only 34 percent of the vote, Jealous also criticized Hogan for failing to stand up to members of the Trump administration. Hogan did not vote for Trump, and the governor criticized the president during last year's campaign for his comments about women that were recorded in 2005. Hogan largely avoids talking about Trump's policies, saying he's focused on Maryland instead of politics in the nation's capital. Still, Democrats in Maryland have attacked the governor for not speaking out more strongly against the president's policies. "Since President Trump has come into office, he has repeatedly bowed and submitted to the will of the most extreme members of the Trump administration, from president Trump himself to (Education) Secretary (Betsy) DeVos, to EPA chief (Scott) Pruitt to Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions," Jealous said. Jealous, 44, was the youngest person ever elected to lead the NAACP, at the age of 35. He was president of the Baltimore-based organization, the nation's largest civil rights group, from 2008 to 2013. Jealous, who co-chaired Bernie Sanders' Maryland campaign in last year's Democratic presidential primary, said he will work to preserve and extend former President Barack Obama's legacy. During his announcement, he touched on a variety of progressive values, such as raising the minimum wage. He also said he would close loopholes in the state's corporate income tax. Under Jealous, the NAACP worked to abolish death penalty laws, opposed "stop-and-frisk" police tactics and "stand-your-ground" self-defense laws, and embraced gay rights in a historic 2012 vote to support same-sex marriage rights. Jealous also was credited with boosting the organization's finances and helping to stabilize it. Jealous said he considers himself an underdog in the statewide race, but that his skills as an organizer and his ability to bring people together will help him prevail. "I come into this as the guy who doesn't have a job in politics right now, and I come into this as somebody who knows how to organize and pull folks together to win," Jealous told reporters after his campaign announcement in front of his cousin's Baltimore flower store. "We are up to the challenge, we are ready for the fight and we will win." Louise Keating, a Democrat from Windsor Mill, Maryland, who attended the rally, said she believes Jealous has the skills to be governor. "He's got a vision for the state," Keating said. Jealous lives in Pasadena, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County. He moved from Montgomery County, in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, in 2014. A man accused of having guns and 90 rounds of ammunition in his car was arrested inside Trump International Hotel early Wednesday after D.C. police and the Secret Service received a tip about him. Bryan Moles, 43, of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, was arrested after police found he had an assault rifle, a handgun and ammunition in his car in a parking garage at the hotel in downtown D.C., authorities said. "The officers and our federal partners, and in particular the tipster coming forward, averted a potential disaster in our nation's capital," said D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham. Moles was arrested inside the hotel shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, police said. He is charged with carrying a pistol without a license and possession of unregistered ammunition. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More D.C. Police and the Secret Service acted on a "report of a potential threat against Secret Service protectees," a statement from the Secret Service said. The agency soon determined that protectees were never at risk. It's not immediately clear what Moles' intentions were. It wasn't immediately known if he has an attorney. Authorities learned Moles was traveling to Washington, D.C. with the weapons and ammunition about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. D.C. police and the U.S. Secret Service "almost simultaneously" received information from Pennsylvania State Police that a man was traveling to D.C., possibly to Trump International Hotel, armed with weapons, Newsham said at a news conference Wednesday morning. Pennsylvania State Police received the information via a tip and shared it quickly, Newsham said. D.C. police and the Secret Service responded and contacted hotel security, who found the suspect's vehicle in the parking garage. Police found one of the guns in plain view inside the suspect's car; the other was found in the glove compartment, authorities said. Moles had checked himself in to the hotel about 1 a.m., Newsham said. Authorities found Moles inside the hotel and arrested him. The Trump International Hotel issued a statement saying that the guest had been "behaving suspiciously." "This morning, the authorities arrested a guest who was behaving suspiciously. The matter is under investigation, therefore it would be inappropriate for us to provide additional details," the statement said. The hotel did not respond to an inquiry about whether a valet may have seen a weapon in the suspect's car. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the incident "disturbing" but said it was resolved "quickly and peacefully." "Today's incident is an important reminder that when you see something, it is important to say something to an official," Bowser said. Maryland and student leaders at the University of Maryland of the NAACP are calling for more action after a Bowie State University student was stabbed to death near a College Park, Maryland, bus stop. University President Wallace Loh announced an action plan to stop racially-biased acts on campus, including forming a hate and bias response team and task force. Students want more rapid changes to protect themselves and other students at the University of Maryland. Army Lt. Richard Collins, 23, an African-American senior at Bowie State, was allegedly killed by Sean Urbanski, a white University of Maryland student, in May, according to police. Investigators discovered Urbanski was a member of a Facebook group, Alt-Reich: Nation, which posted racist and inflammatory material. Investigators are quick to point out Urbanskis listing as a group member does not suggest he committed a crime because of hate. But leaders said unsafe feelings on the universitys campus can no longer be tolerated. It should have never have happened, said Maryland NAACP President Gerald Stansbury. (Collins) was in a safe zone. Charnell Ferguson, the collegiate NAACP president for Maryland, said she was familiar with the universitys response plans but dont believe they are enough. I want to see outline of a policy consequences, Ferguson said. I want to see a task force on campus. Not just people on the campus but outside. We propose students from the University of Maryland are co-chair, and at least 50 percent of the task force be student led. Recent graduate Yanet Amanuel said Tuesday that it is important for student activists to be included, because they highlighted concerns about racial hostility before Collins' death. Students in the ProtectUMD Coalition have criticized the university for not acting on their concerns. "A lot of students in the coalition feel that the only reason this action plan has been put in place is because of media pressure, and that in order to really effectively have an action plan in place, you have to have an open dialogue conversation with the students who are impacted by this situation as well as having student leaders involved in the task force process as well,'' Amanuel said. The killing happened after reports this year of racist threats at the University of Maryland, College Park, including a noose that was found inside a campus fraternity house as well as reports of racist flyers. A bank robbery suspect briefly escaped custody in Virginia Tuesday by slipping out of his handcuffs and freeing himself from a police cruiser, Fairfax County Police said. About 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, a man walked into a bank in the 6800 block of Old Dominion Drive in McLean, showed a handgun and demanded cash, police said. He took the money and drove away in a gray pickup truck. Just before 5 p.m., officers spotted a man matching the description of the robber in a gray 2007 Toyota Tundra at Anderson Drive and Dolley Madison Boulevard and took him into custody, police said. Officers took 25-year-old Hao The Dinh of Manassas to police headquarters, where he got out of the back of the police cruiser by slipping out of his handcuffs and reaching through a partially open window to open the door from the outside, police said. Dinh tried to carjack a delivery truck driver, implying he had a gun, but officers caught up with him and took him back into custody, police said. Slipping out of handcuffs is rare but not impossible, police said. No one was injured in the bank robbery or the attempted carjacking, police said. Dinh was charged with robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a felon, carjacking and escape without force. A middle school math teacher in Virginia pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual battery, according to the City of Falls Church. Jose Daniel Estrada, 36, of Clifton Virginia, was placed on leave from Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School Jan. 17 after one of two female student victims reported him. This came together because of a courageous young student, Falls Church Police Chief Mary Gavin said in a news release. She did exactly what she should have done she fled and told adults right away. She is a remarkable person, and I admire her tenacity and bravery, as well the second student who also came forward. I also appreciate the adults who said to these children, I believe you and Its not your fault then reported to the authorities. Police did not provide further information about the allegations. Estrada started working for the school system in July 2015, a spokesperson said. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 4. An investigation is underway in a small New Hampshire town after several residents reported having their American flags ripped and cut in the middle of the night. The symbol of valor and freedom has been found ripped, torn, and sliced in half at different properties in Danville, New Hampshire. Its awful, said Bruce Johnson, who has lived in Danville for almost 20 years. It makes me pretty mad, yeah it does. The first time it happened to Joyce Gonthier last month, she blamed windy weather. So we just let that go, she said. But when she put up a new flag two weeks ago, she found it sliced up the center line by morning. Thats when she went to police. Its terrible, Gonthier said. Since then, officials said six more flags have been vandalized. The latest victim called police Tuesday morning. Theyre very disappointed, I mean its our flag, it touches everyone, Danville police Officer Justine Merced said. I know a lot of people are frustrated with our country right now, but it doesnt help to be aggressive like that, Danville resident Olivia Stafford said. It seems taht almost everyone in the community is disappointed, but none more so than the towns veterans. Im speechless, said Robert Graham, an emotional Marine Corps veteran who lives in Danville. Graham said he considers desecrating an American flag a direct attack on those who fought to protect it. To do that on our soil is like spitting in the face of 9/11, Graham said Tuesday. It doesnt get any worse than this if youre an American. Neighbors are so eager to catch the people responsible that theyve put up flags right in front of their surveillance cameras. Police are warning the suspects that this could be more than vandalism - it could be elevated to a hate crime. If you know anything about the damaged flags, call Danville police. North Korea fired an unidentified missile into waters off its eastern coast early Monday morning and if confirmed, the 12th launch this year in defiance of UN Security Council bans. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missile was fired at around 5:40 a.m. in central North Korea and traveled an estimated 500 km. The JCS is still working to determine exactly what type of missile it was but said early signs indicate it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile but a scud-type missile. President Moon Jae-in immediately held an emergency meeting of his chief of staff, the defense, foreign and unification ministers and the director of the National Intelligence Service. The launch, already the third coinciding with Moon's short time in office, follows the test of a solid-fuel missile a week ago while leader Kim Jong-un watched. Pyongyang's state-media claimed it was a success, saying the missile's capabilities have been upgraded since last year, and that Kim has ordered it to be mass-produced. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, said his city won't "back down" if the White House walks away from the Paris climate accord. Walsh's comments on Wednesday came after reports emerged that Trump had decided to withdraw the U.S. from the historic 2015 agreement, which he had promised to do so during the 2016 campaign. "As a coastal city, we know what's at stake," Walsh said, adding the city will remain committed to investing in its clean energy industry. He also quipped President Trump "has to look outside his little bubble" when it comes to climate change. A White House official told The Associated Press Wednesday morning that Trump is expected to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. But the official said there may be "caveats in the language" that Trump uses to announce the withdrawal - leaving open the possibility that the decision isn't final. The official insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the decision before the official announcement. Trump promised during his presidential campaign to pull the U.S. out of the deal, which was signed by nearly 200 nations. Forty Democratic senators sent Trump a letter urging him to stay in, saying a withdrawal would hurt America's credibility and influence on the world stage. Hundreds of high-profile businesses have also spoken out in favor of the deal, including Apple, Google and Walmart. Even fossil fuel companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell say the United States should abide by the deal. Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-Massachusetts) said in a statement Wednesday that withdrawing from the agreement will not only "undermine global leadership and abandon moral responsibility" but also "actively sacrifice the immediate health and safety of American citizens." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) said on Twitter that Trump has "given one handout after another to Big Oil and Big Coal since taking office" and is now "about to surrender U.S. climate leadership on the world stage by pulling out of the Paris Agreement." She then added that America "must do better as a nation and tackle climate change head-on." Maine Governor Paul LePage has a plan to alleviate a summer worker shortage threatening the states tourism industry: early release of inmates to fill seasonal positions. LePage has already granted conditional commutations for 17 low-risk inmates, and he is meeting with the Department of Corrections to identify more inmates for early release. We have jobs, and just dont have enough people, LePage said to WCSH-TV Tuesday. Peter Steele, a spokesman for the governor, said this is part of an ongoing process to commute men and women and provide much-needed workers in all sectors of Maine business, including tourism. Businesses reliant on seasonal help have reported a worker shortage this year, and many are advertising help wanted signs. The OOB House of Pizza in Old Orchard Beach has had to close three days a week, due to a lack of skilled workers. Its extremely frustrating, said co-owner Mikhele Kuntz. She said there is a smaller pool of foreign workers on visas this year. Kim Verreault, Executive Director of the OOB Chamber of Commerce, said the state is experiencing a low unemployment rate this year, around three percent. That means fewer people are applying for part-time, or seasonal work this summer. I think its time for us to think outside the box, said Verreault. Kuntz said she would be willing to consider a candidate who had just been released from prison. I actually do employ someone who has spent some time in jail, she said. Hes my grill cook. Hes amazing. I dont hold peoples past against them. But another business owner in the beach community, Mike Agam, has some reservations. Theres a reason why theyre in jail, said Agam, who is looking to hire at least eight more people to work at his Beach Fantasy apparel shop downtown. Lets hire people, who are good people, from outside [jail] first. Police in Rhode Island have charged a man they say assaulted several women on or near a bike path. Lincoln police charged 29-year-old Emmanuel Bonilla, of Central Falls, with felony assault, robbery and multiple counts of disorderly conduct Tuesday. Officials say Bonilla touched himself inappropriately as he drove behind a 62-year-old woman walking near the I-295 Visitors Center on Saturday. Police say the next day Bonilla followed a 22-year-old woman running on the Blackstone Valley Bike Path as he again touched himself. Investigators say the suspect also beat a 31-year-old woman out for a walk and stole her phone later that day. Bonilla was charged with exposing himself on the same bike path in 2015. It could not be determined if he had a lawyer. Several Massachusetts police officers are being praised for their quick decision during a recent tense situation. Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael says he is proud of his officers, after three of them used absolute restraint when a gun was aimed right at them. "They did everything right in this case," Carmichael explained. "To process everything that's happening so quickly and to respond the way that they did is just amazing." Officers responded after receiving a call for an unwanted, intoxicated man inside his parent's home. "The individual was on the bed and had his hands under the blankets," Carmichel said when the officers arrived. They tried talking to the man, but he wouldn't comply. Police say when the man finally took his hands out of the blanket, he was holding a gun. Police say he raised it and pointed it at the officers. Without hesitation, one of the officers used a taser on the man and took him into custody. Carmichael says the situation could have ended very differently. "The officers had been absolutely justified in this case to use deadly force under these circumstances. I'm just glad they're safe and this individual is safe," said Carmichael. Police say the man, who they have not identified, was actually holding a pellet gun. He was taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. Authorities said he will eventually face charges. Fresh expression of church - Fountain at Shouldham The Fountain at Shouldham is a 'fresh expression' of church for those who do not currently belong to a 'traditional' church. The ministry, which regularly involves food, has been running for five years in Shouldham, West Norfolk. The Fountain at Shouldham team hosts monthly events on a Sunday morning or afternoon for people of all ages, but specifically with a focus on children. This includes Messy Church and Breakfast Church in Shouldham Village Hall, Forest Church in Shouldham Warren and an all-age church service at Shouldham School. The gatherings typically involve food, such as bacon rolls, pizza and barbeque. Angela Caley, who leads the Fresh Expression, with her husband Tom said: We try to mix it up so it is not always the same because I think it keeps it fresh when you are doing something different. Angela said: People do come back and I think its partly because of the time they spend together around food. Because we do always make a point of having food, people always know that that social aspect is going to be something at least that they will like even if they are not so keen on the other activities! By eating together I think it provides that community that people feel that they can belong to with the events we put on. It is nice to give people that experience at a Christian event. The ministry recently became part of The Fountain Network, based in Ashill. Factfile Girl group AOA will perform at the second annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Jeju Island on June 16. They will be strutting their stuff in front of finance ministers and central bank governors from 77 countries. Launched last year, the AIIB is a China-led investment bank that aims to rival the U.S.-dominated World Bank. Sheep farmer's anguish after discovering horrific scene in Baughurst A HEARTBROKEN sheep farmer said he was reduced to tears after 26 of his one-week-old lambs were killed in a suspected dog attack in Baughurst. The savage attack took place in a field off a bridleway from Violet Lane, on Sunday, May 14, between 9am and 1pm and police say that the wounds indicate the sheep were attacked by a large dog rather than a fox. Hampshire Police have now started an investigation and are appealing for witnesses. The owner of the flock, James Edwards, is urging people to keep their dogs on leads when walking them near livestock. After finding the sheep dead, Mr Edwards tweeted: I feel sick. I give up... Havent finished counting the dead yet and lots missing. Youve broken me. Mr Edwards said he checked on the lambs at 7am and left at 9am. When he returned at about 2pm, he came across a dead lamb on the bridleway. Its horrific injuries, primarily on the hind quarters, were consistent with being chased. One ewe, called Doris, lost two lambs and Mr Edwards said: It was heartbreaking to watch. Sheep are very maternal and the lambs were so badly bitten that Doris did not recognise them as her babies. She kept walking away, bleating and returning to the bodies. It was sad to see that moment when she realised that the lambs were hers. Mr Edwards has managed to introduce two new lambs to Doris, who has since adopted them. He added: They [dogs] may be a lovely family pet, but if they see a rabbit or a field of lambs you cant stop it. Its like they return to a wolf moment. They are all descended from wolves. Why take the risk? Just put them on a lead around sheep. I have never caught anyone at it, but only had to pick up the pieces afterwards or stop people before anything can happen by telling them to put their dog on a lead. This is the third time in a year that domestic pets have harmed Edwards sheep. Mr Edwards said: Domestic dogs killing sheep is almost considered standard these days. This has become the biggest killer of sheep with 15,000 sheep killed last year by dogs. And thats only the deaths that are recorded. Since the incident, Mr Edwards has cleaned up the mess and reunited other lambs, who ran away during the attack, with their mothers. Pc Will Butcher, from the Country Watch Team, said: Being in possession of a dog that worries or causes injury or death to livestock is an offence, which can result in prosecution and the pet being seized and destroyed. Please be mindful of the consequences. Pc Butcher added: This incident took place in a popular location for dog walkers, both locally and further afield. It is likely that there would have been other dog walkers in the vicinity, and I would appeal to them to come forward if they have any information about this incident or those involved. Anyone who witnessed the attack, or saw an unattended dog or dogs in the area, should call Pc Butcher on 101, quoting reference number 44170181134. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. A song labeling Prime Minister Theresa May a liar has shot to the top of music sales charts in Britain, mocking her "strong and stable" motto ahead of the June 8 national election. "Liar Liar Ge2017" by Captain SKA now tops Amazon's listing for songs downloaded in Britain, and stands at No. 2 in Apple's iTunes U.K. chart, despite receiving no airplay from radio stations. Hitting out at the austerity policies of Britain's Conservative Party, the song stitches together samples of May's speeches with choruses of "She's a liar liar, no you can't trust her." "We all know politicians like telling lies / Big ones, little ones, porky pies / Saying they're strong and stable, won't disguise / We're still being taken for a ride," reads one verse. May is expected to win comfortably on June 8, but her party's lead in opinion polls has narrowed sharply in the last week, calling into question her decision to call the unscheduled election seeking a strong endorsement of her Brexit strategy. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Defence PSU Bharat Electronics has reported a 17 per cent growth in revenue at Rs 8,825 crore in FY17, compared to Rs 7,541 crore in FY16. The firm, however, saw a decline in its export turnover from $85 million in 2015-16 to $65 million in FY17. Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday after announcing annual results, BEL CMD M V Gowtama said the dip in export turnover was because of an equipment purchase deal with Reliance Defence and Engineering, which failed to materialise. The company had placed a large order of about 30 million but the procurement did not come through owing to financial issues on the part of Reliance Defence. Unfortunately, their (Reliance Defences) financial situation did not allow them to open Letters of Credit (LCs), which didnt allow us to deliver the equipment, Gautama said. He expressed the hope that one LC would be opened in June and the balance in February 2018. BEL is operating with an export network of 25 countries. The company is focusing on Vietnam, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Citing a few instances, Gowtama said BEL has exported Sonar technology to Myanmar, communication equipment to Sri Lanka, and coastal surveillance system to Maldives, among others. BENGALURU: Defence PSU Bharat Electronics has reported a 17 per cent growth in revenue at Rs 8,825 crore in FY17, compared to Rs 7,541 crore in FY16. The firm, however, saw a decline in its export turnover from $85 million in 2015-16 to $65 million in FY17. Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday after announcing annual results, BEL CMD M V Gowtama said the dip in export turnover was because of an equipment purchase deal with Reliance Defence and Engineering, which failed to materialise. The company had placed a large order of about 30 million but the procurement did not come through owing to financial issues on the part of Reliance Defence. Unfortunately, their (Reliance Defences) financial situation did not allow them to open Letters of Credit (LCs), which didnt allow us to deliver the equipment, Gautama said. He expressed the hope that one LC would be opened in June and the balance in February 2018. BEL is operating with an export network of 25 countries. The company is focusing on Vietnam, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Citing a few instances, Gowtama said BEL has exported Sonar technology to Myanmar, communication equipment to Sri Lanka, and coastal surveillance system to Maldives, among others. By AFP FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Greece's creditors should create "clarity" by reaching a deal on debt relief for Athens at a meeting next month, European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure urged Wednesday. "It is very important that an agreement is reached at the Eurogroup meeting on 15 June," Coeure told a Frankfurt conference. Any relief measures for Greece's huge mountain of debt -- which currently amounts to a towering 179 percent of annual output -- would not come into force before mid-2018. Nevertheless, "being sufficiently clear on the measures today would help frontload many of the benefits, in particular the rebuilding of confidence" at home and abroad, the ECB board member said. "Clarity about debt measures is also a necessary condition for Greece's bonds to be potentially eligible" for purchase under the ECB's mass bond-buying programme, Coeure added. The Eurogroup, made up of eurozone finance ministers, failed to come up with an agreement at a recent meeting on May 22. Disagreements between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European creditors led by Germany on Greek fiscal targets have held up a final accord. Germany has an election in September and the German public is hostile to more financial support for Athens. The German government has promised lawmakers that it will not offer further aid to Greece without the IMF's blessing. But the IMF believes European forecasts for Greece's growth and government budget surpluses are too optimistic, and says it will not participate in the programme unless there are more details on debt relief -- which Berlin is reluctant to give. Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos used an appearance at the same conference Wednesday to criticise the IMF, arguing the Washington-based lender is too gloomy about his country's growth prospects. Just a day earlier, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had said that if the IMF's pessimistic forecasts were correct, "then all the programmes [for Greece] have been pointless." The wrangling has held up the next tranche of aid from Europe from the third, 86-billion-euro ($96 billion) aid deal Greece and its creditors secured in July 2015. Greece needs the funds to repay seven billion euros in maturing debt in July. FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Greece's creditors should create "clarity" by reaching a deal on debt relief for Athens at a meeting next month, European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure urged Wednesday. "It is very important that an agreement is reached at the Eurogroup meeting on 15 June," Coeure told a Frankfurt conference. Any relief measures for Greece's huge mountain of debt -- which currently amounts to a towering 179 percent of annual output -- would not come into force before mid-2018. Nevertheless, "being sufficiently clear on the measures today would help frontload many of the benefits, in particular the rebuilding of confidence" at home and abroad, the ECB board member said. "Clarity about debt measures is also a necessary condition for Greece's bonds to be potentially eligible" for purchase under the ECB's mass bond-buying programme, Coeure added. The Eurogroup, made up of eurozone finance ministers, failed to come up with an agreement at a recent meeting on May 22. Disagreements between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European creditors led by Germany on Greek fiscal targets have held up a final accord. Germany has an election in September and the German public is hostile to more financial support for Athens. The German government has promised lawmakers that it will not offer further aid to Greece without the IMF's blessing. But the IMF believes European forecasts for Greece's growth and government budget surpluses are too optimistic, and says it will not participate in the programme unless there are more details on debt relief -- which Berlin is reluctant to give. Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos used an appearance at the same conference Wednesday to criticise the IMF, arguing the Washington-based lender is too gloomy about his country's growth prospects. Just a day earlier, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had said that if the IMF's pessimistic forecasts were correct, "then all the programmes [for Greece] have been pointless." The wrangling has held up the next tranche of aid from Europe from the third, 86-billion-euro ($96 billion) aid deal Greece and its creditors secured in July 2015. Greece needs the funds to repay seven billion euros in maturing debt in July. M Rajendran By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The government is planning solutions and devices for waste management using internet of things (IoT). The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is examining a proposal to use IoT for waste management as part of its Smart City programme. For Smart City programme to flourish, waste management would play an important role. In waste disposal, technologies like IoT can help the city administration in controlling the amount of waste that is disposed at regular intervals, thereby avoiding build-up, said Ashish Gulati, country head, Telit India. IoT solutions and devices for waste management revolve around two main benefits: determining the best time to collect waste and figuring out what route trucks should follow. These two advantages can reduce the time it takes to address potential waste build-up problems. IoT can be used in practically all scenarios for public services by governments to make cities environment-friendly. ITSensor-enabled devices have been tried and tested in India on pilot mode to monitor the environmental impact on cities, collect details about sewers, air quality, and garbage and the current testing is to explore its applicability in smart cities, a senior official in the IT ministry said. He added that such devices could also help monitor woods, rivers, lakes, and oceans. An urban IoT can provide means to monitor the quality of the air in crowded areas, parks, or fitness trails. The realisation of such a service requires that air quality and pollution sensors be deployed across the city and the sensor data be made publicly available to citizens, said Gulati. According to IT ministry official, the potential of the technology for waste management will be discussed with the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) soon. MoUD is the nodal agency for smart cities and it will have a final call on this. The potential is huge and companies planning to develop smart cities will incorporate them when they implement the project. NEW DELHI: The government is planning solutions and devices for waste management using internet of things (IoT). The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is examining a proposal to use IoT for waste management as part of its Smart City programme. For Smart City programme to flourish, waste management would play an important role. In waste disposal, technologies like IoT can help the city administration in controlling the amount of waste that is disposed at regular intervals, thereby avoiding build-up, said Ashish Gulati, country head, Telit India. IoT solutions and devices for waste management revolve around two main benefits: determining the best time to collect waste and figuring out what route trucks should follow. These two advantages can reduce the time it takes to address potential waste build-up problems. IoT can be used in practically all scenarios for public services by governments to make cities environment-friendly. ITSensor-enabled devices have been tried and tested in India on pilot mode to monitor the environmental impact on cities, collect details about sewers, air quality, and garbage and the current testing is to explore its applicability in smart cities, a senior official in the IT ministry said. He added that such devices could also help monitor woods, rivers, lakes, and oceans. An urban IoT can provide means to monitor the quality of the air in crowded areas, parks, or fitness trails. The realisation of such a service requires that air quality and pollution sensors be deployed across the city and the sensor data be made publicly available to citizens, said Gulati. According to IT ministry official, the potential of the technology for waste management will be discussed with the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) soon. MoUD is the nodal agency for smart cities and it will have a final call on this. The potential is huge and companies planning to develop smart cities will incorporate them when they implement the project. By PTI MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 31,233 by surging over 74 points, and NSE Nifty touched fresh lifetime high of 9,638 in early trade today on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors. Rising for the fifth straight day, the 30-share index rose by 74.28 points, or 0.23 per cent, to hit a new peak of 31,233.68. The gauge had gained almost 857.76 points in previous four sessions to close at a record high at 31,159.40 in yesterday's session. It had also touched an intra-day lifetime high of 31,220.38 in the previous session. All the sectoral indices, led by realty, auto and consumer durables, were trading in positive zone with gains up to 1.08 per cent. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 14.15 points, or 0.14 per cent, to scale its lifetime high of 9,638.70. The gauge had touched an intra-day high of 9,637.75 on May 29. Among the 30-Sensex stocks -- M&M, PowerGrid, Lupin, Bharti Airtel, GAIL, L&T, SBI, Maruti Suzuki Coal India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Cipla -- were the top performers during initial trade. Continued buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) helped the key indices to hit record hits, brokers said. Besides, sentiment remained extremely bullish as investors cheered the early arrival of monsoon and engaged in widening their positions, they said. Meanwhile, DIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 366.97 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 217.10 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.04 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.27 per cent in their early deals. Japan's Nikkei, however, fell 0.09 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.24 per cent lower in yesterday's trade. MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 31,233 by surging over 74 points, and NSE Nifty touched fresh lifetime high of 9,638 in early trade today on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors. Rising for the fifth straight day, the 30-share index rose by 74.28 points, or 0.23 per cent, to hit a new peak of 31,233.68. The gauge had gained almost 857.76 points in previous four sessions to close at a record high at 31,159.40 in yesterday's session. It had also touched an intra-day lifetime high of 31,220.38 in the previous session. All the sectoral indices, led by realty, auto and consumer durables, were trading in positive zone with gains up to 1.08 per cent. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 14.15 points, or 0.14 per cent, to scale its lifetime high of 9,638.70. The gauge had touched an intra-day high of 9,637.75 on May 29. Among the 30-Sensex stocks -- M&M, PowerGrid, Lupin, Bharti Airtel, GAIL, L&T, SBI, Maruti Suzuki Coal India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Cipla -- were the top performers during initial trade. Continued buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) helped the key indices to hit record hits, brokers said. Besides, sentiment remained extremely bullish as investors cheered the early arrival of monsoon and engaged in widening their positions, they said. Meanwhile, DIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 366.97 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 217.10 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.04 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.27 per cent in their early deals. Japan's Nikkei, however, fell 0.09 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.24 per cent lower in yesterday's trade. By Express News Service BENGALURU: The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Indias external intelligence agency, has joined various central agencies that are probing the three Pakistani nationals who were arrested in the city last week. During their stay in the country, the arrested had made 28 calls to Pakistan and the call details are now being verified. Sources told Express that the arrested Pakistan nationals had also received some calls from that country. We are verifying the call records to ascertain whether the calls were made to family members or others. This may help throw more light on how they crossed the border and who helped them, the sources said. RAW officials, who grilled them on Monday, gathered information about their movements during their journey to India. Sources said during the interrogation and initial probe, the officials did not find anything unusual or illegal. However, RAW and other central agencies will continue to keep track of developments in the probe by the Bengaluru city police. An investigation officer from the Central Crime Branch in Bengaluru said that so far, seven central agencies including Intelligence Bureau , State Intelligence, Military Intelligence and National Investigation Agency (NIA) have questioned the arrested Pakistani nationals. They gathered information about how they managed to reach India, who helped them and the people with whom they were in contact after reaching Bengaluru. As of now, we are ruling out the possibility that they were in touch with any organisation involved in any illegal activities within or outside the country, the officer said. However, they made 28 calls to Karachi during their stay in India and also received some calls. We are trying to ascertain whether they are family or some other people who helped them to cross the border, the officer added. Three of them will be handed over judicial custody once the interrogation is completed. The investigation will focus on only on their illegal stay and those helped them to come city. A few more arrests will be made based on the information given by Mohammed Shihab, a native of Kerala. On May 25, CCB sleuths raided a house in Kumaraswamy Layout and arrested Shihab and three Pakistani nationals Sameera alias Nazma (25), wife of Shihab, Nazmas cousin Khasif Shamshuddin (31) and his wife Kiron Ghulam Ali (25). All of them possessed fake documents. According to sources, investigating agencies initially suspected that they may have sent to work as sleeper cells. But they have not found any leads in this connection. Doctor, assistant suspended The Health Department on Tuesday issued orders suspending Dr C S Nagalakshamma and T H Ravikumar, who work at a government hospital in Jayanagar on charges of dereliction of duty. The doctor had attested documents used by the Pakistanis to get Aadhaar cards. Based on FIR filed against Nagalakshamma and Ravikumar they were kept in suspension. Police had on Monday arrested Nagalakshmma, a gazetted officer, from whom Shihab (26) had got documents verified. She had allegedly taken money. BENGALURU: The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Indias external intelligence agency, has joined various central agencies that are probing the three Pakistani nationals who were arrested in the city last week. During their stay in the country, the arrested had made 28 calls to Pakistan and the call details are now being verified. Sources told Express that the arrested Pakistan nationals had also received some calls from that country. We are verifying the call records to ascertain whether the calls were made to family members or others. This may help throw more light on how they crossed the border and who helped them, the sources said. RAW officials, who grilled them on Monday, gathered information about their movements during their journey to India. Sources said during the interrogation and initial probe, the officials did not find anything unusual or illegal. However, RAW and other central agencies will continue to keep track of developments in the probe by the Bengaluru city police. An investigation officer from the Central Crime Branch in Bengaluru said that so far, seven central agencies including Intelligence Bureau , State Intelligence, Military Intelligence and National Investigation Agency (NIA) have questioned the arrested Pakistani nationals. They gathered information about how they managed to reach India, who helped them and the people with whom they were in contact after reaching Bengaluru. As of now, we are ruling out the possibility that they were in touch with any organisation involved in any illegal activities within or outside the country, the officer said. However, they made 28 calls to Karachi during their stay in India and also received some calls. We are trying to ascertain whether they are family or some other people who helped them to cross the border, the officer added. Three of them will be handed over judicial custody once the interrogation is completed. The investigation will focus on only on their illegal stay and those helped them to come city. A few more arrests will be made based on the information given by Mohammed Shihab, a native of Kerala. On May 25, CCB sleuths raided a house in Kumaraswamy Layout and arrested Shihab and three Pakistani nationals Sameera alias Nazma (25), wife of Shihab, Nazmas cousin Khasif Shamshuddin (31) and his wife Kiron Ghulam Ali (25). All of them possessed fake documents. According to sources, investigating agencies initially suspected that they may have sent to work as sleeper cells. But they have not found any leads in this connection. Doctor, assistant suspended The Health Department on Tuesday issued orders suspending Dr C S Nagalakshamma and T H Ravikumar, who work at a government hospital in Jayanagar on charges of dereliction of duty. The doctor had attested documents used by the Pakistanis to get Aadhaar cards. Based on FIR filed against Nagalakshamma and Ravikumar they were kept in suspension. Police had on Monday arrested Nagalakshmma, a gazetted officer, from whom Shihab (26) had got documents verified. She had allegedly taken money. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Hundreds of VTU students protested in the city on Tuesday demanding that the revaluation results be announced within 10 days. The results of odd semesters which were due to be announced in February or March were announced by the varsity only last week. Now, the students are a worried lot as they have to appear for the next semester exam in two weeks as their revaluation results are yet to be released. There is hardly any time for students to get the revaluation results and prepare for the exams. This is putting them under a lot of pressure, Ravinandan B B, a member of AIDSO, said. The protesters want VTU to stop collecting exam fees until the revaluation results are out. They also asked the varsity to roll back all kinds of fee hike and reschedule the exams with adequate gap between two subjects for the eighth semester students. The protesters submitted a memorandum to VTU registrar and said that they would stage state-wide protests from Wednesday. Minister for Higher Education Basavaraja Rayaraddi said he will call for a meeting with VTU vice chancellor and discuss the issue. BENGALURU: Hundreds of VTU students protested in the city on Tuesday demanding that the revaluation results be announced within 10 days. The results of odd semesters which were due to be announced in February or March were announced by the varsity only last week. Now, the students are a worried lot as they have to appear for the next semester exam in two weeks as their revaluation results are yet to be released. There is hardly any time for students to get the revaluation results and prepare for the exams. This is putting them under a lot of pressure, Ravinandan B B, a member of AIDSO, said. The protesters want VTU to stop collecting exam fees until the revaluation results are out. They also asked the varsity to roll back all kinds of fee hike and reschedule the exams with adequate gap between two subjects for the eighth semester students. The protesters submitted a memorandum to VTU registrar and said that they would stage state-wide protests from Wednesday. Minister for Higher Education Basavaraja Rayaraddi said he will call for a meeting with VTU vice chancellor and discuss the issue. By Express News Service CHENNAI: The row over beef fest inside IIT Madras campus, which led to the assault of a PhD scholar by a group of students, continued to simmer inside and outside the institute on Wednesday, after IIT authorities allegedly refused to accept the demands of protesting students who sought time-bound inquiry and action against the attackers. Raising slogans against fascist hooliganism, a group of around 60 students marched from the Himalaya Mess lawn to the Deans office in the morning to seek justice for A Sooraj, the scholar who was injured in the attack on Tuesday. With the discussions having failed, the protesters continued their agitation and took out a protest march. IN PICS | Fest gone awry: Hundreds protest at IIT Madras over beef ban row We met the Dean with four demands, said Abhinav Surya, one of the students. Expulsion of the attackers, filing police complaint against them, footing Soorajs medical expenses, and informing all the students the details of the issue, were the demands. Students said they were disappointed by the administrations approach, adding that only a hostel committee, which generally deals with petty issues, was asked to handle the issue. The administration made it seem like a petty issue, said Arjun Jayakumar, another student adding, The Dean was forced to talk to us, but neither did he give any assurance nor a fixed time frame for the investigation. he added. Members of RSF protesting in front of IIT-Madras against beef ban on Wednesday | Martin Louis He said they had concerns about witnesses being threatened, noting that statements have not been taken from witnesses nor were the CCTV footages inspected. We will continue protesting till the administration takes some action, he added. The students handed over a petition to the dean, highlighting that such horrifying attacks would leave a black mark on the prestigious institution. The fact that this has happened to a research scholar like Sooraj points towards the magnitude of perversion entrenched in the students who attacked him We hope the IIT Madras administration will fulfil our demands and uphold our right to life, right to dissent and our right to organise peaceful gatherings as guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the petition read. A group of alumni has also written to the institution authorities, expressing their concern over the incident. Meanwhile, around 100 students from organisations including SFI, RSF, DYFI staged protests in front of IIT against the institute and also the government for not resisting the Sangh Parivar and its member outfits. DMK working president and Leader of Opposition, MK Stalin, visited Sooraj at the hospital. Despite repeated attempts, officials from IIT, including the Director and Dean of Students, were not available for a comment on the incident and its aftermath. One incident, two narratives There are ar least two versions of the incident. But, what is certain is that it was a fallout of the Sundays beef fest held to protest the Centres rules restricting the sale of cattle for slaughter The Beef version According to Sooraj, a research scholar of Aerospace Engineering Department, and his friends, a group of eight students led by Manish Kumar Singh approached Sooraj while he was having lunch at the mess with a friend. Singh, from Ocean Engineering Department, allegedly took the lead and assaulted him, while his accomplices pinned Sooraj to his seat and held his hands so that Singh could repeatedly punch him. While Soorajs eye was badly bruised, Singh fractured his right arm. This was not the result of a fit of rage, says this section, pointing to Manishs history of similar incidents. Reporting on the incident, The Fifth Estate, the IIT-M campus paper, said: [Singh] threatened revenge on the organisers of the [beef] fest on Facebook a day before the event, so the act was quite clearly premeditated. The paper also recalled previous instances involving Manish, including once when he attacked students in a meeting of the Student Legislative Council and threatened to do the same in a panel discussion on atrocities in Kashmir. The cow version According to Manishs friends, it was a wordy quarrel that worsened due to provocation by Sooraj and friends. Manish spotted Sooraj inside the Jain mess, and asked him about being part of the beef fest and a member of the strictly vegetarian mess. In retort, Sooraj said he was a member of the mess and had every right to be there, and allegedly added that he would eat beef inside the mess itself. He said he would even make Manish eat the meat. In the midst of this quarrel, Sooraj and friends twisted Manishs right hand. In self-defence, Manish pushed Sooraj with his left hand. Not expecting this, he lost his balance and fell down, hitting his face on the corner of the bench. His friends claimed Manish had suffered a fracture on his right hand, for which he apparently requires a surgery to insert a metal plate. We are surprised how things are twisted. Manish is not affiliated to any right-wing organisation. He is a normal student with no political ambitions. Both Sooraj and Manish should have maintained restraint and had controlled their emotions, said his friend, a PhD scholar from Department of Chemistry, who claimed to be a witness to the incident. CHENNAI: The row over beef fest inside IIT Madras campus, which led to the assault of a PhD scholar by a group of students, continued to simmer inside and outside the institute on Wednesday, after IIT authorities allegedly refused to accept the demands of protesting students who sought time-bound inquiry and action against the attackers. Raising slogans against fascist hooliganism, a group of around 60 students marched from the Himalaya Mess lawn to the Deans office in the morning to seek justice for A Sooraj, the scholar who was injured in the attack on Tuesday. With the discussions having failed, the protesters continued their agitation and took out a protest march. IN PICS | Fest gone awry: Hundreds protest at IIT Madras over beef ban row We met the Dean with four demands, said Abhinav Surya, one of the students. Expulsion of the attackers, filing police complaint against them, footing Soorajs medical expenses, and informing all the students the details of the issue, were the demands. Students said they were disappointed by the administrations approach, adding that only a hostel committee, which generally deals with petty issues, was asked to handle the issue. The administration made it seem like a petty issue, said Arjun Jayakumar, another student adding, The Dean was forced to talk to us, but neither did he give any assurance nor a fixed time frame for the investigation. he added. Members of RSF protesting in front of IIT-Madras against beef ban on Wednesday | Martin LouisHe said they had concerns about witnesses being threatened, noting that statements have not been taken from witnesses nor were the CCTV footages inspected. We will continue protesting till the administration takes some action, he added. The students handed over a petition to the dean, highlighting that such horrifying attacks would leave a black mark on the prestigious institution. The fact that this has happened to a research scholar like Sooraj points towards the magnitude of perversion entrenched in the students who attacked him We hope the IIT Madras administration will fulfil our demands and uphold our right to life, right to dissent and our right to organise peaceful gatherings as guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the petition read. A group of alumni has also written to the institution authorities, expressing their concern over the incident. Meanwhile, around 100 students from organisations including SFI, RSF, DYFI staged protests in front of IIT against the institute and also the government for not resisting the Sangh Parivar and its member outfits. DMK working president and Leader of Opposition, MK Stalin, visited Sooraj at the hospital. Despite repeated attempts, officials from IIT, including the Director and Dean of Students, were not available for a comment on the incident and its aftermath. One incident, two narratives There are ar least two versions of the incident. But, what is certain is that it was a fallout of the Sundays beef fest held to protest the Centres rules restricting the sale of cattle for slaughter The Beef version According to Sooraj, a research scholar of Aerospace Engineering Department, and his friends, a group of eight students led by Manish Kumar Singh approached Sooraj while he was having lunch at the mess with a friend. Singh, from Ocean Engineering Department, allegedly took the lead and assaulted him, while his accomplices pinned Sooraj to his seat and held his hands so that Singh could repeatedly punch him. While Soorajs eye was badly bruised, Singh fractured his right arm. This was not the result of a fit of rage, says this section, pointing to Manishs history of similar incidents. Reporting on the incident, The Fifth Estate, the IIT-M campus paper, said: [Singh] threatened revenge on the organisers of the [beef] fest on Facebook a day before the event, so the act was quite clearly premeditated. The paper also recalled previous instances involving Manish, including once when he attacked students in a meeting of the Student Legislative Council and threatened to do the same in a panel discussion on atrocities in Kashmir. The cow version According to Manishs friends, it was a wordy quarrel that worsened due to provocation by Sooraj and friends. Manish spotted Sooraj inside the Jain mess, and asked him about being part of the beef fest and a member of the strictly vegetarian mess. In retort, Sooraj said he was a member of the mess and had every right to be there, and allegedly added that he would eat beef inside the mess itself. He said he would even make Manish eat the meat. In the midst of this quarrel, Sooraj and friends twisted Manishs right hand. In self-defence, Manish pushed Sooraj with his left hand. Not expecting this, he lost his balance and fell down, hitting his face on the corner of the bench. His friends claimed Manish had suffered a fracture on his right hand, for which he apparently requires a surgery to insert a metal plate. We are surprised how things are twisted. Manish is not affiliated to any right-wing organisation. He is a normal student with no political ambitions. Both Sooraj and Manish should have maintained restraint and had controlled their emotions, said his friend, a PhD scholar from Department of Chemistry, who claimed to be a witness to the incident. By Express News Service Fire that broke in the wee hours continued till late in the day, showing how boxed-in T Nagar was a disaster waiting to happen; firemen cramped for space; no casualties or injuries reported; building earlier faced demolition for violating regulations CHENNAI: In an alarming display of the dangers that face thousands of shoppers who visit the retail hub of Chennai, a fire at a multi-storey textile showroom that was reported in the wee hours of Wednesday smouldered till the late hours despite efforts by dozens of fire service personnel right from the morning. That it happened in the early hours ensured there were no casualties; in fact, none were reported injured so far. However, that does not reduce the serious risk the area faces due to unplanned growth and a lackadaisical attitude towards basic safety measures. Even before they could begin dealing with the fire, the fire service personnel had to struggle to bring fire tenders, water tankers and skylift to the premises due to the narrow access road to the Chennai Silks showroom. Incidentally, the building was facing demolition for planning violation in 2006, but managed to stave it off only to be gutted by the fire on Wednesday. WATCH VIDEO BELOW: Fire that broke in the wee hours continued till late in the day, showing how boxed-in T Nagar was a disaster waiting to happen; firemen cramped for space; no casualties or injuries reported; building earlier faced demolition for violating regulations CHENNAI: In an alarming display of the dangers that face thousands of shoppers who visit the retail hub of Chennai, a fire at a multi-storey textile showroom that was reported in the wee hours of Wednesday smouldered till the late hours despite efforts by dozens of fire service personnel right from the morning. That it happened in the early hours ensured there were no casualties; in fact, none were reported injured so far. However, that does not reduce the serious risk the area faces due to unplanned growth and a lackadaisical attitude towards basic safety measures. Even before they could begin dealing with the fire, the fire service personnel had to struggle to bring fire tenders, water tankers and skylift to the premises due to the narrow access road to the Chennai Silks showroom. Incidentally, the building was facing demolition for planning violation in 2006, but managed to stave it off only to be gutted by the fire on Wednesday. WATCH VIDEO BELOW: By BNS Sanjay Dutt, who recently wrapped up work on his comeback film, Bhoomi, has decided to pull out of Indra Kumars Dhamaal franchise. The actor, who played a cop in Dhamaal (2007) and Double Dhamaal (2011), was expected to be part of the third installment, Total Dhamaal. However, Dutt has remained unavailable to shoot the film. A source now reveals, Dutt was not okay with the films adult comedy. He doesnt want his children to see him in a film that has such crass humour. Dutts co-star Riteish Deshmukh has backed out of the film too. Meanwhile, rumours are abuzz that Sanjay Dutt has bonded well with his Bhoomi co-star, Aditi Rao Hydari. The actors play father and daughter in the film, and Dutt is said to be impressed with her performance, and is reportedly recommending her as a strong talent for some of his upcoming projects. Apart from Bhoomi, Dutt will be seen in Torbaaz, Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 and also in another collaborative project with Ajay Devgn. Sanjay Dutt, who recently wrapped up work on his comeback film, Bhoomi, has decided to pull out of Indra Kumars Dhamaal franchise. The actor, who played a cop in Dhamaal (2007) and Double Dhamaal (2011), was expected to be part of the third installment, Total Dhamaal. However, Dutt has remained unavailable to shoot the film. A source now reveals, Dutt was not okay with the films adult comedy. He doesnt want his children to see him in a film that has such crass humour. Dutts co-star Riteish Deshmukh has backed out of the film too. Meanwhile, rumours are abuzz that Sanjay Dutt has bonded well with his Bhoomi co-star, Aditi Rao Hydari. The actors play father and daughter in the film, and Dutt is said to be impressed with her performance, and is reportedly recommending her as a strong talent for some of his upcoming projects. Apart from Bhoomi, Dutt will be seen in Torbaaz, Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 and also in another collaborative project with Ajay Devgn. Haricharan P By Express News Service Sakshi Aggarwal has hit the jackpot. Last seen in Ka Ka Ka Po, the actress has landed a key role in Kaala, and is thrilled to be sharing screen space with Rajinikanth. Even though its a brief role, I accepted the offer because I see it as a great opportunity to prove myself in a big film. More than being a good heroine, my priority is to be a good actress, Sakshi tells CE, adding that her portions will be shot in Chennai as well as Mumbai. Sakshi was approached by director Pa Ranjiths assistant Jenny. After I auditioned, there was extensive rehearsal for 15 days. It was all quite intense. I consider it a privilege to work with Rajini sir. Being part of such a big project is a boon to my career, she says. Having already met the superstar during the films photo-shoot, Sakshi was awestruck. I wasnt nervous, but it was a fan moment. I cant wait to start shooting with him. Kaala reunites Ranjith and Rajinikanth after Kabali, and also stars Huma Qureshi, Anjali Patil, Nana Patekar and Samuthirakani among others. Sakshi Aggarwal has hit the jackpot. Last seen in Ka Ka Ka Po, the actress has landed a key role in Kaala, and is thrilled to be sharing screen space with Rajinikanth. Even though its a brief role, I accepted the offer because I see it as a great opportunity to prove myself in a big film. More than being a good heroine, my priority is to be a good actress, Sakshi tells CE, adding that her portions will be shot in Chennai as well as Mumbai. Sakshi was approached by director Pa Ranjiths assistant Jenny. After I auditioned, there was extensive rehearsal for 15 days. It was all quite intense. I consider it a privilege to work with Rajini sir. Being part of such a big project is a boon to my career, she says. Having already met the superstar during the films photo-shoot, Sakshi was awestruck. I wasnt nervous, but it was a fan moment. I cant wait to start shooting with him. Kaala reunites Ranjith and Rajinikanth after Kabali, and also stars Huma Qureshi, Anjali Patil, Nana Patekar and Samuthirakani among others. The Pentagon says its first-ever missile defense test involving an ICBM was a success. "The intercept of a complex threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment," Vice Admiral Jim Syring of the Missile Defense Agency said. Tuesday's test involved two separate missile launches. A simulated attack intercontinental ballistic missile was fired from a tiny island in the Pacific. A second missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The second missile successfully intercepted the first missile over the ocean, destroying it in mid-flight. Pentagon officials compare it to one bullet shot from a gun striking another bullet. The system is designed to defend the U.S. against a possible missile launch from a rogue state such as North Korea. Earlier Tuesday, North Korea declared its latest ballistic missile test a success. The U.S. Pacific Command said it tracked what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile for six minutes. It landed in the Sea of Japan in what is known as Japan's exclusive economic zone, angering Tokyo. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that "North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile." But Trump gave China credit for "trying hard" to rein in North Korea's military ambitions. By IANS CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police has arrested three young men in Pathankot district on the basis of suspicion, police said on Wednesday. All three belong to Assam, sources said. The arrests were being linked to the Monday recovery of an abandoned bag containing three Army uniforms. The bag was left on Defence Road near Pathankot late on Sunday night. A massive search operation was launched in the district following the seizure. Punjab Police, army and other security agencies carried searches in the area, especially near the Indian Air Force base as well as the army's Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot. A Jammu flour mill's name was printed on the bag, police officials said. The security agencies remained on alert in the border districts following the terror attacks on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January 2016 and in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district in July 2015. Both Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts lie along India's international border with Pakistan and are also close to Jammu and Kashmir. CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police has arrested three young men in Pathankot district on the basis of suspicion, police said on Wednesday. All three belong to Assam, sources said. The arrests were being linked to the Monday recovery of an abandoned bag containing three Army uniforms. The bag was left on Defence Road near Pathankot late on Sunday night. A massive search operation was launched in the district following the seizure. Punjab Police, army and other security agencies carried searches in the area, especially near the Indian Air Force base as well as the army's Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot. A Jammu flour mill's name was printed on the bag, police officials said. The security agencies remained on alert in the border districts following the terror attacks on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January 2016 and in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district in July 2015. Both Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts lie along India's international border with Pakistan and are also close to Jammu and Kashmir. By Express News Service KOLKATA: A day after the West Bengal chief minister ordered police to take stringent action against cow vigilantes, the Bengal BJP unit has planned to hold milk festivals in all districts on June 10, in response to the beef festival recently held in Kerala. Congress and CPM openly defied the law by slaughtering and distributing cow meat in Kerala. We want to give a befitting reply to their beef festivals by organising milk festivals throughout West Bengal on June 10, West Bengal Cow Development Cell president and BJP State committee member Subrata Gupta said. The milk festival will be simultaneously held at the Bengal BJP headquarters in Kolkata and district party offices on June 10. Terming cow meat as poisonous, he blamed the bovine meat for extinction of vultures. While cow milk gives us nutrition and life, it has been scientifically proven in London that cow meat is 90 per cent toxic. Vultures became extinct because they fed on cow carcasses. We dont want our Muslim brothers to get extinct too, he said. The symbolic protest by distributing milk will also send a message to CM Mamata Banerjee who claims she is a true Hindu but ordered her police to beat up Gau Rakshaks and stated she will not abide by the Central rule. She may say that now but we will take the matter to the Supreme Court, Gupta said. He said the next step in the move to stop cow slaughter in West Bengal would be sending notices to slaughter houses in the State. KOLKATA: A day after the West Bengal chief minister ordered police to take stringent action against cow vigilantes, the Bengal BJP unit has planned to hold milk festivals in all districts on June 10, in response to the beef festival recently held in Kerala. Congress and CPM openly defied the law by slaughtering and distributing cow meat in Kerala. We want to give a befitting reply to their beef festivals by organising milk festivals throughout West Bengal on June 10, West Bengal Cow Development Cell president and BJP State committee member Subrata Gupta said. The milk festival will be simultaneously held at the Bengal BJP headquarters in Kolkata and district party offices on June 10. Terming cow meat as poisonous, he blamed the bovine meat for extinction of vultures. While cow milk gives us nutrition and life, it has been scientifically proven in London that cow meat is 90 per cent toxic. Vultures became extinct because they fed on cow carcasses. We dont want our Muslim brothers to get extinct too, he said. The symbolic protest by distributing milk will also send a message to CM Mamata Banerjee who claims she is a true Hindu but ordered her police to beat up Gau Rakshaks and stated she will not abide by the Central rule. She may say that now but we will take the matter to the Supreme Court, Gupta said. He said the next step in the move to stop cow slaughter in West Bengal would be sending notices to slaughter houses in the State. By Express News Service BHOPAL: A massive police security cover has been thrown in multiple localities of old Bhopal after communal tension reportedly erupted outside the Hamidia Hospital campus on Tuesday evening. Massive police force has been deployed in Jumerati, Peer Gate, Chowki Imambara and other old areas of the state capital following violence between two groups of separate communities over offering of rituals at a shrine outside the hospital gate. The incident took place after evening namaz, when one group pelted stones on the other group, prompting the cops to use force against the unruly mob indulging in violence. The other group later retaliated by pelting stones identically again forcing the police to use force. Over six persons were reportedly hurt in the violence. Several vehicles, including a Dial 100 police vehicle was damaged as unruly mob set many of the vehicles afire. All senior officials, including Bhopal DIG Raman Singh Sikarwar and collector Nishant Varbade were at the spot when reports last came in. According to key sources in state police companies of para military force are likely to arrive before dawn to ensure peaceful early morning namaz in Ramzan. The administration was mulling clamping prohibitory orders in some localities till midnight. Senior police officials, including IG Bhopal Yogesh Chaudhary, however, claimed situation was now normal and under control. The incident is the continuation of tussle between the two groups since two days over offering prayers at a place in the hospital premises, where one of the groups claims to have found out an old mosque. The group was offering namaz at the newly found mosque inside the hospital campus since Monday, which was opposed by the other group. In response to it, the other group had announced holding ritual at a temple outside the hospital gate, but the local administration had denied them permission owing to security reasons in the communally sensitive area. Despite being denied permission by authorities, the men had gathered for the prayers at the temple. BHOPAL: A massive police security cover has been thrown in multiple localities of old Bhopal after communal tension reportedly erupted outside the Hamidia Hospital campus on Tuesday evening. Massive police force has been deployed in Jumerati, Peer Gate, Chowki Imambara and other old areas of the state capital following violence between two groups of separate communities over offering of rituals at a shrine outside the hospital gate. The incident took place after evening namaz, when one group pelted stones on the other group, prompting the cops to use force against the unruly mob indulging in violence. The other group later retaliated by pelting stones identically again forcing the police to use force. Over six persons were reportedly hurt in the violence. Several vehicles, including a Dial 100 police vehicle was damaged as unruly mob set many of the vehicles afire. All senior officials, including Bhopal DIG Raman Singh Sikarwar and collector Nishant Varbade were at the spot when reports last came in. According to key sources in state police companies of para military force are likely to arrive before dawn to ensure peaceful early morning namaz in Ramzan. The administration was mulling clamping prohibitory orders in some localities till midnight. Senior police officials, including IG Bhopal Yogesh Chaudhary, however, claimed situation was now normal and under control. The incident is the continuation of tussle between the two groups since two days over offering prayers at a place in the hospital premises, where one of the groups claims to have found out an old mosque. The group was offering namaz at the newly found mosque inside the hospital campus since Monday, which was opposed by the other group. In response to it, the other group had announced holding ritual at a temple outside the hospital gate, but the local administration had denied them permission owing to security reasons in the communally sensitive area. Despite being denied permission by authorities, the men had gathered for the prayers at the temple. By Express News Service MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the residence, companies and four other places related to former Congress MLA Baba Siddique here on Wednesday. The raids were conducted in connection with irregularities worth Rs 500 crore in a slum rehabilitation (SRA) project at Bandra Reclamation, ED officials said. Siddiqui was MLA from the area and chairman of the state housing development board when the SRA project was awarded to his company that sold flats of over 2700 sq ft area to several big names, the officials said. An Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was recently filed in the case against Siddiqui, Rafique Qureshi, Najmuddin Mithiborwala of Siddiquis Pyramid Developers and three other companies and individuals. The ED raided at least half a dozen places in the city in connection with the case after an FIR was filed against all of them by local Police. The metropolitan magistrates court had asked police to investigate the case and file a report while hearing a complaint filed by local activists in 2012 about several alleged irregularities in the SRA project like forged documents to get more than one flat in the redeveloped buildings, overstepping several regulations related to CRZ and the FSI, etc. MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the residence, companies and four other places related to former Congress MLA Baba Siddique here on Wednesday. The raids were conducted in connection with irregularities worth Rs 500 crore in a slum rehabilitation (SRA) project at Bandra Reclamation, ED officials said. Siddiqui was MLA from the area and chairman of the state housing development board when the SRA project was awarded to his company that sold flats of over 2700 sq ft area to several big names, the officials said. An Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was recently filed in the case against Siddiqui, Rafique Qureshi, Najmuddin Mithiborwala of Siddiquis Pyramid Developers and three other companies and individuals. The ED raided at least half a dozen places in the city in connection with the case after an FIR was filed against all of them by local Police. The metropolitan magistrates court had asked police to investigate the case and file a report while hearing a complaint filed by local activists in 2012 about several alleged irregularities in the SRA project like forged documents to get more than one flat in the redeveloped buildings, overstepping several regulations related to CRZ and the FSI, etc. By Express News Service BHOPAL: The Gwalior Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed the May 19, 2017 order of a court in Bhind district which directed the inclusion of the states general administration minister, Lal Singh Aryas name among those accused of murdering Congress MLA Makhanlal Jatav in 2009. A single judge Bench of Justice Sheel Lagu, which on Monday heard the criminal revision petition filed by the Madhya Pradesh minister, on Tuesday quashed the Bhind courts May 19 order directing inclusion of Aryas name among those accused in the 2009 murder case. The High Court (HC) Bench observed that the court in Bhind had passed the order against the minister without giving Lal Singh Arya ample opportunity to be heard in the case, the ministers counsel Rajesh Shukla told the New Indian Express on Wednesday. The HC also quashed the Bhind Courts arrest warrant issued on May 19 against Arya. Further, the HC ordered the Bhind court to give ample opportunity of hearing to the petitioner in the future, before initiating any proceedings in the case, added Shukla. On May 19, the court of special judge (SC/ST Atrocities) Yogesh Kumar Gupta in Bhind district had ordered that the minister, presently the BJP legislator from Gohad seat of Bhind district be included among the accused in the 2009 murder case. The Bhind court had also issued an arrest warrant against Arya, but stayed its execution till June 3, following a plea by his counsel to file a revision petition in the HC against the order. The court had ordered including the minister in the murder case, as the eye witnesses in the case, including Makhanlal Jatav's son had stated before police that Arya (who lost the 2008 assembly polls from Gohad) had directed the assassins to kill Jatav, while he was sitting in a jeep. Makhanlal Jatav, the Congress MLA from Gohad seat of Bhind district, was shot dead while campaigning for party candidate Dr Bhagirath Prasad in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Bhind constituency. Dr Prasad is presently the BJP MP from Bhind Lok Sabha seat of MP. The HC order has rendered a reprieve to Arya, who was embattled politically as both the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were protesting regularly, demanding his resignation/ouster from state council of ministers. BHOPAL: The Gwalior Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed the May 19, 2017 order of a court in Bhind district which directed the inclusion of the states general administration minister, Lal Singh Aryas name among those accused of murdering Congress MLA Makhanlal Jatav in 2009. A single judge Bench of Justice Sheel Lagu, which on Monday heard the criminal revision petition filed by the Madhya Pradesh minister, on Tuesday quashed the Bhind courts May 19 order directing inclusion of Aryas name among those accused in the 2009 murder case. The High Court (HC) Bench observed that the court in Bhind had passed the order against the minister without giving Lal Singh Arya ample opportunity to be heard in the case, the ministers counsel Rajesh Shukla told the New Indian Express on Wednesday. The HC also quashed the Bhind Courts arrest warrant issued on May 19 against Arya. Further, the HC ordered the Bhind court to give ample opportunity of hearing to the petitioner in the future, before initiating any proceedings in the case, added Shukla. On May 19, the court of special judge (SC/ST Atrocities) Yogesh Kumar Gupta in Bhind district had ordered that the minister, presently the BJP legislator from Gohad seat of Bhind district be included among the accused in the 2009 murder case. The Bhind court had also issued an arrest warrant against Arya, but stayed its execution till June 3, following a plea by his counsel to file a revision petition in the HC against the order. The court had ordered including the minister in the murder case, as the eye witnesses in the case, including Makhanlal Jatav's son had stated before police that Arya (who lost the 2008 assembly polls from Gohad) had directed the assassins to kill Jatav, while he was sitting in a jeep. Makhanlal Jatav, the Congress MLA from Gohad seat of Bhind district, was shot dead while campaigning for party candidate Dr Bhagirath Prasad in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Bhind constituency. Dr Prasad is presently the BJP MP from Bhind Lok Sabha seat of MP. The HC order has rendered a reprieve to Arya, who was embattled politically as both the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were protesting regularly, demanding his resignation/ouster from state council of ministers. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Eight days after an Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30 crashed in Arunachal Pradesh, defence authorities on Wednesday announced the death of the two pilots who were on board. Squadron Leader D Pankaj and Flight Lieutenant S Achudev, the pilots of the Su-30 aircraft, sustained fatal injuries when the aircraft crashed approximately 60 km from Tezpur Airbase on May 23, defence spokesman Lt Col Sambit Ghosh told The New Indian Express. He said analysis of the flight data recorder of the aircraft and certain other articles recovered from the crash site revealed that the pilots could not initiate ejection before the crash. The wreckage of the aircraft was located on May 26. The aircraft took off at around 10:30 am on May 23 and had gone off the radar and lost radio contact around 11:10 am when it was around 60 km from Tezpur. It was on a routine training mission as part of a two-aircraft formation. The aircraft was declared overdue and search and rescue operations were launched to locate it and the pilots. Help from civil administration and military authorities was also sought to locate it. Aerial search was commenced based on the last known position of the Su-30 MKI. Incessant rain, dense clouds and difficult terrain hampered the search operations in air and on the ground, Ghosh said. A court of inquiry has already been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident, he added. NEW DELHI: Eight days after an Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-30 crashed in Arunachal Pradesh, defence authorities on Wednesday announced the death of the two pilots who were on board. Squadron Leader D Pankaj and Flight Lieutenant S Achudev, the pilots of the Su-30 aircraft, sustained fatal injuries when the aircraft crashed approximately 60 km from Tezpur Airbase on May 23, defence spokesman Lt Col Sambit Ghosh told The New Indian Express. He said analysis of the flight data recorder of the aircraft and certain other articles recovered from the crash site revealed that the pilots could not initiate ejection before the crash. The wreckage of the aircraft was located on May 26. The aircraft took off at around 10:30 am on May 23 and had gone off the radar and lost radio contact around 11:10 am when it was around 60 km from Tezpur. It was on a routine training mission as part of a two-aircraft formation. The aircraft was declared overdue and search and rescue operations were launched to locate it and the pilots. Help from civil administration and military authorities was also sought to locate it. Aerial search was commenced based on the last known position of the Su-30 MKI. Incessant rain, dense clouds and difficult terrain hampered the search operations in air and on the ground, Ghosh said. A court of inquiry has already been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident, he added. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Wednesday ruled out talks Government of India (GoI) unless it accepts Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. There will be no talks with India till it accepts Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. Well never beg for talks, said Geelani, who is under house arrest at his Hyderpora residence. He was reacting to statement of Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who had ruled out talks with separatists and said problem in Kashmir was confined to five districts only. Geelani said authorities in Delhi are irrational, following fanatical dogma, lack political understanding and are not in position to resolve the Kashmir issue. The Kashmir issue, he said, has remained unresolved since past seven decades. Kashmir is a human issue and people are pursuing their right to self-determination, the hardline separatist leader said, who wants states merger with Pakistan. Taking a dig at authorities in Delhi for their unrealistic and arrogant attitude, Geelani said, New Delhi and State government have waged a war against the people of state. They are looking the issue through the prism of their fanatical ideology and as a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities. He said New Delhi derives joy while butchering Muslim communities and under well thought out plan and under the garb of law and order situations feel free to carry genocide in J&K. We will never talk with those pursuing their fanatical ideology and we will never surrender, said Geelani. He alleged that sole aim of BJP-led dispensation in Delhi is to turn India into Hindu Rashtra and as such carried state sponsored and planned massacres in Assam, Gujrat and Muzafar Nagar. Geelani said Kashmiris are passing through a crucial period and their lives, dignity, properties, faith, uniqueness and everything is at stake. We have reached a do or die position, he said adding, We will never budge in front of such dogmatic elements. Commenting over role played by mainstream parties in state, Geelani said, There is no justification for them to remain in power corridors. Their lust and greed for power has brought great shame for them. SRINAGAR: Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Wednesday ruled out talks Government of India (GoI) unless it accepts Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. There will be no talks with India till it accepts Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. Well never beg for talks, said Geelani, who is under house arrest at his Hyderpora residence. He was reacting to statement of Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who had ruled out talks with separatists and said problem in Kashmir was confined to five districts only. Geelani said authorities in Delhi are irrational, following fanatical dogma, lack political understanding and are not in position to resolve the Kashmir issue. The Kashmir issue, he said, has remained unresolved since past seven decades. Kashmir is a human issue and people are pursuing their right to self-determination, the hardline separatist leader said, who wants states merger with Pakistan. Taking a dig at authorities in Delhi for their unrealistic and arrogant attitude, Geelani said, New Delhi and State government have waged a war against the people of state. They are looking the issue through the prism of their fanatical ideology and as a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities. He said New Delhi derives joy while butchering Muslim communities and under well thought out plan and under the garb of law and order situations feel free to carry genocide in J&K. We will never talk with those pursuing their fanatical ideology and we will never surrender, said Geelani. He alleged that sole aim of BJP-led dispensation in Delhi is to turn India into Hindu Rashtra and as such carried state sponsored and planned massacres in Assam, Gujrat and Muzafar Nagar. Geelani said Kashmiris are passing through a crucial period and their lives, dignity, properties, faith, uniqueness and everything is at stake. We have reached a do or die position, he said adding, We will never budge in front of such dogmatic elements. Commenting over role played by mainstream parties in state, Geelani said, There is no justification for them to remain in power corridors. Their lust and greed for power has brought great shame for them. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Based on the interrogation of three Kashmiri separatists and the evidence collected during the probe into funding of separatist groups by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistani agencies, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to convert the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) related to terror funding into a regular FIR. The allegations have been prima facie corroborated during the ongoing enquiry through evidences like bank transactions, property acquisitions by the accused through suspicious funds and other technical evidence, agency sources said. During the course of the PE, the agency has also analysed a number of cases registered by the Jammu and Kashmir police for probing incidents related to stone-pelting and burning of government schools by terror groups. We have gathered enough material evidence to initiate and proceed with a regular case. The gathered materials are being scrutinised and a decision to convert the PE into FIR will be taken soon, a senior NIA official said. The NIA questioned Kashmiri separatistsFarooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Nayeem Khan and Javed Ahmed Baba alias Gazi of Tehreek-e-Hurriyatfor the second day here in connection with the PE. While the PE is an informal measure by an investigating agency to enquire into an incident, an FIR (First Information Report) has legal sanction under the Criminal Procedure Code. Once an FIR is registered, the agency can even arrest the accused persons and subject them to custodial interrogation. As part of the enquiry, the NIA has also analysed bank accounts and property-related transactions besides Income Tax returns of the three persons named in the PE and has found discrepancies in them, the sources said. The PE into the funding of the separatist groups by LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistani agencies to trigger unrest in the Valley was registered by the NIA following airing of a sting operation by a prominent English news channel. NEW DELHI: Based on the interrogation of three Kashmiri separatists and the evidence collected during the probe into funding of separatist groups by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistani agencies, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to convert the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) related to terror funding into a regular FIR. The allegations have been prima facie corroborated during the ongoing enquiry through evidences like bank transactions, property acquisitions by the accused through suspicious funds and other technical evidence, agency sources said. During the course of the PE, the agency has also analysed a number of cases registered by the Jammu and Kashmir police for probing incidents related to stone-pelting and burning of government schools by terror groups. We have gathered enough material evidence to initiate and proceed with a regular case. The gathered materials are being scrutinised and a decision to convert the PE into FIR will be taken soon, a senior NIA official said. The NIA questioned Kashmiri separatistsFarooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Nayeem Khan and Javed Ahmed Baba alias Gazi of Tehreek-e-Hurriyatfor the second day here in connection with the PE. While the PE is an informal measure by an investigating agency to enquire into an incident, an FIR (First Information Report) has legal sanction under the Criminal Procedure Code. Once an FIR is registered, the agency can even arrest the accused persons and subject them to custodial interrogation. As part of the enquiry, the NIA has also analysed bank accounts and property-related transactions besides Income Tax returns of the three persons named in the PE and has found discrepancies in them, the sources said. The PE into the funding of the separatist groups by LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistani agencies to trigger unrest in the Valley was registered by the NIA following airing of a sting operation by a prominent English news channel. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Sukhwant Kaur from Ajitani village near Nurmahal in Punjab who was sold in Saudi Arabia and forced to work as a slave, returned to India after five-months on Wednesday after Minister of External Affairs (MEA), Sushma Swaraj intervened. Kaur (55) arrived at Shri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport in Amritsar, and thanked the Centre for helping to bring her back, and advised people not to send women abroad for work. A travel agent sold me to the Saudis as I had gone on a three-month visa, and was forced to work like a slave at a locals house there. Sukhwant Kaur on her arrival in Amritsar from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday | PTI Her family members along with senior BJP leaders Manoranjan Kalia and Anil Joshi, and former village sarpanch Jagdish Singh along with local activists received her at the airport. Former local bodies minister Anil Joshi said, The Union government made it possible to reunite her with her family. Sushma Swaraj did her best to get her back and even arranged her tickets from Mumbai to Amritsar. Sukhwant Kaur had left for Saudi Arabia on a three-month tourist visa in January 2017, and on May 7 called her husband, Kulwant Singh, back in the village saying she wanted to return home but said her passport was with the travel agent who was untraceable. She also told Singh that she was sold to a local by the travel agent and forced to work as a slave in his house, and was treated badly and tortured. On Tuesday, the former sarpanch of Ajtani village; Jagdish Singh, got a call from the MEA that Kaur was arriving on Wednesday on a flight from Saudi Arabia to Mumbai and then from there to Amritsar as the ministry had arranged for her travel. Kaurs eldest daughter, Ranjeet Kaur, had been running from pillar to post to get her mother back. We had lost all hope of seeing her again. I could not meet my mother before she left for Saudi Arabia, but finally she is back after this ordeal, said Ranjeet. Kulwant Singh said She had gone for three months. Initially, for the first two months everything was fine and normal. But after that we learnt that the travel agent had sold her to a local there and she was working as a slave. That person was demanding money for her release. CHANDIGARH: Sukhwant Kaur from Ajitani village near Nurmahal in Punjab who was sold in Saudi Arabia and forced to work as a slave, returned to India after five-months on Wednesday after Minister of External Affairs (MEA), Sushma Swaraj intervened. Kaur (55) arrived at Shri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport in Amritsar, and thanked the Centre for helping to bring her back, and advised people not to send women abroad for work. A travel agent sold me to the Saudis as I had gone on a three-month visa, and was forced to work like a slave at a locals house there. Sukhwant Kaur on her arrival in Amritsar from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday | PTIHer family members along with senior BJP leaders Manoranjan Kalia and Anil Joshi, and former village sarpanch Jagdish Singh along with local activists received her at the airport. Former local bodies minister Anil Joshi said, The Union government made it possible to reunite her with her family. Sushma Swaraj did her best to get her back and even arranged her tickets from Mumbai to Amritsar. Sukhwant Kaur had left for Saudi Arabia on a three-month tourist visa in January 2017, and on May 7 called her husband, Kulwant Singh, back in the village saying she wanted to return home but said her passport was with the travel agent who was untraceable. She also told Singh that she was sold to a local by the travel agent and forced to work as a slave in his house, and was treated badly and tortured. On Tuesday, the former sarpanch of Ajtani village; Jagdish Singh, got a call from the MEA that Kaur was arriving on Wednesday on a flight from Saudi Arabia to Mumbai and then from there to Amritsar as the ministry had arranged for her travel. Kaurs eldest daughter, Ranjeet Kaur, had been running from pillar to post to get her mother back. We had lost all hope of seeing her again. I could not meet my mother before she left for Saudi Arabia, but finally she is back after this ordeal, said Ranjeet. Kulwant Singh said She had gone for three months. Initially, for the first two months everything was fine and normal. But after that we learnt that the travel agent had sold her to a local there and she was working as a slave. That person was demanding money for her release. By PTI PATHANKOT: Three persons hailing from Assam were detained while they were roaming around in the Army area here, which had witnessed a terror attack last year, but released later on. Punjab police today said the three labourers had failed to explain why they were there. "They were released after we checked their antecedents and nothing was found against them," Pathankot SSP Vivek Sheel Soni said, adding they were not apprehended in the wake of recovery of an abandoned bag containing Army fatigues as claimed in some media reports. He said security personnel were on alert to deal with any kind of situation. Two days back, security agencies were put on high alert after an abandoned bag containing Army fatigues was found here, prompting Punjab police and the Army to launch a joint search operation. Five shirts and two trousers were found in the bag at a secluded place near the Defence Road here. The SSP said probe into it is still on. In 2015, three heavily-armed terrorists, wearing Army fatigues, had hijacked a car and stormed a police station in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district. They killed seven persons, including a Superintendent of Police, before they were gunned down. Last year, four terrorists had sneaked in from across the border and had attacked the Pathankot Air Base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, killing seven security personnel. The four terrorists were also killed. PATHANKOT: Three persons hailing from Assam were detained while they were roaming around in the Army area here, which had witnessed a terror attack last year, but released later on. Punjab police today said the three labourers had failed to explain why they were there. "They were released after we checked their antecedents and nothing was found against them," Pathankot SSP Vivek Sheel Soni said, adding they were not apprehended in the wake of recovery of an abandoned bag containing Army fatigues as claimed in some media reports. He said security personnel were on alert to deal with any kind of situation. Two days back, security agencies were put on high alert after an abandoned bag containing Army fatigues was found here, prompting Punjab police and the Army to launch a joint search operation. Five shirts and two trousers were found in the bag at a secluded place near the Defence Road here. The SSP said probe into it is still on. In 2015, three heavily-armed terrorists, wearing Army fatigues, had hijacked a car and stormed a police station in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district. They killed seven persons, including a Superintendent of Police, before they were gunned down. Last year, four terrorists had sneaked in from across the border and had attacked the Pathankot Air Base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, killing seven security personnel. The four terrorists were also killed. President Donald Trump on Tuesday was scheduled to interview two candidates to replace James Comey as head of the FBI, former agency No. 2 James Pistole and former Assistant Attorney General Chris Wray, the White House said. The interviews mark a re-start of sorts for the search to find someone to replace Comey, who Trump fired on May 9. Trump said earlier this month he was "very close" to picking a nominee for the post and he had already met with several candidates. "The president will be meeting with two additional candidates this afternoon, both Chris Wray and John Pistole," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. "When the president feels as though he's met with the right candidate he'll let us know." Swaran Singh By Of the four nations PM Narendra Modi is visiting this week, his trip to St Petersburg starting tomorrow has wider ramifications for Indias foreign policy as it seeks to recast the enduring Indo-Russian strategic partnership. Indias tone and tenor has become noticeably assertive as it tries to stop Moscow from cozying up to Beijing and wean it away from its growing bonhomie with Pakistans military following the lifting of its arms embargo in 2014. India aims to expand its ties beyond defence and nuclear cooperation and fine-tune its understanding of Russian President Putins assertive posturing in world politics while adopting a softer approach on Afghan Taliban that treats India as its enemy. Even in bilateral trade, the two keep asserting that they want to take it to $30 billion by 2025, which is small. Yet it seems ambitious compared to the current sluggish trade hovering between $7-8 billion for the last few years with the balance of trade staying heavily stacked against New Delhi. It is in this context that as part of the 18th annual IndiaRussia summit, Modi will be the guest of honour at the prestigious St Petersburg International Economic Forum where he is expected to pitch for foreign investments showcasing Indias economic reforms of the past three years, which have already made India the largest recipient of foreign direct investment overtaking China last year. His speech is expected to outline Indias vision of an inclusive and rule-based world order amid the recent hype of infrastructure building and connectivity created by Chinas Belt and Road Forum. The last two weeks have witnessed India launch several parallel initiatives like the IndoJapanese Freedom Corridor connecting Asia to Africa. And India will play a significant role in two major projects the US has revivedits 2011 New Silk Route initiative connecting Afghanistan to neighbouring regions and the IndoPacific Economic Corridor linking South and Southeast Asia. Modi and Putin will have a one-to-one dinner meeting following their delegation-level discussions. This is where pundits expect them to achieve breakthroughs on ticklish issues like finessing the framework agreement on two new reactors for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear plant, strengthening their initiatives on counter-terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, energy and defence cooperation. Several agreements are expected to be signed. Though the two leaders have not met since the Goa BRICS summit last September, several high-level visits have preceded this summit to address the growing trust deficit. These include two recent visits by national security advisor Ajit Doval, a visit by foreign secretary S Jaishankar in March followed by the visit of finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley last month. Moreover, Modi and Putin will meet again next week at Astana (Kazakhstan) for the 2017 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit (June 8-9) where Modi will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif. It is important to underline that Putins high-profile endorsement of Chinas OBOR summit earlier this month has badly rattled New Delhi. The diplomatic disruption has been especially deep in view of Indias growing anxieties about Russias gradual but decisive shift towards building closer defence cooperation with both Islamabad and Beijing. Last December, Moscow had called for trilateral talks on the future of peace in Afghanistan inviting China and Pakistan resulting in strong criticism from both Kabul and New Delhi. And now, Putins endorsement of OBOR that brandishes the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as its flagship project has been viewed by experts as the lowest point in the history of enduring Indo-Russian friendship. Optimists nevertheless expect the ModiPutin summit to resuscitate the strategic partnership to life. The main takeaway for Russia would be the signing of an MoU for the Kudankulam reactor units. The MoU has become a bargaining chip in the hands of India which has asked Moscow to use its leverage to convince Beijing to support New Delhis membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Indeed, Germany, Spain and France, the other countries Modi is visiting this week, are all members of the NSG, which will have its 2017 plenary meeting at Swiss capital Bern next month where Indias membership will be debated. China meanwhile continues to equate India to Pakistan and persists with its two-step approach of evolving a universal formula for all non-NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) signatories and then taking up each countrys application separately. India, on the other hand, highlights how China supported the 2008 NSG waiver that treats India as a special case. It wants Beijing to explain why it has retraced its step and now treats India as a fresh case. India also wonders why China is equating India with Pakistan, a country caught running a widespread underground nuclear supply chain for rogue regimes. Finally, as part of enhancing Indias contributions to the Indo-Russian strategic partnership, New Delhi has been exploring enhancing exports in sectors like textiles and automobile components. India also plans to set up pharmaceutical plants and lease agricultural land in Russia besides building collaborations in mining and metallurgy even as Indian IT firms expand their investments in Russias technology parks. As part of cultivating Russias pro-India constituencies, Modi will visit the Piskarovskoye Cemetery to pay homage to those who perished in the historic siege of Leningrad as also visit the world famous State Hermitage Museum and the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts. This recalibration is expected to help contain the Russian drift triggered by Indias preoccupation with engaging the US, which has since become hostage to Trumps tweets. Swaran Singh Professor, School of International Studies, JNU Email: ssingh@jnu.ac.in Of the four nations PM Narendra Modi is visiting this week, his trip to St Petersburg starting tomorrow has wider ramifications for Indias foreign policy as it seeks to recast the enduring Indo-Russian strategic partnership. Indias tone and tenor has become noticeably assertive as it tries to stop Moscow from cozying up to Beijing and wean it away from its growing bonhomie with Pakistans military following the lifting of its arms embargo in 2014. India aims to expand its ties beyond defence and nuclear cooperation and fine-tune its understanding of Russian President Putins assertive posturing in world politics while adopting a softer approach on Afghan Taliban that treats India as its enemy. Even in bilateral trade, the two keep asserting that they want to take it to $30 billion by 2025, which is small. Yet it seems ambitious compared to the current sluggish trade hovering between $7-8 billion for the last few years with the balance of trade staying heavily stacked against New Delhi. It is in this context that as part of the 18th annual IndiaRussia summit, Modi will be the guest of honour at the prestigious St Petersburg International Economic Forum where he is expected to pitch for foreign investments showcasing Indias economic reforms of the past three years, which have already made India the largest recipient of foreign direct investment overtaking China last year. His speech is expected to outline Indias vision of an inclusive and rule-based world order amid the recent hype of infrastructure building and connectivity created by Chinas Belt and Road Forum. The last two weeks have witnessed India launch several parallel initiatives like the IndoJapanese Freedom Corridor connecting Asia to Africa. And India will play a significant role in two major projects the US has revivedits 2011 New Silk Route initiative connecting Afghanistan to neighbouring regions and the IndoPacific Economic Corridor linking South and Southeast Asia. Modi and Putin will have a one-to-one dinner meeting following their delegation-level discussions. This is where pundits expect them to achieve breakthroughs on ticklish issues like finessing the framework agreement on two new reactors for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear plant, strengthening their initiatives on counter-terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, energy and defence cooperation. Several agreements are expected to be signed. Though the two leaders have not met since the Goa BRICS summit last September, several high-level visits have preceded this summit to address the growing trust deficit. These include two recent visits by national security advisor Ajit Doval, a visit by foreign secretary S Jaishankar in March followed by the visit of finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley last month. Moreover, Modi and Putin will meet again next week at Astana (Kazakhstan) for the 2017 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit (June 8-9) where Modi will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif. It is important to underline that Putins high-profile endorsement of Chinas OBOR summit earlier this month has badly rattled New Delhi. The diplomatic disruption has been especially deep in view of Indias growing anxieties about Russias gradual but decisive shift towards building closer defence cooperation with both Islamabad and Beijing. Last December, Moscow had called for trilateral talks on the future of peace in Afghanistan inviting China and Pakistan resulting in strong criticism from both Kabul and New Delhi. And now, Putins endorsement of OBOR that brandishes the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as its flagship project has been viewed by experts as the lowest point in the history of enduring Indo-Russian friendship. Optimists nevertheless expect the ModiPutin summit to resuscitate the strategic partnership to life. The main takeaway for Russia would be the signing of an MoU for the Kudankulam reactor units. The MoU has become a bargaining chip in the hands of India which has asked Moscow to use its leverage to convince Beijing to support New Delhis membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Indeed, Germany, Spain and France, the other countries Modi is visiting this week, are all members of the NSG, which will have its 2017 plenary meeting at Swiss capital Bern next month where Indias membership will be debated. China meanwhile continues to equate India to Pakistan and persists with its two-step approach of evolving a universal formula for all non-NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) signatories and then taking up each countrys application separately. India, on the other hand, highlights how China supported the 2008 NSG waiver that treats India as a special case. It wants Beijing to explain why it has retraced its step and now treats India as a fresh case. India also wonders why China is equating India with Pakistan, a country caught running a widespread underground nuclear supply chain for rogue regimes. Finally, as part of enhancing Indias contributions to the Indo-Russian strategic partnership, New Delhi has been exploring enhancing exports in sectors like textiles and automobile components. India also plans to set up pharmaceutical plants and lease agricultural land in Russia besides building collaborations in mining and metallurgy even as Indian IT firms expand their investments in Russias technology parks. As part of cultivating Russias pro-India constituencies, Modi will visit the Piskarovskoye Cemetery to pay homage to those who perished in the historic siege of Leningrad as also visit the world famous State Hermitage Museum and the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts. This recalibration is expected to help contain the Russian drift triggered by Indias preoccupation with engaging the US, which has since become hostage to Trumps tweets. Swaran Singh Professor, School of International Studies, JNU Email: ssingh@jnu.ac.in By Express News Service BENGALURU: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) refused to grant immediate relief to industrial units of Maruti Suzuki, shut for allegedly polluting Bellandur Lake, and left their fate in the hands of the state government. Maruti Suzuki had filed a petition before the NGT, claiming that their units were not discharging any effluents into the lake. However, at a hearing held in New Delhi on Wednesday, the tribunal came down hard on the industries and said, You have made it difficult to live, breathe and drive in the city. People are coming to us saying there are deaths. Lawyers representing Maruti Suzuki said the units were following all the norms, were equipped with treatment plants and there was no discharge of effluents into the lake. They claimed that Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) had shut down some units which were located more than 15km from the lake, and termed it a knee-jerk reaction. The tribunal then asked them whether the units were discharging waste into Central Treatment Plants. Devraj Ashok, the counsel for KSPCB, said the KSPCB was following a set procedure of inspecting the units which had been shut down. If they (Maruti) had waited for the inspection results, it is possible we would have allowed them to operate again, but they have hurried by filing this petition, he said. Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, Mahendra Jain said that the process of analysing samples collected from industries was taking time, but KSPCB had been told to expedite the process and to exercise caution before shutting down any more industries. The state government has been asked to file replies to pleas of the industry units against the orders to shut them down, and the next hearing has been scheduled for June 8. The tribunal asked the BBMP and the state government about the source of the foam still coming into both Bellandur and Varthur lakes. It asked them why steps had not been taken to stop the formation of foam. In a stern warning, the NGT said, You better take steps or you will have a problem here. BENGALURU: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) refused to grant immediate relief to industrial units of Maruti Suzuki, shut for allegedly polluting Bellandur Lake, and left their fate in the hands of the state government. Maruti Suzuki had filed a petition before the NGT, claiming that their units were not discharging any effluents into the lake. However, at a hearing held in New Delhi on Wednesday, the tribunal came down hard on the industries and said, You have made it difficult to live, breathe and drive in the city. People are coming to us saying there are deaths. Lawyers representing Maruti Suzuki said the units were following all the norms, were equipped with treatment plants and there was no discharge of effluents into the lake. They claimed that Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) had shut down some units which were located more than 15km from the lake, and termed it a knee-jerk reaction. The tribunal then asked them whether the units were discharging waste into Central Treatment Plants. Devraj Ashok, the counsel for KSPCB, said the KSPCB was following a set procedure of inspecting the units which had been shut down. If they (Maruti) had waited for the inspection results, it is possible we would have allowed them to operate again, but they have hurried by filing this petition, he said. Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, Mahendra Jain said that the process of analysing samples collected from industries was taking time, but KSPCB had been told to expedite the process and to exercise caution before shutting down any more industries. The state government has been asked to file replies to pleas of the industry units against the orders to shut them down, and the next hearing has been scheduled for June 8. The tribunal asked the BBMP and the state government about the source of the foam still coming into both Bellandur and Varthur lakes. It asked them why steps had not been taken to stop the formation of foam. In a stern warning, the NGT said, You better take steps or you will have a problem here. Prabhat Nair By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Riding on its promise of providing the best quality treatment at a low cost, the state governments draft health policy focuses mainly on strengthening the public healthcare system from the lower level. The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday is likely to discuss the draft policy and fix a date for its release. As a step towards strengthening the healthcare system, the draft envisages the division of the Health Department into Medicine and Ayush sectors, with each one under a director general. In Modern Medicine, the draft stipulates three directorates - Public Health, Clinical Services and Medical Education. Health Minister K K Shylaja told Express the final decision on its release could only be taken in the Cabinet meeting. She also said the draft was a revolutionary one covering every aspect of healthcare. The doctors in the primary public health centres, district medical officers, directors of various public health-related programmes and assistant directors will come under the Directorate of Public Health. Specialists and doctors in the administrative sector will come under the Directorate of Clinical Services and the doctors in medical colleges will be under the Medical Education Directorate. The draft also proposes increasing sin taxes (levy on tobacco and alcohol), introducing health cess and health levy and consolidating all funds to the Healthcare Fund. With regard to appointing doctors, the draft policy calls for establishing a Medical Recruitment Board. It also suggests restricting appointments to medical colleges to doctors having postgraduate degrees. It also proposes the cancellation of affiliation and essentiality certificates of medical colleges if they do not have the required faculty and patients. Aimed at bringing responsibility and transparency, the draft policy envisages setting up a medical ombudsman to deal with petitions related to services. It says there should be a system to ensure proper registration of private hospitals and standard of treatment. It also says small hospitals and clinics on the verge of being wiped out by stiff competition from corporate hospitals should be given tax concessions and included in health insurance schemes. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS Medical admissions to degree and postgraduate courses should be through a single window mechanism under the government. Autonomous status to all Government Medical Colleges. There should be medical auditing. Overall structural changeover of the health system based on Indian Public Health Standards. Medical Colleges should only be referral hospitals. No institution should be started without evaluating human resources and formulating a human resources policy. Kerala Public Health Act proposed for advancing public health and unifying the existing laws. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Riding on its promise of providing the best quality treatment at a low cost, the state governments draft health policy focuses mainly on strengthening the public healthcare system from the lower level. The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday is likely to discuss the draft policy and fix a date for its release. As a step towards strengthening the healthcare system, the draft envisages the division of the Health Department into Medicine and Ayush sectors, with each one under a director general. In Modern Medicine, the draft stipulates three directorates - Public Health, Clinical Services and Medical Education. Health Minister K K Shylaja told Express the final decision on its release could only be taken in the Cabinet meeting. She also said the draft was a revolutionary one covering every aspect of healthcare. The doctors in the primary public health centres, district medical officers, directors of various public health-related programmes and assistant directors will come under the Directorate of Public Health. Specialists and doctors in the administrative sector will come under the Directorate of Clinical Services and the doctors in medical colleges will be under the Medical Education Directorate. The draft also proposes increasing sin taxes (levy on tobacco and alcohol), introducing health cess and health levy and consolidating all funds to the Healthcare Fund. With regard to appointing doctors, the draft policy calls for establishing a Medical Recruitment Board. It also suggests restricting appointments to medical colleges to doctors having postgraduate degrees. It also proposes the cancellation of affiliation and essentiality certificates of medical colleges if they do not have the required faculty and patients. Aimed at bringing responsibility and transparency, the draft policy envisages setting up a medical ombudsman to deal with petitions related to services. It says there should be a system to ensure proper registration of private hospitals and standard of treatment. It also says small hospitals and clinics on the verge of being wiped out by stiff competition from corporate hospitals should be given tax concessions and included in health insurance schemes. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS Medical admissions to degree and postgraduate courses should be through a single window mechanism under the government. Autonomous status to all Government Medical Colleges. There should be medical auditing. Overall structural changeover of the health system based on Indian Public Health Standards. Medical Colleges should only be referral hospitals. No institution should be started without evaluating human resources and formulating a human resources policy. Kerala Public Health Act proposed for advancing public health and unifying the existing laws. By PTI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tonight condemned the attack on an IIT-Madras PhD scholar, hailing from Kerala, allegedly by some students protesting against a "beef fest" held on the campus, saying it was unfortunate. "Our Constitution has given us the freedom to consume the food of our choice and any act of intolerance is a violation of the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution," the chief minister said in a statement. Vijayan said he would ask the Tamil Nadu chief minister to take necessary action against those responsible for the attack on R Sooraj. Sooraj suffered injuries in one of his eyes, the chief minister said, adding it was unfortunate. Sooraj, who is associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was allegedly assaulted by some students who claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters. The beef fest was held to protest the Centre's ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tonight condemned the attack on an IIT-Madras PhD scholar, hailing from Kerala, allegedly by some students protesting against a "beef fest" held on the campus, saying it was unfortunate. "Our Constitution has given us the freedom to consume the food of our choice and any act of intolerance is a violation of the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution," the chief minister said in a statement. Vijayan said he would ask the Tamil Nadu chief minister to take necessary action against those responsible for the attack on R Sooraj. Sooraj suffered injuries in one of his eyes, the chief minister said, adding it was unfortunate. Sooraj, who is associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was allegedly assaulted by some students who claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters. The beef fest was held to protest the Centre's ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Tuesday extended the facility of free cancer treatment to all the district headquarters hospitals in Odisha.Announcing this at a function in the Secretariat here, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said patients from rural and tribal areas will mainly benefit from the scheme to be implemented from the State Governments own resources. Earlier, free cancer treatment was available in 13 district headquarters hospital including Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar and Government Hospital at Rourkela. Now, cancer patients would be able to avail free chemotherapy and consultation at district headquarters hospitals. Radiotherapy centres will be set up at Nabarangpur, Jharsuguda, Angul and the Capital Hospital at a cost of `40 to `50 crore each in next two years, the CM said and added that as treatment will be available near their house, it will reduce emotional and financial burden on patients. The scheme will be run under the active supervision of Mumbai-based oncologist Dr Dinesh Pendharkar. The oncologist will be offering his services free to the State Government. The Government expects that the burden on Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC), Cuttack will also be reduced with the introduction of the scheme at district headquarters hospitals. BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Tuesday extended the facility of free cancer treatment to all the district headquarters hospitals in Odisha.Announcing this at a function in the Secretariat here, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said patients from rural and tribal areas will mainly benefit from the scheme to be implemented from the State Governments own resources. Earlier, free cancer treatment was available in 13 district headquarters hospital including Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar and Government Hospital at Rourkela. Now, cancer patients would be able to avail free chemotherapy and consultation at district headquarters hospitals. Radiotherapy centres will be set up at Nabarangpur, Jharsuguda, Angul and the Capital Hospital at a cost of `40 to `50 crore each in next two years, the CM said and added that as treatment will be available near their house, it will reduce emotional and financial burden on patients. The scheme will be run under the active supervision of Mumbai-based oncologist Dr Dinesh Pendharkar. The oncologist will be offering his services free to the State Government. The Government expects that the burden on Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC), Cuttack will also be reduced with the introduction of the scheme at district headquarters hospitals. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A youngster, who allegedly refused to pay bribe to a government official to issue a licence, was allegedly beaten up by the police on the pretext of harassing the woman officer. Following the attack on the youngster, who received critical injuries and was admitted to a private hospital and based on a complaint, police registered cases against Mominpet sub-inspector, agriculture officer (AO) Neeraja, her husband and three other police personnel for allegedly beating the youth and his brother. P.Kanna Reddy, an engineering graduate, of Erravalli village in Vikarabad district wanted to set up a fertilizer business in Mominpet along with his brother Shekar Reddy. They applied for licence to start the business in early March but the officer allegedly did not process the application for almost two months. When Shekar approached the AO to find out the reasons for the delay, she allegedly demanded `20,000 as bribe for issuance of licence. Kanna confronted the officer for demanding bribe and is said to have recorded the conversation with the AO in which the latter demanded bribe. Meanwhile, Neeraja lodged a complaint with the Mominpet police alleging that Shekar and Kanna had been harassing her and obstructing her from performing duties. A case was registered following her complaint. On May 19 Kanna and Shekar were arrested by the police at the AOs office. They were allegedly beaten up and forced to delete the audio clips from Kannas phone. The brothers were thrashed again on the next day. When his health deteriorated due to the police torture, Kanna was admitted to a private hospital. Doctors found that both the kidneys of Kanna were badly damaged. Kanna approached Vikarabad SP who ordered an enquiry by DSP T Swamy. The DSP said, We have registered a case against Mominpet SI Raju, ASI Swamidas, head constable Shankaraiah and constable Shivaiah, agriculture officer Neeraja and her husband Veerabrahmam. HYDERABAD: A youngster, who allegedly refused to pay bribe to a government official to issue a licence, was allegedly beaten up by the police on the pretext of harassing the woman officer. Following the attack on the youngster, who received critical injuries and was admitted to a private hospital and based on a complaint, police registered cases against Mominpet sub-inspector, agriculture officer (AO) Neeraja, her husband and three other police personnel for allegedly beating the youth and his brother. P.Kanna Reddy, an engineering graduate, of Erravalli village in Vikarabad district wanted to set up a fertilizer business in Mominpet along with his brother Shekar Reddy. They applied for licence to start the business in early March but the officer allegedly did not process the application for almost two months. When Shekar approached the AO to find out the reasons for the delay, she allegedly demanded `20,000 as bribe for issuance of licence. Kanna confronted the officer for demanding bribe and is said to have recorded the conversation with the AO in which the latter demanded bribe. Meanwhile, Neeraja lodged a complaint with the Mominpet police alleging that Shekar and Kanna had been harassing her and obstructing her from performing duties. A case was registered following her complaint. On May 19 Kanna and Shekar were arrested by the police at the AOs office. They were allegedly beaten up and forced to delete the audio clips from Kannas phone. The brothers were thrashed again on the next day. When his health deteriorated due to the police torture, Kanna was admitted to a private hospital. Doctors found that both the kidneys of Kanna were badly damaged. Kanna approached Vikarabad SP who ordered an enquiry by DSP T Swamy. The DSP said, We have registered a case against Mominpet SI Raju, ASI Swamidas, head constable Shankaraiah and constable Shivaiah, agriculture officer Neeraja and her husband Veerabrahmam. By PTI ST. PETERSBURG: Amidst concerns over growing proximity between Russia and Pakistan, India said today its relation with Moscow is on a "different pedestal" and there is a clear understanding of each other's "core concerns" and vital security interests. Ahead of a summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran told PTI India's relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan. "Our relation with Russia is on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests," he said. India's traditional ties with Russia dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscows growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. India had also conveyed to Russia its unhappiness over military cooperation with Pakistan. Last year, after the Uri terror strike by Pakistan-based terrorists, Saran had told Russian news agency Ria Novosti that "We have conveyed our views to the Russian side that military cooperation with Pakistan which is a State that sponsors and practices terrorism as a matter of State policy is a wrong approach and it will only create further problems." Talking to PTI ahead of the 18th summit between India and Russia, Saran also referred to the personal chemistry Modi and Putin share. "There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years," the Indian envoy said. At their bilateral meeting tomorrow, "the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future," he said. ST. PETERSBURG: Amidst concerns over growing proximity between Russia and Pakistan, India said today its relation with Moscow is on a "different pedestal" and there is a clear understanding of each other's "core concerns" and vital security interests. Ahead of a summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran told PTI India's relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan. "Our relation with Russia is on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests," he said. India's traditional ties with Russia dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscows growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. India had also conveyed to Russia its unhappiness over military cooperation with Pakistan. Last year, after the Uri terror strike by Pakistan-based terrorists, Saran had told Russian news agency Ria Novosti that "We have conveyed our views to the Russian side that military cooperation with Pakistan which is a State that sponsors and practices terrorism as a matter of State policy is a wrong approach and it will only create further problems." Talking to PTI ahead of the 18th summit between India and Russia, Saran also referred to the personal chemistry Modi and Putin share. "There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years," the Indian envoy said. At their bilateral meeting tomorrow, "the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future," he said. By AFP KABUL: At least 90 people were killed and hundreds wounded today when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital just days into the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Bloodied corpses littered the scene and a huge cloud of smoke rose from the highly-fortified area which houses foreign embassies, after the rush-hour attack tore a massive crater in the ground and blew out windows several miles away. No group has so far claimed the powerful blast, which officials said was caused by 1,500 kilogrammes of explosives hidden inside a sewage tanker, in what appeared to be a major intelligence failure. Afghanistan's intelligence agency blamed the Talibanallied Haqqani Network for the attack. The Taliban -- currently in the midst of their annual "spring offensive" -- denied they were involved, while strongly condemning the blast. The insurgent group rarely claims responsibility for attacks that kill large numbers of civilians. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting a NATO convoy that killed eight people earlier this month. Rescue workers were digging bodies from the rubble hours after the explosion, many of them disfigured and charred, as anguished residents searched for missing relatives. Dozens of mangled and upturned cars choked the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls scrambled to safety. The attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where the NATO-backed military, beset by soaring casualties and desertions, is struggling to beat back insurgents. "In this powerful attack 90 people have been killed and 400 wounded, including many women and children," said the government's media centre, with health officials warning the toll could climb further. President Ashraf Ghani slammed the attack as a "war crime". The sound of the bomb, which went off near Kabul's busy Zanbaq Square, reverberated across the Afghan capital, with residents comparing it to an earthquake. Most victims appear to be civilians. "The vigilance and courage of Afghan security forces prevented the VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) from gaining entry to the Green Zone, but the explosion caused civilian casualties," NATO said in a statement. The BBC said its Afghan driver Mohammed Nazir was killed and four of their journalists wounded. Local TV channel Tolo TV also tweeted that a staff member, Aziz Navin, was killed. The explosion damaged several embassies in the area, which houses diplomatic and government buildings and is a maze of concrete blast walls, vehicle barriers and armed security guards. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the "despicable" attack killed an Afghan guard from the German embassy, and added that some employees had been injured, though he did not give further details. He said the bomb had gone off "in the immediate vicinity" of the German embassy. France, India, Turkey, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria similarly reported damage to their embassies, including shattered windows, as the blast drew an avalanche of international condemnation. The White House issued a scathing statement condemning the "atrocious" attack. "That this attack would occur during the holy month of Ramadan underscores the senseless and barbaric nature of this attack," a White House spokesman said. Amnesty International said the bombing shows that the conflict in Afghanistan is "dangerously widening in a way that should alarm the international community". Germany was forced to postpone a scheduled deportation flight of rejected Afghan asylum-seekers in the wake of the attack. The European nation has drawn criticism for sending back Afghans to an increasingly dangerous country. Wednesday's blast was the latest in a string of attacks in Kabul. The province surrounding the capital had the highest number of casualties in the country in the first three months of 2017 due to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of "another tough year" for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan. Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more soldiers to break the deadlock in the battle against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 now, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies. They mainly serve in an advisory capacity -- a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. KABUL: At least 90 people were killed and hundreds wounded today when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital just days into the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Bloodied corpses littered the scene and a huge cloud of smoke rose from the highly-fortified area which houses foreign embassies, after the rush-hour attack tore a massive crater in the ground and blew out windows several miles away. No group has so far claimed the powerful blast, which officials said was caused by 1,500 kilogrammes of explosives hidden inside a sewage tanker, in what appeared to be a major intelligence failure. Afghanistan's intelligence agency blamed the Talibanallied Haqqani Network for the attack. The Taliban -- currently in the midst of their annual "spring offensive" -- denied they were involved, while strongly condemning the blast. The insurgent group rarely claims responsibility for attacks that kill large numbers of civilians. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting a NATO convoy that killed eight people earlier this month. Rescue workers were digging bodies from the rubble hours after the explosion, many of them disfigured and charred, as anguished residents searched for missing relatives. Dozens of mangled and upturned cars choked the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls scrambled to safety. The attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where the NATO-backed military, beset by soaring casualties and desertions, is struggling to beat back insurgents. "In this powerful attack 90 people have been killed and 400 wounded, including many women and children," said the government's media centre, with health officials warning the toll could climb further. President Ashraf Ghani slammed the attack as a "war crime". The sound of the bomb, which went off near Kabul's busy Zanbaq Square, reverberated across the Afghan capital, with residents comparing it to an earthquake. Most victims appear to be civilians. "The vigilance and courage of Afghan security forces prevented the VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) from gaining entry to the Green Zone, but the explosion caused civilian casualties," NATO said in a statement. The BBC said its Afghan driver Mohammed Nazir was killed and four of their journalists wounded. Local TV channel Tolo TV also tweeted that a staff member, Aziz Navin, was killed. The explosion damaged several embassies in the area, which houses diplomatic and government buildings and is a maze of concrete blast walls, vehicle barriers and armed security guards. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the "despicable" attack killed an Afghan guard from the German embassy, and added that some employees had been injured, though he did not give further details. He said the bomb had gone off "in the immediate vicinity" of the German embassy. France, India, Turkey, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Bulgaria similarly reported damage to their embassies, including shattered windows, as the blast drew an avalanche of international condemnation. The White House issued a scathing statement condemning the "atrocious" attack. "That this attack would occur during the holy month of Ramadan underscores the senseless and barbaric nature of this attack," a White House spokesman said. Amnesty International said the bombing shows that the conflict in Afghanistan is "dangerously widening in a way that should alarm the international community". Germany was forced to postpone a scheduled deportation flight of rejected Afghan asylum-seekers in the wake of the attack. The European nation has drawn criticism for sending back Afghans to an increasingly dangerous country. Wednesday's blast was the latest in a string of attacks in Kabul. The province surrounding the capital had the highest number of casualties in the country in the first three months of 2017 due to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of "another tough year" for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan. Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more soldiers to break the deadlock in the battle against the Taliban. US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 now, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies. They mainly serve in an advisory capacity -- a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. By IANS MADRID: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Spain on Tuesday on a two-day visit in the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. This is the first Indian prime ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years after the visit of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988. On Wednesday, Modi will call on King Felipe VI and hold a bilateral summit with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy. The two Prime Ministers last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey's Antalya in November 2015. Modi will also hold a round-table interaction on Wednesday with a select group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. Earlier on Tuesday, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed the biannual India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations following which 12 agreements across various sectors were signed by the two sides. The two leaders also addressed the India-Germany Business Summit in Berlin. Later, Modi called on President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Castle in the German capital before departing for Spain. Following Wednesday's engagements in Spain, Modi will travel to Russia where he will hold the 18th annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and attend for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a business event, the next day. On Saturday, Modi will hold his first meeting with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris before returning to India. MADRID: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Spain on Tuesday on a two-day visit in the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. This is the first Indian prime ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years after the visit of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988. On Wednesday, Modi will call on King Felipe VI and hold a bilateral summit with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy. The two Prime Ministers last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey's Antalya in November 2015. Modi will also hold a round-table interaction on Wednesday with a select group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. Earlier on Tuesday, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed the biannual India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations following which 12 agreements across various sectors were signed by the two sides. The two leaders also addressed the India-Germany Business Summit in Berlin. Later, Modi called on President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Castle in the German capital before departing for Spain. Following Wednesday's engagements in Spain, Modi will travel to Russia where he will hold the 18th annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and attend for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a business event, the next day. On Saturday, Modi will hold his first meeting with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris before returning to India. By AFP ANKARA: Turkey on Tuesday said the US arming of a Kurdish militia force deemed a terror group by Ankara was "extremely dangerous", and urged Washington to reverse its "mistake". "Such steps are extremely dangerous for Syria's unity and territorial integrity," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, after the United States began providing small arms to the Kurdish fighters. "If we are looking for stability in Syria, we should row back from those mistakes," he told a press conference with Slovenian counterpart Karl Erjavec. The Pentagon on Tuesday said it had begun to transfer small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance fighting the Islamic State group and containing Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) fighters. The weapons include AK-47s and small-caliber machine guns, Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said. Turkey views the YPG as a "terror group" linked to Kurdish separatists waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 that has killed more than 40,000 people. But Washington believes the YPG is the most effective fighting force against IS jihadists in Syria, thus causing tensions between the NATO allies. The US' weapons transfers began ahead of an upcoming offensive to recapture Raqa, the last major bastion for IS in Syria. The SDF have now advanced to within a few miles of Raqa on several fronts, and this month captured the strategic town of Tabqa and the adjacent dam from the jihadists. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington for the first time where the issue of US support for the YPG was discussed on May 16, the Turkish foreign minister said. Less than a week before Erdogan's visit, Trump approved arming fighters from the YPG. "The president clearly expressed our position and concerns during his Washington visit. It was stressed how risky and dangerous the support given to the YPG was," Cavusoglu said. "These weapons could be used against all humanity, not just Turkey." ANKARA: Turkey on Tuesday said the US arming of a Kurdish militia force deemed a terror group by Ankara was "extremely dangerous", and urged Washington to reverse its "mistake". "Such steps are extremely dangerous for Syria's unity and territorial integrity," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, after the United States began providing small arms to the Kurdish fighters. "If we are looking for stability in Syria, we should row back from those mistakes," he told a press conference with Slovenian counterpart Karl Erjavec. The Pentagon on Tuesday said it had begun to transfer small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance fighting the Islamic State group and containing Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) fighters. The weapons include AK-47s and small-caliber machine guns, Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said. Turkey views the YPG as a "terror group" linked to Kurdish separatists waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 that has killed more than 40,000 people. But Washington believes the YPG is the most effective fighting force against IS jihadists in Syria, thus causing tensions between the NATO allies. The US' weapons transfers began ahead of an upcoming offensive to recapture Raqa, the last major bastion for IS in Syria. The SDF have now advanced to within a few miles of Raqa on several fronts, and this month captured the strategic town of Tabqa and the adjacent dam from the jihadists. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington for the first time where the issue of US support for the YPG was discussed on May 16, the Turkish foreign minister said. Less than a week before Erdogan's visit, Trump approved arming fighters from the YPG. "The president clearly expressed our position and concerns during his Washington visit. It was stressed how risky and dangerous the support given to the YPG was," Cavusoglu said. "These weapons could be used against all humanity, not just Turkey." Volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung will move to the Chinese league after six seasons with Fenerbahce in Turkey. Kim's agency Inspokorea said Tuesday that Kim has signed a one-year deal with Shanghai Guohua Life. "The details of the contract cannot be disclosed, but her salary will be similar to what she made with Fenerbahce," said Inspokorea. Kim's salary has never been revealed, but it is reported that she is the highest paid volleyball player in the world among both men and women at around 1.2 million euros, or W1.5 billion. After her contract with Fenerbahce ran out at the end of the 2016-17 season, in which she led the team to the Turkish league champion title, Kim has been receiving offers from clubs in China, Japan and Turkey for the past four months. Kim chose China because of a "less heavy league schedule and proximity to Korea." "I was very happy in Turkey with Fenerbahce thanks to great support from the team and fans," Kim said. "Now, I would like to experience a new league." By AFP RIYADH: A gunman killed two staff at a private school in the Saudi Arabian capital on Wednesday, a security source told AFP. "A teacher took a gun and then he went to the school room and he killed the assistant school principal and one of the employees," said the source who asked not to be identified because a formal statement would come later from Riyadh police. Police are treating the case as a criminal matter and "not a terrorist incident," the source said. According to his latest information the suspect, of Iraqi origin, was still being sought. The shooting occurred at Kingdom School, which is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner. There were no students present at the time of the shooting, according to the United States embassy which issued an alert about the case. Initially, the US mission said on its Twitter account. had said "There has been a shooting at Kingdom School in Riyadh,". "School (is) closed, no children present. Please avoid area," the Twitter post had said, without elaborating on casualties or motives behind the shooting. By late afternoon an AFP photographer observed only one police car entering the school grounds, which were quiet, and nobody answered the school's main phone line. Most schools in Saudi Arabia are on holiday. Sabq online newspaper, which is close to Saudi authorities, said police were seeking a suspect who fled the shooting which appeared to be the result of "previous disagreements". Kingdom School is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner. The school, located in central Riyadh, opened in 2000 and offers boys' and girls' education from kindergarten to high school, according to its website. The school has both a Saudi curriculum and an international programme leading to an American diploma. Kingdom Holding says on its website that the schools group has more than 4,000 students and 300 teachers at various locations in Riyadh. RIYADH: A gunman killed two staff at a private school in the Saudi Arabian capital on Wednesday, a security source told AFP. "A teacher took a gun and then he went to the school room and he killed the assistant school principal and one of the employees," said the source who asked not to be identified because a formal statement would come later from Riyadh police. Police are treating the case as a criminal matter and "not a terrorist incident," the source said. According to his latest information the suspect, of Iraqi origin, was still being sought. The shooting occurred at Kingdom School, which is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner. There were no students present at the time of the shooting, according to the United States embassy which issued an alert about the case. Initially, the US mission said on its Twitter account. had said "There has been a shooting at Kingdom School in Riyadh,". "School (is) closed, no children present. Please avoid area," the Twitter post had said, without elaborating on casualties or motives behind the shooting. By late afternoon an AFP photographer observed only one police car entering the school grounds, which were quiet, and nobody answered the school's main phone line. Most schools in Saudi Arabia are on holiday. Sabq online newspaper, which is close to Saudi authorities, said police were seeking a suspect who fled the shooting which appeared to be the result of "previous disagreements". Kingdom School is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner. The school, located in central Riyadh, opened in 2000 and offers boys' and girls' education from kindergarten to high school, according to its website. The school has both a Saudi curriculum and an international programme leading to an American diploma. Kingdom Holding says on its website that the schools group has more than 4,000 students and 300 teachers at various locations in Riyadh. By Associated Press UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. General Assembly elected Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak Wednesday as its next president, a job he pledged to use to help reform and strengthen the United Nations, with peace and a decent life for all people as a top priority. The 193-member assembly, the U.N.'s most representative body, burst into applause when current President Peter Thomson of Fiji announced that Lajcak had been elected by acclamation to lead its 72nd session beginning in September. Lajcak, a veteran diplomat who came in a distant second to Antonio Guterres in last year's race to be U.N. secretary-general, called it his "greatest honor" to have won the assembly's unanimous support for what he said is "an increasingly demanding position." "We live in difficult times. We need the U.N. more than ever, and we need a strong and efficient United Nations," he said. "We must never forget that all we do is to serve the people of this planet and therefore to focus on peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet must be the overarching priority for all of us." Lajcak told the assembly that during his yearlong tenure he will also focus on investing more in conflict prevention that saves lives and money, stepping up action on U.N. goals to end poverty and address climate change by 2030 and on putting a spotlight on migration and negotiations on a global compact on the complex issue of migration. Human rights will also be "an overarching principle guiding my work," he said. "There is no peace and development without respect for dignity and fundamental rights. Continued support to equality, including equal opportunities for genders, will remain high in my activities." Lajcak said there is strong support for U.N. reforms among member states, including revitalizing the work of the General Assembly and especially modernizing the 15-member Security Council, the organization's most powerful body. "There is a high degree of accord that time is up to transform the Security Council into a 21st century body," he said, vowing to work closely with member states on how to push forward reforms that have been stymied for decades by political differences on how to expand the council. Lajcak said efforts to strengthen the importance of sustaining peace and preventing conflicts will be addressed at a high-level U.N. conference in April 2018. Guterres congratulated Lajcak, saying he "has always demonstrated an impressive command of all aspects of U.N. action and a strong commitment to the principles that govern our work." He then quoted the Slovakian minister's previous words that "strengthening the U.N. is the best investment to achieve the universal desire for peace, development, equality and justice in the world." While the presidency of the General Assembly is largely ceremonial, it is also prestigious and the world body does control the U.N. budget and adopts treaties and numerous resolutions, which are not legally binding. It is also the scene of the annual gathering of world leaders in September, shortly after the new Assembly session begins. The presidency rotates annually between five geographic areas and it was the turn of the Eastern European group to nominate a candidate for the 2017-2018 assembly session. UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. General Assembly elected Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak Wednesday as its next president, a job he pledged to use to help reform and strengthen the United Nations, with peace and a decent life for all people as a top priority. The 193-member assembly, the U.N.'s most representative body, burst into applause when current President Peter Thomson of Fiji announced that Lajcak had been elected by acclamation to lead its 72nd session beginning in September. Lajcak, a veteran diplomat who came in a distant second to Antonio Guterres in last year's race to be U.N. secretary-general, called it his "greatest honor" to have won the assembly's unanimous support for what he said is "an increasingly demanding position." "We live in difficult times. We need the U.N. more than ever, and we need a strong and efficient United Nations," he said. "We must never forget that all we do is to serve the people of this planet and therefore to focus on peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet must be the overarching priority for all of us." Lajcak told the assembly that during his yearlong tenure he will also focus on investing more in conflict prevention that saves lives and money, stepping up action on U.N. goals to end poverty and address climate change by 2030 and on putting a spotlight on migration and negotiations on a global compact on the complex issue of migration. Human rights will also be "an overarching principle guiding my work," he said. "There is no peace and development without respect for dignity and fundamental rights. Continued support to equality, including equal opportunities for genders, will remain high in my activities." Lajcak said there is strong support for U.N. reforms among member states, including revitalizing the work of the General Assembly and especially modernizing the 15-member Security Council, the organization's most powerful body. "There is a high degree of accord that time is up to transform the Security Council into a 21st century body," he said, vowing to work closely with member states on how to push forward reforms that have been stymied for decades by political differences on how to expand the council. Lajcak said efforts to strengthen the importance of sustaining peace and preventing conflicts will be addressed at a high-level U.N. conference in April 2018. Guterres congratulated Lajcak, saying he "has always demonstrated an impressive command of all aspects of U.N. action and a strong commitment to the principles that govern our work." He then quoted the Slovakian minister's previous words that "strengthening the U.N. is the best investment to achieve the universal desire for peace, development, equality and justice in the world." While the presidency of the General Assembly is largely ceremonial, it is also prestigious and the world body does control the U.N. budget and adopts treaties and numerous resolutions, which are not legally binding. It is also the scene of the annual gathering of world leaders in September, shortly after the new Assembly session begins. The presidency rotates annually between five geographic areas and it was the turn of the Eastern European group to nominate a candidate for the 2017-2018 assembly session. By AFP WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday fined German financial giant Deutsche Bank $41 million over failures to screen billions of dollars in potentially suspicions transactions. The penalty was only the latest in a string of legal woes the bank faces in the United States. Last month, Deutsche Bank paid more than $150 million for "unsafe and unsound" foreign exchange practices and lax oversight. In the latest incident, the Federal Reserve said that between 2011 and 2015, a New York unit of the bank, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, processed billions of dollars in potentially suspicious transactions for European affiliates without proper screening. In addition to the fine, Deutsche Bank will be required to improve internal anti-money laundering controls, which regulators at the Fed found to be deficient. The Justice Department reportedly also is investigating Deutsche Bank's actions in Russia and so-called mirror trades in which bank clients disguised the movement of money out of that country. The bank settled with New York and British authorities over the matter in January, agreeing to pay nearly $630 million. Deutsche Bank has been thrust into the US political spotlight in recent months, because it is a creditor to President Donald Trump and his businesses, causing critics to accuse the administration of conflicts of interest. WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday fined German financial giant Deutsche Bank $41 million over failures to screen billions of dollars in potentially suspicions transactions. The penalty was only the latest in a string of legal woes the bank faces in the United States. Last month, Deutsche Bank paid more than $150 million for "unsafe and unsound" foreign exchange practices and lax oversight. In the latest incident, the Federal Reserve said that between 2011 and 2015, a New York unit of the bank, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, processed billions of dollars in potentially suspicious transactions for European affiliates without proper screening. In addition to the fine, Deutsche Bank will be required to improve internal anti-money laundering controls, which regulators at the Fed found to be deficient. The Justice Department reportedly also is investigating Deutsche Bank's actions in Russia and so-called mirror trades in which bank clients disguised the movement of money out of that country. The bank settled with New York and British authorities over the matter in January, agreeing to pay nearly $630 million. Deutsche Bank has been thrust into the US political spotlight in recent months, because it is a creditor to President Donald Trump and his businesses, causing critics to accuse the administration of conflicts of interest. By PTI WASHINGTON: The US has successfully shot down a mock intercontinental ballistic missile, its first-live fire test, using its own upgraded long-range interceptor warhead, in what was widely seen as a test of America's ability to counter growing threat from North Korea. The US military fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-type weapon yesterday from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg air force base in California. This was the first live-fire test event against an ICBM- class target for Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) and the US ballistic missile defence system, the Pentagon has said. GMD is an integral element of the United States' layered ballistic missile defence architecture, with interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Fort Greely, Alaska. The programme comprises command-and-control facilities, communications terminals and a 20,000-mile fiber-optic communications network that interfaces with ballistic missile defence radars and other sensors. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this programme," said Missile Defence Agency Director Vice Adm Jim Syring. "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," he added. According to Pentagon, initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but programme officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test. The one-time test costs USD 250 million to the Department of Defence. The test, designated Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor (FTG)-15, will provide the data necessary to assess the performance of the GMD system and provide enhanced homeland defence capabilities, it said. The GMD element of the ballistic missile defence system provides combatant commanders the capability to engage and destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats to protect the US. The continental US is about 9,000km from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500km, but some are designed to travel 10,000km or farther. North Korea has dramatically ramped up the pace of its missile tests over the past year, with a goal of developing an ICBM that can strike the US mainland. Early in the day, the Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told that the test wasn't "timed specifically to the current tensions in North Korea." At the same time he said recent threats from the country "is one of the reasons why we have this capability." "We improve and learn from each test regardless of the outcome. Our goal is to continue to be able to tell you with confidence that we have the ability to defends the homeland against this nascent ICBM threat," Davis said. "This successful test keeps the United States on track for a significant increase in interceptor inventory of 44 in 2017," said Norm Tew, vice president and GMD program director. US lawmakers congratulated the Pentagon on this successful test. "Today is an important day for our nations missile defenders, our scientists and engineers, and the American people. This successful intercept test of an ICBM-like target sends a clear message to the unstable dictator in North Korea that the US Ballistic Missile Defence System can and will shoot down any ballistic missile threat that endangers the American people," said Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith said this is an "important milestone in the programme," but "much work remains to be done to ensure we have a reliable and effective system." "After an investment of more than USD 40 billion since 2002, it's good that the Missile Defence Agency is finally doing a missile defence test against an ICBM target, some 13 years after the first Ground-Based Interceptor systems deployment," Smith said in a statement. "By successfully shooting down an ICBM-class target, America demonstrated that we can defend ourselves from nuclear attack. And the world should know that America will defend itself from nuclear attack. I hope that our enemies were all watching closely and took note of what we are capable of achieving," Congressman Doug Lamborn said. WASHINGTON: The US has successfully shot down a mock intercontinental ballistic missile, its first-live fire test, using its own upgraded long-range interceptor warhead, in what was widely seen as a test of America's ability to counter growing threat from North Korea. The US military fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-type weapon yesterday from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg air force base in California. This was the first live-fire test event against an ICBM- class target for Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) and the US ballistic missile defence system, the Pentagon has said. GMD is an integral element of the United States' layered ballistic missile defence architecture, with interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Fort Greely, Alaska. The programme comprises command-and-control facilities, communications terminals and a 20,000-mile fiber-optic communications network that interfaces with ballistic missile defence radars and other sensors. "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this programme," said Missile Defence Agency Director Vice Adm Jim Syring. "This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat," he added. According to Pentagon, initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but programme officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test. The one-time test costs USD 250 million to the Department of Defence. The test, designated Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor (FTG)-15, will provide the data necessary to assess the performance of the GMD system and provide enhanced homeland defence capabilities, it said. The GMD element of the ballistic missile defence system provides combatant commanders the capability to engage and destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats to protect the US. The continental US is about 9,000km from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500km, but some are designed to travel 10,000km or farther. North Korea has dramatically ramped up the pace of its missile tests over the past year, with a goal of developing an ICBM that can strike the US mainland. Early in the day, the Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told that the test wasn't "timed specifically to the current tensions in North Korea." At the same time he said recent threats from the country "is one of the reasons why we have this capability." "We improve and learn from each test regardless of the outcome. Our goal is to continue to be able to tell you with confidence that we have the ability to defends the homeland against this nascent ICBM threat," Davis said. "This successful test keeps the United States on track for a significant increase in interceptor inventory of 44 in 2017," said Norm Tew, vice president and GMD program director. US lawmakers congratulated the Pentagon on this successful test. "Today is an important day for our nations missile defenders, our scientists and engineers, and the American people. This successful intercept test of an ICBM-like target sends a clear message to the unstable dictator in North Korea that the US Ballistic Missile Defence System can and will shoot down any ballistic missile threat that endangers the American people," said Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith said this is an "important milestone in the programme," but "much work remains to be done to ensure we have a reliable and effective system." "After an investment of more than USD 40 billion since 2002, it's good that the Missile Defence Agency is finally doing a missile defence test against an ICBM target, some 13 years after the first Ground-Based Interceptor systems deployment," Smith said in a statement. "By successfully shooting down an ICBM-class target, America demonstrated that we can defend ourselves from nuclear attack. And the world should know that America will defend itself from nuclear attack. I hope that our enemies were all watching closely and took note of what we are capable of achieving," Congressman Doug Lamborn said. Two North Koreans were found dead in a hotel in Moscow on Saturday, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday. Moscow police found the two bodies in different rooms in a hotel in west Moscow, but the cause of death of both seems to be acute heart failure. The bodies have not been identified. Police are investigating but no additional news has come out. What's next for Middletown after school regionalization fails With the most recent version of regionalization off the table Middletown is now looking at Plan B. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Abundant sunshine. High 74F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low near 45F. SSE winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 20 mph. The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for ex-President Park Geun-hye after she refused to obey two summonses to testify in the trial of former Cheong Wa Dae security staffer Lee Young-sun. Lee is on trial on charges of allowing quack physicians to perform unauthorized cosmetic treatments on the ousted leader when she was still in office. Independent counsel Park Young-soo named the disgraced president as a witness in the charges against Lee. The court summoned Park Geun-hye on May 19, but Park submitted a notice saying she was too busy preparing for her own corruption trial. She demanded to answer questions in writing instead, but the court summoned her again to appear on Wednesday. Park refused again, so prosecutors applied for an arrest warrant even though Park is already on remand. It allows court officials to fetch her if she does not turn up on Wednesday. Resistant bacteria have been a menace killing thousands worldwide. Bacteria causing pneumonia, tuberculosis, wound and skin infections, gonorrhea have notably undergone major changes to evade the current armament of antibiotics that physicians have to fight them with. Vancomycin resistant enterococci or VRE is one such super bug that has been bothering physicians worldwide. Vancomycin till now has been one of the safe and effective last resorts in life threatening infections. Emergence of VRE has physicians worried for some time now. According to the World Health Organization, serious antibiotic resistant infections are on the rise and soon may kill more people than some common cancers. Bacteria Enterococcus on surface of skin or mucous membrane, 3D illustration. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock In a new breakthrough, scientists in the United States have re-engineered an existing antibiotic Vancomycin to fight these super bugs. Vancomycin has been touted as the last resort in many settings and it is alarming that bugs have developed a resistance to this antibiotic as well. But this recently amped up Vancomycin is believed to be able to fight Enterococci bacteria that have been responsible for life threatening blood infections and wound infections. The modification of the antibiotic that could be such a breakthrough comes from a research team from The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California. This new and improved vancomycin, they have claimed could help fight physicians worldwide emerging strains of bacteria. The team made strategic modifications to the structure of the drug to make it more effective. Now the six decade old drug is made more effective at destroying the bacterial cell walls and this effectively killing the bacteria. Three major changes in the appearance and structure of the drug seem to have done the trick and increased the strength and durability of the drug. While one change protects the drug from the bacteria developing a resistance to it, two other smaller changes increase its potency against the bacteria. The findings of the reengineered version of vancomycin have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It says that this re-engineered version of the drug gives Vancomycin one thousand times more strength. This also means that the dosages of the drug could be reduced while using it against lethal infections. The new Vancomycin works in new ways on the bacteria to stop them from developing a resistance to antibiotics. This in itself helps the drug be more potent against the infection. It is the first major breakthrough in antibiotics in the last three decades. This ultra tough Vancomycin is said to protect itself from the super bugs while it works. The newly designed drug however shall undergo rigorous clinical trials to prove its efficacy and safety in human population before it can be manufactured as a mass medicine and can reach patients. As of now it has been developed in the labs. It will first undergo pre-clinical testing or testing on laboratory animals before it can be tested on humans. It may take at least 5 to 7 years for the drug to come into the market, researchers believe, that is, if the drug passes through all the stages of testing safely. As of now it has successfully killed the resistant super bugs in the labs after fifty rounds of testing. Many malignancies develop as a result of genetic alterations in individual cells. These gene mutations often cause altered proteins that give new, growth-promoting properties to the cell. A prime example for this principle is a cancer-related altered form of the IDH1 enzyme that was initially discovered in certain malignant brain tumors. Scientists had noticed that mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1 almost always occur at position 132 of the enzyme's chain of amino acids. This replacement causes a specific cancer-promoting metabolic product to accumulate in the cells. Non-mutated IDH enzymes in healthy cells do not produce this metabolite. "This prompted the idea of developing an agent that inhibits position 132-mutant IDH1," said Stefan Pusch from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ). He added: "Our goal is to develop a drug that acts on cancer cells while it does not influence healthy cells with the normal enzyme." In a research alliance with Bayer AG, the researchers from the DKFZ and Bayer jointly succeeded in finding a substance that is presumed to be highly selective. The investigational compound, called BAY1436032, is currently being examined in comprehensive preclinical tests for its safety and effectiveness. Leukemia and brain cancer in mice slowed down The 132 mutation of IDH1 has been found by now not only in various types of brain cancer (oligodendroglioma, diffuse astrocytoma and a smaller portion of glioblastomas) but also in approximately ten percent of acute myeloid leukemias (AML) as well as in bile duct cancer and certain malignant bone tumors. In two currently published studies, the Heidelberg researchers have now demonstrated the preclinical activity of BAY1436032 against AML and brain tumors (astrocytoma) in mice. Under treatment with BAY1436032, mice that had been transplanted human astrocytoma cells survived significantly longer than untreated fellows. The agent, which can be administered with the food, substantially reduced the levels of the cancer-promoting metabolite in the cancer. "Even at high doses the animals tolerated the treatment well," said Andreas von Deimling, who is the head of a Clinical Cooperation Unit at the DKFZ and at Heidelberg University Hospital. "BAY1436032 really seems to act specifically on the mutated IDH1 in the cancer cells." Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Tests of the agent against AML were also successful. Mice that had received IDH1-mutant human leukemia cells survived longer when treated with BAY1436032 than untreated animals did. Furthermore, the leukemia stem cells in their bone marrow were significantly reduced. Cancer cells lose stem-cell properties "There is evidence to suggest that BAY1436032 does not act cytotoxic, but may cause tumor cells to mature into normal blood cells instead," stated hemato-oncologist and scientist Alwin Kramer, who leads a Clinical Cooperation Unit of the German Cancer Research Center and Heidelberg University Hospital. Von Deimling, who led the preclinical study in gliomas, confirmed this observation: "The cancer cells in the mice under investigation lost their dangerous stem-cell characteristics and developed into precursors of normal brain cells". As a couple of different mutations at amino acid position 132 of IDH1 are known, the research team also tested the effectiveness of the investigational compound against these mutational variants. In biochemical and cell culture assays, they could show that BAY1436032 is effective against all known mutational variants at position 132. In addition, there are indications that BAY1436032 may be able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Following these promising preclinical results, a first clinical trial is currently being conducted at the Neurology Department of Heidelberg University Hospital. The trial comprises patients with glioma and other solid tumors with proven IDH1 mutation. The goal is to determine the tolerability of BAY1436032 and the appropriate dose. "Innovative therapies are greatly needed here," von Deimling said, "because therapy-resistant astrocytomas often turn into highly aggressive tumors that cannot be treated effectively with the drugs that are available at the present time." In addition, an international clinical trial led by Alwin Kramer will shortly be launched to study the tolerability and the appropriate dose of BAY1436032 against IDH1 mutant AML. An analysis of billing records for more than 12,000 emergency medicine doctors across the United States shows that charges varied widely, but that on average, adult patients are charged 340 percent more than what Medicare pays for services ranging from suturing a wound to interpreting a head CT scan. A report of the study's findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on May 30, also notes that the largest hospitals markups are more likely made to minorities and uninsured patients. "There are massive disparities in service costs across emergency rooms and that price gouging is the worst for the most vulnerable populations," says Martin Makary, M.D., M.P.H., professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study's senior investigator. "This study adds to the growing pile of evidence that to address the huge disparities in health care, health care pricing needs to be fairer and more transparent," adds Makary, whose widely published research focuses on health care costs and disparities. For the study, Makary and his team obtained Medicare billing records for 12,337 emergency medicine physicians practicing in nearly 300 hospitals all 50 states in 2013 to determine how much emergency departments billed for services compared to the Medicare allowable amount. The Medicare allowable amount is the sum of what Medicare pays, the deductible and coinsurance that patients pay, and the amount any third party such as the patient pays. In addition, using the 2013 American Hospital Association database, the research team identified size, urban/rural status, teaching status, for-profit status, regional location and safety-net hospital status for each emergency medicine department whose billing data were made part of the analysis. Using the zip code for each emergency department, the researchers also estimated poverty rates, uninsured status and minority populations for those using each emergency room, based on data from the 2013 U.S. Census Bureau. The researchers then calculated each service bill's markup ratio, defined as the relationship between the billed charges and the Medicare allowable amount. For example, a markup ratio of 4.0 means that for a service with a Medicare allowable amount of $100, the hospital charged $400, or 300% over the Medicare allowable amount. Makary and his team found that emergency departments charged anywhere from 1.0-12.6 times ($100-$12,600) more than what Medicare paid for services. On average, emergency medicine doctors had a markup ratio of 4.4 (340 percent in excess charges), or emergency medicine physician charges of $4 billion versus $898 million in Medicare allowable amounts. The researchers also analyzed billing information for 57,607 general internal medicine physicians 3,669 hospitals in all 50 states to determine whether any markup differences, and how much, existed between emergency medicine physicians practicing in a hospital's ER, and general internal medicine physicians who see patients at hospitals. On average, charges were greater when a service was performed by an emergency medicine physician rather than a general internal medicine physician. Overall, general internal medicine physicians had an average markup ratio of 2.1 compared to the Medicare allowable amount. Makary found that wound closure had the highest median markup ratio at 7.0, and interpreting head CT scans had the greatest within-hospital variation, with markup ratios ranging between 1.6 and 27. For a physician interpretation of an electrocardiogram, the median Medicare allowable rate is $16, but different emergency departments charged anywhere from $18 to $317, with a median charge of $95 (or a markup ratio of 6.0). General internal medicine doctors in hospitals charged an average of $62 for the same service. Overall, emergency departments that charged patients the most were more likely to be located in for-profit hospitals in the southeastern and Midwestern U.S., and served higher populations of uninsured, African-American and Hispanic patients. Our study found that inequality is then further compounded on poor, minority groups, who are more likely to receive services from hospitals that charge the most," says Makary. While the study was limited by lack of data on facility and technical fees also charged by the hospital, as well as lack of patients' insurance type and the actual amount patients ultimately paid, Makary says the study highlights the urgent need for legislation that will protect uninsured patients. "This is a health care systems problem that requires state and federal legislation to protect patients. New York has passed a law that requires hospital and insurance companies to agree on a cost for the care so patients are not billed egregious amounts. Patients really have no way of protecting themselves from these pricing practices," says Tim Xu, a fourth year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the paper's first author. Models such as the Maryland Waiver, Makary adds, where prices are set at the same rate no matter what hospital a patient goes to, can increase price transparency and protect patients. Currently, at least 7 states have passed some legislation to protect uninsured patients from paying so called charge master prices, a list of billable services developed and closely guarded by each hospital, noting prices that are usually highly inflated and charged mainly to uninsured and other "self pay" patients. However, Makary says a national model is necessary to unveil what is currently an inexplicably chaotic and opaque pricing system. The Zika virus has finally wormed its way into one of the largest and most densely populated countries in the world, India. The World Health Organization reported that surveillance efforts should be strengthened here in order to curb the menace and prevent its spread. An illustration of the Zika Virus, which symptoms include mild headaches, maculopapular rash, fever, malaise, conjunctivitis, and arthralgia. Image Credit: AuntSpray / Shutterstock According to the WHO, on May 15, three confirmed cases of Zika virus infection were reported from the state of Gujrat that lies in the far west of India. These cases were stumbled upon in February and November last year and one was confirmed in January this year said the report. According the statement issued by WHO in their statement on its website, the level of transmission of the virus is low but new cases are likely to occur in near future and surveillance needs to be strengthened. WHO says that the global risk assessment remains unchanged and the virus has been detected in the South-East Asia Region. Zika in its most recent outbreak affected Brazil in 2015. It is a mosquito-borne disease that spread rapidly worldwide after its initial epicenter in Brazil. It is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is also responsible for spread of other viral infections such as dengue and chikungunya, both of which are widely prevalent all over India. The virus is also sexually transmitted apart from being transmitted by infected mosquito bites. This virus affects all and sundry but is particularly dangerous for pregnant women. In these women, the virus leads to multiple debilitating birth defects, notable of which is microcephaly, or abnormally small head of the baby that leads to severe mental retardation among other life threatening problems. Zika virus infection is said to have led to these severe birth defects in almost 30 countries over the past few years. The first official reports of Zika virus infection came from Nigeria in 1953. Even then, researchers had found that the virus exposure among Indians is not rare. Of the 196 persons who were tested for the virus, 33 were found to have developed immunity to it. This means they may have been exposed to the virus before and their body recognized the virus. Now after six decades two women, aged 22 and 34, and a 64-year-old man in India have been confirmed to have the viral infection. Of these three patients, the 34 year old woman was pregnant and she delivered a baby with normal clinical presentation on 9 November 2016. The 22 year old woman was also at her 37th week of gestation when she was detected with the virus. She also proceeded to deliver a clinically healthy baby. The 64 year old man recovered from the infection with no complications. These three confirmed cases have never travelled outside the country according to reports. In order to prevent unnecessary panic among general public, the whole matter was kept under close watch and was not publicized. The number of cases also did not rise to cause alarm. However several independent public health professionals have expressed concern over not informing the public after these cases were detected. They deemed it unethical to say the least. A more control information and spread of awareness was due according to several leading community health experts. As of now more than 25 laboratories are gearing up to test for the virus. The kits would be testing for all the three viruses on mosquito samples zika, dengue and chikungunya simultaneously. These kits have been provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States. At present count over 12,647 mosquito samples and 34,000 and counting human samples have been tested for Zika virus. Nearly 500 mosquito samples were collected from the affected area in Ahmedabad (Bapunagar area) from where the three cases were detected. There are 55 sentinel sites that have been set up to check for microcephaly among new borns that could likely be caused by the virus. Now with the ramped up vigilance and testing, awareness could be raised among the public curbing this worldwide menace which still is a threat despite being declared as no longer an emergency by the WHO. Dr. Mark Sklansky, a self-described germaphobe, can't stop thinking about how quickly those little microbes can spread. "If I am at a computer terminal or using a phone or opening a door, I know my hands are now contaminated, and I need to be careful and I need to wash my hands," said Sklansky, professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Not all health workers are so careful, despite strict hand-washing policies in virtually all medical facilities. A 2010 study published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology showed that only about 40 percent of doctors and other health care providers complied with hand hygiene rules in hospitals. Sklansky decided to test a new method at UCLA for limiting the spread of germs and reducing the transmission of disease: a handshake-free zone. "We are trying to do everything to minimize hospital-acquired infection except for the most obvious and easiest thing to do in my opinion, which is to stop shaking hands," he said. This KHN story also ran on NPR. It can be republished for free (details). Hospital-acquired infections are a serious and potentially life-threatening problem in hospitals, and the unwashed hands of health care workers are often to blame. On any given day, 1 in 25 patients across the U.S. suffers from at least one infection acquired while they are in the hospital, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sklansky first proposed the concept of handshake-free zones in a 2014 editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. His proposal launched a debate about the possible risks of the time-honored greeting. In 2015, Sklansky decided to try out the idea with a six-month experiment. He picked a place where patients are especially vulnerable the neonatal intensive care unit. Infections among infants can cause them pain, prolong their stay in NICU, require more medications and even put them at risk of dying. The anti-handshake experiment took place at two of UCLA's NICUs, in Westwood and Santa Monica. Starting in 2015, Sklansky and his colleagues explained to the staff and families the purpose of handshake-free zones and posted signs designating the new zones. The signs feature two hands gripping each other inside a circle with a blue line through it, and the words: "To help reduce the spread of germs, our NICU is now a handshake-free zone. Please nd other ways to greet each other." Instead of a handshake, non-contact greetings like a bow, a wave, or a smile are encouraged. (Courtesy of UCLA Health) They didn't ban handshakes outright. They suggested other options: a fist bump. A smile. A bow. A wave. A non-contact Namaste gesture. "We aren't like a military operation," Sklansky said. "We are just trying to limit the use of handshakes." This spring, Sklansky and his colleagues published the findings of a survey on their handshake-free zone experiment in the American Journal of Infection Control. They found that establishing such zones is possible, can reduce the frequency of handshakes and that most health care workers supported the idea. They didn't measure whether avoiding handshakes actually reduced the rate of infections, but Sklansky said he hopes to answer that question in a future study. Though the formal experiment is now over, the signs in the NICUs are still in place and doctors and nurses still discourage handshakes. Avoiding handshakes is an effective way to decrease the spread of germs, said Maureen Shawn Kennedy, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Nursing. Health care providers do wash their hands frequently, she said, but often they don't do it for long enough or use the right technique. And bacteria live on computers, phones, medical charts and uniforms throughout hospitals, she noted. "There are just so many reasons to avoid handshakes, even when people are washing their hands," Kennedy said. "Just because someone is walking around in a white coat doesn't mean they don't have bacteria on their hands." Although there is no data to prove that reducing handshakes limits hospital infections, one study showed that bumping fists was more hygienic than shaking hands. However, some infectious-disease specialists believe health care workers don't need to stop shaking hands. They just need to scrub better. In a 2015 editorial in the Texas Heart Institute Journal, Herbert Fred, a Houston physician, wrote that "the problem isn't the handshake: it's the hand-shaker." Doctors need to ensure their hands are clean before touching patients, he said. Didier Pittet, an international expert on hand hygiene, said in an email that handshake-free zones are not the solution for hospital-acquired infections. They simply "reflect the lack of capacity in infection prevention and control," he said. Sklansky agreed that hospitals need to improve compliance with hand hygiene, and he said handshake-free zones aren't designed to replace hand-washing but to complement it. "I actually think handshake-free zones will bring attention to the hands as vectors for disease and help improve compliance with hand hygiene," he said. Neonatologist Joanna Parga, who was part of UCLA's handshake-free survey, said she liked the idea when she first heard about it but wasn't convinced it would work. Shaking hands is "so ingrained in our culture," and it is how many doctors connect with patients, she said. Neonatologist Joanna Parga, pediatric cardiologist Mark Sklansky and nurse Anahit Sarin-Gulian talk about the handshake-free zone while standing in the neonatal intensive care unit at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. They discouraged handshakes and suggested other options: a fist bump, a bow, a smile. The goal was to reduce the spread of germs and the transmission of infection. (Anna Gorman/KHN) Parga said she has tried several alternatives to shaking hands, including bowing, making eye contact and touching people on the shoulder. She believes some of the other options are more intimate than a handshake and they open up a conversation about safety. "Especially in a fragile patient population like the NICU, we really need to think about how we can protect our patients," she said. On a recent afternoon, as Parga walked through the Westwood NICU, she introduced herself to a mother who was holding her infant son. "Hi. I'm Dr. Parga," she said. "Are you Mom? I'm not gonna shake your hand. It's to help prevent infection in the NICU." Meena Garg, a neonatologist who is the medical director of the NICU in Westwood, said she still finds not shaking hands uncomfortable sometimes, because patients often extend their hands in greeting. "You feel like you are being rude," she said. But Garg said she supports the handshake-free zone, because it is an easy and inexpensive way to reduce infections. "I am the medical director so I have to look at costs," she said. "This doesn't cost anything, but it may be just as important as anything else we do." As part of the UCLA survey, Sklansky and his colleagues asked staff and parents what they thought of the new handshake-free zones. The majority of health care workers supported the idea especially medical school students and nurses. Male doctors were the most resistant to giving up the handshake, partly because they weren't convinced it was necessary to prevent infections. Families, however, were universally supportive of the handshake-free zone, Sklansky found. New mom Brittney Scott said she'd never heard of a handshake-free zone and wasn't sure about the idea. "But once you really understand the meaning behind it, it's great," she said. (Anna Gorman/KHN) On one recent day in the NICU, Brittney Scott stood beside the crib of her 2-week-old son, Samuel, as he slept. He had ended up there with intestinal problems. Scott said she'd never heard of a handshake-free zone and had instinctively offered her hand to a doctor when she first arrived. She said she was "a little taken aback at first" when the doctor declined to take her hand. "But once you really understand the meaning behind it, it's great." Scott knows Samuel is at risk of infection, so avoiding germs is critical. She said she now prefers a smile to a handshake. "A smile goes a long way in here," she said. "There's a lot of ups and downs being a parent to a NICU baby." KHNs coverage in California is funded in part by Blue Shield of California Foundation. As many as 53 percent of cancer patients' Emergency Department visits that do not require admission could be avoided with better symptom management and greater availability of outpatient care tailored to their needs, according to a new study from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Although a number of studies have addressed the prevalence of ED visits among cancer patients, this is the first to systematically identify potentially preventable ED visits during treatment. Dr. Laura Panattoni, a staff scientist at the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, or HICOR, and colleagues followed cancer patients in 13 Western Washington counties with solid tumors whose treatment included chemotherapy, radiation or both. "My hope is that seeing this data will promote innovative thinking and investment in how oncology teams manage patient symptoms," Panattoni said. "Managing nausea, pain, dehydration, diarrhea and other symptoms in an outpatient setting has great potential to improve patient experience and decrease the cost of care." Panattoni is scheduled to present these findings at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago on June 5 at 9:24 a.m. (ASCO abstract number 6505.) Measuring what matters The study began with data from 5,853 commercially insured patients who were 18 years or older, diagnosed with a solid tumor and treated with chemotherapy, radiation or both. Out of that population, 27 percent, or 1,581 patients, visited the ED without being admitted in the year after starting treatment. Panattoni and her colleagues tallied 2,400 ED visits by these 1,581 cancer patients and then set about analyzing whether they could have been prevented. Using a list of symptoms that federal health authorities identified as preventable, combined with symptoms targeted by patient-reported outcome tools, the researchers found that slightly more than half of these ED visits -- 53 percent -- were related to symptoms that could be managed with timely care in an outpatient setting. The share of potentially preventable visits rose to 70 percent when Panattoni expanded the standard to include other common patient complaints, as well as symptoms associated with chronic health conditions. "At a time when federal authorities and private payers are linking insurance payments to hospital quality measures, this study points to the importance of developing methods to accurately identify those ED visits that are preventable versus those that are appropriate," Panattoni commented. The study revealed that the most common reason cancer patients visited an ED was due to pain. In fact, visits due to pain amounted to 27 percent of overall visits and had a median cost per visit of $1,127. Fever and difficulty breathing were the next two most common reasons that brought patients to the ED, each at 6 percent. Overall, the study indicated a higher median cost per visit for cancer patients compared with the cost of visits as a result of other chronic health conditions. The median cost per visit of preventable cancer-related symptoms was $1,047 compared to a median cost per visit of $335 for symptoms related to a chronic health condition. "This represents a rare opportunity to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes," said Panattoni, noting that investment in sharing best practices and new models of care will likely be necessary to make a significant difference. One limitation of the study is that it did not include data from patients insured through Medicare. The team expects to receive that data in the coming months and incorporate it into these findings. Novel partnerships drive research Under the leadership of Dr. Scott Ramsey, HICOR has developed a network of providers and insurers who routinely share healthcare claims and cost data in an effort to improve cancer care. "HICOR has facilitated a collaborative environment where payers and delivery systems work together and share data," said Panattoni. "This allows us to identify priority areas to improve care and develop shared solutions." HICOR has also established a community working group -- including patient representatives --focused on reducing ED and hospital use for patients undergoing treatment. The working group makes recommendations for research priorities and new, patient-centered models of care, including investment in proactive symptom management. Panattoni pointed to oncology medical home models and cancer-specific urgent care centers as an approach better suited to addressing patient symptoms. Such models strive to deliver value-based care, a departure from the historic focus in oncology on volume-based care. They include features such as expanded hours, same-day visits, electronic outreach to patients and team care. Panattoni and her HICOR colleagues plan to focus next on the financial burden patients experience through out-of-pocket costs due to preventable ED visits, which could particularly affect those patients on high-deductible insurance plans. Including data from more diverse socioeconomic and geographic groups, along with following patients for longer, would make the data more applicable to a larger population. Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of ex-President Park Geun-hye's confidante Choi Soon-sil, on Tuesday boarded a plane in Copenhagen that returns her to Korea. Chung had been held in Aalborg, a small town in Denmark, since January while extradition proceedings were underway. A newly developed tissue scanner allows looking under the skin of psoriasis patients. This provides clinically relevant information, such as the structure of skin layers and blood vessels, without the need for contrast agents or radiation exposure. A team of researchers from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) recently introduced the technology in 'Nature Biomedical Engineering'. Psoriasis (Psoriasis vulgaris) is an inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by small to palm-sized patches of severely scaling skin. The disease is estimated to affect between ten and fifteen million people in the European Union. Currently, physicians evaluate the severity of the disease based on visual assessment of features of the skin surface, such as redness or thickness of the flaking skin. "Unfortunately, these standards miss all parameters that lie below the surface of the skin, and may be subjective," Dr. Juan Aguirre points out. "Knowing the structure of the skin and vessels before treatment can provide the physician with useful information," explains the group leader at the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen. A look under the skin In order to provide clinicians with this information, Aguirre and his team developed a new technique that gets under the skin. It bears the name RSOM and works as follows: A weak laser pulse excites the tissue of interest, which then absorbs energy and heats up minimally. This causes momentary tissue expansion, which generates ultrasound waves. The scientists measure these ultrasound signals and use this information to reconstruct a high resolution image of what lies under the skin. High tech that fits in the hand While developing the method, the scientists were able to reduce the size of the scanner to a handheld device. "This technology, which is easy to use and does not involve any radiation exposure or contrast agent, is allowing us to acquire the first new insights into the disease mechanisms. It also facilitates treatment decisions for the physicians," explains Prof. Dr. Vasilis Ntziachristos, Director of the IBMI at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich. In the recently published study, the scientists demonstrated RSOM's performance by examining cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue from psoriasis patients. RSOM allowed them to determine several characteristics of psoriasis and inflammation, including skin thickness, capillary density, number of vessels, and total blood volume in the skin. They compiled these to define a novel clinical index for assessing psoriasis severity that may be superior to the current clinical standard because the new index also takes into account characteristics below the skin surface. The researchers plan to use the same imaging method to assess other diseases such as skin cancer or diabetes in the future. Patients with diabetes often suffer from damaged blood vessels that, if detected early enough, may allow earlier treatment and therefore greater efficacy. With the announcement of GST (Goods and Services Tax) to be implemented from 1July, 2017, car manufacturers have started pouring the GST benefits to the customer. The latest to join the wagon is Isuzu, who have announced a price reduction of up to Rs 1.5 Lakhs on its SUVs.The Japanese SUV manufacturer has cut the prices on its vehicles between a range of Rs 60,000 to up to Rs 1.5 lakhs. Just so you know, GST has brought down the car prices by 12 per cent and manufacturers have started passing the benefits to the customers.The new Isuzu MU-X is priced for Rs 23.9 Lakh Rs 25.9 Lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). After the price cut, the expected ex-showroom price of the MU-X will come down to Rs 22.4 Lakh Rs 24.4 lakh (Ex showroom, Delhi). : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met top CEOs of leading Spanish companies and invited them to participate in initiatives like 'Make in India', saying immense potential awaits them in the fast-growing nation."Met top CEOs of the Spanish industry and urged them to explore the economic opportunities in India," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.In a roundtable interaction with leading Spanish business leaders, he said that there is immense potential for further growth of Spanish investments in India.He mentioned sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energy, food processing, auto, chemicals and textiles and invited Spanish participation in the Smart Cities initiative. Modi also gave a broad overview of the economic reforms undertaken in India, including the GST.He asserted that initiatives like Make in India, Digital India and Start up India have become global magnets for investment.Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with CEOs of leading Spanish companies with global footprint, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. He invited them to look anew at a new India emerging with government's push for economic growth," he said in another tweet.Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since 1992, met the European country's top leadership and said India and Spain maintain close and cordial relations and he sees great potential in this collaboration.Spain is the 12th largest investor in India and the seventh largest trading partner in the EU. There are more than 200 Spanish companies in India that are actively involved in road construction projects, railways, wind power, water desalination, defense and smart cities.There are more than 40 Indian companies in Spain, in the fields of technology, pharmaceuticals, automotive and energy. Two-way trade totalled USD 5.27 billion in 2016.After concluding his meeting with the CEOs, Modi left for St Petersburg in Russia where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 2.The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. El objetivo sera mejorar las relaciones economicas y culturales con Espana. pic.twitter.com/Paq16vVOFG Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 30, 2017 Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Spanish capital on Tuesday night on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour aimed at boosting bilateral economic engagement and inviting more investment for India's transformation."Landed in Spain, marking the start of a very important visit aimed at improving economic and cultural relations with Spain," Modi tweeted in English and Spanish after landing here.Modi's visit to Spain will be first visit by an Indian Prime Minister since 1988."Hola Espana! Prime Minister Modi arrives in Madrid, first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades, is received by Spanish FM in a special gesture," said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs in a tweet.Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on ways to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. Modi will also call on King Felipe VI of Spain, PTI reported."He (Modi) would also have a round-table interaction with leading Spanish business leaders who are keen to invest in India. Prime Minister's visit to Spain will add further strength to the existing warm and friendly India-Spain bilateral ties," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement.From Spain, he will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day.The Prime Minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties.Earlier in the day, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the fourth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) during which the two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and the two sides inked 12 agreements/Memorandum of Understandings (MoU).(With PTI inputs) Patna: The results of the Bihar board class 12 intermediate was declared on Tuesday and a whopping 64 percent of students failed in examination, thanks to the successful conduct of a cheating-free examination. Only 30.11 per cent of students passed the test in the Science stream as the results, declared by the Bihar School Examination Board Chairman Anand Kishore, showed. The results were dismal in the Arts stream too where a meager 37 per cent of the examinees could pass the test, PTI reported. In the Commerce stream, however, the pass percentage was 73.76. Nearly 13 lakh students had appeared for the Plus-Two examination which was held between February 14 and February 25 this year. The shocking results came against the backdrop of stringent measures taken by the Bihar government this year to ensure a cheating-fee examination in view of the toppers scam last year. While state education minister Ashok Choudhary hailed the successful conduct of a cheating-free examination, the BJP blamed the poor pass percentage on the education system run by the Nitish Kumar government. In 2015, the Science stream pass percentage was 89.32 and 67.06 per cent in 2016, but plunged to 30.11 per cent this year. In the Commerce stream, 90.55 per cent students passed in 2015 and 80.87 per cent in 2016, but slided to 73.76 per cent this year. Similarly, in the Arts stream, 56 per cent students passed in 2016, but dropped to 37.13 per cent this year. Last year, Arts topper Ruby Roy in a TV interview after publication of results had pronounced political science as "Prodikal science" which, according to her, was related to cooking. Later, a probe had revealed a racket in the state's class 12 examination. (With PTI Inputs) Arunachal Pradesh: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday called on Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre and discussed issues regarding land acquisition for defence purpose in the state. In a meeting held in New Delhi, the two leaders were joined by Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and senior officials from Army, and Department of Defence (DOD). From the state government - the Chief Secretary, Secretary to CM and Resident Commissioner were present, an official release said. Pending cases including land acquisition at Bora Rupak (Baririjo), Bame (Tirbin), Basar, Baisakhi (North and South of Sela), Seppa, Shanglem (West Kameng), Mechuka, Tuting, Mandala (Dirang), Orak-Nacho-Kojin Nallah (Upper Subansiri), Manigong, Tawang, Anini, Tato, Kalaktang were discussed. Issues regarding forest clearance for building border roads, NOC by the state government and release of compensation by the army were also discussed. Khandu said that issues of high lease rate, grant of ownership rights, payment of dual compensation and fixation of land rates will be resolved soon. He said that the state cabinet has already constituted a high-level committee (HLC) under the chairmanship of Minister, Land Management to examine these and assured cooperation. "The HLC will be submitting its report in a month's time and then the state government will make a final call," he said. MoS Defence Bhamre asked the DOD and Army officials to fast-track all the pending issues by coordinating with each other and the state government. "As the chief minister and the chief secretary are here, we believe all issues on part of the state government will be cleared and land required for defence purposes in the state would be acquired but by paying land compensation to the rightful owners on time," he said. He also stressed that such tripartite meetings between the Army, DOD and the state government should be held at regular intervals to resolve pending issues. He said a similar meeting could be held in a few months in Arunachal Pradesh to reassess the action taken. Rijiju, on the other hand, called for resolving all issues and clear pending cases in a time bound manner. He asked the officials to specify the time they want to address all the issues that were discussed during the meeting. "It should not be, it will be done. It will be done within this month or two month's time," he said. The Congress stepped its demand for Union minister Uma Bharti to step down after a special CBI court in Lucknow ordered framing of conspiracy charges against her and BJP patriarchs LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case."One of the accused, Uma Bharti is a Union Cabinet minister. Having been charge-sheeted, she must resign. Prime Minister must come forward and uphold the rule of law and the Constitution," AICC in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala said."Time for law of the land to deliver justice expeditiously," he said. "Those who are guilty must be punished in accordance with the law of the land without any fear or favour," Surjewala said.Defending the party leaders, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said they will come out "unscathed". Naidu also noted that the NDA government did not move to withdraw the case against the top saffron leaders.Another BJP leader and one of the accused, Vinay Katiyar, insisted that there was no conspiracy as the mosque was razed by a big crowd in the open. "It is not appropriate to charge a few persons with criminal conspiracy," the one-time firebrand Hindutva leader and former UP BJP chief said.Katiyar targeted Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav saying that a case should have been lodged against the former chief minister over the firing by police on 'kar sewaks' in Ayodhya in 1990.He claimed he had not delivered a speech on December 6, 1992, when the 16th-century structure was demolished. He also claimed that the case had "reached" the judgment stage before the apex court gave its new ruling.Bharti, along with BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi among others, was charged by a special CBI court in Lucknow and also granted bail in the case.The court framed charges under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code against the BJP leaders.(With PTI inputs) Members of the Revolutionary Students and Youth Front (RSYF) and students from IIT-Madras staged a protest on campus on Wednesday morning, a day after a student who had organised the beef fest was allegedly assaulted by Right-wing students.The students raised slogans against the BJP and demanded that the Centre roll back a controversial notification which bans the sale of any cattle, and not just cow, for slaughter at market places.The protesters who were in campus premises were gradually moving towards the college gate where a huge posse of policemen were deployed.The protests followed an attack on PhD scholar Sooraj R who had allegedly organised the beef fest on campus on Sunday. Sooraj was taken to Sankara Nethralaya in the citys Nungambakkam area. "Sooraj was beaten up badly just for organising this fest," said his friend Nidheesh, adding that the accused were also the students of the IIT.Tensions escalated when another student, 22-year-old Maneesh Kumar Singh suffered a fracture in his right wrist in retaliation to the attack on Sooraj.IIT authorities have said an inquiry will be conducted by the institute and appropriate action will be taken based on its outcome.A senior police official said a formal complaint was yet to be received but an inquiry was being held into the matter. "We will register a case on receipt of a complaint," the official told PTI.A spokesperson for IIT Madras said, "There was an altercation between two students and both of them sustained injuries. Immediately appropriate medical attention was given."The spokesperson added, "An inquiry will be held by the institute and appropriate action will be taken based on its outcome."On Sunday, some students held a "beef fest" in the campus to protest the Centre's ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets.(With PTI inputs) : Four international players have shown an interest in providing the Navy with 57 multi-role combat fighter jets for its aircraft carrier, Indian Navy chief Sunil Lanba said on Wednesday.The chief of naval staff also said the Scorpene submarine Kalvari is going through its final phase of trials and should be delivered by July-August.Having rejected indigenously built 'Tejas' as too heavy, the Indian Navy in January issued a Request for Information to procure 57 multi-role combat aircraft for its carrier."The Navy has got response from four players for the RFI. We will examine the RFI and take it forward," Lanba said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by FICCI on 'Building India's Future Navy Technology Imperatives'.He, however, did not disclose the name of the companies which have shown interest in the proposal.At present, the Navy operates 45 MIG-29K jets which face serviceability issues from time to time.Currently, six planes are compatible for aircraft carrier. They are Rafale (Dassault, France), F-18 Super Hornet (Boeing, US), MIG-29K (Russia), F-35B and F-35C (Lockheed Martin, US) and Gripen (Saab, Sweden).While F-18, Rafale and MIG-29K are twin engine jets, the remaining three have single engine.The delivery of deck based fighter jets is expected to take four-five years.The indigenously built aircraft-carrier Vikrant should complete trials in 2019. It was likely to be commissioned by 2020, Lanba said.When asked about the recently approved Strategic Partnership (SP) model under which select private firms will be engaged to build military platforms like submarines and battle helicopters, Lanba said the next step would be to identify strategic partners."All three service chiefs will have to go and get the AONs (Acceptance of Necessity) on what we want to be built through strategic partners, so that partners in each segment can be identified."We are hopeful that we should be able to move this process in next six months," he said.Four segments -- submarines, fighter aircraft, helicopters and armoured carriers/main battle tanks -- were identified under the new policy, aimed at attracting billions of dollars of investment in defence manufacturing by private defence majors including leading foreign firms.At the inauguration of the seminar, Lanba stated that the Navy has taken giant strides in the field of indigenous ship design and construction and has made a transition from being a 'buyer' to being a 'builder'.He, however, stated that despite the achievements in indigenous shipbuilding, the Navy continues to be dependent on external assistance for niche technologies."An important aspect in attaining 100 per cent self-reliance in ship design and construction, therefore, is the indigenous development of high-end technologies, their transition into shipborne equipment and systems, induction into service and standardisation," he said.Holding that self-reliance in defence production is a vital pre-requisite for achieving greater strategic autonomy, Lanba said it is no easy task and would require dedicated efforts by researchers, designers and manufacturers.Lanba highlighted the three primary requirements that need to be met while inducting a technology or a product affordability, timely delivery and performance.To these primary imperatives, the Navy Chief went on to add a fourth dimension that of life cycle sustenance by providing seamless technical support and making the technology future proof.He stated that this aspect is most vital for building a navy of the future and the support of the industry therefore extends well beyond just supply to life cycle product support. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday to discuss how to deal with North Korea's constant missile provocations. In the 20-minute phone call, Abe said the North Korean issue took center stage during the G7 Summit in Italy and that the leaders agreed that the North's nuclear weapons program poses a grave threat to the international community, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Abe said North Korea's launch of a missile on Monday that landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the East Sea was a "threat to the international community" and cannot be excused. He added it is meaningless to hold talks with the North simply for the sake of talking and urged the South Korean government, which has sent worrying signals that it wants to weaken sanctions, to cooperate with UN and international efforts to deal with the threat from Pyongyang. Kolkata: West Bengal government, on Wednesday, announced a complete ban on donations in private schools and colleges. It has also made mandatory submission of balance sheets to the school educational department and formation of an 11-member Self-Regulatory Commission to keep an eye on these institutes to prevent malpractices. The decision was taken after state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met the representatives of more than 50 private schools and colleges at Town Hall on Wednesday. I have information on touts roaming around schools and asking for donations for admission. Parents are harassed and having a harrowing time to support their childs education, she said. She asked Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar and DGP Surajit Kar Purkayastha to take stern action against these people. While announcing the Self-Regulatory Commission, she said there will be a representative from the state education department, police and private schools. Additionally, Mamata asked all the schools and colleges to maintain a logical fee structure. It is unfortunate that there is no uniform system in schools and universities. Private schools and college will must also fix a certain number of seats for poor and meritorious students, Mamata said. This is for the first time when Mamata held a meeting with private schools/college owners. She held the meeting after being flooded with complaints from parents accusing private schools of charging exorbitant fees. Meanwhile, several private schools owners expressed their displeasure over the governments interference in their activities. The Bengal government formed a Self-Regulatory Commission where representatives from state education department will be present. We think that this was done deliberately so that government can interfere in our daily activities, a director of one of the private schools said. Another principal of a private school in Eastern Bypass, said, This was a clever move by the government. Now we dont have any option but to follow this. But this will send a bad message to those who want to invest in Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday, reaffirming bilateral ties and batting for anti-terror cooperation. Modi, who is the first Indian PM to visit Spain since 1988, will also call on King Felipe VI. Stay tuned for live updates: Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. A petition filed in the Kerala high court to challenge the central governments ban on cattle slaughter was, on Wednesday, withdrawn.Post the withdrawal, a single judge bench of Justice PB Suresh Kumar of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed the PIL as withdrawn. The petition claimed that the rules were unconstitutional and violated Article 14, 19 and 21.The court noted that the ban was on sale of cattle for slaughtering at animal markets and that there was no ban on eating, slaughtering and selling of cattle. The petitioner himself withdrew the PIL and hence it was dismissed.The petition was filed by TG Sunil, State general secretary of the Youth Congress who argued that preservation, protection and improvement of stock, prevention of animal diseases, and veterinary training and practice was a state subject. The petition also claimed that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCAA), under which the rules were made, allowed slaughter of animals for human consumption.Despite the dismissal, the hearing of the petition will continue later in the day.The dismissal of the PIL comes close on the heels of an order by the Rajasthan high court where it has observed that cow should be made the national animal and that there should be life imprisonment for anyone slaughtering a cow.The fact that the PIL was dismissed as withdrawn by the court happened only an hour after the chief minister of the state; Pinarayi Vijayan said that he will write to all the chief ministers of other states to gauge a common opinion on this issue.More than 6000 crores worth of beef is sold in Kerala every year and almost 5 lakh livelihoods depend on this in Kerala, said Vijayan.The new rule, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Market) Rules, 2017, was brought into effect on May 23, by a gazette notification by the Environment Ministry. The rules ban the sale of cattle (bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves and camels) from the animal markers for the purposes of slaughter and such sale was permitted only for agricultural purposes.Later, when a clarification was sought, the Ministry had stated that the core objective was ushering in the farm to fork principle and so that slaughterhouses could source the animals directly from the farms. Those teenage boys, all aged 16 to 18, look fresh and eager in their graduation group picture which is now going viral on the internet. They are the latest batch of terror cadets readied by PoK-based Hizbul Mujahideen in Muzzaffarabad to carry on its proxy war against India.Defence sources said the 24 militants in the picture are child recruits from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and parts of Pakistan. The three men standing on the left, looking a little older, are the trainers who too belong to PoK or to Pakistan's Punjab Province."Their locally-sourced camouflage combat uniform, which is ankle-length kurta and pajama, indicates they are terror trainers and not from the Pakistani army," says Chandrashekhar Bhattachary, senior analyst at the Delhi Defense Review. There are an estimated 150 trained militants at launch pads along the Line of Control, waiting to cross over. J&K Police say there are 200 other active militants in the Valley.The picture was released just a few days after Hizbul commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, who led the terror outfits operations in Kashmir following the encounter death of Burhan Wani, was killed in Tral by the Indian Army.There is now a succession war raging in the Hizbul ranks, with the Class 10 dropout Saddam Padder throwing a challenge to the 30-year-old, tech savvy Riaz Naikoo. Saddam is upset after being overlooked for the top job due to his lack of educational qualifications. Naikoo is a moderate who has invited Kashmiri Pandits back to the Valley.Over the last few weeks, the Indian Army stopped multiple attempts of infiltration along the LoC. There was information on Pakistan's SSG Commandos and terrorists carrying out a recee along the LoC in Poonch. Pakistan is also trying to gather information about the timing and routine of Indian border patrols, which indicates they are planning an action on the Indian side by their brutal Border Action Team. The judge was drawing an analogy to argue that both the cow and the peacock are pious beings. I have cited all these holy books to show how important cow is in our ancient literature. I have even quoted the Gita. This verdict is a call of the soul and even though it is not binding on all the other states except Rajasthan, I hope other states follow this verdict, said Justice Sharma. : The Rajasthan High Court judge, who asked for the cow to be declared a national animal, has raised a few eyebrows by saying the peacock is the national bird because it is "celibate".Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma, in an exclusive interview to CNN-News18 shortly after his verdict said: Peacock is a Bramhachari and it does not have sex with a peahen. The peahen gets pregnant drinking the tears of the peacock. Even lord Krishna carried the feather of a peacock on his head.Earlier in the day, Justice Sharma had suggested in court that the cow should be declared the national animal of India and also called for life imprisonment for people killing cows.Sharma explained his verdict and said that just like how Nepal has declared cow as the national animal, India should follow suit as it is only a call of the soul and has nothing to do with secularism.Justice Sharma, who is set to retire soon, also said that cow should be given the status of a legal entity like that of River Ganga and Yamuna, as accorded by the Uttarakhand High Court.Cow is the basis if the spirituality of all the Hindus and keeping this belief in mind, such direction were issued. Even Nepal had declared cow as the national animal. Uttarakhand HC has recently said that River Ganga and Yamuna should be declared as legal person. Similarly, cows should be given that status, said Justice Sharma.Justice Sharma further said that in his 140-page verdict, he has quoted all the Vedas Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda as well as Mahabharata and Ramayana, to show the significance of the cow.There is no substitute for cow milk. We live on it. A cow is useful even after the death. We need its urine for medicinal purposes. Its bones are useful even for tantric purposes. These suggestions that I have made are from my soul, said Justice Sharma who has also directed the Director General of Anti-Corruption Bureau to submit a report within three months, highlighting the status of the cows in the Hingonia Gaushalas and the status of the money being spent on the cows.The judge has even designated a permanent status for the High Court secretary so that he along with a four-member panel can supervise and ensure that this verdict is implemented in the state. Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday left for Russia after concluding a "successful" visit to Spain where he paid a courtesy call to Spanish King Felipe VI and held wide-ranging talks with President Mariano Rajoy. "I thank the government and people of Spain for their remarkable hospitality during my visit, during which significant ground was covered. India-Spain ties are all set to grow and this will benefit the people of both our nations," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. "Prime Minister Modi wound up a successful visit to Spain, departed for St Petersburg, Russia," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. During his stay here, India and Spain signed seven agreements, including those on cyber security and technical cooperation in civil aviation. The agreements were signed after Modi held wide-ranging talks with Rajoy at the Moncloa Palace in the Spanish capital. The two sides agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports. Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Spain since Narashima Rao's trip to the country in 1992. In the Russian city of St Petersburg, Modi will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The PM will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday strongly condemned the bomb blast in Kabul and underlined the need for defeating forces supporting terrorism.Modi, who is in Spain on a visit, said India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all forms of terrorism."We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured," he tweeted.In another tweet, he said, "Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated."The prime minister's message came after a powerful truck bomb killed at least nine people and wounded scores of others in the Afghanistan capital's diplomatic quarter today morning. Bhopal: Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), the Muslim wing of the RSS, on Wednesday said it is serving cow milk at Iftar during the ongoing Ramzan considering the "health benefits it has over beef". Manch's co-convenor SK Muddin said cow milk has multiple benefits over beef whose "unhealthy and harmful" effects of were "endorsed" even by Muslim scriptures. Muddin, MRM's Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh incharge, said they served cow milk to fasting Muslims in Betul and Jabalpur districts in the last two days and the response they got was "highly encouraging". He said cow milk is being served to Muslims after Roza Iftars. "We have plans to serve milk in each district of Madhya Pradesh during the Ramzan," he added. MRM is also serving cow milk to the fasting Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, he said. "Our initiative to serve cow milk is getting a good response from among the Muslims who are observing fast during Ramzan," he told PTI. Cow milk digests easily and that is why it is given to the infants too, he said. "But cow meat is very unhealthy and harmful to the body. The Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad) too says cow meat is very unhealthy and harmful," he contended. New Delhi: The two pilots of the Sukhoi jet that had crashed after taking off from Tezpur in Assam suffered fatal injuries, the Indian Air Force said on Wednesday, five days after the wreckage of the aircraft was found. Squadron Leader D Pankaj and Flight Lt S Achudev could not initiate ejection before the crash that occurred 60km from Tezpur Airbase on May 23, the IAF said. The plane had taken off from Tezpur airbase at around 10:30am on May 23 and had gone off the radar around 11:10 am. It was on a routine training mission as part of a two-aircraft formation. The wreckage of the Sukhoi-30 MKI jet was found on May 26 in a dense forest area in Arunachal Pradesh after a three- day search operation. Analysis of the flight data recorder (black box) of the aircraft and certain other articles recovered from the crash site revealed that the pilots could not initiate ejection before the crash, IAF spokesperson Anupam Banerjee said. The plane had taken off from Tezpur airbase at around 10:30am on May 23 and had gone off the radar around 11:10 am. It was on a routine training mission as part of a two-aircraft formation. The wreckage of the jet was spotted from air on Friday, and search teams could reach the crash site only on Sunday due to inclement weather after which the black box was recovered. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident. Hyderabad: Taking a serious note of the alleged illegal transfer of 796 acres of government land to private individuals, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tusday ordered a CID inquiry into the matter. "The CM discussed the issue of 796 acres of government land registered to private persons in Medchel district. He wanted the officials to take firm action against the guilty and CID to probe it in depth," a release from Rao's office said. The Cyberabad Police have arrested a sub-registrar and two directors of different real estate firms for allegedly transferring government land to private companies and causing losses to the state exchequer. R Srinivasa Rao, sub-registrar of Kukatpally, and P S Parthasarathi and P V S Sharma, directors of the two firms, were arrested on Monday for alleged illegal transfer of government land in Miyapur village on the city outskirts, a Cyberabad police release said. Meanwhile, one more sub-registrar was arrested by police on Tuesday on charge of registering properties violating provisions of Registration Act 1908 and allegedly causing a huge loss in crores to the government exchequer. T Ramesh Chander Reddy, who earlier worked as Sub-Registrar at L B Nagar, registered three sale deeds for 10,950 Square Yards land that were executed by M/s South India Research Institute Pvt Ltd represented by G Subba Raju in favour of Sama Narasimha Reddy and others, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said. "The property is located near national highway and as per the present market value, the sub-registrar has to collect stamp duty at Rs 35,000 per sq yards, but he adopted the market value at Rs 13,000 per sq yard and caused loss of Rs 1.45 crore to the government," the commissioner said. During his tenure as sub-registrar at L B Nagar, Ramesh had registered number of immovable properties in various documents by violating provisions of Registration Act, 1908 and caused huge loss to the state government exchequer, he said. On a petition lodged by P Subba Rao, Registrar of Ranga Reddy District, a case under relevant IPC sections and under Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Registration Act, 1908 was registered against Ramesh, Bhagwat added. The CMO release said two sub-registrars have been suspended in connection with the irregularities. Another sub- registrar had already been suspended and arrested. Favouring "cleansing" of corruption in registration department, Rao announced immediate abolition of `anywhere registration system' related to properties. He directed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials to keep a close vigil on the activities in sub-registrar offices all over the state and investigate the irregularities. In another decision, the CM directed withdrawal of certain special discretionary powers given to sub-registrars and registrars. The government received information that 'benami' transactions are not being uploaded on to the system by some officials in collusion with those registering the documents and the police department has been asked to form 'Flying Squads' to check such practices, the release said. Rao said there is no truth in reports in some quarters that certain government land had gone into the hands of private individuals. Noting that registering state-owned lands in the name of private persons is illegal, he said some persons got such properties registered to obtain loans from banks. The registration had been cancelled after the matter came to the notice of the government, he said. North Korea has conducted missile tests every week since President Moon Jae-in came to power here on May 10. On May 14, the North launched a Hwasong-12, which it claims is capable of reaching the U.S. state of Alaska. On May 21, it launched a Pukguksong-2, which can hit any target in Japan, and on Monday it fired a new missile capable of both surface-to-surface and surface-to-ship attacks. It also tested a surface-to-air missile last Saturday. The message seems to be that the North is determined to carry on developing missiles, with the aim of eventually mounting nuclear warheads on them, and is undeterred by international sanctions, offers of rapprochement, or military threats. The New York Times on Monday said North Korea is getting close to completing an intercontinental ballistic missile while the U.S. is running out of time to deal with this problem. "Even more worrisome is that these missiles actually seem to be functional, unlike older missiles that kept exploding or falling prematurely into the sea in past tests. Recent major tests were clearly successful, teaching the North Koreans a lot about how to fire missiles into space and drop warheads on distant targets," the daily said. North Korean state media claimed Tuesday that the missile that was launched from Wonsan, Kangwon Province the previous day and flew 450 km was a "new ballistic rocket capable of delivering precision strikes on random targets both on land and in the ocean, including enemy warships." It seems to have been a modified Scud ER with a range of 1,000 km and apparently boasts greater accuracy by adding canards, booster rockets and fiber-optic and GPS equipment. It could make Cheong Wa Dae, the Defense Ministry and other key South Korean installations as well as U.S. aircraft carriers targets of precision strikes. "Peacock has pious qualities just like cow -- Peahen doesn't need to have sex to get pregnant, it just swallows 'tears' of the peacock" pic.twitter.com/unwucmOFLJ News18 (@CNNnews18) May 31, 2017 What does the peacock say to the peahen when he is not in the mood? ``Pushpa, I hate tears" #RajasthanJudge #bramhacharipeacock T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) May 31, 2017 Met a girl last night and we drank my tears all night long by god Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) May 31, 2017 Peacock is national bird since it's lifelong brahmachari, never has sex with peahen. "Cow" judge preens on camera. Chosen by holy collegium https://t.co/m91CpGQTPS Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) May 31, 2017 Overheard: peacock to be renamed pea-brahmachari. pic.twitter.com/MhvGzm8VuD Devdutt Pattanaik (@devduttmyth) May 31, 2017 The high court judge is on TV clarifying his cow comments with peacock sex theory??!!! This is surreal! https://t.co/bx1BzxyFXf Krittivas Mukherjee (@Krittivasm) May 31, 2017 Peahen gets pregnant by swallowing tears of peacock, says a high court judge - making me shed tears for the quality of our judiciary The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) May 31, 2017 i learnt two things today. One, is a new word #Covfefe . second, that peahen gets pregnant drinking tears of d #peacock. Feeling enriched. Prince Thomas (@pmt_sojourner) May 31, 2017 Peacock: I love walking in the rain, because then nobody can see me having sex. (@khurafatijaat) May 31, 2017 The truth of peacock mating is all over youtube !! I don't know who is more embarrassing - the peacock in action or the 'learned' judge! https://t.co/kDDVNW591t Dr. S.Y. Quraishi (@DrSYQuraishi) May 31, 2017 What's wrong with #covfefe if peahens give birth after pecking on the Brahmachari peacock's tears. Pritish Nandy (@PritishNandy) June 1, 2017 Peahen's friend to her friend going on a date with Peacock: "Just ensure that he doesn't mix his tears in your drinks " Cherry Dimple (@shailimore) June 1, 2017 Oh, my eyes are full of tears aftr reading this. Girls plz stay away. Tanvir (@Tanvir_Ansari) May 31, 2017 #Rajasthan high court judge : Peahen gets pregnant after swallowing peacock's tears. Me : time to leave the state. Deepak Maheshwari (@deepakspm) June 1, 2017 Rajasthan High Court Judge says Peacock is our national bird coz it doesn't have sex. By that logic I am a national bird too. Mallikarjuna Kalika (@FieryGrilled) May 31, 2017 This Statue of Manu is right in front of Rajasthan High Court!Seems judge following Manusmriti instead of Indian Constitution! pic.twitter.com/VdpqpaXoX7 Md Shahil (@shahil1123) May 31, 2017 : Shortly after Rajasthan High Court judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma passed an order calling for the cow to be made the national animal, he came up with the unique theory that the peacock is the national bird as it is "celibate."Jutice Sharma's version on the mating habits of peafowls has it that peahens become pregnant by swallowing the tears of the peacock.Peacock is a Bramhachari and it does not have sex with a peahen. The peahen gets pregnant drinking the tears of the peacock. Even Lord Krishna carried the feather of a peacock on his head, he said in an exclusive interview to CNN-News18.Shortly afterwards, Twitteratti exploded in tears - of laughter - with memes and clever takes. Other posted videos of mating peafowls to prove a point. From journalist Shekhar Gupta to the stand-up comedian Tanmay Bhat, everybody had something to say or share about Justice Sharma's theory.One user did not forget to congratulate the CNN-News18 reporter for keeping a straight face through the interview.Here are a selected few: India has rejected an Australian request to take part in joint naval exercises with the United States and Japan for fear of antagonising China, which has warned against expanding the drills, Navy officials and diplomats said.Australia formally wrote to the Defence Ministry in January asking if it could send naval ships to join the July wargames as an observer, in what military experts saw as a step toward eventual full participation.Four officials from India, Australia and Japan told Reuters that India blocked the proposal and suggested that Canberra send officers to watch the exercises in the Bay of Bengal from the decks of the three participating countries' warships, instead.New Delhi is worried that China will step up activities in the Indian Ocean where it is building infrastructure in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, feeding India's anxiety about being encircled, Indian military sources and diplomats said.Indian Navy officials say there have been at least six submarine deployments by China in the Indian Ocean since 2013 and that Chinese submarines have been docking in Sri Lanka and its long-time ally Pakistan."India is being careful about China," said Abhijit Singh, a former Indian Navy officer who heads maritime studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi."India is aware they have upped their maritime engagement in this part of the world and they could just become more brazen with their submarine deployments. We don't want that to happen," Singh said.New Delhi's ties with Beijing have soured in recent years over a territorial dispute in the Himalayas and China's military support of Pakistan.China has also been concerned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has stepped up public engagement of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who lives in exile in India and whom it regards as a "splittist".A Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed there had been a request from Australia for observer status in the July exercises, but he said he was not in a position to provide any details of the Indian response.Both the United States and Japan supported the idea of involving Australia, seeing it as a natural partner in the effort to balance China's growing might, the four officials said.The Malabar exercises started out as India-US drills in 1992 but have included Japan every year from 2014.Dozens of warships, submarines and aircraft take part in the wargames, which are aimed at getting the three powerful navies used to working together. US military officials say this will help in future operations, including joint patrols across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.The exercises are now held in waters close to the East and South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean.China, which claims most of the South China Sea, has protested the expansion. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the strategic waterway, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.A spokesman for Australia's Minister of Defence Marise Payne refused to comment on the Malabar exercises. But one Australian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said it was increasingly unlikely Canberra would join the drills although it was keen to do so.Australia has also traditionally been wary of upsetting China, its largest trading partner.It takes no sides in the disputes in the South China Sea and has declined to join naval exercises there, although it does support US-led freedom of navigation activities in the region.Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at Australia National University, expressed frustration that China was effectively wielding veto power over other countries' security cooperation.India, Japan, the United States and Australia already have bilateral security, dialogue and exercise arrangements with each other, including in some three-country configurations, he said."It should be normal and natural for countries with common interests, high levels of trusts and overlapping capabilities to work together on security issues, without another country imposing a veto on who trains with whom," he said. Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday said it was not going to accept the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in its present form. Talking to the media, state Finance Minister Amit Mitra said, We have urged the Centre to defer GST rollout as small and medium-scale industries are not prepared to face the new tax regime. Unless a solution is reached on GST, it will not be introduced in the Bengal Assembly. We have repeatedly raised the issue before Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley but all our efforts were in vain. Therefore, I would like to make it clear that Bengal is not ready to accept GST in its current form, he added. Mitra and Jaitley have a meeting scheduled on June 3 in Delhi. The Bengal minister is set to discuss these issues when he meets his central government counterpart. During the fourth GST Summit on November 3 and 4, state governments had proposed a clause wherein they wanted food grains to be kept out of GST. After everyone consented to it, food grains are now tax-free. This is a major victory for the common man. Daily essentials like raw vegetables and flowers are also tax-free, said Mitra. We have fought to make cottage cheese, puffed rice, flattened rice, betel leaves, popped rice, green tea, vermilion, organic fertiliser, poultry and khadi clothing tax-free. Another victory for the states is that on processed tea, instead of a 12-18 % tax, 5 % tax has been imposed, added Mitra. Talking about the Bengal film industry, Mitra said, In West Bengal, films are taxed at 2% while the Centre is thinking of imposing a 28% tax. We will fight this. If regional films are taxed at 28%, wont they bite the dust? Though my own powers are limited, I have fought for Maa-Mati-Manush under the inspiration of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and I will continue my fight, he added. In 2016, Mitra was the chairman of the committee of state finance ministers and after attending several meetings he expressed unhappiness over Centres hurry in implementing GST without examining the ground realties and its impact on the small traders. On May 19, Mitra sent a letter to Jaitley requesting him to defer GST. Mitra who is also the chairman of the Empowered Committee of Ministers on GST cited reason that it would be unsustainable for small business houses/units. Although the Constitution Bill has already been passed by Parliament, but as per norms, the bill would require the approval of more than 50 % of the state legislatures for it to go to the President. So far eight states Telangana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have ratified the Bill and the Centre has fixed July 1 as the date for implementation of the new tax regime. Thank you for taking the time to meet me this morning @narendramodi Sir. Such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin at the same time. pic.twitter.com/vLzUSH5WR1 PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) May 30, 2017 Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 4:23pm PDT Priyanka Chopra is getting slammed on social media for not being "decently" dressed and sitting in a disrespectful posture during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin.Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin, Germany while he was there as a part of his six-day tour of four nations. The 34-year-old actress, who is promoting her latest movie Baywatch in the city, took to Twitter to share a picture with the prime minister. "Thank you for taking the time to meet me this morning @narendramodi Sir. Such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin at the same time. (sic) ," Priyanka captioned the photo.But some people were not happy about the meeting. Priyanka was wearing a dress when she met the prime minister and many people on her social media account, decided to shame the actress. They slammed her for not covering up her legs and wearing 'decent clothes'. Some even found her posture 'disrespectful'.Priyanka decided to give it back to the trolls in her most sassy way. The actress shared a picture on her Instagram and Facebook page by roping in her mom, Madhu Chopra showing off some lassy legs.It served as a major burn for haters while her followers couldn't stop themselves from applauding the bold move. Some of the comments read:Keep inspiring us, PeeCee! Throughout the month of June, Europe's biggest annual architecture festival returns to London with hundreds of events taking place across the city. First established in 2004, the London Festival of Architecture continues to grow in scale and popularity. Last year's festival saw 356 events celebrate the theme of Community. For the 2017 edition, Memory has been selected as the event's leitmotif, running through all the festival's events: from conferences and exhibitions, to open studios and installations. Vision 2017 June 6-7 One of the festival favorites, Vision is "the UK's premier built environment event, with technology and innovation at its core." This year, architects from Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia and the Czech Republic will exhibit a variety of products and building solutions at the Olympia Central in London. The accompanying seminar program for 2017 includes presentations and talks from industry experts including Zaha Hadid Architects and the RIBA President Elect Ben Derbyshire. Architecture tours June 13 There are numerous architecture tours that take place during the London Festival of Architecture. This year, doors will be opened to visitors at the Grade 1 listed Benjamin Franklin House, the Royal Albert Wharf residential development and the newest Riverlight construction in Nine Elms, southwest of the city. From the new to the old: the festival is also offering visitors the chance to tour Silvertown, a derelict district in London's eastern suburbs, for which plans for regeneration are being developed. Architecture Film Festival: London Shorts June 15 In collaboration with the inaugural Architecture Film Festival London, a six-day biennial festival that celebrates architectural film, the LFA is screening a curated selection of short films at the Battersea Power Station's new community center. The shorts will explore the idea of "Belonging" through architecture. Anticipated installations Throughout the month, different installations will appear around London as part of the festival, including "Building Memories" by Levitt Bernstein, "Hut in the Clouds" by HUT, "City(E)State" by Alison Brooks Architects, "The Giant Doll's House Project" by JW3 and "City vs. Experience" by PDP London. My sympathy and condolences to the family of Daasari NaryaNa rao.His loss is truly a big loss for Telugu cinema. Late K.B. sir admired him Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 30, 2017 I remember the days spent with Narayan rao gaaru and Mr. Sanjeev kumar ji. Yaadgaar. He was a great fan of Mr.KB. I belong to a great family Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 30, 2017 His death leaves a void that can never be filled. Prayers and strength with the whole family. Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 30, 2017 The person who treated me just the same during my first film and my 50th Such a tremendous loss. Rip Dasari sir Trisha Krishnan (@trishtrashers) May 30, 2017 Saddened by the demise of Shri Dasari Narayan Rao Garu.The industry has lost a pillar of support .You will always live in our hearts sir . Sreenu Vaitla (@SreenuVaitla) May 30, 2017 : Popular stars such as Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Mahesh Babu on Tuesday expressed their condolences on the passing away of well-known Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao.After prolonged illness, especially issues related to lungs and kidneys, Rao passed away on Tuesday at a private hospital.The celebrities took to Twitter to share their condolences.Describing Rao as a "close friend and well-wisher", superstar Rajinikanth said: "One of the greatest directors of India. His demise is a loss to the whole Indian film industry. My heartfelt condolences to his family."Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan described Rao's death as "a big loss to Telugu cinema. Late K. Balachander sir admired him."Haasan, who worked with Rao in 1984 Hindi film Yaadgar, said: "I remember the day spent with Narayana Rao garu and Sanjeev Kumar ji. aYaadgar'. He was a great fan of K. Balachander. I belong to a great family."Mahesh Babu said he was "saddened" by the news."His death leaves a void that can never be filled. Prayers and strength with the whole family," he tweeted.Actress Trisha Krishnan wrote: "The person who treated me just the same during my first film and my 50th. Such a tremendous loss. RIP Dasari sir."Reacting to the tragic news, filmmaker Sreenu Vaitla tweeted: "Saddened by the demise of Dasari Narayana Rao garu. The industry has lost a pillar of support .You will always live in our hearts sir."Megastar Chiranjeevi, in a statement from China, said he was "extremely shook by the unbelievable loss"."My last and impactful memory with him was when I met him on his birthday, a few days ago, to present the Allu Ramalingaiah award. His demise is a person loss to each one of us and I will forever carry his warmth, affection and fondness for me in my heart," Chiranjeevi added.The National Award-winning filmmaker holds a record of directing over 125 films and producing 50 others.Some of his best films include Premabhishekam, Meghasandesham, Osey Ramulamma and Tata Manavadu among others.He had recently announced his plans to make a biopic on the late actress and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. New Delhi: Last week, Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi called a meeting of the opposition parties, to put up a united face against the BJP juggernaut. Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders of all opposition parties attended, except one. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar skipped the meeting. Interestingly, he could take time out to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over lunch the very next day. This episode came as a reminder why the opposition has failed to unite, even as the BJP has won state after state and city after city over the past three years. On June 3, a second attempt of opposition unity will be made. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supremo M Karunanidhi may have been off the political radar owing to his frail health, but his 94th birthday is set to be a happening affair with opposition leaders across India landing in Chennai. That the birthday bash comes ahead of the Presidential elections is significant. DMK working president M K Stalin has also openly announced that BJP leaders are not welcome to his fathers birthday celebrations. While AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has not been invited, there is confusion whether Nitish will come or not. The Modi government appears stronger than ever after three years in power. However, during this period, India has seen probably the weakest opposition in history. This leads to an important question. In 2019, will the voters have no option other than the BJP? If the opposition doesnt get its act together, such a scenario might just become a reality. Congress, the grand old party of Indian polity, has failed to retain its own loyalists, let alone getting fresh faces on board. In 2014, as the Modi rose to power with historic mandate, the Congress only gawked. With just 44 seats in the partys kitty, there was nothing that Sonia Gandhi or her son Rahul could do. One would have hoped that the party would work hard to revive its base. But in middle of Modi governments tenure, the Uttar Pradesh poll results came as a reminder of Congress and opposition parties weakness. Once again, no lessons seem to have been learnt. Congress is yet to hold a meeting over what exactly went wrong in the last three years. We dont even have a plan in place for 2019, said a source close to the Gandhis. Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM and JD(U) chief, has been quiet. Be it in the wake of a controversy surrounding his meeting with Modi, or a stir caused by his ally Lalu Yadavs alleged corruption scandal, or his plans for 2019. The BJP, on the other hand, has been treading on cautious lines when dealing with Nitish. Pressure or no pressure, the Bihar CM doesnt seem to be feeling the heat, and this is further making the already weak opposition sweat. Mamata Banerjee, TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister, has always been one of the strongest women voices in Indian polity. But is she strong enough to lead a united opposition? With her own ministers involved in some of the countrys biggest financial scams, Saradha and Narada, her strength and transparency has been on precarious grounds. When many in the opposition are facing scandal charges and cases, the public sees them as a bunch of corrupt leaders. You cant entirely blame the people for thinking like this, no matter how true or false the cases are, a senior Left leader told News18, on condition of anonymity. The only silver lining, in between this quagmire, seems to be the central governments recent ban on cattle slaughter. Calling it unconstitutional and an infringement of rights, the opposition leaders have found some common ground, with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asking all opposition leaders to come together against the ban. Joining him is Mamata, substantiating her stance of being a stronger leader than Nitish in the face of a rising Saffron Party. Despite the various stances of leaders, and attempts to topple one another, one thing that the opposition is aware of is the fact that now unity is related to their survival. In hindsight, they all know that as individuals none of them is strong enough to take on Modi. A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with the wind, said Lewis Mumford. The kite seems to be high up in the sky. About time for the opposition to beat the wind. Raising the temple pitch a day after conspiracy charges were filed against senior saffron leaders, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday offered prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla shrine in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex.He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed in the Babri Masjid demolition case on Tuesday, PTI reported. Conspiracy charges were also filed against patriarchs LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and Union minister Uma Bharti.This was Adityanaths first visit to Ayodhya since assuming charge as Uttar Pradesh CM in March.The UP chief minister spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple and later offered payers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya.Adityanath had even met Advani at a VVIP guesthouse in Lucknow ahead of the hearing.Last week, speaking at News18 Networks gala event 'UP Rising' in Lucknow, Adityanath had calling for construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya within the realm of the Constitution.Indian Muslims ancestors were neither Babur nor Aurangzeb I appeal to all Muslims to welcome good things... Historic wrongs must be corrected for a united and better India, Yogi had said.He said while Uttar Pradesh government was not a party to the Ram temple case in the court, a solution should be arrived at through dialogue. If both sides sit together and find a way out to build the Ram temple, my government will support it in every possible manner.The appearance of stalwarts like Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti in court has prompted the party's Hindutva faces to raise the pitch for the construction of Ram Temple.On the day of the hearing, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said "no power on earth" could stop the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.Bharti, the Union minister of Water Resources, said before appearing in the court that the mosque was pulled down not as part of a "criminal conspiracy" but an "open movement". "I was present in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, which is no secret. Crores of BJP workers, lakhs of officials and thousands of political leaders participated."It was an open movement like the movement against the Emergency. I don't see any conspiracy," she said.Another BJP leader and one of the accused, Vinay Katiyar, has insisted that there was no conspiracy as the mosque was razed by a big crowd in the open. "It is not appropriate to charge a few persons with criminal conspiracy," the one-time firebrand Hindutva leader and former UP BJP chief said.Katiyar targeted Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav saying that a case should have been lodged against the former chief minister over the firing by police on 'kar sewaks' in Ayodhya in 1990.He claimed he had not delivered a speech on December 6, 1992, when the 16th-century structure was demolished. He also claimed that the case had "reached" the judgment stage before the apex court gave its new ruling. Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday once again stirred the pot, saying that many Muslim organisations were coming forward offering the land for the construction of Ram Temple. The firebrand Hindutva leader also asserted that a section of Muslims was also ready for the temple, adding, "it was a suitable time to reach a solution through dialogue." "Uttar Pradesh government will be happy to assist any such effort," Adityanath said, after offering prayers at Hanuman Garhi and "Ram Janam Bhoomi temple". The 84-kosi parikrama yatra will resume soon, the UP CM said, assuring the devotees. "It was started by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 2013, but the erstwhile Akhilesh government didn't allow it to be performed." Adityanath also said that the government will ensure that Ram Leela is always performed in Ayodhya as "it is the birthplace of Lord Rama." The UP chief minister, who arrived here this morning, spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex. He later offered payers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed yesterday along with the other BJP leaders. A special CBI court in Lucknow had yesterday framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19. Bodeli/Devaliya: Seeking to break the Congress' hold on the tribal belt of eastern Gujarat ahead of the state Assembly polls, BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday accused Congress of showing 'Sheikh Chilli' (unfulfilled) dreams to the tribals. Shah, who visited the tribal-dominated Chhota Udaipur district to take part in the state BJP's "vistarak" (expansion) drive, had lunch with a tribal family at Devaliya village as part of his tribal outreach. The drive is aimed at establishing direct contact with people ahead of the polls, due later this year. During his interaction with a group of tribal leaders on the campus of the Swami Narayan temple in Bodeli, the BJP national chief hailed the ruling BJP in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for "bringing development to tribals in the last 22 years". Addressing the gathering, the BJP president said, "Congress has only shown you dreams...Dreams that are not realised are called Sheikh Chilli (a folk tale character) dreams". He said the Modi government at the Centre has launched as many as 106 programmes in the last three years and has worked for uplift of the poor "in tune with the 'antyodaya' (uplifting the weakest section) philosophy of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay". "In the last 22 years, the state BJP government has done everything for the tribal population which the Congress never did," Shah said while appealing to the tribal community to help BJP register a bigger victory in upcoming polls. "People have not defeated BJP since 1995, and we are here to request you to help BJP so that the party could get maximum seats," Shah told the gathering. Attacking the Congress, he said the party is only interested in paying lip service to Dalits and adivasis. "Congress only talks about Dalits, tribals and of social inclusion, but what happened during the Congress rule is all for you to see. No power, no water, no road, no health centres. There used to be curfews for months and unemployment was at its peak," he said launching a broadside against the Congress which has a strong following in tribal areas of the state. Shah said the Modi government in 2001 ensured a 24-hour power supply to the smallest and remotest villages, and also got schools constructed in villages while appointing teachers. He said health services improved under the BJP government through dial 108 ambulances and public health centres. "The government's 'Adivasi Vikas Yojana' has taken development to all tribal villages. Water has been made available to the tribal populace. 1.70 crore acres of land has been given to 80,000 tribals in the state and Gram Sabhas have got right over the forest produce," Shah said. He said the government is committed to preserve the tribal culture and has constructed a tribal museum and a tribal university. "I will get tired if I have to name all the schemes that the Modi government has launched for the poor after coming to power (at the Centre). Tribals will get benefit of all such programmes," Shah added. Earlier in the day, Shah addressed a booth-level party workers meeting at Devliya village as part of the 'Vistarak' drive. The BJP president, accompanied by the Gujarat unit BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and state party leaders, went from door to door seeking votes for the saffron party in the village. The eastern Gujarat tribal belt, despite serious efforts of BJP, continues to be dominated by the Congress, which won 16 to 17 seats out of the 28 assembly segments in 2012 elections. As the BJP has set the target of winning 150 seats out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat in upcoming polls, garnering maximum seats in the tribal belt is crucial for the saffron player. Shah and his team campaigned in Devaliya village under Chhota Udaipur constituency, which has been held by eight-time Congress MLA Mohansinh Rathwa. In a brief address to the newly-inducted booth-level party workers from Devaliya village, Shah said while Gujarat remains the party's strong fortress, they have to make it further strong and ensure that it continues to remain strong. "We have decided to take BJP's ideology and strengthen its organisation at village level as part of 'vistarak' (outreach) programme. "In Gujarat alone, a total 48,000 party workers will go door to door to explain party's programmes, our government's work at central and state level...No party would have undertaken such an exercise. And right here, you can see party workers from booth level right up to the national level," Shah said. "Our party values organisation and workers, who are the soul of the party. I had been to Lakshwadeep and stayed there for three days, visiting 15 booths where we inducted 40 new members. We are not strong there as we got only 3,200 votes in (2014) Lok Sabha elections," he said. The BJP chief said he will continue his booth-level programmes in Gujarat in the coming three days, and will visit Sabarkantha for the same purpose. He praised Modi's leadership as a "matter of pride" for the party and exhorted 225 members from the village to take the message of the party to every person. "This exercise is more important for Gujarat because we are going to have an election here. We have not lost any election in the state since 1995. When we had Narendra Modi as chief minister, we won 130 seats. Now that Modi is our prime minister, we will win 150 seats," he said. He later had lunch at the house of tribal family of Popat Rathwa. Rathwa said he has been a BJP worker since over two decades, and exuded confidence that the effort to expand party's presence in two booths in his village will ensure its victory in upcoming state Assembly elections. "Mostly people vote for Congress here, but this time votes will go to BJP, I am sure about it," Rathwa said. He said in preparation for Shah's lunch programme at his house, an LPG gas cylinder was given to him a day before. "Only today we got gas connection, although we had constructed toilet before," he said. China protests at US navy action From:Xinhua | 2017-05-26 12:23 China voiced its strong protest yesterday after a US Navy warship passed close to the Meiji Reef in the South China Sea. The USS Dewey illegally entered the waters near the island early on Thursday without permission of the Chinese government, said foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang at a press briefing. Such moves have undermined Chinas sovereignty and security and were very likely to cause unexpected air and sea accidents. The Chinese navy identified the US warship, warned and expelled it, Lu said. China has indisputable sovereignty of the Nansha Islands and its adjacent waters. China always respects and maintains the freedom of navigation and overflight of various countries in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, Lu said. However, we firmly oppose any country damaging Chinas sovereignty and security in the name of navigation and overflight freedom. Lu said the situation in the South China Sea has shown positive momentum, but the US acts had disrupted negotiations between all parties concerned. China is resolute in its determination to maintain sovereignty, security and maritime interests, he said, urging the US side to correct its mistakes, stop provocation and not harm regional peace and stability as well as China-US cooperation. Defense ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey sailed into waters close to the reefs off Chinas Nansha Islands without permission from China, and missile frigates Liuzhou and Luzhou warned and expelled the US ship after identifying it. The US acts, aimed at showing off military power and pushing regional militarization, could have easily caused sea and air accidents, Ren said, adding that the Chinese military had lodged solemn representations over the incident to the US side. Ren said the South China Sea situation is developing toward a stable and positive trend under efforts from China and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But he added: The wrong acts of the US have damaged this trend, doing no good for peace and stability in the South China Sea. China-US relations are at a key period of development, he said. It needs effort from both sides to create healthy relations. Any wrong actions by the US military will do nothing but spur the Chinese military to strengthen capabilities to safeguard national sovereignty and security, he said. The US operation came a week after the Pentagon said Chinese jets conducted an unprofessional intercept of a US radiation sniffing plane, an allegation China denied. Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday decided to call a meeting of all chief ministers to fight the central government's gazette notification banning the sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter. Kerala has witnessed several protests, beef festivals, opposing what many call a "blanket ban" on cattle sale. The chief minister dubbed the notification as an encroachment on the rights of the state, democracy and federalism. Vijayan said it was an overreach by the centre and the state will challenge it legally without allowing a ban on beef through such backdoor policies. J Prabhat, a political scientist, told news18, "Pinarayi Vijayan is known as a strong leader and in this issue, he has taken a strong stand. It has helped his image politically. He is trying to emerge as a stronger leader outside the state and his stand on the issue was widely appreciated. On the first day of the notification, Kerala chief minister had said that the ban was surprising. "LDF has an uncompromising stand on this issue. We will not compromise on this matter at any stage.The livelihood of thousands of people will be lost. What right does a government have to say that you cannot have a particular food? They are trying to impose their idea which is not good in a democratic country. RSS is taking the country in a dangerous direction, Pinarayi Vijayan said. Vijayan, in a letter to the Prime Minister, urged him to repeal the newly imposed restrictions, so that the lives and livelihoods of millions of our fellow countrymen were protected, thereby also guarding the Fundamental principles of our constitution. His letter stated, Meat is the primary source of protein for millions of poor and ordinary people in this country, particularly the Dalits. Such restrictions being imposed on the eve of Ramzan would certainly appear to certain communities of our country as a direct attack on them. People of all faiths consume meat in our country, not just the minorities. Once the prohibition comes into effect, it will not only deprive them of adequate nutrition but also prevent the availability of raw material for the leather industry. More than 2.5 million people work in Indias leather industry and most of them are Dalits, especially those engaged in skinning the carcases. Hence, this prohibition will severely affect our disadvantaged sections, in terms of both their lives and livelihoods. His letter further said that "in my own state of Kerala, a vast majority of the population consume meat. So is the case with all the other South Indian states and North East Indian states. Even in states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal, non-vegetarians out number vegetarians. Therefore, the new rules should have been introduced in consultation with the states. The absence of efforts to take the states into confidence on such a drastic move with far-reaching consequences is detrimental to our democracy. I am afraid it amounts to an intrusion into the rights of the states in our federal structure. The introduction of such restrictions in a hasty manner would certainly prove to be a challenge in upholding our plurality, the essence of our nation. It would also be against the principles of secularism and federalism enshrined in our constitution. The chief minister took up the cudgels against the Centre, saying Kerala didn't need lessons on food habits from New Delhi and Nagpur, referring to the central government and the RSS headquarters. He also wrote to the chief ministers of all other states, pleading them to stand united and fight for the cause. He also urged them to write to the PM to repeal this order. The state government even said openly that they cannot follow this notification and will challenge it. The issue has brought plaudits for Vijayan politically in and outside the state as many from the neighbouring states of Tamilnadu and Karnataka are applauding him. Some in social media even went to the extent of asking him to be their chief minister for the tough stand taken. Even the opposition Congress is supporting the government in this matter. Opposition leader Ramesh Chen nit Hala has written to the chief minister asking him to call a special session of the assembly to bring in legislation to deal with the issue. The cabinet also decided to call a special session of the assembly. Beef is a sensitive issue in Kerala because it is a delicacy of the state. The majority of the people in the state consume beef irrespective of their religion; consumption of beef was never associated with religion. Arun Krishnan, a student from Thiruvananthapuram said,"It is a very deplorable policy. It is a challenge to the diversity of the country. You cant have a cultural imposition from the centre to the states. You can expect the people of Kerala to protest this policy. Beef is symbolic of unity for the people of Kerala. Here Hindus, Muslims, Christians, everyone eats beef if at all we stop eating beef it will be for health reasons but definitely not on religious grounds." Nithin Kunneparampil, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram said, "The impact in Kerala is very high because ours is a beef-loving state.The politics of cow, from the north, is being imposed on us. We dont consider cow a Gaumatha. When people are more liberal, but medieval practices are being forced on us. We can never accept that if someone stops us from eating our favourite beef delicacy." But among the protests, the youth Congress protested by slaughtering an ox calf in public, inviting widespread flak. The workers were suspended and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi condemned it. The state police had registered a case against the protestors for public slaughter. This gave the BJP a breather. The party was on the defensive ever since the order came. Kummanam Rajashekaran, BJP state president, said that the state government was trying to create panic and the order was being misrepresented and it didn't ban beef. A division bench of the high court, while hearing a PIL, observed that the order does not ban the sale, eating or slaughter of cattle, and it only regulates sale at market places. New Delhi: Eyeing the Telangana State Elections 2019, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will pay a visit to the state's Sangareddy district on June 1. At Telangana Praja Garjana meeting, he will release a "Chargesheet", detailing the failures of the TRS government. The public meeting aims to rejuvenate the local cadre just in time. Rahul Gandhi will also unveil the party's promises for 2019 elections. Rahul Gandhi tweeted, saying, "Looking fwd to being in Sangareddy tomorrow, a place that holds a very spl significance for me & for Congress men & women across the country." The public meeting is planned at the Ambedkar Stadium in Sangareddy. It is the same location from where former Prime Minister Late Indira Gandhi addressed a public meeting in December 1979 and she led the Congress party to power in the 1980 General Elections held for 7th Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi's address from the same location, after 38 years, is being seen as historic, significant and of very high sentimental value. Ten leaders or workers from each of the 8,560 Gram Panchayats in Telangana State will take part in the public meeting. Apart from party leaders and workers, Rahul Gandhi would be speaking to aggrieved groups such as chilli farmers and unemployed youth among others. Speaking to media, TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy said, "Rahul Gandhi will speak about the dictatorial and anti-democratic attitude of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. He will expose total lowering of political morality in Telangana by KCR through brazen inducement of elected representatives of other parties in ruling party. He will also expose how Modi and KCR have been pushing agriculture and farmers into a crisis." During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi is expected to make announcements like -- waiving off crop loans up to Rs. 2 lakh in a single take, unemployment allowance for jobless youth in the state, clearing all pending bills of Indiramma Houses and additional room for the existing beneficiaries, financial incentives to all Women Self Help Groups in the State. Earlier, BJP chief Amit Shah also visited Telangana as a part of expansion drive in south India. The professor of coastal research who calls himself Dr. Beach has released the 27th edition of the Top 10 Beach List, declaring Siesta Beach in Florida the best beach in the US, for its fine white sand and warm clear waters. Released just in time for the summer holidays which lie on the shimmering horizon, the annual list highlights the cleanest, most beautiful and family-friendly beaches in the US and serves as a guide for families staycationing in the US. Unlike other beach rankings which may be based on public votes or arbitrary editorial choices, Stephen P. Leatherman's list takes a hardline scientific approach, evaluating everything from water to sand quality, safety, management, water temperature, the number of sunny days, slope, amenities and water color. Topping this year's list is Siesta Beach in Florida, a short drive from Saraosta which attracts sand collectors for its fine white, quartz sand, estimated to be millions of years old. Its unique quartz properties means that even on the hottest days, the sand is still cool under the foot. Recent upgrades include expanded parking and a free trolley to transport beachgoers. The area is also popular for beach volleyball and other fitness activities thanks to its wide, crescent-shaped beach and warm, turquoise waters. Overall, Florida leads this year's list with three beaches landing a spot on the top 10 ranking, followed by Hawaii. If you're planning a beach holiday in the US this year, check out the top 10 US beaches 2017 according to Dr. Beach: 1. Siesta Beach Sarasota, Florida 2. Kapalua Bay Beach Maui, Hawaii 3. Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, Outer Banks of North Carolina 4. Grayton Beach State Park Florida panhandle 5. Coopers Beach Southampton, New York 6. Coast Guard Beach Cape Cod, Massachusetts 7. Caladesi Island State Park Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida 8. Hapuna Beach State Park Big Island, Hawaii 9. Coronado Beach San Diego, California 10. Beachwalker Park Kiawah Island, South Carolina By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast. Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017 Explosion in Kabul, reportedly near Wazir Akbar Khan area, Kabul PD 10: Afghan Media pic.twitter.com/5joCXNwkqV ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 Massive VBIED (Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) not too far from our Embassy:Indian ambassador in Kabul Manpreet Vohra #KabulBlast pic.twitter.com/32p7ws7wVw ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 At least 80 people were killed and more than 300 injured in a bomb blast near the Indian embassy in the diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning. In a tweet, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said all Indian officials were safe."Unfortunately the toll has reached 80 martyred (killed) and over 300 wounded, including many women and children," said ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh, adding the figures would continue to climb as more bodies are pulled from the debris.Bodies littered the scene and a towering plume of smoke rose from the area, which houses foreign embassies, after the blast blew out the windows in several missions and residences hundreds of metres away.It was not immediately clear what the target was. But the attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where a military beset by soaring casualties and desertions is struggling to beat back the insurgents. Over a third of the country is outside government control.The explosion was said to have been triggered by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) around 50 meters from the Indian mission. All staff members have been moved to strong rooms, sources added.Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors and panicked schoolgirls sought safety. Men and women struggled to get through security checkpoints to search for loved ones.Photographs accessed by CNN-News18 showed window planes of the embassy building shattered by the impact of the blast which was reported from near the German Gate.The German Gate is the entry point to the road in the diplomatic area which houses missions of several countries, the closes being the German Embassy.Condemning the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Spain as part of his four-nation tour, tweeted:Indian ambassador Manpreet Vohra said the Indian mission building suffered damage.There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual "spring offensive".The Afghan Taliban denied responsibility in a statement, saying the movement condemned any such untargeted attacks that caused civilian casualties.The Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3.The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in the Afghan capital. Kabul province had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 thanks to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.In March last year, the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Jalalabad city was attacked by terrorists, leading to the death of nine people.Wednesdays attack underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan, where Afghan forces beset by soaring casualties and desertions are struggling to beat back the insurgents. More than one third of the country is outside government control.Afghan troops are backed by US and NATO forces, and the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to send thousands more troops to the country to break the deadlocked fight against the Taliban.US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who also mainly serve in an advisory capacity a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. Seoul: The horse-riding daughter of South Korea's "Rasputin" whose lavish lifestyle in Europe was allegedly funded by millions of dollars of bribes was arrested as she flew home, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Chung Yoo-Ra, 20, is the offspring of a woman currently on trial alongside disgraced former president Park Geun-Hye in an influence-peddling scandal that has rocked the country. Prosecutors say cash to pay for her equestrian training came from electronics giant Samsung, which had handed over the money as part of an effort to curry favour with her powerful mother. Chung is the only child of Choi Soon-Sil, the close confidante of impeached ex-president Park, who was kicked out of office in March in a groundswell of public disgust over the influence of money on South Korean politics. Park and Choi, nicknamed "Rasputin" for her influence over the then-president, are on trial for allegedly accepting or seeking millions of dollars in bribes from the country's huge conglomerates, including Samsung. Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong is being tried separately while Shin Dong-Bin, the chairman of retail giant Lotte, the South's fifth-biggest conglomerate, also stands accused. The spiralling investigation has now caught up with Chung, who was also allegedly granted a place at prestigious Ewha Women's University thanks to her mother's intervention. In highly competitive South Korea, admission to one of a handful of elite universities is seen as vital to a student's future. Chung, who was arrested by Danish police in January, dropped her appeal against extradition from Denmark last week. A team of five officials from the prosecutors' office was dispatched to Europe to make the arrest as soon as she boarded a Korean Air flight, where South Korea has jurisdiction, news agency Yonhap said. Chung is expected to arrive at Incheon International Airport later Wednesday, from where she will make a short statement to the press before being taken to the Seoul Prosecutors' Office for questioning. Cosy and corrupt ties between South Korea's business and political elites have endured for decades. But the trial of Park and Choi could shed new light on the links between Park and the bosses of the family-run conglomerates that dominate Asia's fourth-biggest economy. Shanghai: A man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing, the arrested man's wife and an advocacy group said Tuesday. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon. Deng said the caller told her she didn't need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband, the family's breadwinner. China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: "They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable." "Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labor situation," Li said. "But now it has become more political." China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China. For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investigated working conditions at suppliers to some of the world's best-known companies, but Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China's state security apparatus. The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of China's ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. "Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labor situation," Li said. "But now it has become more political." Walt Disney Co. stopped working with a toy maker in Shenzhen last year after the group exposed labor violations. China Labor Watch has also published reports on child labor at Samsung suppliers and spent years investigating Apple Inc.'s China factories. In the past, the worst thing Li feared was having investigators kicked out of a factory or facing a short police detention. That has changed. The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of China's ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch. Faced with rising labor unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has also taken a stern approach to activism in southern China's manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody. Li added that a friend had tried to file a missing person report on Li Zhao in Jiangxi, where the factory is located, but was told he had to do so in the man's hometown. Another difference is the target of China Labor Watch's investigation: a brand owned by the daughter of the president of the United States. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trump's brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment for this story. Abigail Klem, who took over day-to-day management when the first daughter took on a White House role as presidential adviser, has said the brand requires licensees and their manufacturers to "comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions." Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand shoes in the factory, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit merchandise. Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the three missing investigators on Monday but received no reply. Li added that a friend had tried to file a missing person report on Li Zhao in Jiangxi, where the factory is located, but was told he had to do so in the man's hometown. AP was unable to reach the other investigators' families. China's Ministry of Public Security and police in Ganzhou city and Jiangxi province could not be reached for comment Tuesday, which was a national holiday in China. All three men were investigating Ganzhou Huajian International Shoe City Co.'s factory in Jiangxi province, just north of Guangdong province. Su Heng had been working undercover at the factory since April, Li said. The parent company is known as Huajian Group. The use of student workers in China is legal, but meant to be strictly regulated. Rights groups and journalists have documented widespread abuse of the system over the years. In January, Liu Shiyuan, then spokesman for the Huajian Group, told AP the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trump's brand a fraction of the 20 million pairs the company produces a year. A current spokeswoman for the company, Long Shan, did not reply to questions Tuesday. "I told you I could not check until tomorrow," she said. "If your official letter contains a stamp and signature, we can confirm whether the media is real or not." Li said investigators had seen Ivanka Trump-brand shoes in the factory, as well as production orders for Ivanka Trump, Marc Fisher, Nine West and Easy Spirit merchandise. "We were unaware of the allegations and will look into them immediately," a spokeswoman for Marc Fisher, which manufactures Ivanka Trump, Easy Spirit and its own branded shoes, said in an email. Nine West did not respond to requests for comment. "The threshold is much lower today than it was one year ago, two years ago, and if this is something that has a foreign diplomacy dimension, that would make national security personnel even more willing to stop it." Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng were blocked from leaving mainland China for Hong Kong in April and May something that had never happened to his colleagues before, Li said. Hua Haifeng was stopped at the border May 25 and later questioned by police, Li said. During their final phone conversation on Saturday, Hua told Li that police had asked him to stop investigating the Huajian factory another turn of events that Li said was unprecedented. Li said the men had documented excessive overtime, with working days sometimes stretching longer than 18 hours, and a base salary below minimum wage. They were working to confirm evidence suggesting that student interns some of whom allegedly quit in protest were putting in excessive hours on work unrelated to their field of study, in violation of Chinese law, Li said. The use of student workers in China is legal, but meant to be strictly regulated. Rights groups and journalists have documented widespread abuse of the system over the years. "My son suddenly burst into tears. He said he missed Papa," Deng said by phone from her home in central China's Hubei province. "I said Papa would come home soon and buy you toys." "It is the role of the police to prevent that kind of independent investigation," said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia director for Amnesty International. "The threshold is much lower today than it was one year ago, two years ago, and if this is something that has a foreign diplomacy dimension, that would make national security personnel even more willing to stop it." Hua's wife, Deng, meanwhile, has yet to tell the couple's children, ages 3 and 7, about their father's plight. But they seem to know anyway, she said. "My son suddenly burst into tears. He said he missed Papa," Deng said by phone from her home in central China's Hubei province. "I said Papa would come home soon and buy you toys." She said the child looked at her and answered: "Papa was taken away by a monster." President Donald Trump's top adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, on the firing line for his reported attempt to set up a "back-channel" with Russia, has received support from US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley."If you know Jared, he's a very calm, stable voice," Haley told MSNBC.The Indian-American envoy's defence of Kushner, 36, came after the American media reported last week that he discussed to open a secret "back-channel" between Russia and Trump's presidential transition team in a meeting with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, last December."There is not a lot that rattles him. So I suspect that he'll continue doing his work like he always has. He's said that he will totally comply with the investigation and give every ounce of information that they need. And I think we can expect that," Haley said in response to a question.ALSO READ | Trump's Son-in-law Jared Kushner had Undisclosed Contacts With Russian Envoy: Sources She said she did talk to Kushner often, but has not since the news came out last week that he wanted to open a secret line of communication with Russia bypassing formal channels."Well, I haven't talked to him since all of this came out," Haley said.The White House too has defended the role of Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump."I would just say that Kushner's attorney has said that Kushner has volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings, and he will do the same if he's contacted and connected with any other inquiry," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.ALSO READ | In Trump-Russia Probe, FBI 'Looking' at President's Son-in-law Jared Kushner Both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser Rex Tillerson have discussed that, and "in general terms, back channels are an appropriate part of diplomacy," he said.Yesterday Politico reported that Kushner is back in the West Wing and continuing to lead meetings despite the rising tide of Russia-related questions. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss key security issues with civilian and military officials, who condemned the "atrocities" by Indian forces in Kashmir. During the National Security Committee meeting at the PM Office, the civilian and military leadership also voiced "moral and diplomatic" support for the Kashmiri people. According to an official statement, the NSC deliberated upon overall internal and external security situation of the country. The situation on eastern and western borders was also discussed. "National Security Committee expressed serious concern over the atrocities of Indian forces on the innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir and resolved to continue moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris," the statement said. The Committee also expressed satisfaction over the sustained gains achieved from anti-terrorism operations, particularly Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad. The security for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects also came under discussion during the meeting. Earlier, private media reported that the issue of Indian prisoner on death row Kulbhushan Jadhav was also discussed in the meeting. The participants included Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, National Security Advisor Lt. Gen.(Retd) Nasser Khan Janjua and ISI chief Lt. Gen Naveed Mukhtar and others, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The army chief also separately met Sharif and discussed matters pertaining to operational preparedness of the Pakistan Army, according to the statement. Sunny and hot for the dragon boats From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-05-26 12:20 It will be sunny, dry and hot over the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday. According to Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, the mercury will continue to climb, with temperatures today ranging from 19 to 28 degrees Celsius. The high will touch 31 degrees over the weekend. Residents are, however, warned of big temperature differences over 10 degrees between morning and night. The scorching weather will continue next week though it is expected to turn cloudy. Sunday marks the first day of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival, an event that dates back about 2,500 years. Its a festival tradition to eat zong zi, a glutinous rice wrapped in reed leaves to commemorate the ancient poet Qu Yuan. Residents choosing to visit nearby cities or towns over the holiday are warned of possible light air pollution that may hit the Yangtze River Delta areas on Sunday, including Shanghai and major cities in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. Can't make time to visit the historic marvels of Old Delhi? Do the next best thing - take a metro ride through the Heritage Line. Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid and Lal Quila metro stations started operating on the Violet line on May 28. Popularly termed as the Heritage Line, it will now transport tourists and the curious Delhiites to the bustling markets, temples and monuments of purani Dilli.These stations allow Delhiites to delve into the rich culture and history of the Walled City through its panel installations conceptualised by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. Also, opened just in time for Ramadan, the metro ride will make travelling to Old Delhi and Jama Masjid easier.Each station offers a glimpse into one unique facet of Old Delhi. Image: The newly inaugurated Delhi Gate Metro Station. (Photo: Mehak Srivastava) Madrid: In this image provided by Spain's Royal Palace, Spain's King Felipe VI, 3rd from left, poses with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 4th from left, and delegations from both countries at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Modi is on an official visit to Spain aimed at improving economic and cultural relations. Left to right; Spanish Ambassador in India Jose Ramon Baranano Fernandez, Spain's Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis, Spain's King Felipe, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's National Security advisor Ajit Doval and India's Amasador in Spain Venkatesh Varma Datla Bala. (Image: AP/PTI) Security forces inspect near the site of a suicide attack in Kabul during the first week of Ramzan, Afghanistan, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. A massive explosion rocked a highly secure diplomatic area of Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing casualties and sending a huge plume of smoke over the Afghan capital. (Image: AP) Three key points are expected to be highlighted during Premier Li Keqiangs upcoming visit to Europe from May 31 to June 2. During the three-day visit, Premier Li will pay official visits to Germany and Belgium, and attend the annual meeting between the Chinese premier and German chancellor in Germany, and the 19th China-European Union (EU) leaders meeting in Belgium. This will be Premier Lis ninth meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fifth with EU leaders and fourth with Belgium leaders since he took office as premier in 2013. Sending strong signals on free trade and multilateralism Against the backdrop of rising anti-globalization, Premier Lis visit at this time is a smart move to secure global free trade and multilateralism. During the meeting with German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on May 24 in Beijing, Premier Li said he hoped both sides would send strong signals on supporting economic globalization and free trade, maintaining regional peace and stability, and promoting prosperous development. Merkel recently said in public that protectionism and isolationism will weaken a countrys ability to innovate and its development potential in the long term. A white paper released by the EU also stressed the positive significance of globalization and voiced opposition against protectionism. A Belgian foreign trade and investment official also said that more and more regions in the world have lost faith in free trade and international cooperation. He expressed the hope that such a trend will not last long and that the EU and China will not be affected. Win-win cooperation between China and Germany, EU and Belgium The EU is Chinas largest trading partner and China is the EUs second largest. In 2016, China overtook the United States and became Germanys largest trading partner, according to Germanys Federal Statistics Office. During previous meetings, Premier Li once accompanied German Chancellor Angela Merkel to his hometown, and held a banquet for EU leaders in Europe. During this visit, leaders from Germany, Belgium and the EU will arrange private banquets for Premier Li, which shows not only their personal friendship, but also the greatest importance they attach to bilateral relations. Amid high-speed growth, there are inevitable divergences in China-Germany, China-Europe and China-Belgium cooperation. But undoubtedly, mutually beneficial cooperation is the top choice to maximize each others interests and to bring the greatest benefits to their people. More important, at the crossroads of the global economic recovery, stances to be jointly made by China and Germany, and the EU, as well as Belgium, will play a significant role in serving as a global barometer and stabilizer. Just as Premier Li said previously, the global political situation is still full of uncertainties and global economic recovery is still facing difficulties. Strengthened China-Germany, China-EU and China-Belgium cooperation will not only bring mutual benefits to each other but also play a positive role in the world. Win benefits for the country and the people Like previous visits, Premier Lis visit to Europe this time is one with a crammed schedule. He will attend events after a 10-hour flight on May 31 and his schedule will last until 3 am Beijing time the next day. On June 2, he will attend about 10 China-EU and China-Belgium events until very late at night and then directly leave for home. With such a tight schedule, what will Premier Li be busy doing during the visit? Released information showed that during the visit, he will attend several innovation events and sign a series of cooperation agreements in fields such as innovation, economy, trade, new energy, interconnectivity, cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises, finance, tourism and education. Regional and global issues, integration of Made-in-China 2025 with Germanys Industry 4.0, jointly attending the Geely-Volvo auto show with the Belgium prime minister and recognition of driving licenses are all important agenda of his visit. Winning benefits for the country and the people is a common theme of every one of his visits and also a highlight of his visit this time. In most productions of Shakespeares Macbeth, the Three Witches play a relatively minor, albeit crucial, role: they give the prophesies that serve as the catalyst for the storys action. New Lynchburg theater company Rogue Productions has changed up the role of the Weird Sisters in its staging of Macbeth, which opened May 25 and runs through this Sunday. It has placed them front and center as tour guides who lead the audience through the mayhem and murder of the play, chaos that will spill from the rooms into the hallways of Riverviews Artspace. Its normally a pretty quiet space other than on First Fridays, says Kim Soerensen, executive director of Riverviews Artspace. It will not be quiet [then]. You may be sitting in the tea shop and, all of a sudden, you'll see two sword-wielding people come running down the hallway. I think that can be pretty exciting." The brainchild of recent Liberty University graduates Caleb Towns and Austin Joseph, Rogue Productions was born out of the actors desire to perform plays by the Bard. During their time as students, they enjoyed the summer Shakespeare productions produced by the theater department, Towns says. When they learned there wouldnt be one this year, they decided to do it themselves and chose Macbeth for both its themes and action-packed pace. Its a very dynamic play, says Towns, who also plays Macduff in the production. For a Shakespeare play, theres very few scenes of just people standing around and talking. Theres always action. Theres always something going on in every scene and I think it lent itself very, very well to the space and the nature of the production we wanted to perform. Rogue Productions performance will take place in four rooms, several hallways and even a stairwell over two floors inside Riverviews. It follows a promenade style of theater, where the audience stands around and walks alongside the performance as it moves throughout the building. This style pushes the boundaries of traditional theater, inviting the audience more fully into the action and the story as they move with the characters inside their fictitious world. Overall, it has such a great interactive component that I think it will attract people that may previously have not been very interested in theater or in Shakespeare, for that matter, says Soerensen, who cannot remember a time where the physical space of Riverviews has been used like this. While she thinks there have been smaller theatrical performances, she says there has been nothing of this scale since her start at the gallery. Towns had previously seen an LU production of Hamlet performed in promenade to great success and chose to use it for this play after becoming inspired by the various rooms inside the Jefferson Street building. Some have stone, others have wooden floors and even columns. The theater itself has clouds painted on one of the walls, he says. It sets up this really neat environment. Unlike many productions, which are decked with candelabras, shining armor and medieval finery, this take on Macbeth has an old-world setting that Towns says is pre-kilts, pre-bagpipes. Shakespeares script lends itself to this ancient location, especially considering the script references a Norwegian invasion, he says. The fight choreography also has left the vibe of the Globe Theaters stage behind, with spear and axe combat sequences as opposed to the more traditional use of rapier and dagger or broadsword battles. In fact, Towns Macduff and Joseph, who plays Macbeth, will duke it out in their epic final battle with an axe-on-sword fight scene. Despite the prehistoric setting, Rogue Productions Macbeth uses video and audio technology in the famous witches scene in Act Three. The performance is also being filmed and will be available online at a later date. Were really excited about that as well because a lot of the ways weve created this show lends itself to film, says Towns. We wanted to explore that medium too. DC's Batman spotlight is expanding to his sidekicks more and more Members of Batman's family will seemingly play huge roles in the DCU in 2023 GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Wonderful Mexican food During the festival, patrons were treated to a wide range of delectable cuisine from an authentic Mexican- inspired menu, while being entertained by a six-piece Mariachi band, Orgullo de Jalisco direct from Guadalajara. Flown in just for the event was Mexican chef Louie Vargas Guerrero, from Hyatt Regency Houston. Guerrero together with the local hotels executive chef Fernando Franco and his culinary team designed that special menu. Among the dishes were traditional Mexican pozole soup served with lettuce, onions, cilantro, radishes, sour cream and tostadas. For the entrees there were stuffed poblano peppers with picadillo, enchiladas mineras with cheese, red snapper a la Veracruz, shrimps a la diabla, garlic, tomatoes, onions and chillis, chicken style Rio Ramos and carnitas barbacoa served with pico de gallo, tomato salsa, onions, cilantro and corn tortillas. On the side were refried beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, grilled onions, green sauce, red sauce, grilled jalapenos and vegetables. There was also a taco station, a salad bar and dessert that included churros - flan napolitano, arroz con leche - tres leches, chili chocolate cake, mango and rice pudding. On seeing patrons delightful looks after savouring his dishes, chef Guerrero said: I brought something signature to me. I brought my own spices from Mexico and I put love into my cooking. Guerrero said he is one of five chefs in his family who all learnt well from their mom. The tequila sorbet palate cleanser was another highlight of the evening, as was the performance of Orgullo de Jalisco. This band was founded in 2001 in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, where mariachi culturally originated as a musical expression. The group comprises six members and before their Trinidad experience, had performed in the presence of President of Mexico, Enrique Pe?a Nieto in 2013, at the Mexican National Day celebrations in Jamaica, 2013, 2015 and in 2016, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Jamaica. The musicians also were on a similar exercise in 2014 when they performed at the Mexican Festival in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Canada, one year after the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco) declared traditional Mexican cuisine as part of its intangible cultural heritage. The event was hosted by the Hyatt Regency in partnership with the Embassy of Mexico, United Airlines, Copa Airlines and Corona Beer. TT Chamber to host Clean Energy conference The theme for the conference is Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in a Hydrocarbon Economy and will take place over two days, starting June 8. The event comes at a crucial time in Trinidad and Tobago when the energy sector is faced with significant challenges including declining production of both oil and natural gas, a statement from the Chamber said. Renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures represent a tremendous opportunity to save natural gas especially in the power generation sector. The Energy Chamber through the work being conducted in the Energy Efficiency and Alternative Energy committee, has calculated that the country loses as much as TT$ 500 million each year because of inefficiency in the power generation sector. Greater efficiency in the power generation sector would free-up more gas for methanol, ammonia and LNG exports, adding value to the gas sector and increasing the availability of foreign exchange, the statement said. The conference seeks to highlight opportunities for the government to make better economic use of natural gas and add to overall economic growth. The conference will see key members of the government presenting their positions on renewable energy and energy efficiency including the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Economic Development Board, Ministry of Planning and the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission. At the conference key international and local speakers will present on increasing the uptake of renewable energy in Trinidad and Tobago and ways to improve energy efficiency in the country. Feature speakers include Luis Bertran, Secretary General of the International Gas Union (Barcelona, Spain), Chuck Faulkner, General Manager, Efficiency One Services (Nova Scotia, Canada) and Peter Richards, Vice President, Lloyds Register. Also expected to present initial findings and recommendations toward a roadmap to achieving the governments target of ten percent renewable energy by 2021 is technical expert Ioannis Stefanou. The chamber also noted that Trinidad and Tobago is one of the highest per-captia emitters of CO2 and the government has also pledged internationally to reduce emissions by 15 percent by 2030. It is also clear that in order for Trinidad and Tobago to achieve its intended targets, work must begin immediately. The government, along with the private sector must take leadership in the movement toward clean energy to ensure a sustainable energy mix for the future and also to ensure the strength of the overall economy, the Chamber noted. PM: Venezuela gas deal progressing Discussions (on) the supply of gas to TT from Venezuelan gas fields and the development of cross-border gas fields...are moving apace and we anticipate early execution of the required agreements to facilitate the production of natural gas from these fields. Rowley made the announcement yesterday while addressing a breakfast meeting with the Chilean Energy Sector at the Federation of Industry (SOFOFA) in Santiago, Chile. The PM was in Chile on an official visit and is expected to return home today. The prime minister did not provide SOFOFA members with a projected start date for shipment of Venezuelan gas to TT, however on March 16, while speaking at a post-Cabinet news conference, the PM had expressed optimism that a gas sales agreement would be reached by July of this year. A Government-to-Government Agreement was signed in Caracas on December 5, 2016. Then, on March 15, 2017, a Heads of Agreement (HoA) was signed by the National Gas Company of TT (NGC), Venezuelas state oil and gas company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA) and international giant, Royal Dutch Shell. This allows the companies to work together on the delivery of natural gas via a pipeline that will run from Venezuelas Dragon gas field to the Hibiscus Platform, owned by Shell, on to land at Trinidads Point Lisas Industrial Estate where the gas would be processed and sold. TT is to be given priority in purchasing the gas. While this is one of several projects expected to bring this countrys gas supply back to normal levels, Rowley yesterday said TT needs to stimulate an aggressive exploration programme because to date, exploration activities have been limited to one-third of our land and marine acreage. Of the remaining two-thirds, approximately 75 percent of the unexplored acreage is in our East Coast deep-water area, where recent exploration activity has identified a significant prospect and will be subject of six exploration wells in the 2017 to 2018 period. This area has been compared with the Guyana-Suriname Basin located to its south-east and Ghanas Tano basin, where there have been several large oil and gas discoveries. The un-explored acreage on land and marine areas represent a valuable resource to be exploited. Hence the Ministry of Energys recent invitation for nominations for blocks onshore, in shallow water and in the northern and eastern deep-water blocks. Companies can indicate which unlicensed areas are of interest during the six-week nomination period, which closes on June 30, 2017. The selected blocks will be included in a proposed 2017 Competitive Bid Round. In parallel with this exercise, the Ministry of Finance is undertaking a review of the fiscal regime with the intention of structuring a regime that is amenable to all stakeholders, Rowley said. Praising Chile for its reputation for being a very energy efficient country, the PM said TT can learn from the South American nations experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy. He highlighted Chiles Energy Policy, in accordance with which, it is anticipated that by 2050, renewable energy will contribute at least 70 percent of electricity generation in Chile. Speaking about the fledgling stage of development of(TTs) renewable energy resources, Rowley told SOFOFA about his administrations target of achieving ten percent renewable power generation by 2021. This will require the development around 150 MW of renewable energy resources. As part of the strategy to attain (this) target... we have also embarked on a Waste to Energy Project, which will also contribute to the modernization of the Integrated Municipal Solid Waste System in TT. SOFOFA members also heard about Governments commitment to the promotion of energy efficiency, and renewable energy sources, including wind and solar, as the means to increase our energy security and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. In keeping with our policy it is our intention to maximise, where practicable, the use of renewable energy such as solar and wind through incentives, concessions and enabling legislation, and make the reduction of TTs carbon footprint a priority by setting appropriate renewable energy production targets, Rowley stated. A New Hampshire police department has issued a public service announcement with an odd mug shot after a man was arrested with marijuana in his car. Hampstead police said in a release Monday, "as a public service announcementit is illegal to possess recreational marijuana in New Hampshire, even if you only 'smoke it in Massachusetts.'" The announcement came after the arrest of 27-year-old Selket Taylor, reports WMUR-TV, who was pulled over for using his cellphone while driving. Police say they arrested Taylor after they saw he had a bag of marijuana in a cup holder, and the AP notes that in addition to his creative excuse, he also gave police quite the mugshot. Taylor has been charged with possession of a controlled drug, transporting a controlled drug in a motor vehicle, and use of an electronic mobile device. Recreational use and possession of small amounts of marijuana were legalized in Massachusetts last year. (Read more dumb criminals stories.) As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan kicked off over the weekend, so, too, did an ad by a telecom company in Kuwait tackling terrorism. CNN reports on Zaid's three-minute music video, which has so far amassed more than 3.6 million views, showing a suicide bomber being confronted by victims (some of them actual victims of past terror attacks) in the wake of a bus bombing. "You've filled the cemeteries with our children and emptied our school desks," a child's voiceover notes as the man works on his weapon, while others refute him after the act has been carried out. "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah," he tells a busload of dust-covered passengers, to which one man responds, "You who comes in the name of death, He is the creator of life." The terrorist is then driven out by a crowd, with one man singing phrases such as, "Let's bomb delusion with the truth." The Guardian notes TV viewing spikes in Arab communities during Ramadan, as people hunker down at home to fast. The video is earning praise, with one prominent Emirati commentator calling it "a beautiful ad on counter violence and extremism" on Twitter. Yet others were rankled by the fact that terrorism victims were featured (some say it's exploitative) and that an actor played the part of Omran Daqneesh, the child in a now-famous photo out of Syria after his home was hit in an airstrike. "Part of justice for any victim is to expose his killer," one writer notes, pointing out the real Omran wasn't attacked by extremists but by the Syrian regime. Still others say the ad just preaches to the choir and doesn't get to the heart of what drives terrorism. "What's the ad saying? The criminals will laugh at us," a Syrian communications expert says. (A US airport's anti-terror efforts.) A man investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-brand shoes has been arrested and two others are missing, the arrested man's wife and an advocacy group said Tuesday. Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian. Deng said police told her she didn't need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with, or receive money from her husband. China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend. "They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable," he told the AP. China Labor Watch, a New York-based nonprofit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime, and the possible misuse of student interns. It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China. Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China's state security apparatus. One difference is the target of China Labor Watch's investigation: a brand owned by the daughter of the US president. A representative of the brand said it requires licensees and their manufacturers to "comply with all applicable laws and to maintain acceptable working conditions." A spokesperson for Huajian Group said the company makes 10,000 to 20,000 pairs of shoes a year for Ivanka Trump's brand. (Read more Ivanka Trump stories.) The man police say fatally stabbed two men who tried to shield young women from an anti-Muslim tirade shouted "you call it terrorism I call it patriotism!" during his first court appearance, the AP reports. Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, was in Multnomah County courtroom Tuesday afternoon facing two counts of felony aggravated murder and other charges for the Friday incident on a Portland, Oregon, light-rail train. He made repeated outbursts in court including "you've got no safe place!" and "death to the enemies of America!" Later, commotion erupted outside the courtroom. As Christian concluded his brief appearance, yelling and screaming could be heard from the hallway as supporters of the victims confronted a supporter of the defendant. Deputies escorted the man from the scene, prompting the group to lash out at law enforcement for protecting him. Those involved in the confrontation could not get into the courtroom because all the seats were taken. Courtroom security barred spectators from leaving the arraignment until the disruption simmered down. Authorities say Christian started verbally abusing two young women, including one wearing a hijab. Three men on the train intervened before police say Christian attacked them, killing two and wounding one. Christian has been appointed public defenders. Lane Borg, the head of the local public defender agency, said the office was "saddened by this tragedy" but urged people to let the justice system take its course. (Read more Portland stories.) A 31-year-old man was charged Tuesday with second-degree homicide after he allegedly drove over two young men at a Washington campground, one of whom later died. But the Quinault Indian Nation believes he should also be charged with a hate crime. Based on a firsthand account from a "tribal youth," the Quinault Indian Nation says "the driver was screaming racial slurs and war whoops when he ran over the two tribal members" around 1:30am Saturday, reports the Seattle Times. Grays Harbor County Police say a white pickup truck drove into Donkey Creek Campground near Hoquiam and began doing doughnuts. After campers tried to intervenea rock was possibly thrown at the truckwitnesses claimed the driver tried to "run them down," police tell Q13. Police say the driver then backed over 20-year-old Jimmy Smith-Kramer, a father of twin toddlers who was celebrating his birthday, and 19-year-old Harvey Anderson, before speeding off. Smith-Kramer died later at a hospital, while Anderson was released from the hospital Sunday with a bruised lung and cracked sternum. He tells KREM that Smith-Kramer tried to push him out of the truck's path. "I'm still wondering why this happened," he says. "We didn't deserve this." A white male was arrested and his pickup truck seized Tuesday. But though the Quinault Indian Nation says police interviewed the tribal youth who described hearing racial slurs, police say no witness "has been able to tell us that there were any racial slurs thrown out." (Police say the killing of four white men was a hate crime.) President Trump has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the commander in chief's communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, the AP reports, citing former and current US officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials say. Trump also exchanged numbers with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two spoke immediately following Macron's victory earlier this month, according to a French official. Presidents generally place calls on one of several secure phone lines, including those in the White House Situation Room, the Oval Office, or the presidential limousine. Even if Trump uses his government-issued cellphone, his calls are vulnerable to eavesdropping, particularly from foreign governments, national security experts say. "If you are speaking on an open line, then it's an open line, meaning those who have the ability to monitor those conversations are doing so," says Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official. The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president is keeping records of any informal calls with world leaders. (Read more President Trump stories.) Police in Lithuania say personal data and more than 25,000 private photosincluding nude pictureswere made public Tuesday following the hacking of a chain of plastic surgery clinics. Police said a hacking group called Tsar Team broke into the servers of Grozio Chirurgija clinics earlier this year and demanded ransoms from the clinic's clients in Germany, Denmark, Britain, Norway, and other EU countries, the AP reports. Police say after threats, several hundred images were released in March and rest of the database was made public on Tuesday. It's unclear how many patients have been affected, but police say dozens have come forward to report being blackmailed. "It's extortion. We're talking about a serious crime," the deputy chief of Lithuania's criminal police bureau told reporters. Police are working with security services in other European countries and have warned that people who download and store the stolen data could also be prosecuted. Cybercriminals are "blackmailing our clients with inappropriate text messages," said Jonas Staikunas, the director of Grozio Chirurgija. He said victims were asked to pay up to 2,000 euros ($2,238) to guarantee that nude images, passport copies, social security numbers, and other data would not be made public. (Read more cybercrime stories.) Police in Liverpool are investigating a suspected triple murder at the former home of one of the city's most famous sons. A 30-year-old man was arrested Tuesday night after a woman and two young children were found dead in an apartment on Falkner Street, where John Lennon lived with first wife Cynthia after they were married in 1962, the Guardian reports. Nearby homes were evacuated amid reports of a gas leak at the ground-floor property, reports the Liverpool Echo. The suspect, 30, was hospitalized after falling ill. Police say they believe this was a domestic incident and they're not seeking any other suspects. Neighbors say the apartment in the Toxteth district was a regular stop for Beatles fans touring the city. (Read more Liverpool stories.) Millennials are sometimes derided as sensitive "snowflakes" who have an inflated sense of self-worth. If so, don't blame them, blame the "self-esteem" movement that took over American classrooms in the 1980s and '90s, complete with mirrors engraved with phrases such as "You are now looking at one of the most special people in the whole wide world!" In New York magazine, Jesse Singal traces the roots of the movement to California and explores how it overcame early skepticism to become a booming cultural phenomenon. "As it turned out, the central claim underlying the trend, that there's a causal relationship between self-esteem and various positive outcomes, was almost certainly inaccurate," writes Singal. But by the time it caught on, the simplistic fix for all of society's ills proved too hard to resist: Boost kids' self-esteem and watch their problems melt away. As Singal explains, one "very eccentric" state lawmaker in California, John Vasconcellos, might be considered the father of the movement. He was so convinced about the concept that he spearheaded the creation of the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility in 1986. It was ridiculed at first, most famously in the comic strip Doonesbury, but it not only persevered, it thrived. Generally speaking, adherents made one fundamental mistake: They viewed self-esteem as the cause of things such as good grades instead of recognizing that the reverse is more likely true: Good grades result in higher self-esteem. It wasn't until the early 2000s that psychologists produced hard evidence that Vasconcellos' ideas were bogus. Click for the full story, in which Singal sees a potential parallel in the more modern phenomenon of "grit." (Read more Longform stories.) Google is out with some strange findings about spelling as a tribute to the Scripps National Spelling Bee that runs this week. It tweeted a map with a state-by-state breakdown on which words residents looked up the most in a "how to spell" search. One of the oddest results is in Wisconsin, where people looked up, yes, "Wisconsin" the most. Some other nuggets: Beautiful: This was the most vexing word in five statesCalifornia, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, and Ohio. This was the most vexing word in five statesCalifornia, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, and Ohio. Pneumonia: This tripped up people in four statesAlabama, Maine, Michigan, and Washington. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: West Virginia and Connecticut struggle with this fake Mary Poppins word. West Virginia and Connecticut struggle with this fake Mary Poppins word. Banana: New Mexico New Mexico Gray: Georgia Georgia Chihuahua: Arkansas and South Carolina Arkansas and South Carolina College: South Dakota South Dakota Hallelujah: Delaware and Indiana Delaware and Indiana Liar: Rhode Island Rhode Island People: Hawaii See all the states here . And, no, "covfefe" didn't turn up. (Read more spelling stories.) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has denounced the daughter of former President Clinton after she criticized a comment he made about rapes committed by soldiers, the AP reports. Chelsea Clinton had reacted to Duterte's rape comment last week, in which he told troops he would take responsibility for any crimes they commit while implementing martial law that he declared in the southern third of the country, even if they rape three women. In response to a tweet about his comment, Clinton herself tweeted: "Not funny. Ever." She went on to call him a "murderous thug" in a follow-up tweet, per Reuters. In an expletive-laden speech at a navy event Wednesday, Duterte asked Clinton if she also criticized her father when he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky in the White House when he was president of the United States. "How did you feel? Did you slam your father?" he asked. Duterte added he was being sarcastic when he addressed the troops ("I do not laugh at my own jokes," he said, per Rappler) and that Clinton should "be careful because you live in a glass house." (The transcript of Duterte's April call with President Trump reveals some interesting tidbits.) The mayor of Florence says some tourists have no "decorum" these dayssomething he hopes to fix with a water hose. Mayor Dario Nardella says a small number of the Italian city's 12 million annual touristsparticularly day-trippers from cruise shipshave taken to "camping out" on church steps at lunchtime. They "sit down on church steps, eat their food, and leave rubbish strewn on them," with no respect for "our cultural heritage," Nardella tells the Guardian. He says city officials thought about handing out fines to such tourists, but they decided instead to get creative. The plan: Use water hoses to soak church steps. That way, if tourists sit down, "they'll get wet," Nardella said in announcing the strategy Wednesday. Shortly after the announcement, the steps of both the Basilica of Santa Croce and the Chiesa di Santo Spirito were doused. In the future, this will be a daily occurrence, reports the Telegraph. "Instead of imposing fines, we thought this measure was more elegant," Nardella tells the Guardian, adding other areas might eventually get a wash as well. While some social media users joked that a free shower might be nice in the heat of summer, others have accused city officials of being "elitist" in targeting tourists who choose not to eat in Florence's restaurants, per the Local. Nardella counters that the city has plenty of outdoor seating for tourists. Churches, however, are no place for a picnic, he says. (Barcelona has an issue with its tourists, too.) Icelandair was supposed to fly its first flight from Philadelphia to Reykjavik overnight. Instead, the flight ended up being diverted to Boston early Wednesday thanks to what the airline is calling an "unusual" smell, ABC News reports. Pilots decided to land after they couldn't determine what was causing the smell, which NBC Philadelphia reports was also described as smelling like rubber. The flight, which departed Tuesday night, was over Canada at the time. The mayors of both cities were onboard the flight, with Philadelphia's mayor's office issuing a statement calling the incident a "significant inconvenience" and "obviously very out of the ordinary." It was a less-than-ideal twist in what was supposed to be a celebration of the inaugural flight; Icelandair had introduced a new glacier-themed plane for the occasion, and promotional events included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a water cannon salute. It's still not clear what caused the smell, but both mayors were again en route to Iceland on a new flight out of Boston Wednesday afternoon, Philly.com reports. All the other passengers on the flight were to be accommodated on Wednesday flights out of Boston as well. (Read more Iceland stories.) Authorities say a woman trying to reach Canada was found dead in northwestern Minnesota. Kittson County Chief Deputy Matt Vig tells WDAZ-TV that the woman, 57-year-old Mavis Otuteye, is believed to be a citizen of Ghana. Her body was found Friday in a field a half-mile from the Manitoba border near the tiny town of Noyes. Otuteye was reported missing a day earlier. Vig says she was headed to Canada on foot to try to reunite with her daughter. Otuteye had been living in Delaware for the past several years, reports the AP. Autopsy results are pending, but Vig says she apparently died of hypothermia. He says temperatures were in the 40s that night, and part of her body was in a shallow pool of water in a ditch. The CBC reports the fields near the Emerson, Manitoba, border are a popular point of entry, with 477 asylum seekers stopped there in the first four months of 2017. A local official says "it was just a matter of time" before something like this happened, though "we thought maybe we would find somebody who had frozen to death, I guess, in the winter, but weren't expecting that this time of year." (Read more US-Canadian border stories.) Osmania University Degree Results 2017 for 1st, 2nd, 3rd Year likely to be announced today at osmania.ac.in New Delhi : Osmania University will declare the degree results 2017 today, May 31 on its official website, www.osmania.ac.in. Students Can Check OU Degree Results 2017 UG (1st, 2nd 3rd Year) BA, BSc, BCom ,BBA & other exams Which are held in the months of March / April 2017. As Per Reprts the Results Going to be Announced 12PM Today According to reports, The details of Osmania University degree results 2017 will be uploaded on website, www.osmania.ac.in under the Examination Results section. The official website has not issued any notice regarding the date of declaration of degree results 2017 yet. Due to Heavy Visitors The Official Portal Some Times Wont Work Properly So Candidates Must be in Patience While Check Results. Scroll Down Below and CHeck Out Easy Process to Access Osmania University Results 2017. The report comes from Manabadi.com, the third party website that publishes the examination results covering mainly the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and is credible enough. As per the reports, Osmania University results today are coming only for Under Graduate (UG) degree courses, however likely for all semester exams of 1st year, 2nd year and 3rd (final) year as well, and the status of Post Graduate examination results is yet to be notified. Osmania University Degree Results 2017 details: Name of Board: OU Degree Examination Board 2017 Osmania University Name of Exam: Osmania University 1st, 2nd, 3rd Year Results 2017 Exam Dates: 20th March To 25th April 2017 Expected Date of OU 3rd Year Regular/Supple Results: 31st May 2017 Category: OU UG All Courses Third Year (Final Year) Results 2017 Official Website(s) to check Results: www.osmania.ac.in How to Check Osmania University Degree 1st/ 2nd/ 3rd Year Results 2017: 1. Logon to www.osmania.ac.in 2. Click on Osmania University Degree 1st/ 2nd/ 3rd Year Results 2017 3. Select the respective year. 4. Enter your roll number and other required details in the provided fields. 5. Click on submit button. 6. The results will appear on the screen. 7. Download/ Take a printout for further reference. According to the data retrieved from the records, the overall pass percentage recorded in 2016 degree results stood at 52.48 percent. For Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), passing percentage was 57.89 percent, for B.Com it was 54.06 percent, and for B.Sc, pass percentage was 47.94 percent. Official consent is awaited but results are expected by May 31. Although, if the results get delay by 1-2 days, it would not be anything new since we witnessed that scenario last year too. About Osmania University: Osmania University, the public state University in Hyderabad, just had its centenary celebrated in April 2017, making the Varsity among the best in the country. Currently, over 3 lakh students, including near 40 thousand form 80 different countries are pursuing their college education across Universities all campuses. Click here for more Education News Society, movies or peers: Who is to blame for crimes by jilted lovers, stalkers? | News Brake Ep 41 Narendra Modi's 4-nation Europe tour: PM arrives in Spain for second leg Madrid : Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Spain on Tuesday on a two-day visit in the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. This is the first Indian prime ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years after the visit of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988. On Wednesday, Modi will call on King Felipe VI and hold a bilateral summit with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy. The two Prime Ministers last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey's Antalya in November 2015. Modi will also hold a round-table interaction on Wednesday with a select group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. Earlier on Tuesday, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed the biannual India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations following which 12 agreements across various sectors were signed by the two sides. The two leaders also addressed the India-Germany Business Summit in Berlin. Later, Modi called on President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Castle in the German capital before departing for Spain. Following Wednesday's engagements in Spain, Modi will travel to Russia where he will hold the 18th annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and attend for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a business event, the next day. On Saturday, Modi will hold his first meeting with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris before returning to India. India is now setting the stage for the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) in September New Delhi : Having felt the need for a long time to organise an event of a global scale showcasing its giant strides in telecom and technology industry, India is now setting the stage for the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) in September, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said here on Tuesday. "The IMC will be held in September this year for the first time. Then on, it will be an annual event. The need was felt for long to arrange such a big event of global scale to showcase how telecom and technology industry are growing in India," Sinha told reporters at a select media briefing. The minister was hopeful that the event will also help to attract investment in the country and facilitate the government's flagship programmes like Digital India, Make in India and others through knowledge-sharing. Earlier in April, IANS had first reported about the event and its details. The event -- to be held from September 27 to 29 -- will be organised by telecom industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) with support from the Department of Telecommunications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The Ministry of Skill Development will also be part of the endeavour. It will be organised in the Pragati Maidan here with a budget of around Rs 15 crore. Following the yearly global attention was drawn by the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the telecom industry players in India wanted to organise an event here where players from India, South Asia and Middle Eastern countries could get more attention. "We felt we needed a flagship event in India. In the West, we have the Barcelona event (MWC), in the East, there is the Shanghai Mobil World Congress -- but there was nothing of that scale for South-East Asia. This event will serve that purpose," said Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, COAI. Among the international participants, the organisers have already got the nod from countries like the US, UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Korea, the Philippines, Bhutan, Japan and Israel. P. Ramakrishna has been appointed as the CEO of the event. The three-day event will witness exhibitions, conclaves and an awards session. The event is for business-to-consumer and business-to-government activities and on the third day, it will be open for public, by invitation. The organisers expect the presence of around 5,000 paid participants in the event and there will be 800 exhibitors. PM Narendra Modi calls for boosting anti-terror cooperation with Spain Madrid : Ahead of talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that terrorism posed the biggest challenge to the world and fighting it was a key element in India-Spain ties. "Both India and Spain have faced terrorism," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Rajoy at La Moncloa, the official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister. "Terrorism and extremism pose the biggest challenge to the world today. "Strengthening cooperation between us in the fight against terrorism is a key element of our bialteral agenda." Modi's comments came as he condemned a huge explosion in Kabul on Wednesday that killed scores of people and injured hundreds. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first Indian Prime Ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. Modi and Rajoy last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015. Modi said that though India and Spain completed 60 years of diplomatic ties last year, an Indian Prime Ministerial visit was happening for the first time after 1988. "I hope there will not be such a huge gap in the future." He said that in today's changing global perspective, close consultations between friendly nations on regional and global developments were the need of the day. Stating Spain had made rapid strides in its economy, Modi said his government's top priority too was India's economic growth and development. He said Spain can offer its expertise to India's development priorities like railways, smart cities and infrastructure. "I am confident that my visit to Spain will give fresh momentum to our ties," he said. On his part, Rajoy said bilateral ties would deepen following Modi's visit to Spain. After his meeting with Rajoy, Modi will call on Spanish King Felipe VI. Modi will also hold a round-table interaction with a group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. There are around 200 Spanish companies operating in India. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Snow showers will become more widely scattered for the afternoon. High 19F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 10F. Winds light and variable. New Delhi: Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) likely to announce class 10th results 2017 today. The students may check there results on official portal of CBSE. The CBSE class 10th results will be announced for all regions at one go on three websites-www.results.nic.in, www.cbseresults.nic.in and www.cbse.nic.in. The schools will automatically receive their cbse class 10th results on board official email ids already registered with the Board. While the class 10th examination has taken place from 9th March to 10th April, the 12th examination was scheduled from 9th March to 29th April. Around 8.8 lakh students are eagerly awaiting for their CBSE class 10th results 2017. Steps to check CBSE Class 10th Result 2017: -Go to the official website -Click on the link, 'Secondary School Examination (Class X) Results 2017' -Enter your roll number -After submitting the same, the results will be displayed on the screen -Take a printout for future use Also, students can get their results on the telephone numbers of NIC and MTNL through which results can be accessed through IVRS. National Informatics Centre: 011 - 24300699 MTNL: 011 -28127030 Last year, the results were announced on May 28 and girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 96.36 percent, while boys had 96.11 per cent. Thiruvanathapuram region recorded the highest pass percentage in the country at 99.87 per cent. Also Read: SEBA Class 10th Result 2017: Assam HSLC result 2017 to be declared today; check sebaonline.org About Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was established on Nov. 3, 1962. The headquarter is situated in Preet Vihar, New Delhi. The academic body is responsible to regulates and supervises the development of education in the country. It conducts academic programmes and organises examinations, especially for Class 10 and Class 12 students. New Delhi: Kriti Sanon has come out in support of rumored beau Sushant Singh Rajput over his media controversy and stated that the actor hasn't been a short-tempered person. It was reported that the 'Kai Po Che' actor was caught in a verbal spat with a journalist during the trailer launch of his upcoming movie 'Raabta'. The media reports suggested that Sushant lost his temper when he was asked about Pakistan's decision to execute Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav on charges of spying. He again reportedly lost his cool when journalists asked about plagiarism charges against 'Raabta' by producers of Telugu film 'Magadheera'. However, contrary to the reports, Kriti stated that it's unfortunate that things have been taken in a wrong way. "It is strange. I have known him during the filming of 'Raabta' and that time 'M S Dhoni: The Untold Story' had not released. I have seen him before and after the release of 'M S Dhoni..', he has been the same." "It's unfortunate that things have been taken in a wrong way. I have known him as a person and he is not short tempered at all," Kriti said. The actress further says in both the incidences involving Sushant, things were taken in a different way. "When he said that he doesn't know anything (referring to Kulbhushan Jadhav) doesn't mean putting off anger. It is rather being confident. I don't know what went wrong... I think things were taken in a different way," she said. On the work front, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon are currently busy promoting their upcoming movie 'Raabta'. The couple, who is said to be dating each other, will be sharing the screen space for the first time. Helmed by Dinesh Vijan, 'Raabta' is slated to release on June 9. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The government clarified on Wednesday that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in an aircrash in 1945, putting to an end a controversy that refuses to be buried about the freedom fighter having survived the accident. The ministry of home affairs said in a reply to an RTI application from a Kolkata resident that the Government had come to this conclusion after considering the reports of various committees that probed the death of Bose, who, many believed, had not perished in the crash. After considering the reports of the Shah Nawaz Committee, the justice GD Khosla Commission and the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Enquiry, the government concluded that he had died in the crash, the ministry said in its reply. Read | Were Subhas Chandra Bose comrades freedom fighters or army deserters: CIC asks home ministry It also sought to dispel reports that Bose, who was born in 1897, lived in disguise as 'Gumnami Baba' -- which was the belief of a large section of Bose's legion of admirers. "The Mukherjee Commission had come to the conclusion that Gumnami Baba/Bhagwanji was not Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose," it said, adding that information regarding Gumnami Baba and Bhagwanji was available in the Mukherjee Commission report on pages 114-122, and on the website, mha.nic.in. It also said so far 37 files related to Bose had been declassified. The home ministry's spokesperson further clarified that the reply to the RTI query was "based on the facts that were already in the public domain and the stand taken by Central governments over the years." For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, veteran director K Viswanath, Telugu star Pawan Kalyan and others paid homage to Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao on Wednseday. Naidu, accompanied by some of his cabinet colleagues,flew down from Vijayawada to pay tributes to Rao, who passed away on Tuesday. "Narayana Rao's death is a loss not only to the film industry but also to all Telugu people," Naidu said. Recalling that he had association with Narayana Raosince his younger days, Naidu said the departed film-maker and his family members treated him like their own. Viswanath and a number of top Telugu actors, including Venkatesh, Pawan Kalyan, junior NTR and also a large number offans visited Rao's residence at Jubilee Hills here to pay their last respects. Narayana Rao, who directed super-hit movies with legendary actors like NT Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao, passed away at a private hospital at the age of75. He was suffering from health problems related to food pipe, kidney and others. The veteran filmmaker was also a politician and served as a minister during the UPA-2 regime. The Telangana government has announced that Rao's funeral would be conducted with state honours. Rao, a versatile personality who directed about 150 films and worked for hundreds of others as a dialogue writer, lyricist and actor, was admitted to hospital couple of months ago, but was soon discharged. He began his career as a theatre artiste and went onto work in films. Rao directed his first film in the early1970s. He won many prestigious awards, including the National Award, the Filmfare and received honours from the Andhra Pradesh government. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: It could be a pleasant surprise for the people of Arunachal Pradesh who have been waiting since 55 years as the Indian Army and the central government are working together to offer compensation against land which was acquired by the army following the 1962 war with China. The central and Arunachal Pradesh governments are working out for the compensation, which may be to the tune Rs 3,000 crore. Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, Chief Minister Pema Khandu and senior officials of the central and state governments discussed the issue at an hour-long meeting held on Tuesday. Rijiju, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, said the meeting was to settle the issue of land acquired for various defence establishments in the frontier state following the 1962 war with China. Although the people of Arunachal Pradesh can be branded as ultra patriotic Indians but of late a sense of resentment has been brewing among them due to non-payment of compensation for huge areas of land occupied by the army, Rijiju told PTI. Bhamre is said to have asked officials in his ministry and the army to fast-track all the pending issues by properly coordinating with each other and the state government. Rijiju has called for resolving all issues and clear pending cases in a time-bound manner. He sought from the officials the time they will take in clearing all the issues that came up for discussion during the meeting. Also Read | South China Sea row: Beijing fumes as US sends navy warship near disputed region Khandu conveyed that issues of lease rate, grant of ownership rights, payment of dual compensation and fixation of land rates will be resolved soon. The chief minister said the Arunachal Pradesh cabinet has already constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of state land management minister to examine all pending issues. The pending cases of land acquisition related to the districts of Tawang, West Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley, West Siang besides others. Also Read | China: Paying 'close attention' to issue of missing Indian Air Force fighter jet For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Indian Ambassador to Russia, Pankaj Saran, on Wednesday said that India and Russia agree that anyone who sponsors terrorism must be combated within the framework of international law. He said that both India-Russia have their problems, the topic of combating terrorism will surely come up when PM Modi and President Putin meet. Saran added that the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is significant in landscape of Russia and India invited as a guest country and Indian PM invited as guest of honour, is a matter of great privilege. "PM Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin will be speaking to a number of Indian and Russian CEOs on 2 June at SPIEF. Attracting Russian investment and tech into India is priority for us, SPIEF is a great opportunity for us," said Pankaj Saran. Saran said that Russia is the only foreign partner in establishment of nuclear energy in India and India looking to increase cooperation in area. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Rains brought relief to for Delhi resident from scorching heat after a thunderstorm followed by rains lashed Delhi.A According to the MeT department, thunderstorm along withrain occurred in several parts of Delhi which caused heavytraffic on certain roads including Vikas Marg, Bahadur ShahZafar Marg, NH 8 and NH 1.A Earlier, the MeT department had forecast rains and amaximum temperature of around 38 degrees Celsius.A More rains are expected in the evening and late nighthours, an official of the department said.A The relative humidity level was recorded at 65 per centat 8.30 AM. Also rain lashed in parts of Haryana and Punjab bringing down the mercury by a few notches. Chandigarh, Mohali, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Ropar and Hoshiarpur in Punjab were among the places which received intermittent rains. In Haryana, Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Kalkaand Ambala received rains. The rain gave respite to residents from sweltering summer heat and also brought cheers to farmers readying their fields for paddy transplantation.A A A Visuals from RK Puram pic.twitter.com/yH0Pk5Oewq a ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Rain is also considered beneficial for seasonal crops like sugarcane and maize. Strong winds also hit many places including Chandigarh this morning, disrupting power supply in a few areas for a brief period.A With PTI Input For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday visited capital city of Madrid in Spain. PM Modi along with President of Spain Mariano Rajoy addressed media on Wednesday. PM Modi said that terrorism is a challenge for all of our societies and we get to hear a lot about terror attacks these days. Updates from the PM Modis speech in Spain: # India and Spain faced terrorism, boosting cooperation against the menace is an important part of our bilateral agenda # India and Spain can cooperate in so many areas, including infrastructure; we must have even closer economic ties # Terrorism is a challenge for all of our societies, we get to hear a lot about terror attacks these days # Our discussions today will focus on boosting our bilateral relations On the second leg of four-nation tour spanning over six-days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Madrid in the Spanish capital on Tuesday. PM Modis tour is aimed at boosting bilateral economic engagement with visiting countries and inviting more investment for Indias transformation. Landed in Spain, marking the start of a very important visit aimed at improving economic and cultural relations with Spain, Modi tweeted in English and Spanish after landing in Madrid. Modis visit to Spain will be first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988. Hola Espana! Prime Minister Modi arrives in Madrid, first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades, is received by Spanish FM in a special gesture, said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs in a tweet. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. St Petersburg: With hours to go before the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian officials said that last-minute talks are taking place to iron out details and language of the agreement on a line of credit for building Unit 5 and 6 of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. "The agreement remains work in progress," the source said. The reactors are being built by India's Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) and Russia's Atomstroyexport company, a subsidiary of Rosatom, the regulatory body of the Russian nuclear complex. The two sides are expected to ink 12 agreements in wide-ranging sectors, including in science and technology, railways, cultural exchanges and other business areas between private parties also, in addition to a "vision statement" that the two leaders will release. Read | Modi's four-nation tour: India, Spain sign 7 agreements during PM's visit The nuclear deal, if signed, would be the centerpiece of the summit, the second time in eight months after their last bilateral in Goa in October 2016. If signed, the two units of the plant, with capacity to produce 1000 MW of electricity each, will significantly boost the country's nuclear power generation. The current nuclear power generation capacity of all 22 nuclear power reactors is 6780 MW. In October 2015, a joint statement between Modi and Putin promised the signing of a General Framework Agreement on the nuclear units by December 2016. Read | Prime Minister Narendra Modi backs Chancellor Merkel's EU leadership as US President Trump scolds Germany After an inter-ministerial group cleared the project, it was sent to the Prime Minister's Office for approval. But, sources said, the Credit Protocol, or a line of credit that Russia was to provide, proved to be a hurdle. "There is a lot of mutual trust and personal chemistry between the two leaders that has developed over the last three years," Pankaj Saran, India's ambassador to Russia, told PTI. At the summit on Thursday, "the leaders will take stock of the current relationship and discuss a blueprint for a vision of the future," he said. India's traditional ties with Russia dating back to the days of Soviet Union have been complicated by Moscow's growing economic and political alliances with China and Pakistan. However, Saran said India's relations with Russia are independent of its ties with Pakistan. "Our relations with Russia are on a different pedestal and we have a full agenda between us that is important to both of us. We have clear understanding of our core concerns and vital security interests," he said, hours before Modi was to arrive from Spain. Modi will arrive in stormy weather in St. Petersburg, the former capital of imperial Russia that was founded by Czar Peter the Great in 1703, and was also known as Petrograd and Leningrad. The prime minister will begin his three-day Russia sojourn with a visit to the Piskariovskoe cemetery, a memorial for some 500,000 Russians who were killed in the siege of Leningrad in World War II, which the Russians call the Great Patriotic War. Modi will then be received by Putin at the Konstantin Palace, a sprawling regal complex that is also the Russian president?s official residence where he hosts world leaders. After the summit, Putin will host Modi at a private dinner without any aides. On Friday, Modi will be the guest of honor at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being attended by a host of political and business leaders from around the world. It is the first time that an Indian prime minister is attending the economic and business summit. Some 60 Indian CEOs ae attending the summit, and India has also set up a 'Make in India' pavilion in addition to hosting roundtables and an exclusive India-Eurasia economic and business breakfast. Trade between the two nations stands at 7.8 billion dollar, down from 10 billion in 2014. The two nations are targeting to raise the trade to USD 30 billion in the next five years. Read | PM Modi in Spain: Terrorism is a challenge for all of our societies, we get to hear a lot about terror attacks these days For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Madrid: On the second leg of four-nation tour spanning over six-days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Madrid in the Spanish capital on Tuesday. PM Modis tour is aimed at boosting bilateral economic engagement with visiting countries and inviting more investment for Indias transformation. Landed in Spain, marking the start of a very important visit aimed at improving economic and cultural relations with Spain, Modi tweeted in English and Spanish after landing in Madrid. Modis visit to Spain will be first visit by an Indian prime minister since 1988. Hola Espana! Prime Minister Modi arrives in Madrid, first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades, is received by Spanish FM in a special gesture, said Gopal Baglay, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs in a tweet. Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on ways to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. Modi will also call on King Felipe VI of Spain. He (Modi) would also have a round-table interaction with leading Spanish business leaders who are keen to invest in India. Prime Ministers visit to Spain will add further strength to the existing warm and friendly India-Spain bilateral ties, the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement. #WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches Madrid in Spain, on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour pic.twitter.com/ZSPDLNsep7 ANI (@ANI_news) May 30, 2017 Also read: Prime Minister Narendra Modi backs Chancellor Merkel's EU leadership as US President Trump scolds Germany From Spain, he will travel to St Petersburg in Russia on June 1 where he will hold the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum the next day. The prime minister will be in Paris on June 2 and 3 where he will hold official talks with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to further strengthening India-France strategic ties. Earlier in the day, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the fourth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) during which the two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and the two sides inked 12 agreements/Memorandum of Understandings (MoU). Also read: Berlin: PM Narendra Modi says 'terrorism is the gravest challenge and Europe must play lead role in combating it' #WATCH: PM Narendra Modi meets people outside the hotel in Madrid(Spain) pic.twitter.com/JpGpq54AIQ ANI (@ANI_news) May 30, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the deadly bomb blast in Kabul on Wednesday while extending solidarity to Afghanistan. Further, he also underlined the need for defeating forces supporting terrorism.Modi, who is in Spain on a visit, said India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all forms of terrorism. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured, he tweeted. In another tweet, he said, Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. ALSO READ: Video | Kabul blast: Massive suicide attack near diplomatic district kills 80, wounds 350; PM Modi condemns action #WATCH Visuals from the blast site in Kabul, Indian embassy staff safe. AP reports 50 people have been killed or wounded #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/a6rC71DKea ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 The prime ministers message came after a powerful truck bomb killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 300 in the Afghanistan capitals diplomatic quarter on Wednesday morning. India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 The blast occurred pretty close to the Indian embassy and Union Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj also used Twitter to confirm that the staff of the embassy are safe. By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast, tweets EAM Sushma Swaraj pic.twitter.com/2jYpSV8Osa ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Indian ambassador to Kabul Manpreet Vohra too claimed that although the embassy building suffered considerable breakages, all the staff are safe. With PTI inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jaiput: The Rajasthan high court has asked the state government to coordinate with the Centre and take necessary steps to declare cow as a national animal. A single-judge bench of justice Mahesh Chand Sharma said the chief secretary and advocate general of the state will be the legal custodians of the cow. "Nepal is a Hindu nation and has declared cow as national animal. India is a predominant agriculture country based in animal rearing. As per Article 48 and 51A (g) it is expected from the state government that they should take action to get a legal entity for cow in this country," he said in his order. While Article 48 of the Constitution says the state should take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle, Article 51A (g) speaks of protecting natural environment and having compassion for living creatures. Read | BJP using cow slaughter, Ram temple as vote bank politics: Congress "It is expected from the government that it should declare cow as national animal and for this purpose the Chief Secretary and Advocate General of state are declared legal custodians of cow," the judge said in a 145-page order. The direction was made while the court was hearing the Hingonia Gaushala matter. Over a hundred cows had perished at the government-run cowshed in Jaipur last year. The bench also granted liberty to any person or class of persons to approach court with a plea in a PIL to declare cow as a national animal. The direction comes at a time when many states are protesting the government's decision to impose ban on the slaughter of cattle, primarily cows, for commercial purposes. Read | Row over public slaughter of calf by Kerala Youth Congress workers For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member and Member of Parliament from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, Sakshi Maharaj gave an exclusive interview to News Nation which will be aired on Wednesday at 9:20 PM. The Unnao MP discussed a range of issues and claimed that the Ram temple will be surely built by 2018. Further, he said that if BJP is not able to achieve this objective, then it will not be able to go in elections. Expressing confidence on Narendra Modi's leadership, he said that Modi will remain Prime Minister for upcoming 15 years. ALSO READ: No power on earth can stop construction of Ram temple: Sakshi Maharaj Maharaj also supported UP CM Yogi Adityanaths government while claiming that there is a conspiracy to deteriorate law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. Further, he came out in support of Hindu Yuva Vahini while stating that a conspiracy is afoot to defame the organisation. READ: Sakshi Maharaj says 'Muslims should be cremated' as graveyard for 20 crore people will lead to no place to live For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at the makeshift Ram Temple at the disputed site on Wednesday in his first trip to the temple town after assuming the Chief Minister office. Yogi Adityanath is himself said to be huge follower of Lord Ram and he has already been to Ayodhya many times before. The Ram Temple issue has been on the priority list of Bhartiya Janata Party for decades now. The proposed visit has already created stir among political circles in UP. The UP chief minister, who arrived in Ayodhya on Wednesday morning, spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex. He later offered payers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed yesterday along with the other BJP leaders. The visit comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top BJP leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. On Tuesday, a special CBI court in Lucknow framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19. All six were on Tuesday granted bail by CBI special judge S K Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each after rejecting the CBIs opposition to their bail plea. The apex court had while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of two cases relating to the demolition. The court had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. The CBI had charge-sheeted 21 people in the case. Many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the VHPs Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidhynath, have since died. With PTI inputs UP: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath arrives in Ayodhya pic.twitter.com/gzmPfFppZY ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 31, 2017 UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits Hanumangarhi temple, in Ayodhya pic.twitter.com/J0OGOlRxfU ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 31, 2017 UP CM Yogi Adityanath offers prayers on the banks of River Saryu, in Ayodhya pic.twitter.com/IWKSVIYq7G ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 31, 2017 Also read: UP CM Adityanath seeks Belgium's help in cleaning of Ganga Also read: Kerala calf slaughter row: UP CM Yogi Adityanath questions silence of 'secular parties' on beef festivals against Centres decision For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Suspended Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kapil Mishra was marshalled out of Delhi Assembly after a scuffle broke between him and other AAP MLAs on Wednesday. #WATCH Kapil Mishra marshalled out of Delhi Assembly after a scuffle broke between him and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs pic.twitter.com/fCprHosxhr a ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Kapil Mishra has accused Kejriwal of taking Rs 2 crore from health minister Satyendar Jain while also claiming that Jain settled a land deal worth Rs 50 crore for the CMas brother-in-law. Mishra alleged Kejriwal and two of his associates have tried to shield former chief minister Sheila Diskhit in a water tanker scam. Later, the top leadership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suspended him on May 9 after a three-hour long meeting called at chief minister Arvind Kejriwalas residence. Kapil Mishra made these statements once he wasA marshalled out of Delhi Assembly on Wednesday I had written a letter to the Delhi Assembly Speaker on Tuesday to grant me 5 minutes in the assembly to make myA point. I had asked for a special session to be held at the Ram Lila Maidan in order to expose the scams affected by Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendra Jain. I shall be holding an exhibition at the Constitution Club of India on June 3. Legislative Assembly members Madan Lal and Amanatullah Khan punched and kicked me. If one gets hold off the visuals of what happened inside the Assembly, you would realise that Manish Sisodia was instrumental in me getting beaten. A More details awaited. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Beijing: China on Wednesday welcomed India's reported decision to reject Australia's request to join this year's Malabar naval exercises saying the security concerns of the different parties should be taken into account while holding such drills. "I have seen the relevant reports on the refusal made by India for the invitation. I think India is also clear about the consideration behind this behaviour," Hua Chunying told media briefing reacting to a report that India has rejected Australia's request to join as observer to avoid backlash from China. She, however, did not elaborate on India's "consideration" in rejecting Australia's request to join the naval exercises scheduled to be held in July in the Bay of Bengal. "But I think we are happy to see normal dialogue and communications on security issues. But we also hope that when conducting such operations, the parties can fully consider the security concerns of the different parties and also play a positive and constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability," Hua said. ALSO READ: Govt extends last date of Indo-China trade via Lipulekh pass to October 31 The Malabar exercise started in 1992 with the US and India in the Indian Ocean. Since Japan joined in 2007, it has alternated between the West Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Media reports said India has rejected Australia's request to send naval ships to join as observer. The three countries held their largest ever joint exercise off Japanese coast, which involved 11 vessels and 8,000 personnel. Last year Chinese media sharply criticised the Malabar exercises saying that they are designed to target China. "Such a large-scale military exercise was obviously designed to target China's submarine activities in the East and South China Seas in recent years, promote the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and cement the US presence in the region," an article in the state-run Global said last year. "Washington brought New Delhi and Tokyo into the exercise to relieve its pressure due to overstretched military presence around the globe and tighten its grip on the Asia-Pacific region," it had said. ALSO READ: Arunachal people may get compensation of Rs 3,000 crore for land acquired during 1962 China war For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Indian Navy personnel who were sent to Bangladesh which has been hit by Cyclone Mora, has rescued 27 people in a major operation. The cyclone Mora has caused widespread destruction and rendered millions of people homeless. Indian Navy ship Sumitra rescued 27 people who were found adrift at sea over 100 miles away from Bangladeshi city of Chittagong, Indian Navy Spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said. The Eastern Naval Command is deploying P-81 aircraft as part of its rescue operation in Bangladesh. INS Sumitra operating in the Northern Bay of Bengal rescued 27 survivors found adrift at sea approximately 100 miles south of Chittagong. These include ladies, children and elderly people, Sharma said. He also said, Search and rescue for more survivors is drastically hampered due to prevailing rough weather in the area. At least six persons were killed as Cyclone Mora made landfall in Bangladesh on Tuesday, damaging several houses, with authorities scrambling to evacuate over half a million people from the coastal areas. Also read: Cyclone Mora makes landfall in Bangladesh; 6 dead, hundreds of thousands evacuated All flights were suspended to and from Chittagong and the Coxs Bazar airports due to Cyclone Mora. At least 2.5 million people in 10 districts risk falling in the way of the severe cyclonic storm. The districts at risk were Coxs Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barisal and Pirojpur. Yesterday, Bangladesh Meteorological Department had said the severe cyclonic storm Mora moved northward over North Bay and started crossing Coxs Bazar- Chittagong coast at 6:00 AM (local time). It is likely to move in a northerly direction further, the MeT said. Also read: Cyclone Mora: Heavy rainfall with wind speed of up to 80mph expected in next 24 hrs over Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dhaka: Cyclone Mora made landfall in Bangladesh with packing winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour and damaging several houses on Tuesday and there are reports of 6 people losing their lives to it. Authorities were scrambling to evacuate over half a million people from the coastal areas. In a special bulletin, Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the severe cyclonic storm Mora moved northward over North Bay and started crossing Coxs Bazar-Chittagong coast at 6:00 AM (local time). It is likely to move in a northerly direction further, it said. A man and woman were killed after getting hit by a falling tree as the cyclone cut its path through the tourist district of Coxs Bazar, police said. A child was killed in Bhola, one of the most vulnerable districts in the south. In Rangamati town, trees uprooted by the cyclone fell on a woman and a child, leaving them both dead, Police Inspector Mohammad Rashid said. Separately, in the district town of Coxs Bazar, an elderly woman died from cardiac arrest at a cyclone shelter, local media reported. Under the cyclones influence, gusty or squally wind with rain or thunder showers were continuing over North Bay and the coastal districts and maritime ports of Bangladesh, the Daily Star reported. Wind speed is estimated at 130 kmph in Saint Martins Island and 150 kmph Coxs Bazar port after it hit the area in between 6 AM and 7 AM, Coxs Bazar Met official A K M Nazmul Haque said. Also read: Cyclone Mora: Monsoon arrives in India two days ahead of schedule; rains drench Kerala, North East All flights were suspended to and from Chittagong international airport and the Coxs Bazar airports. As many as 300,000 people had been taken to shelters in more than ten districts most vulnerable to the cyclone, Additional Secretary Golam Mostafa, a spokesman for the disaster management ministrys control room, was quoted as saying by BD News. The people were moved out to at least 400 cyclone shelters or safer places like schools and government offices in the coastal areas, a disaster management ministry spokesman said. There are also fears for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living in makeshift homes after fleeing violence or persecution in neighbouring Myanmar. At least 2.5 million people in 10 districts risk falling in the way of the severe cyclonic storm. The districts at risk were Coxs Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barisal and Pirojpur. However, the Met office has said that the cyclone has already started to lose strength, but strong winds and heavy rains in Coxs Bazar and Chittagong may continue. Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader said that the government has disbursed cash assistance of 18.7 million taka for the affected areas. A navy ship is on its way to the St. Martins Island with relief supplies. The prime minister has instructed the army and air force to join the relief efforts. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is monitoring the situation from Vienna, where she has gone to attend a conference on atomic energy. The prime minister is maintaining round-the-clock communication with Dhaka on the storm situation. She has ordered all-out preparation to tackle the storm, said Ihsanul Karim, Prime Ministers press secretary. Under the influence of the cyclonic storm, the low-lying areas of the coastal districts and their offshore islands were likely to be inundated by storm surge of 4-5 feet height above normal astronomical tide, the Met office said. All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay and deep sea have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice. The MeT office had issued the highest level of warning signal in a scale of 10 for two maritime ports after Mora developed into a severe cyclonic storm. Habibur Rahman, a member of Saint Martins Island Union Parishad, told Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo that several houses were damaged in Saint Martins Island in the morning. Also read: Cyclone Mora: Heavy rainfall with wind speed of up to 80mph expected in next 24 hrs over Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram Bangladesh is often hit by bad storms between April and December that cause deaths and widespread destruction. Cyclone Roanu hit the southern coast of Bangladesh last year, leaving 20 people dead and forcing half a million to flee their homes. The Mora cyclone formed after heavy rains in Sri Lanka caused floods and landslides killing over 180 people. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A French minister said that the French and German embassies were damaged by the deadly bomb blast that ripped through Kabuls strongly fortified diplomatic quarter on Wednesday morning. The suicide car bomb attack killed 80 people while wounding 350 others. The information that I have at the moment is that there is material damage in the French embassy, there is also material damage in the Germany embassy, European affairs minister Marielle de Sarnez told Europe 1 radio. READ: Video | Kabul blast: Deadly suicide attack near diplomatic district kills 80, wounds 350; PM Modi condemns action She added she had no information on any possible casualties at the two missions. ALSO READ: PM Narendra Modi strongly condemns Kabul bomb attack, says India stands with Afghanistan For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A massive suicide car bombing occurred in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday morning in an area close to foreign embassies and the presidential palace. Afghanistan Ministry of Health has claimed that 80 people have been killed and 350 wounded in the attack. The blast took place near Wazir Akbar Khan area, Kabul PD 10 and sources claim that the Iranian embassy was the target. The Indian embassy located at a distance of 1.5 kilometers from the Iranian one, is reported to be safe. ALSO READ: Islamic States bomb kills 10, hurts 22 in ice cream shop in Baghdad; Twitter gasps at horror ''Buildings, including ours, suffered considerable breakages, but all our staff are safe'' said Indian ambassador in Kabul Manpreet Vohra Buildings, including ours, suffered considerable breakages,but all our staff are safe: Indian ambassador in Kabul Manpreet Vohra #KabulBlast ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the Indian Embassy staff are safe in the blast. By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast, tweets EAM Sushma Swaraj pic.twitter.com/2jYpSV8Osa ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 There have been sporadic deadly attacks on Kabul in recent months, all of which have highlighted the worsening security situation across Afghanistan. We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 Indian PM Narendra Modi condemned the Kabul blast while claiming that India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. He also said that forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 READ: Manchester attack: UK Police arrests 23-year-old suspect; death toll rises to 22 #WATCH Visuals from the blast site in Kabul, Indian embassy staff safe. AP reports 50 people have been killed or wounded #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/a6rC71DKea ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Pictures of immediate aftermath of Kabul explosion, Afghan Health Ministry says 60 people wounded so far. pic.twitter.com/Jxjl6JTIIk ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Earlier in May nearly eight civilians were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a Nato convoy as it was passing the US embassy. Photos posted on social media display a large plume of smoke in the sky above the war-torn city. No group has yet said it carried out Wednesday's attack, but in April the Taliban had announced the start of a major spring offensive, saying their main focus would be foreign forces, targeting them with a mix of conventional, guerrilla, insider and suicide attacks. The US has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, with another 5,000 from Nato allies. Explosion in Kabul, reportedly near Wazir Akbar Khan area, Kabul PD 10: Afghan Media pic.twitter.com/5joCXNwkqV ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: President Donald Trump has a "fairly unbelievable" relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House has said, hours after the American leader complained about Germany in a tweet. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the two leaders get along "very well" and are growing a"bond" they had during their talks in the G7. "The relationship that the President has had with Merkelhe would describe as fairly unbelievable...He has a lot of respect for her," Spicer said. The press secretary's comments came after Trump, on the social media platrform, said Germany was paying well below itsshare for NATO. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change," Trump tweeted. Spicer asserted that Trump views not just Germany, butthe rest of Europe, as an important American allies. "During his conversations at NATO and at the G7, the president reaffirmed the need to deepen and improve our transatlantic relationship," he said, as reporters asked him about the general impression that all is not well between US and Germany. Spicer also disputed the media's interpretation of Merkel's remarks that she felt that Europe could no longer depend on the United States."That's not what she said. So since you're misquoting the Chancellor, let me read what she actually said. She said: 'The times when Europe could rely solely on others is somewhat in the past. And as I have witnessed over the past few days,Europe must take its fate into its own hands. This means working in friendship with the US, the UK, and neighborly relations with Russia and other partners," Spicer said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. After filing last week for bankruptcy protection from creditors as it searches for a buyer to bail it out, the Skip Barber Racing School lists a pair of Connecticut entities having the largest unsecured loans outstanding including the racetrack run in Litchfield County by its namesake founder. Skip Barber Racing lists offices in Braselton, Ga., and Millerton, N.Y., the latter location just 10 miles west of Lakeville, where the company long ran classes at the Lime Rock Park raceway. Skip Barber Racing owes Lime Rock $1.2 million in the form of track rent, according to the companys Chapter 11 bankruptcy papers filed last week in New York. Skip Barber Racing has not run classes at the track for 14 months and no more are in the works, according to Lime Rock spokesman Rick Roso, with the Lucas Oil School of Racing now offering lessons at Lime Rock. The Lakeville track is owned by Skip Barber himself, who sold his driving school in 1999 to Sports Capital Partners, with the Westport-based investor First Equity acquiring it in 2001. Skip Barber Racing School is owned today by Michael Culver, a former First Equity partner at the time of the initial investment. Over the years, Skip Barber Racing has schooled amateur and professional drivers alike, with a few of its celebrity students including three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves, the late Paul Newman and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who adorned his sitcom set refrigerator with a Skip Barber Racing magnet. Bridgeport-based Peoples United Financial is Skip Barber Racings second-largest unsecured creditor, owed about $250,000 in the form of credit card debt. Other area companies owed lesser amounts include the industrial gases company Praxair and the accountancy Actis-Grande, Ronan & Co., both based in Danbury; the law firm St. Onge Steward Johnston & Reens and Centerplate, a concessionaire operator, both in Stamford; and Gregory & Howe, a drug testing service in Shelton. In all, the Skip Barber Racing lists debt in excess of $10 million against assets of $5.3 million, much of that as estimated in the value of vehicles, motors and parts, as well as $2 million in intangible value to its brand name and teaching techniques. In a statement on its website posted the day after filing for bankruptcy, the company said it is searching for a buyer and using the Chapter 11 process as a tool to get Skip Barber Racing School to a much stronger place in its words. Skip Barber Racing said employee compensation will be a priority of the bankruptcy court and that it will honor customer deposits, listing more than 50 Connecticut residents who have them. The company has asked the court to treat as a priority driving instructors and other independent contractors it has retained. The company is continuing to offer single-day classes at other racetracks nationally, with the current rate on its website starting at $595 with rates going up from there depending on days and depth of training, all the way through a four-day school for more than $7,000. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-964-2236; www.twitter.com/casoulman MGM has confirmed its interest in a Bridgeport casino but said it has to overcome a 2015 special act that gives Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun dibs on a development. While we have not been allowed to have any negotiations, there is no doubt that Bridgeport would be an ideal location, said Uri Clinton, senior vice president and legal counsel for MGM Resorts International. Burned by a failed casino project two decades ago, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim has been taking a circumspect approach to hosting the gambling facility in the states largest city. The Democrat has kept competing casino developers at bay for now despite intense lobbying by the industry, according to Ganims office. Ganim is being courted by MGM to support an open competition for the right to build a third casino in the state, with the gaming giant eyeing Bridgeport for its proximity to New York City and its transportation infrastructure. At the same time, the states two tribal-owned casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, are seeking Ganims blessing for a joint venture north of Hartford. The tribes are looking to offset anticipated losses to an MGM project just over the border in Springfield, Mass. Listen, I think the mayors experience 25 years ago, its a cautionary tale and its a cautionary experience for him, said Av Harris, Ganims legislative liaison and spokesman. He doesnt want to get so far out on this thing only to see it blocked in the legislative process. In a recent interview regarding a Bridgeport casino, Ganim said the citys been through that and it spent more than months, years on something that wasnt, that never developed. Harris said until now Ganim has left it up to him and also Tom Gill, the head of economic development to meet with casino interests, but that may be about to change. He said the mayor may meet with casino interests soon, but did not specify which ones. Hes avoided a meeting up until this point just because it hasnt been real, Harris said. But as we get down to the wire in the (state Legislative) session and certain bills start to emerge, hes more willing to meet with people. It doesnt mean hes committing in any way to a particular casino. MGM isn't going to build anything in Bridgeport, said Andrew Doba, a spokesman for the tribes. They're trying to protect their investment in Springfield from $20 million a month in losses, which is what's going to happen if the state authorizes the East Windsor facility. Just listen to what they said in Massachusetts. In the early 1990s, Trump partnered with Ganim during Ganims first stint as Bridgeports mayor to push a waterfront casino development in the city. But the project met competition from rival casino mogul Steve Wynn and Foxwoods developer, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, as well as opposition from politicians such as then-Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. At the time, the state entered into a compact with the Mashantuckets and Mohegans giving them exclusive casino rights in return for them forking over about $260 million in annual slot machine revenues to the state. Last week, the state Senate approved the joint venture between the tribes for a third casino. The bill now faces a showdown in the House, with members of Bridgeports legislative delegation split over the future of gambling in Connecticut. In the House, Reps. Christopher Rosario and Ezequiel Santiago are co-sponsors of a bill to create an open competition for a third casino, while Sens. Marilyn Moore and Ed Gomes voted for the joint tribal casino venture. Lets see who emerges, Harris said. The state has to figure out what its gaming policy is. Harris said Ganim is open to a casino development in Bridgeport, where access to Interstate 95, the railroad and the Cross Sound Ferry have put the city on the radar of the gaming industry. Look, if something looks like a real possibility and casino is going to be built in Bridgeport, the mayor does not have a philosophical opposition to that, Harris said. In some way, maybe this fits. Theres another obvious reason why Ganim is so noncommittal so he can get a better deal for the city. How much of the tab for police, road repairs and other costs of hosting a casino would a developer be willing to pick up? If this fits with that, were all for it, but were not about to jump in, Harris said. Its not ripe for the city of Bridgeport to jump in. Staff Writer Brian Lockhart contributed to this report. nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; twitter.com/gettinviggy This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEWTOWN - A town native whose father and grandfather have both served as first selectman announced plans Tuesday to seek Newtowns highest elected office. Dan Rosenthal went on Facebook Live Tuesday, saying he was seeking the Democratic nomination for first selectman. He joins a trio of Republican candidates who have already said they are running to replace four-term GOP First Selectman Pat Llodra, who is retiring at the end of her term in November. We have this terrific community with a great school system, great public safety and a great spirit of volunteerism, said Rosenthal, 44, whose father, Herb Rosenthal, is a former five-term first selectman and currently serves on the three-member Board of Selectmen. We need to make ourselves more business-friendly and we need to ramp up how we communicate with the public. Rosenthals move follows Llodras announcement last week that she would not seek a fifth term - news that brought praise from state and federal officials for her leadership after the Sandy Hook massacre. The three Republicans who have announced plans to seek the GOP nomination are Andrew Clure, a Newtown Board of Education member; Mary Ann Jacob, the chairman of the Legislative Council; and Will Rodgers, a member of the Board of Selectmen. I have been at Pats side for these last eight years, and prior to that I was the chairman of the Legislative Council, said Rodgers, an attorney. I have the training, I have the experience and I know the players in town and in Hartford. Mary Ann Jacob said she is running for first selectman to continue the fiscal policies she has followed with Llodra. We increased our commercial base by $24 million last year, which resulted in $900,000 in new revenue, but that money went to fill the shortfall in our (cut) state aid, Jacob said. We have to continue the fiscal responsibility to make sure we are prepared for the upcoming state trouble. Jacob was referring to the financial crisis in Hartford, where the state budget deficit is expected to be $2.3 billion in the fiscal year that begins in July. Clure, a member of a committee that is advising the town about the construction of a $15 million community center, said his priorities are to cut taxes to and to bring the community together with better communication. One of the things I learned on the community center commission was how vitally important communication is between the elected officials and the constituents of the town, Clure said on Tuesday. I want to see the work we started on the community center completed. Although it is too soon for either party to nominate a candidate, the fall campaign already stands to be much different than the previous two elections, when Llodra ran unopposed. Both parties will chose candidates in late July. I am not sure who I will be running against, said Rosenthal, whose grandfather, Jack Rosenthal, served six terms as first selectman until 1987. I think I have the skill set for the position and I hope the voters give me their trust and confidence. Jeff Capeci, the chairman of Newtowns Republican Town Committee, said Llodra introduced policies and procedures that the GOP nominee would follow. Pat was a true leader through a very difficult time where she was definitely tested, Capeci said. She did very well by Newtown and made us Republicans proud. rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342 NEW FAIRFIELD Town officials no longer will pursue a permit to apply herbicides to Candlewood Lake after more than 200 voters adopted an ordinance to stop the plan Tuesday night. The ordinance, proposed by the group Candlewood Voices earlier this month, requires a townwide vote whenever officials want to use chemicals on the lake. The group formed in opposition to the towns proposal to treat the lake with the herbicide Diquat to kill invasive Eurasian watermilfoil and copper sulfate to treat blue-green algae. In a packed town hall meeting at the New Fairfield Senior Center, all but several of the more than 200 residents voted to adopt the ordinance. After the vote, First Selectman Susan Chapman said the town will no longer seek a permit with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to use the herbicides. Well, this is democracy and this is how it works in a town hall form of government, she said. Obviously, we wont be moving forward with the permit. The town had considered applying Diquat to about 10 acres of the Shelter Harbor Cove area after getting approval from about 10 residents in the cove, although they had not yet applied for a permit with DEEP. The plan was a scaled back version of the towns original proposal to treat about 60 acres of the lake with the herbicide Diquat and to apply copper sulfate on up to 160 acres. Tuesdays town meeting was scheduled after Candlewood Voices filed two petitions asking the town to hold a meeting on the ordinance. The selectmen scheduled the meeting two weeks ago after initially denying the groups first petition for legal reasons. John McCartney, a member of Candlewood Voices, said the group then spent the next few weeks getting the word out about the meeting by posting on its 400-member Facebook group and calling those who had signed the petitions. Super turnout and an awesome result, he said after the vote. This is the purest form of government in the United States. The group, made up of six core members from Danbury, New Fairfield and Sherman, said they worry about the negative health effects the herbicide could have on the humans, wildlife and the existing grass carp in the lake. They also did not agree with the way town officials introduced the proposal. Candlewood Voices organized after a March 2 forum on the proposal was attended by over 150 residents, most of whom spoke against using herbicides. The members of the group were frustrated, McCartney said, the town didnt abandon the idea after the negative feedback. Khris Hall, a voter who is running for selectman, said residents should be the ones deciding whether to use herbicides in the lake. Were obviously very happy with the result, she said. This is where the decision should have been made in the first place in a town meeting. Another voter, Erin Badillo, said she may have considered supporting the herbicides if the town had gone about the proposal differently. But she voted to pass the ordinance Tuesday because she disagreed with the towns process. The Board of Selectmen ignored repeated requests for input and questions, she said. ... If it was a decision that was come to by the Candlewood Lake Authority with experts and scientists involved, I would go along with that. The Candlewood Lake Authority has said the herbicides might interfere with its existing grass carp program. About 3,800 carp were released into the lake in 2015 and 4,450 more will be stocked this summer. aquinn@newstimes.com Its been about two years since millennials surpassed gen Xers to become the largest share of the American workforce. As that gap continues to widen, C-suite executives should start thinking about how this shift might impact their business. Because believe it or not, the new kids wont be so new in just a few years. Older millennials are moving into leadership positions, while fresh college graduates are chasing similar success. The result? Companies are growing into majority millennial teams, and projections show millennials representing nearly 75 percent of the workforce by 2030. Related: It Turns Out, Millennials Are Happiest With Their Health Benefits From tightening promotion timelines to building a culture that prides being a part of something bigger than ourselves, Ive managed to grow my startup, Gather, to more than 50 people strong in just three years. Pulling from a number of personal experiences (as a millennial myself), you can lean on these five tips to better manage and build out a stronger team of millennials. 1. Dish out professional development dollars. When it comes to entry-level employees who might not have as much experience as others within your organization, professional development is crucial. Not only does it prepare your staff to take on bigger and better challenges, but it also keeps them engaged and active both in and outside of work. You can drive home the importance of professional development by providing a reasonable annual stipend (we provide $1,500) to employees after they hit an anniversary, such as the six-month or one-year mark. Whether courses or conferences, the money will help your team accelerate their careers and take advantage of exciting opportunities for growth. And while this is an upfront expense, the experience and learning your team will bring back to your company are invaluable. You can also choose to host events that are specific to teams within the office -- for instance, having different departments across your organization learn from each other by offering training sessions over lunch or monthly presentations. Related: 4 Tips for Managing Millennials From a Pair of Successful 23-Year-Old Entrepreneurs No matter which strategy works best for your company, promoting professional development fosters a growth mindset among your workers -- something thats a core value at our office. Instilling the beliefs that learning is a lifelong process, feedback is always welcome, and that mistakes are opportunities for improvement ensures that your team will continue to strive for growth throughout their careers. 2. Diversify employee engagement. Theres no denying workplace friendships make coming into the office every day that much easier. In fact, 46 percent of professionals say theyre happier when they have strong friendships with their co-workers, according to a survey from LinkedIn and Censuswide. And these work friendships are even more important among millennials. More than half of all 18- to 24-year-olds say workplace friendships make them feel happy and motivated. By hosting engaging events (and I dont just mean happy hours) you can facilitate strong relationships among your millennial workforce. But, do yourself a favor and get creative. We like to set up an annual, city-wide scavenger hunt to foster some healthy competition and get employees mingling cross-team. Or, you can throw a Silicon Valley viewing party (something we do) to bring everyone together around something you know theyll relate to. Better yet, give your team a say in the types of activities you put on. The more invested employees are in a particular event, the more likely theyll attend. Related: Why CEOs Should Be Worries About the Generation Gap 3. Compress promotion timelines. Millennials arent too keen on waiting around for promotions. More than four out of five millennials expect a promotion or raise at least every other year. To help meet these demands, Ive worked with my leadership team at Gather to create entry-level roles that feature more opportunity for promotion than your typical role. This works well for entry-level sales or support positions. Where you might typically have a promotion timeline of a year to a year-and-a-half, these roles promote around the six- to nine-month mark. For big teams of entry-level positions, we use objective goals and milestone markers to promote at faster rates. That way employees are engaged year-round and know exactly what to aim for. Such measures also go a long way toward making employees feel like theyre valued. Be careful, however, of asking for too much from new employees. Millennials -- specifically new staff joining right out of college -- often come in with high confidence and low competence. Instead, developing realistic goals from quarter to quarter will help you provide ample opportunity for advancement without overwhelming employees who still have plenty to learn. Related: What Do Millennial and Gen Z Employees Want in the Workplace? 4. Provide the opportunity to be part of something bigger. Its true, money matters, but moneys also not the only thing millennials are looking for in a job. For six in 10 millennials, a sense of purpose is part of the reason they chose to work for their current employers. Give your employees a better idea of what your business is striving to accomplish by encouraging cross-team interaction. That way they can see all the great work thats going on across the entire organization. Organizational silos often leave new employees wondering what others in the office are working on and how their efforts fit within the grand scheme of things. Promote a culture of being a part of something bigger than yourself by promoting collaboration with others -- and that means executive leadership too. Its also crucial to hire employees who are already committed to your companys goals and mission. Doing so helps ensure your staff remains passionate about the work theyre doing, and who theyre doing it for, for the long-run. Related: Tell It Like It Is: Radical Candor Is the Feedback Method Your Startup Needs 5. Encourage Radical Candor. Feedback in the workplace is often a touchy subject -- but it doesnt have to be. At Gather, we use a transparent approach known as Radical Candor to speed up the personal and professional development of our employees. Too many managers feel they have to choose between being a jerk or pretending that things are going smoothly, even when theyre not. By pushing managers to highlight accomplishments, as well as areas for improvement, Radical Candor helps foster an open and honest work environment thats designed to both nurture and challenge employees. Already the largest share of the American workforce, millennials are poised to play an increasingly prominent role in offices around the country. But, using these five tips, you can better position your business as a place millennials not only start, but grow their careers. Related: Bashing the Stereotypes: What You Need to Know About Gen Z 5 Tips on Managing an All-Millennial Office (From a Millennial CEO) 5 Mistakes Millennial Entrepreneurs Make With Money Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Large, bureaucratic organizations arent always equipped to innovate. Startups, on the other hand, are much more nimble when it comes to identifying problems and solving them. However, not all entrepreneurs are attuned to the problems that most need solving. Larger institutions often have a better sense of them, they just dont have the ability to tackle them. Thats why Denver-based entrepreneur, investor and startup advisor Tom Higley, who has founded and run seven companies throughout his career, founded the nonprofit 10.10.10. Calling it a venture generator and a problem-solving machine, Higley and his team organize 10-day events during which they bring together 10 individuals who know they want to start a company that fulfills a need in society, but just arent sure which problem to take on. Partners pitch 10 wicked or highly complex problems to, in most cases, serial entrepreneurs, and encourage them to build a solution. Higley says it takes a kind of Elon Musk to go after problems like these. At first, when he was looking to address these big challenges, Higley set out to solve all the big problems of the world. But what he learned quickly is it is better to start by focusing on one concrete problem area, rather than try to generate ventures devoted to everything from security to climate to health from the get-go. A colleague advised him that health would be a prime place to start. Its an area that affects everyones lives but is plagued by inefficiency. While Higley, who had never worked in the health space, says he was worried this focus would be too much of a learning curve for him, today, 10.10.10 is gearing up for its third annual health event, planned this summer. And later this year, it will finally expand its focus to smart cities. The serial entrepreneur and 10.10.10 founder spoke with Entrepreneur about the tension between focus and scale that the organization has had to balance. This conversation has been edited. What have you learned about growth while doing good? Our vision is about addressing wicked problems in health, water, food, energy, learning, infrastructure, waste, security and climate change, but tackling all of those things at the same time is a bit like deciding youll colonize Mars next week. Beginning with a focus on problems in health really helped people understand the nuts and bolts of what we do. But that kind of focus can allow people to lose sight of the fact that you want to colonize Mars. So creating our cities program has been the answer to helping people understand the power and importance of scale. What have you learned about culture while doing good? We talk about what we do as creating a wormhole that connects two really disparate cultures. On one hand, you have the collection of folks who operate in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. On the other hand, you have large organizations and institutions. And these cultures are so radically different. They have a different vocabulary. They have a different dress code. They have very different notions about success. So, part of what we do is actually about learning, so that entrepreneurs and large organizations and institutions can interact and deliver value. What advice do you have for other businesses looking to do good? You can do this, and the world needs more of you. So as you seek to do good, my profound hope for you is that you think about ways to encourage others to join you in this, to increase the size of the pool of entrepreneurs who are playing that game. Its not just about you. You hear the expression, It takes a village. We actually say, It takes a village of villages. If youre really seeking to do good, and do good in a business context, think very hard about what you are investing your life in and whether it is worth that investment. Theres a problem of entrepreneurs who havent understood that their investment of their time, energy, effort and sometimes even their money is a bigger investment than any venture firm puts into a company they will operate or create. And you can know more about that than you think you can -- before you ever get started. Related: Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The Patiala House Court's order allowing former air chief S. P. Tyagi accused in the VVIP chopper scam case to travel to Indonesia yesterday has been stayed by the Delhi High Court. Justice I. S. Mehta today clearly said that Tyagi is facing trial in the case and also getting special treatment, adding that he may tamper the ongoing probe. He was granted bail in December 2015 in the case of the security of Rs two lakh. Also Read: After 30 years Indian PM visited Spain Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to visit Ayodhya today PM Modi to reach Spain today Calgary Marriott Downtown gives you the ultimate Canadian adventure to celebrate Canada 150 CALGARY, May 31, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada 150, eh! Calgary Marriott Downtown wants to give you the ultimate Canadian experience and help you celebrate Canada's 150thin the most Canadian way. Make the Calgary Marriott Downtown your basecamp to an all Canadian adventure with national historic sites and parksthanks to the free 2017 Parks Canada Discovery Pass; natural wonders, attractions and events, all within a short drive of the city. Calgary is the perfect destination for Canada's 150th Anniversary; with plenty of offerings and travel motivators that have tied in a special Canada 150 celebratory aspect: The Calgary Stampede is set to celebrate with a Canada 150 discount day on July 11 th . Admission to the grounds is free all day for seniors (ages 65+) and they also get a free Skyride and standing-room tickets for the rodeo and evening show. Arrive early and enjoy free coffee and pastries at the Saddledome Steps (while supplies last.) The Stampede also promises "uniquely Canadian surprises." 150 discount day on . Admission to the grounds is free all day for seniors (ages 65+) and they also get a free Skyride and standing-room tickets for the rodeo and evening show. Arrive early and enjoy free coffee and pastries at the Saddledome Steps (while supplies last.) The Stampede also promises "uniquely Canadian surprises." GlobalFest will celebrate Canada's 150 th with a six-night distinctly Canadian firework display from across the country, with teams from British Columbia to Alberta and Ontario to Nova Scotia ( August 15 th -26 th ) 150 with a six-night firework display from across the country, with teams from to and to ( -26 ) Heritage Park is giving you 150 reasons to come and visit the park this season; including celebrating the indigenous culture on June 18 th , learn how they celebrate Canada in 'the west' and even meet new Canadians! Watch as 75 individuals take the official citizenship oath and become Canadian citizens (date TBA) , learn how they celebrate in 'the west' and even meet new Canadians! Watch as 75 individuals take the official citizenship oath and become Canadian citizens (date TBA) The Royal Tyrrell Museum , Dinosaur Provincial Park and the Canadian Rockies are all offering exceptional experiences to learn about the country's cultural and natural history (happening all spring and summer long) Dinosaur Provincial Park the Canadian Rockies are all offering exceptional experiences to learn about the country's cultural and natural history (happening all spring and summer long) Canada 150 Sculpture Calgary's Canada 150 sculpture will be travelling to various events and iconic locations in Calgary throughout 2017. Check Facebook and Twitter to find out where and when, and join in the celebration of our country's 150th birthday by posting a selfie on social media using #Canada150. The upscale Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel offers you the perfect rest stop to your day-filled adventures with their spacious accommodation and incredible views of the city skyline and the Canadian Rockies in the distance. To commemorate Canada's BIG 150, the hotels award-winning Bourbon inspired ONE18 EMPIRE restaurant will be offering a signature Canadian Cocktail, named the Walter Stanleyin honor of Mr. Walter Chell, who created the Caesar cocktail and Mr. George Stanley, a native Calgarian who designed the Canadian Flag. The drink is a maple syrup and bacon rimmed Caesar cocktail made with Canadian rye and garnished with a combination of Canadian inspired bites. The Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel is pleased to be a part of Canada's 150th Anniversary and offer their guests the ultimate Canadian adventure. Browse through the hotel's website to find out more. High resolution photos available. About Marriott Hotels With nearly 550 hotels and resorts in over 55 countries and territories around the world, Marriott Hotels is evolving travel through every aspect of the guest's stay, enabling the next generation to Travel Brilliantly. Boldly transforming itself for mobile and global travelers who blend work and play, Marriott leads the industry with innovations, including the Greatroom lobby and Mobile Guest Services that elevates style & design and technology. Marriott Hotels is proud to participate in the industry's award-winning loyalty program, Marriott Rewards which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards. Members can now link accounts with Starwood Preferred Guest at members.marriott.com for instant elite status matching and unlimited points transfer. To learn more, visit www.MarriottHotels.com. Stay connected to Marriott Hotels on Facebook, @marriott on Twitter and @marriotthotels on Instagram. SOURCE Marriott Hotels & Resorts Canada For further information: Tiffany Richards, Director of Sales & Marketing, T: 403.231.4529 | E: [email protected] Related Links www.marriott.com TORONTO, May 31, 2017 /CNW/ - Hermes Canada is pleased to introduce 'Into the Canadian Wild,' a commemorative 90x90cm silk twill scarf, printed in limited edition to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary. Marking this occasion, Hermes has partnered with artist Alice Shirley to design a unique scarf depicting Canada's diverse seasons, wildlife and natural habitats. "We are deeply honoured to celebrate this Canadian milestone with an original Hermes scarf motif," said Jennifer Carter, President & CEO, Hermes Canada. "The Canadian landscape illuminates with natural richness and diversity, and we're pleased to link this to Hermes' tradition of silk creation." Further celebrating the occasion, Hermes stores across Canada will present exceptional 'Into the Canadian Wild' storefront windows. The 'Into the Canadian Wild' scarf retails for $485 and will launch exclusively at Hermes stores across Canada and on hermes.com, commencing June 15, 2017. In support of Evergreen Canada. About Hermes Silk The first Hermes silk scarf "Jeu des omnibus et des dames blanches" was commissioned by Robert Dumas (1898-1978) in 1937, a member of the fourth generation Hermes family. Since 1948, the engraving, weaving and printing of Hermes scarves has been performed in the Lyon region, the traditional home of French silk. Over the past 76 years, teams of artists and designers have reinvented the silk square with original motifs recounting the history of Hermes and its links to fashion, the arts, cultures and traditions. With carefully hand-rolled, hand-stitched hems, the creation of the Hermes scarf reflects the story of decades of know-how, artistry, storytelling and tradition. Over the years the original 90x90cm format of the scarf has evolved in size, style and material with a rich plentitude of designs and options for men and women, resulting in over 2,000 designs in over 75,000 specially created colours. SOURCE Hermes Canada inc. For further information: Blaire Borins / [email protected] MONTREAL, May 31, 2017 /CNW/ - On June 2, Canada's National Ballet School (NBS) will kick off its celebration for Canada's 150th with a nationwide dance party from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Les Jardins Gamelin in Montreal. NBS' Sharing Dance Day events will bring communities together and empower them to enjoy the physical, social, emotional and cultural benefits of dance for all Canadians. The events will include professional dance performances, open free dance classes, activity booths, music, and engaging activities for all ages. For more information on Sharing Dance Day, please visit: www.sharingdance.ca. WHEN: Friday, June 2, 2017, 5 - 8 p.m. WHERE: Les Jardins Gamelin Montreal, Quebec WHAT: Performance of the '2017 Choreography' - representing distinct styles of dance, cultural backgrounds and geographic locations The '2017 Choreography' has been taught to the general public children and youth of all ages, seniors and everyone in between across Canada since January 2017 . The '2017 Choreography' is a collaboration led by NBS artistic staff and four Canadian choreographers, including Montreal's Roger Sinha . - representing distinct styles of dance, cultural backgrounds and geographic locations The '2017 Choreography' has been taught to the general public children and youth of all ages, seniors and everyone in between across since . The '2017 Choreography' is a collaboration led by NBS artistic staff and four Canadian choreographers, including . Bonus performance - Carissa Vales , dancing and singing - , dancing and singing Several activities and performances showcasing Canada's multiculturalism and a wide variety of dance genres will include: multiculturalism and a wide variety of dance genres will include: Studio de Multi-Dance (jazz) Sinha Danse #1 (music and freestyle) #1 (music and freestyle) Talaa Danse (Bharatanatyam and Bollywood) La Clave (salsa and Columbia folklore) Katherine NG (contemporary dance) Barbara Diabo (Aboriginal hoop dance) (Aboriginal hoop dance) A'Motion (dancehall and African dance) Photo/filming/interview opportunities are available during and after the event About Canada's National Ballet School With a rich 58-year history and international reputation, NBS is one of the world's foremost training institutions for aspiring young dancers and teachers. NBS believes that everyone should have access to high-quality dance programs, encouraging people to engage artistically, and reap the physical, social, emotional and cultural benefits that dance provides. NBS' Sharing Dance community initiative has grown under the guidance of NBS artistic staff, developing fundamental aspects of physical literacy through dance in children and youth; engaging seniors, including those with Parkinson's disease or dementia, with dance activities that contribute to better health and improved quality of life; and promoting broad public participation for everyone in between. SOURCE Canada's National Ballet School For further information: Sapna Goel, Communications Lead, Sharing Dance, Canada's National Ballet School, 416 964 3780 x 2115 Related Links www.nbs-enb.ca Incident reports released under Freedom of Information show government unable or unwilling to act on noise complaints from residents living near wind power projects OTTAWA, May 31, 2017 /CNW/ - Documents recently released by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) under Freedom of Information show a deeply flawed process for responding to complaints of excessive noise levels from industrial-scale wind turbines, Wind Concerns Ontario says. Documents released to Wind Concerns Ontario, a coalition of community groups and citizens, show that almost 3,200 reports of noise complaints were made in 2006-2014. In more than half, the government took no action. "When Premier Dalton McGuinty brought in the Green Energy Act in 2009, he promised the people of rural Ontario to address concerns about health and safety from the turbines," Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson said. "But they already had multiple complaints about wind turbine noise from 2006 onward, and they were unable and even unwilling to deal with them. This is failure of a government to protect people. "Their goal appears to be protecting the interests of power development corporations instead." Ontario families called the MOECC hotline to report sleep disturbance, headaches, and dizziness from the wind turbine noise emissions. Some were desperate and reported not having slept for days, even weeks at a time. The reports show, however, that ministry staff had no protocols or guidelines to deal with noise complaints and that high-level directives blocked staff from responding. Staff were told to rely on computer noise models provided by power developers instead of actual noise measurement. "The noise models said that the turbine noise levels were safe, and within regulations," Wilson explains, "but complaints continued the Ministry did nothing. The MOECC chose power developers, their 'clients,' over Ontario families." Many reports referred to vibration or "pulsing" sensations from the huge turbines, but the MOECC restricted responses to audible noise alone. "People just gave up and stopped calling," Wilson, a Registered Nurse, says. "Then, in many cases, the Ministry simply closed their files. There was no help for these people from their government." A revised Compliance Protocol was released by the government on April 21, but contains no substantive change to the complaint process. Wind Concerns Ontario recommends that no more approvals or Notices To Proceed be granted for wind power projects, and that the government develop and enforce new, tougher noise standards. Wind Concerns Ontario is a coalition of community groups, families and individuals concerned about the effects of industrial-scale wind turbines on the environment, the economy, and human health. For a full report: www.windconcernsontario.ca " noise emissions are causing an adverse effect.." Note by MOECC field officer, March, 2010 "no resources for after-hours monitoring" Note by MOECC staff November, 2015 [Wind turbine noise] "Sounds like a jet engine roaring" Citizen report, March, 2013 "House [is] vibrating" Citizen report, February, 2011 "Staff have no options to address complaint" MOECC staff, November 2015 SOURCE Wind Concerns Ontario For further information: Jane Wilson, President, 613-489-3591/613-725-7120, [email protected]; Warren Howard, Director, 519-291-6950/519-571-4501 Related Links http://www.windconcernsontario.ca OTTAWA, May 29, 2017 /CNW/ - On Saturday May 27, 2017, Matthew Bruce MEDINA, a Canadian citizen, was extradited back to Canada from the Dominican Republic on drug related charges. Matthew Bruce MEDINA (51 years), also known as Matthew Bruce MAYNARD, was the subject of multiple police investigations across Canada. In the fall of 2013, MEDINA was the suspect of a drug investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British-Columbia (BC-CFSEU) and subsequently fled Canada. In 2015, an RCMP drug investigation confirmed MEDINA to be living in the Dominican Republic. MEDINA's arrest was actively sought by the BC-CFSEU, RCMP and OPP in the jurisdictions of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. MEDINA was known to obtain and use a variety of aliases. An Interpol Red Notice was issued in May 2016 at the request of the RCMP Ottawa Detachment and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. MEDINA was wanted on BC-CFSEU, OPP and RCMP's Canada Wide arrest warrants for several drug related offences and multiple counts of Criminal Code of Canada offences. MEDINA was arrested in April 2016 in the Dominican Republic, where he had been detained. The arrest was done in conjunction with authorities in the Dominican Republic. Twitter: @RCMPONT Facebook: RCMP.Ontario YouTube: RCMPGRCPOLICE Website: RCMP in Ontario SOURCE Royal Canadian Mounted Police For further information: For media inquiries please contact: Cpl. Louise Savard, Media Relations Officer, "O" Division (Ontario), Phone: (905) 876-9709 Related Links http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ TORONTO, May 30, 2017 /CNW/ - Twelve of Canada's most innovative retailers took home top prizes tonight at the 2017 Excellence in Retailing Awards Gala (ERA), a highlight of Retail Council of Canada's STORE 2017 conference in Toronto. In addition to the ERA honorees, three Awards of Distinction were also presented, and seventeen Retail as a Career Scholarships were awarded at the gala dinner attended by Canada's retailing elite. The Excellence in Retailing Awards program is recognized as the pinnacle of achievement and industry recognition in a variety of categories that include in-store, online and omni-channel retail operations. This year saw 61 finalists from 35 exceptional retail companies competing for the coveted trophies. KPMG is the Presenting Sponsor. This year, as a direct reflection on how critical the customer experience is for retailers, the most competitive category was In-Store Experience and Design with a total of 19 finalists vying for top spot. In addition, two companies have won the highest honours in their respective categories for a second year in a row demonstrating how the most outstanding retailers in Canada are great because they are continually pushing to exceed both customer expectations and help their staff excel in meeting these ever increasing demands. "The winners of the Excellence in Retailing Awards are true exemplars of Canada's retail best," said Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO of Retail Council of Canada. "Each of these retail organizations is driven to deliver superior customer service, innovative business solutions and leadership in store operations. We are inspired and improved as an industry by their many accomplishments." Ms. Brisebois added: "I join the industry in also saluting the recipients of this year's prestigious Awards of Distinction. All of them have made game-changing contributions and leave a lasting, positive imprint on their employees, customers, peers and the communities they serve. Retailing in Canada is better because of them and their vision, passion and business acumen." 2017 Excellence in Retailing Awards Winners: E-commerce Experience Mark's A Next Generation Website Sponsored by: Interac Association Environmental Leadership Mountain Equipment Co-op MEC's Packaging Strategy Sponsored by: Call2Recycle Health, Safety and Wellness Sears Canada #WeHaveChangedSafety In Store Experience & Design (two winners tied for first place) Sport Chek Women Designed by women for women IKEA Canada The IKEA Pop-Up Experience Sponsored by: The Look Company In-Store Merchandising PetSmart Canada PetSmart Brings Pinnacle Pet Nutrition to Kamloops Marketing and Communications ( two winners tied for first place) ( Loblaw Companies Limited Maxi, ben oui Maxi. Toys R Us Employing the Most Sought After Position, Chief Play Office Sponsored by: KPMG LLP Omni-Channel ( Best Buy receives this top honour for the second consecutive year) Best Buy Total Retail Revolutio Sponsored by: Interac Association Philanthropic Leadership Sobeys Making Better Food Possible On and Off the Field for Special Olympics Canada Sponsored by: Chase Paymentech Supply Chain Innovation Hudson's Bay Company A Canadian First: New State-of-the-Art Fulfillment Technology, Hudson's Bay Company Scarborough Distribution Centre Sponsored by: CN Rail Talent Development H&M Developing Future Leaders: H&M's Sales Coach Program (H&M wins this honour for a second consecutive year) 2017 Awards of Distinction recipients: 2017 Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Award Presented to Clint Mahlman , Executive Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer and London Drugs, in recognition of exceptional achievement and leadership in retail. Presented to , Executive Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer and London Drugs, in recognition of exceptional achievement and leadership in retail. 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to Bonnie Brooks , former Vice-chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company for demonstrating outstanding business success and community service throughout her career. Presented to , former Vice-chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company for demonstrating outstanding business success and community service throughout her career. 2017 Independent Retail Ambassador of the Year Award Presented to Allan and Anita and Lisa Malbranck of Winnipeg's Diamond Gallery for embodying the true spirit of entrepreneurship and community service. Sponsored by: Chase Paymentech 2017 Scholarship as a Career Scholarship Interac Association and Retail Council of Canada top award winners Sarah Bennett : Interac Association Scholarship ($5000.00) Kristy Wong : Canadian Retail Hall of Fame Scholarship Winner ($3000.00) About Retail Council of Canada: Retail is Canada's largest employer with 2.2 million Canadians working in our industry. The sector annually generates payroll of $60 billion and approximately $350 billion in sales (excluding vehicles and gasoline). As of 2016, Retail Council of Canada (RCC) members represent more than two thirds of retail sales in the country. RCC is a not-for-profit industry-funded association and represents small, medium and large retail business in every community across the country. As the Voice of Retail in Canada, we proudly represent more than 45,000 storefronts in all retail formats, including department, grocery, specialty, discount, independent retailers and online merchants. www.RetailCouncil.org SOURCE Retail Council of Canada For further information: Branka Stavric, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, [email protected] | 416.467.3772, Retail Council of Canada, www.RetailCouncil.org Related Links http://www.retailcouncil.org TORONTO, May 31, 2017 /CNW/ - SPOT COFFEE (CANADA) LTD. (TSX-V: SPP) ("SPoT" or the "Company") has released its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. The Company's consolidated financial statements, together with the notes related thereto, as well as management discussions and analysis for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, and 2016, are now available on SEDAR. The Company is pleased to report on the following details of the financial results for the first quarter of 2017: Reduction in sales revenue is due to the disposition by the Company on July 1, 2016 , of 100% of its interest in SPoT Coffee Williamsville Inc., which owns SPoT Coffee Williamsville cafe, as well as the sale on November 11, 2016 of the majority of its interest in SPoT Coffee Hertel Inc., which owns the SPoT Coffee Hertel cafe. Accordingly, sales revenue generated by these two cafes were excluded from the first quarter of 2017 sales revenue, but were included in the sales revenue of the first quarter of 2016 when they were corporately owned. The gain of $963,214 which resulted from the aforementioned disposition was mainly applied by the Company to significantly reduce its debt. , of 100% of its interest in SPoT Coffee Williamsville Inc., which owns SPoT Coffee Williamsville cafe, as well as the sale on of the majority of its interest in SPoT Coffee Hertel Inc., which owns the SPoT Coffee Hertel cafe. Accordingly, sales revenue generated by these two cafes were excluded from the first quarter of 2017 sales revenue, but were included in the sales revenue of the first quarter of 2016 when they were corporately owned. The gain of which resulted from the aforementioned disposition was mainly applied by the Company to significantly reduce its debt. Sales revenue in the first quarter of each year is expected to be the lowest of the year considering the negative effects of winter weather conditions on the hospitality and food service business in general. Improved sales revenue for the next three quarters of the year are anticipated to compensate. Same cafe sales increased this quarter by 5%. The Company achieved positive cafe-level EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $149,529 . . The key drivers behind the net loss of $236,783 in the first quarter of 2017 include a $100,179 non-cash depreciation expense and interest. Management continues to intensify its focus this year on, among other improvements in its operations, the reduction of the Company's debt and the expansion of its cafe and express franchise business. The efforts that have been, and continue to be, expended by management in the last 15 months on the development of SPoT's franchise program will be reflected in the coming months with increased sales revenue, which is anticipated to drive the Company into profitability. SPoT will be reporting on the further buildup of its franchises shortly. About SPoT Coffee SPoT Coffee trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SPP. SPoT designs, builds, operates and franchises community oriented cafes and express cafes in New York State. SPoT's community cafes provide its customers with the highest quality service, signature made-to-order meals and award-winning micro-roasted coffee. Each SPoT cafe is distinctively designed to suit its local neighbourhood, creating a warm and friendly gathering place for the community. SPoT's commercial business focuses on the sale of roasted coffee beans to food service and grocery chains, business offices and third party resellers such as universities and hospitals. Forward Looking Statements Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, the potential use of proceeds of the financing that is the subject of this release. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the release. SOURCE Spot Coffee (Canada) Ltd. For further information: Anton Ayoub, CEO & President, (416) 368-2220 Ext 228, [email protected] 2016 Sustainability Report showcases how Sun Life is building sustainable, healthier communities for life TORONTO, May 30, 2017 /CNW/ - Today, Sun Life Financial released its 2016 Sustainability Report and Public Accountability Statement, which are available on www.sunlife.com. Aligned with the Company's business strategy, the Sustainability Report outlines Sun Life Financial's progress against its four key sustainability areas of focus and demonstrates how its commitment to sustainability supports Sun Life's mission to help Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. "Sun Life's approach to sustainability is a real differentiator for us," said Melissa Kennedy, Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer & Public Affairs. "We continue to embed this sustainability perspective into our culture and across our operations knowing that it will serve us, our Clients, and our communities for the long term." In 2016, Sun Life advanced sustainability in its four key areas: Organizational Resilience In Canada, Sun Life launched some of the most comprehensive changes to underwriting requirements in the industry in over a decade, making it easier and more convenient to access insurance. Environmental Responsibility Sun Life provided $487 million in financing for renewable energy projects, and in Canada, owns and leases over two million square feet of green-certified space. Community Wellness Since announcing diabetes as a key business and community giving priority across our global footprint in 2012, Sun Life has committed over $17 million to the cause. Governance and Risk Management For the eighth consecutive year, Sun Life was ranked in the top 10 in The Globe and Mail Report on Business' Board Games review of corporate governance practices. "Our relentless focus on Clients is tightly linked to our sustainability commitment," said Dean Connor, President & Chief Executive Officer. "Whether it's doing more to help prevent and treat diabetes, providing access to alternative investments, including P3 projects, or leading the way in digital innovation to make it easier for our Clients to get the services they need, advancing our sustainability strategy will further our company's purpose to help Clients achieve lifetime financial security and well-being." For more information on some of the sustainability initiatives undertaken in 2016, visit www.sunlife.com and read Sun Life's Sustainability Report and Public Accountability Statement. About Sun Life Financial Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individuals and corporate Clients. Sun Life Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2017, Sun Life Financial had total assets under management of $927 billion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF. Media Relations Contact: Krista Wilson Director, Corporate Communications T. 519-888-3900 ext.3414896 [email protected] SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc. Related Links http://www.sunlife.com The Vietnam Memorial's polished granite walls in Memorial Park reflect the sacrifice of the 530 men and one woman from Western New York whose names are etched on it. But there are problems, two veterans groups say: Men occasionally urinate on the sloping walls -- perhaps because they offer a measure of privacy -- and tar seeping from the pavement has scarred the ground. "I've seen the stains on the monument," said Al Brusetti, a Vietnam veteran active with Chapter 77 of Vietnam Veterans of America. "It's disrespectful. I actually wake up at night thinking, 'How could people do this?' " "We have to respect the individuals who gave up their lives at a young age," said one Vietnam veteran. https://t.co/ZkjP5Aj68j The Buffalo News (@TheBuffaloNews) May 31, 2017 Brusetti said lighting used to be better at the memorial, but it was replaced years ago by two tall stanchions that light the site from behind. He said a tree now partially blocks the light. "We would like lights to shine on the front of the monument," Brusetti said. The Buffalo WNY Veteran's Memorial Restoration Committee has raised $15,000 to replace the tar-damaged tiles with stamped concrete and make other improvements. The committee is working with the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park. "It's just disappointing that people would have such a lack of respect for such a sacred spot," said Ralph Sirianni, a member of the restoration committee who also designed the monument's center stone. Help could be on the way. The naval park board has recently received a $25,000 grant from the Niagara River Greenway Commission that could be used to improve lighting around the Vietnam Memorial. "Lighting is one of the issues we were going to take a look at," said Andy Rabb, the deputy commissioner for parks, and the city's representative on the naval park board. "We will be working with them to use those funds to complete some planning not just for that memorial, but the entire Memorial Park." The Vietnam Memorial is located about 100 feet from the USS Croaker at the far end of the park. A naval park docent said people who appear to be homeless and alcoholic often hang out in that vicinity. "I've seen the homeless or semi-homeless -- the pan-handler bums -- go down by the Vietnam Wall and drink from whatever they have in their brown paper bags," Jess King said. "I used to have to park down there, and when I'd walk by, they'd have a quart of Old Milwaukee and act like it's a lounge area, which it's not." The city owns the park, and the naval park has a 10-year lease to maintain it. Volunteers -- from tree and sprinkling companies to veterans who volunteer with landscaping -- help maintain the grounds. The city's Public Works Department also helps with projects. Retired Coast Guard Capt. Brian Roche, the naval park's executive director, said finding funds to maintain the monuments is difficult. The group approved a new process last week that will require the establishment of an endowment for future memorials to ensure they are properly maintained. Roche said he's not convinced better lighting at the Vietnam Memorial will work. "I did security my whole career with the Coast Guard," Roche said. "Lighting doesn't solve everybody's problem." He said he's heard docents suggest a fence around Memorial Park, but he said that would be wrong. "Then it's not a park anymore," Roche said. "That kind of goes against the whole concept of this country. You just hope to educate and hold accountable the people who break the rules, and hope for the best." The city regularly patrols the Erie Basin Marina and the naval park area. The city also monitors a surveillance camera at Erie Street and Marine Drive, according to city spokesman Michael DeGeorge. The docents and the naval park also help monitor the park. "Veterans look at it like it should be protected like a cemetery, but it's really a city park that happens to have a number of memorials and it's dedicated to veterans, which is great," Roche said. "When things are open to the public, and not all of them use it in a way we would like it to be used, how do you control that? Maybe the lights might make a difference, but if it's the folks who we think might be doing it -- folks who are homeless -- I don't really know that the lights would make a difference." One name on the wall is Salvatore Cammarata from Buffalo. That name, Brusetti said, could have been his. Both men were in the same army company near Tay Ninh province on the Cambodian border in February 1967. "They sent our unit to block anyone coming in through the Ho Chi Minh Trail," Brusetti said. "He went out and took my place one night, and was the only one killed in the unit. He was hit by mortar." The Vietnam Memorial was erected in July 1984 -- and it remains emotional for many. "That memorial means a lot," Brusetti said. "We have to respect the individuals who gave up their lives at a young age. I've had a decent life, a good life. But these individuals never had an opportunity to live full lives." - Mark Sommer, The Buffalo News, N.Y. A bench warrant has been issued for Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio convicted of drunk driving, according to reports. Astacio failed to show up for her court appearance on Tuesday, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. Her lawyer Ed Fiandach told Judge Stephen Aronson that his client is currently in Thailand and would be there until August, according to her text message. Fiandach shared a screenshot of a Astacio's text message: "And if you talk to the media could you mention that I'm living in a temple in the mountains with monks. Lots of news about me vacationing." Judge issues warrant for arrest of Judge Astacio, who is in Thailand until August https://t.co/XUzboGx0Qo #13WHAM 13WHAM (@13WHAM) May 30, 2017 Astacio was convicted of DWI in August 2016, which meant she had to use a ignition interlock device to drive. She was also barred from drinking. Then, Astacio violated her DWI sentence by having her daughter blow into a breathalyzer in September 2016. She was also accused of another drunken incident at Marketplace Mall in November 2016 when she refused to leave a restaurant's employee bathroom. Astacio's lawyer expressed concern Tuesday that the bench warrant could make it difficult for her to return to the United States without being taken into custody when she goes through immigration. According to 13WHAM, court papers in April stated that someone blew on Astacio's interlock device and her car failed to start because the device recorded an alcohol level of .061 - enough for someone to be legally impaired. Five minutes later on a re-test, her daughter blew into the device and drove her car the rest of the day. After that incident, the judge ordered an ETG test, which can detect alcohol in a person's system days after consuming alcohol. As part of her conditional release, Astacio has to comply with all orders of the court. She was ordered to take a test on May 3 but has not done so. The prosecutor in this case says Astacio has had plenty of chances. "I have never seen this many violations for any defendant," says prosecutor Chris Eaggleston. "You know why? Because they're usually in jail." Astacio has been stripped of all her judicial duties but she still retains the title of an elected judge and continues to be paid. She collects an annual salary of $173,700. UPDATE: According to the Chronicle, Astacio's public Instagram account doesn't show her praying with monks in the mountains of Thailand. Instead, photos and videos posted within the last two weeks seem to be a display of a tourist traveling for pleasure. The account, @godsgift68, was public and showed a woman who looks like Astacio eating durian and frogs, riding around in a tuk tuk, and taking selfies. That account is now now private. Here are screenshots of her photos before it turned private: What appears to be Leticia Astacio's Instagram account. Folks who commented on her account are not happy: ONEIDA COUNTY, N.Y. -- A central New York sheriff's office is making significant headway whittling down its Top 10 Most Wanted list. Only two people remain on the list after today's arrest. Alejandro Martinez Alejandro Martinez, 34 -- No. 10 on the list -- was arrested Wednesday morning. He'd been wanted in Oneida County since December 2014 on a third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance charge, officials said. Martinez left the Utica area in 2014, sparking a nationwide search. In May 2016 he was arrested and sentenced for a criminal incident in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, deputies said. Martinez was extradited back to Oneida County and is expected to appear in Oneida County Court Wednesday morning. The Oneida County Sheriff's Office issued the Top 10 Most Wanted list in June 2016, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. Since then, eight people on the list have been captured, according to the sheriff's office. Jeffrey C. Mitchell, 66, and Robert Freck, 66, are the two remaining fugitives. Mitchell -- No. 8 on the list -- is wanted on a driving while intoxicated charge, and Freck -- No. 4 on the list -- is wanted on a third-degree burglary charge, according to the sheriff's office. Law enforcement asks anyone with information on either wanted person to call the sheriff's office at (315) 765-2232 or the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force at (315) 690-1834. Morgan Stanley analysts Brian Nowak and Adam Jonas say Alphabets Waymo self-driving car unit could be worth $70 billion. Waymo could be a good spin out candidate and that its value is not being taken into account in Alphabets current stock price. They do not believe Waymo or any of the Other Bets are currently being reflected in GOOGLs share price. The potential $70 billion valuation is based on Waymo holding 1% of global miles driven by 2030 and generating $1.25 in revenue for each mile driven. Some have forecast that 95% of driving miles could be self driving electric cars by 2030. This prediction was from a Rethinkx forecast reported by Nextbigfuture. Waymos self driving car technology is far in advance of its competitors with 5000 miles being driving between human intervention compared to many others with only one mile before intervention is required. Barely 24 hours after the sit-at-home campaign that crippled business activities in the South East, a group have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke Nnamdi Kanu's bail. Nnamdi Kanu In a letter dated May 31, 2017 and signed by Prince Chukwuemeka Okorie, a South-east group under the aegis of South East Peoples Assembly (SEPA), on Wednesday, asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke the bail it granted to leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu. According to a report by Vanguard, the group urged the Chief Judge of the high court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, to as a matter of urgency, to revoke Kanus bail and lock him back in Kuje prison. SEPA maintained that the IPOB leader has continued to conduct himself in a manner that is totally at variance with terms and conditions of his bail, among which included that he must not hold rallies, grant interviews or be in a crowd of more than 10 people. The statement read; Obviously, the recklessness with which he made media statements and even organised the Sit at Home and Stay Indoor protest to mark the so called BIAFRA HEROS DAY on Tuesday, 30th May, 2017 is a threat to the unity, security and peace of Nigeria as a sovereign nation. We have no iota of doubt that he is trying to push our dear country Nigeria into an unnecessary precarious situation for his personal agenda and those of his paymasters. Sir, our decision to write this demand letter to your good office at this time is to forestall another civil unrest in Nigeria, particularly around the Igbo speaking region. As you well know, the struggle by Kanu to be relevant under the guise of actualisation of Biafra does not enjoy the support of right thinking Igbo people both at home and in diaspora. That he suddenly addresses himself as the Supreme Leader of Biafra points to how arrogant and disrespectful he is to legitimately constituted authority in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The pertinent question on our minds as stakeholders is: Has Kanu been consistent in providing the court with reports on the progress of his health and treatment on a monthly basis since he was granted bail? We fear that if Kanu is not tamed by Your Lordship as a matter of urgency, the IPOB may create a situation where it becomes difficult if not impossible for genuine development to take place in the South East under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. History has taught us that the Civil War of 1967-1970 started gradually and later turned out to be something that caused our people unimaginable losses. We cannot afford to fold our arms this time and allow a stooge imported from the United Kingdom by stark enemies of Nigeria to maintain a state of belligerence against the nation and keep the name of Igbo people in the news for the wrong reasons. At the SEPA, our very mission is that we believe in the truth and can on the strength of this declare that the temporary freedom being enjoyed by Kanu has been abused. Therefore, we join the other patriotic Nigerians in urging Your Lordship to consider adopting the appropriate procedure to ensure that Kanus bail is revoked within the next 7 (Seven) working days. It may interest you to know that the whole world is watching how you have been faring to reposition the Federal High Court on the path of excellence and restore her lost glory, the letter read. The U.S. military has concluded its first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a programme meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat.The U.S. military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters just south of Alaska. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.Experts compare the job to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the enormous distances involved.The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co (BA.N), and hailed it as an incredible accomplishment.This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat, Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement.A successful test was by no means guaranteed and the Pentagon sought to manage expectations earlier in the day, noting that the United States had multiple ways to try to shoot down a missile from North Korea.This is one element of a broader missile defense strategy that we can use to employ against potential threats, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.Prior to Tuesdays launch, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014.North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the U.S. mainland.The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther.Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, described the test as vital prior to launch.We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today, Ellison said.Failure could have deepened concern about a program that according to one estimate has so far cost more than $40 billion. Its success could translate into calls by Congress to speed development.In the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sent to Congress last week, the Pentagon requested $7.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, including about $1.5 billion for the GMD program.A 2016 assessment released by the Pentagons weapons testing office in January said that U.S. ground-based interceptors meant to knock out any incoming ICBM still had low reliability, giving the system a limited capability of shielding the United States. Striking workers of the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, on Wednesday locked up the hospitals gates, vowing to keep the hospital shut until their salaries were paid.A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who visited the hospital, reports that no one was allowed into the premises as the angry workers turned back patients and staff on morning and afternoon shift duties.Efforts to obtain details of the grievances proved abortive as workers of the ECWA Church-owned hospital are barred from forming a union, but a worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused management of being insensitive to the welfare of workers.We do not have a union to articulate our concerns which has made us rather helpless, but management has taken our patience for granted, the source said.Mr Nuhu Asama, the hospitals Director of Administration, told NAN that the workers anger was based on emolument arrears owed them.Management is working very hard to resolve the issues. We wont want something like this to ever occur in this hospital again, he said.He promised that issues raised by the workers would be tackled expedientlyAsama apologised to members of the public, especially the patients, for the hitch, and stressed managements commitment to providing qualitative service to its patients.NAN reports that management later convinced the workers to open the gates after promising to tackle their concerns without any delay. (NAN) President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Wednesday mocked Chelsea, daughter of former US President Bill Clinton for criticising him over... President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Wednesday mocked Chelsea, daughter of former US President Bill Clinton for criticising him over a joke about rape. Duterte questioned whether she had just come to terms with her fathers affair with a White House intern, referring to Clintons escapade with Monica Lewinsky in the 1990s. Addressing Navy officers, Duterte fired back at Chelsea Clinton, who had tweeted that he was a murderous thug with no regard for human rights. I was not joking, I was being sarcastic, Reuters quoted the Philippines leader as saying. I will tell her, when your father, the president of the United States, was screwing Lewinsky, the girl there in White House, how did you feel? Did you slam your father? Reuters quoted the Philippines leader. Dutertes rape remark came during a speech aimed at reassuring soldiers that he would take full responsibility for any backlash to martial law, which he imposed on Sunday on Mindanao island. He said he would not tolerate abuses but joked that if any soldier was to rape three women, I will admit it, thats on me. It was not the first time Duterte had made a joke about rape. He caused outrage ahead of his presidential election win last year when he recalled a 1989 prison riot in which an Australian missionary was killed, and inmates had lined up to rape her. Duterte said the victim was beautiful and as mayor of Davao city where the riot took place, he should have been first in line. He later apologised and said he meant no disrespect to women or rape victims. Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has described Ekiti State governors call for ... Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has described Ekiti State governors call for President Buharis resignation as an act of desperation for publicity. His words: Im sad that you are inviting me to speak on Governor Fayose. If you follow the Presidency, we dont talk when he talks because he is desperate for publicity. We have a constitution that governs the country and the constitution is very clear about how the country runs. This country has a tripod of authority in terms of distribution of political power. You have the parliament which is doing its own work, you have the judiciary which is running, you have the executive and we dont have any problem with this so therefore if anybody has a problem with the constitution then they should go and change it. Fayose on Tuesday urged Buhari, to resign if he truly loves the country, as ill-health was not allowing the him effectively discharge his constitutional duties. Fayose, who addressed newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, said being an avowed corruption fighter, Buhari is now under moral burden to save Nigeria from needless stagnation arising from his health challenges that have impacted negatively on his performance. The governor said fighting corruption was not limited to discovering large sums of money here and there, but doing the right thing at the right time. He opined that taking a bow when necessary was also an indication of being morally upright. The governor, who appraised the two years of the Buhari administration, said the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government had failed to deliver on its promises. So far, the APC-led Federal Government has been a government of misadventure and Nigerians are worse for it. They say they are fighting corruption but are shielding corrupt elements within their fold, he said. Some members of the Senate have said the killings by herdsmen across the country if left unchecked, would snowball into another security threat like the Boko Haram terrorist group.The lawmakers, while debating a motion moved by Senator Clifford Ordia (Edo Central) titled Motion on the Need to Curtail the Activities of the Fulani Herdsmen, asked the Federal Government to step up action on the protection of lives and properties against the attacks by herdsmen.Speaking on the motion, Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) said criminal activities by herdsmen were spreading across the country.He said, These Fulani herdsmen (issue) is a problem; it is another Boko Haram that is rearing its head if not well nipped in the bud right now. It is very criminal for some people to start killing people, raping them, taking their possessions and they (criminals) go away with it, he said.Alimikhena noted that there were roads in Edo which were being avoided by people for fear of being attacked by herdsmen. He stressed that farms had also been abandoned by farmers due to the attacks on them.He said, They will rape to death and even kidnap their husbands. I dont know where we are going. It is better for this Inspector General of Police to deploy his security operatives (in the area) instead of blowing the whistle that is not even fruitful and searching houses in which they will not find anything.These security operatives can be deployed to attack these Fulani herdsmen who are destroying our people. If this one is not well taken care of, it is another monster that will grow and destroy this country. The activities of these herdsmen as it is in Edo State and other parts of the country now are worrisome to every Nigerian.Leading the debate, Ordia said the Senate noted with serious concern the heinous and criminal activities being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen who were allegedly ravaging communities, depriving persons of right to life and prosperity; raping and defiling women and destroying farms crops among other criminal activities across thecountry. Ex-governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke, on Tuesday said he would still take a shot at the presidency if the opportunity presen... Ex-governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke, on Tuesday said he would still take a shot at the presidency if the opportunity presented itself.Duke spoke at a programme The Nigerian Symposium for Emerging Leaders held in Lagos.He said though he once aspired to the position but did not emerge the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, he would still contest for the highest office in the country at the appropriate time.Duke explained that it was because of his preference for the presidential seat that he did not vie for any federal legislative seat after serving out his terms as governor.I do not have the flair for the legislature; standing up and sitting down at the chambers to raise a point. That was why I did not contest for the Senate but the presidency, after serving out my term as governor.I have contested the presidency before; I will still give it a shot when the opportunity presents itself . I believe I still have the energy in me, he said.The former governor canvassed the reform of the country`s political system to accommodate wider participation and good governance.He suggested the review of the electoral law to allow for independent candidacy.Duke said the country`s democracy would fare better if young people, who form the larger proportion of the population ,took more active part in its political process.He said most developed countries had young people as their leaders at one point or the other in their democratic history.The former governor, however, said power was never given easily, urging young people to participate in the political process and use their prime to add value to the country.I want to urge young people in the country not to see leadership as if it belongs to some people, but do everything positive to be part of it.You can only make a difference at the prime of your life. You can actually add value now, not when you are above 50.So, you need to be part of the political process and play your part. It is your right to be there; nobody is doing you a favour.You represent more than 60 per cent of the population; you dont have to beg for it.Just make effort to make that change and contribute your quota to nation building,he said.Duke urged government at all levels to be accountable and challenged the governed to demand more from their leaders.Also speaking, former Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra State decried lack of transparency and accountability in government.He said the situation was responsible for the level of corruption in the country and poor delivery of dividends of democracy.Obi said the way out of the quagmire was for leaders to carry the governed along in budgetary spending and plans for effective tracking.The way forward is that governments should make their budgets more explicit and published. The plans and the money to be spent on them should be clearly stated.That is when people can track and make comparative analysis with previous budgets and then we can achieve some transparency, he said.The former governor also urged the masses to show more interest in the budget so as to keep leaders on their toes.Mr Seun Onigbinde, Chief Executive Officer, BudgIt, an organisation with interest in accountability in public finance, urged Nigerians to demand accountability from their governments.He also urged governments at all levels to always carry the people along in their budgetary proposals and implementation to achieve accountability.(NAN) Former President Goodluck Jonathans cousin, Azibaola Robert, has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to declare that the Economic and ... Former President Goodluck Jonathans cousin, Azibaola Robert, has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to declare that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has no power to remand suspects under sections 293 and 294 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.Robert, a lawyer and environmental activist, filed the suit following his arrest and detention by the commission last April.He has since been arraigned and granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja.Robert was accused of receiving $40 million in September 2014 by former National Security Adviser Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) for supplying tactical communication kits.The commission said he received another N650 million from Dasuki on December 8, 2014.Robert had sued the EFCC, Attorney-General of the Federation and the Federal Government over his detention.His lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, who filed the suit in Lagos, yesterday said he was ready to move his clients originating summons.Justice Mojosola Olatoregun, however, asked him to return on another date for the hearing.The plaintiff is praying the court to hold that sections 293 and 294 of the ACJA 2015, which the EFCC relied on to secure remand orders from Magistrates Courts, were inapplicable in his case.He said the sections were for capital offences such as murder, armed robbery, kidnapping or treasonable felony for which a legal advice from the Attorney-General is required before a charge is filed.Robert said the sections do not apply to financial crimes.Robert is also praying the court to hold that EFCCs alleged attempt to force him to implicate Jonathan was contrary to Section 7 of the ACJA, which he said has outlawed the practice of arresting a citizen in lieu of another.The applicant said the Federal Government engaged him to meet with stakeholders in the Niger Delta to explore how to prevent oil pipelines vandalism, oil bunkering and crude oil theft, among others.According to him, the assignment was duly executed upon payment, adding that under Section 8 of the ACJA, he should not be arrested or prosecuted for a civil contract or transaction.Robert said he is being persecuted on account of his blood relationship with Jonathan.EFCC denied detaining Robert illegally, adding that the claim that it was trying to force him to implicate the former President was untrue.The commission said Section 264 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State 2011 empowers it to detain suspects based on remand warrants issued by Magistrates Courts.Justice Mojisola Olatoregun adjourned till July 5 for hearing. After three days of being incommunicado, abductors of the six pupils of the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, re-established conta... After three days of being incommunicado, abductors of the six pupils of the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, re-established contacts with some of the victims parents on Tuesday.It was learnt that the kidnappers had reduced the N1bn ransom earlier demanded to N600m and briefly allowed the parents to speak with the children to confirm their safety.Despite the parents pleas that they were poor, the gunmen were said to have insisted on N100m for each pupil.It can be recalled that the gunmen stormed the school premises at about 6am on Thursday, three days after writing the school authorities, informing them about the attack.They broke the hostel doors, seized 10 Senior Secondary School pupils and led them to the shore where their boat was anchored.After profiling their family backgrounds, four pupils were released, while the assailants whisked away the remaining six pupils, identified as Peter Jonah, Isiaq Rahmon, Adebayo George, Judah Agbausi, Pelumi Philips and Farouq Yusuf.The kidnappers had earlier called some parents of the victims on Saturday, demanding N400m each from two parents while two others were asked to pay N100m each.But the Lagos State Government declined ransom negotiation with the kidnappers, insisting that the pupils would be freed by security agents.The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, had said, This is a security matter and the security agencies are handling it as carefully as necessary. We should allow the security operatives to handle this issue with the care and expertise it deserves. They have used their expertise successfully in the past. The government trusts them enough to also effect a safe release of the students this time around.It was gathered on Tuesday that the kidnappers were not giving in to the pressure mounted by security agencies as they called some parents again, demanding N100m ransom for each victim.Although the parents were not willing to disclose the development, one of them, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said he begged the kidnappers to no avail.He said, They called this morning (Tuesday) and gave the phone to my child to speak with me. Immediately, I heard his voice, they collected the phone from him.They said they did so for me to be sure that he is fine. They are now demanding N100m for the release of each child. I pleaded with them that I am poor, they just cut off.Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said operatives had intensified efforts to free the children.He said, All hands are on deck and we are on top of the situation. We are just making sure that they are safe. There will be good news very soon. Ten members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), secretariat Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba Chapter, were... Ten members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), secretariat Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba Chapter, were allegedly injured by some security men from the teaching hospital on Wednesday during a clash.Dr Adebayo Sekunmade, the president of the ARD of the hospital told newsmen during a news conference.He said that the doctors sustained injuries when they attempted to take over their secretariat from the security men stationed there by LUTHs management.Sekunmade told journalists that one of his members was inside the Secretariat at 2.00 a.m. on Tuesday but the security men ordered him out and locked it up.We decided to monitor developments around the secretariat after the incident. On Wednesday morning, we saw the security men loading our belongings from there into a waiting bus.When we confronted them, they said that they were directed to lock up the secretariat by the management of LUTH.We went to the Chief Medical Directors office for dialogue but he refused to attend to us. He, however, directed us to the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) of LUTH, he said.Sekunmade said that the CMAC, Dr Olufemi Fasanmade, told them that the management of LUTH was retrieving the secretariat from the ARD.Sekunmade said that he demanded a court order from Fasanmade to justify his action but he could not present it.When contacted, the CMAC told journalists that LUTHs management had given the ARD a letter asking it to vacate the building serving as its secretariat, six months ago.Nine days ago; we gave them another letter as a reminder to leave the building but they refused, and we decided to lock up the place, he said.Fasanmade said that the association should not have found it hard to vacate one of the seven accommodations it had within the hospital complex.He said that the management wanted to use it for an important purpose.The doctors wanted to forcefully enter the building on Wednesdays morning and LUTHs security men had to disallow them.Fasanmade said that the doctors resulted into attacking the security officials.We had to invite some police officers from the Ilasamaja and Bode Thomas Police Stations to secure the building and other LUTHs belongings.Some of the injured security officials are in the hospital wards receiving treatment, Fasanmade said. The Manager, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Mr Nehemiah Auta, has said that the personnel at the airport had been adequately trained and were ready to handle emergency cases at all times.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Auta gave the assurance while speaking at the mock emergency airport exercise held at the MMIA on Wednesday.He said the essence of the exercise was to test the capability of the personnel and the equipment on ground to ensure that they conformed with emergency requirements.The airport manager explained that with the required personnel on ground, there was no reason why the response time would not be met in the event of emergency at the airport.According to him, with proper coordination, improved level of alertness and cooperation from various sister organisations in the system, emergency remains a great task.He stressed the need to improve on the level of alertness and communication among the agencies.We have a structure on ground and all we need to do is to test the structure and to know how they will respond.We are trying to improve on the level of our alertness towards emergencies because emergencies can be in the day, at night or at anytime.The timely response is what matters. You can imagine an aircraft engulfed in flames, the time of response of the medical support matters. Thats the essence, Auta said.He said that with the category nine status of the MMIA, the airport had adequate fire tenders and was ready to handle emergency situations.Auta also explained that the mock exercise was also to enable them display their might towards the certification of the MMIA airport, which would be achieved within the next few months.On his part, the Director of Airport Operations, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, explained that the agency was working in line with the aerodrome emergency plan at the airport, in readiness towards the certification.Yadudu said the exercise would lead to the certification of the airport as both personnel and equipment were being tested.He said FAAN personnel were always compliant to the response time as stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and had taken the training very seriously.NAN reports that the exercise, which is conducted annually, was witnessed by the National Emergency Management Agency, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Police and other stakeholders. Nigerians have shocked the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, by rating the performances of President Muhammadu Buhari and state g... Two years on: What's your assessment of the APC-led administration in Nigeria? Kindly vote and RT APC Nigeria (@APCNigeria) May 29, 2017 "Two years on: What's your assessment of the APC-led administration in Nigeria? Kindly vote and RT," the party asked on the micro-blogging site. There were four options; Poor, Average, Excellent and Indifferent.The online poll recorded 14, 532 votes with 54 percent of the respondents rating the administration as poor; 33 percent rated the administration as average while 10 percent voted for excellent. Three percent of the respondents were indifferent.The APC made use of the social media to appeal to the youths during the 2015 general elections, which was won by Buhari, defeating the then incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.May 29 marks two years of the advent of the President Buhari administration at the federal level, as well as the mid-term anniversary for the majority of state administrations in the country. APC controls 24 states, PDP governs 11 while APGA has one state. The Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, says it has arrested three suspects in co... The Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, says it has arrested three suspects in connection with the kidnap of six students of Model College, Igbonla, Lagos.He said the suspects were arrested on Tuesday in Benin.According to Abba Kyari, an assistant commissioner of police, the three suspects arrested have been involved in various kidnap incidents within the country.Three of the militant kidnappers, who left the creek and came to Benin to visit one of their members that was injured in recent gun battle with security agents, were arrested by IRT in Benin.The suspects are Egelu Endurance, aka Jubby, 25, a native of Abere town in Ovia South L.G.A Edo; Stanley Yomi Irabomini, 25, aka Powei from Ovia South LGA of Edo State and Bentel Endurance, 24, also from Ovia South LGA Edo State.Mr. Kyari said the suspects have confessed to have participated in the kidnapping of prominent personalities in Lagos and Ogun state.The suspects claimed they came to Benin to see their injured colleague and relax for a while before going back to the creek.He said that efforts to arrest remaining gang members and rescue the school children was in progress.It can be recalled that the students were abducted at Igbonla Model School, near Epe, Lagos.The students were abducted at around 5 a.m. last Thursday by unknown gunmen, who arrived through a creek behind the school. The hoodlums broke through the schools fence to gain access into the premises.The incident occurred seven months after gunmen kidnapped two teachers and four pupils of the same school. The victims were later freed. The Indigenous People of Biafra on Tuesday appraised the level of compliance with its sit-at-home order and described it as a huge succes... The Indigenous People of Biafra on Tuesday appraised the level of compliance with its sit-at-home order and described it as a huge success.A statement made available to newsmen in Awka, the Anambra State capital, by IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said apart from Nigeria, the order was observed in no fewer than 75 countries.Powerful gave the names of the countries where the order was complied with as Taiwan, Chad, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Angola, Congo DRC, Mozambique, Luxembourg, Brazil, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts, Canada, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, France.Others were Germany, Austria, Finland, South Africa, Togo, Ghana, Cote dIvoire, Liberia, Benin Republic, Gabon, Cape Verde, Madagascar, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, India, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel, Italy, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Sao Tome and Principe, Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Namibia, Niger Republic, Tunisia, Algeria and Cape Verde.He thanked those who made the exercise a success, especially members of the IPOB family.He described those who did not participate in the exercise as saboteurs, alleging that they were paid by the Federal Government to sabotage the order.His statement read in part, The Indigenous People of Biafra and its leadership worldwide congratulate Biafrans and all the IPOB family members worldwide both in Biafra land and in the Diaspora for their compliance with the sit-at-home order issued by our indefatigable leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.Mazi Nnamdi Kanu issued this sit-at-home order when he was still in Kuje Prison, Abuja, and it has come to pass; all the people of Biafra both home and abroad complied in all totality. This had not been done in the history of Biafra struggle before.We also blame those saboteurs who were paid by the government to sabotage the restoration project because today Biafrans and IPOB members worldwide obeyed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. We, IPOB, must be strong and we promise everybody that Biafra is here.But it was observed that the exercise recorded partial success in Anambra State.The Hausa market located in Dike Park at the heart of Awka, the state capital, was closed even as banks, schools and other major markets were closed.Despite the order, a few commercial vehicles operated along the Old Awka-Onitsha Road.Vehicular movement was paralysed in major cities of Onitsha, Nnewi, Awka and Ekwulobia.The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Mr Sam Okaula, said in a telephone chat that the exercise was peaceful.The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has declared Tuesdays sit-at-home protest as a huge success.MASSOB claimed that the success of the exercise was an indication that, should a referendum be conducted in Biafra areas, the people would vote to secede from Nigeria.The huge success achieved in todays sit-at-home exercise is marvelous and glorious because the Almighty God approved our programme for the commemoration of the golden jubilee of the declaration of Biafra by General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.The huge success is evident that the coming Biafra referendum shall be a walkover against the Nigerian state, MASSOB leader, Uchnna Madu, said in a statement, on Tuesday.He dedicated the huge success to schoolchildren, commercial bus drivers, motorcyclists, tricycle drivers and corporate firms that complied with the sit-at-home exercise.In Ebonyi, the sit-at-home order to honour Biafras fallen heroes, who died during the Civil War between 1967 and 1970, was partially complied with by residents of Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, and other neighboring towns in the state.One of our correspondents reported that economic and commercial activities, including vehicular movements were witnessed in the state during the exercise.As early as 4am, the state capital witnessed a heavy presence of armed security operatives, who patrolled the town with vehicles. Helicopters were also used for surveillance.As the day broke, economic activities gradually gathered momentum with residents trooping out of their houses for their places of work.Shops, which were initially locked, opened up for commercial activities in the capital.Two popular markets in the city, Abakpa Market and Kpirikpiri Market, opened for commercial activities.Also, a visit to some schools in Abakaliki showed that academic activities were ongoing while motor parks were opened for commercial activities.A bank customer, who preferred anonymity, told one of our correspondents that he was glad that the banks opened for transactions, stating that anything otherwise would have brought hardship on the people. The Federal Government says it has begun teaching the rescued Chibok schoolgirls how to speak proper English. The government has also ... The government has also employed 20 teachers to help the girls with remedial classes.The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Aisha Alhassan, said this in Abuja on Tuesday while receiving the recently rescued 82 Chibok schoolgirls.At least 219 girls were kidnapped in April 2014 from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, where most of them were preparing to sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.About 24 were released in 2016 while another 82 were released by the Boko Haram terrorists, who abducted them over three years ago, on May 6, 2017.After their rescue on May 6, 2017, the 82 girls were kept in a health facility under the supervision of the Department of State Services, where they underwent medical tests and treatment.While receiving the 82 girls at the National Centre for Women Development, the minister said the 82 girls would be taught English.Alhassan said the 24 girls, who were released last year, had improved on their spoken English.The minister stated, I thank the teachers and vocational trainers for training them. The 24 girls who could not speak good English, can now speak good English and I am sure by the time they handle the new ones (82), they will also speak good English and will be able to pass JAMB, WASSCE and NECO when they go back to school.The minister said by September, the rehabilitation of all the girls would have been completed and they would be enrolled in school.She said since the girls had missed three years of school, they would need to take remedial classes.Alhassan added, We are going to keep them till the school year starts in September. Dr. Anne (Okoroafor) said they are both medically and psychologically stable. The therapy will go on for four months till September when they will be enrolled in school. Therefore, the programme will last from now till September when they would be in school. By then, they would have overcome the trauma.A reliable government source revealed that due to the poor academic foundation of the girls, some of them might have to return to junior secondary school.The minister, who conducted journalists on a tour of the hostel where the girls will reside, said the girls would be taught handcrafts, including sewing and baking.Alhassan stated that some of the girls had learnt how to bake cakes and some of their products had been sold.She said the girls would be taught skilled and semi-skilled labour so that they would be able to compete with their peers in the outside world.The minister denied allegations that the girls were being held against their will, adding that the girls and their parents consented to the arrangements.The UNFPAs Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Eugene Kongnyuy, commended the Federal Government for the rescue of the girls, saying the agency would continue to support the Federal Government.Speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the event, Kongnyuy said the United States President, Donald Trump, had cut funding to the agency which had already hurt their ability to help kidnapped women and girls recover after being freed from Boko Haram.He, however, said some other countries like Canada had increased donations which would help reduce the effect. Where do you eat, New Orleans? Introducing a new kind of food and dining coverage Once elected, members of the Public Service Commission typically have an easy time hanging onto their jobs. Voters dont know much about them or their work, and the only real money in the campaigns has traditionally come from utilities and others MUNSTER A vision plan presented Tuesday for transit-oriented development around West Lake Corridor rail stations planned for Munster and Dyer claimed a variety of residential, retail and office potential in the immediate area of the stations. About 75 residents gathered at Centennial Park for the presentation by Doug Farr of the consulting firm Farr Associates. It was the third and final forum in a series meant to incorporate public desires and consultants' recommendations regarding development around stations at Ridge Road and Manor Avenue and at Main Street and Columbia Avenue. The Ridge Road site has limited vacant land but a strong housing market, Farr said, with "strong potential for mixed-use housing and potential for intensification of retail." The station is now planned to be located north of Ridge Road, with parking west of Manor, and the station platform between the road and railroad tracks. Mixed-use housing would combine businesses and residential units. New retail could take advantage of land nearby, some of which has vacant buildings. Farr pointed out no property would be taken for TOD purposes. The vision plan for the Main Street station could take advantage of more vacant land than exists at Ridge Road, but poses parking challenges and is currently zoned for large, single-family homes, Farr said. He recommended a change in the way towns handle planning and zoning, to a "form-based code." That would emphasize building form over use, would encourage construction close to streets and sidewalks, would have guidelines that include diagrams rather than just text, would have maximum limits on parking, and would simplify the planning process. "It's a combination of design control, plus you get the flexibility to respond to the market," Farr said. Some residents at the forum were concerned about parking, particularly at the Munster/Dyer station, where parking would be off of Main Street, extended west beyond the tracks. Farr's TOD plans don't match the South Shore's there: The railroad puts parking immediately on the west side of the tracks and station, while the TOD plan has private development adjacent to the tracks, with parking shifted west. "If you put the development behind the parking, it'll never happen," Farr said of potential development. But, "if you put the parking behind the development, it will happen." South Shore officials have said the railroad would remain flexible as the design process continues, particularly if development is imminent. Parking will initially remain planned to go adjacent to the tracks, though. Dyer Town Councilwoman Mary Tanis, R-4th, said Tuesday's presentation was helpful, particularly in its depiction of plan changes based on public input. In addition to the Ridge Road station move, Farr pointed out the plan does not include connection of Margo Lane and Seminary Drive. "People can see they're respecting the wishes of the towns and the people," Tanis said. Some residents remain skeptical of the project's success. Jason Sanow, who lives along the proposed West Lake route, said he continues to doubt the likelihood of significant development as a result of commuter rail extension. "The cost is too high for an outdated system," he said. "Why do we have to have a train to fix everything?" A final version of the TOD plans will be prepared for inclusion with the South Shore's application for a New Starts grant, which would cover half the cost of the estimated $604 million project. Economic development and affordable housing are components of the Federal Transit Administration's evaluation process. HAMMOND The School Board unanimously voted to move forward with two referendums on the ballot Nov. 7 but promised residents they would be involved in the process and it would be transparent. The board held a public hearing Tuesday night on a plan to put two referendum questions to voters one question asking voters to support a construction referendum to build a new high school and renovate several other buildings and a second referendum in support of the school's operating budget. The vast majority of people who attended the packed School Board meeting said they see the need for a new high school but some said it should have been done many years ago. However, many did not like the idea of tearing down the current Hammond High School building in the 3rd District and constructing a new building in another part of town. School Board President Deborah White explained this is just the first step. She said nothing has been decided except that they need to move forward with a referendum. White said everyone agrees there needs to be a new high school but there are no decisions on exactly where it will be and what schools will be consolidated. "We have to at least move forward on putting a referendum on the ballot in November because there could be some legislation down the road which will prevent us from doing that for many years," she said. Hammond resident Carlotta Blake-King asked why there were no handouts available for residents to review. "I need to be able to read what I'm expected to vote on in November," she said. "Ten years ago, there was an excellent plan and it went nowhere. There are so many unanswered questions yet you want to move forward. There's talk about Hammond High being a nightmare, but that didn't happen overnight." Jim Robinson, of Hammond, said it disturbs him the board is looking at something that may not be as good for his grandchildren. "There has been no community involvement or consultation," he said. "I'm for building a new Hammond High School but there's a lot more money here. I am a huge supporter of Hammond. I'm concerned about the politics of this." Hammond Councilman Anthony Higgs, D-3rd, said he believes a new high school is a good idea but there's a lack of information. "I was informed by the newspaper. People are scared by the lack of information," he said. Hammond High School graduate Myra Rodriguez Alvarez and teachers union President Patrick O'Rourke both said they supported a new high school. Alvarez, who said she graduated in 2003, said the building looks just as bad now as it did when she graduated. "Hammond High is in deplorable condition," she said. O'Rourke urged the board to proceed and said he and teachers are willing to go door to door in support of a new state-of-the art high school. Superintendent Walter Watkins said the board is considering a $70 million general fund referendum and a $110 million construction referendum. The operating referendum will ask voters to pay an additional 44 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and the capital projects request will ask voters to pay nearly 36 cents or .3598 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The school district operates 20 school buildings plus the Hammond Area Career Center. It has a total of 25 buildings. It is the largest district in Northwest Indiana with 13,100 students. Watkins previously said the district is considering tearing down Hammond High School on Calumet Avenue, across from City Hall, and building a new high school at Harrison Park on Hohman Avenue. "The primary reason for building a new high school is because Hammond High is more than 100 years old, and it is not cost-efficient to operate," he said. Board members emphasized that no concrete decisions had been made. Lake County Sheriff John Buncich on Wednesday named a veteran officer to fill a position left vacant since the sheriff's second-in-command pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Buncich in a federal bribery case. Matt Eaton, who has served as commander of the Sheriff's Department's Criminal Investigations Division since 2013, will become chief of police Thursday, according to a news release. Timothy Downs resigned from the department in December, after pleading guilty to federal charges alleging he collected towing firm kickbacks. Downs has agreed to testify he took the kickbacks under Buncich's orders, according to court records. Eaton joined the department in 1995, graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 1997, the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command in 2012 and is currently studying security management at American Military University. Buncich, Downs and William Willie Szarmach, operator of CSA Towing of Lake Station, were named in an indictment filed in November in U.S. District Court in Hammond. The U.S. attorney's office filed a superseding indictment in April charging Buncich with two additional wire fraud counts. Both Buncich and Szarmach have pleaded not guilty. Buncich's attorney, Bryan M. Truitt, has said the sheriff believes he's innocent and is looking forward to proving it at trial. The FBI raided the sheriff's home and office Nov. 10 and seized large numbers of documents. The government has disclosed it has hundreds of photographs and recordings made during months of federal surveillance of the sheriff. The trial is scheduled to start Aug. 7. HAMMOND An Illinois man died Tuesday night at a Hammond hospital after a shooting in Dolton, according to the Lake County coroner's office.* James Miller, 21, of Park Forest, Illinois, was pronounced dead about 6 p.m. at Franciscan St. Margaret Health hospital in Hammond, the release states. Miller was shot at a currency exchange at 15010 Lincoln Avenue in Dolton, according to the coroner's office. His death was ruled a homicide. Dolton police are investigating, a coroner's release said. * Editor's note: This story has been updated from a previous version to correct information provided by the coroner's office. Miller was shot in Dolton and died at Franciscan St. Margaret Health hospital in Hammond. VALPARAISO Porter County Auditor Vicki Urbanik will host the next Coffee with the Clerks on Friday. Coffee with the Clerks is an outreach effort between the Porter County auditors office and local government. Topics include the 2017 property tax billing, the upcoming June tax distributions and new initiatives in the county auditor's office. Urbanik, who serves on the board of the Indiana Auditors' Association, will also give a report on the just-completed state conference. Urbanik hosts at least one of these sessions annually with clerk-treasurers, school officials and other fiscal officers of local government. These meetings are a great way for my office and local taxing units to connect and share information that can help us provide the best service possible for the taxpayers, Urbanik said. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in Room 102A (lower-level classroom) of the County Administration Building in downtown Valparaiso. My car died out on Interstate 80/94 in the far left lane. I was very upset to find all electronic functions ceased. If you drive on this snarled and vicious highway, you surely know the amount of traffic involved during construction season. Thankfully, State Trooper Chad Mysiewicz saw my plight and stopped to help me. He waited patiently while a Hoosier Helper tried to start my car. My car refused to hold a charge, and Mysiewicz ended up pushing my car to the shoulder. It was raining, traffic was heavy and very dangerous. Mysiewicz waited with me until a tow truck came to get me off the highway. Trooper Mysiewicz, thank you for helping me and offering support when I was on the verge of panic. Thank you Indiana State Police for having people on your force who truly represent your ethical code of service and protection. Luz Escamilla, Hammond An Air Force veteran who tried to join the Islamic State terror group has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. Tairod Pugh was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn. Pugh was convicted last year of providing material support to the organization and obstruction of justice. The 49-year-old New Jersey man tried to enter Syria to engage in "jihad" and was carrying a laptop that contained videos of executions. Pugh tried to destroy the computer so he would not be caught by authorities. He was deported back to the U.S. A Texas man hitchhiking in Alabama and convicted for the 1999 bloody stabbing death of a truck driver in Macon County had his appeal denied and will continue serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Gary Lee Poisel, 45, of Amarillo, Texas, was convicted in October 2016 by a Macon Country jury for the 1999 murder of Robert Nelson. Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Tuesday that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals last Friday upheld the capital murder conviction. The evidence at trial showed that in June of 1999, Poisel and his girlfriend, Johnna Gray, were hitchhiking and caught a ride with Nelson, according to a press release from Marshall's office recalling the case. Nelson parked his semi-truck at a convenience store for the night and went to sleep. While Gray went into the store to purchase beer, Poisel stabbed Nelson in the neck, chest, and back, killing him. When Gray returned to the truck from the convenience store, she saw Nelsons bloody body, according to court records and testimony. Poisel told Gray that he had done it. Poisel drove the truck away and the two subsequently threw Nelsons body over a guardrail. Eventually Poisel and Gray abandoned the semi-truck at another truck stop. After police officers discovered Nelson had been murdered, items of physical and biological evidence were collected from the semi-truck. Many DNA samples from those items were unidentified, according to Marshall's press release. The investigation went cold until March 2010, when Alabama Bureau of Investigation agents were notified that the FBIs program of DNA databases identified Poisel as a match with previously unidentified DNA samples from the case. Grays DNA also was identified. Gray was located and testified against Poisel. The case was prosecuted at trial by the Macon County District Attorneys Office. Poisel was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for his capital murder conviction. He subsequently sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal. Gray pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter and was sentenced to a 15-year sentence, which was split to serve three years with the remainder on probation. The Attorney General's Criminal Appeals Section handled Poisels case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the conviction. The Court did so in a decision issued on Friday, Marshall announced. Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Kristi Wilkerson of the Attorney Generals Criminal Appeals Section for her successful work in the case. If youre really short on cash and havent eaten anything in about a week, you may want to head over to Gold Curry, a restaurant in Japans Ishikawa prefecture, where you can earn up to $900 if you can finish one of their giant dishes in the allotted time. Weve featured some outrageous restaurant challenges in the past, like eating a bowl of the worlds hottest curry, feasting on a 4-pound taco, or finishing a giant bowl of Pho soup, but, while definitely extreme, completing them still seemed possible. Thats not the case with the ultimate challenge set by Japanese restaurant Gold Curry. They are offering a grand prize of $900 to any person that can eat over 20 pounds of rice and curry in just one hour, which I for one dont think is humanly possible without rupturing your stomach. Photo: Gold Curry/Facebook The good news is that you dont have to go straight for this impossible challenge. Instead, you can work your way up to it, by tackling the restaurants other eating challenges. First, theres the 2-kilogram plate of rice and curry, which has to be consumed in 15 minutes, in order to avoid paying its $18 price. The same goes for the 4-kilo plate, which costs $31, if you dont finish it 30 minutes. Photo: Ishikawa-TV Completing the harder challenges not only makes your meal free, but Golden Curry will also pay you a cash prize. For eating the 6-kilogram plate in less than half an hour, you get rewarded with 30,000 yen ($270). Fail, and you have to pay the $58 cost of the meal. Finishing the 8-kilo plate of rice and Japanese curry will earn you a prize of 50,000 yen ($450), plus the $72 cost of the meal. Photo: aklkodechi/Twitter Once youve completed these lesser challenges and trained your stomach to deal with huge quantities of food, youre ready to go for the $900 grand prize. It has a 5-star difficulty rating on FoodChallenges.com, which pretty much makes it impossible for use mere mortals. None of the sources Ive checked mention anyone successfully completing the challenge. Not even the great competitive eater Joey Chestnut could do it. And if youre dying to try this challenge, but cant travel to Japan, youll be happy to know that the Gold Curry restaurant branch in Bangkok, Thailand, also has the humongous dish on the menu. via Kotaku If you are looking for an option for lunch in Offaly today, the Irish Traditional Italian Chippers Association (ITICA) is celebrating the 8th annual ITICA National Fish & Chips Day today. As part of the celebration, ITICA members throughout Offaly and Ireland will offer their customers half-price fish and chips to celebrate the 128-year-old tradition. ITICA Members in Offaly are spread across the county. Here's the full list Angelos Take Away, Main Street , Banagher Carmine Takeaway, Main Street, Tullamore Golden Fry, 57 JKL Street, Edenderry Luigis,36 JKL Street, Edenderry Macaris, Market Place , Tullamore Macaris Cafe, O'Connell Street, Birr Macaris Take Away, Main Street Ninos Take Away, Kilbride Street, Tullamore Roma Grill, Church Street, Tullamore Tonys Cafe, Connaught Street, Birr YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: IT'S OFFICIAL! We have a winner in our search to find Offaly's best chipper We look forward to ITICA National Fish & Chips Day every year, said Peter Borza of ITICA. It is a hectic but fun-filled day that gives us the opportunity to celebrate 128 years of the one and one and most importantly to thank our local communities for their ongoing support. We established ITICA back in January 2010 to highlight the heritage behind the Irish Italian chippers in Ireland, and emphasise what makes our family run chippers unique. The response each ITICA National Fish & Chips Day over the past three years has been amazing and we hope that everyone will join in again this year. Currently with over 150 members around the country, ITICA was created to promote and build on the traditional values and ethos of the Irish Italian chipper community. All ITICA member chippers carry the official ITICA logo, which assures customers of the highest levels of quality and service. The Irish Italian chipper culture was started by members of the Irish Italian community who arrived in Ireland in the 1880s from a group of small villages in Val Di Comino in southern Italy Archive Nov 2022 (8) Oct 2022 (20) Sep 2022 (20) Aug 2022 (23) Jul 2022 (15) Jun 2022 (21) May 2022 (21) Apr 2022 (19) Mar 2022 (19) Feb 2022 (20) Jan 2022 (21) Dec 2021 (19) Nov 2021 (22) Oct 2021 (23) Sep 2021 (19) Aug 2021 (22) Jul 2021 (14) Jun 2021 (18) May 2021 (19) Apr 2021 (20) Mar 2021 (22) Feb 2021 (20) Jan 2021 (21) Dec 2020 (19) Nov 2020 (15) Oct 2020 (22) Sep 2020 (21) Aug 2020 (19) Jul 2020 (21) Jun 2020 (23) May 2020 (20) Apr 2020 (27) Mar 2020 (29) Feb 2020 (19) Jan 2020 (19) Dec 2019 (17) Nov 2019 (16) Oct 2019 (21) Sep 2019 (20) Aug 2019 (22) Jul 2019 (21) Jun 2019 (16) May 2019 (22) Apr 2019 (22) Mar 2019 (11) Feb 2019 (20) Jan 2019 (22) Dec 2018 (14) Nov 2018 (18) Oct 2018 (23) Sep 2018 (18) Aug 2018 (23) Jul 2018 (17) Jun 2018 (21) May 2018 (22) Apr 2018 (21) Mar 2018 (21) Feb 2018 (20) Jan 2018 (20) Dec 2017 (15) Nov 2017 (20) Oct 2017 (22) Sep 2017 (21) Aug 2017 (24) Jul 2017 (11) Jun 2017 (17) May 2017 (22) Apr 2017 (20) Mar 2017 (23) Feb 2017 (20) Jan 2017 (21) Dec 2016 (16) Nov 2016 (21) Oct 2016 (21) Sep 2016 (22) Aug 2016 (21) Jul 2016 (20) Jun 2016 (22) May 2016 (21) Apr 2016 (21) Mar 2016 (23) Feb 2016 (21) Jan 2016 (19) Dec 2015 (16) Nov 2015 (19) Oct 2015 (23) Sep 2015 (21) Aug 2015 (12) Jul 2015 (23) Jun 2015 (23) May 2015 (19) Apr 2015 (23) Mar 2015 (25) Feb 2015 (20) Jan 2015 (20) Dec 2014 (15) Nov 2014 (18) Oct 2014 (24) Sep 2014 (22) Aug 2014 (22) Jul 2014 (20) Jun 2014 (22) May 2014 (21) Apr 2014 (22) Mar 2014 (21) Feb 2014 (20) Jan 2014 (22) Dec 2013 (16) Nov 2013 (19) Oct 2013 (23) Sep 2013 (20) Aug 2013 (17) Jul 2013 (21) Jun 2013 (22) May 2013 (23) Apr 2013 (22) Mar 2013 (22) Feb 2013 (21) Jan 2013 (22) Dec 2012 (21) Nov 2012 (19) Oct 2012 (24) Sep 2012 (21) Aug 2012 (23) Jul 2012 (22) Jun 2012 (22) May 2012 (26) Apr 2012 (22) Mar 2012 (22) Feb 2012 (21) Jan 2012 (23) Dec 2011 (23) Nov 2011 (21) Oct 2011 (22) Sep 2011 (22) Aug 2011 (27) Jul 2011 (22) Jun 2011 (24) May 2011 (21) Apr 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (28) Feb 2011 (22) Jan 2011 (24) Dec 2010 (25) Nov 2010 (23) Oct 2010 (22) Sep 2010 (24) Aug 2010 (22) Jul 2010 (21) Jun 2010 (26) May 2010 (19) Apr 2010 (26) Mar 2010 (25) Feb 2010 (20) Jan 2010 (19) Dec 2009 (23) Nov 2009 (19) Oct 2009 (24) Sep 2009 (22) Aug 2009 (24) Jul 2009 (22) Jun 2009 (23) May 2009 (20) Apr 2009 (24) Mar 2009 (24) Feb 2009 (21) Jan 2009 (28) Dec 2008 (25) Nov 2008 (20) Oct 2008 (25) Sep 2008 (28) Aug 2008 (28) Jul 2008 (25) Jun 2008 (27) May 2008 (31) Apr 2008 (30) Mar 2008 (33) Feb 2008 (36) Jan 2008 (41) Dec 2007 (33) Nov 2007 (24) Oct 2007 (24) Sep 2007 (12) Aug 2007 (16) Jul 2007 (15) Jun 2007 (14) May 2007 (14) Agricultural News United States One Step Ahead of China When It Comes to Addressing Traceability Concerns While technical negotiations wrap up between the United States and China regarding the protocols necessary for the exportation of beef, we are figuring out that American producers have one program already in place that can be used to address traceability concerns harbored by China's government. Beef Cattle Specialist Gant Mourer described to Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays recently, an age and source verification program used once before when Japan required younger cattle from the US, on fears of BSE in older carcasses. He says this could be easily rolled out once again to serve our new Chinese customers. "Age and source verification was an extremely hot commodity," he said, explaining that the program eventually went by the wayside after Japan began accepting older cattle later on. "That may be the future of one traceability element - is to age and source verify those animals again." Mourer says that it is difficult to determine what premiums such beef would bring, but he recalls prior cases of it demanding $4 to $5 per cwt. While this presents perhaps a great opportunity for producers, it would be an easy process to implement, too, with the infrastructure already established and many cattlemen familiar with it already. "Really, if a producer wants to get involved in that," Mourer said, "they can call the Oklahoma Department of Ag and get a premise ID for their cattle. They can also use a phone audit, which is actually very simple to do to audit those calves with the age and source verification." Listen to Mourer and Hays discuss the age and source verification program more in depth and how it could potentially help with the transition of supplying US beef to China, on today's Beef Buzz. The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today. Listen to Mourer and Hays discuss the age and source verification to address traceability concerns WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News As Josh Udashkin took his luggage company Raden from a one-man operation to an outfit with nearly two dozen employees, rewarding those who helped him build out the company was important. But rather than offer a standard benefits package with a retirement plan, the 33-year-old chief executive wanted to provide something with a more immediate impact. Udashkin enlisted the help of CommonBond, an education lender that also helps companies set up student loan benefits. Together, they came up with a program in which Raden matches the monthly loan payments of its employees. Its one of these micro-level things that you can do to really make peoples lives better, Udashkin said. Education debt is not optional for many people and can hold them back. Small businesses like Raden are leading the way in helping employees pay down college debt, proving that you dont have to be a Fortune 500 company to offer the benefit. A crop of startups is giving student loan assistance as much weight as health care plans in its employee packages. The benefit is no small expense, but at a time when millions of young people are entering the workforce with tens of thousands of dollars in education debt, it is an enticing offer. Its not the cheapest benefit in the world, said Ravi Parikh, who co-founded the data analytics company Heap. But I wanted to offer something really positive thats going to attract people here. Its pretty competitive to get good people right now in Silicon Valley, and this is meaningful and differentiated. Parikh said Heap has witnessed a fair amount of revenue growth in the past year and wanted to beef up the benefits package. Student loan assistance was a natural fit, he said, because of the companys young workforce. He said about a third of his 45 employees are paying off college loans and could use the help. Heap is in the midst of rolling out the perk, which provides a monthly contribution of $100 toward the principal balance. For now, Teckst, a company that enables two-way text messaging for customer service teams, is offering about $50 a month to offset student loan payments. Half of the New York-based companys 12 full-time employees have signed up, founder Matt Tumbleson said. Teckst had initially offered a 401(k) match but retreated as investors became weary of the costs. Tumbleson said student loan assistance costs almost as much as providing a retirement plan but has been worth the expense. The cost is negligible when it comes to attracting and keeping the best talent, he said. Well eventually get a 401(k) as we grow, but this benefit addresses a more immediate need for our employees. A majority of our team is just a few years out of college. With roughly 70 percent of college students graduating with debt, companies are taking notice of student loan assistance programs. Though only 4 percent of companies surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management last year said they offer the perk, the number is steadily growing. Advisory firm Willis Towers Watson anticipates that the number of companies offering student loan benefits will grow to nearly 20 percent by next year. There are efforts on Capitol Hill to support the perk through the tax code. A bipartisan bill, introduced by Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., and Scott Peters, D-Calif., would give companies a tax break for providing employees up to $5,250 a year to repay education debt, while sparing employees from being taxed on the money. The deduction is comparable to existing tax benefits for tuition reimbursement. The legislation is wending its way through Congress. While some companies are waiting on the tax break to pull the trigger, others like Raden have forged ahead. So far, six members of the staff have taken advantage of the pretax student loan program, receiving up to $200 a month in assistance. Udashkin said hes not too concerned about the benefit eating into company profits as the business scales up because he runs a pretty lean operation otherwise. Providing the perk is his way to encourage entrepreneurism. Udashkin, who graduated from business and law school in Canada without any debt, said he couldnt imagine taking the risks of starting a business with the kind of six-figure debt that is common for people with advanced degrees in the United States. The lifeblood of the American economy is having some people go out, take risks and be able to build businesses, he said. Its really hard to take risks when youre already starting life encumbered by liabilities around your education. Authorities have taken a step toward arresting a man who remains hospitalized after being shot by police in an altercation in January. Monroe G. Evans III, 20, was struck several times after police say he fired at officers on the edge of Dewey Park. He is recovering at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln. Last week, authorities issued an arrest warrant charging Evans with assault on an officer, attempted assault on an officer and two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony in the Jan. 30 incident. The next step is to take him into custody. Two officers, Jill Schillerberg and Matthew Skradski, stopped Evans near 33rd Street and Turner Boulevard on Jan. 30 about 1:10 p.m. He was on foot and matched the description of a person who had been seen looking into vehicles and checking for open car doors on Park Avenue, police have said. Evans shot Schillerberg in her left leg with a round from a Norinco Tokarev 9 mm handgun, police have said. According to an affidavit filed with the warrant, Skradski returned fire, hitting Evans. Police have said 12 rounds were fired at Evans. Schillerberg, who suffered a minor graze, according to the affidavit, was treated and released from a hospital. Investigators found a fired round and spent casing on the scene that matched the gun Evans had possessed, the affidavit says. The arrest warrant was filed May 24. Evans father, Monroe Evans Jr., said he was unaware of the warrant until a reporter told him but was glad police appear to be waiting for his son, now at least partially paralyzed from his injuries, to leave the hospital. He says he never shot her, Monroe Evans Jr. said. He said he would never have pulled a gun and shot it at a police officer. The elder Evans said he expects the case to go to trial. Hes gone through so much, he said of his son. But hes still here. The father of a toddler who was critically injured in a shooting in April has been ordered to have no contact with the little girl. A judge ordered Marquell Buie, 22, to be held on $25,000 bail Wednesday when Buie appeared in court on a charge of negligent child abuse. He also has been charged with robbery in an unrelated case and is being held on $25,000 bail on that charge. Buie was at the Pine Tree Apartments at 10375 Hamilton Plaza on April 17 when his then-17-month-old daughter, MaLaya Buie, was shot in the face. Buie said another toddler who was in the apartment fired the shot that struck MaLaya. Police initially were unable to determine the accuracy of that account, but prosecutor Eric Fabian said Wednesday that an investigation showed thats what occurred. The bullet passed through MaLayas face, penetrated the drywall of a utility closet and became embedded in the outer shell of a water heater. Fabian said Buie was smoking marijuana with a friend, 22-year-old Mosell Gulley, who had brought his 22-month-old son with him to the apartment. Buie left a loaded gun out, Fabian said, and the 22-month-old accidentally shot MaLaya. When MaLaya was taken to the hospital, a doctor initially thought she would not survive her injuries, Fabian said. MaLaya got out of the hospital Tuesday and now is at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital to help her deal with the extensive brain injury she suffered, said her mother, Ragine Moore, who also is Buies girlfriend. Therapists are teaching her how to walk, talk and eat again, she said. Doctors hope that with rehab, Moore said, MaLaya will recover. Moore said she thought the child abuse charge officials filed against Buie was unnecessary because he cooperated with police and wasnt the one who pulled the trigger. The charges should be on the parent of the child that shot my daughter his child was unattended, said Moore, 22. Buie works at Nebraska Furniture Mart and was the familys source of income, Moore said. She said she cant pay rent on the apartment and is trying to sell her furniture and raise money to pay for Buies bail. She also is trying to raise money for medical expenses on the GoFundMe website and has raised $1,170 of a $5,000 goal. Hes not doing good, he wants to see his baby, she said of Buie. Its his daughter, and hes missing out on her recovery process. Buie is set to have a preliminary hearing late this month. One more day of seasonably warm and dry conditions is forecast across the region before temperatures rise and the chance of storms increases. The best odds for storms will be tonight into early Thursday and then again late Friday in eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa, forecasters said. The warmest day this week looks to be Friday, the National Weather Service office in Valley said. In the Omaha area, today will be sunny with a high temperature around 75. Were going to start the day with sunshine, said Ryan McPike, a KMTV meteorologist. Then very nice for us the rest of today. Tonight, there is a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 a.m., with a low in the mid- to upper 50s. Thursdays Omaha-area forecast calls for partly sunny skies and a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2 p.m., with a high around 80. Thursday night, there is a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m. with a low around 65, the weather service said. Right now were not in line for any severe weather, said McPike. However, he said, some parts of the region could see strong thunderstorms. Mostly sunny skies return Friday, when a high in the mid- to upper 80s is expected. Friday night brings a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 a.m. and a low around 65. There is a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms Saturday and Saturday night in the Omaha area. Expect a high around 85 and an overnight low around 60, the weather service said. McPike said the Omaha area could receive .64 inches of rainfall through Sunday, with heavier amounts to the south. Next week, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday should be dry and mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70s to the lower 80s. COUNCIL BLUFFS With a new law ending a nearly 80-year ban on consumer fireworks sales in Iowa, local municipalities are gearing up for the Fourth of July season. In Council Bluffs, officials expressed frustration that the Legislature left a short window of time for cities to adjust to the new law. Mayor Matt Walsh said the city would like to set zoning rules for tent sales sites to ensure safety. A change to zoning code usually takes a month. But the city was still waiting for the state to send the final administrative rules of the fireworks law. In the future, we think well have some zoning regulations to where these sales can take place, Walsh said. We just dont have time to react to the zoning of the law this year. Its unfair how the state rolled this out. The law allows sales from licensed shops between June 1 and July 8 and from Dec. 10 to Jan. 3. Temporary fireworks stands will be allowed June 13 to July 8. A concern the mayor noted was the possibility of a tent site in a church parking lot in a residential neighborhood. Walsh said church parking lots provide a large, flat surface suitable for tents, and sales could bring in money for the church. But he cited the danger if people in a residential area shoot off fireworks near a sales tent. Theres a potential for disaster there, Walsh said. Council Bluffs Fire Chief Justin James said the new law is going to lead to more fire calls. This is not a good idea in an urban area, he said. This will cause problems across the state. James noted the injury risk with fireworks as well as the potential fire risk to property. Can people set off fireworks safely? Absolutely. In the perfect world, everybody uses common sense and we have good, neighborly people. Thats not the world we live in, he said. The types of fireworks theyre selling are better off left to professionals or out in the county in open areas. The Iowa Fire Marshals Office is in charge of licensing distributors but has asked local departments to inspect sites. Walsh said some cities have declined to do the inspections, but he said the Council Bluffs Fire Department will handle inspections. The Council Bluffs City Council will hold a special meeting at 5 tonight to examine issues related to the sale of fireworks. Among the matters to be addressed: The new law legalizes the sale and possession of fireworks, but local municipalities can still prohibit their use. In Council Bluffs, setting off fireworks inside the city carries a $250 fine. Walsh said the city is proposing to allow residents to set off fireworks during a brief window of time around Independence Day and New Years Eve. Its illegal now to shoot them off in Council Bluffs. ... If you can buy them, people are going to assume they can shoot them. Our thought was Can we compact the time of the discharge of fireworks to alleviate the inconvenience to people who dont want fireworks going off in their neighborhood all the time? The city needs to set a price for the inspection process. A resolution proposes a $150 fee. Walsh explained that Fire Department officials will work with companies and conduct two inspections the first before fireworks are on site, with the company providing information on setup and other factors. The second inspection will be to check that the company followed through on its plan. The Pottawattamie County Board decided that there was no time for it to set zoning ordinances on the sale of fireworks and discussed documenting complaints and other problems with an eye toward the New Years holiday and July Fourth 2018. Vince Bellino, manager of Bellino Fireworks in Papillion, said the company plans to open three temporary tent sales locations in Council Bluffs this year and about 50 to 60 temporary locations in the state. In coming years, he said, Bellino Fireworks plans to open about five permanent locations in the state. Despite the scramble for cities, some officials point to positives of the new law, including keeping sales tax revenue in the state, with people purchasing fireworks in Iowa instead of in Nebraska or Missouri. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) A suicide attacker struck the fortified heart of the Afghan capital with a massive truck bomb Wednesday, killing 90 people, wounding 400 and raising new fears about the government's ability to protect its citizens nearly 16 years into a war with insurgents. The bomber drove into Kabul's heavily guarded diplomatic quarter during the morning rush hour, leaving behind a bloody scene of chaos and destruction in one of the worst attacks since the drawdown of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014. Most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children, said Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry. But the dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including the U.S. Embassy, while 11 American contractors were wounded none with life-threatening injuries, a U.S. State Department official said. "I have been to many attacks, taken wounded people out of many blast sites, but I can't say I have ever seen such a horrible attack as I saw this morning," ambulance driver Alef Ahmadzai told the Associated Press. "Everywhere was on fire and so many people were in critical condition." There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came in the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban flatly denied any involvement in an email to news outlets and condemned all attacks against civilians. The explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior minister. The number of dead and wounded was provided by the Afghan government's media center, citing a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the country's top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law. The blast gouged a crater about 5 meters (15 feet) deep near Zanbaq Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, where foreign embassies are protected by a battery of their own security personnel as well as Afghan police and National Security Forces. The nearby German Embassy was heavily damaged. Also in the area is Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry, the Presidential Palace and its intelligence and security headquarters, guarded by soldiers trained by the U.S. and its coalition partners. "The terrorists, even in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of goodness, blessing and prayer, are not stopping the killing of our innocent people," said President Ashraf Ghani. President Donald Trump spoke with Ghani after the attack, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned it as a "senseless and cowardly act." "The United States stands with the government and the people of Afghanistan and will continue to support their efforts to achieve peace, security, and prosperity for their country," Tillerson said in a statement. Afghanistan's war, the longest ever involving U.S. troops, has shown no sign of letting up, and the introduction into the battle of an Islamic State affiliate has made the country only more volatile. Although they are small in number, militants from the Islamic State in Khorasan an ancient name for parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia have taken credit for several brazen assaults on the capital. "Let's be clear: This is an intelligence failure, as has been the case with so many other attacks in Kabul and beyond. There was a clear failure to anticipate a major security threat in a highly secured area," said Michael Kugelman of the U.S.-based Wilson Center. "The fact that these intelligence failures keep happening suggest that something isn't working at the top, and major and urgent changes are needed in security policy," he said by email. Still, there are questions about whether a U.S. pledge to send more troops to Afghanistan will curb the violence. "The sad reality is that more foreign troops would not necessarily ensure these attacks happen less," Kugelman said. "But they could help by supplementing training programs meant to enhance Afghan intel collection capacities, which have long been a deficiency in Afghanistan." There are currently 8,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan with a U.S. promise of more to come. Afghan lawmaker and analyst Nasrullah Sadeqizada bemoaned the abysmal security, saying "the situation is deteriorating day by day." In an interview, Sadeqizada criticized U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, saying they have done little to improve protection in the country. "If the situation continues to deteriorate, Afghans will lose all trust in the foreigners who are in Afghanistan as friends," he warned. Gen. Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, former deputy interior minister, said more troops won't help, although he urged the global community to stay committed to Afghanistan. "I don't think that more U.S. or NATO soldiers can solve the security problems in Afghanistan," he said. "When we had more than 100,000 foreign soldiers, they were not even able to secure Helmand province" in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban controls roughly 80 percent of the area, he said. In the past year, U.S. troops have largely focused on thwarting a surge in Taliban attacks. The stricken neighborhood was considered Kabul's safest, with the embassies protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and government offices guarded by security forces. More than 50 cars were either destroyed or damaged. "I've never seen such a powerful explosion in my life," said Mohammad Haroon, who owns a nearby sporting goods store. All the windows in his shop and others around him were shattered, he added. Shocked residents soaked in blood stumbled in the streets before being taken to hospitals. Passers-by helped them into private cars, while others went to the nearby Italian-run Emergency Hospital. Besides the German Embassy, damage was reported at the embassies of China, Turkey, France, India and Japan, according to officials from those countries. Other nearby embassies include those of the U.S., Britain, Pakistan and Iran, as well as the NATO mission. Nine Afghan guards at the U.S. Embassy were killed and 11 American contractors were wounded, with one Afghan guard missing, according to a U.S. State Department official, who was not authorized to talk publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. None of the wounded Americans appeared to have life-threatening injuries, the official said. The BBC said one of its drivers was killed and four of its journalists were wounded. Afghanistan's private TOLO Television also reported a staffer killed; Germany said an Afghan security guard outside its embassy was among the dead. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that along with an Afghan guard who was killed, a German diplomat was slightly wounded and an Afghan staffer had severe injuries. Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack, saying that "terrorism has no borders." It "targets all of us whether in Manchester or Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, St. Petersburg or today in Kabul," she said in the southern German city of Nuremberg. "Today we're united in shock and sadness across all borders," she added. She vowed: "We will lead the fight against terrorism, and we will win it." Germany has had troops in Afghanistan for 15 years, primarily in the north in and around Mazar-e-Sharif. It is one of the biggest contributors to the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, with about 980 soldiers supporting and training Afghan forces. Neighboring Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the bomb damaged residences of some of its diplomats and staff and caused some minor injuries. Copyright 2017, the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 10 more held in Jharkhand lynching case India oi-PTI Jamshedpur, May 30: Ten more persons were arrested in connection with lynching incidents in Seraikela-Kharswan and East Singhbhum districts, police said on Tuesday. Seven persons named in the FIR in connection with lynching of four persons in Shobhapur and Sosomouli villages under Rajnagar Police station of Seraikela-Kharswan district have been arrested on Tuesday, SP Rakesh Bansal said. With these arrests, the total number of arrests in Rajnagar lynching incident has gone up to 11, Bansal said. Earlier, three persons, allegedly involved in the Nagadih incident in East Singhbhum district, were arrested on Monday, police said. Altogether, 42 persons have been arrested in the lynching incident in Jharkhand, which took place on May 18. The lynchings were allegedly sparked by suspicions that the victims were child lifters. On May 22, Twenty people have been arrested in connection with lynching of seven persons in Jharkhand. State Home Secretary S K G Rahate said a probe had been ordered into the two incidents of vigilantism in Rajnagar in Seraikela-Kharswan district and Nagadih in Jamshedpur, that claimed four and three lives respectively. The lynchings were allegedly sparked by suspicions that the victims were child lifters. 18 persons were arrested in connection with the lynching incident at Nagadih on May 18, and the subsequent violence on May 20. The other two were held yesterday in connection with the lynching of four persons of a community in Seraikela-Kharswan. Rahate told mediapersons in Ranchi that social media sites are being monitored and a WhatsApp group admin has been questioned. The report of the probe, to be conducted by the Kolhan division commissioner and DIG, would be submitted within a month, he said, adding that an FIR has also been lodged. He said the incidents were triggered purely by rumours and villagers, in an act of vigilantism, took the law into their lands. A Jamshedpur report quoting an official release said the Kolhan DIG Prabhat Kumar has been asked by the home department to suspend the officers-in-charge of Rajnagar police station and Bagbera police station with immediate effect. On May 20, protests at Mango area in Jamshedpur against the Rajnagar incident turned violent and prompted the police to open fire in the air and hurl tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Raids were on to apprehend the other culprits involved in the two incidents, Kumar said, adding that security forces, including a company of RAF have been deployed in the two areas. The Deputy Commissioner of East Singhbhum district Amit Kumar has sought the cooperation of the people to share information about the miscreants, including their photos on social media and promised to protect the identity of those providing it. He also directed the sub-divisional officers of Dhalbhum and Ghatsila, block development officers, deputy superintendents of police and panchayats to organise gram sabhas over the next one week from tomorrow to alert the people against social media rumours. PTI 1st sign of protests in NE against Centre's cattle trade ban comes from BJP's Meghalaya unit India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Shillong, May 31: Now, get ready for a fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Sounds strange? Not, when it comes to the contentious issue of beef. At a time when the ruling BJP-led government at the Centre came up with a set of rules to restrict sale of cattle for slaughter to end "animal cruelty", it is not just the opposition parties like the Left and the Congress that have raised protest against the decision. In the Northeastern region of the country, mostly dominated by tribal population and where beef is consumed widely and openly, the latest all-India ban on bovine sale and slaughter has not gone down well with the members of the saffron party also. In Meghalaya, where the saffron party is trying its best to establish its rule in the upcoming assembly polls slated in 2018, BJP leaders in the state have come out in the open to protest against the Centre's latest diktat. In fact, a leader of the BJP in Meghalaya on Tuesday threatened to quit the party if the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government refused to repeal the new cattle trade rules. "Most party leaders in Meghalaya are not happy with the new rules which are directly affecting the socio-economic status of the people," BJP Vice President John Antonius Lyngdoh told IANS. Lyngdoh said the party members went into a huddle on Monday and discussed the issue in depth. "We cannot accept the new rules on cattle trade and slaughter. We cannot go against our food behaviour besides putting the economic interest of those people dealing in cattle trade and slaughter in jeopardy," the former food and civil supplies minister said. He added, "It will be difficult for the candidates to campaign as the electorate won't back a party which goes against the interests of the people." However, BJP president Shibun Lyngdoh dismissed Lyngdoh's threat. "I would not like to comment on the new rules as it is a legal matter but those who want to leave the party are free to do so." On Monday, a BJP leader, Bernard Marak, said his party won't ban beef and instead legalise slaughter houses if it comes to power in the state. "In Meghalaya most BJP leaders eat beef. The question of banning beef does not arise in a state like Meghalaya," he said. Likewise, Meghalaya's main opposition party and an ally of the BJP-- the National People's Party has also appealed PM Modi to reconsider the cattle slaughter regulation. The party chief, Conrad Sangma, wrote a letter to the PM Modi, seeking his personal intervention in the matter. The ruling Congress in the state has termed the regulation on cattle slaughter "unconstitutional" and part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's hidden agenda to bring blanket ban on beef across the country. Meghalaya was ranked the top beef-consuming state in the country where 80.74 per cent of the population eats beef, ahead of Lakshadweep and Nagaland, according to the latest National Sample Survey Office. "Tribal states like Meghalaya, etc. should be exempted from the application of these rules (the newly promulgated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulations of livestock Markets) rules, 2017)," former union minister and Congress MP Vincent H Pala said in a petition submitted to the Prime Minister's Office on Monday. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 7:47 [IST] Delhi AQI remains 'very poor' but parts of NCR breathe better 27 year old PhD found dead at IIT Delhi India oi-Vicky By Vicky A 27 year old PhD student was found dead in the Indian Institute of Technology campus on Tuesday. The final year student, Manjul Devak was found hanging from the ceiling in her room at around 7.40. The incident took place at the Nalanda Apartments in the IIT campus, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said. The police have not found any suicide note. An inquiry has been initiated by the police to find out about the cause of death. Manjula, who was married to Ritesh Virha, was a student of water resources. The police have informed her husband and parents who reside at Bhopal. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 6:40 [IST] All demands will be met During a meeting of the National Council (Staff Side) Joint Consultative Machinery (NCJCM) chief, Shiv Gopal Mishra and Sinha, the former was told that a favourable report will be given. Mishra was also assured that the demands of the central government employees who have been waiting for the past one year will be met. Crucial meeting On June 1, the E-CoS will hold a meeting on which the final draft on higher allowances and HRA under the 7th Pay Commission will be discussed. The report would then be handed over directly to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. There were reports earlier that the E-CoS may stick to the recommendations made by the pay panel on higher allowances. While there is palpable tension among the employees, they are basing their hopes on the assurance given by Sinha. Next move The NCJCM would wait for the Cabinet to take a decision before making the next move. A meeting of the central government employees body was held to discuss the issue of higher allowances. It has been decided that they would await the E-CoS report and also the decision by the Cabinet before planning their next move. Mishra said that they would wait another week or two before taking the next call, but added that it would be dependent on what the cabinet has to say. Will raise our voice on HRA The employees' unions say that they would raise their voice on HRA. No commission has reduced the HRA in the past. If it comes to pass then we will raise our voice on the same, Mishra also said. He said that the Lavasa Committee had not advocated an increase in HRA rates. The suggestions by the review committee are yet to be shared, he also added. Final nod Once the E-CoS hands out its report, it would be sent to the Union Cabinet. It is expected that the Cabinet may give the final nod the same day. However there is some amount of confusion since the Prime Minister is out of the country. In all likelihood there could be a decision tomorrow itself. If that does not happen then it may take another week. Priyanka Chopra Jonas announces sequel of ''We Can Be Heroes'' Did PM Modi, Priyanka Chopra, Akshay Kumar get vaccinated in Bihar? 2 comp operators suspended for data fraud After Priyanka posts picture with PM Modi, sanskaris troll actress over mini dress India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer So, what should you wear and what not while meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Although there is no official dress code prescribed by the Indian government to be followed by anyone while meeting country's top leaders, social media trolls have their own "bizarre" dos and don'ts regarding the matter. In fact, popular Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, who is currently creating waves in the west, got a few unsavoury lessons regarding sartorial choices by internet "goons". The sanskari trolls attacked the national award winning actor with sexist remarks. On Tuesday, when PM Modi was in Berlin, Germany, he met Priyanka, who was also "coincidently" in the same city, to promote her Hollywood film, Baywatch. The former Miss World posted pictures of her with PM Modi from the meeting on social media. Thank you for taking the time to meet me this morning @narendramodi Sir. Such a lovely coincidence to be in #berlin at the same time. pic.twitter.com/vLzUSH5WR1 PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) May 30, 2017 Within minutes the pictures went viral. Along with bouquets, the actor got many brickbats for not being "appropriately" dressed while meeting the PM. The internet users commented that the actress shouldn't be "showing her legs" because that's just not Indian or sanskari enough. "Wear proper dress. Mean full body covered, when you are meeting PM of India," wrote Pandurang Sawant on Fecebook. "Atleast show some respect and courtesy infront of our Prime Minister...Priyanka you are disgusting," wrote Debalina Mandal on Facebook. Priyanka, who is known for her charm and witty one-liners, gave a proper reply to the haters with this picture with her mother. Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 4:23pm PDT OneIndia News Legs for days.... #itsthegenes with @madhuchopra nights out in #Berlin #beingbaywatch A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 30, 2017 at 4:23pm PDT For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 13:12 [IST] AgustaWestland: After saying witness may have died, ED cites a little birdie to say he is alive AgustaWestland: Delhi HC bars ex-IAF chief Tyagi from traveling abroad India oi-Vicky By Vicky Former IAF chief, S P Tyagi will not be able to travel abroad following a Delhi High Court order. The court has stayed an order of the trial court which allowed S P Tyagi an accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam to travel to Indonesia. Justice I S Mehta agreed to the contention of the CBI that the former 71-year-old air force chief, who is on bail, may tamper with the ongoing investigation in the case. Tyagi, who along with his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan are accused in the case relating to alleged irregularities in the procurement of 12 VVIP choppers from UK-based AgustaWestland during the UPA-2 regime, have been granted bail by the trial court. The court was also critical of the fact that the "high and mighty" accused get permission to travel abroad as compared to others. The court's order came on an appeal of CBI challenging the trial court's May 24 decision permitting Tyagi to travel to Indonesia. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 6:46 [IST] Morbi Bridge is not the only Incident - Quality of Bridges, roads and Highways in BJPs government! BJP announces list of candidates for Gujarat polls, Hardik Patel makes the cut Three down in three days: Congress loses yet another MLA to BJP in Gujarat Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja thanks PM Modi, Amit Shah for giving BJP ticket to his wife Amit Shah meets Gujarat CM, state BJP leaders India pti-PTI Ahmedabad, May 30: BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday met party leaders, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, in Ahmedabad to discuss preparations for Assembly elections in Gujarat, due later this year. Shah, who arrived in Ahmedabad to participate in the party's ongoing 'vistarak' outreach initiative, met the top party leadership at the circuit house. He will travel to Devaliya in the tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district today as part of the outreach initiative. "BJP is moving ahead with its agenda of development. We sought guidance of the national president who has the experience of taking the party's development agenda to people across the country," BJP's state unit chief Jitu Vaghani told reporters later. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 9:55 [IST] Babri: If Virabhadra Singh can continue in office, why should Uma Bharti resign India oi-Vicky By Vicky With conspiracy charges being pressed against Union Minister, Uma Bharti in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition case, in certain quarters questions have been asked whether she should resign. Sources in the government tell OneIndia that there is no question of her being asked to resign. On Tuesday, the CBI court at Lucknow framed charges against Uma Bharti, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and nine others. There is no law that states that a minister facing trial will have to step down. It is only in the event of a conviction will the minister have to step down and also not face an election for 6 years. It would also be relevant to draw a comparison to Jayalalithaa who did not step down as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu when she was facing trial in the disproportionate assets case. On April 19 the Supreme Court had restored the case against the leaders. At that time, Uma Bharti had said that she had no problems in quitting. However her party has asked her to stay put. On Tuesday, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said that let the judiciary come to a conclusion first. Without naming her, he had said that no minister will resign. This is a political case which was foisted on our leaders. I do not want to go in-depth into that now as the court is hearing the case. Our important leaders will come out without any problem. It will not stand the scrutiny of the law and after trial, they will come out with flying colours, he had also said. He further said that if these charges were related to moral turpitude he could understand why a minister should resign. This is an agitation and a political case that has been going on for the last 20 years, Naidu further stated. The BJP says that no such demand should be made. The party cited the example of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virabhadra Singh. The Congress has let him stay in office despite him facing a DA case, the BJP said. Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said if the filing of a charge sheet was the criteria, then some Congress chief ministers will have to resign."There have been ministers, there have been deputy prime ministers. If charge sheet is the rule to resign, then just calculate, how many Congress chief ministers will have to go. There are very few left anyway, Jaitley said. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 8:26 [IST] L K Advani L K Advani "vehemently asserted repeatedly" that the kar seva to be held at Ayodha on December 6, 1992, "would not mean only bhajan and kirtan, but would also involve construction of the Shri Ram temple, the CBI said in Page 37 of the chargesheet. He further asserted to Jansatta that the BJP will break the law for the construction of the Ram Janambhoomi temple at Ayodhya. The final decision to demolish the disputed structure was taken on December 5, 1992, at "a secret meeting" which was "held at the residence of Shri Vinay Katiyar and was attended by Shri L K Advani, Pawan Pandey etc." Kalyan Singh when contacted by a witness told him that rok construction per lagi hai, destruction par nahi (the stay is on construction, not on destruction)." L K Advani, in a public speech on December 6, 1992, had "in the proximity of the disputed structure" and shortly before the actual demolition, said: "Aaj kar seva ka akhri din hai, kar sevak aaj akhri kar seva karenge (Today is the last day of kar seva; kar sevaks will perform their final kar seva)," the CBI states in page 40 of the chargesheet. He acknowledged that "central forces were moving from Faizabad towards Ayodhya" but added that "they were not afraid" of them and "instructed the public to block the national highway straightaway so that forces do not reach the Ram Janambhoomi." "L K Advani also advised the CM of UP, Shri Kalyan Singh, not to tender his resignation to the governor of UP till the demolition of the disputed structure stands completed." Uma Bharti She had "shouted" at Ram Janambhoomi Ayodhya on December 6, 1992: "Ek dhakka aur do, Babri Masjid tod do," and she had also advised the kar sevaks to demolish the disputed structure and shouted "Masjid girao, Mandor bano Babar ki aulad ko Pakistan bhagao", "Jinnah bole Jai Shri Ram" etc, page 43 of the chargesheet states. "On December 5, 1992, she had told that kar seva will not mean only bhajan and kirtans but the start of a construction of the temple. Ek ek int prashad ke tor per lay jao (Take away each brick as prashad)." "The Supreme Court had not told them to demolish but only to not do construction work and hence they are removing the black spot from the nation's forehead." On September 30, 1993, she had said in Silchar that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was "a part of a preconceived plan, and she was the pivot of the plan and gave the signal to break the Babri Masjid". Murli Manohar Joshi "According to the investigation, Murli Manohar Joshi had said at Mathura on December 1, 1992, on his way to Ayodhya that no force can stop construction of Ram temple and he was encouraging the kar sevaks from the manch on December 6, 1992, for the demolition of the disputed structure and was shouting provocative slogans," the CBI stated in page 46 of the chargesheet. Kalyan Singh At his swearing-in as chief minister of UP on June 24, 1991, Singh and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi visited Ayodhya along with members of his cabinet and party legislators, where they allegedly took a vow to construct the temple. "In his tenure as Chief Minister, UP, a temple of Shri Ram will inevitably be constructed," page 25 of the chargesheet states. A conspiracy was hatched with the people being trained by the Bajrang Dal of Gujarat. The last day of training, was on October 10, 1991. In pursuance of this, Kalyan Singh acquired 2.77 acres of land in October 1991 "under the pretext of developing the same for tourism purposes," says the chargesheet in pages 28 and 29. "It is further evident from the investigation that Kalyan Singh in order to achieve the objectives of the criminal conspiracy as aforesaid not only failed to live up to its promises to protect the disputed structure but continued to aid and abet the criminal conspiracy to ensure its destruction." It goes on to quote from Supreme Court orders, dated December 6, 1992, on it being a "great pity" that a constitutionally elected government "could not discharge its duties in a matter of this sensitiveness and magnitude," the CBI stated in page 39. The accused public servants and Kalyan Singh were well aware that the central para-military forces were duly equipped with riot gear and plastic and rubber bullets to avoid casualties. "Dogged refusal to deploy the said force in spite of several requests from the (Union government) shows that the failure to take these steps was a part of the conspiracy and criminal design," page 41 states. Kalyan Singh made statements and gave public speeches which are "clearly indicative of his complicity in the demolition of the disputed structure." On May 5, 1993, Singh said at Barabanki: "Goli na challaney ka aadesh unke dwaara hi jaari kiya gaya tha aur usi wajah se prashasan ka koi adhikari doshi nahi maana jayega (The order to not fire was issued by them. And that is why, nobody from the administration is guilty. On March 28, 1993, Singh said at Lucknow: "Vivadith dhanche ki suraksha na kar pane ka unhe koye afsos nahi hai, kyonki ve 464 saal purana gulami ka chinh tha (They don't regret not being able to protect the controversial structure because it was a 464-year-old symbol of slavery)," page 45 states. Registrations for CEED, UCEED 2023 to commence in October: All the details here Beef fest: 9 students booked for attacking IIT Madras scholar India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Nine students have been charged for allegedly beating up a PhD scholar from the Indian Institute of Technology- Madras, for organising a 'Beef Fest' on the campus. The accused were booked under IPC 147- Punishment for rioting, 341-Punishment for wrongful restraint,323- Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt and 506(1) - criminal intimidation, ANI reported. According to reports, Sooraj R, PhD scholar in Aerospace department, was allegedly beaten up by right-wing students while he was having food at the hostel mess. His right eye is seriously wounded and he was taken to a hospital nearby. Chennai: Sooraj R IIT Madras scholar violently attacked for conducting Beef Fest in IIT. He has been seriously injured in his right eye. pic.twitter.com/YLwbdlG8B5 Pinky Rajpurohit (@Madrassan) May 30, 2017 The beef festival was held at the IIT Madras campus to protest against the ban on sale of cattle for slaughtering. The fest took place on Sunday where scores of students were seen seated on the lawns of the campus eating beef. (With Agency inputs) It's all Media creation: Kerala Police academy denies reports of excluding beef from menu Climate-friendly beef is a long way off A headmistress in Assam brings beef for lunch, gets jailed Suspected beef seized from food outlet in Nagpur; case registered against owner IIT Madras Beef fest: Students protest attack on beef fest organiser India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Indian Institute of Technology- Madras students on Wednesday took a protest rally to the dean's office to put their demands in the wake of attack an on a fellow student who organised beef fest on the campus. Sooraj, associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was injured in his right eye in yesterday's assault allegedly by some students claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters. IITian protest inside campus IIT Students were on a protest rally in the wake of attack on fellow student for organising beef fest Protest near IITmaingate Meanwhile, SFI and DYFI student organizations affiliated to left parties held a protest outside the IIT-Madras gate in support of Suraj R. Students court arrest Police swing into action and arrested several protesters as tempers were running high. Revolutionary Students and Youth Front hold a placard Revolutionary Students and Youth Front continued the protest after the arrest. Th palcard reads: 'IIT Administration is handed over to Cow RAKSHAKA' Chennai: Police removes protesters agitating in front of IIT-Madras against cattle slaughter ban & attack on a IIT-Madras PhD scholar pic.twitter.com/4rcZ7VLpq5 ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Scene outside the IIT gate Police removes protesters agitating in front of IIT-Madras against cattle slaughter ban & attack on a IIT-Madras PhD scholar. (With agency inputs) Sonia tells Lalu, Nitish to meet her again after Cong gets new president Lalu Yadav to get kidney from daughter Rohini: Report BPCL issues notice to Tej Pratap Yadav over petrol pump license India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer In a fresh trouble to Yadav clan, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited on Wednesday issued notice to Lalu Prasad Yadav's son Tej Pratap Yadav in connection with acquisition of a petrol pump license by allegedly furnishing wrong information. The notice sought reply from Tej Pratap Yadav, Cabinet Minister for Health in Government of Bihar, within 15 days explaining his petrol pump license. According to reports, the notice signed by BPCL Territory Manager (Retail), Patna, Manish Kumar followed a complaint that Yadav had acquired the petrol pump at Patna's busy Anisabad bypass road on the basis of "wrong" information furnished by him. Tej Pratap is RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's eldest son and was appointed health minister in the Bihar cabinet after winning from Mahua constituency in the 2015 state assembly election. The office of profit clause may also become a problem for Tej Pratap in this case. What is office of profit ? The term is used in Article 102 (1)(A) of the Indian Constitution which bars a member of the Indian Parliament from holding an office that would give its occupant the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit. It refers to a post under central/state government which yields salaries, perks and other benefits. (Oneindia News with PTI inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 19:00 [IST] CPI (M) MP from Kerala wants Arnab Goswami to learn history India oi-Vicky By Vicky A Lok Sabha MP from Kerala has lashed out at journalist, Arnab Goswami following an unruly debate on a television show. TV, Kerala Communist Party of India (Marxist) Lok Sabha MP from Palakkad, M B Rajesh has written an open letter to Goswami and this has been shared widely on Facebook. Requests for a Malayalam translation of the letter too have been made by many. The MP referred to Goswami as the 'the most unethical and cowardly journalist' he had ever seen. Rajesh was previously called on the May 26 show for a discussion on the three year anniversary of the Modi-led NDA government. The topic was, however, changed at the last minute where he was asked to defend Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's (Kerala CPM state secretary) remark on the army. Rajesh said he could have boycott the show but decided to partake in order to avoid accusations of running away in his absence. In spite of Goswami's continuous interruptions, he tried to clarify on the show that Balakrishnan's remarks were not directed the army but against the 'atrocities committed in the name of AFSPA', Rajesh said. According to a report, Rajesh hit out at Goswami in the letter saying, "It was evident from your substandard and abusive remarks against the CPI(M) that your sense of history is poorer than that of a primary school child. Your history teacher in school would have been much ashamed to see the shameless and naive expression of your ignorance about history." The Lok Sabha MP further spoke about his 'proud provenance' as his father was in the Indian Army and had fought in the 1971 war. "As the ward of a veteran, I've also partaken in the sacrificial living of an army family, like several others. Now, tell me, apart from your highly hypocritic and extremely dramatic expressions in the name of army, only to raise ratings, what have you genuinely done for our army," he also wrote. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 6:21 [IST] Crime against minorities, cow vigilantism show state in bad light: Vasundhara Raje India pti-PTI Jaipur, May 31: Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has admitted that recent crimes, including those by cow vigilantes, against minorities in the state show Rajasthan in a bad light, but stressed that firm action will be taken against those behind the violence. "The law of the land prevails in Rajasthan, and the government will ensure the culprits are brought to book," she said. In April, 'gau rakshaks' or cow vigilantes attacked a 55-year-old cattle trader, Pehlu Khan, in Alwar and injured four of his companions. He later succumbed to injuries. A month later, the desert state hit the headlines again when a video showing Sikh men allegedly being thrashed by villagers in Ajmer surfaced. "Rajasthan cannot be singled out. Such incidents are happening across India. But this government will not tolerate such crimes as it shows the state in a bad light," Raje told PTI in an interaction. She said the administration acted "swiftly" and the perpetrators were arrested in the Pehlu Khan case. The Chief Minister, who is due to complete her term next year, said, "We do not discriminate among people on any lines. In less than a week, the accused in the honour killing of a Kerala engineer were arrested and a thorough inquiry was also ordered into the Ajmer incident." In a suspected case of honour killing, 28-year-old Amit Nair, a civil engineer, was shot dead last week allegedly by his in-laws here for marrying a Rajasthani woman. "Though our government did its part, the Kerala government is yet to speak out on the killings of BJP and RSS workers," said Ms Raje. The Chief Minister said that she planned to make development her party's poll plank for the state Assembly elections. The Centre and the state were actively working for the people, she said, adding that her party, the BJP, was likewise an active organisation. The state had seen a rapid growth in every sector in the last four years, she said. PTI 'If Delhi is to be saved from Islamic State': Giriraj Singh urges people to vote for BJP Rahul should be sent back to school to know what ministries exist under Centre: Giriraj Singh Hijab row: Uniform Civil Code is need of the hour, says Union Minister Giriraj Singh Snake has entered your home: Union minister to Lalu Prasad on allying with Nitish Does anyone have guts to organise pork fest': Giriraj Singh India oi-Vikas By Vikas In the wake of protests against Centre's order to ban sale of cattle for slaughter and beef fests being organised in several parts of the country, Union Minister Giriraj Singh has asked if anyone has the guts to organise 'pork festival' on the same lines. Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said those politicians taking part in opposing order on sale of cattle for slaughter were doing it to appease Muslims. Kerala witnessed "beef fests" in various parts of the state to protest the central government's decision on banning sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter. The protests were carried out despite Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's assurance that he would approach the Prime Minister in this matter. Such fests were also reportedly held at IIT-Madras. Singh lashed out at the politicians supporting such activities and said such vote bank politics were hurting Hindu sentiments. "Does anyone have guts to organise 'pork festival' at IIT-Madras?" ANI quoted Singh as saying. Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi while condemning the slaughter of a cow by his party workers in Kerala termed the incident as barbaric and completely unacceptable. Youth groups of the state's ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-headed UDF opposition killed the animal in Kannur in public view on Saturday evening, cooked its meat and distributed it during a "Beef Fest" to protest against the BJP-led central government's new rules on cattle trade that ban the sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter through animal markets. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 18:43 [IST] Zakir Naik wants Indian Muslims to migrate to Kerala, a state he mastered in radicalising The crimes of Zakir Naik: Extolling every Muslim to be a terrorist, paid Rs 50k per Islamic conversion Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence Dr Zakir Naik applies for Malaysian citizenship India oi-Vicky By Vicky Controversial Islamic preacher, Dr Zakir has sought Malaysian citizenship, the National Investigation Agency says. The NIA has learnt that he applied for Malaysian citizenship after India renewed efforts to have him deported from Saudi Arabia. Naik wanted in a series of cases ranging from conversions to backing terror had left India 1 year back for Saudi Arabia. Repeated efforts directing him to join the probe in India have failed. An offer made by him to depose through video-conferencing was rejected by the NIA. With Naik now applying for citizenship in Malaysia, India will make efforts to ensure it does not happen. Indian agencies say that Malaysia is aware of the cases against Naik and hope that the authorities there may not heed to his request. The NIA would share the details of the cases registered against Naik with the Malaysian government. All attempts would be made to ensure that he does not get citizenship of anyother country, NIA officials said. Naik's NGO, the Islamic Research Foundation had recently been banned by the Union Government. A tribunal too had confirmed the ban under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 5:57 [IST] Another targeted killing: Two non-locals killed in targeted attack in J&K 40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley Terrorist involved in terrorising Pandits in Valley gunned down Mubin did it in Coimbatore: Why do Islamist terrorists shave their body before a suicide mission DGP Kerala orders FIR against The Kerala Story after TN journalist forwards complaint to CM J&K: 4 cops injured in grenade attack near police station in Sopore India oi-Madhuri At least four police personnel injured after terrorists hurled a grenade at a Police party near J&K Bank in Sopore town in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. According to police, four police personnel were injured in grenade attack in Sopore in Kashmir. Meanwhile, the injured cops have been identified as Noor Mohammad Head constable belt number 366, Bilal Ahmed Belt number 671, Abdul Reham belt number 561 and Ghulam Hassan belt number 199 head constable. Police launched manhunt to nab the militants. OneIndia News 2 non-local labourers shot at by terrorist in J&K's Anantnag FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools J&K: PDP worker shot at by terrorists in Baramulla India oi-Madhuri A Peoples Democratic Party worker was shot by terrorists in Baramulla district's Khanpora on Tuesday evening. It is learnt that the the ruling party worker identified as Abdul Qayoom was shot at least three times close range outside his home at around 8.10 pm. The victim was immediately being rushed to the nearby hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, Police is investigating the case. OneIndia News India's mood and Moodys rating for the country has improved: Govt Watch: GST on horse-trading, Sitharaman gets trolled for slip of tongue PM Modi and others greet Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on her birthday Jaitley to attend AIIB meet in South Korea India oi-PTI New Delhi, May 31: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will attend the annual meeting of China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to be held in mid-June in South Korea. AIIB aims to promote economic development of the region by supporting major infrastructure projects. India is the second largest shareholder of AIIB with 7.5 per cent stake after China which has 26.06 per cent voting shares. Russia and Germany have 5.93 per cent, 4.5 per cent stake respectively. The Finance Minister is scheduled to attend Board of Governors meeting on June 14-15, sources said. This year's meeting is being co-hosted by the Bank and Korea, and will be held in Jeju Island. The AIIB board had its first annual meeting in Beijing on June 25, 2016. The governors representing the Bank's 46 founding members including India took stock of the progress that the bank has made since opening its doors on January 16, 2016. Jaitley had attended the first meeting and had apprised the bank about massive infrastructure programme being undertaken by the country. While the Beijing-based AIIB is headed by former Assistant Chinese Finance Minister, Jin Liqun, D J Pandian from India is the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 16:23 [IST] In UP 166 criminals killed in encounters in past five years: Yogi This Diwali, UP CM Yogi asks govt employees to celebrate festival with needy, deprived families Modernisation of police force helped in controlling crime in UP: CM Yogi Yogi govt orders demotion of DySP to inspector for taking bribes in rape case Many Muslims want disputed land to be handed over to Hindus: Yogi on Ram Janmabhoomi India oi-Vikas By Vikas Asserting that his government will support any initiative for amicable solution of the Ramjanmabhoomi issue by means of dialogue, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that many Muslim groups want the disputed land in Ayodhya to be handed over to Hindus. Speaking in Ayodhya, he said this was the right to hold dialogue as even the Supreme Court has advised it. Adityanath called for a 'new beginning' to end decades old dispute. Bahut acha laga,Lucknow mein kai Muslim sangathano ne Ayodhya mein Ram janm bhoomi Hindu samaj ko saupne ki vakalat ki hai: UP CM in Ayodhya pic.twitter.com/GPcHoZU3fP ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 31, 2017 Ayodhya mein Shri Ram janmbhoomi ke vivad ka baat-cheet ke madhyam se dono paksh samadhan ka marg nikal sake to sarkar apke sth khadi hai-CM pic.twitter.com/y9QtX6CeBV ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 31, 2017 Adityanath visited Ayodhya on Wednesday to offer prayers at the makeshift Ram temple at the disputed Ram Janmbhoomi- Babri Masjid site. Adityanath's visit to Ayodhya comes a day after a special CBI court in Lucknow charged top BJP leaders, including veterans LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister Uma Bharti, with criminal conspiracy to demolish the 16th century Babri mosque in 1992. The UP CM also said that Rs 350 crores would be spent towards developing Ayodhya, adding that LED lamps would be installed throughout the city. Earlier on Tuesday, a bench of Lucknow Court on charged the BJP leaders with conspiracy to demolish the 16th century Babri Masjid and construct a Ram Mandir in place of it. The volunteers who took part in this movement in the December 1992, destroyed major parts of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 18:09 [IST] Mizoram CM Lal Thanhawla meets Rajnath, discusses Bru leaders issue India oi-PTI Aizawl, May 31: Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has told Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the latest demands of the Bru leaders lodged in the six relief camps in Tripura would not be considered by his government, an official statement on Wednesday said. The statement said that Lal Thanhawla met Singh in Delhi on Tuesday and said that if the Centre accepts the new demands of the Bru leaders, those who had returned to Mizoram should also benefit. The chief minister informed the Centre that the state government pleaded with the Brus not to leave Mizoram during the communal tension in 1997 and efforts were made repeatedly to bring the bona fide Mizoram residents to return. "Leaders of the Bru community in the camps did not accept the arrangements made for their repatriation and continued to make fresh demands and conditions," he said, adding that the selfish leaders benefited by remaining in the relief camps and threatened those who wanted to be repatriated. Lal Thanhawla also asked Singh to provide financial assistance for erecting more border police outposts in the border areas as the state is sandwiched between Myanmar and Bangladesh with which it shares 404 and 319 kilometres international border respectively. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 15:50 [IST] Modi condemns Kabul attack, says forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated India oi-Madhuri Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condemned the deadly explosions in Kabul killing over 19 people, and asserted the India stands with Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism. India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2017 "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured," the Prime Minister said in a tweet. Modi also said,''India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated.'' Dozens of fatalities were reported and over 150 people were injured when a water tanker loaded with explosives went off in downtown Kabul near the German embassy on Wednesday morning. All Indian Embassy staff are safe, authorities said. "Hospital sources say dozens killed and more than 150 wounded in Kabul blast," Pajhwok Afghan News agency reported. Tolo News quoted Wazir Akbar Khan hospital as saying that two people were so far killed. Tolo also quoted the interior ministry as saying that a "water tanker had been laden with explosives that were detonated on Wednesday". OneIndia News Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar to be next Chief of Naval Staff: Defence Ministry Navy commander faces stringent punishment for molesting a girl India oi-Vicky By Vicky A officer in the Navy is likely to be sacked after an inquiry found him guilty of molesting a child. The commander faces a general court martial. The same would be convened shortly. The officer was accused of molesting the daughter of a colleague Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Tamil Nadu's Wellington. The child is alleged to have reported the officer's behaviour to her parents after a party. The Navy immediately set up a board of inquiry against the officer. The officer is likely to be handed out a strong punishment as the Navy has a zero tolerance policy on such issues. The commander is likely to be tried under the protection of children from sexual offences act. This law was enacted in 2012 to prevent abuse and exploitation of children. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 10:52 [IST] Netaji died in 1945 plane crash, says Centre in RTI reply India oi-Prabhpreet By Prabhpreet There are few controversies that have continued to be part of discussions in India, as much as those surrounding Subhash Chandra Bose's death. The real timing and cause of his demise have been shrouded in mystery ever since it was reported to have occurred in 1945. The fact that many files related to his death had been classified till very recently has not helped. The leader who is also called Netaji by many had been reported to have died in a plane crash before independence in Taiwan. This narrative has been highly contested by many of his followers including members of this family. And the issue had even garnered enough attention to be used by various parties during election time, with the likes of BJP promising to declassify government files related to his life and death, which it eventually did. But now with the latest reply by the union government related to the matter made public, the controversy still does not show any signs of dying out. In the reply, the government has concluded that Netaji died in the plane crash as reported earlier. In a reply to an RTI query, the government has reported having said, "After considering the reports of Shahnawaz Committee, Justice G D Khosla Commission and Justice Mukherjee Commission of Enquiry, the Government has come to the conclusion that Netaji has died in plane crash in 1945.'' There have been various many theories and stories related to the leader having survived the crash and even using it as a way to avoid capture from the British and its allies. Names and photos of various people have been circulated pointing to the leader living out the rest of his days in disguise. To these, the government has responded, as it has said, "Some information regarding Gumnami Baba and Bhagwanji is available in Mukherjee Commission report on page 114-122. This report is available in mha.nic.in. Mukherjee Commission had come to the conclusion that Gumnami Baba/Bhagwanji was not Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Ministry of Home Affairs has declassified all available files (37) relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.'' But Netaji's family does not seem to be content with the stand that the current government has taken. Netaji's grandnephew and vice president of the BJP's Bengal unit, Chandra Bose, has reportedly said, "This is irresponsible move... How can the government conclude Netaji's death without concrete evidence?'' He has called the latest reply as highly objectionable and has said the family and he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as according to him, "It is he who declassified files after 70 years. During our meeting, he promised us to take the investigations to its logical conclusion and solve the mystery.'' He has also questioned the decision to conclude the matter by the government as the discussion process related to the matter is ongoing with the prime minister. "The declassified files are to be scrutinised. The Mukherjee Commission was set up because the reports of other committees and commissions were not conclusive,'' he is reported to have said. "Mukherjee Commission clearly stated that Netaji did not die in the plane crash and went to China or Russia. Congress rejected the Mukherjee Commission report on political grounds,'' he reportedly added. The latest stand of the government had been conveyed in a reply to the RTI query filed by the Open Platform for Netaji spokesperson Sayak Sen in March. And Sen has expressed shock at the government's conclusion, as he is reported to have said, "Had the government reached a conclusion, then why this process of declassifying files to know what happened to Netaji,'' said Sen. And he added, "We were fighting to know the truth because there is no conclusive evidence of his death in the plane crash.'' It is also reported that the family will take out a rally in Kolkata on August 18 and in Delhi in October to demand more action by the government. Many including a majority of Netaji's family members and a large section of researchers have continuously said that they do not believe that the leader died in the plane crash. OneIndia News Married man pushes girlfriend to death after she breaks up with him Puneeth Rajkumar dead at 46: Can you get a sudden heart attack? Why are hearts of young Indians so vulnerable Parvathamma Rajkumar no more: Body will be laid to rest next to her husband India oi-Vicky By Vicky Parvathamma Rajkumar, wife of matinee idol, Dr Rajkumar has passed away at the age of 78. She passed away at the M S Ramaiah hospital at Bengaluru at around 4.40 am today. Her body has been taken to her son Raghavendra Rajkumar's residence. Like her husband, she too donated her eyes. Her blood pressure dropped since last night following which she had a massive cardiac arrest at 4.40 a.m. Her malignancy had spread to the lungs and liver, said Ramaiah hospital president Naresh Shetty. The body will be placed at the Poorna Pragna grounds for people to pay their last respects. The funeral will be held at the Sree Kanteerava Studio next to the Rajkumar memorial. Film shooting and exhibition of movies to be stopped today as a mark of respect. Schools in the Sadashivnagar area are likely to be closed today. Officials say that parents must check with the school authorities before sending their children to school Various film personalities and politicians have condoled her death. Elaborate security arrangements are in place across the state. Security has been heightened in Bengaluru. Parvathamma Rajkumar, a film producer has been on treatment at MS Ramaiah Hospital since May 14. She had been battling renal problems along with difficulty in breathing. She had been on Ventilation. A few days she had undergone a procedure Tracheostomy, wherein a tube was inserted into windpipe in the neck to open up restricted airway if any and enable breathing. A day after the procedure, she had developed fever. About Parvathamma Rajkumar: She was born at Saligrama of Mysore district in Karnataka on 6 December 1939 to Appaji Gowda and Lakshmamma. She was the second child among four sons and four daughters. Parvathamma married Rajkumar at the age of 13 on 25 June 1953. She established a family firm for film production called Vajreshwari Combines or Poornima enterprises. The first movie she produced was Trimurthi with her husband in a lead role. Her brothers S.A. Chinne Gowda, S.A. Govindaraj, and S.A. Srinivas are also film producers. She has produced over 80 films and launched her three sons as film stars. Her most successful films with her husband in a lead role include Trimurthy, Haalu Jenu, Kaviratna Kalidasa and Jeevana Chaitra. She also produced Anand, Om, Janumada Jodi, and several other movies with her older son Shiv Rajkumar in lead role. Her son Raghavendra Rajkumar played the lead in Chiranjeevi Sudhakar, Nanjundi Kalyana, Swasthik and Tuvvi Tuvvi Tuvvi. Her youngest son Puneeth starred in Appu, Abhi and Hudugaru. OneIndia News Make Cow national animal, impose life sentence for its slaughter, Raj HC directs centre India oi-Madhuri Following the Government's ban on cattle slaughter and restrictions on the sale of cattle, the Rajasthan government on Wednesday asked Centre to declare cow as national animal. The court also recommended the government to declare cow as the national animal and recommended life imprisonment for cow slaughter. The punishment for cow slaughter varies from state to state. In Rajasthan, those found guilty of cow slaughter can be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. A fine of upto Rs 10,000 can also be imposed. Slaughter of "cow, calf, heifer, bull or bullock" is prohibited in the state, including possession and transport of their flesh. The suggestions comes a day after the Madras High Court stayed for four weeks the Centre's notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter. The new rules notified by the Union environment ministry banned the sale or purchase of bulls, cows, camels for slaughter houses or for sacrifice for religious purpose. OneIndia News Ruckus in Delhi Assembly, sacked minister Kapil Mishra thrown out India oi-Gulam Rabbani New Delhi, May 31: The row between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and sacked water minister Kapil Mishra continued even on Wednesday but in a shocking incident the Aam Aadmi Party leaders in the Assembly created a ruckus when the ousted minister demanded to speak in the Assembly session and was thrown out of the House. According to the video that was released by the ANI, it showed that some AAP MLAs allegedly caught hold of Kapil Mishra and marshalled out after a scuffle with party leaders. Later the minister alleged that he was demanding to speak in the Assembly and was not allowed to speak. He added that everyone saw how the leaders suppressed his voice and thrown him out of the Assembly. #WATCH Kapil Mishra marshalled out of Delhi Assembly after a scuffle broke between him and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs pic.twitter.com/fCprHosxhr ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 Mishra alleged said that Kejriwal was laughing at him when he was punched and thrashed by the party leaders, adding that he was beaten up upon the direction of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Mishra was removed as Delhi's Water Minister on March 6 in a sudden move and was later suspended from the AAP. He then said he saw Kejriwal taking Rs 2 crore from Health Minister Satyendra Jain. On May 14, in a dramatic press conference that ended with him fainting, Kapil Mishra accused CM Arvind Kejriwal of money laundering and dared him to resign by Sunday evening. While addressing Mishra said that Kejriwal and those close to him were involved in converting black money to white. For three continuous years, black money was converted into white and spent on foreign trips. Mishra alleged that the police were trying to forcibly take him to hospital based on fake reports given by doctors, just a day before he was planning to make another expose. He also said that the report of his health is faked by the doctors, who were directly reporting to health minister Satyendar Jain, even as a team of doctors from Ram Manohar Lohia hospital examined Mishra and said his vitals, including blood pressure and sugar level, were normal. Also, Mishra said that Kejriwal hid funds from Election Commission, income tax department and people. He further alleges that AAP has not given clear details of it's funding to the I-T and EC, says there is bogus entry in the accounts Mishra said that he submit all these evidences to the CBI and demand a probe into AAP's political funding At the end of the press conference, Mishra dared Kejriwal to resign by evening or he will drag Kejriwal with his collar and put him in Tihar Jail. However, immediately after his press conference on revelations on AAP 's finances ended, Mishra who has been on 5th day of hunger strike fell unconscious and was later taken to the hospital. Earlier, Mishra, took to Twitter to post a picture of several documents and said that "through these documents, truth will be revealed today". OneIndia News Russian tourist creates ruckus, tries to open door mid-air on Moscow to Delhi flight India oi-Gulam Rabbani By Gulam Rabbani New Delhi, May 31: A Russian tourist was whisked away by the police after he wanted to open the door of Delhi-bound plane mid-air. The tourist was whisked away by the police as the flight landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The tourist was taken to a court in this regard where he was fined for attempting to open the door of the plane from Moscow as it approached the national capital, scaring the passengers and sending the crew into a tizzy. According to reports, the Aeroflot airline controlled the passenger and the pilot informed the Delhi Air Traffic Controller about the incident and request for police's support at the airport. Soon after the gate was opened the passenger was held by the officials of Central Industrial Security Forces and Quick Reaction Team whisked the passenger away. A Delhi police official said that on May 22, duty manager of Aeroflot had made a PCR call regarding the incident on board flight SU 232, Moscow-New Delhi and the Moscow control room was also informed about the same. He added that after the flight landed at T3, the pilot handed over the passenger with Flight Disturbance Report. The report submitted by the pilot mentioned that the passenger tried to open the gate of the aircraft mid-air in an inebriated state and had consumed alcohol on board. The passenger was shifted to Safdarjung hospital for medical examination where Blood Alcohol Content level was found to be at 56.7/100ml of blood. It is believed that in the United States or in the United Kingdom that BAC level should be less than 80mg whereas in India it is only permissible up to 30mg. Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Bhatia said that based on the complaint, facts and circumstances, an action was taken against the tourist as per the aircraft act. According to sources, the passenger was set free after a fine of Rs 50,000 after he was produced before the court. It is not the first case of unruly passengers in the flight. In April a passenger was tied to his seat while travelling to Delhi after turned violent soon after the plane took off from Dubai. In another case, an Air India air hostess filed a case of misbehaviour by a passenger on a flight coming from Muscat. According to the airlines, incidents of unruly passengers on flights are on rise and frequently pose a security threat to other passengers. The situation sometimes slips out of hand even though the crew members are trained to handle such situation. "The passengers are often rude and sometimes turn violent over minor issues. We have asked staff to keep calm but there are clear guidelines to tie down a passenger if the situation goes out of hand," an airline official said. An airline official explained that the passengers become so mean, rude and also turns violent over minor issues. He said that the crew was asked to keep quiet but there are clear guidelines to tie down a passenger if the situation goes out of hand. In May, two drunk passengers were offloaded by the British Airways at Delhi airport after they insisted on playing a musical instrument on board. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 11:55 [IST] 'The Kerala Story': TN scribe asks govt to probe claims made in the movie Morbi Bridge is not the only Incident - Quality of Bridges, roads and Highways in BJPs government! Power cut in Chennai on Nov 10: These areas will be affected Tamil Nadu: 7 rescued after fire breaks out at Chennai silks in T Nagar India oi-Madhuri Seven persons were rescued in a fire that broke out in a clothes and jewellery store at T-Nagar in early morning hour on Wednesday. Thick smoke billowed as the fire spread to the other floors of the store in T Nagar. Around five fire tenders from T Nagar, Egmore and Kilpauk rushed to the spot and rescued seven people. Fire and rescue service personnel began fire dousing operations. No casualty was reported. Twelve men who were working in the canteen on the seventh floor were rescued using a skylift. A security guard, who saw smoke emanating from the ground floor, alerted fire personnel around 4.30am. More than 70 fire and rescue services personnel were battling the blaze. Firemen said the fire could have caused electric short circuit. However, the exact cause was yet to be ascertained. OneIndia News Tribal family in Gujarat gets new toilet, temporary LPG connection to give Amit Shah a grand welcome India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Gandhinagar, May 31: It is quite clear that political parties prepare a lot before their leaders meet Dalit and tribal people in India. The politics over visiting Dalit and tribal houses was probably started by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi when he made a series of appearances at the houses of Dalit families and shared food with them since 2009. Now, it seems Rahul's fierce critics have adopted his much-hyped and equally criticised visits to the Dalit and tribal houses which proved nothing more than photo ops. After Dalits in a slum area of Uttar Pradesh were given soaps and shampoos to help them stay "stink-free" before meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a tribal family in Gujarat got a brand new toilet and LPG stove to welcome Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah to their modest house in Chhota Udepur district. As a part of his 110-day countrywide tour, Shah, on a one-day visit to Gujarat, will start his journey from tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district, the BJP said in a statement. According to a report by Indian Express, Shah will pay his visit to the house of a BJP party worker and farmer, Popatbhai Rathva, in Devaliya village on Wednesday. Since the time Rathva has come to know about Shah's visit to his home almost 10 days ago, his family is working hard to give a "fitting" welcome to their leader. Moreover, all the BJP party workers in the village have ensured that Rathva household gets a toilet, which till date it was not there, and a LPG stove so that Rathva's wife could cook a smoke-free meal for Shah. The new toilet with a white ceramic washbasin has added some "glamour" to the otherwise dilapidated mud house of Rathva. The LPG connection provided to Rathvas in the kitchen is a temporary arrangement till the lunch is served to the special guest. "We were told about the visit of Amit Shahji around 10 days ago. We have not made any special arrangement, apart from building a new toilet and washbasin for the guest," Malkhabhai Rathva, cousin of Popatbhai, told Indian Express. "On Monday, they (panchayat) began the construction work for the toilet and they completed it today... Though we have toilets for our family in the backyard, a new one was built for the guest near by the entrance of the house so that guest can access it easily," said Popat's son Atul. Popat's mother said, "We are preparing a staple tribal meal for the guest which will include makkai na rotla (maize flour bread), vada (dumplings) and dry tuver bhaaji." OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 9:03 [IST] With 32 SIMI and 3 ISIS operatives together in one jail, authorities have a security nightmare India oi-Vicky By Vicky With 32 operatives of the Students Islamic Movement of India and 3 ISIS inspired suspects, this jail in Madhya Pradesh has a problem on hand. For security officials at the jail, it is nothing but a nightmare to ensure that the premises is guarded. The problem shot up after SIMI's former chief, Safdar Nagori was moved to the Bhopal Central Jail along with nine others. Nagori and the 9 others were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life following which they were shifted from Gujarat to Bhopal. In all there are 3,000 inmates in the jail. There are 40 dreaded inmates of which 35 are from the SIMI and ISIS. The jail authorities also have the jail break incident fresh in their minds. An assessment was conducted after 8 SIMI members broke out of the jail last October. It was found that they were able to escape due to the lack of manpower in the jail. The problem for the jail authorities is guarding Safdar Nagori. He was the one who floated the radical version of the SIMI which saw the outfit split into 2. In the past five years there have been several plans hatched by SIMI members to facilitate his escape. In 2014, 5 operatives of the SIMI had escaped from the Khandwa jail again in MP. Investigations had found that they had hatched a plan to free Nagori from the Gujarat jail. After a three year chase, two of these operatives were killed in an encounter while the rest arrested and taken back to jail. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 6:28 [IST] #first lady First lady meets with family of additional victim of Itaewon tragedy First lady Kim Keon-hee on Thursday visited a hospital in Seoul to meet with the family of a soldier who was pronounced brain dead the previous day after being injured in the Itaew... #football S. Korea coach not yet planning alternatives for Son Heung-min's potential World Cup absence As South Korea's captain Son Heung-min tries to work his way back from a facial surgery in time for the FIFA World Cup, his national team head coach Paulo Bento does not yet have a... Accession Day: Valley lights up on this day when J&K became part of India AAP "merely a party of UT Delhi", only Cong can challenge BJP in Gujarat, HP: Azad Yasin Malik walks out on bail AGAIN India oi-Vicky By Vicky Yasin Malik is out of bail. He was arrested on Sunday from Srinagar. He was shifted to a jail in Srinagar following which he moved the court seeking bail. The court granted him bail after he was directed to furnish a bail bond. A separatist and also the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Malik was arrested after he had visited the residences of slain terrorists of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Sabzar Bhat and Faizan Muzzafar. Malik had called for a shut down in the Valley after the death of the two terrorists on Saturday. His arrest was a preventive measure taken by the police to ensure that he does not fuel violence. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 18:44 [IST] Ramadan 2021: When does it begin? Know Shehri and iftar timings, check moon sighting in India China bans civil servants, teachers from fasting during Ramadan International oi-Vicky By Vicky The Chinese government has imposed a ban on civil servants, teachers and students from fasting during Ramadan. A notice on a government website in the central Xinjiang city of Korla read as: "Party members, cadres, civil servants, students and minors must not fast for Ramadan and must not take part in religious activities. During the Ramadan month, food and drink businesses must not close. The Independent reported that the human rights groups have blamed clashes between the region's 10 million-strong Uighar Muslim minority and state security forces on religious and cultural restrictions. Further China has ordered that restaurants keep normal opening hours. This order is specific to the Xinjiang region where there is a Muslim population of 58 per cent. The Khaleej Times quoted Dilxat Raxit from the exile group, the World Uyghur Congress, as saying, "China thinks that the Islamic faith of Uighurs threatens the rule of the Beijing leadership". OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 6:07 [IST] Some countries want to patent Yoga, but it belongs to India: RSS chief Chinese schools conduct special yoga sessions for students to beat exam stress International oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Beijing, May 31: Students, how do you beat your stress during exam time? Listen to music, talk a walk or read a novel? In China as students are all set to appear for the upcoming annual college entrance examinations or gaokao--touted as the most important exam in the life of any Chinese youth to get admission into a college of their choice--stress level is shooting up very high. In order to beat stress, Chinese students are practicing yoga, the ancient Indian science of exercise and healing. The schools in China are conducting mass yoga sessions to keep the examinees calm and maintain their sanity during the exam period. Recently the Railway Middle School in Chongqing conducted a special yoga session for the students, reported Global Times. More than 1,000 students practiced yoga together on the playground. In fact, five yoga instructors guided the youngsters to practice various yoga asanas related to both the body and mind. Along with yoga, few schools also conducted cosplay show for their students. The students got dressed up like some popular movie characters to help them feel confident before writing their exams. Schools also advised students to take exercise like jogging, swimming and yoga every day in the run up to the gaokao. According to figures available with Chinese authorities, in 2016, 9.4 million students participated in the gaokao, but this year the figure is expected to be a little less. The gaokao is considered as make or break career exam for any student in China. The students spend several years preparing for the exam. Thus they carry a lot of pressure on their shoulders to perform well. The teachers and guardians try their best to provide suitable atmosphere for students before their exam. Thus they conduct various events to help the examinees destress. Of late, more and more Chinese people have started practicing yoga to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Last year China started a special yoga campaign in 100 universities to fight the growing problem of depression and stress among students. The campaign '100 days in 100 universities' to fight depression was launched by Yogi Yoga, China's popular yoga institute run by former Chinese fashion journalist and her Indian husband and yoga teacher in association with Peking University. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 7:13 [IST] India and Japan's AAGC vs China's OBOR International oi-Prabhpreet By Prabhpreet India made its concerns on the China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) public by not taking part in the event related to it earlier this month in Bejing. Through the project China wants to build a new 21st-century silk route, which would lead to increasing connectivity with Asian and European countries and solidify its place in the world as a major trading partner. While India skipped the event, where around 50 countries, including the US, Russia, Germany, among others were represented. In India, along with concerns over its sovereignty, it is also seen as a continuation of Chinese strategy of 'strings of pearls' which China uses to flex its muscle in India's neighbourhood. India also criticised the method used to put it into motion, which it has said was done without consultation with all countries involved. And in what is being seen as a reply to the ambitious Chinese plans, India and Japan are now hoping to build a trade corridor of their own, linking India and other South-East Asian countries to the continent of Africa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the recently held annual general meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB), in Gujarat this year, to make a pitch for such a route called the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC). And this was followed by the presentation of the 'vision document' for the project by the Indian and Japanese governments. While the prime focus seems to be to increase the investment and growth of Asian countries in Africa it can also be seen as an attempt to curtail the highly visible presence of Chinese companies and government's investment on the continent. The initial proposal for the AAGC was mentioned in a joint declaration during a meeting in between Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in November last year. It had included the intention to work together with other countries to develop industrial corridors and networks in Asia and Africa. What is the AAGC? It is sea-route to be developed which would be similar to ancient maritime routes, while also creating new sea corridors which will link Africa with India and countries in South-Asia and South-East Asia. And according to stakeholders in the project the aim is to build 'low cost' and 'less carbon footprint' as compared to OBOR. The AAGC plans to have links between the two continents through connecting ports such as those in Jamnagar (Gujarat) with Djibouti in the Gulf of Eden, ports of Mombasa and Zanzibar to those near Madurai, and Kolkata with Sittwe port in Myanmar. It is also hoped that the in addition to sea corridors, the AAGC will also help build robust institutional, industrial and transport infrastructure between countries of both the continents. And Japan is expected to contribute with its state-of-the-art technology as well as in helping build infrastructure, while India is to help with its expertise of working on the continent. And the private sector of both the countries is expected to play a major part in the building infrastructure, power and other projects in the country. The difference between AAGC and OBOR? The major difference being that while OBOR is mainly a land corridor, the AAGC is planned to be a sea corridor. Another difference between the two projects is that OBOR is seen as model funded by one government, and the AAGC is borne out a consultative process between different parties and in which the private sector will play a major part. And reports have also pointed to the centrality of the African people in the AAGC as compared to the emphasis on trade and economic relations in OBOR. The consultative nature of the sea corridor was also clearly on show as apart from the two countries, South Africa, Mozambique, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia had also sent representatives to the consultative process. The response of African nations to the AAGC AAGC vision document has been welcomed by the African Development Bank. "Trade corridors have always existed between Africa and Asia and when PM Modi mentioned this we at AFDB welcome it. It is important because infrastructure is costly and you cannot have infrastructure everywhere. There has to be particular zones where you have to build infrastructure. We are already working on growth corridors within Africa," AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina is reported to have said. Why Africa? The African continent is not only seen as a well of natural resources but also as a major and growing market for the commodities and products from countries all over the world. For example, in 2015, the five of the fastest growing economies in Africa were non-resource rich, with many having GDP growth rates of above 7 per cent. The likes of Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire and Rwanda leading the pack with GDP growth rates of 10.2 per cent, 8.8 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively. And in 2016 Senegal had a growth rate of 7.5 per cent, while Ethiopia (8 per cent), Kenya (6.5 percent) and Tanzania (7 per cent). China has a major presence in the continent as it has been a major consumer of African goods, accounting for around 27 per cent of Africa's total global exports. And China is also a leader in greenfield investment (investment in new operations) in Africa as in 2015-16, the country put in a 38.4 billion dollars in Africa, and India during the same year, invested just 2.2 billion dollars. When are more details expected? According to reports, more details on AAGC corridor might be presented either when Modi meets Abe on the sidelines of the G20 meet at Hamburg (Germany) in July or when India hosts the Japanese Prime Minister in September. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 15:41 [IST] Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pakistan to appoint ad hoc for next hearing in ICJ International oi-Gulam Rabbani Islamabad, May 31: Pakistan has decided to appoint its ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice for the next hearing on a plea filed by India against the sentencing of alleged spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court. An Express Tribune report said that Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali will be leading Pakistan's legal team at the next hearing of the case on June 8 at the United Nation court, which stayed Jadhav's execution on May 18. Sources told the paper that the AGP informed the committee that Pakistan would appoint its ad hoc judge for the upcoming hearing and he would himself lead Pakistan's team at the ICJ. The decisions were communicated on Tuesday in an in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security - chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, the paper said. The AGP briefed the meeting about the steps Pakistan is taking for its effective defence of the case at the ICJ. In the parliamentary panel's meeting earlier on May 23, the committee had expressed outright dissatisfaction over Pakistan's legal strategy to deal with Jadhav's case at the ICJ. It said the government's 'lack of preparation' had resulted in allowing New Delhi to get a provisional stay order against the military court's verdict, the paper quoted sources as saying. Earlier in this week, Pakistan had claimed that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, was providing 'crucial intelligence' about the recent terrorist attacks in the country. "Jadhav continues to provide crucial intelligence with regard to recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told Dawn News in an interview. However, Zakaria did not elaborate on the details of the intelligence being provided by Jadhav. The Hague-based ICJ stayed Jadhav's execution on May 18 but it has to decide the issue of jurisdiction in the case, Pakistani officials said. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf told Dawn News that Pakistan had enough evidence to prove that Jadhav was a 'spy'. Ausaf said Pakistan has information on Jadhav that could not be disclosed due to security reasons. "The evidence would only be presented before the ICJ once it resumes the hearing," he said. Ausaf said the ICJ's 'procedural order' of May 18 was neither Pakistan's defeat nor India's success and emphasised that when the case re-starts, "Pakistan would be on solid ground to win". Responding to a question regarding the constitution of a new legal team, Ausaf said that there were no plans to change the team. However, he said it would be 'expanded'. When asked why he did not represent Pakistan at the May 15 hearing at the ICJ, Ausaf claimed that he "knew prior to the judgement that the ICJ is going to announce the provisional order". Jadhav, 46, in April was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of 'involvement in espionage and sabotage activities' against the country. The ICJ on May 18 stayed the execution of Jadhav. The ruling triggered criticism of the Pakistan Foreign Office for its 'poor handling' and also for its choice of attorney Khawar Qureshi, who presented Pakistan's case before the ICJ. OneIndia News ( With Agencies inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 12:33 [IST] Congress can never give stable govt to Himachal; it is guarantee of instability, corruption, scam: PM Modi PM Modi to visit Karnataka, AP, TN, Telangana: Will dedicate projects worth over Rs 25k crore Modi arrives in Russia to strengthen bilateral ties International ians-IANS By Ians English St Petersburg, May 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in St Petersburg, Russia, from Spain on Wednesday on the third leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. On Thursday, Modi will hold the 18th India-Russia annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The next day, he will attend, for the first time, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a business event. Russia: PM Narendra Modi meets people outside the hotel in Saint Petersburg pic.twitter.com/H5RFEjbq5N ANI (@ANI_news) May 31, 2017 From Russia, Modi will leave for France on the fourth and final leg of his tour and hold his first meeting with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Earlier on Wednesday, Modi held talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy in Madrid following which seven agreements in different areas were signed between the two sides. Germany was the first port of call of Modi's European tour. IANS Trump promises Hindu holocaust memorial in Washington DC if he wins Trump likely to announce bid for presidency next week Social media users mock Donald Trump for misspelled 'covfefe' tweet International oi-Madhuri United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday misspelled tweet, which have since been not deleted nor replaced with the correct spelling. Social media users were quick to jump on the mistakes. Around midnight on Wednesday, Trump tweeted, "Despite the constant negative press covfefe". The tweet, sent at 12:06 a.m, was favorited nearly 10,000 times in one minute and drew ridicule of online Trump critics. The post is now not available and till now no clarification has been given so far. Several media reports also said that the number of Trump's Twitter followers jumped by 5 million in 3 days, implying the new followers could be fake or bought to inflate his popularity. Twitter, however, said the reports were untrue. Every "covfefe" in human history until this moment pic.twitter.com/SC1qqYzI9p Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 31, 2017 URGENT: What is the correct pronunciation of #Covfefe? Kelsey Price (@KPkelsey) May 31, 2017 "Shit, Don. We really did a #covfefe on that one!" Rebekah Sanderlin (@rsanderlin) May 31, 2017 Trumps old tweets keep coming back to haunt him pic.twitter.com/KFtQPKuZWT Daniel Lin (@DLin71) May 31, 2017 OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 15:44 [IST] by Graham Pierrepoint PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES IMDb Dir: Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg Starring Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Kevin McNally, Geoffrey Rush 2 STARS (out of 5) The Pirates of the Caribbean are some of the most celebrated and even the most derided movie franchises in recent history. Theres a good reason for this for a movie series based on a popular ride at Disneyland, it has done extraordinarily well to rise out on its own to become a popular brand in its own right largely thanks to some amazing special effects, a brilliant cast and some of the biggest stories ever told on the big screen. How can you go wrong with pirates, anyway? It seems, after four instalments, plenty as the last entry in the franchise was assumed to be one too many, even for the biggest of fans. But why was this? Perhaps the first three movies were perceived to be the perfect trilogy and that Disneys decision to push on with more was ill-advised. Regardless, here we are with Pirates 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales, or Salazars Revenge in some territories. This time around, Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) finds himself on the run from a particularly nasty ghost pirate (Bardem), while Will Turners son Henry (Thwaites) sets out on a quest to release his father from the Curse of the Flying Dutchman. To do this, he needs to find the mythical trident of Poseidon and in the process, he of course meets up with the wacky Sparrow and his crew meaning, at least for audiences, theres thrilling antics abound. Pirates 5, at the very least, tries to take things back to its roots the preliminary viewings for the movie were overwhelmingly positive mainly for this reason, and yes we can safely say that it has taken more than a leaf out of the first few movies to try and steer matters back to the swashbuckling epics we came to know and love. However, while doing this, it still rather feels like we are going through the motions. Its always something of a buzz being back in this universe the grand score, the wide open sea, the grisly characters and CGI and thats just it. The fifth time around, it all feels rather par for the course. Johnny Depp is still, arguably, trying to pick himself up career-wise from the critical and financial failures of The Lone Ranger and Mortdecai and while he returns to one of his best-known if not his literal best-known character for a fifth time, Jack Sparrow has become something of a caricature of himself, and it does rather feel like he is going through the motions. Johnny Depp is an extraordinary actor with immense versatility yet he is still struggling to get back to where he once was as the go-to guy for wacky characters with heart. The rest of the cast are, of course, perfectly affable and well suited to their characters and the various high sea skirmishing as always and, truth be told, this instalment does at least put the cast through their paces in a number of interesting ways even if it is largely thanks to CGI. These movies do still have a solid core following thanks to the over-arching mythology and if youve been following along nicely so far, you may well either keep following or stumble about a bit particularly as a number of twists and turns are delightfully far-fetched. Theres even a particularly surprising character death here a major one which I will not dare spoil for you. While the movie does still carry a lot of the gung ho attitude and the idea of making pirates adventures bigger and wilder than ever runs thick, it does still rather stick to its guns in a number of tropes and choices which make for a fairly underwhelming experience. Javier Bardems bad guy is a bad guy weve all seen before the plot is the quest plot weve seen so many times and, as a result, Pirates 5 feels like it is trying to reinvent the franchise and more like it is trying to keep up to the far better films that preceded it. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - Official Trailer (Disney) Pirates 5 whichever tagline you use is a perfectly fine instalment, in the sense that it is generally safe for fans, but nothing really leaps out to suggest it brings anything new to the table. If you are going in expecting a good Pirates of the Caribbean movie, you may well be satisfied but if you are expecting a return to the incredible stories we saw almost fifteen years ago, you may not be so satisfied. For the sake of a good night out Id certainly recommend it but dont ever call this one a comeback. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. SeattlePI.com 27 Sep 2022 NEW YORK (AP) Besides live sports, the one thing broadcast networks can be counted on for these days is franchise procedural.. The Wrap 09 Jan 2021 (Warning: This post contains spoilers for FX on Hulus A Teacher through its finale.) FX on Hulus limited.. New Zealand Herald 02 Oct 2022 A traveller says they were stranded at a Florida airport after an airline forgot to load their wheelchair. Xavi Santiago said she.. Rumble 07 Sep 2022 In 2006, Scott Pelley took viewers into the vast archive, which contained millions of Nazi Holocaust documents kept out of the.. Heavy rains, highways buried under landslides and roads submerged under water are hampering efforts to get food, water and medicines to thousands of flood survivors in Sri Lanka, government officials and aid workers said on Tuesday. The floods and landslides, triggered by torrential rains in recent days, have killed some 200 people and disrupted the lives of over half million others. Over 80,000 people have been forced into temporary shelters and around 100 people remain missing. Government and military officials said the army and air force using boats and helicopters had managed to reach most of those affected, but persistent rains and inaccessible roads were hampering efforts to airdrop and distribute aid in some areas. The military was able to facilitate access to three landslide areas only yesterday. Hundreds of army personnel were deployed to remove the soil mounts from the landslides, military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The deluge, the worst Sri Lanka has witnessed in more than a decade, has forced the island to call for international assistance. The U.N., aid agencies, as well as India, China, Pakistan, Australia and Japan, have rallied to offer support. The flooding has swept away hundreds of buildings and homes and inundated major roads, bridges and vast tracts of farmland including tea and rubber plantations. Military officials said they were still trying to access some remote villages in the worst affected districts of Galle, Matara, Kalutara and Rathnapura in the islands south, but said that local communities have come forward to help. There were some areas which we could not reach in the first 36 hours. Local people helped a lot in the aftermath of the disaster. There were also committed officials at a grassroots level who managed to cope with the situation, Law Minister Sagala Ratnayake told a news conference. Aid workers said the focus was slowly shifting from search and rescue to relief and recovery where people were returning to their homes from the temporary camps and would need help to rebuild their homes and livelihoods. They are returning to significantly damaged property where they have lost many of their belongings, where the water may be contaminated and where the crops they had in the ground have been destroyed, said Save the Childrens country director Chris McIvor. (Reuters By Shihar Aneez and Nita Bhalla Pix by Dinuka Liyanawatte) DataNumen SQL Recovery 2.7 has been released! https://www.datanumen.com/sql-recovery/ DataNumen SQL Recovery (DSR) is a powerful tool to repair and recover corrupt SQL Server MDF database files. 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We are a young team with innovative ideas dedicated to producing the very best data recovery software in the world.DataNumen, Inc.Hong Kong Central 1301 Bank of America TowerAlan Chen submit@datanumen.com VintaSoft Twain .NET SDK v10.2 Released! http://www.vintasoft.com/vstwain-dotnet-index.html April 14, 2017VintaSoft Ltd releases the major version 10.2 of VintaSoft Twain .NET SDK, which includes improvements mostly related to the web part and secure scanning. This version of the Twain SDK for .NET, WPF and WEB is fully compatible with the latest version of official TWAIN specification.VintaSoft Twain .NET SDK - a pure C# TWAIN Library based on Microsoft's .NET and WPF framework is optimized for use in C# and VB .NET. 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The SDK is also deeply tested in VintaSoft's Internal Test System, running thousands of automated and manual tests, to guarantee the delivery of the most reliable version of our TWAIN .NET library to the market of software components.A large set of demo applications source codes, detailed user guide and reference API documentation, VintaSoft's customer support service and communications forums are always ready to share experience, give you right answers and professional assistance.For more information please visit this product home page:VintaSoft creates professional SDKs for .NET, WPF and WEB software developers. Imaging .NET SDK with Plug-ins: Image Annotations, PDF Reader and Writer, JBIG2, JPEG2000 and DICOM Codecs, OCR, Document Cleanup, OMR/Forms Processing. Barcode .NET SDK for Barcode Recognition and Generation. TWAIN .NET SDK for Work with Scanner in .NET and WPF. Twain ActiveX. Easy integration into final applications, small size, perfect functionality and performance.VintaSoft Ltd.Russian Federation Rostov-on-Don Nagibina Ave, 33VintaSoft Ltd. submissions@vintasoft.com China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Research Report 2017 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=961695&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/china-organ-transplant-immunosuppressant-drugs-market-research-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com This report studies Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs in China market, focuses on the top players in China market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringHuadong PharmaceuticalNorth China Pharmaceutical HuaSheng Co.Sinopharm Chuan Kang PharmaceuticalHISUNSL PharmNanjing HICINHongshengCinkateWansuiHuitianRocheAstellasIreland Co.,LtdNovartisCatalent PharmaCilagGenzymeChangzhou PharmLivzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Market Segment by Regions (provinces), coveringSouth ChinaEast ChinaSouthwest ChinaNortheast ChinaNorth ChinaCentral ChinaNorthwest ChinaSplit by product Type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoChemical CompositionFungal ProductBiologicsSplit by Application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs in each application, can be divided intoLiver TransplantKidney TransplantOther Organ TransplantTable of ContentsChina Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Research Report 20171 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs1.2 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Segment by Type1.2.1 China Production Market Share of Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Type in 20151.2.2 Chemical Composition1.2.3 Fungal Product1.2.4 Biologics1.3 Applications of Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs1.3.1 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Liver Transplant1.3.3 Kidney Transplant1.3.4 Other Organ Transplant1.4 China Market Size (Value) of Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs (2012-2022)1.5 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Status and Outlook1.6 Government PoliciesBrowse Full Report @2 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Type2.5 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers3 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis3.1 Huadong Pharmaceutical3.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.1.2 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Product Type, Application and Specification3.1.2.1 Chemical Composition3.1.2.2 Fungal Product3.1.3 Huadong Pharmaceutical Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview3.2 North China Pharmaceutical HuaSheng Co.3.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors3.2.2 Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Product Type, Application and Specification3.2.2.1 Chemical Composition3.2.2.2 Fungal Product3.2.3 North China Pharmaceutical HuaSheng Co. 120 Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)3.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview4 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Capacity, Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import (2012-2017)4.1 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Capacity, Production and Growth (2012-2017)4.2 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Revenue and Growth (2012-2017)4.3 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production, Consumption, Export and Import (2012-2017)5 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Analysis by Application6.1 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Application6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 ChinaOrgan Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Analysis by Regions (Provinces)7.1 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production, Production Value and Price by Regions (Provinces)(2012-2017)7.1.1 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production and Market Share by Regions (Provinces)(2012-2017)7.1.2 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production Value and Market Share by Regions (Provinces)(2012-2017)7.1.3 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Sales Price by Regions (Provinces)(2012-2017)7.2 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Consumption by Regions (Provinces)(2012-2017)7.3 China Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Production, Consumption, Export and Import (2012-2017)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact UsQYResearchreports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Europe Diabetic Shoe Market Report 2017 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=952390&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/europe-diabetic-shoe-market-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com This report studies sales (consumption) of Diabetic Shoe in Europe market, especially in Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy, Spain and Benelux, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringAetrexDrew ShoeDr. ComfortSkechersRockportReebokOrthafeetNew BalanceP.w.minorApisApexDr. ZenMarket Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Diabetic Shoe in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBeneluxFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Split by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoDiabetic Dress & Casual ShoesDiabetic Work ShoesDiabetic Walking ShoesOthers (Sandals, Clogs, etc.)Split by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Diabetic Shoe in each application, can be divided intoWomenMenTable of ContentsEurope Diabetic Shoe Market Report 20171 Diabetic Shoe Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Diabetic Shoe1.2 Classification of Diabetic Shoe1.2.1 Diabetic Dress & Casual Shoes1.2.2 Diabetic Work Shoes1.2.3 Diabetic Walking Shoes1.2.4 Others (Sandals, Clogs, etc.)1.3 Application of Diabetic Shoe1.3.1 Women1.3.2 Men1.4 Diabetic Shoe Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Diabetic Shoe (2011-2021)1.5.1 Europe Diabetic Shoe Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Europe Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)Download full Report with TOC @2 Europe Diabetic Shoe by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Diabetic Shoe Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Diabetic Shoe (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Europe Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Europe Diabetic Shoe (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.3.2 Europe Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)2.4 Europe Diabetic Shoe (Volume) by Application3 Germany Diabetic Shoe (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 Germany Diabetic Shoe Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 Germany Diabetic Shoe Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 Germany Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 Germany Diabetic Shoe Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 Germany Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 Germany Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 Germany Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Application4 France Diabetic Shoe (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 France Diabetic Shoe Sales and Value (2011-2016)4.1.1 France Diabetic Shoe Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.2 France Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.4 France Diabetic Shoe Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)4.2 France Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 France Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 France Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Application5 UK Diabetic Shoe (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 UK Diabetic Shoe Sales and Value (2011-2016)5.1.1 UK Diabetic Shoe Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.2 UK Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.5 UK Diabetic Shoe Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)5.2 UK Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 UK Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 UK Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Application6 Russia Diabetic Shoe (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Russia Diabetic Shoe Sales and Value (2011-2016)6.1.1 Russia Diabetic Shoe Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.2 Russia Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)6.1.6 Russia Diabetic Shoe Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)6.2 Russia Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers6.3 Russia Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Type6.4 Russia Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Application7 Italy Diabetic Shoe (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7.1 Italy Diabetic Shoe Sales and Value (2011-2016)7.1.1 Italy Diabetic Shoe Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.2 Italy Diabetic Shoe Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)7.1.7 Italy Diabetic Shoe Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)7.2 Italy Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers7.3 Italy Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by Type7.4 Italy Diabetic Shoe Sales and Market Share by ApplicationQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.QYResearchreportsContact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Global Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market Industry to showcase CAGR of 30.8% during the Forecast Period 2017 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/electric-vehicle-charging-station-market http://www.mrrse.com/electric-vehicle-charging-station-market http://www.mrrse.com/ With increasing awareness among people and favorable government policies, the sales of electric vehicles have accelerated. The global electric vehicle charging station market is expected to showcase a phenomenal growth and is the focus of a new market report added to the vast online repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) with a title Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the current market state as well as the future outlook of the global electric vehicle charging station market.The report predicts that the global electric vehicle charging station market will rise at an exponential CAGR of 30.8% between 2017 and 2025. At this rate, the markets valuation will reach US$37.48 billion by the end of 2025.Request for sample report:This report includes all the essential information about the electric vehicle charging station market and its components. The market overview section of the study analyzes the market dynamics and trends, such as the drivers, restraints, challenges and opportunities that impacts the current situation and is likely to influence the future state of the market. Market attractiveness analysis has also been covered for every geographic region across the globe, in order to give a detailed analysis of the overall competitive landscape of the electric vehicle charging station market. Moreover, the report provides a synopsis about different strategies adopted by major players operating in the market.The electric vehicle charging station market report covers analysis for the period 20152025, wherein the years from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period and 2016 is the base year. This report includes all the key trends and technologies playing a vital role in electric vehicle charging station market during the forecast period. For better analysis, the report segments the global electric vehicle charging station market based on technology into level 1, level 2, and level 3. On the basis of end-user application, the market is segregated into public space, government, municipalities (parks and street), healthcare, commercial office space, residential, retail, hospitality, education, logistics and transportation (fleet services), and others. Geographically, the global electric vehicle charging station market is divided into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, South America and the Middle East and Africa. Among these regions, Asia Pacific is the most dominant region and is expected to remain dominant over the course of the forecast period.Some of the key players operating in the global electric vehicle charging station market are AeroVironment, Inc., ChargePoint Inc., Bosch Automotive Service Solutions Inc., ClipperCreek Inc., Delta Group, Enel Group, E-Station Pty Ltd., Eaton Plc, General Electric Co., Hitachi Ltd., KYOCERA Corp., Panasonic Corp., Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc., Nichicon Corp., Schneider Electric SE, SemaConnect Inc., Siemens AG, Tesla Motors Inc., Signet Systems Inc. and Toyota Industries Corp. Details such as financial strategies, business strategies, SWOT analysis, recent developments and other strategic information about these companies are provided as a part of company profiling in the report.Browse Full Global Electric Vehicle Charging Station Market Report with TOC :About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Smart Fabrics Market Growth with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1657 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1657 www.futuremarketinsights.com Smart fabrics, also known as smart textiles, E-textiles or electronic textiles, are the fabrics that has electronics and digital components embedded in them. These are the fabrics that can sense stimuli from environment and adapt and react to those stimuli in a predetermined manner. Smart fabrics can incorporate actuators/sensors, communication and processing for applications in automotive sector, consumer products and health monitoring. The basic elements of smart fabrics are semi conductive and conductive yarns and threads, Nano electronics applied to yarns, fibres or woven elements. Smart fabrics are even chemically treated to provide distinct and special features. Smart fabrics are traditional fabrics with integrated functionalities, which could include storage or power generation, sensing devices, human interface elements, assistive technology or radio frequency functionality. Smart fabrics are distinct from wearable fabrics in a way that wearable devices are only carried and contained by clothing, whereas smart fabrics has wearable devices integrated into the fabrics. Nowadays, smart fabric technology is developing in the fields of sport, medical, artistic communities, fashion etc. The global smart fabrics market is expected to expand at a healthy CAGR in the forecast period.Global smart fabrics market Drivers and RestrainsThe ever increasing use of electronics devices in day to day life is driving the smart fabrics market due to major application of smart fabrics as an electronics device. The ease of use of smart fabrics and the integration of electronic devices in it, makes it an integrated device for normal use as a simple fabric, which further contributes in the flourishing global smart fabrics market. The rising awareness and multiple applications of smart fabrics such as energy harvesting, sensing, and thermo-electricity is anticipated to bolster the global smart fabrics market.Request For Report Sample@However, the smart fabrics devices require a portable power supply that need to be removed during washing and needs to be charged frequently. Thus this is a factor that can slowdown the growth of global smart fabrics market. Also the initial high cost and the expertise required to manufacture these fabrics can be a hurdle in the path of global smart fabrics market.Global smart fabrics market SegmentationOn the basis of the product type, the global smart fabrics market can be segmented as follows:Ultra-smart fabricsActive smart fabricsPassive smart fabricsOn the basis of the functionality, the global smart fabrics market can be segmented as follows:Thermo-electricityEnergy harvestingSensingLuminanceOn the basis of the end use industry, the global smart fabrics market can be segmented as follows:HealthcareAutomobilesElectrical & ElectronicsArtichetureConstructionGlobal smart fabrics market Region wise OutlookThe global smart fabrics market can be divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa. North America is a leading player in the global smart fabrics market due to the ever increasing electronics market in this region and the booming information technology sector. Asia Pacific is the next upcoming region in the global smart fabrics market owing to the flourishing healthcare industry and construction industry. India and China are the leading countries in this region contributing in the growth of global smart fabrics market. The ever increasing automobiles market in Europe is a driving factor for the growth of smart fabrics in this region, thus witnessing a healthy CAGR in the forecast period. Latin America and Middle East and Africa are at a nascent stage in the global smart fabrics market but are projected to have a significant CAGR in the future.Visit For TOC@Global smart fabrics market Key PlayersSome of the key players in the global smart fabrics market are:adidas GroupTextronics, IncOutlast Technologies LLCMilliken & CompanyKCWWInternational Fashion MachinesInteractivewearFibertronicEleksen Group PlcABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Disconnect Switch Market Segments and Key Trends 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1834 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1834 www.futuremarketinsights.com Disconnect switch or isolator switch is used for the purpose to de-energize or cutoff the electric circuit, when the circuit is scheduled for servicing or maintenance. These switches have wide applications in large industries and power distribution applications, where high-powered machines have their own power source connected, in order to drive them and at a time of repairing or servicing, isolator or disconnect switch breaks the circuit and make machine isolated from the power source. On the basis of electric circuit requirement disconnect switch is categorized into three types; low voltage disconnect switch, medium voltage disconnect switch & high voltage disconnect switch, disconnect switches frequently work as enclosures for overcurrent safety when they have fuses. Some of them are also a part of larger safety scheme, when they are equipped with a shunt trip which is usually signaled by relays present at any place in the network.Disconnect Switch: Market Drivers and RestraintThe key trend responsible for the growth of global disconnect switch is the growth in distribution and transmission network worldwide, as electric power is an essential infrastructure for any developing and developed region, hence every region is trying to expand in the area of power systems.The key growth drivers of global disconnect switch market are rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization across the globe, and also increasing safety concern among the industrialist regarding their labors/workers, are some factors which are boosting up the growth of global disconnect/isolator switch market across the globe. On the other hand there are also some factors which are hindering the growth of global disconnect switch market, those restraints are fluctuating price of raw material being used to manufacture these disconnect switch, presence of low quality cheap products by other manufacturers in the market are key restraints of global disconnect switch market.Request For Report Sample@Disconnect Switch: SegmentationSegmentation of disconnect switch market is done on the basis of technology type, mount type, operating voltage, application & Geography. On the basis of technology type, global disconnect switch market is segmented as non-fused disconnect switch and disconnect switch. Among above segments, fused disconnect segment is the most popular segment has been used in most of the industrial applications. Furthermore, on the basis of mount type, global disconnect switch market is segmented into din rail mounted disconnect switch, panel mounted disconnect switch and other disconnect switch.By operating voltage, global disconnect switch market is segmented into low voltage disconnect switch, medium voltage disconnect switch and high voltage disconnect switch. On the basis of application, global disconnect switch market is segmented into industrial disconnect switch and commercial disconnect switch, from which industrial disconnect switch is further sub segmented into utility, manufacturing and inverter based generation and other application.Geographically, disconnect switch is segmented into seven regions which are ; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Among all the regions North America is the highest contributor in term of revenue in global Disconnect switch market followed by Western Europe & Asia Pacific and it is expected that same trend is being followed in near future as well.Visit For TOC@Disconnect Switch Market: Key PlayersThe key players of global Disconnect switch market are ABB Limited, General Electric Company, Schneider Electric SE, Crompton Greaves Limited, Havells India Ltd, Siemens AG and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Uncooled Thermal Imaging Market Growth, Trends and Value Chain 2016-2026 by FMI http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1835 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1835 www.futuremarketinsights.com Thermal imaging is a technology, which is invented specially for military operation in 1950, but it has been implemented in other applications as well due to realized benefits. Cameras based in thermal imaging technologies are able to capture clearer image even in dark surrounding. They dont need any light to operate in darkest of night and allow seeing objects without making itself visible. Thermal imaging cameras can see object even in fog and smoke that is why it is more preferable for military operations in battleground. In short, thermal imaging technology is used to observe the objects in dark environment or in unfavorable atmospheric condition with the help of some parameters like temperature difference in the human body, electrical appliances, mechanical equipment and many other assets. The key component used in thermal imaging camera is the detecting material (detector) that detects change in temperature and helps to create an image. On the basis of nature of detector, thermal imaging technique is segmented into cooled thermal imaging technique and uncooled thermal imaging technique. Those devices which use thermal imaging technique with mechanism to cool down temperature of sensor is termed as cooled thermal imaging systems and those devices which make use of thermal imaging technology without any necessity of cooling down the sensor is termed as uncooled thermal imaging system.Uncooled thermal imaging market has been witnessed a tremendous growth of double digit in 2014 and is expected to grow with a substantial CAGR over forecast period.Uncooled Thermal Imaging: Market Drivers and RestraintThe key trend of global uncooled thermal imaging has been recorded for past some years is that the different vendors are launching the integration of uncooled imaging technology with smart phones and tablets (consumer goods). The key growth drivers of global uncooled thermal imaging market are increasing demand in industrial and commercial application because of its low price as compare to cooled thermal imaging system, also the increasing adoption in military application under soldier modernization programs help in driving the growth of global uncooled thermal imaging market. On the other hand there is also some factors which are deterring the growth of global uncooled thermal imaging market as availability of advanced technology with clearer image quality, which suppresses the growth of global uncooled thermal imaging market.Request For Report Sample@Uncooled Thermal Imaging: SegmentationSegmentation of uncooled thermal imaging market is done on the basis of spectrum range, application, vertical & Geography. On the basis of spectrum range, global uncooled thermal imaging market is segmented as short wave IR, mid wave IR and long wave IR. On the basis of application, global uncooled thermal imaging market is segmented as building surveillance, night vision camera, firefighting, military, mapping & surveying and others.By vertical, global uncooled thermal imaging market is industrial, medical, automotive, test and measurement, maritime, research & development, commercial, security and surveillance, test & measurement, maritime and others.Uncooled Thermal Imaging Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, uncooled thermal imaging is segmented into seven regions which are ; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Among all the regions North America is the highest contributor in term of revenue in global uncooled thermal imaging market followed by Asia Pacific and it is expected that same trend is being followed in near future as well.Visit For TOC@Uncooled Thermal Imaging Market: Key PlayersThe key players of global uncooled thermal imaging market are FLIR systems, Inc., Bosch security systems, Axis communications AB, Infrared Integrated Systems Ltd, Safran Group, Danaher Corporation and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: MEMS Pressure Sensor Market To Increase at Steady Growth Rate http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2011 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2011 www.futuremarketinsights.com Increasing need for controlling and monitoring systems across various industries, drives the demand formicro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology based pressure sensor. MEMS technology used to create miniature integrated devices - combines electrical and mechanical components, further fabricated using integrated circuit (IC) processing techniques. Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) pressure sensors is widely utilized in applications which required absolute, gauge and differential pressure measurements. MEMS pressure sensors sense on the micro scale and can generate effects on the macro scale. MEMS Pressure Sensors are widely used in harsh environments, ultra-low pressure ranges, and extremely small size atmosphere. Also MEMS Pressure Sensors are utilized in various energy domains, which include electrical, mechanical, thermal, magnetic, chemical and radiant.Global MEMS Pressure Sensor Market: Market DynamicsIncreasing demand for MEMS Pressure Sensor from automotive industry to enhance reliability, reduce cost and improve performance is the key factor drives the growth of MEMS global pressure sensor market during the forecast period. Furthermore, continuous focus on factory automation, rapid development in industrial IoT solutions and improved sensing approach for monitoring & control applications are the factors accelerating the demand for MEMS pressure sensor in the industrial manufacturing sector.Request For Report Sample@Also, the increasing demand for disposable pressure sensors and continuous innovation in MEMS-enabled medical applications are expected to positively impact the growth of global MEMS pressure sensor market in medical space. Also, rapid growth in consumer electronics, such as smartphones and home appliances, and rising demand for customized MEMS devices for aerospace and defense applications are expected to fuel the growth of MEMS Pressure Sensor market during the forecast period.However, lack of standard fabrication process and technical difficulties in integration and packing process are identified as the restraints likely to deter the progression of global MEMS pressure sensor market during the forecast period.Global MEMS Pressure Sensor Market: SegmentsGlobal MEMS pressure sensor market is segmented on the basis of end user, technology, type and region. On the basis of end user, global MEMS pressure sensor market can be segmented into automotive, healthcare, and Industrial. On the basis of technology global MEMS pressure sensor market can be segmented into piezoresistive and capacitive. By type, global MEMS pressure sensor market can be segmented into gauge type, absolute, and differential. Regionally, global MEMS pressure sensor market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.Global MEMS Pressure Sensor Market: Regional OutlookGlobal MEMS pressure sensor market is witnessing significant growth in all major regions including North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia Pacific. Asia pacific market is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period due to government initiatives to expand the industrial infrastructure, presence of large number of automobile and original equipment manufacturers.Visit For TOC@Global MEMS Pressure Sensor Market: Competition LandscapeThe key vendors in the Global MEMS pressure sensor market, include Robert Bosch GmbH, Denso, NXP Semiconductors, General Electric, Texas Instruments, Infineon Technologies, MRON Corporation, Infineon Technologies AG, and Melexis. Actuations and collaborations with other players in MEMS pressure sensor market is the key strategy followed by top vendors to gain competitive edge.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Tamarind Extract Market Forecast Research Reports Offers Key Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2127 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2127 www.futuremarketinsights.com Tamarind extract is used in a variety of food products to enhance flavor and health benefits. Traditionally, tamarind extracts were used in juices due to its coolant property and were excessively consumed in the Middle Eastern region. It is a regularly used food ingredient in Asia and Latin America regions. Tamarind extract is used for manufacturing of tamarind concentrate, which is used in the preparation of blends for fruit juice, sauces, pickles etc. Tamarind extracts are used as natural preservatives, owing to its antifungal, antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. The other health benefits of tamarind extract are that it acts as an antioxidant. It is used to cure digestive problems, conjunctivitis, common cold, fever etc. Tamarind extracts are also used in cosmetic products. It acts as a bleaching and skin hydrating agent in cosmetic products. The fragrance oils made from tamarind extract has a sour and sweet essence. It is incorporated as a fragrance ingredient in a variety of products such as soaps, candles, air fresheners, bath oils, aromatherapy products, incense sticks, laundry products etc.Tamarind Extract Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe use of tamarind extract in the rapidly growing food industry is expected to be a major driver for the growth global tamarind extract market. Tamarind extracts are as an alternative for chemical preservatives such as lactic, acetic, benzoic acids etc. The increasing consumer awareness regarding food safety and health benefits of natural preservatives is anticipated to boost global tamarind extract market. The rise in demand and production of processed food and adoption of natural processing techniques by the food industry is expected to drive global tamarind extract market growth. Tamarind extract is an important ingredient in cosmetic and fragrance industry. The upsurge in consumer demand for organic food and ayurvedic medicines is expected to propel the growth of global tamarind extract market.Request For Report Sample@Tamarind Extract Market: SegmentationOn the basis of application,the global tamarind extract market can be segmented as follows:-FoodSaucesJuice blendsCondimentsPreservativesSeasoningsCosmeticsHealthcareHealth drinkSyrupsFragranceSoapsCandlesAir freshenersIncense sticksBath oilsAromatherapy productsTamarind Extract Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global tamarind extract market can be divided into five regions, namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the Middle East & Africa (MEA). APAC holds major share in global tamarind extract market. India is the major manufacturer and exporter of tamarind extract. The tamarind extracts are exported to MEA and Europe regions. Thailand holds the second position in manufacturing tamarind extracts. The increasing investment in the healthcare industry and adoption of ayurveda is expected to drive tamarind extract market growth in the region. North America and Europe accounts for a significant share in global tamarind extract market. This is attributed to the mature food processing industries in these regions. Europe holds the major share in the fragrance industry, which is expected to boost the growth of tamarind extract in this region. MEA is expected to register high CAGR during the forecast period. North Africa accounts for a significant share in the production of tamarind. Tamarind extract is used as a major ingredient in fruit juices in the desert regions of the Middle Eastern region due to its cooling effect. Latin America is anticipated to register moderate CAGR over the forecast period due to the extensive use of tamarind extract in the food industry.Visit For TOC@Tamarind Extract Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in the global tamarind extract market are as follows:Magma FoodsKanegrade LimitedShimlahillsMoonLiteXi'an Victory Biochemical Technology Co., Ltd.Abc InternationalBAAECO V FOODJADLI FOODS (INDIA) PVT. LTD.Abdullabhai Abdul KaderREVATA FOOD PRODUCTS PVT.LTD.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: An Exclusive Healthcare Business Research and Consulting Company http://www.sa-brc.com/filters_demo.php http://www.sa-brc.com/ www.sa-brc.com Spearhead Acuity-Business Research & Consulting (SA-BRC) is a premium Life Science business intelligence and data analytics firm. SA-BRC team offers a wide range of business intelligence services to multiple stakeholders such as Medical Device Manufacturers, Service Providers (Hospitals, Payers, etc.), Suppliers, Group Purchase Organizations, Distributors and all other individuals in the entire value chain of healthcare industry. Our research and consulting capabilities extend across several sub-domains within the sphere of Life Sciences such as Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Medical Devices, Veterinary Sciences, Wellness Products and Pharmaceuticals.Services provided by SA-BRCSyndicate ReportsA repository of market research studies conducted for instant access by our clients at a reasonable price. These reports comprise market data by valve/volume, sub-segments, applications, technologies, geographies, competitive landscape, etc.Custom Reports (Client specific research)Either an existing syndicate report is customized to suit the clients needs or a completely fresh and customized research is conducted as per the defined requirements from clients. We constantly engage and update our clients through provisional research deliverables to ensure right assessment and research target. We follow a robust research methodology to achieve high quality results which is an amalgamation of secondary and primary sources.Competitive IntelligenceMajor healthcare industry players (more than 50% of the top pharma and medical device manufacturers) are still hesitant in engaging with patients and other stakeholders in the value chain through social media channels. The returns on expenses meted out for social media tracking is difficult to directly equate with sales but definitely helps enhancing it in the long run.Pharmaceutical Drug Analogue Based Forecasting ToolThe Pukka tool provides access to qualitative and quantitative (U.S. sales) data of over 100 brands for United States market with more brands being added every year. Comparison models frequently present inaccurate predictions if the brands being considered have multiple indications or if brands being considered are only top selling prescriptions, however Pukka considers only those drugs that are FDA approved for single indication only and comprises of both top selling brands as well as those performing below par thus presenting an extremely realistic view of the comparison result.Drug Analogue Screening & Forecasting Tool@Pukka currently offers analog forecasting for major disease categories such as oncology, metabolic disorder, cardiovascular, central nervous system, skin disease, respiratory, pain management, hematology, urology, autoimmune and auto inflammatory diseases. The database also presents market revenue for United States from approval to 2015 and a forecast of sales to 2022 for all 100 brands! It provides qualitative information on over 36 parameters such as adherence, persistence, molecule, order of entry, efficacy rate, disease condition, clinical manifestation, treatment type, formulation type, orphan designation, pharmacologic class, indication, disease category, route of administration, indication specificity, days of therapy, dosing frequency, cost per day, reimbursement tier, current ownership and others. The market forecast has been estimated using the most accurate prediction systems using base values gathered from annual reports and patient based forecasting techniques.Consulting Projects & Survey Data AnalysisSimilar to our customized research services, we also provide full-fledged consulting services in the domain of healthcare and life sciences. Clients remain updated through provisional research deliverables to ensure research target points are achieved. A pilot survey with 5%-10% sample respondents is conducted to ensure that the questionnaire is robust enough to capture answers to all the questions.Most of the consulting projects are focused on the following research areas: Message Testing Studies with Prescribing Physicians Perceptual Mapping Unmet Need Analysis Cost - Benefit Analysis Pricing & Reimbursement Studies Disease Assessment Market Entry Strategy StudiesKOL MappingThough there has been addition to the list of parameters that guides doctors prescription pattern, influence of KOLs remains the most impactful of all these factors: years of practice, CMEs, journal meta-analysis articles, patient involvement, managed care activities. SA-BRC team helps our client with an excel spreadsheet deliverable that captures KOLs by geographies (regions & countries) alongside other parameters listed below:KOLs: Rank (based on the overall score)1. Full Name2. Total Citation Score3. Total Journal Impact Factor Score4. Count and details of the research publications till date5. Count and details of Clinical Trials (in which the KOL is/was involved)6. Additional responsibilities and involvement such as:7. Editorial board head/member8. Influence on Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement policies/reforms9. Head/member of Patient Advocacy Groups10. Receiver of Awards/Grants/Honors11. Organization Name12. Geographic Location13. Contact Details:14. E-mail ID (Official/Personal)15. Contact Number (Office/Residence/Desk/Mobile)16. Other parameters as per specific client requirementFor Research Reports@Social Media AnalyticsMajor healthcare industry players (more than 50% of the top pharma and medical device manufacturers) are still hesitant in engaging with patients and other stakeholders in the value chain through social media channels. The returns on expenses meted out for social media tracking is difficult to directly equate with sales but definitely helps enhancing it in the long run.Health Economics & Outcome Research AssessmentHEOR plays a critical role in deciding the fate of drugs and medical device technologies across multiple parameters such as - price, efficiency, adverse reactions, availability, disease burden, QUALY measurements, etc. HEOR studies are considered basis for evaluating a drug/devices impact on patients quality of life.John WhitmoreOffice No. 14,Hermes Kunj, Mangaldas Road,Pune, 411001IndiaFor Further Info Contact UsEmail: support@sa-brc.comWebsite:Phone: +91-02041210872 New Trends of Blood Clot Retrieval Devices Market with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2269 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2269 www.futuremarketinsights.com A stroke is a sudden loss of blood circulation in an area of the brain which may result in loss of neurological functioning. Strokes are generally of three types Ischemic Stroke (caused due to blood clots), Hemorrhagic stroke (caused when there is a rupture in arteries) and lastly transient ischemic attack (caused when blood flow to the brain is blocked for a short time).In early 1980s the blood clot retrieval devices used for endovascular revascularization were based on intra-arterial and selective thrombolytic agents. Another methodology proposed was the use of a combination of intra-arterial thrombolytic and use of ultrasound to disrupt the clot. The clot retrieval process is performed within eight hours of the onset of stroke symptoms, the whole process of blood clot retrieval takes about two hours.Blood Clot retrieval devices were first developed to extract errant coils and foreign bodies which became immobilized in the cerebral circulation during endovascular procedures. Over a period these devices were used remove thromboembolic clots using guide catheters. The first treatment for clot retrieval was done using local micro-catheters as blood clot retrieval devices. These processes were mostly intravenous thrombolysis or endovascular revascularization. Blood clot retrieval devices of the first generation mainly targeted cerebral ischemia.Request For Report Sample@The first generation blood clot retrieval devices comprised of Mechanical Embolus Removal in Cerebral Ischemia (MERCI), MERCI blood clot retrieval devices was used in individuals who had moderate to severe stroke. The second blood clot retrieval device used for clot retrieval was Penumbra clot aspiration system. The Penumbra blood clot retrieval device uses a large lumen catheter attached to a vacuum pump. The second generation of blood clot retrieval devices uses of non-detachable neurovascular stents for removal of the clot. The primary objective of these blood clot retrieval devices was to assist the coiling during revascularization in individuals. Stent-based blood clot retrieval devices operate by firstly, by deploying the stent into the clot which immediately restores the blood flow and the mesh embedded on the stent retriever remove the clot. Over the past few years with the help of technological advancements in the development of blood clot retrieval devices tremendous progress has been made in the endovascular management of acute ischemic stroke.Blood Clot Retrieval Devices Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global market for blood clot retrieval devices is expected to be driven by the advancement in technology and increased the prevalence of stroke. Moreover, increased use of blood clot retrieval devices in elderly patients, improved patient selection using imaging and clinical results, use of an advance instrument for guiding catheter placement are some factors anticipated to fuel the growth of global portable ultrasound scanners market within the forecast period of 2016-2026.The restraining factor for the blood clot retrieval devices market is a lack of trained professionals, futile recanalization procedures which occur due to unfavorable result and device malfunctioning during blood clot retrieval.Blood Clot Retrieval Devices Market: SegmentationThe global blood clot retrieval market is classified on the basis of stroke type, device type, end user and geography.Based on stroke type, the global blood clot retrieval devices market is segmented into the following:Ischemic Stroke (blood clot)Hemorrhagic Stroke(rupturing of arteries)Transient Ischemic AttackBased on device type, the global blood clot retrieval devices market is segmented into the following:Mechanical EmbolusRemoval DevicesPenumbra Blood Clot Retrieval DevicesStent RetrieversUltrasound Assisted DevicesBased on end user, the global blood clot retrieval device market is segmented into the following:HospitalsDiagnostic centersClinicsAmbulatory Surgical CentersBlood Clot Retrieval Devices Market: OverviewCost-affectivity of blood clot retrieval devices and ongoing researches on improving the quality of care for continence would create an attractive growth opportunities for the Blood Clot Retrieval Devices market. The hospitals end user segment is expected to hold the highest market share in the global market for blood clot retrieval devices. Deaths occurring because of stroke is third highest in countries like United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan.According to American Heart Association, there are about 800,000 new strokes reported each year, out of which 80% are ischemic strokes rest are hemorrhagic strokes.Blood Clot Retrieval Devices Market: Regional OverviewRegion wise, the global Blood Clot Retrieval Devices 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 blood clot retrieval devices because of better reimbursement policies for diagnostic procedures. Increasing number of local players providing blood clot retrieval devices at lower cost in countries such as China is expected to boost the market growth in APEJ region.Visit For TOC@Blood Clot Retrieval Devices Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global Blood Clot Retrieval Devices market include Bayer HealthCare LLC, Boston Scientific Corp., Argon Medical Devices Inc., Medtronic plc. Teleflex Incorporated, Penumbra Inc., AngioDynamics, Inc., Terumo Corporation, Johnson and Johnson, Inc., ECKOS Corporation and others. Most of the providers of blood clot retrieval devices are adopting the strategy of providing these products through e-commerce, so that buyers can browse the products according to their needs.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.ONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Wearable Injectors Market Set for Rapid Growth And Trend, by 2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2291 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2291 www.futuremarketinsights.com Wearable injectors are drug delivery devices created for single-use wearable device technologies which are designed to deliver large volume drugs to the patients over long durations. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are witnessing a growing trend of a diversion of their investments towards the development of routes of administration of biologics and other drugs particularly for subcutaneous self-administration by patient populations. Commercialization of patient-centric biologics and their conversion from intravenous (IV) infusion to subcutaneous injection has opened up significant opportunities in terms of costs. Wearable injectors have a primary container that is a cartridge or a collapsible reservoir, drug contact materials such as glass, plastic, elastomers, silicone oil, etc., a sterile fluid path from primary container to needle insertion mechanism (NIM) which could be a rigid needle or a soft cannula or an integrated NIM, tethered insertion set, or removable NIM accessory. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are continuously identifying approved as well as pipeline molecules that can be used with wearable injectors. Wearable injectors is an emerging technology similar to insulin pumps, but with faster drug delivery times. Wearable injectors generally administer 2-10 mL dose volumes. The steps for wearable injector use are as follows: patient needs to prepare the wearable injector, apply it on the injection site, press start to activate and dispose it off after use.Wearable Injectors Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global wearable injectors market is majorly driven by its advantage over traditional devices which are administered in large dose volumes and require subcutaneous injection. Wearable injectors provide ease of customization as per patient needs, affluent commercialization to suit manufacturing criteria with minimal regulatory risk and comfortable experience of drug delivery to patients. The benefit of wearable injectors over other drug delivery devices such as prefilled syringe is that wearable injectors limit the number of subcutaneous injections given to patients and enables reduced dosing frequency with an acceptable pain which eventually results in improved patient compliance during the course of patient treatment.Request For Report Sample@Wearable Injectors Market: SegmentationThe global wearable injectors market is classified on the basis of wearable injector type, usage, mechanism of injection, end user, therapeutic area and geography.Based on wearable injector type, the global wearable injectors market is segmented into the following:On-body (adhesive patch)Off-body (belt clip)Hand-HeldBased on usage, the global wearable injectors market is segmented into the following:DisposableSemi-ReusableBased on mechanism of injection, the global wearable injectors market is segmented into the following:Spring-BasedMotor-DrivenRotary PumpExpanding BatteryPressurized GasCollapsible ReservoirBased on therapeutic area, the global wearable injectors market is segmented into the following:OncologyDiabetesAuto-Immune DisordersCardiovascularInfectious DiseasesOthers (Neurology, etc.)Based on end user, the global wearable injectors market is segmented into the following:HospitalsClinicsHome Care SettingsAmbulatory Surgery CentresOthers (Physician office, etc.)Wearable Injectors Market: OverviewPioneering customer-centric approach in injectable drug delivery systems has enabled the key players in the global wearable injectors market to deliver efficient customization of each product and address specific customer, drug and patient needs. Off-body & hand-held wearable injector types have gained acceptance among the patient population as compared to adhesive patches. Hence, the adhesive patch segment growth is expected to be limited by factors such as painful removal, induction of sensitivity on skin and irritation, adhesive fitting issues, etc. Home care settings end user segment is projected to register highest CAGR during 2016-2026 owing to the robust features of wearable injectors which are designed mainly on basis of the patient compliance towards drug delivery devices.Wearable Injectors Market: Regional OverviewRegion wise, the global Wearable Injectors market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is expected to dominate the market due to early availability of advanced technologies and higher penetration of health care services across U.S. Wearable injectors market in the U.S. & Japan is driven by increasing use of reusable technology and launch of technologically advanced drug delivery devices. Easy availability, better marketing, efficacy in long term dosage, and most prominently rising number of patients in Western & Eastern Europe are the major factors that are anticipated to drive demand of wearable injectors in these regions through 2026. In APEJ, Latin America & MEA, it is expected that the demand for reusable devices will increase at rapid pace owing to growing use of mobile applications during the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Wearable Injectors Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global wearable injectors market include SteadyMed Therapeutics, Inc., Enable Injections, UNILIFE CORPORATION, Insulet Corporation, Sensile Medical AG, Becton, Dickinson and Company, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., Buhler Motor GmbH, Ypsomed, Amgen Inc., among others. Every biologic, small molecule and vaccine has specific formulation, patient and commercial requirements and hence, the pharmaceutical companies have appointed a device partner for drug delivery through wearable injector technology.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: NETCOM LEARNING OFFERS A COMPLIMENTARY INTERACTIVE WEBINAR ON "ACTIVE DIRECTORY FOR VMWARE VCENTER 6.5" http://bit.ly/2sheP3E NetCom Learning, specializing in managed learning solutions, announces they will be offering a complimentary webinar on "Active Directory for VMware vCenter 6.5" on Monday, June 5, 2017 from 1:00 to 2:00 PM EST. The webinar led by the Subject Matter Expert and NetCom Learning; will talk about different ways to integrate vSphere with Active Directory.The webinar will cover: Introduction About the Netcom VMware vSphere Boot Camp Two different ways to integrate vSphere with Active Directory - Best Practices: Join Domain vs. AD LDAP Adding an AD Identity Source to vCenter 6.5 Creating a Default vSphere Permission for users in an AD Group Q&A with the speakerFeatured Speaker: J. Borhek has been an information technology professional for over 20 years. He has focused on Virtualization utilizing a number of platforms, specializing in VMware Virtualization with ESX Server, vCenter and VMware Consolidated Backup for over 7 years. He has been instrumental in the creation of documentation, training materials, chargeback procedures for the virtual environment, and proof-of-concept analysis.Register today for an informative & interactive webinar on "Active Directory for VMware vCenter 6.5" -VMware training options available at NetComNetCom Learning has a comprehensive portfolio of VMware training options including VMsources VMware vSphere 6.5 Infrastructure Deployment Prep Boot Camp and more. Our training is like no other because we work live, on real servers, and emphasize Best Practices throughout each and every lesson/lab.Benefits of taking technical training with NetCom LearningNetCom Learning is the most trusted name in both business and IT training and offers top notch instructors and vendor approved coursework offering certification preparation for a variety of vendor certifications. NetCom Learning instructors routinely achieve high ratings from their students. Instructors carry an average instructor evaluation of 8.7 out of 9, one of the highest instructor evaluations in the industry. The high quality of training has resulted in over 2,500 testimonials and a 96% customer satisfaction rate with those customers indicating they would recommend NetCom Learning to others.About NetCom LearningNetCom Learning is honored to be recognized as Microsoft's Worldwide Training Partner of the Year by Microsoft, and as a Top 20 IT Training Company by TrainingIndustry.com for consecutive 6 years. We offer over 2,000+ IT, Business, and Soft-Skills courses available to organizations around the world, encompassing all your technology and business training needs. From authorized or foundational training to specialized certifications, we empower organizations to achieve a competitive advantage. In addition, we provide customers with a choice of customized private programs, convenient scheduling options, flexible delivery formats, and continuous learning support, all tailored towards minimizing the skills gap and gaining maximum business impact for your organization.The purpose of NetCom Learning is to promote the values of lifelong learning!NetCom Learning519 8th Avenue, 2nd Floor, New YorkNY 10018United States1-888-563-8266marketing@netcomlearning.com Bangladeshi cement market expanding with public infrastructure investment http://www.cwgrp.com/research/research-products/country-reports/product/206-bangladesh-cement-market-report-forecast-through-2021 www.cwgrp.com Greenwich (CT), USA, May 30, 2017 According to CW Researchs 2017 Bangladesh Cement Market Report, cement consumption in the country is expected to increase nine percent per year on average through 2021. The growth is driven by public works in the infrastructure segment and real estate development works propelled by high population growth and urbanization.The Bangladeshi government is actively seeking to improve national construction through a combination of building new roads and upgrading existing infrastructure. Public works are also favored for their political impact in improving conditions.According to Robert Madeira, CW Managing Director and Head of Research: Political promises have been made around infrastructure and affordable housing. Time will tell if Bangladesh will be able to deliver on these ambitions, so there is some down-side risk in addition to other smoldering issues. Nonetheless, it is clear that much remains to be done in terms of construction in the country and the long-term cement demand story is clearly there.Overall, public infrastructure projects account for 35 percent of the countrys total cement consumption. On the private side, the individual, small-scale construction market makes for 40 percent of the total. The remaining 25 percent is covered by real estate developers.The cement markets outlook remains promising, despite the dependency on clinker importsThe Bangladeshi cement industry is highly fragmented and counts on more than 40 players of various degrees of industrial size and professionalism. The shortage of quality limestone reserves in the country means that today there is only one integrated cement plant operating in the country, Lafarge Surma. Even so, this plant actually is importing limestone from India via a conveyor belt across the border.All other cement manufacturers operate grinding plants using imported clinker. These grinding stations range widely in size and commercial sophistication, from small mini-mills to enterprise-level grinding plants; capacities range between 0.1 million tons to 5.2 million tons.With such a high dependency on clinker imports, the government has maintained low import duties to foment some domestic value added component in form of grinding, rather than just importing finished cement. Clinker imports are mostly sourced from China, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Nonetheless, exploration continues to try and identify domestically viable limestone reserves to be able to support clinker production locally.Raluca Cercel, CWs Senior Consulting Analyst, observes: It is rare for such a large cement market to be almost entirely dependent on clinker imports for cement production, hence the Bangladeshi cement market is highly susceptible to fluctuations of clinker supply and prices. Moreover, electricity supply is inconsistent, having forced manufacturers to build their own captive power supply to be able to grind raw material.For 2017, cement capacity is forecasted to reach over 35 million tons. Cement manufacturers, including S. Alam Cement Mills, Aman Cement Factory, Olympic Cement, Eastern Cement, Aramit Cement, Alam &Co., Chhatack Cement, among others, are providing an additional 3.4 million tons of cement to the existing capacity in the coming years. Cement production units are concentrated close to Dhaka and Chittagong, as these cities are the largest consumers in the domestic market.Despite the dependency on clinker imports to meet cement production needs, Bangladeshs outlook for the future remains positive. As Raluca Cercel emphasizes: the market has continued to thrive, and is expected to continue doing so in the coming years.****For more information, placing an order, or interview inquiries, please contact Liviu Dinu, Market Services & Marketing Consultant, CW Group, by phone at +40-744-67-44-11, or e-mail at ld@cwgrp.com.About the ReportThe Bangladesh Cement Market Report, part of CW Researchs Cement Industry Country Report series, meets the country-level cement market research needs of small and large businesses, analysts and governments. The reports cover cement volume trends in detail, analyzing trade flows, cement demand and production (historical and a five-year outlook), per capita consumption, and the competitive landscape, including company profiles, cement production facility details, including past and announced brownfield production increases and greenfield projects. Cement Industry Country Reports also cover demand drivers, including macro-economic and construction sector dynamics, for the specific country. Industry reports are presented in an objective, easy-to-understand format, providing hard-to-find answers to top market research questions.More information about the report can be found here:About CW GroupThe Greenwich (Conn.), USA-headquartered CW Group is a leading advisory, research and business intelligence boutique with a global presence and a multi-industry orientation. CW Group is particularly recognized for its sector expertise in heavy-side building materials (cement), light-side building materials, traditional and renewable power & energy, petrochemicals, metals & mining, industrial minerals, industrial manufacturing, bulk cargo & shipping, among others. We have a strong functional capability, grounded in our methodical and quantitative philosophy, including due diligence, sourcing intelligence, feasibility studies and commodity forecasting.PO Box 5263, Greenwich, CT 06831, USALiviu DinuMarket Services & Marketing ConsultantM: +40-744-67-44-11E: ld@cwgrp.com IQ4I Research & Consultancy published a new report on In-Vitro Diagnostics Global Market Forecast To 2023 In-Vitro Diagnostics Global Market is estimated to be worth $78,408.6 million by 2023 In-vitro diagnostics is an integral part of the healthcare system enabling diagnosis, monitoring, screening and assessing predisposition of various diseases there by providing timely and targeted medical treatment which further reduces hospital stays and overall healthcare cost leading to economic growth in a long run. In-vitro diagnostics tools have developed as more sophisticated, portable, easy to use next generation devices giving precise, reliable results in a wide range of applications which include infectious diseases, cancer, diabetes, urological disorders, cardiac markers, genetic diseases and pharmacogenomics, autoimmune diseases and drug of abuse testing.In-vitro diagnostics technologies are differentiated into different types based on the basic phenomenon used for diagnosing; these include immunoassays, clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, clinical microbiology, haematology, coagulation & haemostasis, and other IVD technologies. According to IQ4I estimation, the in-vitro diagnostics global market is expected to reach $78,408.6 million by 2023 growing at a mid-single digit CAGR from 2016-2023. Rise in prevalence of infectious and chronic diseases, increasing adoption of point of care testing, emergence of next generation molecular diagnostics, and growing awareness of companion diagnostics and personalized medicine, emergence of minimally invasive and non invasive diagnostics and rising number of CLIA waived IVD tests are contributing to the stable growth of IVD market. However, rising incidence of product recalls in the past year, lack of skilled laboratory technicians in developing nations, inadequate reimbursements, and unorganized regulatory framework are causing the market to slow down.The in-vitro diagnostics market is segmented into technology, applications, products, sample type, end users and by geography. Among the various technologies immunochemistry occupies major share in the global technology market and molecular diagnostics surpassed all the technologies with a mid single digit CAGR during the period of 2016-2023. Transplantation diagnostics has emerged as the fastest growing application growing with a double digit CAGR due to the advent of HLA specific assays, which could precisely detect the organ compatibility and provide useful results in minimal time. The infectious disease testing occupied the largest share in the global applications market due to the high rate of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, and Syphilis.Blood test is the most commonly used sample type which gives very precise results and provides useful insights on the disease diagnosis. Among the various samples used in IVD testing, blood sample occupied the biggest share in the IVD global market and is the fastest growing sample type. Other sample types such as urine are collected by non-invasive methods and are used for specific tests which include some of the clinical chemistry tests and more popularly pregnancy tests. Saliva tests have been performed for testing HIV, hypogonadism, measles, hepatitis and oral cancers. The OraRiskHPV test by Oral DNA labs is a non-invasive, easy-to-use screening tool for identification of oral HPV, a mucosal viral infection that could potentially lead to oral cancer.Among the different product types, reagents contributed to the largest share and are the fastest growing product segment due to high demand of assay kits and comparative lower sales of assay instruments due to their high life span.In-vitro diagnostics find their end users in hospitals, laboratories, academics and research centres, home care and others. Hospital occupied a major share and is the largest segment in the end users global market and home care is predicted to be the fastest growing with a high single digit CAGR from 2016-2023.The IVD market is dominated by four major players namely Hoffman La Roche, Abbott Laboratories, Siemens AG, and Danaher Corporation which occupy a significant share of the total market share. Further the companies are acquiring other significant players in the market to retain their leadership in the market. For instance, in November 2016, Danaher Corporation acquired Cepheid for approximately $4 billion transforming its molecular diagnostics portfolio and bringing a double digit growth for the already flourishing diagnostics business of Danaher.Geographically, North America commanded the largest share in the in-vitro diagnostics global market 2016. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at high single digit growth rate countries with emerging countries representing huge growth opportunities for the in-vitro diagnostics market to flourish.Major players in the in-vitro diagnostics global market include Hoffmann La Roche (Switzerland), Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), Becton Dickinson and Company (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories (U.S.), Sysmex Corporation (Japan), Johnson and Johnson (U.S.), Carlyle group (Ortho clinical diagnostics, U.S.), Biomerieux (France), and ThermoFisher Scientific (U.S.)Other key players in the in-vitro diagnostics market include Qiagen NV (Netherlands), Grifols (U.S.), Diasorin (Italy), Hologic Inc (U.S.), and Quest diagnostics (U.S.).IQ4I (Intelligence Quotient for Innovation) Research and Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. is a global strategy, consulting and a leading market research company. Our clients include leading businesses, investment banks, researchers and government agencies.We are a team of highly qualified consultants and market researchers, committed to help clients make strategic decisions by providing relevant and firmly reliable market intelligence support. We enable our clients to identify the market opportunities with best-in-class market intelligence reports.With world-class research capabilities, we deliver high-level strategically analyzed consulting and custom research assignments to our clients at a reasonable cost and time frame. With fact-based insights and accurate market forecasts, we enable our clients to understand and respond to the market dynamics with an edge over their competitors.IQ4I Research & Consultancy Pvt Ltd.No.11, Industrial Suburb, West of Chord Road,Rajajinagar, Bangalore-560010Phone: +91-80-60500229 Global Barcode Scanner Market will expand at a CAGR of 7.6% over 20172027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2871 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-2871 www.futuremarketinsights.com The advent of barcode technology has greatly reduced the hassles of tracking supply and commodity sale records for retailers across the globe. Over the years, the technology has been consistently improved and made more efficient. Currently, barcode solutions are being used across various domains owing to their exponential capabilities in systematically recording information such as product count, date of manufacturing, date on which the product was supplied to the retailer and selling price. Moreover, the emergence of e-commerce and intra-regional markets that offer specialised services to a wide range of sectors has further expanded its application base. Future Market Insights (FMI) in its latest report titled Barcode Scanner Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20172027 reveals that use of barcode technology is rapidly rising in both retail and manufacturing industries. Barcode scanners have become one of the best solutions for recording product information without making any major manual effort. The technological advantages and cutting-edge features of barcode scanners are also making them popular in the healthcare industry. Barcode technology can help rectify medication errors, medical practitioners and physicians can easily get information about medicines as well as their manufacturing dates.The report further cites that the global barcode scanners market will expand at a CAGR of 7.6% over the forecast period (20172027) and account for US$ 10.8 Bn by 2027-end. During the same duration, the market is also expected to reflect a CAGR of 6.4% in terms of volume, reaching 38.7 Mn units over 2027-end. Around 20.7 Mn units of barcode scanners are expected to be sold by the end of 2017.Ask For Report Sample @Additional Highlights of the report Include:In 2017 and beyond, laser-based scanner is expected to remain as the prime technology. Laser scanners are widely used in regions with established manufacturing and retail sectors such as Western Europe and North America. By the 2017-end, laser scanners are estimated to accounts for 32.3% revenue share of the market and will continue to be the most preferred barcode reader technology throughout the assessment period. However, camera-based reader is anticipated to see the fast adoption as these scanners are innovative and configured with advanced 2D imaging technology. Based on product type, portable/handheld scanners are expected to remain top choices of barcode scanners amongst consumers over the forecast period. Owing to characteristics such as faster print speed and versatility, demand for portable/handheld barcode scanners is rapidly increasing in various parts of the world. Use of barcode scanners in the retail and commercial sector continues to be the highest and is expected account for a major chunk of revenue over the forecast period. Meanwhile, the healthcare industry is swiftly adopting the barcode technology as well.Ask For More Information @Amongst regions, markets in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and North America are expected to exhibit high growth potentials. In APEJ, China and India are projected to achieve impressive growth of their barcode scanner market. By 2017-end, the region is projected to account for a revenue share of 29.5%, which is expected to increase to 33.8% towards the end of the forecast period. Market players are targeting APEJ as their key sales region. Zebra Technologies Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., DataLogics S.P.A, Cognex Corporation, OCOM Technologies, Wasp Barcode Technologies, JC Square Inc., SATO Holdings Corporation, Scandit AG and Toshiba TEC Corporation are some of leading companies profiled in the FMI report.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.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: Demand for At-Home Fetal Heart Monitors Drives Global Fetal Doppler Monitoring System Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/fetal-doppler-monitoring-system-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=20951 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Fetal doppler monitor, commonly known as baby heartbeat monitor, is a handheld ultrasound transducer used to detect the fetal heartbeat for prenatal care. Fetal doppler monitor provides information about the fetus, which is similar to that of fetal stethoscope, and it acts as an indicator of stress. The stress usually occurs during birth and labor period, which can be detected using the ultrasound probe and electrocardiography.Over the counter sale and use of Doppler ultrasound heartbeat monitors are used for listening to the heartbeat of a fetus. These are legally marketed as prescription devices and should be used under supervision of health care professionals. Doptone is a type of handheld portable ultrasound tool used for fetal monitoring. The tool is beneficial due to its waterproof technology. However, fetal monitoring increases the risk of C-section due to high rate of technological uses, which can develop many complications for the fetus and the mother during pregnancy.Obtain Report Details @Increase in number of childbirth, awareness program for preventing the complications in childbirth, and demand for at-home fetal heart monitors are important driving factors of the global fetal doppler monitoring system market. In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared the usage of Doppler ultrasound heartbeat monitors and fetal ultrasound imaging should be by trained health care professionals, and they are not intended for over the counter sale or use. Cost of treatment or ultrasonography and sensitivity of child toward ultrasound devices are expected to hamper the fetal doppler monitoring system market growth.The global market has been segmented based on monitoring process type, end-user, and geography. In terms of monitoring process type, the fetal doppler monitoring system market is classified into electronic fetal monitoring, external fetal monitoring, and internal fetal monitoring. In terms of end-user, the market for fetal doppler monitoring system is classified into diagnostic laboratories, hospitals, and research & development. In terms of geography, the market is distributed over North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.Geographically, North America dominates the global market due to increase in advent of technology of ultrasound monitoring devices and growth in child development plan. Early-phase diagnosis and treatment of disease during pregnancy is driving the medical biotechnology market which in turn is expected to drive the fetal doppler monitoring system market in North America.Fill the Form for an Exclusive Sample of this Report @Europe is the second leading market for fetal doppler monitoring system as there are favorable government policies regarding health care infrastructure and awareness of population development. The Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rise in population, changing lifestyle, rise in awareness between patients, and increase in per capita expenditure. In addition, economic growth is supporting the health care infrastructure improvement in developing countries such as India and China.The major players operating in the global fetal doppler monitoring system market include Medline Industries, Inc., Bionet Co., Ltd, Huntleigh Healthcare Limited, Promed Group Co., Ltd., ELCAT, Hadeco, Inc., Shenzhen Biocare Bio-Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Advanced Instrumentations, and SonoScape Medical Corp.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Halal Cosmetics Market 2017 Global Key Players Amara Cosmetics, INIKA Cosmetics, MMA BIO LAB SDN BHD, Golden Rose, Sahfee Halalcare, SAAF International Market Analysis and Forecast to 2022 Halal Cosmetics https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/884911-global-halal-cosmetics-market-research-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/884911-global-halal-cosmetics-market-research-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=884911 www.wiseguyreports.com Halal CosmeticsReport Details:This report focused on global and regional market, major manufacturers, as well as the segment market details on different classifications and applications.Major Key PlayersAmara CosmeticsINIKA CosmeticsMMA BIO LAB SDN BHDGolden RoseSahfee HalalcareSAAF InternationalSampureShiffa Dubai Skin CareIvy BeautyMirror and Makeup LondonClara InternationalMuslimah ManufacturingPHB Ethical BeautyZuii Certified OrganicsWIPRO UNZASirehemasClick here for sample report @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPersonal CareColor CosmeticsPerfumesOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Halal Cosmetics for each application, includingHair CareSkin CareMake-upFragranceOthersGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Halal Cosmetics in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSome Major Points from Table of content:Global Halal Cosmetics Market Research Report 20171 Halal Cosmetics Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Halal Cosmetics1.2 Halal Cosmetics Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Halal Cosmetics Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Halal Cosmetics Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Personal Care1.2.4 Color Cosmetics1.2.5 Perfumes1.2.6 Others1.3 Global Halal Cosmetics Segment by Application1.3.1 Halal Cosmetics Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hair Care1.3.3 Skin Care1.3.4 Make-up1.3.5 Fragrance1.3.6 Others1.4 Global Halal Cosmetics Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Halal Cosmetics Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Halal Cosmetics (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Halal Cosmetics Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)For Detailed Reading Please visit @7 Global Halal Cosmetics Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Amara Cosmetics7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Amara Cosmetics Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 INIKA Cosmetics7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 INIKA Cosmetics Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 MMA BIO LAB SDN BHD7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 MMA BIO LAB SDN BHD Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Golden Rose7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Golden Rose Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Sahfee Halalcare7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Sahfee Halalcare Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 SAAF International7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 SAAF International Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Sampure7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Sampure Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Shiffa Dubai Skin Care7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Shiffa Dubai Skin Care Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Ivy Beauty7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Ivy Beauty Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Mirror and Makeup London7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Halal Cosmetics Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Mirror and Makeup London Halal Cosmetics Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview...ContinuedBuy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1- 646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone :+91 841 198 5042Mail :info@wiseguyreports.com Global WiFi Access Point Market Research Reports & Industry Analysis & Trends Global WiFi Access Point Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1321725-global-wifi-access-point-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/1321725-global-wifi-access-point-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1321725 www.wiseguyreports.com This report studies the global WiFi Access Point market, analyzes and researches the WiFi Access Point development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia.This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAerohive Networks, Inc.ArubaCisco Systems, Inc.D-Link CorporationEnGenius TechnologiesExtreme Networks, Inc.Fortinet, Inc.Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.NETGEAR, Inc.Proxim Wireless CorporationRuckus Wireless, Inc.Sophos Ltd.TP-LINK Technologies Co., Ltd.Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.Xirrus, Inc.Get Sample Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, WiFi Access Point can be split intoAd-hocInfrastructureMarket segment by Application, WiFi Access Point can be split intoOfficeResidentialOtherIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Leave a Query @Table Of contentGlobal WiFi Access Point Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of WiFi Access Point1.1 WiFi Access Point Market Overview1.1.1 WiFi Access Point Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global WiFi Access Point Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 WiFi Access Point Market by Type1.3.1 Ad-hoc1.3.2 Infrastructure1.4 WiFi Access Point Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Office1.4.2 Residential1.4.3 Other3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Aerohive Networks, Inc.3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Aruba3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Cisco Systems, Inc.3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 D-Link Corporation3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 EnGenius Technologies3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Extreme Networks, Inc.3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Fortinet, Inc.3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 NETGEAR, Inc.3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Proxim Wireless Corporation3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 WiFi Access Point Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.10.5 Recent Developments3.11 Ruckus Wireless, Inc.3.12 Sophos Ltd.3.13 TP-LINK Technologies Co., Ltd.3.14 Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.3.15 Xirrus, Inc....Buy Now@CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Pune, India Global Intumescent Coatings Market to Register an Impressive CAGR of 7.0% during the Forecast Period of 2016 2024 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2969 http://www.mrrse.com/intumescent-coatings-market https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Due to the significant increase in the building and construction activities, fueled by the swift rise in urbanization, the demand for intumescent coatings has bolstered across the globe. The implementation of various regulations concerning the emission of volatile organic compounds is also influencing the sales of these coatings globally. A report titled Intumescent Coatings Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 2024 has been recently added to the online repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). To study the present market situation and future prospects of the global intumescent coatings market.Request for Sample Report:The global intumescent coatings market is expected to rise at a CAGR of 7.0% between 2016 and 2024. At this pace, the market is expected to reach a valuation of US$675.5 million by the end of 2024 from US$372.9 million in 2015. The report analyzes the key market indicators influencing the growth of the market. It investigates opportunities in the intumescent coatings market at the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, challenges and opportunities given in the report are justified through qualitative and quantitative data.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to identify the level of competition in the intumescent coatings market. It includes a qualitative review of the market attractiveness, in which application and countries have been studied based on attractiveness for each region and price trend for intumescent coatings for the period of 2016 - 2024. The study provides a comprehensive view of the intumescent coatings market by segregating it into application type, resin type, technology type, fire type and geography. Based on resin type, the major market segments are acrylic, epoxy, polyurethane and others. Epoxy-based intumescent coatings are the most common resin in the world. Over the coming years, the demand for epoxy-based coatings is expected to increase significantly, maintaining its lead in this market.Geographical segregation covers the present and future demand for global intumescent coatings market in Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Besides this, the report includes country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for product and application segments. Major countries such as the U.S., Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, India, China, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil have been studied within the report. Some of the key players profiled in the report include Akzo Nobel N.V, Sherwin Williams Company, PPG Industries Inc. and RPM International Inc. Company profiles include information such as brand overview, company overview, number of employees, key competitors, business strategies, recent/key developments, business overview, acquisitions and financial overview.Browse Full Report with TOC:About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter- Mobintegs CEO invited as a speaker at IMSHARE Conference in Lisbon Fernando Pinto, CEO of mobinteg. www.imshare.com https://youtu.be/QMjK7oP50lU www.mobinteg.com www.mobinteg.com Lisbon, May 30th, 2017: Fernando Pinto, CEO of the Portuguese technology company mobinteg, is part of the panel of invited speakers for the 3rd edition of IMSHARE Conference, which runs from May 31st to June 2nd. An event that will gather Marketing Intelligence, Data & Analytics and Digital Business professionals at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, for three days.The CEO of mobinteg will be part of the panel dedicated to Internet of Things (IoT) called "The rise of the connected machines", to be held on June 1st, and moderated by Professor Miguel de Castro Neto. In this conversation, Fernando Pinto will share his vision and experience on IoT and how this theme will revolutionize our near future.CEO of mobinteg, a startup focused on mobile solutions, Internet of Things (IoT) and solutions for interactive and intelligent cities, Fernando Pinto has also developed his activity in the field of mobile payments, SAP Enterprise Mobility and human capital technology.In recent years, Fernando Pinto has worked as a consultant in the United States, Italy, Portugal and Spain, where he was involved in the process of selling and implementing various solutions.About IMSHARE Conference:IMSHARE () is a conference dedicated to analytics and information management with a focus on three diferent areas: Marketing Intelligence, Data & Analytics and Digital Business. It has grown from 150 to 1200 participants in just one year and has been sold out in both editions. Here you can see a 3 minute summary from the last edition:About mobinteg:Located in Lisbon, mobinteg () is a company specialized in the development of mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. mobinteg develops solutions in both the corporate and consumer segments, seeking to respond to the real needs of customers and valuing the speed, efficiency and safety in the relationship with the consumer.For more information, please contact:Raquel SantosRua Castilho, 39, 8C - Edificio Castil, 1250-068 Lisboarsantos@mobinteg.com+351 211 384 856 Technological Advancements and Rising Demand for Automation, IoT to Put Global Smart Factory Market on Growth Track MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/1586 http://www.mrrse.com/smart-factory-market http://www.mrrse.com/ https://plus.google.com/u/0/109558601025749677847/posts https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) announces the addition of a new report titled Smart Factory Market - Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015-2025. The growing awareness about the benefits of smart factories is fuelling the growth of the global smart factory market. The smart factories ensure more advanced, safer, and more efficient approaches than conventional factories. The emergence of smart factories is largely influenced by the sweeping shift towards automation, advanced microprocessors, and resources with local intelligence. They have the ability to connect every process and component across the value chain by integrating cyber physical system with the forefront of manufacturing flow. The rising focus on saving energy and manufacturing of various products through the implementation of IoT is anticipated to bolster the growth of the global smart factory market.Request For Sample Report@Enhanced Factory Vision Technology to Play Pivotal Role in Development of Smart Factory MarketThe demand for factory vision from a distinct location is likely to foster the growth of the global smart factory market. Recent technological advancements in the factory vision technology such as smart cameras is likely to increase the adoption of smart factories. Moreover, the maintenance of smart factories is easier than that of conventional factories, which attracts more factory owners to switch to the former.Another feature of smart factories that ensures promising growth of this market is the use of collaborative robots. Robots such as Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) and articulated robots effectively enhance the production. Furthermore, the government regulations on energy saving and minimal hazardous emissions is likely to propel the growth of the global smart factory market.Shortage of Skilled Workforce to Hamper Growth of Smart Factory MarketTo run a smart factory, the requirements for skilled and educated labor are high. There are shortages of such workforce, especially in the developing nations. This factor is expected to adversely affect the growth of the global smart factory market. Moreover, the adoption rate of these factories is very low owing to the fact that switching from traditional factories to smart factories require a lot of capital investment, which is not possible for capital-conscious factory owners. Furthermore, the lack of standardization in equipment is likely to pose a challenge to the growth of the global smart factory market.Automotive and Transportation Industries to Maintain Lead Owing to Growing Capital InvestmentsThe valuation of the global smart factory market was US$ 51.9 Bn in 2014 and is anticipated to expand at an impressive CAGR of 13.3% between 2015 and 2025. The market has been segmented using four criteria: market structure, component, region, and manufacturing vertical. Based on market structure, the global smart factory market is categorized into to connect, to collect, to analyze, and to control. The to analyze segment will expand at a CAGR of 15.2% during the same period. The to control segment dominated the global smart factory market by revenue in 2014 and is expected to retain leadership by 2025.Browse Full Global Smart Factory Market Report with TOC:Based on manufacturing vertical, the automotive and transportation segment was the leading segment in terms of revenue in 2014 and will maintain its position by the end of 2025. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing penetration of automation and increasing capital investment in this industry. Geographically, the APAC region was the leading segment in 2014 in terms of value and represented a share of 39.0% of the global smart factory market. However, the Middle East and Africa will emerge as the fastest-growing segment owing to rapid infrastructural development in this region.About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Google+:Linked in:Twitter: Combi Ovens Market SWOT Analysis of Top Key Player Forecasts to 2027 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1290345-global-combi-ovens-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1290345-global-combi-ovens-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1290345 https://www.linkedin.com/company/wise-guy-research-consultants-pvt-ltd-?trk=biz-companies-cym Combi Ovens Market 2017Report Details:Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Combi Ovens Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.This report studies Combi Ovens in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAlto-ShaamConvothermElectroluxG.S. BLODGETTHenny PennyVulcanLincatMKNUNOXRATIONALBKIElomaFagor IndustrialFalcon Foodservice EquipmentLainoxHOUN.Request for Sample Report @By types, the market can be split intoElectric Combi OvenGas Combi OvenBy Application, the market can be split intoRestaurantsHotelsHomeOthersBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaComplete Report Details @Some Key Points from Table of Content:1 Industry Overview of Combi Ovens1.1 Definition and Specifications of Combi Ovens1.1.1 Definition of Combi Ovens1.1.2 Specifications of Combi Ovens1.2 Classification of Combi Ovens1.2.1 Electric Combi Oven1.2.2 Gas Combi Oven1.3 Applications of Combi Ovens1.3.1 Restaurants1.3.2 Hotels1.3.3 Home1.3.4 Others1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Combi Ovens2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Combi Ovens2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Combi Ovens2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Combi Ovens4 Global Combi Ovens Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Combi Ovens Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Combi Ovens Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Combi Ovens Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Combi Ovens Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Combi Ovens Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Combi Ovens Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment).8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Combi Ovens8.1 Alto-Shaam8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Alto-Shaam 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Alto-Shaam 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Convotherm8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 Convotherm 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Convotherm 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 Electrolux8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 Electrolux 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 Electrolux 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.4 G.S. BLODGETT8.4.1 Company Profile8.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.4.2.1 Product A8.4.2.2 Product B8.4.3 G.S. BLODGETT 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.4.4 G.S. BLODGETT 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.5 Henny Penny8.5.1 Company Profile8.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.5.2.1 Product A8.5.2.2 Product B8.5.3 Henny Penny 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.5.4 Henny Penny 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.6 Vulcan8.6.1 Company Profile8.6.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.6.2.1 Product A8.6.2.2 Product B8.6.3 Vulcan 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.6.4 Vulcan 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.7 Lincat8.7.1 Company Profile8.7.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.7.2.1 Product A8.7.2.2 Product B8.7.3 Lincat 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.7.4 Lincat 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.8 MKN8.8.1 Company Profile8.8.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.8.2.1 Product A8.8.2.2 Product B8.8.3 MKN 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.8.4 MKN 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.9 UNOX8.9.1 Company Profile8.9.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.9.2.1 Product A8.9.2.2 Product B8.9.3 UNOX 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.9.4 UNOX 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.10 RATIONAL8.10.1 Company Profile8.10.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.10.2.1 Product A8.10.2.2 Product B8.10.3 RATIONAL 2016 Combi Ovens Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.10.4 RATIONAL 2016 Combi Ovens Business Region Distribution Analysis8.11 BKI8.12 Eloma8.13 Fagor Industrial8.14 Falcon Foodservice Equipment8.15 Lainox8.16 HOUNBuy this report @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Follow on LinkedIn @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Global Meat Mincers Market 2017 - Maschinenfabrik Seydelmann, Dadaux SAS, Groupe PSV, Brunner AG Meat Mincers http://bit.ly/2rBIdFv http://bit.ly/2qCTT5W Meat Mincers Market Research ReportA market study based on the "Meat Mincers Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Meat Mincers Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Meat Mincers industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Meat Mincers market on the basis of this analysis.Request For Sample Copy of Report :Top Manufacturers Companies Covered In This Research Report -Maschinenfabrik SeydelmannMADO Maschinenfabrik DornhanDadaux SASKutter- und Ger?tebau Wetter GmbHGroupe PSVBrunner AGSirman SpaSwedlinghaus srlEkomex Pilsniak Sp. z o.o.ELLER SRLKarl Schnell GmbH & Co. KGBIZERBAVemagMarel FranceMETALBUD NOWICKIMetosThe report studies the industry for Meat Mincers across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Meat Mincers market & dynamics of demand and supply of Meat Mincers into consideration. The ' Meat Mincers ' research study covers each and every aspect of the Meat Mincers market globally, which starts from the definition of the Meat Mincers industry and develops towards Meat Mincers market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Meat Mincers market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Meat Mincers market. The geographical segmentation of the Meat Mincers industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Meat Mincers is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Meat Mincers market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Meat Mincers market worldwide.Do Enquiry Before Purchasing Here :The global Meat Mincers market 2017 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Meat Mincers production volume, data regarding demand and Meat Mincers supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tool of Meat Mincers such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in Meat Mincers market research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Meat Mincers across the globe.About Us:"Spire Market Research" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Calcium Phosphate 2017 Global Market Research In-Depth SWOT Analysis, Applications, Forecasts To 2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1291373-global-calcium-phosphate-market-research-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1291373-global-calcium-phosphate-market-research-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1291373 https://www.linkedin.com/company/wise-guy-research-consultants-pvt-ltd-?trk=biz-companies-cym Calcium Phosphate Market 2017Report Details:Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Calcium Phosphate Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Calcium Phosphate in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRequest for Sample Report @Global Calcium Phosphate market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingAdvance InorganicsNitta Gelatin IncRaymon Patel Gelatine Pvt. Ltd.TimabFosfitalia SpAGadot Biochemical IndustriesSichuan HongdaJindi ChemicalYunnan XinlongMianzhu Panlong MineralJ.R. Simplot CompanyLomon GroupOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMono Calcium PhosphateDi Calcium PhosphateTri calcium PhosphateOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Calcium Phosphate for each application, includingPharmaceuticalFood & BeveragesChemicalComplete Report Details @Some Key Points from Table of Content:Global Calcium Phosphate Market Research Report 20171 Calcium Phosphate Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Calcium Phosphate1.2 Calcium Phosphate Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Calcium Phosphate Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Calcium Phosphate Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Mono Calcium Phosphate1.2.4 Di Calcium Phosphate1.2.5 Tri calcium Phosphate1.3 Global Calcium Phosphate Segment by Application1.3.1 Calcium Phosphate Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Pharmaceutical1.3.3 Food & Beverages1.3.4 Chemical1.4 Global Calcium Phosphate Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Calcium Phosphate Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Calcium Phosphate (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Calcium Phosphate Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)..7 Global Calcium Phosphate Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Advance Inorganics7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Advance Inorganics Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Nitta Gelatin Inc7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Nitta Gelatin Inc Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Raymon Patel Gelatine Pvt. Ltd.7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Raymon Patel Gelatine Pvt. Ltd. Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Timab7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Timab Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Fosfitalia SpA7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Fosfitalia SpA Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Gadot Biochemical Industries7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Gadot Biochemical Industries Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Sichuan Hongda7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Sichuan Hongda Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Jindi Chemical7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Jindi Chemical Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Yunnan Xinlong7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Yunnan Xinlong Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Mianzhu Panlong Mineral7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Calcium Phosphate Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Mianzhu Panlong Mineral Calcium Phosphate Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business OverviewBuy this report @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Follow on LinkedIn @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. 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We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Europe Ozone Sterilization Vagina-Cleaning Care Instruments Market 2022: Business Development Analysis https://goo.gl/nvDGlh https://goo.gl/tJq3hr https://www.researchnreports.com/medical-devices/Europe-Ozone-Sterilization-Vagina-Cleaning-Care-Instruments-Market-Report-2017-77611 Europe Ozone Sterilization Vagina-Cleaning Care Instruments Market Report 2017 Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.This report gives an itemized and exhaustive comprehension of Ozone Sterilization Vagina-Cleaning Care Instruments market. 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Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Contact us:Mr. Sunny DenisContact No. +1-888-631-6977sales@researchnreports.com(ResearchnReports) Global Water-jet Cutter Market 2017 - Flow International, Omax, Bystronic Group, Sugino Machine, ESAB Cutting Systems Water-jet Cutter http://bit.ly/2qxaaOF http://bit.ly/2qyMSnN Water-jet Cutter Market Research ReportA market study based on the "Water-jet Cutter Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Water-jet Cutter Market 2017. 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We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA Medical Implants 2017 Global Market Key Players Medtronic, Zimmer Biomet, Biotronik, Cyberonics, Philips Healthcare Analysis and Forecast to 2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1321112-global-medical-implants-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1321112-global-medical-implants-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1321112 https://www.linkedin.com/company/wise-guy-research-consultants-pvt-ltd-?trk=biz-companies-cym Medical Implants Market 2017Report Details:Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Medical Implants Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.This report studies Medical Implants in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringMedtronicZimmer BiometSt.Jude MedicalBoston ScientificBiotronikSorin GroupCyberonicsAbiomedMED-ELPhilips HealthcareCardiac ScienceZoll MedicalSchillerNihon KohdenGE HealthcareCochlearAdvanced Bionics (Sonova)Mindray MedicalQinming MedicalNurotronRequest for Sample Report @By types, the market can be split intoOrthopedic ImplantsSensory and Neurological ImplantsCoronary StentsOtherBy Application, the market can be split intoSensory and NeurologicalCardiovascularOrthopedicOther Organs and SystemsBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaComplete Report Details @Some Key Points from Table of Content:1 Industry Overview of Medical Implants1.1 Definition and Specifications of Medical Implants1.1.1 Definition of Medical Implants1.1.2 Specifications of Medical Implants1.2 Classification of Medical Implants1.2.1 Orthopedic Implants1.2.2 Sensory and Neurological Implants1.2.3 Coronary Stents1.2.4 Other1.3 Applications of Medical Implants1.3.1 Sensory and Neurological1.3.2 Cardiovascular1.3.3 Orthopedic1.3.4 Other Organs and Systems1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Medical Implants2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Medical Implants2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Medical Implants2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Medical Implants4 Global Medical Implants Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Medical Implants Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Medical Implants Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Medical Implants Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Medical Implants Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Medical Implants Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Medical Implants Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)..8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Medical Implants8.1 Medtronic8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Medtronic 2016 Medical Implants Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Medtronic 2016 Medical Implants Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Zimmer Biomet8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 Zimmer Biomet 2016 Medical Implants Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Zimmer Biomet 2016 Medical Implants Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 St.Jude Medical8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 St.Jude Medical 2016 Medical Implants Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 St.Jude Medical 2016 Medical Implants Business Region Distribution Analysis8.4 Boston Scientific8.4.1 Company Profile8.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.4.2.1 Product A8.4.2.2 Product B8.4.3 Boston Scientific 2016 Medical Implants Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.4.4 Boston Scientific 2016 Medical Implants Business Region Distribution Analysis8.5 Biotronik8.5.1 Company Profile8.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.5.2.1 Product A8.5.2.2 Product B8.5.3 Biotronik 2016 Medical Implants Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.5.4 Biotronik 2016 Medical Implants Business Region Distribution Analysis8.6 Sorin Group8.6.1 Company Profile8.6.2 Product Picture and 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Business Region Distribution Analysis8.10 Philips Healthcare8.10.1 Company Profile8.10.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.10.2.1 Product A8.10.2.2 Product B8.10.3 Philips Healthcare 2016 Medical Implants Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.10.4 Philips Healthcare 2016 Medical Implants Business Region Distribution AnalysisBuy this report @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Follow on LinkedIn @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market Research Report: Trends, outlook and Opportunity Analysis 2024 Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microbiology-testing-technologies-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=11603 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market: OverviewThis report provides forecast and analysis of the medical microbiology testing technologies market on the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook on medical microbiology testing technologies globally. It includes drivers and restraints of the medical microbiology testing technologies market and their impact on each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of current issue and opportunities for medical microbiology testing manufacturers.In order to provide users of this report with comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players. The dashboard provides detailed comparison of medical microbiology testing manufacturers on parameters such as operating margin, unique selling propositions, collective market share, and geographic concentration. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by indication, type, technology type, application type, end user type and region.Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market: SegmentationThe report includes usage of Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies and the revenue generated from sales of medical microbiology testing technologies in all regions and important countries in these regions. By indication, the global medical microbiology testing technologies market has been segmented into respiratory diseases, neurological diseases, infectious diseases and others. By technology, the market is segmented into Cell Culture, Microscopy and Serology. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into Diagnostic and Treatment Monitoring. On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into Hospital Labs, Pathology Labs, Research Institutes and others.Market numbers have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of medical microbiology testing technologies and the revenue is derived through regional pricing trends and the epidemiology of specific diseases. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of global and regional markets. The Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies market has been analyzed based on expected demand. All key end users have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Regional demand patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end users of Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies in different regions. Top down approach has been used to estimate the Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies market by regions. Market numbers for indication, technology, application, and end user segments have been derived using the top-down approach, which is cumulative of each regions demand. Company-level market share has been derived on the basis of revenues reported by key manufacturers. The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates.This exhaustive report includes 30 data tables and 121 figures to give readers a 360 view of the Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market. Browse through this 210-page report to know what factors will shape the market during the period 2016-2024Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market: Competitive LandscapeA number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include FACTIVA, NCBI, Google Books, company websites, journals, press releases, Morningstar, Hoovers, and company annual reports and publications.The report provides detailed competitive and company profiles of key participants operating in the global market. Key players in the global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies market include Agilent Technologies Inc., Becton, Dickinson & Company, Beckman Coulter Inc. (A Danaher Company), Biomerieux SA, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Roche Holding AG, among others.The market has been segmented as below:Global Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By IndicationRespiratory DiseasesNeurological DiseasesInfectious DiseasesOthersGlobal Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By TechnologyCell CultureMicroscopySerologyGlobal Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By ApplicationDiagnosticTreatment MonitoringGlobal Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By End UserHospital LabsPathology LabsResearch InstitutesOthersGlobal Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market By RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaEuropeGermanyUKFranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)Saudi ArabiaUAERSARest of MEARequest a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Medical Microbiology Testing Technologies Market during 2016- 2024About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Molecular Diagnostics Market Research Report: Trends, outlook and Opportunity Analysis 2025 Molecular Diagnostics Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/molecular-diagnostics-industry.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1783 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: OverviewThis report on the molecular diagnostics market studies the current and future prospects of the market globally. Growing incidences of chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, diarrhea, pneumonia hepatitis, in addition to increasing geriatric population, and rising number of biotechnology companies is expected to accentuate the growth of global molecular diagnostics market. The global molecular diagnostics market report comprises an elaborate executive summary, which includes a market snapshot that provides information about various segments and sub-segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the global molecular diagnostics market with respect to market segments based on technology, application, end user and their geographic analysis.Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: SegmentationBased on technology, the molecular diagnostics market has been segmented into six major categories: PCR and real-time PCR, hybridization, microarray, transcription-mediated amplification, next-generation sequencing and others which includes mass spectrometry etc. These are the major techniques which are used in molecular diagnostics for diagnosis of disease. Likewise, on the basis of application, the global molecular diagnostics market has been segmented into infectious diseases, oncology, blood screening, microbiology, genetic testing and womens health. Infectious disease testing has been segmented into two major categories, namely, virology and bacteriology. The market segments have been extensively analyzed based on usefulness, adoption, efficacy, revenue, and geographical coverage. The market size and forecast in terms of US$ Mn for each segment has been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025. The molecular diagnostics market report also provides the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) for each market segment for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2015 as the base year. A brief patient pool analysis by infectious disease, cancer and cardiovascular disease have also been discussed in the global molecular diagnostics report.Based on End User the global molecular diagnostics market is segmented as hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, blood banks, academics & research and others. The market size and forecast for each of these end user has been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2015 as the base year.This exhaustive report includes 30 data tables and 76 figures to give readers a 360 view of the Molecular Diagnostics Market. Browse through this 164-page report to know what factors will shape the market during the period 2017-2025Global Molecular Diagnostics Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the molecular diagnostics market in Europe has been categorized into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. The market size and forecast for each of these regions has been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2015 as the base year. The research study also covers the competitive scenario in these regions. A detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving that is supply side driver, demand side driver and economic driver, restraining the growth of the market and future opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. This section of the report also provides market attractiveness analysis, Porters Five Forces analysis, and market share analysis by key players, competitive matrix thus presenting a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario in the global molecular diagnostics market.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:Current and future trends has also been provided for new entrants as well as existing market players to assist them in taking strategic initiatives to establish a strong presence in the market. The report also profiles major players in the global molecular diagnostics market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments, SWOT analysis. Major players profiled in this report include F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Abbott Laboratories, QIAGEN N.V. ,bioMerieux SA, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Danaher Corporation, Siemens AG and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and others.The global molecular diagnostics market is segmented as given below:Global Molecular Diagnostics Market, by TechnologyPCR and Real-Time PCRHybridizationMicroarrayTranscription-Mediated AmplificationNext-Generation SequencingOthers (Mass Spectrometry, etc.)Global Molecular Diagnostics Market, by ApplicationInfectious DiseasesOncologyBlood ScreeningMicrobiologyGenetic TestingWomens HealthGlobal Molecular Diagnostics Market, by End UseHospitalsDiagnostic LaboratoriesBlood BanksAcademicsResearchRequest a brochure of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Molecular Diagnostics Market during 2017- 2025About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Malaysia Medical Tourism Market Research Report: Trends, outlook and Opportunity Analysis 2024 Malaysia Medical Tourism Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/malaysia-medical-tourism-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=20159 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Malaysia Medical Tourism Market: OverviewIn terms of revenue, the Malaysia medical tourism market is expected to register a CAGR of 30.5% during the forecast period, 20162024. The primary objective of the report is to offer insights on the market dynamics that can influence growth of the Malaysia medical tourism market over the forecast period. Insights on key trends, drivers, restraints, value forecasts and opportunities for companies operating in the Malaysia medical tourism market are presented in the report.Malaysia Medical Tourism Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe Malaysia medical tourism market is expected to witness significant growth rate in terms of value owing to high quality treatment at low cost, strong health care infrastructure, low language barrier and increasing government initiatives for medical tourism contributes to growth of the Malaysia medical tourism market. Moreover, excellent recuperation facilities and transportation are creating high potential growth opportunities for players operating in the Malaysia medical tourism market. Revenue from the medical tourism market in Malaysia is expected to expand at the relatively higher CAGR due to rising number of medical travelers to Malaysia and introduction of advanced treatment facilities in Malaysia. To understand and assess opportunities in this market, the report offers market forecast on the basis of medical procedure types carried in Malaysia. The report provides analysis of the Malaysia medical tourism market in terms of market value (US$ Mn) and volume (In number of procedures).The Malaysia medical tourism market is segmented on the basis of procedure type:Cardio (Internal medicine)Cardiothoracic SurgeryOncologyFertility treatments (IVF)Orthopedic treatmentDental treatmentOphthalmologyAesthetics / Cosmetic SurgeryNeurologyRegenerative Therapy (Stem cells)Medical check ups (Health screening)OthersThe report begins with the market definition, followed by definitions of the different procedure types and subsequent sub segments. The market dynamics section includes TMRs analysis on key trends, drivers, restraints, opportunities and macro-economic factors influencing the growth of the Malaysia medical tourism market.This exhaustive report includes 24 data tables and 20 figures to give readers a 360 view of the Medical Tourism Market. Browse through this 105-page report to know what factors will shape the market during the period 2016-2024Malaysia Medical Tourism Market: Scope of the ReportNext, the report analyses the market on the basis of regions and presents forecast in terms of value for the next 10 years. In addition, we have considered Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and identify growth opportunities for companies operating in the Malaysia medical tourism market. Another key feature of this report is the analysis of key segments in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is usually overlooked, while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical for assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective for services offered by medical tourism in Malaysia. To understand key segments in terms of their growth and performance in the Malaysia medical tourism market, Transparency market research has developed a market attractiveness index. The resulting index would help providers identify existing market opportunities.?Malaysia Medical Tourism Market: Competitive ScenarioIn the final section of the report, a competitive landscape has been included to provide a dashboard view of key companies operating in the Malaysia medical tourism market. This section is primarily designed to provide clients with an objective and detailed comparative assessment of key providers specific to a market segment in the Malaysia medical tourism market and the potential players. However, this section also includes market strategies and SWOT analysis of the main players operational in the Malaysia medical tourism market.Detailed profiles of players operating in Malaysia medical tourism market are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long- and short-term strategies. Key players included in this report are KPJ Healthcare Berhad, Pantai Holdings Berhad, Prince Court Medical Centre, Dentalpro Group, Sunway Medical Centre, IJN Health Institute, Island Hospital, LohGuanLye Specialists Centre, Mahkota Medical Centre, and Tropicana Medical Centre., among others.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Medical Tourism Market during 2016- 2024About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Healthcare Information Systems Market Research Report: Industry Insights, Outlook and Forecast upto 2024 Healthcare Information Systems Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/healthcare-information-system.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1457 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Healthcare Information Systems Market: OverviewThe purpose of health care information systems is to manage the information that health care professionals need to perform their job effectively and efficiently. health care information systems automates administrative, financial, and patient care activities of hospitals, produces extensive management reports, operational statistics, and provides a powerful query module. health care information systems provides benefits such as easy access to patient data, reduces scope of error, increases security, provides better cost control, and improved efficiency. The market for health care information systems is expected to grow at a double-digit figure during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024 and shall be driven by factors such as reduction in overall healthcare cost of personal, easy access of data to healthcare professionals, reduction in errors and riddance of time and efforts spent on overall procedures.Global Healthcare Information Systems Market: Scope of the StudyThis report on the global health care information systems market analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report comprises an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments. The research is a combination of primary and secondary research. Detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year.Market related factors such as technological developments, product innovation, expansion of infrastructural facilities by major and small health care IT players, and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size. Growth rates for each segment within the global health care information systems market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, drug development life cycle, and regulatory requirements. These factors would help the market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and expand their share in the global market.Global Healthcare Information Systems Market: Segmentation AnalysisBased on application type, the global health care information systems market has been segmented into hospital information systems, pharmacy information systems, laboratory information systems, medical imaging information system and revenue cycle management. The hospital information systems market is further segmented into electronic health record, electronic medical record, real-time healthcare, patient engagement solutions, population health management and others.Pharmacy information systems market is further categorized into prescription management, automated dispensing systems, inventory management and others. Medical imaging information systems market is further segmented into radiology information systems (RIS), monitoring analysis software, picture archiving & communication systems (PACS) and others. Hospital information system is the most promising segment of health care information systems market.In terms of deployment the healthcare information systems market is segmented into web based, on premise and cloud based. The web based segment is expected to gather significant revenue during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024. On the basis of component the market is segmented into software, hardware and services. The software segment is projected to gather highest market revenue during the forecast period increasing demand for data analysis and management. Major end-users of health care information systems include hospitals, diagnostics centres, academic and research institution and others.This exhaustive report includes 48 data tables and 69 figures to give readers a 360 view of the Healthcare Information Systems Market. Browse through this 226-page report to know what factors will shape the market during the period 2016-2024Global Healthcare Information Systems Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the global health care information systems market has been segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The regions have been further segmented by major countries. A global overview has been provided, and the North America region has been analyzed in depth at country as well as application, component, deployment and end-user segment level. The countries in North America section include the U.S. and Canada. The regions of Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa have been briefly profiled at country level.The countries include the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, India, Brazil, Mexico, the UAE, and South Africa. The competition matrix section included in the report is likely to assist the existing players to increase their market shares and new companies to establish their presence in the health care information systems market. The report also profiles major players in the health care information systems market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:Key companies profiled in the report include Cerner Corporation, McKesson Corporation, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc., athenahealth, Inc., and Medidata Solutions, Inc. GE Healthcare, Agfa- Gevaert, Epic Systems Corporation, Siemens Healthineers and NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC.The global healthcare information systems market has been segmented as follows:Global Healthcare information Systems Market, by ApplicationHospital Information SystemsElectronic Health RecordElectronic Medical RecordReal-time HealthcarePatient Engagement SolutionsPopulation Health managementOthersPharmacy Information systemsPrescription ManagementAutomated Dispensing SystemsInventory ManagementOthersLaboratory Information systemsMedical Imaging Information SystemRadiology Information systemsMonitoring Analysis SoftwarePicture Archiving & Communication SystemsOthersRevenue Cycle ManagementGlobal Healthcare information Systems Market, by End-userHospitalsDiagnostics CentreAcademic and Research InstitutionOthersGlobal Healthcare information Systems Market, by ComponentSoftwareHardwareServicesGlobal Healthcare information Systems Market, by DeploymentWeb-basedOn PremiseCloud-basedGlobal Healthcare information Systems Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaAsia PacificChinaJapanAustralia & New ZealandRest of APACEuropeU.K.GermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaUAESouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaRequest a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Healthcare Information Systems Market during 2016- 2024About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Medical Image Analysis Software Market Research Report: Industry Insights, Outlook and Forecast upto 2024 Medical Image Analysis Software Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/medical-image-analysis-software-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=5306 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Medical Image Analysis Software Market: OverviewMedical imaging is a process and technique for creating visual representations of the anatomical and physiological functions taking place inside the human body. Depending on the technique used the analysis of bones, muscles and organs. Along with the anatomical and physiological functions of the body the study of tumor growth, its movement and other abnormalities can also be detected with the help of medical imaging. The software used in these devices for analyzing and creating an image is of utmost important.The research is a combination of primary and secondary research, conducted for understanding and arriving at trends, used to forecast the expected revenue of the medical image analysis software market in the near future. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts with information collected from in-depth interviews and discussions with a number of key industry experts and opinion leaders. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, investor presentations, analyst presentation and various international and national databases.The report provides estimated market size in terms of US$ Mn for each by software type, imaging type, modality, application, end user, and geography for the period 2014 to 2024, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. The revenue generated from each product was calculated by considering number of products used in the procedures and their market demand as per their use, prevalence rate of disease, number of product launched, annual revenue generated by products of each sub segment, trends in industry, end user trend, and adoption rate across all the geographies.Global Medical Image Analysis Software Market: SegmentationThe global medical image analysis software market is segmented by software type, imaging type, modality, application, end users and geography. By software type the medical image analysis software market is segmented into integrated software and standalone software, by imaging type the medical image analysis software market is segmented into 2D imaging, 3D imaging and 4D imaging. In terms of modality the medical image analysis software market is segmented into CT, MRI, PET, SPECT, Ultrasound, Radiographic imaging and other modalities.By application the medical image analysis software market is segmented into cardiology, orthopedic, oncology, neurology, nephrology, dental, gynecology and others. In terms of end users the medical image analysis software market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, research and academic institutions, diagnostic centers and ambulatory surgical centers. According to geography the medical image analysis software market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.The market report comprises an elaborated executive summary, which includes market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the market with respect to market segments based on modality, technology, end-user, and geography. The market overview section of the report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influences the medical image analysis software market in the current and future scenario.This exhaustive report includes 36 data tables and 108 figures to give readers a 360 view of the Medical Image Analysis Software Market. Browse through this 223-page report to know what factors will shape the market during the period 2016-2024Global Medical Image Analysis Software Market: Competitive AnalysisMarket share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify the contribution of these players in the market in terms of percentage share. All these factors will help the market players to decide about the business strategies and plans to strengthen their positions in the global market. Based on geography, the market has been analyzed for major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The study also covers detailed country analysis contributing majorly in the medical image analysis software market.The report also profiles the major players in the market and provides various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments. Major companies profiled in the medical image analysis software market are GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Hologic Inc., Pie Medical Imaging, Media Cybernetics, Inc., AQUILAB, MIM Software Inc., Merge Healthcare Incorporated., ScienceSoft USA Corp., and others.The medical image analysis software market has been segmented as follows:By Software TypeIntegratedStandaloneBy Imaging Type2D imaging3D imaging4D imagingBy ModalityCTMRIPETSPECTUltrasoundRadiographic imagingOther ModalitiesBy ApplicationCardiologyOrthopedicOncologyNeurologyNephrologyDentalGynecologyOthersBy End UsersHospitalsClinicsResearch and academic institutesDiagnostic centersAmbulatory Surgical CentersBy GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaEuropeU.K.GermanySpainItalyFranceRest of EuropeAsia PacificIndiaJapanChinaAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and AfricaSouth AfricaSaudi ArabiaU.A.E.Rest of MEARequest a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Medical Image Analysis Software Market during 2016- 2024About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Tele-Intensive Care Services Market : Demand and Development, Key Players Analysis, Trends and Forecast to 2026 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12713 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tele-intensive-care-unit-market.html www.transparencymarketresearch.com As per an article in the Permanente Journal a journal of medical science, social science in medicine, and medical humanities, the cost of treating critically ill patients crosses US$67 bn per year in the U.S. alone. The mortality rate is around 10% and even reaches up to 28% in ICU settings. In order to limit ICU deaths, healthcare professionals and hospital managers are actively exploring tele-intensive care services. This keen interest by healthcare professionals in tele-intensive care services is owing to the number of benefits these services can offer to providers and receivers of critical care. Tele-intensive care units have helped patients in keeping medication errors in check and have decreased the length of stay (LOS) in ICUs. This is driving the global tele-intensive care services market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Tele-intensive Care Unit (ICU) Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.The report on global tele-intensive care services market is enriched with fruitful information, statistics, and data, which holds the potential to benefit readers. It provides a basic overview of the tele-intensive care services market including definition, classifications, applications, and industry chain structure.For the purpose of giving a clearer picture to the readers, the growth and decline of each of the segments have been given in the report along with the underlying reason behind the state of the segment. The leading segment and sub-segment and also the fastest growing segment are given.Overview of the Tele-intensive Care Services MarketThe demand for tele-intensive care services is driven by the rapid adoption of telemedicine among people across the globe. The rising number of patients requiring intensive care is burdening hospitals and as such, the adoption of tele-intensive care services is an ideal solution. Moreover, there is an increased interest and confidence among healthcare professionals in remote patient monitoring. This is fueling the growth of the market globally. Additionally, the cost and time savings associated with the ability to make quick decisions by the adoption of these services will further boost their demand.The centralization of the massive amount of patient data will aid the interest of healthcare professionals in tele-intensive care services. The decreased hospital stay and the reduced risk of hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are some of the other factors encouraging the adoption of tele-intensive care services. The adoption of tele-intensive care services helps medical practitioners to monitor any important signs in patients and also receive alerts in case of deviations in the set health parameters of a patient. Moreover, the implementation of tele-intensive care services prevents hospital-setting related issues from occurring.According to TMR, tele-intensive care services will be centered on IoT and various smart medical devices in the future. An increasing number of hospitals are realizing that the adoption of these services can be very profitable after the initial cost of investment has been recovered. This is further expected to encourage other hospitals to adopt these services, thus driving the global tele-intensive care services market.The global tele-intensive care services market is segmented on the basis of type, component, and geography. By product, the market is segmented into hardware and software. Hardware components are further categorized into therapeutic devices, communication lines, computer systems, physiological monitors, display panels, and video feeds. By type, the market is segmented into intensivist, open, co-managed, open with consultants. By geography, the market can be segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report studies key players operating in the global tele-intensive care services market. These include: Advanced ICU care, inTouch health, UPMC Italy, INTELEICU, iMDsoft, INOVA, and Philips. The business and financial overview, recent products and developments, and the strategies implemented by each of the companies are given in the report.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisHighlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Anesthesia Monitoring Devices Market - Evolving Technology, Trends and Industry Analysis 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13403 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/anesthesia-monitoring-devices-market.html www.transparencymarketresearch.com Anesthesia in basic term is insensitivity to pain. It is used to induce unconsciousness during a surgery. The anesthesia monitoring devices, are used to check a patients response toward anesthesia during a surgical process. The requirement of these devices depend upon the type of surgery being performed and it differs in every case. These devices help the anesthetics to monitor the dose of anesthesia. Proper monitoring of the patient reduces the risks involved in anesthesia and surgery.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Anesthesia Monitoring Devices Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Global anesthesia monitoring devices market can be segmented into products and end users. By product, it is segmented into integrated anesthesia workstation, basic anesthesia monitors, others (IT enabled) and advanced anesthesia monitors. Advanced anesthesia monitors are segmented into gas monitors, standalone capnography monitors, depth of anesthesia, and MRI compatible anesthesia monitors. These devices are more accurate and reliable in monitoring anesthesia. Anesthesia can be monitored with different methods, such as EEG Monitors, ECG, bi-spectral index (BIS) obtained from EEG, oxygen and carbon dioxide analyzers, and temperature monitors. Other monitoring instruments can be included, depending on patients condition, the type of surgical procedure, and the type of anesthesia used. Hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, clinics and nursing homes form the major end-users for anesthesia monitoring devices. The number of ambulatory service centers, availability of advanced infrastructure and presence of skilled personnel in hospitals have contributed towards growth of anesthesia device market.With the new surgical procedures the expectancy of life in individuals has extended. The geriatric population is highly prone to degenerative diseases and chronic illnesses which has caused an increased verge on surgeries and therapeutics. This demands for continuous monitoring, thus would drive the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market. The integrated devices with decision support systems and advanced monitoring capabilities not only monitor complex parameters such as inhalation anesthetics, end-tidal concentrations of carbon dioxide and oxygen levels and transcutaneous oxygen saturation but also provides data analysis to help clinicians take decisions related to surgical and therapeutic interventions. But, presence of conventional techniques and high cost of devices and are some of the restraining factors for growth of this market. Also, there are certain side-effects involved, such as cognitive disturbance and post-surgery delirium related to anesthesia, in elderly patients, which is again a raising concern amongst physicians. These concerns have led to research studies which aim in analyzing impact of anesthesia administration on geriatric patients.Geographically, North America is observed to be the largest anesthesia monitoring devices market due to growing number of surgeries which has raised the awareness among surgeons about the benefits of anesthesia monitoring devices. Also due to extensive technological advancements and rising competition in the market, there is a demand for sophisticated and persistent technological advancements for better result. Asia Pacific is also expected to witness high growth due to unmet wants of large population and the developing healthcare network which is expected to impulse the growth of anesthesia monitoring devices in this region. Moreover, the reimbursement facilities, government funding sources, and increased healthcare awareness has also made easier the usage of advanced techniques in anesthesia monitoring.The report includes mergers & acquisitions, recent developments and new product launches of leading players in the market. The major players in the anesthesia monitoring devices market are Baxter International, Inc., Cardinal Health, Draegerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, GE Healthcare, Heyer Medical AG, Intersurgical Limited, Medtronic, Inc., Mindray Medical International Limited, Nihon Kohden Corporation, Philips Healthcare, and Smiths Medical, Inc. New collaborative developments and new product techniques are some strategic initiatives taken by the industries to retain oneself in the competition.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological break throughsThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)TMR estimates the market size of various sectors using a combination of available data on the number and revenue of companies within each sub-sector and tiers of companies. The basic components used to determine market size and forecast for a specific product area are not only limited to supply-side data, but are also related to demand, industry trends, and the economic outlook. All the above data points are utilized to generate a statistical model targeting the sector marketplace. More than 300 TMR analysts across the world integrate these elements into a framework to determine the subsector market size for a base year and then forecast growth within each market.TMR regularly interviews technology and business professionals as an ongoing effort to track the latest developments within each sector. These continuous surveys are stratified by company size and industry segment and weighted to reflect the global market place. All data are collected on an ongoing effort through a structured questionnaire rolled over the web or conducted via telephones. This provides the TMR team opportunities to request for detailed question sets, complex skip patterns, and real-time calculations, which assists respondents in answering questions involving numbers and percentages. Respondents, who are interviewed as experts, are screened and qualified based on certain criteria in addition to their decision-making authority and the scope of activity within their organizations.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment Market : Key Trends & Industry Forecast 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13220 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/degenerative-disc-disease-treatment-market.html www.transparencymarketresearch.com Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment Market: OverviewDegenerative Disc Disease treatment is one of most common cause of neck pain and lower back pain and greatly affects the quality of ones life. The symptoms of pain arise due to degeneration of one or more intervertebral discs of the spine. This pain condition is called as Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) or Degenerative Disc Disorder. Intervertebral discs, also known as intervertebral fibrocartilage or spinal discs form padding between each vertebra of the spine and acts as shock absorber for vertebrae. These discs tend to degenerate with age due to loss of fluid in them and development of cracks and tears in the fibrous layer of the disc. Most of adults experience a back pain at some point in their lifetime and the pain or impairment of mobility is observed in as many as 80% of healthy adults between the ages of 30 and 50. Moreover, every person of age 65 and above is likely to be affected by this disease in form of stiffness and decreased flexibility. Therefore, tremendous population is vulnerable to this disease and poses significantly high market opportunity for degenerative disc disease treatment market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Most often nonsurgical methods are utilized for treating degenerative disc disease. These treatment methods include physical therapy and chiropractic treatment along with pain relieving drugs such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). However, surgery becomes inevitable if the symptomatic treatments are ineffective and the pain hinders normal activity of patient. There are several surgical options available today for treating degenerative disc disease from which a choice can be made. These include corpectomy, discectomy, facetectomy, foraminotomy, intervertebral disc annuloplasty, intervertebral disc arthroplasty, laminoplasty, laminotomy, percutaneous disc decompression & percutaneous laser disc decompression, spinal decompression, and spinal laminectomy.Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment Market: Products LandscapeThe products used during these surgeries vary depending on the type of surgery and may include one or more products. The medical products for these treatments include bone graft substitute, metal plate and screws, stabilization implants and in certain cases artificial disc replacement or total disc replacement is also recommended. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) recently approved CHARITE Artificial Disc and PRODISC-L Total Disc Replacement of DePuy Synthes (a Johnson & Johnson Company) for lumbar disc replacements. The artificial discs for cervical disc replacement available in the market include include Mobi-C Cervical Disc, PRESTIGE Cervical Disc System, ProDisc-C Total Disc Replacement, BRYAN Cervical Disc, SECURE-C Cervical Artificial Disc, and PCM Cervical Disc System.Degenerative Disc Disease Treatment Market: Competitive InsightSome of the companies in the global degenerative disc disease treatment market include Aesculap AG, Axio Med Spine Corporation, Disc Motion Technologies, Inc., EDEN SPINE, LLC, FlexisMed SA, ErgoSpine, Nexgen Spine, Inc., NuVasive, Inc., Ranier Technology Limited, SpinalMotion, Inc., Stryker Corporation, LDR Holding Corporation, Theken Disc, LLC, Zimmer, Medtronic, Inc., DePuy Synthes (a Johnson & Johnson Company), Biomet, Inc., and Amedica Corporation.The market is, however, restrained due to several factors such as lack of reimbursement, unavailability of long term safety data for surgical treatment of degenerative disc disease. Some of the major companies in the market such as DePuy Synthes, LDR Holding Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., and Stryker Corporation are conducting extensive exercise of collecting evidence for several products in treatment of degenerative disc disease. The positive results from these studies are expected in near future which will boost confidence among payor community and help the market grow to next level.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth insights, understanding market evolution by tracking historical developments, and analyzing the present scenario and future projections based on optimistic and likely scenarios. Each research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology developments, types, applications, and the competitive landscape.The study is a source of reliable data on:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insightsOpportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, North Africa)Browse Global Strategic Business Report:TMR estimates the market size of various sectors using a combination of available data on the number and revenue of companies within each sub-sector and tiers of companies. The basic components used to determine market size and forecast for a specific product area are not only limited to supply-side data, but are also related to demand, industry trends, and the economic outlook. All the above data points are utilized to generate a statistical model targeting the sector marketplace. More than 300 TMR analysts across the world integrate these elements into a framework to determine the subsector market size for a base year and then forecast growth within each market.TMR regularly interviews technology and business professionals as an ongoing effort to track the latest developments within each sector. These continuous surveys are stratified by company size and industry segment and weighted to reflect the global market place. All data are collected on an ongoing effort through a structured questionnaire rolled over the web or conducted via telephones. This provides the TMR team opportunities to request for detailed question sets, complex skip patterns, and real-time calculations, which assists respondents in answering questions involving numbers and percentages. Respondents, who are interviewed as experts, are screened and qualified based on certain criteria in addition to their decision-making authority and the scope of activity within their organizations.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Sales Market Analysis on Global Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017 Global Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017 https://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-567432.html http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/ This report studies the Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top manufacturers in global and major regions, and splits the Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.The major players in global Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) market include ARMOR Group, Belectric, AGC, Mitsubishi Chemical, Heliatek, Henkel, Solarmer, CSEM Brasil, Sumitomo Chemical, Toshiba, Heraeus, BASF, DisaSolar, EMD Performance Materials.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaOn the basis of product, the Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) market is primarily split intoPN Junction StructureDye-sensitized Nanocrystalline Solar Cells (DSC)On the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversMobile Phone ChargerWearable DeviceBuildingPower GenerationOtherAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Organic Photovoltaics(OPV)2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Organic Photovoltaics(OPV)3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Organic Photovoltaics(OPV)4 Global Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Overall Market Overview5 Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Regional Market Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Segment Market Analysis (by Type)7 Global 2012-2017E Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Segment Market Analysis (by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Organic Photovoltaics(OPV)9 Development Trend of Analysis of Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market10 Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of Organic Photovoltaics(OPV)12 Conclusion of the Global Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 201613 Methodology and Data SourceRelated Reports:Global Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017Europe Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017China Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017India Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017USA Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017Japan Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017South Korea Organic Photovoltaics(OPV) Market Professional Survey Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchTina| Sales ManagersEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com Tel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch focus on Market Survey and ResearchQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District Southeast Asia Pet Care Market to Grow at a CAGR of 6.8% by 2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-45 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-45 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers incisive insights into emerging regions in its latest report titled, Southeast Asia Pet Care Market Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2014 - 2020. The report states that the SEA pet care market is mainly driven by the burgeoning trends of pet humanization and increasing adoption of private label brands in countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.FMI analyst P.S. Neha sheds light on why the SEA pet care market will become one of the major markets in the region in the near future: Growth of the pet care market across Southeast Asia is driven by increasing adoption and humanization of pets. Pet owners are now more inclined towards more nutritious, healthy and organic foods for their pets.By type, the overall SEA pet care market is segmented into dog food, cat food, pet products and others. Dog food is the major segment in this region, accounting for a 51.6% share of the market in 2014; however, this is expected to decrease by 30 BPS by 2020.Request For Sample@This report also covers the pet care market by category and by channel. On the basis of channel, the market is segmented into supermarket, pet shop, veterinary clinic and others. The supermarket segment is the leading distribution channel in the SEA pet care market. However, veterinary clinics are anticipated to exhibit the fastest CAGR at 7.1%, followed by supermarket at a 6.8% CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to a shift in consumer buying habits and an increasing inclination of pet owners to purchase health and wellness products from reliable sources such as veterinary clinics.Furthermore, by category, the market includes economy-priced, mid-priced and premium-priced products.Improving consumer lifestyles and increasing disposable income in Southeast Asian countries has resulted in a growing acceptance for pets, not only among the high-income group, but also the middle-income group. In 2014, Thailand was the dominant country in the overall Southeast Asia pet care market with a 43.62% share, followed by Malaysia and Indonesia, accounting for 21.74% and 15.47% respectively.Send An Enquiry@The pet care market in the Philippines is expected to register a significant CAGR of 8.4%. This is expected to be followed by Vietnam at a CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period.Innovation remains the key to gaining a competitive edge in the SEA pet care market, especially in the pet food category. Companies such as Nestle Purina, Zoetis, Mars, Inc. and Merck & Co., account for over 50% of the overall market share and constantly focus on mergers and acquisitions to expand their geographical presence and customer base.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT: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: Global 5G Technology Market Overview, Top Key Players, Industry Growth and Analysis by Forecast to 2023 GLOBAL 5G TECHNOLOGY MARKET https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2988 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/5g-technology-market-2988 Market Highlights:The increasing high speed and large network coverage demand from various applications such as gaming, driving and video conferencing among others is expected to boost the 5G technology market growth. It is expected to enhance the mobile network performance capabilities which in turn is expected to boost the 5G technology market. Also, the increasing adoption of mobile broadband and the increasing need for data transfer by less power consumption is expected to boost the market.The features offered by 5G Technology Market comprises of large bandwidth, high resolution, detailed traffic statistics, and supervision tools for quick action is expected to boost the 5G technology market over the next few years. The market is expected to grow from 2020.Major Key Players: Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (China) Nokia Networks (Finland) NEC Corporation (Japan) Ericsson (Sweden) Qualcomm (U.S.) Verizon Fios (U.S.) Orange (France), Broadcom Corporation (U.S.) Mobile Tele Systems (MTS) (Russia) AT&T Inc. (U.S.) Cisco Systems, Inc (U.S.)Request a Sample Report @Global 5G Technology Market:According to Market Research Future, market has been segmented into usability, technology, applications and region.On the basis of technology, the market has been segmented into Radio Access Technologies (RAT), Wi-Fi, High-Speed Package Access (HSPA), Global System for Mobile (GSM), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).Segments:For the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the market of 5G technology into usability, application and region.Usability Enhanced Mobile Broadband Massive Internet of Things Mission Critical ServicesTechnology Radio Access Technologies (RAT) Wi-Fi High-Speed Package Access (HSPA) Global System for Mobile (GSM) Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).Application Healthcare Consumer Electronics Retail Home Automation Energy & Utility Automotive Industrial Automation Intelligent Buildings and Infrastructure Public Safety & SurveillanceRegion North-America Europe Asia-Pacific RoWRegional Analysis:Regionally, North-America accounted for the largest market share from countries such U.S. among others. The region is attributed to the increasing number of subscribers and also the Federal Communications Commission has already begun its assessment of the allocation of 5G frequencies.However, Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow over the forecast period, 2017-2023. The reason is attributed to large consumer base and ongoing initiatives and developments on 5G technology.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience: Device manufacturers Network Operators Distributors Suppliers Research firms Software Developers Commercial Banks Vendors Semiconductor Manufacturers End-user sectors Technology InvestorsTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Network Usability2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinuedList of TablesTable 1 5G Technology Market, By UsabilityTable 2 5G Technology Market, By TechnologyTable 3 5G Technology Market, By ApplicationContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 5G Technology Market, By Usability (%)Figure 3 5G Technology Market, By Technology (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Solutions, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureMarket Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Aerospace Coatings Market Explores New Growth Opportunities by 2017-2023 Allied Market Research https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2147 Aerospace Coatings Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market was valued at $1,587 million in 2016 and is expected to garner $2,433 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period 2017 - 2023. In 2016, polyurethane resin segment accounted for approximately three-fifths of the total share in terms of revenue.Aerospace coatings is a high-performance coating material that offers high wear resistance to aircraft surfaces. Its ability to protect against corrosion, ultraviolet rays & solar heat, climatic stress, and fog helps reduce the amount of time and cost required for maintenance and repair. These coatings applied to aircraft surface, engines, fuselage components, wings, propellers, landing gears, interiors, and other components reduce the overall weight of the aircraft and improve the fuel economy, thereby reducing CO2 emissions.Rise in number of air travelers, increase in cargo traffic, and growth in international trade has led to the development of the commercial aviation industry which is anticipated to fuel the market. Increase in investment in military & defense sector in countries such as the U.S., Mexico, China, India, and Russia is further expected to drive the market growth. Moreover, development of chrome-free technology is projected to act as a market driver during the forecast period.Polyurethane resin generated the highest revenue in 2016 and is anticipated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. It has high degree of resistance to the damaging effects of ultraviolet rays from the sun. Moreover, it has high resistance to abrasion, staining, and chemicals.However, several regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the U.S. and Registration Evaluation Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) of Europe on the usage of a wide range of solvent-borne coatings having high toxic solvents, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) such as chromium and lead-based heavy metals is projected to hamper the market growth during the forecast period.Key Findings of Aerospace Coatings Market: Asia-Pacific is expected to continue to lead the market in terms of value during the forecast period, followed by North America Polyurethane resin type segment generated the highest revenue and is projected to grow at a highest CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period. Commercial aviation is the largest end-use industry in aerospace coatings market, registering highest CAGR 6.8% during the forecast period. Europe accounted for approximately more than one-fourth share in the aerospace coatings market in 2016. The aerospace coatings market in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR from 2017 to 2023Asia-Pacific and LAMEA collectively contributed approximately two-fifths of the market share in 2016, as cost of flying has increased owing to the rise in the economy and disposable income of the people in various countries such as India, China, Brazil, Indonesia, and Korea.Request For PDF Brochure of Aerospace Coatings Market Report Study @The key players operating in the global concrete admixtures market are Akzonobel N.V., BASF SE, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Hentzen Coatings, Inc., IHI Ionbond AG, Mankiewicz Gebr. & Co., Mapaero, PPG Industries, Inc., The Sherwin-Williams Company, and Zircotec Ltd.About Us:Allied Market Research is the best destination for your research and analytical solutions; simply because our primary and secondary sources of information are adroit to give one stop solutions. We creatively combine primary and secondary research in correct proportion to have the best report which not only provides latest information but also helps you grow.Our generated reports and analysis gives an all-round view of industrial trends, complete picture of market forces and industrial growth rates.We have in-house one of the best teams that use very fair means to gather information which is scrutinized at every stage. Their vision and liveliness makes work swift and creates the best research reports. Our professional analysts have a great range of experience and expertise that make work accurate and error free. We work as a bridge between you and very crucial business information that can go waste otherwise. Hence, our bridge is strong and constructed on the core value of trust, integrity and authenticity.5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285Fax: +1-800-792-5285help@alliedmarketresearch.com Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market Anticipated to be Valued at US$ 788.4 Mn by 2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-694 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-694 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights (FMI) announces the release of its latest report titled, Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015 - 2020. According to the report, the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market was valued at US$ 402.0 Mn in 2014 and is expected to reach US$ 788.4 Mn by 2020, registering a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period, 2015 to 2020.Global continuous glucose monitoring systems market is driven by increasing number of diabetic patients and growing number of geriatric people across the world. Moreover, usage of advanced technologies such as artificial pancreas in continuous glucose monitors and increasing awareness of people towards diabetes are driving growth of the continuous glucose monitoring systems market. However, high prices of continuous glucose monitors and inadequate reimbursement policies pose a challenge for growth of the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market.Request For Sample@The global continuous glucose monitoring systems market is segmented on the basis of end use sector, components and geography. Moreover, company wise market share has also been indicated in the report. By end use sector, global continuous glucose monitoring systems market is sub-segmented into household and hospital & diagnostic centers. Household is a larger segment as compared to hospital & diagnostic centers and is expected to dominate the continuous glucose monitoring systems market throughout the forecast period exhibiting a CAGR of 11.9%. The household segment held 68.5% market share in 2014 and expected to account for US$ 538 Mn by 2020, owing to the convenience and ease of use offered by continuous glucose monitors at home. Hospitals & diagnostic centers sub-segment accounted for approximately 31.5% of the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market value share in 2014, and is expected to gain market share to account for 31.8% of the global market by 2020.On the basis of component, the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market is sub-segmented into transmitter & monitors, sensors and insulin pumps. Among the aforementioned sub-segments, transmitter & monitors is expected to dominate the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market with over 39% market share throughout the forecast period. Owing increasing trend of sedentary lifestyle in some developing and developed economies such as India, China and Japan, and increasing obesity rate globally, demand for continuous glucose monitoring is expected to increase significantly in the near future.Send An Enquiry@Value wise share in the report has been provided for key players in the market, which includes Medtronic, Dexcom, Abbott and cumulative share of other players. Medtronic dominated the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market in 2014 and is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period, expanding at a CAGR of 11.2%.Geography-wise, North America was dominant, accounting for over 50% of the global continuous glucose monitoring systems market in 2014 in terms of revenue. However, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) is foreseen to witness a relatively high CAGR during the forecast period.Competitive LandscapeKey players considered in the continuous glucose monitoring systems market include Medtronic, Dexcom, Abbott, OmniPod, Animas, Glysens, Roche, Ypsomed and Bayer.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT: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: Dermatology Diagnostic Devices and Therapeutics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 Dermatology Diagnostic Devices and Therapeutics Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/dermatology-diagnostic-devices-therapeutics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=8908 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ As the incidence of chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis, acne, rosacea, eczema, cell carcinoma, pruritus, and dermatitis increases globally, in return it will create opportunities for the expansion of the dermatology diagnostic devices and therapeutics market. Besides, having an adverse impact on the well-being of millions, these diseases also put burden on an economys healthcare finances. As per Transparency Market Research (TMR), skin conditions such as these permeate all cultures, they can occur at any age, and affects 30% to 70% individuals globally. The situation necessitates the efficient research and development on novel dermatology therapeutics.The global dermatology diagnostic devices and therapeutics market will therefore gain from the rising prevalence of such chronic ailments, increasing geriatric population, and the changing pool of patients. However, with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the looming patent expirations, the growth trajectory of the market is likely to be hindered to an extent. Nevertheless, TMR projects positive growth for the market between 2015 and 2023.Rising at a CAGR of 6.9% between 2015 and 2023, the global market for dermatology diagnostic devices is poised to reach US$1 bn 2023, from a valuation of US$0.6 bn in 2014. Conversely, the global dermatology therapeutics market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 1.9% during the forecast period, rising from a valuation of US$17.5 bn in 2014 to US$20.1 bn in 2023.This 136 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Dermatology Diagnostic Devices Market. Browse through 43 data tables and 24 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Regionally, North America has emerged at the fore of the dermatology diagnostic devices and therapeutics market. The region constituted a share of 43.8% in 2014, thus sealing its dominance in the global market. Besides witnessing a growing prevalence of skin disorders, North America also boasts easy access to best-in-class healthcare facilities. This makes the region very lucrative for most companies operating in the market. Growth witnessed by the dermatology diagnostic devices and therapeutics market in the region has been a result of the presence of a highly structured healthcare industry and access to well-designed reimbursement policies.The dermatology diagnostic devices market stood at US$245.1 mn in North America and is projected to reach US$470.4 mn by the end of 2023, thus exhibiting a CAGR of 7.6% during the period. The dermatology therapeutics market in the region however is expected to report moderate growth in the forecast period. It is poised to surge at 2.1% CAGR between 2015 and 2023.While Europe is expected to emerge as the second-largest market for dermatology diagnostic devices and therapeutics, the distinction of the fastest growing market will remain with Asia Pacific. The latter is expected to demonstrate the fastest CAGR of 2.4% during the forecast period. The presence of large pool of geriatric population in Asia Pacific, apart from increasing healthcare spending in the emerging economies is boosting prospects for the market in the region. The increasing government support will also prove lucrative for the enterprises operating in Asia Pacific.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Dermatology Diagnostic Devices Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:In the dermatology diagnostics market, the demand for imaging equipment is rising at a high pace. The segment also accounted for the dominant share of in the market in 2014 based on revenue. The lead of this product segment is largely attributed by the high price of imaging equipment. However, TMR projects the demand for high sensitivity imaging equipment to rise at a faster pace in the near future due to their proven result in diagnosis of chronic skin diseases.By drug class, antibacterial drugs accounted for the largest share in the global dermatology therapeutics market. This segment is projected to report a CAGR of 3.3% during the forecast period. The demand for these drugs are expected to increasing in the forthcoming years because they have proven efficient treating and preventing infections. Furthermore, the demand for topical antibacterial drugs and oral antibiotics is also expected to rise in the future due to their use in the treatment of various skin conditions.Some of the leading companies operating in the global dermatology diagnostic devices and therapeutics market include Astellas Pharma, Inc., Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Novartis International AG, Cutera, Inc., Galderma S.A., Dino-Lite Europe/IDCP B.V., Genentech, LEO Pharma A/S, Michelson Diagnostics Ltd., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., and others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Agricultural Robots Market Size Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2024: Global Market Insights Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1327 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1327 https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com This Agricultural Robots report is an exhaustive research on companys active in advanced technology sector, its applications, products, end-users, trends and predictions on how the market will grow in coming years.Global Agricultural Robots Market size is expected to witness a growth at a significant rate during the forecast period. The focus on increased productivity and farm efficiency, automation leading to minimized use of labor, efficient use of natural resources, population growth, constant innovation in technology, a decline in the availability of workforce and less time-consuming nature are the propelling factors for the growth of the market. The high cost involved in hiring skilled labor and increased pressure on food supply are also the factors leading to the emergence of agricultural robots. The agricultural robots market is expected to receive support from government authorities in the future.Irregular mobile and internet connectivity in remote areas can limit the growth of agricultural robots. The other challenge is to guide the farmers about the new agricultural model. Stringent safety and hygiene regulations need to be followed for adopting the new agricultural technology as the robots contribute to quality and freshness of food. Against this backdrop of drivers and restraints, the market is forecasted to grow at a fast pace in the coming years.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Agricultural robots are also known as AgriBots, AgBots and FarmBots. Robots have already transformed the agriculture industry, and with the invention of agricultural drones, they have set a different standard for farming. They are mainly deployed for harvesting the crops. The robotics in agriculture have helped the farmers in identifying the weeds and hoeing. The next strategy in agricultural robotics is to develop autonomous robots which will locate the weeds in crop rows and take a precise action to eliminate them. Agricultural robots lead to lower costs in farming, functioning without fatigue, better quality of yield produced and reduced damage to the soil. They use the technologies involved in computing, navigation, mobility, localization and sensing. The key strategy to build economical robots is to adopt the existing commercial vehicles in the market. The companies engaged in manufacturing of robots are focused on the agricultural industry.Agricultural robots market has been classified into types, applications, offerings and regions. Based on types, robot market is divided into unmanned aerial vehicles, milking robots, driverless tractors and automated harvesting systems. Based on application, the agriculture robot market is segmented into field mapping, soil management, irrigation and pruning management, dairy farm management, harvesting management, weather tracking and estimation and inventory management.Make an inquiry for buying this report @Based on offerings, the market is divided into hardware, software and services. Hardware for automation and control includes display, GPS, mobiles, steering and guidance and application control devices. Hardware for monitoring and sensing devices comprises of soil sensors such as nutrient, temperature and moisture sensors, yield monitors, water and climate sensors. The software is cloud based and web based. The services include consulting and system integration, connectivity services, assisted professional services, support and maintenance services and managed services such as data services, analytics and farm operation services.Based on region, the market of agriculture robot has been segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. North America had the highest market share in 2015. Europe and Asia Pacific are the next in queue. Due to the high investment in machinery, Asia Pacific is expected to grow with the highest CAGR.National Institute of Food and Agriculture has provided grants to stakeholders to promote the use of robots in Americas agricultural fields. Some of the key market players are DeLaval, Harvest Automation, Agrobot, Lely, BouMatic Robotics, Yamaha, Kuka, ABB Robotics, Blue River Technology, PrecisionHawk Inc., Georgia Tech Agricultural Robots and IBM.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Connect with us: Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter Smart Lighting Market Overview, Growth Rate, Development and Outlook to 2025 The Insight Partners http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/smart-lighting-market http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000112 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPTE100000112 The smart lighting is a technology that enables its users to govern the lighting of any space without being surrounded by unnecessary wires. Smart lighting is a part of upcoming IoT technology, facilitating mobile and sensor based control on the luminosity of lights in a particular space. The intelligent connected lighting offers ecofriendly environment and effectively reduces the consumption of energy. The global Smart Lighting market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.1% during the forecast period 2016 2025 and accounts for US$ 51.05 Bn in the year 2025.Complete report is available atThe global smart lighting market is fragmented on the basis of lighting Type into. Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lamp, Fluorescent Lamps, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL), High Intensity Discharge Lamps and Others (Neon Lamps and Photographic Flashes). Furthermore the segmentation is based upon application of smart lighting viz. Industrial lighting, Commercial lighting, Residential lighting, Outdoor lighting, Automotive lighting and Government. According to the geographic regions, the market is segmented into Europe, Middle East & Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific (APAC), North America and South America (SAM). With many developing countries in the region of Middle East and Africa, it is expected to have the highest CAGR of 24.4% during the forecast period.The shortcoming of a wireless system are occasional disturbance in communications among the devices. When a wireless lighting system is installed in a place, one should always make sure that the keypads, processors and dimmers are within a specific range. For example, some old residential buildings may be constructed with metal wire integrated in the walls that might create disturbance or weaken the signals of a wireless system. Though it has certain drawbacks, it is expected to capture more than half of the lighting market in next few years. Thus, maximum companies are switching their product portfolio to wireless smart lighting solutions. Major players in this segment are Philips, GE, OSRAM and Daintree.Request sample copy is available atNow a days wireless connectivity is taking a leap over the wire abled connecting networks as wireless is more convenient to use. First this technology was used in the telephones now called as the mobile phones and since then the wireless technology has revolutionized the way things were viewed. Wireless technology has given its consumers freedom from the limited range of the wired devices.The wireless technology has become an integral part of day to day lifestyle. Wireless technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RF Ids are experiencing high adoption rate among users. The rising popularity of wireless technology in lighting solution is thus considered to be one of the major reasons driving the smart lighting market. The wireless lighting solutions are easy to control and help its customers to attain maximum energy saving.The lighting hardware is highly integrated and dependent on the software platform being used. As there is no common standard for wireless smart lighting products, the complete idea of various smart lighting devices networked together and the entire process of networking becomes complicated. For example, Philips employs ZigBee Light Link, GreenWave uses NXP JenNet-IP and Insteon uses its own wireless technology and all these are incompatible with each other. This incompatibility would result in inconvenience for the user as the choice of products and services will get limited by the platform being used, or else the entire operation of smart lighting would get complicated.Inquire before buying atMajor players in the global smart lighting market comprises of Osram Licht AG (Germany), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.A), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherland), Eaton Corporation PLC. (Ireland), Digital Lumens Inc. (U.S.A), Lutron Electronics Company Inc. (U.S.A), General Electric Company (U.S.A), Legrand SA (France), Streetlight.Vision (France) and Acuity Brands Lighting Inc. (U.S.A).among others.About Us:The Insight Partners is a one-stop industry research provider of actionable solutions. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are specialist in industries such as Technology, Media, and Telecommunication.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Elevator Automation Market Size, Share, Overview and Development Scenario 2025 The Insight Partners http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000125 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/elevator-automation-market http://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPTE100000125 Automated elevators make use of advance technology for enhancing efficiency, achieving proper vertical movement of elevators and enhancing traffic management. Smart elevator help to achieve increased energy efficiency and advanced destination dispatch solution. These systems further provide latest digital security measure (such as access control systems), and touch screens. Embedded with automated features, automated elevators have more benefits over the traditional lifts.Request sample copy is available atThese elevators come with pre-fitted automated features that significantly contribute in reduction of waiting time, hence fueling the global elevator automation market. The growing need for energy efficient elevators for conservation of energy wasted during operations has led to implementation of automated elevators. Furthermore, increasing concern for development and security of the constructed (residential, commercial & institutional) premises has fueled the demand for the elevator automation market globally. Additionally, rapid urbanization and increased expenditure on constructional projects has triggered the need of automated elevators and associated control systems.The major factor hindering the global elevator automation market is high manufacturing cost of automated elevators. Additionally, the huge installation cost of automated elevators into buildings restraint the growth of global elevator automation market. Due to above mentioned reasons, the adoption rate of automated elevators is very low and it is expected the impact of this factor will subside during the forecast period.Complete report is available atFurthermore, owing to the rapid advancement in computer and automation technology, the concept of smart elevators is expected to be soon casted into products (smart automated elevators), thereby anticipated to boost the global elevator automation market. Security being the main concern to propel the demand for more advanced and sophisticated elevators, thus, smart elevators are deployed at entry point systems to prevent unauthorized access and tailgating. They also provide adequate safeguards through various identification and validation techniques. Moreover, energy efficiency and centralized controls are expected to be key factors for the adoption of smart elevators. The regulations and standards made regarding increased efficiency and energy conservation are expected to add to the growth of the global elevator automation market.The global elevator automation market has been segmented based on services into installation services, repair & maintenance services, and modernization services. Additionally, the global elevator automation market is fragmented on the basis of products such as elevator access controls & security, automation and controls, biometrics, touchscreens and keypads, card reader, security controls, sensors, and elevator modernization. In addition, the global elevator automation market is segmented based on applications which includes residential sector, commercial sector, industrial sector, institutional sector, and infrastructure sector.Inquire before buying atGeographically, the global elevator automation market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM). Currently, developed regions such as North America and Europe aiming for better infrastructure and launch of technologically advanced products are leading the global elevator automation market. Owing to large number of potential users, the elevator automation market in APAC is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period. The key players of global elevator automation market includes KONE Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., Bosch Security Systems, Fujitec, Thyssenkrupp AG, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Hyundai Elevator Co., Ltd., Otis Elevator Company, Schindler, Honeywell International Inc., and Tyco among others.About Us:The Insight Partners is a one-stop industry research provider of actionable solutions. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are specialist in industries such as Technology, Media, and Telecommunication.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Level Sensor Market Share, Key Players and Growth Rate Report 2025 The Insight Partners http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/level-sensor-market http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000126 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPTE100000126 Level sensors are used to detect the level of liquids, fluids and fluidized solids. Level sensors include various sensing technologies and applications types. On a broader level, the level sensors market is divided into two categories as still-level sensors market (fluidized solid materials) and flow-level sensors market (liquids objects).With advancement in digital electronics, level sensor products features such as user friendly, reliability, easy accessibility and cost reduction have been enhanced which is analyzed to drive the growth of the level sensor market. Additionally, government regulations within the industrial and power sectors are further expected to drive the global level sensor market. Implementation of multipurpose level sensors for manufacturing and vehicle production industries further adds to growth of the level sensor market. Another factor leading to significant growth of the level sensor market is miniaturization of level sensors.Complete report is available atWith rapid growth and presence of a number of manufacturing industries within APAC, the level sensor market in APAC is expected to foster during the forecast period. Although, the current market is dominated by contact based level sensors, strong growth in non-contact based level sensing segment is expected during the forecast period. Organizations are coming up more advanced non-contact based level sensors such as microwave, load cells, ultrasonic, laser, optical, and nuclear level sensors, which are beneficial over contact based level sensors.With more emphasis on research and development (R&D) for nanotechnology and enhancing the level sensing applications and products to match the enhancement in technologies, the global level sensor market is expected to foster significantly. Multinational companies such as Siemens AG, ABB Ltd., Emerson Electric Co., Honeywell Sensing & Control including others are investing heavily in acquisitions and R&D activities for innovative development within the non-contact based level sensing technologies. However, wide usage of thin film technology for production of sensing products hinders the level sensor market. Implementation of different technologies for manufacturing of similar level sensing products is another major issue faced by the suppliers.Request sample copy is available atThe global level sensor market has been bifurcated on basis of technology into contact based level sensors and non-contact based level sensors. Furthermore, the market has been segmented based on monitoring type as level sensors monitoring for solids, level sensors monitoring for liquid, and level sensors monitoring for both solids & liquids. Additionally the global level sensor market has been classified by applications, namely: consumer sector, ICT & computing sector, industrial sector, automotive & transportation sector, energy & utility sector, healthcare sector, agricultural sector, and military & defense sector.The global level sensor market has been divided into five regions based on geography as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM). With a number of advanced manufacturing units, North America leads the global level sensor market. Government progressive initiatives in developing nations such as China, India, and Brazil for waste water treatment are expected to drive the level sensor market. Asia Pacific (APAC) is believed to be the key region for global level sensor market, owing to technology advancements and increasing demand for high performance sensors.Inquire before buying atSome of the key players operating within the global level sensor market include Pepperl+Fuchs AG, Vega GmbH, Gems Sensors & Control Co., Magnetrol International, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc., Endress+ Hauser AG, ABB Ltd., and Siemens AG among others.Level sensors are used to detect the level of liquids, fluids and fluidized solids. Level sensors include various sensing technologies and applications types. On a broader level, the level sensors market is divided into two categories as still-level sensors market (fluidized solid materials) and flow-level sensors market (liquids objects).About Us:The Insight Partners is a one-stop industry research provider of actionable solutions. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are specialist in industries such as Technology, Media, and Telecommunication.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Global Industrial Automation Market Overview, Top Key Players, Industry Growth and Analysis by Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2212 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/industrial-automation-market-2212 Market Highlights:In this rapidly changing environment, companies are expanding their scale of operations by increasing investments. In industrial automation innovation is very beneficial. Industrial automation has become worldwide. Different countries are exploring ways for industrial automation. Robotics in industrial automation has established a trend in industrial automation.Internet of things (IoT) is considered as a major component with respect to industrial automation therefore industries adopting Internet of Things which has increased the demand for industrial automation. There was a recent report from the United Nation about the industrial automation which stated that there are high chances that industrial automation would disrupt the labor market. This has become a threat for industrial automation.The Industrial Automation Market is growing rapidly over 6% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD 149 billion by the end of forecast period. Cost reduction, high efficiency in the process and ability to provide the overall information and initiate early stage development for the products are the major driving factors of this market.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Industrial Automation Market -Forecast to 2022.Major Key Players: Siemens AG (Germany) ABB Ltd. (Switzerland) Emerson Electric Company (U.S.) General Electric Company (U.S.) Schneider Electric SE (France) Honeywell International, Inc. (U.S.) Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan) Yokogawa Electric (Japan) Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.)Request a Sample Report @Industrial Automation Market Segmentation:The Industrial Automation Market has been segmented on the basis of type, technology, and end user. Looking through the industry segments its been observed that manufacturing industry would expect a substantial increase in industrial automation sector.Whereas metals and mining, oil and gas, automotive and transport industries are also leading industries in industrial automation sector. These industries are showing a positive growth towards industrial automation.Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of Industrial automation market is being studied for region such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and Rest of the World. The ongoing global trend towards greater industrial automation is being reflected in an increase in the number of industrial robots into the US.Currently, there has been news in Japan that factory automation has paved a way for establishment of robot training centers. There has been an upward trend in industrial automation in the Asia pacific nations including Vietnam. It is proved that using industrial robots helps saving time and increasing product quality and production capacity leading to improve the competitiveness. This factors are expected to drive the industrial automation market in Asia-Pacific Region.Market Research Analysis:Market Research Future Analysis shows that there are many organizations which are lagging in industrial automation but there is an expectation of sudden hike in industrial automation. It has been observed that many companies are getting incentives for increasing their investment in industrial automation. The major benefits of industrial automation are increase in production, quality and replacing labor intervention. These factors would definitely increase the industrial automation market very soon.Regional analysis for industrial automation market is studied in different geographic regions as Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. It has been observed that Europe would account for larger share in industrial automation sector followed by North America and Asia-Pacific. Asia-Pacific countries like Japan, China, and Korea, also the south East Asian countries like Vietnam are also showing progress in field of industrial automation.Browse Full Report Details @Intended Audience: Process Automation and Instrumentation Manufacturers Industrial Robot Manufacturers MES (Manufacturing Execution System) and MOM (Manufacturing Operations Management) Players System Integrators Government Organizations Research/Consultancy firmsTable of Contents1 Market Introduction1.1 Introduction1.2 Scope of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions1.2.3 Limitations1.3 Market Structure2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Network Solution2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research2.4 Forecast Model2.4.1 Market Data Collection, Analysis & Forecast2.4.2 Market Size EstimationContinuedList of TablesTable 1 Industrial Automation Market, By TypeTable 2 Industrial Automation Market, By TechnologyTable 3 Industrial Automation Market, By End-UserContinuedList of FiguresFigure 1research Network SolutionFigure 2industrial Automation Market: By Type (%)Figure 3industrial Automation Market: By Technology (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Solutions, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureMarket Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Hand Tools Market to Grow at a CAGR of 3.9% Till 2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1114 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1114 www.futuremarketinsights.com Competitive advantage of adopting power tools has lowered the adoption of hand tools. Multiple industrial operations are being equipped with power tools to benefit from their cost-effectiveness, lesser labour-induced work and higher efficiency. Furthermore, advancements in existing power tools are swiftly outpacing the upgrades done on conventional hand tools. In the long run, there is a possibility that hand tools might lose their applicability to power tools. Future Market Insights projects that during the forecast period 2017-2027, the global market for hand tools will showcase a moderate growth, registering a CAGR of 3.9%.Future Market Insights recently published report, titled Hand Tools Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2027, estimates the global hand tools market to reach US$ 15.6 Bn value by end of 2017. In the ten-year forecast period, the global demand for hand tools is likely to witness a downtrend, bringing in just over US$ 22.3 Bn in revenues towards the end of 2027. Factors impacting the growth of global hand tools market are compiled in the report, which include:There has been a rise in the number of major manufacturing plants and industries in the world, wherein hand tools are widely used for maintenance purposesRequest For Sample@Automotive repair & maintenance sector is presently a lucrative industrial vertical for application of hand toolsAlthough, the global demand for hand tools is predicted to decline due to rising prices of raw materials such as iron ore and aluminiumIncreasing prevalence of DIY activities and rising employment opportunities for technical jobs are observed as key trends of the global hand tools market. The report further reveals that a majority of hand tools sold in the world will be used for industrial purposes. In 2017, industrial application of hand tools is expected to net global revenues worth over US$ 9.3 Bn. Key findings in the report also indicate that metal cutting tools will be observed as top-selling products, registering a steady revenue growth at 4.9% CAGR. Also, throughout the forecast period, over 40% of global hand tool sales will be accounted by retail distribution channels. Online distribution of hand tools is also expected to gain traction towards the latter half of forecast period.Send An Enquiry@North America is estimated to remain as the most-lucrative region for growth of hand tools market. Consistently procuring one-third share on global revenues, North America will remain the dominant region in the global hand tools market through 2027. On the other hand, the hand tools market in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region will register fastest revenue growth, exhibiting 6% CAGR over the forecast period. Companies such as Channellock, Inc., Akar Tools, Ltd., Apex Tools Group, Wera Tools, Snap-On, Stanley Back Decker, Kennametal Inc., Klein Tools, and JK Files (India) Limited are profiled in the report as key manufacturers of hand tools in the world.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT: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: Global Nylon Cable Ties Market 2017 - Hua Wei, HellermannTyton, Thomas & Betts, Panduit https://goo.gl/s8z5O9 https://market.biz/report/global-nylon-cable-ties-market-2017/95584/ https://market.biz http://ereports.market/ https://market.biz/reports/ The Nylon Cable Ties Market 2017 examines the performance of the Nylon Cable Ties market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Nylon Cable Ties market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Nylon Cable Ties market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Nylon Cable Ties Market 2017 report includes Nylon Cable Ties industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Nylon Cable Ties Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Nylon Cable Ties Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Nylon Cable Ties Market 2017:1 Hua Wei2 HellermannTyton3 Thomas & Betts4 Panduit5 Avery Dennison6 Advanced Cable Ties7 Cobra8 Cabac9 3M10 SapiSelco11 Ever-Ties Cable Tie System12 Novoflex13 Davico Industrial14 Surelock Plastics15 KSS16 Bay State Cable Ties17 Partex18 YY Cable Accessories19 Changhong Plastics Group20 XINLONG21 Longhua Daily22 HONT ELECTRICAL23 FVC24 Yueqing Xinguang25 Yueqing Yu Tai Plastic26 Yueqing Huada Plastic27 Yongda Plastic28 Yueqing Zhengde29 HuoJu Plastic30 Fengfan ElectricalNylon Cable Ties Market Analysis: By ProductPA66 Cable TiesPA6 Cable TiesOtherNylon Cable Ties Market Analysis: By ApplicationElectronic CommunicationsElectrical ProductAutomobile IndustryOthersAt the beginning, the report covers the top Nylon Cable Ties manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Nylon Cable Ties report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Nylon Cable Ties industry, Nylon Cable Ties industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Nylon Cable Ties Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Nylon Cable Ties research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Nylon Cable Ties market revenue worldwide.Finally, Nylon Cable Ties market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Maharashtra, IndiaTel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Market Research Reports-Latest Reports- Global Waterproof Camera Market 2017- Canon , Fujifilm , Kodak, Nikon , Olympus Global Waterproof Camera Market 2017 http://bit.ly/2rD6OKf https://market.biz/report/global-waterproof-camera-market-2017/95684/ https://market.biz/ http://firstnewshawk.com/ The Global Waterproof Camera Market 2017 examines the performance of the Waterproof Camera market. It encloses an in-depth judgment of the Waterproof Camera market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Waterproof Camera market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Waterproof Camera Market 2017 report includes Waterproof Camera industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Waterproof Camera Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Waterproof Camera Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Waterproof Camera Market 2017:1 Canon2 Fujifilm3 Kodak4 Nikon5 Olympus6 Panasonic7 Pentax8 Polaroid9 Ricoh10 SeaLife11 Sony12 Vivitar13 Bell+Howell14 Coleman15 KodakWaterproof Camera Market Analysis: By ProductCommon CameraDisposable CameraWaterproof Camera Market Analysis: By ApplicationProfessionalAmateurAt the beginning, the report covers the top Waterproof Camera manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Waterproof Camera report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Waterproof Camera industry, Waterproof Camera industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Waterproof Camera Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Waterproof Camera research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Waterproof Camera market revenue worldwide.Finally, Waterproof Camera market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News- Global WiFi Access Point Market 2017- Aerohive Networks, Inc. , Aruba , Cisco Systems, Inc. , D-Link Corporation, EnGenius Technologies Global WiFi Access Point Market 2017 http://bit.ly/2qzzU9g https://market.biz/report/global-wifi-access-point-market-2017/95686/ https://market.biz/ http://firstnewshawk.com/ The Global WiFi Access Point Market 2017 examines the performance of the WiFi Access Point market. It encloses an in-depth judgment of the WiFi Access Point market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of WiFi Access Point market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global WiFi Access Point Market 2017 report includes WiFi Access Point industry volume, market Share, market Trends, WiFi Access Point Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, WiFi Access Point Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global WiFi Access Point Market 2017:1 Aerohive Networks, Inc.2 Aruba3 Cisco Systems, Inc.4 D-Link Corporation5 EnGenius Technologies6 Extreme Networks, Inc.7 Fortinet, Inc.8 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.9 NETGEAR, Inc.10 Proxim Wireless Corporation11 Ruckus Wireless, Inc.12 Sophos Ltd.13 TP-LINK Technologies Co., Ltd.14 Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.15 Xirrus, Inc.WiFi Access Point Market Analysis: By ProductAd-hocInfrastructureWiFi Access Point Market Analysis: By ApplicationOfficeResidentialOtherAt the beginning, the report covers the top WiFi Access Point manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the WiFi Access Point report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of WiFi Access Point industry, WiFi Access Point industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. WiFi Access Point Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The WiFi Access Point research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the WiFi Access Point market revenue worldwide.Finally, WiFi Access Point market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News- Pipeline Monitoring Systems Market Pit Falls, Present Scenario and Growth Prospects from 2017 to 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1616 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1616 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/machine-condition-monitoring-market https://www.gminsights.com Based on region, North America is projected to showcase the highest market growth during the forecast period owing to increasing demand of oil & gas in this region, technological advancements and enhancements in pipeline infrastructure. North America, Europe, and MEA regions have vast chemical industries and oil fields resulting in the requirement of pipelines and their tracking systems. Thus, the systems demand has witnessed a tremendous growth. Asia Pacific is expected to present a significant growth rate owing to increased use of these monitoring systems and heavy fuel consumption for petrochemical industries in emerging economies.Pipeline Monitoring Systems Market size is estimated to grow at a significant CAGR between 2016 to 2024. Increasing demand for leak detection, intense monitoring needs owing to enhanced pipeline infrastructure, and rising oil & gas demand in emerging economies have catapulted the industry growth globally. Laying of underwater and underground pipes, and rising demand of these systems in emerging economies owing to urbanization and industrialization has gained prominence in pipeline monitoring systems market size from 2016 to 2024.Increasing need for preventing oil and gas leakages in pipes and storage tanks owing to high pressures and during natural disasters will drive the industry growth. Growing trend of innovative production for pipeline monitoring and need for safe transportation of resources without wastage will fuel the industry demand. Stringent government regulations for secure monitoring and constant upgradation will positively support the pipeline monitoring market share over the forecast timeline.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Lack of funds in infrastructure development, and political instability will pose a threat to the industry. Lack of awareness about security implementations among operators, large scale physical security, and computational errors within internal systems also present a challenge to the industry growth. Higher maintenance costs for additional sensors and infrastructure, and multi-site facilities will restrain industry growth.Incorporated and multi layered systems using digital acoustic sensing, Internet of Things (IoT), are emerging technologies in this market. Moreover, manufacturers are heavily investing in R&D activities for meeting stringent government regulations and mandatory standards regarding oil & gas industrial waste management.Close monitoring and controlling hazardous fluids for safe operations has become essential as pipes are susceptible to cracks, internal and external corrosion, production faults, and external damages. Manufacturers are investing heavily on R&D for innovation of technologies in pipeline monitoring systems market for its usage in oil & gas sector.Moreover, increasing use of sensors and electronics will control and monitor the operations thus protecting these monitoring systems from any internal damage such as corrosion or nozzle stress. Benefits of these enhanced systems such as longer lifecycles, enhanced reliability, easy maintenance, and cost effectiveness will surge the business growth.Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based maintenance system called RAMP combining RFID technology, robotic sensing for accurate tracking, precise geo-location information, and efficient reparation will emerge as another trend in this market from 2016 to 2024. RAMP provides scalable, feasible, safe, and customizable solutions for its major application that can be witnessed in large variety of sewer, water, and gas pipelines.Based on technology, pipeline monitoring systems market can be categorized into ultrasonic, smart ball, PIGs, magnetic flux leakage. Ultrasonic technology had the largest market share in 2015. Smart ball segment is anticipated to exhibit the fastest growth rate owing to its increasing demand by oil and gas industry. Easy installation and ability of long inspection from single installation are the features that catapult the segments growth. Smart ball is used by many companies to detect the leakages.Make an inquiry for buying this report @By application, industry can be divided into break detection, leak detection, and operating efficiency. Leak detection is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the forecast timeframe owing to the changing preferences of many oil & gas companies towards improvised pipeline monitoring and rising investments on enhanced infrastructure. Moreover, the benefits include automation of processes for increasing productivity, examining asset conditions and alarm alerts during unauthorized events.The consulting segment is anticipated to dominate the market in the forecast timeline. Increasing inclination of consumers towards data base decision making and risk associated with it will drive this segment over the forecast timeframe.Pipeline monitoring systems market players include Honeywell International, ABB group, Siemens AG, Schneider electrics, GE company, Perma Pipes, Orbcomm Inc., BAE, PSI AG, Pure technology, TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., Huawei, CLampon AS, Atmos International, Future Fiber technologies, Senstar Inc., Syrinix, Pentair PLC, and few others.Browse Related Reports:Machine Condition Monitoring Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Development, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2023About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Global Self Mending Fuse Market 2017 - Tyco Elelctronics, Polytronics, Bourns, Wayon https://goo.gl/sJxCgv http://qyresearch.us/report/global-self-mending-fuse-market-2017/ https://market.biz/ http://qyresearch.us/categories/ http://firstnewshawk.com/ The Self Mending Fuse Market 2017 examines the performance of the Self Mending Fuse market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Self Mending Fuse market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Self Mending Fuse market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Self Mending Fuse Market 2017 report includes Self Mending Fuse industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Self Mending Fuse Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Self Mending Fuse Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Self Mending Fuse Market 2017:1 Tyco Elelctronics2 Polytronics3 Bourns4 Wayon5 Keter6 Littelfuse7 BrightKingSelf Mending Fuse Market Analysis: By ProductSelf Mending Fuse Market Analysis: By ApplicationAt the beginning, the report covers the top Self Mending Fuse manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Self Mending Fuse report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Self Mending Fuse industry, Self Mending Fuse industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Self Mending Fuse Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Self Mending Fuse research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Self Mending Fuse market revenue worldwide.Finally, Self Mending Fuse market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.QY Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.QY Market Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. The company aims to fulfill market research requirements of both national and international clients. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.S no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Market Research Reports-Browse Latest News- Electronic Toll Collection Market Present Scenario and Growth Prospects from 2017 to 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1615 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1615 https://www.gminsights.com An outlook on electronic toll collection market growth is presented in this latest research report that reviews industry growth drivers, trends, regional factors & companies as well as provides forecasts for next few years. Electronic Toll Collection Market size is likely to register considerable growth rate in the coming years. Rising demand of effective traffic management owing to increasing on-road traffic and necessity of time savings will drive the electronic toll collection market growth.Enhanced features of these systems such as lesser waiting time, assuring convenience of drivers and operators, cashless travelling facility, less environmental pollution, and reducing traffic congestion at collection plazas are the benefits offered by this technology. Stringent government regulations and standards regarding toll collection coupled with increasing adoption of these systems in urban areas and highways will result in increasing demand of these systems.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Dependency on government approvals for adoption of electronic toll collection systems will restrain the business growth over the forecast timeframe. High installation costs, along with significant operating & maintenance cost, and less deployment in underdeveloped economies will hinder the industry growth. Moreover, lack of standardization and interoperability of these systems pose a threat to electronic toll collection market share over the forecast timeline.Electronic toll collection market size is expanding rapidly to cater to the growing demand of safe infrastructure. Technological advancements in this industry have forced the governments across the globe to make heavy investments on toll lanes. Positive government support in framing new standards and regulations regarding implementation of these systems and tolling has catapulted the industry growth. These systems are beneficial for companies and traffic agencies as they help to reduce costs by eliminating the requirement of multiple plazas. Furthermore, these systems positively impact the environment by reducing the exhaust emissions made during stoppages at manual booths.Dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) and radio frequency identification (RFID) are the technologies gaining prominence in electronic toll collection market. RFID system utilizes information embedded tags that are read by specifically designed RFID readers. It helps to eliminate manual collection and ticket payments need. RFID card stores the information on records and is rechargeable. Moreover, it allows drivers to pass through the booths without stopping.Global networking satellite systems (GNSS) and global positioning system (GPS) will also challenge the traditional systems. GNSS tolling uses Global networking satellite systems (GNSS) sensors in-built in the vehicles and is used mostly in urban areas. This technology is also applicable in insurance, controlling vehicle emissions, and parking. High demand of these systems in Asia Pacific acts as an opportunity for this market. Moreover, emerging all electronic tolling (AET) and open road tolling (ORT) has paved the way for a wide scope in this industry.Based on products, industry is divided into antennae, transponders, treadles, scanning devices, inductive loops, weigh-in motion devices, film storage devices and cameras. Various subsystems in this segment are Automatic vehicle identification (AVI), violation enforcement systems (VEC), automatic vehicle classification (AVC), back-office & integration. AVI segment is anticipated to dominate the market in the forecast timeline owing to its features such as cost-effectiveness, reliability, and secure collection.Based on technology, the industry can be categorized into dedicated short range communications (DSRC), radio frequency identification (RFID), global networking satellite systems (GNSS), and global positioning system (GPS). RFID and DSRC technologies currently exhibit an exponential market share and are anticipated to dominate the market in the forecast timeframe owing to their wide applications. GNSS and GPS technologies are expected to showcase a significant growth rate during the forecast timeline owing to their increasing deployment globally in these systems.On the basis of applications, industry can be segmented into urban areas, bridges, and highways. Highways are anticipated to account for a major market share in the forecast timeline owing to tremendous increase in installations of electronic toll collection systems across the globe. Moreover, rising on-road traffic has also propelled this segments growth. Urban areas and bridges are projected to showcase a significant growth rate and wide scope owing to increasing urbanization.Make an inquiry for buying this report @North America is expected to dominate the market share during the forecast timespan owing to heavy deployment of electronic toll collection systems in the developed economies. Stringent government regulations and mandatory standards will propel the industry demand in this region.Asia pacific is predicted to showcase an exponential growth rate over the forecast timeline owing to high demand of these systems in the emerging economies such as China, India, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. Increasing traffic and development of road infrastructure has led to these systems demand, thus fueling the industry growth.Competitors of the industry include Transurban Limited, Transcore Holdings Inc., Sensor Dynamics, Xerox Corporation, TRMI Systems Integration, G.E.A, SAIC, Perceptics Inc., Q-free, Thales Group, Cubic Transportation Systems, EFKON AG, Kapsch TrafficCom AG, 3M, Connect East, Atlantia SpA, and International Road Dynamics. The industry players focus on continuous upgradations and innovations of these systems for gaining the competitive edge. For instance, on April 7, 2017, Halifax Darmouth Bridge Commissions selected Transcore Holdings Inc. to upgrade the toll systems for Mackay and Macdonald bridges in Canada.The differentiating factor of electronic toll collection market report by Global Market Insights, Inc. when compared with other, similar syndicated research studies includes a 360-degree synopsis of trends for a period of more than 10 years including historic information as well as future outlook.Business focussed multiple trends for electronic toll collection industry are discussed along with regional trends to offer an overall view of the market. The industry insights chapter of this research provides the most comprehensive analysis of electronic toll collection market covering segmentation, size, forecasts, ecosystem analysis and more. Industry impact forces (regional and global) that cover growth drivers and challenges, growth potential analysis, a strategy dashboard for competitive landscape of electronic toll collection market support this sector specific data and information points.Regionally, Global Market Insights, Inc.s electronic toll collection market research has the most in-depth, country focused estimates and forecasts for decision makers across the globe. An exhaustive list of company profiles for organizations active in the electronic toll collection market supports the regional analysis and information offering a competitive outlook on the industry. For each segment analyzed in this research, whether it is by product, application, material or end-use, a regional overview with historical data and electronic toll collection market forecast is provided to the reader. Such a cross-segmentation research analysis is also unique to reports by Global Market Insights, Inc.Reasons to Buy This Report Global Electronic Toll Collection Market size & forecast by product & application. Growth drivers, pitfalls & industry challenges. Key Electronic Toll Collection Market growth opportunities & emerging business models. Competitive benchmarking with market share analysis and company profiles.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Industrial Packaging Industry Business Development Analysis and Future Challenges by 2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1613 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1613 https://www.gminsights.com The latest industrial packaging market analysis and research report talks about major applications of industrial packaging, growth of these segments as well as offers insights into companies active in this industry and their information. Industrial Packaging Market size is likely to expand at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Increased international trade demands for product safety and robust packaging option to overcome damage occurred by environmental factors and transportation will drive the global industrial packaging market. This enables the manufacturers to provide easier distribution and reduce transportation losses occurred by the damage through the protective wrapping.Rising globalization and international trade are supporting the industry growth. Growing commercial industries such as chemical, pharmaceutical, construction and electronics sector further propels the demand. The developed economies are the highest producers and consumers of these products. Whereas increasing demand in emerging economies will further drive the industry growth.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Increasing expenditure in R&D for materials and supporting government policies will further increase the demand. Technological advancements such as digital printing and use of robotics in workshops will result in maximizing shelf life of the product, efficient use of resources and minimizing the waste thereby increasing the revenues.However, pricing pressure on small vendors hinders the industry growth. Low and reduced profit margin to the manufacturers decreases the industry attractiveness owing to numerous local vendors. Low penetration of the market in developing countries hinders the industrial packaging market growth. Use of bio degradable raw material for packing provides future growth opportunities for the manufacturers. Stringent government regulations regarding environment and employee safety encourages the use of bio degradable materials such as PLA and PHA plastic.The industrial packaging market can be segmented by product into drums, intermediate bulk container (IBC), crates, sacks, pails, tubes, and bulk boxes. IBC type is extensively used for the covering. Plastic sacks are replacing paper & jute sacks owing to its benefits such as low cost, light weight, durability etc.The industry is classified by material into metal, plastic, paper and wood and fiber. The plastic material segment is the most preferred type by the manufacturers owing to its various properties such as cost effective than other materials, can be molded in to specific shape & size and durability.By type, the industry can be classified as rigid and flexible packing. Flexible segment includes paper & plastic whereas rigid segment includes wooden, metal and plastic. Increased use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in place of heavy metal cans will impact positively on the market. The flexible type especially flexible plastic is expected to show higher growth rate owing to technological leaps in this segment.By end use or application, industrial packaging market cater to various industries such as agriculture & horticulture, building & construction, automotive, chemicals & pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, engineering, metal products, plastic & rubber, electronics, and furniture. Food & beverage segment dominated overall demand and used more than 65% of flexible packing in 2015. This segment is expected show similar trend during the forecast period 2017 to 2024.Make an inquiry for buying this report @North America is expected to show steady growth rate during the forecast period owing to developed economy, transport, and delivery infrastructures. Growing occurrence of chronic disease and increasing aging population will increase the demand in pharmaceutical and chemical segment in North America. The use of robotic systems for packages is expected to increase in demand in U.S. with the introduction of Food Safety Modernization Act.Germany and Italy are the major countries in Europe in terms of production of packaging machinery. Their major export countries include Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Malaysia and Iran. Thus, increased export of machinery in these countries will increase the demand for industrial packaging market.Asia-Pacific region is estimated to record fastest growth in terms of rising industrialization. Increased demand is characterized by quick adoption of technological advancements, rising volume of OEMs which drives the competitors to reduce the cost per package and provide sustainable products. Moreover, low labor cost, huge scope for FDI and stable growth in industries such as automotive, construction and healthcare will impact positively foe industry growth this region.Indian industrial packaging market size exceeded USD 30 billion in 2015 and is estimated to grow over 15% CAGR. The Indian region accounts for 4% of global packaging industry. Growing packaging machinery market in Asia, Africa will further increase the demand for this industry. Enhanced automation, integrated systems and shorter turnaround time are some of the growth factors for industry growth in this region.Some of the major companies in industrial packaging market are Sealed Air corporation, Amcor Limited, International paper, WestRock, Tekni-Films, Mondi Group, Sonoco, Bemish company, Schutz, AmeriGlobe, Mauser Group, Orora Group, B.A.G. Corporation, Greif Inc, Bulk handling, East India Drums & Barrels manufacturing, Chem-Tainer industries, Corr-Pak Corporation, Halsted, Sigma Plastics Group, Wuxi Sifang Drums Limited company, Nefab, Hoovers Container Solutions, Intertape Polymer Group, Jumbo Bag, and LC packaging. The manufacturers are focusing on providing low cost, environmental friendly packaging solutions for the end users.This latest industrial packaging Market research report offers in-depth analysis, key industry insights, market sizing & forecast on a granular level for key products, applications across number of regional markets. The report also analyzes the industrial packaging industry from business strategy perspective, describing in detail growth drivers, pitfalls &challenges for participants, accompanied by a detailed competitive benchmarking including company market share analysis and detailed business profiles.Reasons to Buy This Report Global Industrial Packaging Market size & forecast by product & application. Growth drivers, pitfalls & industry challenges. Key Industrial Packaging Market growth opportunities & emerging business models. Competitive benchmarking with market share analysis and company profiles.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market Outlook to 2020 Latest Industry Forecast Report http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/remote-patient-monitoring-devices-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=401 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Transparency Market Research, a global market intelligence firm, has recently announced the publication of a new research report to their collection. The research report, titled Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, provides a detailed study on the global remote patient monitoring devices market.According to the report, in 2013, the global market for remote patient monitoring devices was worth US$0.38 bn and is anticipated to reach US$0.98 bn by the end of 2020. The market is expected to register a progressive 14.20% CAGR between 2014 and 2020. The rising economic burden on medical clinics and hospitals for patient admission is the major factor propelling the global remote patient monitoring devices market in the forecast period. However, the inadequacy in maintaining the security and privacy of the data is the key factor hampering the growth of this market.This 95 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market. Browse through 12 data tables and 29 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:On the basis of type, the global market for remote patient monitoring devices has been divided into breath monitors, physical activity monitors, heart monitors, hematological monitors, and multi-sign monitors. The growing prevalence of various chronic diseases that need constant monitoring, such as blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders, is driving the global market for monitoring medical devices. In 2013, the heart rate monitors segment led the overall market due to the rising prevalence of cardiac diseases across the globe.On the basis of end-use, the global market for remote patient monitoring devices is classified into ambulatory care centers and home healthcare. In 2013, the ambulatory care center segment held the biggest share in the global remote patient monitoring devices market. The dominance of this segment is due to the growing geriatric population, as aging people are at a greater risk of developing various infections and diseases. Nevertheless, the home healthcare segment is also expected to grow at a fast pace in the forecast period.On the basis of major geographies, the global market for remote patient monitoring devices has been segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World. In terms of revenue generation, the North America region dominates the global remote patient monitoring devices market and is also anticipated to remain in that position throughout the forecast period. The dominance of this region is due to the growing geriatric population and increasing healthcare cost in the U.S., making the remote healthcare monitoring treatment option attractive.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market during 2014 2020:In addition, the rising incidence of diabetes in this region is another factor that is anticipated to boost the demand for hematology monitoring devices in the global remote patient monitoring devices market. On the other hand, the Asia Pacific remote patient monitoring devices market is projected to witness rapid growth due to several factors including the increasing costs of healthcare services and the booming medical tourism industry in countries such as Thailand and India.Furthermore, the research report analyzes the competitive landscape of the global remote patient monitoring devices market based on key criteria such as company profile, financial overview, business strategies, and recent developments. Some of the key players mentioned in the research report are Honeywell HomMed LLC, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., AMD Global Telemedicine, Covidien plc, Omron Healthcare, Aerotel Medical Systems, Smiths Medical, and Abbott Laboratories.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: At a CAGR of 11.09%, Global Industrial Wireless Sensors Market to rise over the Forecast period 2017-2021 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1059741 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Latest Research Report titled " Global Industrial Wireless Sensors Market 2017-2021 " features Key Market Players Analysis, Market Challenges, Market Drivers and Market Trends.The global industrial wireless sensors market is extremely dynamic, with the rapid technological advances strengthening its products and applications. The need for monitoring and analyzing real-time data is one of the major factors spurring the use of industrial wireless sensors. These industrial sensors are transducers that alter a physical quantity into electrical signals. The signal indications are processed through an electronic automation system and portray physical variations or error signals in the device or instrument. Based on this, industrial wireless sensors are classified into the following types: flow, temperature, pressure, gas sensors, and others. The 'others' segment includes proximity, level, position, bio, velocity and vibration sensors. These industrial sensors have a high degree of precision, reliability, range, variety and sensitivity, and enable advanced control and automation of industrial processing units.The global industrial wireless sensors market to grow at a CAGR of 11.09% during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global industrial wireless sensors market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report focuses on the current and forecast market conditions of the major industrial wireless sensor products and the end-users, which will impact the growth of the market.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Industrial Wireless Sensors Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- ABB- Honeywell International- Rockwell Automation- Siemens AGOther prominent vendors- Baumer- Curtiss-Wright Corporation- Danfoss- Emerson- General Electric- JUMO- ProTAACS- SCHMIDT Technology- Schneider Electric- Shanghai Yuanben Magnetoelectric Tech- Shenzhen Sensor Electronic Technology- SIKO- Texas Instruments Incorporated- Johnson Controls International plc- Yokogawa Electric CorporationKey questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?About UsResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Composite Repairs Market : Manufactures and Key Statistics Analysis 2017 - 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=554 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=554 https://www.tmrresearch.com/composite-repairs-market Global Composite Repairs Market: OverviewThe key role of composites is to restore the structural integrity of a component without hampering the original design strength. Composite repairs are extensively used for damaged structural parts of automotive panels, wind turbine blades, aircraft airframe, boats, and pipelines, among others.On the basis of type, the global composite repairs market can be segmented into cosmetic, structural, and semi-structural. Based on process, the market can be classified into vacuum infusion, autoclave, hand lay-up, and others. The major end users of composite repairs are aerospace and defense, wind energy, automotive and transportation, marine, construction, and pipes and tanks, among others.The report provides an in-depth analysis of market segments and the competitive landscape. The report also profiles major players in the global composite repairs market based on various attributes such as company overview, SWOT analysis, product portfolio, financial overview, business strategies, and recent developments.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Composite Repairs Market: Key TrendsComposites are presently being used in luxury cars or high-end racing cars. However, they are also slowly entering the mainstream passenger cars market. Due to urbanization, the ever-growing demand for automobiles has increased manifold. High and constant demand for automobiles has, in turn, led to the growth of the global composite repairs market. In addition, the use of composites in mass transit is a key factor driving the use of composite repairs in the automotive and transportation segment of the global market. Moreover, the new and advanced commercial aircrafts such as Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 and A380 are expansively using composites in airframes, thereby pushing the growth of the market.There are several materials in the pipeline that are being considered for testing, or are still in the research and development stage, and waiting to be launched. They in turn will give stiff competition to the existing composites, thereby limiting the market growth in the years to come. There are various self-healing composites such as lost wax process, hollow fibers, and Sheffield solid-state healing that can change shape on their own, detect damage, and protect themselves from lighting. These are the materials that are likely to pose a threat to the growth of global composite repairs market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Composite Repairs Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the global composite repairs market can be classified into Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific is expected to exceed other regions and become a large market share holder for composites in the near future. The demand is growing owing to increased expenditure in the aerospace industry. Moreover, two of the most populated countries of Asia Pacific China and India are investing majorly in wind energy. The governments of the said countries are focusing on the generation of clean energy by installing wind turbines. The APAC composite repairs market is also receiving an impetus from the defense industry. In order to increase value-added manufacturing activity, the governments in several Southeast Asian countries are concentrating on maintenance, repair, and operations(MRO) industries and aircraft parts manufacturing as part of their economic development strategy.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Composite Repairs Market: Key PlayersThe global market for composite repairs is highly fragmented. Some of the key players in the market are Fibrwraps, Lufthansa Technik AG, Total Wind Group A/S, Air France KLM E&M, HAECO, UpWind Solution, Technical Wind Services, Citadel Technologies, Milliken Infrastructure, T.D. Williamson, West Systems, WR composites, and Concrete Repairs Ltd.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Automated External Defibrillator Market Size (Value) Worldwide Industry Growth, Share, Trends, Statistics, Opportunities & Forecast up to 2022 https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/69767/?utm_source=OPR-SP https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/69767/?utm_source=OPR-SP https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-automated-external-defibrillator-market-qy-research https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-automated-external-defibrillator-market/?utm_source=RR-SP http://marketsizeforecasters.com/ https://marketsizeforecasters.com/news Global Automated External Defibrillator Industry Report offers market overview, segmentation by types, application, countries, key manufactures, cost analysis, industrial chain, sourcing strategy, downstream buyers, marketing strategy analysis, distributors/traders, factors affecting market, forecast and other important information for key insight.Growing at a steady pace, this Automated External Defibrillator market research values the industry size in USD million terms for 2016 and expected USD million value by the end of 2022 is provided for decision makers and stakeholders interested in Automated External Defibrillator market.Geographically, Automated External Defibrillator market report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Automated External Defibrillator in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering such as North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India.Request a Sample Copy of Global Automated External Defibrillator Market Research Report @Global Automated External Defibrillator market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including such as Philips, Zoll, Medtronic, Laerdal Medical, Cardiac Science, Nihon Kohden, Schiller, HeartSine Technologies, A.M.I. Italia, Defibtech, Metrax GmbH, Mediana, Instramed, METsis Medikal, Mindray, Beijing M&B Electronic, Shenzhen XFT.On the basis of product, global Automated External Defibrillator market report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into: Fully Automated & Semi-AutomatedOn the basis on the end users/applications, global Automated External Defibrillator market report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Automated External Defibrillator for each application, including such as Hospitals, Public Access, Home, Training, OthersEnquire about this report @Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Automated External Defibrillator Market Research Report 2017Automated External Defibrillator Market OverviewGlobal Automated External Defibrillator Market Competition by ManufacturersGlobal Automated External Defibrillator Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)Global Automated External Defibrillator Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)Global Automated External Defibrillator Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeGlobal Automated External Defibrillator Market Analysis by ApplicationGlobal Automated External Defibrillator Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisAutomated External Defibrillator Manufacturing Cost AnalysisIndustrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersMarketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersMarket Effect Factors AnalysisGlobal Automated External Defibrillator Market Forecast (2017-2022)Research Findings and ConclusionFor more information about Global Automated External Defibrillator Market Report @Related Reports: -Global Automated External Defibrillator Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:News:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter Global Oxygen Cryogenic Pump Market 2017- Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ebara Corporation, Flowserve Corporation https://goo.gl/ESuFdX http://qyresearch.us/report/global-oxygen-cryogenic-pump-market-2017/ http://qyresearch.us/ http://askthereporter24.com/ The Oxygen Cryogenic Pump Market 2017 examines the performance of the Oxygen Cryogenic Pump market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Oxygen Cryogenic Pump market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Oxygen Cryogenic Pump market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Oxygen Cryogenic Pump Market 2017 report includes Oxygen Cryogenic Pump industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Oxygen Cryogenic Pump Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Oxygen Cryogenic Pump Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Oxygen Cryogenic Pump Market 2017:1 Sumitomo Heavy Industries2 Ebara Corporation3 Flowserve Corporation4 Fives S.A.5 Brooks AutomationOxygen Cryogenic Pump Market Analysis: By ProductCentrifugalPositive DisplacementOxygen Cryogenic Pump Market Analysis: By ApplicationEnergy & PowerMetallurgyChemicalsElectronicsOthersAt the beginning, the report covers the top Oxygen Cryogenic Pump manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Oxygen Cryogenic Pump report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Oxygen Cryogenic Pump industry, Oxygen Cryogenic Pump industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Oxygen Cryogenic Pump Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Oxygen Cryogenic Pump research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Oxygen Cryogenic Pump market revenue worldwide.Finally, Oxygen Cryogenic Pump market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.QY Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.QY Market Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.Read More-S no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Telephone Numbers:+1(857)2390696+91 9130855334Email ID: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest Market News- Cross-Linked Polyethylene Market : Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=566 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=566 https://www.tmrresearch.com/crosslinked-polyethylene-market Global Cross-Linked Polyethylene Market: OverviewPolyethylene is a commodity plastic that is available at low cost and is easy to process. Due to its thermoplastic nature, it cannot be reprocessed repeatedly; hence crosslinking is required to retain its desirable properties, especially at high temperatures. This process changes the nature of polyethylene from thermoplastic to thermoset, making it more durable.The cross-linked polyethylene market can be broadly classified on the basis of type into high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyolefenic elastomer (POE), and others such as linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). Based on application, the market may be segmented into wires and cables, automotive, plumbing, and others, including dental, groundskeeping, medical, and sports.This report offers an in-depth analysis of market segments and the competitive landscape. The report also profiles major competitors in the global cross-linked polyethylene market based on various attributes such as company overview, SWOT analysis, product portfolio, financial overview, business strategies, and recent developments.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Cross-Linked Polyethylene Market: Key TrendsOn the basis of type, high density polyethylene (HDPE) is a prominent segment of the cross-linked polyethylene market. Cross-linked HDPE has high demand due to its thermosetting nature, which offers better mechanical strength and greater stress crack resistance in comparison to traditional HDPE. Besides this, cross-linked HDPE is expansively used in the production of pipes and tubings to transport gases and cold/hot water and its low cost makes it a rapidly growing segment of the cross-linked polyethylene market. Apart from this, cross-linked HDPE delivers resistance to corrosion, abrasion, cracks, and stress because of its high tensile strength due to intensive cross-linking. On the other hand, high insulation properties of low density cross-linked polyethylene make them ideal for use in cables and wires.In terms of application, plumbing currently accounts for a major share in the market for cross-linked polyethylene. It is used in the construction of water transmission systems and sewer systems. The increasing investment in construction activities, plus several water infrastructure ventures being undertaken by emerging economies, is anticipated to drive market growth.Request TOC of the Report @The automotive industry is also assisting the growth of the cross-linked polyethylene market. For transmission and power distribution channels, cross-linked polyethylene are being heavily used to manufacture battery cables and automobile parts. The demand is expected to grow further due to the increase in hybrid and electronic cars.However, the risk of plumbing disasters and several safety issues are limiting the growth of the global cross-linked polyethylene market.Global Cross-Linked Polyethylene Market: Regional OverviewOn the basis of geography, the cross-linked polyethylene market can be segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. In terms of value and volume, Asia Pacific is slated to witness impressive growth in the market for cross-linked polyethylene over the course of the forecast period. The key factor driving the growth in this region is the large amount of investments made by companies, particularly in the automotive sector. In addition, strong industrial base in the construction sector and several production facilities are being shifted to emerging economies in the region, hence augmenting its growth.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Cross-Linked Polyethylene Market: Key Market PlayersSome of the prominent key players in the global cross-linked polyethylene market are AkzoNobel N.V., The Dow Chemical Company, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Inc., Borealis AG, LyondellBasell Industries, PolyOne Corporation, Arkema Group, 3H Vinacom Co., Ltd, Falcone Specialities AG, and Hanwha Chemicals.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Polyfilm Market To Make Great Impact In Near Future by 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=623 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=623 https://www.tmrresearch.com/polyfilm-market Global Polyfilm Market: OverviewPolyfilms have become an integral part of our daily lives. They are eco-friendly and can be safely used for food packaging. Due to their flexible nature, these films find application in many end-use industries.On the basis of Resin type, the market can be segmented into low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), High-density polyethylene (HDPE), biaxially oriented polypropylene film (BoPP), biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BoPET), and biaxially oriented nylon film (BoPA)The report presents a comprehensive overview of the various factors contributing to the expansion of the global polyfilm market. It also presents insights into challenges that the market could face over the forecast period. The prevailing trends in overall market operations are also studied in the report in detail.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Polyfilm Market: Key TrendsThere are a few factors that are giving impetus to the market growth. They include technological developments in agriculture, rising demand for BoPET films, and increased usage of bio-based polymers. On the other hand, several European countries have stringent government and environmental regulations, limiting the growth of the polyfilm market.In terms of end-use industry, the packaging and agriculture segment is anticipated to witness substantial growth. The increase in population has given a boost to the food packaging industry, thereby raising the demand for polyfilms. Due to their environment-friendly characteristics and long shelf life, polyfilms have an edge over other films in the market. Plus, the improving retail sector is pushing the demand for polyfilms. Besides this, the increasing usage of greenhouse films for increased crop yield is leading to a rise in the demand for polyfilms in the agriculture segment of the market. Polyfilms are also being widely used across beauty and personal care, food and beverages, tobacco, and hygiene industries.Request TOC of the Report @Based on resin type, LLDPE is a key market segment. High mechanical strength, transparency, improved sealing property, glossy appearance, and low production cost are a few of the properties augmenting the demand for LLDPE. LLDPE also performs well when blended with other resins.Global Polyfilm Market: Regional OverviewFrom a geographical standpoint, the global market for polyfilms can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific accounts for a large share in the polyfilm market in terms of volume, owing to the fact that a majority of the polyfilm manufacturers are based in India.China is another promising market for polyfilms in the Asia Pacific region. Companies are spending significant amounts in setting up manufacturing units in this country. Few factors such as increased health awareness, changing lifestyle, and long shelf life of the film is driving the growth of the market. Environment-friendly bio-based polyfilms are also quite popular in China; however due to their high cost, they are losing out to other cheaper alternatives available in the market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Polyfilm Market: Key MarketsThe report profiles some of the prominent competitors operating in the market. It also provides insights into the threats and opportunities that the companies are expected to witness in the coming years. The players in the global polyfilm market include Max Speciality Films, Formosa Plastics Corporation, Chiripal Polyfilm, Cosmo Films, Polyplex Corporation, Uflex Limited, Taghleef Industries, Vacmet India Pvt Limited, Garware Polyester, Jindal Polyfilm, and SRF Limited.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Global Oxidation Dyes Market 2017- Archroma, Huntsman, Kiri Industries https://goo.gl/RE9Jtl http://qyresearch.us/report/global-oxidation-dyes-market-2017/ http://qyresearch.us/ http://askthereporter24.com/ The Oxidation Dyes Market 2017 examines the performance of the Oxidation Dyes market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Oxidation Dyes market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Oxidation Dyes market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Oxidation Dyes Market 2017 report includes Oxidation Dyes industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Oxidation Dyes Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Oxidation Dyes Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Oxidation Dyes Market 2017:1 Archroma2 Huntsman3 Kiri Industries4 Yorkshire5 Milliken Chemical6 RUDOLF GROUP7 Nippon Kayaku8 Sumitomo9 Everlight Chemical10 Atul11 Kyung-In12 Bodal Chemical13 Anand international14 Organic Dyes and Pigments15 Eksoy16 Aarti Industries Ltd17 Osaka Godo18 Setas19 Allied Industrial CorpOxidation Dyes Market Analysis: By ProductOxidation Base (Primary Intermediate) DyesCoupler (Secondary Intermediate) DyesOxidation Dyes Market Analysis: By ApplicationPolyester Fibers, Cellulose Acetate Fibers, etc.Cotton TextilesWool, Silk, Polyurethane FibersOthersAt the beginning, the report covers the top Oxidation Dyes manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Oxidation Dyes report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Oxidation Dyes industry, Oxidation Dyes industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Oxidation Dyes Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Oxidation Dyes research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Oxidation Dyes market revenue worldwide.Finally, Oxidation Dyes market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.QY Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.QY Market Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.read more-S no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Telephone Numbers:+1(857)2390696+91 9130855334Email ID: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest Market News- Rubber Bonded Abrasives Market is Anticipated to Show the Robust Growth During 2017 - 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=635 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=635 https://www.tmrresearch.com/rubber-bonded-abrasives-market Global Rubber Bonded Abrasives Market: OverviewIn comparison to other types of bonded abrasives, the soft nature of rubber bonded abrasives makes them ideal for floor polishing, off-hand tool grinding, fabrication, and precision grinding applications as they do not hamper the quality of metals. Owing to this factor, the demand has increased for rubber bonded abrasives from various industries such as steel, transportation, metal, electronic and electrical, medical, and other heavy industries.The rubber bonded abrasive market can be broadly classified on the basis of application into heavy industries, medical equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, transportation components, and other applications (household, aerospace, and printing). Based on type, the market can be segmented into synthetic and natural.The report provides an in-depth analysis of market segments and the competitive landscape. The report also profiles major players in the global rubber bonded abrasives market based on various attributes such as company overview, SWOT analysis, product portfolio, financial overview, business strategies, and recent developments.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Rubber Bonded Abrasives Market: Key TrendsHeavy industries account for the leading share in the rubber bonded abrasives market based on application. Metal and steel industries are growing in large numbers and they demand rubber bonded abrasives, thereby increasing their application. In addition, grinding and cutting tools such as plumbing tools, screwdrivers, and other specialty tools from heavy industries require rubber bonded abrasives, in turn augmenting the growth. The usage of rubber bonded abrasives can be found in the steel industry as well. During the grinding and extracting processes of different kinds of steel rolls, they are used for removing defects or scales from the surface of slabs.However, being heavier than other bonded abrasives, rubber bonded abrasives can lead to machine constraints. Also, the production of rubber bonded abrasives adds to environmental pollution, limiting the growth of the global rubber bonded abrasives market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Rubber Bonded Abrasives Market: Regional AnalysisOn the basis of geography, the global rubber bonded abrasives market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Due to urbanization, increased investment in heavy and steel industries, and government initiatives, Asia Pacific accounted for the maximum share in the rubber bonded abrasives market in 2015. It is expected to grow at a strong pace through 2026.Two of the most populated countries of Asia Pacific China and India are projected to lead the rubber bonded abrasives market in the said period. Currently, China is the leading market for rubber bonded abrasives, whereas India is expected to register rapid growth. Increasing demand for rubber bonded abrasives from maintenance and cleaning, metal, construction, aerospace, medical, auto ancillaries, food packaging, and heavy industries for cutting and grinding of tools such as plumbing tools, screwdrivers, and other specialty tools is anticipated to drive the rubber bonded abrasives market in these countries. Japan and South Korea are other countries in the region that are contributing to the growth of the rubber bonded abrasives market due to their expanding transportation and electrical and electronic goods industries.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Rubber Bonded Abrasives Market: Key PlayersThe prominent players in the global rubber bonded abrasives market include Atto Abrasive Ltd, Artifex Dr Lohmann Gmbh & Co KG, Y.IKEMURA Co. LTD., Saint Gobain, Marrose Abrasives, Cratex Manufacturing Co., PFERD INC, Abrasivos Manhattan SA, Buehler, Schwarzhaupt GmbH & Co., Buffalo Abrasives Inc., Lowton Abrasive Ltd, Tyrolit Group, 3M Company, and PACER Industries Inc.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Precast Construction Market Expected to Reach $185,232 Million, Globally, by 2022 Precast Construction Market https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1902 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com The global Precast Construction Market size was estimated to be $120,222 million in 2015 and is expected to reach $185,232 million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 6.3%, according to a new report published by Allied Market Research. Non-residential segment is estimated to be the most dominant end user sector in the precast construction market from 2015 to 2022; while Asia-Pacific dominated the market with 46.6% of the global precast construction market share in 2015.Precast construction includes buildings where the majority of the structural components are standardized and manufactured in plants in a location away from the building, and then transported to the site for assembly. These components are manufactured by industrial methods based on mass production to build a large number of buildings in a short time at low cost. Precast construction requires continuous monitoring during the design phase and production planning to improve and speed up the construction.The global precast construction market is segmented based on product type, construction type, and end-user sector. Based on the type of products, the precast construction market is segmented into columns & beams, floors & roofs, walls, staircases, girders, paving slabs, and others. Columns & beams are the most dominant product type constituting for around 24.5% of the overall market in 2015. The columns & beams segment is projected to grow at the CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period, owing to the factors, such as improved work-zone safety for workers, easier material handling, and minimized need for erection of framework.Request For Sample Report @Based on construction type, the precast construction industry is segmented into modular construction and manufactured homes. Modular construction segment dominates the market in 2015 and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period growing at a CAGR of 6.8%. The modular construction market is expected to increase mainly because of over-riding client requirements for speed of construction, improved quality, and for early return of investment. The precast modular construction market was estimated to be $99,236 million in 2015.The precast construction market based on end-user sector is categorized into residential and non-residential segment. Non-residential segment includes infrastructure projects such as tunnels, bridges, flyovers, railway sleepers, metro projects, and others. The non-residential segment also includes stadiums, museums, supermarkets, hospitals, and others. The non-residential segment dominates the market in 2015 accounting for $83,978 million in 2015. The expertise of precast construction companies in project management, design, manufacturing, and on-site erection of precast elements enables them to offer tailored, cost-effective solutions for non-residential constructions.By geography, the precast construction market is analyzed across four regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA along with their prominent countries. Asia-Pacific was the most dominant geographical market in 2015, is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% due to increase in construction expenditure in the emerging countries of China, India, and other South East Asia. Mega projects in petro-chemical, oil & gas, mining & energy, and construction industries are constantly exploring the opportunity within modularization as a way of shortening project timelines, lowering costs, and enhancing project quality.Key Findings of Precast Construction Market Modular constructions market accounted for $99,236 million in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period. Precast girders market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.7%. Non-residential is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing regional market with a CAGR of 7.2%.The key players in the market focus on collaborations, partnerships, and product developments to remain competitive in the market. Some of the key players in the precast construction market include ACS Group, Balfour Beatty plc, Bouygues Construction, Julius Berger Nigeria plc, Kiewit Corporation, Komatsu Ltd, Laing ORourke, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Red Sea Housing Services, and Taisei Corporation.The other companies mentioned in the report include Putzmeister Holding, EBAWE, Elematic Inc. and Weckenmann Anlagentechnik GmbH & Co. KG and Spiroll Precast Services Ltd.About Us:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. The data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.comWebsite:Contact UsPrerna Shiv5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free : +1-800-792-5285UK : + 44-845-528-1300Hong Kong : + 852-301-84916India (Pune) : +91 20 66346060Fax : +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.com Global Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market 2017- Apollo Hospital Enterprise Limited, Revenue https://goo.gl/66n5GU http://qyresearch.us/report/global-outbound-medical-tourism-services-market-2017/ http://qyresearch.us http://askthereporter24.com/ The Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market 2017 examines the performance of the Outbound Medical Tourism Services market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Outbound Medical Tourism Services market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Outbound Medical Tourism Services market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market 2017 report includes Outbound Medical Tourism Services industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Outbound Medical Tourism Services Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Outbound Medical Tourism Services Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market 2017:1 Apollo Hospital Enterprise Limited2 Revenue3 Products/Brand Offerings4 Company Highlights5 Bumrungrad International Hospital6 KPJ Healthcare Berhad7 Christus Muguerza Hospital8 WorldMed Assist9 Mednamaste10 Global Medical Tourism Inc.Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market Analysis: By ProductMedical CareTourismOutbound Medical Tourism Services Market Analysis: By ApplicationCosmetic Surgery TreatmentDental TreatmentCardiovascular TreatmentOrthopedic TreatmentCancer TreatmentFertility TreatmentWeight Loss TreatmentOthersAt the beginning, the report covers the top Outbound Medical Tourism Services manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Outbound Medical Tourism Services report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Outbound Medical Tourism Services industry, Outbound Medical Tourism Services industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Outbound Medical Tourism Services Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Outbound Medical Tourism Services research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Outbound Medical Tourism Services market revenue worldwide.Finally, Outbound Medical Tourism Services market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.QY Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.QY Market Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.read more-S no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Telephone Numbers:+1(857)2390696+91 9130855334Email ID: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest Market News- Global Otc Drug Market 2017- Bayer HealthCare, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Johnson&Johnson, Pfizer https://goo.gl/qfL6Ht http://qyresearch.us/report/global-otc-drug-market-2017/ http://qyresearch.us http://askthereporter24.com/ The OTC Drug Market 2017 examines the performance of the OTC Drug market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the OTC Drug market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of OTC Drug market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global OTC Drug Market 2017 report includes OTC Drug industry volume, market Share, market Trends, OTC Drug Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, OTC Drug Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global OTC Drug Market 2017:1 Bayer HealthCare2 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)3 Johnson&Johnson4 Pfizer5 Sanofi6 AstraZeneca7 BioGaia8 Bristol Myers Squibb9 Bukwang Pharmaceutica10 Chr. Hansen11 Cipla12 CoLucid13 Daiichi Sankyo14 Friggs15 DSM16 Eisai17 Eli Lilly18 Herbalife19 EuraditeOTC Drug Market Analysis: By ProductOTC Drug Market Analysis: By ApplicationAt the beginning, the report covers the top OTC Drug manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the OTC Drug report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of OTC Drug industry, OTC Drug industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. OTC Drug Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The OTC Drug research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the OTC Drug market revenue worldwide.Finally, OTC Drug market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.QY Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.QY Market Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc. We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.read more-S no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Telephone Numbers:+1(857)2390696+91 9130855334Email ID: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest Market News- KARACHI: General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) visited PAF Air War College Institute at Karachi on Wednesday. Addressing the participants of 34th Air War Course, COAS appreciated thorough professionalism of PAF and its enviable achievements. COAS urged the officers to make consistent efforts to keep abreast with modern developments and maintain cutting edge advantage. Superiority in modern day battlefield can only be maintained if we remain alive to contemporary challenges and are prepared to tackle them in line with emerging modern concepts, COAS reiterated. We must remain vigilant to respond befittingly to any misadventure by the adversary, COAS emphasised. COAS was briefed about upgradation of existing century old infrastructure of the depot on modern lines for provision of smooth logistics support. COAS appreciated the efforts of Ordnance Corps for its commitment in the field of logistics to enhance operational efficiency.PR Epsom Salt Market Regional Analysis, Key Players, Industry Segments, Development, Opportunities, Forecast to 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2979 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/epsom-salt-market-2979 Market Research Future published a Cooked Research Report (CRR) on Global Epsom Salt Market value which is estimated to grow at 4.53% by 2027.Market OverviewEpsom salt is regarded as organic fertilizer which is added to the soil or applied to the plants as a foliar spray. Epsom salt (Magnesium sulphate) is used as a fertilizer in diverse set of applications including agriculture fields, livestock breeding, forestry and soilless culture with its major use in rubber tree, oil palm, tobacco plant, orange and tangerine plant & grasslands. It promotes the healthier growth of plants, relieve magnesium deficiency in soil found during intensive cropping and offer plant nutrient solutions. This will stimulate the demand of Epsom salt in agriculture sector to stimulate and promote plant growth, development and productivity.Sample Copy of Report @Competitive Analysis-This report includes a study of strategies used in the market, mergers and acquisitions in Epsom salt, multiple product launch by Epsom salt market players. It further includes product portfolios and developments of leading major players which includes Bathclin (Japan) Parfums De Coeur, Ltd (U.S.) CVS Pharmacy (U.S.) San Francisco Salt Company (U.S.) SaltWorks, Inc.(U.S.) Baymag Inc. (Canada) K+ S Kali Gmbh (Germany)The Global Epsom Salt market is mainly occupied by some key manufacturers. The competitive environment in this market is expected to increase with an increase in product portfolio from current key players. Most of the companies operating in this market are focusing on expanding its operations across the geographies, augmenting its capabilities and investing in research and development to offer products with better functionality.Access the market data and market information presented through more than 25 market data tables and 25 figures spread over 123 numbers of pages of the project report Epsom Salt Market - Forecast to 2027Market ForecastMagnesium and sulphate are two major component of Epsom salt and considered as healing minerals. Magnesium helps in regulating the enzyme activity and performs a significant role in orchestrating many bodily functions ranging from muscle control and electrical impulses to energy production and the removal of harmful toxins. However, sulphate plays a vital role in biological processes such as formation of proteins in joints, formation of brain tissue, detoxifying drugs & environmental contaminants, and helps in cascading the digestive enzymes released from the pancreas. Use of Epsom salt is considered as cost-effective measures to mitigate the risk of acute and chronic health problems.These factors will play a key role in the growth of Epsom salt market at the CAGR of 4.53% during 2017-2027.By Application Analysis-Among the form type, crystal segment is anticipated to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period and estimated to account 31.50% by the end of 2027. Bath bombs segment is also projected to grow at a highest CAGR during the forecast period 2017-2027 by registering 5.07%. In terms of application, personal care & home care segment is projected to dominate the Global Epsom salt market, and it is estimated to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period. However, food additives & pharmaceutical segment is projected to grow at a substantial CAGR of 4.77% during the forecast period.Region AnalysisThe Global Epsom salt market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. Among this Asia Pacific has the major market share followed by Europe. Europe is projected to grow at the CAGR of 4.23% during the forecast period. However, Rest of the world is estimated to grow at a maximum CAGR of 4.95% during the forecast period. Latin America and Middle East region is projected to be one of the attractive destination among the Epsom salt manufacturers owing to the massive growth of cosmetic & personal care industry in that particular area. Moreover, the rising disposable income is also considered to be one of the significant reason of the growth of Epsom salt in that particular region.Access Report Details @Market Segmentation-Global Epsom Salt Market is segmented by form, application, distribution channel and regionAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.ContactAkash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com North America Agrochemicals Market Yearned by Robust Demand with a CAGR of %2.94%. "Browse And Choose From Our World Class Research Reports" http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agrochemicals-market-973/request-sample http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agrochemicals-market-973/inquire http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agrochemicals-market-973/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-acaricides-market-2014/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agrigenomics-market-2057/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-biofertilizers-market-1364/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agrochemicals-market-973/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agricultural-micronutrients-market-1826/ www.marketdataforecast.com http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/press-releases The agrochemicals market is expected to be one of the most vital segments of agro-inputs, owing to the intensifying commercial farming of high value crops to meet the growing various food demand. As such, agrochemicals are witnessing a considerable demand since farmers are resolute to attain nutritious and high quality crop production.Agrochemicals job is to boost crop yields, defend crops, and sustain the food and soil quality. Another essential role of agrochemicals is to adjust the growth progression of the plants. Hence agrochemicals are therefore seen as those products, help in meeting farmers as well as customer demands, with are also which boost the return on investment, from the economical and health standpoint with growing per hectare production of quality agricultural crops.The DROC Analysis contains some of the factors that have major effects on the market dynamics be it positive or negative. Few factors analysed in the section are the wide range of pest control applications of Agrochemicals and decreasing arable land. This market is also accelerated by factors such as meticulous research & partaking of intellectual property rights and rising R&D investments. However, it has been discovered that the continued use of agrochemicals has harmfully affected the health of users and also the environment. Cancer, Alzheimers and autism are some of the ailments associated with the enlarged use of agrochemicals. Furthermore, agrochemicals get amassed on the land surface and may even pollute ground water.The products are segmented based on Type and Application and studied for a deep-level understanding of the Agrochemicals Market. Each sub segment is accompanied with Market Size Estimations and Y-o-Y Forecasts as well.Free sample of the report is available atBased on Type: Fertilizers Nitrogenous Phosphate Potassic Based Fertilizers Pesticides Organophosphates Prethroids Biopesticides Others Plant Growth Regulators Auxins Cytokinins Others Adjuvants Activator Adjuvants Utility AdjuvantsBased on Application: Crop Based Oil seeds Fruits & Vegetables Grains & Cereals Non Crop Based Turf & Ornamental Grass OthersEnquire more about the report hereThe North America market, which is the second major consumer of agrochemicals has been geographically segmented into segmented into Canada and US. This region has the highest per hectare intake of Agrochemicals globally. Development of crops such as sugarcane and oilseeds is mainly estimated due to the widening applications such as fuel, feed, and other industrial applications, which in turn drives the market in this region.As per the report, companies like BASF SE, Syngenta AG, Monsanto Company, Agrium Inc., Yara International ASA, Dow-DuPont, Bayer Crop science. Israel Chemicals Ltd., Sociedad Quimica Y Minera S.A. and Mosaic Company are contributing a fair share to the North American Agrochemicals Market.Buy nowScope of the North America Agrochemicals Market: Regional and country-level analysis that provides an innate perspective of USA and Canada Market to that of the North American region To detect major focus areas of industrial growth Segment-level analysis on basis of Type and Application along with market size forecasts and y-o-y estimations are provided Detailed explanation of major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) that affect the market and impact the ever-shifting market dynamics PESTLE and Porters Five Forces Analyses that examine the macro & micro environmental factors such as political influence, technological prowess, industry rivalry to name a few. An extensive listing of major market players along with company overview, product portfolios, key financial information (subjected to availability), SWOT analysis and analyst overview to study and sustain the market environment mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies all rolled out into Competitive landscape Expertly devised Market Outlook comprising the Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the marketCheckout other related studies in the Agrochemicals Segment:North America Acaricides Market:North America Agrigenomics Market:North America Bio fertilizers Market:North America Agrochemicals Market:North America Agricultural Micronutrients Market:About Market Data Forecast:The publisher of this report is Market Data Forecast whose forte lies in Market research and Business Intelligence. Handling both individual and corporate clients across multiple business domains they offer syndicated/customized research to suit the clients research objective. Their research reports section offers a wide variety of market studies ranging from all-encompassing comprehensive market studies to product specific niche markets covering North America among other regions of the global market as well. For more info kindly visit,Contact:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.comVisit MarketDataForecast Blog @View latest Press Releases of MDF @ Know in Detail about the Global Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care Market analysis, forecasts, Overview and development Research N Reports https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=77567 https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=77567 https://www.researchnreports.com/pharma-healthcare/Global-Artificial-Intelligence-in-Health-Care-Market-2017-77567 Global Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care Market Research Report 2017Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The research report Global Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care Market is a market study examining and profiling the current state of the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care industry in a professional manner. The report systematically categorizes the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market, explaining the definition of Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care before making clear the classification of the market by the various parameters employed by market experts. The multiple applications of Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care in the global industrial scenario are profiled along with an explanation of the industry supply and value chain developed around it. The regional segments of the global Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market are also examined and data gained from this analysis presented. The development trends in and competitive landscape of the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market are also studied and data regarding the same is presented in the report.For sample PDF pages click here at:Other industry-related processes about the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market, such as a detailed explanation of the manufacturing structure, the financial background of the market, supply and demand dynamics, trade figures, and production value margins are also analyzed in the report. Prime development policies and plans concerning the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market are examined with regard to their impact on the market in the forecast period.Get 30% Discount on This Report at:The strong trends shaping the growth pattern of the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market are examined in the report in detail, in addition to the numerous marketing channels for the industry and their respective importance. In accordance with this information detailing the various aspects of the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market, the report examines the links between the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care industry and the Artificial Intelligence in Health-Care market, including an upstream raw materials and downstream demand analysisComplete report available at :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 global 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.Contact us:Mr. Sunny DenisContact No. +1-888-631-6977sales@researchnreports.com(ResearchnReports) North America Controlled Release Fertilizers Market Will Continue to Grow at 5.25% CAGR by 2021 "Browse And Choose From Our World Class Research Reports" http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-controlled-release-fertilizers-market-966/request-sample http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-controlled-release-fertilizers-market-966/inquire http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-controlled-release-fertilizers-market-966/customize-report http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-acaricides-market-2014/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-biofertilizers-market-1364/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agrochemicals-market-973/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agrigenomics-market-2057/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-agricultural-micronutrients-market-1826/ www.marketdataforecast.com http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/press-releases Market Data Forecast recently published a report on the North America Controlled Release Fertilizers Market which estimates the market to grow from USD 816 million from 2016 to USD 1053.9 million with a high CAGR of 5.25%.North America is the leading market for controlled release fertilizers market. Controlled release fertilizers efficiently raise the nutrient accessibility for the plant by reducing the nutrient loss to environment. They either eventually release the nutrients or transform them to different forms for loss reduction. Controlled release fertilizers cover the major share of enriched efficiency fertilizers.The DROC Analysis contains some of the factors that have major effects on the market dynamics be it positive or negative. Few factors analysed in the section are the advantages offered by controlled-release fertilizers to increase the efficacy of crop production, environment-friendly properties, condensed application cost, easiness of application, reduction in arable land have led to the growth of controlled-release fertilizers market. The growing food security issues always increase challenges for the fertilizer industry to deliver improvised and effective product. The complex production process is a major constraint for the North America controlled release fertilizers market.The products are segmented based on Type and Application and studied for a deep-level understanding of the Controlled Release Fertilizers Market. Each sub segment is accompanied with Market Size Estimations and Y-o-Y Forecasts as well.Free sample of the report is available atBased on Type: Chemical Condensation Products Coated and Encapsulated Fertilizers Nitrogen Stabilizers Other Controlled Release FertilizersBased on Application: Crop based Grains & Cereals Oil seeds Fruits & Vegetables Non-Crop Based Turf & Ornamental Grass Other Non-Crop based fertilizersEnquire more about the report hereGeographically the North America market is segmented into USA and Canada. United States is the leader in production of grains and cereals which also increases the demand for fertilizers.As per the report, companies like Agrium, Yara International, Shandong Shikefeng Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., Chisso Corporation, Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Kingenta Ecological Engineering Group Co. Ltd., Israel Chemicals Ltd. (Israel), Sociedad Quimica Y Minera S.A., Compo GmbH Co. and Haifa Chemicals Limited are contributing a fair share to the North American Controlled Release Fertilizers Market.Partnerships between companies such as Compo GmbH and BASF SE characterize the Controlled Release Fertilizers Market competitive landscape. Companies have also developed software and applications to improve crop quality and grasp their control on the market. Haifa Chemicals, for instance, has introduced FloraMatch, Haifa NutriNet, FoliMatch, and other software to provide professional advice to farmers all over the world as well as to enlarge their customer base.For customized report refer toScope of the North America Controlled Release Fertilizers Market: Regional and country-level analysis that provides an innate perspective of USA and Canada Market to that of the North American region To detect major focus areas of industrial growth Segment-level analysis on basis of Type and Application along with market size forecasts and y-o-y estimations are provided Detailed explanation of major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) that affect the market and impact the ever-shifting market dynamics PESTLE and Porters Five Forces Analyses that examine the macro & micro environmental factors such as political influence, technological prowess, industry rivalry to name a few. An extensive listing of major market players along with company overview, product portfolios, key financial information (subjected to availability), SWOT analysis and analyst overview to study and sustain the market environment mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies all rolled out into Competitive landscape Expertly devised Market Outlook comprising the Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the marketCheckout other related studies in the Agrochemicals Segment:North America Acaricides Market:North America Bio fertilizers Market:North America Agrochemicals Market:North America Agrigenomics Market:North America Agricultural Micronutrients Market:About Market Data Forecast:The publisher of this report is Market Data Forecast whose forte lies in Market research and Business Intelligence. Handling both individual and corporate clients across multiple business domains they offer syndicated/customized research to suit the clients research objective. Their research reports section offers a wide variety of market studies ranging from all-encompassing comprehensive market studies to product specific niche markets covering North America among other regions of the global market as well. For more info kindly visit,Contact:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.comVisit MarketDataForecast Blog @View latest Press Releases of MDF @ Laminated Labels Market - Regional Industry Segment by Production, Consumption, Revenue and Growth Rate by 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/laminated-labels-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12923 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Laminated Labels Market: SnapshotThe packaging industry has transformed significantly over time, its plays an important role in product marketing and have noteworthy impact on overall product sales. The need for attractive, highly resistive, customer engaging, and durable packaging has led to the introduction of laminated labels in the industry. Many brand owners and manufacturers of consumer goods have adopted laminated labels due to their high receptivity among customers.Browse Market Research Report @These factors are expected to translate into a healthy incremental opportunity for the global laminated labels in the next few years. Transparency Market Research estimates that the market, which valued at US$20,022.4 mn in 2015, will exhibit a 5.1% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024. The market, as a result, is expected to surpass US$ 30,979 mn by 2024.Food and Beverages Industry to Account for Bulk of SalesOn the basis of end use industry, the global laminated labels market is segmented into food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, home and personal care, consumer durables, retail labels, apparel and textile, industrial lubricants, paints, and gifts. As per TMR analysts, the food and beverages industry is expected to emerge as the most attractive application in the global laminated labels market, accounting for over 35% of the global market. The sector is likely to maintain its dominance by the end of the forecast period.The segment of home and personal care is also estimated to account for a significant share in the global markets revenue in 2016. The demand for laminated labels in the industry will expand at a CAGR of 4.9% from 2016 to 2024. The pharmaceuticals segment is expected to gain 50 basis points by 2024 as compared to 2016, and account for over 13% of the market by 2024. The segment of retail labels is expected to lose its share in the global market by 2024.For more information on this report, fill the form @Asia Pacific Laminated Labels Market to Continue to Hold Prominent Position in Global MarketAsia Pacific is expected to be the most favorable region in terms of incremental opportunities for high revenue generation in the near future and is estimated to dominate the global laminated labels market with over 36.5% of the market in 2016, followed by Europe and North America. Consumption of laminated labels in Asia Pacific is expected to increase 1.5 times during the period between 2016 and 2024. This translates a healthy CAGR of 5.3% over the said period. The market for laminated labels in Middle East and Africa is expected to emerge as one of the high-growth markets and exhibit a healthy CAGR of 4.7% over the period between 2016 and 2024.Europe and North America, being mature markets for laminated labels, are highly regulated and are likely to create a demand of laminated labels worth more than US$9,672.2 mn in 2016, approximately 4% higher than the previous year. In North America, the U.S. is likely to continue to dominate the market for laminated labels. The country is not only a consumer of laminated labels in large volumes, but also features presence of several large manufacturers. Apart from domestic consumption, the North America market also accounts for a substantial share in global laminated labels market and is expected to remain a key regional market over the forecast period.The global laminated labels market features a highly fragmented competitive landscape and is dominated by local and regional players. Some of the key vendors in the market CCL industries Inc, Avery Dennison Corporation, Coveris Holdings, Langley Labels, Hub Labels, and Cenveo.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Release Liner Market Growth Opportunities, Analysis and Forecasts Report 2017-2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/release-liners-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=10997 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Release Liner Market: SnapshotThe demand for release liners is highly influenced by the progress in the packaging industry. The growing preference for innovative and quality packaging all over the world, together with the rising investments in the pharmaceuticals and the food and beverages industries, is likely to further boost the global market for release liners over the forthcoming years.Browse Market Research Report @Driven by a widespread usage of release liners in pressure sensitive applications, the opportunity in this market is expected to increase from US$10.0 bn in 2015 to US$17.0 bn by 2024, rising at a CAGR 6.30% between 2016 and 2024. During the same period of time, the consumption volume is estimated to increase at a 4.30% CAGR.Pressure-sensitive Labeling Technology-based Release Liners to Witness Continued Increase in ConsumptionAdhesive applied, pressure sensitive labeling, in-mold, and sleeving are the prime labeling technologies utilized in release liners. Thanks to the heightened need for packaging for food and beverages and pharmaceutical products, the consumption of pressure sensitive labeling-based release liners has been greater than other liners. In terms of revenue, this segment is projected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period and account for a share of more than 44% by 2024.The sleeving technology segment is also anticipated to gain significant momentum in the coming years due to the high level of efficiency provided by it to release liners. On the other hand, the adhesive applied technology segment will witness a decline in its market share over the forecast period.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Asia Pacific to Continue as Global LeaderThe worldwide market for release liners is spread across Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe. Among these, Asia Pacific surfaced as the leading regional market in 2015 with US$3.2 bn in revenues. Researchers expect this regional market to remain dominant over the forecast period. The presence of a large pool of manufacturers, as well as vendors of release liner products, in Asia Pacific is the key factor behind the growth of this regional market. Apart from this, the increasing construction of new manufacturing facilities in various Asian countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia is also projected to boost the Asia Pacific markets for release liners over the forthcoming years.The Middle East and Africa is also anticipated to exhibit a healthy rise in the demand for release liners in the near future, as the market is in its introductory phase in this region. However, Latin America may have to experience a stagnant rise in the years to come, as the regional market is moving towards maturity. Since the markets in North America and Europe have already matured, they are likely to witness sluggish growth over the next few years.Some of the leading manufacturers of release liners across the world are Mondi Group, Avery Dennison Corp., 3M, Gascogne Group, UPM, Rayven Inc., and Loparex Holding B.V.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: North America Feed Mineral Market to Witness Comprehensive Growth by 2021 "Browse And Choose From Our World Class Research Reports" http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-mineral-market-1121/request-sample http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-mineral-market-1121/inquire http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-mineral-market-1121/customize-report http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-compound-feed-market-351/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-additives-market-317/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-phytogenics-market-1257/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-feed-yeast-market-393/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/north-america-liquid-feed-market-411/ www.marketdataforecast.com http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/press-releases Minerals are resources comprised in the animal feeds for development, general well-being, ideal growth and deterrence of illnesses in the livestock.Essential trace elements and minerals that are not sufficiently generated in the body need to be added to the feeds externally for enriched quality of animal derived products. They complete several tasks such as controlling acid base balances, muscle contraction, bone development, and enzyme stimulation.The DROC Analysis contains some of the factors that have major effects on the market dynamics be it positive or negative. Few factors analysed in the section are growing demand for rising intake of meat, mineral rich animal meat, and growing adoption of scientific methods to raise meat production. However, factors such as stringent regulations on the usage of certain minerals and increasing cost of raw materials are hindering the growth of the market in this region.The products are segmented based on Type and Animal Type and studied for a deep-level understanding of the Feed Mineral Market. Each sub segment is accompanied with Market Size Estimations and Y-o-Y Forecasts as well.Free sample of the report is available atBased on Type: Natural SyntheticBased on Function: Antimicrobials Antioxidants Chelating and enzyme inhibitorsBased on Application: Beverages Oils & fats Bakery and Confectionery products Dairy & frozen products Snacks Meat products Poultry products Seafood products Other food applicationsEnquire more about the report hereThe North America market has been geographically segmented into Canada and USA. North America is the biggest market due to the high intake of meat products. The poultry segment is evolving as the principal livestock division for the usage of feed minerals due to the rise in demand for poultry meat and altering consumer preferences. However, Food Safety bodies in this region are decreasing a limit on the utilization of certain minerals, thereby hindering its growth.As per the report, companies like Royal DSM, Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill Inc., Tanke Biosciences Corp., and Nutreco NV are contributing a fair share to the North American Feed Mineral Market.The major players in the market are concentrating on widening their distribution networks to cater to the wider market. Investment in the production process is another tactic adopted by the manufacturers to decrease the expenses incurred.For customized report refer toScope of the North America Feed Mineral Market: Regional and country-level analysis that provides an innate perspective of USA and Canada Market to that of the North American region To detect major focus areas of industrial growth Segment-level analysis on basis of Type and Animal Type along with market size forecasts and y-o-y estimations are provided Detailed explanation of major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) that affect the market and impact the ever-shifting market dynamics PESTLE and Porters Five Forces Analyses that examine the macro & micro environmental factors such as political influence, technological prowess, industry rivalry to name a few. An extensive listing of major market players along with company overview, product portfolios, key financial information (subjected to availability), SWOT analysis and analyst overview to study and sustain the market environment mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies all rolled out into Competitive landscape Expertly devised Market Outlook comprising the Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the marketCheckout other related studies in the Animal Feed Segment:North America Compound Feed Market:North America Feed Additives Market:North America Feed Phytogenics Market:North America Feed Yeast Market:North America Liquid Feed Market:About Market Data Forecast:The publisher of this report is Market Data Forecast whose forte lies in Market research and Business Intelligence. Handling both individual and corporate clients across multiple business domains they offer syndicated/customized research to suit the clients research objective. Their research reports section offers a wide variety of market studies ranging from all-encompassing comprehensive market studies to product specific niche markets covering North America among other regions of the global market as well. For more info kindly visit,Contact:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.comVisit MarketDataForecast Blog @View latest Press Releases of MDF @ Increasing Prevalence of Enteral Stents Market in South American Markets : Argentina, Brazil and Chile http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1107673 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1107673 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report MediPoint: Enteral Stents - South America Forecast and Market Analysis provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"View Report @Enteral stents are a palliative treatment option for constrictions caused primarily by various cancers. The primary cancers which cause constrictions requiring the use of enteral stents are esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer. There are three primary enteral stents; the covered enteral stent, the partially covered enteral stents, and the non-covered enteral stent. The market is led by three key players. The market will continue to grow as cancer prevalence increases and patients become more familiar with enteral stenting as a treatment option. This report examines the enteral stents market in three major South American markets: Argentina, Brazil and Chile.This report provides insight into the adoption trends, market dynamics, competitive landscape, marketed products, current players, as well as market outlooks in the South American market.Get Sample Copy, click here:Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 41.2 List of Figures 42 Executive Summary 52.1 Overview 52.2 Market Dynamics 62.3 Key Players 72.4 Future Outlook 73 Introduction 83.1 Catalyst 83.2 Related Reports 83.3 Upcoming Related Reports 84 Market Outlook 94.1 Procedure Trends 94.2 Pricing Trends 104.3 Revenue Trends 114.4 Company Share Analysis 115 Market Insights 125.1 South America 125.1.1 Brazil 125.1.2 Argentina & Chile 126 Competitive Assessment 136.1 Boston Scientific 136.1.1 Overview 136.1.2 Portfolio Assessment 136.1.3 Deal Analysis 136.1.4 Competitive Positioning 146.2 Cook Medical 146.2.1 Overview 146.2.2 Portfolio Assessment 146.2.3 Competitive Positioning 146.3 Taewoong Medical 156.3.1 Overview 156.3.2 Portfolio Assessment 156.3.3 Competitive Positioning 156.4 Other Players 167 Appendix 177.1 Bibliography 177.2 Abbreviations 187.3 Methodology 197.3.1 Overview 197.3.2 Coverage 197.3.3 Secondary Research 19About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Zika Virus Market Production, Revenue, Price, Gross Margin, Import, Export and Consumption Research 2017 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001720751/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/2012-2022-report-on-global-zika-virus-market-competition-status-and-forecast-market-size-by-players-regions-type-application http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001720751/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001720751/buy/2800 Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Zika Virus market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions' development status.Request a Sample atSecondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (North America, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.Browse Complete Report atThen, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What's more, the Zika Virus industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Get discount on report purchase atKey Point from Table of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Zika Virus 12 Transmission of Zika Virus 53 Zika Virus, Microcephaly and Guillain-Barre Syndrome 164 Development of Zika Virus 245 Zika Virus Situation by Countries 346 Operational Response Analysis of Zika Virus 417 Main Countries Response Analysis of Zika Virus 478 Research Situation of Major Companies Analysis of Zika Virus 518.1 Bharat Biotech 518.1.1 Company Profile 518.1.2 Research Status 528.2 Inovio Pharmaceuticals and GeneOne Life Sciences 528.2.1 Inovio Pharmaceuticals Company Profile 528.2.2 GeneOne Life Sciences Company Profile 538.2.3 Research Status 548.3 Intrexon 558.3.1 Company Profile 558.3.2 Research Status 569 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Zika Virus 6710 Other Similar Infectious Diseases and Forecast of Zika Virus 7111 Conclusion of the Global Zika Virus Market 2016 Industry Trend and Forecast 2021 75Purchase Complete Report atReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. The market research industry has changed in last decade. As corporate focus has shifted to niche markets and emerging countries, a number of publishers have stepped in to fulfil these information needs. We have experienced and trained staff that helps you navigate different options and lets you choose best research solution at most effective cost.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Edible Packaging Market Emerging Trends and New Technologies Research 2017 to 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/edible-packaging-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12899 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Edible Packaging Market: SnapshotThe global market for edible packaging derive much of its growth from the increasing consumption of processed products, rising household income, and the increasing preference of consumers for hygienic and durable products. Apart from this, the fast-paced urbanization in emerging economies, together with the high growth of the population base is also strengthening the potentials of this market.Browse Market Research Report @Over the forthcoming years, the increasing usage of edible packaging materials for the packaging of food products will boost this market substantially. The growing awareness about the attributes of edible packaging, such as the ease of handling while maintaining the quality and the shelf life of products, are also projected to drive the growth of this market in the near future. However, the high cost of the packaging machines and quality films used in edible packaging may limit its uptake to some extent in the years to come. The burgeoning adoption of modified atmosphere packaging may also prove to be a challenge for this market over the next few years.The global edible packaging market was worth US$0.77 bn in 2016. Analysts expect this market to expand at a CAGR of 6.90% between 2016 and 2024, reaching a sum of US$1.3 bn by the end of 2024.Demand for Edible Packaging to Remain High from Food and Beverage ManufacturingFood and beverage manufacturing and pharmaceuticals are the two main end users of edible packaging across the world. Among these, the food and beverage manufacturing segment has occupied the leading position in this market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @It dominated the market with a share of more than 77% in 2016 and is anticipated to continue its leading streak over the next few years. The demand edible packaging is stronger in fresh food packaging and the scenario is likely to remain in the near future.North America to Retain Dominance in Global Edible Packaging MarketNorth America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa are the key regional markets for edible packaging across the world. North America, among these, has been leading the global market and acquired a share of more than 36% in 2016. The U.S., being both, a prominent producer and consumer of edible packaging, has been driving the North America market for edible packaging. Analysts project a dominance of this regional market over the next few years; however at a reduced share in the overall market, as a result of the maturing state of the market for edible packaging in North America.Among others, the Asia Pacific edible packaging market is likely to exhibit significant potential for future growth, thanks to the increasing awareness among consumers pertaining to the benefits of edible packaging. The rise in disposable income of consumers, influencing their standard of living, is also expected to reflect positively on the demand for edible packaging in this region over the forthcoming years.MonoSol, LLC, WikiCell Designs Inc., JRF Technology LLC, and Tate and Lyle Plc. are the key players operating in the global market for edible packaging.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures slipped on Friday on technical selling and amid concerns about competition for export business on the global market. CBOT March soyabeans closed the day down 3/4 cent at $9.10-1/4 per bushel. CBOT March soyameal fell 30 cents to $305.60 per short ton, while March soyaoil ended up 0.02 cent at 30.51 cents per pound. The USDA said US soyabean export sales for the six weeks Feb. 22 totaled 6.910 million tonnes, toward the low end of analysts forecasts for 6.1 million to 9.6 million tonnes. The USDA separately projected that US soyabean exports would rise to 2.025 billion bushels in 2019/20, from 1.875 billion in 2018/19. But the United States is facing competition for export sales from shippers in countries such as Argentina and Ukraine. Demand from China is uncertain because of the trade war between Washington and Beijing. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he expects to meet Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, soon and said they may nail down the final points of a trade deal.Reuters Global System on Chip (SoC) Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1109483 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1109483 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "System on Chip (SoC) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.This report provides analysis of the System-on-Chip (SoC) market globally, during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. The scope of this report includes competitive analysis of various market segments based on the types and applications. Analysis of SoCs with its applications in different industry verticals along with in-depth scrutiny of the SoC market across different geographic segments has also been considered under the scope of this report. A SoC is similar to a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. However it is much smaller in size and all the components such as microprocessor, memory and peripherals among others are packaged together onto the chip.The components of a SoC vary depending on the device it is to be used in. Generally SoC consists of a graphic processing unit (GPU), microprocessor, timing sources, memory, analog interfaces, peripherals, external interfaces, power management circuits and voltage regulators among others. The small form factor combined with computing power of SoCs has led to its integration into various devices such as smart phones, smart washing machines, tablets, smart air-conditioners, smart television, set-top boxes, industrial automation applications and electrocardiogram telemetry devices among others. Thus SoC contains everything that is present within the motherboard of a computer but consumes much lesser space and power while giving similar or better performance that has resulted in growing applications across different industries.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global System on Chip (SoC) Market: Drivers and RestraintsIncreasing number of smart electronic devices has been steadily rising over the years. It is seen that the growing number of smartphones, laptops and smart wearable devices has led to the rising demand for SoC globally. In addition to this, technological advancement has also led to inclusion of more features within SoC that has acted as a major driver for this market. Moreover, it is also the growing functionalities within a single IC that has allowed lowering of costs for these SoCs further boosting the market. Cost effectiveness in advanced SoCs does not affect the overall resistivity and capacitance of IC that has also been another important driver for this market.Considering all these drivers there are certain restraints that negatively affects this market. One such restraint being the high costs associated with the application of these SoCs. Another important restraint being the overlapping of functionalities in a SoC that may occur because of fixing all chips within a single substrate. With all these drivers and restraints it is the reduction in the overall cyclical time that is likely to provide huge growth opportunities for this market in the coming years.Global System on Chip (SoC) Market: SegmentationThe global SoC on the basis of different types has been segmented into digital, analog, mixed signal and others. Telecommunication, consumer electronics, automotive and others are the various application segments on the basis of which this market is segmented. Regions that are considered under this report comprises of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Revenue has been provided in USD billion for this market along with the CAGR for the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.The report also includes competitive profiling of leading players in the industry and their market share to aid in strategic decision making. The market attractiveness analysis along with company market share analysis included in this report provides insight into various market dynamics, industry competition and strategies adopted by market leaders. This report also provides breakdown as well as assessment of various factors impacting the market growth, which includes the drivers, restraints and opportunities. These factors helps in determining various trends and their likely impact on the overall market growth. Post consideration of all these factors affecting the SoC market, this report also includes a holistic analysis and growth estimation of the global SoC market for the forecast period 2017 to 2025.Companies mentioned in the reportSome of the leading players in the global SoC market are Apple Inc. (The U.S.), Broadcom Limited (Singapore), Infineon Technologies (The U.S.), Intel Corporation (The U.S.), Qualcomm Inc. (The U.S.), Samsung Electronics (South Korea), STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Taiwan), Toshiba Corporation (Japan) and MediaTek Inc. (Taiwan) among others.The market has been segmented as follows:?Global SoC Market - By Type:- Digital- Analog- Mixed Signal- Others?Global SoC Market - By Application:- Telecommunication- Consumer Electronics- Automotive- Others?Global SoC Market - By Region:- North America- The U.S.- Canada- Mexico- Europe- The UK- Germany- France- Italy- Rest Of Europe- Asia Pacific- China- Taiwan- India- Japan- South Korea- Rest Of APAC- Middle East and Africa (MEA)- UAE- South Africa- Rest Of MEA- Latin America- Brazil- Rest Of Latin AmericaMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Europe SaaS Based HRM Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1109486 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1109486 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "SaaS Based HRM Market - Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the SaaS based HRM market provides analysis for the period 20152025, wherein 2016 is the base year and the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period. Data for 2015 has been included as historical information. The report covers market dynamics including drivers, restraints opportunities, and trends expected to influence the Europe SaaS based HRM market growth during the said period. Trends that are playing a major role in the driving the Europe SaaS based HRM market have also been covered in the study. The study provides a comprehensive analysis on market growth throughout the forecast period from 2017 to 2025 in terms of revenue (value) estimates (in US$ Mn), across different countries.Software as a service (SaaS) based human resource management (HRM) alludes to the HR software carry out in cloud computing environment. SaaS based HRM solution enables to control and manage aspects of HR actions to maintain entirely employees details from the date of joining to the date of retirement. Moreover, SaaS based HRM solution incorporate HR activities such as directory management, application tracking, time & attendance management, electronic forms processing and others for instance payroll management and leave management. SaaS based HRM solution enables to develop the productivity of HR staff by providing self-service web interfaces.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Europe SaaS HRM Market: Segmentation AnalysisThe Europe SaaS based HRM has been segmented on the basis of enterprise size, solution and industry. Based on enterprise size, the market has been further classified into small and medium enterprise and large enterprise. By solution, the market is further classified into Time and Attendance Management, HR and Payroll, Workforce Management, Integrated Solutions, Others (Scheduling, Hiring, etc.). By industry, the market is further classified into Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Healthcare, IT and Telecom, Manufacturing, Others (Government, Logistics, etc.).Geographically, the report classifies the Europe SaaS based market into Germany, France, The U.K., Italy, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Poland, and Rest of Europe. Countries are analyzed in terms of revenue generation. Furthermore, the study also includes quantitative analysis of the competitive scenario for country wise.Europe SaaS HRM Market: Research MethodologiesThe report also includes key industry developments in the SaaS based HRM. Porter Five Force analysis is also included in the report. Ecosystem analysis which identifies the process of distribution between SaaS vendors and end users in the SaaS based HRM is also covered in the report. The report also covers segment wise, market attractiveness analysis and market share analysis, comparison matrix, market positioning of the companies for all countries covered in the scope of study. This report shows market attractiveness analysis for all the segments and for all the countries in the scope of study which identifies and compares segments market attractiveness on the basis of CAGR and market share index.The report also includes competition landscape which include competition matrix, market share analysis of major players in the Europe SaaS based HRM based on their 2016 revenues. Competition matrix benchmarks leading players on the basis of their capabilities and potential to grow. Factors including market position, offerings are attributed to companys capabilities. Factors including top line growth, market share, segment growth, infrastructure facilities and future outlook are attributed to companys potential to grow. This section also identifies and includes various recent developments carried out by the leading players.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The key players of SaaS based HRM market have been profiled with a focus on competitive details such as company and financial overview, business strategies, and their recent developments. The company profile of major players that have been incorporated in this report include as The Sage Group plc, IBM Corporation, ADP, LLC, SAP (SuccessFactor, Inc.), Oracle (Taleo Corporation), Rexx systems GmbH, SD Worx, Perbit Software GmbH, Jobvite Inc., Persis GmbH,.The Europe SaaS based HRM is segmented as below:Europe SaaS based HRM, By Enterprise Size- Small and Medium Enterprise- Large EnterpriseEurope SaaS based HRM, By Solution- Time and Attendance Management- HR and Payroll- Workforce Management- Integrated Solutions- Others (Scheduling, Hiring, etc.)Europe SaaS based HRM, By Industry- Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)- Healthcare- IT and Telecom- Manufacturing- Others (Government, Logistics, etc.)Europe SaaS based HRM, By Country- Germany- France- The UK- Italy- The Netherlands- Scandinavia- Poland- Rest of EuropeMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Solar Street Lighting Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=732493 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=732493 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Solar Street Lighting Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Outdoor Street lighting units used to illuminate a street or open areas via solar energy is termed as solar street light (SSL). Since their primary energy source is solar power, they operate in a stand-alone mode, therefore are not dependent on the general grid for any power requirements, whatsoever. Due to their dependency on sunlight, the lighting unit needs to be installed in a shadow-free area or a place where direct sunlight is available throughout the day to sufficiently charge the batteries for one working cycle. The standalone solar photovoltaic street lighting system comprises of a re-chargeable lead acid battery for storage, PV (photovoltaic) modules for charging the battery, light source (Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and Light Emitting Diodes (LED), suitable electronics for the operation of the tamp and safe charging and discharging of the battery and mechanical hardware for fixing these sub systems..To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Solar Street Lighting Market: Research MethodologiesThe report provides in-depth analysis and forecast of the solar street lighting market on the global as well as regional level. The report includes forecast for the period from 2017 to 2025 in terms of volume (Mn Units) and revenue (US$ Bn). Quantitative data has been derived through extensive secondary research of the global solar street lighting market. Secondary sources typically include company websites, relevant magazines, government documents, and press releases. The top-down approach has been adopted to derive the regional numbers from global revenue and volume figures. Furthermore, the bottom-up approach has been employed to derive data for various technology type and end-use sectors based on demand for solar street lighting in each geographical segment. A combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches helps in validation of the quantitative data of the market. The data was further validated with the help of primary research with industry experts to ensure accuracy of derived numbers.Global Solar Street Lighting Market: Drivers and RestraintsDetailed analysis of various factors driving the global solar street lighting market has been included for astute decision making. Impact of these drivers during the forecast period has been included with data to substantiate research findings. Furthermore, factors restraining market growth have been included for better understanding of the market. Impact of these restraints has been analyzed over the forecast period. The report also comprises various opportunities available for market growth over the next eight years. Opportunities entail untapped or recently explored factors that are anticipated to drive the solar street lighting market during the forecast period.The report includes value chain analysis to help understand the industry thoroughly. Value chain analysis comprises detailed evaluation of the roles of various entities involved in the solar street lighting industry, from raw material suppliers to end-users. Porters Five Forces model has been included to determine the degree of competition in the market during the forecast period. Furthermore, market attractiveness analysis has been conducted to analyze application segments that are expected to be lucrative during the forecast period. This is based on various factors such as market size, growth rate, profitability, raw material procurement, and competition in each application segment.Global Solar Street Lighting Market: SegmentationBased on type, the solar street lighting market has been segmented into standalone and grid. Based on Lighting Source, the solar street lighting market has been segmented into LED and CLF. And based on Application, the solar street lighting market has been segmented into Residential, Commercial, and Industrial. The report comprises detailed analysis of all the segments in the regional and global markets and forecast based on current and future trends in the industry in terms of volume (Mn Units) and revenue (US$ Bn). In terms of region, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Demand for solar street lighting in each type, lighting source and application has been analyzed and forecast for a period of eight years.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The report also comprises profiles of leading companies in the solar street lighting market. These include Philips Lighting Holding B.V., Omega Solar, Bridgelux, Inc., Dragons Breath Solar, SOKOYO Solar Group, and Solektra International. Various attributes of these companies such as company overview, business strategies, and recent developments form the core of the company profiles section.This report segments the global solar street lighting market as follows:Solar Street Lighting Market: By Type- Standalone- On GridSolar Street Lighting Market: By Application- Residential- Commercial- IndustrialSolar Street Lighting Market: By Lighting Source- Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL)- Light Emitting Diode (LED)Solar street lighting Market Regional Analysis- North America- U.S.- Canada- Rest of North America- Europe-- U.K.- Germany- Rest of Europe- Asia Pacific- China- India- Malaysia- Rest of Asia Pacific- Latin America- Brazil- Peru- Rest of Latin America- Middle East & Africa (MEA)- Kenya- Ghana- Nigeria- Uganda- South AfricaMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ North America and Europe Retail Automation Market Dynamics, Forecast, Analysis and Supply Demand 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-na-200 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-na-200 www.futuremarketinsights.com OverviewAutomation is the latest advancement set to revolutionise the global retail market. The retail automation market is expected to witness steady growth, owing to such avant-garde collaboration between global retail and consumer goods sector, and the global electronics and IT industry. Considering the fact that retail industry drives the growth of several business and trade ventures around the world, the influence of automation will bring more efficiency to billions of retail transactions.Visual merchandising, planogram, and big data in retail are the key trends fuelling the demand of automated services in retail markets. Effective automated products and programs that speed up the sales mechanism, create efficiency in product supplies, and develop easily-accessible business platforms that can produce a lucrative environment for the growth of the retail automation market globally.The global market for retail automation is gaining traction in Asia Pacific, Western Europe, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). The two most lucrative regions for the growth of the global retail automation market are North America and Europe.Request For Report Sample@Retail Automation in North AmericaOf these two regions, North America is the current market leader, holding the greater pie of retail automation market share. The North American retail automation market is likely to register high growth rate during 2014-2020 period.North America remains a lucrative market for retail automation globally, with the US and Canada witnessing steady demand. North American consumers have adopted the prominent trend of relying on retail automated products and services for business transactions, which has made an affirming impetus on the retail automation market. Economic progress and rising purchasing power of consumers are some of the trends, specific to North America, that make the outlook of retail automation market considerably positive.The European Retail Automation MarketEurope, on the other hand, is closing in on North America in order to become the leading key region in the global retail automation market. Several retail chains and multiple product lines established in Europe are helping the setting up of retail automation in European nations. The European regional market is primarily segmented into UK, Germany, Spain, France and others. Britains exodus from EU is likely to impact the implementation of automation in UKs retail market. But, the economic stability in other European countries is expected to create a supportive dais for building up the retail automation market.Factors Benefiting the Growth of Retail Automation MarketNorth America and Europe, collectively, will continue their prominence in the global market, with respect to the market size, revenue share, and overall demand. The factors that will incite this growth are,Growth of Local Retail & Customer ReceptionLocal retail markets are growing in several parts of North America & Europe. Combined with a positive consumer response, automated retail will continue flourishing in niche retail markets.Overflowing Investments on Automation Products & ServicesRetail giants dominating the existing retail market are investing in automated programs and devices for creating efficient output. The cost advantage is increasing the demand for automated retail services.Proliferation of Shopping Centres and SupermarketsConsumers in the US and European countries prefer buying from hypermarket and malls, which is great platform for automated retail kiosks.Challenges in the Global Retail Automation MarketThe retail automation market in North America and Europe is growing steadily, but there are a handful of factors that may restrain or slow down its growth. In the US and Canada, a key challenge for retail automation is its greatest disadvantage -- the loss of job. Labours and working professionals at retail outlets are a major contributor of the regions economy. Rising unemployment levels could plunge the local economy, having a rippling effect on the national economies of North America.In Europe, the instability of economies across its constituent nations is restraining the growth of its retail automation market. Improving financial conditions in Turkey, Russia and Poland could influence the expansion of automated retail products; however, theundulating economies of Spain, Italy as well as Britain, can impede the adoption of automation in European retail sector.Besides, maintaining the continuous supervision of retail kiosks, high dependency on electricity and the implications arriving from variable internet regulations are some other restraints recoiling the progress of retail automation in Europe and North America.Visit For TOC@SegmentationThe segmentation of the retail automation market is done on the basis of geography, the operator type and the product type.Geographic SegmentationNorth America (sub-segmented into United States, Canada & others)Europe (sub-segmented into Spain, France, UK & others)Operator Type SegmentationUnattended TerminalsHuman-Operated TerminalsProduct SegmentationCurrency CounterBarcode ReaderBill PrinterCash CounterCash RegisterCard ReaderSelf-Checkout SystemWeight ScaleKiosks/Vending MachineOthersKey CompetitorsElectronic companies such as Seiko Epson, Fujitsu, First Data Corp., Siemens, Toshiba and Wincor Nixdorf are some of the top players in the global retail automation market. Most of these ICT companies are headquartered in Europe, making the region a credible platform for new manufacturers and startups in retail automation. Meanwhile, North American retail giants such as Walmart and Kroger are developing their own devices and services to reap benefits from the amalgamation of retail and automation.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Stem Cell Assay Sales Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1086483 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1086483 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Stem Cell Assay Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the global Stem Cell Assay market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Stem Cell Assay for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Stem Cell Assay market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Stem Cell Assay sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingGE HealthcarePromega CorporationThermo Fisher ScientificMerck KGaACell BiolabsHemogenixStemcell TechnologiesBio-Rad LaboratoriesBio-Techne CorporationCellular Dynamics InternationalOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDermatology Stem Cell AssayCardiovascular Stem Cell AssayCentral Nervous System Stem Cell AssayOncology Stem Cell AssayOtherOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Stem Cell Assay for each application, includingRegenerative Medicine & Therapy DevelopmentDrug Discovery and DevelopmentClinical ResearchOtherIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Stem Cell Assay Sales Market Report 20171 Stem Cell Assay Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Stem Cell Assay1.2 Classification of Stem Cell Assay by Product Category1.2.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Stem Cell Assay Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Dermatology Stem Cell Assay1.2.4 Cardiovascular Stem Cell Assay1.2.5 Central Nervous System Stem Cell Assay1.2.6 Oncology Stem Cell Assay1.2.7 Other1.3 Global Stem Cell Assay Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Regenerative Medicine & Therapy Development1.3.3 Drug Discovery and Development1.3.4 Clinical Research1.3.5 Other1.4 Global Stem Cell Assay Market by Region1.4.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Stem Cell Assay Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Stem Cell Assay Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Stem Cell Assay Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Stem Cell Assay Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Stem Cell Assay Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Stem Cell Assay Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Stem Cell Assay (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Stem Cell Assay Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Stem Cell Assay Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Stem Cell Assay Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Stem Cell Assay (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Stem Cell Assay Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Stem Cell Assay (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Stem Cell Assay Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Stem Cell Assay Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Stem Cell Assay (Volume) by Application3 United States Stem Cell Assay (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Stem Cell Assay Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Stem Cell Assay Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Stem Cell Assay Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Stem Cell Assay Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 China Stem Cell Assay (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Stem Cell Assay Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Stem Cell Assay Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Stem Cell Assay Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Stem Cell Assay Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 Europe Stem Cell Assay (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Stem Cell Assay Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Stem Cell Assay Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Stem Cell Assay Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Stem Cell Assay Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Players5.3 Europe Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Stem Cell Assay Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Electronic Chemicals Market Estimated to Grow to Market Value of USD 63 Billion by 2022 Electronic Chemicals Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2116 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/electronic-chemicals-market-2116 Synopsis of Electronic Chemicals Market:Market Research Future has a half-cooked research report on Electronic Chemicals Market. The Global Market for Electronic Chemicals is growing rapidly and expected to continue its growth by the end of 2022.Market Forecast and OverviewThe Global Electronic Chemicals Market has been evaluated to be rapidly growing and is expected to grow tremendously. The Global Market is expected to be worth USD 63 billion in 2022 and will grow at the CAGR of 6.9% from 2016 to 2022. The global market for IC process chemicals is expected to grow at average annual growth rate approximately 6.5% in 2016. The market of electronic chemicals had an approximately 18.5% drop in the year 2009. With 55% of aggregate chemical consumption semiconductor represented the biggest share in 2016. Utilization of gasses utilized as a part of the semiconductor business is relied upon to develop by around 6% all things considered yearly through 2016. As semiconductor many-sided quality expands, the quantity of process steps and number of layers develop as gas-stage carving and cleaning uproot some wet procedures. Around 55% of aggregate utilization by esteem was represented by air gasses (mass and barrel); the remaining 43% included the specialty gases silane and its derivatives, dopants and etchants, cleaners and reactants. The global gas market for the semiconductor industry is dominated by Air Liquide, Air Products, Linde Nippon Sanso and Praxair. A variety of other companies are niche players and supply gas specialties (fluorinated compounds, dopants, and low- and high-k dielectric precursors). Development in the utilization of IC process chemicals is driven by increase in introduced fab capacitywhich has drastically increased in the course of recent years, with the main part of the new limit at the 45180 nm nodesand processed silicon wafer surface zone, and in-addition by more costly chemicals consumed by the new innovation nodes. Expanded innovation productivity gave by the semiconductor hardware industry is prompting to lower material use per silicon wafer surface zone, while in the meantime well-demonstrated and develop product offerings from photoresists, wet process chemicals, environmental gasses, CMP slurries and sputtering targets encounter serious value weights.Market Key Players:The major participants of this market are Albemarle Corporation, BASF SE, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc, Ashland Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, Covestro AG, The Linde Group, Cabot Microelectronics, AZ Electronic Materials, Huntsman Corporation and others.Request to Receive a Sample Report @In 2010 of Asia-Pacific accounted for a highest share of around 47% of the world utilization of IC process chemicals. This pattern was energized by the developing worldwide purchaser gadgets advertise, the developing buyer hardware generation industry in Asia, and a methodology change of U.S., European and Japanese incorporated gadget makers, who turned to resource light or fabless techniques and outsourced creation to foundries in Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, China or Singapore. The biggest IC prepare concoction devouring area is Japan, representing around 25% of the aggregate.Companies such as AEP Industries Inc., Albemarle Corporation, BASF SE, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc, Ashland Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, Covestro AG, The Linde Group have implemented acquisition and expansion of business strategies to increase their geographical presence. Few global players have invested in R&D amenities to discover advanced and innovative folic products which has higher efficacy and is easy to use.Segmentation:The global Electronic Chemicals market is majorly segmented on the basis of form and by applications. Based on form the market is segmented into Solid, Liquid and Gaseous. Further on the basis of applications the market is classified into semiconductor & IC, PCB and others.Browse Report Details @Regional AnalysisAsia Pacific region is expected to maintain its dominance in the global market of electronic chemical. Emerging markets of China, South-Korea, Japan and India are expected to boost the Asia Pacific electronic chemical market. Other emerging markets are ROW. Asia Pacific has the largest market share of global electronic chemical, followed by Europe and other parts of the world.The largest market of electronic chemicals is in Asia-Pacific owing to the growth of electrical, automobile industry. Rapid industrialization in countries like China, India and Mexico contribute further in the growth of this market. The demand for electronic chemicals in North America is anticipated to grow at a sluggish rate during the forecast period primarily owing to market saturation in several application industries. Moreover, increasing number of environmental regulations is expected to hamper market growth in North America and Europe. Row is anticipated to be the fastest growing region for electronic chemicals market for the forecasted period. High growth in the developing economies of South America and Africa is anticipated to drive demand for electronic chemicals in the Row region.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Artificial Diamond Market Share, Trend, Demand and Key Manufacturers Analysis and Forecast to 2022 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/global-artificial-diamond-market-research-report-2017 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001809756/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001809756/buy/2900 ReportsWeb.com added Global Artificial Diamond Market Research Report 2017 to its vast collection of research Database. The report is spread across 112 pages and supported by 11 company leaders.The Global Artificial Diamond Market Research Report 2017is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Artificial Diamond industry. In a word, This report studies Artificial Diamond in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer. Key companies included in this research are Sandvik AB, Element Six, ILJIN Co. Ltd, Sino-crystal Diamond, Zhongnan Diamond, Henan Huanghe Whirlwind International Co., Ltd, JINQU, CR GEMS, HongJing, SF-Diamond and Yalong.Browse complete report @Market Segment by Region, this report splits Global into several key Region, with sales, revenue, market share and growth rate of Artificial Diamond in these regions, from 2011 to 2022 (forecast), like North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. Firstly, Artificial Diamond Market On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Polished and Rough. On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Artificial Diamond for each application, including Construction and Mining, Electronics, Machining and Cutting Tools, Healthcare and Others.Request for Sample @Major points from Table of Contents:1 Artificial Diamond Market Overview2 Global Artificial Diamond Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Artificial Diamond Production, Revenue (Value) by Regions (2012-2017)4 Global Artificial Diamond Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Artificial Diamond Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Types6 Global Artificial Diamond Market Analysis by Applications7 Global Artificial Diamond Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Sandvik AB7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Artificial Diamond Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Sandvik AB Artificial Diamond Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Element Six7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Artificial Diamond Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Element Six Artificial Diamond Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 ILJIN Co. Ltd7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Artificial Diamond Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 ILJIN Co. Ltd Artificial Diamond Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Artificial Diamond Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Artificial Diamond Market Forecast (2017-2022)List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Artificial DiamondFigure Global Artificial Diamond Production (K MT) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Types (Product Category) (2012-2022)Figure Global Artificial Diamond Production Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 2016Figure Product Picture of PolishedTable Major Manufacturers of PolishedFigure Product Picture of RoughTable Major Manufacturers of RoughFigure Global Artificial Diamond Consumption (K MT) by Applications (2012-2022)Figure Global Artificial Diamond Consumption Market Share by Applications in 2016Figure Construction and Mining ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in Construction and MiningFigure Electronics ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in ElectronicsFigure Machining and Cutting Tools ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in Machining and Cutting ToolsFigure Healthcare ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in HealthcareFigure Others ExamplesTable Key Downstream Customer in OthersFigure Global Artificial Diamond Market Size (Million USD), Comparison (K MT) and CAGR (%) by Regions (2012-2022)Figure North America Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Figure Global Artificial Diamond Capacity, Production (K MT) Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Figure Global Artificial Diamond Major Players Product Capacity (K MT) (2012-2017)Table Global Artificial Diamond Capacity (K MT) of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)Table Global Artificial Diamond Capacity Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)Figure Global Artificial Diamond Capacity (K MT) of Key Manufacturers in 2016Figure Global Artificial Diamond Capacity (K MT) of Key Manufacturers in 2017Figure Global Artificial Diamond Major Players Product Production (K MT) (2012-2017)Table Global Artificial Diamond Production (K MT) of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)Table Global Artificial Diamond Production Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)Figure 2016 Artificial Diamond Production Share by ManufacturersFigure 2017 Artificial Diamond Production Share by ManufacturersFigure Global Artificial Diamond Major Players Product Revenue (Million USD) (2012-2017)Table Global Artificial Diamond Revenue (Million USD) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)Table Global Artificial Diamond Revenue Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)Table 2016 Global Artificial Diamond Revenue Share by ManufacturersTable 2017 Global Artificial Diamond Revenue Share by ManufacturersTable Global Market Artificial Diamond Average Price (USD/MT) of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)Figure Global Market Artificial Diamond Average Price (USD/MT) of Key Manufacturers in 2016Table Manufacturers Artificial Diamond Manufacturing Base Distribution and Sales AreaPlace a Direct Purchase Order of Complete Report @ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1086487 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1086487 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the global Textile Reactive Softeners market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Textile Reactive Softeners for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Textile Reactive Softeners market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Textile Reactive Softeners sales volume, Price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingProcter & GambleColgate-Palmolive CompanyHindustan Unilever LimitedHenkel AG & Co. KGaAReckitt Benckiser Group plcWacker ChemieMomentiveChurch & Dwight Co., IncLion CorporationOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K MT), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MT), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoCationic SoftenersAnionic SoftenersNon-ionic SoftenersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Textile Reactive Softeners for each application, includingPolyester FabricsCotton FabricsWoolen FabricsIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Market Report 20171 Textile Reactive Softeners Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Textile Reactive Softeners1.2 Classification of Textile Reactive Softeners by Product Category1.2.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Cationic Softeners1.2.4 Anionic Softeners1.2.5 Non-ionic Softeners1.3 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Polyester Fabrics1.3.3 Cotton Fabrics1.3.4 Woolen Fabrics1.4 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Market by Region1.4.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Textile Reactive Softeners Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Textile Reactive Softeners Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Textile Reactive Softeners Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Textile Reactive Softeners (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Textile Reactive Softeners (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Textile Reactive Softeners (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Textile Reactive Softeners (Volume) by Application3 United States Textile Reactive Softeners (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 China Textile Reactive Softeners (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Players5.3 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Players6.3 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.4 Japan Textile Reactive Softeners Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Software Defined Radio (SDR) Market Volume Forecast and Value Chain Analysis 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-235 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-235 www.futuremarketinsights.com With the evolution of digital electronics the radio market and communication technologies have evolved a lot. Though the concept of software defined radio (SDR) is not new, in the recent years, this market has undergone many changes in terms of technology and uses. SDR is a type of radio communication system where communication is carried out by the use of software on embedded system or personal computer instead of implementing hardware such as filters, amplifiers, mixers, detectors, demodulators and modulators, among others. SDR are capable of transmitting and receiving a wide spectrum of frequency. When the data from a source is converted into digital format, the remaining activities involved in radio communications are carried out with the help of software driven automated functions.SDR optimizes the tactical information system as embedded software used in SDR helps in the dynamic selection of the communication channel. The number of digital service users is increasing resulting into the improved adoption rate of software defined radio. Public safety, military and commercial use are the three major end-use applications of SDR systems. The demand for SDRs in expected to increase in coming years owing to efficiency and cost effectiveness offered by them. The industry has undergone transformation from analog to digital. Thus, the advance capabilities of digital radio are expected to drive the growth of SDR market. Multiple regulations govern the SDR market and this affects the market growth and trends. For instance, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) legally created a newer class for equipment of SDRs that had streamlined equipment authorization procedure.Request For Report Sample@Military modernization programs being carried out by several countries such as South Korea, India, Germany, Japan and the U.S and the interoperability provided by SDR are major driving forces for SDR market. The issues faced in the integration of the various sub systems pose a challenge to the SDR market. Further, the development of software platforms, technologies and tools, which allow flexible specification, design and implementation of radio systems, is another significant challenge. Players in software defined radio market have potential opportunity in technical advancements of SDR technology such as resolving the problem of frequency congestion, wide frequency range (spectrum) and improved broadcasting services in future.Software defined radio market is segmented on the basis of type, end-user application and geography. On the basis of type of SDR, the market is segmented into ideal software defined radio, baseband software defined radio (BBSDR) and high frequency software defined radio (HFSDR). On the basis of end-user industry, SDR market is segmented into defense industry, telecom industry, manufacturing plants, public safety vendors and personal use. U.S. Canada, Japan, France, Brazil, South Korea, India, Germany and Italy have emerged as the leading countries for software defined radio market.Visit For TOC@Some of the key vendors in software defined radio market are BAE Systems PLC, Elbit Systems Ltd., IndraSistemas, L3 Communications Corporation, Raytheon Co., Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co KG, Thales Group, Viasat Incorporated, SAAB AB, Rockwell Collins, Northrop Grumman Corp., ITT Corporation, Harris Corporation and Datasoft Corporation, among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market Analysis, Growth, Trend and Research Report 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1073163 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1073163 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split Asia-Pacific into several key Regions, with sales (K MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), includingChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanIndiaSoutheast AsiaAustraliaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including3MAkzoNobelBASFHempelKansai PaintsNippon PaintsPPG IndustriesThe Sherwin-WilliamsThe Dow ChemicalWacker ChemieAshlandClariant InternationalDiamond Vogel PaintsJotunRPM InternationalRoyal DSMSolvaySono-TekCarpolyDAW SEOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K MT), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MT), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoWater-Based CoatingsSolvent-Based CoatingsOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume (K MT), market share and growth rate of Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings for each application, includinMarineOil & GasIndustrialConstructionEnergyAutomotiveOthersTable of ContentsAsia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market Report 20171 Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings1.2 Classification of Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings by Product Category1.2.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Types (2012-2022)1.2.2 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Water-Based Coatings1.2.4 Solvent-Based Coatings1.3 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2012-2022)1.3.2 Marine1.3.3 Oil & Gas1.3.4 Industrial1.3.5 Construction1.3.6 Energy1.3.7 Automotive1.3.8 Others1.4 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market by Region1.4.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.8 Australia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Asia-Pacific Market Size (Value and Volume) of Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (2012-2022)1.5.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Competition by Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application2.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (Volume) by Application2.4 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (Volume and Value) by Region2.4.1 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4.2 Asia-Pacific Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3 China Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 China Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 China Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 China Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 China Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 China Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.3 China Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 Japan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 Japan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 Japan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 Japan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 Japan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 Japan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.3 Japan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 South Korea Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 South Korea Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 South Korea Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 South Korea Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 South Korea Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 South Korea Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.3 South Korea Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Taiwan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Taiwan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Taiwan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Taiwan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Taiwan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Taiwan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.3 Taiwan Anti-corrosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ PARIS: Euronext wheat futures ended flat to higher on Friday, with front-month prices buoyed by larger-than-expected US export sales, while further out positions were more subdued. May milling wheat, the most active contract on Paris-based Euronext, settled unchanged on the day at 194.50 euros ($220.62) a tonne. Front-month March futures ended 1.00 euro higher at 196.00 euros after reaching a one-week top at 197.50 euros. A bigger than anticipated volume of US wheat export sales - as the US Department of Agriculture released figures for six weeks up to Feb. 14 to clear a backlog caused by a government shutdown - sparked a rally in spot prices as it suggested strong short-term demand. There were decent US export sales for the past month so people thought there could be a short-term squeeze in export supply, a futures dealer said. There was an idea that traders may need to take delivery of March futures to get physical supply. Traders have long anticipated an upturn in demand for US and EU wheat as supply dwindles in top exporter Russia. But concern that US and EU shipments were lagging too far behind contributed to a price slide that pushed Chicago and Paris futures to seven-month lows earlier this week. Chicago wheat also rallied after Fridays USDA export data. But it later pared gains as the US grain market focused on developments in ongoing trade talks between Washington and Beijing that could bring fresh demand for US crops. Reuters Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) Market Revenue, Opportunity, Forecast and Value Chain 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-238 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-238 www.futuremarketinsights.com Static random access memory (SRAM) is a type of semiconductor memory. It uses bistable latching circuitry for storing bits. It is static in nature i.e. the data bits are stored till the power is supplied. The SRAMs are comparatively more expensive than DRAMs, thus are mostly used in the applications where high efficiency and performance is needed. Some characteristics such as bandwidth, power efficiency make SRAMs ideal for the electronic appliances such as cell phones, digital cameras and electronics user interfaces. Some of the general uses of SRAMs are workstations, computers, routers and other peripheral equipments such as CPU (central processing unit) caches, CPU register files, router buffers and hard disk buffers, among others. Printers and LCD (liquid crystal display) screens also use SRAM to save the preview of the image printed or displayed.Emerging high performance network applications, increasing demand and applications of the embedded SRAMs, and increasing demand for faster cache memories are some of the factors responsible for the growth of SRAM market. Faster switching time, power efficiency and high endurance as compared to traditional RAM, effective replacement for the traditional memory technology and increasing application base are some of the driving factors for the SRAM market. However, its larger cell size (up to six transistors for a single bit) makes it impractical for applications requiring large memory. Further, high cost incurred in designing and low stability in harsh condition is some other challenges to the growth of SRAM market. Neural networks and flexible electronics are emerging opportunities in SRAM market. The market for cellular RAM is increasing at growing rapidly and use and application of SRAM in cellular devices is expected to boost the market in coming time. Flash memory market can be replaced by SRAMs in upcoming years and players have opportunity in this filed.Request For Report Sample@Static random access memory is segmented on the basis of type of flip-flop used, transistor type, features, functions, product types, applications and geography. Binary SRAM and ternary SRAM are the two broad segments of the SRAM market on the basis of flip-flop type. On the basis of transistor type the SRAM market is segmented into bipolar junction transistor and MOSFET (metaloxide semiconductor field-effect transistor).on the basis of features the SRAM market is segmented into ZBT (zero bus turnaround) SRAM, syncBurst SRAM, DDR (double data rate) SRAM and quad data rate SRAM. SRAM market is segmented on the basis of products into, asynchronous SRAM, PSRAM (pseudo SRAM), nVSRAM (non volatile SRAM) and others. On the basis of end-use application SRAM market is segmented into communication industry, computer /IT sector, consumer electronics industry and automotive sector, among others. China, Taiwan, Singapore, India and Malaysia are some of the countries holding huge potential for SRAM market.Visit For TOC@Some of the key vendors in static random access memory (SRAM) are Micron Technology, Inc., Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc., Powerchip Technology Corporation, Integrated Device Technology, Inc. Cypress Semiconductor, Everspin Technologies, Inc., Intel Corporation, Sony Corporation, Samsung Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics N.V., GSI Technology and Integrated Device Technology, Inc among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Anaesthesia Machine Market To Register A Robust Growth By 2021 http://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1000447 http://www.researchtrades.com/discount/1000447 http://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-anaesthesia-machine-market-outlook-2016-2021 http://www.researchtrades.com The anaesthetic machine (UK English) or anesthesia machine (US English) or Boyle's machine is used by anaesthesiologists, nurse anaesthetists, and anaesthesiologist assistants to support the administration of anaesthesia. The most common type of anaesthetic machine in use in the developed world is the continuous-flow anaesthetic machine, which is designed to provide an accurate and continuous supply of medical gases (such as oxygen and nitrous oxide), mixed with an accurate concentration of anaesthetic vapour (such as isoflurane), and deliver this to the patient at a safe pressure and flow. Modern machines incorporate a ventilator, suction unit, and patient monitoring devices.Ask for sample copy@GCC?s report, Global Anaesthesia Machine Market Outlook 2016-2021, has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global Anaesthesia Machine market collected from specialized sources. The report covers key technological developments in the recent times and profiles leading players in the market and analyzes their key strategies. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. The major players in the global Anaesthesia Machine market are Drager (Germany), GE (USA), Heinen+Lowenstein (Germany), OSI (USA), Royal Medical (Korea), Penlon (UK), Heyer (Germany), Fritz Stephan (Germany), Philips (Netherlands), Maquet (Sweden), Acoma (Japan), Beijing Aerospace Changfeng (China), Shenzhen Comen (China), Mindray (China), among others.This report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Anaesthesia Machine from 2011-2015 and provides extensive market forecasts 2016-2021 by region/country and subsectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Anaesthesia Machine market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Anaesthesia Machine, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies.Request discount for this report@The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Rest of World. In this sector, global competitive landscape and supply/demand pattern of Anaesthesia Machine industry has been provided.Key factors for this report:Part 1. Exclusive SummaryPart 2. Methodology2.1 Research Methodology2.2 Geographic Scope2.3 Years ConsideredPart 3. Introduction3.1 Definition3.2 Supply Chain Structure3.2.1 Raw Material Supply3.2.2 Traders & Distributors3.2.3 Key Customers3.3 Manufacture3.3.1 Manufacturing Process3.3.2 Production CostPart 4. Market Landscape4.1 Global Anaesthesia Machine Market Size (Volume) 2011-20164.1.1 Overview4.1.2 Global Anaesthesia Machine Production4.1.3 Top 10 Anaesthesia Machine Companies (Volume Share)4.2 Global Anaesthesia Machine Market Size (Value) 2011-20164.2.1 Overview4.2.2 Global Anaesthesia Machine Production Value4.2.3 Top 10 Anaesthesia Machine Companies (Revenue Share)Part 5. Segmentation by Products5.1 Type 15.2 Type 25.3 Type 3View this report@About us:Research Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approach, thus providing valuable research insights.Contact Us:Address: Flat No.10, Wing C, S. No. 245/4/2+245/5/1, Baner, Pune-411045Email: sales@researchtrades.comCall us: +91 7507349866Skype ID: researchtradesconWeb: Demand for Better Standards of Communication to Fuel Growth of Internet of Things Technology: Market Outlook & Significance 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1064610 http://www.researchmoz.us/internet-of-things-iot-technology-outlook-and-significance-2017-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Latest Research Report titled " Internet of Things (IoT): Technology, Outlook & Significance 2017 " features Key Market Players Analysis, Market Challenges, Market Drivers and Market Trends.The research report, titled 'Internet of Things (IoT): Technology, Outlook & Significance 2017,? provides a thorough understanding of the various market dynamics changing the trajectory of the overall market. The research report includes an explanation of the implementation and understanding of various IoT solutions. The publication also assesses the awareness about IoT amongst various end users in the industry. It then evaluates how IoT technology will be adopted to better the operational efficiency within organization and its impact on the revenue earnings of the global market. Investments in the global market and business advantages of IoT solutions have been discussed in great detail in the comprehensive research report.IoT market includes platform, software, hardware solutions along with services and applications. The demand for this technology has been consistent due to various advantages it offers such as an information-driven ecosystem for a convenient and modern life. IoT technology essentially brings various gadgets together digitally to establish a meaningful chain of communication for a desired output. This has allowed organizations to analyze raw data and transform it into usable information for business purposes. The global IoT market is estimated to grow at a prolific growth rate as it is expected to revolutionize manufacturing, transportation, utilities, healthcare, education, and government sectors in the near future.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Rapid technological developments in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), sensor technologies, growing standards of communication, and improving internet infrastructure are projected to be some of the leading reasons for booming IoT market in the coming years. In terms of geography, the global market is segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. Presently, Europe holds a dominant share in the global market due to well-established IoT ecosystem. However, Asia Pacific is expected to offer innumerable lucrative offers to IoT technology in the foreseeable future.Browse more details at:The Asia Pacific IoT market will be driven by the high penetration of internet in the region. The regional market will also be favored by the growing disposable incomes that is allowing various users to buy electronic gadgets. Initiatives taken by the governments of developing countries to offer better communication, growing usage of smartphones, and increasing investments by IT companies have also been assessed as major factors responsible for the growth of the Asia Pacific IoT market.Some of the leading players operating in the global IoT market are Bosch, IBM, Oracle, Symantec, and Cisco. The research report provides an in-depth understanding of the vendor landscape present in the global market. Furthermore, the publication also explains the research and development strategies of these players, their plans for expanding business, and their marketing strategies. The threat from new entrants has been assessed by market analysts to help the readers get a well-informed perspective of the overall market.About UsResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Correspondence Management Solution Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast By End-use Idustry 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-239 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-239 www.futuremarketinsights.com Over the years correspondence management has increasingly transformed itself to be one of the core business pillars for enterprises across industries. Across all industries from Banking & Financial Services to Public Sectors - real time and constant communication with client or other associated members in client value chain through correspondence management solution is witnessing ever increasing demand. However, in spite of being crucial, many enterprises over the years are not able to leverage crucial solution like correspondence management to automate certain parts of their processes to save cost for document aggregation and delivery; other than that by not adopting relevant correspondence solutions enterprises have also failed to gain advantage of reusing existing content and avoid duplication.Real adoption of correspondence management solutions not only save cost, but also provide enterprise with options like compliance with ever changing government regulations, enhanced content efficiency, & better employee productivity. As going gets tough for enterprises and they are trying to save dollars from every opportunity, increasing uptake of correspondence management solutions can certainly improve the bottom line.Request For Report Sample@Overall, the market for correspondence management solution market size is close to US$1 billion in 2014 and is expected to register growth of 10.5% till 2020 and will reach US$ 1.8 billion by 2020. For vendors it will represent an incremental correspondence management opportunity of US$820 million during the forecast period. In terms of regional adoption, North America is leading the pie of correspondence management by occupying more than 30% of the total market opportunity. At a country level, USA represents the highest potential market for correspondence management, followed by UK and Germany. Within Europe, Scandinavian countries have also demonstrated their interest for the solution in the recent past. Among emerging geographies, Brazil is slightly green field geography, in process of dramatically reducing paper correspondence however, interestingly Middle East Africa is a growing market for correspondence management solution.In terms of vertical adoption of correspondence management, Financial Services and Public Sector entities are leading the charge and constitute more than 60% of the total market share in 2014. The key drivers for increasing uptake of correspondence management among public sector are increasing traction of electronic communication systems along with emphasis on digitization where old processes are getting streamlined by implementing new technologies. For financial services, increasing requirement of adhering to compliance is driving the correspondence management solution uptake.Software License revenue primarily dominates the correspondence management market by holding more than 35% of the total correspondence management solution market opportunity; however for vendors this is an opportunity as the providers need to showcase this as an end-to-end solution; combination of software & services; FMI also noted that Service Providers with Case as a Service portfolio is witnessing preference in the market.Several categories of providers are targeting correspondence management solution market;System Integrators like Cognizant, Accenture, Capgemini, CGI & InfosysLarge Software houses like Adobe, EMC, HP, OPENTEXT, Oracle, Pitney Bowes, MetavanteetcNiche & Specialized vendors like Top Down Systems, Afa, Merlin, CEDAR etcBoutique System Integrators like SWORD, Gimmal, SynAppsVisit For TOC@FMI in the upcoming report highlighted that there are several options how vendor can tap this opportunity. The Service Providers should try to go to the market through a solution approach by tying up with software houses and providing it as an end to end solution and behaving like a one stop shop for the correspondence management solution. Also, service providers can evaluate options of offering correspondence management solution as a service under their BPO portfolios.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices Market: Industry Insight with key profile companies Forecast to 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1071 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/advance-anesthesia-monitoring-devices-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/safety-lancet-market-550 Market Scenario:Globally the market for Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices is increasing rapidly the main reason for this is the growth in safety of patients. The factors that influence the growth of Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices market are the increasing technology development in healthcare devices, Healthcare organizations encouraging patients to go undergo anesthesia monitoring. The market is also growing due to usage of Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices in wide range of treatment.Globally the market for advance anesthesia monitoring devices is expected to grow at the rate of steady CAGR from 2016 to 2027.Key Players Nihon Kohden Corporation (China), GE Healthcare (U.K.), Philips Healthcare (The Netherlands), Draegerwerk AG & Co. KGaA (Germany), Masimo (U.S.), Infinium Medical (U.S.), Medtronic (U.S.) Mindray Medical International Limited (China)Request a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by Type, End Users and its sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices market.Test the market data and market information presented through more than 62 market data tables and 35 figures spread over more than 105 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content (TOC) & market synopsis on Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027".Access Report Details @SegmentsThe market for Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices is segmented in mainly two parts i.e. by Type, by end users and its various sub-segments; by type include gas monitors, standalone capnography monitors, depth of anesthesia, and MRI compatible anesthesia monitors, and others. Whereas end-users segment include, hospitals, research laboratories, clinics, ambulatory services and others.The report for Advance Anesthesia Monitoring Devices of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Browse Related ReportGlobal Safety Lancet Market Information, by Type (Push Button Safety Lancet, Pressure Activated Safety Lancet and Side Button Safety Lancet), by End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Diagnostic Centers and Pathology Laboratories, Home Diagnostics and Other End Users) - Forecast to 2023About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Global Vaccine Adjuvants Market Size, Strategy, Factors, Price, Consumption Forecast to 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1098 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/vaccine-adjuvants-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1098 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/platelet-agitator-market Market Overview:An adjuvant is an immunological agent that modifies the effect of other agents by enhancing the vaccine development process. Adjuvant produces a strong immune response to the administered antigen (Immunology) empowering a strong protection against infection. Special compounds like Adjuvants are used for years to enhance the particular response against antigens. Adjuvant has come up as a vital component for most of the clinically used vaccines.Understanding the application of adjuvants is very essential in analyzing the market dynamics. This study aims at obtaining a detailed overview of the market dynamics of the current market and during the forecast period for the vaccine adjuvants market.A number of developments are taking place in the antigen research (Vaccine), e.g. Aluminum salt has been used safely in the vaccines for almost a century and has become partially successful in promoting the protective immunity.Major Key Players Adjuvatis (France) Sergeant Adjuvants (U.S) SEPPIC (France) Agenus, Inc. (U.s) Novavax, Inc.(U.s) SPI Pharma, Inc.(U.s) Invivogen (U.s) Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc. (U.S) MPV Technologies (U.s) OZ Biosciences (France) Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC.(India) CureVac AG (Germany) Brenntag Biosector (Denmark) CSL Limited (Australia)Get a Copy of Sample Report @Increase in zoonotic and infectious diseases, demand for improved and lasting vaccination against existing and emerging diseases. Immunization programs that government bodies care focusing upon are also expected to drive the demand for vaccine adjuvants there are the key driving factors for the Global Vaccine Adjuvants Market. Similarly, the increasing use of synthetic vaccines and recombinant are also expected to drive the global vaccine adjuvants market over the forecast period.Side effects of adjuvants, high toxicity adjuvants, stringent regulatory aspects, cost of developing a new adjuvant, lack of scientific awareness of adjuvants are the main restraints or the factors affecting the market growth of Global Vaccine Adjuvants Market.Hottest trend in the marketAnticholinergic medications follow up on efferent nerves to neutralize overactive bladder (OAB) after it happens. To keep the event of OAB, treatments ought to be coordinated at hindering the afferent nerves that control the bladder.The new devices accessible today to treat urinary incontinence are far more superior to those in the course of recent years. Notwithstanding unique accentuation on afferent neuron action, consideration should be coordinated toward quality treatment and conveyance of medicine specifically into the bladder with advanced devicesThe report for Vaccine Adjuvants of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 115 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Vaccine Adjuvants Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027Access Report Details @Study Objectives of Vaccine Adjuvants To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Vaccine Adjuvants market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Vaccine Adjuvants market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by Type, by End-users, Administration and its sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Vaccine Adjuvants marketMake an Enquiry @Among the Urinary incontinence market Device segment is compositing the growth of the marketMarket SegmentsThe market for Vaccine Adjuvants is segmented in mainly three parts i.e. by type, by devices and its various sub-segments; by type include pathogen components, particulate adjuvants, combination adjuvants and others. Whereas by end users include hospitals, clinics, research laboratories and others. Furthermore by administration includes oral, intradermal and intranasalThe report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Related Reports:-Platelet Agitator Market Information, by type (Flatbed, Circular and Combination devices), by capacity (small, medium and large) by end user (autonomous blood banks, hospital based blood banks and others) - Forecast to 2027About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Network Function Virtualization Market Size, Analysis, and Forecast Report 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-266 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-266 www.futuremarketinsights.com Network function virtualization (NFV) is the combination of software and hardware network featured in a virtual network. The service was initiated by service operators in order to increase the deployment of new operations, maintenance and service of networks. Network function virtualization catalyzes the major changes in implementation of network and their operations. The solution offered by network function virtualization projects a prominent future by optimizing the network operations and benefitting the service providers across the globe. Network function virtualization involves implementation of network functions in software suitable for different hardware and that can be moved to various locations without any need of installation of new equipments.The primary goals of network function virtualization are to reduce power consumption and reduce equipment cost, facilitate the accessibility of several applications on one single network appliances with multi tenancy and multi version capabilities. Network function virtualization reduces capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX). These networks support a dynamic ecosystem through the development and utilization of software solutions. All the benefits of FV are derived from use commercial off the shelf (COTS) hardware that can be purposed and repurposed for multiple telecom related services that currently use proprietary hardware. Network function virtualization adopts the concept of virtualization and providing the benefit to telecommunication application infrastructure. Network function visualization supports software defining network (SDN) by providing the infrastructure upon which SDN software can be run.Request For Report Sample@The market for network function virtualization is driven by several factors including increase in demand for data intensive applications and need of cloud based services. Over the past few years the mobile industry has witnessed exceptional demand for data intensive applications which further demands for enhanced network capacity to match the user requirement. The growth of market is hindered by factors such as delay in adoption of technology. Due to nascent stage of optimization solution, vendors need more opportunities to accomplish more target customers. One of the major trends in network function virtualization market is the increasing demand for virtual server access ports. The network function virtualization market across the globe is expected to show a substantial growth with a double digit increase in CAGR by the year 2019. The global market shows immense potential because of the presence of certain trends and due to the cost benefits and high flexibility provided by b the network solutions.The market for network function virtualization is segmented on the basis of applications and geography. On the basis of application the market for network function virtualization can be segmented into switching elements (Routers), traffic analysis, service assurance, next generation signaling, security function and others. The geographical analysis of the market is done on the basis of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of World.Visit For TOC@Some of the major players in the market include Ericsson AB, Alcatel-Lucent SA, Huawei technologies Co. Ltd., 6Wind SA, Nokia Solutions and Network, Amdocs Inc., Connectem Inc., CIMI Corporation, ContexXtream Inc., Intel Corporation, F5 Network Inc., Juniper Network Inc., Open Wave Mobility Inc., NEC Inc., Oracle Corporation and Opera Software Asa among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Aerospace Industry Composites Market Analysis,Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2552 http://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/2552 http://www.mrrse.com/aerospace-composites-market https://plus.google.com/u/0/109558601025749677847/posts https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has included a new study titled, Aerospace Composites Market-Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 2024.Aerospace composites are the composite material systems which find applications in the aviation industry due to their key chemical and mechanical properties. The composite materials commonly used in the aerospace industry are carbon fiber composites, glass fiber composites and aramid fiber composites. Application segments of global aerospace composites include commercial & business aircraft, helicopters, military and space. Carbon fiber composites are the commonly used composite material in the aerospace industry due to high fuel efficiency and low carbon emission. Increasing air passenger traffic, emerging economies and growing number of low cost carriers are expected to boost the market. Recent trend of spending heavily on military and space programs are expected to fuel the growth of the aerospace market in near future.Request Sample Reports :In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Global Aerospace Composites Market: Scope of the ReportThe report estimates and forecasts the aerospace composites market on the global, regional, and country levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (Tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the product segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage. The study includes drivers and restraints for the aerospace composites market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the aerospace composites market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes global average price trend analysis of aerospace composites.Send An Enquiry :The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the aerospace composites market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein application and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for aerospace composites between 2016 and 2024.Global Aerospace Composites Market: Key SegmentsThe study provides a comprehensive view of the aerospace composites market by dividing it into product type, application and geography. The aerospace composites market has been segmented into carbon fiber composites, glass fiber composites, aramid fiber composites and others. Application segments have been analyzed based on commercial & business aircraft, military, helicopters and space .The aerospace composites market has been estimated in terms of volume (Tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) between 2016 and 2024.Companies Mentioned in ReportThe report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Cytec Solvay Group, Hexcel Corporation, Koninklijke TenCate, Toray Industries Inc., BASF SE, SGL-The Carbon Company. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.The global aerospace composites market has been segmented as follows:Browse Full Report with TOC :Aerospace Composites Market Product Type AnalysisCarbon Fiber CompositesGlass Fiber CompositesAramid Fiber CompositesOthersAerospace Composites Market Application Type AnalysisCommercial & Business AircraftMilitaryHelicoptersSpaceAerospace Composites Market Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaS.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceK.ItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanASEANRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMarket Research Reports Search Engine(MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:Twitter: Asia-Pacific skin cancer Market set for a potential growth during 2017-2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1173 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/skin-cancer-market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/pharmacogenomics-market Market Scenario:Skin cancer is a condition where abnormal skin cells grow in a disorganized fashion, invade the surrounding tissue and disrupt normal tissue function. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed today in Asia Pacific region and occurs more often than all other malignancies combined. About 80% of the skin cancer cases will be basal cell carcinoma (BCC), 16% will be squamous cell carcinoma, and 4% will be melanoma. Skin cancer is highly treatable when it is diagnosed in its early stages, and it is usually relatively easy to diagnose. New technologies are developing for diagnosis and treatment of different types of skin cancer.Key Players: Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddys lab, Cadila Pharma, Cipla, Cancer council Australia, Sun DoctorsRequest a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Asia-Pacific skin cancer Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Asia-Pacific Skin cancer market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Asia-Pacific Skin cancer market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by type, by end users and sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Asia-Pacific Skin cancer market.Test the market data and market information presented through more than 62 market data tables and 35 figures spread over more than 130 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content (TOC) & market synopsis on Asia-Pacific skin cancer Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027".Access Report Details @Asia-Pacific Skin cancer market Segments:-Asia-Pacific Skin cancer market has been segmented on the basis of Types which comprises of Basal cell carcinoma, Squamous cell Carcinoma and Melanoma and others. On the basis of Treatment, market is classified into medical treatments which include Topical field Therapy, Topical chemotherapy for skin, immune response modulator, Bleomycin, Acitretin, Radiation, Chemotherapy, Reduction of immunosuppression; Surgical treatment which include cryosurgery Curettage with electrodessication, Photodynamic therapy, Mohs micrographic surgery and others; On the basis of end users, market is segmented into Hospitals and clinics, Diagnostic centers, Cancer research institutes and others.The report for Asia-Pacific Skin cancer market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsBrowse Related ReportGlobal Pharmacogenomics Market Information by Application (drug safety, Tailor treatments, drug discovery), By Therapeutic application (cancer, oncology, cardiovascular) By Methods (haplotype analysis, multivariate techniques) - Forecast to 2027About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Biodegradable Packaging Market 10-Year Market Forecast and Trends Analysis Research Report http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-323 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-323 www.futuremarketinsights.com Biodegradable packaging provides natural and easily degradable protection when used mainly for the presentation and packaging of the products from the moment the production process begins until the product is administered or consumed. Biodegradable packaging significantly differs from the conventional non-biodegradable packaging. Biodegradable packaging degrades easily and quickly and thus, usually does not require the help of an external catalyst for degradation. Biodegradable products are usually land filled than that compared to that of the non-biodegradable conventional products. Depending on the choice of the materials used in the manufacturing of biodegradable packaging the properties, consumer attributes and appearance of the product packaging varies. Biodegradable packaging sector is a small segment which represents a merger percentage of the packaging industry. The global biodegradable packaging has now moved on towards more advanced and efficient packaging. A decade ago, biodegradable packaging was not known to have any real significance. However, recently biodegradable packaging has become an integral part of the global packaging market. The rising consumer awareness towards biodegradable packaging has led to the tremendous growth of the overall market.Increased consumer preference towards biodegradable materials coupled with the growing environmental concern is expected to boost the overall growth of the biodegradable packaging market. Most of the major packaging companies are now shifting their focus towards biodegradable packaging in order to achieve greater consumer satisfaction. In addition, to differentiate their products from that of the competitors many manufacturers are now shifting towards biodegradable packaging. The biodegradable packaging market is expected to witness the fastest growth than that compared to the plastics packaging market. The biodegradable packaging market is a relatively new market however; it is expected to capture the existing market share of the non-biodegradable plastic packaging market. The food packaging and beverage packaging market is expected to play a crucial role in driving the overall global biodegradable packaging market. However, lack of government support especially in the developed countries is expected to curb the growth of the market. The presence of hugeprice difference between the biodegradable packaging and other conventional packaging is further expected to hamper the growth of the market.Request For Report Sample@Europe and North America are expected to dominate the overall market of biodegradable packaging. North America is expected to be the largest consumer of the biodegradable packaging market.The developed regions are expected to dominate the overall biodegradable packaging market owing to the presence of mature markets that consist of highly environmental conscious consumers. In addition, the presence of high-spending population is also expected to increase the overall demand for biodegradable packaging in the developed regions. The presence of large populations in Asia Pacific is expected to boost the biodegradable packaging market. Owing to the increase in the contract manufacturing process coupled with increased governmental interest to promote biodegradable products by providing incentives in some countries such as China and India is further expected to contribute to the growth of the market.Visit For TOC@The biodegradable packaging market is highly fragmented in nature. Some of the key participants of the biodegradable packagin market include International Paper, Natureworks LLC, Biopac, BASF SE, Stora Enso, Smurfit Kappa Group, Rocktenn, Clearwater Paper Corporation, Georgia-Pacific LLC and Novamont S.P.A among others. The companies mainly strive towards developing newtechnologies to manufacture biodegradable packaging material from various easily available natural resources. There are also huge investments in the research and development in order to develop innovative product which in turn would help the companies to gain competitive advantage in the market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: ASEAN Confectionery Market 2015-2025 by Segmentation Based on Product, Application and Region http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-as-420 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-as-420 www.futuremarketinsights.com ASEAN Confectionery Market OverviewItems in confectionery market consists of candies, chocolates, toffees, lollies, bakery items;basically food items that are rich in sugar and sweet content. Mostly confectionery market items consists of food products like butter, cocoa, honey, milk, flour, fruits, honey, nuts, sugar syrup and more. They are consumed globally, mostly by all regions and countries and are expected to grow in developing countries. Confectionery market is growing in mostly all the South East Asian countries and saw a tremendous growth in the last couple of years.ASEAN Confectionery Market SegmentationThe confectionery market is segmented into three segments Chocolates, Sugar confectionery and Gum. Chocolates constitutes the significant part of confectionery market. Cocoa and sugar are the raw materials for chocolate and latex is the raw material used for gum.Worlds largest cocoa processor Barry Callebauts production has also moved to Asia pacific and Latin America because of its low production costs and great future opportunities.Its factories are in Malaysia and Thailand. Nestle has acquired a majority stake in Chinese confectioner Hsu Fu Chi.Request For Report Sample@Europe constitutes the biggest share of confectionery market, followed by Asia Pacific confectionery market. ASEAN region has become an attractive place to do business. Some big MNCs have shifted their base(plants) for the production of chocolate to Indonesia to improve efficiency and reduce costs in supply. Indonesia has the most consumption of confectionery items as compared to other South East Asian countries. Flavors GmbH (WILD), another company is opening its branch center in Singapore to serve the hub for the ASEAN region. Main markets in South East Asian countries include Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia for confectionery market.ASEAN Confectionery Market DynamicsRising disposable income, higher population, high GDP growth and consumer spending are the major key drivers of ASEAN confectionery market. The biggest constraint to ASEAN confectionery market could be rise in raw material cost and uncertain consumer behaviour. Also health issues, increasing government regulations, could also be the biggest challenge for confectionery market. Chocolate segment expected to grow the most under ASEAN confectionery market. On special occasions and celebrations, sale of confectionery items increase because people gift each other and its consumption and demand increase. Vietnam is gradually cutting down the import tax imposed on products of ASEAN, countries in accordance with the ASEAN Free Trade Area, AFTA, regulations. As a result, the Vietnamese confectionery market is vibrant compared to other nations.ASEAN Confectionery Market Distribution ChannelMostly confectionery items are sold in retail stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores. Multinational flavor companies and smaller local manufacturers are active in South EastAsia confectionery market. The latter offers good distribution expertise and local connections. Innovation by producers playing a great role in experimenting with flavors, taste, size which is driving a growth of this market. Enterprises operating under Vietnamese confectionery market use modern technology of foreign countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan and Austria to make their products, and apply non-chemical preservation techniquesVisit For TOC@ASEAN Confectionery Market Key PlayersKey players in this confectionery market are Ferraro, Hersheys,Lindt, Wrigleys, Perfetti Van Melle and ChupaChupa. Product innovation and consistent in quality are the reasons for their success. Dunkin Donuts has signed a franchisee agreement to develop a brand in Vietnam with Vietnam Food and Beverage Co. domestic confectionery companies have simultaneously launched many new products in confectionery market. Pioneers of the campaign included famous companies such as Kinh Do, Bibica, Kotobuki, and smaller producers like Nguyen Tran and ThanhPhat, etc. ierce competition was found between Malaysian Khongguan biscuits and Vietnamese productsABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Automotive Interior Ambient Lighting Systems Market Global Industry Analysis, Trends and Forecast, 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1503 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1503 www.futuremarketinsights.com Automotive interior ambient lighting systems primarily consists of the lighting that are incorporated inside a vehicle to aid visibility during specific time and period, particularly during night travel. In addition to the functional benefits, automotive interior ambient lighting systems gives the interior of a vehicle enhanced aesthetic look and imparts a sense of spacious in-cabin feeling.Ambient interior lighting systems also ensures safety of the driver and the passengers as it aids in the effective visibility of control panel and instruments for drivers during instances of low visibility. Nowadays, majority of the interior ambient lighting systems are directly controlled by the infotainment system. The market for automotive interior ambient lighting systems is expected to grow at a healthy rate over the forecast period.Global Automotive Interior Ambient Lighting Systems Market DynamicsThe automotive interior ambient lighting systems market is driven by increasing vehicle production, technological advancements, and the stringent regulations pertaining to the drivers safety. Moreover, the rising demand for comfort, particularly from the developing economies, is expected to drive the market growth. Factors such as product Innovation and new technology advancement to offer lucrative growth opportunities to players in the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market.Request For Report Sample@Global Automotive Interior Ambient Lighting Systems Market SegmentationThe global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market is segmented on the basis of technology, application, vehicle type, and region.The global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market is segmented on the basis of technology as: Halogen and LEDLED is expected to be the fastest growing technology in the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market owing to the fact that LEDs are energy efficient, lightweight and takes lesser space. These attributes are responsible for the fast growth of this technology over the forecast period. Halogen technology is expected to dominate the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market owing to its low cost.On the basis of application, the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market is segmented into: instrument panel, center stack, console, door panels, speakers, and cup holders, etc.On the basis of vehicle type, the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market is segmented into: passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, and heavy commercial vehicles.The global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market is segmented on the basis of region as: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific exc. Japan (APEJ), Japan, and Middle East & Africa (MEA)Global Automotive Interior Ambient Lighting Systems Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the Global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, and Middle East & Africa. APEJ is the largest consumer of automotive interior ambient lighting systems and is forecast to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. Followed by it, Europe is the second largest consumer in the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market.Request For TOC@Global Automotive Interior Ambient Lighting Systems Market PlayersThe major players identified across the value chain of global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market include HELLA KGaA Hueck & Co., HUECK GmbH & Co. KG, Koito Manufacturing, Magneti Marelli S.p.A, Valeo, Ichikoh Industries, Stanley Electric, ZIZALA Lichtsysteme and others. The companies are emphasizing on research and development and new product development in order to maintain the competitive advantage in the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market during the forecast period. The companies are also focusing on different strategies in order to maintain the market share in the global automotive interior ambient lighting systems market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Research report explores the Automotive Stamping Market for the forecast period, 2016-2026 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1527 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1527 www.futuremarketinsights.com Stamping is a metal working process by which a desired shape and structure of a material is achieved. This metal working process is adopted in manufacturing industries engaged in processing of hardened surfaces such as sheet metal and plastics components. Stamping process forms the base of all the building process in automotive industry as more than 80 percent of the components that make up a vehicle is produced by stamping. Both the interior structural components and the exterior build components are produced by this process.Since 2010, the demand for automobiles has increased exponentially after the global economic downturn during 2009. This has led to an increase in demand of the stamping machines so as to meet the demand of an impeding growth in the automotive sector. The increase in usage of stamping machines in the automotive sector attributed to the growth of stamped automotive parts and is forecast to expand at a increasing growth rates during 2016-2026.Request For Report Sample@Automotive Stamping Market DynamicsThe market for stamping machines in the automotive sector is driven by reduced lead times required for manufacturing vehicles. The machines are extremely versatile as different modules can be achieved by changing the necessary die. This process has also led to reduced labor requirements as the process can be automated with the help of computers thereby reducing the labor costs. The process helps in reducing scrap wastage as precise amount of raw material is utilized. The production cost incurred in the stamping process is very low and is replacing other metal working processes such as forging and die-casting.Automotive Stamping Market: SegmentationOn the basis of forming temperature, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Hot StampingCold StampingOn the basis of Stamping process, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Mechanical ProcessHydraulic ProcessPneumatic ProcessOn the basis of the number of stations required, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Single Tool StationProgressive StationsAutomotive Stamping: Regional OutlookThe Global automotive stamping market can be divided into seven geographical locations such as North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Asia-Pacific market is anticipated to grow steeply in the stamped components, as the automotive sector in China, Japan and India is growing at a rapid pace. In Latin America, Brazil is the strongest automotive stamped components market preceded by Mexico and Argentina, due to improved production and sales of automobiles in these regions. European countries such as U.K. and Germany are also expected to grow in the stamped component market as demand for vehicles in these regions has increased exponentially.Request For TOC@Automotive Stamping Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players which provide the Automotive Industry with Stamping Presses areSchuler GroupAIDA GlobalOrchid InternationalEagle Press & Equipment Co. Ltd.Hyundai RotemMacRodyne Hydraulic Presses & AutomationSantec GroupJier North AmericaRidgeview IndustriesBliss-Bret IndustriesABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Perfume Packaging Market Outlook, Useful Strategies & Forecast Report till 2022 Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1081458 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1081458 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-perfume-packaging-market-research-report-2017-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ In the recent times, the perfume packaging market is witnessing a huge development. Focusing on this growth, a new study has been included into the vast repository of Market Research Hub (MRH), with title Global Perfume Packaging Market Research Report 2017. The report presents a conclusive analysis of the market influencing factors such as leading players and regions as well as the careful market forecast for the period during 2017 to 2022.Request Free Sample Report:Currently, the perfume packaging market is growing rapidly due to the availability of stunning covering designs using premium materials. The report begins with the clear evaluation of the industry and its applications. Furthermore, the study also describes the product, wherein it is primarily split into the types glass, plastic and others. By studying the production, revenue and price, in detail alongside the market share and growth rate it brings great clarity. It also concentrates on introspecting the status and outlook for the key applications as well as its consumption, market share and growth rate.Another important facet of this study is the geographical expanse of this study, where it splits the market into several key regions, namely North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. These active places are evaluated considering the production, consumption and revenue, as well as its market share and growth rate. Alongside, the status of the productions supply, demand and forecast of the global perfume packaging market are all available in this study. Such vital data about the future of this market will help to design cost-effective plans.In the concluding part of the report describes the competition among the top manufacturers, and some of the big players in the study include Rexam, Silgan Holding, Heinz, HCP, Gerresheimer, Albea Group, Amcor, SABIC IP, Dejin Plastic Packaging, RPCGroup, Yifang Packaging, Shenda Cosmetic Pack, Jinuo Glass and Sanxing. It studies the vital parameters that include production, price as well as revenue along with market share for each player. The key players manufacturing base, sales area and other competitors are also mentioned in this synopsis.Make An Enquiry:Additionally, the study reveals the most useful marketing strategy analysis, along with the introspection of the distributors and traders. The description of the marketing channels such as direct and indirect marketing, as well as marketing channels development trend and market positioning, is also available. By mentioning the business strategies with regards to pricing, brand and target client the research report delivers the best profitable tips.Browse Full Report With TOC:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News At: Growing Trends in Global Nail Polish Packaging Market Analyzed For Major Regions and Applications for the Forecast 2017-2022 Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1081456 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1081456 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-nail-polish-packaging-market-research-report-2017-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ From the past few decades, the focus of cosmetic product manufacturers on innovative and alluring packaging has significantly increased. With a prime focus on nail polish category, a new forecast study has been added to the broad database of Market Research Hub (MRH), which is titled as Global Nail Polish Packaging Market Research Report 2017. The study provides comprehensive insights of the global market, by analyzing some of the major regions, such as North America, Europe, Japan, China, Southeast Asia and India. It includes drivers and restraints of the nail polish packaging market and their impact on each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of current issues with end users and opportunities for nail polish packaging manufacturersRequest Free Sample Report:In the first section, the report briefly highlights the market overview of nail polish packaging which contains useful information about its scope in the global market along with its market segmentation. Key cosmetics and personal care brands have started considering effective packaging as a critical attribute of product marketing. The strategy has mainly focused towards enhanced brand visibility, augmented sales, reduced brand recall rates, as well as a larger footprint in the respective target geographies. By looking to the global demand, nail polish packaging manufacturers are putting various efforts in the product marketing with innovative ideas. It has been analyzed that recent trends in nail polish include decorative bottles, elongated caps, celebrity-endorsed lines, custom colors created by beauty influencers and a game-changing spray-on polish in a can.Moreover, the research segments the market on the basis of product and displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, which includes glass, plastic and others. Further, it focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users which covers High-end Consumption and Ordinary Consumption. For each application, the report studies consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Nail Polish Packaging. As per the research findings, many companies in the cosmetics industry have truly benefited from using the customized nail polish boxes; they use it to package as well as display their products conveniently. Due to this, the global nail polish packaging market has gained maximum value in 2016 and is anticipated to reach a high value by the end of 2022, growing at a rapid growth rate between 2017 and 2022.Make An Enquiry:Later, it also provides insights about factors affecting the market growth. The competitive landscape of the global market for Nail Polish Packaging is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, production chain, pricing and revenue generated by each manufacturer in the market globally. Major industry participants are Heinz, Silgan Holding, Baralan, Rexam, Dingxin Group, Gerresheimer, Jinghua Group, Amcor, UFLEX and Yifang Packaging. Moving further, other vital sections such as manufacturing cost analysis, industrial chain, sourcing strategy, marketing strategy analysis and market effect factors analysis are outlined.Browse Full Report With TOC:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News At: Material Handling Trolley - Manufacturer & Supplier by Technovision Engineers Pvt. Ltd. http://technovisionengrs.com/contact.php http://www.technovisionengrs.com Material Handling TrolleyTechnovision Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Manufacturer & Supplier of a wide range of products which include Material Handling Trolley such as Automobile Trolleys, Industrial Trolley, Trolleys, Pallets & Trolleys, etc.Our wide range of trolleys is used to handle the material on shop-floor.The trolleys are designed and manufactured as per the shape, size, weight & overall dimensions of the components to be handled. Trolleys provide simple solution of handling the component on floor level. Used in material handling in plastic, metallic, ceramic, rubber & all types of components. Trolley / Pallets serves various industries including automobile, pharmaceutical, plastic and paint and domestic-appliances industry. It is the best suitable solution for transport of material. Our simple-designed trolley requires less space. Transportation cost of component will be reduced by using the easy operated trolley which is suitable for heavy material.We use high grade of raw material to design and manufacture Material Handling Trolley. The material handling equipment is designed as per size, shape, over all dimension and weight of the components being handled. Our products are ordered by clients of various industries including Automobile, Plastic, Pharmaceutical And Paint.Specifications:Brand:TechnovisionMaterial: SteelColor: AnyApplication: Industrial UsesRequest For Free Catalogue:About UsTechnovision Engineers Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturer of material handling equipments. The core focus of the company lies in superior quality and excellent customer service. With expertise in the industry and constant innovation in the industry, the company also undertakes turnkey projects with design, manufacturing, supply, erection and commissioning activities. The company is one of the front runners in Lean Manufacturing Solutions in India with an ISO 9001-2008 certification. The production house has the capability to conduct in-house R & D and the company possesses exceptional talent for designing in terms of manpower, knowledge and technology. The company owns two manufacturing set-ups and total area of 28000 sq. ft. with all manufacturing and design equipments. TEPL is known to deliver state of the art contemporary designs with their range of material handling equipments.Contact UsTechnovision Engineers Private LimitedGat No. 1559-1560,Dehu Alandi Road, Shelarvasti, ChikaliPune, Maharashtra- 412114, IndiaPhone 020- 66346500 / 513Email contactus@technovisionengrs.comWebsite Automobile Trolleys - Manufacturer & Supplier by Technovision Engineers Pvt. Ltd. http://technovisionengrs.com/contact.php http://www.technovisionengrs.com Automobile TrolleysTechnovision Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Manufacturer & Supplier of a wide range of products which include Automobile Trolleys such as Material Handling Trolley, Industrial Trolley, Trolleys, Pallets & Trolleys, etc.Our wide range of trolleys is used to handle the material on shop-floor.The trolleys are designed and manufactured as per the shape, size, weight & overall dimensions of the components to be handled. Trolleys provide simple solution of handling the component on floor level. Used in material handling in plastic, metallic, ceramic, rubber & all types of components. Trolley / Pallets serves various industries including automobile, pharmaceutical, plastic and paint and domestic-appliances industry. It is the best suitable solution for transport of material. Our simple-designed trolley requires less space. Transportation cost of component will be reduced by using the easy operated trolley which is suitable for heavy material.Automobile Trolleys by Techno Vision Engineers Private Limited in Pune.Specifications:Brand: TechnovisionMaterial: SteelProduct Type: TrolleyColor: AnyWheel : Nylon Wheel/Polymer WheelCapacity: CustomizedRequest For Free Catalogue:About UsTechnovision Engineers Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturer of material handling equipments. The core focus of the company lies in superior quality and excellent customer service. With expertise in the industry and constant innovation in the industry, the company also undertakes turnkey projects with design, manufacturing, supply, erection and commissioning activities. The company is one of the front runners in Lean Manufacturing Solutions in India with an ISO 9001-2008 certification. The production house has the capability to conduct in-house R & D and the company possesses exceptional talent for designing in terms of manpower, knowledge and technology. The company owns two manufacturing set-ups and total area of 28000 sq. ft. with all manufacturing and design equipments. TEPL is known to deliver state of the art contemporary designs with their range of material handling equipments.Contact UsTechnovision Engineers Private LimitedGat No. 1559-1560,Dehu Alandi Road, Shelarvasti, ChikaliPune, Maharashtra- 412114, IndiaPhone 020- 66346500 / 513Email contactus@technovisionengrs.comWebsite Global Pediatric Healthcare Market 2017 - Abbott, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co, Pfizer, Sanofi https://goo.gl/iNlMmk https://market.biz/report/global-pediatric-healthcare-market-2017/95588/ https://market.biz http://ereports.market/ https://market.biz/reports/ The Pediatric Healthcare Market 2017 examines the performance of the Pediatric Healthcare market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Pediatric Healthcare market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Pediatric Healthcare market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Pediatric Healthcare Market 2017 report includes Pediatric Healthcare industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Pediatric Healthcare Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Pediatric Healthcare Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Pediatric Healthcare Market 2017:1 Abbott2 AstraZeneca3 GlaxoSmithKline4 Merck & Co5 Pfizer6 Sanofi7 Perrigo8 Mead Johnson9 Nestle10 DanonPediatric Healthcare Market Analysis: By ProductVaccinesDrugsNutritionalsPediatric Healthcare Market Analysis: By ApplicationUnder 1 Year Old Infants1-6 Years Old ChildrenOver 6 Years Old ChildrenAt the beginning, the report covers the top Pediatric Healthcare manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Pediatric Healthcare report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Pediatric Healthcare industry, Pediatric Healthcare industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Pediatric Healthcare Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Pediatric Healthcare research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Pediatric Healthcare market revenue worldwide.Finally, Pediatric Healthcare market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Maharashtra, IndiaTel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Market Research Reports-Latest Reports- Global Phenethyl Oleate Market 2017 - Procter & Gamble, Wilmar International Ltd, Croda International Plc https://goo.gl/wvDTPt https://market.biz/report/global-phenethyl-oleate-market-2017/95590/ https://market.biz http://ereports.market/ https://market.biz/reports/ The Phenethyl Oleate Market 2017 examines the performance of the Phenethyl Oleate market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Phenethyl Oleate market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Phenethyl Oleate market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Phenethyl Oleate Market 2017 report includes Phenethyl Oleate industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Phenethyl Oleate Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Phenethyl Oleate Price during the Forecast Period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Phenethyl Oleate Market 2017:1 Procter & Gamble2 Wilmar International Ltd3 Croda International PlcPhenethyl Oleate Market Analysis: By ProductPharmaceutical GradeCosmetic GradePhenethyl Oleate Market Analysis: By ApplicationMedicineCosmeticsOthersAt the beginning, the report covers the top Phenethyl Oleate manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Phenethyl Oleate report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Phenethyl Oleate industry, Phenethyl Oleate industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Phenethyl Oleate Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Phenethyl Oleate research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Phenethyl Oleate market revenue worldwide.Finally, Phenethyl Oleate market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Maharashtra, IndiaTel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Market Research Reports-Latest Reports- In-Flight Catering Service Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 5% by 2021 In-Flight Catering Service Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1303 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/in-flight-catering-service-market-1303 Market Synopsis of In-Flight Catering Service Market:The global In-Flight Catering Service Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 5% during 2016-2021. Increased emphasis on quality food services and passenger preferences to pay for premium food are some of the key drivers for the market growth.As per the MRFR analysis, economy class is expected to be around $12 billion market in the forecast period, followed by premium and business class aircraft. Full service carriers account almost 80% of the market share and will continue to dominate the inflight catering service market.In the catering types segment, meals account 50- 55% of the market share followed by bakery & confectionary and beverages.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of In-Flight Catering Service Market: SATS Servair Emirates Flight Catering dnata Air Culinaire Compass Group Do & Co Egypt Air In Flight Services Gate Gourmet Goddard CateringStudy Objectives of In-Flight Catering Service Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global In-Flight Catering Service Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyse the In-Flight Catering Service Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country-level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country-level analysis of the market for segment by aircraft class, flight types and catering types. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analysing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyse competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global In-Flight Catering Service Market.Brief TOC:1. Introduction1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Objective2. Executive Summary2.1 Key Findings / Highlights2.1.1 Investment Opportunities2.1.2 Market Startegies2.1.3 Latest Developments3. Scope of the Study3.1 Markets Covered3.2 Years Considered For The Study (2016-2021)3.2 Geographic Scope3.3 Key Stakeholders4. Assumptions and Limitations5. Research Methodology5.1 Primary Research5.2 Secondary Research5.3 Econometric and Forecasting ModelContinueAccess Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Global Phosphatidylcholine Market 2017 - Archer Daniels Midland, Lipoid GmbH, Bunge, American Lecithin Company https://goo.gl/X0oW6K https://market.biz/report/global-phosphatidylcholine-market-2017/95592/ https://market.biz http://ereports.market/ https://market.biz/reports/ The Phosphatidylcholine Market 2017 examines the performance of the Phosphatidylcholine market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Phosphatidylcholine market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Phosphatidylcholine market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail.The Global Phosphatidylcholine Market 2017 report includes Phosphatidylcholine industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Phosphatidylcholine Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Phosphatidylcholine Price during the Forecast Period from 2017 to 2022.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Phosphatidylcholine Market 2017:1 Cargill2 Archer Daniels Midland3 Lipoid GmbH4 Bunge5 American Lecithin Company6 DuPont7 Global River Food Ingredients8 Soya International9 Stern-Wywiol Gruppe Pvt. Ltd.10 Sternchemie GmbH & Co. KG11 NOW Foods12 Thew Arnott & Co. Ltd.13 GIIAVAPhosphatidylcholine Market Analysis: By ProductSoy PhosphatidylcholineSunflower PhosphatidylcholineRapeseed PhosphatidylcholineOthersPhosphatidylcholine Market Analysis: By ApplicationFood & BeveragesPharmaceuticals & Personal CareAnimal FeedOthersAt the beginning, the report covers the top Phosphatidylcholine manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions.Further, the Phosphatidylcholine report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Phosphatidylcholine industry, Phosphatidylcholine industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Phosphatidylcholine Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.To Buy Complete Report Click Here:The Phosphatidylcholine research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Phosphatidylcholine market revenue worldwide.Finally, Phosphatidylcholine market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Maharashtra, IndiaTel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Market Research Reports-Latest Reports- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy - Pipeline Review and Industry Forecast 2017-2022 Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1070450 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1070450 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy-pipeline-review-h1-2017-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ Market Research Hub's Pharmaceutical and Healthcare latest pipeline guide Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy - Pipeline Review, H1 2017, provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases.Request Free Sample Report:Report HighlightsHypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease in which the heart muscle (myocardium) becomes abnormally thick (hypertrophied). The thickened heart muscles make it harder for the heart to pump blood. Symptoms include chest pain, especially during exercise, sensation of rapid, fluttering or pounding heartbeats and heart murmur. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy usually is inherited. Treatment includes beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and blood thinners.The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Phase II and Discovery stages are 3 and 3 respectively. Similarly, the Universities portfolio in Preclinical stages comprises 1 molecules, respectively.Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. The guide is built using data and information sourced from Market Research Hubs proprietary databases, company/university websites, clinical trial registries, conferences, SEC filings, investor presentations and featured press releases from company/university sites and industry-specific third party sources. Additionally, various dynamic tracking processes ensure that the most recent developments are captured on a real time basis.Make An Enquiry:Scope- The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular).- The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources.- The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages.- The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities.- The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects.- The pipeline guide evaluates Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular) therapeutics based on mechanism of action (MoA), drug target, route of administration (RoA) and molecule type.- The pipeline guide encapsulates all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects.- The pipeline guide reviews latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular)Reasons to buy- Procure strategically important competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies.- Recognize emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage.- Find and recognize significant and varied types of therapeutics under development for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular).- Classify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic.- Develop tactical initiatives by understanding the focus areas of leading companies.- Plan mergers and acquisitions meritoriously by identifying key players and its most promising pipeline therapeutics.- Formulate corrective measures for pipeline projects by understanding Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (Cardiovascular) pipeline depth and focus of Indication therapeutics.- Develop and design in-licensing and out-licensing strategies by identifying prospective partners with the most attractive projects to enhance and expand business potential and scope.- Adjust the therapeutic portfolio by recognizing discontinued projects and understand from the know-how what drove them from pipeline.Browse Full Report With TOC:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News At: m + mv invests in High-Tech Gruenderfonds III m+mv GmbH media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, a company comprising three regional publishers in Mainz, Freiburg and Heilbronn, is investing EUR 2.5 million in High-Tech Grunderfonds III (HTGF III). The consortium of three publishers is thus once again reinforcing its commitment to and investments in innovative technologies from Germany for the publishing industry.HTGF III invests venture capital in young, high potential high-tech start-ups that can turn promising research findings into business success. The financial support provided is designed to enable the start-ups to take their ideas through prototyping or proof of concept stage and even up to market launch."Newspaper publishers today have become modern, broadly structured media groups. The biggest challenge is to find the right answers, concepts and business models for the digital age," says Heilbronner Stimme publisher Tilmann Distelbarth. "This also involves pursuing a broader range of investments, and taking stakes in interesting start-ups. We do so in the knowledge that we require technology transfer with these companies to approach the digital revolution in a faster and more innovative way." Media companies are often too small to make it on their own in this industry, says Distelbarth. "We recognise the importance of open exchange and intensive insight into the high-tech start-up scene provided by HTGF III and its highly professional working style."The publishing partners are now seeking to strengthen their investments in innovative companies through HTGF III, tapping into new business fields beyond the traditional markets. "We have previously invested in HTGF II together with our two publishing partners," explains Distelbarth. "And now we are a committed investor in HTGF III."media + more venture has been able to provide significant impetus to the business operations of the three publishers involved in the tie-up through a number of collaborations and investments in HTGF portfolio companies as well as other start-ups. "The acquisition of portfolio company kimeta in 2015 together with other partners is driving the very successful digitization of the traditional advertising business," says Dr. Alex von Frankenberg, Managing Director of High-Tech Grunderfonds. "Furthermore, the young high-tech companies in the HTGF portfolio benefit from quick and uncomplicated access to the expertise of the publishers and their customers."media + more venture is a joint holding company comprising Badisches Pressehaus (which owns the newspaper title Badische Zeitung, Freiburg), Druck & Medien Heilbronn (Heilbronner Stimme) and VRM GmbH & Co. KG (Allgemeine Zeitung, Mainz). All three partners have demonstrated a highly innovative approach over many years even beyond the print media sector. Particularly with respect to online business, the companies set the course early on for a cross-media future.media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KGLudwig EderleAllee 274072 HeilbronnTelephone: +49 7131 615361ed@mms.hn Mobile Sensors 2017 Global Market Top Players ST, Freescale, Bosch Sensortec, Murata, MCube, Soitec Analysis and Forecast to 2022 Mobile Sensors Market https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/389883 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-mobile-sensors-market-research-report-2017 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/389883 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/389883 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com QY Research Groups "Global Mobile Sensors Market Research 2017" report forecasts data and information to its online business intelligence library.This in-depth report discusses this industrys market in forms of overview/definition, application, classification, predictions pertaining value and volume, and future predictions. It also prominently attributes the current situation and outlooks with industrial and financial aspect. Furthermore, it comprises of current events, latest market trends, schematic representation of the global companies with their prime developments, mergers & acquisitions, deals and agreements, expansions and investments, etc. Additionally, it talks about the vital prospects such as market restrains, growth drivers, challenges and potential opportunities that may affect the overall Mobile Sensors market.Request for sample of Mobile Sensors Market research report @Due to the constant altering business landscape, enhancements in the technology, the process of communication in several organizations have become intricate. Moreover, nowadays, customers demands have increased and expanded, this in return expects efficient and effective communication inside an organization. Escalated use of social networking websites, increased use of smartphones, and ascending demand for improved enterprise efficiency are the prime growth factors of the Mobile Sensors market. Enhanced technologies and several Information technology tools better the productivity of the business and escalate functional efficiency. Additionally, many services and solutions are put to use in various industrial verticals which includes banks, insurance (BFSI), public sector, travel & hospitality, healthcare, energy & utilities, education, IT & telecom, transportations and logistics, retail, many other industry sectors such as media and communications.The methodological analysis which is used to approximate and forecast the Mobile Sensors Market starts with gathering data on vital vendors with the help of secondary research through various trusted sources that include news articles, presentations, journals and paid database. In addition, information which the vendors provide is also taken into consideration to analyze the segmentation of the market.Detailed TOC and Charts & Tables of Mobile Sensors Market Research Report available @This extensive professional market research report renders an in-depth study of this markets industry along with growth prospects for the forecast period with exclusive focus on the size and characteristics of the market, major market manufacturers, present trends, growth forecasts, competitive landscape for the predicted frame of time coupled with market restrains and prime success. Besides, this exclusive report cloaks the global Mobile Sensors Market based on applications, regions, competitive landscape and products. The report enlists profiles of several companies of prime market players, market share, financial metrics, business strategies, and forecasts and predictions.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Mobile Sensors Market 2017:1. ST2. Freescale3. Bosch Sensortec4. Murata5. MCube6. Soitec7. TDK8. Kionix9. Analog10. Juniper11. VTT12. HamamatsuThe report is worth a buy because:This report on Mobile Sensors Market assists in analyzing the condition and situation of the market in primary regions of the world. Apart from rendering an overview of product manufacturing processes, the research report also renders impeded strategy of the industry, latest technological developments, cost structures, product specifications, etc. Future predictions based on the development of this industry are also covered. The report also reviews micro and macro factors vital for the new entrants along with the current market players.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-Global Mobile Sensors Market Research Report 20171 Mobile Sensors Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Mobile Sensors1.2 Mobile Sensors Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Mobile Sensors Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Mobile Sensors Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Linear Displacement Sensor1.2.4 Angle Displacement Sensor1.3 Global Mobile Sensors Segment by Application1.3.1 Mobile Sensors Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Train Rims1.3.3 Transportation1.3.4 Other1.4 Global Mobile Sensors Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Mobile Sensors Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 EU Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Mobile Sensors (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Mobile Sensors Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Mobile Sensors Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Mobile Sensors Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Mobile Sensors Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Mobile Sensors Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Mobile Sensors Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Mobile Sensors Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Mobile Sensors Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Mobile Sensors Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Mobile Sensors Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Mobile Sensors Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Mobile Sensors Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion...Enquiry before Buying @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb- Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Market Research Report 2017 - Bang & Olufsen, BOSE, Blaupunkt, Boston http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1109733&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Bluetooth Car Speakers in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaIndiaGlobal Bluetooth Car Speakers market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingAlpine Electronics, Inc.Bang & OlufsenBOSEBlaupunktBostonDYNAUDIOFocalHarman/KardonHiViJL Audio, Inc.JVCLG ElectronicsSonyPanasonicOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBluetooth FM TransmitterBluetooth Car Phone SpeakersOtherOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Bluetooth Car Speakers for each application, includingPassenger VehiclesCommercial VehiclesRequest a Free Sample Copy of this Research Report @Table of Contents1 Bluetooth Car Speakers Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Bluetooth Car Speakers1.2 Bluetooth Car Speakers Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Bluetooth FM Transmitter1.2.4 Bluetooth Car Phone Speakers1.2.5 Other1.3 Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Segment by Application1.3.1 Bluetooth Car Speakers Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Passenger Vehicles1.3.3 Commercial Vehicles1.4 Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 EU Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Bluetooth Car Speakers (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Bluetooth Car Speakers Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Rapid Prototyping Equipment Market 2017 by Size, Trends, Growth and Forecast to 2021 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/global-rapid-prototyping-equipment-market-2017-2021 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001723524/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001723524/buying A group of techniques used to fabricate a model of a part or the entire assembly is known as rapid prototyping. 3D computer-aided design data are used for prototyping. Various rapid prototyping technologies such as stereolithography (SLA) , selective laser sintering (SLS) , laminated object manufacturing (LOM) , fuel deposition modeling (FDM) , solid ground curing (SGC) , and Ink Jet printing techniques are commercially available.Publisher's analysts forecast the global Rapid Prototyping Equipment market to grow at a CAGR of 4.60% during the period 2017-2021.For more information about this report:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global rapid prototyping equipment market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the retail selling price is considered as the average selling price for the product.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAPublisher's report, Global Rapid Prototyping Equipment Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- 3D Systems- EOS- StratasysRequest Sample Copy atOther prominent vendors- 3T RPD- AAROFLEX- Afit- Proto Labs- Arcam- Beijing Yinhua- Biomedical Modeling- Concept Laser- Cubic Technologies- Desktop Factory- EnvisionTEC- ExOne- fcubic- GPI Prototype and Manufacturing Services- Greatbatch- Cubic Technologies- Hoganas- Kira- Limacorporate- Materialise- Mcor Technologies- Menix Engineering- Morris Technologies- Phenix Systems- Renishaw- Solidscape- Shanghai Union Technology- Sintermask- Dentsply Sirona- SLM Solutions- SOLIDO- Sony- SURGIVAL- TRUMPF SISMA- voxeljet- Wuhan Binhu Mechanical & Electrical- Xilloc MedicalMarket driver- Reduced time-to-market- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Limited availability of raw materials for fabrication- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Developed rapid prototyping equipment for healthcare industry- For a full, detailed list, view our reportInquire for Report atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Night Vision Systems Market 2017 Trend, Analysis and Forecast to 2021 ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/global-night-vision-systems-market-2017-2021 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001723519/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001723519/buying Night vision devices, with the help of different lenses, enable users seeing objects in the low-light conditions such as moonlight, starlight, and infrared (IR) light. Photocathode tubes convert photons of light into electrons. Electrons are then converted to visible light by throwing them against a phosphorous screen. Hence, it makes objects visible even in a dark environment. Because of the improved safety concerns, night vision systems have become a part of advanced safety systems. These improved safety features, which are a part of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) , also work well in adverse conditions such as bad weather and poor visibility in night. Night vision systems use various sensors to receive emissions of IR or thermal radiation of objects.Publisher's analysts forecast the global night vision systems market to grow at a CAGR of 7.54% during the period 2017-2021.For more information about this report:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global night vision systems market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size the report include shipments of night vision devices along with night vision systems used in the automotive sector and the sales of night vision devices are considered for revenue calculation.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAPublisher's report, Global Night Vision Systems Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- Autoliv- BAE Systems- Bosch- Elbit Systems- FLIR Systems- HarrisRequest Sample Copy atOther prominent vendors- ATN Corporation- Continental- Delphi- L-3 Technologies- Meopta - optika- Newcon Optik- Optix- Sofradir EC- Thales- ZF TRWMarket driver- Rising government investments in military devices.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- High expense of night vision systems used in automotive sector.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Growing adoption of night vision systems in smartphones.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportInquire for Report atContact Info:Name: Sameer JoshiEmail: sales@reportsweb.comOrganization: ReportsWebPhone: +1-646-491-9876ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 United States Online Household Furnitures Market Report 2017 - Industry Services, Trends & Future Scope http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=913966&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com This report studies sales (consumption) of Online Household Furnitures in United States market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringCORTWayfairMascoIKEA SystemsJohn BoosMasterBrand CabinetsKimballLa-Z-BoyFurnitureDealerSteelcaseRooms To GoAshleyRoche BoboisSICISArmstrong CabinetsMarket Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisSplit by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoSolid Wood TypeMetal TypeJade TypeGlass TypeOtherSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Online Household Furnitures in each application, can be divided intoHousehold ApplicationOffice ApplicationHospital ApplicationOutdoor ApplicationOtherRequest a Free Sample Copy of this Research Report @Table of Contents1 Online Household Furnitures Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Online Household Furnitures1.2 Classification of Online Household Furnitures1.2.1 Solid Wood Type1.2.2 Metal Type1.2.3 Jade Type1.2.4 Glass Type1.2.5 Other1.3 Application of Online Household Furnitures1.3.1 Household Application1.3.2 Office Application1.3.3 Hospital Application1.3.4 Outdoor Application1.3.5 Other2 United States Online Household Furnitures Competition by Manufacturers2.1 United States Online Household Furnitures Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 United States Online Household Furnitures Revenue and Share by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.3 United States Online Household Furnitures Average Price by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.4 Online Household Furnitures Market Competitive Situation and TrendsQYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Hi-Fi Components Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2022 Hi-Fi Components Market https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/389732 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-hi-fi-components-market-research-report-2017 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/389732 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/389732 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com QY Research Groups has released a latest report based on thorough research on Hi-Fi Components market. This in-depth report discusses this industrys market in forms of overview/definition, application, classification, predictions pertaining value and volume, and future predictions. It also prominently attributes the current situation and outlooks with industrial and financial aspect. Furthermore, it comprises of current events, latest market trends, schematic representation of the global companies with their prime developments, mergers & acquisitions, deals and agreements, expansions and investments, etc. Additionally, it talks about the vital prospects such as market restrains, growth drivers, challenges and potential opportunities that may affect the overall Hi-Fi Components market.Request for sample of Hi-Fi Components Market research report @Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Hi-Fi Components Market 2017:1. Yamaha2. Marantz3. B&H4. Sony5. Denon6. Onkyo7. Pioneer8. Rapallo9. NHT10. Philips11. LG12. SamsungDue to the constant altering business landscape, enhancements in the technology, the process of communication in several organizations have become intricate. Moreover, nowadays, customers demands have increased and expanded, this in return expects efficient and effective communication inside an organization. Escalated use of social networking websites, increased use of smartphones, and ascending demand for improved enterprise efficiency are the prime growth factors of the Hi-Fi Components market. Enhanced technologies and several Information technology tools better the productivity of the business and escalate functional efficiency. Additionally, many services and solutions are put to use in various industrial verticals which includes banks, insurance (BFSI), public sector, travel & hospitality, healthcare, energy & utilities, education, IT & telecom, transportations and logistics, retail, many other industry sectors such as media and communications.The methodological analysis which is used to approximate and forecast the Hi-Fi Components Market starts with gathering data on vital vendors with the help of secondary research through various trusted sources that include news articles, presentations, journals and paid database. In addition, information which the vendors provide is also taken into consideration to analyze the segmentation of the market.Detailed TOC and Charts & Tables of Hi-Fi Components Market Research Report available @This extensive professional market research report renders an in-depth study of this markets industry along with growth prospects for the forecast period with exclusive focus on the size and characteristics of the market, major market manufacturers, present trends, growth forecasts, competitive landscape for the predicted frame of time coupled with market restrains and prime success. Besides, this exclusive report cloaks the global Hi-Fi Components Market based on applications, regions, competitive landscape and products. The report enlists profiles of several companies of prime market players, market share, financial metrics, business strategies, and forecasts and predictions.The Hi-Fi Components Market report wraps: Industry summary with market definition, key elements such as market restrains, drivers, potential opportunities, challenges, trends in the market, etc. Market sectioning depending on product, application, geographical region, competitive market share Market size, approximates, forecasts for the said frame of time Distribution channel assessment Competitive analysis of crucial market manufacturers, trends, company profiles, strategies, etc. Factors accountable for the growth of the market Thorough assessment of prime market geographically Factual information, insights, market date backed by statistics and industryThe report is worth a buy because:This report on Hi-Fi Components Market assists in analyzing the condition and situation of the market in primary regions of the world. Apart from rendering an overview of product manufacturing processes, the research report also renders impeded strategy of the industry, latest technological developments, cost structures, product specifications, etc. Future predictions based on the development of this industry are also covered. The report also reviews micro and macro factors vital for the new entrants along with the current market players.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-Global Hi-Fi Components Market Research Report 20171 Hi-Fi Components Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Hi-Fi Components1.2 Hi-Fi Components Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Hi-Fi Components Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Hi-Fi Components Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Amplifier/Receiver1.2.4 CD-Player1.2.5 Network Audio Player1.2.6 Tuner1.2.7 Turntables1.2.8 Other1.3 Global Hi-Fi Components Segment by Application1.3.1 Hi-Fi Components Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Home Appliance1.3.3 Commercial Appliance1.4 Global Hi-Fi Components Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Hi-Fi Components Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 EU Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Hi-Fi Components (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Hi-Fi Components Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Hi-Fi Components Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Hi-Fi Components Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Hi-Fi Components Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Hi-Fi Components Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Hi-Fi Components Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Hi-Fi Components Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Hi-Fi Components Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Hi-Fi Components Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Hi-Fi Components Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Hi-Fi Components Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Hi-Fi Components Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionEnquiry before Buying @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb- Methylamine Market by Global Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/454378-global-methylamine-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/454378-global-methylamine-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=454378 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/454378-global-methylamine-market HTF Market Intelligence released a new research report of 119 pages on title 'Global Methylamine Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022' with detailed analysis, forecast and strategies. The study covers key regions that includes North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Africa and important players such as Eastman, Chemours, BASF..................SummaryMethylamine is an organic compound with a formula of CH3NH2. This colorless gas is a derivative of ammonia, but with one hydrogen atom being replaced by a methyl group. It is the simplest primary amine. It is sold as a solution in methanol, ethanol, tetrahydrofuran, or water, or as the anhydrous gas in pressurized metal containers. Industrially, methylamine is transported in its anhydrous form in pressurized railcars and tank trailers. It has a strong odor similar to fish. Methylamine is used as a building block for the synthesis of many other commercially available compounds.Request a sample report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Methylamine in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversEastmanChemoursBASFCelaneseBalaji AminesMGCBalchemMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversGasLiquidMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoPesticidesN-methylpyrrolidoneAlkylalkanolaminesPharmaceuticalsOtherThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Methylamine market.Chapter 1, to describe Methylamine Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Methylamine, with sales, revenue, and price of Methylamine, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Methylamine, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Methylamine market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Methylamine sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceGet Customization in the Report, Enquire Now @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Methylamine Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Gas1.2.2 Liquid1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Pesticides1.3.2 N-methylpyrrolidone1.3.3 Alkylalkanolamines1.3.4 Pharmaceuticals1.3.5 Other1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving ForceBuy this report @2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Eastman2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Methylamine Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Eastman Methylamine Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Chemours2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Methylamine Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Chemours Methylamine Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 BASF2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Methylamine Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 BASF Methylamine Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Celanese2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Methylamine Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 Celanese Methylamine Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Balaji Amines2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Methylamine Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Type 12.5.2.2 Type 22.5.3 Balaji Amines Methylamine Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.6 MGC2.6.1 Business Overview2.6.2 Methylamine Type and Applications2.6.2.1 Type 12.6.2.2 Type 22.6.3 MGC Methylamine Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.7 Balchem2.7.1 Business Overview2.7.2 Methylamine Type and Applications2.7.2.1 Type 12.7.2.2 Type 22.7.3 Balchem Methylamine Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:CRAIG FRANCIS (PR & Marketing Manager)info@htfmarketreport.comPh: +1 (206) 317 1218 Global Sodium Sulfite Market Research Report 2017 - Industry Analysis, Overview, Shares, Compounds, Applications, Shares http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1097320&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Sodium Sulfite in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Sodium Sulfite market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingAllan Chemical CorporationSolvay Minerals Inc.Sichuan Xinxing Chemical Co., LtdBorden & Remington CorporationGeneral ChemicalsOlympic Chemical LimitedAditya Birla ChemicalsOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPowderWhite CrystalLiquidOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Sodium Sulfite for each application, includingFood and BeverageCosmeticsTextilePharmaceuticalOthersRequest a Free Sample Copy of this Research Report @Table of Contents1 Sodium Sulfite Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Sodium Sulfite1.2 Sodium Sulfite Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Sodium Sulfite Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Sodium Sulfite Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Powder1.2.4 White Crystal1.2.5 Liquid1.3 Global Sodium Sulfite Segment by Application1.3.1 Sodium Sulfite Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Food and Beverage1.3.3 Cosmetics1.3.4 Textile1.3.5 Pharmaceutical1.3.6 OthersQYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Insulin Pen Market Set For Expansive Growth By 2021 http://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1000602 http://www.researchtrades.com/discount/1000602 http://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-insulin-pen-market-outlook-2016-2021 http://www.researchtrades.com An insulin pen is used to inject insulin for the treatment of diabetes. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. It is composed of an insulin cartridge (integrated or bought separately) and a dial to measure the dose, and is used with disposable pen needles to deliver the dose. It was introduced and marketed as Novopen by the Danish company Novo Nordisk in 1985. Insulin pen devices are designed to provide a convenient and easy means of insulin administration for the patient and can be divided into 2 categories: the reusable, durable pen, and the disposable, prefilled pen. These insulin pen devices are an alternative to the traditional insulin vial-and-syringe method and offer many advantages. Insulin pens have also been found to be less painful than the vial-and-syringe method and are often associated with greater patient preference and social acceptability. As a result, this method of insulin delivery may ultimately help to improve glycemic control and should be considered when prescribing insulin products.Get sample copy@GCC?s report, Global Insulin Pen Market Outlook 2016-2021, has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global Insulin Pen market collected from specialized sources. The report covers key technological developments in the recent times and profiles leading players in the market and analyzes their key strategies. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. The major players in the global Insulin Pen market are Novo Nordisk (Denmark), Eli Lilly (USA), Sanofi (France), Owen Mumford (UK), Bioton (Poland), Wockhardt (India), Tonghua Dongbao (China), United Laboratories (China), Beijing Gangan (China), Delfu (China), among others.This report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Insulin Pen from 2011-2015 and provides extensive market forecasts 2016-2021 by region/country and subsectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Insulin Pen market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Insulin Pen, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies.Request discount for this report@The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Rest of World. In this sector, global competitive landscape and supply/demand pattern of Insulin Pen industry has been provided.Key factors for this report:Part 1. Exclusive SummaryPart 2. Methodology2.1 Research Methodology2.2 Geographic Scope2.3 Years ConsideredPart 3. Introduction3.1 Definition3.2 Supply Chain Structure3.2.1 Raw Material Supply3.2.2 Traders & Distributors3.2.3 Key Customers3.3 Manufacture3.3.1 Manufacturing Process3.3.2 Production CostPart 4. Market Landscape4.1 Global Insulin Pen Market Size (Volume) 2011-20164.1.1 Overview4.1.2 Global Insulin Pen Production4.1.3 Top 10 Insulin Pen Companies (Volume Share)4.2 Global Insulin Pen Market Size (Value) 2011-20164.2.1 Overview4.2.2 Global Insulin Pen Production Value4.2.3 Top 10 Insulin Pen Companies (Revenue Share)Part 5. Segmentation by Products5.1 Type 15.2 Type 25.3 Type 3Part 6. Segmentation by End-users6.1 Customer Segment 16.2 Customer Segment 26.3 Customer Segment 36.4 Customer Segment 4View this report@About us:Research Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approach, thus providing valuable research insights.Contact Us:Address: Flat No.10, Wing C, S. No. 245/4/2+245/5/1, Baner, Pune-411045Email: sales@researchtrades.comCall us: +91 7507349866Skype ID: researchtradesconWeb: Global Automotive Interior Leather Market Anticipated to Grow at a CAGR of 5.2% during the Period of 20162026 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2974 http://www.mrrse.com/automotive-interior-leather-market http://www.mrrse.com/ Albany, New York, May 31, 2017: Automotive interior materials improve the ambience of a vehicle and are intended to offer maximum comfort and riding pleasure to the riders of the vehicle. These materials also help in minimizing fatigue and engine vibrations inside the vehicle and the interior of a vehicle is also a major factor that impacts the aesthetic appeal of the vehicle and thus, buying decision of a customer. A new research report titled as Automotive Interior Leather Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20162026 has been recently added to the huge portfolio of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the global automotive interior leather market and offers detailed insights and in-depth research over a 10-year forecast period 2016 2026.Request For Sample Report:The global automotive interior leather market is expected to rise at a CAGR of 5.2% between 2016 and 2026. At this pace, the market will reach a value of nearly US$ 43,000 million by the end of 2026 from nearly US$ 26,000 million by 2016. The important factors driving the growth of the global automotive interior leather market, untapped opportunities for companies in this market, developments impacting the dynamics of the global market and other insights across major segments are discussed within the report. Besides this, it identifies the challenges and restraints influencing the growth of the global automotive interior leather market. Changing trends are also evaluated and incorporated within the report to equip the readers with in-depth information about the market resulting in better decision making. Macro-economic factors that directly and indirectly influence the global automotive interior leather market are also included in the report. In order to make the report organized and easy to understand, the global automotive interior leather market is segregated based on key parameters such as material type, vehicle type, application and region.Browse Full Global Automotive Interior Leather Market Report with TOC :In the final section of the report, a competitive landscape analysis is included to provide readers with a dashboard view. The report provides detailed tier-wise market share breakdown for the companies operating in the global automotive interior leather market. Detailed profiles of manufacturers are also included within the scope of the report to evaluate overview, financial strategies, business strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the global automotive interior leather market. Some of the key players profiled in the report include Scottish Leather Group Limited, Eagle Ottawa LLC, WOLLSDORF LEDER SCHMIDT & Co. Ges.m.b.H., Bader GmbH & Co. KG, BOXMARK Leather GmbH & Co KG, Elmo Sweden AB, Leather Resource of America Inc., GST AutoLeather Inc. and D.K Leather Corporation.About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Baby Monitor Market by Regions, Type, Application and Manufacturers Safety 1st(Dorel), Motorola, Philips Forecast to 2022 Baby Monitor Market Report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/454370-global-baby-monitor-market-4 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/454370-global-baby-monitor-market-4 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=454370 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/454370-global-baby-monitor-market-4 HTF Market Intelligence released a new research report of 118 pages on title 'Global Baby Monitor Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022' with detailed analysis, forecast and strategies. The study covers key regions that includes North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Africa and important players such as Safety 1st(Dorel), Motorola, Philips ..................SummaryBaby Monitor, also called babymonitor, is an electronic device that belonging to the home security system for active babies sleep quality testing and so on. It belonging to the home security system and consists of two parts, Baby Monitors side or baby unit and the control side or parents unit. Put it in the baby's room you can always monitoring the baby's safety through the display.Request a sample report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Baby Monitor in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversSafety 1st(Dorel)MotorolaPhilipsSamsungNUK(Newell Brands)D-LinkAngelcareSummer InfantSnuzaVtechHisenseMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversAudio Baby MonitorVideo Baby MonitorInternet Baby MonitorMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHome familyCommercial (Hospital&Early Learning Centre)There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Baby Monitor market.Chapter 1, to describe Baby Monitor Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Baby Monitor, with sales, revenue, and price of Baby Monitor, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Baby Monitor, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Baby Monitor market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Baby Monitor sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceGet Customization in the Report, Enquire Now @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Baby Monitor Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Audio Baby Monitor1.2.2 Video Baby Monitor1.2.3 Internet Baby Monitor1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Home family1.3.2 Commercial (Hospital&Early Learning Centre)1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving ForceBuy this report @2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Safety 1st(Dorel)2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Safety 1st(Dorel) Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Motorola2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Motorola Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Philips2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 Philips Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Samsung2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 Samsung Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 NUK(Newell Brands)2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Type 12.5.2.2 Type 22.5.3 NUK(Newell Brands) Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.6 D-Link2.6.1 Business Overview2.6.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.6.2.1 Type 12.6.2.2 Type 22.6.3 D-Link Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.7 Angelcare2.7.1 Business Overview2.7.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.7.2.1 Type 12.7.2.2 Type 22.7.3 Angelcare Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.8 Summer Infant2.8.1 Business Overview2.8.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.8.2.1 Type 12.8.2.2 Type 22.8.3 Summer Infant Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.9 Snuza2.9.1 Business Overview2.9.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.9.2.1 Type 12.9.2.2 Type 22.9.3 Snuza Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.10 Vtech2.10.1 Business Overview2.10.2 Baby Monitor Type and Applications2.10.2.1 Type 12.10.2.2 Type 22.10.3 Vtech Baby Monitor Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:CRAIG FRANCIS (PR & Marketing Manager)info@htfmarketreport.comPh: +1 (206) 317 1218 Mint Flavour Market Plying for Significant Growth by 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/mint-flavour-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14227 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/14227 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com The global flavors industry can be characterized as highly innovative, specialized and highly competitive in nature as compared to other products categories within food and beverage market. prominent flavors in the wide-ranging variety of products globally. The mint flavors are most prevalent in the breath freshening category of mint and gums. The mint flavors are also used in oral care products where they are often mixed with cooling agents.Browse Complete Report @The mint is one of the leading flavor used in breath freshening products within the confectionary products market. customers are seeking an improvement in the breath freshening in the same, these factors are expected to act as primary driverThe peppermint is the dominant mint blend flavor category used globally. The peppermint and spearmint are the most common flavors used in the introduction new products. The mint flavors are most commonly used in the oral care products. supports value proposition of settling and soothing. The mint flavors are used in supplements and vitamins to cover up the unpleasant taste of the actual ingredient. Chocolate and mint is the most popular pairing in the healthcare products. Many key players are working to develop new innovative mint profiles for oral care and healthcare application.A sample of this report is available upon request @The global Mint Flavour Market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The Western Europe region dominated the mint flavor market. The current surge in the use of mint and mentholated products are much popular in Western Europe region as compared to the North America region. The peppermint and spearmint are the most popular flavors in the APEJ region.Request to view table of content @Mint Flavour Market: Key PlayersArcher Daniels Midland, Barry Callebaut, Hershey, Lindt & Sprungli, Nestle, Olam InternationalAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Selenium Yeast Market Plying for Significant Growth by 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/selenium-yeast-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/14275 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14275 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com The global selenium yeast market is expected to register a significant growth due to growing application in the food industry and other industrial sectors during the forecast period. The increasing demand for bakery products, growth in alcohol and beverage consumption, and demand for high-quality animal feed are expected the global selenium yeast market during the forecast period. Then growing acceptance of bio-ethanol as in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, also as an alternative fuel is estimated to further contribute to the growth of selenium yeast market. The rising demand for convenience food and ready to eat food products due to the changing lifestyle of consumers is predicted to fuel the growth of selenium yeast market over the forecast period. Furthermore, the growing awareness among the customers about the health benefits and nutritional values of selenium yeast is expected to create an ample of opportunities for the key market players over the forecast period. The low availability of raw material is one of the greatest matter of concern for the producers of selenium yeast. Thus, the shortage of raw materials can create an imbalance between supply and demand which can act as a challenge for the growth of global selenium yeast market. The major market players in the selenium yeast market are continuously involved in the R&D activities to increase the application scope in additives and food ingredient.Browse Complete Report @Selenium yeast is produced using special species of yeast known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This selenium yeast is also known as bakers yeast in the market. When the yeast is grown in the selenium-enriched medium, it converts that selenium into naturally found selenium found in food by absorbing it. This selenium yeast is then used to make supplements and fortify foods. The selenium has many health benefits as it helps to produce glutathione peroxidases and thyroid hormones which make it an important food ingredient. During the deficiency of selenium, the consumption of selenium yeast can help to synthesize these essential substances.Request to view table of content @The global Selenium Yeast Market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Western Europe has accounted as the largest market for Selenium Yeast due to the significant growth in the functional food industry. The APEJ and North America regions are expected to show significant growth rate over the forecast period. The developing countries such as India, China, Australia and South Korea are anticipated to bolster the growth of selenium yeast market in APEJ region. In Western Europe region the countries such as Germany, Italy and U.K. dominate the Western Europe selenium yeast market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Selenium Yeast Market: Key PlayersAlltech, Lesaffre, ABF, Lallemand, Novus, ADM, Pharma Nord, GarudaAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Dental Adhesives and Sealants Market-Segmented by Type, Application, and Geography-Trends and Forecasts to 2022 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/218204 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-dental-adhesives-and-sealants-market-segmented-by-form-adhesive-type-material-dental-application-and-geography-trends-and-forecasts-2017-2022 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/218204 This report helps to analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Dental Adhesives and Sealants market.The Dental Adhesives and Sealants Market has been valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of XX%, during the forecast period 2016-2021.Dental adhesives allow bonding of resin-based composites to primary teeth and are developed with reported dentin bond strengths, exceeding that of enamel. Dental sealants can be referred to as healing agents that prevent cavities.Download PDF Sample of Dental Adhesives and Sealants Market Report@Market DynamicsThe market for dental adhesives and sealants is accelerated by the rising health expenditure and emphasis on improving dental procedure outcomes mostly in the countries of North America. Moreover, an increase in the aging population in China and Japan is expected to further increase the demand. Further, the high buzz of oral care campaigns by governments and other social agencies drives the swift flow of the market. On the flipside, though, the high cost of treatment and stringent regulations in the use of dental adhesives, hinder the growth of the market.Market SegmentationThe global dental adhesives and sealants market can be segmented by their form as water-based, solvent-based, radiation cured, and others. The radiation cured form dominates the market owing to its high dentin bond strength. Further, the market has been segmented regarding the adhesive type into self-etch, total etch, and selective etch. The dental academic world tends to support total etch, while clinicians in practice tend to support selective or self-etch. This is due to their reportedly less postoperative tooth sensitivity and predictability while working in a fast-paced ongoing practice, along with treating several patients at the same time. The market by the material is segmented as dual-cured, light cured, and self-cured. While dual-cured is the conventional adhesive used in dentin bond integrity, with continuous R&D, the market for self-cured adhesives is expected to accelerate and grow beyond the dual-cured market. Regarding the dental application, the market is segmented as denture bonding agents, pit & fissure sealants, restorative adhesives, orthodontic bonding agents, luting cement, tray adhesives, and dental surgical tissue bonding. The denture bonding agents and pit and fissure sealants hold 70% of the global demand for dental adhesives and sealants and are expected to reach 80%, by 2021.Browse Full Report with TOC:North America and Europe are observed to be the largest markets for dental adhesives and sealants. While Asia-Pacific is considered to be the most attractive market due to the rapidly increasing awareness about oral hygiene in the region, especially in emerging economies like China and India. South America is also witnessing an attractive market for dental adhesives and sealants, particularly in countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.Place Purchase Order for this Report@Opportunities and Market PlayersThe advancements in biotechnology are expected to facilitate the use of sealants in wound closures and also create opportunities for investors in the market. Some of the major players in the market include 3M Henkel AG Johnson & Johnson Mitsui Chemicals Sybron DentalKey Deliverables in the Study Market analysis for the dental adhesives and sealants , with region specific assessments and competition analysis on global and regional scales. Market definition along with the identification of factors instrumental in changing the market scenario and prospective opportunities. Extensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies along with their market share. Identification and analysis of the macro and micro factors that affect the dental adhesives and sealants on both global and regional scales. A comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial information. Insights on the major countries/regions where this industry is growing and also identify the regions that are still untapped.Opportunities and Market PlayersTable of Content1. Introduction1.1 Description1.2 Research Methodology1.3 Market Definition2. Executive Summary3. Market Insights3.1 Overview3.2 Industry Value Chain Analysis3.3 Regulatory Policies Analysis3.4 Industry Attractiveness Porters 5 Forces Analysis3.4.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers3.4.2 Bargaining Power of Consumers3.4.3 Threat of New Entrants3.4.4 Threat of Substitute Products and Services3.4.5 Degree of Competition3.5 Raw Material Analysis3.5.1 Technological Overview (By Generation)3.5.1.1 First Generation3.5.1.2 Second Generation3.5.1.3 Third Generation3.5.1.4 Fourth Generation3.5.1.5 Fifth Generation3.5.1.6 Sixth Generation3.5.1.7 Seventh Generation3.5.1.8 Eighth Generation3.6 Patent Analysis4. Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.1.1 Increasing Health Expenditures and Emphasis on Improving Dental Procedure Outcomes4.1.2 Increase in Aging Population in Countries Like China & Japan4.1.3 High Buzz of Oral Care Campaigns by Governments & Other Social Agencies4.1.4 Ongoing Trend of Improper Food Habits4.2 Restraints4.2.1 High Treatment Cost4.2.2 Stringent Regulations Governing Dental Adhesives4.3 Opportunities4.3.1 Advancement In Biotechnology to Facilitate Use of Sealants in Wound Closures5. Market Segmentation and Analysis5.1 By Form5.1.1 Water Based5.1.2 Solvent Based5.1.3 Radiation Cured5.1.4 Others5.2 By Adhesive Type5.2.1 Self Etch5.2.2 Total Etch5.2.3 Selective Etch5.3 By Material5.3.1 Dual cured5.3.2 Light cured5.3.3 self cured5.4 By Dental Application5.4.1 Denture Bonding Agents5.4.2 Pit & Fissure Sealants5.4.3 Restorative Adhesives5.4.4 Orthodontic Bonding Agents5.4.5 Luting Cements5.4.6 Tray Adhesives5.4.7 Dental Surgical Tissue Bonding6. Regional Analysis (Market Size, Growth and Forecast)6.1 Asia-Pacific6.1.1 China6.1.2 India6.1.3 Japan6.1.4 South Korea6.1.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific6.2 North America6.2.1 United States6.2.2 Canada6.2.3 Mexico6.2.4 Rest of North America6.3 Europe6.3.1 Germany6.3.2 United Kingdom6.3.3 Italy6.3.4 France6.3.5 Spain6.3.6 Rest of Europe6.4 South America6.4.1 Brazil6.4.2 Argentina6.4.3 Rest of South America6.5 MEA6.5.1 Saudi Arabia6.5.2 South Africa6.5.3 Qatar6.5.4 Rest of MEA7. Future of the Market8. Competitive Landscape8.1 Mergers & Acquisitions8.2 Joint Ventures, Collaborations and Agreements8.3 Market Share Analysis8.4 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players9. Company Profiles (Overview, Financials, Products & Services, Recent Developments)9.1 3M9.2 Henkel AG & Company KGaA9.3 Den-Mat Holdings LLC9.4 Dentsply Sirona Incorporated9.5 DUX Dental9.6 HemCon Medical Technologies9.7 Johnson & Johnson9.8 Mitsui Chemicals9.9 Sybron Dental Specialties9.10 Smith & Nephew plc9.11 TriStar Wellness Solutions Incorporated9.12 Zimmer Biomet Holdings Incorporated9.13 Nobel Biocare HoldingOrbis Research is a single point aid for all your Market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customised reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required Market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.com Global Snacks Pellets Market Size to hit $7.75 Billion by 2022 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/snack-pellets-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/snack-pellets-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/snack-pellets-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/buynow/su/snack-pellets-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com Zion Market Research has published a new report titled Snack Pellets Market by Type (Potato, Corn, Rice, Tapioca, Mixed Grains, and Others) by Form (Laminated, Die-face, Tridimensional, Gelatinized and Others.) and by Equipment (Single Screw and Twin Screw Extruders): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2016 - 2022. According to the report, global snacks pellets market was valued at around USD 5.50 billion in 2016 and is expected to generate revenue of around USD 7.75 billion by end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of around 6.00% between 2017 and 2022.Snack pellets are convenient and easy to cook snack which is readily available. Snack pellets are increasing preferred as they are considered to be healthy in comparison to other snacks. Snacks pellets can be converted into ready form by either hot air expansion or by hot oil frying. Hot air expansion is considered to be healthy as a use of excessive oil is avoided which results in avoidance in the formation of acrylamide that is considered as a common cause for some specific cancers and heart diseases.Request Free Sample copy of Research Report @Global snacks pellet market is primarily driven by growing investment in R&D by major manufacturers for the development of novel products.Other major driving factors for the growth of snacks pellets market are the easier availability of raw material coupled along with growing demand for healthier snack food. However, an increase in a number of market players has resulted in a price war which is a major restraint that may curb the growth of the market. Nonetheless, technological advancements and emerging markets across the globe are likely to disclose the new avenues for snacks pellet market in the near future.The snacks pellets market is segmented on the basis of the different type including potato, corn, rice, tapioca, mixed grains, and others (cereals, legumes, etc.). In 2016, pellets segment was the largest segment in snacks pellets market and accounted for the largest share of the total market. Potato-based snack pellets segment is expected to continue its dominance, whereas corn-based snack pellets segment is expected to be the second largest segment over the forecast period.Browse the full "Snack Pellets Market by Type (Potato, Corn, Rice, Tapioca, Mixed Grains, and Others) by Form (Laminated, Dying Faced, Tridimensional, Gelatinized and Others) and by Equipment (Single Screw and Twin Screw Extruders): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2016 - 2022" report atThe snack pellets market is segmented based on the form into laminated, die face, tridimensional, gelatinized and others. Based on the type of equipment used the snack pellets market can be further segmented into the single screw and twin screw extruders.North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are key regional segments of global snacks pellets market. Europe is expected to remain the dominant region over the forecast period. North America was the second largest market for snack pellets in 2016.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region snack pellets market during the forecast period. Moreover, Latin America is also expected to show visible growth for this market in the years to come.Inquire more about this report before purchase @Some of the key players in snacks pellets market areLimagrain Cereal Ingredients, Balance Foods Inc., Liven S.A., Grupo International Michel, J.R. Short Milling Company, Intersnack Group Gmbh& Co, Pasta Foods Ltd., Dalmatia Food Industries Co, Quality pallet, Leng-Dor S.A. among others. Due to the presence of several manufacturers in snack pellets market, there has been intense competition among the players to sustain in the market. Product innovation is the key strategy practiced by the majority of the players to maintain their sales.Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @About Us:Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with Vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from Cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll-Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:Blog: Human Microbiome Market: Rising Investments by Angel Investors and Venture Capital Firms to Drive Growth http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/human-microbiome-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=3999 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Human Microbiome Market: SnapshotWith ample unmet needs, the global market for human microbiome exhibits high potential of growth. The market is set to emerge as a lucrative business in the near future, thanks to the increasing emphasis on diagnosis and treatment of various underrated diseases. The worldwide human microbiome market will be US$2.2 bn in 2020. The lack of targeted drugs for specific conditions, such as ulcerative colitis and C.difficile infection across the world makes this market highly opportune for players to set their innovative drug ideas on the path to commercial success. Driven by these factors, the opportunity in this market is slated to rise at a CAGR of 9.80% between 2020 and 2024 and reach US$3.2 bn by the end of 2024.This 176 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Human Microbiome Market. Browse through 31 data tables and 87 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Microbiome diagnostics and microbiome therapeutics are the two prominent sections of the global human microbiome market. Currently, the market is in the budding phase, with most of the therapies still being in preclinical or clinical (phase I or phase II) stage. The diagnosis technology is also in the development phase and the leading companies have begun to allocate funds for the research and development and the management of clinical studies for their innovative class of therapies. All these factors are likely to propel this market significantly over the next few years. The human microbiome therapeutics market is likely to report a CAGR of 9.20% during the period of 2020 to 2024, whereas the market for human microbiome diagnostics is anticipated to rise at an 8.60% CAGR between 2018 and 2024.North America to Report Continued LeadershipNorth America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, and Latin America are the key regional markets for human microbiome across the world. Thanks to the presence of a state-of-art medical and healthcare industry and early adoption of technology, North America has occupied the top position in the global market. Researchers expect that the rising number of venture-capital funded start-ups and the increasing investments by leading players for research and development of drugs will support the North America market for human microbiome over the forthcoming years, ensuring its dominance. The human microbiome therapeutics market in North America is anticipated to report a rise at a CAGR of 9.10% between 2020 and 2024 while the regions human microbiome diagnostics market will progress at an 8.80% CAGR from 2018 to 2024.Europe, which acquired the second position in the global human microbiome market, is projected to maintain its position over the years to come. The U.K. and France have emerged as the key domestic markets for human microbiome in Europe. The high investments by companies in this domain are expected to boost both these domestic markets in the next few years. Apart from this, countries, such as Sweden and the Netherlands, are also anticipated to contribute well to the Europe market for human microbiome market in the near future.Metagenomic Sequencing to Outpace 16s rRNA in FutureOn the basis of technology, the global market for human microbiome is classified into 16s rRNA sequencing and metagenomic sequencing. Both the technology are equally popular platforms for detection in the microbiome-based diagnostics. However, the metagenomic sequencing segment is likely to surpass the 16s rRNA segment over the next few years, albeit by a small margin, as a large number of companies are opting for the diagnosis of a more comprehensive microbiome profile.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Human Microbiome Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:At the forefront of the global market for human microbiome are Vedanta Biosciences, Synthetic Biologics Inc., Seres Therapeutics, Second Genome, uBiome Inc., Rebiotix Inc., Osel Inc., MicroBiome Therapeutics LLC., Metabiomics Corp., Enterome Biosciences SA, and AO Biome LLC. Some of the other prominent participants in this market are Metabogen AB, Becton Dickinson & Co., Evelo Biosciences, ARTPred, MaaT Pharma, Blue Turtle Bio Technologies, Axial Therapeutics, Whole Biome, 4D Pharma, Symbiotix Therapies, Phi Therapeutics, Synlogic, and Biospherex LLC.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) Diagnostic Testing Market to Register Unwavering Growth by 2021 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4227 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4227 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Escherichia coli (E. coli), is a bacterium which normally lives in the intestines of humans and animals. Some types of E. coli are an important part of a healthy human intestinal system. However, others are pathogenic and can cause illness and diarrhea. E. coli that cause diarrhea can be transmitted through contaminated water and food or through contact with animals or persons. Pathogenic E. coli strains are categorized into pathotypes. Six pathotypes of E. coli are associated with diarrhea and are collectively referred to as diarrheagenic E. coli. They are diffusely adherent E. coli (DAEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), and shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). Major sign and symptoms of E. coli infection include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and nausea and vomiting. Cases of E. coli infection are usually confirmed by the detection of bacteria in stool samples of infected individuals.A sample of this report is available upon request @E. coli is mainly found in contaminated food, especially undercooked ground beef, soft cheese made from raw milk, unpasteurized (raw) milk and juice, raw fruits and vegetables (such as sprouts), contaminated water, including untreated drinking water, and feces of infected people. Moreover, the bacterium is also present on the body surface of animals, such as sheep, cows, and goats.The global E. coli diagnostic testing market is categorized on the basis of various types of emerging diagnostic procedures and end users. Based on type of technology, the report covers monoclonal antibodies, molecular diagnostics, differential light scattering, immunoassays, flow cytometry, chromatography, gel microdroplets, diagnostic imaging, and others. Based on end user, the report covers commercial or private labs, physician offices, hospitals, public health labs, and academic research institutes.In terms of geography, North America dominates the global E. coli diagnostic testing market. This is due to increased government funding on healthcare infrastructure in the region. In addition, technological advancement in E. coli diagnostic procedures has also propelled the market in North America. The U.S. represents the largest market for E. coli diagnostic testing in North America, followed by Canada. In Europe, Germany, France, and the U.K. hold major shares of the E. coli diagnostic testing market. The E. coli diagnostic testing market in Asia is also expected to show high growth rates in the next five years. This is due to various initiatives undertaken by governments to increase awareness about E. coli infections. In addition, increased investments by many foreign diagnostic instrument companies have also propelled the growth of the E. coli diagnostic testing market in the region. India, China, and Japan are expected to be the fastest growing markets for E. coli diagnostic testing in Asia.Advanced application of bacterial diagnostic instruments is a key driver for the global E. coli diagnostic testing market. Also, increased government support in the form of funding and rapid technological advancement has fueled the growth of this market.Increasing number of mergers and acquisitions of diagnostic consumables manufacturing companies and rapid product launches are key trends of the global E. coli diagnostic testing market.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @The major companies operating in this market are Abbott Laboratories, Beckman Coulter, Wako, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Affymetrix, Inc., bioMerieux, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Siemens AG, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Cepheid, Inc., GenBio, Olympus Corporation, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: United States Sensor Development Boards Market Report 2017 Leading Market Products, Consumption, Trends, High Demands, Invincible Growth & Profits Global QYResearch http://globalqyresearch.com/united-states-sensor-development-boards-market-report-2017 http://globalqyresearch.com/download-sample/216889 http://globalqyresearch.com/checkout-form/0/216889 http://globalqyresearch.com/ https://twitter.com/GQYResearch https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-qy-research In this report, the United States Sensor Development Boards market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.View full report atGeographically, this report splits the United States market into seven regions:The WestSouthwestThe Middle AtlanticNew EnglandThe SouthThe Midwestwith sales (volume), revenue (value), market share and growth rate of Sensor Development Boards in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast).United States Sensor Development Boards market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Sensor Development Boards sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingSTMicroelectronicsAnalog DevicesSilicon LabsTexas InstrumentsCypress Semiconductorams...On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAdapter BoardDemonstration BoardEvaluation BoardAdd-On BoardBreakout BoardOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Sensor Development Boards for each application, includingAccelerometersGyroscopesTemperature SensorsPressure SensorsOtherDownload Sample atTable of ContentsUnited States Sensor Development Boards Market Report 20171 Sensor Development Boards Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Sensor Development Boards1.2 Classification of Sensor Development Boards by Product Category1.2.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Size (Sales Volume) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Adapter Board1.2.4 Demonstration Board1.2.5 Evaluation Board1.2.6 Add-On Board1.2.7 Breakout Board1.3 United States Sensor Development Boards Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Accelerometers1.3.3 Gyroscopes1.3.4 Temperature Sensors1.3.5 Pressure Sensors1.3.6 Other1.4 United States Sensor Development Boards Market by Region1.4.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 The West Sensor Development Boards Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Southwest Sensor Development Boards Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 The Middle Atlantic Sensor Development Boards Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 New England Sensor Development Boards Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 The South Sensor Development Boards Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 The Midwest Sensor Development Boards Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 United States Market Size (Value and Volume) of Sensor Development Boards (2012-2022)1.5.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.3 United States Sensor Development Boards Average Price by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.4 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Players/Suppliers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion in United States Market2.5 United States Players/Suppliers Sensor Development Boards Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Type3 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 United States Sensor Development Boards Price by Region (2012-2017)4 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales and Market Share by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.3 United States Sensor Development Boards Price by Type (2012-2017)4.4 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales Growth Rate by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)5.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)5.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6 United States Sensor Development Boards Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data6.1 STMicroelectronics6.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.1.2 Sensor Development Boards Product Category, Application and Specification6.1.2.1 Product A6.1.2.2 Product B6.1.3 STMicroelectronics Sensor Development Boards Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.2 Analog Devices6.2.2 Sensor Development Boards Product Category, Application and Specification6.2.2.1 Product A6.2.2.2 Product B6.2.3 Analog Devices Sensor Development Boards Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.3 Silicon Labs6.3.2 Sensor Development Boards Product Category, Application and Specification6.3.2.1 Product A6.3.2.2 Product B6.3.3 Silicon Labs Sensor Development Boards Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.4 Texas Instruments6.4.2 Sensor Development Boards Product Category, Application and Specification6.4.2.1 Product A6.4.2.2 Product B6.4.3 Texas Instruments Sensor Development Boards Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.5 Cypress Semiconductor6.5.2 Sensor Development Boards Product Category, Application and Specification6.5.2.1 Product A6.5.2.2 Product B6.5.3 Cypress Semiconductor Sensor Development Boards Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.6 ams6.6.2 Sensor Development Boards Product Category, Application and Specification6.6.2.1 Product A6.6.2.2 Product B6.6.3 ams Sensor Development Boards Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview...7 Sensor Development Boards Manufacturing Cost Analysis7.1 Sensor Development Boards Key Raw Materials Analysis7.1.1 Key Raw Materials7.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials7.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials7.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials7.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure7.2.1 Raw Materials7.2.2 Labor Cost7.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses7.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Sensor Development Boards8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers8.1 Sensor Development Boards Industrial Chain Analysis8.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing8.3 Raw Materials Sources of Sensor Development Boards Major Manufacturers in 20168.4 Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders9.1 Marketing Channel9.1.1 Direct Marketing9.1.2 Indirect Marketing9.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend9.2 Market Positioning9.2.1 Pricing Strategy9.2.2 Brand Strategy9.2.3 Target Client9.3 Distributors/Traders List10 Market Effect Factors Analysis10.1 Technology Progress/Risk10.1.1 Substitutes Threat10.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry10.2 Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change10.3 Economic/Political Environmental Change11 United States Sensor Development Boards Market Size (Value and Volume) Forecast (2017-2022)11.1 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales Volume, Revenue Forecast (2017-2022)11.2 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales Volume Forecast by Type (2017-2022)11.3 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales Volume Forecast by Application (2017-2022)11.4 United States Sensor Development Boards Sales Volume Forecast by Region (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and ConclusionTo Purchase this Premium Report:Global QYResearch () is the one spot destination for all your research needs. Global QYResearch holds the repository of quality research reports from numerous publishers across the globe. Our inventory of research reports caters to various industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. With the complete information about the publishers and the industries they cater to for developing market research reports, we help our clients in making purchase decision by understanding their requirements and suggesting best possible collection matching their needs.Contact Us:Mr. Jay SmithSenior Manager Client EngagementsCall: +44 20 32390-2407Follow us:Twitter:Linkedin: Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Device Type 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/blood-pressure-monitoring-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1630 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices and Accessories Market: SnapshotThe global market for blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories has been registering a remarkable rise in its valuation, thanks to the increasing prevalence of hypertension, technological advancements in the design and utilities of diagnostic devices, and the rise in the funding by public and private players to create awareness about hypertension.This 257 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories Market. Browse through 72 data tables and 79 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market;On the other hand, the inaccuracy in the readings, owing to obesity or any pre-existing CV disorder, and the declining prices of blood glucose monitors are likely to create restraints in the growth trajectory of this market in the near future. However, the increasing need for blood pressure kiosks at public places, such as gym, airports, and colleges, and the rise in the government funding are anticipated to boost the production volume of blood pressure monitors over the next few years.The opportunity in the worldwide market for blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories is likely to expand at a CAGR of 7.60% between 2016 and 2024, rising significantly from a value of US$1.14 bn in 2015 to US$2.20 bn by the end of 2024.Hospitals to Surface as Leading End User of Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices and AccessoriesHospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, clinics, and homecare settings are the key end users of blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories across the world. The demand for these devices and accessories is greater in hospitals than other end users. Thanks to the presence of trained and qualified personnel as well as favorable reimbursement structure in various parts of the world, this scenario is anticipated to remain so over the next few years.Homecare settings will also report a significant increase in the demand for blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories in the near future, owing to the miniaturization of the devices, and the rising demand for self-serving diagnostic equipment by consumers. In clinics, the demand for these devices will be driven by the rising base of the geriatric population and the advancements in the healthcare facilities in developing countries. Ambulatory surgical centers are expected to display a moderate demand for blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories in the years to come.Europe to Continue Generating High RevenuesGeographically, the global blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories market is stretched across North America, Middle East and Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. In terms of revenue, Europe led the overall market in 2015 with a share of more than 32%. Researchers expect this regional market to remain the leading revenue contributor to the global market over the next few years. North America, on the other hand, has been and will continue to be the key regional market for blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories in terms of volume in the near future, thanks to the rising incidence of hypertension and the increasing demand for digitally and technologically advanced diagnostic devices among consumers.Amongst others, Asia Pacific is likely to witness considerable growth in the near future, owing to the rise in the number of regional players, increasing construction of research and development facilities by established companies in the developing countries, such as Japan and China, and the shift of population towards preventive healthcare. Latin America, however, is anticipated to experience a moderate rise over the coming years. Brazil and Mexico are likely to surface as the main domestic market for blood pressure monitoring devices and accessories in this region.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:Omron Healthcare Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Schiller AG, American Diagnostic Corp., American Diagnostic Corp., SPENGLER, Spacelabs Healthcare, Bosch + Sohn GmbH u. Co. KG, Withings SA, Welch Allyn Inc., SunTech Medical. Inc., A&D Medical, GE HealthcareTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Radiology Information Systems Market Expected to Reach US$ 1,179.2 Mn by 2024-end http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/2816 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/radiology-information-systems-market/toc www.persistencemarketresearch.com Hospitals, medical research institutes, as well as governments, across the globe are hiking their healthcare IT spending to bring reforms in both, operations and outcomes. Instating databases is turning out to be more of a necessity for healthcare institutions, particularly for the field of radiology. Criticality of data produced and used by radiologists is compelling them to utilize speedy & error-proof data transference systems. Correspondingly, the transformation of global healthcare industry through digitization trends is also necessitating the deployment of radiology information systems. In its latest publication, Persistence Market Research has compiled more of such factors that will keep driving the growth of global radiology information system market in the years to come. According to this report, the global market for radiology information systems, which is presently valued at US$ 580.2 Mn, is anticipated to soar at 8.3% CAGR and reach US$ 1,179.2 Mn value by the end of 2024.Titled as Radiology Information Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016-2024, the report reveals that global demand for radiology information systems continues to grow on the account of rising incidence rate of lifestyle-related diseases. Increasing consumer awareness to radiological procedures, and easy accessibility to these technologies are also serving as proponents for adoption of radiology information systems. Since installing radiology information systems supports a value-based healthcare model, medical practitioners are also promoting it as the immediate future of digitalized radiology.The report reveals that in 2017 and beyond, the demand for cloud-based radiology information systems will remain considerably higher than on-premise systems. Deployment of cloud-based radiology information systems is projected to bring more than US$ 800 Mn by the end of 2024, while revenues emanating from on-premise deployment will soar at 7.3% CAGR. During the forecast period, a little over 45% of global revenues will be accounted by sales of radiology information software. The adoption of radiology information services is also slated to grow robustly, while radiology information hardware is likely to incur a moderate dip in revenues.Through 2024, medical institutions adopting radiology information systems will continue to do so on integrated platforms. Similar to the current scenario, integrated radiology information systems will procure over three-fourth of global market value by the end of 2024. Standalone radiology information systems, however, will be valued at just over US$ 280 Mn by the end of projection period. And, hospitals will undoubtedly be the largest end-users of radiology information systems. More than US$ 600 Mn worth of global radiology information system revenues will be emanating from hospitals spanned across the globe. Adoption of such systems will also be considerably high in diagnostic labs and ambulatory surgical centers.By the end of 2024, North America will remain as the largest market for radiology information systems in the world. In 2016, the regions radiology information systems market was valued at US$ 269 Mn. Meanwhile, Europes advanced healthcare infrastructure will also work in the favor of radiology information system adoption. Throughout the period, Europes radiology information system revenues will soar at a health CAGR, and contribute to nearly 23% share. Although, fastest revenue growth is expected to be recorded by Latin America and the Asia-Pacific regions revenues from which will surge at more than 8% CAGR.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Ten of the leading companies developing radiology information systems in the world are profiled in the report, and they include Cerner Corporation, Siemens AG, Merge Healthcare Incorporated (IBM), Koninklijke Philips NV, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., Epic Systems Corporation, Novarad Corp., General Electric Company, McKesson Corporation, and Medinformatix Inc.Request to View Tables of Content @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Building Automation Systems Market Will Procure US$ 141.1 Bn by 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/building-automation-systems-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/building-automation-systems-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12823 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com The Persistence Market Research report titled, Building Automation Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis & Forecast, 2016-2026, talks in detail about the market psyche and also scrutinizes the market drifts which are expected to impact the future of the global building automation systems market. The global building automation systems market was valued more than US$ 43 Bn in 2015 and is expected to mint better revenue by the end of 2016, reaching approximately US$ 48 Bn. The market will continue its journey towards expansion and the market worth will reach US$ 141.1 Bn towards the end of 2026. The global building automation systems market will record a CAGR of 11.1% during the projected period.Browse Complete Report @In reference to a new report published by Persistence Market Research, the global building automation systems market will showcase significant growth between 2016 and 2026. Manufacturers of building automation systems are rapidly adopting new regulations set across the globe and they are also lining up new products to meet rising market demand.Governments around the globe are rolling out different precautionary measures to cut down the wastage of energy. Different new regulatory methods are adopted to reduce the consumption of energy. This is a massive booster for the global building automation systems market. Several big economies around the globe such as Europe, US and Japan have already curated some restrictive methods to revise the previous trends. This opens a new window of opportunity for the global building automation systems market. A slew of new technologies that are eroding this market are actively affecting the global canvas of the market. Better and more advanced technologies are enhancing the end-user experience and also increasing market outreach. The introduction of smart web-based, cloud-based control networks backed by the Internet of Things (IOT), mobile technologies, integrated building systems and facility management solutions are expanding the periphery of the global building automation systems market. Last but not the least, the urgent need for consolidated security solutions is also pushing ahead the market growth of the global building automation systems market. These key factors will complement the all-round development of the market within the forecast period but there are also certain key factors that might barricade the normal development of the market within the period of forecast. Building automation systems come with a high price tag and this is expected to impact their widespread adoption. The absence of skilled manpower is another market growth deterrent.Request to view table of content @The rising incidences of security violations across the globe are likely to impact the growth of the security and surveillance segment in the global building automation systems market. The security and surveillance segment will exhibit a robust growth in terms of revenue and will overshadow the market within the forecast period. The commercial segment will contribute notably to the global building automation systems market. Towards the end of the projected period, the commercial segment will touch a market worth of more than US$ 63 Bn and will record a CAGR of 10.9%. Apart from this the government and residential segments will also project promising growth trends by 2026 end. North America will lure maximum investors, as the building automation systems market in this region will exceed a whopping value of US$ 55 Bn by the close of 2026.A sample of this report is available upon request @The global market for building automation systems is crowded with several players. The Rheem Manufacturing Company, United Technologies, General Electric, Lennox International, Philips Lighting Holding B.V., Ingersoll-Rand Plc. Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls are some of the major players contributing to the growth of the market. They are establishing smart IT backed platforms to provide advanced building automation systems to their customers.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Trend, Overview, Demand, Gross Margin and Forecast To 20212 Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Market https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/389839 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-plant-health-improvement-agents-phia-market-research-report-2017 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/389839 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/389839 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com QY Research Groups has released a latest report based on thorough research on Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Market.The Global Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Market Research Report 2017 renders profound impression of the key provincial market status of the Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Industry on a worldwide level that essentially points the center areas which includes landmasses like Europe, North America, and Asia and the key nations, for example, United States, Germany, China and Japan.The report on Global Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Market is a professional report which provides thorough knowledge along with complete information pertaining to the Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) industry a propos classifications, definitions, applications, industry chain summary, industry policies in addition to plans, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, etc.For Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit:The potential of this industry segment has been rigorously investigated in conjunction with primary market challenges. The present market condition and future prospects of the segment has also been examined. Moreover, key strategies in the market that includes product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, etc., are discussed. Besides, upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also conducted.Report Includes:-The report cloaks the market analysis and projection of Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Market on a regional as well as global level. The report constitutes qualitative and quantitative valuation by industry analysts, first-hand data, assistance from industry experts along with their most recent verbatim and each industry manufacturers via the market value chain. The research experts have additionally assessed the in general sales and revenue generation of this particular market. In addition, this report also delivers widespread analysis of root market trends, several governing elements and macro-economic indicators, coupled with market improvements as per every segment.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Distribution Feeder Automation Systems Market 2017:1. Agrium Inc2. ICL Fertilizers3. The Mosaic Company4. Yara International5. Plant Health CareTo Browse the Entire Report, Visit:The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) industry, present condition of the market, feasibleness of the investment along with several strategies and policies. Apart from the definition and classification, the report also discusses the analysis of import and export and describes a comparison of the market that is focused on the trends and development. Along with entire framework in addition to in-depth details, one can prepare and stay ahead of the competitors across the targeted locations. The fact that this market report renders details about the major market players along with their product development and current trends proves to be very beneficial for fresh entrants to comprehend and recognize the industry in an improved manner. The report also enlightens the productions, sales, supply, market condition, demand, growth, and forecast of the Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) industry in the global markets.Every regions market has been studied thoroughly in this report which deals with the precise information pertaining to the Marketing Channels and novel project investments so that the new entrants as well as the established market players conduct intricate research of trends and analysis in these regional markets. Acknowledging the status of the environment and products up gradation, the market report foretells each and every detail.So as to fabricate this report, complete key details, strategies and variables are examined so that entire useful information is amalgamated together for the understanding and studying the key facts pertaining the global Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-7 Global Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Agrium Inc7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Agrium Inc Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 ICL Fertilizers7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 ICL Fertilizers Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 The Mosaic Company7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 The Mosaic Company Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Yara International7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Yara International Plant Health Improvement Agents (PHIA) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Plant Health Care7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its CompetitorsEnquiry before Buying @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb- Organophosphate Insecticides Market 2017 Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast Report Up To 2022 Organophosphate Insecticides Market https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/389981 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-organophosphate-insecticides-market-research-report-2017 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/389981 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/389981 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com QY Research Groups has released a most recent report based on thorough research on Organophosphate Insecticides business sector.The report on Global Organophosphate Insecticides Market is a professional report which provides thorough knowledge along with complete information pertaining to the Organophosphate Insecticides industry propos classifications, definitions, applications, industry chain summary, industry policies in addition to plans, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, etc.The Global Organophosphate Insecticides Market Research Report 2017 renders deep perception of the key regional market status of the Organophosphate Insecticides Industry on a global level that primarily aims the core regions which comprises of continents like Europe, North America, and Asia and the key countries such as United States, Germany, China and Japan.For Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit:The potential of this industry segment has been rigorously investigated in conjunction with primary market challenges. The present market condition and future prospects of the segment has also been examined. Moreover, key strategies in the market that includes product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, etc., are discussed. Besides, upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also conducted.Report Includes:-The report cloaks the market analysis and projection of Organophosphate Insecticides Market on a regional as well as global level. The report constitutes qualitative and quantitative valuation by industry analysts, first-hand data, assistance from industry experts along with their most recent verbatim and each industry manufacturers via the market value chain. The research experts have additionally assessed the in general sales and revenue generation of this particular market. In addition, this report also delivers widespread analysis of root market trends, several governing elements and macro-economic indicators, coupled with market improvements as per every segment.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Distribution Feeder Automation Systems Market 2017: ADAMA Agricultural BASF Bayer Dow Chemical DuPont FMC Corporation Syngenta Sumitomo Chemical NufarmTo Browse the Entire Report, Visit:The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the Organophosphate Insecticides industry, present condition of the market, feasibleness of the investment along with several strategies and policies. Apart from the definition and classification, the report also discusses the analysis of import and export and describes a comparison of the market that is focused on the trends and development. Along with entire framework in addition to in-depth details, one can prepare and stay ahead of the competitors across the targeted locations. The fact that this market report renders details about the major market players along with their product development and current trends proves to be very beneficial for fresh entrants to comprehend and recognize the industry in an improved manner. The report also enlightens the productions, sales, supply, market condition, demand, growth, and forecast of the Organophosphate Insecticides industry in the global markets.Every regions market has been studied thoroughly in this report which deals with the precise information pertaining to the Marketing Channels and novel project investments so that the new entrants as well as the established market players conduct intricate research of trends and analysis in these regional markets. Acknowledging the status of the environment and products up gradation, the market report foretells each and every detail.So as to fabricate this report, complete key details, strategies and variables are examined so that entire useful information is amalgamated together for the understanding and studying the key facts pertaining the global Organophosphate Insecticides Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-Global Organophosphate Insecticides Market Research Report 20171 Organophosphate Insecticides Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Organophosphate Insecticides1.2 Organophosphate Insecticides Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Parathion1.2.4 Methyl Parathion1.2.5 Methamidophos1.2.6 Acephate1.2.7 Water Amine1.2.8 Others1.3 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Segment by Application1.3.1 Organophosphate Insecticides Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Plant Disease Prevention and Control1.3.3 Pest Control1.4 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Organophosphate Insecticides (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Organophosphate Insecticides Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Organophosphate Insecticides Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Organophosphate Insecticides Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Organophosphate Insecticides Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Organophosphate Insecticides Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionEnquiry before Buying @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb- Global Cognitive Computing Market Analysis with Trends and Operational Strategies Cognitive Computing https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/677 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-free-sample/677 Cognitive Computing Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $13.7 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 33.1% during the period 2015 - 2020. The advent of cognitive computing has led to a major shift in the evolution of technology over the past decade.Send Enquiry About Report:The growing trend of increasing cloud based services, big data analytics and harnessing the internet speed, has largely supplemented the growth of the cognitive computing market. Cognitive analytics have optimum capabilities in handling huge volumes of data and facilitate the quick transitioning of manufacturing footprints and technologies. Enterprises, today, incorporate newer technologies, both in hardware and software, in order to keep pace with the changing business requirements. The increasing adoption of cognitive computing in business applications has led to significant improvements in the productivity and standard of operations in numerous organizations.Get PDF Brochure sample report @The global cognitive computing market is segmented into technology, applications, end users and deployment types. The technology segment is further categorized into natural language processing, machine learning, automated reasoning and information retrieval. The application segment includes healthcare, BFSI, IT and Telecom, security, research & education, defense and others. The end users segment comprises of large enterprises and small & medium enterprises, whilst the deployment types include on-premises and cloud based services.The natural language processing segment generated the maximum revenue in 2014, accounting for over 40% of the total market revenue. The technology would continue to dominate the market throughout the forecast period. Machine learning is the second highest segment, constituting around 30% of the total revenue. Automated reasoning technology, presently having a smaller market share, would grow at the fastest CAGR of 37% during 2015 - 2020. Automated reasoning reduces overloaded information and is seeking applications in computational biology that would accelerate the growth of the technology in the coming years.About Allied Market Research:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285Fax: +1-800-792-5285help@alliedmarketresearch.com Wireless Charging Market Will Procure US$ 27 Billion by 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/wireless-charging-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/10789 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/wireless-charging-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com According to Persistence Market Research, the global market for wireless charging is currently valued over US$ 2.6 billion. By the end of 2024, revenues emanating from global sales of wireless charging devices & services will grow at an exponential CAGR of 34% and bring in revenues worth over US$ 27 billion.Browse Complete Report @As we head towards an era where wires wont necessarily be a requisite for powering up devices, tech companies from around the world are intensifying their efforts towards production of advanced and immaculate wireless charging systems. Innovative technologies supporting the working mechanism of wireless charging devices is also piquing the curiosity of tech enthusiasts as well as common consumers. From green vehicles to smartphones, Persistence Market Research has published its research study on how wireless charging is spanning the globe as the next-gen mode of charging electric devices.The report further reveals the significance of components in driving the sales of wireless charging devices. Considering that wireless charging systems will eventually put an end to wired chargers, the components used in such systems will play an instrumental role in shaping up the future of wireless charging. Much like today, the feature of charging multiple devices at same time will continue to trend in the long run. In the global market for wireless charging, components used as power transmitters will garner a dominant position. In 2017 and beyond, transmitters are expected to account for more than three-fourth of global wireless charging revenues. Nevertheless, surplus power transmission will necessitate the use of advanced receiver components revenues from which are projected soar at highest CAGR of 35.2%.A key challenge faced by manufacturers of wireless charging systems hovers around the selection of suitable charging technology to assure compatibility with all electronic devices in the world. Availability of diverse electric devices brings uncertainty over expanding product portfolio of wireless charging systems. Research findings compiled in the report suggest that consumers of wireless charging devices are growing more inclined towards devices that use resonance charging technology. After accounting more than US$ 800 million revenues in 2016, the resonance charging technology will continue dominating the global wireless charging market by procuring nearly 40% value share through 2024. The global demand for inductive charging technology will incur a major downtrend, while revenues accounted by radio frequency (RF) charging technology will soar at nearly 40% CAGR during the projected period.A sample of this report is available upon request @While every other wireless charging device sold in the world will be used for powering smartphones, tablets, laptops and other consumer electronics, the report projects a lucrative growth for automotive application of wireless charging systems. During the forecast period, revenues procured from sales of wireless charging devices in the global automotive industry will be elevated at a staggering 42.1% CAGR. Rampant sales of electric vehicles will be factoring this growth, making automotive the most favorable application of wireless charging. Additionally, complications and hazards arising from wired power cables in manufacturing plants will also propel the demand for wireless charging in industrial applications. Through 2024, more than US$ 5 billion worth of wireless charging devices are likely to be consumed by industries across the globe.Request to view table of content @Additional Highlights of the Report include:Asia-Pacific will be the largest consumer of wireless charging systems in the world, Sales of wireless charging devices in North America and Europe will procure more than 60% of global revenues throughout the forecast period, Tech giant, Apple Inc., recently made the news for joining the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) to be a part of the global organization that develops widely-used wireless charging standard for smartphones and other electronic devices, The report has profiled similar tech companies that are partaking in the growth of global wireless charging market, which include Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc., Leggett & Platt, Inc., Energized Holdings, Inc., Integrated Device Technology, Inc., WiTricity Corporation, ConvenientPower HK Limited, PowerbyPoxi, and Powermat Technologies Ltd.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Electric Kitchen Appliances Market 2017 - GE, Amica Group, Siemens, Philips, Bosch http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/58762/request-sample www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com The Report describe Electric Kitchen Appliances Introduction, product scope, market overview, opportunities, risk, driving force also to analyze the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue, and price, market type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2017 to 2022The Electric Kitchen Appliances market research report distils the most essential aspects of the market and presents them in the form of a comprehensive and cohesive document. The findings of this report have been obtained via a balanced mix of both primary and secondary research. Interviews of C-level executives in the Electric Kitchen Appliances market form a chunk of the qualitative analysis contained in this report.To begin with, the report defines the Electric Kitchen Appliances market and segments it based on the most important dynamics, such as applications, geographical/regional markets, and competitive scenario. Macroeconomic and microeconomic factors environments that currently prevail and also those that are projected to emerge are covered in this report.With a view to deepen the scope of the analysis, the report also tracks milestone developments and regulations that have shaped the Electric Kitchen Appliances market thus far. To help readers effectively plan their future strategies, the report provides a set of expert recommendations. The analysts working on the report have successfully identified expected policy changes, industry news and developments, and trends and opportunities this information can be harnessed by companies to strengthen their market presence.Other important aspects that have been meticulously studied in the Electric Kitchen Appliances market report are: Demand and supply dynamics, import and export scenario, industry processes and cost structures, and major R&D initiatives.Download Free Sample Report @Based on all of this information, the report provides recommendations and strategies to the following market participants: New players, investors, marketing departments, regulatory authorities and suppliers/manufacturers. The Electric Kitchen Appliances market research study has been composed using key inputs from industry experts. Furthermore, the extensive primary and secondary research data with which the report has been composed helps deliver the key statistical forecasts, in terms of both revenue and volume. In addition to this, the trends and revenue analysis of the global Electric Kitchen Appliances market has been mentioned in this report. This will give a clear perspective to the readers how the Electric Kitchen Appliances market will fare worldwideFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Vetronics Market - Driving Factors and Trends of the Industry?? Vetronics https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1752 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/vetronics-market Vetronics refers to vehicle electronics that enable military units to integrate various systems such as communication, command, and control, vehicle electronic warfare system, navigation system, vehicle protection systems, and surveillance system to streamline activities such as communication, navigation, surveillance, and vehicle health management.Click here to request sample copy of report:Military units across the globe have focused on investing in solutions and systems to ensure significant improvement in military operations, and have an edge in the battlefield. Furthermore, increasing need for efficient combat management systems in the defense sector has encouraged prominent players offering military communication, command, and control systems to develop and offer advanced battlefield management systems for military applications. In addition, advancement in wireless communication technology has opened new opportunities for the market players. These factors are expected to drive the military communication, command, and control segment, registering the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. In addition, the vehicle electronic warfare system segment is projected to grow at the second highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the growing need for monitoring cross-border activities, identifying enemys weaknesses, and facilitating enhanced connectivity between central and remote vetronics systems.The report features a competitive scenario of the overall vetronics market, and provides comprehensive analysis of key growth strategies adopted by major players. Prominent companies operating in the world vetronics market have adopted various strategies, such as product launch, partnership, collaboration, joint ventures, and others, to strengthen their market position and expand their market presence. Some of the key players operating in the vetronics market include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Leonardo-Finmeccanica S.p.a., Saab Group, Thales S.A., General Dynamics Corporation, Harris Corporation, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, BAE Systems PLC., Raytheon Company, and Rheinmetall AG.Browse complete report:About Allied Market Research:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285Fax: +1-800-792-5285help@alliedmarketresearch.com Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics Market 2019 Analysis & Trends by Types and Application http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/anti-inflammatory-therapeutics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1907 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Anti- inflammatory Therapeutics Market: OverviewAlso known as non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, anti-inflammatory therapeutics help in easing acute and mild chronic pain. Be it migraines and headaches, rheumatic arthritis, sprains, or even menstrual pain, anti- inflammatory therapeutics can provide faster relief as compared with other drugs. They are capable of lowering the levels of prostaglandins, the chemicals responsible for inflammation, reducing pain and swelling.Browse through Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics Market report to know what factors will shape the market by 2019:Aspirin, acelofenac, celecoxib, etoricoxib, acemetacin, etodolac, ibuprofen, Meloxicam, tenoxicam, dexketoprofen, fenoprofen, sulindac, naproxen, dexibuprofen, and mefenamic acid are some anti-inflammatory painkillers. By class, immune selective anti-inflammatory derivatives and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the two major categories in the global market for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.The report by Transparency Market Research (TMR) analyzes the key aspects of the global anti- inflammatory therapeutics market, offering a 360 degree view. The prominent regions, leading segments, and market attractiveness have been discussed in detail in the report, with an aim to address the needs of the buyers.Global Anti-inflammatory Therapeutics Market: Drivers and RestraintsAs the incidence of respiratory diseases and autoimmune conditions is rising globally, the demand for anti-inflammatory therapeutics is expected to increase. According to the findings of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Network (RASN), more than 1.3 million people in the U.S. suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. On a global scale, almost 1% of the population is diagnosed with this disorder. As the treatment and cure for this autoimmune disease is still unknown, the only possible way of easing pain is the intake of anti-inflammatory therapeutics. As a result, the global market for these drugs is slated to witness considerable growth.Moreover, anti-inflammatory therapeutics offer cost efficient remedies. New drugs are being developed for relieving depression and treating ocular pain. Recent studies have revealed that consumption of anti-inflammatory drugs can confer protection against Parkinson's disease.On the other hand, the risk of cardiovascular disorders associated with the heavy intake of these medications might restrict growth. The market might also face challenges due to the side effects of these drugs such as nausea, dizziness, headaches, and diarrhea. The expiry of parents is another key restraint of the market. However, as new drugs with superior effectiveness are being developed by several leading manufacturers, significant opportunities will arise.Global Anti-inflammatory Therapeutics Market: Regional OutlookBased on geography, the global market for anti-inflammatory therapeutics can be segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World (RoW). North America has emerged as the leading segment of the global anti-inflammatory therapeutics market. The introduction of advanced anti-inflammatory therapeutics has encouraged greater acceptance of these drugs by consumers in North America. With France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. being the key contributors, the anti-inflammatory therapeutics market in Europe is also expected to flourish.However, Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing regional market, driven by a vast patient pool, increasing disposable incomes, growth in healthcare spending, and rising awareness about health. India and China house several leading pharmaceutical companies that are aiding the expansion of the market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market:Companies Mentioned in the ReportJohnson & Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Amgen, Inc., Sanofi Aventis, Abbott Laboratories, and AstraZeneca are some of the leading companies operating in the global market for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Professional Skincare Products Market 2017 - Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, P&G, Shiseido, Unilever http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/58769/request-sample www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com The Report describe Professional Skincare Products Introduction, product scope, market overview, opportunities, risk, driving force also to analyze the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue, and price, market type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2017 to 2022Global Professional Skincare Products Industry 2017 is an analytical research report that delves into the dynamics of the Global Professional Skincare Products industry. It presents an executive-level blueprint of the market with key focus on its operations in Global. In a lucid chapter-wise format, the report presents the historical statistics of the Professional Skincare Products market in addition to studying the competitive landscape. The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive overview of the market for industry participants. Key findings of this report will help companies operating in the Professional Skincare Products market to identify the opportunities that they can capitalize on to propel growth.The study analyzes the Professional Skincare Products industry in detail. To begin with, it enumerates the primary market operations, evaluating the nature and specific characteristics of products and services it provides. In the following chapters, the study classifies the Professional Skincare Products market in terms of its varied product types, applications, network of supply chain, and geography. Based on the market segmentation, the report analyzes the competitive landscape of the Professional Skincare Products market and lays down the development status of key regions in Globally.The study progresses with a detailed, incisive analysis of the strategies and trends common in the Professional Skincare Products market, and how the same is likely to impact the future course of action of players in the market and the growth trajectory of the market. Region-wise market share for the Professional Skincare Products industry is analyzed for the purpose of which the prominent players are profiled and their respective market share is calculated. Growth drivers, restraints, and opportunities are studied in detail with the help of industry-leading tools, based on which the report presents insightful growth forecasts for the Professional Skincare Products market. Key findings of the study will help stakeholders gauge the growth prospects and understand the investment feasibility.Download Free Sample Report @The Professional Skincare Products market research study has been composed using key inputs from industry experts. Furthermore, the extensive primary and secondary research data with which the report has been composed helps deliver the key statistical forecasts, in terms of both revenue and volume. In addition to this, the trends and revenue analysis of the Global Professional Skincare Products market has been mentioned in this report. This will give a clear perspective to the readers how the Professional Skincare Products market will fare in Global.This report also presents product specification, manufacturing process, and product cost structure etc. Production is separated by regions, technology and applications. Analysis also covers upstream raw materials, equipment, downstream client survey, marketing channels, industry development trend and proposals. In the end, the report includes Professional Skincare Products new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis, and development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on Global Professional Skincare Products industry. Here, we express our thanks for the support and assistance from Professional Skincare Products industry chain related technical experts and marketing engineers during Research Teams survey and interviewsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Air Freshener Market Globally Expected to Drive Growth through 2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-42 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-42 www.futuremarketinsights.com Air fresheners are products used to release fragrances in order to eliminate foul smell or odour from the environment. These products are only applicable for use in indoor environments such as homes, offices, hotel rooms, cars and others. In recent years, this functional commodity has evolved to be used as a decorative product. Air fresheners comprise chemical agents such as artificial or original essence, aerosol propellants, solvents such as mineral oil, 2-butoxyethanol and other glycol ethers, which help in neutralizing odours and freshens the air.On the basis of types, these products can be broadly segmented into room sprays and diffusers. Room sprays fall under the category of aerosol sprays, which are mostly available in cans or glass bottles with attached spray nozzles. Room sprays are highly functional and instead of simply masking foul odours, they release a pleasant fragrance. On the other hand, diffusers disperse fragrance into the air. Furthermore, these are widely classified into active and passive diffusers. Active diffusers require an external energy source of energy to release fragrance. These products are designed to function on a plugged power source or with batteries. Passive diffusers do not require any external energy source and diffuse fragrance from various forms of underlying substances or layers. The various types of passive diffusers include adjustable solids, reed diffusers and gel products.Request Report Sample@Besides room sprays and diffusers, the air freshener market is further segmented into specialty products. These types of air fresheners comprise a variety of products designed to add fragrance to a room or space, and are available in various forms such as potpourri. This type of air freshener comprises forms of dried botanical and other natural ingredient such as flowers, fruits, wood chips and spices that may have fragrance oils added to them. Another is sachets, small pouches or bags filled with scented powder. Another type is incense, which is produced from a mixture of fragrant gums, resins, woods and spices and is available in varied forms such as sticks, cones, rods, coils, small blocks, wands and powders. Furthermore, fragrance oil burning lamp is another type of air freshener. This type acts as a catalytic diffusion lamp, purifying the air while releasing fragrance. Yet another type is the non-electric or evaporative air freshener. This type releases fragrance when scented oil is added to an oil warmer, which is heated using a tea light candle.Globally, the demand for air fresheners registered stable growth during the last five years, and is expected to witness favourable growth during the forecast period. This is attributed to product innovations, increased adaption of enhanced products and rising affluence. Changing and improving lifestyle and demographic factors, as well as increasing population in developing countries is driving demand for air freshener products in Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.Request For TOC@The key drivers in the air freshener market includes product innovation and launch of new product ranges capable of delivering freshness as well as enhanced ability to eliminate offensive odours. These properties serve to enhance consumer preference for such products and offers value for money. In addition, rise in disposable income and purchasing power parity has shifted the demand of consumers towards enhanced products, which is further expected to fuel market growth.The key players in the global air freshener market include Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser, Henkel, Church & Dwight, California Scents, ST Corporation, Scotts Liquid Gold, Inc., Amway, Kobayashi, Liby, Houdy, Farcent, Jiali, Ludao, Mengjiaolan and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 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: Captan Market to Observe Strong Development by 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/captan-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/6940 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/6940 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Captan is a white or pale yellowish brown-colored compound. It is a fungicide which belongs to the class of Phthalimides. In its pure form captan is a colorless crystal having a pungent smell. It is generally used as a pesticide as well as mixed with other components to form a pesticide mixture, which has better effectiveness. The U.S. Environment Protection Agency classified captan as a Class 4 toxic chemical, which means it is practically non toxic. However when in higher concentration, it is nauseating to the human eyes and skin. Captan is disease-resistant to vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants. Accounting to its wide applications, captan is useful in both agricultural and domestic uses. The U.S Environment Protection Agency stated captan as a potential carcinogen. Although in 2004 it was reclassified as non-toxic as there was no experimental proof found which could support the prediction. Captan is sold under different trade names such as Merpan, Orthocide, Vancide 89, Clomitance and Argox in the market.To access full report @Captan is the preferred fungicide as it also improves the external appearance of the fruits making it look healthy and bright. The major use of captan is in the cultivation of apples. Captan is protective and curative against diseases such as white rot, black rot, bitter rot and blossom end rot, occurring on apples. More than half of the apple orchids in the U.S. are treated with captan-containing fungicides. It is also extensively used in the cultivation of almonds and strawberries. Captan is applied in packaging boxes to prevent the fruits and vegetables from rotting while transportation. Captan is used in leather and plastic products as preservatives against fungal growth. On the agricultural crops, Captan is sprayed a month before harvesting, to protect the crops against diseases such as fire blight and rusts. However captan has a couple of spray incompatibilities such as it should not be mixed with sulfur, lime, oil or other alkaline medium as the resultant mixture may injure the plant parts under high temperature and humidity. Use of Captan for the cultivation and storage of food crops was banned in the U.S. in 1989 as it was thought to be a carcinogen. However the use of this compound resumed post several decades after the U.S. Environment Protection Agency classified captan as a non toxic chemical.A sample of this report is available upon request @Captan is considered as one of the widely used fungicide and its use in terms of volume has increased drastically owing to its ability to be used in a broad spectrum of applications. Increasing number of agricultural activities has fuelled the demand for fungicides in the Asia-Pacific region. Crops become disease-prone when they are subjected to drastic climatic changes. Over the recent years, North America has witnessed these climatic changes which in turn have fuelled the demand for fungicides for crop protection applications. Asia-Pacific region is leading in terms of growth rate and North America with regards to consumption .In Europe farmers are opting fungicides over other products such as herbicides and insecticides as fungicides are comparatively cheaper than the latter agrochemicals and they have a greening effect which gives the crop a fresh look. On account of these factors, demand for fungicides is substantially increasing in Europe, which has further boosted the demand for captan-containing fungicides. Emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil have the largest agricultural sector and are expected to boost up the demand for agrochemicals as well as fungicides containing captan. Manufacturers have started developing fungicidal complex products which is resistance to more than one disease. Triazoles and Strobilurines fungicides are the some of the key competitors of captan-based fungicides.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Arysta LifeScience, BASF SE, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Crop Care Australasia Pty Ltd, and Makhteshin Agan of North America, Inc., are some of the key players in the Captan market.Key geographies evaluated in this report are:North AmericaU.SCanadaEuropeFrance, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKEastern EuropeCISAPACChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaOthersLatin AmericaArgentinaBrazilOthersKey features of this reportDrivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Captan market dynamicsLatest innovations and key events in the industryAnalysis of business strategies of the top playersCaptan market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Tartaric Acid Market to Witness Exponential Growth by 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/tartaric-acid-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/6811 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/6811 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Tartaric acid is naturally available in many plants and fruits such as grapes, oranges, bananas and most importantly in tamarinds. Tartaric acids are mixed with baking soda so as to act as a leavening agent in different culinary recipes. Apart from natural sources tartaric acid is manufactured on an industrial scale for various applications. Tartaric acids can be segregated into levotartaric acid, dextrotartaric acid, mesotartaric acid and racemic acid by their chemical structure and properties. Tartaric acid is extensively used in food applications, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and construction industriesTo access full report @The main driver for the tartaric acid market is its use in food applications. Tartaric acid is used as an ingredient in wine manufacturing process and this application accounts for the highest consumption of tartaric acid in the world. It is used to control the acidity of wine in order to increase pallet appeal. Moreover the rise in the demand for wine especially from the Asian countries has contributed immensely to the growth of the market. Tartaric acid is also extensively used in other food applications as well. It is used as a preservative and additive in the manufacturing process of jams, fruit juice, soft drinks and pickles. It is also used as additive in the emulsifying agents required for bread production, as effervescence for table water and as leavening agent in the preparation of desserts. The food industry applications account for the majority of the compounds use in the global market and the market is expected to grow further with the growth of packaged food industry.Tartaric acid is also used in the pharmaceutical industry for preparation of medicines. It is used to manufacture certain pharmaceutical products such as antibiotics and cardiotonics as an excipient. It is also added to certain oral medications in order to improve the taste of the medicine. In the cosmetics industry tartaric acid is used as a base compound for a host of body creams. Tartaric acid also finds application in the manufacturing of construction materials. It is used in the manufacturing process of various building materials such as gypsum board and cement as a retarding agent in order to delay setting.A sample of this report is available upon request @Tartaric acid market has tremendous potential especially owing to the high growth of wine industry across the globe. Asia Pacific region has warmed up to the wine market, and has witnessed exemplary growth in the past few years. This region is expected to drive demand for tartaric acid in the foreseeable future. There has been a production crunch in Europe leading to increment of tartaric acid prices by a considerable margin in the region. This represents an opportunity for Asian manufacturers to enter the highly lucrative Europe market.Western Europe accounts for the largest market of tartaric acid mainly owing to the popularity of high quality wine and packaged food products in the region. Asia Pacific accounts for the second largest market for tartaric acid in the world followed by North America region. China is one of the major producers and exporters of tartaric acid in the world.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major players operating in the market include Ninghai Organic Chemical Factory, Caviro, Innovatra, Tarac Technologies, Thirumalai Chemicals, Dastech International, Inc. and Noah Technologies Corporation among many others.Key geographies evaluated in this report are:North AmericaU.SCanadaEuropeFrance, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKEastern EuropeCISAPACChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaOthersLatin AmericaArgentinaBrazilOthersKey features of this reportDrivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Tartaric Acid market dynamicsLatest innovations and key events in the industryAnalysis of business strategies of the top playersTartaric Acid market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Enterprise Server, Power and Cooling Solutions and Services Market Expansion to be Persistent During 2016 - 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/enterprise-server-power-and-cooling-solutions-and-services-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12844 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12844 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Global enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and services market is in its maturity stage. Globally, number of enterprise server or data centres are increasing to growing demand of data processing power and increasing information storage capability. Hence, there is a need of an efficient enterprise server, power & cooling technology as with the increased data storage capabilities, the energy consumption is also increases and server generates excessive heat.To get the view of full report @Enterprise Server, Power and Cooling Solutions and Services Market: Drivers and RestraintGlobal enterprise server, power and cooling solution and services market is matured. Now the market growth rate has recovered as compared to the poor performances in 2012 and 2013. Factors which are driving the growth of global enterprise server, power and cooling solution and services market are growing demand of data storage capability, faster speed and security, along with excessive growth in colocation and cloud services. Furthermore growing data center investment encourages the growth of power and cooling solution and services market. On the other hand factors which are restraining the growth of enterprise server, power and cooling solution and services market are high initial setup cost and high energy consumption. However, increasing demand of data storage capabilities and super computers is expected to create significant growth opportunity for the global enterprise server, power and cooling solution and services market over the forecast period.Enterprise Server, Power and Cooling Solutions and Services Market: SegmentationGlobal enterprise server, power and cooling solution and services market is segmented on the basis of solution, services, organization size, user type and verticals. On the basis of solution, global enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and service market can be segmented into power solution and cooling solution. Power solution segment can be further sub segmented into power management solution, uninterruptible power systems (UPS) solution and others. Cooling solution segment can be further sub segmented into precision air conditioning (PAC), Precision Air Handling Unit (PAHU) and others.On the basis of services, the global enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and services market can be segmented into integration & installation services, monitoring services and professional services.A sample of this report is available upon request @On the basis of organization size, the global enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and services market can be segmented into large enterprises, medium enterprises and small enterprises.On the basis of vertical, the global enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and services market can be segmented into banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), IT & telecommunication, energy, healthcare and othersEnterprise Server, Power and Cooling Solutions and Services Market: Region wise outlookOn the basis of region, the global enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and services market can be segmented into seven regions which includes, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Eastern Europe, Japan and Middle East & Africa region. Further the market is sub-segmented as per the major countries of each region in order to provide better regional analysis of the enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and services market. North America region is expected to generate highest revenue for the market during the forecast period. However, developing economies such as Asia-Pacific and Japan are expected to grow rapidly over the forecast period. In Asia-Pacific region, Countries such as India, China and South Korea are expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Enterprise Server, Power and Cooling Solutions and Services Market: Key PlayersKey players in global enterprise server, power and cooling solutions and services market are Schneider Electric, Eaton, Delta Power Solutions, IBM Corporation, Rahi Systems Inc., CDW Corporation, R.I.S.K. Company, INSIGHT and Power Solutions among others.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) EPM Market Report 2017 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1098900&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/emea-europe-middle-east-and-africa-epm-market-report-2017.htm EMEA EPM market competition by top manufacturers/players, with EPM sales volume (K MT), price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingLanxessExxonMobilDOWSK ChemicalJSR/KumhoSumitomoLion ElastomersMITSUIPJSC NizhnekamskneftekhimSABICEniSSMEJilin Xingyun ChemicalFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K MT), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MT), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSolution PolymerizationSuspension PolymerizationTable of ContentsEMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) EPM Market Report 20171 EPM Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of EPM1.2 Classification of EPM1.2.1 EMEA EPM Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 EMEA EPM Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Solution Polymerization1.2.4 Suspension Polymerization1.3 EMEA EPM Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 EMEA EPM Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-20221.3.2 Automotive Industry1.3.3 Building & Construction1.3.4 Wires & Cables1.3.5 Others1.4 EMEA EPM Market by Region1.4.1 EMEA EPM Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Middle East Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Africa Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 EMEA Market Size (Value and Volume) of EPM (2012-2022)1.5.1 EMEA EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 EMEA EPM Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Browse Complete Report with TOC @2 EMEA EPM Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application2.1 EMEA EPM Market Competition by Players/Manufacturers2.1.1 EMEA EPM Sales Volume and Market Share of Major Players (2012-2017)2.1.2 EMEA EPM Revenue and Share by Players (2012-2017)2.1.3 EMEA EPM Sale Price by Players (2012-2017)2.2 EMEA EPM (Volume and Value) by Type/Product Category2.2.1 EMEA EPM Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 EMEA EPM Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.3 EMEA EPM Sale Price by Type (2012-2017)2.3 EMEA EPM (Volume) by Application2.4 EMEA EPM (Volume and Value) by Region2.4.1 EMEA EPM Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4.2 EMEA EPM Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4.3 EMEA EPM Sales Price by Region (2012-2017)3 Europe EPM (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application3.1 Europe EPM Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 Europe EPM Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 Europe EPM Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.2 Europe EPM Sales and Market Share by Type3.3 Europe EPM Sales and Market Share by Application3.4 Europe EPM Sales Volume and Value (Revenue) by Countries3.4.1 Europe EPM Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)3.4.2 Europe EPM Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)3.4.3 Germany EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.4 France EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.5 UK EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.6 Russia EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.7 Italy EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.4.8 Benelux EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4 Middle East EPM (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application4.1 Middle East EPM Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 Middle East EPM Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 Middle East EPM Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.2 Middle East EPM Sales and Market Share by Type4.3 Middle East EPM Sales and Market Share by Application4.4 Middle East EPM Sales Volume and Value (Revenue) by Countries4.4.1 Middle East EPM Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)4.4.2 Middle East EPM Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)4.4.3 Saudi Arabia EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.4.4 Israel EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.4.5 UAE EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.4.6 Iran EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5 Africa EPM (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application5.1 Africa EPM Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Africa EPM Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Africa EPM Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.2 Africa EPM Sales and Market Share by Type5.3 Africa EPM Sales and Market Share by Application5.4 Africa EPM Sales Volume and Value (Revenue) by Countries5.4.1 Africa EPM Sales Volume by Countries (2012-2017)5.4.2 Africa EPM Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)5.4.3 South Africa EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.4.4 Nigeria EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.4.5 Egypt EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.4.6 Algeria EPM Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Latin America Wind Turbine Market Facts, Figures and Analytical Insights, 2014 to 2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-la-141 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-la-141 www.futuremarketinsights.com Wind energy is the power extracted from wind using wind turbines. A wind turbine is a device that transforms the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. Wind energy is a renewable form of energy that is available in ample quantity and extensively. It is an alternative to fossil fuels which are depleting in quantity. Wind energy is the cleanest resource; it has neither toxic gas emissions nor greenhouse gas emissions. Wind turbines are connected to the network of electricity transmission. The onshore and offshore wind that is trapped is an inexpensive, competitive and significant source of energy. Wind energy contributed to 4% of the total global electricity usage in 2013.The application of wind turbines is primarily in wind mills that are used to generate electricity. These wind turbines in wind mills can be used to avail off-grid electricity in the remote regions. It has been known to empower rural electrification initiatives. Three fourths of the small wind turbines are present in the remote regions of the world and are the only sources of energy. For instance, wind power systems are fuelling the telecommunication towers in the secluded places between Argentina and Chile. Another application of wind turbines is associated with the hybrids of wind and solar power generation devices. Wind and solar sources complement each other in changing climatic conditions. Wind turbines have vital applications in off-grid, low-power systems in which the storage of batteries is avoided. Wind turbines also have application in cathodic protection pipes in which its electric charge neutralizes the galvanic corrosion of pipes laid in reactive soils. Wind turbines are used to charge electric fences, yacht and boat batteries efficiently. Wind turbines have been used to pump water for decades, and they remain a significant application in both developed and developing economies. The end use industries of wind turbines can be broadly classified into industrial, commercial and residential. The industrial use can be further divided into power generation, agriculture, industrial automation, engineering and telecommunication. Despite being commercially niche market at present, wind turbines are expected to expand due to increasing government subsidies and incentive programmes on the use of wind energy.Request Report Sample@The global wind industry produced about 37,000 MW in 2013. Latin America, in particular, has provided the industry with an essential substitute growth market for wind power. In 2013, Latin America alone representedapproximately 45% of the installed capacity of North and South America combined. It was largely driven by the wind markets of Brazil and Mexico which can be regarded as the dual pillars of the Latin American market. The average price of wind energy contracts in Brazil is US$ 50/MWh and gives wind energy an edge over conventional fossil fuels there. This is a major driver for the wind turbine market in Brazil. The wind power in Mexico provides power to over 65,000 households and exports it to US. Food and beverage company, Nestle, had invested US$ 60.7 million in wind energy in Mexico, and employed wind energy for its 85% electricity requirement. The cumulative wind capacity in Mexico reached 1988 MW by the end of 2013 indicating a 31.4% growth rate. The installed capacity in 2013 was 76 MW in Argentina, 200 MW in Chile, 30 MW in Peru, 11 MW in Uruguay, and149 MW in Venezuela.Strong wind resources, and rising electricity prices and energy demand are driving the demand for renewable energy higher. The Latin American industrial policies are effective as they have tailored depreciation tax policies which enable industries to actively partner with wind energy generators for their energy usage. Also, wind plants do not need to be in the vicinity of the end user and just need a connection to the Latin American power grids. Feed-in electricity tariffs have been introduced to motivate the use of renewable energy such as wind energy, solar energy, hydropower, thermal energy and biomass energy. This encourages investment in renewable energy as the government makes provisions for higher retail rates for electricity for the producers of new energy technologies.Request For TOC@Consistently declining monopoly in the Latin American electricity sector had paved way for wind turbine manufacturers. The current wind turbine market is competitive. Gamesa is the leading turbine supplier in Mexico and holds 73.5% of the market. It is followed by Vestas with 22% of the market contribution. GE is also a major turbine manufacturer with 4.5% market share in Mexico. Besides, the collapse of the Spain-based OEMs (Other Equipment Manufacturers) wind market has compelled companies to expand their business in Latin America.By 2015, Latin America is expected to have 3 GW of installed wind capacity annually, surging up to 4.3 GW by 2022. The manufacturers have to meet certain mandates on wind turbine components and their materials. It is a challenge for most OEMs to deliver high quality wind turbines while still ensuring an economical Latin American wind market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 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: Research Report Explores Global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Sales Market 2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/893516-global-concentrated-photovoltaic-cpv-sales-market-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/893516-global-concentrated-photovoltaic-cpv-sales-market-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/893516-global-concentrated-photovoltaic-cpv-sales-market-report-2017 Global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Sales Market Report 2017According to the cost of solar cells steadily are declining, Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) is facing great crisis. Because the industry is still in the leading stage of technology, a project need to raise a lot of money, what is more, industry gross margin is smaller. So, after 2013, there are large enterprises choose to close, exit, transfer business from Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV). However, these players still keeps a very positive wait-and-see attitude towards Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV).By comparing the IHS statistics CPV installation data, as well as interviews with the industry experts, we think that there will be a phase of outbreak of growth in Central America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, etc. in the next few years.GET SAMPLE REPORT @The global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) installation reached 328 MW at the end of 2016, and is forested to reach 1147 MW in 2022.America, China & South East Asia and Europe are major countries install Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) in the world, accounting for more than 83.86% of the world in 2016. APAC dominates the global demand market for Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) and the trend is anticipated to continue for a foreseeable future.This report studies Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) in Global market, with installation, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringArzon Solar (Amonix)Isofoton S.A.MagpowerSemprius Inc.SoitecSolar JunctionSilexSuncore PhotovoltaicSunpower CorporationZytech SolarSolFocusMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), likeAmericasMiddle East and AfricaEuropeIndiaChina & South East AsiaRest of WorldSplit by Product Types, with installation market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoLCPVHCPVSplit by applications, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) in each application, can be divided intoCommercialUtility-ScaleOthersACCESS REPORT @Table of Contents1 Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Market Overview 11.1 Product Overview and Scope of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 11.2 Classification of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) by Product Category 21.3 Global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Market by Applications/End Users 41.4 Global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Market by Regions 4CONTINUEDList of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 1Figure Working Mechanism Picture of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 2Figure Concentrating Photovoltaic Systems of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 2Table Classification of Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) by Product Category 2Figure Global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Installation (MW) Volume Market Share by Types (Product Category) in 2016 3CONTINUEDFOR ANY QUERY, CONTACT US @Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your particular needs. WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTD Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India Ph: +91 841 198 5042 info@wiseguyreports.com North America Keyless Vehicle Access Control System Market Facts, Figures and Analytical Insights, 2014 to 2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-na-142 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-na-142 www.futuremarketinsights.com A keyless vehicle access control system is a fully automated system comprising of an electronic locking feature which secures access to the vehicle electronically and substitutes the conventional mechanical key. This system works on a number of low frequency transmitting antennae placed outside as well as inside the vehicle.Currently, a significant number of cars are equipped with such a system. Remote keyless entry system (RKES)have been available since 1983.These can be integrated into the car key itself or with a separate small remote control. The growing demand for RKES has led to the evolution of the passive keyless entry system (PKES)which was first patented in the US in 1990. Consumer can unlock the door of the vehicle from a certain distance with the use of a passive keyless entry system. Both RKES and PKES work on the radio frequency identification principle.RKES and PKES are often combined with keyless go, entry and go systems, which further remove the need for the usual ignition lock. Additionally, this system can be used for several applications like car alarms, light control, front and rear seat settings, tire pressure monitoring systems, opening the tailgate, and storing multimedia files. It can also be paired with smartphones via bluetooth for several other applications.Request Report Sample@The global keyless vehicle access control system market is expected to grow twofold from 2014 to 2020. The market is driven by three major factors: rise in automotive production across the globe, improving transportation and communication infrastructure, and increasing awareness about sophisticated features in vehicles. These factors together are expected to drive the growth of this market over the next six years.Based on system type, the keyless vehicle-access market is segmented intoRKES and PKES. Currently, RKES market is in the mature stage of its product life cycle. However, the PKES market segment is still in the nascent stage and has more room for expansion.Emerging economies such as Asia, Eastern Europe and LatinAmerica are expected to exhibit higher penetration rate in the passenger and commercial vehicle market. APAC market is expected to register a significant growth from 2014 to 2020, due to increasing automotive production and demand. In the coming years, BRIC nations, especially India and China, will witness the highest growth rate, whereas developed countries are expected to witness sluggish growth.Currently, North America is one of the largest markets for keyless vehicle access control system. Though it is one of the largest markets across the globe, due to the stagnancy in the automotive production and demand, in future it is expected that North America will lose its lead in the global market. The APAC region is expected to gain a larger share in the global market due to increase in automotive production and demand.Request For TOC@In comparison to PKE systems, RKE systems recorded about 60% penetration rate of the total North American access control market. The rate is expected to fall due to increase inthe penetration of PKE systems.This is due to the realisation of revenue gains to automakers and benefits to consumers from PKE systems. Also, in North America the penetration rate of keyless vehicle access system is expected to dominate the passenger car sector.Key players in the keyless vehicle-access control systems market focus on research and development activities in order to produce advanced and cost-effective products. In 2013, TRW Automotive introduced PKES for ram trucks. Some of the major players in the keyless vehicle-access control systems market include Panasonic Corporation, TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Alps Automotive, Inc., Calsonic Kansei Corporation, Delphi Automotive LLP, Lear Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Group, Valeo S.A., Atmel Corporation, Continental Automotive GmbH, Denso Corporation, Marquardt Switches Inc., and Omron Automotive Electronics Co. Ltd.Major challenges for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) includes keeping check over price volatility in raw materials like semiconductors and other electronic components.In future, technology advancement will most likely offer additional features like vehicle temperature information, long-range communication, car security and comforts added to keyless vehicle access systems. These developments are also expected to create impressive business opportunities for the automotive market at a global level.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 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: Virtual Networking Market Growth to be Fuelled by Advancements in Technology http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/virtual-networking-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14581 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/14581 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Virtual networking is a technology which eases the control of remotely located computer devices or server or any other connected devices through the internet. Using a web-browser, data which is stored can be recovered, software can be run and peripheral devices can also be operated in a virtual network. Virtual networking facilitates alliance of diverse services on a single hardware platform called virtual services switch. The centralized control minimizes the cost and complexity of operation and maintenance of hardware and software compared with managing numerous separate devices in widely spread geographical locations. In order to use virtual networking, it is necessary to install virtual networking software on remote computers or servers in order to get benefits of virtual networking technology.Browse Complete Report @Virtual networking enables service provider network or data center to provision the most suitable and efficient networking structure for application of its hosts and to alter the structure as required rather than making changes physically in the connections in hardware.Advancement in networking technology, high adoption of advanced communication method by the population and continuous innovation in the solution offered by virtual network solution provider are a few factors that are positively impacting the growth in the adoption of virtual networking worldwide. These factors are encouraging the growth in revenue of global virtual networking market.However, software is burdened in order to make the hardware fully operation in case of virtual networking. Sometime this acts as a challenge as virtualization requires software installation. Security and primacy are among the other challenges that vendors offering virtual networking solutions face.On the basis of component type, the global virtual networking market can be segmented into hardware, software, and services. Software segment can further be sub-segmented into on-premise and cloud-based.A sample of this report is available upon request @On the basis of deployment type, the global virtual networking market can be segmented into on-premise and cloud-based.On the basis of license type, the global virtual networking market can be segmented into licensed and unlicensed.On the basis of end-user industry, the global virtual networking market can be segmented into banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), public sector, manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare, IT and telecommunication and others.On the basis of regions, the global virtual networking market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East and Africa.Request to view table of content @Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Western Europe virtual networking markets have the major share in the global virtual networking market in 2016, owing to the increasing disposable income of the population in these regions. North America and Eastern European market possess opportunity and are relatively new as compared to the other regional markets. Virtual networking market in Latin America and Middle East and Africa is expected to witness positive growth in the forecast period.Key players in the global virtual networking market include Oracle Corporation, VMware Inc., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Microsoft Corporation, Verizon Enterprise, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Citrix Systems, Inc., and Virtual Network Solutions, Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Microsoft Excel 2007 Themes/Colors Support & Delete Comments in Excel Worksheet in Cloud Apps http://www.aspose.com/products/cells/cloud http://www.aspose.com/downloads/cells/cloud http://www.aspose.com/docs/display/cellscloud/Home Whats new in this release?]We are pleased to announce the new release of Aspose.Cells for Cloud 17.5.0. Aspose.Cells for Cloud is a platform independent REST API that allows developers to process their Excel files on Cloud. This new release comes up with a couple of new features. Developers can delete all comments in an Excel worksheet and apply Microsoft Excel 2007 themes and color. It has also made enhancements to Import Data API, Copy Worksheet API, Task API and Convert API. Using comments API users can delete all comments in a worksheet. This API also allows users to get all comments from a worksheet. The cellStyle API now also supports Microsoft Excel 2007 Themes and Colors. Using this API, users can update Cells Style in a worksheet and also get Cells Style information from a worksheet. The Convert API allows users to convert Spreadsheet to a number of different formats (e.g., text, html, Pdf, Tiff). This API accepts Spreadsheet Document and Save Options data in the request body and return converted the document in APIs response. Import Data API allows users to import data from an external file into a worksheet. It has both the options, to send data file in request body or to upload it to Cloud Storage. This API allows users to copy a worksheet and save with new name in the same workbook. Now users specify more Copy Options like CopyNames, ExtendToAdjacentRange and ReferToSheetWithSameName. The list of new and enhanced features added in this release are given below Clear comments in the worksheet. Support Microsoft Excel 2007 themes and colors. An enhancement is made for Convert feature. Task API now also supports Request file. New resource parameters are added in Copy Worksheet API. Import Data API now supports both Cloud file and Request file.Start a free trial today all users need is to sign up with the Aspose for Cloud service. Once users have signed up, users are ready to try the powerful file processing features offered by Aspose for Cloud.Overview: Aspose for CloudAspose for Cloud is a cloud-based document generation, conversion and automation platform for developers that offer a unique suite of APIs to work with Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, and email formats and protocols. It supports all features for file processing, document scanning, barcodes creation and recognition, and allows extracting text or images too. Users can also work with SaaSpose APIs using REST SDKs that can be called from .NET, Java, PHP and Ruby etc.More about Aspose for Cloud- Learn More about Aspose.Cells for Cloud:- Download Aspose.Cells for Cloud:- Aspose.Cells for Cloud Documentation:Aspose Pty Ltd was founded in March 2002 in Sydney, Australia. The corporate portal was firstly launched in October 2002. Aspose strives to provide the richest component choices for global .NET programmers. Thousands of organizations from tens of countries have acquired Aspose products, including Microsoft, IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, DuPont, Hilton Hotels, Reader's Digest, Bank of America, Boeing, Siemens, etc.Aspose Pty Ltd, Suite 163,79 Longueville RoadLane Cove, NSW, 2066AustraliaPhone: 888.277.6734Fax: 866.810.9465 Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market 2017 Worldwide Detailed Analysis by Covering All Major Industrial Aspects http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/306185 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/2017-market-research-report-on-global-gesture-recognition-for-mobile-devices-industry http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/306185 Summary:The report Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market provides major statistics on the state of the Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Introduction:The 2017 market research report on Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market is an in-depth study and analysis of the market by our industry experts with unparalleled domain knowledge. The report will shed light on many critical points and trends of the industry which are useful for our esteemed clients. The report covers a vast expanse of information including an overview, comprehensive analysis, definitions and classifications, applications, and expert opinions, among others. With the extent of information filled in the report, the presentation and style of the Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market report is a noteworthy.Request a sample of this report @The Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Industry report provides key information about the industry, including invaluable facts and figures, expert opinions, and the latest developments across the globe. Not only does the report cover a holistic view of the industry from a global standpoint, but it also covers individual regions and their development. The Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Industry report showcases the latest trends in the global and regional markets on all critical parameters which include technology, supplies, capacity, production, profit, price, and competition. The key players covered in the report provide a detailed analysis of the competition and their developments in the Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Industry. Accurate forecasts and expert opinion from credible sources, and the recent R&D development in the industry is also a mainstay of the Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market report.The report also focuses on the significance of industry chain analysis and all variables, both upstream and downstream. These include equipment and raw materials, client surveys, marketing channels, and industry trends and proposals. Other significant information covering consumption, key regions and distributors, and raw material suppliers are also a covered in this report.Browse the complete report @Finally, the Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market report ends with a detailed SWOT analysis of the market, investment feasibility and returns, and development trends and forecasts. As with every report on Orbis Research, the Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Industry is the holy grail of information which serious knowledge seekers can benefit from. The report which is the result of ultimate dedication of pedigree professionals has a wealth of information which can benefit anyone, irrespective of their commercial or academic interest.If you have any enquiry before buying a copy of this report @Major Points from Table of Content: Chapter One: Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market Overview Chapter Two: Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market Competition by Manufacturers Chapter Three: Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Capacity, Output, Revenue by Regions Chapter Four: Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Supply (Output), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions Chapter Five: Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Output, Revenue, Price Trend by Types Chapter Six: Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Market Analysis by Applications Chapter Seven: Global Gesture Recognition For Mobile Devices Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis.ContinuedAbout Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email at: sales@orbisresearch.com Global Solar Control Window Films Market 2017 - Eastman, 3M, Saint Gobain, Madico, Johnson, Hanita http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/56625/request-sample https://goo.gl/qC0L9h www.fiormarkets.com The recent report on Solar Control Window Films market offers insightful information about the present scenario of the market across the globe. The report, titled Solar Control Window Films points out the key factors affecting the growth of the market. Latest market trends as well as the future growth opportunities have been mentioned in the report. The report takes into account the various micro- and macro-economic factors governing the overall growth of the Solar Control Window Films market and assesses the valuation and size of the market in the coming years.Download Free Sample Report @This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringEastman3MSaint GobainMadicoJohnsonHanitaHaverkampSekisuiGarware SuncontrolWintechEricksonKDXBy types, the market can be split intoClear (Non-Reflective) Solar Control Window FilmDyed (Non-Reflective) Solar Control Window Film?Vacuum Coated (Reflective) Solar Control Window FilmAccess Full Report @By Application, the market can be split intoCommercialResidentialAutomotiveOthersTable of ContentsGlobal Solar Control Window Films Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Solar Control Window Films1.1 Definition and Specifications of Solar Control Window Films1.1.1 Definition of Solar Control Window Films1.1.2 Specifications of Solar Control Window Films1.2 Classification of Solar Control Window Films1.2.1 Clear (Non-Reflective) Solar Control Window Film1.2.2 Dyed (Non-Reflective) Solar Control Window Film?1.2.3 Vacuum Coated (Reflective) Solar Control Window Film1.3 Applications of Solar Control Window Films1.3.1 Commercial1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Automotive1.3.4 Others1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Solar Control Window Films2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Solar Control Window Films2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Solar Control Window Films2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Solar Control Window Film.About Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb: Learn how to be a fashion stylist from the comfort of your home www.ielfs.com https://ielfs.com/courses/course-fashion-stylist/ On 20 May 2017 Italian E-Learning Fashion School has started one of the most anticipated online courses "Fashion Stylist". The School offers to get professional fashion stylist education in Milan online from the Italian practicing stylists and photographers without leaving the house at very reasonable prices.Fashion Stylist is one of the most popular and relevant professions in the fashion world nowadays.If you really want your life to be in fashion world and dream to become as famous as icons of style Anna Wintour or Anna dello Russo, the fashion stylist profession is the excellent choice for promotion in this sphere.One of the most common problems of everyone who would like to work in fashion is expensiveness of the study process. To become a successful fashion stylist expert it is necessary to study at the European schools of fashion that means quite heavy expenses on a course, a trip to Europe and stay.Not everyone is ready to leave family and work to devote him/herself to study process.Italian E-Learning Fashion School has developed a new training format for those who wants to become fashion stylists online practice course with Italian stylists and photographers working for prestigious fashion magazines and designer brands (like Vogue, LOfficelle, Grazia etc.)."We have invited the best Italian teachers who will open all the secrets of the fashion stylist work starting from creation of a mood board and finishing with immersion in all stages of photoshoot making, - tells the development director of IELFS, Caterina Kulakova. - All teachers work with the Italian designers every day, as with glossy magazines and models, therefore they know all the details of work in the world of fashion".The course is represented by video lessons on various topics (how to make a shooting for fashion magazines, how to create styling for catalogues and look books, how to organize a model casting etc.) and the practical tasks devoted to fashion styling. The course duration is half a year, but as its online each student can regulate the speed of training and complete it in 3 months or 1 year."Each step of the training process is followed by practical tasks and progress evaluation of the Italian E-Learning Fashion School students by the supervising teacher", tells the development director of IELFS, Caterina Kulakova, - "Our principle is to bring knowledge in the most accessible way to use them in practice immediately".The advantage of such type of education is that the student gets the most relevant knowledge and skills through the e-learning portal from the fashion capital in Milan and at the same time he/she doesnt waste money and time going on trip to Italy. This is especially important for those who already work in other spheres, have children and no opportunity to leave family for studying in the other country for half a year or even a year.After finishing the course a student gets a certificate in English and Italian languages.The problem of an education in fashion is expensiveness. Only quite wealthy people are able to spend 10-20 thousand euros on it at usual European schools the similar course costs 7 000-15 000 euros", tells Caterina Kulakova, - "Our purpose was to create such a course which will be affordable to any person, therefore the cost of training on our fashion stylist course is only 399 euros".Information:Italian E-Learning Fashion School online courses in fashion and style from Italyinfo@ielfs.comCourse Fashion StylistIELFS Italian E-learning Fashion School is a fashion academy offering online education in fashion, image and style directly from Italy, made by Italian teachers through internet.There is an opinion that Italy and Italian style set the beauty standards for the entire world. Its true for furniture, design, food, and of course for fashion and style. Many people would love to master secrets of Italian style in a fashion academy, but not everyone can afford it. You need a lot of time and money to come to Italy, spend here 1-3 years to study.It took us quite some time to find an idea, how to make available those professional secrets and technologies in style, image and fashion existing in Italy and handed down from generation to generation.This was the starting point of the Italian E-learning Fashion School our fashion academy.After continuous search and serious selection weve determined the team of Italian teachers. It was very important to find true professionals, who understand fashion and style not just theoretically, but also in practice. Our instructors in a fashion academy are Italian stylists, designers, editors, photographers, bloggers from Milan.To make studying the Italian fashion and style affordable while maintaining the high level of quality, weve chosen a long-distance form for our fashion academy. It allows our students to study at any time of the day and night without leaving their homes anywhere in the world, while gaining knowledge from Italian instructors who were born, trained and work in the fashion capital of the world. All lessons take place in an online form from Milan.This is the guarantee of the high quality of knowledge. Our students of the fashion academy have a chance to receive information straight from the source.Today in our fashion academy we have students from over 25 countries, including Italy, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Great Britain, Latvia, Cyprus, Greece, Denmark, Turkey, Czech Republic, Lithuania, USA, Finland, Norway, China, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and others.We invite you to join us and get secrets of Italian style.Italian E-Learning Fashion SchoolItaly Vercelli the via Marconi 320123info@ielfs.com Industrial Ethernet Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2017 - 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/industrial-ethernet-market.asp http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13402 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com The need for collecting data from various sources (sensors installed in machines) in a factory for real-time control, motion and safety, automation, analysing historical trend and performance planning has led to the adoption of industrial IoT. Industrial IoT facilitate machine to machine communication and automation and integrate sensor data. However, it requires a seamless network infrastructure to support data transfer. This industrial network infrastructure is industrial Ethernet. Industrial Ethernet are rugged in nature and can withstand extreme temperature, humidity and vibration, therefore these are suitable for industrial or factory setup. Industrial Ethernet fits perfectly for industrial IoT as it provides high transmission speeds up to 1 GBit/s making it a platform of choice for factories. Therefore, rapid adoption of industrial IoT is leading to wider deployment of industrial Ethernet.Get access to full summary @:Industrial Ethernet Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe replacement of fieldbus with industrial Ethernet as the main networking technology in automation industry is driving the demand for industrial Ethernet. Industrial Ethernet has superior bandwidth, easy scalability and are cost-effective. In contrast to fieldbus, industrial Ethernet can also consolidate many networks and infrastructure, thus making it a cost-effective automation platform. PROFINET and Modbus TCP are increasingly being used as replacements for various fieldbuses in factories. Further, increasing demand of cloud services is also changing data centre infrastructure, creating need for high bandwidth cables. This is also one of the major factors driving the industrial Ethernet market.However, industrial Ethernet handle a broad range of data traffic than Fieldbus. In addition to the data from devices, industrial Ethernet also handles data from other sources like network management and diagnostics protocols. Therefore managing large amount of real-time data affects the industrial Ethernets performance. Further, replacing the old infrastructure with new infrastructure also poses as one of the challenges for the market.Global Industrial Ethernet Market: Market SegmentationSegmentation on basis of Protocol in Industrial Ethernet Market:The major segments on basis of Protocol in Industrial Ethernet Market include: EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, POWERLINK, PROFINET, SERCOS III.Segmentation on basis of Components in Industrial Ethernet Market:The major segments on basis of Components in Industrial Ethernet Market include: Hardware, Software, Services.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Industrial Ethernet Market PlayersSome of the prominent players in the Industrial Ethernet Market include ABB Ltd., Beckhoff Automation, B&R Automation, Belden Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., Innovasic, Inc. (Acquired by Analog Devices), Moxa Inc., Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric and Siemens AG.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Vadilal Industries reports 14% jump in net profit to Rs. 16.33 crore in FY17 www.vadilalicecreams.com Total Income stood at Rs. 482.34 crore against Rs. 456.43 crore last yearCompany has recommended dividend of Rs. 1.25 per equity shareAhmedabad, May 31, 2017Standalone Financial Highlights (Rs Crore)Particulars FY17 FY16 % GrowthTotal Income 482.34 456.43 5.7%Net Profit / Net Loss 16.33 14.35 13.76%Highlights for FY16-17:Total Income rose to Rs. 482.34 crore in FY16-17 against Rs. 456.43 crore in FY15-16Net Profit of Rs. 16.33 crore in FY16-17 against Rs 14.35 crore in FY15-16EBIDTA margin stood at 11.68 % in FY16-17 against 12.91% in FY15-16Domestic sales of Ice Cream Division (including Dairy Products) rose to Rs. 419.07 crore in FY17 against Rs 398.65 crore in FY16.Company has recommended dividend of Rs. 1.25 per share for the year ended March 2017Other Highlights for FY16-17:Capacity expanded from 175,000 liters per day to 230,000 liters per day over the past one yearLong term borrowing as on March 31, 2017 stood at Rs 35.54 crore against Rs. 45.55 crore as on March 31, 2016.Ratio of Impulse products sales rose to 80 % in FY17 against 77 % in FY16Market Outlook:We have seen strong growth in export market since last couple of years. Healthy export growth has improved our realizations and margins this year compared to last year. Going forward, the export market is likely to further grow. In the domestic market, margins have improved due to rise of impulse buying and good response to higher margin products like Gourmet, Flingo and Bada Bite all introduced two years back. With actress Parineeti Chopra as our brand ambassador, advertising campaigns have also received good response.Revenues for processed foods have declined this year based on our decision to focus on higher margin products. However, revenue for processed foods is likely to grow next year onwards as high margin products replace low-margin we continue to focus on branded products and are looking to further expand volumes domestically and in target key export markets to deliver improved performance. Our processed foods distribution channels are also being successfully used to sell dairy products in key global geographies.Going forward, we target to grow our capacity from 2,10,000 pieces per hour to 2,70,000 pieces per hour. In addition to market expansion and value addition in the product profile, we will continue to focus on improving our debt leverage and cash flow generation. We remain focused on building a respected brand that is preferred by consumers in India and targeted overseas markets to deliver value.ABOUT VADILAL INDUSTRIES LTD (Vadilal Industries Ltd has today emerged as Indias second largest ice cream player. It is also one of the largest frozen processed food players in India with significant exports of frozen vegetables & ready to eat snacks, curries and breads. The Company aims to become an Indian multinational in ice creams & frozen foods, and to provide products and services at an affordable price without compromising on quality. It has the widest range of ice creams in the country with 50 plus flavours available in more than 250 packs and forms. The range includes Cups, Cones, Candies, Juicies, Family packs and Economy packs. Vadilal is one of Indias highest awarded Ice Cream Brand with more than 27 awards over a span of last few years.For further information, please contact:Gopal Modi / Darshan MankadAdfactors PR,9099030184 / 90999 47434gopal.modi@adfactorspr.com /darshan.mankad@adfactorspr.com Global Bismuth Octoate Market 2017 - Hangzhou Right Chemical, Triveni Interchem, Bismuth, Troy Corporation, Rubber Chemicals http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/58147/request-sample www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com The Report describe Bismuth Octoate Introduction, product scope, market overview, opportunities, risk, driving force also to analyze the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue, and price, market type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2017 to 2022The Bismuth Octoate market research report distils the most essential aspects of the market and presents them in the form of a comprehensive and cohesive document. The findings of this report have been obtained via a balanced mix of both primary and secondary research. Interviews of C-level executives in the Bismuth Octoate market form a chunk of the qualitative analysis contained in this report.To begin with, the report defines the Bismuth Octoate market and segments it based on the most important dynamics, such as applications, geographical/regional markets, and competitive scenario. Macroeconomic and microeconomic factors environments that currently prevail and also those that are projected to emerge are covered in this report.With a view to deepen the scope of the analysis, the report also tracks milestone developments and regulations that have shaped the Bismuth Octoate market thus far. To help readers effectively plan their future strategies, the report provides a set of expert recommendations. The analysts working on the report have successfully identified expected policy changes, industry news and developments, and trends and opportunities this information can be harnessed by companies to strengthen their market presence.Other important aspects that have been meticulously studied in the Bismuth Octoate market report are: Demand and supply dynamics, import and export scenario, industry processes and cost structures, and major R&D initiatives.Download Free Sample Report @Based on all of this information, the report provides recommendations and strategies to the following market participants: New players, investors, marketing departments, regulatory authorities and suppliers/manufacturers. The Bismuth Octoate market research study has been composed using key inputs from industry experts. Furthermore, the extensive primary and secondary research data with which the report has been composed helps deliver the key statistical forecasts, in terms of both revenue and volume. In addition to this, the trends and revenue analysis of the global Bismuth Octoate market has been mentioned in this report. This will give a clear perspective to the readers how the Bismuth Octoate market will fare worldwideFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Global Functional Chewing Gum Market 2017 - Wrigley Company, Cadbury Trebor Bassett, Lotte, Perfetti Van Melle http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/59650/request-sample https://goo.gl/g7HP38 www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com The research process involved the study of various factors affecting the industry, including the government policy, market environment, competitive landscape, historical data, present trends in the market, technological innovation, upcoming technologies and the technical progress in related industry, and market risks, opportunities, market barriers and challenges. The following illustrative figure shows the market research methodology applied in this report.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Functional Chewing Gum in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Request For Sample Report @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversWrigley CompanyCadbury Trebor Bassett (Mondelez)LottePerfetti Van MelleHershey'sMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversBreath-freshening GumTooth Whitening GumOthers (Fit Balance Gum and Blood Fat Balance Gum)Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoOnline SalesOffline SalesAccess Full Report With TOC @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Functional Chewing Gum market.Chapter 1, to describe Functional Chewing Gum Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Functional Chewing Gum, with sales, revenue, and price of Functional Chewing Gum, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Functional Chewing Gum, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Functional Chewing Gum market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Functional Chewing Gum sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.About Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Global Surgical Robots Market 2017 - Intuitive Surgical, Stryker, Restoration Robotics, Medtech S.A, Mazor Robotics http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/59660/request-sample https://goo.gl/2uScKz www.fiormarkets.com www.9dimenreports.com Surgical robot can be controlled through computer program to assist surgery. A surgical robot t allows surgeons greater access to areas under operation using more precise and less invasive methods.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Surgical Robots in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Request For Sample Report @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversIntuitive SurgicalStrykerRestoration RoboticsMedtech S.AMazor RoboticsTHINK SurgicalMedroboticsTransEnterixMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversLaparoscopyOrthopedicsOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoOpen SurgeryMinimal InvasiveAccess Full Report With TOC @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Surgical Robots market.Chapter 1, to describe Surgical Robots Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Surgical Robots, with sales, revenue, and price of Surgical Robots, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Surgical Robots, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Surgical Robots market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Surgical Robots sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.About Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Global Beryllium Hydroxide Market - Materion, ULBA, Hunan Nonferrous Beryllium & FHBI Beryllium Hydroxide http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/global-beryllium-hydroxide-market-professional-survey-report-2017-131166 https://goo.gl/TWFmZI The Market Research Store report offers majority of the latest and newest industry data that covers the overall market situation along with future prospects for Beryllium Hydroxide market around the globe. The research study includes significant data and also forecasts of the global market which makes the research report a helpful resource for marketing people, analysts, industry executives, consultants, sales and product managers, and other people who are in need of major industry data in a ready-to-access format along with clear presentation of graphs and tables.The report comprises the current size of the Beryllium Hydroxide market. It also provides with different types of product segments of the global market. Furthermore, the Beryllium Hydroxide market research report gives an in-depth information about the overall market and various product segments and their growth trends. The future market forecasts about the global Beryllium Hydroxide market are also covered in the research report. In addition, the overall market potential is further described in the report along with different countries around the globe.Browse Complete Report with TOC @The latest and the newest trends of the Beryllium Hydroxide industry are also included in this report. Moreover, overall global market size, the market size by product segment, growth rates of the global market along with and different product segments of the market, and various product segments with their value and volumes evaluation are also included in the research report.The Market Research Store report offers the global market potential rates of the Beryllium Hydroxide market along with various product segments. The research report provides an overview of the current market situation, historic development, and future outlook of the Beryllium Hydroxide market. It also tracks the industry developments trends and identifies the global market opportunities. The report helps to plan and develop precise marketing, market expansion, market-entry, and other business strategies through identifying the major market prospects and opportunities.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The data in the report is clearly presented which can be easily integrated into presentations and internal reports.MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803 Linear Actuators Market is Progressing Towards a Strong Growth by 2025 Persistence Market Research Report http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/linear-actuators-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/15514 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Linear Actuators Market: OverviewLinear actuators assist in converting energy into straight line motions, generally for positioning applications. Most of the linear actuators are either mechanical or electro-mechanical devices that provide controlled movement and positioning. These actuators are primarily used in industrial machinery, computer peripherals, valves, and many other places where linear motion is required. A typical linear actuator generally produces push and pull action. As most processes across a variegated range of industries gets automated, the global linear actuators market is expected to expand with an impressive CAGR throughout the forecast period.Get access to full summary @:Linear Actuators Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe major factors boosting the growth of linear actuators market is rising automation across manufacturing industry. Industrial objectives such as achieving complete factory automation, and integrating Industrial Internet of Things are some of the prime reasons that will drive more demand for linear actuators. While, rising industrialization particularly in the third world countries is another factor that will drive the demand in the global linear actuators market, on the backdrop of increasing number of factories. As the number of research studies conducted increases, demand for telescopic actuators is expected to increase significantly. Also as companies overcome their legacy systems to achieve higher efficiency, and replace existing actuators with new ones, demand for linear actuators is expected to rise. Furthermore, as an increasing number of industrial process adopt self-control and positioning demand in the linear actuators market is expected to continuously rise.However, as concerns regarding employment rises among most countries on the backdrop of increasing automation in factories, demand for linear actuators might get sluggish over the end years of the forecast period. Adoption of 3D printing in many industries is another factor that will restrain the demand for linear actuators, as usage of machines will decrease.Linear Actuators Market: Market SegmentationThe Linear Actuators Market is segmented into two parts based on operation type and end use industry: Based on operation mechanism, the linear actuator market is segmented into: Mechanical, Hydraulic, Pneumatic, Piezoelectric, Electro-mechanical actuators. Based on End Use Industry, the linear actuator market is segmented into: Automotive, Medical/Healthcare, Energy and Mining, Steel, Construction, Military, Chemical, Others .Linear Actuators Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, linear actuators market has been categorized into seven key regions including North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. A prominent share of the demand for linear actuators comes from North America, and the region is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. Furthermore, with more inclination towards shifting manufacturing in US from China and other ASEAN countries, demand for linear actuators will further rise in the region. Asia Pacific Exc. Japan is another prominent shareholder in terms of demand for linear actuators, amid, large manufacturing sector of China. Moreover, with India and Indonesia picking up at a fast pace, demand for linear actuators is expected to expand with a bullish growth rate over the forecast period. Being home to large automotive and research base companies, Western Europe is another prominent region generating huge demand for linear actuators. Eastern Europe is also expected to generate descent demand for linear actuators, particularly from energy and defense sector. Rising industrialization and the already dominant oil and gas industry of Middle East and Africa is the prime reason driving automation in the Middle Eastern region. Thus driving more demand for linear actuators. Japan is another prominent industrial nation, which drives demand for linear actuators, due to high automation penetration in their industries coupled with growing semiconductor industry of the region.A sample of this report is available upon request @Linear Actuators Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in Global Linear Actuators market are: Duff-Norton, Helix Linear Technologies, Inc., Altra Industrial Motion, Tolomatic, Inc., Fabco-Air, Inc., Actuonix Motion Devices, Tusk Direct, Inc., Bishop-Wisecarver Corporation, BEI Kimco Magnetics, Burr Engineering & Development Company, Del-Tron Precision, Inc., Rollon India Pvt. Ltd.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: New dates available for Noliacs free, online piezo courses New dates available for Noliacs free, online piezo courses http://www.noliac.com/?id=661 http://www.noliac.com/?id=661 http://www.noliac.com/?id=498 http://www.noliac.com/?id=661 http://www.noliac.com/?id=681 Noliac will continue to offer webinars about different areas of piezoelectric technology. New dates have been set for the online courses held after summer 2017. Secure your seat now!Get familiar with A to Z in the world of piezoelectric technologyThe Noliac webinars provide insight in the basics of piezoelectricity and different types of piezo actuators. We also offer webinars introducing piezoelectric sensors & transducers and complex piezo motor devices. When we launch new products, we also offer webinars to introduce them to the market. The webinars are a convenient way to get acquainted with the possibilities of piezo technology and how to work with it in theory as well as in practice.Ask questions liveNoliacs webinars are held by experienced engineers from Noliac giving you a thorough introduction to different areas of piezo technology. The webinars are live, and with a chat function, you can ask questions to the presenters during the webinars.Book your seat now!There is a limit of 25 participants for each webinar, so sign up now atThe webinars are held at 3 pm CET. You will receive a link approximately 1 week before the webinar takes place with all the practical information.Sign up atTutorials about piezo technology on noliac.comBesides our webinars, we have a range of tutorials about piezo technology on our website. The tutorials are developed to work as perfect starting points, when you want to attend the webinars. The tutorials allow you to learn about piezo technology, when the time suits you.Go to our tutorials atSign up for our webinars atMore information?If you have any questions regarding our webinars or products, please contact us using our Request for Quote form or contact sales atNoliac presents a unique proficiency in the field of piezoelectric technology. We design, develop and manufacture the total range of piezoelectric products - from powders to mono- and multilayer components and all the way to finished plug-and-play applications.Noliac A/SHejreskovvej 18DK-3490 KvistgaardDenmarkAtt.: Lotte Beck RFID Pallet Wrappers Market Will Generate New Growth Opportunities by 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/rfid-pallet-wrappers-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/15526 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Global RFID Pallet Wrappers Market: OverviewRFID pallet wrappers are the machine that wraps a stretched film of plastic around a loaded pallet to provide primary function of extra support to products being transported, and with the new technological advancement of RFID labels embedded in the machine, the shipment can be tracked from several feet away. RFID pallet wrappers are the buzz in the packaging industry as it helps to improve the supply chain and thus improve quality. The mounted RFID refers to radio frequency identification refers to an electronic device which consists of chip and antenna. The inevitable process of manufacturing and distribution that involves the package to travel in a conveyor and since tracking product movement is the key aspect for RFID. Thus its an important function that the antenna should be able to track tagged packages. The RFID pallet wrappers help to provide distinctive ID to each product wrapped and with individual information such as date shipped, manufacturing location, lot number, etc. After the wrapping process, the labels is printed with the help of thermal-transfer printer that is human readable information and then is encoded with RFID. The application of RFID pallet wrappers has penetrated in improving the supply chain in retail, transportation, and automation.Get access to full summary @:Global RFID Pallet Wrappers Market: DynamicsWithstanding the soft economy RFID pallet wrappers deployment has gained tremendous traction in last year. The key driver to RFID pallet wrappers is its ability to track pallet and identify valuable commodities in the course of global commerce. Moreover, the asset tracking helps to maintain the whereabouts of the valuable asset that is fueling the growth of the RFID pallet wrappers. RFID pallet wrappers, especially with ultra-high frequency, is a potential factor for the growth of the market. Owing to its perfect match for tracking and asset management and getting a return on investment. Moreover, the tags can be encrypted to provide minimum information of the package thereby securing the details. Through RFID pallet wrappers faster delivery of the order and fill the order in a timely manner, and customer relationship is ensured, the potential factor adds advantage to the growth of RFID pallet wrappers. The companies driving RFID pallet wrappers market are Wal-Mart Stores Inc., The Home Decor Inc., ACE Hardware Corp, and Wegmans Food Market Inc. are some of the major companies that use RFID pallet wrappers for improvement of business process and overall supply chain operation. Enabling such infrastructure that is fully equipped with RFID pallet wrappers requires relatively higher investment as compared to traditional method of pallet wrapping which is a challenging factor to the growth of RFID pallet wrappers market.Global RFID Pallet Wrappers Market: SegmentationBased on RFID: Global RFID Pallet Wrappers Market is segmented into Ultra-High Frequency, High frequency and Near Field Communication, Low Frequency, Dual Frequency (NFC & UFH).Global RFID Pallet Wrappers Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global RFID pallet wrappers market is divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America holds the major share in the RFID pallet wrapper market due to rising demand for packaging in manufacturing and food & beverage industry. The market in APAC and Latin America is expected to be the prominent contributor to the growth of RFID pallet wrapper market owing to the proliferation of manufacturing industries in the region. The regions in Europe is anticipated to grow at moderate CAGR; this is due to the restrained manufacturing operation in the Western and Eastern Europe. The strong development in the region of MEA for pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and food & beverage industry is anticipated to attract demand for RFID pallet wrappers over the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global RFID Pallet Wrappers Market PlayersFew of the prominent players in the global RFID pallet wrappers market are as follows: REO-PACK, Kalamazoo Packaging Systems, Pallet Wrapz, Inc., AIDA Centre, S.L., Lantech, Inc, EAgile Inc., SATO America, LLC.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Temperature Monitoring System Market to Register a Strong Growth By 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/temperature-monitoring-system-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12163 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Temperature Monitoring System Market: IntroductionMaintenance of air temperature in a controlled environment ranging from factory floors and storage areas to industrial scale freezers, ovens and walk-in refrigerators is a crucial element as far as longevity of the products and productivity of the manufacturing equipment is concerned. The temperatures to be maintained in these areas has to be precise and within the range as fluctuations in temperature can affect the shelf life of the product. These fluctuations in temperature is recorded and stored in the server in real time by the temperature monitoring system. Temperature monitoring system thus is a complex system assembled with different electronic devices comprising of a computer acting as a server, temperature sensors, data connectivity devices or interfaces between the computer and the sensors and an alarm system to notify the personnel when temperature reaches critical levels. The sensors are placed in temperature critical zones where fluctuations of temperature is the highest. Productivity, being one of the most important aspect of a manufacturing company, can be hindered by the slightest variations in the operating conditions of the factory floor by various factors including the fluctuations in ambient air temperature. Therefore, temperature monitoring systems has been increasingly adopted by manufacturing companies and warehouses in order to achieve improved levels of productivity.Get access to full summary @:Temperature Monitoring System Market DynamicsThe growth of temperature monitoring system is directly related to the market fluctuations in the application area. One such application is its usage in manufacturing corporations. The manufacturing activities on a global level scale is on a steady rise in the current scenario and is estimated to grow at an accelerated pace in the future thereby positively influencing the growth of the temperature monitoring system. E-commerce is one of the fastest growing and widely accepted marketplaces requiring large number of warehouses and storage facilities, these storage facilities are controlled enclosures where temperatures has to be properly maintained by the temperature monitoring system. Therefore, the increase in number of warehouses and storage system is one of the important factor driving the growth of temperature monitoring system. Another application driving the growth of temperature monitoring system market is its adoption in food & beverage industry and pharmaceutical industry, which commonly deals with perishable goods and products, requiring stringent temperature monitoring and recording system.Temperature monitoring system is a capital intensive system that requires precise pre-planning and installation, skilled personnel with an extensive knowledge of sensing electronics are required so as to enable the temperature monitoring system to function normally. Low availability of such personnel coupled with high cost can hamper the growth of the temperature monitoring system.An important trend identified in the temperature monitoring system are miniaturization of the entire system by implementing wireless technologies for data transmission. Manufacturers of the temperature monitoring system have also tweaked the system by eliminating dedicated wireless data transmission devices for enclosures which already has a central wireless connectivity system in place.Temperature Monitoring System Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, Temperature Monitoring System Market can be segmented as: Wireless System, Wired System. On the basis of application, Temperature Monitoring System Market can be segmented as: Agriculture, Automotive Industry, Food & Beverages Industry, Pharmaceutical Industry, Logistics, Electronics Industry, Oil and Gas Industry.Temperature Monitoring System Market: Regional OutlookBased on the geography the Temperature Monitoring System Market is divided into seven key segments as North America, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle-East & Africa (MEA), and Japan. High adoption rates of temperature monitoring system is anticipated in the North America, Western Europe, and Japan region owing to maturity in manufacturing sector while the growth in Asia Pacific Excl. Japan (APEJ) and Latin America region is expected to be slow due to restricted usage of advanced technologies in the manufacturing companies and warehouses.A sample of this report is available upon request @Temperature Monitoring System Market: Key PlayersSome of the players identified in the Global Temperature Monitoring System Market are: Banner Engineering Corporation, Cooper-Atkins Corporation, Vaisala Oyj, Fluke Process Instruments, Isensix, Inc., DeltaTrak, Inc., Imec Messtechnik GmbH, KTR Kupplungstechnik GmbH, Emerson Electric Company, Physitemp Instruments, Inc.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Telecom Tower Market Would Register a Healthy Growth Rate During Forecast 2016 - 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/telecom-tower-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12175 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12175 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Telecom Tower Market: IntroductionMobile telecom industry has witnessed significant growth rate in last decade and it is expected to grow consistently over different generations of network communications. Starting from 0G mobile telecom service (MTS) to current long term evolution (LTE) 4G, the mobile telecommunication has turned as necessity to everyone. The second generation (2G) mobile telecommunication gave a major boost to the mobile telecom industry as it surprised consumers with internet browsing offering on mobile phones along with clear voice calling facilities. Now, most of the countries possess 4G connectivity which is a highly dense networking system providing real time voice calling and enhanced data transfer rate. Also, few countries like Japan and U.S. are implementing 4.5G and in development of 5G network communications.Get access to full summary @:The telecom tower are the arteries of any mobile telecommunication system. The telecom tower is a structure hosting a transceiver unit to maintain connection with thousands of mobile phones and The Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO). The telecom tower offers wide range of multi-channel frequencies to thousands of cell phones in the network zone. The main advantage of multichannel frequency is that it can offer tens of mobile phones in single network like conference calling, where many devices are connected to single network and can transmit and receive at same time. Also, it offers better data transfer rates and connectivity. The telecom tower are tall steel structures with transceiver unit at the top to cover maximum possible area.Telecom Tower Market: DynamicsThe telecom tower market is primarily dependent on mobile subscriber density and number of telecom service providers in any region. The increasing reach of mobile phones to almost every remote area, increasing competition among service provider for better network coverage are some of the current drivers of telecom tower market. Also, permissible height limits in any area restricts service provider to install multiple towers in small zones. Moreover, increasing the number of telecom service providers, internet providers, Wi-Fi and broadband providers are expected to drive the telecom tower market in the forecast period.Whereas, the harmful effects of high frequency radio waves or microwaves on human and environment is expected to limit telecom tower market. Also, regulations from government and telecom authorities is expected to put restraints on telecom tower market. Moreover, high installation cost, high operational costs and squeezing space are some other factors which can suppress telecom tower market growth.Recent trends have shown high prospective of strengthening of telecom tower network, where multiple new technologies are liable to grow. Ongoing researches on Internet of Things (IoT), real time security devices monitoring and accessibility, remote health care services, etc. are some emerging technologies projecting to increase the burden on telecom tower in coming years.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Telecom Tower Market: SegmentationThe telecom tower market can be segmented in two categories based on type of tower and mounting area. On the basis of type of tower the telecom tower market can be segmented as Lattice tower, Guyed tower, Monopole tower, Camouflage towers and Mobile (vehicle mounted) tower.On the basis of mounting area the telecom tower market can be segmented as Green Field Tower (mounted on ground or suitable foundation) and Roof Top Tower (mounted on roof of any building).Telecom Tower Market: Key PlayersThe telecom towers are generally installed either by telecom service provider or third party infrastructure providers. Some examples of telecom service providers are China Mobile Ltd., Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., Vodafone Group Plc, Bharti Telecom Ltd., China Unicom Ltd., Telenor Group, MTN Group and Telstra Corp. Ltd.Whereas some examples of third party tower erection and service providers includes Indus Towers Ltd., 3Z Telecom, GTL Infrastructure Limited, Tower Systems, Inc., American Tower Corporation, Reliance Infratel Limited, LeBLANC Communications (M) Sdn.Bhd., ATC IP LLC., and Vertical Bridge, LLC.A sample of this report is available upon request @The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geography, technology and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Miracles At Fatima Result In Canonizations By Pope Francis - Proof That Modern Day Miracles Exists Says Donna Louis, Award-Winning Author Of 'Miracles Of Direction' Miracles of Direction cover http://www.miraclebook.net Pope Francis recently canonized two of the children involved in the miracles that occurred in Fatima 100 years ago. At that time, three children experienced visions of the Virgin Mary on six different occasions. The Virgin Mary was said to have given the children three secrets. The visions were declared authentic in 1930. In addition, during that same period of time, tens of thousands of people claimed to have seen the sun spinning and moving in the sky. The canonization of the children adds a tremendous amount of credibility to the claims of modern day miracles. Miracles, both past and modern day, are the subject of award winning author Donna Louis' 'Miracles of Conquest, Miracles of Provision and Miracles of Purpose'.Donna knows that verifiable miracles occur every day. Her book explores biblical miracles that took place while Jesus was here on earth. She then references with miracles that take place on a daily basis in the modern world. She separates these miracles into four categories and presents insightful example of each type, taken directly from the Bible. She knows that miracles happen every day, even today, and offers readers a message of hope and faith."In the Bible Jesus talks about the importance of children," Louis stated. "And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me."Louis knows her subject well, as she has personally experienced three miracles. As the result of those life-altering experiences, she began an in-depth study of some of Christianity's most well-documented miracles. In her book, she attempts to expand upon and explain both the purpose and the direction of those miracles.Donna was chosen as a winner in the 2015 and the 2016 '50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading' awards contest. 'Miracles' has also received rave reviews from readers. One review called it "amazing, uplifting and inspirational". Another stated, "I was profoundly impressed by the writing."Donna Louis is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below, or by email at louistolouis@aol.com. More information is available at her website. Miracles Of Direction is available at online retail book outlets. More information is available at her website.Donna Louis is happily married to her husband of 30 years Patrick Louis and currently resides in Florida. She lives to accomplish the task that God created her for and on a daily basis to follow Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."PO Box 1613Shallotte NC 28459 Prepaid Card Market Expected to Reach $3,653 Billion, Globally, by 2022 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/prepaid-card-market https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1952 A new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, Prepaid Card Market by Card Type (Single-Purpose Prepaid Card, Multi-Purpose Prepaid Card), Usage (General-Purpose Reloadable Card, Gift Card, Government Benefits/Disbursement Card, Incentive/Payroll Card and Others), and Industry Vertical (Retail Establishments, Corporate Institutions, Government & Financial Institutions, and Others)-Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022, projects that the global prepaid card market is anticipated to reach $3,653 billion by 2022, registering a CAGR of 22.7% from 2016 to 2022. Europe dominates the global market in terms of revenue, accounting for more than 49.1% share of the global market, followed by Asia-Pacific.Access Full Summary at:Prepaid cards are widely used across various industry verticals such as corporate institutions, retailers, government, and financial institutions. Presently, factors such as increase in awareness & ease of access and surge in the number of internet users & booming e-commerce industry drive the market growth. Moreover, growth in unbanked and underbanked population and emergence of new applications are expected to present lucrative opportunities to market players.The market is expected to grow at a significant rate in Europe and Asia-Pacific, owing to increase in demand for cash alternatives, rise in adoption of prepaid cards in retail establishments & government sectors, and widespread awareness of the benefits of prepaid cards among the populace. The prepaid card market in Europe is driven by rise in demand for smart cards and increased adoption of prepaid cards for easy payment.Request the Sample Report at:Other developing and emerging regions, such as Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa, are expected to grow during the forecast period, owing to increase in demand for electronic payment and growth of unbanked & underbanked population. Countries such as Japan, China, and India dominated the global prepaid card market in the Asia-Pacific region during 2015-2016. India is one of the emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific prepaid card market, accounting for 8.0% of the Asia-Pacific prepaid card market. It is estimated to register the highest CAGR of around 37.2% from 2016 to 2022.Single-purpose prepaid card segment dominated the global prepaid card market in 2015, and is expected to maintain this trend throughout the forecast period. However, Multi-purpose prepaid card segment is expected to witness significant growth in the future, owing to the easy of accessibility and flexibility.The general-purpose reloadable card segment is projected to maintain its dominance in the global prepaid card market, as these cards are used across various industry vertical such as financial institutions, government, and others. Moreover, gift card segment is expected to grow, as it is commonly issued by vendors or banks for use as an alternative to cash for purchases at particular stores or related businesses.Key Findings of the Prepaid Card Market In 2014, the single-purpose card segment dominated the global prepaid card market in terms of revenue, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21.6% during the forecast period The general purpose reloadable card segment dominated the global prepaid card market, accounting for about 37.7% share in 2014. The retail establishment segment is expected to exhibit the fastest growth during the forecast period. China is the major shareholder in the Asia-Pacific prepaid card market, accounting for about 69.0% share.The major players profiled in this report include American Express Company, Visa Inc. Mastercard Incorporated, PayPal Holdings, Inc., Kaiku Finance, LLC., The Western Union Company, Green Dot Corporation, NetSpend Holding Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., and AccountNow Inc. to The major players profiled in this report include Green Dot Corporation, NetSpend Holdings, Inc., H&R Block Inc., American Express Company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., PayPal Holdings, Inc., BBVA Compass Bancshares, Inc., Mango Financial, Inc., UniRush, LLC, and Kaiku Finance LLC.About Us:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:Rahul Thakur5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: + 44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: + 852-301-84916India (Pune): +91 20 66346060Fax: +1?855?550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.com A NEW 3-D PHENOMENON IN THE FAIRYTALE WORLD www.fairydalia.com https://www.fairydalia.com/ On the 20th of May a websitewas launched to present an all in one book- aphilosophy-book, an art-book and a meditation-book directed to parents and their children seekingpeaceful mind, self-development, inner harmony, and personal growth through meditation, yoga and art.The author of the book is Dalia Lane, multilingual writer, peacemaker and meditation practitioner, whowas looking for a book which could teach and nourish in her daughter inner peace through esthetics, artsand mindful lifestyle.Children do not have much choice in the modern world to learn peace of mind and ways to deal withtheir overwhelming emotions. You know why? Because most of the parents do not know it themselves!-Dalia Lane says.The series of books is describing a mindful philosophy and gives tools such as visualizations andmediations developed by the author.The series will be followed by the production of themed toys, cartoons, apparel, jewelry, and othermerchandize which will be available for worldwide shipping through the official website and other onlineplatforms.First three books of the series are currently published in 4 languagesEnglish, German, French, andRussian, other languages will follow.The illustrations are very colorful and unique in their details helping to attract childrens attention.The storyline includes a lot of magical characters. The surreal style of the imagery and metaphoricalwriting gives adults a chance to contemplate and meditate while reading. So the idea is to give both ofthem a possibility to enjoy my books together and at the same time.- Dalia Lane explains.The Glossary is included at the end of each book in order to assist the parents and children in theirconversations about the concepts described in the fairy tales. It is compiled in a concise manner andintroduces the world of Fairy Dalia from a slightly different perspective.In the production chain great attention is paid to the careful use of natural resources and emphasizeprotection of the environment, thus communicating the values that are the basis of Dalia Lane Creations,the publisher of the series of the books.***Fairy Dalia books suggest a view of the world through the prism of beauty and an unconventional perspective on life.Through dialogues with an extraordinary Fairy, the heroes have to choose between darkness and Light in the context ofuniversal notions such as: love, beauty, kindness, cooperation, mutual respect and self-knowledge.The products are uniquely designed to inspire mindfulness and promote inner harmony and peace.More information atArPR Holding LLC was established on August 13th 2013. As its main tool the company uses public relations (PR) which is being used in traditional and non-traditional ways in spheres of marketing, management, consultancy, crisis communications, event management, as well as sport and cultural management.The companys services are based on the practical experience of our founders, years of endeavor, constant improvement and continuous professional development. We target not only the Armenian market but also international markets, knowing that we can provide internationally competitive services.ArPR Holding is prone to building sustainable partnership relationships. We can act as an independent company or consortium.-ArPR Holding-info@arprholding.com-20 Mashtots ave., suite 22,Yerevan, Armenia-Postal code 0089-ani.vardanyan@arprholding.com Global Aquaponics Market: Demand from Agriculture and Food & Beverage Manufacturing to Impel Markets Growth https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2257 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/aquaponics-market-2257 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/2257 Market Research Future adds new report of Global Aquaponics Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022 it contains Company information, geographical data and Table of ContentMarket Synopsis of Aquaponics:Market Scenario:Aquaponics is the system of farming plants and fish together in a mutually beneficial series. It is the sustainable form of agriculture which integrates conventional aquaculture and hydroponics leading to the growth of fishes and plants together in a symbiotic environment. Waste produced by fish contains lots of beneficial nitrates and ammonia which is not good for fishes if they remaining water in great quantity. These nitrates and ammonia containing wastes are good fertilizers for plants which can consume all these nutrients to purify the water. Many cultures are using these cycles to produce high quality crops and nurture the fishes as an additional food source. Fish are kept in large tanks and plants are grown hydroponically (i.e. without water).The efficiency of aquaponics systems is improving with the introduction of new technologies. Aquaponics are becoming popular as an ecofriendly and efficient way to produce food. Increasing demand of organic fruits and vegetables, improvement in urban farming methods and off-season availability of fruits & vegetables are driving the aquaponics market growth from last few years. Also, low cost in terms of lesser preparation time, lower transport & storage costs of food and higher margins are the major benefits of aquaponicsMarket Segments: Aquaponics market has been segmented on the basis of Production Type; which comprises of fish, vegetables & fruits, herbs Aquaponics has been segmented on the basis of Equipment; which comprises pumps and valves, grow lights, water heaters, grow lights, water quality testing, fish purge systems, aeration systems Aquaponics is segmented on the basis of Component; which comprises sump, rearing tanks, biofilter, hydroponics subsystem, settling basin Aquaponics is segmented on the basis of Application; which comprises commercial, home food production, education and researchRequest a Sample Report @Key Findings: Aquaponics is emerging as sustainable and intensive food production system in North America. The number of aquaponic practitioners are highly concentrated in U.S. Emerging economies such as India and China are projected to grow at the highest CAGR in the review period owing to the increasing organic food demand and increasing disposable income Aquaponics application in home food production is growing at higher rate compare to other application segmentsStudy Objectives of Aquaponics Market Detail analysis of the markets segments and sub-segments To estimate and forecast market size by production type, equipment, component, application and region To analyses key driving forces which are influencing the market Region level market analysis and market estimation of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW) and their countries Value chain analysis & supply chain analysis of the market Company profiling of major players in the market Competitive strategy analysis and mapping key stakeholders in the market Analysis of historical market trends and technologies along with current government regulatory requirementsBrowse Report Details @Key PlayersThe key players profiled in the Aquaponics market are as Urban Farms AG (Switzerland) Nelson & Pade Inc. (U.S.) ECF Farmsystems GmbH (Germany) My Aquaponics (South Africa) Backyard Aquaponics Pty Ltd (Australia) Colorado Aquaponics (U.S.) Greenlife Aquaponics (U.S.)Intended Audience Aquaponics component/equipment manufacturers Aquaculture Industry Researchers and educational institutions Retailers and wholesalers Traders, importers and exporters systems.Request Table of Contents for this Report @Regional AnalysisThe Global Aquaponics Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). North America has the major market share in the global Aquaponics market.Increasing population and demand for organic food products is supporting the aquaponics market growth in Asia Pacific region which is projected to grow at the highest CAGR. Innovation in technology to enhance efficiency of aquaponics system, is fueling the market growth in North America and Europe region.The Aquaponics market is segmented under the following regions mentioned below:North America US CanadaEurope Germany France Italy Spain UK Rest of EuropeAsia-Pacific China India Australia Singapore Rest of Asia PacificRest of the world Brazil Argentina Saudi Arabia South AfricaAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Editor's note: Premier Li Keqiang starts his visit to Germany on May 31. During the visit he will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In a phone call with Merkel earlier this year, Li called for the two countries to play a leading role in ensuring international markets don't become unsettled. Germany is China's largest trading partner in the European Union and the two leaders are well known for their comprehensive talks on economic and trade issues, in formal meetings and on the sidelines of negotiations. Here's a look back at their meetings on trade, goods and services. Premier Li in Germany October 2014 Premier Li Keqiang gives a Luban Lock, a Chinese puzzle, to German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the China-Germany Economic and Technological Forum during his visit to Berlin on Oct 10, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua] Premier Li said the two countries can cooperate to solve global challenges just like unlocking the Luban Lock is a process of solving problems. Assessment of Canada's Beer Market 2017 - Covering Anheuser-Busch InBev and Molson Coors Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1109578 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/assessment-of-canadas-beer-market-2017-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=1109578 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ Beer is globally the third most popular drink after water and tea. Growing at a CAGR of 2.4%, it is projected that the global beer market will reach approximately USD 636 billion by 2020. In 2015, the global beer market was valued at USD 566.6 billion. While in 2014 the global beer market grew by 1%, it grew approximately by 2% in 2015. The low growth percentage is due to a slowdown in beer consumption by worlds five largest beer markets, China, US, Russia, Germany and Brazil.Request Free Sample Report -Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage among Canadians, despite witnessing a decline in sales over the last few years. Given that the consumer in Canada is moving towards wine consumption, owing to sophistication and health benefits, the total volume sales of beer grew by 1% in 2015 to reach 2.4 billion litres. Bigger players such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and Molson Coors are facing stagnation in sales owing to the popularity of craft beer and growing preference for wine.Big and small players alike are introducing new flavours and variants of beer, and this trend is expected to continue. The well travelled consumer who has rich media exposure is demanding more from their beer. The non-alcoholic beer segment too is experiencing growth, boosted by the growing health consciousness of people and a will to drink responsibly.Why should the report be purchased?The report "Assessment of Canada's Beer Market 2017 highlights key dynamics of the global and China's beer market. The growing opportunity in the sector has been investigated. The initiatives and performance of key players including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Andrew Peller Ltd, Molson Coors Brewing Company, Heineken NV, Sapporo Holdings Ltd.has been examined. The report contains latest industry stakeholders' opinions.Browse Full Report with TOC -Table of Contents1. Analyst Opinion2. Global Beer Market Overview2.1 Overview2.2 Performance& Market Statistics2.3 Market Drivers & Emerging Trends2.4 Sector Outlook2.5 Industry Speak3. Canada Beer Market3.1 Overview3.2 Performance & Market Statistics3.3 Market Drivers &Emerging Trends3.4 Competitive Landscape3.4.1 Anheuser-Busch InBev3.4.2 Andrew Peller Ltd3.4.3 Molson Coors Brewing Company3.4.4 Heineken NV3.4.5 Sapporo Holdings Ltd.3.5 Sector Outlook3.6 Industry Speak4. List of Charts & Graphs4.1 Global Beer Market Player Wise Market Share (2014, %)4.2 Global Beer Production (2004-2014, billion hectoliters)4.3 Global Beer Production by Region (2014, %)4.4 Global per capita Beer Consumption by leading countries (2014, liters)4.5 Global Brand Value of top 10 beer brands in 2014 (million US dollars)4.6 Canada Alcoholic Beverage Consumption by Type (%, 2015)4.7 Canada Beer Sales (Hectolitres, 2012-2015)4.8 Canada Per Capita Consumption of Beer (Litres, 2012-2015)4.9 Canada Beer Market Share by Player (%, 2016)5. Research Methodology6. About Smart Research InsightsMake an Enquiry -About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free : 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel : +1-518-621-2074Email : press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite :Read Industry News at - NETPUB/MCA INC. AUTHOR ANTHONY MUSSO TO APPEAR ON C-SPAN FDR and the Post Office book cover Local author and columnist Anthony Musso will speak about his book FDR and The Post Office on the Hyde Park segment of C-SPAN2s Cities Tour, June 17-18Poughkeepsie, NY: NetPub/MCA, a Hudson Valley printing and publishing company is delighted to announce the appearance of NetPub author Anthony Musso on C-SPAN2s Cities Tour. Mr. Musso authored FDR and The Post Office A young boys fascination; a world leaders passion and Mussos meticulous research has supplied him with a unique perspective on this particular aspect of Franklin D. Roosevelts life, enriching the local history of Hyde Park.Musso is a journalist and weekly columnist with Gannet Newspapers and writes frequently about local histories, towns, landmarks and Hudson Valley life. Besides "FDR and the Post Office", his other titles include "Hidden Treasures of the Hudson Valley" Volumes One and Two--each volume features 55 sites throughout the upstate New York region that, while not widely known, boast significant ties to the American Revolution, early American industry, local and national politics and fascinating historical minutiae. He also released "Staatsburg: A Village Lost in Time" and most recently, "Hidden Treasures of the Catskills.As many as 12 segments featuring Hyde Park will be created for the Cities Tour special and air on "Book TV" on C-SPAN2 and "American History TV" on C-SPAN3 on June 17-18.About NetPub/MCA. Inc.: An award-winning, digital printing company specializing in short runs, warehousing, distribution, and software solutions; in business for over 30 years, independently owned and operated in Poughkeepsie, NY. We are consistently ranked in the top twenty digital book printers in the U.S. We meet our clients' needs with our dedicated customer service staff; managing projects from inception through completion--on time and within budget.NetPub/MCA, Inc.Attn. C. Pujols675 Dutchess TurnpikePoughkeepsie, NY 12603800-724-1100 ADVANCED ENT HEAD & NECK SUGERY DETECTS INVASION OF PRIVACY AND THEFT OF PATIENT RECORDS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAdvanced ENT Head & Neck SurgeryMay 30th, 2017; Beverly Hills, CA Advanced ENT Head & Neck Surgery has detected invasion of privacy and theft of patient records, which effects patients in over 16 States and 4 Countries. Upon becoming aware of a previous 1099 Driver/ Translator taking inappropriate photographs of patients, both before and during surgery, as well as the copying and theft of Patient Records, Advanced ENT Head & Neck Surgery reported the crimes to HSS, LA County Sheriff, Beverly Hills Police Department and Huntington Beach Police (via Palmdale Sheriffs Office). The company is cooperating fully with all law enforcement authorities, and has been supporting investigations into the matter.Advanced ENT Head & Neck Surgery has completed an internal investigation that involved the inspection of a Corporate Mobile Phone which was originally reported lost by the staffer, but was later recovered from the floor of the location where the staffer was escorted off the property by Palmdale Sheriffs office, after having been served 2 hours earlier with a restraining/ stay-away order. Despite having only recently being discovered, the breach, which affects thousands of patients, started shortly after the 1099 staffer was hired in September of 2016. The Staffer stole credit card information, debit card information, IDs, copies of checks, usernames, passwords, photographed our patients, prior to and during surgery, as well as, recording conversations. The breach involved patient information as well as information of the owner of the company, and corporate documents.Unfortunately, the company no longer has contact details for the majority of the Patients effected, as all paper records and local data storages were stolen during a physical break-in of our records facility during the week of May 1st.Advanced ENT Head & Neck Surgery will continue to assist law enforcement authorities in this matter. In addition, the company is working with pharmacies, and other companies within the medical community to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect your privacy, and security. Advanced ENT Head & Neck Surgery is also implementing additional security measures designed to prevent a recurrence of such thefts and invasions of privacy to protect our patients.To Date, we have identified Patients with Residence in the following States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, New York, Texas, and Virginia. (**residents of other states may be effected**)Additionally, we have identified Patients with Residence in the following Countries: Bulgaria, France, and United Kingdom (**residents of other countries may be effected**)If ANYONE contacts you, claiming to be from Advanced ENT Head & Neck Surgery, please get their name and call our main number +1 (310) 405-0900 and ask to speak to them directly before continuing the conversation.Debit/ Credit Card Users: Change your numbers Review your accounts for unauthorized transactions Notify your banks immediately if you discover any unauthorized purchases or withdrawals or cash advances Contact your Local Law Enforcement if you believe you are a victim of fraudCheck Users: Review your statements for any unauthorized transactions Notify your card-issuing banks if you discover any unauthorized purchases or debits Contact your Local Law Enforcement if you believe you are a victim of fraudIdentity Theft Monitor your Credit Report Review any documents you may receive from the government regarding benefits which you may or may not have applied for or be receiving Contact your Local Law Enforcement if you believe you are a victim of fraudA dedicated email address has been set up to deal with this issue. We will attempt to respond to all patient emails within 24 business hours of receipt: breach@AENTHNS.COMBeverly Hills Based ENT / Plastic SurgeryAdvanced ENT Head & Neck Surgery421 N Rodeo DriveBeverly Hills, CA 90210press@AENTHNS.com1 310 405 0900 Launch Of ARTEEBEE Inc. ARTEEBEE Inc. logo http://www.arteebee.com http://www.arteebee.com Markham, Ontario [May 31, 2017] - ARTEEBEE Inc., has now launched a new websitethe new evolutionary OpenRTB Exchange.The new exchange combines the most sophisticated automated data science and machine learning algorithm in RTB predictive marketing which lets you understand your audiences better. The platform will provide tremendous value by intelligently connecting SSPs and DSPs, providing full control over their digital media buys. The proprietary RTB platform now supports up to OpenRTB 2.4, running on Google Cloud and multi geo node and auto scaling to handle high volume throughput.ARTEEBEE Inc. covers 180 countries, over 10 thousands training features, 10 billion daily impressions and 1 billion monthly active users. With that being said, we can help advertisers to build the most effective advertising campaigns to meet and exceed their ROI. We can help publishers to monetize all their traffic at the highest CPM rate.About ARTEEBEE Inc.ARTEEBEE Inc. is a programmatic advertising technology company. Intelligently connecting SSP and DSP that will give full control over your digital media buying and maximizing your profits. We are able to achieve this through Predictive Marketing Technology. It is done through the most sophisticated real-time bidding (RTB) automated data science and machine learning algorithm that we developed, and continue to develop. For more information please visit,Annie Wong7351 Victoria Park Avenue Unit 4,Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 3A5Phone: (289)-475-0189 x 228Email: annie@arteebee.com Global Food Delivery Mobile Application Market to reach $16,605 Million by 2023. https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2212 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2212 According to a new report by Allied Market Research titled Food Delivery Mobile Application Market by Deployment Platform, End-user, and Geography: Global Opportunity and Forecast, 2017-2023, the global food delivery mobile application market size was valued at $3,120 million in 2016, and is projected to reach $16,605 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 27.9% from 2017 to 2023.Get a PDF Sample Copy of this report:Segment Review By Deployment PlatformThe Android market in deployment platform segment is on high demand in food delivery mobile application market, due to rise in number of food delivery application developments on Android and increase in number of Android users among the younger generation across several regions including Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Moreover, the Android platform provides user friendly approach, technological advancements in the design, operation, and flexibility, which in turn augments the Android food delivery mobile application market growth.Asia-Pacific was the largest market in food delivery mobile application industry for 2016 owing to increase in adoption of smartphones with Internet connectivity and change in preferences by the end users for improved food delivery models. Developing countries including China and South Korea are creating potential space for market development at a great pace. For instance, in South Korea top food delivery mobile apps such as Baedal Minjok, Yogiyo, and Baedal Tong deliver millions of users every month through their mobile applications. In addition, industry participants have realized the importance of strengthening the overall food delivery mobile application to ensure competence and effectiveness of the mobile apps in several other emerging markets such as Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.Make an Inquiry for this report:The surge in ICT spending, rise in usage of personal computers, laptops, mobile phones, and other devices, increase in broadband subscriptions worldwide, and adequate infrastructure development fuels the growth in digitization. The prominent markets, such as Asia-Pacific and Europe provide growth in infrastructure development, high adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, growth in literacy rate, and high youth population, which in turn are anticipated to fuel the market growth in the coming years.Segment Review by GeographyBased on the geography, the food delivery mobile application market is studied across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Asia-Pacific was the highest revenue contributor in 2016, accounting for around 49.0% share of the overall food delivery mobile application market size. The market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 29.8% during the forecast period, driven by rise in adoption of advanced connected devices and surge in internet connectivity.Key Players Profiled in the report:The report features a competitive scenario of the food delivery mobile application market and provides comprehensive analysis of key growth strategies adopted by major players. Key players profiled in the study are Apple Inc., CA, Inc., Cognizant, Google Inc., IBM Corporation, Mendix, Microsoft Corporation, Red Hat, Inc., SAP SE, and Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd. All these players are involved in the competitive strategies, such as geographical expansion, mergers & acquisitions, product portfolio expansion, and partnership to augment the growth of the food delivery mobile application market.Key Findings of the Food Delivery Mobile Application MarketAndroid deployment platform accounted for the highest share of the food delivery mobile application market in 2016, growing at a CAGR of 27.5%.Asia-Pacific generated the highest revenue in 2016, valued at $1,528 million.Food delivery market place dominated the market in terms of growth during the forecast period.China was leading in terms of food delivery mobile application market in 2016. In addition, India, Canada, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and other emerging markets are projected to provide significant opportunities for major players.Key BenefitsIn-depth analysis of the global food delivery mobile application market along with its dynamics is provided in the report to understand the market scenario.Quantitative analysis of the current trends and future estimations from 2017 to 2023 is provided to assist strategists and stakeholders to capitalize on prevailing opportunities.Porters Five Forces analysis examines the competitive structure of the food delivery mobile application market and provides a clear understanding of the factors that influence the market entry and expansion.A detailed analysis of the geographical segments enables identification of profitable segments for market players.Comprehensive analysis of the trends, sub-segments, and key revenue pockets is provided in the report.Detailed analysis of the key players and their business strategies are anticipated to assist stakeholders to take informed business decisions.About Us:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:Rahul Thakur5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: + 44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: + 852-301-84916India (Pune): +91 20 66346060Fax: +1?855?550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.com Biopreservation Market by Product & Data Validation, Analysis and Forecast 2022 Reportsweb http://www.reportsweb.com/biopreservation-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001564980/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001564980/buying According to Publisher, the Global Biopreservation Market is accounted for $2.17 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $4.75 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 11.84% during the forecast period. Rising healthcare costs, improved research and development in the field and rising usage of regenerative medicine are some of the factors boosting the market growth. However, huge cost of advanced techniques is one of the key factors hampering the market.For more informationBy cell providers volume, Tumor cells segment dominated the global market with largest share in 2014 due to several applications in research & development. By geography, North America dominated the global market with more than 40% of the share in 2014 owing to therapies in biomedical research and rise in the population requiring diagnosis in this region. However, the Asia-Pacific market is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period.Some of the key players in Biopreservation market include Qiagen N.V., Biolife Solutions, Inc., Lifeline Scientific, Inc., Biomatrica, Inc., Taylor-Wharton Cryogenics LLC, Custom Biogenic Systems, Inc., BioCision, LLC, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Cesca Therapeutics Inc., Atlanta Biologicals Inc, Princeton CryoTech Inc., VWR Corporation, Core Dynamics Ltd, So-Low Environmental Equipment Co., Inc., LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc., Biogenics, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Panasonic Corporation.Applications Covered:- Bio-bankingo Human spermso Human eggso Veterinary IVF- Regenerative Medicineo Gene therapyo Cell therapyo Other Regenerative Medicines- Drug Discovery- Other ApplicationsBiospecimens Covered:- Stem Cells- Human Tissue Samples- Organs- Other BiospecimensProducts Covered:- Mediao Nutrient Mediao Pre-formulatedo Growth Factors and Supplementso Home-brewo Sera- Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)- Equipmento Incubatorso Consumableso Centrifugeso Temperature Control Systemso Accessorieso Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) Tankso Other EquipmentsCell Providers Volumes Covered:- Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC)- CD34+ cells- Tumor cells- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC)- CD19+ cells- Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESC)- Other Cell Providers VolumesRequest Sample CopyEnd Users Covered:- Hospitals- Biobanks- Gene Banks- Other End UsersRegions Covered:- North Americao USo Canadao Mexico- Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe- Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific- Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao Egypt12 Company Profiling12.1 Qiagen N.V.12.2 Biolife Solutions, Inc.12.3 Lifeline Scientific, Inc.12.4 Biomatrica, Inc.12.5 Taylor-Wharton Cryogenics LLC12.6 Custom Biogenic Systems, Inc.12.7 BioCision, LLC12.8 Sigma-Aldrich Corporation12.9 Cesca Therapeutics Inc.12.10 Atlanta Biologicals Inc12.11 Princeton CryoTech Inc.12.12 VWR Corporation12.13 Core Dynamics Ltd12.14 So-Low Environmental Equipment Co., Inc.12.15 LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc.12.16 Biogenics12.17 Thermo Fisher Scientific12.18 Panasonic CorporationMake an enquiry:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Bioabsorbable Stents Global Market Research Approach, Commercial Analysis and Forecast to 2022 Reportsweb http://www.reportsweb.com/bioabsorbable-stents-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001564982/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001564982/buying According to Publisher, the Global Bioabsorbable Stents Market is accounted for $0.35 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $3.56 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 39.2% during the forecast period. Factors such as expanding geriatric population, increased usage rate of these stents and rise in cardiovascular surgeries are boosting the market growth. However, strict regulations and huge cost of these stents are hampering the market.For more informationBy absorption rate, slow absorbable stents segment dominated the global market with largest share owing to the longer duration of drug discharge within the arteries. By region, North America accounted for largest market share. However, Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness highest CAGR, due to rising awareness in the region.Some of the key players in Bioabsorbable Stents market include Arterial Remodeling Technology SA, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Kyoto Medical Planning Co., Ltd., Amaranth Medical, Inc., Stentys SA, Elixir Medical Corporation, Arterius Limited, REVA Medical, Inc., Xenogenics Corporation, Microport Scientific Corporation, Tepha, Inc., C. R. Bard, Inc., Terumo Corporation, Meril Life Sciences and Biotronik.Drugs Covered:- Limus-Based Drugs- PaclitaxelProduct Types Covered:- Metallic Stents- Natural- Polymeric StentsApplications Covered:- Peripheral Artery Disease- Coronary Artery DiseaseEnd Users Covered:- Cardiac Centers- HospitalsAbsorption Rates Covered:- Fast-Absorption Stents- Slow-Absorption StentsRequest Sample CopyRegions Covered:- North Americao USo Canadao Mexico- Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe- Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific- Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao Egypt12 Company Profiling12.1 Arterial Remodeling Technology SA12.2 Boston Scientific Corporation12.3 Medtronic12.4 Abbott Laboratories12.5 B. Braun Melsungen AG12.6 Kyoto Medical Planning Co., Ltd.12.7 Amaranth Medical, Inc.12.8 Stentys SA12.9 Elixir Medical Corporation12.10 Arterius Limited12.11 REVA Medical, Inc.12.12 Xenogenics Corporation12.13 Microport Scientific Corporation12.14 Tepha, Inc.12.15 C. R. Bard, Inc.,12.16 Terumo Corporation12.17 Meril Life Sciences12.18 BiotronikMake an enquiry:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Global Virus Filtration Market by Product & Data Validation, Analysis and Forecast 2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/virus-filtration-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001565008/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001565008/buying According to Publisher, the Global Virus Filtration market is estimated at $1.96 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $4.81 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 13.7% from 2015 to 2022. Rising Government Support for Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industries and huge research and development spending are the key factors propelling market growth. Strict regulatory policy for validation of filtration product is hampering the market. On the other hand, huge flow of funds towards developing nations provides ample of opportunities for the market to grow.North America accounted for largest share in the virus filtration market owing to growth of biotechnology industry in recent years. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at highest CAGR attributed to increase in government spending in developing nations of the region.Some of the key players in the market include Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Lonza Group Ltd., Merck Kgaa, Wuxi Pharmatech (Cayman) Inc., General Electric Company, Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd., Pall Corporation and Sartorius AG.For more information atApplications Covered:- Air Purification- Medical Devices- Biologicalso Stem Cell Productso Cellular and Gene Therapy Productso Vaccines and Therapeuticso Tissue and Tissue Productso Blood and Blood Products- Water PurificationProducts Covered:- Services- Kits and Reagents- Filtration Systems- Other ProductsEnd Users Covered:- Medical Device Companies- Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies- Academic Research Institutes- Contract Research OrganizationsRegions Covered:- North Americao USo Canadao Mexico- Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe- Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific- Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptRequest Sample Copy:What our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsMake an enquiry:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 High Throughput Screening Market Outlook and Global Foresight to 2027 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1280 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/high-throughput-screening-market High Throughput Screening (HTS) is a drug-discovery process generally utilized as a part of the pharmaceutical business. It influences mechanization to rapidly examine the natural or biochemical action of an expansive number of medications like compounds.Make an Enquiry @Key Players for High Throughput Screening Market: Aurora Biomed Inc.(Canada), Beckman Coulter, Inc. (US), Agilent Technologies Inc. (US), Life Technologies Corporation (US), Luminex Corporation (US), Roche (Switzerland), Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. (US), Bio-Rad Laboratories (US), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (US)Study Objectives of High Throughput Screening Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the High Throughput Screening Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the High Throughput Screening Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by product type, by application by end users and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global High Throughput Screening Market .Segments:Global High Throughput Screening Market has been segmented on the basis of applications which comprises of Target Identification, Primary Screening, Toxicology, Stem Cell Biology and Others. On the basis of product which consists of software, instruments, consumables and others. On the basis of end users Hospitals and clinics, pharmaceutical companies/ Manufacturers, government organizations, research facilities and others.Access Report Details @The report for Global High Throughput Screening Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global High Throughput Screening Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would walk away from divorce talks with the European Union without a deal if she had to, but her rival in next week's election, Labour's Jeremy Corbyn, said he would make sure an agreement was reached if he won power. Britons will go to the polls in a vote that will decide whether May, from the center-right Conservatives, or Corbyn of the leftist Labour Party, gets to sit down with Brussels and hammer out an exit deal that will define the country's trade and diplomatic ties with the EU. Their differing stances could set the tone for what both Britain and the EU expect will be two years of difficult talks on everything from how much cash should be paid upon exit, to border arrangements for migrants, goods and services. May is expected to win on June 8, but her party's lead in opinion polls has narrowed sharply in the last week, calling into question her decision to call the unscheduled election seeking a strong endorsement of her Brexit strategy. One poll published on Tuesday showed her lead had been cut to 6 percentage points from 9 points a week ago and 18 points two weeks ago as voters reacted badly to the Conservatives' manifesto. The two party leaders' differences on how to handle talks with Brussels came to the fore on Monday during the main televised event of the campaign, in which they separately fielded questions from the public. "We will be there to negotiate the right deal but what I have said is that no deal is better than a bad deal. We have to be prepared to walk out," she said to applause during the Sky News interview. May had previously expressed her willingness to walk away from talks, warning that Brussels could seek to punish Britain to deter other EU states from leaving by taking a hardline stance. But, Corbyn set out a different approach. When asked whether he would contemplate a scenario where Britain failed to strike an arrangement with the rest of the bloc, he said: "There's going to be a deal." "We will make sure there is a deal," he added. With polls showing May is more trusted to deliver Brexit than Corbyn, she will look to keep the election debate tightly focused on the upcoming talks, seeking to recover from a backlash to her plans to make elderly voters pay more toward the cost of their old age care. At a campaign event on Tuesday she was expected to warn that the EU had taken an aggressive stance to the negotiations, and that she needed the strong endorsement of the British public to fight for a good exit deal. Xinhua - Reuters (China Daily USA 05/31/2017 page1) A weekly collection of new hires, transitions, promotions and award winners in Oregon and southwest Washington: Washington State University Vancouver The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation has donated $2 million to establish an endowed chair in hospitality business management at the Carson College of Business at Washington State University Vancouver. The gift, which represents the first endowed chair for the school, honors the late founder of Red Lion Inn Hotels and his wife. The investment allows "us to bring a quality program to our region and serve one of the fastest-growing tourism markets in the country" said Jennifer Miltenberger, director of development and alumni relations. The Vancouver program, which launched in 2013, is part of the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management in Pullman, which ranks among the top 5 percent of such programs in the country. Students can earn a bachelor's degree in hospitality business management. The McClaskey Foundation primarily supports health and education programs in Clark County. With this gift, it has donated more than $4 million to WSU Vancouver. People on the move Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation Board: Tonkon Torp attorney Michael Willes has been elected to the Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation Board. The foundation provides fundraising and community relations support for the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, which provides health, wellness and dental services to patients in Washington and Yamhill counties. Willes is a member of the firm's litigation department. Moen Machinery Co.: Kubota Tractor Corp. announced the appointment of Greg Moen to the National Dealer Advisory Board. Moen of Gresham-based Moen Machinery Co., was elected to a two-year term. KPD Insurance/Risk Solutions: The company has made some changes at its Portland office: Tami Sanford, account manager; Santiago Landazuri, worker's compensation producer; Kelsea Meier, employee benefits producer; and Brandy Lara, client services and branding coordinator. Giulietti | Schouten AIA Architects: Architect Jake Weber is now an associate and shareholder at the Portland firm. The University of Oregon graduate, who joined the firm in 2013, manages the design development and construction of residential and commercial projects. Awards Port of Portland: The 2017 Compass Award was presented to Michael Irwin of the Transportation Security Administration during the agency's annual Gateway to the Globe meeting. The award recognizes civic and/or corporate role models who have demonstrated exceptional support for the Port. Irwin has been the federal security director at Portland International Airport and other Oregon airports since 2005. Have a new hire, promotion or business award to share? Email us at business@oregonian.com, and put Attention: Business Movers in the subject line. Pendleton Woolen Mills, the venerable Oregon company known for its plaid shirts and wool blankets, says it's reshuffling its executive ranks amid the pending retirement of its longtime president. Mort Bishop III is stepping back from day-to-day operations on June 30, the company said in a news release Tuesday, but will remain on the board. As a result, John Bishop, the company's current chief executive and chairman, will add president to his titles. Mort Bishop III Mort Bishop joined the family business as a women's products merchandiser in 1977, rising through the ranks until being named president in 1999. "I am grateful to have spent 40 years with Pendleton," he said in a prepared statement, and "proud of what our organization has accomplished." He said now is the right time to make the transition and ensure the company is positioned for growth. "We have a new generation of leaders willing and capable to assume greater responsibility." Under the reorganization: Peter Bishop, executive vice president of design and merchandising, will oversee all product functions. Robert Christnacht, executive vice president of sales, will oversee all sales, marketing, retail, catalog/web, and trade responsibilities. Annetta Young was appointed executive vice president of operations and planning. Dennis Simmonds will continue as chief financial officer. Portland-based Pendleton, which recently celebrated its 154th anniversary, has been under family ownership for six generations. It operates nearly 50 stores and outlets across the country and distributes its colorful woolen blankets and flannels around the world. --The Oregonian/OregonLive Updated at noon: A boy was talked down from the bridge by mental health crisis negotiators, and the southbound lanes reopened about 11:30 a.m., said Kim Kapp, Vancouver police spokeswoman. Traffic delays may linger as cars begin to cross the bridge, she said. *** Emergency crews have closed southbound traffic on the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River after responding to a possible suicide attempt, according tweets from the Washington State Department of Transportation. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office's river units were called to assist at 9:33 a.m. emergency crews in Washington, according to online dispatch records. The Department of Transportation suggests drivers cross the Columbia River through Interstate 205 bridge. I-5 traffic is backed up to State Route 500 in Washington. No other information has been released. This post will be updated as news develops. Due to police activity on SB I-5, the bridge is closed & traffic is backed up. If you need an alternate route into #pdx, SB I-205 is clear. pic.twitter.com/7lEtozQdjO WSDOT - Southwest (@wsdot_sw) May 31, 2017 Pedestrian on SB I-5 near Interstate Bridge at mp 0. WSDOT - Southwest (@wsdot_sw) May 31, 2017 SB I-5 is backing up to SR 500 in Vancouver...all lanes blocked at the Interstate Bridge due to police activity pic.twitter.com/HDOfTTS33s WSDOT - Southwest (@wsdot_sw) May 31, 2017 -- Tony Hernandez thernandez@oregonian.com 503-294-5928 @tonyhreports David Greenwald/The Oregonian 12 Oregon summer music festivals, at the eclipse and beyond When it stops raining in Oregon, the state fills with the sounds of music festivals. From punk to blues, country to electronic dance, rap to indie rock, summer 2017 is gearing up for a full season of camping, drinking, and sunburns. Returning favorites, like the Waterfront Blues Festival, which turns 30 this year, will join first-timers such as Country Crossings and a week-long event around the August solar eclipse. Whether you're looking for a weekend in the woods or a night at Warped Tour, tickets are starting to move: don't forget the sunscreen. Don't miss: 19 all-star Portland-area arena shows this summer 59 amazing outdoor concerts in Oregon -- David Greenwald dgreenwald@oregonian.com 503-294-7625; @davidegreenwald Instagram: Oregonianmusic Don't Edit What the Festival Why go: Pool parties and dance music aren't just for Hollywood hotel rooftops. What the Festival is a hippie rave as only Oregonians could've imagined. Top acts: Zhu, Cut Copy, Gramatik Camping: Yes. Friday-Monday, June 16-19, Wolf Run Ranch, Dufur, Oregon. Tickets: $325-$425, other options and parking and vehicle camping available, visit whatthefestival.com for full options. Don't Edit Warped Tour Why go: The punk festival is a traveling Pandora station of '90s veterans, noisy newcomers, and the occasional MC. Top acts: Hawthorne Heights, Watsky, American Authors, Save Ferris, The Ataris Camping: No. Saturday, June 17, Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem, Oregon. Tickets: $29-39, "rally bus" shuttle available, vanswarpedtour.com. Don't Edit Waterfront Blues Festival Why go: After arriving in Portland as the Rose City Blues Festival in 1987, the city's biggest outdoor festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary this summer with five (!) days of music and its annual 4th of July fireworks. Top acts: Chris Isaak, Joss Stone, Big Head Blues Club, Galactic, Booker T Stax Revue, Curtis Salgado Camping: No. Friday-Tuesday, June 30-July 4, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon. Tickets: Various passes available, including a $40 5-day pass, after-hours shows and Blues Cruise tickets, visit waterfrontbluesfest.com for details. Don't Edit Oregon Country Fair Why go: Keep Oregon weird at one of its most artisanal, free-spirited events. Top acts: Look for musicians, puppeteers, dancers and more across nearly two dozen stages. Camping: Not on siteavailable through neighborhood campgrounds, details online. Friday-Sunday, July 7-9, Veneta, Oregon. Tickets: $70 three-day pass, daily tickets available, visit oregoncountryfair.org for details. Don't Edit Don't Edit Northwest String Summit Why go: The annual fest gathers roots and Americana bands with sounds that range from trending indie to bluegrass tradition. Top acts: Yonder Mountain String Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Del McCoury Band, JJ Grey & Mofro, Elephant Revival Camping: Yes. Thursday-Sunday, July 13-16, Horning's Hideout, North Plains, Oregon. Tickets: $235 for four days, three and two-day passes available, includes camping, visit stringsummit.com for details. Don't Edit Harefest Why go: If you can't make it to see Journey or Guns N' Roses this summer, don't worry: the tribute bands of Harefest, now in its 7th year, are here with the two-day classic rock festival of your dreams. Top acts: Stone in Love (Journey), Pyromania (Def Leppard), Shoot to Thrill (AC/DC), Aerosmith Rocks (Aerosmith) Camping: Yes. Friday-Saturday, July 14-15, Pat's Acres Racing Complex, Canby, Oregon. Tickets: $100 with camping, single-day and other passes available, visit harefest.com for details. Don't Edit Country Crossings Music Festival Why go: The first-year fest is taking the place of 2016's Cape Blanco Festival, with a new locationthe Jackson County Expo in Central Pointand a potential 20,000-large crowd. Top acts: Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Jake Owen Camping: Yes Thursday-Sunday, July 27-30, Jackson County Expo, Central Point, Oregon. Tickets: $155 general admission, camping passes sold separately, visit cxfest.com for more details. Don't Edit Oregon Jamboree Why go: The busy country festival will offer 25 shows over two days, right next to the Cascades' great outdoors. Top acts: Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Kenny Rogers Camping: Yes. Friday-Sunday, Aug. 4-6, Sweet Home, Oregon. Tickets: $145 general admission, $130 camping, other tickets available, visit oregonjamboree.com for details. Don't Edit Pickathon Why go: There's no more dependable new music festival in Oregon than Pickathon, which offers an eclectic lineup next to the tastiest local food and drink roster of the summer. Top acts: Dinosaur Jr., Drive-By Truckers, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Deer Tick Camping: Yes. Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 3-6, Pendarvis Farm, Happy Valley, Oregon. Tickets: Camping included with $310 weekend pass, $155 teen tickets, children 12 and under free, single-day tickets and parking passes available, visit pickathon.com for details. Don't Edit Don't Edit Bi-Mart Willamette Country Music Festival Why go: The annual country fest turns 10 this year with its usual headliner star power. Top acts: Thomas Rhett, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Zac Brown Band Camping: Yes. Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 17-20, Brownsville, Oregon. Tickets: $155 general admission pass, festival passes and camping sold separately. Visit willamettecountrymusicfestival.com for details. Don't Edit Oregon Eclipse: A Total Solar Eclipse Gathering Why go: Music festivals from across the world, including Oregon's Beloved, are partnering for a week-long electronic-and-more festival timed to the anticipated solar event. Top acts: Bassnectar, Beats Antique, 2Melo, Antibalas Camping: Yes Thursday-Wednesday, Aug. 17-23, The Ochoco National Forest at Big Summit Prairie, Oregon. Tickets: $289, $100 for vehicle pass, "camping is first come, first-served," options including a yoga immersive, a $2,200 yurt and more available, oregoneclipse2017.com. Don't Edit MusicfestNW presents Project Pabst Why go: The festival Voltron proves the Waterfront team-up is here to stay with its best lineup yet. Top acts: Iggy Pop, Beck, Die Antwoord, Nas, Father John Misty, Spoon Camping: No. Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 26-27, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon. Tickets: $99 weekend admission, $65 per day. Visit portland.projectpabst.com/tickets for details. By John Tapogna Sometimes good news hides in obscure places. In this case, it's on page 121 of an annual report recently issued by the National Education Association. There, the nation's largest teacher union predicts that this year, Oregon's K-12 spending per student will edge past the U.S. average. The report also estimates we're spending about 20 percent more per student than Washington state. I'll restate that. Oregon has found a way to provide 20 percent more dollars per student than the home state of Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and Costco. That's a big deal. For the past 15 years, low and unstable school funding robbed opportunities from students, damaged Oregon's reputation nationally and fed a narrative that we were incapable of solving big problems. The education association's findings signal that it's time to turn the page, end the self-pity and take the next steps to re-establish Oregon as a leader in education and competent governance. Oregon stepped into its school funding challenges with voter-approved property tax limitations in the 1990s. A roaring economy initially masked the problems, and per student funding kept pace with the national average into 2001. But the tech bubble burst, a recession ensued, and Oregon was wholly unprepared with a tiny rainy day fund. What followed was ugly. Budgets collapsed, and reputational assaults hit hard. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau devoted a Doonesbury series to Portland's teacher layoffs and 24 lost school days. Ads ran on CNN with Eugene teachers and parents donating blood for schools. And media outlets made Oregon the poster state for fiscal crises. "Mississippi with fir trees" quipped Portland State University's Ethan Seltzer. School funding didn't improve as we stumbled through a short economic recovery and fell into the Great Recession. But, in the darkness of December 2010, the story began to change. Elected and business leaders organized around a three-part strategy: grow the economy, slow healthcare and corrections spending, and invest the dividends in education. It worked. Long, sustained economic expansions usually favor Oregon, and this one has been no different. Robust growth in the technology, food and beverage, and healthcare sectors created good paying jobs. Oregon's income taxes took off and have contributed to one of the top revenue recoveries in the country. Meanwhile, public management has had a good six-year run. In 2013, state lawmakers enacted hard fought, criminal justice reforms that ended the growth in prison beds. Oregon negotiated a smart deal with the Obama Administration that delivered almost $2 billion in federal innovation funds, curbed per capita healthcare costs, and helped launch the Affordable Care Act. Strong revenue, together with those healthcare and corrections savings, fueled investments in education. In K-12, we implemented full-day kindergarten and boosted spending per student to $12,161 in 2016-17, according to the National Education Association. That's just above the U.S. average and $2,042 per student higher than Washington State. Two governors and dozens of skilled legislators, on both sides of the aisle, deserve credit. Now a budget must be balanced, and lawmakers have just five weeks. They could press on with the hard work, negotiate a politically tricky mix of cuts and new revenue, and launch new education investments. Or, they could slide back into fiscal dysfunction, trigger school layoffs amid record low unemployment, and restart the "we're-incapable-of-big-things" narrative. The hard work would require Democrats to ask public employees to share more of the cost of their benefits, both pensions and healthcare. And it would require some Republicans to take tax votes. There's room to raise taxes without harming the economy, and there's room for employee cost sharing without being unfair or uncompetitive. The stakes are high. Get this right, and Oregon could declare itself one of best-funded public education systems in the West with major investments in high schools and third-grade reading on the way. And, we could bring a decisive end to the Doonesbury era. John Tapogna is the President of ECONorthwest, an economic consulting firm that has operated in Oregon since 1974. The views expressed here are his own. By Ted Wheeler With a clear vision for the future, we can avoid being left to the whims of fate. A solid strategy is especially important when it comes to confronting a slow-moving threat to our city and to the Oregon way of life. This week, the City of Portland will step up to the challenge of climate change with an ambitious plan to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. There is a lot of work to be done, but it's more about the will than the way. We already have the technology to run our lives on clean energy: solar and wind, electric vehicles, and exciting innovations like turning waste to energy at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant project. But the switch to clean energy will not happen on its own at the speed necessary to guarantee our kids and future generations a livable world. That's where our will comes in. With Portland joining more than two dozen U.S. cities committing to 100 percent renewable energy, our local economy will benefit from more good-paying jobs, households will realize energy bill savings, and our air will be cleaner. Leading cities and states will thrive in the fast-growing, low-carbon economy. It's happening now. The downtown Portland Fire Station will soon harness solar energy and use a battery to store it, saving the city money on energy bills and allowing emergency responders to work through a major outage. In Southern Oregon, they're heating schools using the warmth inside the Earth at a fraction of the cost of oil or electricity. In Bend, one of the state's first community solar projects allows renters and people who can't install panels on their homes to reap the benefits of renewable power. Transitioning our households, businesses and government operations in Portland and Multnomah County to 100 percent clean energy by 2050 is achievable, but it will require strong policy guidance and innovative new sources of funding. It is time for Oregon to put a statewide cap and price on climate pollution to fund our clean energy solutions. The Clean Energy Jobs bill (House Bill 2135) being considered by the Oregon State Legislature would raise more than $700 million per year, by requiring the largest emitters to pay for what they put into our air. It incentivizes lowering emissions while creating proceeds to re-invest into communities across the state. It would put Oregonians to work improving energy efficiency in homes and businesses to save households money, build affordable housing near transit, install more solar on rooftops and invest in more transportation options. Clean energy provides a unique opportunity in rural and urban communities alike by training Oregonians with new skills for projects that must be built in our communities and can't be outsourced. Consider work going on in East Portland's Cully Neighborhood, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the state. A partnership of nonprofits and businesses collaborated, raised funds and sweat equity to help retrofit homes for low-income families. The work was done by community workers and minority-owned firms, and the homes now use less energy and save families money. Clean Energy Jobs funds could replicate this kind of partnership in communities from Brookings to Baker City, Beaverton to Burns. From Portland's ban on large, fossil fuel terminals to Oregon's Clean Fuels Standard and the Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Act, our local actions send ripples through the energy landscape nationwide. At a time when leadership on climate protection and clean energy are more vital than ever, Portland and Oregon must step up and lead. Ted Wheeler is the mayor of Portland. EUGENE One of three defendants charged in the stabbing death of a homeless man at a Eugene park has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Joshua Sherman The Register-Guard reports 42-year-old Joshua Sherman reached a plea agreement with Lane County prosecutors that calls for a 15-year prison sentence. As part of the deal, he agreed to testify against his co-defendants. The victim, 25-year-old Alexander Davenport, was found suffering from stab wounds near the entrance to Alton Baker Park in May 2016. He died of his injuries at a hospital. Sherman, according to the plea petition, said he found Davenport in a park bathroom before all three suspects assaulted the victim. He said one of his co-defendants inflicted the stab wounds. -- The Associated Press A coalition of Portland community groups plan to hold a large rally downtown Sunday to stand against what they see as growing far-right extremism, racism and islamophobia in the city. The event is designed to peacefully counter a Trump free speech rally set to take place on an adjacent block at the same time. Organizers wrote in their promotional materials that they aim "to show, through our numbers and our voices, that the vast majority of Portland will not stand for racism and bigotry." The free speech demonstration, organized by a Vancouver-based group called Patriot Prayer, to be held at Terry Schrunk Plaza, has been a source of controversy this week in light of last Friday's fatal attacks on a Portland MAX train. But Nico Judd, a member of the Portland International Socialist Organization and one of the organizers of the response rally, said both the free speech event and her group's peaceful anti-bigotry rally were in the works before the fatal attacks took place. "We've seen a number of right-wing rallies being planned in Portland, and our demonstration was initially in response to that," she said. "But the attacks have mobilized a lot more of the community, and people are understanding the urgency of the moment." More than 700 people have indicated they will be attending the rally on the Facebook page for the event, called "Portland Stands United Against Hate." Other community groups involved in planning the demonstration include the Oregon branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Unite Oregon, and Portland Jobs with Justice. Judd said the coalition is in the process of getting a permit from the city. She added that organizers are also "working with city officials to make sure the space is as safe as possible." There are some safety concerns about the intended location of the rallyin front of City Hall, directly across Southwest Fourth Avenue from the free speech rally location. About 300 people have indicated on Facebook they plan to take part in that rally. But Judd said that, for now, the location is not set to change. Judd emphasized that the rally is "explicitly peaceful" and said the group is "not looking to confront anyone." "We understand and take very seriously the security concerns that people have. It's a scary time," she said. "But we feel that we will have strength in numbers. We want to really show that we're the majority." -- Janaki Chadha jchadha@oregonian.com 503-221-8165; @janakichadha Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler drew criticism Tuesday from free speech advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union and local conservative leaders for calling on the federal government to revoke the permit for a pro-Trump free speech rally scheduled for Sunday. Wheeler also asked federal officials not to issue a permit for an anti-Muslim march planned for June 10. But his spokesman, Michael Cox, said Tuesday that the mayor isn't commenting on whether he approves of an anti-bigotry, anti-islamophia rally also planned to take place downtown Sunday. Cox conveyed an inconsistent position with regard to that protest, saying, "It's not up to the mayor to sanction or not sanction speech events." "We are planning for protests and counter protests and to protect everyone," Cox said. Mat dos Santos, ACLU Oregon's legal director, said Tuesday he understands the mayor's concern for safety in the wake of a hate-fueled fatal attack on a MAX train Friday. But, he said, Wheeler can't "just decide that somebody' s speech is the wrong kind of speech and shut it down." "It's an all too familiar theme here in Portland, where the Portland police shut down constitutionally protected activities...because of the bad actions of a few," dos Santos said. Portland native Scott Quick emailed the mayor on Tuesday urging him to retract his call to revoke rally permits. "I vehemently oppose the alt-right agenda and any form of hate speech, but I am more opposed to your calls to revoke the permits for alt-right events," Quick wrote. "You are trampling on the First Amendment, which is more important than any single event." Wheeler said in a Facebook post Monday that holding Sunday's rally following the double-murder of two heroes on the MAX "can only exacerbate a difficult situation." "The mayor's request to revoke the permit is in no way intended to censor political speech," Cox said Tuesday. "The request was made because the mayor's top priority is the safety of everyone in our city. He believes that this rally is planned for the wrong time at the wrong place in the wake of a horrific double murder and in the midst of the Rose Festival." Vancouver native Joey Gibson organized the pro-Trump rally set to take place at Terry Schrunk Park Sunday. He said in a Facebook Live video Monday that Wheeler's plea will not convince him to cancel the rally. Pro-Trump rally organizer Joey Gibson describes himself as a libertarian. Gibson told The Oregonian/OregonLive Tuesday that he has arranged for informal security officers, some with permits to carry concealed handguns, to help keep participants in order. Revoking the event permit, Gibson said, would pose more safety risks because it would limit the ability of the rally organizers to promote peaceful demonstration and to remove anyone peddling hate speech. "It's going to be an amazing rally where we don't have hate speech," Gibson said. "If they want us to make a stance and they want us to stand up against any Nazi members, they cannot pull our permit because the permit is the only thing that gives us that right." If anyone has a racist sign or yells anything racist, "they will be gone," Gibson added. MAX stabbing suspect Jeremy Christian participated in an April "March for Free Speech" event that Gibson hosted, but organizers asked him to leave after he yelled racial epithets and "Die Muslims!" and threatened Gibson. Gibson obtained a permit weeks ago for Sunday's demonstration from the U.S. General Services Administration, which owns the property across Southwest Fourth Avenue from Portland City Hall. A self-described libertarian, Gibson said he hopes to promote conservative values, smaller government, spirituality and freedom at the rally. He said he doesn't intend to promote a particular political party, religion or skin color over others and does not discriminate based on sexuality, gender identity or race. About 300 people indicated on Facebook as of Tuesday afternoon that they plan to attend the event, where Gibson said diverse keynote speakers will promote freedom and anti-communist perspectives. James Buchal, chair of the Multnomah County Republican Party, told The Guardian Monday that his group is considering using militia groups as private security at Republican events. He suggested calling on the Oath Keepers, an anti-government group, and the Three Percenters, a group that pledges armed resistance against efforts to restrict gun ownership. "We're casting around to see how we can keep our people safe," Buchal said. "One of the ideas is reaching out to these groups who see themselves as street dogs in a time of wolves." Gibson said he has arranged for "unofficial" private security to encourage participants in his demonstration to "not provoke or be violent." The Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters will not be there in an official capacity, Gibson said, though some of the members of his private security team are also affiliated with those groups. Gibson's security includes about 50 to 60 private individuals, many with military backgrounds, Gibson said. Many of the private security members have concealed carry licenses with the state, which means they will be allowed to carry concealed weapons outside the plaza, Gibson said. They will not have guns inside the plaza because that violates federal law, he said. Gibson said his security will not deal with other protesters or attempt to arrest anyone. "That's the job of the police," Gibson said. Portland police spokesman Pete Simpson did not respond to multiple email requests for comment. Gibson said speakers will include religious figures and a woman he described as transsexual who will discuss the different ways conservatives and liberals have treated her. Alt-right activist Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman will also speak. Chapman became famous among alt-right conservatives and infamous among many when he broke a wooden sign post on an anti-Fascist protester's head at a March riot in Berkeley, Calif. Demonstrators clashed violently in Berkeley over a canceled speech by "alt-right" provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. "The things I have to say attract a lot of different people," Gibson said. "The common thread is I'm promoting freedom, and I'm promoting spirituality." Several protests have organized in opposition to Gibson's pro-Trump free speech rally. An event called Portland Stands United Against Hate is set to take place in Chapman Park next door. About 700 people indicated on Facebook that they would attend the protest event, endorsed by 35 immigrant rights, anti-war, mental health and religious groups. Event organizer Nico Judd said she is in the process of getting a permit from the city. She said city officials assured organizers that they will have the space they need. --Jessica Floum 503-221-8306 Janaki Chadha contributed to this report. SALEM -- State senators on Tuesday appointed Dan Mason, a former Republican House candidate, to Oregon's ethics commission in spite of some Democrats' objections about Mason's impartiality. Votes to confirm appointments to Oregon's boards and commissions are almost always unanimous. But in a rare display of disapproval, Mason was confirmed 23-7, with "no" votes from Democratic Sens. Sara Gelser, of Corvallis; James Manning, of Eugene; Chuck Riley, of Hillsboro; Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, of Portland; Rod Monroe, of Portland; and Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, of Portland. As a member of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, Mason, a 39-year-old property manager, will serve as one of nine commissioners tasked with enforcing state ethics laws that apply to public officeholders and lobbyists. Commissioners can levy fines totaling thousands of dollars for violations. The makeup of the ethics commission is political by design. Democratic and Republican leadership in the House and Senate each recommend two commissioners and Gov. Kate Brown is allowed an appointee of her own. During Mason's confirmation hearing, Burdick sounded the alarm over several of Mason's Facebook posts from 2015 and 2016, which are critical of Democrats. Committee member Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Eugene, also noted Mason's "very strong partisan statements." Mason had posted that public employee unions are "buying" Brown, a Democrat, with campaign contributions. He wrote that Brown's support in 2016 for a minimum wage hike is reason to "vote this governor out of office." Democrats must keep their end of the "bargain" with campaign donors, Mason said, along with "Show me the MONEY!" and an article criticizing interest group contributions to Democratic campaigns. During the hearing, Burdick said she had concerns about Mason's "inflammatory statements" and said they imply that Democrats are "bought and sold." Mason's posts concerned her "very deeply," she said, because they showed "a preconceived notion that one party is basically corrupt." She said to Mason, "I wonder how you square the mentality that went into those postings with your obligation to be fair and impartial to all sides." Mason said he was unsure what posts Burdick was referring to and said he did not recall writing them. He added, "I would absolutely be fair and impartial with regards to both parties." Mason said the law should be applied "fairly and equally." He said he comes from a family of Democrats and values differing opinions. He said he would not refer to members of any political party as being bought by campaign contributions. When asked during a telephone interview if he believes Democrats to be corrupt or beholden to campaign donors, Mason said, "I think that there's too much money in politics in general. I think most Oregonians -- when looking at the numbers -- would see that. But I have a lot of faith in the public process and truly believe that public officials make the best decisions for their constituents." Mason's four-year term begins July 1. -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman China's Global Newspaper Sorry, the page you requested was not found. Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Chinadaily.com.cn, try visiting the Chinadaily home page The American Civil Liberties Union is calling Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler's decision to cancel right-wing gatherings in Portland unconstitutional, even though the position, on the surface, aligns the group with conservative organizations they frequently oppose. On Monday, in the wake of a deadly attack on MAX allegedly by a man who was filmed doing a Nazi salute at an alt-right rally in April, Wheeler posted on Facebook and Twitter: "the City of Portland has NOT and will not issue any permits for the alt right events scheduled on June 4th or June 10th." "The Federal government controls permitting for Shrunk Plaza, and it is my understanding that they have issued a permit for the event on June 4th," he continued. "I am calling on the federal government to IMMEDIATELY REVOKE the permit(s) they have issued for the June 4th event and to not issue a permit for June 10th." Wheeler's announcement was greeted, unsurprisingly, with anger from the alt-right community, but pushback also came from ACLU, recently known for fighting President Donald Trump's executive order banning travelers from six Muslim-majority countries, an order which is popular with the alt-right crowd. Mat dos Santos, legal director at the ACLU of Oregon, said Thursday that what Wheeler is asking for from the federal government, and what he is doing himself by refusing permits, is unconstitutional. "It was really troubling to hear Mayor Wheeler talking about how hate speech is not constitutionally protected," dos Santos said, "because that is just legally wrong." The line between what is and isn't protected in the constitution is clear, dos Santos said. It is the line between "concrete evidence of an imminent threat of violence" and everything else. The ACLU believes it is important to keep this line solid, regardless of emotions or the side of the issue they may fall on, ideologically. "I think that it's always a really difficult issue to take a stand," dos Santos said, "because the First Amendment is so tricky and applies so often to views that we completely disagree with." But, he added, the ACLU has long stood for the principle that they must defend the speech of people who they consider hateful or vile. "If we don't," he continued, "it won't be long before the speech of people we support will be under attack." That means that the ACLU has a history of defending speech that many people consider hateful. In the late 1970s, the organization lost many supporters when it fought for the rights of Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, a town with a large population of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Though they won the argument, the Nazis never carried out their planned march. In 2012, the ACLU fought for the Ku Klux Klan to participate in an adopt-a-highway program. And just this year, the group defended Milo Yiannopoulos' right to speak in public, which angered many new members who began supporting the ACLU because of their work on the travel ban. Dos Santos acknowledges that defending the alt-right's right to speak and gather may also anger newer members. But, he said, "We think that long term that this is the right way to protect people's rights. "Especially now, when we have a president that's openly calling for the disbanding of the media and an attorney general that calls Black Lives Matter a hate group," the ACLU is committed to defending unpopular opinions, he told us. "We say this a lot," dos Santos said, "but democracy is messy and sometimes it requires us to come to the table with various opinions." He thinks a better solution would have been for Wheeler to ask alt-right groups to come to his office so he could talk to them about why it might be a good idea to cancel their events in the wake of the MAX attack. But, dos Santos said, Wheeler "chose the easy way out." "Shutting it down," he added, "is absolutely not the answer." Comments on this story have been turned off. If you'd like to comment, please go here. -- Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker Warning: Story contains graphic language Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather pointed out on Sunday that President Donald Trump had been silent about the Friday afternoon commuter-train killings in Portland. "Dear President Trump, Their names were Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Ricky John Best," he wrote on Facebook. "One was a recent college graduate. The other was an army veteran and father of four. I wish we would hear you say these names, or even just tweet them. They were brave Americans who died at the hands of someone who, when all the facts are collected, we may have every right to call a terrorist. A third brave man, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was wounded in the knife attack." The next day, Memorial Day, Trump sent out a tweet about the attacks, on the official White House @POTUS account rather than his more popular personal one, @realDonaldTrump. He called the violence "unacceptable" and acknowledged that "the victims were standing up to hate and intolerance." He did not say their names. White supremacists across the country believe they know what Trump is doing -- playing a clever, necessary word game. Alleged killer Jeremy Christian, after all, was hurling racist and anti-immigrant insults before the attack on the train. "I'm sure he would repudiate any association with people like me," white nationalist Jared Taylor told The New Yorker last year, "but his support comes from people who are more like me than he might like to admit." Trump has indeed repudiated the support of white supremacists. "I don't need his endorsement; I certainly wouldn't want his endorsement," he said last August when told that former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke was backing him with robocalls in Louisiana. Trump has continued to publicly reject the support of white nationalists when asked about it, but his critics assume his heart isn't really in these repudiations -- not necessarily because he's a racist, but because he values his political base above all else. That base is militantly anti-establishment and nostalgic for a bygone America ("Make America Great Again!"), which almost by definition means that it includes some white supremacists. Trump, unlike his bevy of Republican-primary opponents last year, embraced the idea of a massive wall along the southern border as the signature issue of his campaign. "They're bringing drugs," he famously said of illegal immigrants. "They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." White nationalists heard this rhetoric and rushed to support his longshot campaign. "Voting against Donald Trump at this point is really treason to your heritage," Duke declared. "We Are All Donald Trump Now -- Left Moves to Ban Truth About Immigration," the alt-right anti-immigration website VDARE headlined. That feeling -- that we are all Donald Trump now -- certainly wasn't reserved for racists during the campaign. Many voters who felt boxed out of the American Dream in the post-Great Recession U.S., who were sick of the political "elites" looking out for themselves rather than ordinary Americans, embraced Trump. They liked the candidate's unconventional stances and that this brash businessman was willing to say things that the professional politicians weren't. "For many, many years, when I would say these things [about immigration], other white people would call me names: 'Oh, you're a hatemonger, you're a Nazi, you're like Hitler,'" white supremacist and American Freedom Party leader William Johnson told Mother Jones magazine last spring. "Now they come in and say, 'Oh, you're like Donald Trump.'" Johnson, who the Trump campaign selected -- and then quickly de-selected -- as a delegate for the California primary, added: "I just hope to show how I can be mainstream and have these views. I can be a white nationalist and be a strong supporter of Donald Trump and be a good example to everybody." Another prominent white supremacist, Richard Spencer, said during the campaign that he didn't think Trump shared his racial views. But, he added, "Trump, on a gut level, kind of senses that this is about demographics, ultimately. We're moving into a new America." The supposed threat of that new America, and the political rhetoric of politicians and others who are attempting to take advantage of it, alarms many Americans -- including some with violent tendencies. "Get the f--k out,'' Christian was yelling at two girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab, on that Portland MAX train last Friday. "Go home, we need Americans here!'' Christian is accused of stabbing to death Namkai-Meche and Best when they tried to protect the girls from him. "Death to the enemies of America!" Christian barked Tuesday when entering a courtroom in downtown Portland. "You call it terrorism. I call it patriotism.'' White nationalists reject that there is any connection between the anti-immigrant rhetoric that fueled Trump's rise and Christian's actions. VDARE's James Fulford insisted Tuesday that Christian is "a supporter of Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein," not Trump. He pointed readers to a January Facebook post by the alleged killer. Fulford called attempts to link Christian's violent militancy with Trump's rhetoric "nonsense, of course -- part of the emerging Ruling Class campaign to suppress white a.k.a. American speech." -- Douglas Perry The federal agency that issued a permit for a pro-Trump free speech rally in Portland planned for Sunday will not revoke the permit after Mayor Ted Wheeler called on the agency to do so. Wheeler made the request in the wake of the double murder of two heroes protecting teens from racist and islamophobic vitriol on the MAX. The United States General Services Administration announced Wednesday morning its decision to allow the event to continue, saying in a statement, "since the permit was lawfully obtained to assemble at this federal location, GSA has no basis to revoke the permit." The agency oversees the Terry Schrunk Plaza property across from Portland City Hall, where the rally is set to take place. The organizer of Sunday's event, Vancouver native Joey Gibson, said he plans to continue Sunday's demonstration with or without a permit. Gibson applied for the permit on May 10 and received approval for his demonstration on May 15. "It doesn't matter what they do," Gibson said. "We'll be down there regardless." He added that revoking the permit would have posed a constitutional issue. Wheeler called on the federal agency to "IMMEDIATELY REVOKE" the permit for Sunday's demonstration and not to issue a permit for an anti-Muslim event scheduled for June 10 in a Facebook post Monday, saying the events could "only exacerbate an already difficult situation." The anti-Muslim demonstration organizer, Scott Presler, announced Wednesday that he would cancel the event, saying that Wheeler's "inflammatory" requests to cancel protests could endanger people who might attend. Wheeler's request drew criticism from First Amendment advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union and local conservative leaders. "I am a firm supporter of the First Amendment, no matter the views expressed," Wheeler said in a statement about the feds' decision Wednesday. "I believe we had a case to make about the threats to public safety posed by this rally at this place and at this time." The mayor said it's his job to protect public safety. He urged organizers to "exercise common sense and to help us keep the peace." Local and federal law enforcement will be present, he said. "I urge everyone participating to reject violence," Wheeler said. "Our city has seen enough." --Jessica Floum 503-221-8306 Micah Fletcher, the man who survived being stabbed on a MAX train in Portland in an attack that killed two others, spoke to TV stations Tuesday, saying he is trying to heal spiritually and physically but is struggling in the aftermath of Friday's violence. Speaking with KGW (8), Fletcher said he is just focusing on trying to get better. "I got stabbed in the neck on my way to work, randomly, by a stranger I don't know, for trying to just be a nice person," said the 21-year-old Portland State University student. "Like, I don't know what to do after that, you know. Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35-year-old arrested in the killing of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53, was arraigned Tuesday. During his court appearance, he ranted from behind protective glass about free speech and called himself a patriot. Friends of Micah David-Cole Fletcher posted these photos on a GoFundMe site Saturday to help raise money for his recovery and hospital expenses. Fletcher survived a knife attack aboard a MAX train Friday night after he stepped in to defend two girls who were being harassed with racial taunts, police and witnesses said. (GoFundMe site) He's accused of pulling a knife and striking in the neck the three men, who came to the aid of two girls who were the target of Christian's racist vitriol aboard the MAX train as it pulled into the Hollywood transit station, according to police and witnesses. In an interview with ABC, Fletcher, who was released from the hospital Monday night, said Portlanders must work together to protect each other. Fletcher said the city is open to be home to anyone who wants. "If you live here, move here, or if you want to call this city home -- it is your home," KATU (2) reported Fletcher said. "And we must protect each other like that is the truth, no matter what the consequences. "The Muslim community, especially in Portland, needs to understand that there are a lot of us that are not going to stand by and let anybody whether they are from here or not scare you into thinking you can't be a part of this town, this city, this community, or this country," Fletcher said. Micah Fletcher to Muslim community: 'We won't let anybody scare you into thinking you can't be a part of this town, this country' pic.twitter.com/vp8Qhye9FT KATU News (@KATUNews) May 30, 2017 He told KPTV (12) that the community needs to support the families of the victims. "We must stand hand-in-hand with one another and find a way to start ending the anger and the hatred and to not allow anger and hatred to flood our city streets with violence and with the destruction that can come with it," he to the Portland news station. He also said he's not a hero, instead deflecting that praise to Best and Namkai-Meche. "It was the right thing to do," Fletcher said Tuesday. "I'm not a hero, nobody special. I'm a kid from Portland. ... they will always be heroes in the eyes of this city." Fletcher attended Christian's court hearing Tuesday, sitting with his father beside him in the first row between police investigators and deputies. Fletcher is a poet passionate about social injustice. One of his poems, which rails against the predudices faced by Muslims, won a 2013 poetry slam. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive On Wednesday, the Manchester Muslim community posted an open letter addressed to "the families and loved ones of Taliesin Meche, Rick Best & Micah Fletcher, killed and injured while standing up for Love in Portland." "Your sons are our sons," the letter began, "your brothers are our brothers." The city of Manchester is still reeling from an attack after an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 that killed 22 people, including seven children under 18. On Friday, Jeremy Christian, 35, slashed the throats of Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23, Rick Best, 53, and Micah Fletcher, 21, on a MAX train after the three men tried to defend two young women from Christian's racist tirade. Namkai-Meche and Best did not survive. "Today, the world needs people like your sons," continued the letter. "Heroes from all backgrounds and faiths who stand up for love, unity, and the dignity of humankind. Heroes who prove that those who try to spread hate, evil, and division, will not win." You can read the full letter below: Open letter - Manchester 31st of May 2017 From the Manchester (Muslim) community, and from all those around the world who believe in Love, To the families and loved ones of Taliesin Meche, Rick Best & Micah Fletcher, killed and injured while standing up for Love in Portland: Your sons are our sons, your brothers are our brothers. Today, the world needs people like your sons. Heroes from all backgrounds and faiths who stand up for love, unity, and the dignity of humankind. Heroes who prove that those who try to spread hate, evil, and division, will not win. Rick, Taliesin and Micah your sons, brothers, and friendshave proven that very point through their actions, compassion and courage. They were the embodiment of the best values of humanity. Our hearts were already filled with sorrow and grief for the twenty-two innocent victims who died in our city, Manchester. Twenty-two lives taken by hatred and cowardice. The pain for your loved ones adds a heavy weight to that grief. We will always be grateful to them and remember them, together with all the victims of terror and hatred across the globe and throughout times. We condemn in the utmost the hateful and wretched ideologies of ISIS, of violent racist extremists, and of all those who would spread hate and violence. We remember and honour the victims of terrorist attacks around the world, from Manchester to Kabul, Brussels to Baghdad, Chibok to Paris. Together with the victims of attacks worldwide, we call for the world to #TurnToLove. We join the call of Mohamad el Bachiri, who launched an appeal for a Struggle of Love, after his wife was killed in the Brussels terror attacks, to unite humanity around the most beautiful of human values: Love. His video appeal on Facebook and twitter (#JihadDamour) was supported by 12 Million people around the globe, and together with them we salute those who chose Love and stand up for it. We stand with all those who believe that love is stronger than hatred. For the memory of your sons, and the many victims around the world, we pray. As #WeStandTogether, we will overcome. Signatories from across the Manchester Muslim Community: - Imam Irfan Chisti MBE Manchester Central Mosque - Imam Muhamad Imran - Darul Uloom, Longsight - Allaama Arshad Misbahi - North Jamia Mosque, Cheetham Hill - Shaykh Abu Yusha Yasin - Cheadle - Hafiz Moin Akhtar - Manchester Central Mosque - Qari Muhammad Ozair Tayyib - Stockport Masjid - Shaykh Qari Muhammad Tayyib - Jamia Rassolia, Whaley Range - Mr. Qadir Chohan Chair of MCOM - Manchester Council of Mosques - Lady Kay Baig - ICA Manchester - Miss Saleena Farooq, - LLB (Hons) Solicitor- Mrs Tahira Shaffi, LLB, Solicitor - Mr. Sajjad Karim MEP, Conservative Party - Mr. Afzal Khan - CBE, MEP, Labour Party - Mr. Fesl Reza Khan Chair, GMMC, Greater Manchester Muslim Community - Mr. Ismael Lea South Director, The Salam Project (Moss Side Manchester) You can read more about the movement here. Comments on this story have been turned off. If you'd like to comment, please go here. -- Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker BERLIN A charity says it is investigating two of its employees working with refugees in Greece in connection with allegations of "serious misconduct." The statement from Portland-based Mercy Corps comes after Greek judicial authorities ordered a probe into claims staff at an unnamed European Union-funded non-governmental organization sexually exploited refugees and misused money intended for their welfare. Mercy Corps said in the statement posted Tuesday it has "zero tolerance for any form of harassment, exploitation, fraud or theft." It pledged cooperation with Greek authorities and program funders. It said the employees mentioned in a call through its complaint hotline are on temporary paid leave pending an investigation by an expert in victims' rights. It provided no details on the allegations, citing the need to protect the complainant's privacy and the investigation's integrity. -- The Associated Press Wednesday 31 May 2017 8:42am Violence and abuse in teenage relationships is a serious problem in New Zealand but does not receive the same level of attention as violence in adult relationships, an Issues Paper released today says. Adolescence is a key time to intervene and support young people to build healthy relationship skills, author Dr Melanie Beres of the University of Otago says in the paper, released by the NZ Family Violence Clearinghouse. The paper found: 29 per cent of New Zealand secondary students reported being hit or harmed by another person in the previous year (Youth 2012 study) 20 per cent of female and 9 per cent of male secondary school students reported having experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in the previous year. The majority of incidents were perpetrated by a boyfriend, girlfriend or friend. 21 per cent of women who stayed in womens refuges were aged 15-19 years. Dr Beres says prevention is key to addressing this problem. A key part of prevention is transforming the underlying gender norms that shape and enable abuse. For example, boys are taught to be tough, strong and in control. They are taught that they should want sex and its their job to initiate and get it. There have been numerous examples of this in the media in recent months. We need to provide alternative norms about both masculinity and femininity that value non-aggression and respect in boys while allowing for vulnerability. Efforts need to address all levels of society, from national policy and community norms to schools programmes and family awareness. Prevention and intervention efforts need to draw on international evidence of what works, but also work closely with local communities. Kaupapa Maori approaches to building healthy relationships and addressing adolescent relationship abuse also need to be developed. The New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse is the national centre for family and whanau violence research and information. It is funded by Superu, managed by Auckland UniServices Ltd. and hosted by the University of Auckland. Read the full paper. For more information, contact: Dr Melanie Beres Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work University of Otago Tel 03 479 8736 Email melanie.beres@otago.ac.nz Thursday 1 June 2017 8:36am Associate Professor Chris Pemberton, of the Christchurch Heart Institute The Christchurch Heart Institute is working alongside the Heart Foundation as part of an innovative approach to cardiovascular disease (CVD) research, following a significant donation of $330,000 from Ryman Healthcare yesterday. The 2016-17 charity partnership between Ryman Healthcare and the Heart Foundation, which has funded the Heart Foundation Clinical Fellowship, will support a clinical research study, looking into the scope and make-up of cardiovascular disease in residents of Ryman Healthcare facilities. Associate Professor Chris Pemberton, of the Christchurch Heart Institute, based at the University of Otago, Christchurch, is behind the idea to run the study which will provide a clearer picture about the CVD risk in New Zealands retirement healthcare sector. It is exciting to be working with the Heart Foundation, who have informed residents of Ryman Healthcare facilities about the study, laying the foundation for the project to proceed. Ryman residents who volunteer to take part in the study, will benefit from increased awareness of their overall health and any cardiovascular risk. The information we gather at the Christchurch villages and others around the country will be used to raise the standard of cardiovascular care in New Zealand, he said. The study will begin at Ryman retirement villages in Christchurch, and gradually roll-out across the country, which is something Associate Professor Pemberton is looking forward to. We want to get going in 2017, firstly putting systems in place, with a view to starting the first of the studies later this year. The Christchurch Heart Institute, a University of Otago Research Centre, is renowned globally for their contribution to CVD research. In particular, the discoveries of blood hormones associated with heart disease which have led to specific blood tests for heart issues, now being used routinely in clinics all around the world. This project is aimed at taking what we know in a hospital setting and applying that knowledge in the primary health sector. Leading to better management of cardiovascular disease, before hospital admission becomes necessary. Heart Foundation Chief Executive Tony Duncan, is delighted to have been part of the Ryman Healthcare charity partnership for 2016-17. He believes Rymans donation will undoubtedly support many people in the aged care sector who are impacted by heart disease, which is New Zealands biggest killer. Given the high incidences of heart disease in the aged care sector, this will make a significant contribution to the management of heart disease among the aged. For further information, contact: Paula de Roeper Communications Manager Christchurch Heart Institute Mob 027 316 0571 Tel 03 364 0294 Email paula.deroeper@otago.ac.nz Dorita Munro PR Manager Heart Foundation Mob 027 261 1394 Tel 09 571 4663 Email doritam@heartfoundation.org.nz This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Eleven months ago, The Dow Chemical Co. dealt a blow to the Great Lakes Bay Region with a plan to cut 700 jobs. In pursuit of a $130 billion merger with DuPont Co., which would combine two of the biggest chemical companies in the country, Dow acquired Dow Corning Corp. and sought to shed overlapping positions by cutting 2,500 jobs, 4 percent of its global workforce. In Greensboro, North Carolina, 130 people working at a Dow silicones plant learned that it would be shut down. A silicones factory in Yamakita, Japan, faced the same fate. But something of a regional rebound came on Tuesday: Dow Midlands top employer and taxpayer said it planned to bring a new plant to Midland and fill 140 jobs. The new plant is the shuttered one in Greensboro; Dow isnt transferring the entire physical facility from Greensboro to Midland, but rather plans to truck pieces of equipment to its Michigan Operations and old Dow Corning sites in Midland and Auburn. The intent is to replicate the companys former Greensboro operations. In Midland, Were actually adding a brand new plant and a brand new department, said Rich Wells, site director at Dows Michigan Operations. There will be a few employees transferring from North Carolina to Midland, but not very many, Wells said. Dow from now to the end of the year plans to fill those 140 positions 80 chemical process operators and 60 logistics technicians with Midland and Great Lakes Bay Region bodies. But that may be difficult. Were worried very much about whether there are enough skilled individuals in this region, Wells said. We hope there is, but we know we may not get 140 people with the skills needed. There is a significant and immediate local need for chemical process operators, according to Dow, Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works! and Delta College. The colleges 13-week, 520-hour Chemical Process Fast Start job training session begins June 5. Delta is currently not accepting applications for any sessions, but the college posts updates and more information at www.delta.edu/faststart Candidates looking to score a chemical process operator position with Dow, which Wells said pays between $16 and $24 per hour, need either an associates degree in chemical process technology, the Fast Start training or four years of military experience with training in the technology. Positions for logistics technicians, which pay $13 to $15 an hour, require a high school diploma. Dow says the positions are full-time and offer benefits including medical, dental, 401(k) and vacation pay. See more info at dow.com/careers. These are not temporary or seasonal jobs, Wells said. Theyre good jobs. Dow is casting the net a little wider this time in advertising and recruiting to add to some 3,000 employees at Michigan Operations; the company is seeking qualified candidates within a 60-mile radius, according to Wells. Were pushing hard in the Flint area (and) the Lansing area, which is historically not something weve done, he said. Wed love to see people from the Great Lakes Bay Region get it. But recent hiring has shown us that we really struggle to find that talent here in this region. Dow joins many other companies in an effort to revive manufacturing in the U.S. Andrew Liveris, Dows chairman and CEO, regularly makes headlines for his relations with President Trump to further that agenda. Trump chose Liveris to head the American Manufacturing Council, which includes CEOs from Ford Motor Co., U.S. Steel Corp., General Electric Co. and others. They aim to boost jobs and innovation while slashing business regulations. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. recently extended the deadline from 2022 to 2025 for Dows $61.4 million, 15-year tax credit, which dictates Dow must create 1,700 jobs in Michigan. The 140 jobs Dow plans to add between now and the end of the year would likely count toward that requirement, a MEDC spokesperson said. Bringing the silicones plant to Midland is part of what Liveris, at Dows 120th annual stockholders meeting, called a sweeping, $400 million transformation of its Michigan Operations site. Thirty-six plants and 800 buildings sit on 2,500 acres at the Michigan Operations site. Thats up from 30 plants, 550 buildings and 1,900 acres before Dow acquired Dow Corning, according to Wells. The site manufactures specialty products for the automotive, agricultural, paper, pharmaceutical and bioscience industries, and has its own wastewater treatment plant, incinerator and hazardous waste landfill. Dow expects the silicone plant to begin operation in third quarter 2017. Were preparing the site so its attractive for growth, Wells said. He said Tuesdays addition and expansion shows Dow has done that, noting further integration and consolidation between Dow and Dow Corning will bring opportunities for several more announcements and investments in the near future. Midland Progressive Democrats will host a showing of the movie Gerrymandering June 5 at the Grace A Dow Library auditorium. The group will gather at 6:30 p.m. for a short business meeting before the 7 p.m. showing of the movie in the auditorium upstairs. According to the group, the government is being taken away from the democratic control of the governed through a process called gerrymandering, and it means that the political party that draws boundaries of political districts at the state or federal level can choose to weight the district with the voters they want to maintain a majority. Michigan is a state heavily impacted by gerrymandering, the group stated. Its made our government more extreme, polarized and paralyzed, and it needs to stop, it stated. Gerrymandering the movie, directed by Jeff Reichert, is a documentary describing how the process works to undermine democracy. A ballot initiative process will soon begin to gather signatures to put a Gerrymandering remedy in the Michigan Constitution. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Tuesday, May 30 12:50 a.m. Property was stolen from the 5200 block of Isabella Street. Monday, May 29 2:49 a.m. Deputies were sent to a report of a loud party with gunshots in Lincoln Township. They found fireworks were being used. The residents said they would be quieter. 6:54 a.m. An anonymous caller reported a person was staying at a Mount Haley Township home that was recently foreclosed by the county for back taxes. The person had not been evicted, and no action was taken. 2:50 p.m. Police investigated a hit and run traffic crash at George and East Carpenter streets. No one was hurt. 8:35 p.m. A deputy was sent to an Ingersoll Township home after an unknown woman called advising the residents they had rented five adult movies and had not returned them. The residents had not rented any movies. Sunday, May 28 12:37 a.m. A Flint man, 52, was arrested in Lincoln Township for driving while his license was suspended. A Sanford man, 51, who was riding in the vehicle, was arrested on a warrant and drug possession. A second passenger, a 46-year-old man from Gladwin County, was arrested on a warrant. 4:12 a.m. A Saginaw man, 28, was arrested in Lincoln Township for driving while his license was suspended. 9:07 p.m. Deputies responded to Homer Township for a report of loud music and gunfire. The 55-year-old man at the home said he would stop target practicing for the night and would turn down the music volume. 9:57 p.m. A deputy was sent to assist firefighters at a Jerome Township home. The resident, age 25, said he was using his medical marijuana and a fire had started. He extinguished the fire before officials arrived. 11:11 p.m. A Mills Township man, 21, was cited in that township for driving with an improper license plate. 11:27 p.m. Deputies investigated a hit and run traffic crash that occurred at M-18 and Fike Road. Saturday, May 27 2:03 a.m. Deputies assisted Midland Police with a report of an assault at a bar. 3:44 a.m. A Lee Township man, 30, was arrested in that township for drunken driving. 1:23 p.m. A deputy and two civilians extinguished a grass fire at the shoulder of Nine Mile and Nielsen roads. 2:07 p.m. A Homer Township woman reported eggs were thrown at her vehicle. There was no damage. 6:37 p.m. A deputy received a report of a vehicle being driving in Edenville Township with an improperly restrained small child. The vehicle was stopped and the child was moved to the appropriate seat. 9:16 p.m. A Hope Township man, 26, was arrested in Lincoln Township for drunken driving. He was stopped for driving 81 mph in a 55 mph zone, and was cited for speeding. 10:13 p.m. An Illinois woman, 61, was arrested in Edenville Township for drunken driving. Friday, May 26 11:35 a.m. Deputies investigated a report of trespassing in Larkin Township. 3:41 p.m. A Lee Township woman, 62, lost $2,000 to a scam involving paying a transaction fee on the purchase of land in Mexico. The woman does not own property in Mexico, but wired the money after a lengthy exchange of documents. BLOOMINGTON Results from forensic tests on a controversial DNA profile created for examination in the Donald Whalen murder case produced no match to anyone in law enforcement databases who may have been at the downtown Bloomington bar when Whalen's father was killed. Whalens legal team said Tuesday the results will not change its plans to ask for a new trial for their client, however. Whalen is serving 60 years for the 1991 death of William Whalen. The victim, found slain in the bar he owned on West Front Street, suffered 39 blunt trauma wounds and 33 stab wounds. Court-ordered tests were performed by the Illinois State Crime lab on May 12 using a DNA profile compiled by combining three DNA samples from knives found at the crime scene. The Illinois State Police challenged the testing, arguing the state crime lab could lose its access to the federal database if scientists were forced to enter the unconventional sample into the state's database to search for a possible match. Recent court filings did not indicate any sanctions imposed against the state for its compliance with the court order. The tests were ordered by then-Chief Judge Elizabeth Robb in 2014 and most recently on May 5 by Judge Scott Drazewski following three years of court proceedings. The court battle on the composite DNA sample lasted more than a year. The defense hoped the DNA testing would identify alternative suspects whose DNA already was on file. Defense lawyer Elliot Slosar, an attorney with the Chicago-based Exoneration Project, said the recent results confirm Donald Whalens exclusion from the DNA found on the knives. In the coming weeks we will file a petition for a new trial based upon Mr. Whalens actual innocence, which at this juncture is undeniable in light of the exclusion of his DNA on the weapons used to murder his father. The DNA sample was compiled by defense expert Dr. Karl Reich, who has been highly critical of the state crime lab's work on post-conviction cases. Tests performed in 2012 on other items of evidence showed a mixture of male DNA profiles. One was consistent with the victim and the other has yet to be identified. Whalen's requests for DNA tests on 30 items dates back to 2005. A June 29 hearing is scheduled to review the status of the case. STREATOR Investigators are searching for the cause of a fire at a vacant Streator home, discovered early Wednesday morning. Streator Fire Department spokesman Bryan Park said a passerby reported the fire at 110 E. Sumner St. at 1:24 a.m. The first crews were on the scene in less than a minute and found fire and smoke coming from a room in the one-story home. Firefighters were able to get the fire under control in less than five minutes, he said. Firefighters searched the home but it was apparent that the home was vacant, Park said. Firefighters remained on the scene until 2:44 a.m. In all, 15 Streator firefighters responded to the blaze. There were no major injuries to fire department personnel. ComEd and Advanced Medical Transport also provided support at the scene. The home sustained moderate smoke damage throughout, but the room where the fire originated sustained severe fire, smoke and water damage. The Streator Fire Department, Streator Police Department, and Illinois State Fire Marshals Office are investigating the cause. It was the third fire reported in Streator in less than a week. Last Wednesday, the department was called to 409 N. Otter Creek at 11:58 p.m. and found heavy fire and smoke coming from the rear of a home. The cause of that fire remains under investigation. On Monday, around 5:35 p.m., fire crews were called to a home at 212 Frech St. and found the single-story structure with heavy fire coming from the rear. That fire was determined to be accidental, Park said. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is expected to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official said Wednesday, confirming a move certain to anger allies that spent years negotiating the landmark agreement to reduce carbon emissions. But there may be "caveats in the language" that Trump uses to announce the withdrawal, leaving open the possibility that the decision isn't final, according to the official, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the decision before the official announcement. Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning: "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Nearly 200 nations, including the United States under President Barack Obama's administration, agreed in 2015 to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change. Withdrawing would leave the United States aligned only with Russia among the world's industrialized economies in rejecting action to combat climate change. During Trump's overseas trip last week, European leaders pressed him to keep the U.S. in the pact. Trump, who has called global warming a "hoax," promised during his presidential campaign to pull the U.S. out of the deal. Word of Trump's decision comes a day after the president met with Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Like his boss, Pruitt has questioned the consensus of climate scientists that the Earth is warming and that man-made climate emissions are to blame. Since taking office, Trump and Pruitt have moved to delay or roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions while pledging to revive the long-struggling U.S. coal mines. What is not yet clear is whether Trump plans to initiate a formal withdrawal from the Paris accord, which under the terms of the agreement could take three years, or exit the underlying U.N. climate change treaty on which the accord was based. The U.S. is the world's second largest emitter of carbon, following only China. Beijing, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to meeting its targets under the Paris accord, recently canceling construction of about 100 coal-fired power plants and investing billions in massive wind and solar projects. As the crow flies, Bozeman, Mont., and Normal, Ill., are about 1,100 miles apart. It's a lot further when you compare the actions of two men who both wanted to be elected to public office. Republican Greg Gianforte ran to win Montana's sole seat in Congress. Marc Tiritilli, a Bloomington High Shool teacher, wanted to be elected mayor of Normal. Last Thursday, they both made headlines. But like opposite ends of a bell curve, their actions couldn't be further apart. Gianforte, in a pre-election meeting, body-slammed a news reporter who was doing what he was supposed to do ask questions. Two days later, he won the election and apologized, although he still faces a criminal charge. Poll-watchers cautioned that a number of ballots were cast before the incident occurred. Tiritilli, who was within 11 votes of beating incumbent Normal Mayor Chris Koos in April, politely declined a full recount or challenge of voter signatures. He says he plans another try at elected office. "There were many legitimate, unanswered questions concerning the (ballots), and the work we did answered them all," he said. "I want everyone to know that I feel confident of the outcome." Why draw a parallel? Because the men represent the worst and best of our political system, reflecting a national bipolar personality swing that seems to occur more frequently every day. It no longer is a surprise when someone says or does something that is hurtful or untrue. It is a surprise when someone says or does something that is helpful or thoughtful. We have elected people at the local and national levels who do not behave as our parents taught us. We tolerate professional athletes and actors and other public figures who berate people for their beliefs or their sexuality, who lash out on social media when they feel they've been wronged, who beat strangers or their girlfriends. This is not the America we want. The incident in Bozeman epitomized our new America, where people in power not only think they can ridicule, publicly hate or physically abuse those they see as less powerful or less important. They do it, and it seems to be happening more and more. That kind of classism partly sparked a revolution more than 230 years ago. America celebrates diversity, free speech, religious tolerance, and a variety of political beliefs. All can be practiced without hatred or violence. We elected a president amid a divisive campaign full of hate, despair and fear-mongering. Usually, while politics can get nasty, most of the combatants shake hands and move forward once the votes have been tallied. Not this year. Not in many parts of America. It certainly wasn't in Bozeman. Thankfully, it was in Normal. BLOOMINGTON Local election officials hope the state will budget enough money to do automatic voter registration properly. Have they figured out how theyre going to pay for it and implement it? That will be key for its success, said McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael. It would be a good thing if it worked perfectly, but were awaiting further details on it. The state House and Senate sent Gov. Bruce Rauner legislation that would automatically add residents to the voter rolls when they visit state offices, including those of the secretary of state, who oversees driver's licenses and vehicle registration. Residents would be able to opt out at the beginning of the registration process. Gov. Bruce Rauner promised Tuesday to sign the bill, which would go into effect immediately if signed. Illinois would join several states to approve automatic voter registration since 2015, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. The District of Columbia also approved it. "It's exciting to see access to voting become easier," wrote McLean County Board member Carlo Robustelli on Facebook. Logan County Clerk Sally Turner, however, said, "Most county clerks have resigned to the fact that (automatic voter registration) will be the law, but we are all apprehensive in the way it will occur." "The state doesn't have any money to be able to perfect the system," she said. "If all automatic registrations are done electronically through agencies and uploaded to the state board of elections within the proper time period, then disseminated to the various counties in a timely fashion, I am sure it can have success. ... We will wait to see that occur." Instead, election officials could be left with incomplete or duplicate registrations, as they often are when residents register at the secretary of state's office at the same time as getting a driver's license, Michael said. Many of our problems come from voters who said they registered at the (secretary of state's office), so I dont know if they are overworked or if theres a glitch somehow in the information getting to us, she said. Somehow all that information has to get fed into us, and theres an expense there. Bloomington Election Commission Executive Director Paul Shannon said tweaking the process alongside automatic registration could mean "registrations would come to us better filled out. It may reduce some of our time for verifying the records, he said. Turner said she's skeptical about how much the bill will increase voter turnout. "Grass-roots campaigns to get individuals registered to vote may sound archaic, but it is genuine and personable, and I believe that is what potential voters want. ... (They) give individuals a passion, then commitment to want to go vote," she said. "Registering is simply a process, not a conscious act, when it is automatic." The legislation is Senate Bill 1933. Most presidents have a seemingly endless line of contact points designed to filter out non-pressing issues since the president has a pretty big job to do in leading the country. Donald Trump isn't your usual president though, and as is such, he's developed a habit of handing out his personal cellphone number to other world leaders. For the most part, such a decision wouldn't phase us other than the fact that, you know, it goes against traditional protocol and also puts our entire country at risk of imminent attack but with news of who he's been contacting privately, we have to admit: we're a little jealous. According to former U.S. officials who have been privy to these exchanges, so far, out of an undisclosed number of people who have been gifted with the president's seven digits, the only person who has taken advantage of this ridiculously unorthodox approach to presidential propriety is Canada's current Prime Minister, the adored-by-the-internet Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau. I don't know about you, but I'd like to have my own private conversations with him. Unsurprisingly, the other adored-by-the-internet politician, France's newly elected president Emmanuel Macron, was given Trump's direct line as well, but no official word has leaked on whether or not he would ever use it. As is more closely discussed in Cosmopolitan's report, the primary issue with using these personal lines for communication between high-powered government officials is one of national security. Individual cellphone lines are susceptible to "eavesdropping," and, as Donald Trump once accused former president Barack Obama of doing to him, wire-tapping meaning that any conversation the president has with another official could be less-than-securely-private. Alternatively, secure lines are available for such conversations in the "White House Situation Room, the Oval Office, and the presidential limousine." Jesus, Trump. We all want private conversations with Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron, but you have a country to run! [h/t Cosmopolitan] Splash photo via Alex Wong / Staff If print is dead, don't tell 8-Ball founder, Lele Saveri, who is gearing up for a week of fundraising events to showcase the 8-Ball Community. The happenings include a benefit dinner, telethon talent show, radio party, and the fifth anniversary of the group's biannual zine fair. The week kicks off tonight with a benefit dinner at Mission Chinese Food, serving up a membership drive and performances by 8-Ball Community DJs. "We are doing the dinner for cheap," says Saveri, "It's not really for the art gala crowd." Later in the week, on Thursday June 1st, 8-Ball TV will produce a televised talent show and fundraising drive, in the spirt of '80s telethons, hosted at Urban Stages in Midtown Manhattan. Fifteen different talents, from rappers to sword dancers to magicians, will vie for crowd-approval. Space Billiards in Koreatown will play host to the two-day zine fair over the weekend, where passersby can find self-published zines laid out across pool tables, courtesy of 8-Ball's network of friends. From individual artists to political activist groups to more established zine publishers, like New York's Printed Matter, the 8-Ball zine fair is all about inclusivity. On Saturday night, the community radio station will provide the soundtrack at the zine fair afterparty. 8-Ball, a loose knit community founded in 2012, might be best know for The Newsstand, a popup shop in 2015 that offered zines and other print works at a Brooklyn subway interchange. The Newsstand garnered press from the New York Times and went on to be reproduced at MoMA during the New Photography exhibition. Between zine fairs and educational events, the volunteer-powered 8-Ball community runs a publishing imprint, produces radio and television programming, and manages a public zine archive. With roots in Williamsburg, the group now holds court in the basement of a Chinatown retail shop that's part HQ part hangout. The fundraising efforts are in part to help 8-Ball secure a new space as well as expand the mission. Saveri has ambitions to take 8-Ball in a direction with more emphasis on education and community engagement. Lele Saveri; Photo by Blaine Skrainka Saveri, a photographer, former VICE Italy photo editor and Milan gallery curator, grew his affection for zines before the internet came to be. He still sees zines as important to art, despite today's media saturation. "The origins of zines were to showcase art in the cheapest way as possible," says Saveri. "That changed with emergence of blogs and online platforms -- the immediacy of zines were replaced by blogs. But for an artist now, the zine takes the place of a book, which are difficult and complicated and expensive to put together." While you might assume the world wide web to be at odds with DIY print zines, Saveri spins it positively. "We know the internet has a lot of negative sides; we also know that the internet started as a free platform for people to create and share." In that way, he maintains, the internet and zines have mirrored DNA. Before 8-Ball got going, Saveri felt that many zine fairs were too limited by theme -- art, music, comics, feminist, anarchist -- and he wanted to do something that highlighted everybody in the same spot. This inclusiveness, along with a firm stand against corporate monetization remain part of the ethos at 8-Ball. As brand managers scroll Instagram for the latest influencer, it's easy to imagine 8-Ball's DIY coolness serving as an avatar for retail clothing or a software product (and it's not that there haven't been offers) but Saveri maintains his intentions to avoid making money or working with companies. His concerns aren't simply about the purity of 8-Ball, itself a brand in a way, but hint at a more existential anxiety that he describes in terms of the "scheduling and structuring of society." More simply put, brand support is superficial, he says, it follows trends. "They'll say, we need to find a community or scene or artist that represents the moment. And next season we'll move on. As an artist you get used as a flag to sell products, then thrown away and replaced by the next artist. That's not real support for art." On the flip side, "people are convinced that, if ten thousand people following me [on social media] I should get money. That's the way our society works. I'm against that mindset." Saveri recognizes the obvious conflicts of staying true in a consumerist society; the 8-Ball volunteer force all work other jobs, corporate or otherwise, but he holds, "If i can, while I can, I'd like to prevent this project from being governed by brands." The now New York-based Saveri, like a true Italian who grew up in Rome, compares brands to the medieval church. "A lot of artists were supported by the church. Caravaggio was gay, supported by the church, and died in exile!" he says, sincerely, while being quick to clarify that he's not comparing himself to Caravaggio. "At some point, someone just needs to stand against the commercialization." And so, the group pushes on, against the odds. "It's not a race," says Saveri. "8-Ball is not a scene or community that's trying to be the best at any one thing. We're just try to make the best we can, to make the best effort, and be as inclusive as we can. It's really all about what the volunteers put into it." Splash photo via Support 8 Ball Community Inc HERE -- In what might even break the top 30 of most embarrassing political moments from 2017, Republican congressman and pro-Trumpcare Darrell Issa hid on the roof today so he didn't have to deal with the several hundred people gathered outside his office. Issa coward, folks. Here he is, taking pictures of the crowd below. Look at this mess. Here he is, pre freak out. Issa won his position by a measly 1,600 votes of 310,000-plus cast in 2016, has had to deal with backlash regarding his calls in D.C. over and over again. GQ made an apt comparison of Issa's roof antics to that of Michael Scott's full breakdown, you remember the one: In fact I see no difference. [h/t GQ] Image via Twitter This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions From The Man Who Was Thursday, one of the strangest and most novels ever written: Youve got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came it would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasnt; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all. Aristocrats were always anarchists, as you can see from the barons wars. The fundamental lie of Libertarian anarchy (which is to say, Libertarianism) is that essentially nothing justifies the existence of the the state and that any state powerful enough to stop evil too powerful to exist. What that boils down to in real life is a political ideology which preaches: Whenever a gang of rich people are raping a poor woman or robbing a poor man, it is violence for the state to step in and stop it, but it is the invisible Hand of the Market at work for the poor woman and man to suffer the rape or theft and the rich to profit by it. Some will object that Libertarians object to rape and theft. In theory, yes. But it is not and never has been the focus of their energies. On the contrary, the great evil and sole focus of their passion is fear of the state as the Number One abuser of what they invariably call violence in ordering the common good. For the Libertarian, *every* application of force by the state is an evil that impinges on human liberty. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from Libertarians who endorse that insane dogma. They dream of some individual initiative or some Invisible Hand solution to the problem (and so are theoretically opposed to rape and theft by the immensely powerful and rich). But their monomaniac obsession is with a stateless society that will allow the rich and powerful to prey on the poor and weak at willwith, of course, themselves cast in the role of the virtuous rich and powerful who would not do that sort of thing. Libertarianism is the reliable handmaid of corrupt, predatory rich and the reliable enemyand moralist scoldof the poor and helpless. Thats why Ayn Rand disciple Paul Ryan (and his Good White Christian Libertarian lackeys) stand by a lawless sex predator who has, again and again, robbed workers of their just wages and tried to cheat widows out of their property. Libertarians are the reliable defenders of the lawless rich against their victims. Iraqi Shi'ite Militia Backed By Iran Recaptures Border Area With Syria 05/30/17 Source: RFE/RL An Iraqi Shi'ite force backed by Iran has said it pushed Islamic State (IS) militants out of villages on the border with Syria on May 29, in a step toward reopening a supply route to send Iranian weapons to President Bashar al-Assad. The Popular Mobilization Forces described its advance to the border with Syria north of the town of Baaj on May 29 as "a Ramadan miracle," referring to the Muslim fasting month that started over the weekend. For the Popular Mobilization Forces, reclaiming the territory is a step toward achieving a linkup between Baghdad and Assad's forces in Syria, reopening a critical highway for supplying weapons to Assad's army, and giving the Syrian leader a significant advantage in fighting the 6-year-old armed rebellion against him. "This will be the first step to the liberation of the entire border," said Ahmad al-Asadi, a spokesman for the Iranian-backed militia. But the Iraqi forces backed by Iran cannot as yet link up with the Syrian Army and allied Iranian-backed militias in Syria, as Assad's forces have not as yet reached the Iraqi border from the Syrian side, despite concerted efforts in recent weeks. To get there, they would have to pass through territory held by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces that the U.S. military has been training to fight IS. Iraq's Iranian-backed militia leaders say they are ready to move inside Syrian territory to assist Assad in battling rebel groups there. It is not known whether the Syrian Kurds would allow the Iraqi Shi'ite force to use their territory to reach Assad's troops, however, which are deployed further south and further west. The Popular Mobilization Forces are taking part in the U.S.-backed Iraqi campaign to defeat IS in its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul and surrounding Nineveh Province. The Iraq government's army has been focusing its efforts on dislodging the militants from Mosul, while the Iranian-backed forces have battled to reclaim the vast desert territory between Mosul and the Syrian border. While reporting nominally to Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, the Popular Mobilization Forces have Iranian military advisers, one of whom died last week fighting near Baaj. Iran backs militia forces in both Iraq and Syria, where it has helped to train and organize thousands of Shi'ite troops it has recruited from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Fighters from Lebanon's Hizballah also work closely with Iranian military commanders in Syria. Eight months into the Mosul campaign, IS fighters have been dislodged from all of the city except an enclave by the western bank of the Tigris River. Iraq's army over the weekend launched a new offensive to take the militants' enclave, which includes the densely populated Old City. With reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters Copyright (c) 2017 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org Iran's President Rouhani: Delivering Human Rights After the Election 05/31/17 Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran Rouhani's pathway to fulfill his promises: Utilize his power, negotiate the system, hold rights violators responsible, engage and empower civil society Rouhani: Delivering Human Rights After the Election (Download the PDF file) The re-election of President Hassan Rouhani on May 19, 2017 was due in large part to the perception by the Iranian citizenry that his government would do more to improve human rights in Iran than his rivals-an outcome clearly desired by a majority of voters. During Rouhani's campaign rallies, not only did he make explicit references to issues of political and social freedom and promises to uphold such freedoms in his second term, his supporters also repeatedly made clear their demands for improvements in human rights. Despite Iran's tradition of giving the incumbent a second term, Rouhani's re-election was uncertain. Many Iranians struggling with high unemployment and other economic problems did not see any improvement in their daily lives from Rouhani's signature achievement-the nuclear deal and easing of international sanctions. Yet even though the other candidates offered subsidies and populist proposals, and Rouhani's economic proposals were modest, he won by a large margin-far greater than his win in 2013. In addition to his rejection of populist economics, Rouhani was the only candidate that talked about human rights-and the more he focused on this issue, the more his support coalesced and strengthened. The implication is clear: the Iranian electorate was galvanized by his statements of support for social and political freedoms. This cannot be lost on hardliners, who, while occupying the main institutional levers of power in Iran, face a young, growing and digitally connected population who at every electoral opportunity has largely rejected the hardliners' vision. Historically, whenever reformists or moderates have secured electoral victories, hardliners who predominate in the country's judiciary and security and intelligence organizations have responded with increased repression. This occurred after the election of Mohammad Khatami in 1997 and 2001, the election of reformers to parliament in 2000 and 2016, and the election of Rouhani to his first term in 2013. It remains to be seen if Rouhani is prepared to navigate the backlash likely to come. Were his freedom and rights statements during the campaign political expediency, or a committed part of his political agenda? Will he have a comprehensive and practical policy and strategy for negotiating with un-elected centers of power who have resisted any meaningful improvement in human rights? Does he have the political will and ability to persuade and enlist the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to support him in this endeavor, as he did during the nuclear negotiations? During Rouhani's first term, he did not improve the human rights situation in the country. Pledges of greater political and social freedoms he made in 2013 were left unfulfilled in many areas. During this time, Rouhani and his supporters argued that his focus and political capital must be applied to resolving the nuclear crisis. His inaction on domestic issues, particularly human rights, was rationalized as a necessary product of this prioritization. Yet the issue of the nuclear deal is now behind him. At this point, no major power center in Iran appears to wish it undone. In addition, the overwhelming support for Rouhani extended by the country's intellectuals, artists, journalists, former political prisoners, and even the Green Movement leaders under house arrest will leave no excuse for Rouhani to postpone acting on promises that were clearly addressed by a sizable portion of Iranian civil society during the election season. In order to be successful, however, Rouhani will have to use every tool at his disposal as president: Rouhani must ensure that the institutions under his control-such as the Ministry of Intelligence, Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Culture-are in sync with his agenda and ready and willing to carry it out. This particularly applies to Rouhani's Ministry of Intelligence, which is currently one of the major human rights violators in Iran. He must utilize his power as the president and, in his capacity as the enforcer of the country's constitution, defend the people's legal rights and publicly communicate with those institutions committing human rights violations (such as the judiciary and parallel intelligence forces that include the Revolutionary Guards' Intelligence Organization) that they must cease such violations. Rouhani must work with Iran's elected and unelected bodies to advance the pledges he has made-sending bills to parliament, negotiating with the Revolutionary Guard and the country's supreme leader, and writing and speaking out publicly-so that the public will know who is behind the human rights violations. This will put pressure on the institutions committing the abuses domestically and internationally. Rouhani must also engage, empower and protect civil society, including activists and human rights defenders. He must allow them to engage in legislative processes, facilitating their input and consultation in all areas of state policy as well as their ability to monitor the performance of the government in any area of concern. He should allow them to engage robustly both domestically and internationally, facilitating their ability to advance his stated agenda of greater protection of citizens' rights. Also key to the outcome of Rouhani's efforts on human rights will be the role of the international community, particularly the European Union. Rouhani will be reaching out to EU member countries during his second term to strengthen economic and trade ties and attract foreign investment. These countries have also expressed keen interest in building trade and business ties with Iran. Yet in tandem with seeking economic ties, EU member countries should incorporate human rights concerns as a fundamental element of their overall policy towards Iran. Such a dual emphasis will not only signify the imperative of human rights improvements, it will also be essential to secure an environment in Iran where foreign businesses can operate in a sustainable and responsible way. While there are many areas in which rights violations need to be addressed in Iran, the major human rights demands that the Iranian people voiced to Rouhani during the election and which he himself made a centerpiece of his campaign-and which should thus be a key focus of the international community-include: Ending the house arrests of the Green Movement leaders Ending the politically motivated arrests of journalists and activists Improving women's rights Improving minority rights Expanding social and cultural freedoms Addressing labor rights violations Ending the House Arrests of the Green Movement Leaders During Rouhani campaign rallies and street celebrations following his victory, supporters chanted for the freedom of the three Green Movement leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Zahra Rahnavard, who have been under house arrest since February 2011 for their support of the peaceful protests that followed Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election. When asked about the house arrests on May 16, Rouhani replied: "We will go to the voting booths to end captivity." Ending the Politically Motivated Arrests of Journalists and Activists President Rouhani criticized the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) during his 2017 campaign rallies, arguing they are violating their mandate by interfering in politics. Yet he has done nothing to end the security establishment's-including the IRGC's Intelligence Organization, the judiciary, and the administration's own Intelligence Ministry-ongoing arrests and detainments of journalists and activists. "We want freedom of the press," he said on May 9 to a cheering crowd of supporters, "freedom of association, and freedom of thought!" Despite Rouhani's proclamations, dozens of journalists and political activists were arrested in the run-up to the elections, in addition to the numerous political prisoners who were arrested during his first term. Women's Rights Women's issues are increasingly taking the spotlight in Iranian elections, with candidates recognizing women as a key voting bloc. Rouhani promised to improve women's rights during his campaigns, but has yet to deliver substantial gains. Women, discriminated in law and practice and limited from full participation in the public sphere and in employment, have consistently called upon Rouhani to expand the scope of their political and social participation. "In the eight years before my government, women lost 860,000 jobs," he said at the first press conference of his second term on May 22. "In my government, they gained 750,000 jobs. This shows we believe we have a constitutional and religious duty to support women." Despite being banned from stadium events alongside men, women could be found in all of Rouhani's campaign events, demanding equality. On May 6, more than 180 women's rights activists signed a declaration stating their demands to end all gender discrimination and for women to fill "at least 30 percent" of ministerial positions. Minority Rights Rouhani received a higher proportion of votes in Iranian underdeveloped provinces dominantly populated by ethnic and religious minorities despite his rivals promising large cashback subsidies. He won 73 percent of the vote in the western province of Kurdistan, 73 percent in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, and 67 and 65 percent in Iran's Western and Eastern Azerbaijan provinces respectively. "On May 19, we will go and vote for the equal rights of all ethnic groups in Iran. We want all Iranians, whether Shia or Sunni or Ahl-e Hagh (Yarsani)," said Rouhani at a campaign rally on May 8. While Rouhani has been supportive of minority rights issues, activists continue to be imprisoned for peacefully advocating for the preservation of their culture. Religious and ethnic minorities suffer from institutionalized discrimination, and in the case of the Baha'is, an effective ban on the practice of their religion. Labor Rights While Rouhani pledged to workers in a speech marking Labor Day, May 1, 2017 that "We will take the interests of workers into consideration," labor activism in Iran is seen as a national security offense. Independent labor unions are prevented from functioning, workers are unable to negotiate freely and bargain collectively, strikers are often fired and risk arrest, and labor leaders are sentenced to long prison terms. Social and Cultural Rights Rouhani was strongly supported by Iran's artistic community, even though social and cultural rights are strictly policed by state organizations and under constant assault by religious conservatives and vigilante groups. "You have a problem with citizens and young people, fine. But what's your problem with (Iran's national poet) Ferdowsi? Why did you wipe his poems off city walls?" he said on May 17, addressing his rival Ebrahim Raisi. "You told the people of Mashhad that if they want art and artistic events, they should leave the city. Would you like to grab Iran and tell the people to leave the country?" Nevertheless, during Rouhani's first term concerts were canceled around the country after being attacked by extremists for being "un-Islamic" or for featuring female musicians, independent music producers sent to prison, members of Iran's fashion industry subjected to crackdowns by security forces, books refused publication and films banned, and mixed-gender parties regularly broken up by police forces. Greater artistic, cultural and social freedom continues to be a demand of Iranian civil society. Conclusion The enthusiasm generated among the Iranian citizenry by Rouhani's increasingly bold embrace of civil and political liberties, and the extent of his electoral win, delivered an unmistakable message regarding the people's priorities. Simply put, Rouhani was elected on a platform of human rights by a strong majority. Now, he has four years left to deliver. The electorate is expecting him to follow through on pledges that have been waiting for years. The international community, too, should demonstrate the same steadfast support for human rights that the Iranian citizenry has shown. Iranian Activist Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh: To Improve Women's Rights, Rouhani Must Curb Power of Security Agencies 05/31/17 Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran Prominent human rights lawyer and former political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh has called on newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani to improve gender equality in Iran by counteracting the policies of Iran's repressive security agencies. Iranian lawyers Nasrin Sotoudeh (L) and Farideh Gheirat "During the ninth and tenth governments (2005-09 under then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), women's organizations were obliterated under intense attack," Sotoudeh told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). "The truth is that Mr. Rouhani will not be able to carry out his promises regarding women without curbing the intelligence and security agencies. That's the first thing we need: protection for civil and women's rights activities." "Basically we need civil society foundations to formulate and convey policies, strategies and demands from women to the government," said Sotoudeh, who lives in Iran. "There was a period when these foundations came into existence, but they were crushed. We need these foundations to be a bridge between women in society and the various governmental bodies and get them involved in a common goal through mutual cooperation." Continued Sotoudeh: "Secondly, not even reform-minded governments have ever shown an inclination towards choosing women as cabinet ministers. Women's participation in government is no longer a taboo, and it would be unacceptable for a government that leans towards reform or moderation to form a cabinet without women." Charter on Citizen's Rights According to prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Farideh Gheirat, the Charter on Citizen's Rights, a non-binding document signed by Rouhani in December 2016, could be an important tool for the women's rights movement. "There might be a lot of criticism against the Charter for the Rights of Citizens for repeating the same points in the Constitution," said Gheirat, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners. "But I think Hassan Rouhani's attention to women's issues and call for equality between men and women are cause for great optimism. These things take time." "I voted for Rouhani and I expect him to make good on his promises to end discriminations against women in the laws," said Gheirat, who lives in Iran. "I know this is more of a responsibility for the legislature, but as the head of the executive branch and originator of the Charter on Citizen's Rights, the president can also help." According to Article 11, "Women have the right to active and effective participation in policymaking, legislation, management, implementation and supervision, and shall be provided equal social opportunities in accordance with Islamic norms." The charter has been criticized for being released without a path to implementation. During his campaign for the May 19 presidential election, Rouhani was the only candidate who spoke favorably about raising the status of women in society. On May 17 he announced a comprehensive plan to deal with "women's uneven progress in various areas such as education and health as well as their participation in the economy and politics." "It's wrong to think that men have a higher status or that they are more capable than women," said Rouhani on May 22 at his first press conference after his re-election. "Of course men are better at some professions and women are better at others. (God) has given both special qualities. But women are not lower than men and keeping them inside the house does not make sense from social or legal standpoints." AMD has long promised that its hotly anticipated Radeon Vega graphics cards will launch by the end of June. At its Computex keynote in Taipei, the company stayed true to its word, pledging to launch the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition on June 27. But that card is designed for data scientists, immersion engineers, and product designersnot gamers. And shortly after announcing the Frontier Editions release date, AMD crushed the spirits of hopeful PC enthusiasts even more. Radeon RX Vega, the GPUs high-end consumer iteration, will be launched during the Siggraph conference at the end of July. Thats two full months from now at the very least: Siggraph runs from July 30 to August 3, and nothing AMD CEO Lisa Su said guaranteed that launch meant available that day instead of paper launch. Thats a major bummer. Theres no way to sugarcoat it. The YouTube livestreams chat immediately exploded in colorful jeers. AMD tried to soften the blow by showing dual Radeon RX Vega graphics cards paired with a Ryzen Threadripper CPU plowing through Bethesdas superb Prey at 4K resolution. Thats impressive, sure, but the brief demo lacked any on-screen frame counter, and as Keith Mays extensive Prey testing at WCCFTech shows, a single year-plus-old GeForce GTX 1080not even a lofty GTX 1080 Tisurpasses 60 fps at 4K. In other words, seeing two Radeon RX Vegas in action told us nothing new or insightful about Vegas potential performancethough it did demonstrate Threadrippers 64 PCI-E lane superiority versus Intels new X-series chips. Consumer Vega wasnt quite a no-show at Computex, but it was damned close. Threadripper stepped out in public for the first time at Computex in Taipei, where AMD ran its 16-core Ryzen-based desktop chip through various benchmarks and games. Even better for AMD fans: The company showed off the highly anticipated monster CPU running two of the companys Radeon RX Vega in CrossFire mode. AMD also hit back at Intel after Tuesdays revelation of the Core i9. Sure, Intels new high-end CPU will max out at 18 cores compared to Threadrippers 16. AMDs surprise: Threadripper would not have 44 PCIe lanes as previously rumored, but rather an insane 64 lanes of PCIe Gen 3.0. Having access to a full 64 lanes on all Threadripper chips is a big deal. Typical consumer platforms such as the Ryzen 7 and Core i7-7700K top out at 16 lanes of PCIe. Intels new Core i9/X299 platform hikes that up to 44 lanes of PCIe, but only in the higher-end chips, creating artificial limitations on more modest versions. AMDs Ryzen Threadripper/X399 platform takes I/O to a level never seen before in a consumer desktop machine. Most consumers wont need that kind of speed, but anyone who piles on the storage options and multiple GPUs will welcome AMDs 64 PCIe lanes. AMD At Computex, AMD showed off Ryzen Threadripper running Blender alongside its upcoming Radeon Frontier Edition. AMD officials also showed off the companys upcoming Ryzen-based mobile chip in what looked like a reference convertible laptop. Officials said it would feature four cores alongside Radeon graphics in a single chip. AMD This future laptop will feature AMDs quad-core mobile Ryzen with Radeon graphics. Whats amazing is the contrast in scale between the monster Ryzen Threadripper and the mobile chip, code-named Raven Ridge. Asus, HP and Lenovo have signed on to Qualcomms ambitious plan to make Windows 10 PCs that run on ARM Snapdragon processors. If Qualcomm and its partners succeed, it would represent a major shift in the PC industry, which has been centered around Intels x86 architecture for a couple of decades. Qualcomm, which is a powerhouse in mobile phone chips, wants to extend its platform to laptops and tablets. The new machines could benefit from its phone-centric focus on power saving and see battery life of 20 hours, said Qualcomm vice president Don McGuire in an interview at Computex in Taipei. Devices from the three companies are already under development and based on the Snapdragon 835 chip, which is used in the Samsung Galaxy S8, HTC U11, and Sony Xperia XZ phones. The new machines will compete alongside Intel-based models in a sector Microsoft calls always connected PCs. These are Windows 10 machines intended to bring some of the best features of smartphones to laptops: an all-day battery life and fast, constant LTE cellular connection. Its all around this idea that a PC should be connected, just like a smartphone, said McGuire. On current Windows 10 PCs, standby mode means the machine is shutdown but Qualcomm promises greater things from standby on the new computers. With these systems, youre truly connected and you will be syncing data, Cortana will be available and it give you truly instant on, he said. Martyn Williams/IDG A Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (right) motherboard for a Windows 10 PC and board from a competitor (left) are seen during a demonstration at Computex in Taipei on May 31, 2017. During a demonstration at Computex in Taipei on Wednesday, Qualcomm showed off a Windows 10 ARM development system running on the Snapdragon 835. The machine was running the full Microsoft Office suite without any significant lag and was able to stream a full-screen movie while keeping video smooth. The addition of Asus, HP and Lenovo will give Qualcomms chances a boost, although its worth noting that big-name support doesnt guarantee success. Microsoft learned this in 2012 when Asus, Dell, Lenovo and Samsung all launched laptops for Windows RT. The operating system was also based on the ARM architecture and ended up failing because of incompatibilities with too many Windows apps. That was an experience that over promised and under delivered, said McGuire. This is not RT version 2, this is full Windows running on the platform. Martyn Williams/IDG Windows legacy app 7 Zip is installed on a Windows 10 ARM development device during a demonstration at Computex in Taipei on May 31, 2017. Qualcomm says its platform can run both 64-bit universal Windows applications and legacy 32-bit apps. It demonstrated one such legacy app, 7 Zip, running on its platform without any perceivable problems. The demonstration looked promising, although the real test wont come until first-generation hardware is available for review. No ARM-based Windows 10 laptops were on show Wednesday aside from the demo unit. Qualcomm says machines should start appearing later this year. They are expected to cost between $600 and $800. Vice President Bawumia is finding it difficult to comprehend what accounts for the unnecessary delays in clearing goods at the Tema and Takoradi ports. Delivering the keynote address at the Port Efficiency Conference in Accra yesterday which was put together by the Office of the President, he wondered why we still have delays in the clearance of goods and the attendant costs such as demurrage and rent at the ports. It is estimated that in the year 2016 alone, shippers (importers) paid an estimated amount of $100 million in demurrage charges. The last time a similar estimate was conducted in 2013, the demurrage amount was about $75 million. Concern But, the Vice President insisted this is not the kind of revenue we need or want to build this country. For him, it is a punitive cost, an inefficiency cost. It is an avoidable cost, and it only goes to demonstrate that shippers are not releasing containers to the shipping lines in good time. Apart from that, he said there are other inefficiency and nuisance costs, including those used in facilitating clearance through the Regulatory agencies and GRA Customs itself. These, according to him, do not only contribute greatly to the high cost of goods and services in the country, but also render our exports uncompetitive, and most importantly lead to high dissatisfaction among port clients. He therefore stressed the belief that these inefficiencies and man-made bottlenecks have direct bearing on the tax revenues collected at the ports. Aside that, the Vice President said the inefficiencies encourage collusion among some importers, clearing agents and Customs Officers to exploit the system to the detriment of tax revenue. That, he said was the reason for governments introduction of the Destination Inspection Scheme, and the single window systems to address the issue of efficiencies at the port. That notwithstanding, Dr Bawumia noted with worry that there are still bottlenecks and there is a sense that the problems of cargo clearance at the ports remain major concerns, insisting the issue of an ineffective customs valuation system still needs to be addressed. Hope He therefore charged participants at the Port Efficiency Conference to focus on the issues of commercial invoices for imports and how to develop a system that will address that challenge once and for all. Let us also be mindful that just throwing money and equipment at challenges is not always the best approach to problem solving. We need an understanding of processes, how to get systems to work together, and just as important, how we manage the human factors that make things happen or not happen, he charged. On his part, Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah noted with worry that despite efforts by the GPHA in collecting payments for the services it renders to its clients, like every human institution, its efforts at revenue mobilization can be improved. He thus stressed the need for what he called heavy infusion of IT to improve the systems and marketing of the ports to increase cargo. Issues He identified a number of operational challenges facing the countrys ports which has led to high cost of doing business, as well as revenue leakages and losses. They included the high number of state institutions involved in the clearing process, high port user charges compared to the sub-region, limited port capacity, congestion at the port, delays in the clearing process leading to high cost of business and revenue leakages. For him, Ghana does not have to re-invent the wheels but to learn from best practice from elsewhere. 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 President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has assured that programmes and policies initiated by his government will help put the country on a path of fiscal consolidation, debt sustainability and growth. Addressing the 2017 World Banks Development Finance Forum, which is currently on-going at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, President Akufo-Addo noted that maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment in the context of a growing economy is fundamental to attracting private sector investment into the country. Read full statement below: ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, AT THE OPENING OF THE 2017 WORLD BANK DEVELOPMENT FINANCE FORUM, AT THE KEMPINSKI HOTEL, ACCRA, ON 31ST MAY, 2017. It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Ghana, and to the third, 2017 Development Finance Forum. As we say in Ghana, Akwaaba! You are amongst a people who pride themselves on their sense of hospitality. I hope that, by the end of your visit, you will agree with this claim. With the first two meetings of the Development Finance Forum having been held in Europe, Rotterdam (2015) and Dublin (2016) I believe that the choice of Ghana to be the first to host this Forum outside Europe has something to do with the special place it holds as a beacon of stable, democratic governance in Africa, as well as the proverbial warm hospitality of the Ghanaian people. Indeed, this forum about unlocking private investment in African markets cannot find a better venue than in our vibrant capital city of Accra. It is also very significant that this Forum is being held in Africa, where the challenge of raising finance for development to address critical investment needs in infrastructure, education, health, industry and agriculture, amongst others, is probably the greatest, relative to incomes. In a 2010 report, the World Bank estimated that the overall cost to build new infrastructure, refurbish dilapidated assets, and operate and maintain all existing and new installations in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at almost $93 billion a year for 2006 through 2015 with roughly 40% of this required in the power sector alone. Ghanas infrastructure finance gap is estimated to run between 3.9 and 5.5 billion US dollars per year through 2026. In other words, more than 40 billion US dollars in total. What is true is that we cannot meet this demand without financing at a much larger scale through significant additional private involvement. That is true for Ghana, and true for the entire West African region and beyond. We understand the role that international development finance institutions play in helping to de-risk and attract private capital into infrastructure development in Africa. While this conference deliberates on these issues, I will like you to address also the issue of how African countries can, by themselves, take action to de-risk their economies and attract low-cost private capital. My government, which has been in office barely five months, inherited a very difficult economic situation. I should add, however, that one would not have thought so going by the reports of the IMF, which were largely at variance with the reality experienced by Ghanaians. As a result of the situation we inherited, we have set for ourselves a long term agenda for a Ghana Beyond Aid, requiring far-reaching reforms in: Economic governance: involving fiscal responsibility and discipline Political governance: addressing corruption and unresponsive bureaucracies Focus on productive sectors: addressing agriculture and industry, and Improving the business environment: addressing bottlenecks and formalising the economy Ghana is a land of opportunity for private capital. More importantly, Ghana is Open for Business and has taken it upon herself to build a business-friendly economy that will enable her get to the stage where the opportunities available here will help her build an optimistic, self-confident and prosperous nation. Beyond Aid. Fundamental to attracting private sector investment is maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment in the context of a growing economy. This is why, since assuming office, my government has established a macroeconomic framework with policies that seek to restore fiscal discipline and macroeconomic stability. We have put in place measures to reduce the fiscal deficit bequeathed to us from 9% in 2016 to 6.5% this year. Government has created fiscal space by capping earmarked funds to 25% of government revenue, and realigning expenditures to government priorities. This is a policy that successive governments have tried over several years to implement, but were unable to do. To boost growth, we have re-oriented fiscal policy from a focus on taxation to a focus on production. In this regard, we have undertaken the following tax reforms: abolished the 1% Special Import Levy abolished the 17.5% VAT/NHIL on domestic airline tickets abolished the 17.5% VAT/NHIL on financial services abolished the 17.5% VAT/NHIL on selected imported medicines, that are not produced locally abolished the 5% VAT/NHIL on Real Estate sales replaced the 17.5 VAT/NHIL rate with a flat rate of 3 % for traders granted Capital Gains Tax Exemption on stocks traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange or publicly held securities approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission Furthermore, effective September 1 this year: clearance of goods from Ghanas ports will be 100% paperless all internal customs barriers in the country will also be removed to facilitate the movement of goods. As part of the process of formalising the economy, we will implement a digital property addressing system for Ghana this year and also issue biometric National Identification cards to residents this year, so that every resident will have a unique identification number. My Government has also moved quickly to address the energy supply constraints, by tackling the financial challenges of the sector, as well as defining a policy framework that would encourage private sector investment. We will very soon issue a $2.5 billion energy sector bond to retire the legacy debt of the energy sector, and create space for increased investment in the sector. We have encouraged majority Ghanaian private sector participation in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the main distributor of power in Ghana, under the Millennium Challenge Compact with the U.S. Government. The Government has reviewed existing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Our policy is to move Ghana from a reliance on thermal towards renewable energy. We have, thus, decided that new PPAs will only be signed for renewable energy. We have, furthermore, ushered in a new regime of accountability. All ministers have declared their assets, and a Special Prosecutors Office is being set up to prosecute corruption in a depoliticised manner. In addition, we have established a value for money unit within the Public Procurement Authority. This unit will review all contracts to ensure that value for money information is provided on time. Our focus in the real economy is to promote investment both in the industrial and agricultural sectors. In agriculture, we have instituted a programme that we have dubbed Planting for food and jobs. It provides farmers access to affordable inputs, extension services and improved irrigation infrastructure. We are embarking on a private sector led industrialisation programme through a one district, one factory initiative, and a $100 million stimulus package for the revival of distressed companies. My government has also decided, as a matter of policy, to seek more private sector equity financing for infrastructure projects, rather than the historic resort to borrowing and more borrowing that has resulted in the ballooning of our debt stock. It is a policy underpinned by our commitment to the private sector, and by our desire to maintain debt sustainability. We are implementing a policy of re-profiling our existing debts to extend the maturities, reduce the interest burden and create space for the private sector. About six weeks ago, Ghana issued, for the first time, a 15-Year local-currency bond, raising in that cycle more than US$2 billion. That is evidence of the returning private investor confidence in Ghana. Because investors make decisions on the basis of their perception of risk and uncertainty, this transaction sends a clear message to the markets that this new government, my government, has started on a sound footing and that Ghana is on a path of fiscal consolidation, debt sustainability and growth. Our actions are only a part of the equation. We need risk reallocation instruments from the multilateral developments banks, like guarantees and insurance, to be deployed to trigger additional investments. For example, a 700 million US Dollar World Bank Group guarantee enabled us mobilise 7.9 billion US dollars of private investment. These are the kinds of deals that should happen more often in Africa, as development finance institutions partner with private capital. It brings into sharp focus the subject matter of this conference: leveraging development financing and partnerships to attract private capital to finance infrastructure development in mainly developing and distressed countries in line with the new thinking, referred to as From Billions to Trillions: Transforming Development Finance. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to see that this event has a regional design. Similar events took place in Freetown and Abidjan earlier this week. I commend the World Bank Group for designing this novel format to convene experience and knowledge from across West Africa and beyond. It underscores the importance of regional cooperation in the agenda of transformation. The failure of one country will negatively affect the success of all. This is why my government applauds the members of the International Development Association, IDA, for a strong replenishment that scales up support to countries in fragility, and invests in private sector through their bold move to establish a 2.5 billion US dollar Private Sector Window. Through the Window, public finance will be used to catalyse private investments in low-income countries, and, in particular, in economies that are under stress of conflict and fragility. Several of these countries are in this region of West Africa. As a Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana a decade ago, I was involved in efforts to bring back stability to the countries of the Mano River Union. The peace agreements and peacekeeping interventions in Sierra Leone and Liberia between 1999 and 2003 have led to stability in the region. We have seen how these interventions paved the way for some pioneer investments. I have talked about what the public and private sectors, development finance institutions and multilateral development banks can do in order to catalyse additional private finance for development. Each can contribute through their instruments, whether it is through legislation such as our PPP law, or the Private Sector Window of the World Bank Group. There is one thing that the public and private sectors need to do more of and where we are all equally responsible: to mobilise the good power of finance, we need to cooperate more and we need to cooperate smartly. Amidst all the complexity of the 21st century world, our interdependence requires such cooperation. This spirit is captured in the adinkra symbol associated with this conference: Boa Me Na Me Mmoa Wo, representing co-operation and interdependence. The public and private sectors need each other, need to understand each other and adapt their strategies in order to contribute to each others success. Help me, so I can help you. That is the literal meaning of the adinkra symbol. Moreover, I should note that multilateral development banks such as the World Bank Group can help facilitate these partnerships and create the platforms that generate ideas and nurture these to success, just like you will do here in Accra. Building partnerships takes time and commitment, and their rewards often only show after a long time has passed. The World Bank Group, African Development Bank and other multilateral financing institutions can help lower the transactional costs for the public and private sectors to enter into partnerships and alliances. As a shareholder and a client of the World Bank Group, I ask you to continue to invest and improve in that role. We are at a juncture in the history of our continent, where a new generation of leaders is emerging: leaders who are committed to governing their peoples according to the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability; leaders who are looking past commodities to position their countries in the global marketplace; leaders who are determined to free their peoples from a mindset of dependence, aid, charity and hand-outs; leaders who are bent on mobilising Africas own immeasurable resources to resolve Africas problems; and leaders who recognise the connectedness of their peoples and economies to those of their neighbours. We must embrace this forward march, this welcome development, with all our strength and with the best of intentions. I truly hope that this Forum will help produce powerful new ideas, partnerships and alliances for Africa. I wish you all good luck, and it gives me pleasure to declare the Third, 2017 Development Finance Forum of the World Bank Group officially opened. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana 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 The five, whose identity are yet to be disclosed, were found to have questions to answer on the incident which occurred at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Regional. According to information, no female is among the five suspects. The acting Chief of Army Staff Major General William Azure Ayando led a high-level delegation, which also comprised some members of the Council of State, on a fact-finding mission following the murder. The delegation was also accompanied by 30 personnel deployed to reinforce security in the community. The body of the deceased has been flown to Accra. The Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Irene Oppong, said the five suspects are being sent to Police Regional headquarters in Cape Coast for further interrogation. 5 In custody of Police Security situation is under control after a meeting with the District Security Council (DISEC), the police and the military, ASP Irene Oppong, said. We have screened them all and five of them are suspects so we have handed them over to Cape Coast Police while the rest have been freed. Commenting on evidence with which the Police is going to work with, she said all the videos and pictures on the social media would be used as part of the evidence for the case. We dont want their names to be out for now but there are all males, she explained. Investigations, so far, have revealed that Captain Mahama may have shot and injured one person during the mob attack on him. There are also speculations that his murder was planned to protest an operation to flush out illegal miners in Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region. Operation HALT 2 The Director of Public Affairs for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Colonel Aggrey Quarshie, told The Finder that Captain Mahama and his colleagues were stationed at Denkyira-Obuasi as part of an operation against illegal mining and illegal chain-saw operations. According to him, the operation dubbed HALT 2 started some years back to flush out the illegal mining operators, popularly known as galamsey. Personnel deployed at 21 locations nationwide He stated that Ghana Armed Forces has deployed personnel to some 21 locations nationwide as part of HALT 2 operation. He explained that at some of the locations, personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces partner other security agencies in joint operations to halt illegal mining and illegal chain-saw operations. He dismissed allegations that the victims and his colleagues were protecting illegal mining operators. He was categorical that the Ghana Armed Forces deploys personnel to flush out illegal operators and in cases where the illegal operators invade legal concessions. He confirmed that Captain Mahama went on morning jogging but did not return to base. Consequently, he said, his colleagues, who were naturally alarmed, went in search of him only find his charred body. Source: The Finder Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is to blame for the lynching of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said. The NDC is laying blame for this heinous and callous lynching of Captain Mahama at the doorstep of President Akufo-Addo, the party said in a statement. According to the party, Ghana has known no peace since the NDC, led by former President John Dramani Mahama, handed over power to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). Under the direct supervision of President Akufo-Addo, the state has watched and sponsored its goon squads to unleash wanton mayhem on innocent Ghanaians. From the beating up of a serving police officer at the Flagstaff House to the beating up of a regional security co-ordinator, the disruption of a court process, the burning of toll booths, and the molestation of civil servants, the lawless culture of impunity has now reached the doorstep of the Ghana Armed Forces, the statement signed by its General Secretary Johnson Aseidu Nketia said. The party noted that the acts of violence in the country were unacceptable and will sooner than later be compelled to engage in a legitimate social revolution to protest the inability of Nana Akufo-Addo to protect Ghanaians if this level of impunity persists. The NDC said if Nana Akufo-Addo has come to the realisation that he is unable to manage the affairs of state, he should resign so we get a more competent leader to lead Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana, adding that they will "resist oppressors rule with all our will and might forevermore". While condemning the dastardly and barbaric lynching of Mr Mahama the party also commiserated with the Ghana Armed Forces, Chief of Defence Staff, the widow, children, parents, and family of the deceased. Captain Mahama was lynched by irate youth of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region on suspicion that he was an armed robber, after a group of residents from whom he asked for directions during a Monday dawn jogging session spotted a pistol on him. Source: Classfmonline 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 The nation was stunned by the gruesome murder of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama when video clips of the barbaric act went viral on Tuesday. Captain Mahama, who was heading a military detachment near Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region, met his untimely death last Monday when some residents of the area accused him of being an armed robber and lynched him. It has been confirmed that the video doing the rounds on social media depicting the act is authentic. The security services rounded up a total of about 100 people on Tuesday during a swoop. Out of the number, five suspects deemed to be linked to the incident have since been sent to Cape Coast, the Central Regional Capital for further investigations. Graphic Online has gone through the video, and taken out some of the faces behind the incident in the video doing the rounds for publication. Source: Daily Graphic 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 A Malaysia Airlines flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was turned back last night after a disruptive and threatening passenger attempted to enter the planes cockpit holding an unidentified black device, after threatening fellow passengers he would blow the plane up. Photographs taken by other passengers depict armed Australian security personnel boarding the plane after it landed in Melbourne just 30 minutes after takeoff. The man had been pinned to the floor and subdued by other passengers. #MH128 guy drunk. In plastic cuffs. Looks like the SWAT team was despatched to the flight @MAS pic.twitter.com/FL5TqTEGR3 saroki (@saroki19) May 31, 2017 One passenger reported that the man had yelled Ive got a bomb and Im going to fucking blow the plane up. A Malaysian government official later told local media that the black box the man was holding when he attempted to enter the cockpit was not a bomb or explosive device. but was actually a portable mobile phone charger. This is backed up by an account given to the Sydney Morning Herald by former AFL player Andrew Leoncelli who was on the flight describing the device as cylindrical, looking like a speaker, and appearing to have an on/off button. In an audio recording lifted from air traffic control, a male voice can be heard saying We have a passenger trying to enter the cockpit. Later that same voice confirms the man had been subdued, but confirmed that they intended to land and have the device checked. Malaysia Airlines issued a statement about the incident: Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security. Malaysia Airlines together with the Australian authorities will be investigating the incident. The statement stresses that the airplane was not hijacked at any point in the altercation. Source: Sydney Morning Herald. Photo: Andrew Leoncelli. Jeremy Joseph Christian, the Portland man accused of stabbing two men to death after they defended a young Muslim girl from his abuse, has used his first court appearance to hurl some more wild invectives. After being ushered into the courtroom, Christian yelled free speech or die, Portland. Youve got no safe place. Shortly after, he called out death to the enemies of America. Leave this country if you hate out freedoms. Death to Antifa. Before being taken taken back out, Christian said you call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. You hear me? Die. Christian stands accused of murdering Taliesin Namkai-Meche and Ricky Best, and of severely wounding Micah David-Cole Fletcher, all three of whom tried to stop him from verbally abusing a teenager wearing a hijab. Destinee Mangum, a 16-year-old friend of the girl who was also on the Portland train at the time of the incident, thanked the men because they didnt even know me and they lost their lives because of me and my friend and the way we look. Destinee Mangum, one of the targets of hate speech on a MAX train, thanks strangers for saving her life. pic.twitter.com/sefmOAyIVt FOX 12 Oregon KPTV (@fox12oregon) May 28, 2017 Christian is set to face court again on June 7. Source: KRON4 / CNN. Photo: CNN. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. In this undated photo provided by the Transgender Law Center, Ashton Whitaker, right hugs his mom Melissa in Kenosha, Wisc. A federal appeals court says Ashton, a transgender senior student, who identifies as a male, should be able to use the boys' bathroom at at Kenosha's Tremper High School. (Transgender Law Center via AP) FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2016, file photo, protesters against the Dakota Access oil pipeline stand on a burned-out truck near Cannon Ball, N.D., on a long-closed bridge a day earlier on a state highway near their camp. A private security firm hired by the developer of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline conducted an aggressive, multifaceted operation against protesters that included a close working relationship with public law enforcement, documents obtained by an online magazine indicate. (AP Photo/James MacPherson, File) GOP remains on top in Northern Michigan but Democrats made some inroads Tuesday The election showed that while the Republican Party still dominates Northern Michigan, there were some results that should give Democrats some hope. Venezuelan leaders wounded in anti-regimen march CARACAS Petroleumworld 05 31 2017 Two Venezuelan opposition leaders were wounded on Monday by security forces dispersing protests in the capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro, according to one of the leaders and an opposition legislator. Maduro's adversaries have for two months been blocking highways and setting up barricades in protests demanding he call early elections and address an increasingly severe economic crisis that has left millions struggling to get enough to eat. Fifty-nine people have died in the often violent street melees, which Maduro calls an effort to overthrow his government. "We were ambushed," said two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who accompanied protesters in an effort to march to the headquarter of the government ombudsman's office but was blocked by security forces. "This government is capable of killing or burning anything," Capriles said in a press conference. He said 16 others were injured in the march, adding that he would file a complaint about the issue with state prosecutors. Legislator Jose Olivares, who is a doctor, tweeted a picture of a bruise on Capriles' face that he said was the result of a soldier hitting him with a helmet during the clashes. During the same march, opposition deputy Carlos Paparoni was knocked to the ground by a a water cannon sprayed from a truck, requiring that he receive stitches in his head, Olivares said. The Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Merkel's blunt Munich speech was prompted by Trump, Macron and election BERLIN Petroleumworld 05 31 2017 For German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who often pulls her rhetorical punches, her weekend message signalling a shift in the post-war order was uncharacteristically blunt. But growing frustration with U.S. President Donald Trump, a determination to reform Europe with France's incoming leader and political considerations closer to home convinced Merkel to take a stand, senior German and European officials said. Speaking in a packed beer tent in Munich on Sunday, after a Group of Seven summit in Sicily and a NATO meeting in Brussels - both dominated by tensions with Trump - Merkel spoke with surprising frankness. "The times when we could fully count on others are over to a certain extent. I have experienced this in the last few days," Merkel said. "We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands, of course in friendship with the United States, in friendship with Great Britain, with other neighbours wherever possible, also with Russia," she continued. "But we must know that we need to fight for our future ourselves, as Europeans, for our destiny." The fact that Merkel reiterated many of her points on Monday showed it was no accident. Below are some of the factors which may have prompted Merkel to make her remarks. They are based on conversations with German and European officials, who declined to be named. LOOMING ELECTION Merkel's conservatives have built up a comfortable double-digit lead over their main rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD), in opinion polls ahead of a German election on Sept. 24. But there are increasing signs that her opponents could be tempted to run an anti-Trump campaign that paints Merkel as being too soft on the president. The SPD have made clear they will resist pressure from Trump for Germany to ramp up defence spending, another issue that resonates well with German voters. Merkel has supported higher spending despite the political risks. By making clear that Germany may have to distance itself from Trump, she is protecting her domestic flank and reframing the defence spending issue: no longer is it about fulfilling Trump's wishes, but about building a European defence capacity independent of the United States. Merkel hosts a G20 summit in Hamburg in early July. Until now, her approach has been to try to shepherd the Trump administration towards a consensus on major issues like free trade, climate change and migration. But the G7 summit showed that this strategy may not work. By shifting rhetoric now, she is effectively acknowledging that she can't guarantee a positive outcome in Hamburg, and by singling out America, reduces the risk of being blamed for a G20 failure two months before the German vote. MACRON Merkel would not have made her remarks before Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French election earlier this month, German officials said. A like-minded pro-European and multilateralist, Macron gives Merkel a reliable partner with whom she can move forward in Europe on issues like defence and security cooperation, migration and euro zone reform. German officials described the dynamic between the two at the G7 summit as excellent. Merkel is also signalling to conservatives in her party who are deeply sceptical about some of Macron's bolder ideas for the euro zone that they must be prepared to compromise. "She is using the Trump moment to articulate a more pro-European policy," one German official said. "She is testing the waters for a more forthcoming policy towards France." Her message was also directed at Britain. Berlin fears the British government still has unrealistic expectations about Brexit. FRUSTRATION WITH TRUMP Merkel's message in Munich was the product of rising frustration with Trump, whose first visit to Europe was deeply disturbing to the Germans, according to several officials. The frustrations began in Brussels when Trump renewed his attack on Germany's trade surplus and car exports in a private meeting with EU officials. They grew at NATO when Trump repeated statements about members of the alliance owing vast amounts of money. His failure to voice clear support for NATO's mutual defence doctrine, Article 5, and to evoke Russia as NATO's prime threat also irked Berlin and other allies. At the G7 summit, the six other nations were at odds with Trump on climate change and migration. Beyond policy issues, his shoving of the Montenegrin prime minister and macho handshakes with Macron deepened the scepticism. "Trump may have listened, but what the trip showed is that he may not be capable of learning," a second German official said. Merkel described the climate discussion in Sicily as "very dissatisfying". Trump's refusal to give allies any indication of whether he would stay in the Paris climate agreement left a bad taste. As he left Sicily, he sent a tweet saying he would make a decision on the Paris accord this week. Merkel's speech in Munich could be seen as a reminder to Trump that the decision will have real implications for his relationship with Berlin and other partners, officials said. SK Innovation sees oil prices staying low, eyes U.S. crude SEOUL Petroleumworld 05 31 2017 South Korea's SK Innovation , which owns South Korea's top refiner SK Energy, said on Tuesday it expects U.S. shale output to keep oil prices low, and is looking for opportunities to bring in U.S. crude oil. Competition between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which is curbing output, and U.S. oil producers is likely to weigh on prices, SK innovation chief executive and president Kim Joon told reporters at a briefing. "It seems Dubai oil prices will find it difficult to hit $60 a barrel for the time being," Kim said at a briefing. Dubai crude is currently trading around $51.37 a barrel and has held below $60 a barrel since mid-2015. OPEC and some non-OPEC producers last week agreed to extend oil production cuts for a further nine more months to clear a global oil supply glut. SK Energy had so far felt little impact on its crude supplies as it has maintained a good relationship with Middle Eastern suppliers, said Song Jin-hwa, president and chief executive of SK Trading International. Refiners in the world's fifth biggest oil importer, including SK Energy, import more than 80 percent of their oil from the Middle East. "In terms of heavy crude, we have heavily relied on Middle East because it's been the most economical crude and we buy all types of crude oil from Russia, Africa, Europe and U.S., if they become economical," Song said. "But we don't think our crude slate will change drastically," he said. South Korean refiners have been looking to bring in more Brent-linked crude in the early third quarter, taking advantage of relatively cheap Brent against Dubai crude. Earlier this year, SK Energy bought 1 million barrels of Russian Urals for the first time in a decade. It last bought U.S. condensate in 2015 when it purchased two 450,000 barrel cargoes Song said the company is still interested in U.S. condensate and heavy crude oil from U.S. Gulf region, as long as it was economically viable. China a "bully" in South China Sea - McCain SYDNEY Petroleumworld 05 31 2017 China is behaving like a "bully" with its militarisation of islands in the South China Sea, Republican U.S. Senator John McCain said on Tuesday, activity Washington must confront with its allies to find a peaceful solution. In a speech in Sydney, McCain said China was asserting itself globally, best illustrated by militarising artificial islands in the South China Sea, a claim repeatedly rejected by Beijing. "I think it is very clear that the Chinese by filling in these islands are militarising them and that is in violation of international law," the Arizona senator said. McCain's comments are set to escalate tensions between the United States and China just days before delegates from both countries are scheduled to attend a regional security conference in Singapore. China claims most of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the strategic waterway. The United States estimates Beijing has added more than 3,200 acres (1,300 hectares) of land on seven features in the South China Sea over the past three years, building runways, ports, aircraft hangars and communications equipment. To counter the perceived Chinese aggression, the United States has conducted so-called freedom-of-navigation exercises, the most recent of which was conducted by a U.S navy warship near Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands. At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking China's cooperation to rein in ally North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes. Allies such as Australia have so far refused to participate in freedom-of-navigation exercises in the fear of alienating Beijing. While McCain stopped short of calling on Australia to undertake the exercises, the former U.S. presidential nominee said allies must work together to find a peaceful solution. This piece, titled, The New Plague, depicts life in Philadelphia in the age of COVID. Artist and educator Raphael Tiberino began painting at the age of four and has been in the spotlight as a professional creative for over 25 years. UPDATE JUNE 1: A Kellogg's veteran who is among those losing a job when regional centers in Horsham, Pa. and 38 other cities close in August he asked me not to use his name "because I don't want to get fired early" tells me Kellogg's total Direct Store Delivery (DSD) jobs being eliminated have so far been "under reported" and likely includes "8,000 to 10,000 employees across the U.S.," or around "one-quarter" of the company's total workforce of 36,000. That estimate is supported by the hundreds of jobs to be eliminated at each of several sites that have been marked for shutdowns so far, in states including Pennsylvania (Horsham and Pittsburgh), Maryland (Hagerstown), New Jersey (Cranford), Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and others. He figures those losing their jobs include "at least 1,500 sales reps", plus several support workers and merchandisers for each rep, plus Teamsters truck drivers, loaders, and warehouse support personnel. Is Walmart a factor? The nation's largest store retailer, which has a big regional warehouse near Bethlehem, has struggled to keep its massive grocery business competitive. The Kellogg's veteran says Walmart has pressured Kellogg's and other suppliers to "change our model" and cut the regional centers in order to simplify distribution, in hopes of reducing its own costs. MAY 31: Kellogg Co., the Michigan-based maker of Froot Loops, Corn Flakes, Nutri-Grain, Pringles, Keebler, MorningStar Farms, and other mass-market breakfast, cereal, and snack brands, plans to close two Pennsylvania regional offices and distribution centers in August and put more than 500 workers on the street, as part of a national switch from shipping boxed products straight to stores to instead piling them up at retailers' warehouses. About 292 Kellogg's workers will lose their jobs in the closing of the Witmer Road regional center in Horsham, Montgomery County, which serves the Philadelphia region, according to state Department of Labor and Industry records. An additional 211 will be let go in the closing of a Kellogg's distribution facility in Pittsburgh. Kellogg's did not respond to phone calls or an email seeking comment on the scale of the job cuts Wednesday. The company said in February that it expected to lay off scores or hundreds of workers at each of 39 centers across the United States. Besides the local distribution centers and offices, Kellogg's operations in this region include a cereal-processing plant in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, one of several Kellogg's grain plants that had been threatened with possible closings in recent years. In the February statement, Kellogg's chief executive John Bryant blamed the switch on improved distribution technology and a shift in consumer habits, and said the shutdowns would free the company to more aggressively promote Kellogg's snack brands. Bryant noted that Kellogg's already distributed its Pringles chips and frozen foods, among other products, not directly to stores, but to retailers' warehouses, as it will now do with cereals. Like its rival General Mills, maker of Cheerios, Kellogg's saw its sales peak in 2012-13, and decline since then. Both companies' share prices also have slipped from historic highs in the last year. But at the same time, both Kellogg's and General Mills have continued to boost profits, for now, by cutting costs and shutting locations. Like Herr's, Snyder's, Tastykake owner Flowers Foods, Pennsauken-based J&J Snack Foods, and other such companies, Kellogg's has continued to purchase smaller brands, including those claiming to sell "natural" snacks. Indeed, total Kellogg's employment rose to 36,000 last year, from about 30,000 in 2012, even as sales flattened, according to the company's annual reports. "A strong majority" of the University of Pennsylvania's 2,300 graduate teaching and research assistants want to join the American Federation of Teachers union and on Tuesday filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a union election, the union said. Penn's "graduate workers want to have a voice in determining our working conditions," said doctoral student Miranda Weinberg, 29, one of the organizers, who teaches and assists in teaching courses at Penn's Graduate School of Education. "Right now, we don't have much say in how we get paid, our health insurance, and our work. We want to sit down at a table and negotiate." In a statement, Penn said that "we view graduate students as students and our future colleagues rather than employees, and we believe we can better support them without the intervention of a labor union." In 2004, the NLRB ruled that graduate assistants at private universities, such as Brown University and New York University, were primarily students and not employees and thus had no right to unionize. In August, the NLRB reversed that ruling in a 3-1 decision, saying that student assistants at Columbia University are employees with the right to unionize. Columbia has appealed that decision. The August ruling also opens a window for graduate organizing drives at private universities around the country to unionize. On May 22 at Yale University, 1,000 people marched across campus on graduation day, demanding that the university negotiate with Unite Here, a union that organized eight units of graduate students/workers in eight departments. Yale has contested the NLRB election, arguing that the eight units prevent the majority of graduate assistants from organizing. Earlier in the month, during a hunger strike by Yale graduate assistants, 23 people were arrested for blocking traffic as they protested the university's refusal to negotiate during the NLRB appeal process. Graduate and research assistants at Cornell and Harvard Universities held elections, which are now on hold as the NLRB sorts through contested ballots. The assistants at the University of Chicago have filed an election petition and hearings were recently held. Activists at Brown, Princeton, and Northwestern are organizing union drives. Timing is critical, since organizers hope to complete their drives before President Trump appoints new members to fill two vacant seats on the five-member NLRB board. Now, two of the three members have labor-friendly backgrounds, but the Trump appointees will likely shift that balance. The third board member, NLRB Chairman Philip A. Miscimarra, was a management-side lawyer and a senior fellow in the Center for Human Resources at Penn's Wharton Business School. Trump recently appointed him to be chairman. This is the second major union push for graduate assistants at Penn. In 2000, graduate assistants, organized by GET-UP (Graduate Employees Together at the University of Pennsylvania), held an NLRB election. An election-day poll conducted by the Daily Pennsylvanian student newspaper found majority support for the union, but the ballots were sealed after Penn contested the election. After the NLRB's 2004 ruling, the ballots were destroyed, Weinberg said. Weinberg said she and her fellow graduate assistants say that they earn too little in their teaching or research roles to support themselves as they finish their graduate work. One of her colleagues makes ends meet by refereeing high school lacrosse games. Weinberg plays the violin at contra dances. Mayor Jim Kenney and PA Labor Secretary Kathy Manderino meet biomedical technician trainee Amanda Moran as they joined administrators at the Wistar Institute for a tour to introduce a new biomedical research technician apprenticeship program. ED HILLE / Staff Photographer Read more Amanda Moran, 26, spends her days in love with cells, research and science and in love with wearing a white coat and fighting cancer not with fists up, but with her head bent down over a microscope. "My mom died of breast cancer when I was 14," Moran said, taking a break at Wistar Institute, where her work as a biomedical technician helps in the basic science behind cancer research. "If I could, I'd like to help people not have to go through what I went through." Moran was introduced on Tuesday to Mayor Kenney and Pennsylvania Labor and Industry Secretary Kathy Manderino as Exhibit A of the kind of person Wistar hopes to enroll in a first-of-its-kind apprenticeship program. Apprentices in Wistar's program, which was just accredited by the state of Pennsylvania on May 11, will build on the institute's existing biomedical technician training to give apprentices more hours of on-the-job experience, as, and after, they complete an associate's degree at Community College of Philadelphia. The program follows the traditional apprenticeship mix of classroom training and hands-on experience, but instead of apprentices becoming adept at hanging drywall and installing windows as they do in the building trades, they will be able to run laboratories as biomedical research technicians, working under the direction of scientists. Moran and her fellow biomedical technician, Maya Thorn, 32, who talked to Kenney and Manderino about her research work on an HIV vaccine, are typical of the students that the program hopes to enroll. Moran worked for years as a waitress, and was financially independent at age 18. Thorn, an African-American, is an older student, and part of Wistar's push to bring more diversity to the sciences. So far the program has just one apprentice enrolled Nina Ibeme, 50, a Russian immigrant who studied chemistry in Russia, but never had the opportunity to apply her knowledge there. Wistar expects to shepherd three to five students a year through the program, recruiting them from the existing two-year biomedical technician training program that Wistar started 17 years ago. About a dozen participate each year. The program was started by Wistar's director of outreach education and technology training programs, William Wunner, to solve a workforce problem at Wistar. The institute would train technicians, only to lose them to private industry, so the institute decided to develop its own technician pipeline. Wistar partnered with CCP, which provided classroom training and an associate's degree. In the summers, Wistar would introduce CCP students to lab protocols. So far, Wunner said, 130 have gone through the 700-hour biomedical technician training program with about half staying employed in the field and the rest going on to higher education or into different fields. Of the graduates, more than half are minorities and seven in 10 are women. People in the program typically earn $10 an hour while in school, and $17 an hour as biomedical technicians in industry, Wunner said. The new apprenticeship builds on Wunner's program, placing his graduates as apprentices with employers who will pay them as they train, building up 2,000 hours of lab practice. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's involvement means that employers may be able to apply for on-the-job training funds that pay up to 50 percent of a worker's salary for a few months. "From a finance perspective, I'd be crazy not to jump on that" and sponsor an apprentice, said Nicholas A. Siciliano, chief executive of Invisible Sentinel, a 50-employee Philadelphia company that has developed high-tech methods to detect foodborne pathogens. Siciliano said years ago, his company brought in a biomedical technician who earned $15 an hour as an intern, specializing in manufacturing. "We fell in love with him" and he eventually became the manufacturing director, earning $60,000 before he left to pursue his doctorate, Siciliano said. Anthony Green, vice president of Ben Franklin Technology Partners, said the biotech start-up community needs both the apprentices and the apprentice graduates. The biotech scientists in their small start-ups have the brains and the vision, but as they grow just beyond the fledgling stage, they need someone with biomedical research and technical skills to keep their labs running. "These companies need help," he said. The apprentices "are also being trained to think. It's IT, it's big data, it's understanding that what they do today determines whether you are going to get a product out in the market in two years. That's a very different mindset from academic research." Icelandairs inaugural flight to Philadelphia arrived at 6:56 p.m. Tuesday to cheers and a water canon salute on the airfield. The returning flight from Philly to Iceland was diverted to Boston because of a smell on the aircraft. Read more Mayor Kenney and a Philadelphia delegation arrived in Reykjavik on Wednesday night, a day after their original PHL-to-Iceland flight was diverted to Boston because of a suspicious odor on the Icelandair aircraft. Kenney and his group, including Nicholas DeBenedictis, chairman of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and his wife, Eileen, and Folasade Olanipekun-Lewis, chief administrative officer at the Philadelphia airport, were on the first flight from Boston that, according to the airline website, left at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday, scheduled to arrive in Reykjavik at 11:40 p.m., Kenney's office confirmed. (Iceland local time is four hours later than Philadelphia.) The Wednesday night arrival was at 11:41, just one minute later than scheduled. Also on that flight were Icelandair CEO Birkir Holm Gudnason and Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson, who spent two days touring Philadelphia with Iceland tourism and convention officials. All 183 passengers on Flight 828 that departed Philadelphia International shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on the inaugural flight, and new route, to Iceland were being accommodated on one of the three nonstop Icelandair flights leaving Boston on Wednesday at 2:35 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m., an airline spokesman said. "We were on our way, over Nova Scotia, when there was a smell detected from the rear of the aircraft," said Icelandair spokesman Michael Raucheisen, who was on the original Tuesday flight. "Apparently, it smelled like some sort of rubber." "The pilots came back and smelled it. They said, 'We think it's best to find out what this smell is before we continue flying.' It was 100 percent a safety call," Raucheisen said. The Boeing 547-200 was diverted to Boston, where Icelandair has a "full staff and maintenance team," the spokesman said. "Today, the mechanics have looked over the aircraft and they see nothing wrong," Raucheisen said. However, the pilots wanted to know more about the smell before flying passengers. The airline will do a "test flight," he said. What began as a celebration at the aircraft gate in Philadelphia at 6 p.m. Tuesday with Icelandic hot dogs and meatballs, music, champagne, and cake from the Night Kitchen bakery in Chestnut Hill ended at 12:35 a.m. when the Iceland-bound flight landed in Boston. "It's unfortunate that this happy, awesome, celebratory day had to end this way," Raucheisen said. "People were surprisingly understanding, and we appreciated that. "Certainly, it's frustrating for everyone when something like this happens. But I think everyone understood that it was done with safety in mind." Moviegoers wait outside the Ritz 5 theaters in Old City, located at a Walnut Street site developer Tom Scannapieco sees as ideal for a new high-rise condo project in Philadelphia. Read more Bucks County developer Tom Scannapieco made history in 2016 when his 500 Walnut penthouse condominium became the most expensive residence ever sold in Philadelphia. Now, almost one year since that 8,900-square-foot penthouse went under agreement for $17.85 million, Scannapieco is eyeing a location for his next ultra-luxury project. It turns out that it might not be too far from his last one. In an interview Wednesday, Scannapieco, 67, said he was in the "fact-gathering, due diligence" phase of mapping out a vision for his third luxury city condo project, following successes at 1706 Rittenhouse and 500 Walnut, which recently celebrated its topping off. For his new project, Scannapieco said, he recently put the Nelson building at 222-230 Walnut St. in Society Hill under agreement, for an undisclosed price. The 30,500-square-foot home of the Nelson architectural firm is currently valued at nearly $3.8 million, property records show. Yet to make his plan for the site work, Scannapieco said, he will need more than just the Nelson building: He'll need the Ritz Five movie theaters next door, at 214 Walnut St., too. In an ideal scenario, he said, his team would keep the movie theaters active, but would move them inside the Nelson building, creating as many as six viewing rooms. The historic facade would remain the same, but the theater would receive an "upgraded experience," including the possible addition of reclining seats and liquor and food service. At the Ritz Five property, Scannapieco's plan would be to build a sleek, contemporary condo tower that would house 30 to 50 high-end units priced close to or higher than those at 500 Walnut. Scannapieco has retained Philadelphia architecture firm Cecil Baker + Partners, which designed 500 Walnut, to create a road map for the new project. The Ritz Five building is not under agreement. "It's very hard to find a high-rise site in Society Hill," Scannapieco said. " And my particular interest would be to do a project like 500 Walnut." "If we're going to do the Ritz, we're going to have to replace their theater," he continued. "Right now, we're in a mode of determining what kind of costs are involved in doing that. We've got design specifications from them, as to what that they want to see, and we have our architects putting together a schematic." Scannapieco's plans are nowhere near a done deal, however, and could face massive pushback. Earlier this year, developer Leo Addimando tried to move forward with a plan to build a five-story, 65-unit building at the Acme Market site in Society Hill. But his plan was quashed by members of the Society Hill Civic Association, who adamantly opposed it, saying the proposal was out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood. In May, Scannapieco presented his plans to the neighborhood association, which he said offered a mix of reactions both for and against the project. The president of the association, Rosanne Loesch, did not return a call for comment. Both buildings Scannapieco is eyeing are now zoned CMX-3, or commercial-mixed use. Height restrictions would need to be adjusted to allow for the high-rise, he noted. "If I can't do my plan on this site, then I'll move onto something else and somebody else will take it on," he said. "I'm just trying to figure out if I can get the support I need." Jeremy Joseph Christian (right) is seen during a Patriot Prayer organized by a pro-Trump group in Portland, Ore., in April. Read more Who radicalized him? That question has been conspicuously absent from the discussion of the tragic stabbing deaths of two Good Samaritans who tried to stop 35-year-old Jeremy Joseph Christian an avowed white supremacist from harassing two teens of color on a Portland, Ore., train on Friday. The stabbing, which occurred after Christian hurled ethnic and religious epithets at young women who appeared to be Muslim, deftly illustrated two facts. First, not every white person is a racist, as evidenced by the brave actions of Rick John Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, two white men who lost their lives while trying to stand up for young women of color. The second more troubling fact is this. White supremacists such as Christian who engage in terroristic acts don't face the same question posed when the perpetrator is a religious minority or a person of color. Who radicalized him? If we asked that question when it comes to white supremacists, we would have to point to the leadership of our country, which seems content to protect religious freedom as long as that religion is Christianity. We inevitably would have to point to the long record of Islamophobic statements both written and spoken by Donald Trump, now and before he became president of the United States. Trump despite a Twitter statement condemning the stabbings and praising the Good Samaritans for standing up to hate has spent years spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric. Many activists argue that Trump's words have emboldened white supremacists to engage in acts of violence against racial, ethnic and religious minorities. I agree. The numbers say that Muslims, in particular, have seen an uptick in incidents targeting them, according to a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In 2016, during the presidential campaign, anti-Muslim incidents increased by 57 percent, the report says. While all of this can't be attributed to Trump, the man who now occupies the Oval Office has played a significant role in exacerbating the hatred and bigotry that already existed. And he was doing so long before he became president. As an ordinary citizen, Trump for years engaged in a campaign spreading the false claim that Barack Obama was a Muslim born in Kenya. During his campaign for the presidency, Trump falsely claimed that a group of Muslims in New Jersey danced in celebration as the World Trade Center fell in the Sept. 11 terror attacks. He appeared on CNN and quoted a widely debunked poll from an anti-Islam group that claimed a quarter of Muslims in the U.S. believed violence against Americans should be part of a global holy war. But Trump didn't stop with false statements and fake research. He has also issued a stream of statements that promoted violence against Muslims, and he did so when Americans were particularly vulnerable to the language of hate. After a horrific attack in which a Muslim husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., during a Christmas party at Farook's place of employment, Trump called Fox News and said, "The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families." Never mind that killing the families of suspected terrorists is against international law. Trump, in his own words, believes Islam itself is the problem. That's why, in December 2015, he called for banning Muslims from the country. "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," Trump said at a campaign rally in South Carolina. After he won the presidency, Trump tried twice to make good on that Muslim ban by targeting several Muslim-majority countries. Each time, the courts stopped him from implementing his unconstitutional ban. Unfortunately, no court in the land can stop individual bigots who have been radicalized by Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric. The courts can only respond in the wake of the violence they inflict. As a Christian, I am ashamed that our country has sunk to a place where more people won't stand up in the face of anti-Muslim rhetoric. But I am glad to know that Best, Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher looked bigotry in the face and did the right thing. Sadly, men such as Jeremy Joseph Christian, who allegedly stabbed all three men, will continue to act on the hate they've heard from the very halls of American power. I only hope that next time such a man resorts to violence we will ask ourselves one relevant question: Who radicalized him? The answer could very well save us all. Solomon Jones is the author of 10 books. Listen to him mornings from 7 to 10 on WURD (900-AM). Email: sj@solomonjones.com Twitter: @solomonjones1 Shakira King, a member of Black Lives Matter Philadelphia, talks to Mastery-Shoemaker students about the importance of knowing the history of black people in United States. Read more The elders sat in the front of the classroom, and the pupils were rapt. "All human life came from us," Paula Peebles told 30 eighth graders. "Love your beauty, love yourself, and then you'll be able to help other people, other ethnicities." Peebles was a Philadelphia schoolgirl when she joined the Black Panther Party at 15, not much older than the Mastery Charter School-Shoemaker Campus students in front of her. Peebles, other members of the Black Panthers and a representative of the Black Lives Matter movement addressed Mastery students studying social justice as part of "Black Liberation Day" on Tuesday. Some in the audience absorbed the material solemnly; others smiled when a speaker said something that resonated with them. But all were listening. Gerald Dessus normally teaches English, but is offering the social justice class for the first time this year. The idea was to learn about inequality, to inspire eighth graders to see things through a historical lens, to be informed, even when it's uncomfortable. Students have studied units on the civil rights movement, on South African apartheid, and recently on Black Lives Matter. Tuesday's event was student-led: groups of young people recruited Black Panthers and Shakira King of Black Lives Matter Philadelphia to speak and answer questions, just as they had hosted Philadelphia police officers recently. "They're not going into this blindly, as supporters or fans," Dessus said. "They know about the criticisms and the controversies." The speakers talked plainly of the injustices that they had faced as black people and the way that makes them see the world. The trauma of their ancestors being enslaved changed their DNA, speakers told the Mastery Shoemaker students, the vast majority of whom are black. "America's going to forever owe us," Peebles said. "They stole us from the motherland." The speakers including King of Black Lives Matter and Peebles, Barbara Easley-Cox, Russell Shoatz III and Aisha El-Mekki of the Black Panther Party offered advice to the students. Surround yourself with friends who will check your ego, they said. Listen to criticism. Always connect the dots. Know who you are and where you fit in the world. One student asked about the role of white people. Some white people helped in the struggle for black liberation, she said what about them? King said it was complicated, but that certainly white people were capable of helping in the struggle, of being "accomplices," she said. "I don't hate white people," King said. "I hate what whiteness has done to me and my people." Aisha El-Mekki talked about how suburban children are taught to seek out police officers if they're hurt or lost. That notion was not shared with her children, including Mastery-Shoemaker Principal Sharif El-Mekki. "I taught my children at a very young age you don't stop a cop," said Aisha El-Mekki, who talked about one of her first experiences with the Black Panther Party, walking into a church at 20th and Columbia in Philadelphia where the organization was offering a free breakfast program for young people. Even after the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, the eighth graders lingered. Tyari Hutchins said he liked what the speakers had to say. "It made me think more about what's going on around me," said Hutchins, 14. And Courtney Phillips-Ricketts, a serious young man who made a presentation to the group about the history of the Black Panther Party, said the class generally changed his world view. He learned from the black liberation speakers, just as he learned from the police officers, said Phillips-Ricketts who is 14. "If all kids knew about social justice, it would help make the world better," he said. The speakers said that someday, the students at Mastery Shoemaker, a neighborhood charter school at 53rd and Media in West Philadelphia, would be leading their own movements. "I wish," Easley-Cox said, "that you might have some of the adventures that some of us have had." It's common knowledge in medicine: Doctors routinely order tests on hospital patients that are unnecessary and wasteful. Sutter Health, a giant hospital chain in Northern California, thought it had found a simple solution. The Sacramento-based health system deleted the button physicians used to order daily blood tests. "We took it out and couldn't wait to see the data," said Ann Marie Giusto, a Sutter Health executive. Alas, the number of orders hardly changed. That's because the hospital's medical-records software "has this cool ability to let you save your favorites," Giusto said at a recent presentation to other hospital executives and physicians. "It had become a habit." There are plenty of opportunities to trim waste in America's $3.4 trillion health care system but, as the Sutter example illustrates, it's often not as simple as it seems. Some experts estimate that at least $200 billion is wasted annually on excessive testing and treatment. This overly aggressive care also can harm patients, generating mistakes and injuries believed to cause 30,000 deaths each year. "The changes that need to be made don't appear unrealistic, yet they seem to take an awful lot of time," said Dr. Jeff Rideout, chief executive of the Integrated Healthcare Association, an Oakland, Calif., nonprofit group that promotes quality improvement. "We've been patient for too long." In California, that sense of frustration has led three of the state's biggest health care purchasers to band together to promote care that's safer and more cost-effective. The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the Covered California insurance exchange and the state's Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal which collectively serve more than 15 million patients are leading the initiative. Progress may be slow, but there have been some encouraging signs. In San Diego, for instance, the Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group said it cut unnecessary lab tests by more than 10 percent by educating both doctors and patients about overuse. A large public hospital, Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center, eliminated preoperative testing deemed superfluous before routine cataract surgery. As a result, patients on average received the surgery six months sooner. These efforts were sparked by the Choosing Wisely campaign, a national effort launched in 2012 by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation. The group asked medical societies to identify at least five common tests or procedures that often provide little benefit. The campaign, also backed by Consumer Reports, encourages medical providers to hand out wallet-sized cards to patients with questions they should ask to determine whether they truly need a procedure. Critics have knocked Choosing Wisely for playing it too safe and not going after some of the more lucrative procedures, such as certain spine operations and arthroscopic knee surgeries. Daniel Wolfson, chief operating officer at the ABIM Foundation, said the Choosing Wisely campaign has been successful at starting a national conversation about unwarranted care. "I think we need massive change and that takes 15 years," Wolfson said. The state effort, dubbed Smart Care California, is in the early stages as well. Initially, the group has focused on cutting the number of elective cesarean sections, reducing opioid use and avoiding overtreatment for patients suffering low-back pain. In its contract with health insurers, the Covered California exchange requires that their in-network providers meet a range of quality standards, including low C-section rates. Dr. Richard Sun, co-chairman of the Smart Care group and a medical consultant at CalPERS, said he's pursuing safer, more affordable treatments for low-back pain, a condition that cost the state agency $107 million in 2015. "One challenge is developing metrics that everyone can agree upon to measure improvement," he said. For patients, overtreatment can be more than a minor annoyance. Galen Gunther, a 59-year-old from Oakland, said that during treatment for colorectal cancer a decade ago he was subjected needlessly to repeated blood draws, often because the doctors couldn't get their hands on earlier results. Later, he said, he was overexposed to radiation, leaving him permanently scarred. "Every doctor I saw wanted to run the same tests, over and over again," Gunther said. "Nobody wanted to take responsibility for that." At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, officials said that economic incentives still drive hospitals to think that more is better. "We have excellent patient outcomes, but it's at a very high cost," said Dr. Harry Sax, executive vice chairman for surgery at Cedars-Sinai. "There is still a continued financial incentive to do that test, do that procedure and do something more." In addition to financial motives, Sax said, many physicians still practice defensive medicine out of fear of malpractice litigation. Also, some patients and their families expect antibiotics to be prescribed for a sore throat or a CT scan for a bump on the head. To cut down on needless care, Cedars-Sinai arranged for doctors to be alerted electronically when they ordered tests or drugs that run contrary to 18 Choosing Wisely recommendations. The hospital analyzed alerts from 26,424 patient encounters from 2013 to 2016. All of the guidelines were followed in 6 percent of those cases, or 1,591 encounters. Sax said Cedars-Sinai studied the rate of complications, readmissions, length of stay and direct cost of care among the patients in whose cases the guidelines were followed and compared those outcomes with cases where adherence was less than 50 percent. In the group that didn't follow the guidelines, patients had a 14 percent higher incidence of readmission and 29 percent higher risk of complications. Those complications and longer stays increased the cost of care by 7 percent, according to the hospital. In 2013, the first year of implementation of Choosing Wisely guidelines, Cedars-Sinai said it avoided $6 million in medical spending. For perspective, Cedars-Sinai is one the largest hospitals in the nation with $3.3 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30. It reported net income of $301 million. In Northern California, Sutter has incorporated more than 130 Choosing Wisely recommendations as part of a broader effort to reduce variation in care. In all, Sutter said, it has saved about $66 million since 2011. That's a significant sum. However, during the same period, Sutter reported $2.7 billion in profits. Last year alone, it posted an operating profit of $554 million on revenue of nearly $12 billion. Giusto said her team of employees tasked with changing physician behavior and eliminating these variations is separate from administrators who are focused on maximizing reimbursement. She said there can be conflicting forces within a hospital. "We get real excited about a project with [emergency department] doctors on reducing CT scans for abdominal pain," said Giusto, director of Sutter's office of patient experience. "Then I can hear the administration say that was a fee-for-service patient. I just lost money, right?" Giusto meets with doctors to present data on how many tests or prescriptions they order and how that compares to others. At one clinic, she shared slides showing that some doctors were ordering more than 70 opioid pills at a time while others prescribed fewer than 20. In response, Sutter set a goal of 28 tablets in hopes of reducing opioid abuse. "Most of the physicians changed," Giusto said. "But there were still two who said, 'Screw it. I'm going to keep doing it.'" This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. Patients and families often must comb the internet looking for clinical trials. Read more "Oncologists can barely keep up. My sister found a trial I was a perfect candidate for, and my doctors didn't even know it existed." I can't stop thinking about this quote. I read it in a recent Washington Post story about an immunotherapy drug that has been a lifesaver for Stefanie Joho, an advanced colon cancer patient in her early 20s She was referring to the rapidly changing landscape of clinical trials for immunotherapy drugs. These medicines are not working for all advanced cancer patients but they are proving effective for some like her even if sometimes only briefly. Researchers are racing to figure out for whom they work and why. Nowhere are these changes more evident than in advanced bladder cancer. Prior to May 2016, the FDA had not approved any new treatments for advanced bladder cancer since platinum-based chemotherapy in 1978. Median lifespan with advanced bladder cancer was about 14 months. For my first husband, Ahmad, it was 11 months from Stage IV diagnosis to death in April 2014. After platinum-based chemo failed, there was no official next option. Every time someone told me how much progress had been made in cancer research and how cancer was becoming a chronic disease rather than one that kills you, well, that just made things worse because that narrative directly contradicted our experience. But in May 2016 things started to change for patients like him. That's when the FDA approved an immunotherapy drug as a second-line treatment after platinum-based chemo. Since then, the FDA has approved four more immunotherapy drugs for advanced bladder cancer, including one as a first-line treatment for patients unable to tolerate chemotherapy. Three of these approvals have occurred within the last month. This is hopeful news for advanced bladder cancer patients and a stunning change. But here's the thing: as Joho said, the landscape is changing so fast, doctors sometimes can't keep up. I wrote a column in October about how hard it is for metastatic cancer patients to find and participate in clinical trials. In early May, I participated as a patient advocate on a panel in Washington D.C. sponsored by the Coalition for Clinical Trial Awareness about the challenges patients encounter in finding and participating in clinical trials. Joho's comment reminds me how difficult this remains for patients and their families. There is little that is more emotionally challenging than seeing someone you love dying of cancer and knowing that there may be an answer but you can't find it. There may be a drug that isn't typically prescribed for this particular cancer or that has just been invented. There may be an actionable mutation sitting in a dataset of thousands of mutations but you just don't know how to unlock it. And that is where desperation sets in. Desperation that drives patients and families to educate themselves and seek answers. It's not that their doctors don't want to help. They are inundated. And no one is as motivated as patients and their families. As a cancer patient advocate for the last three years, I have been repeatedly impressed at the sophisticated understanding some patients and caregivers develop. Anyone who says that patients shouldn't talk to each other because they might get bad information (and it is typically medical professionals who say this) don't know what it's like to want to save the life of someone you care about. Nor do they recognize that patients and families may be a lot sharper than they realize. Joho's sister is the perfect example. She took it upon herself to do what the doctors weren't doing for her sister. But in order to develop this sophisticated knowledge, it takes resources: time, money, skills, energy, to name a few. It takes resilience and emotional stability. It takes being free enough of pain and acute medical needs to do the research. And so, it becomes a survival of the fittest. Those who can best advocate for themselves have the best shot at getting more and better treatment. Why do we consider this acceptable? That's what I will be asking at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago later this week. I'll let you know what I discover. Renata Khoshroo Louwers is a writer and a bladder cancer patient advocate with the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network and the Research Advocacy Network. She lives with her husband, Tim Louwers, in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and San Francisco. This guest column appears rhrough our partnership with Inspire, an Arlington, Va., company with condition-specific online support communities for more than a million patients and caregivers. An 18-year-old senior at Pennridge High School has filed a sexual-discrimination suit against the school district and two administrators, alleging they did not protect her from harassment by a classmate who she says raped her at a nearby restaurant. The incident occurred on Dec. 17, 2014, when she was a sophomore, in the parking lot of the Country Place restaurant in Perkasie, according to the suit filed Wednesday on her behalf by the National Women's Law Center in federal court in Philadelphia. After she reported it to police and school officials, her alleged assailant and some of his friends sent threatening texts, shoved her in the hallway, and cursed at her, the suit said. It is the second law center suit filed against the Pennridge School District alleging that administrators ignored pleas for help with harassment. In January, former student Modupe Williams contended in a suit that she was subjected to racial and sexual slurs, received harassing phone calls, and was tormented in and out of school. Administrators were aware of the episodes, she said, but didn't act. The district is seeking to have that case dismissed. Law center attorney Alexandra Brodsky said that after Williams' case received publicity, several other Pennridge students or alumni came forward to say something similar had happened to them. More lawsuits may be forthcoming, she said. "We are particularly troubled by a pattern and policy of telling students, if you were raped or otherwise harassed off campus, it's not our problem, it is their problem," Brodsky said of district officials. "The courts have said just going to school with someone who has harassed or assaulted you creates a hostile environment." Superintendent Jacqueline A. Rattigan declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Both suits contend that the district violated Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex and race discrimination in education. In the latest case, the student said that for two years, she and her mother begged school administrators, including Rattigan and principal Gina DeBona, for intervention. They contend that school officials did not investigate the alleged assault, for which no criminal charges were filed, or discipline students for the in-school harassment, according to the suit. Instead, school officials suggested that the student, who had excellent grades and was active in school activities, attend an alternative school, the suit says. After having difficulty making it through full days of school, Goodwin spent the last month of her sophomore year working from home, and left in April of her junior year to attend a cyber school, returning to the high school for her senior year. Her education suffered as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder and the school's failure to make her feel safe, with her grade-point average dropping from 3.9 to 3.2, she said. The school initially agreed to her request that she not be assigned the same classes as her alleged assailant, she said, but she ended up in a study hall and lunch room with him. The alleged assailant and the companions she accused of sending threatening texts graduated last year were not in school for her senior year, but two of the companions joined the military and came back to campus for recruiting events, which triggered her PTSD, she said. One will also be attending this Friday's senior prom, which she is attending. "With PTSD, knowing that they're in the area near me, I can't focus, I feel as if I'm in danger," she said. "When I found out they were there, even though they were not speaking to me or in the vicinity, it still made me feel that I was unsafe." She said the experience has shaped her choice of careers. While she originally wanted to be a teacher, she now plans to major in social work and psychology. "After all this that happened to me, I realized that teenage girls and students in high school have a much harder time going about life than I realized," she said. "It helped me understand I needed a person to be there for me, and I didn't have that. My hope is to be someone who can assist students in need." Police are trying to determine how a 7-year-old girl ended up with a bag over her head in her Olney home, leaving her fighting for her life. The unusual incident had an even stranger beginning. Police went to the home on the 5500 block of North American Street around 1 a.m. Wednesday, after a woman called to report her car had been stolen by an 18-year-old resident of the house. 6ABC said the alleged thief is the woman's son and brother of the injured girl. When the officer responding to the car-theft report asked for the vehicle's paperwork, the woman went to the basement and found her daughter unresponsive with a bag over her head, police said. The woman, screaming for help, carried the girl to the officer, who reportedly began resuscitation efforts. The child was reported to be in extremely critical condition at Einstein Medical Center. In the meantime, police found the stolen car crashed into parked vehicles a few blocks away, Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters at the scene. The 18-year-old was being sought. Small said police do not yet know if the girl ended up with the bag over her head due to a crime or an accident. He said many plastic bags were in the basement where the child was found. The investigation is continuing. Omar Cooper is charged with murder in the death of his 6-week-old son. Read more A Southwest Philadelphia father has been arrested and charged with murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the beating death last week of his infant son, police said Wednesday. Omar Cooper, 31, is accused of punching his child, Omar Braxton-Cooper, who was 6 weeks old, so severely that the baby suffered internal brain injuries and internal bleeding in his abdominal organs, Homicide Sgt. Bob Kuhlmeier said. The baby also suffered a detached retina, but it was not immediately clear if that was from punching or some other form of abuse, he said. The injuries were so horrific that one person described the infant's injuries as "worse than a car wreck," said Kuhlmeier, who declined to say who provided that description. Kuhlmeier said the child's mother was not home on Friday when the beating allegedly occurred in their second-floor apartment on the 5800 block of Willows Avenue. At some point after the mother came home, Cooper allegedly told her the baby was bleeding from his nose, and the two parents brought the infant to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby. The baby's condition was so dire at that point that staff at Mercy Fitzgerald had him flown by medical helicopter to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was pronounced dead at 12:35 p.m. CHOP staff, suspecting abuse, called police. After an investigation, police said, Cooper was arrested and charged. The Medical Examiner's Office said the baby's death was caused by "multiple blunt impact injuries." Cooper, who is in custody after having been denied bail, faces a June 14 preliminary hearing. Icelandair CEO Birkir Holm Guonason, left, cuts a cake to celebrate Icelandairs inaugural flight to Philadelphia as Mayor Philadelphia James Kenney, right, look on. Read more The inaugural Icelandair flight from Philadelphia with Mayor Kenney aboard was diverted to Boston late Tuesday after experiencing a technical problem over Canada. Kenney, a critic of international travel by his predecessors, was on board an Icelandair flight for Reykjavik, Iceland, as part of a cultural exchange to mark the first direct flights between the city and Philadelphia. The flight was diverted to Boston, however, due to a technical problem, according to Icelandair. A rubber smell was detected on the aircraft, the airline told people asking questions on social media about the diversion. Further information about the technical issue was not described. Icelandair said a new flight would depart Boston at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and land in Iceland at 1:30 a.m. The website FlightAware.com showed the plane making an unexpected turn at 10:47 p.m. By 10:54 p.m., the website reported that the flight had been diverted to Logan International Airport, where it landed about 12:30 a.m. "We and Icelandair are committed to doing all we can to ensure future travelers have a smooth travel experience on this new route," Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said. "This is obviously very out of the ordinary." Hitt said it is tradition when new international routes are established to the Philadelphia International Airport for the mayors to visit one another's cities. Perhaps because Kenney often blasted Mayor Michael Nutter for traveling out of the country, Hitt did some research on the topic. The city's law department dredged up a memo referencing a 1991 trip that then-Mayor Wilson Goode took to Switzerland to mark the first Swiss Air flight to Philadelphia. "It would have been difficult to entice them to establish support here if we had said we're not sending the mayor as part of this cultural exchange," Hitt said. "It would have been seen as a snub for us to not partake in it when all previous mayors have done so." Kenney is to return Saturday. He is scheduled to speak at Iceland University about Philadelphia's status as a so-called sanctuary city. He will also attend a dinner at the U.S. embassy; visit the Althing, Iceland's parliament; and tour the Hellisheii Geothermal Power Plant. The mayor of Reykjavik, Dagur B. Eggertsson, has spent two days on a similar tour in Philadelphia. Hitt said the costs to host the delegation from Iceland were split between the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the airport. The airport, which Hitt said is self-sustaining and receives no taxpayer revenue, is paying for Kenney's travel to Iceland. David D.J. Creato Jr., waits in the courtroom during jury deliberations at the Camden County Courthouse, Tuesday. May 30, 2017. Creato is charged with killing his 3-year-old son, Brendan. JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff photographer Read more Jurors in the trial of David "D.J." Creato Jr. told a judge Tuesday they were unable to reach a verdict, following three days of deliberation. Judge John T. Kelley ordered the jurors to return Wednesday to Superior Court in Camden to deliberate again, telling them to "make an effort" to reach a verdict. Creato, 23, is charged with killing his 3-year-old son, Brendan, and dumping the boy's body in Haddon Township woods in 2015. The jury has spent hours reexamining evidence, and on Tuesday watched video of Creato reacting to news of Brendan's death for a fourth time. The jury also asked to hear about a photo of woods discovered on Creato's phone. The photo was taken on Oct. 11, 2015, within 15 yards of where Brendan Creato was found dead two days later, according to an audio recording of testimony that was replayed in court. The video of Creato's interview with detectives was played on a projection screen. It showed him screaming "Oh my God, no, no, no," when he was told his son had been found dead. The jurors also twice reexamined the activity on Creato's phone from the night Brendan disappeared. A PowerPoint presentation of the activity showed Creato repeatedly called his girlfriend, Julia Stensky, then 17, and logged into her Facebook and Snapchat accounts that night. Prosecutors have said Creato killed Brendan to stop Stensky, who demanded she be Creato's number-one priority, from leaving him. Stensky, now 19, was in New York City when Brendan died, authorities said. She has not been charged. Creato called 911 just after 6 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2015, saying he woke up and Brendan was gone. Minutes prior to that, Creato had called his mother, Lisa, and Brendan's mother, Samantha Denoto, who did not live with Creato. Around 6:40 a.m., as the search for Brendan was underway, Creato checked Stensky's Snapchat account. Two police officers, following a police dog that tracked Brendan's scent, found his pajama-clad body in woods three-quarters of a mile from Creato's apartment just before 9 a.m. Jurors on Tuesday also listened to a recording of earlier testimony by Camden County Prosecutor's Office Detective Michael Rhoads, who said investigators had reviewed surveillance footage from more than a dozen cameras in the area but not found any signs of Creato. Downtown Haddonfield was eliminated this week from Americas Best Main Street contest along with nearby Main Street in Maple Shade. The South Jersey communities were competing with 23 other downtowns nationwide. The winner will be announced June 5 and will receive a $25,000 prize. Read more The quest for bragging rights in a national Main Street competition has come to an end for two South Jersey towns. Haddonfield and Maple Shade were eliminated by voters this week from a field of 25 towns in the running for the online contest by Independent We Stand, the America's Main Streets competition. It began with 242 nominees nationwide to find the best main streets and downtowns. Two Pennsylvania towns that were also contending for the top honor were cut Monday in the semi-final round: Oxford, Chester County, and Wellsboro, Tioga County. "These main streets represent the best in the country but only one will be chosen as the grand prize winner," Independent We Stand said on its website. The downtowns selected as finalists are located in Ohio, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, and Washington. The top honor comes with a $25,000 prize. The winner will be announced Monday. "We were sad to hear we weren't moving on but appreciative of the opportunity to participate in the first place," said Helen Iapalucci, executive director of Main Street Maple Shade, a nonprofit that has been working to improve the downtown area . "We will continue our efforts and hope to bring about real change." Maple Shade, a once-thriving blue-collar town of 19,000 residents in Burlington County, is trying to revive its heyday as a busy shopping and social hub. Like Haddonfield a few miles away, Maple Shade is among the few South Jersey towns that have a Main Street lined with stores and businesses that typically are owner-operated. Haddonfield is known for its quaint, bustling downtown district. The picture-perfect streetscape with boutiques, art galleries, shops, eateries, and a popular walking district attracts visitors to the center of the Camden County community. Both towns made it to the quarterfinals by pushing their nominations mostly through social media to encourage the public to vote online. "It was an honor just being nominated. We had a lot of fun with it," Kathy Gold, owner of In the Kitchen Cooking School in Haddonfield and a member of the Partnership for Haddonfield, the management corporation for Haddonfield's Business Improvement District, said Wednesday. "We're very proud." Independent We Stand is a nationwide coalition of small, independent business owners that promote Main Streets and their businesses. Philadelphia Mayor Mayor Jim Kenney speaks during a news conference at City Hall in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Despite pressure from the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, Kenney signed the citys new wage equity law in January. Read more The lawsuit aiming to strike down Philadelphia's new wage equity law has been tossed out by a federal judge because the group that filed it, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, did not identify a single business the law would harm. Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg, in an order entered Tuesday, gave the chamber 14 days to file an amended complaint. "Because the chamber has not met its burden to show that at least one of its members would have standing to bring this suit, I will grant the city's motion and dismiss the complaint without prejudice," Goldberg wrote. Liz Ferry, a spokeswoman for the chamber, declined to comment, saying staff were reviewing the judge's order. The law the first of its kind passed by a U.S. city bans employers from asking job applicants for salary history. It is intended to close the pay gap between men and women, which some argue starts early in women's careers and is perpetuated when they are asked to state their salaries going forward. The city had agreed to hold off on enforcing the law, which was supposed to take effect May 23, until Goldberg ruled on a preliminary request for an injunction by the chamber. On Wednesday, city spokesman Mike Dunn said the city would honor that decision if the chamber files an amended complaint to identify specific businesses it believes the law would harm. If not, "the city will begin taking steps to enforce the ordinance, which seeks to improve wage equity for women and minority workers in Philadelphia." "We are gratified by the judge's decision," Dunn said. The law faced little public scrutiny before being passed by City Council in December. The chamber submitted testimony in opposition but did not attend the hearing on it. The following month, the chamber and Comcast Corp. officials privately raised concerns about the bill with Mayor Kenney and his staff, threatening in a legal memo to sue if the mayor did not veto it. In the suit, the chamber argues the law unfairly violates businesses' right to freedom of speech because there is no evidence banning businesses from asking about salary history will close the gender pay gap. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn will hand over documents and records to the Senate Intelligence Committee in response to a set of subpoenas for information from his businesses and personal files related to the committee's probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a person close to Flynn. Lawyers for Flynn's team sent the committee a written response Tuesday indicating that Flynn would begin providing records in response to subpoenas by June 6, the deadline to start turning over such information. Flynn was required to indicate by Tuesday whether he intended to comply with the records request. The subpoenas were issued for two companies Flynn owns, Flynn Intel Group Inc. and Flynn Intel Group LLC. The committee also reissued a third subpoena for personal records, the focus of which was narrowed after Flynn rejected the committee's initial demand for personal records relating to his contacts with Russian authorities, claiming it was too broad and would jeopardize his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. After Flynn's lawyers rejected the committee's initial subpoena for personal records detailing any and all communications Flynn had with Russian officials, committee leaders turned to his businesses, arguing, in the words of vice chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) that "a business does not have the right to take the Fifth." The narrowed request focuses more closely on documents that the committee believes exist. But it is not clear if Flynn's willingness to comply with the new subpoenas means that the committee will be satisfied with the documents he turns over or whether those documents will do anything to prove or disprove allegations that Flynn had improper contacts with Russian officials while acting as a surrogate for President Donald Trump. A spokesman for Warner declined to comment for this article Tuesday, while a spokeswoman for committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., did not immediately return a request for comment. The person close to Flynn said that the former national security adviser wants to cooperate with the congressional investigation as long as doing so doesn't violate his constitutional rights. Everything is happening so fast or at least that's how it feels trying to follow politics these days. You've seen the headlines about President Trump and his policies but what do they mean for Philadelphia? What does that mean for you? We've launched a newsletter to explore just that. You can sign up to get the weekly Trumpadelphia newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday. Philadelphia police on Wednesday identified three people who were slain over the weekend in two separate shootings in the city. Raymond Finney Sr., 48, and his sister Florence Pompey, 53, were found shot dead Sunday morning in the home they shared on the 1900 block of East Clearfield Street in Kensington. Officers who responded to the house found Finney shot once in the head and once in the stomach. They found Pompey in a second-floor bedroom, shot once in the head. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene by medics at 9:05 a.m. that day. A woman who shares three sons with Finney told 6ABC that she discovered the bodies in the house after going there to search for one of her sons, Raymond Finney Jr., who also lives there, but was missing. Tasmara McLaughlin said Finney Jr., who is employed by the city's Streets Department as a sanitation worker, was last seen heading to work Friday, and that some of his belongings were found later that day at 24th and Walnut Streets, 6ABC reported. McLaughlin could not be immediately reached for further comment Wednesday. A police spokesman confirmed that a missing-persons report was filed for Finney Jr. Police on Wednesday also identified a man shot to death on the 1700 block of North Wilton Street in Wynnefield about 2:10 a.m. Sunday as Donald Burems, 20, of the 5200 block of Lancaster Avenue. Officers responding to a report of a shooting on the 1700 block of North Wilton Street found Burems lying on the street, suffering from several gunshot wounds. He was transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:31 a.m. No arrests have been made in the shootings, which remain under investigation. The motives behind the slayings also were not known. Herbert Curtis Boyd Jr., 65, a loading dock worker who made a name for himself in Philadelphia as a DJ specializing in R&B music, died Wednesday, May 17, from a stroke at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He had suffered the stroke at home in West Philadelphia on May 16 and was taken to Lankenau Medical Center and then transferred to Bryn Mawr, his family said. "Herbie," as he was known to relatives, had worked for Sears. He held various jobs, the last of which was as a loading dock technician, before retiring in 1989 with 20 years of service. In later years, he found part-time employment as a security officer with several retail and manufacturing companies in Philadelphia. Mr. Boyd then began a third career as one of the city's R&B music mixologists, or DJs. He entertained patrons at the Circles Lounge near Broad and Loudon Streets. The last time he performed was two years ago, his family said. When Mr. Boyd became convinced that inner-city residents had too few opportunities to get out of the city and enjoy themselves, he informally arranged, promoted, and conducted ski trips to the Poconos. Born in Philadelphia, he was the only child of Shirley and Herbert Boyd Sr. After his parents separated, his grandmother Jennie Wright-Evans, a Baptist lay minister, became his surrogate mother. She instilled in him a strong moral code and work ethic, his family said. Mr. Boyd was a precocious child. At age 8, he learned how to ride the transit system and got himself around, to the amazement of his cousins and family members. He also was a good student, completing his homework assignments on his own from an early age. In 1969, Mr. Boyd graduated from Germantown High School. He was a skilled dancer, so when Dick Clark came looking for regular dancers for his after-school television dance program, American Bandstand, Mr. Boyd signed up. "He loved to dance," his family said. He was married to Valarie A. Smith. The couple had a son before divorcing. After many years of bachelorhood, Mr. Boyd found a soul mate in Sabrina Turner, whom he married on June 27, 2015. The last two years of his life with Turner were his happiest, he told relatives. "We love to eat," Turner said. "We ate at the Chart House [in South Philadelphia]. We went to casinos, New Orleans. It was short, but we had a lovely time." Besides his wife and former wife, he is survived by a son, Curtis Herbert Keyes; stepson Michael Samuel; a grandson; an uncle, Raymond Hackney, who served as a surrogate father; and many cousins. Funeral services were Thursday, May 25, with interment in Mount Peace Cemetery. I was very excited when ASUS announced that the new ASUS VivoBook S laptop has a starting price of merely $499 at Computex 2017 in Taiwan. Thats just a little under 25,000.00 for a sleek and feature-packed laptop! However, this turned into a disappointment when they released the local pricing. Instead of 25,000.00, the ASUS VivoBook S has an official starting price of a whooping 44,995.00 in the Philippines. Reason for the Price Discrepancy The huge discrepancy in price is due to the variants that will be available here in the Philippines. So far, ASUS can only promise to release the ASUS VivoBook S with 7th Generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7. The $499 price tag refers to the Intel Core i3 version with HD display. ASUS VivoBook S Features The ASUS VivoBook S is a thin laptop with a 15.6-inch full HD IPS display, NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics card, 256GB SSD alongside a 1TB HDD, 8GB of RAM and a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello. It also boasts several high speed ports including a USB Type-C, USB 3.1 and a couple of USB 2.0 ones. Its keyboard is backlit while the bezels are slim. Availability The ASUS VivoBook S will be available here in the Philippines by the end of July 2017. Hopefully, ASUS can offer the $499 version in the succeeding months. The Sun's atmosphere is weird Intuitively, we humans know that the closer we get to a heat source, the hotter we get. The Sun's atmosphere, however, doesn't quite work this way. Scientists call this phenomenon the coronal heating problem. The surface, called the photosphere, has a temperature of about 6,000 Kelvin. This is where sunspots appearthe dark blobs you can see through a solar telescope. Next comes the chromosphere. Here, the temperature increases from 6,000 to 20,000 Kelvin in a distance of less than 2,000 kilometers. This is where solar prominencesthose massive, looping strands of burning gasget their start. Finally, there's the corona, the long, wavy region extending millions of kilometers into space, which you can see during a solar eclipse. The temperature here climbs over a million degrees. This is also where the solar windmade of high-energy particles responsible for auroras and finicky satellite behaviorblasts away from the Sun at 400 kilometers per second. Solar scientists don't quite understand all the mechanisms at play in the corona. How does it get so hot? And what causes the solar wind there to erupt here with such ferocity? These are the questions Parker Solar Probe will try to help answer, by making direct, death-defying measurements of the corona for the first time ever. The spacecraft Parker Solar Probe is designed, built and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The spacecraft weighs 685 kilograms fully fueled, and consists of an instrument deck and large carbon composite heat shield. The 11.5-centimeter-thick heat shield will protect Parker Solar Probe from the 1,700-Kelvin temperatures it will encounter during its coronal dives, keeping the bulk of the spacecraft at room temperature. Taipei, May 31 (CNA) Taiwan's Navy said Wednesday that it has commissioned a Dutch company to assist in a program to upgrade its two submarines bought from the Netherlands in the 1980s, but stressed that the program is not related to a program for Taiwan to build its own submarines. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Politics, environment, farming and more in your new free Western Morning News newsletter - direct to your inbox every day The Herald's chief reporter Sam Blackledge gives his thoughts on Theresa May's visit to Plymouth with just over a week to go until the general election Before 8.30am today, I had never interviewed a Prime Minister. Heading back to the office to transcribe my encounter with Theresa May at Plymouth's fish market, I couldn't be certain that had changed. To start with, it was quite an exciting experience. We got the call late on Tuesday night, and the visit was kept totally secret until her arrival. We waited in the drizzle as she chatted with fishermen and nodded earnestly at nets and buckets, leopard print heels click-clacking on the harbour floor. Tired-looking campaign managers hurried back and forth, mulling over our request for a filmed interview which had been denied on her previous visit. Then suddenly we were on. I had a list of four questions, all on local issues, carefully prepared with the help of my newsroom colleagues. Two visits in six weeks to one of the country's most marginal constituencies is she getting worried? "I'm very clear that this is a crucial election for this country." Plymouth is feeling the effects of military cuts. Will she guarantee to protect the city from further pain? "I'm very clear that Plymouth has a proud record of connection with the armed forces." How will your Brexit plan make Plymouth better off? "I think there is a better future ahead for Plymouth and for the whole of the UK." Will you promise to sort out our transport links? "I'm very clear that connectivity is hugely important for Plymouth and the South West generally." I was pleased to have secured the interview and happy to have squeezed all my points in. But no sooner had the ministerial car pulled away from Sutton Harbour than I began to feel a bit deflated. If the ultimate job of a journalist is to get answers, I had failed. Should I have stopped her and demanded she be more specific? Could I have gone full angry Paxman, or brought the interview to an abrupt close in protest? Back at the office, we scratched our heads and wondered what the top line was. She had and given me absolutely nothing. It was like a postmodern version of Radio 4's Just A Minute. I pictured Nicholas Parsons in the chair: "The next topic is how Plymouth will be affected by Brexit, military cuts and transport meltdown. Theresa, you have three minutes to talk without clarity, candour or transparency. Your time starts now." VIDEO: Michigan Detective Sickened After Testing White Powder A Wyoming, MI, detective was sickened while testing a white powder at the Kent County Sheriffs Department Tuesday and was treated with Narcan and rushed to a hospital as a precaution, according to Chief Deputy Kevin Kelley of the sheriffs department. The Grand Rapids Fire Department tells WOOD TV a Kent County sheriffs deputy found the powder during a traffic stop Monday night. The substance was taken back to the sheriffs department for testing. It made a fear of mine come true today. Ive been talking about it, preaching about it, said Lt. Al Roetman with the Kent County Sheriffs Office. The sheriffs office says the Wyoming detective with the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team started feeling nauseous and his heart rate increased while testing the unknown substance. His symptoms were similar to those caused by a drug exposure, the sheriffs department said. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print After initially refusing to hand over key documents relevant to the ongoing Russia investigation, fired national security advisor Michael Flynn now appears to be caving in. According to reporting from the Associated Press, Flynn now says he will hand over some documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee in its investigation into Russias interference in last years election. CNN noted on Tuesday that Flynn would provide the first set of documentation by June 6. More from the AP report: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will provide some documents to the Senate intelligence committee as part of its probe into Russias meddling in the 2016 election. A person close to Flynn says he will turn over documents related to two of his businesses as well as some personal documents the committee requested earlier this month. The person says Flynn plans to produce documents by next week. Flynns decision comes after he invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in declining an earlier request from the committee. Flynns attorneys had argued the earlier request was too broad and would have required Flynn to turn over information that could have been used against him. Flynn and his lawyers had initially refused to hand over the documents in fear that they would be incriminating, which suggests that there is something in the records that could bring both he and perhaps even the president down. The fact that he is now caving and will hand over some documents is good news, but its not enough. Flynn needs to hand over every last shred of paperwork relevant to this probe, not just a few to give off the impression that he is being transparent. Flynn, of course, has become one of the central targets, along with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, in the Russia investigation after lying about and failing to disclose his contacts with Russia. With more documents to be handed over, this investigation isnt close to complete. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The Russia scandal is big, but among the growing number of voters who favor impeaching Trump in the Politico/Morning Consult poll, the reason they want the President removed from office isnt crimes, but that he is unfit to occupy the Oval Office. The Morning Consult/Politico poll has been one of the more favorable polls to Trump, but even their poll revealed that support for impeachment has grown from 38% to 43% since their last poll. Morning Consult reported on their poll, For the Americans who said they want to see Republicans impeach a sitting president of their own party, their desire appears to be borne from the notion that Trump is generally unfit for office. More than half (54 percent) of the voters who said Trump should be impeached said it was because he is unfit to serve, while 43 percent said it was because they thought Trump had committed an impeachable offense, such as treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. A majority of Democrats (54 percent) and independents (56 percent) who said Trump should be impeached cited a lack of fitness for the presidency, while a slim plurality of Republicans (48 percent) agreed. Even if Republicans can hold off the Russia scandal, the most damaging perception for their party will be the Trump is unfit for office. Trump continues to demonstrate with his behavior that he is a person who is not fit to lead the country. The Russia scandal is viewed by many voters as the path to remove an unfit president, but they dont yet believe that crimes have been proven should necessitate his removal from office. Instead, voters want Trump out because he is not fit to be president. The odds of the President being removed from office using the 25th Amendment are zero, so it is going to be up to the voters to first put a check on this president by giving Democrats a majority in all or part of Congress in 2018, and then following that up by removing him from office at the ballot box in 2020. Democrats as a party must be willing to argue that Donald Trump is unfit to serve as President. It only feels like a matter of time until support for removing Trump from office becomes a majority in nearly every credible poll. No one should fear the argument that Trump is unfit to serve. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The House Intelligence Committee will issue subpoenas for Mike Flynn, and Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen as the daily drip of Russia scandal news drowns Trump. Reuters tweeted: JUST IN: House Intelligence Committee expected to issue subpoenas for Michael Flynn, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen sources pic.twitter.com/ChPGV3LPee Reuters Politics (@ReutersPolitics) May 31, 2017 As the investigations churn forward, it is a steady drip of information that consumes everything surrounding the Trump administration. The onslaught of news is driving the President crazy as he is obsessed with the Russia scandal. Trump and his Republican pals can rant about Kathy Griffin to change the subject. Press Secretary Sean Spicer can claim that covfefe is a secret code word that is only understood by Trump and a few others. This White House can distract by calling on Senate Republicans to destroy the legislative filibuster. They can send Trump overseas, but at the end of the day, the story always comes back to Russia. The steady drip, drip, drip of new information and details about the investigations is sidetracking Washington and the Republican agenda as the Trump presidency is becoming all about Russia. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Despite being told by his own lawyers not to tweet about the Russia scandal, Donald Trump fired off an enraged tweet about Carter Page after watching a segment on Fox and Friends, which proves that America has a president who is being guided by a news network that fakes and scripts its segments. Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning: So now it is reported that the Democrats, who have excoriated Carter Page about Russia, don't want him to testify. He blows away their. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 case against him & now wants to clear his name by showing "the false or misleading testimony by James Comey, John Brennan" Witch Hunt! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017 Trump got his information from a brief segment on Fox and Friends. The President Of The United States is speaking to the world based on information he receives, not from his daily briefings, but from a network that according to a former employee scripts and rigs their panel discussions so that conservatives always win. The White House is so worried about Trumps tweets being used as evidence against him that they want a team of lawyers to vet his tweets before he sends them, but he is spouting off about the Russia scandal while watching Fox and Friends. Trump has shown before that his tweets are influenced by Fox News, but this is worse than influence. Trump is talking about a scandal where he is under investigation based on what he saw on Fox News. The conservative network isnt just influencing Trump. They are the basis for his statements about a scandal that could destroy his presidency. The real power behind this White House isnt Steve Bannon or Jared Kushner. Its Fox News. Taipei, May 31 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court has summoned former President Chen Shui-bian () to appear in court on July 7 for a hearing on whether he is healthy enough to stand trial on several corruption charges that have been suspended on the grounds of his poor health. 25 2021 - 200 ! . ( ) 1 , Cookies . cookies. Watchdog and Public Service reporter Thad Moore is a reporter on The Post and Couriers Watchdog and Public Service team and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. To share tips securely, reach Moore via ProtonMail at thadmoore@protonmail.com or on Signal at 843-214-6576. Two family members of former Hampton County banker Russell Laffitte testified Nov. 9 they never suspected their relative could have played a role in Alex Murdaughs efforts to steal from clients until a cascade of investigations revealed how the now-disbarred attorney did it. Read moreRussell Laffitte's sister-in-law testifies Alex Murdaugh investigation revealed bank's role Growing up, Memorial Day was a busy day. I'm pretty sure it was an eventful day in the homes of many baby boomers. We did not take a trip, travel to the lake and or go shopping. We understood that Memorial Day was a somber day of remembering. We grasped that the day carried meaning to our parents, but didn't fully understand the weight of it. Many of our fathers shared little of their wartime experiences from World War II or Korea, but we sensed that we needed to be present for the Memorial Day program. We watched our fathers and mothers participate and we were proud of them. I can recall the veterans all wearing their Legion caps. Each might have their hat tilted one way or the other, just like they did their helmet or military cap. Each hat would have a number of pins displayed on them signifying much to be proud of. There was a great cadre of veterans in the small community of Sandstone, where I grew up from sixth grade. Recently, I contacted three friends whose dads, step-dad and even moms participated in the Memorial Day program every year. ADVERTISEMENT Honor and pride Friends Sue Klejeski Johnson and her husband Don still recall with honor and pride their father's and step-dad's involvement in the Legion. Although Sue lost her dad early in her life, she could still recall him getting his Legion outfit on before heading to a Legion meeting. Don recalls his dad marching in parades, running the Legion popcorn stand at the summer fair, and participating in the Memorial Day programs. My dad, a member of the Sandstone American Legion Post 151, always had several things to do on Memorial Day. In the morning he would appear in his white or blue shirt, Legion cap, tie, tie clasp and sport coat. He would head down to the Legion Hall, sometimes with me in tow, where all the members would gather and decide who would perform what duties. Who would be in the honor guard to fire the volley, carry the flags, and raise the flag and lower the flag to half-mast? Normally the speaker, who would read the roll call of the dead and play taps had already been determined. I can recall the names of many of those veterans from almost 50 years ago. Bill, Don, Carl, Walt, Bill, Ray, Lee, Carl, Glenn, Jim, Ken. We could see that they were proud. They stood tall at attention and performed no matter how they felt. Deep in their heart they may have been remembering fellow soldiers that did not come home. This day meant a great deal to each one of them. War diary Probably 12 years ago, my mother-in-law told me that her husband had kept a dairy during World War II. These words of reflection and emotion written with a pencil had been tucked away unbeknownst to his children. She found it, shortly after his life tragically and accidentally ended while hunting in a field on an October day in 1968. After she read the diary, this piece of history was again tucked away. ADVERTISEMENT I never had the pleasure to meet my wife's dad. I got to meet him, in a sense, in this journal that was written by a 19-year-old man from the small town of Lindstrom. He would eventually find himself in the middle of many historic Pacific battles on the heavy cruiser USS Portland. In October and November 1943, this young sailor was lying on his bunk in the middle of the South Pacific, aboard the heavy cruiser USS Portland, where he wrote these passages in his personal diary: "I was stationed at Pleasanton, Calif., for quite some time and they finally sent me to the USS Portland on the 7th of October. We stayed in San Francisco for 3 days and loaded ammunition and on October 10th we left the States. It was a sorrowful sight to see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance and soon it was out of sight. I'm still praying for you, Mother and Dad, and I hope you're both doing the same for all of us and it'll bring us home safe again." Man revealed These words give you a glimpse of a man leaving for war. His diary showed him to be a kind and caring man. High school friend Jo remembered that she was not to ask questions about the war and only listen if a story emerged. She still has her father's Legion cap. Her dad was one of the incredibly brave young men that landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. Her dad, on this day of remembrance, would also have his tie neatly tied with his tie clasp in place. On his head was his cap, which now is a powerful and precious reminder of his service, strength and love. For Jo, her mom also sang the song Sleep Soldier Boy every Memorial Day program. ADVERTISEMENT Jo said she wonders if her mom's voice is not still heard echoing through those trees and grave markers. The song tells the veterans to rest their work is done. I believe her mom's voice does still echo, especially every Memorial Day. Thank you to all who served. It's widely believed that older age is darkened by persistent loneliness. But a considerable body of research confirms this isn't the case. In fact, loneliness is the exception rather than the rule in later life. And when it occurs, it can be alleviated: It's a mutable psychological state. Only 30 percent of older adults feel lonely fairly frequently, according to data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, the most definitive study of seniors' social circumstances and their health in the U.S. The remaining 70 percent have enough fulfilling interactions with other people to meet their fundamental social and emotional needs "If anything, the intensity of loneliness decreases from young adulthood through middle age and doesn't become intense again until the oldest old age," said Louise Hawkley, an internationally recognized authority on the topic and senior research scientist at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. ADVERTISEMENT Understanding the extent of loneliness is important, insofar as this condition has been linked to elevated stress, impaired immune system function, inflammation, high blood pressure, depression, cognitive dysfunction and an earlier-than-expected death in older adults. A passing feeling A new study, co-authored by Hawkley, highlights another underappreciated feature of this affliction: Loneliness often is transient, not permanent. That study examined more than 2,200 Americans ages 57 to 85 in 2005 and again in 2010. Of the group who reported being lonely in 2005 (just under one-third of the sample), 40 percent had recovered from that state five years later, while 60 percent still were lonely. What helped older adults who had been lonely recover? Two factors: spending time with other people and eliminating discord and disturbances in family relationships. Hawkley explains the result by noting loneliness is a signal that an essential need a desire for belonging isn't being met. Similar to hunger or thirst, it motivates people to act, and it's likely that seniors reached out to the people they were closest to more often. Her study also looked at protective factors that kept seniors from becoming lonely. What made a difference? Lots of support from family members and fewer physical problems that interfere with an individual's independence and ability to get out and about. To alleviate loneliness, one first must recognize the perceptions underlying the emotion, Hawkley and other experts said. ADVERTISEMENT The fundamental perception is one of inadequacy. People who are lonely tend to feel that others aren't meeting their expectations and that something essential is missing. And there's usually a significant gap between the relationships these people want and those they actually have. This isn't the same as social isolation a lack of contact with other people although the two can be linked. People can be "lonely in a marriage" that's characterized by conflict or "lonely in a crowd" when they're surrounded by other people with whom they can't connect. 2 ways to change Interventions to address loneliness have received heightened attention since 2011, when the Campaign to End Loneliness launched in Britain. Here are two essential ways to mitigate this distressing sentiment: Alter perceptions. Loneliness perpetuates itself through a gloomy feedback cycle. We think people don't like us, so we convey negativity in their presence, which causes them to withdraw from us, which reinforces our perception that we're not valued. Changing the perceptions that underlie this cycle is the most effective way to relieve loneliness, according to a comprehensive evaluation of loneliness interventions published in 2011. Heidi Grant, associate director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University, described this dynamic in an article published in 2010. "If co-worker Bob seems more quiet and distant than usual lately, a lonely person is likely to assume that he's done something to offend Bob, or that Bob is intentionally giving him the cold shoulder," she wrote. ADVERTISEMENT With help, people can learn to examine the assumptions underlying their thoughts and ask questions such as "Am I sure Bob doesn't like me? Could there be other, more likely reasons for his quiet, reserved behavior at work?" This kind of "cognitive restructuring" is an essential component of LISTEN, a promising intervention to treat loneliness developed by Laurie Theeke, an associate professor in the school of nursing at West Virginia University. In five two-hour sessions, small groups of lonely people probe their expectations of relationships, their needs, their thought patterns and their behaviors while telling their stories and listening to others. Joining a group can be effective if there's an educational component and people are actively engaged, experts said. Invest in relationships. With loneliness, it's not the quantity of relationships that counts most. It's the quality. If you're married, your relationship with your spouse is critically important in sustaining a feeling of belonging and preventing loneliness, Hawkley said. If you haven't been getting along, it's time to try to turn things around. Remember when you felt most connected to your spouse? How did that feel? Can you emphasize the positive and minimize the negative? If you're badly stuck, seek professional help. Investing in relationships with family members and friends is similarly important. This is the time to move beyond old grievances. "If you want to recover from loneliness, try to deal with difficulties that are disrupting relationships," Hawkley said. Also, it's a good idea to diversify your relationships so you're not depending exclusively on a few people, according to Jenny de Jong Gierveld and Tineke Fokkema, loneliness researchers from the Netherlands. Training in social skills can help lonely people deal with problems such as not knowing how to renew contact with an old friend or initiate conversation with a distant relative. And learning coping strategies can enlarge their arsenal of adaptive responses. Both of these strategies are part of a six-week " friendship enrichment program " developed in the Netherlands. The goal is to help people become aware of their social needs, reflect on their expectations, analyze and improve the quality of existing relationships and develop new friendships. One simple strategy can make a difference. "If you have good news, share it," Hawkley said, "because that tends to bring people closer together." Local lawmakers expressed shock and dismay Wednesday morning over Gov. Mark Dayton's decision to defund the Minnesota Legislature. "It's very unfortunate. One branch of government cannot shut down another branch of government. That was totally inappropriate. He'll lose," said Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston. On Tuesday, Dayton signed off on a $46 billion budget sent to him by the GOP-led Legislature in order to avoid a government shutdown. But the DFL governor opted to line-item veto nearly $65 million in funding for the Minnesota Legislature. Dayton said he took this action to force lawmakers back to the negotiating table after finding what he called a "poison pill" in the state government budget bill that would have defunded the Minnesota Department of Revenue if he did not sign a tax cut package. In a letter to legislative leaders, Dayton called the revenue department language a "reprehensible sneak attack" and wrote, "Because of your action, which attempts to restrict my executive power, I am left with only the following means to raise my strong objections to your tax bill, which favors wealthy individuals, large corporations, and moneyed special interests at the expense of the state of Minnesota's fiscal stability in the years ahead." House Speaker Kurt Daudt and Senate Majority Paul Gazelka said they believed Dayton's action was clearly an unconstitutional violation of separation of powers and gave little thought to returning to the negotiating table. They said they'd investigate the possibility of filing a lawsuit in the coming days. ADVERTISEMENT "I think this action by the governor really is just one last-ditch effort to try to get his way," Daudt said. "I would expect legal action forthcoming." Barring any legal action, funding for the Minnesota House and Senate would dry up July 1. Legislative leaders say they only have enough money in reserves to keep operating for a month or two. Dayton said he is willing to call a special session but has a list of conditions. He wants changes made to the recently signed tax bill, including scrapping tax cuts on tobacco products and wealthy estates. He also wants lawmakers to get rid of a freeze imposed on the statewide business property tax. The governor also wants lawmakers to repeal legislation passed this year that prohibits undocumented immigrants from being issued driver's licenses and renegotiate changes to the state's teacher licensure system. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said she is dismayed by the governor's actions, which she said she believes are unconstitutional. She said Republicans have engaged in similar behavior by trying to slash funding for the state's auditor's office and sneaking in the language to defund the revenue department. "It's a tool that should never be used. Period. And the Republicans started it, and I don't agree when the governor does it either," Liebling said. Veteran Rep. Gene Pelowski said Dayton's actions are a first. "We've never seen anything quite like this," he said. Pelowski said he does share the governor's concerns with the tax bill. While he voted for the measure, the Winona Democrat said it has become clear that some of the tax cuts could lead to budget woes in the future. ADVERTISEMENT "I agree with (the governor) that parts of that bill are probably going to put us into a flat budget or even a negative budget in the out years, and that should be fine tuned," Pelowski said. Davids, chairman of the House Taxes Committee, bristles at the suggestion his tax bill favors the wealthy and corporations. He said there are a lot of provisions in the $650 million package that would help middle-class Minnesotans, including a reduction for Social Security recipients and college student loan debt relief. He said he doesn't think fellow Republicans will be willing to negotiate with the governor following his move to defund the Legislature. He also praised Republicans' decision to put the revenue funding language in the bill, saying it likely spared the tax bill from a veto. "Had that language not been in there, there would be no relief for Minnesotans," he said. But Rochester GOP Sen. Dave Senjem has a very different view. He is upset with fellow Republicans for sticking the revenue language in the state government bill. He said he had no idea that was in the bill when he voted for it. If lawmakers had known about it, Senjem said he doubts the bill would have passed. "I don't know where this little missile came from. I'm personally very disappointed about it, very angered about it," Senjem said. He said he would like to see Republicans agree to negotiate with the governor and get the issue resolved adding, "I hope that occurs sooner rather than later." The Associated Press contributed to this article Gov. Mark Dayton announced Tuesday evening he would sign most of the $46 billion budget bills on his desk, but in a surprise move, he zeroed out funding for the Minnesota Legislature. Dayton told reporters he had signed all the budget bills except for one a $650 million tax cut package. Instead, he would let the bill become law without his signature. But a provision put into the state government budget bill by Republicans would have eliminated funding for the state's revenue department if Dayton did not sign the tax bill. In response, Dayton line-item vetoed funding for the Minnesota House and Senate. In a letter to lawmakers, Dayton wrote, "It is unfortunate that your last-minute treachery has left me no option either but to passively permit those tax provisions to become law and decimate our future financial solvency, or to take this action." Dayton has agreed to call a special session to restore funding to the Legislature, but he wants certain demands met. He wants lawmakers to get rid of tobacco tax cuts and the estate tax exclusion increase. He also wants to eliminate language freezing the statewide business property tax. Dayton is also asking Republicans to agree to get rid of language barring undocumented immigrants from being issued driver's licenses and renegotiate changes to the state's teacher licensure system. House Taxes Committee Chairman Greg Davids said he was dismayed by Dayton's refusal to sign the tax bill. There is also legal disagreement over whether the governor's failure to sign the tax bill means it will become law or if it will result in a pocket veto. ADVERTISEMENT "He has broken the trust with the Legislature. We didn't break any trust with him," Davids said. As for the revenue department funding language, Davids said lawmakers put that into the final bill, which was posted online. It was up to the governor's office to find it. He said that language would not be a cause for concern if the governor had signed the tax bill. He added that Dayton's commissioners gave the bill the OK. Dayton's Deputy Chief of Staff Linden Zakula said Davids' statement that commissioners had signed off on the bill and indicated the governor would sign it is "patently untrue." Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said the Republicans' decision to put a "poison pill" in the the state government budget to eliminate department of revenue funding shows they weren't negotiating honestly. "The Republicans are saying, 'If we don't get tax cuts for rich people, we're going to make the state stop collecting taxes.' That's pretty draconian," Liebling said. Earlier on Tuesday morning before the governor's budget announcement, Republican legislative leaders traveled to tout the tax cut package and transportation spending passed in last week's special session. "This is one of the most productive sessions in recent history," House Speaker Kurt Daudt told reporters. He zeroed in on a $650 million tax relief package the largest passed by lawmakers in 18 years. He also highlighted a bill boosting transportation spending by $300 million in the next two-year budget cycle that is funded without raising taxes. ADVERTISEMENT "We're very proud of the fact that of the surplus dollars that were available, about two-thirds of the surplus went to tax relief, money back to Minnesotans, and road and bridge infrastructure," Daudt said. Republicans also flew to Duluth, Mankato and Moorhead on Tuesday to highlight their budget. During the news conference, lawmakers also noted local projects funded as part of the GOP-supported budget. Included in the transportation bill was $2.3 million for Rochester International Airport's U.S. Customs facility. A statewide construction bill has $1.5 million for The Dyslexia Institute of Minnesota in Rochester and $500,000 for a study of Oronoco's wastewater system. In addition, Olmsted County will receive an additional $707,587 in county state-aid money and there will be a $443 per student increase for Rochester Public Schools. "It was a great session for kids. We did what our students needed," said Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester. Some Democrats have raised concerns that the Republicans' tax bill could lead to future budget shortfalls and had urged Dayton to veto it. But Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said it is important to remember that when the legislature was under total DFL-control four years ago, they supported a $2 billion tax increase. Since then, there has been virtually no tax cuts passed despite sizable surpluses. "We felt like the taxpayers deserved a break," Gazelka said. To help encourage Dayton to sign the tax bill, Daudt said Republicans inserted the language to eliminating state revenue department funding if the tax bill was not signed. Daudt called the measure a "safety valve" to make sure Dayton signs the bill. Did he tell the governor that provision would be included in the package of budget bills? "He found it eventually," Daudt said. ADVERTISEMENT Everyone will recall that Franklin Roosevelts first act as president in 1933 was to close the nations banks to prevent a full-scale panic and a collapse of the banking system. It was called a bank holiday, probably because the legal basis was more than a bit shaky: it was based on the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. Recognizing that this legal basis was ridiculous, FDR prevailed on Congress to pass a statute just five days later to make the move legal retroactively. I wonder whether President Trump ought to consider closing some of the nations universities on the simple ground that theyve become a public nuisance, are in danger of collapsing entirely, or perhaps are becoming a clear and present danger to public safety. This would hoist the universities by their own safe space petard. I can think of any number of legal pretexts that are more plausible than FDRs bank holiday. At the very least, the Trump Administration ought to suspend student loan eligibility for every student majoring in any of the politicized studies programs (womens and gender studies, etc) on the simple grounds of consumer fraudthis isnt education, and it is not providing students with any skills for the workplace. Why not? Its essentially the same legal basis by which the Obama Administration went after for-profit vocational colleges. (Of course, the Obama Administration was motivated to attack for-profit colleges precisely because they werent reliable nodes of ideological instruction. . .) It is getting hard to keep up with the latest epic failures of universities to stand up for the civilized values and serious education for which they supposedly exist. Scott writes below about the case of the total meltdown at Evergreen State College in Washington. Ill add to Scotts account the statement of Evergreens president, George Bridges, that is beyond parody: Im George Bridges, I use he/him pronouns. I begin our time together today by acknowledging the indigenous people of the Medicine Creek Treaty, whose land was stolen and on which the college stands. I would like to acknowledge the Squaxin people who are the traditional custodians of this land and pay respect to elders past and present of the Squaxin Island Tribe. I extend that respect to other Native people present. In response to Native Student Alliance requests, we commit to opening every event with this acknowledgement. Lets just stop right here for a moment. If Evergreen State College truly sits on stolen land, then why doesnt Bridges demand to give it back? The mob clearly lacks imagination here, and I hope they will step up their game right away. Demand reparations as well as returning the land to the rightful owners. Anyway, from here Bridges goes on more or less to capitulate to most of the student demands in the usual groveling way: We demand that no changes to the student code of conduct be made without democratic student consent. Immediate actions: As of today, were not contemplating any action associated with the demonstrations of the last two weeks, but we cant control what complaints we might receive. If we receive complaints, well need to follow up on them. . . We demand Bret Weinstein be suspended immediately without pay but all students receive full credit. We do not and will not fire any employees in response to a request. We do take complaints seriously. We have a college non-discrimination policy which applies to all members of our community. Following any complaint of discrimination, we will conduct a full investigation. If it is found that discrimination occurred, action is taken. The nature of that action is not released because in order to protect the privacy of those involved. We recommit to the progressive discipline processes established with our union bargaining units and the State of Washington. Immediate action: We must increase our capacity to investigate instances of alleged discrimination. Therefore, we have decided to increase the colleges Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Officer to full time today. In addition, if we need to hire outside investigators, we will. In other words, Weinstein is going to be investigated. He should sue Evergreen for a civil rights violation. We demand mandatory sensitivity and cultural competency training for faculty, staff, administrators, and student employees. Immediate action: The United Faculty of Evergreen and the College have executed a memorandum of understanding committing to mandatory training. Id like to Invite Grace Huerta to speak about the agreement weve reached today. It reads: Now, therefore, the parties agree as follows: We share a mutual interest in ensuring that all Evergreen students receive an education that is culturally competent, culturally relevant and free from the negative effects of bias. To achieve this, we recognize that Evergreen faculty members must have access to, and take advantage of, professional development opportunities to address subjects including but not limited to institutional racism, and the needs of students of color, LGBTQIA students, undocumented students, victims of sexual assault, and students with disabilities. We commit to annual mandatory training for all faculty beginning in fall 2017. This agreement was ratified today by both parties. We demand the creation of an equity center. Immediate action: Today we commit to establishing a new and expanded equity and multicultural center with design plans finalized for student review by the beginning of fall quarter this year. You will have the space that you seek and deserve. Next steps: The design of the center will be informed by students. Over the summer, we seek to hire students to design and plan for a new equity and multicultural center in collaboration with staff. They will be compensated for their time. A final plan for implementation will be developed following the work completed this summer. We demand for the coordinator of the Trans & Queer Center to be permanently hired full time. Immediate action: Prior to this weeks events, we had initiated the process to appoint Amira Caluya on a permanent basis as Coordinator of the Trans & Queer Center. We expedited this process and confirm that they have been appointed on a permanent basis effective today. We demand that the video created for Day of Absence and Day of Presence that was stolen by white supremacists and edited to expose and ridicule the students and staff be taken down by the administration by this Friday. Next steps: Based on conversations with the Attorney Generals office, the most likely course of action requires an investigation. We commit to launching an extensive forensic investigation of the theft of this video and to determining who stole it from the student. If that investigation yields a suspect, we will seek criminal charges against the individual in consultation with the Attorney General. Theres more, but this is enough. Even for me, and I have a strong stomach. P.S. Now that I think about it, perhaps the Trading With the Enemy Act is the fitting legal justification for shutting down some American universities. The Wall Street Journal calls on Evergreen State College biology professor Bret Weinstein to explain the ordeal in which he is engulfed. Professor Weinstein provides the back story in the column The campus mob came for meand you, professor, could be next. Professor Weinstein observes forthrightly: Evergreen has slipped into madness. You dont need the news to tell you thatthe protesters own videos will do. Professor Weinstein has the rest of the story, starring the college president. Tucker Carlson looked in on the story last week in the segment below. Legal Insurrection has been following the story. Bill Jacobsons most recent post looks back on The campus inquisition at Evergreen State College. The site Simple Justice commented Bret Weinstein meets the downward spiral of social justice. College Fix updates the story in NEW VIDEO: Madness reigns at Evergreen State College as students take over. At Storify, John-Paul Pagano also looks at the Evergreen State College town hall meeting. In the category of self-help, Heterodox Academys Jonathan Haidt outlines The blasphemy case against Bret Weinstein, and its four lessons for professors. Taking account of events at Yale, Duke and now Evergreen, Professor Haidt draws these four lessons (footnote and links omitted): There are several lessons that American professors can draw from these three events: 1) Never object to a diversity policy publicly. It is no longer permitted. You may voice concerns in a private conversation, but if you do it in a public way, you are inviting a visit from a mob or punishment from an administrator. 2) Do not assume that being politically progressive will protect you (as Weinstein and the Christakises found out). Whatever your politics, you are eventually going to say or do something that will be interpreted incorrectly and ungenerously. Your intentions dont matter (as Dean Spellman found out at CMC.) This is especially true if your university offers students training in the detection of microaggressions. 3) If a mob comes for you, there is a good chance that the president of your university will side with the mob and validate its narrative (as the presidents at Yale and Evergreen have done, although the presidents at Middlebury and Claremont McKenna did not). 4) If a mob comes for you, the great majority of its members will be non-violent. However, given the new standard operating procedure (which I described in a recent Chronicle article entitled Intimidation is the New Normal) you must assume that one or more of its members is willing to use violence against you, and you can assume that many members of the mob believe that violence against you is morally justifiable. Read the whole thing here. There is more to be said about this affair angles including the supremacy of race, the fascist modus operandi, the power plays inside the asylum, the burgeoning academic dystopia but these materials should help us think it through. President Trump has decided to withdraw the United State from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Politico asserts that the move is certain to infuriate Americas allies across the globe and could destabilize the 2015 accord. Americas allies, however, wont be as infuriated as Americas mainstream media, though withdrawal will undoubtedly constitute another count in the Democrats list of high crimes and misdemeanors supporting Trumps impeachment. Politico helpfully explains: The agreement calls on countries to aim to limit global warming to well below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit from pre-industrial levels, and it said countries should pursue efforts to keep temperature increases to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Under a business as usual scenario, global temperatures could rise by between 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit and 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, according to the United Nations, an increase that would have catastrophic consequences. These people are nuts. Politicos overheated report cannot be attributed to global warming. It reflects the Resistance. At the moment it doesnt even bother to note that Trump promised to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement in the course of the campaign. Withdrawal reflects the fulfillment of a fundamental campaign promise. I thought that Secretary Mattis tactfully previewed Trumps fulfillment of this promise in his interview with John Dickerson this past Saturday for broadcast on Sunday. Mattis conveyed Trumps detachment from the project: I was sitting in on some of the discussions in Brussels, by the way, where climate change came up, and the president was open, he was curious about why others were in the position they were in, his counterparts in other nations. May the undoing of the Obama era continue. It cannot go too far. JOHN adds: This is fantastic news. Trump is doing an excellent job of fulfilling his campaign promises. Now Congress, the weak link, needs to get with the program. The Association of Power Generation Companies, APGC, says the Federal Governments directive on direct sale of electricity to end users, will address major challenges in the nations power sector. The Federal Government had through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, announced on May 19, 2017 that GenCos in Nigeria are now free to generate and sell electricity to end-users in Nigeria. The Executive Secretary of APGC, Joy Ogaji, said this at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday. The governments decision tagged as the Eligible Customers Regime, is in line with the provisions of Section 27 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 (EPSRA). The decision, when fully implemented would have very little interference on determination of power generated from the 11 electricity distribution companies in the country. Ms. Ogaji said that the declaration of eligible customers portends several benefits for the sector as it would also address some of the revenue shortfalls in the industry. She said the declaration would make GenCos to ramp up their generation capacities, to provide supply to eligible customers and address issues on financial viability in the electricity supply value chain. Ogaji said that the envisaged guaranteed cash flow that would follow the practical implementation of the exercise would definitely boost morale of potential investors in the area of gas field development. The APGC executive secretary said that the decision would also boost the development of the manufacturing sector, as constant power generation and supply would be provided to meet production demands. According to her, declaration of customer eligibility will further introduce competition on the demand side and complete the liberalisation of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). This, Ms. Ogaji said, would result in greater pressure for efficiency on the suppliers of electricity in the country. She said that the presence of retailers, or the mere possibility of future competition, would force existing power distributors to establish appropriate customer services and commercial divisions. According to her, the measure will also promote national economic development through supply of electricity to the productive sectors of the economy. This will go a long way to supporting economies of scale, through bulk purchase of electricity, she said. She said that the measure would result in further reduction of technical and non-technical losses for bulk high voltage supply in the NESI. According to her, it will reduce financial risk by supplying power to credit worthy eligible consumers. Other benefits accrued to the selling of power direct to the consumers, according to Ms. Ogaji include: increased attention to consumers, confer on consumers power to choose energy supplier. She said that the decision would also bring about a more efficient electricity market, stimulate investment in the sector as electricity generators could sign long term contracts. She explained further that the declaration would also send a powerful signal that the electricity sector was evolving towards full retail competition. On its effect on the Distribution Companies (DisCos), Ms. Ogaji said that they could also on the other hand, procure additional power as eligible customers. She said that the development would compel the DisCos to increase efficiency with sufficient attention to service improvement in the short-term by reducing major losses incurred by them in the power chain. She said that the development would also result in the creation of jobs, given the availability of adequate power in the country. The impact will create jobs with enough power made available to eligible customers who are willing to increase production. The direct effect of this will be a working and stabilized economy for all, she said. She said that the decision by the government was a step in the right direction, given the challenges in the power industry. With stranded generation capacity in the electricity market and poor market liquidity, declaration of eligible customer is a brilliant way to liberate the electricity sector from the current monopoly by some under-performing companies. Although, there might be some misconceptions on this long-awaited move by the government, the impact of the implementation on the market will silence the critics. The government cannot fold its arms while the gains of Power Sector privatisation dwindle to zero, benefiting only a few. She also dismissed fear that residential consumers would be affected by the decision, adding that NERC was already working out the framework for its implementation. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook At least nine people were killed when a suicide car bomb exploded in Kabuls diplomatic district on Wednesday morning. The explosion took place near Zanbaq square, in the Afghanistan capital, near where many countries diplomatic missions are based. Over 80 people were also wounded in the attack, with officials saying the casualty could rise. A police and a hospital source told Al Jazeera that at least nine people were killed in the attack. Waheed Majroh, a spokesman for the Afghan health ministry, told Al Jazeera that dozens of people were taken to hospital after the blast. The explosion was so loud that it shattered all my windows, did not hear something this big before, Al Jazeera quotes Fatima Faizi, a Kabul resident, as saying. A spokesperson for Kabul police, Basir Mujahid told Reuters that It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is. The explosion occurred during the rush hour at about 8:30 a.m. local time. Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, last month the Taliban announced the commencement of a major offensive saying it would target mainly foreigners and foreign forces. The Islamic State is also very active in Afghanistan and has carried out several attacks there. Share this: Twitter Facebook Authorities said that two people were killed and another injured when a man opened fire inside a private schools administration building in Saudi Arabias capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday, but no students were present. Talal al-Maiman, Chairman of Kingdom Schools, told Reuters that the shooting was a case of a disgruntled employee. It is with regret that the administration building of Kingdom Schools witnessed this morning a shooting incident by an Arab national who was dismissed from the school four years ago on the basis of anger issues and an unstable personality, he told Reuters. He said that the victims were a Saudi national and a Palestinian national, adding that the situation at the school was contained as of mid-afternoon. The school had been closed about a week before the Ramadan holiday, in line with a royal decree. The holiday began on Saturday. Police cars could be seen at the school campus, but the scene was otherwise quiet. An Interior Ministry spokesman said it was a criminal case and that Riyadh Police would issue a statement with further details. Kingdom Schools is owned and operated by Kingdom Holdings, a company of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Talal. It is situated in northern Riyadh. Maiman said the schools private security guards followed established procedures until the case was handed over to government authorities. (Reuters/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook Russia has expelled five diplomats from Moldova and two from Estonia in retaliation for analogous measures by the fellow former Soviet countries in recent days, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Moldova and Estonia have not disclosed official reasons for their earlier expulsions of equal numbers of Russian diplomats. Relations between Russia and neighbouring Estonia, a Baltic EU and NATO member state in which a large Russian minority lives, have been strained in recent years as the countries support opposing sides in the Ukraine conflict. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned Estonia for initiating the tit-for-tat expulsions, saying all responsibility for the consequences of this policy lies on the Estonian side. However, a separate statement directed at Moldova was not as damning, as the ministry expressed hope that Chisinau recognizes that its unfriendly actions are counterproductive. Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, has been torn between integration with the European Union and loyalties to its former Soviet ruler, Moscow. Speculation has swirled that Moldova expelled the Russian diplomats amid a spat between pro-EU officials and Moldovas pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, who was inaugurated in December. Mr. Dodon has condemned the expulsions and said he would discuss them during a visit to the Russian city of St Petersburg this week. I found out about this decision from the Moldovan ambassador to the Russian Federation, Mr. Dodon said earlier this week in comments carried by Moldovan state news agency Moldpres. (dpa/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook Hundreds of youths gathered on Monday at the YarAdua Centre, Abuja to discuss their roles in nation building and patriotism. The national coordinator of #fixing Nigeria project, organisers of the summit, Ernest Nwosu, said the summit was necessitated by the need for active citizenship and to inform the youth of their immense powers to determine the future of Nigeria. Today weve kicked up a campaign called #PowerCard and the campaign tells some much about power of PVC. A citizen with PVC is not just an active citizen, but a powerful citizen. So that when a citizen is not happy with a political leader, he simply puts his card to action. Voters registration is on so we want to encourage the youth to be part of it. We have about 60million PVC holders in Nigeria but we have about 120million electorates. So, we want to see how we can get about 100million registered voters before 2019. We want to be able to decide who occupies political positions, no more one or two people sitting together to decide the fate of our nation. Mr. Nwosu also called on all concerned citizens to join the movement via www.powerfulcitizen.org. He said that the summit was fixed on Democracy Day to show that the country has come of age politically to accord the youth relevance in the scheme of things. Today is the 18thanniversary of Democracy Day in Nigeria, any child that is 18 years old today can vote and can obtain drivers license. The message we are taking to our political leaders is that: we are coming and we are standing tall to be counted. We must determine the process and be involved. We are not more waiting to be invited, rather we are getting organised to set the pace for the coming elections. He said #FixingNigeria Project was to bring youth together to discuss on nation building and patriotism, saying the youth believe leaders should be the one to decide how the nation should be built, not knowing that, they, being the major population should be one in the heart of the process and event in Nigeria. We want to raise active guys who believe in the future of Nigeria and send them out as ambassadors to their communities and start telling people no more buying votes, its time to empower visionary leaders. At the event, the European Union (EU) called on the Nigerian youth to be actively involved in the politics and leadership of the country, saying only Nigerians can solve the nations problems. The Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and West Africa, Richard Young, said outsiders can only make suggestions but the ultimate solution to Nigerias challenges lies with Nigerians. He stressed that youth have a great role to play in this regard. According to him, the youth are the future and this fact is at the centre of next months joint meeting of the EU and African Union (AU) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. We think the young men and young women are the future of what we stand for both here in Nigeria and Europe. This is also what we will be discussing at the meeting of AU and EU in Abidjan. On the subject; Fixing Nigeria, Sustainable Democracy and Imperatives, it is only Nigerians that can solve their problem. The EU envoy while quoting the popular CNN anchor, Fareed Zakaria, said democracy is a system marked by free and fair elections, freedom of press, rule of law, protection of individual rights and religion, association i.e. constitutional democracy. Its when these rights are abused that people resort to extremism to challenge an affront to their rights. Mr. Young however, noted that true federalism is one of the best structures of government best suited for a country like Nigeria to enjoy the full democratic values. He cited a Noble Prize winner, Roger Milson, who postulated that, Decentratlisation and democracy can improve governance. The keynote speaker, Ihua Elenwor, Assistant Coordinator, National Youth Summit, emphasised that Nigeria is not short of laws but citizens need to adopt values to move the country forward. Without citizens, especially young men and women imbibing noble values of discipline, integrity, selflessness, patriotism and sound maintenance culture, hard work amongst others, even the best efforts of a leader will not have lasting impact on the nations, Mr. Elenwor said. He said leadership is not as significant in nation building as the collective contributions of individual citizens, especially young Nigerians. In this modern era of democracy, citizens have more power and influence than their leaders in running the affairs of their countries, he said. Idris Akinbajo, the Managing Editor of PREMIUM TIMES, made a strong case for strong working institutions which he said will checkmate the activities of public servants both young and old. He also said public servants should be made to use public facilities. Some youth activists, participants and panelists called for active mobilisation and active political participation of over 70 million youth in the nations leadership and democratic governance. The hundreds of youth who stormed YarAdua Centre also demanded for open and genuine discussing on Nigerians future including the issues of restructuring and fiscal federalism. One of the youth panelists and an executive official of Access Enterprise, Walter Okoye, noted: The mind-set of depending on people to do something for them has permeated every facet of our youth. I think no matter what you do everyone should be involved in politics and youths make up of 70 per cent of the population. In the same vein, another youth activist and political researcher, Josephine Itoyah, called for a thorough prognosis into the countrys problem starting from how the various hitherto independent tribes and kingdoms were forcefully fused together to form the union. Ms. Itoyah noted that failure to understand this and create a workable union amongst these naturally competing groups would present a huge challenge for leadership, democracy and good governance in the country Do we really understand what it means to create a state, being a country what I see is different kingdoms being forced together since then we view our country from our own enclaves and perspectives. This made us to think of what to get out of the country and not to contribute, she remarked. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Presidential Adviser on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu, has chastised Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, over his call for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari. He said the governor by his tirade against the president was portraying Ekiti in bad light. Mr. Fayose on Tuesday called for the resignation of the president on grounds of his ill health. He can do us the great help by resigning. Not resigning bothers on his integrity. His absence allows others to suppress and oppress others and that means he is allowing others to suppress their fellow human beings, Mr. Fayose said. There are many governments in one and they are clueless. We need an active president going by our numerous challenges. How long will Nigerians wait for an incapacitated president? We cannot wait again for somebody to hold us to ransom. I dont have any bad blood against Buhari, Osinbajo has no powers without the president. He owes us the duty to tell us the state of his health. President Buhari has been in London for medical treatment for an undisclosed illness for about three weeks. In his reaction, Mr. Ojudu described Mr. Fayoses comments as disrespectful of a man old enough to be his father. He wondered why Mr. Fayose would call for the presidents resignation at a time all Nigerians are praying for him. He (Fayose) has been quarrelling with everybody. Even in Ekiti, he is demolishing filling stations belonging to the opposition, Mr. Ojudu, a former senator from Ekiti, stated. He has always been insulting the president and disparaging a man old enough to be his father. He is portraying Ekiti in a bad light. We are not like that. Is he the only governor, why is it that he is the only one making so much noise? Mr. Ojudu said Mr. Fayose had failed in governance, plunging his people into hardship and poverty. Right now, fuel is not being sold in Ekiti because he is busy demolishing filling stations under one guise of the other, he continued. People are buying fuel from neighbouring states. People are suffering, they are tired of his ways. Go and tell him to concentrate on governance and to stop insulting the president. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Butler Did It par Read more [...] A member of the House of Representatives, Garba Durbunde, who represents Sumaila/Takai federal constituency has been kidnapped, according to unconfirmed sources. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr. Durbunde was kidnapped along Kaduna- Jere road on Tuesday while on his way to Kano from Abuja . Abdulrazak Namdas, the spokesman of the House of Representatives, said he was not aware of the incident. I am not aware of this but I was told some papers have carried it, he said But a lawmaker, who asked not to be named, confirmed the incident to our correspondent. He said the family of the kidnapped lawmaker were already in contact with the kidnappers. The source also said the State Security Service is already investigating the kidnap. When contacted, the lawmakers legislative aide, Tunde Adela, also confirmed the incident. It is true he has been kidnapped, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook Ten members of the Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-Araba Chapter, were allegedly injured by some security officials from the teaching hospital on Wednesday during a clash. Adebayo Sekunmade, the president of the ARD of the hospital told journalists during a news conference that the doctors sustained injuries when they attempted to take over their secretariat from the security men stationed there by LUTHs management. Mr. Sekunmade told journalists that one of his members was inside the ARDs secretariat at 2.00 a.m. on Tuesday but the security men ordered him out and locked it up. We decided to monitor developments around the secretariat after the incident. On Wednesday morning, we saw the security men loading our belongings from there into a waiting bus. When we confronted them, they said that they were directed to lock up the secretariat by the management of LUTH. We went to the Chief Medical Directors office for dialogue but he refused to attend to us. He, however, directed us to the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) of LUTH, he said. Mr. Sekunmade said that the CMAC, Olufemi Fasanmade, told them that the management of LUTH was retrieving the secretariat from the ARD. Mr. Sekunmade said that he demanded a court order from Fasanmade to justify his action but he could not present it. When contacted, the CMAC told journalists that LUTHs management had given the ARD a letter asking it to vacate the building serving as its secretariat, six months ago. Nine days ago; we gave them another letter as a reminder to leave the building but they refused, and we decided to lock up the place, he said. Mr. Fasanmade said that the association should not have found it hard to vacate one of the seven accommodations it had within the hospital complex. He said that the management wanted to use it for an important purpose. The doctors wanted to forcefully enter the building on Wednesdays morning and LUTHs security men had to disallow them. Mr. Fasanmade said that the doctors resulted into attacking the security officials. We had to invite some police officers from the Ilasamaja and Bode Thomas Police Stations to secure the building and other LUTHs belongings. Some of the injured security officials are in the hospital wards receiving treatment, Mr. Fasanmade said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, says it has arrested three suspects in connection with the kidnap of six students of Model College, Igbonla, Lagos. He said the suspects were arrested on Tuesday in Benin. According to Abba Kyari, an assistant commissioner of police, the three suspects arrested have been involved in various kidnap incidents within the country. Three of the militant kidnappers, who left the creek and came to Benin to visit one of their members that was injured in recent gun battle with security agents, were arrested by IRT in Benin. The suspects are Egelu Endurance, aka Jubby, 25, a native of Abere town in Ovia South L.G.A Edo; Stanley Yomi Irabomini, 25, aka Powei from Ovia South LGA of Edo State and Bentel Endurance, 24, also from Ovia South LGA Edo State. Mr. Kyari said the suspects have confessed to have participated in the kidnapping of prominent personalities in Lagos and Ogun state. The suspects claimed they came to Benin to see their injured colleague and relax for a while before going back to the creek. He said that efforts to arrest remaining gang members and rescue the school children was in progress. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the students were abducted at Igbonla Model School, near Epe, Lagos. The students were abducted at around 5 a.m. last Thursday by unknown gunmen, who arrived through a creek behind the school. The hoodlums broke through the schools fence to gain access into the premises. The incident occurred seven months after gunmen kidnapped two teachers and four pupils of the same school. The victims were later freed. Share this: Twitter Facebook The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said on Tuesday that his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari remained cordial, despite false claims in some social media. He made this known when the National Executive of the Islamic group, Jamaatu Izalatul Bidiah Wa Ikamatus Sunnali, JIBWS, led by its President, Mohammed Jingiri, visited him at the National Assembly. Mr. Saraki debunked allegations that he and the senate are working against President Buhari. I want to assure you of the good cooperation between the legislative arm and executive led by President Muhammadu Buhari. Since the commencement of this senate, I think we had about 196 requests from President Buhari for confirmation of his nominees and we have confirmed 185. I think, we have only rejected 11. By Mathematics, that is over 90 per cent. I want to assure you there is a lot of noise, you will see in the newspapers, radio and social media, please, be assured that the two arms of government are working closely together, more than in past sessions of the senate. In January, I went to see him and assured him of our cooperation and we have continued to work closely. I want to assure you as we always say, let us be judged by our actions and not by talk I want you to convey the same message to your followers, who because of social media and the fake news they hear over radio, they get wrong impression that we in the Senate are working against the President. I assure you that we have a very cordial relationship with the Executive, he said. Mr. Saraki also reaffirmed the commitment of the senate in ensuring good governance, economic stability and creation of jobs for the teeming unemployed youths. He promised to ensure that all bills to be passed by the senate would ensure that religious sentiments of Nigerians were taken into consideration. He told the group that the gender bill currently before the National Assembly would be fair to all religious groups. I want to reassure you on our greatest concern, particularly in the issue of gender bill. Here in the National Assembly, we pass laws and whatever law we pass, we take into consideration the religious aspects. There is no law that can disregard the religious sentiments of the citizens. So, we have discussed that whatever final version of the law that will come for discussion, because it is still for discussion, it is just a proposal, it should not be one that would have conflict with religion. I want to assure you of that, he said. According to him, the final version of the gender bill will be such that all religious sentiments are taken care of and Nigerians would be proud of. Mr. Saraki pledged that the senate will continue to play its roles by bringing political balancing and stability into consideration. We will do what we know is best for this country. We will strive to work to keep this country together, he said. Earlier, the leader of the group, Mohammed Jingiri commended the senate president on his role in the arrangement that led to the rejection of the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket for the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2015 presidential elections. He added that Nigeria was not ripe for such an arrangement, which did not take into consideration the need for religious balance in the country, as all religious interest must be represented at all times, including elections. According to him, religious balancing must at all times be respected in Nigeria as only this will ensure harmony. The Islamic cleric also commended the National Assembly for rejecting same sex marriages and abolition of capital punishment, describing them as unIslamic. He also urged the Senate President to ensure that the current gender bill reflects the tenets of all religions. Mr. Jingiri called on the senate to ensure equality of representations in political appointments in line with the population of states. He also called for cordial relationship between all arms of government for the benefit of the people. The leader of JIBWS prayed for the quick recovery of President Buhari, who is currently on medical vacation in London. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Internet Society and the African Union Commission unveiled a new set of Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines for Africa during the African Internet Summit, taking place in Nairobi 30 May-2 June. The guidelines will help Africa create a more secure Internet infrastructure and are set to change the way African Union States approach cyber security preparedness. The guidelines the first of their kind in Africa were developed by a multi-stakeholder group of African and global internet infrastructure security experts, and are the first step towards building a more secure Internet in Africa. They will help AU member states strengthen the security of their local Internet infrastructure through actions at a regional, national, ISP/operator and organizational level. Africas cyber security environment faces a unique combination of challenges, including a lack of awareness of the risks involved in using technology. Kenya was ranked the 69th most vulnerable country (out of 127) in the 2015 Deloitte Global Threat Index. Some of the main reasons are: low awareness, underinvestment, talent shortage and overload of data. Deloitte further estimates that Kenya lost $171 million to cybercrime in 2016. Africa has achieved major strides in developing its Internet Infrastructure in the past decade. However, the Internet wont provide the aspired benefits unless we can trust it. We have seen from recent experiences that Africa is not immune from cyber-attacks and other security threats. These guidelines, developed in collaboration with the African Union Commission, will help African countries put in place the necessary measures to increase the security of their Internet infrastructure, explained Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for the Internet Society. This document is launched at a time when the world feels the real and urgent need to build and reinforce structures aimed at tackling the growing cyber threat to the global digital economy. Governments, companies, network operators, universities and organisations across African Union member states are encouraged to take action to implement the Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines. This is another timely milestone achievement given the new security challenges in cyberspace, said Moctar Yeday, Head, Information Society Division, African Union. The Commission of the African Union will continue its partnership with the Internet Society on a second set of guidelines addressing personal data protection in Africa, he added. According to ITU ICT Facts and Figures 2016, it is estimated that 25.1 per cent of Africans are now online and despite lower Internet access rates vs. other regions in the world, there has been a sustained double-digit growth in Internet penetration over the past 10 years. This is due in large part to an increase of mobile Internet and in more affordable smart phones in the market and Africas young, technology-savvy population. However, to continue to improve access and connect the unconnected, people need to trust the Internet. Symantec, a global leader in cyber security, observed 24 million malware incidents targeting Africa in 2016. As some malware incidents probably go unobserved, the real number of incidents may be much higher. In a 2013 report from Symantec, cybercrime was increasing at a faster rate in Africa than any other region. As Internet penetration grows in Africa and more business takes place online, implementing security measures against malware incidents to protect Internet users becomes increasingly important. Offering actions that are tailored to the African cyber security environment and solutions for an ever changing online landscape, the recommendations in the document launched today can play a key role in helping Africa respond to the kind of Internet attacks that recently paralyzed critical public and government services. A copy of the Africa Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines can be found at: www.InternetSociety.org/doc/aiisg. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Tuesday told former President Goodluck Jonathan to take responsibility for presiding over the skewed distribution of ecological funds. Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor El-Rufai on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, said the issues raised by Mr. El-Rufai were not his personal opinions but the view of the committee he chairs. Earlier, a National Executive Council, NEC, committee chaired by Mr. El-Rufai had accused Mr. Jonathan of distributing ecological funds to only governors elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in 2013. In his reaction, Mr. Jonathan had accused the Kaduna State governor of lying against him by claiming that only PDP states benefitted from ecological funds, adding that the governor has a penchant for lying. But Mr. El-Rufai, on Tuesday, said that rather than resort to attacks on his person, the former president should provide a rationale for presiding over the distribution of federal funds in a discriminatory manner. Former President Goodluck Jonathan is not a man that can take responsibility for anything, the Kaduna state governor said. In March 2015, not long after making a concession call to President Buhari, he summoned his party and asked its leadership to reject the results of an election whose winner he had congratulated in private. That effort at duplicity failed spectacularly and the will of the people prevailed. So, no one should be surprised that he is denying presiding over the skewed distribution of ecological funds. His denial begs the question. Commenting further, the governor said, What special circumstances ensured that only states that were controlled by the PDP and its allied parties qualified for N2 billion each? Is it not curious that not only were his allies the only ones who got the funds, but that the various ecological problems in all 17 states required the same N2 billion across the states? Almighty God made it possible for the sun to shine on all. But (Mr.) Jonathan exercised his powers as President as if he governed for only his party or his family. The Jonathan government was so conscious that there was something untoward with sharing public funds in that manner that they did not publicise the payments to their preferred states. Mr. El-Rufai said that the former president cannot argue with the facts, adding that the payments are in the records of the Ecological Fund. He knowingly engaged in discriminatory disbursement of federal funds. The legality of that is open to question, despite the existence of presidential discretion, he said. Throwing more lights on the committees discovery, the Kaduna State governor said: The (committees) Interim Report detailed how 17 states each received N2 billion direct support from the Ecological Fund in 2013. The states are Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Ondo, Plateau, Ebonyi, Delta, Enugu and Taraba. 19 other states and the FCT did not receive this direct support. Any perusal of this list shows clearly which party controlled them as at 2013. Fifteen of the 17 recipient states had governors from the PDP, while the governors of Ondo and Anambra were from PDP-allied parties. As the chairman of the ad-hoc committee, (Mr.) El-Rufai drew the attention of NEC and the public to this skewed pattern of allocating the Ecological Fund. Former President Goodluck Jonathan has responded to this disclosure by launching a personal attack on Nasir El-Rufai. He did not make a distinction between a committee of the National Economic Council and the person chairing it. While this is unfortunate and calculated to draw the headlines, Dr. Jonathan strained to explain away this strange pattern of fund allocation. But the facts are not deniable. They are in official records, and cannot be erased by slinging mud at people. Mr. El-Rufai noted that Mr. Jonathan did not deny that the N2 billion payments were skewed to certain states. His mindset in trying to create an equivalence between those payments and federal support for the green wall projects in some of the northern states can be easily seen as a disingenuous argument, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Jamaatu Nasril Islam, JNI, a foremost Islamic body in Nigeria, has condemned in strongest terms, the decision of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to continue running its orientation camps for fresh graduates across the country, despite the Ramadan fast. The body, led by Abubakar Saad, the Sultan of Sokoto, also called on the Nigerian Army to immediately postpone its planned recruitment exercise until Muslims have concluded their fasting period for 2017. The decision was part of many resolutions, which included fervent prayers for ailing President Muhammadu Buhari, reached by JNI at its recently-concluded annual central council meeting in Kaduna. The two-day event was held between May 21 and 22. The organisation said NYSC admitting new entrants into orientation camps and the Nigerian Army conducting recruitment exercise during Ramadan would put Muslim faithful, especially those observing fasting and prayers, at a disadvantage. This is because the prospective corps members would be at disadvantage to their faith and other camp activities. In the same vein, the council calls on the authority of the Nigerian Army to postpone the intended recruitment exercise until after Ramadan to avoid putting prospective candidates at disadvantage, it said. The JNI called on the NYSC to honour a previous agreement entered by the two parties for camp activities to be placed on hold during Ramadan. The spokesperson for the Nigerian Army and NYSC did not immediately return calls and text messages to their respective lines for comments Wednesday afternoon. The Nigerian Army had earlier this month announced plans to recruit new personnel in an exercise slated to take place between May and June, 2017. The NYSC opened camps for the latest stream of graduates last week. Share this: Twitter Facebook President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Wednesday denounced the daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton for criticising him over a joke about rape, and questioned whether she was just as outraged by her fathers affair with a White House intern. Mr. Duterte was incensed by Chelsea Clinton tweeting at the weekend that he was a murderous thug with no regard for human rights. Mr. Dutertes rape remark came during a speech on Friday aimed at reassuring soldiers that he would take full responsibility for any backlash to martial law, which he imposed on Sunday on Mindanao island. He said he would not tolerate abuses but joked that if any soldier was to rape three women, I will admit it, thats on me. The firebrand leader is notorious for comments that are deemed offensive by some, but are taken lightly by many Filipinos. Referring to Bill Clintons involvement with intern Monica Lewinsky in the 1990s, he hit back at Chelsea Clinton and said he was speaking sarcastically about rape and it was not a joke. I was not joking, I was being sarcastic, Duterte said in a speech to navy officers. I will tell her, when your father, the president of the United States, was screwing Lewinsky the girl there in White House, how did you feel? Did you slam your father? The affair led to Bill Clinton being impeached by the House of Representatives in 1999. He was later acquitted by the Senate and completed his second term in 2001. It was not the first time Mr. Duterte has made a joke about rape. He caused outrage in the lead-up to his presidential election win last year when he recalled a 1989 prison riot in which an Australian missionary was killed, and inmates had lined up to rape her. In what was intended as a joke, Mr. Duterte said the victim was beautiful and as mayor of Davao city where the riot took place, he should have been first in line. He later apologised and said he meant no disrespect to women or rape victims. Mr. Duterte is known for his informal, no-nonsense style and his speeches are often loaded with hyperbole, profanity, threats and jokes about taboo subjects. He said American military servicemen had committed rape overseas, including in the Philippines, recalling a 2005 incident involving a marine who escaped a 40-year jail term by settling a case out of court. It is a crime actually committed by soldiers, mostly Americans in Okinawa, he said, referring to several rape cases involving U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan, most recently last year. But, we never heard of a Filipino. But I am just warning them that anything they do, I have to answer for it. I take full responsibility for your foolishness. I speak sarcastically. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Centre for Communication Programs Nigeria (CCPN) has called on the federal government to implement effective health policies that would reduce the use of tobacco products in Nigeria. In a statement on Wednesday to mark this years World No Tobacco Day, the group noted that unrestricted use and access to tobacco products is a threat to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Tobacco use is a threat to Nigerias development and a great health risk that affect other sectors and the economic well-being of Nigerians, said Babafunke Fagbemi, Executive Director, CCPN, a nongovernmental organisation that focuses on the central role of communication in social and behaviour change for development. We need to look at the dangers of second hand smoking especially to the young children. Nigeria is already battling to eradicate malaria which is one of the greatest killer diseases of young children in Nigeria, we must ensure that we do not add to the burden of Nigerians by not taking action against tobacco use, Ms. Fagbemi said. The theme for this years World No Tobacco Day, Tobacco: A threat to Development aims at highlighting the link between tobacco use and development as well as show that tobacco control can break the cycle of poverty, contribute to ending hunger, promote sustainable agriculture and economic growth, and combat climate change. Ahead of this years celebration, the World Health Organization revealed that tobacco kills over seven million people annually, and is an increasing risk factor in non-communicable (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancers and chronic obstructed pulmonary disease. Ms. Fagbemi urged the federal government to immediately implement public health measures that would protect Nigerians from the dangers of smoking including the comprehensive implementation of the National Tobacco Control Bill. While commending the Federal Ministry of Health under the leadership of Isaac Adewole, the health minister, for taking the lead in the fight against non-communicable diseases in the country, Ms. Fagbemi said the governments bold step in signing the National Tobacco Control Bill into law is a major step towards achieving a tobacco free Nigeria. We want to commend the Federal Ministry of Health for putting public health in the front burner and we hope that all stakeholders would rally round to support the initiatives of the Ministry in taking tobacco control forward from where we are today, she said. We need to take a holistic look at our public health structure and take adequate measures to prevent diseases that will hinder the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The WHO has made it clear about the dangers of tobacco use not only to the smoker but others around. Tobacco control is a great step towards the fulfilment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Share this: Twitter Facebook A controversial Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye, has denied offering bribe to a judge, Akon Ikpeme, who handled the petition brought against the lawmakers election in 2015. An online media, Sahara Reporters, had published an audio which appeared to contain exchanges between the lawmaker and the judge as they discussed the bribe money. In the leaked clip, a male voice believed to be Mr. Melayes, could be heard assuring a female speaker, alleged to be the judge, of his readiness to pay some money, which the female speaker emphasised should be in USD (United States dollars). (Its a) blatant falsehood, Mr. Melaye told PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday in response to the allegation. A part of the conversation in the leaked audio went thus: Voice 1 (Supposedly the Judge): I wanted to tell you that whatever you want to do, make it in USD. Voice 2 (Believed to be Mr. Melaye): Of course, of course, of course, of course, of course, no problem madam, no problem. Earlier in the recording, the female voice informed the lawmaker that she had returned to her state, Cross River. Mr. Melaye assured he would reach her after returning from a London trip with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. Apart from money, the conversation also revealed that the female voice relied on the senator to peddle his influence to get her daughter a job placement in Cross River State civil service. The lawmaker boasted that he had already spoken with the governor, Ben Ayade, and a permanent secretary in the state ministry of health for the job. However, while denying the voice heard in the audio was his, Mr. Melaye said the petition brought by Smart Adeyemi, a former senator, against his election was ultimately dismissed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, after a similar verdict by the Kogi State National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal headed by Mrs. Ikpeme. My case (with Mr. Adeyemi) ended in the Court of Appeal, Mr. Melaye said. Let them think of another lie. They are obsessed with me and jealous of my progress. (Omoyele) Sowore will go to jail. Mr. Sowore is the publisher of Sahara Reporters, which recently brought accusations of academic fraud against Mr. Melaye, before the current leaked audio scandal. In that academic fraud scandal, while Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, confirmed the Kogi Senator bagged a Third Class Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography from that school, it turned out his claims of separate degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Harvard University were false after all. The judge at the centre of the bribery scandal with Mr. Melaye, Mrs. Ikpeme, had in June 2015 dismissed Mr. Adeyemis petition against Mr. Melayes senatorial election as being incurably defective. But the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in July 2015, set aside that ruling and ordered a re-trial. The appeal court then held that the tribunal was wrong in striking out Mr. Adeyemis petition on technicalities, instead of substantial justice, and therefore, ruled that the case be resent to the tribunal for trial on merit. Again, the Ikpeme-led tribunal upheld Mr. Melayes election in October 2015 for lacking in merit. In December 2015, the appeal court upheld the tribunals second verdict, thereby ending Mr. Adeyemis hope of returning to the Senate. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said restructuring of Nigerias federalism was not feasible now because it would require the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to accommodate a referendum. The minister stated this at conference in Abuja, Nigerias capital, on Tuesday. The conference with the theme, Federalism and the Challenges of Dynamic Equilibrium in Nigeria: Towards a National Strategy, was organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). Some prominent Nigerians and groups, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State have canvassed the restructuring of the polity to enhance its development. According to a statement by his media aide, Salihu Isah, Mr. Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said at present there are demands for restructuring, for deconstructing the excessive concentration of power at the centre, for a dispersion of power to the lower levels of government along with special provisions for the empowerment of women and other socially disadvantaged groups for the country to move away from the cooperative federalism of several decades to a more competitive form of economic federalism. He, however, noted that restructuring was not a matter of advocacy or agitation but that of constitution accommodation or amendment. Federalism is imbedded in our constitution as contained in sections 2, 3 and 5. It is not out of place to state that as far as our constitutional democracy is concerned, the idea of restructuring is not a function of advocacy or agitation. It is about constitutional accommodation and or alternative constitutional amendment. As things stand, restructuring requires amending the constitution to accommodate referendum or, in the alternative, a constitutional amendment to the 1999 constitution, which in this case must be supported by majority of legislators in 24 states of the federation as enshrined in Section 9 of the constitution. Whether that process is going to be an easy sale is a conjecture that should be left for deliberation. But one thing that is certain is the inevitable implication that abolishing states through restructuring process will certainly translate to the eventual multiplier effect of abolishing the state house of assembly and perhaps downsizing the National Assembly and probably the civil service and other related federal institution. This indeed is a tall order that cannot be achieved through advocacy, emotional outburst or provocative rhetorics and demonstrations. The beauty of democracy is in the process and legislative process is in our case the only answer. Mr. Malami said Nigeria should use democratic means to reform its federal system. He said there was a need to recognise that both federalism and democracy were mechanisms for managing diversity. Indeed, while federalism provides the institutional framework for managing diversity, democracy makes possible the negotiation of diverse identity claims by providing them with representation, voice and political mechanisms by which their competing claims are balanced and reconciled, he stated. We cannot wish away the particular conditions and circumstances that had produced the challenges in our federal system. We must use democratic means to find solutions to these numerous challenges. Share this: Twitter Facebook A former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Babatunde Ogala, on Wednesday berated the Lagos state government for building and running a church. Mr. Ogala, a lawyer and rights advocate, also suggested that the government should sell off the church and use it for other productive means. Speaking exclusively to PREMIUM TIMES at the media launch of a report by the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, the lawyer condemned the government for setting up a church, adding that the government has no business in religion. The government has no business in religion (because) that is what has brought us to where we are. If the Chaplain is being paid by the state government as we are told (and) one has to apply for the job and go through an interview I just wonder. Commenting on the controversies trailing the sack of the church chaplain, Femi Taiwo, Mr. Ogala explained that he got what he deserved, adding that once anyone subjects himself to a government-run institution, he must subject himself to the protocols. He is getting what he deserves, he said. Mr. Ogala, who was a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly from June 2007 to June 2011 where he served as Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, said the idea of the government building and owning religious institutions was absurd, adding that such is not the practice in European countries and other part of the world. Why should a government build a church? he asked rhetorically, adding that when he was in the House of Assembly, they had a Chief Imam (Muslim cleric) at the Assembly complex too. My view is that the government has no business in it (building and owning religious centres), he said. If I even have my way, they should sell the church and move on and put it to other productive use, he added. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, on Wednesday called on Nigerian anti-corruption agencies to prioritise corruption cases at the states and local government levels. Joke Fekumo, SERAP staff attorney, made this call at the media launch of a report titled Combating Grand Corruption and Impunity in Nigeria: An Agenda for institutional Reforms in Anti-corruption Strategies, held in Ikeja, Lagos. Mrs. Fekumo specifically called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commisison, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, to look into the activities of governors and local government officials, adding that corruption should not be fought only at the federal level. According to the five-page report, the organisation wondered why Nigerian corruption apparatchik always seem to get warped with the investigations and prosecution of high profile corruption cases. The report, which acknowledged that the war against corruption is being waged in a hostile environment where there are entrenched interests, called on the government to provide stronger, concerted and more sincere approach to tackling grand corruption in Nigeria. We want the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo to instruct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN, to urgently ensure the full and effective implementation and enforcement of the Practice Directions on Serious Crimes, 2013, and the Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJA) Act 2015 in all courts and tribunals handling cases of grand corruption to ensure that stalling of prosecution by defence lawyers becomes history, the report said. Similarly, the report urged the Nigerian government to grant the anti-corruption agencies adequate independence, funding and freedom of action without manipulation. The organization also called on Mr. Osinbajo to urgently instruct the EFCC and ICPC to publish results of their investigations on the budget padding scandal, adding that those involved in grand corruption should be prosecuted. In his remarks, Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director of SERAP, called on the anti-graft agencies to zero in on the states and local government levels, noting that it should not always be about the federal level. He noted that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is on course in its anti-corruption war, although more needs to be done. Corruption is decreasing marginally, he said, even though the government is on course but overwhelmed. On his part, Babatunde Ogala, a lawyer and rights advocate, noted that the agency of corruption is as big as the country itself, adding that the EFCC and ICPC should ensure that low profile corruption cases are also attended to at the state and local government levels. EFCC ought to have offices at local government levels; it should not always be about high profile cases, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said that he didnt contest in the 2014 presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, which produced Muhammadu Buhari as the partys flag bearer. Mr. Saraki, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said he decided to support Mr. Buhari when the latter indicated interest to run for president. Mr. Saraki was responding to a report said to have been published in Africa Confidential, a specialist publication on Africa, which claimed that the Senate President had contested against Mr. Buhari. The report, an analysis of how succession politics within the ruling party was allegedly frustrating President Buharis anti-corruption campaign, is said to have also claimed that the Senate president has retained the services of a London-based communications consultant, Aequitas, to help him work on his public image. All the claims contained in the publication are not correct, Mr. Saraki said in the statement. Dr. Saraki publicly announced in a statement in Ilorin on October 12, 2014 that he would not contest against Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) who was then an aspirant because some of us need to make sacrifice and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem of the party the statement said. He then declared that he would support the candidacy of the retired General. Dr. Saraki was one of the people who worked tirelessly to ensure General Buhari won the APC ticket and the general election. Again, contrary to the claim in your article, Dr. Saraki does not retain the services of Aequitas. He formerly engaged Aequitas for strategic policy services while he was Governor of Kwara State and Chair of the Nigeria Governors Forum, and at the initial stage of his period as Senate President. He no longer retains the services of Aequitas effective from January 1, 2017. Mr. Saraki said in the statement that his interest, for now, was how to reform the countrys Senate and make it an institution whose impact and relevance is felt and appreciated by the generality of the people. Mr. Saraki, who pledged his full support for the administration of President Buhari, didnt say categorically that he wasnt interested in contesting for president in 2019. Share this: Twitter Facebook Governor Ben Ayade on Wednesday hastily convened a meeting with representatives of the Nigerian Navy and police to address a deadly clash between the two security agencies which left at least three police officers dead on Tuesday. Two police officers and a naval officer who were injured in the clash were recuperating at different medical facilities in Calabar, the Cross River State capital where the incident occurred, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. The clash was sparked by a disagreement between a police traffic officer and a naval officer at a traffic light in Akim neighbourhood, downtown Calabar, around 4:00 p.m. By 8:00 p.m., it had developed into a deadly riot, with suspected naval officers attacking a police divisional headquarters, killing three and injuring others after setting the facility alight. A naval officer sustained gunshot wounds from suspected police fire. No inmates escaped during fracas, police said. At the emergency meeting, Mr. Ayade confirmed that the violence had been neutralised by Wednesday morning, condoled with the two agencies, and promised adequate compensation for victims. I want to assure Cross River residents, and indeed Nigerians, that the whole area is calm after the unfortunate incident, Mr. Ayade told reporters after emerging from the meeting. Salihu Jubril, Commander of Nigerian Navy Ship Victory, expressed deep regrets over the incident and vowed tough sanctions on errant officers. Let me assure you that the culprits will be brought to book, properly investigated and appropriate sanctions meted on them, Mr. Jubril, a commodore, said. Hafiz Inuwa, the commissioner of police in Cross Rivers, said the development, though unfortunate, would not affect Navy-police relationship going forward. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday assured Nigerians that there was nothing to worry about President Muhamadu Buharis health. Mr. Mohammed, while addressing journalists after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, said Mr. Buhari is in very very competent hands and there is no cause for alarm. The president has been in London for three weeks where he is receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. Several Nigerians have expressed worry about his health and his ability to continue to run the government despite his failing health. His critics like Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State have also called for his resignation. The government has, however, repeatedly said the president was recovering well and would soon return to continue his work currently being handled by his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo. Share this: Twitter Facebook A House of Representatives member, Garba Durbunde, who was abducted early Tuesday has regained freedom. The spokesperson of the House, Abdulrazak Namdas, confirmed this development to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday evening. He said the lawmaker has been released and since reunited with his family. He has been released unhurt and is with his family, Mr. Namdas said. When asked if any ransom was paid before he was released, Mr. Namdas said, I learnt he wasnt the actual target so he was released without any ransom. Mr. Durbunde, who represents Sumaila/Takai federal constituency, was kidnapped early Tuesday along Kaduna- Jere road on his way to Kano from Abuja. Share this: Twitter Facebook The House of Representatives on Wednesday, has expressed concern on the disbursement of the $200 million Clean Technology Trust Fund, CTF, meant for the funding of solar energy project in North-East zone. Toward this end on Wednesday, it mandated its Committee on Environment and Habitat to interface with the Ministers of Environment and Finance, on the status report of the disbursement of the fund for the project. It also urged that the report should include evidence of disbursement of the funds on the 200 million dollars Clean Technology Fund (CTF) meant for the project. This was sequel to a motion by Rep. Shehu Musa (Bauchi-APC). Moving the motion, Musa noted that sometime in May 2012, the CTF Trust Fund Committee nominated Nigeria among Phase II beneficiary countries. He also said that CTF Trust Fund Committee allocated 250 million dollars to finance its investment plan for renewable and clean energy with low carbon growth. Mr. Musa further said out of the 250 million dollars, 200 million dollars was approved in the investment plan to finance the development of a 100 MW grid-connected solar power plan. According to the lawmaker, the 100 MW is a renewable energy sector in Bauchi. He said that the grid-connected project included two other states in the North-East, based on feasibility and Federal Government support for initiatives in the development of the North-East. Mr. Musa, who did not mention the two states however, expressed concern that five years after the approval and subsequent release of the funds, the project had not commenced. According to him, CTF funding initiative in Nigeria is intended to help overcome the financing and market barriers for low carbon investments. He said it was also aimed at supporting the deployment and application of clean energy and energy efficiency solutions in various industries, homes and service centres. The CTF is one of the two multi-donor Trust Funds within the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs). It is meant to promote scaled-up financing for demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies with significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions saving, he said. The motion was unanimously adopted by members when it was put to a voice vote by Speaker Yakubu Dogara. The House, therefore, mandated its committee to report findings within three weeks, for further legislative action. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook Fasting Muslim residents have called on the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, to borrow a leaf from other Northern state governors by providing them food stuff in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Before the coming of the El-Rufai administration, fasting Kaduna residents enjoyed similar largesse from the state government. Previous administrations distributed rice, millet, vegetable oil, milk, sugar and other commodities to Muslims; and also hosted religious groups to Ramadan breakfast. But Mr. El-Rufai announced that the state government would not continue the practice in 2015 when he received leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Jamaatul Nasril Islam at the Government House, Kaduna. Mr. El-Rufai said if his government continued to fund the welfare package, it would not be able to deliver on its key programmes, considering the states financial situation. I have also been made to understand that this Ramadan period, we are supposed to have started sharing rice, milk and sugar; but we will not do that. One, the government is not supposed to be involved in religious activities. Two, the government is broke, he had said. When PREMIUM TIMES visited locations in Kaduna metropolis, Zaria, Kubau and Birnin-Gwari local government areas, the call was the same for the governor to reverse his policy on the issue. Residents who spoke to our reporter confessed that they needed government help during this holy month. We all know how the economy is fairing. Many people are not able to get even sugar for their pap at dawn. We are begging Governor El-Rufai to help us and please distribute some food items to the locals so that we can have some ease. We know he had said he cannot use government money to do so but we are begging that he should take a second look, Ibrahim Sani, a bricklayer in Tudun wada, Kaduna, said. Hajiya Laure, a resident of Kofa in Zaria, said this year is difficult for many residents of Zaria. I cannot understand what is happening. With the little I have, I think more than 50 people came to my house to break their fast in the past two days. I think the government can help in establishing few centres where people can just break their fast. I will beg for this from the state government. Nasir Bala, resident of Pambegua, Kubau Local Government Area, called on other government officials and wealthy Nigerians to help the less-privileged especially in this month of Ramadan. Yes, the government has a duty to provide for its people but also wealthy individuals should come to the rescue of the people. Kano is doing it, Yobe, Sokoto and many others. I call on Governor El-Rufai to please help the people. We need it so badly this Ramadan. In most of the places visited, fasting Muslims were unanimous in their call on the government to come to the aid of the people. Asked if Mr. El-Rufai would change his stance about not using state resources to feed the fasting Muslims, an aide said the state government will not change its stance. The official, who declined to be named, said the governor and his friends have already provided similar largesse to the less privileged not only during Ramadan. The state government is not going to use state resources to feed or do what it is not meant for. However, the governor and his friends through his existing foundation, El-Rufai Foundation, have been feeding the less privileged, and even give out scholarship to indigents in the state. Share this: Twitter Facebook Contrary to a police statement, a deadly skirmish that broke out in a Delta community over traditional title left at least one person dead last week, police sources have told PREMIUM TIMES. The violence, which broke out in the morning of May 25, was sparked by an ongoing tussle for the next traditional ruler of Idumuje-Ugboko, an agrarian town in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, sources familiar with the development said. Although the police in Delta maintained no casualty was recorded, homicide detectives working on the case in Asaba, the state capital, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday night that at least one person was killed. The victim was identified as 32-year-old Cyprian Kumaorum from Kogi State. Scores of residents were also injured during the incident, PREMIUM TIMES learnt from police sources and injured victims. This also contradicted polices position that the riot was minor and residents were only spreading rumour. Weve advised belligerent elements to sheathe their sword and stop rumour mongering, police spokesperson, Aniamaka Andrews, told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Tuesday. If theres anyone who has suffered loses, they should go to their nearest police station and report. Theres no death, theyre rumours. were doing everything to ensure it doesnt escalate. Succession fears have continued to grip Idumuje-Ugboko since the last king died on February 6 with at least two rival members of the royal family laying claims to the throne. The situation also pitted community leaders and kingmakers against one another. A 66-year-old Chris Ogwu, identified as one of the kingmakers, was amongst those attacked in the latest violence. He told PREMIUM TIMES he was on his way out last Thursday morning when armed individuals stormed his premises and attacked him. I was left with bruises and rushed to the hospital, Mr. Ogwu said. He said he was still recuperating at the hospital as at Tuesday night in Idumuje-Ugboko. But before he was taken to the hospital, the sexagenarian said hed been dragged before Chukwunonso Nwoko, the eldest son of the late king who had been locked in battle with his half-brother for the throne. Mr. Nwoko currently occupies the palace, but some community leaders like Mr. Ogwu, still oppose his kingship, which has not been ratified by the state government. But Mr. Ogwu, who said hes the Iyase of Idumuje-Ugboko Kingdom, said Mr. Nwoko might not be responsible for his ordeal. Even though they dragged me before him, I wont say he was the one who sent them or that he knew of the attack, he said. I think the youth were just rampaging and they saw that I was about getting into my car to drive out in the morning and pounced on me. More than a dozen other homes were attacked in a similar manner in my neighbourhood on that day, Mr. Ogwu said. He said the rampaging youth largely attacked residents with overt support for Ned Nwoko, a Nigerian lawyer who backed another candidate for the throne. Efforts to reach Chukwunonso Nwoko were unsuccessful Wednesday morning. Calls and text messages to his telephone were not returned. The police said the violence was unnecessary because the disagreement was a family affair that should have been approached mildly. The riot is uncalled for, Mr. Andrews said. Its a matter that should have been resolved easily among family members. Share this: Twitter Facebook The committee set up to investigate last weeks invasion of Osun State University by officials of the Air Force Safety Institute at Ipetu Ijesa, has commenced sitting. PREMIUM TIMES checks indicate that the panel headed by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Janet Olaitan, had its sitting on Tuesday. The six-member panel inaugurated by the schools management, has seven days to conclude its work and submit its report. A source confirmed that the panel entertained submissions from affected staff who were brutalised by the military personnel. The committee had earlier made available two phone numbers and an email through which stakeholders could assist it with information necessary for its assignment. As we are speaking now, the committee is sitting and some students and staff affected are present to make their submissions, the source said. The Dean of Students Affairs, Adebimpe Adigun, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that the panel had concluded interviewing staff affected. The next stage is to interact with students before rounding off its work, Mrs. Adigun said. Asked if the panel would be inviting personnel of the NAF, she said she was uncertain about it as the NAF had also set a committee on its own to investigate the matter. Officials of the Air Force Institute poured into the Ipetu Ijesa campus of the school and caused injuries to students and lecturers in two separate attacks. The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, had also constituted an investigative panel to look into the issue, vowing to punish its officials if they were found culpable. The Air Force has not provided any details of its investigation. Meanwhile, normal school activities have resumed at the campus, after the students were sent home on break after the violence. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has said he will not be intimidated by anyone over the governments plan to review the Olubadan chieftaincy declaration. Mr. Ajimobi made this declaration while inaugurating the new Government Reserved Area (GRA), at the old NITEL premises, Old Ife Road, Ibadan, Oyo State. Earlier, the Oyo State government had inaugurated a seven-member judicial commission of inquiry for the review of the Olubadan chieftaincy declaration and other related chieftaincies in Ibadanland. But a former governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, in a swift reaction, had berated the state government for proposing to review the chieftaincy declaration. Mr. Ladoja, also an Olubadan high chief, said the people of Ibadan had a long-established, rancour-free tradition of succession to the throne which should not be broken. Similarly, another Ibadan high chief, Lekan Balogun, had kicked against the idea. Messrs. Ladoja and Balogun later sued the governor and the panel of enquiry set up by the government over the review, saying they lacked the right to review the 1957 Olubadan Declaration. But reacting to the development, Mr. Ajimobi noted that his administration had become a builder by rebuilding infrastructural facilities since 2011, adding that he would transform the landscape and institutions that made Oyo State the pacesetter. He said the 1957 Olubadan Declaration was due for a review given the expansion of the city, adding that it also needs to allow some high chiefs and community leaders wear beaded crowns. This, the governor said, was aimed at adding glamour and influence to the throne of the Olubadan. The government would not be deterred in his resolve to embark on the review, Mr. Ajimobi said. Share this: Twitter Facebook The police say they are on the hunt for perpetrators of the violence at Shogunle during the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries for councillors in Oshodi, Lagos State. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the fracas, which occurred on May 29, led to the death of the Chairman of the Motorcycle Riders Union in Lagos State, Rasak Bello, popularly known as Hamburger. The killing had caused fear and panic among residents of the area who feared there may be reprisal attacks by Hamburgers supporters. The police spokesperson, Olarinde Famous-Cole, said normalcy had since returned to the place and that investigation was on to arrest the perpetrators. Normalcy has returned to the place, no more violence, the place is now calm. We are working with those that have useful information on what led to the violence. Definitely, there will be eye witnesses, it is just that most of them dont want to come out as they belong to same party. The police have commenced investigation to hunt down the perpetrators of the violence as the command will continue to maintain law and order in the state. One life was however lost while another person was injured, Mr. Famous-Cole said. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Hamburger had gone to observe the primaries at the venue for Ladipo Sogunle ward when he was attacked. After the winner was declared, some hoodlums invaded the venue in a bus filled with guns and broken bottles. They shot sporadically and went straight to where Hamburger and his friends were staying and shot into their midst. Many other persons were injured following the violence which marred primaries at Ilupeju, Mushin, and Ogudu among other places. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has granted permission to the Lagos State Government to embark on a total reconstruction of the International Airport Road from Oshodi. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, in a statement issued Wednesday by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, disclosed this, adding that the approval was a 50th birthday gift to the state. Mr. Ambode commended Mr. Osinbajos statesman-like approach to issues and for fast-tracking the process. We are very appreciative of the good gesture of His Excellency, the Acting President for acceding to our request which is not only very timely but a very heartwarming one. Posterity will never forget this genuine developmental action, Governor Ambode said. He also described the approval as a further demonstration of the determination of the present administration to ensure the effectiveness of the Executive Order on improving the Ease of Doing Business recently signed by the Acting President. Governor Ambode gave kudos to President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the enabling environment to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the nation, adding that with the upgrading of the International Airport Road which is the gateway to the nations commercial nerve centre, the country will attract new investments. The governor had in March this year, raised an alarm about the present state of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport Road, describing it as a national disgrace that required immediate attention to salvage the nations image. He stated then that the state has a design for the reconstruction of the road as well as the funds to embark on the project but was being frustrated by the Federal Ministry of Health headed by his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola. The road linking Oshodi to the International Airport, you would all agree with me is a national embarrassment, Mr. Ambode had said. In the spirit of the regeneration and urbanisation that this administration has set out to achieve, we believe strongly that the image that is exhumed by the decadence of that road must be repaired and we took it upon ourselves to appropriate the 2017 budget that the House of Assembly should approve the total reconstruction of the Airport Road from Oshodi to the International Airport. The State currently has a design of 10 lanes to come from Oshodi to the International Airport with interchange and flyover that would drop you towards the Local Airport. The contractor is already set to go and everything as I said has been completed and we already have the cash, but alas we are having challenges with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. This is a Federal and not a State road. The Federal Ministry of Works believes that they should do the road, but they have not been able to do it all these years past. Governor Ambode had said if given the approval, his administration was ready to hit the ground running and begin construction of the airport road within two weeks and finish same within a period of six months. Besides, the governor also implored the federal government to avail the state of the N2 billion appropriated for the Airport Road in the 2017 national budget to carry out the project. I just want to appeal to the Federal Ministry of Works, to let go or reimburse us with whatever it is that they are owing us and even if they are not willing to pay us now, we have the money to do it. It is a national disgrace and we would not be part of it. We would like to do it as part of the celebration of Lagos at 50, Governor Ambode had said then. But Mr. Fashola had responded to the governors claims of being delayed by his ministry, accusing him of misleading Nigerians. The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing said the delay in granting the request was because the memorandum conveying the request of Lagos State which was already before the Federal Executive Council has not reached completion stage. The allegations of lack of cooperation from the Ministry and frustration of Lagos State Government development initiatives are simply not true and the facts do not bear them out, Mr. Fashola had said in a statement by his spokesperon, Hakeem Bello. The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing Ministry has presented the Memorandum conveying the request of the Lagos State Government to the Federal Executive Council as was done with a similar request by the Kaduna State Government in 2016. Due to the fact that TWO of the roads also connect Ogun State, the Federal Executive Council could not reach an immediate decision on them because it requested the input of the other State Government affected. Share this: Twitter Facebook Residents of Alaguntan Community in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos on Wednesday decried their 95-day power outage due to a faulty transformer, which was taken away for repairs by Ikeja Electric (IE) since February 25. A spokesperson for the community told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the lingering darkness in the area had paralysed commercial activities in the community. Ayodeji Alade, the Social Secretary, Alaguntan Community Development Area (CDA) said it was painful that since officials of IE took the transformer away, they had refused to replace it. According to him, it is so disheartening that our neighbouring communities enjoy regular power supply, while we are in perpetual darkness. Today will make it 95 days since the community was plunged into darkness, due to a fault in our transformer. We reported the problem to the officials of IE and they came to carry it for repairs, but since then, we have not heard anything from them. When our neighbouring communities are enjoying power supply, we are in darkness. This is very bad. In spite of the fact that we have gone to different media houses to appeal to them to replace the equipment, we have yet to hear from them. We are ready to assist the company if they tell us the situation of our transformer because the continuous outage is becoming unbearable, he said. A frozen food seller at Shotunde Street, in the area, Chinyere Nwosu, said that the outage had affected her business, such that customers no longer patronised her. Ms. Nwosu said she now spent close to N2,000 daily to fuel her generator, to make sure her frozen food remained fresh. Most of the customers will not patronise your frozen food if it is no longer fresh and if you increase the price, they will run away. We are selling at a loss due to the outage. IE should come and fix our electricity, we are going through hell here, Nwosu said. Kunle Oladayo, a landlord on Taiwo Street, said that most of the tenants in the area had relocated to neighbouring communities due to the outage. Mr. Oladapo appealed to IE to replace the transformer, so that the communitys power supply would be restored. When contacted, Felix Ofulue, the Head, Corporate Communications Unit of IE told NAN that the transformer was taken to the vendor for repairs in March. Normally, the transformer used to be with the vendor for six to eight weeks, during which all areas found to be faulty in it would be restored. The transformer has, however, been repaired and is now undergoing testing. By the second week of June, the transformer will be brought back to the community and power supply will be restored to the area, Mr. Ofulue assured the residents. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook Two sex workers have been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly clubbing a customer to death over breach of contract. The Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday said the incident occurred in a hotel located in Ifo town of the state. He said the victim, Adeyinka Olayinka, decided to pass the night with one of the sex workers. The police spokesperson said an argument broke out between the man and the sex worker, Kudirat Raji, popularly called Angela at the KS Hotel, when the man allegedly reneged on their agreement. Preliminary investigation revealed that the victim contracted Kudirat Raji to pass the night with him on an agreed amount, but the deceased reneged on their agreement which led to hot argument between them, Mr. Oyeyemi said. He said while the argument was ongoing, Ms. Rajis colleague, Esther Basiru, broke a bottle which she used to attack a friend of the deceased who was at the scene. Mr. Oyeyemi said Ms. Raji also used a part of the bottle to stab her customer in his armpit, which caused him to bleed to death. The police spokesperson said the manager of the hotel quickly alerted the police; and the Divisional Police Officer of Ifo Division, Anthony Haruna, led his officials to the scene and promptly arrested the two suspects. He said the Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered the transfer of the case to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for investigation and possible prosecution of the suspects. Share this: Twitter Facebook The area around Dearborn Heights City Hall is a little greener these days. Mayor Dan Paletko greeted students and staff from St. Linus and St. Anselm Catholic schools at City Hall on May 10 for an educational field trip as well as to celebrate Arbor Day 2017 with a tree planting on the City Hall grounds. The new maple tree near the northeast corner of the grounds was planted in recognition of the 25th anniversary of Dearborn Heights Tree City USA status. Dearborn Heights is one of 123 Michigan cities recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA community. Angeline is unlike any other Italian restaurant in Atlantic City in so many ways. For starters, its operated by an Iron Chef Michael Symon to be exact. And while the allure of The Chew co-host will certainly get diners to try his new restaurant at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the restaurants uniqueness and authenticity will keep them coming back. The unique Italian experience starts in the restaurants design, a collaboration between Symons wife Liz and the New York-based Parts and Labor Design. It likely doesnt resemble any Italian restaurant you have ever seen, starting with its welcoming New York-style, old-school-meets-modern-pub at the entrance. Venture farther into the main dining room and be wowed by the intricately tiled ceilings and floors, open kitchen, giant wine wall and funky, modern furniture featuring caramel leather banquettes and an overall apperance that can be mistaken for an upscale steakhouse. It all comes together with the 24-seat private dining room that feels like youre eating in Symons mothers own dining room thanks to its floral wallpaper and lacy drapery. Its there that youll want to dig into Symons Sunday Supper ($49 per person), a family-style feast of prosciutto and perhaps the best roasted peppers ever created, Caesar salad, garlic bread, cavatelli, sausage and peppers, Moms meatballs, rapini with garlic and chilies and homemade strawberry cassata cake with almonds.(tncms-asset)bec8dbaa-306f-58e6-bcfc-b4b4876ca35c(/tncms-asset) Its dishes like that where Symon really proves he is returning to his roots. Despite all of the modern flair that costs millions of dollars to create, its the return to roots and then elevating his own culinary expectations like any Iron Chef should that really makes Angeline special. I am kind of getting back to where I started in cooking, Symon says. Its a lot of the food I grew up eating that my mom cooked for me and the restaurants I was the chef at in my early years were all Italian restaurants. When you come to Angeline its like you entered Grandmothers home, but its just a little bigger. And the food is served with love.(tncms-asset)a574ccd0-4178-11e7-8a2f-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) If Angeline sounds personal to Symon, it is. After all, its named after his mother. During a preview dinner at Borgata last fall when the name was unveiled, Symons mom broke down into tears, even though she knew the name before the unveiling. When your mother is Sicilian and Greek, she pretty much cries about everything, Symon says. And last night she cried when she came in, so its fun. I was talking to (The Chew co-host and Iron Chef) Mario Batali and I said I never really felt so much pressure opening a restaurant before and I wasnt sure why. And I realized its because my mothers name is on the door. If there is ever one you dont want to mess up, its the one you name after your mom.(tncms-asset)37fe899d-86b4-5974-ba7e-c29923baddc9(/tncms-asset) No worries there; Angeline impresses. Most will gravitate toward the familiar dishes on the menu, many of which were Symons moms recipes, including the lasagna ($29) with meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella and thick lasagna noodles; the aforementioned meatballs ($27); the best arancini in South Jersey ($12) with red sauce and smoked mozzarella melted inside; the caponata ($10), cooked eggplant and vegetables with capers and grilled bread. Even the pomodoro and Bolognese sauces are his moms recipes. I grew up eating a lot of Sicilian-based food, but Cleveland, where I grew up, is very much a red sauce town, so there is some of that American-Italian and that Sicilian stuff I grew up on, plus my travels to Italy over the last 25 years, Symon says. The food that were cooking here is a story of my life in Italian food the food that I was raised on as a kid in my mothers house and the food I grew up eating in restaurants and then cooking in restaurants in Cleveland and then being lucky enough to travel throughout Italy.(tncms-asset)9bd067a2-4191-11e7-82e8-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Other classics include chicken parm ($27), braciole ($37), beef pizzaiola ($32), eggplant parm ($28) and sides such as escarole ($9) with pancetta and garlic, Sicilian-style Brussels sprouts ($11) and polenta ($10) with red sauce and mascarpone. Angeline also offers much more than a trip down Symons memory lane, offering dishes that are certainly different than what you will find in most other Atlantic City Italian eateries. In other words, these are the dishes Symon cooks for his mom, not vice versa. On the appetizer side, the whipped ricotta ($9) with grilled bread and chili flakes will make diners not miss Fornelletto as much; baked clams ($15) are served with clam and sausage stuffing; and burrata ($12) melts in your mouth with roasted sweet and hot peppers. Ten pastas most made in house will please any palate, but dont leave without trying the ravioli ($26), a super-thin, crepe-like pasta with ricotta, sage and brown butter that is the summer dish of the year; linguine with clams and pancetta ($28); and the bucatini ($28) with short rib ragu and chili flakes. Symon really shows his stuff with the porchetta ($34), where he rolls the loin and belly together to get a beautiful cracklin on the wood-fired grill and serves it with mustard sauce; a lamb chop Milanese (39) replaces the typical veal chop and is complemented with shaved fennel, mint and arugula for a bright and light dish; and Symons favorite, the wood-fired swordfish ($39) that is quickly grilled and served with a Sicilian-style sauce pine nuts, capers, anchovies, marsala wine and fresh mint.(tncms-asset)21a2e486-48fb-5efc-b591-ab5c0b066799(/tncms-asset) Symon is a natural fit for Borgata, which hosts the talents of three other Iron Chefs: Bobby Flay, Geoffrey Zakarian and Wolfgang Puck. And he promises he will be more than just a name on the window, despite having 21 restaurants. I will be around a lot, a ton in the beginning and then quite a bit, Symon says. I love being in my restaurants. I love working with chefs and cooks and servers. All of the things that go into a restaurant are what I enjoy more than anything else. TV is great, and I love doing TV and it has been very good to me, but nothing makes me happier than being in my restaurants. In fact, Symon hopes hes considered part of Atlantic Citys comeback. We have always enjoyed resurgence stories, he says. Our first restaurant was in Cleveland because thats where we were from and there was very little there at the time. Our second project was in Detroit, and again there was very little there at the time. And everyone knows how those cities have really changed over the past 10, 20 years. I am happy to be part of it. Sustos backstory is as unique as its name. It begins with frontman Justin Osborne becoming fed up with music at the age of 26, moving to Havana to study anthropology, getting married and then divorced months later, attending a couple of ancient Latin American rituals, and entertaining aspirations of working for non-governmental organizations or joining some kind of leftist movement. Fast forward four years and youll now find the South Carolina-native and his Wilco-esque band in the midst of an ambitious national tour that has already logged more than 40 dates so far this year. They will play at Beach Havens Hops Sauce Festival 3:45 p.m. Saturday, June 3. Its the perfect opportunity for Susto to promote their recently released sophomore album & Im Fine Today, an eminently listenable collection that transcends Americana genre boundaries through the adventurous additions of strings, horns and synthesizers. A jackpot weekend of festivals suited to every interest comes to South Jersey When the West Cape May Business Association threw its first festival what is now the ever- In addition to being more musically experimental, & Im Fine Today also finds an increasing earnestness in Osbornes lyrics, a marked departure from last years whimsical single Chillin on the Beach With My Best Friend Jesus Christ. When he sings of nightmares where hes lying next to a dead persons body with his limbs blown off, hes really had those nightmares, although he says thats been happening less often these days. When he sings of watching a friend die from drugs, thats also happened. And when he manages to find something hopeful among it all, thats real, too. All of which brings us back to that name: Susto is a term used to describe a Latin American malady in which the spirit is said to separate from the body. And while Osborne is neither Latin American nor religious, he still felt that, on some level, he could relate. I was broke, I wasnt sure what I was doing, I wasnt on good terms with my parents, he says. I just kind of lost my religion and stepped away from it, and was constantly very angry about that. I felt like some part of myself was somewhere hovering over me, but I couldnt get it back. The traditional rituals for curing such maladies, he adds, tend to be less than pleasant. I was friends with the son of a holy man in Havana, he recalls, and I remember we were having a party for my friends birthday. And next to the courtyard where we were partying, there was a room with someone whod been locked inside there for a week. Long story short, Osborne returned to South Carolina, hooked up with guitarist Johnny Delaware and keyboardist Corey Campbell to form the creative core of his new band. He brought back some residue from his travels. The Caribbean influences are definitely there, but a lot of that actually comes from Campbell, whos the only actual trained musician in the band, Osborne says. If I had to describe it, Id say its like modern alternative music with influences that go from American-traditional to world music to electronic music. Osborne is happier now, although he expects that an element of what inspired the bands name will always come and go. Inauguration Day, he says, was not a happy one for him, but his mood was transformed when the bands tour hit Washington, D.C., the same day as the Womens March. The most poignant song on Sustos new album, Gay in the South, is about people who are devastated by societal intolerance. Gay in the South attempts to lift up those who are marginalized in society. Its kind of an encouraging letter to just say, Hey, pick yourself up, its okay, dont let this ruin your life. There are people who will love you and understand you no matter what happens, Osborne says. I think as long as youre alive and breathing, theres always going to be hope. MAYS LANDING A decision by Judge Bernard DeLury on whether to order a DNA buccal sample, or cheek swab, be obtained from endocrinologist Dr. James Kauffman in his wife's murder case is being kept sealed. The physician was married to radio host and veterans advocate April Kauffman, who was found shot to death in her Linwood home May 10, 2012. The request for the DNA was made by Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner, and the case was heard in DeLurys courtroom Friday. Attorney Edwin Jacobs represented James Kauffman at the proceeding. Attorney Seth Levy argued on the state's behalf. DeLury said he would issue his decision by the end of the day Tuesday, but that his decision would be sealed. Reached for comment Wednesday, DeLurys office referred inquiries to the Prosecutor's Office. Prosecutor's spokesman Jay McKeen said officially there is no statement at this time. Joe Petersack, the chief forensic scientist with the New Jersey State Police DNA analysis lab in Trenton, explained how buccal DNA samples are drawn and analyzed. Buccal cells are obtained by a swab of the inside of a persons cheek, according to Petersack. Scientists then begin a four-step process to extract genetic information off the swab. They determine how much DNA is present in the sample using a process referred to as polymeras chain reaction, or PCR. It basically allows us to create Xerox copies of the DNA, and we are looking for small portions of the chromosome to segregate the population so we can distinguish characteristics, said Petersack, adding some of the information gathered will tell the likelihood of certain characteristics, such as eye color. The experts use a manufacturer's kit to look at 27 locations on the chromosome that allow them to type the DNA sample, which is then anaylzed. The lab chief compared the DNA profile to a Social Security number, in that no two are the same. There are 23 markers the lab looks for, according to FBI standards. Petersack said a buccal sample can usually be analyzed within 24 hours. The New Jersey State Police DNA Lab analyzes criminal cases for 20 of New Jerseys 21 counties; Union County has its own lab. The lab employs 35 people. Petersack has a degree in chemistry from the College of New Jersey and a Masters Degree in Forensic Science. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP A township woman is mourning her daughter, who was fatally shot in a triple homicide at an Ohio nursing home last week. Cindy Krantz, a nurses aide, was killed by Thomas Hartless. The gunman also killed his former girlfriend, Marlina Medrano, and Kirkersville police Chief Steven Eric DiSario before killing himself, the Associated Press reported. Krantzs mother, Regina Ford, learned of her daughters death last Friday while watching t(The news) didnt say any names, and I kept thinking where Cindy works, Ford, 67, said Friday from her home. A few hours later, Ford received a call from her ex-husbands wife. Now we just have to try and make sense of things and try to get some peace and try to move on somehow, Ford said. Krantz was killed with a shotgun May 12 at Pine Kirk Care Center. Medrano, who had previously sought protective orders against Hartless in connection with domestic-violence cases, was shot multiple times with a handgun and a shotgun, according to the AP. DiSario was killed outside the nursing home. Ford and her husband, who live on Social Security, rented a car to travel to Pataskala, Ohio, where Krantz lived. We wouldve walked if we had to, said Frank Ford, 58. Krantz is survived by her husband, Christopher, and her five children. Krantzs memorial service took place Wednesday. Her body was cremated and remains in Ohio, Ford said. Ford described her daughter, who lived in multiple South Jersey towns in Salem, Gloucester and Camden counties, as a good kid and a good mother who loved children. Ford last saw her daughter in November, when Krantz visited while Ford underwent chemotherapy for cervical cancer. She came and stayed for the seven hours of my chemo, Ford said. Thats the kind of person she was. Its a rough time for Regina and Frank, and they hope prayers can be sent their way. We dont know one day from another, Frank Ford said. We ask the Lord to comfort us and help us through this. SEA ISLE CITY A proposal to extend the hours for sidewalk dining was dropped Tuesday after City Council failed to garner enough votes to take it up on introduction. But another ordinance to extend hours for outdoor music will be up for a final vote next month. Sidewalk dining was implemented nine years ago as a boost for tourism and local eateries, which was largely successful. Last month, the council began considering the idea of extending hours from 11 p.m. to midnight at the request of business owners. I think anything after 11 p.m. becomes sidewalk drinking, said Councilwoman Mary Tighe, who voted against the ordinance at Tuesdays meeting. The ordinance allowing for the change was up for introduction and, if passed, would have required a second vote and public hearing before it would become law. In addition to Tighe, Councilman Jack Gibson voted against the law. Councilmen John Divney and William Kehner voted for the ordinance. Due to Councilman Frank Edwardis absence, the vote was a tie and the ordinance did not move forward. Tighe said she thinks sidewalk dining is a good thing, but that those who want to enjoy their meals later can do so inside the restaurant. At what point do you cut it off? Tighe said. Since the 2008 law, restaurants have to have 6 feet of unobstructed walkway and outdoor dining hours restricted to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. for those serving alcohol. Restaurant owners must apply for a permit for sidewalk dining, which is renewed annually. In 2016, 18 permits were issued. A separate but related ordinance to allow music outdoors until 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. on weekends was approved on introduction at the May 20 meeting. That ordinance, approved by a majority of council, will be up for a public hearing and final vote June 13. During the meeting, second homeowner Sharon Kronmiller of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, asked the council not to allow later outdoor music. Kronmiller said she lives across the street from LaCosta Lounge and often has to shut her windows due to the noise coming from the bar. That would just be so terrible for all of us in that area, she said. , the paper said in a statement. The tweet doesnt represent what we believe nor what we stand for. We hope you will accept our profound apologies. Frei immediately came under fire after tweeting the missive Sunday, with other social media users labeling it racist. He apologized Monday morning, saying he should have known better and mentioning Three South Jersey airports will receive more than $5 million in federal funding from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to a Tuesday statement by Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd. The federal grants are awarded through the FAAs Airport Improvement Program and will be given to Atlantic City International Airport, Cape May County Airport and Hammonton Municipal Airport for projects to enhance airport safety, capacity, security and environmental concerns, according to the statement. Atlantic City International and the South Jersey Transportation Authority will receive a total of $2,684,700 to repair 1,900 feet of the airports access road, continue final construction of 950 feet of fencing and fund an assessment of potential environmental impact for the removal of two runways. Cape May County Airport, which is operated by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, will receive more than $2.1 million to finish the final stage of drainage improvement for stormwater runoff, the installation of perimeter fencing and the removal of trees that obstruct two of the airports approach runways and taxiways. Hammonton Municipal Airport will receive $255,820 to remove tree obstructions from the runway and taxiways. The first 450 million years apparently were the easy ones for horseshoe crabs. They survived largely unchanged while dinosaurs, mega-mammals and countless other species went extinct. They seemed to follow a meek-inherit-the-Earth strategy, safe in their armored shells on the ocean and bay floors, eating worms and mollusks. Harmless oversized bugs of the deep and without the claws of actual crabs, they have counted on would-be predators figuring their little flesh isnt worth the effort of chewing through their shells. Humans changed that. People couldnt eat horseshoe crabs, but watermen could readily grab them and chop them up to bait pots to catch edible seafood such as eels and whelks or just grind them up for fertilizer. In the modern age, just about anything people can take for free and turn into money will be depleted. In the 1990s, that was happening to the largest concentration of Atlantic horseshoe crabs, in the MidAtlantic and Delaware Bay. Watermen were taking more than 2 million per year. People might not have noticed or cared much, except the billions of tiny eggs left on bay beaches this time of year by the spawning horseshoe crabs feed massive concentrations of migrating shorebirds an internationally famous phenomenon of nature. When bird numbers plunged, birders noticed, and conservationists and regulators followed. One bird in particular seemed especially dependent on Delaware Bay horseshoe crab eggs: the red knot, which each spring flies from the tip of South America to the Canadian north to nest. The red knot must gorge on the eggs to successfully complete natures longest annual migration and reproduce. Since its a federally protected species, that meant the horseshoe crabs producing those eggs had to be protected too. People came to appreciate this living fossil, so primitive-looking with fixed eyes staring from a hinged and horned half-round shell. The latest, last month in Cranston, Rhode Island, was an elementary school whose kids voted to drop the tiger as their mascot in favor of the horseshoe crab. The annual harvest was cut by three-quarters at the start of this century. But the annual counts by wildlife officials have found that more than a decade later, the horseshoe crab population isnt rebounding, just stabilized. Now scientists suspect a much more valuable, modern use of the horseshoe crab might be a growing threat. An extract from the creatures blue blood is the only substance that can detect certain infectious bacteria and endotoxins in vaccines, other medicines and implants such as artificial joints. Medical labs catch horseshoe crabs, remove about a third of their blood to get the extract, then release them. Since the 1990s, the number caught and bled has doubled to more than 500,000 per year. For years, few questioned the industrys assertion that mortality of released horseshoe crabs was low. But scientists now think the many hours spent out of the water, their gills unable to breathe, often overheating in a truck or on a dock or deck, might be killing a quarter of them and leaving others impaired, according to an April report in Popular Mechanics. Last year, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature determined the horseshoe crab is vulnerable to extinction. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council will include biomedical use of horseshoe crabs in its next population assessment, due out next year. But the council manages the taking of horseshoe crabs by watermen. If the growing use of them by the biomedical community is a threat, the ASMFC has no power to regulate medical company use and handling to protect the species. Companies are trying to synthesize the blue-blood extract, but so far none has FDA approval. For now, horseshoe crabs are the only source of a medically necessary test and a crucial support for a threatened bird species. State and federal authorities need to develop a new plan to keep shielding them from the old threat of cheap use and protect them from the new one while allowing their very profitable medical use. I was greatly impacted last summer to see and learn firsthand about Saint John Pauls first visit to Poland after he was elected pope. When Pope John Paul II spoke in Warsaw, his words invoking the Holy Spirit served as the impetus for his native Poles to overcome the Communist occupation of their land. How does the Holy Spirit work in such wondrous ways? Is it possible that a foreign occupation, a foreign regime, if you will, controls our hearts? Can the Holy Spirit free us as he freed Poland? The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity. He is spoken of by Jesus as being our Advocate, our Comforter, and our Consoler. He is the fulfillment of Jesus promise to remind us of all that the Lord taught us in the Gospels. To receive the Holy Spirits reminders and benefit from the promise of Jesus, we must be silent. We must listen. Gods first language is silence. The great burdens which weigh upon us are intended to be lightened by the weightlessness and silent anointing of the Holy Spirit. This Sunday is the celebration of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit can change your life, and free you, just like he freed Poland. Magician Kicks Off Summer Reading Program on June 6 Join the summer reading program fun beginning Tuesday, June 6, at 10:00 am at the Plattsmouth Public Library. Kirsten Wood has been building a great line-up of activities to match the "Build a Better World" theme. Special programs are scheduled for Tuesdays from June 6 through July 18, from 10-11 a.m. The reading program is for children in preschool through 6th grade completed. Magician Jeff Quinn will offer family-friendly humor, lots of audience participation, and amazing magic on June 6. Jeff was the Grand Champion winner of the Children's Magician of the Year competition. Movie Wednesdays June 7-July 26 The ever-popular Movie Wednesdays are back. From June 7 through July 26, a movie will be shown at 1 p.m. Bring your favorite blanket or pillow if you want to lie on the floor. Enjoy free popcorn! The list of movies will be available in the library or you can call 402-296-4154, but licensing does not allow the library to advertise the titles online. Project Days will begin at 1 p.m. on Thursdays from June 8 through July 27. Crafts for children aged 5-12 years are scheduled for 1 p.m.; projects for children aged 11 and up are scheduled at 2:00 pm. Ages are not checked; attend the craft time that works best for you. There is no registration and all activities are free. Call 402-296-4154 if you have any questions. Free Meals for Kids, May 30-Aug. 11 While their classmates are swimming and playing outdoors during summer vacation, 146,000 Nebraska children worry about finding their next meal. The summer months are especially difficult for children at-risk for hunger and their families. Forty-two percent of children receive free or reduced school lunches and are seeking other resources for meals when school is out of session. Food Bank for the Heartland and The Omaha Salvation Army recognize this need and collaborate during the summer for the Kids Cruisin Kitchen program (KCK). In its seventh year, KCK brings hot, nutritious meals free of charge to the places where children live and play. The Plattsmouth location this year is the Main Street Plaza on the corner of Fourth and Main. Children 18 years of age and under are eligible for free meals. No one is turned away. Funding for KCK comes from the Nebraska Department of Education, Child Hunger Ends Here, and from additional private donations. Check the librarys summer activity schedule for events at 10 a.m. or 1:00 pm to enjoy before or after your lunch. Children at the library at 11 a.m. will be escorted to the Main Street Plaza if requested. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517649/Gold_Star_Line_Ltd_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517648/Gold_Star_Line.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517647/Gold_Star_Line_2.jpg ) ITS service connects Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, calling major ports including the main hub in Port Klang, offering fast transit time and excellent service levels. The service rotation: Port Klang - Singapore - Semarang - Surabaya - Port Klang - Singapore - Bangkok - Sahalaem Chabang - Port Klang About GS L Founded in 1958 Gold Star Line focuses and specializes in the Intra Asia trade with vast experience. GSL's network includes services to East and West India. For more information please contact: Sankhoj Das, Tel: +852-2598-9175; Mobile: +852-9839-3036; Fax: +852-2824-1969; E-mail: das.sankhoj@goldstarline.com SOURCE Gold Star Line Ltd. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517974/Polybius_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517973/Polybius_ICO_Crowdfunding.jpg ) For five weeks from May 31st, investors worldwide can purchase Polybius investment tokens with cryptocurrencies. These tokens will be in the form of a Smart Contract guaranteeing a share in the bank's annual profits. At the heart of the project lies the idea of reinventing the classic bank model using technologies such as blockchain and specialized artificial intelligence. Ethereum Blockchain will underpin the work of the Polybius investment tokens; banking documentation will operate on Emercoin Blockchain; while private blockchain developed by the AtticLab company will be used for bank transactions. Developing the Polybius bank project has taken more than a year. An international team of technical specialists, bankers and financial technology entrepreneurs from five European countries has collaborated on this project. The best financiers in Europe are among the project's consultants, including the CEO of Admiral Markets, operating on the world market for more than 14 years. The information security for the future financial institution Polybius will be provided by BettaSecurity that services Russia's and CIS biggest banks like Alpha Bank and Sberbank. The ICO launch is eagerly awaited by thousands of crypto-technology enthusiasts, who have joined Polybius' groups on social networks or have signed up to the mailing list. The pool of potential investors in Polybius comes to more than the 500,000-strong user base of cloud mining cryptocurrency service, HashFlare - the previous commercially successful business established by the founders of the Polybius Foundation. The Project's business model, taking into account three possible development scenarios depending on the total proceeds of the ICO, can be found on Polybius' website. To take part in the ICO, users need to install a Polybius purse from the site polybius.io and purchase tokens with euros, dollars and cryptocurrency. Learn more and invest - http://www.polybius.io Read the Prospectus - https://polybius.io/media/prospectus.pdf Follow Polybius on Medium - https://medium.com/@polybiusbank Join Polybius Telegram group - https://t.me/polybius_enghttps://t.me/polybius_eng Polybius is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. SOURCE Polybius (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150630/227348 ) "Cost analysis for the fight against Aedes aegypti must take into account the economic impact of vector borne diseases", said Dr. Bostick. Biotechnology company executives, including Dr. Bostick, along with Brazil's Health Minister, Ricardo Barros, will also take part in a roundtable discussion of the economic impact of mosquito-borne diseases as well as other health related biotechnology innovations. One of the major health problems in Brazil is epidemics driven by viruses that the Aedes aegypti mosquito transmits. According to Dr. Bostick, these epidemics must be approached with a more comprehensive cost-efficient approach. "When you analyze investments made in this disease vector, Aedes aegypti, you must take into account the direct and indirect impacts that Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever impose on the country's economy overall", said the Intrexon executive. "This is why in the fight against this disease-carrying mosquito, we see more effective results when authorities, private sector, and communities are addressing the problem together." In Brazil, Oxitec is a real example of how an innovative, new solution can achieve excellent results when integrated into a city's ongoing vector-control programs, along with the support from affected communities. In Piracicaba, located in upstate Sao Paulo, Oxitec began its first large-scale release of Friendly Aedes mosquitoes, the genetically engineered pests that suppress the Zika, dengue and chikungunya vector, in 2015. During the first year Friendly Aedes were released in Piracicaba's CECAP/Eldorado neighborhood, wild larvae populations of Aedes aegypti were suppressed by 82% in the treated area versus the non-treated area. In the second year, an 81% reduction was achieved with 59% fewer Friendly Aedes mosquitoes released in comparison to the prior year. This is evidence of the strength and durability of Oxitec's solution. Additionally, in Piracicaba's Sao Judas District - where Friendly Aedes were released for the first time in mid-2016 - the Aedes aegypti wild larvae population was reduced 78% in just six months in comparison to the non-treated area. "Piracicaba's residents are exceptionally enthusiastic supporters of our genetically-engineered mosquitoes as they personally experience the positive results the Oxitec solution provides," said Dr. Bostick. "Currently, 92.8% of the city's residents support Friendly Aedes." Oxitec already has a facility in Piracicaba with the capacity to produce 60 million male Friendly Aedes per week. During the Brazil Investment Forum's roundtable, Dr. Bostick will elaborate on Intrexon's experience investing in Brazil. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Tom Bostick, Ph.D., P.E., Intrexon's SVP, Environment Sector, leads Intrexon's creation of bioengineered solutions essential for a healthy and environmentally sustainable planet. He joined Intrexon after 38 years of distinguished service to the U.S. Army, where he recently retired as the 53rd U.S. Army Chief of Engineers and the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) overseeing and supervising most of the Nation's civil works infrastructure and military construction, hundreds of environmental protection projects, as well as managing 34,000 civilian employees and military personnel in over 110 countries around the world. Attend the Presentation Event: Brasil Investment Forum (http://www.brasilinvestmentforum.com) Dates: Tuesday (May 30th) and Wednesday (May 31st) Local: Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo (Av. das Nacoes Unidas, 13301, Sao Paulo-SP) Session: Round Table 6 - Health and Biotechnology Time: Wednesday (May 31st), from 5:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Room: Auditorium 2 How Friendly Aedes works Oxitec has been working in Aedes aegypti control for over a decade and pioneered the use of a biological method to suppress wild populations of this dangerous mosquito species through the release of Friendly Aedes males, which do not bite and do not transmit diseases. When released, these males search for wild females to mate, and their offspring inherit a self-limiting gene that causes them to die before reaching functional adulthood. Friendly Aedes' offspring also inherit a fluorescent marker that allows tracking and monitoring at a level never before achieved, making the assessment of effectiveness more accurate throughout the whole Friendly Aedes deployment program. Unlike other approaches, Friendly Aedes mosquitoes die along with their offspring, and therefore do not persist in the environment or leave any ecological footprint. About Oxitec Oxitec is a pioneer in using genetic engineering to control insect pests that spread disease and damage crops, and was founded in 2002 as a spinout from Oxford University (UK). Oxitec is a subsidiary of Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), which engineers biology to help solve some of the world's biggest problems. Follow us on Twitter at @Oxitec. Oxitec Contact: Matthew Warren Press Officer +44-(0)-1235-832-393 info@oxitec.com SOURCE Oxitec Ltd PORT ANGELES, Wash., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- "Embrace your inner crab" at one of the most acclaimed seafood festivals in the country! The Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival celebrates not only the aquaculture, agriculture and maritime traditions of Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, but brings food, art, music, Native American activities, and children's events into one spectacular three-day event for the whole family! This signature Pacific Northwest event will take place October 6 - 8 at the Port Angeles City Pier. Admission is free! "CrabFest" has been named one of the Top 100 Events by the American Bus Association and has been recognized by Coastal Living Magazine, GQ Magazine, Saveur, and others as one of the top seafood festivals in North America. The Food! More than 14 tons of Dungeness crab is pulled from local waters each year, enabling festival-goers to savor the freshest crab available. A crab feed in the 10,000 square foot Crab Central tent features large whole crabs, fresh corn and cole slaw. Throughout the grounds, 14 local and regional restaurants will serve-up everything from crab bisque to Dungeness paella and much more! Non-seafood and vegetarian dishes will also be available. Active members of the military and their spouses can enjoy a full, fresh crab dinner at the discounted price of $25.00. The full price for the Crab dinner is $29.00. The Fun! In addition to great food, there's live music throughout the event, local beer and wine, and a Chef Demonstration Stage featuring Shaun O'Neale, winner of FOX TV's MasterChef Season 7, and Kate McDermott, James Beard Award finalist and author of the "Art of the Pie" cookbook. A Sunday non-denominational "Crab Revival" and a Chowder Cook-Off round out the event. Presenting sponsors include Black Ball Ferry Line, Kitsap Bank, Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Red Lion Hotel Port Angeles. A Perfect Getaway Crabfest is a seasonal highlight for Port Angeles, located in a region long known as an outdoor enthusiast's paradise with a growing reputation for culinary adventure. During the fall, travelers can visit artisan wineries, take a county farm tour and savor local cuisine at a waterfront resort. The area's diverse geography features glacially sculpted peaks and towering old growth forest and wild ocean beaches enhanced by living tribal cultures, historic seaport towns and rolling agricultural land. Information at www.crabfestival.org . Scott Nagel, Executive Director 360-808-3940 [email protected] SOURCE Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival Related Links http://www.crabfestival.org SEATTLE, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The article written by a reporter from Guangming Online is as follows: The 2017 SyScan360 Information Security Conference was hosted by Qihoo 360, China's largest Internet security company, in Seattle, the US, from May 30 to 31. Representatives from global tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Intel, McAfee and Pangoo participated in the conference and delivered speeches covering several fields of security including vulnerabilities research. Many impressive research achievements were made public for the first time. SyScan (The Symposium on Security for Asia Networks) has been one of the most prestigious Internet information security events since first inaugurated in 2004. It has been presented as SyScan360 since SyScan has joined Qihoo360, China's largest Internet security company. This was the first time for the event to be held in the US. The conference, which represents the highest level in global security vulnerability research, attracted high attention from global industry insiders. Though tickets of the event were expensive, people from 18 famous institutions like MIT, Boeing, HP, NVIDIA and GE bought the tickets, and researchers from five countries including India and Japan bought training courses at an average price of $6,000 per person. This change reflects the fact that Chinese Internet security researchers have made remarkable progress and even surpassed foreign researchers in some vertical fields in recent years. Chinese Internet security companies like Qihoo 360 are already able to keep pace with top foreign companies. Twenty speakers from Microsoft, Google, McAfee and Qihoo 360 shared their latest, industry-leading research achievements, covering Microsoft Office vulnerabilities, the Internet of Things, internal system security, monitoring via breaking subtitles vulnerabilities, iOS vulnerabilities, Android vulnerabilities attack, QEMU, breaking vulnerabilities through math, Google vulnerabilities, Machine learning and breaking vulnerabilities via symbols. This SyScan360 conference was a grand get-together for leading Internet security experts to compare notes and share experiences. It's not difficult to find out that Chinese technicians assumed a leading role through demonstrating their professional skills at training sessions, keynote speeches as well as experience sharing at the conference. They are showcasing China power in Internet security. SOURCE Guanming Online VIENNA, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 42.cx - Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence AG, based in Vienna, has just announced its partnership with The Heart Fund, a non-governmental organization to fight cardiovascular diseases. Together with The Heart Fund, 42.cx wants to solve public health challenges by modelizing diseases patterns through applied artificial intelligence to support THF doctors during their medical tasks. 42.cx will train its Supercomputer to generate predictive health models and to help to predict cardiovascular diseases by computer aided diagnosis. The generated prediction system will run on portable devices to disrupt healthcare in developing countries and to fight cardiovascular disease. "The Heart Fund combats cardiovascular diseases by offering access to care to millions of children in developing countries. For the first time in history with this partnership, artificial intelligence scientists have access to thousands of electrocardiograms (ECG), blood panels, evaluations and resulting diagnosis. This allows us to build more accurate models than ever before. With our technology a highly qualified diagnosis can be performed at thousands of different locations at the same time, around the clock anywhere in the world. It's practically like having the know-how and knowledge of the best cardiologic surgeons combined and being present at the same time anywhere.," explains Daniel Mattes, Founder and Executive Chairman of 42.cx. "We believe that only if true scientific power is being applied to the areas of research, ground-breaking results can be achieved. Our world-class team consists of scientists in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, mathematics, physics and economics, supported by data analysts and scientists, neural network engineers, machine learning scientists and software developers," adds Mattes. The Heart Fund saves the lives of children suffering from heart disease by empowering solutions and innovations that revolutionize access to care in developing countries. "The Heart Fund's vision is to deliver cardiac care to the world's most isolated areas by investing in technological innovation and sustainable scientific solutions. I am glad, that we found Daniel Mattes, as his AI technology is the perfect fit for our foundation," says Dr. David Luu, founder of The Heart Fund. The 42.cx - Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence has been developing AI applications over the last years in collaboration with a team of international renowned scientists from across the globe. The 42.cx research center combines expertise in computer science, symbolic computing, pattern recognition, computer vision and visual learning. Press Images: http://42.cx/health-ai About 42.cx 42.cx Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence AG is a scientific technology corporation that focuses on the commercialization of artificial intelligence. The core team of 42.cx consists of leading experts and scientists in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, mathematics, physics and economics, supported by data analysts and scientists, neural network engineers, machine learning scientists and software developers and is based in Vienna, Austria. Founder and Chairman of 42.cx is Daniel Mattes, a serial entrepreneur. http://www.42.cx About The Heart Fund From pediatric open-heart surgery to the building of hospital planes, The Heart Fund collaborates with over one hundred volunteer experts and 120 private and institutional partners in Haiti, India, Mauritania and Cote d'Ivoire. Created in 2010 by Dr. David Luu, The Heart Fund is an international public charity that is a pioneer in technological innovation to combat cardiovascular diseases. Ambassadors of The Heart Fund are Didier Drogba, Rosario Dawson, Gary Dourdan, Willy Cartier, Alina Baikova, Eric Benet to name a few. http://www.theheartfund.eu Markus Rumler CMO 42.cx AG [email protected] +436642631771 SOURCE 42.cx - Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence AG DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Industry 4.0 Market by Technolog, Vertical, Region - Global Forecast to 2022" report to their offering. The Industry 4.0 market was valued at USD 66.67 Billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 152.31 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 14.72% between 2017 and 2022. The increasing adoption of the industrial Internet and increased focus on efficiency and cost of production play a significant role in the growth of the Industry 4.0 market. This report segments the Industry 4.0 market based on technology, vertical, and region. On the basis of technology, the market has been segmented into industrial robotics, cyber security, Internet of Things, 3D printing, advanced human-machine interface, big data, augmented reality & virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. Industrial robotics form an important part of implementing Industry 4.0, as they improve productivity, reduce chances of human errors, and increase the production volume. The increasing use of industrial robotics in the automotive sector is also a major reason for this technology to have the largest market share in the Industry 4.0 market. The Industry 4.0 market, on the basis of vertical, has been segmented into automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment, electrical & electronics equipment, healthcare, food & agriculture, chemicals & materials, oil & gas, and energy & power. The implementation of Industry 4.0 in the industrial equipment sector can help manufacturers in analyzing the machine conditions in advance to avoid unplanned downtime and wastage. Machine breakdown and unplanned downtime cause huge loss to industrial equipment manufacturers as they delay the production process. Thus, a need for preventive maintenance solutions is increasing significantly in this vertical. These advantages of Industry 4.0 solutions in the industrial equipment vertical have made it the fastest-growing sector during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to hold the largest share of the Industry 4.0 market during the forecast period. Governments of countries such as China, Japan, and India are promoting Industry 4.0 in their countries with initiatives such as Made in China 2025, Make in India, and Industrial Value Chain Initiative in Japan. Due to such favorable government policies, the APAC region is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. For instance, in October 2015, Infineon Technologies AG (Germany) announced the set-up of a smart factory in Wuxi (China) to accelerate the Made in China initiative in the country. Infineon is investing around USD 300 million for building a smart factory that primarily focuses on manufacturing of smart devices and IoT-based equipment. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Market Overview 6 Industry 4.0 Market, By Technology 7 Industry 4.0 Market, By Vertical 8 Geographic Analysis 9 Competitive Landscape 10 Company Profiles ABB Ltd. Advantech Co Ltd. Aibrain Inc. Arcadia Data Inc. Beijer Electronics Ab Cisco Systems Cyberx Denso Corporation Eos GmbH Exone Company General Electric Company General Vision Inc. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Intel Corporation Intelligent Automation Inc. Interset Software Inc. Magic Leap Microsoft Corporation Mitsubishi Electric Corp. Ngrain Oculus VR Oracle Corporation Qualcomm Inc. Rethink Robotics Rockwell Automation Inc. SAP SE Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Sensory Inc. Siemens Ag Splunk Inc. Sri International Stratasys Ltd. U-Blox Worldsensing XJET For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/94nx75/industry_4_0 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com IRVINE, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Proove Biosciences, Inc. announces preliminary results at the close of a large patient-centered outcomes clinical trial demonstrating 94% of patients experience a significant pain reduction within 60-days of treatment changes informed by Proove. This trial entitled, Multicenter Longitudinal Observational Study Evaluating Genotypic Association with Clinical Outcomes in Interventional Pain Management Modalities (M.O.S.A.I.C.), was approved by an institutional review board (IRB) licensed by the Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). The study has been listed on the National Library of Medicine's website, www.ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT Identifier: NCT02485795). Dan Kendall, D.O. of leading pain center, National Spine & Pain Centers (NSPC), served as the initial Principal Investigator where 11,605 study participants were enrolled at 32 NSPC locations, and Maneesh Sharma, M.D. of the Interventional Pain Institute of Baltimore served as the final principal investigator of the trial for a total of 27,659 enrolled participants across 170 sites. Here is a brief results summary: Following treatment decisions informed by Proove, 94% of patients reported an average pain reduction of 43% within 60 days -- far exceeding FDA's requirement for pain relief; Average pain numerical rating scale (NRS) before Proove-guided treatment was 7.7, and the average after was 4.4. Over 77% of patients responded favorably to medication changes implemented based on Proove profiles. Results also show Proove-guided treatment led to an appropriate reduction in opioid utilization, as 13.8% of patients reported taking less opioid medications following Proove profiles, resulting in no significant difference in pain relief between opioid and non-opioid alternatives (p=0.87). Concluding Principal Investigator, Dr. Sharma explains, "Proove profiles provide assessments regarding pain sensitivity, opioid abuse risk, and treatment response. It's important to evaluate how this information is used by a clinician and more importantly, whether it helps clinicians make better treatment decisions. We look forward to publishing the results of this ground-breaking study." Senior Director of R&D at Proove, Dr. Svetlana Kantorovich, states "The M.O.S.A.I.C. Trial demonstrates prospective real-world evidence that Proove's technology helps clinicians make better decisions and substantially improves patient outcomes in the nation's most prevalent and expensive health condition." About Proove Biosciences: Proove Biosciences is the leader in precision medicine for the condition that lies at the nexus of health pain. Proove delivers precision medicine solutions for the nation's most prevalent and expensive health condition by investing heavily in research that has won awards from leading medical societies and been published in peer-reviewed journals. Discovered by NIH-funded scientists, Proove has translated into clinical practice the genetic variants and phenotypic factors contributing to pain sensitivity and chronic pain risk. Proove's medical advisory board is led by those NIH-funded researchers and the company has licensed some of its technology from leading academic centers, such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Utah, and other institutions. Positioned as The Healthcare Decision Company, Proove's patented technology platform combines genetic, clinical, environmental and lifestyle information to help clinicians better evaluate pain sensitivity, assess risk for opioid use disorder, predict therapeutic response to pain medications, and assess drug metabolism for the many medications used in chronic pain patients. Based in Irvine, California, Proove has been recognized on the Inc. 500 and the Deloitte Technology Fast500 as one of the fastest growing companies in North America. For more information, please visit www.proove.com or call toll free 855-PROOVE-BIO (855-776-6832). SOURCE Proove Biosciences, Inc. Related Links http://www.proove.com ORLANDO, Fla., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Abacus Life Settlements experienced a 19.8% growth in policy closes in 2016 over the previous year, resulting in a nearly $40 million increase in face value purchased. This growth was attributed to more confidence in the investment community, as well more awareness by consumers and their financial advisors. The Life Settlement industry has continued its year-over-year trend of consistent growth with more focus on consumer awareness. Abacus Life Settlements launched their first national TV campaign, airing across most major news networks including Fox, CNN, MSNBC, and Bloomberg. "A majority of consumers are unaware that selling their life insurance is even an option, it is a vast and untapped market," said Scott Kirby, Managing Partner at Abacus Settlements. "Hundreds of thousands of Life Insurance policies are allowed to lapse each year and we think consumers have the right to know that a viable option could exist if they can no longer afford or no longer need their coverage. It just doesn't make any sense that someone who qualifies for a settlement would spend years paying premiums for their policy just to simply cancel or surrender it instead of receiving a far greater value from it," explained Scott. The impact of increased consumer awareness has fueled more agent interest as well. "We've had agents contact us on behalf of clients after seeing our advertising and relayed immediate interest in pursuing a Life Settlement. It's difficult to quantify at this time, but we have learned that an increase in consumer awareness has a sort of ripple effect across multiple points of the industry," said Scott. It is difficult to predict how high consumer demand for Life Settlements will climb. But one thing is certain, consumer awareness will continue to grow in 2017 with Abacus at the forefront. About Abacus Settlements Abacus Settlements, LLC is a nationally licensed life settlement provider with a corporate office in Orlando, Florida. Founded in 2004, Abacus works with life settlement brokers, professional advisors, consumers and institutional investors in optimizing the value of unwanted life insurance policies. Abacus Settlements is not licensed in all states. For more information, visit https://abacuslifesettlements.com. Media Contact: Samantha Butcher, COO 800-561-4148 SOURCE Abacus Life Settlements Related Links http://www.abacussettlements.com WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ACA International, the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, released a white paper, Unintended Consequences of an Outdated Statute: How the TCPA Fails to Keep Pace with Shifting Consumer Trends, which examines how the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's (TCPA) antiquated understanding of technology results in some consumers receiving a disproportionate number of telephone calls while others are almost entirely excluded from receiving legitimate business communications. The paper also updates TCPA litigation statistics. "It has long been ACA's assessment that the TCPA has failed to adjust to modern communications technology and evolving consumer preferences," Pat Morris, ACA International's CEO, said. "Not only has this failure exposed legitimate businesses to an exponential growth of TCPA lawsuits, but as this white paper demonstrates, it has unintentionally resulted in certain consumers who possess wireless-only telephones from receiving important information while at the same time incentivizing more calls to those consumers who rely solely on landline telephones." Indeed, data from the National Center for Health Statistics indicated that as of December 2016 a majority of American homes (50.8 percent) were wireless-only. This means that a majority of American households now have no landline in the home and exclusively use wireless communication devices. There are also significant generational differences in those homes that are wireless-only relative to those that still have a landline. For example, 72.7 percent of 25-29 year-olds live in a wireless-only household. However, only 23.5 percent of consumers over the age of 65 live in a wireless-only household. Additionally, 76.5 percent of individuals aged 65 and over live in households with a landline. Because of these dramatic differences in wireless-only households across age groups, attempted compliance with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) broad interpretations of the TCPA will likely result in certain consumers receiving a disproportionate number of business-related phone calls while other segments of the consumer population are almost entirely excluded. Specifically, if a company only calls consumers who possess a landline telephone in an effort to minimize potential TCPA liability, they are more likely to contact consumers 65 years of age or older. As noted in an earlier white paper, The Imperative to Modernize the TCPA: Why an Outdated Law Hurts Consumers and Encourages Abusive Lawsuits, ACA found that TCPA litigation has become something of a cottage industry, with attorneys' fees for a TCPA class action settlement averaging $2.4 million in 2014. Furthermore, TCPA litigation has consistently increased year-after-year. Data from 2015 showed that TCPA lawsuits increased 948 percent between 2010 and 2015. In ACA's new white paper, data from 2016 shows an even more dramatic increase in TCPA litigation. Between 2010 and 2016 there was a 1,273 percent increase in litigants; between 2015 and 2016 alone the total number of litigants increased 32 percent. In light of these findings, ACA argues that modernization of the TCPA will ensure consumers are not deprived of normal, expected and desired information; will provide clarity for businesses to engage in targeted, beneficial communication with specific consumers; and free the courts to attend to the needs of real victims of harassment and abuse. ACA International's research initiative aims to collect more original data about the credit and collection industry. The goal of this exclusive research and analysis is to continue to quantify the ways that debt collectors help consumers and the overall economy. ACA International (ACA), the association of credit and collection professionals, is the largest membership organization in the credit and collection industry. Founded in 1939, ACA brings together third-party collection agencies, law firms, asset buying companies, creditors and vendor affiliates, representing tens of thousands of industry professionals. ACA produces a wide variety of products, services and publications, including educational and compliance-related information; and articulates the value of the credit and collection industry to businesses, policymakers and consumers. www.acainternational.org. Contact: Kim Coghill VP Communications ACA International 202-374-7535 [email protected] SOURCE ACA International Related Links http://www.acainternational.org Acronis Backup 12.5 is the world's fastest, most reliable, complete, and cost-effective backup offering available on the market today. It allows businesses to start small with Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard edition and scale to Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced as required by their growing infrastructure, simply by changing license keys. This gives partners the flexibility to meet the needs of small and large businesses with the same product. Acronis Backup 12.5 delivers the best value for businesses, bringing the cost down by as much as 30 percent compared to its competitors. The reliability of this technology has been validated by more than 50,000 users who adopted Acronis Backup 12 Standard released in July 2016. New features in Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced edition Building upon the existing ease of use, reliability, and new hybrid cloud architecture of Acronis Backup 12, the new advanced functionality creates a powerful, feature-rich solution that supports more than 20 platforms. These include Windows, Office 365, Azure, Linux, Mac OS X, Oracle, VMWare, Hyper-V, Red Hat Virtualization, Linux KVM, Citrix XenServer, iOS, and Android: Unified web interface for the entire infrastructure for the entire infrastructure Admin roles and delegations for distributed infrastructures for distributed infrastructures Support for six hypervisors to provide migration platform options to provide migration platform options Bare-metal recovery automation and remote boot media control to reduce RTO of remote site recovery and remote boot media control to reduce RTO of remote site recovery SAN storage snapshots to reduce hypervisor resource utilization to reduce hypervisor resource utilization Oracle backup and granular recovery backup and granular recovery Advanced tape support for increased granularity and simplified management for increased granularity and simplified management Advanced reporting for detailed insights and corporate compliance for detailed insights and corporate compliance Disaster recovery capability for emergency data recovery locally and in the cloud for emergency data recovery locally and in the cloud Backup validation process ensures recoverability process ensures recoverability Acronis Notary to ensure the authenticity of data "The new release is transformative for IT," said Jason Buffington, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, an IT research service. "Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced is the world's first enterprise-grade data protection solution with a consumer-grade user interface. It makes the complex job of data protection easy for any IT administrator or business owner. One computer or a thousand, physical or virtual, on-premises or cloud this robust solution is the newest achievement of Acronis' proven engineering excellence and it works equally well with organizations of all sizes." New in both Standard and Advanced editions Businesses of all sizes will benefit from more than 170 advancements common to both editions, addressing today's hybrid cloud environment and setting Acronis apart from the competition. Highlights include: Customizable dashboards for quick insights into the backup infrastructure for quick insights into the backup infrastructure Acronis Active Protection to stop ransomware attacks to stop ransomware attacks Acronis Instant Restore for 15-second RTOs for 15-second RTOs Acronis vmFlashback for quick incremental recovery of virtual machines "The Acronis Backup 12.5 interface is useful to newcomers very user friendly while offering a good range of configuration options. The web-based feature would be a great way to keep multiple managers in the loop as they can make their own reports. This looks like a great implementation for small businesses that have been burned by ransomware in the past, and don't want to be hassled with keeping track of workstation backups just set it and forget it," said Patrick Savary, system engineer of Abacus Computers, Inc. Innovating for a New Generation of Data Protection More than 500 Acronis engineers globally are engaged in the innovation and development of Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard and Advanced editions. As a result, Acronis added private and public cloud support for backing up and migrating workloads as well as reliable cloud storage. The release delivers the industry's first and only data protection against ransomware with automated restoration of damaged data. Acronis Backup 12.5 also introduces new technology that enables users to verify the backup integrity before its restoration, improving regulatory compliance and data integrity with blockchain. Backup of Amazon EC2 instances, Microsoft Azure VMs and Office 365 mailboxes of Amazon EC2 instances, Microsoft Azure VMs and Office 365 mailboxes Acronis Active Protection to intelligently detect and block ransomware attacks, such as WannaCry, with instant restoration of any compromised data to intelligently detect and block ransomware attacks, such as WannaCry, with instant restoration of any compromised data Acronis Notary to prove a file is authentic and unchanged since it was backed up Partner benefits Acronis Backup 12.5 is the most reliable and complete solution offering for anyone who supports small, medium, and large business' data protection needs. It allows partners to improve customer service and increase customer retention rate by allowing customers to easily upgrade to the advanced backup functionality without needing to reinstall the system. There is high demand for the innovative functionality in Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard and Advanced editions, as evidenced by the most popular beta program in Acronis history three times bigger than the last major launch. Innovative technology, simplified licensing, easy-to-use interface, simple upgrade path from the previous version, and unbeatable pricing make Acronis Backup 12.5 the best backup solution on the market today. "The flexibility, scale, security and transparent licensing offered with Acronis' next gen backup solution will make it easier for channel partners to sell and deliver data protection-as-a-service," said Holly Garcia, executive director, Advanced Solutions, Ingram Micro. "In today's connected economy every business of any size stands to benefit from a secure and scalable backup solution that can be easily managed by a partner they trust. As a preferred distributor for Acronis, it's great to see a continued investment in the performance and usability of its data protection platform." Commenting on the new release, Serguei Beloussov, co-founder and CEO of Acronis, said: "Today's reality is more end-point devices, hybrid infrastructure, and an ever-growing cornucopia of threats. Businesses and enterprises globally are adapting to the cloud and trying to make sense of this ever-changing digital landscape. Acronis brings peace of mind by providing innovative data protection technology that is reliable, safe, fast, easy, and complete. Acronis Backup 12.5 is the only answer to all modern-day data protection needs." To learn more about Acronis Backup, please visit: Acronis Backup product page http://www.acronis.com/en-us/business/backup/ http://www.acronis.com/en-us/business/backup/ Release notes https://go.acronis.com/Acronis-Backup-release-notes https://go.acronis.com/Acronis-Backup-release-notes Licensing information http://www.acronis.com/en-us/business/backup/purchasing/ About Acronis Acronis sets the standard for hybrid cloud IT data protection through its backup, ransomware Active Protection, disaster recovery, and secure file sync and share solutions. Powered by the Acronis AnyData Engine and set apart by its image technology, Acronis delivers easy, fast, complete and affordable data protection of all files, applications and operating systems across any environmentvirtual, physical, cloud, mobile and applications. Founded in 2003, Acronis protects the data of over 5 million consumers and 500,000 businesses in over 150 countries and 20 languages. With more than 100 patents, Acronis products are consistently named best product of the year and cover a range of features, including migration, cloning, and replication. Today, Acronis solutions are available worldwide through a global network of service providers, distributors, and cloud resellers. Learn more: http://www.acronis.com SOURCE Acronis RALEIGH, N.C., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recent Gallup survey, 43% of employed Americans in 2016 worked remotely at least some of the time, representing a four percentage-point increase since 2012. Among those who did work remotely, nearly a third (31%) worked remotely 80% to 100% of the time. Allowing workers to work out of the office does not relieve employers of their obligations to track time for overtime-eligible employees under the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Even if remote workers are exempt from overtime, tracking their time worked may still be important for client billing and other business purposes. AcroTime Workforce Management from Acroprint Time Recorder Company effectively addresses employers' concerns surrounding time, payroll and HR management of a remote workforce. For example: AcroTime is available anytime, anywhere employees or administrators have an Internet connection. Even organizations with a totally distributed workforce can accurately track and manage employee work time, payroll and scheduling. AcroTime offers several options for remote employees to clock in and out, including the standard web interface and a free mobile app (Android and Apple). Optional telephony allows employees to use any telephone, even a land-line, to record their start and stop times. Available employee self-service capabilities allow workers to manage various aspects of their account without having to come in to the office. The Payroll module includes geospatial tax identification, ensuring correct withholdings based on the employee's place of residence and work location. For employers that are concerned about reliable time recording, accurate payroll computations or effective scheduling of remote workers, more information is available at the AcroTime website (www.AcroTime.com). About AcroTime AcroTime Workforce Management is a cloud-based solution offered by Acroprint Time Recorder Company. AcroTime offers four modules: Time and Labor, Payroll, Scheduling and HR Management Tools. Organizations can choose one, any or all modules to meet their needs, paying only for the capacity they use. With data center security meeting or exceeding Department of Defense standards, single-login access to all enabled modules, unlimited employee capacity and a single employee database ensuring information across all modules is always perfectly synchronized, AcroTime is a secure, robust and affordable solution ideal for businesses of all types and sizes. About Acroprint Time Recorder Company Acroprint Time Recorder Company is a leading global manufacturer and distributor of workforce management solutions with more than 1,000 dealers/distributors across the United States and products exported to 80 foreign countries. Our products are used daily by millions of employees around the globe to accurately record their time and attendance. A family-owned company headquartered in Raleigh, NC, Acroprint has been helping businesses save time and money on labor management since 1969. Contact David Rhiver, VP Sales and Marketing Acroprint Time Recorder Company 5640 Departure Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27616-1841 USA Voice: 1.800.334.7190 / 1.919.872.5800 Fax: 1.919.850.0720 SOURCE Acroprint Time Recorder Company Related Links http://www.AcroTime.com GAINESVILLE, Fla., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- An Alachua County jury has handed down a $2,100,000 verdict in favor of Gainesville-native Katherine Gentry for catastrophic injuries caused by a drunk driver in 2012. On the night of the crash, the defendant was driving in the rain while intoxicated when he lost control of his vehicle on SW 62nd Blvd. behind the Oaks Mall, colliding head-on with Ms. Gentry's vehicle. Ms. Gentry suffered an "explosion fracture" in her ankle, requiring surgery and the implanting of screws and plates to repair her ankle. She also sustained a severely fractured knee-cap, a broken foot, broken wrist, and head trauma. Her injuries left her unable to walk without assistance for more than nine months. In addition, the jury heard from Ms. Gentry's psychologist about her Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which, to this day, restricts her ability to drive and return to life as she knew it. "When Kat and her parents told me about the crash and how their first lawyer refused to take the case to trial, I just had to help," said Ben Steinberg, Litigation Attorney at Avera & Smith. "Nobody could ask for a better client, so on behalf of the firm I wanted to show her that helping people who are injured isn't always about dollars and cents." Mr. Steinberg suggested the jury award $587,000 to compensate Ms. Gentry for the injuries, pain, and suffering she endured. He also suggested an award of $1,000,000 in punitive damages to punish the defendant and deter others from engaging in similar conduct. The jury almost doubled the compensatory amount, awarding $1,100,000 for Ms. Gentry's injuries, pain and suffering, and accepted his suggestion of $1,000,000 in punitive damages. "Drinking and driving is a terrible reality and, together with Kat, we hope that this jury and their verdict will send a clear message to our entire community that choosing to drink and drive has consequences, not just for the victims, but also for those who make that choice," said Steinberg. Avera & Smith has represented Floridians for more than 60 years with a legacy of personal service and genuine care for clients and the local community. Visit www.avera.com for more information. SOURCE Avera & Smith, LLP Related Links https://www.avera.com BOISE, Idaho, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Albertsons Companies announced today that it recently acquired MedCart Specialty Pharmacy in order to strengthen and extend its pharmacy specialty services. MedCart Specialty Pharmacy is an industry-leading, URAC accredited, pharmaceutical and healthcare provider of customized specialty care services and medication management for patients and physicians addressing complex diseases. "MedCart Specialty Pharmacy has built an exemplary operation which complements our patient centered care strategy and pharmacy services growth plan," explained Mark Panzer, Senior Vice President, Albertsons Companies, Pharmacy Health and Wellness. "Their team has done a tremendous job establishing a service culture that focuses on the patient." MedCart Specialty Pharmacy, privately owned since 2012, will continue to operate as it does today as a new business unit under the Albertsons Companies Pharmacy team structure. The current MedCart leadership will carry on leading their team and report directly to Dain Rusk, Group Vice President, Pharmacy Operations, Albertsons Companies. "We're excited to join the Albertsons Companies team," states Eddie Abueida, RPh, Co-founder and Vice President, Specialty Operations, MedCart Specialty Pharmacy. "Our business principles and goals complement one another, which benefit everyone involved in the partnership - most importantly our patients." MedCart Specialty Pharmacy provides specialty prescription services and medications from two facilities in Michigan: one specialty pharmacy operations center and one local pharmacy. "We've worked hard to create an infrastructure that serves patients and providers with the utmost in quality specialty care services and coordination that are required for these medications," Ed Saleh, RPh, Co-founder and Vice President, Specialty Business Development, MedCart Specialty Pharmacy. "Albertsons Companies presented an excellent opportunity for us to extend our mission to more patients." About Albertsons Companies Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, with both a strong local presence and national scale. We operate stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2016 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave nearly $300 million in food and financial support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities and veterans outreach. Media Contact: Jennifer Rapley [email protected] SOURCE Albertsons Companies DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) today announced new data from its anti-fectives portfolio will be featured in 16 presentations at the upcoming American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Microbe, June 1-5, 2017, in New Orleans. Eight of the presentations will feature information about AVYCAZ (ceftazidime and avibactam), including data exploring the activity of AVYCAZ in resistant Gram-negative bacteria as well as results from the International Network for Optimal Resistance Monitoring (INFORM) program, one of the largest ongoing pathogen surveillance programs in the United States. Six presentations will focus on the in vitro activity of TEFLARO (ceftaroline fosamil) against a variety of Gram-positive pathogens, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), with remaining presentations to focus on MONUROL (fosfomycin tromethamine) and ATM-AVI (an investigational, fixed-dose antibiotic combining aztreonam and avibactam), respectively. "Allergan is at the forefront in the fight against resistant pathogens and difficult-to-treat-infections, and we remain focused on pathogen surveillance and antibiotic susceptibility research," said David Nicholson, Ph.D., Chief Research & Development Officer, Allergan. "Producing critical data that characterizes regional resistance patterns and disease prevalence helps inform the treatment decisions of physicians, and ultimately, the care of patients." The scheduled times and titles of the presentations are as follows: AVYCAZ (ceftazidime and avibactam) Friday, June 2, 12:45 p.m. 2:45 p.m. CT (Central Time) Activity of ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI) against Enterobacteriaceae isolated from different infection types as part of the INFORM global surveillance program, 2015 Activity of ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from different infection types as part of the INFORM global surveillance program, 2015 A locally tested surveillance study to evaluate the current activity of ceftazidime-avibactam (C/A) against Gram-negative pathogens collected in the United States in 20152016 as part of the INFORM study Activity of ceftazidime-avibactam and comparator agents tested against isolates harboring -lactamase genes detected using whole genome sequencing analysis Saturday, June 3, 12:15 p.m. 2:15 p.m. CT (Central Time) Synergistic activity of ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI) and fosfomycin (FOS) against extended-spectrum--lactamase-(ESBL) and carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative (GN) bacteria Colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in the US: Not all is lost Sunday, June 4, 12:15 p.m. 2:15 p.m. CT (Central Time) The impact of acute kidney injury (AKI) on the risk of mortality and healthcare utilization among patients treated with polymyxins for severe Gram-negative infections Intrinsic resistance mechanisms detected among ceftazidime-avibactam susceptible and resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSA) isolates collected from United States (US) hospitals (2015) TEFLARO (ceftaroline fosamil) Friday, June 2, 12:45 p.m. 2:45 p.m. CT (Central Time) Ceftaroline fosamil for the treatment of pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: CAPTURE study experience Ceftaroline fosamil use for skin infections or community-acquired pneumonia with bacteremia Sunday, June 4, 12:15 p.m. 2:15 p.m. CT (Central Time) 20142015 global assessment of the in vitro activities of ceftaroline and comparative agents against bacterial pathogens frequently causing community-acquired respiratory tract infections Comparative in vitro activities of ceftaroline and ceftriaxone against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative Staphylococci from 37 countries during 20142015 Antimicrobial susceptibility trends among Staphylococcus aureus from US hospitals: results from 7 years of the ceftaroline (AWARE) surveillance program (2009-2015) Ceftaroline activity against Gram-positive isolates from elderly patients hospitalized with pneumonia in the intensive care unit (ICU): results from the AWARE surveillance program, 20082015 Monurol (fosfomycin tromethamine) Saturday, June 3, 12:15 p.m. 2:15 p.m. CT (Central Time) A Locally Tested Surveillance Study to Evaluate the Current Activity of Fosfomycin (FOS) against Enterobacteriaceae Associated with Urinary Tract Infections Collected in the United States in 2015- 2016 ATM-AVI (aztreonam and avibactam) Friday, June 2, 12:45 p.m. 2:45 p.m. CT (Central Time) In vitro activity of aztreonam-avibactam (ATM-AVI) against drug-resistant and metallo--lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolated as part of a global surveillance program, 20122015 Full abstracts can be found on the ASM Microbe website at https://www.asm.org/index.php/asm-microbe-2017. About AVYCAZ AVYCAZ was first approved in the U.S. in February 2015 for the treatment of adult patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI), in combination with metronidazole, and cUTI, including pyelonephritis, caused by designated susceptible pathogens, including certain Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In June 2016, the FDA approved the addition of Phase 3 clinical data to the label supporting the use of AVYCAZ, in combination with metronidazole, in cIAI patients, including subsets of patients with infections caused by CAZ-NS pathogens and pathogens producing certain ESBLs. In January 2017, the FDA approved the addition of Phase 3 clinical data (two studies) to the label supporting the use of AVYCAZ in patients with cUTI, including pyelonephritis, including subsets of patients with infections caused by CAZ-NS pathogens.. In one of these studies, AVYCAZ demonstrated higher combined clinical and microbiological cure rates vs. Best Available Therapy (BAT) in patients with cUTI due to CAZ-NS pathogens; similar results were seen in a subset of patients with infections caused by pathogens producing certain ESBL groups, including select KPC (Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase), and AmpC beta-lactamases. AVYCAZ has demonstrated in vitro activity against Enterobacteriaceae in the presence of some beta-lactamases and ESBLs of the following groups: TEM, SHV, CTX-M, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPCs), AmpC and certain oxacillinases (OXA). AVYCAZ also demonstrated in vitro activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the presence of some AmpC beta-lactamases, and certain strains lacking outer membrane porin (OprD). AVYCAZ is not active against bacteria that produce metallo-beta lactamases and may not have activity against Gram-negative bacteria that overexpress efflux pumps or have porin mutations. Ceftazidime and avibactam is being jointly developed with Pfizer. Allergan holds the rights to commercialize ceftazidime and avibactam in North America under the brand name AVYCAZ, while Pfizer holds the rights to commercialize the combination in the rest of the world under the brand name Zavicefta. INDICATIONS AND USAGE Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections (cIAI) AVYCAZ (ceftazidime and avibactam), in combination with metronidazole, is indicated for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) caused by the following susceptible Gram-negative microorganisms: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Citrobacter freundii complex, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in patients 18 years or older. Complicated Urinary Tract Infections (cUTI), including Pyelonephritis AVYCAZ is indicated for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) including pyelonephritis caused by the following susceptible Gram-negative microorganisms: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, Citrobacter freundii complex, Proteus mirabilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in patients 18 years or older. Usage To reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria and maintain the effectiveness of AVYCAZ and other antibacterial drugs, AVYCAZ should be used to treat only indicated infections that are proven or strongly suspected to be caused by susceptible bacteria. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION CONTRAINDICATIONS AVYCAZ is contraindicated in patients with known serious hypersensitivity to the components of AVYCAZ (ceftazidime and avibactam), avibactamcontaining products, or other members of the cephalosporin class. WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS In a Phase 3 cIAI trial, clinical cure rates were lower in a subgroup of patients with baseline creatinine clearance (CrCl) of 30 to less than or equal to 50 mL/min compared to those with CrCl greater than 50 mL/min. The reduction in clinical cure rates was more marked in patients treated with AVYCAZ plus metronidazole compared to meropenem-treated patients. Clinical cure rates in patients with normal renal function/mild renal impairment (CrCl greater than 50 mL/min) was 85% (322/379) with AVYCAZ plus metronidazole vs 86% (321/373) with meropenem, and clinical cure rates in patients with moderate renal impairment (CrCl 30 to less than or equal to 50 mL/min) was 45% (14/31) with AVYCAZ plus metronidazole vs 74% (26/35) with meropenem. Within this subgroup, patients treated with AVYCAZ received a 33% lower daily dose than is currently recommended for patients with CrCl of 30 to less than or equal to 50 mL/min. The decreased clinical response was not observed for patients with moderate renal impairment at baseline (CrCl of 30 to less than or equal to 50 mL/min) in the Phase 3 cUTI trials. Monitor CrCl at least daily in patients with changing renal function and adjust the dosage of AVYCAZ accordingly. Serious and occasionally fatal hypersensitivity (anaphylactic) reactions and serious skin reactions have been reported in patients receiving beta-lactam antibacterial drugs. Before therapy with AVYCAZ is instituted, careful inquiry about previous hypersensitivity reactions to other cephalosporins, penicillins, or carbapenems should be made. Exercise caution if this product is to be given to a penicillin or other beta-lactam-allergic patient because cross sensitivity among beta-lactam antibacterial drugs has been established. Discontinue the drug if an allergic reaction to AVYCAZ occurs. Clostridium difficile -associated diarrhea (CDAD) has been reported for nearly all systemic antibacterial drugs, including AVYCAZ, and may range in severity from mild diarrhea to fatal colitis. Careful medical history is necessary because CDAD has been reported to occur more than 2 months after the administration of antibacterial drugs. If CDAD is suspected or confirmed, antibacterials not directed against C. difficile should be discontinued, if possible. -associated diarrhea (CDAD) has been reported for nearly all systemic antibacterial drugs, including AVYCAZ, and may range in severity from mild diarrhea to fatal colitis. Careful medical history is necessary because CDAD has been reported to occur more than 2 months after the administration of antibacterial drugs. If CDAD is suspected or confirmed, antibacterials not directed against should be discontinued, if possible. Seizures, nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE), encephalopathy, coma, asterixis, neuromuscular excitability, and myoclonia have been reported in patients treated with ceftazidime, particularly in the setting of renal impairment. Adjust dosing based on creatinine clearance. Prescribing AVYCAZ in the absence of a proven or strongly suspected bacterial infection is unlikely to provide benefit to the patient and increases the risk of the development of drug-resistant bacteria. ADVERSE REACTIONS The most common adverse reactions in cIAI patients (5% when used with metronidazole) were diarrhea (8%), nausea (7%), and vomiting (5%). The most common adverse reactions in cUTI patients (3%) were diarrhea and nausea. Please see full Prescribing Information for AVYCAZ at www.avycaz.com. ABOUT TEFLARO TEFLARO was first approved by the U.S. FDA in October 2010 for the treatment of adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) due to designated susceptible pathogens. TEFLARO is a bactericidal cephalosporin with activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. TEFLARO is indicated in adult and pediatric patients 2 months of age and older for the treatment of CABP, including cases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, and ABSSSI, including cases caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). TEFLARO is the first and only cephalosporin with activity against MRSA in ABSSSI that is approved in the U.S.. In clinical trials, TEFLARO was generally well-tolerated with an adverse event profile consistent with the cephalosporin class of antibiotics. TEFLARO has been administered in over 2.3 million days of therapy, treating more than 350,000 patients. Allergan plc (formerly Forest Laboratories) obtained the worldwide rights (excluding Japan, where Takeda Pharmaceuticals holds rights) to TEFLARO in 2007 when it acquired Cerexa, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company. In August 2009, Forest Laboratories and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) entered into a definitive collaboration agreement to co-develop and commercialize ceftaroline fosamil in all markets outside the U.S., Canada and Japan. INDICATIONS AND USAGE TEFLARO (ceftaroline fosamil) is indicated in adult and pediatric patients 2 months of age and older for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) caused by susceptible isolates of the following Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus (including methicillin-susceptible and -resistant isolates), Streptococcus pyogenes , Streptococcus agalactiae , Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae , and Klebsiella oxytoca . (ceftaroline fosamil) is indicated in adult and pediatric patients 2 months of age and older for the treatment of caused by susceptible isolates of the following Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms: (including methicillin-susceptible and -resistant isolates), , , , , and . TEFLARO is also indicated in adult and pediatric patients 2 months of age and older for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) caused by susceptible isolates of the following Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms: Streptococcus pneumoniae (including cases with concurrent bacteremia), Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin-susceptible isolates only), Haemophilus influenzae , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Klebsiella oxytoca , and Escherichia coli. caused by susceptible isolates of the following Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms: (including cases with concurrent bacteremia), (methicillin-susceptible isolates only), , , , and To reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria and maintain the effectiveness of TEFLARO and other antibacterial drugs, TEFLARO should be used to treat only ABSSSI or CABP that are proven or strongly suspected to be caused by susceptible bacteria. Appropriate specimens for microbiological examination should be obtained in order to isolate and identify the causative pathogens and to determine their susceptibility to ceftaroline. When culture and susceptibility information are available, they should be considered in selecting or modifying antibacterial therapy. In the absence of such data, local epidemiology and susceptibility patterns may contribute to the empiric selection of therapy. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION Contraindications TEFLARO is contraindicated in patients with known serious hypersensitivity to ceftaroline or other members of the cephalosporin class. Anaphylaxis has been reported with ceftaroline. Warnings and Precautions Hypersensitivity Reactions Serious and occasionally fatal hypersensitivity (anaphylactic) reactions and serious skin reactions have been reported with beta-lactam antibacterial drugs. Before therapy with TEFLARO is instituted, careful inquiry about previous hypersensitivity reactions to other cephalosporins, penicillins, or carbapenems should be made. Maintain clinical supervision if this product is to be given to a penicillin- or other beta-lactam-allergic patient, because cross sensitivity among beta-lactam antibacterial agents has been clearly established. If an allergic reaction to TEFLARO occurs, discontinue TEFLARO and institute appropriate treatment and supportive measures. Clostridium difficile-Associated Diarrhea Clostridium difficile-Associated Diarrhea (CDAD) has been reported for nearly all systemic antibacterial agents, including TEFLARO, and may range in severity from mild diarrhea to fatal colitis. Careful medical history is necessary because CDAD has been reported to occur more than 2 months after the administration of antibacterial agents. If CDAD is suspected or confirmed, antibacterials not directed against C. difficile should be discontinued, if possible. Direct Coombs' Test Seroconversion In adults, seroconversion from a negative to a positive direct Coombs' test result occurred in 120/1114 (10.8%) of patients receiving TEFLARO and 49/1116 (4.4%) of patients receiving comparator drugs in the four pooled adult Phase 3 trials. In children, seroconversion from a negative to a positive direct Coombs' test result occurred in 42/234 (17.9%) of patients receiving TEFLARO and 3/93 (3.2%) of patients receiving comparator drugs in the three pooled pediatric trials. No adverse reactions representing hemolytic anemia were reported in any treatment group. If anemia develops during or after treatment with TEFLARO, drug-induced hemolytic anemia should be considered. If drug-induced hemolytic anemia is suspected, discontinuation of TEFLARO should be considered and supportive care should be administered to the patient if clinically indicated. Development of Drug-Resistant Bacteria Prescribing TEFLARO in the absence of a proven or strongly suspected bacterial infection is unlikely to provide benefit to the patient and increases the risk of the development of drug-resistant bacteria. Adverse Reactions in Adults In the four pooled adult Phase 3 clinical trials, serious adverse reactions occurred in 98/1300 (7.5%) of patients receiving TEFLARO and 100/1297 (7.7%) of patients receiving comparator drugs. Treatment discontinuation due to adverse reactions occurred in 35/1300 (2.7%) of patients receiving TEFLARO and 48/1297 (3.7%) of patients receiving comparator drugs with the most common adverse reactions leading to discontinuation being hypersensitivity for both treatment groups at a rate of 0.3% in the TEFLARO group and 0.5% in the comparator group. The most common adverse reactions occurring in >2% of patients receiving TEFLARO in the adult pooled Phase 3 clinical trials were diarrhea (5%) nausea (4%), and rash (3%). Adverse Reactions in Pediatrics In the three pooled pediatric clinical trials, serious adverse reactions occurred in 10/257 (4%) of patients receiving TEFLARO and 3/102 (3%) of patients receiving comparator drugs. Treatment discontinuation due to adverse reactions occurred in 10/257 (3.9%) of patients receiving TEFLARO and 2/102 (2%) of patients receiving comparator drugs with the most common adverse reaction leading to discontinuation being rash in 2/257 (0.8%) of patients treated with TEFLARO. The most common adverse reactions occurring in 3% of patients receiving TEFLARO in the pooled pediatric clinical trials were diarrhea (8%), rash (7%), vomiting (5%), pyrexia (3%) and nausea (3%). Drug Interactions No clinical drug-drug interaction studies have been conducted with TEFLARO. There is minimal potential for drug- drug interactions between TEFLARO and CYP450substrates, inhibitors, or inducers; drugs known to undergo active renal secretion; and drugs that may alter renal blood flow. Use in Specific Populations There have been no adequate and well-controlled studies with TEFLARO in pregnant or nursing women. Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients below the age of 2 months have not been established as no data are available. Because elderly patients, those 65 years of age, are more likely to have decreased renal function and ceftaroline is excreted primarily by the kidney, care should be taken in dose selection in this age group and it may be useful to monitor renal function. Dosage adjustment for elderly patients should therefore be based on renal function. Dosage adjustment is required in adult patients with moderate (CrCl >30 to 50 mL/min) or severe (CrCl 15 to 30mL/min) renal impairment and in patients with end-stage renal disease (CrCl <15 mL/min). There is insufficient information to recommend a dosage regimen for pediatric patients with CrCl < 50 ml/min/1.73m 2 . . The pharmacokinetics of ceftaroline in patients with hepatic impairment have not been established. Please also see the full Prescribing Information at www.TEFLARO.com. ABOUT MONUROL MONUROL (fosfomycin tromethamine) was first approved by the U.S. FDA in 1997 for the treatment of women with uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) due to designated susceptible pathogens. MONUROL is a broad spectrum antibiotic and is the only one day, single dose treatment for uUTI's in women. With 18 years of experience it has a well studied clinical efficacy and safety profile. MONUROL is recommended by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) as a treatment option for uUTI and maintains good in-vitro activity against itsindicated pathogens. Allergan plc holds the commercial rights to MONUROL in the U.S., and Zambon maintains the rights in the rest of the world. INDICATIONS AND USAGE FOR MONUROL MONUROL (fosfomycin tromethamine) is indicated only for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (acute cystitis) in women due to susceptible strains of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis . and . MONUROL is not indicated for the treatment of pyelonephritis or perinephric abscess. If persistence or reappearance of bacteriuria occurs after treatment with MONUROL, other therapeutic agents should be selected. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION CONTRAINDICATIONS MONUROL is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to the drug. WARNINGS Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) has been reported with use of nearly all antibacterial agents, including MONUROL, and may range in severity from mild diarrhea to fatal colitis. Careful medical history is necessary since CDAD has been reported to occur over two months after the administration of antibacterial agents. If CDAD is suspected or confirmed, ongoing antibiotic use not directed against C. difficile may need to be discontinued. PRECAUTIONS Do not use more than one single dose of MONUROL to treat a single episode of acute cystitis. Repeated daily doses of MONUROL did not improve the clinical success or microbiological eradication rates compared to single dose therapy, but did increase the incidence of adverse events. Patients should be informed that if their symptoms do not improve in 2 to 3 days, they should contact their healthcare provider. When coadministered with MONUROL, metoclopramide lowers the serum concentration and urinary excretion of fosfomycin. Other drugs that increase gastrointestinal motility may produce similar effects. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of MONUROL in pregnant women. Therefore, MONUROL should be used in pregnancy only if clearly needed. It is not known whether fosfomycin tromethamine is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from MONUROL, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to not administer the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother. Safety and effectiveness in children age 12 years and under have not been established in adequate and well-controlled studies. ADVERSE REACTIONS In clinical trials, the most frequently reported adverse events occurring in >1% of the MONUROL-treated patients (n=1233) were: diarrhea (9.0%), vaginitis (5.5%), nausea (4.1%), headache (3.9%), dizziness (1.3%), asthenia (1.1%), and dyspepsia (1.1%). Please also see the full Prescribing Information at www.MONUROL.com About Allergan plc Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world. Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories. Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, a model of research and development, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. With this approach, Allergan has built one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 70+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs currently in development. Allergan's success is powered by our more than 18,000 global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right. With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day. For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com. Forward-Looking Statement Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and Allergan's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2017. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. CONTACTS: Allergan: Investors: Daphne Karydas (862) 261-8006 Media: Mark Marmur (862) 261-7558 Tara Schuh (201) 427-8888 SOURCE Allergan plc Related Links http://www.allergan.com HOUSTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- alliantgroup Senior Vice President and former U.S. Congressman Rick Lazio will be speaking today at 4 p.m. ET at an event hosted by DMJ & Co., PLLC at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina. During his presentation "Washington Update: Tax Reform Insights," Lazio will discuss the White House's current tax reform proposal and its potential impact on U.S. businesses. "Tax reform is obviously a hot topic at the moment and one that will have long-term ramifications for U.S. businesses and their financial advisors," said Dhaval Jadav, alliantgroup CEO. "As a former U.S. Representative, Rick is obviously well-versed in these issues and can offer an insider's perspective on the legislative process and any legislation that takes shape in the months ahead." A former four-term U.S. Congressman for New York's 2nd District and a former financial executive for JPMorgan Chase, Lazio has been a longtime advocate for small and mid-size businesses. During his time in office, he sponsored several pro-business initiatives including the Small Business Tax Fairness Act of 2000. During today's presentation, Lazio will cover the current tax reform debate in Washington, D.C., including what the discussion points will be in the coming months and how the current tax proposals could affect economic growth. "Rick is a world-class speaker and deeply passionate about these issues," said Dhaval Jadav, alliantgroup CEO. "This is a must-attend event for anyone interested in tax reform and what it could mean for American businesses." alliantgroup's mission is one of education and awarenesswe exist to help industry organizations, U.S. businesses and the CPA firms that advise them take full advantage of all federal and state tax credits, incentives and deductions available. Our government has legislated these powerful incentive programs to help businesses grow and successfully compete both in the U.S. and abroad. We are proud to have helped over 20,000 businesses claim more than $5 billion in tax incentives. alliantgroup's headquarters is in Houston, Texas, with offices across the country including New York, Boston, Chicago, Orange County, Sacramento, Orlando, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C. For more information find alliantgroup on Facebook and Twitter. SOURCE alliantgroup Related Links https://www.alliantgroup.com HOUSTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Orion Group has been selected to manage Provision at Four Corners, a new, 132-unit apartment community in Sugar Land, Texas, slated to open in July of 2017. Clubhouse at Provision at Four Corners Apartments in Sugar Land, Texas Provision at Four Corners Apartments in Sugar Land, Texas Located at 15014 Old Richmond Road in Sugar Land, Provision at Four Corners offers one, two, three and four-bedroom floor plan options, ranging from 780 to 1,452 square feet of living space. Each apartment home features granite countertops, simulated hardwood floors, huge walk-in closets, kitchen islands, energy-efficient appliances and covered porches. Community amenities include a sparkling pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, business center, courtyard with barbecue pits, controlled access gates, covered patios, laundry center, and planned resident activities. Provision at Four Corners is zoned to highly acclaimed Fort Bend County schools. Situated close to Highway 6, the pet-friendly community is convenient to Sugar Land Town Center, Constellation Field, local parks and the new Imperial Market Development, featuring upscale shopping and dining and recreation areas. "We selected Allied Orion Group to manage Provision at Four Corners because of their excellent reputation within the housing industry," said Jervon Harris, Senior Vice President of Development for Gardner Capital Development. "They were already recognized and respected by our various capital partners, have extensive experience with mixed income properties, have impressive systems, processes and procedures in place, and possess a well-organized, specialty staff who provide an excellent level of service." Allied Orion Group is a full-service multifamily management, investment and development firm headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional offices in Denver, Dallas and San Antonio. Allied Orion Group has acquired or developed more than 13,000 multi-family units with a total aggregate value of approximately $1.1 billion, and has a growing portfolio of 22,000 apartment homes under management throughout the nation. For more information, call 713-622-5844 or visit www.allied-orion.com. Contact: Carrie Saks [email protected] 713-622-5844 SOURCE Allied Orion Group CLEVELAND, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AML RightSource, a Gabriel Partners Company, is pleased to announce its affiliate membership with the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS). ACFCS is a leading provider of practical tools and knowledge which help professionals achieve quality results in financial crime detection and prevention. "I am delighted that AML RightSource has agreed to support and partner with ACFCS. After meeting Vic Maculaitis, and the entire AML RightSource management team, it was evident we were aligned in our approach and our support for the concept that both organizations want to provide the best thought leadership for our clients. I am confident we will continue to foster a mutually beneficial relationship for many years." Garry Clement, Executive Director of The Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists The partnership with ACFCS provides AML RightSource employees with ongoing training, certifications, and information pertaining to emerging trends within the industry. AML RightSource employees will have exclusive access to ACFCS resources, articles, webinars, and industry best practices related to financial crime threats and methodologies. Moreover, our employees will have the ability to connect with thousands of members in the ACFCS global community, including financial crime compliance professionals with subject-matter expertise in money laundering, terrorism financing, fraud, bribery and anti-corruption, sanctions, and other areas. Employees will also be able to connect with law enforcement and government regulatory professionals. While silos and fractures may develop within financial intelligence units at financial institutions, AML RightSource uses an innovative approach to avoid silos. Analysts are consistently involved in diverse projects, which provide insight into an array of financial crimes and enhance their subject-matter expertise. This also offers them a comprehensive strategy to identify and report potentially suspicious criminal activity. The relationship between AML RightSource and ACFCS developed out of a mutual recognition of the need for an approach that integrates the risks associated with financial crimes as an interconnected whole. Vic Maculaitis, Partner and Head of Financial Crimes Advisory at AML RightSource, stated, "Through some great conversations with Garry Clement, Executive Director of The Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists, and the leadership at ACFCS, we found many similar views of an integrated financial crimes landscape. We are very excited about our partnership with another forward thinking organization such as ACFCS." Membership with ACFCS enables AML RightSource to leverage shared tools, techniques, and expertise; to develop a cohesive global strategy; to improve results for its clients; and to streamline procedures in our continued efforts to deliver financial institutions with high-quality BSA Department Staff Augmentation services and Financial Crimes Advisory services. AML RightSource is the leading provider of BSA/AML and Financial Crimes co-sourcing solutions. The firm offers highly trained BSA/AML professionals and subject-matter experts to assist financial institutions with BSA Department Staff Augmentation services and Financial Crimes Advisory matters. AML RightSource has over 400 employees throughout facilities in Cleveland, Ohio; Hudson, Ohio; and Phoenix, Arizona. Contact: Alexandra Even 216-302-2117 [email protected] SOURCE AML RightSource SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Facebook and Alphabet Inc. (the parent company of Google) have not done enough to curb the online epidemic of "fake news" and so concerned shareholders are pressing them to issue detailed reports. Upcoming votes on "fake news" shareholder proposals are set at Facebook Thursday (June 1) in Palo Alto, CA., and Alphabet on June 7 in Mountain View, CA., and will bring the issue into sharper focus. Investment advisor Arjuna Capital, in partnership with Baldwin Brothers, Inc., engaged both companies to evaluate the impact that fabricated content is having on their platforms and business. The shareholder resolution (http://arjuna-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Fake-News-Proposal_Facebook.pdf), filed at Facebook on February 2, 2017, urges the company to issue a report reviewing the public policy issues associated with fake news (and related hate speech) enabled by the company. Arjuna Capital filed a similar resolution (http://arjuna-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Fake-news-Proposal_Googl.pdf) on December 29, 2016 with Alphabet. Arjuna Capital was assisted in the effort by the nonprofit organization Open MIC, which issued a report last month recommending that the tech giants appoint ombudspersons to assess the impact of their content algorithms on the public interest. The Open MIC report is available here: http://fakenews.openmic.org Natasha Lamb, managing partner at Arjuna Capital, said: "Fake news is not about spin or confirmation bias It's about fabrication. And when fabrication is disseminated so easily at scale, the way we have seen through social media, it represents a threat to our democracy. If Facebook maintains a platform of confusion and distortion it will lose the trust of its users, in which case they will simply move on to the next thing. And that's what concerns long-term investors. We need to know this is being handled responsibly over time. It will not be solved through a simple algorithm tweak or better user educationthose are merely pieces of a larger puzzle. Right now, we think the issue is being fumbled." Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a non-profit organization that works with investors on media and technology issues said: "Issues like fake news and hate speech aren't going to go away any time soon - and Facebook's responses to them thus far are perfect examples of too little, too late. The company needs to start reporting regularly and in a consistent fashion - about the impact its policies and practices have on billions of Facebook users all around the globe." Supporting the Arjuna Capital resolution at Facebook today, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said, "We need internet platforms to step up and acknowledge their corporate responsibilities. With more and more citizens being subjected to systematic deception and manipulation online, the proliferation of fake news represents a major threat to our democratic institutions. Furthermore, as an institutional investor and steward of public resources, I am very concerned that Facebook and Google's role in the distribution of fake news could hurt shareholder value. We need to come together and develop solutions that protect public and business interests." Lamb added: "Investors need to understand the full scope of the issue. We expect annual reporting on public policy risk, impacts on free speech, and analysis on how fake news is impacting a cornerstone of our democracyan informed electorate." Fake news was "both widely shared and heavily tilted in favor of Donald Trump" in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to a March 2017 NYU/Stanford study. Their database detected 115 pro-Trump fake stories shared on Facebook 30 million times, and 41 pro-Clinton fake stories shared 7.6 million times. Nearly a quarter of web content shared on Twitter by users in the battleground state of Michigan during the final days of last year's U.S. election campaign was fake news, according to a University of Oxford study. According to Pew, 64 percent of U.S. adults say fabricated news stories cause a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current issues and events. The confusion cuts across political lines: 57 percent of Republicans say completely made-up news causes a great deal of confusion compared to 64 percent of Democrats. Specifically, Arjuna Capital, et.al. asks Facebook and Alphabet Inc. to provide detailed information regarding the impact of current fake news flows and management systems on the democratic process, free speech, and a cohesive society, as well as reputational and operational risks from potential public policy developments. Arjuna Capital is an investment firm focused on sustainable and impact investing. For more information, visit www.Arjuna-Capital.com. SOURCE Arjuna Capital, Boston Related Links http://www.Arjuna-Capital.com HOUSTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a very strong 38% vote at the ExxonMobil annual meeting today, shareholders demanded that Exxon take strong and innovative action on methane leaks. Unaddressed methane releases from the gas production process can make natural gas worse for the climate than coal. This vote follows the trend of strong shareholder demand for climate action. Natural gas is often marketed as a "bridge fuel" to reduce climate change emissions. But, methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to climate change. While natural gas burns more cleanly than other fossil fuels, the effects of unburned methane emissions are approximately 87 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) over a 20-year period. According to a 2012 Environmental Defense Fund report, if methane emissions are above 3.2% across the entire natural gas supply chain from drilling a well, through compressors and pipelines to gas-fired power plants then natural gas can be a more potent contributor to global warming than coal. "Today's vote sent a strong signal to Exxon that general assurances are not enough," said Danielle Fugere, President of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, which filed the methane resolution. "The Company must prove, with concrete disclosures, that it is reducing carbon risk across the board. There is no room for half measures," said Fugere, "We want our Company to demonstrate continued viability in a changing energy market." As part of its continued engagement with Exxon on hydraulic fracturing-related disclosures, As You Sow has been working consistently to improve Exxon's reporting, seeking objective, quantitative analysis comparable to other companies in the sector. As many companies move to the One Future plan, Exxon is put in an increasingly marginal position. "Financial agencies are increasingly demanding clear carbon-related reporting from companies," said Fugere. "If Exxon refuses to meet their demands, it puts itself in an increasingly precarious financial position. We want management and our board to be proactive and clear as to how it is addressing the growing risks of climate change." As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. CONTACT: Taraneh Arhamsadr, (510) 735-8157, [email protected] SOURCE As You Sow Related Links http://www.asyousow.org ARLINGTON, Va., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today issued a data call for the annual update to its Operational Costs of Trucking report. The brief online questionnaire seeks to capture basic cost information from for-hire motor carriers such as driver pay, fuel costs, insurance premiums and lease or purchase payments. Carriers are asked to provide full-year 2016 cost per mile and/or cost per hour data. The results of this data collection, combined with the previous Operational Costs of Trucking reports, will yield nine full years (2008 - 2016) of trucking cost information derived directly from fleet operations. This research provides carriers with an important high-level benchmarking tool and government agencies with real world data for future infrastructure improvement analyses. "We rely on ATRI's research to inform so much of our operations and the Operational Costs of Trucking is no exception. The annual report provides a critical benchmark for us to identify where we can improve our operating efficiency across a number of key metrics. I certainly encourage my colleagues throughout the trucking industry to support ATRI in this critical data collection," said Dennis Dellinger, president of Cargo Transporters. For-hire motor carriers are encouraged to provide confidential operational cost data through ATRI's survey by Friday, June 30, 2017 available online at atri-online.org. The results of this study will be available later this year, but survey respondents will receive an advance copy of the report. ATRI is the trucking industry's 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation's essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system. SOURCE American Transportation Research Institute Related Links http://atri-online.org/ WELLESLEY, Mass., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On May 24, 2017, Babson VP for Programming and Community Outreach Jane C. Edmonds, along with the Boston Chamber of Commerce President James Rooney, Mayor Marty Walsh, and 50 Boston business and civic leaders took a trip to Washington, DC to discuss issues of race and economic mobility. The MA Chamber took a tour of the National Museum of African American History & Culture and met with the DC Chamber and members of congress to discuss the work that needs to be done to solve racial inequalities. "When Barack Obama spoke here he said, one person cannot change the world but it takes a complete societyWhen we talk about race and racism, today is a day for us to learn and for me to learn," Mayor Marty Walsh addressing the MA Chamber of Commerce and distinguished guests. Edmonds was joined by Chair Emeritus of the Babson Board of Trustees Richard Snyder on this trip. Jane C. Edmonds Early in her career, Edmonds was appointed by Governor Michael S. Dukakis as Chair of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination ("MCAD"), the civil rights law enforcement agency for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She later founded and ran her own consulting firm, Jane C. Edmonds & Associates, Inc., a workforce development and diversity leadership firm serving clients in the private, public and non-profit sectors for more than twenty years, among them: GE Capital Corporation, Fidelity, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, American Red Cross, United Technologies, Bureau of the Census, and Camp Dresser & McKee. In 2003, Edmonds served as a member of Governor Mitt Romney's cabinet and as head of the Department of Workforce Development responsible for oversight of three-line operating divisions and several centrally-managed functions, and for the flow of over two billion dollars in federal, state and tax revenues within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Most recently, Edmonds served as Senior Fellow at Northeastern University's College of Professional Studies where she taught graduate-level domestic and international leadership courses in the Master of Science in Leadership Program. At Babson, Edmonds is responsible for introducing and incorporating the principles of Entrepreneurial Thought & Action to Entrepreneurs of All Kinds with business, governments, and non-profit organizations through programming and community outreach for the College's Boston Campus at 100 High Street. About Babson College Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader of Entrepreneurship of All Kinds. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. CONTACT: Brianna Radicioni, [email protected] This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com. SOURCE Babson College Related Links http://www.babson.edu CARMEL VALLEY, Calif., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Barrister Executive Suites, Inc., announces the renewal of its master lease at 11622 El Camino Real, Suite 100, in San Diego, California at The Torrey Reserve building. The master lease renewal is being driven by high demand for shared tenant workspace in the area. Barrister has renewed 18,657 square feet on the premier 1st floor as an Executive Suite location. The highly successful location has maintained 98% occupancy and has been home to tenants such as Eastdil Secured, California Bank and Trust, as well as a myriad of other locally owned companies who live in the Carmel Valley area. The Class A office building is owned by American Assets Trust (AAT) and will remain the 4th location that Barrister operates in San Diego County. Convenient to I-5, I-805, and Highway 56, Torrey Reserve has an on-site day care center, branch banking at California Bank and Trust, and a renovated workout facility with showers and lockers. Barrister Executive Suites, Inc. will continue to occupy Suite 100 of 11622 El Camino Real in Torrey Reserve which has an expansive window line that provides maximum natural light to each office. The suite has high end finishes with an open space concept design for a creative office atmosphere. Rich Porreco, Managing Principal at Cresa commented, "We are proud to represent Barrister in their negotiations with the Landlord. We are familiar with their exceptional reputation as an Executive Suite provider, and we know that their business model makes an ideal fit for the Torrey Reserve office project, as well as the local business community. Barrister is trusted, professional, and exceptional all around." Barrister provides small to medium-sized businesses with a wide range of workspace solutions, including full-service offices, virtual offices, and meeting rooms. Professional reception services and on-site management make every aspect of the executive suite a breeze to coordinate in their robust portfolio of over 28 locations throughout Southern California. Barrister clients enjoy 24/7 suite access, furnished or unfurnished offices, VoIP telephone system, enterprise grade high speed Internet and WiFi, a networked color copy center, and break room with free coffee and beverage service. The shared space allows tenants to cut overhead costs dramatically and reduce risk with flexible lease terms. Executive suites are an excellent solution for professionals who are looking to lower spending without putting their business's image or operation in jeopardy. "Tenants enjoy Barrister's exceptional features and all of the personalized services provided by our staff. Tenants gain time to focus on their core business and enjoy coming to work in a thriving and friendly atmosphere," said Carrie Gates, Vice President of Leasing and Marketing for Barrister Executive Suites, Inc. Barrister also offers a full range of Virtual Office Packages, which are a full-identity office service for professionals who are constantly out of the office traveling, or for those who work from a home office. Our Virtual Offices, starting at $99, are a cost-saving way to give your office a professional image. The packages offer services such as mail handling, conference room privileges, and personalized telephone answering that is linked to a tenant's cell phone. About Barrister Executive Suites, Inc. The originator of the executive suite concept, Barrister was founded in 1966 as a cost-effective alternative to traditional office space by providing turnkey office space, virtual offices, meeting room facilities, and business support services. Independent business practitioners, small start-up companies, and national corporations benefit by having more time to focus on their core business with less financial risk. Today, with 28 locations throughout Southern California, Barrister operates with a foundation of longevity and financial stability in providing its tenants with a business-friendly environment coupled with exceptional customer service. Additional information on Barrister Executive Suites, Inc. is available at http://www.barrister-suites.com. To schedule a tour and to learn more about our Torrey Reserve space for rent at 11622 El Camino Real, Suite #100, please call Gail Priest at 858-764-2500 or email: [email protected] CONTACT: Carrie Gates 800-576-0744 [email protected] SOURCE Barrister Executive Suites, Inc. Related Links http://www.barrister-suites.com PHILADELPHIA, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sol Kim has been named a spring 2017 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Scholarship for Women winner by Best Value Schools. The announcement was published on the organization's website in May. Kim, currently a full-time sophomore at Brown University, will receive a $2,000 scholarship to support her post-secondary pursuits. She's currently enrolled in the Sc.B. Computer Science program taking courses like algorithmic design, software engineering, and computational linguistics. Kim collaborated on the NuSys project in the Brown Graphics Lab to create a Universal Windows application with a whiteboard-style interface. Through the Brown Entrepreneurship Program, she also recreated the website for innovativeonthehill.com as a design-tech crossover. It is Kim's goal to integrate technology into the culture's moral fabric, enhance diversity, and stop online antagonism. She also strongly advocates for women in tech to shift away from the "brogrammer" culture and created the Conversationalist app for ladies and minorities to contribute more to white male-dominated discussions. Since 2014, Sol has developed the STEM curriculum for science enrichment in disadvantaged communities with Maarifa International. Her selfless acts inspiring young computer scientists led to her recognition with the President's Volunteer Service Gold Award. "At Best Value Schools, we believe Sol personifies the ideal recipient with her unwavering dedication to advancing technology to resolve real-world human problems," said editor Pam Beiler. "We admire Sol's innovation, academic aptitude, programming prowess, and compassionate volunteer work. We expect she'll keep growing her talent after her upcoming software engineering internship at Facebook this summer." The criteria for selecting STEM Scholarship for Women recipients includes academic achievement, participation in school and/or community activities, and how well the personal essay highlights the applicant's career aspirations as a female in a STEM career. More than 130 individuals applied for the 2017 scholarship. Read more about STEM Scholarship for Women at the following link: http://www.bestvalueschools.com/stem-scholarship-for-women/ BestValueSchools.com is a one-stop online guide to high-value college and university degree programs. Best Value Schools provides free information and resources to help students find affordable, high-quality schools. Best Value Schools issues more than 50 value-focused college and university rankings each year, covering online and traditional campus degree programs including those in computer science, engineering, business and MBA, healthcare and nursing, psychology and counseling, education, and more. Read the full article at the following link: http://www.bestvalueschools.com/spring-2017-stem-scholarship-recipient/ Contact: Paul Church, Editor Email: [email protected] 484-945-2742 SOURCE BestValueSchools.com Related Links http://www.bestvalueschools.com BETHLEHEM, Pa., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Weather Trends International is excited to announce its CEO, Captain Bill Kirk, has earned a 2017 Owler Top Rated CEO award, ranking 17th in the technology sector and 32nd overall out of 167,000 globally ranked CEOs. Weather Trends core competency is year-ahead predictive business weather analytics for Fortune 500 companies and small businesses worldwide and ranked 5th most promising company in America by Forbes Magazine. For the first time, Owler is honoring the top rated CEOs on their platform. CEOs are rated independently by members of the Owler Community who have collectively contributed more than a quarter million ratings this year. Owler analyzed those ratings, ultimately distributing 1,000 awards to the highest-rated CEOs. Winners span from 50 cities and 25 industries worldwide. Bill Kirk was in great company, making the list alongside leaders of Google, Netflix, Salesforce and locally, Wegmans. Owler Rankings: https://www.owler.com/ceo-ratings.htm?segmentName=Overall&page=3 "The 2017 Owler Top Rated CEO Awards are a true market view of the most esteemed CEOs," said Jim Fowler, CEO at Owler. "These winners are truly the best of breed: they beat out the other 99.4 percent of leaders on our platform to win a coveted 2017 Owler Top Rated CEO Award." About Weather Trends International Weather Trends International (www.weathertrends360.com) has 15 years of experience helping Fortune 1,000 companies reduce their weather risk to become PROACTIVE, not REACTIVE with our award-winning technology solutions. Our gridded technology covers every 1 mile on Earth with year-ahead temperature, rainfall and snowfall projections by week out 11-months along with specific sales forecasts by store. About Owler Owler is the world's largest community-based business insights platform that business professionals use to outsmart their competition, gain competitive insights, and uncover the latest industry news and alerts. Owler is powered by an active community of 1 million business professionals who contribute unique business insights such as competitors, private company revenue, and CEO ratings. From startups all the way to large enterprises (including 96% of the Fortune 500), CEOs, salespeople, marketers, product managers, and all types of business professionals use Owler daily. Launched in 2014, Owler is headquartered in San Mateo, CA. Contact: Tracy Bagatelle Black Bagatelle Black Public Relations 661-263-1842 E-mail [email protected] SOURCE Weather Trends International Related Links WWW.WXTRENDS.COM McMahan's selection to the Top 100 list is very significant, as less than one percent of attorneys nationwide are chosen for inclusion. It involves a comprehensive multi-phase process, including third-party research and statistical analysis of the candidate's legal experience, achievements, case results, peer reputation, client satisfaction and community impact. "It is a tremendous professional compliment that officials from the Top 100 Attorneys list have acknowledged Ann as a dynamic lawyer who's earned her reputation as an exceptional advocate for her clients," said W. Scott Simpson, Partner and Founder at SMGB. "She exemplifies the high level of knowledge and skill befitting those in the Top 100, and we are thrilled to have her as an integral part of our practice." During her 37 years of practice, McMahan's primary areas of litigation include Construction, Product Liability, Commercial, Professional Liability, Employment and Insurance Coverage and Analysis. She has represented clients in oral arguments before the Alabama Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Founded in 2007, Simpson, McMahan, Glick and Burford is a well-known law firm in the Birmingham area, representing clients in Alabama and throughout the United States. SMGB possesses an unwavering commitment to excellence and integrity, as well as a constant sensitivity to the needs of its clients. SOURCE Simpson, McMahan, Glick and Burford Related Links http://www.smgblawyers.com/ LOS ANGELES, May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Denver Consulting Group, the nation's leading consultants to the cannabis industry, announced that their client, BlackStar Industrial Properties, LLC, is now leasing spaces in its cannabis campus located in Desert Hot Springs, California. The site has over 560,000 sq ft of cultivation space making it one of the largest in the world, and also features an additional 60,000 sq ft of space for manufacturing and extraction companies. Unlike many other purported facilities in the area, this mega cannabis campus, named "Gold Flora Farms," is a real project with Phase One completion in late 2017. Applications are now being accepted for up to 32 cultivators and 12 manufacturing or extraction companies. "This development is unlike any other in the world," said Greg Gamet, Co-Founder of Denver Consulting Group and Chief Cannabis Officer for Gold Flora Farms. "We are combining the world-class experience in commercial building and development that BlackStar Industrial Properties provides, along with our award-winning expertise in the cannabis industry, to create a state-of-the-art facility." BlackStar Industrial Properties will offer the sites to premium brands and industry-leading companies. The facility will house growers, producers, processors, testing labs, packaging companies and distributors, all in one complex. Experience The team at BlackStar has developed and entitled large properties in California for over 20 years, and has won numerous awards, including "Project of the Year." The company built the first all-solar and all-green powered urban community in Los Angeles, and is known for its eco-friendly designs and quality craftsmanship. Denver Consulting Group provides expertise in navigating the complex rules and regulations that govern California's cannabis industry, and will make the licensing and startup process easy for tenants. The teams worked together to ensure that every detail, from land planning to compliance to facility layout, was completed to the highest standards. "With our unique combined teams and skillsets, we have the expertise to assure success in every area of this diverse project," said Laurie Holcomb, Managing Member of BlackStar Industrial Properties. Reduced Costs "Land development and entitlement are our core competencies," Holcomb added. "There were other cannabis properties in the general area, but based on our 20 years of construction experience, we selected our site because it provides better proximity to utilities to help bring costs down and to deliver the power needed for cultivation and manufacturing." When completed, Gold Flora Farms will be the finest full-service cannabis complex in the world. "We look forward to working with the best growers and business operators in the industry, and providing them with exceptional facilities, support and management," Gamet said. "Gold Flora Farms will be the new gold standard." Property Information Denver Consulting Group will be showcasing the property on June 12-14 at the NCIA Cannabis Business Summit in Oakland, at the company's booth. For additional information on Gold Flora Farms, or for a lease application, call: 949-252-1177. To contact Denver Consulting Group, call: 720-890-7344 or visit: www.denverconsultinggroup.com. About DCG DCG is the nation's premier cannabis consulting company, and offers a range of services designed to help clients succeed in the legal marijuana industry, build powerful brands, optimize operations, improve profitability, and remain compliant. Services include license application support, real estate acquisition, dispensary design, grow facility design and optimization, staff training, SOP Manuals, seed-to-sale system implementation, and regulatory audits. DCG helps cannabis businesses get established, stay compliant, and thrive. Denver Consulting Group was recently purchased by Medicine Man Technologies to form a Super Group of cannabis consultants, and is currently operating under a binding term sheet. Connect: Facebook: Facebook.com/dankconsulting Twitter: @dankconsulting Blog: http://denverconsultinggroup.com/category/cannabis-consulting-blog-marijuana-industry/ Media Inquiries: Innovation Agency 310-571-5592 www.inov8.us hello(@)inov8.us SOURCE Denver Consulting Group Related Links http://www.denverconsultinggroup.com GOLDEN, Colo., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Market, the rotisserie chicken and contemporary home style cooking experts, today announced that its first Middle East restaurant opened this week in Kuwait. As previously announced in June 2016, Boston Market IP Company, Ltd., an affiliate of Boston Market Corporation, signed an area development agreement with Al-Ghunaim Trading Co. Ltd. that will open dozens of Boston Market restaurants in the Middle East. Under the terms of the agreement, Al-Ghunaim Trading Co. will develop Boston Market restaurants in Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Jordan. The agreement is part of a plan by Boston Market to open 25 30 restaurants across the Middle East over the next few years. The first Boston Market restaurant to open in the Middle East is located in Jabriya of the Hawalli Governorate in Kuwait. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor patio seating, and also offers delivery to homes and catering for events. A second Boston Market restaurant is in the final stages of preparing to open in Kuwait. The second restaurant will open in Sabah Al Salem of the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate in Kuwait. "We are thrilled to officially launch the Boston Market brand in the Middle East with our first restaurant opening in Kuwait," said George Michel, Chief Executive Officer of Boston Market, also known as 'The Big Chicken'. "Rotisserie chicken is a very popular food in the Middle East and as the leading restaurant offering high quality, all natural rotisserie chicken, rotisserie ribs and turkey, we see a significant opportunity to delight consumers and grow our brand in this region of the world." Michel continued, "We have a top flight partner in Al-Ghunaim Trading Co. and we are confident that with their local market experience and expertise, we will successfully enter and grow our presence in the Middle East." Al-Ghunaim Trading Co. Ltd. has vast experience developing and operating casual dining restaurants in the Middle East and South Asia. The multinational casual dining restaurant company owns and operates a variety of brands including Chili's, Johnny Carino's Italian Grill, The Pizzeria, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Cinnamonster, and Which Wich. Al-Ghunaim Trading Co. was named one of the top companies making an impact in Kuwait by Forbes Middle East at a ceremony held in Kuwait on May 31, 2016. "We anticipate a strong consumer response to the Boston Market concept as the clear leader in rotisserie chicken and American home style cooking," said Al-Ghunaim Trading Co. CEO Abdulghani Al-Ghunaim. "Boston Market brings a unique restaurant concept to the Middle East and its high quality food and diverse menu options will result in customer loyalty. We look forward to our continued partnership as we open the first restaurant in Kuwait, followed by expansion into additional countries throughout the Middle East." About Boston Market Boston Market Corporation, headquartered in Golden, Colorado, has given time back to busy families and individuals for 30 years with quality, home style meals at a convenient value in more than 450 U.S. locations. The expert in rotisserie cooking, Boston Market prepares its fresh chicken and all natural turkey in signature rotisserie ovens and features an extensive selection of home style sides and made-from-scratch cornbread. As one of the country's largest providers of catering services, Boston Market offers convenient, same-day orders and delivery for corporate and personal events of all sizes. In January 2017, Boston Market officially launched its "Quality Guarantee," which acts as a continued commitment to all guests that Boston Market will serve all-natural and fresh, never frozen, gluten-free, whole chicken with no added hormones, steroids, antibiotics or MSG. For more information, visit the company's website at www.bostonmarket.com. For the latest news and deals, follow @bostonmarket on Twitter or join us on Facebook. Media Contact Seth Grugle, ICR 646-277-1200 [email protected] SOURCE Boston Market Related Links https://www.bostonmarket.com ATHENS, Greece, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Box Ships Inc. (the "Company") announced that the Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Annual Meeting") of the Company held today has been adjourned until June 15, 2017 to allow additional time for the solicitation of proxies. The meeting will re-convene at the premises of the Company at 15 Karamanli Ave. 166 73 Voula, Greece, on June 15, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. local time. The business scheduled for the re-convened Annual Meeting remains the same as set forth in the Company's Proxy Statement for Annual Meeting of Shareholders dated April 19, 2017. Shareholders of the Company will consider and vote upon the following proposals: To elect one Class B Director and one Class C Director of the Company to serve until the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders ("Proposal One"); To consider and vote upon a proposal to ratify the appointment of Deloitte Certified Public-Accountants S.A., as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017 ("Proposal Two"); To grant discretionary authority to the Company's board of directors to (A) amend the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of the Company to effect one or more consolidations of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, pursuant to which the shares of common stock would be combined and reclassified into one share of common stock ratios within the range from 1-for-2 up to 1-for-1,000 (the "Reverse Stock Split") and (B) determine whether to arrange for the disposition of fractional interests by shareholder entitled thereto, to pay in cash the fair value of fractions of a share of common stock as of the time when those entitled to receive such fractions are determined, or to entitle shareholder to receive from the Company's transfer agent, in lieu of any fractional share, the number of shares of common stock rounded up to the next whole number, provided that, (X) that the Company shall not effect Reverse Stock Splits that, in the aggregate, exceeds 1-for-1,000, and (Y) any Reverse Stock Split is completed no later than the first anniversary of the date of the Annual Meeting ("Proposal Three"); and To transact such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting and any adjournments or postponements thereof. Adoption of Proposal One requires the affirmative vote of a plurality of the votes cast at the Meeting by the shareholders entitled to vote at the Meeting. Adoption of Proposal Two requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the Meeting by the holders of shares of stock entitled to vote thereon. Adoption of Proposal Three requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of all outstanding shares entitled to vote thereon. Shareholders who have not already done so are encouraged to vote on the proposals. Shareholders who have already voted need not take any further action. About Box Ships Inc. Box Ships Inc. is an Athens, Greece-based international shipping company specializing in the transportation of containers and the provision of commercial management services to shipping companies. The Company's common and preferred shares trade on OTCQB Venture Market and Other OTC Markets under the symbols "TEUFF" and "TEUCF", respectively. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "forecast," "estimate," "expect," and "intend," among others. These forward-looking statements are based on Box Ships' current expectations and actual results could differ materially. There are a number of factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Box Ships does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Investors should read the risk factors set forth in the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 13, 2017, and future periodic reports filed with the SEC on or after the date hereof. All of Box Ships' forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by all such risk factors and other cautionary statements. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof. Contacts Box Ships Inc. [email protected] DresnerAllenCaron Michael Mason (Investors) [email protected] (212) 691-8087 SOURCE Box Ships Inc. Related Links http://www.box-ships.com Brandmuscle's multi-million dollar investment in LocationBuilder was spurred, in part, by the company's State of Local Marketing Research , which surveys thousands of local business partners each year to identify emerging trends and challenges in local marketing. While websites consistently rank as one of the most effective marketing tactics, local businesses cite extreme difficulty in managing their sites. Brandmuscle has discovered the issue extends even further. "After analyzing hundreds of thousands of local websites, we found that most multi-location businesses are often missing out on more than half of their potential website traffic due to issues with the way their local sites are built," said Paul Elliott, Brandmuscle's Chief Digital Officer. "They are simply unable to take advantage of the benefits of search engine optimization (SEO) because most current industry solutions fail to address some of the fundamentals of local search performance like unique content, citation accuracy, mobile accessibility and page speed. We built LocationBuilder from the ground up to address these and many other local marketing success factors." Brandmuscle recruited top digital marketing experts from across the country to design LocationBuilder, a solution that overcomes current voids in the brand-to-local web content management process. LocationBuilder takes the heavy lifting off, while empowering the local business partner. Additionally, it allows corporate marketers to monitor, approve and even schedule content updates across hundreds or thousands of their business partners' location pages. Brandmuscle's proprietary technology enhances the consumer user experience and dramatically elevates search engine results while providing real-time visibility into local site performance. Brandmuscle clients that use LocationBuilder experience significant improvements in their local search rankings, site traffic, conversion rates, lead generation and sales within just a few weeks. Furthermore, they are seeing additional marketing impact from the use of landing pages when dynamically paired with paid media campaigns. One recently on-boarded Fortune 500 client with more than 4,000 local dealers experienced a 250% increase in organic search traffic, skyrocketing their dealers' lead generation efforts. "In the past five years, the number of search queries containing phrases like 'near me' has exploded. Seeking to align with this trend and enhance relevancy, the major search engines continue to localize their search results, meaning national brands with multi-locations need to take action or risk losing out to the local competition," said Elliott. "LocationBuilder solves these challenges and is a win-win for the corporate brand and their local business partners." To learn more about LocationBuilder or to request a consultation, visit http://www.brandmuscle.com/distributed-marketing/location-builder.aspx About Brandmuscle Brandmuscle is the leading provider of distributed local marketing solutions in North America. We deliver industry-leading technology and local marketing expertise to help brands with distributed marketing networks (franchisees, dealers, agents, channel partners, sales reps and retailers) ignite sales at the local level. Headquartered in Chicago, with major offices in Austin, Cleveland, Kansas City and New Jersey, Brandmuscle helps more than 275 of the world's leading brands "own local". For more information about Brandmuscle call (866) 464-4342 or visit www.brandmuscle.com. SOURCE Brandmuscle Related Links http://www.brandmuscle.com NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE: BRX) announced today that its operating partnership, Brixmor Operating Partnership LP (the "Operating Partnership"), priced an offering of $500 million aggregate principal amount of 3.650% Senior Notes due 2024 (the "Notes"). The Notes will be issued at 99.576% of par value with a coupon of 3.650%. Interest on the Notes is payable semi-annually on June 15 and December 15 of each year, commencing December 15, 2017. The Notes will mature on June 15, 2024. The offering is expected to close on June 5, 2017, subject to customary closing conditions. The Operating Partnership expects to use all or a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to repay outstanding indebtedness under its $1.25 billion unsecured revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. The Operating Partnership has filed an effective registration statement (including a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") relating to the offering to which this communication relates. Before making an investment in the Notes, potential investors should read the prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the other documents that we and the Operating Partnership have filed with the SEC for more complete information about us and the offering. Potential investors may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, copies may be obtained from: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, by mail at Attention: Prospectus Department, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, by calling (800) 294-1322 or by emailing [email protected]; or Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, 608 2nd Avenue South, Suite 1000, Minneapolis, MN 55402, Attention: WFS Customer Service, by telephone at 1-800-645-3751 or by email at [email protected]. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these Notes in any state or 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 jurisdiction. Any offer or sale of the Notes will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement relating to the offering of the Notes and the accompanying prospectus. ABOUT BRIXMOR PROPERTY GROUP Brixmor Property Group, a real estate investment trust (REIT), is a leading owner and operator of high-quality, open-air shopping centers. The Company's more than 500 retail centers comprise 86 million square feet in established trade areas across the nation and are supported by a diverse mix of highly productive non-discretionary and value-oriented retailers, as well as consumer-oriented service providers. Brixmor is committed to maximizing the value of its portfolio by prioritizing investments, cultivating relationships and capitalizing on embedded growth opportunities through driving rents, increasing occupancy and pursuing value-enhancing reinvestment opportunities. Headquartered in New York City, Brixmor is a partner to more than 5,500 best-in-class national, regional and local tenants and is the largest landlord to The TJX Companies and The Kroger Company. Safe Harbor Language This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the Company's expectations regarding the performance of its business, its financial results, its liquidity and capital resources and other non-historical statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "approximately," "projects," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described under the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and in the Company's filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. SOURCE Brixmor Property Group Inc. Related Links http://www.brixmor.com PALM BEACH, Florida, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer fundamentals led by a better job market and increasing levels of income seem to be boosting the housing outlook despite the drop in the latest month of production. The market for new developments and new construction activity is close to long-term averages as builder confidence remains high for companies such as ProGreen US, Inc. (OTC: PGUS), PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM), Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE: DHI), Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN). ProGreen US, Inc. (OTCQB: PGUS), a US company engaged primarily with investments in agricultural and real estate projects in Baja California, Mexico, both through its joint venture partnership with Inmobiliaria Contel S.R.L.C.V. (Contel) and through its majority-owned Mexican subsidiary Procon Baja JV (Procon), http://www.CieloMarBaja.com . ProGreen is very pleased to communicate that the First Reservation Offer for its ocean front development in Baja California, Cielo Mar, is drawing to a close. 24 of the 30 lots that were offered now have executed reservation agreements, leaving only 6 available with one additional reservation request pending. There are also 6 commitments for early construction, once the planning has been approved. See details at https://www.cielomarbaja.com/first-reservation-offer/. Revenue from these reservations, once the definitive purchase agreements have been executed, is expected to be close to $3.5 million USD including the construction of 6 houses. Read this and more news for ProGreen US at http://www.marketnewsupdates.com/news/pgus.html "In February we set a preliminary goal to sell 25 lots during the first year. As we already have 24 lot purchase reservations since launching the offer in late April, we do expect to present a substantially revised goal in the near future," says Jan Telander, President and CEO. In other industry news and events this week in the markets: PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) News from this week: The highly-anticipated Del Webb community in the award-winning master-planned community of Traditions at Wake Forest, is now open for pre-selling. The 164-acre active adult community features 452 homesites with wooded walking trails, nearly 40 acres of green space, and will feature an 18,000 square-foot amenity complex featuring a clubhouse with an outdoor recreation area. Del Webb is a national brand of PulteGroup, Inc. Toll Brothers, Inc.(NYSE: TOL), the nation's leading builder of luxury homes, last week announced results for its second quarter and six months ended on April 30, 2017. Few FY 2017 Second Quarter Financial Highlights: - FY 2017's second-quarter net income was $124.6 million, or $0.73 per share diluted, compared to net income of $89.1 million, or $0.51 per share diluted, in FY 2016's second quarter. - Pre-tax income was $199.2 million, compared to pre-tax income of $140.4 million in FY 2016's second quarter. Second quarter FY 2017 included inventory write-downs of $4.3 million, compared to $6.4 million in FY 2016's second quarter. - Revenues of $1.36 billion and home building deliveries of 1,638 units increased 22% in dollars and 26% in units, compared to FY 2016's second quarter. The average price of homes delivered was $832,400, compared to $855,500 one year ago. The drop in the average price of homes delivered, as well as in contracts and backlog, was due to mix changes. Read the Full Report at: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/toll-brothers-reports-fy-2017-090000127.html In advance of the Company's participation at an investor conference, D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE: DHI), America's Builder, this month reported that the Company has repurchased $60.6 million (1.85 million shares) of its common stock during its current quarter ending June 30, 2017. The shares were repurchased in the open market to partially offset dilution from equity awards granted to key employees and non-management directors. The Company has $39.4 million remaining on its current stock repurchase authorization, which expires on July 31, 2017. Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Recent News: LMC, a leader in apartment development and operations, this month announced the start of preleasing at The Emerson, a mixed-use apartment community located in the heart of downtown Oak Park. The Emerson, which features 270 apartment homes amongst a five-story low-rise building and 20-story high-rise, opened a temporary leasing office this week. LMC will conduct community tours at the low-rise and hard-hat tours of the high-rise. The buildings are connected via a pedestrian bridge over Westgate Street with a new public parking garage at the base of the high-rise. LMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lennar DISCLAIMER: MarketNewsUpdates.com (MNU) is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. MNU is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. MNU and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. MNU's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. 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This release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 'Forward-looking statements' describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as 'may', 'future', 'plan' or 'planned', 'will' or 'should', 'expected', 'anticipates', 'draft', 'eventually' or 'projected'. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and MNU undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Contact Information: Media Contact email: [email protected] +1-561-325-8757 SOURCE MarketNewsUpdates.com On Saturday, June 3 rd , @Misshattan, K&M Camera and Canon will extend the #TagYoureIt photo challenge to New York City locals who can register for a chance to shoot with the Canon EOS M cameras and EF-M series lenses and learn from Natalie while completing their very own photo mission throughout the streets of Manhattan. Participants will receive an "EOS M Mission Cube" filled with a few fun items to help inspire their creativity as they venture out on their photographic journey. To register for the event, please follow the hyperlink below. WHO: @Misshattan and Canon U.S.A., Inc. WHEN: Saturday, June 3rd 12:00 PM 5:00 PM Interviews with Natalie Amrossi available upon request WHERE: K&M Camera 368 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 **ALL MEDIA MUST RSVP FOR INTERVIEWS OR CALL ON 6/3** More about the EOS M5 Digital Camera: The EOS M5 camera includes a range of features that allows its user to capture beautiful content without the size of a traditional DSLR camera, but with similar power and performance. Camera features include: 24.2 Megapixel (APS-C) sensor, built-in Wi-Fi1 and NFC technology, Bluetooth2, High-speed continuous shooting, time-lapse, Full HD 60p video to capture fast-moving subjects, Dual Pixel CMOS AF system, plus a full line-up of exclusive EF-M lenses, as well as compatibility with the full Canon line of EF and EF-S3 lenses. 1 Compatible with iOS versions 8.0/8.1/8.2/8.3/8.4/9.0/9.1/9.2/9.3, Android smartphone and tablet versions 4.1/4.2/4.3/4.4/5.0/5.1/6.0. Data charges may apply with the download of the free Canon Camera Connect app. This app helps enable you to upload images to social media services. Please note that image files may contain personally identifiable information that may implicate privacy laws. Canon disclaims and has no responsibility for your use of such images. Canon does not obtain, collect or use such images or any information included in such images through this app. 2 Compatible with select smartphone and tablet devices (Android version 5.0 or later and the following iOS devices: iPhone 4s or later, iPad 3rd gen. or later, iPod Touch 5th gen. or later) equipped with Bluetooth version 4.0 or later and the Camera Connect App Ver. 1.3.20 or above. This application is not guaranteed to operate on all listed devices, even if minimum requirements are met. 3 Mount Adapter EF-EOS M is required when using EF/EF-S lenses for EOS M series digital cameras. SOURCE Canon U.S.A., Inc. Related Links http://www.usa.canon.com ROCKVILLE, Md., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The business community in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County recently gained a strong community partner. Capital Bank, N.A., a regional bank with a strong focus on customer experience and community influence, is announcing the addition of their commercial banking team into Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. With JD Zachry, Francesca Capuano and David Dammeyer, Capital Bank, N.A. brings local decision making and accessibility to the surrounding businesses. JD Zachry, SVP of Commercial Lending, brings with him over 15 years of banking experience in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. He and his team understand the needs of their clients and are familiar with the key industries in the area. They set themselves apart from the competition by putting themselves in the mind of their customers and helping them prepare for the future. Not only are they entrepreneurial in spirit, they're community focused too. JD Zachry and team have volunteered with local non-profit boards and economic development in the region where they work. With this partnership, they hope to continue with locally based efforts. "We couldn't be more excited to have JD and his team join us. We've been looking for people with the right expertise to lead our efforts in the Anne Arundel area," said Scot Browning, Capital Bank, N.A. President. "I think this group will help us expand with their combination of banking knowledge and strong community influence. We are confident our new commercial banking group will be a strong partner to the area." For more information on Capital Bank, please contact Cailyn Kronmiller at 215-675-1022, ext. 1543 or visit www.CapitalBankMd.com. About Capital Bank Capital Bank, N.A. is a mid-sized bank focused on serving the diverse needs of business owners in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Capital Bank is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland and is a subsidiary of Capital Bancorp, Inc. and member of the Federal Reserve Bank system. Focusing more on interactions than transactions, Capital Bank has a corporate culture that emphasizes partnering with clients to help create value, sustaining their individual businesses as well as the larger community. Capital Bank offers a range of services, encompassing cash management, commercial lending, consumer credit and residential mortgage/Veterans Administration home loans. SOURCE Capital Bank, N.A. Related Links https://capitalbankmd.com NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The gold standard for St. Lucian rum is this year's comeback story with a stylish twist. St. Lucia Distillers will unveil new packaging for its flagship export rum brand, Chairman's Reserve, which has been timed perfectly with the scheduled re-launch of the brand in the United States on July 1st. Reminiscent of its old-world pedigree, the new label supports the premium aesthetic of the brand, catapulting St. Lucia style rum into the global premium spirits spotlight. St. Lucia Distillers From when the brand was first established, Chairman's Reserve has solidified itself as one of the best rums in the world. A unique blend of aged rums from pot and column stills, Chairman's Reserve represents what it means to St. Lucians to enjoy a finer life. "The juice in the bottle speaks for itself," explains Benjamin Jones, director of North America for the brand. "Chairman's Reserve has always been recognized amongst the finest rums in the world, and now with an elegant refreshed look, Chairman's Reserve will return the spotlight to St. Lucia as an island with a rich and an original legacy for producing world-class rum." To create this new packaging, Chairman's contracted the services of an international design agency, highly regarded for their work with other prestigious brands including Grey Goose and Remy Martin. In addition to having successfully given Chairman's Reserve the exceptional look that it deserves, the new labels are still recognizable by the current Chairman's Reserve's rum enthusiast community. Chairman's Reserve will no longer be understated. The distinctive taste of this symbolic St. Lucian rum is reflected in the design elements of the new label. The bold new look signals Chairman's Reserve's return as the finest English-style rum on the world stage. The brand embodies the true essence of St. Lucia and allows Chairman's Reserve to compete more effectively at the international level in the premium rum category as well as against all premium aged spirits. With this mentality, St. Lucia Distillers will re-release the brand "1931" as a limited reserve expression in the Chairman's portfolio. Now to be known as "Chairman's Reserve 1931", this rare aged rum will round off the new, polished portfolio of Chairman's Reserve. Media Contact Annie Goldfarb [email protected] Related Links SPIRIBAM Website SOURCE St. Lucia Distillers PALO ALTO, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudera, Inc. (NYSE: CLDR), the leading provider of the modern platform for machine learning and advanced analytics built on the latest open source technologies, announced that Network Products Guide, the industry's leading technology research and advisory guide, has named Cloudera a silver winner of the 12th Annual 2017 IT World Awards in the Best Overall IT Company category. This recognition marks Cloudera's third consecutive year as a winner of the IT World Awards, having won gold in the same category in 2016 and 2015. Cloudera received recognition for its significant momentum over the past year with advancements in machine learning impacting the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity, data science and the cloud across multiple industries. Cloudera's platform is uniquely designed to enable the rapidly growing data science community and new machine learning applications, allowing enterprises to identify trends in historical data, to recognize events in current or streaming data and to predict events in the future. "At Cloudera, we focus on discovering a true problem to be solved then innovating a repeatable solution that will help many customers," said Amr Awadallah, chief technology officer of Cloudera. "We use this as a guiding principle for developing the best modern platform for converting data into value, thus making what is impossible today, possible tomorrow." An annual achievements and recognition awards program with active participation from a broad spectrum of industry voices, the annual IT World Awards encompasses the world's best in organizational performance, products and services, hot technologies, executives and management teams, successful deployments, product management and engineering, customer satisfaction, and public relations in every area of information technology. Cloudera would also like to congratulate Securonix, one of its Apache Spot partners, for being named a gold winner in the Best Overall IT Company category. See other notable industry accolades for Cloudera. About NPG's IT World Awards As industry's leading technology research and advisory publication, Network Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping decision makers and end-users informed of the choices they can make in all areas of information technology. The Annual IT World Awards is part of the SVUS Awards recognition program from Silicon Valley in the United States of America which also includes other programs such as CEO World Awards, Consumer World Awards, Customer Sales and Service World Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Globee Fastest Growing Private Companies Awards, Info Security PG's Global Excellence Awards, Pillar World Awards, PR World Awards, and Women World Awards. To learn more, visit www.networkproductsguide.com About Cloudera Cloudera delivers the modern platform for machine learning and advanced analytics built on the latest open source technologies. The world's leading organizations trust Cloudera to help solve their most challenging business problems with Cloudera Enterprise, the fastest, easiest and most secure data platform available for the modern world. Our customers efficiently capture, store, process and analyze vast amounts of data, empowering them to use advanced analytics and machine learning to drive business decisions quickly, flexibly and at lower cost than has been possible before. To ensure our customers are successful, we offer comprehensive support, training and professional services. Learn more at cloudera.com. Connect with Cloudera About Cloudera: cloudera.com/content/cloudera/en/about/company-profile.html Read our blogs: blog.cloudera.com/ and vision.cloudera.com/ Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/cloudera Visit us on Facebook: facebook.com/cloudera Join the Cloudera Community: community.cloudera.com Cloudera, Hue, and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the expected performance and benefits of Cloudera's offerings. The words "believe," "may," "will," "plan," "expect," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to, risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Form S-1 Registration Statement, and our future reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Cloudera assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release. SOURCE Cloudera, Inc. Related Links http://www.cloudera.com LONDON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Storage Made Easy (SME), supplier of the leading Enterprise File Fabric, announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Cloudfire, an Italian cloud provider based in Reggio Emilia with a focus on cloud for business. Integrating the SME Enterprise File Fabric with existing cloud storage based on Ceph will enrich the offerings Cloudfire can provide to customers. Cloudfire is a cloud service provider offering Backup, Disaster Recovery,Private Cloud (IaaS), Archiving, Monitoring, Web Services and Unified Communications (Mail, File Sharing, Cloud PBX). Cloudfire replaced CentreStack from Gladinet with SME because they needed a secure, stable, and richer featured user-friendly platform. Customers can now manage corporate collaboration and file sharing with unified control of enterprise assets, satisfying security requirements. Roberto Bondavalli, Cloudfire C.E.O. said: "Cloudfire service offering is focused on business and enterprise customers needs, so the requirements are extreme in terms of features, security, reliability and user experience. We believe that the partnership with SME will allow Cloudfire to offer an unparalleled collaboration service for enterprises." The SME Enterprise File Fabric adds a multitude of strong business features including single sign-on, user controlled encryption, team workspaces, file sync and share, auditing and security policies. Storage Made Easy enables secure access to OpenStack & Ceph from any desktop, web or mobile device. The SME product also adds a protocol gateway which can provide access to OpenStack Storage over FTP/WebDAV/SFTP and an Amazon S3 compatible API. Giada Ligato, European Sales Director, said, "Storage Made Easy and Cloudfire together add the extra security required for enterprise clients who need to collaborate securely, while satisfying the forthcoming GDPR regulations. Storage Made Easy works with enterprise-class customers and partners. We are very pleased to welcome Cloudfire to the SME partner family." ABOUT STORAGE MADE EASY (SME) The Storage Made Easy Enterprise File Share and Sync Fabric enables IT to regain control of "cloud data sprawl" to unify private and public files into a single easily managed converged infrastructure with policy-based controls for governance, audit and security. The SME File Fabric solution provides a "blanket" enterprises wrap around all their data: on premises, within public and public clouds, as well as on third-party software vendor clouds (SharePoint Online and SalesForce for example). Customers use the SME File Fabric product to unify corporate data to enable workgroup collaboration with universal controls for security, encryption, audit, and data access. Storage Made Easy is the trading name of Vehera LTD. Follow us on Twitter @SMEStorage and visit us at www.StorageMadeEasy.com to learn more. Photo(s): https://www.prlog.org/12643009 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE Storage Made Easy Related Links https://storagemadeeasy.com IRONDALE, Ala., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- (EWTN) -- Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Fatima with EWTN at the Network's 2017 Family Celebration Sept. 9-10 at the DCU Convention Center in Worcester, Mass. Headliners include Father Mitch Pacwa ("EWTN Live"), Marcus Grodi ("The Journey Home") and many other EWTN television and radio favorites! EWTN's viewers are also fans as the men who attended a previous EWTN Family Celebration can attest! EWTN's 2017 Family Celebration will take place Sept. 9-19 at the DCU Convention Center in Worcester, Mass. Headliners include Fr. Mitch Pacwa, Marcus Grodi, EWTN's Friars, and more! In addition, EWTN Chairman & CEO Michael P. Warsaw will host a not-to-be-missed Family Talk with EWTN President Doug Keck ("EWTN Bookmark"), EWTN Chaplain Father Joseph Mary Wolfe, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word, and more. Keck will also emcee the event. "My favorite part of every Celebration is meeting our EWTN Family members from near and far," Warsaw said. "This Celebration is our thank you to them for their love and support throughout the years." The headlining talks are only the beginning. Guests will also have the opportunity to be part of a studio audience for a taping of a special "EWTN Family Celebration Live Show," celebrate Mass with Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus and EWTN's Friars, and meet EWTN hosts and authors while browsing the EWTN Religious Catalogue shop. Plus, there will be plenty of opportunity for Adoration and Confession, and children will be thrilled to meet some of their favorite characters from "EWTN Faith Factory." EWTN Radio will broadcast live on-site throughout the weekend and staff from the National Catholic Register will be on hand to answer your questions. You'll even have an opportunity to join EWTN in its mission of evangelization by becoming an EWTN Media Missionary! It's a feast for the mind, the heart, and the spirit! For more information, please go to our website: http://www.ewtn.com/familycelebration/. We look forward to seeing you there! EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 36th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN's 11 TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 268 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; the largest Catholic website in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, "The National Catholic Register" newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division. For Information, Please Contact: Michelle Johnson Director of Communications EWTN Global Catholic Network 5817 Old Leeds Road Irondale, Alabama 35210-2198 USA (205) 795-5769 Office (205) 441-6248 Cell (205) 795-5781 Fax [email protected] SOURCE EWTN The groups confirming endangered bobcat presence along the proposed route, which include New Jersey Conservation Foundation, ReThink Energy NJ, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, Washington Crossing Audubon Society and the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, say that this is the latest example of why the federal PennEast review has little or no relevance to any New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) environmental review. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) failed to require PennEast to assess the environmental damage the project would cause to New Jersey's irreplaceable natural resources, including threatened wildlife and their habitats. That assessment will be left to NJDEP. The recent final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued by FERC for PennEast carelessly concluded that the pipeline would not cause significant adverse environmental impacts, rather than acknowledge that missing data and analysis precluded such a finding. "Disappointingly, PennEast doesn't even plan to survey for the bobcat, which is why we are calling on our state's environmental regulatory agency to maintain vigilant protections for our endangered animals and their cherished habitats," says Lisa Wolff, Executive Director, Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space. "This is especially critical in light of several reported sightings of bobcats along the proposed PennEast route." While several sightings of bobcat in the vicinity of the proposed pipeline have been reported, there is now recent documented photographic evidence confirming the presence of a bobcat near the proposed route. "PennEast has proven itself to be a bad actor, willing to put New Jersey's water, air and residents' safety at risk without doing surveys, analysis, and real data collection," said Tom Gilbert, campaign director, ReThink Energy NJ and New Jersey Conservation Foundation. "From the potential for arsenic contamination to our water, to safety risks and damage to preserved lands and wildlife, PennEast continues to give short shrift to the issues that will affect our environment and our families now and into the future. For a pipeline that has been proven to be unneeded, this is not acceptable." Since FERC left any real environmental review to other agencies, NJDEP will have to take a fresh look at adverse impacts PennEast would have on New Jersey's special concern, threatened, and endangered species when assessing the proposed project's need and alternatives. The New Jersey Natural Heritage Program noted that bobcat habitats could occur within the PennEast route area in Hunterdon and Mercer counties, and their presence is now confirmed. "The preserved lands that PennEast would traverse contain high-quality habitats with sensitive ecosystems," said Sharyn Magee, President, Washington Crossing Audubon Society. "The presence of predators like bobcats indicates that these ecosystems support a wide range of species, including many that are rare in New Jersey. These areas were preserved because they are the best remaining undeveloped lands in an overpopulated and overbuilt state. If NJDEP fails to enforce the state's strong laws protecting water and habitat by allowing PennEast to fragment and degrade these habitats, we could lose these rare species forever." "This is further evidence of PennEast's disregard for the state regulations that protect endangered species," said Michael Pisauro, policy director, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. "The confirmed sighting of the endangered bobcat demonstrates the importance of NJDEP requiring PennEast to, among other things, complete all wildlife and plant surveys, once the company has the legal authority to apply to the NJDEP." Click to tweet: Confirmed bobcat near #PennEast route shows pipeline would threaten this #endangeredspecies http://ow.ly/gSo230caDGZ @theH2Oshed @FoHVOS About ReThink Energy NJ About New Jersey Conservation Foundation About Washington Crossing Audubon Society About Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association About Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space SOURCE ReThink Energy NJ Related Links http://rethinkenergynj.org CHICAGO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a recent survey of more than 3,000 U.S. homeowners, consumers indicated a strong preference for working with sales associates affiliated with local independent brands. More than 88% said they preferred working with an agent with a "well-known, local real estate company," while 12% preferred those affiliated with a national franchise. This was one of several responses describing how today's consumers buy and sell real estate as part of a broad-based, wide-ranging U.S. consumer segmentation study conducted on behalf of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE) by McKee Wallwork + Co. and Decision Analyst. This particular finding on the appeal of independent brokerages is supported by another third-party source, the REAL Trends 500 ranking of the top 500 residential real estate firms in the U.S. The data collected from brokerages around the country indicates that LeadingRE produced 25.7% of the total sales units among the top 500 brokerages in the U.S., outselling any single franchise network, and that has been the case for more than 10 consecutive years. LeadingRE members also represented 14 of the top 25 firms in the U.S. in sales volume for 2016. In terms of total sales for all brokerages in each network, LeadingRE's residential real estate firms outperformed their nearest network competitor by $62 billion, producing 1.1 million sales units valued at $368 billion in home sales. "Year after year, the independent firms that comprise our network demonstrate their market leadership locally and collectively as an international community focused on delivering the most exceptional customer experiences," said LeadingRE President/CEO Pam O'Connor. "This is consistent with the growth in popularity of local restaurants, locally-branded divisions of major hotel franchisors, and other locally-sourced retail goods and services that offer the brand differentiation and community roots that appeal to many of today's consumers as compared to big box brands of the past." Figures for the top 500 firms are verified and published by REAL Trends each April. Figures for total sales of all networks are estimated by using average sales units per agent for each network's firms in the REAL Trends 500, multiplied across each network's entire agent population. With member firms in 65 countries, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World selects only the highest quality, market-leading independent companies for membership and supports them with its robust referral network, award-winning professional development programs, Luxury Portfolio marketing program, and events providing meaningful connections to people and opportunities worldwide. To learn more, visit LeadingRE.com. Media Contact: Robin LaSure Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (312) 424-0436 [email protected] SOURCE Leading Real Estate Companies of the World Related Links http://www.leadingre.com LANSDOWNE, Va., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which awards the largest scholarships in the United States to outstanding students with financial need, has selected 80 high school students from 28 states and the District of Columbia to receive Cooke College Scholarships that are each worth up to $40,000 annually for four years. The new Cooke College Scholars were chosen from more than 5,100 scholarship applicants with a median family income of $31,000. "Our scholarships have enabled extraordinarily talented students from families with modest incomes to attend top colleges and universities and graduate with honors," said Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold O. Levy. "These scholarships are an investment in a better and more prosperous future not just for our scholars but for our nation, because America will benefit for decades to come from the career achievements of Cooke Scholars." The scholarships fund the costs of attending college not covered by other financial aid, plus academic advising, stipends for internships, study abroad and opportunities to network with other Cooke Scholars and alumni. Cooke College Scholars are selected based on exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, service to others and leadership. Students must be current high school seniors residing in the United States. Scholarships are awarded without respect to religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, geographic region, race or ethnicity. In addition to the Cooke College Scholarship, the Cooke Foundation provides scholarships to students from 8th through 12th grades, and for community college students to transfer to four-year colleges.After graduating with bachelor's degrees, Cooke Scholars may be eligible for a Cooke Graduate Scholarship. A state-by-state list of the new College Scholars, along with the members of the 2017 Selection Committee, can be found here. The Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded $175 million in scholarships to more than 2,300 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive counseling and other support services. The foundation has also provided over $97 million in grants to organizations that serve such students. www.jkcf.org Media Contact: David Egner 703-723-8000 [email protected] SOURCE Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Related Links http://www.jkcf.org WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "We are urging an employee of a contractor providing services to any federal agency to call us anytime at 866-714-6466 about possible rewards if the contractor is cheating the government by not adhering to their contract-and or by going cheap when it comes to materials. We could be talking about a whistleblower with knowledge of a contractor that is going cheap on equipment to be used by the US Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, a contractor supplying substandard food products to the Department of Agriculture, a federally funded highway contractor using substandard concrete and on and on. Government Contractors "If the government is getting cheated by a contractor and you can prove it and the amount of money involved is substantial---it is worth your time to discover what the potential whistleblower reward might be." http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com In April 2017, the Justice Department announced a contractor doing work on a nuclear reactor agreed to pay $4.6 million to resolve the government's allegation that they used defective steel reinforcing bars (rebar) for a contract to construct a Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear waste treatment facility. The lawsuit alleged that the DOE paid the contractor a premium to supply rebar that met stringent regulatory standards for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication and Reactor Irradiation Services facility in the DOE's Savannah River site near Aiken, South Carolina. The lawsuit further alleged that one-third of the rebar supplied by E&P and used in the construction was found to be defective. E&P subsequently replaced some of the defective rebar. In this instance, the whistleblower's reward has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the Corporate Whistleblower Center, "If you have proof your employer or a company that competes with your employer is involved in overbilling the government for substandard work or materials and or for work never done please call us about potential whistleblower rewards anytime at 866-714-6466. Why sit on a winning lotto ticket without ever knowing what it could have been worth?" http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com Simple rules for a whistleblower from the Corporate Whistleblower Center: Do not go to the government first if you want to become a whistleblower: The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "Major whistleblowers frequently go to the government thinking they will help. It's a huge mistake. Do not go to the news media with your whistleblower information either. Any type of public revelation of a whistleblower's information could destroy the prospect for a reward. Do not try to force a government contractor or individual to come clean about overbilling or cheating the federal government out of millions of dollars." The Corporate Whistleblower is the premier advocate for whistleblowers in the United States. Unlike any group in the US, they assist potential whistleblowers with packaging their information and providing the whistleblower with access to the most accomplished whistleblower attorneys in the nation. For more information a potential whistleblowers in any state can contact the Corporate Whistleblower anytime at 866-714-6466 or visit http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com For attribution please refer to the April 2017 Department of Justice news article on this topic. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/energy-process-corp-agrees-pay-46-million-alleged-false-claims-regarding-defective-steel Contact: Thomas Martin 866-714-6466 [email protected] SOURCE Corporate Whistleblower Center Related Links http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com "We routinely see high demand for travel between our coasts and we want to provide the same level of quality typically reserved for international routes this includes all flat-bed seating in business class as well as an industry-leading dining experience for customers in Economy Plus," said Mark Krolick, United's vice president of marketing. "Our updated premium transcontinental service not only connects travelers between four of the nation's largest markets, it connects customers to the best food, drinks and amenities from these world-class cities." These flights are available now for booking. Elevating the Premium Transcontinental Service Customers ticketed in premium transcontinental business class will enjoy a flat-bed seat and will benefit from enhanced food and beverage offerings inspired by United Polaris onboard dining, as well as deluxe amenities including: 180 degree flat-bed seats for a more relaxing and sleep-enhancing flight. Custom-designed duvet and pillow provided by leading luxury specialty store and New York -bred retailer Saks Fifth Avenue and new amenity kits designed by Saks that feature product from Soho House & Co's Cowshed Spa. -bred retailer Saks Fifth Avenue and new amenity kits designed by Saks that feature product from Soho House & Co's Cowshed Spa. A featured cocktail, the Moscow Mule by Crafthouse Cocktails. Created at a bar on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles more than 75 years ago, the Moscow Mule will be accompanied by a candied ginger skewer and lime wedge. more than 75 years ago, the Moscow Mule will be accompanied by a candied ginger skewer and lime wedge. Hot towel service will be offered after take-off and prior to landing. Seasonally refreshed menus, developed in partnership with The Trotter Project and its critically recognized chefs including several from cities served by United's premium transcontinental service. The chefs include Della Gossett of Spago Beverly Hills, David LeFevre of California's Manhattan Beach Post, Mitchell Nordby of San Francisco's Parallel 37 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Michael Armstrong of New York's Dream Downtown and Bodega Negra. Sample fare includes pumpernickel and goat cheese crostini with mango relish and smoked sea salt; savory pan roasted chicken with kale pesto; orzo with grilled artichokes, a staple of California , and sauteed leaks; and braised short ribs with creamy goat cheese grits. of Spago Beverly Hills, of Manhattan Beach Post, of Parallel 37 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and of Dream Downtown and Bodega Negra. Sample fare includes pumpernickel and goat cheese crostini with mango relish and smoked sea salt; savory pan roasted chicken with kale pesto; orzo with grilled artichokes, a staple of , and sauteed leaks; and braised short ribs with creamy goat cheese grits. Dining will be topped off with items inspired by the popular United Polaris dessert menu. Before arrival, snacks such as Boulder Canyon potato chips and Madik's almonds will be served. New features not currently offered to business class customers on these routes include the Moscow Mule, desserts inspired by the United Polaris menu, pre-arrival hot towel service and pre-arrival snacks. Transcontinental business class customers will continue to enjoy United Club access to freshen up, relax and enjoy complimentary food and beverages prior to departure or upon arrival, as well as Premier Access priority check-in and boarding. Introducing the Premium Transcontinental Economy Plus Experience Customers seated in Economy Plus will also enjoy a coastal-city-inspired menu, at no additional charge. Beginning on flights in July, this will feature industry-leading meal service, including a complimentary hot fresh entree, dessert and fruit, a pre-arrival snack and alcoholic beverages. Sample menu selections include savory roasted chicken with a smoked barbecue sauce and butternut squash tortellini with sage cream sauce. Dessert options will include New York's favorite sweet treat, cheesecake, as well as a chocolate brownie and fresh seasonal fruit. "Customers traveling in Economy Plus will receive the industry's best economy cabin dining experience," noted Krolick. "Flying between Boston or the New York area and the west coast can be akin to flying from the east coast to Europe, and we want to provide a satisfying and unparalleled meal in our Economy cabin. This enhancement to Economy Plus is our first step toward a premium Economy offering for our customers." Available on all transcontinental flights, Economy Plus seats provide more room to work and relax. Welcoming Boston as a Premium Transcontinental Market United will expand its business class premium service and popular flat-bed seating to flights operating, in both directions, between Boston and San Francisco. This route will now feature up to 28 flat-bed seats per departure. "United offers Boston customers the industry's leading schedule between Boston and San Francisco with the most departures, the greatest number of seats and the only wide-body service," said Krolick. "Now, as a premium transcontinental market, we are increasing significantly the number of business class seats available to Boston travelers on this route. Moreover, Boston business customers connecting via SFO, our Asia/Pacific hub, to destinations throughout the Asia Pacific region will be able to enjoy a flat-bed business class seat for the duration of their journey." United serves all seven of its domestic hubs plus Cleveland nonstop from Boston. With the new schedule, the airline will offer customers the widest range of flight times including early morning options from both San Francisco and Boston, an 8:30 p.m. departure from Boston and multiple overnight flights from San Francisco. The most popular timings in peak periods will operate with widebody Boeing 777 aircraft including 8 a.m. service from San Francisco and an early evening Boston departure, ideal for business customers traveling at the end of the work day. Along with the market's only widebody service, the airline will also operate Boeing 757-200 aircraft on this route. United in Los Angeles From Los Angeles, United offers southern California travelers more seats than any other airline to key business and leisure destinations such as New York; San Francisco; Chicago; Denver; Washington, D.C.; and Houston as well as popular destinations in Aspen, CO; Steamboat Springs, CO; Bozeman, MT; and Jackson Hole, WY. The airline also provides nonstop service to the most Hawaiian Island destinations via LAX. United transcontinental customers ticketed in business class will have access to the airline's newest United Club location, which opened in November 2016. The jewel in the airline's $573 million project to refresh nearly all of its customer-facing spaces in Terminal 7 and Concourse 8 at LAX, this United Club space is one of the airline's largest and most stylish. The location features a gourmet kitchen and bar offering expanded food and beverage options; seating areas conducive to working and lounging; and spectacular views of the airport, the Hollywood Hills and the Los Angeles skyline. The design also takes advantage of the city's gorgeous year-round weather, with a spacious and scenic outdoor terrace where customers can relax with a cocktail or a meal alfresco. United in New York With United, New York area customers have access to the most flights, the largest number of seats and the highest amount of premium seats for travel from EWR to Los Angeles/San Francisco. United's Terminal C at EWR, described as a "culinary oasis" by The New York Times, continues its $120 million upgrade with many new dining creations by internationally and locally-acclaimed chefs, including four with Michelin stars. They include DAILY, the only airport restaurant in the world where the entire menu changes daily, emphasizing local ingredients at peak freshness; Thyme, an all-vegetarian restaurant created by veggie-forward wunderkind Chef Amanda Cohen; and Little Purse, specializing in dumplings and noodles, developed by two-time Top Chef contestant Chef Dale Talde. United in San Francisco United is San Francisco's leading airline, with approximately 300 daily departures to nearly 100 destinations. United's SFO hub operates as a gateway to Asia Pacific with the airline flying to 14 destinations across the region. These routes provide U.S. travelers with convenient access to some of China's most dynamic cities and give Chinese travelers access via San Francisco for onward connections to destinations throughout the U.S., Canada and Latin America. About United United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,500 flights a day to 337 airports across five continents. In 2016, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 143 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 743 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 478 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 190 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol "UAL". SOURCE United Airlines Related Links http://www.united.com WELLESLEY, Mass., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cure Alzheimer's Fund was a co-sponsor of the 13th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Diseases (ADPD) held in Vienna, Austria from March 29th to April 2nd. More than 3400 scientists from around the world attended the conference, which provided a platform to share the latest research, developments, and medical breakthroughs on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases. "It was gratifying to see that much of the work shared at the ADPD 2017 conference was research funded by our organization," said Tim Armour, President and CEO of Cure Alzheimer's Fund. "We know that as collaboration among Alzheimer's researchers increases, we are more likely to find effective ways to treat the disease." Among those who attended were members of Cure Alzheimer's Fund's Research Consortium, including Dr. Sangram S. Sisodia of the University of Chicago, who led a symposium on the role of the microbiome in the modulation of amyloid deposition. Dr. Sisodia's recent work shows that treatment with a broad spectrum of antibiotics over a long period of time decreased the levels of amyloid plaque and triggered the development of inflammatory microglial cells in the brains of mice. Harvard Medical School's Dr. Rudy Tanzi, who chairs the consortium, also shared recent developments in the understanding of the genetic components to Alzheimer's disease. "The grants provided by Cure Alzheimer's Fund make the scientific work we do possible," said Harvard Medical School's Dr. Doo Yeon Kim, who along with Dr. Tanzi, developed the groundbreaking Alzheimer's in a Dish after receiving support from Cure Alzheimer's Fund. Dr. Kim also attended the ADPD 2017, where he shared information on the evolution of Alzheimer's in a Dish, in a symposium sponsored by Cure Alzheimer's Fund on organoid models. The latest models allow researchers to include microglia, which allows testing the hypothesis of the interaction between amyloid, tau, and inflammation in the development of the disease. This is an important advancement in the diagnostic tool as it allows scientists to further examine the drivers of risk for Alzheimer's disease. Cure Alzheimer's Fund is also supporting research that allows scientists to take a fibro blast from skin and preserve the changes that happen with age, better understanding the role that age plays as a risk factor in the disease. "The ADPD conference is a reminder that we have come a very long way in understanding the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, critical to developing potential solutions for prevention and treatment," said Dr. Tanzi. "It's important that we continue to exchange knowledge and fund research so that we can eventually find a cure for this devastating disease." About Cure Alzheimer's Fund Cure Alzheimer's Fund is a non-profit dedicated to funding the most promising research to prevent, slow or reverse Alzheimer's disease. Since its founding in 2004, Cure Alzheimer's Fund has contributed over $50 million to research. Cure Alzheimer's Fund has received a perfect score regarding its overall financial health from Charity Navigator and a four star rating from the organization for the past five years. With 100 percent of funds raised going directly to research, Cure Alzheimer's has been able to support some of the best scientific minds in the field of Alzheimer's research. For more information, please visit http://www.curealz.org/ SOURCE Cure Alzheimer's Fund Related Links http://www.curealz.org SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the grand opening of the newly renovated sheet metal training center in Sacramento. This training center is responsible for educating Union craftsmen in the sheet metal industry across 23 northern California counties. As job opportunities in the building trades increase, so does the need for state-of-the-art training. Director of Training, Robert Verdugo had this to say, "This new facility is not only a great opportunity for men and women interested in a career in the sheet metal industry, but it offers significant benefits to the employers who hire these professionals as well." Those benefits include a highly skilled, professionally trained work force that will continue to grow as the Sacramento skyline continues to grow. Union sheet metal workers are responsible for fabricating and installing duct work in some of our areas most significant buildings, such as the Golden One Center, the Women and Children's Hospital, area schools, theaters, court houses and so much more. Industry professionals also service the heating and air conditioning systems for those same buildings. The training center, now housed at Mather Field, is where these men and women learn how to design and install these often complex systems, which include green energy strategies and stringent requirements for clean air within healthcare facilities. May 31st marks the first official day of business for the Sheet Metal Training Center of Sacramento. The Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (those responsible for the operation of the center), purchased the building for $1.2 Million and have invested an additional $3.1 Million in improvements. Those improvements include state-of-the-art classrooms, welding equipment, computers and other tools utilized in teaching. More than 100 men and women will benefit on an annual basis from the free, college level training available at the center. Students and employers from all over Northern California will be served through this site, as it is the hub for all sheet metal and HVAC training from Stockton to the Oregon Border and from Winters to the Nevada Border. Press conference today Mayor Darrell Steinberg speaking on the need for building our blue collar work force 4:00 PM 3665 Bleckely Street Mather, CA 95655 Speakers include: Darrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento Donald Terry, Mayor of Rancho Cordova Dr. Thomas Green, President of American River College Larry Booth, President of FM Booth Inc CONTACT: Cheryl Sprague, Executive Vice President 916-494-3383 (cell) SOURCE Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association of Sacramento Related Links http://www.smacnasac.org STEPHENVILLE, Texas, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stephenville Medical & Surgical Clinic, P.A. (SMSC), a multi-specialty clinic serving the Stephenville, Texas area, disclosed (through Kershaw Anderson, PLLC) the clinic was involved in a data "breach," related to inadvertently emailing an archived list of patients to a single individual. The incident occurred May 19, 2016, when an individual requested the clinic email a blank medical record release form. Rather than emailing the blank form, an employee in the Medical Records Department mistakenly emailed a spreadsheet containing a list of former patients, most of whom had not been seen at the clinic for more than 9 years. The recipient opened the document that evening and determined it was not the form requested. The recipient immediately deleted it. The next morning, the individual contacted the clinic to report the error. The spreadsheet included patient's name, date of birth, medical record number, and, for some patients, the date the patient last visited the clinic. For many patients, the list did not include a full date of birth or information about the date last seen in the clinic. The medical record number is unique to SMSC and has no potential use except at this facility. Importantly, the list did not include sensitive medical or financial information. It did not include diagnoses or what providers the patients saw. It did not include addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, insurance information, or social security numbers. Thus, it is unlikely the individual receiving this list could use the information to perpetuate identity theft or any other fraudulent activity. It is also important to note that SMSC was not hacked. No records were stolen. This incident was the result of accidental human error. And again, no sensitive medical or financial information was included. SMSC brought in an independent firm to conduct an assessment of this incident, ultimately concluding the incident posed little, if any, risks to the patients involved. During the course of the investigation, the recipient fully cooperated, including meeting with representatives of the outside firm on multiple occasions, signing an affidavit regarding the incident, and ensuring the information was deleted from the "deleted" folder of the computer. The recipient is a long-time patient of the clinic and believed to be honest and trustworthy conclusions that the outside investigation also made. SMSC has no evidence that any of the data provided to the recipient has been or will be used or misappropriated. Letters to potentially affected patients are being mailed. These letters explain what occurred and offer identity protection and restoration services. In the course of the assessment, SMSC mitigated potential harm to its patients by reasonably assuring itself that the recipient had deleted the email and would not use or misappropriate anyone's information. The employee who made the mistake was terminated. SMSC also changed how the information is stored to prevent this type of incident from occurring in the future. Clinic employees undergo yearly training to ensure they understand and maintain patient privacy and data security. SMSC understands the importance of safeguarding protected health information and takes that responsibility seriously. The clinic is strongly committed to maintaining the privacy and security of all patient data. To Learn More SMSC has established a dedicated-assistance line for anyone seeking additional information regarding this incident, as well as steps to better protect against identity theft. For the next 90 days, this assistance line can be reached at (888) 735-0505, Monday through Friday from 9 am to 9 pm EST. Identity Protection Tips SMSC recommends potentially affected individuals check their credit reports and account statements regularly for suspicious activity. SMSC also recommends potentially affected individuals consider enrolling in the complimentary identity protection services described in the letter. SOURCE Kershaw Anderson, PLLC Related Links http://kershawanderson.com Shashank Dixit, Founder and CEO, Deskera - a leading cloud-based business software provider, has been named one of Asia's Top 50 Rising Tech Stars under 40 by the Asia Tatler magazine. In addition to recognizing Dixit for his innovative vision of how cloud computing could positively impact businesses, the list of Top 50 Rising Tech Stars also highlights the achievements of technology business leaders like Garena CEO Forrest Li, Razer CEO Tang Min-Liang, Alipay CEO Benjamin Mah and many more. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/450678/PRNE__Deskera_png_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517781/Shashank_Dixit_Deskera_CEO.jpg ) "I am honored and humbled to be a part of such a talented group of entrepreneurs. Asia's tech startups have been performing tremendously. Right now, Asia is buzzing with enterprise activity," said Shashank. "Deskera has always been a champion and trusted partner for small businesses and entrepreneurs, so it's particularly exciting to be recognized among leaders of some of Asia's most innovative new companies." In the article discussing why Dixit was chosen for the honor, Tatler editors explained, "Shashank Dixit is a visionary entrepreneur who understood the vast potential of cloud computing way back in 2008 when he founded Deskera, a provider of cloud-based software solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. Dixit was a winner at the 2016 Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards." The honorees were selected by a 17-expert panel including the likes of SGInnovate CEO Steve Leonard, Tembusu ICT Fund Managing Partner Brijesh Pande, Zeus Interactive CEO Zhu Ye. The article accompanying the honoree profiles discussed how Asia's tech start-ups have scaled quickly in the last few years. Editors highlighted a recent report from US-based Startup Genome that added Beijing and Shanghai to the list of the world's 20 best startup ecosystems for the first time, joining cities like Singapore and Bangalore. For the past eight years, Deskera has been providing cloud-based business software to companies around the world. Today, more than 3,000 organizations, with approximately 80,000 users, run their businesses with Deskera ERP. About Deskera Deskera is a global leader in cloud-based software solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. The company was founded in 2008 with the vision of using the cloud to bridge the digital divide between entrepreneurs and big business by creating greater access to the best technology. Our sophisticated, simple-to-use technology provides solutions that help all types of companies manage resources more efficiently across departments, from operations to accounting to sales to HR, on one platform. Deskera is headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices around the world including locations in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The company has a pan India presence with offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune. To find out how cloud solutions can make it easier to run your business, please visit http://www.deskera.com. SOURCE Deskera DALLAS, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- More authentic, slow-smoked barbecue is in the near future for Massachusetts with a newly inked development agreement between Dickey's Barbecue Pit and local franchisee, Larry Jones. This is the first Dickey's development agreement in Massachusetts. Jones' new Dickey's locations are under development in Andover and Burlington, scheduled to open in late fall 2017. Jones, a Ph.D. in Engineering and self-proclaimed barbecue connoisseur, plans to draw on his decades of engineering experience as a new Dickey's Owner Operator. "Aside from my personal love of barbecue, I feel that my engineering background will play a part in my success as an Owner/Operator, particularly in terms of the dedication it takes to own a franchise and the analytics of operating one," says Jones. "I am glad to have joined a franchise like Dickey's. The Dickey's corporate team is very supportive and Texas-style barbecue is a niche product. There's nothing else like it in Massachusetts so I'm looking forward to filling that gap and sharing delicious, Texas-style barbecue with my fellow Massachusetts locals." "Dickey's is expanding rapidly across the nation, now with nearly 600 locations in now 44 states and international expansion on the horizon," says Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. "It is important to us to partner with hardworking, passionate Owner/Operators like Larry to make this growth possible. We are excited to bring more of our iconic barbecue to the Bay State." To find the Dickey's Barbecue Pit nearest you, click here. Find Dickey's on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. About Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the nation's largest barbecue chain was founded in 1941 by Travis Dickey. Today, all meats are still slow smoked on-site in each restaurant. The Dallas-based family-run barbecue franchise offers several slow-smoked meats and home style sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. The fast-casual concept has expanded to nearly 600 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickey's won first place on Fast Casual's "Top 100 Movers and Shakers" list. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times, and Nation's Restaurant News. For more information on Dickey's awards, visit www.dickeys.com. Media Contact: Bryce Nayden [email protected] SOURCE Dickey's Barbecue Related Links http://www.dickeys.com DALLAS, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This Friday, Dickey's Barbecue Pit's charitable foundation Barbecue, Boots & Badges will present local police officers with 50 life-saving, bulletproof vests as part of its Invest in a Vest initiative. This donation is made possible by a generous contribution of $25,000 by Central Market. The donation presentation will take place at the Central Market Lovers Lane location on Friday, June 2 from 12-2pm. Although the event is not open to the public, anyone interested in getting involved or supporting Barbecue, Boots & Badges can visit http://www.bbabfoundation.org/. "Barbecue, Boots & Badges was founded to serve those who put their lives on the line every day to protect our community," said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Inc. "These brave men and women deserve our support, and we want to make sure they are getting the best equipment possible. We thank Central Market for helping us in this endeavor." The Invest in a Vest initiative is a partnership between Dickey's Barbecue Pit's charitable foundation, Barbecue, Boots & Badges, and Angel Armor to provide local police officers with life-saving body armor. A $500 donation provides one officer with a set of ballistic plates, which are capable of protecting them from sniper rounds and high-powered ammunition. Wearing body armor more than triples the likelihood that an officer can survive a shooting to the torso, according to a RAND Corporation study. In addition, more than 3,000 officers' lives have been saved by their body armor to date, according to the American National Institute of Justice. "Central Market has great respect for our police officers who commit their lives to our safety each and every day. This donation of vest plates is our way of saying "Thank you" for their loyal and dedicated service to the city of Dallas," said Stephen Butt, President of Central Market. "These new plates will provide an added layer of state-of-the art defense for those who protect all of us." To find the Dickey's Barbecue Pit nearest you, click here. Find Dickey's on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. About Barbecue, Boots & Badges Enthusiastically led by Maurine Dickey, Barbecue, Boots & Badges supports local law enforcement, firefighters and their families. The foundation is national, yet the support is intensely local benefiting first responders who put their lives on the line every day, serving the public. The foundation exists to serve those who protect us. About Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the nation's largest barbecue chain was founded in 1941 by Travis Dickey. Today, all meats are still slow smoked on-site in each restaurant. The Dallas-based family-run barbecue franchise offers several slow-smoked meats and home style sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. The fast-casual concept has expanded to nearly 600 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickey's won first place on Fast Casual's "Top 100 Movers and Shakers" list and in 2017 again won a top 10 on the list. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times, and Nation's Restaurant News. For more information visit www.dickeys.com. Media Contact: Bryce Nayden [email protected] SOURCE Dickeys Barbecue Pit Related Links https://www.dickeys.com At the Machine Learning area, Dobot Magician was implanted with Google TPU2 and TensorFlow. It successfully showed practical applications of the latest technologies in the field of image and speech recognition and machine learning. Dobot Magician was called "Candy Sorter" in this showcase. More video info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyU1k6eebp4&feature=youtu.be&t=159 Controlling the Dobot Magician is easy and can be accomplished via using an APP or speaking into the microphone. The Dobot Magician is also able to pick objects up with its robotic arm. Dave explained that the Dobot Magician was armed with the Google Cloud Machine Learning engine, the Inception V3 Model. It can analyze and understand human language through a speech API and can recognize things under a little camera through Visual API. Because of those APIs, Dobot Magician is able to make predictions quickly based on a model embedded in the Cloud and run in accordance with human will. Why was Dobot Magician chosen to be displayed at the event? The reason lays in the unique advantages of the product, such as opening APIs, high precision and flexibility. What's more, there are 13 extensible interfaces on the body. It supports major communication protocols such as CAN and Ethernet as well as over 20 programming languages such as Blocky, Python, C++, Java and Lab view. Dobot Magician can be second developed without any limitations. Therefore, Dobot Magician is an ideal machine learning platform for learning Programming, Data Modeling, Mechanical Engineering, Power Engineering, Computer Applications, Industrial Simulations and more. Not only that, installed with different end-tools, Dobot Magician can show off many interesting functions such as 3D printing, laser engraving, writing and drawing. Dobot Magician is created by Shenzhen Yuejiang Technology Co., Ltd, a high-tech company from China. Yuejiang is a leading company in the field of smart desktop robot arms and one of the first companies in the world to bring the concept of smart robot arms to the desktop. More than 70% of Yuejiang's staff are educated engineers from top institutions. It owns 100% of its core technologies and over 40 international patents. The robot arms created by Yuejiang has been sold over to more than 100 countries and regions up to now. The next station of Google I/O will be held at Tokyo Royal Prince Hotel in Japan from June 14 to 15, 2017. It's a good opportunity for Asian developers to learn more about the most advanced technology in the world. Dobot Magician will be also shown there. China has been a leading country in science and technology globally. Take Dobot Magician as an example, looking forward, an increasing amount of Chinese high-tech products will appear in more high-tech shows in the future. To learn more, visit: http://www.dobot.cc SOURCE Shenzhen Yuejiang Technology Co. Ltd Essentially, from any computer or mobile device in the world, enterprise stakeholders with proper credentials will have on-demand access to a modern and intuitive dashboard where they can gain crucial insights about the immediate health of all of their assets. Having this level of visibility enables executives to make more informed decisions on key performance indicators (KPIs) that are based on common asset performances. This metric-based decision-making can help unlock widespread optimization opportunities across the enterprise. Windrock Enterprise utilizes Microsoft Azure IoT Technologies. The solution also leverages the Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) to provide IoT solutions in the rigorous world of industrials. The robust IIoT ecosystem of Windrock Enterprise is designed to enable customers to solve previously unsolvable problems with progressive technology. Ultimately, enterprises will have the ability to proactively avoid catastrophic scenarios, cut costs, maximize safety, and increase performance oversight, flexibility and responsiveness. You can learn more about Windrock Enterprise at www.windrock.com/enterprise. If you are interested in speaking with a product champion at Dover Energy Automation about Windrock Enterprise, you can request information at [email protected]. About Dover Energy Automation Dover Energy Automation, an operating company within the Dover Energy Segment of Dover Corporation, is a provider of products, intelligent productivity tools and related automation software for the energy sector. DEA enables oil and gas operators to monitor, predict and optimize performance to improve their productivity and return on investment. Headquartered in The Woodlands, TX, DEA includes various operating companies. These include Windrock monitoring and analytical solutions for rotating and reciprocating equipment, Quartzdyne downhole pressure transducers, and Production Optimization for onshore well performance optimization solutions. About Dover Corporation Dover Corporation (www.dovercorporation.com) is a diversified global manufacturer with annual revenues of $7 billion. We deliver innovative equipment and components, specialty systems and support services through four major operating segments: Energy, Engineered Systems, Fluids, and Refrigeration & Food Equipment. Dover combines global scale with operational agility to lead the markets we serve. Recognized for our entrepreneurial approach for 60 years, our team of 26,000 employees takes an ownership mindset, collaborating with customers to redefine what's possible. Headquartered in Downers Grove, IL, Dover trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV." Dover Energy Automation Contact: Kevan Boone, Marketing Communications Manager Dover Energy Automation 281-403-5751 [email protected] SOURCE Dover Energy Automation Related Links http://www.dovercorporation.com MURRAY, Utah, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eagle Gate College, a leading provider of healthcare education in Utah, today announced that its Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN) has earned accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The Commission ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate, graduate, and residency programs in nursing that operate in accordance with national nursing standards. "The CCNE accreditation highlights our commitment to quality nursing education," said Dr. Lois Hine, Eagle Gate College's Chief Nursing Officer. "We are proud of our baccalaureate program, our high-quality facilities and faculty, and most of all, of how our graduates will improve the quality of nursing care in our communities." Aging of the baby boomers, more people with health insurance, and other social and economic factors have led to a pending shortage of 193,000 nurses by 2020. The Institute of Medicine reported on the future of nursing in 2010, making a strong recommendation that 80% of the nursing workforce have a baccalaureate degree (BSN) by 2020. Eagle Gate College is working to address the shortage of nurses with baccalaureate degrees in Utah. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree has some unique benefits that students find worthwhile. For example, the College has no waiting lists or pre-requisite requirements for entering students, and accepts transfer credits from other accredited colleges and universities. Elizabeth Wright, a first-year nursing student and single mother said, "I needed a nursing school that offered online courses that fit with my work and family responsibilities. I am on track to graduate with my Bachelor's degree in nursing in 36 months." About Eagle Gate College Group Eagle Gate College Group is a leader in healthcare education in Utah, with campuses in Layton, Murray and Provo (Provo College). Bachelor's degree, Associate and diploma programs are offered in healthcare, business, and criminal justice. With thousands of graduates along the Wasatch Front, Eagle Gate College Group graduates are working in their chosen careers and gaining valuable career experience in much less time than would be possible through traditional education routes. Eagle Gate College is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing is accredited by the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). More at www.eaglegatecollege.edu. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at Eagle Gate College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036, 202-887-6791. More at www.ccneaccreditation.org. SOURCE Eagle Gate College Related Links http://www.eaglegatecollege.edu NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Economist GMAT Tutor has announced the winner of its semi-annual Brightest Minds MBA Scholarship Contest. The goal of the contest is to find one of the world's "Brightest Minds" who plans to attend business school, and help fund his or her education. This season's winner, Maria El Jichi, is a Lebanese finance professional who has been working in credit risk in the United Arab Emirates for the past five years. She beat more than 3,000 other contest entrants by scoring highest on Economist GMAT Tutor's GMAT simulation exam and writing the most compelling tie-breaker essay, winning out over 58 other top scorers. Ms. El Jichi hopes to use her MBA to advance her career and contribute to increasing gender equality in the workplace. "I noticed that very few women held senior positions in companies," she explained. "I would like the future generation of girls to see it as a norm to have gender equality in the workplace and not an exception." To learn more about the winner and to read her advice on how to land a competitive GMAT score, visit Economist GMAT Tutor's blog. She can apply her MBA scholarship prize towards tuition at any of the contest's participating business schools where she is accepted into an MBA programme. This season's participating business schools are: Alliance Manchester Business School Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam Copenhagen Business School EMLYON Business School International Business School Ivey Business School Leicester Castle Business School Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell Schulich School of Business University of Bath School of Management The University of Edinburgh Business School Business School University of Liverpool Management School Management School University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business - of Business The University of Virginia Darden School of Business About Economist GMAT Tutor (gmat.economist.com) Economist GMAT Tutor is an online GMAT prep course offered by The Economist Group. The online program guides students through the academic topics and test taking skills that they will need to master the test. The program is adaptive, meaning that it uses students' correct and incorrect answers to create tailored courses customized to their needs. About The Economist (economist.com) With a growing global circulation (more than 1.5 million including both print and digital) and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current affairs publications. SOURCE Economist GMAT Tutor Related Links https://gmat.economist.com GREENVILLE, S.C., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy has been powering South Carolina for more than a century, and continues to power the minds of its students and the workforce of the future by investing in innovative education programs and initiatives. Through the Duke Energy Foundation, more than $900,000 in grants will go to initiatives across the state that emphasize science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), increasing childhood reading proficiency and workforce development. "Supporting effective education programs that improve childhood literacy and focus on fields related to science and technology are a critical focus for our company," said Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe, Duke Energy's South Carolina president. "Along with high-impact workforce development initiatives, these programs can help create the next generation workforce South Carolina businesses and industries need to be successful." Duke Energy's education and workforce development grants this year include: AIM : To support workforce training programs that help equip individuals with the necessary skills to earn a livable wage and develop self-sufficiency. : To support workforce training programs that help equip individuals with the necessary skills to earn a livable wage and develop self-sufficiency. Anderson Districts 1 & 2 Career and Technology Center : To support programs designed to educate students in robotics design, programming and use in industry. : To support programs designed to educate students in robotics design, programming and use in industry. Chapman Cultural Center : To support a comprehensive educational program connecting professional artists and students and helping teachers better integrate the arts and STEM into their classrooms and after-school programs. : To support a comprehensive educational program connecting professional artists and students and helping teachers better integrate the arts and STEM into their classrooms and after-school programs. Children's Museum of the Upstate : To create a mobile version of the museum, bringing engaging, hands-on, STEM programming wherever it is needed in the Upstate. : To create a mobile version of the museum, bringing engaging, hands-on, STEM programming wherever it is needed in the Upstate. Clemson University Women in Science/Programs for Educational Enrichment and Retention (PEER) : To provide continued support to programs that provide camps for minority engineering majors, and to provide camps, encouragement and support to women pursuing careers in science and math. : To provide continued support to programs that provide camps for minority engineering majors, and to provide camps, encouragement and support to women pursuing careers in science and math. EdVenture : To support the creation of a STEM-focused exhibit at a satellite museum in Hartsville, S.C. : To support the creation of a STEM-focused exhibit at a satellite museum in Florence -Darlington Technical College : To provide under-served students an education that is highly valued by the medical community, one of the biggest employers in the Pee Dee region. : To provide under-served students education that is highly valued by the medical community, one of the biggest employers in the Pee Dee region. Francis Marion University : To help provide a pipeline of teaching professionals in critical areas for the Pee Dee region of the state. : To help provide a pipeline of teaching professionals in critical areas for the Pee Dee region of the state. Lancaster Literacy Council : To support education programs for adults seeking employment to strengthen their basic skills for employment, career advancement, and lifelong learning skills. : To support education programs for adults seeking employment to strengthen their basic skills for employment, career advancement, and lifelong learning skills. Piedmont Technical College : To support programs that introduce manufacturing in a high school setting and encourage participants to pursue careers in the manufacturing sector through youth apprenticeship. : To support programs that introduce manufacturing in a high school setting and encourage participants to pursue careers in the manufacturing sector through youth apprenticeship. Public Education Partners : To support expansion of an innovative program that provides a pathway into the teaching profession for people with bachelor's degrees in math and science. : To support expansion of an innovative program that provides a pathway into the teaching profession for people with bachelor's degrees in math and science. School District of Oconee County : To expand a district-wide initiative of accelerated professional development for the implementation of STEM curriculum. : To expand a district-wide initiative of accelerated professional development for the implementation of STEM curriculum. S.C. Governor's School for Science and Mathematics : To expand the successful virtual engineering program across the state and the summer camps that focus on STEM topics that prepare students for the program. : To expand the successful virtual engineering program the state and the summer camps that focus on STEM topics that prepare students for the program. South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities : To provide scholarships for STEM majors at independent colleges and universities in Duke Energy service areas. : To provide scholarships for STEM majors at independent colleges and universities in Duke Energy service areas. Tri-County Technical College : To support a program designed to offer under-resourced adults the ability to earn college credit, national certifications and credentials leading to good jobs with a future in local manufacturing companies. : To support a program designed to offer under-resourced adults the ability to earn college credit, national certifications and credentials leading to good jobs with a future in local manufacturing companies. United Way of Pickens County : To fully expand the successful "Camp iRock" summer literacy program countywide. : To fully expand the successful "Camp iRock" summer literacy program countywide. Upcountry History Museum : To support hands-on discovery zones that will take visitors on a journey around the world as they explore faraway places and cultures through literature. : To support hands-on discovery zones that will take visitors on a journey around the world as they explore faraway places and cultures through Upstate Warrior Solution : To support workforce development for Upstate veterans by teaching them skills that will allow them to enter the civilian workforce at a livable wage. : To support workforce development for Upstate veterans by teaching them skills that will allow them to enter the civilian workforce at a livable wage. Youthlink: To support afterschool programs with an explicit goal to provide students with project-based STEM experiences for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented elementary and middle school students. "As we've done since our inception in 1985, Public Education Partners seeks to partner with our school district and rally our community to incubate innovative programs that focus on excellent teaching and ultimately result in improved student achievement and success," said Dr. Ansel Sanders, president and CEO of Public Education Partners. "Duke Energy understands this as well. We are deeply appreciative of Duke Energy's transformative commitment to supporting teachers, particularly teachers in the STEM fields, and setting up our program for ongoing success." "We are so excited to partner with Duke Energy to develop an exhibit to help children and families understand the science behind electricity generation," said Karen Coltrane, president and CEO of EdVenture Children's Museum. "Discovery through doing is how EdVenture inspires a life-long, internally motivated love of learning, and we suspected from seeing other great projects that Duke Energy has made possible that we were on the right track with this. Thousands of children in South Carolina will have a better understanding of this important topic because of this grant." The grants are administered through the Duke Energy Foundation. Last year, the foundation donated more than $2.8 million to nonprofit organizations throughout South Carolina. About The Duke Energy Foundation The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to address the needs of the communities where its customers live and work. The foundation provides more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts. The foundation's education focus spans kindergarten to career, particularly science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), early childhood literacy and workforce development. It also supports the environment and community impact initiatives, including arts and culture. Duke Energy employees and retirees actively contribute to their communities as volunteers and leaders at a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. Duke Energy is committed to building on its legacy of community service. For more information, visit http://www.duke-energy.com/foundation. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a S&P 100 Stock Index company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center serves as a multimedia resource for journalists and features news releases, helpful links, photos and videos. Hosted by Duke Energy, illumination is an online destination for stories about remarkable people, innovations, and community and environmental topics. It also offers glimpses into the past and insights into the future of energy. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. Contact: Ryan Mosier 24-Hour: 800.559.3853 SOURCE Duke Energy Related Links http://www.duke-energy.com GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Elder High School, an all-male college-preparatory high school in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, will roll out a new text messaging application in August 2017 to enable easy, efficient communication between members of the school community and the on-site dining team. MyDtxt is a cutting-edge text messaging communication tool developed exclusively for Sodexo, the school's dining services partner and world leader in Quality of Life services. After opting in, users can receive text message alerts regarding menu specials, promotional items, and package pick-up reminders. Students, parents, and staff can also provide instant feedback to the dining team via text message. At Elder High School, myDtxt will be used to guide menu development by allowing students to vote for their favorite menu items, ensuring that their preferences are addressed and letting them become part of the menu planning process. The myDtxt program has been implemented at many of Sodexo's higher education partner campuses throughout the United States. Elder will be the first high school to introduce MyDtxt. Founded in 1923, Elder is a diocesan high school within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati that is dedicated to helping young men grow intellectually, physically, spiritually, culturally, and socially. The school began contracting with Sodexo, a world leader in providing on-site foodservice and facilities management solutions, more than 30 years ago. Sodexo USA is an American business that is part of a global Fortune 500 company with a presence in 80 countries. Delivering more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities, and improve quality of life, Sodexo is a leading provider of sustainable, integrated facilities management and food service operations. It employs 123,000 Americans at 12,500 sites across the country and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional U.S. jobs through its annual purchases of $9.2 billion in goods and services from small and large American businesses. In support of local communities across the U.S., the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed close to $30 million over the past 20 years to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. Learn more about Sodexo at its corporate blog, Sodexo Insights. SOURCE Sodexo Related Links http://www.sodexoUSA.com ROCKLAND, Mass., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the US and Canada, honors World MS Day 2017 by announcing a collaboration with the International Alliance of Carer Organizations (IACO) to launch the most comprehensive multiple sclerosis (MS) care partner survey to date. The survey is being launched in response to preliminary findings from research commissioned by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which indicate that while 18 to 34-year-olds make up the largest group of MS care partners, the impact of caregiving during the prime of their lives and the challenges faced by this group are poorly understood. The global survey aims to provide a deep understanding of these unmet needs as a first step towards developing better resources and solutions for MS care partners in the future. "We know that for many, providing care and support for someone with MS can be an overwhelming prospect and this is particularly true for young people in the prime of their lives, building careers or families for example," said Rick Greene, Executive Advisor, International Alliance of Carer Organizations. "The findings from the research highlight the stark reality that faces many care partners in MS anxiety, depression and pain being just a few. Therefore, in collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, we are announcing a large-scale survey that will help us to build a comprehensive picture of the problems facing MS care partners and, importantly, look to develop solutions to address these needs." Preliminary findings from research commissioned by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany showed the following: Highest number of care partners were aged 18-34 (41% of males and 39% of females in this group) The US had a higher percentage of care partners aged 18-34 (46% for male and 45% for female care partners vs. 35% male and 33% female care partners within Europe ) ) Family members caring for a mother with MS generated the majority of social media conversations related to MS caregiving, reflecting the prevalence of younger care partners in MS Problems identified among care partners included anxiety, depression, insomnia and pain, along with concerns about the financial impact of MS for families. "There are more than 2.3 million people with MS worldwide and between 350,000 and 500,000 people in the United States. MS affects their quality of life and that of caregivers, family and friends" said Peer Baneke, CEO of the MS International Federation. "This year's World MS Day campaign encourages anyone affected by MS to share their tips for managing the challenges of #LifeWithMS." The global care partner survey, which is being launched on World MS Day and will be fielded in the following months, will uncover insights from care partners from the US, Europe, and Canada. Results from the survey will be announced in the next 12 months along with recommendations on how support can be shaped to address the needs of MS care partners, including younger care partners. "EMD Serono is committed to improving understanding of the needs of MS patients and care partners to help inform our programs and initiatives," said Dr. Joseph Leveque, Chief Medical Officer, EMD Serono. "The global survey will help us identify new ways to support those affected by MS, including the families and friends of those with this overwhelming condition." About Multiple Sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the central nervous system and is the most common, non-traumatic, disabling neurological disease in young adults. It is estimated that approximately 2.3 million people have MS worldwide. While symptoms can vary, the most common symptoms of MS include blurred vision, numbness or tingling in the limbs and problems with strength and coordination. The relapsing forms of MS are the most common. About World MS Day 2017 World MS Day is officially marked on the last Wednesday of May. Events and campaigns take place throughout the month of May. It brings the global MS community together to share stories, raise awareness and campaign with and for everyone affected by multiple sclerosis. In 2009, the MS International Federation (MSIF) MS International Federation (MSIF) and its members initiated the first World MS Day. Campaigns are rolled out globally which focus on a different theme each year. The theme for World MS Day 2017 is 'Life with MS'. About the International Alliance of Carer Organizations (IACO) Incorporated in 2012, the International Alliance of Carer Organizations (IACO) serves as an umbrella organization that provides cohesive direction, facilitates information sharing, and actively advocates for carers at an international level. IACO provides research, awareness and education regarding family carers on a global scale. By bringing visibility and an understanding of the growing numbers of carers worldwide, IACO facilities international collaboration by bringing together countries from around the globe that advocate for family carers. About EMD Serono, Inc. EMD Serono is the North America biopharma business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany - a leading science and technology company - focused exclusively on specialty care. For more than 40 years, the business has integrated cutting-edge science, innovative products and industry-leading patient support and access programs. EMD Serono has deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, as well as a robust pipeline of potential therapies in oncology, immuno-oncology and immunology as R&D focus areas. Today, the business has more than 1,100 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of 12.85 billion in 66 countries. Founded in 1668, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. The company holds the global rights to the "Merck" name and brand except in the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is one of the world's leading suppliers of effect pigments for the coatings, plastics, printing, cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries. Effect pigments underscore the emotional impact of color and are an important design element when creating surfaces with a special appearance or quality. Application possibilities range from cars to packaging and high-tech products up to building facades. In addition to decorative effect pigments, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, offers pigments that also have functional applications such as heat-reflecting or anti-counterfeiting pigments. Your Contact Alice McGrail +1 781-681-2886 SOURCE EMD Serono Related Links http://www.emdserono.com/ SAN DIEGO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Entest BioMedical Inc. (PINK: ENTB) announced today that it has satisfied $841,531 of Notes Payable as well as $83,000 of accrued expenses through the issuance of the Company's non-voting convertible preferred stock to the creditors. The terms of the settlement are disclosed in a form 8K dated May 30, 2017 filed by the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and publicly available through the SEC's EDGAR system. Entest BioMedical Inc.'s Chairman and CEO David Koos noted, "The Company is trying to mitigate shareholder concerns regarding the impediment that the Company's debt burden may pose to our forward progress. I believe this action should strengthen our shareholders' belief in our goal to bring small molecule cancer and autoimmune therapies to animals through our subsidiary, Zander Therapeutics Inc." About Zander Therapeutics Inc. and Entest BioMedical Inc.: Zander Therapeutics is a subsidiary of Entest BioMedical Inc. (OTCPink: ENTB), a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on veterinary medicine. The Company seeks to develop small molecule and immune stimulating therapies for veterinary applications. Currently, the Company's major interest is in developing small molecule therapies for treating cancer and autoimmune diseases in animals, which include arthritis. Zander Therapeutics Inc. is the exclusive licensee for veterinary applications of Regen BioPharma Inc.'s (OTCQB: RGBP) (OTCQB: RGBPP) intellectual property and technology relating to NR2F6. NR2F6 is a molecular switch known as an 'orphan nuclear receptor', which controls genes associated with the immune response. Zander Therapeutics is solely focused on veterinary applications. David Koos serves as Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Regen BioPharma, Inc. (OTCQB: RGBP), Entest BioMedical Inc. (OTCPINK: ENTB) and Zander Therapeutics Inc. (subsidiary of Entest BioMedical Inc.). Disclaimer: This news announcement may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties to which forward looking statements are subject include, but are not limited to, the effect of government regulation, competition and other material risks. CONTACT INFORMATION Zander Therapeutics Inc. and Entest BioMedical Inc. David R. Koos, Ph.D. Chairman & Chief Executive Officer +1-619-702-1404 Phone +1-619-330-2328 Fax [email protected] http://www.zandertherapeutics.com/ SOURCE Entest BioMedical Inc. ZURICH, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- - Inclusion in Growth Accelerator Program The Zurich-based FinTech start-up, Evolute has successfully completed its first round of external financing. Well-known figures from the finance and start-up scene invested a total of 6 million Swiss francs in the provider of a comprehensive wealth management platform solution. At the same time, Evolute has been accepted into the Swiss Startup Factory's Growth Accelerator Program. In March, the Evolute Group announced a merger with SwissComply, the leading provider of regulatory services for asset managers, and Evolute is now taking a further step ahead. Its first round of external financing has been completed. The new capital will be used for further development of the wealth management platform, and to expand innovative technologies for tailor-made portfolio optimization. Kaspar Wohnlich, CEO of the Evolute Group, comments: "The series A round has secured the basis for further growth and helps us take a big step closer to achieving our vision, which involves much more than just industrialization and digitalization in the field of wealth management. In addition to the continuous further development of our platform, our aim is to efficiently link the needs of the asset management industry with future regulatory requirements. Furthermore, the portfolio optimization technology will be made available to banks for the first time this summer. As a result, portfolio management will be completely redefined, margins will increase due to cost efficiencies and significantly greater personalization will be possible." Founding investor and board member Michael Hartweg explains: "It took just a few days to fill the financing book. The great demand from investors is very pleasing for us and is a great incentive for us, as well as representing a vote of confidence in our technology, the business model and our employees." Swiss Startup Factory provides added gloss. The company also announced that it has been included in the Growth Accelerator Program of the Swiss Startup Factory. This program selects the best start-up companies in Switzerland that are currently in a significant growth phase. Co-founder & executive chairman of Swiss Startup Factory Mike Baur is also pleased about the involvement of Evolute: "With the inclusion of Evolute in the SSUF Growth Accelerator Program, we have acquired one of the most exciting and fastest growing FinTech companies in Switzerland. I am looking forward to working with the team." About Evolute Group AG With 48 employees, Evolute Group AG is one of the largest and fastest growing providers of comprehensive technology and platform solutions for wealth and asset management in Switzerland. Evolute Group AG is a reliable partner for banks, asset managers with and without collective investments, and family offices for comprehensive software solutions, compliance, legal, and risk management, as well as data operations. Evolute Group AG is based in Zug, Switzerland with additional locations in Zurich, Switzerland and Lviv, Ukraine. #fintech #regtech #wealthmanagement #growthaccelerator #evolute Website: http://www.evolute.com Follow us on LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter: Evolute Group AG. Further information: Evolute Group AG T +41(0)44-515-97-00 [email protected] SOURCE Evolute Group AG WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (OTC Bulletin Board: FNMA) said today that it has transferred to private investors a portion of the credit risk on single-family mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $1 trillion at the time of the transactions through its credit risk transfer programs since 2013. This includes the company's benchmark Connecticut Avenue Securities (CAS), Credit Insurance Risk Transfer (CIRT), and front-end lender risk sharing transactions. This milestone reinforces Fannie Mae's commitment to develop broad and liquid markets for credit risk that reduce taxpayer risk, offer an attractive investment option for investors in mortgage credit, and help to build a stronger housing finance system. "Fannie Mae's credit risk sharing program has changed our business model. It's making us stronger, it's making the housing finance system stronger, and it's making taxpayers safer," said Andrew Bon Salle, Executive Vice President, Single-Family Mortgage Business, Fannie Mae. "Fannie Mae is proud to be a leader in a growing market for an entirely new asset class one that is providing new avenues for investors to support housing opportunities for communities across the country." Through Fannie Mae's market-leading credit risk management capabilities, the company acts as an intermediary between lenders and investors by setting standards, providing credit risk management oversight, and maintaining stability through business cycles. By developing a suite of credit risk-sharing initiatives, the company offers opportunities for financial institutions to invest in the credit performance of its single-family book of business. Fannie Mae provides exceptional transparency to investors through data, resources, and tools available on its website. Fannie Mae's credit risk sharing program has been recognized by leading industry publication, GlobalCapital, for successfully navigating the securitization market in 2016. GlobalCapital named Fannie Mae as the "Best Overall Issuer" for both single-family and multifamily products, and "Best RMBS Issuer" for the CAS program. Fannie Mae's Connecticut Avenue Securities, Series 2016-C01, transaction was named "Best RMBS Deal of the Year" and GlobalCapital recognized Fannie Mae's single-family loan performance dataset as "RMBS Data Provider of the Year." Our Connecticut Avenue Securities (CAS) program was launched in 2013 and created a new market for investing in mortgage credit risk. Fannie Mae's CAS transactions share credit risk on a portion of newly originated, qualifying mortgage loans that are underwritten using strong credit standards and enhanced risk controls. CAS credit-linked debt notes offer ongoing, programmatic issuance and consistent structures. Multiple dealers make daily secondary markets in CAS and provide research coverage and analytical tools. Loan-level data disclosures and an extensive historical dataset are available to support deal analysis. Fannie Mae's Credit Insurance Risk Transfer (CIRT) program is a key risk-sharing vehicle that complements its CAS transactions. Launched in 2014, CIRT transactions transfer a portion of the credit risk on a pool of loans either directly to an insurer that retains that risk, or to an insurance provider that simultaneously transfers that risk to one or more reinsurers that are a significant and attractive source of private capital. Fannie Mae provides pricing disclosure on its website for all CIRT transactions executed to-date. For more information on Fannie Mae's credit risk sharing program, visit Fannie Mae's Credit Risk Sharing website. Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of Americans. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit fanniemae.com and follow us on twitter.com/fanniemae. SOURCE Fannie Mae Related Links http://www.fanniemae.com CARROLLTON, Texas, May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FASTSIGNS International, Inc., franchisor of FASTSIGNS, the leading sign, graphics and visual communications franchise, announced today that it is attending and sponsoring the National Business Media Show from June 13, 2017 at the Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium. The company is recruiting franchisees for expansion throughout Indiana and the Midwest, with a focus on targeting conversion and co-branded locations. "FASTSIGNS offers exceptional conversion and co-brand opportunities for business owners within the print and signage industry that have demonstrated phenomenal success for franchisees within our organization," said Mark Jameson, EVP of Franchise Support and Development, FASTSIGNS International, Inc. "We are thrilled to exhibit at the National Business Media Show in Indianapolis and look forward to networking with potential franchisees who can Convert or Co-Brand with only $15,000 down on the franchise fee." Local entrepreneurs are invited to meet with the brand's franchise development team at booth #823 to learn more about conversion and co-branded location opportunities throughout Indiana including downtown Indianapolis, Plainfield/Avon, Terre Haute, Anderson and Muncie, among others. Due to the ongoing worldwide need for visual communications and digital signage technology, and an extremely successful 2016, the company expects to open a projected 45 locations in 2017. FASTSIGNS International, Inc. closed out 2016 with record-breaking growth and was recently ranked number 1 in the Business Services/Signs category and 95 overall in Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500, the world's first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking. Acknowledged by entrepreneurs and franchisors as a top competitive tool of measurement, the Franchise 500 recognizes FASTSIGNS for its exceptional performance in areas including financial strength and stability, growth rate and brand power. In addition to more than 400 U.S. and Canadian markets targeted for development, FASTSIGNS has 65+ international locations open for continued expansion. As part of the brand's development strategy, FASTSIGNS is targeting co-brand and conversion opportunities whereby print shop owners can expand their services by adding FASTSIGNS to their existing business or convert their business into a thriving FASTSIGNS center. For information about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity, contact Mark Jameson ([email protected] or 214-346-5679) or download an eBook that explores the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity at http://amzn.to/1FrnDJu. About FASTSIGNS FASTSIGNS International, Inc. is the largest sign and visual communications franchisor in North America, and is the worldwide franchisor of 660 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS centers in nine countries including the US, Canada, England, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Grand Cayman, Mexico and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE). FASTSIGNS locations provide comprehensive sign and visual graphic solutions to help companies of all sizes and across all industries attract more attention, communicate their message, sell more products, help visitors find their way and extend their branding across all of their customer touch points including decor, events, wearables and marketing materials. Learn more about sign and visual graphic solutions or find a location at fastsigns.com. Follow the brand on Twitter @FASTSIGNS, Facebook at facebook.com/FASTSIGNS or LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fastsigns. CONTACT: Chelsea Bear Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 [email protected] SOURCE FASTSIGNS Related Links http://www.fish-consulting.com CHICAGO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 18 million children will lose access to school lunch and breakfast programs when class lets out for summer break1. This is why Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, and Conagra Brands Foundation have partnered to provide more meals to kids when they need them most. To address summer hunger, the Conagra Brands Foundation has awarded 25 Feeding America member food banks with Hunger-Free Summer grants totaling $700,000. "Proper nutrition is critical to a child's development, yet millions of children in the U.S. do not have reliable access to meals. This issue is more prevalent during the summer, when school is not in session," said Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America. "We are thankful to Conagra Brands Foundation for its generous and ongoing support of the Feeding America network. Working together, we will be able to help more families in local communities by ensuring that more children have access to healthy meals." During the school year, 22 million children receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program. When school is out during the summer, less than four million children receive meals through the USDA Summer Food Service Program1. This dramatic decline during the summer is due to a lack of access to meal sites, insufficient program awareness and limited resources. For the eighth consecutive summer, Conagra Brands Foundation has supported more than 20 communities across the country to strengthen their summer feeding programs, which has been a visionary partner of Feeding America and the fight against hunger for over 20 years. Feeding America summer feeding program models include the BackPack Program, School Pantry Program, Kids Cafe and more. Since 1998, Conagra Brands has donated the equivalent of 350 million meals and $45 million in funding to the fight against hunger. "Children should not have to worry about where they'll find their next meal. But this is the case for millions of children across the country during the summer months. Conagra Brands Foundation is proud to partner with the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks to address and reduce the significant issue of food insecurity across the country," says Robert Rizzo, Conagra Brands Foundation. To learn more about summer hunger or find a summer feeding site in your community, visit www.feedingamerica.org. For more information, please contact: Mamie Moore Director of Communication, Feeding America 312.641.5645 [email protected] About Conagra Brands Foundation's Hunger-Free Summer Grants This summer, 25 Feeding America food banks in 15 states will receive Hunger-Free Summer grants, funded by the Conagra Brands Foundation and distributed by Feeding America, to start new or expand existing summer feeding programs. These grants totaling $700,000ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 eachwill allow the food banks to serve food in school libraries during the summer months, provide meals to kindergarteners at summer camp, deliver boxes of food to families in need and beyond. About Conagra Brands Foundation Conagra Brands Foundation believes everyone has a right to healthy and nutritious food knowing that food insecurity exists in every U.S. county. The Foundation partners with exceptional national and local nonprofits with high-impact programs located in the communities where we live and work. By focusing our efforts within five areas: Direct Food Access, Cooking Skills, Nutrition Education, Healthy and Active Lifestyles and Urban Agriculture, we are able to be a leader in the fight against food insecurity in North America. Conagra Brands Foundation partners with Feeding America and its network of 200 food banks across the U.S. Together they increase access to innovative programs such as Hunger-Free Summer and improve capacity at local food banks. For more information, please visit http://www.conagrabrands.com/our-company/corporate-social-responsibility/conagra-brands-foundation. About Feeding America Feeding America is the largest hunger-relief organization in the Unites States. Through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, we provide meals to more than 46 million people each year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. 1 2016 U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food & Nutrition Service SOURCE Feeding America Related Links http://www.feedingamerica.org LONDON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlights: 31 percent of UK executives surveyed say their firm has no cybersecurity insurance, compared to 40 percent in other countries surveyed of UK executives surveyed say their firm has no cybersecurity insurance, compared to 40 percent in other countries surveyed Only 28 percent of UK firms surveyed have cybersecurity insurance that covers all risks surveyed have cybersecurity insurance that covers all risks 69 percent of respondents say insurers should do more to explain how they price risk of respondents say insurers should do more to explain how they price risk Ovum conducted telephone surveys for FICO of security executives at 350 companies in the UK and other countries UK firms are increasingly protecting themselves with cybersecurity risk insurance, but nearly a third of firms have not taken out insurance yet. A new survey conducted by research and consultancy firm Ovum for Silicon Valley analytics firm FICO reveals that even among those that have insurance, only 28 percent said they have cybersecurity insurance that covers all risks. FICO will host a Tweet Chat on the cybersecurity survey with Ovum tomorrow at 16:00 BST. Individuals are encouraged to participate using #cybertrends. Even though the majority of firms surveyed have cybersecurity insurance, most say that the risk assessment process insurers use needs improvement. Just 31 percent of respondents think their premiums reflect an accurate assessment of their risk. Nearly as many, 29 percent, said they don't believe the assessment accurately reflects their risk, and 11 percent said they don't know how their insurance is priced. "The UK will soon be subject to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which introduces higher fines in cases of data breach," said Steve Hadaway, FICO general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "Even if attacks don't increase in volume, firms could end up paying more, which makes having comprehensive insurance more important. At the same time, companies have a right to expect that they will pay less if their protection is better. The onus is on the cybersecurity insurance industry to make sure insurance rates are fairly set for each individual firm, based on a sound analysis of its risk." Ovum conducted the survey for FICO through telephone interviews with 350 CXOs and senior security officers based in the US, Canada, the UK and the Nordics in March and April 2017. Respondents represented firms in financial services, telecommunications, retail, ecommerce and media service providers. For more information, read our white paper: http://www.fico.com/en/latest-thinking/white-paper/what-the-c-suite-needs-to-know-about-cyber-readiness About FICO FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 170 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time. Learn more at http://www.fico.com FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. About Ovum Ovum is a market-leading research and consulting firm focused on helping digital service providers and their vendor partners thrive in the connected digital economy. Through its 150 analysts worldwide, it offers expert analysis and strategic insight across the IT, telecoms, and media industries. Founded in 1985, Ovum has one of the most experienced analyst teams in the industry and is a respected source of guidance for technology business leaders, CIOs, vendors, service providers, and regulators looking for comprehensive, accurate, and insightful market data, research, and consulting. With 23 offices across six continents, Ovum offers a truly global perspective on technology and media markets and provides thousands of clients with insight including workflow tools, forecasts, surveys, market assessments, technology audits, and opinion. Ovum is part of the Business Intelligence Division of Informa plc, a leading business intelligence, academic publishing, knowledge and events group listed on the London Stock Exchange. https://ovum.informa.com/ SOURCE FICO Related Links http://www.fico.com LONDON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Biosimilars is set to be one of the fastest growing segments of the global pharma industry, with major opportunities across therapeutic areas like rheumatoid arthritis with AbbVie's Humira (adalimumab), cancer with Roche's Herceptin (trastuzumab), and diabetes with Sanofi's Lantus (insulin glargine). The combination of technology related disruptions, emerging clinical requirements, ongoing investments, and new entrants across the industry value chain will fuel a remarkable 62.1 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during 2014-2020 to take revenues to USD 30 billion. "As patents expire, better defined regulatory pathways, and escalating healthcare costs boost demand for biosimilars, early entry into new opportunities can offer participants the competitive advantage through experience, brand recognition and new patents," noted Transformational Health Research Analyst Saravanan Thangaraj. Biosimilars Market, Europe, Forecast to 2025, new research from Frost & Sullivan's Life Sciences Growth Partnership Service program, finds that Europe will remain the largest contributor to global biosimilar revenues for the next 57 years, supported by pricing, physician awareness, and regulatory agencies. Across the region, payers are adopting a variety of approaches to encourage physicians to prescribe biosimilar medicines, motivate manufacturers to participate in the market, and provide adequate clinical evidence to support the prescribing of these treatments. Novartis, Lonza, Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, Sandoz, Pfizer, Mylan, Samsung Bioepis, Hospira, Eli Lilly are among key market players. To learn more about the Biosimilars Market in Europe or to speak to us, please click here: http://frost.ly/1mr. The presence of over 400 commercial providers worldwide makes it challenging to differentiate and compete against market leaders. Reluctance of physicians to prescribe biosimilars, given its lack of long-term safety and efficacy data, high capital requirements, complex regulatory approval processes, and upcoming biobetters, can rein in the potentially explosive growth of biosimilars. With healthcare rapidly becoming more patient-centric, providing access to medications and a better quality of life for patients becomes a crucial factor for payers. As the majority of patients are not receiving treatment due to its high cost and lack of insurance coverage, there is a willingness to use low-cost biosimilars. "Establishing interchangeability is an important step to ensure complete acceptance of biosimilars and high market penetration," said Thangaraj. "Currently, lack of clarity in guidelines and regulations owing to technical barriers and complexity associated with the manufacturing process prevents regulators from designating a biosimilar as interchangeable. While biosimilars promise the same effect at a reduced price, a biobetter will possess some molecular or chemical modification that constitutes an improvement over the originator drug and its biosimilar competitors." Approval of new biosimilars can help European healthcare systems realise savings of more than EUR 10 billion in the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) between 2016 and 2020. This is based on direct competition for the originator molecule, excluding any indirect competition for other in-class or therapy-area specific product sales. A 30 percent reduction in price per treatment day across eight key originator biologics, scheduled to lose exclusivity by 2020, could also yield cumulative savings for of about EUR 15 billion over the next five years. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion Biosimilars Market, Europe, Forecast to 2025 MCAA-52 Contact: Jana Schoneborn Corporate Communications Europe P: +49 (0)69 77033 43 E: [email protected] twitter: @FS_Healthcare LinkedIn: Transform Health http://ww2.frost.com SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links http://www.frost.com MONROVIA, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority (Construction Authority) hosted an Industry Workshop at the DoubleTree Hotel in Monrovia, CA. The event drew more than 200 small business representatives and prime contractors interested in upcoming business opportunities with the Construction Authority as the agency begins procurement for the nearly $1.4 billion, six-station Foothill Gold Line light rail project from Glendora to Montclair. Event attendees were given the opportunity to network and meet potential teaming partners before receiving information from key project representatives on the upcoming contracting opportunities and project status and timeline. Attendees also learned about the Construction Authority's Small Business Enterprise (SBE) program, which has a goal of 16.6% participation by SBEs in all contracts. "Today's Industry Workshop marks the beginning of the procurement phase for the Glendora to Montclair project; a day many of us have been tirelessly working towards for many years," said Doug Tessitor, Chairman of the Foothill Gold Line board of directors. "With Measure M's passage last November, the majority of the funding needed for the project was secured; and because the Construction Authority was able to complete the segment from Pasadena to Azusa under budget, we are able to kick the Glendora to Montclair segment off a few years earlier than anticipated in Measure M, using residual Measure R funds." Two significant contracts will be procured in the next 18 months by the Construction Authority for the project (1) Utility Relocation design-bid-build contract and (2) Alignment design-build contract. The Requests for Bids (RFB) for the Utility Relocation contract will be issued in July 2017, with the contract award anticipated in September 2017. The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Alignment contract, the first step in a multi-step procurement process, will be issued in November 2017, with short-listed teams determined in February 2018. Short-listed teams will then receive the Request for Proposals. "There was tremendous interest and turnout at the workshop, which bodes well for the quality of the potential bidders," stated Habib F. Balian, CEO of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority. "Having a large pool of highly qualified contractors and skilled talent to work with benefits the project and taxpayers." Small businesses in attendance ranged in key specialties integral to designing and building a light rail project, including civil, structural, systems, utilities and architecture. All attendees were added to the Project Interest List that will be given to prime contractors who will be bidding on the two contracts. More information on the contracting opportunities with the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority can be found by visiting http://www.foothillgoldline.org/contact_us/contracting-opportunities/. About the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority is an independent transportation planning and construction agency created in 1998 by the California State Legislature to plan, design and build the Metro Gold Line light rail system from Union Station to Montclair, along the Foothills of the San Gabriel Valley. The agency completed the first segment from Union Station to Pasadena in 2003 and the Pasadena to Azusa segment in 2015; both on time and under budget. The agency began work on the Foothill Gold Line from Glendora to Montclair in 2003. The Glendora to Montclair project was environmentally cleared in March 2013 under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and completed advanced conceptual engineering in September 2016. Groundbreaking is set for October 21, 2017, with substantial completion anticipated in late-2025 to early-2026. When completed, the extension will add new stations in the cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. Ridership on the extension alone is anticipated to exceed 18,300 boardings on weekdays by 2035. The majority of the funding needed to build the Glendora to Montclair segment is being allocated through Los Angeles County's Measure M sales tax, which takes effect July 1, 2017. Residual Measure R funding will also be used, along with funding from San Bernardino County to complete the portion of the project from Claremont to Montclair. SOURCE Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Related Links http://www.foothillgoldline.org Ard's experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) defined her career and passion for manufacturing early on. Before joining Proterra, Ard was CFO at AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group (AMG), a publicly held global specialty metals and engineering company. During her tenure as CFO, net debt was driven down by over $200 million and AMG's share price improved by over 30%, despite a significant downturn in the commodity sector. Ard also took AMG through a $275 million IPO, refinanced a $320 million debt facility, led the integration of two key acquisitions with purchase prices in excess of $25 million and implemented a global cash and risk management system. Over the course of her career, Ard has accrued multifaceted corporate finance experience and has proven her unique ability to build talented teams, create operational excellence, and manage cash flows for capital-intensive projects, while accurately forecasting quarterly financial earnings. "With impressive year-over-year growth, Proterra has reached a critical point in the transit market. I'm very excited to join at this time, and help the company achieve its vision of a 100 percent clean transit future for all," said Proterra Chief Financial Officer Amy Ard. "I look forward to working with such a diverse and dynamic team as we venture to bring affordable, zero-emission buses to North America's masses." On the heels of an oversubscribed $140 million Series 5 funding round in January, exceptional sales growth in the 1H2017 with Seattle's King County Metro committing to a 100 percent zero-emission fleet by 2030, and national expansion, Ard joins Proterra at a time of rapid growth. In 2016 alone, Proterra more than doubled sales growth, and the company has increased its workforce across its three facilities by more than 50 percent in Greenville, S.C., as well as Burlingame and City of Industry, Calif. "We are honored to have such a seasoned corporate finance leader join the Proterra management team," said Proterra CEO Ryan Popple. "Having successfully navigated the complexities of limited supply chains, volatile commodity pricing and the public markets, I'm confident Amy will be a major asset to Proterra." About Proterra: Proterra is a leader in the design and manufacture of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles, enabling bus fleet operators to significantly reduce operating costs while delivering clean, quiet transportation to local communities across the United States. With more than 400 vehicles sold to 38 different municipal, university, and commercial transit agencies in 20 states, Proterra is committed to providing state of the art, high performance vehicles to meet today's growing market demand. The company's configurable Catalyst platform is capable of serving the full daily mileage needs of nearly every U.S. transit route on a single charge. With unmatched durability and energy efficiency based on rigorous U.S. certification testing, Proterra products are proudly designed, engineered and manufactured in America, with offices in Silicon Valley, South Carolina, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit: http://www.proterra.com and follow us on Twitter @Proterra_Inc. SOURCE Proterra Related Links http://www.proterra.com MINNEAPOLIS, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- View Complaint Here > William Bisek has sued his former employer, Border Foods, Inc. one of the largest Taco Bell franchisees in the United States for retaliation under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act. Mr. Bisek alleges that he was wrongfully terminated for reporting serious food safety violations at Taco Bell's Columbia Heights, Minnesota, location to Border Foods' management. The Columbia Heights Taco Bell is one of over 60 Taco Bell locations owned and operated by Border Foods. Mr. Bisek's Complaint filed in Hennepin County on May 31, 2017 describes how he was terminated the day after he escalated reports to Border Foods' regional managers regarding food safety practices that violated the Minnesota Food Code and other laws protecting consumers. These food safety violations included extensive and clearly visible mold growing in the water supply tank and on the spouts for the beverage machines, and serving expired meats, tortillas, and taco shells to customers when the expiration dates marked on the storage containers had been fraudulently changed by employees. Mr. Bisek's complaint also involved improper sanitation: for example, the water temperature at the washing sinks was at least 40 degrees F below minimum requirements and a toilet brush and plunger that were often wet were kept at the front counter where money was exchanged. "The food safety violations at issue here are shocking and appalling," said Lawrence. P. Schaefer of Schaefer Halleen, Mr. Bisek's attorney. "The law protects employees so they can be confident that if they put their neck out in an attempt to stop their employer from putting public safety at risk, they will not suffer retaliation. We intend to demonstrate for the court that Border Foods terminated Mr. Bisek because he blew the whistle and to prevent him from continuing to do so. We believe the company's conduct here goes to the heart of why we have whistleblower laws," said Mr. Schaefer. "Perhaps naively, I honestly thought Border Foods would appreciate me flagging these food safety problems for them. Because the violations were so obvious and the implications for Taco Bell customers so clear, I thought the company would quickly address them and I might even be looked at in a positive light for helping them come into compliance. I could not have been more wrong and it unfortunately cost me a great career opportunity," said Mr. Bisek. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Peter G. Christian at (612) 294-2619 or email at [email protected]. To review the background of Schaefer Halleen, LLC, and the groundbreaking discrimination, whistleblower, and retaliation cases Lawrence P. Schaefer, Peter Christian and Schaefer Halleen have prosecuted, please visit www.schaeferhalleen.com. The publicly filed Complaint is available on this website as well. Contact Lawrence P. Schaefer Peter G. Christian Schaefer Halleen, LLC 412 South Fourth Street, Suite 1050 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Phone: 612-294-2619 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Web: www.SchaeferHalleen.com SOURCE Schaefer Halleen, LLC Related Links http://www.schaeferhalleen.com WESTON, Fla., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- SALUD al dia magazine welcomes Nicklaus Children's Doral - Outpatient Center, as one of their most recent advertisers and thank the Miami Children's Health System for their trust. Nicklaus Children's Hospital, formerly Miami Children's Hospital, has always been dedicated to continuous improvement and in 2008 our CEO Narendra Kini M.D. and other hospital executives invested in training a select group of employees on "Lean" methodology and attained significant results. Nicklaus Children's Hospital, has received four Global Six Sigma & Business Improvement Awards, more than any other organization for their success in embracing Lean as an organizational priority. "When your pediatrician's office is closed and your child needs medical treatment, we offer the comfort of walk-in urgent care service with no appointment needed. With a typically lower co-pay than an emergency room, the Nicklaus Children's Urgent Care Centers offer personalized and prompt care for babies, children, teens and young adults through 21 years old provided by board-certified pediatric physicians for minor injuries and illnesses." About SALUD al dia magazine : this is a fully SPANISH life style health magazine that offers hard-hitting, current and authoritative medical news with individual perspectives for our Hispanic readership, written by medical doctors and health professionals. We are the Hispanic printed media channel of diffusion for excellence for private and public health organizations. SOURCE SALUD al dia magazine Related Links http://www.saludaldiamagazine.com Yamaha leveraged its 48 years of experience in the professional audio systems market to become one of the first vendors to develop portable USB connectivity endpoints, such as the PJP-10UR, PJP-20UR and PJP-50USB. In 2012, Yamaha was ranked second in the USB conference phone segment with a revenue share of 18.7 percent. Building on this success, it released the YVC-1000 microphone and speaker system, a USB and Bluetooth group audio conferencing endpoint for larger rooms and video teleconference systems. Today, the YVC-1000 model is sold to different businesses around the world, including The Japanese Red Cross Society, Canon Systems and Support Inc. in Japan and Summit Public Schools in the United States. "Looking to expand its presence internationally across distributors and technology partners, Yamaha acquired Massachusetts-based Revolabs in March 2014, a pioneer in the wireless conference phone segment," said Frost & Sullivan ICT Principal Analyst Alaa Saayed. "After the acquisition, Revolabs continues to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamaha. Revolabs' technical expertise and distribution network combined with Yamaha's superior sound engineering capabilities, experience, and financial capabilities, has made it the second-biggest competitor in the tabletop audio conferencing endpoints market." In addition to robust operations in Japan and North America, Yamaha has expanded sales across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. The acquisition of Revolabs endowed Yamaha with a wide array of group conferencing products and technologies, including Revolabs' popular FLX wireless conference phone series, UC-enabled VoIP, USB-wired conference phones and Cisco's 8831 tabletop conference phone. "Over the last two years, Yamaha has strived to validate and certify its phones with a wide range of enterprise communications and UC solutions. This allowed the company to penetrate customer bases that use solutions from different communications vendors, including BlueJeans, Zoom, Vidyo, BroadSoft, Google, Metaswitch, and Microsoft, among others," noted Saayed. "Yamaha continues to grow and enhance its channel ecosystem to include a number of distributors around the world." Yamaha's differentiated product portfolio is complemented by a superior customer service experience. A number of online resources, including software and firmware downloads, technical documentations, FAQs, and warranty information are available to customers. Furthermore, Yamaha's ability to offer compact, power-packed solutions at affordable prices enhances the customer ownership experience. Overall, Yamaha's undisputed brand recognition and desire to constantly expand has made it richly deserving of the 2016 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Growth Excellence Leadership. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in growth and customer value. It recognizes the superiority of the product/service, as well as the overall customer, purchase, ownership, and service experiences offered, which have resulted in the recipient company seeing above-market growth and increased share of wallet. The award lauds the growth, diversification, and sustainability strategies of the company. Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for outstanding achievement in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research. About Yamaha Corporation Since its founding in 1887, the Yamaha Corporation Group has developed its business activities focusing on musical instruments, audio products, Yamaha music schools, semiconductors, and other products and services related to sound and music. With its unique expertise and sensibilities, gained from our devotion to sound and music, Yamaha is committed to creating excitement and cultural inspiration together with people around the world. http://www.yamaha.com/ About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact: Chiara Carella P: +44 (0) 207.343.8314 F: 210.348.1003 E: [email protected] SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links http://www.frost.com SARASOTA, Fla., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gardner Capital announced it received a reservation of housing tax credits from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to help fund the redevelopment of the existing public housing apartments at Amaryllis Park Place in the Newtown neighborhood of Sarasota, Florida. The Amaryllis Park Place redevelopment project, located on Orange Avenue approximately one mile north of Sarasota's central business district, will provide comfortable, affordable and secure homes for 84 senior families. It will include modern amenities, such as a computer lab, community room for events, secured access entry, community wi-fi, and a fitness center. Gardner Capital will partner with Sarasota Housing Authority (SHA) and Duvernay & Brooks, LLC to fund and develop Amaryllis Park Place. The project is part of SHA's Newtown Redevelopment Plan, intended to revitalize housing in the Rosemary District and Amaryllis Park neighborhoods of Newtown. "We are delighted to partner with Sarasota Housing Authority and Duvernay & Brooks to redevelop the Amaryllis Park Place apartments and improve the wellbeing of its tenants. We look forward to working with our partners on similar projects in the future," said Michael Gardner, Principal at Gardner Capital. About Gardner Capital Gardner Capital is an affordable housing and solar tax credit development, syndication, and investment company with primary regional offices in St. Louis, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Springfield, Missouri. Since 1992, Gardner Capital has placed more than two billion dollars of equity in affordable housing. More recently, Gardner Capital added a rapidly growing solar development and investment platform with several solar projects across the United States. The principals, Mark Gardner and Michael Gardner, remain committed to improving the wellbeing of families by developing and raising capital for affordable housing and clean energy projects. Visit www.gardnercapital.com for more information. SOURCE Gardner Capital Related Links http://www.gardnercapital.com More than 200 corporate and community leaders attended the INROADS, Inc. inaugural fundraising and awards celebration Celebrating Excellence in Leadership held recently at the Hyatt Regency Washington. Emceed by NBC Washington reporter, Meagan Fitzgerald, the black-tie gala, reception and dinner recognized corporations and individuals that honor, support and advance INROADS' mission through exemplary leadership, advocacy, innovation and partnership. "It was an amazing inaugural event and a magical evening," said Forest Harper, President and CEO of INROADS, Inc. "We are deeply grateful to our sponsors and everyone who made donations; your support helps ensure that INROADS will continue transforming lives. I look forward to making this gala an annual event." Other awards recipients and honorees included: The Frank C. Carr Award for corporate partners who have exhibited a commitment to the diversity talent pipeline and supported the INROADS mission: Kaiser Permanente. Award for corporate partners who have exhibited a commitment to the diversity talent pipeline and supported the INROADS mission: Kaiser Permanente. The INROADS Lifetime Achievement Award for individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to advancing diversity: Tom Joyner , nationally syndicated radio host and philanthropist. , nationally syndicated radio host and philanthropist. The INROADS Alumni of the Year Awards for INROADS Alumni whose professional success both exemplifies and honors the INROADS legacy: Andrew Au , Founder, Intercept Group; the Honorable Shera Grant, 10th Judicial Circuit Jefferson County, Ala. ; and The Honorable Shanta Owens, 10th Judicial Circuit Jefferson County, Ala. Event sponsors included Lockheed Martin, United Technologies Corporation, JPMorgan, Volkswagen, PwC, Harris Corp., Husch Blackwell, Nucor, Burson-Marstellar and Xerox. All proceeds raised at the event will benefit INROADS' leadership and career development programs, including: INROADS College Links , educational instruction, coaching, work skills, and college planning workshops for high school students and their parents. , educational instruction, coaching, work skills, and college planning workshops for high school students and their parents. INROADS CORE College Program , known as the Leadership Development Academy , which includes a paid internship and year-round development program; and access to INROADS national conference called Leadership Development Institute (LDI). , known as the , which includes a paid internship and year-round development program; and access to INROADS national conference called INROADS' Alumni Services, providing professional counsel, support and access to job boards and networking events to graduates of the CORE College Program. About INROADS Founded in 1970, INROADS develops and places talented underserved youth in business and industry, preparing them for corporate and community leadership that affects community renewal and social change and elevates economic status and quality of life. INROADS has placed students in over 135,000 paid internships throughout its history, and graduated over 28,000 alumni into fulltime professional and leadership positions with over 1,000 corporate partners. Currently, INROADS serves nearly 1,300 interns and 200 corporate clients. To learn more, visit INROADS.org/benefitgala/ SOURCE INROADS Inc. Related Links http://www.inroads.org BETHESDA, Md., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Generali Global Assistance (or "the Company"), a leader in the assistance industry since its founding in 1963 and part of the global Generali Group, and the developer of a proprietary and innovative identity protection platform, today announced that it will present at the IdentityNorth conference, taking place June 6-7, 2017 in Toronto. The Company will serve as a Gold Sponsor of the event and Dr. Eugene Delaune, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Generali Global Assistance, will host a presentation titled, "The Growing Concern of Medical Identity Fraud", on Tuesday, June 6 at 1:00pm EDT, at TELUS Tower. Dr. Delaune will leverage his significant subject matter expertise in both the identity protection and medical fields to provide attendees with a number of important considerations for organizations to help their customers protect against, and resolve, medical identity fraud. This particular type of fraud occurs when a nefarious party uses an individual's personally identifiable information or protected health information to fraudulently receive medical services, prescription drugs, or other healthcare goods. The use of a false identity for fraudulent healthcare billing is also considered medical identity fraud. Dr. Delaune's presentation will offer insights that are especially critical given the alarming increase in medical identity fraud in recent years, as well as the wide-ranging consequences of this crime. Dr. Delaune commented on today's news, "The costs of medical identity fraud can average in the thousands of dollars, but even more frightening are the medical impacts. Inaccurate medical records can create unsafe situations when there is confusion about the victim's true health status, which can lead to misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and delay in receiving proper care. Additionally, disclosure of sensitive health information can lead to embarrassment and even employment issues. I look forward to arming IdentityNorth attendees with the information necessary to identify, prevent and resolve medical identity fraud." Generali Global Assistance will host a cocktail reception on Tuesday, June 6 from 5:30pm-6:30pm EDT at the conference venue in order to promote information-sharing and networking among those industry-leading professionals who will be in attendance. The Company has protected the assets of organizations and their customers for over 50 years, and was one of the first organizations to offer identity theft protection and resolution services in the United States. Medical identity fraud is one of the key types of identity crimes that Generali Global Assistance works tirelessly to protect against, and the Company has partnered with the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance for years to support this initiative. Paige Schaffer, President and COO of Generali Global Assistance's Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit, concluded, "While identity fraud is not as prevalent in Canada as in the U.S., our neighbors to the north still rank eleventh in the world in terms of identity theft rates. IdentityNorth is an ideal venue for exchanging information about identity protection trends and technologies, including those specifically pertinent to medical identity fraud and the Canadian market. We look forward to sharing our knowledge about the factors driving identity protection in today's digital world, and are thrilled to be a part of such an outstanding conference." Further information about IdentityNorth 2017 is available at http://www.identitynorth.ca/. About Generali Global Assistance Generali Global Assistance has been a leading provider of travel insurance and other assistance services for more than 25 years. The Company offers a full suite of innovative, vertically integrated travel insurance and emergency services, identity protection solutions, and beneficiary companion services. Generali Global Assistance is part of the multinational Generali Group, which for over 185 years has created a presence in 60 countries with over 76,000 employees. Our success has been built on the foundation of trust that clients have placed in our ability to provide assistance in the most difficult of circumstances. GGA Media Contact Jay A. Morakis M Group Strategic Communications (for Generali Global Assistance North America) +1 212 266 0191 [email protected] GGA Marketing Contact Eugenia Buggs VP, Global Marketing, Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit +1 240.330.1091 [email protected] SOURCE Generali Global Assistance Related Links http://us.generaliglobalassistance.com/ DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Waterproofing Membranes Market Analysis & Trends - Industry Forecast to 2025" report to their offering. The Global Waterproofing Membranes Market is poised to grow at a CAGR of around 10.4% over the next decade to reach approximately $54.2 billion by 2025. This industry report analyzes the market estimates and forecasts of all the given segments on global as well as regional levels presented in the research scope. The study provides historical market data for 2014, 2015 revenue estimations are presented for 2016 and forecasts from 2016 till 2025. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies. With comprehensive market assessment across the major geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Latin America and Rest of the world the report is a valuable asset for the existing players, new entrants and the future investors. The study presents detailed market analysis with inputs derived from industry professionals across the value chain. A special focus has been made on 23 countries such as U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, Spain, France, Italy, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, etc. The market data is gathered from extensive primary interviews and secondary research. The market size is calculated based on the revenue generated through sales from all the given segments and sub segments in the research scope. The market sizing analysis includes both top-down and bottom-up approaches for data validation and accuracy measures. Key Topics Covered: 1 Market Outline 2 Executive Summary 3 Market Overview 3.1 Current Trends 3.1.1 Growing construction activities are impacting the market growth 3.1.2 Raising awareness in water management 3.1.3 Recent technological developments of Waterproofing Membranes 3.1.4 Growth Opportunities/Investment Opportunities 3.2 Drivers 3.3 Constraints 3.4 Industry Attractiveness 4 Waterproofing Membranes Market, By Product 4.1 Polymer modified cement 4.2 Bitumen 4.2.1 Bitumen 4.2.1.1 APP Bitumen 4.2.1.2 SBS Bitumen 4.3 Polymers 4.3.1.1 Polyurethane 4.3.1.2 Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) 4.3.1.3 Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) 4.3.1.4 High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) 4.3.1.5 Polyvinylchloride (PVC ) 4.3.1.6 Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) 4.3.1.7 Other Polymers 4.4 Other Products 5 Waterproofing Membranes Market, By Application 5.1 Sheet membrane 5.2 Liquid applied membrane 6 Waterproofing Membranes Market, By End Use 6.1 Roofing 6.2 Walls 6.3 Building structures 6.4 Landfills & tunnels 6.5 Waste & Water Management 6.6 Bridges & Highways 6.7 Other End Uses 7 Waterproofing Membranes Market, By Geography 8 Key Player Activities 8.1 Mergers & Acquisitions 8.2 Partnerships, Joint Venture's, Collaborations and Agreements 8.3 Product Launch & Expansions 8.4 Other Activities 9 Leading Companies 9.1 Carlisle Companies Inc. 9.2 Chryso S.A.S 9.3 Derbigum 9.4 Firestone Building Products Company LLC. 9.5 Flex Roofing Systems 9.6 Fosroc International Limited 9.7 GAF Material Corporation 9.8 GSE Environmental 9.9 IKO Industries Ltd. 9.10 Johns Manville 9.11 Juta A.S. 9.12 Renolit Se 9.13 Schluter Systems Ltd. 9.14 Sika AG 9.15 Solmax International Inc. 9.16 Soprema Group 9.17 The DOW Chemical Company 9.18 W.R. Grace & Co For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rsv44t/global Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market - By End-Use Industries, Products, and Regions - Market Size, Demand Forecasts, Industry Trends and Updates (2016-2022)" report to their offering. The global production of PVC was 41.37 MMT in 2016 and is estimated to reach 54.81 MMT by 2022, at a CAGR of 4.8% for the forecasted period. While, on the other hand, in terms of demand, the market was USD 58.63 billion in 2016 and would reach USD 79.61 billion by 2020 growing at a rate of 5.23% compounded annually. APAC led the production market in 2016 followed by North America and Western Europe and is expected to dominate for the forecasted period as well while China being the big driver for PVC demand. However, MEA is expected to be the fastest growing market for PVC at a CAGR of 6% for the period as a result of growth in end-use industries like Automotive, Construction, Electricals in Saudi Arabia, South Africa and others. Construction, packaging, electrical are the major end-use industries of PVC accounting to three-fourths of the market share in 2016. The remaining market is from other industries like agriculture, automotive, and footwear. Construction industry leads the market with a share of more than 50% in 2016 while Electrical and Electronic industry is expected to be the fastest growing industry for the forecasted period. Factors such as increasing spend in construction/infrastructure industry in emerging regions like APAC, and LATAM, growth in automotive industry are expected to drive the market. On the other hand, volatile raw material prices, stringent regulations particularly in North America and Europe limit the use of PVC. To overcome such challenges, companies are focusing on bio-based alternatives to PVC. North America and Europe have high capacity utilization while, APAC has excess capacity. Investments in construction industry in Europe have improved in 2016. The weak demand in Europe has led to changes in the industry structure in terms of acquisitions, quitting the market, some companies selling their PVC units, etc. In Italy, the production of PVC ceased completely. The demand for PVC in some of the markets has been a challenge in the past year. An attempted coup in Turkey last year has disrupted business in that important European and Middle Eastern gateway. Added to this, currency float in Egypt has disrupted trade over there, and Latin America is spotted with economic problems and resurgent political unrest and uncertainty, at least in Brazil and Argentina and most acutely in Venezuela. Key Topics Covered: 1. Our Research Methodology 2. Market Overview 3. Market Dynamics 4. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market Segmentation, Forecasts and Trends - by Revenue, Volume 5. By End-Use Industries Agriculture Automotive Construction Packaging Electrical Footwear Others 6. By Products Pipes and Fittings Films and Sheets Tubes Wires Bottles and Containers Others 7. By Region 8. Competitive Landsape Analysis 9. Company Profiles BASF DuPont Georgia gulf gulf Solvin Occidental Shin-Etsu Chemical Dow Chemical Nova Chemical Reliance Industries The Britton group Sinopec Corporation Mexichem Formosa Plastics Mitsui Chemicals Axiall Corporation Others 10. Industry Structure Industry M&As, Consolidations Import-Export Scenario Price Trends Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) market - Road Ahead For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nsflc4/global_polyvinyl Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com HOUSTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Goodrich Petroleum Corporation (NYSE Market: GDP) announces completion results on its Wurtsbaugh 26 No. 1 (74% WI, 53% NRI) well in the Bethany-Longstreet field in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. The well has achieved a 24-hour peak rate to date of approximately 22 million cubic feet per day from approximately 4,500 feet of lateral. The Company has finished fracking its Wurtsbaugh 25-24 No. 1 (69% WI, 50% NRI) well, which is a 9,000 foot lateral, and expects flowback to commence soon. The Company also announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire up to 2,200 net acres adjacent to its existing acreage in the core of the Haynesville Shale play in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. The Company will earn this acreage through the drilling and completion of wells, with no upfront cash consideration. The Company now owns rights to approximately 25,000 net acres in the Haynesville. The Company has also entered into a swap on a portion of its undeveloped acreage in the Bethany-Longstreet field with another operator. The acreage swap will allow the Company to (i) add 22.0 Bcf of proved reserves, based on the Company's year-end reserve report; (ii) add to its operated footprint which carries a lower transportation expense; (iii) add to its inventory of extended lateral well locations; and (iv) provide for better planning and control over capital expenditures. OTHER INFORMATION Certain statements in this news release regarding future expectations and plans for future activities may be regarded as "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. They are subject to various risks, such as financial market conditions, operating hazards, drilling risks, and the inherent uncertainties in interpreting engineering data relating to underground accumulations of oil and gas, as well as other risks discussed in detail in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Initial production rates are subject to decline over time and should not be regarded as reflective of sustained production levels. Goodrich Petroleum is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company with the majority of its properties in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The Company currently trades under the symbol GDP on the NYSE Market. SOURCE Goodrich Petroleum Corporation Related Links http://www.goodrichpetroleum.com The flight carried a special passenger, Hannah Foss, a young designer from the state of Alaska. When Hannah Foss submitted her "Kung Fu Panda"-themed Dreamliner design last September, she was one of nearly 3,000 online entries that all shared the same dream: To have their design painted on a real-life, Hainan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner. That dream started several months ago when Hainan, Boeing and DreamWorks announced a partnership that would include the introduction of six specially-painted Dreamliners over the next two years, featuring characters and scenes from the popular animated franchise. "I have loved painting and designing since I was a child. I have designed a dinosaur exhibition for a museum and depicted the Northern lights around the Arctic Circle in my artwork. But I never thought that my design would be painted on a plane someday. It feels amazing! This is the first time that I have come to China, taken a Boeing Dreamliner and witnessed the process of the painting of a plane. I really appreciate these "firsts" that Hainan Airlines has offered to me," Ms. Foss said as part of a speech she gave over the plane's announcement system during which she shared her thrilling story with the over 200 passengers on the flight. "This is an exceptional journey for me, giving many Americans like myself the opportunity to learn about Hainan Airlines and better understand the distinguished Chinese company's idea of cherishing every person's dream in addition to its ongoing commitment to fulfilling dreams." Hannah grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and moved to Alaska in 2008. Some of her adventures include spending several years as a paleontological artist, CGI-animating a couple of museum films, constructing a 16-ft long dinosaur puppet called Snaps, eating tasty muktuk, snow-machining on the Chukchi Sea and meeting a polar bear. In addition to having her design painted on a Dreamlinerand to be part of this amazing journey, Hannah won two round-trip, business class tickets to China, as well as a weeks' accommodations at a luxury hotel. The "Kung Fu Panda" story is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture and history. Hannah's design wove together popular characters like Po and Tigress, with traditional Chinese "chops" and a painted sunrise. The design was awarded the top prize based on its originality, creativity, humor, its reflection of Chinese culture, and its wow factor. When Hannah's design is painted onto the new Dreamliner, the airplane will fly several of Hainan's more than 40 nonstop routes between China and North America. It will join two other specially painted airplanes, the first of which touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last year. That airplane carried over 100 students and teachers from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, WA, who were returning from a life-changing, 11-day trip to China. Hainan Airlines is proud to partner with DreamWorks and Boeing to bring the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise to Hainan's elite service and premier experience. Look forward for more partnerships like this in the future, and be sure to keep an eye out for #TheFlyingPanda throughout our North American network! Hainan Airlines has continued with its strategy of working hand-in-hand with the Chinese government's One Belt, One Road initiative as part of its overall plan to aggressively expand its presence in international markets. Nevertheless, despite the complexities of operating in the highly competitive international markets, the airline has never wavered from its original set of goals of consistently combining the brand's unique Oriental hospitality with modern service standards, a concept which is embodied in the Kung Fu Panda planes. The airline has promoted its image in the global aviation market through the cooperation with DreamWorks, demonstrating the newfound stature of Chinese companies on the world stage while allowing travelers everywhere to gain a better understanding of Chinese culture and its richness. SOURCE Hainan Airlines Co., LTD WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's Small Business Development Centers (America's SBDC) partnered with the Center for Generational Kinetics to better understand how different generations view and approach entrepreneurship. The findings reinforced previously held beliefs such as a strong entrepreneurial inclination among millennials, while challenging preconceived notions about their motivations for starting a business. "We were excited to embark on this important study to better understand how Americans across different generations are drawn to entrepreneurship and could not be more excited about the survey's results," said Charles "Tee" Rowe, president of America's SBDC. "It is clear that the entrepreneurial spirit is not only alive and well in America, but that people are eager to find help to build their dream business. We at America's SBDCs could not be more ecstatic or well positioned to help them grow with our nearly 1,000 locations across the country filled with dedicated professionals." Generational Perceptions Small Businesses play a huge role in the lives of Americans. One third of Americans (34 percent), have worked in a small business in the past and nearly a quarter (24 percent) of both Millennials and Gen X own or have owned a small business. The study found that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well with 41 percent of Americans saying they would quit their job and start a business in the next 6 months if they had the tools and resources they needed. This number is higher for Millennials with more than half of those surveyed stating that they would be willing to take the entrepreneurial leap in the next 6 months with the right tools and resources. All generations surveyed lived through the great recession, yet seemingly this hasn't dampened entrepreneurial willingness for most. The study cites that 62 percent of Americans have a dream business in mind that they would love to start, and close to half (49 percent) of millennials, intend to start their own business in the next three years. Motivations are in the Wealth Creation Wealth creation was the number one rated catalyst to start a small business with 47 percent of Americans listing the potential to make money as what would motivate those most to start their own business. The appeal of being your own boss is also a strong factor, with 40 percent of Americans listing it as their motivation. While there is a perception that millennials are, most interested in their work being fun, the survey reveals that 62 percent would rather have a business that makes a lot of money than a business that is a lot of fun. Opportunities for Untapped Entrepreneurial Potential Under the right circumstances, Americans are willing to make the leap into entrepreneurship. Money was cited as the most limiting factor in entrepreneurship with 55 percent of Americans rating access to money as the most difficult aspect of starting a business. When broken down by gender, women feel more challenged by this barrier with 63 percent saying access to money is a barrier to starting a business. The lack of knowledge and small business savvy is another roadblock existing for Americans looking to start small businesses. Over half of Americans (61 percent), say they would be encouraged to start a small business if they knew where to go for help. Even more striking, more than 13 million Millennials cite not knowing where to go for help to start or run a business as the number one reason that keeps them from starting their own business. The study also found that: 59 percent of Millennials say that with the right idea and resources they would start a business within the next year 61 percent of Millennials believe that the best job security comes from owning your own business 45 percent of Millennials say access to capital is the biggest barrier to starting a business 51 percent of Millennials would absolutely want help with a business development plan 45 percent of Millennials would absolutely use training for accounting or bookkeeping software With nearly 1,000 locations across the country, SBDCs provide local businesses and entrepreneurs the resources they need to thrive, compete and succeed. For more information on America's SBDC or to find a SBDC near you, go to www.AmericasSBDC.org. For the complete study results, visit www.AmericasSBDC.org/SBDCGenStudy. Study Methodology America's SBDC and The Center for Generational Kinetics jointly led this research study. The survey was administered to 1,011 U.S. adults ages 21-65. Millennials are defined as those born between 1977 and 1995, Gen X is defined as those born between 1965 and 1976, and Baby Boomers are defined as those born between 1946 and 1964. The sample was weighted to the current census data for age, gender, and region. The survey was conducted online from March 24, 2017 to March 28, 2017 and has a margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points. About America's SBDC America's SBDC (Small Business Development Center) Network is a partnership uniting private enterprise, government, higher education and local nonprofit economic development organizations. It is the Small Business Administration's largest partnership program, providing management and technical assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their own businesses. Learn more at www.americassbdc.org. About The Center for Generational Kinetics The Center for Generational Kinetics is the leader in Millennial generation research and strategy. The Center's experienced team works with brands and employers across the globe. They lead original research that uncovers emerging generational trends and transform their findings into measurable solutions that grow sales, increase engagement and expand market share. Visit http://genhq.com/ or call (512) 259-6877 for more information. Press Contact: April Youngblut America's SBDC (703) 764-9850 SOURCE America's SBDC Related Links http://www.americassbdc.org SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hapto, a Singapore-based VR startup, launched its Indiegogo campaign today (http://bit.ly/2qnAiaL). A virtual reality controller unlike any other in the world, Hapto provides realistic haptic effect for its users. With Hapto users can make any movement in VR: touch, hold, or throw objects, deftly wield weapons, and experience a virtual space as if it were real. One of the primary benefits of the Hapto controller is that it is very easy to use; the user simply has to put it on and is ready to go. Hapto is compatible with PCs and Android devices, as well as most popular VR headsets and platforms, including Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Google Daydream, and Merge VR Goggles. Hapto will be available for sale at $249 USD, but the discounted early-bird price during the campaign is $149 USD. Hapto: Touch it. Feel it. Hapto VR Controller allows You to feel the things You touch in VR. Hapto. Experience the unknown. "Hapto is meant to open up the VR possibilities we've all been dreaming about. It's the sci-fi world come true," said Alexander Khromenkov, CEO and Founder of Hapto. He added, "For many years we studied the latest medical research on how the human brain forms tactical feelings. Once we understood the science, we created a system that fully reproduces the impact on the brain when a person interacts with an object. You put Hapto on, start a VR game or app, and experience such a realistic haptic effect that you may even forget you're in virtual reality." The first Hapto prototype was developed in 2013 when the project collected 100K in funding on Kickstarter. Since then the company has completely redesigned Hapto to achieve a totally unique and improved controller. The haptic mechanism that now powers Hapto consists of 20 pushers that are configured and programmed to provide the same haptic effect for the user's hand as if she was touching an object in the real world. Hapto also has movement-capturing light circles placed on both sides that catch the user's every move, an accelerometer or gyroscope for rotation detection and motion detection, and four buttons for basic navigation in any game or app. "It's a totally different experience. It's weird to have that sensation. I mean, I know I am not touching it, but it feels like I am touching it. I really like it. I like the idea of it. I can actually be involved with more than just my eyes; I can touch a thing and move it. That's pretty cool," said Bernard Jacobsen, one of the first people to test Hapto. Hapto is perfectly ergonomic, suitable for any hand, and equipped with a comfortable strap, allowing for perfect adjustment. The device is available in three colors (white and orange, black and white, and black and orange), and has a rechargeable battery that lasts for two to three hours of constant gaming. Hapto is currently compatible with the most popular VR headsets, such as Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Google Cardboard, Google Daydream, and Merge VR Goggles. Support for PSVR, OSVR, and Hololens will soon be added. To integrate Hapto into games, developers can use Hapto's SDK. The Hapto team is thrilled to get its product out to VR users, and invites backers to claim their controllers at the early-bird price of $149 USD, available on Indiegogo starting from May 31st. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2qnAiaL. Press kit available here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bz4z7kyX56zQaUFFVXVYQmFLb3M About Hapto Hapto was founded in 2012 by Alex Khromenkov and Vlad Lukashevichboth experts in IT development and sensor-neural reprogramming. Combining their experience with the latest medical research, technical innovations, and a belief that VR presents a full hand of opportunities for the whole world, they decided to exclude the only thing that stopped VR from being 100% usable and perceivablethe absence of haptic feelings. In 2013, they created the first Hapto prototype controller providing full interaction with the VR space. Now, Hapto is ready to introduce the next generation of VR controllers with a realistic haptic effect and complete interaction with any objects. Simple in usage and integration (considering ready-to-add SDK), the Hapto controller is set up to become a new stage in VR, not just in gaming but in every sphere of VR and AR. For more information, visit http://hapto.me or follow Hapto on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hapto.me/. CONTACT: Julia Saltykova Marketing manager +1 901 300 0073 [email protected] SOURCE Hapto Related Links http://hapto.me We journalists only thought our profession had been thoroughly assaulted throughout a brutal campaign last year, complete with booing, receiving death threats for endorsements and being labeled the enemy by the president. Clearly, the worst was yet to come, following a literal assault on a reporter. Despite what happened to the reporter in Montana, though, be forewarned: Journalists wont stop reporting the news despite threats or even physical force used against us. We owe truth and accountability to the American people, and we wont cower from those pursuits. By now, youve heard an audio recording that captures Montanas newest congressman, Republican Greg Gianforte, tackling a reporter and being cited for misdemeanor assault on the man who had the audacity to ask him a simple question about the health care bill passed by the Republican Congress he sought to join. Its not surprising Gianforte got elected despite this, as most early ballots had already been mailed prior to the night before the special election. What is surprising is that the body-slamming of a reporter sparked a late $100,000 flurry of donations for him and a stunning amount of support from Montanans amid tepid calls for an apology by the congressional Republicans with whom hell soon caucus. Let us remind those of you out there saying the reporter got what he deserved such actions arent normal. You dont assault a teacher, server, barista, police officer or plumber for doing their jobs, do you? No? Thats how it should be. Fortunately, the only things affected by this attack were the reporters glasses and the congressmans criminal record. Reporters are a plucky bunch who band together when one of their own is subject to verbal or physical abuse, and journalists will continue undaunted in their public service. That someone who used physical force on a journalist is being supported, even cheered, is troubling and indicative of the declining civility of political discourse. The spiteful, divisive rhetoric of us vs. them and demonizing those who dont march lockstep with you pushed most notably on the campaign trail by the current commander-in-chief has very real consequences. Soon, Gianforte will take his oath of office, a pledge to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Seeing as hes due in court by June 7 on a charge of assaulting someone whose job is explicitly protected by the First Amendment, hes not exactly off to a roaring start. Gianforte turned the war on media up another notch. But his attack on a journalist will have the opposite effect he intended rather than being silenced, reporters will stand strong in pursuit of the answers the public must know. SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hawke Media earned a Gold Stevie Award in the category of Company of the Year in the 15th Annual American Business Awards today. The American Business Awards are the nation's premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning "crowned," the awards will be presented to winners at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on Tuesday, June 20. More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. Hawke Media was nominated in the Company of the Year category for advertising, marketing and public relations. Hawke's business model stood out largely for the fact that it eschewed the standard agency model of long-term contracts in favor of a transparent month-to-month system where all services are a la carte, helping clients avoid high rates. Hawke also did away with account executives, optimizing transparency between clients and their work channels. Success with clients was compounded by success with employees. Only 5% of the company's employee turnover was voluntary in 2016, a fact that was notable to judges in a notoriously high-turnover industry. "They seem to have a working understanding of how their culture should be," said one judge. Another called Hawke "a role model in the digital world." More than 190 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's Stevie Award winners. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2017 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA. For more information, please contact: Janie LaFont Hawke Media 1 (310) 451-7295 [email protected] www.hawkemedia.com About Hawke Media Hawke Media is a full-service outsourced CMO, headquartered in Santa Monica, CA. Recognized by Built in LA as one of LA's Top 50 Startups, Hawke Media was founded by e-commerce and digital marketing expert Erik Huberman in 2013 and has been valued at $30 million. Hawke Media has worked with over 400 brands, including companies such as Raden, BeautyCon, BottleKeeper, The Ridge Wallet, Buscemi, Red Bull, Evite, Verizon Wireless, HP. www.hawkemedia.com About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevie's recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com. SOURCE Hawke Media Related Links http://www.hawkemedia.com DENVER, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Royalty Exchange, the world's first online marketplace for royalties, is offering a rare chance to buy a stake in music and screenwriter royalties from several popular Sesame Street shows and hit Hollywood movies. Most notable are the theme songs for Sesame Street favorites "Elmo's World" and "Abby's Flying Fairy School." Also included are screenwriter residuals for Steven Spielberg produced movies "An American Tail" and "Land Before Time." These and more than 375 other musical works from the iconic children's TV series are also included in this catalog, which will be sold in a live auction on RoyaltyExchange.com. The winner will own the royalties to these works and all future royalty income generated by them. That means any time they air on TV or online, or if someone buys the DVD or CD, or streams the songs online, the buyer earns royalties. Not to mention the bragging rights involved in owning a piece of television history. Royalty Exchange is making this catalog available on behalf of the estate of Tony Geiss, the legendary Sesame Street songwriter/screenwriter behind the catalog for sale. Both Tony and his wife Phyllis wanted to gift these royalties to a select group of charities after his passing. Royalty Exchange was selected for its access to over 17,000 investors interested in royalty assets and its ability to produce the best possible results for rightsholders. "We're honored to play a small role in helping honor Tony's wishes," said Royalty Exchange CEO Matthew Smith. "Competition and transparency will ensure these worthwhile causes get the most out of his talent and generosity." The organizations benefitting from the sale are: New York Public Library Doctors Without Borders Citi Harvest American Cancer Society National Foundation for Cancer Research Wildlife Conservation Society Central Park Conservancy Nature Conservancy Audubon Society National Parks Conservation Association The listing is live on Royalty Exchange now. Bidding will begin at $430,000. Once there is an opening bid, the auction will begin. Investors interested in receiving these royalties can view more details and register to bid at RoyaltyExchange.com. About Royalty Exchange Royalty Exchange helps artists and rightsholders raise money by connecting them with private investors on the world's first premium marketplace for royalty generating assets. Creators love us because our transparent marketplace helps them get fair market value for their work. Investors love us because we help them diversify into uncorrelated, income-generating assets. And our commitment to transparency and honesty ensures value for all. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. SOURCE Royalty Exchange Related Links http://www.royaltyexchange.com TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has announced the creation of a new Ministry for Human Rights, which will include responsibility for cases of crimes against journalists. The Honduran president announced the decision during his speech at a Honduran Association of Journalists ceremony bestowing the Alvaro Contreras Award (2017-2018) on journalist Blanca Moreno, on the occasion of Honduras's Journalism Day. The president supported the Association of Journalists' request that the authorities investigate murders of media and communications professionals. "To the members of the Executive Branch, the instruction is clear and direct: Bring to trial those who must be tried to see justice done for Honduras and for journalists," Hernandez said. He added, "The instrument we have built together with you and with other leaders who defend and promote human rights not only in Honduras but in other parts of the world is beginning its work." "I recognize that we have to relaunch this, I recognize that there is a lot left to do. We have assumed our responsibility, and I take this opportunity to say that I have made the decision to elevate the Office of the Undersecretary for everything involving human rights, to a new Ministry, because this portfolio should be important, today, tomorrow and always," Hernandez said. "I hope that you will join us in this effort," said Hernandez. Media contact: Yael Wollstein [email protected] 202-471-4228 ext. 118 SOURCE Republic of Honduras WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) signed an agreement with VietJet Air for 98 auxiliary power units for the airliner's new fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. Honeywell currently supplies VietJet Air with auxiliary power units (APUs) across the airline's entire fleet of 135 Airbus A320s. This new agreement runs through 2022 and includes maintenance servicing for 12 years. The total value of the contract is over $100 million. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended the event as part of his visit to the U.S. to promote bilateral business relations between the countries. The prime minister's attendance recognized Honeywell for its long-term commitment to supporting Vietnam's growing aerospace industry and close partnership with VietJet Air. "Our partnership with Honeywell began in 2014 when they were selected to supply, manage and maintain their 131-9A APUs for our fleet of 37 Airbus A320/A321 aircraft. Today, we signed our second agreement with Honeywell for more of its industry-leading APUs, which have proven to reduce operational costs and improve aircraft performance," said Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, president and CEO, VietJet Air. "Our long-standing partnership with Honeywell is also a testament to Vietnam's strong and positive relations with the U.S., and we look forward to many more years of deepening this relationship." By selecting Honeywell's most popular APU, the 131-9A, VietJet Air will benefit from increased operational reliability, lower maintenance costs over its life cycle and significant fuel savings. The 131-9A APU's proven reliability and enhanced operability will also help boost safety and comfort for VietJet Air's passengers and reduce flight delays and cancellations. The airline will also benefit from optimized operational costs across its fleet through direct support from Honeywell's APU maintenance and services offerings. "Vietnam is a priority market and key high-growth region for Honeywell, and we are committed to expanding the region's commercial flight capabilities and helping to meet its long-term goals for the industry through our global maintenance, repair and overhaul network," said Brian Davis, vice president, Airlines, Asia Pacific, Honeywell Aerospace. "We are confident that this agreement will help VietJet Air maximize the operational efficiency of its Airbus A320 fleet and bring increased comfort and safety to its passengers, and keep it ahead of the curve in the airline industry." In 2015, VietJet Air also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Honeywell to provide APUs and avionics for the airline's future fleet. In March, Airbus designated the Honeywell 131-9A APU as standard equipment for its A320 family of aircraft. About Honeywell APUs APUs are primarily used to power an airplane during ground operations, providing electricity, air conditioning, main engine starting and more. They can also provide backup electrical power during flights. Honeywell engineered the first APU in 1948. The company has produced more than 95,000 APUs and has more than 36,000 in service today across more than 150 regional, executive, commercial and military applications, including both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Honeywell recently shipped its 5,000th 131-9A APU. This puts the number of production APUs from the 131-9 family at more than 11,000 units, with more than 100 million total flight hours. The 131-9 series APU has been selected by airlines for the majority of narrow-body aircraft and features a unique electronic control box that integrates advanced, plain-English troubleshooting logic and health-monitoring capabilities for intuitive maintenance. This helps increase its already proven reliability to reduce delays and flight cancellations, allowing airlines to stay on schedule so their passengers can reach their destinations on time. Supporting Resources Read more about VietJet Air Read more about Honeywell's 131 series of APUs Read more about Honeywell Aerospace on the Follow The Aero blog Like Honeywell Aerospace on Facebook Follow @Honeywell_Aero on Twitter Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 software-industrial company that delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace and automotive products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, cars, homes and buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom. SOURCE Honeywell Related Links http://www.honeywell.com TORONTO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Scotiabank (TSX: BNS) (NYSE: BNS) today announced that Ian Arellano will become Executive Vice President and General Counsel on January 2, 2018. "Ian is a highly-talented legal expert and a seasoned global business advisor," said Brian Porter, President and CEO at Scotiabank. "He has worked closely with Scotiabank on many important transactions over the years, and brings a great familiarity with our global business model and key international markets. His experience and judgment make him an ideal fit to lead Scotiabank's legal team and we are delighted to welcome him to our Executive team." Ian joins Scotiabank from Torys LLP, where he is Co-head of the firm's International Initiative and a senior partner in its corporate transactions practice. Ian will join Scotiabank as Executive Vice President, Legal, on September 5, 2017 and work with Deborah Alexander, who has led Scotiabank's legal team as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for 15 years, until her planned retirement at the end of 2017. "Debbie is one of Canada's most highly-regarded securities lawyers, and her strategic guidance and counsel have been invaluable to Scotiabank during a period of monumental change in the banking industry," said Mr. Porter. "We are grateful that she has agreed to stay on at Scotiabank and to assist in this important transition." As Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Ian will report directly to Brian Porter and lead Scotiabank's global legal affairs, corporate secretary and corporate governance office functions. He will serve as a member of the Bank's Operating Committee, and will chair the Bank's Reputational Risk and Disclosure Committees. About Ian Arellano: Ian Arellano graduated with an LLB from the University of Toronto and was called to the Bar in 1986. Over thirty years of practice, he has held increasingly senior roles and developed extensive experience across the mining and financial services sectors in M&A, joint ventures and strategic alliances, licensing and other contractual matters. At Torys LLP, Mr. Arellano is Co-head of the firm's International Initiative and a senior partner in the corporate transactions practice. Mr. Arellano has advised Scotiabank on many transactions, including acquisition of a 51% stake in Banco Colpatria in Colombia, the acquisition of Citigroup's retail and commercial banking assets in Panama and Costa Rica, and of our 51% stake in Cencosud's S.A.'s financial services business in Chile. Mr. Arellano has been recognized by numerous organizations for his work including being named a Leading Lawyer in Corporate Law by Best Lawyers in Canada (2013-2017). About Scotiabank Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 88,000 employees and assets of $887 billion (as at January 31, 2017), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews. SOURCE Scotiabank Related Links http://www.scotiabank.com RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today a new experimental laboratory for nanotechnology research in Brazil. The NanoLab is part of a $4M investment within the recently upgraded IBM Research-Brazil lab in Rio de Janeiro and will focus on projects related to research in Oil & Gas, Agriculture and Health across Latin America. Through its NanoLab, IBM is the first company within Brazil's IT industry to work on building nanoscience-based technology prototypes meant to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud and big data capabilities. These simulation systems and the process of all data collection and treatment will be powered by IBM Cloud. The lab will enable physicists, engineers and computer scientists to jointly conduct industrial nanoscience and nanotechnology development in Brazil, and across IBM Research's global network of 12 labs. The NanoLab will also collaborate with the local ecosystem, such as universities and government institutions, and has already signed a partnership with UFMG (Federal University from Minas Gerais). The new research lab houses equipment for the characterization and testing of integrated lab-on-a-chip devices with a focus on advanced materials, such as the manipulation and testing of nanoparticles. This includes high-precision atomic force and optical microscopes, 3D printers, hardware and software testing tools, among others. "The NanoLab is a unique research environment that provides instrumentation for the characterization and manipulation of nanoscale devices and materials, enabling the development of new methods and applications for industrial-scale IT technology. We want the NanoLab to be a hub for industrial science and technology in Brazil that attracts top research talent from around the world," said Mathias Steiner, manager and research staff member, Industrial Technology & Science at IBM Research Brazil. New discovery could reduce oil losses during extraction Steiner and his NanoLab team's paper, "Adsorption energy as a metric for wettability at the nanoscale " published in Nature Scientific Reports explains how the properties of liquid oil molecules behave in completely different and unexpected ways when in contact with a solid material, at the nanoscale. The study also revealed that the simulation tools and techniques commonly employed by the oil industry do not take into account the increased energy required to extract these oil molecules. As a result, 60 percent or more of a well's oil is left behind in the nanoscale capillaries of shale reservoirs. In response, the NanoLab team is developing nanoscience-enhanced oil flow simulations that could better-predict oil extraction from a reservoir. According to Steiner, while the simulation does not suggest how to extract the totality of trapped oil, it offers different techniques and materials that might help to extract about 1 percent more. In Brazil, which pumps 2.4 million barrels of oil every day, that 1 percent increase in production would add 24,000 more barrels to the daily total and 8.8 million more barrels every year (in Brazil). "Our wettability discovery is an important step to help oil and gas companies to recover more than the industry average of 40 percent of the oil trapped in their reservoirs," Steiner said. Next steps The next step is to study the flow of oil in nano-capillaries. To that end, IBM Research Brazil's NanoLab scientists developed an integrated chip platform that enables a way to experimentally validate and calibrate nanoscale flow for building better flow simulations that can determine how much pressure is necessary to pump water, as well as customized chemicals specifically designed to separate oil from a rock's nanoscale pore network and eventually extract the oil (for which they already have a patent: Method and integrated device for analyzing liquid flow and liquid-solid interface interaction). For more details, read: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2017/04/big-oil-at-nanoscale/ About IBM Research For more than seven decades, IBM Research has defined the future of information technology with more than 3,000 researchers in 12 labs located across six continents. Scientists from IBM Research have produced six Nobel Laureates, a U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, five U.S. National Medals of Science, six Turing Awards, 19 inductees in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and 20 inductees into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame. IBM Research Brazil was founded six years ago, with laboratories in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. For more information about IBM Research, visit www.ibm.com/research. CONTACT: Chris Andrews IBM Media Relations [email protected] 914-945-1630 SOURCE IBM Related Links http://www.ibm.com NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Information Builders, a leader in business intelligence (BI) and analytics, information integrity, and integration solutions, today announced that the company was rated as a leader in the Dresner Advisory Services' 2017 Wisdom of Crowds Business Intelligence Market Study. Tweet This: [email protected] ranks as a leader in Dresner Advisory Services Wisdom of Crowds #BI Market Study for 8th year: http://ow.ly/BQYN30caIUl The annual Wisdom of Crowds BI Market study examines trends related to BI adoption, implementation, and deployment to provide insight into how organizations invest in and benefit from BI and related technologies. Based on a 33-criteria performance measurement system, Information Builders was recognized as a leader among 26 BI and analytics vendors in both the Customer Experience and Vendor Credibility categories, with scores consistently above the sample average. Respondents ranked Information Builders well above average in nearly every area for the eighth consecutive year. Dresner named Information Builders as one of the overall leaders in the study, citing improvements in sales product knowledge, understanding business/needs, contractual terms and conditions, product robustness/sophistication of technology, completeness of functionality, reliability of technology, scalability, integration of product components, integration with third-party technologies, customization and extensibility, online training, forums and documentation, technical support continuity, and time to resolve problems. In addition, Information Builders earned a perfect "Recommend" score from its clients. Information Builders has consistently achieved leadership status since the report's inception due to its commitment to technology innovation, product usability, third-party integration, staff knowledge, and customer service. Howard Dresner, founder, Dresner Advisory Services, said: "Information Builders performs above average in all categories and is an overall leader in both the Customer Experience and Vendor Credibility models. We commend the company on earning a leadership position for the eighth consecutive year." Gerald Cohen, president and CEO, Information Builders, said: "The 2017 Wisdom of Crowds BI Market Study is a respected benchmark of customer needs across multiple markets and industries. Our ranking in this year's study underscores our depth of experience, technical knowledge, and commitment to customers and partners. Information Builders' analytics and data management technology helps organizations derive valuable insights from their data, leading to measurable cost savings, greater business efficiencies, and the ability to take advantage of new market opportunities." Access a copy of 2017 Wisdom of Crowds Business Intelligence Market Study today. About Dresner Advisory Services Dresner Advisory Services was formed by Howard Dresner, an independent analyst, author, lecturer, and business adviser. Dresner Advisory Services, LLC focuses on creating and sharing thought leadership for business intelligence (BI) and related areas. About Information Builders Information Builders provides solutions for business intelligence (BI), analytics, data integration, and data quality that help drive performance improvements, innovation, and value. Through one set of powerful products, we enable organizations to serve everyone analysts, non-technical users, even partners, customers, and citizens with better data and analytics. Our dedication to customer success is unmatched with thousands of organizations relying on us as their trusted partner. Founded in 1975, Information Builders is headquartered in New York, NY, with global offices, and remains one of the largest independent, privately held companies in the industry. Visit us at informationbuilders.com, follow us on Twitter at @infobldrs, like us on Facebook, and visit our LinkedIn page. Press Contacts Kathleen Moran Information Builders (917) 339-6313 [email protected] Kate Finigan LEWIS (781) 761-4500 [email protected] SOURCE Information Builders Related Links http://www.informationbuilders.com STOCKHOLM, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IntelliBreeze Software AB is delighted to announce the release of its Awesome Miner 3.0, a Windows application for managing and monitoring the mining of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. Awesome Miner 3.0 makes large and small-scale mining operations much easier to manage, through its custom interface and management software design. Awesome Miner 3.0 can manage up to 5,000 miners from a single user interface. IntelliBreeze Awesome Miner 3.0 improves upon the previous version's capabilities to manage larger mining operations. The latest version includes a new "Profitability Switcher" that can optimize profitability for the mining operation, irrespective of whether it involves a single miner or an entire mining farm. The software adds value to the mining operations by increasing its efficiency and productivity so that everyone involved benefits equally. With the increased popularity of GPU mining, Awesome Miner 3.0 can also perform large scale GPU overclocking and configuration on remote miners. Together with monitoring of GPU temperatures, fan speed, and load, Awesome Miner can streamline a mining operation of any size. Awesome Miner 3.0 also provides coin statistics, desktop notifications, email notifications and several monitoring features for detecting non-working devices. Devices operating at high temperatures or underperforming miners, even if running on remote computers, can be automatically restarted when a problem is detected. Awesome Miner also provides long-term statistics, supports data export to Excel, SSH management, Antminer features and customizable monitoring and recovery rules. Awesome Miner has a built-in web frontend that can be accessed from any computer, tablet or smartphone. The web interface gives an overview of all miners; detailed information about selected miners and provides access to all mining operations. The free version of Awesome Miner 3.0 includes most of the software functionalities, including support for the Awesome Profit Switching. The free version is intended for small-scale mining consisting of up to two miners. The paid versions feature more powerful features and support very large mining operations. With Pool Management, users can switch and manage mining pools efficiently, track the status of each pool and define coin to see profitability. Awesome Miner monitors the status and temperature of GPU, FPGA and ASIC devices. It also supports GPU clocking and fan adjustments. Users can use a powerful built-in script engine to create customized triggers and actions. If they prefer, they can even run custom scripts for monitoring, mining, pool operations and profitability switching. The latest version of Awesome Miner 3.0 also supports multi-user access for better management. Awesome Miner Engine Support Awesome Miner 3.0 follows a "one size fits all" approach by supporting an extensive range of mining engines. It supports 11 mining engines including Cgminer, Bfgminer, Sgminer and several Claymore miners. Similarly, the software can be used for mining cryptocurrencies based on all popular algorithms. A total of 26 algorithms are supported, including SHA-256, Scrypt, X11, Ethereum and ZCash. About IntelliBreeze Software AB IntelliBreeze Software AB (formerly IntelliBreeze Software) is a Swedish software company founded in 2012. IntelliBreeze Software AB released the first version of Awesome Miner in 2014, and the software has successfully been used in both small and large mining operations. Visit Awesome Miner Here http://www.awesomeminer.com Follow Awesome Miner on Twitter https://twitter.com/awesomeminerapp?lang=en Bitcointalk Page for Awesome Miner Here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=676942.0 Media Contact Contact Name: Patrik Engstrom Contact Email: [email protected] Company: IntelliBreeze Software AB Location: Stockholm, Sweden IntelliBreeze Software is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. Related Links Bitcoin PR Buzz IntelliBreeze Awesome Miner SOURCE IntelliBreeze CHARLESTOWN, Nevis, May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- It's mango madness again this summer on the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis as mangoes ripen on the trees and everyone scampers to get their share of these delectable fruits. At their peak, Nevis celebrates with the annual Nevis Mango & Food Festival where everyone gathers to sample everything made with mango during the celebrations held July 6 9, 2017. This year, celebrity chefs, Judy Joo and Seamus Mullen will be headlining the festival, bringing their vast and unique culinary talents to the island. Chef Judy Joo, UK "Iron Chef," host of Cooking Channel's "Korean Foods Made Simple," cookbook author and restaurateur who also appears on The Food Network, is making her second appearance on Nevis. She is joined this year by Chef Seamus Mullen, an award-winning New York chef and restaurateur, who brings an inventive approach to Spanish cuisine. Chef Mullen was awarded "Chef of the Year" by TimeOut Magazine and has been names a semi-finalist for Best Chef NYC by the prestigious James Beard Foundation for three years in a row. He appears regularly on Food Network shows "Chopped" and "Beat Bobby Flay." The Nevis Mango & Food Festival will feature four days of dining experiences, cooking demonstrations, and cook-along classes by these international chefs as well as local Nevisian chefs and cooks. The events will take place at restaurants, beach bars and resorts around the island, culminating with Nevisian chefs and mixologists cooking at Oualie Beach on the final day. And with 44 different varieties of Nevis mangoes prized for their juiciness and vibrant flavor, there will be many mango and mango-inspired dishes to enjoy. "This is an opportunity for foodies and especially mango-lovers to visit Nevis and get a taste of some incredible cooking by master chefs as well as a taste of our beautiful island, says Greg B. Phillip, CEO of the Nevis Tourism Board. "Now in its third year, this food extravaganza continues to grow in popularity with visitors and locals alike and this year promises to be something very special." For more information on the Nevis Mango & Food Festival, visit www.nevisisland.com. SOURCE Nevis Tourism Board Related Links http://www.nevisisland.com EGERSUND, Norway, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Navico the world's largest manufacturer of marine electronics and parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad and B&G brands announced today that an Enforcement Initial Determination (EID) filed by an International Trade Commission (ITC) Administrative Law Judge on May 25, 2017 finds that Garmin violated the cease-and-desist orders issued in 2015 regarding the importation and sale of products featuring DownVu scanning sonar technology. The Judge recommends a $37 million fine for violating the ITC orders. Additional details of the EID are expected to be made public in June. "For the third time, we have prevailed in our patent disputes with Garmin," said Leif Ottosson, CEO, Navico. "This time, an Administrative Law Judge determined not only that Garmin has infringed Navico's patents but also that there was evidence of bad faith. As far as we know, the recommended fine is the largest ever, so it is clear that the Administrative Law Judge found Garmin's disregard for the cease-and-desist orders particularly troublesome. As we have stated throughout this process, the ruling confirms that Garmin must cease all importations and sales of the offending products in the distribution channels, and failure to do so means that the company continues to violate the ITC orders. Garmin says that they will appeal the ruling, but as with previous appeals we feel confident that we once again will prevail. In any event, Garmin must immediately conform to the ITC's orders, and another appeal doesn't change this fact." In the newly issued EID, the Administrative Law Judge also determined that Garmin's previously touted "design-around" DownVu solution with a tilted transducer element also infringes upon Navico's sonar technology patents. In its latest attempt to curb impacted sales of infringing DownVu products, Garmin introduced a new range of products featuring its ClearVu sonar technology, which are sold in the U.S. without a down-facing transducer element. The resulting solution compiles data from the side-scanning elements in the transducer to mimic a scanning image beneath the boat. Garmin's attempt to produce downward data from side-scanning beams reduces clarity and range, degrades the appearance of targets, and appears to miss some targets entirely. For anglers depending on their fishfinder to identify fish and structure beneath the boat, this new design is a cause for great concern. For a side-by-side comparison of Garmin's ClearVu technology compared to Navico's patented DownsScan Imaging, see https://youtu.be/s1ll1q6WHkk. The International Trade Commission is an independent governmental agency in Washington, DC responsible for addressing patent infringement disputes relating to goods that are manufactured abroad and imported into the United States. Garmin's DownVu and ClearVu products are manufactured and imported from Taiwan. For more information on the Navico brands, please visit www.lowrance.com, www.simrad-yachting.com, pro.simrad-yachting.com and www.bandg.com. To find out more about the Navico Group of companies, visit www.navico.com. About Navico: A privately held, international corporation, Navico is currently the world's largest marine electronics company, and is the parent company to leading marine electronics brands: Lowrance, Simrad and B&G. Navico has approximately 1,500 employees globally and distribution in more than 100 countries worldwide. www.navico.com SOURCE Navico Related Links http://www.navico.com BOSTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Advisers, LLC and subadvised by John Hancock Asset Management a division of Manulife Asset Management (US) LLC, announced today sources of its monthly distribution of $0.0975 per share paid to all shareholders of record as of May 11, 2017, pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Notification of Sources of Distribution This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT) with important information concerning the distribution declared on May 01, 2017, and payable on May 31, 2017. No action is required on your part. Distribution Period: May 2017 Distribution Amount Per Common Share: $0.0975 The following table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable May 31, 2017, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short term capital gains; net realized long term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per common share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount. Source Current Distribution ($) % Breakdown of the Current Distribution Total Cumulative Distributions for the Fiscal Year to Date ($)1 % Breakdown of the Total Cumulative Distributions for the Fiscal Year to Date1 Net Investment Income 0.0975 100% 0.6824 100% Net Realized Short- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Net Realized Long- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Total per common share 0.0975 100% 0.6824 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the 5 years ended on April 30, 2017 11.71% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of April 30, 2017 7.29% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through April 30, 2017 5.01% Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of April 30, 2017 4.25% You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution plan. The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has declared the May 2017 distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "Plan"). Under the Plan, the Fund makes fixed monthly distributions in the amount of $0.0975 per share, which will continue to be paid monthly until further notice. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your financial professional or call the John Hancock Investments Closed-End Fund Information Line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. An investor should consider a Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. About John Hancock Investments John Hancock Investments provides asset management services to individuals and institutions through a unique manager-of-managers approach. A wealth management business of John Hancock Financial, we managed more than $140 billion in assets as of March 31, 2017 across mutual funds, college savings plans, and retirement plans. About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife Financial, a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$1 trillion (US$754 billion) as of March 31, 2017. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at manulife.com. The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers and administers a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com. 1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on November 1, 2016, and will end on October 31, 2017. SOURCE John Hancock Investments MADISON, Wis., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Last week, Jonathan and Susan Lipp of Full Compass Systems presented Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI) with a flag representing the 25 districts in Wisconsin that were recognized as a Best Community for Music Education by The NAMM Foundation. The 25 school districts were announced and recognized earlier this year by The NAMM Foundation as part of the organization's Best Communities for Music Education awards program which honored 527 districts across the nation for their commitment to music education. The Lipps made the presentation as part of the annual NAMM Music Education Advocacy D.C. Fly-In, May 22-24. Along with nearly 100 music industry leaders, notable artists, and arts education activists, the duo took to Capitol Hill to advocate for all school-aged children to have access to quality, comprehensive school music education programs. The issue of music education takes on a special significance this year as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed into law in 2015 by President Obama readies for state-level implementation in 2018 in the face of proposed budget cuts. The law specifies music as core part of a well-rounded education for all K-12 students. New research also shows strong ties between K-12 school students who actively participate in school music education programs and overall student success. A recent study of students in the Chicago Public Schools by brain researchers at Northwestern University, detailed in Neuroscientist and Education Week, builds on previous findings that participation in music education programs helps improve brain function, discipline and language development. Full Compass Systems grew out of a professional sound studio that began operation in 1971 in Madison, Wisconsin. Founder Jonathan Lipp provided commercial recording services to both local and regional clients. In 1977, he founded and incorporated Full Compass Systems, Ltd. to provide sound equipment for a wider professional market; he currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. In 1979, his wife Susan joined the company as President and now serves as the Chairman of the Board. Her background in marketing and personnel management, as well as her familiarity with theatrical production, complimented Jonathan's technical expertise. The company grew rapidly over the following years, developing a strong nationwide business. For the full list of the Best Communities for Music Education, please visit https://www.nammfoundation.org/articles/best-communities-music-education To view images from the trip, please visit: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/632jcti9r5egjyc/AAB_eCxou4u4e9gX-8oBdrbXa?dl=0 To learn more about the event or for interviews, please contact: Susan Lipp Full Compass Systems 608-831-7330 [email protected] About NAMM The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of approximately 10,300 member companies located in 104 countries. NAMM events and members fund the NAMM Foundation's efforts to promote the pleasures and benefits of music, and advance active participation in music making across the lifespan. For more information about NAMM, please visit www.namm.org, call 800.767.NAMM (6266) or follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. SOURCE NAMM Related Links http://www.namm.org NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- New York Times published 'China's Ill and Wealthy, Look Abroad for Medical Treatment' this week. It states last year 500,000 Chinese travelled abroad for treatment, up five folds from 2015. Some came here and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chinese Healthcare sadly ranks 92 out of 188 countries. Government provides cradle to grave health insurance for 97% population but standards have not kept up with rising living standards. It is well recognized that standards must rise rapidly. Additionally, demand for state of the art private sector healthcare is very strong. China has a two- tier economy, with affluent households totaling about 100 million. 'An untapped gold mine with huge potential' is how the Chinese healthcare market is described. For US companies, entering China was not cheap. For example, Medtronic acquired China Kanghui Holdings, a manufacturer of Orthopedic products for $816 million of which $750 million was for Goodwill and Intangible Assets. As China Inc. became a major pool of capital, it started investing vigorously in healthcare. Last month, Dalian Wanda embarked on a $10 billion venture to build healthcare facilities. China Inc. invested about $4 billion last year to acquire overseas healthcare assets. Creat Group of China acquired Bio Products Laboratory of UK, maker of blood plasma products for $1.2 billion. Chinese are determined to have better healthcare. Why then is the investment by Ginger Capital of China in tiny neurorobotics firm Bionik Laboratories so unique considering that the 13th 5 year plan is closing opportunities in China for US high-tech biopharmaceuticals and robotics firms? Bionik with it's close association with MIT has deep reservoir of knowledge and products in neurorobotics which has been tested on 1,000 patients. Its primary focus is providing robot assisted rehabilitation for stroke victims with loss of mobility. China has unique demographics because of One Child policy. In 2020 roughly 25% of the population will be retirement age. Millions of Chinese stroke victims will need some form of rehabilitation therapy. Bionik has three FDA cleared and a large pipeline products. It is for this that China made an exception and after yearlong due diligence decided to directly invest into Bionik Laboratories here and separately in a joint-venture in China. Finally, it's worth noting that Ginger Capital is run by women, a rarity in China. About Kazi Hasan Media Kazi Hasan Media has been providing Global Communications and Market Research services to High-Tech Enterprises and Investment Firms for five years. Based in New York, the company serves clients in the US, Canada and Asia. Kazi Hasan Media [email protected] SOURCE Kazi Hasan Media TORONTO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Kerr Mines Inc. ("Kerr" or the "Company") (TSX: KER, OTC Pink: KERMF, FRA: 7AZ1) announces that the trading symbol for the Company's U.S listing on the OTC Pink Sheets has changed to KERMF effective May 31, 2017. In connection with this change, Kerr has applied to trade on the OTCQB Venture Market to further enhance the Company's profile in the United States. About Kerr Mines Inc. Kerr Mines is a North American gold development and exploration company currently advancing the fully permitted past-producing Copperstone Mine project. Copperstone is a high-grade gold project located along the Walker Lane mineral belt in mining-friendly Arizona. The project demonstrates significant upside exploration potential within a 12,000 acre land package. The Company's current focus is on maximizing Copperstone's potential by defining and expanding current resources and strengthening the mine's economics leading to a production decision. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements, including current expectations on the timing of the commencement of production and the rate of production, if commenced. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the Canadian economy; the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; and the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with underground operations. Risks and uncertainties about Kerr Mines' business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials, including its annual information form and MD&A, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. Kerr Mines assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by law. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release and no stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. SOURCE Kerr Mines Inc. Related Links www.kerrmines.com "We must act and act quickly if Christianity is to survive in the Middle East," said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson. "Three years after ISIS rolled through their country, these minority communities of Christians could face extinction without our help, and if they disappear, the chance for a pluralism and tolerance of minorities will be increasingly lost in that country." Anderson also said the Knights will match up to $1 million in donations. The commercial can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/Uhst4k2coCc The Knights' commercial includes an appeal by Father Douglas Bazi, who headed the Mar Elia refugee center in Kurdistan and was himself previously kidnapped and tortured by terrorists in Iraq. In the commercial, Father Bazi notes: "Genocide is an easy word compared to what's happened to my people." He then adds a plea to the viewers: "Help my people and save my people." The Christian population has fallen from as many as 1.5 million in 2003 to only about 200,000 today, according to the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil, which cares for the largest Christian population still in Iraq and the largest community of displaced Christians in the country (12,000 families). The archdiocese now faces a shortfall of $600,000 a month in food aid. While ISIS has been pushed back in many places and Christian towns have been liberated, people have not been able to return because there is not enough money for reconstruction or security. "We face a serious shortfall in the money needed just to cover the costs of providing food to the displaced Christians in our care," said Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil. "Having to decide between rebuilding homes and feeding the displaced is not a choice; it is a potential death sentence for our Christian communities." In addition to raising funds for the beleaguered Christian community in Iraq, the Knights of Columbus is also urging Congress to pass H.R. 390, which would help ensure that American government aid dollars reach Christians and other religious minority communities that faced genocide in Iraq and Syria. The Knights of Columbus has donated more than $12 million for Christian refugee relief since 2014 in support of communities too often ignored by direct U.N. or U.S. government assistance. The bulk of the funding has aided Christian communities in Iraq with food, clothing, shelter and education, and has also helped threatened or displaced communities in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Other religious minority groups targeted by ISIS, including Yazidis, have also been recipients of the Knights' aid. The K of C will match donations received by July 1 up to $1 million, and 100 percent of the money raised will be used to assist with food programs for Christian refugees in Iraq. Donations can be made at www.ChristiansatRisk.org or by calling 1-800-694-5713 and are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Knights of Columbus Charities Inc. is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a charitable organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Knights set a new all-time record for charitable donations in 2015, with more than $175 million in donations and more than 73.5 million hours of service valued at $1.7 billion. SOURCE Knights of Columbus With more than 20 years of relevant industry experience, Waldeck joins Lee and Rock & Republic from Reebok International Ltd., where he was most recently the vice president and general manager. In this role, he was responsible for brand marketing, merchandising, public relations, finance, operations and led a transformational growth platform across all channels wholesale, retail and ecommerce. During his 14-year career at Reebok, Waldeck held a variety of leadership positions wherein he gained international experience entering new categories, facilitating strong partnerships and endorsements, and establishing franchise models and owned stores. "I'm thrilled for Chris to join Lee and Rock & Republic and eager to partner with him and the team to propel the business," said VF President Phil McAdams. "He has a passion for the intersection of lifestyle and brand which enables him to reach a broad base of consumers especially those who engage actively in their apparel as a reflection of who they are and aspire to be." Waldeck joined the company on May 15, 2017, returning to the Kansas City area with his wife and two daughters. About Lee Lee, a VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) brand, is an iconic American denim and casual apparel brand. Lee's collections include a uniquely styled range of jeans, pants, shirts, shorts and jackets for men, women, and boys. Founded by H.D. Lee and backed by over 125 years of purposeful design and craftsmanship, Lee's movement-inspired innovations, versatile styling and superior fit continue to inspire generations of brand loyalists. For more information, please visit www.lee.com. About VF VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) outfits consumers around the world with its diverse portfolio of iconic lifestyle brands, including Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Wrangler and Lee. Founded in 1899, VF is one of the world's largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies with socially and environmentally responsible operations spanning numerous geographies, product categories and distribution channels. VF is committed to delivering innovative products to consumers and creating long-term value for its customers and shareholders. For more information, visit www.vfc.com. SOURCE Lee(R) Jeans Related Links http://www.lee.com Murad's marketing strategy will spotlight continual development, customer acquisitions and retention for the tech leader that currently powers more than 45,000 retailers and restaurants and manages $15 billion in global transactions MONTREAL, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightspeed, the world's most powerful cloud-based point of sale system for retailers and restaurants, announces the appointment of Laith Murad to the role of Chief Marketing Officer. Murad's appointment comes in the midst of incredible growth for Lightspeed. In 2016, the retail tech innovator launched its omnichannel product, seamlessly merging in-store POS, eCommerce and mobile, empowering customers to sell anywhere, at any time. Earlier this month, Lightspeed unveiled a beautifully designed, simple-to-navigate website, and announced a new comprehensive data analytics solution to help independent retailers do better business. With more than 20 years of experience in the industry, Murad joins the Lightspeed team from PIRCH, a luxury retailer with 10 locations in the US, where he served as Chief Marketing Officer. During his time at PIRCH, Murad's work on the brand won several awards, including Retailer of the Year, the Davey Award for best branding, and others. Prior to PIRCH, Murad served as Vice President, Marketing at Yahoo, where he was focused on growth strategies, as well as customer acquisition and retention. Murad was a member of the Board of Directors at the Direct Marketing Association. "We are thrilled to welcome Laith to the Lightspeed team as a leader for our marketing and communications divisions, and a champion of our customer-centric approach," said Lightspeed Founder and CEO Dax Dasilva, "Laith's vast marketing experience in the retail and technology sectors, make him an exceptional asset to the team as we expand our current marketing strategy and continue to engage thousands of new customers, on a global scale." "I am honoured to join Lightspeed at this pivotal time in the company's global growth," said Murad, "Lightspeed is a true innovator in the retail tech industry, empowering entrepreneurs, store owners, and restaurateurs with the tools they need to grow, scale and manage a business." Media Contact: Cassie Jorgensen | NKPR | [email protected] | 416.365.3630 ext. 251 Kristin Newbigging | NKPR | [email protected] | 416.365.3630 ext. 247 Source: Bradley Grill l Director of Public Relations l Lightspeed l [email protected] l 514.616.2000 SOURCE Lightspeed Related Links http://www.lightspeedretail.com/ "Training meets reality with Lockheed Martin's Prepar3D simulation software, and v4 provides unprecedented realism," said Sandy Samuel, vice president, Training and Simulation Solutions. "While initially the premier tool for training both commercial and military aviators, Prepar3D has grown to drive simulation for almost any vehicle in the air, at sea, underwater or even in the depths of space." Prepar3D v4 relies on 64-bit architecture to deliver unparalleled realism. This new version features major visual upgrades including enhanced virtual reality support, a new realistic lighting system, 3D weather capabilities, 40 high-detail cities and more than 24,900 airports across the globe. The new release also features improvements to performance and a fully redesigned user interface. "We are thrilled for Prepar3D v4 to be fully converted to 64-bit so users can take advantage of the full power of modern systems," says Adam Breed Prepar3D engineering project manager. "This release pushes the boundaries of what's possible in courseware training and experiences, including vast improvements to performance, graphical fidelity, and the number of entities that can be concurrently simulated in global-scale scenarios." Prepar3D v4 provides tools to simplify the process of creating courseware for self-paced training environments and instructor-led classrooms. The Lockheed Martin team partnered with both commercial and internal users to help redesign its Software Development Kit (SDK), which enables third-party development of custom add-ons, from the ground up. For more details and a complete listing of new and enhanced Prepar3D v4 features visit our website: www.prepar3d.com About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin Related Links http://www.lockheedmartin.com (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160111/320735LOGO ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/517819/Long_Tall_Sally.jpg ) #StyleHasNoRules was created after a new study revealed that 78 percent of adult women felt they were confident as a child when it came to choosing outfits, and 80 percent reported they simply "wore what made them happy" up until the age of 10. But, 65 percent of adult women said they no longer have fashion confidence. Designed to encourage women to tap into their inner child and not feel restricted by perceived "fashion rules," #StyleHasNoRules centers around a makeoverwith a twist. Six Long Tall Sally customers, ages 23-47, heights 5'11"- 6'3" and US sizes 8-16, were selected for the campaign out of hundreds who felt they were "in a style rut." Unknowingly, these women were paired with "Little Stylists" - children six- to eight-years old - who selected and styled a complete outfit for their models. "The children all jumped in right away and had so much fun putting the different outfits together," said Camilla Treharne, creative director of Long Tall Sally. "One of the girls commented that she chose a polka dot dress for her model because 'dots make me happy, and I want my lady to be happy.' This perfectly sums up why we created the campaign: We don't want women to find it daunting getting dressed; we want to remind them to have fun with fashion and feel confident with their own style." Celebrated '90s British supermodel, Jade Parfitt, directed the photoshoot, sharing confidence tips with the women before the big reveal: the models removed blindfolds to meet their "Little Stylists" for the first time. The women were shocked to discover young children had been able to create outfits that made them feel confident. Long Tall Sally's #StyleHasNoRules campaign - featuring all the looks curated by the "Little Stylists," a behind-the-scenes video and more - can be found at http://www.longtallsally.com/style-has-no-rules. ABOUT LONG TALL SALLY: Long Tall Sally is the world leader in fashion and footwear for tall women. With 26 stores in USA, Canada, UK and Germany - and online at longtallsally.com - the brand is the global destination where style starts at 5'8" and US shoe size 9. SOURCE Long Tall Sally LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles City College is pleased to announce the creation of the Rodney Dangerfield Institute (RDI) in honor of the late comedian, Rodney Dangerfield. Initially offering four classes including a stand-up workshop, joke writing, improvisational comedy and an American film comedy genre class, the RDI is the only comedy institute in the country based within a community college. Additionally, the Institute will develop a filmed speaker series, guest lectures, performances, mentor programs and partnerships with Hollywood comedy clubs. "Rodney's comedy personified the down-on-his-luck everyman," said Rodney's widow, Joan Dangerfield. "Los Angeles City College is the perfect choice to house this innovative institute. Now students will have the opportunity to study comedy at an affordable cost in the heart of Hollywood." Dangerfield will serve as the honorary chair of the RDI Advisory Board. "I am honored to be on the Advisory Board for the Rodney Dangerfield Institute at LACC. I was fortunate enough to get my break in comedy working on five of Rodney's films, as well as touring with him for 17 years as his exclusive opening act," said Harry Basil, comedian, partner and general manager of the Laugh Factory. "Rodney was the Albert Einstein of comedy! To witness his creative process in writing and performing original comedy material, developing screenplays and comedy specials from a single joke or silly idea was a master class in comedy. I can think of no other legendary comedian in history, who's career path is a lesson in how to succeed in all levels of a tough industry where comedians usually, 'don't get no respect.' The RDI is an amazing new institute!" On September 7, 2017, LACC will produce a staged reading of Dangerfield's hit movie, "Back to School." Comedian Brad Garrett, of "Everybody Loves Raymond" fame, will reprise Dangerfield's role of Thornton Melon. Other well-known actors will appear at the event, which will also include a Q&A with members of the original cast. All proceeds will benefit the Rodney Dangerfield Institute. "We are honored to celebrate Rodney Dangerfield's legacy with this new institute and we are excited to be able to share his comedy with new generations of students," said Renee D. Martinez, President, Los Angeles City College. For more information about the Rodney Dangerfield Institute, visit http://lacitycollege.edu/academic/rodneydangerfield.html. CONTACT: Shaena Engle Manager, Public Relations 213.200.4728 [email protected] SOURCE Los Angeles City College TEL AVIV, Israel, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global media company Matomy (LSE: MTMY, TASE: MTMY.TA), today announced that Gil Klein, the company's Executive Vice President of Media and a member of the executive management team, has been promoted to Mobfox Managing Director. Drawing on a wealth of experience, Klein will be responsible for leading the data-driven mobile advertising platform, in keeping with the company's strategic restructuring to focus on such core activities. The newly created role coincides with Mobfox's launch of the platform's latest data-driven features and SSP mobile publisher suite for display, video, and native advertising. Gil Klein joined Matomy, then called Xtend Media, in 2008, and held a number of positions in the company including Director of Media Buying, VP Performance and Sales, and SVP Advertisers before becoming EVP Media in 2015. In addition to these roles, he assisted with several of the company's acquisitions, including the acquisition of Mobfox in 2014 and has led all business aspects for Mobfox over the last two years. Klein holds an MBA in International Management from the College of Management and a BA from Tel Aviv University in Israel. "After spearheading Matomy's media activities and watching Mobfox grow to become one of the leading solutions in the market following its acquisition, I'm very excited to take on the role of Mobfox Managing Director," said Gil Klein. "Mobfox connects to the leading app developers, DSPs, and mobile demand sources in the world, and we will add more to our growing list as we continue to develop industry-leading, data-driven technology and expand globally, with a focus on the USA and APAC. Mobfox's future is brightthis year specifically, we're offering advanced tools and a full-stack solution for developers to support the growing demand from our advertiser and publisher partners." A top international mobile advertising platform, Mobfox works with over 175 DSPs and 40,000-plus registered publishers, as well as leading mobile advertising companies. Mobfox offers clients and media partners access to innovative mobile programmatic advertising solutions, including a supply-side platform (SSP) as well as serving as a single gateway for mobile, video, and native ad inventory management via a real-time bidding (RTB) marketplace. Mobfox is continually expanding its reach in mobile technology and its footprint in the APAC market with offices opening in Beijing, China and Seoul, South Korea and strengthened localization of services in 2016. About Mobfox: Mobfox is a leading data-driven mobile supply side platform and exchange, enabling app developers to manage their media smarter, and generate more revenue with high CPMs and fill rates from diversified and global demand sources. Mobfox is connected to 175+ DSPs and is used by over 40,000 iOS and Android apps. The platform offers comprehensive support for multiple advertising formats, including banner, interstitial, video, and native. Founded in 2010, the company was acquired by Matomy Media Group in 2014. For more information, see www.mobfox.com. About Matomy: Matomy Media Group Ltd. (LSE: MTMY, TASE: MTMY.TA) is a global media company with smarter technology and a personalized approach to advertising. By providing customized performance and programmatic solutions supported by internal media capabilities, big data analytics, and optimization technology, Matomy empowers advertising and media partners to meet their evolving growth-driven goals. Matomy's programmatic platforms include Mobfox for mobile, Optimatic for video, and the mobile, self-serve demand-side platform myDSP. Founded in 2007 with headquarters in Tel Aviv and 11 offices around the world, Matomy is dual-listed on the London and Tel Aviv Stock Exchanges. Learn more about Matomy at http://www.matomy.com. Press Contact Information: Justine Rosin [email protected] UK: +44(0)203-769-5656 | USA: +1-917-724-2176 SOURCE Matomy Related Links http://www.mobfox.com MADRID, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Atento S.A. (NYSE: ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services (CRM/BPO) in Latin America, and one of the three top providers worldwide, has partnered with MediaMarkt, a leading consumer electronics distribution company, to strengthen its customer relationship strategy and enhance the quality and efficiency of its service in Spain. Atento will manage MediaMarkt's customer relationship service in Spain with a team of highly qualified professionals who will support the company's e-commerce platform and manage customer service for the Digital Store, a new digital and multichannel store concept in which technology and experience are paramount. Atento will manage the telephone and digital channels (e-mails and chat), and will provide assistance to users during their shopping experience on the MediaMarkt website. Atento's solution for MediaMarkt enables centralized management of all the company's customer processes in Spain while offering an exceptional and innovative customer experience adapted to the needs of digital consumers. The solution provided also features a new online chat service that Atento has built into the centralized global management platform, allowing the first level of questions to be answered through a chatbot. It includes the option to elevate to an agent while saving the entire log of the customer's question. This has made it possible to improve the efficiency of the service and of the customer's experience by solving questions in real time. Customer service is a key component of MediaMarkt's strategy, which is why the retail company constantly works to offer more personalized attention through all channels, facilitating multiple contact options: physical store, chat, virtual shopper, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and telephone. "We are very pleased to be able to offer an innovate customer experience solution to a leading brand like MediaMarkt. Our collaboration agreement reflects Atento's commitment to continue growing and diversifying the sectors to which we offer our services in Spain, while developing multichannel solutions adapted to a digital environment that offer a clear added value to our clients," stated Jose Maria Perez Melber, Atento Spain and EMEA Managing Director. For David Villanueva, MediaMarkt Head of Customer Experience for Spain and Portugal, "The multichannel strategy that we are strengthening with Atento's help allows us to offer our customers a unique experience adapted to their needs, improving our service during the customer journey and giving them a safe, agile, high-quality experience that responds to their preferences and needs." About Atento Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top three providers globally, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs 150,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atentos shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2016, Atento was named one of the Worlds 25 Best Multinational Workplaces by Great Place to Work for a fourth consecutive year. For more information visit www.atento.com SOURCE Atento S.A. Related Links http://www.atento.com "Summer brings some of the best deals throughout the year to travelers looking to discover and experience why Miami Beach is like no other place in the world," says Peggy Benua, Chair of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (MBVCA). "Visitors can take advantage of offers only available during the summer months and enjoy the wonder and beauty of Miami Beach at great value." Kicking off the Summer season, Fontainebleau Miami Beach is hosting a special iHeartSummer '17 Weekend, a two-day event featuring live performances by notables including DJ Khaled, Halsey, Backstreet Boys, Fifth Harmony and more. The package, available Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10, includes accommodations, two passes to the event and breakfast for two each morning at Vida, one of the resort's on-site restaurants. Tickets to the show are limited and only available through the exclusive package offer. "Miami Beach is ready to welcome travelers from around the world this summer," says Grisette Roque, Executive Director of the MBVCA. "With a variety of seasonal hotel packages and exclusive events, every vacationer will find offers and savings to fit their budget and needs." Travelers in search of a summer getaway can soak up the Miami Beach sun with a number of offers only available between June and September including: Summer Cabana Life at the Kimpton Surfcomber South Beach Complimentary Cabana (Valued at $150 ) ) Bottle of Bubbly Bottle of water per Cabana guest A Summer Staycation at the Faena Miami Beach Daily American breakfast for up to two guest at our poolside Veranda 15% off on treatments at Tierra Santa Healing House Complimentary access to Wet Spa area at Tierra Santa Healing House for up to two guests, once per stay Complimentary valet parking Summer Beach Escape at The Ritz-Carlton Deluxe overnight accommodations Welcome drink for two at DiLido Beach Club Daily breakfast for two at Bistro One LR Valet parking South Beach Summer Escape at Loews Miami Beach $250 resort credit once per stay resort credit once per stay Kids eat free with paying adult Complimentary state of the art kids club half day access daily for up to two kids Summer Vacations at Pestana South Beach Free breakfast and Wi-Fi Two-hour bike ride One welcome mojito per person While Miami Beach offers sun-kissed and white-sanded beaches year-round, these travel offers are only available for a limited time. For more information on events and happenings on Miami Beach, download the Miami Beach Information App at www.miamibeachapi.com/app/. About Miami Beach Recently named the World's Leading City Tourist Board in 2016 and 2016 North America's Leading Tourist Board by the World Travel Awards, first place in the 2017 and 2016 edition of the Travvy Awards, presented by travAlliancemedia in the categories of "Best LGBTQ Destination" and "Best Wedding Destination, U.S. & Canada" and a winner in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Magellan Awards by Travel Weekly in the categories of "Destinations | Mobile App", "Overall Spa Destinations| U.S and Canada" and "Overall Beaches Destinations| U.S and Canada" respectively, Miami Beach is a favorite destination among travelers worldwide. Renowned for its unparalleled culinary offerings, extravagant nightlife, rich culture, luxe shopping and plush hotels, Miami Beach is home to unique museums, the New World Symphony, Miami City Ballet, Miami Beach Convention Center, international festivals and art exhibitions, boat and auto shows, over 187 boutique and resort hotels and 12 public parks; it is no wonder the beautifully diverse city is one of the world's most popular vacation destinations. Boasting seven miles of breathtaking beaches, Miami Beach is easily accessible from the Port of Miami and Miami International Airport. The City of Miami Beach has been named one of the top cities worldwide for 'walkability' and is equally easy to navigate by bike or boat. Known for its year-round sunny skies, the vibrant destination has been ranked by TripAdvisor as a Top Winter Sun Vacation Rental Getaway Destinations, Top Romantic Destinations, Top 25 Beaches in the World and Top 25 Destinations in the U.S. Miami Beach is like no other place in the world! Contact: Haven Kaplan, 305-443-5454, [email protected] SOURCE Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority GULFPORT, Miss., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mississippi Power today announced that the Kemper County energy facility is not currently fully operational. While the project's monthly status report is due on June 1 to the Mississippi Public Service Commission, the company continues to assess the project's schedule and cost. On Monday, June 5, the company will file its monthly project status report to provide a full update to the PSC. The company on Monday will also make a rate filing for the project. Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for nearly 187,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power ranked first in the Southeast Electric Exchange's 2016 Safety Performance Reports and is consistently recognized as an industry leader in reliability, customer service and safety. Visit our websites at mississippipower.com and www.mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube. SOURCE Mississippi Power NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 100 authors from around the world, including Nobel Prize winner John Maxwell Coetzee (Disgrace); writer and comedian Stephen Fry (More Fool Me); Man Booker Prize winners Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) and Yann Martel (Life of Pi); and thought leaders Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow), Rebecca Solnit (Men Explain Things to Me) and Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine) signed a pledge [1] with Greenpeace to support free speech and stand up for forests. This pledge follows two multi-million dollar lawsuits filed by Resolute Forest Products, a Canadian company, to silence Greenpeace's criticism of its controversial logging in the boreal forest. The lawsuits could set a dangerous precedent for free speech if they succeed in silencing public comment on corporate behavior. "The endings of The Handmaid's Tale, 1984 and Brave New World are written. Ours is not. This is a chance to stand up for freedom of speech, the freedom to advocate for change, and the freedom to question authority, and to strengthen their protection under law. As a society, we need a positive outcome to this story," said Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, which recently became Hulu's record breaking television series and depicts a dystopian future where all but the most powerful women are forbidden to write and are denied access to books. Authors signing the pledge committed to defend "freedom of speech as a pillar of democratic and peaceful societies, the right of individuals to organize and protest without intimidation, [and] those who peacefully protect the world's forests." "Speaking as a serial blasphemer, I take freedom of speech very seriously," said author and actor Stephen Fry, "It's not just about the satisfaction you get from speaking your mind, it's also about telling uncomfortable truths that need to be heard, and Greenpeace has been incredibly successful at exposing what the powers that be want to keep secret. But this case goes beyond Greenpeace to threaten every whistle-blower and watchdog with information that the rich and powerful want suppressed. I'm worried, and I think you should be too." On May 16th, Greenpeace published a report [2] that showed major international publishers are purchasing paper from Resolute. [3] Greenpeace is inviting these global publishers to join this call to protect freedom of speech and work with Resolute to become more sustainable. Other notable authors who signed the pledge include Man Booker Prize winners Julian Barnes (The Sense of an Ending) and Ian McEwan (Atonement), Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Doerr (All The Light We Cannot See) MacArthur Award winner Deborah Eisenberg (Twilight of the Superheroes), Lev Grossman (The Magicians), Lauren Groff (Fates and Furies), William Shatner (Up Till Now), Alec Baldwin (Nevertheless), Jane Fonda (My Life So Far) and many more. "Publishers and authors are natural allies in our fight to protect free speech. Our campaign celebrates the power of words and the incredible work that authors and publishers do every day to ensure critical thinking and the spread of ideas in our society. Now, we're asking publishers to disavow this heavy-handed attempt by a paper company to silence dissent," said Greenpeace USA Senior Forest Campaigner Amy Moas. Greenpeace will be at Book Expo this week in New York, connecting with publishers and readers, and displaying an art installation called Treewhispers by artist Pamela Paulsrud, an ongoing international collaboration awakening our heartfelt connection to trees. Notes to editors: [1] Click here to see the full text of the authors' pledge and the list of signatories, or copy the following URL to your browser: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/authors-pledge/ [2] Click here to access the full "Clearcutting Free Speech: How Resolute Forest Products is going to extremes to silence critics of its controversial logging practices" report, or copy the following URL to your browser: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/clearcutting-free-speech [3] In its report, Greenpeace is asking Resolute Forest Products to: Adopt Free, Prior and Informed Consent as the basis for engaging with Indigenous Peoples to ensure forest planning is driven by Indigenous knowledge and governance. as the basis for engaging with Indigenous Peoples to ensure forest planning is driven by Indigenous knowledge and governance. Suspend logging in and sourcing from High Conservation Value Forests including Intact Forest Landscapes and Woodland Caribou habitat until science-based conservation planning takes place. Publicly support large-scale, protected areas based on this science and Indigenous knowledge. Recommit to the FSC system and regain lost certificates. Work with environmental organizations, unions and communities to address legitimate economic concerns and ensure jobs are sustained. [4] Click here to learn more about Resolute's massive legal attack against Greenpeace, or copy the following URL to your browser: http://www.greenpeace.org/resolutelawsuits/ SOURCE Greenpeace Related Links http://www.greenpeaceusa.org NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Murphy & McGonigle, P.C., a leading provider of legal services to the financial services industry, is pleased to announce that Chambers and Partners has recognized the firm in the category of Nationwide Financial Services Regulation Broker-Dealer Compliance and Enforcement in Chambers USA 2017. Published annually by Chambers and Partners, the rankings are based on thousands of in-depth interviews conducted with lawyers and clients to assess the reputations and experience of business lawyers around the world. Additionally, Murphy & McGonigle partners Stephen Crimmins (Nationwide Securities: Regulation) and Howard Kramer (Nationwide Financial Services Regulation: Broker Dealer) have once again been honored individually by Chambers and Partners. "When we launched Murphy & McGonigle seven years ago, we did so with the intent of developing an All-Star team of legal talent, where our attorneys could focus all of their energies on providing world-class service to our clients in the financial services industry. I am delighted that Chambers and Partners has recognized our firm in one of our core competencies," said James Murphy, Chairman of Murphy & McGonigle. About Murphy & McGonigle Founded in 2010, the firm has remained true to an innovative law firm model focused on serving some of the best known banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, hedge funds, securities markets and exchanges in the United States and internationally. For more information about the firm, please visit www.mmlawus.com. Media Contact: Steven Carrington: (212) 880-3989 SOURCE Murphy & McGonigle, P.C. Related Links www.mmlawus.com CLIFTON PARK, N.Y., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) will be hosting a NABCEP Stakeholder Summit during Intersolar North America in San Francisco, CA. WHEN: Wednesday, July 12, 2017 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM WHERE: At the InterContinental Hotel, Ballroom C located at 888 Howard Street in San Francisco, CA WHO: Shawn O'Brien, Executive Director of NABCEP, and other subject matter experts (SMEs) The NABCEP Stakeholder Summit will involve a presentation and an engaging discussion about three new specialty credentials that are being developed in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.Through the Energy Department's Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP) program, NABCEP will update its existing PV Installation Professional Certification to ensure it retains its rigorous quality standards as well as launch three new credential programs. NABCEP's new credential programs in Design, Installation, and Commissioning & Maintenance will provide professional certification for solar maintenance technicians, project managers, system designers, and operations and management professionals. "As the premier certification organization in renewable energy, NABCEP endeavors to provide relevant certifications that meet the evolving needs of companies and solar professionals," said Shawn W. O'Brien, Executive Director of NABCEP. "The development of the three new specialties in Design, Installation, and Commissioning and Maintenance will provide solar workers the opportunity to demonstrate to the public and employers that they have met the national standard established by the renewable energy profession." With the SunShot Initiative's support, NABCEP plans to implement its new certification suite and offer testing services nationally to qualified applicants by the end of 2017. Special Thanks NABCEP would like to thank the SunShot Initiative for their continued support, enthusiasm, confidence, and funding that help to make NABCEP's certifications and credentials such a success. About NABCEP The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is the most respected, well-established and widely recognized national certification organization for professionals in the field of renewable energy. NABCEP offers entry level knowledge assessment, professional certification, and company accreditation programs to renewable energy professionals throughout North America. NABCEP's mission is to develop and implement quality credentialing and certification programs for practitioners by supporting and working closely with professionals and stakeholders in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. About the SunShot Initiative The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative is a national effort to drive down the cost of solar electricity and support solar adoption. SunShot aims to make solar energy a low cost electricity source for all Americans through research and development efforts in collaboration with public and private partners. Learn more at energy.gov/sunshot. SOURCE North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two crew members on the International Space Station are scheduled to depart the orbital outpost Friday, June 2. Coverage of their departure and return to Earth will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website beginning Thursday, June 1, with the space station change of command ceremony. Expedition 51 Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will undock their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft from the space station at 6:50 a.m. EDT and land in Kazakhstan at 10:10 a.m. (8:20 p.m. Kazakhstan time). Together, the Expedition 51 crew members pursued hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard humanity's only orbiting laboratory. Their return will wrap up 196 days in space, since their launch on Nov. 18, 2016. NASA TV will air coverage of the departure and landing activities at the following dates and times: Thursday, June 1 11:50 a.m. -- Change of command ceremony with NASA's Peggy Whitson handing over station command to Roscosmos' Fyodor Yurchikhin Friday, June 2 3 a.m. -- Farewell and hatch closure (hatch closure at 3:35 a.m. ) -- Farewell and hatch closure (hatch closure at ) 6:30 a.m. -- Undocking (undocking scheduled at 6:50 a.m. ) -- Undocking (undocking scheduled at ) 8:45 a.m. -- Deorbit burn and landing (deorbit burn at 9:17 a.m. , landing at 10:10 a.m. ) -- Deorbit burn and landing (deorbit burn at , landing at ) 1 p.m. -- Video File of hatch closure, undocking and landing activities Monday, June 5 12 p.m. -- Video File of landing and post-landing activities At the time of undocking, Expedition 52 will begin aboard the station under the command of Fyodor Yurchikhin. Along with his crewmates Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer of NASA, the three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of three new crew members. Randy Bresnik of NASA, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli of ESA are scheduled to launch July 28 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter: https://instagram.com/iss and https://www.twitter.com/Space_Station SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov RAPID CITY, S.D., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National American University (NAU) recently announced the opening of an online enrollment office that will allow NAU to better serve online students around the United States. Additional staff will be located at the new Lee's Summit office in the Kansas City metro area. As the demand for online learning continues to grow, NAU remains committed to providing access to quality online education to traditional and non-traditional students. "The development of quality online education has been a focus of National American University since it began offering online classes in 1998," says NAU President and CEO Dr. Ronald Shape. "The additional staff will help the university achieve its mission to prepare students for careers in technical and professional fields by providing quality higher education in a caring and supportive environment." National American University offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs in technical and professional disciplines. In 1941, NAU opened its first campus in Rapid City, South Dakota, and now serves students at multiple locations in ten states. Today, NAU offers degree programs in traditional, online, and hybrid formats, which provide students increased flexibility to take courses at times and places convenient to their busy lifestyles. During the spring term 2017, the majority of NAU's students participated in at least one class exclusively through online course delivery. National American University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with several academic programs separately accredited or approved by national educational and professional associations. (hlcommission.org | 800-621-7440) For More Information Gregg Peterson 605-394-4960 | [email protected] SOURCE National American University Related Links http://www.national.edu/ Croatia Airlines on May 21 launched a new route between Zagreb and Helsinki, Finland. Last year, the number of passengers at Helsinki Airport on Croatian routes is increased by 24 percent. Helsinki Airport has had routes to three destinations in Croatia: Pula, Split and Dubrovnik. The growth rates on routes between Helsinki Airport and Croatia have been nothing short of amazing. In 2010 there were only 33,000 passengers travelling to Croatia, whereas last year 150,000 passengers travelled to the country from Helsinki. Even compared to 2015 alone, the number of passengers on the Croatian routes increased by a whopping 24 percent. Since May, Croatia Airlines is operating three weekly flights between Helsinki Airport and Zagreb. We are glad that Helsinki has become the 39th destination in our network. We are now offering to our passengers the fastest travel option between Finland and Croatia and I believe that many of them will recognise the value of this route. I hope that our flights will help to discover natural, historical and cultural beauties of our capital, but also the whole country, said Kresimir Kucko, President & CEO of Croatia Airlines, at the ceremony organised at Helsinki Airport after the celebratory flight on May 30. The route between Helsinki and Zagreb is open during the summer season until 15th of October. In addition to Zagreb, the other new routes between Helsinki Airport and South-eastern Europe that will be opened in 2017 are Pristina in Kosovo, Varna in Bulgaria, and Bucharest in Romania. The region as a whole has now clearly become an important area of emphasis for Helsinki Airport. This is a sign both of increased demand and of successful sales work. Greece continues to be a huge attraction, and as an up-and-comer Croatia is in a class of its own. The upswing is not accounted for entirely by Finnish holidaymakers the demand is on both sides. Finland itself is an attractive final destination, as are the onward destinations that are accessible through the Helsinki Airport, Haapasaari says. Preparations for new passenger records are currently underway at Helsinki Airport, with major extension work being carried out. The number of passengers is estimated to exceed 18 million this year, and by 2020 a total of 20 million passengers a year will pass through the airport. CHERRY HILL, N.J., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bob Silverman, Founding Partner of the Lemon Law Firm of Kimmel & Silverman, P.C. has been honored as a 2017 Distinguished Leader by the New Jersey Law Journal. The Law Journal says these honorees "continue to be the strongest of advocates, demonstrating clear leadership skills as lawyers, managers, scholars and members of the professional community." Mr. Silverman's efforts will be featured in a special magazine supplement and honored at a gala to be held June 20th. Together with his partner Craig Thor Kimmel, Mr. Silverman successfully founded the Northeast's first full-service automotive Lemon Law firm in 1991 and a quarter of a decade later, Kimmel & Silverman has succeeded in providing cost-free legal representation to more than 80,000 consumers using the fee-shifting provisions of the Lemon Law and Federal Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. Mr. Silverman's work as a consumer advocate has extended to working with the State judiciary to establish the New Jersey Lemon Law Pilot Program and being assigned the task of training arbitrators on how to adjudicate Lemon Law and breach of warranty cases. In addition, he was fundamental in securing and protecting the Lemon Law and Federal Warranty rights for Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler consumers in 2009 when together with his associate Amy Bennecoff Ginsburg, he drafted the provision in the Chrysler/Fiat sales agreement which guaranteed that Fiat would still be committed to consumers who purchased vehicles from the line prior to the sale of the company. Through this one important provision, Mr. Silverman protected hundreds of thousands of drivers nationwide. Mr. Silverman has been honored in many past years as a Super Lawyer by Law & Politics; earned a perfect 10/10 score on AVVO.com; and was named "a pioneer in New Jersey Lemon Law legislation" in a front page Newark Star Ledger feature. As a result of the Firm's comprehensive website LemonLaw.com, he also received a Meritorious Recognition award as part of the 2002 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access competition presented by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. Mr. Silverman's expertise has been featured on numerous news outlets including Nightline, the nationally syndicated Money Talks News, and the New York Times. Mr. Silverman earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Pennsylvania State University and holds a Juris Doctor Degree from Temple University School of Law. For more information about Kimmel and Silverman, and the services they provide, please call 1-800-LEMON-LAW (1-800-536-6652) or visit the firm's website at www.lemonlaw.com. SOURCE Kimmel & Silverman PC Related Links http://www.lemonlaw.com CAMDEN, N.J., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Youth participants involved with the National Stop the Violence Alliance, Inc.'s What About YOUth (W.A.Y.) initiative have been selected to represent the United States at the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference being held this July in Kingston, Jamaica. Jamaica is celebrating its 55th Anniversary of Independence this year, and youth in the W.A.Y program will be able to take part. Convened every two years by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the conference is an important platform in Jamaica's strategic effort to meaningfully engage with Jamaicans around the world. Youth engaged in the W.A.Y. initiative were personally invited by Trudy Deans, the Consul General of Jamaica, to engage in this culturally enriching experience and to discuss the Jamaican Diaspora with educators and students. They will be performing in front of Jamaican dignitaries and other special guests and conducting community service. "This is an exciting opportunity for youth in our program to engage with their peers in Jamaica while representing the United States," says Dr. Stephne Coney, founder and CEO of National Stop the Violence Alliance, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1991. "We have launched a GoFundMe page for those who want to support the students and this opportunity they have been given. The funds raised will go toward round-trip flights, hotel accommodations, and emergency insurance. This opportunity can change the lives of these young people. They need everyone's support through corporate, philanthropic, community, and individual donations." Created in 2013, the W.A.Y initiative is a mentoring program for students in pre-K through 12th grade. The initiative was created to address the growing needs of youth in the Camden, New Jersey community. Participants participate in a workshop setting to discuss various issues, such as youth and gang violence, education, college preparedness, entrepreneurship, etiquette, physical and mental health, conflict resolution, media and arts-based education, and building a relationship with law enforcement. W.A.Y. initiative participants are also members of the prestigious Peace Troopers: A Youth Partnership with Law Enforcement Mentoring Program, which was established 1996. To learn more about the organization and its programs, visit NationalStoptheViolence.org. To help make a difference for youth and support their upcoming trip to Jamaica, visit their GoFundMe page. About National Stop the Violence Alliance, Inc. National Stop the Violence Alliance, Inc. is an international powerhouse, boasting support from athletes, visual/performing artists, actors, other nonprofit organizations, governmental officials, public safety agencies, and communities nationwide. For more information, visit NationalStoptheViolence.org. Media Contact: Dr. Stephne R. Coney Phone: 856.873.4911 Email: [email protected] Related Images image1.png image2.png Related Links Website GoFundMe Page Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pGsx164ds SOURCE National Stop the Violence Alliance, Inc. Related Links http://www.nationalstoptheviolence.org CLEVELAND, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Confident Giving: Sage Advice for Funders, a new book on effective philanthropy written by Kris Putnam-Walkerly, President of Putnam Consulting Group, Inc., was named a finalist in the prestigious 2017 International Book Awards. Kris Putnam-Walkerly New Philanthropy Book, Confident Giving Based on her humorous and insightful blog posts that bring out the triumphs and tragedies of grantmaking, this book supplies philanthropists with a wealth of provocative ideas that will transform their practices. They also will be better able to identify worthy programs to support when they heed the recommendations of Putnam-Walkerly, who advises and speaks to foundation boards, philanthropy associations and funder networks. "As a philanthropy advisor, my goal is always to help funders transform their strategies and expand their impact. It's exciting to see Confident Giving being used as resource to achieve this goal," said Putnam-Walkerly, who was recently named one of America's Top 25 Philanthropy Speakers by Philanthropy Media and The Michael Chatman Giving Show. Other finalists included Bono and leaders of the Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Now in its 14th year, the Awards are one of the largest mainstream book award competitions in the United States. Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of American Book Fest, said this year's contest yielded over 1,500 entries from authors and publishers around the world. About the book, Confident Giving: Using a refreshing combination of common sense and wit, the book helps readers learn how to: Transform their giving for greater impact Approach grantmaking with an abundance mentality Define their personal journeys as philanthropists Deal effectively with real-life hurdles funders face every day In this concise and compelling volume, Kris brings inspired wisdom that stands out among the field's thought leaders. Confident Giving is available in print and Kindle. The book has 155 pages. The price is $14.95. The ISBN is 978-0-692-61891-2. The book can be ordered at Amazon.com About Kris Putnam-Walkerly Kris Putnam-Walkerly, MSW, is a nationally recognized global philanthropy advisor and president of Putnam Consulting Group, Inc. For over 18 years, top philanthropies have requested Kris's help to transform their giving and catapult their impact, including designing strategies that achieve results, streamline operations, assess impact, and allocate funds. Her clients include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, and California HealthCare Foundation, among dozens of others. She's helped more than 50 foundations and philanthropists strategically allocate and assess over $300 million in grants and gifts. A thought leader in transformational philanthropy, Kris is the author of "Confident Giving" and the forthcoming book, "Delusional Altruism," and is a frequent contributor in the publications of leading philanthropy associations including the National Center for Family Philanthropy, Foundation Center, Southeastern Council on Foundations, Exponent Philanthropy, and AsianNGO Magazine. She provides expert commentary about philanthropy in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Washington Examiner, Entepreneur.com, BusinessWeek.com, and others. Kris's success as a global philanthropy advisor has earned her a place in the 2017 Million Dollar Consultant Hall of Fame, a rare honor, which has only seventy-five members worldwide. Prior to forming Putnam Consulting Group, she was a grantmaker at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and an evaluator at the highly esteemed Stanford University School of Medicine. Contact Kris Putnam-Walkerly 510-388-5231 [email protected] SOURCE Putnam Consulting Group, Inc. DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "North America Electrosurgical Devices Market (2016-2022)" report to their offering. According to Hospital and Healthcare Management, Annual count of electrosurgical procedures is more than 17.5 million in the United States. Increasing demand for minimally invasive surgeries is also increasing the demand for electrosurgical devices market in North America. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the annual number of bariatric surgical procedures performed were nearly doubled from 1,03,000 in 2003 to 2,05,000 procedures in 2007, and up to 13% of the U.S. population are estimated to undergo for bariatric surgery by 2020. Increase in the cases of chronic diseases has increased in Mexico due to the consumption of tobacco and alcohol. Increasing population and increase in chronic diseases in Mexico is leading towards the growth of health care services and technology. Hence, North America would be contributing in the growth of electrosurgical devices market. The Electrosurgical market has been segmented on the basis of product, application and geography. On the basis of the product, the market is divided into three segments such as electrosurgical generators, argon & smoke management systems, and electrosurgical instruments & accessories. Electrosurgical devices are divided in two terms bipolar and monopolar. In Bipolar electrosurgery, active and returned electrode functions are performed at the site of surgery. Monopolar have its most common use in electrosurgical modality. Bipolar instrument includes bipolar forceps and advanced vessel sealing instruments. Monopolar instruments have four categories namely electrosurgical electrodes, electrosurgical pencils, suction coagulators and monopolar forceps. These devices are mostly preferred in the surgical procedures due to its ability to make precise cut with limited blood loss. On the other hand, electrosurgical accessories is further divided into four categories namely electrodes, patient return electrode or dispersive, cords, cables, adapters and others (carts & cleaners). Based on Application, the market is segmented into eight categories such as gynecology surgery, general surgery, cosmetic surgery, neurosurgery, urologic surgery, cardiovascular surgery, orthopedic surgery and others (ENT, ophthalmic surgeries and dermatology). Based on country, the market is segmented into US, Canada, Mexico and Rest of North America. Key Topics Covered: 1. Market Scope & Methodology 2. Executive Summary 3. Market Overview 4. North America Electrosurgical Devices Market 5. North America Electrosurgical Devices Market by End User 6. North America Electrosurgical Devices Market by Application 7. North America Electrosurgical Devices Market by Country 8. Company Profiles - Olympus Corporation - Conmed Corporation - Medtronic Plc - Johnson & Johnson - Bovie Medical Corporation - Utah Medical Products, Inc - KLS Martin Group - B. Braun - Erbe Elektromedi For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vk4s6d/north_america Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com LONDON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2015, natural gas was the second largest energy source and accounted for 31.50% share in primary energy consumption. United States become a net exporter of LNG in 2016, with nearly 50 BCF of LNG being exported to Brazil, Chile, UAE, China, France and Japan, during January to June 2016. In North America, Canada accounted for 77.40% of total proved oil reserves, while the US garnered 81.9% of total proved gas reserves in 2015, according to BP statistical report. US accounts for around 24.4 TCM of shale gas reserves, followed by Mexico (19.3 TCM) and Canada (11 TCM). US and Canada are the centers of shale gas developments in North America, due to factors like accessible formations and large proven reserves. Moreover, these countries have advanced drilling and fracturing technologies, piping and refining infrastructure, which provides easy access to the markets. Magnitude of upstream exploration and production taking place in North America is anticipated to surge oil & gas pipeline market in North America in the coming years. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4925469/ According to "North America Oil & Gas Pipeline Market, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 20122022", North America oil & gas pipeline market is projected to reach $ 15.21 billion by 2022. Few of the leading players in North America oil & gas pipeline market include Kinder Morgan Inc., Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, National Oilwell Varco, EVRAZ North America and General Electric. "North America Oil & Gas Pipeline Market, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 20122022" discusses the following aspects in the North America oil & gas pipeline market: - Market Size & Share Forecast - Regional and Country Market Analysis - Segmental Analysis By Application (Midstream, Upstream & Downstream), By Type (SAW, ERW, Seamless, Polyethylene % Composite) and By Region Changing Market Trends & Emerging Opportunities - Competitive Landscape Why You Should Buy This Report? - To gain an in-depth understanding of North America oil & gas pipeline market. - To identify the on-going trends and anticipated growth in the next five years - To help industry consultants, oil & gas pipeline companies and other stakeholders align their market-centric strategies - To obtain research based business decisions and add weight to presentations and marketing material - To gain competitive knowledge of leading market players and suppliers - To avail 10% customization in the report without any extra charges and get the research data or trends added in the report as per the buyer's specific needs Report Methodology The information contained in this report is based upon both primary and secondary research. Primary research included interaction with pipeline owners and manufacturers, EPC contractors and industry experts. Secondary research included an exhaustive search of relevant publications like company annual reports, financial reports and proprietary databases. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4925469/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com BELLEVUE, Wash., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Career site Nurse.org released a new report featuring "real-world" salary rankings by state for registered nurses. The list considers base pay along with cost of living -- a more meaningful salary comparison for nurses looking to advance their careers by relocating. "We realized that nurses could benefit more from salary data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics if it contained a cost-of-living dimension. The combined data would offer a more accurate view of how far their salaries might go," said Phillip Lee, Product Manager for Nurse.org. "A nurse making $80,000 in New York technically earns more than a nurse making $70,000 in Texas," explains Lee, "but when you factor in New York's 40% increased cost-of-living, it's a completely different story." To address this gap, data analysts at Nurse.org compared salaries to regional cost-of-living data. The result is a real-world look at earning power. Nurses can now use the data to compare their current salary to their true earning potential in another state. The report contains some surprises. California, despite its relatively high cost of living, pays its nurses more than any state on a cost-of-living-adjusted basis. Nevada took the second-highest spot on the list, thanks in part to its lower living costs. On a non-adjusted basis, California is still number one, but Hawaii takes the second spot. Factor in cost of living, and Hawaii drops well down the list to 13th. Rounding out the top ten after California and Nevada on the list of top "real-world" nurse salaries is Alaska (No. 3), Oregon (No. 4), Massachusetts (No. 5), Washington State (No. 6), New Jersey (No. 7), Texas (No. 8), Arizona (No. 9), and Minnesota (No. 10). In addition to adjusted salary data, the rankings report includes effective income tax rates, hourly and annual salary, and number of RNs employed in each state. With this report, Nurse.org wishes to help the estimated 2.7 million working nurses in the U.S. work where they want to without sacrificing quality of life. The full report is available at http://nurse.org/articles/50-state-salaries-ranked-with-cost-of-living/ About Nurse.org: Nurse.org is a Bellevue, Wash.-based website that helps nurses take the next step in their careers. Offering a robust job board, frequent articles, and hospital reviews, Nurse.org is in the business of empowering nursing professionals. Contact: Lynn Rusk [email protected] 200 112th Ave NE Ste. 310 Bellevue, WA 98004 888-926-2487 SOURCE Nurse.org Related Links http://nurse.org GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NxGen MDx announced that it is sponsoring the presentation of NX Prenatal's innovative technology at the ninth Philadelphia Prenatal Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Prenatal Conference, held from June 8-10, will focus on prenatal genetics, ultrasound, and obstetrics/maternal-fetal medicine, with presentations from leading experts in the field. NX Prenatal is focused on the development of an exosome-based blood test designed to predict the risk of spontaneous preterm birth as early as 10-12 weeks of pregnancy. This test, the NeXosome Preterm Birth Risk Assay, uses exosomes from the maternal bloodstream to provide an accurate, non-invasive view of maternal and fetal cells and tissues. Dr. Thomas McElrath, who has served as Principle Investigator for NX Prenatal's recent clinical studies, will present to the group. Dr. McElrath is Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at Brigham & Women's Hospital where he specializes in Maternal & Fetal Medicine with a focus on the prevention of spontaneous preterm birth. Dr. McElrath manages the Preterm Birth Clinic at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He actively publishes on the biomarker epidemiology and classification of preterm birth and the interaction of environmental conditions and exposures with the risk of preterm birth. "Preterm birth is a huge problem in the U.S. with one in ten births being premature. Our goal is to raise awareness of this problem and through this novel approach, be part of the solution in identifying the risk of preterm birth," said Alan Mack, CEO of NxGen MDx. About NX Prenatal NX Prenatal Inc. is a private, US-based molecular diagnostics company. The company's NeXosome Preterm Birth Risk Assay is positioned to be an enabling, early warning system for pregnancies that may result in spontaneous preterm birth. Using its proprietary NeXosome Platform, NX Prenatal has demonstrated the potential utility of a new library of biomarkers for prenatal risk assessment as early as 10 weeks' gestation. This technology exploits biologically active and stable microparticles, such as exosomes, from the maternal bloodstream, to provide a real-time and non-invasive view of changing maternal and fetal cells and tissues. About NxGen MDx NxGen MDx LLC is a leading women's health company delivering highly accurate and precise genetic screening to detect genetic diseases or abnormalities to help guide family planning decisions for couples and their health care providers. Unlike other laboratories, NxGen MDx's technology examines the entire gene rather than parts of the gene, giving families a comprehensive assessment of their true risk. NxGen MDx is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. To learn more, visit the company's website at www.nxgenmdx.com. SOURCE NxGen MDx Related Links http://www.nxgenmdx.com BROOKFIELD, Wis., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- David Vialpando, director of gaming programs for OnCourse Learning Financial Services, will review how technology has evolved to help casinos successfully onboard new employees, track compliance training and mitigate risk during the keynote address for the Wisconsin Gaming Regulators Association Annual Conference. The keynote is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. June 15 during the networking reception and dinner at the Oneida Bingo & Casino Conference Center in Green Bay, Wis. "With his experience, we are confident David can provide insight on all aspects of regulations, the evolution of gaming technology and the benefits of the OnCourse Learning product," said WGRA Conference Committee Member and Executive Board Member Ken George Jr. About 200 regulators from 11 Wisconsin tribal casinos and several Midwestern tribal casinos will be in attendance for the keynote presentation. The location of the networking reception, dinner and keynote will be determined and announced June 15 during the conference, according to George. "I'm honored to provide the keynote address to this year's WGRA annual conference," Vialpando said. "I can speak to the importance of proper employee onboarding, and the need for regular risk assessment and compliance training in the tribal gaming space. "Proper onboarding and training throughout an employee's career can impact a casino's bottom line," Vialpando said. "It's important to understand that effective onboarding empowers employees to maximize their contributions to the organization and improves employee retention, while regular training ensures the employee's focus is on customer satisfaction and risk mitigation." I-Gaming Track talk on jurisdictional issues Vialpando also is scheduled to discuss jurisdictional issues and the importance of being compliant with state and federal gaming requirements at 1:35 p.m. June 15. His presentation, "Internet Gaming - Taking the First Step," will be part of the conference's I-Gaming Track in the Michigan Room at the Oneida Bingo & Casino Conference Center. "My presentation reviews the nuts and bolts of Internet gaming," said Vialpando, who also serves as the chairman of the California-based Santa Ysabel Tribal Gaming Commission. To ensure Wisconsin regulators are up to date on the latest gaming protocols, Vialpando will cover the following components: Platform vetting and system design review Financial transaction system review Knowing your customer and geo-location protocols Assessing jurisdictional standards Responsible gambling protocols Accountability and integrity system integration "I'd like regulators to understand the enormity of the responsibility they have for knowing what's permitted from a legal standpoint," Vialpando said. "The potential ramifications for mistakes can be tremendous, so we want to be sure to get it right from the very start." Provide your name and email address to see the full OnCourse Learning Gaming Catalog. For information about the WGRA conference, contact George at [email protected]. OnCourse Learning Financial Services is a leading provider of governance, risk and compliance training for the gaming, bank, mortgage, credit union, and nonbank financial services industries. It offers a comprehensive course catalog complemented by its sophisticated learning management system. To learn more, please contact 866-512-9888, visit OnCourseLearning.com/Financial-Services or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For media inquiries, contact: Deborah Filipek, Media Relations Manager 847-908-8017 [email protected] About OnCourse Learning OnCourse Learning delivers licensure, regulatory and compliance education solutions throughout the nation's leading industries including financial services, healthcare and real estate. Through trusted industry expertise, compliance management and technology solutions, OnCourse Learning focuses on advancing the e-learning environment for individuals and businesses to help to build new careers, empower employees through knowledge and identify efficiencies in corporate training management. OnCourse Learning offers a full suite of educational products including state and federally approved prelicensing and continuing education programs, accredited course content, exam prep tools, publications, e-books, events and a sophisticated and customizable learning management system and course-authoring tool. To learn more, visit OnCourseLearning.com. SOURCE OnCourse Learning Related Links http://www.oncourselearning.com DENVER, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers are always working to instill critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication skills in students. Bringing the four C's into the classroom often calls for materials not built into budgets. The non-profit school supply warehouse RAFT (Resource Area For Teaching) Colorado is a unique place for Denver area educators to find boatloads of affordable items for giving students hands-on experiences with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) lessons. Organize My Drawer CEO Wayne Qualkinbush with Resource Area For Teaching Colorado warehouse manager Alex Smith, unload donated organizers on May 18, 2017. Photo by Kristen Kidd "When we learned about RAFT we knew it was a wonderful fit for the items we were looking to donate," said Wayne Qualkinbush, CEO of the eCommerce business Organize My Drawer. In the process of starting up in 2015, the custom drawer organizer maker amassed about 1,500 cardboard shipping boxes they ultimately could not use, and about 100 prototypes of their patent-pending clear acrylic containers were taking up storage space. "We wanted them to go where they could be put to great use, and were pleased to find this amazing program for teachers and students," Qualkinbush said. RAFT Colorado runs a large warehouse in Denver filled with items donated by local organizations like The Denver Broncos, Denver Art Museum, Whole Foods and many more. Members can purchase items for educational projects at about 90% off donation value. "We're seeing many schools doing cardboard challenges where students create fantastic structures," said RAFT Director of Education, Chris DeKay. "And I can imagine young students using these organizers to practice sorting and counting skills. It'll be fun to see how they get used," said DeKay. Annual membership for educators is $25. About 3,600 members shop at RAFT year-round. Companies wanting to donate can visit raftcolorado.org. About Organize My Drawer Organize My Drawer is a patent-pending eCommerce business based in Centennial, Colorado that makes high-quality drawer organizers designed by you for all your unique stuff. Whether you are looking for kitchen, bathroom, closet, jewelry or desk organization OMD's customer-designed organizers are precision-crafted to your exact specifications with an easy-to-use online design tool, and delivered remarkably fast. Visit us on FaceBook and Pinterest. Contact: Andrea Qualkinbush Chief Marketing Officer [email protected] (720) 545-2429 SOURCE Organize My Drawer Related Links https://www.organizemydrawer.com CHICAGO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Outcome Health, which partners with healthcare providers to serve actionable health intelligence at the moment of care to improve patient outcomes, announces a financing round valuing the company at $5 billion pre-money, to expand its impact from 20% to 70% of all U.S. physician practices by 2020. The size of this investment and the quality of participants strongly positions the company to also drive growth across emerging opportunities such as clinical trials, payers, pharmacies and international markets. Investors include Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, Alphabet's growth equity investment fund CapitalG, Leerink Transformation Partners, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Balyasny Asset Management, among many others, as well as strategic health systems and healthcare stakeholders aligned with the company's mission. "Outcome Health and its investors share a commitment to activate the best health outcome possible for every person in the world. We believe achieving this at scale will require building a ubiquitous network that brings together all sides of healthcare to support patients and healthcare providers whenever, wherever and however they make critical healthcare decisions," said Rishi Shah, CEO of Outcome Health. "We are grateful to have been entrusted to realize this vision by so many important stakeholders. Together, we have the opportunity to create the exam room of the future, physically and digitally, and evolve healthcare decision making from the currency of information to the currency of intelligence." One of the company's exam room technologies is its Digital Anatomy Board, which facilitates effective communication through 3D anatomical diagrams that physicians can annotate during patient consultations to visualize the patient's medical condition, related symptoms and treatment options. "Using the Outcome Health Digital Anatomy Boards is an opportunity to dialogue with a patient and explain their medical problem in a visual way," says Dr. Neil Baum, a urologist in New Orleans. "I use the Digital Anatomy Boards with nearly every patient and I have found that patients appreciate and, more importantly, understand the problem and what needs to be done to resolve the problem." The company is transforming the patient experience while empowering healthcare providers to achieve the transition towards value-based care. "Outcome Health is improving the point-of-care decision-making process that leads to better healthcare outcomes," said Christopher Dawe, co-head of the Venture Capital and Growth Equity team at Goldman Sachs Investment Partners. "This investment is consistent with our broader philosophy of backing mission-driven teams who are bringing positive transformation to large addressable markets." "We are thrilled to be partners to Outcome Health and to support their growth as they deploy their health intelligence platform in physician consultation rooms around the world," said Laela Sturdy, partner at CapitalG, Alphabet's growth equity fund. Outcome Health's innovative model is based on aligning industry incentives to drive synergies amongst all healthcare stakeholders via patient-centric technology solutions that deliver measurable improvement in health outcomes. "Outcome Health is redefining the way that the life sciences, payers, healthcare IT, physicians and patients interact," said Todd Cozzens, co-founder and Managing Partner at Leerink Transformation Partners. "The technology enhances the most important event in the delivery of care - the trusted moments where the doctor and patient make decisions about their conditions and treatments - and represents innovation that we are proud to support. Doctors like Outcome Health's platform because their patients have a better care experience, which leads to better compliance, adherence and most importantly, better outcomes." About Outcome Health Outcome Health's mission is to activate the best health outcome possible for every person in the world through technologies that change behavior to positively shape the human condition. The company serves health information and health intelligence during critical moments of care to enable patients and physicians to make the best healthcare decision possible. The company, founded in 2006 by Rishi Shah and Shradha Agarwal, partners with 231,000 healthcare providers nationwide to impact 500 million patient visits annually. Outcome Health has offices in Chicago and New York City, employing more than 600 people, and partners with large healthcare systems, private physician practices, medical associations, global life sciences companies as well as pharmacies and payers. To learn more about Outcome Health's solutions and impact, visit http://www.outcomehealth.com/outcomes. Media Contact: Philip de Guzman Communications Lead, Outcome Health [email protected] 312.636.7320 SOURCE Outcome Health Related Links http://www.outcomehealth.com Chinese airline company; Hainan Airlines unveiled its third Kung Fu Panda-themed plane as part of collaboration with DreamWorks Animation. The plane featuring a design by young American designer Hannah Foss takes its inaugural flight, in celebration of the Chinese airline's 24th anniversary. The flight carried a special passenger, Hannah Foss, a young designer from the state of Alaska. When Hannah Foss submitted her "Kung Fu Panda"-themed Dreamliner design last September, she was one of nearly 3,000 online entries that all shared the same dream: To have their design painted on a real-life, Hainan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner. That dream started several months ago when Hainan, Boeing and DreamWorks announced a partnership that would include the introduction of six specially-painted Dreamliners over the next two years, featuring characters and scenes from the popular animated franchise. "I have loved painting and designing since I was a child. I have designed a dinosaur exhibition for a museum and depicted the Northern lights around the Arctic Circle in my artwork. But I never thought that my design would be painted on a plane someday. It feels amazing! This is the first time that I have come to China, taken a Boeing Dreamliner and witnessed the process of the painting of a plane. I really appreciate these "firsts" that Hainan Airlines has offered to me," Ms. Foss said as part of a speech she gave over the plane's announcement system during which she shared her thrilling story with the over 200 passengers on the flight. "This is an exceptional journey for me, giving many Americans like myself the opportunity to learn about Hainan Airlines and better understand the distinguished Chinese company's idea of cherishing every person's dream in addition to its ongoing commitment to fulfilling dreams." Hannah grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and moved to Alaska in 2008. Some of her adventures include spending several years as a paleontological artist, CGI-animating a couple of museum films, constructing a 16-ft long dinosaur puppet called Snaps, eating tasty muktuk, snow-machining on the Chukchi Sea and meeting a polar bear. In addition to having her design painted on a Dreamliner and to be part of this amazing journey, Hannah won two round-trip, business class tickets to China, as well as a weeks' accommodations at a luxury hotel. The "Kung Fu Panda" story is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture and history. Hannah's design wove together popular characters like Po and Tigress, with traditional Chinese "chops" and a painted sunrise. The design was awarded the top prize based on its originality, creativity, humor, its reflection of Chinese culture, and its wow factor. When Hannah's design is painted onto the new Dreamliner, the airplane will fly several of Hainan's more than 40 nonstop routes between China and North America. It will join two other specially painted airplanes, the first of which touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last year. That airplane carried over 100 students and teachers from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, WA, who were returning from a life-changing, 11-day trip to China. Conference attendees are invited to join Paradigm at booth #320 for daily technology presentations, beginning at 10:00 AM. The rich multi-disciplinary program includes high-science solutions that help geoscientists successfully increase accuracy and productivity in their E&P work, to improve recovery and reduce exploitation cost and risk. Topics range from 2D multi-line velocity modeling and high-resolution diffraction imaging, to reservoir geomechanics, pore pressure prediction, precision depthing, efficient subsurface model quality control using SKUA , and the use of production data to enhance reservoir characterization. In addition, consultant Sabine Klarner will offer her take on mitigating risk at each stage of the E&P process, and Konstantin Smirnov of PetroTrace will discuss the use of advanced seismic data analysis to enhance confidence in small scale geo-feature prediction. The full presentation program can be found on the Paradigm Website . "Paradigm's vision is to create a high-definition software platform inclusive of key geoscience and engineering activities, to ensure that operators' investments in subsurface data assets are optimized for exploration and production decisions," said Duane Dopkin, executive vice president of Geoscience at Paradigm. "To deliver on this, we've added innovation and enhanced integration and interconnectivity in our Paradigm 17 release, which we look forward to sharing with visitors to our booth. Our experts will also be on hand for one-on-one presentations, for a more in-depth look at specific workflows or software applications." On Tuesday and Wednesday, complimentary Lunch & Learn sessions will feature a case study by Paradigm customer Galp Energia, and a joint presentation with Dassault Systemes, focusing on how reservoir geomechanics can improve production risk management. Advanced online registration is required for each Lunch & Learn session. Paradigm geoscientists will have a significant presence in this year's EAGE technical program, with technical paper presentations in the Seismic Modeling, Seismic Attenuation, Seismic Interpolation and Regularization, Seismic Signal Processing and Geomechanics sessions. Paradigm papers will also be presented in two EAGE workshops: Workshop 6: Velocity Uncertainties Derived from Seismic Depth Imaging and their Use in Risk Analysis, and Workshop 18: Geoscience and Reservoir Integration in Studies - Tools and Methods. For more information on Paradigm products and services, please visit www.pdgm.com, or e-mail [email protected]. About Paradigm Paradigm (www.pdgm.com) is the largest independent developer of software-enabled solutions to the global oil and gas industry. Paradigm easy-to-use technology and workflows provide customers with deeper insight into the subsurface by combining leading-edge science, high-performance desktop and cluster computing, and scalable data management, delivering highly accurate results and productivity without compromise. The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of Paradigm B.V. and/or its affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, "Paradigm"): Paradigm, Paradigm logo and/or other Paradigm products referenced herein. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. Paradigm Media Contact Samhita Shah Tel: +1 713.393.4109 [email protected] SOURCE Paradigm Related Links http://www.pdgm.com ATHENS, Greece, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Shipping Inc. (the "Company") announced that the Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Annual Meeting") of the Company held today has been adjourned until June 15, 2017 to allow additional time for the solicitation of proxies. The meeting will re-convene at the premises of the Company at 15 Karamanli Ave. 166 73 Voula, Greece, on June 15, 2017, at 12:00 p.m. local time. The business scheduled for the re-convened Annual Meeting remains the same as set forth in the Company's Proxy Statement for Annual Meeting of Shareholders dated April 19, 2017. Shareholders of the Company will consider and vote upon the following proposals: To elect two Class A Directors and one Class B Director of the Company to serve until the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders ("Proposal One"); To consider and vote upon a proposal to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young (Hellas) Certified Auditors-Accountants S.A., as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017 ("Proposal Two"); To grant discretionary authority to the Company's board of directors to (A) amend the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of the Company to effect one or more consolidations of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, pursuant to which the shares of common stock would be combined and reclassified into one share of common stock ratios within the range from 1-for-2 up to 1-for-1,000 (the "Reverse Stock Split") and (B) determine whether to arrange for the disposition of fractional interests by shareholder entitled thereto, to pay in cash the fair value of fractions of a share of common stock as of the time when those entitled to receive such fractions are determined, or to entitle shareholder to receive from the Company's transfer agent, in lieu of any fractional share, the number of shares of common stock rounded up to the next whole number, provided that, (X) that the Company shall not effect Reverse Stock Splits that, in the aggregate, exceeds 1-for-1,000, and (Y) any Reverse Stock Split is completed no later than the first anniversary of the date of the Annual Meeting ("Proposal Three"); and To transact such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting and any adjournments or postponements thereof. Adoption of Proposal One requires the affirmative vote of a plurality of the votes cast at the Meeting by the shareholders entitled to vote at the Meeting. Adoption of Proposal Two requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the Meeting by the holders of shares of stock entitled to vote thereon. Adoption of Proposal Three requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of all outstanding shares entitled to vote thereon. Shareholders who have not already done so are encouraged to vote on the proposals. Shareholders who have already voted need not take any further action. About Paragon Shipping Inc. Paragon Shipping Inc. is an international shipping company specializing in the transportation of drybulk cargoes and the provision of commercial management services to shipping companies. The Company's common shares trade on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol "PRGNF", and FINRA has designated its Senior Unsecured Notes as corporate bonds that are TRACE eligible under the symbol "PRGN4153414". For more information, visit: www.paragonship.com. The information contained on Paragon Shipping's website does not constitute part of this press release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "forecast," "estimate," "expect," and "intend," among others. These forward-looking statements are based on Paragon Shipping's current expectations and actual results could differ materially. There are a number of factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Paragon Shipping does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Investors should read the risk factors set forth in the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on April 10, 2017, and future periodic reports filed with the SEC on or after the date hereof. All of Paragon Shipping's forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by all such risk factors and other cautionary statements. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof. Contacts: Paragon Shipping Inc. [email protected] DresnerAllenCaron Michael Mason (Investors) [email protected] (212) 691-8087 SOURCE Paragon Shipping Inc. Related Links http://www.paragonship.com NEW YORK and MIAMI, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Parkinson's Foundation is hosting a cutting-edge scientific symposium, World Without Parkinson's: A Look Into the Future, tomorrow, June 1, in New York City. The forward-looking event marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of, "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy," by James Parkinson and the 60th anniversary of the Parkinson's Foundation. "Parkinson's Foundation investments have played a part in many of the major scientific advances of the past 60 years, improving lives worldwide. Yet there are 10 million people living with Parkinson's disease who urgently need better treatments and care," said John L. Lehr, chief executive officer, Parkinson's Foundation. "We mark our anniversary by reflecting on key successes and recommitting ourselves to creating a world without Parkinson's disease." The symposium, geared for the scientific community, is chaired by Patrik Brundin, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Science and the inaugural holder of the Jay Van Andel Endowed Chair in Parkinson's Research at the Van Andel Research Institute. The program includes talks from leaders in the field, each of whom will answer the question, "How will your area of expertise help to create a world without Parkinson's?" Using interactive technology, the program will engage its scientific audience in finding answers. It also features an intimate interview with world-renowned Parkinsonologist Stanley Fahn, M.D., of Columbia University Medical Center, Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence. "In 1817, James Parkinson transformed the field by putting Parkinson's disease on the map," said James Beck, Ph.D., chief scientific officer, Parkinson's Foundation. "Two hundred years later, the Parkinson's Foundation is ready to transform the field again. In fact, we predict scientific advances of the next 20 years will outpace those of the last 200. At this symposium, we bring together innovators in research, technology and healthcare to make it happen." Tonight at its 60th anniversary gala, the Parkinson's Foundation will present its most prestigious scientific honor, the James Parkinson Award, to Heiko Braak, M.D., of the Center for Biomedical Research, University of Ulm, Germany. The award recognizes his contribution in focusing the field on the spread of alpha-synuclein as a major factor in the progression of Parkinson's. "Never before in history have we known more about Parkinson's than we do now. This symposium is a starting point for the next two decades, during which I believe we can change the course of Parkinson's as we know it today," said Dr. Brundin. "I applaud the Parkinson's Foundation for bringing together innovators to improve care, diagnosis and treatment." To learn more about the event and register, visit www.parkinsonsfoundation.org/wwp or contact the Parkinson's Foundation at (800) 457-6676 or [email protected]. Thanks to our corporate sponsors: Lundbeck LLC (Gold); Adamas (Silver); AbbVie, Inc. (Bronze); Sunovion (Bronze); Nature Publishing Group (Media Partner) and Concise (Technology Sponsor). World Without Parkinson's Faculty Leadership Patrik Brundin, M.D., Ph.D., Van Andel Research Institute, Chair Ray Dorsey, M.D., University of Rochester Medical Center Michael S. Okun, M.D., University of Florida College of Medicine, Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence Beth-Anne Sieber, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health (federal liaison) Faculty Bastiaan R. Bloem, M.D., Ph.D., Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Netherlands, Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence Dennis Boyle, M.S., IDEO Elizabeth M. Bradshaw, Ph.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital Helen Bronte-Stewart, M.D., M.S.E., Stanford University Alice Chen-Plotkin, M.D., Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence James Dahlman, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology Stanley Fahn, M.D., Columbia University Medical Center, Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence James Giordano, Ph.D., Georgetown University, Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence Dave Iverson, film producer and founding member, Patient Council, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research Max A. Little, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Aston University Haydeh Payami, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine; Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics David Vaillancourt, Ph.D., University of Florida College of Medicine, Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence Laura A. Volpicelli-Daley, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine; Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics About the Parkinson's Foundation The Parkinson's Foundation is working toward a world without Parkinson's disease. Formed by the merger of National Parkinson Foundation and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, the mission of the Parkinson's Foundation is to invest in promising scientific research that will end Parkinson's disease and improve the lives of people with Parkinson's, and their families, through improved treatments, support and the best care. For more information, visit www.parkinsonsfoundation.org or call (800) 4PD-INFO (473-4636) or (800) 457-6676. About Parkinson's Disease Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects nearly one million people in the US and over 10 million worldwide. Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's and is the 14th leading cause of death in the US. It is associated with a loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression) as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). Although promising research is being conducted, there is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease. Contact: Melissa Barry Director of Communications Parkinson's Foundation (212) 923-4700 [email protected] SOURCE Parkinson's Foundation Related Links http://www.parkinson.org ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 17th, the prestigious Island Hotel in Newport Beach proudly hosted the 2017 Women of Influence Conference put on by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. One of the most influential Chambers in Orange County, the Irvine Chamber of Commerce represents more than 800 businesses in the area, and serves as a catalyst for local economic growth by promoting the city as a dynamic business and tourism destination, providing valuable training and networking opportunities, and advocating for the interests of the business community. Orange County based entrepreneur and thought leader Paula Steurer of Sterling Public Relations was chosen to host the event. She also served as the opening speaker, discussing myths, mistakes and best practices for managing a brand's online presence. The event's keynote speaker was Scharrell Jackson, Partner, Chief Operations and Financial Officer with Squar Milner LLP. Other distinguished event panelists included Kim Shepard, CEO of Decision Toolbox, Monica Wise, Creative Director of L*Space Swimwear, and Kim Sentovich, EVP of Stores and Logistics for Gymboree Corporation. With over 300 attendees, the 2017 Women of Influence Conference proved to be a success with planning already underway for 2018. "Hosting the 2017 Women of Influence Conference was a great privilege and honor. The collective energy of the dynamic women selected to participate in this event was indescribable, and I look forward to future opportunities where I can share my experience, insight and vision with others." Paula Steurer, Founder, Sterling Public Relations. About Sterling Public Relations: Founded in 2008 by Paula Steurer, Sterling Public Relations is a full-service public relations, marketing, and branding firm. With a headquarters in Orange County California, the firm specializes in luxury lifestyle industries and offers custom tailored solutions for clients across the USA. Services including brand identity development, public relations, advertising, email marketing, social media and graphic design are available. With a headquarters in Orange County, California, and locations in both Dallas, Texas and New York City as well, Sterling Public Relations supports brands across the country, and proudly handles all services in-house, ensuring seamless operations and efficiency. Contact: Sterling Public Relations (949) 200-6566 [email protected] SOURCE Sterling Public Relations, Inc. SEATTLE, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Though many Northwest households take measures to protect their homes from burglaries and theft, a new poll from PEMCO Insurance finds that an alarming number of residents don't invest in security systems and of those who do, just half say they always activate their systems when they're away. The latest PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll found that about half of respondents (53 percent) in Oregon and Washington say they have some type of security system at home, whether it's a paid monitoring system, self-installed surveillance cameras, coded entry gate or other safeguard. But the poll found that even among those who use a monitored alarm system, just 53 percent say they always activate it when they leave. "We were surprised to learn that a significant number of households neglect to activate their alarm systems when they leave home," said PEMCO Spokesperson Derek Wing. "These days, with new smart-home security technologies and alerts that are delivered right to your phone, it seems easier than ever to add an extra layer of protection to your home." Beyond security systems, the poll found that many residents also rely on other lower-tech methods to protect their homes while they're away. More than half of those surveyed (58 percent) ask their neighbors to keep an eye on their homes while they're gone, and another one-third (34 percent) say they leave a key with neighbors as a safeguard, as well. For those headed out of town this summer, PEMCO reminds residents to consider these security measures to ensure your home is safe when you're not there: Install deadbolt locks that have high-security strike plates (the metal plates attached to the door frame) and long screws, which compensate for soft wood in the door frame. Install pin-type locks on sliding glass doors and lay a broom handle or dowel in the door's runner as a backup. Purchase an audible system that sounds inside where the intruder can hear it, and outside where neighbors can hear it. The best alarms also feature reliable sensors that detect intruders before they enter through outside windows and doors. Don't leave spare keys outside. Burglars know that doormats and planters are common hiding places. Don't tell strangers about your vacation plans, and warn children to do the same. You might want to avoid posting specific out-of-town dates on social media, as well. Make sure to mow your lawn and trim any shrubbery that could provide cover for a burglar or serve as a boost to upstairs windows. Leave a car in the driveway or ask a neighbor to park there. Connect several lights and even a radio or mp3 player to an automatic timer. "Statistics show that the summer months bring higher rates of burglaries, so while security systems might not guarantee your home will be safe, having an alarm is still one of the best ways to protect your home from theft. Outside of the added peace of mind, it could entitle you to a discount on your homeowners or renters insurance policy, as well," Wing added. For a complete summary of PEMCO's poll results, visit www.pemco.com/poll, where you'll find the responses collected by FBK Research of Seattle in November 2016. About the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll PEMCO Insurance commissioned this independent survey, conducted by FBK Research of Seattle, that asked Washington and Oregon residents questions about driving habits and attitudes toward current Northwest issues. The sample size, 600 respondents in Washington and 600 in Oregon, yields an accuracy of +/- 4.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. In other words, if this study were conducted 100 times, in 95 instances the data will not vary by more than the associated error range. About PEMCO Insurance PEMCO Insurance, established in 1949, is a Seattle-based provider of auto, home, boat, and umbrella insurance to Northwest residents. PEMCO Insurance is sold to consumers by the method they choose phone, local community agents, or online. For more information, visit pemco.com. CONTACTS: Derek Wing PEMCO Insurance 206.628.4622 [email protected] Kristi Herriott Firmani + Associates Inc. 206.443.9357 [email protected] SOURCE PEMCO Insurance Related Links http://www.pemco.com WASHINGTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pending home sales in April slumped for the second consecutive month and were down year-over-year nationally and in all four major regions, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only the West saw an increase in contract signings last month. 2017 April Pending Home Sales Lawrence Yun is chief economist and senior vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors(r). Yun oversees and is responsible for a wide range of research activity for the association including NAR's Existing Home Sales statistics, Affordability Index, and Home Buyers and Sellers Profile Report. He regularly provides commentary on real estate market trends for its 1 million Realtor(r) members. (PRNewsFoto/National Association of Realtors) The Pending Home Sales Index,* www.nar.realtor/topics/pending-home-sales, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, decreased 1.3 percent to 109.8 in April from a downwardly revised 111.3 in March. After last month's decline, the index is now 3.3 percent below a year ago, which is the first year-over-year decline since last December and the largest since June 2014 (7.1 percent). Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says contract activity is fading this spring because significantly weak supply levels are spurring deteriorating affordability conditions. "Much of the country for the second straight month saw a pullback in pending sales as the rate of new listings continues to lag the quicker pace of homes coming off the market," he said. "Realtors are indicating that foot traffic is higher than a year ago1, but it's obviously not translating to more sales." Added Yun, "Prospective buyers are feeling the double whammy this spring of inventory that's down 9.0 percent from a year ago2 and price appreciation that's much faster than any rise they've likely seen in their income." Unfortunately, Yun believes there is little evidence these astoundingly low supply levels are going away soon. Homebuilding activity has not picked up enough this year and too few homeowners are listing their home for sale. "The unloading of single-family homes purchased by real estate investors during the downturn for rental purposes would also go a long way in helping relieve these inventory shortages," said Yun. "To date, there are no indications investors are ready to sell. However, they should be mindful of the fact that rental demand will soften as the overall population of young adults starts to shrink in roughly five years." Yun forecasts existing-home sales to be around 5.64 million this year, an increase of 3.5 percent from 2016 (5.45 million). The national median existing-home price this year is expected to increase around 5 percent. In 2016, existing sales increased 3.8 percent and prices rose 5.1 percent. The PHSI in the Northeast decreased 1.7 percent to 97.2 in April, and is now 0.6 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest the index fell 4.7 percent to 104.4 in April, and is now 6.1 percent lower than April 2016. Pending home sales in the South declined 2.7 percent to an index of 125.9 in April and are now 2.3 percent below last April. The index in the West jumped 5.8 percent in April to 100.0, but is still 4.2 percent below a year ago. Members of the media are invited to attend the upcoming Sustainable Homeownership Conference on June 9 at University of California's Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. In celebration of National Homeownership Month, the conference brings together experts to examine housing trends and real estate's positive impacts. Yun, NAR's 2017 President William E. Brown and Berkeley Hass Real Estate Group Chair Ken Rosen are among the prominent experts scheduled to speak. To register contact Adam DeSanctis, 202-383-1178 or [email protected]. The National Association of Realtors, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. 1According to April's Realtors Confidence Index, the Buyer Traffic Index registered at 75 in April 2017 (74 in March 2017; 70 in April 2016). 2Total housing inventory at the end of April climbed 7.2 percent to 1.93 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 9.0 percent lower than a year ago (2.12 million) 3First-time buyers were 34 percent of sales in April, which was the highest since last September and July 2012. *The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population. NOTE: Existing-Home Sales for May will be reported June 21, and the next Pending Home Sales Index will be June 28; all release times are 10:00 a.m. ET. Information about NAR is available at www.nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the "News, Blogs and Videos" tab on the website. Statistical data in this release, as well as other tables and surveys, are posted in the "Research and Statistics" tab. SOURCE National Association of Realtors Related Links http://www.realtor.org DUBLIN, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Perrigo Company plc ("Perrigo" or the "Company") (NYSE; TASE: PRGO) announced today that it and Perrigo Finance Unlimited Company, its wholly-owned finance subsidiary ("Perrigo Finance"), have commenced a cash tender offer (the "Tender Offer") for up to a combined aggregate principal amount of $1,400,000,000 of Perrigo's 4.000% Notes due 2023 and 5.300% Notes due 2043 and Perrigo Finance's 3.500% Notes due March 2021, 3.500% Notes due December 2021, 4.900% Notes due 2044, 4.375% Notes due 2026 and 3.900% Notes due 2024 (collectively, the "Notes"). The Tender Offer is being made pursuant to, and subject to the terms and conditions in, an Offer to Purchase, dated May 31, 2017 (the "Offer to Purchase") which sets forth a description of the terms of the Tender Offer. A summary of certain terms of the Tender Offer is below: Issuer/Applicable Offeror Title of Security CUSIP Number Aggregate Principal Amount Outstanding Acceptance Priority Level Series Cap Reference U.S. Treasury Security Bloomberg Reference Page(1) Fixed Spread (basis points) Perrigo Company plc 4.000% Notes due 2023 714294AD7 $800,000,000 1 N/A 1.75% due 5/31/2022 PX1 100 Perrigo Company plc 5.300% Notes due 2043 714294AH8 $400,000,000 2 N/A 3.00% due 2/15/2047 PX1 170 Perrigo Finance Unlimited Company 3.500% Notes due March 2021 3.500% Notes due December 2021 71429MAA3 714295AB8 $500,000,000 $500,000,000 3 $300,000,000 (in aggregate principal amount) 1.75% due 5/31/2022 PX1 50 60 Perrigo Finance Unlimited Company 4.900% Notes due 2044 714295AA0 $400,000,000 4 $150,000,000 (in aggregate principal amount) 3.00% due 2/15/2047 PX1 175 Perrigo Finance Unlimited Company 4.375% Notes due 2026 71429MAB1 $700,000,000 5 N/A 2.375% due 5/15/2027 PX1 140 Perrigo Finance Unlimited Company 3.900% Notes due 2024 714295AC6 $700,000,000 6 N/A 2.375% due 5/15/2027 PX1 115 (1) The applicable page on Bloomberg from which Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC will quote the bid-side prices of the applicable Reference U.S. Treasury Security. The Tender Offer will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on June 27, 2017, unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Expiration Time"). Holders of Notes must validly tender and not validly withdraw their Notes at or before 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 13, 2017, unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Early Tender Deadline") to be eligible to receive the applicable Total Consideration (as defined below) for their tendered Notes, which includes an early tender payment of $30 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes accepted for purchase (the "Early Tender Premium"). After such time, the Notes may not be withdrawn except in certain limited circumstances where additional withdrawal rights are required by law. The initial settlement date is expected to be June 15, 2017, and the final settlement date is expected to be June 28, 2017, in each case subject to change without notice. The "Total Consideration" for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes of any series tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer will be determined in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference to the applicable fixed spread specified for such series over the yield based on the bid-side price of the applicable U.S. Treasury Security specified for such series in the table above and on the front cover of the Offer to Purchase. Holders of Notes that are validly tendered and not validly withdrawn on or before the Early Tender Deadline and accepted for purchase will receive the applicable Total Consideration for such Notes, which includes the Early Tender Premium. Holders of Notes that are validly tendered after the Early Tender Deadline and on or before the Expiration Time and accepted for purchase will receive the applicable Tender Consideration for such Notes, which equals the applicable Total Consideration for such Notes minus the Early Tender Premium. Holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer will also receive accrued and unpaid interest on their purchased Notes from, and including, the last interest payment date for such Notes to, but excluding, the applicable settlement date (the "Accrued Interest"). The Tender Offer is not conditioned upon any minimum amount of Notes being tendered, and the Tender Offer may be amended, extended, terminated or withdrawn in whole or with respect to any one or more series of Notes. The amounts of each series of Notes that are purchased on any settlement date will be determined in accordance with the Acceptance Priority Levels (the "Acceptance Priority Levels") and Series Caps (the "Series Caps"), as applicable, set forth in the table above and on the front cover of the Offer to Purchase, with 1 being the highest Acceptance Priority Level and 6 being the lowest Acceptance Priority Level. We will only accept for purchase Notes up to a combined aggregate principal amount of $1,400,000,000 (the "Maximum Amount"), subject to the Acceptance Priority Levels and the applicable Series Caps. Perrigo and Perrigo Finance reserve the right to increase the Maximum Amount. If Holders tender more Notes in the Tender Offer than they expect to be accepted for purchase by Perrigo and/or Perrigo Finance based on a lower Acceptance Priority Level or subject to the Series Caps for the Notes being tendered, and if Perrigo and/or Perrigo Finance subsequently accept more than such Holders expected of such Notes tendered and not validly withdrawn on or before the applicable withdrawal deadline, such Holders will not be able to withdraw any of their previously tendered Notes. Accordingly, Holders should not tender any Notes that they do not wish to be accepted for purchase. All Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or before the Early Tender Deadline having a higher Acceptance Priority Level will be accepted before any tendered Notes having a lower Acceptance Priority Level are accepted in the Tender Offer, and all Notes validly tendered after the Early Tender Deadline having a higher Acceptance Priority Level will be accepted before any Notes tendered after the Early Tender Deadline having a lower Acceptance Priority Level are accepted in the Tender Offer, subject in all circumstances to the Series Caps. However, Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn on or before the Early Tender Deadline will be accepted for purchase in priority to Notes tendered after the Early Tender Deadline, even if the Notes tendered after the Early Tender Deadline have a higher Acceptance Priority Level than the Notes tendered prior to the Early Tender Deadline, subject to the Series Caps. If purchasing all of the tendered Notes of a series of Notes of an applicable Acceptance Priority Level on any settlement date would cause the Maximum Amount or the Series Caps (as may be amended), as applicable, to be exceeded, the amount of that series of Notes purchased on that settlement date will be prorated based on the aggregate principal amount of that series of Notes tendered in respect of that settlement date such that the Maximum Amount and/or the Series Caps, as applicable, will not be exceeded. Furthermore, if the Tender Offer is fully subscribed as of the Early Tender Deadline, Holders who validly tender Notes after the Early Tender Deadline will not have any of their Notes accepted for payment. Subject to applicable law, the Tender Offer may be amended, extended, terminated or withdrawn with respect to one or more series of Notes. If the Tender Offer is terminated with respect to any series of Notes without Notes of such series being accepted for purchase, Notes of such series tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer will promptly be returned to the tendering holders. Notes tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer and not purchased due to the priority acceptance procedures or due to proration will be returned to the tendering holders promptly following the Expiration Time or, if the Tender Offer is fully subscribed as of the Early Tender Deadline, promptly following the Early Tender Deadline. The completion of the Tender Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase. There can be no assurance that the Tender Offer will be consummated or that any failure to consummate the Tender Offer will not have a negative effect on the market price and liquidity of the Notes. This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an acceptance of securities. No offer, solicitation, purchase or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. The Tender Offer is being made solely pursuant to terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase. Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are serving as the Lead Dealer Managers in connection with the Tender Offer. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC is serving as the Co-Dealer Manager in connection with the Tender Offer. Questions regarding the Tender Offer may be directed to Barclays Capital Inc. at (800) 438-3242 (toll free) or (212) 528-7581 (collect), Citigroup Global Markets Inc. at (800) 558-3745 (toll free) or (212) 723-6106 (collect) or to Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC at (800) 624-1808 (toll free) or (212) 761-1057 (collect). Requests for the Offer to Purchase or the documents incorporated by reference therein may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc., which is acting as Tender Agent and Information Agent for the Tender Offer, at the following telephone numbers: banks and brokers, (212) 269-5550; all others toll free at (800) 967-5071 or at the following email: [email protected]. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements." These statements relate to future events or the Company's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, including the timing and expense to complete the Tender Offer. These and other important factors, including those discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, as well as the Company's subsequent filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Perrigo Perrigo Company plc, a leading global healthcare company, delivers value to its customers and consumers by providing Quality Affordable Healthcare Products. Founded in 1887 as a packager of home remedies, Perrigo has built a unique business model that is best described as the convergence of a fast-moving consumer goods company, a high-quality pharmaceutical manufacturing organization and a world-class supply chain network. Perrigo is the world's largest manufacturer of over-the-counter ("OTC") healthcare products and supplier of infant formulas for the store brand market. The Company also is a leading provider of branded OTC products throughout Europe and the U.S., as well as a leading producer of "extended topical" prescription drugs. Perrigo, headquartered in Ireland, sells its products primarily in North America, Europe and Australia, as well as in other markets, including Australia, Israel and China. Visit Perrigo online at (http://www.perrigo.com). SOURCE Perrigo Company plc Related Links http://www.perrigo.com PITTSBURGH, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) announced today that Chief Financial Officer Robert Q. Reilly will discuss business performance, strategy and banking in a moderated discussion format at 8:15 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, June 14 at the Morgan Stanley Financials Conference in New York City. The following will be accessible at www.pnc.com/investorevents: a link to the live webcast; related materials, including cautionary statements regarding forward-looking information, available prior to the start of the webcast; webcast replay available for 30 days. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com. CONTACTS: MEDIA : Diane Zappas (412) 762-4550 [email protected] INVESTORS: Bryan Gill (412) 768-4143 [email protected] SOURCE PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Related Links http://www.pnc.com READING, Pa., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- To help enhance the reliability of its system, Pennsylvania Electric Company (Penelec), a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) utility, expects to replace or repair nearly 2,300 wooden utility poles this year as part of the company's annual inspection program. The poles would stretch about 28 miles if laid end to end. Overall, Penelec will inspect nearly 42,000 of its 499,087 wooden poles in 2017 for signs of wear, insect infestation or damage from motor vehicle accidents, with a budgeted cost of approximately $3 million. "Our poles are vital to the delivery of electricity to homes and businesses in the Penelec service area," said Scott Wyman, regional president, Penelec. "Our inspection and maintenance program for the poles is designed to help enhance service reliability for our customers; a commitment Penelec and its employees take very seriously. While durable, these poles are subject to damage from severe weather, falling trees, and traffic accidents, and periodically need to be replaced or repaired." A standard 40-foot wooden distribution pole typically is expected to last more than 50 years. The most common utility pole is made from a Southern Yellow Pine tree and costs about $400. Typically, specialized contractors perform the pole inspections. As part of the process, a visual inspection is completed, along with inspecting the pole to determine if the interior is sound. Some poles can be reinforced rather than replaced. One of the most common reinforcement techniques is to snug a C-shaped steel beam against the pole, jackhammer the beam into the ground, and secure it to the pole with tight, metal bands. All wooden poles throughout the 31-county Penelec service territory are inspected on a 12-year cycle. Inspections began in January and continue through summer, with the remaining pole replacements and repairs scheduled to be completed during the fall. Year-to-date, Penelec has inspected 36,486 wooden poles in and around the following communities: Altoona 1,192 1,192 Bedford 2,278 2,278 Brookville 619 619 Clearfield 305 305 Corry 814 814 Ebensburg 1,335 1,335 Indiana 965 965 Erie 1,811 1,811 Huntingdon 1,010 1,010 Johnstown 790 790 Knox 4,140 4,140 Lewistown 2,256 2,256 Oil City 1,245 1,245 Meadville 190 190 Bradford 1,158 Mansfield 1,169 1,169 Montrose 918 918 Philipsburg 4,515 4,515 Preston Park 1,091 1,091 Punxsutawney 1,390 1,390 Sayre 811 811 Shippensburg 507 507 Somerset 5,036 5,036 Tunkhannock 343 343 Westfield 598 Penelec serves approximately 590,000 customers in 31 Pennsylvania counties. Follow Penelec on Twitter @Penelec and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PenelecElectric. FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp. Editor's Note: Photos of FirstEnergy's pole inspection and repair process are available for download on Flickr. SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp. Related Links http://www.firstenergycorp.com NAGOYA, Japan and WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), today announced that Pratt & Whitney's PurePower Geared Turbofan PW1200G engine has successfully acquired type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of United States. This comes on the heels of the fourth Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) Flight Test Aircraft arriving in the Moses Lake Flight Test Center supporting a busy 2017 of testing and milestones, including completion of initial cold and hot soak and natural icing tests. The MRJ-70 and MRJ-90 will each be powered by two PW1200G engines. The engine was optimized specifically for the MRJ program, which in turn designed the wing and aerodynamics with the PW1200G in mind. The engines' advanced technology will contribute to a 10-20% reduction in operating costs compared to the current generation of regional aircraft and 50% lower in regulated emissions, enabling the MRJ to offer best-in-class efficiency and environmental performance. "The integration of the engine and aircraft design underscores just how critical collaboration is to the success of creating a next-generation regional aircraft and we are very proud to be the first company to have selected this game-changing engine for the MRJ. We congratulate the Pratt & Whitney team on this important milestone," said Hisakazu Mizutani, president, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. "This achievement is the latest in an ongoing series of developmental milestones and tests that the MRJ has conducted, and we are looking ahead to the next phase of testing on our aircraft." "The FAA validation of the PW1200G engine is a milestone for Pratt & Whitney and Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation," said Chris Calio, president, Commercial Engines. "The PurePower engine program was launched with Mitsubishi's faith in us to power their new aircraft and we look forward to continue collaborating on a successful MRJ program." More than 15 critical engine system level certification tests were successfully completed to meet FAA certification requirements. These captured required data for certification including performance, stress, endurance, emissions, acoustics, bird impact, and fan blade containment. The engine has accumulated more than 6,000 hours and 15,000 cycles as part of development, certification and flight testing activities. The engine provides 17,000 pounds of thrust and is currently powering five flight test vehicles. About Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. To learn more about UTC, visit its website at www.utc.com, or follow the company on Twitter: @UTC. About MRJ Mitsubishi Regional Jet is a family of 70~90-seat next-generation aircraft featuring Pratt & Whitney's revolutionary PurePower engine and state-of-the-art aerodynamics to drastically reduce fuel consumption, noise, and emissions, while offering top-class operational benefits and an outstanding cabin designed for heightened passenger flying comfort with large overhead bins. The MRJ completed its first flight on November 11, 2015. For more information about Pratt & Whitney, visit www.pw.utc.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/prattandwhitney Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prattandwhitney YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/prattandwhitney1925 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pratt-&-whitney MRJ PR Office, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Pratt & Whitney +81-(0)3-5719-8921 / [email protected] Media Relations Jeff Dronen, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. America +1 (860) 565-9600 +1 469-573-5838 / [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Pratt & Whitney Related Links http://www.pw.utc.com LONDON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The consortium-led Project Alloyed has been awarded a government grant, having identified technical solutions for Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) technology, as part of the government's bid to promote the UK auto sector, as well as improve air quality and reduce energy consumption. One of 24 UK winners of the CAV2 competition, Project Alloyed will deliver a 12-month project that will study the viability of integrating the required in-car systems, therefore enabling standard access for use across multiple platforms. This groundbreaking work has the power to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles. Connected and autonomous vehicles incorporate a range of different technologies, facilitating the safe, efficient movement of people and goods. They rely on information from on-board sensors and systems to understand their global position and local environment and allow vehicles to operate with minimal human input. CH2M is a core partner in the Project Alloyed consortium, led by the Design & Engineering company Epitomical. Other core members include Vivacity Labs, Cranfield University's Advanced Vehicle Engineering Centre, Transport for London and 11 other advisory partners, including global auto manufacturers and technology companies. The CAV2 funding announcement follows 20 million allocated to projects in the first competition, CAV1, and the further 19 million invested by government in 2016 in three driverless car trials in Greenwich, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Coventry, creating concentrated hubs of CAV excellence along the M40 corridor. The CAV2 competition award includes funding from Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency, as well as match funding from industry. Support for the project is being provided by The Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) through Innovate UK. Commenting on the award, CH2M Managing Director Rachel White said, "One of the key challenges for connected autonomous vehicles becoming a reality is providing seamless connectivity. This exciting project consortium combines expertise and skills across the entire industry, including research and end users, to enable real progress in developing solutions to these challenges." Danish Alam from Epitomical, the Project Alloyed consortium lead, said, "An industry-led R&D approach to developing CAV technology will further spearhead UK development and innovation in this key area. Project Alloyed is seeking to address the challenges in order that the UK become a true global leader in advanced vehicle technology." Innovate UK Chief Executive Ruth McKernan said, "These successful industry-led R&D projects will further spearhead UK development of low emission, and connected and autonomous vehicle technology, building on our world-leading research and innovation capability in this area and the significant strength of UK businesses large and small in this field." About CH2M CH2M leads the professional services industry delivering sustainable development solutions for infrastructure and industry that advance societal, environmental and economic outcomes. CH2Mers make a positive difference providing consulting, design, engineering and management services for clients needing world-class solutions in environmental; industrial and advanced facilities; transportation; and water markets, from iconic infrastructure to global programmes like the Olympic Games. About Innovate UK Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency and an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Since 2007 Innovate UK have committed over 1.8 billion to innovation, matched by a similar amount in partner and business funding. We have helped more than 7,600 organisations with projects estimated to add more than 11.5 billion to the UK economy and create 55,000 extra new jobs. About Epitomical Epitomical is a multi-sector design and engineering enterprise based out of Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 2014, the company markets and sells consumer technology products via its registered trademark, Spur. The company also offers its award winning design to manufacture services to Global Brands, Government and Industry. Further Information Government Press Release on funding award: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-109-million-of-funding-for-driverless-and-low-carbon-projects The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: www.gov.uk/government/collections/driverless-vehicles-connected-and-autonomous-technologies Contact: Brian Morandi CH2M Corporate Communications +1 720 286 0719 [email protected] SOURCE CH2M Related Links http://www.ch2m.com As Proterra continues to cement its position at the forefront of the electric transportation renaissance, Covington will facilitate the company's industry-leading pursuit of innovation at the nexus of EV (Electric Vehicle) and AV (Autonomous Vehicle) development. Additionally, she will help Proterra enhance its novel commercial leasing program for battery-electric transit vehicles, which was first introduced alongside JLL's corporate fleet of Proterra buses. "Proterra is one of the most progressive companies in the transit sector today, due in large part to the corporate culture that equally values technological innovation and cultural diversity," said Proterra Chief Legal Officer JoAnn Covington. "I look forward to building on that strong foundation with the legal and government relations teams and pursuing new avenues that advance the company's objective of establishing a clean, sustainable transportation future." Prior to Proterra, Covington served as senior vice president and general counsel at Rocket Fuel Inc., a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) advertising and marketing solutions for global agencies and brands, where she led the legal, policy, and business affairs teams. During her tenure at Rocket Fuel, she guided the company through its 2013 IPO and rapid growth, leading to a designation as the fastest growing technology company on that year's Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list. Before Rocket Fuel, she acted as division counsel for Electronic Arts' Maxis Label division, where she managed a diverse array of legal issues, including management of intellectual property assets, contractual rights and obligations, and advertising and promotions. Covington has accrued a wide variety of industry awards over the years. In 2015, she was recognized as the winner of the Silicon Valley Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times' Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel for a Public Company (under $1B in revenue), and in 2016, she received further recognition from the National Diversity Council when she was named as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology. "Not only has JoAnn supported some of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley, forging innovative new solutions across a broad range of regulatory, business and legal fronts, but she is a widely respected advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace," said Proterra CEO Ryan Popple. "As Proterra continues to build a dynamic team of engineers, designers, clean energy evangelists, and transit innovators, she will help us achieve our vision of assembling one of the most talented, forward-looking teams in the transportation industry." About Proterra: Proterra is a leader in the design and manufacture of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles, enabling bus fleet operators to significantly reduce operating costs while delivering clean, quiet transportation to local communities across the United States. With more than 400 vehicles sold to 38 different municipal, university, and commercial transit agencies in 20 states, Proterra is committed to providing state of the art, high performance vehicles to meet today's growing market demand. The company's configurable Catalyst platform is capable of serving the full daily mileage needs of nearly every U.S. transit route on a single charge. With unmatched durability and energy efficiency based on rigorous U.S. certification testing, Proterra products are proudly designed, engineered and manufactured in America, with offices in Silicon Valley, South Carolina, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit: http://www.proterra.com and follow us on Twitter @Proterra_Inc. SOURCE Proterra Related Links http://www.proterra.com OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- QTS Realty Trust (NYSE: QTS), an international provider of data center, managed hosting and cloud services, today announced that it will host an Investor Day for institutional investors and sell-side analysts at its newly-acquired, state-of-the-art data center in Fort Worth, TX. The investor meeting is scheduled to take place on November 13, 2017 from 1-5pm CST. Chad Williams, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, along with other members of the QTS senior management team will provide an update on the company's financial outlook and strategic plan to position QTS as the leader in hybrid IT data center solutions. Formal invitations will be distributed in the coming weeks. A live webcast of the event will be available in the Investors section of the company's website at http://investors.qtsdatacenters.com. About QTS QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: QTS) is a leading provider of secure, compliant data center, hybrid cloud and managed services. QTS features the nation's only fully integrated technology services platform providing flexible, scalable solutions for the federal government, financial services, healthcare and high tech industries. QTS owns, operates or manages more than 5 million square feet of data center space and supports more than 1,100 customers in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In addition, QTS' Critical Facilities Management (CFM) provides increased efficiency and greater performance for third-party data center owners and operators. For more information, please visit www.qtsdatacenters.com, call toll-free 877.QTS.DATA or follow us on Twitter @DataCenters_QTS. Investor Relations Contact: Stephen Douglas, VP Investor Relations and Strategic Planning QTS Realty Trust [email protected] Media Contact: Sharon Goldmacher communications 21 for QTS 404.814.1330 [email protected] SOURCE QTS Realty Trust, Inc. Related Links http://www.qtsdatacenters.com CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Quaker Chemical Corporation (NYSE: KWR) ("Quaker") will present its fire-resistant hydraulic fluids solutions at the CHS2 Conference on Hot Sheet Metal Forming from June 4th-7th 2017 in Atlanta GA, USA. (http://chs2.eu/Conference-2017.942.0.html). Hot forming operations, also known as press hardening, have all the elements of a fire hazard900C (1,652F) hot surfaces, pressurized oil in the hydraulic systems, and the proximity of the hot surfaces to the pressurized oil. If the oil ignites, it can create a torch-like, exploding fire resulting in significant equipment damage and serious safety risks for operators. Today a large number of hydraulic presses for hot sheet metal forming are still filled with a mineral oil-based hydraulic fluid that presents a considerable fire hazard. Even though press-hardening operators are concerned about the risk, many are not aware that there are safer, cost-effective hydraulic fluid alternatives. To mitigate these potentially serious risks, more and more press hardening operators are taking a fresh look at synthetic ester-based hydraulic fluids (HFD-U) that offer increased fire resistance. Quaker offers a best-in-class line of fire-resistant hydraulic fluid solutions: QUINTOLUBRIC 888 Series (http://www.quintolubric.com/product-category/synthetic-water-free-fluids-hfd-u/) Fire prevention tactics are standard risk control strategies implemented in a wide-range of industries. Working as a loss preventative measure, the benefits of replacing mineral oil with QUINTOLUBRIC as a fire-resistant hydraulic fluid include: Superior fire resistance when compared to mineral oil; Ease of transition and an effective replacement for mineral oil. Generally requires no hydraulic system modification, no special maintenance, and is compatible with commonly used seal and hose material; Enhanced hydraulic fluid performance including efficient lubrication, fluid longevity and effective filterability. The QUINTOLUBRIC line of fire-resistant hydraulic fluids (http://www.quintolubric.com/products/) keeps machines working at optimal performance with fewer interruptions and a longer life span for a lower total cost of ownership, increased safety, and reduced risk. About Quaker Chemical Corporation: Quaker Chemical Corporation is a leading global provider of process fluids, chemical specialties and technical expertise to a wide range of industries, including steel, aluminum, automotive, mining, aerospace, tube and pipe and cans. For nearly 100 years, Quaker has helped customers around the world achieve production efficiency, improve product quality, and lower costs through a combination of innovative technology, process knowledge and customized services. Headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA, Quaker serves businesses worldwide with a network of dedicated and experienced professionals whose mission is to make a difference. Visit quakerchem.com to learn more. SOURCE Quaker Chemical Corporation Related Links http://www.quakerchem.com During the event, guests are invited to discover new ways to enjoy two favorite seafood proteins lobster and shrimp prepared to perfection with summertime flavors inspiring the menu, such as sweet-and-smoky BBQ sauce on Red Lobster's wood-fire grill, crunchy chip-crusted shrimp with a cool, green onion dipping sauce, pasta with juicy tomatoes, fresh green onion, garlic and basil and more. "We developed the menu with a focus on giving guests new ways to enjoy lobster and shrimp with their favorite flavors of summer," said Dustin Hilinski, Executive Chef and Director of Culinary, Red Lobster. "For example, for our Cape Cod chip-crusted shrimp, we took the concept of summertime classics, like crispy, crunchy potato chips that you can't eat just one of to inspire a new, innovative way to enjoy seafood." The full Lobster & Shrimp Summerfest menu includes: NEW! Coastal Lobster and Shrimp: Cape Cod kettle chip-crusted shrimp with green onion dip, grilled wild-caught red shrimp with sweet-and-smoky BBQ sauce, and a grilled lobster tail. Served with rice and grilled zucchini and squash. kettle chip-crusted shrimp with green onion dip, grilled wild-caught red shrimp with sweet-and-smoky BBQ sauce, and a grilled lobster tail. Served with rice and grilled zucchini and squash. NEW! Lobster and Shrimp Overboard : Stuffed Maine lobster tail, garlic-grilled jumbo shrimp skewer, Langostino Lobster-and-Shrimp Cavatappi Pasta and hand-battered jumbo shrimp. Served with rice and choice of side. : Stuffed Maine lobster tail, garlic-grilled jumbo shrimp skewer, Langostino Lobster-and-Shrimp Cavatappi Pasta and hand-battered jumbo shrimp. Served with rice and choice of side. NEW! Cape Cod Shrimp and Chips: Cape Cod kettle chip-crusted shrimp with green onion dip. Served with French fries and coleslaw. kettle chip-crusted shrimp with green onion dip. Served with French fries and coleslaw. NEW! Creamy Langostino Lobster-and-Shrimp Scampi Pasta : Langostino lobster and wild-caught shrimp tossed in a creamy scampi cavatappi pasta with fresh summer tomatoes, green onions and basil. : Langostino lobster and wild-caught shrimp tossed in a creamy scampi cavatappi pasta with fresh summer tomatoes, green onions and basil. NEW! Grilled Lobster and Red Shrimp : Wood-grilled Maine lobster tail, paired with a garlic-grilled skewer of wild-caught jumbo red shrimp. Served with rice and choice of side. : Wood-grilled lobster tail, paired with a garlic-grilled skewer of wild-caught jumbo red shrimp. Served with rice and choice of side. Seaport Lobster and Shrimp: Wood-grilled Maine lobster tail, hand-crafted garlic shrimp scampi and a jumbo garlic-grilled shrimp skewer. Served with rice and choice of side. Any perfect summer meal is elevated when complemented by a tasty appetizer, a refreshing beverage, or sweet treat for dessert. The NEW! Panko-Crusted Red Shrimp is a delicious option to start a meal, served with Red Lobster's classic cocktail sauce and lemon. And, guests can cool off with the NEW! Watermelon Margarita, featuring a Sauza Gold tequila, triple sec and watermelon and served on the rocks. Or, for those looking for something tropical guests can choose the NEW! Caribbean Long Island, which is a mix of Absolut, Malibu Rum, 1800 Silver, triple sec and pineapple juice. For dessert, guests can enjoy the NEW! Vanilla Bean Cheesecake a sweet Italian cream cheesecake with a vanilla cookie crust, vanilla whipped cream, topped with white chocolate shavings and strawberries. Red Lobster is also featuring a new Seafood Lover's Lunch*, which gives guests the opportunity to pick from a variety of entree selections and accompaniments to create their perfect meal for $9.99 Monday- Friday between 11 a.m. 3 p.m. Guests are invited to share their own Lobster & Shrimp Summerfest experiences on Red Lobster's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. To view the complete Red Lobster menu, find a restaurant location or to join the Fresh Catch Club, visit Red Lobster's website. *Not available in Times Square and Hawaii locations. Selections may vary based on region. About Red Lobster Seafood Co. Red Lobster is the world's largest seafood restaurant company, headquartered in Orlando, Fla., with an impressive heritage and an even brighter future. As a private company owned by Golden Gate Capital, Red Lobster is focused on delivering freshly prepared seafood at reasonable prices - served in a lively, contemporary seaside atmosphere. With more than 55,000 employees in over 700 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, and a growing international footprint, Red Lobster is more committed than ever to be not just the biggest seafood restaurant, but the best. To learn more, visit http://www.redlobster.com or find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/redlobster or Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/redlobster. Contact: Meagan Mills 1-407-734.9201 [email protected] SOURCE Red Lobster Seafood Co. Related Links http://HTTP://www.redlobster.com BOSTON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Repsly, a field team management software company, announced plans to offer free online courses for employees of field-based organizations serving field sales, marketing, and merchandising functions in retail. The program aims to educate field employees on the fundamentals of retail execution through courses in building retailer relationships, running in-store demos, managing remote teams, and more. Certification Badge from Field Team Academy Repsly's Field Team Academy offers three educational tracks: field marketing, field sales, and field merchandising. Each track comprises nine video lectures, nine quizzes, a study guide, and a comprehensive exam. Upon receiving a satisfactory grade on the exam, professionals receive a Field Team Academy certification. "All of our lectures have been carefully crafted and reviewed to provide the most valuable advice that professionals can implement in the field today," says Cameron Garrant, creator of Field Team Academy and Marketing Manager at Repsly. "The techniques and tools we share in the Academy are practical and up to date, and provided by experts who have found considerable success in retail." The program headlines a number of prominent industry experts in retail including Tom First, co-founder of Nantucket Nectars and emerging beverage investor; Bob Phibbs, CEO of The Retail Doctor, a retail consultancy based in New York; and Mike Volpe, management expert and CMO at Cybereason. Interested professionals may now begin the self-paced Field Marketing course and pre-register for the Field Sales and Field Merchandising courses, which are scheduled to launch by fall of this year. "A certification from the Field Team Academy is a fantastic investment for a professional looking to pursue and strengthen his or her career in retail sales and marketing," added Matthew Brogie, COO of Repsly, "Best of all, the entire series is free of charge and completely self-paced, making it perfect for busy professionals." Repsly, Inc. is a software as a service (SaaS) company used by both leading global brands and innovative start-ups with mobile workers. It enables teams to improve efficiency with mobile forms, client notes, photos, orders, audits, and more. With over 800 customers in 60 countries, Repsly targets organizations with field reps that visit clients to perform customer service, sales and field marketing functions. For more information, please visit the company's website, www.repsly.com. Media Contact: Cameron Garrant Phone: (617) 356 - 8125 Email: [email protected] Related Images image1.png image2.png image3.png image4.png Related Links Field Marketing Course Registration Page About Repsly SOURCE Repsly Related Links https://www.repsly.com The symposium titled: "Managing CKD, Diabetes & CVD: Is epigenetics a new way forward?" at the ERA-EDTA Congress highlights BET-inhibition and apabetalone in addressing the significant unmet medical need in chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. CALGARY, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Resverlogix Corp. ("Resverlogix" or the "Company") (TSX:RVX) today announced that on Monday, June 5, 2017, at the European Renal Association European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA) Congress in Madrid, Spain, the Company will host a symposium titled: "Managing CKD, Diabetes & CVD: Is epigenetics a new way forward?" "The presentations at the ERA-EDTA Congress symposium highlight the opportunity and need for a novel approach to reduce risk in kidney and cardiovascular disease, and demonstrate the important role for epigenetics in the underlying pathology of these diseases," commented Donald McCaffrey, President and CEO. "Based on its mechanism, emerging data illustrates that apabetalone has the potential to address the significant unmet medical need in this patient population. Importantly, the Company's planned Phase 2a trial in kidney dialysis patients was recently approved to proceed by the FDA. The trial is designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of apabetalone in patients with end-stage renal disease on dialysis. More broadly, the Company's chronic kidney disease program, with apabetalone, is aimed at assessing the cardiovascular risk reducing potential, in addition to any improved kidney function, observed in prior Phase 2 trials. Ultimately, we believe apabetalone will improve health outcomes for this high-risk patient population." The speakers and agenda are as follows: Introduction Vincent M Brandenburg, MD Aachen, Germany The high risk diabetes patient: What is the need for novel approaches to reduce cardiovascular and renal risk? Luis M Ruilope, MD Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain Epigenetics as a novel strategy in cardiovascular and renal risk reduction: A closer look at BET as a pathway for inhibition Marta Ruiz-Ortega Foundacion Jimenez Diaz, Madrid, Spain BET inhibition in renal and cardiovascular disease: What is the clinical roadmap? Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh , MD UC Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine , USA Discussion & summary Carmine Zoccali , MD Reggio Cal, Italy These symposium presentations will be made available at: http://pace-cme.org/bet-inhibition/ shortly after the live event. Resverlogix will also present two posters and one oral presentation at the congress as follows: Oral Presentation: Date: Monday, June 5, 2017 Time: 8:00 10:00 CET Session Title: Experimental Renal Pathology Presentation Title: Apabetalone (RVX-208) Impacts Key Biomarkers and Pathways Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients with Severe Renal Impairment Posters: Date: Sunday June 4, 2017 Time: 9:30 - 10:45 CET Poster presentation number: SP425 Poster Title: Effects of Apabetalone (RVX-208) on Serum Albumin in Subjects with CVD, Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease; A Post-hoc Analysis of the ASSURE and SUSTAIN Clinical Trials Date: Monday, June 5, 2017 Time: 9:30 - 10:45 CET Poster presentation number: MP092 Poster Title: Apabetalone, a Bromodomain and Extraterminal Protein Inhibitor, Decreases Key Factors in Vascular Calcification in vitro and in Clinical Trials The two posters will be made available on the Resverlogix website HERE at 7:00 AM MT on Monday, June 5th, 2017. About Resverlogix Resverlogix is developing apabetalone (RVX-208), a first-in-class, small molecule that is a selective BET (bromodomain and extra-terminal) inhibitor. BET bromodomain inhibition is an epigenetic mechanism that can regulate disease-causing genes. Apabetalone is the first and only BET inhibitor selective for the second bromodomain (BD2) within the BET protein called BRD4. This selective inhibition of apabetalone on BD2 produces a specific set of biological effects with potentially important benefits for patients with high-risk cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic kidney disease, dialysis, Alzheimer's disease, Fabry disease, other orphan diseases, and peripheral artery disease, while maintaining a well described safety profile. Apabetalone is the only selective BET bromodomain inhibitor in human clinical trials. Apabetalone is currently in a Phase 3 trial, BETonMACE, in high-risk CVD patients with type 2 DM and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and is expected to be initiated in a Phase 2a kidney dialysis trial designed to evaluate biomarker changes and safety parameters in up to 30 patients with end-stage renal disease treated with hemodialysis. Resverlogix common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:RVX). Follow us on Twitter: @Resverlogix_RVX (https://twitter.com/resverlogix_rvx), or on our blog at http://www.resverlogix.com/blog For further information please contact: Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Phone: 403-254-9252 Or visit our website: www.resverlogix.com This news release may contain certain forward-looking information as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation, that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "will", "should", "expects", "continue", "estimate", "forecasts" and other similar expressions. In particular, this news release includes forward looking information relating to the potential role of apabetalone in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, CVD, DM, chronic kidney disease, CKD, end-stage renal disease treated with hemodialysis, Alzheimer's disease, vascular calcification, and Orphan diseases. Our actual results, events or developments could be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We can give no assurance that any of the events or expectations will occur or be realized. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions and risk factors including those discussed in our Annual Information Form and most recent MD&A which are incorporated herein by reference and are available through SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE Resverlogix Corp. Related Links http://www.resverlogix.com ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Retailers need to selectively apply available technology to provide shoppers with cutting-edge customer service tools, a variety of fulfillment options, and to connect directly with customers, according to a new Retail Report by Radial and CFI Group. Radial and CFI Group surveyed over 500 online shoppers to measure their perspectives on methods of connecting with retailers, the role of social media, in-store pick up, and transactions mistakenly identified as fraudulent. The resulting feedback equips retailers with the knowledge of what matters most to customers and the effect experiences, both good and bad, are likely to have on the goal of turning customers into repeat customers. 1) How Customers Connect with Retailers Today's on-demand culture has conditioned shoppers to expect options and convenience when connecting with retailers. 40% check the status of an order using the self-help section of the retailer's website 83% use self-service options when available 85% would use a visual IVR option on their mobile for service inquiries if available 2) The Importance of Social Media Shoppers perceive retailers' social media accounts as a forum for customer service that involves active dialogue rather than a parking lot for feedback. 62% use social media to interact with retailers 76% expect the retailer to respond the same day on social media 3) Picking Up Online Orders in Store There is a growing demand for picking up online orders in store. 54% opt for in-store pickup for at least a quarter of their online purchases 37% expect to hear that their pickup order is ready the same day of the purchase 4) Data Breaches and Fraudulent Charges Retailers who can balance data protection with limited fraud alerts will preserve the trust and confidence of their customers and build shopper loyalty. 33% are extremely concerned with having credit card information stolen 24% have had a purchase incorrectly identified as fraud 62% shop elsewhere if they have had a purchase incorrectly identified as fraud To download the Retail Report visit cfigroup.com. About CFI Group (www.cfigroup.com) Since 1988, CFI Group has delivered customer experience measurement and business insights from its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters and a network of global offices. As founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), CFI Group is the only company within the United States licensed to apply customized ACSI methodology in both the private and public sectors. Using patented technology and top research experts, CFI Group uncovers the business drivers and financial impact of customer experience. About Radial (www.radial.com) Radial is the leader in omnichannel commerce technologies and operations. We enable you to profitably exceed customer expectations by taking on the complexity of your omnichannel retail business and transforming it into a seamlessly orchestrated customer experience. To bring order to ordering. To make fulfillment more fulfilling. To keep commerce clicking. When we partner with you to execute your orders, payments, fulfillment, or customer care, your promises become ours. Media Contact: David Baker [email protected] 734.355.8232 SOURCE CFI Group Related Links https://cfigroup.com LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (the "Company" or "Rexford Industrial") (NYSE:REXR), a real estate investment trust focused on owning and operating industrial properties located in Southern California infill markets, today announced that Michael Frankel and Howard Schwimmer, Co-Chief Executive Officers, will present at REITWeek 2017: NAREIT's Investor Forum at the Hilton Midtown, in New York, New York on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, which will be webcast live. Details on how to access the live webcast as well as the Company's NAREIT Investor Presentation can be found below. Webcast Details Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2017 Time: 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time Webcast Link: http://reitstream.com/reitweek2017/rexford Interested parties can also access the webcast and the Company's NAREIT Investor Presentation by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Company's website under the heading Company Presentations. A replay of the webcast will be available for a limited time. About Rexford Industrial Rexford Industrial is a real estate investment trust focused on owning and operating industrial properties in Southern California infill markets. The Company owns 137 properties with approximately 16.0 million rentable square feet and manages an additional 19 properties with approximately 1.2 million rentable square feet. For additional information, visit www.rexfordindustrial.com. Contact: Investor Relations: Stephen Swett 424 256 2153 ext 401 [email protected] SOURCE Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. Related Links http://www.rexfordindustrial.com MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla., May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery is proud to announce the acquisition of Bowes Dermatology. The office, located in the Mercy Professional Building at 3659 South Miami Avenue, Suite 6008, in Miami, Florida will offer the same quality dermatology and cosmetic services patients have come to know and trust from Riverchase Dermatology. As part of the new alignment, Riverchase welcomes Leyda E. Bowes, M.D., Maria Montanaro, PA-C, Kimberly Cray, PA-C, Zuzel Gascon, ARNP and Ana Christina Trisan, PA-C to its team of practitioners. Bowes Dermatology is one of the most unique and progressive facilities of its kind in the field of dermatology. Its commitment to excellence and the credentials of the skilled physicians and staff are what make this practice unique and innovators in the field of cosmetic and medical dermatology. "I am honored to partner with Dr. Bowes and her quality team of providers to be able to expand the level of service offerings to the community and to continue to advance techniques and technology in a state-of the-art environment, all in an atmosphere which focuses on superior patient care and customer service," said Andrew T. Jaffe, MD, FAAD, Founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery. "Our choice to join with Riverchase was clear: We wanted to be part of a larger organization where we, as a dermatology group, could significantly increase our competitive edge while maintaining a positive and family-like environment for our very loyal staff. Individually, as a professional, after meeting with Dr. Andrew Jaffe and his leadership team, I knew this was the right match for a partnership through the rest of my career," said Leyda E. Bowes, M.D. As part of their dedication to providing quality patient care in Florida, Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery continues to expand its service area in order to reach a greater number of those in need of dermatology services at a convenient location. With the addition of these new office locations, Riverchase now offers a total of 30 convenient dermatology and cosmetic surgery locations with 66 providers throughout the state of Florida. Visit www.RiverchaseDermatology.com to learn more or to request an appointment. About Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery is one of Florida's largest, fast growing and most comprehensive skin centers. Founded in Naples, Florida in 2000 by Andrew T. Jaffe, MD, FAAD Riverchase has maintained its initial vision of providing the most comprehensive skin cancer, dermatology and cosmetic surgery services for over a decade. The caring and skilled providers at Riverchase use the latest techniques and equipment to diagnose and treat a wide range of skin disorders and cosmetic concerns. Riverchase has many convenient locations throughout Florida. For more information, visit www.RiverchaseDermatology.com. CONTACT Maureen Williams Director of Marketing and Aesthetics (407) 718-8886 [email protected] SOURCE Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Related Links http://www.riverchasederm.com The 31st International Izmir Festival organized by Izmir Foundation for Culture, Arts and Education (IKSEV) will be held between June 1 and July 4, 2017. A total of 284 artists who will take part in the festival will meet the audience at Ahmed Adnan Saygun Arts Center, Izmir State Theatre Konak Stage, Cesme Castle and the Great Theatre of Ephesus. International Izmir Festival with its qualified programs and efforts to bring historical places together with art, thus being placed near the top, presents a lively program in its 31st year. The 31st International Izmir Festival which will start with Yunus Emre Oratorio on June 01 will end with the concert of LOrchestre de Contrebasses on July 04, 2017 Tuesday at 21.00 at AASSM Concert Hall. The 31st International Izmir Festival expresses sincere thanks to the immortal name of our contemporary music Ahmed Adnan Saygun at his one hundred and tenth birthday. Yunus Emre Oratorio which was performed at the 1. International Izmir Festival, 31 years ago, in the presence of Saygun, will be performed on June 01, 2017, Thursday at AASSM Concert Hall by Izmir State Opera and Ballet Orchestra and Choir under the direction of conductor Aytug Ulgen. The first oratorio of Turkey the great master completed in 1942 will be performed by Soprano Mehlika Karadeniz Bilgin, mezzosoprano Ferda Yetiser, tenor Devrim Demirel and bass Engin Suna as soloists. Saygun's work which was composed based on poems by Yunus Emre was first performed in Ankara in 1946. The oratorio which was described as the greatest art achievement of Turkish Revolution History by Selahattin Batu who wrote librettos of Kerem and Koroglu Operas, was translated to English, French, German and Hungarian, was performed in New York, Budapest, Vienna, Bremen, Berlin, Vatican and Moscow. IKSEV who has brought the world's most famous ballet companies, choreographers and dancers to Izmir for 31 years, will host one of the greatest names of contemporary dance Dani Pannullo DanceTheatre Co. The performance organized in collaboration with Embassy of Spain in Ankara, Turkey will be held on June 05, 2017 Monday at 21.00 at AASSM Concert Hall. Dani Pannullo DanceTheatre Co. dancers will do a workshop on June 04, 2017 Sunday at IKSEV Building. Izmir State Theatre, celebrating their 60th year takes part in the 31st International Izmir Festival with the great author Necati Cumalis play Gomu Bir Kup Altn. The play which will be staged on June 07, 2017 Wednesday at 21.00 at Izmir State Theatre Konak Stage will be directed by Metin Oyman. The 31st International Izmir Festival will host Alti & Bassi, one of the few of world's a-cappella groups, in collaboration with Izmir Consulate of the Republic of Italy on June 09, 2017 Friday at 21.00 at Cesme Castle. Alti & Bassi who was awarded Best A Cappella song with their album "La nave dei sogni" in 2016 The Akademia Music Award in Los Angeles, is one of the most wanted groups for festivals. The legendary virtuoso Nigel Kennedy, who got into the book of Guinness World Records as the best-selling classical violinist of all time, brings rock and classical music lovers at the 31st International Izmir Festival together with his project Nigel Kennedy Plays Hendrix where he realized his youth dreams. The concert with the program sponsorship of Petkim will take place on June 15, 2017 Thursday at 21.00 at AASSM Concert Hall. Vienna Chamber Orchestra, which has played with the most important soloists of the classical music world until now, accompanies composer and performer Fazl Say, one the brightest stars today, at the 31st International Izmir Festival. Vienna Chamber Orchestra, directed by conductor Ola Rudner at the Ephesus Antique Theater, will perform with virtuoso and composer Fazl Say, one of the most productive artists of our time, on June 20, 2017 Tuesday at 21.00 at the Great Theatre of Ephesus. They will present a program consisting of Beethovens Coriolan Ouverture, Mozarts No. 12 A major Piano Concerto and Mendelssohn Bartholdys No. 4 Italian Symphony. The 31st International Izmir Festival invites audiences to meet the immortal examples of "fasil" music, the historical essence of classical Turkish music, on June 21, 2017 Wednesday at 21.00 at AASSM Concert Hall. Ege University State Conservatory of Turkish Music Classical Turkish Music Chorus, under the direction of Halil Ibrahim Yuksel, will present the most beautiful examples of Fasil of classical Turkish music from 14th century to 19th century. This concert is also open to public with free invitations. Pawe Kowalski will perform at the concert in collaboration with Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Istanbul and Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Izmir on June 22, 2017 Wednesday at 21.00 at AASSM Concert Hall. Kowalski, one of the genius virtuosos of piano, will present a program consisting of the works of Mozart, Paderewski, Beethoven, Chopin and Scriabin. The International Izmir Festival, welcoming legends in its thirty first year, is thrilled to host a phenomenon, a living legend, a career of more than 50 years, ambassador, teacher, mentor, clarinet virtuoso, King of Klezmer... Giora Feidman again after fourteen years. Feidman who identifies himself as a servant who "nourishes the spirit of mankind" is accompanied by Gershwin Quartet Michel Gershwin and Natalia Raithel (violin), Juri Gilbo (viola), Kira Kraftzoff (cello). These five virtuosi, each with world-wide recognition, promise to give one of the most memorable concerts of the 31st International Izmir Festival on June 29, 2017 Thursday at 21.00 at Cesme Castle. Click here to purchase tickets. LONDON, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Robotic exoskeletons are rapidly breaking out of the realm of sci-fi, finding application across varied industries, including healthcare, military, sports, robotics, construction, logistics, warehouse and industrial automation. Their exceptional ability to rehabilitate patients with physical or neurological disorders, or enhance the wearer's physical strength, efficiency, performance capability and functionality, is encouraging research institutes and technology developers to constantly innovate solutions and techniques. Exoskeletons can also be integrated with artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, virtual reality and haptics to deliver a truly futuristic solution. "In addition to medical benefits, robotic exoskeletons augment the wearer's physical strength and allow them to lift very heavy weights without using machinery," noted Frost & Sullivan TechVision Research Analyst S. Kasthuri Jagadeesan. "Currently, the industrial automation industry employs back support suits, power gloves and tool holding exoskeletons to improve worker efficiency, as well as reduce fatigue and stress." Emerging Robotic Exoskeleton Technologies is part of Frost & Sullivan's TechVision (Advanced Manufacturing Automation) Growth Partnership Service programme. The study analyzes the present degree of applicability of robotic exoskeletons and the recent innovations that will have a tremendous impact across industries. It presents a technology road map and determines the impact, growth, adoption rate and role of robotic exoskeletons between 2017 and 2022. By 2022, the wide-scale adoption of robotic exoskeleton technologies is anticipated to increase significantly. Click here for complimentary access to more information on this analysis and to register for a Growth Strategy Dialogue, a free interactive briefing with Frost & Sullivan's thought leaders. Robotic exoskeletons have found substantial application in safety and security industries as well, as they can be used by first responders during dangerous evacuation and rescue situations. Due to these advantages, the military and healthcare industries are investing heavily in the research and development (R&D) of this technology. Despite the interest shown by a few stakeholders, funding is often tight, partly due to the high R&D costs, while the high cost of implementation is proving a deterrent to mainstream adoption. Once the robotic exoskeleton technology stabilizes, and more innovative, segmented solutions are introduced, there will be greater industry and academic participation in technology development and adoption. "Segmented robotic exoskeletons efficiently perform and address the evolving needs of varied industries, as each segment is designed for particular tasks in particular market segments," noted Jagadeesan. "In the future, there will be new business opportunities for companies to provide service, software support, and even maintenance/service of exoskeleton suits." About TechVision Frost & Sullivan's global TechVision practice is focused on innovation, disruption and convergence, and provides a variety of technology-based alerts, newsletters and research services as well as growth consulting services. Its premier offering, the TechVision program, identifies and evaluates the most valuable emerging and disruptive technologies enabling products with near-term potential. A unique feature of the TechVision program is an annual selection of 50 technologies that can generate convergence scenarios, possibly disrupt the innovation landscape, and drive transformational growth. View a summary of our TechVision program by clicking on the following link: http://ifrost.frost.com/TechVision_Demo. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion Emerging Robotic Exoskeleton Technologies D7A2 Contact: Evgenia Oleynikova Corporate Communications Europe P: +48 224816210 E: [email protected] Twitter: @TechVision_FS Linkedin: www.frost.com/techvisionlinkedin http://www.frost.com http://www.frost.com/techvision SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links http://www.frost.com The report " Rocket and Missile Market by Type (Missile, Rocket), Launch Mode (Surface-to-Surface, Surface-to-Air, Air-to-Air, Air-to-Surface, Subsea-to-Surface), Propulsion (Solid, Liquid, Hybrid, Scramjet, Turbojet, Ramjet) & Region - Global Forecast to 2022 ", published by MarketsandMarkets, the rocket and missile market is projected to grow from USD 55.53 Billion in 2017 to USD 70.00 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 4.74% during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to the increasing geopolitical conflicts, war, and terrorism, which are driving the demand for rockets and missiles globally. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 134 market data Tables and 45 Figures spread through 182 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Rocket and Missile Market". http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/rocket-missile-market-203298804.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Based on type, the missile segment is projected to lead the rocket and missile market during the forecast period. Based on type, the rocket and missile market was dominated by the missile segment in 2017 and is expected to continue its dominance till 2022. Missiles are versatile weapons and can be fired in various modes, angles, and platforms. To inflict maximum damage on adversaries, missiles are now equipped with guidance technologies which enable them hit targets with precision. Developing countries such as China and India, among others, are investing more in ballistic missiles. These countries are investing more in advanced technologies and focusing on manufacturing a wide range of offensive fighting vehicles. For instance, in May 2017, China tested its DF-26 missile which can attack aircraft carriers and air defense batteries with precision. India recently signed a contract with Israel to acquire more than 275 launchers and 5,500 spike missiles. The deal includes transfer of technology to build another 1500 launchers and 30,000 missiles. Download PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=203298804 Based on launch mode, the surface-to-surface segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The rocket and missile market has been analyzed and segmented based on launch mode into surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, air-to-air, air-to-surface, and subsea-to-surface. The rocket and missile market is dominated by the surface-to-surface segment. This segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, primarily driven by the upgrade and modernization programs, procurement of cruise as well as ballistic missiles, and use of advance guidance systems. The U.S., China, and India are expected to be lucrative markets for rockets and missiles. The U.S., China, and India are expected to be the largest rocket and missile markets in the coming years. The U.S. is estimated to dominate the market during the forecast period. This rapid growth can be attributed to the increasing research and development activities undertaken in the region for the development of advanced technology-based designs of man portable warfare systems. The China rocket and missile market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2017 to 2022. China has been investing heavily in the design and development of guided man-portable air defense systems over the last five years. Inquiry Before Buying @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=203298804 Major players in the rocket and missile market are Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.), MBDA, Inc. (U.K.), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (Israel), Thales Group (France), Saab AB (Sweden), Raytheon Company (U.S.), and Kongsberg Gruppen (Norway), among others. Browse Related Reports Shoulder Fired Weapons Market by Component (Launcher, Ammunition), Technology (Guided, Unguided), Range (Short range, Medium Range, Extended Range) and Region - Global Forecast to 2022 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/shoulder-fired-anti-tank-market-130342841.html Ammunition Market by Caliber (Small, Medium, Large, Artillery, Mortar), Application (Defense, Civil & Commercial), Type (Cartridge-Based, Non-Cartridge Based), Cartridge Type (Rimfire, Centerfire) - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ammunition-market-923.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets' flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our [email protected] http://mnmblog.org/market-research/aerospace-defence Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce [NYSE: CRM], the global leader in CRM, today announced Sales Cloud Partner Relationship Management (PRM), a new sales app that will empower companies to turbocharge channel sales. With one-third of the average company's revenue coming from partners1and more than two-thirds of revenues for companies in high-tech2, manufacturing3 and telecom4 it is critical to arm every partner, distributor and reseller with the personalized tools and information they need to sell smarter and faster. Introducing Sales Cloud PRM The new PRM app will allow companies to easily build modern, branded partner communities with clicks, not code. In contrast to legacy partner portals that are built on inflexible, archaic systems creating disconnected silos, Sales Cloud seamlessly brings together both partner and direct sales functions. To deliver Sales Cloud PRM, Salesforce is bringing together new and existing technologies, including: New Guided Setup Wizard will enable channel managers to easily configure, customize and deploy their app in days. Using the interactive wizard, channel managers will be able to seamlessly configure lead distribution, deal registration, marketing development funds and AppExchange Components, such as Xactly for compensation management and NetExam for a learning management system. Additionally, channel managers will be able to automatically assign partners into tiers and provide targeted promotions and customized content based on those tiers. will enable channel managers to easily configure, customize and deploy their app in days. Using the interactive wizard, channel managers will be able to seamlessly configure lead distribution, deal registration, marketing development funds and AppExchange Components, such as Xactly for compensation management and NetExam for a learning management system. Additionally, channel managers will be able to automatically assign partners into tiers and provide targeted promotions and customized content based on those tiers. Lightning CMS Connect will allow channel managers to easily create a customized, branded partner experience faster than ever before. Channel managers will be able to drag and drop existing website content, graphics and videos ensuring it stays as up-to-date as a company's website. will allow channel managers to easily create a customized, branded partner experience faster than ever before. Channel managers will be able to drag and drop existing website content, graphics and videos ensuring it stays as up-to-date as a company's website. Einstein Content Recommendations will use machine learning to surface files that enable channel reps to be more productive. For example, if a partner views a new product description document, Einstein will be able to recommend files, including logo graphics, product placement instructions and pricing documentation for that new product. will use machine learning to surface files that enable channel reps to be more productive. For example, if a partner views a new product description document, Einstein will be able to recommend files, including logo graphics, product placement instructions and pricing documentation for that new product. Channel Marketing Automation will extend the power of Marketing Cloud to every partner, enabling them to build, track and analyze email campaigns to deliver 1:1 customer journeys on any device. Companies will be able to ensure partners are using the right messaging and collateral by empowering them to be their own marketing department. Today's announcement extends the world's #1 SFA, Sales Cloud, even further to empower companies to accelerate their sales with smart, customizable apps for every sales function. Sales teams of every kind are improving forecasting and collecting cash faster with Salesforce Quote-to-Cash. Field sales reps are accessing their CRM with the Salesforce1 mobile app while on the go. Sales managers are exploring data quickly and getting actionable insight with Sales Wave Analytics. And digitally powered sales reps are using Einstein High Velocity Sales Cloud to quickly identify the best leads, eliminate busy work and boost pipeline to increase sales. Salesforce Trailhead: Empowers Everyone to Skill-Up Trailhead is Salesforce's free interactive, guided and gamified learning platform, where anyone can develop skills that empower them to land a job in the workforce of the future. Trailhead is democratizing education and providing a direct path for anyone to start learning Salesforce for free, from anywhere. Since launching in 2014, Trailblazers have earned 2.5 million badges, which directly relate to in-demand job skills. In fact, according to Indeed, two of the top 10 best jobs of the future are in the Salesforce Economy. Comments on the News: "Traditional partner portals tend to be pieced-together legacy systems that are generic and disconnected from CRM. This results in substandard channel performance and ultimately a poor user experience," said Mike Micucci , GM and SVP, Salesforce Products. "Sales Cloud PRM is the solution companies have been looking fora turnkey app that enables them to extend the world's best CRM to their partners." , GM and SVP, Salesforce Products. "Sales Cloud PRM is the solution companies have been looking fora turnkey app that enables them to extend the world's best CRM to their partners." "Empowering our AWS Partner Network (APN) partners is a top priority for us," said Terry Wise , Vice President, Amazon Web Services. "As part of our strategic relationship with Salesforce, we count on Sales Cloud PRM to provide our APN partners with the tools and content needed to scale their business quickly on AWS." , Vice President, Amazon Web Services. "As part of our strategic relationship with Salesforce, we count on Sales Cloud PRM to provide our APN partners with the tools and content needed to scale their business quickly on AWS." "As channel partners increase in importance to companies, the need for effective partner tools, enablement and infrastructure is imperative," said Denis Pombriant , Principal Analyst Beagle Research. "Sales Cloud PRM is an example of a solution for companies looking to accelerate partner sales without unnecessary cycles and cost." , Principal Analyst Beagle Research. "Sales Cloud PRM is an example of a solution for companies looking to accelerate partner sales without unnecessary cycles and cost." "We've been a Salesforce customer for 10 years, and for us, the natural extension was to bring Salesforce to our partners, giving them what they need to sell in one place," said Tony Dyck , Director of IT Technical Delivery at Box. "We were able to quickly deploy, and immediately saw an increase in partner engagement and efficiency, leading to an increase in sales coming from our partner channel." , Director of IT Technical Delivery at Box. "We were able to quickly deploy, and immediately saw an increase in partner engagement and efficiency, leading to an increase in sales coming from our partner channel." "It's important to fully capture our opportunity for revenue growth and expansion in our channel business by providing our partners with 24 hour access to product resources, lead management, deal registration and support," said Neil Burch , Enterprise Applications and Business Analytics, CalAmp."With Sales Cloud PRM, we will be able to quickly and easily increase partner collaboration and gain visibility into our channel so we can accurately forecast our indirect sales." Pricing and Availability Sales Cloud PRM is generally available today with the Partner Community Cloud License for $25 per member per month. New Guided Setup Wizard, Einstein Content Recommendations and Channel Marketing Automation are expected to be generally available in the second half of 2017. Lightning CMS Connect will be in beta in June 2017 . Additional Information To learn more about Sales Cloud, please visit: https://www.salesforce.com/products/sales-cloud/overview/ To learn more about Partner Communities, please visit: https://www.salesforce.com/products/community-cloud/features/ Learn how to get started with Trailhead and Sales Cloud PRM here: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/modules/community_cloud_basics/units/communities_partner_community To watch the livestream of the Boston World Tour keynote, please visit: https://www.salesforce.com/video/ Connect with Salesforce Like Salesforce on Facebook http://facebook.com/salesforce Follow @salesforce and @communitycloud on Twitter About Salesforce Salesforce, the global CRM leader, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: http://www.salesforce.com. Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE. Rights of ALBERT EINSTEIN are used with permission of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Represented exclusively by Greenlight. 1 Simple Rules for Making Alliances Work, by Johnathan Hughes and Jeff Weiss, HBR. Reprint R0711H 2 Accenture: Improving the ROI of Indirect Channel Incentives 3 Alexander Group: Manufacturing: The Rise of Complex Selling Models 4 CompTIA: Partnering Trends Between Telecom And IT Channels SOURCE Salesforce Related Links http://www.salesforce.com CHICAGO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third consecutive year, global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney today named San Francisco as the leading city in the firm's annual Global Cities Outlook. In the Global Cities Index, New York regained the top spot from London. Taken together, the Global Cities Outlook and Global Cities Index comprise Global Cities 2017. Global Cities Outlook 2017, top 10 Global Cities Index 2017, top 10 "The Outlook and Index provide a compelling look at 128 of the world's leading cities, as well as those that are poised to make a significant impact," said Mike Hales, A.T. Kearney partner and co-leader of the study. "There were several geopolitical events this year that profoundly impacted cities around the world and that we anticipate will have a hand in shaping future rankings. These include the U.K.'s Brexit vote, elections in France and Germany, as well as the U.S. presidential and congressional elections. All are significant global players and merit close attention in the coming months. Our historical database also gives a comprehensive look at which cities are wise investment decisions for corporate leaders, as well as those primed to make significant progress," said Hales. Global Cities Outlook 2017 The Global Cities Outlook evaluates a city's future potential. A leader in patents per capita, and possessing a high level of private investment and incubators, San Francisco captured the top spot in the Global Cities Outlook. Over the past two years, Paris has continued to improve its standing in the Outlook and is now challenging San Francisco and New York City, largely propelled by material increases in foreign direct investment (FDI) and moderate infrastructure improvements. This is the third year for the Outlook. It evaluates the potential of 128 cities based on the rate of change in 13 leading metrics across four dimensions: personal well-being, economics, innovation, and governance. Global Cities Index 2017 The Global Cities Index examines the current performance of cities. This year, New York and London claim the number one and two spots, respectively, as the world's most global cities on the firm's 2017 Global Cities Index. The top two spots on the Index represent a reversal of last year's findings. This is the seventh edition of the Index, which was first launched in 2008. It examines the current performance of cities based on 27 metrics spanning five critical dimensions: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. The Index provides insights into the current global reach, performance, and level of development of the world's largest cities. In this year's Index, as well as six of the previous seven Indexes, New York garnered the top spot. New York re-claimed the first-place ranking largely because of a strong performance in information exchange and a higher ranking than London in political engagement and leadership for economics. London has also experienced a more significant decrease in business activity since 2016. The Global Elite Each year, A.T. Kearney identifies the "Global Elite"the cities that rank in the top 25 of both the Index and the Outlook. These cities not only are performing well today but also are positioning themselves for continued growth and global influence in the future. This year, 16 cities qualify, with London, New York City, and Paris all in the top 10 of both rankings. "With several high-profile elections around the world in 2016 and early 2017, the prominence of political engagement remains high in determining which cities top the Index," said Erik Peterson, partner with A.T. Kearney and managing director of the firm's Global Business Policy Council. "Cities with a stable government and active citizenry are poised for continued growth. We have also seen that vibrant cultural institutions go hand-in-hand with a robust business community," said Peterson. Engines of Growth: Start-up Ecosystems This year, a key theme in the Global Cities Index and Outlook was investment in developing start-up ecosystems, a factor whose importance will only grow in the future. Research that contributed to Global Cities 2017 revealed that leading start-up ecosystems could best be identified through four key factors, including proximity to innovation partners, access to talent, supportive local regulations, and high-quality infrastructure; examples of model cities for each factor are included in the Global Cities 2017 report. "This year's Global Cities Outlook underscores the importance of business growth potential. Start-up ecosystems were a large factor in determining the success of cities. Even large organizations are looking at the start-up scene as an important barometer for determining where to make investments, as well as where to place critical business facilities," said Andres Mendoza Pena, A.T. Kearney partner and co-author of the study. Opportunities in Rising Cities Businesses should be prepared to face growing geopolitical and domestic pressure, specifically given the rise of populist politics in the United States and the United Kingdom, home to two of the most global cities. Large organizations can also use the Outlook and Index to evaluate newcomers in their strategic planning and identify cities that may function as high-growth investment opportunities and cost-efficient alternatives for headquarters, manufacturing hubs, and research centers. Government leaders should also use the findings in the Index and Outlook to assess their performance in each dimension, articulate specific strengths and opportunities, identify similar cities that could serve as role models, and set strategic goals for economic growth. For the full report, please go to: www.atkearney.com/research-studies/global-cities-index 2017 A.T. Kearney Global Cities Index and Global Cities Outlook Methodologies The Global Cities Index examines the current performance of cities based on 27 metrics spanning five critical dimensions: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. It provides insights into the current global reach, performance, and level of development of the world's largest cities. It also allows for the comparison of diverse cities and for the identification of core strengths and distinctive differences. The Global Cities Outlook evaluates a city's future potential based on the rate of change for 13 leading metrics across four dimensions: personal well-being, economics, innovation, and governance. These metrics help evaluate long-term investment and success by assessing elements such as environmental performance, infrastructure, and innovation capacity. In this way, the Outlook brings a forward-looking perspective to city-level policies and practices that shape future competitiveness, identifying growing cities that are likely to be the most prominent global cities of the future. About A.T. Kearney A.T. Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm with offices in more than 40 countries. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors to the world's foremost organizations. A.T. Kearney is a partner-owned firm, committed to helping clients achieve immediate impact and growing advantage on their most mission-critical issues. For more information, visit www.atkearney.com. For media or other inquries, contact: Bill Smith Makovsky PR [email protected] 1-212-508-9627 SOURCE A.T. Kearney Related Links http://www.atkearney.com RACINE, Wis., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In an ongoing effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, SC Johnson today announced their manufacturing site in Bay City, Michigan, the facility that manufactures Ziploc brand bags, recently joined two other company-owned manufacturing sites running on 100 percent wind energy for electricity. Wind turbines provide 100 percent of the electrical energy for three SC Johnson manufacturing plants. "With our third site powered entirely by wind energy, almost one third of SC Johnson's energy usage globally now comes from renewable sources," said Kelly M. Semrau, Senior Vice President - Global Corporate Affairs, Communication and Sustainability, SC Johnson. "We are proud of our commitment and progress toward taking care of the environment for future generations." Bay City achieved this milestone by purchasing 100 percent of its wind energy from nearby wind farms. With community cooperation, SC Johnson made a tall commitment to wind energy usage in 2012 when it powered-up two 415-foot wind turbines at Waxdale, the company's largest global manufacturing facility located in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. The two turbines generate about 8 million kilowatt-hour of electricity each year, enough to power 770 homes a year. They eliminate about 6,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually. Since 2009 and 2016 respectively, manufacturing operations in Mijdrecht, Netherlands, and Gorzow, Poland, have been running completely on wind energy. The Gorzow manufacturing plant also purchases its entire demand for wind energy. The company's Mijdrecht site purchases approximately 50 percent and generates the remaining wind energy onsite. SC Johnson, the maker of trusted household products like Glade, Raid, Scrubbing Bubbles and Ziploc, has used renewable energy sources around the world since 2004. The efforts help exceed their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the percentage of renewable energy used by their global manufacturing sites, the largest users of energy at SC Johnson. Through the end of 2016, SC Johnson had achieved a nearly 52 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions versus their 2000 baseline. While wind energy is a source of SC Johnson's greenhouse gas emission reductions, other sources are critical contributors, too. For example, in Indonesia, the company uses waste biomass products as an energy source. This resulted in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 13,000 metric tons in Indonesia alone. Globally, more than 32 percent of the company's energy use now comes from renewable sources. For more information on SC Johnson's environmental and social efforts, read the company's 2016 Sustainability Report. About SC Johnson SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE, KIWI, OFF!, PLEDGE, RAID, SCRUBBING BUBBLES, SHOUT, WINDEX and ZIPLOC in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN, TANA, BAMA, BAYGON, BRISE, KABIKILLER, KLEAR, MR MUSCLE and RIDSECT. The 131-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com SOURCE SC Johnson Related Links http://www.scjohnson.com DARESBURY, England, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sci-Tech Daresbury and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the opening of a new building for the collaborative research facility at The Hartree Centre in Daresbury. The building, opened by the Duke of York, is the latest evolution of the long-running collaboration between Sci-Tech Daresbury and IBM. The Hartree Centre is a high performance computing and data analytics research facility founded by the UK government in collaboration with IBM. The new building brings together under one roof staff from the Hartree Centre, IBM, the University of Liverpool's Virtual Engineering Centre and Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Scientific Computing Division, and will firmly enhance the capabilities and close collaborations that are at the heart of the centre. As part of the STFC, the Hartree Centre's mission is to transform the competitiveness of UK industry through high performance computing, big data and cognitive technologies, built on an ethos of collaboration and partner working. The new campus will be focused on research in high performance computing and data centric Cognitive computing with goal of developing technology to encourage economic improvement with companies in the UK. His Royal Highness, who is patron of Sci-Tech Daresbury, devotes much of his time to promoting the awareness of British science, technology and engineering expertise. The Hartree Centre works with academic researchers and companies in a wide range of industries. One notable collaboration between IBM and Alder Hey Children's Hospital is creating the UK's first 'cognitive hospital', using the IBM Watson cognitive computing platform to improve the patient journey and experience. John Downes, group managing director of Langtree and chairman of the Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture company, said: "The Hartree Centre is at the heart of our ambition, helping to facilitate collaboration to maximise the impact of our research base to enable business innovation and ultimately societal transformation. Over recent years the Hartree Centre has achieved many successes and enabled many projects and as it moves into phase three it will increase the momentum to ensure science, innovation and industrial strength are intrinsically linked. The new building, and this new phase in the collaborative relationship with IBM is a big step forward. Co-locating researchers and technical teams from both organisations and others means the Hartree Centre's capabilities to innovate and help UK businesses take advantage of home-grown technical advances are further secured. The Duke of York's visit is a reflection of his commitment to the sector and to the collaborative efforts at the Hartree Centre. We are delighted that he has taken so much time to understand how regional SMEs are working successfully with universities and big corporations to advance their ideas and enhance the innovation culture." "IBM greatly values the close partnership and collaboration with the teams at Sci-Tech Daresbury and the Government's Science and Technology Facilities Council," said Bill Kelleher, Chief Executive of IBM UK & Ireland. "The opening of this centre, where IBM research staff will work alongside researchers from other organisations to develop tools for companies to use as part of a push towards technological leadership, is evidence of the quality of work that has already come out of this partnership. Working with our colleagues at Sci-Tech Daresbury, we will find ways for UK businesses to take advantage of cognitive data centric computing techniques, new OpenPOWER based systems, advanced modelling and simulation, open innovation approaches and data analysis tools to enable growth and leadership on a global scale." During the visit the His Royal Highness heard from Hartree Centre users and observed demonstrations of the centre's projects and capabilities. Sci-Tech Daresbury is a private-public joint-venture partnership between developer Langtree, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Halton Borough Council. Photos are available here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1Epf7Q For further information: IBM: Lucy Linthwaite External Relations Leader IBM UK and Ireland +44 (0) 20 7021 8911 [email protected] Notes to Editors: Sci-Tech Daresbury is a world class location for high-tech business and leading edge science based in Cheshire. It provides a unique environment for innovation and business growth, with knowledge sharing, collaboration and networking. Home to the ground-breaking STFC Daresbury Laboratory as well as over 100 high-tech companies, the site was originally established in 2006. In December 2010, a new private-public joint-venture partnership was created to spearhead the longer-term development of the campus. Partners in the private-public joint-venture partnership are developers, Langtree, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and Halton Borough Council. The campus was granted Enterprise Zone status in April 2012. Enterprise Zone status allows business rates to be reinvested in the campus, potentially creating up to 15,000 skilled jobs and providing funding for new specialist office, laboratory and technical space. Enterprise Zone status will also allow the campus to leverage more than 150 million in private sector investment. For more information visit: http://www.sci-techdaresbury.com The Hartree Centre was formed in 2012 and awarded government funding to strengthen UK competitiveness in areas including big data and energy efficient computing. The Hartree Centre is home to some of the most technically advanced high performance computing, data analytics, machine learning technologies and experts in the UK. From early stage SMEs to international corporations, it works with industry and the research community to address real life challenges and accelerate the adoption of high performance technologies, delivering transformative gains in performance, productivity and time to market. The Hartree Centre is part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) one of seven UK Research Councils and one of Europe's largest multi-disciplinary research organisations. https://www.hartree.stfc.ac.uk SOURCE IBM Related Links http://www.ibm.com DETROIT, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Sean Anderson Foundation has donated $15,000 to benefit Wayne State University's HIGH (Helping Individuals Go Higher) Program. The funds will be used to provide short-term support to Wayne State students experiencing homelessness or precarious housing situations. This is the second gift from the Sean Anderson Foundation in support of the HIGH Program. In 2016, the foundation created a $25,000 endowment for the program, exemplifying recording artist Big Sean's commitment to improving the quality of life of young people. A native Detroiter, Big Sean established the Sean Anderson Foundation to provide better opportunities for those in need. "It's such a pleasure to support a program that has an immediate impact on students facing hardship," said Myra Anderson, president of the foundation and Sean's mother. "The HIGH Program, through its support and encouragement offered to students, is making a difference in their lives. We are excited to offer our support through the foundation." Wayne State's first lady Jacqueline Wilson founded the HIGH Program in 2013 when she met a Wayne State student who had experienced homelessness while attending school. Reports indicate student homelessness is a nationwide issue, and Wilson's program offers a strategic response to this issue at Wayne State. Students in the HIGH Program receive short-term assistance with the goal of returning students to long-term stability and helping them complete their degree. "The Sean Anderson Foundation has been a past supporter of the HIGH Program through generous financial support assisting students in need," said Wilson. "With this gift, the foundation is continuing its commitment to help Wayne State students who are experiencing homelessness move forward to a rewarding future." More information about Wayne State's HIGH Program can be found at highprogram.wayne.edu. About the Sean Anderson Foundation The Sean Anderson Foundation was founded in 2012 by recording artist Big Sean. Sean's vision is to improve the quality of life for young people and their families. The foundation accomplishes this by partnering with other established organizations, by providing avenues for supplemental educational, cultural, health and recreational programs, and through its signature educational program, Mogul Prep. About the HIGH Program The HIGH Program was founded in 2013 to address student homelessness at Wayne State University. The vision of the HIGH Program is a university community where no student must choose between higher education and survival. The mission of the program is to support students who struggle to balance their Wayne State University studies with meeting life's most basic needs of food, shelter and childcare. Contact: Tom Reynolds Voice: 313-577-8093 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Wayne State University Related Links http://www.wayne.edu Mija White (NEW) is made with lychee, guava, lime and orange. It blends a subtle, refreshing sweetness with the acidity, aroma and finish that will please any white wine lover. Mija White can be enjoyed on its own, in a cocktail or served over ice with fresh fruit. (9.5% ABV) Mija Red is made with exotic superfruits, including pomegranate, acai and blood orange. It is fruit-forward, yet balanced, with the pulp, aroma and flavor typically found in homemade sangria. The Mija Red bottle was just updated for 2017 with a new screen print design to better showcase the product. (9.5% ABV) Mija Sangria was first introduced by Latitude Beverage Company in 2015 as the company's first entry into the ready-to-drink beverage category. It has since become one of the leading premium bottled sangrias on the market, and grew more than 40 percent between 2015 and 2016. "The sangria category continues to see steady growth, and consumers are now looking for premium products that feature more natural ingredients," says Kevin Mehra, CEO of Latitude Beverage Company. "When we looked at the current availability of premium, white wine sangrias, we saw an opportunity to introduce a product that would stand out in terms of quality, taste and convenience. Mija White is made using high quality, natural fruit juice, just the way you'd make it at home." Mija Sangria is sourced, produced and bottled in New York and comes packaged in a recyclable and reusable flip-top bottle, making it easy to reseal for mess-free storage. Mija Red and Mija White are both sold in 750mL bottles with an SRP of $11.99, and are now available at retail locations in more than 40 states. Mija is also available online with direct shipping nationwide. For more information about Mija Sangria, visit www.mijasangria.com, or follow the brand @MijaSangria on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. About Latitude Beverage Company Latitude Beverage Company is the innovative, Boston-based company behind a portfolio of national wine brands, including 90+ Cellars, Mija Sangria, Lila Wines, Iron Side Cellars, and Magic Door Vineyards. The company was founded in 2007 by Kevin Mehra who saw an opportunity to make high-end wine more accessible by purchasing oversupply from top wineries across the globe, bottling the wine under his own labels, and selling it to consumers at a lower price. This unique business model, based on the centuries old function of the negociant, became the foundation for 90+ Cellars. This same model has enabled Latitude Beverage Company to expand its portfolio with five additional labels, and the company is now recognized as one of the fastest growing wine companies in America. For more information, visit ninetypluscellars.com. CONTACT: Andrea Salzman, [email protected] SOURCE Mija Sangria Related Links http://www.mijasangria.com NEW YORK, May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, reminds investors in JBS S.A. ("JBS" or the "Company") (OTC: JBSAY) of the July 21, 2017 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action lawsuit filed against the Company and certain officers. If you invested in JBS American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between June 2, 2015 and May 19, 2017 and would like to discuss your legal rights, click here : www.faruqilaw.com/JBS. There is no cost or obligation to you. You can also contact us by calling Richard Gonnello toll free at 877-247-4292 or at 212-983-9330 or by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. CONTACT: FARUQI & FARUQI, LLP 685 Third Avenue, 26th Floor New York, NY 10017 Attn: Richard Gonnello, Esq. [email protected] Telephone: (877) 247-4292 or (212) 983-9330 The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of all those who purchased JBS ADRs between June 2, 2015 and May 19, 2017 (the "Class Period"). The case, Murphy III v. JBS S.A. et al, No. 17-cv-03084 was filed on May 22, 2017. The lawsuit focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) JBS executives bribed regulators and politicians to subvert food inspections of its plants and overlook unsanitary practices; (2) as a result, the Company's statements about its business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Specifically, on March 17, 2017, Reuters published a report revealing that Brazilian federal police raided JBS, among others, following a two-year investigation into alleged bribery of regulators regarding the inspections of their facilities. The investigation, known as "Operation Weak Flesh," exposed approximately 40 cases of meatpackers who bribed inspectors and politicians to overlook unsanitary procedures. It was reported that Brazilian police arrested two JBS employees, and 20 public officials. On this news, JBS' ADRs fell from a closing price of $7.67 on March 16, 2017 to a closing price of $6.96 on March 17, 2017a $0.71 or a 9.26% drop. Then, on May 12, 2017, Brazilian news outlets reported that Brazilian authorities are investigating whether the company received preferable treatment from state-owned development bank BNDES. After it was alleged that recordings existed of JBS executives bribing current members of the Brazilian legislature, on May 19, 2017, news outlets reported that certain JBS executives are seeking to enter a plea deal with Brazilian securities regulators. During May, JBS' ADRs fell from a closing price of $10.79 on May 12, 2017 to a closing price of $5.98 on May 22, 2017 a $4.81 or a 44.6% drop. The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding JBS's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others. Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner. SOURCE Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Related Links http://www.faruqilaw.com "We are very excited to partner with The Salvation Army again this year. Their mission of assisting the community is very much in line with our core values as a brand," says President, Lawrence Shipley, III. About Shipley Do-Nuts Since 1936, the Shipley family donut recipe has withstood the test of time. With more than 60 varieties of delicious do-nuts, pastries, and kolaches made fresh daily and served hot, it's this same simple concept that has continued to bring back multiple generations of loyal customers. Shipley Do-Nuts originated in Houston, Texas where it still maintains its offices and production facility. Today, Shipley Do-Nuts is under the leadership of Lawrence Shipley, III and is rapidly expanding with 285 locations in Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The company has plans to reach 400 stores by 2022. For more information, please visit www.shipleydonuts.com or follow the company at www.facebook.com/ShipleyDonuts or www.twitter.com/ShipleyDo_Nuts. About The Salvation Army The Salvation Army operates 7,546 centers in communities across the United States. These include food distribution, disaster relief, rehabilitation centers, anti-human trafficking efforts, and a wealth of children's programs. Their work is funded through kettle donations, corporate contributions, and the sale of goods donated to their Salvation Army Family Stores. Eighty-two cents of every dollar they spend supports their various missions across the country. Contact Information: Stacey Michel 713.869.4636 [email protected] SOURCE Shipley Do-Nuts Related Links http://www.shipleydonuts.com The International Trade Administration's National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) today announced the availability of preliminary 2016 regional and country-specific spending data. The were no changes in the rankings of the top-five spenders in the United States, which includes China, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the United Kingdom, respectively. The remaining 5 countries that rounded out the top 10 all changed position in 2016. India, previously ranked seventh, moved up to sixth and pushed Brazil down to seventh in terms of total spending in the United States; South Korea, previously ranked tenth vaulted over both Germany and Australia to claim eighth place in 2016; both Australia and Germany fell one spot in the rankings to ninth and tenth, respectively, in 2016. Seven of the top 10 markets suffered declines in total spending in 2016. China (+15 percent), India (+11 percent), and South Korea (+10 percent) were the only countries that exhibited growth in 2016. Visitors from China spent a record-setting $34.8 billion in the United States last year, an appreciable increase of 15 percent (registering a second consecutive year of 15 percent growth) and nearly 76 percent more than our second largest market a Canada. Spending by visitors from Canada has fallen 13 percent in back-to-back years, increasing the appreciable gap between our top two markets. In fact, Mexico could potentially surpass Canada in 2017, further pushing Canada down in the rankings. Japan's population has been dwindling in recent years and so, too, has the amount visitors from Japan spend in the United States on travel and tourism-related goods and services. The $16.4 billion spent in 2016 is nearly 12 percent off the record set back in 2000 when visitors from Japan spent $18.6 billion experiencing the United States. The United States has enjoyed increased visitor spending from travelers originating out of India in every single year reported except 2009 (year of the global economic slowdown). In fact, during the last decade, travel and tourism exports to India have more than doubled, culminating in a record-setting $13.1 billion in 2016. LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shopoff Realty Investments, a national manager of opportunistic and value-add real estate investments, announced today that it has acquired a 2.8-acre prime infill site in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier, California. The company intends to entitle the property to allow for the development of a 60-unit apartment project. An operational car wash is currently located on the site, which was acquired by a joint venture between Shopoff Realty Investments and Clearwater Communities for $5.5 million. "There is an extremely limited supply of new housing in Greater Los Angeles, which makes this a significant development opportunity," said Shopoff Realty Investments CEO William Shopoff. "Additionally, demand for new housing is high as the vacancy rate in this market has been tremendously low in recent years, averaging fewer than 40 new units annually." The site is located within two blocks of Presbyterian Hospital, which employs more than 2,600 healthcare professionals and support staff, providing further demand for housing. "We're eager to expand our geographic footprint to this municipality and look forward to the prospect it presents," said John Santry, executive vice president of Shopoff Realty Investments' Land Division. "The Whittier area's lack of housing and strong demographics make it an especially attractive value-add opportunity, and a win-win for Shopoff and the local community." The acquisition presents a rare opportunity to acquire a value-add entitlement development in Los Angeles County within the multifamily sector. About Shopoff Realty Investments Shopoff Realty Investments is an Irvine, California-based real estate firm with a 25-year history of value-add and opportunistic investing across the United States. The company primarily focuses on proactively generating appreciation through the repositioning of commercial income-producing properties and the entitlement of land assets. For additional information, please visit http://www.shopoff.com or call (844) 4-SHOPOFF. Disclosures This is not an offering to buy or sell any securities. Such offer may only be made through the offerings memorandum to qualified purchasers. Any investment in Shopoff Realty Investments programs involves substantial risks and is suitable only for investors who have no need for liquidity and who can bear the loss of their entire investment. There is no assurance that any strategy will succeed to meet its investment objectives. Securities offered through Shopoff Securities, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC, 2 Park Plaza, Suite 1120, Irvine, CA 92614, (844) 4-SHOPOFF. Contact: Jill Swartz Spotlight Marketing Communications 949.427.5172, ext. 701 [email protected] SOURCE Shopoff Realty Investments Related Links http://www.shopoff.com TORONTO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OnX Enterprise Solutions, a leading enterprise technology services and solutions provider, today announced a multi-phased engagement to deliver a fully managed Microsoft Office 365 SharePoint digital platform for Simply Green Home Services. Toronto-based Simply Green is a fast-growing home energy product and services company focused on HVAC rentals and lease receivables. The company had several disparate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software systems and needed a centralized, unified platform to provide deep business intelligence into its data and to be able to quickly monetize information as they expand through acquisitions. "We knew from the beginning that we wanted a partner that could provide a fully managed, unified Microsoft Office 365 solution," said George Konstantopoulos, SVP & Head of Operations, Simply Green Home Services. "We realized that this was not a core competency for us, so we walked a few providers through an RFP process and selected OnX for its agility, nimbleness, tenure and, ultimately, a great cultural fit." OnX will deliver a fully managed Microsoft Office 365 hybrid cloud environment that includes a customized SharePoint environment, fully integrated with Great Plains as well as Dynamics CRM. The migration, set up and deployment will be rolled out in three phases. Phase 1 will eliminate multiple manual processes, centralizing them into one integrated cloud environment that is fully managed and secure. Phase 2 will integrate the accounting platform into Great Plains, which provides automated and digitized reporting. Phase 3 will provide deep business intelligence analysis delivered via a sophisticated visual dashboard, including web analytics for lead generation. "Organizations like Simply Green are thought leaders by adopting next-generation digital platforms that not only transform their business, but underlie their strategic growth initiatives," said Tom Signorello, CEO, OnX Enterprise Solutions. "OnX is proud to partner with Simply Green and to apply our expertise and solutions to help the company meet its goals." About OnX Enterprise Solutions OnX Enterprise Solutions is a leading technology services and solutions provider. The company assesses, designs, builds and manages comprehensive technology-enabled solutions with specific expertise in cloud and managed services, digital and application services and infrastructure solutions. For more than 30 years, OnX has helped clients overcome business challenges and achieve exceptional business results through technology. OnX's team of more than 500 IT professionals work at OnX offices throughout North America and in the U.K., with global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and U.S. headquarters in New York, N.Y. For more information about OnX and career opportunities, visit www.OnX.com. SOURCE OnX Enterprise Solutions Related Links http://www.OnX.com "The Suffolk County Police Department's partnership with 7-Eleven's Operation Chill program is a unique way for our officers to engage with the youth in our county," Suffolk County, New York, Police Commissioner Timothy D. Sini stated. "Interacting with our community's children in positive ways is an important element of what our officers do daily. We appreciative 7-Eleven's commitment to providing an additional way for officers to make a positive impact and look forward to our eighth year 'ticketing' young children and teens when caught doing acts of kindness." Big-city departments and small-town forces alike use the Slurpee coupons to enhance relationships with the young people of their cities by rewarding them for good deeds, constructive activities and acts of kindness. Appropriate "offenses" might include helping another person, deterring crime or participating in a community- or police-sponsored event. Although the reasons for being "ticketed" are varied, the end result is the same for every youngster: a free Slurpee drink and a smile for being a good kid. Each coupon can be redeemed for a small Slurpee drink at participating 7-Eleven stores. Begun in Philadelphia to give law enforcement officers a positive reason to interact with children and teens, Operation Chill has expanded to cities across the country. Since the program's inception in 1995, more than 19 million Operation Chill coupons have been distributed to hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the country in areas where 7-Eleven operates stores. "Year after year, Operation Chill is our most popular community service program," said Mark Stinde, vice president of asset protection for 7-Eleven. "Kids love Slurpee drinks, and police officers love having a reason to approach kids and surprise them with a Slurpee coupon as a reward for doing something good. And we, at 7-Eleven, love helping them make those important connections in the community." 7-Eleven's proprietary Slurpee semi-frozen carbonated beverage has generational appeal with slurpers both young and old. More than a half-million Slurpee drinks are purchased each day during the summer at 7-Eleven stores across the country. This summer's flavors include Chrome Cotton Candy and, for Slurpee Lite, sugar-free Watermelon Lime made with all natural flavors. About 7-Eleven, Inc. 7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience-retailing industry. Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 62,000 stores in 17 countries, including 10,900 in North America. Known for its iconic brands such as Slurpee, Big Bite and Big Gulp, 7-Eleven has expanded into high-quality salads, side dishes, cut fruit and protein boxes, as well as pizza, chicken wings, cheeseburgers and hot chicken sandwiches. 7-Eleven offers customers industry-leading private brand products under the 7-Select brand including healthy options, decadent treats and everyday favorites, at an outstanding value. Customers also count on 7-Eleven for payment services, self-service lockers and other convenient services. Find out more online at www.7-Eleven.com, via the 7Rewards customer loyalty platform on the 7-Eleven mobile app, or on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For the full 7-Eleven, Inc. Operation Chill 2017 participation list, please contact [email protected]. SOURCE 7-Eleven, Inc. Related Links http://www.7-Eleven.com "While the immense popularity of Smucker's Uncrustables has led to record sales, we continually review our products and ingredients to make sure they meet the evolving preferences of our consumers," said Maribeth Burns, vice president corporate communications at The J.M. Smucker Company. "As more and more families enjoy Smucker's Uncrustables sandwiches as a snack or a meal, it is important we maintain the superior quality and ingredients consumers have come to expect and the taste they have come to love." This announcement comes on the heels of plans to build an additional Smucker's Uncrustables manufacturing facility in Longmont, Colorado. The new facility will help meet growing demand for Smucker's Uncrustables, which has grown from approximately $10 million in annual sales in 2000 to a $200 million business today. The new Longmont facility will complement the company's Smucker's Uncrustables sandwiches manufacturing facility in Scottsville, Kentucky, which will continue to produce up to two million sandwiches per day. The reformulated Smucker's Uncrustables sandwiches will begin to appear in frozen aisles of retailers nationwide this summer. They can be easily identified by new product packaging that features no high fructose corn syrup, while continuing to show important features like protein content, flavor variety, and sandwich count. Smucker's Uncrustables sandwiches are delicious pre-made frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that consumers simply thaw and serve. With a variety of sweet and fruit spreads and whole wheat and reduced-sugar options, these handheld sandwiches make perfect on-the-go snacks or meals. Smucker's Uncrustables sandwiches come in a variety of flavors including peanut butter and grape jelly, peanut butter and strawberry jam, peanut butter and honey spread, and chocolate flavored hazelnut spread. To learn more about Smucker's Uncrustables and where to find them, please visit http://www.smuckersuncrustables.com/, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. About The J.M. Smucker Company For 120 years, The J.M. Smucker Company has been committed to offering consumers quality products that bring families together to share memorable meals and moments. Today, Smucker is a leading marketer and manufacturer of consumer food and beverage products and pet food and pet snacks in North America. In consumer foods and beverages, its brands include Smucker's, Folgers, Jif, Dunkin' Donuts, Crisco, Pillsbury, R.W. Knudsen Family, Hungry Jack, Cafe Bustelo, Martha White, truRoots, Sahale Snacks, Robin Hood, and Bick's. In pet food and pet snacks, its brands include Meow Mix, Milk-Bone, Kibbles 'n Bits, Natural Balance, and 9Lives. The Company remains rooted in the Basic Beliefs of Quality, People, Ethics, Growth, and Independence established by its founder and namesake more than a century ago. For more information about the Company, visit jmsmucker.com. The J.M. Smucker Company is the owner of all trademarks referenced herein, except for the following, which are used under license: Pillsbury is a trademark of The Pillsbury Company, LLC and Dunkin' Donuts is a registered trademark of DD IP Holder LLC. Dunkin' Donuts brand is licensed to The J.M. Smucker Company for packaged coffee products sold in retail channels such as grocery stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, and drug stores. This information does not pertain to Dunkin' Donuts coffee or other products for sale in Dunkin' Donuts restaurants. SOURCE The J.M. Smucker Company Related Links http://www.jmsmucker.com BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Southern Research announced today that Lillie Ryans has joined the Birmingham-based organization as director of contracts, following an extensive nationwide search to fill this key position. Ryans comes to Southern Research after nine years as contracts director at SRI International, a Menlo Park, California, non-profit research center that like Southern Research focuses on serving government and industry clients. A deeply experienced contracts professional, Ryans has worked in the field for more than 30 years. "Complementing our strong science and engineering are great administrative functions. Critical among these are contracts, which define how we work with our government and commercial clients," said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO of Southern Research. "Lillie has the experience and talent to help us continue and improve our strong contract processes in a way that drives additional growth," Tipton added. "We're thrilled to have her on board." At Southern Research, Ryans takes charge of a contracts team with a dozen staff members working in close coordination with the organization's Drug Discovery, Drug Development, Engineering, and Energy & Environment divisions. The team negotiates and manages contracts with government organizations such as NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense, as well as commercial enterprises including large pharmaceutical and aerospace companies. "In this highly visible role, Lillie's leadership style will strengthen the collaboration among the contracts team and across all of our divisions, now and into the future," said Michael Catalano, a Southern Research vice president and general counsel. "In addition to the day to day management of responsibilities, Lillie will identify opportunities for process improvement, lead training and development initiatives for the contracts team, and help to integrate certain functions of the intellectual property department into the contracts team." "I appreciate the kind of work being done at Southern Research and the impact it has on the lives of people," Ryans said. "Activities like cancer research and Alzheimer's research resonate with everybody. I look forward to being part of an organization that has a powerful vision and mission." At SRI International, Ryans was responsible for providing pre-award management for research contracts generating revenue exceeding $500 million. Prior to that, she served as director of Engineering Research Administration at Stanford University and as deputy director of the Office of Sponsored Research, where she provided pre- and post-award management. She holds a master's degree in procurement and contract management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. About Southern Research Founded in 1941, Southern Research (SR) is an independent, nonprofit, scientific and engineering research organization that supports clients and partners in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, defense, aerospace, environmental, and energy industries. SR's staff of nearly 500 works across four divisions: Drug Discovery, Drug Development, Engineering, and Energy & Environment. We pursue entrepreneurial and collaborative initiatives to develop and maintain a pipeline of intellectual property and innovative technologies that positively impact real-world problems. Learn more at www.SouthernResearch.org. Media Contact: Rossi Carlson Advanced Marketing Specialist [email protected] Phone: 205-581-2266 This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com. SOURCE Southern Research Related Links http://www.southernresearch.org SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rick Coburn, president of the California Association of Health Underwriters (CAHU) issued the following statement today regarding California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU)'s new research study on SB 562 (Lara/Atkins): "The California State Senate estimates a universal single payer government-run health care system as outlined in SB 562 will cost $400 billion annually and will dismantle a system that provides coverage for 94 percent of Californians leading to rationing and barriers to access. Yet the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) continues to argue that The Healthy California legislation benefits all Californians. A universal single payer government-run health care system is not the desired approach nor supported by the vast majority of California residents. An April poll commissioned by CAHU found a supermajority of California voters (66 percent) opposes establishing a universal health care system when they know the actual cost. The California Association of Health Underwriters (CAHU) is concerned about the following: Senate Bill 562 proponents assume federal funding will cover 70 percent of the annual $400 billion cost estimate. California has no authority over federal programs and cannot assume the federal government will grant the necessary waivers. (Source: https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/State-Innovation-Waivers/Section_1332_State_Innovation_Waivers-.html) cost estimate. has no authority over federal programs and cannot assume the federal government will grant the necessary waivers. (Source: https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/State-Innovation-Waivers/Section_1332_State_Innovation_Waivers-.html) There is great disparity in tax burdens proposed by SB 562 proponents. California businesses will pay seven and a half times more ( $106 billion ) than those paying sales taxes ( $14 billion ) according to the CNA-purchased economic analysis. This will lead to far more Californians being unemployed, less tax revenue into state coffers, and more pressure on an already broken unemployment trust fund, that is also 100 percent supported by employer taxes. This proposal is one more cost pressure on California businesses and their ability to hire or expand. businesses will pay seven and a half times more ( ) than those paying sales taxes ( ) according to the CNA-purchased economic analysis. This will lead to far more Californians being unemployed, less tax revenue into state coffers, and more pressure on an already broken unemployment trust fund, that is also 100 percent supported by employer taxes. This proposal is one more cost pressure on businesses and their ability to hire or expand. By abolishing health care options delivered by private insurance companies, the single payer universal health care law would make nearly 18 percent of California's workforce unemployed. The law would abolish all private health insurance in California , including Medicare, replacing it with a government-run monopoly on all health care services. workforce unemployed. The law would abolish all private health insurance in , including Medicare, replacing it with a government-run monopoly on all health care services. Nowhere in the bill's language does it refer to lowering the cost of health care delivery. The existing public/private system already provides access to coverage and health care services for all. (Source: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). It is not possible for a health system to go from one where there is a doctor copay and a deductible plan to a plan with neither of them and with more covered benefits and not cost more. SB 562's Healthy California Director and Board is an unelected bureaucracy with limited accountability to the Legislature or public. There is no mechanism in place to remove an appointee. The appointees are political and selected by the Governor, the Senate leader and the Assembly Speaker. (See 100610 (a) & 100612 (a)). The nurses want a seat at the table and to be part of this "single point of political power." (https://medium.com/@DavidGCrane/the-real-reason-behind-the-ca-single-payer-proposal-60adb14eb555) Government-run health care systems struggle to provide timely care and the latest technology because health care funds must compete with other claims on government funds, such as education, welfare, water and transportation infrastructure. Citizens in countries with single-payer models often wait months to see a doctor or specialist or to receive much-needed medical treatment. These other country's plans also permit private insurance and do not cover many benefits such as prescriptions, vision, dental, long-term care. (Source: The Senate Appropriations analysis 5/22/2017 notes at least 3 issues that will have to go to voters to overturn (Gann limit and Prop 98 and Prop 30 of 2012)) Single payer comes with an initial price tag of at least $400 billion per year, passed onto California businesses and citizens. This is not only a profound job killer it places an immense new tax burden on hardworking individuals and families. With Covered California, the state can create a system that expands coverage to all Californians in a market-based approach. That is what California citizens want from their elected officials, not a government-run, government-dispensed health care system. We look forward to working with lawmakers on solutions that provide high quality, comprehensive and affordable health care for all Californians." About California Association of Health Underwriters (CAHU) CAHU works closely with legislators and government agencies at both the state and federal level by educating our government leaders about the healthcare delivery system and the vital role of a professional agent as a consumer resource and advocate. We have been instrumental in protecting California consumers through a very dynamic grassroots network that includes organized events and lobbying, as well as in-district activities with our elected legislators. We also work diligently with Covered California to ensure the best possible outcomes for Californians, and their leadership frequently cites our input and impact. For more information go to www.cahu.org. SOURCE California Association of Health Underwriters (CAHU) Related Links http://www.cahu.org NEW YORK, May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by StopTheScalpings: Today, conservatives stand together with #StoptheScalpings to push back against the attempt to silence those who dare to ask tough questions and pursue the truth. Sean Hannity, of Fox News, took it upon himself to delve deeper into a story, one that left many unanswered questions requiring further investigation. #StopTheScalpings is part of the Media Equality Project, a new organization launched by Brian Maloney and Melanie Morgan, two longtime talk show hosts, political and media analysts. The DNC, mainstream media, George Soros, and Media Matters for America, deemed Sean Hannity's pursuit of the facts too close for comfort. In an effort to protect their ilk, and the secrets they keep, they have created a false narrative. They have defamed Hannity's character, his work and political positions. Media Matters has now targeted Sean Hannity's advertisers all in a back door effort to remove financial support for the show. They do this to silence his voice, because it does not speak in unison with their own. For months there has been a widespread media narrative advancing a conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign and the Russians colluded to release the DNC emails to Wikileaks, to hurt Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. To date, Former CIA Director John Brennan, Former FBI Director James Comey, Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Joe Manchin, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, to name a few, have all admitted that there is no evidence to this effect. In spite of this, the liberal media has spent thousands of hours in print and TV coverage to keep this lie alive. Hannity is the only the person in America, that we know of, that has actually interviewed the one person who knows the absolute truth as to the origin of the DNC emails. All Hannity has been doing is asking questions, if there is no Russia-Trump collusion, then is there another source? Asking the question is the responsibility of any good journalist, reporter or news personality. And for just asking questions, based on interviews with the head of Wikileaks (who has never been proven wrong in eleven years) and not going along with the monolithic left-wing Russia-Trump collusion, there is now an attempt to silence Hannity. Hillary Clinton is one of the founders of Media Matters, and George Soros is a main benefactor, this is a group that has targeted numerous conservative voices for the sake of their being conservative. While not one liberal has stood up in defense of liberty and freedom for Hannity, there are numerous liberal hosts who have faced criticism for their point of view, that he has supported in the past. To counteract these fascistic tactics, #StoptheScalpings has decided to fight fire with fire. As long as Media Matters continues to attack conservatives, we will return them the same kindness. We begin with Rachel Maddow who has been the biggest purveyor of lies and propaganda in the media today. Like Media Matters, we will now inform the public and the advertisers about who they are financing. While we prefer not to be involved in this type of effort, we need to be on equal footing. We will continue to announce the advertisers that finance these efforts and support these hosts who allow lies and conspiracy theories to permeate the airwaves. If Media Matters ceases these type of assaults, we will do the same. Until then, we will list every advertiser that supports hosts like Rachel Maddow, an outright liar, and someone who deceives the public and defames conservatives on a daily basis. The question to these advertisers is: do they know what their dollars' support? Conservatives everywhere are joining #StoptheScalpings, unveiling the advertisers who sponsor the shows, hosts and networks that support the suppression of the First Amendment. Calls, protests, and subscription revocations will continue to occur in rapid response to this miscarriage of justice. The American people will not stand for any company or organization that believes in silencing the voices that do not agree with their own. Here are the advertisers that support Rachel Maddow's hateful, biased and untruthful reporting. You will find their names, emails and phone numbers below. We ask you to call them, email them, cancel your subscriptions, unless they pull their support for Rachel Maddow's programming. Maddow Show advertiser list is found at this link: https://mediaequalizer.com/brian-maloney/2017/05/rachel-maddow-show-advertisers-and-contact-information Call them now. Ask them why they are affiliated with outfits that do not uphold the Constitution. Ask them if they believe in freedom of speech, and if they are aware that they are connected with organizations and hosts like Rachel Maddow who are vehemently opposed. It is time to fight back for freedom, it is time to fight fire with fire. SOURCE StopTheScalpings ATLANTA, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Strive Consulting, a national business and technology consulting firm, has been named one of this year's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in Atlanta. This recognition is awarded by the National Association of Business to organizations that demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their human resource practices and their employee enrichment programs. To be considered for this award, companies are assessed across a variety of dimensions including communication, work-life balance, diversity, recognition and retention. Strive Consulting "I speak on behalf of all of Strive when I say that we are deeply thrilled and honored to receive this award," said Knox McMurry, Executive Director of Strive Consulting in Atlanta. "This award is reflective of our true, unwavering dedication to quality and excellence in the Human Resource space, and demonstrates a continued, steadfast commitment by leadership to making Strive a fantastic place to work." Strive Consulting has been chosen in multiple markets as being one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. Strive Chicago has been recognized since 2015, Strive Dallas in 2017 and Strive Consulting as a whole was named one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation in 2016. The consulting firm will continue to set these high organizational standards for all its markets in the years to come. To be a part of Strive Consulting's rising success, please visit www.striveconsulting.com. About Strive Consulting, LLC Strive Consulting, LLC is a national business and technology consulting firm that delivers solutions by sharing specialized expertise and knowledge to ensure clients attain goals and solve problems. Strive is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with additional office locations in Dallas, Atlanta, and Columbus. Serving a wide range of industries throughout the U.S., Strive provides strategic advisory, project delivery, and specialized consulting talent services across their Management Consulting, Technology Enablement, and Data & Analytics practices. Media Contact Taylor Smith - [email protected], 312.897.1063 Related Images image1.png image2.jpg Related Links Website SOURCE Strive Consulting Related Links http://www.striveconsulting.com (In US Dollars unless otherwise stated) TORONTO, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Superior Gold Inc. ("Superior Gold" or the "Company") (TSX.V:SGI) is pleased to announce the commencement of drilling at the Timor Extension target, at the Company's 100% owned Plutonic Gold Mine, located in the Archean Plutonic Marymia Greenstone Belt 800 kilometres north east of Perth, in Western Australia. The Timor orebody has been previously exploited and is now exhausted. It produced more than 800,000 ounces of gold over an eight-year period at an average grade of 7.5 g Au/t (which is greater than the current underground reserve grade of 4.6 g Au/t). Mineralization occurred over a vertical extent of 400 metres, with an average stope width of approximately 20 metres. Historically, it was the most significant economic zone of the Plutonic Gold Mine. The orebody is associated with intense deformation within the Timor fold structure, which is currently cut off to the north by the ENE-trending 114N Fault Zone. Four historical drill holes to the north of the Fault confirmed the presence of a mafic unit with primary geochemical composition comparable to that of the Plutonic host sequence. Reinterpretation of an earlier gravity and 2D seismic survey has suggested there is possibly a significant offset to the west when crossing to the north side of the 114N Fault Zone. All available data has now been combined to produce a 3D geological model outlining a target to the northwest of the Timor orebody, which has the potential to host the continuation of the Timor orebody on the north side of the Fault Zone. It is therefore a high priority exploration target for Superior Gold. The mafic units to the north of the Fault Zone are overlain by granite which has been thrust over it. The current exploration program will be aimed at a "proof of concept" to investigate if the folded mafic unit hosting the Timor orebody exists in the target area. If successful, more detailed follow up drilling will be conducted. Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the location of the Timor orebody in addition to the location of the target area in both plan and sectional view. Two drill holes will be completed initially, each totalling 1,125 metres in depth. The first 200 metres of each hole will be conducted using reverse circulation drilling, which is the most time and cost effective method. The holes will then be completed by diamond drilling. The Company has a planned budget of approximately $0.5 million and expects to commence drilling in early June with completion by mid-July. Chris Bradbrook, President and CEO of Superior Gold stated: "We are very pleased to be able to commence exploration for the potential extension of the Timor orebody. Identifying the location of such a potential extension north of the 114N Fault Zone, has long been a priority of previous operators of the Plutonic Gold Mine. Superior Gold is fortunate to be able to benefit from the enhanced interpretation of previously completed geophysical surveys. Exploration of this target is consistent with the Company's goal of creating shareholder value as cost effectively as possible. Should we be able to identify a continuation of the Timor mineralization it would be a transformational event for our shareholders. We also continue to compile data from 26 years of mining and exploration at the Plutonic Gold Mine to identify other high priority targets which we believe exist on the Mines property." Plutonic Gold Mine For the two consecutive quarters since acquiring the Plutonic Gold Mine in October 2016, Superior Gold has produced 43,763 ounces of gold and generated $12.8 million in free cash flow. For further information please see Press Release entitled "Superior Gold Inc. Announces First Quarter 2017 Financial and Operating Results" available on the Company's website at www.superior-gold.com. Development Activities Initial development and pre-stripping operations at the Company's open-pit development project, Hermes, are scheduled to commence in mid-2017. The Hermes deposit is expected to be mined as a conventional open pit contractor-operated excavator-truck mining operation with ore being trucked for processing to the Plutonic Gold Mine mill. Outlook and Strategy In the near term, The Corporation is focused on re-establishing the Plutonic Gold Operations as a stable gold producer capable of producing 100,000 ounces of gold annually. To achieve this goal, the Company intends to focus on its growth strategy which includes: Focusing on quality high-grade ounces Optimizing recoveries Increasing incremental production from underground and open pit sources Resource and reserve additions through property wide exploration Leveraging the excess mill capacity With the proceeds raised on the completion of the initial public offering, and the cash being generated by the Plutonic Gold Mine, the Company has the liquidity available to execute on its near-term growth and exploration strategy. Qualified Person Scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Simon Lawson who is a member of the AusIMM and a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. Lawson is an employee of the Company and serves as the Chief Geologist. About Superior Gold Superior Gold is a Canadian based gold producer that owns 100% of the Plutonic Gold Operations located in Western Australia. The Plutonic Gold Operations include the Plutonic Gold Mine, which is a producing underground operation with a central mill, the Hermes open pit development project and an interest in the Bryah Basin joint venture. Superior Gold is focused on expanding production at the Plutonic Gold Operations and building an intermediate gold producer with superior returns for shareholders. Forward Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws that is intended to be covered by the safe harbours created by those laws. "Forward-looking information" includes statements that use forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "potential" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, and statements regarding exploration results and exploration plans. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made. Furthermore, such forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. See "Risk Factors" in the Company's prospectus dated February 15, 2017 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for a discussion of these risks. The Company cautions that there can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking information contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Superior Gold BOULDER, Colorado, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Surna Inc. (OTCQB: SRNA) ("Surna" or the "Company"), a manufacturer of a proprietary line of optimized lighting, environmental control and air sanitation systems for state-regulated cannabis cultivation facilities as well as traditional indoor agricultural facilities, announced today the appointment of J. Taylor Simonton, age 73, and Chris Bechtel, age 57, as Independent Directors. These appointments fill two vacancies on the Board, including the vacancy created by the recent resignation of Morgan Paxhia. "Morgan was instrumental in helping Surna transition to its public company status and our go-to-market strategy," said Surna CEO Trent Doucet. "Morgan's industry insights and experience were invaluable in our early years, and we're grateful for his many contributions that have helped establish our solid foundation for future growth," added Doucet. "Taylor brings a wealth of valuable experience to Surna, both from his decades of experience in public accounting as well as his participation on a variety of public company boards, and Chris has a deep understanding of the cannabis industry, is experienced in operating and growing both small and large businesses, and can bring strategic value to Surna," said Doucet. "These appointments are an unmistakable confirmation of our plan to create a strong and independent board of directors," added Doucet. The Company also announced the establishment of an Audit Committee. Messrs., Simonton and Bechtel, together with Timothy J. Keating, the Company's Chairman of the Board and an Independent Director, were appointed to serve as members of the Audit Committee. Mr. Simonton was appointed as the Chair of the Audit Committee. Biographical Information on J. Taylor Simonton Mr. Simonton is serving or has served on eight corporate boards of directors, including six other public companies since 2003 where he has served as the Chair of the Audit Committee. His board service has included Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., and currently includes Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. He also has extensive experience in corporate governance and nominating and governance committees. Mr. Simonton served for 10 years until 2015 on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), where he served over time as its Treasurer, President, and Chairman. He is a Board Leadership Fellow, NACD's highest director credential, and was honored as Colorado's 2014 Outstanding Public Company Director by the Denver Business Journal and NACD-Colorado. Simonton spent his entire professional career, including 23 years as an Assurance and National Office SEC Services Partner, at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC (PwC). He has extensive experience with SEC filings, including assistance with over 100 IPOs during his PwC career. His last seven years with PwC were in the SEC Services of the firm's National Professional Services Group, which handles the firm's SEC, corporate governance, accounting and auditing, risk management and quality matters. He is admitted as an expert witness in accounting, auditing, and corporate governance in U.S. District Court, Colorado Division. Mr. Simonton is a 1966 graduate of the University of Tennessee - Knoxville with a B.S. in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in Colorado. Biographical Information on Christopher Bechtel Mr. Bechtel has over 30 years' experience, as an executive, entrepreneur and consultant, managing and advising businesses from start-ups to divisions of large Fortune 500 companies. Since 2015, Mr. Bechtel has been the principal of Bechtel Consulting, LLC, which provides consulting services in mergers and acquisitions, financial and investment analysis, capital markets, turnarounds and special situations. Mr. Bechtel became involved in the cannabis industry about three years ago as a private investor, consultant and advisor. In September 2014, Mr. Bechtel joined the advisory board of Supreme Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Canadian publicly traded company committed to becoming a leading supplier of affordable medical cannabis. In November 2014, Mr. Bechtel was appointed as an Independent Director and the Chairman of Supreme, where he served in such positions until resigning in April 2016. From October 2014 to April 2016, Mr. Bechtel also served as a Director of ebbu, llc, a privately-held, Colorado-based company offering a line of branded cannabis products and a bulk oil extraction service for cannabis producers. In 1983, Mr. Bechtel co-founded Omni Laboratories, Inc., a privately-held company that provides geologic services for oil and gas companies, where he was initially responsible for all business development activities, including a number of business acquisitions. From January 1995 to September 2006, as the owner and President, Mr. Bechtel was responsible for leading the organic growth initiative as well as expanding Omni's service offerings, eventually employing 175 people with 14 laboratory locations in six countries. In September 2006, Mr. Bechtel sold Omni to Weatherford International, Inc. (NYSE: WFT), one of the largest global providers of innovative mechanical solutions, technology and services for the drilling, completion and production sectors of the oil and gas industry. Mr. Bechtel was appointed Group Vice President responsible for managing and growing the former Omni business, which was renamed Weatherford Laboratories, and in 2011, he was promoted to lead the worldwide operations of Weatherford's Surface Logging Systems division. Mr. Bechtel retired from Weatherford in March 2015. Mr. Bechtel is a 1981 graduate of Michigan State University with a B.A. degree in Marketing. About Surna, Inc. Surna Inc. ( www.surna.com ) develops innovative technologies and products that monitor, control and or address the energy and resource intensive nature of indoor cannabis cultivation. Currently, the Company's revenue stream is based on its main product offerings - supplying industrial technology and products to commercial indoor cannabis grow facilities. Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, Surna's diverse engineering team is tasked with creating novel energy and resource efficient solutions, including the company's signature water-cooled climate control platform. The company's engineers continuously seek to create technology that solves the highly specific demands of the cannabis industry for temperature, humidity, light and process control. Surna's goal is to provide intelligent solutions to improve the quality, the control and the overall yield and efficiency of controlled environment agriculture. Though its customers do, the Company neither produces nor sells cannabis. Forward Looking Statements This press release may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. These statements reflect Surna's current beliefs, and a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in this press release, including the factors set forth in "Risk Factors" set forth in Surna's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and subsequent filings with the SEC. Please refer to Surna's SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with its business, including but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties associated with Surna's provision of equipment and services to the cannabis industry. Except as required by the federal securities laws, Surna undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The reference to Surna's website has been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such website is not incorporated by reference into this press release. Media Contact: Surna Marketing Jamie English, Marketing Manager [email protected] +1-303-993-5271 SOURCE Surna, Inc. Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is published Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2017-2021 report. The report for 39 destinations within Asia Pacific reveals powerful economic figures on the fastest-growing tourism region in the world. China and the Russian Federation will be among the key source markets to watch over the next five years. Through 2017 the major international visitor-generating markets will be driven by China in Asia, and the USA and Mexico in the Americas. Greater China comprising China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR is expected to generate more than 261 million international arrivals to the 39 Asia Pacific destinations covered in this report, an annual growth rate of 7.9 percent year-on-year and an incremental increase in absolute volume of over 19 million arrivals. While annual percentage growth from Greater China into Asia will expand by a little under the average (7.8%), the destinations of Asia will capture 95 percent of the volume increase between 2016 and 2017 from these origin markets. The Americas will capture around 3.4 percent of that volume increase and the Pacific the remaining 1.6 percent. Arrivals from Europe and Africa will each grow by 3.5 percent in 2017 year-on-year. While Africa is expected to generate just over three million arrivals in total during 2017, Europe will generate around 67.7 million arrivals to the destinations of Asia Pacific in that year. From within the European origin markets the Russian Federation is expected to deliver the largest volume of additional arrivals into Asia Pacific in 2017, adding over 373,000 additional arrivals between 2016 and 2017 and doubling its collective inbound count to almost five million in that latter year. The United Kingdom and Germany, however, remain the principal generators of arrivals from Europe, delivering 14.9 million and 11.3 million arrivals respectively into Asia Pacific in 2017. France will deliver 7.1 million arrivals in 2017, ahead of the Russian Federation. Australia is by far the largest generator of international arrivals from the Pacific into Asia Pacific destinations in 2017, delivering over 12 million arrivals during the course of the year, close to 620,000 more than in 2016. By 2021 it will still be Greater China that generates the largest number international arrivals into Asia Pacific destinations, with mainland China and Hong Kong SAR specifically generating 164.6 million and 131.6 million arrivals into Asia Pacific destinations respectively in that year. They will be followed by the USA and the Republic of Korea which are expected to generate 47.9 million and 29.7 million arrivals respectively. Canada will rank fifth as an origin market, generating 25.4 million arrivals in 2021. The strongest growth in additional arrivals between 2016 and 2021 will come from in order of volume increase China, Hong Kong SAR, Korea (ROK) the USA and the Russian Federation. Together these five origin markets will deliver 383 million international arrivals into Asia Pacific destinations in 2021, an increase of more than 112 million over the volume delivered in 2016. Arrivals from the Americas are expected to expand with an Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of 2.3 percent per annum, between 2016 and 2021, while Europe will grow by 3.1 percent per annum. While these rates are lower than the overall AAGR of five percent, they never the less contribute to a substantial volume of arrivals into Asia Pacific, generating over 116 million and 76 million arrivals respectively in 2021. These lower than average AAGRs however mean that, in relative terms, the share of foreign arrivals from the Americas and Europe will decline from 17.5 percent to 15.0 percent in the case of the Americas and from 11 percent to 10.2 percent in the case of Europe. Asia dominates in terms of generating international arrivals into Asia Pacific in 2021 and the relative share of arrivals from this region will rise from 64.2 percent in 2016 to 67.9 percent by 2021 on the back of an AAGR of 6.1 percent between 2016 and 2021 and an absolute increase volume of arrivals of almost 133 million over that same period. Receipts growth 2016 to 2017, and 2016 to 2021 Visitor arrivals are one metric but the revenue these foreign arrivals generate is another and for the 24 destinations for which revenue data are available, it appears that total receipts from international tourism will increase from US$692.4 billion in 2016 to US$729.2 billion in 2017 and up to US$806 billion by 2021. While destinations in the Americas held a 42.4 percent share of tourism receipts from among these 24 destinations, that relative performance will drop marginally to 41.7 percent in 2017 and then fall to 39.1 percent by 2021. Asia, on the other hand, can expect an increase from US$372.7 billion to US$398.7 billion between 2016 and 2017, increasing to US$511.9 billion by 2021. This moves the relative share position of Asia in terms of receipts from international tourism from 53.8 percent in 2016 to 54.7 percent in 2017 and 57.7 percent by 2021. COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NetJets aircraft technicians and related employees represented by the Teamsters Airline Division and Teamsters Local 284 are protesting a decision by NetJets to ban workers from wearing union buttons approved by the National Labor Relations Board. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters Airline Division and Local 284 represent aircraft mechanics, maintenance controllers, aircraft fuelers, aircraft cleaners and stock clerks. The Columbus-based business jet operator is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A and BRK.B). NetJets Aviation, Inc. and NetJets Sales, Inc. only employ 111 aircraft mechanics to work on its fleet of approximately 400 aircraft. By comparison, major airlines often employ up to 10 mechanics for every one aircraft. Workers accuse NetJets of trying to drive away qualified mechanics and support workers in favor of subcontracting critical repair work on NetJets aircraft despite customer expectations and threats to workers' job security. The union believes the company banned union buttons in a failed attempt to hide serious labor problems over maintenance issues from customers. "Before the ban, our members wore a standard issue 'WTF Where's The Fairness' union button on their uniforms and work clothes," said Chris Moore, Chairman of the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition. "The National Labor Relations Board ruled that the buttons are protected by federal labor law even when worn in front of customers. While NetJets workers are covered by the Railway Labor Act, judges and arbitrators often look to NLRB decisions in cases such as this one. Rather than banning union buttons, NetJets should reign in massive levels of maintenance subcontracting, and also pay its mechanics and safety professionals a competitive wage before their problems get any worse. " Last week the Teamsters filed a grievance against NetJets, and they are considering further legal action against the company. On May 30, the Teamsters sent a formal request for information to NetJets officials, including a request for copies of all correspondence between NetJets and Berkshire Hathaway relating to the union button ban. The union believes that Berkshire Hathaway Energy Chairman and CEO Greg Abel has oversight responsibilities for NetJets and may have been consulted over the decision. "Buffett has stated that he's not anti-union," said Mark Vandak, President of Teamsters Local 284. "Once again, we're seeing the difference between his words and the actions of NetJets. Wearing a union button at work is a fundamental right of workers in this country. We need to root out the source of the ban to determine whether it's the dirty work of rogue elements at NetJets or if it comes from Berkshire Hathaway. Given NetJets' long history of serious labor problems, it's too early to know where our investigation will lead us." Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.teamster.org. Contact: Kara Deniz, (202) 624-6911 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 284 Related Links http://www.teamster.org AUSTIN, Texas, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Textron Systems Advanced Information Solutions, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) business, announced today that it has been selected as a prime contractor on the United States Army Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) contract. The RS3 contract has an expiration date of May 14, 2022 and an additional five-year operational ordering period. Textron Systems has provided a wide range of support as both a prime and subcontractor on previous multiple award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) services contracts and is proud to be selected as a prime contractor amongst an elite group of contractors on the RS3 contract. The contract, with command based out of Aberdeen Proving Ground, will provide command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) knowledge-based professional services to the U.S. Army and may be extended to other governmental agencies. The multiple award, IDIQ contract primary services offer opportunities in engineering, research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E), logistics, acquisition and strategic planning, education and training services. "Textron System is proud to be selected as a prime contractor for the RS3 IDIQ," says Daryl Madden, Textron Systems Senior Vice President and General Manager of Advanced Information Solutions. "The RS3 contract vehicle provides Textron Systems the opportunity to increase its support of the U.S. Army and other federal agencies." About Textron Systems Textron Systems' businesses develop and integrate products, services and support for aerospace and defense customers, as well as civil and commercial customers including those in law enforcement, security, border patrol and critical infrastructure protection around the globe. Harnessing agility and a broad base of expertise, Textron Systems' innovative businesses design, manufacture, field and support comprehensive solutions that expand customer capabilities and deliver value. Textron Systems consists of its Advanced Information Solutions, Electronic Systems, Geospatial Solutions, Lycoming Engines, Marine & Land Systems, Support Solutions, TRU Simulation + Training, Unmanned Systems and Weapon & Sensor Systems businesses. More information is available at www.textronsystems.com. About Textron Inc. Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Bad Boy Off Road, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information, visit: www.textron.com. Certain statements in this press release may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update them. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Media Contact: Morgan Stritzinger Textron Systems (978) 657-2020 [email protected] SOURCE Textron Systems Related Links http://www.textronsystems.com "After completing the Flying Eye Hospital program successfully in the city of Can Tho one week ago, the Orbis team is pleased to conduct another ophthalmic training program here in Binh Dinh to support our efforts in the region," said Dr. Jonathan Lord, Global Medical Director, Orbis International. "By working with the Binh Dinh Eye Hospital and Binh Dinh General Hospital, we aim to strengthen the skills and knowledge of their ophthalmologists, nurses and anesthesiologists in subspecialty surgical procedures, especially in pediatric ophthalmology and safe anesthesia practices." As home to more than six million people, Binh Dinh province is a transportation hub that connects five provinces in the South-Central Coast and Central Highlands regions of Vietnam. The territory is not only one of the most underserved areas in the country, but the prevalence of blindness is also the highest1. Through the Flying Eye Hospital program, Orbis medical staff and volunteers will enhance the capacity of our local partner hospitals, Binh Dinh Eye Hospital (BDEH) and Binh Dinh General Hospital (BDGH), so that they can deliver pediatric high-quality eye care services for children and adults in the South-Central Coast and Highlands regions of Vietnam. The two-week program will focus on four subspecialties: adult glaucoma, cataract, medical retina and strabismus, with additional training on detecting and managing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). By leveraging the high-profile Flying Eye Hospital, the program aims to raise public awareness on the prevention and early detection of some of the most common causes of childhood blindness in the region. A Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) survey in 2015 estimated that more than 100,000 people are blind in the South-Central Coast and Highlands regions, mainly due to cataract (74 percent). Other studies showed that the childhood blindness rate is high in Binh Dinh and the South-Central Coastal region, where approximately 75,000 children suffer from various eye problems. ROP has recently become another major cause of preventable blindness among babies. Premature infants who weigh less than 1,800 grams and/or are born before 34 weeks of pregnancy are at risk of permanent blindness if they do not receive timely treatment for ROP, which can occur when the retina has not had sufficient time to develop. Sponsored by the Alcon Foundation, the program will provide basic-to-intermediate level hands-on training to enhance the surgical skills and knowledge of doctors at BDEH, and will provide continuing medical education tailored for local nurses, anesthesiologists, biomedical engineers and technicians through lectures, case discussions, observation, symposium and hands-on training. Amongst the volunteers, two are Alcon biomedical engineers who will donate their time and expertise to support the hands-on training for local engineers at BDEH, as well as provide regular maintenance of the Alcon equipment on board the Flying Eye Hospital. "Alcon's partnership of more than three decades with Orbis is grounded in our shared vision of providing access to quality eye care around the world," said Mr. Nguyen Minh Phuc, Chief Representative of Alcon Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Vietnam. Orbis continues to carry out the goals for the region laid out in the five-year project, "Pediatric Eye Care Service at Binh Dinh Hospital", established in 2015. There is now a trained team that focuses on pediatric care, and a referral network has been built in Binh Dinh and neighboring provinces to increase the access of the services for children. About Orbis Orbis is a leading global non-governmental organization that has been a pioneer in the prevention and treatment of blindness for over 30 years. Orbis transforms lives by delivering the skills, resources and knowledge needed to deliver accessible quality eye care. Working in collaboration with local partners including hospitals, universities, government agencies and ministries of health, Orbis provides hands-on ophthalmology training, strengthens healthcare infrastructure and advocates for the prioritization of eye health on public health agendas. Orbis operates the world's only Flying Eye Hospital, a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 aircraft. To learn more, please visit orbis.org. About Alcon Foundation For more than 50 years, Alcon has been partnering with non-profit organizations that make a difference in advancing eye health, knowledge transfer, research and education, as well as enhancing access to quality eye care around the world. The Alcon Foundation awards grants to qualified, U.S.-based tax-exempt public 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that provide high-quality programs, trainings and community services with well-defined goals to enhance sight and enhance the lives of people who otherwise would not have access to proper eye care. For more information, visit www.alcon.com. Alcon is on Facebook. Like us at http://www.facebook.com/AlconEyeCare Media Contacts: Silvana Vivas Communications Manager, Orbis [email protected] 646-674-5507 Celia Yeung Communications Manager, Flying Eye Hospital, Orbis [email protected] 1 Vietnam Ministry of Health, 2015, RAAB Survey SOURCE Orbis Related Links http://orbis.org GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Recondo Technology, the market leader in cloud-based automated revenue cycle management solutions, is pleased to announce The Queen's Health Systems is the latest provider organization to modernize its claim status and remediation processes with Recondo's ClaimStatusPlus. The Queen's Health Systems will integrate ClaimStatusPlus with Epic to utilize rich payer intelligence driving workflows used every day by business office staff. The health system joins hundreds of providers around the country who use ClaimStatusPlus to accelerate the claim cycle and prevent the potential loss of millions of dollars a year in revenue. Lehua Pate, Director, Corporate Revenue Cycle for The Queen's Health Systems had this to say about the solution: "In the current healthcare climate of increasing costs and decreasing government reimbursement, automating processes that improve financial performance is a must. We selected Recondo's ClaimStatusPlus solution to integrate directly to our current Epic workflow and provide staff with the information they need to solve problems, reduce write-offs and accelerate reimbursement." Pate continued, "By automating the process of obtaining detailed status information from payer websites and then integrating that information to drive workflow in Epic, my staff can concentrate on resolving issues rather than spending unnecessary time on the phone trying to obtain claims status from our myriad of payers. We are looking to ClaimStatusPlus to make staff more efficient, decrease response time on denials and requests, and thereby, improve overall financial performance." By adding The Queen's Health Systems to its growing list of ClaimStatusPlus customers, Recondo has surpassed a claim status volume of 2.5 million web-sourced claim status transactions per month, in addition to the over 10 million monthly transactions processed for customers of its Patient Access Suite. The industry leading ClaimStatusPlus serves some of the nation's largest healthcare providers via integrations into systems such as Epic, Meditech, Cerner/Soarian, Ontario Systems/Artiva, Huron Consulting, GE/Centricity, HMS, and many others. "We are excited to welcome The Queen's Health Systems to our family of customers that are truly breaking through a stagnant 'claim status quo' to get paid faster and in full. We look forward to helping the health system experience a significant revenue boost very soon with our professional services-led implementation and integration with Epic," said Jay Deady, CEO of Recondo Technology. Revitalizing the hospital revenue cycle The average hospital processes tens of thousands of claims a month without knowing ahead of time which claims will go through smoothly and which will require further work. This chronic uncertainty is a chief factor driving lengthy A/R days, reduced payments, and outright denials of claims. ClaimStatusPlus brings clarity, accuracy, and speed to claim status and remediation by retrieving answers on claim status directly from the payer's website. These answers are then routed to the appropriate systems and staff, with minimal human intervention required except for the small percentage of claims that require further attention. Here staff is aided with Recondo intelligence that provides the critical insight into the actual reason a claim has been denied or deemed incomplete. The result: problem claims are prioritized for focused attention and claims that will adjudicate without intervention are removed from the workflow to avoid unnecessary work. ClaimStatusPlus automates the process of retrieving claim status intelligence from hundreds of payers, including Medicare, Medicare Advantage Plans, Medicaid and Managed Plans, and commercial payers of all size and type well in advance of adjudicated remits. The solution is powered by Recondo's patented Reconbot web bot technology plus robust rules-based engines that leverage machine learning to query payer websites for critical revenue cycle information. For more information about automated claim status and reconciliation technology, read Recondo's free guide "Get Healthcare Revenue Moving Again: How Automated Payer Follow-Up Jumpstarts a Stagnant Claim Cycle." Clients, prospective clients, members of the media, and others attending the upcoming ANI conference in Orlando are invited to meet Recondo Technology at Booth #1017. About The Queen's Health Systems The Queen's Medical Center is the first hospital in the United States founded by royalty. It was established in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to address the health care needs of the people of Hawaii during a time when epidemics were sweeping the islands. Queen Emma and King Kamehameha went door-to-door to personally raise money to build the hospital, which was named The Queen's Hospital. Through this effort, the couple was able to open a temporary structure in 1859, and a year later, opened a two-story facility, which was built on the present site. Today, The Queen's Health Systems is a nonprofit family of hospitals and health-related entities. Established in 1985, the system provides expanded health care services and programs to the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Basin. From health care firsts that we were privileged to lead, to the innovative services we provide, to the significant local and national partnerships we helped forge, caring for Hawaii is at the heart of what we do. It's both our legacy and our future. About Recondo Technology Recondo's cloud-based solutions deliver industry leading automated, accurate, and actionable financial clarity to all participants within the healthcare revenue cycle. Recondo empowers more than 900 hospitals with solutions that connect providers, payers, and patients to ensure proper payments across the care continuum. The company's patented software and expertise streamline operations and allow providers to be paid more, faster, and at a cheaper cost. Recondo brings efficiencies and cost savings to patient access through to payment processing a continuum today where inaccuracy and inefficiencies currently cost U.S. healthcare a staggering $480 billion per year. Learn more at www.recondotech.com. Media contact: Stephanie Janard Amendola Communications for Recondo [email protected]. 916.346.4213 SOURCE Recondo Technology Related Links http://www.recondotech.com CALGARY, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - TransAlta Corporation ("TransAlta" or the "Company") (TSX: TA; NYSE: TAC) announced today that it does not intend to exercise its right to redeem all or any part of the currently outstanding Cumulative Redeemable Rate Reset First Preferred Shares, Series C ("Series C Shares") (TSX: TA.PR.F) on June 30, 2017 (the "Conversion Date"). As a result and subject to certain conditions set out in the prospectus supplement dated November 23, 2011 relating to the issuance of the Series C Shares, the holders of the Series C Shares will have the right to elect to convert all or any of their Series C Shares into Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series D of the Company ("Series D Shares") on the basis of one Series D Share for each Series C Share on the Conversion Date. With respect to any Series C Shares that remain outstanding after June 30, 2017, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly fixed cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of TransAlta. The annual dividend rate for the Series C Shares for the five-year period from and including June 30, 2017 to but excluding June 30, 2022, will be 4.027%, being equal to the five-year Government of Canada bond yield of 0.927% determined as of today plus 3.10%, in accordance with the terms of the Series C Shares. With respect to any Series D Shares that may be issued on June 30, 2017, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of TransAlta. The annual dividend rate for the 3-month floating rate period from and including June 30, 2017 to but excluding September 30, 2017 will be 3.629%, being equal to the annual rate for the most recent auction of 90-day Government of Canada Treasury Bills of 0.529% plus 3.10%, in accordance with the terms of the Series D Shares (the "Floating Quarterly Dividend Rate"). The Floating Quarterly Dividend Rate will be reset every quarter. As provided in the share conditions of the Series C Shares: (i) if TransAlta determines that there would remain outstanding on June 30, 2017, less than 1,000,000 Series C Shares, all remaining Series C Shares shall be converted automatically into Series D Shares on a one-for one basis effective June 30, 2017; or (ii) if TransAlta determines that there would remain outstanding after June 30, 2017, less than 1,000,000 Series D Shares, Series C Shares shall not be entitled to convert their shares into Series D Shares effective June 30, 2017. There are currently 11,000,000 Series C Shares outstanding. The Series C Shares are issued in "book entry only" form and must be purchased or transferred through a participant in the CDS depository service ("CDS Participant"). All rights of holders of Series C Shares must be exercised through CDS or the CDS Participant through which the Series C Shares are held. The deadline for the registered shareholder to provide notice of exercise of the right to convert Series C Shares into Series D Shares is 3:00 p.m. (MST) / 5:00 p.m. (EST) on June 15, 2017. Any notices received after this deadline will not be valid. As such, holders of Series C Shares who wish to exercise their right to convert their shares should contact their broker or other intermediary for more information and it is recommended that this be done well in advance of the deadline in order to provide the broker or other intermediary with time to complete the necessary steps. If TransAlta does not receive an election notice from a holder of Series C Shares during the time fixed therefor, then the Series C Shares shall be deemed not to have been converted (except in the case of an automatic conversion). Holders of the Series C Shares and the Series D Shares will have the opportunity to convert their shares again on June 30, 2022, and every five years thereafter as long as the shares remain outstanding. The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has conditionally approved the listing of the Series D Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series D Shares is subject to TransAlta fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX. About TransAlta Corporation TransAlta is a power generation and wholesale marketing company focused on creating long-term shareholder value. TransAlta maintains a low-to-moderate risk profile by operating a highly contracted portfolio of assets in Canada, the United States and Australia. TransAlta's focus is to efficiently operate wind, hydro, solar, natural gas and coal facilities in order to provide customers with a reliable, low-cost source of power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud contributor to the communities in which it works and lives. TransAlta has been recognized on CDP's Canadian Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), which includes Canada's top 20 leading companies reporting on climate change, and has been selected by Corporate Knights as one of Canada's Top 50 Best Corporate Citizens and is recognized globally for its leadership on sustainability and corporate responsibility standards by FTSE4Good. For more information about TransAlta, visit our web site at transalta.com, or follow us on Twitter @TransAlta. Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain information that is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties (such statements are usually accompanied by words such as "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "intend" or other similar words). Specifically, this news release contains forward-looking information with respect to the Company, the Series C Shares and the Series D Shares, including but not limited to future conversions, redemptions and dividends. All forward-looking information reflect the Company's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made and as such are not guarantees of future performance. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this press release. TransAlta undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information except as required by law. For additional information on the assumptions made, and the risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking information, refer to the Company's Annual Report and Management's Discussion and Analysis filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. SOURCE TransAlta Corporation Related Links http://www.transalta.com Proceeds to speed development of the company's Etherparty platform VANCOUVER, May 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The Vanbex Group is pleased to announce the closing of its seed round of financing for the development of blockchain-based products, including Etherparty, the company's easy-to-use smart contract creator. Vanbex raised C$500,000 (US$365,474), in line with the company's target for its initial seed round. "We're delighted with the level of support from investors," said Kevin Hobbs, Vanbex Group's chief executive officer. "We're also very fortunate to have such high level advisors and new hires joining Vanbex to help drive us forward toward the next stage in our growth." Proceeds will accelerate development of Etherparty, a platform that will allow users with zero knowledge of smart contract programming to create an enforceable, self-executing digital agreement for all types of transactions. Etherparty is designed to make executing an Ethereum smart contract simple and easy for everyone. Boris Mann and Adrian Jonklaas, co-founders of Vancouver-based Frontier Foundry Corp., are among Vanbex's backers. "We're excited to see Vanbex take this investment and move forward with their professional blockchain consulting services as well as grow their in-house products," said Mann. "Both Adrian and I are looking forward to supporting more of the blockchain community here in Vancouver." Since 2013, venture capitalists have globally invested at least US$1.4 billion in blockchain projects, according to a World Economic Forum August 2016 discussion paper. Blockchain, also known as distributed ledger technology, is the backbone of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Vanbex is also pleased to announce the appointments of Derek Spratt, a 34-year veteran of the telecommunications sector, as executive chairman, Steven Lee, a former finance and operations director at Slack Technologies, as chief financial officer, and Brian Onn as senior blockchain developer. About Vanbex Group Vanbex Group is a professional services and strategic consulting firm that specializes in all aspects of the blockchain industry. Established in 2013 to better tell the story of digital currency and blockchain-based companies, Vanbex has since evolved into a blockchain-based products and advisory services firm. Visit vanbex.com. SOURCE Vanbex LEHI, Utah, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vasayo (vasayo.com) today announced its partnership with Hearts and Hands for Humanity, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing clean water to communities in Africa using an innovative new tool: the Center Earth Drill. "Our mutual goal is to establish 1,000 wells providing clean water to 1 million people," said Dallin A. Larsen, Vasayo Founder. "Once we achieve this milestone, we will set another and continue providing this precious, life-giving resource to those who struggle each day without it." A safe water supply and adequate sanitation to protect health are among the basic human rights. According to the World Health Organization, 3.4 million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases. Most of these illnesses and deaths can be prevented through simple, inexpensive measures. "We're not simply thinking about or planning to provide clean water; we already have a proven system that is ready to scale," said Verlyn Harris, Cofounder of Hearts and Hands for Humanity. "In the past four years, we've been able to establish 200 water wells that provide clean water to 200,000 people. With Vasayo as our partner, we hope to rapidly accelerate our progress and make a significant positive impact on this epidemic." 100 percent of donations from Vasayo go toward providing clean water. "We believe our lives will be defined by how we made them meaningful, and I have every confidence that our partnership with Hearts and Hands for Humanity is meaningful, to say the least, and will bless many lives for generations to come," said Larsen. About Vasayo Founded January 2017, Lehi, Utahbased Vasayo formulates and distributes nutrition and wellness products featuring Advanced (liposome) Delivery Technology through its independent Brand Partners. The company's brand centers on its motto of Delivering Solutions, and strives to innovate in each of its 5 Pillarsleadership, product/science, timing, rewards, and philanthropy. Visit vasayo.com for more information. Media Contact: Brian Gill Email: [email protected] SOURCE Vasayo Related Links http://www.vasayo.com GETTYSBURG, Pa., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stronghold Cyber Security, a self-funded startup created by a husband-and-wife team, has just established itself in the apple orchards of Adams County, only miles from the historic battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The company, created to help tackle the growing cyber security threats to small and mid-sized businesses, offers a variety of managed security and consulting services, in addition to cyber risk management, compliance, and penetration testing. Jason McNew, founder and CEO, is a United States Air Force veteran with over 20 years of experience in the field of Information Technology, including 12 years at the White House Communications Agency and Camp David. "American businesses are under direct attack by very dangerous cyber criminals who deliberately operate in areas where American law enforcement cannot touch them. I formed Stronghold Cyber Security to help small and mid-sized businesses tackle this very difficult problem head on." Jason's wife and partner, Genevieve, is the company's webmaster and in charge of marketing and sales. Stronghold Cyber Security provides businesses with not only the tools they need to mitigate risk and proactively protect themselves from cyber attacks and data breaches, but also implements a "culture of safety" for companies to adopt as a policy. Jason McNew says, "Every business all of them, today have a culture of safety. You see safety signs in the halls and in the break room. Just adding technical controls such as firewalls and antivirus is not enough to keep businesses secure. Stronghold Cyber Security aims to help small and mid-sized businesses also create a culture of security, like one would find at the Pentagon or Lockheed Martin." To learn more about Stronghold Cyber Security or request an interview, contact Jason McNew directly at 717-778-1474, email [email protected], or visit the website at www.strongholdcybersecurity.com. Related Links Stronghold Cyber Security SOURCE Stronghold Cyber Security Related Links http://www.strongholdcybersecurity.com "Research on college is a search for a career path," said Jose Mallabo, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vireo Labs. "In our years in higher education we have seen students are essentially trying to answer the question 'What do I want to be when I grow up?' when looking at college options. And, they're doing it increasingly on mobile devices not desktops." C'reer is available now for free in the App Store for iOS devices or in Google Play for Android devices. Vireo Labs pointed to the following trends as drivers for C'reer: 80 percent of teens use a mobile device to visit a college (source: Chegg), but only half of all colleges in the United States have a mobile responsive website (source: Noel Levitz ) have a mobile responsive website (source: ) 86 percent of mobile usage is app based (source: Flurry Analytics) 18.6 million undergraduate students are expected to attend college in fall 2017 up from 13.1 million in 2000 (source: National Center for Education Statistics); and 4-year private colleges spend a median $2,433 to recruit a single student (source: Noel Levitz ) "C'reer is free and will always be free to students, families and high schools," Mallabo added. "The U.S. is on track to fall 23 million college degrees short of meeting the demands of the job market so providing access to research tools like this to anyone is the only way to make a dent in that massive gap. Researching careers and a college education should be a function of interest, not money to pay for expensive subscriptions." Vireo Labs has established scholarships with UrbanSTEM Academy and iFoster, non-profit organizations dedicated to providing STEM education and services to students in inner cities and foster youth, respectively. The company also recruited the 2016 School Counselor of the Year Katherine Pastor to its board of advisors. C'reer key features include: Unique and dynamic vocational assessment created and tested by the top research scientists in the field ensures the same accuracy as 400-item assessments at no cost. Career matchmaking algorithm that pairs vocational profiles with multiple career options from a database of more than 60,000 job titles. College program recommendations engine that identifies the best program matches for the user based on performance in placing alumni in a selected career field. C'reer pulls from every type of college two-year, community college, four-year, private, public and vocational technology. Real-time chat with an admissions representative at a college program C'reer has matched to one of the student's career interests. C'reer users simply click the chat button to notify a college they would like to have a dialogue. C'reer has already seen more than 2,200 downloads from users in 20 states. More than half of C'reer users have returned social, investigative or artistic as their primary personality types; and Students have requested to chat with a wide range of schools nationwide, including MIT , Georgia Tech , University of California, Berkeley , Fresno Pacific University , Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College , Arcadia University , Boston College , Texas Christian University , Johnston Community College , Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , and Yale , to name a few. C'reer on Indiegogo A future version of C'reer will include an experience built to help the 500,000 foster children in the U.S. find their way to a career path, apprenticeship or college program. The company has launched a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo to raise capital to help with development costs. Visit the C'reer campaign at https://igg.me/at/creer-foster-youth. About Vireo Labs Vireo Labs is a career focused education technology company based in Beaufort, South Carolina. The founding team is leveraging its higher education and ecommerce experience from eBay and Amazon into the development of its first mobile product, C'reer. For more information about the company visit www.vireolabs.co or sign up for product updates at www.creer.us. SOURCE Vireo Labs Related Links http://www.vireolabs.co Competing alongside more than 250 ed-tech companies, the Cleveland-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company was just one of three organizations that received a Venture Innovation Award during the summit. The award recognizes emerging technology companies who are poised to have a massive impact on improving the education industry. Held annually, the ASU+GSV Summit is a three-day conference presented by Arizona State University and Global Silicon Valley which convenes innovators to explore the latest developments in education and talent technology from K-12 to higher education, the future of work and global education and talent management. "Having launched products for higher education institutions in the past, Co-founder Kate Volzer and I knew it was critical to listen, learn and earn early buy-in from educational institutions." said Wisr Co-founder and President John Knific. "So, we limited our initial launch of Wisr to our five institutional development partners. That was very well received by the ASU+GSV audience, who are experts in the industry and were looking for demonstrable outcomes." Earlier this month, Wisr also received financial backing from Cleveland-based investor JumpStart Inc. in the form of a $250,000 investment from the firm's Focus Fund. The deal comes nearly a year after Wisr received an initial $25,000 validation investment from the same fund. JumpStart's Focus Fund is designed to invest in high-potential, tech startup companies led by female or minority entrepreneurs throughout Ohioas well as those willing to move to the state. The fund invests between $250k-$600k into early stage companies that can leverage capital and IP/technology to achieve transformational growth in sectors such as Software, Medical Technology, Advanced Materials, Power Management, Energy Applications or Business Products. "As a boomerang back to Cleveland, it's wonderful to be welcomed back with such open arms," said Wisr Co-founder and CEO Kate Volzer. "Venture capital is primarily a male-dominated profession, which makes the Focus Fund's presence here even more special. We're thrilled to have the backing of JumpStart and we look forward to continuing to grow our team in the City of Champions and expanding our customer base over the next year." Launched in early 2016 by Volzer, Knific and Co-founder/CTO Kris Ciccarello, Wisr was designed to remove the inefficiencies inherent in creating connections between students, alumni and other members of a university community. The softwarealready in use at institutions such as the University of Chicago, Case Western Reserve University and Oberlin Collegegives students the opportunity to seek advice and career assistance directly from a broad base of alumni. It also frees career services staff to focus on their core job functions and provides alumni relations staff with important engagement data. "Wisr's impact reaches far beyond simply streamlining processes for educational institutions," said Rem Harris, JumpStart's senior partner in charge of investing. "The platform provides students with direct access to high-quality advice and career connections while also giving alumni a low-cost, non-time intensive way to give back to their alma mater. This leads to higher alumni engagement and better student outcomes." WISR is a Cleveland-based educational technology company that provides an engaging space for alumni and students to connect with each other. For more information, visit www.getwisr.com and follow @wisrcommunity on Twitter. ASU+GSV SUMMIT is a conference that brings together the most impactful people from diverse constituenciesentrepreneurs, business leaders, educators, policymakers, philanthropists, and university and district leadersto create partnerships, explore solutions, and shape the future of learning. For more information, visit www.asugsvsummit.com and follow @asugsvsummit on Twitter. JUMPSTART INC. unlocks the full potential of diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs to economically transform entire communities. For more information, visit www.jumpstartinc.org and follow @JumpStartInc on Twitter. SOURCE JumpStart Inc. Related Links http://www.jumpstartinc.org MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Women in Localization (W.L.), the leading professional organization for women in the localization industry, is delighted to announce the launch of a new chapter in the Netherlands and the expansion of the German chapter. With this, W.L. expands its global presence to eleven global chapters. With the launch of the new W.L. chapter in the Netherlands, Women in Localization welcomes Stefania Russo as Chapter Manager. Stefania is Global Content Manager at TNT in The Netherlands, and will start forming the new Chapter effective immediately. In addition, we are thrilled to announce the expansion of the German Chapter to serve localization professionals across the entire country, from Berlin to Munich. At the helm, Women in Localization welcomes Catharina Pawella as the new Chapter Manager for Germany. Catharina is Global Content Strategist and Head of Content, DE at eBay. The German chapter was originally created in 2014 in Munich. The Global Expansion and Chapter Committee, led by Michele Smith, is on task to ensure that these chapters are as successful as the rest of the existing Women in Localization chapters around the world. "Our roadmap expands systematically with incredible strength, supported by talented local leaders like Stefania and Catharina. We are thrilled. Chapter Managers represent our 'feet on the ground', leading our expansion and representing our mission," says Anna N. Schlegel, co-founder of Women in Localization. Women in Localization regularly hosts educational and networking events in local chapter cities, with an average turnout of 50-150 women and men at every meeting. For more information on how to get involved and attend upcoming events, please visit http://womeninlocalization.com/. You can follow them on Facebook, on Twitter or join their LinkedIn group. About Women in Localization Women in Localization (W.L.) was founded in 2008 by Silvia Avary-Silveira, Eva Klaudinyova and Anna N. Schlegel, and is the leading professional organization for women in the localization industry with approximately 3,000 members globally. Its mission is to foster a global community for the advancement of women and the localization industry. It aims to provide an open, collaborative forum where women can share expertise and experience and help each other move forward in their careers. Started in the San Francisco Bay Area, W.L. has expanded its membership to include women and men across the globe, encouraging members to meet in other local geographies. To learn more, visit www.womeninlocalization.com or https://www.linkedin.com/groups/911827/profile. You can also follow W.L. on Facebook and Twitter. Media Contact: Liesl Leary SDL plc [email protected] +1 415 203 7179 SOURCE Women in Localization Related Links http://www.womeninlocalization.com NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A stellar array of world leaders will headline the AJC Global Forum 2017, which will take place June 4-6, in Washington, D.C. Addressing the opening plenary session on Sunday will be U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano. On Monday morning, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration Sebastian Kurz will speak. Tuesday morning, during the 48-hour conference's closing session, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in conversation with five young AJC leaders, will address the Global Forum via video. The AJC Global Forum is the advocacy organization's signature annual event, bringing together more than 2,500 participants from across the United States and 70 countries around the world. The full program is available at www.ajc.org/globalforum. "For Jewish advocates who join us in Washington from across the U.S. and around the world, as well as those who will watch the many sessions that are live streamed, our annual Global Forum is an inspiring, thought-provoking, and energizing experience," said AJC CEO David Harris. "There is no other gathering in the Jewish world quite like it." The World Leaders Plenary on Monday evening will feature Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades; Romanian President Klaus Iohannis; Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan; Israeli Minister of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan; and Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kentaro Sonoura, who will deliver a message from Prime Minister Abe. Kicking off the AJC Global Forum on Sunday will be a discussion on Jewish perspectives regarding global trends by American political analyst Bill Kristol, French author and intellectual Bernard Henry-Levy, and Israeli MK and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni. Scheduled to speak on Monday, among others, will be U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and on Tuesday Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro and Katherina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's coordinator on combatting anti-Semitism. For the eighth annual AJC Global Forum "Great Debate," Michael Doran of the Hudson Institute, who served as a senior director in the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, and Ambassador Wendy Sherman of the Albright Stonebridge Group, who served as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs in the Obama Administration, will tackle the issue of whether "America First" is advancing or compromising U.S. interests abroad. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, which began on June 5, 1967, a panel of top Israeli journalists Barak Ravid of Haaretz; Ilana Dayan of Israel TV Channel 2; Sivan Rahav Meir, a TV and print journalist; and Amit Segal of Israel TV Channel 2 will discuss the repercussions on Israel and the region of that conflict and efforts to achieve peace. Four prestigious AJC awards will be presented during the Global Forum: The AJC Unity Award will be presented on Sunday to three religious leaders -- Rabbi Dov Hayun , Imam Sharif Ode Mohammed Amir , and Maronite Priest Father Yousef Yakoub -- who mobilized their communities in Haifa, Israel , to respond to the devastating impact of large-scale fires in November 2016 , which included the rebuilding of a damaged synagogue. , Imam Sharif , and Maronite Priest Father -- who mobilized their communities in , to respond to the devastating impact of large-scale fires in , which included the rebuilding of a damaged synagogue. On Monday at the World Leaders Plenary, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will receive AJC's Light Unto the Nations Award, which has previously been given to, among others, U.S. President Bill Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy , German Chancellor Angela Merkel , and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades . will receive AJC's Light Unto the Nations Award, which has previously been given to, among others, U.S. President Bill Clinton, French President , German Chancellor , and Cypriot President . Bruce Willison, Jr. , an American who rescued Lea Kovensky , a survivor of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires , will receive AJC's Moral Courage Award on Monday at the World Leaders Plenary session. , an American who rescued , a survivor of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in , will receive AJC's Moral Courage Award on Monday at the World Leaders Plenary session. Ariela Rivkin of the University of Wisconsin and Robbie Young of the UK National Union of Students will receive AJC's Campus Courage Award on Sunday for their efforts in support of Israel and against BDS. Other Highlights of Global Forum 2017 on Monday include: Russia's role in today's world order will be addressed by St ephen Cohen , Professor Emeritus, NYU and Princeton : Julia Ioffe , Staff Writer, The Atlantic; and, And rew Weiss , Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. role in today's world order will be addressed by , Professor Emeritus, and : , Staff Writer, and, , Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. How European countries are dealing with the interrelated issues of immigration, integration, and identity will be explored by Gilles Kepel , a leading French scholar of Islam, Hanif Bali , an Iranian-born member of the Swedish Parliament, and Deidre Berger , Director of AJC Berlin. , a leading French scholar of Islam, , an Iranian-born member of the Swedish Parliament, and , Director of AJC Berlin. Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council (MJAC) members Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles , Imam Mohamed Magid of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society ( ADAMS ), and Raheemah Abdelaleem , Chair of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, will discuss the council's efforts in joint advocacy on domestic policy issues. of Sinai Temple in , Imam of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society ( ), and , Chair of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights, will discuss the council's efforts in joint advocacy on domestic policy issues. Managing the U.S.- Israel relationship with a new president and a polarized American public will be assessed by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer in conversation with AJC CEO David Harris . Highlights on Tuesday include: European officials and Jewish leaders assess the rise in anti-Semitism. Panelists are Hanif Bali , Member of the Swedish Parliament; Gillian Merron , Chief Executive, Board of Deputies of British Jews; Simone Rodan-Benzaquen , Director, AJC Europe; and Katharina von Schnurbein , Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism, European Commission. , Member of the Swedish Parliament; , Chief Executive, Board of Deputies of British Jews; , Director, AJC Europe; and , Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism, European Commission. In an age of rising radicalism, the question of religion as a force of good or evil will be explored by Rabbi David Rosen , AJC International Director of Interreligious Affairs; Professor Akbar Ahmed , Chair of Ibn Khaldun Center of Islamic Studies at American University and former Pakistani High Commissioner; Dr. Katherine Marshall , Senior Fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs; and Religion News Service Editor, Jerome Socolovsky . In addition, a special highlight each year for AJC Global Forum attendees is the opportunity to engage with top officials directly in a series of private advocacy in action dinners. This year there are 39 such dinners with ambassadors from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Among those participating in this year's AJC Global Forum will be more than 200 student leaders from campuses across the U.S., and from the European Union of Jewish Students and World Union of Jewish Students. Hundreds of members of ACCESS, AJC's young leadership program, will convene for a series of thought-provoking sessions before the Global Forum opening session. Moreover, AJC Global Forum attendees will participate in informational and training sessions before leaving the hotel on Tuesday afternoon for over 200 advocacy meetings on Capitol Hill. AJC, founded in 1906 and with headquarters in New York, maintains 22 regional offices across the United States, 10 overseas posts, and 34 international associations. SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links http://www.ajc.org BERLIN, LEIPZIG and FREYUNG, Germany, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A cooperation between the district capital of Freyung and Berlin tech company door2door is introducing Germany's first on-demand local public transport system in a rural area, the "Freyung Shuttle". Local public transport services will be expanded by small shuttle buses that can be ordered on-the-go via a smartphone app for passengers sharing their rides. The "Freyung Shuttle" manages all of this without any kind of schedule or fixed routes. The technology calculates the optimal routes and best use of the fleet, enabling people to travel from door to door quickly and efficiently while being gentle on the environment. A corresponding agreement has been signed on Wednesday between door2door founder Maxim Nohroudi and the first mayor of Freyung, Dr. Olaf Heinrich at the International Transport Forum Leipzig in the presence of federal transport minister Alexander Dobrindt. The launch date is mid-September. "As is the case with many places in rural areas, the local public transport system in Freyung is currently unable to optimally serve the needs of its residents", emphasizes the mayor, Dr. Olaf Heinrich. "Together with door2door, we are creating a digital service enabling people to get from A to B comfortably and easily. We are convinced that this will help us to greatly improve the quality of our mobility while, at the same time, reducing costs for local public transport." Residents can conveniently order the "Freyung Shuttle" with a smartphone app by entering their origin and destination. They will be informed beforehand about the cost of the trip, maximum travel time, and how long it will take for the shuttle to come and pick them up. They can then track with the app how the vehicle travels to the pick-up point. Passengers are transported door to door by qualified drivers. An intelligent algorithm in the background calculates the ideal route and optimal rideshare for getting all passengers to their individual destinations quickly and comfortably. The vehicles and drivers are deployed by local operators. The new service is based on the door2door mobility platform. The platform enables local authorities and transport companies to, for the first time, operate new mobility services autonomously and independently, to integrate them into existing transport infrastructures, and perform a detailed analysis of supply and demand in their existing mobility services. "With this technology, we want to give local authorities and transport companies significantly greater freedom, flexibility and most of all autonomy in the design of their local mobility", explained door2door founder Maxim Nohroudi upon signing the cooperation agreement in Leipzig. "Especially in rural areas, the quality of life has always been closely linked with having a privately-owned car. In Freyung we are able to demonstrate that there are real alternatives today, and that a sustainable mobility option that gives the public completely new types of freedom is possible." A video about Germany's first "on-demand local public transport system" in a rural area is available here on YouTube, and photos illustrating this report and of the International Transport Forum Leipzig are attached. About door2door: door2door is a multi-award-winning technology company. At their core is a mobility platform that enables local authorities and transportation companies to introduce, and independently operate, new digital services. Established in 2012 by Dr. Tom Kirschbaum and Maxim Nohroudi, the company today employs more than 100 people from 20 countries. The company's power of innovation prompted a visit from Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. http://www.door2door.io blog.door2door.io About the District City of Freyung: The City of Freyung (7,300 citizens) is a district city in rural Lower Bavaria. At the beginning of the 2000s, the city was supported as a "virtual community model" by the Free State of Bavaria in the context of introducing state-of-the-art administrative systems and has taken a pioneering role ever since. Mayor Dr. Olaf Heinrich (in office since April 1, 2008) and the City Council of Freyung unanimously agreed on the cooperation with door2door on Monday, May 29, 2017. Printable illustrations and other background information are available for download at: https://www.door2door.io/press.html . If you are interested in an interview or require additional information, please get in touch with one of the following contacts: Contact door2door Lidia Fabian Senior Communications Manager E-mail: [email protected] | Tel: +49-177-75-47-205 Contact district town of Freyung Gudrun Binder Outer mayor's office, district town of Freyung E-mail: [email protected] | Tel: +49-08551-588-110 SOURCE door2door SHANGHAI, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Yum China Holdings, Inc. (the "Company" or "Yum China") (NYSE: YUMC) was recently recognized as the top restaurant operator on the 100 Leading China Restaurant Businesses List published by the China Cuisine Association. The list was announced at the 2017 China Restaurant and Catering Industry Development Conference in Beijing where the Company was also presented with the China Restaurant 30 Years Excellence Enterprise Award, acknowledging Yum China's longstanding contribution to the restaurant industry. Yum China's KFC restaurant at Qianmen, Beijing, its first in the country, was ranked as one of the Top 500 Restaurants in China with the overall KFC brand recognized in the Top 10 Fast Food Brand category. The Company's Pizza Hut and Little Sheep restaurants were also recognized in the Top 10 International Food Brand and Famous Hotpot Brand categories, respectively. Further to the recognition by the China Cuisine Association, Yum China was also listed as the top restaurant company in the recent China Top 100 Retail Chain Rankings compiled by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA). Yum China was ranked as the 9th retail chain overall in the list cementing its positon as the largest restaurant company in China. Micky Pant, Yum China's CEO, said, "We are humbled to be recognized as the leading restaurant business in China. Yum China has been an integral part of the continuous evolution of the restaurant industry over the past thirty years. We have had the honor of introducing our products to an entire generation of Chinese consumers, and have learnt so much from the great Chinese culinary tradition in the process. We now have over 2 billion customer visits a year in our restaurants in China with customers enjoying food items not only from around the world, but also many favorite products developed only in China." "Looking forward, we believe there are two significant trends that will shape the future of the industry in China. The first is Digital technology which is changing the way that customers decide where and what to eat, how to order and pay, and even how to give comments and feedback. The second is the burgeoning demand for Delivery, which we believe is increasing the total addressable market for all restaurant businesses. I expect that Digital and Delivery will be significant industry growth drivers over the next decade," Micky Pant added. Yum China operates more than 7,600 restaurants across the country, with over 4,400 offering delivery services as of the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2017. In the quarter, delivery represented approximately 12% of company sales. The company is also a pioneer in digital engagement in the restaurant industry. Yum China's digital ecosystem incorporates pre-order capabilities, on-demand delivery, digital loyalty programs for multiple brands, and access to promotions among other functions. As of the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2017, loyalty program members increased to approximately 70 million for KFC and 23 million for Pizza Hut Casual Dining. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We intend all forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and by the use of forward-looking words such as "expect," "expectation," "believe," "anticipate," "may," "could," "intend," "belief," "plan," "estimate," "target," "predict," "likely," "will," "should," "forecast," "outlook", "look forward" or similar terminology. These statements are based on current estimates and assumptions made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable under the circumstances, but there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by those statements. We cannot assure you that any of our expectations, estimates or assumptions will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only made as of the date of this press release, and we disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. You should consult our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the information set forth under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K) for additional detail about factors that could affect our financial and other results. About Yum China Holdings, Inc. Yum China Holdings, Inc. is a licensee of Yum! Brands in mainland China. It has exclusive rights in mainland China to KFC, China's leading quick-service restaurant brand, Pizza Hut, the leading casual dining restaurant brand in China, and Taco Bell, which opened its first restaurant in China at the end of 2016. Yum China also owns the Little Sheep and East Dawning concepts outright. Yum China is well positioned for growth thanks to its strong competitive position, integration of its brands into Chinese popular culture and consumers' daily lives, expanding geographic footprint in China and existing operational expertise. It has a strong capital position, no external debt and expects to continue growing its system sales and profit by adding new restaurants and through growing same-store sales. Yum China had more than 7,600 restaurants and more than 420,000 employees in over 1,100 cities at the end of February 2017. A new generation of younger consumers who are digitally sophisticated and brand driven are fueling growth in consumption in China. The ongoing growth of the middle class and urban population in China is expected to create the world's largest market for restaurant brands, with Yum China poised to be the market leader. SOURCE Yum China Holdings, Inc LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zenlayer, a global software defined network and services provider, announced that it has closed a $10 million Series A funding led by F&G Venture with participation from NSFOCUS and other investors. The company will primarily use the capital to accelerate development of its software defined global connection platform and expand its current base of 60+ global data centers. "Not only do we focus on technological innovation, we strive to always provide 'wow' service to our customers, to constantly exceed their expectations," said Joe Zhu, CEO and Founder of Zenlayer. "In addition to investing in R&D, we will use this capital to increase operational capacity and build a more robust global service center staffed with top-of-the-line engineers." "The demand for companies to reach global customers is exploding," expressed Steve Hong, Managing Partner of F&G Venture. "Zenlayer is perfectly poised to meet that demand with its global data center and network infrastructure. Its experience in countries that are traditionally difficult to get into, such as China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa, gives Zenlayer a remarkable competitive edge. Moreover, its exponential growth since founding makes Zenlayer an ideal investment target for us." "More than just a financial investment, we look at this deal as a strategic partnership," stated Jiye Shen, Co-founder and CEO of NSFOCUS, a leading global network security solutions provider. "We look forward to integrating our security capabilities with Zenlayer's connectivity platform to provide global cloud security to our customers." About Zenlayer Zenlayer (www.zenlayer.com) is headquartered in Los Angeles and Shanghai, with offices in Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Singapore. Through its global connection platform consisting of bare metal cloud, SD-WAN and edge computing services, Zenlayer enables clients to quickly deploy and manage IT resources worldwide so that they can globalize their business within minutes. About F&G Venture F&G Venture (www.fgventure.com/en/index.jsp) is a venture capital fund focused on companies with exponential growth in IT industries, such as IT infrastructure, cloud computing, IoT, SaaS, big data, etc. It also targets high-end manufacturing businesses, including intelligence devices, robots, and drones. About NSFOCUS NSFOCUS (www.nsfocusglobal.com) is a global enterprise DDoS mitigation provider with a proven track record of protecting some of the largest Fortune 500 companies, including the world's largest mobile provider, and four of the five largest global financial institutions. Contact [email protected] +1-909-718-3558 SOURCE Zenlayer Related Links http://www.zenlayer.com Thiruvananthapuram, May 26 : The central government's announcement of stringent rules on sale of cows and buffaloes at animal markets across India on Friday, aimed at deterring slaughter, took several Kerala ministers and the Congress-led opposition by surprise. State Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunilkumar said this was nothing but implementing the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) agenda and that it would not work in Kerala. "Under the guise of 'cruelty to animals' clause, the Centre is trying to push through the agenda of RSS. This is a foolish decision and we will deal with this legally," the Minister said. Stringent rules have been put in place on Friday for cattle trade, including the animal's movement and also a cooling period of six months for re-sale of bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers and calves, as well as the camel trade. State Minister for Local Self Government K.T. Jaleel said every state has its own eating habits. "This new law is not going to be accepted as generally people will accept only if they feel they are doing a wrong." State PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran said this was the latest in the series of fascist acts of the Narendra Modi government. "These things can't be put out simply through an order. Has Parliament taken the states into confidence or has there been any discussion with them? These things won't work out in Kerala," said Sudhakaran. State Congress President M.M. Hassan said the order was unconstitutional and infringement of the basic rights of people. "The BJP is trying to bring to Kerala the strategy of 'cow politics' as they did in Uttar Pradesh. Here cow slaughter is not banned. We will oppose this tooth and nail," said Hassan. State BJP President Kummanem Rajasekheran, however, said that a section of the media here was presenting the new order in a twisted manner, as there was no ban at all. "It's most unfortunate that M.M. Hassan went to the extent of saying that this order was issued on the eve of Ramadan," Rajasekheran said. Kolkata, May 27 : The average daily tourist footfall to Jammu and Kashmir has nosedived to about 5,000 in March and April this year, an official of the northernmost state said here on Saturday. "If the situation was in control then we would have had at least 10,000 tourists per day visiting our state. This is the peak time, but we have not seen a spurt in numbers. We are hoping the footfall will go up in the next couple of months as the situation has improved," Ghulam Zeelani Zagar, Deputy Director of Jammu and Kashmir tourism, told the media here. In 2016, as many as 17 lakh tourists toured the troubled state. "This fiscal, we apprehend a lakh or two less number of tourists because the situation in the last six months has not been so good, particularly after July," Zagar said. Zagar appealed to the public not to turn their backs on the scenic spots such as Gulmarg, Sonmarg and Srinagar. "The recent terrorist activities are only near the border areas. The tourist destinations of the state are well protected with maximum safety and security for the tourists. The hotel owners, the transport operators and the administration are ready to provide safety and security for the tourists," he said. To lure travellers, the state Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) is offering a discount of around 50 per cent on its tour packages, while the private tour operators have come forward with 30 per cent discount. The situation turned grim for tourists, especially after July 8 last year, when the security forces gunned down Hizbul leader Burhan Wani. His death led to violent protests, several months of curfew, an overall deterioration in the state's security situation, and more than 100 deaths across the valley. New Delhi, May 27 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the government was considering exiting Air India operations. "There are many private airlines like Jet Airways, IndiGo, GoAir. If 86 per cent of the aviation market can be handled by private sector, then 100 per cent can also be handled by the private sector," Jaitley told DD News in an interview. National passenger carrier Air India currently has a market share of 14 per cent and a debt of Rs 50,000 crore. The private airlines enjoy 86 per cent of the market share. "Air India has a debt of Rs 50,000 crore. Its valuation of aircrafts will be at Rs 20,000-25,000 crore. The civil aviation ministry is exploring all possibilities," Jaitley said. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had earlier said that Air India's debt needs to be reduced and balance sheet restructured as part of its financial transformation. "Air India's balance sheet has to be restructured and debt reduced. The other issue is that corporate governance and professional management need to be put in place. Besides it has to be seen how best use can be made of the non-core assets of Air India," Sinha had said. Thiruvananthapuram, May 27 : Even as the Centre has introduced stringent rules regarding cattle slaughter, it was business as usual for beef sellers across Kerala on Saturday, with people queuing up to buy one of their favourite food items. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking for repeal of the new rules, which he termed an "intrusion into the rights of states". The opposition Congress also slammed the new rules, saying the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was behind the move as they were "trying to divide the society". Vijayan, who has earlier condemned the beef ban in some states as nothing but a ploy to go forward with the RSS agenda, in his letter to the Prime Minister said: "I request you to kindly intervene in this matter and repeal the newly imposed restrictions, so that the lives and livelihoods of millions of our fellow countrymen can be protected, while safeguarding the fundamental principles of our constitution." He pointed out that in Kerala, vast majority of the population consumes meat, as is the case with all other South Indian and Northeast Indian states. "Even in states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal, non vegetarians out number vegetarians." Vijayan said the new rules should have been introduced in consultation with the states. "The absence of efforts to take the states into confidence on such a drastic move with far reaching consequences is detrimental to our democracy. I am afraid it amounts to an intrusion into the rights of the states in our federal structure. The introduction of such restrictions in a hasty manner would certainly prove to be a challenge in upholding our plurality, the essence of our nation. It would also be against the principles of secularism and federalism enshrined in our constitution," he added. Senior Congress leader A.K. Antony, speaking at a party meeting here, on Saturday said the order in Kerala will have "the value of a paper only" and it's "dangerous to implement this here". "This order will be torn and thrown into the dust bin. The RSS is behind the move as they are trying to divide the society," said Antony. Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala told the media in Thrissur that the party will deal with the issue both legally and politically. The party has decided to observe Monday as a 'black day' to protest this "foolish law". "The Centre cannot infringe on the rights of people, who have the freedom to decide on what they want to eat and what they do not. We will take up this issue very strongly," he said. Meanwhile, it was normal across Kerala on Saturday morning as hundreds of bovines were traded at the biggest cattle market in Kuzhalmandam, Palakkad district. "The only thing we are worried is what will happen if the state government implements the rule. We doubt this is going to be practical. Anyway we will wait," a group of cattle traders told the media. "We came as usual and started doing the same thing as we have been doing for years. Our customers are also here waiting to collect their packets of beef," said a butcher in the busy Kozhikode market. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala blamed the media for "twisting the facts" to rake up unnecessary issues. State BJP General Secretary M.T. Ramesh said it was most unfortunate that top leaders from various leading political parties linked the Friday order with Ramadan. "It's meant to whip up passions as both the media and political parties are twisting the gist of the order. If anyone has any doubt on the order, the best way out is to seek legal help. The order is very clear and many are feigning ignorance in order to take it up politically," said Ramesh. To protest the new order, the student and youth wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) held beef festivals across Kerala, where beef curry was served with tapioca, chapatti and other food items. At Kollam, Mahila Congress president Bindu Krishna prepared beef and served it to people in the main road. "We will send a packet of this beef curry to Modi also," said Krishna. The price of beef stands at Rs 300 per kg here, and it costs around Rs 280 in towns and smaller cities. Meanwhile, the Union Environment Ministry on Saturday clarified that the rules were modified to prevent cruelty to animals in cattle markets and not to regulate cattle traded for slaughterhouses. The Ministry said the livestock markets are intended to become hubs for animal trade for agriculture, while animals for slaughter will have to be bought from farmers at farms. The statement said the notified rules will remove the scope for illegal sale and smuggling of cattle, a major concern for the government. New Delhi, May 28 : Admitting that the Kashmir issue was a challenge for the Narendra Modi government, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asserted that the Centre will come out with a "permanent solution" keeping in mind "Kashmir, Kashmiris and Kashmiriyat". In an interview to IndiaToday news channel, Rajnath Singh refused to give a time frame for a solution and insisted that the Government was open for "unconditional" talks with all stakeholders. "Kashmir issue is a challenge for us, there are no two ways about it. But we want to assure the country that we will come out with a permanent solution. And we will arrive at this permanent solution taking into consideration, Kashmir, Kashmiris and Kashmiriyat," said Rajnath Singh. "We cannot allow repeated recurrence of unrest in Kashmir. We cannot allow Kashmir to burn. We cannot give a time frame, that in one month or two months we will solve this. You don't have instant solution to such issues. Efforts are on and we are trying with our full might to come out with a permanent solution," he said. He repeatedly refused to reveal anything about the government's strategy for a "permanent solution", but said they were open to talks with all stakeholders, including the separatist Hurriyat. "We want to talk to stakeholders, whoever wants to talk, we are open to discuss with them. But then talks will have to be unconditional. Talks cannot and will not happen on any kind of preconditions," he said. Asked to comment on a recent expose, revealing the Hurriyat's links with Pakistan, Rajnath Singh said: "There are no two ways about the fact that Pakistan is actively pursuing destabilising Kashmir, and through Kashmir it wants to destabilise India. Pakistan is the only country in the world which promotes terrorism." On the expose on Hurriyat and the subsequent call for a ban on them by Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, Rajnath Singh refused to comment. "I don't want to comment (on banning Hurriyat). We have taken cognisance of whatever they have said and we will do whatever is justified. We have already handed over the probe to the NIA (National Investigation Agency), let the probe report come," he said. Asked why the separatist leaders were put under house arrest and not jailed and provided with security, Rajnath Singh put the onus on the state government. "It is the state government which provides the security and not the Centre," he said. When reminded that it was a BJP-PDP alliance at the helm in the state, Rajnath Singh said the move to provide security to the separatists was being done from earlier. He also said the government was taking many initiatives, including inducting the youth into the security forces, to bring the people of Kashmir into the mainstream and discourage the youth from taking to militancy. New Delhi, May 28 : Bilateral cooperation on economic, defence, science and technology, and nuclear fronts, parleys on EU-India Free Trade Agreement, and fight against terror will top Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda during his four-nation tour of Europe from Monday. Modi will visit Germany for the biannual Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC); Spain on what will be an Indian Prime Minister's first visit in nearly 30 years; Russia for the annual bilateral summit; and France for his first meeting with newly elected President Emmanuel Macron. Berlin will be Modi's first port of call, where he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will head the fourth biennial Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) on Tuesday. India and Germany have over 25 Working Groups, including in areas like climate change, energy, infrastructure, and tourism. According to German Ambassador to India Martin Ney, like in the last IGC in 2015, there will be a "series of substantial MoUs (memorandums of understanding) and joint declarations of intent" after the talks in Berlin. One of the most important areas in which these agreements are likely to be signed is business. "The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce is the biggest German bilateral chamber outside Germany. It has more than 7,000 German and Indian member companies," Ney said, adding that over 1,800 German companies are doing business in India. "India is interested in German technology and knowhow, and we are interested in sharing this," he said. Speaking ahead of Modi's visit, Randhir Jaiswal, Joint Secretary (Europe West) in the External Affairs Ministry, said that Germany is the largest trading partner of India in the European Union. "German economic profile, support, excellence, and expertise match with our development priorities, be it 'Make in India', 'Skill India', 'Clean India', 'Digital India', and 'Smart Cities'," Jaiswal said. According to Ambassador Ney, both countries cooperate closely in terms of G20 coordination, UN Security Council reforms, freedom of navigation, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region, the fight against terrorism, and stability in Afghanistan. "Germany supports India's membership in different export control regimes, including the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group)," he said. After a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Modi will leave for Spain on May 30. The last prime ministerial visit to the country was by Rajiv Gandhi in 1988. On May 31, the Prime Minister will hold a bilateral summit with Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy. Modi will also call on Spanish King Felipe VI and interact with a select group of Spanish CEOs keen to invest and expand their businesses in India. Around 200 Spanish companies are operating in India. Stating that economic partnership formed an important pillar of the bilateral relationship, Jaiswal said: "Spain enjoys a reputation in the fields of renewable energy, high speed rail, infrastructure, tunneling, technology solutions, including civil aviation air space management, and waste water management." Cooperation in counter-terror will be an important element of the agenda in Spain. From Spain, Modi will travel to Russia on May 31 and hold the 18th annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 1 in St. Petersburg. The following day, the Prime Minister will for the first time attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a business event. G.V. Srinivas, Joint Secretary (Eurasia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said Modi's participation in SPIEF signals that there will be emphasis on trade and investment during the Russian leg of the tour. Stating that while India-Russia cooperation in the areas of defence, nuclear and space was "very, very ahead", Srinivas said that bilateral trade has, however, come down for a variety of reasons from $10 billion to around $7 billion now. Science and technology cooperation and people-to-people contacts are also areas that will come up for discussion during the Modi-Putin meeting. From Russia, Modi will fly to Paris on June 2 evening and hold a bilateral meeting with French President Macron the next day. Stating that France was a leading strategic partner of India, Jaiswal said that the two countries have very strong cooperation in the areas of space, civil nuclear, defence, and economy. According to Jaiswal, during the France, Germany and Spain legs of the tour, the ongoing discussions between the European Union and India on a Free Trade Agreement would also figure prominently. European nations are among those with which India has terminated bilateral investment protection treaties (BITs) following a new BIT model New Delhi released in December 2015. Stating that EU member-states have passed on the responsibility of investment protection negotiations to the EU, Ambassador Ney said that the European Commission and the Indian government should "sit down as soon as possible" to negotiate a free trade agreement. New Delhi, May 29 : Within a month of the Sukma attack in which Maoists killed 25 CRPF troopers, the paramilitary force claimed big success in its anti-Maoist operations -- with 105 left-wing rebels caught and 25 surrendering -- thanks to better intelligence gathering in a new "aggressive" strategy. A Home Ministry document accessed by IANS revealed that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) achieved the success between April 24 and May 23, which is the highest month-wise figure so far this year. The force also seized over Rs 20.35 lakh cash, 39 weapons, 4,628 ammunition, 302 explosives, four grenades, 91 bombs and 29 Improvised Explosive Devices from the rebels. Three gelatine sticks, 5,133 detonators and 60 kg narcotics were also recovered. According to the document, three Maoists surrendered and 41 were apprehended in over 100 special operations conducted in Chhattisgarh, as part of its "new strategy". The most surrenders were reported from Jharkhand (15) and Odisha (7), while the maximum number of Maoists apprehended were in Bihar (45), followed by Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand (12) and Telangana (7), it said. In the nearly four months this year before the April 24 Sukma attack, only 28 Maoists had surrendered while 516 were apprehended from 10 Maoist-hit states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Over 300 armed Maoists attacked a 99-member unit of the 74 CRPF Battalion providing security cover to road construction workers in Sukma district in south Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, killing 25 personnel and leaving six others injured. CRPF's new Director General R.R. Bhatnagar, explaining the reasons for the force's success in anti-Maoist operations, told IANS: "All round efforts are being taken. We have had much better cooperation with the state police constantly. That's why we have been achieving success." Asked if the CRPF's new strategy was the reason behind the achievement, he said: "It's not happened because of strategic changes, but due to concentrating on issues like better intelligence and coordination with the state police, constant aggressive posturing and better use of technology." Of the 25 Maoists apprehended, 15 were were involved in the Sukma attack, he said. Bhatnagar said the CRPF is now focusing on conducting joint intelligence-based operations after the Sukma attack. "Our personnel are carrying out intensified operations every day, despite the harsh summers and sweltering heat," he added. In the one month since the Sukma attack, 10 CRPF personnel were injured during the course of 74 anti-Maoist operations, an attack on two CRPF camps, a mine blast and 12 direct confrontations with the rebels. The CRPF also lost 28 weapons and 3,420 ammunition in 82 incidents in the one month, it added. As per the document, the highest number of Maoist surrenders -- 2,166 -- was reported in 2016, while 1,635 rebels were apprehended. In 2015, the surrender figure was 940 -- less than half the number -- but the number apprehended was 1,608. In 2014, a total of 940 Maoists surrendered and 1,546 were caught. In 2013 the figure of surrendered Maoists was low at just 81, while the number of rebels caught stood at 1,596. In 2012, 983 Maoists surrendered while 1,766 were held -- the highest figure so far. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) Mumbai, May 29 : Actor Mohit Marwah took inspiration from his uncle and actor-producer Anil Kapoor for a role in Tigmanshu Dhulia's "Raag Desh - Birth of a Nation". To prepare for his role of an army officer, Prem Kumar Sahgal, Mohit watched Anil's 2000 film "Pukar" several times. Mohit said in a statement: "Like most people, I'm also a huge fan of Anil Kapoor and the films that he has been part of, especially 'Pukar'." "When I signed 'Raag Desh - Birth of a Nation', I got very excited and thought of watching 'Pukar' again since he has pulled off the army officer role in the movie with great Alan. In fact, I know most of the dialogues from 'Pukar'." The upcoming film revolves around some of the officers in the British Indian Army taken as prisoners of war in Malaya, Singapore and Burma by the Japanese during World War II. These officers, who joined Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army, were later court-martialled in Delhi. Chandigarh, May 30 : Several leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), including MLAs in Punjab, were detained by police here on Tuesday while marching towards the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. The AAP leaders were demanding the sacking of Punjab Irrigation and Power Minister for his alleged links in a multi-crore mining scam in Punjab. "The MLAs of AAP and Lok Insaaf Party were arrested at the Vidhan Sabha gate and prevented from meeting the Chief Minister while peacefully marching towards his residence to give a memorandum to remove Rana Gurjit from his cabinet," AAP leader H.S. Phoolka told the media. The detained AAP leaders were taken to the Sector 17 police station and released later. The AAP protest was led by Phoolka, the leader of the opposition in the Punjab assembly, Sangrur MP and AAP Punjab President Bhagwant Mann, legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Punjab AAP Co-President Aman Arora. Punjab cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh is embroiled in a major controversy after the names of three employees of his private companies figured in a multi-crore mining scam. One of the employees, Amit Bahadur from Nepal, a cook with the minister's companies, picked up a sand mine contract in a recent auction for a whopping Rs 26.51 crore. "There is an Emergency-like situation in Punjab and even the Leader of Opposition and elected representatives are not allowed to meet the CM. There is clear evidence that Rana Gurjit Singh is directly involved in sand mining but Captain Amarinder is shying away from taking action," Phoolka said. "The silence of Amrinder (makes us wonder) if along with Rana he himself has stakes in the contracts of sand mines," Phoolka said, ading the AAP would continue the fight for Rana's resignation to ensure an independent inquiry in the matter. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday ordered a probe by a retired judge into the Rana Gurjit episode. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the BJP and the AAP rejected the probe as an eyewash. AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira said the probe commission appointed by the Punjab government was of no use as the retired judge's son had personal terms with Rana Gurjit Singh's family. "AAP sticks to its demand for the resignation of the minister who gave Rs 26 crore mining contract to his cook. The Income Tax returns of cook shows annual income of Rs 92,000. Then what was the source of the deposited Rs 13 crore? I fail to understand why Amarinder Singh is hesitant to take action against Rana Gurjit?" Khaira said. Washington, May 31 : The relationship between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is "fairly unbelievable", the White House has said. Despite the lack of confidence expressed by Berlin in the new administration in Washington and the US President's criticism of German trade policy, the White House said on Tuesday that Trump and Merkel get along well, Efe news reported. "I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel he would describe as fairly unbelievable," said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer at his daily press briefing. Trump and Merkel "get along very well," Spicer said. "He has a lot of respect for her. They continue to grow the bond that they had during their talks in the G7, and he views not just Germany but the rest of Europe as an important American ally." Trump had tweeted earlier on Tuesday that Germany's trade and military policies are very bad for his country and warned that something will be done about it. "We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for US This will change," Trump said on his Twitter account. Trump's tweet came after Merkel told a meeting last Sunday that "the times in which (Germany) could fully rely on others are partly over," a reference to the US and UK. Merkel said she reached that conclusion after the G7 and NATO Summits, in which Trump took part and during which the differences between the policies of the new US administration and its allies in Europe and elsewhere became patently obvious. "We Europeans really have to take our destiny into our own hands," the chancellor said, just two days after Trump slammed Germans as "bad, very bad," in a meeting with leaders of the European Union, though according to one of his advisers, those words referred exclusively to matters of trade, not to Germany as a nation. Bengaluru, May 31 : India introduced genetically-modified cotton (Bt-cotton) containing Bt-toxins capable of killing the cotton pest without the need for farmers to use pesticides. But the pests rapidly developed resistance to the toxins, defeating the very purpose of Bt-cotton. Now, a detailed study by scientists at the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) in Nagpur has found the reason after doing a field trial with Bt-cotton seeds purchased from the open market. According to the findings, reported in the journal Current Science, farmers' ignorance about the technology topped by non-compliance of an important regulatory requirement by seed companies was the main reason why the pink bollworm developed resistance in India. India introduced Bt-cotton (Bollgard-I) carrying the Cry1Ac protein in 2002 and, four years later, approved for cultivation Bollgard-II which contains two genes (Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab) supposed to be highly effective in controlling the pests. But pink bollworm developed resistance to Bollgard-I in 2008 and Bollgard-II in 2012. Keshav Karthik, then director of CICR, estimated that Gujarat may have lost 7-8 per cent of its cotton to the pink bollworm in 2015. Under the regulatory guidelines, farmers who plant Bt-cotton must also plant another cotton variety without the Bt gene in 20 per cent of the total Bt crop area. The purpose of this is to prevent pests from developing resistance to the Bt-toxins by diverting them to the non-BT crops called "refuge plants". To enable farmers comply with the refuge requirement, seed companies are required to provide a packet of 120-g non-Bt cotton (refuge) seeds with every of 450-g packet of Bt cotton seeds. "Refuge compliance is crucial for resistance management," Kranthi, currently with the International Cotton Advisory Committee in Washington, told this reporter in an email. "Poor compliance of refuge planting is one of the main reasons why the pink bollworm rapidly developed resistance to Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab toxins." In order for the refuge strategy to be efficient, the flowering and fruiting should take place around the same time in both Bt-cotton crop and the non-Bt refuge plants. The non-Bt refuge variety should also possess similar fibre qualities as that of the Bt-hybrid, to ensure relatively homogenous fiber quality. Kranthi said CICR conducted the field trial to find out the compliance levels of the seed companies in providing authentic Bt-cotton seeds "and to assess the technical suitability of the refuge seed in serving as a non-Bt host to bollworms". For the trial, about 120 Bt-cottonseed packets were purchased from the open market of north and central India along with the corresponding refuge. The study clearly showed that the refuge seeds sold by the companies had poor germination and were found to have significant quantity of Bt seeds mixed in them and did not act as refuge due to a significantly different reproductive window period, the scientists reported. "With anomalies like these, it is clear that seed companies are violating the guidelines, thereby putting the existing concept of refuge at serious risk," Kranthi said. Why are the companies violating the guidelines? "Developing an ideal refuge variety with synchronous reproductive phase and right fibre quality to serve as refuge is technically demanding and is expensive," Kranthi said. The companies also take advantage of the fact that currently there is "nothing in the rules to examine refuge seeds". "In general, Indian farmers were not oriented towards planting refuge because of lack of knowledge that refuge planting was most crucial for resistance management," the report said. "With poor quality refuge seeds provided by some companies, the non-compliance only got worse. Bollworm resistance to Bt-cotton in India is a repercussion of the non-compliance." Kranthi said it is important to strengthen seed testing and monitoring systems to ensure that regulatory guidelines are followed ethically year after year to facilitate and ensure sustainability of the Bt technology. (K.S. Jayaraman is a veteran science journalist. He can be contacted at killugudi@hotmail.com) New Delhi : Title: 4th Rock from the Sun - The Story of Mars; Author: Nicky Jenner; Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma; Pages: 272; Price: Rs 599 Beyond a prominent astrological "influence", an idea of masculinity (and even men's origin) and a cryptic utterance in the first Harry Potter book among its varied cultural expressions, the Red Planet, easily seen by the naked eye, has long fascinated us. But Mars has much greater significance -- scientifically and maybe even existentially. Not only has Mars forced us to re-evaluate our ideas about our galaxy's formation, says science writer Nicky Jenner, it is the astronomical body on which most attention, effort and funds have been spent -- even more so after the beginning of spaceflight six decades ago. As a NASA official she cites said, "...The first time we flew by a planet, it was Mars. The first time we landed on a planet it was Mars and the first time we roved around the surface of a planet it was Mars. We go there often." There have been 43 such attempts from 1960 to 2016, successful and unsuccessful, by not only the US and then Soviet Union and later Russia but also by the European Space Agency as well as those of Japan, China and India, and more in the pipeline. While the UAE is planning one by 2020, so are a raft of private companies, some of which even plan setting up colonies there. But what is it about Mars that creates so much interest among us, and do our perceptions correspond with the reality of the planet, now that we have obtained a lot of knowledge about it, especially the crucial issue of life on it? This is what Jenner seeks to tell us in this fascinating study of Mars, in its various aspects over the ages and into the future, and its impact on life, the universe and everything. "Even if your primary relationship with Mars is the form of the eponymous chocolate bar -- and who would blame you -- it's likely that this single-minded focus over the years has caused you to know at least a little about the planet itself. Mars is the most-googled planet after Earth itself and we've sent more probes to Mars than anybody in the solar system," says Jenner, who has written for many popular science magazines and has been a copywriter for the European Space Agency among other leading scientific institutions. And over the succeeding pages, she does it with thoroughness -- right from clarifying that it is not merely red -- bolstered by clarity and wit. She begins with the cultural impact of the planet, right from the Roman god of war whose name adorned it, and why it, along with the other known astral bodies, became significant in astrological traditions around the world, as well as in palmistry. Her conclusions about these "arts/sciences" are not surprising. The next two chapters take up Mars in popular culture, bringing together everything from David Bowie to the Justice League of America (for those who remember DC comics) to John Gray of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" fame down to the Matt Damon hit "The Martian" (2015). (In one of the fascinating asides that Jenner's work has in abundance, we learn that the film cost more to make than India's Mars mission.) Jenner finally comes to the scientific aspect. While she has already not spared any detail in warning us about the harsh and dangerous conditions on the cold, arid planet, and what can happen to us if we step on it, she also goes to explain Mars' various quirks as well as its unlikely satellites. These include the planet's occasional "backward" motion, what happened to its water and why its terrain is unsafe for us. We also learn why it bucks the trend in being smaller than the Earth and what this means to the accepted theories of our social system's creation. Jenner then goes into the a history of our "contact" with the planet, the debates about life on it, including by those who believe Barack Obama has been to Mars (seriously) and whether it can become a second planetary home for us. This, she contends, on listing technical, health and social issues, is extremely unlikely as of now. Perhaps human civilisation's future will be better served by keeping better care of our existing home. (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in) Kabul/New Delhi, May 31 : Dozens of fatalities were reported and over 150 people were injured when a water tanker loaded with explosives went off in downtown Kabul near the German embassy on Wednesday morning. All Indian Embassy staff are safe, authorities said. "Hospital sources say dozens killed and more than 150 wounded in Kabul blast," Pajhwok Afghan News agency reported. Tolo News quoted Wazir Akbar Khan hospital as saying that two people were so far killed. Tolo also quoted the interior ministry as saying that a "water tanker had been laden with explosives that were detonated on Wednesday". According to NATO, a massive explosion occurred near the German Embassy at 8.22 a.m. near the NATO Resolute Support headquarter in Kabul. Foreign troops have arrived at the scene. Images circulating on social media showed a large plume of black smoke over the city. The blast occurred during rush hour traffic. It ripped through the diplomatic zone causing widespread damage. There was substantial damage to buildings in the explosion near Zanbaq Square in downtown Kabul. It said the victims are mostly civilians and a large number of them are from the Roshan mobile company. All staff in the Indian Embassy are safe but some windows in the building were damaged. "By God's grace, Indian Embassy staff are safe in the massive #Kabul blast," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. Madrid, May 31 : Ahead of talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that terrorism posed the biggest challenge to the world and fighting it was a key element in India-Spain ties. "Both India and Spain have faced terrorism," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Rajoy at La Moncloa, the official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister. "Terrorism and extremism pose the biggest challenge to the world today. "Strengthening cooperation between us in the fight against terrorism is a key element of our bialteral agenda." Modi's comments came as he condemned a huge explosion in Kabul on Wednesday that killed scores of people and injured hundreds. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first Indian Prime Ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. Modi and Rajoy last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015. Modi said that though India and Spain completed 60 years of diplomatic ties last year, an Indian Prime Ministerial visit was happening for the first time after 1988. "I hope there will not be such a huge gap in the future." He said that in today's changing global perspective, close consultations between friendly nations on regional and global developments were the need of the day. Stating Spain had made rapid strides in its economy, Modi said his government's top priority too was India's economic growth and development. He said Spain can offer its expertise to India's development priorities like railways, smart cities and infrastructure. "I am confident that my visit to Spain will give fresh momentum to our ties," he said. On his part, Rajoy said bilateral ties would deepen following Modi's visit to Spain. After his meeting with Rajoy, Modi will call on Spanish King Felipe VI. Modi will also hold a round-table interaction with a group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. There are around 200 Spanish companies operating in India. Moscow, May 31 : Russian Navy vessels fired four sea-launched cruise missiles at Islamic State (IS) targets near the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. The Kalibr cruise missiles were launched late on Monday from the eastern Mediterranean Sea by the Russian fleet frigate "Admiral Essen" and the "Krasnodar" submarine, which fired its missiles from underwater, Efe news reported. "The Russian Navy has demonstrated its capacity to launch successful attacks with high precision weapons on short notice once given its launch orders," said the Russian Ministry note. The Ministry said the US, Turkey and Israel were informed of the strikes at the "appropriate time". It was the first combat operation for both Russian ships, according to the Russian Defence press note. The ministry confirmed that all four missiles destroyed their targets -- IS heavy weapons and militant concentrations redeployed from Al Raqqa, the extremist group's principal bastion city in Syria. Madrid, May 31 : India and Spain on Wednesday signed seven agreements, including on cooperation in cyber security and renewable energy, following talks here between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy. "Partnering for Progress - #IndiaSpain sign seven agreements/MoUs," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in cyber security. A second MoU was signed on cooperation in renewable energy. Three other MoUs were signed on cooperation in organ transplantation, technical cooperation in civil aviation, and between the Foreign Service Institute of India and the Diplomatic Academy of Spain. Two agreements were also signed on transfer of sentenced persons and waiving of visas for diplomatic passport holders. Earlier in the day, addressing the media ahead of his talks with Rajoy, Modi said terrorism posed the biggest challenge to the world and the fight against this menace formed a key element of India-Spain ties. He said his visit to Spain would add fresh momentum to bilateral ties. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. Modi and Rajoy last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey in November 2015. Washington, May 31 : Delivering packages with drones can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in certain circumstances as compared to truck deliveries, says a new study. Drones tend to have carbon dioxide emissions advantage over trucks when the drones do not have to fly very far to their destinations or when a delivery route has few recipients, said the study to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Transportation Research Part D. Trucks -- which can offer environmental benefits by carrying everything from clothes to appliances to furniture in a single trip -- become a more climate-friendly alternative when a delivery route has many stops or is farther away from a central warehouse. For small, light packages -- a bottle of medicine or a kid's bathing suit -- drones compete especially well. But the carbon benefits erode as the weight of a package increases, since these unmanned aerial vehicles have to use additional energy to stay aloft with a heavy load. "Flight is so much more energy intensive -- getting yourself airborne takes a huge amount of effort. So I initially thought there was no way drones could compete with trucks on carbon dioxide emissions," said senior author Anne Goodchild, Associate Professor at University of Washington. "In the end, I was amazed at how energy-efficient drones are in some contexts. Trucks compete better on heavier loads, but for really light packages, drones are awesome," Goodchild said. Interest in the non-military use of drones has increased dramatically with successful operations in delivering food, medicine and mail. While public debate has largely focused on cost reduction, privacy implications and airspace congestion, few people have analysed the environmental consequences that drone technology may have if fully adopted by industries, the researchers found. The new analysis compared carbon dioxide emissions and vehicle miles travelled from drone and truck deliveries in 10 different, real-world scenarios in Los Angeles. The model incorporated 330 different service zones, with the number of recipients varying from 50 to 500 in each zone. The researchers estimated how much energy generation the drone deliveries would require, based on consumption for 10 different hypothetical products. Carbon dioxide emissions were calculated using an average fuel mix for the state of California. The researchers found that delivering light packages with drones may help reduce carbon emissions when compared to truck delivery. Madrid, May 31 : India and Spain on Wednesday committed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism calling it the gravest threat to international peace and stability. A joint statement issued following a meeting here between visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy said both leaders "recognised that terrorism poses the gravest threat to international peace and stability and expressed their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations". "They stressed that there should be zero tolerance to terrorism and that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terror," it stated. "We reiterate that the fight against terrorism requires a robust international cooperation, and we call on all the states to fully implement SC (UN Security Council) Resolution 1373 and all other relevant SC Resolutions, by establishing strong legal provisions against terrorism, terrorist networks, incitement to terrorism and financing for terrorism, and by satisfying requests from other states for cooperation against terrorism." According to the statement, Modi and Rajoy "expressed their strong commitment to reinforce their cooperation in the fight against terrorism, through regular bilateral consultations and cooperation and in the international fora". The two leaders also called on the international community to end selective or partial approaches to combating terrorism and in this regard jointly called for the early finalisation and adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism by the UN General Assembly. "They took note with satisfaction of the progress made on the negotiations for an agreement for bilateral cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, transnational organised crime, and traffic of illegal drugs, narcotics, psychotropic substances and chemical precursors, which will establish the grounds for an enhanced cooperation in these areas, and committed to complete negotiations by the end of 2017," the statement said. It stated that both leaders discussed the challenges present in cyberspace and committed to further their dialogue, both bilaterally, and through a closer coordination in the international fora. Both countries underlined their unwavering commitment to the principles and objectives of the UN and its centrality in international affairs. Both Modi and Rajoy also acknowledged the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, and shared their views on how to expand its membership to make it more representative of the contemporary geopolitical realities and effective, credible and responsive to the existing challenges to international peace and security. The two leaders reiterated their commitment to the freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce based on the principles of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). Both leaders also underlined the importance of European Union (EU)-India relations and the need to deepen the existing EU-India dialogues. "They acknowledged the positive results of 2016 EU-India Summit in March 2016, which marked a new momentum in the EU-India relations," the statement said. "They addressed the shared interest of the two sides to further engage on the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement and expressed the need to restart negotiations soon." According to the statement, during a meeting with Modi, CEOs of Spanish business and industry expressed strong support for the economic reforms in India and highlighted their keen interest to participate actively in flagship programmes like Make in India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, Start-up India and Skill India. Rajoy congratulated Modi on India's fast economic growth and the Indian government's various measures to improve ease of doing business and boost manufacturing growth. On his part, Modi complimented Rajoy on the turnaround and growth of the Spanish economy and the good prospects in the coming years and the transformation of Spain into an open, competitive, export and quality oriented economy. "Both leaders agreed on the need to preserve and further develop open trade and a business friendly investment scenario in both countries, and considered that policies towards protectionism may weaken international trade and have a negative impact in global economy," the joint statement said. Stating that climate action was a key priority for both India and Spain, it stated: "The two leaders reiterated their commitment to implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement." New Delhi, May 31 : Indians are widely opting to travel to unexplored destinations and have been quite experimental with their travelling choices, according to experts. Alankar Chandra, co-founder and CEO of wildlife and nature tourism firm Wild Voyager, and a report by Make My Trip (online travel services firm) have pointed a few summer travel trends this year: Indians this summer have shown interest in travelling to previously unexplored destinations like Digha and North-East's less visited places like Gangtok, Shillong, Kalimpong and Lachung. In the quest to explore the unmapped destinations, travellers are not hesitating before spending for offbeat destinations on international front. This includes the last remaining wilderness like Iceland and Antarctica, or locations like the Bahamas or the Caribbean islands that have so far have largely attracted the elite Europeans. Even corporate executives and professionals are now booking luxury chalets in Switzerland or beach-houses on the Mediterranean coast -- locations that were so far the preserve of the truly rich Indians. More young Indians between the age group of 18-24 are travelling this summer. Sustainable tourism will be a major consumer demand. An increasing number of tourists is conscious of the environmental impact of international travel and enquiring about steps they can take to mitigate the impact of their travel. A majority of urban tourists are wanting to learn about how can they leave little to no ecological footprint behind when they undertake a wildlife tour. Women have been increasingly taking solo or women-only trips. A growing number of international destinations are attracting women because hotels and other stakeholders have made conscious efforts to make travelling more comfortable and safe for women. A significant number of women is stepping out of the comfort zones to have more personal and enriching travel experiences. Solo female travel is now a major trend in India regardless of her marital status. Wildlife photography tours are gaining popularity. While African safaris have always been on the agenda of high-end tourists, growing numbers of middle-level corporate executives are now combining wildlife safaris with guided photography tours. There has been a dramatic rise in the number of travellers looking to experience premier wildlife destinations such as Masai Mara or Costa Rica by coupling it with wildlife and nature photography activities. Destinations like Masai Mara, Iceland, Croatia, South of Italy, Tasmania, and Madagascar are likely to remain hot this year. Culinary tourism is a delight for food lovers who look forward to exotic food experiences in far-away lands. Along with an enriching travel experience, lot many travellers are opting to get a taste of the local culture and kitchen. The surge in food tourism has also led to an increase in the number of specialised tour operators taking care of culinary tourism market. While Italy, Thailand, and Japan have been hot destinations that offer the world of authentic culinary treats, Beijing is fast becoming the top global destination and ranks first on culinary tourism. Amritsar/Chandigarh, May 31 : A woman from Punjab who was allegedly "sold" to a family in Saudi Arabia as domestic help, returned to India on Wednesday, following the intervention of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Talking media persons at the airport, Sukhwant Kaur revealed that she had flown to Saudi Arabia from India on a valid visa. She said that after having worked there as a domestic help for a month when she asked about her wages she was told that she had been sold to the family by the agent. After getting stuck there, Kaur narrated her tale to her husband over telephone, who in turn approached the Ministry of External Affairs. Kaur thanked Minister Sushma Swaraj and others who made her return to her homeland possible. Members of her family and residents of her Ajtani village near Nurmahal in Jalandhar district were also at the airport to receive 55-year-old Kaur who was sent to Saudi Arabia by a Delhi-based travel agency last year. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday thanked the External Affairs Minister for facilitating her return. Amarinder promised a time-bound action plan by his government soon to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from duping innocent people like her. Swaraj had on Tuesday spoken to the Chief Minister to apprise him of the situation regarding Kaur. The Chief Minister deputed officials in Amritsar to receive Kaur on behalf of the government as she landed at Guru Ram Dass International Airport, Amritsar, ending her ordeal. The woman, who was forced to work there as a slave, and was badly treated and also tortured, finally succeeded in returning home to be reunited with her family, with the external affairs ministry's active intervention. New Delhi, May 31 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday set up a committee comprising Central and Delhi governments officials to decide on the matter of regularisation of unauthorised colonies, including constructions in the Sainik Farms. A division bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Navin Chawla, setting up the committee, remarked the issue has been pending over a decade and the way things are moving, the situation will be the same after 15 years. The bench was of the view that there was a need for some policy on the regularisation of unauthorised colonies and it should be brought to some conclusion, as the matter was going back and forth between the Centre and the Delhi government. The committee will be chaired by the Union Urban Development Secretary, and have as its members Delhi's Principal Secretary, Urban Development, senior officials of the civic bodies, the Delhi Development Authority, the Delhi Jal Board, the Central Public Works Department, and electricity distribution companies, said the court, adding that the committee shall meet twice a month and look into all the relevant and practical aspects. The committee should file an action taken report in eight weeks, it said. The court's direction came after Delhi government said it had forwarded a decision to regularise unauthorised colonies in the national capital to the Central government but the latter had not taken any decision even after a lapse of one year. On the other hand, the Central government told the court that no decision was taken since certain clarifications were sought from the Delhi government, which have not yet been received. The court now posted the matter for hearing on August 18. The court was hearing public interest litigations on alleged rampant illegal constructions in the Sainik Farms here. Madrid, May 31 : In a bid to boost India-Spain business and investment ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with CEOs of leading Spanish companies here on Wednesday, inviting them to invest in India and benefit from the immense potential that awaits them in the country. "Met top CEOs of the Spanish industry and urged them to explore the economic opportunities in India," Modi tweeted. He told the CEOs of the reforms being undertaken such as GST, and said that initiatives like Make in India, Digital India and Start up India are attracting much foreign interest. "PM @narendramodi interacts with CEOs of leading Spanish companies with global footprint," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. "He invited them to look anew at a new India emerging with government's push for economic growth," he said in another tweet. There are around 200 Spanish companies in India and they are keen to invest and expand their presence in India. Earlier on Wednesday, addressing the media ahead of holding talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, Modi said Spain has made rapid strides in its economy while his government's top priority too was India's economic growth and development. He said Spain can offer its expertise to India's development priorities like railways, smart cities and infrastructure. Economic partnership is an important pillar of India's engagement with Spain and Spanish companies have a reputation in fields like renewable energy, high speed rail, infrastructure, tunnelling, technology solution including civil aviation, air space management and waste water management. Modi arrived here from Germany on Tuesday on the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe that will also take him to Russia and France. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Spain in nearly 30 years since Rajiv Gandhi paid a trip in 1988. New Delhi, June 1 : Two robbers, who snatched away nearly Rs 23 lakh from a businessman outside a bank after firing at them here in 2015, have been arrested, police said on Wednesday. Anil Dubey, 32, and Pinku Dubey, 32, had on July 25, 2015 committed the robbery outside a bank on Okhla Industrial area. Then Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi had declared a reward of Rs 25,000 on their arrest. The absconding robbers were arrested by police teams on May 25 from near the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway station on a tip off, police said. Members of a Madhya Pradesh-based gang, whose leader Sudhir Parihar and one other member were arrested earlier, both the Dubeys hail from Uttar Pradesh's Etawah district. "They, along with their another accomplice, came on two separate stolen bikes, opened fire on thge businessman and his cousin when they were carrying cash of Rs 23 lakh in their car outside a bank and fled with the cash. Some eyewitnesses tried to chase them but they cleverly threw bundles of robbed cash in order to divert their attention and managed to escape," said Deputy Commissioner of Police G Ram Gopal Naik. "On interrogation, they told police that Parihar hatched the entire plan to rob bank customers who used to carry large amounts of cash," he said. Ankara, June 1 : At least 13 military personnel were killed in a helicopter crash in Turkey's Sirnak Province, the Turkish Armed Forces said. According to the Turkish Armed Forces statement, an AS 532 Cougar-type helicopter carrying 13 personnel took off from a military command in Senoba, Sirnak on Wednesday. Shortly afterward, the helicopter hit a high voltage line and crashed, Xinhua news agency reported. Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik headed to Sirnak following the accident. The accident happened in Senoba district near the Turkey-Iraq border, according to local media. The investigation teams have been dispatched to the site of accident. Actec Systems This First Notice of Loss article has attracted almost 12,000 readers. Actec Systems, a Sertec company, assists many large organizations such as airlines and manufacturers with responsive and sophisticated first notice of loss and absence reporting solutions. To better serve clients, Actec Systems continuously publishes educational content on First Notice of Loss (FNOL) and absence reporting related topics. The article, entitled "What Is First Notice Of Loss And Why Is It Important To Both Policy Holders And Insurers?" has been widely viewed in the industry, attracting almost 12,000 readers since it was published. First notice of loss operations are sometimes staffed internally, but more frequently, the operations are outsourced to a specialist. As one can imagine with any 24/7 by 365 day a year operation, staffing, training and accurate claims intake are challenging for any organization. Outsourced FNOL and absence reporting programs can positively impact organizations by reducing waste and improving productivity, resulting in an increased bottom line. To learn more about Actecs First Notice of Loss (FNOL), custom intake solutions and customized absence reporting solutions visit Actec's website or contact Actec Systems at 770-916-6847. About Actec Systems Actec Systems is a leading provider of first notice of loss and absence management solutions, and other data intake solutions for the insurance industry. Actec is dedicated to providing solutions for commercial and personal insurance carriers, self-insured companies, third-party administrators, and managed care organizations. Actec's value-added solutions help clients control their costs, gather accurate and timely information, and work productively through the claims administration process. For more information, visit http://actec.com. ODU MINI-SNAP ODU, a worldwide leader in designing and manufacturing high-performance connector solutions and cable assemblies is announcing the 48 hour availability of its advanced ODU MINI-SNAP miniature Push-Pull connector solutions to the US market. ODU MINI-SNAP is a circular connector solution with Push-Pull locking and metal housing. The L and K Series from this advanced product line are now available in 48 hours. Additional product features include: high connector density, high performance power, signal, data or other media transfer, multiple keying options, IP50 and IP68, 5,000+ mating cycles durability, contacts for solder, quick and easy mating and demating, RoHS compliant, low power and space requirements, easy cleaning of the housing, robotic mating and demating, customizable capabilities, cable assembly integrated solutions. Available now in 48 hours, ODU MINI-SNAP L and K Series is valuable to a wide range of applications from the medical, industrial, test and measurement, military and security, energy and automotive applications. As part of our vertical integration capabilities, all potential customers can benefit of local one to one engineering support, rapid prototyping and product development, cable assembly integrated solutions, custom connector capabilities, factory direct. For more product information go to: http://www.odu-usa.com ODU Group: global representation with perfect connections The ODU Group is one of the worlds leading suppliers of connector systems, employing 1,650 people around the world. In addition to its company headquarters in Muhldorf am Inn (Germany), ODU also has an international production and distribution network throughout Europe, North America and Asia. ODU combines all relevant areas of expertise and key technologies including design and development, machine tooling and special machine construction, injection, stamping, turning, surface technology, assembly and cable assembly. The ODU Group sells its products globally through its eight subsidiaries in Denmark, England, France, Italy, Sweden, the US, China and Japan, as well as through numerous international sales partners. ODU connectors ensure a reliable transmission of power, signals, data and media for a variety of demanding applications including medical technology, military and security, eMobility, energy, industrial electronics, and measurement and testing. For press inquiries, please contact: Dana Stoica - Head of Marketing, North America Phone +1 (805) 484-0540 Fax: +1 (805) 484-7458 Email: dana.stoica(at)odu-usa.com Were excited to offer MLSPush as we pride ourselves on offering our members with the latest, most up-to-date technical tools, said Annie Ives, CEO of The MLS. The MLS, a Southern California-based MLS system, is offering MLSPush by zipLogix, in partnership with CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, at no additional cost to its more than 15,000 members. The MLS is among the first few MLS systems in California to provide this new technology to its members. With MLSPush, it will be easier than ever for members of The MLS to make an offer. The listing data that is stored electronically in The MLS database auto-populates into a zipForm electronic form. This new technology eliminates the need for multiple passwords and delivers an easy-to-use, streamlined experience. Were excited to offer MLSPush as we pride ourselves on offering our members with the latest, most up-to-date technical tools, said Annie Ives, CEO of The MLS. This new tool allows members to easily push listing data directly into their transactions. It will help save realtors time and help them reduce data entry errors. The MLS offers numerous third-party services at no extra cost to its members, including Realist, Cloud CMA/Cloud Streams and 10K Research and Marketing, among others. Recognized for being at the forefront of innovation, The MLS has its own wholly owned and operated MLS system. Its in-house technical team is in the process of developing a new MLS System, currently in Alpha mode. ABOUT THE MLS The MLS services more than 15,000 real estate professionals in Southern California; it focuses on the greater Los Angeles area and Malibu, and it licenses its software to the Palm Springs Association of Realtors and the Imperial County Association of Realtors. The MLS is recognized as being at the forefront of technology for its wholly owned and operated MLS system. With one-on-one training, webinars, hands-on classes, a YouTube channel and a Help Desk, The MLS members have 24/7 support. The MLS produces its own in-house publication, The MLS Broker Caravan, a high-end magazine that is distributed weekly to 4,000 plus brokers/agents. TheMLS.com also provides a guest site for consumers looking to find their dream home and/or the real estate professional that can help them find it. For more information on The MLS, visit http://www.themls.com If youre spending a good chunk of the year earning back the cost of your annual fee, it could be time to switch out your plastic. RewardExpert --a free service that helps travelers fly for cheap by maximizing airline miles and credit card points-- today released a data report determining how long it takes for credit card holders to break even on their annual fees. The findings show that consumers spending less than $2,000 per month could take a significant portion of the year on average to start netting rewards from most luxury credit cards. The first year of owning a credit card is met with high initial value, shares RewardExpert CEO Roman Shetyn. Sign-up bonuses and other perks often cancel out the cost of an annual fee. Yet when cardholders move into the second year, theyll have to determine whether their spending habits generate enough rewards to counterbalance the cost of owning a card; particularly in the luxury segment. Consumers spending less than $2,000 per month are not necessarily priced out of all luxury cards. US Banks latest release of the Altitude Reserve is giving its contemporaries a run for their money. RewardExperts report finds that consumers spending as low as $1,000 on the Altitude Reserve can start earning rewards after an unprecedented three months, putting this card in a class of its own. The report analyzes luxury rewards cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the American Express Platinum, along with lower-fee cards, like Capital Ones Venture Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Using a combination of consumer expenditure information and credit card rewards data, the report assesses which cards are best for consumers based on an individuals monthly spend, ranging from $500 to $5,000 per month. This past year showed unprecedented interest in luxury credit cards from consumers of all stripes, says Shteyn, making it all the more important for cardholders to evaluate whether their spending habits are aligned with the right rewards credit card. If youre spending a good chunk of the year earning back the cost of your annual fee, it could be time to switch out your plastic. Further details on the report are available on the RewardExpert website. ABOUT REWARDEXPERT RewardExpert helps travelers navigate the world of frequent flyer programs and credit card rewards. Using a sophisticated algorithm, RewardExpert creates simple strategies for using points and miles to help travelers reach their individual travel goals. Simply decide where to go and let RewardExpert do the rest. To get started, visit https://www.rewardexpert.com. Yeah, sure Id have an AI dog. He could take himself for a walk and if he got run over it wouldnt really matter that much. MALE Millennial (22-37) The research study undertaken independently by FlexMR examines the behaviour, perceptions and aspirations of the British public with regards to artificial intelligence as a whole, by gender and generation. The study found that 37% of UK dog owners and 39% of UK cat owners would like to own an AI dog or cat if it were able to emulate their living companions behaviour in all but basic biological necessity; eating, exercising and sanitising. FlexMR CEO, Paul Hudson stated, In a nation of animal lovers the percentage of pet owners who see themselves with an AI pet may appear surprising... But in a world where convenience is everything, it was perhaps inevitable. A marked percentage of the population also aspire to an AI physical assistant, with 70% willing to put their trust in such a robot to carry out routine tasks, i.e. cleaning, taking the rubbish, making the bed. This is strongly countered however by a lack of faith in an AI to take over more complex human roles. Tasks which require academic, social, and emotional intelligence, i.e. surgical procedures, clothes shopping and babysitting will remain in the human domain for the foreseeable future with only 14%, 9% and 4% respectively prepared to commit these to an AI. A political outtake, 23% of Brits claim that they would trust an AI to run the country over and above Teresa May, 27% over and above Jeremy Corbyn. One respondent referenced David Bowies, Saviour Machine. Whilst these statistics are clearly a projection of the UKs current political dissatisfaction rather than a call to AI action there is also an argument here as regards to the benefits of AI in its current state. Not yet able to imitate human emotion or full cognition, AI is perceived publicly as a counter-human intelligence. What was apparent from the AI political questioning was the UKs desperation for some long awaited political stability. The resounding sentiment, at least a machine can be programmed. Whilst we are not going to see an AI Prime Minister any time soon lets hope the upcoming general election result brings with it some cohesion, nationally at least, said Hudson. On the employment front, Brits admit to fearing for their jobs in the wake of recent artificial intelligence developments. Over 1/3 of the UK population fear that they will be replaced by an AI in the workplace and over 1/2 of those consider that it will happen within the next 10 years. The younger generations, Gen Z (7-21 years old) and the Millennials (22-37 years old) demonstrate the most concern where Baby Boomers (53-71 years old) feel relatively secure, likely due to their time remaining in the workforce. An overarching theme spanning the study as a whole was the AI interest demonstrated by the younger generations. Whether they see it as a threat or an opportunity, Gen Z and the Millennials are most open to the concept. It should be noted however that Gen Z are not as enamoured with AIs existing consumer offering as Millennials. Millennials it seems can still be wowed by Alexas soothing tones. With their superior technological expectations however Gen Z are slightly more apathetic. Providers need to up their game to win favour in this market segment, Hudson concluded. This report is based on the combined qual and quant study of 1,013 UK participants representative of the UK population in terms of generation and gender. Additional findings from this research study can be found on the FlexMR blog: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Consumer Behaviour: Topline Research Results Or to request the full research report please contact: Alison Little FlexMR PR and Communications Officer enquiry(at)flexmr(dot)net +44 1539 565455 About FlexMR FlexMR is a UK based international market research software and service provider. Founded in 1990 they provide a full spectrum of qual, quant, community, panel, desktop and mobile online research tools all fully integrated into one simple interface. The FlexMR business model puts the client in control with flexible payment plans and provides optional collaboration with FlexMRs expert team of researchers. If your business information is compromised do not pay the ransom. Instead, we recommend immediately removing the device from the internet and network to prevent the malware from spreading to other devices." The recent WannaCry virus cyberattack has left many businesses re-evaluating their security and privacy policies and procedures to avoid falling victim as the attack continues to spread and replicate. First National Technology Solutions (FNTS), a highly compliant, highly secure, nationally recognized leader in managed IT services, has expertise in information security and risk mitigation and offers tips for organizations looking to protect their data online. One thing businesses can do to try to avoid becoming the victim of a cyberattack is frequently patching their operating systems. A patch is a piece of software used to upgrade or fix a problem or a bug within an operating system, said FNTS Director of Information Security Robert LaMagna-Reiter. Microsoft published the main patch in March. FNTS pushed clients through its patching program sooner than it normally would have, since there were more recent vulnerabilities that were threatening security. Having a scheduled patching process can help protect a business from security threats. Businesses looking to review their security should take the following steps: Make sure all software is up-to-date on a regular basis. Frequently patch operating systems as soon as updates are available. Educate employees about malicious content and how to identify and avoid it. Limit employee access to resources that arent necessary for daily workflow. According to LaMagna-Reiter, user education also is extremely important, since WannaCry is spreading largely through phishing e-mails, in which users must open an e-mail and click on a link or open a malicious attachment. Giving employees less access to resources that arent necessary in their daily workflow also could limit the spread of malware. The malware encrypts and spreads with the permissions inherited from whomever runs the malware. If your business information is compromised do not pay the ransom. Instead, we recommend immediately removing the device from the internet and network to prevent the malware from spreading to other devices. Then, contact your information security team. Infected devices will need to be restored from their last-known working back-up. After the devices are restored, employees should change their login credentials. Before devices are reconnected to the network and internet, they should be updated or patched as much as possible to prevent the virus from infecting it again. Businesses also should ensure that their anti-virus definitions, IPS signatures and other protection features are up-to-date, LaMagna-Reiter added. Tips for Detecting and Avoiding a Security Incident Align your security controls with the risk and impact to your organization and prioritize your responses and resources. Rely on your security automation services. Manual investigation should be used to augment existing alerts. Join forces with trusted third parties, internal staff, law enforcement and security tools. PATCH! Keep systems up-to-date and replace assets that cannot be patched or updated. Watch and recognize patterns while monitoring for vulnerabilities and attacks; utilize behavior analytics and trust your instincts. Remember, security must move as fast as your technology adoption and integration. As technology changes (IoT, big data, digital initiatives) so must your security strategy. Security should be part of the process not an add-on. Educate staff and regularly reinforce training. Suspect an incident? Know what to do next. Report the incident immediately to your IT security staff to determine its validity. Do not destroy or tamper with any evidence. This could inhibit the investigation and put you at risk for becoming non-compliant. Focus on the entire attack, since hackers attempt to operate and remain off the radar. Dig deep, investigate and take a holistic approach. Monitor all systems during an incident. Attackers mask motives through varying attack points. Act quickly and diligently. Once an incident is confirmed, activate the incident response team. Identify how the incident occurred, determine what was affected and prevent it from occurring again. FNTS is available to consult businesses regarding their security and privacy policies. Businesses can email info(at)fnts.com or call 800.820.6924. About FNTS: With over 20 years in the managed IT services industry, First National Technology Solutions (FNTS) is a leading provider of flexible, customized hosted and remote managed services. Specializing in best of breed cloud technology and data center services, FNTS is dedicated to quality personal service, guaranteed uptime, and custom-built solutions that fit individual enterprises today, and align with their future strategic growth plans. Built on stability and fueled by innovation, FNTS partners with the worlds most respected technology companies including VMware, EMC, IBM and Microsoft. For more information about FNTS, visit http://www.fnts.com or follow us @FirstNatTechSol. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, FNTS is a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the Midwests largest privately held financial holding companies, First National of Nebraska. First National of Nebraska has grown into the largest privately owned banking company in the United States. First National and its affiliates have $20 billion in assets and 5,000 employee associates. Primary banking offices are located in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas. No longer will new business be a singular approach, we are broadening our efforts Seacrest Services, Inc., a longstanding leader in the community association management industry in South Florida, announced today that they have promoted Executive Vice President, Anjanette Hanna to the position of President. Seacrest, a local association management institution for more than 42 years, shows their commitment to customer service and being a community partner. Anjanette Hannas diverse background and experience ensures it. Seacrests new President is no stranger to customer service, and brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience. She joined the company in 2001 as the Director of Customer Service and Information Technology after holding several senior management level positions with Fortune 500 companies. Anjanette Hanna, a proven leader and a well-known businesswoman, was appointed to the Executive Board of Seacrest Services in 2003. Her commitment to customer service has been the backbone of the companys solid growth each year. Hanna is excited to bring a new perspective to the top seat at Seacrest. In the 16 years that Hanna has been with the company, she has researched and implemented technological advances that created better solutions for the benefit of hundreds of associations and residents. Born and raised in Boynton Beach, FL, she has been observing the evolution of the local communities, and has applied the trends to Seacrests multiple divisions in order to provide customized solutions for its clients. Not skipping a beat, Anjanette immediately implemented a plan that expands the companys Business Development department. No longer will new business be a singular approach, we are broadening our efforts, says Hanna. The expansion includes the hiring of two new Business Development Managers, Eric Malloy and Kurt Marschall. They will focus their efforts on acquiring more of the tri-countys market share. Having worked in the residential, commercial and governmental landscape services sector, Eric Malloy brings a wealth of property management and landscape experience to his new position within the business development team. Given the opportunity to merge his passion for the environment, and the satisfaction of bringing solutions to clients and communities, Malloy says Seacrest is the perfect fit. Another addition to the business development team is the hiring of Kurt Marschall, Seacrest Services new Business Development Manager of Landscape and Enhancements. Kurt has an outstanding record of developing long-term client relationships with 14-years in national sales and building strong customer service approach gives him and Seacrest the platform to serve our communities more effectively. About Seacrest Services: Since 1975 Seacrest Services has been a leader in community association management. From full-service association management services and professional accounting services to complete landscaping, maintenance and janitorial property needs, we can tailor a specific plan for your community association or commercial property. We take great pride in the longevity of our client relationships and our customers continued satisfaction. With over 40 years of experience, Seacrest draws on its depth of knowledge and highly trained and certified staff to ensure the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We maintain one of the highest levels of experienced employees in our industry, ensuring that your property gets the professionalism you deserve. With offices in West Palm Beach and Pompano Beach, Seacrest Services is uniquely positioned to handle the needs of South Floridas community associations, commercial properties and businesses. MEDIA CONTACT: Ava Alexandrova ava(at)seacrestservices(dot)com We admire the value Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult and Community Education places on lifelong learning and helping community members reach their potential. Career Step, an online provider of career-focused education and professional training, is pleased to announce that Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult and Community Education has become its newest academic partnerand its first academic partner in Maine. Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult and Community Education offers a variety of academic, vocational and enrichment classes to residents of Dayton, Old Orchard Beach, Saco and other surrounding communities in southern Maine. With the partnership, Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult and Community Education will now offer Career Steps Medical Transcription and Editing and Computer Technician programs. Our motto is Learning for Better Living, and Career Steps programs fit perfectly with that focus, said David Durkee, Old Orchard Beach/Saco Program Director. We are thrilled to provide residents in our community with new, high-quality educational opportunities that will open doors for them to enter in-demand healthcare and technology careers. Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult and Community Education joins more than 150 other educational institutions in Career Steps network of academic partners, including the University of Utah, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and Cal State San Bernardino. We admire the value Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult and Community Education places on lifelong learning and helping community members reach their potential, said Glade Tidwell, Career Step Vice President of Academic Partners. Our programs will help further the mission of providing a variety of vocational training programs to the community, and we are happy to now offer our courses to students in Maine. Career Step has partnered with higher learning institutions and community education groups to offer job-skills training to the community for more than a decade. These relationships offer the institutions a turnkey solution for helping students succeed in the workforce while bringing Career Steps affordable online training to a new audience. More information about Career Steps partnership with Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult and Community Education is available at CareerStep.com/oob. To learn more about Career Steps academic partnership program, please visit CareerStep.com/academic-partnerships. About Career Step Career Step is an online provider of career-focused education and professional training. The company has trained over 100,000 students for new careers as well as more than 100,000 healthcare professionals through its various continuing education courses. More than 150 colleges and universities nationwide have partnered with Career Step, and the company provides training for several of the largest and most respected healthcare employers in the nation. Career Step is committed to helping students and practicing healthcare professionals alike gain the skills they need to be successful in the workplaceimproving lives, advancing careers and driving business results through education. More information can be found at http://www.careerstep.com or 1-800-246-7837. We selected Goliath Technologies as a key partner to support our DaaS service because they understand both the technical and business requirements of service providers. Goliath Technologies is the leading provider of proactive IT Operations software for hybrid IT. Regardless of where IT Infrastructure, applications or users are located, their software is purpose built to anticipate, troubleshoot, resolve and prevent end user experience issues. Today, they announced that CloudShape selected Goliaths Product Suite to support their Citrix DaaS customers. As the leader in Secure DaaS solutions for the enterprise, CloudShape is dedicated to helping organizations securely transform their IT infrastructure to meet the changing business culture, said Brad Osborne, Co-Founder & CEO. We selected Goliath Technologies as a key partner to support our DaaS service because they understand both the technical and business requirements of service providers. Goliath Technologies is purpose built to enable service providers to manage to their customer SLAs. From one console, Goliath Technologies Software correlates VDI delivery infrastructure with end user experience so that trending performance issues can be detected before end users are impacted. In addition, there is specific functionality for service providers including native multi-tenancy, role-based security, and grouping based on geography, application, infrastructure or functional responsibility. The ability to anticipate issues before they happen is essential in an environment where there is a hyper focus on meeting customer service level agreements. The way organizations think of IT is changing considerably. The trend towards consumption of IT services through third parties is growing rapidly. CloudShape has a unique offering of on-premises DaaS for those who need secure DaaS, said Thomas Charlton, Chairman and CEO of Goliath Technologies. We are very pleased that they have selected Goliath Technologies to support their go to market service and strategy. Our value to service providers goes beyond technology, and we understand and support their business model. This makes us unique in the market. About Goliath Technologies Goliath Technologies provides proactive IT operations software for Enterprises, Service Providers and SMBs to address the challenges associated with managing a hybrid IT infrastructure. Organizations of all sizes are moving to the Cloud in some form and our products are purpose built to assist in that transition because we manage applications, infrastructure and users regardless of where they are located. Customers use our products to monitor, analyze, troubleshoot and report so performance issues can be resolved before end users are impacted. Because, IT infrastructure is moving. IT accountability is not. Customers include Walmart, American Airlines, Bank of America, Viacom, UHS, HCL, CSC, ADP, Verizon Wireless, Voya, and Office Depot. About CloudShape CloudShape is an IT services and outsourcing company focused on helping government agencies to securely transform their IT infrastructure. What sets us apart is our cloud-based services delivery model. This technology-as-a-service driven approach puts the focus on business outcomes rather than activities and tasks. Our On-Premises Desktop-as-a-Service solution combines the benefits of traditional DaaS and in-house deployed VDI a secure and compliant solution with low capital costs, predictable monthly operating costs, and an exceptional user experience. Multiple Awards for Tools for a Successful School Year (Starting on Day One) These awards recognize that the Four Cornerstones laid out in Tools for a Successful School Year have a significant impact on classroom success. Tools for a Successful School Year (Starting on Day One), from Thoughtful Education Press, wins both a Teachers Choice Award from Learning Magazine in the category of Professional Development and an IPPY Silver Award in Education from the Independent Publisher Book Awards in the category of Education. These prestigious 2017 awards recognize outstanding products for todays teachers. The Teachers Choice Award winners are selected after review by a panel of practicing educators who test the products in their classrooms. IPPY award winners are chosen from among the books of about 2,400 publishers from around the world. Tools for a Successful School Year is organized around what the authors call the Four Cornerstones of Effective Classrooms. Synthesized from research and from the insights of hundreds of teachers, the Four Cornerstones are the essential components that successful teachers establish at the beginning of the year to promote positive behavior and high levels of learning all year long. Author Dr. Harvey Silver explains, These awards recognize that the Four Cornerstones laid out in Tools for a Successful School Year have a significant impact on classroom success. Although the Four Cornerstones serve as the books organizing principle, the primary focus is on the question of how: How do teachers build the Cornerstones in their classrooms? Our approach is extremely practical, co-author Dr. Abigail Boutz says. We recognize that teaching is hard work, so our tools are designed to make that work easier and more effective. Plus, our tools approach to classroom improvement means the book doesnt need to be read cover to cover: instead teachers can skim to find tools that support their particular goals and needs. The book contains more than twenty of these classroom-ready techniques, each designed to help teachers address specific challenges associated with the beginning of the school year. The authors are not new to the process of identifying and developing instructional techniques to help teachers. Tools for a Successful School Year is their third such recent collaboration. Their previous books, Tools for Thoughtful Assessment (2012) and Tools for Conquering the Common Core (2016), both won Teachers Choice Awards. Tools for Thoughtful Assessment also won an IPPY Bronze Award. Co-author Matthew Perini, who also serves as the series editor for the Tools line of books, claims that the success of previous Tools books has been a powerful teacher. Perini explains, In conducting the research, working with educators, and developing the tools for publication, we learned so much about what makes a tool classroom-ready. This learning process led us to a set of design principles, and these principles, which carry over throughout the series, are what make our tools so easy to implement in the classroom. The 2017 Learning Magazine Teachers Choice Award for Professional Development is the fifth Teachers Choice Award for Silver Strong & Associates publishing division (Thoughtful Education Press). The 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards IPPY is the second for the Tools for Todays Educators series. Perini says, These latest awards are a wonderful reminder of what can happen when committed educators are given the tools they need to help all their students succeed. Educators may obtain a free sample tool from Tools for a Successful School Year at http://ToolsForASuccessfulSchoolYear.com. Tools for a Successful School Year (Starting on Day One) (http://toolsforasuccessfulschoolyear.com) published by Silver Strong & Associates Thoughtful Education Press Harvey F. Silver, Matthew J. Perini, Abigail L. Boutz CATEGORIES: Education K-12 Paperback ISBN 978-1-58284-209-7 Available at http://www.ToolsForTodaysEducators.com ---------------------------------------- What education professionals are saying about Tools for a Successful School Year (Starting on Day One): Once again, the Thoughtful Classroom team has provided simple tools that open the door for thoughtful work in the classroom. The tools in this book enhance and complement so many ways in which students can build the Habits of Mind. Bena Kallick, Co-director, Institute for Habits of Mind A well written, easy-to-use resource for new and experienced educators alike. Tools for a Successful School Year provides high-impact strategies that teachers can use to establish a foundation for learning that lasts all year long. A must-have for every classroom. Tracy Quattrone, Director of Pupil Services, Indian Hill Exempted Village School District, Cincinnati, OH Engaging, easy-to-use tools that help you create simple routines that allow for HUGE successes. Lauren Peelen, Spanish Teacher, University Prep Charter High School, Bronx, NY Tools for a Successful School Year has helped me establish an upbeat classroom environment thats characterized by respectful behavior, collaborative relationships, high levels of engagement, and deep thinking. Thanks to the tools in this book, my students know that these are the norms in our classroom. Jennifer Moirao, 3rd-Grade Teacher, Amador Elementary School, Dublin, CA ---------------------------------------- About the Authors: Harvey F. Silver, EdD, president of Silver Strong & Associates, is an educational consultant, bestselling author, and the lead developer of The Thoughtful Classroom, a professional development initiative dedicated to the goal of "making students as important as standards." Matthew Perini, MA, Director of Content Development for Silver Strong & Associates, is an author and the series editor for the Tools for Todays Educators series. Abigail L. Boutz, PhD, has taught, tutored, and mentored students at the elementary through college levels, and has developed numerous training modules and workshops on effective teaching. About the Publisher: Silver Strong & Associates' Thoughtful Classroom program has helped hundreds of schools and districts improve teaching and learning by offering the most personalized, hands-on approach to professional development. Thoughtful Education Press, the publishing division of Silver Strong & Associates, publishes practical resources for educators. Ians enthusiasm for the mission of Compass was obvious from his first interview to be a volunteer, and the values that he and Navigate are committed to so clearly align with ours, said Beth Dahle, Executive Director of Compass. Ian Waxman, principal at Navigate, a management consulting firm with offices in Wayne, Pa. and Philadelphia, has been elected to the Board of Directors of Compass, a non-profit organization that provides pro bono strategic consulting services to area nonprofits. Navigate representatives, including Waxman, have contributed significant time to supporting area nonprofits selected by Compass through projects focused on Board Development, Funding Strategies, Strategic Alignment and Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations. Compass seeks top business school graduates and senior business professionals to serve as Project Leaders, and then staffs each project team with a mix of volunteers with complementary skills and experience. Ians enthusiasm for the mission of Compass was obvious from his first interview to be a volunteer, and the values that he and Navigate are committed to so clearly align with ours, said Beth Dahle, Executive Director of Compass. We look forward to the continued strategic counsel he will bring to our organization and the nonprofits we serve. The work I do for Compass has been very rewarding and a great outlet for sharing my professional expertise with organizations making a real impact on our community, said Waxman. Im excited to take on a deeper role with Compass as it sets its course for the future. Navigates commitment to Community Involvement is central to the firms Core Values. About Navigate Navigate (navigatecorp.com) is a management consulting firm focused on helping clients solve their business problems. The firm provides solutions in the areas of strategy, business operations, technology and risk, with effective project management, organizational change and leadership flowing through every project. Through objectivity, practical advice and regionally located consultants, Navigate offers its clients a different consulting experience that delivers real outcomes. Navigate is proud of its ongoing recognition for company growth and, more importantly, as a best place to work, both regionally and within the industry. Bruce Wakeman We have built an impressive sales team with advanced abilities to understand, anticipate and satisfy our clients' needs. Accelovance, Inc., a global contract research organization (CRO) specializing in oncology, vaccines/immunology and general medicine, recently hired Christine Lys and Katie Winter as Associate Vice Presidents, Business Development. Christine Lys is located in San Diego, CA and is responsible for clients in the Western US region. She has been in the clinical research industry for more than 20 years, most recently with a specialized medical device CRO combining strategic consultation and services. Christine brings to Accelovance a strong background in clinical research methodology across therapeutic areas and treatment types including pharmaceutical, biologic and medical device. She is an advocate for optimal research efficiencies, having represented software companies solutions to collect and analyze patient and clinical data. Christine holds a BS in Psychology, a Masters in Biology from Case Western Reserve University and has authored/co-authored many clinical manuscripts and abstracts. Katie Winter is located in the Boston, MA area and is responsible for clients in the Northeast US region. She brings an equally impressive background, with over 16 years of consultative CRO sales experience, significant drug development knowledge and degrees in both Business Management and Nursing. Katies career focus has been on clinical trial management in all phases of drug development: Phase I through Phase III, proof of concept studies, dose-escalation, post-marketing approval, risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) and disease registries. She also has hands-on experience managing a Phase I Clinical Research Unit that performed healthy volunteer studies for pharmaceutical clients. Prior to joining Accelovance, Katie worked for a variety of CROs, including specialized/niche companies, mid-sized therapeutically focused firms and one of the industrys largest CROs. Over the past year we have built an impressive sales team with advanced abilities to understand, anticipate and satisfy our clients needs, said Bruce Wakeman, Vice President of US Business Development. Christine and Katie are the consummate CRO business development professionals and were delighted to have them join our growing team. Accelovance CEO Steve Trevisan added, Part of being a great company is the ability to attract the best talent in the industry, and we have done exactly that with the hiring of Katie and Christine. They are seasoned salespeople and are already delivering unique value to our clients. About Accelovance -- Accelovance, Inc., headquartered in Rockville, MD, is an industry award-winning global Contract Research Organization (CRO) focused primarily in oncology, vaccine/immunology and general medicine clinical research. As a clinical services provider to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, Accelovance offers comprehensive clinical development services including management and implementation of Phase I-IV clinical trials, supportive research centers, and a clinical engagement solution utilized for recruitment, post-marketing surveillance, and long-term survival follow-up. For more information, visit the companys Web site at http://www.accelovance.com. Michele Ruiz joins IWEC's Board of Directors IWEC is one of the few organizations focused on helping women entrepreneurs grow their businesses globally." Michele Ruiz, Emmy-award winning journalist and advocate for women's business. The International Womens Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) has selected best-selling author, womens business advocate and past IWEC awardee Michele Ruiz as their most recent Board member. She joins 15 other Board members representing successful women-owned businesses and chambers from Peru, Sweden, India, South Africa, Turkey, Spain, Australia and the US. Ambassador Ruth A. Davis, IWEC Chair, said of the nomination: Michele built a legacy of dedication to womens business growth through her work and advocacy efforts. Her stellar background in communications and public relations brings a heightened level of excellence to our initiatives, like the upcoming 10th Anniversary IWEC Conference and beyond, and we look forward to developing a long-lasting, productive and creative collaboration with Michele. Ms. Ruiz is the President and CEO of Ruiz Strategies, a strategic communications firm that develops and executes transformational communications and content marketing strategies for world-class companies, professional services firms, and government entities leveraging the power of social media, new media, traditional media and virtual technologies. Previously, Michele founded SaberHacer.com, a bilingual expert-based how-to educational broadband site for Hispanics in the U.S. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she enjoyed a long career as a TV journalist, receiving 16 Emmy nominations, 5 Emmy awards, 4 Golden Mikes and LA Press Club Awards. Furthermore, her work as a Board member of Women Impacting Public Policy and the Association of Transformational Leaders has left a legacy of mentorship and advocacy not only for women-owned business, but for Hispanic entrepreneurship. Ms. Ruiz is also the author of a best-selling book, Content Marketing for Lawyers and a professional speaker. In that vein, she will also serve as the host during IWECs annual conference next November. I am honored and thrilled to join IWEC as a Board member because I believe investing in womens economic empowerment changes families, communities and countries, said Michele Ruiz. IWEC is one of the few organizations focused on helping women entrepreneurs grow their businesses globally and my businesss global expansion is proof that IWEC is making an impact. The 2017 IWEC conference, whose theme is Connecting Women Businesses Globally: Accelerating Growth through Innovation & Technology, celebrates a milestone: IWECs 10th anniversary. The conference is sponsored by Microsoft and hosted at their corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The theme of the conference is very fitting not only for the venue, but for the emphasis that IWEC places on mentoring, education and cross-collaboration across borders. The conference agenda is a thought-provoking set of panels and presentations covering threads such as Doing Business in the U.S., Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity and Blockchain, among other threads. Among the keynote speakers are Jackie Sturm, VP, Technology & Manufacturing Group GM, Global Sourcing & Procurement at Intel. Every year, IWEC recognizes the breakthroughs, achievements and thought leadership of women business owners from across the globe. In 2016, they presented the IWEC award to 42 successful women entrepreneurs from 21 countries. IWEC awardees typically represent several key industries: computer software, manufacturing, agricultural business, waste management, engineering, health services, skin care, travel, shipping and freight forwarding, education and others. The companies that the current and past IWEC awardees lead account for over US$25 billion dollars in combined revenue, with over 125,000 employees worldwide. During the conference, they engage other business women, chambers and past awardees for trade, networking and business opportunities. Attendance for the exclusive event is capped at 250 attendees. Learn more about the IWEC Conference and register at http://bit.ly/2poMbvS. Contact IWEC: Nancy Ploeger, Executive Director, IWEC. np(at)iwecawards(dot)com (917) 796-4201. Press Office: Conchie Fernandez-Craig, CF Creative. info(at)cf-creative(dot)com. (954) 448-7590 ext. 101. The Stertil-Koni ECOLIFT provides wheels-free lifting via an ultra shallow, full-rise in-ground, and axle engaging vehicle lift DAnnunzio & Sons always bases its choices on quality with the final, customer project in mind. We have quality people, equipment and vehicle lifts all of which positively impact job performance and completion time. Vehicle lift leader Stertil-Koni today announced that top East Coast-based heavy construction company, DAnnunzio & Sons, has selected state-of-the-art heavy duty lifting systems from Stertil-Koni for its recently completed maintenance shop, which adjoins its new corporate offices located in South Plainfield, New Jersey. The new, classic brick building for DAnnunzio features a modern maintenance shop with approximately 7,500 square feet of useable floor area, a 1,500 square foot mezzanine for parts, as well as 14,000 square feet of corporate office space all situated on a 20-acre parcel. There, the company houses its extensive fleet of several hundred pieces of equipment and on-the-road vehicles. These include earth movers, utility trucks, dump trucks, loaders, backhoes and more, all of which must be ready to go on a moments notice to support its extensive range of projects throughout the New York City metropolitan area. Typically, the jobs are big, very big. Recent examples include infrastructure work at airports, bridges, roads, runways, foundations for commercial buildings, airport hangers, rail yard maintenance facilities, water and sewer transmission facilities and more. And thats why maximizing vehicle uptime through high quality maintenance and service is so critical to the company. Explains John Cafro, Equipment Manager at DAnnunzio & Sons, DAnnunzio & Sons always bases its choices on quality with the final, customer project in mind. We have quality people, equipment and vehicle lifts all of which positively impact job performance and completion time. For its new facility, DAnnunzio & Sons worked closely with Stertil-Konis exclusive, New Jersey-based heavy duty vehicle lift distributor, Hoffman Services. Headquartered in Newark, Hoffman Services has an illustrious, nine-decade history, dating back to its founding in 1926. Together, Hoffman Services and DAnnunzio & Sons selected an optimal combination of Stertil-Koni heavy duty lifting systems, including: ECOLIFT 90, a 3-scissor configuration of the companys U.S. patented original, ultra-shallow, full-rise in-ground, axle engaging vehicle lift. It provides wheels-free lifting, has a lifting capacity of 90,000 lbs. and combines high pressure, low volume hydraulics while requiring a mere 3.5 gallons of fluid per scissor. It has proved ideal for servicing a broad range of heavy-duty vehicles, including those with low clearance. ECOLIFT 60, a 2-scissor configuration of the companys ultra-shallow, full-rise in-ground, axle engaging vehicle lift, also providing wheels-free lifting, with a capacity of 60,000 lbs.; and Freedom Lift SK 2.20, a twin-post flexible, efficient open floor two-post lift with a capacity of 20,000 lbs. that delivers optimal workshop space while delivering wheels-free lifting. Helping to make it all possible was the expertise of Hoffman Services, which specializes in heavy truck lifts, bus and vehicle lifts, 2- and 4- post lifts and drive-on lifts. Noted Matthew Morgan, one of the companys principals overseeing the installation, We specialize in heavy duty lifting systems and know that quality, reliability and durability are top priorities for DAnnunzio & Sons. Thats why we are so proud to offer Stertil-Koni lifts which are an ideal fit for this impressive project. About Stertil-Koni Stertil-Koni, a brand of the Stertil Group, is the global market leader in heavy duty vehicle lifts bus lifts and truck lifts and is the preferred supplier to the worlds leading companies in the truck and bus industries. Stertil-Koni's breadth of products meets all ranges of lifting needs and includes mobile column lifts, two-post, four-post, in-ground piston lifts, platform lifts, half-scissors and its innovative axle-engaging, in-ground, scissor lift configuration, ECOLIFT. The DIAMOND LIFT is now available in a frame version, engineered specifically for concrete foundations and ideal for replacement situations. Stertil-Koni is especially well known for its portable lifts (mobile columns) and high-performance in-ground and platform lifting systems. Stertil-Koni USA is headquartered in Stevensville, Maryland. Stertil-Koni has production facilities in Europe, in The Netherlands, and in the USA in Streator, Illinois. The challenge now for many schools is marketing to qualified prospective applicants, and maintaining engagement as the education market grows and becomes more saturated. Major disruptions are happening in education. According to the American Bar Association Journal, the number of LSAT test takers are up while applications are down. Foreign students are outpacing domestic students for STEM graduate degrees while four in 10 institutions are seeing a drop in international applications. Georgetown University Law Center now offers programming classes. In this state of affairs, colleges and universities are depending on their enrollment management professionals to employ innovative means to connect with prospective studentsat home and abroad. Converge Consulting, a digital agency for education, is addressing todays challenges to breathe new and next thinking into recruitment strategies, digital marketing and enrollment models. In response to these rapid shifts in the marketplace, the company has hired two senior consultants with extensive experience in the world of higher education. Issa DiSciullo brings over 20 years of admissions and enrollment management expertise to her new role. Prior to joining Converge, she served as Assistant Dean of Admissions at Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Drexel University. Law school applications have reached an all-time low in a time where we are all competing for the same students, said DiSciullo. Declining numbers means that law schools need to think creatively about new programs to offset revenue loss. DiSciullo will focus her time on consulting with law schools. She will also apply her knowledge of diversity and inclusion in education to share thought leadership with the marketplace. Julie Zimmerman began her career at the US-UK Fulbright Commission in London at the Educational Advisory Service. Since then, she has managed internship programs at the Washington Center and the Science & Technology Policy Fellowships at the American Association for the Advancement of Science and assisted in launching a STEM graduate program at NYU where she oversaw admissions and student services. US institutions are addressing the interest and needs of developing more STEM-based programsespecially at the graduate levelthat provide students an opportunity to gain skills, and allows them to be competitive in the job market, said Zimmerman. The challenge now for many schools is marketing to qualified prospective applicants, and maintaining engagement as the education market grows and becomes more saturated. As senior consultants, DiSciullo and Zimmerman will apply their expertise to help colleges and universities navigate disruption and recruit best-fit students to meet their enrollment goals. These new team members reinforce the companys commitment to channeling disruption to achieve ROI in a very competitive marketplace. Converge is an Inc. 500 digital agency for education with offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Visit the companys website for more information. OCTC logo If this plan comes to fruition, it would be a huge win for both the chemistry industry and Ohios economy. The benefits it could deliver to our region are outstanding. An economic report released by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) last week shows that the Appalachian region could become a second major petrochemical and plastic resin-producing zone in the United States, if the right energy infrastructure is built first. The Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC) strongly supports this approach. The report examined the potential economic impacts of new petrochemicals and plastics manufacturing capacity in the quad-state region of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky. It presents a hypothetical scenario that includes the development of a storage hub for natural gas liquids (NGLs) and chemicals, 500-mile pipeline distribution network and associated petrochemical, plastics and other energy infrastructure and manufacturing. If this plan comes to fruition, it would be a huge win for both the chemistry industry and Ohios economy. The benefits it could deliver to our region are outstanding, said Jennifer Klein, president of the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC). The economic impacts could be substantial for Ohio and beyond. By 2025, the quad-state region could see 100,000 permanent new jobs, including 25,700 new chemical and plastic products manufacturing jobs, 43,000 jobs in supplier industries and 32,000 payroll-induced jobs in communities where workers spend their wages. The new investment could also lead to $2.9 billion in new federal, state and local tax revenue annually. Uncertainty around financing is one of the key barriers to the development of energy infrastructure in our region. Policymakers can help by ensuring that the distribution projects are eligible for existing financing programs. Congress should also consider infrastructure modernization legislation that makes the Hub a priority. We would like to extend a thank you to Senator Portman for his support with this project, said Klein. The full report, The Potential Economic Benefits of an Appalachian Petrochemical Industry, is available from ACC at http://www.americanchemistry.com/Appalachian-Petrochem-Study. About OCTC Representing Ohios chemistry and related companies, the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC) is the leading advocate for Ohios chemical technology industry. Learn more about Ohio's chemistry industry and OCTC by visiting OhioChemistry.org. Danielle Pelletier's work was published in two national journals. It really is a special thing that shes accomplished. - David Clark, Ph.D., assistant professor of English at W&J College. Just days after her college graduation, Danielle Pelletiers writing career is off to an auspicious start. Poetry by Pelletier '17, a Pittsburgh, Pa. native (high school: Barack Obama Academy of International Studies), was published in "The Susquehanna Review," a national magazine for undergraduate students, and in "Permafrost," a national professional publication where she is published alongside graduate students, professors in the field, and professional writers. Pelletier graduated from W&J College during its May 20 Commencement Ceremony. The budding writer submitted her work to the literary journals as part of an advanced poetry course taught by David Clark, Ph.D., assistant professor of English at Washington & Jefferson College (W&J). She was pleasantly surprised when after a few months, she received letters from both publications stating they would feature her poetry. Im really happy, Pelletier said. Even when I got the acceptance letters, it didnt really hit me until I actually got the books and saw the titles and my name. Clark acknowledged that its an impressive feat for an undergraduate student to be published the first time they send their work to literary journals, let alone in two publications. As Clark told his class, it can take years of submitting work before a writer gets something published. It really is a special thing that shes accomplished, he said. I have never had a student do this in 10 years of teaching. Pelletier remains humble and is focusing on continuing to evolve her craft. Currently, shes looking into M.F.A. programs in creative writing to develop her poetry skills further. She said she draws inspiration for her work from her own life, and her poem Healing Stones, which was published in The Susquehanna Review, is based on her childhood experiences with her mother. Prior to attending W&J, Pelletier didnt have a keen interest in writing poetry. She began writing poems in an introductory creative writing course taught by Clark and found she enjoyed the format. As she explored her interest in poetry, Pelletier discovered a favorite poet and writing inspiration in author Sarah Rose Nordgren when Nordgren visited the campus for a reading. Being at W&J gave Pelletier multiple opportunities to grow as a writer. Clark encouraged her by having her write a poem a week this semester, she said, which has helped her push past her self-admitted tendency to procrastinate and consistently produce creative works. Through this process, shes been able to learn more about herself and her writing style. Pelletier intends to continue submitting her work to literary journals in the future. For those looking to find a way into poetry, Pelletier recommends reading poets and finding authors that resonate with the reader. For a younger audience, she suggests checking out slam poets. About Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pa., is a selective liberal arts college founded in 1781. Committed to providing each of its students with the highest-quality undergraduate education available, W&J offers a traditional arts and sciences curriculum emphasizing interdisciplinary study and independent study work. For more information about W&J, visit http://www.washjeff.edu, or call 888-W-AND-JAY. He realized that he condensed 5 years worth of failures into 5 crazy months. Today Daray turns 27. Today he closes on a half million dollar 4 unit property. Needless to say, he's been busy. Life is filled with so many ups and down. Right now life is up. Just a few short months ago life was not so up. As a matter of fact, just a few hours ago he had no clue that he would be closing today or launching a podcast today. Late 2016 Daray was a young and hungry entrepreneur. To that fact nothing has changed. It's highlighted to emphasize the slow progress made leading up to this day. August of 2016 Daray decided to seek out and purchase his second rental property only having purchased the first one just 3 months prior in Houston, Texas. He decided that the opportunity was in Dallas so he packed his bags actually he didnt pack his bags. To further explain, he had been working hard all summer to create a few streams of passive income, some stuck but most failed. The idea was that if he was able to create these streams, then he would then be able to use the profit made to invest in Real Estate and start building generational wealth for his family while creating the lifestyle he envisions. Real Estate still is the goal. The plan, however has changed drastically since then. Daray soon began his search for a 2nd property to house-hack, renovate and move in tenants. It was similar to the plan for his 1st property. He quickly realized that the market was entirely too hot and that it would take him a lot longer than his previous estimated deadline of 3 weeks to get off of a friends couch. Not coincidentally, his girlfriend lives in Dallas and has been extremely instrumental in his success while supporting him through what they thought would be a 3 week process but turned out to be a 9 month process - No, not a baby. It literally took him 9 months to move to Dallas. Its now time to actually pack his bags and become a resident of Dallas, TX. In the past 9 months, Daray has made numerous offers on properties, he even went as far as having a couple of properties under contract. One property being a futuristic 215K purchase price condo that remained under contract for four whole months just to walk away empty handed. Empty handed due to the seller who (knowingly or unknowingly) neglected to disclose certain liens against the property. Daray expresses that this was one of the worst roller coaster rides he had ever been on to date. Today, he's grateful for the experience and wouldnt trade it for anything. He's learned so much and grown as a person in ways he still doesn't believe. Throughout the process Daray has experienced many sleepless nights, friction with family members and friends, thousands of dollars and countless time thrown away. It was gruesome. Luckily (or unluckily), he had been through a lot of the same problems before so wasnt a stranger to the lows. Especially having spent the previous 2 years in what he believes to be the lowest points in his life - This will be covered on a future BTM podcast. These lows equipped him with the grit he needed to stay afloat and keep his head above water while the world around him, as he knew it, was crashing and burning. He couldnt close on any deals, none of his businesses were profitable - in fact they were eating into his cash for the property purchase and any other funds they could get their hands on. Daray had too many things going on at once. He would go work his corporate job, get home and work on his businesses until it was time to shower and head to his corporate job again. He mentioned that he couldnt even recall how many nights he did this or how many nights he actually did sleep, but in his car because he had arrangements to close on a property that didnt fall through. Late December 2016 he realized that he was taking 3 steps back for every 2 steps he took in the right direction. Over time he shut down his businesses one by one - not only because they began to grow too costly but also because he didnt have the time to manage them so they would never grow profitable. This proved to be a good thing as he started freeing up more time for his primary businesses at the time, an online high end furniture store and real estate. He realized that he condensed 5 years worth of failures into 5 crazy months. Daray also realized that he was behind schedule on his Real estate goals and therefore decided to make a hard stop and seek advice. Through a series of unrelated events he was able to hone in on exactly what he wanted to do, how he wanted to do it, and when he wanted it done by. January 2017 Daray took off to the races. His plan was to create 2 seemingly complex businesses and focus on nothing else. He decided on 2 businesses rather than 1 because they complimented each other very well. More importantly they were right in line with his long term goals. Short term goals -- Daray's 2017 goals are to own and operate 100 units through the purchase of apartment complexes and helping millions of people through their entrepreneurial and investing journey of creating a lifestyle that most dont know is even possible. He's aware how massive these goals are, especially for someone who has a full time corporate job but by publishing this release, everyone can hold him accountable. Once Daray was finally set on his path towards accomplishing his goals, he figured that the worst was behind him and that the lows of the past 2 years would finally see some balance. He was wrong. Terribly wrong. Things got worse and fast. He got more entrenched in his corporate work, deals were continuously falling through left and right, tenants were vandalizing his property with no regard, the IRS decided to freeze his accounts, all while he was still technically considered homeless. At this point or maybe even far before this point, many would have tucked their tails and returned to safety BUT he was way too determined. Having learned at a young age that there was really no such thing as failure if one has the right mindset. So the more life pushed, the more he pushed back. He wasnt taking no for an answer and committed to seeing his goals through. So thats exactly what he did (and continues to do). The Before the Millions podcast was originally planned to launch late April including the closing of the aforementioned property around this same time. Completely unrelated, problems with both the podcast and his real estate ventures kept creeping up one after another; it was like a never ending cycle. At one point the problems grew so ridiculous that he just knew there was a force out there trying to prevent his success. Different problems would arise and he would hear statements from professionals like in my 35 years of doing this, Ive never seen anything like this or this problem has always been a myth, youre the first person Ive seen it happen to. He received these words of encouragement constantly and always replied with a smile and a Wow, you mean Ill get to tell that story one day rather than a why me panic attack. Every day for about 20 days, he was literally supposed to close on the property (again this stint was nothing to him as he had a previous property under contract for 4 whole months before complete disaster). Almost every day they would have to push the closing back a day because of some issue no one had ever heard of before or because someone on his file was being fired or leaving. Even just yesterday, Daray couldnt close on the 4-Plex because Chase's Banking system that catered to his particular transaction was down, not only was it down but they were in a fight against the clock as if Chase didnt resume functionality in a timely manner the seller would be ready to walk. The seller almost pulled out of the deal on numerous occasions but again that's another story. On the Podcast front, again just yesterday, iTunes (as well) was experiencing technical difficulties that had never happened before and that had only affected a very small group of people around the world. From the theme surrounding this narrative, of course its an easy guess that Daray Olaleye was in that small group whereas millions of everyday users were unaffected. These werent the worst problems, but the most recent. These problems, or series of unfortunate events came together in one accord to cease on one day, the same day at that. His birthday! Crazy right? Daray's string off failures and problems, unplanned of course, have led to the bizarre outcome that is turning 27, adding a new multifamily property in his portfolio and launching the all new Before the Millions podcast. His story has inspired countless members in the Biggerpockets community to stick with it no matter the odds or opinions! God Bless - At the end of the day he is the only one that can truly bless. Inspired by the Host of the Before the Millions podcast Daray Olaleye? Enjoy the variety of millionaires and entrepreneurs that Daray has on the show every week discussing a wide array of topics from Entrepreneurship, Investing, Real Estate, Travel, Financial Literacy and much more. Join a growing community visit us now at beforethemillions.com. Chinese Government Congratulates Olaeris The future of unmanned aviation belongs to type class certified aircraft, not drones Next generation unmanned aircraft company Olaeris has signed a contingent Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with Chinese government officials to build a manufacturing facility in the central Hunan Province of China. The project is planned to be a state-of-the-art aviation engineering and production facility that meets U.S. safety standards and FAA Production Certification requirements. Chinese Hunan Province officials first approached The KREM Group in Dallas seeking new ventures for inclusion inside its Free Trade Zone that targets emerging leaders in aviation, aerospace, robotics and artificial intelligence. KREM Group then orchestrated negotiations to best align the interests of all parties. With an initial outlay of $300 Million USD over six years, the master planned project spans over 4200 acres and has global shipping connectivity to rail, sea and air. A new airport is also underway with a 2km runway. The Olaeris JV will first be inspected for Production Certification stamping from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Combining this stamp with the U.S. FAA Aircraft Type Class Certification Olaeris began in early 2016, the company will then be able to move into production and global order fulfillment on its AEVA unmanned aircraft systems. Olaeris unveiled its next generation AEVA unmanned aircraft at the 2016 Heli-Expo to critical acclaim, aviation industry accolades and over $95 Million in orders signed during the second half of 2016. Unlike UAVs or drones that have limited flight times and restricted flight capabilities, AEVA was designed from conception to be a fully Type Class Certified aircraft like helicopters or commercial jets and to fly unfettered in the airspace. Drone companies continue to pursue exclusions from aviation safety regulations and waivers that severely limit how they can be flown. Olaeris wont be limited by those restrictions and will be free to fly anywhere, just like helicopters. The future of unmanned aviation belongs to type class certified aircraft that can work alongside manned air traffic without flight restrictions or compromising safety. Current drones do not have that capability to compete for commercial business in the long run. The Chinese government seems to understand this shift in the segment and is making bold investments to position for the future of the aviation industry. Im excited at the prospects this deal offers, said Ted Lindsley, CEO. Production will first begin on the growing book of orders for AEVA unmanned aircraft systems before expanding into production of certified aircraft for other companies. The production facility should be similar to those operated by companies like HAECO, Boeing and Airbus, but primarily focused on unmanned aircraft designs of all sizes. As the 'drone' industry matures from the radio controlled toys being flown today, the Olaeris facility will help other companies achieve a faster path toward their own type class certifications. This recognition shows that BiZZdesign is on the right track to deliver on its vision Over the past year BiZZdesign increased its focus on customer experience, appointing a Customer Success director and introducing a jointly owned and planned implementation roadmap with customers. BiZZdesign believes its position is due to its growing customer base and expanding geographical coverage. The excellent customer service and experience is confirmed by its customers. They rated BiZZdesign with a 4.4 out of 5, commending its ease of use and short time to value (source: Gartner Peer Insights, based on 18 ratings as of May 24, 2017). BiZZdesign is not only a tool provider, they work beyond this. They understand thoroughly what enterprise architecture is and how it can benefit the organization, says a customer in the Finance industry. Another customer in Government claims that BiZZdesign is a sound partner with lots of knowledge about Enterprise Architecture, understanding it's all about improving business outcome. We believe this recognition shows that BiZZdesign is on the right track to deliver on its vision, says BiZZdesign CEO Huub Janse. BiZZdesign helps companies to drive simplicity. We enable our community to improve the quality and speed of decision-making on their journey towards continuous improvement and transformational change. BiZZdesign had an excellent first quarter of 2017, reporting double digit growth in recurring revenue. We will continuously invest in the success of our customers, improving our software and services according to their needs, says Janse. *Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Architecture Tools by Samantha Searle & Marc Kerremans, May 24, 2017 About BiZZdesign Driving Simplicity BiZZdesign empowers organizations worldwide to improve the quality and speed of decision-making. Our collaborative business change platform, Enterprise Studio, provides indispensable insights in strategic business initiatives and triggers change across all key disciplines. BiZZdesign is recognized by analysts as a Leader in the Enterprise Architecture space. Gartner Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Gartner Peer Insights reviews constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-users based on their own experiences, and do not represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. PMO Advisory developed the ExecutionIndex based on an ongoing survey of more than 600 global and U.S. executives. This index is designed to address one of the greatest challenges of evaluating and comparing businesses across companies and industries. Perhaps the greatest challenge confronting all organizations is the ability to perform strategic business execution or simply put doing the right things, at the right time, in the right way. As a leader in business execution, utilizing disciplines such as project, program, and portfolio management, PMO Advisory developed the ExecutionIndex based on an-ongoing survey of more than 600 global and U.S. executives. This index is designed to address one of the greatest challenges of evaluating and comparing businesses across companies and industries. Strategic business execution is both vast and complex; now with the ExecutionIndex, organizations can readily assess their standing against their peers across a multitude of considerations such as company size and industry. Perhaps more importantly, organizations can examine their ExecutionIndex and develop a plan for achieving and sustaining execution excellence. For a complete list of benefits, click here. The interim result of that study was presented at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Global Congress 2017 in Rome. Prof. Te Wu, the founder and CEO of PMO Advisory and Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, presented The Five Rules of Business Execution: Achieving Immediate and Sustainable Strategy Implementation that includes the results of the survey. The five rules are as follows: 1). Focus on the Vital Few; 2). Determine What is Good Enough for the Rest; 3). Establish Good Metric Systems; 4). Nurture and Motivate People; and 5). Develop a Culture of Execution Readiness; which all foster success and achieve results in execution. Click here to read a detailed article about the five rules. To make the presentation more engaging and hands-on, PMO Advisory created a simplified questionnaire to estimate the ExecutionIndex. The short survey took less than five minutes to complete, and it was so well received that PMO Advisory has decided to make available this survey to every business executive for a set time limit. For a limited time only, PMO Advisory is allowing businesses to learn their ExecutionIndex rating through a short questionnaire available to everyone for free. Participants will receive a complimentary custom report comparing their response with the growing body of results. Organizations can gauge how well they execute as compared to their peers in the industry. The study is ongoing, and all participants will have the opportunity to receive additional reports published quarterly or semi-annually. The reports are completely free of obligations including any sales calls. To participate, click here to join the study. For those who were unable to attend PMI Global Congress 2017, you can still gain the Business Execution insights by signing up with the PMO Advisory Newsletter entitled the Project Management Insider. The Project Management Insider is monthly and includes helpful and practical advice on Portfolio, Program, and Project management topics which will benefit any organization. Also included is advance notice about training, events, webinars, new product development, upcoming releases and more -- including early bird discounts on training courses. Click here to view the latest newsletter and sign up for the PMO Advisory Project Management Insider Newsletter. About Dr. Te Wu: He is certified in PfMP, PgMP, PMP, and PMI-RMP, along with being the CEO of PMO Advisory - a PMI Global R.E.P, and an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University. He is an active PMI volunteer on multiple fronts, including serving on PMIs Portfolio Management Core Team, CAPM Learning Objectives Task Team, and he is one of the few people that spans the boundaries of being a practitioner, executive, teacher, storyteller, writer, and researcher. Most recently he is a member of the American National Standard Institute (ANSI)s Technical Advisory Team (TAG) 258 on Project, Program, and Portfolio Management. Park Map Too few people outside the world of sustainability insiders are aware of the green tech improvements of the recent decades. We want to help bridge this gap. GreenSpark Interactive Sustainability Park launches its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. The campaign aims to fund the completion of Americas first Sustainability park - a unique place for visitors of all ages to experience Renewable Energy, Green Building and Sustainable Transportation exhibits, all set in a park-like setting in bucolic Waterbury Vermont. People can support this initiative by visiting https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nycalex/greenspark-americas-first-interactive-sustainabili/. GreenSpark designed exciting rewards for the campaign backers, whether local to the region or based elsewhere in the country. These rewards include in-depth founder-led tours of the park, rides in the unique vehicles from the Sustainable Garage, and even a lifetime free admission to GreenSpark. More distant backers can support a school trip to GreenSpark and get a personal thank you note from a student who benefited from their pledge. In order to fulfill its mission of inspiring local and global communities to adapt current green technologies through interactive hands-on experiences, GreenSpark has acquired land, received all the necessary state and town permits, and has already built and bought multiple Green Building, Renewable Energy, and Sustainable Transportation exhibits. GreenSpark is aiming to open mid to late summer of 2017. The story of GreenSpark begins back in 2010/2011 when its founders left behind their busy NYC lives and embarked on a year long journey across the country to learn more and personally experience anything and everything that has to do with sustainable living. By the end of that year long trip they realized that theyve seen so much that they had to share it with the others. And the idea of GreenSpark was born. Alex Chernomazov, GreenSparks co-founder, explains: In the recent decades weve seen exponential improvements in all aspects of green technologies - transportation, energy, construction. Yet relatively few people outside the world of sustainability insiders are fully aware of all this abundance. We want to do our best to bridge this gap. About GreenSpark: GreenSpark is a sustainability focused startup based in Central Vermont. Its founders, Alex Chernomazov and Ella Malamud combine 25+ years of technology and education experience with their passion for sustainability to bring to life Americas first Interactive Sustainability Park. Media Contact: Alex Chernomazov, media(at)GreenSparkVT(dot)com Press Kit: http://www.GreenSparkVT.com/kickstarter/press-kit ### Limited Edition RAYMOND WEIL David Bowie Freelancer In collaboration with the David Bowie Estate, Raymond Weil pays homage to legendary musician David Bowie. The Limited Edition freelancer David Bowie, is a tribute to the life and musical career of one of the most influential artists of all time. Created to celebrate what would have been Bowies 70th birthday, this timepiece is dedicated to a few of the many personas created by David Bowie, an artist with unparalleled creativity, a singular visionary, a man of a thousand faces and voices. Bowies boundless talent and fearless innovation shone through his final masterpiece, , released last year to some of the best critical notices of his distinguished career and winning five Grammy Awards and two Brit Awards in 2017. To celebrate the immortal David Bowie, Raymond Weil has chosen its most free-spirited model freelancer. Its 42 mm diameter case contains a dial resembling a vinyl record clearly featuring some of the most emblematic design cues of the British artist. Amongst the key design features, the lightning bolt painted across his face that first appeared on the cover of the Aladdin Sane album in 1973. The instantly distinctive mark universally recognized, the stylized lightning bolt is featured in red at 12 oclock. The pop art logo designed by Andy Warhol especially for David Bowie and revealed on the cover of the album Diamond Dogs in 1974 makes its mark on the dial of the David Bowie Limited Edition. Produced in a 3,000-piece limited, numbered series, the freelancer David Bowie beats to the tempo of a mechanical self-winding movement that appears beneath a portrait of David Bowie, immortalized in 1974 by famous photographer of legends, Terry ONeill. A photograph printed on the sapphire of the watchs case-back, from which this artist in his own league challenges the world with his atypical, magnetic gaze. He was an artist in a league of his own, a visionary, multi-faceted icon whose work is testimony to an exceptional career as a musician and a creative. His metamorphoses both in terms of style and music studded his career, catapulting both himself and his characters to legendary status. He embodies the free spirit that has guided Raymond Weil day after day since it was created, declared Elie Bernheim, CEO Raymond Weil Ive always felt that there was a real synergy behind great timepieces and photography. The precision of keeping time is akin to a photographer needing to know the exact moment to capture an iconic image. As a watch collector myself, this Raymond Weil collaboration is a wonderful project to be affiliated with. Their watches are a thing of beauty. Im thrilled theyve selected to pay tribute to David Bowie in such a way and Im honored to be a part of it. Terry ONeill Join the discussion on social networks using the hashtag #RWDavidBowie Download materials: https://raymond-weil.com/en/blog/2017/03/21/2017-03-21-raymond-weil-celebrates-genius-david-bowie/ Shop the Bowie Limited Edition: https://store-us.raymond-weil.com/product/freelancer-2731-stc-bow01/ Hydroponic Greenhouse High Yield Agriculture for Rural Yucatan Mexico Monarca is sharply forced on food, energy, water and jobs, and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico is location for phase one of their large high yield greenhouse project. Monarca, a Mexico City company, has contracted with Turf Feeding Systems to design, build and manage a large 33,000 hectare agriculture project to produce food and renewable energy biofuel in the Yucatan region of Mexico. Phase one of the Monarca project is a large hydroponic greenhouse complex that will produce high value vegetables and fruits for export as well as develop high yield Jatropha plants for their phase two 33,000 hectare Jatropha plantation. Jack Katz, CEO of Monarca states, We are moving ahead quickly with phase one of our master project by creatingthe Monarca Agriculture and Technology Center. The Center will include over 60 hectares of hydroponic greenhouses as well as a high level laboratory and career and teaching center for our team and local growers. This will be the cornerstone of the Monarca project and follow our mission - To produce the highest quality fruit and vegetables for less cost in rural Yucatan Mexico, while raising the local economy. Michael Chaplinsky, President of Turf Feeding Systems, explain,We will build massive (120 acres) areaof high yield hydroponic greenhouses and implement our special fertigation systems with a proprietary organic nutrient program developed by Dr. Bill Nolde, our agronomist. Dr. Noldes program is unlike any other hydroponic or agronomic program using organic carbon, bichar and special amino acids to produce quality and production unmatched in any area of agriculture. Chaplinsky continues,We will grow high value vegetables and fruit that can be exported with a great margin for the business side of the center, however we will also develop and cultivate high yield Jatropha for the plantation. Then we will implement all our technologies into 33,000 hectares of for hydroponic cultivation of high yield Jatropha. Chaplisky concludes, The scope of greenhouses with fertigation is not our only values. Jack Kats selected the Yucatan because it has great values with abundant land, great sun light, abundant water and great people. We look at the people of rural Yucatan as our future team members. We will train and educate locals to become part of our team. Our goal is to raise the livelihood and the economy of rural Yucatan and start and their economic engine. Once that starts, it will create an economic magnet and pull people into the engine and raise the local economy. It will pull people back from the US, which is better than building a border wall, Chaplinsky explains. Bio: Michael Chaplinsky is the President of Turf Feeding Systems, a world leading company in fertigation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. Mr. Chaplinsky has developed new technologies integrating fertigation, new irrigation technologies and special soil treatments to reduce irrigation water up to 50%, reduce fertilizer and chemicals 60% while increasing crop production as much as 50%. Mr. Chaplinsky works and speaks at many agriculture conferences worldwide. He is a world expert in Soil Restoration, Water Efficiency and Sodium Issues in water and soil. He developed a new sustainable agriculture program that restores poor soil and produces higher crop production, while reducing water, fertilizer and chemicals. He states, The world population has passed 7 billion and will pass 9 billion by 2050; however tillable productive farmland in the world is diminishing. My mission is to restore damaged farmland not bulldoze native forests to increase farmland. Contact - mc(at)turffeeding(dot)com Spring-Green Franchise Owner Scott Garcia purchased an existing Spring-Green territory in Durham, NC on Friday, May 12, 2017. Garcia began his career with Spring-Green as a manager and later purchased the franchise he managed. Since then, he expanded his Spring-Green franchise to four territories. When Garcia first bought his franchise he had 300 customers, but through his efforts he has grown his customer base to over 1,500. With this new territory expansion, he is estimated to add roughly 2,300 more customers. Garcia credits much of his success to the marketing efforts and support provided by Spring-Green. He also believes that his excellent customer service allows him to attract more customers in his territory. Over the first couple of years, we focused on our residential growth and made sure we were communicating with our customers and answering all of their questions. That has led to a good number of referrals and positive word of mouth, Garcia said. Acquiring an existing business is a big undertaking. Garcia was never alone or without guidance. His Spring-Green business consultant helped him step into his new role and prepared his business for success. I collaborated with Dave Dawson to create an annual plan, a three-year plan, and a five-year plan, Garcia states. We set some goals based on numbers of new customers and annual revenue. Garcia and his business consultant, revisited this growth plan every six months to make sure he was on pace. They also determined strengths and weaknesses and revised the plan as needed. Together they dove into the books to make sure the territory he was purchasing would meet his financial goals without putting strain on his family. Garcia is motivated to become a million-dollar Franchise Owner and this acquisition puts him one step closer. Having seen what is possible each year makes me want to continue to grow and strengthen our foothold in our community, Garcia states. I see the results; I hear from satisfied customers, and I want to continue this trend. Dawson also credits Garcias hard work and dedication. Garcias early adoption of the Spring-Green operating system, and daily best practices are his biggest contributors to his success. He also understood that working with the Spring-Green support center team was going to give him the best opportunity for success. Being a Spring-Green strategic partner means being in business for yourself, but not by yourself. He knew that reinvesting into diversified marketing and executing lead follow-up processes were going to be the difference makers, Dawson explains. About Spring-Green Lawn Care Founded in 1977, Spring-Green Lawn Care in Plainfield, Illinois has been delivering lawn and tree care services nationwide for 40 years. Its service is centered on the beautification of residential and commercial customers in middle-class and affluent neighborhoods and communities. Spring-Green is an attractive opportunity for entrepreneurs and existing green industry business owners who want to align themselves with a business model that has proven economic resilience, healthy profit margins, industry leading business and marketing intelligence, recurring revenue and retirement and succession planning. For more information, visit http://www.growmygreenindustrybusiness.com/ Contact: Spring-Green Lawn Care Corp Brad Saunders, Director of Business Development 800-777-8608 bsaunders(at)spring-green.com The innovation and efficiencies are realized through our softwares ability to consolidate orders with multiple suppliers and warehouses, says Ken Will, ThoughtSpeeds CEO. Healthcares spending crisis, particularly in Ontario, has been dominating the news in 2017. First, we heard from Ontarios financial accountability office that the province must remove $2.8 billion from health spending by 2019. Then the Ontario Chamber of Commerce published a report arguing for more efficient procurement and supply chain processes. And now the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy says the federal government has to come up with more cash. Amidst this melee, there have been few specifics on how the system can save money. But one Canadian technology company, ThoughtSpeed eCommerce Ltd., has evolved its cloud-based offering to position it as a major player, driving advanced capabilities from its experience providing a SaaS-based order management system for the Canadian Pharmaceutical Distribution Network (CPDN). CPDN is a group of 25+ pharmaceutical companies that supply their products to over 800+ hospitals in Canada using integrated technology and distribution services to lower drug costs. The innovation and efficiencies are realized through our softwares ability to consolidate orders with multiple suppliers and warehouses, says Ken Will, ThoughtSpeeds CEO. This creates significant cost savings and moves beyond pharma and into medical-surgical devices and consumables. Recent enhancements to the ThoughtSpeed Order Management Solution include Demand Planning and Forecasting, Credit Card Processing and Two Factor Authentication (2FA) for controlled substance orders. The ThoughtSpeed technology could take the Canadian healthcare supply chain toward an Amazon model. However, despite the companys ability to ensure custom pricing in a multi-channel, multi-supplier environment, the healthcare sector has been slow to respond, with the mainstream news focusing on the problem and not the solution. The report from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, for example, devotes considerable space arguing for a framework for modern supply chain practices but with few specifics on the technologies that will drive this change. Right now, wholesale ordering in healthcare is a black hole, says Mike Neary, ThoughtSpeeds VP Business Development. But weve developed a system that supports one-stop shopping, with full inventory, contract & pricing visibility, which drives operational efficiencies and reduces overall costs. Its the Amazon model for Canadian healthcare, which allows any supplier to ship directly. This shift toward a consolidated, nimble, and more consumer-oriented approach has been in the air for years, but there has been little news of a technological solution because it was assumed that Canadas single-payer system, and its centralized funding models, tended to support traditional B2B technologies. This is certainly true of Ontarios Shared Services organizations (SSOs). We bought SAP, and we coordinate Ariba for contract management, says David E. Yundt of Plexxus, an SSO that represents 10 hospitals in Ontario. SAP is used for supply chain and finance, and Ariba is primarily run for contract management. These are complex projects there was no way any of the hospitals could have hoped to have implemented that solution on their own. It took us 3.5 years to get SAP running, and another year to get the data cleaned up. Only then can we leverage the advantages. To date, Yundt says that Plexxuss common information technology platform, which the hospitals share for the supply chain finance function, has saved them upwards of $100 million. Thats significant, and speaks to the advantages of having an SSO manage a common IT system on behalf of a group of hospitals. But it remains the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential savings. Our experience with CPDN is a good indication of where future savings can be found, says Will. ThoughtSpeed can handle a range of different products, from multiple manufacturers and third party warehouses. Despite the fact that the demand for technological innovation in the supply chain is strong, the perception persists that the Canadian system somehow precludes an Amazon-type solution. Nothing could be further from the truth there has been plenty of research to support that this is the direction we need to be heading in. Certainly in shared procurement and order management systems, shared financial systems in those types of administrative areas, there are significant opportunities to drive down costs, says Susanne M Flett, President and Founder of Healthtech Consultants in Toronto. Weve seen a number of studies that show where there are opportunities here. The problem has been that a fragmented system results in fragmented solutions. But the trend toward consolidation as was highlighted recently with Saskatchewans decision to amalgamate its 12 health regions into one authority is shining a spotlight on the role of technology. And here is where ThoughtSpeeds role with CPDN is instructive. As an additional benefit to CPDN members, they now have a complete and accurate understanding of what the hospitals have ordered, says Will. They know which drugs are ordered, in what quantities, the frequency, the date everything, in real time. They also benefit from the unique ability to allocate limited stock equitably. This is different from traditional ordering solutions. Using the ThoughtSpeed system, orders are direct from the manufacturers with no wholesalers markup. Without a middle man, many-to-many procurement becomes viable something that is sorely lacking in the healthcare supply chain in Canada. And, of course, this can apply well beyond pharmacy to include consumables, consumer package goods, and medical-surgical devices. As it works today, for the same product, there are multiple contracts for different hospitals or groups of hospitals, says Neary from ThoughtSpeed. We can provide provincial government administrators with a solution which provides visibility into all pricing variances hospital by hospital, or region by region. Given that CPDN has proven that ThoughtSpeed can integrate with a range of ERP and warehouse systems some of them home grown there is, in effect, no technological barrier to larger scale integration. The opportunity exists for provincial governments to use one tool, with all ordering managed under a single umbrella. Our software is currently used in every hospital in Ontario, says Will. With centralized catalogues and pricing, administrators can easily and effectively manage contracts across the entire province. Some of the resistance to change is as much cultural as technological, given that inefficient systems tend to employ more people. However, as the healthcare spending crisis deepens, the pressure to embrace technologies that drive a more efficient supply chain will increase dramatically. The good news is that those technologies already exist. Portion reprinted, with permission, CANADIAN HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY April, 2017 http://www.canhealth.com Top Chef Winner, Jeremy Ford This is an exciting and challenging collaboration for me, says Ford. Ill be cooking for people whove been given access to some amazing chefs and experiences through the Coopers Hawk wine club. Im honored to now be part of that family. Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurants, a lifestyle dining brand centered around wine, announces today their latest collaboration: a four course dinner and wine event with Top Chef 2016 Winner Jeremy Ford. The event, being held at the Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurant in Orlando is part of an on-going series called Friends of Coopers Hawk, which partners with chefs and winemakers for exclusive food and wine experiences. Coopers Hawk Founder & CEO, Tim McEnery, is thrilled to bring Jeremys talent to Coopers Hawk wine club members, as it signifies his commitment to create experiential moments around food and wine. The collaborative foundation of the Coopers Hawk brand has led to partnerships with some of the food industrys top trailblazers including Tyler Florence, Gail Simmons, Fabio Viviani, Jean-Charles Boisset and more. Collaboration builds community and connection, says McEnery. And by collaborating with chefs like Jeremy Ford, were able to provide wine club members access to curated experiences that are unique and special. Jeremy has created a menu that pays homage to Spring a season that brings life and new ingredients to the table. His first course, a Burrata with Togarashi, Ponzu & Melted Warm Butter is a spin off a dish that helped him seal the deal on Top Chef. Hell also be doing a Roasted Halibut with Asparagus, Morels & Pistachio followed by a Crispy Short Rib, Polenta Fries and dessert course. Wine pairings include selections from the award-winning Coopers Hawk Lux Collection Coopers Hawk Lux Sparkling, Coopers Hawk Lux Chardonnay, Coopers Hawk Lux Meritage and their Ice Wine, which was recently crowned Best Dessert/Specialty Wine of the Show at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. This is an exciting and challenging collaboration for me, says Ford. Ill be cooking for people whove been given access to some amazing chefs and experiences through the Coopers Hawk wine club. Im honored to now be part of that family. Jeremy Ford took home the Top Chef title in 2016 and beat out 30 other chefs in a two-day competition earning him the Executive Chef position at Jean-Georges, Matador Room in Miami. After the win, Jeremy returned to Bravo in a new digital series called Isaac Takes On, where he reunites with former Top Chef season 13 contestant Isaac Toups. After three years at Matador Room, Jeremy has moved on to work on two new restaurant concepts of his own with Grove Bay Hospitality Group. Event Details: Friends of Coopers Hawk Dinner with Jeremy Ford June 6, 2017 | 6:30 9:30pm Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurants 529 N. Alafaya Trail Orlando, FL 32828 About Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurants Redefining the modern casual dining experience, Coopers Hawk is an unparalleled combination of restaurant, winery, Napa-style tasting room, and artisanal retail market. The innovative concept partners with some of the best grape growers in the world to craft the award-winning Coopers Hawk wine collection. Additionally, Coopers Hawk is the American winery with the largest Wine Club, a life-style driven monthly affiliation offering exclusive wines, events, and privileges to its 250,000+ members. Website: http://www.chwinery.com Twitter: @chwinery Instagram: @chwinery Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/coopershawk Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Satisfy your cravings With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy L to R: Richard Katz, Alexander Gorlach, Marlene Laruelle Carnegie Council welcomes Alexander Gorlach, German scholar on politics and religion; Richard Katz, expert on the Japanese economy and business; and Marlene Laruelle, political scientist specializing in Russia and Central Asia. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is pleased to welcome three new senior fellows: Alexander Gorlach, German scholar on politics and religion; Richard Katz, expert on the Japanese economy and business; and Marlene Laruelle, political scientist specializing in Russia and Central Asia. Alexander Gorlach is a visiting scholar at Harvard University, a visiting professor at UNAM University in Mexico City, a senior advisor to the Berggruen Institute, and founder of "The European" debate magazine. As a senior fellow for Carnegie Council, he will conduct a project exploring Latin America as part of the West. Diverging from most conceptions of the West today, which explicitly exclude the region, Dr. Gorlach sees Latin America as an essential part of what is considered to be the Western hemisphere: marked with a shared past, shared enlightenment, and the reciprocal reception of its philosophy, languages, political system, and religious and ethical beliefs. The project will feature interviews with politicians, writers, academics, and public intellectuals of Latin America in an effort to learn about their perceptions of the West and how to unify the two parts of this hemisphere. Richard Katz is editor-in-chief of "The Oriental Economist" Report (TOE). He is also a special correspondent at "Weekly Toyo Keizai," a leading Japanese business weekly, and has written two books on Japan. As a senior fellow for Carnegie Council, Mr. Katz is working on a book tentatively entitled, "Reigniting Japanese Growth: The Role of Startups." This includes not just the Silicon Valley-type high-tech firms. It will also emphasize the tens of thousands of unglamorous firms that in most rich countries, but not Japan, play a pivotal role in driving growth in jobs and productivity. In the U.S., 300,000 new firms that grew from around ten employees to an average of just 65 created 20 million new jobs in the past few decades by providing a superior product or process. The book will focus on why creating more start-ups is an indispensable ingredient in the recipe for Japanese rejuvenation; why Japan suffers a dearth of them; and the specific policies it can undertake to nurture more of them. Marlene Laruelle is research professor at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. She is also the director of the Central Asia Program at IERES and co-director of PONARS (Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia). She will lead a Carnegie Council project on Russian influence in French mainstream political parties and institutions. Starting in the summer of 2017, Dr. Laruelle will work with researchers in France to map and analyze connections between French cultural institutions, think tanks, and mainstream political parties and the Kremlin. The project seeks to shed light on Russia's soft power strategies to bolster allied political parties in established European democracies. ABOUT CARNEGIE COUNCIL Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1914, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an educational, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that produces lectures, publications, and multimedia materials on the ethical challenges of living in a globalized world. Go to https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/. New Homeowners. "Partners in Housing will help many of the families we serve attain the American dream of owning an affordable home of their own. Family Promise, the leading national nonprofit helping homeless families achieve sustainable independence, is proud to announce the launch of Partners in Housing, an innovative solution designed to assist families experiencing homelessness transition quickly to owning homes of their own. With funding from the Tides Foundation, Family Promise is making three initial grants of $10,000 to Affiliates in Colorado Springs (CO), Gainesville (FL), and Anoka County (MN) to create pilot programs in which families graduating from their shelter programs are placed in refurbished manufactured housing units in local trailer parks. In a matter of months, the title to the unit will be transferred to the family and they will become homeowners. This is a program aimed directly at the root cause of family homelessnessthe lack of affordable housing. Estimates are that only one in four households in need of subsidized housing is actually getting it. This is the core issue behind family homelessnessmore than employment, stability, health or anything else. Family Promise President Claas Ehlers describes the initiatives goals: Our goal at Family Promise is the empowerment of families to leave homelessness behind and achieve the level of security every family deserves. As a national leader in the fight against homelessness, we are committed to exploring solutions that help families look to the future. Partners in Housing will help many of the families we serve attain the American dream of owning an affordable home of their own. Heres how it works: the Affiliate identifies low-cost manufactured housing options, often damaged or distressed, in local trailer parks. Working with Family Promise national partner Farmers Insurance, the nations largest insurer of manufactured homes, the home is professionally assessed to ensure that it can be successfully rehabilitated. It is then purchased at a fraction of the cost of other permanent housing options, refurbished by Family Promise volunteers and local business partners, and presented to qualified families who have graduated from the program. The families receive extensive case management and ongoing support to assure they will be able to sustain their independence. After a transitional period of 6-12 months, in which the family pays lot rent and utilities, the title to the home is turned over to the family. All parties benefit: the family has gone from homeless to home owners, the Affiliate has successfully placed a family in permanent housing, and the park owners have a renovated property with a motivated homeowner. The initiative is modeled after the spectacularly successful Partners in Housing Program created in Grand Rapids, MI. Over the past nine years, Family Promise of Grand Rapids has moved 91 families into manufactured homes, with a success rate of 97%. This program not only ends homelessness for our families but it actually helps them move out of poverty. This changes the future for the children and affords them a real chance at a healthy future, which in turn changes the future for our entire community, Grand Rapids Executive Director Cheryl Schuch said. Based on outcomes of the three initial programs, the goal is to expand Partners in Housing next to 10-15 pilot sites representing a cross-section of the regions and demographics served by Family Promise Affiliates. Eventually, Affiliates across the country will be operating PIH programs, with thousands of families moving from homelessness to home ownership, or variations on the program that could provide other affordable options, such as creating affordable, transitional housing units out of manufactured homes. About Family Promise Founded in Summit in 1988 to address homelessness in Union County, Family Promise has grown into a national organization with 206 Affiliates in 43 states. Since then, Family Promise has served more than 750,000 people, the majority of them children. Family Promise Affiliates served nearly 70,000 people last year by providing shelter, food, and a host of other comprehensive support services. On average, 74% of the families served by Family Promise secure housing within nine weeks of entering the program. Domino Summer 2017 Cover Domino Media Group, the pioneering content and commerce company rooted in home decor, today announced a slate of leadership appointments and a board addition that set the shelter and design media company for (even more) rocketship growth. Domino is already the most innovative and fastest growing media brand in the home space, reaching nearly 5 million monthly uniques on the web. In his first professional move since departing Mediavest | Spark, a Publicis Groupe company, where he served as Global President, Brian Terkelsen has joined the Domino Media Group board. Domino CEO Nathan Coyle made the announcement. Brian is a pioneering and highly regarded media executive. Among his accomplishments: launching Eco Challenge with Mark Burnett, building ad support for early media ventures such as TVs CW Network and OWN, and pioneering content as an offering for media agencies such as Starcom and Mediavest. I couldnt be more excited to join Dominos board, said Brian Terkelsen. Ive watched the design, DIY, shelter space explode and Domino is the clear pacesetter in the category; bringing scale and innovative engagement channels to advertisers. Im looking forward to working with the Board and helping the company as Nathan and his team build a next generation media and commerce company that showcases beautiful living and design and lifestyle. Brian is the perfect addition to our Board, said Nathan Coyle. Were excited to tap his media expertise and knowledge of the advertiser eco-system. Domino is clearly leading the charge in home and design, which are major passion points for consumers. Brian chose to support Domino because he knows the strength of the category and Dominos top position and innovative solutions connecting consumers and brands through top quality content and experiences. Coyle also is delighted to announce the following appointments and hires: Jessica Romm Perez, Dominos Editorial Director since 2015 will be elevated to Editor-in-Chief. Jessica has overseen explosive growth of Domino through its many distribution channels including a quarterly print magazine, Domino.com and the highly regarded Domino app. Jessicas singular design eye is widely admired in the industry. Prior to Domino, she was Lifestyle Editor at Martha Stewart Living. Michael Ciancio joins Domino as Executive Creative Director. He most recently led projects for design company Form &. Prior to that, Michael grew and led the design team at Refinery29 and served as Creative Director across editorial, branded content, experiential, digital and brand innovation. Michael has also shaped brand strategies, and designed visual identity systems and marketing campaigns at Wolff Olins for six years, touching some of their most iconic workMicrosoft, 3M, Target, AOL and Citi. Jamie Weber was formerly controller at Gawker Media. He is coming to Domino as VP, Finance & Accounting with a wealth of experience in digital publishing and media, including stints at IAC and Primedia. Jamie is exceptionally qualified to manage Dominos fast-growing finances. Jessica Dailey comes to Domino as Digital Editorial Director from Curbed, the highly successful Vox property that redefined real estate coverage. Jessica rose to Managing Editor, responsible for architecture, design and real estate coverage, after joining Curbed in 2012 as an Associate Editor. Tracy Cho joins Domino as Executive Director of Marketing, Growth and Analytics. Previously, she was Senior Marketing strategist at XO Group and prior to that Marketing Manager at Refinery29. Tracys digital expertise also includes positions at UrbanDaddy and Conde Nast. Hayley Squire comes to Domino from Thrillist Media Group where she was Editorial Email Lead. At Domino, Hayley will be Email Marketing Manager. She previously held positions at Refinery29 and Vector Media New York. CEO Coyle has also enlisted Sylvie Durlach to represent Domino for ad sales out of the UK and France. Sylvie has a singular expertise in representation of high end titles out of the US in those markets. I cant imagine a better dream team as we catapult toward a next phase of growth, said Nathan Coyle. All of these individuals are absolute rockstars, with experience at best-in-class digitally native publishersVox, XO Group, Refinery29, Thrillist, Gawker and others. Were now positioned for even faster growth, offering advertisers unprecedented scale and reach for consumers passionate about design and home. About Domino Media Group Domino is the go-to resource for design lovers who want to bring their personal style home. We inspire customers to create a happy home by celebrating their individuality, providing them with need-to-know information, and empowering them to shop for what they love. Domino magazine is published four times a year and fresh content is updated multiple times a day on domino.com. ### Media Contact: Andy Morris Code Morris for Domino andy.morris(at)codemorris(dot)com 917.710.1802 Robbie Boston, General Manager of CarChat24 Our new portfolio of chat products, combined with sales and support teams that are second-to-none, cement our status as the premier chat provider for the auto industry Past News Releases RSS ChatLead.com Announces Ken Lewis as... CarChat24 Announces New Products... CarChat24 Announces Michael... Leading automotive managed chat provider, CarChat24, a division of ChatLead.com, Inc., has transitioned Robbie Boston to the General Manager position. He served as Vice President of Marketing of the award-winning chat company that provides software and service to United States and Canadian car dealers for the past year. As we transition to our next generation of software we anticipate substantial growth, said CEO, Shereef Moawad, who started the company a decade ago. Were looking to Robbie to help guide the ship through this significant growth. Boston, who spent two decades in retail dealerships, is looking forward to the next chapter in the companys growth. Im thrilled to continue sharing my passion for leading high-performance teams with CarChat24, he said. Our new portfolio of chat products, combined with sales and support teams that are second-to-none, cement our status as the premier chat provider for the auto industry. Facebook messenger integration, new interface technologies that substantially increase chat interaction and a highly-interactive new text application are just a few of the new features introduced by CarChat24. These are a great addition to our last round of tech, which includes chat to video, chat to call and SignalR server technology that vastly improved the reliability of mobile chat, he continued. Bostons vacated Vice President of Marketing position will be filled by Michael Chaparro, who recently joined the company. Connect with Robbie Boston on LinkedIn, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbie-boston-a325a034. About CarChat24 (http://www.CarChat24.com) CarChat24 provides 24/7 hosted live chat support and dealer chat software for new and used car dealership websites. Their technology innovations help dealers sell more vehicles by converting a higher percentage of their website visitors into quality leads. Since 2007, CarChat24 has been helping car dealers improve their sales and customer service on the Internet. Follow CarChat24.com on Twitter @CarChat24 and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CarChat24/. For more information call 800-510-7567 or visit http://www.carchat24.com, where 24-hour chat and text are available. MEDIA CONTACT: Tom LaPointe, Tom.LaPointe(at)CarChat24.com, 800-510-7567 x707. Bob Buchanan, EVP, Sales and Marketing I have a strong desire to be part of a team that is laser focused on the customer experience while being 100% committed to our channel partner community. RapidScale, a leader in managed cloud services, welcomes Bob Buchanan to the team as Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Bob is based in Raleigh, N.C. and will be responsible for leading RapidScales national go-to-market and sales strategy, focused on further accelerating RapidScales market position as a leading provider of Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions. He comes to RapidScale with experience in building, managing and leading direct sales, account management, and channel sales teams. Fourteen years ago, Bob joined a data center startup, Hosted Solutions, in Raleigh, which was acquired by Windstream in 2010. Bob was introduced to the channel during his time at Windstream, leading the companys cloud and data center go-to-market strategy within the partner community. In 2015, Windstream divested its data center assets and the Hosted Solutions organization was acquired by TierPoint, where Bob most recently functioned as Vice President of Channel Sales. Ive worked in both large and small organizations, and there is nothing more fun than being part of a company in high-growth mode. RapidScales entrepreneurial culture is something to embrace, as it is truly a competitive advantage, says Bob. I have a strong desire to be part of a team that is laser focused on the customer experience while being 100% committed to our channel partner community. We are in the early phase of this journey and Im excited to be part of something that is bigger than any one individual. RapidScale CEO Randy Jeter says Bob is a proven winner, strategic thinker, sales executor and a well-known channel leader, having been named a CRN Channel Chief multiple times. When I first met Bob I told him that people, processes and systems are my focuses organizationally and I need someone who can make a huge impact in these three areas. He agreed with my key objectives and shared how, over a 12-year period at Hosted Solutions/TierPoint, he achieved just that. The story was so powerful that I left inspired by him and confident that he was the right leader to join RapidScale as EVP, Sales & Marketing. The hire of Bob further exemplifies RapidScales commitment to the Raleigh market, with other key leaders like Duane Barnes, SVP, Cloud Engineering already located there and plans to strategically grow the Raleigh team with engineering and account management talent. In the near future, the cloud provider will be expanding its office space into a premier facility in downtown Raleigh. About RapidScale RapidScale, a managed cloud services provider, delivers world-class, secure, and reliable cloud computing solutions to companies of all sizes across the globe. Its state-of-the-art managed CloudDesktop platform and market-leading cloud solutions are the reasons why RapidScale is the provider of choice for leading MSOs, VARs, MSPs, Carriers and Master Agents throughout the United States. RapidScale is not only delivering a service but also innovating advanced solutions and applications for the cloud computing space. RapidScales innovative solutions include CloudServer, CloudDesktop, CloudOffice, CloudMail, CloudRecovery, CloudApps, and more. For more information on RapidScale, visit http://www.rapidscale.net. Media Contact Sommer Figone | Marketing Manager Marketing(at)rapidscale.net Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC (RCCB), a law firm offering a distinctive combination of practical business acumen, legal expertise and entrepreneurial passion, today announced the addition of Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Erik Carrozza. Mr. Carrozza brings extensive business and operational experience to RCCB, joining the firm after spending the last five years as Vice President of Operations at LiquidHub, a leading customer engagement technology company. Prior to LiquidHub, Mr. Carrozza served as the CFO of various emerging growth technology firms. Before his CFO roles, Mr. Carrozza founded Caprock, Inc., an outsourced CFO advisory firm catering to emerging companies in 2001. He was a co-founder of The Sycamore Group, a technology consulting firm, in 1998. Mr. Carrozza started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, working in both Tax and Business Assurance. Mr. Carrozza will visit all of the firms locations on a regular basis, with his primary office in the firms new Conshohocken facility. With RCCB experiencing significant growth, adding both new attorneys and administrative positions, the firm has moved into a larger office at 101 West Elm Street, Conshohocken, PA 19428. The new space combines an urban contemporary elegance with efficient utility, providing an optimal environment for productive legal counseling, as well as hosting client meetings and networking events. Eriks addition, as the first non-lawyer executive to join RCCB, combined with our new and expanded Conshohocken office, are illustrative of the growing momentum we are experiencing with the innovative approach we take to serving our clients, said John E. Royer, Jr., Managing Partner at RCCB. We look forward to offering our clients even greater legal resources to address their needs as we continue to add proven, experienced members to our team of trusted advisors. About Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC RCCB empowers your ambition. We are attorneys who think and act like entrepreneurs and business people. We combine sophisticated, cost-effective legal counseling with the type of sound practical judgment that comes from hands-on business experience. We encourage entrepreneurial approaches and creative thinking, while maintaining the utmost in integrity and responsiveness. RCCB understands and delivers the advice that companies, business executives and investors, as well as individuals and their families, need to realize their hopes and goals. From offices in the Greater Philadelphia area and New York, RCCB serves clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. Additional information about Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld is available at http://www.rccblaw.com. CQL Joins Workarea Partner Network Workarea and CQL share a goal of helping retailers and brands punch above their weight. Today, the team behind Workarea, the modern SaaS commerce platform from WebLinc purpose-built for medium to large businesses, has announced that CQL, a digital agency with 22 years experience in managing commerce support for global companies, has joined the exclusive Workarea Partner Network. CQL becomes one of just a handful of digital agencies to offer the flexible and modern Workarea Commerce Platform to retailers, brands and merchants to help grow their ecommerce business. Workarea and CQL share a goal of helping retailers and brands punch above their weight, said Darren C. Hill, CEO and co-founder of WebLinc. This partnership will accelerate the emergence of Workarea as the dominant commerce platform and bring long-term value to CQL's customers. The Workarea and CQL teams share a rich history in retail and ecommerce. Our cultures and vision for what today's retailers need to rapidly grow their online business couldn't be more aligned. Founded in 1995, CQL helps its companies grow work smarter and envision new ideas. They deliver ecommerce roadmaps, experience design, software platforms and custom applications. CQLs work for world-class brands such as Merrell, Costa, Sperry, Keds and Petco has been proven to increase conversions. CQL also offers complimentary revenue-generating services far beyond implementation to ensure commerce solutions stay on course. For more than 22 years, the founder-led company has been known as one of the Midwests leading digital agencies focusing on strategy, design development and analytics. Whether connecting disparate systems to optimize data flow or developing custom software from scratch, CQL has deep, expert competency to support the integration of commerce to all aspects of a customers business. Partnering with the Workarea Partner Network, the digital agency is now equipped to empower mid-market retailers with lean teams to have total control of their ecommerce sites using the worlds most modern commerce platform. On joining the Workarea Partner Network, CQLs VP of Enterprise Solutions Doug VandenHoek said, The modern tech stack and user-friendly nature of the Workarea platform will take our customers' online businesses and CQLs in-house services to new heights. CQL customers have expressed great interest in accelerating replatforming initiatives and Workarea has proven itself to be a market leader there. Since the Workarea system was built with developers in mind, our team is excited to get to work on the flexible platform. The Workarea Partner Network, an addition to the Workarea Partner Channel, gives mid market retailers access to the most in-demand solutions and commerce expertise. Applying two-decades plus of industry knowledge, the Workarea team has designed a time-tested, modern process to help the most innovative commerce agencies, developers and strategists implement the SaaS Workarea Commerce Platform. Solutions Partners are vetted and trained in order to ensure smooth implementations, and work alongside the Workarea team on every build. About Workarea Workarea is the modern SaaS commerce platform purpose-built for medium to large businesses to achieve their full potential online. A product of 20+ years experience at WebLinc, ecommerce, content management and analytic insights are built as one platform promising unmatched flexibility, constant product evolution, and empowered merchant teams. Workarea is the platform of choice for growing online retailers and merchants such as Sanrio/Hello Kitty, Do it Best Corp., U.S. Polo Assn., Woodcraft, Costume SuperCenter, Lime Crime, Rachel Roy, and many others. To learn more, visit http://www.workarea.com. About CQL Headquartered in Michigan, CQL is a digital agency specializing in world-class ecommerce, digital marketing, business software, business intelligence and experience design. We help our customers grow, work smarter, and envision new ideas. Known in the industry as the team that implemented one of the largest re-platforming projects in recent history, CQL launched Wolverine Worldwides 14 brands across 70 sites and 13 countries in just 18 months. Connecting People and Data for Good. Learn more at http://www.cqlcorp.com. Janis H. Grover (C), president of Grover Global Food Marketing, receives District 7510 Rotarian of the Year Award from David Breidinger (R), award chair, and Michael Townley, district secretary (L). I became involved with Rotary over 20 years ago to help make a difference in my community. I am very thankful that Rotary has given me the opportunity to help people around the world. Janis H. Grover Janis H. Grover, president of Grover Global Food Marketing and past president of the Rotary Club of Lambertville-New Hope, has received the F.S. Matty Mathewson Rotarian of the Year Award for 2016-1017. The award recognizes and honors Rotarians in District 7510 who have, over a period of time, best exemplified Rotarys motto of Service Above Self. The Rotarian of the Year Award is named in honor of a former governor of the Capital District, which serves Central Jersey. This award is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a Rotarian by our district. Each year, there are many quality nominations, but Janis stood out an outstanding honoree because of her incredible record of service to Rotary and our international community, explained David Breidinger, chair of the award committee during the award presentation. Grover has served in just about every office of her Rotary Club including three terms as president as well as completing terms as sergeant-at-arms, chairperson for all four avenues of service, membership chair, club secretary and chairperson for numerous fundraisers and committees including Polio Plus, greeting cards for the military overseas and the Adopt-A-Highway program. Grover has been a GSE team leader for the visiting team to Brazil, a member of the board of directors and homebuilder for Homes of Hope Ecuador and an organizer and participant in the district trip for Nepal with Past District Governor Tulsi Maharjan. When presenting the award, Breidinger explained how Grover integrates Rotary ideals in business as the president of Grover Global Food Marketing, an international consulting company that provides marketing and sales support for new product development. He highlighted Grovers work with the United States Department of State via the U.S. Aid Program (USAID), which helps develop markets and increase vital food security in underdeveloped countries. Through USAID, Grover has assisted various nations including Ecuador, Tunisia and Lebanon. In other professional ventures, Grover has worked with companies in Brazil, Australia, Israel, El Salvador as well as Europe, North and South America to develop and market specialty food products. Although Janis consults with many countries, she is most rewarded when she helps those in the poorest environments. She guides and mentors them on how to establish a small business that makes a product to sell. Because of her efforts, they can find their way out of the poverty class, explained Breidinger. Janis calculates that each time a small business hires a new employee it has a multiplier effect benefiting at least six people in that community. "I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Rotarian of the Year Award for our district, says Grover, who has traveled to more than 30 countries bringing thousands of specialty food products to the US market. I became involved with Rotary over 20 years ago to help make a difference in my community. I am very thankful that Rotary has given me the opportunity to help people around the world, added Grover. Grover lives in Stockton, NJ, with her husband Gary. She is also a trained and certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and volunteers for the Amwell Valley Rescue Squad. Grover is a guest lecturer at various universities and industry conferences, and a member of the Executive Council of Business Council For Peace, (BPEACE), an award-winning program of volunteers that works closely with the United Nations to mentor small businesses nationally and internationally. Janis H. Grover is a marketing, new product development and sales professional recognized for successfully transitioning international ethnic products into the US specialty food market. She has special expertise in delivering manageable business plans for retail and food service with branded and private-label products. Janis has organized and executed launch strategies for specialty food products working with brands in over 30 countries. She is a frequent keynote speaker at international and US conferences. Grover Global Food Marketing (GGFM) is a multifaceted business consulting group focused on developing and launching new brands in the specialty food industry. GGFMs key service areas include: New Product Development & Brand Management, Organizational Management & Business Building, and Sales & Marketing and Strategic Positioning. Photo Credit: Ken Schurman, VIP Studios, Inc. Pandoras Box is a superior system, which fulfill all our needs, with multiple interesting features such as its superb warping capability The Museu do Amanha (Museum of Tomorrow), the currently most-visited museum in Brazil, is engaging visitors in its main attractions thanks to Christie 1DLP and 3LCD projectors, managed by the award-winning Christie Pandoras Box video processing systems, installed by Visualfarm. Located in Rio de Janeiro, Museu do Amanha is a unique science museum that mixes science and art with an innovative design with a focus on sustainable cities. The museum has partnerships with some of the most important science institutions in Brazil and abroad, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), UNESCO, and the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research. Museu do Amanha called for a public tender to provide the projection solutions. And its technical team immediately noticed the Christie difference. The truth of the matter is that the Christie projectors were the ones that best adapted to the technical specifications detailed in the call, said Eric Ribeiro, IT Manager at the Museum. The brightness, the color saturation and the price were simply better than alternatives. The entrance of the museum is a Cosmic Portal containing a film co-directed by City of God director Fernando Meirelles that compresses 13.7 billion years of geological change and natural evolution into eight minutes of sensory overload projected by nine Christie DHD951-Q 1DLP projectors, inside an egg-shaped cinema. In this 360-degree dome, visitors are taken on a unique visual journey through galaxies, deep into the subatomic world of elementary particles, and into the center of the sun. They witness the formation of the Earth and the beginning of life and the birth of thought. The producers of this film used virtual reality glasses in the planning of the experience of the dome. The projections on the wall of the dome start at the floor and envelope the audience 360-degrees around, and the glasses offer the same sensorial experience. Beyond the Cosmic Portal, interactive tables allow visitors to explore the concepts of cosmic dimensions on a deeper level. After exploring the Cosmic Portal, visitors discover the unique conditions that fostered life on the planet along with the development of human intelligence and culture in the second area on the museum itinerary, the Earth, with its three giant 7x7-meter cubes featuring thousands of photos and videos displayed by eight Christie LWU421 3LCD projectors. The images are shown in mini-documentaries and interactive displays in which visitors can learn about the interconnections within an ecosystem and how imbalance affects the entire system. All the Christie projectors are managed by a Christie Pandoras Box Server and nine Christie Pandoras Box Players. which provides the museum with complete control over both installations, maximizing efficiency while enabling the creation of amazing visual experiences. Pandoras Box is a superior system, which fulfill all our needs, with multiple interesting features such as its superb warping capability, said Ribeiro. The sophisticated task of designing these installations was undertaken by Visualfarm, a leading production company based in Sao Paulo, which has pioneered video mapping in Brazil and its founder, Alexis Anastasiou, is considered to be the first Brazilian video jockey (VJ). Daniel Monteiro Pereira, sales manager, business products, Christie Brazil, commented that Were honored that the museum has chosen our state-of-the-art 1DLP and 3LCD projection systems and Pandoras Box solutions. Visualfarm has done a great job of integrating our visual technologies that are meeting and exceeding all expectations, offering visitors amazing visual experiences. With an iconic building designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the museum is a highlight of Porto Maravilha, a revitalization project of Rio de Janeiros port area. The building covers 15,000 square meters on 30,000 square meters of land featuring greenspaces, reflecting pools, a bike path and recreation areas. About Christie Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. is a global visual and audio technologies company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio Inc., Japan (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the worlds most advanced projectors, complete system displays, and cinema audio solutions; Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images, accompanied by awe-inspiring sound. Visit http://www.christiedigital.com. "Our hotel teams eagerly look forward to summer to engage with clients and their communities in a truly impactful way," says Amy Trench, Corporate Director of Marketing & PR for Valencia Group. Each summer, Houston-based Valencia Group embarks on a community initiative that seeks to connect guests and its national portfolio of hotels with deserving beneficiaries. Beginning on June 1, Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX, Hotel Valencia Santana Row in San Jose, CA, Hotel Sorella CITYCENTRE in Houston, TX and Lone Star Court in Austin, TX will be asking travelers to Give Us the Shirt off Your Back. The second annual campaign, which will run through August 31, will serve as a major drive for Dress for Success and Career Gear, two acclaimed non-profits whose goal is to empower low-income individuals to enter or return to the work force by providing gently used professional suiting and accessories for interviews, as well as a host of career guidance services. All clothing with be laundered and dry cleaned as necessary by the properties prior to drop off. Last year, the participating hotels delivered more than 1,700 donated items to their community partners. According to Amy Trench, Corporate Director of Marketing & PR for Valencia Group, Our hotel teams eagerly look forward to summer to engage with clients and their communities in a truly impactful way. We have a heavy heart for those who are trying to get back on their feet, and we hope our guests can help by letting us lighten their suitcase load by donating professional attire. The four properties will be accepting monetary donations for each organization, as well as womens suits, business-appropriate apparel, shoes and accessories, including handbags and portfolios for Dress for Success. At Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio and Hotel Sorella CITYCENTRE in Houston, guests will also have the option of leaving mens items for Career Gear such as suits, solid color blazers and sport coats, belts, briefcases, watches, cufflinks, overcoats and dress pants, shirts and shoes. To further promote this program, hotels will be overseeing a range of independent activities on site. For more information on Valencia Groups partnership with Dress for Success, click here. About Valencia Group Houston-based Valencia Group is a fully integrated hospitality company that provides management, development, branding and repositioning services for independent, full-service hotels owned by the company, in addition to third parties. Exceptional service, style and location have become brand trademarks. Earning both national and international recognition for their distinctive designs, amenities and settings, Valencia Group properties are destinations and gathering places within their respective communities, some further benefitting from and enriching their space within the cultural heart of a city. The company continues to forge a niche with hotels that anchor and add value to urban, mixed-use environments, which further support or enhance the guest experience with superior residential, restaurant, retail and office components. The Valencia Group portfolio currently includes the Valencia brands: Hotel Valencia Santana Row in San Jose, CA and Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX. The Sorella brand includes Hotel Sorella CITYCENTRE in Houston, TX by developer Midway. The court concept brands include Lone Star Court in Austin, TX and Midway and Valencia Groups Cavalry Court in College Station, TX. New openings in 2017 will include: Midway and Valencia Groups The George in College Station, TX and Midways Hotel Alessandra in Houston, TX. For more information, please visit http://www.valenciagroup.com Bill Whyte, Badger founder and CEO. Photo courtesy of Brandon Schulman for Forbes We are really honored to be recognized on this list among so many companies we admire W.S. Badger Co. Inc., the maker of over one hundred certified organic and natural skin care products, recently landed on Forbes Small Giants 2017: Americas Best Small Companies list. Twenty-five privately owned and held companies from across the nation were recognized for having sound models, strong balance sheets and steady profits, being highly regarded by their peers, and doing things any business can learn from. We are really honored to be recognized on this list among so many companies we admire, said Emily Schwerin-Whyte, co-owner of Badger and vice president of sales and marketing. This is particularly appreciated because it recognizes the value we place on doing the right thing in businesswe see our business as a vehicle for helping us make a positive change in the world. According to Forbes, the certifications have helped Badger codify how it operates. The pay for the highest-paid, full-time employee is capped at five times the lowest-paid, which is $15 an hour (more than double New Hampshires minimum wage). Forbes also notes that the company allows parents to bring their babies to work with them, offers employee profit sharing, and donates 10% of pre-tax profits to charitable organizations. Companies on this year's Small Giants hail from a wide range of industries, including American manufacturing, and four, including Badger, are certified B Corps. B Corps are for-profit businesses that earn certification from the nonprofit B Lab for achieving certain levels of transparency, accountability, and social and environmental performance. Badger became a certified B Corp in 2011 and became one of New Hampshires first businesses in 2015 to register legally as a Benefit Corporation, a for-profit status that incorporates the pursuit of positive environmental and social impact in addition to profit. Forbes quotes Whyte as saying: Treat people nice, but as you get bigger how do you do that, and how do you do that in an equitable way. He goes on to say, You can be financially successful and be a big jerk, or you can be financially successful and be a contributor to making the world better. I know which way Id like Badger to move. ABOUT BADGER Badger is a family run and family-friendly company that has been making healthy products for people and the planet since 1995. Badger was born when Badger Bill, a carpenter at the time, created a recipe of natural ingredients strong enough to soothe his rough, dry, cracked hands. Now a team of over 100 employees, Badger produces almost all of its products in Gilsum, N.H. Inherent in Badgers DNA is its status as a B Corp, a certification earned through B Lab, a third party nonprofit that requires companies to meet rigorous standards of transparency as well as environmental and social performance. Badger has been a certified B Corp since 2011 and in 2015 became one of New Hampshires first businesses to register legally as a Benefit Corporation, a for-profit status that incorporates the pursuit of positive environmental and social impact in addition to profit. The company recently published its annual report for 2016. A downloadable PDF can be found here. Fran Craig, Unanet Founder & CEO Fran Craig, Unanets CEO and Founder has been invited to join the Board of Advisors of the newly formed, Mason GovCon Initiative. The Mason GovCon Initiative is building a distinctive competency in the business of government and government contracting at Masons School of Business. Using its neutral convening power, the Initiative seeks to benefit both sides of the market, government and business. Discussion, curricula, and executive education will enhance the experience of the individual members. Research and publication will build a knowledge base for innovation and best practices for the market. Scholarships and fellowships will recognize and promote excellence and thought leadership. We are thrilled to have Fran Craig on the Advisory Board for the GovCon Initiative. She has always been known as a thought leader in this marketplace and has demonstrated throughout her career a deep understanding of the business issues in the GovCon sector and how to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. said Dr. John Hillen, Chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Mason GovCon Initiative and Executive in Residence and Professor of Practice, George Mason University. I was so honored to have been asked to join the Board of Advisors of the Mason GovCon Initiative. My fellow Board members represent the best of the GovCon space, and working with George Mason, which has long been an educational powerhouse in Virginia, makes the work that the GovCon Initiative will be able to accomplish, even more exciting. said Ms. Craig. Ms. Craig joins a diverse and growing Board of Advisors with industry leaders who represent a full range of experiencesmall to large business; accounting, compliance and legal; banking, technology and workforce. And it is a Board eager to share lessons and insights in management and performance that will enable objective and academically rigorous solutions for the industry. Ms. Craig looks forward to the many program initiatives and events that the new Mason GovCon Initiative will be bringing to the governmentcontracting industry. About Unanet Unanet is a leading provider of Cloud and On-Premise software for project-based organizations. Unanet delivers a purpose-built Project ERP solution with skills management, resource planning, budgeting & forecasting, time & expense reporting, billing & revenue recognition, project management analytics and dashboards, and integrated financials with AR, AP, GL and cost pool calculations. Over 1,000 organizations trust Unanet to maximize staff utilization, reduce administrative costs by 90%, improve invoicing by 10X, and support forward decision-making for improved operations. About the Mason GovCon Initiative: The GovCon market is a huge ($500B+), diverse, sophisticated, and interesting industry whose business interests are worthy of specialized academic study, research, and curricula. The industry is based in the Northern VirginiaDC Capital region, likely employs 1 in every 6 professionals in the area, and has some 10,000 Mason alumni working in it. Being known for having a distinctive competency in the business of government and government contracting will be a competitive advantage for Masons School of Business and helps to create a more efficient and effective market for the public good. Students from the 2016 ETM Music Festival We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our students at the annual ETM Festival... Education Through Music (ETM) partner schools will perform at a free concert featuring 8 orchestras, 2 choirs and 17 bands from Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Bronx inner-city elementary and middle schools on Tuesday, June 6th and Wednesday, June 7th at Lehman College. The National Anthem and performances will begin at 10:15 a.m. on both days. Over 1,300 students will represent their schools ensembles in a professional performance venue. Students will celebrate their musical achievement, performing alongside their peers for a crowd of school and community supporters. Featured ensembles on June 6, 2017 and June 7, 2017 will include: June 6, 2016 P.S. 87 Orchestra (Bronx) M.S. 529 Orchestra (Bronx) P.S. 169 Orchestra (Bronx) P.S. 175 Choir (Queens) P.S. 68 Orchestra (Bronx) P.S. 91 Orchestra & Choir (Bronx) St. Ann Orchestra (Manhattan) P.S. 182 Orchestra (Bronx) M.S. 180 Orchestra (Bronx) June 7, 2016 P.S. 72 Band (Bronx) P.S. 42 Band (Bronx) P.S. 103 Band (Bronx) P.S. 154 Band (Queens) P.S. 43 Band (Bronx) P.S. /M.S. 89 Band (Bronx) P.S. 369 Band (Bronx) M.S. 355 Band (Bronx) P.S. 277 Band (Bronx) P.S. 48 Band (Bronx) P.S. 39 Band (Staten Island) M.S. 180 Band (Bronx) P.S. 359 Band (Bronx) P.S./M.S. 498 Band (Bronx) P.S. 96 Band (Bronx) P.S. 76 Band (Bronx) P.S. 195 Band (Bronx) We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our students at the annual ETM Festival, our year-end performance showcasing our partner school students musical achievements, says ETM Executive Director Katherine Damkohler. It is so gratifying to witness the transformation of these students into confident musicians who have devoted themselves to learning their instrument and repertoire. The ETM Festival is the culmination of all their hard work on large-scale concert stage. Location: Lehman Center for Performing Arts 250 West Bedford Boulevard West Bronx, NY 10468 About Education Through Music The ETM model currently serves nearly 27,000 students in inner-city schools in New York City, and our model reaches another 10,000 children through the work of our licensed affiliate organization in Los Angeles. ETM's comprehensive, sustainable music education network has garnered the support of corporations, public policy makers and foundations, including The Music Man Foundation, CMA Foundation, The Jerome L. Greene Foundation, Ford Foundation and D'Addario Foundation. For more information visit http://www.ETMonline.org. Dogs learn how to behave by how people respond to their behaviors. Pet parents don't do enough to reinforce good manners and may even -- inadvertently --reinforce the wrong ones. If the dogs manners are a problem, its probably because his family has reinforced problem behaviors, often without even knowing it. Our dogs learn how to act by the way we respond to their behaviors, says dog obedience training expert Traci Simo. They keep doing the things that get our attention. As head of services at Canine Company, including Manners dog obedience training, Simo has worked with hundreds of pets and pet parents to solve problems like jumping up, surfing counters and running away when called. In most cases, pet parents don't do enough to reinforce good manners, and may even -- inadvertently -- reinforce the wrong ones by giving attention in an effort to get the problem to stop. The good news, Simo says, is that small changes in your behavior can led to big improvements in your pets manners. 1.Practice basic skills every day. Dogs learn through repetition, so practice is essential to establish and to maintain behaviors. Simo recommends working training commands into every day situations: for example, practice wait when putting out his meals, or practice drop it while playing catch. 2. Dont reward bad behaviors. If a dog gets treats when she begs at the dinner table, she learns that begging at the table results in food. Similarly, a puppy who is picked up each time he barks, learns that barking is a good way to get attention. Instead, says Simo, ignore problem behaviors or provide a distraction. 3. Be consistent. Its important that all members of the family use the same words and rewards -- or the dog will be confused. If sit is the command used to keep a dog from jumping up to greet someone, its important that everyone in the household use that command including the children. 4. Dont blame bad manners on age. Puppy behaviors like jumping up, chewing or eliminating in the house will not improve on their own. Dogs, regardless of age, are learning all the time so its important to start puppy training right away. A professional trainer with expertise in dog behavior can help get things on the right path. No two dogs are the same, says Simo. You want someone who can assess your pet and then provide a customized solution for you and your dog in your home. About Canine Company Born of a family's love for dogs, Canine Company provides at-home services to keep pets healthy, safe and happy. The company serves families across New England, New York and New Jersey with the Invisible Fence brand systems, Manners dog obedience training, and mobile grooming and pet sitting in select markets. Its charitable Canine Gives campaign supports pet rescue groups and donates pet oxygen masks to first responders. For information, call 800-818-3647. For more advice on dog training, visit Canine Company's "Speak, Good Blog" blog. # # # Quality Tools That Go To Work With You Uniweld Products, Inc. participated in the recent GAWDA Spring Management Conference in Boca Raton Resort & Club at Boca Raton, FL, as an associate member supplier of the organization. Uniweld Products is a long term associate member of GAWDA which is an organization of welding and compressed gas distributors located in the US and the Caribbean. Ray Blew, Vice President, Tom McCormack, Regional Sales Manager, Joan McCormack, associate, Frank Vargas, Customer Service Manager, and Clare Yang, Sales Administrator, represented the company in the 3 day event to show the support to GAWDA. The meeting had over 600 attendees comprised of members, associate members (Suppliers) and guests; the contact booth program had over 100 booths. The docket was full of networking breakfast, general meetings, speaker programs, a contact booth program and Women in Gases and Welding luncheon which included special guest speaker Kelly Latimer of Virgin Galactic. The Uniweld contact booth was on the main entrance of the hall and gave excellent exposure for their top of the line product display. The traffic was heavy, the event was a huge success and Uniweld made a marketplace impact. Uniweld featured Made in USA V-Style cutting torch 830-21, along with medium duty V-Style oxyacetylene outfit HS-MDUC, and one of their most popular nitrogen regulators, the RHP800. The Spring Management Meeting of GAWDA is the annual event for management to meet with each other and the vendors. This is a semi-annual national meeting for the organization, which is a once a year meeting for owners, management and vendors. The importance of these meeting is to keep or create a direct line of communication in the B2B world. Relationships between companies are essential to keep businesses in front of each other. Uniweld Products, Inc. has manufactured quality welding and cutting equipment at its factory located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida U.S.A. since 1949. Refrigeration manifolds & hoses, vacuum pumps, tubing tools, nitrogen kits, cutting torches, welding handles, cutting attachments, pressure regulators, pressure gauges, cutting tips and welding tips are among the products manufactured at Uniweld's factory in Fort Lauderdale. Uniweld.....Quality Tools That Go To Work With You. ". The CAPS Fellows Program has brought NLCS together with very qualified students. -Kathryn Baerwald For the fourth year in a row National Lutheran Communities & Services (NLCS) will welcome a small cohort of students from Valparaiso University. Michelle Andersen, a social work and psychology double major, Katie Bahn, a nursing major, and Madelyn Nieter, a health care leadership major will be detailed to The Village at RockvilleA National Lutheran Community starting June 5, 2017. The three students will primarily work with the communitys Executive Director Jason Gottschalk, to gain an understanding of the role and function of clinical operations in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC). Valparaisos CAPS (Calling and Purpose in Society) Fellows Program, through the Institute of Leadership and Services, offers students the opportunity to take part in experiential-learning at non-profits throughout the United States, like NLCS. The program focuses on providing students with a well-rounded, 9-10 week summer internship that focuses less on the students major, and more on gaining real-world experience. I realized that I dont know exactly what I want to be or what I desire to do professionally, wrote Nieter as part of her CAPS Fellowship application. I know that I undoubtedly desire to help others. Through the CAPS Fellowship with NLCS, Nieter and the other students are exposed to all aspects of operating a CCRC, including the department in which their degree would lead them. This programmatic design allows students to explore options available to them before graduation. Valparaiso University ensures that the students are able to immerse themselves fully in the program by providing housing in the internship area, a stipend for living expenses, and moving assistance for those students traveling out of state. I am most proud of my alma mater for making these wonderful students available to us during the summer, said Kathryn Baerwald, Valparaiso alum and chief philanthropy officer at NLCS. The CAPS Fellows Program has brought us together with very qualified students; young professionals who we would strongly consider for future full-time employment once they graduate. About National Lutheran Communities & Services (NLCS) Based in Rockville, Md., NLCS is a faith-based, not-for-profit ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Americas (ELCA) Delaware-Maryland, Metropolitan Washington, D.C. and Virginia Synods, serving people of all beliefs. With more than 125-years experience, NLCS provides seniors with a variety of lifestyle, residential and health care options through retirement communities and services in Maryland and Virginia. Other communities and services sponsored by National Lutheran include myPotential at Home in Winchester, Va., and Rockville, Md., The Village at Rockville in Rockville, Md., The Legacy at North Augusta in Staunton, Va., The Village at Orchard Ridge in Winchester, Va., and The Village at Providence Point in Annapolis, Md., subject to Maryland Department of Aging approval. For more information, visit http://www.nationallutheran.org Carmen Kienow, MPOWER Financing Director of University Relations, Western U.S. Carmen has exactly the type of experience we need, as we work with university staff to support the financial needs of their international student communities, said Manu Smadja, CEO and co-founder of MPOWER Financing. MPOWER Financing, a public benefit corporation whose mission is to remove the financial barriers to higher education in the U.S., has appointed Carmen Kienow as its director of university relations for the western half of the U.S. Kienow, who has more than 30 years of experience in the higher education market in both university administration and student support roles, will be responsible for building relationships and awareness of MPOWER Financing among higher education institutions. A key aspect of her position will be to work with universities to help identify and resolve the financial needs of their international student populations that enhance their campuses as well as their financial well-being. MPOWER Financing currently works with 223 universities across the nation, funding low-income domestic students, DACA students and international students who are excluded by the current student loan system. Previously, Kienow held business development executive positions at two student aid service organizations, Cegment and American Student Assistance (ASA). Earlier in her career, she was the senior vice president of College Loan Corporation (CLC), and worked with several other organizations in the education and student aid markets, including Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation (TGSLC), Bank One and Collegiate Funding Services. She has also recently volunteered as a mentor at CollegeBound, where she developed curriculum to help students navigate their preparation for college. Kienow started her career in the financial aid office of United States International University (now Alliant University), where she helped students from Micronesia obtain Pell grants so they could complete their degrees. Carmen has a great depth of experience working not only alongside financial aid officers, but as a financial aid officer herself. This is exactly the type of experience we need, as we work with university staff to support the financial needs of their international student communities, said Manu Smadja, CEO and co-founder of MPOWER Financing. She will be responsible for deepening our relationships with great universities across the western part of the U.S., in states like Texas and California, where there is a clear need for MPOWER to support both international students and DACA/Dream students with a supplemental financing source that isnt dependent on a U.S. co-signer or an established credit score. It is a major goal of MPOWER Financing to keep international students from having their education in the U.S. interrupted or derailed by a financial shortfall, said Kienow. I embrace the opportunity to work with our growing network of colleges and universities to assist them in keeping their culturally-diverse communities vibrant and thriving. About MPOWER Financing MPOWER Financing is an innovative fintech company and provider of educational loans to high-promise international students who do not fit the traditional credit criteria of banks or lenders. The companys mission is to remove the financial barriers to higher education in the U.S. by providing the financial resources necessary for these students to attend and complete their undergraduate or graduate education. MPOWER Financing helps students build their credit histories and provides them with personal finance, education and gateway financial products to prepare for life after college. For more information, visit http://www.mpowerfinancing.com, or follow MPOWER on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. # # # Photo Source: This Week News We take pride in providing opportunity both within Kahiki as well as in our community. Kahiki Foods is a winner! And one of the proud recipients of The Gahanna Chamber of Commerces Excellence in Business Awards for 2017. Kahiki was evaluated in the 50-250 employee category on measures such as: Outstanding performance Innovation Lasting impact on the Gahanna community Exhibiting overall excellence in the marketplace Gahanna Chamber President Leslee Blake quoted in the Rocky Fork Enterprise said, our Excellence in Business winners have continued to act as examples of the resilience, ingenuity and opportunity at work in the free enterprise system And by taking risks, watching out for their employees, and giving back to their community, theyve shown that success is achievable. This award means a lot to our Kahiki team. We all appreciate that our hard work is gaining momentum and being recognized within the community. The Gahanna Chamber of Commerce partnership and our expansion with other local partnerships has brought us a great success in 2017. We take pride in providing opportunity both within Kahiki as well as in our community. We are driving hard to add a few more awards to that list this year, said The Big Kahuna and CEO, Martin Kelly. Great timing for this award - as Kahiki expands their fast growing presence in Columbus. Go find those mouth-watering Kahiki foods at the "Big Orange Box" at MAPFRE Stadium. OR hurry out to Huntington Park! You can order General Tso's or Sweet and Sour Chicken and some crispy Yum Yum Stix. No game on? No worries. Crunchy, saucy Kahiki snacks, sides, and dinners are waiting for you in Walmart, Giant Eagle, Meijer, Sams Club and Kroger stores. Freezer to oven to belly. Now. About Kahiki Foods, Inc. Whats not to LOVE about bold Asian flavors that stir your senses? Making your meals a delicious adventure drives us to do what weve been doing now for over 55 years. And we have a blast doing it. Even our name is fun just try to say Kahiki [kah-hee-kee] without smiling. Join the action at kahiki.com! Want to know more? Drop a line to Kahikis Master of Magical Moments, Scott Corey, at scott.corey(at)kahiki.com. Standing Rock is still standing strong as supporters, filmmakers, and musicians come together for the inaugural Standing Rock Nation Film & Music Festival, June 2, 3, and 4 at the Prairie Knights Casino & Resort, 7932 ND-24, Fort Yates, North Dakota. Presented by the Oceti Sakowin (The Seven Council Fires, in association with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), the event focuses on honoring the Water Protector Movement, youth and women. Oceti Sakowin is acknowledging the spirit, energy, expression, and the vision of our children and grandchildren through film. We listen and we hear their voices telling us what is important to them and we share stories, so they will not forget, says Phyllis Young, President and Founder, Standing Rock Nation Film & Music Festival. These stories are lessons for the next generations so they will endure through resilience, strength, healing, love, and compassion Mni yuha najin win! The Standing Rock Nation Film & Music Festival has been created to support the Water Protector Movement that began at Standing Rock, as well as to strengthen the relationship between the Native American community and the film and music industry. The Festival weekend begins on Friday, June 2, with a day to empower the youth through a music-filled rap/hip hop summit featuring cutting-edge music videos. On Saturday, June 3, the Festival will focus on defending the sacred and honoring the Water Protectors. Filmmakers and videographers who have been shooting at Standing Rock have been invited to share some of their footage and participate in discussions. A reunion of Water Protectors will begin at 10:00 a.m. with a special Water Protector ceremony. On Sunday, June 4, the Festival will honor women, the backbone of the NoDAPL fight featuring the indigenous women who have united to stop the oil pipeline, which threatens their land, water, and very existence. Speakers include Pearl Means, widow of Russell Means. It is our goal that this weekend Festival will empower, enlighten, and entertain the Native Community and all global citizens through film screenings, panels, and roundtable conversations, says Mitchell Zephier, Executive Director and Founder, Standing Rock Nation Film & Music Festival. Powerful screenings along with special panels will include: A Century of War, (by Sean Stone) that showcases the new energy technology Cold Fusion; AWAKE: A Dream from Standing Rock, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival (directed by Josh Fox, James Spione, and Myron Dewey) featuring Floris White Bull and Prolific The Rapper); The Good Mind (by Gwendolen Cates), about the Onondaga Nation (Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy) which is facing similar environmental and sovereignty issues as Standing Rock; this years Sundance World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award Winner RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World (by filmmakers Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana); Virtual Reality films Oil & Water Episode 1 Mission Accepted (by filmmakers Eric Fisher and Ryan Moore) and From Alcatraz to Standing Rock, featuring LaNada WarJack (co-produced and directed by Aneeta Akhurst and Cailyn Bradley), and more. Comedian Chance Rush will emcee Saturday and Sunday. Influential music videos to be screened at the Festival include Taboos Stand with Standing Rock; Nataani Means Rebel Music (MTV); Frank Walns Oil for Blood; MC Red Eagles Song of Survival; Nataani Means Warrior; Spencer & Doc The Storm, and a remix of Prolific The Rapper & A Tribe Called Reds Black Snake and more. The Festival will wrap Sunday night with an after party and jam session featuring musician and activist Pura Fe, Prolific The Rapper, and more Admission to the Standing Rock Nation Film & Music Festival is free, but with large crowds anticipated, attendees are encouraged to register online in advance. Donations are accepted in advance and at the door. Event hours are Friday, 1:00 11:00 p.m., Saturday, 10:00 a.m. 11:00 p.m., and Sunday 10:00 a.m. - Midnight. For event registration, to make a donation, or for complete festival information, call 605-407-7552 or visit http://www.standingrockfilmfest.com. Become a part of the community, and follow the Festival online - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StandingRockFilmFestival Instagram: @standingrockfilmfestival Twitter: @standingrockff The Denver office of the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, hosted a historic Governors Forum May 25 bringing together five of Colorados governors for the first time to discuss their perspective on issues impacting Colorado. We are honored to have Colorados five living governors speak to us about their role in leading our great state, said Brian Duffy, shareholder and Chief Executive Officer of Greenberg Traurig. Together, they served for more than 40 years, during a span of sustained growth, extraordinary transitions, and diversification. In attendance were many business leaders, government officials and other dignitaries. The Denver Post partnered on the event with Greenberg Traurig and has published an article as well as posted the video of the discussion on Facebook. As Greenberg Traurig celebrates 50 years of service to clients throughout the world, all five governors reflected on the events and history unique to Colorado, as seen through the eyes of our strong leaders. The discussion revolved around these five governors: Richard Lamm was the 38th governor for the State of Colorado, for three terms, from 1975-1987. He attended the University of WisconsinMadison, where he majored in accounting. He also served as a lieutenant in the United States Army at Fort Carson in Colorado, and in 1962 after working as an accountant, set up a law practice, earning his J.D. from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley. Lamm is currently Co-Director of the University of Denvers Institute for Public Policy and regularly teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses, including "Hard Choices in Public Policy" and "Medical Policy." Roy Romer was Colorados 39th governor, also serving three terms from 1987-1999, like his predecessor, and is tied for the longest serving governor of the state. Romer received a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Colorado State University, and later received a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a legal officer. He is spending half his time on education issues and the other half working on his John Deere Dealership business. Bill Owens was the 40th governor of Colorado, serving two terms from 1999-2007. Owens attended Stephen F. Austin State University and later earned a masters degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He now serves as Senior Director of the Government Law & Policy group in the Greenberg Traurig office in Denver, along with serving on a number of public boards. Owens joined the University of Denver's Institute for Public Policy Studies in January 2007 as a senior fellow. Bill Ritter was Colorados 41st governor, serving one term from 2007-2011, and was the first native born Coloradan Governor since 1975. Ritter graduated from the Colorado State University and later earned his J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law. He served as Denvers district attorney for 12 years before being elected as governor. He currently serves as the director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University since February, 2011. John Hickenlooper is the 42nd governor of the State of Colorado, elected in 2011, and is currently holding this office. Hickenlooper graduated from Wesleyan University with both a bachelors and masters degree, and had careers as a geologist and an entrepreneur before getting into public life as a two-term Denver Mayor. Along with holding the highest office in the State, he served as the chairman of the National Governors Association from July 2014 to July 2015. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. One firm worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. Striving to be San Diego's Best Again in 2017! We are committed to providing the ultimate customer service and deliver the highest quality of work for our customers. Starting as a one-man operation in 1980, Bill Howe has grown into one of San Diegos best plumbing, heating & air, and contracting companies. Their mission has always been simple; provide the best services at great rates, treat employees and customers like family, and give back to the community. By staying true to their business philosophy, they have grown from one employee to over 170 across three divisions in the last 37 years while retaining the same small family owned business feel. Each year, the San Diego Union Tribune hosts the Best of Readers Poll. They invite readers to nominate their favorite businesses, restaurants, night life spots, and even local servers and hair stylists and more in over 175 different categories. The nomination process takes place April through May, and the top 10 in each category make the list for open voting. Bill Howe was nominated in three categories: San Diegos best plumbing company, heating & air company, and contractor. In 2016, they were chosen as the Best San Diego Heating & Air specialists, Best Plumber, and Best Contractor. Being named as the top in all three of our service categories was exciting, said Tina Howe, Vice President of the Bill Howe Family of Companies. It is great to make the list again this year, and we appreciate all of our customers and community members who take the time to vote for us. There are many great companies in our city, and we are honored to be in such amazing company. Voting opened on Sunday, May 28, and San Diego residents can vote once per day in all categories through June 26. You can vote at the Bill Howe Best of Page on the Union Tribune website. We are committed to providing the ultimate customer service and deliver the highest quality of work for our customers and create a company where the employees are happy, healthy, and want to come to work each day, said Bill Howe, President of the Bill Howe Family of Companies. For more information about 2016s Best San Diego Heating & Air, Plumber, and Contractor, visit http://www.billhowe.com, or to speak with Bill or Tina Howe regarding this announcement, contact Bill Howe Marketing Director, Julie Riddle at Julie(at)billhowe.com. About Bill Howe Family of Companies Bill Howe Family of Companies is comprised of Bill Howe Plumbing, Inc.; Bill Howe Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.; Bill Howe Restoration & Flood Services, Inc. The family-owned and operated company began in 1980 with the plumbing division and has grown into San Diego Countys largest low-cost one-stop-shop for service, repairs and installation, offering both residential and commercial services. 9085 Aero Drive, Suite B, San Diego CA 92123. Call 1-800-BILL-HOWE because We Know Howe! American Family Care (AFC), the nations leading provider of urgent care and accessible primary care, is hosting a grand opening celebration on Wednesday, May 31st at their newest clinic in Oxford, Alabama. In coordination with the Calhoun Chamber of Commerce, the event will begin at 1pm and will be followed by an hour of networking, light refreshments, and clinic tours. The new Oxford clinic marks AFCs first location to open in Calhoun County and its 44th to open in Alabama. During the past 34 years, AFC has evolved the concept of non-emergency room urgent care with more than 600 in-network physicians caring for nearly 3 million patients each year. AFC plans to continue growing across the nation and is on track to open 30 more clinics before the end of 2017. Were excited to continue fulfilling our mission of making quality health care accessible and economical with the opening of our medical center in Oxford, said Randy Johansen, President of American Family Care. The opening of this location gives us the opportunity to serve new patients in Calhoun County by bringing them quality health care that is economical and now also convenient. All AFC medical centers are designed, equipped and staffed to provide accessible primary care, urgent care and minor emergency treatment. Each clinic features a high-tech, high touch approach, including digital x-rays, on-site lab testing, state of the art diagnostics, and electronic medical records. The clinics are staffed by kind, caring and compassionate health care professionals. Most clinics are open daily with extended hours and no appointments are necessary. AFCs Oxford location will also feature a full suite of occupational medicine and workers compensation services. These services include OSHA-mandated medical surveillance exams, D.O.T. and non D.O.T. drugs screens and physicals, and breath alcohol tests, among many other services. A healthy workforce is a fundamental ingredient for a healthy business, said Johansen. Injured employees impact a company in terms of both worker's compensation expenses and lost production time, so we work hard to help make it simple and affordable to keep employees healthy. About American Family Care: Founded by Dr. Bruce Irwin with a single location in 1982, American Family Care has pioneered the concept of non-emergency room urgent care. With its 2013 acquisition of the Doctors Express, and its subsequent rebranding, AFC has become the nations leading provider of urgent care, accessible primary care, and occupational medicine, with more than 180 clinics and 600 in-network physicians caring for nearly 3 million patients a year. Ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S., AFCs stated mission is to provide the best healthcare possible, in a kind and caring environment, while respecting the rights of all patients, in an economical manner, at times and locations convenient to the patient. For more information, visit http://www.americanfamilycare.com. (L to R): Dr. Claus Feussner, Vetter Pharma; Dr. Boris Stoeber, Microdermics; Grant Campany, Microdermics; Dr. David Brett, Vetter Pharma Vetters vast experience with a wide variety of drug substances provides us with an invaluable opportunity for a successful development path for our microneedle drug delivery technology, said Grant Campany, President & CEO of Microdermics. Vetter, a leading and innovative provider of aseptic prefilled drug delivery systems and Microdermics Inc., a Vancouver-based medical device company developing a novel hollow, metal microneedle drug and vaccine delivery system, today announced that they have entered into a strategic cooperation agreement. The market in novel alternatives to needle injections is forecasted to grow rapidly, reaching in excess of 480 million units by 2030 (Roots Analysis report). Microneedles are a novel technology that can offer promising advantages as an alternative to classical needle injections and other routes of administration, mainly in reducing the injectable dose needed to trigger an immune response and accelerating drug absorption by the body. The roadblocks to commercialization are mainly due to limited investment in scalable aseptic manufacture at the later phases of development. To overcome this hurdle the two companies have joined forces to leverage the expertise of both firms and enable late stage process development and device manufacture on a commercial scale. Microdermics microneedle technology is commercially scalable and capable of pain-free injections into the pharmacokinetically beneficial intradermal space, providing improved comfort and treatment to patients. Microdermics has successfully demonstrated the initial safety of its microneedle system, and is planning Phase 1 human clinical trials for vaccine and therapeutic delivery, to be initiated in 2017. As a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), Vetter offers its customers a beneficial service through a combination of device development and associated drug product manufacturing and packaging services. Vetter tries to integrate its customers in technological advancements as early as possible. By continuously participating in market development in innovative and proactive ways, the company is committed to acting with the goal of increasing patient convenience and compliance in mind. Microdermics has developed a novel commercially scalable, low-cost, customizable, metal, hollow, microneedle platform that provides efficient delivery of vaccines and biologics addressing the global reliance on the 160-year old hypodermic needle and the economic and health implications associated with widespread needle phobia. The companys Phase 1 clinical trials to validate the effectiveness and reliability of intradermal delivery are expected to initiate in 2017. Microdermics will focus product development and clinical activities on new delivery methods for existing commercial products, providing innovative methods for partners to differentiate via a novel intradermal delivery system, as well as pursue product life cycle extensions. We are very happy to enter into this agreement with Microdermics, and we are excited by the initial experience of cooperation and entrepreneurial spirit we have established with key individuals at this company, said Dr. Claus Feussner, Vetters Senior Vice President Development Service. We believe that microneedles are a particularly innovative technology and may prove to be a promising future alternative for selected areas of drug delivery. Microdermics is extremely excited to work with a world-class partner like Vetter, since our strategic interests align and their decades of experience and innovation in the fill and finish segment will enable us to accelerate our commercialization strategy. Vetters vast experience with a wide variety of drug substances provides us with an invaluable opportunity for a successful development path for our microneedle drug delivery technology, said Grant Campany, President & CEO of Microdermics. While our individual companies differ in size, experience and structure, we are fully aligned in our vision to achieve the best possible patient convenience with our product offerings, said Prof. Boris Stoeber, Microdermics Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. About Vetter: Vetter is a global leader in the fill and finish of aseptically prefilled syringe systems, cartridges and vials. Headquartered in Ravensburg, Germany, the company operates production facilities in Germany and the United States, as well as sales offices in Singapore and Tokyo, Japan. The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is an innovative solution provider serving small, midsize, and the top 10 (bio-) pharmaceutical companies. Its portfolio spans state-of-the-art manufacturing from early clinical development through commercial filling and final packaging of parenteral drugs. Known for quality, the company of approximately 4,300 employees offers a foundation of experience spanning more than 35 years, including dozens of customer product approvals for novel compounds. More than 80% of Vetters active projects are biologics, and Vetter currently manufactures five of the world top 10. The CDMO is also committed to patient safety and compliance with user friendly solutions such as Vetter-Ject, as well as its dual-chamber syringe Vetter Lyo-Ject and cartridge system V-LK. Visit http://www.vetter-pharma.com. Contact Vetter Pharma International GmbH Markus Kirchner Corporate Spokesperson / Specialist External Communications Phone: +49 (0)751-3700-3729 E-mail: PRnews(at)vetter-pharma(dot)com About Microdermics: Microdermics is a Vancouver-based medical device company (with a business office in San Francisco) revolutionizing the biopharmaceutical market for both patients and healthcare practitioners. As the only company with a low-cost, scalable, hollow, metal microneedle, Microdermics eliminates the danger of accidental needle sticks caused by hypodermic needles and addresses the global health impact related to needle phobia. Microdermics will leverage its proprietary and innovative delivery system across a spectrum of biopharmaceuticals, including a new market for biosimilars, providing biopharmaceutical companies with a means of differentiating themselves from their competitors as well as securing product life cycle extensions. Learn more at http://www.microdermics.com. Contact Microdermics Inc. Rory St. Clair Phone: +1 (778) 938-3108 E-mail: rory(at)microdermics(dot)com We have an outstanding team at ABD that is not afraid to reach for the stars. As a result, we collaborate and achieve some of the most amazing innovations in software. Automated Business Designs, Inc. (ABD), developer of Ultra-Staff staffing software, was named the winner of a Bronze Level Stevie Award for Company of the Year in Computer Software during the 15th annual American Business Awards. The American Business Awards are the nations premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. An award ceremony is scheduled for June 20, 2017 in New York, NY, and Amanda Wokurka, Marketing Coordinator, will be accepting the award on behalf of ABD. The application for the Company of the Year category required extensive detailing of ABDs chief achievements from the last calendar year. With a focus on Overall Innovation, highlighted accomplishments included integrations with Asurint for background screening and a 2-way integration with IBM Kenexa Prove It for candidate assessments. Other achievements include integrations for artificial intelligence, WOTC (Work Opportunity Tax Credit), and many significant enhancements to ABDs flagship product, Ultra-Staff staffing software. Also within the last year, ABD held its semi-annual Client Meeting, and received recognition as an innovative, highly successful influence within the staffing and recruiting industry. Terri Roeslmeier, CEO of Automated Business Designs, had this to say: We are honored to be recognized by the American Business Awards for Company of the Year in Computer Software as a small business. We have an outstanding team at ABD that is not afraid to reach for the stars. As a result, we collaborate and achieve some of the most amazing innovations in software. Working at Automated Business Designs has been a blessing, said employee Amanda Wokurka. I have learned so much about what good leadership and a strong company looks like, and I couldnt be more thankful for the career opportunities I have gained since becoming a team member. This company is extremely deserving of the Company of the Year honor. More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Live Event of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. More than 190 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this years Stevie Award winners. Each year the judges find the quality and variety of the nominations to be greater than the year before. The 2017 competition was intense and every organization that has won should be proud, said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. Of the judges comments, many stood out: Amazing story of successful business innovation and leadership. Excellent work! Practical problem solving and innovative solutions. Well done! Amazing culture, company, and execution of business communication. The Company of the Year award is the second company culture based award for Automated Business Designs in the last year. In May 2016 and 2017, Automated Business Designs was named one of Chicagos Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. To learn more about Automated Business Designs and Ultra-Staff staffing software, visit http://www.abd.net. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2017 Stevie winners are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA. About Automated Business Designs Automated Business Designs, Inc. has been in business for over 30 years, producing the staffing and recruiting software solution Ultra-Staff made specifically with staffing companies in mind. ABD offers a customizable staffing experience that benefits both clients and candidates through an integrated front office, back office, web suite, and mobile applications. With unique perspectives, in-depth staffing knowledge, active membership in the American Staffing Association (ASA), National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS), Minnesota Recruiting & Staffing Association (MNRSA) and board member status in the Illinois Search and Staffing Association (ISSA), ABD delivers hiring results from beginning to end. AMGtime Attending 2017 California Accounting & Business Conference AMGtime will be attending the California Accounting and Business Show and Conference, the largest annual meeting of CPAs held each year. AMGtime will be exhibiting at the 2017 California Accounting and Business Show and Conference, from June 6-7 at the Los Angeles LAX Hilton Hotel, in booth 135A. CPAs, accountants, and business professionals gather every year to explore opportunities to make their business more efficient. For a couple years now, AMGtime has shared their innovative time and attendance solutions and special accountant programs at the CAB conference, showing professionals how to make the process of employee management more efficient. The California Accounting and Business Show and Conference is the largest annual meeting of CPAs held each year. Businesses, subcontractors and vendors exhibit their company offerings. Valuable conversations and keynote speakers will be available to attendees. Rick Richardson and Jon Baron will be the keynote speakers this year, discussing industry trends and the future of accounting. Other speakers include Amy Vetter, CeCe Morken, David Cieslak, Randy Johnston, and more. Attendees are often gaining more knowledge they can take back with them and finding ways to further develop their business. CPE credits are also available for accountants. AMGtime is a leading provider of innovative and cost-efficient time and attendance solutions including both cloud-based and PC-based software, top-of-the-line biometric devices, mobile applications, specialized industry solutions, and more. Specialized modules are available as add-ons, such as Benefit Accrual, Mandatory Paid Sick Leave, Nursing Hours Per Patient Day (NHPPD) and Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) exports, to name a few. In addition to their robust solutions, AMGtime offers an Accountant Referral Program for CPAs and accounting professionals. The Accountant Referral Program rewards accountants for referring their clients to AMGtime. Their clients benefit from AMGtimes innovative time and attendance solutions, which are integrated with over 110 different payroll companies including: ADP, PayChex, Sage, Evolution, Spectrum, and some are seamlessly integrated, such as QuickBooks, Evolution, and Cloud Payroll. Visit AMG Employee Management at booth 135A, and learn about AMGtimes efficient and robust time and attendance solutions, and get hands on experience of their hardware and software solutions. About the Company With 24 years of experience, Los Angeles-based AMG Employee Management Inc. has made its mark as a national leader in providing time and attendance solutions. AMGtime provides easy to use and flexible time and attendance products and services, including software available on both the cloud and PC, top of the line biometric hardware, mobile applications, specialized industry solutions, and much more. AMGtimes solutions are customizable and adaptable for basic to complex configurations, simple to implement, and inexpensive, providing organizations with the highest level of efficiency and ROI. Just because the Bank says No doesnt mean a business is out of options. Cash is the lifeblood of any business. While some companies operate solely with their own working capital, most must borrow money from time to time. Borrowing, of course, includes something as mundane as buying goods or services on credit (whether on credit terms or by using a credit card). But most companies of any significant size have a revolving line of credit or a term loan, or both, with a bank or other commercial lender. This Business Borrowing Basics Financial Poise webinar series explores where companies should look for business loans, how to negotiate them, and what to do if they default under them. This second episode of the Business Borrowing Basics series, "Alternative Financing - When the Bank Says 'No'," (Register Here) is available now On Demand and features Moderator Tom O'Hare of Marquette Business Credit. Tom is joined by Paul Schuldiner of Rosenthal Trade Capital, Alex Mazer of Big Shoulders Capital and Andy Moser of Scargo Hill Capital. Just because the Bank says No doesnt mean a business is out of options. Even before the Great Recession there were plenty of alternative (non-bank) lenders but the number exploded in the past several years. Peer-to-peer lending, alone, came out of nowhere just a few years ago to become a major source of financing for millions of businesses. And this new business model is just the latest entrant into the larger category of what is commonly called alternative lenders. Indeed, just listen to a business radio station, go to a business-focused website, or open your morning mail, and you are likely exposed to all sorts of advertisements asking you if your business would like a loan- fast and with few questions asked. This webinar paints a picture of what the alternative lender landscape looks like, how to access it, how to assess individual lenders and discusses the pros and cons of going various routes. Additional episodes in this series include Negotiating a Loan Agreement, Financing a Business With Help From the Feds: SBA Loans and Other "Special Programs" and Dealing with Defaults - What to Do and Not Do When Your Company Violates its Loan Agreement. Each episode is delivered in Plain English understandable to business owners and executives without much background in these areas, yet is proven to be valuable to seasoned professionals. Each episode in the series brings you into engaging, sometimes humorous, conversations designed to entertain as it teaches. And, as with all Financial Poise Webinars, each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes, so that participants will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all of the episodes. ABOUT FINANCIAL POISE: Financial Poise (http://www.financialpoise.com) provides unbiased news, continuing education, and intelligence to private business owners, executives, investors, and their trusted advisors. For more information contact Jennifer Storch at jstorch(at)financialpoise(dot)com or 312-469-0135. Our firm's commitment to continuing education is nearly legendary in Dallas and throughout Texas. Burdette & Rice, one of the leading Texas probate litigation law firms, is proud to announce a well-received presentation by firm attorney David Mead on legal vs. medical incapacity. Mr. Mead, an experienced probate attorney who handles cases involving breaches of fiduciary duty, will contests and other disputes within the context of the administration of an estate or trust or guardianship, presented a speech to Dallas area attorneys attending a continuing legal education seminar at the Dallas Bar Association Headquarters in downtown Dallas on May 23, 2017. Our firm's commitment to continuing education is nearly legendary in Dallas and throughout Texas," explained Elliott Burdette, Managing Director of Probate Litigation at Burdette & Rice. David's presentation was well received, and was a fantastic opportunity for Dallas attorneys to learn some intriguing details concerning medical vs. legal incapacity as it related to will contests under Texas law." The presentation discussed the requirements of legal incapacity and compared them with the requirements applicable to establish medical incapacity. An understanding of both topics is necessary to evaluate whether a person had proper capacity when he or she signed a Will or Trust that is later subject to contest, as well as when deciding whether a guardianship application is appropriate. Persons interested in knowing more who missed the presentation can reach out to David Mead at http://www.dallasprobateattorneys.com/david-mead/. Those who would like more information on probate disputes and litigation under Texas law can visit http://www.dallasprobateattorneys.com/probate-disputes/, or go to the website and click on the 'contact' button to reach out for a consultation. No two situations are alike, and interested parties are strongly urged to reach out for a person-to-person consultation. ABOUT DAVID MEAD David Mead joined Burdette & Rice as a probate attorney on September 19, 2016. David received his BS from Texas A&M and Juris Doctor from Baylor University law school. He grew up in Katy, Texas and brings with him several years of experience in probate, guardianship and estate administration. David worked for the Honorable Judge Michael E Miller in an internship program with Dallas Probate Court # 3 before beginning his law practice. He was selected and serves as a member of the Dallas Bar Association Probate Council and has served as a co-chairperson for the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Elder Law Committee. David also volunteers at the Advisory Committee for the Guardianship and Money Management Program and has presented to several community and professional presentations on estate planning and probate related matters. David has practiced exclusively in estate planning, probate and guardianship related matters since becoming a licensed attorney in Texas. Prior to attending law school, David worked as a merchant mariner. Included among his experiences was piloting a ship through the Panama Canal. ABOUT BURDETTE & RICE, PLLC Burdette & Rice, PLLC is a top Dallas probate law firm, with lawyers dedicated to listening to their clients, being fully present to them, and advocating their clients positions in the simplest and most persuasive way possible. The law firm employs some of the top probate and estate lawyers in Dallas, Texas. Clients come to Burdette & Rice to contest a will in Texas, work on complex inheritance litigation and disputes, and to litigate disputes over powers of attorney, guardianship and trustee issues all based on Texas law. Burdette & Rice, PLLC Media Relations http://www.dallasprobateattorneys.com/ 972-991-7700 Delpor's Implant Device We are honored to have been selected as one of the companies to exhibit at BIOs Innovation Zone, and we are looking forward to having fruitful discussions with potential partners Delpor, Inc. (Delpor), a biotechnology company focused on drug delivery, today announced that it has been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to exhibit and showcase its technology at the upcoming International Convention of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). The Convention will take place in San Diego, CA on June 19-22, 2017. Delpor will be exhibiting at BIOs Innovation Zone along with other innovative companies. We are honored to have been selected as one of the companies to exhibit at BIOs Innovation Zone, and we are looking forward to having fruitful discussions with potential partners, said Tassos Nicolaou, President and CEO of Delpor. During the conference, Delpor expects to focus on its lead program, DLP-114 (6-month risperidone formulation for schizophrenia maintenance treatment) and on its two key implantable drug delivery technologies (PROZOR and NANOPOR). About Delpor, Inc. Delpor develops the next generation Drug Delivery Systems that improve the clinical and commercial value of drugs and biopharmaceuticals. The companys technologies enable the sustained release of drugs through a small non-mechanical subcutaneous implant device. The device is implanted during a 10 minute, simple, in-office, procedure using local anesthetic. Delpors device can deliver small & large molecules over several months while maintaining zero-order release pharmacokinetics. The companys lead products include 3-6 month formulations of Risperidone and Exenatide. Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.delpor.com. About DLP-114 Delpors DLP-114 is a small titanium reservoir designed for subcutaneous implantation and loaded with a proprietary formulation of risperidone. The product is designed to provide a constant therapeutic dose of risperidone each day for a total period of 6 months. Additional features are expected to include reversibility, immediate onset of action, and no accumulation. Forward-Looking Statements To the extent any statements made in this release contain information that is not historical, these statements are essentially forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development and launch, reliance on key strategic alliances, availability of raw materials, availability of additional intellectual property rights, availability of future financing sources, the regulatory environment and other risks the Company may identify from time to time in the future. It seems everyone in Kansas looks to their phone as soon as theres an emergency, including plumbing problems that just cannot wait. One of Wichita's top-rated plumbing companies, Ben Franklin Plumbing, is proud to announce two new blog posts about emergency plumbing services. Many Wichita and Central Kansas residents immediately turn to the Internet, when facing the need for a 24/7 emergency plumber not only in Wichita but in nearby towns such as Derby or Bel Aire, Kansas. It seems everyone in Kansas looks to their phone as soon as theres an emergency, including plumbing problems that just cannot wait. Also, they use the phone to search online before making the call, explained Jason Clark, Manager of Ben Franklin Plumbing of Wichita, Kansas. For this reason, we just posted two new blogs about emergency plumbing issues for the Wichita, Kansas area. Not only are our plumbers experts, we are proud to say we work hard to offer the best website information for 24/7 emergency plumbing in Central Kansas. To review the two new blog posts for 24/7 emergency plumber service in Wichita, please go to http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/tag/emergency-plumber. Information for issues including sewer line cleanouts and faucet repair, sink drainage and toilet repairs can be found as well as emergency plumbing issues. To learn more about emergency plumbing, specifically, visit http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/emergency-plumber. Details for contacting an expert plumber can also be reviewed. Wichita Emergency Plumber Information Online Since the arrival of the smartphone, the search for information may have become easier for many. In years past, the phone was used exclusively for making calls. Now, however, a phone can be used as a device to browse the Web and gather information before making a decision. Instead of calling a random service to get an emergency plumber, a Wichita local can review website details first. Learning about the skills and experience of a top plumbing technician can be helpful. A good website may also share customer reviews and plumbing tips. Through the internet, smart business owners can make it easy for locals to choose the best, friendliest and most skilled emergency plumber in Wichita. To better cater to this hunger for online plumbing information, Ben Franklin Plumbing, a leading plumbing service in Wichita and Central Kansas has announced two new blog postings. By using the blog and the website, an interested consumer can do research before actually calling an emergency plumber and scheduling a repair. In summary, online and on the phone, Central Kansas residents can find the best 24/7 emergency plumber nearby through this updated website. About Ben Franklin Plumbing of Wichita, Kansas Ben Franklin Plumbing is a top-rated plumbing service at http://www.benfranklinwichita.com/, serving greater Wichita, Kansas and located at 2825 E. Kellogg Avenue. The company offers 24 hour, emergency plumbing service and sewer line repair not only to Wichita but to surrounding communities such as Derby, Andover, and Haysville, Kansas. Professionally licensed Derby KS plumbers are ready for plumbing problems such as: drain cleaning, installing pump systems and water heaters, sewer line clean-outs and faucet repair. The company also replaces and installs faucets, garbage disposals and toilets. When searching for sewer line repairs, sewer repair and unclogging drains in Derby, Andover, Haysville or Wichita, Kansas, Ben Franklin Plumbing is available. Tel. 316-858-5985 Employee Uniforms Online We are very excited about the growth of our online employee uniform business. Uniform Solutions, a top-rated employee uniform supplier, is proud to announce a new blog post on the advantages of buying employee uniforms online. While many standardized products like books or microwave ovens have migrated easily to an online sales environment, less standardized products like clothing and uniforms have not completely migrated to online. The new post explains and explores the advantages to buying employee uniforms online, including how the company's unique system makes it easy and productive for today's busy business owner or manager. "We are very excited about the growth of our online employee uniform business, but we recognize that many first time buyers are skeptical of how they can buy clothing online," explained Bruce Bagley, Manager of Uniform Solutions for You. "Our new blog post explains the advantages of buying employee uniforms online and how our systems mitigate some of the disadvantages to make for an incredible shopping experience." To view the informative blog post, visit http://www.uniformsolutionsforyou.com/ready-buy-employee-uniforms-online-read-first/. To learn more about buying employee uniforms online, visit http://www.uniformsolutionsforyou.com/employee-uniforms-online/. Interested parties should not only browse these posts but are encouraged to reach out to an "employee uniform idea consultant" for assistance brainstorming employee uniform ideas and to request samples (qualified buyer restrictions apply). EMPLOYEE UNIFORMS ONLINE: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Companies like Amazon, Blue Apron, and AirBnB have proven the advantages that the online environment has over "real world" sales. Gone are the days of the bookstore or record store, and new ways of selling such as Blue Apron or AirBnB are revolutionizing industries as diverse as food preparation and hotels. In the employee uniform market, it is clear as well that buyers are eager to streamline their employee uniform buys into the digital world of computers and the Internet. But uniforms, as items of clothing, are not as standardized as books or music and have a "look, feel, and touch" component that makes them difficult to experience online. The new blog post explores and explains the advantages of buying employee uniforms online and how an innovative company like Uniform Solutions is able to mitigate some of the downsides of online purchases. Anyone interested in increasing efficiency and/or trying a new way to purchase employee uniforms is encouraged to visit the website and to reach out to a uniform consultant. The future has arrived. ABOUT UNIFORM SOLUTIONS FOR YOU Uniform Solutions for You is a division of Santa Rosa Uniform & Career Apparel, Inc. The division focuses on online sales of employee uniforms in key industries: restaurant, hotel, and casino. The website has a unique consultation request feature, wherein interested parties can reach out to a human uniform idea consultant to brainstorm employee uniform ideas. Uniform Solutions for You http://www.uniformsolutionsforyou.com/ Rebecca B. Schechter, of counsel in the Business Immigration and Compliance Practice at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, will participate in the Council for Global Immigration (CFGI) 2017 Symposium on June 11-14 in Arlington, VA. Schechter will be a panelist in the workshop session titled Handling Difficult Immigration Conversations in the Corporate Environment. The discussion will address immigration issues related to hiring and green card sponsorship. The CFGI 2017 Symposium will include conversations and opportunities that will shape the global workplace. To read more about the symposium, please click here. Schechter focuses her practice on business immigration and compliance, representing multi-national corporations and companies, as well as individual clients. She has experience with all areas of employment-based immigration, particularly H-1B, L-1, O-1, and E-2 petitions, as well as outstanding researcher petitions and labor certification applications. Schechter regularly assists Greenberg Traurig clients with global immigration matters, including business and work visas to countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. She also works on state and federal I-9 and E-Verify audits. Schechter has a thorough understanding of third-party contractor issues and experience handling complex naturalization, deportation defense, family, and employment-based adjustment applications. About Greenberg Traurig's Business Immigration & Compliance Group Greenberg Traurig's Business Immigration & Compliance Group is a multidisciplinary business immigration practice representing businesses, organizations, and individuals from around the world on a wide range of immigration-related matters. The group has achieved international recognition for legal advocacy, results-oriented service, and responsiveness to its clients. Greenberg Traurig's Immigration Compliance blog addresses the latest developments affecting employers, including the E-Verify program, Form I-9 compliance, Department of Labor issues (H-1B, H-2B and LCA), identity fraud in the workplace, electronic forms I-9s, EB-5 investor regional center compliance, and ICE worksite enforcement audits. Greenberg Traurigs EB-5 Insights blog addresses the broad range of challenges and opportunities presented by the EB-5 program, including the immigration, tax, and securities compliance issues integral to creating and maintaining successful Regional Centers and projects. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. One firm worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. Panduit's Nat Constanzo (left) awards the Heilind Electronics team Panduit's "2016 Top Distributor in the Electronics Channel" award. Heilind Electronics, a leading global distributor of electronic components, was recently honored with three industry achievement awards for its 2016 performance. The awards were presented at the EDS Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada by leading electronic suppliers Panduit, Neutrik and Keystone Electronics. Panduit, a global manufacturer of infrastructure equipment supporting power, communications, computing, control and security systems, awarded Heilind the Outstanding Achievement Award making Heilind their 2016 Top Distributor in the Electronics Channel. Neutrik, a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of audio, coaxial, power and circular connectors, named Heilind their 2016 Distributor of the Year. Keystone Electronics, a leading manufacturer of precision electronic interconnect components and hardware, presented Heilind with their 2016 Platinum Level Distributor award. "It is an honor to be recognized by so many manufacturers for our contributions to the electronic distribution industry, said Alan Clapp, Vice President of Supplier Business, Heilind Electronics. These prestigious awards are the result of the hard work and commitment of all Heilind employees. It is our ongoing mission to exceed the expectations of our suppliers and customers through performance, trust and innovation. In addition to receiving the three industry awards, Heilind was named the recipient of Amphenols 2016 Best North American Performance in Distribution award for the second consecutive year. About Heilind Electronics Founded in 1974, Heilind Electronics, Inc. (http://www.heilind.com) is one of the world's leading distributors of connectors, relays, sensors, switches, thermal management and circuit protection products, terminal blocks, wire and cable, wiring accessories and insulation and identification products. Heilind has locations throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Follow Heilind on Facebook at facebook.com/Heilind and on Twitter at twitter.com/Heilind. Attorney Kellee Parker Harris But beware, the officer does not need to actually observe the driving or movement, as circumstantial evidence can be used. Past News Releases RSS Attorney Kellee Parker Harris... Southern California attorney Kellee Parker Harris, founder of Parker Law Center, in a recent NASS segment educates drivers on probable cause and reasonable suspicion as they relate to traffic stops. The NALAs NASS gives business owners a unique platform to present their stories and industry expertise to a diverse, hyper-local audience through short, poignant audio segments. In her NASS segment, Parker stresses that it is imperative that motorists are aware that the 4th Amendment protects their right to be free from an unreasonable seizure, and that in order for an officer to conduct a traffic enforcement stop he or she either needs probable cause or reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. If the stop is in fact based on reasonable suspicion, the suspicion must be based on specific articulable facts, and the stop can last no longer than necessary to confirm or dispel the suspicion. In California, for example, in order to be found guilty of driving under the influence there must be volitional movement of the vehicle. California is not a physical control state, so if the key is in the ignition, the car is on and even if the person had the intent to drive, that is not enough to be considered driving under the influence. The vehicle must actually move, even if it is only an inch, added Parker. But beware, the officer does not need to actually observe the driving or movement, as circumstantial evidence can be used. Furthermore, in order for an officer to make an arrest without a warrant on a misdemeanor offense, the conduct must occur in said officers presence. California Vehicle Code Section 40300.5, however, allows for an exception when the officer has reasonable cause to believe the person was driving under the influence and certain circumstances are present. A peace officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person when the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person had been driving under the influence when any of the following exists: No. 1: The person is involved in a traffic accident. No. 2: The person is observed in or about a vehicle that is obstructing a roadway. No. 3: The person will not be apprehended unless immediately arrested. No. 4: The person may cause injury to himself or herself or damage property unless immediately arrested. No. 5: The person may destroy or conceal evidence of the crime unless immediately arrested. If an officer violates a persons 4th Amendment right to be free from an unreasonable seizure by stopping a person without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, or if the officer arrests a person for DUI without observing driving and CVC 40300.5 does not apply then an experienced attorney can run a motion to suppress the evidence which was illegally obtained, concluded Parker. This can result in dismissal of all charges. About Kellee Parker Harris, Parker Law Center Kellee Parker Harris is a Southern California DUI defense attorney. She is also a professor with the Criminal Justice Department at California State University, Long Beach where she teaches criminal procedure, constitutional rights, and criminal court processes. Attorney Parker is a member of the California DUI Lawyers Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and National College for DUI Defense. Parker Law Center provides legal services throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties. For more information, please call (800) 805-8804, visit http://www.parkerlawcenter.com or https://goo.gl/H6DbmZ. About the NALA The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. The 2017 Online Christian College resources are SR Education Groups first publishings covering faith-based higher education. Today, SR Education Group, a leading education research publisher founded in 2004, released two new resources to support students seeking a faith-based education: a comprehensive 2017 List of Accredited Online Christian Colleges and the 2017 Most Affordable Online Christian Colleges. Both lists employ data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to confirm Christian religious affiliation, and all schools are regionally or nationally accredited and offer at least one fully online program. The 2017 List of Accredited Online Christian Colleges, published on GuidetoOnlineSchools.com, is the largest comprehensive resource available to students seeking an online Christian education. SR Education Group researched 476 schools, 341 of which are included in the list. Between the chosen schools, over 30 religious affiliations are represented, including Roman Catholic, Baptist, and Interdenominational. The fully online degree levels include associate, bachelors, masters, doctoral, and certificate programs. To supplement the complete list of colleges, SR Education Group also manually collected and verified annual tuition rates for each school. The 25 colleges with the lowest annual tuition rates and regional accreditation earned a spot on the 2017 Most Affordable Online Christian Colleges, a ranking published on OnlineU.org. While all schools featured in the most affordable rankings have rates of $9,675 or lower, Columbia College, affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), boasts the lowest annual tuition at $5,280 for the undergraduate level. Columbia College also offers the largest array of online programs. Georgetown College, ranked #7, provides a Center for Christian Discernment and Academic Leadership as well as a Christian Scholars Program. Between the 25 schools ranked for affordability, 12 different religious affiliations are represented. SR Education Group also highlights a list of 2017 Top Online Christian Colleges selected based on their exceptional affordability and academic strength. Academic strength scores were calculated using each schools average college entrance exam scores, which were provided by the NCES. Gonzaga University, with an annual tuition of $7,000 and an academic strength score of 74%, is ranked the #1 top school. Fordham University, founded by the Catholic Diocese of New York, has the highest academic strength score of all ranked Christian Colleges at 79%. Indiana Wesleyan University, whose mission is to change the world through a Christ-centered academic community, offers 79 separate online degree programs for undergraduate, graduate, and professional education. Eight of the top online colleges can also be found in the most affordable colleges ranking. The 2017 Online Christian College resources are SR Education Groups first publishings covering faith-based higher education. The organization will be updating the resources annually to help prospective students seeking an online degree from a Christian institution find a quality, affordable education. About SR Education Group Headquartered in Kirkland, WA, SR Education Group was founded in 2004 by CEO Sung Rhee. The companys mission is to create authoritative online resources for students seeking an online education program that best suits their budget and career aspirations. SR Education Group is passionate about making quality education attainable for everyone and believes that objective information about education, careers, and educational financing should be free and easily accessible. For more information, please visit http://www.sreducationgroup.org/. In addition to the Oracle Gold Partnership, Peopletrail is accredited with the NAPBS. Less than 3% of all Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) have NAPBS accreditation. Peopletrail announced today it will be attending the Oracle HCM Users Group (OHUG) convention, June 6-9, 2017 in Orlando, FL. Peopletrail is an Oracle Gold Partner and will feature its Actionable Insight Screening services for criminal background checks and employment screening, and the support they provide to Oracle HCM product lines. Were looking forward to attending the OHUG Global Conference for the third year in a row. The Oracle HCM product line is well respected and utilized by many companies, and Peopletrails employment screening and advanced technology integration is an excellent resource for Oracles human capital management products. We look forward to meeting with many of our Oracle clients and networking with the OHUG membership, stated Wallace T. Davis, President and CEO of Peopletrail. The OHUG Global Conference will be held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Peopletrail is a Gold Partner with Oracle and a Gold Sponsor of OHUG, and will be located at booth #314 during the event. In addition to the Oracle Gold Partnership, Peopletrail is accredited with the NAPBS. Less than 3% of all Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) have NAPBS accreditation. Peopletrails commitment to providing added layers of credibility, compliance and technical expertise, in addition to the Companys human touch and personalized care, has built Peopletrail as one of the fastest growing companies for employment screening, ATS integration, drug screening, criminal background checks, tenant screening and corporate security solutions. Customers can learn more about Peopletrail and schedule a complimentary consultation by visiting the companys web site at Peopletrail.com or by calling the company directly at 866.223.8823 About Peopletrail Peopletrail is a leading provider of advanced screening and onboarding technology to improve processes and enhance the candidate experience. As part of the accredited elite, only Peopletrail combines superior customer service through dedicated account managers with efficient, state-of-the-art technology integration to deliver on-demand, accurate and timely consumer reporting results. Trusted and respected by government agencies and Fortune 500 to small up-and-coming businesses, Peopletrail provides Actionable insight you trust. Employment Screening | Criminal Background Checks | Identity Checks | Tenant Screening | Employment Verifications | Drug & Health Screening | Professional License Verifications | Medicaid Sanctions Monitoring | E-Verify & I-9 Processing | Extended Workforce Screening | International Screening | Credit Reports Lake Geneva Realtor Margaret Canfield I consider it a privilege to be nominated and especially to receive the honor of being featured on the cover. Overall it speaks to a level of success within my profession. Past News Releases RSS Realtor Margaret Canfield Examines... Realtor Margaret Canfield and... Realtor Margaret Canfield Helping... Margaret Canfield, broker with @properties in Lake Geneva, WI, was recently featured on the cover of the Wisconsin edition of Top Agent Magazine. The publication is the premier real estate magazine featuring the best real estate agents in America. Top Agent Magazine profiles the top-producing and most accomplished agents in the real estate industry, offering an in-depth look at their careers and outlining their success. I consider it a privilege to be nominated and especially to receive the honor of being featured on the cover. Overall it speaks to a level of success within my profession, said Canfield, who specializes in lakefront homes and lake associations in Walworth County, WI, which includes renowned Lake Geneva. In addition to landing the cover, Canfield, who is fourth generation at Lake Geneva, is featured in the pages of Top Agent Magazine, discussing her career path and touting the merits of Walworth County communities. She also recently expanded into transitional real estate due to being in close proximity to Chicago and its suburbs, working with buyers who are transitioning from those areas to living full-time around the lake area of Geneva Lake, which has been in Barrons Top 20 Investment home markets since 2010. Margaret is a great Realtor. She helped me market and sell a 31-unit duplex condo project in Lake Geneva, said client James D. Her knowledge and great sales ability contributed to our success in selling out this project in just over sixteen months. She is the best. However, its not all about real estate for Canfield. She is a loyal supporter of Open Arms Free Clinic, which strives to better understand and serve the health and wellness needs of the uninsured, low income and underserved residents of Walworth County, and Santa Cause, a super charity that performs random acts of kindness in the community and supports numerous charities throughout Walworth County. I believe in donating locally as that is where I have the greatest impact on people and their lives, concluded Canfield. About Margaret Canfield, @properties Margaret Canfield specializes in condominiums, townhomes, and single family homes on several lakes and/or associations that lend themselves to many styles of lake living. She is one of the top 20 out of 500 agents in Walworth County. For more information, please call (262) 949-9272, or visit http://www.margaretcanfield.com. The office is located at 880 W. Main Street, Lake Geneva, WI 53147. About the NALA The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. Veterans make outstanding ASP franchisees due to their commitment, trustworthiness, and unmatched determination to succeed. Right in time for Mays Military Appreciation Month, Americas Swimming Pool Company (ASP) the nations leading swimming pool service franchise, launched the 2017 Americas Swimming Pool Company (ASP) Veteran Program and announced Brad Baglio as the 2016 winner. Baglio was awarded the newest Americas Swimming Pool Company (ASP) franchise in Bell County, TX. It serves Temple, Killeen, Belton, and other locations in the area, with complete swimming pool maintenance, repairs, and renovations. Baglio, an Army veteran, competed against dozens of other military veterans nationwide to win the 2016 ASP Veteran Program. He became the 17th veteran to join the ASP franchise family when he launched his Bell County, Texas location on May 15th. As the winner of the 2016 ASP Veteran Program, Baglios franchise fee was waived by the ASP corporate office. His award, based on location, amounted to $65,000. Americas Swimming Pool Company, headquartered in Macon, Georgia, is proud to honor and reward deserving veterans. According to Stewart Vernon, the CEO/Founder of Americas Swimming Pool Company, ASPs franchise development team targets veteran franchise candidates because they possess unique skill sets that make them a perfect fit as a ASP franchise owners. We have franchise owners from just about every branch of the military, said Vernon. Since franchising ASP in 2005, we have discovered that military members, like Brad, are accountable multi-taskers who thrive when following a proven plan. Our veteran franchisees tell us they love service-based franchise models, like ours at ASP, because they have a structure in place, a set of rules to follow, and a need to fulfill a duty just like the military. We are confident veterans will thrive with ASP because they are willing to embrace an established franchise model and have supreme confidence in their ability to accomplish any goal set before them. Jef Flournoy, Vice President of Sales and Development at ASP Franchising, echoes Vernons sentiments and says the company is excited to launch the 2017 ASP Veteran Program which will be open to all military veterans until Veterans Day (November 11, 2017). At Americas Swimming Pool Company, the Veteran Program is our way of thanking veterans for their service to this country, while providing one qualified veteran per year with the solid support they need to start their own business, said Flournoy. Veterans make outstanding ASP franchisees due to their commitment, trustworthiness, and unmatched determination to succeed. Therefore, in addition to our annual Veteran Program, we offer 15% off the franchise fee to any qualified US military veteran who becomes an ASP franchisee. We look forward to helping countless veterans realize their dream of business ownership by becoming an ASP franchise owner in 2017. For Brad Baglio, coming back to Bell County, and Central Texas, is a homecoming with exciting business potential. My wife and I have many ties to the Bell County area, said Baglio. Our son was born here when we lived here 10 years ago and we have great friends who are welcoming us back. It has always been our hearts desire to return to Bell County. There is nothing like Americas Swimming Pool Company in the area, and I cant wait to get started showing people the ASP difference. It is an honor to be a part of a franchise family that supports military veterans. Being selected as the veteran program winner is a dream come true! This opportunity is opening doors for me to build a business that I am passionate about. For all veterans interested in participating in the 2017 ASP Veteran Program, please visit ASPfranchising.com/veterans to learn more about the program and fill out the entry form. For anyone interested in learning more about ASP franchise opportunities, please visit ASPfranchising.com. About Americas Swimming Pool Company Americas Swimming Pool Company is the largest swimming pool cleaning, repair and renovation franchise system in the nation. Founded in 2002 by Stewart C. Vernon, the company is based on the belief that by providing a higher quality pool service at a reasonable price, the brand would raise the industry standards for pool service. In 2005, ASP began franchising and now covers 245 territories across the nation. For more information on ASPs swimming pool franchise opportunities, visit ASPfranchising.com. For more information on ASP-Americas Swimming Pool Company, visit ASPpoolco.com. Find us on Facebook at @ASPpoolco A Davenport couple was arrested Tuesday after police say they found methamphetamine in their home earlier this month. Robert Alexander Lovett III, 31, is charged with a felony controlled substance violation, felony hosting a gathering where controlled substances are used and misdemeanor child endangerment. Brandy Necole Ross, 38, is charged with child endangerment. Bond was set Wednesday at $50,000 cash or surety for Lovett, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled June 9. Bond was set at $2,000 cash or surety for Ross. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing and will be arraigned June 22. A search warrant was executed at the couples home in the 3500 block of Heatherton Drive on May 10 as part of a crystal meth investigation, according to an arrest affidavit filed by Davenport police in support of the criminal complaint. Officers found approximately 0.1 grams of crystal meth on a digital scale in the master bedroom, according to the affidavit. Lovett told police that he possessed the drug with the intent to load it into a syringe and inject into another person, according to the affidavit. He also admitted that he allowed others to visit his home to use crystal meth, according to the affidavit. Ross kept needles for using meth in several locations in the master bedroom that were accessible to Lovetts 4-year-old son, according to the affidavit. She also kept marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the bedroom, according to the affidavit. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East CAMBRIDGE The second televised debate of the 2017 UK general election took place last night, where the main opposition leaders did battle in a one and a half hour long debate televised on BBC One. The Prime Minister Theresa May refused to take part in the debate. However, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn today announced that he would join his other opposition rivals. Scroll down for all the updates and analysis from the debate and 'spin room' in Cambridge. 22:02 ADAM PAYNE'S SNAP VERDICT Our Political Editor Adam Bienkov picked Plaid's Leanne Wood as the winner. What about Political Reporter Adam Payne? "Just like in the ITV debate in Salford a few weeks ago, I thought Caroline Lucas and Leanne Wood had very good nights. They both dealt the Conservatives some bruising lines throughout the evening. Corbyn had a decent evening and received some large rounds of applause for his attacks on austerity. However, I thought he struggled to provide a coherent answer on the question of free movement and immigration, which is one of the issues of the Brexit debate. Rudd held her own for the most part but was unable to effectively explain away Theresa May's absence. The prime minister's no show hung over the debate from first minute to last." 21:54 HOW THE PARTY SPINNERS ARE REACTING Here's the latest from Business Insider's Adam Payne who is currently in the green room talking to politicians and press officers. " 21:52 TOP POLLSTER: THE DEBATE WON'T IMPACT THE POLLS YouGov's Joe Twynam just told us that he saw "nothing in the debate" that will have a major impact on public opinion. 21:50 ADAM BIENKOV'S SNAP VERDICT Business Insider Political Editor Adam Bienkov gives his verdict on tonight's debate. 1. Theresa May's non-appearance looks like a mistake The conventional wisdom in Westminster at the start of the election campaign was that Theresa May was wise to skip televised election debates because her party's apparently unassailable lead in the opinion polls meant there was simply no need for her to risk taking part. One month on, and with some projections suggesting she could actually lose seats in this election, and that conventional wisdom now doesn't look so sharp. Tonight May, and her understudy in Amber Rudd, came under repeated attack from her rivals for her failure to show. If there is any message that comes out clearly from tonight's event it will be that. 2. Jeremy Corbyn has sharpened his appeal but he has weaknesses The Labour leader got a number of big rounds of applause tonight, particularly for his populist attacks on the government's record. However, he also came under repeated attack from his rivals, particularly for his position on Brexit and freedom of movement. He failed to close those attacks down. Corbyn also fell back on his habit of snapping "can you let me finish" at his opponents. It wasn't a good look. 3. Leanne Wood was the star of the show If there is one big winner tonight it was Plaid Cymru's leader Leanne Wood. She was sharp, likeable and had some of the best lines of the night. Her attack on UKIP's Paul Nuttall for his refusal to pay any Brexit bill drew particular admiration, even from her rivals. Her performance tonight should boost Plaid's hopes in this election. 21:00 "YOU ARE NOT WORTH THERESA MAY'S TIME, DON'T GIVE HER YOURS" Farron delivers one hell of a line to close proceedings. "Bake Off is on BBC2 at nine o'clock," he says. "You are not worth Theresa May's time, don't give her yours" And that's your lot! Business Insider Political Editor Adam Bienkov will take over while I gather the gossip from the green room. 20:49 THE PANEL ROUNDS UP ON ABSENT MAY Predictably, the leaders on the panel take in turn to take swipes at Theresa May, who chose not to show up tonight. Lucas says leadership is about "turning up" and defending your record. Farron agrees. "How dare Theresa May!" he says. He adds that he's determined to "build a country" that is fit the next generation. "Not so much the Iron Lady, more like the U-turn queen," Robertson says about May. Ouch. 20:45 NUTTALL: "WE SHOULD PUT BRITAIN FIRST" Asked on how he'd deal with US President Trump who reportedly plans to pull America out of the Paris climate change agreement the UKIP leader says "h 20:39 "ARE HAMAS STILL YOUR FRIENDS?" A row erupts on stage on how to deal with terrorism. Corbyn says he is apalled by the language Nuttall is using to describe Britain's muslim population. "Are Hamas still your friends?" Nuttall yells back at the Labour leader. 20:36 PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE? Farron and Corbyn take questions from the studio audience in Cambridge. 20:35 WHY ARE THE TORIES SELLING ARMS TO SAUDI ARABIA? Lucas and Nuttall form a short-lived alliance to question Rudd on why the government is still selling arms to Saudi Arabia despite Saudi money going to British mosques where people are being radicalised. 20:33 PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO CALL TERRORIST ATTACKS FOR WHAT THEY ARE UKIP leader Nuttall says the Manchester attack was an example of "Islamist extremism" but the rest of the leaders of the panel are afraid to admit it. 20:30 RUDD CRITICISES CORBYN'S VOTING RECORD ON TERROR LEGISLATION The Home Secretary says it's "chilling" that the Labour leader has voted against numerous pieces of anti-terror legislation since being in parliament. Corbyn points out that both Theresa May and Brexit Secretary David Davis have voted against this sort of legislation and says he voted against these laws as "there should be judicial oversight". 20:22 FARRON: "THE NHS IS PERSONAL TO ME, NOT POLITICAL" Lib Dem leader Farron says the NHS has played a big part in his life and fears it is suffering greatly as a result of Conservative cuts. Here is a Lib Dem spinner watching on nervously: 20:19 RUDD DODGES QUESTIONS ON CONTENTIOUS POLICIES Both Corbyn and Robertson challenge Rudd to confirm whether a Tory government would guarantee the triple lock to pensions and protect the winter fuel allowance. The Home Secretary refuses to make these guarantees. 20:16 HOUSE OF CARDS MOCKS THERESA MAY A new series of Netflix political drama House Of Cards came out earlier this week. They brains behind the hit series have a message for Prime Minister May... 20:08 ANGUS ROBERTSON SAYS LABOUR IS "APING" IMMIGRATION POLICIES OF UKIP Ouch. Robertson says he never thought he'd see the day that Labour adopts the immigration policies of UKIP. He adds that Corbyn should advocate the free movement of people, not seek to scrap it. 20:03 ANGUS ROBERTSON: "THIS DEBATE DEMEANS US" The SNP's spokesperson for the evening says the debate currently being had by the party leaders about migration should "shame and demean" them. He then attacks the Tory government for not guaranteeing the residence rights of EU nationals currently living in Britain. Lucas says the strains felt by public services is a result of austerity, not inward migration. 19:57 FARRON ACCUSES NUTTALL OF "DEMONISING IMMIGRANTS" Strong stuff from the Lib Dem leader. He says the abuse of ethnic minorities since the Manchester terrorist attack is partially a result of politicians like Nuttall demonising immigrants. 19:51 CORBYN ASKS RUDD: "HAVE YOU BEEN TO A FOOD BANK?" Corbyn goes on the offensive against Rudd. The Labour leader asks the Home Secretary if she has ever visited a food bank or seen homeless people sleeping behind train stations. 19:47 HOW WILL LEADERS CARE FOR WORKING PEOPLE? Corbyn and Rudd clash over welfare cuts to the disabled. Rudd says governments don't have a "money tree" and need to make sensible decisions. Corbyn points out that the Tories have taken welfare payments away from the disabled. SNP's Robertson says governments "have choices" about what economic policies they implement. He calls for an end the austerity and says the Tories have chosen to support "those who are wealthiest in society". Green Party leader Lucas says it's "down right insulting" for Rudd to suggest this government is looking after the country's most vulnerable people. 19:40 OPENING STATEMENTS Leanne Wood says May's "campaign of soundbites is falling apart" and that she's "afraid" to defend her record. Green Party leader Caroline Lucas says this election is an opportunity for Brits to secure a "new kind of politics". Amber Rudd says the only question to consider is who the public wants in number 10: Jeremy Corbyn with his "money-tree" or Theresa May who has a "clear plan". Corbyn says this election is a chance to create a Britain "for the many, not the few" and says five more years of Conservative rule will be anything but "strong and stable". UKIP's Paul Nuttall says his party "will always put the interests of British people first". SNP's leader in Westminster Angus Robertson says Scotland "now more than ever" needs a strong voice against harmful Tory cuts. And finally, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron says Theresa May isn't at the debate tonight as she could be busy valuing your house in order to pay for social care. 19:29 HERE WE GO... Strap yourselves in. 19:25 LEANNE WOOD TO KICK US OFF Here is your running order for tonight's proceedings. Plaid's Leanne Wood who had an impressive showing at the ITV debate in Manchester will be kicking off the opening statements. May's Tory understudy Amber Rudd will be having the final word of the evening. 19:19 CORBYN FEELING CONFIDENT Just over 10 minutes to go until we get underway and Labour leader Corbyn is feeling confident. He originally planned to abstain any debates that Prime Minister May wouldn't be partaking in but has changed his mind at the eleventh hour. He is feeling relaxed and confident ahead of tonight's debate, a source close to him tells me. 19:14 DON'T EXPECT A PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE TONIGHT The "progressive alliance" parties i.e Labour, Lib Dems and Greens will all be represented on stage tonight. But don't expect Green Party leader Caroline Lucas or Lib Dem leader Tim Farron to give Jeremy Corbyn an easy ride. The word coming out of the Lib Dem camp is that Farron will attack Corbyn over Brexit and the Labour leader's decision to instruct all of his MPs to vote in favour of triggering Article 50. 19:12 GOOD EVENING! Business Insider Political Reporter Adam Payne here in the green room ahead of the BBC leaders' debate. "If anybody ever says stuff like that to you, walk away," she told them. But just six weeks later, McFarland got a call from Trump, then the president-elect, with an offer she couldn't refuse. A veteran of the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations and a longtime Fox News contributor, McFarland was elated at the chance to serve as the president's deputy national security adviser a top White House position. To McFarland, the opportunity Trump gave her is proof that he trusts and respects women, regardless of what he's said in the past in an "inadvertent, locker room kind of way." "If you want to honor women, give them an opportunity in the workplace," she told Business Insider. But McFarland is on her way out she's expected to take an ambassadorship to Singapore and will be replaced by an Army general shrinking the already small group of women with Oval Office privileges. A gender-blind president Once McFarland officially leaves the White House, just five of the 28 highest-paid White House staffers will be women. The lack of diversity among those in top positions under Trump extends outside of the West Wing: Just six of the administration's 24 Cabinet secretaries are either women or people of color and none of them occupy top seats. The discrepancy marks a break in a bipartisan trend toward greater diversity among White House staff and presidential cabinets. Over half of Bill Clinton's first-term Cabinet, almost half of George W. Bush's, and almost two-thirds of Barack Obama's were made up of women and non-white men. While Hillary Clinton pledged to fill half of her Cabinet with women, Trump subscribes to a strain of conservative thinking that regards targeted recruitment as "philosophically opposed to choosing the best person for the job," Kelly Dittmar, a professor at Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics, told Business Insider. The White House said it looks to hire whoever is "most qualified" to hold any given position. "When you look at this White House, it's not about male versus female, it's about who is best-suited and most qualified to hold that position," White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters told Business Insider. "That is a sort of code for saying, 'We don't do targeted hiring,'" Dittmar said. McFarland believes the president didn't consider gender when he offered her the national security post. "I don't think he cares two hoots whether I was male or female," she said. "He just thought I could get the job done." But while Walters said she thinks it's important to have both male and female "perspectives" in the West Wing, gender parity isn't necessary. "I think it would be a problem if there were no women," Walters said. "If there were no female representation within senior staff, I think that would be a problem." Dittmar argued that while the number of women in the White House is "symbolically important" because it indicates "what sort of message the White House wants to send to the country about their valuation of that diversity," it's secondary to whether women have influence in decision-making. "What's most important is: who's at the table and who's in the room when the most serious and significant decisions are being made," Dittmar said. "Who are the strategic people, who's involved in the president's agenda-setting? Are [women] in that cadre?" Kellyanne Conway, Trump's counselor and former campaign manager, agrees with that way of thinking. "Attaching a hard and fast number to it is not as relevant as the contributions that are made by the women who are at the table," Conway told Business Insider. But the discrepancy in the numbers has been enough to provoke occasional outcry, such as after the administration published photos of Trump signing executive orders and negotiating healthcare legislation with groups of exclusively male aides and the all-male House Freedom Caucus. Conway said that response illustrates a frustrating preoccupation with optics, and noted that she was in the room when some of the photos were taken. "It's like, well, I was sitting next to the cameraman, so I was right there, but I'm not in the shot," Conway said. "But that doesn't mean that those men haven't heard from the females. ... We're heard and we're seen and we're listened to and we are sought out and sought after for our opinions and our judgment and our ideas and our insight." Gender imbalance is not unique to the Trump White House the issue is pervasive throughout the Republican Party and in Democratic politics, too. Just five of the GOP's 52 senators are women, and about 10% of its Congress members are women. (There are twice as many Democratic women in the Senate, and about three times as many in the House.) Sue Zoldak, a political consultant who volunteers for the RightNOW Women PAC, which supports Republican women running for office, says she and many other conservative women are working hard to promote women within the party. "We're not the minority that people like to think of us as," Zoldak told Business Insider. "Women Republicans do exist." But Mary Frances Berry, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former chairwoman of the US Commission on Civil Rights, told Business Insider that gender equity isn't "a priority" for the women who voted for Trump, and to the extent that the GOP is putting pressure on the White House to diversify, the administration isn't responding. "Those of us who look at his administration and care about women and the roles in which they're permitted to function and the opportunities that they get think it's a problem," Berry said. "But I don't think the Trump administration thinks it's a problem." Women as messengers and gatekeepers Trump's inner circle of White House aides includes five women: Conway; Ivanka Trump, the president's eldest daughter who recently took on an official advisory role; Hope Hicks, the 28-year-old White House director of strategic communications; Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the principal deputy press secretary and daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; and Dina Powell, a deputy national security adviser and senior counselor on economic initiatives. While Ivanka and Powell act largely as policy advisers, Conway, Hicks, and Sanders focus on communications and public messaging. Conway is working on a portfolio of policy issues, including the opioid crisis and veterans issues, but it's unclear how much influence she wields in those areas, given that Jared Kushner, the president's adviser and son-in-law, counts veterans affairs among his team's projects and handed the reins of the opioid effort to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. When it comes to Trump's public image, women feature prominently as defenders and media liaisons, while top male advisers, including Kushner, chief strategist Steve Bannon, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, rarely engage with the press or speak publicly. Women also hold other prominent communications roles. Omarosa Manigault, a former "Apprentice" star who directed African-American outreach for Trump's campaign, directs communications for the Office of Public Liaison, and Helen Aguirre Ferre, a Latina journalist and former Trump critic, heads the media affairs office. Conway, widely seen as the most influential woman in the White House other than Ivanka, has remained one of the president's principal surrogates and advisers on communications and big-picture strategic messaging. "politely declined" the press secretary and communications director roles. The New York Times reported that, after Conway turned down the press secretary job, Trump wanted another woman to be responsible for briefing the press. He considered conservative media personalities Laura Ingraham and Kimberly Guilfoyle, but ultimately decided on Spicer, the former spokesman for the Republican National Committee and a Washington insider. The gender balance on the White House communications team reflects a broader trend: Women make up 59% of corporate and non-profit public relations specialists and 71% of PR managers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Women are 47% of the overall American workforce). The most oft-cited reasons for this phenomenon are that women are better at listening and building interpersonal relationships than men. "Women are slightly better listeners and that sounds like the opposite of your role as a communications person, but in order to effectively counsel someone on communication you have to really understand that person," Zoldak said. "I think women are more open to having a more intimate and emotional connection with someone at work than men are." My gender has helped me with the president Conway attributes her ability to communicate effectively with the president, in part, to her gender. "I could tell you a great way that my gender has helped me with the president," she told Business Insider. "I'm actually unafraid to express my mind, but I do it very respectfully. Very respectfully and very deferentially." Conway told an audience at the Women Rule Summit in Washington that she's able to deliver bad news "with a big smile," but without "sugarcoating." (It was Conway who broke the news to Trump about the release of the Access Hollywood video in October.) "I think there's a femininity that is attached to the way one carries herself or the way one executes on her duties," she told Business Insider. In a New York Times profile of Hicks, one of Trump's longest-serving political aides whom Politico has called the president's "gatekeeper and security blanket," Trump described Hicks' interactions with him in similar terms. "She will often give advice, and shell do it in a very low-key manner, so it doesnt necessarily come in the form of advice," Trump said. "But its delivered very nicely. Both Hicks and Conway, despite their closeness to Trump, have always addressed the president as "Mr. Trump," "Mr. President," or "Sir." "I don't consider him my peer, he is my boss and he is my elder ... so I don't address him by his first name," Conway said. "That has actually allowed me, in my view, to respectfully but forcefully express my opinion on certain matters." Post-feminist, anti-feminist a non-feminist, definitely No one has been a fiercer defender of Trump's treatment of women even amid numerous allegations of sexual harassment during the final month of the 2016 campaign than Conway. Conway has called women who claim Trump mistreated them "false accusers," and she pivots to his history of working with and promoting women to the highest levels of his company. "I'm 50 years old, so I grew up in a time when, I think, men were much more bold and aggressive and thought they could get away with a lot more in the workplace, in pseudo-business situations out to dinner or traveling for work," Conway said. But she is quick to add she doesn't harbor "self-pity," and considers herself "blessed" to work in an environment and for a president who supports her. Ivanka, a self-described advocate for women's empowerment who's leading the White House's policy efforts to promote women in business and other realms, has shied away from the feminist label. In her new book, "Women Who Work" a "Lean In"-esque advice manual there's no mention of the word "feminism" and no discussion of sexual harassment in the workplace. At the same time, Conway, and other women close to Trump, are quick to accuse political opponents and journalists of mistreatment of women. Recently, the White House has become increasingly outspoken about what they see as sexism directed toward their spokeswomen. "Go and take a look at the way I'm treated and tell me it's not sexist, tell me it's not based on my gender," Conway said, referring to her media coverage. "When's the last time you saw a great story about the beer bellies and the bad comb-overs in Congress versus what was I wearing or what was a female saying or doing?" Jessica Ditto, White House deputy communications director, echoed this criticism, telling Business Insider that "the only time" she's experienced sexism as a political aide was in her treatment by the media. "Twice Politico reporters have described me as 'junior,' which is a false characterization for a commissioned Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Communications Director," Ditto wrote in an email following a conversation with Business Insider. She added, "That kind of treatment is deeply insulting and disappointing." Earlier this month, Mike Huckabee called Saturday Night Live's satire of his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, "sexist" and "misogynist." While the gendered criticism Conway, in particular, has faced from Twitter users, SNL, and even a Democratic congressman has prompted people from across the political spectrum, including Chelsea Clinton, to speak out in her defense, Conway has also admitted that she enjoys turning accusations of sexism back on liberals. Defending her allegation that former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, displayed sexism by repeatedly interrupting a female debate moderator, Conway told Fox News in November, "I love using that word." "It's the word that the left and the Democrats and Hillary Clinton folks love to employ against everyone who doesn't support her," she added. "If you don't support Hillary Clinton, you're a sexist." While Conway condemned what she views as sexist media coverage of Clinton during the 2008 presidential primary she mentioned articles concerning Clinton's cleavage and displays of emotion she denies that misogyny played any role in the Clinton's 2016 defeat. The Paris Agreement was designed to keep the planet from warming by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. It was a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's environmental legacy. Now President Donald Trump is withdrawing the US from the accord. Here's a quick primer on the Paris Agreement. What did the US agree to? The Paris Agreement laid out a framework for countries to adopt clean energy and phase out fossil fuels. Each country submitted a climate-action plan laying out how it would achieve these goals. The US's plan, which the Obama administration submitted in March 2015, set the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% by 2025. The baseline level this reduction is measured against is 2005, when the US emitted 6,132 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Most greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas, but they also come from using fertilizers, raising livestock, and maintaining landfills. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons. Obama signed an executive order confirming the US's adoption of the agreement, but he didn't submit it to Congress for approval. That's how Trump is able to "cancel" the US's commitment to the accord. The Obama administration also enacted carbon-cutting measures to put the country on track to meet the goals set in Paris and position the US as a leader in fighting climate change. Under Obama, the US started to reduce its emissions, both because of the rise in affordable renewable energy and the abundance of natural gas due to fracking. Congress never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an extension of an international climate agreement established in 1992, essentially making it moot. Some experts worry the same thing could happen to the Paris Agreement. Who supported it? One hundred ninety-five countries agreed to the Paris accord, and only Syria and Nicaragua didn't sign it. The US is the world's second-largest carbon emitter, after China. Together, the countries accounted for 45% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 2014. This was the first climate accord that both superpowers agreed to, which legal experts heralded as the best sign of its long-term worldwide success. Two-thirds of Americans said they supported signing onto an agreement that would legally bind the US and the rest of the world to cut carbon emissions, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released before talks began in Paris. A 2016 Pew poll found that 48% of Americans believed that the Earth was warming because of human activity, and 49% believed an international agreement to limit carbon emissions could make a big difference in addressing climate change. But the concern is growing. A March 2017 Gallup survey found that 45% of Americans worried "a great deal" about global warming and 68% believed humans were causing it. Major companies support the Paris Agreement. Apple, BP, Google, Microsoft, Shell, and several others sent Trump a letter in April encouraging him to keep the US in the pact because it strengthened their competitiveness, created jobs, and reduced business risk. Why does it matter? Climate experts say that an increase of more than 2 degrees Celsius in the planet's temperature could bring about irreversible consequences, including a rise in sea level, superstorms, and crippling heat waves. It was estimated in 2011 that the average global surface temperature was increasing at a rate of more than 0.1 degree Celsius a decade. Instantly, people online said Parker was about to change the movie business as he did with the music industry 18 years ago, when he helped create the file-sharing service Napster. Hollywood power players began to take sides. Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, J.J. Abrams, and Peter Jackson have all praised the forward-thinking philosophy of Screening Room. (They all also happen to be stakeholders.) Meanwhile, other filmmaking giants like Christopher Nolan and James Cameron, along with Kevin Tsujihara, the chairman and CEO of Warner Bros., have spoken out against it, voicing the importance of an exclusive theatrical experience. But since the initial rush of news and analysis about the venture, the buzz around Screening Room has nearly disappeared on the internet, but also, more importantly, in Hollywood. And now it looks as though the project may be a flop. Though Parker and his cofounder, Prem Akkaraju, have promoted the company for the past two years at CinemaCon an annual event in Las Vegas where studios and exhibitors showcase top titles and innovations it has gotten little traction because of competition, the industry's naivete, and the decadelong discussion between studios and theater chains about how to move forward with premium video on demand, or PVOD. "Everything you've heard in the press about studios and theaters wanting to explore a PVOD window, nothing about that revolves around Screening Room," a source close to the talks told Business Insider. Hollywood has its own big ideas Screening Room's main pitch to studios and exhibitors has been that it can bring added revenue to all sides of the equation. (Jackson has said that Screening Room could bring in $8.5 billion a year for the film industry.) Of the proposed $50 rental fee, which would make a movie available to a viewer for 48 hours, 20% would go to the movie's distributor, a participating theater chain would get up to $20, each customer would receive two tickets to see that rented title at their local theater. Screening Room would take 10%. Sources told Business Insider that all the bells and whistles Screening Room was selling wouldn't matter until the studios and theaters agree on a PVOD window. We're not going to share anything with the theaters. Premium VOD is a term for titles that would be available to rent or buy before being made available on most streaming services or through Blu-ray and DVD releases. Industry players don't want movies to be available on PVOD simultaneously with theatrical releases because the first two weeks of a theatrical run are still when studios and exhibitors get most of a movie's income. It's more likely that a PVOD window would be established in the period when movies are out of most first-run theaters but haven't yet shown up on streaming services, known in the industry as "the dark zone." Though PVOD hasn't happened yet, many insiders believe it's only a matter of time. The only service that streams movies while they're still in theaters is the ultra-high-end Prima Cinema, which costs $35,000 to install and $500 a movie rental. "Eventually, I would imagine I'm speaking as an observer the studios will need to find their own platforms and create our own direct-to-consumer opportunities," Stacey Snider, the studio head of 20th Century Fox, said at a conference at UCLA in March. Fox and Warner Bros. have reportedly considered a $30 rental fee for streaming movies after they've been in theaters for 30 days, while other studios have suggested slightly different options. Disney has said it's not interested in shortening the theatrical-release window. The holdup is the debate between studios and exhibitors on some major issues, specifically what the price point for PVOD will be and how soon after a movie opens it will be available to stream. Once those questions are answered, Screening Room will be on the minds of those in the industry. But there's another hurdle: Parker's company isn't the only game in town. "There are about three other systems out there that are doing similar things and going around talking to theater owners and studios," a source said. And some studio executives aren't too keen on Screening Room trying to muscle in as the exclusive streaming destination when a movie hits the PVOD window, or its plan to split sales with theaters. According to one source, a studio head said of Screening Room's proposal that theaters would get up to $20 of each rental fee: "If Screening Room wants to pay it out of their cut, go ahead. We're not going to share anything with the theaters." Screening Room was frozen out by theater chains Then there are the struggles Screening Room has had in trying to build relationships on the exhibition side. According to sources, the company no longer has a deal with the multiplex giant AMC Theaters. And an attempted meeting with the National Association of Theater Owners, which would be a huge ally in starting a dialogue between Screening Room and the major theater chains, stalled after Screening Room wanted the association to sign a nondisclosure agreement. The organization declined to sign it, as the only reason it would want to meet with Screening Room would be to relay the information it received to theater owners. AMC did not return Business Insider's request for comment, and the association had no comment for this story. Twist also questioned how beneficial Screening Room could be for theater owners. (Like the major studios and exhibitors, Art House Convergence is against the idea of movies being available on Screening Room or any other service when titles first show up in theaters.) "There's obviously the piracy issue, but also the economics," Twist said. "They say, 'We'll give the person who rents a title two movie tickets,' but how would they determine the person's main theater they go to? Commercial multiplexes and art houses occasionally show the same titles who are they going to preference? Same for the rental-fee split. Moviegoers are often loyal to multiple theaters." However, Twist said her organization, which is made up of a community of 400 independently owned theaters across the country, would be open to sitting down with Parker and Akkaraju. "We would welcome a discussion along the lines of them saying: 'We have this idea. We would like to help the moviegoing population see more movies. How can we work with you?' rather than a PowerPoint presentation," Twist said. The elephant in the room: iTunes is the logical choice Studios don't want to share any of the money they get from Screening Room, exhibitors aren't feeling the love, and there's that issue of piracy though Screening Room reportedly touted "refined" security measures at CinemaCon this year. But that's not all: iTunes might make Screening Room obsolete. For years, iTunes has gotten dibs on movie titles for home viewing before all other providers. Sources say that whenever studios and exhibitors want to go down the PVOD path, they most likely would put their trust in a service they already work with, like iTunes or build an internal PVOD streaming service rather than a newcomer like Screening Room. "If an earlier window gets put in place, iTunes would probably have some say in being part of the earlier window," a source said. Apple has been in talks with studios about making movies available on iTunes two weeks after theatrical debuts, Bloomberg reported in December. Apple did not respond to Business Insider's numerous requests for comment. "I think iTunes is the logical choice," said Jeff Bock, the senior box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "It's what everybody has, and if the price point is right, Screening Room is cut out. Nobody needs them. And to build that infrastructure with Screening Room would take a long time. Screening Room has a really tough hill to climb." They include Asoriba, an online church management platform, mPedigree, which has built a system that uses your mobile phone to be used to detect counterfeit and Rancard, a mobile solutions company. The rest are Esoko, which connects farmers with businesses and NGOs and mPharma, which has built a system to helps poor people accesses high quality but expensive drugs. Were partnering with many African developers to launch products that not only meet the needs of their local markets, but which are also ready for the world stage, says Emeka Afigbo, Facebooks Head of Platform Partnerships for the Middle East and Africa. Events like F8 are a perfect opportunity for us to talk about how we will work with partners to do more with our platforms. As importantly, they are a forum for us to get feedback from our ecosystem and to showcase our partners work to the world, he adds. Charles Chuck Palmer who led the Iowa Department of Human Services through massive system changes including the mental health redesign, Medicaid expansion and the move to Medicaid managed care will retire from his post June 16. The announcement comes as a group of legislators have scheduled a joint hearing to investigate the department following the death of a Perry teenager and a few calls from Democratic Senators for his resignation. Next week, the House and Senate Government Oversight Committees will look into multiple deaths of adopted children in the care of the DHS system. Authorities found Sabrina Ray, 16, unresponsive in her home on May 12. The State Medical Examiner noted in its initial autopsy results that Ray died from severe malnutrition, weighing 56 pounds at the time of her death. According to authorities, DHS was monitoring her home due to earlier complaints of abuse. At the time, child protective investigators said they found no evidence. Her parents, Marc Alan Ray and Misty Jo Ray, were arrested in mid-May and face multiple neglect charges in her death. On the day of Palmers announcement, law enforcement reported the arrest of three other family members. The teenagers death follows the death of another teenager Natalie Finn, 16, also adopted in West Des Moines who died last year of starvation. Finns parents were arrested and await trial. Then-Gov. Terry Branstad named Palmer as director of DHS twice, once in 1989 where he served until 1999, and again in 2011. Before being director of DHS, Palmer was the departments administrator of the Division of Mental Health. Chuck has been a dedicated public servant who has spent his life trying to improve the lives of Iowans, said Gov. Kim Reynolds in a news release. I want to wish him well as he enjoys his retirement with his wife and family. Under Palmers leadership, DHS expanded its Medicaid program to more than 150,000 low-income adults through the Iowa Health and Wellness program in 2014 and redesigned the mental health system from one in which each of the states 99 counties were responsible for providing services to a more regional approach. But he also oversaw and carried out many of Branstads more controversial decisions, including the closures of the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo in 2014 and two Mental Health Institutes, in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant, in 2015 as well as the move to Medicaid managed care in April 2016. Democratic lawmakers and the head of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61, the states largest union, sued to block the closure of the juvenile home, though that effort was fruitless. At least three patients died after being transferred from the Clarinda Mental Health Institute to other care facilities. Meanwhile, the first year of Medicaid managed care in which the state handed over its $5 billion program with nearly 600,000 enrollees to three private insurance companies has seen mixed results. Providers still are reporting late, inaccurate or missing payments while the insurance companies are each losing more than $100 million. Democratic legislators hope the change in leadership will allow them to work on some of the bigger issues they believe surround DHS and the Medicaid system. With Director Palmers retirement comes the opportunity to address some of the problematic issues around casework and managed care, said Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Robins and ranking member of the Senate Human Services Committee. I hope Gov. Reynolds will consider someone who is willing to work with both sides of the aisle to accomplish more accessibility to critical services like mental health. I have worked with Director Palmer in a number of ways, from strategic planning on childrens mental health to Medicaid and managed care. He had a difficult job, but Director Palmer was professional and accessible to me as a legislator. I wish him well. An interim director has not been named yet, according to Reynolds office. We have been producing cocoa for how many years? We have been producing gold for how many years? Now, in fact, gold has become a curse because it is because of gold that all the galamsey and all our water bodies are being destroyed, the business consultant told Class91.3FMs Benjamin Akakpo on Wednesday, May 31 at a business roundtable organised by Ishmael Yamson and Associates. Citing an example, the former board chairman of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) said Vietnam, which used to be a war-torn country, has managed to identify key areas to boost its economy. Vietnam, Dr Yamson said, identified tea and few other products and developed a value chain for the product. He said Vietnam uses fish, leather and its natural resources for its benefit, adding that they didnt sit back like Ghana does by producing and selling things raw. They moved the products through different stages and have created a huge industry and a chain at which level value is added [to the raw products]. Dr Yamson has, therefore, challenged stakeholders to think entrepreneurially because that is the only way economic growth can be achieved. The fourth edition of the annual Business Roundtable is on the theme: Making Ghana Entrepreneurial. The programme is being held at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra and meant to explore how Ghana can become prosperous. READ ALSO: Speakers will use the opportunity to examine how government, policy makers, regulators, and the public sector can become entrepreneurial in their approach to the business of government and how they can, through the creation of a sustained enabling operating environment, effectively facilitate entrepreneurship by the private sector, the social sector, and other stakeholder institutions in Ghana. It will also provide the opportunity for all the stakeholders to examine how they can become more entrepreneurial, more agile, and better able to assess risks; competitively leverage opportunities in the environment and become less dependent on political patronage. According to him, successive governments from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) have succeeded in destroying some businesses because of the political affiliations of their owners. READ ALSO: Govt to issue 3 year domestic bond on Wednesday Professor Adei said this while addressing participants at the Ishmael Yamson and Associates Business Roundtable on the theme: Making Ghana Entrepreneurial at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, 31 May. He said: In this our country, we have a situation whereby actually politicians and successive governments have deliberately sought to destroy Ghanaian industries because they are on the other side and then to create a comprador one during their term. The ECG served some people in Ghana with estimated bills, bills for which there are no prior reading of electricity consumed. This, the MP said it's ridiculous and explanations should be given by the Minister. Mr Amoateys call follows riots over high electricity bills at Somanya on Monday 29 May. The residents attacked the police following the arrest of an assemblyman who organized a demonstration against the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the area last week in connection with huge discrepancies in electricity bills. Property belonging to ECG were vandalized during the demonstration.While speaking to journalists in Accra he said Ill file an urgent question with the Minister of Energy to explain to Ghanaians why the need for an estimated bill. Yesterday, some more people came to show me their bills. A woman came with a bill of GHS10,000, an elderly woman, and one would ask what she does to consume GHS10,000 in a month. There is another gentleman I was told had a bill of GHS200,000. I agree some of them might have defaulted for some time, but I dont think even within a year a household could consume as much to GHS200,000 as electricity bill. There is something wrong somewhere and the minister must explain to us. READ ALSO: Somanya residents clash with ECG over high electricity bills Mr Amoatey said he had organized a meeting with the traditional leaders, police, youth, and officials of the ECG to discuss the way forward for peace to prevail in the area. Since everyone wants to hear my opinion...let's do this. In an Instagram post, Afia wrote It is a very very sad day for Ama Ghana to have lost a fine gentleman who dedicated his life to protecting us...to the people he sworn to protect...i watched the video and as a mother n wife...my heart bleeds for his mother, spouse, children, his father who probably convinced his only son to follow his footstep and the entire nation..... Captain Mahama was the victim of mob justice by a group of residents in a town in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region. He was lynched to death and his body burned by residents who claim he was mistaken for a suspected armed robber. A claim that has since been questioned by many. The mother-of-twins also lashed out at corrupt government officials who accept bribes instead of instilling law and order in the country. But this is a nation that our judges take goats to free criminals so how do we convince civilians not to take the laws into their own hands....this is a nation that the police tells u after reporting a thief to go arrest him n bring him...how do we convince our civilians to stop this mob action..I am not in anyway condoning this barbaric act but the truth is we have all lost confidence in our judiciary system... This is a country that one can threaten you with mob action.."if you don't leave I will scream thief thief" .This is a country that people can storm court n order their people out n in 2 weeks they are set free This is a country that our military know that murder is a crime that needs to be investigated n prosecuted...but choose to take the laws into their own hands and humiliate civilians in a village whether u were part or not...and still have some Ghanaians condoning that. This is a country that everyone is a journalist so they will rather video someone's predicament than applying common sense to bring a solution. This is the country that killed Capt Max Mahama...we are all guilty!!!!. The day was declared by the United Nations to educate and create awareness of the skin condition in order to reduce the stigmatization that comes with among other objectives. Vitiligo is a skin disorder in which white patches of skin appear on different parts of the body. This happens because the cells that make pigment in the skin are destroyed. Vitiligo can also affect the mucous membranes (such as the tissue inside the mouth and nose) and the eye. The cause is not known. Vitiligo may be an autoimmune disease. These diseases happen when the immune system mistakenly attacks some part of the body. In vitiligo, the immune system may destroy the melanocytes in the skin. Although it is neither painful nor life-threatening, vitiligo can be an emotional burden to people who are afflicted. Ignorance and inherited attitudes about other diseases like leprosy contribute to the stigmatization of people with vitiligo, particularly young women, who suffer from its effects. Sadly, there are reported cases of people who suffer from the condition that has had to give up their dreams and aspirations in life. READ ALSO: Ghanaian elected as director of powerful Harvard Alumni Association Because the condition is not painful or damaging beyond the psychological effects, it has received little attention from researchers and medical professionals. It is against this backdrop that the Vitiligo Support and Awareness Foundation, Ghana has lined up a week-long of activities to observe the day. These include a Vitiligo Awareness Walk through some principal streets in Accra, awareness tours to some selected basic and senior high schools as well as a fashion show. Speaking to the President of VITSAF-Ghana, Ms. Enam Heikeens recounted some of the stories people with vitiligo face here in Ghana including job denials and marriage. A professional nurse herself who had to face discrimination every day from her classmates, patients and work colleagues said the only way to reduce discrimination against people with the condition is to educate them. We have to make them aware that the condition is not contagious, she said. She calls on individuals and corporate organizations to support the activities lined up to observe the day. Pulse Ghana has been following the case of Efua (name changed to protect her identity) since February of this year. On August 4, at the Ofaakor circuit court near Kasoa, the girls case was thrown out by Judge Mercy Adei Kotei who blamed the police for not conducting conclusive investigations. Police had charged the man with incest. Court records obtained by Pulse Ghana show that on August 4 the Police Prosecutor Detective Inspector Abdulai Mohammed had asked for an adjournment, stating police were waiting on advice from the Attorney General's (AG) department. Prior to this, over the last two court cases, the police were told they needed to hurry the case along by Judge Adei Kotei, or risk seeing it thrown out. Since it first entered the court on February 19, 2016 it has seen seven adjournments at the insistence of the prosecution, Judge Adei Kotei said, according to the August 4 court proceedings seen by Pulse Ghana. She said she was given the same excuse that the prosecution was waiting on the Attorney General's department. It appears to me that this case was rushed to court without the police having done any conclusive investigations, Judge Adei Kotei said. She went on to say she was striking the charge and discharging the man to discourage the practice of the courts being choked. In previous interviews with Pulse Ghana, the police said the case was complex and they needed advice from the AG. Allegations of rape In an interview in May with Pulse Ghana senior reporters Stacey Knott and Betty Kankam-Boadu, Efua said her father had repeatedly raped her since the age of five, while she was in his care. She claims she has undergone three abortions, two of them performed by her father. Efua, now 20, has two younger sisters who she claims are also being abused by their father, though both of them have denied these claims. Efua believes this is because they are scared to speak out. She told Pulse Ghana her father had threatened to kill her if she was to ever speak about what had allegedly happened to her. We have stayed with him for long and we know the consequences. They are afraid, she said. It wasn't easy for me to come out and say it and they also know if they side with me he is going to get angry with them and definitely they are also staying in the same house with him, he is also going to continue to beat them. They have to find a way of denying and protecting themselves from more beatings, she said of her claims. Efua was staying at her school hostel when she was encouraged to speak out. In early February 2016 her father came to the hostel looking to remove her and bring her home. He was reportedly angry and destroyed property when she refused to leave. She later disclosed to the administrators of her school, for the first time, her history of alleged abuse. The school supported her to file a complaint with the police and her father was arrested and charged with incest. Police told Pulse Ghana the choice of the incest charge instead of rape or defilement was what was likely to stand up in court. Her sole refuge at this time was her school, who have stuck with her throughout the entire process. They feel the Police did not do their best in trying the case before the court. Police response Since April 14, the Police repeatedly told the court they were waiting on advice from the Attorney General's office on how to proceed with the case - a situation that was met with several warnings from the presiding judge. Pulse Ghana checks however revealed that the Cape Coast Attorney Generals office only received the docket on July 19. In a letter of advice over the case, dated August 5 and sighted by Pulse Ghana, the AGs office said they were only made aware of the case by the victims school on July 5, and received the docket on July 19. In the letter, they advised additional charges be laid, and a new prosecutor appointed, facts that did not appear to be made available to the court during the entire proceeding. Pulse Ghana has repeatedly sought comment from police on this case. As at August 23, when Pulse Ghana checked with the Breku District Police Commander, ASP Samuel Amfo, the response was that the division had still not received the advice from the office of the Attorney General. A huge injustice The project manager of Efuas school, Tom Cronin was in court the day the case was thrown out and he still stands by the testimony of Efua. I feel cheated and devastated for Efua. She seems to be dealing with it quite well. Cronin said it felt like a huge injustice for it to be thrown out, and is deeply disappointed and frustrated with the police prosecution. School welfare officers Leena Saarinen and Famous Agboka have also been highly involved in the case. Both say there was no reason not to believe Efua's claims especially after noting she is missing a front tooth, and seeing scars and bruises on her, which she says were from beatings. Victims need more support Human rights lawyer Irene Aborchie-Nyah has been following the case and had advised both the police and the school on how to proceed. She was devastated to hear the case had been thrown out. These things hardly come out, to speak to the public about these issues, so when you find a child who is willing and ready to come and speak about defilement and incest at the same time, I think a thorough judgment should be done. Because if the case goes on trial and the prosecution is unable to prove it, that is better than the case being thrown out. Who Will Hear My Cry sexual abuse victim advocate Dilys Sillah has also been following the case. She believed it showed police were cherry picking victims and cherry picking perpetrators. More needed to be done to protect vulnerable children. Police have an obligation, not choice or preference to investigate crime," she told Pulse Ghana. "Our government must set a standard that is inflexible in its enforcement of application in ensuring our police force uphold the law. Efua continues to be supported by the school and Cronin said they would be pushing to get the police to start a new case, to continue to fight to get a trial at least. "The President's ultimate goal is to establish peace in the region," said White House press secretary Sean Spicer. That long-shot effort -- which has eluded US presidents since the 1970s -- got off to a rocky start early in Trump's adminstration. Trump renounced US support for a Palestinian state and vowed to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, breaking two tenets of US policy held for decades. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said Trump is still "giving serious consideration into moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem." That move would likely spark Palestinian fury and is privately seen by many in the Israel and US security establishments as needlessly inflammatory. At the same time, Trump has urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world. Pence said Trump is "personally committed to resolving the Israeli and Palestinian conflict" and "valuable progress" is being made. "Momentum is building and goodwill is growing," he said at an Israeli independence day event at the White House. Abbas makes the trip to Washington while politically unpopular back home, with polls suggesting most Palestinians want the 82-year-old to resign. 'The home run' Abbas's term was meant to expire in 2009, but he has remained in office with no elections held. But he will be hoping Trump can pressure Israel into concessions he believes are necessary to salvage a two-state solution to one of the world's longest-running conflicts. Palestinian officials have seen their cause overshadowed by worry over global concerns such as the war in Syria and Islamic State group jihadists, and want Trump's White House to bring it back to the forefront. The meeting Wednesday is a sign that "Trump's approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is more conventional than anyone expected," said Ilan Goldenberg of the Center for New American Security. "The big question now is what Trump will try to accomplish during this first meeting. If he goes for the home run and tries to restart negotiations, he is likely to fail." "Instead, Trump and his team should focus on incremental steps to improve the situation on the ground, preserve the possibility of the two-state solution at another time, and set conditions for negotiations in the future." One of Trump's top advisers, Jason Greenblatt, held wide-ranging talks with both Israelis and Palestinians during a visit in March. Abbas and Trump spoke by phone on March 11, and there are suggestions the US president could visit the Middle East this month. A group of three influential Republican Senators -- Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and Lindsey Graham -- have called on Trump to ask Abbas to stop funding Palestinian prisoners and their families. That could prose major domestic political headaches for Abbas, as he battles unpopularity and challenges from rival factions. But according to former White House official Dennis Ross, Trump is in some ways helping Abbas by extending the White House invite. "The president, in some ways, has already added to his relevancy by inviting him to come." But mutual distrust between Palestinians and Israelis will be a formidable, if not impossible, barrier for Trump to overcome. "The gap between the parties has probably never been greater, both psychologically and practically," said Ross. The plight of migrants constitutes "one of the crucial issues of our day, notably in the Mediterranean where nearly 13,000 men, women and children have perished in shipwrecks since 2013," said acting jury head Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique. Lampedusa, Italy's most southerly outpost, was the first port of arrival for thousands of migrants setting off from North Africa in the first years of the crisis, which began in 2011 and has developed into the worst since World War II. SOS Mediterranee, founded in 2015, rescues hundreds of men, women and children each week from flimsy dinghies and boats in the Mediterranean, along with other NGOs. Nicolini was recognised for "her boundless humanity and unwavering commitment to refugee crisis management and integration in response to the arrival of thousands of refugees on the shores of Lampedusa and elsewhere in Italy". 'Watery grave' "I dedicate this prize to all those who did not make it across the sea because they were swallowed up, and also to Gabriele Del Grande," said Nicolini, referring to an Italian journalist arrested in Turkey this month while researching the lives of Syrian refugees. "He was the first to count the Mediterranean's dead on a website, back when nobody even knew people were dying in the Mediterranean. He is now a prisoner in Turkey," she said, calling on the government to "bring him home". The jury said SOS Mediterranee's Aquarius vessel, co-run by Doctors Without Borders, had saved more than 11,000 lives since it began search and rescue missions off Lampedusa in early 2016. "We're so happy to be given this award together with Nicolini. We visited her when we were starting up and she said 'you are crazy but I am with you, because this is what we need after the failures of the EU'," said Sophie Beau, SOS Mediterranee co-founder. The jury appealed to the international community "to ensure that the Mediterranean sea becomes, once again, a place where solidarity and intercultural dialogue hold sway, and that it ceases to serve as a watery grave". Private rescue vessels sounded the alarm this weekend over the "unprecedented mass rescues" of people fleeing horrors in conflict-torn Libya, recovering seven bodies including that of an eight-year-old, and warning more migrants risked drowning without EU action. Close to 37,000 people have been brought to safety in Italy so far this year, a 45 percent increase on the same period in 2016. Solidarity The EU's border control agency Frontex has accused donor-funded vessels of doing more harm than good by acting "like taxis" off Libya and tempting human traffickers to put as many people as possible out to sea in flimsy vessels. Italian prosecutors have suggested they may have links with traffickers and in March named SOS Mediterranee's activity as being of interest to investigators, along with other private rescue vessels. Their charges have been fiercely rejected by the NGOs, with SOS Mediterranee saying Wednesday it had "never, not once" been put in contact with migrants via smugglers. "European governments need to show more solidarity to the humanitarian organisations that are working on the front line of this humanitarian crisis. Border control is not the solution," said Regina Catrambone, the director of MOAS rescue service. MASON CITY | Carlos O'Kelly's in Mason City closed suddenly Wednesday and will not reopen. District General Manager Paul Sgontz said the restaurant was unable to come to a new leasing agreement with the owners. "We'd been in negotiations for a number of months and couldn't come to an agreement," Sgontz said. The lease was scheduled to end in June, he said. According to Cerro Gordo County records, the property at 3331 Fourth St. S.W. is owned USRP Funding 2001 L.P. An address listed with the company's filing with the Iowa Secretary of State's Office returns to Cole Capital of Phoenix, Arizona. The company's website says it collects rent from "some of the biggest corporations in America" and passes it on as income to investors. "Nobody that's ever been here," Sgontz said. The popular Tex-Mex cantina has operated in Mason City since early 1997. "It's been a good run here for 20 years ... a lot of fond memories," Sgontz said. "It's unfortunate that it's all of a sudden." Sgontz said the company is doing everything they can for the employees. The restaurant employed about 25 workers. "We want to leave on a good note," Sgontz said. Gift cards will still be honored at any other Carlos O'Kelly's location. The first Carlos OKellys opened in 1981 in Marion, near Cedar Rapids. There are six Iowa locations in Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Iowa City, Marion and Waterloo. Carlos OKellys also operates locations in Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Most of these foods have the same element even though their methods of preparation generally differ from one another. However, one thing is consistent in any African food, it's palatability is never Below is a list of the elements you are sure to find in every African food. 1.The "Stinking Fish" family How can the members of this family not make a cameo at least? These members add to the spiciness and local touch of the whole gathering when used in food preparation. Wondering who they are? Momoni, Kako, Koobi, Dawadawa, Kpanla, Kpomo, Shaki, etc. These are not necessarily foods on their own but work together for the common good, much like the AU, lol. 2.Lots of pepper Africans like so much chilli and have no chill. There is no gathering in Africa without the corner side dish that comes super packed with chilli for days. (Pepper soup anyone?) Be it in a bid to whet visitors' appetite, or to be had in the corner with meat and bottles of beer, you wouldn't have to break a sweat to locate it at any African gathering. 3. The "Chichinga" element Be it the "Shisha Nyama" of South Africa, "piri piri chicken" from Mozambique, "Suya" of Nigeria or "Venison" of Namibia, Africans know how to tear it down when it comes to their meat servings for that party. Whatever it is called and no matter where it is found, there is no party without the Chichinga element! 4. The Carb balls What's an African gathering without the Carbs? How does that even pan out? No Fufu and Abenkwan or any other Nkwan? no fufu and njama njama from Cameroon? No pounded yam or Eba and egusi soup from Nigeria? No Sadza from Zimbabwe and other parts of southern Africa? ..how? In fact, we just can't imagine! As far as we are concerned, Carbs are in a comfortable lead here, no two ways. 5. Green sisters How can we talk carbs without our greens? There's always that green dish on the sidelines we just can't put a finger on standing far off. Kontomire stew, Bitterleaf, Egusi soup, 'green stew' from Sierra Leone, you name it. 6. Has pepper been mentioned already? Well, Africans and their love for pepper is just insatiable so we had to bring it back. There are also traits of aromatics, herbs and spices such as ginger, garlic, black pepper, rosemary etc in every African meal. 7. The Nameless meals Let's face it, there are some meals that just don't have names in Africa. We obviously can't list them because they are nameless, or just a mouthful to pronounce so remain nameless, but a favourite among the people. Can you think of any off the top of your head? 8.Jollof It's either Jollof or something that looks like Jollof named differently (Ghana Jollof, Nigerian Jollof, Benachin, Riz au gras) Either way, it is Jollof. It's so popular- especially in the West African region- that Nigeria and Ghana are at war as to who makes the best of it. Senegalese even claim ownership of this delicacy. Did you know that there's even an ancient empire named after this wonderful meal?What's an African gathering without it then? In her new role, she's styled several celebrities including Anita Erskine, Efya, Shirley Frimpong-Manso among others. She's also a two-time winner of the Blogger of the year at the Glitz Style Awards. As an authority on things fashion, beauty and style she shares her top lipstick colours with readers. Here are her favourite lipstick colours of all time 1. MAC RETRO MATTE LIQUID LIP COLOUR IN DANCE WITH ME This matte drying liquid colour is an easy wear giving my lips an even red cover. My top and bottom lips happen to be different shades, but I do not notice it with this red shade, unlike others I have tried! It is not as long lasting as I would have hoped it would be, as it tends to fade from the inner lip out once I drink something. 2. SO AESTHETICS VALENTINA LIPSTICK I use this lipstick more often than any other. It goes with almost everything I wear and easily transitions from day to night. It is a medium burgundy shade with great moisturising features. The happy news is that it is sold right here in Ghana! The only nay, I would have to be the fact that the lipstick easily breaks and so care needs to be taken when handling it. 3. LYVV MATTE LIPSTAIN IN MAMI Another African brand to be proud of is made by Senegalese entrepreneurs. This smooth easy glide on lip gloss is long lasting and quite moisturising. It is a purple shade that works well during the day and night. Even though it dries on matte, it does not overly dry my lips or crack. It also smells quite heavenly. 4. TAOS COSMETICS MATTE LIPGLOSS IN GOLD COAST This Nigerian made brand was the first brand where I found a nude brown shade that looked really good, not just on me but on pretty much everyone that tried it. It dries on matte but after a few hours of wear, it begins to crack up and dry your lips. A good way to battle this out is to wear some kind of lip moisturiser before applying this product. 5. MAC MEDIA LIPSTICK I can't help but feel incredibly bad ass when I wear this shade. Media is a dark burgundy colour which works well for me for my night time looks. Without much makeup, it glams up my look instantly. It VERY VERY moisturising! No dry lips here! Well, there you have it! My lip colour obsessions! Try them out when you can and do not forget to tag me in your images! Thanks for stopping by. You can follow Afua Rida on her various social media channels to see more of her day-to-day style and beauty. Instagram: @AfuaRida Twitter: @Afua_Rida Im happy to report that I was wrong. Millions of viewersmyself includedare tuning into The Daily Show because Noahs show is every bit as good as Stewarts. His humor has a lightness and optimism thats refreshing to watch. Whats most impressive is how he uses his outside perspective to his advantage. Hes good at making fun of himself, America, and the rest of the world. His comedy is so universal that it has the power to transcend borders. Reading Noahs memoir, Born a Crime, I quickly learned how Noahs outsider approach has been honed over a lifetime of never quite fitting in. Born to a black South African mother and a white Swiss father in apartheid South Africa, he entered the world as a biracial child in a country where mixed race relationships were forbidden. Noah was not just a misfit, he was (as the title says) born a crime. In South Africa, where race categories are so arbitrary and yet so prominent, Noah never had a group to call his own. As a little boy living under apartheid laws, he couldnt be seen in public with his white father or his black mother. In public, his father would walk far ahead of him to ensure he wouldnt be seen with his biracial son. His mother would pose as a maid to make it look like she was just babysitting another familys child. On the schoolyard, he didnt fit in with the white kids or the black kids or the kids who were colored (the term used in South Africa to describe people of mixed race). But during his childhood, he quickly discovered that theres a freedom that comes with being a misfit. A polyglot who speaks English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, Tsonga, Tswana, as well as German and Spanish, Noah used his talent for language to bounce from group to group and win acceptance from all of them. One of my favorite stories in the book involves Noah walking down the street when he overhears a group of men speaking in Zulu about how they were plotting to mug this white guy. Noah realizes they were referring to him. Noah spins around and announces in perfect Zulu that they should all mug someone together. The Zulu men are startled that Noah speaks Zulu and a tense situation is defused. Noah is immediately accepted as one of their own. Again and again throughout his childhood, he discovered that language was more powerful than skin color in building connections with other people. I became a chameleon, Noah writes. My color didnt change, but I could change your perception of my color. If you spoke to me in Zulu, I replied to you in Zulu. If you spoke to me in Tswana, I replied to you in Tswana. Maybe I didnt look like you, but if I spoke like you, I was you. Much of Noahs story of growing up in South Africa is tragic. His Swiss father moves away. His family is desperately poor. Hes arrested. And in the most shocking moment, his mother is shot by his stepfather. Yet in Noahs hands, these moving stories are told in a way that will often leave you laughing. His skill for comedy is clearly inherited from his mother. Even after shes shot in the face, and miraculously survives, she tells her son from her hospital bed to look at the bright side. Now youre officially the best-looking person in the family, she jokes. In fact, Noahs mother emerges as the real hero of the book. Shes an extraordinary person who is fiercely independent and raised her son to be the same way. Her greatest gift was to give her son the ability to think for himself and see the world from his own perspective. If my mother had one goal, it was to free my mind, he writes. Like many fans of Noahs, I am thankful she did. Born in Catalonia in 1767, Domingo Badia y Leblich posed as an exiled Arab prince and became one of the first Europeans to set foot in Mecca. Yet despite mixing with the Spanish royal family, Napoleon's top officials and some of the most notable European intellectuals of his age, he has been all but forgotten since he died in 1818. "It's surprising that no film has yet been made on Ali Bey," Moroccan filmmaker Souheil Ben Barka said during a break on set. The Spaniard "was a seducer. No one could resist him," he said. With a budget of $17 million (15 million euros), the veteran director's dramatisation of the explorer's life is set for release in five languages and 40 countries in late 2018. After learning Arabic and serving in the Spanish army, Ali Bey was charged by Spain's King Charles IV with overthrowing the Sultan of Morocco. On the suggestion of Napoleon's great diplomat and foreign minister Talleyrand, he posed as an exiled Abbasid prince, born in Syria, raised in Europe, his father persecuted by the Ottomans. The explorer spent two years in Morocco, but he was exposed and had to flee. He set out across North Africa, posing as a Muslim on pilgrimage. After meeting Romantic-era French writer Chateaubriand in Cairo, in 1807 he reached Mecca, some half a century before British explorer Richard Burton's famous journey there. 'Courageous, enterprising, cunning' Ali Bey spent time in the Holy Land and Constantinople before heading back to Spain, where he worked for Napoleon. But he was seen as a traitor and forced to take refuge in France. He published a French memoir of his travels before setting off for Mecca again, apparently as a spy working for French King Louis XVIII. He only made it as far as Syria, where he died suddenly in 1818. Historian Christian Feucher said dysentery was probably to blame, with a remedy based on roasted rhubarb prescribed by a French doctor in Damascus having little effect. But others believe he was poisoned by his mistress, Lady Hester Stanhope, a British aristocrat who had converted to Islam. "She could not cope with learning that her hero was a spy, not a descendant of the caliph and the prophet as he claimed to be," said Ben Barka. There is little doubt, however, that Ali Bey was "courageous, enterprising, cunning and adventurous", Feucher wrote in a 2012 book on the explorer. "He captivated the great scholars of the time in Paris and London," Feucher told AFP. Yet despite his extraordinary life and mysterious death, Ali Bey has received little recognition apart from a street in Barcelona bearing his name. Ben Barka hopes to change that with his film starring Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho. Writing the screenplay for his film took more than three years, he said. Shooting started in Italy in February, but much of the film was shot in May in Morocco -- in the desert dunes of Merzouga, the Roman ruins of Volubilis and the sumptuous houses of Rabat and Casablanca. Set in Zambia, the sharp satire "I Am Not A Witch" has premiered to strong reviews at the Cannes film festival, taking aim at the blatant sexism behind accusations that overwhelmingly target women. White tourists are seen gawping at women detained in a "witch camp" in the movie, taking pictures of them as if they're animals at a zoo. The supposed witches have to move around attached to giant spools of ribbon, something Nyoni invented to help the farcical nature of the accusations hit home. "It's to stop them from flying," an official tells the tourists. "They can even fly to the UK." For Nyoni, who was born in Zambia and raised in Wales, satire was the only way of dealing with an issue this absurd. "What I really wanted was a way to bring the audience into something that's serious," she added. "Humour is a great way to get people engaged and feeling for the characters." For her first feature film the 35-year-old drew inspiration from a trip back to Zambia to visit family a few years ago, when a neighbour accused a relative of being able to turn into a snake. Misogyny, African style "I started noticing lots and lots of witch accusations," Nyoni said, despite an official ban on such practices in Zambia. For research she headed west to Ghana, where for decades women accused of sorcery have been sent to live in segregated camps. Grandchildren can visit, and they can go to church, but they are forced to work in the fields for local chiefs. It is, Nyoni says, "blatant" exploitation. Nyoni spent a month at a camp, listening to women's stories. It was a "bittersweet" experience. Most were elderly women who said they'd been banished over personal feuds -- by neighbours jealous that they were running successful businesses, for example. There are similar stories from Tanzania to the Central African Republic. Nor is the problem unique to Africa: in India, hundreds of women are attacked every year over similar accusations and some of them murdered. Often the real goal is financial gain -- taking over the woman's home or farm. Nyoni recalls meeting one tribal chief explaining that witches were almost always female because "women are evil". "This is an African version of misogyny that exists everywhere," she said. "Wherever human beings have the ability to exploit, they do." WhatsApp search for child star Hailed as "winningly original" by The Hollywood Reporter, "I Am Not A Witch" stars nine-year-old Maggie Mulubwa as Shula, an orphan who is sent to a witch camp and then turns out to have a talent for using her supposed powers for solving crimes. Nyoni auditioned more than 900 girls for the part, but couldn't stop thinking of a little girl her husband had photographed near Samfya in the north of Zambia. Thus began an epic hunt to find Maggie that involved the film crew sending her picture to a local tribal chief -- who then passed it on by WhatsApp until the search spanned tens of thousands of kilometres. Eventually they tracked her down -- Nyoni wracked with nerves over whether the child could actually act. "She was perfect," says Nyoni. "It was meant to be." Maggie had never been to school, and the film team has since set up a crowdsourcing campaign for her education. The British Film Institute and FilmFour, which backed the production, have committed to supporting her until she turns 18. "She's super smart," Nyoni says with a smile. For 70 years, the Cannes film festival has been a key event on any A-lister's calendar. But move over Nicole Kidman, there's a new breed of star in town: social media personalities invited purely on the grounds of their huge Instagram or YouTube followings. Sharing the red carpet with Kidman and Will Smith this week have been beauty bloggers like 17-year-old Amanda Steele (2.8 million YouTube subscribers) and Swiss Instagrammer Kristina Bazan (2.4 million followers). Maja Malnar, who makes a living from her blog and 264,000-strong Instagram following, admits she's struggled to explain her job as a "social media influencer" to her mother back in Slovenia. Years ago she started posting snaps of her daily outfits on the photo app and blogging about her travels. These days she's part of a growing industry known as "influencer marketing", whereby brands seek to harness the power of powerful web-users by slipping their products into their posts. "It's a good business, I can't complain," Malnar told AFP. The petite blonde, who is in her twenties but declined to give her age, is set to walk the red carpet Friday in a tie-up with MasterCard and the designer who provided her dress. She'll then have to post about it. "We're entrepreneurs. We saw a gap in the market and we capitalised on it," says her friend Lorna Andrews, a British ex-air hostess who modestly calls herself a "mid-tier influencer" with 464,000 Instagram followers. Cannes is no stranger to those famous for being famous -- socialites like Paris Hilton have been turning up for years -- and brands have long recognised the festival's power as a marketing opportunity. Top-end labels and jewellers have for decades dressed the stars for free at Cannes, knowing they will be snapped there by the waiting paparazzi. But the arrival of the "influencer" at the world's biggest film festival -- and at international fashion weeks -- is a new phenomenon. Ordinary Janes and Joes About 18 months ago Edouard Hausseguy, a 27-year-old Frenchman, realised the money-making potential of people whose photos, restaurant tips and beauty tutorials are followed by millions online, even though most would not recognise them on the street. He set up his agency Hemblem to represent anyone with a following of 30,000 and up -- negotiating deals with brands, and then taking a cut. "Those people are people like us, but they speak to millions of people with one picture," he told AFP in an interview on a yacht moored at Cannes, where he's hoping his influencers will benefit from the presence of top brands and the media. For the festival, Hemblem has filled a villa with influencers who are splitting their time between glamorous events and furiously posting online, whether it's about designer labels or a charity for Syrian children. Co-founder Thomas Elliott said brands were catching on to the power of a recommendation from Instagrammers to shift products from the shelves. "Jane next door or Joe next door is probably better for product placement, as people can identify with these people," he said. It's possible to get paid for a single post -- "the fee depends on the size of the following", said Joe Gagliese, co-founder of Viral Nation, a rival agency based in Toronto. "It could be $100,000 if you have over five million followers." Compare and despair With 13 million followers apiece, supermodels Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski rank as the true Instagram queens of Cannes. Their accounts offer red carpet glamour and a peek behind the scenes, like Hadid sipping champagne while preparing for a premiere. Partner brands are carefully name-checked: make-up by Dior, jewellery by Bulgari. Further down the food-chain, posts by smaller fish in the "influencer" pond still tell of a life of cocktails and beautiful clothes -- but the reality may be a little less glamorous. There are constant worries of where the next event or brand tie-up might come from, and some re-sell the clothes they are gifted to make ends meet. And behind the glitz there is a constant pressure to post that Andrews and Malnar say can be stressful. Neither expects to do this job forever. Women aged 18-30 make up the bulk of their followings, and unless these shift there'll come a day when they won't match their young demographic. Youngsters' heavy use of Instagram is a worry for mental health experts, who warn these glimpses into the glamorous lives of others encourage depression and anxiety by prompting a "compare and despair" attitude. There's a constant stream of appreciative comments under posts by Hadid and Ratajkowski, but also wistful ones. Asa Bone is a follow-up song to his blistering Afrobeats single titled Take Over. The song which dropped a few months ago has garnered huge social media and radio rotation. Yaw Nanna was recently in the Oil City Takoradi, for a one-week radio tour to promote his latest records as well as expand his fanbase. He toured top three stations: Spice FM, Paragon FM and Empire FM, during his stay in the city. The Goldcoast Records artiste/C.E.O is one of Ghanas best young rappers at the moment. So far, he has proven that he has the talent and will soon join the mainstream business with ease. Even though, with just one song in 2017, he has been counted among the top rising stars of the year. To this end, President Akufo-Addo has assured that I will pursue this matter with my Parliament to ensure the ratification of this Agreement, an agreement which was signed between the two countries on 19th December, 2013, but which is yet to be ratified. Co-operation in the development of our agriculture, education, science and technology, infrastructure, health, energy and culture, and the co-ordination of the exploitation of our mutual natural resources, such as bauxite, iron ore, diamonds and gold, would be of immense benefit to our two countries. President Akufo-Addo made this known on Wednesday, May 24, 2017, after paying a working days visit to Sierra Leone, at the commencement of the third phase of his official visits to countries in the ECOWAS region. In addition to intensifying the links between Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean enterprises, the President stated that the process of regional integration must be hastened. For a region that has made the choice of pursuing integration, we have not done much as we should have in liberalizing and encouraging trade amongst member countries, he said. Research has shown that countries or groups of countries with the largest share of world trade are located within regions with the highest share of intra-regional trade. However, Trade between African regions remains low compared to other parts of the world. With these very low levels of trade and investment co-operation, President Akufo-Addo noted that deliberate measures at expanding trade and business collaborations must be put in place to improve the prospects for prosperity of our two peoples. In reiterating his commitment towards strengthening ECOWAS, President Akufo-Addo was certain that for a marked improvement in the welfare of the 350 million people currently living in the 15 member states of ECOWAS, I believe it is extremely important that we, the leaders, demonstrate strong political will to make the community an economic and political success, and make the project of integration real. With West Africas population set to hit 500 million people in 20 years from now, up from the current population of 350 million, he stressed that this could be a large regional market, which could present immense opportunities to bring prosperity to our region with hard work, enterprise and creativity. The time for West African integration is now. Together, all ECOWAS member states should show real commitment towards converting ECOWAS into a true regional market. President Akufo-Addo also commended his Sierra Leonean counterpart for the efforts he has made in restoring law and order, fostering a spirit of national reconciliation amongst the people, and the strong leadership he has exhibited in restoring macroeconomic stability since assuming the reins of government in 2007. In 2013, for example, the GDP growth rate reached a record, all-time high of 20.70%. In 2014 and 2015, in the face of two major shocks, i.e. the ebola virus outbreak and the collapse of iron prices, Sierra Leones economy was shaken. Growth rates slumped dramatically, he said. However, according to President Akufo-Addo, with prudent economic policies, spurred on by new investments in mining, agriculture and fisheries, economic growth has resumed, with GDP growth projected at 5.4% in 2016. Hopefully, this growth path will endure. President Akufo-Addo added that it was his desire that Ghana and Sierra Leone to search continually for ways to co-operate, irrespective of who is at the helm of office of our respective countries. I have no doubt, that, together, we can forge a new, strong partnership for cooperation between our two nations for the mutual benefit of our two peoples. According to the party, Ghana has known no peace since the NDC, led by former President John Dramani Mahama, handed over power to the New Patriotic Party (NPP). READ ALSO: Wife of lynched soldier still in shock Under the direct supervision of President Akufo-Addo, the state has watched and sponsored its goon squads to unleash wanton mayhem on innocent Ghanaians. From the beating up of a serving police officer at the Flagstaff House to the beating up of a regional security coordinator, the disruption of a court process, the burning of toll booths, and the molestation of civil servants, the lawless culture of impunity has now reached the doorstep of the Ghana Armed Forces, the statement signed by its General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia said. However, speaking to Accra-based Asempa FM, Prof Gyampo said: When you talk like this, the other side will also start to dig into barbaric incidents that occurred during the tenure of the NDC and that will end in the politicisation of the issue at hand. READ ALSO: JJ Rawlings speaks following murder of soldier If we move on that tangent, we may not be able to get the justice that we are all seeking for the victim, and so for me, I am not interested in commenting on what Asiedu Nketia has said. He added that it is better to seek justice for the victim and also put in measures to ensure his lynching is the last of its kind in the country. He is currently being transported to the Regional Police Headquarters in Cape Coast to assist with investigations. Ghanaians on Tuesday woke up to the sad news of the murder of a soldier, Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, sending shock waves across the country. READ ALSO: Here are the faces of suspected killers of Captain Mahama Adam Mahama was the victim of mob justice by a group of residents in a town in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region. He was killed by residents on suspicion of being an armed robber while he was jogging. Four prime suspects arrested in connection with the incident have been sent to the Central Regional Police Headquarters in Cape Coast. This follows the lynching of an officer by some youth of the mining community. The youth are being held as suspects in the criminal act. Captain Maxwell Mahama was lynched after the residents who had witnessed an armed robbery incident the night before raised an alarm. He was reportedly carrying a gun and the residents led by the assemblyman organised some youth in the town to beat him to death and burnt his mortal remains. The Ghana Armed Forces have since confirmed the incident and said investigations are ongoing. However, scores of armed military personnel have been deployed to Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region as they mount a search for residents said to have lynched the Captain in charge of the area. The former president, who is himself an ex-soldier, sent his sympathies in a statement released by his office. Your loss is a loss to the whole country. Your husband, son and brother lost his life serving his country, he said. Captain Mahama was the victim of mob justice by a group of residents in a town in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region. He was lynched to death and his body burned by residents who claim he was mistaken for a suspected armed robber. A claim that has since been questioned by many. His murder has shocked the entire country with social media awash with sorrow and outrage about the way and manner in which he was killed. Taking the law into our hands in the manner the perpetrators of the act did was an act of cruelty. However, I implore the affected institution to remain calm as the security agencies investigate the matter. When the law does not seem to be giving people justice, such acts of cruelty resulting in the unfortunate loss of innocent life, is the end result. I call on the security agencies and the law courts to inspire confidence in the populace by acting swiftly and effectively when crimes are committed in our communities. The recent acts of violence in Somanya and Kumasi cannot be taken in isolation. They go to expose a weakness in the general response to crime, former President Rawlings said. The Assin Fosu District Police Commander Supt Magnus Sam said that the two were beaten in a free-for-all fight with residents. They are said to be part of six officers who stormed the community to retaliate the death of a civilian friend. They ended up beating the wrong person and this angered the residents who began a street fight with the officers. Four of the officers managed to escape while two of them endured a severe beating at the hands of the residents. They later rushed to a nearby police station for protection. They have since been hospitalised at St. Francis Hospital in Assin-Fosu after sustaining injuries. The six officers were identified as A.I.C.O II Egah Gyemfi, Okoto Larry, Lesly Takie, Benjamin Nkansah, Richard Mensah and Gabriel Adomah. The assault comes two days after the sad news of the murder of a soldier, Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, sending shock waves across the country. Adam Mahama was the victim of mob justice by a group of residents in a town in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region. He was killed by residents on suspicion of being an armed robber while he was jogging. The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Upper Denkyira West District, Daniel Appianing who made the claim said even though the Chinese nationals have the license to prospect for gold, they are rather engaged in illegal mining. There is a large number of military personnel protecting the Chinese that the lynched soldier is alleged to be part of it, in fact he is said to be the leaderam shocked they are not briefing you very well but rather claiming they are here to fight galamseyers, he said on Accra-based Adom FM. He further asked persons who doubt his claim to contact the police and BNI commanders in his district for confirmation. As I speak, there are reports that the BNI is calling on the military to help stop it because it is creating disaffection between the residents and the military, he said. But the Defense Minister, Dominic Nitiwul has denied the claims by the DCE. According to him, the deceased is part of Operation Halt 2, an anti-Galamsey activity which is being undertaken by the military. I dont know who this DCE is but he should not speak on this again because he does not understand the issue, he said. He further charged the DCE to present the said BNI reports which he claims to have to the District Security Committee (DISEC) for forwarding to Accra. The late Captain Maxwell Mahama was lynched by residents on suspicion of being an armed robber while he was jogging. The Ghana Armed Forces has since confirmed the incident and said investigations are ongoing. According to them, all promises made to them concerning the re-construction of the towns major roads have been unfulfilled. Some drivers lamented the poor road network in the community, stating that it becomes difficult for motorists to operate when it rains. The road that stretches between Nsakina and Manhyia is currently untarred, exposing commuters to dust anytime a vehicle passes by. And although it appears the first stage of re-construction was already done, residents say the project is yet to be continued, having been left to fate. One of the protesters, who identified himself as David, spoke to Pulse.com.gh about the rational behind the tyre-burning demonstration. According to him, the people of Nsakina had become tired of the empty-promises from government, and that the action was taken to send a signal. The three Russians, Farid Isaev, Vadim Potokin and Serhii Chepurnly; and the Ukrainian, Genadly Rubec, have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and undertaking small-scale mining without licence. At the court hearing on Wednesday, May 31, the pleas of the alleged illegal miners were granted in Russian which was translated by an interpreter when they appeared in court. Their arrest was caused by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu when he paid a visit to some illegal mining sites. The company owned and run by Russians and Ukrainians was mining on concessions fronted by three Ghanaian companies Kasmil Mining Company Limited, K. Afriyie and Sons Precious Metal Company and King Solomon Mining Company. Fact of the case Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Cletus Abadanlowra, the prosecutor told the court that Isaev, Potokin and Chepurnly were engineers of a mining company Geo Professional Service, while Rubec was the site manager of the same company. READ ALSO: Irate youth of Somanya burn police car to ashes "The team found Isaev, Potokin, Chepurnly and Rubec busily engaged in galamsey without lawful authority. They were using heavy equipment which had degraded a vast land thereby destroying farms and the source of drinking water for the community," he added. According to the party, "The NDC is laying blame for this heinous and callous lynching of Captain Mahama at the doorstep of President Akufo-Addo." A statement signed by its General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia said former President John Mahama handed a peaceful nation over to Nana Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He said the country has known no peace with vigilante groups linked to his government on vandalism spree, seizing state properties and going on collision course with law enforcement agencies. Johnson Aseidu Nketia added that "Under the direct supervision of President Akufo-Addo, the state has watched and sponsored its goon squads to unleash wanton mayhem on innocent Ghanaians. From the beating up of a serving police officer at the Flagstaff House to the beating up of a regional security co-ordinator, the disruption of a court process, the burning of toll booths, and the molestation of civil servants, the lawless culture of impunity has now reached the doorstep of the Ghana Armed Forces." He noted that the acts of violence in the country were unacceptable and will sooner than later be compelled to engage in a legitimate social revolution to protest the inability of Nana Akufo-Addo to protect Ghanaians if this level of impunity persists. The NDC scribe said if Nana Akufo-Addo has come to the realisation that he is unable to manage the affairs of state, he should resign "so we get a more competent leader to lead Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana." The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana Prisons Service, Vitalis Ayeh told Accra-based Citi FM that the suspects will only be released after the officials of the Nsawam Prisons receive the final clearance document from the court. The process from the Court is that, if somebody is discharged, they should come to the prisons and pick their properties, and again they should come with a discharge warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction directing the prison authorities to release them from prison custody. As at Monday, when they returned, the discharge warrant had not come. We are waiting for it We understand it is on its way coming. As soon as we get it and we are satisfied that it is coming from a court of competent jurisdiction, we release them to go. The Attorney General at a hearing on Tuesday (May 30, 2017) filed a nolle prosequi discontinuing the trial of the two suspected murderers of former MP. The AG represented by a state attorney Sefakor Batse on Tuesday moved the application at the high court. The two suspects Daniel Asiedu aka sexy dondon and Vincent Bosso aka Junior Agogo were therefore discharged by the court. READ ALSO: Nana Addo names Cabinet Ministers Meanwhile, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo has said that the two suspects who were discharged are not free at all. We have reviewed the docket and we have come to the conclusion that there are aspects of the matter that require further investigation and when the matter is being heard, you cannot conduct further investigation, so out of necessity, you have to discontinue to enable you to conduct those investigations. So that is why we entered the nolle prosequi so they are not walking at all, Ms Akuffo told Accra-based Joy FM. The two were picked up in March 2016 after the murder of the late MP in his residence at Shiashie in Accra. Daniel Asiedu the prime suspect in the case initially confessed to the crime but later denied the allegation and pleaded not guilty to the charge. CHARLES CITY | The search continued Wednesday for a man suspected of robbing a Charles City gas station clerk at gunpoint last week. The man threatened the clerk at The Rush Stop, 609 S. Main St., with a handgun about 12:15 a.m. May 21, said Charles City Police Chief Hugh Anderson. Charles City police seeking armed robber CHALRES CITY | Police in Charles City were searching Monday for a man who robbed a gas stati The clerk wasn't hurt. The suspect left with cash. Police haven't said how much. Anyone with information can call Charles City police at 641-228-3366. Molly Montag Anthony Nukpenu said officials who are found culpable of engaging in acts of corruption must get ready to face prosecution by the Nana Akufo-Addo government. He noted that officials found to be corrupt must not throng the NDC head office to seek for any support from the party. "This opposition is not ready to defend any person which would be proven to have engaged in corrupt acts in the former administrationNDC is not going to defend any rotIf you are found culpable, go and defend your troubles," he added. In an interview on Accra-based Adom FM, he said "If it is proven that you were indeed corrupt, why should I follow you? I wouldnt want to follow anybody like that." He claimed that acts of corruption usually occur largely as a result of the failure of some ministers to review last minute contracts given them to sign. "I have told my minister colleagues not to sign any document that is presented to them after 4:00 pm in the name of emergencythats where the corrupt acts are hidden." Meanwhile, former Presidential Advisor on Governance and Corruption, Daniel Batidam has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to prosecute corrupt government officials in the erstwhile administration. In Ghana Trotro is a word used to refer to commercial or public vehicles. The paradox is also that since NPP took over several of their substandard 110 ministers have been using these helicopters like trotros all over the country. It is a clear demonstration of the substandard nature of this NPP government that they declare missing 4 helicopters that are securely parked in the hangars of the Ghana Airforce at the Air Force base in Accra, he stated. The co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw who is also a member of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) first raised the alarm after he claimed a source at Ghana Gas told him they could not trace the helicopters. However, Ghana Gas has indicated that the missing helicopters are with the military. In a statement, it said that the helicopters are in good working condition. The helicopters are currently stationed at the Air Force Headquarters at Burma Camp. Ghana Gas does not have the expertise and hangars to operate and maintain the helicopters. The helicopters are in good working condition and not broken down as erroneously reported. It is worth noting that, there is a helipad at the Atuabo Main Camp, it said. Ghana Gas also denied media reports that seven helicopters were bought for the surveillance services, clarifying four helicopters were bought from China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) in 2015. In a widely circulated audio on social media, the Member of Parliament for Kwadaso is heard criticising a journalist for asking him if he was incompetent as purported by former MP for the Kwadaso Constituency, Madam Hilda Addo. The voice in the audio which many have ascribed to be that of the 59-year-old farmer interjected the journalist in his quest to get the Ministers response to the accusations being hailed on him. Thats very disrespectful the word incompetence and I dont want you to use that word on me. If shes crazy to use those words I dont want you to repeat it on me, you know that is very offensive the minister advised. According to Hilda Addo, members of the constituency had contacted her to lament over the Ministers inefficiency as their Member of Parliament. I dont want you to talk to me in these times Do you know who I am, do you know what I have created in this life of mine for a journalist like you to tell me that I am incompetent. If youre repeating somebodys words its your words as well. You shouldnt be that insubordinate he said. A very peeved Dr Afriyie Akoto continues to rebuke the journalist in the audio by adding that I dont know how old you are but my son will be older than you, you understand, even the owner of your station does not come anywhere near my standard in terms of life achievement so you have to learn to be respectful, dont use those words on me A son of the late Bafuor Osei Akoto, the Chief Linguist to the Asantehene and founder of the National Liberation Movement during the 1950s, Dr Afriyie Akoto first contested the Kwadaso seat in 2000 when it was still part of the Bantama constituency but lost his partys parliamentary primaries. In 2004, after Bantama constituency (Florida) was divided into three Nhyiaeso, Kwadaso and Bantama he attempted to enter into parliament via the Kwadaso Constituency but lost to Hilda Josephine Addo. He, however, won on his third attempt in 2008 beating his fiercest rival Hilda Addo and again in 2012 as well as 2016. She was speaking at a gathering of Ashanti Regional Queen mothers Association. She said that Nana Addo has competent Ministers to help him fulfill his campaign promises but they have to fix a lot of problems caused by the John Mahama-led government. When you go home tell your husbands to exercise patience because I know my husband will deliver and transform the lives of Ghanaians. There are some potholes and problems caused by NDC government which needs to be fixed first before implementing of campaign promises she added. She said President Akufo Addo is committed to creating a favourable economy for all Ghanaians. READ ALSO: NDC group threatens to curse executives over campaign money She therefore urged Queen mothers to support Nana Addos government to deliver. The plans were announced by the Cecelia Dapaah, the Minister of Aviation while on a working tour of region. According to Cecelia Dapaah, the airstrip was needed to open up the region to business and tourism opportunities. We need to do an airstrip in Bolgatanga to facilitate easy movement from around the country to Bolgatanga for business activities and tourist attractions. So we are assessing the proposed site in Sherigu, a suburb of Bolgatanga for the technical men from the Ministry of Aviation to come to do the assessment of the construction of the airstrip and subsequently an Airport. Plans to build an airport in a different suburb of Bolgatanga began as far back as 1995 but the project was abandoned and successive governments have failed to finish the project. As such many would be why resources for this new project would not be used to complete the old project. It has apologised for the "global system outage" and indicated that it was "working to resolve the problem". Heathrow Airport said it was working closely with British Airways to solve the issue. The airline told the BBC that at this stage it has no evidence to suggest the system failure was caused by a cyber attack. It has since asked passengers with flights before 18:00 BST on Saturday not to come to Gatwick or Heathrow airports, which it said had become "extremely congested". Passengers affected will be offered the option of rescheduling or a refund. Meanwhile, other airlines flying in and out of Heathrow and Gatwick are not affected. The situation means that parts of BA's website are unavailable and some travellers said they could not check in on the mobile app. Writing in The Observer, former Belgian Prime Minister Theresa May, who had previously ruled out a general election, said a Conservative victory would make her "stronger" when she "negotiates for Britain with the prime ministers, presidents and chancellors of the EU." "The theory espoused by some, that Theresa May is calling a general election on Brexit in order to secure a better deal with the EU, is nonsensical," he wrote. "Will the election of more Tory MPs give Theresa May a greater chance of securing a better Brexit deal? For those sitting around the table in Brussels, this is an irrelevance." The Brexit coordinator also took issue with the timing of the election, calling it a "powergrab" designed to "take advantage of a Labour party in seeming disarray to secure another five years of power before the reality of Brexit bites." Labour is expected to be crushed by the Tories in the June election, with the latest polls showing Labour trailing by 24 points. News of the snap election also lead to 12 Labour MPs resigning. Her comments came after German chancellor Angela Merkel distanced herself from the US and UK on Sunday. Merkel said the EU had to "fight for its own destiny" following the election of US President Donald Trump and Brexit. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday, Rudd said that Britain would continue to work closely with the EU once it leaves the bloc. She said: "As we begin the negotiations about leaving the EU, we will be able to reassure Germany and other European countries that we are going to be a strong partner to them in defence and security, and, we hope, in trade. "This is going to be the most important negotiation that this country has embarked on for many decades. Making sure that we get this right is going to be absolutely critical, and we don't underestimate the difficulty. "We can reassure Mrs Merkel that we want to have a deep and special partnership so that we can continue to maintain European-wide security to keep us all safe from the terrorists abroad and those that are trying to be nurtured in our country," she said. Merkel, who is on the campaign trail ahead of German elections in September, told a crowd in Munich on Sunday that "the times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out." "S "I have learned from your Committee staff on this Memorial Day holiday that I might not be immediately afforded the opportunity to address the false or misleading testimony by James Comey, John Brennan, et al, as per our previously scheduled appointment for next week," the letter read. "In the interest of finally providing the American people with some accurate information at long last, I hope that we can proceed with this straight dialogue soon." Comey and Brennan testified before the committee earlier this month in separate sessions, where they reaffirmed that the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian officials during the election were being scrutinized by the US intelligence community. It is unclear if Page's testimony had been originally scheduled, however. Page told Business Insider at the time that he and the committee were "still working out the details" of when he would appear. Schiff told Business Insider through his spokesman that he and Conaway still have to review relevant documents before scheduling witness interviews. " EAGLE GROVE | An Eagle Grove man accused of sexually abusing three children has been sent to prison for up to 10 years. After his release, Jeddy Nicholas, 37, will be under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections for the rest of his life. He also must register as a sex offender. He received his sentence in Wright County District Court Tuesday after entering an Alford plea in April to one felony count of third-degree sexual abuse and two felony counts of lascivious acts with a child. In an Alford plea a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors can likely prove the charge. Nicholas was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on each count. The sentences are to be served concurrently. Three $1,000 fines were suspended. Nicholas has been ordered to pay restitution but the amount has not been determined yet. Three felony counts and two misdemeanor counts, all related, were dismissed through a plea bargain. Officials with the Wright County Attorney's Office say Nicholas victimized three children over the fall and summer of 2016 in Eagle Grove. Mary Pieper The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, at its annual meeting in Cyprus, also rebuffed a push by Moscow to end a freeze in investments in Russia over the Ukraine crisis. One weak spot in the cautiously upbeat outlook is Turkey where growth is expected to slow as political uncertainty hits the economy, the EBRD said. Average economic growth in the EBRD region -- which also includes countries in eastern and central Europe, central Asia and the Mediterranean -- is expected to pick up to 2.4 percent in 2017 and 2.8 percent in 2018, the EBRD said. That would mark an improvement from growth of 1.8 percent seen in 2016. "Overall the news is good. Growth is faster... despite all the risks, all the global challenges," EBRD chief economist Sergei Guriev told a news conference. The rebound in world oil prices since the first quarter of 2016 has been positive for Russia as well as countries that rely on it for remittances and export demand, the bank said. Russia is emerging from a two-year recession but even so the economic recovery is expected to be relatively muted with growth seen at 1.2 percent this year and 1.4 percent in 2018, the EBRD said. "Even though recession in Russia is over, we forecast only a very slow recovery and we don't see remittances going back to the peak of 2013, which means for the countries that rely on remittances from Russia this is continuing to be a difficult time," Guriev said. 'Dangerous precedent' The London-based EBRD rejected a challenge by Moscow over the suspension of new investments in Russia that the development bank announced in 2014 as part of European action against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. "The board of governors overwhelmingly agreed that the bank has complied with its own internal rules with respect to its engagement with the Russian Federation," EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti said. "That is a final and binding resolution." Russian Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin lashed out at the decision, calling it a "dangerous precedent". Moscow has condemned the freeze as politically motivated and in breach of the mandate of the EBRD, which was founded in 1991 to help former Soviet bloc countries switch to free-market economies. In its forecasts, the EBRD said growth in Turkey would slow further to 2.6 percent in 2017 from 2.9 percent in 2016 as security and political concerns hit investor sentiment and tourism. "While increased disposable income on the back of a 30-percent hike in the minimum wage in January 2016 resulted in an increase in private consumption, growth was hit by a sharp fall in tourism receipts, Russian sanctions, and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East," the bank said in its economic update. "Weak consumer and investor sentiment following the attempted military coup in July 2016 compounded these problems." Growth in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region -- which includes Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia -- is projected to pick up to 3.7 percent in 2017, from 3.4 percent last year. The economies of southeast Europe are set to expand by around three percent on average both this year and in 2018, with Greece returning to growth as reforms progress and business confidence creeps back, the EBRD said. Delivering judgment, Justice Abubakar Sadiq, said that since the defendant had pleaded guilty to the charge, the court had no option than to sentence him accordingly. Sadiq warned the convict to desist from committing crimes after serving his prison term. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Idris, who resides around Shagari Mosque, Area 1, Abuja, was sentenced on one-count charge of theft. Earlier, the prosecutor, Mrs Florence Auhioboh, had informed the court that on May 24, one James Sam of Total filling station Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, reported the matter at Utako Police Station. Auhioboh told the court that the convict committed the offence on May 23 at 11.00 p.m. at the filling station. She said that Sam reported the incident for proper investigation, which led to the arrest of the convict. Auhioboh said the convict intentionally entered Total filling station at Wuse and stole a customers cell phone from his car. The prosecutor said during police investigation and interrogation, the stolen phone was recovered from the convict. According to Auhioboh, the offence contravenes the provisions of Section 287 of the Penal Code Hindustimes reports that the lady identified as Shumaila, had accused her cousin of raping her at gunpoint and made a report to the elders but they rather accused her of having an illicit affair with the man who assaulted her and found her guilty. The incident happened in Rajanpur, a rural district about 400 kilometers from provincial capital Lahore where village elders are known as Panchayat, still decide cases. According to the report, Shumaila was said to have escaped from the village after she came to know of the Panchayats decision and reported the matter to police. She has denied having any illicit relationship with her cousin whose identity was revealed as Khalil Ahmed, and alleged that he raped her at gunpoint when she was sleeping at her house. I could not raise an alarm as Ahmed was holding a gun. But the Panchayat refused to accept my statement and declared that I wilfully slept with him, Shumaila told the police. She said the Panchayat did not take action against Ahmed and fearing for her life, she approached the police and reported the case. The SHO of Fazilpur Police Station, Qaisar Hasnain, said Shumailas father said in a statement that he was forced to accept the Panchayats decision. We have registered a FIR against the Panchayat members and will take them into custody for declaring her Kaari (liable to death either by stoning or else). The accused, 44, who resides at No. 2, Church St., Ogundare Estate, Aminkanle area of Alagbado in Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of fraud and stealing. The Police Prosecutor, Insp. Peter Nwangwu, told the court that the accused committed the offences between Feb. 2 and Aug. 30, 2014, at his residence. He alleged that the accused fraudulently obtained the cash sum of N1.2million from the complainants, Mr Emenike Daniel and Mr Utoh Chijioke. The accused collected the said amount from the complainants on the pretext of supplying them goods from the U.S and U.K, as agreed upon, he said. Nwangwu alleged that the complainants paid the sum of N1.2million into the Access Bank and Zenith Bank accounts of the accused. He told the court that Okoro reneged on the agreement and refused to refund the money to the complainants. The accused absconded and relocated to an unknown destination until she was recently apprehended by the police, Nwangwu said The offences contravened Sections 285 and 313 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 313 prescribes a 15-year jail term for offenders, while Section 285 stipulates three years imprisonment. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Y.O. Aje-Afunwa, granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum. His preferred tool is not the camera, but a constant glance, the white earphones that stay plugged to his ears, steady hands and the charcoal and graphite pencils that he uses over painstakingly long hours to achieve the level of detail that runs through all his hyper-realistic drawings. It becomes even more impressive when you consider that he has not enjoyed a single day of training. 23-year-old Arinze works out of the home where he lives with his parents in Lagos. His studio is a makeshift space carved out of his office where by day, he helps his father with the family business. Inside, along the walls, he hangs his easel where unfinished works await his attention and in another corner, four drawings that he calls the most important of his fledgling career. I dont think I will ever sell these drawings, he tells me as we stand in his studio, eyes poring over each work. They are very special to me. I hope I never have to sell them The most special of these is a drawing of President Muhammadu Buhari that he made in the weeks following his election. Arinze calls it is the most important drawing he has made yet - the one that launched his career and put his art in the spotlight. Many people dont agree with his methods of leadership he says of President Buhari. That drawing put me in that frame of criticism too and it got a lot of people talking about me. Many people were asking why I did it, why I drew it. Basically, it put me out there Somehow the drawing continued to inspire conversation in the background, until it found its way to the eyes of iconic music producer and record label executive, Michael Collins Ajere, known to most as Don Jazzy. I had very few people that knew about me back then. he says of that day. I had about 500 people that followed me on IG. I was in the bathroom when I got a notification on my phone. I checked my phone and I saw a post by Don Jazzy. I figured it was probably a bug. I opened up my IG and saw he reposted my work he reposted it to a couple of million people I feel like that was where the whole vibe started from because that night alone, I got about 1500 followers, he adds. Like the Buhari drawing, all of Arinzes work is deeply personal. His special collection has a drawing of his kid brother, Charles and another of Henry, Charless best friend. Arinze says he created them because of his respect for the relationship that they shared, and above all, he simply wanted to preserve their chemistry on paper for the rest of time. The fourth piece speaks to his desires, a drawing of his crush, Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim, that like all his work, manages to capture the distinct glint in the actress eye as well as the facial distinctions that make her one of the most recognizable faces in Nigerian film. But as far as special women go, there is a 5th piece, an unfinished drawing of what looks like a young woman holding on to her braids, lost in thought. While on youth service in Kaduna, Arinze chanced upon a meeting with her, a fellow artist called Chisom. In that small time that they spent together, he says he found some chemistry, so he decided to put her on paper, and immortalise that connection for as long as time will allow. I know Ill never see her again, he tells me when I ask if hell show her the drawing when its done. Im never going to sell this drawing. The hallmark of hyper-realism, as can be seen in the work of Arinze and contemporaries like Kelvin Okafor, is precision; the attention to detail that allows the artiste to convey the most minute element of an object or individual. Hyperrealism, in itself, is not a strict interpretation of photographs or other visual media. Instead, it calls on auxiliary, often delicate details to re-create a personal interpretation of the subjects truth or an illusion that is either the creation of the artists mind or a reality that, otherwise, would not be seen by the human eye. What sets Arinze in his own lane is the emotive essence of his work. Every drawing is an experience that, as he calls it, is him putting his emotions on paper. Emotive artists like this appreciate getting the visual idea across but it is not the priority. Instead, he prefers to find a connection to his subject that allows him to recreate, in strokes and shades, what he sees of that person for the viewer. What he hopes to achieve is that those who view the drawings will see what he sees; that they will connect with his interpretation of his muses emotions. There is nothing more cliche that the idea that artistes use their work as an outlet, it is how we explain the many varieties and forms of art and how artistes use their abilities. For Arinze, the creative process is more, a release of sorts; I feel like I can escape from this world when Im drawing, he tells me, without taking his eyes of the canvas for a second. Before finding release in his hyper-realistic portraits, Arinze remembers his humble beginnings when all his pencils could draw were stick people. I was about 6 years old. Back then, we were making stick drawings he says, as he outlines the basic stick-man shape with his hands. I remember doing that in primary school, but then I grew into realising that hands were not actually sticks During my schooling days, I used to have a lot of friends that used to motivate me. I used to do assignments for my friends, when we had projects, Id take mine and do for like 5 of my friends too. I just found it as fun. I didnt know I was training myself The typical Nigerian hunt for a degree took him to Imo State University where he studied Agricultural Engineering. It was while here that he found hyper-realism and began to treat his art as a career. I started taking my drawing as a full career in 2012 after I met a couple of artists on social media that really gave me that push to start drawings and take it seriously, he continues. I have always had the urge to learn how to make drawings that look relaistic. Sometimes when my friends drew round heads, I found myself adding hair to it", he remembers. "Over the years, I did not know that it was possible that looked real until I discovered hyper-realism as a movement of art. I decided to dive into it, I got all the things I needed, I followed a lot of footsteps, I practised a lot of new techniques - Im still learning The influence of his mentors is clear in his work, but what inspires his urge to create these hyper-real drawings is something more personal, it is his connection to a world where he is completely free, unhindered and in total control. The building blocks of that world are all Arinze's but what smoothens the edges are the emotions that give each drawing a unique personality, and that is what he wants his viewers to see. I feel like whenever I touch my pencils and my paper, I just snap out of this planet and go into it. he says when I ask why he draws. When I snap, I find myself saying things and being a person I cant be with my normal self. I feel like thats best way to express myself, lose touch of reality and build that world for myself in my little space. In the real world, Arinze splits his time between two roles. During the day, he works with his dad, and when night falls, he becomes the artist. It is tasking work, so much that on week days, he only manages to make time for a few hours for sleep. My average day is not like the regular persons day. We wake up by 5 in the morning and say our prayers till around 7. I get ready for work and resume by 8 in the morning, he tells me midway into our interview. From 8 in the morning, his daily activity involves managing the family-owned firm that produces and sells envelopes, alongside his father. The factory is in the same compound as the family home, so for Arinze, work is never really far away. I work till 5, 6 in the evening. Then I go to my second office, thats my studio, he chuckles, I start working till about 3 in the morning. I sleep, and wake up at 5. Apart from Saturdays and Sundays, thats how every day goes for me Finding balance with such a routine can feel like juggling dumbbells, especially where your chosen endeavour requires emphasis on detail, technical prowess that can take years to build, and time, a lot of time. Arinze spends between 300500 hours on a single drawing. For context, if he was an artist-employee at a firm or gallery, that would be about two months of work by the standard of regular work hours. For every true creative, writer, musician, dancer or painter, heaven is the place where all they have to do is create art in their preferred medium. They hope, in the most precious parts of their ambitious minds, for that day when they no longer have to worry about extraneous obligations. And Arinze is entitled to those dreams. But for now, he understands his reality, draws inspiration from it and finds his balance between responsibility and his art by sheer will and effort and it works for him, as it has for years. His mother, Mrs Ifeoma Lucy Egbe, has watched him grow over the years, from stick figures to portraits of former dictators. She believes that her sons gift is God-given and it is that grace, along with his own tenacity, that has helped to find success at both ends of the spectrum. Drawing is inborn in him. He started it as something he had a passion for but I didnt know it would generate this level that hes at now, she tells me outside the familys factory. Its just been by having set goals and knowing wheres headed, and I believe by being focused, trusting in God, the sky is his limit It helps that Arinze sees his work ethic as a major driving force behind the quality of his drawings. For someone who is mostly self-taught, it makes sense that he appreciates the long hours. But that hunger can so easily be lost when the accolades come in and work-in-progress begins to resemble the finshed article. So he keeps himself grounded by looking to the future. His dreams are big, for himself and for other Nigerian artists, hyper-real and otherwise. It is a function of the attention and success he has gathered in the last few months, coupled with the understanding that his art is universal and the emotions that he depicts in these vivid drawings speak no distinct language. Being a young artist in Nigeria is actually challenging because you naturally find yourself trying to find balance between making money and making your art and you have to choose, he says. Many people go into art then realise theyre not making money so they say, I probably have to get out of it for a while and come back later. All this without focusing on building themselves I feel like you need to grow to appreciate as an artiste. Its something that requires patience, practice and persistence. Ive been working with these rules so I just remove distractions, Im still learning. Im always learning. If young artistes can focus on that, well all grow, he adds. When that growth comes, hes sure that the shores of this country will cease to be limitations. In a couple of years, I see myself going out of the country he tells me with a big laugh that makes you feel like hes left already. Ill be exhibiting in France, in London, the United States, in many prestigious places. By the grace of God, we go global, he continues. Considering that Arinze has such a clear idea of the future, he appears almost precise to the extent of being infallible. There are no half-done or abandoned drawings in his studio. But like us mortals, the errors exist; he has things he wishes he could change or do better at least. When our conversation was all said and done, I asked him what he would say if he met a younger version of himself, the person he was just before he began to find hyperrealism. Id tell him to not stop what hes doing. Youre going to face so many things in the future. There are times where you wont sleep. But dont stop. Keep going, he says to this imaginary 15-year old person. Simple words but a very clear message. Rabiu of Jabi Motor Park had admitted committing the crime and also begged the court for leniency. The judge, Mr Abubakar Sadiq, sentenced the convict to three months in prison without option of fine. Sadiq said the punishment would have been more severe if the convict had not pleaded guilty, and saved the court the pains of prolonged prosecution. He warned the convict against taking to crime after serving his sentence. The prosecutor, Mrs Florence Auhioboh, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on May 24 at about 4.a.m at Utako. Auhioboh said that the convict criminally trespassed into Chisco Transport Ltd., Utako, and intentionally attempted to burgle a car but was caught in the act by security men on duty. She told the court that during police investigation and interrogation, the convict admitted committing the offence. Balla of Gwarinpa village pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced accordingly on the two-count charge of causing obstructing and driving without licence levelled against him. The judge, Abubakar Sadiq, however, gave the convict an option to pay N5, 000 fine and advised him to be a good citizen. The prosecutor, Mrs Florence Auhioboh, had told the court that one Gloria Lrimiya, attached to Life Camp Police Station, reported the incident on May 25. Auhioboh said Lrimiya arrested the convict along Life Camp Karmo road by Kado fish market at about 8 am on the same date. She said the convict drove his tricycle with Registration LSD 708 QH recklessly and hindered free passage of persons and vehicles on a public high way For a week and some days, Biafra has dominated public discourse, social media and media in general. Nigerians have been debating about the civil war, what led to it and if we have learnt anything. Biafra obviously dominates the headlines with the huge loss of lives. Unknown to many the Nigerian Civil War wasn't the only war that happened in Nigeria. On February 23, 1966, Isaac Adaka Boro formed the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF). The NDVF was formed 40 days after January 15, 1966, coup, the first military coup in Nigeria's history. Annoyed and disgruntled about the plight of the Nigerians from the South-South, Boro declared the Niger Delta Republic. It was an attempt by the former police inspector to wrestle his people from the unstable Nigerian system that had sidelined his people in the grand scheme of things. On this day, the Niger-Delta seceded from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. "Today is a great day, not only in your lives but also in the history of the Niger Delta. Perhaps, it will be the greatest day for a very long time. This is not because we are going to bring the heavens down, but because we are going to demonstrate to the world what and how we feel about oppression Remember your 70-year-old grandmother who still farms before she eats; remember also your poverty-stricken people; remember, too, your petroleum which is being pumped out daily from your veins; and then fight for your freedom" said the 27-year-old Boro on the historic day. The rebellion did not last long. Isaac Adaka Boro and 159 men fought against Nigerian forces. The battle did not last more than two weeks as the NDVF forces were crushed. Isaac Adaka Boro was arrested and almost executed. During the Biafran War, he was tasked by General Yakubu Gowon to fight against Biafra. Boro was an exceptional soldier who led Nigerian troops to key decisive battles and victories. Olabode Kolawole,52; Emmanuel Lambo, 39, and Musa Saliu, 47, all residents of Ogba Area of Ikeja, are facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing. The prosecutor, Sgt. Mike Unah, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime in November 2016 at Karishima Industries Ltd, located at Beckley Estate Area of Abule Egba, Ikeja. He alleged that Kolawole, who was a driver at Karishima industries conspired with two of his co-workers to steal 200 bags of polyvinyl chloride and calcium carbonate, worth N48.4 million. Unah said that the driver brought in 600 bags of polyvinyl chloride and calcium carbonate to the companys warehouse, on a daily basis. Unah said that on that fateful day, Kolawole, Lambo and Saliu conspired to offload 200 bags of the companys industrial material at another location, to avoid any suspicion from their employer, Karishima industries Ltd. The prosecutor said that when the company finally discovered that some of their workers were stealing from them, they started investigating all their workers. He said that the trio became restless when they discovered that the company was investigating all of them. Unah said that when the management discovered that the trio were acting in a dubious manner, they reported the matter to the police and they were arrested as suspects. The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Sections 287 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The trio, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge levied against them. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 287 prescribes three years imprisonment for stealing, while Section 411 stipulates two years in prison for conspiracy. The Senior Magistrate, Mrs A.O Gbajumo, granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000 each, with two sureties each in like sum. Gbajumo said the sureties must be gainfully employed and also present evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government. President, Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Dr. Bartholomew Brai while giving an address at the briefing showered praises on Dano for taking a bold step by partnering with NSN and contributing to the well-being of Nigerians. Dr. Brai said, We are glad with this strategic partnership with TG Arla, manufacturers of Dano milk. This partnership is part of our resolution to associate with individuals and brands taking significant steps to help get rid of malnutrition of Nigeria. As a nation willing to curb malnutrition, lets cultivate the habit of milk drinking. A glass of milk everyday makes that significant difference. We are proud to associate with Dano on this malnutrition campaign as it is a brand that is contributing positively to the well-being of Nigerians. The Managing Director, TG Arla, Mr. Mads Burmester stated that Dano would live up to its promise of providing of Nigerian children and adults with healthy and highly nutritional dairy products. "As a leading dairy brand in Nigeria, we will live up to our promise of boosting milk intake among Nigerians. We will continue to provide Nigerians with dairy products that are of high quality and satisfies their nutritional needs. Country Category Manager, Mr. Olumide Aniyikaiye said Dano would continue to provide Nigerian mothers and other Nigerians with healthy, nutritional and affordable range of Milk products, capable of boosting the mental and physical wellbeing for the young and old. Dano milk has been a major player in Nigerias dairy sector for more than 30 years. During this period of time, we have provided Nigerian mothers with dairy products for their children. This explains why we are championing milk drinking habit through this conversation. Our products are natural, delicious and full of essential vitamins and minerals for children and adults. Our milk powder and UHT milk varieties ranging from skimmed, semi-skimmed to full cream milk satisfies each generations milk needs. The World Milk Day, a significant day created by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is celebrated annually on June 1. It was created in 2001 by FAO to raise awareness for milk as a global food for healthy living. The Day provides stakeholders with the opportunity to focus attention on milk and to publicize activities connected with milk & the milk industry globally. Mr John Paul, Chairman, House Committee on Health in the state House of Assembly, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Monday. The House is proposing a bill for the establishment of the SHIS and all the 25 local government councils of the state would be mandated to key into the programme, he said. Paul said that the programme would be championed by the Speaker of the House, Alhaji Ahmed Marafa, starting from with his (Speakers) Chanchaga Local Government Area. He explained that the SHIS programme was targeting rural dwellers who do not have easy access to healthcare services because most of the general hospitals are in urban areas. According to him, farmers in rural areas will be asked to contribute some small amount of money on monthly basis, while the state government would also contribute. The money that will be contributed will be used to purchase drugs for the scheme for free healthcare service delivery in hard-to-reach communities. Seventy per cent of our population are found in these hard-to-reach communities and are predominantly farmers. They have fewer resources, little basic infrastructure, less education, bad means of transportation and they are also mostly vulnerable women and children. Innocent children and pregnant women have lost their lives because the health facilities are not within their reach either due to poor roads or non-availability of health facilities, he said. The lawmaker noted that the present administration of Gov. Abubakar Bello had prioritised the health sector through plans to establish functional Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state. He said that the establishment of PHCs in the 274 electoral wards would eradicate the problem of poor healthcare service delivery in rural communities. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made the proposal to the UN General Assembly to address a major shortfall in the $400 million needed to help Haiti recover from the epidemic. Cholera was introduced by infected Nepalese UN peacekeepers who were sent to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake. More than 9,500 people have died of the disease. The $40.5 million would be drawn from unspent funds from the UN peacekeeping mission's budget for 2015-2016 and would provide a major boost to the effort to help Haiti recover from the outbreak. Only seven countries have so far contributed to the fund - Chile, France, India, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Britain - for a total of $2.67 million. Canada and Japan have separately granted $8.5 million to help Haiti. Guterres intends to appoint a high-level envoy to develop a fundraising strategy that would draw contributions from countries but also from other sources. The General Assembly will next month discuss the proposals to raise funds for Haiti. Despite court orders for their release, both Dasuki and El-Zazaky have remained in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS). In an interview with Punch, Sagay who chairs the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), urged the federal government to obey court orders in favour of the duo. He said: The court orders should be obeyed and I dont know what reason the government has for not releasing them. If they have good reasons, they should canvass the reasons before the court and leave the court to decide. If the court rules against them, then they should appeal against the ruling and then apply for stay of the ruling pending the appeal. That is what the government should do rather than detaining them perpetually, Sagay added. ALSO READ: Why Dasuki is still in detention - Presidency Sagay called on the government to wrap up the probe by prosecuting the judges immediately or by dropping the cases. The Federal Government should hurry up and if they cannot file the adequate charges, then they should inform the people involved and allow them to continue with their careers on the bench. Echodo was brought before a magistrate court in Abuja on Tuesday, May 30, on a one-count charge. Although one other person, Maiwada Adamu, was accused of the same offense, only Echodo was arraigned. The two men, Echodo and Adamu, were accused of conspiring to falsely inform the office of the IGP that the building is used for criminal activities including storage of arms and ammunition. The second accused person, Adamu, who was absent in court, is said to be at large - Echodo pleaded not guilty to the charge. The magistrate, Umar Kagarko, directed the police to find Adamu and present him in court at the next sitting. The counsel to the defense, Peter Ngwoke, urged the court to grant his client bail. A statement issued on Wednesday by the inspector general of police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) disclosed this. According to the assistant commissioner of police in the state, Abba Kyari, who led the team, the suspects were on their way to visit a member of their gang when the IRT intercepted them. Those arrested are Egelu Endurance, 25, (a.k.a. Jubby), Stanley Yomi Irabomini, 25, (a.k.a. Powei) and Bentel Endurance, 24 all from Ovia south local government area of Edo state. The suspects reportedly confessed to participating in several high profile kidnappings in the southern region. A police source was quoted as saying that the suspects said they were in Benin to visit their injured colleague. The pupils were kidnapped last week. ALSO READ: 6 students reportedly abducted from school in Lagos Their captors have contacted their family members, demanding a ransom of N400 million. The Lagos state government has said it would not negotiate with the abductors. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had in February signed the anti-kidnapping bill into law. The law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment on kidnapping for ransom. MASON CITY | A Mason City man suspected in the stabbing of another man Tuesday is now behind bars on a charge of attempted murder. Braedon Steven Bowers, 20, was booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail shortly before 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. No bond will be set until he is seen by a magistrate, according to information on the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office website. Bowers is accused of stabbing Wraymond Leon Todd, 23, Mason City, in the chest Tuesday afternoon in the 300 block of West State Street. Police say Todd was seriously injured and was transported to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, where emergency surgery was performed. He remains in critical condition. Cody Michael Bublitz, 28, Mason City, was also cut during the assault but declined immediate medical attention, according to police. Police towed a vehicle they believe Bowers was driving as he left the scene and later abandoned. The Britt Police Department on Wednesday afternoon spotted a vehicle Bowers was believed to be in and stopped the vehicle. Bowers, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was taken into custody. Police say Bowers and the victim knew each other prior to the incident, which occurred on the street near a two-story home at 325 W. State St. The stabbing was reported around 3:35 p.m. Tuesday. The Mason City Police Department says its investigation, in which the Iowa DCI, Forest City and Britt police departments and Mason City Fire Department provided assistance, is ongoing. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636 and speak with Criminal Investigation Division Lt. Rich Jensen. Tips also can be called in to North Iowa CrimeStoppers. The lawmaker was reportedly whisked away at Jere, Kaduna state while returning from Kano. Durbundes aide who confirmed the incident however said the abductors were yet to contact his family members or friends. I can confirm to you that Honourable Durbunde is nowhere to be found at the moment, he said. We are yet to establish his whereabouts or get a clue from his abductors but we have informed all the relevant security agencies about the incident, the aide added. Olulade, representing Epe Constituency II at the Lagos State House of Assembly, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. NAN reports that the six students were kidnapped by unknown gunmen on May 25, when the kidnappers gained entry into the school after breaking a portion of the fence. It is a sad incident that we have not been able to recover from. We have been talking with the affected parents. We share the pains of the parents and their concerns; we know it is not easy." We want to appeal to those who are involved in this nefarious act to please release these innocent children." The kidnappers should consider the pains and agonies of the victims parents and relations." We call on all parents and all mothers to join us to pray for the safety of these children. The government and the security agencies are frantically working to ensure their release, he said. Olulade, who commended the security operatives for their hard work, urged them to do more to stamp out criminality in the state. We appreciate the efforts of the security agencies and we know they can still do more; we want them to continue to protect lives and property according to their mandate." We believe that they have all it takes to do the needful. We pray God to continue to strengthen them, the lawmaker said. He urged the parents to remain calm, saying the affected children would, by Gods grace, return safely. We appeal to everybody to join us in prayer, rather than condemning and blaming." We believe that with all efforts of the state government, the community leaders and the security agencies, everyone will laugh at the end, Olulade said. In a five-point communique in Otukpo, Benue state on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, the Idoma National Youth Forum for Justice said the inclusion of Benue South in the map of the defunct Biafra was a deliberate attempt by the agitators to pitch the people against the Nigerian government. IPOB had recently claimed that Biafra spans from Itsekiri on the western boundary with Oduduwa to Bakassi on the eastern boundary with the Cameroons, and also stretches from Idoma and Igala land on the northern boundary with Northern Nigeria to the Bight of Biafra which is South of the island of Bonny. The communique signed by Emmanuel Omonu, president of the group reads in part: We ask the IPOB and other secessionist groups to henceforth a halt to stop referring to Idoma community as part of Biafra as it touches on the collective sensibilities of our people and could provoke ethnic crisis. We are surprise that the likes of Kanu and his other Bifara supporters have not learnt their lesson after returning to Nigeria following the fall of Biafra in January 15, 1970 with tales of woes and horrors. The Idomas and other ethnic groups who have been carved into the maps being circulated by Nnamdi Kanu and his groups, we shall not tolerate any provocation from this group of persons as law abiding citizens of Nigeria and hereby wish to draw attention of the Federal Government and the International community to this fraud of a Biafra Republic to extort and criminalize our people. Our sons have held very high positions in Nigeria just like the Igbos and we see no reason for any secession anywhere in Nigeria, the right thing for all to do is to task our leaders in authority to judiciously apply the people's resources for the overall benefit of all whilst subscribing to the current administration's war against corruption." "Tinubu and others were responsible for my travails during the Nigeria Ports Authority crisis when I was sent to prison for doing nothing. I can only wish Obanikoro the best of luck," George said. In a recent interview, the former military governor of Ondo State denies being a sworn enemy to Tinubu as it is widely spread. He said: "Bola (Tinubu) and I are not sworn enemies. Bola and I met during the burial of Alao Arisekola in Ibadan. That was the first time I saw him physically after I left the military. I was seated in the front row at the stadium. As I was going out, I saw him but refused to greet him. Then Governor Abiola Ajimobi jumped up and said, Egbon, you did not greet Bola Tinubu? I said, why would I greet him? Did you know what he did against me where he got the court to convict me for an offence I never committed? Continuing, he said: "But Oba Otudeko advised that we should use Arisekolas death to settle the disagreement. I asked Ajimobi to go and call Bola (Tinubu). He (Tinubu) came to where I was and we shook hands. He said, Egbon, e mabinu (Dont be offended). I am not God. So, since then, we settled our disagreement. The prison experience was a period of learning for me." ALSO READ: George also pointed out that though he has forgiven Tinubu, he needs to tell the younger ones about what caused their rift. "No matter what people say about me, I am not moved... I don't listen to anybody because I know what is important," he said on applying to run for a fifth term in office at Thursday's presidential election. Governing, he said, "is between me and God Almighty." This deeply devout Muslim grew up in the western village of Kanilai in 1965, the year that The Gambia, a long east-west sliver of land bordered by Senegal, gained independence from Britain. His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen joined the army in 1984 -- his military title is the only one he has lost. Ten years later, Jammeh mounted a coup with fellow army officers against Dawda Jawara, who had ruled the country since independence, pledging to root out corruption and hold elections. After giving up his rank of colonel to allow him to contest elections as a civilian, Jammeh swept the vote in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011, following a 2002 constitutional amendment removing presidential term limits. Rights abuses Now 51, Jammeh has attracted worldwide attention for declaring The Gambia an Islamic nation, withdrawing the country from the International Criminal Court, and claiming he had concocted a herbal cure for HIV/AIDS. The longtime ruler has woven a shroud of mysticism around himself using religion and rumours of secret powers. Never seen without his Koran, sceptre and prayer beads, Jammeh's billowing white robes are rumoured to hide a bulletproof vest, the legacy of several coup attempts by his own guards. In the last few years, a crackdown on journalists, opposition figures and anyone deemed disloyal within the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), has intensified. He has promised to bury critics "nine feet deep" and told the UN Secretary-General to "go to hell" after Ban Ki-moon called for an investigation into an activist's death in custody. But in another moment he urged his supporters to restrain themselves from violence and allow this week's election to go ahead peacefully. Rights groups allege that those who defy him end up in the country's notorious Mile Two prison, where the UN in 2014 said it had obtained evidence of torture and executions by the country's National Intelligence Agency, which reports directly to Jammeh. This was supplemented by "interference with the independence of the judiciary, denial of due process, prolonged pretrial and incommunicado detention," Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns said. "The security forces are his tools, and he uses them to control Gambia by arresting people who don't share his views," a prominent opposition figure told Human Rights Watch. Isolated Gambia's diplomatic relations have also been precarious of late. In December 2014, the EU cut off ?13 million of funding, and threatened to block another ?150 million in response to the country's poor human rights record. International criticism followed the introduction of an "aggravated homosexuality" law in October 2014 that imposed life sentences for a series of new offences. And EU and ECOWAS observers are not attending 2016's presidential vote. Relations with neighbouring Senegal too are at an all-time low. A huge increase on customs fees for trucks entering Gambian territory was put into place without warning in February, cutting the country off from vital supplies for months. One Banjul-based diplomat told AFP that the blockade, the effects of a 2013 drought, and tourist fears of Ebola in a country that relies on sunseekers for up to 20 percent of its GDP had made economic conditions unbearable for many Gambians. Jammeh controls several businesses in the country and has in the past seized them without warning, discouraging foreign investment. The state of the economy has pushed many young Gambians to take the "Back Way", or migrant route across the Sahara to Libya, where they board boats bound for Italy. But others remain grateful for investment in education and the health system, which were severely neglected under his predecessor. Fayose said the country has remained in stagnation due to President Buharis ill-health. He said despite the discovery of huge sums of monies in the country, Nigerians have continued to experience hardship. Addressing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, 30 May 2017, Fayose said Buhari has not been able to effectively discharge his constitutional duties due to ill health.. The governor said the All Progressives Congress (APC) government had failed to deliver on its promises. So far, the APC-led federal government has been a government of misadventure and Nigerians are worse for it, he said. They say they are fighting corruption but are shielding corrupt elements within their fold. Members of the opposition defect to the APC for protection. Fighting corruption is more than discovering huge sums of money all over the place, with nobody being traced to be the owners, moral corruption too is bad. He can do us the great help by resigning. Not resigning bothers on his integrity. His absence allows others to suppress and oppress others and that means he is allowing others to suppress their fellow human beings. There are many governments in one and they are clueless. We need an active president going by our numerous challenges. How long will Nigerians wait for an incapacitated president? We cannot wait again for somebody to hold us to ransom. I dont have any bad blood against Buhari. Osinbajo has no powers without the president. He owes us the duty to tell us the state of his health. After Saraki and some of his colleagues defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in January 2014, there were speculations that he would vie in the party's presidential primary election. But he later announced that he would not run against Buhari. An article by African Confidential had claimed that Saraki was one of those who stood against Buhari's nomination as APC candidate in 2014. The publication also said that Saraki had retained London Communications consultants, Aequitas, which helped Labour Party to remake its image under Tony Blair in the mid-1990s. In reaction to the article, Sarakis spokesman, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said his boss had publicly announced that he would not run against Buhari in October 2014. He said, "First, please note that your claims above are not correct. Dr Saraki did not contest the last presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress. "Dr Saraki publicly announced in a statement in Ilorin on October 12, 2014, that he would not contest against Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) who was then an aspirant because some of us need to make sacrifice and be part of the solution rather than part of the problem of the party. "He then declared that he would support the candidacy of the retired General. Dr Saraki was one of the people who worked tirelessly to ensure General Buhari won the APC ticket, and the general election." "Again, contrary to the claim in your article, Dr Saraki does not retain the services of Aequitas. He formerly engaged Aequitas for strategic policy services while he was governor of Kwara state, and chair of the Nigeria governors forum, and at the initial stage of his period as senate president. He no longer retains the services of Aequitas effective from January 1, 2017." ALSO READ: My relationship with Buhari is cordial - Saraki Dos Santos's medical condition has recently been subject to fierce speculation, with his daughter Isabel forced to deny rumours that he had died while in Spain. Anastacio de Brito, spokesman for the ruling MPLA party, told AFP that the 74-year-old president arrived back in Angola on Monday evening. The party confirmed for the first time on Monday that dos Santos had undergone medical checks while in Spain on an extended "private visit". Dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979, will not contest an election in August, marking a historic change in the oil-rich country. He has reportedly received cancer treatment in Barcelona over several years. Defence Minister Joao Lourenco has emerged as Dos Santos's chosen successor and is on course to take power after the election. Officials had told AFP on May 17 that the couple had been stoned to death in public the previous day in the Taghlit valley, in the remote Kidal region. It would have been the first such incident since jihadist groups were driven out of the region in 2013 by a French-led military intervention. The report was queried on social media but could not be checked independently as the area is difficult to access and a haven for smugglers, drug-traffickers and other criminal gangs and militia fighters. "Finally they weren't lapidated," said a local official who asked not to be identified. "They were arrested and threatened and then some people pretended to lapidate them." "There was no lapidation," he added. "People went to see but there was no stoning." A Malian security source confirmed the report, saying the execution by stoning had been cancelled. Last week, the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a fusion of several jihadist groups with previous Al-Qaeda links, issued a statement denying any involvement in the stoning and questioning whether it ever took place. Jihadists seized key northern cities in Mali in March 2012, and though they were driven out the next year, Islamist groups continue to make their presence felt with frequent attacks on domestic and foreign forces. "I want that we open an internal dialogue over Kosovo... without prejudices, while respecting our constitution" which says Kosovo is part of Serbia, he said, adding that Serbia "should get rid of a mythic approach towards Kosovo." Many Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of their country's history, religion and culture. Its independence was declared a decade after the 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanian Kosovo rebels and Serbian armed forces, a conflict that claimed 13,000 lives, of which 10,000 were ethnic Albanians. The Serbian forces, led by Slobodan Milosevic, were eventually ousted from the breakaway territory after a three-month NATO bombing campaign. But 100,000 to 150,000 Serbs remained in Kosovo, mainly in the northern region of Mitrovica, under supervision of NATO-led troops. Vucic, a former hardline nationalist, won the presidential election in April with a pledge to pursue Serbia's bid for EU membership, while maintaining ties with Russia. Kosovo is also hoping to join the EU, and both sides agreed in 2011 to open talks aimed at normalising ties, under the auspices of the European Union. "There should be no doubt into the European path to which we are dedicated," Vucic said. MASON CITY | Fidget spinners, a Buddha statue and a dragon sword were among the items stolen from vendors at the North Iowa Band Festival in the middle of the night Sunday. Vendors at five to seven booths in Central Park reported the missing merchandise late Sunday morning, according to Lt. Rich Jensen of the Mason City Police Department. Other items taken included T-shirts, hats and jewelry, he said. Tarps had been placed over the booths after the festival closed the night before, according to Jensen. He said one suspect has been identified, but police have not made any arrests yet. He said he didn't know if anyone else was working with the suspect. The incident remains under investigation. Mary Pieper The retail holiday shopping season is formally defined as the 61 calendar days in November and December. For the retail industry, its the granddaddy of all holiday shopping seasons. Over the next two months, caffeine- and sugar-infused holiday shoppers will drop a near-trillion dollars into the coffers of wishful retailers across the nation. CORDOVA A Maryland restaurant operator has left the East Coast for the middle coast. On Saturday, Kamil Safoglu opened the Happy Tummy Diner at 199 Illinois 84, Cordova, next to the Shell gas station. He said his sister lives in Moline and had encouraged him to come to the Quad-Cities area. "We were driving around and we got hungry, and we were looking for a place to eat, but there was nothing around us," Mr. Safoglu said. "We stopped at the (Cordova) Shell station, and I saw the place. And I fell in love with it and decided this will be a great location." Open seven days a week, the diner includes breakfast entrees, daily specials and an assortment of sandwiches, including a gyro sandwich. Currently the diner also offers buffets on Saturday and Sunday mornings. One of his first customers Saturday was new Cordova Mayor James Boone. "I wanted to stop in and welcome them to Cordova," Mayor Boone said. "We welcome all new businesses to Cordova." Mr. Safoglu said he has been in the restaurant business since 1992, starting as a busboy and working up to running his own restaurant on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Md. "Hard work and dedication is the key for the success," he said. "This a land of opportunity, in this great country, and the wonderful people of Cordova, they have welcomed us with their support." Mr. Safoglu said the local agencies have been "very business-friendly," and the process to start the diner has been great. He said the restaurant's location on Illinois 84 between the Quad-Cities and Galena is ideal, especially with the increased traffic from summer travelers and motorcycle riders. "I will continue great service to our community," Mr. Safoglu said. For more details, call 703-862-1416 or email happytummydiner@gmail.com. JOLIET, Ill. (AP) A 15-year-old boy has been charged with starting a fire that caused heavy damage to a building at an abandoned prison in northern Illinois. Joliet police say they received numerous tips via social media linking Monday's fire to two 15-year-old boys, who were at the prison at the time of the fire. Police say one of the boys allegedly used a lighter to set some papers on fire. He was charged Tuesday with arson. The other boy was released without being charged. Police say the fire at the Joliet Correctional Center's industries building spread to exposed insulation before gutting the building. No injuries were reported. The prison, which closed in 2002, is featured in "The Blues Brothers" movie as well as the TV series "Prison Break." SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) A Chicago Christian center pastor and his wife have pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from a summer food program for low-income children. Federal prosecutors in Springfield say 49-year-old Robbie Wilkerson of New Birth Christian Center and his wife 44-year-old Tasha Wilkerson, both of Oak Park, entered the pleas Tuesday. Three others also pleaded guilty in the same fraud scheme last week. The Illinois State Board of Education runs the program with federal money. Prosecutors say Robbie Wilkerson was behind about $714,000 in false claims being submitted to the state. Federal officials say the claims represented about 267,000 meals served to children when actually fewer than 100,000 meals actually were served. Prosecutors say the Wilkersons admitted embezzling as much as $100,000. The couple's sentencing hearings are Oct. 6. MOLINE Customers of both Quad-Cities Chipotle Mexican Grill locations may have been victims of a previously announced data breach that occurred at the end of March. In a post on their website, Chipotle released a list of locations and dates when customer credit card information was compromised because of malware on point-of-purchase systems. Chipotle originally reported the data breach on April 25. According to Chipotle's website, the Moline location at 3941 41st Ave. Drive was vulnerable from March 26 through April 8. The Davenport location at 5270 Elmore Ave. was vulnerable from March 26 through April 18. The malware was reading information when a card was swiped through the card reader. According to Chipotle, the information being gathered was the credit card number, expiration date and internal verification code. There was no indication that other customer information was affected. In a statement on their website, Chipotle said they are working with law enforcement and payment card networks to raise awareness and to heighten monitoring. They also said they were working with cyber security firms to help enhance their security measures Not all locations were affected, and the amount of time where the data was compromised varied per location. For a complete list of locations, visit chipotle.com/security. At the bottom of the page you may enter the city and state to find out if the location that was visited was affected. Customers with further questions regarding the incident may call their toll free number at 888-738-0534 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. central time. BEIRUT (AP) As the U.S.-led coalition ratchets up operations in Syria, there are concerns that it will result in a rerun of what happened in Iraq, where $1 billion in weapons supplied to local fighters is unaccounted for. Weapons, training and airstrikes by the coalition have aided ground forces in both Iraq and Syria, allowing Iraq's military, Iraqi Kurdish fighters and Syrian Kurdish fighters to retake some 55,000 square kilometers (21,235 square miles) of territory from the Islamic State extremists in the nearly three-year fight. However, many in both countries are concerned about how the forces bolstered by the coalition will leverage their influence and arms once the militants are vanquished. Numerous Iraqi groups that benefited from the training and arms have been accused of human rights violations. The Trump administration's decision to provide Syria's Kurds with more advanced weapons has raised concerns among the various players in Syria's complicated battlefield. U.S. officials have said new weapons to be supplied would include heavy machine guns, ammunition, mortars and possibly TOW anti-tank missiles. Coalition spokesman Col. John Dorrian said the weapons will not be reclaimed after the specific missions are completed but the U.S. will "carefully monitor" where and how they are used. "Every single one" of the weapons will be accounted for and the U.S. will "assure they are pointed at" IS, he said. But opposition fighters battling Syrian forces in the country's six-year civil war some of them backed by Turkey say there is simply no guarantee the weapons won't be directed against them or others. U.S.-backed Kurdish groups have often clashed with Turkey-backed groups in northern Syria, where many factions are jostling to hold various zones of influence. The coalition already has demonstrated an inability to track weapons in Iraq, a much less complex and unstable battlefield than Syria. Amnesty International released a report this month detailing a 2016 U.S. Defense Department audit stating that $1 billion in weapons provided to Iraqi forces for use in the IS fight are now unaccounted for. The coalition could have worked closer with the Iraqi government to ensure the weapons were accounted for, said Patrick Wilcken, a researcher with Amnesty and an author of the report. But in Syria, he said, it will be "almost impossible to avoid leakage and diversion of arms" provided by the coalition to fighters there. "The coalition takes all reasonable efforts to maintain accountability of equipment divested to the government of Iraq to fight" IS, coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon told The Associated Press. Since the 2016 audit referenced in the Amnesty report, he said, "all deficiencies identified in that report have been corrected." Iraqi commanders must sign for all equipment they receive and the coalition then continues to monitor them "for future vetting purposes" and on the battlefield, Dillon added. This month, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine detailed allegations of torture, rape and killings of IS suspects at the hands of Iraq's Emergency Response Division, an Interior Ministry unit that has played a leading role in the coalition-aided operation to retake Mosul. Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish forces and local policemen have all been accused of carrying out mass extrajudicial detentions of men and boys fleeing military operations against IS, according to reports by Human Rights Watch and the AP. Syrian Kurdish forces backed by the coalition have also been accused of abuses against Sunni Arabs, according to human rights organizations and Syrian opposition activists. Other armed groups notably Iraq's mostly Shiite paramilitary forces who do not receive direct U.S. assistance of any kind have been accused of much more widespread human rights abuses than the forces backed by the coalition. The U.S. human rights law known as the Leahy amendment prohibits the Defense Department from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights. In March 2015, the Iraqi Emergency Response Division was disqualified from receiving U.S. equipment and training, coalition spokesman Dillon said. But he said the law does not prevent the U.S. from working with the ERD to help ensure a coordinated effort among different elements of the Iraqi security forces. The coalition has shared intelligence with the unit and conducted airstrikes to facilitate their military operations. Iraq's Kurdish forces known as the peshmerga who have received some of the most extensive support from the coalition, including training, arms and air support have been accused of destroying Arab property and forcing Arab residents out of dozens of villages retaken from IS. The AP visited one village outside Kirkuk where Arab residents said Kurdish forces labeled their homes as "confiscated," seized identification documents and reduced buildings to rubble. Iraq's Kurdistan regional government denied the claims, saying IS fighters destroyed the houses as they retreated. In northern Syria, rebels are concerned that Syrian Kurdish forces will mirror the actions of the peshmerga and use the fight against IS to expand the land they control, ultimately creating a separate state by pushing out ethnic Arabs. Amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, the Kurds have already created an autonomous Kurdish zone in northern Syria. An Amnesty International fact-finding mission to northern Syria in 2015 uncovered forced displacement of Arab residents carried out by Kurdish forces that the group said amounted to war crimes. The report detailed the deliberate demolishing of civilian homes as well as razing and burning whole villages previously captured by IS. The Kurds have rejected the claims. Col. Abdul-Razzak Ahmad Freiji, a Syrian army defector who is now with Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria, said news of U.S. arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters exacerbates his concerns. After the fight with the Islamic State group is over, Freiji said, "these weapons (will be directed) against us." MASON CITY | More than 30 motorcyclists, many from North Iowa, left Mason City Wednesday to escort an American flag to Albert Lea, Minnesota. The trip is just one leg of a three-month, cross-country tour to raise funds for wounded veterans and their families. Kyle Easley, one of the local coordinators for the Patriot Tour, said this is the first time Mason City has been an official stop for the annual event. Last year, the tour agreed to make a brief stop in Mason City, so local bikers could join in without having to drive to Albert Lea. Easley and about 10 other North Iowa bikers were among the 30 or 40 people who accompanied the flag from Ames to Mason City on Tuesday. "It's humbling," Easley said. The Patriot Tour usually passes through North Iowa at the end of August or in early September, but this year the route was reversed. Easley said this meant the Mason City stop was right after Memorial Day weekend, when veterans who gave their lives for their country are honored. The 14,000-mile, 100-day Patriot Tour began Saturday in Wisconsin. Motorcycle tour benefiting wounded vets to roll through North Iowa MASON CITY | Motorcycles escorting an American flag will arrive in Mason City Tuesday as par The tour is presented by Nation of Patriots, a nonprofit organization whose sole mission is to enhance the lives of wounded veterans and their families. The flag travels on the back of a motorcycle and is transferred to a new flag bearer at each destination. The route ends in Wisconsin. Harold Schaer of Mason City was chosen as flag bearer for the leg from Mason City to Albert Lea. "It's an honor," he said. Schaer, who works at Harley-Davidson, said this is the first time he has participated in the Patriot Tour. He said the company is "very patriotic" and gave him the day off so he could go along this year. Betsy Hernandez of Mason City, who accompanied her husband, Bob Hernandez, from Mason City to Albert Lea, said shortly before the bikers left Wednesday that the jar at Harley-Davidson for $5 donations to Nation of Patriots was nearly full. Bob belongs to the In Country Vietnam Motorcycle Club for Vietnam veterans. As a spouse Betsy says she get to "go along for the ride." "He's known as 'Rocky,' and I'm known as 'Pebbles,'" she said. Betsy said she and Bob wanted to be part of the Patriot Tour because "not all (veterans) made it home." The ride is a way to honor their memory and raise money for veterans who are still living, she said. Betsy said she is pleased to see veterans being honored because of all they saw and had to go through. Celebrating Our Service Members Friday, November 11 is Veterans Day, when we honor and show gratitude to all members of our Armed Forces those currently serving, those who... Transit Equity Starts With QueensLink For decades Queens has seen a disinvestment in the necessary transit infrastructure the borough needs to promote equity and sustainability. Most of the time, transformative... G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now! The inaugural freight train left the port of Mombasa on the evening of May 30, arriving in Nairobi the following morning. The first passenger train was flagged off from the new Mombasa Terminus station on May 31. The passenger service has been dubbed Madaraka Express, and each train will seat up to 960 passengers with a Mombasa - Nairobi fare of Shillings 700 ($US 6.77) in standard class and Shillings 3000 in first. The line has been designed with an axleload of 25 tonnes and could move 22 million tonnes/year at a speed of 80-100km/h for freight trains and 120km/h for passenger trains. Freight trains will have a maximum capacity of 4000 tonnes, or 216 TEUs, and the line has been built to accommodate double-stack container trains. The line is forecast to carry around 22 million tonnes of freight per year from Mombasa, representing 40% of the ports throughput. Kenyatta said the line will reduce the cost of moving a container between Mombasa and Nairobi from $US 960 to $US 480. The Exim Bank of China provided 90% of the financing required for the $US 3.42bn railway, which was constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation. A full description of the project can be viewed here. MASON CITY | One person was taken to the hospital after being stabbed in the 300 block of West State Street Tuesday afternoon, Mason City police have confirmed. "Some kind of sharp instrument" was used in the stabbing, said Mason City Police Capt. Mike McKelvey. The stabbing occurred on the street near a two-story home. It was reported about 3:35 p.m. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Mason City Police Department, Iowa State Patrol and Mason City Fire Department were on the scene, located near the intersection of West State Street and North Madison Avenue. An evidence technician was taking photos at the scene and had paper bags to collect items. This is a developing story. Check back later for more details. Our earlier story: MASON CITY | A heavy police presence was reported on West State Street Tuesday afternoon. The Mason City Police Department, Iowa State Patrol and Mason City Fire Department were on the scene, located near the 300 block of West State Street, according to a Globe Gazette photographer. The photographer said a person at the scene was screaming, and that medical care was being administered to someone. Investigators were also questioning people at the scene. This is a developing story. Check back later for more details. Property details: Vacant Land in Twin Lakes, Lake County, Colorado! Item Id: Wilson01 Case Name: Wilson, Steven C Case Number: 17 10662 Trustee: Description: Estate's interest in 0.92 acres of vacant land in Twin Lakes, Colorado near Leadville. The property is located at 198 & 218 Mt Elbert Drive, Twin Lakes, CO 81251. The status of water, power, sewer and utilities is unknown. The APN# is 10363301. The legal description is 'Lots 115 & 116 Twin Lakes Addition 1-B Mt Elbert Plamor Ranch 548/335 Combined 10003633 &... Price: $ 6,350 Property Address: 198 and 218 Mt Elbert Drive Seller State of Residence: Colorado State/Province: Colorado Zip/Postal Code: 81251 City: Twin Lakes Location: 812**, Twin Lakes, Colorado You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Twin Lakes , We're sorry, this article is not currently available 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 Mariela Rivas, president and founder of the Ambassadors to Goodwill club at Granite Hills High School is seen helping donate sanitary packages to people at Helping Hands Kitchen with fellow club members Thursday. FMCG, durables, pharma firms say they remain unclear about transition gains and losses The goods and services tax (GST), the biggest tax reform since Independence, is likely to lead to much disruption in trade as transition fears grow in the run-up to its introduction on July 1. Retail and wholesale trade Business Standard spoke to (across fast-moving consumer goods, durables and pharmaceuticals) admit they remain unclear about transition gains and losses, prompting them to scale back on inventory requirements by 50-70 per cent from current levels. I am speaking to manufacturers on a daily basis to understand what is the tax I land up paying and what is the reimbursement or input credit I get against it, said Nilesh Gupta, managing director, Vijay Sales, a Mumbai-based electronics chain that has operations in the west and north of India. If clarity doesn't come I will be forced to cut down on inventory requirements for some time at least, he added. Dealers and retailers of consumer goods and pharma stock inventory for 30-45 days so that there is no disruption in sales. A thinning down of the inventory pipeline will mean that dealers will carry stock for 10-15 days only, which is a situation most companies would like to avoid. This is likely to kick in by the second or third week of June if the matter is not cleared quickly, people in the know told Business Standard. We may see some inventory correction happening in the latter half of June. Instead of lifting stocks for 40-45 days, we may see them taking stock for 10-15 days, said Ameesh Masurekar, director of AIOCD-AWACS, the market research wing of the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists. The government last week had indicated to companies that trade across categories will get a 40 per cent reimbursement only against tax paid. Most wholesalers and stockists as well as consumer durables dealers say this will only push them to keep their inventory pipeline thin till the matter is resolved. The GST Council is set to meet next week to determine not only rates for categories such as gold, jewellery and textiles but also iron out issues pertaining to trade, highly placed sources said. The discussion point, they say, was added after FMCG companies petitioned the government to reconsider reimbursing trade to the extent of 40 per cent of the tax paid only. There is a significant proportion of FMCG products that comes out of excise-free zones. So, they may not have an excise bill to show for those goods, impacting the reimbursement process down the chain, said Sumit Malhotra, managing director, Bajaj Corp, the maker of brands such as Bajaj Almond Drops Hair Oil. CM Singh, chief operating officer (COO), Videocon Industries, said, We are extending the excise paid bills now and telling trade partners that we will compensate for any difference in unsold inventory when the GST kicks in. Business needs to go on as market activities cannot be halted at any cost. Manish Kumar Gupta, chief financial officer (CFO), Panasonic India, said he saw some impact in sales in July-August due to GST destocking, though it would recover during the festive season. Dabur's CFO Lalit Malik said the company would be providing incentives and schemes to compensate trade. We will also manage production in line with the demand scenario by optimising our supply chain pipeline, he said. Drug makers, including Abbott and Cipla, have agreed to absorb losses which may be incurred by stockists on closing inventory on June 30. This, they say, is in response to nervousness among trade about the negative impact on trade margins due to GST. Auto dealers, on the other hand, say companies have assured them of full support during the GST transitory process. We are working out the impact. In some cases, prices are going up, and in some, they are going down. Inventory is a tricky situation currently. If price is going up, there is no issue. If it is going down, we will have to work out a mechanism. At this moment, we are asking dealers to focus on sales, Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (sales & marketing), Honda Cars India, said. Broader market outperformed the frontline indices with the Smallcap and Midcap gaining up to 1% The benchmark indices snapped four-session long gaining streak to end lower on Wednesday after hitting record highs in intraday trade ahead of the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the March quarter due later in the day. The GDP growth is expected to come in at 7.1% for the January-March quarter, according to economists polled by Reuters. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 31,145, down 13 points, while the broader Nifty50 closed at 9,621, down 3 points. In intraday trade, the 30-share Sensex rose 96 points to touch its fresh high of 31,255, while the 50-share Nifty added 25 points to hit its record high of 9,649. Broader market outperformed the frontline indices with the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices rising up to 1%. The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,384 shares rose and 1,284 shares declined. A total of 181 shares were unchanged. "Profit booking at record high pulled the market to end flat. DIIs continued their buying spree with positive sentiment on good monsoon while FIIs gradually started to sell with a caution on valuation. Investors will now closely watch Q4FY17 GDP data today for future cues," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. Buzzing stocks Automobiles companies were in focus with the S&P BSE Auto (24,293) and Nifty Auto index (10,919) hitting their respective record highs in intra-day trade. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Bharat Forge, Exide Industries and Maruti Suzuki from the auto index were up in the range of 1% to 4%. Mahindra and Mahindra gained as much as 6.4% in intraday trade after the company reported nearly 20% rise in March-quarter profit, beating analysts' estimates. Aviation stocks surged amid decline in global crude oil prices. InterGlobe Aviation (up 4%), SpiceJet (up 4.3%) and Jet Airways (up 4.3%) advanced. Lower crude oil prices benefit aviation firms as jet fuel prices, which typically constitute about 50% of airlines' operating costs, are directly linked to international crude oil prices. United Spirits rose to its highest since March 15 after posting gains in March-quarter margins and revenue. The stock settled at Rs 2,258, up 8%. Reliance Communications recovered to end 2% higher after plunging as much as 9.5% to its lowest ever after Moody's downgraded it deeper into "junk" territory and kept its ratings under review for further downgrade as the company struggles with a heavy debt burden. Global markets World stocks are poised to end May up nearly 2%, marking the seventh straight monthly increase and the longest monthly winning streak in over a decade. MSCI's global equity index held steady, while European stocks edged down 0.1% in early trade following Wall Street's dip on Tuesday. Germany's DAX was flat and sterling's weakness helped lift Britain's FTSE 100 by 0.2%. Asian shares drew some support from data that showed activity in China's manufacturing sector grew at the same pace in May as in April, although a sturdy performance from the Japanese yen helped push the Nikkei into the red. US futures pointed to a rise of 0.1% on Wall Street. Photograph: PTI Photo The proposed bullion bank can help settle gold loan accounts in gold terms, and promote existing gold schemes, along with launching schemes including gold-recurring deposits. The government is working on a gold policy that will aim at building a higher level of transparency, increase value addition, and protect customers while ensuring the growth of this job-creating sector. The government, in principle, has decided to set up a gold spot exchange, improve measures for compliance by the jewellery industry, increase value addition in the gold business, implement mandatory hallmarking for jewellery, set up a bullion bank, and prepare good delivery norms and gold standards, among many things it seeks to do. The NITI Aayog had also proposed a tax on the bullion industry at 12 per cent, five per cent goods and services tax (GST) and seven per cent Customs duty. However, the GST rate is an issue that is GST Council is grappling with but reducing the Customs duty cannot happen soon, according to sources. The government has formed an informal group of bureaucrats and discussions are being held with industry stakeholders on this. The proposed bullion bank can help settle gold loan accounts in gold terms, and promote existing gold schemes, along with launching schemes including gold-recurring deposits. Surendra Mehta, secretary, Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA), said: The bullion bank is necessary because it will reduce imports as gold loans can be settled in gold terms instead of rupee terms at present. Various gold-linked schemes can also be launched. For making the trading mechanism transparent, the World Gold Council has undertaken a feasibility study on spot exchanges for gold. P R Somasundaram, managing director of the World Gold Council (India), said: We are working with all stakeholders, studying global models and looking at what should be the spot exchange model that will be feasible in India. This will take some time. Details about the spot exchange will be known only after the report is submitted. but, it is said that even the proposals of the IBJA-Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to set up the spot exchange will be studied by the WGC as part of the feasibility report. Sources do not rule out India developing its own model for a gold spot exchange. A spot exchange will also have to discuss the issue of transparent trading in recycled gold. Meanwhile, the BSE is working on setting up a spot gold exchange in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City. The Bureau of Indian Standards had issued draft rules on hallmarking jewellery after getting the powers to make it mandatory. Now, comments invited from the public are being considered. As part of the gold policy, this will be an important step to protect consumer interests but implementation is likely to be in phases and a beginning will be made in 10 big cities with high gold jewellery sales. The proposed gold policy will cover the whole value chain of the gold business and eco-system, said an official. Photograph: Kham/Reuters Against estimates of black wealth of Rs 300 lakh crore and black money in cash of Rs 3 lakh crore by economist Arun Kumar, the PMGKY numbers fall short by a huge margin. On a November evening last year, bang in the middle of his five-year term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation, announcing that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would be taken out of circulation. In his speech on November 8, Modi said, To break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the five hundred rupee and thousand rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight. In subsequent public speeches in those initial heady days after the note ban announcement there were suggestions and expectations that the move could bring enough black money into government coffers to fulfill Modis election promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every Indian. But ingenious minds had other ideas and some people turned to Modis own schemes like Jan Dhan to sidestep the note ban. Six months from that big decision, the government and the central bank are yet to disclose the amount of banned notes that were deposited in the banks. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), an income-disclosure scheme, which opened on December 17, 2016, provided the last chance to holders of undisclosed income to come clean by paying tax and penalty. The scheme entailed a payment of 49.9 per cent tax, surcharge and penalty, and a mandatory deposit of 25 per cent of the black money in a interest-free account for four years. The scheme, which was expected to lead to disclosures in the lakh of crores of rupees, ended up seeing declarations of just Rs 4,600 crore till the deadline of March 31. The scheme was later extended to May 10. Against estimates of black wealth of Rs 300 lakh crore and black money in cash of Rs 3 lakh crore by economist Arun Kumar, the PMGKY numbers fall short by a huge margin. However, the note ban has had its benefits. There has been a 15 per cent jump in advance tax and a 24 per cent rise in self-assessment tax collections for 2016-17, the highest growth rate in at least five years, suggesting many people regularised their unaccounted income by recording it in the books. Another statistic that helps bolster the argument is the remarkable rise in the number of assesses. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the note ban had helped the authorities bring 9.1 million people into the tax net. This is roughly one-fourth of 37 million individuals who filed tax returns in 2015-16. Numbers such as these and the intent displayed by the government are inspiring confidence among experts about the rooting out of black money. Riaz Thingna, director, Grant Thornton Advisory said, Amongst the various steps taken by the government since coming into power, demonetisation has been the biggest of the big-bang reforms. Corruption and black money were two crucial planks of Modis election campaign that led to the Bharatiya Janata Partys victory in the 2014 general elections. It came as no surprise when the governments first Cabinet decision was to set up a special investigative team (SIT) to unearth black money, headed by retired Supreme Court judge MB Shah. Since then, the SIT has made several recommendations to the government. Besides PMGKY, the government has come out with two other schemes aimed to bring in undisclosed money. The Black Money Act, to bring in undisclosed foreign income and assets in 2015, saw declarations of Rs 4,164 crore (Rs 41.64 billion), while another Rs 55,000 crore (Rs 550 billion) were declared under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, where the tax and penalty worked out to 45 per cent. Several other steps taken over the three years, such as the passing of the benami transaction law, reforms in political donations, crackdown on shell companies and the limitations on cash transactions might help push generators of black money into a corner in the long run, feel experts. Amarpal Chadha, tax partner and India mobility leader, EY said, Participating proactively in efforts to combat domestic tax evasion/black money by the demonetisation exercise and subsequent disclosure opportunities is passing on a strong message. Chadha also refers to the initiation of Operation Clean Money, the initial phase of which involves e-verification of large cash deposits, for which data analytics is being used. All these steps form the basis for creating a positive tax environment and increase the confidence of tax-compliant citizens. In the second phase of Operation Clean Money, the income tax department has zeroed in on 60,000 persons who deposited excessive cash after the note ban, with 1,300 being high-risk. These include those dealing in high-value properties and those sending money abroad. Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Sushil Chandra had told Business Standard in an earlier interaction: Under the second phase, we have outlined three options to identify tax evaders. First, we will conduct a deeper scrutiny of the individuals identified. Second, we may launch an open enquiry if we receive more information, apart from the data compiled. Third, in case of strong evidence, we will undertake enforcement action and book the individuals on the spot. While central agencies are leaving no stone unturned to bring back willful loan defaulters, some of whom have fled the country after siphoning funds, other usual suspects have been searched. On bringing back billions of dollars of black money suspected to be stashed abroad, the government is also engaging with other countries for exchange of information under double taxation avoidance and tax information exchange agreements. The next steps which the government will take, using the information on non-compliance gathered through various measures, will help increase the number of taxpayers in India, added Chadha. With both laws and intention in place, the government has two more years to work on bringing black money hoarders to book. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters Why did GMs iconic all American brand mess up its chances in one of the fastest growing automobile markets? Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com. After nearly two decades of battling recalls, low margins and global financial crises, GM finally packed up its show in India. It will no longer sell cars in the country, but continue to use it as an export hub. With that the Chevrolet, GMs face in the country and one of the most awarded and recognised brands in the auto universe, will take its wheels off the road. The company explained its decision saying that GM is committed to deploying its capital to higher return initiatives. We explored many options, but determined the increased investment originally planned for India would not deliver the returns of other significant global opportunities, a company statement quoted Stefan Jacoby, president of GM International, as saying. Analysts believe that the company may have been caught short because of rigid adherence to a global marketing template and poor product mix. GM's India strategy has been under pressure for years. Sales have been on a steady decline after peaking in 2011 (when it had sold more than 1.1 million units) and market share has shrunk to less than one per cent in the country's three million passenger vehicle market. It sold a tad more than 25,000 units in 2016-17. Where did GM lose its way? Some point to the Tavera recall (one of its most popular models) in 2013-14 when the company was found to have fallen short of the countrys emission norms. Others say that the company never took to the Indian way, sticking to a global strategy without adapting to local tastes and flavours. One big mistake has been the product mix, says Anil Sharma, principal analyst, IHS Automotive. The company's failure has less to do with brand visibility and more to do with product line-up. Not focusing enough on the hatchback segment when the average customer it was targeting was the quintessential Maruti and Hyundai buyer looking for a hatch, was not a good strategy. The Beat was the last hatchback that GM brought into the country; it was soon set aside for a line of sedans that never hit the sweet spot. Another reason, analysts point out, is that the company failed to follow the a car for every purse and purpose strategy propounded by one of its most successful and well-regarded CEOs, Alfred Sloan. Sloan's strategy, as he had outlined in the 1924 annual report, carved the US vehicle market into segments by price. Each GM brand was aligned with a segment. The Chevy was at the low end of the market and Cadillac at the high end. For India, GM did not get this right. Other international auto majors have hedged their bets, ensuring a better mix of brands and greater visibility on the street but GM stuck with a small line-up. Interestingly, GM India does not fare as badly when its sales are compared with Fiat, Skoda, and even Nissan. GM has been selling more. Analysts point out that the other brands can take a financial hit as they are able to spread this over a larger product line-up or in separate businesses. Skoda is part of the Volkswagen Group and Nissan is with Renault, which has hit the highs with Kwid hatch. Fiat's off-the-shelf engines, for example, are a big hit among auto companies, Maruti and Tata among others. GM, analysts say, preferred to focus on profitable markets such as China, North America. In India, the company's accumulated losses are estimated to be around Rs 8,000 crore. Market insiders say the company relied too heavily on discounts (push strategy) as opposed to investing in building a brand in the country (pull strategy). India is primarily a small car market and Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai are market leaders in this segment currently. Both have managed to straddle the hatchback-sedan markets and played the price-discount game without diluting the identities of their brands. Discounts are a popular way to push showroom sales, but it must be done so that the core brands image is not impacted. It is important to separate the image from the discount and at times calibrate the price-value proposition in such a way that it appeals to customers looking for affordability and exclusivity. GM has been steadfast in its refusal to discuss these issues, but moving out of India is part of a larger global strategy. The company exited Russia in 2015, and has either sold or closed 13 plants across the globe in the past few years. From middle-class, it is middle-income India that marketers are chasing for volumes. The 166 million households in this category is their new focus. IMAGE: Middle-Income India is what you get if you leave aside the top 20 per cent and bottom 20 per cent of consumers by average household income in the country. Photograph: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters. After a disastrous serving of the 'Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola' Rs 5, 200 ml bottle strategy a decade ago, Coca-Cola India is backing small serves again: 180 ml cans and 300 ml PET bottles. Arch-rival Pepsi too has introduced 150 ml cans to create new consumption opportunities for consumers on the go. From chocolate-maker Mondelez to French cosmetics giant LOreal, small is back again with a bang. And not just as a stepping stone to bigger packs, which many a marketer thought the consumer will ultimately upgrade to given rising incomes and a culture of consumption taking root. Here is why. IMAGE: What is M-I India?! It is a mass of 166 million households, with a respectable 48 per cent share of national consumer income and 55 per cent share in consumption expenditure (for routine items), which is not to be taken lightly. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters. A study, Household Survey on Indias Citizen Environment & Consumer Economy, by independent think tank People Research on Indias Consumer Economy or PRICE reveals some interesting insights. With a big sample of around 61,000 households, the survey presents an engaging picture of Consumer India in a manner that makes it easier to understand why marketers of every hue are back at chasing the mass market. The Middle-Income India, as PRICEs co-founder Rajesh Shukla likes to call it, is where most of the action will happen, given that the low-hanging fruits of middle-class India that makes up the top income quintile in the country are almost over and the poor, the bottom quintile, is still to embark on any meaningful consumption journey. The top quintile, accounting for 45 per cent of income and 36 per cent of consumption expenditure, has already been tapped and their appetite and preferences for a host of products and services has either been somewhat satiated or they have graduated, and in cases even completely moved to alternative and premium products. To sustain their mass-market brands marketers are now delving deep into the next big consumer segment, the Middle-Income India. IMAGE: With almost half the share of total national disposable income, at over 48 per cent, no wonder Middle-Income India is increasingly getting attention from even supposedly premium and discretionary goods marketers like LOreal and the cola majors. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters. Middle-Income India is what you get if you leave aside the top 20 per cent and bottom 20 per cent of consumers by average household income in the country. A mass of 166 million households, with a respectable 48 per cent share of national consumer income and 55 per cent share in consumption expenditure (for routine items) is not to be taken lightly. Middle-Income Indias average annual household income varies from a low of Rs 2.20 lakh (49 million households) to a high of Rs 3.59 lakh (61 million households). Another 56 million households here earn on an average Rs 2.68 lakh per annum. Compared to the top 20 per cent, in terms of absolute terms, Middle-Income Indians are a 50 per cent bigger consumer market, with absolute consumption expenditure of around Rs 3.56 lakh crores compared to Rs 2.39 lakh crores for the top income quintile. However, with an average household size varying from a high of 5.43 people for households earning Rs 2.68 lakhs per annum to 4.36 people for households in the Rs 3.59 lakhs per annum income bracket, compared to 3.75 for the top quintile consumers, aspiration runs ahead of affordability for this segment. Thanks to satellite television reach to the remotest part of the country, the middle-income consumer is aware of brands, but often lacks the ability to consume it in the manner offered by the marketers. IMAGE: Middle-Income Indias average annual household income varies from a low of Rs 2.20 lakh (49 million households) to a high of Rs 3.59 lakh (61 million households). Another 56 million households here earn on an average Rs 2.68 lakh per annum. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. With almost half the share of total national disposable income, at over 48 per cent, no wonder Middle-Income India is increasingly getting attention from even supposedly premium and discretionary goods marketers like LOreal and the cola majors. Instead of moving from the sachet of (Unilever shampoo) Clinic Plus to the bottle of Clinic Plus, they would go from the sachet of Clinic Plus to the sachet of LOreal Paris, Jean-Christophe Letellier, LOreals India head, told The Wall Street Journal in 2016. And while sugary and carbonated drinks may have become passe for a section of Indian consumers who have moved on to healthier options in juices, milk-based beverages and such like, making its brands available at lower prices and convenient single-serve packs is a way to spur consumption with the Middle-Income Indians for whom bottled soft drinks may still be aspirational. This time the cola giants are chasing profitable growth, unlike the unsustainable volume chase of the early 2000s that bled both Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and put paid to their strategy of expanding their reach. The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from India's usual policy of going along with the crowd, observes Ajai Shukla. IMAGE: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Belt and Road Forum meeting on Yanqi Lake just outside Beijing, China, on May 13, 2017. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters Chinese President Xi Jinping was a satisfied leader as he beamed at officials from over 70 countries, including 28 heads of state, gathered in Beijing for the coming-out party of his signature project, formerly called One Belt, One Road and now dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative. The belt in this awkward label is the Silk Road Economic Belt: a network of road, rail and telecommunications links and energy pipelines that are planned to seamlessly connect China, through Central Asia, with Europe. It also includes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, running from Chinas north-western Xinjiang province to Pakistans Gwadar port, on the Arabian Sea. Meanwhile, the road, in Belt and Road, refers to a sea route connecting southern China with east Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. With an estimated investment of $900 billion going over several years into BRI infrastructure, The Guardian cites a McKinsey report to conclude: The plan has the potential to massively overshadow the USs post-war Marshall reconstruction plan, involving about 65 per cent of the worlds population, one-third of its GDP and helping to move about a quarter of all its goods and services. Some describe Xis scheme as the biggest development push in history. That is why it was a Great Power moment for China last weekend as friends, allies and even adversaries like the United States, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam sent senior representatives to Beijing. India boycotted the forum to protest Chinas routing of the CPEC, without adequate consultation with India, through Gilgit-Baltistan which India claims but Pakistan occupies. In an unusual frontal assault, New Delhi assailed BRI as a giant Ponzi scheme that would -- like Chinas disastrous development of Hambantota in Sri Lanka -- leave infrastructural white elephants and indebtedness in its wake. In the foreign ministrys words: Connectivity initiatives must follow principles of financial responsibility to avoid projects that would create unsustainable debt burden for communities; balanced ecological and environmental protection and preservation standards; transparent assessment of project costs; and skill and technology transfer to help long term running and maintenance of the assets created by local communities. Opinion is divided on whether India is making a foreign policy blunder, and is now the bad fairy left out of the party. Global Times, a shrill English-language newspaper controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, gloated: When the participants have no problem, why does the onlooker? What is the Belt and Road? (Click on the map for a high-resolution image) Close China describes BRI as a win-win economic strategy that will galvanise global trade, just like the series of Silk Roads that made China an economic powerhouse until the industrial revolution, which backed by western naval power, muscled China and India out of their pre-eminence in global trade. According to Xi, trade between China and BRI countries has exceeded $3 trillion over 2014-16. Chinese companies have established 56 economic cooperation zones in more than 20 countries, creating 180,000 jobs and over a billion dollars in tax revenues. Chinese investment in those countries has surpassed $50 billion, and will be scaled up sharply as projects are implemented. The CPEC alone will require an estimated $56 billion of investment. To do so, Chinese companies are working on railway lines that connect Jakarta-Bandung, China-Laos, Addis Ababa-Djibouti and Hungary-Serbia. China has upgraded the Piraeus port in Greece and the Gwadar port in Pakistan. Beijing rarely mentions that the network of roads and railway lines that undergird BRI would generate badly needed work for Chinese infrastructure companies that have built the new China, but are now running out of projects. Chinese banks will provide loans to countries to pay for this infrastructure building, but those loans would require servicing and repayment, potentially creating the debt trap that India has warned about. Beijing allays these fears, pointing out that enhanced trade flows would provide the income needed to service the loans, while also creating employment for millions along the trade highways. Yet, this is not what transpired in Sri Lanka, where the Hambantota infrastructure development project generated far less income than had been anticipated, while piling up crushing debt for Colombo. Currently, the Sri Lankan government is dealing with the political fallout of restructuring unmanageable debt into equity holding for Chinese firms, which locals object to as a violation of sovereignty. However, countries like the Central Asian Republics that are already benefiting from Chinese-built infrastructure, including roads, railway lines and power generation, strongly back BRI. With little domestic industry to protect, they welcome cheap Chinese manufactured goods, and are happily providing new homes for Chinese steel and cement factories that Beijing is shifting out of the saturated Chinese market. Meanwhile, vast tracts of empty Central Asia steppe has been leased to Chinese farming companies, which supply agricultural produce back to farmland-stressed China and, after adding value in Chinese agri-business factories, re-exporting it to the countries where it was grown. Besides providing China with employment, income and markets, this additionally provides Beijing with geopolitical clout. With a bumbling Donald Trump looking to make America great again by withdrawing from a leadership role in Chinas vicinity, Beijing has a god-sent opportunity to posture as a responsible leader and driver of global trade for the benefit of all. So Beijing also paints BRI as a boost to regional development strategies. Is India missing out? Interestingly, there are more critics inside India of New Delhis scorning of BRI than there are abroad. Mani Shankar Aiyar, in a scathing op-ed for NDTV, suggested that India was isolated since 28 heads of state/government and 130 national delegations attended the forum in Beijing. These included neighbours of India, except Bhutan. Even Washington sent a Trump top aide. The reality, of course, is that sending a delegate to Beijing does not necessarily mean support to BRI. Washington certainly does not support it; nor does the Group of Seven, of which only Italy fielded a head of government. Many countries in Chinas geographical vicinity sent delegates despite serious concerns about what BRI might mean for them. They attended, nevertheless, so as not to attract the Dragons ire. In the circumstances, Indias very public boycott could be interpreted as an unusual display of spine. By going along with the crowd, India has seriously damaged its own interests in the past. After the Peoples Liberation Army invaded Tibet in October 1950, Indias reluctance to criticise China in the United Nations led to practically the entire international community following suit, thus permitting Beijing to annex Tibet -- for which we paid the price in 1962 and continue to do so today. Prem Shankar Jha argues that India is unjustified in citing sovereignty violation by routing the CPEC through Gilgit-Baltistan, since China and Pakistan had been using the Karakoram Highway, which has the same alignment, since the 1960s, a period in which India-China trade increased twenty-fold. Others have argued that India should support CPEC as it could itself benefit from branch corridors to India. That argument overlooks the fact that far greater benefits and trade volumes could flow between China and India through direct corridors -- such as a China-Nepal-India corridor linking Lhasa with Kolkata, via Kathmandu; another one linking them via Sikkim; and a third via Lohit and Guwahati. It is political differences, especially Chinas hardening stance on the border dispute and its insistence that India cede Tawang to China, that stands in the way of Indias support to corridors with China. None of these arguments recognise that Indias hard stance against CPEC also stems from New Delhis anger at China making common cause with Pakistan in blocking Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the blocking in the UN of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar Masoods designation as a terrorist entity. Current Sino-India dynamics are also shaped by Chinas overblown reaction to the Dalai Lamas visit to Tawang (accompanied by a Union minister), and his reception by President Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential palace in New Delhi. Given the fraught nature of the overall relationship India could hardly be expected to ignore Beijings blithe disregard for Indias sovereignty concerns. 'By equating slaughter with cruelty, you are paving the way for all other animal slaughter to be stopped in the future.' IMAGE: The government's new rules will choke the cattle market and render thousands of people jobless. Photograph: Allison Joyce/Getty Images The Modi government's newly framed rules banning the sale of cattle for slaughter has kicked up a storm, with several states, such as West Bengal and Kerala, coming together to protest the Centre's move. On May 26, the government issued an 'extraordinary' notification, drafted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, banning the sale at cattle markets of bulls, cows, bullocks, buffalos, steers, heifers, calves and camels for slaughter. It stipulates that cattle can be sold only to farmers and only for agricultural purposes. Since then protests have been held in several parts of the country against a move that many fear could see the decimation of an industry that is worth about Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1 trillion), and render thousands of people jobless overnight. On Tuesday, May 30, the Madras high court stayed the implementation of the rules for four weeks. Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf spoke to Dr Sagari R Ramdas, a trained veterinarian who works with the Food Sovereignty Alliance, India, about the effects of the new rules. How do you view the new rules passed by the Centre on sale of cattle? In the law drafted by the Centre, they have said that any marketing (selling) of animals, which is intended for slaughter, will be restricted. The point being that when any farmer comes to sell his cattle in the market, he is only interested in the transaction; the farmer is not interested in who is buying the animal. That buyer may be another farmer or some trader who buys the animal and sells it to a slaughter house. He (the farmer) is only interested in selling his animal. Once you put an underwriting and impose restrictions, then what you are essentially doing is that you are preventing the farmer (from) the right to exercise his choice of whom to sell his cattle to. When the law says you cannot sell an animal for slaughter, there is a huge assumption that every other buyer is a farmer, which is a false kind of understanding of the livestock economy. If it is a productive animal, another farmer will buy it and if it is an unproductive animal, another farmer will not buy it. By bringing in these rules, you are completely halting the flow stream of the animal line of marketing because you are saying slaughter is equal to cruelty. This rule will choke the (cattle market). Beef is banned in 17 or 18 states and it was already very difficult for a farmer to sell his unproductive cow or bull in the market. So, what is wrong if this rule is applied all over India? It is wrong because you are equating slaughter with cruelty. With this logic, you are paving the way for future legislation saying all slaughter is cruel. Beef is banned in 17, 18 states and that is why smuggling takes place. In states where beef is banned, poor farmers are desperate to sell their animals. At present, the situation is that there are traders who move these animals to other states where slaughter is legal. There are several states where transportation of animals is not illegal. For example, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, Karnataka there is no ban on transportation and slaughter of bullocks and buffaloes. Also, there is no ban on the slaughter of buffaloes anywhere in the country. Now they have included buffaloes too in these new rules. So you are choking the buffalo trade too. And by equating slaughter with cruelty, you are paving the way for all other animal slaughter to be stopped in the future. When you say it is an act of cruelty, the next thing they will do is bring in all other animals. Why do you presume this law will be extended to other animals too? Is cruelty only against cows and buffaloes? Look at the logic in it. Any animal that is being slaughtered is an act of cruelty, they say. But this act has been brought to stop the smuggling of cows and bulls to other states. Don't you think that will stop? The question over here is: Are we interested in farmers? Whose interests are we serving? But the point is cruelty to animals. If you legalise the trade and transportation of animals, then you will not have unsafe and cruel ways of animal transport. The reason why smuggling takes place is because those who want to sell their cattle don't have a market to sell it in, as there are no buyers. If you see the maximum number of stray cattle, it is where there is a complete ban on slaughter -- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab have the maximum numbers of stray animals. Farmers leave their animals on roads after they are of no use to them. They leave them to fend for themselves. On the contrary, you will never see stray cattle in states where slaughter is legal. So what is more cruel? Don't you think the illegal trade of cows and bulls will stop after these new rules? This is a bizarre concept to stop the smuggling of cows and bullocks. You bring in the concept of smuggling when you make something illegal. Visit a state like Rajasthan and you will find farmers happily selling their unproductive buffaloes. They have no problems with buffaloes, but have a problem with cows and bullocks when they are unproductive, and therefore the smuggling happens (as its slaughter is banned). IMAGE: Many who oppose the new notification say it will be more harmful for animals, as farmers who can't afford unproductive animals will abandon them on the streets. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images When this rule discourages the trade of animal for slaughter, then what happens to unproductive animals? Exactly, that is the question I am raising. You don't want animals to get slaughtered and farmers don't want to keep their unproductive animals, then the only thing that will happen is that these animals will roam the streets and die of starvation. Isn't that being cruel? How can we presume that farmers must be responsible to take care of unproductive animal until that animal dies? Farmers need a market for an unproductive animal. The entire bovine economy is inter-linked -- beef, dairy, leather, manure and sale of animals. 'You don't want animals to be slaughtered and farmers don't want to keep their unproductive animals; the only thing that will happen is that these animals will roam the streets and die of starvation.' For the last two years these industries have not suffered. The leather industry has not shut down and the production of milk has not fallen. Milk production has not fallen because this act has just been introduced. Look at Maharashtra when they introduced a ban on bullocks. All studies show that there is a complete collapse in the sales of bullocks and the value of the cow has gone down. A pair of bullocks which was sold at Rs 60,000 before the ban is now being sold at Rs 30,000. Today, no one wants to buy bullocks. Now we are importing (animal) skin and hide from China for the leather industry. Because of the choking of slaughter houses, the leather industry in Dharavi (Mumbai) has been completely destroyed. You investigate that to find out. Will these new rules affect the price of milk? Once these rules come into operation, only then will milk prices get affected. There will be no point in the cow and buffalo business. The traders will not be in this business. Then who will buy these unproductive buffaloes from farmers? So will we see abandoned buffaloes also roaming the streets, just like we see cows and bulls? For all you know, that may soon happen. Do you think this is an attack on the non-vegetarian way of life? The government is in denial that India is a beef-consuming country. There are a lot of people who eat beef. In my state -- Telangana -- 97 per cent of us are meat eaters; in Andhra Pradesh, there are 94 per cent meat eaters, in West Bengal, there are 93 per cent meat eaters. So when a majority of people in this country are meat eaters, you are bringing in these rules, then who are you targeting? They are targeting the notion of what India is. By doing that you are targeting the people's cultural preference to food and the livelihood of farmers. We have jobless growth and now the government wants to destroy livelihood by this act. There are farmers and workers in the leather industry who will get affected. As citizens of India, we cannot be like an ostrich which buries its head in the sand. Last updated on: May 31, 2017 09:26 IST The Philippines army battles terrorists backed by Islamic State in the first major military encounter with Islamists in that part of the world. IMAGE: A Filipino soldier aboard an armoured fighting vehicle as soldiers advance in Marawi city. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters Last week, terrorists linked to Islamic State group torched buildings, seized more than a dozen Catholic hostages and raised IS flags in the mostly Muslim-populated city of Marawi on Mindanao in the Philippines. Attack helicopters pounded Islamist strongholds, where up to 2,000 residents were feared trapped. More than 100 people were confirmed killed in the conflict, and President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao, home to roughly 20 million people. Duterte -- a native of Mindanao himself -- warned that local terrorist groups were uniting behind IS and becoming a major security threat to the Philippines. IMAGE: Troops during an assault on the terrorists who have taken over large parts of Marawi. Photograph: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters As details of the attack in Marawi emerged, fears mounted that the largest Roman Catholic nation in Asia could be falling into a growing list of countries grappling with the spread of influence from Islamic State. In a video apparently taken by the terrorists and posted on social media, a Catholic priest who was taken hostage says he is being held alongside 200 other captives, including children. Father Teresito Suganob said his captors wanted the military to withdraw its forces from Marawi where the terrorists still hold pockets of territory after a week of fighting the Filipino army. IMAGE: Filipino soldiers on their way to war. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters The terrorists have withstood eight days of intense air assaults and street-to-street combat. Military helicopters fired rockets repeatedly and black smoke rose from buildings that were hit. Thousands of people have fled Marawi since the battle began. IMAGE: Smoke billows at the site of fighting near a mosque. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters The battle began after dozens of gunmen went on a rampage in response to an attempt by security forces to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as a local leader of IS. IMAGE: The military operation went wrong when the terrorists called in reinforcements and swept through Marawi. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters Hapilon, a senior member of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom gang, is on the United States' list of most wanted terrorists. He was being protected in Marawi by the local Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to IS. The Filipino terrorists were being backed by foreign insurgents including Malaysians, Indonesians and Singaporeans, the authorities in Manila said. Maute, Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups are uninterested in negotiations and have in recent years looked to IS to help them. IMAGE: Residents of Marawi flee as the fighting rages. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters The Marawi violence is intended to highlight their terror credentials to IS, security analysts say. Duterte -- who says he personally executed drug dealers when he was a mayor in Mindanao -- said he is prepared to enforce martial law for as long as is necessary to quell the terrorist threat. His predecessors like former president Fidel Ramos fear Duterte will use the situation in Marawi to impose martial law throughout the Philippines as Ferdinand Marcos, the disgraced dictator, once did. IMAGE: A soldier runs for cover during an assault. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters Of the 400 to 500 marauding fighters who over-ran Marawi last week, a Philippines intelligence source said as many as 40 had recently come from overseas, including from countries in West Asia. They included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport. IMAGE: An attack helicopter fires a rocket. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters Although Islamic State and groups affiliated to it have claimed several attacks across Southeast Asia in the last two years, the battle in Marawi is the first long drawn-out confrontation with security forces. 'IS is shrinking in Iraq and Syria, and decentralising in parts of Asia and the Middle East,' Reuters quoted Rohan Gunaratna, a security expert at Singapore's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, as saying. 'One of the areas where it is expanding is Southeast Asia and the Philippines is the centre of gravity,' Gunaratna said. An inquiry has been ordered after R Sooraj, associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was assaulted by some students who claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters. The beef controversy took an ugly turn, with a PhD scholar of IIT Madras being beaten up allegedly by some students protesting against the beef fest held in the campus on Sunday. The IIT authorities said an inquiry will be conducted by the institute and appropriate action will be taken based on its outcome. R Sooraj, who is associated with the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, was allegedly assaulted by some students who claimed to be Sangh Parivar supporters, according to the victims associates. A student alleged that a group of students who owe allegiance to the right wing ideology surrounded Sooraj when he was having lunch in the mess and beat him up on Tuesday afternoon. He was taken to the IIT-M dispensary and later to an eye hospital for his eye injury. A picture, purportedly that of Sooraj being wheeled into a hospital with a visible injury on his right eye, is doing the rounds in the social media as well. The student also alleged that on the night of May 28 and the next day, two students -- one after the other -- who had taken part in the beef fest, were threatened by right wing elements and a complaint was made to the authorities. A senior police official said a formal complaint was yet to be received but an inquiry was being held into the matter. We will register a case on receipt of a complaint, the official said. A spokesperson for IIT Madras said, There was an altercation between two students and both of them sustained injuries. Immediately appropriate medical attention was given. The spokesperson added, An inquiry will be held by the institute and appropriate action will be taken based on its outcome. On Sunday, some students held a beef fest in the campus to protest the Centres ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets. Meanwhile, pro-Left student bodies staged a protest outside IIT Madras, condemning the attack. Expressing solidarity with Sooraj, the slogan-raising activists of the Left leaning bodies demanded action against the assailants. Police said the activists were detained. In a related development, some IIT-M students took out a procession, urging the institute management to take action against those involved in the attack on the scholar. A pro-Tamil fringe outfit also staged a protest outside the IIT campus over the assault. Kerala CM condemns attack on IIT-M student Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the attack on an IIT-Madras PhD scholar, saying it was unfortunate. Our Constitution has given us the freedom to consume the food of our choice and any act of intolerance is a violation of the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution, the chief minister said in a statement. Vijayan said he would ask the Tamil Nadu chief minister to take necessary action against those responsible for the attack on R Sooraj. China on Wednesday welcomed Indias reported decision to reject Australias request to join this years Malabar naval exercises saying the security concerns of the different parties should be taken into account while holding such drills. "I have seen the relevant reports on the refusal made by India for the invitation. I think India is also clear about the consideration behind this behaviour," Hua Chunying told media briefing reacting to a report that India has rejected Australias request to join as observer to avoid backlash from China. She however did not elaborate on Indias 'consideration' in rejecting Australia's request to join the naval exercises scheduled to be held in July in the Bay of Bengal. "But I think we are happy to see normal dialogue and communications on security issues. But we also hope that when conducting such operations, the parties can fully consider the security concerns of the different parties and also play a positive and constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability," Hua said. The Malabar exercise started in 1992 with the United States and India in the Indian Ocean. Since Japan joined in 2007, it has alternated between the West Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Media reports said India has rejected Australias request to send naval ships to join as observer. The three countries held their largest ever joint exercise off Japanese coast, which involved 11 vessels and 8,000 personnel. Last year Chinese media sharply criticised the Malabar exercises saying that they are designed to target China. 'Such a large-scale military exercise was obviously designed to target Chinas submarine activities in the East and South China Seas in recent years, promote the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and cement the US presence in the region,' an article in the state run Global said last year. 'Washington brought New Delhi and Tokyo into the exercise to relieve its pressure due to overstretched military presence around the globe and tighten its grip on the Asia-Pacific region,' it had said. IMAGE: The Indian Navy Kora-class corvette INS Kirch (P62) and Shivalik-class stealth multi-role frigates INS Sahyadri (F49) and INS Satpura (F48) transit while conducting a live-fire surface gun exercise during Malabar 2016. Photograph: Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Batchelder/US Navy After passing the verdict, the judge said his verdict on the matter was his 'soul's voice' and that 'no crime is more heinous than cow slaughter'. The Rajasthan high court on Wednesday directed the state government to coordinate with the Centre and take necessary steps to declare cow as a national animal. A single-judge bench of Justice Mahesh Chand Sharma also appointed the chief secretary and the advocate general of the state to be the legal custodians of the cow. After passing the verdict, the judge, who retired on Wednesday, said his verdict on the matter was his 'soul's voice' and that 'no crime is more heinous than cow slaughter'. In the 145-page order, he said "Nepal is a Hindu nation and has declared cow as national animal. India is a predominant agriculture country based in animal rearing. As per Article 48 and 51A (g) it is expected from the state government that they should take action to get a legal entity for cow in this country." While Article 48 of the Constitution says the State should take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle, Article 51A(g) speaks of protecting the natural environment and having compassion for living creatures. "It is expected from the government that it should declare cow as national animal and for this purpose the Chief Secretary and Advocate General of state are declared legal custodians of cow," the judge said in his order. The direction was made while the court was hearing the Hingonia Gaushala matter. Over a hundred cows had perished at the government-run cowshed in Jaipur last year. The bench also granted liberty to any person or class of persons to approach court with a plea in a PIL to declare cow as a national animal. The direction came at a time when many states are protesting the government's decision to impose ban on the slaughter of cattle, primarily cows, for commercial purposes and the Madras high court staying for four months the Centre's contentious notification on the matter. Talking to reporters outside the court after passing the order, Justice Sharma also presented a unique theory on the mating of peacocks, the national bird. Elaborating on his order on granting of national animal status to the cow, Justice Sharma said 'the law has originated from religion. Religion has not come out of the law'. He also said the bovine 'nourishes sick persons and keeps the environment clean. It also provides anti-biotics in its milk' which is used in Ayurvedic medicines. Image: A Hindu devotee offers prayers to a cow after taking a holy dip in the waters of Sangam. Photograph: Jitendra Prakash/Reuters For nearly three months, the Fearless Girl statue stared down the Charging Bull, at Wall Street in New York City, an iconic, 11-foot, three-ton monument to peace, strength, power and love," according to the artist. IMAGE: The 'Fearless Girl' statue stands in the snow facing off against the Charging Bull in the Financial District, New York City. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images However, New York artist Alex Gardega decided hed had enough. The artist installed Pissing Pug, alternatively known as Sketchy Dog -- a small sculpture of a urinating dog at the leg of the Fearless Girl statue as an act of defiance. According to Gardega, who was quickly branded a snowflake, a misogynist, said, The Fearless Girl has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull ... That bull had integrity. IMAGE: Alex Gardega said his 'Pissing Pug' was an act of defiance against Fearless Girl, who he pegged as 'corporate nonsense'. Photograph: Alex Gardega/Twitter He referred to it as corporate nonsense that was masquerading as art but was in fact commissioned by State Street Global Advisors, one of the worlds largest banks. It was made by a billion-dollar financial firm trying to promote an index fund, he was quoted as saying to NBC News. It is advertising/promotion in the guise of art. That was my only point. Gardega was soon attacked on social media with one Twitter user writing, Nice try, Alex Gardega. Forget artistic integrity. If you put a statue of a dog peeing on a little girl, you're a huge a*****e. Another wrote, I cant think of a better metaphor for male fragility than a tiny little dog attempting to piss near a fearless girl. IMAGE: Fearless Girl made by American artist Kristen Visbal was inaugurated earlier this year on International Women's Day as part of a campaign by US fund manager State Street to push companies to put women on their boards. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Fearless Girl has become a tourist fixture in Lower Manhattan, with more than 25,000 Instagram photos tagged #fearlessgirl. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is allowing the temporary statue to remain in Bowling GreenPark until February 2018. Arturo Di Modica, the bulls creator, said last month that he considers Fearless Girl an advertising trick that alters the creative message of his legendary work by implying that the two statues are locked in a conflicted face-off. Last updated on: May 31, 2017 11:25 IST The UP CMs visit comes a day after senior BJP leaders were charged with conspiracy in the Babri Masjid case. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday offered prayers at the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya on his first visit to the town after taking charge. The visit assumes significance as it comes a day after criminal conspiracy charges were framed against top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case. The UP chief minister, who arrived on Wednesday morning, spent around 30 minutes at the makeshift temple in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid complex. He later offered payers on the banks of the Saryu River. Adityanath began his visit by offering prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya. He was accompanied by Dharam Das, against whom conspiracy charges were framed on Tuesday along with the other BJP leaders. A special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Lucknow had on Tuesday framed charges against BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi, Union minister Uma Bharti and nine others in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. Before Advani reached the court, Adityanath had met him at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow. The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19. All six were on Tuesday granted bail by CBI special judge S K Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each after rejecting the CBIs opposition to their bail plea. The apex court had while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of two cases relating to the demolition. The court had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years. The CBI had charge-sheeted 21 people in the case. Many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the Vishwa Hindu Parishads Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidhynath, have since died. Image: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offers prayers on the banks of River Saryu. Photograph: ANI/Twitter The Tripura government has said it will not implement the new cattle trade and slaughter rules as it is against the interests of the people. The new cattle trade and slaughter rules framed by the central government are against the interest of the people. We will not carry out the new rules, Tripuras Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Minister Aghore Debbarma said. The central government is yet to send us the new cattle trade and slaughter rules. They did not consult us on this issue, he said. With the aim to prevent cruelty to animals, the union forest, environment and climate change ministry last week modified rules, making it mandatory to ensure that cattle are not bought or sold at cattle markets for slaughtering. The list of animals includes cows, bulls, buffaloes, heifers, calves and camels. Earlier on Tuesday, the Madras high court stayed for four weeks the Centres notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter, and sought its response to public interest litigations which contended that the rules should have been approved by Parliament first. Several places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been witnessing protests during the past few days against the ban on sale of cattle for slaughter. Protesters have alleged that it infringed upon the food habits of people. United States President Donald Trump is likely to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate change agreement which was a major foreign policy legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama, media reports said on Wednesday. In a tweet, Trump said he would be announcing his decision on the 2015 Paris climate deal in the next few days. 'I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. Make America great again!' Trump said. Two major news outlets Axis and CBS News reported that the US President had made a decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change and the administration has been informing world leaders about it. 'Details on just how exactly the US will be withdrawing are still being worked out by a team that includes EPA administrator Scott Pruitt,' CBS News reported. 'A full, formal withdrawal could take up to three years to execute, unravelling one of former President Barack Obama's major achievements in office to reduce the impacts of climate change,' it added. The Pruitt team is deciding on whether to initiate a full, formal withdrawal -- which could take three years -- or exit the underlying United Nations climate change treaty, which would be faster but more extreme, Axis reported. 'Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could do to unravel Obama's climate legacy. It sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritise climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal,' it said. According to The Hill newspaper, the move marks a dramatic departure from the Obama administration, which was instrumental in crafting the deal. 'It also makes the US an outlier among the world's nations, nearly all of whom support the climate change accord,' it said. A day earlier, Trump on return from his maiden overseas trip met with Pruitt. "One of the topics that they discussed, of course, was the President's upcoming decision on the Paris Climate Accords," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference. This is the subject that the President is spending a great deal of time on, and one that he spoke to the G7 members about during their meetings, he said. "Ultimately, he wants a fair deal for the American people and he will have an announcement coming on that shortly," Spicer said. Meanwhile, influential Republican Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday urged the US President to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change. Earlier, a group of 22 Republican Senators including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a letter urged Trump to withdraw from the agreement. The United States has successfully shot down a mock intercontinental ballistic missile, its first-live fire test, using its own upgraded long-range interceptor warhead, in what was widely seen as a test of Americas ability to counter growing threat from North Korea. The US military fired an intercontinental ballistic missile-type weapon on Tuesday from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg air force base in California. This was the first live-fire test event against an ICBM-class target for Ground-based Midcourse Defence and the US ballistic missile defence system, the Pentagon has said. GMD is an integral element of the United States layered ballistic missile defence architecture, with interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Fort Greely, Alaska. The programme comprises command-and-control facilities, communications terminals and a 20,000-mile fibre-optic communications network that interfaces with ballistic missile defence radars and other sensors. The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this programme, said Missile Defence Agency Director Vice Adm Jim Syring. This system is vitally important to the defence of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat, he added. According to Pentagon, initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but programme officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test. The one-time test costs $250 million (Rs 1,612 crore) to the Department of Defence. The test, designated Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor-15, will provide the data necessary to assess the performance of the GMD system and provide enhanced homeland defence capabilities, it said. The GMD element of the ballistic missile defence system provides combatant commanders the capability to engage and destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats to protect the US. The continental US is about 9,000 km from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km, but some are designed to travel 10,000 km or farther. North Korea has dramatically ramped up the pace of its missile tests over the past year, with a goal of developing an ICBM that can strike the US mainland. Early in the day, the Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told that the test wasnt timed specifically to the current tensions in North Korea. At the same time he said recent threats from the country is one of the reasons why we have this capability. We improve and learn from each test regardless of the outcome. Our goal is to continue to be able to tell you with confidence that we have the ability to defends the homeland against this nascent ICBM threat, Davis said. This successful test keeps the United States on track for a significant increase in interceptor inventory of 44 in 2017, said Norm Tew, vice president and GMD program director. US lawmakers congratulated the Pentagon on this successful test. Today is an important day for our nations missile defenders, our scientists and engineers, and the American people. This successful intercept test of an ICBM-like target sends a clear message to the unstable dictator in North Korea that the US Ballistic Missile Defence System can and will shoot down any ballistic missile threat that endangers the American people, said Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith said this is an important milestone in the programme, but much work remains to be done to ensure we have a reliable and effective system. After an investment of more than $40 billion since 2002, its good that the Missile Defence Agency is finally doing a missile defence test against an ICBM target, some 13 years after the first Ground-Based Interceptor systems deployment, Smith said in a statement. By successfully shooting down an ICBM-class target, America demonstrated that we can defend ourselves from nuclear attack. And the world should know that America will defend itself from nuclear attack. I hope that our enemies were all watching closely and took note of what we are capable of achieving, Congressman Doug Lamborn said. Image: An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, United States during an operational test. Photograph: Michael Peterson/USAF/Reuters Egypt: NGO law threatens to annihilate human rights groups Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 30 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Egypt: NGO law threatens to annihilate human rights groups, 30 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e731b4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. A new law signed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, imposing unprecedentedly harsh restrictions on NGOs, could be a death sentence for human rights groups in the country, Amnesty International said today. "This is a catastrophic blow for human rights groups working in Egypt. The severity of the restrictions imposed by this law threatens to annihilate NGOs in the country, at a time when the authorities' escalating crackdown on dissent makes their work more important than ever, said Najia Bounaim, Campaigns Director for North Africa at Amnesty International. "This law, which gives the government extraordinary powers to control NGOs and imposes harsh punishments and fines for any violation of its draconian provisions, is the latest ploy by the Egyptian authorities to silence all independent voices." After the law was approved by parliament in November 2016, Amnesty International called on the President not to sign it due to its conflict with Egypt`s constitution and international obligations. However, the President signed the law without addressing any of the concerns raised by Egyptian or international human rights organizations. Over the past three years, Egyptian authorities have orchestrated a targeted campaign against human rights organizations. Twenty-four have been banned from travel, and seven organizations and 10 individuals have had their assets frozen. Most recently, investigative judges summoned two NGO directors, Mohamed Zaree from Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and Mustafa el-Hassan from Hisham Mubarak Law Center. Both were released on bail. Even in the past week repressive measures have intensified against other critical voices. On 23 May, Egyptian authorities arrested the former presidential candidate Khaled Ali on charges of committing acts that violate public decency. The Public Prosecution released him on bail the second day and referred him to trial. The authorities have also recently blocked more than 21 websites, among them the prominent news platforms Mada Masr and Daily News Egypt. "For too long the international community has turned a blind eye to the steady erosion of human rights in Egypt, thus encouraging the authorities to ramp up their attacks on peaceful criticism without fear of being held to account," said Najia Bounaim. "We are calling on them to urgently pressure the Egyptian authorities into closing the ongoing criminal investigation into the work of human rights groups, which together with the new law will have devastating consequences for human rights in Egypt." Background Law 70 of 2017 gives Egypt's NGOs one year to comply or face being dissolved in court. Among its restrictions are a ban on field research and surveys without government permission, forcing NGOs to adapt their activities to government priorities and plans or face up to five years in prison. The law also gives the authorities wide powers to dissolve NGOs, dismiss their board of administration and subject their staff to criminal prosecution based on vaguely worded terms including "harming national unity and disturbing public order". Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Global activists demand protection for gay men in Chechnya Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 30 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Global activists demand protection for gay men in Chechnya, 30 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e737e4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Amnesty International has gathered more than half a million signatures worldwide on petitions calling for an end to the appalling persecution of men perceived to be gay in the Russian republic of Chechnya. As part of a global day of action on 2 June, Amnesty International activists will hand in petitions to Russian embassies around the world. There will also be an array of stunts in major cities in the next week, to protest the coordinated campaign of abductions, torture and death by the Chechen authorities. "The clock is ticking for gay men in Chechnya, who are living under the shadow of this terrifying purge. We are urging the international community to open their doors to all those fleeing homophobic persecution in Chechnya," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe and Central Asia. "The Chechen authorities claim that gay men do not exist. This week people from around the world will come together in defiance to show gay men in Chechnya that we recognize them and demand their protection." Thousands of signatures have been collected from countries as far apart as Taiwan and Brazil. As well as petition hand-ins, stunts and protests will take place this week and next outside Russian embassies in countries including Belgium, Canada, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK. The Russian authorities have opened a preliminary investigation into the reports of persecution. Amnesty International is calling on them to proceed to a full-blown criminal investigation, and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of individuals who may be at risk in Chechnya. Background On 1 April, the Russian independent daily newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that more than 100 men believed to be gay had been abducted in recent days, as part of a coordinated campaign. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Georgia/Azerbaijan: Exiled Azerbaijani journalist at risk of torture after cross-border 'abduction' Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 30 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Georgia/Azerbaijan: Exiled Azerbaijani journalist at risk of torture after cross-border 'abduction', 30 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e73e14.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. An Azerbaijani investigative journalist who vanished yesterday evening from Tbilisi, Georgia, is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment after resurfacing today in custody across the border in Baku, Azerbaijan after what he described to his lawyer as a harrowing cross-border abduction, Amnesty International said. Afgan Mukhtarli, whose wife reported him missing yesterday evening (29 May), is now known to be in the custody of the Investigative Unit of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, according to local activists and his lawyer. The couple had gone into exile in Georgia in 2015 amid fears for their safety over his investigations into Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's alleged links to corruption. "This is a deeply sinister development in a country known for its long crackdown on journalists and human rights defenders. Afgan Mukhtarli must be immediately and unconditionally released and protected from torture and other ill-treatment. He is a prisoner of conscience detained solely for his work as a journalist," said Levan Asatiani, Amnesty International's Campaigner on the South Caucasus, who is currently in Tbilisi. Afgan Mukhtarli's lawyer managed to speak with him briefly today. According to the lawyer, Afgan Mukhtarli was abducted in Tbilisi by plain-clothed men who spoke Georgian. The men tied up the journalist in a car, took him to the outskirts of Tbilisi and beat him relentlessly. They then changed cars twice before taking him across the border to Azerbaijan. Afgan Mukhtarli said that, as they crossed the border, 10,000 Euros were planted in his pockets, so the Azerbaijani police could subsequently charge him with trespassing and smuggling. Afgan Mukhtarli told his lawyer that he was further ill-treated in Azerbaijan. "It seems that the Georgian authorities were also complicit in Afgan Mukhtarli's abduction and forced return to Azerbaijan. His family told Amnesty International that he has often been followed by Azerbaijani-speaking men on the streets of Tbilisi, indicating that he has been under surveillance for some time. Georgia must promptly and impartially investigate what happened and hold accountable all those involved in this gruesome operation," said Levan Asatiani. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International South Korea: Supreme Court ruling against jailed union leader a further setback for peaceful protests Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 31 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, South Korea: Supreme Court ruling against jailed union leader a further setback for peaceful protests, 31 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e74a34.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. South Korea must immediately release trade union leader Han Sang-gyun, Amnesty International said, after the country's Supreme Court rejected his final appeal against a three-year jail sentence. Han Sang-gyun has been held responsible for others' sporadic clashes with police and for his role in organizing a series of largely peaceful anti-government protests in 2014 and 2015. He has already been detained for one and a half years. "Han Sang-gyun should not be behind bars for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Today's ruling is a further setback for justice and human rights in South Korea," said Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia Regional Director at Amnesty International. "President Moon Jae-in should demonstrate that the new government fully supports the right to peaceful assembly and stop these unjust prosecutions." Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling comes shortly after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion that Han Sang-gyun was charged in violation of his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and his detention is arbitrary. Amnesty International joins the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in calling for Han Sang-gyun's immediate release. Han Sang-gyun's case highlighted the shrinking space for freedom of peaceful assembly under the previous administration. He was arrested on 10 December 2015 and sentenced to five years imprisonment at his initial trial in July 2016 on several charges including under the country's Assembly and Demonstrations Act. His sentence was reduced to three years imprisonment on appeal on 13 December 2016. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Iraq: Suicide Attacks Targeting Crowds in Baghdad Show More Services Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 30 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iraq: Suicide Attacks Targeting Crowds in Baghdad Show More Services, 30 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e76864.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. In the first attack, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside an ice cream parlour just after midnight in the Karrada district of Baghdad, where many people were on the streets breaking their Ramadan fasts. The Islamic State (also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for the bombing, which killed at least 15 people and wounded at least 27. The second attack occurred several hours later in Karkh district, near the headquarters of the government's pensions directorate, killing at least 12 people and wounding at least 23. No group has taken responsibility for the bombing. Human Rights Watch expresses its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the May 30 attacks, particularly during this holy month. Iraqi civilians have suffered decades of unlawful violence by armed groups and government, and international forces. Following mass-casualty attacks during 2017 in multiple countries worldwide, it is a stark reminder of the threat posed by individuals driven by hate or by violent or extremist views. The principles of democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and tolerance remain the strongest bulwarks against the fear, hate, and division that those who commit these attacks seek to sow. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Turkey: Education Barriers for Asylum Seekers Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 31 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Turkey: Education Barriers for Asylum Seekers, 31 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e77804.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Many child asylum seekers in Turkey are not going to school because of arbitrary policies for asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said today. The Turkish interior ministry should revise the policies for non-Syrian asylum seekers that are preventing these vulnerable children from getting an education, despite their right to it under Turkish and international law. "Turkish law guarantees all children the right to education, but for many child asylum seekers this is an empty promise," said Simon Rau, Mercator fellow on children's rights at Human Rights Watch. "There are feasible steps that Turkey should take to get all children, including asylum seekers, into school." In March 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed the families of 68 Afghan and Iranian children ages 5 to 17, in Denizli, Trabzon, and Gumushane, which are among places asylum seekers are assigned, and in Istanbul, which is not. Thousands of Afghans and others have nonetheless moved to Istanbul in search of work, and as a result do not have legal status and are at risk of arrest. Turkey hosts more refugees and asylum seekers than any other country in the world, including 2.8 million Syrians and about 290,000 people from other countries, mostly Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran. In Turkey, asylum seekers from countries other than Syria are required to live in assigned cities, and are restricted from moving elsewhere even if there are few job opportunities and limited aid where they are assigned. Asylum seekers who stay in their assigned city may face poverty-related barriers to education, with parents unable to meet associated costs or feeling they have little choice but to send their children to work rather than school. Those who move in search of work lose their legal status, without which they cannot enroll their children in school. There are 42,221 school-aged refugees and asylum-seekers from countries other than Syria in Turkey, according to government statistics, but there is no reliable data on how many of them are enrolled in schools. With donor support, the Turkish government has pledged to enroll all Syrian refugee children by the end of the current school year in June 2017, but no similar promises have been made for other child asylum seekers. School enrollment increased by 50 percent for Syrian children in 2016 over the previous school year. Turkish asylum law and practice differentiate between European, Syrian, and non-Syrian asylum seekers. Non-Syrians must obtain and maintain legal status by registering every two weeks in their assigned city, cannot change their city on the basis that there is no available work or humanitarian support there, and must obtain permits even to travel temporarily. Seven children Human Rights Watch interviewed, six of them in Istanbul, could not go to school because they lack legal status in Turkey. Two said they knew a 17-year-old undocumented Afghan boy who was arrested in Istanbul and deported in January. Sharukh, 18, whose full name is not being used for his protection, as with others interviewed, is from Afghanistan, and has lived for five months in Istanbul's Zeytinburnu district. His family is not registered as asylum seekers, and none of his five siblings, ages 6 to 14, have been able to enroll in school because they do not have valid documents, he said. "I don't know how it will ever be possible for them to go to school," Sharukh said. Turkey's Ministry of National Education has instructed schools to allow children to attend classes as guests if they are in the process of obtaining status as asylum seekers. But that doesn't apply to children without status in cities like Istanbul, where non-Syrians are not permitted to reside. But even in other cities, some child asylum seekers were not aware that they could enroll or school staff had not told them of this option. And guest students who do not yet have official identity cards do not get school reports that certify they have finished the grade at the end of the school year. Ten children interviewed were in school but had missed four months to a full year of education because they were waiting to obtain legal status, or had been told by school directors when they finally received official identification that they could not enroll so late in the year and would have to wait until the next year. Some families described arbitrary decisions by school directors or local education ministry officials that kept children out of school. Three Afghan students dropped out after their school director arbitrarily refused to allow them to take a secondary school entrance exam, insisting that they had to enroll in a vocational school. Poverty also keeps some children out of school by driving them into child labor. Nineteen of the children interviewed, 10 of them in Istanbul, were working or were looking for work. Turkey allows asylum seekers to apply for a work permit - with the support of a sponsoring employer in the city where the asylum seeker is assigned - six months after their initial asylum application. But official requirements are such that in practice there is very little opportunity for asylum seekers to obtain work in the formal job market. For example, the employer must employ at least five Turkish nationals for every foreigner. Staff at Turkish groups that support refugees and asylum seekers said that potential sponsors are reluctant to regularize informal workers because of requirements to pay the minimum wage and social security contributions. None of the asylum seekers interviewed who had been in Turkey for more than six months had a work permit, because they could not find an employer to sponsor them. A social worker who has worked for two-and-a-half years to support refugees in Istanbul said she had never heard of any non-Syrians obtaining a work permit. The head of a charitable association that supports Afghans living in Trabzon, a city on the Black Sea, said that only about 25 out of 4,200 Afghans in Trabzon have work permits, and that police repeatedly arrest Afghans for working without a permit and threaten to deport them. The obstacles that parents face to work legally make it difficult to afford to send their children to school. Public school tuition is free, but in three cases, families of children interviewed said they could not afford school-related costs like transportation, stationery, uniforms, and supplies. Masumah, an 18-year-old from Afghanistan who lives in Denizli, came to Turkey three years ago. She was able to attend secondary school for one year because a Turkish private donor had paid her monthly school transportation fees of 150 Turkish Lira (about US$42), although "at noon I could not afford to buy anything to eat." She had to drop out two years ago when her benefactor stopped providing support. Masumah's father, Sarvar, earns 10 to 15 lira ($2.70 to $4.10) a day collecting recyclable materials from trash. The daily minimum wage in Turkey is 59 lira ($16). "We went hungry for three nights, a few nights ago," Sarvar said. "We did not even have enough money to buy bread." Refugee families and children described a lack of Turkish language support. Turkey operates civic centers that provide language instruction for all ages, but asylum seekers must present proof of their lawful status to enroll, and several asylum seekers said they found the classes inadequate and dropped out. Extra Turkish language classes were not available in public schools for any of the children interviewed. Turkey should ensure that asylum seekers are not assigned to cities without job opportunities or available aid, should provide information about the support available, and should allow asylum seekers to change satellite cities based on financial need. While Turkey has a legitimate interest in managing the residency of asylum seekers in its territory, the Education Ministry should allow children to enroll in schools regardless of their legal status, and enforce its policies by providing a way for families to seek redress for children wrongly excluded, including sanctions for officials who issue arbitrary decisions. The government should make work permits more accessible by ending the requirement for sponsorship. International donors should ensure that aid to allow children to attend school is available, based on need. Arbitrary barriers for children to take secondary school qualification examinations, such as possessing a passport, should be removed. "Education gives children and families hope, creates skills and wealth, and improves children's health, so the benefits for children are matched by the benefits for Turkey," Rau said. "The choice is between a better future or a gravely uncertain one." Asylum, Education for Non-Syrians in Turkey Turkish law mandates 12 years of free and compulsory education for all children. The Turkish Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP) specifies that child asylum seekers shall have access to both primary and secondary education. But the law also establishes four categories for refugee status. Applicants from European countries are eligible for formal refugee status, Syrians may apply for temporary protection, and other nationalities, including Afghans and Iranians, may apply for "conditional refugee" or "subsidiary protection" status, which provide rights to education, health services, and work if certain requirements are met. To obtain legal status, non-Syrians must first travel to Ankara to register as asylum seekers. The Interior Ministry's Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) then assigns them to one of the 62 so-called "satellite cities" across the country. The ministry may "close" satellite cities to new asylum seekers. Turkey's three largest cities - Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara - are not satellite cities, and as a rule, non-Syrian asylum seekers cannot lawfully live there. Syrians are not required to live in satellite cities, but they face different obstacles to education, including a backlog in the processing of requests for identification documents required to enroll in public schools. All of the Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers interviewed who are attending public schools are enrolled alongside Turkish students, whereas many Syrian students attend "second shift" classes in the afternoon and evening in which there are no Turkish children. Turkey has allowed Syrian refugees to establish "temporary education centers" for Syrian children, which teach an Arabic curriculum accredited by the Education Ministry, but is phasing out these schools and has stated that Syrian children must be enrolled in Turkish schools by the end of the 2017-2018 school year. Non-Syrian asylum seekers must travel to their assigned city and submit proof of an address there and their asylum application to the provincial branch of the migration agency. None of the families who spoke to Human Rights Watch had received any support from either UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, or the Turkish authorities for transportation costs, or to find accommodation, which often requires a deposit to a landlord. A social worker who supports refugees in Istanbul said the system was especially hard for poor families with children, as "they have to start a life from zero without support." Afghan asylum seekers said they received no information in Ankara about any services that might be available in their assigned city, and several families said they slept in public parks for days after they arrived. Ultimately, the migration agency provides asylum seekers who meet their criteria with an identification card and number. This document, valid for renewable one-year periods, is proof of legal stay in Turkey and is required to enroll in school and get other services - although the ministry instructs public schools to allow children in the process of applying as asylum seekers to attend as guests. Children can be enrolled as "guest students" without this identification card, but do not receive school reports confirming that they passed the academic grade. Asylum seekers must obtain a permit to travel outside their satellite city, and must check in with the migration agency every two weeks. If they fail to do so three consecutive times, their residency is invalidated and their asylum application is considered withdrawn. They may only change their satellite city under narrow circumstances, such as if they require regular medical treatment that is not available in their city. None of the asylum seekers interviewed in Istanbul had valid residency permits and all risked being detained. They said they were afraid to go outdoors after police detained between 150 to 200 undocumented Afghans, including an unaccompanied 17-year-old boy, during sweeps in Zeytinburnu in January and February. Local Officials Impose Arbitrary Barriers Turkish asylum law provides for special support to unaccompanied children and refers to the best interests of the child, but arbitrary decisions by some local officials have instead barred children from education. E., 17, from Afghanistan, said he had been temporarily separated from his family in Iran when they fled to Turkey five months ago. He reached Turkey and registered as an asylum seeker in Ankara, asking to be assigned to Trabzon, where he has other relatives. But he was assigned to another satellite city. His immediate family arrived in Turkey later and were assigned to Trabzon. He informed the local migration agency office but was told that he could not be reassigned, he said. E. went to Trabzon but cannot enroll in school because he lacks legal status. Some local Education Ministry officials have arbitrarily imposed hurdles that kept asylum-seeking children out-of-school, including not allowing them to enroll with guest status. Masumah from Afghanistan tried to enroll her children, Arzu and Asif, in school shortly after they came to Trabzon in late 2015. The school initially accepted the children, but after a week, a school official said they could not continue studying without identification cards. When they received their cards several weeks later, the school told her that they had missed too much of the school year. She was unable to enroll them until the following year. Romina, 16, from Iran, tried to enroll in secondary school when her family came to Denizli two-and-a-half years ago. But officials from the Education Ministry's local branch told her that as a refugee she could only attend school for one day a week: "I was really embarrassed - I wanted to go to school but they did not allow it," Romina said, in fluent English. She was "finding English and math lessons for myself, online," to continue learning. In another case, the head of an Afghan association in Trabzon told Human Rights Watch that he complained without effect to the Education Ministry after the director of the Yuzuncu Yil public school in Trabzon arbitrarily barred eight Afghan students from taking an admissions exam for high school at the end of the 2015-2016 school year. As a result, three of the students dropped out of school, and the other five enrolled in religious or vocational high schools. Secondary schools in Trabzon allow Afghan students who have not graduated from a Turkish primary school to take placement exams, but require the children to present a passport, which many Afghan children do not have. Impact of Poverty on Access to Education Poverty is a key obstacle to education for child asylum seekers, and can be exacerbated if they are assigned to a satellite city where their parents have little chance to find work. Alia, 44, from Afghanistan, said that her sons Amir Khan, 17, Umid, 15, and Farid, 13, do not go to school because they work to support the family, including four other children. Alia lives in Trabzon, but Umid and Farid work serving tea in Bayburt, a city 140 kilometers away. They work nine hours a day, five days a week, and earn 25 lira (US$6.90) a day. In Bayburt, they sleep at their workplace or at friends' apartments, and come home once a week. Osman, a 16-year-old boy from Afghanistan who is living in Istanbul with his family, told Human Rights Watch that he and his brother Omar, 15, work in a textile workshop 11 hours a day, 5 days a week. Without their combined monthly income of 1,900 Turkish lira (US$518), their family could not afford rent. They had to stop going to school in Kunduz, Afghanistan, more than two years ago because of fighting between the Taliban and security forces close to their school. Shortly thereafter, their family fled to Turkey. None of their Afghan friends of their age are going to school. "Who wouldn't want to go to school, if they can afford it," Osman said. Some child asylum seekers do hazardous work. In Istanbul's Zeytinburnu district, Human Rights Watch spoke to A., who said he was "13 or 14 years old" and works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week at a junk yard where he collects scrap material. He earns about 600 lira (US$163) a month, but has skin problems that he thinks are caused by substances he handles. Turkey provides non-Syrian asylum seekers who obtain residency in their assigned city access to public hospitals, but like other Afghans in Istanbul, A. is undocumented. Several doctors refused to treat him because he does not have papers and could not pay, he said. A. has never been to school, and came to Turkey on his own from Jalalabad. He would like to return home to his family, he said, but cannot afford to. Mustafa, 54, and his 16-year-old son live in Denizli, where they were assigned after they fled to Turkey from Iran in 2012. Mustafa's medical documents show he has diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and is unable to work. He receives health care at public hospitals in Denizli, but said he skips blood sugar tests because of the cost, to afford stationery, a uniform, and other school-related expenses for his 16-year-old son. "My plight will in no way interfere with the education of my son," Mustafa said. Few if any undocumented child asylum seekers who are injured on the job can afford private health care. Abdul Kahar, a Turkish citizen of Afghan origin, said that in early 2016, he encountered a 15-year-old Afghan boy in Istanbul "who was crying in the street who had hurt his back loading wood onto a truck." Abdul Kahar took the boy to a hospital, but staff refused to admit him because he was undocumented. "I took him to a second hospital and paid for him. His parents sold a cow so they could buy him a plane ticket to go back home" to Afghanistan. Limited Aid Humanitarian aid could go some way to alleviate the poverty which keeps many child asylum seekers out of school. But aid is inconsistent and limited. Some asylum seekers in Turkey receive support from public Social Service Centers (Sosyal Hizmet Merkezleri) or Social Support and Solidarity Foundations (Sosyal Yardmlasma ve Dayansma Vakflar), differing from province to province. Peyman, from Afghanistan, said that the only aid provided to Afghan families in Gumushane is distributions of coal. Mustafa, an Iranian refugee in Denizli, said he receives support of 150 Turkish Lira (about US$35) every three months. UNHCR provides monthly support payments to refugees who have successfully undergone an interview that assesses whether they have a right to international protection, but as of mid-March, these payments had been interrupted for all the recognized Afghan and Iranian refugees whom Human Rights Watch interviewed, after the processing of the payments was moved from Garanti Bank to the Turkish post office, PTT, in January. Sarvar, an Afghan man in Denizli, said his family of five had received 225 lira (US$61) per month until December 2016. When he went to collect the January 2017 payment, he was referred to the PTT, where staff told him that he had to show a text message confirming his eligibility. He had not received one. Nisrullahin, 52, from Afghanistan, who lives with his wife and seven children in Gumushane, said that he used to receive 290 lira ($79) per month, but the payments had stopped beginning in January and he did not know why. In January, a 348 (US$371) million European Union-sponsored humanitarian assistance program in Turkey began providing monthly cash allowances to vulnerable asylum seekers from Syria and also other countries. The program aims to support 1 million people in 2017. None of the Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers interviewed in March was receiving assistance under the program. Lack of Language Support and Non-Formal Education Refugee families and children described a lack of Turkish language support, or the poor quality of such support, as a barrier to education. Asylum seekers who have legal status can enroll in free Turkish classes at public education centers (halk egitim merkezi). A number of children and their parents attended classes held on weekends at the centers, but had dropped out without being able to achieve an adequate level of conversational Turkish or functional literacy. Gulsun, 32, from Afghanistan, said that the Turkish class at the center in Trabzon included adults and children and that lessons were repeated whenever a new student was added to the class, and that there was no instruction tailored to different levels of proficiency. She stopped attending classes after six months, and still cannot support her sons, Amir, 6, and Mohammed, 10, with their Turkish homework or adequately communicate with their teachers. Two child asylum seekers in Denizli said that they were able to continue to secondary school, but were placed in vocational rather than academic tracks due to their lack of Turkish proficiency. None of the families Human Rights Watch interviewed had children in non-formal education programs. Unlike Syrian refugees, Turkey has not allowed Afghans or Iranians to establish accredited informal schools, but in some cases, accredited non-formal classes may be the only way to provide education. Ahmad Hossein, 47, from Afghanistan, has lived with his family in Gumushane for a year and a half. He said that his daughter Nasifa, 14, had never gone to school. "She can't start in grade one," he said, but also could not be integrated into the grade level that corresponds to her age. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Qatar: Forcible Return of Saudi Activist Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 31 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Qatar: Forcible Return of Saudi Activist, 31 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e7a384.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Qatar authorities forcibly returned a prominent Saudi activist to Saudi Arabia on May 25, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. Mohammad al-Oteibi fled to Qatar in March. He is currently on trial in Saudi Arabia based solely on charges related to his human rights work that could result in a long prison sentence. Qatar's return of al-Oteibi appears to violate the principle of nonrefoulement, the prohibition in customary international law on returning a person to a real risk of persecution where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, or where there is real risk of torture or inhuman and degrading treatment or other serious violations of their human rights. Human Rights Watch had called on Qatar on April 25 not to deport al-Oteibi. "Qatar's rulers have disregarded Mohammad al-Oteibi's safety by returning him to an unfair trial and possible ill-treatment in Saudi Arabia," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The apparent violation of the fundamental right of refugees not to be forcibly returned sends a chilling message around the Gulf that human rights activists cannot feel safe." A family member of al-Oteibi's told Human Rights Watch that Qatari authorities detained al-Oteibi at Qatar's Hamad International Airport on the evening of May 24, as he was attempting to leave Qatar and travel to a third country. The family member confirmed with Qatar authorities that they turned al-Oteibi over to Saudi authorities the next morning. He was not able to challenge his deportation. While in Qatar, al-Oteibi told Human Rights Watch that Saudi Mabahith (domestic intelligence) officials contacted him on April 19 and 20 requesting his location, and that he informed them that he was in Qatar. He missed his trial sessions in Riyadh on April 25 and May 17. Al-Oteibi and Abullah al-Attawi, another Saudi activist, face a series of vague charges relating to a short-lived human rights organization they set up in 2013. The charges against al-Oteibi include "participation in forming an association and announcing it before acquiring the necessary license," "participation in drafting, issuing, and signing a number of statements over internet networks that include offending the reputation of the kingdom...," and "making international human rights organizations hostile to the kingdom by publishing on a social media site false reports about the kingdom..." All the founders of the organization in mid-2013 signed a pledge, at the authorities' insistence, to halt all human rights activism. The charge sheet states that after monitoring his compliance with the pledge, "it became clear that [Mohammad al-Oteibi] continued with his previous path and a number of his violations of it were documented" But the "violations" the charge sheet cites refer only to activities that supposedly occurred prior to the pledge, including "meeting members of and sympathizers with the dissolved [Saudi Association on Civil and Political Rights] ...the last meeting of which occurred on September 14, 2013." Of the charges against the two men, one is tied to a violation of article 6 of the Saudi cybercrime law, which proscribes "producing something that harms public order, religious values, public morals, the sanctity of private life, or authoring, sending, or storing it via an information network," and imposes penalties of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 3 million Saudi Riyals (US$800,000). Human Rights Watch documented Saudi Arabia's use of its abusive cybercrime law to punish dissidents and activists in its 2016 report "140 Characters." Similar cases in the past against human rights activists have resulted in prison sentences of between 5 and 15 years. Human Rights Watch has documented allegations that Saudi Public Security Department police and General Directorate of Investigation secret police sometimes torture or otherwise ill-treat their detainees. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Yemen: UN envoy raises concern over attack on his convoy during visit to Sana'a Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Yemen: UN envoy raises concern over attack on his convoy during visit to Sana'a, 24 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e7f7a4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations envoy for conflict-torn Yemen today expressed deep concern over the attack on his convoy while traveling from the airport to the UN compound on Monday. "It is the responsibility of the local authorities to ensure the safety of all UN personnel in the country and urged them to investigate the incident, hold those responsible to account, and prevent any such incidents in the future," said Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, according to a note issued by the Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General. Concluding a three-day visit to the country's capital, Sana'a, the Special Envoy indicated that the incident increased his determination to continue with his efforts to find a negotiated political settlement that serves the best interests of the Yemeni people. Prior to Sana'a, he visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where he met with government officials as part of his efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Yemen. In Sana'a, he met with political leaders from Ansar'Allah and the General People's Congress and Representatives of other political parties, the note said, adding that the talks focused on possible agreements which would prevent the spread of military activities to Hudeidah and practical ways to ensure the resumption of salaries to all Yemeni civil servants nationwide. Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed also met with members of the Yemeni Women's Pact for Peace and Security and representatives of civil society organizations to discuss current political challenges and security concerns in addition to the economic crisis and recent outbreak of cholera, the note said. In a meeting with Yemeni youth, the Special Envoy discussed mechanisms for greater youth contribution to international efforts to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict, in addition to possible solutions to reopen Sana'a International Airport and prevent further deterioration of the economic and humanitarian situation. He also met with senior World Bank officials in order to support the World Bank-UN collaboration to address the growing food insecurity and economic crisis in Yemen, the note added. UN rights chief concerned about health of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israel jails Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN rights chief concerned about health of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israel jails, 24 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e80a74.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations human rights chief today expressed serious concern about the health of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons as their hunger strike entered its 38th day without resolution. "I am especially alarmed by reports of punitive measures by the Israeli authorities against the hunger strikers, including restricted access to lawyers and the denial of family visits," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a news release from his Office (OHCHR). "The right of detainees to access a lawyer is a fundamental protection in international human rights law that should never be curtailed," he added. The Palestinian prisoners began a hunger strike on 17 April, demanding, amongst other things, an end to administrative detention and solitary confinement. They are also demanding an increase in the number and length of family visits and improved access to healthcare. "Various international bodies have repeatedly called on Israel to end its practice of administrative detention," Mr. Zeid said, noting that such detainees should either be charged with an offence and tried, according to international standards, or released immediately. An estimated 6,300 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli prisons, mostly outside the occupied Palestinian territory, in contravention of article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Top UN official in South Sudan urges Security Council to advance 'common strategy' on political process Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Top UN official in South Sudan urges Security Council to advance 'common strategy' on political process, 24 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e81964.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan today urged the Security Council to unite behind a common strategy for advancing the political process and peace in the crisis-torn country. Addressing the Council in New York via video link, David Shearer, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in South Sudan and the head of the Mission, known as UNMISS, said that "unity of purpose will send the best signal to South Sudan's political leaders to focus first and foremost on the plight of their citizens." He also called for a "coherent and unified regional position" to aid political developments in the country, noting that Governments in the region hold "significant influence" on political developments to end the three-year war but are not communicating the same message. Today's briefing comes as President Salva Kiir again declared a unilateral ceasefire from Juba and pledged to review the cases of political prisoners. Mr. Shearer said these announcements are "very welcome" but "the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating." He noted that there will be close scrutiny on the number of prisoners released and whether the ceasefire monitoring group can perform its work. The senior UN official also noted that President Kiir formally launched a National Dialogue this week meant to end the conflict begun in December 2013, but has excluded his political rival and former deputy, Riek Machar. In addition, inter-communal conflicts persist across the country, Mr. Shearer said. Among positive developments was the signing of a joint cessation of hostilities agreement between the Bor and Pibor communities in Jonglei, the result of UNMISS mediation. Meanwhile, cyclical rains in South Sudan are expected to make roads impassable for the next four months. While the flooding will likely curb hostilities, it also greatly complicates the humanitarian response, making over 60 per cent of the country impossible to access by road or airstrips, and brings the spectre of cholera. The humanitarian focus this month has been on the 20,000 civilians who fled to Aburoc in Upper Nile, fleeing fighting between the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) and SPLA in Opposition. "Most arrived in a weak state - the perfect conditions for cholera to tear through their numbers," said Mr. Shearer. He praised the short-term deployment of peacekeepers who were helicoptered in by UNMISS to give "confidence" for humanitarians to follow. He also lauded the work of humanitarians throughout the country, noting that this is one of the toughest operational environments and condemned "the unacceptable levels of violence that continue to be directed towards aid workers," including detention, threats, arrests, assault and killings. Mr. Shearer's briefing comes as the world marks the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Some 3,000 'blue helmets' have died on duty since 1948. The Council began its work today by unanimously adopting a resolution renewing until 31 May 2018 a host of sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze imposed by its resolution 2206 (2015), on those designated to be blocking peace, security and stability in South Sudan. Senior UN official appeals for aid to stop 'unprecedented' spread of cholera in Yemen Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Senior UN official appeals for aid to stop 'unprecedented' spread of cholera in Yemen, 24 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e82094.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. With more than 100,000 people in Yemen believed to be at risk for cholera, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the country is appealing to Governments for urgent financial and political support. Cholera continues to spread at an unprecedented rate throughout Yemen affecting men, women, and children who have for more than two years withstood the consequences of a conflict that is collapsing institutions and social safety nets, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the country, Jamie McGoldrick. More than 35,500 suspected cases of cholera were reported in Yemen in the past three weeks, and 361 deaths. Health authorities have said that one-third of the current cases are children, drawing a link between cholera and malnutrition in a country where 17 million people are food insecure. Hundreds of thousands of people are at a greater risk of dying as they face the 'triple threat' of conflict, starvation and cholera, Mr. McGoldrick said. The speed at which cholera is spreading among the population exceeds the capacity of the health system to respond given its weakened state after more than two years of conflict, he noted, despite valiant work by national and international humanitarians. The majority of health care centres in Yemen are closed, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Those that are open have limited staff and supplies due to import restrictions and a lack of regular salary payments to health workers. In addition, water and sanitation services are unable to provide clean water to the population. The humanitarian community is seeking $55.4 million for the next six months, but every day that funding is delayed the outbreak affects more people and more resources are needed to control it, OCHA said. DR Congo: 400,000 children in Greater Kasai at risk of severe acute malnutrition, UNICEF warns Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 24 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, DR Congo: 400,000 children in Greater Kasai at risk of severe acute malnutrition, UNICEF warns, 24 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e82794.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Deteriorating security conditions have severely disrupted life-saving interventions for children in Greater Kasai in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in recent months, putting an estimated 400,000 children at risk of severe acute malnutrition, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said. These children are among the most vulnerable in the country, and now they face a looming crisis if access to basic services is not restored quickly, said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF's Regional Director for West and Central Africa, in a press release. Without adequate health care, without access to food and clean water, the lives of hundreds of thousands of children are at risk, she added. Across the five provinces of Greater Kasai, critical health infrastructures are no longer operational due to the conflict. In Central Kasai Province alone, more than one-third of health centers have been forced to close following looting, due to security concerns for staff or lack of medical supplies, depriving children of vital services and medicine. Supplies of food and basic necessities are dwindling, and displacement has forced families to live in conditions with inadequate hygiene or sanitation. Our priority over the next few weeks is to reach thousands of severely malnourished children that can no longer be cared for in the health centers that have been destroyed, said Tajudeen Oyewale, acting UNICEF Representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But insecurity in these remote areas is making our work very challenging. Even before the latest wave of violence, the Kasai Provinces were among the poorest in the country. More than one in ten children die before the age of five due to lack of adequate health care. Half the children suffer from chronic malnutrition or stunting. UNICEF needs $40.2 million for its emergency response in Greater Kasai. Some 10,000 people fleeing west Mosul every day, UN migration agency warns Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Some 10,000 people fleeing west Mosul every day, UN migration agency warns, 26 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592e85574.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Citing Iraqi Government figures, the United Nations migration agency today warned that the number of people fleeing West Mosul is soaring on 18 May, hitting a peak when some 16,100 transited through the Hamam al-Alil screening site the largest official daily movement of people since the October 2016 military offence began. The fact that huge numbers of Iraqis continue to flee West Mosul, despite the dangers involved, is a testament of both the the dire situation inside, and the enormous task ahead of us to alleviate the suffering of IDPs [internally displaced persons], said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Iraq Chief of Mission, Thomas Lothar Weiss. According to the military and camp management at Hamam al-Alil, an average of 10,000 individuals fleeing West Mosul arrives at the transit zone on a daily basis. With gruelling high temperatures during the day, most leave at night, walking several hours before reaching the nearest military checkpoints. From there, they are transported to Hamam al-Alil, south of Mosul, on the western banks of the Euphrates, which has become the transit hub for the tens of thousands of families fleeing the West Mosul conflict. The camp adjacent to the site is at full capacity, and many families are being moved to other camps, with large numbers opting to go to areas east of Mosul where they stay with families, friends or in rental accommodations, says IOM. According to the Iraqi Government, cumulatively, more than 742,000 people have been displaced from Mosul and its surrounding areas since 2016, when the military offense to oust extremists began, including 566,000 individuals from Western Mosul since mid-February. More than 73,000 Iraqis were displaced last week alone. As of 23 May, IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix has tracked and located more than 377,000 individuals some 63,000 families currently sheltering in camps and emergency sites, including people living in host communities, informal sites and rented homes. Protection of civilian lives is a legal and moral duty above all other objectives Meanwhile, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O'Brien expressed deep concern for the safety of civilians behind ISIL lines in Western Mosul. Although the UN is not present in the areas where fighting is occurring, we have received very disturbing reports of families being shut inside booby-trapped homes and of children being deliberately targeted by snipers, he said, emphasizing that families in the city still lack access to clean water and medicine and many have only limited access to food. Yesterday, the Government asked civilians in districts surrounding and inside the Old City to leave and seek safety across government lines. We don't know for sure how many civilians are still in ISIL-held districts, but as many as 200,000 additional people may try to leave in coming days, he explained. I remind all parties to the conflict of their obligation under international law to protect civilians against all forms of violence and to ensure people in need have access to the assistance they require, stated Mr. O'Brien, adding that in the context of Mosul, where ISIL fighters are known to be using human shields in densely-populated neighbourhoods, parties to the conflict must take all feasible precautions to protect civilian lives. International law is unambiguous. The protection of civilian lives is a legal and moral duty that stands above all other objectives, underscored the UN aid chief. Kosovo: UN to create trust fund, following panel report on alleged rights violations by mission Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Kosovo: UN to create trust fund, following panel report on alleged rights violations by mission, 26 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eb3334.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Comments All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Taking into account an expert panel report on alleged human rights violations by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, the Secretary-General has decided to establish a Trust Fund to implement community-based assistance projects, his spokesperson said today. Among the cases reviewed by the Human Rights Advisory Panel, which examined alleged rights violations by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), was a complaint submitted by 138 individuals from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities that they suffered lead poisoning and other serious health consequences as a result of their relocation to internally-displaced persons (IDP) camps in northern Kosovo. The trust fund will finance community-based assistance projects, primarily in North Mitrovica, South Mitrovica and Leposavi, but will benefit more broadly the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. "The assistance projects will focus on the most pressing needs of those most vulnerable communities, including with respect to health services, economic development and infrastructure," said Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, in a statement. "The Secretary-General is keenly aware of the particular plight of those individuals, as well as the other members of these most vulnerable communities who also lived in the IDP camps" and "wishes to express the Organization's profound regret for the suffering endured by all individuals living in the IDP camps," the Spokesperson said. "The Secretary-General believes that it is our shared duty to support the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Kosovo and ensure that they receive the assistance that they need," Mr. Dujarric said, noting that the UN will make every effort, in consultation with Member States, to mobilize the necessary resources in support of the Trust Fund. The Organization will also continue to draw lessons from its experience in Kosovo and from the work of the Panel and take action to prevent such situations from happening again, he said. Since November 2007, the Panel has reviewed more than 500 complaints in the context of United Nations peacekeeping missions. In a number of cases, the Panel concluded that there had been failures to uphold human rights standards. The Panel completed its work on the Kosovo case and subsequently provided a final report in July 2016. UN envoy warns of dire crisis as Gaza faces power cuts, gallons of raw sewage pouring into the sea Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN envoy warns of dire crisis as Gaza faces power cuts, gallons of raw sewage pouring into the sea, 26 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eb3ad4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations Middle East envoy today cautioned that unless urgent measures are taken to de-escalate the crisis now spiralling out of control in the Gaza Strip, there will be devastating consequences for Palestinians and Israelis alike. "In Gaza, we are walking into another crisis with our eyes wide open," the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, told the Security Council in New York. The senior UN official noted that the humanitarian situation has worsened since March, when Hamas set up a parallel government institution to run affairs in the enclave resulting in an "intra-Palestinian political tug-of-war." He called for compromise, the implementation of intra-Palestinian agreements and the end of closures. Of particular concern is the "unprecedented" energy crisis after the lone power plant was shut over a taxation dispute between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Combined with downed power lines from Egypt and possible restrictions on purchase of Israeli electricity, most Palestinians in Gaza receive only about four hours of electricity per day. If the Palestinian Government implements its decision to cap purchase of energy from Israel, "this decision will further reduce electricity supply by some 30 per cent, plunging its population into a spiral of a humanitarian catastrophe," Mr. Mladenov said. He noted that the UN has been warning of this potential crisis for months, and that it is now becoming a reality - with hospitals postponing elective surgeries, limited drinking water, and soaring food prices. The lack of power is also preventing sewage from being treated. The equivalent of 40 Olympic-size swimming pools of raw sewage is being dumped into the Mediterranean Sea on a daily basis. "An environmental disaster for Israel, for Egypt and Gaza is in the making," Mr. Mladenov said. The Special Coordinator also expressed concern for the ongoing hunger strike by Palestinian detainees protesting against their conditions in Israeli jails, which, on the eve of Ramadan, has now entered its 40th day. "I call for a re-doubling of efforts to end the strike as soon as possible. The crisis must be resolved in line with International Humanitarian Law and Israel's human rights obligations," he said, calling for maximum restraint and taking any steps to avoid further escalation. Among other issues raised, Mr. Mladenov noted that while the Lebanese Parliament has not yet reconvened after adjourning in April, he hoped it would agree to an electoral law before the tenure ends on 20 June. Noting that the deteriorating conditions in Gaza and the West Bank only fuel anger and instability, Mr. Mladenov urged all sides to forge a genuine reconciliation. "If Israelis and Palestinians hope to extract themselves from the immeasurable burden this conflict has wrought, they must be willing to take the painful steps that will ultimately lead to peace," he said. "Neither side can afford another missed opportunity." Fresh violence empties city in Central African Republic; senior UN official urges more aid Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Fresh violence empties city in Central African Republic; senior UN official urges more aid, 26 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eb4164.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. A senior United Nations official is calling for additional humanitarian aid in the Central African Republic, where nearly the entire population of the city Bria was forcibly displaced last week. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that more than 41,000 people were forced out of their homes in unprecedented violence between rival armed groups between 15 and 18 May. In those days, people searching for protection flooded seven sites for internally displaced camps, among them one near a base for the UN peacekeeping force in the country (MINUSCA). With the emergence of an ethnic dimension to the conflict, hundreds of houses were burned, property looted and ransacked, said OCHA. The resurgence of the last outbreaks of tension in the past two weeks has caused the displacement of about 100,000 people, 200 wounded and 300 dead, according to the Ministry of Social Health in the country. Echoing the Government's concerns, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Najat Rochdi, expressed concern at this new outbreak of violence where civilian people are paying the highest cost. A lack of sufficient shelters is the main concern, as CAR is now in a rainy season, following by the need for food and clean water. OCHA said that shelters and food rations have been convoyed from Bangui and Bambari to Bria, but insecurity and the poor conditions of roads have delayed their arrival. The humanitarian community is also working to meet the needs in terms of supply of drinking water and sanitation. Diseases are also increasing, spread by promiscuity and poor hygiene, OCHA said. The senior UN official has called for additional resources. Halfway through the year, funding for the 399.5 million dollars Humanitarian Response Plan is only at 64.8 million. CAR is emerging from civil conflict which began in 2013, with clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian. Civilians in Syria must be spared from anti-ISIL airstrikes UN rights chief Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Civilians in Syria must be spared from anti-ISIL airstrikes UN rights chief, 26 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eb4844.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations human rights chief today urged all warring parties in Syria to take every feasible measure to spare the civilian population from the effects of the armed conflict, noting that civilians are increasing caught in fighting between the Government forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) terrorist group. In particular, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein urged the air forces of the Government and other States fighting ISIL in Syria to take much greater care to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilians. The rising toll of civilian deaths and injuries already caused by airstrikes in Deir-ez-Zor and Al-Raqqa suggests that insufficient precautions may have been taken in the attacks, Mr. Zeid said in a news release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Just because ISIL holds an area does not mean less care can be taken. Civilians should always be protected, whether they are in areas controlled by ISIL or by any other party, he added. Places such as the border city of Albo Kamal where retreating ISIL fighters and their families are mixed in with some 100,000 people, including displaced Syrians and Iraqis are of particular concern, Mr. Zeid said. The same civilians who are suffering indiscriminate shelling and summary executions by ISIL, are also falling victim to the escalating airstrikes, particularly in the northeastern governorates of Al-Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor, according to numerous credible reports of such incidents, he said, citing an airstrike of 14 May that reportedly killed 23 farm workers, including 17 women, in a rural village of eastern Al-Raqqa Governorate. Airstrikes on two residential areas of the ISIL-controlled city of Albo Kamal in eastern Deir-ez-Zor Governorate on 15 May reportedly killed at least 59 civilians, including 16 children and 12 women and injured another 70. The day after that, ISIL fighters are said to have cut the throats of eight men at the sites of the airstrikes, after accusing them of providing coordinates for the strikes. On 18 May, an ISIL attack on the Government-controlled village of Aqareb in rural eastern Hama Governorate allegedly resulted in the deaths of 36 civilians including women and children. Libya: UN envoy calls on rival groups to immediately halt violence in Tripoli Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Libya: UN envoy calls on rival groups to immediately halt violence in Tripoli, 26 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eb4f94.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Condemning the surging violence in Tripoli, the top United Nations official in Libya called today for an immediate end to fighting in and around the capital and for rival groups to put Libyan national interests ahead of their own. According to a news statement, Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for the North African country, is following reports of the violence with grave concern and has called for the fighting to stop and for civilians to be protected. Voices of reason should prevail for the benefit of the country, he said. Political aims must not be pursued through violence. Civilians must be protected. I remind all parties of their duty to respect the provisions of international humanitarian and international human rights law, said Mr. Kobler, who also heads up the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). He went on to express full support to the Presidency Council as the sole legitimate executive authority in Libya, as stipulated in UN Security Council resolution 2259 (2015) and 2278 (2016). He urged all parties in Libya to engage seriously in the political process and towards national reconciliation. For its part, the UN Security Council also condemned the escalating violence in Tripoli today. Calling on all parties in Libya to exercise restraint, the Council reiterated that there can be no military solution and urged parties to express their support for national reconciliation. The members of the Security Council called for perpetrators of criminal and terrorist acts across Libya to be brought to justice, continued the statement, which also condemned the military escalation in southern Libya, including the attack at Brak al-Shati on 18 May, which reportedly resulted in the summary executions of combatants and civilians. Welcoming the statement by Prime Minister Sarraj condemning the military escalation and launching an investigation into the attack at Brak al-Shati, the Council also noted condemnations of the attack by other Libyan political institutions. On other concerns, the Council reiterated its grave concern at the increase in smuggling of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, deplored the continued resulting tragedies, including on 24 May which resulted in dozens of casualties, and extended their deepest condolences to all those affected and their families. UN strongly condemns terrorist attack in Egypt Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN strongly condemns terrorist attack in Egypt, 26 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eb5fd4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today condemned in the strongest terms the killing of at least 28 people in Egypt, with the Council denouncing the attack heinous and cowardly. The 15-member Council, whose rotating membership currently includes Egypt, began a regularly scheduled meeting this morning with a moment of silence in honour of the victims. In a press statement, the Council members expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of Egypt, and wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured, reportedly including children. In a statement that followed, the Council reiterated that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. Perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism need to be brought to justice, the members said, and called on Governments to cooperate actively with the Egyptian Government and all relevant authorities. A statement issued by UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Mr. Guterres condemned the terrorist attack, saying: There can be no justification for such horrific violence. The Secretary-General expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Egypt. He also wished a quick recovery to those injured and hoped that the perpetrators of this despicable act will be swiftly identified and brought to justice. Also strongly condemning the attack, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), said: The terrorist attack in Egypt and few days ago in Manchester are stark reminders that the ugly face of terrorism knows no borders. It is also a reminder that we should all stand up together in our fight against terrorism in all its forms. Kabul blast: two media workers killed, at least six journalists wounded Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 31 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Kabul blast: two media workers killed, at least six journalists wounded, 31 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eb84c4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns today's massive truck bomb explosion in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that killed at least 65 people including a Tolo News employee and a BBC driver. Several journalists were among the hundreds of wounded. The suicide bomb, which went off during the morning rush hour, rocked the city's closely-policed diplomatic district, Wazir Akbar Khan, where many news organizations are based. According to the information obtained by RSF, Aziz Novin, an employee of Tolo News's ICT section, and BBC driver Mohammad Nazir were among the fatalities. Four BBC journalists and two TV1 journalists were among those injured, while TV1's headquarters was badly damaged. Novin is the fifth media employee to be killed in the past two weeks. An attack on the national radio and TV broadcaster's local branch in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, on 17 May killed four of its employees - Abdollatif Amiri, Mohammad Amir Khan Shinwari, Naghdi Ghani and Zeinolah Khan Mollakhil. Tolo News has paid a high price in the war imposed by democracy's enemies. Novin's death brings the number of its employees killed in various attacks in Kabul since the start of 2016 to eight. RSF offers its condolences to the families and colleagues of Aziz Novin and Mohammad Nazir. Afghanistan is ranked 120th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Nigerian reporters under yoke of all-powerful governors Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 31 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Nigerian reporters under yoke of all-powerful governors, 31 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592eba444.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by all the violence against journalists in Nigeria in the past 18 months and reminds President Muhammadu Buhari's federal government of its obligations as regards media freedom, including the obligation to ensure that state governors respect it. Since the start of 2016, RSF has registered more than 70 cases of violence against journalists and media outlets in the course of their work in Nigeria. Last week's demolition of Breeze FM in Abuja, the federal capital, is just one example of the climate of violence and instability to which journalists are exposed. The station, which began broadcasting last February, was torn down in a single day, 20 May, on the grounds that it had been issued a permit to operate in a residential area by mistake. Journalists were unable to cover its demolition because the police shot in the air to disperse protesters. "Due process was not followed", Breeze FM director Nawani Aboki told the Daily Trust. "This demolition was carried out because I don't belong to the same political party as the governor. He is afraid that the station might not support his political ambition. Part of the reasons is that the station aired a report on the ongoing labour strike in the state." The station broadcasted a debate on 1 May in which guests criticized the delay in paying salaries to employees of the state government in Nasarawa, the state immediately to the east of Abuja. "The summary methods used to silence this radio station are unacceptable and are part of a generalized climate of violence towards the media in Nigeria," RSF editor in chief Virginie Dangles said. "We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to follow through on his statements of support for the media by reining in the state governors and state governments responsible for this kind of violation." This was not Nasarawa governor Umaru Al-Makura's first attack on the media. Several journalists have been targeted. Punch newspapers correspondent Umar Muhammed and Rabiu Omaku of the Universal Reporters news website were ejected from Nasarawa's government house last September and were forbidden to return because of articles critical of the governor. In November, they were banned from covering Nasarawa government activities "for life." All-powerful governors Such arbitrary actions are unfortunately typical of what journalists experience in Nigeria. The wide-ranging autonomy and political weight of governors in their own state guarantee them almost complete impunity in their treatment of the local media, hence the profusion of more or less official measure designed to silence critics. The states that are the leading media freedom violators are the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) in the centre of the country (with 16 cases since the start of 2016), Lagos in the southwest (9), Bayelsa in the south (4), and Rivers in the southeast (4). Cases of violence against journalists and violations of the freedom to inform were registered in 24 of Nigeria's 38 states. Bans on access to public information are the leading category of media freedom violation although Nigeria adopted a Freedom of Information Act with great fanfare in 2011. Since the start of 2016, at least 39 journalists have been arbitrarily prevented from doing their work because they were denied access to a trial, press conference, senate debate or other activity that they were nonetheless accredited to cover. Just weeks ago, on 7 May, Abuja presidential palace correspondents were turned away when President Buhari received the 82 Chibok schoolgirls who had just been released by Boko Haram. The only media allowed to cover the event were state media such as Nigeria Television Authority and Voice of Nigeria (VON), whose bosses are appointed by the federal government. A climate of impunity... Regardless of the federal government's obligations, journalists are often targeted by the police, army or State Security Service (SSS), and usually with complete impunity. Journalists often pay a high price for catching them in the act of corruption or using violence against civilians. Channels Television cameraman Ekikere Udom was badly beaten by police in Port Harcourt last November as he was filming them firing on members of the two main parties - the People's Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress - who were protesting in the street. His phone and other personal items were seized and he had to be treated in hospital. In all, more than 10 journalists have been the victims of violence by the security forces since the start of 2016. Arbitrary arrests of journalists are also frequent. In Lagos State, for example, police arrested ten Biafra Times journalists on sedition charges on 30 January, seizing equipment and copies of the newspaper. They were accused of supporting the Biafran separatist cause, which is regarded by the government as a terrorist movement and is virtually a taboo subject in Nigeria. In February, soldiers in the southeastern State of Abia seized copies of four newspapers - New Republic, Vesym, Freedom Journal and Authority - with stories about Biafran separatism and attacked the newspapers' vendors. According to RSF's tally, at least 23 journalists have been arrested since the start of 2016. In most cases, they were quickly released and charges were dropped. RSF condemns this method of harassing and intimidating media personnel in Nigeria. ...that is spreading Acts of violence by the authorities against journalists enjoy complete impunity, which encourages more violence of the same kind. At least 11 journalists have been injured by civilians, and their equipment has been damaged, during violent incidents. In most cases, they were attacked while covering protests. Investigations were sometimes launched but without any result. At least three broadcast media outlets have also been invaded by groups of youths trying to force them to broadcast certain content. Nigeria is ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index after falling six places in a year. Joint letter decries impunity in journalist's murder Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 May 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Joint letter decries impunity in journalist's murder, 30 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592ebb0f4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and five other free speech organizations have sent a joint letter to the Mexican authorities urging them not to let journalist Miroslava Breach's murder go unpunished. In the two months since her death on 23 March, no arrest has been made and the investigation has made no significant progress. Results needed in two-month-old investigation into Miroslava Breach's murder Sixty days have already elapsed since journalist Miroslava Breach's murder on 23 March. So far there has been no arrest and no significant progress in the investigation, although the local authorities said they had identified this horrible crime's perpetrators and instigators. The failure to issue any arrest warrant for the supposedly identified perpetrators is therefore alarming. The lack of diligence displayed by the Chihuahua authorities is generating a climate of mistrust towards them and uncertainty among the victim's family, fellow journalists and society as whole, which expects swift progress in the investigation. For these reasons, ARTICLE 19, Centro de Investigacion y Capacitacion Propuesta Civica, Comunicacion e Informacion de la Mujer (CIMAC), Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Periodistas de a Pie condemn the impunity currently prevailing in the Breach murder. In the eyes of the organizations signing this letter, it is clear that the repeated violations of freedom of expression constitute a major structural and social problem and reflect Mexico's growing violence. At every level federal, state and municipal the government takes no interest in the media and even, very often, poses a threat to the media instead of ensuring their protection. Against this backdrop of great vulnerability for the media, Javier Valdez's recent murder in Sinaloa state has highlighted the lack of Mexican government policies for reining in the violence to which journalists are subjected day after day in our country. Those signing this letter have for many years been condemning the difficulties experienced by the media in our country, which is ranked as one of the most dangerous in the world for exercising the freedom of expression. "Actions in defence of freedom of expression and the protection of journalists and human rights defenders" were announced by President Enrique Pena Nieto and the National Conference of Governors on 17 May. We demand the immediate implementation of these measures, especially those for protecting journalists and combatting impunity for crimes of violence against the media. It no longer suffices to condemn free speech violations and express outrage about violence against journalists. Concrete measures must now be taken to stop the violence affecting those who practise journalism in Mexico. The Chihuahua state attorney-general's office and the federal attorney-general's office must guarantee that Miroslava Breach's murder will not go unpunished and that those responsible will be brought to justice and tried for their crimes. All of the organizations signing this letter also issue an impassioned appeal to the Federal Mechanism for Protecting Human Rights Defenders and Journalists to work with federal and state authorities in order to been able to guarantee the safety of journalists in Chihuahua and other parts of the country where they are subject to constant violence. Finally, we call on Chihuahua governor Javier Corral's administration to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that nothing similar to the crime against Miroslava Breach ever happens again in the state of Chihuahua. We remind the governor that two journalists and two human rights defenders have already been subjected to execution-style murders since his term began. We want no more talk. We demand results. ARTICLE 19, MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA BUREAU COMUNICACION E INFORMACION DE LA MUJER A.C. (CIMAC) COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS PERIODISTAS DE A PIE PROPUESTA CIVICA Bahrain heading for 'total suppression' of human rights as secular opposition group banned Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 31 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Bahrain heading for 'total suppression' of human rights as secular opposition group banned, 31 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592ef9fd4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Bahrain's dissolution of a major political opposition society is the latest troubling move in its blatant campaign to end all criticism of the government, Amnesty International said. The secular National Democratic Action Society (Wa'ad) was dissolved today after having issued a statement in February, saying that Bahrain was suffering from a "constitutional political crisis" amid continuous human rights violations. The group was subsequently charged with "advocating violence, supporting terrorism and incitement to encourage crimes and lawlessness". "By banning major political opposition groups, Bahrain is now heading towards total suppression of human rights," said Lynn Maalouf, Director of research at Amnesty International's Beirut Regional Office. "The suspension of Wa'ad is a flagrant attack on freedom of expression and association, and further proof that the authorities have no intention of delivering on promises of human rights progress." At the request of the Ministry of Justice, a Bahraini court dissolved Wa'ad following a statement it made on 14 February 2017, the anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, criticizing the Bahraini constitution. The court also ruled to liquidate its funds.On 6 March, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit against Wa'ad for violating the Law on Political Associations. Wa'ad first learned about the lawsuit through the media, receiving official notification on 7 March. Wa'ad is also being charged on account of its support to the main opposition party Al Wefaq, which was dissolved on baseless charges in July 2016, and its Secretary General, Sheikh Ali Salman, an Amnesty International was made prisoner of conscience. It also is accused of electing Ebrahim Sharif, a former prisoner of conscience, as a member of its Central Committee despite his having "lost his civil and political rights" when he was charged in 2011. The Ministry of Justice accused Wa'ad of "advocating and inciting terrorism" after it condemned the execution of three men on 15 January - referring to them as "martyrs" - and calling "martyrs" other men who died or were killed by security forces in February. "The allegations made by the Ministry of Justice against Wa'ad and its leaders are baseless and absurd," said Lynn Maalouf. "Their only so-called 'crime' is exercising their right to freedom of expression and association." Wa'ad and its leaders have repeatedly stated their opposition to violence and commitment to peaceful means and they have denied the charges. The Wa'ad party also signed the National Declaration of Non-Violence Principles in 2012 and has repeatedly condemned calls for violence and acts of violence against security forces. Background This is not the first time Bahrain's Ministry of Justice has taken, or threatened to take, legal action against Wa'ad or suspended or dissolved a political association. In August 2014, the Minister of Justice filed a court case against Wa'ad for electing Ebrahim Sharif as its Secretary General in October 2012. The case was dropped in November 2014 to reduce tensions in the run-up to that month's elections, and after Wa'ad had agreed to hold new internal elections. Al Wefaq, the main opposition party in Bahrain, was dissolved in July 2016, one month after a court ordered the suspension of its activities, the closure of its offices and headquarters and the seizure of its accounts and assets. Sheikh Ali Salman, the Secretary General of Al Wefaq and Fadhel Abbas Mahdi Mohamed, former Secretary General of another political association, Al-Wahdawi, were also imprisoned as prisoners of conscience. The suspension of Wa'ad comes amid a general clampdown on human rights that has intensified since the start of 2017. This includes the trial of prominent human rights defender and prisoner of conscience Nabeel Rajab, the approval of a constitutional amendment allowing civilians to be tried before a military court, the restoration of arrest and interrogation powers to the National Security Agency and excessive use of force against protesters. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Dominican Republic: Senate faces golden opportunity to decriminalize abortion Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 31 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Dominican Republic: Senate faces golden opportunity to decriminalize abortion, 31 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592efa664.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Senators in the Dominican Republic must scrap one of the world's most restrictive laws on abortion and begin to protect the rights of millions of women and girls, Amnesty International said ahead of a vote that could decriminalize abortion in certain circumstances. "Senators in the Dominican Republic have a golden opportunity to protect the lives of millions of women and girls. They must seize the moment and scrap one of the world's most restrictive abortion laws contained in a Criminal Code which dates back to the 19th century," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International. Later today, Senators are expected to discuss President Danilo Medina's recommendations to reform how the country's criminal code treats womens lives and choices. He requested that abortion is decriminalized in three circumstances: in pregnancies that pose a risk to the life of the woman, are the result of rape or incest, and where the foetus will not survive outside the womb. The reform would mean be a decisive move away from what is currently one of the most restrictive laws on abortion in the world. Provisions on abortion in the country's current Criminal Code, which dates back to 1884, criminalize women who have an abortion in all circumstances, even when their life of the woman is at risk or when the foetus has no chance of survival. Women who have an abortion face imprisonment of two to three years. Any health professional who facilitates or assists in abortions can be punished with four to 10 years of jail time. These draconian restrictions on abortion have resulted in tragic violations of women's and girls' rights to life and health. In 2012, Rosaura Almonte, who suffered from leukemia, died from hypovolemic shock after she was denied life-saving chemotherapy on the basis it would have affected the seven-week foetus she was carrying. The World Health Organization and medical associations said criminalization of abortion only leads to women seeking unsafe clandestine abortions that put their lives and health at risk. The United Nations Committee Against Torture and several other international human rights bodies have found that denying women access to abortion services can, in certain circumstances, amount to torture and other ill treatment. In a report last year, Amnesty International documented how women across the Americas were forced to endure abuse akin to torture and other ill treatment as a consequence of the criminalization of abortion. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International The real crisis in North Korea is not the one you've been hearing about Publisher IRIN Author Gianluca Spezza Publication Date 18 May 2017 Cite as IRIN, The real crisis in North Korea is not the one you've been hearing about, 18 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592efb654.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has been in the news a lot lately, with the DPRK testing new missiles and the United States moving a naval strike group off the Korean peninsula. The commentary almost always revolves around strategic issues, especially North Korea's nuclear programme. In focusing so narrowly on the country's military and its leader, Kim Jong-un, however, the debate largely overlooks the North Korean people. This has two major implications. First, it perpetuates an image of the country that is not in line with reality. In fact, the younger Kim does not enjoy the kind of monolithic influence held by his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, or his father, Kim Jong-il. Power structures in North Korea began to disintegrate under Kim Jong-il and are now widely ramified. Security apparatuses are no longer under one single point of command; neither are military corps. This is something that the administration of US President Donald Trump seems to be oblivious to, but it should take into account when formulating policy. Second, and most important, the world's myopic attention to Kim Jong-un precludes recognition of the nearly 26 million people that live in the country. They represent the true issue at stake, once the current regime - which is living on borrowed time - is gone. What do we know about DPRK and its people? Oddly enough, since the early 1990s the international community has accumulated a larger knowledge base on North Korean society than intelligence agencies have ever had on its military. Yet, most media insist on reporting obsessively on the latter. This is shortsighted. The questions we ought to ask instead, if we are to understand where the country is headed, are: What is the current state of North Korea? What do we know about its society and economy? What kind of country will emerge once the regime is gone? These questions matter, because with each crisis, the possibility of regime change or collapse becomes more real. With that, the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe increases, and neither South Korea nor China are well prepared to respond. North Korea represents an anomaly, for both aid organisations and experts of international politics. But things are changing. For a long time, the country may have deserved its moniker of the hermit kingdom. But today, after 22 years of humanitarian assistance and development, the DPRK is an aid-dependent country, stuck in a paradoxical situation. Its economy crashed in the mid-1990s and never recovered, while its social indicators went from good, to terrible, to decent over the last two decades. The North Korean development indicators for children's welfare, as well as immunisation and education, are well above countries with a much higher GDP, but the economy does not reflect this relatively healthy development status. The DPRK produces very little of value, and its people find survival in the black market rather than state-provided jobs. North Korea, in other words, has the economy of an underdeveloped country, with levels of social development of a middle-to-high income country. It is time to take a look at the country beyond military parades. How did North Korea get so poor? Upon the demise of its first leader, Kim Il-sung, in 1994, the DPRK faced a combination of domestic and international factors that negatively affected all sectors of society and state institutions. External circumstances included the loss between 1991 and 1993 of its main allies and economic partners, the Soviet Union and China. In addition, in 1993, China started to demand payments at regular market rates for oil and fuel, which had until then been provided at very low prices and constituted the main source of energy for the DPRK. In this rapidly changing international scenario, the DPRK, which had become heavily dependent on subsided trade with its former communist partners during the Cold War, found itself with no economic safety net. At the same time, the country was hit by a series of droughts and floods, along with a sudden shortage of energy sources. This devastated an agriculture system almost entirely dependent on chemical fertilisers and mechanised irrigation. With diminishing amounts of food, the effectiveness of the Public Distribution System that regulated the allocation of basic goods decreased gradually, forcing the population to seek alternative means of subsistence. Housewives, factory workers, doctors, nurses, teachers and students alike had to fend for themselves in order to secure food and heating material during winter. The crisis caught many North Koreans by surprise, and it was aggravated by economic mismanagement. It should be noted that the Public Distribution System did not collapse altogether, but the degree of functioning of the system varied between different provinces. Between 1994 and 1998, GDP declined by almost half. This, in combination with the progressive dysfunction of the PDS, severely reduced access to food, medications, and primary goods, leading to a famine and to the general deterioration of the population's ability to withstand further calamities. The economy: China dominates Today, it is safe to say that, in effect, China runs North Korea's economy. Chinese currency is widely used in the unofficial markets that have mushroomed around the country since the crisis of the mid-1990s. China gets the lion's share of trade with North Korea and provides the bulk of its food and energy. Luxury items, if and when they manage to come into the DPRK, do so from across the border region of Yanbian or Chinese ports. To be sure, North Korea does have a few economic niches, but these too are largely influenced by China's presence. The DPRK's significant mineral resources are almost exclusively exploited by Chinese companies, and Chinese visitors make for the majority of customers in North Korea's trade fairs and Special Economic Zones. In other words, simply by looking at the economy of North Korea, one could surmise that as long as China is there to support it, the country could muddle along with no substantial changes for a very long time. A look at North Korean social indicators, however, offers a different perspective. Demography is destiny The key indicators of a country's state of health and future prospects are its social statistics, particularly those on demographics. According to combined data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in Pyongyang, the World Bank Institute, and the UN gathered in 2008, and data by UNICEF gathered in 2014, the DPRK's average population growth rate for 1990-2004 was 0.9 percent, or equivalent to that of upper middle-income countries. The same data provide trends for 2004-2020 that place growth at 0.4 percent, or equivalent to that of high-income countries. At the same time, North Korea's birth rate dropped to 16 per 1,000 people in the late 2000s - the level of middle-income countries - whilst the fertility rate is slowly approaching the levels of most Western countries. It sits between parity - two children, which is the minimum requirement for a population to continue replacing itself over time - and one child or none per couple, which is deemed not enough to avoid extinction in the long run. The latter is where Germany, Italy, and most EU countries are at present. What does this mean for the future of North Korea? If we read population increase as an indication of economic and social stability, the DPRK looks further removed from the so-called "failed states" it is often compared to - like Somalia, Yemen, or South Sudan - which are all on the verge of famine (or, in the case of parts of South Sudan, already experiencing it). North Korea is in fact undergoing the same "cradle crisis" that characterises advanced countries, from Japan to Germany. However, the same statistics, viewed from the standpoint of overall death rates and infant mortality rates suggest the DPRK is right there with low-income countries. Its average death rate is as high as 11 per 1,000 people, and rates of infant mortality that have not yet fully recovered from the 1990s crisis. This has a number of implications: North Korea doesn't have the problems that South Korea has at the moment, with an increasingly aging population placing stress on the social welfare system. As a matter of fact, the DPRK welfare system has been simply downsized and slowed to a minimum since the 1990s. Today, North Koreans live on average six to eight years less than South Koreans and about nine years less than the Japanese. In Malthusian terms, this means that the government has less to worry about in the short-term. Considering the chronic economic stagnation, most North Koreans alive today could well get old before they even have a chance to elevate their economic status. At the same time, with a slow but steady recovery from the famine and the crisis of the mid-1990s, the DPRK seems to have reached a level of relative social comfort at which most middle-to-high income countries stop having enough children for the maintenance of native population. At this stage, they will slowly begin to fade out unless they adopt open immigration policies - an option that is unpopular in South Korea and Japan, and next to impossible in the DPRK. If the trend continues - and the figures from 2008 and 2014 suggest it will - North Korea may one day run out of people to maintain its workforce. That would be one more reason for the regime to push towards reunification. While its rival state south of the demilitarised zone is also growing older, it is still twice as populous, and immensely richer by comparison. Still, if nothing changes at the economic level, any effort of reunification will require the equivalent of a mini-Marshall Plan for the entire peninsula. This is the real North Korean conundrum: The country has faced challenges it is hard to imagine any other regime surviving: famine, floods, droughts, economic collapse, energy shortages, sanctions, and leadership changes. This has left a North Korea that is a mass of contradictions. Few consider that the country making headlines for its nuclear technology has a basket case economy, but also one of the highest literacy rates in the world. There is no other country with such low economic indicators that can at the same time build and at test nuclear devices and achieve universal literacy, while still being aid-dependent. Is aid the answer? To explain the North Korean anomaly, we have to look at the nature of aid itself with three key questions: What is aid? Why is aid provided? Is it accomplishing what it is supposed to? From an economic perspective, we can think of aid as a measure of socioeconomic welfare, like the one used for families and individuals, but on a much bigger scale. Welfare policies are supposed to work as a safety net in times of emergency - fostering growth and preventing recession when families and individuals go through hardships. At any rate, welfare is conceived to be a temporary measure and aid doesn't come for free. Aid represents an extension of foreign policy from donor states to recipient nations. Donors and international organisations expect recipients to correct their course and adopt policies that move them towards a free market economy, and adherence to international treaties on human rights, environmental protection and sustainability. North Korea has become chronically dependent on aid since the mid 1990s. Yet, it has remained impervious to outside pressure for change. When it shows any degree of compliance with international norms, it does so only in fields where its interests converge with those of international organisations. Education and environmental protection are two examples. On the other hand, North Korea has no relationship with global economic bodies like the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. It makes no concessions on the issues of nuclear proliferation and allows no inspections from human rights organisations. But its population does require foreign assistance in order to survive. The socioeconomic emergency that swept the country between 1995 and 1999 was rooted in a combination of political, climatic, structural, and geopolitical factors. By 2005, the government declared the food emergency to be over and asked a number of NGOs - but not UN agencies - to leave. Nevertheless, the country has continued to rely on foreign assistance, just as the UN agencies at work in the DPRK kept monitoring a situation that requires periodical emergency assistance, year in-year out, in combination with development programmes. If North Korea were a family, or an individual who has been in need of aid for 22 consecutive years, would this be considered normal? It's unlikely. Yet, aid needs to reach the people of the DPRK on a yearly basis or a new humanitarian emergency may break out, according to the UN. There is a consensus among humanitarians that as the North Korean people have no say on their government policies, they should not be the ones suffering the consequences. Therefore, the international community has responded with aid. However, a look at what North Korea has become since 1995 reveals that aid has not made North Korea strong enough to stand on its own. This is the most pressing problem with North Korea, aside from its periodically aggressive military posture. The country needs aid because what once was a functioning infrastructure for a command economy, in which the state plays the primary role, has ceased to exist. More than this, it needs important economic and political reforms. Currently however, North Korean politics withhold economic restructuring and growth. At the same time, aid agencies and donors tend to look at technical issues and do not tackle the lack of political decisions that could steer the country away from perpetually looming humanitarian disasters. A new approach? Aid has been invaluable in pulling the country out of the humanitarian catastrophe of the mid-1990s, and it has helped North Korea maintain decent levels in development indicators such as health and education since then on. But aid cannot help the country provide a decent standard of living on its own for its people. That can only be done through political reform. The real political story about North Korea today is that the "Stalinist fortress" - the impenetrable polity devoted to hardline communism - is no longer Stalinist, nor a fortress. North Korea scholars and South Korean government experts concur in saying that Kim Jong-un holds a fraction of the power that his father and grandfather wielded. The elites that have emerged from two decades of black market activity are aware that there are only a few obstacles to a reunification that could see them prosper, while lifting millions of North Koreans out of poverty. These factors are their "political guilt" (for they contributed to keeping the country in a state of repression over decades), and the risk of losing whatever wealth they have accumulated. If the United States and South Korea could agree to leave some of these families in power, providing them amnesty, they could ask in return for a soft removal of the Kim family, and open the door for a gradual economic rebuilding of the country. Financial incentive, or the lack thereof, in North Korea is the key issue. The average annual income in North Korea is a little below $1,000. In the South, it is over $30,000. No amount of foreign aid can ever bridge this difference. Inside Marawi: Death toll nears 100 as Philippines security forces battle Islamist militants Publisher IRIN Author Dennis Jay Santos Publication Date 29 May 2017 Cite as IRIN, Inside Marawi: Death toll nears 100 as Philippines security forces battle Islamist militants, 29 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/592efbff4.html [accessed 10 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Two women in a white pick-up were sobbing as they inched forward in a crush of vehicles leaving the besieged southern Philippines city of Marawi. In the back lay the lifeless body of their father, caught in the crossfire between government soldiers and Islamist militants. A young man waved a white sheet to signal they were in an emergency, hoping soldiers would hurry them through gridlocked traffic. It was futile. Vehicles were forced to slowly wind their way through a series of barriers as soldiers painstakingly checked for militants. "Our father was killed yesterday," said one of the women, who did not give her name. "He was hit by an airstrike. " The family was part of a steady exodus out of Marawi that began when fighting erupted a week ago. It quickly escalated into intense urban warfare, including helicopter rocket attacks on buildings where Islamist fighters were thought to be holed up. The conflict began with a failed attempt by security forces to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a member of the militant group Abu Sayyaf who the government says is affiliated with the so-called Islamic State. The operation was foiled when dozens of members of the Maute, another Islamist group that has pledged allegiance to IS, drove back security forces. The gunmen then abducted a Catholic priest and civilians who had taken shelter in a church, and their fate is still unknown. Maute also took over government buildings including a school and a hospital, and freed prisoners from two jails. IRIN accompanied soldiers past hundreds of residents who were fleeing in the opposite direction, many on foot, pushing carts full of possessions. A convoy of armoured vehicles pushed into the heart of the city, which now resembles an apocalyptic ghost town. Soldiers took positions against walls pockmarked by bullets; smoke rose in the distance. Many of Marawi's 200,000 residents have left by now and humanitarian agencies like the Red Cross are supporting them, while people in neighbouring towns are posting signs offering them "Free Food". Officials said at least 61 militants have been killed, along with 18 security forces and 19 civilians. The bodies of eight people were discovered in a ravine on Sunday after being shot with their hands tied behind their backs, and a sign attached to one of them read "munafik", or "traitor". "All civilians executed were perpetrated by this group," a local military spokesman, Captain Michael Malacat, told IRIN, referring to the Maute group. He said the military was still trying to verify if people were trapped in some parts of the city, after they called a government hotline. General Restituto Padilla Jr., spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told reporters in the capital, Manila, on Monday that security forces were close to taking back the city from Maute. "Our forces are in complete control of the city, except for certain areas of the city where they continue to hold," he said. Martial law The Philippines' tough-talking president, Rodrigo Duterte, has declared martial law not only in Marawi, but throughout Mindanao. The southernmost region of the country, Mindanao includes a large island as well as smaller ones, and it is home to most Muslims in the Philippines, an overwhelmingly Catholic country. Mindanao is also home to armed groups that have fought decades-long communist and Muslim insurgencies. Several Islamist groups have broken away from the main Muslim rebel armies, most significantly Abu Sayyaf, which formed in 1991 and had early links to al-Qaeda. The fragmentation has increased in recent years as a peace process faltered, and some of these smaller groups have declared their allegiance to IS. Duterte's declaration was quickly followed by questions about why he needed to impose martial law in stable areas of Mindanao. Some warned that it could ignite conflicts with other armed groups that have settled into an uneasy peace with the government, such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and that it could derail peace talks with communist insurgents. "The imposition of martial law throughout Mindanao for at least 60 days could also affect the Philippine armed forces' handling of other armed conflicts on the island, including with the communist New People's Army (NPA) and various Moro insurgent groups," said Human Rights Watch in a statement on 25 May. The statement was prescient. Two days later, the NPA accused the government of using martial law as an excuse to step up attacks against them and said it had "little option but to undertake more and more tactical offensives." The government responded by announcing that it was withdrawing from the next round of peace talks. Rights groups also worried that martial law could further strengthen Duterte's heavy-handed approach to his war on drugs, which has killed about 7,000 people in the past year. The main casualties have been members of poor communities rather than drug kingpins. Speaking to troops on Sunday on the island of Sulu, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold, Duterte said Islamist militants were financing themselves through the drug trade. "The root cause of the present crisis is illegal drugs... Marawi is the hotbed of meth manufacturing and trade in Mindanao," Duterte said, according to a statement released by the president's office. HRW and others also heard dark echoes of Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled as a brutal dictator from 1972 to 1981 after declaring martial law - especially since Duterte promised that his version would "not be any different from what the president, Marcos, did. I'd be harsh." Duterte has threatened to extend martial law across the entire country. Abuses from both sides Not all residents of Marawi oppose martial law. Sittie Ayeesha Dicali, a former journalist from Marawi who abandoned her career after repeated death threats, noted that Maute had carried out similar attacks before. The government blamed Maute for the September 2016 bombing of a night market - which killed 15 people - in Davao, Duterte's home city and where he served as mayor for two decades. In November last year, the group occupied the centre of Butig, flying the IS flag from the town hall before being driven out by a week-long military offensive that included airstrikes. "In the past incidents, they were able to escape and continue to grow," said Dicali. "We want the government to be able to crush the group, because we cannot afford to have another siege." The Department of National Defense issued a statement saying that "the rule of law and human rights should prevail" in areas under martial law. But such reassurances are tempered by past experience. Jalal Bilao, a Marawi resident and former vice-mayor of nearby Tubaran, ventured out into the deserted streets in his neighbourhood. He echoed a longstanding complaint - that civilians are caught between government forces and militant groups, and suffer at the hands of both. "We want the president to protect the people," he said. "We are mad at these ISIS (fighters), but at the same time scared of the military, because of what is happening." Fairfax, VA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/31/2017 --Commission Express, the nation's largest real estate commission advance provider, announced today the opening of its newest office, Commission Express of Lonestar TX located at 5501A Balcones Dr #312, Austin, TX 78731 "Real estate is a long held passion, having actively bought and sold investment properties since 2005", explains Josh Bohls. "I am so excited to provide local real estate professionals with fast, reliable, and convenient commission advance service which helps them sell more homes with better cash flow." Josh Bohls is a 5th generation Texan from a family with Central Texas roots dating back to 1844. Josh is a tech entrepreneur with deep experience in enterprise software, IT consulting, and education technology. Josh is active in the local Austin community, serving on an advisory board at the JCC and regularly contributing time to Meals on Wheels. Josh is a proud Longhorn, having graduated from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business in 1997. Josh resides in Northwest Hills with his wife and twin children. The widespread demand for Commission Express' services has been consistently demonstrated as we expand our offices throughout the country. "We are very excited to continue to broaden our commission advance services to the real estate professionals in Austin Texas area with the opening of this new office," stated John Stedman, President and CEO of Commission Express National. "Josh's vast entrepreneur experience in and out of real estate will serve him well in becoming a successful Commission Express owner." Josh and his team can be contacted at 512-970-8204 About Commission Express The commission advance company was founded in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, by two highly experienced real estate brokers in 1992. After managing offices and owning their own companies, they recognized that agents and brokers needed a reliable solution to their cash flow problems. Their goal was to put their experience to work, helping other real estate professionals build their businesses and achieve their dreams. Commission Express National, Inc. is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia now a days and is recognized as the only franchised real estate commission advance service provider in the country. To find out more about the company, please visit http://www.commissionexpress.com. From 2-7 to sectional champs, Monrovia has one question: 'Why not us?' Perth, Australia, May 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medgate client Woodside Energy, Australias largest independent oil and gas company, was recognized for its world-class capabilities in health and safety, being awarded the prestigious Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Safety Excellence Award. The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) is a national body representing Australias oil and gas exploration and production industry. Its Safety Excellence Award recognizes organizations that are leaders in safety performance and management. Companies are assessed based on demonstration of best practices and providing inspiration to the oil and gas industry. Woodside views health and safety as essential to business success. Their recently launched Process Safety Management initiative (PSMi) is a framework that ensures all Woodside assets and business functions have a standardized, globally applicable approach to managing process safety. Further, the company is leveraging data analytics to minimize risk in a systematic manner. Woodside is seeing concrete business outcomes resulting from its PSMi and overall positive safety culture. They saw the lowest total recordable injury rate (TRIR) in the companys history and achieved zero rates for recordable injuries and health and safety incidents for some of their recent high-risk initiatives. Were very proud to see Woodside Energy recognized for their significant achievements in process management safety, said Medgate President and CEO Mark Wallace. The management team at Woodside sees EHS initiatives as vital to business success and they are clearly reaping concrete business value from investing in technology, people, and processes to strengthen their leadership position. We congratulate them for their many notable achievements. About Woodside Energy Woodside is Australias largest independent oil and gas company with a global portfolio, recognized for their world-class capabilities as an explorer, developer, producer, and supplier of energy. The companys producing assets in the north-west of Australia are among the worlds best facilities, including the North West Shelf Project and the Pluto LNG Plant. Woodsides global exploration portfolio includes emerging and frontier provinces in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, the Atlantic margins, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. About Medgate Medgate leverages its cutting-edge SaaS-based technology and broad EHSQ risk management solution to partner with organizations around the world to effect meaningful change in the way environmental, health, safety, and quality is managed. Medgate stands by its customers as they attain performance goals, reduce EHSQ risks, enhance corporate productivity, and create a healthier workforce. The company has received many accolades for its strong employee culture and outstanding growth rate including recognition as one of Canadas Best Managed Companies, being named by Aon Hewitt as one of the Best Employers in Canada, and being awarded Best New Product of the Year by Environmental Protection. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6ee8a5da-5c01-4307-9402-637f0a3d7d20 United States Ambassador to Cambodia William A. Heidt (L), European Union Ambassador George Edgar (2nd from R), and Japanese Ambassador Hidehisa Horinouchi (R) talk to reporters outside the headquarters of the National Election Committee in Phnom Penh, May 31, 2017. UPDATED at 4 p.m. EST on 2017-06-21 A human rights intervention group of parliamentarians from Southeast Asia called on Cambodias ruling party on Wednesday to stop threatening violence ahead of nationwide commune council elections and expressed concern about the governments plan to deploy armed forces on election day. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), a group of former and serving Southeast Asian lawmakers, issued a statement expressing concerns about the repeated threats of violence made by high-ranking members of the ruling party and calling for an end to threats, violence, and intimidation. The group urged Cambodian authorities to ensure that the right of Cambodians to elect the candidates of their choice is protected. Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for nearly 32 years under the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), has warned repeatedly that opposition victories in local elections on June 4 and in parliamentary polls in 2018 will bring war to the country. Political observers expect the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)the main opposition party and one of 12 political parties competing for 1,646 commune council seatsto give the CPP a run for its money in the elections. Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Office of Council of Ministers and Secretary of State, dismissed APHRs concerns, saying that Cambodians fully enjoy the right to vote and will be able to freely cast ballots without encountering any issues raised by the group. He said that comments by Hun Sen and Defense Minister Tea Banh about the possibility of war should the ruling party lose the elections were meant to remind people of CNRP protests that turned violent in the aftermath of highly contested general elections in 2013. The CNRP participated in demonstrations between July 2013 and July 2014 against Hun Sens government following widespread allegations of electoral fraud. The party boycotted parliament, and a government crackdown on striking garment workers who were allied with the protesters in January 2014 led to the deaths of four people and the injuring of dozens of others. Phay Siphan downplayed APHRs statement as an opinion piece by a private group that should not be taken into consideration. He said APHR chairman Charles Santiago, a member of Malaysias parliament, colored and attacked us in the statement. He should spend time helping to improve any setbacks that his country is experiencing and that he has witnessed rather than interfering in Cambodias internal affairs, Phay Siphan said. ASEANs principles dont allow anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of nations within the ASEAN community, he added, in a reference to the regional organization comprising 10 Southeast Asian states which facilitates economic and political integration among its members. Hang Puthea, spokesman of the National Election Committee (NEC), the agency that supervises Cambodias national elections, said his organization has taken steps so that all eligible Cambodians can vote and has been working with the armed forces to ensure stability and safety for citizens during the post-election period. He called it a positive sign that the NEC has created a voter list that is up to 98 percent accurate and said his agency is working with election experts from the European Union, United States, and Japan. Should there be any cause for concern, one can lodge a complaint so we can investigate it, he said about possible voting irregularities. An APHR report on Cambodia titled Death Knell for Democracy issued on March 20 drew the ire of the Cambodian government for charging that Hun Sen and the CPP had created a climate of fear by expanding their crackdown on CNRP and activists ahead of the commune elections. The government countered by saying that the ASEAN-linked groups views did not reflect those of the larger regional body. Diplomats follow polls Ambassadors from the EU, U.S. and Japan were briefed by NEC officials about electoral arrangements, including the Cambodian governments intent to deploy armed soldiers on June 4, Hang Puthea said. "The three ambassadors also raised different questions, but their concerns were in common. First, it is about the role of security forces. Recently, there have been reports about too much show of security forces on the polling day that would cause public fear, but the NEC told them that it is not about fear. What countries dont have police or soldiers to protect order and peace?" Hang Puthea said. American Ambassador William A. Heidt said that the U.S. would be watching the elections closely. We from the United States are going to send a large delegation of people to the provinces to observe the election, he told reporters, adding that the U.S. was pleased with the work of the NEC to ensure all eligible voters can cast ballots. We look forward to hopefully a very transparent and fair election on Sunday, Heidt said. Diplomats from the three countries also asked the NEC to announce the election results on June 4 after the votes are tallied. But the NEC said it cannot announce the results the same day because it needs time to investigate any election-related complaints that are filed. Instead, the agency will announce the election results in three stagespreliminary results, temporary results, and official resultsthe last of which will be made public about 20 days after election day. Marked ballots in Battambang In a related development, Cambodians in Battambang, capital of northwestern Cambodias Battambang province, voiced concern on Wednesday about CPP activists who held meetings with villagers to instruct them on how to tick off the ruling party on voting ballots. The residents were especially concerned that the activists collected the marked sample ballots and took them when they left the villages. A resident of Ochar who spoke on condition of anonymity told RFAs Khmer Service on Wednesday that CPP activists, including village chiefs and candidates standing for commune counselor positions, gave villagers tins of canned fish, bread, and a bottle of water in exchange for their ballots. Ochar commune chief Hor Khoeun acknowledged that his partys working group instructed residents on how to mark ballots for the CPP, saying that there is nothing illegal about the measure. Political parties have their own methods, he said. As for the CPP, we used sample ballots to teach citizens how to tick off parties so that they know the order of the political parties in the commune [as they will appear on ballots on election day]. Reported by Neang Ieng, Chanren Chorn, Vanndeth Van, and Hour Hum for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story erroneously attributed to EU Ambassador to Cambodia George Edgar remarks that were made by NEC spokesman Hang Puthea characterizing the NEC meeting with Edgar and other foreign envoys. Twenty-eight years after People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops put an end to weeks of student-led pro-democracy protests on Tiananmen Square with tanks and machine guns, more than 20 dissidents remain in jail for campaigning over the massacre, rights activists said ahead of's anniversary. Those who participated in the nationwide democracy movement have since been persecuted for their subsequent involvement in human rights activism or campaigns for constitutional government, including 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and writer Liu Xiaobo, veteran journalist Gao Yu and rights activist Guo Feixiong, the overseas-based China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said on . Activists Chen Wei, Chen Xi and Zhu Yufu are all also currently serving lengthy jail terms on subversion charges, while former student leader and Buddhist monk Wu Zeheng was jailed in 2015. Lawyer Tang Jingling, Buddhist monk Sheng Guan and members of the banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP) Chen Shuqing, Lu Gengsong and Hu Shigen are also current prisoners of conscience. "Punishments for former 1989 participants are often harsher than for other prisoners, as authorities treat them as 'recidivists' with 'political motivation' to challenge the legitimacy of the one-party-ruled authoritarian state," the group said. "Some had served prison terms for their role in the movement and resumed their democracy and human rights activities after being released," CHRD, which compiles reports from groups inside China, said in a statement on its website. In total, CHRD said it had found 23 former 1989 activists currently behind bars in China, some of them, like Sichuan-based Chen Yunfei, for seeking to publicly commemorate those who died. Crackdown on commemorations In the central province of Hunan, police contacted more than 10 people in the provincial capital Changsha after they held an event commemorating the crackdown and posted a photo of themselves on social media. "Everyone wanted to get together to to remember those unfortunate students who were killed, and to discuss the event," participant Feng Jun told RFA. "Then we took a photograph to mark the anniversary." Fellow participant Zhu Chengzhi said he had received a phone call from police in his home city of Shaoyang on afternoon. "They saw the photo online, and they wanted to ask me about it, whether it took place in Changsha," Zhu said, adding that he expects to be under surveillance from or ahead of the anniversary. In the eastern province of Shandong, retired university professor Wenguang said 13 activists from the province had traveled out of town to hold their memorial, 10 days ahead of the anniversary. "There are around 10 people down there ... and they wouldn't let me leave the main door of my apartment building," he said. "Eventually they let me leave, but then they restricted my movements." In the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang, security services are on high alert as the anniversary coincides this year with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "The authorities are terribly nervous right now, especially around areas where [ethnic minority Muslim] Uyghurs are concentrated," Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group said. "They are now carrying out door-to-door searches by night of entire apartment blocks," he said. "They are forcing people to stay up late to see whose lights are still on. If anyone's lights are still on, they have to report them." "There is now a set of extreme reporting measures being implemented, particularly in [regional capital] Urumqi during Ramadan," Raxit said. 'Never forget. Never give up' And in the southwestern province of Sichuan, relatives of two people detained last year for selling bottles of spirits bearing labels commemorating , 1989 issued a statement calling for their immediate release. Teahouse proprietor Fu Hailu and poet Ma Qing were taken away by police in the provincial capital Chengdu after they brought out the alcohol, which bore the words ", 1989" and a cartoon of a man in front of an advancing column of tanks on the label. The label also read: "Never forget, never give up." "Was that era of history all for nothing?" the statement said. "Please can the government give us some clarity about what can have happened that was so bad they won't even allow future generations to remember it." "Where in Chinese law does it say that you can't remember history? Please release them immediately!" Fu's wife Liu Tianyan said she had hardly believed at first that her husband's detention was linked to the bottles' labels. "I had heard about , but I didn't really know much about it, so I read a lot about it after that, and I think that it was a terrible catastrophe, regardless of the exact circumstances," she said. "In my mind, it's similar to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake; a terribly painful event and worthy of reflection. It's normal to want to mourn the departed." Reported by Yang Fan and Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Hai Nan for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have detained a rights activist for selling T-shirts carrying a quotation from exiled billionaire property tycoon Guo Wengui. Dong Qi is currently being held in the Longgang Detention Center in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, after he began printing and selling T-shirts bearing the words "everything is just beginning." Police have also summoned his customers for questioning, while Dong is under investigation for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," his lawyer Wen Yu told RFA on Wednesday. "It's not often that somebody gets criminally detained for printing T-shirts," Wen said following a meeting with Dong at the detention center. "He has never been detained before, he told me, but he said he thought maybe he would get detained for this, and was mentally prepared for it." Wen said his application for bail had been denied. "They said that Dong Qi's case had already been downgraded from subversion to picking quarrels and stirring up trouble after they realized it was less serious," he said. But he said the charges didn't stand up. "On what basis can they detain him just for printing T-shirts?" Wen said. "It just doesn't make sense, so we will continue to apply for his release on bail." Dong's wife Xiao Liang said the family is totally dependent on his income to survive, and that he had started the T-shirt printing business as a way of making some extra money. "Dong Qi's parents are both farmers, and as his wife, I take care of our kid, who is only three," Liang said. "He is the main breadwinner." "He started printing these T-shirts because he thought they'd be very popular, so he had a batch made [to sell] to supplement our family income," she said. "He never thought that it would bring down this much trouble on our heads, or have such serious consequences," Liang said. Related cases Hebei-based Niu Lingchai said Dong isn't the first person to be detained for printing slogans on T-shirts, however. Niu said she was held for questioning after ordering a batch of T-shirts and selling them on to around 100 customers, who were subsequently called by police in their hometowns and warned not to wear the garments. "The police searched my home and took away all of my invoices, and I think they probably used them to find my customers' contact details, and then to get in touch with a lot of people by phone to warn them off," she said. And Kwon Pyong, an ethnic Korean from the northeastern province of Jilin, stood trial on Feb. 15 for subversion after he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with satirical nicknames for President Xi Jinping, including "Xitler." Neither is Dong the first to be detained for apparently supporting Guo. Shenzhen activist Lin Shengliang was placed under administrative detention by Shenzhen police after showing public support for the billionaire, his friends told RFA. "Lin Shengliang has been placed under administrative detention," a friend surnamed Yan said on Sunday. "They wouldn't tell me what the charges were ... it was to do with his support for Guo Wengui." "He contacted me when the state security police went to detain him, and left an emergency number with me to call in case he was detained," she said. Police in China may hand down administrative jail sentences of up to 15 days without trial to perceived "troublemakers," but sometimes such sentences are changed to criminal detention and the detainee remains in custody pending a longer investigation. 'Red notice' China last month issued an Interpol "red notice" for Guo's arrest, in a move critics say is aimed at preventing him from revealing embarrassing details linking the country's leaders to a corruption case. Guo, who is also known as Miles Kwok, is named as a suspect by the notice, which requests that the police forces of member states "locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition." Media reports said Guo is suspected of paying 60 million yuan (U.S. $8.72 million) in bribes to disgraced former state security vice-minister Ma Jian, with whom he has been linked. But Guo, who has lived overseas for the past two years, said the move is linked to fears that he will act as a whistle-blower on corruption among the highest echelons of China's leadership. Reported by Ding Wenqi for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Siu-san and Dai Weisen for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Myanmar residents examine a home destroyed by Cyclone Mora in Sittwe, capital of western Myanmar's Rakhine state, May 31, 2017. One person has been reported dead and about 1,000 buildings have been destroyed by Cyclone Mora which hit Myanmars west coast on Tuesday, said an official from the countrys social welfare ministry. The storm, which made landfall at 8 a.m. local time, unleashed torrential winds and rains on Rakhine and Chin states and in the Ayeyarwaddy region. It also battered refugee camps in Coxs Bazar in neighboring Bangladesh that house Muslim Rohingya from western Myanmar who fled a violent crackdown there last October. Worst hit was western Myanmars Rakhine state where the cyclone destroyed houses, religious buildings, government offices, schools, and reservoirs in the state capital Sittwe. Mora also hammered the townships of Pauktaw, Rathedaung, Taungup, Mrauk U, Minbya, Kyauktaw, Kyaukpyu, Ramree, Ponnagyun, Maungdaw and Thandwe, said Phyu Lei Lei Tun, director of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. The worse destroyed state is Rakhine with 163 houses totally destroyed and 746 houses partially destroyed, she said. In Ayeyarwaddy region, a resident of Kyutawlay village in Myanaung township died when he was struck by lightning, and 22 homes in Myanaung, Mawlamyinegyun, Pyapon, and Ngapudaw townships were destroyed, she said. The ministry and regional governments are working on rescuing and resettling those affected by the cyclone Phyu Lei Lei Tun. 'We have lost everything' Cyclone Mora also leveled more than 1,000 rows of tents for Muslims living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Bawduba, Thatkepyin, Ohndawgyi, Kaungdokeka, Saythamar Gyi, Ohntaw Che and Dapaing, and completely destroyed all buildings in Kaungdokka camp, officials and refugees from the camps said. Some of the tens of thousands of Muslims who live in the camps are living among the remnants of their destroyed tents, while others are staying at relatives homes, they said. The inhabitants, who are predominantly Rohingya Muslims, have been living in the camps since 2012 when they were displaced by communal violence with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Many in Myanmar consider the stateless Rohingya illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and have denied them citizenship and access to basic services like education, jobs, and health care. We havent had anything from anyone yet, said Zahida Becon, a Muslim who lives in Kaungdokka camp. We have started [the Muslim holy month] Ramadan now. We are facing difficulties during this important time, and it is like we are dying. Ma Sanda, another refugee in Dapaing said: We have lost everything, and we want authorities to help us as soon as possible. IDP camp officials said they warned inhabitants about Cyclone Mora in advance, but only a few people left to avoid the storm. It was not clear if many residents had a place to flee to. Nyi Pu, Rakhine states chief minister, reportedly visited the Dapaing camp after the cyclone. But a camp official who gave his name as Adusalam said no local government administrators have visited the site. It has been two days, he said. No administrator from township or state has visited us. [Someone from] the state government visited, but they only met with camp officials, not with refugees. Myanmars previous military junta-led government came under heavy fire for its initial reluctance to accept large-scale international aid after Cyclone Nargis hit the country in May 2008, devastating a large swathe of the country. The catastrophic cyclone was the worst natural disaster in Myanmars recorded history with a death toll of at least 138,000 and more than U.S. $10 billion in damage. Rohingya refugees sit near a house destroyed by Cyclone Mora in a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, May 31, 2017. Credit: AFP Camps in Bangladesh affected Cyclone Mora hit the coast of Bangladesh on Tuesday, killing at least seven people and injuring 50 others in Coxs Bazar in the southeastern part of the country bordering Myanmar, according to news wire reports. The cyclone also destroyed about 20,000 homes and forced 600,000 residents to flee, the reports said. It ripped apart the tents and shacks of tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from western Myanmar who have been living in camps in Coxs Bazar since last October when a security sweep by national forces drove thousands of them from their homes in the wake of deadly raids on local border guard stations. The storm also damaged clinics operated by aid agencies for the Rohingya and members of the local community, wire reports said. About 70 percent of makeshift shacks in the Balukhali refugee camp were damaged by the storm, which brought winds of more than 115 kilometers per hour (72 miles per hour), according to a Reuters report. Though the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) have provided relief to the refugees, Bangladeshi authorities have let them fend for themselves, the report said. Reported by Thiri Min Zin, Min Thein Aung, and Thant Sin Oo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Labor rights activist Andy Hall speaks to reporters outside the Bangkok South Criminal Court after he was sentenced to three years in prison for criminal defamation, Sept. 20, 2016. A British campaigner for migrant-worker rights in Thailand launched litigation cases Wednesday against Thai officials and a local pineapple processing company over a lawsuit that targeted him for criminal defamation. Lawyers for labor activist Andy Hall filed a lawsuit in a Bangkok court against nine state prosecutors and a police officer alleging they had pursued criminal defamation charges against him based on false information provided by the plaintiff, the Natural Fruit Co. Halls attorney also filed a separate criminal suit against three executives and a lawyer representing the firm claiming that it had filed a false complaint against Hall, a veteran labor activist championing workplace rights in Thailand for migrants from Myanmar and other countries. I am launching this litigation today consisting of two sets of criminal prosecutions today with a heavy heart and not out of anger or with any desire for revenge, Hall said in a statement to the media sent from Brussels. It is regretful that things have reached this stage. However, it is necessary now to launch these litigations as I must defend myself against an unlawful prosecution and judicial harassment waged against me that continues unabated, he said. His suits stemmed from a complaint brought by Natural Fruit over an interview that Hall gave to Al Jazeera television in Myanmar about adverse workplace conditions allegedly facing Burmese migrants at the companys factory in Thailand. I expect for the courts to consider the cases prosecuted according to the law and facts of the previous prosecutions which the Supreme Court found were unlawful. I hope that I would gain justice from these counter litigations given they were already ruled to be unlawful, Hall told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, via a text message on Wednesday. Last November the activist fled Thailand, where he still faces prison time as a result of his conviction by a local court over a separate defamation complaint lodged by Natural Fruit. In September 2016, a court sentenced Hall to a three-year term and a fine of 150,000 baht (U.S. $4,292) after convicting him of defaming Natural Fruit and violating Thailands Computer Crimes Act. The case stemmed from the online publication of a workplace survey that Hall had undertaken for an NGO based in Finland. But in November, Thailands Supreme Court dismissed Natural Fruits lawsuit over the Al Jazeera interview, ruling that the plaintiff had no power to sue Hall over comments made in another country. The chief prosecutor should not have advised the attorney general to indict Andy from the beginning because the alleged defamation was done outside of Thailand, Nakhon Chompuchart, an attorney representing the Briton, told BenarNews in a phone interview. Somsak Toraksa, a lawyer for Natural Fruit who is among four people targeted in one of the suits brought by Hall on Wednesday, could not be reached immediately for comment. Not above Thailands sovereignty The workplace survey that led to Halls conviction last year was based on interviews he did with employees at a pineapple canning plant owned and operated by Natural Fruit in the southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan. Migrants from Myanmar make up much of the factorys 800-strong workforce. According to the survey, which was published by Finnwatch, workers at the plant complained that Natural Fruit violated Thai labor law through paying them salaries that were below minimum wage, not giving them sick and holiday leave, and employing children, among other allegations. On Sept. 20, after a Bangkok ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the case against Hall over the Finnwatch report, the owner of Natural Fruit told reporters, This is proof that we did not do that [violate labor rights]. The court proved that he violated my rights, and, no matter who you are, you will not stand above Thailands sovereignty, Wirach Piyapornphaiboon, the firms proprietor and president, said then, noting that his business had lost 100 million baht (U.S. $2.8 million) in revenue as a result of negative publicity around the Finnwatch survey. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Vietnams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said he intends to sign a deal for mostly high-tech imports from the United States worth U.S. $15-17 billion during his visit to Washington, ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled for Wednesday. On this occasion we have negotiated a more than U.S. $15 billion deal, mainly on imports from the United States, Phuc told attendees at a dinner hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce late on Tuesday, suggesting the agreement could be valued at as much as U.S. $17 billion. The prime minister, who is on a three-day visit to Washington, said he seeks to significantly increase annual trade between the two nations, making the United States Vietnams largest trading partner. He urged the U.S. to import more goods such as textiles, seafood, fruit and timber from Vietnam in exchange for high-tech products including aircraft, electrical appliances, smartphones and pharmaceuticals, and pledged to improve conditions to draw additional U.S. investment in Vietnam. Phucs comments followed concerns raised by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer over a U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam that he said had risen to around U.S. $32 billion from U.S. $7 billion a decade ago. Lighthizer had urged Phuc to help rein in the imbalance. Trade in goods between the U.S. and Vietnam reached U.S. $50 billion annually by the end of last year, and is projected to increase to U.S. $80 billion by 2020. Vietnam is currently Southeast Asias biggest exporter to the U.S. Phuc, who became the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump on Wednesday, is believed to be seeking a bilateral trade pact to replace the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would have reduced tariffs for Vietnamese exports to the United States but was scrapped by the U.S. leader. Hanoi also seeks enhanced security cooperation with Washington in the face of expansive Chinese territorial claims and artificial island building in the South China Sea. During the meeting on Wednesday, dozens of protesters holding flags of the former Republic of Vietnam gathered in front of the White House, demanding that Vietnam address human rights violations and calling for an end to one-party Communist rule in the country. Ahead of the meeting, observers had urged Trump not to pursue new deals with Phuc at the expense of protecting human rights in Vietnam, where authorities regularly crack down on peaceful activists and citizen journalists. New York-based Human Rights Watch Asia Advocacy Director John Sifton, in an editorial published by the Huffington Post, reminded Phuc that even if the Trump administration does not want to promote human rights during the meeting, political realities demand that they must. President Trump constitutionally leads on foreign policy, but Congress as always advises and consents, and can throw up roadblocks to closer U.S.-Vietnam ties if members dont like what they see, Sifton said. Congress must endorse trade agreements, and it can block arms deals. Sifton cited broad bipartisan concern in Congress about Vietnams troubling human rights record and noted that the Vietnamese-American community has effectively pressed members on such issues. And in an opinion article to The Hill, Representative Chris Smith said that while it is important for the two leaders to discuss the U.S. trade deficit and Chinese claims in the South China Sea, it would be a mistake to view U.S.-Vietnam relations only through the lenses of economics or security. Vietnam's rising generation of future leaders would warmly welcome more robust efforts to promote individual rights and the U.S. has considerable leverage to bring about tangible reforms if improvements are linked to expanded U.S.-Vietnam relations, Smith said. When U.S. interest wanes and Hanoi receives desired capital, investment and trade without conditionsit resumes its repressive ways. Following his meeting with Trump at the White House, Phuc was scheduled to speak at an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Emily Peyman. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. An explosion has occurred at Taiwanese-owned Formosa Plastics Groups steel mill in central Vietnams Ha Tinh province, one day after the facility came online for the first time since causing a catastrophic toxic waste spill in April 2016. The official Tuoi Tre News quoted vice-chairman of the Provincial Peoples Committee Duong Tat Thang as saying the incident occurred at around 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday when congestion in the dust filter system of a lime kiln at the steel mill led to an increase in pressure, causing the blast. The incident didnt result in any casualties and is not related to the operation of the blast furnace, Thang said. Tuoi Tre cited terrified witnesses who said they heard a loud noise and saw a large volume of smoke. Reuters quoted Chang Fu-ning, an executive vice president of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, as saying the explosion at the mill in the Vung Ang Economic Zone, in Ha Tinhs Ky Anh district, was caused by the combustion of fine dust particles in the air as a result of an equipment malfunction. There was no fire, damage or casualties as a result, he said, adding that test-runs are ongoing. A statement from the Ha Tinh provincial government said Formosa had confirmed it would fix the problem and check equipment to ensure a safe test run within 15 days, Reuters reported. The U.S. $11 billion steel plant began a six-month test-run on its No. 1 blast furnace and auxiliary facilities Monday after the government said Formosa had effectively rectified an April 2016 toxic waste spill that killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces. The environment ministry last month cleared Formosa to start testing its steel mill after conducting a three-day inspection of the plant and concluding that Formosa had addressed 52 out of 53 operating violations that led to the spill, polluting more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) of Vietnams coastline. Formosa has voluntarily paid U.S. $500 million to clean up and compensate coastal residents affected by the spill, but slow and uneven payout of the funds by the Vietnamese government has prompted protests that continue to be held more than a year later. Environmental activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen told RFAs Vietnamese Service that residents are even more concerned over Formosas operations after Tuesdays blast, and want the company out of Vietnam. The state says [the blast was not a problem] because it is still determined to produce steel, he said. I expect Formosa will create [environmental] problems, because the company uses outdated technology that is typically associated with risks and hazards [Saying they] operate and produce steel safely does not mean they will be environmentally friendly. Anti-Formosa sentiment Earlier this month, after Formosa received approval to start test runs of its blast furnace, residents of Ky Anh told RFA that the government was not acting in the interest of the people and expressed frustration that their concerns are not being taken into consideration. They said few people believe Formosa had addressed the problems that led to last years spill. Several members of the Catholic clergy and other activists have faced harassment and arrest by authorities for speaking out against Formosa and the waste spill in recent months. On May 15, authorities detained activist Hoang Duc Binh, 34, for opposing officers on duty and abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state under Articles 257 and 258 of Vietnams penal code after he organized anti-Formosa protests. The activist will be held for 90 days. Binhs arrest drew condemnation Tuesday from local activists, as well as from international rights groups. Phil Roberston, New York-based Human Rights Watchs deputy Asia director, told RFA that the government should be investigating Formosa instead of investigating the people who are demanding it take action against the company. What we have seen is a greater level of oppression coming against those activists who are demanding that Formosa take responsibility, he said. That is unfortunate because what it shows is that the government is more concerned about trying to control its people and to repress their freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful public assembly than it is about making a foreign company that was completely irresponsible and caused massive destruction to the environment accountable. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Hundreds of thugs hired by authorities in Vietnams central Nghe An province over the weekend severely beat a group of Catholic parishioners, including women and children, that had protested the governments handling of a toxic waste spill, sending dozens to the hospital, according to sources. Members of Phu Yen and Van Thai sub-parishes, under Song Ngoc parish in Nghe Ans Quynh Luu district, told RFAs Vietnamese Service they were attacked after gathering at the Son Hai commune Peoples Committee on May 28 to retrieve a fellow parishioner who had been detained earlier by police. After arriving at the building to pick up Phu Yen parish member Nguyen Thi Tra, some parishioners began using their smartphones to record authorities, who responded by sending thugs into the crowd to beat them, they said. There were almost 500 people, such as thugs, working for the police to beat peopleincluding women and childrenas a way to prevent them from using their phones to record, said one source, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity. As many as 25 people required treatment for injuries that left them bleeding and badly hurt at a nearby hospital after the attack, the source said, without providing details of who had been injured. Tra had been arrested earlier on Sunday after stopping to record a crowd that had gathered as she made her way through Son Hais Village No. 9. Parishioners said that a group of women attacked Tra while she filmed the gathering, and continued to do so, even as police intervened and brought her to the Peoples Committee in Son Hai, where Van Thai sub-parish is located. A local police officer had requested that parishioners retrieve Tra from the Peoples Committee before the larger confrontation occurred on Sunday, they said. In the aftermath of the attack at the Peoples Committee, Tra was taken to an undisclosed location where she was beaten further and left in the middle of the road, the parishioners said. She was later discovered by a passerby and brought home covered in bruises and in a panic. Days later, on Tuesday evening, Catholic priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc was holding a prayer gathering at Van Thai church when hundreds of people arrived carrying stones, bricks, knives and metal pipes, and began threatening him and the congregation, a local parishioner told RFA. When Thuc and the congregation fled the church to area homes, the mob followed them, hurling projectiles through windows and injuring several of the Catholics inside, said the parishioner, who also asked to remain unnamed. Thuc was forced to stay at the home of a congregant and, despite being ordered by local police to leave, remained there until midnight, citing concerns for his security. A mob gathers outside of parishioners homes near Van Thai church in Son Hai commune, May 30, 2017. Credit: Van Thai parishioner Safety drill The assault on Tra followed a recent safety drill conducted by local authorities in front of Van Thai church involving explosives and the firing of weapons that the government claimed was part of a bid to protect the road close to the river. Van Thai parishioners told RFA the drill was a form of intimidation by local authorities, angered by members of the church speaking out about an April 2016 waste spill by Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Groups steel plant that they say destroyed their livelihoods. They were shooting in front of our church in a very confrontational way, Priest Thuc had told RFA at the time. The Formosa waste spill killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces. Formosa has voluntarily paid U.S. $500 million to clean up and compensate coastal residents affected by the spill, but slow and uneven payout of the funds by the Vietnamese government has prompted protests that continue to be held more than a year later. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Emily Peyman. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. HSINCHU, Taiwan, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ITRI's R&D expertise of robotics will be in the international limelight at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), the world's largest robotics conference. ICRA is considered the source of many groundbreaking technologies for robotics, self-driving vehicles, and artificial intelligence. At ICRA, top researchers around the globe annually discuss the latest innovations in robotics and automation. Dr. Jwu-Sheng Hu, ITRI's Vice President and General Director of the Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories, has been invited to serve as one of the Industrial Forum Chairs in ICRA 2017 committee. ITRI's Motion Intelligence Orchestration (MIO) industrial robotics controller and PC-based motion control card EPCIO will also be on display at ICRA 2017. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e97eaa12-e873-4539-b801-016bf36b3c35 Dr. I-Ming Chen of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and General Chair of this year's ICRA, stated that according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), Japan, Korea, and China are the leading markets for industrial robotics, with the Asia Pacific industrial robotics industry contributing to over 50% of overall market revenue. This points to the importance of the Asia Pacific in the global robotics industry and is why ICRA 2017 took place in Singapore, he said. ITRI's Dr. Hu, who is also a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at National Chiao Tung University, will serve as an Industrial Forum Chair at ICRA 2017 committee. Dr. Hu's background in both academic and research communities will be conducive to forging cooperation with the industrial sector. Dr. Hu remarked that interest among international venture capitals in robotics startups is greater than ever due to the increasing maturity of robotics applications. Consequently, a number of startups will unveil their latest technologies and applications at this year's ICRA. At the same time, Dr. Hu pointed out that the pace of research papers being turned into industrial applications is also picking up. ITRI, he said, has long been committed to promoting the commercialization of groundbreaking technology, and it will be on the lookout at this year's conference for the latest international trends in robotics and collaboration opportunities. Dr. Nelson Yen-Chung Chang, Manager in ITRI's Mechanical and Systems Research Laboratories, was invited to share R&D achievements at the Industry Forum on May 31. He would introduce the ITRI-developed MIO industrial robotics controller, which has enhanced dynamics control and improved trajectory precision, boosting robotic arm precision by a factor of 10. This will be conducive to precision assembly automation in the aerospace and timepiece industries and will help Taiwan companies seize upon global business opportunities associated with Industry 4.0. The IEEE has held ICRA for over 30 years, dating back to 1985. Each year, ICRA brings together experts from the world's leading research institutions and industrial representatives to discuss the latest robotics technologies. Research related to self-driving vehicles and artificial intelligence was among the groundbreaking technology first discussed at the conference. Renowned international companies such as ABB, KIKA, JD, drone manufacturer DJI, Korean educational robot manufacturer ROBOTIS, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have participated in the event over the years as sponsors. About ITRI Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the world's leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive into innovation-driven. It focuses on the fields of Smart Living, Quality Health, and Sustainable Environment. Over the years, ITRI has cultivated more than 140 CEOs and incubated over 240 innovative companies, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC. In addition to its headquarters in Taiwan, ITRI has branch offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan in an effort to extend its R&D scope and promote opportunities for international cooperation around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.itri.org/eng. Developers plan to build a six-story apartment building with 216 units on a parking lot west of Millies Diner on East Main Street along Richmonds Tobacco Row. The sixth floor will be set back from the front facade of the building, so it wont be as visible from the street/pedestrian level, said Charles Macfarlane, who is developing the site with Sam McDonald, an owner and partner on the project. We are trying to be respectful of the large tobacco warehouses, but at the same time, build something modern and contemporary, Macfarlane said Wednesday. The proposal for Main2525, the project next to Millies at 2501 E. Main St., calls for nearly 7,400 square feet of commercial space fronting East Main Street. Zoning allows for five stories, hence the need for a special-use permit. The developers filed for a special-use permit in April and submitted responses to city staff and department questions last Friday. The application could go before the City Council for approval this summer. The setback for the sixth story will minimize the scale and proportion of the building, Macfarlane said, adding that he has not encountered any resistance thus far from neighbors, community associations or city officials. Covered parking for 241 vehicles will be located below the street level and under the six-story building. The terrain slopes downhill from East Main to Cary streets. The lot is bounded by East Main, 25th and 26th streets. The building will be C-shaped. The complex will feature a swimming pool, a reflective wading pool, indoor bicycle storage, a rooftop terrace and lounge with city skyline views. The units will be a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, with the majority being one bedroom. Rents will be market rate from $950 to $1,575 per month with about 20 percent of units designated as mixed income and renting for less, based on income levels, to provide a workforce housing component. Macfarlane, principal of Macfarlane Partners, has developed several projects in the Manchester area south of the James River, in Richmonds Tobacco Row where his business is based in the Lucky Strike Power Plant Building and in nearby Shockoe Bottom. His projects include Main2323, two renovated warehouse buildings two blocks west from the Main2525 development. Main2323 was converted into 71 apartments with 5,400 square feet of commercial space on the first floor. *** A nearby project is being reworked and another was pulled altogether. Historic Housings plan to build a 16-story, luxury condominium building at 2801 E. Main St. at the end of Tobacco Row off Pear Street has been scratched in favor of a five-story apartment building. Were working on an apartment project, but we have no definitive plans at this time, said David White, a principal with Historic Housing, the Richmond developer. White said about seven condos under the initial proposal were pre-sold, but the development couldnt win approval in face of objections by neighbors who feared it would ruin the view of the James River from Libby Hill Park. One Shiplock, a nine-story condo development near Great Shiplock Park and Tobacco Row, was approved last year by the Richmond City Council. But the developers couldnt get any buyers to commit, so the 15-unit project on a lot bounded by Cary, Dock and Pear streets was ditched earlier this year. A few people were interested, but we didnt have any solid offers, Dave Johannas, the architect and one of three developers on One Shiplock, said Wednesday. We had an option to buy the land and we didnt extend that option. The Virginia Supreme Court has turned down a state request that it toss out a filing by The Innocence Project in a pending actual innocence case. The high courts order last Friday is the latest development in sparring over a May 4 filing on behalf of Sherman Brown, an imprisoned 69-year-old Ivy man who claims he is innocent of the 1969 murder of a 4-year-old Albemarle County boy. The dispute centers on the Virginia Attorney General Offices perceived conflict between a Supreme Court rule, which allowed the May 4 filing, and the state law implementing Virginias Writ of Actual Innocence 16 years ago that the state says does not explicitly permit such a filing. The Innocence Project says the states position is wrong and complains that while the state would demand strict compliance with claimed requirements, the state itself violated Supreme Court rules by exceeding an authorized page limit and using an unauthorized font in a filing in the case. Reached Wednesday, Susan Friedman, a staff attorney with The Innocence Project, wrote in an email that, The search for the truth is never more important than in innocence cases, where so much is at stake and where people like Mr. Brown only have one chance to prove their innocence. We understand that such procedural tactics are common in most litigation, but were disappointed that the attorney general would try to stifle that search for the truth by elevating form over substance in a case like this. A spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office said it does not oppose seeking the truth and also adheres to the statutes, noting that the two are not mutually exclusive. The office said it will respond by June 16 as directed by the Supreme Court and noted that the Supreme Court in December changed its rules and now permits the use of the formerly unauthorized font, Times New Roman. The Innocence Project and other lawyers working for Brown filed a petition in October for a writ of actual innocence with the Supreme Court based in large part on recent DNA testing of evidence thats almost half a century old. In April, the Attorney Generals Office filed a 59-page motion to dismiss, arguing that Brown is not actually innocent. The state questioned whether proper procedures were followed in obtaining the DNA testing, the validity of the results, and whether the material tested missing from 1969 to 2015 has anything to do with the case. On May 4, the Innocence Project fired back with a brief dismissing the states opposition as based on argument instead of evidence. Browns lawyers also included new expert affidavits to counter the unsupported assertions raised by the commonwealth for the first time in its motion to dismiss. That prompted a May 11 motion from the Attorney Generals Office to strike the May 4 reply. The attorney general contends that the actual innocence law does not specifically provide for the May 4 reply and requires Brown to submit all of his evidence in his initial petition. The state also says Browns new affidavits are from witnesses who were available last October when his petition was filed. The attorney general concedes there is a Virginia Supreme Court rule that allows someone seeking a writ of actual innocence 20 days to reply to the attorney generals response Browns May 4 filing. But the state argues that the court rule conflicts with state law and, in such conflicts, state law trumps the courts rule. Browns new affidavits are particularly inappropriate now that the commonwealth has alerted him to deficiencies in his petition. ... Brown should not be permitted to plug the gaps the commonwealth noted, wrote Alice T. Armstrong, senior assistant attorney general. On May 17, Browns lawyers countered that the state is wrong and that the justices can have a rule that is not specifically provided for in the law. Further, if the state position is correct, the law does not specifically permit the attorney general to submit a motion to dismiss as was done in Browns case in April. At the same times that it insists on strict compliance by Mr. Brown with what it asserts are statutory requirements, the commonwealth has ignored the rules applicable to its own participation, The Innocence Project contends. The Innocence Project said Supreme Court rules limit opening briefs to 50 pages while the states April motion to dismiss is 59 pages long. Now the commonwealth attempts again to sidestep this courts rules by asking, in the conclusion to its motion to strike, that it be permitted to respond to Mr. Browns reply to the motion to dismiss, Browns May 17 filing adds. English French Paris, May 31, 2017 BOURBON and Kongsberg Maritime strengthen their collaboration in digital solutions for next generation connected vessels Having established a good business relationship for many years, BOURBON and Kongsberg Maritime have now signed a strategic agreement of collaborative development on connected and autonomous vessels. The two companies will execute joint projects to develop new ways of efficient operations in the offshore services industry, with a fast time-to market. They will explore and implement technical and digital solutions to improve safety and optimize cost of operations while enhancing the level of operational excellence. The agreement between BOURBON and Kongsberg is a step forward to bring both companies up to the next level in digitalization. Kongsberg will enable BOURBON to efficiently gain access to high quality aggregated data from the vessels and develop new ways of operating the vessels. BOURBON will enable Kongsberg to better understand client operations and get access to a wide range of data from its fleet, from communication, to cybersecurity, storage and management of vessel data. "A major transformation is underway in the Oil & Gas industry. Having entered the new digital era, our customers are asking us for more services at optimized cost. We are very happy and confident that this partnership with Kongsberg will result in innovative solutions allowing us to answer these customer needs" says Gael Bodenes, Chief Operating Officer of BOURBON Corporation. "Digitalization is vital to achieving greater efficiencies on board single vessels and entire fleets," said Stene Frsund, EVP Global Sales and Marketing, Kongsberg Maritime. "By working closely with leading offshore marine companies like BOURBON, we can ensure our solutions meet the data needs of the industry today, while building a foundation for greater vessel autonomy in the future." ABOUT KONGSBERG Kongsberg Maritime is a global marine technology company providing innovative and reliable technology solutions for all marine industry sectors including merchant, offshore, subsea and naval. Headquartered in Kongsberg, Norway, the company has manufacturing, sales and service facilities in 20 countries. Kongsberg Maritime is part of Kongsberg Gruppen (KONGSBERG), an international, knowledge-based group that celebrated 200 years in business during 2014. KONGSBERG supplies high-technology systems and solutions to customers in the oil and gas industry, the merchant marine, and the defence and aerospace industries. www.km.kongsberg.com ABOUT BOURBON Among the market leaders in marine services for offshore oil & gas, BOURBON offers the most demanding oil & gas companies a wide range of marine services, both surface and sub-surface, for offshore oil & gas fields and wind farms. These extensive services rely on a broad range of the latest-generation vessels and the expertise of more than 9,300 skilled employees. Through its 37 operating subsidiaries the group provides local services as close as possible to customers and their operations throughout the world, of the highest standards of service and safety. BOURBON provides two operating Activities (Marine Services and Subsea Services) and also protects the French coastline for the French Navy. In 2016, BOURBON'S revenue came to 1,102.6 million and the company operated a fleet of 514 vessels. Placed by ICB (Industry Classification Benchmark) in the "Oil Services" sector, BOURBON is listed on the Euronext Paris, Compartment B. www.bourbonoffshore.com Contacts A Henrico County School Board member said the developer of a planned 1,000-home community signaled it would pull the project if it were rezoned as part of a school redistricting plan, according to emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Explaining the developers reasoning, School Board member John Montgomery wrote in an April 5 email to his colleagues on the School Board that HHHunt builds houses for certain kinds of people (rich) people and these (rich) people will not send their kids to schools like Hermitage and Brookland. Montgomery wrote that he was approached by a longstanding friend who works for HHHunt, which is behind the would-be River Mill development. The friend expressed a strong desire not to have students who live in HHHunts development attend Hermitage High School or Brookland Middle School, according to Montgomerys email to the School Board. In another email sent to a community member May 9, Montgomery wrote that HHHunt is threatening to pull out of the River Mill project if its (sic) students are zoned to attend Hermitage. Montgomery told the School Board members he declined to meet with his friend further and encouraged her and the company to share its research during public sessions. Jill Crews, a spokeswoman for HHHunt, sent an emailed statement in response to specific questions. She said HHHunt did not threaten any action and is committed to moving forward with River Mill as currently planned, adding that as with any of our communities, plans may shift to accommodate a variety of changes in market conditions. Joe Emerson, the county's planning director, said in an email he received no indication that HHHunt is backing away from the project. He said the developer has filed changes to "fine tune" the project, he said. In a phone interview Tuesday, Montgomery declined to identify the person at HHHunt he spoke with but said he encouraged the company to air its concerns publicly. He added that any conceptions about Hermitage and Brookland as lesser schools are misplaced. The School Board is considering three redistricting options intended, primarily, to relieve overcrowding at Hungary Creek Middle School. Two of the plans call for school zoning at River Mill to be kept as is, meaning children in the development would attend Hungary Creek and graduate into Glen Allen High School. The third would rezone those children to Brookland Middle School and Hermitage High School. In recent weeks, some parents of current or future Hungary Creek students have circulated a petition objecting to any redistricting plan that would send River Mill children to Hungary Creek and Glen Allen. They have cited the potential for continued overcrowding under current conditions, Glen Allen High School is forecast to reach 105 percent capacity in 2024, whereas Hermitages would be 83 percent, according to school system estimates. In the May email to the community member, Montgomery wrote that HHHunt believes that students who live in their neighborhoods are not willing to attend a school like Hermitage and would rather attend an overcrowded Glen Allen HS. During the Tuesday phone interview, Montgomery explained that he was initially contacted by the community member with concerns that not enough students were enrolling in certain AP classes at Hermitage to offer them each year. He said having more students attend Hermitage would increase the likelihood of having those classes offered with more frequency and encouraged parents of Hermitage students to speak out. Hermitage HS is a strong school with a diverse student body. This diversity will suffer is (sic) developers are able to redline certain schools out of their future subdivisions to make more money. HHHunt is mounting a campaign that will hurt Hermitage HS for years to come, Montgomery wrote. Andy Jenks, a spokesman for the school district, said in an email that HHHunt representatives spoke to school division officials and board members during an April 6 public input session at Wilder Middle School. Our takeaway was that HHHunts preferred zoning for River Mill was Hungary Creek Middle School and Glen Allen High School. To be fair, the purpose of the community input session was to hear a variety of viewpoints on the options being considered, Jenks said. The countys Board of Supervisors approved the 250-acre River Mill development in April 2016. Plans call for 450 single-family homes, 300 town houses and 285 apartments. Town houses will range from $240,000 to $290,000, and apartments will rent for $780 to $1,500 a month. The development is just one element of what has, at times, been a contentious redistricting process, with separate parent groups and neighborhoods advocating for often competing desires. Some residents in the Magnolia Ridge community, which would neighbor River Mill in northern Henrico, off Brook Road near the Chickahominy River, and HHHunt view the planned development as crucial for spurring economic investment in the area. Those Magnolia Ridge residents have pointed to the schools academic reputations Hungary Creek was fully accredited this academic year, while Brookland was partially accredited. Glen Allen High School was also named the 16th best high school in Virginia by U.S. News and World Report this year. Sandoz is seeking approval for their proposed biosimilars adalimumab and infliximab for use in all indications of their respective reference medicines, Humira* and Remicade** Comprehensive data packages demonstrate each biosimilar matches its respective reference medicine in terms of quality, efficacy and safety These regulatory submissions follow soon after two positive CHMP opinions*** for Sandoz biosimilars etanercept and rituximab further reinforcing Sandoz immunology pipeline and the broader Novartis immunology portfolio Holzkirchen, 31 May, 2017 - Sandoz, a Novartis division, and the pioneer and global leader in biosimilar medicines announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted for regulatory review their Marketing Authorization Applications for biosimilars to AbbVie's Humira (adalimumab) and Janssen's Remicade (infliximab) both of which are used to treat immunological diseases. Sandoz is seeking approval for biosimilar adalimumab and infliximab for use in all indications of their respective reference medicines. "Patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease rely on biologic medicines like adalimumab and infliximab to stay well, but unfortunately access to these essential medicines can be limited" said Mark Levick MD PhD, Global Head of Development, Biopharmaceuticals, Sandoz. "The EMA's acceptance of our regulatory submissions for our biosimilar adalimumab and infliximab is a significant step towards improving patient access to these important biologic medicines, both of which are part of our steadily advancing immunology pipeline". The comprehensive data packages included in the EMA submissions demonstrate biosimilarity of the proposed biosimilars to their respective reference medicines, with analytical, preclinical and clinical data matching across quality, efficacy and safety. The biosimilar adalimumab submission included clinical data from pharmacokinetic (PK) studies and a Phase III confirmatory efficacy and safety study in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis[1]. The biosimilar infliximab submission included clinical data from a PK study and a Phase III confirmatory efficacy and safety, study in rheumatoid arthritis[2]. Sandoz is committed to increasing patient access to high-quality, life-enhancing biosimilars. It is the pioneer and global leader in biosimilars, and currently markets three biosimilars worldwide. Sandoz has a leading biosimilar pipeline and following positive CHMP opinions for biosimilars rituximab and etanercept (April 2017), it is on track to launch five biosimilars of major oncology and immunology biologics, including adalimumab and infliximab, by 2020. As a division of the Novartis Group, Sandoz is well-positioned to lead the biosimilars industry based on its experience and capabilities in development, manufacturing and commercialization. Disclaimer The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "proposed," "seeking approval," "positive CHMP opinions," "pipeline," "step towards," "advancing," "committed," "on track," "launch," "well-positioned," "recommended," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals or labeling for biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab, biosimilar etanercept, or any of the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline, or regarding potential future revenues from biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab, biosimilar etanercept, the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline and the broader Novartis immunology portfolio. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab, biosimilar etanercept, or any of the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline will be submitted or approved for sale in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that, if approved, biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab or biosimilar etanercept will be approved for all indications included in the reference products' respective labels. Nor can there be any guarantee that biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab, biosimilar etanercept, or any of the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline or the broader Novartis immunology portfolio will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab, biosimilar etanercept, and other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline and the broader Novartis immunology portfolio could be affected by, among other things, regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; competition in general, including potential approval of additional versions of biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab or biosimilar etanercept; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; litigation outcomes, including intellectual property disputes or other legal efforts to prevent or limit Sandoz from selling biosimilar adalimumab, biosimilar infliximab, biosimilar rituximab, biosimilar etanercept, or its other biosimilar products; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general economic and industry conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Sandoz Sandoz is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. As a division of the Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people's lives. We contribute to society's ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2016 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2016, our products reached well over 500 million patients and we aspire to reach one billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany's Greater Munich area. * Humira is a registered trademark of AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd. ** Remicade is marketed by MSD in Europe and is a registered trademark of Janssen Biotech, Inc. *** Sandoz press release https://www.sandoz.com/news/media-releases/sandoz-proposed-biosimilars-rituximab-and-etanercept-recommended-approval-europe (last accessed 28 April 2017) Sandoz acquired the rights from Pfizer for the development, commercialization and manufacture of PF-06438179 in the 31 countries that form the European Economic Area (EEA) in February 2016 where it is known as GP1111. Pfizer retains commercialization and manufacturing rights to infliximab in all countries outside of the EEA. References Blauvelt A et al. A randomized, double-blind, multicenter study to compare the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of a proposed adalimumab biosimilar (GP2017) with originator adalimumab Poster #5224 presented at the 2017 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting, 3-7 March 2017. (infliximab). Available at: Pfizer Inc. Pfizer Announces Positive Top-Line Results from REFLECTIONS B537-02 Study for PF-06438179 (infliximab-Pfizer) a Potential Biosimilar to Remicade(infliximab). Available at: http://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer_announces_positive_top_line_results_from_reflections_b537_02_study_for_pf_06438179_infliximab_pfizer_a_potential_biosimilar_to_remicade_infliximab (last accessed 05 May 2017). # # # For further information, contact: Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 7999 (direct) +41 79 593 4202 (mobile) eric.althoff@novartis.com Chris Lewis Sandoz Global Communications +49 174 244 9501 chris.lewis@sandoz.com Duncan Cantor Sandoz Global Communications +49 170 650 6067 duncan.cantor@sandoz.com Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com Mosby Court was supposed to be a solution. It metamorphosed into a problem long ago. Friday night, State Police Special Agent Michael Walter was shot and killed in Mosby when he tried to talk with two men in a parked car. He leaves behind a family and a community of underprivileged Powhatan youth whom he mentored. The man accused of killing him, Travis Ball, is a felon. He was a resident of Mosby. Walters wasnt the first murder in Mosby. As Metro columnist Michael Paul Williams pointed out in a Tuesday column, somebody shot and killed two teenagers who were not Mosby residents Mikkaisha Smoot and Taliek Brown in the small hours of a Wednesday in March. There have been many others. But perhaps Walters death could be a turning point. The public-housing complex sure could use one. In a Jan. 1 column, Richmond Mayor-elect Levar Stoney wrote, Richmond is ready for change. His goal, he said, is to build one Richmond a city that works, and works together to make life better for all residents. Stoney said he would start with a comprehensive performance review of City Hall. Last week the team brought in to conduct the review issued its findings. The mayor has followed through on that promise. Now its time for him to follow through on another. As he wrote in January: We must take a proactive, bold approach to addressing violence in our community and making our streets safer. In the coming year, I will work with our police and criminal justice leaders to further reduce the gun violence that destroys families and terrorizes neighborhoods, while promoting community education and empowerment. Enough is enough. We must protect our communities from the scourge of violence, and we must teach our children how to peaceably resolve disputes and solve problems. Thats a tall order. Over the years, Richmond has been plagued by waves of violence, often driven by social forces beyond the ability of local government to control or, sometimes, even to mitigate. But the city has to do something. It cant be a regional powerhouse if it cant fix its core. And Richmonds political leaders cant fix Mosby, or other pockets of violence, fear, and dysfunction, by themselves. The whole city needs to pitch in. Perhaps now is the time for Stoney to convene a summit of business, nonprofit, church, and community leaders to develop a Marshall plan for Mosby Court. If hed like, well make our downtown meeting space available. Because something has to be done. See you in court, President Donald Trump tweeted in February after a federal court blocked his first attempt at a Muslim travel ban nationwide. True to Trumps tweet, his administration since then has argued for the policy in courtrooms across the country. Yet even after the administration tried to revise its original ban, courts have said No. The latest example of this came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, in a powerful ruling handed down on Thursday. In it, the court reinforced not only the view of Trumps onetime Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, whom he fired for refusing to defend the ban, but also the rulings of courts from Hawaii to Virginia: The ban discriminates based on religion, violating the First Amendment of our Constitution. As Judge James Wynn said in a concurring opinion to the 4th Circuit ruling, Invidious discrimination that is shrouded in layers of legality is no less an insult to our Constitution than naked invidious discrimination. Laid bare, this [travel ban] is no more than what the President promised before and after his election: naked, invidious discrimination against Muslims. The Constitutions promise of religious freedom is neither an accident of history nor a footnote. Our nations Founders were well aware that the country was settled by refugees of religious persecution in Europe. Thats why the drafters of the Constitution prominently guaranteed the free exercise of religion and the structural prohibition on establishment of religion. The First Amendment helps ensure, as James Madison said, that [t]he Religion of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man. Trumps anti-Muslim travel ban defies this founding wisdom. Not only did he vow to halt the immigration of Muslims to the U.S. during his presidential campaign a fact that the 4th Circuit recognized the role of onetime Trump adviser and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani helpfully underscored this fact. As he told Fox News in January, Trump sought Giulianis counsel on how to make banning Muslims legal. Giuliani declared, When [Trump] first announced it, he said Muslim ban. He called me up, he said show me the right way to do it legally. And what we did was we focused on, instead of religion, danger, areas of the world that create danger for us perfectly legal, perfectly sensible. In fact, courts have now made it clear that such a ban is perfectly unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the administrations attempt to fall back on the Immigration and Nationality Act, passed by Congress in 1965, as a defense of the ban is equally flawed. The act affords the president wide discretion to deny entry to any immigrant or non-immigrant. The law, however, does not confer the power to issue a blanket exclusion against millions of people based on where they are from. In fact, the law categorically forbids discrimination based on nationality, place of birth, or place of residence. While the 4th Circuits ruling didnt reach this issue, one judge concurred that in addition to violating the Constitution Trumps order also likely violates the INA. Finally, practical arguments also weigh against the ban. No American has been killed in a terrorist attack in decades, if ever, by immigrants from the six Muslim countries named in the ban. Attorney General Jeff Sessions claimed that more than 300 persons who entered the United States as refugees are currently the subjects of counterterrorism investigations by the FBI. According to one review, however, [a]t least 70 percent of the 300 people under review are from countries not covered by the travel ban. And earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security said in a draft intelligence report that citizenship is an unlikely indicator of terrorism threats to the U.S. The ban draws little distinction between desperate refugees fleeing the ravages of war and terrorism, and those who inflict the ravages of war and terrorism. The bottom line, as court after court has recognized, is that religious intolerance masquerading as security is offensive to the principles on which the Founders established this nation, and toward which we as a country must constantly strive. Sessions has promised to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court the administrations defeat in the 4th Circuit, but it is past time for Trump to stop the masquerade. He should jettison his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban. June 1 is the start of climatological summer, but it could take weeks for any truly scorching weather to show up in Virginia. The air will continue to feel muggy, thanks in part to a rainier-than-normal May. May had twice the normal rainfall For the second year in a row, May was a very rainy month for Richmond. Through May 30, the monthly rainfall total at Richmond International Airport was 7.57 inches, which is about twice the normal amount. That made it one of the top 10 wettest Mays in Richmond since 1887. Last year's May went down in the record books as the rainiest, with nearly 10 inches of precipitation. Richmond experienced a warm and wet spring When March, April and May are combined, it shows that this climatological spring was warmer and wetter than normal for Richmond. Spring precipitation was in the 85th percentile, and the mean temperature of the past three months was in the 91st percentile. Neither will rank as a historical top 10. Not including May 31, the March-to-May precipitation total was 13.53 inches. The normal amount is roughly 11 inches. April was the warmest on record, but March and May temperatures ended up near normal. The weather patterns led to seven new daily records over the past three months: five for warmth, one for cool weather and one for rainfall. Warm summer outlook will have a slow start NOAA still expects a moderately warmer-than-normal summer along the Eastern Seaboard, but the weather patterns point to tepid temperatures during much of June. There will be plenty of highs in 80s, as you'd expect, but dips into the 70s may be more common than extended climbs into the 90s. As we saw in May, upper-level troughs and unsettled weather should be the typical pattern for the Eastern U.S. in the first half of the month. That usually leads to more rainfall and temperatures a bit below normal. The first weekend of June should bring more chances for thunder and downpours when another front crosses into Virginia. Because of recent rainfall, soil is wetter than normal all across Virginia, and excessively wet in parts of the western Piedmont. Wet soil makes for cooler air temperatures than dry soil does, and it's linked to better chances for pop-up storms during the summer. If we were heading into summer with a drought and abnormally dry soil across the region, that would lead to hotter air temperatures instead. If or when a strong upper-level ridge develops over the Southeast, it will still make for a spell of hot weather in Virginia. If the soil is still quite wet at that time, it would make the air extra muggy and push the heat index higher than it otherwise would be. There are no signs of a heat wave on the horizon in June, but one could certainly emerge in July or August. The hottest week of the year almost always happens in July or early August, anyways. June 1 also marks the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, but currently there are no disturbances ready to turn into tropical storms. The summer solstice occurs at 12:24 a.m. on June 21. In Richmond, the amount of daylight peaks at 14 hours and 45 minutes around that date. AIM: MARL TSX-V: MARL 31 May 2017 Granite House, La Grande Rue, St. Martin, Guernsey, GY1 3RS Channel Islands Issue of Equity- Option and Warrant Exercise Mariana Resources Ltd ("Mariana" or the "Company"), the AIM ("MARL") and TSXV ("MARL") listed exploration and development company with projects in Turkey, Cote d'Ivoire and South America, announces that the following options and warrants have been exercised into ordinary shares with funds received. 60,000 Options exercised at GBP0.30 68,681 Warrants exercised at GBP0.25 The Company will issue and allot 128,681 new ordinary shares. Admission to AIM Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and the TSXV. Dealings are expected to commence on or about 5 June 2017 ("Admission"). Following Admission, there will be a total of 133,830,038 ordinary shares on issue. Mariana Resources Limited Glen Parsons, CEO **ENDS** Glen Parsons (CEO) Mariana Resources Ltd +61 2 9437 4588 Eric Roth (COO) Mariana Resources Ltd +56 9 8818 1243 Karen Davies (IR) Mariana Resources Ltd (Canada) +1 604 314 6270 Rob Adamson RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0041 Will Souter RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0050 In U.K. Oliver Stansfield Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5061 Jonathan Evans Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5016 Camilla Horsfall Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3224 Megan Ray Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3203 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. About Mariana Resources Mariana Resources Ltd is a TSX.V and AIM (MARL) quoted exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of gold, silver, and copper projects in South America, Turkey, and Ivory Coast. Mariana's most advanced asset is the Hot Maden gold-copper project in northeast Turkey, which is a joint venture with Turkish partner Lidya Madencilik (30% Mariana and 70% Lidya) and which is rapidly advancing to development. On January 17, 2017, Mariana released the results of a Preliminary Economic Study ("PEA") which demonstrated exceptional potential economics for the Hot Maden Project (after-tax NPV and IRR of USD 1.37B and 153%, respectively) based on a development scenario incorporating a 1Mtpa underground mining / processing operation and the production of two saleable concentrates (a copper-gold concentrate and a gold-pyrite concentrate). This PEA was based on the updated (July 25, 2016) mineral resource estimate of 3.43 Moz gold equivalent (Indicated Category) and 0.09 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) in the Main Zone, as well as a maiden 351,000 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) resource in the New Southern Discovery. Elsewhere in Turkey, Mariana holds a 100% interest in the Ergama gold-copper project. On October 7, 2016, Mariana announced the signing of a binding Term Sheet to acquire an indirect 80% interest in Ivory Coast-focused private exploration company Awale Resources SARL ("Awale"). Through the transaction Mariana will gain an immediate foothold in an established exploration portfolio with known gold mineralisation and artisanal gold workings, and which comprises i) 3 granted contiguous licenses (1,191 km2) in the Bondoukou area, and ii) 4 licenses under application (1,593 km2) in both the Bondoukou and Abengourou areas. The Boundoukou concessions lie along the southwestern extension of the Birimian Bole-Nangodi greenstone belt in adjacent Ghana, host to a number of high grade orogenic gold deposits. In southern Argentina, the Company's core gold-silver projects are Las Calandrias (100%), Sierra Blanca (100%), Los Cisnes (100%), and Bozal (100%). These projects are part of a 100,000+ Ha land package in the Deseado Massif epithermal gold-silver district in mining-friendly Santa Cruz Province. In Suriname, Mariana has a direct holding of 10.2% of the Nassau Gold project. The Nassau Gold Project is a 28,000 Ha exploration concession located approximately 125 km south east of the capital Paramaribo and immediately adjacent to Newmont Mining's 4.2Moz gold Merian project. In Peru and Chile, Mariana is focusing on acquiring new opportunities which complement its current portfolio. Hot Maden Mineral Resource Estimate - Main Gold-Copper Zone (2 g/t AuEq Cut-off) Indicated Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** Main Zone LG 463,000 1.1 1.1 0.3 2.4 17,000 5,000 36,000 Main Zone HG 4,501,000 3.9 1.9 0.2 6.3 570,000 87,000 908,000 Main Zone UHG 2,086,000 32.7 3.5 0.1 36.9 2,195,000 73,000 2,476,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 17,000 7.5 3.1 3.6 11.2 4,000 1,000 6,000 Peripheral Lodes 60,000 2.1 0.4 0.4 2.5 4,000 5,000 Total 7,127,000 12.2 2.3 0.2 15.0 2,790,000 166,000 3,431,000 Inferred Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** Main Zone LG 395,000 1.7 0.9 0.03 2.8 21,000 4,000 35,000 Main Zone HG 31,000 3.9 1.6 0.1 5.8 4,000 6,000 Main Zone UHG 6,000 39.1 2.1 0.01 41.6 7,000 8,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 4,000 1.7 0.4 2.4 2.2 Peripheral Lodes 282,000 3.2 0.9 0.1 4.3 29,000 2,000 38,000 Total 718,000 2.7 0.9 0.1 3.8 62,000 7,000 88,000 Hot Maden - Southern Gold-Copper Zone (2 g/t AuEq Cut-off) Inferred Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** South Zone LG 396,000 2.8 0.7 0.0 3.6 35,000 3,000 46,000 South Zone HG 583,000 5.3 0.7 0.0 6.1 98,000 4,000 114,000 Main Zone UHG 224,000 22.2 1.0 0.0 23.4 160,000 2,000 169,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 44,000 9.0 1.0 3.2 10.2 13,000 15,000 Peripheral Lodes 104,000 1.9 0.3 0.0 2.2 6,000 7,000 Total 1,352,000 7.2 0.7 0.1 8.1 313,000 10,000 351,000 *Au Equivalence (AuEq) calculated using a 100 day moving average of $US1,215/ounce for Au and $US2.13/pound for Cu as of May 29, 2016. No adjustment has been made for metallurgical recovery or net smelter return as these remain uncertain at this time. Based on grades and contained metal for Au and Cu, it is assumed that both commodities have reasonable potential to be economically extractable. *-The formula used for Au equivalent grade is: AuEq g/t = Au + [(Cu % x 22.0462 x 2.13)/(1215/31.1035)] and assumes 100 % metallurgical recovery. **-Au equivalent ounces are calculated by mulitplying Mineral Resource tonnage by Au equivalent grade and converting for ounces. The formula used for Au equivalent ounces is: AuEq Oz = [Tonnage x AuEq grade (g/t)]/31.1035 Safe Harbour This press release contains certain statements which may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this press release and include, without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, the realization, cost, timing and extent of mineral resource estimates, estimated future exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, and requirements for additional capital. The words "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimate", "forecasts", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "may", "will", or similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the effects of general economic conditions; the price of gold, silver and copper; misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements; risks associated with international operations; the need for additional financing; risks inherent in exploration results; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters; currency and commodity price fluctuations; title matters; environmental liability claims; unanticipated operational risks; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or in the completion of development or construction activities; political risk; and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's annual financial statements for the most recently completed financial year which is available on the Company's website at www.marianaresources.com . Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. WALLDORF, Germany, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SAP MARKETFLASH -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that registration is available for its first-ever global digital innovation conference, SAP Leonardo Live. With technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, blockchain, Big Data and analytics converging to dramatically transform the way people live and work, the SAP event will showcase leading innovations, industry expertise and best-practice business cases from around the globe. SAP Leonardo Live will take place on July 11 and 12 at the Kap Europa Congress Center in Frankfurt, Germany. Registration is available at www.delegate.com/sap/leonardolive/2017/. We are assembling the worlds leading companies, technology vendors and industry visionaries to examine both the enormous potential and the tangible business value that can be achieved through digital innovation, said Mala Anand, EVP, President, SAP Leonardo. SAP Leonardo Live will set an industry standard for peer-to-peer networking, creating a productive environment for learning, exchanging ideas and thinking big about digital innovation. Recently launched at SAPPHIRE NOW 2017 as SAPs new digital innovation system, SAP Leonardo brings together differentiating software capabilities in machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, analytics and blockchain on SAP Cloud Platform together with SAP experience, deep process and industry knowledge, and advanced design thinking methodology. With dozens of industry awards and recognitions, each of these areas of SAPs portfolio can add tremendous value for our customers on their digital journey but the real power is when they all work together. SAP Leonardo is built on SAP Cloud Platform and harnesses SAPs deep process and industry expertise, extensive software portfolio and expertise in emerging technologies to help customers manage digital business transformation. While many organizations see the potential of faster innovation and higher profitability from adopting digital business models, they often lack clarity on where to begin and how to integrate new approaches within their existing business. At SAP Leonardo Live, SAP will convene its powerful community of customers, partners and the industrys leading voices to help attendees see and understand how to adopt digital innovation that can scale across the entire organization. At SAP Leonardo Live, attendees can learn from experts who have already started their digital transformation and are already using cutting edge technologies in their businesses, said Dr. Tanja Rueckert, President, IoT and Digital Supply Chain, SAP. Companies of all sizes from diverse industries around the world will be on hand to share best practices, lessons learned, industry knowledge and business expertise. Attendees can experience these new technologies through hands-on workshops and discover how SAP solutions can enable new digital models. The two-day event will connect leaders of the business world on one central stage, featuring more than 50 companies from all over the world to discuss their digital innovation strategies. Agenda highlights of SAP Leonardo Live include: A comprehensive overview of our SAP Leonardo digital innovation portfolio and its concrete benefits for business Best practices from SAP customers in multiple industries, including Adidas, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hilti, KAESER Kompressoren SE, and Stara Compelling use cases powered by SAP Leonardo to improve the way it makes, designs, plans, delivers and maintains products and assets across a global network Exclusive peer-to-peer discussions and networking with thought leaders and business and technology experts Design thinking experts to demonstrate how new technologies like machine learning, IoT, analytics can work seamlessly together for your organization. For more information, check out the SAP Leonardo Live website and follow the event on Twitter / LinkedIn and at the official hashtag, #leonardolive, for more updates. For more information, visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews. Media Contacts: Kathrin Eiermann, SAP, +49 6227 74 07 79, simone.kathrin.eiermann@sap.com, CET Jim Dever, SAP, +1 (610) 661-2161, james.dever@sap.com, EDT SAP News Center press room, press@sap.com Kyle Tildsley, PAN Communications, +1 (617) 503-4352, ktildsley@pancomm.com, EDT Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, forecast, intend, may, plan, project, predict, should and will and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. 2017 SAP SE. All rights reserved. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices. NESETRIL, Ladislav James Jr. June 1, 1924 - May 28, 2017 Ladislav James Nesetril Jr., 92 years and 361 days, was called home on May 28, 2017, in Blacksburg, Va., surrounded by all his loving family. He was a beloved husband, father, and grandfather. He was born June 1, 1924 in Chicago, Ill. The only child of the late L.J. Nesetril Sr. and Rose Nesetril. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 63 wonderful years, Sylvia Ann Nesetril. He is survived by his two daughters and sons-in-law, Cheryl and Werner Metz of Chandler, Ariz., and Karen and Randy Young of Christiansburg, Va.; and the apple of his eye, his granddaughter, Elizabeth Young. He spent all of his life as a resident of Berwyn, Ill. At the age of 19 he joined the United States Army and served during World War II in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. After his return, he met the love of his life and married on June 5, 1948. He was retired from International Harvester with 30 years of service. In retirement years he and mom got to enjoy traveling to see his children and grandchild. One of Dad's greatest joys was taking his granddaughter to school and talking with her teachers and then picking her up from school. He lived for his daughters and granddaughter and would help in any way he could, be it finishing basements, building chicken coops, or dog houses. He was a jack of all trades and could fix anything. He loved visiting the farm where he could sit on the deck and feed the chickens. The family would like to thank everyone for their kindness and love during his stay at Manor Care Rehab, Lewis Gale Montgomery Hospital, and Heritage Hall. We would like to say a special thank you to Maria and Arturo Gonzalez, and all of their extended family Adrianna, Eduardo, and Augy who were Mom and Dad's neighbors for many, many years. They have helped Dad for the past several years with shopping, doctors appointments, and just being good friends. Dad's life will never be forgotten as we celebrate everyday of our lives knowing that he shaped us into who we are today. We love you Dad, we are glad you found your way home to join your wife Sylvia, parents, and friends made over your 92 years of life. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you give to the charity of your choice. The family also asks that you please spend time with and hug your loved ones. Online condolences for the family may be left at www.hornefuneralservice.com. TORONTO, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Augusta Industries Inc. (the Corporation) (TSX:AAO) is pleased to announce that it has released its financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2017. For the three months ending March 31, 2017, the Corporation had revenues of $879,000, a decrease of $132,000 or 13% as compared to the three months ending March 31, 2016. Total loss from operations for the three months ending March 31, 2017 was ($77,000) or a net loss of $0.000 per share, a decrease of $259,000 or $0.001 per share, as compared to a gain of $182,000 or $0.001 per share for the three months ending March 31, 2016. Gross margins for the three months ending March 31, 2017 was 23% compared to 45% for the three months ending March 31, 2016 due to the change in mix between Marcon and FOX-TEK sales during the period. The Corporation also reduced its operating expenses in the three months ending March 31, 2017 to $277,000 from $279,000 for the same period in 2016. Although the Corporation incurred a loss during the first quarter of 2017, the overall results are encouraging and reflects the success that the Corporation has experienced in its sales effort in 2016. The Corporations operational loss of $77,000 for the quarter is amongst the lowest in any quarter apart from 2016, states Allen Lone, President of the Corporation. The revenue was a result of the increased spending of the Corporations current clients and the addition of new clients through the quarter. There has been an increase in sales to the US Government by Marcon group by $181,000 in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 2016 but FOX-TEK sales were lower by $313,000 during this period. To a large extent the reason for large reduction in FOX-TEK sales in 2017 is due to a large hardware sale in the first quarter of 2016. Consolidated Financial Highlights Three months ended March 31,2017 2017 2016 $000s $000s Sales $ 879 $ 1,011 Cost of Sales (679 ) (550 ) Gross Profit 200 461 Expenses Research and development (37 ) (36 ) Selling (7 ) (8 ) General and administrative (233 ) (235 ) Total expenses (277 ) (279 ) (Loss) income from operations (77 ) 182 The financial statements, notes to the financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ending March 31, 2017 are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Corporate Update - Business Development FOX-TEK Canada Inc The Company will continue to work closely with new and existing clients to strengthen and preserve the relationship in addition to developing new projects with new clients. The Company continues to enhance the DMAT platform (Data Management and Analysis Tool). The Company has successfully negotiated with several clients new contracts for Engineering services and Data Analysis for the year 2017 and beyond. The Company CEO and Chief Operations Officer attended the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Discovery 2017 Exhibition & Conference in May 2017. The Company took the opportunity to introduce the technologies to both private and public organizations in addition to a number of capital market firms and are working on post conference meetings with a number of the interested parties. The Corporation is working closely with The Trans Africa Pipeline project (T.A.P.) to provide non-intrusive sensing equipment which will verify the integrity of the pipeline composite at key locations. In addition to the non-intrusive sensing equipment, Fox-Tek will provide optical based sensing technology which would allow T.A.P. to monitor the right of way zones from possible third-party intrusions. Fox-Tek in association with one of the largest leak detection technology companies, TTK Canada, is marketing a leak detection system to a number of our clients in North America. Fox-Tek has recently submitted quotation and bids to a number of clients. The list below does not include bids to third parties that fall under confidentiality agreements. Corrosion monitoring systems package to one of our largest long standing clients in North America. Corrosion monitoring systems package for the East West Pipeline Project JPS1-1 in Saudi Arabia. Corrosion monitoring systems package for a UAE firm working on a Dubai Petroleum project. A package for a non-intrusive pressure monitoring systems for a tank farm in the United States. A technical and commercial bid for the Yibal Kuff Project (YKP) in Oman Marcon International Marcon International has built an impressive pipeline of quotes in the first quarter of 2017. We are witnessing increased bidding activity in both the first and second Quarters of 2017. Majority of the larger bids and quotes for Marcon International are time consuming both in preparation of the bidding process and with the client and the end users. This is true in the case of the Port Authorities in Bangladesh as well as some of the larger bids in North America. Marcon has successfully signed numerous deals year to date and will continue to do so and update the public through periodic press releases. About the Corporation: Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Marcon International Inc. (Marcon) and Fox-Tek Canada Inc. (Fox-Tek), the Corporation provides a variety of services and products to a number of clients. Marcon is an industrial supply contractor servicing the energy sector and a number of US Government entities. Marcons principal business is the sale and distribution of industrial parts and equipment (Electrical, mechanical and Instrumentation.) In addition to departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, Marcons major clients include Saudi Arabia-Sabic Services (Refining and Petrochemical), Bahrain National Gas Co, Bahrain Petroleum, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Qatar Petrochemical, Gulf of Suez Petroleum, Agiba Petroleum and Burullus Gas Co. Fox Tek develops non-intrusive asset health monitoring sensor systems for the oil and gas market to help operators track the thinning of pipelines and refinery vessels due to corrosion/erosion, strain due to bending/buckling and process pressure and temperature. The Corporations FT fiber optic sensor and corrosion monitoring systems allow cost-effective, 24/7 remote monitoring capabilities to improve scheduled maintenance operations, avoid unnecessary shutdowns, and prevent accidents and leaks. The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and managements best estimates of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are detailed from time to time in the Corporations periodic reports filed with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. The Corporation has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. PHILADELPHIA, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma (NYSE MKT:HEB) ("Hemispherx" or the Company") announced today that it continues to bolster its scientific capabilities by expanding the role of Joseph C. Horvath, M.D., to Deputy Chief Medical Officer. In this newly-created position, Dr. Horvath will assist the Company on various scientific aspects of development, manufacturing, regulatory, and medical affairs with a focus on assisting with the oversight of the current Ampligen Early Access Program (EAP) in place for pancreatic cancer. The Ampligen pancreatic cancer EAP was recently extended by the Netherlands, establishing a treatment program for up to 50 pancreatic cancer patients and creating a funding mechanism to compensate Hemispherx for the use of Ampligen in the program. Efforts are underway to further expand the program in the Netherlands as well as commence similar therapeutic cancer programs in other major European countries that allow for early access with full governmental reimbursement. We are repurposing Ampligen as a broadly indicated immuno-oncology agent. By repurposing the experimental drug from a sole focus on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), we take full advantage of a fully developed safety profile that emerged from the approximately 100,000 doses utilized in prior clinical studies showing that Ampligen was generally well-tolerated. No other TLR agonist comes into the Cancer space with such a strong and positive safety profile, said Thomas Equels, CEO of Hemispherx Biopharma. Our belief in Ampligens potential as a therapy in oncology is based not only on its direct antitumor cell activity, but also on its immuno-modulatory activities, which may be important in providing a favorable tumor microenvironment for therapy, Equels added. Dr. Horvaths vast experience in both oncology and microbiology will help us in achieving our near term goal of repurposing Ampligen into a serious player in immune-oncology. We are deeply committed to providing a therapeutic solution to the large unmet medical need in pancreatic cancer, which is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in Europe as research shows. Dr. Horvath has considerable experience in immuno-oncology research, which is anticipated to be especially helpful in the Companys expanding efforts in pancreatic cancer programs and the on-going work in ME/CFS. His experience is expected to ensure the continuation of successful organization and planning of upcoming clinical studies in the immuno-oncology space. Dr. Horvath stated, I am professionally excited with this opportunity to be at the leading edge of developing Ampligen as a standalone and combination therapy in immuno-oncology. Ampligen has been shown to be generally well-tolerated in multiple clinical trials in the US and Europe. This safety record, in combination with Ampligens Toll-like Receptor 3 mechanism activating both innate and adaptive immunity, requires that our team at Hemispherx work hard to develop Ampligen as an immuno-stimulant to combat those forms of cancer, such as pancreatic, where a relation between a favorable prognosis and a positive immune profile has been reported. A body of clinical research data suggests that Ampligen favorably changes these immune parameters in another GI solid tumor, colorectal carcinoma. Dr. Horvath has more than 40 years of experience in biomedical research in the fields of virology, immunology and molecular biology. He obtained a doctorate in medicine (1971) and board certification in clinical pathology (1976) and virology (1980) from Semmelweis University Medical School in Budapest, Hungary. Dr. Horvath was a postdoctoral fellow, then a research professor at the Department of Microbiology at the University of Sherbrooke in Canada where he conducted studies regarding the effects of viral and cellular oncogenes and anti-oncogenes in carcinogenesis. He served as Hemispherx Director of Research and Development for seven years. He also served as Scientific Director of the Biotherapy Research Laboratories at St. Joseph Hospitals Cancer Institute in Tampa, FL. A chart accompanying this release is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a9bf8a40-2c23-4454-81e9-1dee949d68b9 According to United European Gastroenterology (UEG), a professional nonprofit organization focusing on digestive diseases, the death rate from pancreatic cancer in Europe is projected to increase to 112,000 deaths per year. In the US pancreatic cancer is projected to increase in both incidence and cancer related deaths over the next decade, while the other major cancer killers are projected to have declining death rates (https://www.pancan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/incidence_report_2012.pdf). The overall survival rate from pancreatic cancer at five years is only 6%, therefore making it a largely unmet medical need. About Hemispherx Biopharma Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. is an advanced specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the manufacture and clinical development of new drug entities for treatment of seriously debilitating disorders. Hemispherxs flagship products include Alferon N Injection and the experimental therapeutics rintatolimod (tradenames Ampligen or Rintamod) and Alferon LDO. Rintatolimod is an experimental RNA nucleic acid being developed for globally important debilitating diseases and disorders of the immune system, including Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Hemispherxs platform technology includes components for potential treatment of various severely debilitating and life threatening diseases. Because both rintatolimod and Alferon LDO are experimental in nature, they are not designated safe and effective by the FDA for general use and are legally available only through clinical trials. Hemispherx has patents comprising its core intellectual property estate and a fully commercialized product (Alferon N Injection), approved for sale in the U.S. and Argentina. The FDA approval of Alferon N Injection is limited to the treatment of refractory or recurrent external genital warts in patients 18 years of age or older. Our Alferon N approval in Argentina includes the use of Alferon N Injection (under the pending brand name Naturaferon) for use in any patients who fail or become intolerant to recombinant interferon, including patients with chronic active hepatitis C infection. Rintamod has received approval in the Argentine Republic to treat severe cases of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). It will be marketed by GP Pharm, Hemispherxs commercial partner in Latin America. Hemispherx wholly owns and exclusively operates a GMP certified manufacturing facility in the United States for commercial products. For more information please visit www.hemispherx.net. Forward-Looking Statements To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, all such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as intends, plans, potential, potentially, possible, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Hemispherx that any of its plans will be achieved. These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees of future performance, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Hemispherxs control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Examples of such risks and uncertainties include those set forth in the Disclosure Notice, below, market and other conditions, the impact of general economic, industry or political conditions in the United States or internationally, as well as the risks described in Hemispherxs filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and Hemispherx undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise revise or update this release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Disclosure Notice The information in this press release includes certain "forward-looking statements including without limitation statements about additional steps which the FDA may require and Hemispherx may take in continuing to seek commercial approval of the Ampligen NDA for the treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) in the United States. The final results of these and other ongoing activities could vary materially from Hemispherxs expectations and could adversely affect the chances for approval of the Ampligen NDA in the United States and other countries. The clinical studies referenced herein have been previously reviewed by the FDA and are not, in and of themselves, a sufficient basis for approval in the United States. Any failure to satisfy the FDA regulatory requirements or the requirements of other countries could significantly delay, or preclude outright, approval of the Ampligen NDA in the United States and other countries. Information contained in this news release, other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and is subject to various risk factors and uncertainties including, but not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors; our ability to adequately fund our projects; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and healthcare legislation in the United States and internationally; trends toward healthcare cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; our ability to accurately predict the future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; dependence on the effectiveness of our patents and other protections for products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions; and numerous other factors discussed in this release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The production of new Alferon API inventory will not commence until the validation phase is complete. While the facility is approved by FDA under the Biological License Application ("BLA) for Alferon, this status will need to be reaffirmed by a successful Pre-Approval Inspection by the FDA prior to commercial sale of newly produced inventory product. The validation phase was delayed because of the damage caused by the flood that occurred in January 2016 at the facility. At this time, we believe that all repairs to the manufacturing facility have been completed. If and when we obtain a reaffirmation of FDA BLA status and have begun production of new Alferon API, we will need FDA approval as to the quality and stability of the final product to allow commercial sales to resume. With regard to our NDA for Ampligen to treat CFS, we note that there are additional steps which the FDA has advised us to take in our seeking approval. The final results of these efforts and/or any other activities could vary materially from our expectations. Any failure to satisfy the FDA regulatory requirements or the requirements of other countries could significantly delay, or preclude outright, approval of Ampligen in the United States and other countries. No evidence is suggested that Ampligen will be commercially approved for any treatment or that Alferon N Injection will be commercially approved for potential new treatment indications or for new manufacturing procedures. Approval of Rintamod for CFS in the Argentine Republic does not in any way suggest that the Ampligen NDA in the United States will obtain commercial approval. Also, it is noted that ANMAT approval is only an initial, but important, step in the overall successful commercialization. Namely, additional steps required for commercialization in Argentina will require, among others, an appropriate reimbursement level, appropriate marketing strategies, completion of manufacturing preparations for launch (including possible requirements for approval of final manufacturing, etc., and there are no assurances as to whether or when such multiple subsequent steps will be successfully performed to result in an overall successful commercialization and product launch). Expansion of the Early Access Program with myTomorrows into pancreatic cancer is no assurance of commercial approval in the US or elsewhere. Atlanta, Georgia, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the third year in a row, Phoenix Integrated Store Consultants brought home the Atlantas Best and Brightest Companies to Work For award. The award was given to the company for demonstrating excellent human resource practices and providing a rich company culture. Each of the hundreds of companies that are nominated for the award are assessed on effective communication, work-life balance, employee discipline and education, diversity through their team, overall retention, employee happiness and so much more. CJ Young, Director of Operations for Phoenix says, It is an honor to have been selected as one of the winners for the third year in a row. We have a solid core of executives determined to be the rock in which our associates can find balance. We take pride in offering unparalleled training, career development and a widely expanding client portfolio. We hope this win reflects positively on all of the hard work we put in behind the scenes each day. Coupled with the announcement for their latest award, Phoenix Integrated Store Consultants announces the likelihood of a triple threat expansion opportunity inching toward fruition. Associates Deon Gamble, Coi Clarke and Charles Darden made the spotlight as CJs next national proteges, per recently released Atlanta projections. The three have quickly made their mark in Atlantas premier marketing firm, building the trust of Phoenixs multi-billion dollar clientele. Several of the nations prime cities have become available for our clients vast national footprint, says CJ. We are confident that our partnership with Deon, Coi and Charles will be paramount to our growth into those territories. With large expansion goals in the works, Phoenix prepares to take on a new generation of entry-level associates, opening its doors for the hiring process. To learn more about what the company can offer, visit President of Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce Lisa Pogson AWARDS to celebrate the best in business have been launched ahead of a glittering ceremony later this year. The 2017 Barnsley and Rotherham Business Awards are being run by the Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce. There are 12 different awards on offer including three new categories which will recognise excellence in customer services, commitment to the environment, and a new Chamber lifetime achievement honour. The Business of the Year award will recognise one business which has demonstrated outstanding achievements and is regarded as one of the regions most highly sought after prizes. The Chamber has teamed up with RNN Group which operates Rotherham College, North Notts College and Dearne Valley College. The awards ceremony will take place at Magna in Rotherham on Friday, October 13. The Chamber is also calling on member businesses to get in touch to receive a Salute to Business on the evening. All businesses with an S postcode, as well as members of Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber, are eligible to enter the awards. This years award categories are Most Promising New Business; Business Growth; Business Community Impact; Manufacturing Excellence; Excellence in Customer Service; Environmental Commitment; Business Person of the Year; Skills Development; Digital and Creative; Apprentice of the Year; Tourism, Leisure or Hospitality; and The Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award. This years sponsors include ASD Lighting, Brook Corporate Developments, Enzygo, Fortem, Magna, Rotherham College, RUFC, SOTpay, SteelPhalt Harsco, The Source, XPO Logistics, and Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber. The awards will be open to enter on Monday, June 6, and sponsorship packages are available. Lisa Pogson, president of Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, said: The business awards ceremony is one of the highlights of our year and were calling on companies from across South Yorkshire to celebrate their success with us. This year there are a number of new awards which have been launched, meaning theres never been a better chance to get involved, whether your business has success to shout about or celebrating a memorable milestone in 2017. There are many ways for businesses to get involved with this years event and a range of sponsorship packages are currently available. Our headline sponsor this year is the RNN group, and through the generous support they have provided, this years event promises to an unmissable event which recognises the vital contribution businesses make to the local economy. Phil Sayles, deputy principal of the RNN Group, said: There is some truly remarkable and inspirational work which is taking place across South Yorkshire and the Business Awards provides a chance to showcase the innovative work which is being undertaken in the region. RNN Group and our colleges are proud to be associated with this years event, which not only celebrates the success enjoyed by businesses in South Yorkshire, but perhaps equally importantly the people behind them. Det Chief Insp Lee Berry A SENIOR crimebuster has said the support of the public is vital in helping the police tackle burglaries across the Rotherham borough. Det Chief Insp Lee Berry, who is spearheading the battle against burglars, wants more people to come forward with information if they suspect an offence. He said the district has certain burglary hotspots and that the force has a team to act quickly when offences occur. Mr Berry said he would like to see more Neighbourhood Watch groups. And he said police use high profile policing and covert measures to put a stop to burglars activities. Figures show that between April 2015 and March 2016, there were 12,625 burglaries recorded in South Yorkshire as a whole, with 6,210 relating specifically to dwellings. There has been a rise in the number of burglaries across Rotherham but, according to Mr Berry, the figures should be looked at cautiously. He said: From last year you will see an increase in burglaries but what you need to be aware of is the way we record burglaries has changed significantly over the last 12 months. We are recording more things. We have yet to see how that levels out. Mr Berry said house burglary counts now include the areas around a property such as thefts from garages, sheds and other outhouses, boosting the figures. But he said businesses have also been targeted by burglars and the theft of high-powered vehicles has been a problem. Mr Berry said: We are also acutely aware of thefts from business premises, particularly in Rotherham. He said his team looked at crime data and acted accordingly if certain areas proved to be burglary hotspots or if there were trends. Mr Berry said: What we do is map that and we look at the breakdown quarterly, monthly or fortnightly where crimes are occurring then set preventative patrols around those areas. We will identify hotspots. Mr Berry said that certain areas prove a popular attraction to burglars such as Eastwood, Broom, Clifton and increasingly Masbrough with some places made more vulnerable because of the layout and design of houses, which offer unseen access and escape routes. Mr Berry said: The design of certain areas make you very susceptible to crime. But Mr Berry said the answer was having the information which can help the police track down criminals, which is where the publics eyes and ears comes in. He said: We need that engagement with the community. I am really eager to engage with the community and know what they know so we can deal with it. I think communities are our best way of getting this sorted. If you think something is not right then let us know. If you dont report suspicions how do we know if it's suspicious activity? That one piece of information you have got might be the missing piece of a jigsaw. Mr Berry said that a multi-agency group including bodies such as Rotherham Borough Council helped tackle crime and the re-emergence of Neighbourhood Watch groups would be invaluable. He said intelligence also helped the police trace when stolen goods were passed on, blocking off the market for stolen property. Dedicated inspectors, sergeants, and PCSOs are part of Mr Berrys team, and there are dedicated resources to tackle burglaries between 7am and midnight. Mr Berry said that while people can take steps to make themselves less vulnerable to burglars such as locking doors and windows, being suspicious about the identity of callers, keeping an eye on elderly neighbours, not leaving car keys in the ignition the fault for offences taking place lies firmly on the criminals. He said: At the end of the day an offender is making an informed choice to break the law. They will exploit people and the lifestyle they are living. Its not the victims fault. Burglary will always happen but it can make a significant impact. I want to get to a situation where the likelihood of becoming a victim is less and less. FIREFIGHTERS are urging people not to be tempted to swim in lakes and reservoirs as the mecury continues to rise. South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said it attends dozens of water-related incidents each year, many involving rescuing people from open water. The service said people should avoid open water like rivers and lakes because they may not be aware of the dangers. The safety experts said river flows can be unpredictable and water is often deeper, colder and faster than expected. Figures show that more than 400 people die in the water every year in the UK. The fire services head of community safety, Trevor Bernard, said: We regularly receive 999 calls in the summer about people getting into difficulty in water, so its only a matter of time before someones safety is really put at risk unless people listen to our advice. It can be tempting to cool off in the summer months, but stick to a swimming pool. Hundreds of people drown each year in the UK and places like rivers, lakes or flooded quarries are completely unsuitable for swimming as they hide a number of hidden dangers. The service said that the dangers of open water were: Water can be much deeper than expected; Rivers, lakes, canals and reservoirs are much colder than people think; Open water can carry water borne diseases, like Weils disease; Cold water dramatically affects a persons ability to swim; There may be hidden currents, which can pull people under the water: There may be hazards below the surface like pieces of rubbish or reeds which can trap or injure people. TAGS presents around $23mn South African production to over 120 companies in Nov 2022 The reopening of factories in India post-Diwali was generally delayed by 2 weeks in response to sluggish market conditions. The challenges that faced the market in the lead-up to the Diwali holiday remain unchanged. Global economies are still facing... Zim boosts gold output Zimbabwes gold output rose 34,1% in the first 10 months of the year to 29,5 tonnes as operations normalise following two years of COVID-19 restrictions. Newsday reports, citing figures from Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR), that the... The 1st stage of the auction of natural diamonds for small and medium-sized enterprises held in Yakutsk The display of jewelry diamonds weighing from 2 to 10 carats as part of an auction for Russian small and medium-sized enterprises ended on November 8 in Yakutsk. The second stage is the show in Moscow, then the winner of the auction will be determined... 2022 US holiday sales estimated to grow amid concerns about inflation The US National Retail Federation (NRF) says it expects holiday retail sales will grow 6%8% over last years record holiday season, but the organization also says that consumers will spend cautiously amid a high-inflation and high... South Africas National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has accused the Kimberley Ekapa Mining Joint Venture (KEM JV) management of being racist. The union was quoted by African News Agency as saying that it was also very concerned and disturbed by the manner in which the mine management was victimising its leadership. KEM JV was set up last July when Petra Diamonds entered into a joint venture with South African-based diamond mining company, Ekapa Mining. The NUM said a contractor called one of its members a baboon and the company was reluctant to act until it forced them to suspend that intransigence manager of the contractor. Another burning issue is the ill-treatment of the NUM branch leadership especially the branch chairperson and secretary. There is an ulteriormotive towards the two and management to victimise the comrades, NUM said. The company failed to implement its own recruitment policies, which is a cause for concern and the company is busy recruiting people who dont have qualifications. Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) recently accused the mine of operating without the relevant mining permits. Macua members claimed that they had been mining the land on which Ekapa was located since 2003, providing a needed source of income for more than 8 000 people who are now being prevented from contributing taxes of over R8-million monthly. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished Weve certainly seen plenty of incidents in the past where people die from these types of incidents, Detective Senior Sergeant Shepherd said. The surgeon was leaving the hospital and he became in a discussion with an unknown male. The exact nature of that conversation is not known. The verbal altercation moved from the outside of the hospital to inside, and it was inside the hospital that the assault took place. The man punched the victim in the head, knocking him unconscious, before fleeing the scene. Weve certainly seen plenty of incidents in the past where people die from these types of incidents, police said. Help from possible witnesses was asked to continue the investigation. Its believed the offender was visiting a patient. Twin Eagle Sand Twin Eagle Sand Logistics, LLC (Twin Eagle), a subsidiary of Twin Eagle Resource Management, LLC, outlined plans to expand the Permian Rail Park near Big Springs, Texas. Twin Eagle said the expansion of the Union Pacific-served park is to meet the strong demand of the Midland Basin. Phase 1 of the unit train capable rail park was completed in February of 2016 and comprised 33,000 feet of track for rail-to-truck frac sand trans-loading services. Phase 2 of the park includes 15,000 tons of flat storage, 7,800 feet of additional rail track and a 50-percent expansion of the transload road. Phase 3 will include the development of the rail parks 150-acre Lot 2 parcel. The new development of Lot 2 will feature 30,000 tons of rail-accessible vertical silo storage. Phase 3 of the park will break ground next month and will be completed by the first quarter of 2018. The Permian Basin is the strongest frac sand demand center in the country employing almost 50% of the active rigs in the United States, said Griff Jones, Twin Eagles CEO. The first quarter of 2017 has been an exciting time of growth for the Permian Rail Park and our terminal network, we envision the park growing to eventually include a thousand or more rail car spots with greater than 100,000 tons of storage. MONTREAL, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Montreal Artificial Intelligence startup Keatext has been selected by Google to take part in Google Demo Day in San Francisco the 6-8 June 2017. Google Demo Day brings startups from across North America to Silicon Valley to showcase their technology in front of mentors and investors. These startups are nominated by Google for Entrepreneurs partners to exhibit the talent and innovation beyond Silicon Valley. Keatext Co-founders, CEO Dr. Narjes Boufaden and CTO Charles-Olivier Simard, will take the stage in San Francisco, CA to present a four-minute pitch for Keatext in front of Silicon Valley investors, venture capitalists, and judges selected by Google. They are hoping to raise the visibility of their AI startup to US investors to support them as they are preparing for a series A funding. Narjes Boufaden, CEO of Keatext said: I am convinced that the cross-fertilization of ideas between the established AI investor hub in the Valley and our emerging AI academic hub in Montreal will boost the rate of technological innovation. Montreal technology hub Notman House nominated Keatext to represent Montreal at Google Demo Day after watching Keatext grow during the FounderFuel Accelerator program from Real Ventures. The timing of this nominalization is no accident. The Montreal AI startup ecosystem has been unfolding for some years now. Keatext is very much at the centre of this landscape. The evolution of Montreal as an AI hub is attributed to the activity of Yoshua Bengio, one of the fathers of deep learning. Dr. Boufaden was a student of Yoshua when she was doing her Ph.D. specializing in natural language processing with a focus on conversational language. Many local Universities have contributed to the phenomenon too. Programs like IVADO (universities, investors, startups, join players, specialized in deep learning) have worked to bridge the gap between the academic and business world by helping commercialize viable products. Keatext has been collaborating closely with IVADO to innovate using deep learning technologies for the purpose of automating language understanding in the context of customer experience management. Currently, Keatext is a growing startup with several partners selling the product all over the world. Local companies like BRP and Videotron are using the platform to understand the needs of their customers as they express it in their comments. Their mission is to empower the "Voice of Customer" with AI technology. Keatext uses deep learning applied to natural language processing to unlock the meaning behind a large volume of text customer feedback, by identifying topics that show up and interpreting the sentiment and intent behind these comments. The resulting analysis is easily accessible through a user-friendly interface, making this kind of data exploration accessible to non-specialists like managers and executives. Keatext counts on a very strong local network of investors and mentors from Ange Quebec and Ange Quebec Capital, Real Ventures and their Founder Fuel accelerator program, 500 Startups and BDC. Keatext is now preparing for a series A to expand her market and add new languages to the platform while working on innovative ways to help companies improve customer engagement. The event will be accessible to everyone via live stream. To watch Keatext pitch sign up here. You can find more information and updates on our blog. Japan's housing starts increased for the second straight month in April, defying economists' forecast for a decline, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed Wednesday. Housing starts climbed 1.9 percent year-over-year in April, much faster than the 0.2 percent slight rise in March. In contrast, economists had expected a 1.5 percent fall for the month. Annualized housing starts grew to 1.0 million in April from 0.98 million in the preceding month. It was expected to drop to 0.97 million. Construction orders received by 50 big contractors dropped 0.2 percent yearly in April, reversing a 1.1 percent increase in the prior month. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. March 2015 It's a quarter after ten, and I just woke up. I haven't slept this late since college!I was in Oregon for the weekend, and I took a redeye flight home on Monday night/Tuesday morning (the flight left at 12:30 AM on Tuesday). I had a three hour layover in Minnesota, and then arrived home at about noon yesterday. I stayed up all day, and then finally went to bed at 11 PM. So, I was awake for about 37 hours before going to sleep last night. Definitely a record for me.Anyway, the weekend was TOTALLY worth the lack of sleep on the way home!As you probably know, Thomas, my best friend who I actually "met" via my blog in 2012, lives in Portland. I've gone to visit a few times, because during my first trip out there, I totally fell in love with Portland! Not just the city, but the surrounding areas. I am so amazed at how gorgeous the Pacific Northwest is. The trees are my favorite part--they are SUPER tall and lush green from all the rain they supposedly get (it's only rained once in my four trips out there). We went on a 14-mile hike in 2015, and that was the most beautiful place I've ever seen.I started going out there annually, and I look forward to it all year. Anyway, I wanted to go hiking again on this trip. I wasn't really imagining three DAYS worth of hiking, but most of them were simple and short with gorgeous views, so it wasn't like we were hiking 14-milers each day. Actually, the longest hike was a little over four miles, I think. Neither of us is in the shape we were before! (My weight is lower, but since I haven't been running, I'm not in the shape I was in 2015.)To change things up a bit, we headed to central Oregon about three hours from Portland, and I couldn't believe the difference of landscape. It was almost desert-like, a far cry from the lush green of Portland. However, there were some really amazing views and lookouts, so it was very cool to see a different side of Oregon.I wish I knew the names of all of these places we went, but I forgot to have Thomas write them down for me, so I will have to get them later. But we did a ton of driving, and even in the car, I just kept exclaiming, "Ohmygosh! Look at that! It's so pretty!" I'm sure he was so tired of hearing it even before we got to our first stop.Instead of droning on, I'll just post (way too many) photos of the sights we saw, and caption them as needed. First, however, I have to share something terrible that happened just after I arrived in Portland. I didn't actually know what had happened until the following evening when I saw it on a local newsfeed.When I arrived at PDX, I waited for my suitcase. Then I went and bought a ticket for the MAX. The MAX is a public transportation system that consists of small train cars that go all over the city. The guy in front of me spent SO long looking at the map and I had to wait until he finally bought his ticket before I got mine. I was planning to take the MAX to meet Thomas near where he worked.So, I finally bought my ticket, and then hopped on the MAX. I was supposed to ride it for about 40 minutes or so. After several stops, our train was taking an awfully long time to start going again. The conductor announced that "there was an incident on the train in front of us, and we would be delayed". He wasn't sure of the details or how long the delay would be.I texted Thomas to let him know, and he told me to just get off the MAX and he would come pick me up at that stop. So, I lugged my suitcase up to the street, and waited in a nearby parking lot. Fast forward to the following evening (after we'd been hiking all day), when I was scrolling through Facebook. I saw this headline:I was absolutely STUNNED. This had happened on the train ahead of mine. I was literally one stop away from where it happened. I started thinking of the "What if...?" scenarios. What if I hadn't checked my bag? What if that man in line for his ticket didn't take so long? I could have been on that train, and that thought was terrifying. I was SO so sad for the men that actually lost their lives over this. One was an Army veteran, and the other had just graduated college last year. Another man was stabbed, but (thankfully) is expected to live. ( Here is a news article with the details. Portland is a very diverse and accepting city in general, and for some man to be so hateful toward a young Muslim woman is not at all what I would expect there. In fact, I've been trying to convince my parents to go out there, because I know they would love and appreciate how pretty it is. This incident is not at all something that represents the city.For these three gentlemen to step in and intervene is exactly what I would expect, because that's how people are in Portland! Everyone there is SO nice and friendly (another thing I love about the city). When they stepped in to try and calm the man down, the man quickly pulled out a knife and stabbed them, killing two and injuring the third.Anyway, that was in the back of my mind for the rest of the weekend. I feel so bad for the men who lost their lives, their families, the girls that were targeted and had to watch as the men died while trying to help them, and all the other people on that train who had to witness it.Well, despite what had happened, I was able to appreciate Oregon for what it is--a beautiful state with amazing people and scenery. I'm actually going to post my photos from the hikes in a separate post. It just doesn't feel right to post them here. So, I will share them in a post following this one ... English French THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY AND IS NOT AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR A SOLICITATION OF OFFERS TO SELL ANY SECURITIES. Montrouge 31 May 2017 Credit Agricole S.A. Confirms Early Participation Results and Announces Pricing for the Waterfall Offers ____________________ Credit Agricole S.A. announced today the pricing for its tender offers (the "Waterfall Offers") for the four series of notes (the "Waterfall Notes") listed in the table below. The Waterfall Offers are subject to a maximum tender amount (the "Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount") of EUR679,211,262, the Acceptance Priority Levels set forth in the table below and proration as described in the related offer to purchase dated 15 May 2017 (the "Waterfall Offer to Purchase"). The Total Consideration to be paid in the Waterfall Offers for each series of Waterfall Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Participation Date (as defined below) and accepted for purchase has been determined as of the date hereof at 9:00 a.m., New York City time / 3:00 p.m., Central European time, in the manner described in the Waterfall Offer to Purchase according to the Reference Yield and is set forth in the table below. The table below also sets forth the final principal amounts of each series of Waterfall Notes validly tendered and not withdrawn as of 8:00 a.m. New York City time / 2:00 p.m. Central European time on 30 May 2017 (the "Early Participation Date"). The aggregate principal amount of Waterfall Notes that were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Participation Date was EUR415,649,543 (based on the applicable exchange rates specified in the Waterfall Offer to Purchase). Because the aggregate principal amount of Waterfall Notes does not exceed the Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount, Credit Agricole S.A. will purchase all Waterfall Notes that were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Participation Date. Title of Waterfall Notes / CUSIP - ISIN No. Principal Amount Tendered as of the Early Participation Date Acceptance Priority Level Early Participation Amount Reference Benchmark Bloomberg Reference Page/Screen Reference Yield Fixed Spread Total Consideration (1) GBP 7.589% Undated Deeply Subordinated Notes ISIN : FR0010575654 GBP63,000,000 1 GBP30.00 4.75% UK Treasury due 7 March 2020 DM02 0.082% +300bps GBP1,112.65 GBP 8.125% Undated Deeply Subordinated Notes ISIN : FR0010814418 GBP97,500,000 2 GBP30.00 3.75% UK Treasury due 7 September 2019 DM02 0.079% +235bps GBP1,130.65 USD 8.375% Undated Deeply Subordinated Notes CUSIP : 225313AB1 (Rule 144A) / F22797FK9 (Reg S) ISIN : US225313AB10 (Rule 144A) / USF22797FK97 (Reg S) USD166,582,000 3 USD30.00 1.250% U.S. Treasury due 30 April 2019 FIT1 1.287% +200bps USD1,114.75 EUR 7.875% Undated Deeply Subordinated Notes ISIN : FR0010814434 EUR83,500,000 4 EUR30.00 Interpolated Mid-swap Rate ICAE1 -0.129% +100bps EUR1,165.56 (1) The Total Consideration payable for each Waterfall Note will be a price per GBP1,000, USD1,000 or EUR1,000, as applicable, in principal amount of such Waterfall Note validly tendered at or prior to the Early Participation Date and accepted for purchase by Credit Agricole S.A., and will include the Early Participation Amount. Payment of the aggregate consideration for Waterfall Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Participation Date that are accepted for purchase is expected to be made on 2 June 2017, on which date Credit Agricole S.A. will deposit with CACEIS Corporate Trust S.A., as Tender Agent (for tendering holders that hold their Waterfall Notes through Euroclear, Clearstream or Euroclear France), or with DTC, the amount of cash necessary to pay the Total Consideration plus Accrued Interest in respect of the Waterfall Notes accepted for purchase in the Waterfall Offers. In accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Waterfall Offers to Purchase, the Waterfall Offers remain open for further tenders and will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on 13 June 2017 / 5:59 a.m., Central European time, on 14 June 2017, unless extended (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the "Expiration Date"). Holders of Waterfall Notes accepted for purchase that are validly tendered after the Early Participation Date but at or prior to the Expiration Date will be eligible to receive an amount equal to the Total Consideration less the applicable Early Participation Amount. If the final aggregate principal amount of Waterfall Notes validly tendered on or prior to the Expiration Date exceeds the Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount, tenders after the Early Participation Date will be subject to proration as described in the Waterfall Offer to Purchase. For further details about the terms and conditions of the Waterfall Offers and the procedures for tendering Waterfall Notes in the Waterfall Offers, please refer to the Waterfall Offer to Purchase. Capitalised terms used in this announcement but not defined herein have the meanings given to them in the Waterfall Offer to Purchase. Further Information Copies of the Any and All Offer to Purchase, the Waterfall Offer to Purchase and other documentation are available at http://gbsc-usa.com/Credit-Agricole/. Questions and requests for assistance in connection with the Offers may be directed to: The Sole Structuring Bank and Sole Dealer Manager for the Tender Offers Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank 12, place des Etats-Unis, CS 70052 92547 Montrouge Cedex France Attn: Liability Management Tel: +44 207 214 5733 Email: liability.management@ca-cib.com Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc. Attn: Debt Capital Markets/Liability Management 1301 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10019 Collect: 212-261-7802 U.S. Toll Free: (866) 807-6030 Questions and requests for assistance in connection with the tenders of Notes including requests for a copy of the relevant Offer to Purchase may be directed to: The Tender Agents and the Information Agents for the Tender Offers In respect of USD Notes Global Bondholder Services Corporation 65 Broadway - Suite 404 New York, New York 10006 Attn: Corporate Actions Banks and Brokers call: (212) 430-3774 Toll free (866)-794-2200 By facsimile: (For Eligible Institutions only): (212) 430-3775/3779 Confirmation: (212) 430-3774 In respect of GBP or EUR Notes CACEIS Corporate Trust S.A. 1-3, Place Valhubert 75013 Paris Attn: Charlotte HUGO Tel: +33 (1) 57 78 34 10 Email: charlotte.hugo@caceis.com / LD-F-CT-OST-MARCHE-PRIMAIR@caceis.com Disclaimer Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their Notes pursuant to the Waterfall Offers, and if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender. Holders should consult their own tax, accounting, financial and legal advisors as they deem appropriate regarding the suitability of the tax, accounting, financial and legal consequences of participating or declining to participate in the Waterfall Offers. This announcement is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of offers to sell any securities. This announcement is not an invitation to participate in the Waterfall Offers. Such an invitation will only be extended by means of documents (the "Offers to Purchase") that will be provided only to those investors to whom such an invitation may be legally addressed. The distribution of this announcement in certain countries may be prohibited by law. Offer Restrictions United Kingdom. The communication of this announcement, the Offers to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Waterfall Offers are not being made, and such documents and/or materials have not been approved, by an authorised person for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). Accordingly, such documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of such documents and/or materials is exempt from the restriction on financial promotions under section 21 of the FSMA on the basis that it is only directed at and may be communicated to (1) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments, being investment professionals as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "FPO"); (2) persons who fall within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the FPO ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc."); or (3) any other persons to whom these documents and/or materials may lawfully be communicated. Any investment or investment activity to which the Offers to Purchase relate is available only to such persons or will be engaged only with such persons and other persons should not rely on it. France. The Waterfall Offers are not being made, directly or indirectly, to the public in the Republic of France. Neither this announcement, the Offers to Purchase nor any other documents or offering materials relating to the Waterfall Offers have been or shall be distributed to the public in the Republic of France and only (i) providers of investment services relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties (personnes fournissant le service d'investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers) and/or (ii) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies) acting for their own account, with the exception of individuals, within the meaning ascribed to them in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-1, L.411-2 and D.411-1 of the French Code monetaire et financier and applicable regulations thereunder, are eligible to participate in the Waterfall Offers. Neither this announcement, the Offers to Purchase nor any other such offering material has been submitted for clearance to the Autorite des marches financiers. Italy. None of the Waterfall Offers, this announcement, the Offers to Purchase or any other documents or materials relating to the Waterfall Offers have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to applicable Italian laws and regulations. The Waterfall Offers are being carried out in the Republic of Italy ("Italy") as exempted offers pursuant to Article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of Legislative Decree No. 58 of February 24, 1998, as amended (the "Consolidated Financial Act") and article 35-bis, paragraph 4 of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of May 14, 1999, as amended. Holders or beneficial owners of the Notes (as defined in the Offers to Purchase) that are resident and/or located in Italy can tender the Notes for purchase through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with the Consolidated Financial Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 16190 of October 29, 2007, as amended, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of September 1, 1993, as amended) and in compliance with any other applicable laws and regulations and with any requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority. Each intermediary must comply with the applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-a-vis its clients in connection with the Notes or the Offers. European Economic Area. In any European Economic Area ("EEA") Member State, this announcement and the Offers to Purchase are only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of Directive 2010/73/EU, together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive." St. Louis, MO, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- River City Marketing, a St. Louis owned and operated marketing firm has committed 2017 to be their biggest give back year to date. The firm focuses on their employees selecting and participating in community outreach events that are important to them. Since January 2017 the company has participated in many events ranging from the NAMI Mental Health Awareness Walk to collecting items for both the ReFresh Store and Operation Food Search. Most recently River City Marketing has adopted a Chimpanzee from the St. Louis Zoo. River City Marketings Management Team commented We love that our team is excited to get involved and make a difference in the St. Louis community. We feel giving back to the community as an office is building team comradery and enabling our employees to have a say in company decisions. The River City Marketing team has more events planned this year and they are looking forward to seeing the impact they have made in the community by the end of the year. If you are interested in the past, current and upcoming events River City Marketing is participating in visit their website: www.rivercitymarketing.org. LAFAYETTE, Calif., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Loyale Healthcare, a leader in providing customized, comprehensive financial tools and services for healthcare providers and their patients, has completed a wide array of third-party examinations attesting to its dedication to and compliance with strict data security and privacy standards. These examinations align with Loyales consumer-centric approach to technology development and support which has been in practice since 1990. Loyale completed the Service Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) Type 2 examination, has complied with the Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) v3.2, satisfactorily underwent penetration testing and was determined to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The rigorous examinations that led to the achievements were administered by the professional IT assurance and compliance staff at 360 Advanced, a respected national Qualified Security Assessor, HITRUST CSF Assessor and CPA firm based in St. Petersburg, FL. The successful completion of these demanding examinations of our data security controls shows how serious Loyale is about keeping client and patient information as safe and secure as is achievable, commented Pradeep Palazhi, Chief Operating Officer. These disciplines are mission-critical as we scale across hundreds of facilities serving current and new clients. Our engineers rose to this challenge with the same exacting attention to detail they apply to all Loyale projects, Palazhi said. ABOUT LOYALE Loyale, the next generation of ePAY Healthcare, provides comprehensive patient financial engagement solutions. Loyales platform makes it possible for healthcare providers to improve patient collections through personalized, proactive engagement. Providers depend on Loyale to drive higher patient satisfaction by delivering financial care that aligns with patients clinical care. Based in Lafayette, CA, Loyale serves healthcare providers across the U.S. To learn more, including a projected ROI, providers should call Loyale at 888-640-7815 or visit the Loyale website. ABOUT 360 ADVANCED An Authorized HITRUST CSF Assessor, 360 Advanced assists service providers in more than 30 U.S. states, Europe, South and Central America and the Pacific Rim as their independent IT assurance and compliance assessor. For an initial consultation, please contact Eric Ratcliffe at eratcliffe@360advanced.com. Cruising boats flow back to the US for hurricane season this time of year. Our path is counter-current thanks to our seasonally late departure from Florida and slow pace through the Bahamas. Its less than 300 miles to Florida from where Totem lies at anchor near George Town; more than 1,100 nm of sailing stand between us and our hurricane season destination of Grenada. Compounding our situation: it is against prevailing conditions (easterly breezes) instead of with them. Yes, it really is time to get a move on! Being off-sync means missing out on some of the expected (and anticipated) experiences of these beautiful islands. I have a long list of must see spots, favorites from respected friends seeking to share their love of the Bahamas. Well miss most of those spots. I dont know how to justify our acceptance of this without sounding jaded, but we aren't too fussed at the prospect of missing many of lauded Bahamas cruiser experiences. We'll do we do best: make the most of where we find ourselves. Meanwhile, Totem crew is hardly missing out on the rituals of Bahamian cruising life with various rituals and shenanigans to indulge in though a handful of stops in the Exumas--near Staniel Cay, and at our current anchorage near George Town.At Big Majors Spot, sundowners were hoisted each evening on Pirate Beach (theres a sign and everything) at 5 sharp. Boston whaler, Float toy, and red wine: what could possibly go wrong? The same setting held a handful of health-conscious cruisers gathering to exercise in the morning. The gentle workout is led by former nurse and unfailingly upbeat Laurie from MV Forever Young, who lends her considerable positive energy to make fun for all: she organizes potlucks periodically too, typically to share from the bounty of mahi she and her husband catch. Game time on the beach: whiling away an afternoon in the shade playing Mexican Train dominoes with new and familiar cruisers. Beautiful view, cool drink, good conversation, and a fun gameOK! A few minutes dinghy ride away are the pigs. THOSE pigs, the famous Bahamian swimming pigs, which now crop up on Cays all over the islands but reputedly originated here. Theyre cuteI guess? Juvenile piglets are charming, but the bigger pigsand they get BIGhave a reputation for literally biting the hand that feeds them. I think I know more people who were injured by the pigs than not! We had to check them out but with some apprehension. The anchorage would fill and drain cyclically with weather forecasts, as boats took advantage of good conditions to get across the Gulf Stream. Silver lining: as boats intersect heading in the opposite direction, weve been able to have some memorable meetings. Many moons of following Allison and Bo from Sailing B+A, messages traded, and they were even more fun in person than I ever imagined. Snorkeling with them and the awesome Ruby Rose crew, Nick & Terysa, to Thunderball grotto and taking advantage of Bos skill for the us-ie to get a group shot: Biggest treat for the kids: TEENS, as we converged with multiple kid boats in their age range. A real treat and one that buoyed their spirits. Tracks that converged, intersected, and moved on in different directions refreshed an aphorism of the cruising life. Goodbyes happen all too often. It can be especially hard on the kids, who have fewer opportunities to hang out with peers. The flip side: these encounters grow a circle of amazing people in our lives. Goodbyes arent forever, and the other reminder is that in a round world there are ample opportunities to meet again. Next to Totem: SV Infini, who we last shared an anchorage with in Thailand more than three years ago! I do wish we could have stopped in more of the amazingyoull love it! spots along the Exumas. We made a few and tips from friends and readers here lead us to great spots, like the cave north of Little Farmer (thanks Jessie!). But the out-island experiences we hope to find ahead draw me even more! Were stocking up in George Town, with an eye on winding through out islands on our way to the BVIs. This is THE scene for cruisers in the Bahamas, with over 300 boats during peak season a couple of months ago. Organized activities cover every day and night of the week, from "beach church" to water aerobics and poker / hold-em nights. I'm pretty sure there's a coconut painting class. The small-scale taste of this near Staniel Cay was a lot of fun--the bigger cast, not quite our bag. A blast for folks who make this their home-away-from-home but the quieter, more remote islands ahead are what I'm excited about. That said, WOW is George Town convenient for getting things done! We filled a propane tank, topped up some diesel, and chose from a grocery store spread that included such Bahamas-luxury-items as asparagus, leeks, shallots, and mushrooms... and the best price on lettuce I've seen since we arrived in the Bahamas. I think there are 11 heads of romaine in our fridge right now! With luck well have weather to go offshore from Mayaguana and make easting; the route is as certain as the forecast two weeks out! Along the way, enjoying wherever Totems anchor drops. Salina Veterans Day Parade planned for this weekend Interim Healthcare and Hospice, a home health and hospice provider in Salina, has organized a Veterans Day parade for this weekend. CALGARY, Alberta, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bayshore Petroleum Corp. (Bayshore or the Company) (TSX-V:BSH) announces that it is engaged in a test program with Imaginea Energy Corp (Imaginea) to validate the Cold Catalytic Cracking (CCC) upgrading technology. CCC is capable of partial upgrading (to lighter oil), and full upgrading (to diesel fuel). It does so without hydrogen, pressure vessels, and using less heat and energy than conventional processes. Its greenhouse gas footprint is smaller as well. Imaginea is evaluating the technology to potentially use in its commercial operations, but it also may recommend CCC be funded by the Imaginea XL Accelerator Fund, so that this upgrading technology might be adopted by oil and gas industry in general. Imaginea is a unique leading edge energy producer dedicated ultimately to the production of clean hydrocarbons. The Imaginea XL Accelerator has been funded expressly for the purpose of funding disruptive technologies that have the potential to dramatically restructure and improve operations in conventional oil and gas industry. CCC can potentially become a disruptive technology in upgrading/refining medium or heavy crude oil and bitumen in Canada and globally, and so Imaginea is assessing its technical and economic performance in partial and full upgrading of medium and heavy crude oil. Meetings and assessment are ongoing, with a goal to complete initial evaluations in the next two to four weeks. Assuming a successful conclusion, the parties will pursue commercial agreements to implement the technology. On May 2, 2017, Bayshore announced a non-brokered private placement financing consisting of up to 24 million common shares priced at $0.05 per share for gross proceeds of $1.2 million, less any commissions or finders fees paid. Proceeds from the financing are to be applied to Bayshores work with Imaginea, with other energy companies, and to general working capital. There is a hold period of four months after issuance during which the shares cannot be traded, and the placement is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. On behalf of the Board of Directors BAYSHORE PETROLEUM CORP. IMAGINEA ENERGY CORP. "Peter Ho" Suzanne West Chairman and CEO CEO Bayshore Head Office: Imaginea Head Office: PHONE +1403 265 8820 PHONE +587 794 4301 FAX +1403 290 6565 info@imagineaenergy.com ccc@bayshorepetroleum.com Jamieson Place, 2621 308 4th Avenue S.W. 14 3515 27th Street N.E. Calgary, Alberta, T2P 0H7 Calgary, Alberta, T1Y 5E4, Canada Canada This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities of the Company in the United States. The Company's securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Cautionary Statements Statements in this press release may contain forward-looking information including expectations of future production, operating costs, commodity prices, administrative costs, commodity price risk management activity, acquisitions and dispositions, capital spending, access to credit facilities, income taxes, regulatory changes, and other components of cash flow and earnings. This press release may also contain forward-looking or subjective information regarding technology, processes, and the oil and gas industry. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. These risks include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the mining and oil and gas industry, commodity prices and exchange rate changes. Industry related risks could include, but are not limited to, operational risks in exploration, development and production, delays or changes in plans, risks associated to the uncertainty of reserve estimates, technology and technology implementation, health and safety risks and the uncertainty of estimates and projections of production, costs and expenses. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Completion of a transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including Exchange acceptance and disinterested Shareholder approval. The transaction cannot close until the required Shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Management Information Circular to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Bayshore should be considered highly speculative. Today, as we celebrate 55 years of our independence, we pause to remember the sacrifices and wisdom of our forebears in their vision and foresight P.M. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi Talofa lava and a very warm welcome to the commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the Independent State of Samoa. We welcome especially our distinguished and esteemed guests who have travelled from abroad to our shores to celebrate together with us this special day. Thank you indeed for accepting our humble invitation. To God be the glory for the great things He has done for Samoa. We expressly acknowledge that without His divine leadership and spiritual intervention, Samoa would have never survived the torrents of global developmental challenges as a sovereign nation. Today, as we celebrate 55 years of our independence, we pause to remember the sacrifices and wisdom of our forebears in their vision and foresight. The continuing development of all sectors of the economy speaks volume to the effective planning and implementation of government projects through durable partnerships, despite multiple economic and financial challenges Samoa continues to contemplate to date. In this connection of realizing our countrys aspirations, we would like to express our gratitude to governmental development partners including Australia, China, European Union, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, as well as the key international organizations supporting our efforts including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Agencies. In the same spirit, we sincerely acknowledge the assiduous contributions and memorable accomplishments of the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations as well as our village communities in advancing our pursuit of excellence in social and economic development. To all our distinguished and honoured guests who have travelled from near and far, we trust that your brief stay in Samoa will generate great memories of our hospitality, culture and our people. May we all have a wonderful celebration. Soifua, Black Saturday And so once again tomorrow is our Independence Day. It is when we celebrate our 55th year of political independence from colonial rule, as well as this profoundly unique feeling of freedom weve been taking for granted all that time up to now. And if one date should remain riveted in Samoas conscience it is 28 December 1929. On that day, now known as Black Saturday, the dream that Samoa would achieve independence from colonial rule was born; it was born in blood. The blood belonged to the leader of Samoas non-violent Mau a Tumua ma Pule (strongly held opinion) Movement, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi, who was shot by New Zealand police as he was leading a peaceful demonstration in downtown Apia. It was the blackest day in Samoa then. It still is today. It started when a leader of the demonstration resisted police arrest, a struggle between the police and the Mau demonstrators ensued, and the officers fired randomly into the crowd. The police used a mounted Lewis machine gun designed to disperse the demonstrators, and Tupua was shot from behind and killed. He was trying to bring calm and order to the Mau demonstrators by screaming Peace Samoa, when he was shot. Ten others died that day and some 50 were injured by gunshots and police batons and the day turned black. It was a Saturday; that day became Samoas Black Saturday. However, Samoas drive for political independence began all the way back to when the country was called German Samoa, and Governor Dr Wilhelm Solf was in complete control. It was when dissatisfied with the way Dr Solf had changed Samoas Faalupega and centralized all authority in his hands, Samoan matai got together and formed the Mau Movement. Led by orator Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe, the non-violent movement proved popular relatively quickly, and it drew the overwhelming support of matai leaders protesting against losing their traditional Samoan authority under the colonial administration headed by Dr Solf. And now mad with rage, Dr Solf acted. In the first months of 1909, Governor Solf called in the military to quash Lauaki and the Mau a Pule on Savaii. Four warships and troops from the East Asia Squadron arrived. The warships cordoned off Savaii from Upolu. On 1 April 1909 Lauaki surrendered with other Safotulafai chiefs and Mau a Pule supporters. They were arrested and tried. On 19 April 1909, Lauaki and 71 members of the Mau a Pule were exiled to the German colony, Saipan, in the Mariana Islands aboard the ship SMS Jaguar. The other exiled Mau a Pule leaders included Iiga Pisa, Asiata Tautoloa, Leiataua Mana, Namulauulu Pulali, Tuilagi Letasi. Among the exiles were also women and children including Lauakis wife Sivaotele and their only child, Tivoli. Lauaki and others never saw Samoa again. However years later some returned to Samoa. On 18 December 1915 some, including Leiataua Mana, Taupau Pauesi, Tagaloa and Malaeulu, returned home. They brought back the bones of Asiata Taetoloa, Tevaga, Letasi, Tuilagi, and members of their families who had died in Saipan. On his way back with his wife and son, Lauaki fell ill and they were forced to stop at Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. Lauaki died there. On 15 January 1916, his wife Sivaotele and their son arrived back aboard the steamer Atua. They brought the news that Lauaki had died in Tarawa. After Lauakis death and by the late 1920s, the Mau Movement had gathered widespread support in Samoa. Incidentally, one of the Mau leaders was Olaf Frederick Nelson, a merchant born in Safune, Savaii. His father was the Swedish trader, August Nilspeter Gustav Nelson, and his mother was Sina Masoe of the Tupua Tamasese Meaole family. Olaf was conferred the title Taisi. Says Wikipedia: Nelsons early years saw him working in his fathers business, and he became a successful merchant in his own right. He expanded his fathers copra trading business throughout the islands, and by the time he was thirty five, he was one of the wealthiest members of the Apia community. He was influential in both the Samoan and European communities. Under German rule, when the country was called German Samoa (1900 - 1914), the colonial administrators treated Nelson as an equal. And now with German Samoa and Dr Solf gone, and the New Zealand government taking over as the new colonialists, all that changed. Nelson was excluded and alienated by the New Zealand government. Despite being elected to the Legislative Council in 1924, he could do little as he and the other elected members were constantly overruled by the more numerous government appointees. This treatment turned Nelson into one of the major forces in Samoas Mau Movement and the drive for independence. In May 1927, he founded a newspaper, the Samoa Guardian, to support the movements claims. In response to his growing public dissent the New Zealand administration tried to brand Nelson as unscrupulous and a trouble maker. But Nelson did not care. He continued to assist the Mau Movement financially and politically, and saw it expand to include women. And that did not endear him to the leaders of the New Zealand administration, just as Namulauulu Lauaki had been loathed by Dr Solf. In any case, the colonial administrations desperation to silence Nelson led them to exile him in January 1928, along with two other part-European members of the Mau. During his five years of exile, Nelson took his protests as far as to the League of Nations in Geneva. Six months after his return to Samoa, he was sentenced to ten additional years in exile as well as eight months imprisonment in New Zealand. This was cut short in 1936. It was after Labour had won the New Zealand general election in 1935, so he returned to Samoa and helped in the signing of the co-operation agreement between Samoan leaders and the New Zealand administration. And so as we are approaching the celebrations of our 55th year of political independence, what do you think? Do you think we are honoring the memory of our forebears who sacrificed so much so that we can have this wonderful freedom to speak our minds that we are taking for granted today? Do you think our leaders are doing justice to the legacy laid down by those who suffered the indignity of being jailed and even died in exile, so that we could have this independence of thought we are enjoying today? Share your thoughts with the rest. * Excerpts used in this editorial were taken from An Account of Samoan History up to 1918 by Samoan historian, Teo Tuvale, It was first published in the Samoa Observer on 30 May 2013, now slightly revised. Dear Editor, I totally agree with Olo Fiti, the Pacific Games is just a waste of time and valuable resources. Samoa should focus on developing world-class athletes by establishing a world-class sports academy. There are already regional games for individual sports so the Pacific people should be looking at developing those games into world-class events. These Pacific games are too expensive but the quality is not even near world standards. Very few champions from these games can qualify for world-class events and thats because of the low standards of competition found in these games. We need to compete with the best and to get there, we need to invest time and valuable resources into developing world beaters. Manu Samoa needs millions of dollars for a world cup campaign and thats for resources and expertise needed for preparations. I can only assume that finance needed for Manu Samoas next world cup campaign is probably more than what was invested in the hundreds of athletes and officials in the last Pacific games. These games should be a stepping-stone to the sporting careers of Pacific athletes but only rugby seemed to excel outside of the Pacific Games and thats because many rugby players are part of professional clubs outside of the Pacific. Its time to think outside the box, lets build on the success of weightlifting and invest money and resources there so that we can find the next Ele. We always excel in boxing but talent alone is not enough when we step out of the Pacific so why not develop an Olympic champion from home. I see development and competitions in individual sports as an affordable and meaningful alternative to the Pacific games. It gives smaller nations an equal opportunity in terms of investment in one sport which will help raise the standard of competition. It also alleviates the strain on small economies when a country hosts a competition of a particular sport. We have talent in contact sports like rugby and boxing so why not invest time and resources to develop athletes in these sports rather than investing in swimming which is quite an expensive sport with very few competitors in Samoa. In my opinion, its just a waste of money and resources to fund and maintain facilities needed for this sport. Lets get rid of the Pacific Games because its too small, very expensive but not a class act in terms of competition and standards. Le Mafa P The editor of the Samoa Observer Newspaper, Mataafa Keni Lesa, has been named the recipient of the prestigious Boerma Award by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O.) He is the joint winner of the 2016-1017 Award with Ms. Zeynab Zandati, a journalist from Kenya. He becomes the first Pacific Islander to win the award. Mataafa was informed about the award yesterday, in an email from the Director of the Officer for Corporate Communications and Secretary of F.A.O. Conference Awards, Enrique Yeves, who is based in Rome, Italy. Mr. Yeves email says: Dear Mr. Keni Lesa, It is with pleasure that I refer to the F.A.O Awards 2016-2017 in particular to the Boerma Award." This Award commemorates the services rendered by former Director-General, Dr. A.H. Boerma to F.A.O, his able leadership and the important steps he took towards solving global food problems of unprecedented magnitude." In recognition of the important role of the media in the fight against hunger, F.A.O has since 1979 presented the A.H. Boerma Award to journalists or groups of journalists, from around the world, who have brought food security and rural development issues in developing countries to the attention of civil society." I am honoured to inform you that you have been selected with Ms Zeynab Zandati, a journalist from Kenya, as joint winners of the 2016-2017 A.H. Boerma Award. In this regard, we would like to invite you to accept this award during an official ceremony at the margins of the 40th F.A.O Conference from 3-8 July 2017." Please be informed that this notification will be followed by an official letter to you from FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva. In the meantime, I take this opportunity to express to you my heartfelt congratulations." Mataafa said he is humbled by the Award. The son of the late Levaopolo Alopopo Ramese and Sieni Mataafa-Lesaisaea of Salamumu and Papa Sataua gives credit to God Almighty first and foremost. He dedicates the award to the hardworking management and staff of the Samoa Observer at Vaitele and all over the world. I am absolutely honoured, he said. It's not just about me, it's about the work our team does and the stories of those people we tell on the pages of this newspaper and share with the world online." Ultimately this is about Samoa. Its about a collective effort to improve peoples livelihoods by not only highlighting the truth and the struggles but also finding common ground where all parties can come together to build a better society, a better Samoa. Mataafa, already an award-winning journalist, has worked at the Samoa Observer for 18 years. He has been the Editor for 10 years. Married to Laufaleaina Eli-Lesa, he is the father of two girls, Solania Lote Vaituutuu and Tofigaonafanua Jade Lesa. ABOUT THE A. H. BOERMA AWARD The award is for journalists who have successfully steered public attention towards food security topics. In recognition of the important role of the media in the fight against hunger, FAO has since 1979 presented the A.H. Boerma Award to journalists or groups of journalists, from around the world, who have brought food security and rural development issues in developing countries to the attention of civil society. The A.H. Boerma Award commemorates the significant contribution of former FAO Director-General, Addeke Hendrik Boerma (1968 1975) to FAO, his able leadership and the important steps he took towards solving global food problems of unprecedented magnitude. Previous winners have included The Guardian Development team, Financial Times journalist Javier Blas, CNN International's Jim Clancy, producer and host of Inside Africa, Elisabeth Rosenthal of the New York Times, Michael Pickstock, of the BBC, Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman, The Wall Street Journal and more. The winners travel to Rome to receive their awards from the Director-General at a special ceremony held during the year of the F.A.O Conference. RALEIGH, N.C., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The dedication of the Williams-Baldwin Teacher Campus drew a crowd of supporters to Asheville on Tuesday, applauding a housing initiative aimed at attracting and retaining teachers for Asheville City and Buncombe County schools. Representatives from State Employees Credit Union (SECU) and SECU Foundation joined local leaders and educators for the official Ribbon Cutting of the 24-unit apartment complex, a collaborative effort between SECU Foundation, Asheville City and Buncombe County School Systems, Eblen Charities and Buncombe County. Credit Union members, through their Foundation, provided Eblen Charities with a 15-year interest-free loan of up to $2.8 million to build the apartments, offering area teachers an affordable place to call home. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b09d7623-e5e4-465f-bc98-b1c19a690ef6 SECU Foundation Board member Michael Clements spoke at the ceremony. Highlighting Credit Union members support for the project, he remarked, We are pleased to be part of this housing initiative one that has been made possible through the hard work of many individuals and partnerships. The Foundations funding for the Williams-Baldwin Teacher Campus demonstrates our members commitment and desire to help provide a quality education for todays students while continuing to build strong relationships with North Carolina educators and local communities. The Buncombe County Campus is SECU Foundations first teacher housing project in Western North Carolina, replicating previous initiatives in Hertford, Dare and Hoke Counties. These projects offer a unique and resourceful funding concept with the loan being repaid through rental income, allowing SECU Foundation to help fund future projects in other counties throughout the state. We are grateful to the members of State Employees Credit Union for this opportunity, said Bill Murdock, CEO of Eblen Charities, developer and project administrator of the Williams-Baldwin Teacher Campus. Since the early days of Eblen, we have strived to reach out to those in need to help move our community forward. This unique partnership between Eblen, SECU Foundation, Buncombe County and our County and City School Systems only serves to underscore the importance educators have in our community. It is an honor for us to be able to help provide such a wonderful place for them to live. About SECU and the SECU Foundation A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, SECU has been providing employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for nearly 80 years. The Credit Union also offers a diversified line of financial advisory services including retirement and education planning, tax preparation, insurance, trust and estate planning services, and investments through its partners and affiliated entities. SECU serves 2.2 million members through 257 branch offices, nearly 1,100 ATMs, 24/7 Member Services via phone and a website, www.ncsecu.org. The SECU Foundation, a 501c (3) charitable organization funded solely by the contributions of SECU members, promotes local community development in North Carolina primarily through high impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare and human services. Since 2005, SECU Foundation has made a collective financial commitment of more than $130 million for initiatives to benefit North Carolinians statewide. Equity and fairness. These are the guiding words for the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuiotis Budget for 2017/2018 tabled in Parliament yesterday. With estimated revenues of $852.3million and total expenditures of $934.2m, a Deficit $89.9m is forecasted. This Budget is about making the right choices to secure a better tomorrow, Minister Sili Epa told Parliament. These choices must be based on the principles of equity and fairness. " We must choose to focus on growing our economy to provide more jobs and build a solid foundation for a better quality of life for everyone." We must choose to contribute to financing our development in a fair and equitable way. We must choose to guarantee the essential services that all Samoans demand." These are the principles that shape the Equity and Fairness theme of this budget. Every eligible person should contribute to the development of our country. At the same time the fruits of our development must be shared across to benefit everyone. Education and Health remain the priority. The Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture gets the highest budget allocation of $100.3million, which is equivalent to 19.6per cent of total government expenditure. The second highest budget allocation is $88.5million for the Health sector. Infrastructure is allocated $46.99 million while Tourism gets $11.4million. Commerce is allocated $7.7million while Agriculture and Fisheries is appropriated $14.1 million. $15.35million has been set aside as Unforeseen expenditure. In his address, Sili noted the intention to review the public service to lift its performance and responsiveness to the delivery of efficient quality services required by our people. He points to the productivity dividend, saying they have been able to implement it without any compromise on the services being provided which suggests that efficiency gains have been achieved in the way Ministries have spent their budgets. He added that the economy has continued to perform well in recent years. The budgets recommendations are strengthening compliance with existing tax requirements, including compliance by taxpayers and improving the effectiveness of the revenue collecting agencies, including the Ministry for Revenue. Removing a number of exemptions and concessions to improve the equity of the tax system. Increasing non-tax fees and charges and indexing these fees and charges to ensure that the revenue raised more accurately reflects the costs of providing the services to which these fees and charges relate. Increasing a number of duty and excise rates and introducing an equalization charge on EPC; and introducing a Telecommunications levy. The Government is also recommending changes in current taxation arrangements designed to ease the income tax burden on lower paid employees and sole traders; and lower export taxes and some duty and excise rates to support the competitiveness of Samoan businesses. Sili says the anticipated revenue gains from this package of reforms are estimated to be $14.1 million in 2017/18, increasing to $30.6 million in 2020/21. The Review recommendations strike the right balance between raising the revenue we need to continue to strengthen and improve the services and infrastructure which Samoans rightfully expect, but at the same time recognizing that we need to ensure we do not place an unreasonable burden on taxpayers or prejudice business growth and hence employment opportunities. The findings also highlighted what we have known for some time. Not everyone has been paying their fair share. By removing concessions for which there is no clear justification, and strengthening our compliance mechanisms we can raise additional revenue without increasing the tax burden on ordinary taxpayers. In fact, by doing these things we can provide some modest but important and no doubt welcome tax relief for our lower paid citizens. The Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, yesterday tabled his budget for 2017/2018 in Parliament. The theme for this years budget is Equity and Fairness. This is what he said in his budget address: As required under Standing Order 131, it is my pleasure to present on behalf of the Government, the Statement on the Estimates for the fiscal year 2017/18. I. BUDGET SETTING Mr Speaker, Twelve months ago, the Government announced a budget that was framed to set a coherent and affordable agenda for the government as a whole and which aimed to maintain stable and sustainable macroeconomic growth, create employment opportunities for our young people and continue to deliver improved programs and services in areas vital to our continued progress. The 2016/2017 budget was given the theme Strengthening the Foundations: Building for Tomorrow to make it clear that we have work to do if we wanted to continue to strengthen the economy and improve opportunities for our people; and second that this was a process that would require on-going energy and commitment into the future. We wanted to build a strong and resilient foundation for sustainable growth in the years ahead for a better and equitable tomorrow for our people. The budget strategy last year was designed to do the following; to consolidate our public finances and keeping expenditure under control to ensure we continue to provide the best possible access to quality essential education and health services to continue to build the enabling environment needed to support sustainable economic growth. The Government then announced it would undertake a broad ranging review of revenue, covering all tax and non-tax revenues to ensure that we are not only collecting the revenue we need to maintain fiscal responsibility, and provide improved services and infrastructure, but that we are doing so with fairness and efficiency. The review recommendations provide a sound basis for us to move forward to provide the additional revenue the Government can reasonably expect without imposing unreasonable burdens on individual taxpayers or undermining the competitiveness of Samoan businesses. Importantly, they will also enable Government to provide some additional spending on priorities in infrastructure, education and health, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Strengthening compliance and improving the equity of the tax system are central to the Review recommendations. The theme for the 2017/2018 budget therefore is Equity and Fairness to align with the SDS 2016-2020 theme of Accelerating Sustainable Development and Creating Opportunities for All and to ensure that everyone who should be contributing to tax revenues must do so. We also announced the intention to review the public service with a view to lifting its performance and responsiveness to the delivery of efficient quality services required by our people. Mr Speaker I am pleased to say we have completed the public expenditure reviews of the health and education sectors which are key priority sectors in our development agenda. These reviews have raised a number of important pointers that the government will take into account in the design of future programs for these key sectors to ensure the government provides the best health and education service for our people. Preparatory work on the review of the public service is ongoing and we expect this exercise to continue into the next financial year. On the productivity dividend, I am pleased to say that we have been able to implement it without any compromise on the services being provided which suggests that efficiency gains have been achieved in the way Ministries have spent their budgets. II. OUTLOOK Mr Speaker, I am pleased to inform Honorable Members that our economy has continued to perform well in recent years. This was confirmed by the IMF in their Article IV consultation with the government in February this year. Economic growth was strong in 2015/16 growing at over 6% largely driven by the fishing industry, tourism, lower fuel prices, and further boosted by two major sporting events and infrastructure projects. Inflation remains subdued. The near-term growth outlook is positive. Barring any natural disasters, GDP is expected to grow at around 2 percent per year. Growth will be driven by improvements in the business climate, tourism, and construction, including infrastructure projects. The performance of the tourism sector is expected to further improve in the medium-term with increased funding to support targetted destination marketing in Australia and New Zealand and expected increased air services into the country in the latter part of 2018. The closure of Yazaki the largest manufacturing employer is estimated to reduce growth by about 0.9 percentage points for 2017/18 with a further reduction of about 0.1 percentage points in 2018/19. Average inflation is expected to pick up with increasing commodity prices but remain around 3.0 percent over the medium term. Mr Speaker, This is a remarkable performance given the many challenges we have faced in the past few years. But we cannot afford to be complacent. We continue to face downside risks which underscores the need to press ahead with appropriate reforms to improve efficiency within the public sector, improve timeliness and quality of project implementation and to build business confidence. The policy settings of fiscal consolidation and public sector reform combined with accommodative monetary policy will provide a sound platform to support a resilient economy going forward. III. BUDGET STRATEGY Mr Speaker, This Budget is about making the right choices to secure a better tomorrow. These choices must be based on the principles of equity and fairness. We must choose to focus on growing our economy to provide more jobs and build a solid foundation for a better quality of life for everyone. We must choose to contribute to financing our development in a fair and equitable way. We must choose to guarantee the essential services that all Samoans demand. These are the principles that shape the Equity and Fairness theme of this budget. Every eligible person should contribute to the development of our country. At the same time the fruits of our development must be shared across to benefit everyone. Mr Speaker, The Revenue Review that was announced at the 2016/17 Budget Statement was tasked to examine Samoas current taxation arrangements, including: Examining current tax bases and rates and providing advice on the extent to which they reflect reasonable contributions by tax payers; Identifying anomalies in current tax bases, tax rates and tax exemptions; The efficiency and effectiveness of tax collection and tax enforcement. The Review was also asked to examine current taxation procedures and recommend improvements it considers will support the purpose and objectives of the review including: Reviewing the current arrangements for the granting of exemptions and concessions; Improving procedures for dealing with arrears; The use of tax holidays or other concessions; The use of tax credits; Mr Speaker, The main features of the Review recommendations are: Strengthening compliance with existing tax requirements, including compliance by taxpayers and improving the effectiveness of the revenue collecting agencies, including the Ministry for Revenue; Removing a number of exemptions and concessions to improve the equity of the tax system; Increasing non-tax fees and charges and indexing these fees and charges to ensure that the revenue raised more accurately reflects the costs of providing the services to which these fees and charges relate; Increasing a number of duty and excise rates; Introducing an equalization charge on EPC; and Introducing a Telecommunications levy. The Review has also recommended changes in current taxation arrangements designed to: Ease the income tax burden on lower paid employees and sole traders; and Lower export taxes and some duty and excise rates to support the competitiveness of Samoan businesses. Mr Speaker, These changes would be introduced over the next financial year with timing dependent on changes to legislation and administrative procedures which would be required. The net anticipated revenue gains from this package of reforms are estimated to be $14.1 million in 2017/18, increasing to $30.6 million in 2020/21. Mr Speaker, The Review recommendations strike the right balance between raising the revenue we need to continue to strengthen and improve the services and infrastructure which Samoans rightfully expect, but at the same time recognizing that we need to ensure we do not place an unreasonable burden on taxpayers or prejudice business growth and hence employment opportunities. The findings also highlighted what we have known for some time. Not everyone has been paying their fair share. By removing concessions for which there is no clear justification, and strengthening our compliance mechanisms we can raise additional revenue without increasing the tax burden on ordinary taxpayers. In fact, by doing these things we can provide some modest but important and no doubt welcome tax relief for our lower paid citizens. Government is pleased to announce that there will be no increase in the rate of VAGST in this budget. But Government is continuing to review ways, including introducing changes to legislation to ensure full VAGST compliance by businesses at customs point of entry and at points of sale. With the consequential revenue increase as a result of the Review, the Government will be in a strong position to honour its long-standing commitment to fiscal responsibility and provide some for additional spending on key priority areas consistent with the priority outcomes in the SDS 2016- 2020. Secondly, by strengthening compliance the recommendations greatly improve the equity of our taxation arrangements and demonstrate our resolve that everyone should contribute their fair share. IV. BUDGET AGGREGATES Mr. Speaker, I would now like to highlight the key components of the 2017/18 budget. Revenues $852.3m Ordinary Receipts $614.9m External Grants $237.4m Expenditures $934.2m Statutory Expenditures $120.9m Expenditure Programs $511.8m Development Expenditures $286.2m Unforeseen Expenditures $15.4m Overall Budget Deficit -$81.9m Financed By: Soft Term Financing $90.3m Credit Budget Support $12.9m Cash Surplus after Borrowing $21.3m The 2017/18 financial year Main Estimates is expected to record an overall fiscal deficit of approximately $81.9 million which is equivalent to 3.5% of the anticipated level of GDP. Government will continue to introduce and implement appropriate measures and revenue reforms to pave the way towards achieving its fiscal target of 2% of GDP over the medium term. V. REVENUE MEASURES Mr. Speaker, Total Domestic Revenue is expected to increase by 6.3%. Total grants is expected to decline slightly by 1.9% as a result of donor funded project tailing off. It is envisaged that these levels will be sustained over the medium term as a result of the implementation of the Revenue Review recommendations summarized below. These reforms measures include: Strengthen the Ministry for Revenue capacity in order to improve revenue collection compliance; This is expected to generate $4.5m in 2017/18; Improved compliance by the Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment in collecting land leases owing to the Government;($500,000 for 2017/18) Index fixed excise rates which includes revisiting import duties and excise on certain imported products; ($2.53m for 2017/18) Cease Income Tax Holidays, Income Tax Credits and Import Duty exemptions. This will not generate any income in 2017/18. Increase Non-tax fees and charges for Government Services; ($3.1m for 2017/18) Remove certain income tax exemptions so that all eligible tax payers do contribute to the development of Samoa ($2.0m for 2017/18); Impose an equalization charge on EPC;($2.0m) Impose a Telecommunications Levy on the call charges incurred by users; ($479,167) ix. Raise excise on tobacco, alcoholic and sweetened beverages and petroleum fuels ($2.5m) In line with the Budget theme, the Government is supporting the Revenue Review Recommendations in current taxation arrangements designed to ease the income tax burden on lower paid employees as well as lowering export taxes, duty and excise taxes to support exporting industries. The assistance package will see the marginal tax rates adjusted by raising the tax free threshold from the current level of $12,000 to $15,000. This would see an extra 1,852 employees no longer required to pay income tax, saving them up to $300 pa each. It would also mean an estimated 14,199 workers in formal employment would not be required to pay income tax. Salary levels between $15,001 and $25,000 will be taxed at 20% and over $25,000 at 27%. Moreover, to support the drive to expand exports, businesses that export goods and services, (excluding re-exports), get a tax deduction equal to 50% of the profits made on those exports. This effectively halves the tax otherwise payable on those profits. The deduction would only be permitted where the CEO MfR is satisfied that the export sale proceeds will be remitted back to Samoa. Mr. Speaker, It is the Governments belief that the two offsetting measures will trigger increased economic activity which in turn raise commercial activity and eventually raise tax collection. The additional revenue expected as a result of the Revenue Review to assist with funding the 2017/18 budget is $14.1 million tala. VI. EXPENDITURE PRIORITIES Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, The Total Expenditures for 2017/18 is expected to be $934,244,759 which is 4.4% higher than the current financial year. This increase in expenditure results from continuing efforts by Government to develop key priority areas which I will now highlight: 1. EDUCATION The total budget allocation for Education is approximately $100.3million and is equivalent to 19.6% of total Government expenditure programs for the financial year 2017/18. This is allocated as follows: $80.7million is allocated to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture which includes financing for key items that include: financing to continue towards the School Fee Grant Scheme for Primary Schools and Secondary School classes Years 9 to Year 11; re-instatement of School Review Officers; appropriations for teacher upgrade scholarships; $12.6million allocated for the National University of Samoa; $5.3million for the Samoa Qualifications Authority; $1.7million for the operations of the Samoa Sports Facility Authority; Additionally, there are also development projects for the sector funded by development partners amounting to $2.4million. 2. HEALTH $88.5million has been allocated to the Health Sector which represents approximately 17.3% of the total expenditure programs of Government and is allocated as follows: $69.3million has been allocated to the National Health Services which include the following: $6million for the Overseas Medical Treatment Scheme; 10 $4million allocated for the procurement of pharmaceutical drugs; $3.9million for the procurement of pathology lab re-agents and consumables; $1.6million for catering services for the hospital; $1.5million for procurement of medical consumables required for the hospital. $12.2million for the Ministry of Health which includes $3.3million for the orientation program of new nursing and doctor graduates as well as $1million for Palomar Colleges debate team has taken home dozens of trophies over the last year and won top honors at a recent national competition. The Palomar College Speech and Debate Team won Gold in the Debate Category of their Division for the second year in a row at the Phi Rho Pi National Tournament in Washington D.C. Along with winning more than 50 trophies during the 2016-2017 competition season, the team hosted debaters from the Peoples Republic of China for a public debate. This was the fifth time Palomar hosted debaters from China. Advertisement James Nee took Bronze in Extemporaneous and Impromptu speaking categories as well as a Silver in the NFA Lincoln Douglas category. Matt Duburg and Jacob Tucker placed Bronze in Parliamentary Debate. Jacob Tucker won Gold in the NFA Lincoln Douglas category. Palomar College won the 4th place sweepstakes in the Community College Division of the National Parliamentary Debate Tournament. Among the universities that team members will attend in the Fall are University of California at Berkeley, San Diego State University and California State Universities at Long Beach, San Francisco and San Marcos. Pictured from left are Palomar College Director of Forensics Dewi Hokett and Assistant Professor Steve Robertson with Speech and Debate Team members Matt Duburg, James Nee, Delaney Ryan, Kaysia Pajita, Xiamarra Peredia, Jacob Tucker and Trevor Wilcox. Visit palomar.edu A new principal will soon take the helm at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, as part of a shakeup of campus administrators that started earlier this year after a video of students fighting was posted on social media. Tim Biland the current principal at Bernardo Heights Middle School in the Poway Unified district will take over at Rincon, replacing Jason Wrzeski, who had served as interim principal there since March 27. Wrzeski replaced former Rincon Principal Beth Crooks, who was among several Rincon leaders assigned to other posts after the video surfaced. It appeared to show a student getting pummeled on campus while an assistant principal stood nearby. Advertisement Biland has been principal at Bernardo Heights since 2012, and previously served as a middle school assistant principal and as an elementary school principal at Orange Unified School District. Before that he began his career in education as a middle school teacher in English, reading intervention and English language development. He said hes eager to put his background in English language instruction to work at Rincon part of the Escondido Union School District where 26 percent of students are English learners and 67 percent come from low-income families, according to the California Department of Education. Im really pleased to return to my foundation, Biland said. I sought to return to my background of working in schools that have students with more pressing academic and social and emotional needs, and EUSD and Rincon really align with that. He said he expects to meet with Rincon staff in the next few weeks, and start setting long and short-term goals for the campus. My first step is to learn as much as I can about the school, and meet the students and understand the needs and the strengths at the school, he said. I know it has a rich legacy and a very strong school community.When I got to meet a lot of the staff at the board meeting its very clear its a very close community who care about kids. Biland will take over full-time in August at the start of the next academic year. He will earn $119,385 per year. The Escondido district also announced that Chris Harris, an interim assistant principal at Rincon, will continue that role in a permanent capacity. Harris has been with the district since 1998 and most recently served as a math teacher on special assignment. The new hires are part of an effort to address disciplinary problems at the school that emerged after the video of the schoolyard fight was posted on social media. In the video, a male student could be seen repeatedly punching another boy, as Assistant Principal Mike Brinkley appeared to stand nearby with his hands in his pockets. The victim picked up his hat and walked away, but the other boy followed him and began pummeling him again, knocking him to the ground. In a letter to parents, Superintendent Luis Rankins-Ibarra stated that district policy calls for administrators to step in to break up fights when a student or staff member is in danger, and added that questions arose about Brinkleys response to the altercation. Immediately following the incident Brinkley was placed on administrative leave, while the former principal, Crooks, was moved to Juniper Elementary School. Wreski, who previously ran Juniper, came over to Rincon as interim principal for the duration of this school year. He will return to Juniper, and Crooks will be assigned to a different school, district spokeswoman Susana Villegas said. She said the district considers Brinkleys status a confidential personnel matter, and will not provide an update on his leave or his employment. Harris and another school administrator, Johnnie Landreth were assigned to fill in as assistant principals, and Harris will be continuing as an assistant principal at Rincon. The district did not say if Landreth would remain at the school. A resident of Fallbrook, Biland earned his undergraduate degree and teaching credential at Cal State San Marcos, and his masters in education from Cal State University, San Bernardino. deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan Parents and kids looking to keep summer interesting have lots of options in specialty camps that aim to draw in students by speaking to their passions. Love animals? The San Diego Humane Society offers a camp for teens on what its like to work at a shelter. Food Network fanatic? Theres a gourmet cooking camp in Vista. All about the beat? School of Rock camps might be playing your tune. Heres a small overview of some specialty camps in the region (but note there are lots of other cool options out there, so consider summer your chance to explore): Advertisement Animal adventure camps: The San Diego Humane Societys Career Camp is a three-day program that introduces high school students to different aspects of animal work, including humane law enforcement; medical and veterinary care, and and animal training. Each day includes hands-on animal encounters and visits from shelter professionals, said Laura Leonard, the pet-assisted therapy coordinator. The Humane society also offers programs for younger campers, but opened the high school session at popular request. Our staff in Oceanside is super excited to show their knowledge, Leonard said. This is something that those of us who work in a shelter wish we had when we were kids. We hope we have a good turnout of kids that are really passionate about animals. Campers will visit areas of the shelter that the public doesnt see, and get an inside view of its operations. During the session on medical care, campers will do lab work and observe veterinary surgery. On the law enforcement day theyll see how officials collect evidence, hear about animals that officers have helped, and learn about animal bites, pet safety and how to read animal body language, she said. The camp can be a jumping off point for volunteer or professional work as animal advocates. Hopefully the ones that are really and truly interested in this career path will see opportunities to start volunteering after camp, and perhaps become someone who works helping animals throughout their lives, Leonard said. The camp will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. from Aug. 2 to 4, at the Humane Societys Oceanside campus. It costs $150, and is open to students in grades nine through twelve. Register at https://sdhumane.org/what-we-do/programs/youth-programs/animal-adventure-camp/. For other animal adventure camps, consider San Diego Zoo Safari Parks summer camps, where kids can feed an okapi, pet an armadillo and learn how lion keepers care for big cats. The sessions, for kids ages two through twelfth grade, take place at San Diego Zoo Safari Park and cost $145 to $325. Register at https://sdzsafaripark.org/summer-camp-2017. Or combine art and ecology with the city of Carlsbads Club Pelican, where campers explore Batiquitos Lagoon with an experienced naturalist and then create paintings and drawings inspired by natural wonders. The week-long sessions run from 9 a.m. to noon and cost $110 per session. Register at https://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/depts/arts/education/camp.asp Rock n Roll camps: At School of Rock, budding rockers can try an instrument, jam with bandmates and put on a concert. With locations in Oceanside, Encinitas and San Diego, the program guides campers through the musical repertoires of contemporary and classic rock groups ranging from Green Day to the Beatles. Students learn five to 12 songs and perform them at the end of the week, said Olivia Buscemi, general manager of School of Rock Oceanside. Its super fun, especially with the performance at the end, so theyre not just jamming, but have a goal, she said. They learn to set up the PA, do a dress rehearsal and then perform for family and friends. The school caters to campers from 6 years old to high school seniors, she said. Rookies Rock and Rock Academy are geared toward younger kids, while themed camps such as Green Day or The Grunge Years, attract older teens. Theyll also learn about the band, study them and learn why theyre relevant and totally immerse themselves in one genre, she said. In all the sessions kids can find their niche onstage, guitar or drumsticks in hand. Its an amazing way to throw a kid in and see substantial progress in just a short amount of time, Buscemi said. In just a few days, the kids are really playing rock and roll. In addition to playing rock music, theyll get a lot of the life experience they would get from playing sports, but here through the bands they get it through music. Sessions at School of Rock Oceanside run week-long from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and cost $449. Camps are also available at School of Rock locations in Encinitas, San Diego and Temecula. To register visit https://www.schoolofrock.com/seasonal-camps. For other crash courses in rock music consider From Bach to Rock in Encinitas, which offers specialized summer camps including Rock Band, Glee Club, and sessions on DJ mixing or recording a demo, with Rock City World Tour for the littlest rockers ages four to seven. Camps cost $229 to $399. Register at https://encinitas.b2rmusic.com/camps. In Solana Beach, Rockademy also offers week-long summer camps for $425. https://www.therockademy.com/ Culinary camps: If your child is a future gourmet, the Artful Chef in Vista provides a taste of culinary school. Campers age 7 and older work in teams with professional chefs in the Arftul Chefs commercial kitchen to prepare four-star dishes. At International Cuisine Boot Camp theyll prepare French crepes, Asian stir fry, Mexican tostadas and Mediterranean veggies. In Italian Bistro Chef Boot Camp they whip up pasta, risotto, gnocchi and focaccia. On graduation day for both camps, kids cook up custom pizzas from scratch to share with parents. Its all hands-on, said owner and Executive Chef Pharrell Worthylake. We teach the kids from basic raw ingredients. Theyre going to learn how to clean it, sort it, measure it, select it. Its from start to finish, the whole thing. Students learn fundamental knife techniques and safety, as well as how to saute, simmer and braise, Worthylakes favorite from from the camp menu is fresh pasta. Kids make the dough from scratch, hand crank it and prepare marinara, alfredo and pesto sauces. Theres also an advanced session, at which repeat campers learn more sophisticated skills and prepare dishes such as bisque en croute and Ragu Bolognese. The session culminates with a cook-off challenge for the title of Junior Chef Champion. Its an awesome way to learn life skills, she said. It builds self-esteem, helps with teamwork and helps them see how math and science intersect with everyday life. There are five week-long sessions that run from 9 a.m. to noon, or 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and one advanced session, each of which costs $250. To register, visit https://www.artfulchefs.com/san-diego-kids-cooking-classes/junior-chef-summer-camp/. For other cooking camps, try the city of San Marcos, which offers week-long sessions from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., including Cooking Round the World, A Dish of Disney, and Eat your Colors, all $189. To register visit https://www.san-marcos.net/play/enrichment-classes. deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan Lauryn Hill and Nas are teaming up for a joint fall concert tour that will visit 17 North American cities. The tour begins Sept. 7 in Chicago and concludes Oct. 11 in Vancouver. It will include an Oct 3. San Diego show at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU and an Oct. 5 show at the Hollywood Bowl. All tour dates and opening acts appear below. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m., local time, in each city (except Dallas), via livenation.com. Tickets for the Dallas concert wil go on sale at noon Friday. Advertisement A pre-sale for Citi members begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. VIP packages will also be available. Ticket prices for the San Diego concert range from $29.50 to $129.50 each, plus service charges. Former Fugees member Hill turned 42 on May 26. She earned five Grammy Awards for her 1988 debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Hill and hip-hop stalwart Nas first collaborated on his 1996 song, If I Ruled the World (Imagine That). He was also a guest star on some of Hills 2016 MLH Caravan: A Diaspora Calling! tour dates. Lauryn Hill & Nas 2017 tour dates Sept. 7: ^Chicago, IL, Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island Sept. 8: ^Sterling Heights, MI, Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill Sept. 10: ^Toronto, Budweiser Stage Sept. 12: ^Boston, MA Blue Hills Bank Pavilion Sept. 14: +Camden, NJ, BB&T Pavilion Sept. 15: +Bristow, VA, Jiffy Lube Live Sept. 17: ^Raleigh, NC, Red Hat Amphitheater Sept. 22: +Miami, FL, Bayfront Park Amphitheater Sept. 23: ^Jacksonville, FL, Dailys Place Sept. 27: ^Houston, TX, Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land Sept. 28: ^Dallas, TX, The Pavilion at Irving Music Factory* Sept. 30: ^Austin, TX, Austin360 Amphitheater Oct. 3: +San Diego, CA, Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU Oct. 5: ^Los Angeles, CA, Hollywood Bowl Oct. 7: +Mountain View, CA, Shoreline Amphitheatre Oct. 10: +Seattle, WA, WaMu Theater Oct. 11: ^Vancouver, BC, Pacific Coliseum ^with Chronixx +with Hannibal Buress and Chronixx *on sale Friday, June 2 at 12 p.m. local times Twitter @georgevarga george.varga@sduniontribune.com ABOARD THE BUNKER HILL A sailor aboard the San Diego-based cruiser Bunker Hill has been named the Surface Warfare Officer of the Year for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Vice Adm. Tom Rowden, commander of Naval Surface Forces, recently announced that Lt. Ryan P. Kelly, 31, the warships plans and tactics officer, received the honor. Created in 2009, the award recognizes the SWO who best personifies the ideals of the surface warrior ethos through excellence in warfighting, leadership and mission accomplishment. Advertisement It was a very humbling experience throughout the whole process, said Kelly, an Annapolis native and 2007 Naval Academy graduate. I have worked with a large cast of very impressive individuals over the last year. Before taking his Bunker Hill post, Kelly completed a four-month deployment in the in the Western Pacific aboard the sister Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser Mobile Bay in the air warfare defense cell. The son of a retired Navy officer, Kelly previously served inside Naval Surface Forces innovative Coronado-based Distributed Lethality Task Force and aboard the cruiser Hue City and the Nimitz-class supercarrier George H.W. Bush. Kelly is slated to attend nuclear systems refresher course in Norfolk, Virginia, before joining the carrier Carl Vinson. Currently operating near North Korea, the Vinson is scheduled to return to San Diego in the autumn. During an interview at sea, Kelly said that the honor really is a unit award for the Bunker Hill, a vessel he says is 100 percent my favorite ship. Everyone has played a role in getting the Surface Warfare of the Year award, Kelly said. Its not really about the person with the name on the plaque. Its an award for the Bunker Hill and that the focus I want to make. Without the people around me, it wouldnt be possible. The best thing going for us is the cohesiveness. We try to attack every event with effort and attitude, because those are really the only things we can control regardless of any situation with the effort we put into it and an attitude that we can handle any adversity. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal cprine@sduniontribune.com After a fellow journalist was shot to death in 1997, Sergio Haro linked the killing to a local drug trafficker. Not long afterward, Haro found himself the target of anonymous threats but he continued to report the story. Some people are telling me to stop writing about this, to run away, to disappear, Haro, a Mexicali-based journalist, said at the time. But that wont solve a thing. Haro was found dead Tuesday at his home in Mexicali, according the Tijuana newsweekly Zeta, where he spent much of his professional life working as an editor and reporter. Advertisement Haro was 60 years old. The Baja California medical examiners office reported the cause of death as a heart attack. Born in the neighboring state of Sonora, Haro was one of Baja Californias most respected journalists, a familiar figure with his unruly mane of hair, wide smile and camera bag slung over his shoulder. Colleagues from Zeta said that at the time of his death, Haro was at his computer, working on an article for Fridays edition of Zeta. Haros career stretched over three decades, during which he covered a multitude of subjects, from the March 1994 assassination in Tijuana of a Mexican presidential candidate to the illicit capture of totoaba fish in the Upper Gulf of California. In his most recent published article, Haro wrote about payments by the Baja California government to the states media, financially benefiting some media, individual reporters, and punishing others, he wrote. Haro was the subject of a 2012 documentary, Reportero, by New York-based filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz that explored the perils of writing about organized crime in Mexico. Haro was part of a tight-knit group of journalists who cover the region. One of his passions was writing about social issues, and he once spent months documenting the plight of migrant child labor in the Mexicali Valley. Miguel Cervantes Sahagun, a longtime friend and fellow journalist, said Haro was profoundly committed to social justice. He believed that in spite of the evolution of journalism, the aim must be social advocacy and exposing all that is rotten, or in the process of rotting, Cervantes said. Haro is survived by his wife, Zaida Montoya Mascareno, and their son, Luis Carlos Haro Montoya. This article was updated with additional information at 4:00 PM on May 31, 2017. sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble The state finance department has cleared the way for a $713-million state grant to electrify a commuter rail system in the Bay Area, ending a political battle started earlier this year by California Republicans in the U.S. House. State Finance Director Michael Cohen sent a letter last week to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, approving a plan to draw the $713 million from a bond fund that voters approved in 2008 for the states bullet train project. The electrification project is supposed to increase passenger capacity, reduce travel time and cut diesel emissions on the 50-mile route from San Jose to San Francisco. Eventually, the bullet train would use the same electrical system and the same tracks, creating a rationale for the high-speed rail authority paying a large chuck of the cost. Advertisement The project also relies on a $647-million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Opponents of the bullet train, including all 14 of Californias Republican members of the House, sought to block the federal grant, arguing that the electrification effort is really part of a mismanaged bullet train project. The complicated fight began in late January when the Republicans asked federal Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to deny the grant until a financial audit was completed on the bullet train. Chao delayed making a decision, which forced the state to hold up its grant. The grant had worked its way through the Obama administration, and a preliminary approval was issued by an Obama appointee in the final hours of the administration. The state Democratic leadership expressed public outrage and went into overdrive to protect the electrification project. They said it was not related to the high-speed rail and that blocking it would cost the state thousands of jobs. State rail authority Chairman Dan Richard called the Republicans irresponsible. Gov. Jerry Brown obtained a private meeting with Chao to discuss the matter. Last week, Chao said she would agree to issue a full funding agreement that would provide for the grant in stages, releasing the first $100 million. Days later, Cohen approved the states funding plan for its grant. The approval of the grant appears to show the limits of influence that the California Republicans have with the Trump administration. So far, Trump and Chao have given no public indication that they will directly support the bullet train. The electrification project will cost nearly $2 billion and replace at least some of Caltrains diesel locomotives with electric trains that can accelerate faster, thereby reducing travel times. The bullet train project plans to share tracks and the electrical system with Caltrain, though exactly when it would begin operating is unclear. The $64-billion project faces a more than $40-billion shortfall to build the future system from Los Angeles to San Francisco. ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @rvartabedian ALSO Gov. Brown asks President Trump for help on the California bullet train The price of safety on Californias bullet train is only now becoming apparent Californias bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun, a confidential federal report warns IRVINE, Calif., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central Admixture Pharmacy Services, Inc. (CAPS), an industry leader in adopting release testing, will present its quality assurance program at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Summer Meetings and Exhibition. Representatives from CAPS will be at booth #426 from June 4-6 at the Minneapolis Convention Center to provide information about CAPS Test, Hold and Release (THRSM) program, providing 100 percent batch level release testing from our 503B facilities. THR is designed to ensure that every sterile compounded drug batch from CAPS 503B outsourcing facilities meets the standards for cGMP release testing for sterility, potency, and endotoxin testing prior to release and shipment. CAPS also offers a Certificate of Release for each batch. CAPS, a B. Braun company, was among the first outsourcing admixture pharmacies in the nation to adopt release testing. "Our existing high quality standards are strengthened with THR, which requires 100 percent batch level release testing on all of our products," said Mike Koch, Senior Vice President, CAPS Professional Services. "When it comes to patient safety and the reputation of our customers for 503B products, we believe that THR for every batch is the only way to assure the level of quality that's demanded by pharmacists and clinicians to help enhance patient outcomes." CAPS also will provide information about its release of Tromethamine solution, which is now available and supplied as a single dose 0.3 M 50 mL solution in a 60 mL syringe. Like all of CAPS sterile compounded drugs, Tromethamine undergoes CAPS THR program. About CAPS CAPS is the nations largest network of outsourcing admixture pharmacies. A pioneer in the outsourcing of CSPs, CAPS was founded in 1991, and delivers high-quality, same-day, admixture services and solutions to hospitals and outpatient facilities across the nation. CAPS has two 503B Outsourcing Facilities that are registered with the FDA to provide anticipatory compounding services. CAPS also has 22 state licensed 503A regional pharmacies that dispense labeled, patient-specific prescriptions including parenteral nutrition. To learn more, visit www.capspharmacy.com. About B. Braun B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative medical products and services to the health care industry. The company is committed to eliminating preventable treatment errors and enhancing patient, clinician and environmental safety. B. Braun Medical is headquartered in Bethlehem, Pa., and is part of the B. Braun Group of Companies in the U.S., which includes B. Braun Interventional Systems, Aesculap and CAPS. Globally, the B. Braun Group of Companies employs more than 58,000 employees in 64 countries. Guided by its Sharing Expertise philosophy, B. Braun continuously exchanges knowledge with customers, partners and clinicians to address the critical issues of improving care and lowering costs. To learn more about B. Braun Medical, visit www.BBraunUSA.com. An extra-credit question for San Diego political scientists: What electoral element do the cities of Escondido, Chula Vista, Oceanside, El Cajon, San Marcos, Carlsbad and Vista share in common? Give up? Advertisement Answer: They are all to varying degrees victims of perfectly legal extortion. Whether the shakedown is good or bad for democracy, well, thats the question that Santa Monica, the latest rebel with a seemingly lost cause, may challenge the Golden State to sort out once again. Since the passage of the California Voting Rights Act in 2002, the conversion of at-large voting to city district elections has turned into a racket that so far has the law firmly on its side. Among Californias 482 cities, roughly 60 currently hold district elections. But more than two dozen more, thanks largely to the threat of multi-million-dollar lawsuits, are working out how to fashion districts that help, if not guarantee, the election of at least one minority candidate in at least one district crafted by race as well as common interests. A handful of these vulnerable cities, homes to what civil-rights attorneys call racially polarized voting, are in San Diego County. The United States Supreme Court generally looks with disfavor on relying only on race to craft voting districts. Pooling minorities in a single district can paradoxically dilute the voting power of the people youre trying to strengthen, the legal thinking goes. In California, minority-majority districts are turning into the go-to remedy for at-large elections that have worked against the political aspirations of minority communities. Race cannot be the only consideration, but its the elephant in the voting booth. The familiar script goes like this: A city receives a demand letter (these days its likely signed by aggressive Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman) pointing out that in a certain election Latino candidates were supported in Latino precincts but lost because white precincts voted for someone else. Thats prima facie evidence of racism, the demand letter might assert. If the city refuses to submit to district elections, Shenkman is free to fire up a lawsuit. So far, no city has successfully fought off redistricting. Most recently, Palmdale went to court and ended up paying upward of $4 million in attorney fees to Shenkman. (He tells me the city spent another $3 million.) Thats the cautionary horror story that keeps city attorneys awake at night. The rub of all this is that the transformation of elections in cities (as well as school districts) does not always produce quality minority candidates who win. A recent Los Angeles Times article reports that only seven of the 22 cities that switched last year had seen a rise in Latino council members. I confess, as a political artist (nowhere near a scientist), I perversely enjoy seeing district gerrymanders turned on their heads. Consider Escondidos first district election in 2014, a change brought on by a threatened lawsuit akin to Shenkmans. The so-called Latino district seat was won by Ed Gallo, a politically conservative Anglo councilman. He defeated Consuelo Martinez, a bilingual community organizer. Poor turnout was blamed for Gallos counter-intuitive victory, a common complaint in Latino neighborhoods where voter registration can be relatively low for any number of reasons. But heres the kicker. Two years later, in 2016, Escondido Councilwoman Olga Diaz won in a supposedly Anglo district where the bilingual Latina resides. Over on the coast, Oceansides council recently voted 3-2 to convert to district elections under the threat of a lawsuit from Shenkman. The rub is that, of all North Countys nine cities, Oceanside can pride itself on its history of strong minority leadership. Standout Latino council members include the late Lucy Chavez, Esther Sanchez, Rocky Chavez. Terry Johnson, an African-American, was a longtime councilman and elected mayor. Like Diaz in Escondido, these are all formidable politicians who won citywide elections, validating their political influence not in a custom-fitted district but in a city that does not see itself as balkanized sectors that dont speak the same language or share the same civic values. Look, racism is a nightmare from which all cities are trying to awake. The question is whether minority-packed districts help or hinder the awakening. Id say its a mixed color picture. In Vista, for example, Councilman John Aguilera, a polished UC San Diego-educated financial adviser and a mayor in the making, doesnt need a safe district. Hell attract voters in Shadowridge as well as in Townsite. He appears to be the right stuff for the whole city, not a sliver. Thats not to say districts cant have a valuable political function. Clearly, the far-flung city of San Diego has long seen the need for districts, most obviously for geographical and campaign finance reasons. (In 1988, the city jettisoned its hybrid system, adopting purely district elections as opposed to district nominations and citywide runoffs.) Just for fun, imagine what district elections would look like in Del Mar, the tiny, tony enclave that, if it were turned into four council districts, would have about 1,000 people living in districts covering about 270 acres each. A candidate could cover his/her area by foot in a day. Anyone going to argue one woodsy district would be fundamentally different from another? Or think of Coronado where a good percentage of its total Latino population (about 10 percent) lives in the bayside Cays or the oceanfront Shores highrises just south of the Hotel del Coronado. (Locals used to joke about the Taco Towers.) These affluent Latino residents need their own district? This isnt to say that district elections cant make sense even in a relatively small city. Encinitas, for example, could be ripe for districts. After all, its a loose confederation of distinct communities Leucadia, old and new Encinitas, Olivenhain and Cardiff-by-the-Sea. In this quirky city, district elections might make sense, but on cultural, not minority, grounds. As it happens, the liberal city of Santa Monica is pushing back against a lawsuit alleging its at-large elections discriminate against candidates from its Pico neighborhood. Shenkman says the real issue is power, incumbents holding on to office. Given the legally lopsided history, Santa Monica will probably have its head lopped off in court come the fall. Since the law changed on Jan. 1, Shenkmans firm collects $30,000 every time he persuades (read: forces) a city to draw up districts. Lawsuits? Those are gushers, manna from heaven. In North County, cities waved the white flag when they received their letters. Farther north, one crazy city is willing to beat its head against a well-worn wall of legal extortion and, despite insanely long odds, hope for a different result. logan.jenkins@sduniontribune.com Federal and state law enforcement authorities said they have broken up a sophisticated auto-theft ring run by a Tijuana-based motorcycle club that swiped 150 Jeep Wranglers in San Diego County over the past several years. The Jeeps were later sold in Mexico or stripped for parts that were then sold in Mexico, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Conover said at a Tuesday news conference at the federal building in downtown San Diego. Total value of the vehicles stolen was $4.5 million. Nine members of The Hooligans bikers club were indicted in the scheme and face charges of conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles in foreign commerce. Advertisement Three men were arrested Tuesday one at a Spring Valley home, another was already in state custody on other charges and a third was arrested at the San Ysidro border crossing. Six other men remain fugitives in Mexico, Conover said. Of the nine people named in the indictment, seven are U.S. citizens, though the club is based in and operates in Mexico. Authorities said the thieves exploited a design feature of the Jeep Wrangler, gained access to a proprietary database that contains codes used to create duplicate keys for each car and then used a high-tech computer to get away with the cars. The investigation, which authorities dubbed Operation Last Ride, began during the summer of 2014 following a series of Jeep thefts across the county. Prosecutors said law enforcement gained a huge break when a homeowners security system captured the theft of the owners car on tape. Conover said the Jeeps are pricey, popular in Mexico and easy to resell there. The starting price for a 2017 Jeep Wrangler is about $28,000. Heres how the scheme worked, according to the indictment and a search warrant filed as part of the investigation: Thieves would target a Jeep in a San Diego neighborhood, getting the critical vehicle identification number. Armed with that, they accessed the key database, which contained two special codes: one for creating a pattern to make a new key and the second that programmed a computer chip in the key that was linked to the cars computer system. Its not precisely clear how the thieves got access to the database, but a car dealership in Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the Baja peninsula appears to be involved. Investigators checked with Chrysler, which manufactures Jeeps, and were told at least 20 requests for duplicate keys for cars that were later stolen came from the dealership. Citing the ongoing investigation, Conover and other authorities declined to identify that dealership and discuss its role in greater detail. Armed with the duplicate key, the thieves would travel across the border to San Diego County to the targeted vehicle, usually in the middle of the night. The Jeep Wrangler has two latches on the outside of its hood, which allows access to the engine. The thieves exploited that unique design, popping the hood and quickly cutting the wires for the horn and the front flashing lights. They would unlock the door with the duplicate key, put the key into the ignition and then use a handheld computer key programmer to connect to the cars computer. Using the second code obtained from the database, the thieves would program the chip in the duplicate key, allowing them to operate the car. The actual theft took only a few minutes. The thieves were cocky about their success, according to the indictment. In an exchange on April 4, 2015, on Facebook, defendant Adan Esteban Sanchez Aguirre wrote to a co-conspirator identified as J.C. about a planned theft of multiple cars: Theyre going to say damn hooligans, the indictment said. Were a plague, J.C. responded. They cant finish us off. Mexico v. usa, Sanchez responded. Court records say the Hooligans used proceeds from the sales to finance various illegal activities, including selling drugs. At first, investigators were baffled by the rash of thefts in 2014 because the Jeeps alarms were never triggered and there were not the usual signs of a vehicle break-in, such as broken glass where the Wrangler was parked. Then on Sept. 26, 2014, investigators got a break. A Rancho Bernardo woman had her Jeep stolen from her homes driveway, but a recently installed home security system was pointed there and captured the various steps of the theft from disabling the alarms to using the computer. In an affidavit for a search warrant, a California Highway Patrol investigator assigned to San Diego Countys Regional Auto Theft Task Force said a confidential informant who was a member of the Hooligans cooperated and provided information for the investigation. The informant said the club is divided into two groups. One is the Dirty 30, which steals vehicles and sells drugs. Another section is more benign not involved in crimes but instead organizes activities that are designed to portray a favorable image to the community. Arrested in Spring Valley was Reynaldo Rodriguez, 33. Alejandro Guzman, 23, was arrested at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, and Henry Pulido was in state custody for a parole violation, said U.S. Attorneys Office spokeswoman Kelly Thornton. Guzman made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon and was held for a detention hearing on Thursday. Pulido and Rodriguez are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com Less than two weeks after students and parents rallied in his support, Jose Soto-Ramos on Tuesday was offered the principals job at Lincoln High School. The naming of Soto-Ramos, vice principal at the school for five years, comes with some twists in a story thats been full of them. He was offered the position of interim principal while at the same time the San Diego Unified School Districts release making the announcement said: At this time, San Diego Unified is no longer pursuing a candidate search to fill the Lincoln High School Principal position. Advertisement Lincoln has been without a permanent principal since John Ross left the post about a year ago. Shirley Peterson, a former principal in the district, has filled in as interim principal after coming out of retirement, but has said she did not want to be the permanent replacement. Superintendent Cindy Marten recently decided against promoting Soto-Ramos to the permanent post, even though a panel of educators and community members recommended him for the job. Students walked out of classes at Lincoln on May 18 to protest the decision. District spokesman Andrew Sharp said on that day that interviews with principal candidates would resume within days, with a selection likely made by June 30, the end of the school year. On Tuesday, the district said Marten informed the school board of the appointment of Soto-Ramos to the post for the 2017-18 school year. The district called it a true collaborative effort and one that was made after careful consideration and discussions with a panel comprised of teachers, students, parents, community members and district officials. The announcement noted that he will get some special assistance at the often-troubled school. The internal designation to appoint Mr. Soto-Ramos as the Interim Principal was based on the panels recommendations to ensure that his new role would be paired with the necessary district supports for a successful school year, said Bruce Bivins, a San Diego Unified area superintendent. To that end, and based on the panels recommendation, the district is in the process of securing a strategic partnership with Dr. Heather Lattimer (of the University of San Diego), who would bring strategic support to Mr. Soto-Ramos. (The previous paragraph has been updated to correct the identification of Lattimer.) The recent dispute over the principals post follows a string of controversies at Lincoln. The school received a $129 million makeover 10 years ago, but enrollment and test scores have continued to drop. In 2014, the school entered a partnership with City College that allowed students to earn college credit, but most students in the program had failing grades last semester. Turnover in the top position includes a shakeup in 2014 that saw the district oust Principal Esther Omogbehin, who was replaced by Ross. Soto-Ramos, a Navy veteran, has been a math teacher and a vice principal in Texas, according to the district. In its announcement, Unified stressed his connection to the school and the community. Throughout his five years at Lincoln High School, Soto-Ramos has developed a great bond with the students and families he serves, and he will continue to nurture those bonds in his new role, the district said. Soto-Ramos has demonstrated a strong commitment to solving problems using restorative approaches at both the student and community level, and his passion for Lincoln High School stems from his belief in the students and community. President Donald Trump looks poised to withdraw from the Paris climate accord this week, which would likely infuriate supporters of the treaty while pleasing many Republican members of Congress and other hard-line conservatives. Withdrawing from the Paris agreement is an important and necessary step toward reversing the harmful energy policies and unlawful overreach of the Obama era, said Patrick Morrisey, attorney general of West Virginia. The Paris agreement is a symbol of the Obama administrations Washington knows best approach to governing. News of the looming departure quickly drew the ire of international and domestic political leaders who fear the potentially devastating impacts of global warming. Advertisement The United States is the second-largest emitter of climate pollution behind China and ahead of Russia and India. Backers of the Paris standards for greenhouse-gas emissions believe that if Trump pulls his support for the promised reductions, it will unravel other countries commitments to the groundbreaking pact. This disastrous decision would cede American leadership at the very time when we should be in the drivers seat leading the clean energy revolution to reduce air and water pollution, Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, said in a statement Wednesday. President Trump is sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that they should look to China and others for energy innovation, not the United States. Climate scientists have said the targets set in the Paris accord would likely need to be strengthened over time to avert serious consequence from global warming, such as increased flooding, drought and famine. The Paris agreement provided a great opportunity for the U.S. and the world to wean out of the fossil fuel economy and step into the future with a renewable economy, said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climate scientists with UC San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography, an internationally renowned hub of global warming research. U.S. pulling out of the Paris accord would be a major setback for the world. In the past week, a number of global leaders, including Pope Francis, have urged Trump not to walk away from the accord. On Wednesday, news media reported that senior White House officials said Trump is preparing to abandon the deal. The president has yet to make an official decision, but confirmed on his Twitter account that an announcement would be made within days. Members of Trumps inner circle seem split on whether to support the 2015 document, which calls for limiting climate change to well below 2 degrees Celsius as compared to pre-industrial levels. Average surface temperatures have increased by about 1 degree Celsius since 1880. Each of the 197 parties to the Paris accord have agreed to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions by varying degrees. The U.S. has pledged to slash greenhouse gases by up to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, has advocated for sticking with the agreement. The presidents daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, have also recommended not pulling out of the deal. However, senior adviser Steve Bannon who has consistently helped invigorate the presidents staunchest supporters has long opposed the treaty. He and members of Congress who question the scientific consensus on climate change have blasted the deal as bad for the countrys economy. Their reasoning seems to have played well with the presidents base and influential policy groups such as the Heritage Foundation and the Heartland Institute. President Trump would make exactly the right call by deciding to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate treaty, said Joseph Blast, president of the Heartland Institute. Staying in would result in U.S. taxpayers and consumers paying hundreds of billions of dollars in higher taxes and higher energy costs solely for the benefit of crony capitalists in the renewable energy industry and Third World dictators. Staying in would not benefit the global environment one whit, but instead, by impoverishing millions of people, would have exactly the opposite effect. This wouldnt be the first time a Republican-controlled White House reversed course on a previous presidents international climate deal. In 2001, George W. Bush backed out of the Kyoto Protocol which also set emissions targets following the presidency of Bill Clinton. Bush criticized the deal because it exempted developing countries, such as China. Several years later, Canada also pulled out of the protocol while Japan and Russia announced they wouldnt accept new commitments under the agreement. This time around, canceling U.S. involvement with the Paris accord would be a very big deal all over the world, said Todd Stern, lead U.S. climate negotiator during the Obama administration. There (would) be consequential blowback with respect to our diplomatic position across the board. At the same time, some who support the Paris accord have downplayed the significance of Trump leaving the negotiating table. They argue that even if the president continued with the treaty, he would undermine it with domestic policies that conflict with the treaty. The Trump administration has already started dismantling Obama-era programs aimed at cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, such as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules aimed at reducing emissions from power plants and escalating fuel-efficiency standards for automakers. Some legal scholars have said Trumps real opportunity to hamper collective action on climate change isnt the Paris accord, but withdrawal from the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Unlike the Paris agreement, the U.N. convention was ratified by a two-thirds majority of the U.S. Senate. So if Trump withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. convention, rejoining under a future presidential administration could prove complicated. It would hamstring future presidents in participating in global climate diplomacy, said Ann Carlson, a professor of environmental law at the UCLA School of Law. It really is repudiation of everything the international community has attempted on climate change, from conversations to collecting of data. Its a legal gray area whether a president needs Senate approval to abandon this larger deal, but organizations like The Heritage Foundation have enthusiastically supported the idea. Baring significant legal complications, withdrawing from the convention would also automatically remove the U.S. from the Paris accord. U-T news services contributed to this compilation. Twitter: @jemersmith Phone: (619) 293-2234 Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com A suspected drug tunnel under construction has been found in Tijuana near the border with the United States, authorities said Wednesday. Mexican officials informed federal agents with a Homeland Security Investigations-led task force about the possible tunnel, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack. She said there were no indications the tunnel crossed the U.S. border. Advertisement According to Mexican media reports, the discovery was reported in the Castillo neighborhood of northern Tijuana. Mexican authorities were seeking a search warrant and had detained five people, the reports said. No other information was available. We will continue to coordinate with our counterparts in Mexico as more information is available, Mack said. Breaking News Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com Phone: (619) 293-1876 Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez A 36-year-old homeless man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing his friend in North Park, police said. Spencer Thomas was found wounded in front of Glenns Market on University Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Monday. He died of his wounds at a hospital, San Diego police Lt. Mike Holden said. Detectives suspect Thomas was walking with his longtime friend, Brandon Cooper, when the two had a disagreement near 28th Street. Thomas was stabbed and walked several blocks east before collapsing in front of the grocery store, Holden said. Advertisement He wouldnt say how investigators identified Cooper as the suspected killer. Officers found Cooper in the Marina neighborhood of San Diego the next night. He was booked into jail on suspicion of murder and a probation violation. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com The family of Alfred Olango, who was killed by an El Cajon police officer last year, called on local politicians to support a bill that would create a state team to independently investigate police shootings. At a press conference Tuesday, family members including Olangos father and brother joined Shane Harris, president of the National Action Network San Diego, to pledge their support for Assembly Bill 284. It is our belief that local prosecutors investigating local police is a conflict of interest, Harris said. ...(This bill) would create an independent review unit and we entirely support that. Advertisement The legislation, which was introduced by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty in February, would allow local district attorneys or police agencies to request the state attorney general to independently investigate an officer or deputy-involved shooting. The bill is opposed by a number of law enforcement groups, which argue the attorney general already has the ability to review criminal cases, including any potential crimes committed by peace officers. They also disagree the existing system is flawed. This notion that we work together and that somehow creates bias we dont agree with that, said Cory Salzillo, legislative director of the California State Sheriffs Association. Local law enforcement agencies declined to comment on the bill, which will go to an Assembly vote on Thursday. Assemblyman McCarty said the bill was crafted in response to several high-profile police shootings, including the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Joseph Mann, a mentally ill homeless man who was fatally shot by Sacramento police officers. McCarty argued in the bills fact sheet that there is growing skepticism and a perceived conflict of interest, of the current process of local district attorneys investigating local police. Alfred Olangos family has long called for a federal probe into the 38-year-old mans death, believing the El Cajon Police Department and the District Attorneys Office were incapable of an unbiased investigation. Olango, who was unarmed, was fatally shot by an El Cajon police officer during an altercation behind a taco shop in a strip mall. Protesters marched for days in the wake of the shooting, thrusting San Diego County into an ongoing national conversation about police use of force. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis ruled in January that the shooting was justified. On Tuesday, his brother, Apollo Olango, indicated he hoped the bill passes so that other families affected by officer-involved shootings can more easily pursue an independent investigation. He urged lawmakers to try to see the bill from the perspective of families who have lost loved ones to police shootings. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com Luxembourg, 31 May 2017 Press Release Orco Property Group Q1 2017 Financial Results Key recent events Disposal of Capellen office building: On 25 January 2017, a share deal related to disposal of the office building in Capellen, Luxembourg was completed. The building with a Gross lettable area of approximately 7,700 square meters, located in the Capellen business park just outside of the City of Luxembourg, was sold to a private investor. Suspension of Trading in Warsaw: On 17 February 2017 the Warsaw Stock Exchange informed Orco Property Group (the "Company" or together with subsidiaries the "Group") that it had suspended trading of the Company shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Annual General Meeting of 24 May 2017: The annual general meeting of the Company's shareholders held on 24 May 2017 (the "Meeting") approved the statutory annual accounts and consolidated annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2016, as well as the allocation of financial results for the financial year ending 31 December 2016. The Meeting decided to appoint Mr. Jiri Dedera, Mr. Edward Hughes and Mr. Erik Morgenstern to the Board of Directors of the Company until the annual general meeting of 2018 concerning the approval of the annual accounts of the Company for the financial year ending 31 December 2017. Mr. Jiri Dedera was also elected Managing Director (administrateur delegue) of the Company. Q1 2017 Financial highlights Over the three months of 2017 the Group recorded net profit attributable to owners of the Company in the amount of EUR 2.6 million compared to a loss of EUR 3.7 million in Q1 2016. Total revenue decreased year-on-year to EUR 0.5 million for the three months of 2017 compared to EUR 2.8 million over the same period in 2016 (82.7% y-o-y) due to disposal of non-core properties in 2016 and 2017. Operating result as of March 2017 is represented by gain of EUR 3.7 million compared to loss of EUR 1.1 million over the same period in 2016. The improvement of result is mainly due to the reversal of impairments to the third party loans. Financial result improved from a loss of EUR 2.6 million to a gain of EUR 1.2 million as at 31 March 2017 due to increase in interest income from loans provided to third parties. Unaudited Statement of profit and loss and other comprehensive income TEUR 31 March 2017 31 March 2016 Gross rental revenue 487 1,796 Service revenue -- 722 Property operating expenses (298) (878) Net rental income (189) 1,640 Development sales 92 293 Cost of goods sold (34) (280) Net development income 58 13 Total revenues 579 2,811 Total direct business operating expenses (332) (1,158) Net business income 247 1,653 Net valuation gain or loss on investment property -- 139 Net gain or loss on the disposal of investment property -- (149) Net gain or loss on disposal of subsidiaries and investees 1,061 -- Amortization, depreciation and impairments 2,953 (1,735) Other operating income 6 53 Administrative expenses (659) (1,116) Other operating expenses 43 -- Operating result 3,651 (1,155) Interest income 5,723 198 Interest expense (3,673) (2,729) Other net financial result (889) (88) Net finance income / (costs) 1,161 (2,619) Share of profit of equity-accounted investees (net of tax) (1,397) 55 Profit before income tax 3,415 (3,719) Income tax expense (853) 1 Net profit for the period 2,562 (3,718) As at 31 March 2017 both Net debt and Fair value of portfolio increased by approx. EUR 400 million to EUR 565 million and EUR 890 million respectively. This was mainly due to the fact that Company received a loan from a third party in amount exceeding EUR 500 million as at 31 March 2017 all of which have been provided to third parties as a source of financing. As a consequence the LTV ratio as at 31 March 2017 increased to 63.6%. The EPRA Net Asset Value per share as of 31 March 2017 is EUR 0.33 compared to EUR 0.32 as at 31 December 2016. Unaudited Statement of financial position TEUR 31 March 2017 31 December 2016 NON-CURRENT ASSETS Investment property 240,041 239,790 Property, plant and equipment 26 26 Equity-accounted investees 3 4 Available-for-sale financial assets 37,204 33,042 Loans provided 566,708 149,935 Trade and other receivables 87 -- Deferred tax asset 114,028 114,025 Total non-current assets 958,097 536,822 CURRENT ASSETS Inventories 6,526 6,524 Current income tax receivables 279 -- Derivative instruments 38,732 38,732 Trade receivables 3,751 3,833 Loans provided 5,789 -- Cash and cash equivalents 7,702 2,215 Other financial current assets 733 1,162 Other non-financial current assets 635 1,169 Assets held for sale 393 23,209 Total current assets 64,540 76,844 TOTAL ASSETS 1,022,637 613,666 TEUR 31 March 2017 31 December 2016 EQUITY Equity attributable to owners of the Company 420,010 412,798 Non controlling interests 475 475 Total equity 420,485 413,273 NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES Bonds issued 12,568 15,705 Financial debts 517,145 128,348 Derivative instruments 1 -- Deferred tax liabilities 13,765 12,911 Provisions 1,246 1,712 Other non-current liabilities 5,146 301 Total non-current liabilities 549 871 158 977 CURRENT LIABILITIES Current bonds 378 142 Financial debts 43,046 20,718 Trade payables 5,056 1,657 Advance payments 185 395 Derivative instruments -- 7 Other financial current liabilities 165 599 Other non-financial current liabilities 3,451 3,030 Liabilities linked to assets held for sale -- 14,868 Total current liabilities 52,281 41,416 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 1,022,637 613,666 For more information, visit www.orcogroup.com, or contact us at investors@orcogroup.com German Chancellor Angela Merkels pithy observation on Sunday that Europeans really must take our fate into our own hands following President Donald Trumps first visit to Europe last week may prove a blip in history. Likewise, French President Emmanuel Macrons description of his odd, intense handshake with Trump in Brussels as a successful demonstration he wouldnt be intimidated by a U.S. leader he likened to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the increasingly dictatorial Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be quickly forgotten. Its important to remember that Trumps top foreign policy and national security posts are held by people with traditional views about the value of Americas age-old allies. But it is also possible that Merkels comment may mark the beginning of the unraveling of the largest, most powerful and most successful alliance in world history: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, formed in 1949 by the United States, Canada and 10 European nations in recognition of the threat they jointly faced from the Soviet Union. Now 28 nations strong, NATO can point to a long list of accomplishments: mostly successfully containing Moscows trouble-making; ending the deadly Balkan wars in the 1990s; working jointly to address international threats; and bringing stability and prosperity to North America and to much of Europe, a continent ravaged twice in the span of 30 years by world wars. Advertisement Yes, the president is correct when he says most other members of NATO dont spend enough on their own defense and many are free riders on U.S. military might. Previous presidents have said as much for decades. But NATO is no parasite. The United States has benefited immensely from the sturdy security it has brought to the world. Soldiers from NATO member nations have been instrumental in various U.S.-led military actions. All NATO nations are partners in the U.S-led coalition against the Islamic State. And the mutual-defense pact that was key to NATOs founding remains crucial to U.S. interests. NATO essentially says to every American: You wont have to fight alone, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute told The New Yorker last year. That gives America the great confidence that it will always be able to operate in a multinational setting with diverse allies that not only bring military capacity but also political weight to whatever security challenge it faces. This is not a view that Trump seems to grasp. In linking his grievances over NATO members military spending to his grievances over the U.S. trade deficit with Germany as he did broadly on the campaign trail and as he did again last week bluntly to Merkel the president casts U.S. relationships with other nations as zero-sum games in which there are only winners and losers. In tweeting complaints about Germany on Tuesday in apparent response to Merkels questions about U.S. reliability, Trump casts the U.S. not as the worlds policeman but as its most temperamental bully. In December, The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote that Trumps unpredictability could at times benefit the U.S. in its dealings with other nations. That may be true with U.S. adversaries like Iran and North Korea, if it is linked to a strategic vision. Yet it is hard to fathom how the presidents unpredictability helps with Americas traditional allies. This is especially so when the trait seems driven not by strategy but by vengeful whim and by a desire to always have the last word. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion Regarding the Washington Post story in the May 29 U-T (Merkel: Europe cant rely on others anymore): Well, its about time. As President Donald Trump continues to fulfill his campaign promises, the whining from The Washington Post continues to exceed reasonable decibel levels. Daniel R. Collins Advertisement San Diego Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Congratulations to our president. He has done it again. Sold $110 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia where 15 of the 19 9/11 terrorists originated. It also appears that he may have inspired Germany to start building weapons of mass destruction. Does Trump understand that Germany started two world wars? Has he ever read a history book? Can he read? The president of the United States is playing checkers while the rest of the world plays chess. How sad it is that Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell continue to endorse him. Ronald Harris Scripps Ranch The war in Europe has been over close to 75 years and it is time for change. Chancellor Angela Merkels comments, although maybe misinterpreted by our left-leaning press, need to be clarified. Trump delivered a message, although unpopular, that was correct. Its time for the Europeans to stop expecting the United States to pick up the tab for NATO and expecting our armed forces to be sacrificed. Where are the comments condemning Germany and France for backdoor deals with Iran and Russia? The real question that needs to be answered is this: Does Europe have our back? Its support usually depends on what is best for it, not necessarily in support of our objectives. Climate change agreements need to be evaluated based on what is best for our country, not Europe. Merkel and other leaders have to get used to the idea Barack Obama and his failed policies are history. Peter Malaspina Carlsbad The expressions on the faces of all the European presidents and prime ministers told the whole story. Trumps brash, rude and insulting behavior reduced him and this country to the epitome of the ugly American. To Make America Great Again, he has generated the animosity and derision of the entire world, with the exception of the authoritarian strong men Rodrigo Duterte, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung-un and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on whom he lavishes praise and admiration. This man does not represent the country I came to 53 years ago and any self-respecting American should be ashamed and embarrassed by this vulgar and ignorant individual. As has been said by numerous people from both sides of the aisle over the past two years, Trump is not fit to be in the White House and is most certainly not the leader of the free world. Phil Kirk Encinitas Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. The U-Ts print-edition version of a story (Attorney: Agencys meetings must be open, May 18) omitted critical context that may give readers a false impression about compensation for San Diego County Water Authority Board members. The online version of the story said directors on the agencys 36-member board were collectively paid more than $80,000 in per diems for participating in certain agency meetings in 2016. The word collectively was not in the print version, leaving some readers to erroneously believe that individual board members collected more than $80,000 annually. State law sets limits on the ability of special district board members to collect payments for participating in agency meetings, and it would be impossible for a Water Authority director to earn anything close to $80,000 a year. In fact, the average per diem payments to Water Authority Board members in 2016 was less than $6,100. Advertisement Mark Hattam General Counsel San Diego County Water Authority Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. UPDATE: Trump quits the Paris climate change accord, calling it a "bad deal" The world is watching to see if President Donald Trump and the U.S. will pull out of the Paris climate change accord over the next few days, and news reports suggest Trump is leaning toward leaving the landmark 2015 global agreement. That decision would certainly square with Trumps previous comments about the deal, especially ones he made during his 2016 presidential campaign when he vowed to cancel the agreement to, in his words, accelerate and intensify the actions and investment needed for a sustainable low carbon future. Just last week, six of the highly industrialized nations known as the Group of 7 Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom issued a declaration during their annual gathering in Brussels, Belgium, pledging commitment to the accord which was signed by 195 nations in total. The lone holdout at the G7 meeting? The United States. RELATED: What world leaders say about Trump's Paris climate deal withdrawal This is the subject that the president is spending a great deal of time on, and one that he spoke to the G7 members about during their meetings, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday. Ultimately he wants a fair deal for the American people and he will have an announcement coming on that shortly. Here are the three biggest reasons why Trump might decide to pull the U.S. out of the agreement his predecessor President Barack Obama so enthusiastically supported. Political pressure at home Last Thursday, a group of high profile Republican senators including House Speaker Mitch McConnell and former presidential candidate Ted Cruz of Texas sent Trump a letter encouraging him to make a clean break from the agreement. They argued that aspects of it could hinder Trumps efforts to roll back environmental regulations established by the Obama administration. Its clear you share our commitment to reducing the regulatory burden our businesses face in order to create jobs and grow the economy, the letter says. A key risk to fulfilling this objective is remaining in the Paris Agreement. And while some major businesses like Shell, BP and PG&E are urging Trump to stick with the accord, other groups like the National Mining Association are calling for Trump to walk away from it. International maneuvering One of the prevailing arguments for being one of the many other nations signed onto the Paris climate accord is that it maintains Americas seat at the table for international relations and discussions on the pressing issue. Just look at how vocal the United Nations is about defending the deal. Its believed that some Trump officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and even Ivanka Trump want the president to remain for this reason. But Trumps Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt , wants him to back out. Its a bad deal for America, Pruitt said in April. 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 is referring to China's commitment to lower carbon dioxide emissions (compared to its 2005 level) by 60 to 65 percent by 2030 and Indias commitment to lower emissions by 33 to 35 percent by 2030. The deadline the U.S. set for its own reduction is 2025. It set Americas standards higher than for much of the world, while giving countries like China a free pass for years to come, Sen. John Barrasso , R-Wyoming, wrote in March. And the letter from the senators argues that the U.S. would still be part of a U.N. treaty from 1992 that provides a permanent seat at the table at the annual Conferences of Parties, which is where these big climate change decisions are made by the U.N. Skepticism about climate change Trumps thoughts on the issue of climate change are well documented on his Twitter page, which weve all learned to take with a grain of salt. But nonetheless, see for yourself. And hes not alone in his statements illustrating a lack of belief in climate change science. A Pew Research survey in October found that trust in climate scientists is low among Republicans. Researchers found that 57 percent of conservative Republicans are inclined to say climate research findings are influenced by scientists desire to advance their careers. Sixteen percent of liberal Democrats felt that way. NASA, of course, notes that multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities. As the world awaits Trumps decision, people are using social media to express their thoughts on either side of the issue. Some are rooting for him to make the clean break. Others are urging Trump to stick with it. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin ALSO 3 big ways Trump quitting Paris accord could be a huge mistake Editorial: Trump's Paris climate accord withdrawal worst decision of his life From dance teacher to train engineer, longtime Poway resident Diana Smith has conquered it all with the grace and style of a modern woman. Now after calling Poway home for 63 of her 91 years, Smith is moving out of state to be closer to family. She is leaving behind a legacy of community involvement. Smith is charter member of several local groups, including the Poway Womens Club, the Poway Performing Arts Company and the Poway-Midland Railroad Volunteers. Smith was born in New Jersey and raised in Connecticut. She made her way out west to California after World War II ended. I was married to my first husband then, said Smith, explaining the couple later divorced and she married her second husband, Lawrence Smith. We were married 45 years, Smith said of Lawrence. We moved here (to Poway) in 1954. We bought one of those little post-war houses and moved in on the property. Water had just come to Poway and there were 750 people living here then. The newlyweds bought several acres, which Lawrence tried but failed to use to cultivate landscaping grass. He went on to become Poways first postman, then later famously operated the Poway Nursery. When the grass didnt grow, he had to find a job, Smith said. He took the test and got the postman job. He delivered the mail and was done by 10 oclock in the morning, which left him time to do (other things). Smiths now late husband became so involved in his community that Poway held a Mr. Smith Day. He died in 1995. Though quite popular, Smiths husband was not the only one in the family who found themselves about town quite often. In 1961 alone, Smith helped start two local groups the Poway Womens Club and a backyard swim program. Smith also started Poways first art association, though it is no longer around. She later went on to help start PowPAC - Poways Performing Arts Company, which is very much still active. She and Lawrence had three children, and when they became school-aged, Smith also went to school. She studied at Palomar College before attending San Diego State, where she earned a bachelors degree in theater. I almost finished a masters in both theater and dance but it didnt happen, said Smith with a shrug. On the Smith property, the family built a studio that was used for many purposes, including as a teaching place for Smith. She taught children in theater and dance, including modern, tap, ballet and jazz. Before it had a theater of its own, PowPAC used Smiths place to put on shows. At one time, I was putting on childrens theater and teaching dance, PowPAC was putting on plays and my oldest daughter, who was a minister, was having her church there, laughed Smith. We never could get away with building that building on our private property these days but we were able to get a permit to do it back then. Another area of town where Smith has done the unexpected has been in Old Poway Park, where she became the first woman engineer of the Poway-Midland Railroad. I was in my 70s then, said Smith, explaining how she took a class to qualify and all her classmates were men. They all made fun of me when I first went in the class; well not all of them but some of them did; but they didnt pass and I did, said Smith. The biggest thing for me was that I had to light the fire with a gas thing that blew out flames and it scared me to death every time I had to do it but I had to do it. Old Poway Park is a favorite of Smith, who also later started a junior theater program out of Templars Hall. After my husband died and I had retired, I found myself with nothing to do really so I came down and proposed that I start a junior theater in Templars Hall, said Smith, who ran the theater for about 10 years. Smiths last bit of community involvement has been as an artist selling her crafts at the Boardwalk Craft Market. She makes and sells what she calls pocket pets. The hand-sized animal creations are popular with children and keep Smith active as she sews each one. Smith is moving to Camas, Washington, where she will be close to two generations of her family, including a daughter and two of her six grandchildren. She is also a great-grandmother to six children. Before she goes, Smith plans to sell her pocket pets on last time at the Boardwalk Craft Market next to Old Poway Park this Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Email: editor@pomeradonews.com To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Ramona Lutheran Christian School is hosting a carnival, open to the community, on Friday, June 2. We wanted to do something big to celebrate it, said Stephanie Lebeau, school volunteer who is coordinating the carnival. The carnival will run from 4 to 8 p.m. at the school, 520 16th St., and it will feature a mini-midway, games, and food trucks. Admission is free. Tickets for rides may be purchased online in advance for a discount 25 tickets for $20 at bit.ly/2rEPSCM, and will be $1 per ticket at the carnival. Rides will include the Sizzler, wrecking ball, and swings for young children, said Lebeau. There will also be Zorb balls, a dunk tank with the school principal, an inflatable obstacle course, inflatable slide, and laser tag. Attendees can try their luck at carnival games. Food will be available for purchase from A&S Catering and BBQ of Ramona and San Diego area food trucks: The O Truck featuring organic gourmet burgers, Taste Around the World with a Mexican and Greek menu, and Mahalo Shaved Ice. Lebeau said Eric Vellone with Ramona Town Radio has offered to DJ the event. Well have music then provided by Ramona Town Radio, she said. June 2 is the last day of school for Ramona Lutheran. Lebeau noted they that they are doing the carnival as a celebration but any money made will go toward new curriculum for next year. The new curriculum is one of the upcoming improvements for the school, said school board member Nicole (Pinning) Manley. A 2002 eighth-grade graduate of Ramona Lutheran School, Manley said she attended it from preschool until she was 14 years old and was valedictorian when she graduated. Its a great school, she said. Its a very family-oriented school. Everyone knows each other, she added. Parents are very involved. Although Manley said the school eliminated the junior high grades within the past 10 years because there was not enough enrollment to support it, they are looking into adding seventh and eighth grades again as some families have requested it. The goal is to possibly add the two grades for the 2018-19 school year, she said. Currently, the school provides preschool through sixth grade, with combined classes for first/second, third/fourth, and fifth/sixth. The preschool is a big part of the school, said Manley, who plans to start her 3-year-old there in the fall. Attending the Ramona Lutheran Church is not a requirement, she said, but church members do receive a discount on school tuition. We like to have a good cross-over between the church and the schoolbut by no means mandatory, she said. Manley believes attending the school during her childhood years made her the person she is today. Its a very wholesome environment. That was always a huge thing for me growing up, she said. You develop long-lasting friendships. You develop a very strong sense of community within the school. She also touted the quality of the education. The school holds itself to a higher standard of education, she said. In addition to a new curriculum, the school is also doing a lot of renovations and updating, said Manley. Elaine Crary is principal of the school and Deb Abeel is the preschool director. Serving Ramona Lutheran Church is Pastor Terry Meyer. Also to celebrate the 40th anniversary, the school is putting a call out to alumni to send photos from or stories about their time at Ramona Lutheran School. Photos and stories may be emailed to: Parish.ed@rlscd.org. Ramona Unified School District has alerted parents that it is taking precautions following a threat made on social media against a kindergarten classroom somewhere in California. Superintendent Anne Staffieri, Ed.D. sent the following message to parents and guardians: We have received word that the San Diego Police Department informed schools within their jurisdiction area about a threat made on social media against a kindergarten classroom somewhere in California. In collaboration with our local Ramona sheriffs department and Ramona Unified School District, we have advised all RUSD schools to have a heightened awareness. Please understand there has not been a specific threat to any of our local schools. However, all threats are taken seriously. We have reminded all staff to keep classroom doors locked, and all perimeter gates and entries locked and secure. We will keep you updated if there is more information to share. We will provide any information and updates provided by law enforcement when they conclude their investigation to include the validity of the threat or it being a hoax. The intent of our message is to remind our school community to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior to school administrators or law enforcement. Please be assured that the school district and law enforcement will immediately respond to any real or perceived danger, and communicate accordingly. Safety is our top priority. VA Secretary David Shulkin on Wednesday issued a detailed progress report on his efforts to overhaul the sprawling U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Shulkin, who took the top VA job in February, ticked off a list of improvements, including those on hot-button topics such as wait times for medical treatment. But he also listed areas of significant risk for the nations second-largest agency. Advertisement Im a doctor, and I like to diagnose things, assess them and treat them, Shulkin said during a news conference from the White House. What were going to hear today is really a candid assessment of where our problems are in the VA. In particular, the Veterans Choice program which allows patients to seek health services outside of the VA system in designated circumstances needs a face-lift to simplify an overly complex system, the secretary said. We certainly have to work with Congress and our veterans service organizations to redesign this Choice program, which expires at years end, Shulkin said. We need new legislation in this Congress to make sure that veterans dont go back to waiting longer than they need to wait to get care in the community. The White Houses 2018 budget plan calls for a 3.7 percent increase in VA funding. It specifically proposes $29 billion during the next decade for Veterans Choice. To cover the rising costs, the VA would cap educational benefits under the GI bill and halt individual unemployability benefit payments to out-of-work, disabled veterans 62 or older. Some major veterans organizations oppose those proposals, saying Veterans Choice shouldnt be expanded at the detriment of core VA programs. We are alarmed by the cannibalization of services needed for the Choice program, Charles Schmidt, commander of the American Legion, the nations largest veterans organization, said in a statement. It is a stealth privatization attempt which the American Legion fully opposes. Vet leaders generally praised Shulkin on Wednesday for transparency on a variety of issues involving the agency. Concerned Veterans for America, a vocal critic of the existing VA system, commended Shulkin for the steps he has taken. Unlike his predecessor, who denied problems existed, Shulkin is honest about the challenges the VA faces and direct about the solutions needed to fix them, said the groups policy director, Dan Caldwell. The highlights of Shulkins Wednesday remarks included: Veterans Choice: The VA is taking too long to pay outside doctors, about 500,000 of whom participate in the Veterans Choice program. Providers are increasingly frustrated with the VAs ability to get them payments to the point that some of them are actually leaving our network, Shulkin said. It takes more than 30 days to process one-fifth of clean claims, which affects 25,000 outside providers nationally, Shulkin said. About $50 million in outpatient bill charges are waiting past six months for payment. Veterans Choice needs to be streamlined by Congress, Shulkin said. In San Diego County, the VA has referred more than 68,500 veterans to the program since November 2014. A little over a third of those patients completed outside appointments through that program. We have made extensive usage of referrals to the Choice program as a way of decompressing our internal workload, Dr. Robert Smith, director of the VAs San Diego Healthcare System, said on Wednesday. Going outside the VA system doesnt always mean the patient gets seen faster, Smith said. When we refer people to Choice, we only get less than 90 percent (of appointments) made within 30 days, even though the goal of the program is to get people seen sooner. That reflects the fact that these are services not always readily available even in the private sector. Access to doctors: If needed, same-day service is now available at all 168 VA medical centers for primary care and mental health. The VA recently began posting wait times online for all of its hospitals a first in the nation. However, new patients are waiting 60 days or more for their first appointments in primary care and mental health at 30 VA locations nationwide. Also, one in 10 patients cant get a follow-up appointment when a doctor says its needed, and 16 percent of VA primary-care clinics have exceeded capacity. We still have more to do, Shulkin said. In the San Diego region, average wait times for completed appointments are two days for primary care, a little over six days for specialty care and just beyond two days for mental-health care, Smith said, calling those figures a substantial improvement from a year ago. Quality of medical care: Fourteen VA medical centers nationally have a one-star rating, the worst in the VAs internal ranking system. Shulkin said these 14 sites which do not include San Diego are below the community standard of care. He is deploying a special team to each of these centers to address performance. Suicide: The VA plans to launch a new initiative, called Getting to Zero, this summer to combat veteran suicide. This is my top clinical priority, Shulkin said. He noted a recent policy change that allows veterans with other-than-honorable discharges a population at higher risk for suicide to receive emergency mental health care for up to 90 days at VA hospitals. Smith said the new guidelines have led to a modest surge in such demand at VA clinics in North County. I dont know that I have a good explanation (for the geographic concentration,) except perhaps theres a cluster of veterans who have that eligibility in North County, the San Diego VA director said. In Coronado, Howard and Jean Somers have dedicated themselves to suicide prevention since their soldier son Daniel killed himself in 2013. Responding to Shulkins comments Wednesday, the couple said the efforts are worthy of support but that his focus on other-than-honorable discharges still falls short. There is no provision for follow-up or chronic care. And, this is only for mental health. There are no provisions for any other medical services, the Somerses said. What is really needed is congressional authorization for VA to deliver these services to those whose (other-than-honorable) discharges were likely due to psychological issues, not true bad conduct. Disability claims: The backlog continues. More than 90,000 disability claims are taking more than 125 days to process. Shulkin said his goal is to cut this time by half in the next two years. So-called decision-ready claims have been processed in just three days, he said, and this system is expected to be introduced nationally in September. Bad apples: Under current law, it takes a month to hold a VA employee accountable for misconduct or poor performance. There are 1,500 disciplinary actions pending, Shulkin said. That means people waiting to be fired, demoted or suspended without pay are still on the payroll books. Our accountability processes are clearly broken, Shulkin said. We have to wait more that a month to fire a psychiatrist who was caught on camera watching pornography using his iPad while seeing a veteran, he added, apparently referring to a now-infamous incident at the Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston. Congress is working on new legislation to make it easier to fire VA employees. The House passed a version, and a companion piece is winding through the Senate. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Military Videos On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal jen.steele@sduniontribune.com Facebook: U-T Military Twitter: @jensteeley In the wake of recent revelations that the NSA collects data on millions of Americans, sales of the centennial edition of George Orwells novel Nineteen Eighty-Four have soared 5,800 percent on Amazon. During the first 35 years of its life, Orwells final and most famous book caught the attention of readers throughout the world at least in those parts where people were free to read the books they chose. Almost three decades after the actual year 1984 has come and gone, relatively few readers are experiencing the chilling prophecies of Orwells dystopian vision, until now. In 1949, as George Orwell lay on a sanatorium bed under the shadow of a death that would soon come from tuberculosis and exhaustion, the world received Nineteen Eighty-Four and gained a new synonym for tyranny and totalitarianism. In Orwells nightmare vision the world, after an atomic war, has divided itself into three massive slave states Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The three superpowers are about equal in strength and are continuously at war. But it is a war that nobody can win. In the hands of the governments absolute power has corrupted absolutely. Each dictatorship possesses an all-pervading control of collective behavior and of thought itself. The past is a pawn in the hands of present policy: When the rulers want to change history, they destroy all old books and periodicals and replace them with new ones. The power elite are indifferent to truth. In effect, there is no truth and there is no past. Advertisement It is the same with the people. All dissent is outlawed. Citizens who dare to think antistate thoughts are branded unpersons and sent off to unexist or be brutally re-educated. The line is rigidly set by Big Brother, the black mustachioed dictator whose dark, penetrating eyes stare down from posters everywhere. Two-way telescreens peer into every room and public place. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. A wrong facial expression can mean liquidation; there is no such thing as a private life. For many readers, the most terrifying aspect of Nineteen Eighty-Four is not the technological gimmick of the two-way telescreens, but the governments ability to engird thought by restricting its vehicle, language. Orwell forges an iron link between language and mind. If our words are the windows through which we look at the world, reducing the number, size and transparency of those windows limits our ability to view and deal with reality. The States most powerful method of thought control is Newspeak, a modified form of Oldspeak, or standard English, designed with catchall cliches and fewer words so as to make reflective, creative and unorthodox thought impossible. One of the goals of Newspeak is to diminish the value of language by crippling the rich associations of older words and shrinking the size of the vocabulary. Today evidence of this insidious process is all around us. Newspeak happens when the original meaning of unique, one of a kind, becomes identical with the word unusual, as in That was one of the most unique seminars Ive ever attended. Newspeak happens when we can no longer distinguish between words such as uninterested and disinterested, affect and effect, farther and further, verbal and oral, compose and comprise, reluctant and reticent, energized and enervated and less and fewer. Newspeak happens when we say momentarily when we mean presently and presently when we mean now. We live, man and worm, in a time when almost everything can mean almost anything, wrote humorist James Thurber, whose insights werent always meant to be humorous. George Orwell is watching you. Rather than being a pessimistic determinist, Orwell was a committed humanist concerned that we not make our ultimate home on an anthill. More powerfully than any other writer, he warned us that dishonest language is a drug that can put conscience to sleep. He alerted us that when words are used to lie rather than to tell the truth, the house of language grows dark and the human spirit withers. OTTAWA, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Economic Club of Canada in partnership with Canadians for a New Partnership, hosts an armchair discussion regarding the importance of a National Indigenous Guardians Network in Canada. WHO: Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, C.C. - Canadians for a New Partnership Dahti Tsetso Resource Management Coordinator, Dehcho First Nations Pierre Gratton - President and CEO, Mining Association of Canada Stephen Kakfwi - President and CEO, Canadians For a New Partnership Valerie Courtois, RPF - Director, Indigenous Leadership Initiative, International Boreal Conservation Campaign WHAT: The Economic Club of Canada in partnership with Canadians for a New Partnership will host an armchair discussion regarding the importance of a National Indigenous Guardians Network in Canada. Budget 2017 recognizes the importance of such a Network and an initial investment of $25 million over 5 years was included. This seed funding will assist in developing the national network and prepare Indigenous Nations and communities to launch their own Indigenous Guardians programs. This event is sponsored by the Mining Association of Canada and Rio Tinto. WHEN: Thursday, June 1st, 2017 11:30am Registration begins 12:15pm Opening remarks by Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, C.C. 12:30pm Panel discussion begins 1:30pm Event concludes WHERE: Chateau Laurier - 1 Rideau Street, Ottawa The Economic Club of Canada: Each year, more than 100 key policy makers and business leaders seek out the Economic Club of Canadas platform to deliver major keynote addresses. Audience members are drawn from the most senior levels of Canadian business, health care and government. Membership is open to all who share a passion for discourse around the most important issues of today. Hidden Valley Inn is a Special Spot in a Special Country Belize is an amazing country just about 70 miles from east to west, 170 north to south- so tiny but containing so many natural gifts & wonders. The 2nd largest coral reef in the world, the greatest density of manatees in the Caribbean, the highest waterfall in Central America, hundreds, if not thousands, of Maya sites, flocks of wild scarlet macaws, neon blue Morpho butterflies Almost 40% of Belize is classified as protected from bird sanctuaries to national forest. * That in itself is incredibly special. Last week, I visited one of these protected areas, a place unlike any other in the country the Mountain Pine Ridge reserve. Set up in hills and mountains, its an area with a totally unique landscape. Pine trees and rugged granite perfect for hiking, mountain biking and exploring but even more perfect for WATERFALLS. And within this area, I spent two nights at beautiful Hidden Valley Inn. The property is totally unique within this unique area. They have 7200 acres of land covered in 90 miles of trails. 90 miles all for Hidden Valley guests! Trails, steps, wooden bridges all maintained by a full time team of 7 men. Where most properties within Belize market themselves as a gateway to the wonders of the country, Hidden Valley is a natural wonder. The Inn & Reserve has enough on-property to keep you happy, busy andin awe for days. As usualIll try to stop blabbing and just show you my pictures. The HV van picked me up in San Ignacio and we drove for just over an hour watching the landscape change. A cool wash cloth and a small iced coffee. Perfect for my 11am welcome. I wanted the full day. Lots of land to cover! But firstto my cottage. Its so crazy seeing firewood AND a fireplace but this is the coolest region of the country. The air, while still warm, was crisper up here. And in the winter, it can dip into the 60s at night! My room was beautiful. I especially loved the water pitcher and my own aluminum water bottle to take with me on my adventures. And a huge plus great wi-fi. That is NOT always the case in Belize especially when you are off-the-grid. Beautiful outdoor shower. Those plants on the shower are orchids. And a perfect little set-up for coffee. My own tiny French press with coffee grown on property AND yummy peanut cookies for snacking. I consulted the birding information since Hidden Valley is a favorite for those who love birds. They are known for three in particularthe swallow tailed kite, the King Vulture and the orange breasted falcon. I dont take a challenge lightly. The hunt was onI even made a graphic to show you how cool they were. And Ill ruin the endingI only saw 2 out of 3. Now I need to go back! My short walk to the main lodge with the library, bar, dining room and lots of couches and private areas to sit. And just beyondthe pool. Sigh I headed to the new spa area for a massage- one must ease into life in the mountains. It might be tempting to stay in the resort area (this pool! massage!) but that is not why you come to Hidden Valley Inn. The amazing location and the huge property is what really sets it apart. And the size of the inn. There are just 12 rooms on this huge property. You have your own guide and can walk miles and miles without seeing a soul. Feeling like you have the jungle to yourself. Marvin was my guide for the trip. A guide and a birder and a mushroom specialist. Perfect! I love asking questions about new things. We first hit the Cascade Trail the most spectacular hike Ive ever been on. About an hour and a half all along a streamwaterfalls and pools tons of them. Each with a name and a sign and an easy place to get in and swim. You can go guided or unguided either way, you have a two-way radio that ensures pick up and your safety. Grab a walking stick. Beautiful cool stone bottom pools I wonder how I can get something named after me? The natural beauty is stunning. I want to go back just for this trail and spend the day swimming and laying on the platforms in the sunor the shade of the forest. With your loved one or your whole family, this would making an awesome day. Next, we headed down to another waterfall for lunch. You can rent this pool for lunch and an afternoon lounge in the sun if you want complete privacy. I wasnt able to capture it but we saw so many blue butterflies around the waterfalls. Its like something from a fairy tale. There are waterfalls for swimming and then there are those just for gawking at. 1000 Foot Falls used to be part of the property but is now a national site. Its the highest waterfall in Central America is really about 1800 feet high. You cant see it all from the lookout (hence the misnomer) but its beautiful. One day I shall see it by helicopter. One day. The view in the other direction. On the way to the next water fall piddly at only 1000 feet high we saw the swallow tailed kite nesting in a pine tree. Hurray! HV bird #1. And it was right on to #2. The next waterfall is called King Vulture Falls. And it does not disappoint. We saw about 6 king vultures sunning and circling. A buzzard that is actually handsome. It was early afternoon and time to head back to the inn. Perhaps a swim in the pool and another adventure? Its really the draw you can swim hike from waterfall to waterfall in the morning, have lunch, maybe a massage, take a nap, if you please, and head out again. If you want to visit a Maya site Hidden Valley Inn is one of the closest to Belizes largest Caracol. Still on my bucket list. Hidden Valley Inn & Reserve is pretty incredible I cant say enough about how unique the property is. Its like finding a secret place. If youve visited the cayes or the beach in Belize (or if you live here!) and have never been to the mainland I highly recommend this spot. Ill stop talking Youll just have to see for yourself. For lots of information and fab pictures and videos, check out Hidden Valleys website. And for really cool pictures of a wedding at Butterfly Falls (probably the most famous in Belize AND on the HV property) click here. Adventurous. *Here is the full list of countries and %s from the World Bank who would have guessed thatVenezuela would be leading the way on conservation? And if you would like to save or share, PIN it. Falls Church, Virginia, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shareholders of energy giant Chevron voted today on a proposal for the company to evaluate a policy of no longer doing business with countries believed to be complicit in genocide. The proposal focuses on the nation of Myanmar/Burma, whose military is accused of committing atrocities against the Rohingya ethnic minority. Because the vote tally was greater than three percent in favor, U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) rules allow the resolution to be resubmitted next year. Preliminary estimates showed that six percent of shareholders voted for the resolution, according to International Campaign for the Rohingya Executive Director Simon Billenness, who moved the resolution at the Chevron annual general meeting today on behalf of lead filers Azzad Asset Management and the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, U.S. Province. According to SEC requirements, to resubmit resolutions in subsequent years after an initial filing, the proposal must win the support of at least three percent of the shares voted in its first year, six percent in its second, and 10 percent in its third year and all years thereafter. "We are encouraged by the results of today's vote, but more work remains," said Azzad President and CEO Bashar Qasem. "It is imperative that shareholders understand the reputational risk posed by Chevrons partnership with an agency of a government believed to be currently engaged in grave human rights abuses. Global concern about the violent actions of the Burmese military is growing as new atrocities come to light or are committed. The reputational risk of doing business with such a government grows proportionally. We look forward to making the case against doing business with governments like Burma as we prepare to resubmit the resolution for next year." "We are pleased with the vote, but more importantly, the pressure on the Rohingya by the government and armed forces makes us question why Chevron appears to disregard its human rights policy implementation criteria," said Ursuline Sisters spokesperson Valerie Heinonen. Speaking from outside the meeting in Midland, Texas, Billenness characterized Chevron CEO John Watson's response to the resolution as "disturbingly dismissive of the reputational, financial, and operational risks of doing business with a regime linked to potential genocide against the Rohingya in Burma." The shareholder resolution describes the recent violence by Burmas army against the ethnic Rohingya people in Rakhine state in western Burma. Through its subsidiary Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co., Ltd., Chevron entered into a production sharing contract with the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise in 2015 to explore for oil and gas in the Rakhine Basin. The resolution voted on at today's meeting asked Chevron to issue a report by the end of November 2017 examining the feasibility of adopting a policy of not doing business with governments that are complicit in genocide and/or crimes against humanity. This is the first time a resolution has specifically focused on Burma's 1.1 million Rohingya people. See: First shareholder resolution on Rohingya presses Chevron on business ties to Burma government In response to the shareholder proposal, Chevron's management drew attention to its current human rights policy. Like many companies, Chevron defers to local governments to uphold human rights, which according to the proposal's supporters, is insufficient given reports of state-sanctioned persecution. In late November 2016, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights said that abuses perpetrated against the Rohingya by the Burmese military may amount to crimes against humanity. These crimes include beating and killing people, including children and elderly people, mass gang-rape, and burning homes and other buildings with families trapped inside. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has reported that the Rohingya are at grave risk of additional mass atrocities and even genocide. About Azzad Asset Management Azzad Asset Management is a socially responsible registered investment advisor committed to providing investment services designed to help people enjoy optimum performance without compromising their values. Azzad believes that companies operating in ethical lines of business offer relatively less business risk and are in a better position to thrive in the long term. Azzad is a member of the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions. The firm is based in Falls Church, Virginia. About Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, U.S. The Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk is a Roman Catholic religious womens congregation based in Belgium with provinces in Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, the United States and missions in Canada, British Guyana, and Rwanda. Ministries vary and include spiritual direction, education, hospitals and clinics, and shelters for rural women working in cities. About International Campaign for the Rohingya The International Campaign for the Rohingya advocates and amplifies the voice of the Rohingya with international organizations, governments, corporations, and civil society. Its mission is to help the Rohingya secure peace, security, and their rights wherever they reside. END Azzad Asset Management: Investment Communications Director Joshua Brockwell, 703-207-7005, ext. 109 (office), 571-970-8695 (cell), joshua@azzadfunds.com; Amina Rubin, 703-207-7005, ext. 120, amina@azzadfunds.com Ursuline Sisters: Sister Valerie Heinonen, o.s.u., Director of Shareholder Advocacy, 212-674-2542, heinonenv@juno.com International Campaign for the Rohingya: Simon Billenness, Executive Director, 202-643-7902 (office), 617-596-6158 (cell), simon.billenness@rohingyacampaign.org Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b0d35c8d-6db1-4528-8c33-c6b7fee2ada5 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patriot Technology Solutions, LLC (Patriot Technology), a subsidiary of Patriot National, Inc. (NYSE:PN), has been named one of the 20 Most Promising Insurance Technology Solution Providers for 2017 as selected by the editors of CIOReview Magazine. CIOReview chose Patriot Technology based on its customer-driven insurance solutions, insurance suite, and professional consulting services that drive efficiency and help its clients to focus on their core business. On behalf of the entire Patriot technology team, we are delighted to be named one of 20 Most Promising Insurance Technology Solution Providers. We believe our products are revolutionizing the way insurance carriers do business today and truly appreciate the recognition by CIO Review, said Judith Haddad, Patriot Technologys President and CEO. The recognition, included annually in the Insurance Technology edition of CIOReview, can be seen in the full 2017 list, available online here. The list is comprised of companies that leverage the latest trends to deliver a better customer experience with innovative solutions based on the most advanced technologies available today. About Patriot National Patriot National, Inc. is a national provider of comprehensive technology and outsourcing solutions that help insurance companies and employers mitigate risk, comply with complex regulations and save time and money. Patriot National provides general agency services, technology outsourcing, software solutions, specialty underwriting and policyholder services, claims administration services, and self-funded health plans to its insurance carrier clients, employers and other clients. Patriot National is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information about Patriot National, please visit www.patnat.com. About Patriot Technology Solutions, LLC Patriot Technology Solutions (Patriot Technology) is a leading provider of technology solutions for the property and casualty insurance industry. Patriot Technology focuses on insurance solutions that spotlight a full core insurance suite solution with implementation expertise and including; professional and consulting services and enterprise data analytics with a cloud-based SaaS model. Patriot Technology delivers solutions that provide carriers with premium growth, policyholder retention while lowering their cost of acquisition and reducing their overall servicing cost. Patriot Technology Solutions is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with offices worldwide. For more information about Patriot Technology, please visit www.ptsglobal.com. About the CIOReview Magazine's Most Promising Companies CIOReview magazine annually identifies, selects and ranks the Most Promising Insurance Technology Companies to reveal the business practices that had made these companies both highly regarded and successful. For more information about the full list of 20 Most Promising Insurance Technology Solution Providers 2017, please visit: www.cioreview.com. Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join For more about Gay Haubners life in the North Country, read the other chapters in her serialized memoir. The Post will publish a new segment each week. I had started kindergarten age four on the army base in Hawaii. My father, a captain, had wrangled this early admission to get me out of my mothers hair while she coped with a new baby. After a several month gap in my education while we lived with my grandparents, I was sent off to Cobb Elementary School as soon as we moved into the Woodland house, in the middle of the school year. I was the new kid, the smallest kid, and a year younger than most of my classmates. The old maid teacher (the Duluth Board of Education required that all elementary teachers be grey or white haired spinsters) carefully instructed me that if I had to throw up I should not run around the room but stay in one place, the only useful thing I learned in kindergarten. I painted at the easel, sang Old McDonald, pressed my hand into a disc of wet clay to create a Mothers Day present, and made not a single friend. This would have distressed my mother if she had had the time to notice; she spent the entire day wrestling with a skinny, shrieking, thrashing toddler who fought tooth and claw against sleeping and eating and everything else. I was friendless, but not unhappy. I had my books and my dolls and a baby sister to boss around. And every day at 3, I had The Bozo Show on our black and white TV. When Bozo wasnt showing cartoons, but clowning around in the studio, I went back to my book while Lani rampaged through the house. Neither of us were interested in Bozos puerile antics or the tedium of listening to the dozens of snotty-nosed kids squashed on bleachers trying to remember their own names for the camera. Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today At that time we only had two TV stations in Duluth, neither of which was particularly dedicated to childrens programs. On weekday mornings there was Romper Room, which my mother attempted to park my squirming sister in front of. I was a classic Goody Two Shoes and even I was repelled by Romper Rooms Do Be a Do-Bee kid propaganda. And I knew that at the end of each show when Miss Mary looked through her Magic Mirror, she would never see Gay and Lani, only Billy and Nancy and Susie. The high point of my week was Saturday morning, the one time Lani and I could spend hours sprawled in all our glory and pajamas in front of the TV. The first thing to come on screen after the weirdly fascinating test pattern were wonderful old black and white cartoons, Merrie Melodies, Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor Man, one after the other, with no interruptions from silly clowns or idiot children. Then came Mighty Mouse to save the day. The rest of the morning was not as idyllic, consisting of old half-hour shows thought suitable for kids: Roy Rogers, featuring Trigger and Dale Evans and for some reason Nellybelle the Jeep. The Lone Ranger and Zorro, both of whom were much handsomer and more dashing than stodgy Roy Rogers. Sky King, with his cute daughter, Penny, capturing various bad guys through aviation. And my favorites, the horse shows: Fury and My Friend Flicka. I had a few plastic toy horses, inspired by the far better collection owned by my one and only friend, Judy Lindberg, who lived a few houses down from my grandparents in Carlton. Judy and I had become friends during my parents house-hunting days, when she was summoned to play with me. Round-faced Judy seemed almost as friendless as I was. I envied her world-class plastic horse collection, her thousands of Legos (My mother hated anything with lots of tiny pieces), and her status as an only child, a rare exotic when two kids seemed the minimum and lots of families had five or six. Judys very German grandfather, Karl, and her parents, Vera, with raven Elizabeth Taylor hair, and roly-poly Julius, owned Carltons one and only restaurant. The small cafe had a few booths along one side and on the other a long counter with those glorious chrome stools; Judy and I were strictly forbidden to do any spinning on them. On the counter and tables were the most adorable china cow creamers, as Minnesotans drank coffee with every meal. I broke one once, mesmerized by the stream of milk pouring out of the cows mouth, and I was scared for weeks to go to Judys house, terrified of what Germanic punishment might be meted out by her formidable grandpa Karl. I got to play with Judy quite often, even after our move to Duluth; my family spent almost every Sunday in Carlton. While the adults sat around drinking and talking and drinking, I walked myself down the street to Judys, where we played horsies or Legos or fooled around with her mothers electric organ, or I would sneak a look at Judys collection of fascinating, brightly-illustrated books that tried to explain Catholic theology at an 8-year-old level. Judy complained that reading wasnt playing, and she was right. *** If Judy wasnt around on our Sunday trips to Carlton, I roamed about outside by myself, or explored my grandparents big house. On the ground floor there was a small wood-paneled room decorated with the heads of animals. My grandfather loved to hunt; in the winter he would drive around the county, dropping bales of hay off in the woods to make sure enough deer would survive so he could shoot them the following fall. There was an elegant living room that we never sat in; everyone congregated in the new glass-walled sunroom my grandparents had added on so they could look out at the snow eight months a year. My grandmother had remodeled her kitchen at the same time; her aqua blue and pale yellow kitchen was right out of Disneys Tomorrowland and seemed the height of modern sophistication to me: the freezer made ice, there was a dishwasher, and the Formica counters were festooned with space age parabolas. Upstairs were the boys rooms that had belonged to my dad and his two brothers. There the main attractions were the leather albums of coins and stamps from Rhodesia, Ceylon, French Guinea, and other exotic-sounding places I longed to visit even though those countries were just a colorful bit of paper or a coin with a hole stamped out; I could not have found them on a map. Also upstairs was my grandmas big bedroom, neat as a pin, reeking of Youth Dew, and too intimidating for me to do anything besides look at myself in her three-sided dresser mirror. Best of all, my grandparents had a room just for books. It wasnt big, but it was definitely a library, with towering bookcases on all sides holding hundreds of books in no particular order. There were tomes on dentistry, dusty fabric-covered novels with tiny type and no conversations, ancient nature books with pastel drawings of birds and mothsI just had to keep pulling books down from the shelves until I found something I could enjoy. When I did, I left that book on a lower shelf so I could find it again the following Sunday. There were two books I read again and again; a book on space travel, with lurid sci-fi paintings of the rings of Saturn as seen from the surface of that planet, and sunset on Mars with its two moons hanging in the sky; and a guide to hunting in Africa, bound in leopard-print paper and filled with black and white photos of living and just-shot gnus, zebras, lions, and a wide variety of antelope. If I ever go to Africa, I will carefully shake out my shoes every morning, having seen a photo of a large scorpion that had been extracted from the authors boot. When I was in junior high, I discovered in my grandparents library an unaccountable paperback of Hells Angels by Hunter S. Thompson, with such horrifying descriptions of sex and violence, including bikers pulling a train on one poor girl, that I took special care in secreting it behind the encyclopedias so I could read it again and again. I have no idea who would have brought that book into that house. My grandfather had a small bedroom tucked beneath the stairs, where he retreated immediately after Sunday dinner. I thought it was funny that my grandpas bedtime was 7:30 until I realized years later that this was his regular time to pass out from drinking 7&7s all day. Every Sunday I scarfed down my own dinner as fast as possible to catch Lassie and the Walt Disney Show, which later became the even more unmissable Wonderful World of Color. My mother and grandmother cleaned up the dinner plates, my dad built himself a last highball, and then we piled back in the car, my dad drunk and all of us seat belt-less, to drive the half hour back home, where I had to go immediately to bed. My grandfathers brother was married to my grandmothers sister, but while my grandpa was the big man and my grandma the snooty matron in their town of 400 souls, my great uncle Cliff and great aunt Marge were stuck on a farm with a thousand turkeys. Every Christmas Eve Cliff and Marge opened their rambling 1920s house to dozens of relatives. Aunt Marge started baking in the beginning of December: there were cut-out sugar cookies shaped like stars, bells, and camels, dusted with red and green sugars; spritz cookies, ridged wreathes of pale green, decorated with those adorable little silver balls that youre not suppose to eat, but that I could never resist crunching between my teeth; pfefferneuse, snowy with powdered sugar, that I always forgot I didnt like until I had popped one in my mouth; chocolate drops, that I did like, tart lemon bars, homemade white bread to be slathered with butter, and stolen, studded with candied cherries and iced with white sugar frosting. Marge made candy as well, a feat I have tried again and again to duplicate and consistently failed at: chocolate walnut fudge and penuche and divinity. These were the main attractions for me and it was torture to gaze upon the kitchen table groaning with sweets and not be able to have any until I choked down a plate of wild rice with mushrooms and chicken, baked ham, mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, and ambrosia salad. There were bowls of many other things, such as beets and lima beans, that I didnt eat, and since it was Christmas, nobody made me. It was farmhouse cooking at its most gargantuan. I dont think anyone even thought of bringing a dish to Aunt Marges Christmas Eve. It would have been like showing up at the miracle of the loaves and fishes with a Tupperware container of pasta salad. Our family did presents Christmas morning, after Santa came. Cliff and Marge did presents Christmas Eve, between bouts of eating. There was always one present for me, so I would have something to open; I tried not to look disappointed at the handmade monkey sock puppet or yoyo doll. Then there was that annus horribilius when my sister got a Raggedy Ann doll, something I had always wanted; I gleefully torn open my own gift to reveal the dreaded stitched grin of Raggedy Andy. I cried all the way home. Carlisle, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/31/2017 -- Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, a non-profit ballet school that was established 60 years ago, is pleased to announce that they are offering a men's scholarship program for aspiring male dancers. This scholarship program is geared towards males who would like to further advance their ballet skills and participate in Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet's elite Men's Program. Those interested will need to fill out an online application and submit a video audition not exceeding 20 minutes in length. Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet is dedicated to providing aspiring dancers of all ages with a comprehensive and unique training curriculum. Dancers of all levels are welcome to enroll in one of the three divisions the school offers. Each program challenges a student's physical being, mental capacity, artistic abilities and provides emotional development. Those interested in enrolling into the Men's Program at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet will participate in daily technique classes meant to establish a strong foundation, practice jumps, turns, and presentation, as well as, develop upper body strength to withstand the precision that comes along with being a professional dancer. The scholarship program for males at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet is open to aspiring dancers aged 14-19, and offers two years of continuous ballet training with some of the most esteemed instructors around. This is a fantastic opportunity for any aspiring male dancer to hone in on their dancing skills and perfect their craft. Those interested can visit Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet's website, https://www.cpyb.org/, for further details regarding the Male Scholarship Program application and audition requirements. About Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet is a nationally renowned ballet school with a curriculum that focuses on building technical strength, stamina, flexibility and artistic development. Aspiring dancers from around the world, aged 3-20, come to this ballet school to learn critical skills from an experienced faculty. Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet aims to prepare and enrich young lives into the world of dancing. To learn more about the school and their programs please visit them on the web at https://cpyb.org/. Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/30/2017 -- The Tuberculin Market 2017 examines the performance of the Tuberculin market, enclosing an in-depth judgment of the Tuberculin market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Tuberculin market in the present as well as the future prospects from various angles in detail. The Global Tuberculin Market 2017 report includes Tuberculin industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Tuberculin Growth aspects, a wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis, manufacturing capacity, Tuberculin Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022. To Get Sample Report Click Here: https://market.biz/report/global-and-europe-tuberculin-market-2017/95054/#inquiry Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Tuberculin Market 2017: Sanofi Pasteur Zoetis Par Sterile SSI Japan BCG Thermo Fisher Sanroad Biological CNBG Tuberculin Market Analysis: By Product PPD-S PPD RT23 Others Tuberculin Market Analysis: By Application Human Use Animal Use At the beginning, the report covers the top Tuberculin manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on topographical regions. Further, the Tuberculin report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Tuberculin industry, Tuberculin industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Tuberculin Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report. To Buy Complete Report Click Here: https://market.biz/report/global-and-europe-tuberculin-market-2017/95054/ The Tuberculin research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Tuberculin market revenue worldwide. Finally, Tuberculin market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage. About Market.Biz Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses. read more- https://market.biz/about/ Browse Latest Market News- http://firstnewshawk.com/ Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/30/2017 -- The motive of this strategic research report entitled "High Visibility Apparel Sales Market 2017-2022" is to provide company officials, industry investors, and High Visibility Apparel Sales industry members with consequential insights to enable them make reliable strategic decisions regarding the opportunities in the High Visibility Apparel Sales market. This report studies the High Visibility Apparel Sales market in United States, analyzes and research the High Visibility Apparel Sales development status and forecast . High Visibility Apparel Sales market report focuses on the top players in United States industry, shown below. The report covers High Visibility Apparel Sales United States sales and United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market growth rate [2011 to 2021]. United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market Status, Prospect (2011-2021) also mensioned in this report. United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market report also includes, United States High Visibility Apparel Sales Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers - [on United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market scenario] Do Inquiry Before Purchasing Report Here: https://market.biz/report/united-states-high-visibility-apparel-sales-market-gir/15725/#inquiry Key Manufacturers in United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market:- 1. Zhejiang Shunfa Reflective Clothing 2. Viking 3. Sportex Safety 4. Reflective Apparel Factory 5. Red Kap 6. Pyramex Safety Products 7. Protective Industrial Products 8. Portwest 9. National Safety Apparel 10. ML Kishigo 11. Lakeland 12. Honeywell 13. GSS Safety 14. Ergodyne 15. Carhartt 16. 3A Safety Groups Market Segment by Type, covers 1. Polyester High Visibility Apparel 2. Modacrylic High Visibility Apparel 3. FR Cotton High Visibility Apparel 4. Others Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into 1. Road Construction and Maintenance 2. Police 3. Utilities 4. Airport Personnel 5. Others Scope of the United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market report: This report focuses on the High Visibility Apparel Sales in United States market industry. This report on High Visibility Apparel Sales industry categorizes the United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market based on manufacturers, type and application. There are 11 Topics to deeply describe the United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market. Topic 1, to describe High Visibility Apparel Sales Introduction, product scope, High Visibility Apparel Sales market overview, United States market opportunities, High Visibility Apparel Sales market risk, United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market driving force; Topic 2, covers top manufacturers of High Visibility Apparel Sales in United States region, with sales, High Visibility Apparel Sales market revenue, and price of High Visibility Apparel Sales, in 2015 and 2016; Topic 3, to display the High Visibility Apparel Sales industry competitive situation among the top manufacturers in United States region, with sales, revenue, and High Visibility Apparel Sales market share in 2015 and 2016; Topic 4 and 5, to show the United States market of High Visibility Apparel Sales by type and application, with sales High Visibility Apparel Sales market share and United States market growth rate by type, application, from 2011 to 2016; on United States High Visibility Apparel Sales industry scenario. Topic 6, United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market forecast, by type and application, with sales and High Visibility Apparel Sales market revenue, from 2016 to 2021; Topic 7, to analyze the High Visibility Apparel Sales market/industry development potential except for United States , covering China, Southeast Asia, India, Latin America etc on United States High Visibility Apparel Sales industry scenario. Topic 8, 9, 10 and 11, in United States High Visibility Apparel Sales market report to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, High Visibility Apparel Sales market effect factors, appendix, and data source. About Market.Biz Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses. Market.Biz has access to the world's most comprehensive and up-to-date databases in your business sector, including countless market reports that can provide you with valuable data relating to your business. We understand the needs of our clients, and keep our reports updated as market requirement changes. Contact Us: James Johnson S. no. 51/14 First Floor, Office No. 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune. Tel: +1(857)2390696 Email: inquiry@market.biz Website: https://market.biz/ Blog: http://emarketresearch.us/ [NEW DELHI] Plans by the Indian government to release genetically modified (GM) food crops into this predominantly agricultural country have been plagued by opposition from scientists, activists and politicians including those owing allegiance to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On May 18, a week after the governments regulator, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), approved the commercial release of a herbicide-tolerant GM mustard (Brassica juncea), Anil Dave, 60, the man on whom the final decision rested as central environment minister, died of a heart attack. Dave had been under enormous pressure from lobbyists pushing the technology to increase yields on the one hand, and civil society groups opposing GM crops as harmful to environment and food security on the other. Tarun Vijay, a former member of parliament for the ruling BJP, claimed in a blog that Dave would have banned GM mustard if he had not passed away. Vijays blog revealed serious opposition within the BJP circles to the idea of using GM technology on mustard, a traditional food item in India. The man behind the development of GM mustard, Deepak Pental, director of the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), University of Delhi, says it has the potential to increase yields and build disease resistance. CGMCP has submitted to GEAC a positive self-assessment for biosafety while applying for the release of GM mustard. If GEAC-approved technology is not cleared, it will be a setback for Indian agri-biotech research. Deepak Pental, Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants Pental explains to SciDev.Net that the DMH 11 variety created by inserting barnase-barstar genes into a hybrid created from Indian and East European mustard strains could increase mustard oil yields by 30 to 35 per cent. Barnase-barstar genes, derived from the soil bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, allow control of sterility and fertility in hybrid crops. However, Ashwani Mahajan, co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an influential affiliate of the BJP, has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining that since patents for the barnase-barstar genes are partly held by Bayer, the German multinational, the claim that DMH11 GM mustard is indigenous is fraudulent. Mahajan also warned that GM mustard has been engineered for use with the Bayer herbicide Basta!, which contains glufosinate, a known neurotoxin. We have indicated to the prime minister that GM mustard is not indigenous; it is not good for health, environment and biodiversity, Mahajan tells SciDev.Net. SJM has appealed to the prime minister to intervene and ensure that GM mustard is not released commercially. There are also other hurdles to the commercial release of GM mustard. Its release is under challenge in Indias Supreme Court by environmentalists and food security activists. Aruna Rodrigues, lead petitioner in the case, sees advantage in the fact that the government has admitted in court that it has no proof that GM mustard can produce better yields than non-GM hybrids. While the court has ordered publication of the full test data of GM mustard, its promoters have pleaded that the issue involves "commercial confidence trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of the third party". According to Vandana Shiva, a petitioner in the case, the main resistance against GM is coming from the provinces that make up the Indian federation. Major states where mustard is grown and consumed like Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal, have declared that they would not allow GM crops to be grown within their territories. This echoes the state-led opposition seven years ago that thwarted an attempt to introduce genetically modified aubergine into India despite clearance from the GEAC. Put simply, there are no agronomic benefits to releasing GM mustard while it can irreversibly jeopardise Indias farming, food, human health and its rich biodiversity. P. Pardha-Saradhi, University of Delhi Criticism of the CGMCP self-assessment also comes from P. Pardha-Saradhi, professor of biotechnology and transgenics at University of Delhi. The oil extracted from the DMH 11 variety is inferior, going by the compositional data presented. Rigorous testing by an independent agency is needed before any conclusion can be made, Pardha-Saradhi tells SciDev.Net. Put simply, there are no agronomic benefits to releasing GM mustard while it can irreversibly jeopardise Indias farming, food, human health and its rich biodiversity, Meanwhile, the all-party parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment and forests has called for freezing the clearance of GM mustard until it has had an opportunity to study it. We are examining concerns expressed by various stakeholders regarding the health and environmental safety of GM mustard, says Renuka Chowdhury, an opposition politician who heads the committee. Pental says GM mustard, now 14 years in the making, has suffered only because political propaganda has interfered with rational decision-making. If GEAC-approved technology is not cleared, it will be a setback for Indian agri-biotech research. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Asia & Pacific desk. [MANILA] This years Global Landscapes Forum, held mid-May in Jakarta, focused on peatlands, described as one of the least-understood ecosystems by Tim Christophersen, senior programme officer for Forests and Climate Change with the UN Environment Programme. Led by the Centre for International Forestry Research, the Forum, an annual event since 2013, aims to shed light on the importance of peatlands not only for climate change mitigation, but also for community development and livelihoods. Indonesias hosting the 2017 Forum is not surprising. The 2015 forest fires that spread toxic haze across South-east Asia had drawn attention to the countrys vast peatlands exceeded in size only by Brazils. A new global wetlands map suggests that more peatlands exist in the tropics at least three times more than previously estimated. Developed by scientists from the Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Programme, the map shows South America housing most of the worlds peat by area and volume. Wetlands and peatlands play a vital role in climate change management as they store huge amounts of carbon. Knowing where they are located helps protect them against draining for cultivation, an activity which results in the release of vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. In the end, successful and continuous peatlands conservation relies on each sectors willingness to acquire new knowledge and collaborate. Joiada Cruzate, SciDev.Net Physicists have long been driven by the existence of the fifth force of nature, which is linked to dark matter, in which most of the mass of the universe is accounted for. They are searching for it continuously. Currently, they are searching it in the core of the Milky Way. The scientists examined images of the center of the Milky Way that were taken by the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. With this, the team could trace the orbits of the stars near the Milky Way galaxy's supermassive black hole. They could also gauge the direct impact of gravity on the movement of stars. Andrea Ghez, the director of the University of California, Los Angeles Galactic Center Group, and her team theorized that the best place to search for the hypothetical fifth force of nature would be somewhere in the universe, in which the impact of gravity is so powerful, and signs of something extra will be easy to identify, according to Science Alert. Ghez said that it is exciting and their work on studying stars at the center of Milky way is opening a new method of looking at how gravity works. She further said that by watching the stars move over 20 years using very accurate calculations taken from Keck Observatory data, one could perceive and out constraints on how gravity works. Meanwhile, Jonathan Feng, the lead author of this study that was printed in the Physical Review Letters, said that if confirmed by further experiments, this discovery of a possible fifth force could completely change the understanding of the universe, with consequences for the unification of forces and dark matter. He further said that it will still be a long way to determining the existence of this force. On the other hand, this new technique will be the first time scientists have ever examined the gravitational field as powerful as generated by the supermassive black hole. The fifth force is the hypothetical force added to the fundamental forces such as the gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces. These are interactions that develop the basis of all known interactions in nature. It is postulated that the fifth force is roughly the strength of gravity and to have a range from less than a millimeter to cosmological scales. It is also theorized that a subatomic particle in the dark matter could be linked to the unknown form of matter known as dark matter. NEW YORK, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a securities class action complaint has been filed on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased JBS S.A. (OTC:JBSAY) ("JBS" or the "Company") American Depository Receipts ("ADRs") between June 2, 2015 and May 19, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period") in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Investors who have incurred losses in JBS S.A ADRs are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. You may obtain additional information concerning the action on our website, www.whafh.com. If you have purchased JBS S.A ADRs shares and would like to assist with the litigation process as a lead plaintiff, you may, no later than July 21, 2017, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class. JBS, a Sao Paulo, Brazil food company, engages in the processing and trading of animal protein in Brazil and internationally. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose that JBS executives bribed regulators and politicians to subvert food inspections of its plants and overlook unsanitary practices, such as processing rotten meat and running plants with traces of salmonella; Defendant Joesley Batista was providing monthly bribery payments to a former Brazilian government official and a lobbyist; there were irregularities with the loans JBS received from Brazilian state-owned development bank BNDES; the Company and other entities controlled by Defendants Wesley Batista and Joesley Batista made suspicious trades that exhibit signs of possible insider trading prior to the revelation of a plea deal by the Company's top executives; and as a result, Defendants' statements about the Company's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable bases at all relevant times. On March 17, 2017, news outlets first reported that Brazilian police raided the offices of JBS and other meatpackers following an investigation into alleged bribery of health officials. The probe uncovered evidence that meatpackers bribed inspectors and politicians to overlook unsanitary practices and exports with traces of salmonella. Police arrested two JBS employees, and twenty public officials. On this news, shares of JBS fell nearly 10% on March 17, 2017. Subsequently, in mid-May, media outlets reported that Brazilian police were investigating JBS' dealings with the state-run bank, that JBS' Chairman was recorded admitting to bribing public officials and that Brazil's securities regulator had launched investigations against the Company. On May 31, 2017, J&F Investimentos SA ("J&F"), the family company of Brazilian meat tycoons Wesley and Joesley Batista, agreed to pay 10.3 billion reais ($3.16 billion) over 25 years as part of a settlement over graft and other crimes, in what prosecutors called the worlds biggest leniency deal. J&F, which controls assets including meat giant JBS SA, will pay the fine to settle five probes named Greenfield, Sepsis, Cui Bono, Bullish and Weak Flesh, the press office of Brazils prosecutors said late in the day on May 30th. The fines are set to be levied exclusively on J&F and not its subsidiaries, with payments starting in December. The fine corresponds to 5.6 percent of revenue earned by J&F companies last year, according to the prosecutors statement. Approximately 8 billion reais in penalties will be paid to Brazils development bank known as BNDES, pension funds Funcef and Petros, workers fund FGTS, Caixa Economica Federal, a state-run bank, and Brazils federal government. A payment of 2.3 billion reais will be paid indirectly through projects in education, health and compliance. In their state testimony, the Batista brothers admitted to paying bribes in return for loans and capital injections from state-run banks and pension funds. Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com, or visit our website at www.whafh.com. Follow the firm and learn about newly filed cases on Twitter and Facebook. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Apple recently launched its charm offensive ad to lure Android users to use the iPhone and iOS ahead of the release of the highly anticipated iPhone 8. Apple's campaign aimed at persuading people to give up their current Android devices. Apple launched its campaign earlier this month. The company named the campaign "Life is easier on iPhone." The ad focused on music, privacy and photos. Google's vice president of engineering Dave Burke revealed that there are a total of 2 billion active Android devices used each month. In the Google's blogspot, Dave Burke expressed his deepest gratitude for this extraordinary milestone. There is no doubt that Android users are a lot more than iOS and iPhone users, which is why Apple came up with the new ad. According to Market Watch, the number of people moving over from rival mobile operating systems is expected to lessen in the coming year. Apple is hoping that its new ad will do the trick. Apple also launched its Switch Website that highlights the iPhone's virtues. The Switch Website shows how Android users can transfer their message history, contacts, photos, videos and calendars to iPhone. Apple also launched three new ads to accompany its new campaign. The ads would not run on television, but they will appear as pre-roll ads that pop up before playing videos on YouTube or any other social media sites. In other news, Apple recently hired one of Qualcomm's top engineers. According to Forbes, Apple hired Esin Terzioglu, the former vice president of engineering at Qualcomm. Report claims that Apple might be planning on manufacturing its own chips soon. Qualcomm had been the sole provider of the cellular modems inside Apple's devices for several years. But starting last year with the iPhone 7, Apple used Intel chips in some models of the new iPhone. Tech analysts predict that Intel modems will take a huge part of increasing shares of future iPhones. FLORENCE, S.C. -- Police are investigating the armed robbery of a Florence loan shop Tuesday afternoon. Florence Police responded to Local Finance at 12:16 p.m. to a reported armed robbery, said Lt. Mike Brandt, Florence Police Department. "The employee advised responding officers that a black male wearing a green hoodie, black pants and a camouflage bandana over his face, entered the business and demanded money at gunpoint," Brandt wrote in a release on the incident. The suspect left with an undisclosed amount of money after he forced the employee to get under one of the shop's desks, Brandt said through the release. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Florence Police Department at 843-665-3191 or Crime Stoppers (1-888-CRIMESC / 1-888-274-6372). SYDNEY, Australia, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There was collective concern expressed this week amongst members of the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) over the impact of recent changes to immigration regulations. It was agreed the changes may detrimentally affect Australias ability to attract high calibre global talent. The AESC members are drawn from the top executive search and leadership advisory firms across Australia. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e6feb0f1-41e3-4a21-97e6-2300cdce7b5c We are collectively concerned that the mooted changes to Australias Skilled Worker Visa arrangements will impact access to the global executive talent pool, said Graham Willis, AESC Chair for Australia. On a daily basis our members are dealing with the deep executive talent pools that exist within Australia. However, these talent pools do not always offer the depth of executive experience needed to meet the future needs of a business. With executive recruitment now a global story and given rapid disruptive changes in the market, Australian companies must ensure they are globally competitive. Mr Willis said there were thus many times that executive search and leadership advisory firms needed to step outside Australia, tapping into overseas talent or attracting the rich experience of Australians who have built careers overseas. The decision by a Senior Executive to relocatewhether for offshoring or onshoringis not one taken lightly; nor is the decision by Australian companies to employ overseas talent, he said. It is significant that the collective view of Australian AESC members this week was that the proposed 457 and 186 visa changes are likely to be counterproductive in attracting the very best executive talent to Australia. The comments follow the 18 April 2017 announcement by the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, and his Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon Peter Dutton MP, and reference their proposal that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) be abolished and replaced with the new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa. Changes to the subclass 186 visa were also announcedincluding the extension of age limits. These would set a new maximum age limit of 45 years old for executive-level professionals to obtain 186 visas, significantly restricting Australias access to +45 year old top senior executive talent. The executive search and leadership consulting profession recognises the benefits of promoting local talent pools, however, AESCs central concern is that the proposed visa changes will serve to restrict onshoring of key leaders and access to specific and specialised skills in the global market, said Graham Willis. Mr Willis noted that diversity of talent was essential to Australias economic success, especially leaders who bring experience working in global markets or with specific skills. The skills and background required for successful senior level appointments cannot always be found locally, and for businesses to gain a competitive advantage in their increasingly global industries, mobilisation of executive talent across borders is critical. AESC members also expressed concern about the proposal to establish a new two-year renewable visaonly able to be renewed onceand the closing of pathways to permanent residency status for some senior executives. The view of our profession generally is that a two-year visa will likely create unnecessary and often irreconcilable risk both for Australian companies whose investors seek leadership certainty while, at the same time, top candidates seek both flexible, and long term contracts, of more than four years duration, said Mr Willis. AESC noted that lack of employment security reduces the attractiveness of senior executive positions to overseas talent not available locally. AESC members also expressed concern that the closing of the pathway to permanent residency for company sponsored executives will create a talent vacuuma loss of long term capability building Australias talent ranksand executives who have, historically, made long-term contributions to Australia. Executive Search and Leadership Consulting firms fully appreciate the depth of executive talent within the country, and understand the intention and desire of this legislation to protect opportunities available to Australian citizens, said Steve Mullinjer, AESC Global Vice Chair and Chair of AESCs Council of Asia Pacific and the Middle East. However, for true economic opportunities for Australia and its citizens, it is essential that Australian companies have access to talent that can best deliver the greatest business outcomes. He reinforced the point that AESCs experience confirmed that high performance from any company requires leadership expertise that is diverse, experienced and can drive transformation and change. AESC members play a critical role in ensuring that organisations have the greatest competitive advantagea direct pipeline of outstanding talent to encourage and facilitate greater output, innovation and productivity, said Mr Mullinjer. To best position Australian business to be competitive on an international scale and reward prosperity for Australia, AESC and its Australian membership, we urge the government to reconsider the unintended consequences of the legislation. About the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants AESC is the voice of excellence for the executive search and leadership consulting profession worldwide. Its rigorous Code of Professional Practice guides our members in nearly 1,300 offices in 74 countries and beyond to serve as strategic advisors on behalf of their clients. In turn, AESC members are best positioned to provide companies with a competitive advantagethe ability to find, attract and develop the best talent in the world and ensure that executives are successfully integrated. By virtue of selecting an AESC member, clients can be secure in their choice of consulting firm, and can reap the benefits that only a trusted advisor can deliver. To learn more about AESC and to view a list of AESC members, visit www.aesc.org. To learn more about AESCs career service for executive-level candidates, visit www.bluesteps.com. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MGX Minerals Inc. (MGX or the Company) (CSE:XMG) (FKT:1MG) (OTC:MGXMF) is pleased to announce the closing of the second tranche of the Companys previously announced private placement financing (the Offering) through the distribution of 2,698,286 special warrants of the Company (Special Warrants) at a price of CAD$0.90 per Special Warrant (the Issue Price) for gross proceeds of approximately CAD$2.4 million. The first tranche of the Offering closed on May 12, 2017. Each Special Warrant is exercisable, for no additional consideration, into one unit (Unit) of the Company. Each Unit shall be comprised of one common share (Common Share) and one common share purchase warrant (Warrant). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of CAD$1.15 until May 12, 2019, subject to acceleration at any time prior to the expiry of the Warrants. If the ten day volume-weighted average trading price of the Common Shares exceeds CAD$2.00, then the Company may provide notice to the holders of the Warrants that the Warrants will expire 30 days after the date of such notice. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to reduce indebtedness (including trade payables) and for development and exploration of its Alberta Lithium Claims, Sturgeon Lake Property and Driftwood Property (each as described in the Companys Annual Information Form, dated March 31, 2017) and for general working capital purposes. In accordance with the terms of an amended and restated agency agreement (the Agency Agreement) entered into by the Company and Mackie Research Capital Corp. (the Agent), the Agent received a cash commission equal to 8.5% of the aggregate gross proceeds from the Offering as well as rights to receive compensation options (Compensation Options) in an amount equal to 8.5% of the number of Special Warrants sold under the Offering. The Compensation Options are exercisable at any time until May 12, 2019 at an exercise price equal to the Issue Price. Each Compensation Option entitles the holder to purchase one Unit. In the event that the Company does not satisfy the Qualification Condition (as defined below) on or before the Qualification Deadline (as defined below) the Compensation Options will be exercisable for 1.1 Units. Pursuant to the terms of the Agency Agreement, the Company has agreed to use its best efforts to obtain a receipt for a final short form prospectus qualifying the distribution of the Units upon exercise of the Special Warrants (the Qualification Condition) on or before June 26, 2017 (the Qualification Deadline). If the Qualification Condition is not satisfied before the Qualification Deadline, each Special Warrant shall become exercisable, without any action on the part of the holders of the Special Warrants, and for no additional consideration, to receive 1.1 Units. Prior to the satisfaction of the Qualification Condition, the Special Warrants and the Common Shares and Warrants comprising the Units will be subject to a statutory hold period until October 1, 2017. For more information on the Offering, please refer to the Companys news releases, dated March 1, 2017 and May 12, 2017 available on the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and at www.mgxminerals.com. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. About MGX Minerals MGX Minerals is a diversified Canadian resource company with interests in petrolithium, magnesium and silicon assets throughout North America. Learn more at www.mgxminerals.com. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements or forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, potential and similar expressions, or are events or conditions that will, would, may, could or should occur or be achieved. This news release contains forward-looking statements, pertaining to, among other things: use of net proceeds of the Offering; the Qualification Deadline and the Qualification Condition. Although MGX believes that the material factors, expectations and assumptions expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. MGXs actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue importance or reliance on the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release reflect several material factors, expectations and assumptions of MGX including, without limitation: the general continuation of current or, where applicable, assumed industry conditions; and availability of debt and/or equity sources to fund MGXs capital and operating requirements as needed. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements including, without limitation: general economic, market and business conditions; reliance on industry partners; and certain other risks detailed from time to time in MGXs public disclosure documents including, without limitation, those risks identified in this news release, and in MGXs annual information form, copies of which are available on MGXs SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. 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 scunthorpetelegraph - Daily A law firm with an office in Scunthorpe has raised 5,500 for charity through taking part in the Will Aid campaign. Lawyers at Sills and Betteridge Solicitors across Lincolnshire and Nottingham wrote wills free of charge, in exchange for a donation. Joanna Carpenter, solicitor at its Oswald Road branch in Scunthorpe, said: "We are thrilled to have raised such a lot of money for such a worthwhile cause. "We have now raised over 55,200 through being part of Will Aid since 1996. "Taking part in Will Aid has enabled us to give back to both our community and nine great charities." Will Aid, now in its 29th year, raises money for ActionAid, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, NSPCC, Save The Children, Sightsavers, Age UK, SCIAF (Scotland) and Trocaire (Northern Ireland). John Coulthurst from the British Red Cross, presented Sills and Betteridge with a certificate to celebrate its staff's achievement. He said: "We are very grateful to Sills and Betteridge Solicitors and the Will Aid scheme for this generous contribution." Dozens of wills were written by lawyers at Sills and Betteridge who gave their time for free last November. Will Aid will return in November this year. For more information, see willaid.org.uk With more than 5,000 Italians now working at sea across the company, this nearly doubles the number of Italian crew at Carnival Corp. & plc. The Costa GroupCosta Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asiacarried about 3m passengers in 2016, an increase of 13% from 2015. Thanks to the addition of AIDAperla, the company expects a further increase in 2017. AIDAperla will sail in the Mediterranean, calling at Civitavecchia (Rome) and Livorno every week, with a total of 60 stopovers in Italy during 2017. During the maiden visit to Genoa, the headquarters for Costa Cruises, company officials took the opportunity to stress Carnival Corp.'s contribution to Italy's economy. Across its three brands the Costa Group fields about 76,000 berths on 27 vessels, the largest fleet of cruise ships flying the Italian flag. 'Carnival Corporation is one of the biggest foreign investors in Italy, which is a strategic country for our growth,' said Arnold Donald, president and ceo, Carnival Corp. He noted that since 1990, the company has built 68 ships in Italian yards for various brands and another 10 are currently on order or under construction, for a total investment of about 32bn. Costa Group and Carnival Corp. together are one of the main employers of Italian seafarers and make a significant contribution to the Italian economy through partnerships with local suppliers. In 2016, spending by Carnival Corp. in Italy totaled about 2bn. Given the need for new crew members to man newbuilds, Costa Group and Carnival Corp. are looking into working with one or more of Italy's nautical institutes. Already there's a successful partnership with the Italian Merchant Marine Academy, both for deck and engine staff and the hotel side, with the recent opening of the Academy for Italian Cruise Hospitality in Arenzano. In 2016, Costa Group ships made 1,000 calls at Italian ports, equivalent to passenger traffic of approximately 2.6m, representing more than half of the nearly 4m passengers carried by Carnival Corp. ships in Italy. Added to this figure is the contribution the Costa Group makes to Italy's air transport system, moving approximately 250,000 passengers through Italian airports with its 'fly + cruise' package. The deal stretches for at least the next five years and involves crew from all Genting's cruise brands Star Cruises, Dream Cruises, and Crystal Cruises. A new Simwave centre will also be built in Singapore in 2018. 'Safety and best-in-class services are our top priority,' notes Genting's svp marine operations & new building, Gustaf Gronberg. 'Simwave offers us state-of-the-art facilities to prepare our crews optimally to this end.' An evaluation on the simulators in Barendrecht forms part of the job application process for crew to be assigned to the vessels under construction. he noted. As part of the collaboration, one of the Simwave 360-degree-projection full mission simulators in Barendrecht will be based on the bridge of Dream Cruises Genting Dream, which debuted last November. The bridge simulator has a vertical projection system which is globally unique. Alongside all-round projection (on vertical cylindrical screens), eight projectors also display whats happening on the water or the quayside, on both sides of the vessel. 'This makes it possible to simulate "docking operations" more realistically from the bridge wings,' explains Joost van Ree, co-founder of Simwave. Delivery of the Simwave maritime training centre is scheduled for this November. The collaboration with Genting Hong Kong begins from July 2017. All Chilean ports, airports and borders in the country have now returned to normal operations. The five-day strike has caused some initial delays in customs clearance including the port of Valparaiso, San Antonio and Santiago International airport which are now being dissipated, although special cases such as humanitarian support and dangerous cargo were attended as part of the contingency plan implemented by customs. ANFACH ended its strike after reaching an agreement with the government. Last year ANFACH also had stopped several days over claims the government had not fulfilled its commitments. Damages to the economy and losses of cargo had not been immediately evaluated but fruits and salmon growers were expected to have suffered disruptions in their exports. The three carriers, K Line, MOL and NYK, made a joint announcement on Wednesday updating their joint venture trade name and location of their merged container shipping business. Singapore will also be the regional headquarters of the operating company, in addition to offices in Hong Kong, London in the UK, Richmond in the US and Sao Paulo in Brazil. In March this year, the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) gave the nod to the proposed joint venture of the three Japanese lines. The move will allow Ocean Network Express to better meet customers needs by providing high quality, competitive services through the consolidation and enhancement of the three companies global network and service structures, the joint statement said. Following the first announcement of the container shipping business merger back in October 2016, the three companies have been progressing towards their target of establishing the merged entity with service commencement date scheduled on 1 April 2018. K Line, MOL and NYK said back then that the decision to integrate came on the back of low oil prices, sluggish cargo demand, oversupply of trade capacity, and container freight rates at historic lows. The 400,000 dwt Sohar Max is owned by Oman Shipping Company (OSC) is the largest vessel to dock at ODC since it opened in 2011. Sister vessel the Liwa Max is due to dock in the coming months. Maintenance work on the Sohar Max is now well underway and will completed to a tight time schedule, said ODC Acting CEO Dr Ahmed Al Abr. It involves complex repair and maintenance work. Key areas of delivery include painting, replacement of consumable parts, repairing defective parts and carrying out other works related to technological aspects. In the last six years we have formed a strong alliance with OSC which is one of the largest shipping companies in the Gulf, he added. The yard in Duqm has repaired 462 vessels since it opened.We have developed a robust track record working on a broad range of projects from VLCCs to container vessels, RO-ROs, barges, LNG carriers, LPG carriers, chemical carriers and vehicle carriers, he said. Pontiac's tech scene just got a little more crowded this month with the move of three companies, LocalHop, Autostructure, and Cynerge into downtown, bringing in 12 tech employees with more hires pending. "You can feel the growth that's going on in Pontiac," says Cynerge president and founder Matt Russell, who purchased the building at 31. N Saginaw. "And I think everybody's excited to be part of it." 31. N. Saginaw. Photo courtesy Zillow.The three firms, which were housed in downtown Birmingham, are now in the process of retrofitting and moving into the second and third floors of 31. N Saginaw. The basement of the building currently houses the Alleycat Cafe and a wine cellar. The first floor is currently vacant with tentative plans for a restaurant or deli in the future. Russell founded Cynerge, an IT tech consulting firm, 13 years ago. He also co-founded Autostructure, a datacenter automation firm, in 2016 with partners Bryan Belanger and Paul Talbot. But it's his third startup, LocalHop, also founded in 2016 with partners Jason Myers and Robert Bales, that's getting mainstream attention. "We were tired of searching online for places to go and things to do," says Russell. "So we decided to do something about it." The idea for the company came about when Myers was looking for a beer festival in downtown Rochester. He lost track of the website and missed the event. "He didn't know which weekend it was on. It's like, isn't there just one place where we can find stuff?" says Russell. "That's why we started it; it was basically just us trying to find stuff to do." LocalHop allows event organizers to post community events to a single website and app, which users can then use to find out about things happening in their neighborhood. "Our goal is to be at the local grassroots level, hopefully, the de facto place that everybody goes to find stuff going on," says Russell. "We aggregate that all into one place and organizations post it on there, so they are in full control of all the content." Ultimately, LocalHop hopes to make it easier for organizations to promote and market events. The company plans to generate revenue through a calendar service, which will charge registration fees for users. So far, Russell says 300 organizations have uploaded events to the app, and 3000 people have downloaded. The website receives about 5,000 hits per month. Heaviest participation so far has been in Detroit's northern suburbs and Kalamazoo. Russell hopes to expand to throughout Michigan and beyond It will take some time and effort to create the office environment in Pontiac, but Russell is already in love with the turret views of downtown from the 1800s-era building (the turrets were added in the 1990s.) "We're excited to be here, and we want to try to nurture whatever we can to try to continue growing Pontiac," says Russell. "It's the center of Oakland County. It's got a great location; it's got great infrastructure, it's got a great history. Instead of going up and then back down, let's just keep coming up. Right? And I think we've got the chance to do that." ASIA Afghanistan Expected Council Action In June, the Council will hold its quarterly debate on Afghanistan, during which it will consider the Secretary-Generals report on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, Tadamichi Yamamoto, is expected to brief. UNAMAs mandate expires on 17 March 2018. Key Recent Developments With no reliable agreement on the peace process and an ongoing Taliban offensive, the insurgency continues to take a heavy toll on the civilian population and Afghan security forces. During the first four months of 2017, UNAMA documented 2,181 civilian casualties, of which 715 were fatal. This casualty count is slightly lower compared with the same period last year. However, there has been a 21 percent increase in child deaths during the same period, with 283 fatalities in total, while more than 700 children have been injured. After a 14 May explosion in Laghman province that killed five children, Yamamoto again called on all parties to the conflict to take necessary precautions to avoid harming civilians and children in particular. With NATO assistance, Afghan security forces have continued to counter the activities of the Taliban, Al-Qaida, and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the eastern parts of the country. The US Central Command announced on 13 April that US forces had dropped the most powerful non-nuclear bomb (GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast) ever used in military operations in Afghanistan. The bomb targeted a series of underground tunnels used by ISIL fighters in Achin district in Nangarhar province. The strike was aimed at minimizing the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the area. According to Afghan officials, the strike killed at least 36 ISIL fighters and did not cause any civilian casualties. On 7 May, the US military confirmed that the leader of the ISIL branch in Afghanistan was killed in a joint US-Afghan military operation conducted in April in Nangarhar province. In late April, the Taliban announced the start of the annual spring offensive, vowing attacks on the government and foreign forces in Afghanistan. During the past few months, the Taliban has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks throughout the country. On 21 April, Taliban fighters wearing Afghan military uniforms attacked the military base Camp Shaheen in northern Balkh province, reportedly killing more than 140 and wounding more than 100 Afghan soldiers. Approximately ten Taliban fighters, some of whom activated suicide bombs, infiltrated the base and shot at the soldiers. Following several hours of fighting, Afghan forces retook control of the base. Five attackers were killed and one was arrested. In May, Taliban and ISIL fighters intensified their attacks, targeting Afghan security forces and civilians throughout the country. On 21 May, Taliban fighters launched multiple rocket attacks on Afghan police forces in Zabul province, killing at least 20 policemen. In a separate incident in Kabul the same day, a German aid worker and a local security guard working for the Swedish aid organisation Operation Mercy were killed and a Finnish woman working for the organisation was kidnapped. On 19 May, 11 people, including five children, were killed by a roadside bomb in Logar province. The same day in Kapisa province, at least ten policemen were killed in two separate attacks by the Taliban. ISIL claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on the national radio and TV station in Jalalabad on 17 May, which resulted in at least six dead and more than 16 injured, among whom were some of the TV stations staff. On 22 May, Russia requested a meeting under any other business to raise the issue of alleged activity by unmarked helicopters over Afghan airspace and asked that the Secretariat provide more information on this. While there has been no substantial progress in reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, the government has continued to engage with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Hezb-i-Islami militant group, with whom it reached a reconciliation agreement in the fall of 2016. On 29 April, Hekmatyar made his first public appearance in Afghanistan after 20 years of hiding when he spoke at a rally for his supporters in Laghman province. He called on the Taliban and other opposition groups to join the reconciliation efforts. Hekmatyar repeated that message on 4 May during a ceremony hosted by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in the presidential palace in Kabul. On 16 May, Yamamoto hosted a meeting with Hekmatyar as a part of UNAMAs role in supporting Afghan efforts towards peace and reconciliation. Yamamoto expressed appreciation for Hekmatyars commitment to achieve peace through negotiations and his call for all parties to join in the reconciliation. In addition to extending the UNAMAs mandate for another year, resolution 2344, which was adopted in March, requested the Secretary-General to conduct a strategic review of the mission with the aim of examining mandated tasks, priorities, and related resources. In May, the review team headed by Under-Secretary-General Jan Kubis visited Afghanistan and held meetings with national and international stakeholders. During his meeting with Kubis in Kabul on 9 May, Ghani said that Afghanistan still needs the cooperation of the UN but its current status of mission and assistance should change fundamentally to improve effectiveness. The final report of the strategic review is due in July. In other developments, Afghan and Pakistani military forces exchanged fire in early May on the border between the two countries. Each side accused the other of provoking the confrontation. Causalities, including fatalities, were reported though the exact numbers seem to be disputed. Human Rights-Related Developments On 24 April, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAMA released a joint report on Afghanistans treatment of conflict-related detainees, covering the period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016,. The report noted that despite genuine efforts by the government to address concerns over the treatment of detainees, including taking steps to implement its 2015 National Plan on the Elimination of Torture, detainees continue to face torture and ill-treatment, and a lack of accountability for such acts persists. During its 35th session in June, the Human Rights Council is set to consider the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani, following his visit to Afghanistan from 11 to 20 October 2016 (A/HRC/35/27/Add.3). The report concludes that internal displacement has become a regular occurrence or a permanent feature of life for many Afghanis, with more than 600,000 displaced in 2016. With the trend worsening, the report calls for a more effective government-led response and for the international community to remain focused on providing support and assistance, noting that a serious escalation of the conflict and the displacement crisis would overwhelm the collective capacity to respond. Key Issues The principal issue for the Council is how to address the worsening security situation, including its damaging impact on Afghanistans stability and the toll the conflict is taking on the civilian population. A related issue is how to generate momentum for reconciliation efforts, given the continued heavy fighting between the insurgents and government forces. The link between the insurgents and drug production and trafficking and illicit exploitation of natural resources is another ongoing issue. Rising cross-border tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan is also an issue for the Council. Options The Council could adopt a resolution or presidential statement that: deplores the high number of civilian casualties and demands that all sides avoid killing and injuring civilians, recalling that targeting civilians is a war crime; underscores the need for the international community, and particularly neighbouring countries, to continue to support and cooperate with Afghanistan; emphasises the importance of development assistance in promoting Afghanistans stability; and calls for accountability for alleged crimes committed. The Council could also decide to visit Afghanistan to show its support for counter-insurgency, reconciliation, and anti-corruption efforts and to learn how it could further assist efforts on the ground. Council Dynamics Council members remain concerned about the deteriorating security environment and in particular its impact on the civilian population. Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the lack of progress in the peace process. Several Council members, most notably France, Egypt, Russia and Kazakhstan, continue to raise concerns regarding the connection between the insurgency and drug production and trafficking. During the past several meetings, Russia has warned that ISIL continues to pose a serious threat that should not be downplayed. Kazakhstan and Russia have also emphasised the role of regional organisations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, in addressing the situation in Afghanistan. Japan is the penholder on Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan chairs the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee. UN Documents on Afghanistan The Council renewed the mandate of UNAMA until 17 March 2018. This was the Secretary-Generals report on UNAMA. AFRICA Central African Republic Expected Council Action In June, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, will brief the Council on the implementation of MINUSCAs mandate. The briefing may also include a civil society representative. The mandate of MINUSCA expires on 15 November 2017. Key Recent Developments There has been a resurgence in violence in the CAR since February, primarily centred around Ouaka province. Clashes have continued between ex-Seleka factions, primarily the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic and the Popular Front for the Renaissance in the Central African Republic, and between the Muslim-dominated ex-Seleka factions and Christian-dominated anti-balaka armed groups. In addition to fighting between armed groups, there have been numerous reports of attacks against civilians. Attacks against civilians appear to be increasingly along sectarian lines, with some predominantly Christian anti-balaka groups reportedly targeting Muslim communities. Over the weekend of 13-14 May, anti-balaka militants launched a concerted attack on Bangassou, which included the use of heavy weapons against the MINUSCA base, and against a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood. The attack included deliberate measures to trap MINUSCA personnel and cut road access to the town, creating a period during which the Muslim population was defenceless. MINUSCA, employing an attack helicopter, subsequently retook the town. The Red Cross reported that at least 115 people had died in the fighting. The attack against the MINUSCA presence in Bangassou is part of an increase in the deliberate targeting of MINUSCA personnel by anti-balaka militants. May marked MINUSCAs highest casualty rate since the missions inception in 2014. On 9 May, five peacekeepersfour Cambodians and one Moroccanwere killed and eight others were wounded during an ambush on a MINUSCA convoy. In the attack on Bangassou, a Moroccan peacekeeper was killed on 13 May, and another was wounded the next day. The Council issued a press statement on 15 May strongly condemning that violence and the attacks on peacekeepers. Law and order remains limited across most of the CAR and is largely maintained by MINUSCA. The government, led by President Faustin Archange Touadera, has minimal control outside the capital, Bangui. Disarmament efforts have made only limited progress, and factions of the ex-Seleka and anti-balaka groups remain armed and in control of large areas of the country. On 16 March, President Touadera and then Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous briefed the Council on the situation in the CAR. The briefing followed an informal interactive dialogue on 13 March held with the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission and head of the AU Mission for the CAR and Central Africa, Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt. The meeting, initiated by France, was an opportunity for Council members to receive information on a new mediation initiative for the CAR led by the AU and supported by the Economic Community of Central African States, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, Angola, Chad, and the Republic of Congo. The March discussions on the CAR were followed on 4 April by a presidential statement reaffirming the Councils support for CAR President Touadera, expressing concern at the ongoing violence between armed groups, acknowledging reconciliation efforts, and condemning attacks against civilians. The delay between the March briefing and the issuing of the presidential statement was reportedly due to scheduling rather than any significant disagreement amongst Council members. During the 23 May briefing on peacekeeping operations by force commanders, the MINUSCA Force Commander, Major General Balla Keita, called for the Council to ensure that robust mission mandates were translated equally into the political, administrative and legal arenas and to adopt more tailored sanctions regimes. Sanctions-Related Developments On 30 April, the 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee received a report on the arms embargo requested by Resolution 2339. The report outlined benchmarks to assess the arms embargo measures according to progress in the area of security sector reform, as well as additional information on the arms embargo working group that the Panel of Experts recommeded be potentially established within MINUSCA by the Security Council. Human Rights-Related Developments On 21 March, the Human Rights Council (HRC) held an interactive dialogue at its 34th session with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the CAR, Marie-Therese Keita Bocoum, who provided an oral briefing following her eighth visit to the country. While commending institutional and legislative progress, including the appointment of the prosecutor to the special criminal court, Keita Bocoum stressed that the situation in the country remained very fragile, with insecurity being the greatest problem facing the civilian population. She noted that there had been no progress in expanding the effective authority of the government beyond Bangui and that the impunity enjoyed by armed groups represented a structural cause of violence in the country. Bocoum will present a written report at the HRCs 36th session in September 2017, as mandated by HRC resolution 33/27. In a statement on 16 May, the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed alarm at attacks by armed groups against civilians and UN peacekeepers in recent months, including in areas that had previously remained largely unaffected by violence and human rights abuses. According to MINUSCAs human rights division, between March and early May more than 121 civilians and six peacekeepers were killed. The High Commissioner strongly condemned the violence, including the killing of peacekeepers, and labelled its spread highly worrying, saying it should set off loud alarm bells. Key Issues The immediate priority for the Council is to respond to increased attacks against civilians along sectarian lines and the apparent targeting of MINUSCA personnel by anti-balaka fighters, and to ensure the safety and security of UN and humanitarian personnel. The longer-term priority for the Council remains assisting the CAR in establishing security and state authority throughout the country and rebuilding basic infrastructure and institutions. Options The Council could issue a presidential statement that: condemns the attacks against UN peacekeepers, humanitarian personnel and civilian populations and reaffirms the Councils support for MINUSCAs response to such threats; and calls on countries in the region to cooperate and implement the sanctions regime in order to eliminate illicit arms trafficking to rebel groups and the funding of their operations through illicit exploitation of natural resources. Another option for the Council, acting through the Sanctions Committee, is to sanction additional individuals and entities, particularly those with links to recent attacks. A further option is for Council members to hold an informal meeting with MINUSCA troop- and police-contributing countries to hear their views and get a better understanding of what is needed to implement the mandate and ensure the safety of peacekeepers in the current security situation. Council and Wider Dynamics The optimism that followed the formation of the elected government in April 2016 has been eroded by the ongoing violence, by the lack of momentum towards improved governance, and by the governments inability to project law and order beyond Bangui. In this context, several Council members are concerned by the difficulty MINUSCA has had in establishing and maintaining control over widespread areas, which, accompanied by the lack of state authority, has resulted in an unsustainable situation. Council members recognise that achieving peace and stability in the CAR will require a long-term effort, but the lack of progress in addressing root causes and in reconciling divided communities as well as the recent mission casualties leave Council members unsure about the best means to pursue this goal. Against the backdrop of the Councils busy agenda and numerous high profile crisis, the CAR remains a low priority for the Council and for most Council members. This lack of attention is to the detriment of efforts to restore peace and stability in the CAR and risks allowing the threats to peace in the CAR and to MINUSCA to continue to grow. France is the penholder on the CAR, and Ukraine is the chair of the 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee. UN Documents on Central African Republic This resolution renewed the CAR sanctions regime until 31 January 2018 and the mandate of the Panel of Experts until 28 February 2018. The Council renewed the mandate of MINUSCA until 15 November 2017. This was a presidential statement condemning violence perpetrated by armed groups. This was a report on the situation in the Central African Republic. This was a briefing on peacekeeping operations by force commanders. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous and the CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera briefed the Council on the situation in the CAR. PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING Conflict Prevention Expected Council Action In June, the Council will hold a high-level briefing on Transboundary Waters and Preventive Diplomacy. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to brief. Bolivian President Evo Morales will preside. No Council product is anticipated. Key Recent Developments When the General Assembly adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in September 2015, it included water security as one of the agendas core goals. In particular, goal 6 calls for sustainable water management, including by implement[ing] integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate. In November 2015, a group of 15 countries launched the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace. The panel, which is chaired by former Slovenian President Danilo Turk, seeks to develop proposals to strengthen the global architecture to prevent and resolve water-related conflicts and to facilitate the role of water management as a factor in building peace. It is expected to complete a final report by September, proposing concrete measures for the prevention and resolution of conflicts related to water and to promote the use of water as a peacebuilding tool. At the initiative of Senegal, the Council held an open debate on 22 November 2016 on Water, Peace and Security. Although Senegal hosted an Arria-formula meeting on 22 April 2016 on this issue, this debate marked the first time the connection between water and security was addressed in a formal meeting of the Council. At the debate, the Council was briefed by Turk; then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; ICRC Vice-President Christine Beerli; and Sundeep Waslekar, president of the Strategic Foresight Group. Ban underscored the potential for states to cooperate over access to water, noting that more than 200 water treaties were successfully negotiated in the second half of the 20th century. Turk said that mechanisms for managing the transboundary use of water are still relatively limited, maintaining that political support for additional cooperation in this domain is needed and that much of that political support can be generated by the United Nations, in particular by the General Assembly and the Security Council. Noting that the protection of water resources is a component of international humanitarian law, Beerli urged the Council to facilitate dialogue between parties engaged in disputes over water. Waslekar called on the Council to consider adopting a resolution focused on the protection of water resources, citing as a precedent resolution 2286 on the protection of health care in armed conflict adopted in May 2016. Key Issues One key issue is how much impetus the briefing can provide to the Councils engagement with issues related to climate, development and security. Another important issue is to determine the best role for the Council in supporting cooperation and mediation on disputes over water resources and how its efforts relate to those of other UN entities, including regional offices such as the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia, regional organisations, and member states working on water security issues. Options One option is for the Council to adopt a presidential statement that: recognises the linkages between water, peace and security; highlights examples of good practice with regard to cooperation over water resources; encourages states to refer transboundary water disputes to the International Court of Justice (ICJ); requests the Secretary-General to address water security issues, as appropriate, in country-specific reporting; and encourages the work of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace. In addition, a possible option is to request the Secretary-General to produce a report highlighting current and potential disputes related to water security issues in order for the Council to determine whether and how it can engage on these issues, including in a preventive capacity. Another option would be for Bolivia to produce a chairs summary of the meeting to capture the most salient points. Council Dynamics The Council has on several occasions held meetings on the general link between conflict, development, natural resources, and climate change. Most members recognise the security implications of water-related disputes and believe that it is appropriate for the Council to discuss this matter. France, Kazakhstan and Senegal are among the 15 states that launched the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace. Bolivia, which is hosting the briefing, and Chile have had long-standing disputes both over usage of the Silala River and over Bolivias call for access to the Pacific Ocean. Both of these matters are currently being adjudicated as separate cases in the ICJ. Russia in the past has expressed concerns about discussing water, peace and security issues in the Council. In last Novembers debate on this issue, it maintained that water itself was not a root cause of conflict, but rather how it is managed that could exacerbate conflict; it maintained that the relationship between water, peace and security should be addressed not in the Council but in other parts of the UN system. UN Documents on Conflict Prevention This was an open debate on water, peace and security. This was a concept note circulated by Senegal for the open debate on water, peace and security. AFRICA Democratic Republic of the Congo Expected Council Action In June, the Council is likely to extend the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) sanctions regime and the mandate of the Group of Experts assisting the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee for a few months in a technical rollover. The Council will continue to monitor the security and political situation in the DRC and may meet on this depending on how events in the country unfold. Key Recent Developments Implementing the 31 December 2016 agreement on the electoral process and a transitional government continues to elude the DRC government and the main opposition coalition, the Rassemblement. The agreement was part of a last-minute effort to address the political crisis precipitated by President Joseph Kabilas resolve to remain in office beyond the conclusion of his second andaccording to the constitutionfinal term on 19 December 2016. The conference of Catholic bishops, the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo (CENCO), which helped mediate the agreement, withdrew from its mediation role in late March, blaming both sides for the impasse. Kabila then unilaterally appointed former opposition leader Bruno Tshibala as prime minister on 7 April, a move criticised by CENCO and the Rassemblement. In accordance with special arrangements agreed between Kabila and smaller opposition parties, Kabila appointed a new government on 9 May, consisting mostly of appointees of his previous government and some from the opposition, a move rejected by the Rassemblement. In a 4 May press statement, Council members took note of the appointment of Tshibala and of the responses of the Rassemblement and CENCO. They noted that the signatories of the 31 December agreement were unable to reach a consensus on the special arrangements and called on all parties to remain committed to the agreement and the overarching objective of organising peaceful, credible, free, fair and inclusive elections by the end of 2017. The Secretary-General submitted a report to the Council on 17 May on the implementation of the agreement as requested in resolution 2348. Meanwhile, violence caused by rebel groups in eastern DRC persists, and the situation in the Kasai region continues to deteriorate. The region has suffered from inter-communal violence and clashes between militias and government forces since August 2016, when the leader of the Kamwina Nsapu militia was killed in clashes with the DRC police. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Maman Sidikou, said on 5 April that possibly over 400 civilians have been killed as well as many members of government forces. The UN humanitarian coordinator in the DRC, Mamadou Diallo, has said that more than a million people have been displaced and 11,000 have fled to Angola. Both the militias and government forces have been accused of human rights and international humanitarian law violations. In the 4 May press statement, Council members reiterated the importance of prompt and transparent investigations into these violations. In addition, they stressed the need for a full investigation into the killing of two members of the Group of Experts, Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan, whose bodies were discovered on 24 March in Kasai. They welcomed the Secretary-Generals establishment of a UN Board of Inquiry into the matter. Sidikou last briefed the Council on the latest MONUSCO report on 21 March. The president of CENCO, Marcel Utembi, and Marie-Madeleine Kalala of the NGO Common Cause Network also briefed the Council. On 31 March the Council adopted resolution 2348 renewing the mandate of MONUSCO until 31 March 2018 and lowering its authorised troop ceiling to 16,215 personnel. In response to a recommendation from the Secretary-General to increase the number of formed police units in light of the political situation, the resolution requests the Secretary-General to explore the possibility of inter-mission cooperation from other peacekeeping operations and to report back to the Council with any further recommendations. The resolution also requests the Secretary-General to conduct a strategic review of MONUSCO by 30 September. The review is to provide options for a reduction of MONUSCOs military and civilian components to be made after the successful implementation of the 31 December 2016 agreement, culminating in elections by the end of the year, and sustainable progress in reducing the threat of armed groups. After the agreement is implemented, the Secretary-General is to advise the Council on a phased exit strategy for the mission. (For more background information on this resolution, see our Whats in Blue story of 30 March.) On 12 April, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region, Said Djinnit, briefed the Council on the latest report on the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework Agreement. Sanctions Related Developments On 20 March, Sidikou and Djinnit briefed the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee. Representatives of the DRC, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda participated in the meeting. The annual report of the Group of Experts was to be presented to the Council by 15 June, after consideration by the Committee. However, following the killing of two members of the Group, the report is now expected to be delivered to the Council in August. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman briefed Council members under any other business on 23 May, regarding the UN board of inquiry into the killing of the two Group members. In elements to the press after the meeting, Council members reiterated the importance of a swift and full investigation and expressed concern over the closure of the investigation by the Congolese authorities. Human Rights-Related Developments On 22 March, the Human Rights Council (HRC) held an interactive dialogue on the DRC during its 34th session. In his statement, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour said that the human rights situation in the DRC deteriorated in 2016 and the first months of 2017, with an increase in human rights violations resulting from the restriction of democratic space and the resurgence of armed groups. Gilmour labelled the violations committed in Kasai and Lomani provinces in the context of the Kamwina Nsapu crisis a serious threat to peace in the country, and reiterated a call for the HRC to urgently establish an international commission of inquiry to investigate the violence and abuse that has spread since August 2016. Following the discovery of at least a further 17 mass graves in Kasai central province, which brought the total discovered in the Kasai region since August 2016 to 40, the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a 19 April statement that it was vital for the government of the DRC to conduct a prompt, transparent, independent investigation into alleged human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by government soldiers and members of the Kamwina Nsapu militia. The High Commissioner noted that in the absence of an effective national investigation, he would not hesitate to urge the international community to support an investigation by an international mechanism, including the International Criminal Court. During its 35th session in June, the HRC is set to hold an interactive dialogue on the DRC in which the Office of the High Commissioner will provide an oral briefing on the human rights situation as mandated by HRC resolution 33/29. Key Issues The immediate key issue for the Council is to renew the sanctions regime and the mandate of the Group of Experts. Another key issue for the Council is seeking to ensure that the 31 December 2016 agreement is implemented and that elections take place in 2017. Also an important issue is how to address the continued violence by rebel groups in the east and emerging violence in Kasai, which remain a serious threat to peace and security. Options The Council may extend the current sanctions regime and mandate of the Group of Experts in a technical rollover for a few months in light of the Groups delayed annual report. A less likely option is for the Council to renew the regime for a full year prior to receiving the final report. When adopting the resolution, the Council could: call on stakeholders to cooperate and swiftly implement the 31 December 2016 agreement and resolve all outstanding issues in order to hold free and fair elections; consider the use of sanctions against those who act to impede a solution to the political crisis; and condemn the mass violence in Kasai and call for accountability for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Council Dynamics There seems to be a consensus among Council members about the renewal of the sanctions regime and the mandate of the group of experts. Given the delay in the reporting of the Group of Experts, Council members feel that a technical rollover is warranted to allow time to consider the annual report properly. Council members continue to be concerned about the ongoing political crisis in the DRC and the potentially explosive ramifications if the 31 December 2016 agreement fails to bring about fair and timely elections and a peaceful transfer of power. Some Council members emphasise the need for the government to uphold the agreement and to hold elections by the end of the year; other members are less concerned with the timeframe and see all stakeholders as jointly responsible for carrying out the elections, including finding ways to overcome difficulties in implementation and logistics. France is the penholder on the DRC, and Egypt chairs the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee. UN Documents on the DRC The Council renewed MONUSCOs mandate until 31 March 2018. This resolution renewed the DRC sanctions regime and the mandate of the Group of Experts. This was a report on the implementation of the political agreement of 31 December 2016. This was on the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework Agreement. This was Secretary-Generals report on MONUSCO. This was a briefing by Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region Said Djinnit on the situation in the Great Lakes Region. The Special Representative and head of MONUSCO, Maman Sidikou, briefed the Council This was a press statemen expressing the Councils concern at the challenges facing the implementation of the 31 December 2016 agreement and stressing the importance of investigations into recent violence in Kasai. This was a statement on the 20 March meeting of the Committee with regional countries and a briefing by Sidikou and Djinnit. UNDOF (Golan Heights) Expected Council Action In June, the Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights for a period of six months. UNDOF was established in 1974 to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Syria. Its mandate expires on 30 June. Key Recent Developments On 23 May, Head of Mission and Force Commander for UNDOF Major General Jai Shanker Menon (India) briefed the Council during a meeting on peacekeeping operations. Menon spoke about various challenges facing Chapter VI peacekeeping missions. Concerning missions that conduct monitoring of peace agreements, and UNDOF specifically, he addressed challenges that arise when third party belligerents begin to shape the situation in the area of operations, and the need for missions to be flexible enough to respond to such developments. For 40 years until 2011, UNDOF operations were based on parameters agreed to by Israel and Syria. However, he said, these methods are no longer suitable. He spoke of the mission changing from a light infantry force to one with armoured protection and firepower as critical force protection measures, and stressed that due to the constantly evolving nature of peacekeeping, the UN must be agile, learn quickly, and respond accordingly, including through increasing peacekeeping budgets when necessary. The December 2016 UNDOF report noted that the limited redeployment of UN personnel to Camp Faouar on the Bravo side represented a major achievement for the mission. The latest UNDOF mandate renewal in resolution 2330 of December 2016 welcomed the phased redeployment conditioned on favourable security and operational conditions. The security situation on the Bravo side remained unstable, though there was no direct threat to Camp Faouar. On 23 April, Israel attacked a Syrian government military camp at Camp Faouar near Al-Quneitra in southwest Syria, close to the Golan Heights. Three fighters were killed and two others injured. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that it had targeted the positions inside Syria after three Syrian mortars fell in the Golan two days earlier. The IDF released a statement saying that the mortars seemed to be spillover from fighting within Syria and were not a deliberate attack targeting Israel. Retaliation, however, would be consistent with Israeli policy on cross-border fire. On 27 April, Israel shot down what it described as a target over the Golan Heights; the object was reportedly a drone. This occurred just after Israel was accused of launching a missile strike at a military site near the Damascus international airport; Syrian rebels reportedly said the strike hit an arms depot maintained by the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah. On 7 May, Israeli Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz called on US President Donald Trump to recognise Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights, asserting that developments in Syria emphasise the threat posed by the Iranian axis in the region and that, in his view, the US and Israel should reach an understanding concerning Syria beginning with the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the annexed territory. In a meeting with Trump on 15 February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked him to recognise Israels sovereignty over the area. (The Golan Heights was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed by Israel. Under international law, it is considered an occupied territory.) Council members had previously voiced their concern about this issue in consultations on 26 April 2016, following Netanyahus remarks that the Golan Heights would remain forever under Israeli sovereignty. In elements to the press, the Council president stressed that the status of the Golan Heights remained unchanged. Key Issues A key issue is the missions ability to carry out its monitoring tasks. As a result of the spillover of the Syrian civil war into UNDOFs area of operation, most of the missions peacekeepers were relocated from the Bravo (Syrian) side to the Alpha (Israeli) side of the ceasefire line in September 2014. The majority of UNDOFs 829 uniformed personnel continue to be stationed on the Israeli side, which hinders the capacity of the mission to achieve full mobility and operational capacity. Considering the security situation in the Golan, the full return of UNDOF to the Syrian side seems unlikely in the foreseeable future. An ongoing issue for the Council is the violation of the ceasefire on numerous occasions, including the presence of Syrian heavy weapons in the area of separation monitored by UNDOF and Syrian and Israeli airstrikes. No military forces other than those of UNDOF are allowed in the area of separation. Options The Council is somewhat constrained in its options for UNDOF. It was established as a Syria-based mission, and how it operates is subject to the disengagement agreement, with any changes requiring consent by Israel and Syria. Nevertheless, in the resolution renewing UNDOFs mandate the Council could: reiterate the need for all parties to exercise restraint; reiterate support for the incremental return of UNDOF forces, as the security situation allows, to positions and observation posts in the area of separation and the area of limitation vacated in 2014; urge Israel and Syria to allow the use of new technologies so UNDOF could better fulfil its observation tasks; urge Israel and Syria to allow the use of enhanced equipment for UNDOFs force protection capabilities; urge Israel and Syria to agree to establish more UNDOF crossing points between the Alpha and Bravo sides; and urge Israel to allow UNDOF to establish more temporary observation posts on the Alpha side, given the missions limited mobility there. Council Dynamics There is general agreement within the Council that UNDOF contributes to stability in the region, given the absence of a peace agreement between Israel and Syria. The missions observation role has been limited since its September 2014 relocation to the Alpha side of the ceasefire line. However, the missions liaison function continues to be considered important for avoiding further negative developments in the region. Israel and Syria value UNDOFs presence and want to see the mission return to the Bravo side. At the moment, the security situation on the Syrian side is still not conducive to full redeployment of UNDOF troops. Council members continue to support the eventual complete return of UNDOF to the Bravo side. However, they are mindful that this would require a favourable security environment, which is important for maintaining the confidence of UNDOFs troop-contributing countries. Council members have expressed concern regarding the fighting in the area of operations as well as the tension between Israel and Syria along the ceasefire line, which have been exacerbated by the presence of Hezbollah. Since June 2012, Russia and the US have been the co-penholders on resolutions renewing UNDOF. UN DOCUMENTS ON UNDOF The Council renewed the mandate of UNDOF until 30 June 2017. This was a briefing on peacekeeping operations by force commanders. This was the Secretary-Generals report on UNDOF. In Hindsight: Security Council Open Debates In the past few years, the Security Council has devoted more and more time to open debates. From 90 hours in 2013, the cumulative duration went up gradually to more than 160 hours in 2016. Most open debates in the last several years have been thematic, with situation-specific ones, other than the quarterly Middle East open debate, being rare exceptions. Open debates are welcomed by the UN membership at large as they afford member states not on the Council an opportunity to present their positions on particular matters on the Security Council agenda regardless of whether or not they are directly affected by the issue. Originally, open debates were mostly conflict-specific, held at the request of a member or group of member states, and usually organised quite quickly following the request. Nowadays, most open debates are held at the initiative of the presidency of the Council, and some are planned a year or more in advance. The idea of a debate in which any member state could present its views on an issue before the Council stemmed from a broad concern on the part of the UN membership about specific situations, such as apartheid in South Africa or the Balkan wars of the early to mid-1990s. The Councils Provisional Rules of Procedure stipulate that any Member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security Council may be invited, as the result of a decision of the Security Council, to participate, without vote, in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council when the Security Council considers that the interests of that Member are specially affected, or when a Member brings a matter to the attention of the Security Council in accordance with Article 35 (1) of the Charter. The interpretation of the rule was that only members with direct stakes in the issue would be allowed to participate in the discussion. Some departures from this interpretation occurred in the later years of the Cold War, with a number of public debates that saw the participation of non-Council members who were neither directly involved in the conflict nor in its geographical neighbourhood. These debates were relatively short, with only a few non-Council speakers, and not all Council members took the floor themselves. The first debate that closely resembled what is today described as an open debate in terms of the number of speakers and its length was probably that held on 15-16 July 1992, with a focus on South Africa. It was organised in response to a 2 July request from the Organisation of African Unity, which was alarmed by a dramatic spike in violence in South Africa (including one massacre in which more than 300 victims were killed by police and the army) and a standstill in the negotiations to end apartheid that had been ongoing since October 1991. More than 30 member statesfrom all regional groupsasked and were invited to speak under Rule 37. All Council members took the floor at different points of the debate (some of them after non-members), and at the end of the second day the Council adopted a resolution condemning the violence and asking the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative. The debate contributed to the resumption of negotiations, culminating in South Africas first democratic election in 1994. Several debates with similar characteristics were held in the next few years. They were each focused on a specific dispute before the Council and tended to be requested by non-members (including in some cases a state which was party to the conflict) and were usually organised at very short notice. The first time the term open debate was used in a Council document was probably the 8 February 1994 letter from the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the President of the Security Council with a call for an emergency session of the Security Council with a formal meeting and the opportunity for open debate to the Member States of the United Nations (S/1994/134). During the General Assemblys general debate later that year, there were several calls for non-members to be afforded opportunities to address the Council. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in his speech that the Council should increase its reliance on public debate in reaching decisions. As a follow-up, France organised a Security Council debate in December 1994 on the Councils working methods, with the issue of public debates of the Council and its greater transparency at the core of the concept note. The note suggested that when preparing to consider an important question, the Council should hold orientation debates open to all Members of the Organization (S/1994/1279). At the end of that debate, held with the participation of several non-members, the Council adopted a presidential statement proclaiming that it was the intention of the Council, as part of its efforts to improve the flow of information and the exchange of ideas between members of the Council and other United Nations Member States, that there should be an increased recourse to open meetings, in particular at an early stage in its consideration of a subject (S/PRST/1994/81). Over the next few years, several open debates were held at the request of member states. Most, but not all, were focused on specific disputes. An early example of a thematic open debate was the 20 December 1995 debate on the relationship with troop-contributing countries, requested in an 8 December letter from 34 permanent representatives, including several Council members, both permanent and elected ones. In the late 1990s, these meetings started being referred to as open debates, and also during that period, some Council presidents began taking the initiative of organising open debates, often with the countrys foreign minister presiding, as centrepieces of their presidencies. During the mid- to late 1990s, open debates tended to be country- or region-specific, but from around 2000 thematic open debates began to increasingly outnumber those focused on specific disputes. Except for the open debates on the Middle East, held since 2006, conflict-specific open debates are currently very rare, and in recent years, when they have occurred, they have been held at the initiative of the presidency rather than at the request of the wider membership. Relatively recent examples include the March 2011 and March 2012 open debates on Somalia, organised by China and the UK, respectively; the March 2013 open debate on Afghanistan, organised by Russia; and the March 2016 open debate on the Great Lakes Region, organised by Angola. The large amount of overall time devoted by the Council to thematic open debates, combined with the ever-growing Council workload, has prompted some members to forgo open debates. In 2013, four presidenciesTogo, Australia, China and Francechose not to hold an open debate. More recently, the US in 2015 and 2017 and New Zealand in 2016 did not organise an open debate. Only time will show whether the growing number of disputes on the Councils agenda will result in a return to holding open debates with a focus mainly on conflict-specific situations. SECURITY COUNCIL AND WIDER UN STRUCTURE International Criminal Tribunals Expected Council Action In June, the Security Council will hold its semi-annual debate on the ad hoc international criminal tribunals. The presidents and prosecutors of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunalsestablished in 2010 to carry out a number of the essential functions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the ICTY after the completion of their respective mandatesare expected to brief and may meet with the Informal Working Group on International Tribunals prior to the debate. Key Recent Developments The ICTY has concluded proceedings against 154 of the 161 persons indicted, with 83 individuals sentenced, 19 acquitted, 13 referred to a national jurisdiction, 37 whose indictments were withdrawn or who are deceased, and two with retrials to be conducted by the Residual Mechanism. There is one remaining trial, of Ratko Mladic, and one remaining appeal, the Prlic et al. case against six accused. Judgements in these cases are expected by November 2017, after which the tribunal will be closed. There is also one remaining contempt case, Jojic et al. The latest ICTY report of 17 May notes that the three indictees in the latter contempt case are yet to be arrested and transferred to the Tribunal as Serbia continues to fail to cooperate in this case. Council members received a letter from the ICTY president on 11 November 2016, requesting extensions of the terms of seven permanent judges and one ad hoc judge until 30 November 2017 and the term of the ICTY president until 31 December 2017, to perform functions required to close the tribunal. In transmitting the letter to the Council, the Secretary-General further requested that the ICTY prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, be reappointed until the closure of the ICTY. In response, the Council unanimously adopted resolution 2329 on 19 December 2016, taking note of the ICTYs request for a final extension of judges terms and extending their terms in accordance with the request. The Council also reappointed Brammertz until 30 November 2017. The Council strongly emphasised that the extensions and reappointment should be final and took note of the ICTYs commitment to complete its work no later than 30 November 2017. In its explanation of vote, Russia reiterated its concern over what it views as unacceptable delays in the judicial proceedings of the ICTY and the prolongation of its work beyond the limits set by previous Council resolutions. Russia emphasised that its vote in favour of resolution 2329 was due to the resolutions provisions ensuring that the current extension of the mandates of the judges and prosecutors will be the last. Regarding the work of the Residual Mechanism, the president and its judges have conducted a wide variety of judicial activities, issuing 152 decisions and orders between 16 November 2016 and 15 May. A 17 May assessment reports that the Mechanism and the ICTY continue to work closely to ensure a smooth and efficient transition of the remaining functions of the ICTY to the mechanism by the end of 2017. The report adds that the Mechanism is seeking to maximise its effectiveness and efficiency while maintaining relatively low staffing levels, conscious of the temporary nature of its mandate. In accordance with resolution 2256 of 22 December 2015, the report provides detailed projections of the duration of functions entrusted to the Mechanism. In addition, the Mechanisms president notes in the report that Judge Aydin Sefa Akay (Turkey), arrested by Turkish authorities on or around 21 September 2016 in relation to allegations concerning the attempted July coup to overthrow the government, continues to be detained despite the UNs formal assertion of his diplomatic immunity in accordance with the Mechanisms Statute and the issuance of a judicial order by the Mechanism to Turkey to cease all legal proceedings against Judge Akay and release him. Key Issues A continuing issue is overseeing the completion of the ICTYs work by 30 November. Another issue is Akays arrest and ongoing detention in Turkey and what pressure the Council could put on the Turkish government for his release. Options The Council could adopt a presidential statement or issue a press statement calling for Akays immediate release from detention and the cessation of all legal proceedings against him. The Council could adopt a presidential statement or issue a press statement calling on Serbia to comply with the ICTY arrest warrants. The Council could consider monitoring the work of the ICTY more frequently until November, including through its Informal Working Group on International Tribunals. Council Dynamics According to the relevant Council resolutions, the ICTY was expected to complete its caseload in 2010 or, failing that, by the end of 2014. In the few years prior to the adoption of resolution 2329, Russia had routinely abstained on resolutions for extension of judges terms and insisted on granting shorter extensions than those sought, commenting that the situation regarding the Tribunals exit strategy had not improved and that costly trial delays continued. Russia is also critical of the ICTYs jurisprudence, claiming that it has not done justice on behalf of Serbian victims of the Yugoslav conflict. If the ICTY does not finish its caseload by November 2017 and a further extension of judges terms is requested, these issues are likely to resurface. Though several Council members would like to see the issue of the Turkish judge resolved swiftly, at present there does not seem to be any appetite among members to have the Council address the issue. Uruguay is the penholder and chair of the Informal Working Group on International Tribunals. UN DOCUMENTS ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS This was a resolution to finally extend the ICTY judges and the prosecutors terms until 30 November 2017. This was a letter requesting extensions of the terms of ICTY judges. This was a meeting to adopt a resolution on the ICTY. This was the semi-annual briefing. MIDDLE EAST Iran Expected Council Action In June, the Secretary-General is due to report on the implementation of resolution 2231, which endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Irans nuclear programme. In addition, reports are expected from the Joint Commission, the mechanism established by the parties to the JCPOA to oversee its implementation, and from the Councils 2231 facilitator, Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi (Italy). The Council is scheduled to hear briefings by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, Cardi, and a representative of the EU in its capacity as coordinator of the Joint Commission. Key Recent Developments The Council last considered the implementation of resolution 2231 on 18 January when it was briefed by Feltman, Cardi and the head of delegation of the EU to the UN, Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida. The meeting took place just ahead of the 20 January inauguration of Donald Trump as US President; during his campaign Trump had seemed to call for the US to withdraw from the JCPOA. Feltman underscored that the international community must continue to support the full implementation of the JCPOA and asserted that the agreement would ensure that Irans nuclear programme remained exclusively peaceful. Feltman also noted that, as guided by the Security Council, the report focused on the implementation of the provisions contained in annex B to resolution 2231 (which deals with the restrictions concerning Iran) and did not cover the implementation of annex A (which addresses the lifting of sanctions). In an 18 January letter to the Secretary-General, however, Iran wrote that exclusively focusing on annex B was a misinterpretation of the mandate given by the Security Council in its 16 January 2016 presidential note, and asserted that a report on the implementation of resolution 2231 could not be considered complete and balanced in the absence of reporting on annex A. At the request of the US, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca briefed Council members in consultations on 31 January on a ballistic missile test conducted by Iran on 29 January. In a 10 February letter to the Council, Israel condemned the test as yet another flagrant violation of resolution 2231. On 3 February, the US announced that it was imposing sanctions on several entities and individuals for their involvement in activities supporting Irans ballistic missile programme or its Quds force. Meanwhile, the IAEA, which is responsible for monitoring Irans nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA, reported to the Council on 24 February that Iran had continued to implement its commitments. On 19 April, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that the Trump administration was conducting a review of its Iran policy. While he had sent a letter to the US Congress a day earlier confirming that Iran was complying with the JCPOA, Tillerson said the agreement fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran and would only delay the countrys goal of becoming a nuclear state. On 17 May, the US announced the sanctions designation of another seven entities and individuals connected to Irans ballistic missile programme but also renewed the waiver on its sanctions against Irans crude oil exports, as required under the JCPOA. On 19 May, Hassan Rouhani was re-elected as president of Iran for another four years with 57 percent of the vote. The result was seen as a victory for the moderates and also as an expression of support for the JCPOA. Human Rights-Related Developments On 22 March, during its 34th session, the Human Rights Council (HRC) considered the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Iran (A/HRC/34/40). The report, which covers the period from July to December 2016, expressed concern about the continuing high rate of executions, ongoing restrictions on public freedoms, and the persistent discrimination and persecution faced by minority groups. It welcomed the governments invitation to the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Iran, and encouraged it to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Asma Jahangir, by allowing her access to the country. On 24 March, the HRC adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for one year and requesting her to report to the HRC at its 36th session and to the General Assembly at its 72nd session. Key Issues A key issue for the Council is whether any of the parties to the JCPOA or any other member state has failed to comply with resolution 2231 and, if so, what the appropriate response should be. A further issue is whether the Secretary-General should report on the implementation of annex A. Options One option for Council members is to use the upcoming meeting as an opportunity to express concern about any intentions to undermine the JCPOA while also responding to the Trump administrations criticism of the agreement. They could also address some of the issues raised by Iran with regard to the Secretary-Generals reporting, perhaps by highlighting progress on the lifting of sanctions or expressing support for the view that he should report on the implementation of both annex A and annex B. Another option is to encourage Iran to participate in the meeting. A further option is to adopt a statement expressing concern about Irans missile launches and the reported violations of the travel ban and conventional arms-related restrictions. Council and Wider Dynamics Council members remain divided on the question of whether Irans missile launches are inconsistent with resolution 2231. Following the 31 January briefing on the missile launch two days earlier, it was agreed that discussions about the launch would continue at expert level in the so-called 2231 format and that the facilitator would report back about the outcome of those discussions. The 2231 format meeting was held on 2 March, during which two US ballistic missile technology experts gave a presentation in support of the US view that the missile systems used by Iran are inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons due to their range and payload capacity and that the 29 January launch was therefore inconsistent with resolution 2231. Cardi reported on the discussions during informal consultations on 25 April under any other business, concluding that there was no agreement among members on the nature of the launch. With regard to Irans continuing complaints about the Secretary-Generals reporting, some Council members, most notably China and Russia, are supportive of Irans views. During the 18 January meeting, Russia was highly critical of the Secretary-Generals report, referring to it as one-sided and equivocal, while asserting that the presidential note of 16 January 2016 referred to the entire resolution 2231 and not only to annex B. For its part, China said it had taken note of Irans legitimate concerns with regard to the content of the reports submitted to the Council. The P3 seem equally clear that the Secretary-Generals reporting mandate is limited to annex B, with the US seen as the most vocal on this. UN Documents was on the JCPOA. was the last report on implementation of resolution 2231. was the most recent Council briefing on resolution 2231. was the most recent IAEA report. was the letter from Israel regarding Irans 29 January 2017 ballistic missile test. was Irans letter to the Secretary-General regarding his 30 December 2016 report. was the most recent report from the 2231 Facilitator. was the most recent report from the Joint Commission. was the note by the Council president on the tasks related to the implementation of resolution 2231. AFRICA Libya Expected Council Action In June, the Council is expected to receive a briefing from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Martin Kobler. The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, the authorisation to inspect vessels suspected to be violating the arms embargo, and the measures regarding attempts to illicitly export crude oil from Libya. The Council is also likely to be briefed by the Sanctions Committees chair, Ambassador Olof Skoog (Sweden). The mandates of the Panel of Experts and UNSMIL expire on 31 July and 15 September, respectively. Key Recent Developments Deep divisions between the parties remain despite the growing consensus regarding the need to amend some provisions of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). The issues that are being discussed have to do with the structure of the Presidency Council and the authority of the supreme commander of the armed forces. While the eastern-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based High State Council have appointed dialogue delegations, these are not inclusive or representative of key stakeholders in Libya. Over the last two months meetings involving key regional actors, including Algeria, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been initiated in an attempt to try to address the political stalemate. On 21 April, the President of the House, Ageelah Saleh, met with the head of the High State Council, Abdurrahman Swehli, in Rome. On 2-3 May, following several frustrated attempts, the head of the Presidency Council Faiez Serraj met with Khalifa Haftar, who commands the Libyan National Army (LNA), in the UAE. However, these meetings have so far failed to overcome the political deadlock. On 23 May, the Quartet (the AU, the EU, the League of Arab States and the UN) reiterated its support for the coordination role of the UN and encouraged the UN to take the lead in any effort to facilitate a limited amendment of the LPA. The security situation has continued to deteriorate. The Secretary-Generals 4 April report highlighted the fragility of the situation in the south, particularly the continued build-up of rival military forces, including a Misrata-based militia known as the Third Force, the LNA, and tribal armed groups, competing for the control of strategic infrastructure amid ongoing tribal tensions. A 12 April statement by P5 ambassadors to Libya in reaction to violence near Tamanhint warned against the risk of escalating violence turning into renewed conflict and underlined the difference between acts against the terrorist threats and acts that can lead to further deterioration of the situation in Libya. (The LNA has repeatedly justified its military operations, including against rival militias, as fighting terrorist groups.) On 18 May, the Third Force, which supports the Presidency Council, attacked the Brak al-Shati air base held by the LNA, killing some 140 people. As a result of the attack, the head of the Presidency Council Serraj suspended its Defence Minister-designate Mahdi al-Barghathi and Third Force commander Jamal Traiki while an investigation is conducted. At the request of the UK, Council members met in consultations on 24 May and were briefed by Kobler on the risks of further military escalation, not only in the south but also in Tripoli. A press statement adopted after the meeting called on all parties in Libya to exercise restraint, reiterated that there can be no military solution and urged all parties to express their support for national reconciliation. The situation of migrants and refugees in Libya, which was characterised in December 2016 as a human rights crisis by UNSMIL and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, continues to be critical. In April, the International Organization for Migration denounced the existence of slave markets for migrants in Libya. On 21 May, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, announced during a visit to Libya that the organisation was stepping up its presence and programmes in Libya given the dire humanitarian needs. Sanctions-Related Developments The final report of the Panel of Experts contained several recommendations addressed to the members of the Council. These include: reverting to the obligation of notifying supplies of non-lethal military equipment for the Libyan government; extending the measures targeting crude oil being exported illicitly from Libya to other oil derivatives extracted and refined in Libya or other oil products previously imported to Libya; and listing individuals who meet the sanctions regimes designation criteria (which include planning, directing or committing acts that violate human rights law or international humanitarian law) in order to contribute to ending the current climate of impunity. In May, Operation EUNAVFOR Med interdicted the first vessel violating the arms embargo in the high seas off the coast of Libya as authorised by resolution 2292. Key Issues A continuing overarching issue is to ensure that the parties agree on a consensual solution to end the political deadlock that addresses the issues raised by those refusing to support the LPA. Related issues are maintaining the relevance of UN mediation efforts, and pressing external actors to exercise leverage to encourage engagement in the political process and to ensure the coherence of their mediation efforts with a Libya-led process under the aegis of the UN. A further issue is ensuring that the sanctions regime is aligned with the efforts to restrain violence and promote a political settlement. Options Regarding sanctions, Council members could adopt a resolution incorporating the above-mentioned recommendations of the Panel of Experts. Once the strategic assessment review of the UN presence in Libya is completed in June, the Council could adopt a resolution, without waiting until the September mandate renewal, prioritising a limited set of tasks that UNSMIL can realistically achieve to align the missions mandate with the political, security and operational realities on the ground. Council members could also organise a visit to Libya and the region to hold discussions with the parties, including spoilers, and regional stakeholders to help overcome the political deadlock. Council Dynamics In response to the current deadlock, there seems to be a consensus among Council members about the need to amend the LPA. Council members generally support UNSMILs mediation efforts but have arguably failed to set a clear direction to reach and support a political settlement. Despite divisions over the origins of the Libyan conflict, the recent trend of issuing P5 statements can constitute a signal of unity if translated into coherent actions on the ground. UNSMILs strategic review, which has for the first time included an independent component, is expected to be completed in June. The UK is the penholder on Libya. UN DOCUMENTS ON LIBYA This was a resolution extending UNSMILs mandate until 15 September 2017. This was a resolution providing a one year authorisation for member states to inspect, in the high seas off the coast of Libya, vessels bound to or from Libya. The Council renewed the sanctions regime for a year. This condemned the military escalation in southern Libya and Tripoli. This was the last report on UNSMIL. This was a briefing by Kobler. AFRICA Mali Expected Council Action In June, the Council is due to renew the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). The Council also expects to receive a briefing from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of MINUSMA, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, followed by consultations. MINUSMAs mandate expires on 30 June. Key Recent Developments June marks the end of the two-year interim period stipulated by the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali and many of the commitments that were expected to be carried out during this time have yet to be fulfilled. Briefing the Council on 6 April, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix underscored the significant delays and the fragility of the gains that have been made in implementing the agreement. Interim authorities were established in the five northern regions after the parties agreed to the appointment of the interim presidencies of Taoudeni and Timbuktu on 20 April, but these have yet to become operational. Despite efforts to organise mixed patrols in other regions, so far these have only been deployed in Gao. In addition to the slow pace of some of the government reforms, tensions among the coalitions of armed groups (the Coordination and the Platform) and within them (particularly the fragmentation of the Coordination) have significantly impeded progress. At a 2 May meeting of the Comite de Suivi de lAccord (CSA)the main follow-up mechanism to the agreement, chaired by Algeriathe parties and the mediators agreed to accelerate the process to appoint an independent observer to assess implementation as provided for by the agreement. Security threats continue to undermine the political process and impose operational constraints on MINUSMA. Since the mission was established in 2013, at least 72 peacekeepers have been killed as a result of hostile acts, 27 in 2016 alone. Terrorist groups, now part of the coalition Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, have carried out attacks against MINUSMA as well as against French and Malian forces, including in the centre and south as well as the north of Mali. In May, three peacekeepers were killed as a result of attacks by this group. Given that the mission devotes a substantial part of its resources to protecting itself and that most of the additional personnel and capabilities for the mission authorised by resolution 2295 have not been deployed, in his 30 December 2016 report the Secretary-General urged the Council to actively engage with member states to ensure that the mission has the equipment, personnel and resources that it needs. A force generation conference took place in New York on 22-23 May and resulted in commitments from some troop- and police- contributing countries (TCC/PCCs) to address current gaps. The Group of Five Sahel (G5)Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Nigercontinued its effort to create a regional force to combat terrorism and transnational crime. On 13 April, the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) authorised the deployment of the G5 force for an initial period of 12 months. The PSC urged the UN Security Council to approve the deployment of the force and to authorise the Secretary-General to identify the modalities of sustainable and predictable financial and logistical support to be provided to the Force, including through MINUSMA. Council members received this request together with the forces concept of operations, and are currently discussing the political, operational and financial implications of such a deployment. Key Issues Since the renewal of MINUSMAs mandate coincides with the end of the interim period, identifying key priorities for the mission at this new stage is an important issue for the Council. The gap between MINUSMAs current mandate and the insufficient capacities and resources of the mission is a related issue. An overarching issue is the slow implementation of the agreement and the potential for a relapse into conflict. Bridging divisions within the armed groups and between the parties, including by bringing on board new splinter groups and realistically adapting the timeline, are related issues. The deterioration of the security situation in northern and central Mali, the prevalence of organised crime, and the spate of inter-ethnic violence are urgent issues. Addressing the grievances and frustrations of various constituencies that are not benefiting from the peace agreement in their daily lives, including youth at risk of being recruited by violent groups, is a related issue. The frequent terrorist attacks and their reach, the deliberate targeting of MINUSMA and the safety concerns of TCCs/PCCs are further issues for the Council to consider. Options The Council could: hold a frank and unscripted discussion among Council members ahead of the negotiation of any draft resolution to discuss the objectives that the mission can realistically achieve in the current circumstances, as well as to obtain an understanding of members positions on any possible changes to the mandate; further prioritise MINUSMAs mandate based on the objectives it aims to achieve rather than focusing on personnel numbers alone; make full use of the meeting with MINUSMA TCC/PCCs to ensure that their views are heard and engage directly to ensure that the resources needed to implement the mandate are available; discuss the challenges of implementing the agreement and the need for a common political strategy in an informal interactive dialogue with the participation of Special Representative Annadif and Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria, the CSA chair; establish a group of experts to investigate the identity and activities of those involved in organised crime in Mali and the Sahel with a view to report its conclusions to the Council; and add Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin to the list of the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Daesh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and request the Monitoring Team to report on ways to curb the terrorist threat in Mali. Council and Wider Dynamics Overall, Council members have expressed concerns about the slow pace of implementing the agreement. Despite threatening to impose sanctions in resolution 2295, Council members have so far failed to reach a common position to follow through on that threat. The renewal of MINUSMAs mandate comes at a time when the US has started a review of peacekeeping operations with the stated aim of modifying mission mandates to be more achievable while reducing their costs. At the 6 April briefing on MINUSMA, US Ambassador Nikki Haley announced her intention to take a careful look at the forces mandated tasks and the distribution of its personnel. It has been difficult for Council members (including even the penholder) to anticipate the US position on recent mandate renewals since its proposals have not been based on the recommendations of the Secretary-General. Among Council members, Senegal is the seventh largest troop contributor to MINUSMA with 871 personnel deployed as of April, China has 399 personnel deployed, and Sweden 186. France is the penholder on Mali. UN DOCUMENTS ON MALI This resolution renewed MINUSMAs mandate for a year. This was a briefing on the situation in Mali by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. This condemned the terrorist attack near Aguelhoc, which caused the death of two Chadian peacekeepers and injured another. This condemned the attack against a MINUSMA camp in Timbuktu, which caused the death of a Liberian peacekeeper and injured others. PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING Mine Action Expected Council Action At the initiative of Bolivia, the Council is expected to hold a meeting in June on mine action and explosive hazard threat mitigation, with a briefing by the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and possibly one other speaker who would offer a perspective from the field. Bolivia is expected to circulate a concept note ahead of the meeting and has signalled its intention to propose a draft resolution that would recognise the increasingly complex nature of the threat posed by improvised explosive devices and similar hazards, reaffirm relevant obligations under international humanitarian law, and support the work of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), which was established 20 years ago. Background The Council regularly addresses issues related to mine action and the threat posed by improvised explosive devices in the context of mission mandates, but has on very few occasions considered mine action as a thematic issue. It held an open debate on 15 August 1996 followed by the adoption on 30 August of a presidential statement on demining in the context of UN peacekeeping. On 19 November 2003, it adopted another presidential statement on the importance of mine action for peacekeeping operations. In this statement, the Council expressed its grave concern at the harmful impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance on civilian populations, humanitarian workers, and UN staff, and welcomed the effective coordination of mine action activities, highlighting in particular the important role played by UNMAS. The Council requested the Secretary-General to provide information on the scope and humanitarian impact of the mine and unexploded ordnance problem in all relevant reports and expressed its readiness to consider mine action concerns in country-specific situations. It also noted the importance of ensuring that mine action is reflected in the mandates and personnel planning for peacekeeping operations. Located in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, UNMAS serves as a focal point for UN efforts to ensure an effective and coordinated response to the problems of landmines and explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions and leads the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action. UNMAS also sets up and manages mine action coordination centres in peacekeeping operations and humanitarian emergencies or crises. It is currently present in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Colombia, Cote dIvoire, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria, as well as Abyei, Palestine and Western Sahara. UNMAS was established by the General Assembly, which has traditionally been the main forum for discussing mine action and how to counter the growing threat posed by improvised explosive devices. In recent years, it has adopted a resolution every two years on assistance in mine action that has included a request for a Secretary-Generals report. The most recent resolution, adopted on 9 December 2015, urged states to provide support to mine-affected countries and assistance to victims, while emphasising the importance of explicitly incorporating references to mine actionin ceasefire and peace agreements as well as in the mandates of peacekeeping operations and special political missions. In 2015 the General Assembly also adopted a resolution on countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices. In the resolution, adopted on 7 December, the General Assembly expressed concern over, among other things, the devastation caused by the increasing use of such devices by illegal armed groups and terrorists, resulting in thousands of casualties. It noted that attacks with improvised explosive attacks have caused serious harm to UN staff and peacekeepers and to humanitarian workers.The resolution also encouraged states to respond to the needs of todays peacekeepers to operate in new threat environments involving improvised explosive devices, including by providing the appropriate training, capabilities and financial resources. As a follow up, it requested a report from the Secretary-General with recommendations for ways forward. A similar resolution was adopted in 2016. According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, there was a sharp increase in the number of people killed and injured by mines, improvised explosive devices, and explosive remnants of war in 2015, the latest year for which data has been published. Compared with 2014, the number of casualties increased by 75 percent to 6461, mostly due to more casualties recorded in Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, but also due to greater availability of casualty data. UN Documents was on the importance of mine action in peacekeeping operations. was in demining in the context of UN peacekeeping. was the Secretary-Generals report on countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices. was the resolution on assistance in mine action. was the resolution on countering the threat posed by improvised explosive devices. was the Secretary-Generals report on assistance in mine action. PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING Peacebuilding Expected Council Action In June, the Council expects briefings by Ambassadors Macharia Kamau (Kenya) and Cho Tae-yul (Republic of Korea), the former and current chairs of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), for the presentation of the PBCs tenth annual report. On the same day, an informal interactive dialogue is planned, involving Council members, the chairs of PBC country configurations, and ambassadors of countries on the PBC agenda. Key Recent Developments Over the past year, the PBC has focused much of its work on implementing and carrying forward the relevant recommendations of the 27 April 2016 substantively identical Council and General Assembly resolutions on the peacebuilding review. There has also been a broader effort among the Secretariat and member states to advance the sustaining peace agenda, described in the two resolutions as activities aimed at preventing the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflicts. Sustaining peace places an emphasis on conflict prevention and addressing the root causes of conflict and is seen as a responsibility of the entire UN system. As a result of the review, the PBC has sought to revitalise the role of its Organizational Committee (OC). This has involved further developing the initiatives of the past two years to have the OC consider country situations that are not formally on the PBC agenda, as well as focusing more on the regional dimensions of peacebuilding and enhancing cooperation with regional organisations and international financial institutions. From 17 to 19 October 2016, Kamau, together with the vice-chairs of the PBC and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, visited the African Unions (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa to further enhance cooperation with the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) in conflict prevention and sustaining peace. A PSC communique following a meeting with the PBC delegation called for greater collaboration and coordination between the two bodies, deciding, inter alia, to hold an annual meeting with the PBC and undertake joint visits to conflict and post-conflict areas in Africa. From 20 to 21 March, Cho visited The Gambia, travelling with Ambassador Mamadou Tangara (The Gambia) and Fernandez-Taranco to explore opportunities for the PBC to support The Gambias peacebuilding needs following the countrys recent political crisis. The OC was briefed on the visit and the priorities of The Gambias new government during a 19 April meeting. As another example of the PBCs focus on a more diverse array of country and regional issues, it is considering ways to support the implementation of the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS), holding an initial meeting of the OC on the Sahel on 6 March. The meeting and PBC engagement was prompted by the Councils 20 January presidential statement on the situation in West Africa and the Sahel, which emphasised the important convening role of the PBC and charged it with supporting the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) in mobilising relevant actors to advance the implementation of the UNISS. In early April, PBC members agreed on the creation of focal points on thematic aspects of peacebuilding. Belgium was designated the focal point on youth; Bangladesh and Canada, gender; Russia, national ownership; Indonesia and Norway, financing for peacebuilding; and Japan, institution-building with a focus on judicial reform, border control, and financial structures. The focal points are expected to ensure attention to these dimensions of peacebuilding in the PBCs consideration of different situations. As part of UN efforts to advance a sustaining peace approach in the field, the Department of Political Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions, the UN Development Programme, and the Peacebuilding Support Office collaborated last year to develop a sustaining peace pilot strategy for Burkina Faso, still emerging from its 2014 and 2015 crises and political transition. The strategy seeks to address the main risks to Burkina Fasos stability, with UNOWAS providing political support and capacities to the UN country teams engagement. A sustaining peace pilot has also been developed for Sri Lanka. In another new development, the Council requested the Secretary-General to provide within 90 days a peacebuilding plan for Liberia in its 23 December 2016 resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Mission for Liberia (UNMIL), which will be withdrawn in March 2018. This was the first time the Council had sought such a plan ahead of the departure of a peacekeeping operation and for an upcoming transition. In a 4 April letter, the Secretary-General transmitted the Liberia national peacebuilding plan to the Council. The plan is divided into two phases. The first phase runs until the exit of UNMIL, while the second covers longer-term peacebuilding activities until approximately 2020. Notably, the plan seeks to address remaining structural fragilities and economic development needs, and envisions improved coherence and integration of UN agencies, funds and programmes and good offices capacities of the UN country team. It also highlights future roles for UNOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the World Bank, with the PBC participating in joint monitoring of the plans implementation. On 21 April, a stock-taking session of Council members on the PBC, PBC agenda countries, and the PBC chairs group was convened. The sessions, which are currently coordinated by Egypt, are held periodically to review the PBCs advisory function and consider areas where the PBC and its country configurations can best support the Council. The April meeting focused on the Central African Republic (CAR), Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and the UN Sahel strategy. Developments in PBC Country Configurations The chair of the Burundi country configuration, Ambassador Jurg Lauber (Switzerland), visited Tanzania and Burundi from 27 to 31 March. The mission focused on the socio-economic situation and the political process facilitated by Benjamin Mkapa, the former president of Tanzania, on behalf of the East African Community. The CAR configuration, chaired by Ambassador Omar Hilale (Morocco), is focusing its support around three areas of the CARs National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan 2017-2021: security and reconciliation, the social contract between the state and its citizens, and economic recovery. Addressing the configuration on 16 March, CARs president Faustin Archange Touadera flagged a funding shortage for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, and security sector reform. The Guinea-Bissau configuration, chaired by Ambassador Mauro Vieira (Brazil), has sought to align the messaging from the PBC and the Council to demonstrate the international communitys unity in support of ECOWAS mediation efforts to end Guinea-Bissaus ongoing political crisis. In recent months, the Liberia configuration, chaired by Ambassador Olof Skoog (Sweden), has focused on supporting the roll-out of Liberias peacebuilding plan and preparations for the October 2017 presidential and legislative elections. The country configuration for Sierra Leone, chaired by Ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard (Canada), received a briefing from UNOWAS head Mohammed Ibn Chambas on 3 March. The configuration has focused on considering how it can marshal resources for the March 2018 general elections. Last autumn, a review of the Guinea configuration, which has been chaired by Luxembourg, was initiated to consider the countrys future engagement with the PBC. The review recommended ending the configuration, while noting Guineas interest in continuing to engage in a more flexible manner with the OC. Key Issues A key issue in the Council-PBC relationship continues to be identifying the type of specific, strategic and targeted advice, as stipulated in last years resolutions that can add value to the Councils consideration of issues on its agenda, particularly during the formation, review and drawdown of peacekeeping operations and special political missions. More generally, despite recent initiatives to strengthen the PBC, how the PBC can concretely help conflict-affected or fragile countries remains a challenge for the body. Options The Council could issue a statement following the briefing and interactive dialogue that welcomes recent initiatives within the PBC to increase the effectiveness of its advisory role; reiterates the Councils intention to draw upon the PBCs advice; and encourages continuing efforts to explore ways that the PBC can specifically support the Council, while summarising the main messages expressed during the two sessions. Council and Wider Dynamics The adoption of the Council and General Assembly resolutions on the review of the UN peacebuilding architecture created new momentum to strengthen the PBC and the focus given to peacebuilding and sustaining peace. In the Council, Egypt, Japan and Sweden in particular have taken initiatives in trying to include language on the PBC within Council resolutions and presidential statements. The P5 have long been sceptical of the value the PBC adds to the Council, though recently they have seemed more open to improving Council cooperation with the PBC, such as during transitions and the drawdown of operations. Notwithstanding this momentum since last year and recent initiatives, it remains to be seen how the UN system and member states will apply the intentions of the resolutions, and whether this will allow for a more constructive relationship between the Council and the PBC. In addition to the informal Council-PBC stock-taking sessions, the Councils Ad Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa has also become a forum where the PBC chair has engaged with Council members, as the chairs of the working group (Angola in 2016 and Ethiopia in 2017) have sought to exchange views on peacebuilding and sustaining peace in Africa. UN DOCUMENTS ON PEACEBUILDING This was a concurrent resolution with the General Assembly on the review of the UN peacebuilding architecture. This was a statement on West Africa and the Sahel, which recognised the important convening role of the PBC to support UNOWAS in implementing the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel. This was a presidential statement on peacebuilding in Africa with a focus on institution-building. The Council held a ministerial-level open debate on conflict prevention and sustaining peace. This was an open debate on peacebuilding in Africa. This was a letter from the Secretary-General transmitting the Liberia Peacebuilding Plan. This was the PBCs tenth annual report. AFRICA Somalia Expected Council Action In June, the Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), which expires on 16 June. Key Recent Developments The strategic assessment of the UN presence in Somalia, requested in resolution 2275, was transmitted to the Council on 5 May. The process was initiated at the end of 2016, followed by the deployment of a strategic assessment mission to Somalia and the region from 5 to 15 March, after the completion of the electoral process. It recommends that over the next four years, the UN should focus on three priority areasfederalism and challenges to state-building; security strategy; and strengthening resilience and promoting socio-economic changeand that the new government should define its own clear priorities, including in the national development plan that will guide UN support. Concerning UNSOM, the assessment concludes that its overall concept as a political mission should remain, with its core tasks being to provide good offices and strategic advice on peacebuilding and state-building, to coordinate international support, to build the capacity of federal and state institutions, and to monitor and report violations. However, it advises that the mandate should be adapted to integrate support at the level of federal member states in all areas of the mandate and that the functions of the missions presence at federal and state levels should be clarified. There should also be a stronger emphasis on conflict resolution at the federal, regional and local levels. Advice on a comprehensive security strategy will be a priority task, according to the assessment. In addition, the women, peace and security agenda should be better integrated into the mandate to reflect progress made on womens participation in peacebuilding and state-building; the mandate should also reflect the youth, peace and security agenda. The assessment concludes that the capacity-building role of UNSOM should be expanded to the police sector and that UNSOMs human rights due diligence policy should be clarified in the mandate to ensure adequate prioritisation and integrated implementation across the UNs presence in Somalia. On 11 May, the London Conference on Somalia was held. The conferenceco-chaired by the UK, Somalia, the UN and the African Union (AU), and attended by 42 friends and partners of Somaliafocused on a security pact, adopted by Somalia and the international community, that will allow for long-term security based on mutual accountability. In the pact, Somalias leaders committed to taking a lead on providing security, including securing recovered areas and supply routes, and security for the 2021 elections. The international community acknowledged the need to commit more support, including through better-coordinated mentoring, training and capacity-building of police and military forces. It was further agreed that such commitments from the international community, including financial commitments, would be made at a follow-up conference planned for October. The conference also adopted a New Partnership for Somalia, recommitting the delegations to working together and holding each other accountable in order to deliver the vital support and reforms that Somalia needs over the next four years. A communique released after the conference noted political gains made in Somalia, but also highlighted several challenges, including terrorism; constitutional issues; the slow pace of security sector reform; the continuing threat of piracy; the need for further progress on democratisation, human rights, and rule of law; corruption; poverty; and the risk of famine. At the conference, the Federal Government of Somalia set out its plans to address these challenges, and the international community committed to support these plans. The most recent Secretary-Generals report on Somalia said that attacks by Al-Shabaab continue, despite the 6 April call by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo for members of the group to lay down their arms taking advantage of a 60-day offer of amnesty. The report also notes the increased activity of a group affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terror organisation. During the reporting period, 287 civilians were killed, including 54 deaths attributed to Somali national forces and 20 to the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Concerning the ongoing drought, the report said it has devastated the economy, with 6.2 million people facing acute food insecurity and 3 million needing urgent life-saving assistance. There have also been more than 570,000 drought-related displacements since November 2016 and a related increase in sexual violence. Additionally, there are more than 36,000 cases of cholera, and insecurity continues to impede humanitarian access. On 26 May, the Council adopted resolution 2355, which rolled over the mandate of AMISOM until 31 August to allow Council members time to consider the forthcoming recommendations of the joint AU-UN review of the mission, which is expected to be received in July. Sanctions-Related developments On 17 May, Council members met in consultations to begin the review of sanctions measures on Eritrea requested by resolution 2317. The UK proposed developing a road map on Eritrea that would be enshrined in a presidential statement. Members met again at expert level to brainstorm further on 25 May. (In resolution 2317 of 10 November 2016 the Council expressed its intention to review measures on Eritrea, in light of the midterm report of the Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group, which it received in April.) At press time, the UK had not yet circulated a draft presidential statement. Human Rights-Related Developments In a statement on 11 May at the London Conference on Somalia, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour said there were still major human rights problems in Somalia, largely because of the horrific abuses committed by Al-Shabaab. Gilmour asserted that the idea that repressing rights and freedoms would bring greater security was a dangerous myth and that the opposite was true. He emphasised that more must be done to strengthen measures to prevent human rights violations and to push for accountability, while urging the international community to commit to grounding its initiatives in Somalia in human rights. Key Issues Ensuring that UNSOM is properly equipped to support the Somali government on the three priority areas outlined by the strategic assessmentstate-building, security strategy, and socio-economic reformis the key issue. Another pressing issue is ensuring an appropriate humanitarian response to the drought, the looming famine and the outbreak of cholera. Options The most likely option is for the Council to reauthorise UNSOM for one year, using the observations and recommendations of the strategic assessment as a basis for any alterations to the mandate. Another option would be to hold consultations with Special Representative for Somalia and head of UNSOM Michael Keating to discuss how the mission can best help the government in facilitating key political processes, such as the constitutional review, preparations for one-person, one-vote elections and establishing a functional federal state, as well as advising and assisting the government on security matters and promoting economic development. Council Dynamics On Somalia generally, Council members are united in supporting state-building processes and in their support for UNSOM and AMISOM, as demonstrated by unified messages conveyed during the Councils visit to Somalia in May 2016 and the uncontentious adoption of several recent Council outcomes on Somalia. The UK is the penholder on Somalia, and Kazakhstan is the chair of the 751/1907 Somalia and Eritrea Sanctions Committee for 2017. UN DOCUMENTS ON SOMALIA This was a resolution extending AMISOMs authorisation until 31 August 2017 with no changes. This was a technical rollover of UNSOMs mandate until 16 June 2017. This was a resolution on Somalia and Eritrea sanctions with ten votes in favour. This was a resolution extending the mandate of UNSOM. This was the Secretary-Generals report on Somalia. This was a strategic assessment of the UN presence in Somalia. This was a briefing by Deputy Special Representative Raisedon Zenenga and AU Special Representative for Somalia Francisco Madeira. This was a briefing by the Chair of the 751/1907 Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Kairat Umaraov (Kazakhstan). Status Update Colombia From 3 to 5 May the Council carried out a visiting mission to Colombia in order to demonstrate its commitment to the peace process in the country. In a presidential statement adopted on 11 May (S/PRST/2017/6), the Council acknowledged the significant challenges involved in the implementation of the peace agreement and welcomed the progress made by the parties and their commitment to achieving peace. On 16 May, the UK and Uruguay briefed the Council as co-leads of the visiting mission (S/PV.7941). EU-UN Cooperation On 9 May, Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, briefed the Council on cooperation between the EU and the UN (S/PV.7935). Among the issues discussed were the Middle East peace process and the situation in Syria, Libya, and the Central African Republic. Mogherini also updated the Council on EU-UN cooperation in various peacekeeping operations in Africa, on the Iranian nuclear issue, and on counter-terrorism. Guinea-Bissau On 11 May, Council members received a briefing in consultations from Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman on Guinea-Bissau focusing on the ongoing political crisis. In a press statement following the meeting, Council members called on relevant stakeholders to strictly respect and comply with the Conakry agreement and the ECOWAS road map and expressed their readiness to take necessary measures to respond to a further worsening of the situation in Guinea-Bissau (SC/12818). Lebanon On 11 May, Council members met in consultations to discuss the 28 April semi-annual report (S/2017/374) on the implementation of resolution 1559, which called for the disarmament of all militias and the extension of government control over all Lebanese territory. The Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict The Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict met on 12 and 19 May to negotiate the conclusions on children and armed conflict in Sudan (S/2017/191). Sudan and South Sudan On 15 May the Council adopted resolution 2352, extending UNISFAs mandate until 15 November 2017. Adoption had initially been scheduled for 10 May, but was delayed following a lack of consensus on a US proposal to suspend UNISFAs role in supporting the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) and to reduce the missions troop ceiling from 5,329 to 4,170. As a compromise, resolution 2352 reduced UNISFAs authorised troop ceiling to 4,791. It also urged Sudan and South Sudan to resume direct negotiations in order to agree on a final settlement of the Abyei question, and decided that the extension of support to the JBVMM would be the last unless both parties demonstrated clear commitment and steadfast guarantees of implementation. DPRK (North Korea) In a 15 May press statement, Council members condemned the missile launches conducted by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 28 April and 13 May (SC/12821). On 16 May, they received a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca during consultations. That same day, the DPRK sent a letter to the Secretary-General (S/2017/429) referring to the 13 May launch as a legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence and categorically and totally rejected the press statement. In a 22 May press statement, Council members condemned the DPRKs 21 May missile launch and called on the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee to redouble its efforts to improve global implementation of all measures, including by implementing the relevant feasible recommendations of the Panel of Experts as soon as possible (SC/12831). On 23 May, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman briefed Council members during consultations on the missile launch. In that same meeting, the chair of the Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi (Italy), presented his 90-day report on the work of the Committee. The Committee held informal consultations on 10 May to discuss the recommendations contained in the latest report from its Panel of Experts (S/2017/150). It also continued the series of regional outreach meetings initiated in March as a follow-up to paragraph 44 of resolution 2321, adopted in response to the 9 September 2016 nuclear test, which requested the Committee to hold special meetings on important thematic and regional topics and member states capacity challenges. The Committee met with the African Group on 1 May, the Western European and Others Group on 12 May, and the Asia-Pacific Group on 26 May. It had previously met with the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries and the Eastern European Group. Women, Peace and Security On 15 May, the Council held an open debate on sexual violence in conflict (S/PV.7938). The debate was chaired by Jose Luis Cancela, Vice Foreign Minister of Uruguay. The following speakers briefed the Security Council: Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; Under-Secretary-General Adama Dieng, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, who is currently officer-in-charge of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict; and Mina Jaf, Founder and Executive Director of Womens Refugee Route, on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. The objective of the debate, as referred to in a concept note circulated by Uruguay (S/2017/402), was to raise awareness on the issue of sexual violence in conflict as a tactic of war and terrorism, focusing particularly on patterns and trends identified in the annual report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2017/249). Kosovo On 16 May, Zahir Tanin, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNMIK, briefed the Council (S/PV.7940) on the latest Secretary-Generals report (S/2017/387) and recent developments. Tanin told Council members that there had been a loss of trust between the two sides as well as an increase in nationalist rhetoric. Serbias minister of justice, Nela Kuburovic, and Kosovos ambassador to the US, Vlora Citaku, also spoke. Venezuela On 17 May, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca briefed Council members on the situation in Venezuela under any other business. The briefing had been requested by the US and focused on efforts by regional organisations to address the political crisis in the country. Bosnia and Herzegovina In a debate on 18 May (S/PV.7943), the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Valentin Inzko, briefed the Council on his latest six-month report on the implementation of the peace agreement (S/2017/379), expressing concern about the lack of progress in addressing the need for real reforms. Iraq On 22 May, the Special Representative and head of UNAMI, Jan Kubis, briefed the Council on the latest Secretary-Generals report (S/2017/371) and provided an update on the governments efforts to retake Mosul from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (S/PV.7945). Peacekeeping On 23 May, the Council held a briefing on UN peacekeeping (S/PV.7947) with the force commanders of MINUSCA (CAR), UNDOF (Golan Heights), MONUSCO (DRC), and UNMIL (Liberia). Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix also addressed the Council. Protection of Civilians On 25 May, the Council held a ministerial-level open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict (S/PV.7951). The meeting focused on the protection of civilians agenda, as outlined in the Secretary-Generals recent report (S/2017/414), as well as on the implementation of resolution 2286, specifically on the protection of health care in armed conflict, which the Secretary-General is now required to brief on annually. Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs Rodolfo Nin Novoa presided. Briefers included Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; Vice President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Christine Beerli; and Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy of Human Rights Watch Bruno Stagno Ugarte. Israel/Palestine On 26 May, the Council held its regular monthly briefing on the situation in the Middle East, focusing on Israel/Palestine, with the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov (S/PV.7953). The meeting was followed by consultations. Yemen On 30 May, the Special Envoy for the Secretary-General on Yemen, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and the head of OCHA, Stephen OBrien, briefed the Council (S/PV.7954). A Yemeni civil society representative, Radhya al-Mutawakel from the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, also briefed. This was followed by closed consultations. AFRICA Sudan (Darfur) Expected Council Action In June, the Council is expected to renew the mandate for the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), prior to its expiry on 30 June. The Council will also hold a briefing, followed by consultations, on UNAMID. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix is expected to provide the briefing. The Council further expects to receive the semi-annual briefing of the ICC Prosecutor related to the courts work on Darfur. Key Recent Developments Sudanese government forces now dominate Darfur and occupy most of the territory previously controlled by rebel groups. The unilateral ceasefire, declared by the government of Sudan in mid-2016 and extended for a further six months in January, reportedly continues to be largely observed. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has also declared a ceasefire, having largely withdrawn from Darfur. While the Sudan Liberation Army/Minni Minawi (SLA/MM) had declared a ceasefire, on 19 May it claimed that it had clashed with government forces in a number of locations across Darfur. Elements of the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW) remain active in the Jebel Marra region. The overall security situation is improving, but without a full cessation of hostilities and with intercommunal and criminal violence remaining widespread, an environment of instability persists. The new Joint Special Representative for Darfur and head of UNAMID, Jeremiah Mamabolo, briefed the Council for the first time on 4 April. Mamabolo described Darfur as being a very different place from what the region was in 2003. However, the improving security situation in Darfur has not yet resulted in significant advances in efforts to reach a long-term political resolution. There have been no reports of major displacements in 2017, but existing groups of internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to require significant protection and humanitarian assistance. The return of IDPs has been impeded by the reported occupation of villages and land by armed militia previously associated with government forces, particularly in Jebel Marra, as well as by general lawlessness. The Sudanese government appears to be reducing impediments to the effectiveness of UNAMID, including restrictions on the missions movements. There are broader signs of improving cooperation between UNAMID and the government, though its slow clearance of mission equipment and supplies remains a point of contention. During the week of 15 May, a delegation from the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) visited Darfur and met with Sudanese government representatives. The delegation welcomed the improvements in the overall situation in Darfur and the cooperation between the government and the PSC. A strategic review of UNAMID was presented to the Council in May and will be considered as part of the mandate renewal in June. Human Rights-Related Developments In a statement on 31 March, the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed regret that Jordan, a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, had allowed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to enter the country to participate in the Arab League summit. Recalling the ICCs arrest warrant for Al-Bashir, the High Commissioner said that Jordan was failing the ICC and weakening the global struggle against impunity, and for justice. The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, Aristide Nononsi, undertook his fourth mission to the country from 11 to 21 May. Nononsi is set to present his findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Council at its 36th session in September 2017. At a press conference on 21 May, Nononsi expressed concern over detentions of civil society activists, harassment of media, and oppression of religious minorities. Key Issues The key issue for the Council is what modifications to make to the mandate and force structure of UNAMID to better reflect the current realities and challenges facing the mission. A related issue is how to support efforts to break the ongoing impasse in the negotiations between the government and Darfuri rebel movements, leading to a durable cessation of hostilities and a final settlement. Another issue is the need to promote intercommunal reconciliation, given the high levels of intercommunal fighting in Darfur in recent years. Options The most likely option is for the Council to renew the mandate of UNAMID for an additional year. In doing so the Council may: acknowledge the increased cooperation by the government of Sudan and emphasise the need to end ongoing delays in issuing visas to UNAMID personnel and providing customs clearances for food and supplies destined for the mission; urge the SLA/AW to join the political process; ensure the mandate has the flexibility to allow the redeployment of UNAMID personnel and resources to reflect the improved security situation in some areas and the ongoing threats to peace and security in others, including the possible creation of a quick reaction force in recognition that recent improvements to stability could be reversed; reduce the UNAMID personnel ceiling to reflect the new requirements for the ongoing implementation of UNAMIDs mandate, possibly with a snap back mechanism allowing the ceiling to be raised again if requested by the Secretary-General; and reiterate that the exit strategy for UNAMID remains conditioned on the missions achievement of benchmarks (that is an inclusive peace process, the protection of civilians, unhindered humanitarian access, and the prevention or mitigation of community conflict) and the governments cooperation with UNAMID. The Council could also consider establishing a co-penholder system on Darfur whereby the current penholder, the UK, shares the pen with an African member of the Council, thus heightening African engagement on this issue in the Council and possibly bringing a fresh perspective to the matter. Council Dynamics There is longstanding division in the Council regarding Darfur. Some members, notably China and Russia, tend to emphasise the importance of upholding the sovereignty of Sudan, point to improvements in the security situation in Darfur, and refer to efforts by the government to bring peace to the region. Other members of the Councilincluding the P3have consistently been highly critical of the government of Sudan for committing human rights violations, restricting the operations of UNAMID, and fostering a culture of impunity in Darfur. Nevertheless, the improvements in stability in many parts of Darfur over the past year have created an opportunity for agreement amongst Council members on a redeployment of mission resources to match the current security situation. The US is expected to seek a reduction in the personnel ceiling in line with its current approach to mandate renewals of proposing drawdowns where it believes that is appropriate. The UK is the penholder on Darfur, while Ukraine chairs the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee. UN Documents on Darfur The Council renewed the mandate of the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee Panel of Experts until 12 March 2018. The was a resolution that renewed UNAMIDs mandate for one year. This was a report on UNAMID. This was a briefing on UNAMID. This was the Sudan Sanctions Committee final report. MIDDLE EAST Syria Expected Council Action In June, Council members expect to receive briefings on the political and humanitarian situations in Syria and on chemical weapons. Council members will also be following closely the seventh round of the intra-Syrian talks, which are expected to be convened in Geneva in June. Key Recent Developments At a 3-4 May international meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, the ceasefire guarantors (Iran, Russia and Turkey) agreed on the establishment of four de-escalation areas and security zones in Syria. A memorandum established the areas with the stated aim of ending violence, improving the humanitarian situation, and creating favourable conditions to advance a political settlement. The areas are as follows: Idlib province and certain parts of neighbouring provinces (Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces); certain parts in the north of Homs province; eastern Ghouta; and certain parts of southern Syria (Deraa and Al-Quneitra provinces). According to the memorandum, security zones are to be established along the lines of the de-escalation areas to prevent incidents and military confrontations between the parties. After the meeting, Russia circulated a draft resolution on 5 May welcoming the memorandum and calling on all member states to contribute in good faith to its implementation. Several member states said they needed time to consult with capitals and required further information to make a decision on the draft. Japan and Sweden proposed holding an informal interactive dialogue with the guarantors, but they did not receive a positive response. The meeting in Astana also resulted in progress in addressing the issues of detainees, abductees and missing persons, and humanitarian demining. During consultations on 22 May, Russia updated Council members on an 18-19 May meeting of a joint working group composed of guarantor representatives and efforts to implement the memorandum. Briefing the Council on 22 May, Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura assessed the memorandum as a promising development and stressed the UNs readiness to provide technical expertise. He also highlighted that there were still important details to clarify and warned against the parties taking advantage of existing ambiguities to make territorial gains or divert resources to other battlefronts. The sixth round of intra-Syrian talks was convened by de Mistura in Geneva between 16-19 May. At the talks, de Mistura announced an initiative to establish a technical consultative process of expert meetings to address constitutional and legal issues in the context of the intra-Syrian talks. This process, which is not aimed at making decisions, is expected to feed into the formal Geneva talks through the discussion and definition of options. De Misturas efforts to get the delegations of the Cairo and Moscow platforms to join the opposition delegation announced on 11 February for these expert meetings were unsuccessful. Despite these difficulties, de Mistura stressed at the 22 May briefing that the sixth round of talks faced fewer obstacles related to possible walk-outs, procedural objections or long statements attacking each other or even the questioning of the other sides legitimacy. Despite the announcement of the four de-escalation areas and a general decrease in levels of violence, clashes have continued both inside and outside the areas, which have yet to be precisely defined. In addition to violence in Hama and Homs, government offensives in May on strategic locations adjacent to eastern Ghouta near Damascus resulted in the besiegement and forced displacement of thousands of civilians in Barzeh, Qaboun and Tishreen towns. Ensuring rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access continues to be an issue for 4.5 million people in need in hard-to-reach and besieged areas. Given the bureaucratic challenges and the security situation, only 17 inter-agency humanitarian convoys had been carried out in 2017 as of 17 May. At press time, OCHA head Stephen OBrien was scheduled to brief the Council on 30 May. The military campaign by the coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its partners on the ground in April resulted in scores of civilian casualties and displaced more than 66,000 people in the Raqqa governorate alone. On 8 May, the US announced that it would supply arms to the Kurdish militia YPG, which is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in the offensive to take Raqqa, an ISIL stronghold. The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) shared with Council members a 12 May update on its investigation of the 4 April Khan Shaykhun attack. An analysis of biomedical samples in OPCW-designated laboratories confirmed the use of sarin or a sarin-like substance in the attack. Once the final report is issued, the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) is expected to investigate the attack to identify the perpetrators. In a 2 May report, the FFM confirmed the use of sulfur mustard in a September 2016 attack in Um-Housh near Aleppo, which had been denounced by the government of Syria. On 23 May, Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, in briefing Council members on progress in the elimination of Syrias stockpile of chemical weapons reiterated the OPCWs belief that Syrias initial declaration remains incomplete. Human Rights-Related Developments During its 35th session in June, the Human Rights Council (HRC) is set to hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which will provide an oral briefing as mandated by HRC resolution 34/26. The HRC is also expected to consider the summary report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the high-level panel discussion on the situation of human rights in Syria held during its 34th session in March (A/HRC/35/15). Key Issues More than six years since the start of a war, the essential issue is how the Council can rise above P5 divisions and exert leadership in promoting efforts to reach a political solution. Enforcing the ceasefire that Council members took note of in resolution 2336 of 31 December 2016 and ensuring that the current de-escalation initiative has sustained impact on the ground, including on humanitarian access, is an important issue that could contribute to progress in the Geneva talks as well as to improve the living conditions of the millions of Syrians affected by the conflict. Options The Council has many options at its disposalsuch as imposing an arms embargo or targeted sanctions, referring Syria to the International Criminal Court, or authorising a no-fly zone to deter the Syrian government from using its aerial capacitybut P5 divisions make these unlikely options. Council members could, both individually and collectively, step up efforts to ensure that the government guarantees humanitarian access to besieged and hard-to-reach areas. Council members could discuss with the ceasefire guarantors the establishment of the de-escalation areas, the release of detainees, and demining in an informal interactive dialogue. Council and Wider Dynamics Over the last few years, Council members engagement in the Syrian political negotiations has been limited to following the lead taken by key actors outside the Council. This was again the case when Russia circulated a draft resolution welcoming the memorandum agreed to in Astana. In this instance, however, several Council members voiced concerns regarding the limited information available to them in order to make a decision. These concerns have to do with the role of the guarantor countries in the enforcement of the memorandum, in ensuring that the parties respect the deal, and in monitoring the de-escalation areas. At press time, no negotiations had been held on the draft resolution. The memorandum states that third parties could be deployed to monitor the de-escalation areas if there is consensus among the guarantors, but Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem rejected a role for the UN or other international forces in monitoring the agreement. In a 4 May statement, the US State Department expressed its concern regarding the role of Iran as a guarantor. Particularly critical for the US is Irans potential presence in areas bordering the Golan Heights (Al-Quneitra province), which is disputed by Israel and Syria, as well as on the border with Jordan. On 18 May, the US conducted an airstrike on an Iranian-backed military convoy that it said had ignored warning signals and was nearing a base close to the Jordanian border where the US trains Syrian opposition groups. UN DOCUMENTS ON SYRIA Security Council Letters S/2017/440 (18 May 2017) was an update report from the OPCW FFM mission on the Khan Shaykhun attack. S/2017/400 (4 May 2017) was a report by the OPCW FFM on a chemical weapons attack in Um-Housh in September 2016. S/2017/373 (28 April 2017) was an OPCW report on progress in the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Security Council Meeting Records S/PV.7946 (23 May 2017) was a briefing by Nakamitsu on the destruction of Syrias stockpile of chemical weapons. S/PV.7944 (22 May 2017) was a briefing by de Mistura after the sixth round of the Geneva talks Welcomed efforts by Russia and Turkey to end violence in Syria and jumpstart a political process. Renewed the mandate of the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism for a further year. This resolution was adopted unanimously by the Council and required the verification and destruction of Syrias chemical weapons stockpiles, called for the convening of the Geneva II peace talks and endorsed the establishment of a transitional governing body in Syria with full executive powers. This was the first resolution focused exclusively on a political solution to the Syrian crisis. It was adopted unanimously. This was the monthly report on the humanitarian situation. This was an update report from the OPCW FFM mission on the Khan Shaykhun attack. This was a report by the OPCW FFM on a chemical weapons attack in Um-Housh in September 2016. This was a briefing by Nakamitsu on the destruction of Syrias stockpile of chemical weapons. This was a briefing by de Mistura after the sixth round of the Geneva talks. UNOCA/LRA Expected Council Action In June, Francois Louceny Fall, Special Representative and head of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), is expected to brief the Security Council on the Secretary-Generals semi-annual report on UNOCA and the implementation of the UN regional strategy to combat the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). The mandate of UNOCA expires on 31 August 2018. Key Recent Developments Fall last briefed the Council on 7 December 2016. He noted that Equatorial Guinea and Gabon had agreed to submit their border dispute to the International Court of Justice, based on an UN-mediated agreement signed in Marrakech, Morocco, on 15 November 2016. He further said that the efforts of the Lake Chad Basin countries to fight terrorism had resulted in substantial military and security successes. He maintained, however, that defeating Boko Haram would be a long-term effort requiring sustained determination and vigilance, coupled with a holistic approach aimed at tackling the root causes of violent extremism, including marginalization and extreme poverty. Fall expressed concern that Ugandas announcement that it would withdraw from the African Union (AU) Regional Task Force (RTF) would result in a security vacuum that the LRA could exploit. He reported a rise in piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea in 2016 compared to 2015. In late March, the US announced that it would withdraw its forces, numbering some 150 troops, from the international effort to fight the LRA. In a 29 March statement, the US Africa Command (Africom) said that the AU RTF against the LRA had significantly weakened the capacities of the group. The LRAs membership was now below 100 fighters, and although its leader, Joseph Kony, was still in hiding, the RTF had captured several key LRA leaders. The statement said that the US effort against the LRA, known as Operation Observant Compass, would transition to broader-scope security and stability activities. In a 20 April press briefing, Africom Commander General Thomas Waldhauser said that his country would continue to provide training and intelligence-sharing, as required, to the task force against the LRA. Also in mid-April, Uganda announced that it would withdraw its 1,500 troops engaged in counter-LRA operations in the Central African Republic. Brigadier Richard Karemire, a spokesman for the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces, asserted that the LRA no longer represents a threat to Uganda. On 12 May, the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) adopted a communique renewing the mandate of the Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of the Lords Resistance Army (RCI-LRA) for one year. It urged partners of the AUi.e. the US, the EU and the UNto enhance their support for the RCI-LRA with a view to enabling the RTF to pursue and intensify its actions towards the elimination of the threat that the LRA continues to pose to the promotion of peace, security and stability in the region. The communique expressed concern that the departure of US and Ugandan troops would create a security vacuum that could lead to the revival of the LRA. It urged the UN Security Council to take into account the disarmament of the LRA in considering the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Since late 2016, protests have taken place in Anglophone parts of western Cameroon against Cameroonian government policies viewed as discriminating against English-speakers. Of particular concern to protestors is the employment of non-English-speaking judges and teachers. The government has been accused of violently repressing the protests, and in January, it shut down internet services in Anglophone southwest and northwest Cameroon. Fall has been trying to mediate a solution to the crisis, travelling to Cameroon four times between November 2016 and April, engaging with government officials, civil society representatives and opposition leaders. On 20 January, Cameroonian President Paul Biya announced the restoration of Internet services to English-speaking areas. In a 21 April statement, Fall welcomed the decision, saying he hoped it would help reduce tension andcreate conditions conducive to the resolution of the crisis in the two regions. Key Issues A key issue for the Council is determining whether the withdrawal of Ugandan and US troops will enable the LRA to regenerate, leading to greater insecurity in the region, and how the Council would address such potential instability. Another key issue is the deteriorating security situation in the Central African Republic, marked by fighting among ex-Seleka factions and among anti-Balaka, ex-Seleka and other rebel groups. How the Council and UNOCA could support the AU-led initiative to mediate with armed groups to find a sustainable political solution is a matter for consideration. (For background on developments in CAR, please see our brief in this Forecast.) Given overlapping challenges related to terrorism, under-development and displacement in Central and West Africa, an important issue is how the Council can promote coordination and sharing of best practices in the work of UNOCA and the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). Along these lines, resolution 2349 on the Lake Chad Basin, adopted on 31 March, requested a written report from the Secretary-General within five months discussing, among other things, possible measureswith respect to achieving greater coherence of effort in the context of overlapping regional strategies. Options An option for the Council is to issue a presidential statement that: expresses support for UNOCA and encourages member states to contribute more resources toward anti-LRA efforts and regional cooperation, especially in light of concerns reflected in the PSCs 12 May communique about a potential security vacuum; and expresses support for UNOCAs efforts in addressing the increasing political and security challenges in Central Africa. Another option would be to have a discussion with AU representatives in the ad-hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa on how the Council could best support the AU-led mediation initiative in the Central African Republic. Members could also consider holding an Arria-formula meeting with experts on the LRA and regional security to get their assessment of the current capacities of, and threats posed by, the LRA. Council Dynamics Some members are concerned about the possible security vacuum that could result from Ugandas departure from the RTF and the withdrawal of US troops supporting the effort. This view is consistent with those expressed in the PSCs 12 May communique. There are also ongoing concerns about the security situation in the Central African Republic, and some members are keen to learn more about the efforts of the AU-led mediation efforts and whether and how the Council can support these efforts. The UK is the penholder on the UNOCA/LRA. UN Documents on UNOCA This was on the Lake Chad Basin. This was the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Central Africa and the activities of UNOCA. This was a meeting on UNOCA. ASIA UNRCCA (Central Asia) Expected Council Action In June, the Special Representative and head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Petko Draganov, will brief Council members in consultations on key regional issues, including the threat of terrorism and extremism, the impact of the situation in Afghanistan, drug-trafficking, trans-boundary water management, and tensions linked to border-related disputes. He is also expected to brief on the Secretary-Generals visit to Central Asia due to take place in the first half of June. UNRCCA was established in 2007 for an open-ended time period. Key Recent Developments Since his last briefing on 2 February, Draganov has continued to engage bilaterally with the countries of the region. He was in Moscow for consultations with officials from the Russian foreign ministry, the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Together with Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, he met with Deputy Foreign Ministers Grigory Karasin and Oleg Syromolotov. In addition, he held bilateral meetings with the Special Envoy of the President of Russia for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, and took part in a CTSO working group meeting on Afghanistan. On 27-28 April, Draganov visited Tajikistan for meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Aslov and First Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Resources Sulton Rahimzoda. He visited Kyrgyzstan on 11-12 May, during which he held consultations with Vice Prime Minister Jenish Razakov and Deputy Foreign Minister Dinara Kemelova and met representatives of the diplomatic corps and the UN country team. UNRCCA hosted a number of regional conferences and workshops on relevant topics. On 3-5 April, UNRCCA and the Academy for Public Administration in Kazakhstan organised regional training on capacity-building in mediation and conflict prevention in Astana. On 5 April, it held a training seminar in Ashgabat on the main legal principles and substantive norms in international water law. Key Issues An overall issue is how the Council could better utilise UNRCCAs conflict prevention experience, and what more the Council could do to support UNRCCAs role in preventive diplomacy and regional cooperation. Another issue is whether the Council could better incorporate discussion of the interlinkages between Afghanistan and the Central Asian states in its debates on Afghanistan. Regarding UNRCCA, an issue is whether the 10-year mandate of UNRCCA needs to be reviewed in light of new developments, including the rise of terrorism and extremism in Central Asia. Options One option is to invite the UNRCCA Special Representative to occasionally participate in the quarterly debates on UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in order for the Council to gain a broader understanding of the regional impact of the situation in Afghanistan. A related option is to include in the UNAMA report a more comprehensive and integrated analysis of the regional impact using contributions from UNRCCA. The Council could request a review of UNRCCAs mandate and activities to determine whether there is a need to change the scope of its activities as well as to assess the effectiveness of the regional office. Given the difficulty of getting agreement for a press statement (as described below), an option that would allow Council members to publicly support the work of UNRCCA is to change the format of the briefing from a closed to an open meeting, perhaps followed by consultations. Council Dynamics Members are generally supportive of the work of UNRCCA, but there have been tensions between Russia and the P3 regarding language on cooperation with specific regional organisations that have prevented the issuance of a press statement for the last two years. From the establishment of UNRCCA in 2007 until January 2015, the semi-annual briefings were followed by a press statement commending the centres conflict prevention role. These statements simply encouraged increased cooperation and coordination between the Central Asian countries, UNRCCA and relevant regional organisations to strengthen the regions capacity to overcome challenges to peace, stability and sustainable development. In 2015, however, Russia, which is the penholder on this issue, added specific references to cooperation between the Central Asian countries and CIS, CSTO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), as well as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the EU. The P3 mistrust the CIS, CSTO and SCO, as they see them as vehicles for spreading Russian influence in the region and were adamant that they not be included. At the last briefing, Kazakhstan, which has a direct interest in the work of UNRCCA and in the region, tried to bridge the differences by suggesting two possible alternatives to Russias formulation, but a compromise was not possible. UN DOCUMENTS ON UNRCCA This press statement welcomed the briefing in consultations on 21 January by Miroslav Jenca, the Special Representative and head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, and reiterated support for UNRCCA as an early-warning and preventive-diplomacy tool. Press Release May 31, 2017 Sen. Bam: Joint session is Congress' duty Sen. Bam Aquino insisted that convening a joint session is a duty of Congress and a means to promote welfare of the Filipino people by enlightening them about details behind the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao. "It is part of our constitutional requirement and important for the public to be able to listen for themselves kung ano ang sasabihin ng security managers," said Sen. Bam during Tuesday night's discussion on the minority group's Senate Resolution 390, which urges Congress to hold a joint session on the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao. "During a joint session, iyong ibang pinag-usapan natin during an executive session, kung bakit nagdeklara ng Martial Law, kung ano ang plano at kung hanggang kailan ang hangganan, puwede iyong marinig ng taumbayan," said Sen. Bam. As representatives of the people, Sen. Bam said it is the duty of lawmakers to inform the public details of important issues affecting their lives and the country. "The people need to know what it is we also know as much as possible, without breaching any national security matter," the senator said, adding that Congress must follow its constitutional mandate whatever the outcome of the vote. In an earlier interview, Sen. Bam emphasized that a joint session will give security managers a chance to enlighten the public about the situation and address misinformation and fake news circulating online at the same time. "The people are contradicting each other. Agencies are contradicting each other in terms of facts and in terms of what's really happening. We need to hear it straight from the security managers," Sen. Bam pointed out. Nine senators voted in favor of the resolution while 12 voted against it. Aside from Sen. Bam, those who voted in favor were Sens. Franklin Drilon, Chiz Escudero, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, Grace Poe, Ralph Recto and Antonio Trillanes. Those who voted against it were Senators Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manny Pacquiao, Tito Sotto, Cynthia Villar, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. Press Release May 31, 2017 Transcript of Interview of Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon Q: On the joint session Drilon: I was not optimistic that a joint session will take place because the House said it won't agree to a joint session. It takes two to tango. So wala rin iyon. Q: Ano magiging next move ng minority? Drilon: We will support any effort to go to Supreme Court. There are certain rules we are aware of. We have been asked whether we should go to the SC. My personal view is ayaw kong mabahiran ng pulitika. Let the other legal scholars do it. That's my view given the very tense environment that we are in today, very partisan. We don't want that any case with the SC will be tainted with partisanship because it's a constitutional issue and we want it to remain that way. Q: There's an issue about some of the details of the briefing being bared by the senators Drilon: There is no issue because we have agreed that one particular issue should not be divulged and we have kept that. Q: By saying support, you will just support whatever action? Drilon: I don't want na mabahiran ng pulitika. This is constitutional issue. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that that provision of Constitution will be tested. Let the legal scholars study it. Q: Ang sabi ng kapag hindi raw naaprubahan ang income tax, hindi matutuloy yung mga infrastructure project. Pang-pressure po ba iyon? Drilon: Regardless of their opinion we will scrutinize it. Q: Sabi ni Sec. Pernia wala raw expertise ang Congress sa income tax Drilon: Labing-siyan na taon na ako ritong tumitingin ng budget. I do not claim expertise but certainly we know something about the budget. If that Pernia's statement is accurate, I find that arrogant. Ang yabang naman niya. Drilon: Sinabi ba niya yan? Q: Yes. Drilon: Sabihin mo such arrogance. Press Release May 31, 2017 Legarda Hails Passage of Free College Tuition Bill Senator Loren Legarda today hailed the Senate's approval of the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. Legarda, co-sponsor of the bill, said that the measure institutionalizes the provision of full tuition fee subsidy for students enrolled in all of the country's state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges (LUCs) and in state-run technical-vocational institutions. "One of the long-standing concerns of poor families is bringing their children to college because after finishing high school in public schools, most of them have no means to pay for tuition fee in SUCs. We addressed this concern in the 2017 budget. Now, we are a step away from making it permanent," said Legarda, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance. Under the bill, students in SUCs, LUCs, and state-run technical-vocational institutions are also exempt from paying other school fees such as admission fees, laboratory fees, computer fees, and the like. "With the passage of this bill, we will be legislating in effect the system or mechanism by which the funding for free tuition, already appropriated for this year, will be utilized. This is a huge step towards ensuring universal access to education," Legarda said. In the 2017 national budget, Congress provided for an additional Php8 billion for CHED's Higher Education Support Fund and Php300 million for Cash Grants to Medical Students enrolled in the country's SUCs offering the Doctor of Medicine Program. The 2017 national budget also includes funding worth Php5.7 billion for the CHED's Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs) which covers both the Regular StuFAPs such as its Scholarship Program, Grants in Aid Program and Student Loan Program and Other StuFAPs like the Tulong Dunong and the Iskolar ng Bayan Program. Press Release May 31, 2017 Minority senators support De Lima's 'legislative furlough' The Senate Minority Bloc has expressed its unequivocal support to Sen. Leila M. de Lima's request for temporary furlough so that she can attend to matters of crucial legislation pending in the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon led his four other colleagues in filing Senate Resolution No. 391 expressing the sense of the Senate to support De Lima's request for legislative furlough. "Senator De Lima is not asking for the privilege of attending all legislative sessions or hearings, but is simply requesting for a modicum of support from the Senate to enable her to properly perform her mandate," the resolution said. De Lima, a former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and former justice secretary, is a first-term senator who has received her electoral mandate of 14 million in the last national elections in 2016. She is presently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City, while awaiting trial over what she claims trumped-up charges of illegal drug trade. "Senator De Lima has not been convicted of any crime and is in full possession of political and civil rights, the exercise of which are only limited by the deprivation of her physical liberty," the resolution added. Last May 11, De Lima has written to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, requesting for an expression of support from the Senate for her "desire to be occasionally granted furlough by the court in charge of her detention to vote on crucial landmark legislation on a 'case-to-case' basis." In SR 391, the Senate Minority Bloc cited a number of instances where the Supreme Court granted the request of former senators similarly charged with a non-bailable offense temporary furlough for humanitarian reasons. It noted that the Sandiganbayan granted temporary furlough to former Senators Ramon Revilla, Jr. and Jose "Jinggoy" Ejercito Estrada for some important family occasions or personal or health reasons. It also cited that the Supreme Court has granted temporary liberty to former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile due to his "advanced age, poor health as well as his past and present disposition of respect for the legal process, length of public service and private reputation." Press Release May 31, 2017 Villar urges DFA and OWWA to act faster on repatriation of OFW's remains Senator Cynthia Villar vowed to personally look into the delay in the repatriation of the remains of 45-year old Roger Dignadice, an overseas worker in Dammam, Saudi Arabia who died last March. The senator known for her advocacy for the rights and welfare of OFWs noted that Dignadice died of natural cause after going through an appendectomy, which revealed that the OFW had stomach cancer. "Roger Dignadice died on March 11 and until now, his body is in the morgue, awaiting repatriation. His widow had to fly from Iloilo to Manila and go from one agency to another to seek help because she cannot afford to pay the remainder of his hospital bills. I think both the DFA and OWWA must explain why it has taken so long for his body to be brought home," Senator Villar said. The OFW was stranded in Saudi Arabia for two years after the company that hired him as a driver, Rajeh H. Al Marri and Son, declared bankruptcy thus leaving its workers including Roger Dignadice penniless and without proper accommodations. His brother, Charlie, who was also an OFW, brought the case to the attention of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center out of frustration with the inaction of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah. Senator Villar said that the repatriation process involving remains of a deceased OFW should be simplified, with every grieving OFW family's request treated with utmost urgency and compassion. "His family had been suffering even while Roger was still alive and fighting for his benefits and back wages. He was a stranded OFW for two years. Now that he is dead, the family continues to suffer because they cannot even grieve over his coffin. I want to understand why this happened and which agency should be held accountable," Villar said. Yesterday, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac promised to take care of the unpaid hospital bills so that the body of Roger Dignadice can finally be brought home and laid to rest. The DFA also promised to help the Dignadice family. It took several requests from the Dignadice family and the Blas F. Ople Policy Center before such assurances were obtained. Villar said that nearly three months have passed since Dignadice died, and the undue delay has added to the anxiety and grief of her wife and children. The staunch OFW advocate urged the DFA and OWWA to make it easier for grieving families to receive the remains of relatives who died abroad. "Why must the widow travel all the way from Iloilo to Manila to seek the help of our government? I will officially write to the DFA and OWWA to seek an explanation on this matter," Senator Villar said. Dignadice's widow was among six beneficiaries of livelihood assistance extended by the senator through the Villar family's SIPAG Foundation. The Villar SIPAG Foundation's OFW livelihood assistance package consisted of grocery items and an initial capital that would allow the beneficiaries to open a small store. The six beneficiaries were: 1. Reynaldo Batuigas of Marilao, Bulacan - He was an OFW from Dammam, Saudi Arabia whose employer (Al Tamer Transport) did not pay him for six months. He was hospitalized due to hunger, and was recently sent home. 2. Lory Rose Beniegla of Las Pinas City - Her husband is a fisherman and buys and sells bottles on the side. They have five children. Extreme poverty led Lory to work as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, her employer forced her to work more than 12 hours a day. She ate only once a day. Her agency facilitated her repatriation. 3. Marife Pagtalunan of Calumpit, Bulacan - Her husband is a farmer and they have three children. She decided to work abroad through Supreme Manpower Recruitment Agency, which had an agent that recruited her. The agent made Marife sign a blank Balik-Manggagawa form and her contract was given to her right at the airport. The Balik-Manggawa form made it appear that Marife was just returning to her former employer. Marife's family sought the help of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center for her repatriation due to a medical condition. 4. Nonalie Hosanilla of Talipapa, Quezon City - She worked as a domestic worker in Dubai. She fell sick and had to be hospitalized. Her employer asked Nonalie's parents to send money to pay for her hospitalization. The family borrowed money from friends to send to the employer. Instead of bringing Nonalie to the hospital, the employer gave her medicine while pocketing the money remitted by the OFW's parents. Aside from this, Nonalie also suffered physical abuse at the hands of her employer. 5. Shiela Mae Gallo of Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental - Shiela was illegally recruited for Lebanon where she had a change of employers eleven times. The owner of her foreign agency would beat her up each time she was returned to the agency. Her brother, Luwell, went to Manila to seek help from the Ople Center for her repatriation. The person who recruited Shiela in Negros Occidental is now the subject of a police investigation. 6. Merlita Dignadice of Pasil, Iloilo - She is the widow of OFW Roger Dignadice whose remains continue to be held in a morgue in Dammam Central Hospital in Saudi Arabia. Dignadice died after going through an appendectomy. The Villar SIPAG Foundation has a long-standing partnership with the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-profit organization that has been assisting distressed OFWs for the last 14 years. Estimados amigos, Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia. Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro. Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras. There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen. You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca. Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt. Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos. Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada. History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Lacy Atkins/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Napa police Show More Show Less A Napa County mother and her boyfriend were found guilty of first-degree murder in the torture-killing of the womans 3-year-old daughter in 2014, a jury announced Tuesday. The little girl, Kayleigh Slusher, was found dead Feb. 1, 2014. Kayleigh had been tortured, and her body had been kept in a freezer for three days, then placed in her bed, police said. A rockslide that snarled the Wednesday morning commute for riders headed from Stockton to San Jose on the Altamont Corridor Express train was cleared within an hour and service was restored, officials said. The rockslide, reported at the Altamont Pass in Livermore, caused a major slowdown at about 6:15 a.m. of nearly an hour for the ACE 3 train, officials said. Klockars blacksmith shop on Rincon Hill has endured as an obvious contrast of the old San Francisco and the new, a blue-collar relic amid sleek residential towers. But if plans now in the works bear fruit, the two-story wood structure from 1912 will be a symbol of transition all on its own from a place where metalwork is forged to a nook where marijuana is consumed. Tonys not going to be here forever, and there arent a line of blacksmiths waiting in line to take over, said Travis Kelly, the grandson of Tony Rosellini, who has operated the blacksmith shop pretty much on his own since 1970. This way, at least we can preserve the building into the future. The building is owned by Rosellinis ex-wife, the daughter of Edwin Klockars, who died in 1994 at the age of 96. The family has never had interest in selling despite the offers that routinely come their way. With his grandmothers blessing, Kelly and investors have filed a proposal with the city to restore the structure and bring it up to code no mean feat given the dirt floors in the back and an airy tin roof. The new function would be a cannabis dispensary, for now called The Weedsmith. The old machines, the wide-plank redwood floors, wed want to keep it all and preserve the atmosphere, said Kelly, 29, an attorney who grew up in Burlingame. Wed want something high-end, like a Sephora or an Apple Store. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle There was a time here when a blacksmiths shop was nothing special, especially in a part of town where small operators were part of the industrial bustle. But Klockars is the only one left, a designated city landmark with 20 stories of condominiums on one side, a massive electrical substation on the other, and a 55-story tower going up across the street. Its kind of cold already, Rosellini, 86, said one afternoon last week. Now its going to be shady, too. Rosellini lives in South San Francisco, and most days his exercise consists of long, slow walks at the mall. But he still comes in one or two days a week, firing up the forge and making the hooks used to lift manhole covers, or prongs, or pry bars. Nothing glamorous. The affable blacksmith loves to tell how he entered the trade: I was married to the boss daughter, I got fired somewhere else, and my wife said, You better give Tony a job. That was in 1960. A decade late, Edwin Klockars was ready to retire. I took over the business, Rosellini said with a laugh, then gestured at the spare tools and dusty keepsakes piled high in every direction. I never made any money. But all this junk is mine. Kelly has known the building his entire life, and was there on almost a daily basis while attending law school at Golden Gate University. Now hes leading the effort of family members to figure out what to do next. According to Kelly, the first thought was a restaurant or a traditional retail outpost. But the restaurant boom here has tapered off. The costs of restoring the structure while also making it accessible are daunting, especially in a location thats hardly Maiden Lane. So instead of some ideal fit such as a showroom focused on goods made in San Francisco the proposed Weedsmith would offer an artisanal culture, high-design atmosphere, and ... a friendly, consistent, professional source of medical cannabis, according to the documents filed with the Planning Department. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Kelly admits that he ran into a rocky reception last week, when presenting the idea to the board of directors of the condominium tower next door. Theres a lot of stigma and misunderstanding around cannabis, he said. But at the end of the day, it has been voted on (favorably) by San Francisco and California voters. Assuming the Weedsmith idea takes root, and the money flowing toward legalized marijuana doesnt run dry, at least two years will likely pass before the blacksmith machines become artifacts. That 55-story residential high-rise on the other side of Folsom Street will be in place. So will the 40-story tower now under construction to the west. In the meantime, Rosellini will come up to the city when he wants, and stay across the county line when he doesnt. If hes feeling sentimental, he doesnt let it show. Everything changes, he shrugged, the forge glowing orange toward the rear of the dark rear annex with its corrugated walls and dirt floor. Except parking. Theres always a parking problem here. John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Nest said Wednesday its newest security camera will take facial recognition to another level, with better sensors and software smart enough to detect the difference between family members, pets and potential intruders in the home. The company spent two years on the $299 Nest Cam IQ, collaborating with Google on algorithms that recognize familiar faces. (Both Nest and Google are divisions of Alphabet Inc.) The camera has an 8-megapixel image sensor and 12x digital zoom. That allows users, with a companion app, to zoom in on faces. With a $10-a-month Nest Aware subscription, they can enter their names, and the next time a person appears on camera, a smartphone alert will identify them. The new hardware is an improvement from the cameras predecessor, Nest Cam Indoor, which has a 3-megapixel sensor and 8x digital zoom. Maxime Veron, a Nest director of product marketing, said the companys security cameras should be a like a guard watching over your home 24/7 and that guard needs to be intelligent, hearing and thinking. Some analysts say the technology could shake up the security camera industry. Internet-connected cameras will play a large role into the future, said Gene Munster, a managing partner at Loup Ventures. This is definitely a good example of how artificial intelligence is finding its way into all products across the board, and how every company needs to be an AI-first company, Munster said. Artificial intelligence feeds on data, the fodder for training algorithms to become smarter and smarter. And Nest has a lot of it: Its cameras already detect 9 billion people a year and upload 2,000 years of video a day. Google purchased Nest for $3.2 billion in 2014, but in 2015, Googles founders renamed the parent company Alphabet and set up Google and Nest as separate divisions. Nest has come under criticism by some analysts for not producing enough new products since it was purchased. Since its founding in 2010 by former Apple employees Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, Nest has introduced an Internet-connected thermostat and smoke detector. It entered the camera business through its acquisition of Dropcam in 2014 and subsequently sold new indoor and outdoor cameras under the Nest name. Some people, including Greg Duffy, the former CEO of Dropcam, were critical of how the acquisition was handled. Last year, Fadell stepped down as CEO. Marwan Fawaz, former CEO of Motorola Home, was named Nests new CEO. Rogers is still with the company. Nest said users can place orders for the Nest Cam IQ starting Wednesday. The cameras will ship a month from now and be sold in 11 countries, including the U.S. Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Santa Clara County jury began the arduous task Tuesday of deciding whether to sentence the killer of 15-year-old Morgan Hill girl Sierra LaMar to death or send him to prison for the rest of his life. While attorneys for Sierras convicted murderer, Antolin Garcia-Torres, pleaded with the jury to spare their client, the prosecution urged them take the hard step and deliver the ultimate sentence. It takes courage to look at this man this flesh and blood and determine the just punishment, Deputy District Attorney David Boyd said during his closing argument. But when you think about what the defendant did, and what Sierra must have experienced in those minutes and hours, how is anything but the maximum punishment warranted? Garcia-Torres attorney, Brian Matthews, argued the mitigating factors in the case including the defendants tortured childhood should compel the jury to spare the 26-year-old. Im going to talk to you about mercy and compassion, Matthews told the somber jury. Mercy and compassion is not something that can be taken. It is given. It is something that you can give and it ennobles the giver. The jury began deliberating at the end of the day Tuesday on whether to give Garcia-Torres life in prison without parole or death for the 2012 kidnapping and slaying of the vivacious girl. Garcia-Torres sat expressionless throughout the day, only nodding once to his family sitting close behind him in the gallery. The same jury earlier this month found Garcia-Torres guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping, despite investigators never recovering Sierras body or finding the scene of her murder. The panel also found Garcia-Torres guilty of three counts of attempted kidnapping from separate incidents at Morgan Hill grocery stores in 2009. With executions halted in California, its unlikely Garcia-Torres would be put to death anytime soon if he is condemned. But life alone in a cell on San Quentins Death Row stripped of nearly all basic freedoms is considerably drearier than being incarcerated among the general population. During the three-week death penalty mini-trial, prosecutors called to the stand Sierras friends and family, whose stories of the 15-year-old victim brought many in the room to tears. Boyd connected the powerful images of the once-vibrant Sierra to her likely final moments, driving home his argument that Garcia-Torres deserves the maximum punishment possible. There is not much worse than the murder of a child, Boyd said. Even when you think about that, what could be worse than what Sierra went through? She saw the true face of evil, and he was touching her naked body. At one particularly descriptive moment in Boyds closing, Garcia-Torres mother stood up and rushed out of the courtroom gallery. Bringing his remarks to an emotional crescendo, Boyd played a video, showing Sierra singing along to the Colbie Caillat ballad Realize. Sierra will never again bring joy and happiness to anyone around her, and this defendant took that away from her, he said. He will ask for your sympathy, compassion and mercy something he never gave to Sierra. While the prosecution has stuck to a message of justice in seeking the death penalty, defense attorneys presented an array of factors they hope will convince the jury otherwise. Showing pictures of a young Garcia-Torres, Matthews recounted a painful childhood that the defendants sister and mother described in their testimony two weeks ago. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Growing up in a dilapidated home in a strawberry field in the Santa Clara County town of San Martin, Garcia-Torres father now a convicted child molester would abuse his mother in front of their children. On top of the poverty, violence, abuse ... Antolin experienced a significant amount of loss. Matthews said, even suggesting pesticides in the soil around where the children would play may have impacted Garcia-Torres. A key focus of Matthews defense was to evoke the possibility for lingering doubt. Without a body, or direct evidence that Sierra was murdered, the defense went back to its argument during the guilt phase of the trial that the teen may not be dead. The prosecution talks about what could have happened to Sierra, but they cant tell you what happened, Matthews said. The truth is there was no evidence presented about what happened to Antolin and Sierra. Before the jury moved to deliberate, the defense wrapped up its case, countering the prosecutions characterization that Garcia-Torres is evil. Character witnesses, including friends and former employers, described the defendant as a protector, who loved his siblings and grew up without a male role model. I am here trying to save a life, not through fancy lawyering or sleight of hand, Matthews said. Im asking you to look into your hearts and know that life without parole is a brutal sentence, but it is a just sentence and a compassionate and fair sentence. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky James Steidl / James Steidl / ST A 25-year-old Oakland man accused of shooting to death another man in the East Bay city was arrested and charged with murder, officials said Tuesday. Dawuan Budd was arrested May 23 near the crime scene on suspicion of the slaying in the 2100 block of Fruitvale Avenue, according to the Oakland Police Department. Jenny Debevecs hypothesis is simple: Kids who feel isolated, afraid or overwhelmed by chronic illness grow happier when they do improvisational comedy. Its no joke. Debevec, 39, has seen the transformation many times in the five years she has taught improv at the hospital school run by the Palo Alto school district in the Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital at Stanford University. Debevec helps students become spontaneously inventive thats improvising within the structure of a game like Well Help You Pack! where everyone imagines what theyd put in their suitcase for a trip to ... Iceland maybe? Players take turns, including Debevec, and every answer is right because its all about imagination and having fun. But even though the benefits she sees are profound like the time a teenage girl threatening violence held a doctor and a security guard at bay in the hospital lobby but was able to sit and do schoolwork after Debevec arrived and spoke with her extensively through a mermaid puppet improv is not a recognized therapy or widely offered to those who may benefit from it. Not yet, anyway. Debevec, trained in theater, recently enrolled in a masters degree program in counseling at San Francisco State University so she could gather data on the effects of improv on the well-being of people with medical or emotional difficulties. Debevecs goal is to demonstrate empirically that improv can promote mental health. One of the challenges is, how do I measure its effects? said Debevec, whose classes at the hospital school will serve as a laboratory for her counseling studies. The children she works with typically have cancer, cystic fibrosis, eating disorders, kidney disease or, as in the case of the girl who behaved violently, brain disease. Many face organ transplants or other scary procedures. Just as medical researchers consider better health to be the measure of a successful treatment, Debevec says shell measure the success of her improv research in five ways: more laughter, greater joy, increased hope, happier moods and improved social connections. Debevecs kids dont work on stage. Bed is a fine place for improv, say Debevec and co-teacher Kelly Rinehart, a speech pathology instructor at San Francisco State, who make their rounds to work with kids who cant leave their hospital rooms. They also do improv with students in the hospital school, sitting on chairs in a circle playing games like Crazy 8, Two Truths and a Lie and Superhero, where the script is up to the players. Thank you for getting me a robot! 10-year-old Ziyan Liu gushed to Rinehart in improv class the other day. Rinehart had just handed her a gift invisible to anyone but the four playing I Like You So Much ... I made that robot out of a bicycle chain and Pop Tarts, Reinhart told Ziyan, who then turned to Debevec, gave her an invisible present and said: I like you so much, I got you this! Thank you! Its a pair of big ears! Debevec told the giggling Ziyan. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle Whatever caused Ziyan, a small girl in a pink pantsuit, to enroll in the hospital school remains a mystery to visitors. But during the hour-long improv class on Wednesday, her smile did not wear off. Then the foursome played Not a ... , in which they passed around a flat leather object and contradicted each other about what it was. That is not your cell phone, Keenan Espiritu, 15, told Debevec as she passed him the object and insisted that it was. Its my big elephant ear, he said before handing it to Rinehart, who told him, Its my eye patch. Its not, Ziyan said, its my hat! Then they played a counting game where if anyone paid too little attention the counting would have to start back at 1, as it inevitably did. In another game, each player created a unique movement and sound then everyone tried to perform them all. In another, the players had to remember in great detail things that never happened. Its fun, said Keenan, a bright-eyed boy for whom most things in life are not fun. He had his first kidney transplant at age 2 and his second in November. He lost one kidney to organ rejection and another to cancer. He spent years on a kidney waiting list, and even more years on dialysis. Now he and his family live at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford, waiting for him to kick a serious infection so they can return to their home in Hawaii. Improv helps by sharing and having friends, Keenan said. Im thankful for that. I like doing this. Amy Cole-Farrell, education director at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, which developed the Childrens Healing Project in 2003, is an expert on the beneficial effects of improv. We find tons of anecdotal evidence from nurses all the time, she said, noting that improv is also used with people who have every condition from dementia to math anxiety. When you make your friends laugh during an improv game, it translates into a healthy child. Now, the idea is to find a way to encourage clinicians to take the laughter seriously. There isnt research out there, said Patricia Van Velsor, an associate professor in the department of counseling at San Francisco State and Debevecs adviser. Most articles (on improv as therapy) are based on anecdotal observation. Theyve seen kids coming out able to express themselves emotionally. You can see the creativity develop. But if anyone is equipped to quantify the therapeutic mysteries of improvisational comedy, Van Velsor said, its Debevec. Shes a beginning student in the program but she comes in with this incredible experience in improv. Debevec told the story of another child, a boy who curled himself into a ball rather than interact with other children or even eat. His mom was beside herself, Debevec said. She was in tears. Debevecs puppet perhaps the snub-nosed chicken went to work. We only did a half an hour, she said. By the end, he said, Can we do more? Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov For more information The Childrens Healing Project is an improv curriculum developed by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley that can be replicated anywhere. Here is a link that explains how to use theatre arts with critically ill young people: http://bit.ly/2r2AfnZ Theres a hundred and four days to summer vacation. And school comes around just to end it. Phineas and Ferb Zane earned his first expulsion on June 26, 2006, from a day care two blocks away from our home in the outer, outer, outer, outer Excelsior. For biting. The woman who ran the place told me that in 19 years she had never once given up on a child, not until she met a boy as wild and mysterious as Zane. At the time, I was devastated. I didnt know that in 21st century America, an African American male was more than three times more likely to be suspended and twice as likely to be expelled as a white male student. Half a century earlier, in the Outer Ozone Park, only the truly unredeemable boys got expelled from St. Anthony of Padua. In fact, I had never met one boy who had actually gotten expelled. Oh, there were urban myths, but no boy was so hopeless that Sister Mary Magdalen couldnt beat some orthodoxy into him. In fact, Brother X was just about the closest thing that there ever was to a bad boy at the school. In the kindergarten play, he peed all over the Peter Rabbit costume that my mother, Nurse Vivian, had sewn. She had come home night after night from working swing watch at Jamaica Hospital to get the sewing machine out at midnight, and, truly, the costume was a work of fuzzy beauty. Until it was decorated yellow. When Brother X got left back in second grade, Nurse Vivian took him in for testing. The psychiatrist asked Brother X directly, Your mother said that you dont know how to tie your own shoes? Brother X replied, Why should I? She (referring to Nurse Vivian) always does it for me. That was the day she stopped doing his homework. And Brother X turned out to be the first of our shanty Irish family to graduate from college. That day Nurse Vivian said, Turns out I didnt need to sharpen his pencils or finish his algebra. The only thing I really needed to do was to believe in him. Me, I was the nerd of the family. Straight As in everything from sentence diagrams to lives of the saints. Except for penmanship. Sister Florence issued my one glaring red F, noting poor penmanship is a sign of sloth. If Kevin cannot master cursive, how can he master life? So while the other students memorized state capitals, I practiced all three loops in the Z and how to put the hat on top of the F. I had the bad habit of chewing on my pen. Nowadays this would not be a problem, but in 1966, as I wrote my name over and over, I chewed on the fountain pen and the cartridge split, getting red ink all over my mouth. Sister Florence, never one to waste a teaching moment, walked me into each and every class of grammar school, pointing out my crimson lips and saying, See what happens when a boy doesnt learn his cursive? It turns him into a little girl. Thank God they invented ballpoints. As I write this, I realize that I was a lot more like Zane than I thought. We both got in trouble for biting in school. He never did nip another child. Oh, he organized an insurrection in kindergarten and twerked in the middle school cafeteria. But we are the Fisher-Paulsons. Aidans done a fair share of detention (getting his head stuck in the concrete staircase being the classic) and true story even Krypto got expelled from Dog Obedience School, having failed Remedial Barking. It takes a village, and in our case seven schools, 22 teachers, two nuns and three therapists, but last Wednesday, Zane Thaddeus Fisher-Paulson graduated from Denman Middle School. Well, technically he must attend summer school to finish up those pesky subjects like mathematics and gym. Middle school graduations in normal families are a matter of course, an event expected to occur, but for us a diploma is a victory, no matter how earned. He might not be on the deans list. He graduates sine laude, not with great honor, but with great courage. Zane made the commencement speech for his class, closing it with, I would not be on this stage today if it were not for the people who believe in me. Nurse Vivian was right: All I really needed to do was believe. So God help Thurgood Marshall High School. The next adventure is up to them. We met with the new teacher as part of the Individualized Education Transition Plan. She started the conversation with, Oh, Ive heard about the Fisher-Paulsons. And when I looked startled, she rolled her eyes: We all read The Chronicle. Kevin Fisher-Paulsons column appears Wednesdays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com Cuban pianists Chucho Valdes, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Michel Camilo played a tribute to Ernesto Lecuona, the Gershwin of Cuba, at SFJazz on Thursday, May 25, and then over the weekend. The gigs showcased how Lecuonas music is complex, jazzy and romantic at once, showy, with Spanish strains flowing through it. Camilos playing was bold, forceful; Rubalcabas more restrained, elegant. But when Valdes, tall and imposing in physical stature, sat down to play, his graceful fingers flickered over the keys like butterflies. There were no amps, just two concert grand pianos, and the music flowed unimpeded from the pianos to listeners ears. This music is difficult to play, said Camilo, who performed solo first, and then with the other two in turns, and then, finally, in a trio with all three playfully jockeying for space at the keyboard. Its rare at a concert that a performer admits something is hard, and Camilo particularly mentioned the composers demands on the left hand. Im sure I wasnt the only listener whod been a childhood plunker, thinking about how difficult it had been to master that left hand. We were sitting high up, and I watched, awestruck, as Valdes produced an uninterrupted river of sound, playing a complicated rhythmic riff with his right hand, the melody with his left, then switching to playing the riff with his left, the melody with his right. Still steeped in wonder, the next morning I watched a trailer for the documentary Playing Lecuona, in which Valdes addresses the late composer: Ernesto, you saw me play at 13. You should see me now. I imagined him as a kid facing those 88 keys, growing up to tower over the keyboard and to master it, harnessing the instrument in homage to the music. Getting there: At last, says D. Marc Capobianco, the deepest-held prejudice against Asian Americans has been dispelled. The knee-jerk reaction to those who cause traffic snarls and near-collisions: Damn Uber driver! Moving outbound aboard the K-Ingleside Muni Metro the other day, Mary Collie was explaining to her grandson, a lover of Muni, why its important to stay seated while the car is moving. The Muni driver overheard the conversation and when they got to Forest Hill Station, as the toddler stayed seated, the Muni operator stepped from the drivers cab, gave the boy a pack of cookies from her bag, and threw him a kiss, says witness Eugenie Chan. Much blowing of kisses ensued for all parties. Julian Grant was near SFO on Highway 101 the other night when a red Prius zipped across four lanes of traffic to make it to an exit. The last three digits on the license plate: 666. Does Satan drive a Prius? he wondered. And did he have a flight to catch? Arent those eye-catching electronic billboards on Interstate 80 as distracting as the texts they decry? asks Anthony Barcellos? Better Left Unread Than Dead, says the billboards. Dont forget to read the small print for the URL, suggests Barcellos, with more information and the logos of the sponsoring agencies. Oh, and stay in your lane while youre reading. Former Giants executive Pat Gallagher, who was in charge of marketing, communications and partnerships for Super Bowl 50, and writer Stephanie Martin have a new book, Big Game Bigger Impact: How the Bay Area Redefined the Super Bowl Experience and the Lessons That Can Apply to Any Business. On Jan. 30, the first day of Super Bowl week, the authors admit, not everything went to plan. Our celebrity speaker had to drop out at the last minute. High winds overnight had untethered one of our displays inside one of the structures. A vendor spoke to a partner in a way that wasnt consistent with our values. An image appeared on our 40-foot digital Fan Wall that shouldnt have. Images of off-color cartoons dancing in my head, I contacted Martin to press for specifics. The image that shouldnt have been there, she said, was a typo. Nuts. The Bay Area Book Festival buzzes in downtown Berkeley on Saturday-Sunday, June 3-4. Most events are free, but purchasing tickets at some guarantees seating. Executive Director Cherilyn Parsons says the fastest-selling tickets are to discussions and sessions with women writers, the lead going to Roxane Gay, wholl be discussing What makes a person difficult? This years festivals stated focus is literary activism. A Saturday session on Carolina De Robertis anthology Radical Hope, Im told, may help cope with you-know-what. Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @leahgarchik Public Eavesdropping Was that sarcasm, or are you genuinely concerned? New York City will cut ties with scandal-ridden Wells Fargo Bank, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer said today, in a press release announcing that each would vote to prohibit the city from depositing money in Wells Fargo accounts. In addition, both said they would vote against the bank being in charge of offering the city's municipal bonds for one year. De Blasio and Stringer a made their announcement today ahead of a meeting of the New York City Banking Commission. According to the press release, Wells Fargo currently has $227 million in city funds stemming from banking services contracts, and is a trustee to the $2.6 billion New York City Retiree Health Benefits Trust. However, Wells Fargo was given a "needs improvement" grade under the Federal Community Reinvestment Act because of the bank's recently-revealed practice of opening fake accounts and credit cards under customers' names without their consent. The city's own rules say that New York can only do business with a bank that's graded "satisfactory" by federal regulators. "The rules are very clear: if you fall below satisfactory, we will no longer do banking business with you," de Blasio said in the statement. "I encourage Wells Fargo to quickly clean up its act and do right by the millions of customers who trust the bank with their savings. Until then, we will not be entering new contracts with the bank. Thank you to Comptroller Stringer for his partnership on this issue." The votes from the mayor and comptroller will both prohibit city agencies from entering into new contracts with Wells Fargo, and will keep the city from renewing or extending any existing contracts it has with Wells Fargo. "What happened at Wells Fargo was a fraudand there should be consequences," Stringer said. "We need to send a message to this bank and the broader industry that ethics matter. Public trust is a mustand accountability is non-negotiable. Thats why we plan to take action. We have an opportunity to stand up and do the right thing today, and thats a moment we plan on seizing. I would like to thank Mayor de Blasio and his team for their leadership on the issue." "Wells Fargo appreciates the continuing dialogue with New York City and deeply values our relationship with the City," Wells Fargo spokesperson Kevin Friedlander told Gothamist in a statement. "More than four years have passed since the end of our last CRA evaluation period, and we are seeking an expedited review of the 2012-2015 exam. We hope to restore a national CRA rating that reflects our strong track record of lending to, investing in, and providing service to low- and moderate-income communities." Uber has fired Anthony Levandowski, the star engineer at the center of its bitter legal battle with Waymo over his alleged theft of Waymos robot-car trade secrets. Levandowski, a close confidant and friend of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, got the ax for refusing to help Uber investigate Waymos accusations, according to an Uber spokeswoman. Waymo in February sued Uber, claiming that Levandowski secretly downloaded 14,000 Waymo documents and took them to Uber to accelerate its robot-car research. Uber has denied any wrongdoing. Uber paid $680 million last summer to acquire Otto, a startup Levandowski founded right after he abruptly quit Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Googles parent company, Alphabet, in January 2016. In legal filings, Waymo has contended that Uber and Levandowski concocted Otto as a cover-up scheme for Uber to get its hands on Waymos technology. Levandowski, who was Uber vice president of advanced technology and, until recently, head of the companys foray into self-driving technology, has declined to testify in the case, asserting his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. But U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who says he finds Waymos evidence regarding the illicit downloads compelling, ordered Uber to get Levandowski to either testify or return the stolen documents, under penalty of termination. Uber laid out those choices in a May 15 letter to Levandowski. We insist that you do everything in your power to assist us in complying with the order, Uber general counsel Salle Yoo wrote to Levandowski. (She has since assumed a new role as Ubers chief legal officer.) The letter, which repeated Ubers assertions that it is innocent of wrongdoing, said Uber would fire Levandowski if he did not comply. Uber said Levandowski failed to meet its deadlines for cooperation. Uber has reached the limits of plausible deniability of the evidence that Levandowski did what he did, and its inability to deal with it because Levandowski wont talk, said James Pooley, a trade-secret specialist at Orrick who is not involved in the case. Levandowskis lawyers, who did not respond to requests for comment, filed papers on Tuesday saying it was unconstitutional for him to have to choose between his job and his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination. They said Uber had sent a follow-up letter stating that Levandowski would be fired on June 15 if he didnt cooperate. They asked Alsup to modify his order by expressly assuring Uber that the court will not punish the company by way of an adverse jury instruction or any other means for failing to terminate Mr. Levandowski if he does not produce the records and respond to the inquiries set forth in the courts order. Levandowskis firing may mark the end of a close relationship with Kalanick, who reportedly called him a brother from another mother and bonded on long evening walks through San Francisco. Kalanick sees self-driving cars as integral to Ubers future, and picked Levandowski as the person to help make that vision a reality. They also shared a rebellious streak. Just as Kalanick had Uber enter cities before its ride-hailing app was approved by regulators, Levandowski orchestrated a test run of self-driving cars picking up passengers in San Francisco without seeking the required permits. We dont think the regulations apply to how were driving the cars, he told reporters in December shortly after the cars hit the road. The test lasted a week, and ultimately Uber relented, agreeing to seek permits and halt rides for passengers. Technology, not politics, is Levandowskis strength. Calling the 37-year-old a star engineer understates his importance, said a source close to Uber. People dont understand just how big a deal Levandowski is, the source said, especially in the field of lidar a type of light-sensing radar that helps robot cars see, and the specific technology Waymo claims that Uber copied. Saying he was part of the lidar team at Google is like saying Michael Jordan was just one of a bunch of Chicago Bulls teammates, the source said. He was Michael Jordan. Levandowskis technical prowess has been richly rewarded. Waymo says he reaped more than $120 million in incentive payments during more than eight years at Google, according to legal filings. Levandowski, who has bachelors and masters degrees from UC Berkeley in industrial engineering and operations research, came to Googles attention after leading other Berkeley engineers in building a self-driving motorcycle, the only two-wheeled vehicle in the 2004 and 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, an early test of robot cars organized by the Pentagons research arm. That motorcycle, Ghostrider, is now in the Smithsonian. After joining Google in 2007 to work on mapping, in 2011 he sold two startups to Google X, the search-engine giants moonshot division, for undisclosed prices. Anthonys Robots and 510 Systems reportedly contributed crucial technology to Googles self-driving efforts. In a hearing this month, Waymo charged that Uber granted Levandowski $250 million of Uber shares on Jan. 28, 2016, the day after he quit Waymo and long before Uber bought Otto. Outside of court, Uber said the stock grant actually happened in August but was backdated to give Levandowski credit for his tenure at Otto. Uber said that Levandowski hasnt received any stock because it was based on meeting technical milestones over time. However, Levandowski and co-founder Lior Ron, also a former Waymo engineer, presumably received the lions share of the $680 million Uber reportedly paid for Otto, a 6-month-old startup with 40 employees. (Uber may not end up paying the full amount; in Silicon Valley, the price of startup deals often include stock awards paid over time.) Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Looming over Levandowski and possibly some Uber executives is the possibility of criminal prosecution. In a rare move for a judge, Alsup recommended that the U.S. attorney investigate the case. Criminal penalties for trade-secret theft include substantial fines and up to 10 years of jail time, Pooley said. If Uber executives were found guilty of aiding and abetting a theft, they would face the same potential liabilities. Prosecutors cannot use the assertion of Fifth Amendment privileges against defendants in criminal cases. However, the same is not true for civil cases like Waymo vs. Uber, said Dan Handman, an employment attorney who is not involved in the lawsuit. The case is currently scheduled for a jury trial in October. Uber is still trying to push the dispute into arbitration, arguing that Levandowskis employment contract with Google requires it. You can comment about (someone taking the Fifth) in front of a jury, which is a big deal, he said. Google will probably be very aggressive about that. Uber notified employees about Levandowskis firing in an internal email, according to the New York Times, which first reported the news. Over the last few months Uber has provided significant evidence to the court to demonstrate that our self-driving technology has been built independently, Angela Padilla, Ubers associate general counsel for employment and litigation, wrote in the email, according to the New York Times. Over that same period, Uber has urged Anthony to fully cooperate in helping the court get to the facts and ultimately helping to prove our case. Eric Meyhofer, who became leader of Ubers Advanced Technology Group in April, taking over from Levandowski as the lawsuit pressure mounted, will continue to lead the team working on self-driving cars, Uber said. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid A famously emphatic President Trump is waffling on a critical decision. Hes delaying a fateful choice on whether to stick with the Paris climate change pact or drop out in a move that could wreck chances to curb a global threat. While a coterie of Republicans are urging him to dump the agreement as bad for business growth, hes feeling the pressure to stay the course from European leaders after his first overseas trip this past week. In a weekend tweet, Trump promised to make up his mind this week, a timetable thats stoking a debate among his embattled advisers. One of his most irresponsible campaign promises is getting a rightful reality check. The climate accord is a legacy of the Obama administration on a par with the health care law, which Republicans are discovering isnt so easy to dismantle. The Paris agreement may fall in the same third-rail category. It puts the U.S. and nearly 200 other nations on a course to cut greenhouse gas emissions to subdue rising seas, clogged skies and wild swings in weather. A rejection by this nation will hobble if not destroy the deal. The president could walk away entirely from the agreement, fulfilling a campaign pledge and pleasing fossil fuel defenders. But he might also try to muddy the issue by calling for new negotiations as he has with NAFTA and a giant Pacific trade partnership, both of which he promised to shred. Its a predicament of his own making. By playing to coal country worries and climate change deniers, he picked up votes. But the rest of the nation and the world are demanding action, not a political payoff. If the White House rejects the Paris deal, it will be nearly impossible to keep the global temperature rise to within 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit in future years. Beyond that limit, the global thermometer will inch upward in an irreversible curve that invites a catastrophe of floods, crop failures and ruinous weather. This country must not be the agent of its own demise. Thats why Trump was bombarded with urgent pleadings from leaders of the worlds top democracies on his overseas trip. Its also why even his own advisers are suggesting caution and reason, two rarities in his young administration. Trump should back the Paris agreement. Need a job? The San Francisco Unified School District is hiring. The challenges San Francisco and the entire state of California has had in recruiting classroom teachers are well documented. As of today, we have about 150 classroom vacancies. There are also more than 300 vacant entry-level nonteaching positions. Of the vacancies, 130 are for school nutrition workers and 70 are for custodians. These jobs require only a high school degree and a few additional classes. Knowing that these positions are vacant in a city with a 12.1 percent unemployment rate in its African American community is particularly upsetting. Something here just aint right. Our schools need qualified workers, and those in our communities need jobs. It is my top priority to fill the large number of vacant positions with community members. The good news is that by creating additional educational opportunities, building a strong collaboration between the districts human resources department and community partners, I believe we can fill these vacancies by the end of 2017. It is my hope that we can educate unemployed members of families with kids in our public schools about these jobs and how to get them. The civil service hiring process prevents the district from giving explicit preference to students parents. That being said, I believe that there are particular benefits to including parents as we seek to fill these vacancies. Creating stable sources of income in more childrens homes would be a huge benefit to our children and our city. When we hire parents to support our children, we hire committed stakeholders and further empower parents to play an active role in the success of our school communities. Its good for their child and for all our students to interact with caring adults. I understand that a job alone will not solve the persistent challenges and stresses that a family experiencing poverty faces, but a job and consistent income does put families on a path to create more stability in the home. SFUSD is one of the largest employers in the city; we can put our new employees on a path to higher income as people continue their education and move within the organization. Finally, I must make absolutely clear that I am not involved in hiring decisions (other than of the superintendent). As your commissioner, I am committed to doing everything I can to make sure you get the information you need and to ensure that our children have access to all of the staff and resources available. But I cant get you a job. If you are looking for work or know someone who is, the first step is to visit our website at edjoin.org. If you have questions about the hiring process or would like an overview of the criminal charges that may disqualify an applicant, feel free to contact our human resources department. As always, feel free to contact me directly. Stevon Cook is a commissioner on the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education. Email: stevoncook@sfusd.edu Twitter: @StevonCook Six months after the November election, Nancy Pelosi still has trouble spitting out two words: President Trump. Its hard, the House minority leader told a sold-out crowd of more than 500 at a Commonwealth Club of California meeting Tuesday. I dont know how much respect he has for the job. For Pelosi, who is just a few days short of the 30th anniversary of her first election to Congress, the Trump administration is like nothing shes seen before If she was asked how Trump is different from the other presidents, Democrats and Republicans, she has worked with, it would be a long list, Pelosi said. But how is he the same? I cant think of anything. That Trump difference was apparent soon after his January inauguration, when the new president met for the first time with congressional leaders. The first thing the president said was, Do you know I won the popular vote? said Pelosi, who represents almost all of San Francisco. Now first, that wasnt relevant to what we were there for. And it wasnt true. Thats important, she added, because in the past, Congress has been able to work together and accomplish things, regardless of who was president. But thats because weve stipulated to a set of facts or budget numbers we can negotiate from, Pelosi said. Im hopeful (Trump) will understand that facts matter. Pelosi also had a veiled dig at those Democrats and independents who didnt get behind Hillary Clinton in November because they believed she wasnt progressive enough. Elections have ramifications, she said. People have to recognize that when they vote ... or dont vote. Pelosi could hardly go wrong slamming Trump in San Francisco, where Clinton beat him 85 percent to 9 percent in November. The crowd at the Mark Hopkins Hotel gave the former House speaker a standing ovation when she was announced and cheered whenever one of her accomplishments was mentioned. I see its another hostile crowd, joked Scott Shafer of KQED, moderator of the hour-long event. Pelosi repeated her call for an outside counsel to investigate the allegations swirling around the president regarding links he or members of his staff may have had to Russia before he took office. While the House, the Senate and the Justice Department all are looking into the reports, none of them has the independence the country needs, she said. We need that independent committee to get the facts so that the American people will accept the final result, Pelosi said. This is bigger than politics. We need certainty that every path was followed. That search would be easier if Trump would release his tax returns, as presidents before him have done, she said. If his tax returns were made public, it would be possible to see what the Russians do or dont have on Trump. The information in the returns, may be exculpatory. But if so, why are they refusing to release them? Pelosi asked. What is he hiding ... that could connect the dots? She also charged that Trumps refusal last week to tell the NATO summit that he supports the pacts Article 5, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all, is a gift to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin. Pelosi had harsh words for congressional Republicans and for political observers who argue that Trumps proposed budget has no chance of making it through the GOP-controlled House and Senate. Trumps budget, with its deep cuts to many social programs, isnt that different from what Republicans like Speaker Paul Ryan have called for in the past, she said. The budget is who they are, Pelosi said. Trump is their guy. Outside the hotel, supporters of single-payer health care gave out flyers calling on Pelosi to co-sponsor HR676, a bill to provide a government-run Medicare-like plan for everyone. The congresswoman, who has argued that as minority leader she doesnt co-sponsor bills, danced around the single-payer questions. Theres all this energy for single-payer, she said, noting that I was carrying single-payer signs when my kids were in strollers. California should put together a health care plan with a public option, Pelosi said, but warned that a study of the current state Senate bill suggested it would cost $400 billion, with half of that coming from current federal government payments. Thats why we have to protect the Affordable Care Act, which is being targeted by Trump and Republicans in Congress. There were few complaints about Pelosis message, although some in the friendly crowd wanted to hear more. I thought it was a good speech, said Susan Denney of Burlingame. But I missed hearing about where (Democrats) are at for 2020: Whos out there, whos the rising star. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth Hog Island Oyster Co. is taking over Tonys Seafood Restaurant, one of the handful of restaurants in the small North Bay town of Marshall, just over a mile from the oyster farms picturesque headquarters on Tomales Bay. When the new regime reopens Tonys sometime this summer, the waterfront restaurants 69-year-old name, concept and old-time look will mostly stay the same, said John Finger, CEO of Hog Island. Finger said that rather than rebranding it as one of Hog Islands existing oyster restaurants in San Francisco and Napa, keeping it as Tonys was a no-brainer. My sons been going there since he could walk, said Finger, who has lived and worked in the area for close to 40 years. Well do our version of what that place has been, and pay some homage to what theyve done. Opened in 1948, Tonys Seafood Restaurant has been closed since January, when owners Anton and John Konatich retired and approached Hog Island to purchase it, Finger said. The brothers are grandsons of founder Anton (Tony) Konatich, a Croatian immigrant who started the restaurant with his wife, Mary, son, Felix, and daughter-in-law, Anna, originally as a way to sell their own seafood. The Konatich brothers still fish for rock crab and halibut in the bay and plan to continue doing so. Finger said Hog Island will buy seafood from them and stick to a seasonal menu, but will keep many Tonys staples like fish and chips, and a burger. They will also add a raw oyster bar. Previously, Tonys focused more on barbecue oysters, a dish some say was invented there, though nearby Nicks Cove gets similar credit. (Finger would not wade into the controversies of the barbecue-oyster origin story, though he pointed out that both restaurants were founded by Croatian fishing families. ) Finger said theyll clean up the restaurant a bit and undertake a bigger remodel in the winter. Another reason to keep the restaurants identity mostly intact is to differentiate it from Hog Islands nearby oyster shack and picnic area, which draw overflow crowds, and give customers another option if they get turned away on busy weekends, he added. Loren Elliott/The Chronicle Hog Islands takeover comes during a tumultuous period in the West Marin oyster world. In 2015, Tomales Bay Oyster Co., south of Tonys, had to close its picnic area, which drew up to 500 visitors a day, because the county said it violated its lease. The previous year, the U.S. government evicted Drakes Bay Oyster Co. from its spot in Point Reyes National Seashore. Its farms had previously produced as many as 40 percent of the states oysters. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Hog Island, which leases 160 acres in Tomales Bay to grow shellfish, is trying to pick up some of the slack by opening an oyster hatchery in Humboldt Bay, where it already operates a nursery, so it can breed its own oysters and sell seed to other shellfish farmers. The company also recently purchased a 250-acre ranch across Highway 1 from the oyster farm. In addition to wanting to gain more space for its oyster operation, the idea is to grow row crops and raise livestock. Co-founder Terry Sawyer is particularly interested in learning how to improve farm soil for carbon sequestration. Were getting into terrestrial farming as well, said Finger, who said the farm will be a way to demonstrate how land use can affect the bays ecosystem. Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan Birgit Soyka doesnt seem to mind the bird sitting on her head as she stands in thought, remembering which guest enjoys cheese with his breakfast and who needs milk thistle extract once a day. She is up at sunrise preparing food alongside two of her breakfast helpers, Axle and Michelle, who peck at their meal while Soyka isnt looking. The South San Francisco warehouse fills with ear-piercing sounds as macaws, chirpers, parrots, and African Greys wake up and celebrate the morning. Breakfast is ready. This is Soykas creation. Ten years of building up a small business has led her to caring for 50, sometimes over 100, birds at a time at the San Francisco Bird Hotel. It was like an avalanche. It just got bigger, and bigger, says Soyka. People called me left and right and I was very surprised at how this whole thing developed. Emily Harger/Special to the Chronicle After breakfast, Soyka turns on the radio so the room fills with the same volume of sound as it did when the birds were celebrating. She goes around to each cage, one by one, wishing each guest a good morning. Some birds respond with their own version of a greeting. Murphy meows while his neighbor Triton repeats the phrase Here, kitty kitty, in a dissonant, grating call. In response, Soyka counts from one to five leaving out two and four, waiting for Triton to fill in the gaps. She smiles at both birds, making eye contact with them for a few minutes before moving on to greet her next guest. Emily Harger/Special to the Chronicle In 2007, Soyka needed a place to board her own three large birds while traveling for her corporate job as a freight forwarder. She went to a bird hotel run out of a womans home in Noe Valley and immediately fell in love. It spoke to me, even though it was ridiculously loud, says Soyka. I walked in and I knew this was going to be my next business. Soyka asked the owner to buy her business. Leading up to opening the hotel, Soyka grew exhausted of climbing the corporate ladder. The corporate structure got to me. ... I couldn't even breathe anymore. And the bird hotel gave me, she pauses, that freedom. Freedom is a word Soyka has carried with her throughout her entire life. Its the same feeling she gets when shes riding her motorcycle. When you sit on it, youre on your own and you just go. Originally from Germany, Soyka was one of few female motorcycle racers in the country in the 1980s. When she was 22, she raced in the Yamaha Cup, where she was the only woman out of 50 motorcyclists. After a life-changing crash in 1984, she moved to the United States. If she couldnt race, she was going to find her next adventure. It was not so easy because I was illegal here in this country. I did not have a job. I did not have any money. I was living in my car, but I wanted to race. Thankfully, a second chance was given to her in southern California and sparked her second racing career. Switching to the corporate lifestyle was a big move for Soyka, but she knew it would fund her racing habit. For the next 20 years, Birgits life went from adventure to structure, frivolity to finances. It was not until opening the bird hotel that Soyka finally found the same freedom she felt on top of her motorcycle riding around tracks and across countries. Despite often working 24 consecutive days in a row, Soyka sees that same sense of freedom in the very creatures that wake her up every morning with their loud calls and intelligent personalities. They represent something I would like to be and I would like to have. Ten years into the life of the bird hotel, she is still seeking that feeling, often wondering what it would be like to have wings herself. I think I was always flying very high up there, says Soyka. I just go with the flow. Watch an accompanying video at www.sfchronicle.com/theregulars/. The Regulars is a weekly photo and video column that offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people in the Bay Area, caught in routine activities of modern urban life. If you know a regular, email kduncan@sfchronicle.com. Theres no wine list in San Francisco quite like La Ciccias. In fact, theres no wine list even vaguely resembling it. Its esoteric, but not self-conscious; specialized, but not dogmatic; challenging, but not intimidating. It has a voice. A voice you want to listen to. The esoteric specialty is Sardinian wine, since after all La Ciccia is a Sardinian restaurant. Its Sardinia-born chef, Massimiliano Conti, opened the restaurant in 2006 with his wife, Lorella Degan, after a career as a sommelier and sales manager for a wine distributor. Of the nearly 200 wines they offer, all are Italian and 40 to 45 percent are Sardinian a sizable chunk considering how small a slice of the big, sloppy pie of the Italian wine market the island of Sardinia has. Getting those wines to the restaurant has required special effort. Every year when we go to Sardinia, we visit a few wineries, and when we see that the wines are good enough, we try to connect them with an importer, Conti says. Hes just arranged for wines from Cantina Mogoro, his most exciting new discovery, to arrive stateside in September. Sardinian wine has found a desperately needed advocate in Conti. Leah Millis / The Chronicle The second-largest island in the Mediterranean, Sardinia has been left behind amid the contemporary fervor for Mediterranean wines. Talk Sicily (Italy, the largest island), Corsica (France) or Santorini (Greece), and American sommeliers cant get enough. Sicily in particular has become active-volcano hot with its cadre of charismatic, natural-wine producers like Arianna Occhipinti and Frank Cornelissen gracing every wine list whos any wine list. Sicily in the last eight years has been marketing themselves very strongly in the U.S., says Conti. And their wines are getting better than they used to be. But what of quiet Sardinia, so much more insular than the larger isle? It lacks the exoticism of only-in-Sicily varieties like Nerello Mascalese, Frappato and Carricante. Sardinias long history with grapevines Conti puts it at 3,000 years carries much more influence of its Spanish colonial period. Major grapes like Cannonau (Grenache) and Carignano (Carignan) are thought to be derived from Spains Garnacha and Carinena. For 200 years, it was ruled by the French royal Savoy family, which also controlled Piedmont; hence Sardinias preponderance of Piemontese grapes like Barbera. And the islands best-known white wine, as in Corsica to its north, is Vermentino. Those bright, earthy reds especially Cannonau and Carignano would seem a perfect match for the hearty, garlicky seafood dishes that La Ciccia does so well, like the tender octopus stew in rich, spicy tomato broth. And Sardinias minerally, salty Vermentinos and Vernaccia di Oristano (not the same as Tuscanys Vernaccia) practically beg for Contis briny grilled calamari with olives or spaghetti with bottarga. Leah Millis/The Chronicle Yet Conti swears that seafood was not always a major Sardinian food group, thanks to centuries of power struggles. The coastline was a fighting point, a war zone all the time, because every country wanted to have a small piece of Sardinia, he recounts. Fisheries were not very popular until the Spanish left. And though Sardinian cuisine registers as a subgenre of Italian food, the major influence is equally Spanish, with a generous pinch of North African spice. Think saffron, olives, almonds. Sardinian wines revival came late or maybe still hasnt come. Only in the past 20 years or so has Sardinia shifted from small-scale home winemakers and cooperatives to a more modern business model, with a couple of its larger wineries Sella & Mosca, Argiolas making names for themselves internationally. There are some modern wineries, like you see in Napa, Conti says, but many remain low-tech, whether by stylistic choice or not. Contis enthusiasm for this revival, however, is not narrowly predicated on a new wave of natural wines. If you have a natural wine thats undrinkable, its not a good thing, he says. Im pro-natural, pro-organic, but at the end of the day a wine should be a pleasure. That pragmatism is what makes Conti such a successful proselytizer for Sardinian wine and makes La Ciccia a successful restaurant. The wine service is designed to help customers encounter these new wines comfortably. If someone has been drinking something for all their life, I cannot give them something theyre not going to enjoy, Conti says. You need to take them by the hand to introduce them to something new. So while about 80 percent of the wine list is designed to pair with Contis food, he says about 20 percent of the list is meant to bridge the California wine drinker to the Italian wine drinker. If you want a California Chardonnay and I give you a Sylvaner, he says, Im not doing you any favor. Instead, hell give you a malolactic-fermented Vermentino thats seen some oak. If you want a Cabernet, hell suggest a Super Tuscan. Thats the way to order wine at La Ciccia: Help the staff help you. Dont be intimidated by the unfamiliar words on the list; theyd be mostly unfamiliar to even a seasoned wine buyer. Tell your server, generally, what sort of wine you want (if white, lean or rich? If red, earthy or fruity?), or give him an example of a wine you typically enjoy. Name a price range; dont be shy. If youre willing to be taken on a wild ride, say so. La Ciccias cuisine specializes in hearty dishes in a familiar medium, but with a few more tentacles and fish eggs than nonnas. The service, and the wine list, enact a similar sort of spirit, nudging you toward an uncharted place, but gently, and with the promise that once you arrive you wont have to think too hard to enjoy it. Thats the Sardinian way or at least its La Ciccias way. If a wine doesnt give you pleasure and makes you analyze it, Conti says, its the wrong wine. Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob To order: Wine, by staff recommendation (from $13 by the glass, from $36 by the bottle) Where: La Ciccia, 291 30th St., S.F. (415) 550-8114 www.laciccia.com When: 5:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday-Monday. The first time it dawned on Micah that he was attracted to boys, he was in the 5th grade. Twenty years later, he still recalls the feeling vividly. The boy in question was a classmate, and they were friends. I remember thinking Oh, I really, really like this boy. And I think he really, really likes me, Micah told me over the phone one afternoon last fall. He was hiding out in his car outside the university where hes in grad schoolthe only place he felt he could speak frankly about his situation. He certainly couldnt have at his New Jersey home, where he lives with his wife and two kids. Nor, as a strictly Orthodox Jewish man, could he talk about it in the vicinity of anyone he knows at all. Micahwho asked that I change his name to protect his identitydidnt fully realize it at the time, but its clear to him now that he had a crush on his classmate. I used to wake up early in the morning and shower, and I used a specific shampoo that smelled really good, he said. And I was thinking, like, Oh, maybe hell like this smell. Now in his late 20s, Micah is at a crossroads. His wife is eager for more children. Birth control is allowed, at least nominally, but large families are common in ultra-Orthodox culture, and Micah sees himself on the path to having at least six kids. I really, really dont want that to happen, he said. I cant bring more kids into this situation. The situation, of course, is that Micah is gayor at least he suspects he might be. Like nearly everyone else in his community, Micah was married young. His only sexual experience prior to his wife was an encounter with a boythe same boy he had a crush onat camp, when they were both very young. But age has done nothing to dampen his feelings toward men, and Micah is now faced with a decision: Have more kids, remain with his wife and stay the course, or upend everything he knows in pursuit of a life totally alien to him. In secular society, coming out as gay or trans can be painful, but it can also be seamless, increasingly accepted as it is in American culture. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, instating a basic framework of protection across the states. All of this could, of course, be reversed in a Trump administration, but by and large, America is shuffling toward a future ever more hospitable of its LGBTQ citizens. But in the deeply insular world of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, few such advances are being made. Chani Getter, a program coordinator at Footsteps, a nonprofit that helps people transition away from the ultra-Orthodox community, said that coming out has a twinned meaning for the people she works with. Because of its strictly implemented gender roles, there is no room in the ultra-Orthodox world to be queer or trans. This means that coming out marks a persons departure from the religion altogether, usually at the expense of family, friends, and ones entire life as they previously knew it. Coming out as being non-religious is every bit as significant to a persons life as coming out as gay or trans. Coming out as not religious is an excruciating journey, Getter said. Coming out as queer in the secular world is complicated, but for someone leaving Orthodoxy, some people find that once theyve broken that boundaryas coming out as not religiousthat boundary isnt as complicated. Getter says the majority of people she works with can be broken into three groups, with most people falling into the first two: People who leave Orthodoxy and then come out as gay, and those who leave Orthodoxy while coming out simultaneously. The third group is people who come out and attempt to remain in the community, but are essentially forced out. Inevitably they find themselves without a community, or ostracized in one way or another, she said, adding that in most cases, people tended to swap their Orthodox communities for more modern ones. I asked if it was impossible to be both gay and a thriving member of the strictly Orthodox world. Nothing is impossible, she said. Its highly improbable. In 2015, the profound difficulties faced by many who leave the ultra-Orthodox world received increased media attention with the suicide of Faigy Mayer, a 29-year-old tech entrepreneur who left the Belz Hasidic community only to jump to her death off the 20th floor of a flatiron building five years later. Author Shulem Deen, who published a memoir, All Who Go Do Not Return, about leaving the ultra-Orthodox community, wrote in Haaretz, "There can no longer be any doubt: Members of our ex-Haredi community are at an elevated risk for suicide." Deens five children no longer speak to him. Abby Stein (Scott Heins / Gothamist) No ones more aware of the difficulties that come with leaving the community than Abby Stein. At 25, Stein is now living a life virtually unrecognizable from the one she led just a few years ago. Stein, who was born male, was raised in one of Williamsburgs most prominent Hasidic families. She said she never experienced any sort of identity epiphanyno precise moment where she suddenly understood she was a girl trapped in a boys body. She remembers a lingering feeling of bewilderment as a child. "Why does everyone think Im a boy? she recalls wondering. But growing up in her extremely insular society, she had no idea there existed a concept like trans. She eventually concluded that her identity struggles must simply have been borne from something else. I thought that it cant be gender, because Id have to be stupid or crazy, she said she reasoned at the time. She thought about leaving religion. But through an Israeli rabbi, she began studying Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, where she learned about the idea of gender flexibility. Stein continued to explore the idea of gender dysphoria through a religious lens, though she was forced to suspend her research when her then-wife became pregnant. The question of the childs sex inevitably came up, which Stein knew would dictate everything in his life from the day he was born, from clothes to room decorations. Stein had never mentioned her struggles with gender to anyone, and worried for her future son: What if its genetic? she wondered. What if he feels the same way that I feel? I didnt know how to deal with it. Despite the urging of her rabbis to stay away from the Internet, Stein eventually found her way there anyway. The first thing that I ever googled was about being transgender, she said. It was from her forays online that she learned about Footsteps, and from there, she said, she began the process of leaving. Always an excellent student, Stein got her high school diploma and in 2014, enrolled in her dream school, Columbia University. She assumed that leaving the community would solve her problems, but the process was grueling. Even while I was doing it, I was still hoping that everything was just going to go away, she said. In November of 2015, she came out to her father, who told her on the spot that he would never speak to her again. I havent spoken to my parents since, she said. Stein is still in contact with some of her siblings, and has found a new community through school and organizations like Footsteps. She is in touch with her ex-wife and son, but declined to go into detail on the extent of their relationship. When asked about the emotional difficulty of the situation, she was steadfast. I dont regret literally anything, she said. Leaving is anything but simple or straightforward, but through the work and advocacy of people like Stein, it has become more commonplace in recent years. When she left almost five years ago, Stein said most people in her position were shunned by their families. While leaving still causes a rift, it less frequently results in total ostracism. I think its because theres so many of us, Stein said. It got to the point where every extended family has a few people. A big part of why I agreed to be so public when I left was because I wanted people to talk about it, so hopefully the next person who goes out, it wouldnt be such a big deal. Mordechai Levovitz, the executive director of JQY, an organization that helps at-risk LGBTQ Jewish youth in New York, has observed this critical mass. So many people are coming out, its undeniable, he said. In the past, there was a certain luxury of plausible deniability. Now, as gay and trans people are increasingly included in the Jewish experience, and as more people are coming out, theyre becoming harder to ignore. Like anything else, power is never given, its taken, he said. I dont think there was any great enlightenment. I think they could not keep this power anymore, so they had to change. Micah, for his part, remains in the throes of indecision. Endowed with a mathematical mind, hes long since stopped believing in religion, a fact which he has only recently told his wife. Im not that type of person. Im a rationalist. I dont believe in all that junk, he said. Its not for me. Micah counts himself as extremely lucky. His wife, who is very much invested in the ultra-Orthodox community, was understanding of his decision to leave religion, and is aware that hes questioning his sexuality. There was very little anger, but a lot of pain, he said. Now, they must both face a litany of unpleasant questions, like whether their marriage will last, and whether either of them even want it to. And their childrenwhats best for them? These are the huge, unwieldy quandaries with which Micah is wrestling as we speak, sitting in his car as though hes in hiding. Everything I knoweveryone I love and everyone who loves meis gonna get thrown in the garbage, he said. Its a major life choice. Everything you know is turned upside down. As Chani Getter, the program coordinator at Footsteps, put it: You not only might lose your family, or your community. You will lose your entire family and community. I asked Micah where he sees himself in five years and his answers were so expansive it seemed he hadnt given the question much thought. Maybe they could move somewhere closer to his wifes family, where he could get a little more space. Maybe they could reach a compromise on his involvement with religion. But that wouldnt account for the issue of his attraction to men. Maybe theyll get divorced and he can share custody over his children? Maybe hell move to New York City, living fully out? Its scary, he said finally. But maybe its what I want. For Micah, and many others, the loss of community yields an opportunity for a new life, one that will presumably fit better than the original. Micah heard of Footsteps through an article he found online, and met with a staff member around a month before we spoke. Walking in to meet with a counsellor there for the first time was a revelation. Until that moment, Micah says, hed never felt like he truly belonged anywhere. His friends and family loved him, of course, but he never felt they really knew himthe real him. Walking into Footsteps, everything changed. I immediately burst out crying, and I just sat in her office, sobbing, he said. It was just so overwhelming. It was like, I made it. Im safe. It was just the strangest feeling. Micah had experienced this sensationthe awareness that his people were out therejust once before. Hed been flipping through the radio, and stopped on a program, hes not sure which one, that gripped him completely. He learned later it was on NPR. He remembers at the time thinking how much he wanted to find these people, but was hit simultaneously by the realization that he never would. Now, Micah realizes theyhis peopleare within reach. I knew that gay people exist, I was aware of the world, but people who are literally like me? Who grew up ultra-Orthodox, theyre in exactly the same situation?, he said. And theyre happy. It was amazing to feel welcomed for who I am. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The next plastic piece of convenience on the chopping block are drinking straws, as the city of Berkeley decides whether to create an ordinance banning the environmentally unfriendly item. Drawn up by three City Council members, the city would seek to ban plastic drinking straws from its restaurants and coffee shops. On Tuesday, the council met to explore the idea of a ban, as KPIX reports. "We do need to change our habits," said the council's Sophie Hahn, one of the three who penned the information report about the possible legislation. "The habits we have are destroying our planet." Hahn also suggested that the additional cost associated with alternative biodegradable straws (which cost up to eight times more than the 1-cent plastic straws) be passed onto the consumer. "(The ban would be) good for the fish in which we eat and it's good for the children who are exposed to BPE's in the plastic," said Ben Bartlett, who also served as an author of the report. RELATED: Oakland targeted in bid to cut trash flow into SF Bay The ban may seem like a small thing, but the National Parks Service reported that Americans use half a billion straws per day. The ban should help the city in reaching its Zero Waste Goal by 2020. Berkeley's Zero Waste commission and the Community Environmental Advisory commission will then speak to local business about providing plastic straw alternatives, such as compostable or paper versions, according to the East Bay Express. Several groups have been working on getting the single-use plastic out of cities, and a number of beaches in Southern California have banned plastics straws included from its beaches, according to the Orange County Register. The documentary, "Straws" (narrated by Oscar winner Tim Robbins) detailing the environmental issues with the item, was released just this year. The film site states that plastic straws were the fifth-most found trash on beaches, after bottle caps, wrappers and cigarette butts. Berkeley isn't the only city considering a plastic straw ban, but if passed, it would be the one of the first cities in the state to do so. The city of Davis recently instituted its own law requiring restaurants to ask patrons if they would like a straw, rather than automatically providing one. Leaders in Berkeley believe the bill will be passed in early 2018. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man perched on the center anchorage of the Bay Bridge prompted lane closures and traffic gridlock for more than two hours Wednesday before California Highway Patrol officers talked him into coming down. The man climbed down voluntarily and was taken into custody shortly before 1 p.m. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital for a mental health evaluation, said Officer Vu Williams, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. He added that the man will remain at the hospital for 72 hours for a psychiatric evaluation. The incident on the bridge began a bit before 10:30 a.m., when the mans truck broke down and was blocking the far left westbound lane of the roadway, Williams said. When a tow truck arrived, the man got out of his vehicle, climbed onto the center anchorage of the bridge and refused to come down, he said. A Sig-alert was issued closing two westbound lanes of Interstate 80, and San Francisco police helped the CHP hold the perimeter while officers spoke to the man until he eventually came down. The man, whose name was not immediately released, climbed up on the center anchorage between Treasure Island and the Fremont off ramp, according to Williams. Right now, were looking into whether mental health was the issue here, or whether there were violations of any vehicle or criminal codes that we need to bring charges for, he said. But there are no charges pending right now. Filipa Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi No charges will be filed against a San Jose State University college student who concocted a harrowing tale of being kidnapped at her apartment complex and forced at knifepoint to drive her abductor to Oregon, officials said Wednesday. We will not be submitting the incident to our D.A.s office, said Officer Albert Morales, a spokesman for the San Jose Police Department. He added that the false report was filed under the jurisdiction of the Coos County (Ore.) Sheriffs Office, where the woman was found, and that the Sheriffs Office will handle any additional follow-up. The 22-year-old San Jose State student was found running along a road in southern Oregon on Friday night, supposedly on the eve of her graduation. She told law enforcement officers that she had been kidnapped at knifepoint, beaten in the face and forced to drive hundreds of miles from San Jose in her car, according to the Coos County Sheriffs Office. When San Jose police officers interviewed the woman, they learned she made up the story, police said. It wasnt immediately clear why the woman lied, but police said no suspects were sought, adding that she recanted all of her claims. The woman told the Sheriffs Office that she had escaped from her imaginary captor a stranger in a black hoodie, hat and gloves when her car ran out of gas, hiding in tall grass for hours until night fell. San Jose State police opened an investigation when the womans family arrived for her graduation and she failed to meet them. University officials would not say whether the woman was in good standing to graduate on Saturday. I can only confirm that the person in question is an enrolled student. SJSU is grateful for her safe return, Patricia Harris, a university spokeswoman, said by email. Falsely reporting a crime is a misdemeanor in California and Oregon. However, the Coos County Sheriffs Office will not be pressing charges against the woman, Coos County sheriffs Sgt. Kelley Andrews said. It happens from time to time, Andrews said of the false report. Were not looking to punish the victim who may have been through an emotional time in her life thats not something were looking to do. Theres other avenues to work with the victim and get a better resolution, he added. Filipa Ioannou and Michael Bodley are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com, mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi, @michael_bodley Two North Bay teens were arrested on Memorial Day after stealing from an Iraq War veterans car, police said. The Windsor teens caught the attention of police when a jogger passing by a blue Honda CRV noticed two people brandishing a handgun at him, police said. The parent company of Churchill Downs racetrack, home of the Kentucky Derby, has moved its online wagering operations from Mountain View to Kentucky. A decade ago, when Churchill Downs Inc. was building its TwinSpires online wagering business, the operations were based in California to tap into Silicon Valley. Company CEO Bill Carstanjen said Tuesday that Churchill Downs is confident it can fill those high-tech skills in its hometown of Louisville. Churchill says that in 2016, $1.1 billion was wagered through TwinSpires, amounting to 10 percent of total betting on U.S. horse races. TwinSpires, which also has operations in Lexington, Ky., employs more than 200 people. Legislature Senate OKs bill on arbitration The state Senate on Tuesday voted to pass a bill to prevent financial institutions accused of defrauding their customers from forcing lawsuits into private arbitration. The bill, SB33, was introduced by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, in the wake of the Wells Fargo sham account scandal, in which the bank admitted to opening more than 2 million checking and credit card accounts without customers permission. If signed by the governor, the bill would help clear a path for Wells Fargo customers who claim they were defrauded to band together to file class-action lawsuits, which tend to have larger payouts compared with closed-door arbitration proceedings, which are usually handed individually. The bill now moves to the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Technology Android creator unveils new devices Andy Rubin created the software that powers hundreds of millions of Android devices around the world. Now he has two gadgets of his own: the Essential Phone and the Essential Home. The phones display fills most of the front, save for a camera cutout, slim bezels and a small chin at the bottom. The almost full-screen display echoes a design popularized earlier this year by Samsung Electronics Co.s Galaxy S8 handset and soon to be followed by Apple Inc. with a revamped iPhone. The Essential Home is a puck-size, voice-activated gadget that can control appliances and provide reminders. Essential is part of Rubins new Playground Global incubator, which plans to raise $300 million. With the new products, Rubin is betting he can take on Apple and Samsung, which have dominated consumer hardware in recent years. The Essential handset uniquely includes a magnetic connector on the back for such accessories as a camera that takes 360-degree photos and a wireless charging hub. The sides of the phone are made with titanium, which Rubins company claims is impervious to scratches and dents. The back of the phone is ceramic. The phone runs a version of the Android operating system with a customized user interface, while the Home device runs a custom system called Ambient OS. The Home assistant device has a circular screen and can play music, set timers and control lights with a users voice. Chronicle News Services This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Andre Shavers was sentenced to five years on felony probation after authorities burst into the house where he was living in one of Oaklands most heavily policed neighborhoods and found a quarter ounce of marijuana. After the 2007 raid, Shavers couldnt leave the state without permission. He was subject to police searches at any time. He walked to the corner store one night for maple syrup and came back in a police car. Officers wanted to search his home again. All the while, cannabis storefronts flourished elsewhere in a state where medical marijuana was authorized in 1996. Now Oakland and other cities and states with legal pot are trying to make up for the toll marijuana enforcement took on minorities by giving them a better shot at joining the growing marijuana industry. African Americans made up 83 percent of cannabis arrests in Oakland in the year Shavers was arrested. I was kind of robbed of a lot for five years, Shavers said. Its almost like, what do they call that? Reparations. Thats how I look at it. If this is what theyre offering, Im going to go ahead and use the services. The efforts supporters say legalization is enriching white people but not brown and black people who have been arrested for cannabis crimes at far greater rates than whites. Recreational pot is legal in eight states and the nations capital. California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada approved ballot questions in November. They join Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia, which acted earlier. Twenty-nine states permit medical marijuana. Massachusetts ballot initiative was the first to insert specific language encouraging participation in the industry by those disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement. The law does not specify how that would be accomplished. In Ohio, a 2016 medical pot law included setting aside 15 percent of marijuana-related licenses for minority businesses. In Pennsylvania, applicants for cultivation and dispensing permits must spell out how they will achieve racial equity. Florida lawmakers agreed last year to reserve one of three future cultivation licenses for a member of the Florida Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association. There have been setbacks as well. The Maryland General Assembly adjourned last month without acting on a bill to guarantee a place for minority-owned businesses that were not awarded any of the states initial 15 medical marijuana cultivation licenses. Theres no solid data on how many minorities own U.S. cannabis businesses or how many seek a foothold in the industry. But diversity advocates say the industry is overwhelmingly white. The lack of diversity, they say, can be traced to multiple factors: rules that disqualify people with prior convictions from operating legal cannabis businesses; lack of access to banking services and capital to finance startup costs; and state licensing systems that tend to favor established or politically connected applicants. Its a problem that has been recognized but has proven to be relatively intractable, said Sam Kamin, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law who studies marijuana regulation. In 2010, blacks constituted 14 percent of the U.S. population but made up more than 36 percent of all arrests for pot possession, according to an American Civil Liberties Union study released in 2013. The report found African Americans were nearly four times more likely than whites to be arrested for cannabis possession. That study did not report Latino arrests because the FBI data on which it was based did not track Hispanics. But a 2016 study by the ACLU of California and the Drug Policy Alliance found Latinos were cited at 1.4 times the rate of white people for marijuana infractions in Los Angeles and 1.7 percent the rate in Fresno. The Minority Cannabis Business Association has drafted model legislation for states considering marijuana laws, including language to expunge pot-related convictions and to encourage racial and gender diversity among cannabis businesses. The people who got locked up should not get locked out of this industry, said Tito Jackson, a Boston city councilman and mayoral candidate. He suggests Massachusetts give licensing preference to groups that include at least one person with a marijuana conviction. The Oakland City Council in April voted to set aside half of medical cannabis licenses for people who have been convicted of a marijuana crime or who lived in one of 21 police districts with disproportionately high marijuana arrests. Candidates must meet income restrictions. Complicating matters is that marijuana remains illegal under federal law a fact seen as unlikely to change under President Donald Trump. That makes most banks reluctant to lend money to startup cannabis businesses, which often must rely instead on personal wealth. An Oakland nonprofit known as the Hood Incubator provides training and mentoring to minority cannabis entrepreneurs. Maybe they lack the money to get into the industry or they might have, you know, gotten arrested in the past for oh, what do you know? Selling weed. And now they cant actually get into the legal industry, said Ebele Ifedigbo, one of the organizations three co-founders. Under Oaklands program, applicants who dont qualify for a so-called equity license can still get preference if they incubate a minority-owned business with free rent or other help. Dan Grace, president of Dark Heart Nursery, is nervous about finding a partner but ready to make the program work. Debby Goldsberry, Magnolia Wellness dispensarys executive director, said the industry is primed to change and expand. Why? Because theres a prohibition thats been out there targeting people in our communities in Oakland, and its very unfair, she said. Oakland hosted a business mixer this month that attracted several hundred people, including retirees who have never smoked a joint and people who served time for marijuana offenses and established cannabis businesses. That group included Shavers, who hopes his drug-related record helps him get office space and investors to grow his delivery service, the Medical Strain. Its a blessing in disguise, he said, but not the blessing I would recommend. Janie Har and Bob Salsberg are Associated Press writers. Under Googles spellcheck There are certain words we all have trouble spelling, but a U.S. map from Google Trends just might make you shake your head. It lists the top-searched how to spell word for each state this year. The most-searched word for Californians as well as people in New York, Kentucky, Minnesota and Ohio was beautiful. Those in Rhode Island struggled with liar, while their neighbors in Connecticut cast a bigger umbrella with supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. But the best had to come from the good people of Wisconsin. The word they searched for? Wisconsin. Uh-oh, cocoa The prices of your favorite chocolates soon might be a little harder to swallow. After a long slump, cocoa futures prices are soaring this week amid signs of tighter supplies in Ivory Coast, the worlds top grower. Money managers have backed away from their bearish cocoa bets for three straight weeks, U.S. government data show. Number of the day 1 gigabit Thats the speed per second that Comcast is starting to offer its California Internet customers, quadrupling what had previously been the highest speeds available to businesses and consumers in the state. Customers will only have to replace their existing modems to take advantage of the service, which will be sent over the existing network. The company estimates that the service which can download a 5-gigabyte movie in less than a minute will cost about $160 per month. From San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. More items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techchronicle This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate An insured homeowner whose home has been badly damaged is entitled to coverage for the cost of repairs, even if those far exceed the propertys market value, a state appeals court has ruled. Reversing a Contra Costa County judges decision, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said a Richmond woman whose home was damaged by a kitchen fire in 2011 should receive $320,549, the repair cost minus depreciation, rather than the $75,000 market-value coverage her insurer paid. More broadly, the court said a 2004 state law, prompted by numerous insurance disputes over damage caused by Southern California wildfires, allows homeowners to recover repair costs even when their insurance policies are drafted more restrictively. Coverage is limited to fair-market value only if a home has been destroyed or damaged beyond repair, the court said. Courts have recognized that homes may have values to an owner that are distinct from economic worth, such as familiarity, comfort and the memories they invoke, Justice Therese Stewart said in the 3-0 ruling, issued Friday. For that reason, she said, lawmakers could have decided that owners whose homes had been damaged but not destroyed should have the option of repairing their homes and remaining in the homes and neighborhoods they had chosen. State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and the consumer organization United Policyholders filed arguments supporting the Richmond homeowner, Marlene Garnes. Garnes lawyer, Dylan Schaffer, said Wednesday the ruling was important for its interpretation of the 2004 law. The Legislature wants people to stay in their houses and repair them, Schaffer said in contrast to auto insurance, which covers no more than the value of a damaged car. Unless the building is leveled to the ground, youve got to pay what it would cost the homeowner to fix the building. A lawyer for the insurer, the California Fair Plan Association, could not be reached for comment. The association, a group of insurance companies commissioned by the Legislature in 1968 to cover homes in high-risk areas, could appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. The Courts decision prevents (the association) from forcing residents in lower income and other economically challenged neighborhoods to move or live in a damaged home instead of repairing it after a fire, said Jones in a statement. Schaffer said Garnes, who has lived in the home since childhood, has scraped up funding for enough repair work to let her stay in the house while seeking full coverage in the courts. Defending its decision to pay only the $75,000 market value, the insurance association cited language in its policy that said it would cover only the actual cash value if the repair or replacement costs were higher. But regardless of the policy language, the court said, state law draws a distinction between total loss of a property, to be reimbursed by its market value, and partial loss, covered by repair costs minus depreciation. Garnes home was damaged, not destroyed, Stewart said. An insurer may not circumvent the law by employing contrary contract terms. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko A flight from JFK Airport, headed to San Francisco, was diverted to Michigan on Tuesday night when a laptop battery caught fire. The flight left New York at 6:25 p.m. and was scheduled to land at SFO at 8:53 p.m. Pacific time, but ended up at Michigan's Ford Airport in Grand Rapids at 8:12 p.m. CST. One passenger, Kat Honniball, told the ABC affiliate that "a man a few rows behind her smelled smoke and noticed it was somebody's backpack burning." "I was stunned," she said, but added that she "knew something was going to happen because you know, lithium batteries catching on fire when you're up at 38,000 feetyou can't help but think you gotta do something. So I was prepared for it." In a statement, the FAA said, "JetBlue 915 from New York's JFK to San Francisco diverted to Grand Rapids, Michigan following reports of smoke emitting from a carry-on bag holding an electronic device. The flight landed safely and the aircraft is being inspected by maintenance crews before customers continue on to San Francisco." The United States is considering a ban on laptops on flights between the U.S. and Europe. No decision has been made yet, but a European Commission official told the Telegraph yesterday, "[Homeland] Secretary [John] Kelly affirmed he will implement any and all measures necessary to secure commercial aircraft flying to the United States - including prohibiting large electronic devices from the passenger cabinif the intelligence and threat level warrant it." Icy reception Ivanka Trump is facing criticism after her lifestyle brand tweeted about making champagne popsicles for Memorial Day. The tweet included a link to a post offering ideas for picnics and barbecue food for the holiday weekend known as the unofficial start of summer. Some criticized the post as being insensitive to the true meaning of the holiday. Trump, who serves as an official in her fathers administration, issued a solemn tweet on her personal account Monday, writing: Today we honor the men & women in our armed forces who have lost their lives to protect our freedom. Thank you for your service. Number of the day $1,001.20 Thats the price Amazon.com shares peaked at in Tuesdays trading, the first time the stock has crossed $1,000. Its market value hit $478 billion, double that of the worlds biggest traditional retailer, Walmart . Amazon beat Alphabet , the parent of Google , to the $1,000 mark; shares of GOOGL reached a high of $997.62. Mall? Rats! Call it retail-tainment. Just dont call American Dream Miami a mall. Developers are proposing a 6 million-square-foot project on the edge of the Everglades that would dwarf any other shopping mecca in North America, including Minnesotas Mall of America . In addition to retail, it would include an indoor ski slope, a water park, a skating rink, 2,000 hotel rooms, theaters and places to eat and drink. From San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techchronicle Two former Theranos directors said they didnt think to question executives as allegations arose that the struggling startup used existing blood-testing technology rather than its heralded system to analyze samples. Former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and retired U.S. Navy Admiral Gary Roughead, who served on Theranos board, acknowledged that they failed to confront Chief Executive Elizabeth Holmes about the allegations because they believed her claims about the technologys capabilities, according to court documents unsealed May 26 in Delaware. Thats what I assumed, Shultz testified under oath April 4. I didnt probe into it. It didnt occur to me. Excerpts from the depositions were made public in an investors lawsuit accusing Theranos officials of misrepresenting the companys performance and technology in order to raise $96 million in funding. Partner Management Fund LP agreed to settle its lawsuits in Delaware Chancery Court earlier this month for an undisclosed amount. Theranos has been pushing to resolve claims challenging the validity of the companys blood-testing technology. The Palo Alto startup agreed in April to pay Arizona more than $4.8 million to settle consumer-fraud claims over botched tests. The company also has agreed to a two-year ban on operating blood-testing laboratories to end a U.S. regulatory probe. Roughead, a former chief of naval operations who retired in 2011, testified in a March 24 deposition that he knew Theranos executives sometimes used other companies technology to analyze blood samples. He added that he didnt know the extent of that internal practice until it was disclosed by the Wall Street Journal. It was not until some of the press reporting that I became aware there was extensive commercial analyzers in use, Roughead said. Still, the revelations didnt prompt him to go to Holmes and ask her directly about the viability of Theranos testing system, he said. Susan Schendel, a spokeswoman at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution where Shultz and Roughead are fellows, said Tuesday in an email that both men were unavailable for comment. Theranos spokeswoman Tali Mackay said Tuesday in an email that the unsealed deposition excerpts represent a misleading version of the record. The company has taken significant strides to address past shortcomings while continuing to develop its technologies, Mackay said. The startup claimed it could run multiple blood tests on just a drop of blood at a fraction of the usual price. It was forced to close its labs after U.S. regulators found multiple failures to meet standards as concerns over the accuracy of its testing led to corrections of tens of thousands of patient results. Tyler Shultz, George Shultzs grandson who worked at Theranos, said in a March 6 deposition that Holmes overhyped the companys testing technology to the former Reagan administration official to gain a business advantage. Holmes claimed things that were just completely factually not true, Tyler Shultz said. The big ones are being able to run hundreds of blood tests from a single drop of blood. The CEO also erroneously led people to believe Theranos testing system could run multiple tests simultaneously, the younger Shultz added. In reality, each device was calibrated to run one thing at a time. In excerpts from 22 unsealed depositions, former Theranos employees described a workplace ruled by secrecy and fear, where workers put in long hours trying to make the companys testing system perform as advertised. Erika Cheung, a Theranos lab worker, grew so nervous about the accuracy of test results that she wrote a letter to federal regulators outlining her concerns, according to a March 7 deposition. Im ashamed of myself for not filing this complaint sooner, Cheung wrote in her letter to the Centers for Disease Control that was referenced in the unsealed filings. The lab technician said she felt guilty because she didnt trust the technology and wouldnt recommend my sister getting this test done. I wouldnt tell my mother to go in and get these tests done, like I had no business to say it was OK to run them on other people, Cheung said. The lab technician said in her deposition that company executives frequently demanded that staff hide things from people. We were constantly hiding things from all sorts of people, whether it was regulators or whether it was outside vendors or even people that would come in for demos, she said. The depositions were unsealed at the request of the Wall Street Journal, which reported on them earlier Tuesday. Theranos still faces at least one other investor lawsuit in addition to claims from ex-partner Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. that it was misled about the state of the companys technology when providing blood testing in some of its Arizona stores. Jef Feeley is a Bloomberg writer. Email: jfeeley@bloomberg.net Dave Klein has been a Bay Area commercial real estate broker for the past 30 years. He is currently with the firm Cushman & Wakefield and lives with his family in Burlingame. I grew up in the western suburbs of St. Louis in the 1960s and 70s. In those days the gearhead kids in high school were divided into two camps the muscle car guys and the cruiser guys. I fell into the latter camp and had deep appreciation for the big Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and Buicks that cruised around our neighborhood. They were big, powerful and roomy, perfect for four guys cruising the local hamburger stand or two couples having a late night on Lovers Lane. While my friends tooled around in their cramped muscle cars, I traveled in my parents big Buick in grand style. CHECK CAR PRICES: The Buick Riviera was a boxy style coupe until 1971, when the GM stylists led by Bill Mitchell and Jerry Hirschberg (the latter to become the lead designer for Nissan) made a radical change to the marque. When I was a freshman in college, along came my dream ride. It was long, sleek and sweeping all at once, yet arced to spring like a truly big cat. For all its power and edge, it was still a true gentlemens ride. And the best part was the radical boat tail shaped rear end, reminiscent of both the duck-tailed Duesenberg and the1963 Corvette Sting Ray. I was in love, but it was way out of reach for a poor college kid. Sadly, this radical design proved too controversial for the American market, and it was discontinued after the 1973 model year. Now 45 years and many family cars later, I became determined to relive my college dream. I had been perusing car auction databases for a while when my son sent me a link to a 1972 Buick Riviera in Cascade Blue with a matching blue velour interior. It was a blue dream machine. The car was located in Tacoma, Wash. in a no-reserve auction. It felt like destiny. I had business in Seattle, so all I needed to do was come up with the right bid. I won the auction and bought the car sight unseen for $10,400 with an 18-year-olds grin on my face. Now all I had to do was get it back to Burlingame. Shortly thereafter, my son and I traveled to Washington with plans to drive it back to the Bay Area. In my excitement, I didnt investigate how good a driver it was. When I picked it up, it became clear that it had not been driven for quite a while. The first clue was the thick coat of dust that it was wearing. It was very slow to turn over, but it fired up. I turned on the climate control and got hit with a spray of dust, bugs and cobwebs. Ten miles down the freeway it just died, and we panicked at the thought of driving this car 700 miles home. Fortunately for my son and I, we made it back to Burlingame in one piece. The car labored under weak brakes, a failing power steering pump, no fuel gauge or radio, no spare tire and decayed windshield wipers. After a year of devoted effort and much money later, the car has been restored to be a reliable and totally fun cruiser. Its so spacious and comfortable, and perfect for cruising down the El Camino Real in Burlingame. We love it when other drivers give us the thumbs-up or shout nice ride. I have now decided to honor this radical but short-lived marque by adding a 1971 and a 1973 Riviera to my collection. I have just bought a 1971 Buick Riviera in Verdemist Green, which I am in the process of restoring. I hope to have it in cruising shape soon. Attention Bay Area drivers We are looking for submissions to the weekly My Ride feature. We want to know what you drive and why. Send story ideas to cars@sfchronicle.com with the subject line My Ride. A legal saga over a drunken confrontation that turned into a fatal stabbing outside a San Francisco bar resumed Wednesday when a tenants rights attorney appeared in court to face a murder charge that had been dismissed by a judge six months earlier. City prosecutors disagreed with the judges decision after a preliminary hearing to toss the charges against 33-year-old Carlos Argueta and with the assertion that he killed a man on Sixth Street in self-defense so they took the case to a grand jury, which indicted him in mid-May. The principle of double jeopardy does not apply to preliminary hearings, so on Wednesday, Argueta stood quietly in San Francisco Superior Court in a jail-issued orange jumpsuit, where he did not enter a plea in connection with the death of 61-year-old James Thomas on the night of Sept. 3, 2015. We strongly disagreed with the judges ruling, which is why we exercised our authority to take the case to a grand jury, said Max Szabo, a spokesman for the district attorney. By indicting the defendant, at least 12 members of the grand jury (out of 13) agreed with our assessment of the facts and the law, and unless this case is settled out of court, a jury will ultimately decide the merits of the charges. Outside court, Arguetas family and his attorney said they were dismayed that he was back in a San Francisco courtroom, long after believing the case was behind him. I think the whole thing is unfair, said his cousin, Mario Martinez, 46. He was released last time because there wasnt enough evidence. To me, that indicates to me that he is innocent. For them to come back and do the same thing again with the same evidence, it makes no sense at all. Youre basically just ruining his life. Argueta, who was a staff attorney for Eviction Defense Collaborative, is accused of fatally stabbing Thomas at about 10 p.m. outside a bar on a busy and gritty block of Sixth Street south of Market Street. He had been celebrating the end of the internship of a young colleague, Pascal Krummenacher, and both of the men were intoxicated. Prosecutors said Argueta stabbed Thomas without good cause, but defense attorneys said Argueta acted in self-defense in an altercation with four men who carried a cane, a bat and a skateboard as weapons. An attorney for Krummenacher who was originally charged but was cleared said surveillance video suggested the dispute was over whether Argueta took a messenger bag from one of the men. In November, Judge Kay Tsenin said the evidence in the case supported the self-defense claim and dismissed the cases. At preliminary hearings, prosecutors must show there is probable cause to suspect a defendant committed a crime a lower burden than at trial, when jurors must find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Deputy Public Defender Peter Santina, who is representing Argueta, said Wednesday that he was confident his client would be acquitted. Arguetas friends and relatives raised bail money when he was first charged, but now face a new bond of $2 million. Argueta has spent the past six months trying to move on from the case, his family said, moving back to Southern California. Santina said authorities arrested him at his job, dragging him out of the bathroom and marching him out in front of his new co-workers. He is set to return to court Thursday. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo A San Francisco jail inmate was found dead over the weekend at the citys lock-up in San Bruno, authorities said Tuesday. Deputies found 25-year-old Jesus Octavio Rodriguez of San Pablo unresponsive in his pod in County Jail No. 5 at about 7:15 a.m. Sunday, said Eileen Hirst, chief of staff for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, which runs the facility. Penn Station commuters and east coast Amtrak riders know it's coming: weeks of emergency repairs that will likely turn the heavily-trafficked transit hub into a mess of delays and service changes for the better part of Summer 2017. But while Amtrak has been relatively forthcoming about the ground zero of repair workthat "tangle and mangle" of interlocking tracks under the station's western endthe full extent of the misery has been harder to parse. Are we talking six months? Longer? And, as Governor Andrew Cuomo has argued, can you really trust Amtrak to stick to its own timeline? On Tuesday, Amtrak released its first "preliminary" repair schedule, focusing specifically on Amtrak service between New York City and points west and south. Service changes are scheduled to last from Monday July 10th through Friday September 1steight weeks, up from the previously reported six. Acela Express service will not be impacted, though six Northeast Regional trains between New York City and Washington, D.C. will be canceled each day. Additionally: Keystone Service: Six trains will start and end in Philadelphia, and two more will start and end at Newark each day. Service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg will operate at currently scheduled levels. Long-Distance Service: The Crescent, between New York City and New Orleans, will originate and terminate in D.C., with connections north provided on other Northeast Corridor trains. Changes to Empire Service, between NYC and Albany, Buffalo and Niagara Falls, have yet to be announced. "While we regret that this work requires some reduction in train service and disruption to passengers over the summer months, we believe it will ultimately be worth the investment in terms of increased reliability of passenger rail travel," said Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman in a statement. Asked to comment on the decision to extend repairs to eight weeks, an Amtrak spokeswoman said that, "We are still working on final details which we will announce as soon as we are able to do so," adding, "I'm not aware of plans on extending schedule." Amtrak owns Penn Station jointly with the federal government, leasing track space to the LIRR and NJT. The spokeswoman deferred to LIRR and NJ Transit for details on their specific schedules. "We haven't announced details of the LIRR service plan yet but stay tuned for an announcement soon," said LIRR spokesman Aaron Donovan. NJ Transit did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though the NY Times reports that all Morris & Essex trains will be diverted to Hoboken Terminal during repairs, where riders will switch to the PATH train or take a ferry over to Manhattan. Changes to other NJ Transit lines are expected early next month, according to the paper. This summer's repair work is independent of other long-awaited, desperately needed Penn Station improvements, like the Gateway Program to dig a new tunnel under the Hudson River. "This is basically replacement work," Michael DeCataldo, Vice President of Amtrak Operations East, told Gothamist last week. "Really no new technology is going in. It's just replacing something that's been in the ground for 20 or 25 years, if not longer." The Jack London Square food scene continues to heat up in 2017, evident in the recent announcement of three new brands joining its roster: Tartine Bakery's roasting operation, Coffee Manufactory, as well as Belcampo. These folks follow recent newcomers like Burmese restaurant, Grocery Cafe, opening later this month, Brooklyn West Winery, and Irish bar Slainte (pronounced "slain-cha), which opened in April. La Boulangerie lovers from San Francisco to the East Bay have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. Owner Pascal Rigo told Scoop he has at least three new locations in the works: 655 Montgomery St. and 588 Mission Bay in San Francisco, and 5500 College Ave. in Oakland. All slated to open before September. The growth is basically another step in the beloved pastry-outfit's renaissance since splitting with Starbucks in 2015. The mammoth coffee retailer closed 23 of its La Boulange bakery-cafes when the deal ended, and in the time since, Rigo has gone about reopening a few of those locations. None of the new locations Rigo mentioned were previously La Boulange spaces. Each also one has its own unique footprint, the smallest being the Montgomery Street setup. "It's smaller in square footage, which is nice. We wanted to test how we could do in a smaller space in a busy urban, downtown area," Rigo said. The 588 Mission Bay spot is, as Rigo said, is "brand new and will have all of the bells and whistles." The address is the site a new 198 unit housing complex called FIVE88, adjacent to UCSF's Mission Bay campus. The 5500 College Ave. location in Oakland is the largest of the bunch. It was most recently home to Pasta Pomodoro, the Italian chain that closed all 15 of its Bay Area locations late last year. "When it comes to the size of a space, I think if they aren't too large, they work. The max for us is probably about 2,500 square feet," Rigo said. As for what happened with his arrangement with Starbucks, Rigo said there are no hard feelings. He described learning from the company when it came to doing business on a large scale and he still continues to work with them in a sort of consulting capacity. "I will say I was a little frustrated that they didn't communicate on what we were doing. I don't think people realize how many great things we did for them over those years. We were doing great things yet we were never hearing from them about it. So we had to ask ourselves what were we doing," Rigo said. Still, the relationship remains in good shape. And Rigo said he isn't closing the door on future partnerships with Starbucks, or some other formidable chain. For now, Rigo said he's just happy to be out of the shadow of a non-compete clause following the split, and ready to continue growing. "I've noticed that there is a little bit more competition now, which is great. I think we started this kind of bakery craze," he said. "So, we just stick to the concept we have: great food that's affordable and not too fussy or intimidating. We're just being ourselves." Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email phillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Foo Fighters were supposed to shut down the fifth annual BottleRock Napa Valley festival Sunday night. But in the end, it was the concert organizers who pulled the plug on the multiplatinum rock band led by Dave Grohl. Even though the group was allotted a two-hour headlining slot on the third day of the luxe festival in the heart of Napa, the band made it only midway through Everlong, its hit song from 1997, when it ran up against the concerts strict 10 p.m. curfew. The promoters promptly shut down the speakers and video screens as Grohl and the band kept going to the wild cheers of the sold-out crowd. It was a fitting end to the festival that packed in so much action over Memorial Day weekend that it often felt impossible to keep up. More than 80 eclectic artists performed during the three-day festival, including after-parties like the Foo Fighters private concert at the 150-capacity Blue Note Napa on Friday night. From wine tastings and gourmet food offerings, to an on-site spa and countless VIP perks there was always more to discover, more to taste, more to do. Grohl was racing against time from the moment the Foo Fighters took the stage shortly after 8 p.m., sensing that for their first major rock show in two years they would have trouble covering all the highlights of their two decades-plus career. They didnt even get to their new track, The Sky Is a Neighborhood, which Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins debuted May 15 at the annual Acoustic-4-A-Cure benefit concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Weve got too many f songs, Grohl said. They nearly made it through all the hits, touching on fast and loose versions of hits like Learn to Fly, My Hero, and Best of You, alongside throwaway covers of songs such as Queens Another One Bites The Dust and Tommy Tutones 867-5309/Jenny. Grohl could have been a little more efficient with his time, large chunks of which were used for random noodling and long-winded monologues, plus a Happy Birthday sing-along for his wife, Jordyn Blum. How many people have never seen the Foo Fighters before? he asked, eliciting a huge cheer from the audience that stretched as far as the eye could see on the grounds of the Napa Expo. Thats cool. Its been 22 years. Couldnt get a sitter? Grohl nearly screamed his voice hoarse during Monkey Wrench but didnt show any sign of slowing down as the band bolted for and past the festivals finish line. The Foo Fighters arent the only headliners whove been cut off at the festival. The Cure was unplugged in 2014 because of the curfew. Surrounded by residential neighborhoods, with houses that face the main stage, the curfew was set when neighbors complained about the noise after BottleRocks first year. BottleRock returns May 25-27, 2018. Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicles pop music critic. E-mail: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF Online: Catch up on what you missed at this years BottleRock Napa Valley: www.sfchro nicle.com/bottlerock This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Oscilloscope Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Oscilloscope Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Never underestimate the drawing power of cat videos. Kedi, the Turkish-made documentary about the wild cats of Istanbul, opened March 3, stayed for a healthy run at the Landmark Theatres and has since moved over to the Roxie Theater and done gangbusters. However, it must end its run on Thursday, June 1, to make way for the two-week SF DocFest. A federal judge has ordered a hearing on whether to hold an antiabortion activist and his lawyers in contempt for posting clandestine recordings from members-only meetings of abortion providers along with the names of attendees, information the judge had previously ruled was obtained by fraud. U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of San Francisco had ordered David Daleiden and his group, the Center for Medical Progress, in February 2016, to not disclose the recordings or other information the organizations members obtained when they posed as fetal researchers to enter the annual meetings of the National Abortion Federation in San Francisco in 2014 and in Baltimore in 2015. A federal appeals court upheld Orricks injunction this March. The rulings stemmed from a lawsuit the abortion-providers group had filed against Daleiden and his organization. The same month as the appeals court ruling, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra charged Daleiden and his employee, Sandra Merritt, with criminal violations of state laws against recording private conversations without consent. Last week, Daleidens lawyers in that case posted YouTube links to many of the recordings. The lawyers also posted the names of 14 people who had attended the meetings, according to a lawyer for the abortion providers group, who said the disclosures could endanger their lives. Daleidens lead criminal lawyer, Steve Cooley, a former Los Angeles County district attorney, said Tuesday that his office had obtained the information from Becerras office as evidence and thought it should be shared with the public. Daleiden and his lawyers have argued that the secretly recorded videos would reveal wrongdoing by abortion providers that would add to the public debate on the issue and would also be relevant to his criminal case. But at a hearing Thursday, Orrick said Daleiden, and any attorneys who represent him, were bound by the injunction against any public release of the material. The disclosure is, in my view, a flagrant violation of this courts order, Orrick said. I find this shocking, and I am quite amazed with the lawyers. He ordered the postings taken down immediately and scheduled a hearing June 14 on whether to hold Daleiden and his lawyers in contempt of court, which could make them subject to fines and possible State Bar disciplinary action against the lawyers. Derek Foran, lawyer for the National Abortion Federation, said Tuesday that YouTube had promptly removed the video links at his request. Foran said Daleiden, with the help of his lawyers, had used his criminal case in order to end-run the federal courts order. Cooley, defending the postings, said in an interview, Mr. Daleiden is entitled under the Sixth Amendment to a public trial, and the public, facilitated by media entities, has a right to know how that matter is proceeding. Trials are to be public, not secret, not star chamber proceedings. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko Unauthorized immigrants who are habitual drunkards cannot challenge their deportations on grounds of family hardship, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, rejecting an earlier decision that had declared such legal objections unconstitutional. Federal law allows immigrants who entered the country illegally to remain if they have shown good moral character during the past 10 years of their U.S. residence and their deportation would cause undue hardship to close family members who are U.S. citizens or legal residents. Among the categories defined by the 1952 law as lacking good moral character were certain serious felons, people who lied to gain immigration benefits and habitual drunkards. A panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 2-1 in March 2016 that the law on drunkards was discriminatory because alcoholism is an illness, not a moral defect. But the full appeals court voted to grant the government a rehearing before a larger panel, which upheld the law Tuesday in a 9-2 decision. Because people who regularly drink alcoholic beverages to excess pose increased risks to themselves and others, a strict ban on their presence furthers the legitimate governmental interest in public safety, Judge Susan Graber said in the courts lead opinion. Lawyers for the immigrant in the case, joined by immigrants-rights groups, argued that the law wrongly classified addicts to alcohol as lacking good moral character. But Graber said the question of moral character was legally irrelevant because Congress had a legitimate reason to prohibit habitual drinkers from seeking relief from deportation. Not all alcoholics are habitual drunkards, she said, noting that the law covers only those who had consumed alcohol regularly during some of the 10-year period before they faced deportation. In a dissenting opinion, Chief Judge Sidney Thomas said the law was unclear and should be reconsidered by immigration officials to distinguish between alcoholics and habitual drunkards who may pose a danger. Aside from the DUI conviction, there was no evidence in the record of any harm to the public or others, said Thomas, joined in dissent by Judge Morgen Christen. The only evidence was that he was an excellent worker. In the lead opinion, Graber noted, the immigrant, Salomon Ledezma-Cosino, was held for deportation in 2008 after police arrested him for driving under the influence of alcohol. Doctors found he had a more than 10-year history of heavy alcohol abuse, Graber said. He was hospitalized for a liver disease in 2010. Ledezma entered the United States illegally from Mexico in 1997 and is now a construction worker in the San Diego area who is married and has eight children, five of them U.S. citizens. Now in his mid-60s, he has sought to stay in the U.S. on the grounds that his removal would cause hardship to his family. Ledezmas lawyers said they were disappointed by Tuesdays ruling. The governments position renders him ineligible for relief from removal solely because he sought help for a medical condition, the lawyers said in a statement. This decision further stigmatizes alcoholism and will discourage immigrants suffering from the disease from getting the help they need. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko ORLANDO A mentally distressed former Marine who pointed a fake handgun at police in the Orlando International Airport and shouted kill me said he wanted to speak to the president, according to an arrest affidavit released Wednesday. Michael Wayne Pettigrew, 26, was arrested after the almost three-hour standoff that ended peacefully, with no shots fired Tuesday night. Police have called it an attempted suicide by cop. Pettigrew faces a charge of aggravated assault on a firefighter and was forcibly committed for short-term mental health observation under what is commonly referred to as Floridas Baker Act. The episode started Tuesday night when Pettigrew approached a cashier at a taxi company in the airport and showed her what looked like a gun. Pettigrew gave his cell phone to the cashier and told her to call 911 because he wanted to bring the police and speak to the president, according to the affidavit. Pettigrew pointed the fake gun at officers as they arrived at the rental car section of the airport, and also pointed the gun at himself. But no shots were fired and no one was hurt. One officer raised the muzzle of his rifle to get a clear view of Pettigrew but didnt fire because passengers were running everywhere, the affidavit said. Part of the airport was temporarily evacuated and traffic going into the airport was halted for a short time. The responding officers tried to talk to Pettigrew for a half hour until SWAT team members and police negotiators arrived. Our negotiators did a phenomenal job of talking with the subject for about two hours and finally got him to peacefully surrender, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Tuesday night. On Wednesday, no one answered a knock on the door at the apartment where Pettigrew had been living about 4 miles from the airport. Phone numbers for his parents werent accepting messages. A document released Wednesday by Orlando police showed that Pettigrew was court-martialed at a Marine base in Twentynine Palms (San Bernardino County) for stabbing another Marine six years ago. He pleaded guilty to stabbing the Marine in the arm, although the original charge accused him of also cutting the victims face. His sentence was a bad-conduct discharge from the Marines and confinement for seven months. Earlier this year, a gunman killed five people inside a baggage claim area at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Esteban Santiago, a 27-year-old Iraq War veteran from Alaska, has pleaded not guilty to a 22-count indictment in the Jan. 6 shooting. Mike Schneider is an Associated Press writer. The family of a Japanese college student who was fatally struck by a police officer in February 2013 has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit with the city, following a lengthy legal battle that ultimately netted no punishment for the cop, despite video evidence that appears to contradict the NYPD's initial statements about the crash. Ryo Oyamada, 24, had been living in New York and studying English for only three months when he was struck and killed by Officer Darren Ilardi while crossing a street in Queensbridge on February 21st, 2013. In 2015, the Oyamada family filed a federal lawsuit against the City, arguing that the NYPD orchestrated a cover-up after Ryo was killed. Initially, the NYPD claimed the officer's emergency lights were engaged when Ilardi struck Oyamada, asserting the officer was traveling in a marked vehicle while responding to a 911 knife assault call in the area. But video from NYC Housing Authority security cameras, which attorney Steve Vaccaro obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request, appeared to dispute Ilardi's claim, and at a Department of Motor Vehicles safety hearing in 2015 Ilardi himself admitted to cutting his lights shortly before striking Oyamada, calling it a "tactical" maneuver. "I cut the lights off," he said. "The next thing I know there's somebody in front of my car, I tried to swerve out of the way, and I struck the pedestrian." NYCHA video suggested Ilardi's vehicle did not have its lights engaged when it struck Oyamada. Vaccaro also accused the NYPD of dispersing witnesses at the scene, discarding further video evidence, failing to measure skid marks, and not checking Ilardi's cell phone records to ascertain whether or not he was using his phone when he struck Oyamada, according to the lawsuit. The $8 million lawsuit also suggested Ilardi had a poor driving record, for which the NYPD failed to sanction him. In addition, the Oyamada's lawsuit cited radio transcripts and other evidence provided by the City to indicate that Ilardi "was not assigned to the disturbance, he did not tell anyone he was responding to an emergency, and that two other NYPD units had already been assigned to the call, which was later deemed to be unfounded," Gothamist reported in 2014. An administrative law judge with the DMV ultimately declined to take action against Ilardi, ruling the fatal collision "unavoidable." No representative from the city has ever apologized to the Oyamada family for Ryo's death, and the family was compelled to sue the NYPD for detailed information about the crash. "I can't believe this is happening in New York City, the city of democracy, in 2014," Ryo's sister Tomoko Oyamada said in NYC a year after her brother's death. "We want to know the truth. We just want to have some kind of honest explanation of what happened to Ryo," An accident reconstruction report paid for by the plaintiffs and constructed based on materials obtained via FOIL found Ilardi's car had likely been traveling at 64.6 mph shortly before striking Oyamada, "a conservative estimate of 34 mph over the statutory speed limit of 30 mph, or over twice the speed limit," per the report. The report determined Oyamada "did not appear to be acting in a reckless manner," though initially the NYPD suggested he "walked into the vehicle's path of travel" while crossing midblock. Indeed, the report concluded that there was "no evidence that Mr. Oyamada jumped out into the path of the oncoming Police car," contradicting Ilardi's testimony that "Oyamada was 'shimmying left and right' indicating that Mr. Oyamada was trying to get out of the path of the oncoming vehicle." Oyamada--10th and 12th Street Cameras from Vaccaro and White on Vimeo. The report found that in addition to driving significantly over the speed limit, Ilardi was also driving outside the designated travel lane. Two additional factors the report suggests contributed to Oyamada's death have been redacted, and are not available under FOIL. "Any one of the four causes of this incident...on their own could have caused this incident. However, the combination of all four represented a reckless disregard and represented an extreme risk to life to all proximate to the path of travel," the report reads. The report also noted that "[t]he activation of sirens or turret lights would have been helpful in preventing this incident by helping Mr. Oyamada differentiate an oncoming Police car as being different from a normal vehicle in operation." In a statement released yesterday, the Oyamada family expressed anguish over the NYPD's apparent lack of transparency in investigating Ryo's death, decrying a "lack of political will" to hold the department accountable for what the accident reconstruction report deemed preventable. For over four years, our family has struggled through language barriers and distance to try to learn the truth of what happened to Ryo and to hold the NYPD accountable for killing him. We live in Germany and Japan, and have made countless trips to New York City to identify Ryos mangled body, attend court conferences and a DMV hearing to find out the truth of what happened to Ryo and demand justice. When Ryo was killed, we flew immediately to New York City. When we met Ryo's body, our mother asked How was Ryo killed with such gruesome damage to his body by a speeding police car in a residential area? It didnt make any sense then, and after over four years, it still doesnt make sense. The NYPD officers in the patrol car were not responding to an assault in progress and had not activated their emergency lights, even though the NYPD claimed the opposite in its initial accounts. Findings of forensic expert Peter Chen demonstrate Ryo was killed in a preventable crash. There is and has been a lack of political will to hold the NYPD accountable for killing Ryo. Our family feels that there is no way to hold the NYPD accountable through the court system. After over four years, we have decided with heavy hearts to accept a settlement of our lawsuit against the city for his death. This is not justice, and Officer Darren Ilardi should be held accountable for killing Ryo, as he sped recklessly next to public housing where children, families and pedestrians are always walking. As the city continues a Vision Zero plan to reduce preventable traffic deaths, it is unfortunately exempting NYPD officers from following the rules and being held accountable for pedestrian deaths. New Yorkers should understand that nothing has changed in the NYPD to prevent this from happening again. Officer Darren Ilardi, who was driving the vehicle when it hit Ryo, has not faced any meaningful consequences and the NYPD and City of New York have let him escape accountability for his actions. This lack of justice and accountability pervades the NYPDs handling of the crash that took Ryo from us. Vaccaro told Gothamist that the Oyamadas had hoped an investigation into Ryo's death would help prevent future vehicular deaths at the hands of the NYPD, but were disheartened by the department's unending red tape. "They wanted changes made so there were not more young people killed senselessly in these preventable crashes. At the end of process they were very frustrated," he told us. "We made a number of proposals to city, increasing awareness and accountability for officers, procedures for greater accountability, changes to road design, trying to get facts out to what happened," Vaccaro said. "The redactions and report show the city was very firm with their position that they were not going to agree with non-economic proposals, and not going to entertain disclosure of evidence developed in the discovery process. The city doesn't think that the facts of incident like this should be made public." He added, "That's something that was very difficult to explain to my clients from Japan. They were very surprised by the cloak of secrecy involved with an incident like this, with a police officer on duty. I don't think that the secrecy helps us avoid more tragedy." Indeed, Vaccaro said, "To the contrary, I think it means this will continue to happen and the city will pay out money in settlements, but I don't see progress being made in preventing them from happening." When contacted for comment, the NYPD referred Gothamist to the City Law Department, whose spokesperson told us, "This was a tragic incident. Settling the litigation was in the City's best interest." The City Law Department tells us the Oyamadas received a settlement of $540,000. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has made reducing pedestrian deaths one of his signature initiatives, did not respond to a request for comment. Ryo in New York, surrounded by friends. 1 Missile defense: The Pentagon says it has shot down a mock warhead over the Pacific in a success for Americas missile defense program. The test was the first of its kind in nearly three years. And it was the first test targeting an intercontinental-range missile like North Korea is developing. The military says an interceptor rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County slammed into the warhead as it traveled outside the Earths atmosphere after being launched from a test range on a Pacific atoll. 2 Flynn documents: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will provide documents to the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its probe into Russias meddling in the 2016 election. Flynn will turn over documents by next week related to two of his businesses as well as some personal documents the committee earlier requested, a person close to Flynn said. The decision Tuesday was the first signal that Flynn and the Senate panel have found common ground. Flynn had previously invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in declining an earlier request from the committee. WASHINGTON President Trump welcomed Vietnams prime minister to the White House Wednesday for talks focusing on the American trade deficit, while the Southeast Asian country is still shaken by Trumps withdrawal from a regional commerce pact. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the first leader to visit the Trump White House from Southeast Asia, where the U.S. vies with China for influence. Billions of dollars in U.S.-Vietnamese business deals are expected to be signed during his visit. We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today MOSCOW Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea have fired four cruise missiles at Islamic States positions in Syria, the Russian defense ministry said Wednesday. The announcement came as Syrian government troops pushed ahead in their offensive against Islamic State and militants in central and northern Syria. Moscow said in a statement that the Admiral Essen frigate and the Krasnodar submarine launched the missiles at militant targets in the area of the ancient town of Palmyra. There was no information on when the missiles were launched. Syrian troops have been on the offensive for weeks in northern, central and southern parts of the country against Islamic State and U.S.-backed rebels under the cover of Russian air strikes, gaining an area almost half the size of neighboring Lebanon. The strategic juncture in the Syrian desert aids government plans to go after Islamic State in Deir el-Zour, one of the militants last major strongholds in Syria. The oil-rich province straddles the border with Iraq and is the extremist groups last gateway to the outside world. Russia, a staunch Damascus ally, has been providing air cover to Syrian President Bashar Assads offensive on Islamic State and other insurgents since 2015. Moscow had fired cruise missiles from warships in the past, as well as from mainland Russia against Assads opponents. As the fighting against militants is under way near Palmyra, Syrian troops clashed with U.S.-backed rebels in the countrys south on Wednesday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In the northern city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of Islamic State, warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition destroyed the main telecommunications center in the city, the Islamic State-linked Aamaq news agency said. Nataliya Vasilyeva is an Associated Press writer. Hyderabad: Telangana and AP State governments are set to resolve the long pending un-apportioned debts and liabilities issue between the two States at a high level Inter-State Finance Officers meeting to be held at Amaravati on Wednesday. Nearly Rs 7000 to Rs 8,000 crore debts need to be apportioned between the two States as per the AP Reorganisation Act. The pending debts include capital expenditure, GPF and reserve funds which would have to be shared between the two States. The Reorganisation Act says that all liabilities on account of public debt and public account of the united Andhra Pradesh shall be apportioned on the basis of population ratio of the successor States unless a different mode of apportionment is provided under the provisions of this Act.Top officials of the Telangana State government told The Hans India that an official delegation led by State Deputy Secretary (Finance) A Sai Prasad would hold meeting with his AP counterparts and sort out the issue of sharing the debts piled up in the united Andhra Pradesh. It is the first meeting being organised by the officials of the two States this year. The bank loans taken by the then governments for the construction of irrigation projects, road development schemes and other infrastructure development programmes in Andhra Pradesh state would have to be divided and repaid by the respective State governments. The division of GPF of the employees of both States would also have to be shared by the two States. In many cases, the two State governments would make book adjustments on the payment of debts. In some instances, governments would clear the debts and liabilities through money. Officials said that the mounted debts put heavy burden on two State exchequers due to delay in the apportionment of debts for the last three years. The two governments have already locked horns on the division of assets and liabilities. With the intervention of the Union government, AP and Telangana governments began talks to resolve the contentious issues. CASPER, Wyo. A French Canadian who put a bison calf in his car at Yellowstone National Park because he thought the animal was cold told a park ranger he realized what he did was wrong. The man who took the calf is identified as Shamash Kassam of Quebec in documents filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming. Park officials cited Kassam for disturbing wildlife. He was fined $110 and is required to appear in court June 2 at the Yellowstone Justice Center. Yellowstone officials euthanized the bison calf after the human interaction caused the animal to be rejected by its herd, the park said Monday. According to the citation, Kassam told a park ranger he saw the baby bison in the middle of the road near Buffalo Ranch. Kassam said the calf was wet and shivering. He said he did not see any other bison in the vicinity and he waited 20 minutes to see if any adult bison would come back for the calf. Kassam said the animal appeared to be seeking warmth from his cars engine. Kassam told the park ranger he picked up the calf because otherwise it would have been roadkill, the citation states. When the ranger made contact with Kassam at the Buffalo Ranch, he saw the calf lying in the back of Kassams Toyota Sequoia. The park ranger told Kassam that park visitors are not permitted to intervene with wildlife and that by removing the calf he was preventing the mother from locating it and possibly altering its ability to survive in the wild. Kasam stated that he understood what he did was wrong and he would never pick up or disturb any wildlife again, the citation states. The ranger located a bison herd near where Kassam had picked up the calf and released the calf back into the herd, according to the citation. The ranger then notified National Park Service bison management. Rangers repeatedly tried to reunite the calf with its herd, according to a statement released by Yellowstone. The efforts failed, and the calf was later euthanized because it was abandoned and approaching people and cars along the road. Human interference can cause mothers to reject their offspring, the park said. Yellowstone released a statement Monday after receiving criticism for euthanizing the calf. In order for the calf to leave the park, it would have had to spend months in quarantine to be monitored for brucellosis, a disease that causes bison, elk and cattle to miscarry. No approved quarantine facilities exist, and the park said it doesn't have the capacity to care for a calf that's too young to forage on its own. "Nor is it the mission of the National Park Service to rescue animals: our goal is to maintain the ecological processes of Yellowstone," the statement said. "Even though humans were involved in this case, it is not uncommon for bison, especially young mothers, to lose or abandon their calves. Those animals typically die of starvation or predation." A Yellowstone spokeswoman said the park would like visitors to respect wildlife and to know and follow the safety regulations. The visitors put themselves in danger because adult animals are protective of their young and will act aggressively to defend them, the park said. Last year, five visitors were seriously injured when they approached bison. Bison harm more visitors to Yellowstone than any other animal. Park regulations require visitors to stay at least 25 yards from all wildlife and at least 100 yards from bears and wolves. YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK A Canadian-based group of men who posted pictures and videos of their travels on social media are in hot water with Yellowstone National Park officials after walking out to a hot spring where people are prohibited. Rangers filed a criminal complaint Monday against three members of the group known as High on Life SundayFundayz for stepping onto Grand Prismatic Spring. The men have been identified as Charles Ryker Gamble, Alexey Andriyovych Lyakh and Justis Cooper Price-Brown. The National Park Service has the authority to enforce federal regulations that make it unlawful for anyone to travel off boardwalks or trails, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities learned of the groups actions Monday after a park visitor contacted Yellowstone officials to say he had seen the men leave the boardwalk, the complaint states. The visitor took photos and a video of the men Saturday while they were approaching the Grand Prismatic Spring and reaching into the spring. Other people contacted the park to say they had seen photos posted on a Facebook page operated by High on Life SundayFundayz, according to the complaint. The group has removed many of the photos. The park's pathways are there to protect both travelers and the sensitive thermal features, the complaint states. The incident is the latest in what has been a spring filled with tourists violating Yellowstone rules. Last week international tourists loaded a bison calf into their car because they were worried about its health. "For us it is almost like a call to action," said Morgan Warthin, Yellowstone spokeswoman, after the bison incident. The Canadian group has posted an apology on its website and social networks for leaving the boardwalk path that visitors are required to stay on. The group removed photos and video showing some of them touching the hot water at the Grand Prismatic Spring. The post says the group was unaware of the ecological ramifications and safety hazards of its actions. We got over zealous in our enthusiasm for this wonderful place, the post states. When standing at the face of such natural wonder, we were drawn to it. In an attempt to get the perfect shot, we acted in a way that doesnt reflect our respect for the environment we were trying to capture. For the next two days, each time someone shares a memory from Yellowstone on the parks Facebook page with the hashtag #DonationforYellowstone, the group will donate a dollar, up to a $5,000 donation, the post continued. When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her. It was forced on me, she recalls. She had become pregnant, she says, and child welfare authorities were investigating so her family and church officials decided the simplest way to avoid a messy criminal case was to organize a wedding. My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, I dont know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?' Johnson remembers today, many years later. She said, Well, I guess youre just going to get married.' So she was. A government clerk in Tampa, Florida, refused to marry an 11-year-old, even though this was legal in the state, so the wedding party went to nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk issued a marriage license. The license (which Ive examined) lists her birth date, so officials were aware of her age. Not surprisingly, the marriage didnt work out two-thirds of marriages of underage girls dont last, one study found but it did interrupt Johnsons attendance at elementary school. Today she is campaigning for a state law to curb underage marriages, part of a nationwide movement to end child marriage in America. Meanwhile, children 16 and under are still being married in Florida at a rate of one every few days. Youre thinking: Child marriage? Thats what happens in Bangladesh or Tanzania, not America! In fact, more than 167,000 young people age 17 and under married in 38 states between 2000 and 2010, according to a search of available marriage license data by a group called Unchained at Last, which aims to ban child marriage. The search turned up cases of 12-year-old girls married in Alaska, Louisiana and South Carolina, while other states simply had categories of 14 and younger. Unchained at Last was not able to get data for the other states. But it extrapolated that in the entire country, there were almost 250,000 child marriages between 2000 and 2010. Some backing for that estimate comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, which says that at least 57,800 Americans age 15 to 17 reported being in marriages in 2014. Among the states with the highest rates of child marriages were Arkansas, Idaho and Kentucky. The number of child marriages has been falling, but every state in America still allows underage girls to marry, typically with the consent of parents, a judge or both. Twenty-seven states do not even set a minimum age by statute, according to the Tahirih Justice Centers Forced Marriage Initiative. A great majority of the child marriages involve girls and adult men. Such a sexual relationship would often violate statutory rape laws, but marriage sometimes makes it legal. In New Hampshire, a Girl Scout named Cassandra Levesque learned that girls in her state could marry at 13. So she set out to change the law. A legislator sponsored Cassandras bill to raise the age to 18, and researchers found that two 15-year-olds had recently married in New Hampshire, along with one 13-year-old. But politicians resisted the initiative. Were asking the Legislature to repeal a law thats been on the books for over a century, thats been working without difficulty, on the basis of a request from a minor doing a Girl Scout project, scoffed one state representative, David Bates. In March the Republican-led House voted to kill the bill, leaving the minimum age at 13. (Legislators seem willing to marry off girls like Cassandra, but not to listen to them!) New Jersey lawmakers passed a bill that would make their state the first in the country to ban marriages of people under 18, but Gov. Chris Christie this month blocked the legislation. New York legislators are considering a bill backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to raise the age to 17, from the current minimum, 14. Opponents worry that raising the age will lead to out-of-wedlock births, and they note that many underage marriages are consensual. Globally, a girl marries before the age of 15 every seven seconds, according to estimates by Save the Children. As in Africa and Asia, the reasons for such marriages in the U.S. are often cultural or religious; the American families follow conservative Christian, Muslim or Jewish traditions, and judges sometimes feel that they shouldnt intrude on other cultures. Johnson, the former 11-year-old unwitting bride who is now fighting for Florida to set a minimum marriage age (there is none now), says that her family attended a conservative Pentecostal church and that other girls of a similar age periodically also married. Often, she says, this was to hide rapes by church elders. She says she was raped by both a minister and a parishioner and gave birth to a daughter when she was just 10 (the birth certificate confirms that). A judge approved the marriage to end the rape investigation, she says, telling her, What we want is for you to get married. It was a terrible life, Johnson recalls, recounting her years as a child raising children. She missed school and remembers spending her days changing diapers, arguing with her husband and struggling to pay expenses. She ended up with pregnancy after pregnancy nine children in all while her husband periodically abandoned her. They took the handcuffs from handcuffing him, she says, referring to the risk he faced of arrest for rape, to handcuffing me, by marrying me without me knowing what I was doing. You cant get a job, you cant get a car, you cant get a license, you cant sign a lease, she adds, so why allow someone to marry when theyre still so young? Those are precisely the reasons marriages for even 17-year-olds are problematic, according to Fraidy Reiss, who founded Unchained at Last to fight forced marriage and child marriage. Bullied by their parents into marriage, she says, girls may feel powerless to object and fearful of telling a judge that they dont want to wed. If they try to flee an abusive marriage, they are turned away from shelters and may be treated as simple runaways. Some judges and clerks intervene on behalf of young girls; others do not. Reiss says one clerk told a 16-year-old bride: Dont cry. This is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. For almost all of them, says Reiss, marriage means rape on their wedding night and thereafter. Reiss, now 42, says she was forced into a marriage at age 19 by her ultra-Orthodox Jewish family. Lyndsy Duet, now a school counselor in Texas, told me that she was forced into a marriage at 17 after enduring a series of rapes beginning when she was 14, by a young man her conservative Christian family had taken into the house. Confused, shamed and helpless, she didnt speak up but her rapist did. He asked my parents if he could marry me, Duet remembers. My mom was crying, she was so happy. Duet felt powerless to resist her parents pressure and it was eight years before she could flee what she says was a violent marriage. Once, she says, her husband threatened her with a chain saw, and it was only when she went to college on her own and proved a brilliant student (she graduated first in her class) that she was able to escape. Most girls who reach out to us love their families, Reiss says, and their primary concern is that they dont want their families to get into trouble. The United States has denounced child marriage in other countries as a human rights abuse that contributes to economic hardship, in the words of a State Department document published last year. Lets listen to ourselves. State legislators must understand that child marriage is devastating in Niger and Afghanistan and also in New York and Florida. Its past time to end child marriage right here at home. Contact Kristof at Facebook.com/Kristof, Twitter.com/NickKristof or by mail at The New York Times, 620 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10018. Theres a scene late in The Roommate in which Sharon (Susi Damilano) once again looks like the typical Iowan she seems to be at the shows beginning. Padding about in slippers and a fuzzy pink bathrobe in her homey kitchen, shes quiet and still, just for an instant. Were any of her reading group (a.k.a. book club) chums to wander through her perpetually unlocked door, theyd notice nothing amiss. Yet the great strength of Jen Silvermans Bay Area premiere, seen Tuesday, May 30, at San Francisco Playhouse, is how it reveals Sharon as anything but the typical Iowan, unraveling the very notion that such a thing as a typical Iowan exists. As directed by Becca Wolff, this humanist and feminist work shows that humanism and feminism are the same thing. One of your first clues that Sharon is much more than she appears is that theres no rear wall on Nina Balls set, the kitchen instead opening into one of those skies that you see only in the Midwest, where the sheer vastness seems to endow the heavens with an oppressive physical weight. Its also in this part of the country where sunrises and sunsets seem to light the earth aflame, and Theodore J.H. Hulskers projection designs show that there are infinite ways for the fires of the sun and, by proxy, for Sharon to burn: from smoldering embers to dazzling blazes. The spark for Sharons awakening isnt the sky but her solicitation of a roommate, which is partly for the extra cash, partly to allay her loneliness as an empty nester and divorcee. When, as the play begins, Robyn (Julia Brothers) moves in under mysterious circumstances all the way from the Bronx, their red-state/blue-state clashes about what veganism is or how to talk about homosexuality tread well-worn ground. The script requires each to be repeatedly shocked at the others way of life, and the tension is so absurdly out of proportion with the pairs ill-chosen words and ignorant questions, all minor social faux pas, that its as if theres a dead body in the next room or were watching some high-concept experimental piece instead of a straightforward, naturalistic play. As Robyn, choosy with words and unforthcoming with back story, saunters cowboy-like about the stage, the good-girl/bad-girl plot often unfolds predictably, telegraphing who will change whom, and how, beats ahead of time. Yet Silverman also weaves in surprises, especially with Sharon; one of her lines in particular has to be among the most empathetic and perspicacious in contemporary theater: I dont think I was judgmental, Sharon says to Robyn, of her sons girlfriend. I didnt feel judgmental. I just felt confused. Both veteran actors make a playground out of the script, even the clumsy bits. Brothers Robyn first enters her new home like a burglar returning to a crime scene, adroitly establishing the possibility of her characters shady past. Brothers has so many ways of asking, with just her facial expression, Are you stupid or something? that you wish she would silently vamp with a few more triple takes before speaking each line. Damilano makes Sharon not just guileless and earnest but also determined, spunky and above all else, ferociously imaginative. The Roommate derives its pathos from two quiet tragedies. First is that Sharons wicked creativity, her fluency in improvisation, her capering wit would all get channeled, for most of her adult life, into worrying about her son. The second is that society doesnt offer us enough templates for relationships between older women if youre more than just book-club comrades but not lovers, what are you allowed to be? In making a case for a third way, The Roommate opens the possibility for many more. Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak The Roommate: Written by Jen Silverman. Directed by Becca Wolff. Through July 1. $20-$125. San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post St., S.F. One hour, 45 minutes. (415) 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org MARAWI, Philippines There was food and water welcome commodities amid the frequent tears. There was, finally, safety, at least for the moment. And there were stories stories of things that mothers and fathers hope never happen to their families. At an evacuation center outside the besieged Philippine city of Marawi on Wednesday, the results of a week of misery a week of violence and uncertainty and long nights and promises of better tomorrows were evident in the faces and hearts of the displaced. When youre desperate, you will do everything to survive, said Zia Alonto Adiong, a regional lawmaker who welcomed dozens of people, including children, who fled to safety after more than a week trapped inside Marawi. About 130 people have been killed in the violence, which erupted May 23 after soldiers began a raid to capture militant leader Isnilon Hapilon, who has been designated leader of the Islamic States Southeast Asia branch. But the operation went awry and Hapilon got away. Fighters loyal to him surprised government forces with their firepower, fending off air strikes and house-to-house searches. The unrest has boosted fears that the Islamic States violent ideology is gaining a foothold in the countrys restive southern islands, where a Muslim separatist rebellion has raged for decades. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Hapilon is believed to still be in Marawi. We believe he is still there, and we believe that is why they are putting up a very stiff resistance in the areas that they are still being held up and being cleared, Padilla told reporters in Manila, the capital. As the two sides battle it out, civilians have been caught in the crossfire. Bilal Sulaiman, a 47-year-old carpenter, said his wife and three children evacuated to safety early in the conflict, but he stayed behind to watch their house near the scene of the battle. He said when the fighting became too fierce, with bombs exploding two blocks away from his house, he ran for his life to a nearby mountain, where he waited without food and water until he decided to swim across a pond to safety. He was retrieved by government rescuers Wednesday. Padilla said 960 civilians had been rescued and an estimated 1,000 residents remained trapped in the city. The dead include 89 militants, 19 civilians and 21 government forces, he said. Jim Gomez is an Associated Press writer. KABUL A suicide attacker struck the fortified heart of the Afghan capital with a massive truck bomb Wednesday, killing 90 people, wounding 400 and raising new fears about the governments ability to protect its citizens nearly 16 years into a war with insurgents. The bomber drove into Kabuls heavily guarded diplomatic quarter during the morning rush hour, leaving behind a bloody scene of chaos and destruction in one of the worst attacks since the draw down of foreign forces from Afghanistan in 2014. Most of the casualties were civilians, including women and children, said Ismail Kawasi, spokesman of the public health ministry. But the dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including nine at the U.S. Embassy, while 11 American contractors were wounded none with life-threatening injuries, a U.S. State Department official said. I have been to many attacks, taken wounded people out of many blast sites, but I can say I have never seen such a horrible attack as I saw this morning, said ambulance driver Alef Ahmadzai. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came in the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban flatly denied any involvement in an email to news outlets and condemned all attacks against civilians. The explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems, said Najib Danish, deputy spokesman for the interior minister. The number of dead and wounded was provided by the Afghan governments media center, citing a statement from the Afghan Ulema Council, the countrys top religious body that includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law. The blast gouged a crater about 15 feet deep near Zanbaq Square in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, where foreign embassies are protected by a battery of their own security personnel as well as Afghan police and National Security Forces. The nearby German Embassy was heavily damaged. Also in the area is Afghanistans Foreign Ministry, the Presidential Palace and its intelligence and security headquarters, guarded by soldiers trained by the U.S. and its coalition partners. Rahim Faiez and Amir Shah are Associated Press writers. Melynn Schuyler insists that the young people she serves are the true voice of YouthWorks!so much so that shes slightly uncomfortable speaking on behalf of the organization she co-founded. Since 2001, the nonprofit has offered critical support to around 10,000 teens and young adults in the Northern New Mexico area. Nearly everybody who comes through its doors hails from a low-income background, most are people of color and many live precariously; theyre undocumented, or homeless, or ensnarled in the criminal justice system at a young age. To date, the organization has put to use $4.5 million for "wrap around services" for young people. That's nonprofit-ese for programs that hit on various needs, from GED prep and apprenticeship programs with local businesses (wherein YouthWorks! will subsidize a youth's wages) to on-site counselors who also work with public schools in Santa Fe. A lot of the stuff on offer stems from the partnerships YouthWorks! has made over the years; for example, private catering contracts form the basis of a culinary arts program, and Bureau of Labor finances an arrangement where youth help build affordable housing. But the organization does little things too, like provide places to sleep and help with laundry. Melynn Schuyler says the citys economic development spending on her organization helps youth resist despair. (Lilana Dillingham) Few would dispute the good intentions here, but in a for the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Santa Fe County League of Women Voters appeared to question the citys decision to pour a reported $1.2 million of economic development money into YouthWorks! over the last eight years, making it the second-highest receiver of such funds. The league suggested in the piece that the city tighten its accounting. But Schuyler, YouthWorks!'s executive director, argues that the impacts on personal development are more important than what can be quantified on paper, and at a time when the country seems headed in a harsh direction for struggling people, she says that the work they do resisting despair is invaluable. We dropped in to their office on Cerrillos last Thursday morning, after all the young people had fanned out across the city, and spoke to Schuyler and operations chief Heather Vigil Clarke about their current and future work in Trump's America. SFR: How do you connect youth to local businesses? Schuyler: We look at youth needs and business needs in the local economy, we study the current labor market trends in Northern New Mexico, and see what matches. Where are the job openings, where are they coming from, what's going to come down the pipeline, and what are youth interested in, and can we help them see that some of their interest might match those areas? So our intake process with any young person asks, 'What are you interested in doing now, in five years, in 10 years?' And, 'Can we help guide you toward the things you might want to experience so you can test-drive your skills and find that passion somewhere?' Why do you believe the city's spending of economic development funds on YouthWorks! is justified? Schuyler: We meet and exceed all the performance measures that we have mutually agreed upon between the city and this organization to develop a workforce that is employable and that contributes to the economy. Each year of funding that we've received, we have gained another 20 percent in job placement, apprenticeship placements and successful youth outcomes, measurable from the day we started to receive funds nine years ago to this day. Throughout multiple administrations in the city, nothing has been able to compare to the work and impact that we've been able to demonstrate in human lives and changing trajectories and in meeting employers' needs. What's YouthWorks! relationship to the criminal justice system? Vigil Clarke: We've always had a general relationship, in that the clients they serve are often those we serve, but now we're interfacing because there's been this big paradigm shift within the juvenile justice system that's less punitive and more focused on how you teach new skills and integrate young people instead of throwing them in jail. We're interfacing with the [Juvenile Probation Office] because they see the services we're offering and recognize that when we offer these services to young people it makes their jobs less intensive. YouthWorks! receives money from federal community block grants, which the Trump administration has threatened to pull from self-declared sanctuary cities. How would it affect YouthWorks! if those funds were pulled? Schuyler: YouthWorks! would be primarily affected by the impact on young people and their families who are already struggling to maintain housing, in a community that has less and less affordable housing options. Our partners like Habitat for Humanity would also be affected. ... YouthWorks! won't go under, but we'll experience much greater need and much more homelessnesswe already have families living on the edge, and young people living in tents right now. The needs on the social services agencies are going to explode. And so other sources have to come into play. Private sources have to reassess how they are going to help maintain society if our federal government's not going to. Many of the kids you serve are Latino and Native. How have they reacted to the racist and xenophobic rhetoric and policies emanating from the federal government? Schuyler: There's a lot of fear of the unknown. There is some general feeling of lack of hope: How do you stay invested in your future and all the things we're espousing and pushing here? But there's also some rebellion: How can we fight back? As a smaller community, we have that power. We've survived this long. And young people bring energy and ideas and creativity, and we'll get behind them and support them in all of that. We won't give up, and they're not going to give up. Santa Fe Reporter When Townsend angler Jake Updike felt the weight on the end of his line, he initially thought it was a big walleye. Then the fish took a run. I knew it was good sized but told everyone I mustve snagged a carp, he said. Then it came up close to the boat, and yeah, there are no words. What was on the end of his line was, in all likelihood, the largest northern pike ever caught by rod and reel in Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Updike and some friends were trolling for walleye on Canyon Ferry over Memorial Day weekend and having some good luck. They were about done fishing for the day when they ran into Ben Walker on the lake and tied up to talk. They continued along when Updike noticed thick weeds on the fish finder that could easily snag the crankbaits. As he made adjustments, he looked over to see one of the planer boards used for trolling just going. When they got a glimpse of a truly exceptional northern pike, a rarity in these waters, the fight was on. Walker and Mike and Joel Harvey quickly went to work steering the boat and clearing poles while Updike continued to play the fish for 15-20 minutes. Updike brought the pike up to the boat and Mike Harvey successfully corralled it in the net. And the aluminum net just folds in half, Updike said. The fish then starts jumping around and it blew a hole right through the net and takes off again. With no other options, Updike managed to shove his fishing pole through the hole in the net and took up the fight again. For a second time the pike came alongside the boat, and into the net, only to have the backup buckle like the first. Finally they grabbed the net by the ring and wrangled the fish into the boat. No steel leader and it bent every hook on that crank except for one, Updike said. Its just a miracle we didnt lose it. It was definitely a team effort. They knew the fish was big, but did not really realize how big. A 41-inch estimate did not seem quite right, and as the tape stretched to 47 inches, the anglers started to comprehend that big might be an understatement. They stopped in at Silos KOA to get a weight. After several failed attempts, someone noticed that the scale maxes out at 30 pounds. Updike kept the pike wet in a cooler overnight when it officially weighed in at 34 pounds. That puts it near the state record 37.5 pounder caught in Tongue River Reservoir in 1972. News of the recent catch spread like wildfire on Facebook. KOA first posted some photos and Montanas angling community started sharing. Its been going crazy, Updike said. I cant believe how far its spread already. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries biologist Eric Roberts noted that while northern pike are at low abundance in Canyon Ferry, fish up to 25 pounds have occasionally been caught and reported. Old newspaper articles detail some of these catches as far back as the 1970s, he said. But I sure dont recall anything this big, he said. In 2014 during a spring walleye survey, FWP netted an egg-filled 44.5-inch, 33.8-pound northern along with a couple of other large specimens. While biologists are not certain how the toothy predators got into Canyon Ferry, a standing theory says that decades ago, a flooding Gallatin River flushed pike from a nearby stocked pond downstream. FWP consistently records pike near Toston Dam that have flushed into Canyon Ferry. While a few large adults are not of serious concern, Roberts says that juveniles, indicating a breeding population, have been recorded more frequently in recent years. That does have FWP somewhat concerned because of the predaciousness of the fish. There is no bag limit on pike in the reservoir for that reason, he said. Amid murky details surrounding the closure of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design on its city-owned campus, one fact remains clear for the performing arts community of Santa Fe: It loves the Greer Garson Theatre. The communitys support for the campus venue came across loud and clear at a public forum hosted the evening of Monday May 22 by #SaveTheGreer, a Facebook group concerned with the future of the space. The sweeping 513-seat auditorium is many a thespian's favorite venue in town: it's flanked by the Weckesser Black Box (aka the Weck), and features practice rooms, classrooms, a dance studio, scene and costume shops, prop storage, offices, a roomy lobby, a mezzanine art gallery and plenty of parking outside. With the impending June 2018 closure of SFUAD, its alums and those from the College of Santa Fe (which occupied the campus until 2009) have voiced concern about the theater's future, and Reuben Greenwald (CSF class of '04) started #SaveTheGreer as a place for discussion and activism. The Santa Fe University of Art and Designs Greer Garson Theatre is many a thespians favorite venue in our town, and the best bet for preserving the theater for future use is finding an institution to take over the campus as a whole. (Anson Stevens-Bollen) Cheryl Odom, who taught various performing arts subjects at CSF for 29 years and remains involved in the theater community in Santa Fe, opened the public forum with the emotion underlying alums' attachment to the Greer. "If you work in a theaterif you're there 24/7, like it often is in a college theater programyou become very attached to the space," she said, perched on the edge of the stage at Santa Fe Performing Arts. Beyond emotional attachment, though, forum participants recognized that there has to be a sane and rational plan in place to preserve the campus as a whole. Theater folks are never short on passion; this conversation concerned the nuts and bolts. Along with alums, attendees included newcomers to Santa Fe, members of the film industry and others from the community at large (a few of whom say they were friends of the venue's namesake actress Garson and her husband Bud Fogelson). At least twice, they raised the name of New Mexico School for the Arts as a potential tenant. Yet, NMSA Director Cece Derringer tells SFR via email: "At this time, we are far too invested in our site at the former Sanbusco Center to change the location of our school. We would hope that there could be collaborative efforts with the theater and other resources at the university site once new ownership is secured." Peter Sills, former executive director of the Santa Fe Playhouse, said at the forum and later reiterated to SFR that he approached the city with an inquiry: If said passionate theater folks could find the money, would the city consider selling the theater? The city responded resolutely that it is not interested in parceling out the campus building by building. Matthew O'Reilly, asset development director at the City of Santa Fe, confirms that this is the city's stance. He tells SFR officials are "dead serious about saving this as a university or college," and hopes to find an established institution of higher education interested in stepping into SFUAD's shoes and taking over the lease for the property. Dividing up the campus piecemeal would risk "potentially limiting the appeal to a university that would want the entire campus, and would have the means to keep it going," O'Reilly says. "The campus is a valuable asset in its entirety." O'Reilly also hoped to dispel some alternative facts that have been circulating about the city's plans for the Greer. The city is "absolutely not" selling or demolishing the theater, he says, despite what some outraged people "flooding the city with calls" have been led to believe. Tearing down the theater is something the city would "never, ever do." So, if the best bet for preserving the Greer is finding a school willing to take over the whole campus, it's time to start making connectionsbut serious inquiries only, please. Chasing down rumors of someone's college roommate's sister's boyfriend's father's rich boss is a waste of time. O'Reilly asks that "if someone has a legitimate contact of someone in a position to make a decision" at an institution of higher learning that could assume the lease on the SFUAD campuswe're talking provosts, presidents, members of boards of directors or regentsthey should pass that information along to the city. Along the same lines, Sills, as a member of #SaveTheGreer, is working with colleagues and friends to gather information about schools that could possibly be serious about the campus. Their focus is on schools with already-vibrant film departments in particular, who would find the well-equipped Garson Studios attractive for a satellite campus in a destination city. At the May 22 forum, former City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer closed the evening concisely: "If I had to sum up what I heard tonight, it was: 'Dream, but dream practically.'" The crowd, which bore considered ideas rather than pitchforks, nodded in agreement. The future of the Greer Garson Theatre is yet to be seen. But if anyone can make good things happen, said SFUAD alum and forum participant Corbin Albaugh, it's this group. "Money is indeed a very powerful factor in what we are trying to accomplish," he said bluntly. "But I think that, being theater artists, it is our profession to take our dreams and reconcile them with reality. I think this is absolutely something that we can do." Santa Fe Reporter If he hadn't already proven his artistic and curatorial know-how before recent shows with photographer Bri Cimino or painter Reyes Padilla in his Beals & Co. Showroom gallery (830 Canyon Road, 357-0441), Bobby Beals sure as hell will with his upcoming benefit, the second annual Skateopolis at Downtown Subscription (3 pm Friday June 2. Free. 376 Garcia St., 983-3085). An offshoot of Kamagraph, Beals' nonprofit skateboard company, Skateopolis brings fine art to skateboard decks, which are auctioned off to benefit the Future Men Project, a local nonprofit that trains young men in the ways of life. And though Beals may be relatively new to the world of skating, he says he takes its lessons seriously and totally wants to inspire youths. We can get on board with that, so we met up with Beals and said, "Hey bro, can we ask you some questions?" What exactly is Skateopolis? It's a show that we coined the name of last year for Kamagraph to give back to the community. Last year, we had 50 artists paint 50 skateboard deckssome sculpted on them, we had no guidelinesand we hung them at Downtown Subscription for two months. When we made sales, 50 percent went to the artists and the rest went to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This year ... [Initiate Skateboarding owner] Damon Archuletta has been doing mentorships with preteens and teenagers that teach them how to cook, how to survive in the world, how to apply for jobs, and I needed to do something like that. OK, so can you clear up what Kamagraph is? A kamagraph is this old French press from the 1880s that could duplicate original art, but 99 percent of the time it would destroy the original. And I thought, 'That's really interesting,' so, my whole concept of skateboarding and skateboarders is that they kind of break the mold of what's original. It's an idea or expression related to skate art and culture. I've been doing the art world for about 15 years, and it was something completely opposite to that for me to start a skateboard company. It fulfilled this part of me that was really important for me to have. I grew up in punk rock culture, and [Kamagraph] isn't really the Beals & Co. persona, but it also fulfilled the business part of it. Doing Kamagraph, I've met so many great people that are always giving back to people and to kids, and I was like, 'I have to do this." Why skateboards? You go into a shop and you look at the wall, and it's a lot of T&A, but I wanted to do fine art and really ask the artists to really think about the concepts they were creating. It's interesting, because I'm curating one piece [from an artist] instead of a whole show. I don't want to just be a 'cool' skateboard company. I mean, I want people to think it's cool, but in a heartfelt way. It got me out there skating in the last few years and, to me, what I've learned through this process is that I've fallen a lot in my career but, and it's true, you have to fall to learn the trick. Santa Fe Reporter Its been a gas station, a butcher shop, and an apartment. Its now the original Tesuque Village Market. Seeking to export the laid-back air of the New Mexico eatery and general store, owners Michael and Reeve Stein partnered with lived-in-Tesuque-then-left-and-is-back-now Alicia Searle and Christi Offutt. In March, they opened a Tesuque Village Market in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Venice Beach. The New Mexico TVM morphed into what it is organically. Jerry Honnell opened the place as a restaurant in the late '60s. Stein bought it from him about a decade ago. The transition, he says, amounted to Honnell handing him the keys one night after work and Stein showing up to open the place the next day. There have been changes since then to a more upscale marketwith $13 Frito pies, it's not cheapbut it has a distinctly low-key feel. TVM co-owner Michael Stein. (Matt Grubs) The effort to buck the trend of style moving inland from the coast and to transport that feel from Tesuque to LA has been far more bureaucratic than organic. While the market is now open, its still only part way to what the owners want it to be. They hired the same Santa Fe artists who did the mural in Tesuque to paint the Venice exterior. Theyve put long tables down the center of the inside. There are beer coolers, a deli case and an espresso bar. All with what Stein calls a beachier vibe. The Kim's Food Corner market that occupied the corner of Mildred and Ocean avenues before Searle and company bought the property was a beloved, if not revered, local dive in Venice. It served no-frills, cheap stufffood and otherwise. Venice holds fast to the funky vibe it grew during the '50s and '60s. The neighborhood was wary of what might make its way into the mostly residential area just off Venice Boulevard. The "dirty-grit element" that TVM's Stein saw in Kim's was something he wanted. It felt aligned with Tesuque. It was also something the Venice Neighborhood Council, part of the City of Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, felt it had to protect. As a result, the Venice version of TVM isn't yet a restaurant. There's alcohol, but it's a package license that only lets the market sell booze, not serve it. Breakfast burritos, Frito pie, posole and the market's green chile cheese bread are cooked up off-site. TVM will have to convince the neighborhood that it can become the same local hangout as its Tesuque self. "It's the only commercial property in a residential area," Searle tells SFR. "And that's what we were looking for. We wanted the same feel to be the local place for the community. It is still our dream to do that." Santa Fe can relate to what's happened on nearby Abbot Kinney Boulevard. It's boomed, with local stores largely pushed out in favor of hot-spot restaurants, boutiques, yoga studios and third-wave coffee bars bringing hipsters en masse. Snapwhich owns the photo-sharing app Snapchatplopped its LA headquarters in Venice Beach and the neighborhood has occasionally gone ballistic as the company has bought and leased buildings and homes for more office space, its techie tentacles reaching deeper into the community. TVM is no Snapchat, though. The new Venice Beach location is tackling concerns from neighbors. (Courtesy Alicia Searle) Were not the gentrifiers that we were being accused of, Stein says, perched on a stool in the Tesuque location late on a Friday morning. I mean, look at this place. He and Searle are confident that once the community realizes what the market is all about, the permits to open a restaurant will soon follow. "I think they saw these people from another state coming in. And unfortunately in Venice, people have taken advantage of the property and come in and said, 'Oh, yeah. We're just going to do this.' And then turn around and demolish it and turn it into something that the community never wanted," says Searle. "If they could all just come to the market here and experience it, they would know what we're trying to do there." In the two months the Venice property has been open, they've actually had a few people from Los Angeles stumble upon the Tesuque market and make the connection between the two. Either Stein or Searle is in Venice every other week and say the market is doing well. "The margins in retail aren't what I'm used to," Stein says. But they're good enough for now. If he can get the restaurant open, it may not be too long before he's established enough to go looking for a third TVM location in the market he passed up to move into Southern California: Get ready, Dallas. Santa Fe Reporter Its taken years for her to say it, but Nicolle Gonzales now can frankly state that she nearly died in childbirth. The arrival of her first child was marked with warning signsa big baby, a long labor, high blood pressure. She hemorrhaged; her husband remembers so much blood, and her mother was so traumatized she didnt attend the births of Gonzales next two children. Yet the doctor barely spoke to her, barely acknowledged her questions or concerns through the process. It took years, and, in part, her master's degree, to understand how near a miss that was. Gonzales, a San Ildefonso Pueblo Dine woman and midwife, is on the frontlines of a new battle for mothers. Nicolle Gonzales almost died during childbirth, and now the San Ildefonso Pueblo and Dine woman is a midwife with plans to open a Native birthing center. (Courtesy Nicolle Gonzales ) The statistics shes staring down put gaping holes in families without matriarchs. Nationwide, the maternal death rate has climbed, and women of color are particularly hard-hit. A woman is more likely to die during childbirth in America than in Iran, Serbia, or Bosnia-Herzegovina. This, in the nation that spends more on healthcare than any other. What happens at birth, Gonzales says, has a chance to reshape everything else that follows, starting a process that mends ties to family and community. To offer women that support and an option to birth in a traditional way, she's in the throes of establishing a Native birthing center. Sen. Nancy Rodriguez thought she would also be leading a charge to shine more light on the state's lost mothers this year, but her efforts ended on the governor's deskat least for now. When the long-serving Santa Fe lawmaker spoke at a New Mexico Federation of Democratic Women event at the start of the regular session, she mentioned a bill she drafted after hearing a case made solely through the numbers. Since the turn of the 21st century, the rate at which women die in childbirth across the country has doubled. When she finished speaking, a woman from the front row of the audience approached, and pleaded with her to pursue the legislation. She'd lost a family member shortly after the woman had given birth, and said, as the senator recalls, "to this day, we are just wondering what happened. We don't have her in the family any morewe have the baby, and not her, and no idea what happened. So hopefully something like this legislation will help come up with some answers." The latest numbers show a rate of 19.1 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in New Mexico each year, up from 9.6the state aggregates four years of data at a time, so these rates apply respectively to 2012-15 and 2003-06. Nationwide, over the 20th century, maternal mortality had severely declined, from a rate as high as 850 or 900 per 100,000 births in the early 1900s, to one as low as 10. Unraveling how and why these numbers have been climbing is a challenge fettered by privacy laws protecting an individual's health care and fogged by a recent change in death certificate filings. That administrative change, which began rolling out in 2003, may be responsible for increasing the number reported, creating the appearance of an increase simply by virtue of catching more of these deaths. "We probably were not doing a good job of tracking in the '90s," says Dr. William Callaghan, chief of the Maternal and Infant Health Branch at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In last five years, since death certificates began including a box to check if a woman was or had recently been pregnant when she died, the national rate has hovered around 16 or 18 per 100,000. "To what degree that was a real increase up to that 16 or 18, and to what it's just identification, I can't really tease out," he tells SFR. There's room to quibble about measuring issues, he says, yet "at the end of the day, we feel really confident that it is what it is today and it's too high. There really is no acceptable level." With his first grandchild due this summer, this issue weighs on his own mind for more than theoretical reasons. The legislation from Rodriguez sought to loosen some of the stranglehold on this information in New Mexico and create a 25-person, zero-cost committee to study these cases. In her veto message, the governor wrote that while she was sympathetic to the cause, there wasn't any need to legislate the creation of such a committee. Physicians disagree. One hurdle to good data is that hospitals are reluctant to hand over case information. Maternal mortalities often result in lawsuits, and no one wants to risk a violation of the federal privacy law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The numbers are small enough that details such as when, at which hospital, and what caused a woman's death are seen as identifiable and therefore cannot be released to the public. The proposed legislation would have authorized hospitals to give those details to two designated aggregators, who could then review and present data to the committee without any recognizable details. The committee could then assess their causes and make recommendations as needed. The legislation would also have allowed for expanding the process to include severe morbidity events, cases considered a "near miss" with death, such as what midwife Gonzales experienced. These cases are by some estimates 20 times more common than death and also, according to the CDC, appear to be on the rise. The impetus for the legislation came from Dr. Sharon Phelan, chairman of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, professor at the University of New Mexico and a physician in the state for 40 years, 30 of which have seen her reviewing maternal deaths. When she testified in February to a Senate committee, she pointed out that women die during childbirth in the United States at a rate that ranks among what's found in developing nations. In New Mexico, she says, "It's small in number20 people a year when some 200 die in motor vehicle accidents, but you've lost a mother, a daughter, a sister. It's a big blow to the family. A maternal death is just the tip of the iceberg. And for every one of them, there are probably 20 to 40 severe morbidity events that will have consequences for that woman and her family for years to come." Exactly how small that number is depends on which agency you ask. The Department of Health, which counts just women who died within six weeks of the end of a pregnancy, lists just 34 maternal mortalities between 2008 and 2014. Extend that research out as far as a year after giving birth, as Phelan does in her maternal mortality reviews, and the number climbs to 135. "The problem we have in New Mexico is that we don't have any real good data gathering," says Dr. Abraham Lichtmacher, chief of women's services at Lovelace Health System. "There are racial disparities in those numbers, but because we don't have any great way of collecting that data or a mandatory reporting requirement, we're catching these things at the back end." He cites estimates that some 30 to 40 percent of maternal deaths still are not captured by the mechanisms currently used. Phelan and advocates were able to use death certificate data to craft a breakdown by cause of death, region and race to give legislators. These numbers are "just a start," Phelan cautions, and not a complete picture of the problem. Their survey expanded to include women who died within a year of giving birth as a way of tracking how many families are disrupted by this type of loss. The rough summary shows that women of color bear a disproportionate burden. White non-Hispanic women die at a rate of roughly 14.9 per 100,000, while Hispanic women at 25.5well ahead of the national average of 11.3and Native American women at 23.7. Those numbers fit with national trends found in a September 2016 study published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Their analysis found that the nationwide rate increased 26.6 percent between 2000 and 2014, disproportionately affecting women of color. Black women are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth than white women, and Hispanic women 50 percent more likely. When the CDC breaks data down to causes, those traditionally associated with pregnancyhemorrhage, hypertension and embolismsactually appear to be decreasing. The increase is in a set of complications that current coding rules categorize as "other specified pregnancy-related conditions"something linked to the pregnancy or childbirth, but not one of those formerly dominant problems. "It's really difficult to know what they are, but they've increased dramatically and they've increased during the same time that the checkbox is being used," Callaghan said during a webinar on the issue in December. Infections and cardiovascular conditions appear to be on the rise over the last five to 10 years, but the language here also lumps heart attacks and cardiomyopathydiseases of the heart musclewith problems resulting from uncontrolled, longstanding high blood pressure. His concern is that these chronic diseases seem to be affecting younger populations. Physicians could screen for some of these conditions, and there are some obvious markers, like obesity, that cue a need to monitor heart health. But for some women, problems seem to come out of nowhereand the "lay literature," as he calls the press, is packed with stories of women who didn't appear to be in a high-risk situation when something went wrong. One possible contributor is that a generation of women born with congenital heart disease or cardiac abnormalities at birth that were correctedwomen who in the past would not have survived childhoodand are reaching reproductive age, Callaghan says. "The hard part about pregnancy mortality is that it's not like a war on disease, it's not, 'How do we fix deaths from colon cancer'that's a very specific and clean question," Callaghan says. "You have women who come into pregnancy with all that they bring with them and the direct effects of pregnancy itself. There are multiple reasons why they might die." In the numbers gathered in New Mexico, for a woman for the year following a birth, the leading single cause is accidents, to which 41 percent of these deaths were attributed. Fourteen percent were to suicide, and half that many to homicide. The causes more commonly associated with medical issues that arise during delivery include hemorrhage, embolism, hypertension and a catch-all "other" category. One of the problems Phelan identifies is that with about 20 deaths a year, and only eight to 10 of those pregnancy-related, patterns are tough to trace. "When you have this small a number, it's tough to pick up trends or whether interventions are working," she says. It may take reviewing a number of years at a time, or comparing notes with other states in the region. In four decades of delivering babies, Phelan has noticed a visible difference in her patients: She sees more and more overweight or obese mothers. A healthy body mass index runs in the low- to mid-20s, and she's seen mothers come in at twice that, meaning their hearts are already essentially straining to pump for two. Add a pregnancy, for which the body's amount of blood increases by 40 percent, and they're up to three. The heart can't pump more blood with each beat, so it pumps more often. The chance of complications increasesso much so that the university's board on which nurses and doctors track the progress and condition of laboring moms now includes a category for body mass index (BMI). Dr. Sharon Phelan has been reviewing maternal deaths for 30 years. (Courtesy UNM) We suspect strongly that obesity has contributed to it, says Callaghan, with the CDC. Its really hard to document with numbers, at the level of the data we have, but if I go out and talk to anybody in practice, its the first thing that they say. Women having children later in life may also be a contributing factor, and women over 40 have the highest mortality rates. All this ambiguity and uncertainty around the causes can impair rolling out solutions. A program run by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at the Health Resources and Services Administration specifically to increase the health of mothers and children around the country sends "bundles" to their pilot-program hospitals, equipping medical care providers with strategies and protocols for quickly addressing and preventing maternal deaths from some of the leading causes, hemorrhage, hypertension and cardiovascular disease among them. Because there is often a gap between the rate at which white women and women of color die, one of those bundles specifically targets racial biases. Eleven states have adopted an effort to implement them throughout birthing hospitals, but any hospital can request them. "It's freeyou don't have to buy anything," says Kimberly Sherman, health lead, Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at the Health Resources and Services Administration. "You just need a champion in your community to say, 'What is the biggest issue that we face in our community? What would be like to implement?'" So far, the majority of time and attention has gone to rolling out strategies for addressing hypertension and cardiovascular disease, but the Health Resources and Services Administration is also working on how to reduce injuries and address opioid misuse during pregnancy. Another solution will be training everyone in the hospital to spot risk factors like a big baby, prior history of hemorrhage or a long induction, and to run practice drills on how to respond quickly, Callaghan says. Some hospitals have even put together hemorrhage carts like they have crash carts for cardiac events, and report that action is followed by as much as a 20 percent reduction in severe events. At Lovelace, they've rolled out new protocols to catch hemorrhages, launched standardized approaches to make sure everyone on staff is aligned in how to discuss and manage patient response, and required bedside assessments within 15 minutes of certain vital signs that suggest a patient may soon need immediate intervention. "Our work is going to continue, so despite fact that [the maternal mortality review bill] was vetoed, the perinatal collaboration and group that we've been working with are going to try to continue to do the work that we can," Lichtmacher says. The numbers for Native American women show they appear to have problems at double the rate of white women. It's a small sample size, cautions Callaghan with the CDC, so that's partly why that information often goes unpublished. Again, limited data intervenes: The CDC is also not allowed to publish anything about what state people live in, even when taking these numbers to the Indian Health Service (IHS). The rate is "important information, but then of course she would want to know how it was broken out by delivery in IHS hospitals or non-IHS hospitals, and we can't go there. What's written on a death certificate is all we can say," he says. "If a maternal mortality review committee in New Mexico wanted to do that, they could do that. But all potentially identifying information has been redacted for most of what we get." Native women face options limited by the facilities that exist in the rural communities where they often live, as well as by the menu provided by Indian Health Services. Birthing services are covered by the Indian Health Services, and Medicaid picks up where those facilities leave off. But because getting a Medicaid card takes time, they often miss early term check-ups, and issues can spiral from there. Gonzales sees the trouble starting even earlier. "When I go to larger conferences and I'm the only Native woman talking to a room full of white people with degrees, all they want to talk about is how sick we are as Native women," Gonzales says. "I have to remind them that this isn't how we see ourselves, and there is a big piece of our story missing from this conversationwe as Native women are missing from this conversation about our health." Throughout the process, there's a disconnection from the experience and a lack of ownership over it, Gonzales says. That's among the motivators for her action. She traveled to Standing Rock to help care for the women there with babies and babies on the way, who otherwise faced an hour-long drive to a hospital in Bismarck. And back at home, she founded the nonprofit Changing Woman Initiative with which she plans to open a birthing center north of Santa Fe in Pojoaque as soon as next summer. Designs include an onsite teepee for women who'd like to birth outside, an oven for baking bread and a sweat lodge, all of which respond to data she's seen that half of Tewa women would like cultural practices to be incorporated into their birthing experiences. (They still do many of these traditions, often at home, before leaving for the hospital.) This center, modeled in part after successful native birthing centers in Canada, will also offer wraparound services on lactating, behavioral health and nutrition. "What would our outcomes be as Native women if we had the support, if we had access to healthy food, if we had a community where we wanted to take care of each other, if we had information provided to us in a way that we understood? What would that look like?" Gonzales says. "Nobody knows. Nobody's tried it. Nobody cares to try it." That's not the only population for which much remains unknown about what solutions need to be deployed. At the CDC, at best, researchers see cause of death, but how agencies report the chain of events leading to that death can vary based on the compulsions of the person filling out the certificate. Whether those problems cascaded through cardiac failure due to hemorrhage due to bleeding from a complication related to pregnancy or childbirth can get lost. "The bottom line is, what's happening is, we think we're capturing more of the numbers, but we're not capturing data that can help us identify the real cause of it," says Lichtmacher, at Lovelace. We can't, for example, know what role the epidemic of opioid use in New Mexico is playing. It's likely a factor in maternal mortality because it's contributing to deaths of women in that age group. But the death certificate just says "drug overdose" and the box that she died while pregnant may be checked. "You don't know if it was opioidsyou know almost nothing," Callaghan says. All he hears is peripheral, from physicians practicing in high-risk areas. They say it's a real problem. That's why the agency has spent the last 20 years urging states to review their own deaths, to establish mortality review committees and study these issues at greater depth. A contingent from New Mexico visited Washington DC to advocate for maternal health action at the federal level. (Courtesy Nicolle Gonzales) "They have public health law that allows them to make maternal deaths reportable, if they so desire, to allow committees to function and to have access to detailed medical records, so they can really find out the story," Callaghan says. So far, 26 states have begun maternal mortality reviews. About 24,000 infants die in the country every year, compared to about 700 maternal deaths. Their review is complicated in part by their relative rarity, but also by the emotions involved and the defensiveness they tend to incite. "Near-miss" interviews can be much more productive in generating learning opportunities. "There's more attention to this in the public health community and the clinical community than there has been in my lifetime," Callaghan says. "There is more and more recognition that we have to do something, that we have to take care of pregnant mothers just like we've spent a lot of time taking care of the fetus that they've been carrying. In some ways, I think there's been some neglect around that, and right now, there's a lot of change." Santa Fe Reporter Special session ends with a budget and little else Lawmakers met for about half an hour yesterday as they put a formal end to the 2017 special session. They passed a budget that's substantially similar to the one approved by the Legislature and line-item vetoed by the governor in the regular legislative session. The Legislature also approved a plan to patch budget holes by manipulating the state's debt. But there are no long-term fixes and the state's reserves are almost non-existent: just $24 million, or 0.4 percent of the budget. A credit downgrade could be ahead. Slow your tax rolls Santa Fe County agreed to put off decisions on two proposed gross receipts tax increases. County commissioners grudgingly at last night's meeting, citing the city of Santa Fe's concern that the tax hike, which would affect things bought both in and out of Santa Fe, was coming just weeks before a scheduled meeting of the City Council and County Commission. The taxes would add a bit less than 19 cents to every $100 purchase. Cut them! Burn him! A bunch of Siberian elm trees hit the dust yesterday as the city made way for a that will largely serve the single-day Zozobra event. It's not as though Siberian elms are much loved around here, but they do have leaves and leaves mean shade. The Kiwanis Club kicked in 80 grand for the bridge. Useless insurance That's how attorney Victor Marshall describes New Mexico's system of title insurance. He says it in claims for every dollar insurers took in during 2015. He's suing, saying the system improperly fixes prices and prevents competition. Two families brought the suit, but Marshall wants the court to let him make it a class action. Complaint says APD lied about high-profile murder case A complaint filed with Albuquerque's Civilian Police Oversight Agency says that the city's police department told about the Victoria Martens murder. One version made the department look as though it had investigated previous complaints involving the little girl. It had not. Las Cruces teen group homes close There are dwindling resources for troubled teens in the state's second-largest city. Two group homes that have been around as a short-term fix for teens who need a leg up . It's yet another kick in the gut for a mental health system that's struggling to find money to serve a state with a problem. YouthWorks! The Santa Fe nonprofit took it on the chin a little when the local chapter of the League of Women Voters suggested $1.2 million in public economic development money given to the group by the city of Santa Fe over the past eight years might be a bit much. SFR looked at what the group does, who it serves and why it says it's . Summer! SFR's annual Summer Guide is out. You can find it inside this week's paper on newsstands. It's glossy and shiny and really useful. Grab one or and dig in when you're looking for something to do. Thanks for reading! The Word is surprisingly bad at remembering all the resources there are within, more or less, an arm's reach at the office. What is that? Is that a condition? Subscribe to the Morning Word at sfreporter.com/signup Santa Fe Reporter The New Zealand dollar rose to a four-month high against the Australian dollar on optimism the local economic outlook favours the kiwi over its trans-Tasman counterpart. The kiwi traded at 95.19 Australian cents as at 8:30am in Wellington, and earlier touched 95.53 cents, the highest since early February, from 95.09 cents late yesterday. It traded little changed at 70.82 US cents from 70.85 cents. The trade-weighted index slipped to 76.41 from 76.57. Evidence that the New Zealand economy is in good heart includes a gain in business confidence in May and the Treasury's upgraded forecasts for gross domestic product in Budget 2017, while exports reached a record for the month of April and Fonterra Cooperative Group released a higher milk payout forecast for 2018. Across the Tasman, construction work slowed in the first quarter and there's concern weaker Chinese demand for iron ore, which is driving down prices, is eroding the value of Australia's exports. "Its hard not to be still bullish when economic factors are stacked in NZs favour compared to Australia," said Jason Wong, currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand. "It might be time to wheel out our parity party note again, although officially our forecast doesnt have that for another 18 months." Figures this morning from Quotable Value showed residential property values rose 0.4 percent in the three months through May for an annual rate of 9.7 percent, the slowest in about two years, reflecting weakness in the Auckland market. First-quarter terms of trade are due for release at 10:45am this morning, while across the Tasman, Australia releases retail sales figures for April. The kiwi fell to 63 euro cents from 63.41 cents and declined to 54.89 British pence from 55.28 pence. It fell to 4.8200 yuan from 4.8423 yuan and dropped to 78.39 yen from 78.62 yen. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: GMT - Customer demand supports strong first-half operating result EVO - Embark Education announces Special Dividend BLT - Strategy reset and revenue growth Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022 ATM - Organisational announcement: Chief Supply Chain Officer November 10th Morning Report Blis Technologies: FY23 Half Year Results TEM - Market Abuse Regulation, Article 19, Paragraph 11 NZME updates FY22 guidance & announces new dividend policy November 9th Morning Report Restaurant Brands New Zealand boosted first-quarter sales by 67 percent after the fast-food operator expanded to Australia, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan. The Auckland-based company said sales increased to $161.2 million in the 12 weeks ended May 22, from $96.6 million in the equivalent period a year earlier. New Zealand operations lifted sales 7.1 percent to $94.8 million, while Australia contributed $29.7 million and its Hawaiian operations added $36.7 million. On a same-store basis, sales rose 7.2 percent. New Zealand's largest fast-food operator is expanding into new overseas markets to drive future earnings growth. In April 2016 it expanded into KFC in Australia and in March 2017 bought the largest fast-food operator in Hawaii. In New Zealand, the company's 92 KFC stores lifted sales 8.4 percent in the first quarter to $70.9 million, while its 34 Pizza Hut stores increased sales 5.1 percent to $9.7 million, the 24 Starbucks Coffee stores lifted sales 2.3 percent to $6.1 million, and the 19 Carl's Jr outlets increased sales 2 percent to $8.1 million. The company sold one of its Pizza Hut stores to an independent franchisee in the period, taking the number of stores operated by independent franchisees to 59 out of a total network of 93 stores. In Australia, the company acquired another 5 independent KFC franchise stores in the first quarter, taking its total KFC store numbers across the Tasman to 47. Its Hawaiian-based operations include 37 Taco Bell and 45 Pizza Hut stores. The company's shares advanced 1.1 percent to $5.73. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: GMT - Customer demand supports strong first-half operating result EVO - Embark Education announces Special Dividend BLT - Strategy reset and revenue growth Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022 ATM - Organisational announcement: Chief Supply Chain Officer November 10th Morning Report Blis Technologies: FY23 Half Year Results TEM - Market Abuse Regulation, Article 19, Paragraph 11 NZME updates FY22 guidance & announces new dividend policy November 9th Morning Report Gov. Steve Bullock has signed a bill giving Montanans the option to purchase a state driver's license or identification card that can be used to board flights and access federal facilities. After signing the legislation into law last week, the governor will ask the Department of Homeland Security for two extensions to comply with the 2005 Federal Real ID Act, which is intended to improve national security and prevent identity theft. A spokesperson for the governor's office said the request will likely be made in the next couple of weeks. State officials refused to comply with the Real ID Act in the past, expressing concern that it jeopardizes the security of Montanans by creating a national database of documents. The state Legislature even passed legislation in 2007 prohibiting Montana from complying. But the Department of Homeland Security has dedicated a website to rumors and misinformation about the act. It says Real ID does not grant federal access to state drivers license data and keeps issuance and records at the state level. The Department of Homeland Security has granted the state two extensions in the past but denied its request for a third one in November, effectively forcing the 2017 Legislature to act. Without another extension or the state's compliance, Montanans would not be allowed access to federal facilities or board flights without a passport starting in January 2018. The Department of Homeland Security is likely to approve the extensions since the state made progress toward compliance, Sarah Garcia, administrator at the Motor Vehicle Division, said. Garcia said the legislation was written with an expectation that the Department of Homeland Security would grant Montana two extensions. The first extension would extend through October 2017 and the second through October 2018, giving the Motor Vehicle Division time to start issuing compliant IDs in January 2019. It will allow Montanans to continue to board planes, Garcia said. It will also allow them to gain access again to military installations like Malmstrom Air Force Base and to federal facilities. Senate Bill 366, sponsored by Jill Cohenour, D-Helena, makes compliance optional for Montanans who already have a passport or are concerned about the state keeping copies of personal documents. People getting a new non-compliant license will pay the regular fee of $40.50. A brand new Real ID-compliant license will cost an additional $50 and an extra $25 during a renewal period. The documentation required to get an ID will remain the same. People will have to prove their identity, which is most commonly done with a birth certificate, passport or ID from another state. To prove residency in Montana, applicants will need one document for non-compliant IDs and two for Real IDs, which could be a utility bill and a bank statement. The third is to prove authorized presence, which is typically proven with a social security card, passport or birth certificate. The Motor Vehicle Division has a full list of accepted documents on its website. Garcia said the cost to make compliant IDs will be the same regardless of when or how long it takes, but said implementation over two years will be less stressful on the department. SB366 allows the Department of Justice to take out a loan of up to $4.6 million to pay for the initial costs. The agency will borrow money for a public awareness campaign, program updates and new software, equipment to scan documents and additional employees. The loan will be paid back with fees Montanans pay to get a compliant ID. Once the extension is approved, the Motor Vehicle Division will start with the public information campaign. Garcia said signage has been up informing Montanans they wont be able to board a plane without a compliant ID or passport starting in January 2018. That wouldnt be the case if the extensions are approved, and Garcia said people are already confused. We need to be able to get the info out to the general public so theres not a concern they wouldnt be able to board a plane, she said. Because REAL IDs will have different wording and indications of whether an ID is valid, the existing systems will have to be updated and new software will be purchased. The state will buy scanners to make copies and maintain records of the documents needed to get an ID. Garcia said the actual cost cant be calculated until she has a better idea of how many Montanans are interested in getting compliant IDs. The American Health Care Act, approved by the U.S. House at the start of this month, would result in the loss of health insurance coverage for tens of thousands of Montanans, according to a report recently released by the Montana Budget and Policy Center. People who live in rural areas are at the highest risk for loss of coverage and increased costs, and could see their premiums rise by more than $10,000 annually in some places, the report says. Thats because of two main provisions in the bill cuts to the Medicaid program that provides insurance to the poor and a change from subsidies to tax credits that will increase costs for people who buy insurance on a marketplace. The legislation is the U.S. House Republicans plan to carry out their long-promised repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obamas landmark health care bill that was meant to lower the number of people without insurance by expanding health insurance coverage and reducing its cost. Then-candidate and now Congressman-elect Republican Greg Gianforte is accused of assaulting a journalist who asked him about his stance on the bill in light of the Congressional Budget Offices assessment of the legislation. Gianforte, who was elected by a six-point margin a day later in the race against Democrat Rob Quist, had not delivered a consistent assessment of the bill. After the U.S. House passed the AHCA at the start of May, Gianforte told members of the Montana media he couldn't support a bill that didn't preserve rural access to health care, keep coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and lower premiums. Days later he told potential donors on a telephone call that he was thankful for the bill. Gianforte did not speak with a reporter Tuesday, but his press secretary Shane Scanlon said Gianforte would not have voted for the bill either on May 4 when it passed the House or now that it has a CBO score. "When the House voted on it he would not have supported the bill because he did not have the data, and he did not have assurances those three criteria preserving rural access, covering pre-existing conditions and lowering premiums would be met," Scanlon said Tuesday by phone. When asked in March about a previous version of the bill before Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan withdrew it from consideration near the end of that month Gianforte equated the bill to a cake not ready to come out of the oven. "The process is just starting in Washington. Its clear to me changes need to be made to this proposal," he said in mid-March. The AHCA would drastically overhaul the Medicaid program, cutting $834 billion nationally. More than 240,000 Montanans are covered under Medicaid, including 77,000 that gained insurance after the state in 2015 chose to expand the program to those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Nearly half of those covered are children. The House-passed bill fundamentally changes the way that Medicaid works moving forward, said Heather OLoughlin, co-director of the Montana Budget and Policy center. Its a wholesale restructuring of the financing mechanism of Medicaid that would in the long run shift considerable costs onto the state." At the end of April, the Montana Legislature wrapped up a session in which the state's budget was cut 4 percent from the last biennium to deal with a drop in revenues from natural resource extraction taxes. Those who live in rural areas have benefited the most from tax credits and subsidies provided in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that helped offset the cost of purchasing insurance through marketplaces. Nearly three-quarters of Montanans who buy insurance on the marketplace live in rural areas, in part because a greater share of those who live in these areas dont have access to employer-provided health insurance. The ACAs tax credits and subsidies take into account factors such as geographic area and income level. The Montana Budget and Policy Centers report estimates that costs for rural areas could grow to be more on par with those in urban areas. For example, a 27-year-old in Yellowstone County, population 155,634, could pay $70 more a year in insurance premiums, but someone the same age in Chouteau County, population 5,813, would see their rates jump $730. The center said the change would be the most devastating for older Montanans wanting to stay in their rural hometowns. Premiums for a 60-year-old in Yellowstone County could jump $10,670 from $2,480 to $13,150 while a person the same age living in Chouteau County would see rates go up $13,170, from $2,480 to $15,650. Montana has not seen a representative vote on the American Health Care Act since Ryan Zinke vacated his seat in the House to become secretary of the interior before the bill was introduced. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, has spoken out passionately against the bill, previously saying "the House is forcing seniors to pay more, jeopardizing health care for Montana women and failing to address the rising costs that are draining pocketbooks." Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines said Tuesday "Obamacare is in a death spiral. We must keep working to make health care more affordable." Daines' office emphasized the bill will change as it goes through the Senate. Some Havre-area natural gas customers with farm taps from NorthWestern Energy will remain in limbo despite a judge's ruling Friday that the company has to continue to provide service to those families or must first seek permission from state regulators to end it. At this point, I dont think weve made any decision about whether wed work with homes to transition them to propane or not, NWE Spokesman Butch Larcombe said, uncertain of whether the company would seek an appeal of the dismissal or another legal avenue. We have to wait until we decide whether the case is over in our eyes or not. Decades ago as natural gas wells were drilled in an area east of Havre, about 80 families were granted taps on the untreated natural gas in exchange for pipeline easements to cross their land. As those Havre Pipeline Company wells have been drained, the gas flow has slowed dramatically. Some customers paid out of pocket to transition to private propane tanks. The Public Service Commission started looking into complaints from other customers in 2014, about a year after NorthWestern Energy became majority owner in the company. Last year, the commission unanimously ruled that the company should provide reasonably adequate service and cannot halt farm tap service without their prior approval. NorthWestern Energy appealed that ruling to Montana District Court, where Judge Yvonne Laird ruled Friday in favor of a motion to dismiss the suit, finding that the same issue had been resolved in a similar 1995 case. Chairman Brad Johnson of East Helena said the judges ruling underscores the depth of legal expertise at the Commission in a press release. In the same written statement, Commissioner Travis Kavulla, of Great Falls, called the suit frivolous. Unfortunately, while NorthWestern attorneys have tied this matter up in court, some customers have experienced declining pressures off of farm taps that have led to an effective abandonment of service, Kavulla said in the statement. The Public Service Commission points to other farm tap systems around the state where utility companies have offered to transition customers to propane service after the natural gas wells were depleted. Larcombe said the farm taps outside Havre are different from most around the state, noting the families receive untreated gas and saying that contracts in other areas sometimes had different terms depending on how they came about and which company originally created the projects. He said the contracts signed by the Havre-area families decades ago made it clear the taps were available as long as the natural gas was flowing. Those agreements are very specific. We dont know how long these wells could last. Once these wells end, we dont have any obligation to serve you anymore, Larcombe said. He said he did not know how long NorthWestern Energy would take to make a decision about whether to pursue further legal action or to accept the judges ruling as final and work to come into compliance with the PSCs ruling. In the meantime, the commission invited customers with concerns to call (800) 646-6150 or write to PSChelp@mt.gov. NEW DELHI: Ministers and representatives from 12 states met here today to discuss strategies to leverage partnerships with the private sector and international organisations to advance gender equality and women's empowerment in the United States and India. The one-day conclave was hosted by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) and the NGO Shakti Vahini with the support of the US Secretary of State's Office of Global Women's Issues and the US Embassy. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was present on the occasion and praised the work of DCW. "He said that politics should be kept away from issues related to women and girls and people indulging in politics should not forget that they too have women family members and if the situation worsened they too will be affected," said a DCW statement. Participants included state ministers for women and child development, state government officials, international organisations, industry representatives, and NGOs. Forum participants discussed common challenges, and shared best practices and ideas for future US-India cooperation on issues facing women and girls, including involving private sector and civil society partners. Read Also: Indian-American Student Wins National Geographic Bee Contest H1B Work Visas: Trump Wants To Stop Illegal Immigration, Supports Merit-Based System Which Can Benefit Indian Techies Source: PTI STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With Father's Day approaching, dads, moms and families of the 85 Vietnam Staten Island veterans who lost their lives in the longest military conflict in United States history, are invited to attend "A Day of Remembrance." The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 11, in the Staten Island Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park at the corner of Manor Road and Martling Avenue in West Brighton. On hand will be dignitaries, politicos, family members and friends, as well as the children from St. Adalbert's School in Elm Park. However, everyone is invited to join the Vietnam Veterans of America, Thomas J. Tori, Chapter 421 membership at the annual event. Interestingly, the monument was dedicated on May 7, 1988, when Island veterans declared that their fallen comrades "will not be forgotten" - and the annual event is testimony to that promise. Gen. William C. Westmoreland, who commanded U.S. troops in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, was the keynote speaker back in 1988. Westmoreland, selected by Time magazine as its Man of the Year in 1965, led troops from the platoon level all the way up to chief of staff. Many who were at that memorable ceremony are sure to remember Westmoreland praising all Staten Island war veterans and the Memorial, calling it "one of the finest local memorials in the country." The 85 names will be read aloud at the event, sponsored by the Thomas J. Tori Chapter, Vietnam Veterans of America. The ceremony is always conducted on the Sunday before Father's Day, and the public is welcome. For additional information on the chapter, which lists the 85 names on its Web site, kindly contact www.VVAchapter421.com. Kathy Griffin set the internet ablaze after she posed for a photo where she holds the beheaded head of President Donald Trump. Trump's supporters say Griffin could potentially incite violence with her photos, and even some of Trump's critics think she went too far. Others say Trump is fair game, and all speech is free -- including this. What do you think? PERSPECTIVES Here's the behind-the-scenes video showing the photoshoot between Griffin and Shields. Kathy Griffin beheads Trump in new video. Sickening. Imagine the outrage if this was a conservative & Obama's head. https://t.co/Aseuf1hUSo The Boston Free Beacon (@BFBeacon) May 30, 2017 TMZ is reporting Griffin posed with Trump's head for a photoshoot with Tyler Shields -- who's known for his provocative and often controversial photo shoots. In the past, he's made photos of Hitler blowing his brains out, burnt a $15,000 Louis Vuitton trunk for the sake of "art," glamorized domestic violence, and took pictures of Lindsey Lohan covered in blood while holding a gun. Critics say this photo shoot went too far. There are some things that are just off limits, and depicting the murder of a president is one of them. This country has a history of killing its presidents. In the current political climate, it's better to avoid these things entirely. Others say this is art, whether you like it or not. Kathy Griffin and Tyler Shields have every right to make whatever kind of picture they want. It's like Snoop Dogg's video where he was shoots a clown-version of Donald Trump. You might not agree with it, but that doesn't matter -- all speech is free. I'm a liberal. Kathy Griffin is an idiot and what she did was irresponsible. If you're going retweet liberal nobodies, RT this as well. (Avenatti elected by cabal of rogue electors) (@Philip_DT) May 30, 2017 Liberals, "Kathy Griffin isn't as bad as Ann Coulter because beheading the president is just comedy" isn't a good look for you. https://t.co/NeZHoFjWUu Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 30, 2017 Kathy Griffin is like licorice-flavored jello. I understand finding it repulsive but I don't get being incensed at it. LikeADogHat (@Popehat) May 30, 2017 I dont condone the picture of Kathy Griffin, but as the outrage builds from the right, Google "Obama & noose" See what comes up hypocrites pic.twitter.com/8V4gUy61mg Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) May 30, 2017 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Digital, Inc. property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. MISSOULA A Bigfork woman has been identified as the victim of a fatal rollover Tuesday on Montana Highway 83 in the Swan River valley east of Bigfork. Lake County Sheriff Don Bell said Sharon Wyman, 53, was killed when her vehicle rolled near mile marker 82. The crash was called in to dispatch at 12:11 p.m. According to the Montana Highway Patrol, Wyman was alone and southbound in a GMC Envoy just south of Ferndale and the Flathead-Lake county line. The Envoy drifted off the right side of the roadway, overcorrected to the left, then overcorrected back to the right. It rolled three times on the highway, then rolled off the right side of the road, coming to rest on its roof. Wyman was ejected and died at the scene. Investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, but alcohol, drugs or speed are not suspected, a MHP spokeswoman said. It was unknown if Wyman was wearing a seat belt. It was the 59th fatality on Montana highways this year, compared to 67 at this time last year and 60 in 2015. Click here for an updated version of this post. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Five Staten Islanders were among 19 individuals, including the entire administration of the Luchese organized crime family, charged Wednesday with an array of crimes including murder, attempted murder, racketeering, gambling, witness tampering and narcotics trafficking, said officials. The borough residents named in a superseding indictment unsealed in federal court in White Plains are John (Big John) Castellucci, 57; Tindaro (Tino) Corso, 56; and Dominic Truscello, 83, who were alleged captains or acting captains in the family, authorities said. Also indicted were Staten Island residents Joseph (Big Joe, Joey Glasses) Datello, 66, a reputed solider and "made man" in the family and Richard O'Connor, 63, an alleged Luchese associate, said authorities. In addition, the Luchese's top brass was indicted: Matthew Madonna, 81, the reputed street boss; Steven Crea Sr., 69, the alleged underboss, and Joseph DiNapoli, 81, the reputed consigliere, officials said. Among the allegations, Datello and Crea attempted to murder a witness who previously provided information about mob activities to state and local law enforcement, said officials. Madonna, Crea and three others are accused of murdering or arranging the murder of Michael Meldish in the Bronx in November 2013, to maintain or increase their status in the gang, authorities said. While many outlets are spelling the name of the family as "Lucchese," the name is spelled "Luchese" in court documents and by the U.S. Attorney's office. Check back with SILive.com for updates as the story develops. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Alzheimer's Association and Catholic Charities, in cooperation with Rep. Daniel Donovan, will be hosting an Alzheimer's and Dementia Community Resource Summit on June 5, from 10 a.m. to noon. The event will be held at Mount Loretto, 6581 Hylan Blvd., and is taking place as part of Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month. Seniors and their families can obtain information from various federal and local organizations, including: CaringKind; NYC Department for the Aging; Community Agency for Senior Citizens, and JCC of Staten Island. Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that affects over 5 million Americans. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Rep. Daniel Donovan, a moderate Republican who voted against his party's bill to repeal and replace Obamacare and who has faced criticism for not holding a town hall, sat down with the Advance for 30 minutes Tuesday evening, answering 18 questions submitted by viewers watching on Facebook Live. While it didn't satisfy those who want an in-person town hall, the video interview posed questions to Donovan on health care, transportation, education, the FBI, homelessness, the environment and more. Donovan often cites the "very productive" one-on-one meetings he schedules with any constituents who asks, but won't hold a town hall because he expects a repeat of a February event in Brooklyn when protesters shouted over him while he spoke. As elected officials, like Gov. Andrew Cuomo and mayoral candidate Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, and sponsors like Goya, Corona and Coca-Cola, have backed out of attending the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in June because it's honoring former leader of terrorist group FALN Oscar Lopez Rivera, Donovan said he too won't attend, calling it a "disgrace" that Lopez Rivera is being honored. Asked whether Common Core should be revamped or ended under the new administration, Donovan made clear he doesn't support a federal education standard. "Education should be a local issue," he said. "Not some bureaucrat in Washington determining that." A district attorney for 12 years before being elected to Congress, Donovan said he is opposed to judges being required to abide by minimum sentencing guidelines, saying they should be able to use their discretion on a case-by-case basis. He also noted his law enforcement background when answering a question on who should be the next FBI director. Suggesting someone nonpartisan like Ray Kelly, he lamented that James Comey gave too much information. As DA, Donovan wouldn't talk about an ongoing investigation or even confirm that an investigation was happening. "I thought Director Comey spoke too much about what the FBI was doing," he said. Asked about flood zones, Donovan noted the planned seawall should help lower flood insurance premiums and he supports the push to rework incorrect flood zone maps that place some people in high risk zones. "One thing we have to do is get the flood maps correct," he said. "Flood insurance is pricing people out of their homes." In discussing funding for transportation, Donovan is hopeful President Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure plan will invest in needed American projects. "I think the president has a good plan about letting companies repatriate money back to the United States to help fund that," he said. Donovan wants to see funding for a West Shore light rail and North Shore bus rapid transit, both of which are being studied. He noted he asked the MTA to examine the effect of reinstating the two-way toll on the Verrazano Bridge. If having a two-way toll generates more revenue, he will ask the MTA to use that to fund transportation investments, he said. Watch the entire 30-minute video town hall below. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York City's Department of Administrative Services (DCAS) has released its examination schedule for June, which includes opportunities to apply for positions with the FDNY as well as the Corrections Department. Open, competitive, computer-based tests will be administered throughout the month for positions such as correction officer, environmental police officer, school safety agent and traffic enforcement agent. Meanwhile, the application period for the FDNY exam has been extended from May 31 to June 9, 2017. Candidates who applied previously need not apply again New York City employs hundreds of thousands of people in its 80 agencies. Taking a test is the way to get started in the hiring process for most of these positions. Application fees range from $40 to $101. For more information about registering for these and other tests, log onto the DCAS website. The following is a list of things to know when taking an exam at a DCAS Computer-based Testing and Applications Center (CTAC). Electronic devices, including cell phones, are not permitted in the testing areas. Check the Notice of Examination for the test you will be taking to see if calculators are permitted. If you are requesting a fee waiver, you must provide a copy of acceptable documentation. DCAS staff cannot make copies of your documentation. Seating is limited. Once the CTAC is filled to capacity, no more candidates will be admitted. You are encouraged to apply and schedule yourself to take a test earlier in the month since there is generally more seating available at these times. You may not have any other person, including children, present with you while you are applying for, being processed for, and/or taking a test, and no one may wait for you inside a CTAC. Testing centers are located at 2 Lafayette St. in Manhattan and 210 Joralemon St. in Brooklyn. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A fourth Democrat and Brooklyn resident plans to challenge Republican Rep. Daniel Donovan in the 2018 election, first sparring with three other challengers. Those three candidates -- Zach Emig, a bondtrader and newcomer to Staten Island; Boyd Melson, a retired boxer and Brooklyn resident; and Michael DeVito Jr., a not-for-profit executive and Staten Islander -- have filed their candidacies with the Federal Election Commission to run for the 11th Congressional District seat, which covers all of Staten Island and parts of Southern Brooklyn. Mike DeCillis is the fourth to toss in his hat. A former NYPD officer, paramedic and lawyer, and now a special education teacher in Manhattan, he grew up on Staten Island, left the state for college and has lived in Bay Ridge for nine years. A paramedic in Michigan, he became a certified SWAT medic and grew interested in law enforcement. DeCillis came back to New York in January 2001 and became a police officer shortly after September 11, retiring about 10 years later after his police car was hit by another car responding to a call. He has never run for office before and sees challenging Donovan as an opportunity, because like some of the three other Democrats, he is "energized to take on the only Republican congressional seat in New York City," he said. But he won't focus on President Donald Trump in the race -- "Trump is in the background," he said. "I think the race is going to be less about him and more of what's going on in Staten Island," issues like health care and education. Asked how he differs from Donovan's stances, DeCillis said, "I was absolutely against" Trump's travel ban, while the congressman supported it. While the Democrat appreciates that Donovan voted against the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, Donovan's reasons "weren't for the right reasons," he alleged, like expected loss of coverage. (Donovan said one of the reasons he voted against it was because of the increased costs for senior citizens.) DeCillis also accused Donovan as not being aggressive enough for issues that matter to his constituents. "I think he's a back-bencher," he said. "I don't think he's proactive at all." Donovan spokeswoman Jessica Proud said in a statement,"Congressman Donovan is laser-focused on governing. There will be plenty of time for politics next year, and whoever the candidate is, we'll be happy to compare Dan's long and bipartisan record of service on behalf of the residents of Staten Island and South Brooklyn." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An 11 a.m. funeral mass is scheduled for Saturday, in Holy Child R.C. Church, Eltingville, for Bill Doyle, a former Staten Island resident who became an outspoken advocate for families of 9/11 victims after his own son was killed in the terrorist attack. Doyle died May 19, of natural causes at his home in the Villages community, Ocala, Fla., his family said. He was 70 years old. Doyle, an Island native and former Annadale resident, retired to Florida several years ago, after his son, Joseph, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee, died in the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Joseph Doyle, a 25-year-old bond supervisor at Cantor Fitzgerald, died when the World Trade Center's North Tower collapsed. His remains were never recovered. Workers found his driver's license, an American Express card and two club cards from his wallet. After his son's death, Doyle concentrated his efforts on advocating for other parents and children and brothers and sisters of 9/11 victims on such issues as preserving remains and victim compensation. His most recent fight involved holding Saudi Arabia responsible for the attack after documents surfaced tying the government to money that helped Al Qaeda terrorists. "On Sept. 11, 2001, a part of my dad passed away and never returned, but helping others going through the same tragedy gave him back the smile we all loved and adored," said his surviving son, William (Billy) Doyle, who also spoke on behalf of his sister, Doreen Lutter. "He (dad) treated the Sept 11 families like his own putting them before himself," his son said. Doyle's wife, Camille, 62, died in 2012. Holy Child Church is located at 4747 Amboy Rd., off Arden Avenue. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A witness to a hit-and-run in Stapleton described the horrific ordeal. A 36-year-old man was left in critical condition Monday after he was struck by a driver in a minivan at about 2:10 p.m., near the intersection of Gordon and Frean streets, according to police and the FDNY. Sources have identified the victim as Anthony Figuerola. "It was like (the driver) was aiming at him," said a witness who declined to give their name. "(The driver) accelerated as they hit him." The witness said he did not get a look at the driver, or the license plate. Multiple witnesses said the driver accelerated in to a turn from Targee Street onto Frean Street, at which point the pedestrian was struck. Then, the van stopped abruptly as the man rolled off the hood. The witness said they assumed the ordeal was over. "He was thrown six feet in to the street...there's no way the driver didn't see him," they said. "But then (the driver) just gunned it. And we were all screaming." The van rolled over the victim, who got caught in the undercarriage and was dragged for half a block, according to multiple witnesses. A neighbor who was sleeping at the time said they awoke to the sound of people screaming 'you're killing him!' Witnesses said it was a gory scene. "His face was all ripped to pieces.. I thought for sure he had to be dead." The man was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in cardiac or respiratory arrest, according to a NYPD spokesman. A silver Nissan Quest van believed to be involved was recovered near the scene, however, police said the driver ditched the vehicle and has not been apprehended. The incident remains under investigation. Would you like to comment on this report? Click here to join in the conversation. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- And brother makes three - convicted felons. A third sibling has pleaded guilty to a drug charge stemming from a borough-wide cocaine ring, which, authorities said, he ran along with his two brothers. Alamir Lewis, then 34, and his siblings, Alphonso Lewis, then 31, and Toriano Lewis, then 28, were busted in February in the culmination of a five-month undercover operation dubbed "All in the Family," according to District Attorney Michael E. McMahon. Authorities said the defendants peddled drugs in various neighborhoods throughout the borough, including Grasmere, Bulls Head, Castleton Corners, Oakwood and Dongan Hills. Most of the deals were done in a car, prosecutors said. A search warrant executed at one location yielded about 40 grams of cocaine, said authorities. A fourth man, Eric Moore, then 21, who is unrelated to the siblings, was previously arrested and indicted in January on similar charges in connection with the undercover operation, authorities said. Moore was found in possession of heroin and indicted on charges of criminal sale of cocaine, said officials. In March, Moore pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to six months in jail and five years' probation, online state court records show. Two weeks ago, Alphonso and Toriano Lewis each pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, the top count against them. In exchange for their guilty pleas, Alphonso Lewis will be sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years' post-release supervision. Toriano Lewis will be sentenced to 42 months behind bars and two years' post-release supervision, said their lawyer, Mario F. Gallucci. Alamir Lewis pleaded guilty Tuesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to the same charge. He'll be sentenced June 13 to 42 months in prison and three years' post-release supervision. Matthew Blum represents him. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The mother of a recent hit-and-run victim in Stapleton says her son can't speak and is "barely hanging on," according to a CBS New York report. Anthony Figuerola, 36, was struck at about 2:10 p.m. Monday by the driver of a minivan, near the intersection of Targee and Frean streets, police said. Figuerola's mother visited the scene of the incident on Tuesday, where she spoke about her son's injuries and her disbelief in the driver's actions. She told CBS New York his injuries include a broken pelvis, broken bones in his face and lacerations and bruises all over his body. He was conscious and alert, as of Tuesday, but unable to speak, according to the report. According to multiple witnesses, the driver accelerated into a turn from Targee Street onto Frean Street, at which point the vehicle struck Figuerola. Then, the van stopped abruptly as Figuerola rolled off the hood. One witness said they assumed the ordeal was over. "He was thrown six feet in to the street...there's no way the driver didn't see him," he said. "But then (the driver) just gunned it. And we were all screaming." The van rolled over the victim, who got caught in the undercarriage and was dragged for half a block, according to multiple witnesses. A neighbor who was sleeping at the time said they awoke to the sound of people screaming "you're killing him!" Figuerola was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in cardiac or respiratory arrest, according to a NYPD spokesman. A 2004, silver Nissan Quest van believed to be involved was recovered near the scene, however, police said the driver ditched the vehicle and has not been apprehended, police said. The incident remains under investigation. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 20-year-old woman is facing several charges after she threw a defibrillator at a doctor at Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze on Saturday, a criminal complaint alleges. A doctor at the hospital was assisting patients in the emergency room when Imonie Cepeda, of New Springville, allegedly threw the piece of equipment, according to the complaint. Cepeda, who was a patient at the hospital, did not injure anyone, but broke the $7,500 piece of equipment in the violent outburst, sources said. Cepeda is charged with three counts of attempted assault and two counts of criminal mischief. A spokesperson at the hospital did not respond to a request for comment about the incident Tuesday night. This isn't the first violent incident to happen at the hospital's two campuses in recent months. On May 10, a Mariners Harbor man threatened a female doctor at the Ocean Breeze campus, telling the woman, "I'm going to stab you and you're going to get hepatitis," according to an allegation in the criminal complaint. About an hour later, a police officer witnessed the man kick a gurney outside the hospital, police said. The equipment was damaged beyond repair and cost the hospital more than $1,000. On March 25, Michael Schuhmann, 28, of Eltingville, entered the emergency room at the hospital's Prince's Bay campus and allegedly attacked a nurse. "Watch, it's going to be a blood bath in here," he told the woman, before punching her and choking her with a plastic wire, according to allegations in the criminal complaint. On March 12, ex-employee Leon Morris, 55, or Rosebank, brought a metal bat into University Hospital's Ocean Breeze campus and attacked his former supervisor, authorities allege. In early May, the Advance covered violence faced by nurses and doctors every day in emergency rooms. Would you like to comment on this report? Go to our comment section to add your voice to the conversation. You need to go no further than Gateway National Recreation area on Staten Island, where there are three tiny houses avaibale for rent until Labor Day, said Pete Davis, co-creator of Getaway Tiny Homes. (Staten Island Advance/ Jan Somma-Hammel) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you want a respite from the daily grind, where you can be one with nature, you no longer have to leave New York City. In fact, you need to go no farther than Gateway National Recreation area on Staten Island, where there are three tiny houses available for rent until Labor Day, said Pete Davis, co-creator of Getaway Tiny Homes. "These are the first New York City tiny houses," said Davis. "Gateway approached us to put pop-up tiny houses (in its recreation area). Getaway has always been not as much about the location, but about the experience of just being in nature." Part of the lure of these vacation rentals -- which run $150 per night -- is that the renter isn't given the precise location of the tiny house until 24 hours before his or her stay begins. So we can't tell you exactly where the three Staten Island tiny homes are located. "When we look for land, we just look for beautiful land. And Gateway gave us that," said Davis, noting that if the "pop-up" summer tiny home rentals go well, the company isn't ruling out bringing them back to the borough again. WHAT'S IT LIKE? To stay in a tiny house means you're living off the outdoors, with just the basic items you need. But instead of a tent, you have a tiny house where everything -- from the pots to the garbage pail -- is miniature. The homes can accommodate up to four guests, and are equipped with a stove, bathroom, sleeping area, and a tiny refrigerator. Some might say the tiny house experience is a step above camping -- more commonly called "glamping." But it's still "roughing it" in some respects. There are rules for the number of toilet flushes per night, there's limited power, and fans instead of air conditioning. TINY HOUSE CREATORS Since Davis and co-creator Jon Staff put several Getaway tiny houses in upstate New York, as well as outside of Boston last year, they have achieved great success. "We are very booked out -- almost all of our weekends are booked (in upstate New York). We've already opened up Getaway, and people are just as excited about it," said Davis. "The secret reason this has really worked out is that we have really doubled down on this idea of the getaway, allowing you to get away from cell phones, work and hectic busyness. ...We tell people this is like a Sabbath from technology and work. And people really like having somewhere that carves out space to disconnect from the Internet and work," he added. HOW TO BOOK YOUR STAY So far, only half the summer nights on Staten Island are available for booking, but more availability will come, said Davis. "We will be releasing the other nights on a rolling basis. ...Keep checking every week, because we are going to be opening up more nights. You can sign up for the e-mail and wait list," he added. For more information, visit www.getaway.house. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK PHILADELPHIA Granite from a Philadelphia park that was a skateboarding mecca, though for a long stretch an illegal one, is being put to new use at a skate park being built nearly 4,000 miles away. Slabs from the city's famed LOVE Park, named for Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture, are being shipped to the city of Malmo, Sweden. Malmo's skateboarding coordinator told KYW-TV that the granite will be used for a project he says will "rock the skateboarding world." The park adjacent to Philadelphia's City Hall was long a popular destination for skateboarders. It was featured in a Tony Hawk video game and partly credited for bringing the X Games to Philadelphia in 2001 and 2002. But from 2003 to 2016 skateboarding was banned at the park, with skaters risking fines if they were caught using it. Now, the area is undergoing a major redesign that it is turning it into largely green space, effectively killing its use as a skating venue. A Philadelphia organization that advocates for skateboarding had control of the granite. "Well, of course, it's sacred and to share that with another city making a skate park that used that granite was very attractive to us," said Josh Nims, a founder of the group. Malmo skateboarding coordinator Gustav Eden said his city has "learned that skateboarding is not detrimental to urban life but can actually be an asset in activating spaces." Some people move to Malmo to skate, he said, and top sponsors like Vans hold competitions in the Swedish city. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree DECATUR The general manager of a Decatur cemetery said he plans to step up security after the theft of American flags decorating a war memorial. The four stolen flags, measuring 5 feet wide by more than 9 feet long, are known as burial flags, and some may been used to drape veterans' coffins during funerals. Valued at $150 each, they were reported stolen overnight Saturday from around the Korean War Memorial in Graceland Cemetery in the 2000 block of North Oakland Avenue, police said. The flags were on display ready for a Memorial Day service held Monday. David Goebel, general manager of Graceland Fairlawn Funeral Home and Cemeteries, said cameras will now be installed to monitor the cemetery area to deter thieves. And we've been in contact with the Decatur police, the Macon County Sheriff's Office and the Decatur Park Police and talked to them about doing some more patrolling next year, Goebel said. The commemorative flags are part of a collection of more than 100 donated flags presented to Graceland for display and which are only flown the weekend of Memorial Day. Goebel said they were given by veterans' families, some after their loved one's funeral, and others bought as tributes to a particular veteran's memory. Goebel isn't sure if any of the stolen flags had been used in funerals but said it's a distinct possibility. Each stolen flag had the name of the veteran associated with it written on the edge of the fabric in permanent ink. It's depressing that someone could come out and be so destructive as to want to take an American flag, Goebel said. Unfortunately, with our society today, you can't have anything nice, you can't do anything worthwhile, without having someone come and try to destroy it. Goebel said that since the flag display program was launched in 2013, thieves have repeatedly targeted it. The first year, we also had four taken and they took the flagpoles and all, he recalled. And there has only been one year there wasn't any flags taken, and that's been a couple of years ago. Word of the flags theft spread quickly among the ranks of veterans who belong to the Charles Parlier Chapter 24 of the Korean War Veterans Association in Decatur. I think it's a pretty sad thing when people are that low they would steal a flag with a veteran's name on it and that has been donated to fly in his honor, said Orval Mechling, 85, a Navy veteran of the war and first vice president of Chapter 24. If you've got to have a flag that bad you would steal it, put a plea out, and somebody will buy you one. But to go out and steal one is about as low as you can get. Mechling said Chapter 24 will look at donating some money to replace the flags. As for Graceland Cemetery, Goebel said thieves will not defeat its policy of flying special flags to commemorate Memorial Day. It's not going to deter us; we're going to keep going, he said. DECATUR A 33-year-old man was shot and wounded in his back during a police chase in a Decatur neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, and two handguns were found where he was captured, authorities said. Officials arent identifying the injured person or the officer in the incident, which Illinois State Police are investigating. The Decatur Police Department is committed to providing a fair, accurate and independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding this officer-involved shooting, Deputy Chief Jason Walker said. The chase started at 1:14 p.m. during a traffic stop in the 800 block of South Webster Street when two men jumped out of the vehicle and ran, Walker said. Its not clear what prompted the stop. While the officers were chasing the subjects, the officers could see that both men appeared to be armed with handguns, Walker said. During this foot pursuit, shots were fired and one suspect was struck. Police later confirmed the wounded man was shot by one of the pursuing officers. Medical help was called to the scene immediately, Walker said. The man was wounded in the lower back and underwent surgery. A spokesman for HSHS St. Mary's Hospital said he was in stable condition Wednesday night. Walker said the other man involved, a 29-year-old Decatur resident, was detained for questioning and expected to be arrested on weapons charges. Rusty McFall, who lives in the next block from the shooting scene, said his 13-year-old daughter told him she heard four or five shots around 1:15 p.m. They rushed outside to see police vehicles already blocking the street. Then we saw them bringing a person out and loading them into an ambulance at the end of the street, said McFall, 42. They were in there probably 15 minutes with the person before they took off. It is standard procedure for the Illinois State Police to investigate cases of officer-involved shootings. The officer who fired the shot is a 17-year veteran of the department and is on administrative duties with pay, which also is policy while the state police investigation proceeds. During a news conference with city leaders and community members a few hours after the chase, Walker read from a prepared statement and would not take questions. The statement identified the race of wounded man, who is black, and the police officer, who is white. Police later confirmed that the other man also is black. Later responding to emailed questions, the deputy chief of police who heads the administrative operations division, Shane G. Brandel, said they had no comment on why they had provided the race of the men. The officers were not wearing body cameras, Walker said, but the squad car that initiated the stop was equipped with an in-car camera. The footage has been turned over to state police. The Herald & Review has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the camera footage. During the news conference, Walker was flanked by representatives of the city of Decatur and members of the Area Leaders Educators Response Team (ALERT). The ALERT Team was formed in 2015 by the police department and Jeanelle Norman, the NAACP Decatur Branch president. Norman and other community leaders in ALERT work to spread accurate information in the event of high-profile incidents involving police and the black community. Team members responded to the citys last officer-involved shooting in July 2016. In that incident, Decatur police officer Andrew Wittmer shot a 40-year-old man who police said was armed with a knife strapped to his wrist and a BB gun that looked like a semiautomatic handgun. Macon County States Attorney Jay Scott found that Wittmers use of force was justified after evaluating the state police report. Video footage taken by the in-car camera was made public at a news conference in August 2016 when Scott announced his decision. That incident came in the wake of several high profile police-involved shootings nationwide that sparked civil unrest, including the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in suburban St. Louis. The response to last summers shooting in Decatur was peaceful, as city leaders, law enforcement and community members gathered for an emotional prayer vigil at the Macon County Courts Facility that night. The Rev. Anthony Fluker, another ALERT team member, said the Facebook rumor mill was already cranked up and running within minutes of Wednesdays shooting, with false stories the man shot had died and that more people had been involved instead of just the two men the police were chasing, Fluker said team members were quick to give people the truth and took the time to speak to them individually. With social media, misinformation spreads very fast and we have to be ready, he said. And we will be following up with the investigation so we can get the information out to the community, he said. Mayor Pro Tempore Dana Ray promised that a full and thorough investigation would take place. While we understand that it can be difficult for a community and law enforcement when incidents like this occur, we have to trust the integrity of the process, and want to ensure our residents that we will continue with our track record of being transparent and pulling together during difficult times, she said. Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said in a statement: We are just asking for everyone to allow the state police time to investigate thoroughly. The city is keeping the ALERT team fully informed. We appreciate the patience of our community as we work through this difficult incident and pray for the swift recovery of the individual involved. The area of the shooting is normally a quiet place with no drama, said McFall, who has lived there for seven years. It's a pretty mellow neighborhood, he said. Lots of good people up around here. 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Auditor-General Maxine Cooper's report, released Wednesday, also called into question the territory's model of giving schools autonomy. Housing minister Yvette Berry: Has released a dicussion paper calling for ideas to boost affordable housing. Credit:Karleen Minney "This appears to have resulted in a high level of variability in the use of student performance information and management information systems and a wide range of school-based assessment tools used across ACT public schools; for a small jurisdiction such as the ACT this is excessive," Dr Cooper wrote. ACT government expenditure on public school students is proportionally among the highest in Australia with recurrent expenditure per student of $20,532 in 2014-15 compared to the Australian average of $16,670. Happy first day of winter! Jack Frost has certainly come to the party with a chilly minus 4 degrees this morning. Today will reach a maximum of 14 degrees and similar temperatures are expected tomorrow, too. We always hear how well the ACT does when it comes to NAPLAN testing, but a new report from the Auditor-General has called those results into question. When comparing comparing ACT public school results with those in similar circumstances interstate, Canberra schools really don't fare too well at all. It's an issue Education Minister Yvette Berry says she's addressing in her Future of Education talks, but the data is pretty stark. My story here. St Edmund's suspends student protester Texting while driving has been the cause of many crashes and close-calls on Canberra's roads. But the ACT government's efforts to crack down on this behaviour appears to have been less than effective. Six times as many people were caught talking on the phone while driving than messaging or using social media behind the wheel on ACT roads in the past nine months. Credit:Jeffrey Chan ACT Policing has issued 139 fines and 36 cautions for messaging or social networking on a mobile phone behind the wheel since the new penalty was introduced nine months ago. In comparison, it gave 935 notices and 389 cautions for talking on a hand-held mobile phone while driving. A detective has described how the lights of a car captured by a surveillance camera in the dark of night led police to suspects in a cafe arson. There were few leads to begin with in the deliberately lit fire at Brierly's Cafe in Weston just past midnight on March 13, 2014, a court heard on Wednesday. There were no fingerprints - the offender had apparently used gloves to bend up the back fly screen door before dousing the cafe in petrol. And while the cafe's surveillance camera had filmed the business going up in flames in dramatic footage, the video betrayed no identifying information of the hooded person behind the alleged crime. A 24-year-old man was arrested and released after police seized cash and drugs at his Gordon home. At about 6.40am on Friday, May 26 ACT police raided the home with an Australian Federal Police dog squad, locating cash and what appeared to be cocaine and MDMA. ACT Policing seized cash, cocaine and MDMA in a raid on Gordon property at about 6:40am on Friday, May 26. Police also found more cash and cocaine in a car on the property. The man was released and will be summoned to face ACT Magistrates Court for drug offences at a later date. As population growth puts a growing strain on public facilities, former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry says local communities and businesses should play a bigger role in developing infrastructure projects that do not rely on government. The National Australia Bank chairman will on Thursday launch a new paper setting out a model for "Customer-led DIY infrastructure," an attempt to get local communities more involved in infrastructure development. NAB chairman Ken Henry says there is a preoccupation with "big ticket" infrastructure projects. Credit:jonesphoto.com.au In a speech in Sydney, Dr Henry will highlight the importance of smaller-scale local infrastructure such as sporting grounds and parks, alongside larger projects such as rail lines or airports. Dr Henry has previously called for business to play a more active role in backing infrastructure, and NAB's research has found many Australians are uneasy with rapid population growth, because it is straining services such as health and education, worsening commute times and driving up house prices. The corporate watchdog is investigating whether there were "unexplained or unusual" profits made trading shares in Australia's five biggest banks on the day of the budget, as part its probe into the leak of the bank tax. Rumours that a bank tax would be announced in the budget helped wipe off some $14 billion in market value of the lenders on May 9, raising fears some in the market may have exploited inside information, such as by short-selling the banks. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Wednesday said its monitoring systems raised flags over the fall in bank shares on the morning of budget day. It commenced an investigation the morning after the highly market-sensitive information was announced on the evening of May 9. Details of ASIC's probe were revealed as officials signalled strong support for the new powers the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority will receive to ban high-ranking bankers who preside over serious misconduct. Now that James Packer's Crown Resorts has sold its final share of its former jewel, Melco Crown, his former partner Lawrence Ho has wasted no time in distancing himself from the man who made him a billionaire. "In all these instances, you had casino sales people running around offering credit, talking about collection ... it wasn't discreet," he told the Financial Times. "That's what caught their attention: 'Like what the hell, you're deliberately spitting on our faces'," said Ho. Internet service providers such as Telstra, Optus and TPG have been handed a discount on the price they pay for bandwidth over the National Broadband Network, but there's one condition. Under the new NBN pricing plan, service providers will be rewarded with reduced wholesale charges, provided they increase the average amount of data capacity they provide to their customers. The model, to take effect from Thursday, is in direct response to Australia's surging data usage. Last year the nation downloaded a record 2.5 billion gigabytes of data. NBN-connected homes are downloading 1.2 times the national fixed-line average. Google co-founder Sergey Brin is spending more than $US100 million ($134 million) to build the world's largest airship, a blimp with a rigid structure designed to both deliver supplies abroad for humanitarian projects and ferry Brin's family and friends around the globe, the Guardian newspaper reported. The project is the latest example of Silicon Valley attempting to reshape how goods and people are moved. But some say it also underscores a penchant for tech moguls to colour their projects with seemingly virtuous ambition. Google co-founder Sergey Brin's plan for the world's largest airship: Altruism, or just a good excuse for a new luxury toy? Credit:The New York Times Some people on social media seized on the vessel's apparent dual purpose. On the one hand, it's a benevolent carrier transporting food to remote, hard-pressed communities, and on the other it's a luxurious "air yacht," as the Guardian report described it, shuttling a billionaire and his inner circle to exotic locations. On Monday, Amazon.com's share price briefly crossed the $US1000 mark for the first time in its 20-year history as a publicly traded company. Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and chief executive, has been dismissive of the preoccupation with near-term stock price swings, often quoting the influential investor Benjamin Graham, who said the market is a voting machine in the short run and a weighing machine in the long run. Bezos has made it clear he wants Amazon to be weighed by investors, not subject to a near-term popularity contest. Cracking the arbitrary threshold of a four-digit stock price is a reminder of just how heavy Amazon has become, and what Australian retailers face. It is now the fourth most valuable company in the world by market capitalisation. The top five, Apple; Alphabet, the parent company of Google; Microsoft; Amazon and Facebook, have emerged as the dominant forces in technology. Amazon's shares are up almost 33 per cent for the year and up 368 per cent over five years. It's rare to see Australian media companies unified on anything. But on Wednesday they put aside their competitive squabbles and threw their collective weight behind the Coalition's push for industry reform in an effort to save it from financial oblivion. They funnelled into Canberra waving their reform flags, but none were particularly optimistic about the outcome. It was only because the Coalition leaned on them to show support for the media ownership changes that they agreed to spend a day in the chilly capital. But even with this muscle power the reform of media which has been bubbling around for years remains doomed. Even with the Senate horse-trading that's gone on over the past couple of weeks, the Coalition still doesn't have the numbers, thanks in large part to its inability to get Pauline Hanson over the line. But the larger issue and the reason reform is frozen is the Labor party, which won't budge on any scheme it thinks risks increasing the voice, reach or influence of Rupert Murdoch's empire. The Fair Work Ombudsman has expanded its investigation into fast-food giant Domino's Pizza, revealing an extra 10 new investigations are now afoot into underpayment across the store network. On Tuesday the Senate's Employment and Education Committee heard authorities had upped their probe into the pizza giant bringing the total number of investigations to 26. Yesterday Domino's Pizza announced its own investigations into wage fraud were being delayed and that it now expects to release the results as late as December six months later than anticipated. And with many shoppers saddled with record household debt and weak wages growth, it's hard to see the pessimism breaking. Sentiment has remained negative this year all the way through May for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009. That's left retailers reeling, hurt car dealerships and made investors bearish on shopping centre operators. "People are a lot more cautious," said Tony Farnham, an economist at Patersons Securities. "There's not going to be an outbreak of, or surge in retail sales." The following charts illustrating recent moves in share prices underscore the challenges facing Australia's economy, which is struggling to add full-time jobs and boost wages. Limping along The nation's retail stocks have had the worst start to a year since 2008. Only two of the 10 members of the S&P/ASX 200 Retailing Index are in the black this year -- online travel agent Webjet and Trade Me Group, which runs online classifieds and auctions for New Zealanders. With an 18 per cent decline, the measure trails Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 stock index and the MSCI World Retailing index, which has been propelled higher by Amazon.com - viewed as a big looming threat to local bricks-and-mortar stores with its plans to expand its footprint in Australia. The republics threatened no one and wanted only to be left alone, especially by Britain. Britain might not have bothered with them, except that the South African Republic (now part of the present-day South Africa) had the most extensive gold deposits on the planet. The other republic, the Orange Free State, had the misfortune of being in the way. It lay between the Cape Colony and those gold deposits. 'This monument glorifies a deeply unjust and shameful war.' Robert Eales Sir Alfred Milner, the British High Commissioner for South Africa in Cape Town, needed the war to achieve his ambition of bringing the two republics into the British Empire and thereby consolidating all southern Africa within the Empire. It was an achievement he perceived would bring him great honours. Some of the largely British-owned gold mining companies supported Milner and urged Britain to take control. But Milner needed a better justification for his war, and he found one. As the existence of the goldfields became known, fortune seekers poured in, mainly from England. The republican government, afraid of being swamped, set a 14-year residential qualification period for the franchise. Milner used this as one of the key issues to foment war, arguing, in emotive language, that British subjects were being treated as "helots". He got his war. Britain expected a short, cheap war. But after suffering three defeats at the hands of the Boers, all in one week in December 1899, it shipped in tens of thousands of additional soldiers, eventually hundreds of thousands, and appealed to the countries in its far-flung Empire for support. That's when Australians, New Zealanders and others got involved. With overwhelming power, the combined imperial troops then conquered the capitals of the two republics, Bloemfontein and Pretoria. But contrary to expectations, the war did not end there. The Boers fought on. The country was vast, the population thin. The Boers had local knowledge and local sympathies and were more mobile. The majority of the British soldiers were infantry on foot; the Boers were all mounted. For Roberts and Kitchener, successive Commanders-in-Chief, this presented a great difficulty. They did not have the means to corner and defeat their adversaries. So, instead, they attacked the static, civilian population. This is where problems with this war get serious. Roberts did it locally and punitively, in response to individual attacks on his men, but Kitchener was an engineer and he sought a comprehensive solution. He decided to clear the countryside. His soldiers, including Australians, formed lines 50 to 70 km long, advanced across the land and removed everything that could sustain human life. Farms were burnt to the ground, food and horses were commandeered, crops were destroyed, livestock was confiscated or simply killed, farm equipment was removed (especially wagons), wells were poisoned, and farm dams breached. Small towns and villages suffered a similar fate. There were several such "drives" and each continued for months. By the end of the war, the countryside in the two republics was wasteland. There was, of course, a complication. There were people on those farms and in the villages. While the men were mostly in the Boer forces fighting for their countries, the Boer women and children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled were still at home when the troops arrived. And there were black people on the farms and in the villages too, men, women and children. At first, they were simply abandoned besides their burnt-out homesteads with no food, shelter or transport. As they drifted into the towns, often in a pitiful state, a different approach was adopted. They were rounded up and railed off to camps. Blacks and whites. The total number in the camps exceeded 200,000 by the end of the war. Kitchener called them "concentration camps". The camps were appalling. At least 42,000 people died in them. By far the majority of the fatalities were children, especially little children. In one camp where detailed information is available, virtually no child below the age of four survived. Which brings us back to The Man from Snowy River. Its author Banjo Paterson was over there, a war correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald. In the beginning, he was an ardent imperialist, writing enthusiastic stories of the great things our boys were doing. But as events unfolded, he began to think differently. After he saw pleading women and terrified children being evicted from their house, and all their possessions going up in flames, he wrote no more from over there. He came home. When the war was over, and the Boers had been defeated, Milner was still the High Commissioner for South Africa and his area of authority now included the former republics. He could remedy the wrongs over which the war had supposedly been fought. But he enfranchised no one, not the transient fortune seekers nor the previously resident population. Especially not the black population. Instead, in the ensuing years and for the duration of his term in office, he appointed every member of the legislative councils in the two former republics himself and formalised the racial segregation that would become a hallmark of South Africa in the decades that followed. The two small, comprehensively devastated countries had to cope somehow with their own complex societies, with tensions between English and Afrikaner, black and white, complexities that were immensely more difficult in the bitter, impoverished aftermath of the war. The social scars remain to this day. But for Sir Alfred Milner things went rather better. By the end of the war he was Lord Milner and later Viscount Milner. The first day of winter has prompted Grahame Marr of Kingscliff to observe that the recent cold snap has been accompanied by the "usual increase" in the number of death notices. "What causes this phenomena," he asks, "and more important is the question why do the people die in alphabetical order?" This being reconciliation week, Diana Minglis, Oyster Bay, called Auburn Council seeking the identity of traditional owners as she and her friends plan an event in the local government area. "Five transfers later and we are none the wiser," she says. "I think they may have some work to do on that whole 'reconciliation' thing." Kevin Smith's reminder (C8) that the final day of autumn was the 75th anniversary of the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour launched a flotilla of memories. Paul Walker, Forresters Beach, says his wife Robin was on board the last ferry from Manly with her family during the school holidays when fireworks lit up the harbour. "She was five years old at the time but remembers it clearly ... I was under the dining room table at our place in Cammeray." Also under the table, but at Rose Bay, with her mother and brother was Neutral Bay's Judy Howarth. "She (mother) was a Broken Hill girl and also told of huddling under the kitchen table with her mother during a violent dust storm, during which the roof was ripped from their house." There's more. Roger Anderson, Dundas, says the New York Times report, courtesy of General Douglas Macarthur's HQ, on June 1, 1942, was somewhat circumspect. "The enemy's attack was completely unsuccessful," a page one article ran. "Damage was confined to one small harbor [sic] vessel of no military value." No mention then of the deaths of 21 Australian and British sailors on HMAS Kuttabul. Lisa Phillips, of Noosa, put her rubbish out for council clean-up only to find that within an hour enterprising scavengers had helped themselves to half of it. "We were very surprised they took a rusty old towel rack, and even more surprised when we found they'd returned it this morning!" When you write a book which details allegations of paedophilia against a man who was once one of the nation's most powerful people, curious things happen. One of the crazier things is a tiny circle of people who still unquestioningly defend this person, saying he could not possibly have committed acts they know nothing about and accuse you of leftist bias. How on god's green earth, you ask yourself, did the prospect that someone might have abused children suddenly become a matter of left and right? The allegations against Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, are at least worth a look. Credit:Alessandra Tarantino Let this be known: George Pell's politics are of zero interest to me. But this is Australia's most senior Catholic cleric. He's a man who for years was telling the rest of us how to live our lives not least how to live our sex lives (a matter with which, as I document in Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, he was somewhat preoccupied). He has been accused many times of abusing little kids. Those accusations now form part of a comprehensive investigation by Victoria Police's Taskforce SANO. I think that warrants a look. It often occurs to me that this band of defenders, who shrink with each day in number as the allegations pile up, have painted themselves into a corner and now flail about, trying to come up with something to throw back at those who would tumble down their rather shaky house of cards. I can't be the only one who avoids eye contact with the polite charity workers hanging around shopping centres - I die a little inside every time I awkwardly ignore their requests for a quick chat about how awful the world is and how a monthly donation would help. If I had more money of course I would donate, I like to think I do my best to dig deep when I can. Donate blood, read about Jack Reacher Credit:James Mooney If I had enough room I would adopt all the dogs in the world and live my life rolling around in a field, feeding them the most expensive accredited-vet-approved dog food I could find. I'd also take in cats. One Nation's threat to blackmail the Australian people by demanding cuts to ABC funding was a disgrace. The ultimatum stood for almost a day before its stupidity dawned on party leader Pauline Hanson and she backed off. The damage had been done. Any political threat to hold the public broadcaster to ransom and threaten its independence undermines confidence in the parliament and democracy. It is especially hypocritical when One Nation was behaving in a manner not unlike the apocryphal swamp-inhabiting political insiders the party claims to despise. Pauline Hanson has backed off a stupid threat to the ABC. Credit:Andrew Meares Senator Hanson and her colleagues need to stop treating voters as idiots. Australians trust the ABC. Citizens may not agree with or support everything the public broadcaster does, but opinion polls regularly show about 85 per cent of them want need it to be there providing an important community service. And that must be free of political games and agendas. Of course the ABC makes mistakes. All media organisations do. The ABC falls short of some expectations by focusing on boutique issues and productions. The Herald has questioned some of its decisions regarding where it spends funds. Money should go less towards chasing clicks for its current affairs or opinion pieces, for instance, and more on investing in news services. Press freedom is a fragile thing. Those of us who live in established democracies tend to take it for granted, as if it is always going to be there without thought or defence. It appears deep-rooted, with long-standing traditions and norms. And although an untrammelled media can look pretty messy and undignified (witness the recent coverage of Schapelle Corby's return to Australia), those who live with it generally recognise that a media free to investigate the powerful, host open debates and arguments and keep public conversations going is essential to a healthy democracy. Lourenco Vicente Martins and Raimundos Oki. Credit:Facebook It is hard to imagine life without it. But it turns out free press is a rarity. Earlier this year the pro-democracy group Freedom House found that globally, press freedom is the worst it has been in the past 13 years, and it is continuing to slide in the wrong direction. The pending exit of the US from the Paris climate agreement barring a last-minute reversal by President Donald Trump marks a significant setback to global efforts to curb climate change. As the second-biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that are cooking the planet, the US move to ditch the 2015 accord will send a signal to waverers among the remaining 194 signatory nations that they too no longer need to abide by their pollution reduction pledges. Reactions to the prospect of a US withdrawal from the Paris pact to keep global warming to between 1.5 and 2 degrees compared with pre-industrial levels ranged from the Sierra Club calling it a "historic mistake", while free market think tank, The Heritage Foundation, said it would show Trump's "resolute leadership" and save the US economy trillions of dollars. For now both Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg, the environment and energy minister, are showing no inclination to weaken Australia's commitment to cut 2005 level emissions 26-28 per cent by 2030, as promised in Paris. Bird-sized drones that can hover over a battlefield feeding vital intelligence will become the norm for Australian soldiers going into combat under a $100 million upgrade. The Army will buy a fleet of the 1.3-kilogram drones, which have a wingspan of less than one metre and can fit into a backpack disassembled. They can be easily put together and flown ahead of a team of soldiers to send back colour and infrared images, looking over hilltops and other obstacles. Australian Army soldier Corporal Doug Coombs prepares to launch a Wasp AE drone. Credit:Defence Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne and Defence Minister Marise Payne will announce the $101 million purchase on Thursday, continuing a military trend in which machines and software play an ever greater role on the battlefield. Indigenous people are largely rejecting such minimalist change, instead urging substantive action. Advocates of a First Nations Voice contend it is the form of recognition they want. Advocates for significant change argue it is the only thing Aboriginal people support and the only thing worth doing. Others contend that any change should be minimal if it is to gain the support of the Australian public. The constitution is the foundation document that underpins all laws made by the Australian government. What would a First Nations Voice look like? The exact form of the proposed Indigenous representative body is still to be decided. It would likely sit separate to the Parliament and not have veto powers over legislation, but offer advice to governments. Cape York leader Noel Pearson has suggested it could be made up of delegates elected from tribal groups across the country. He favours broad language in the constitution enshrining such a body but leaving the details to the Parliament. University of New South Wales law professor and Cobble Cobble woman Megan Davis cites international examples to argue structural representation of Indigenous people results in better long-term outcomes in health, education and employment. What is a treaty? Treaties are legal agreements between Indigenous groups and governments that can formally recognise sovereignty over land, outline reparations and settlements, establish rules about coexistence and formalise the provision of services like education and health. An agreement signed between the Western Australian government and the 30,000-strong Noongar people is considered by many to be a treaty. The Victorian and South Australian state governments are in the process of striking treaties with Aboriginal groups. Australia is the only Commonwealth country that does not have a treaty with its Indigenous citizens. It's important to note that treaties and constitutional recognition can co-exist. Some experts have actually observed that constitutional change is required for treaties to be viable. What would a Makarrata Commission do? "Makarrata" is a Yolngu word that means the coming together after a struggle, facing up to past wrongs and committing to peaceful relations. In overseeing treaties between Aboriginal people and government, a Makarrata Commission would seek to perform the role of a truth and reconciliation commission. These have been conducted in South Africa and Canada as part of healing processes. What other proposals do people want addressed in a referendum? Removing or amending the race power contained in section 51 of the constitution, which empowers the government to make policy for a specific racial group. Experts have noted that the wording allows this power to be used to the detriment of a group Removing a power that allow governments to disqualify people from voting based on their race The addition of a prohibition against racial discrimination (though this did not win support at Uluru because it would be staunchly opposed by constitutional conservatives and free speech advocates). What is the process from here? A full report will now be finalised by the nonpartisan Referendum Council advisory group and delivered to the Parliament, which will then decide how to proceed. This will be handed over on June 30, after which the council will be dissolved. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have maintained a bipartisan approach, although Mr Shorten has indicated more openness to bold change, including a treaty. Mr Turnbull has expressed caution, pointing to the low success rate for referendums. This council's report will take into account a 2011 expert panel report, 2015 findings from a bipartisan parliamentary committee and the outcomes of the Uluru convention. What did the 1967 referendum achieve? Australia recently marked the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which removed two provisions in the constitution: one that prevented Aboriginal people from being counted in the Australian population; the other that excluded Aboriginal people from the Commonwealth's power to make special laws for the people of any race. While Washington freaked out over the Congressional Budget Offices verdict on the American Health Care Act (aka Trumpcare) and how cutting back health insurance would cost countless lives, the more interesting accounting came out of California. The dream of implementing single-payer health care across the Golden State came with a gobsmacking annual price tag: $400 billion, more than twice Californias annual budget. So maybe this is a good opportunity to look for another homegrown solution to the problem of health care. Loma Linda, Calif., has one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Residents there are 10 times more likely to live to 100 than typical Americans. The average male in Loma Linda lives to 89, the average woman to 91 both about 10 years longer than the national average. Before you make like Ponce de Leon and head there to find the Fountain of Youth, let me tell you theres nothing in the water. Loma Linda is home to a thriving population of Seventh-day Adventists who place great stock in treating their bodies like temples. They dont smoke, drink alcohol or eat meat, and they get lots of exercise. So maybe we should make former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg czar, proscribe meat, tobacco and booze, and require North Korea-style calisthenics every morning before eating a mandatory breakfast of wholesome grains and raw vegetables. No, we shouldnt. But we can learn something from the Loma Linda residents. Whenever the subject of health care comes up, advocates for more government involvement insist that Americas comparatively low life expectancy is a searing indictment of our dysfunctional insurance system. Sen. Bernie Sanders recently seized on Donald Trumps statement that the Australians have a better insurance system by noting that Australians live longer, which is true. They live, on average, about three years longer than Americans. But the gold standard of social organization for Sanders isnt Australia. Its Denmark. He often waxes lyrical about how Denmark has a different and better definition of freedom that, naturally, involves a cradle-to-grave socialist welfare state. Obviously, theres a lot to debate there, but how does Denmarks supposedly more enlightened approach translate in terms of life expectancy? The Danes live about a year and a half longer, on average, than Americans or not quite as long as Australians. And that on average conceals more than it reveals. A recent study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation measured life expectancy by county across the United States. In 2014, a child born in Summit County, Colo., could be expected to live 86.83 years. The life expectancy of a child born in Ogala Lakota County in South Dakota, seat of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, is nearly 20 years shorter. Something tells me these discrepancies have much more to do with lifestyle than insurance. Indeed, the chief reason American life expectancy lags slightly behind other developed countries has nothing to do with health care whatsoever. When the World Health Organization ranked America 19th out of 29 in life expectancy, Scott W. Atlas of the Hoover Institution pointed out that if you removed fatal car crashes and murders, the U.S. suddenly had the worlds best life expectancy numbers. I cant see how adopting Danish health care would affect driving habits or homicide rates. Its also far from clear that government-provided health care does much to improve health generally. The Pine Ridge Lakota Indians already have it in the form of the Indian Health Service. Of course, the IHS, like the Veterans Health Administration, has real problems. But a huge study of Medicaid expansion in Oregon found that, with the exception of depression diagnoses, increased health insurance yielded no significant improvement in health. In 2016, when millions received coverage under Obamacare, American life expectancy went down for the first time in over 20 years. Im not suggesting a causal relationship: Obamacare didnt kill anyone. If it saved individuals lives here and there, thats great. Still, those numbers vanish in the national data as anecdotes, not significant trends. There are still good reasons to reform health care. But a little humility about what government can do, and the stakes involved, might be in order. Nationals senator John Williams has hit out at dysfunction in the Liberal Party. Credit:Andrew Meares "You would need to put it on a whiteboard to explain how the settlement occurred," he said. On Tuesday, Mr Jordan had expressed his irritation that Hogan and Mr Robinson had been falsely claiming that Hogan had come out on top in his battle with the ATO. Paul Hogan, who shot to fame in Crocodile Dundee, says the Tax Office investigation damaged his career. The Crocodile Dundee star and his then collaborator John Cornell were the most high-profile targets of Project Wickenby, a joint ATO and ACC probe into money laundering and tax evasion using overseas accounts The ATO initially pursued the duo for unpaid tax in excess of $150 million, claiming they had evaded tax by channelling the massive profits from the Crocodile Dundee franchise through a series of overseas tax havens. In 2012, after five years of battling through the courts, Hogan and Cornell reached a confidential settlement with the ATO. In Tuesday's estimates hearing, Mr Jordan said, "Because someone doesn't go to court and get formally charged doesn't mean - I am talking in a general sense - they haven't paid a substantial amount of tax to settle the matter." Mr Jordan went on to suggest that "amounts in the tens of millions" were paid to settle some matters. He said "it takes a lot to prove criminal intent" and that, from the ATO's point of view, it was often more cost-effective to accept a payment. Senator Williams quipped, "I read that as the people we are talking about [Hogan and Cornell] paid tens of millions of dollars to the ATO to settle the issue. I can take that with confidence can I?" The commissioner replied, "I can't talk about specific issues but, yes, if we get what we think is the tax due to us with penalties and interest, then yes we'll settle it." Several hours later, Hogan launched a scathing attack on Senator Williams and Mr Jordan. "The two boofheads, the two absolute boofheads, talking to each other about stuff they don't know, subtly suggesting that I've paid my way out of the criminal situation," Hogan told Ross Greenwood on radio 2GB. "I mean they couldn't have made it any more subtle, could they? "The boofhead from the tax department said, 'You know, we could go after people' - inferring me I guess - 'criminally, but that could take four or five years, so if we've got the money, we rightly let it go.' "Excuse me? They looked up my quoit for five years. They involved the IRS, the Australian Tax Office, the Chancellor of the Exchequer or whatever they call it in England, and they found nothing. They found that I had done nothing. So I didn't pay them off, and I certainly didn't pay them tens of millions so they would just let me go without sending me to jail. "I would have been quite happy to go to court, to show the incompetence of the whole investigation, which has smeared me around the world. And now they've brought it up again, so I should have sued them in the first place." Mr Robinson said the ACC had written to him in November 2010, saying: "The ACC has come to the view that continuing with this criminal investigation of Mr Hogan is no longer justified on the material presently available to the ACC." The letter also said that the ACC had concluded "that there are insufficient prospects of securing convictions to justify continuing with its criminal investigation at this time." End of the day. What happened? Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin has warned of an "exponential rise" in terrorist activity in Australia in the past two years; has warned of an in the past two years; this came as the head of ASIO , Duncan Lewis , made a rare appearance to talk about whether this is a link between terrorists and refugees ; , , made a rare appearance to talk about whether this is a link between and ; this was foisted on him by One Nation ; ; speaking of One Nation - Pauline Hanson backed away from a threat not to vote on government legislation until the ABC's funding was cut; and - backed away from a threat not to vote on government legislation until the ABC's funding was cut; and question time debated millionaires vs middle Australia. My thanks to Alex Ellinghausen and Andrew Meares for their excellent work and to you for reading and commenting. You can follow me on Facebook. Alex, Andrew and I will be back in the morning. Until then, goodnight. London: Robert De Niro has said that if the US was a movie it would now be a "tragic, dumb-ass comedy". The two-time Oscar-winning actor and vocal Donald Trump critic said his nation had descended to this point having been an "inspiring, uplifting drama" just four years ago. De Niro, 73, was welcomed with applause and laughter as he made the remarks in a speech to graduating students at Brown University in the New England state of Rhode Island. "The country has gone crazy. In movie terms, when you started school the country was an inspiring, uplifting drama," he said on Sunday. Not every topic is up for debate. Just because there are vehement disagreements on certain issues, it does not automatically follow that each opposing viewpoint is equally valid, nor that the job of the journalist is to never take sides. In 2011, for instance, the BBC revamped its science coverage after an independent report, Balance As Bias, found the media giant was prejudicing its own coverage by giving undue weight to fringe viewpoints on issues such as climate change, vaccines and GM crops. By putting fringe views on equal par with scientific fact, just for the sake of debate, the media was creating bias in the form of false balance. To put it another way, when journalists insist on a morally neutral "we don't know what the truth is stance" on controversial issues, they risk legitimising viewpoints that simply lack credibility and can often be dangerous. What regular people think about climate change is irrelevant given that qualified scientists overwhelmingly accept its reality and that it is already happening. We may all have the right to an opinion but that does not make our opinion right or even worthy of a place in a debate Similarly, to question the existence of male privilege is also a form of balance as bias because it is an indisputable fact that women remain at obvious disadvantage. Indeed, according to the World Economic Forum, at current rates of progress, the gender gap will not be eliminated until 2095. It is against this backdrop of profound gender inequality that Hack is asking whether male privilege is "bullshit." A multiple-choice survey on its website (now closed) even asked Triple J listeners "what they thought of feminists", with the options either "They make some good points" or "They hate men." In other words, the usual false man-hater stereotype. This was made worse by the inclusion of an identical question on men's rights activists, with the second option changed to "they hate women". This places MRAs and feminists on an equal footing, presenting them as opposing but essentially the same. But these are not movements with anything approaching similar motivations or goals. One wants to elevate women by levelling the playing field, the other wants a return to the "good old days" of unquestioned male power. By framing this as a question that is still up for debate, Hack is tricking its audience into accepting the claims of MRAs, based not on statistical data, research, theoretical framework, or history which is what feminism bases its own claims on but on the opinions of MRAs and anonymous respondents. Lauren Krulik, a 51-year-old homemaker in Northport, New York, avoided the word "widow" altogether. She and her husband had been living apart for three years and each was in a new committed relationship when he died. "I didn't feel like I was his wife," she said. "So why would I feel like I was his widow?" These partial widows, or whatever they decide to call themselves, often end up creating their own protocol for coping with their loss. At the funeral for my husband, my kids and I grieved with his family, with whom I'm still close, and his girlfriend and I each gave a eulogy. Next to Krulik at her husband's funeral, along with her kids and his family, was her boyfriend of two years, who helped handle the arrangements. She no longer felt married; but not everyone saw it that way, including the rabbi. "He insisted that I was the wife, and that was the end of that," Krulik said. She had to persuade him to mention her husband's girlfriend in his eulogy. Sometimes a separation pulls families apart. A week after Bart's husband's death, his sister, with whom she'd been close, said that as far as they were concerned, Bart and her husband were already divorced, so she was no longer part of their family. "I not only lost him, but suddenly I lost his whole family, too," Bart said. When Poland's husband died, she and her in-laws drew close and put aside the separation. But because her husband had spread nasty rumours about her during their split, some people refused to shake her hand or speak with her at his funeral last year. "I became the villain," she said. Her father-in-law came to her defence, but she said that even today some of those friendships have not been repaired. Sometimes there are uncomfortable emotions, such as a sense of relief, especially if the estranged spouse suffered from mental illness or substance abuse. But it doesn't mean you don't mourn the person. "The hardest part is trying to be appropriate and authentic at the same time," said Pam Gillette, 56, a former Florida school principal. Because of her husband's betrayals and addiction, she moved away with her kids to Greensboro, North Carolina; he died the following year. "You don't want to admit that you miss the person who hurt you so badly." University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence has lashed out at St Paul's College for its "deep contempt for women" after its warden responded to a sexist Facebook post with a warning to students about the impact of such incidents on their CVs. The incident began with a post on the college's Facebook page that compared women to "harpooned whales" and signed off with "Happy slaying". The vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney, Michael Spence. St Paul's warden Ivan Head responded to the message with his own post on the college's Facebook page on Tuesday night. His post warned students that "some things may resurface just when you need your best CV to work for you", before adding: "But the primary message driving this has to be 'respect for women: now-always.' " Australian women have overtaken their daughters when it comes to risky drinking, with more women in their 50s exceeding the lifetime risk guidelines for alcohol consumption than those aged 18 to 24 for the first time. The most comprehensive snapshot of national vice reveals that while younger people are becoming more abstemious when it comes to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, their parents and grandparents are taking their habits with them into older age. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey, released on Thursday, provides cross-sectional data on Australians' drug use every three years and is used to inform government policy. It was based on the responses of 24,000 people in the last half of 2016. Indian migrants are being warned about an elaborate phone scam in which perpetrators call from what appears to be a legitimate federal government phone number. Scammers pretending to be from the foreign affairs and immigration departments are targeting migrants who recently returned to Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said. The ACCC is warning migrants returning home to Australia about a new phone scam. Victims are being told that they gave false information on their visa or departure documents when they returned home and must hand themselves into police or pay a $1000 fine via Western Union wire transfer to avoid being deported. The scam appears to be capitalising on unease over changes to citizenship laws and the overhaul of the controversial 457 visa program. Labor has warned a Coalition move to start a parliamentary inquiry into decentralising the public service will be an exercise in political spin. The government is expected to move for a select committee inquiry looking into decentralisation that would source its members from the House of Representatives, where it has a majority. Barnaby Joyce leads the Nationals, who have pushed for decentralising public service agencies. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Opposition regional spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon says the probe would be an exercise in spin for the government, which has used a Senate inquiry into the troubled relocation of the pesticides authority to encourage regions to show their support for decentralisation. Comment was sought from the office of Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, who has spearheaded the decentralisation push. The leaflet urging the strike action which was posted on Facebook. In a letter this week to John-Paul Romano's father, Mr Lawler said the year 12 student was being suspended for "bringing the college into disrepute". The letter did not outline what the teenager was alleged to have done. The Education Act does not include inciting "disrepute" as a reason to suspend a student at a non-government school. The suspension came just days after John-Paul created a Facebook page called St Edmund's College Canberra Alumni Association and urged students to strike this Friday over changes to the school uniform, crest and, potentially, song. There have been concerns those cosmetic changes strike at the heart of the history of the school which opened in 1954 and are symptomatic of the lack of consultation. "We were trying to start a conversation," the 17-year-old said. "I believe a lot of people, staff and students, don't want to have that conversation because of the threat of the management. "The protest wasn't to be just a physical one. You could have walked out of class if you wanted. But it was just about making your voice and your opinion known." A college leader, house leader and SRC rep, John-Paul said he was shocked to be suspended. "I was very surprised, for such a minor thing," he said. "There are students who have physically assaulted other people and don't get suspended." John-Paul said in explaining the suspension, Mr Lawler had said his presence at the school would be too dangerous. "I'm not sure why it's dangerous. I haven't assaulted or threatened anyone," he said. John-Paul said he believed the school wanted him kept clear of a meeting this week of principals from the Edmund Rice Education Australia network. He was due to serve canapes to the principals at a function on Wednesday night as part of an assessment for his hospitality studies. "I believe part of the suspension was that the principals are at the school this week," he said. When asked to respond to those claims, Mr Lawler said student matters were "always treated confidentially". He denied that students who had committed assaults were not suspended. Mr Lawler was also asked if John-Paul was being shut down for expressing an opinion contrary to the school management. "At St Edmund's all students are encouraged to express their opinions and these opinions are valued by members of the staff and by me," Mr Lawler said. "The college has avenues that students can follow to make comment, and comment needs to be in respectful, appropriate and in keeping with the ethos of the college and the law." Fellow Year 12 students of John-Paul, including Jeremy Colbertaldo, said they had also been involved in planning the protest action, but had not been suspended. "Our main prerogative was to create a platform where people felt comfortable they could speak out on what they believe in," Jeremy, 17 said. John-Paul said he had a meeting with Mr Lawler on Friday to discuss the suspension. It was revealed earlier this year that the college was changing its crest. The school uniform was also changed. Some school insiders who spoke to The Canberra Times said those changes were tinkering at the edges and the real focus should be on attracting students and improving the school's academic record. Others believed the changes confirmed poor consultation and were central to the erosion of school pride. John-Paul said he believed there were rumblings about changing the school song as it was "no longer relevant". "For me and Jeremy, both of our fathers attended the school. There's a big sense of Eddies pride," John-Paul said. "To change the logo and to change the uniform are big things. This tie I'm wearing today is the same tie my father wore when he went to college and that meant a lot to me on my first day, when I was wearing the same uniform as my father." Several people raised concerns about falling enrolments and the departure of long-term staff. Mr Lawler would not going into specifics of how student numbers were going. "Like all fee-charging schools, we face challenges with enrolment numbers. There are a number of factors which influence parental choice including shifting demographics, financial impost, and increased competition from other schools," he said. As to the academic record, Mr Lawler said: "We are a comprehensive non-selective school, which prides itself on an inclusive enrolment of students of all abilities. Some of our students do exceptionally well, and we are working with all students to maximise their learning opportunities and potential". Mr Lawler also denied 30 staff had left last year. "Staff changes in a large school can fluctuate for various reasons each year. For example, last year some teachers retired, some went to promotional positions, some moved for family reasons and some were on short-term contracts that ended," he said. Mr Lawler maintained parents were consulted extensively about the uniform changes. "The college always consults about key decisions on a regular basis. Sometimes this is internal and sometimes includes the broader community. We will shortly be releasing our new strategic plan which is based on broad consultation across the school community, including staff, students, parents and others such as the college board," he said. Loading Others in the school community disagreed, saying alternative views to management's were not welcome. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 83F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Gladys Berejiklian has rejected an insurance industry claim that her decision to defer introduction of a new fire and emergency services levy means premiums will need to rise, saying policyholders should not pay "a single dollar more". Furious insurers have warned the decision to defer indefinitely the planned introduction of the Fire and Emergency Services Levy from July 1 "will increase premiums for policyholders" as it will cost them tens of millions of dollars. But on Wednesday, the Premier said that "policyholders won't be paying a single dollar more than they would have done and we have an insurance monitor to make sure that will happen". The change would have shifted the way fire and emergency services are funded in NSW from a tax on insurance companies passed onto policyholders to a tax on most property holders. Philip Ng and his brother Robert are the richest Singaporeans with a combined worth of $10.8 billion. Far East, the largest property developer in Singapore and also linked to Hong Kong's Sino Group, is also planning outdoor, piazza-style dining in Martin Place parallel to the Cenotaph, according to plans seen by Fairfax, as part of a larger revival of the Martin Place precinct. A development application before the City of Sydney from the existing cafe operator shows the RSL has been engaged in talks concerning the outdoor dining site near the sensitive memorial for several years. Robert Ng. Credit:Bloomberg The Ng brothers, whose family hails from China and have links to Hong Kong, are the richest Singaporeans with a combined worth estimated at $US10.8 billion. A story in The Australian in early May said Australia Post planned to sell the GPO, with the proceeds to be used to free up capital to invest in staff and services. Australia Post had announced a public process last year that it planned to sell all seven state GPOs into a trust structure that would see it maintain a 40 per cent stake in the buildings. The sale was pulled. The Sydney GPO has now been sold subject to final approval as a private deal 100 per cent into foreign hands. Australia Post has informed relevant ministers, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. The sale was approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board last week and is still being considered by Commonwealth Heritage. In a statement to Fairfax Media, Australia Post confirmed the sale of the building, subject to regulatory approval. It would not publicly identify the buyer. Fairfax Media understands Far East is the buyer Australia Post would not say who advised on the sale of the building, noting it was a direct private sale, and said it was not able to disclose more information about the sale due to confidentiality provisions. The GPO purchase would complete Far East's ownership of the GPO precinct, after buying the adjoining Westin Hotel in 2015 for $445 million. At the time of that purchase, Far East also gained control of two leases struck in the 1990s covering the GPO site - one for the mezzanine, ground and lower ground floor retail areas, another for four upper floors of conference and meeting areas. Completing the purchase of the GPO would crystallise a financial windfall by securing control over the building and its leases. Currently, Far East pays Australia Post a minimum $6.5 million each year for the retail-related lease, and a nominal $1 for the upstairs lease. Two property industry experts spoken to by Fairfax Media said it is possible to calculate from the mooted sale price of $150 million how much each of the leases contributed to the total sale price based on their rent on the leases that run for 99 years. One noted the sale price appeared fair, adding that buying freehold over a property it held leases over had led to a pricing anomaly. The retail lease generating $6.5 million a year in rent represents more than $149,999,000 of the sale price, they said. The upper floor lease, generating just $1 a year in rent, represents the sale of four floors of prime CBD real estate for approximately $23. Australia Post declined to respond to the analysis. In a statement, Australia Post said: "Crucially, the entire building remains heritage protected an important factor when considering the sale and the existing post office will continue to operate under a lease that remains in place until 2096. The sale has been approved by the FIRB and is pending approval from Commonwealth Heritage. Australia Post will follow all relevant state and federal laws relating to this proposed sale. "This transaction will free up valuable capital to invest in our people and in our services to the community, without any impact on the continued operation of and heritage protections covering the Sydney GPO site." Australia Post CEO Ahmed Fahour, who was heavily criticised in February by the public and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for his $6 million pay packet, resigned in February and will leave the organisation in July. The deal was struck in March. Australia Post said Mr Fahour would not benefit from the sale, including from bonuses. It is understood the sale is not due to be completed until the new financial year. Under the current lease, Australia Post has all control over heritage aspects of the site and control would be returned in 2096. Asked about the Far East plans sighted by Fairfax Media, Ms Lay See Shaw, chief operating officer of Far East Organization's Australian operations, said in a statement: "While the owner is exploring various concepts to enhance the Sydney GPO, no firm proposals or implementation timelines have been set. The owner will be guided by all relevant Federal and NSW Heritage laws and regulations if any development concepts were to be proposed for the building in the future." Bus passengers across large parts of Sydney are travelling for free after drivers and their union declared Thursday a "fare-free day". In the latest escalation of an industrial battle between the Rail, Tram & Bus Union and NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance, the drivers' union initiated the fare-free day to draw attention to the impending "franchising" of buses in the inner west region. The battle between Transport Minister Andrew Constance and Sydney bus drivers has escalated. Credit:Peter Rae The decision to allow passengers to travel for free is also affecting the provision of real-time transport information to bus passengers. If drivers turn off Opal ticketing machines, transport information apps are denied the location and running times of bus services. It started with a neighbourhood spat over dogs and unflattering Facebook posts. Now a Sydney judge has alerted the Police Commissioner to "rising tensions" on Scotland Island in the city's north and warned the dispute has "escalated out of all proportion". Nader Mohareb is locked in a legal feud with his neighbours Matthew and Annette Palmer. Credit:Facebook In a bid to quell discord on the Pittwater island about 30 kilometres north of Sydney, home to a population of roughly 1000, District Court Judge Judith Gibson suggested the police might be able to use their "skill and expertise to defuse any potential future difficulties". Judge Gibson is just one of the city's judges who has been asked to rule on long-running legal feuds between Nader Mohareb and his neighbours Matthew and Annette Palmer, among others. Women who have breastfed at least one child have a lower risk of developing uterine cancer, a global study has found. Uterine cancer, also known as endometrial cancer, is the fifth most common cancer in Australian women. The study found that breastfeeding for more than six months reduced the chance of uterine cancer by 11 per cent. Credit:Peter Braig The study, led by the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, examined data from more than 26,000 women with at least one child. Nearly 9000 of those women are living with uterine cancer. A real estate agent working to sell a large estate in Brisbane's north more than 130 years ago was so confident he could sell every block of land that he pledged to donate money to local charities if he failed to do so. This was just one of many quirky sides to the south-east Queensland property market during the 19th and 20th centuries. The Mount Coolum Estate on the Sunshine Coast, advertised in 1923. Credit:State Library of Queensland An insight into historical suburb sales pitches has been provided by the archive of the State Library of Queensland, which has digitised dozens of old advertising posters that proved to be both colourful and creative. Starting in Brisbane's coastal suburb of Sandgate, a real estate agent named David Love was working on the sale of the Nashville Estate via auction in 1882. That's better than working a few days from home each week. Being out of sight limits your potential for plum jobs, promotions and pay rises. Or worse, puts a redundancy target on your back because the boss thinks you are less committed. Occupational health and safety issues are a concern if you are working from an armchair at home. Credit:iStock Photos Perhaps a manager or colleague sends a few emails or you attend a dial-in meeting. Or you send an email or two to prove you are still alive, productive and part of the team. Does your employer keep their distance when you work a day from home? Welcome to the world of the remote worker, a place where the benefits of being able to work from home for long periods inevitably involves a trade-off with one's career prospects. Managing remote workers is a bigger issue than realised. Some offshore survey respondents said more than half of their company's workforce could work remotely by 2020, for at least part of the week. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Virtual-reality technologies will help remote workers better connect with their employer and immerse themselves in the organisation. Corporate cost-cutting and a continued push for workplace flexibility will drive sharply higher rates of home-based work among office employees. Millions of Australians already work remotely each day without realising it when they check work emails to and from work, take work calls or catch up on job tasks at home. Most white-collar workers I know occasionally or regularly work a day from home each month, unless their occupation requires them to be in the office. Some work from home a day every week and are considering increasing it to two, such are the personal benefits. More than 100 hectares of prime Melbourne land that Treasurer Scott Morrison touted in the federal budget as an affordable housing solution will not be released for sale for years. And a Senate budget hearing this week investigating the sale of defence land on the Maribyrnong River has revealed the government could sell much of the highly toxic property without decontaminating it first. The dumped plans for the Maribyrnong Defence Site, produced by the Victorian government with the Defence Department in 2009. Credit:Victorian government For more than a decade, the Defence Department had worked with the Victorian government on plans to develop 3000 homes on the Maribyrnong Defence Site, 127 hectares of land in a stunning location on the Maribyrnong River. But on Monday night, the deputy secretary of Defence's property division said the federal government had recently rejected the Andrews government's "last and final offer" to buy the land. The offer was made by state agency Development Victoria late last year. The following was released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) New York, May 30, 2017--Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release freelance journalist Afgan Mukhtarli and allow him to return to neighboring Georgia, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Mukhtarli, whose wife reported him missing from their home in Tbilisi, Georgia, last night, is being held at a detention center in Baku, Azerbaijan, regional and local media reported. Mukhtarli, who has contributed to the Berlin-based independent news outlet Meydan TV and the London-based Institute of War and Peace Reporting, fled to Georgia from Azerbaijan in 2014 after receiving threats over his investigative reporting on corruption in the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. Before he disappeared, Mukhtarli was investigating the assets of Azerbaijan's first family in Georgia, according to his colleague and independent investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova. Leyla Mustafayeva told journalists in Tbilisi today that her husband, Mukhtarli, called her at around 7 p.m. last night to say he was on his way home from meeting colleagues in the Georgian capital, but never arrived. She said she reported him missing to the Georgian police. The independent Azeri news agency Turan later reported that the Azerbaijani border service department detained Mukhtarli. The journalist's lawyer, Elchin Sadygov, told CPJ that Mukhtarli was abducted from Tbilisi and forcefully brought to Azerbaijan. "He was beaten, has a broken nose, bruises all over his head and right eye, his rib may be broken," said Sadygov, who visited Mukhtarli in the detention center. The journalist is charged with illegally crossing the border and contraband, according to Sadygov, who said that Mukhtarli told him that the police planted 10,000 ($11,200) in his pocket while he was unconscious. Georgia's Interior Ministry said it is investigating the alleged unlawful imprisonment of Mukhtarli, according to reports. CPJ was unable to determine the journalist's legal status in Georgia. "Georgian authorities should demand that Azerbaijan immediately release Afgan Mukhtarli and allow him to return to Tiblisi," said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. "Azerbaijan's crackdown on independent reporting has forced many journalists into exile. Forcefully returning them to Azerbaijan is a further sign of the country's hostile behavior to the press." Mukhtarli's wife said at the press conference that the journalist had been surveilled in recent weeks but did not specify who she suspected was behind it. In a May 18 interview with independent online news outlet JAMnews, Mukhtarli said he and his wife, who is a journalist and an activist, were both under surveillance. "They openly follow us and then leave the photos of what [we] were doing during the day at [our] doorstep," he said. Mukhtarli also said in the report about Azeri exiles that Georgian authorities obstructed the work of exiled Azerbaijani activists and journalists, including his wife, by not extending residence permits. Some Azeri activists were denied political asylum in Georgia, according to the JAMnews report. Mukhtarli and Mustafayeva were criticized along with several other exiled Azeri activists in a May 4, 2017 article published on Haqqin, a pro-government Azerbaijani news website that portrayed Tbilisi as a nest of anti-Azerbaijani subversion. Two other activists mentioned in the article, Farman Jeyranli and Gozal Bayramli, were arrested by authorities in Georgia on May 23 and May 25, respectively, according to media reports. Bayramli is in detention in Azerbaijan on charges of contraband, Sadygov said. CPJ was unable to determine the status of Jeyranli. Photo: Afgan Mukhtarli. Meydan TV Thousands of commuters were stranded in the cold on Wednesday night after a truck hit boom gates in Melbourne's inner-west, knocking out services on the Werribee and Williamstown lines. Peak-hour services were suspended between Footscray and Newport after a truck hit level-crossing equipment in Spotswood just after 6pm. A Metro Trains spokesman said replacement buses took "some time" to arrive, but were in operation by 6.30pm. Thousands of commuters waited for buses in the 12-degree evening drizzle. WA Police spokeswoman Susan Usher said officers found numerous rooms of the property had been converted to grow hydroponic cannabis. The home is believed to be opposite Christian school, Living Waters Lutheran College. Police uncovered more than 200 plants on the property. Credit:Susan Usher Rockingham Detectives and Rockingham police officers executed a search warrant at the home on Currie Street on Wednesday. A police drug bust has uncovered more than 200 cannabis plants concealed inside a Warnbro residential property. No one was inside the property at the time of the search and no charges have been laid. The search followed information received from the local Warnbro community. A similar operation was also uncovered in March when police seized more than 30kg of cannabis and more than 130 cannabis plants following a raid in Wangara. Loading An alleged Vietnamese crime syndicate was also exposed in February when police conducted a string of raids across Perth's south east and uncovered more than $6 million of hydroponic cannabis. Accused "Evil 8" pedophile Alfred John Impicciatore has appeared in a Perth court nine days after he failed to show up to the start of his trial and fled to NSW. The 47-year-old, who has repeatedly not shown up or been late for court, looked slightly different. He had grown a beard and moustache and was wearing a plain flannel shirt and pants covered in paint. Alfred John Impicciatore, 46, has pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges. Credit:LinkedIn His WA District Court trial before a jury on May 22 had to be abandoned when he failed to show up on charges of sexually abusing a young girl who was pimped out to men for sex by her father. Police issued a warrant for Impicciatore's arrest and public appeal for help to find him and announced last Friday that he had been arrested at Merriwa in the Hunter region of NSW. A Bunbury man has been acquitted of wilfully burning down a house in an ice-fuelled rampage - despite admitting to setting the rental on fire. Anthony Paul Hume, 23, told the WA Supreme Court on the day he caused the fire he had taken methamphetamine and started to think that the house was evil and voices told him to use smoke to chase the demons from the premises. Arson squad officers traveled from Perth that afternoon to investigate whether the fire was suspicious. Credit:Bunbury Mail In the two-day trial which had started on Monday Mr Hume said he had been invited to stay at the rental for four days when he was ordered to visit Bunbury police station as a condition of his bail and other charges on July 13, 2016. He said upon returning to the house on Bickerton Place in East Bunbury about 11am he felt down and depressed. Washington: As the high-powered congressional probes into Russian meddling in the 2016 election gather steam, who is in power and who is out has become key to the response of those connected to US President Donald Trump now and during his campaign. Those who have been cast out are starting to play ball former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has agreed to co-operate, and last week turned over more than 300 pages of documents to the House and Senate intelligence committees. Disgraced and sacked national security adviser Michael Flynn, who survived for just a few weeks before he was revealed to have lied about his Russian connections, is pleading the Fifth Amendment, to protect himself from self-incrimination, and after first refusing to produce documents, he caved on Tuesday, with a promise to produce some papers in the coming week. But proximity to the Oval Office seems to offer a sense of security. Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has rejected a request to provide documents to Congress. Cairo: When Khalid Al Harbiya arrived at the Neurosurgery Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, none of the doctors had informed him his 12-year-old daughter Zynab had died. He saw her lifeless body sprawled in the morgue after she was killed in a bombing by Islamic State terrorists who simultaneously attacked other parts of Iraq killing at least 35 and injuring more than 100 people. "I started banging on my head when I saw. It was so traumatic" he told Fairfax Media the day after burying her. "May God avenge us from Daesh," he said using the pejorative term used commonly in Arabic for IS. Washington: Former national security adviser Michael Flynn will hand over documents and records to the Senate Intelligence Committee in response to a set of subpoenas for information from his businesses and personal files related to the committee's probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a person close to Flynn. Lawyers for Flynn's team sent the committee a written response Tuesday indicating that Flynn would begin providing records in response to subpoenas by June 6, the deadline to start turning over such information. Flynn was required to indicate by Tuesday whether he intended to comply with the records request. The subpoenas were issued for two companies Flynn owns, Flynn Intel Group Inc. and Flynn Intel Group LLC. The committee also reissued a third subpoena for personal records, the focus of which was narrowed after Flynn rejected the committee's initial demand for personal records relating to his contacts with Russian authorities, claiming it was too broad and would jeopardise his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. After Flynn's lawyers rejected the committee's initial subpoena for personal records detailing any and all communications Flynn had with Russian officials, committee leaders turned to his businesses, arguing, in the words of vice chairman Mark Warner that "a business does not have the right to take the Fifth." Bangkok: A new video has emerged of Myanmar soldiers kicking, beating and threatening to kill six ethnic villagers as they were handcuffed on the ground. The footage posted on Facebook also shows a soldier holding a machete to a villager's throat. "I will cut your throat and kill you," he says. The Pentagon released video footage on Wednesday showing the exact moment a US "kill vehicle" intercepted and destroyed a mock intercontinental ballistic missile as it flew outside the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The target, designed to simulate what might be launched by North Korea or Iran, looks to have been completely destroyed, according to Vice Admiral Jim Syring, head of the US Missile Defence Agency on Wednesday. Spectators watch an interceptor missile launch from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit:AP Syring told reporters that his agency will spend the next month analysing the data from the $US244 million test, including locating the exact spot where the kill vehicle impacted the mock ballistic missile. "All our systems performed exactly as designed," he said, adding that the test was "very realistic." PHILIPSBURG:---- The Central Committee will meet in a session on June 1, 2017. The Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, who is the Shareholder Representative of GEBE, as well as the Management Board of NV GEBE will be present. The Central Committee meeting was requested by Members of Parliament, F.A. Meyers, T.E. Heyliger, S.M. Bijlani, T.E. Leonard, and C.M.M. Connor. This is a continuation of the meeting which started on May 15, 2017, with a continuation on, May 24, 2017. The continuation meeting has been set for Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 14.00 hrs in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda point is: Deliberation on the current state of affairs of GEBE. Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.sx and via www.sxmparliament.org. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee will meet in a session on June 1, 2017. Representatives of the Sint Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform will be present. This Central Committee meeting is a continuation of the meeting held on March 9, 2017. The continuation meeting has been set for Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 09.00 am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda points are: 1. Discussion with the Sint Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform on discrimination and human rights violations of the persons of Caribbean origin in the Kingdom of the Netherlands 2. Draft Code of Conduct Members of Parliament Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.sx and via www.sxmparliament.org. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee will meet in a session on May 31, 2017. Representatives of the Sint Maarten Employers Union will be present. The Central Committee meeting has been set for Wednesday, May 31, 2, 17 at 11.00 hrs in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda points are: 1. Introduction of the Board of the Sint Maarten Employers Union to Parliament 2. Approval composition delegation and provisions Members of Parliament to participate in extraordinary meeting of Committee of Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Communication of Parlatino from June 15-16, 2017 Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.sx and via www.sxmparliament.org. PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher on Wednesday said that St. Maarten will have a presence at three very important events starting June 1. The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, supported by Cabinet members, will be present at three upcoming marketing and tourism forums to continue its annual efforts to promote St. Maarten but also keep up to date with worldwide and regional trends in the hospitality sector. The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association will be holding two of its major annual events in Miami, both the Taste of the Caribbean culinary festival and competition and the Caribbean Hotel Industry Exchange Forum, commonly known as the CHIEF Conference. The event runs from June 1 to 4. CHIEF brings together the right information, the right people at the right time and by producing this event in Miami, CHTA expects many more Caribbean stakeholders to benefit from the educational sessions and invaluable peer-to-peer exchange. With three educational tracks covering a multitude of relevant topics, from the sharing economy to sustainability, and interactive roundtable and speed networking sessions, this is the event that St. Maarten should attend if we want to take on the issues affecting our business right now. We will seek to get together with fellow hoteliers, innovative vendors, government officials and industry experts. The Taste of the Caribbean culinary competition which also forms part of CHIEF. As you know St. Maarten always does very well at this event, having won many medals and awards over the years, which cemented our standing as the culinary capital of the Caribbean. Taste of the Caribbean is the regions leading culinary competition, bringing together teams from across the region for what is both an industry and consumer event. This years Taste will also offer educational sessions for food and beverage professionals that promise to enhance individual skills. While the Director of Tourism and staff will be in Miami for CHIEF and Taste of the Caribbean, I will form part of a team that will attend Caribbean Week in New York, from June 3 to June 8, the Minister said. We will join industry executives, the media, the Caribbean Diaspora, travel agents, consumers, and Students converge on the city to participate in a calendar of activities that showcase the best of Caribbean tourism, she added. Caribbean week will feature a wide selection of Business, Consumer, and Private Events. Over 30 Caribbean countries showcasing their tourism and business offerings. Besides the Caribbean week events, we have arranged meetings in New York with other stakeholders that do business with St. Maarten or is seeking to do business with St. Maarten. One such meeting is with JetBlue to continue our discussions for additional airlift as well as a possible major event to be held on St. Maarten soon, she said. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten / Saint Martin Annual Regional Tradeshow SMART (14-16th of June) will kick off its new concept "activity afternoon" with a ride on the most special boat of the well-known America's Cup fleet, the vessel Stars and Stripes 87 (12US55). This was released by the four SMART organizing parties The LAssociation des Hoteliers de St. Martin, Saint Martin Tourism Office in conjunction with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association. 12 Meters offers a free ride to the first 33 SMART visitors showing interest for the seats available to the four partners. Built in 1986, the vessel Stars and Stripes 87 (12US55) incorporates all of the knowledge and experience gained from the development of the first three designs. She won the trials to become the official challenger. After 223 individual yacht races, including 48 that included Dennis Conner and Stars & Stripes, she went on to the America's Cup finals against the Australian defender Kookaburra III. Stars & Stripes 87 won 4 races to nil to bring the Cup back to the USA in what is considered by many to be the greatest America's Cup of all time! SMART provides a unique opportunity for local and regional hoteliers and activities providers to present their tourism product, network and negotiate prospective business opportunities. It has become a very significant event for the entire region in recent years, one that should not be missed. The offered ride by the Stars and Stripes 87 (12US55) forms part of a new SMART concept called Activity Afternoon. As Sint Maarten / Saint Martin offer a great variety of activities, SMART 2017 looks at paying homage to those as they make a tourist stay extra worthwhile. SMART Visitors are offered the possibility of a free trial to get acquainted with the many activities on offer on both sides of the island. Next to that, for activities, a special "activity vendor alley" is on display during the key event date of June 15th. Other new concepts launched at SMART 2017 are that of increasing a number of vendors, so more Sint Maarten / Saint-Martin businesses get a chance to meet the sought after market of hotels as well as tour operators, launching a meeting backup service as well as increasing the amount of networking events to three. Activity Afternoon provides various other trials. Varying from a tour through a lush tropical rainforest at the butterfly farm to one of the new innovations like Marigot Donut Dreams Barbecue Boats towards a Sand Dollar snorkel trip by Aquamania which will let you cruise through the lagoon up to the coast to the French side for snorkeling at Creole Rock. Various options are on offer for both visiting tour operators, press and travel agents as well as local hoteliers and vendors. Want to attend SMART? Online registration has been opened and attendees are now able to register online. Go to www.shta.com/events/smart for more information and registration. Do you have any free trials available for hoteliers, please let us know at SMART's back office. This can be done by contacting the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and/or by phone at 542-0108. SHTA looks forward to welcoming all participants to SMART 2017. PHILIPSBURG:--- Are government and parliament waiting until the next election comes around or until the next ship jumper presents him or herself in parliament to start working on electoral reform again? Any electoral change involving the constitution requires the input and blessing from the Kingdom government which includes the governments of the Netherlands, Aruba, and Curacao. On the other hand, according to our constitution, amendments to election-related ordinances such the Election Ordinance, the National Ordinance Registration and Finances of Political Parties only require a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by the serving members (art. 129 sub 2). In both cases, the progression, from reform proposals to the final approval by parliament, is a very long and tedious one and would require that government and parliament begin the process immediately if they want these reforms in place before the next election in 2020. We have enough experience to know that initiative laws such as the tourism authority ordinance, the ban on import and the sale of plastic bags and the integrity chamber law can take years before a draft law reaches parliament for final approval. Let us take for example electoral reform pertaining to the curtailing of ship jumping. On October 28, 2015, Parliament called an urgent meeting to oust the Gumbs government, citing that if the Gumbs cabinet was serious about addressing the matter of ship-jumping, efforts to do so would have been evident, which is not the case. A motion of non-confidence was then signed by a majority of eight parliamentarians, among whom were MPs Sarah Wescot-Williams, William Marlin, and Frans Richardson, who happen now to be the leaders of the current Red, White and Blue coalition government. Hence, one would expect that the matter of ship-jumping would be high on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) priority list. Unfortunately, this is not the case. According to page 30 of governing program, the current UDA government is only concerned about finalizing the process to enable students abroad to vote and about legislating voting day procedures. This means that our current government and the majority in parliament are no longer interested in the matter of ship jumping, an issue for which they even threw down the government in 2015. It appears that to appease the voters at that time, a Commission for Electoral Reform was established in December 2015 with the task to come up with recommendations and proposals on how to deal with the phenomenon of ship jumping. The Committee issued a public survey after which we, the people, never heard anything more about the survey or from the committee. All matters concerning electoral reform were conveyed to the public by the Honorable Prime Minister, William Marlin. It seems as if the phenomenon ship-jumping has now become a non-issue that is until it raises its ugly head again and then our government and parliament will find themselves in a reactive mode once again. Perhaps we can learn something from our neighboring island Anguilla that seems to be much more serious, diligent and willing to deal with major electoral reforms. In September 2015 the Government of Anguilla established a combined Constitutional and Electoral Committee to research and come up with proposals for constitutional and electoral reform. On March 31st 2017, eighteen months later, the committee was able to present an extensive reform proposal to the Government. I acknowledge that ship-jumping is a universal, parliamentary phenomenon and has been and still is the subject of much research, public discussion and parliamentary debates. Officially, it is called crossing the floor, but I really like the Dutch terminology seat robber. Being fed up with this phenomenon, the Dutch have attempted to ground seat robbers by amending the parliamentary rules of order. In December 2017, the Dutch parliament (second chamber) approved that a seat robber can no longer be considered a faction and as such will not be entitled to the financial benefits and perks that come with being a faction. In addition, the seat robbers speaking time in parliament has also been reduced. Of course, there were parties in the second chamber that would have liked to impose more drastic measures, but these would have required amending the constitution which would have been a long and drawn out process. Parliamentarians therefore settled for the amendment of the rules of order. In order to begin to restrict future ship jumpers, I am of the opinion that our parliament could start by amending article 19 of the Rules of Order for the Parliament of Sint Maarten. The amendment would restrict a ship jumper from becoming a full-fledged faction. This means that a ship-jumper would not be rewarded with a faction office, equipment and faction-support staff. He or she would also not be able to participate in the Assembly of Seniors. In other words, the ship-jumper can remain an independent member of parliament but will not be able to claim any of the rights pertaining to a faction. Are our parliamentarians willing and ready to review article 19 and subsequent articles of the Rules of Order and strip ship jumpers from their right to become a faction? Wycliffe Smith Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party Seraphim Solar USA Named as Approved Vendor by Leading Residential Solar Finance Companies HOUSTON, TX (Marketwired) 05/31/17 U.S.-based solar photovoltaic module manufacturer Seraphim Solar USA announced today that its high-efficiency, American-made solar modules have been approved by major residential solar finance companies for their installer networks. Sungage Financial and Sunnova are among the finance firms that have added Seraphim USA to their approved vendor lists, citing the manufacturers bankability, product quality, and reliability. As a result, installers across the country can now offer Seraphim USA modules to their customers as part of their home solar financing packages. The news comes as Seraphim USA accelerates its production ramp at the companys fully automated, state-of-the-art PV module manufacturing factory in Jackson, Mississippi. One of the largest facilities of its kind in the U.S., the 160 MW facility is producing 60- and 72-cell polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon modules for residential, commercial, industrial, governmental and military customers in the United States. Thanks to the confidence our finance partners and our customers have in our products, weve seen our order intake grow were shipping our modules as fast as we can make them and are actively hiring production staff, said Steve Ostrenga, vice president of sales for Seraphim Solar USA. With uncertainty clouding some parts of the U.S. solar manufacturing community, developers and installers who want top-quality, U.S.-made products are looking to us as a reliable and bankable supplier. The Seraphim Solar USA team has demonstrated operational excellence, both in terms of their people and their module manufacturing, as well as a solid track record of bankability, said Jordan Fruge, chief marketing officer of Sunnova. These attributes convinced us they belonged on our approved vendor list. Seraphim Solar USA further enhances the bankability of its modules by backstopping its 25-year warranty with a comprehensive PowerGuard Specialty Insurance Services policy. Like the other Tier One solar manufacturers whose products we insure, Seraphim Solar USA meets stringent requirements for quality and reliability, said Mike McMullen, co-founder of PowerGuard Insurance. Solar developers, installers and EPCs can rest assured that Seraphim USA modules meet project financing and investor requirements. Seraphim Solar USA will be introducing new product innovations in the coming months, including an attractive black-on-black module for residential and small commercial customers and four-busbar, passivated-emitter rear contact (PERC) cell-based modules. The company will be showcasing its product line and capabilities at Booth 24 during in Austin June 13 -14 and at Booth 8451 during the trade show, taking place July 11-13 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Seraphim Solar USA () manufactures high-quality polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon solar modules in its state-of-the-art 160-MW production facility in Jackson, Mississippi. The U.S.-owned company supplies solar customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, government, and military sectors. Backed by PowerGuard module warranty insurance, Seraphim USAs bankable products are compliant with Buy American, Ex-Im Bank, ARRA, and GSA requirements. For those interested in joining Seraphims Jackson manufacturing team, please send resumes to Steven Ostrenga Seraphim Solar USA +1-901-292-7855 Dave Richardson Impress Labs (for Seraphim USA) +1-415-994-1423 Apcera Chief Strategy and Chief Information Officer Mark Thiele to Speak at Datacloud Europe 2017 SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Marketwired) 05/31/17 , the leader in enterprise container management, today announced that its Chief Strategy and Chief Information Officer Mark Thiele will present twice at Datacloud Europe 2017, taking place June 7 in Monaco. Thiele will present on two topics including AI Disruption and Data Centres and The Future of Containers and Virtual Machines in the Enterprise. AI has the double-edged potential to create a true brain for the data centre and associated demand management and placement while at the same time driving much of the new demand for services, said Thiele. As new business models are created through the use of AI, you can be certain that there will be an associated impact on data centre demand. The Grimaldi Forum 10 Avenue Princesse Grace 98000 Monaco AI Disruption and Data Centres June 7, 2017 Central Theatre, 16:15 CEST Why AI will force you to change everything about how you deliver IT Where in the enterprise will AI likely have its first major impacts How AI will force enterprises to be more strategic about how they use internal and external cloud resources together The Future of Containers and Virtual Machines in the Enterprise June 7, 2017 Innovation and Investment Theatre, 17:40 CEST Containers are the next step in our evolution of application delivery; More, faster and at a lower cost per unit, but where does that leave virtualization? To schedule one-on-one meetings with Apcera at the event, send email to . Apcera is the market leading enterprise-grade container management platform driven by security and policy that gives IT leaders the confidence and control to drive innovation and move faster, securely. Built for cloud-native as well as legacy applications, Apcera lets IT teams containerize, deploy, orchestrate and govern a vast range of workloads across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments. Fully integrated and completely turnkey, only Apcera offers industry-leading agility and time-to-value without sacrificing security or control. Apcera enables key enterprise use cases including deploying Docker and other cloud-native workloads in production securely and at scale, legacy application modernization and hybrid cloud mobility. Global 2000 companies use Apcera to lower CapEx and OpEx, improve time to market and reduce risk. Apcera is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit , read the companys blog or follow on Twitter: Scott Samson Head of Communications Apcera 415.781.9005 Solar Novus Today Has Been Integrated With Novus Light Technologies Today Visit Novus Light Technologies Today to see all the cutting-edge stories and products that you have come to enjoy on Solar Novus Today. In addition, you will find more information on related light-based technologies. Get the latest solar and renewable energy news delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Green Technologies newsletter CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR GREEN TECHNOLOGIES NEWSLETTER Several new faces will take office for Macomb in state House of Representatives What does a 'Strengthen Our Schools' win mean for Penn-Harris-Madison? One of three candidates backed by a conservative-leaning group has flipped a seat on the Penn-Harris-Madison school board. Here's what we know. Under the tax laws, business owners are allowed to recover all or part of the cost of certain purchases up to a certain limit by deducting it immediately in the year the property is placed into service. The provision that allows this is Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code, and so most people refer to the tax break as the Section 179 deduction. If you qualify for the deduction, it can save you a lot of money very quickly and is much easier to deal with than other rules for recovering the costs of business property. Why is Section 179 treatment good? The main benefit of Section 179 is that you get to deduct the cost of eligible property immediately. By contrast, most business property requires depreciation over the course of its useful life. For instance, say you buy property worth $70,000 that would typically require straight-line depreciation over seven years. Without Section 179, you'd only be allowed to deduct $10,000 each year over the seven-year period. With Section 179, you get the full $70,000 deduction up front, giving you more immediate tax savings. What kinds of property qualify for Section 179? To use Section 179, you must purchase property for business use that is depreciable and does not fall into one of the prohibited categories from the IRS. This includes tangible personal property, agricultural structures, storage facilities, computer software, and qualified real property that includes leasehold improvements, restaurant-related property, or improvements to retail real property. Some types of property are specifically left out of Section 179. Land and land-based improvements like swimming pools or parking areas don't qualify, and in general, leased property or property used for lodging can't use Section 179. For a full explanation of what does and doesn't qualify, this IRS publication gives details. What are the limits of Section 179? The IRS imposes limits on Section 179 deductions. For 2017, you can deduct up to $500,000 using the Section 179 deduction, as long as you spend no more than $2 million on capital purchases for your business. If you spend more than that, you'll lose $1 in Section 179 deductions for every $1 above $2 million that you spend. For instance, if your capital spending was $2.1 million, then you could only deduct $400,000 using Section 179, because you were $100,000 over the $2 million limit. How much will Section 179 save me in taxes? The exact amount that you'll save using Section 179 depends on the amount of property you buy, your business income, and your tax bracket. However, the savings are often substantial and can dramatically reduce your tax liability. The calculator below can give you a sense of what you might be able to save. Editor's note: The following language is provided by CalcXML, which built the calculator below. For instance, say that you spend $100,000 on qualifying property. You'll get to deduct the entire $100,000, and if you're in the 35% tax bracket, that will save you $35,000 on your taxes. Effectively, you'll have been able to acquire $100,000 worth of property for just $65,000 after taxes. For purchases above $500,000, you won't be able to deduct the full amount right away. However, you will be able to use regular depreciation on the excess, further reducing your after-tax cost and helping to produce tax savings for your business. The way to think about the Section 179 deduction is that it gives you a tax break for purchases that you're likely to have needed to make anyway. By taking advantage of Section 179, you can avoid the need to do lengthy depreciation, both saving you money and hassle over the long run. 10 stocks we like better than Wal-Mart When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. NASA will launch a sounding rocket to release artificial clouds along the mid-Atlantic coast June 1, so researchers below can track the motion of space particles. Here, the sounding rocket's payload has its ampule doors open during testing at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Update for June 15: NASA's next attempt to launch a small sounding rocket to create glowing clouds in the night sky will occur no earlier than Saturday night (June 17). Liftoff from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility from Wallops Island, Virginia is scheduled for some time between 9:05 p.m. EDT and 9:20 p.m. EDT (0105-0120 GMT). If you're along the mid-Atlantic coast very early Thursday morning (June 1), look up! A NASA sounding rocket will release luminescent blue-green and red vapor into the sky. Weather permitting, the artificial clouds will be visible from New York to North Carolina and west as far as Charlottesville, Virginia. The sounding rocket is set to launch between 4:27 and 4:42 a.m. EDT (0827-0842 GMT) from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, and will release the glowing artificial clouds so researchers below can track the motion of particles in Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere. You can watch the launch live here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA Wallops. You can also watch the launch directly from the Wallops Flight Facility here. (NASA officials stressed that the launch is very weather dependent, as clear skies are needed to observe the artificial clouds from the ground.) This NASA map shows the visibility region for the planned June 1, 2017, launch of a sounding rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. (Image credit: NASA) The vapor tracers will be released from points 96 to 120 miles high (154 to 193 kilometers) and will pose no hazard to people who live along the coast, NASA officials said in a statement. The tracers will glow after release as as barium, strontium and cupric-oxide interact with the atmosphere, NASA said. The rocket will eject 10 soft-drink-size canisters between 6 and 12 miles (10 to 20 km) from the rocket's main payload, and these containers will release the vapor between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch, officials said. The launch was rescheduled from May 29 due to weather. Cameras will be stationed on the ground at Wallops as well as in Duck, North Carolina; although clear skies are preferred, the launch can still go on without clear conditions at both sites, NASA officials said. The canisters will be released from a two-stage Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket, and the entire mission flight time is set for 8 minutes. The main payload, which deploys the canisters, will land about 90 miles (145 km) from Wallops Island in the Atlantic Ocean, and will not be recovered, officials said. The "What's Up at Wallops" app for iOS (opens in new tab) or Android provides additional information about the launch and a compass to identify which direction to look. Editor's note: NASA has delayed the launch until Saturday, June 3, due to cloud cover. If you capture an amazing image of the sounding rocket launch or the colorful artificial clouds that you would like to share with Space.com and its news partners for a story or photo gallery, send photos and comments in to managing editor Tariq Malik at: spacephotos@space.com. Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. SpaceX performed a static-fire test of a Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 28, 2017, keeping the booster on track to launch the companys Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station on June 1. The test also ignited a small wildfire at neighboring Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. SpaceX got a little more fire than it bargained for when it tested a Falcon 9 rocket over the weekend. The two-stage Falcon 9 behaved just fine during the standard "static fire" test at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Sunday (May 28) but a small chunk of neighboring Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge blazed up as a result. Firefighters with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) quickly got the fire under control by repeatedly drenching it with water dropped from a helicopter. The wildfire topped out at a mere 4 acres (1.6 hectares), USFWS officials said via Twitter Sunday. Firefighters dump water on a small wildfire at Floridas Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ignited by a SpaceX rocket test at neighboring Kennedy Space Center. The fire was quickly contained, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said. (Image credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Twitter) The Falcon 9, meanwhile, is all set for a historic Thursday (June 1) launch from KSC's famous Pad 39A that will send a used spacecraft skyward a rare feat accomplished by just a few vehicles, including the Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane and NASA's space shuttle orbiters. (Space shuttles once lifted off from Pad 39A, as did most of NASA's Apollo moon missions.) The pre-flown craft is SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule, which will carry lots of scientific experiments, hardware, food and other supplies up to the International Space Station (ISS). This particular Dragon has already flown to the ISS once before, in September 2014. SpaceX also aims to land the Falcon 9's first stage back on Earth during Thursday's launch, which is scheduled to take place at 5:55 p.m. EDT (2155 GMT). You can watch all the action live here at Space.com when the time comes. If all goes according to plan, Dragon will arrive at the ISS on Sunday (June 4). The capsule will stay attached to the orbiting lab for nearly a month, returning to Earth for a soft, ocean splashdown on July 2. SpaceX's rocket-landing activities are part of the company's attempt to develop fully and rapidly reusable launch systems, a breakthrough that company founder and CEO Elon Musk has said will revolutionize spaceflight. To date, SpaceX has landed Falcon 9 first stages on 10 separate occasions. The company has re-flown one of these landed boosters; that milestone occurred on March 30, during the successful launch of the SES-10 communications satellite. Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that no pre-flown spacecraft has launched since 2011. The Air Force's reusable X-37B space plane has completed several missions since then. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Members of the Union for Concerned Scientists pose for photographs with Muppet character Beaker in front of The White House before heading to the National Mall for the March for Science on April 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. The rally and march are being referred to as a call to support and safeguard the scientific community. The Trump administration is proposing sweeping cuts to US science agencies in its $4.1 trillion budget for 2018, asking Congress to kill a variety of medical, energy, and basic research programs, while boosting funding for defense and homeland security. With a president who came into office calling climate change a Chinese-engineered hoax and vowing to bring back jobs in the declining coal-mining industry, steep cuts to environmental programs and renewable energy were expected. But the fiscal blueprint released Tuesday add some items that weren't included in the bare-bones outline the administration released in March and fleshes out others, leaving some observers sounding stunned. "I hardly know where to begin to say what would do the most harm to the future of our country and the future of our researchers," Rush Holt, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, told reporters. AAAS estimates the proposed cuts to all federal science agencies amount to nearly 17 percent of current appropriations. But the physicist and former Democratic congressman said his old colleagues on Capitol Hill "have made it clear already this year, in numerous ways, that they do not buy into this really harsh and abrupt approach." RELATED: Educators Fear DeVos Appointment Will Encourage State Anti-Science Laws The National Science Foundation the leading US funder of non-medical basic research, and which wasn't included in the March document would see its $7.5 billion budget cut by 11 percent if the administration gets its way. The Department of Energy's science office would be slashed by $900 million, and its advanced research arm would be zero-funded. Energy efficiency and heating assistance programs for low-income Americans would be eliminated. NASA would see a cut of less than 1 percent. But its Earth science budget would be cut by nearly 9 percent, and its education office and five Earth science missions would be zeroed out. And though President Trump pledged in his inaugural address "to free the Earth from the miseries of disease," his administration is poised to cut the country's leading biomedical research agency by 22 percent. The National Institutes of Health would lose nearly $6 billion of its current $31 billion under the plan. Mary Woolley, president of the medical science advocacy group ResearchAmerica, said the cuts to NIH were "not just a nick but an almost-mortal blow." She said they could result in 2,000 fewer research grants and have a swift effect on public health. But as in the March proposal, the Environmental Protection Agency would see the steepest cuts. The administration is proposing a 31 percent cut for the EPA, including steep cuts to for enforcement and state grants and a nearly 50 percent cut to its research budget. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters the administration isn't "anti-science," not even climate science, even as it targets that research for cuts. "We're trying to get things back in order to where we can look at the folks who pay the taxes and say, 'Look, we want to do some climate science, but we're not going to do some of the crazy stuff the previous administration did,'" Mulvaney said Tuesday. He said the NSF recently funded a climate-change musical, asking reporters, "Do you think that's a waste of your money?" Holt said the production was part of a program to find new ways to educate the public about climate change. But he said attitudes like Mulvaney's show that scientists have some work to do. "I don't know how we got into a stage where anyone would consider something like this," Holt said. RELATED: Australian Scientists Who Faced Censorship Have Advice for Dealing With Trump Energy Secretary Rick Perry defended the cuts to his agency, which had been at the leading edge of work on low-carbon sources of power. In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Perry said the department will now focus on "early-state energy technology" and leave other work to the private sector. "As we refocus resources, we will continue to utilize our national laboratories for cutting edge science in order to improve both our energy and national security," he said. But in an appearance with Holt and Woolley, Norm Augustine the former CEO of aerospace giant Lockheed Martin said the private sector has little appetite for the kind of studies the Trump administration would cut off. "Shareholders are not interested in funding basic research, which tends to be costly, very long term and very risky," he said. But that research has spurred better than half of US economic growth in recent years. "We're not talking about jobs for scientists, we're talking about jobs for everyone," Augustine said. Originally published on Seeker. WASHINGTON SpaceX moved the launch date for the second Iridium Next mission ahead by four days thanks to new range availability at Vandenberg Air Force Base, mobile satellite service provider Iridium announced today. The launch, previously scheduled for June 29, is now slated for June 25 at 1:24:59 p.m. local time (4:24:59 p.m. EDT). SpaceX is launching the entire Iridium Next constellation over the course of eight missions, seven with 10 satellites, and one split between five Iridium Next satellites and a NASA-Germany science spacecraft. This second mission has an "instantaneous launch window," meaning it must occur precisely at the scheduled time. "We're excited for this next launch," Iridium CEO Matt Desch said in a May 25 statement. "Satellites have already started to arrive at the launch site and are undergoing pre-launch preparations, so we'll be ready to go. An earlier launch date is all the better for our constellation deployment plans." In February, SpaceX pushed back the second Iridium Next launch by two months, from April to June, citing its backlog of overdue missions exacerbated by last September's loss of a Falcon 9 rocket during pre-launch testing. SpaceX returned to flight Jan. 14 carrying the first 10 Iridium Next satellites. Prior to Falcon 9 explosion, Iridium had hoped to have the Iridium Next constellation in service by the end of 2017. The company's goal is now mid-2018. Iridium Next will comprise 75 satellites 66 forming the core constellation with nine on standby as in-orbit spares. France-based Thales Alenia Space is building a total of 81 Iridium Next satellites, integrating them at Orbital ATK's Arizona factory. Hosted payloads for flight-tracking startup Aireon and ship-tracking company exactEarth are also on Iridium Next. Desch, in an April earnings call, said Iridium is keeping the healthiest of the first-generation satellites in a storage orbit below Iridium Next until the full second-generation constellation is complete. Following that, the entire first generation will be deorbited. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. The Space Fence is said to be capable of tracking about 200,000 objects and make 1.5 million observations per day, about 10 times the number made by previous radars such as the AFSSS. Air Force leaders have estimated that the actual number of objects orbiting Earth is closer to 500,000. WASHINGTON The White House is asking Congress to provide $7.75 billion for military space systems in 2018, a $1.3 billion increase over what the Pentagon sought for 2017. The space portion of the Defense Department's 2018 budget request includes $4.33 billion for research, development, testing, and evaluation, and $3.42 billion for procurement, according to Air Force officials. The numbers reflect the scope of defense space operations, with most programs under the purview of the Air Force, but includes outlays for other national security agencies including the National Reconnaissance Office. "We've got to be able to find that sweet spot between capability, affordability, and resiliency," said Maj. Gen. Roger Teague, the director of space programs in the office of the U.S. Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon May 24. "Budgets are tight and we can't just continue to spend. We've got to be able to invest prudently, and focus our investments on the right kinds of capabilities to ensure we have the appropriate level of protection as well as capabilities in the future." [The Most Destructive Space Weapons Concepts] With both Republican and Democratic lawmakers already declaring President Donald Trump's broader budget request "dead on arrival," the DoD portions of the annual spending request are likely to provide only rough guidelines for the spending bills House and Senate appropriators will be drafting in the weeks ahead. Overall, Trump is seeking $574.5 billion for the Defense Department, a $52 billion increase over the 2017 budget. Trump is also seeking $64.6 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations funding, a separate and often classified budget account that goes towards warfighting efforts including ongoing U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. Military space only gets a passing mention in the introductory pages of the budget document, where Trump says his plan "recognizes the need for American superiority not only on land, at sea, in the air, and in space, but also in cyberspace." Here's how some of the major Air Force space programs fared in the budget request: SSA and Space Fence With construction nearly complete on the Air Force's ground-based radar station at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the service only requested $36 million in 2018 to start getting testing up and running before the station reaches its initial operating capability in 2019. That's a big drop from the $168 million requested in 2017 to finish building the space situational awareness (SSA) facility. A recent Government Accountability Office report recommended that the Air Force study setting up a second radar facility to aid with SSA, but Teague told reporters the service wants to get the first location up and running before it thinks about expanding the capability. Milsatcom The Air Force is continuing its analysis of alternatives for what should follow the Wideband Global Satcom satellites the service began deploying a decade ago to replace the Defense Satellite Communications System and Global Broadcast Service satellites. The Air Force is requesting $95 million to fund the wideband AoA and final assembly and testing of WGS-10, right now the last planned satellite in the constellation. The Air Force is also hoping the funding will lead to movement on the Pathfinder series of contract experiments meant to improve the way DoD buys commercial satellite services. The first Pathfinder contract was awarded in 2014 to SES. The Air Force leased Ku-band capacity from one of the company's satellites over Africa. Pathfinder Two was expected to be awarded in 2016, with the Air Force purchasing a transponder on a commercial communications satellite and then leveraging that investment for access to the rest of the fleet operator's constellation. However, the program stalled over questions about whether government funding regulations permit this sort of barter arrangement. The Air Force proposes to use a funding boost to get Pathfinder Two moving again and initiate three additional pilot projects. Meanwhile, the Air Force is also looking to install new communications terminals designed to maintain contact in the event of nuclear disaster or similarly disruptive event. Known as the Family of Advanced Beyond Line of Sight Terminals, or FAB-T, the $172 million funding request would install the terminals on nuclear-equipped bombers like the B-52 Stratofortress, reconnaissance aircraft like the RC-135 Rivet Joint, and tanker aircraft used for in-flight refueling. GPS The Air Force's next-generation global positioning system constellation GPS 3 is seeking a big boost, with the Air Force requesting $329 million, a $116 increase over what was requested for 2017. Lockheed Martin is currently building the first 10 GPS 3 satellites, but long delays have led Air Force leaders to move toward reopening competition for the next 22 satellites in the constellation. Lockheed, Boeing and Northrop Grumman are all vying for the job under production readiness contracts the Air Force awarded a year ago. Regardless of which company winds up building the satellites, the extra funding will help ramp up full production of the satellites, planned to start in 2019, the Air Force said. Meanwhile, GPS 3's troubled ground-control segment, known as OCX, is getting a $119 million boost, bringing the funding up to a requested $511 million for 2018. Congress, however, could potentially give the service a lot less than it asked for, as many lawmakers have openly discussed withholding funding for the program until long-standing issues are fixed. The program is "not out of the woods yet," Teague said, but noted that quarterly reviews are showing progress following OCX's 2016 Nunn-McCurdy breach a formal declaration that indicates costs have grown more than 25 percent over initial projections and exposes the contract to potential cancellation. The Air Force is expected to complete a full program review of OCX in June, which will inform decisions about when the ground system will be ready or if the contract should be rebid. SBIRS With increasing concern about missile threats from North Korea and Russia, missile warning and detection is getting one of the largest chunks of the space budget. The Air Force's Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation could see $1.3 billion in funding if Congress goes along, an increase of $862 million over what was requested last year. The money provides support for the launch and operation of SBIRS GEO 4 scheduled to lift off in November and funds Lockheed Martin's completion of SBIRS GEO 5 and 6. The money will also lay the groundwork for a potential SBIRS 7 and 8, though there is not an acquisition plan yet for those satellites. Some of the money is also being earmarked for SBIRS software updates and cybersecurity improvements. Weather Looming gaps in Air Force weather-monitoring capabilities have lead DoD to request an increase of $22 million in 2018, bringing the requested total to $142 million. In 2015, Congress barred the Air Force from launching a surplus Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite that spent years in storage, leaving the Air Force to focus on gap fillers while working on a next-generation Weather Satellite Follow-on. The Air Force is looking to the budget to fund awards for a microwave-equipped satellite to monitor ocean surface vector winds and tropical cyclone intensity, as well as funding the launch of the ORS-6 Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer satellite in partnership with the Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space Office. The service is also hoping to fund a future similar satellite, ORS-8, which would focus on cloud characterization. SpaceNews will update this story as more information becomes available. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. WASHINGTON The Missile Defense Agency's ground-based defense system successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile during the first live-fire test of its kind Tuesday (May 30), the agency said. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense(GMD) is designed to intercept and destroy missiles during the midcourse of their trajectory through space. Tuesday's test was the first time the system had faced a live-fire ICBM-class test, MDA said in a press release. The interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and its "exo-atmospheric kill vehicle intercepted and destroyed the target in a direct collision," the release said. [The Most Destructive Space Weapons Concepts] A long-range view of the U.S. military's Ground-Based Interceptor launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California during a successful live-fire missile defense test on May 30, 2017. (Image credit: U.S. Missile Defense Agency) "The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this program," MDA Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring said in a statement. "This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat." Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama), chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, said the successful test will help deter U.S. adversaries. "The dictator in North Korea surely understands that the United States will not allow itself or its allies to be subject to his threats," Rogers said. "We must do more to build on the success of today's test to truly keep Americans and their allies safe from the threat of ballistic missile attack." The target vehicle that was destroyed during a successful U.S. missile defense test on May 30, 2017 is seen before its launch from the U.S. Armys Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll. (Image credit: U.S. Missile Defense Agency) The ICBM test target was launched from the Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, according to MDA. The Sea-Based X-band radar in the Pacific tracked and targeted the launch, as did "multiple sensors," MDA said, which would most likely include the Air Force's main missile-warning satellite constellation, the Space-Based Infrared System. The intercept is likely the last major test Syring will oversee before leaving MDA. Air Force Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves , former leader of the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, will succeed him. This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. Image data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows evidence that Saturn's moon Enceladus may have tipped over, reorienting itself so that terrain closer to its original equator was relocated to the poles. This phenomenon is called "true polar wander." Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn that could host life, may have tipped over long ago. NASA's Cassini orbiter, which has been studying Saturn and its many moons up close since the probe arrived in 2004, has found evidence that Enceladus' axis of rotation has rotated by 55 degrees. That would mean the moon moved more than halfway onto its side. A collision with an asteroid or some other object in deep space may have caused the moon's tilt, NASA officials said in a statement. [Photos: Enceladus, Saturn's Cold, Bright Moon] "We found a chain of low areas, or basins, that trace a belt across the moon's surface that we believe are the fossil remnants of an earlier, previous equator and poles," Radwan Tajeddine, a Cassini imaging team associate at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who led the new study, said in the statement. Tajeddine and his team of researchers suspect that the impact occurred near Enceladus' south pole, he said. There, the icy moon's surface consists of strange-looking, geologically active terrain of a type that scientists call "tiger stripes." The long, linear fractures seen on Enceladus' south pole differ from the texture around the moon's north polar region, where tons craters and fissures point to an old surface unchanged by geological activity. "The geological activity in this terrain is unlikely to have been initiated by internal processes," Tajeddine said. "We think that in order to drive such a large reorientation of the moon, it's possible that an impact was behind the formation of this anomalous terrain." Shortly after Cassini arrived at Saturn, the spacecraft discovered mysterious plumes of water spewing into space from the tiger stripes in the icy moon's surface, hinting at the existence of a subsurface ocean. Whether the tiger-stripe terrain was created by an impact or some other geological process, Tajeddine and colleagues think it likely "caused some of Enceladus' mass to be redistributed, making the moon's rotation unsteady and wobbly," NASA officials said in the statement. NASA researchers have found evidence that the active south polar region of Enceladus the fractured terrain covered in "tiger stripe" features may have been closer to the icy moon's equator before the suspected collision. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute) "The rotation would have eventually stabilized, likely taking more than a million years. By the time the rotation settled down, the north-south axis would have reoriented to pass through different points on the surface a mechanism researchers call 'true polar wander,'" the statement said. This would explain why the north and south polar regions are so vastly different in texture and geological activity, the researchers suggested. It's possible that the two poles looked the same before something came by and bumped into the little moon, the scientists said. The results of the study by Tajeddine and colleagues were published online in the journal Icarus on April 30. Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Don't call it Solar Probe Plus anymore. NASA's upcoming sun-studying mission, which will come much closer to Earth's star than any spacecraft in history, has been renamed the Parker Solar Probe, agency officials announced today (May 31). The new moniker honors pioneering University of Chicago astrophysicist Eugene Parker, who predicted the existence of the solar wind the stream of charged particles flowing constantly from the sun back in 1958. [Solar Quiz: How Well Do You Know Our Sun?] NASA has named about 20 space missions after people; the Hubble Space Telescope is perhaps the most famous example. But the 89-year-old Parker is the first researcher to be celebrated in this manner while still alive, agency officials said. "I'm certainly greatly honored to be associated with such a heroic scientific space mission," Parker said during a press conference at the University of Chicago today. An artist's illustration of NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft, formerly known as Solar Probe Plus, studying the sun. The mission is scheduled to launch in July 2018. (Image credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory) The ambitious $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe mission is scheduled to soar to solar orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 31, 2018. Over the course of the next seven years, the spacecraft will perform 24 close flybys of the sun, some of which will bring it within just 3.9 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) of the solar surface. That's well inside the orbit of Mercury, and seven times closer than any other probe has ever gotten to the sun, NASA officials said. The environment in this region is extreme, to say the least: During its closest encounters, the 10-foot-long (3 meters) Parker Solar Probe is expected to experience temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,370 degrees Celsius) and solar radiation intensities 475 times greater than we're used to on Earth. Mission controllers will therefore retract the Parker Solar Probe's solar arrays as it approaches the sun and extend them as the spacecraft retreats, to keep panel power levels and temperatures from fluctuating too much. And the probe will be outfitted with a 7.5-foot-wide (2.3 m), 4.5-inch-thick (11.4 centimeters) heat shield made of advanced carbon-composite material, which will allow its four science instruments to operate at about room temperature, NASA officials said. The Parker Solar Probe will perform a number of tasks with this science gear, such as measure the sun's electric and magnetic fields, photograph solar structure and study the solar wind. If all goes according to plan, the Parker Solar Probe's observations will help mission scientists solve two long-standing puzzles: How is the solar wind accelerated, and why is the sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona, so much hotter than the solar surface (3 million degrees F, or 1.7 million degrees C, compared with 10,000 degrees F, or 5,500 degrees C)? This latter situation is akin to water flowing uphill, said Parker Solar Probe mission scientist Nicola Fox, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland: "It shouldn't happen." These two big questions can be answered only by getting up-close observations of the sun, Fox added. And the answers are not just of academic interest. "One recent study by the National Academy of Sciences estimated that, without advance warning, a huge solar event could cause $2 trillion in damage in the U.S. alone, and the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. could be without power for a year," researchers at APL, which manages the mission for NASA, wrote in an online description. "In order to unlock the mysteries of the corona, but also to protect a society that is increasingly dependent on technology from the threats of space weather, we will send [the Parker Solar Probe] to touch the sun," they added. The Parker Solar Probe will carry a chip loaded with photographs of Eugene Parker and a copy of his seminal 1958 solar-wind paper, Fox said. NASA has also invited Parker to come up with an inscription for a plate that will be installed on the spacecraft, she added. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Before the internet became the dominant source for information of all types, job searchers had fewer places to look when it came time to seek out their next career opportunity. Most employment options were advertised in the classified section of local newspapers, or perhaps in industry-specific publications. In many cases, the Sunday paper would be a major source of job ads, making it so that even a lazy job search limited to a once-a-week perusal on that day was enough. That, of course, has changed. Classified sections still exist, but most are shells of what they used to be. The internet caused the change, and it's made job searches both easier and harder. What was once a fairly limited process has become unwieldy. Yes, there are job sites that have become the new classifieds, but if that's the only place you look, you'll be missing out on opportunities. Here are four ways to search for the new job that can push your career forward, starting with the obvious and moving into the more hidden opportunities. 1. Track the job boards Following the classifieds used to be easy, since newspapers came out only once a day, but internet job boards are 24/7. You should run searches often, because sometimes getting your resume in fast and getting it on the top of the pile gives you an edge. To keep general track of what's being posted, though, you'll want to set multiple daily job alerts at Indeed.com. Indeed is a job search site that gathers ads from multiple job sites while also having ads from employers that post directly on the site. It's not going to have everything -- for example, ads posted on Craigslist won't be there -- but it's a solid way to do a wide search. In general, in addition to daily email alerts, it's never a bad idea to scan as many job sites as you can each day for your search term. That will turn up new ads, or even ones that slip through Indeed's aggregator. 2. Go where the industry goes While many jobs are posted to general-interest mass-market sites, many industries have their own job repositories. That could mean a dedicated job board (such as journalismjobs.com for journalists) or industry trades. In some professions, a great source for jobs is major trade shows, which often have giant bulletin boards filled with old-school job postings. In this area, there are different answers for different professions. A technology professional, for example, could search not only industry publications but also job boards on local or regional websites. A teacher, on the other hand, would have national industry publications to search but may also be able to find jobs through state or regional associations. 3. Follow individual companies Some jobs never make it to job boards, classified sections, or any other easily tracked location. In some cases, the best pace to look is on the careers section of individual company websites. This can be a tedious process, but it can pay off if you discover an ad before it gets placed in a widely visible location. Make a list of companies where you might want to work, bookmark their jobs page, and check your list at least a few times a week. 4. Be proactive The biggest secret of finding that next great job, the one that advances your career and begins to make your dreams come true, is that many positions are filled before they even get listed. That means that to get hired you need to be a known quantity to the people doing the hiring. There are a number of ways to do that. Send a resume and a cover letter to the general jobs-submission email detailing why you would be a good fit for the company. Request an informational interview with the person likely to supervise you, should a job come open. Attend industry events where you can make personal connections. Make appropriate connections on social-media sties (generally LinkedIn, but others if an actual personal, not professional, attachment exists). In reality, this last category is all about hustle. It's a question of making the opportunity come to you before it goes to the public at large. That's not an easy process, but it's one that can pay off handsomely if you put in the work. The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 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